#seriously this used to happen way more when trending tags were introduced

[lenaisanerd]

six of crows trending again because the algorithm has the hiccups and everyone in the tag is once again asking why, like. you must be new here

[guildtree]

Dragon Gender Results

*Taimi voice* I'm getting so much dragon research!

Seriously, my notifications have been nothing but a giant list of pronouns. 150-200 votes on two polls will do that to you I guess. Thank you everyone for voting!

Polls are up for a week but the votes are slowing down and patterns are appearing. Trends and nerdy rambling below:

He/him is the winner on both polls so far, which doesn't surprise me. Both Zhaitan and Mordremoth are referred to as he a few times during the game, and he is a common default pronoun at least where I come from. Several people who play the game in something other than English pointed out that they think of both dragons as male just because in their native language "dragon" is gendered male, which is something I hadn't thought of but very interesting.

Zhaitan: top genders are he and it, occasionally they. Definitely not a female dragon. Many people used both he and it interchangeably. From the tags I got, there was a decent emphasis on how Zhaitan feels more like an inanimate object or creature than the others, probably because he was introduced well before the concept of dragons as people was a thing. This likely explains why it/its was the second-place choice. Specific justifications include: "Zhaitan is related to death and corpses and we call those things it" (it is essentially a giant flying corpse tbf); "NPCs usually just call it 'the dragon' instead of gendering it"; and "those are my pronouns and I like them" (very fair).

Mordremoth: people were a lot more comfortable gendering Mordremoth one way or another, but what way they would go was a lot more varied. He/him still won by a large margin, but I saw arguments for he/it, she/her, all pronouns, genderfluidity, and more. People would often characterize Mordie as some sort of parent to the sylvari, whether a mother, grandfather, or deadbeat dad who finally came back from getting milk (hilarious. wish i'd thought of that). Whatever the case, there was a vibe that Mordremoth would willingly choose those pronouns for himself, because ... well biologically its a jungle. Hard for an outside observer to pick pronouns for a whole jungle. So the mental aspect, what the dragon herself wants, feels more important (fitting for a dragon whose second domain is mind).

Lots of stuff to think about when it comes to writing! Personally, I like the idea of it/its for Zhaitan and multiple pronouns for Mordremoth, but we'll see how the final results shake out. I don't predict any drastic changes from here, but if something does happen, I'll make an update.

[decidedlyundecidedgirl]

Summer 2020 I was only vaguely aware of Tom Felton to be honest. Being a Potter fan, I knew him of course as the Draco Malfoy. But other than that, he really wasn’t on my radar.

Now here I am, 18 months into a Tom Felton dedicated TikTok account, (TikTok has a lot to answer for in this whole thing) an ever growing amount of photos saved on Pinterest, money parted with quicker than you can say ‘You’re not in Hufflepuff are you?’ when announced Tom will be starring in a west end play, eagerly awaiting his latest goings ons and a cushion with his face on (but we won’t talk about that.)

So what is it about Tom that’s made myself and many others be caught under his spell?

Well where do I begin, let’s start with his adorable, kind, funny and incredibly endearing personality. The way he has been interacting with fans through social media is very special and pretty rare.

His lives on Instagram have captivated fans with his personal, down to earth, funny and sometimes chaotic approach. He sings,plays guitar, and he introduced us to his dog Willow. (Who happens to be equally adorable.) He still embraces all things Potter and sometimes allows fans to join his lives (with varied results!)

I began following Tom on Instagram after #dracotok gloriously entered our lives in late summer 2020. #dracotok (incase you don’t know) was a huge trend to appear on Tiktok featuring a collection of videos dedicated to Draco Malfoy. POV’s (point of views) were particularly popular and still are.

To cut a long story short I began watching his lives and became hooked pretty quickly. #tomtok soon followed #dracotok with Tom himself interacting with the Draco videos and posting his own TikTok duets with fans. So the obsession deepened. I found myself wanting to make edits and things only got worse better. I’m sure this is a similar story for many others!

There are now countless creators on TikTok making Draco and Tom content. The #dracotok tag has 25.1 billion views with #tomtok at 982.7 million. Which gives you a rough idea of how much this blew up!

But why? Well when dracotok first happened we were in the middle of a global pandemic. Our lives were far from normal so Draco Malfoy POV’s became the perfect escapism we desperately needed.

Tiktok also of course works by showing us more and more of what we like, so once you like one Tom or Draco edit, you will be shown more. So does this feed the obsession? Absolutely! Do you like him more because so many others like him? Probably. Herd mentality if you will.

The above for me has definitely changed what would usually be a fleeting celebrity crush into much more entirely. Although I'm very aware that these things have influenced my feelings. I know it wouldn’t be enough to make me feel this way for this length of time. So I believe my affections for Tom are real and long may they continue! (Totally have this all under control of course!..)

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room…Yes, Tom is kind,funny and endearing but he’s also, let’s be honest, freaking HOT. Like seriously fine. I’m not sure I’ve been this attracted to someone I’ve never met before.

Tom may not be someone you immediately find sexy. In fact he’s totally not my usual ‘type’…My usual preference is brunettes.. But it’s not just about looks. It’s about, well, pretty much everything he does.

The way he acts,plays golf, skateboards (yes Emma, I get it.) plays several musical instruments and writes his own songs, his little habits, his voice, his walk, his HANDS. Let me repeat. HIS HANDS…..

Sorry where was I?.. Oh yeah so basically Tom Felton is the whole package. I’m not saying he’s perfect. Nobody is. I’m not saying I actually know the real him. But as celebrity crushes go this will probably be like nothing else you’ve experienced.

I usually lose interest in almost everything quickly, but at this point I’m not sure I could stop being interested if I wanted to. Don’t get me wrong, me and Tom have had our ups and downs. I get mad at him…usually for no reason (he’s obviously unaware of our ‘fight’ and doesn’t know I exist..) sometimes real life is busy, sometimes Tom is quiet. But it always comes back again strong as ever.

There’s so much more I could say about Tom and the possible reasons he’s had such an effect on myself and many other people (maybe he really IS a wizard?)

But why not go and check out his socials for yourself. But be prepared… to fall in love.

Article written and owned by decidedlyundecidedgirl.

Photos all courtesy of Pinterest.

[miraculouscontent]

Askplosion #11:

(note that I know I mentioned a “Voiced Askplosion” last time in the tags for anyone who put a 🎤 in their ask, meaning they wanted to hear me respond verbally to it, but I only got one and it wasn’t anything serious - just a tease from someone I know - so I either won’t be doing it at all or will be holding off)

Asks responding to previous posts:

ALYA NO!!!

(the idea of Sabrina avoiding not only Ms. Mendeleiev, but also Alya, is very amusing to me)

The fact that the special focuses on the love square instead of Sabrina and Delmar is a crime.

(also note that “Need some help?” is rhetorical in this context; Alya doesn’t care)

Highly recommended, honestly, otherwise it just turns into a big shame because there are shows I really like but with some content that I don’t like, and why torture myself with it when I can cut it out instead?

Just to give a rough idea, here’s my cut of “Desperada”; mind you, this is just my quick cut of it (basically a “beta” version where I just removed everything I disliked without much care for transitioning/having everything make sense; some of Marinette’s friends talking, the guitar scene, Aspik, etcetera), as I’m not comfortable handing over my “perfect” cut of it since it’s like my personal copy.

Yeah, that’s a super awkward scene. As much as I’d like to imagine that Adrien just doesn’t understand the “guy time” thing (which I still hate), the fact that they use the word “guy” specifically is--ugh.

I wasn’t aware of what he said in the French dub, so thanks! It’s really painful to see her throw so much love his way, openly and publicly and obviously, then be so humiliated for it, only for Adrien to feel nothing for her.

Say whatever you want about Chat Noir’s advances and how sAAAAAAD he is when she rejects him, but her rejections are just that; in private. There aren’t other heroes who are around and Chat is never really humiliated. Even in “Prime Queen,” Chat wasn’t the target - Ladybug was, and then Ladybug shifted it to Nadja - so Marinette is the one taking all the heat in love while Chat gets to sit on the sidelines (plus, then “Oblivio” happened and now people probably all thing they’re a thing).

Yeah! That’s the group I was thinking of!

Thank you!

I’m so sorry that happened. ;—;

I’m not aro but I am ace and I’ve gotten the whole, “oh it’s just because--” stuff before, so I know what it feels like to have people put on the pressure/invalidate you.

YES.

IT’S GORGEOUS.

I’m not really familiar with how holidays are celebrated outside of the bare basics of Christmas/New Year (which I am trying my hardest to forget lol), so I couldn’t say.

Sorry!

New Asks:

10/10 thought, would fantasize again.

Though would also accept MC Audrey just doing some “spring cleaning” of the whole staff in general. I have no idea how she’d replace Jeremy since he’s the company’s poster boy but most of the writers have to go at the very least and Jeremy should be given less power.

I think MC Audrey would appreciate how Kagami carries herself, though potential bonus if - while Tom and Sabine just openly trust whatever Marinette wants - Audrey does a bunch of digging to make sure Kagami is “worthy” of being with Marinette (she takes this all very seriously).

Double potential bonus if Kagami takes it just as seriously, so here’s Audrey and Kagami acting as if Kagami dating Marinette is like some sort of job interview.

Kagami handing over a “resume” of her accomplishments to Audrey. Audrey has already looked all of it up herself but appreciates the effort put in.

If the question in Miraculous is, “Do we really need a--” and the thing being introduced is something the staff came up with then the answer is usually “no.”

The movie will look pretty and that’s all I’ll expect. It’s just Jeremy’s take on Miraculous. Luka and Kagami probably won’t even be around so I’m not even interested.

I’ll watch it, but I’m also not interested lol.

Honestly, I’d rather turn into bubble froth.

oddly specific but... I mean, damn

I have no idea, and I try not to throw around words like “spite ship” because I know people could genuinely like the ship, though I will say that I went on AO3 and - unless I read from - the first Maribat fanfiction on there was posted after the airdate of “Chameleon.” I think it might’ve started with inspiration from “Marinette moves schools” ideas at the very least.

Non-Miraculous Asks responding to previous posts:

Oh, I understood, no worries! It was just funny for the split second it took me to figure it out.

My bad, that’s not how I meant to come off (especially since “magical girl shows” is a little broad; I mean, obviously I don’t think something like Cardcaptor Sakura is aiming for fanservice when Sakura’s--like... ten). I answered all those asks in the last askplosion in the same day so my brain was a little fried by the time I got to that ask.

I’m not even talking about Sailor Moon either; it’s just that I knew there are shows with fanservice and there are certain magical girl outfits where I kind of give the side-eye.

Absolutely zero problem with girls fighting in pretty outfits though. I fully admit that I’m a bit of a prude so sometimes I see fanservice where there might not be any. Super short skirts without shorts, for example, inherently throw me off (shout-out to Saint Tail - which I discovered while looking up “pretty magical girl outfits” - because the main character does have a skirt in “magical girl” form but also tights/boots and a cute hat, which is one of the more unique ones I’ve seen).

Non-Miraculous Asks:

Do you mean Sailor Moon Crystal? Yeah, the only reason I hesitate on Sailor Moon in general is because I’m not crazy about the transformed designs. It’s not really a matter of animation but more a design choice that takes me out of the experience.

I have seen all of Cardcaptor Sakura anime though, and then all of the Clear Card arc. I like the former, despise the latter, and I tried to keep up with the manga but once one of the big plot details were revealed, I officially dropped it.

As for Revolutionary Girl Utena, I looked it up a while ago and don’t remember what exactly turned me away. It might’ve been the darker tone though if what you say is accurate that it’s a darker take on a magical girl show.

Also, I may or may not have looked up the ending of at least Princess Tutu and I’m sorry, I’m sure it’s a great anime, but if there isn’t a happy ending then I give whatever anime a hard pass.

(note: yes, I realize the hilarity of saying that when I continue watching Miraculous)

-

(More Madoka Magica talk/salt below!)

Ohhh, it started a trend? I had no idea since I don’t actively keep up with every anime out there; descriptions need to really pull me in (the only current anime I’m keeping up with is Hanyou no Yashahime, Otherside Picnic, and Cells at Work (Season 2)).

The focus on specific--uh--body parts in magical girl transformations also reminds me that I think that’s usually what kills it for me, not because of the sexualization but because I expect transformations (especially ones that get repeated over and over) to be really dynamic with changing angles and such, which is harder to do when the camera is trying to draw focus to specific places.

Obviously you have to do it for some moments (I’ve always imagined Miraculous transformations like a potential sheep or another one for rabbit, then rabbit!Jean from Leave for Mendeleiev and fox!Juleka from LadyBugOut) because things will be weird if you focus on nothing, but I think there are ways to draw the eye without trying to sexualize.

Not having Ladybug-esque bodysuits is a good start. It reminds me too much of the Catwoman with just a bodysuit so it leaves nothing to the imagination.

How did I forget about that Sayaka scene? omg (though I dunno if the Bechdel Test is hard to pass if there aren’t really any endgame male love interests? are there rules about that? not saying a pass isn’t a pass but it feels like cheating)

It is nice when fans can respect the opinions of others without having to outright attack. I have had a few people come to me with, “I see your point/respect it even if I disagree,” instead of accusing me/others of--well, you get it.

Fandoms can be really messy, particularly as they get larger. I think there’s a certain balance between small fandoms that all know each other and a big fandom that’s out of control. Then there are things like “loud minority” and it’s just uggggh.

Anyway, back to the asks themselves, yeah, I’m not crazy about taking things that are just meant to be positive/cute/whatever and being like, “OKAY BUT WHAT IF IT WAS EDGY AND SAD.”

n o ,  p l z

Oh, I’ve never heard of that one!

Sayaka dying didn’t really do anything for me either. It’s hard to explain when I saw it so long ago, but it was just Sayaka’s attitude about the whole thing and it made it feel underwhelming. It was a shame too because I liked her and she had potential.

She was Madoka’s friend so I was just like, “Yeah, she’ll die soon.” Probably didn’t help since I knew what I knew about the show being “dark.”

Madoka/Sayaka is probably what I’d support the most out of all the potential shoujo ai ships. To my knowledge, none of them are really canon, though I remember a special song after the death Sayaka and Kyoko which I guess makes them the most canon and that did basically nothing for me since their relationship didn’t interest me (nor did I care for Kyoko as a character). The PSP game might have more intimate potential between the girls, but I never played them so I can’t make those claims (I only remember something about everyone potentially living and then a bad ending for Sayaka where part of her body was decayed when they didn’t get her soul gem back in time).

The tomboy argument makes me think back to a conversation with a friend of mine where we were discussing tomboys in anime and... we couldn’t really think of any? At least any that really qualify as “tomboy” for me.

Like, Misty from Pokemon, for example. I knoooooow everyone really likes Misty, but regardless of my opinion on her, it’s hard to see her as a tomboy.

I feel like they try to lean that way by making her super aggressive and violent (because... m E N) and I think Ash makes a comment once about her not being “like a girl,” but... I feel like that’s just how general “aggressive” female characters are written?

I mean, that’s tsundere female characters I’ve seen in general. Really loud (and not in a “gIrlS aRe sO lOuD aND ScReEcHY” way but like... the way anime gives them big heads while they scream at whatever male character they’re mad at), angry a lot, short fuse, etcetera.

But Misty is still crazy about clothes and dolls, she still gushes about cute things and romance, and both of those things seem pretty indicative of what “standard girl character” would be defined by, since they’re all “stereotypically girl thing” (I say stereotypically for obvious reasons since boys can like blah and girls can like blah and gender exclusivity is blah--). I get that she dresses differently, but that’s about it, and it comes off like, “she dresses differently and she’s ANGRY and VIOLENT, so she’s a tomboy,” which... yeah. They even gave her three beauty queen sisters with CURVES and BUSTS as if to say, “See?? These are GIRLS, not TOMBOYS.” (busty females can exist who are also tomboys, thank you have a nice day).

This becomes more complicated in magical girl anime since girly clothes are usually part of that so “tomboy” means that frills and skirts probably wouldn’t be a factor.

I mean, if you gave those sorts of outfits to me, I’d be like, “SCREW IT, I’M NOT A MAGICAL GIRL ANYMORE. IF LOOKING PRETTY IS REDUCED TO SKIRTS AND FRILLS, SOMEONE ELSE CAN SAVE THE WORLD.”

I’d also like to see some mixes between personalites and “tomboy” things. Like, non-stereotypical tomboy personalities doing tomboy things. Mix and match, y’know?

This was really rambly, but to answer the question... no, I wouldn’t count Sayaka as a tomboy.

All of this.

I think it also exemplifies the whole “dark and edgy magical girl show” thing because... ugh, how do I put this...

The “girls are overly emotional” thing is already bad, but then you realize that there not being any magical boys is also because that doesn’t hit the “shock value” threshold as much.

Y’know, because boys equal dark and edgy shows, so if there was even one magical boy it wouldn’t be as shocking when Mami gets her head chomped. They could’ve done, “emotional teenagers are the target because they’re in that vulnerable stage; smarter and more physically capable than children, but not as mature/stable as adults,” but having some boys in there for balance (it makes me feel weird saying that when I’m all for girl power shows with an all female cast, but in this show’s logic, it’s a different ball game) would make the show seem less bright and “girly” and thus lessen the shock value.

Does that make sense?

[fizzingwizard]

Episode 6 was AWESOME. Finally it really and truly felt like Digimon Adventure!!

This episode plus the last one makes me eat my words of despair over the blandness of episode 4. I’m counting that one as just a miss. I’m hoping that it doesn’t bode for the tone they’ll take with all Sora episodes though. Sora’s easy to overlook because she’s already kind, brave, and responsible - the main things the other kids need to work on. Still she never bored me in old Adventure. I only ever wanted more of her and that was my hope for 2020 Sora. Her intro episode wasn’t a great start, but guess what, she got to be pretty darn cool in this episode, and overall the tone of this ep was such an improvement on ep 4 that I’m back to thinking we will absolutely get a modern, cool girl Sora who rocks her spotlight episodes in the future. Pray with me friends.

By the way we finally got some decent animation in this episode. So I took gratuitous Taichi pics and I’ll post a couple to start us off bahahaha

Okay, so this was the much-awaited MIMI episode. Heck yeah. It’s called “The Targeted Kingdom.” Who is the queen of the kingdom, I’ll give you three guesses, eh what’s that Mimi? like WOW you got it on the first try!

More below!!

^ So I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. I think Sora is standing on Taichi’s back and Piyomon is helping lift her (them?) up into the trees so Sora can look around? They are trying to find the way to the ocean. This seems like the most awkward way possible to go about it but you do you kiddo...

See, Adventure Taichi would be making jokes while this is happening. 2020 Taichi is thinking about The Big Picture, at least as much of it as he knows of. He’s turning into such a pensive type. Yamato’s gonna have to work hard to keep his lead brooder status.

Also I was thinking... there’s a few times in this ep, and more in others, where I feel like the animators don’t show us enough... Idk what to call it, movement? The fall out of actions? Like why don’t we see them climb into the tree? Why are we zoomed into so close when they fall out? Later during the big fight scene, there’s stuff going on that could definitely be shown in a clearer, and also cooler to watch, way. My theory of course is it’s all budget issues but what a bummer.

The kids’ first intro to the bottomless pit that is a Digimon’s stomach. They have no food (seriously? in that pack of emergency supplies Sora brought by pure happenstance there is NO food??) so they go... steal some. But they don’t know they’re stealing.

Not that SHE cares.

Mimi: Bahaha... you’ve fallen into my trap! *cutest maniacal laugh ever*

^The trap

There is another trap that comes later in the ep and I’ll just say here. It’s some Jessie & James level shit. Way to go Meems!

ugh soooo cuuuute I want twenty

Introducing... Queen Mimi! Yes, Queen. They’ve upgraded her!

Honestly, I love how she’s introduced as royalty, but she’s dressed as a cowgirl. No one would ever ask Mimi to pick just one theme. Like her kimchi fried rice with whipped cream and strawberries, Mimi is not afraid to mix genres!

Like I said, the animation in this ep is a cut above what’s it been recently, which is a relief. And everyone’s appearance is so much like Adventure that I wonder why they changed anything xD But I’m just so grateful everyone kept their unique eyes. It was the one thing I missed in the animation of Tri, even though I wouldn’t have wanted high school kids to have baby eyes. But the eyes really highlighted each character’s individuality. Glad that’s still a thing even if not every animator pays attention to it.

Taichi & Sora: Were those your fruit trees? Uhh sorry? My Digimon was close to death and we were starving...

Mimi: You will starve again unless you learn the meaning of the law!

that’s a little les mis interlude for ya youre welcome

So Mimi arrived in the digital world, separated from the others, and immediately became Queen of the Tanemon. I SENSE A TREND.

Mimi doesn’t come across as ditzy and selfish as she did in early Adventure. I am not sure if that side of her’s been erased in favor of simply making her reluctant to fight because she’s soft-hearted, or if we’ll see her self-centeredness appear later on. I hope so. Right now the 2020 story is very focused on the plot and not on the children’s growth, which is a huge departure from Adventure, but I don’t think it will remain that way. I hope not at least. But I do think it’s possible that they’ll rewrite Mimi to be a bit less self-centered and/or airheady, and I’m not exactly against that. After all, post-Adventure Mimi showed her cool side more when she was willful or opinionated, and I’m on board with more of that in the 2020 show too. A better balance would definitely be a good thing in Mimi’s case.

She kind of made me think of Sailor Moon in this episode, lol

GASP! We are all Chosen Children! Mimi immediately says NOOO WAY i’m queen of the Tanemon!! But not because the Tanemon are catering to her every whim (they’re not, as far as I can tell! Though they did make her a throne!). Because she honestly feels a responsibility to look after them. Again, pretty different from old Adventure.

Pocket Koushirou returns and Taichi tries to absorb him into his brain!!

Taichi: *grunting* HNNNNGGGG!! Give me me your curiosity!!!

Koushirou: Are you Vademon!?!?!

Koushirou shows video footage from the human world that shows the effect the power outage is having. Though it’s not a complete blackout yet, some places like hospitals have already lost power and are in trouble. 

Mimi sees her grandfather, the president of Tachikawa Industries, on the TV helping people in trouble. VERY DIFFERENT. VERY COOL. I approve

Koushirou also points out that there is INDEED a time lapse between the human and digital worlds. I’m not exactly sure how different the time lapse is from old Adventure. At first, I thought it was much smaller, but thinking about it... given how slow the video from the human world was moving, it might be sizable. But I don’t think it’s as big as old Adventure. At any rate, Taichi and Sora figure out this means Mimi was on her own with Palmon and the Tanemon village for longer than they realized.

Also makes me wonder just how much time Yamato’s spent in the digital world...

Mimi feels torn between wanting to help her grandfather and needed to protect the Tanemon village! Naturally Taichi suggests they work together!

And a Tanemon rudely kicks him in the face!! Just kidding. But it was too cute not to cap

Mimi brings the waterworks like three or four times this episode.

Mimi: Alright! You work for me now!

Taichi: ...??? Okay I guess????

Yes, Princess or Queen, Mimi is still Mimi <3

So they join up and uhh... get ready for war I guess??

I MEAN HOW CUTE IS THAT

So this is the second Team Rocket trap, a giant hole in the ground. How did they dig it? How did the build that raft two eps ago?? Inquiring minds want to know

Greymon is surprisingly limber for a chubby dinosaur.

Taichi does what he does best in battle scenes: stand in immediate danger and look up a dinosaur’s bum.

OGREMON MAKES HIS BIG APPEARANCE IN A MIMI EP. I totally called it last week. Okay, technically he already appeared in episode 5... but we barely saw him okay! He uses Soundbirdmon (who may indeed not be sentient?) to mind-control other Digimon to find and apparently kill?? the children. Ogremon honestly sounds kind of mind-controlled himself but not sure. If he is, it’s a different kind of control. He may just talk like that because he’s an ogre and not very articulate...

I guess I capped this because CUTE CUTE CUTE

So speaking of rushing into immediate danger... Not only is Sora right in the middle of the right, she’s HANGING OFF BIRDRAMON’S LEG. This show is SO not promoting child safety hahahhahaha

Cute Taichi. Cuter still - Taichi and Sora tag teaming it. PLEEEEEASE give me more of this!! I want nothing more than for Sora to join Taichi and Yamato as a heavy-hitter. I always headcanoned her that way growing up. Let Sora kick ass 2020!!

^Palmon’s method of rescuing Mimi... effective, yet questionable

Capped because Cute.

Sora and Birdramon take down the blue bird digimon (sorry... forgot its name... will likely forget the name of every other Digimon not from old Adventure as well. i am a senior citizen). Taichi cheers for them and says “You nabbed the best bit from me!” SO CUTE. Come on, they are the best team!!

Meanwhile, Palmon: *screams bloody murder*

Mimi: Palmon! Noooo!

Episode 6: Palmon friggin DIES

I mean she is like glitching in and out. So it totally FIGURES it would be a Mimi ep that tells us “yeah kids we’re not Pokemon!” I mean. Keep watching...

Mimi recalls being all alone in a strange world when she meets Palmon. Btw they totally revamped the Pyokomon Village for this Tanemon village, I dig.

EVOLUUUUUTION!!

Boxing!!! Cactus!!! Eat this Precure!!!!

While Togemon takes out Drimogemon, Greymon rushes in to protect the kids from Ogremon...

... AND FREAKING SAWS HIS HORN OFF.

Like I said. THIS AIN’T POKEMON, KIDS.

Isn’t this actually darker than old Adventure? I mean I guess at least no one dies (I think? uhh...) and I suppose that’s less dark... but sawing off body parts... Idk man... I’m down with it, I just don’t know that it’s any nicer than old Adventure... hahahaha

POW! Err, Drimogemon’s drill ain’t looking too good either...

More waterworks as Mimi tells Palmon she loves her, and Palmon says it right back. Foreshadowing for Mimi/Koushirou tiffs in the future!? It was lit last ep that Koushirou tried to say he loves his partner and choked on it. Something tells me these two are gonna butt heads again ;)

Ugggggghhhh so cute I can’t staaaaaaand ittttt

Mimi decides to go with Taichi and Sora and leave the Tanemon village, Idk, I guess they’ll be safe now???  at least they won’t be targeted for having a human child among them.

Also I like her leaf bag. The Tanemon totally made it for her.

We end with Ogremon gripping his broken horn and fricking sobbing. This... does not bode well.

I want to hug him

so cast your votes, who gets the first hurt/comfort scene with Ogremon? Will it be gentle chastisement from Mimi while she patches him up with stuff from Sora’s pack? Or will it be Jou and the toilet paper you know he brought even if it makes no sense?!? hahahaha

I give this ep a 7/10 WELL DONE. That’s what a Digimon episode should be. Very close to VERY VERY GOOD.

I missed the trailer for next week so have more gratuitous Taichis instead.

[aelaer]

[1/2] Now this is an actual ask as in asking for help. 👀 I have a problem with Steve and Tony. I spent too much time too early on reading anti/not-friendly post-CW fics about 'Team Cap', and because of that I have been unable to see Tony as a flawed human or Steve as a good person. It's a pattern I've become too familiar with, and even recent stories are often going into that sense. I have been trying for some time now to do something about it, but either the method was bad, or I couldn't

(I tagged a couple people in this post – if you were tagged, the question directed to you is wayyyy at the bottom! Feel free to ignore of course.)

You really hit me with a doozy with this ask. I might offend someone for not thinking the exact same way as them with… everything this topic entails… Steve, Tony, anti-fics. Followers from last year know what happened last time I talked about poor and OOC characterization in fanfic, lmao. Beware The Easily Offended! This Is A Critical Thinking Of Your Hobby Zone! I Am Being Critical Of Specific Types of MCU Fanfic!

Please don’t click the read more button if you can’t handle an opinion that might not match yours. Really. I’m fine with discussing different opinions in a mature manner but if you have issues with people saying they don’t like a specific type of plot, this post is not for you. (The read more button doesn’t appear on the original post for followers using the mobile app, but it works on desktop and in all reblogs. If you don’t see a cut and don’t want to read, just skip it, please).

Yeah. Okay. Moving on. Can’t say folks weren’t warned.

I’ve had this in my drafts for several weeks because of the abuse I got the last time I wrote something critical about certain plot points used in fanfic. I was definitely a bit reluctant to look at this specific topic from an analytical and critical look as I remembered that, but hey, it’s really easy for a coward to use a sockpuppet account and throw abuse. It’s harder to be a minority voice with stark opinions contrasting the popular trend. I’m okay with having a minority opinion amongst the MCU fandom.

(PS - you’re welcome to disagree with my opinions, so long as you’re respectful about it. Remember there are individuals behind the screens!)

Concerning Character Flaws

So the thing about really well-written characters is that they are flawed in some manner. Anyone who thinks Tony or Steve exist without flaws – and I mean real flaws, like arrogance, believing they’re always right, short tempers, and other *real* character flaws that both of these characters have – well, if they don’t think they exist with these flaws, how well do they know the character?

You don’t have to know a character well to be a fan of said character – there’s no rules about that – but if you’re going to write fanfic, and that fanfic entails the character you love against a character you don’t particularly like, I’d say any writer looking to do anything resembling a good job would do their due diligence in figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of both characters before writing the characters themselves. These mental lists of characteristics should be equal for both characters. No, “good abs” is not a character strength if you have no physical aspects in the other character strength column. You don’t have to like a character to still write them well.

Even professionals don’t follow this rule when, say, shows get new writers or comics get different writers, so you might consider me silly expecting those dabbling in fan fiction. But yeah, if an author wants me to take a story seriously as something with quality, I expect the characters to resemble themselves in some manner.

(This level of resemblance varies when you purposefully choose for the protagonist to be evil, be in a completely different time period, etc, but authors who do this *well* still get core personality traits solid, even if morality is out the window or the profession is entirely different. I have a lot of examples from the Sherlock fandom of total AUs that pull this off well – haven’t read nearly enough AUs in the MCU to have a good collection here).

But a resemblance of character, of capturing the three-dimensionality of a character, is what anti-fics simply fail to achieve. The characters they’re anti against usually suffer cases of Flanderization, if they’re not completely out of character altogether in showing traits that were never displayed in the canon, ever. I don’t know why anyone would be interested in such stories, myself, and remain baffled at their popularity. Is there some sort of enjoyment in seeing such a 2D rendition of a character in what is otherwise meant as a serious work and provides absolutely no sense of proper conflict between two characters? Not for me; it immediately takes me out of the story and when it gets too much, I abandon the story. It’s just not enjoyable for me. Turning a canon protagonist into a strawman is just lazy writing and offers nothing to the writer’s favorite, preferred character.

Concerning Steve’s and Tony’s Flaws

Every real human being has some sort of personality flaw that is decidedly unattractive. Some people are really good at showing it very rarely (and are some of the best human beings), but with these two characters we see them at their greatest heights and lowest of lows. Ironically, they actually share a lot of the same flaws, but display them in different manners in canon:

Both men believe they are the best man for the job and will do it without consulting someone who could actually fight against it - or go completely against them. Tony with Ultron is the easy example here. He’s the smartest man in the world and can tackle the issue of protecting it on its own. Steve, same issue, and his job is “helping Bucky”. *He’s* the one who can handle Bucky, the only one who can handle him - big thing in both WS and CW. If both of them had utilized their friends and allies a lot more, a lot of issues could have been avoided.

Both men are sometimes hypocritical. Steve promotes teamwork in all his speeches but again with the Bucky situation. Just… everything Bucky, man. Tony signs the Accords and immediately goes against them with what he gives to Peter, who most assuredly did not sign them (tangent: if he HAD joined the Avengers at the end of Homecoming, I have no idea how that would have gone since Peter would have had to reveal his identity to the UN and then there’s the whole ‘still a minor’ thing, and yeah, Homecoming’s end scene just makes me go nuts). But anyway, their occasional hypocrisy is one of the most realistic aspects of them because most human beings are hypocritical sometimes.

Both men are sometimes arrogant. Tony’s self-explanatory with his genius-playboy-philanthropist-billionaire. One thing he does not suffer from is low self-esteem in regards to his abilities. His arrogance comes from his genius. Steve’s arrogance lies more in his deep-seeded belief that he is on the moral high ground – and one reason I think a lot of people dislike him so much, because moral superiority is very much a faux pas in this day and age for some millennials and many Gen Z folk. He has a very, very solid sense of what is right and what is wrong, and that rubs some folks the wrong way. Tony is more morally fluid – but he is not by any means immoral.

Both of them have a really solid list of strengths as well. As this ask specifically is looking to find the good in Steve, I specifically Googled pro-Steve articles for you to click at your leisure (and one with both). If you need to go back to canon, I highly recommend rewatching The First Avenger and The Winter Soldier, which introduces Steve brilliantly and then lets Steve grow further in the second film.

(Note: I actually prefer Tony to Steve in terms of personal favoritism, but how a very loud segment of Tony fans have treated other characters has led me to be more vocal about the strengths of others, especially Steve and Wanda. So Tony might be in my top 5, but mean-spirited Tony fans have moved me to be a champion of other characters, if only to show other fans that there are indeed Tony fans that do like the other characters and treat them – and their fans – with respect).

Bringing Balance (to the Universe…) Fanfic-Style

This addresses the second part of your ask in regards to the fanfics. And this is where I started running into trouble, too, mostly because, well, just how many Stephen and Steve fics are there? Yeah, exactly. Stephen’s my main guy. So I did some research, outsourcing, and reading.

Here’s two I knew of before cuz Stephen’s in them in some capacity:

Identity Theft by KitKat992 - it stars Peter and both Tony and Steve play integral parts from what I recall. Good story too, very engaging.

A Dysfunctional Senior Year (series) by ApolloLoki97 - this also stars Peter and has a large Team As Family aspect, so it shows the entire Avengers team as just decent people. My favorite part is naturally part 3 because Stephen comes in that one, haha.

And to find other stories, I went into the Anti-Accords tag. It was nice to find fics that didn’t have such a love of hypocritical authoritarianism. Aannyyyyway.

Making Sense of Chaos by SparkedtoLife - mind the tags. Seriously, it’s heavy duty. Yet another Peter fic because he’s way more popular than my favorite character, qq. Lots of Netflix Marvel characters too! Anyway, deals with not only Tony and Steve really well (and has a different dynamic with Tony that isn’t IronDad, so that was a nice change of pace), it also deals with the Accords situation very realistically. And none of those are even main plot points. If you can handle the very serious, sensitive subject that is the main plot point, I highly recommended it. It’s a very masterfully done work.

Atlas by nanasekei - Stony. Treats all characters with respect and both Tony and Steve as three-dimensional, flawed humans with some serious self doubts. Also highly agree with the author that Thaddeus Ross sucks and is basically one of the biggest people to blame for Everything Going To Shit.

Homecoming by an orphaned account - Some Stucky. This is a lovely one-shot of things I basically wanted to happen when the team got together again but didn’t. Sigggghhh. Everyone is definitely in character in this one, traumas and healing and all. And look, another person realizes that trusting Ross is a really horrible idea.

Locks Not Replaced by Riverdaughter - first this writer has a Tolkien-based username so yay. Anyway, the fic starts off by Tony realizing that he almost killed Steve during the fight with his repulsors, and it was only Bucky that stopped him. Do people seriously think he’d survive a shot to the face with that power? This is one reason the ‘Steve tried to kill Tony’ people piss me the fuck off. What do you think those repulsors shoot, fucking rainbows? Honestly, guys. Anyway, mini rant over. This fic is great. Author comes in with a Cap favoritism but treats Tony well, and honestly Tony turning a blind eye to everything and ignoring Ross is what I like to think happened in canon (he clearly dislikes the guy). And also I love the Robin Hood parallels. Love love love. I think this fic is my favorite of the ones listed in this section.

Meeting Your Heroes by Riverdaughter - naturally after reading that fic I went to explore more and found this gem. She’s not incorrect in saying Tony wasn’t a good mentor at the beginning - I think he had his own growth after Peter’s actions in Homecoming especially (though even through Homecoming he was trying, just… not always successfully lmao). Anyway love these two together. It’s great.

Photograph by slytherclaw420 - A scene we deserved in Endgame and didn’t get. Sigh. Definite IronDad feels here. Hopeful Steve, rebuilding of a friendship.

And uh, an honorable mention of sorts:

Balancing the Scales by MoonFire1 - I’m not recommending this fic for good characterization or plot. It really doesn’t have either. The fic was written in retaliation for the nasty Tony fans completely trashing Steve’s character. You should only read this if you want to see the argument from “the other side” and if you want to see an anti-Tony fic like you’ve seen anti-Steve fics. Don’t harass the author though. This is presented as a counterargument to anti-Steve fiction, for those interested to read the other sides arguments. I don’t like the nature of the fic, but I loathe that “not Steve friendly” has 30 fucking pages of works with tens of thousands of kudos, so one anti-Tony fic (with a comparatively small three pages under that tag) really doesn’t compare. Ugh. I hate the anti culture in this fandom so much. Loathe it. It’s such a nasty energy! Why would you indulge in such negativity? But as I’ve mentioned before, I appreciate authors aware enough to tag it so I can avoid it. I wish that part of fandom culture didn’t exist, but well, can’t change it. Just can criticize the fuck out of it on my blog. Maybe encourage people to think less one-sided in the process if I’m lucky.

But there’s probably more good characterization Steve fics to be found, so I am forcefully recruiting two people via tag:

If you’re looking to dabble into Stony fics with good-guy-Steve, if anyone would know of any, I’d imagine it’d be @babywarg.

You don’t know this person, but @cairistiona7 has actually known me the longest of anyone here on tumblr (half my life! HALF! She even knows my real name :P She betaed a LOTR work of mine a decade ago I ended up never fully publishing… thanks again for all your help there…). Anyway, she’s a big Bucky fan, and Bucky friendships is the best thing. So if anyone would know any wholesome Bucky and Steve stories, it’d be her. (Or really I’d take any of your recs, Cair, as I’ll probably enjoy them as well).

I hope this was helpful to you md, and that I didn’t piss off too many of my followers in the process of answering this lol.

[vikingsarememes]

pairing: Hvitserk x Y/N

summary: you and your boyfriend were drunk, so you submitted a fake application to the school nearby that was hiring, Hvitserk tells you how his day went.

Warnings: none

Word count: 1168

It was a stupid bet, a stupid joke, a prank application that you sent while drunk that got Hvitserk a gig as a sub-teacher, today was his first day in the job, he had no idea what to do, he’s never dealt with children before that weren’t Sigurd, Ivar or Bjorn’s kids, he barely knows anything about history, the only history he knows is history channel where they aired his favorite show about Vikings.

You woke him up in the morning and both of you went through his wardrobe, the man doesn’t have a thing that’s not a hoodie or a shirt, you struggled to find a decent outfit, you helped unbraid his hair, a teacher was supposed to look somehow respectful not like a drunk playboy which he totally was, you sent him off to school with a lunch box and a list of the stupid things he shouldn’t say.

You and Hvitserk has been dating for seven months now, both of you are very playful, and always seeking a good time, and yesterday when you thought it would be funny if you submit a fake CV to the nearby school for an experiment you were doing for your blog about how low hiring standards and look-based public schools are, you didn’t expect them to actually write you back and tell you Mr. Hvitserk Ragnarsson was a perfect candidate and that he should be put on a test tomorrow to see if he’s any good with the kids.

After all, who would say no to an Oxford graduate with an honorary degree, and has plenty of researches on the matter of how adding a turtle in a classroom helps the class’s atmosphere settle down three degrees and a half, yes, Photoshop can do wonders.

Hours later, Hvitserk returned, he didn’t greet you with a kiss or squeeze your butt like he usually does, he walked to the bedroom and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling, you followed “are you okay love?” you asked “I got fired! From my fake job! How’s that even possible?” he asked “what happened?” you asked as you sat next to him “they said my methods of teaching were too advanced for their own liking” you laughed, he looked at you seriously in the eyes “Hvitserk, my love, tell me everything” you said and laid down next to him, using his chest as your personal pillow.

“Well, I went there, I introduced myself as Hvitserk Ragnarsson, honorary student of Oxford has three superior pieces of research on the matters of education and history, and I met Obama two times as he thanked me for my services, I also volunteered in the army and rescued a whale once” he started, you laughed, no joke, this was what you wrote yesterday in the CV.

“Anyways, we were talking about the civil war, and a kid asked me, why did the soldiers wear khaki, I told him because it was the trend back then, and another started explaining the correct answer, then they asked me when did the war happen So I told them a very long while ago! And then they wanted to know why, so I said because German people were jealous of Swiss people and they wanted more shiny stuff! So the kid from earlier said, no, it’s because of bleh, bleh, bleh and I was okay with it, I encouraged that annoying kid”

“Anyways, the class ended, I was walking in the hallways and bam! A school fight! A kid was injured, and they literally dragged me to see him so I knelt down and I saw the kid, he was bleeding from his nose so I screamed QUICK SOMEONE CALL AN ADULT, they all looked at me as if I’m insane, and were like, you are the adult, and I was like, bitch no, I stole my nephew’s lunch the other day, I’m nowhere near adult! We need an adulter adult!” 

“So, we took the kid to the nurse’s office, and I was left to deal with the bully, I asked him why did he do that? He said the other kid called him gay, so I was like, oh and you’re still in denial of your sexuality? The kid kicked me in the leg then ran, I didn’t get a name or anything, but fuck the kid’s kick was strong I fell on the ground and eventually started crying, another looked at me and was like, I think I don’t want to grow up and be this pathetic, but the thing is, this kid had a fucking burrito!” 

“I snatched the burrito and started ugly eating on the floor, in a corner, and at a point, I gave detention to the janitor because he told me to get up and get my life together, later, the principal called me in and said this experience scarred the kids for life and perhaps I should apply to highschools instead”

“So I was like, no, I’m an elite human being! My researches are all around these subjects, everything I did was intentional and I must work with elementary schools! So the principal said it wasn’t working and he has to let me go, however, he referred me to private schools that they’d be more interested in what I have to offer”

“I was like ok fine, I slammed the door and picked up my stuff, on my way out, there was this kid, holding sour candy, well, I love this shit, and I was pretty sad! So you bet I snatched the bag and ran home! Man! Being a teacher is hard, although the food is good” by the time he finished talking you were dying of laughter, your handsome idiot surely left his mark in the school, and in those little kids’ life.

“Did you at least eat your lunch?” you asked playing with his hair “no, I got fired before lunch break which is ridiculous because I was looking forward to showing my badass food container that had Batman all over it!” he whined, you giggled “okay but it’s around four, what did you do the rest of the day?” , “I went to the comics store, and remember that comic book you told me about? The girl with weird superpowers? Well, I couldn’t find it but I ordered a few copies, god! I’m so lucky I’m rich, but you know, it was good to share my expertise with the young, I should write a life guide or something about it” he chuckled you rolled your eyes and kissed his lips “you definitely should, but we have meatloaf for dinner”, “ah, meatloaf, the common enemy of my creativity! I suppose my career as a new york best time seller can wait” you chuckled then got up “get cleaned and meet me in the kitchen” you finally said before leaving, you prepared the table, thinking to yourself how adorable your boyfriend is, he’s a total dork, but he was your dork.

tags: @youbloodymadgenius​

[neokonewman]

Long Post Alert

This idea has been buzzing away in my head since the last Sanders Sides video and the most current one has finally ignited the flames of my motivation to follow this through. I’m going to try writing out detailed meta posts on each of the Sides, starting to with my abosute favorite boy, Logan.

Note, I am a lowly mobile bound user, so the “Read More” function is completely out of my whelm of power, as far as I know. I’ll be sure to tag this as “long post” because I have a lot to say. I apologize in advance for your dashes.

I mentioned in a previous post that I believe the main conflict with Logan vs his true role as “Logic” is that he misunderstands just how subjective one’s individual logic truly is. He denies his ability to have emotions, in a misguided attempt to appear as impartial as possible; however, one’s logic is not necessary fueled by purely objective reasoning. With more time to reflect on this theory, I’ve only grown more confident in this observation, and it’s not just by his obvious emotional outburst, but also by his behavior in general.

The point I would like to highlight first is his determination to keep up with social trends. This is not only relevant to him keeping flash cards of various slang words. Throughout the series Logan has displayed knowledge of internet culture such as him being the one to heavily advise Thomas make a clickbait title for his video about his time on a Disney Channel show, to the infamous dab for his “styling pair of Ruby Parkers.” While these can be seen as simple personality quirks to keep him from being too one note, I believe they also show off his (and by extent, Thomas’) unique brand of logic.

There are definitely people out there who do not share the same logic that they have to stay on top of the ever changing culture of slang, memes, and etc when it comes to internet culture. However, as someone whose main source of livelihood is social media, it makes perfect sense why Thomas would feel the pressing need to learn all the new ins and outs of his platform as well as his fanbase. This explains why Logan, who is someone who can seemingly produce a lecture of various philosophers and sciences on the fly, feels the extra need to break out the flash cards to sprinkle in as much correctly used slang as possible. He has the knowledge to teach, but he understands that he must make the extra effort to connect to Thomas’ audience.

Another example of his subjective nature is his love for learning, and in particular, science. In “Why Do We Get Out Of Bed In The Morning” Logan’s insists that the reward for living is experiencing life itself. Unlike, Roman, Logan does not want Thomas to strive for “something more”, but to appreciate this vast “biosphere” that is the world he has been born in. Obviously, this (plus his desire to want Thomas to keep improving himself academically) is tied to Thomas’ past desires to be a scientist (a biologist to be more precise). It also seems like Logan is much more comfortable with the academia side of things because Thomas had been pursuing that field for a great amount of time and the change of careers is still something Logan is getting used to accepting.

In turn, his bias for science also plays a role in Logan’s “random” love for rapping. Back in the Nostalgia episode, Thomas revealed that he was inspired to be a scientist from “The Rainforest Rap.” The moment Logan hears the song his eyes widen in excitement because to Thomas, it’s only logical that what inspired him is deemed as important and whole holding onto. Not only that, but rapping also ties into Thomas’ current profession as a performer/artist. Some believe that rap is strongly tied to poetry, as it is a form of artistic expression and creativity. This is later driven home with Logan and Roman being the ones to sing along to The Rainforest Rap together since it is a bridge between both of their values.

Now, onto the most important example, Logan’s love for Crofters. Oh yeah, I’m seriously going to tie this random gag that morphed into a permeant quirk with my analysis. Surprisingly enough, the reason I believe Logan attaches himself to this delectable fruit spread is pretty simple, although one could say a lot of his reasonings are simple if you think about it. Both Thomas and Roman have admitted that they were not normally jelly people, so it’s not that big of a stretch to say Logan is not one either. However, Crofters, startling enough, became the exception to all three of them. This means, “logically”, something has to be SUPER special about Crofters and deserves to be treated as such.

So now that I’ve gone over a few examples showing how Thomas’ own experiences and properties shape his logic (aka Logan), my next issue is ‘why?’ Why does Logan feel the need to put up a front to seem as objective and emotionless as possible? What motivates him to put a clear difference between him and the other sides, and why hasn’t he already dropped it after it’s been proven to be restrickening his ability to both learn and convey information, the two things that matter the most to him?

I believe the reason for this counterproductive mindset actually lies in how Thomas himself views logic. You must be asking me “how Thomas could be the one preventing Logan from accepting his emotions when Thomas himself has tried to get Logan to be more in tune with his feelings?”, but we must remember that all the Sides are just different parts of Thomas that he has personified in order to better understand himself. If Thomas truly wanted Logan to be more open to having emotions, surely the moment he thought about wanting him to, it would have already happened. I think there’s something in Thomas himself that’s holding Logan back, whether intention or otherwise.

With Deceit being a active player and having proven that Thomas does indeed have the power to hide parts of his personality he doesn’t necessary like away, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to assume that Thomas may not truly want to accept that Logan (aka his logic) can be swayed by emotion and/or is not as objective as he wants him to be. There is a sort of romantized notion that logical thinking is universal, that “common sense” is indeed common amongst the majority, and it’s the most perfect form of critical thinking, but that is just not the case.

Thomas chose to portray Logan as a teacher, a profession that, in theory, is expected to teach facts without personal biases getting too much in the way. He was made up as a seemingly perfect image of a sound and analytical mind. However, I agrue ever since Deceit was introduced, has become less and less his ideal vision of logic because Thomas became actively aware of his deceitful side and it paying more attention to the slips and noticeable inconsistencies. I think his way of doing so it calling Logan out on his denial of his emotions more seriously than ever before, but there is a part of Thomas that at least, isn’t ready to completely cross that bridge.

From the very beginning of the series, Thomas’ main goal was to see if he actually knew himself as well as he thought he did, and in light of recent events, I’m sure the results have been decided as no. Learning new things about yourself is scary and the more you question your morals, logic, hopes, and etc, the more it sets in how little you actually know about yourself. However, I believe, especially with the Deceit Arc picking up speed, we will be seeing Thomas continue this bumpy road, and maybe we shall see if his idea of Logan or all the other sides change as he delves deeper.

Whew, this turned out WAY longer than I expected it to be and it wasn’t even nearly as much as I wanted to go over with Logan, but perhaps that can come later, if people are interested. That being said, I hope people enjoyed my little ramblings on Logan and maybe be interested in hearing more about the others? If you are, how about suggesting one to me? Only if you want to of course, I could easily see this being an one and done sort of deal, but hey, I enjoyed writing all this out, so it’s not that big of a lost. Thanks for reading!

[fantasticescapism]

Brothers in Everything but Blood - Chapter 2: Meeting Spider-man

Click here for Chapter 1.

Part 4 of the Never Truly Gone series

Also available at AO3.

Harley’s one time visit turned into an overnight, twice a month thing at Tony’s workshop ever since he met Peter. No complaints there; that only meant more time to play with awesome tech and work on the ASM with him. He liked Peter Parker. It's like having a younger, better behaved brother, unlike his sister and her celebrity obsessions.

Although, Harley had a feeling there’s more to him than a genius fellow intern. At first, he thought it was just the often expected jealousy he should feel when he had to share Tony’s time and attention but, he didn’t feel jealous at all. He’s already an older brother to an excitable little sister so, sharing wasn’t a big deal. In fact lately, he’d been feeling a little protective over his new friend in light of the recent things he observed.

There were times when Peter came in with bruises and Harley’s first reaction was anger. His memories of years being bullied at school - along with the fights he had with her sister’s bullies - were pushed to the forefront of his mind. He confronted Peter about it once but the guy’s adamant the bruises were just him being hopelessly clumsy. Harley doubted it though, the steady way Peter handled the dangerous chemicals at the workshop proved otherwise. No, those bruises were from bullies, or maybe New York’s really as dangerous as most folks back home would say.

Harley asked Tony about it once when it was just the two of them - Peter said he would be late - and all he said was, “He’s just clumsy.” Tony sucks at lying. They’ve known each other for years, he should know he couldn’t lie to Harley.

“Right, and I’m more of a saint than Mother Teresa.” Harley raised an eyebrow at his mentor.

“Kid,” Tony sighed before he faced him, “it’s Peter’s business.”

“You’re not the type that would leave things like this alone, especially if it involves someone you personally know.” He narrowed his eyes.

“I know.” A hesitant pause. “Okay, Peter does have a bully-”

“His school’s in Midtown, right?”

“Whoa, wait.” Tony placed his arm around his shoulders. “Are you really going to his school, potato boy?”

“That reminds me. I can test out my new potato gun.”

“New?!” Tony’s incredulous.

“It’s Mark 10.”

“Harley, you- you have to let Peter handle it.”

“I just,” he huffed, “just really hate bullies.”

“I know.” Tony smiled fondly at him. He seemed to be mulling over something before he spoke again. “Alright, those bruises aren’t from this bully. The dickwad never resort to physical harm so, it’s something else.”

“At home?” He scowled.

“Oh no! Aunt Hottie is scary when mad but he loves Peter with her whole life.”

“Okay then.” He’s still determined to find out what’s going on and it looked like Tony’s aware of that.

“It’s not my story to tell but, maybe in time, you’ll figure it out.” Tony’s eyes sparkled like those times he gave him puzzles, confident that he could solve them. Challenge accepted!

---

Peter came in later with a busted lip and a sheepish smile. Tony saw him first and he definitely didn’t like what he saw.

“Kid, what the hell?!” Tony blurted out.

“Sorry, sorry. I know I’m late. It won’t ha-”

“That’s not what he meant, dude! What happened to you?” Harley pointed at his friend’s face. Who the hell did that to him?!

“Oh, uuh… I-I bumped into a street lamp.” Peter blushed.

“Really now?” If Tony’s raised eyebrows could reach his hairline, it would.

“Y-yeah.” Peter let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I’m okay! Just didn’t pay attention.”

“If you say so, here.” Harley sighed and retrieved an ice pack from their mini-fridge and tossed it towards the guy. Harley swore Peter didn’t look at the tossed ice pack. He was about to apologize but Peter effortlessly caught it. It was impressive… and suspicious. “Whoa! Got a sixth sense or somethin’?”

“Just luck! Lucky.” Peter nervously chuckled then gave him a tight-lipped smile. At the corner of his eye, he saw Tony facepalm.

“You got luck in opposite extremes, dude.” Harley laughed when suddenly, he received a notification on his phone. As he pulled it out of his pocket, he absent-mindedly saw Tony walk towards Peter as they conversed in whispers. It was a Twitter notification. His sister often tagged him in memes.

@harhar spidey’s at it again! lmao! you met him yet?

It was a tweet from The Daily Bugle but the source wasn’t important. The picture attached was glorious! it's like the dark clouds parted, a ray of sun bathed him with light and a choir of angels sang Allelujah!

Huh.

Harley grinned like the devil. This would be fun.

---

Harley loved the comfortable silence in the workshop once all three started working. They worked together like a well-oiled machine; not much words needed, just looks and signals. This time though, Harley decided to disrupt the flow a bit.

“So Tony, when are you going to introduce me to Spider-man?” Harley almost snorted when he saw Peter freeze in the corner of his eye. Harley feigned ignorance, of course.

“That depends if he’s free. Why the sudden interest?” Harley looked up and saw Tony’s genuine question.

“Well, my little sister Faith - you remember, wanna be an actress, obnoxious - she’s a huge fan. Like real huge. She even got this life-size cut-out of Spider-man and lugged it around at a party back home.” He desperately reined in his amusement when he saw Peter’s red-as-a-tomato face.

“Really?” Tony narrowed his eyes at him.

“Yeah, here.” He pulled out the photo he took of Faith hugging her Spider-man cut-out from his phone and showed it to Tony. “See?”

“Huh.” Tony smirked. Harley then turned the phone to let Peter see too and he wasn’t disappointed at his reaction.

“Where-where did she-where did she get that?” Peter crossed his arms.

“She’s part of this fan club; said she won it at a raffle.” With wide eyes, Peter looked at Tony at the mention of a fan club. “That’s the internet for you. They have fandoms for pretty much anythin’. Did you guys know there are Spider-man fanfiction stories? She told me all about it.” He gave Tony a slight smirk and at that moment, he knew Tony knows he knew. He watched as Tony’s eyes sparkled with mischief for a second before he played along.

“Is that so? Is it as huge as mine’s.”

“Nah, Spidey's new so there's not that many, yet.” Harley saw Peter desperately trying to get back to work and feign nonchalance but his fidgety fingers won’t let him. “I scanned some of them. There’s action, angst, comedy and then, there’s a lot - and I mean a lot - of smut.”

“W-w-what?!” Oh, Peter. Harley’s delighted though.

“Yeah. One time, when I was really concerned, had to make sure Faith's internet searches are PG so I checked out some of the stories. Faith’s only eleven, by the way.”

“Yeah.” Tony said..

“Yeah, so I stumbled into one story about a risqué night between Spidey and this mugging victim he rescued. He was invited to the victim’s house as a thank you. Then he was offered coffee before they both went in the bedroom where they-”

“Mr. Stark," Peter jumped, "I-I-I have to make a call! Have to tell May I’ll be late. She’ll be mad if I don’t, ya know?”

“You can just use FRIDAY, kid.”

“No, it’s cool, cool, cool, cool. I’ll just-I’ll just step out of the workshop for a bit. Be right back.” Peter almost ran out of the workshop; his face in danger of being permanently red. As soon as the door closed behind him, Tony signalled for FRIDAY to soundproof the workshop before they both laughed their asses off.

“Oh god!” Tony wiped the tears off his eyes. “You’re a little shit, Harley!”

“Can’t help it!” Harley wheezed. “Just wanna confirm my suspicions but Peter just made it so easy!”

“How did you find out?” Harley pulled out the photo from the tweet and showed it to Tony. “Oh great, that's gonna trend."

"It is trending. Got it from a Daily Bugle tweet."

"His Spidey sense - he named it - is still evolving. So…" He gestured at the Harley's phone.

"Whoa! So he does have a sixth sense!"

"Among other things. Are you gonna tell him you know?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna see how long I can keep this goin’." Harley grinned.

---

Apparently, fate decided to speed things along. It was later that day, a few hours before Harley’s supposed to fly back home to Rose Hill, when he told Tony and Peter his plan to go to the city on his own and just experience it all. Oh and, Faith asked for a Spider-man merchandise and apparently, the compound didn’t have a gift shop.

”Seriously? Not even any official Spidey merch?” He was dubious.

”He didn’t accept the Avengers position so, no.” Was that a hint of sadness from Tony? Hmm...

He was tempted to ask Peter where he could buy them but decided to give the guy a break. Instead, he asked FRIDAY and she gave him a list of all possible places, most of them were in Chinatown. So, Chinatown it was. Happy dropped him off at the corner of Broadway and Canal St. with a stern warning.

“Kid, you have an hour. If you’re not in this exact spot later, you find yourself a way to the airport.”

“Awww Happy, your Grumpy is showin’.” He grinned and he earned a glare for that cheek. In true Happy fashion, the tires of the Audi screeched as he drove to get away. Harley chuckled as he walked along Canal St.

New York never failed to fascinate Harley what with all the diverse cultures and personalities he wouldn’t see in Tennessee. There are a lot of bootleg stuff too, perfect for his non-billionaire budget so he thought he could buy a purse for his mom along with the plush Spidey toy for Faith.

It only took him around thirty minutes to buy gifts then food - he got hungry - and walk around Canal St and thought he could go and venture out to smaller streets. Ever since he told his mom about the internship visits to New York, she’d been so worried for him. Can’t blame her though, most stories that came out of New York were of aliens, kidnappings and other crimes. So, before she agreed to the arrangement, she explicitly warned him to be cautious and to not be stupid. Harley knew he was being stupid as soon as he saw three men with baseball bats and metal pipes. They seemed to surround something on the ground and as Harley walked closer, the situation became clearer.

“Just give us the money or else!”

“P-p-please, I-I-I can’t!” A boy cowered in a corner, a backpack in his arms. “It’s m-money for my mom’s m-m-medicine.”

“You think we care ‘bout that?!” The mugger laughed and mocked the boy. “Give us the fucking money or you won’t go back home to your mom!”

Damnit! Harley looked around for something he could use but all he saw was half a brick and a brown broken leg of a table. Well, better than nothin’. He picked up both. He aimed at the leader’s head and threw the brick. Bullseye!The yelp from the guy made Harley smirk.

“Muggin’ a helpless boy,” he tutted, “ya’ll so pathetic.” Harley’s southern accent always got thicker in stressful situations. The guy he threw a brick at growled and stalked towards him.

“Look guys, a country bumpkin!” The others followed suit menacingly.

“Kid,” Harley looked at the cowering boy, “get outta here!” The boy didn’t need telling twice. He stood and ran away from the scene. The muggers continued to walk closer to Harley as they brandished their weapons.

“You shoulda just walked away, southern boy.” Harley clenched his jaw, both hands on the piece of wood he found and braced himself for a fight. One of the guys raised his bat but before he could do more, a web latched on to it and was pulled out of his hands. When the guy looked up, he was webbed and pulled towards the wall where he got stuck.

“What the fuck?!” The other two looked around in fear.

“Hey, guys!” Spider-man landed beside the head mugger then swept the guys leg off the floor. As soon as the guy landed on his ass, Spidey webbed him to the floor. “I’m Spider-man. Nice to meet you!”

Whoa! Harley was amazed! It was one thing to watch Spider-man from potato quality videos and it’s another to see him fight in person. When Spidey successfully webbed up the last guy, Harley just remembered then regretted not pulling out his camera to take a video of it. Damnit! Good job, me.

“Hey, you okay?” Spider-man asked him. Harley looked at the muggers and saw they’re all knocked out. “Are you hurt?”

“No, no, no. I’m good. I’m good. Thanks, Peter. Hoo boy! That was, that was scary! New York, huh?” Harley grinned at Spidey and lightly punched him on the arm but the guy just froze and stared at him, the eyes on his mask were wide open. “What? Whoa!” Spidey suddenly carried him and swung up a building’s empty rooftop.

“Oh my god!” Harley exclaimed as soon as they landed. “That was awesome! So that’s how it felt like! Faith’s not gonna believe this!”

“How did-When did-How-What the-” Spidey seemed like he was about to hyperventilate.

“Ok, calm down. Breathe.” They both took calming breaths and let the adrenaline rush ebb away.

“Did-did Mr. Stark tell you?” Spidey asked as soon as they’re both calm.

“Nah, I figured it out.” He smirked.

“How?” Harley pulled out his phone and showed him the picture from The Daily Bugle tweet. It’s a collage of burst mode photos of Spider-man as he successfully avoided a flying drone but then he swung face first to a street lamp. “Street lamp, huh?” He grinned.

“Wait, that could’ve been just a coincidence.”

“Yeah but your reaction when I told you guys about my sister’s Spidey obsession was hilarious and a dead giveaway. That and the freaky sixth sense you have.” Spidey groaned.

“Are you telling me that-that smut story was real?!”

“Nah, I made that up.” Harley chuckled as the other huffed in relief. Then again, Harley’s a little shit. “But there are Spidey smut fanfics. Loads of them.” He cackled when Spidey groaned.

“Can’t believe this.”

“Oh please, you’re a nerd. You’re in the Star Wars fandom. You should know these things.”

“Yeah but, I’m just-just Spider-man.” He shrugged.

“Hey, you’re doing great things. You save people so of course a lot of them would love you. Just umm,” Harley side hugged Spidey, “if you don’t want to be scarred, don’t google yourself without SafeSearch on.”

“Harley!” He gasped. Harley couldn’t help but let out an evil laugh.

“Come on, that’s solid advice.”

“Oh my god!”

“Ok, seriously, what else can you do? Those webs aren’t organic, right?”

“No, I made them.”

“That explains the huge bottles of chemicals in the workshop.”

“I have umm, enhanced strength, senses, really fast healing and I stick to everything.”

“Everything? Even a sheer surface like glass?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm, interesting. Even a non-stick pan?”

“I umm… I actually don’t know. I’ll test it out later.”

“Let me know, okay?” Harley grinned.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Oh, before I forget, do you mind if I take a selfie with you?” Someone in Tennessee’s gonna flip.

“No, it’s okay.” After they took a selfie, Harley sent it over to his sister and, as he expected, he received a Facetime request. “Oh umm. Brace your ears.” He warned before he accepted. A piercing squeal - the pigeons perched at the rooftop flew to get away from the noise - came from Harley’s phone as Faith’s image appeared.

“HARLEY!!!!!!!!”

“Hey sis, meet my friend.”

“Hi, Faith!” Spidey waved and Faith let out another squeal. Harley could feel Spidey freeze by his side.

“Jeez Faith, stop screeching! You’re hurting his ears. He’s got enhanced senses.”

“Sorry, sorry…” Faith whispered. “Oh my god, you know my name. Hi Spidey, I love you!” She used her hands to form a heart shape.

“Umm…” Harley could tell he didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Faith...” Harley warned.

“Okay, okay… Sorry. It’s just, I’m a big fan! Hi!”

“Sis, you get one question then Spidey needs to go fight crime and save people, alright?”

“Okay, umm… Do you have a girlfriend?” Harley rolled his eyes. Of all the- He should’ve seen this coming.

“Umm, no. No, I don’t.” Bless his heart. He bravely answered. Faith screamed again.

“Alright, that’s enough. Bye, Faith!”

“No, wait! Wai-” Harley ended the call and sighed.

“Sorry about that.”

“No, no, no, it’s fine.”

“Don’t let that get in your head.”

“No, of course not!”

“Good. Oh, shit!” Harley looked at his watch. “Happy’s gonna kill me.”

“Come on, I’ll get you there faster.” Spidey, with his arm around Harley’s waist, lifted him before he jumped off the building. Harley loved the feeling of swinging. It was like being on a rollercoaster. It gave him an idea though. What if one day he could fly too?

---

Before going to bed that night, Harley grinned as he received a message from Peter. It’s a photo of a pan stuck on his hand with a message, “Yup, I can.”

[tenacityblitz]

tagged by: no one, I pilfered it from @inanthesis tagging: anyone who wants to fluff Deku’s already fluffy hair

1. FIRST SHIP YOU EVER WROTE FIC FOR? Klavier Gavin/Ema Skye from Ace Attorney. That’s actually how I got into RP’ing, I was writing a multi-chap fic and two girls who were regular readers introduced me to the concept of RP’ing.

2. SHIP YOU WRITE MOST NOW? Definitely Todobaku. A lot of it exists more on Discord but Alice and I have a couple threads for it on Tumblr.

3. SHIP YOU READ THE MOST NOW? Probably Todobaku or Kacchako. I’ll get fic recs for both those ships pretty regularly from friends.

4. NEWEST SHIP? Kiribaku. I couldn’t tell you why but originally (aka after my first watch & readthrough of BNHA) I only had it as a brotp for me but it morphed into an otp for me after Alice and I started writing Todobaku, so it’s technically the newest one for me.

5. RARE SHIP YOU WANT YO READ MORE OF? I don’t know only because I’m not a super consistent fic reader.

6. YOUR TABOO SHIP? Ask the Voltron fandom and some people would say Sheith but they can shove off lol.

7. THEY NEVER MET IN CANON SHIP? Also a good question because off the top of my head I don’t really have one?? If I do I can’t think of it right now.

8. YOUR UNEXPECTED SHIP? Keeping with the trend of keeping Alice’s answer and it’s Todobaku for me too. I didn’t really give much thought to the ship until her and I started properly interacting and the ‘don’t joke about a ship with me because two minutes later I’ll be doing it seriously’ post absolutely applies to us. We didn’t actively plan on shipping when she motivated me to make Bakugou’s blog, it just ended up happening.

9. THE SHIP YOU ALWAYS FORGET TO GIVE LOVE FOR? Any ship that’s not in BNHA since BNHA is my current obsession.

10. SHIP YOUR OC WITH CANON CHARACTER? I’m not against oc/canon ships at all but I currently don’t have any. Alice I’m just stealing lots of your answers lol.

11. SHIP YOU’RE EMBARRASSED TO SHIP? I have nothing to feel embarrassed about ship wise. Some people may have differing opinions about ships that I ship but I don’t feel embarrassed over liking the ships that I do.

12. YOUR MOST ROMANTIC SHIP? Alice I swear I’m not keeping all your answers, but Sheith. I still write it primarily on Discord with my main Shiro from my time in the Voltron RPC, and it’s so disgustingly soft and domestic with how much development my friend and I have put into the ship after over a year of writing it together.

13. YOUR SEXIEST SHIP? If we’re talking aesthetically, I’d say Sheith because Shiro’s a fucking buffet and Keith’s a full course meal lolol.

14. YOUR MOST TRAGIC SHIP? I’m going to be a bit salty and say Plance (Pidge x Lance) because I’m sorry but the fandom got robbed with the shoehorned endgame Allurance and the bullshit hints VA’s dropped for us during the second half of the show. -plays Rolling in the Deep in the distance-

15. SHIP YOU WANT MORE CONTENT FOR? Todobaku. In terms of things for me to reblog and for fucking merch for my ita bag. It breaks my heart that I’ve got such slim pickings for what’s gone in my ita bag so far and the fact that I’ve had to commission some of it just to exist. I get way too excited now when I find even a single piece to buy to go in my bag simply because the ship is so underappreciated in the Western side of the fandom.

[hudson-finn]

Beautiful Corruption

Tagging: Finn, Rachel, Jamie & Chloe Location: Frat House Notes: When Finn and Rachel meet at a Frat party, they spark a relationship that will alter the course of their lives.

Rachel loved being involved in her sorority, but it definitely did get to be a lot sometimes. The beginning of the year honestly kept her exhausted, but it was nice to just be able to go out and have some fun. The beginning of the year meant parties. Tons of parties. And well, that pretty much meant free alcohol. While she did have to deal with rushing and all of the young moon eyed freshmen completely eager to get into a sorority, it always went by incredibly quickly. And honestly, syllabus week was one of her favorite weeks because it was pretty much just a free for all and she was able to do whatever she wanted. When she was notified of their brother frat throwing a beginning of year party, she was more than excited to be able to go. Usually, these parties were tons of fun but they did tend to end up with a lot of bad decisions on her part. Rachel walked into the frat with her friend, Chloe, immediately going to get themselves a beer before walking around and just keeping up some conversation. "Oh, hey," Rachel said, hitting Chloe on the arm gently before pointing over to a boy on a couch, hunched over a table slightly. "That's the kid I was talking to you about earlier today. In my class. I guess he's into coke," Rachel laughed, her seeing her friend look over. "So are you trying to introduce me? I lost my other hookup and I'm trying to find someone to get shit for me every once in a while." Rachel rolled her eyes playfully, laughing gently before taking a sip of her beer. "If anyone should be getting the hookup, it's me. I mean, I'll introduce you, but back off," Rachel grinned. "Just kidding. But seriously, I'll introduce you." Grabbing Chloe's arm, Rachel pulled her over to Finn and moved near him. "Finn," Rachel said, getting his attention. "Hey, what's up? I didn't know you'd be here. This is my friend Chloe." Pausing for a moment, Rachel smiled gently. "Are you the life of the party tonight, or what?"

Finn was so happy that the school year was starting back up again. While he obviously wasn't looking forward to classes, he was definitely looking forward to the parties. The summer had passed by slowly and while he was happy to be off campus and in an apartment with his friends, house parties with his group of friends just weren't the same as the bigger parties that happened once the frats were all back on the scene. "I'm so ready to get fucked up tonight," he said to his friend Jamie as he poured some coke onto the coffee table in front of him. "This summer was so fucking boring and I'm ready to get back to partying the right way," he said with a laugh. "I feel like every year I wonder how you can possibly top the next but you keep doing it, man. If the trend continues this year is gonna be sick," Jamie said with a laugh before he started sipping on his beer. Finn smirked at his friend before he leaned down, quickly snorting the three lines he had laid out in front of him. When he heard his name, he pulled away from the table and looked up, his eyebrows raising when he saw Rachel walking over with one of her friends. He knew of her and had seen her around over the past couple of years but they had only just started talking in their class together. "Oh hey, Rachel - and Chloe," he said with a smile, wiping his nose with the back of his hand as he blinked for a moment, looking up at her. "I'm always the life of the party." Finn ran his hand through his hair before he moved to stand up. "Oh, this is my friend Jamie. Sorry, I'm a little out of it, you kind of caught me like... the second after I did a few lines." Finn laughed for a moment and shook his head. "I'm gonna score some more coke though, one of the guys in the frat sells me shit so I figure I might as well go hard on my first night out. You ladies want in on the next round?" he asked the two of them, looking between them with a playful smile pulling up at the corner of his lips.

Rachel laughed gently as he went to stand up, watching as he ran a hand through his hair. She offered a small smile and a tiny wave to his friend Jamie before looking back over to Finn. She figured that she definitely caught him at a bad time, but she figured that it didn't really matter much. After all, in a while, she'd probably be just as fucked up as he was and she knew that she'd be pretty much incoherent. "Yeah, I figured. I kind of saw you right in the action but I figured I'd still say hi. I mean, even if I caught you like five minutes later you'd still be really fucked up," She laughed, shrugging gently. "I'll join for the next round. Just, you know, not three lines. I don't want to die the first night I'm seriously going hard on campus. I'm down for whatever, though." Rachel moved around him slightly, her hand touching his arm for a moment as she moved around him to sit down on the couch in the spot next to where he was sitting previously. "Yeah, I'm down for whatever," Chloe said before moving to sit on the arm of the couch next to Rachel. "So do you sell or do you just kind of buy shit for yourself? I buy weed most of the time from guys in the frat and whatever else I can score but I didn't know what your whole thing is. Chloe likes to act like she's into hard drugs but she usually pussies out when someone offers her anything harder than weed," Rachel laughed before nudging Chloe playfully. "Hey! I don't just smoke. I do other shit." Rachel shrugged, smirking. "I mean, sometimes. You usually take a few shots and pass out, but I can't blame you. I'm not that much different."

Finn laughed as Rachel spoke. "I mean, you're not wrong. No matter when you talk to me tonight, I'll be fucked up. That's kind of how I roll at these parties," he told her. "More like that's kind of how he rolls all the time," Jamie added, causing Finn to laugh before he shrugged. Jamie wasn't exactly wrong but he didn't really care. He liked having fun and having fun was way better when there were some drugs involved. "You better not be doing three lines. I might be sharing right now but if you want anymore there's gonna be some payment involved," he said with a teasing smile on his face. "I don't sell because you don't really wanna use your own supply, you know? And if I had a supply, it would be gone. But, I'll do anything, honestly. I'm here to have fun. I'm not the type to say no to a fun experience and I've never had a bad experience with drugs." Finn knew he was progressively using drugs more and more but he couldn't help himself. He was having fun and enjoying his life and he just wanted to live it up before college was over and life wasn't fun anymore. "I'll be right back, Jamie will keep you two occupied," he said with a laugh before he made his way through the increasingly crowded living room and up the stairs to his friends room. Once he scored some more coke he headed back to the girls and his friend. "I'm gonna have to pick up another shift at work to cover this one," he said with a laugh as he dumped some more coke on the table and started setting up some lines. "Dude, you want in?" he asked Jamie who shook his head. "I'm good man, I gotta stay away from that shit if I wanna wake up tomorrow. I'll stick to alcohol." Finn shrugged before he turned back to the table, him offering a rolled up bill to Rachel and Chloe. "Who wants the first bump?" he asked them with a smile, still feeling like he was on cloud nine from the lines he had done before.

Rachel looked at Finn and nodded with a shrug of her shoulders. "Yeah, I get that. I just didn't know if you kept a lot of shit on you at parties to sell, because I know a few dudes like that. Like, I used to get so much shit off of them at parties. I mean, it was nice, but I totally get that you don't want to give up your shit. Makes sense." Rachel didn't blame him -- if she ever had any shit, she was more than reluctant to give it up. "I'm usually down for anything. A lot of the time, I'll smoke or take an edible before a party but I've done harder shit. I really want to trip one day, though. I'd be so down to try LSD but I haven't yet. If you ever get your hands on that, let me know. I'm so down." Rachel was pretty open to anything, though she knew that it wasn't exactly the best idea if she didn't know who she was getting her shit from. When Finn left her and Chloe, she looked over to Jamie and tried to start a conversation with him, smiling gently. She looked back up at Finn as he brought back more coke. "If you want some cash, I've got you. I mean, I also offer payment in other ways but let's see how good the high is first." She said with a soft smirk, brushing some hair behind her ear. "I'll take it," She said, her grabbing the bill from Finn and leaning over to snort her line before sitting back up slightly and shutting her eyes for a moment. "Shit," She breathed out, passing the bill to Chloe for a moment. "I'm serious, though. If you want some shit for this, I've got you. I hate being that bitch that just acts all innocent and hot and stuff to get free shit." Rachel rubbed at her nose for a moment before smiling and running a hand through her hair. "Mm, I can already tell I'm gonna fucking hate myself in the morning," She said before taking a long few sips of the beer that she had carried over with her. Rachel was pretty open to anything, but she didn't get high all that often. When she did, she was definitely reminded of how good it could she could feel in just a matter of moments. "Thanks, though. For sharing."

Finn liked Rachel so far and while he had only met her in class before, he could already tell that she was someone he'd want to hang out with. He liked a girl who was down for whatever and she definitely seemed like the type. "I don't need cash. But, like I said, if you want to pay me back in other ways I won't complain," he said with a smirk on his face. He watched as she took the bill from his hand and snorted her line, him smiling when she sat back up and closed her eyes. "I miss when one line made me feel like that," he said with a laugh. "This shit adds up when you build up a tolerance. And like I said, Rachel, I don't need your money. I offered, you didn't ask for shit." Once Chloe was done, he took the bill from her, him laughing when Rachel said she'd hate herself in the morning. "That's why you wake up in the morning and do another line. Then you don't hate yourself anymore," he said before he leaned down to finish off the last line. Once he was finished, he ran his finger over the table to pick up any remaining coke and brought it to his mouth, rubbing the last of it on his gum to pick up any last high he could get. "Fuck," he breathed out as he felt his high race through his body. "I'm gonna grab some more beer. You girls wanna grab some more beer? I think we should start adding to this high while we still have it," he said with a laugh as he moved to get up. "See now that I'm down for. I need some more alcohol because I feel like I'm way too sober for this party right now," Jamie said as he moved to get up from the couch as well.

Rachel didn't want to be the girl that just got free shit just for being a girl, but if all Finn wanted was some fun in return, well, it wasn't exactly a bad trade. Plus, she was sure it would end up being fun for her too, so it wasn't like it was bad. "Yeah, but when I start bothering you for more shit I'm gonna just start slipping you money in your pocket when you don't expect it and you'll just wake up to some fat cash sitting in your jeans," She laughed, her watching as he stood up and started talking about getting more beer. "Mm, yeah. I could go for some more beer," She said, her finishing off what was left of hers before getting up and attempting to wipe a smile off of her face. "Jamie, you do seem like... really sober. Just shotgun a beer or two really fast and you'll be fine," She giggled, her starting to pull him towards where the alcohol was to get more for herself. Once she had more beer, she started drinking it quickly, her coughing after a moment and laughing at herself. "Fuck, I love back to school parties. Nothing compares to this shit," She said, looking to Chloe who was looking at her beer and laughing before taking a sip. Rachel looked up at Finn and offered him a small smile, holding her beer close to herself. "I'm more of a vodka or tequila kind of girl myself, but the beer will do. Beer usually gets me trashy, but feed me some tequila and the clothes just start coming off. That shit just does things to you," She teased, hearing Chloe quickly agree. "I think it's just a girl thing. Tequila is like... our mortal enemy. But in the best way."

Finn laughed as he walked with Rachel and their friends towards the kitchen where the beer was. They pushed through some people to get to it but once they finally had their alcohol, he was relieved. Finn quickly chugged his beer before grabbing another can. It took a lot to get him drunk and that was one of the reasons why he loved getting high every time he drank. It made the whole experience that much better to him. "You're right about that. The beginning and end of the year always have the best parties. I fucking live for the first and last weeks of school. I mean, it doesn't stop me from having fun in between though." As Rachel and Chloe started talking about alcohol, him and Jamie shared a small smirk. He watched as his friend stepped a little closer to Chloe and he knew that they pretty much had a game plan on getting the girls to come back with them to their place. "Tequila doesn't sound like an enemy to me. Especially if it's taking your clothes off," he said as he looked at Rachel with a playful smile on his face. "I mean, it's a frat party so I guess there's not gonna be much Tequila here but I can take care of that for you if you want me to." He couldn't help but smile as he looked at Rachel, knowing that he definitely wanted to get with her if he could. She was insanely hot and if he got her in his bed, he knew it would make this party that much better. Plus, the fact that she had a girl that his friend was clearly interested in made it that much better. "Remind me next time I go to a frat party to bring a bottle of Tequila so I can watch the madness unfold," Jamie said with a smirk as he moved a bit closer to Chloe. Finn stepped a bit closer to Rachel, a small smile on his face as he looked into her eyes. "I like a good gamble, so... what are my odds that I get you in my bed later tonight?" he asked her playfully, him raking his eyes over her body before he met her gaze once more.

Rachel bit back a smirk as Finn spoke. "Oh, you can take care of that, huh? I'm sure you could," She said softly as she looked up at him, her heart racing slightly as he took a few more steps closer to her. Her heart already felt like it was going to beat out of her chest, but having him so close was definitely having even more of an impact. She barely heard Jamie speak, but she still laughed, still feeling as if she was on cloud nine. She definitely wouldn't mind hard liquor being involved next time, especially because she just got way more drunk and honestly just had an incredibly good time. The drugs definitely helped, but usually, she just stuck to alcohol and some weed because a lot of her friends didn't have anything else. As Finn spoke to her, she looked up at him and smirked gently. "You're a gambling man, huh?" She asked him, her pursing her lips for a moment as she pretended to be deep in thought. Honestly, Finn was hot and well, he was showing her a good time and she wasn't going to say no. "Hm, I mean, I think the odds are stacked pretty high in your favor, but we'll see how the night plays out. I mean, you showed me a good time so I think I should show you a good time, too." Rachel's hand went to grab slightly at his shirt near the waistband of his pants as she looked up at him. Turning to look at her friend next to her, she managed a soft laugh when she saw her laughing at something Jamie said. "Plus, those two kids look like they're trying to have a good time and well, if you and your friend are a package deal I can't exactly leave her alone."

Finn smiled as Rachel thought to herself for a moment. She was insanely hot and he definitely wanted to get with her if he could. Plus, he actually liked her too and he couldn't help but hope that this whole situation turned into a friends with benefits arrangement. It helped that his best friend was getting along with her friend too and he was pretty sure that if the year was already off to an amazing start like this that he was in for one hell of a year. "Exactly. It's only fair that you show me a good time," he said with a playful smile on his face, his eyes darkening as she gripped onto the fabric of his shirt near the waistband of his pants. Yeah, he definitely needed to have sex with this girl. When she turned her attention briefly to Chloe and Jamie, Finn followed her gaze for a moment. "They do look like they're getting alone, don't they? And I mean, what kind of friends would we be if we broke them apart?" he asked her playfully. "Jamie is one of my roommates too so you ladies are in luck." Finn laughed softly before he took another long swig of his beer, knowing that he was definitely starting to feel the full effects of both the drugs and alcohol he had consumed. "Fuck, I pregamed so hard before I even got here, I'm kind of impressed with myself that I'm still standing right now," he said as a smile pulled up at the corner of his lips. "So, Rachel from my random ass film class, tell me more about you. Because so far all I know is that you have a class with me, you're a sorority girl and you're insanely hot. I feel like I need to know more if I'm going to let you take advantage of me tonight." Finn smiled at Rachel before he finished off his beer, him quickly reaching for another. He was pretty wasted and although he was good at keeping himself relatively calm, he had a feeling he'd have a hard time remembering the night in its entirety.

Rachel definitely enjoyed spending time with Finn. He was honestly really funny and he was really attractive, too. Plus, well, at least she'd have someone to talk to in class even if nothing really happened from this. Class was honestly really boring and she figured that she would at least pass the time with some nice conversation. As Finn explained that Jamie was his roommate, she just nodded and smiled gently as she looked up at him. "Chloe is my roommate. Sort of. I mean, we both live at the sorority house, so it's nice. Especially so we always know someone at a party or something," Rachel explained, shrugging. It was nice to have Chloe, honestly. Being with her at all of these different parties was nice, especially because they both knew each other really well. "I'm honestly surprised you're still standing just with how much coke you did, but you definitely have a high tolerance," She said before finishing off her beer and grabbing another. "Hm, I mean there's not much to me. I'm an education major and I'm really fucking ready to graduate. One more year, though. Fucking annoying." Taking another sip of her beer, she shrugged gently. "I'm usually busy with sorority shit so I don't really do much like... hobby shit. If I'm not in class, I'm usually just chilling at the Delta Gamma house. Or... partying, I guess. Because here I am," She laughed, bringing the beer to her lips again. "You're still a mystery to me, too. I barely know anything about you except for the basic shit, just like you know about me. But I mean, I have a feeling we'll get to know each other really well."

Finn shrugged when Rachel told him that she was surprised that he was still standing after all the coke he had done. "I've been on the prime partying scene at this school since freshman year so, I mean, I've definitely built up a tolerance. Just wish the high lasted longer." As she spoke, saying that she was ready to graduate, he nodded in agreement. "Me too. I'm a communications major but I could honestly give a fuck about school. I'm here for my partying degree," he said with a laugh. When she turned the conversation to him, Finn shrugged as he looked down at her. "I mean, I'm not really a mystery. Like I said, I'm a communications major. I try to show up to classes but my focus is definitely more on my social life. If I'm not at work or at class then I'm usually partying. Even if I'm at home I'm usually having a little party on my own." Finn knew partying - or at least, the drug side of partying - was pretty much his lifestyle but it was really the only way that he knew how to have fun. Who the fuck wanted to go to a party sober anyway? He was pretty sure the only person he knew who could do that was Jamie and that was only because his best friend was "responsible" - for the most part, at least. "You wanna head back inside and see what's going on? Because I'm kind of in the mood to kick someones ass in beer pong and clearly my usual teammate is out of commission," he said as he gestured over to Jamie who had moved onto full on making out with Chloe in the middle of the kitchen.

Rachel found Finn pretty interesting. Obviously, she didn't really know anything about him and other than some quick conversation in class and their conversation in class, she barely knew anything about him but it just added to the mystery about everything. "I feel that, I mean, I'm just chilling. I'm not an A student, but I'm passing. I get like... Cs and Bs so I'm fine. And being in the sorority looks good on my resume and shit because of all the community service and everything. I'm into partying, too. I'm usually at whatever party I hear about. Out of like... ten frat parties, I'll be at at least nine of them. I'm into just having a good time." As Finn suggested going back inside to see what was going on, she nodded gently. "Yeah, we can do that," She said, licking her lips slightly. "And I mean, I can be your teammate if you want. I'm pretty badass at pong, but I just get better as I get more wasted, so we're in a pretty good spot," She said before taking another few long sips of her drink. "Let's go before they start fucking on the counter right in front of us," She laughed, grabbing onto Finn's arm before leading him back towards the commotion. "I once beat a couple of the guys here in pong so I'm definitely down to kick some ass." Rachel looked back at him and she grinned before starting to make her way through the crowd with him to find a table of some guys playing Finn. "Hey, we want in next," Rachel told one of the guys she knew that was playing, him nodding before resuming the game. "The last time I played I used liquor instead of beer and I swear, I was puking for hours after a few games but it was so worth it. I barely remembered anything. That was definitely an every once in a while kind of thing. I swear, I was hungover for days."

Finn was glad that Rachel wasn't turned off by his partying like some girls were. In fact, she seemed to like to party just as much as he did and even though she wasn't into the hard stuff on the same level he was, he liked a girl who knew how to have a good time. "I always kick ass at pong too so I think we might make a killer team." When she suggested leaving before Chloe and Jamie started fucking on the counter in front of them, he laughed and nodded in agreement. "Let me know when we're leaving, man," he said to Jamie with a laugh before he headed out of the kitchen with Rachel. As they walked through the crowd of people over to where a group of guys were playing pong, Finn couldn't help but check Rachel out on the way. She was insanely hot and while he was enjoying the party, he was definitely looking forward to the after party more. "Hey, it's called beer pong for a reason. Although, I'd be down to play some pong with tequila if I get to play it with you. Strip beer pong," he said teasingly, him moving his hand to rest on her lower back for a moment. He could really feel everything starting to hit him, his eyes dropping slightly and he felt insanely relaxed and out of it in a way he couldn't describe. When it was their turn to take on the winners of the last game, Finn grabbed the pong ball and easily tossed it into one of the cups. "Maybe we should make a new rule. With every cup I get in, I get a kiss," he said with a smirk. "If you wanna make a rule for me, I won't mind. Even if it's one that gets enforced later."

Rachel could feel the alcohol hitting her more and more as the time went on. She couldn't remember how many beers she had -- she was almost sure that it was three, but she wasn't sure. Plus, she had a couple of shots before she left for the party and here she was, still drinking. She knew that she'd hate herself in the morning but she was going to enjoy the rest of the night no matter what. "Strip beer pong, huh?" She said, looking at him and raising an eyebrow slightly. "Maybe we can make that happen one day. If you give me tequila during pong, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even be following the rules, I'd just be stripping anyway so either way, it'll be a win for you." As she waited with Finn for a few moments, the both of them not speaking, she bit down on her bottom lip slightly as she felt his hand at her lower back. Being drunk, every touch just felt that much different and she was more than excited to see what the rest of the night brought on. "Every cup you get in? If you carry this team, then it'll just be us making out the entire time. That's not exactly fair." She said with a small smile rising up at the corner of her lips. "A rule, though?" She asked, looking at him and shrugging. "Me being this trashed and trying to play beer pong probably won't work out too well, but... every cup I get in is how many times I get off later if we don't pass out on each other," She said with a small smirk. "If I don't get any, well... the default number is one," She said teasingly before taking her turn and it nearly going in but bouncing off of the side. She laughed, leaning against Finn slightly and laughing. "Fuck, I'm way too drunk for this shit." Rachel always got pretty clingy when she was drunk and she was glad that someone was near her to be able to be close to. "I'm gonna bounce back. I promise. I'm gonna win the whole thing," She giggled, moving to stand up more correctly again.

Finn laughed softly as Rachel spoke. "I mean, that's kind of the point because I have a feeling after this game we're not going to last long before I take you back to my place." From the second they had ran into each other he could feel the sexual tension between then but he knew it was starting to rise with each moment they spent together as the alcohol started really taking them over. When Rachel told him what her rule was, he couldn't help the smirk that pulled up at the corner of his lips if he wanted to. God, he couldn't wait to fuck her later. "Hm, I like that rule. And don't worry, you're guaranteed at least one tonight. I'll never leave a girl unsatisfied." When she threw the first ball and didn't get it in, he couldn't help but laugh as she leaned against him. It was clear she was drunk and he liked that she was getting clingy with him. "Yeah, you're gonna bounce back?" he asked her as he slipped his arm around her waist, his hand resting on her stomach. "I thought me getting you off over and over again tonight would be pretty good motivation," he whispered in her ear as his fingers tapped playfully against the waistband of her shorts. Finn kept his arm around Rachel as he tossed another ball in the cup, him smiling as he held her against him. "Alright, you know, you owe me two kisses now. But to be nice, I'll let you save them for later if you want," he told her, him leaning down to press a teasing kiss to her neck before he focused back on the game as best as he could.

Rachel wanted this with Finn. Badly. It was honestly crazy to think how quickly things had gotten so intense, but she figured that it was the alcohol that was taking over pretty quickly. "You better not leave me unsatisfied. I mean, I've been with some shitty guys before but I have high hopes for you. You're really playing it up so you better deliver," She said with a small laugh, her biting down on her bottom lip as his hand wrapped around her. Finn was pretty convincing and he definitely knew exactly what to say and she was definitely more than ready for later. "I'm definitely gonna bounce back." She promised him, her shutting her eyes for a moment as he whispered into her ear. "Mm, it's very motivating." She said softly, her taking in a deep breath to calm her racing thoughts. "Fuck," She said softly, feeling his lips move to her neck. "You're not playing fair. And we don't need to save them all for later." Rachel pulled away from him for a moment to throw the ball in the cup, her smiling when she made it in, her turning more into Finn, her arms wrapping around his neck as she moved flush against him, looking up into his eyes. "See, I'm not a total loss," She murmured before looking up into his eyes. "And I'll take one of those kisses off of the list now because I have a feeling they're gonna start adding up." Rachel brought her hand to the back of his neck to pull him down to meet her lips. Moving her lips against his for a moment, she ignored everything else around her until she felt a pong ball hit her in the shoulder. "Ow, what the fuck dude," She said, turning around and rubbing her shoulder drunkenly. "You guys are like half done and then you can go off and fuck somewhere," One said, her rolling her eyes and looking back at Finn. "It's your turn. We'll keep a tally of how many I owe you later," She teased him, offering him a tiny smirk.

Finn knew that he was distracting Rachel in the best way and he already loved the tension that was between them. They had a really intense sexual chemistry already and he couldn't wait to explore that fully once they were back at his apartment. "I'm not playing fair, huh? I didn't think I came off as the kind of guy who played fair," he said teasingly. He watched as she pulled away from him for a moment to throw the ball and when it landed in a cup, he couldn't help but smile. "Finally backing up all that beer pong hype from before," he said with a laugh, his eyes darkening when she wrapped her arms around his neck, her body flush against his. "They're definitely going to start adding up," he whispered before he met her lips with his. He let his hands rest on her lower back as they kissed and he already knew that if something as simple as a kiss already felt this intense, that there were amazing sensations waiting for them later in the night. When one of the guys threw the pong ball at them, Finn glared at the two of them before he grabbed a pong ball. "I think even if I got all of them we're gonna end up going way past whatever we tally," he told her. As the game continued, Finn felt himself losing focus on beer pong and putting more attention on Rachel and how close she was to him. He felt like he couldn't think straight with her by his side and he really just wanted her in his bed as soon as possible. When they were down to just one cup on the other team, Finn used all the concentration he had to sink the ball in the cup, him cheering once he did. "Fucking finally," he said happily before he tugged Rachel against him and dipped his head down to press his lips to hers. He kissed her intensely for a moment before he pulled away, his eyes meeting hers. "Wanna find Jamie and Chloe and get out of here? From when we saw them last time I think they'll have similar plans to us," he told her. "Plus, you really gave me a lot to work for tonight." He couldn't help but smirk as he looked into her eyes and he knew that he just wanted to be alone with her more than anything already.

Rachel loved being at parties and just enjoying herself, but it definitely was hard to think about anything else other than Finn in this moment. With him being so close, it honestly just felt like her brain was concentrating on him and nothing else. She was really trying to concentrate on the game but at this point, she wasn't really sure what was happening but she was almost positive that they were winning. She hoped they were, anyway. With how Finn was so close to her, she felt like they were definitely winning. As Finn got the last cup, she clapped happily, her laughing before looking up at him and meeting him for a kiss. "Mm," She mumbled as he pulled away, her eyes meeting his. "Yeah, we can get out of here if you want. I'm surprised if they aren't already fucking in some random room, but they'll probably still be in the same place," She laughed, before shrugging off his statement. "Yeah, well, you gotta give guys something to work for. Otherwise it's too easy for 'em," She teased before starting to make her way towards where their friends were previously. "Yeah, they moved but I can see them," Rachel said to Finn as she looked back at him before continuing to walk forward towards where she saw them hiding off towards a corner, heavily making out. "Yo, you two. Break it up. You're practically fucking in front of my eyes." When Chloe pulled away after a moment, she laughed as she saw Rachel. "Oh, hi!" She said with a drunk smile, Rachel chuckling. "Let's get out of here. I'm trying to leave with Finn and I'm positive that you're trying to leave with him, so let's go. We're not even really partying, I'm just trying to have a good time out of this place and have a good time on my own." Chloe nodded and pulled away slightly from Jamie, taking a breath and running a hand through her hair. "Yeah, let's go. Jamie was telling me before how you guys are roommates. That's so cool. It's like you're Rachel and I's twins."

Finn couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Jamie and Chloe making out. Both him and his best friend were going to get some action tonight and he knew this was definitely the most successful start of the year party they had ever had. As Rachel started breaking the two of them up, he quickly ordered and Uber, knowing that he just wanted to get home as soon as possible. "Guys, the uber is gonna be here in like five minutes so let's get the hell out of here. I doubt this party is gonna last much longer anyway, I feel like the cops have got to be coming soon," he said as he started walking out of the house with them. Jamie caught up to him for a moment and he couldn't help but laugh at the slightly disheveled look of his friend. "Tonight is already a fucking success, man. We're both getting some and the school year just started," he said with a laugh, causing Jamie to smile. "I really like Chloe. I mean, I'm really excited to hook up with her but I really like her. She's awesome. She's like - wow," Jamie said drunkenly, causing Finn to laugh. "Oh shit, let me know when the wedding is." It didn't take long for the uber to get there and and thankfully after a short drive home, they were at their apartment. Finn stepped out of the car and immediately slipped his arm around Rachel's waist. "So, how many times do I have to get you off tonight?" he asked her playfully. "Because I might have forgotten but I promise I'll get you off more than once," he whispered in her ear. He stood at the door with her when Jamie unlocked it and he couldn't help but smile when his friend took Chloe's hand in his, him leading her off to his room. "My room is upstairs," he told Rachel as he led her towards his bedroom, him immediately feeling content the second the door was closed behind them. "Fuck, I've been wanting to get you alone all night," he whispered as he closed the space between them, him pressing his lips to hers as his hands slipped around her waist, him leading her back towards his bed.

Rachel was happy that everyone was getting along, especially because it would definitely suck if one of them found someone to go home with for the for the night and the other one didn't. Rachel was glad to get out of the party, especially since she was getting tired of being in such a cramped space and she was excited to just be able to spread out and finally see what she had been looking forward to all night with Finn. When they got out of the Uber and they were at the apartment, she laughed gently at his words, keeping close into his side while they walked to the door. "I kind of lost count of everything, so we'll just see what happens," She teased gently, looking over at him after he pulled away from her slightly. Rachel watched as her friend walked off with Jamie towards his room as Finn started to pull her up towards his room. Immediately she felt her anticipation rise as he started to lead her towards his bed. "Mm, me too. I've been looking forward to this all night," Rachel moved her hands to wrap around his neck for a moment as she continued to kiss him, her grinning slightly against his lips when she felt her legs hit the back of the bed. Letting go of him for a moment, she moved her hands away from his neck to pull up on his shirt, tossing it off to the side before she went to pull him down towards her to get him onto the bed. "You've been making me want this all night," She breathed out, her moving to kiss him again. "I hope you've been wanting me as much as I've been wanting you."

Finn knew that him and Rachel had practically been wanting each other since they had started that game of beer pong and he was relieved to finally get to be alone with her. When she pulled away from him to tug his shirt up and over his head, he couldn't help but smirk as he looked into her eyes. "Well you've been making me want you all night so I guess we both get what we want tonight," he told her as she tugged him down on the bed with her. "I definitely want you bad, Rachel," he whispered between kisses. Finn pulled away from her for a moment, a smile on his face as he tugged her shirt over her head and quickly got rid of her bra as well. He just wanted her naked already and his drunk state was just making him want her more. "It's gonna be even harder to focus in class after this," he said playfully before he leaned down to press his lips to hers once more, kissing her eagerly. He started trailing kisses down along the curve of her neck before he worked his way down to her chest, a smirk on his face as he looked up at her with lust in his eyes. "You're so fucking hot," he breathed out against her skin before he moved to sit up once more, him immediately tugging her shorts down her legs and tossing them to the floor. "So fucking hot," he repeated as he ran his hands up her legs, his fingers brushing teasingly against her through her underwear as his heated gaze met hers. Rachel was definitely one of the hottest girls he had ever hooked up with and he knew that he wanted to make her feel good. He wanted to make her feel so good that she'd keep coming back to him because there was no way in hell he wanted this to just be a one night stand since they got along so well. Finn moved to lean over her once more, rocking his hips against hers and smirking before he pressed his lips to hers. "You want me to fuck you, baby?" he breathed out as he moved his hand between them, slipping it beneath the fabric of her underwear as he started teasing her with his fingers.

Rachel looked up at the ceiling as he started kissing down her neck and down to her chest, her breathing heavily. "Mm, class will be interesting. We also do sit in the back, so you know, I mean, I'm pretty sure I could slip my hand down your pants and no one would ever know," She said, a smirk rising on her lips. Of course, she doubted that she'd ever really do it, but well, if she was in the moment and she was next to Finn? Well, she was pretty sure she could be convinced. As he tugged her shorts down her legs as he sat up, she lifted her hips slightly to make it easier, her looking at him and licking her lips slightly. Finn was incredibly attractive and she knew that she needed this more than anything. At this point, she was desperate for anything from him. Rachel moaned softly as he moved back over her, her meeting his eyes for a moment. "Fuck," She breathed out, feeling him move his hips against hers. "Yeah, I want you." She told him, her looking up at him and breathing heavily before she moved her hands to the waistband of his pants to start pulling them down. "I want you to fuck me any way you want me, baby," Rachel whispered, her eyes clouded with lust as she looked up at him. It had been a while since she really had hooked up with anyone and the summer was always just a huge dry spell that she hated. The beginning of school usually meant getting back into the swing of things, and this was definitely a good way to start things off.

Finn definitely liked the sound of Rachel slipping her hand down his pants during class. This girl clearly knew how to turn him on and he was definitely excited to have sex with her already. When she moved her hands to the waistband of his pants and started tugging them down, he bit down on his lip, knowing that he was just getting more turned on by the second. "Fuck," he breathed out as she spoke, looking at her with lust in his gaze. "I'm gonna fuck you so hard." Finn quickly got out of his pants and boxers before he tugged her underwear down her legs, knowing that he just needed to be inside of her already. He reached into his bedside table and grabbed a condom, sitting up for a moment to slip it on before he positioned himself back over her. "You better cum for me, baby. I have to hold up my end of the bargain," he said teasingly as he lined himself up at her opening before he pushed into her. A groan escaped his lips the second he was inside of her and he hadn't even realized how badly he needed to get laid until this moment. Finn moved his hand down to her thigh, tugging her leg up higher on his hip before he started thrusting into her hard. Being inside of her felt so insanely good and he knew that the build up from the whole night had been more than worth it. "Oh fuck, you feel so good," he breathed out before he dipped his head down to press his lips to hers, kissing her eagerly as he moved inside of her faster. His hand that was resting on her thigh gripped her skin tightly as he held her against him, feeling the pleasure he was experiencing racing through his body in the best way possible.

Rachel need any kind of release at this point. Everything was building up so quickly, especially because when she had gone out tonight, the night ending up like this hadn't even been a thought in her mind. "Mm, please." She said in response to him, her watching him as he sat up to put on a condom. If tonight turned out well, she definitely hoped that Finn would be down to continue to hook up. Honestly, she didn't let a lot of guys get this far -- she was more of the girl to get to third base in some random room at a party. But Rachel honestly was sure that she'd let Finn do anything to her at this point. "Believe me, I don't think me getting off is gonna be a problem," She breathed out, her moaning as he pushed inside of her. Rachel moved her hands to his side as he moved against her, her lips parted gently as soft moans escaped her lips with the movement of his hips. "Fuck, Finn." She knew that she desperately needed to get off, and this night was definitely going to be a great way to start off the semester. As he continued to move against her, Rachel moved her hands to grip at his hips. She kissed him back eagerly before she moved her lips away from his before moving them to his jaw, her breathing heavily against him. "You feel so amazing. Fuck, just like that," She breathed out, her one hand moving to run along his side before moving against his chest. Time felt like it was lasting forever but also flying by at the same time and she just wanted to make this moment last even if she felt like everything was building up incredibly quickly. "I'm close," She breathed out, her lips moving against his jaw before she went to kiss him again, her lips moving eagerly against his.

Finn already loved the sound of Rachel moaning his name and he knew that he definitely wanted hooking up with her to turn into a regular thing because it had been a while since he had felt this kind of intensity with someone. His breathing was heavy as he continued to thrust into her while she trailed her lips against his jaw. He felt like his skin was on fire in the best possible way and he just wanted to fuck her until they both passed out from exhaustion. However, he knew that he wouldn't last as long as he wanted to since they had been building up to this from the moment they started talking. When she told him that she was close, he looked down at her with lust in his gaze, knowing that he was right there with her. "Me too, baby," he breathed out before her lips met his in another intense kiss. Finn slipped his hand between them and immediately started rubbing her clit, knowing that he wanted to give her just a little bit more to send her over the edge. "I just met you and I can already tell no one's fucked you the way I can. Are you gonna cum for me, baby?" he whispered huskily as he pulled out of their kiss, his eyes meeting hers as he felt the pleasure he was experiencing start to build up more and more. "Fuck," he groaned, knowing that he was right there on the edge with her. Everything felt so good and while he wanted this to last all night long, he knew he wasn't going to be able to hold himself together much longer.

Rachel liked how confident Finn was. He was confident in the way he spoke, the way he acted, and just the way that he looked at her. He knew what he wanted and Rachel found that more attractive than anything else. The entire party, he had been more than eager to get with her and he just knew exactly how to touch her and what to say to get her going. "Mm," She moaned softly at his words, her holding onto him gently as he moved against her. She had her eyes shut for a moment in pleasure before she opened them up to look up at him, her biting down on her bottom lip for a moment. "Fuck... yes," She breathed out in response to him, her holding onto him just the slightest bit tighter before she came, her moaning his name softly before she leaned up to kiss him passionately. Rachel's hands traveled to his hair, her fingers threading through it as she held him against her while they kissed. She only pulled away after a few moments to catch her breath, breathing heavily against him to calm herself down. She really hadn't felt this amazing in so long and she definitely wasn't ready to just let this be one night and have it be over forever. Already, she knew that she'd be getting his number to be able to see him after this, even if it was only to hook up like this every once in a while, sober or not. "Fuck, Finn. That was so fucking good," She said, her moaning softly before taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a heavy sigh. "I'm definitely gonna sleep so fucking good tonight, especially after that," Rachel added with a teasing smirk, looking at him with a content smile.

Finn could feel everything building up between him and Rachel quickly and he knew neither of them were going to last much longer. The second that he felt her muscles clench around him as she went over the edge, he hit the edge right with her. A deep groan escaped his lips as he came, it muffled by her mouth as she tugged him down to kiss her passionately. He continued moving his hips until she pulled away and one she did, they were both breathing heavily. He wasn't a stranger to sex but he had definitely not had sex with anyone the way that he did with her. There was an intensity between them that he couldn't explain and he knew there was no way in hell she was leaving his apartment without giving her his number so they could do this again and again. "Mm, that was amazing," he breathed out, a soft laugh escaping his lips as she smirked. "That's what I'm here for, giving you a good nights sleep," he said teasingly. Finn smiled at her as he moved to sit beside her on the bed, him pulling off the condom and throwing it out before he settled back down next to her. "I guess we're even now," he said playfully as he turned to face her, his gaze meeting hers. "I mean, for now. I plan on finding any reason I can to get you back in my bed." Finn raised his eyebrows teasingly before he let a content sigh escape his lips as he relaxed into his pillow. "No better way to start the semester than this," he breathed out, letting his eyes flutter closed as he focused on how relaxed his whole body felt.

Rachel hadn't gotten off like that in such a long time and she couldn't wait to experience it again. She wanted more than anything to just feel this again and she hoped that Finn was down for the same thing, especially after a night like tonight. "It was definitely amazing," She said as she watched him move to relax next to her on the bed, chuckling gently. "Yeah, I guess we are even." Rachel knew that this was all incredibly intense and the intensity had just grown and grown as the night had passed. "Oh, any reason, huh? I mean, I don't know if it'll be that hard for you to get me back into your bed if it turns out like this," She said with a soft laugh before turning her head to look at him. "Very true. A really awesome party and even better sex, I don't think there could be much better," She said as she looked over at him, her yawning gently. "Fuck, I feel like everything is still spinning," She said as she looked up at the ceiling for a moment, her running a hand over her forehead before shutting her eyes for a moment and turning over to lay on her stomach, getting comfortable next to him and yawning again. "Mm, sleeping after an orgasm like that should definitely be the only way to sleep," She said teasingly, her opening her eyes for a moment to look over at him with a small smile on her lips. "I hope that serves as a good payment for what you gave me earlier," She told him, nudging him playfully with her arm slightly. After a moment, Rachel sighed. "I'm gonna fucking hate myself in the morning. This hangover is gonna suck so bad."

Finn smiled as he looked over at Rachel, knowing that this was definitely the perfect way for both of them to start the semester. "That's because everything is still spinning," he said with a laugh as he looked up at the ceiling, a yawn escaping his lips as he felt the whole night start to catch up with him. "Mm, well, if you wanna sleep like that then you're welcome to sleep with me any time you want," he said teasingly. Finn smiled as he met her gaze and when she nudged him playfully, he turned to face her, him nudging her leg with his foot beneath the covers. "Keep repaying the favor like that and I'll be broke in a week," he said with a laugh. As she started talking about her hangover the next morning, he nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, it's gonna be shit. Don't worry though, Jamie makes this fucking smoothie and I don't know what's in it but it gets rid of hangovers so fast. That or we can just start drinking again in the morning." A laugh escaped his lips as he looked at Rachel before he shifted onto his back again. He sighed happily as he laid beside her, his eyes fluttering shut as he felt himself growing more and more tired. "Hm... night, Rach," he whispered before he drifted off to sleep.

Rachel was trying to get her mind to stay still so it didn't feel like she was spinning everywhere, but she was sure that it was impossible. Everything felt incredibly crazy but in the best way possible. As he talked about him going broke, she laughed gently. "If we're gonna do this again, we don't always need to fuck for a few lines. I'll fuck just to fuck," She mumbled, her feeling the alcohol and the sleepiness start to catch up to her. Rachel just nodded at his explanation of the smoothie, really hoping that it actually did cure her instantly. Rachel did get pretty bad hangovers most of the time and she was usually miserable for at least the entire day. However, she hoped that a quick fix would be able to turn things around. "Night," She murmured, her smiling gently as she watched him shut his eyes. Staring at him for a moment, a content sigh escaped her lips before she ended up drifting off to sleep, as well. In the morning, she woke up to a pounding headache and feeling as if she really hadn't slept at all. "Fuck," She breathed, her turning in bed slightly before getting up slowly and sitting at the edge of the bed for a moment to get her bearings. Once she felt okay enough to stand up, she did so, her putting on her shorts from the night previous and Finn's shirt from the floor, not wanting to have to put on a super cropped, low cut shirt to walk around his apartment. Running her hand through her hair, a sigh escaped her lips. She hoped that the morning wasn't incredibly awkward, especially since she thought that her and Finn actually had some kind of connection and she wanted to be able to see him again, even if it was just to repeat the night previous. Even if she didn't remember all of it completely. Not wanting to disturb Finn, Rachel grabbed her phone and started to walk downstairs to the kitchen, seeing Chloe and Jamie already downstairs, talking in hushed tones and laughing. When Chloe saw her, the girl looked over at her and smiled. "Hi, sleepy head. We were beginning to think that you two were dead in there or something." Rachel chuckled softly, shaking her head. "Not dead. Just really hungover and tired. I feel like shit," Rachel said before rubbing at her eyes. "I feel like I was run over by a truck." "Me too. Not as bad as you, probably. You were a lot more fucked up than I was, I think. But I feel pretty good. I imagine that you had a good night?" Rachel smiled gently, nodding. "Mm, yeah. A really good night."

Finn groaned softly as he woke up, his head immediately pounding as he opened his eyes. He had gotten so fucked up the night before and while he wasn't a stranger to that, he was pretty sure he'd never get used to the hangover. A sigh escaped his lips as he sat up in his bed, his eyebrows furrowing when he realized Rachel wasn't beside him. However, when he looked around and noticed the only things missing were his shirt and her shorts, he couldn't help but smirk. Finn got out of bed and slipped on his boxers before he headed downstairs, hearing Rachel speaking with Chloe and Jamie. "Look who decided to join us," Jamie said with a laugh as he walked into the kitchen. Finn flipped off his friend as he moved over to the keurig, him quickly starting to make himself a cup of coffee. "Fuck, my head is killing me," he breathed out. "You want one, Rachel?" he asked as he looked over at her, offering her a small smile. She really was an insanely gorgeous girl and he knew that he definitely needed to get her number before she left. "You guys have a good night?" he asked Jamie and Chloe, his eyebrows raising when Jamie's face flushed slightly. "An amazing night. I never thought I'd meet the most amazing girl at a shitty frat party," he said as he finished up making breakfast, serving himself and Chloe. "Oh shit - he's cooking for you, Chloe. You're the real deal," he said with a laugh. He was pretty sure he had never seen his friend so enamored by someone before and while he was happy for him, he also thought he was crazy. "What about you, Rach? Good night?" he asked her playfully as he turned to face her, him leaning back against the counter. "Nice shirt, by the way."

Rachel was happy that Chloe found someone that she clearly enjoyed. Very clearly, she was enjoying Jamie's company and it didn't look like it was some awkward morning after shit. They were actually talking and laughing and she wouldn't be surprised if they hung out again very soon. When Finn arrived, she looked at him, her eyes flickering down to see him in just his boxers before she looked up at his eyes again. "Yeah, I'll take a cup," She said before yawning slightly, running a hand through her hair. As Jamie talked about their night, she looked to Chloe and smirked gently, offering her friend a tiny wink. Chloe wasn't a girl to just mess around all that much -- definitely before, but not the past year as much. But if this ended up being something for Chloe, she was definitely happy for her friend. And well, that also meant that she'd at least have some kind of connection to Finn to be able to see him again at some point. "Oh, yeah. Really good night," She said, looking at him and offering him a tiny smile. As he mentioned her shirt, she shrugged it off and ran one of her hands against the fabric. "Oh, this old thing? I have to return it later. It's pretty comfy, though." Keeping her gaze on Finn for a moment, she felt unable to look away. It was weird, really. To feel like she was so close to someone but know basically nothing about them, as well. "You have any plans today?" She asked Chloe, her leaning against one of the counters to be comfortable. "I don't know maybe, I might go out for a while. We'll see what happens, though. I might be recovered from my hangover soon, but you might be struggling for a while." Rachel chuckled. "You act like I'm dying. I'm fine. It's not the worst hangover ever. I just feel like shit. It's been way worse before. At least I'm not throwing up."

Finn smiled when Rachel said she had a really good night. The way he felt towards her was confusing because he knew in just one night they had really developed a strong connection. As much as he wanted to have sex with her again, he also just wanted to hang out with her and he was pretty sure he hadn't ever really felt like that with someone before. "I mean, you can keep it if you want. It looks good on you," he told her as he looked into her eyes before he grabbed both coffee and brought it over to her, him setting her cup on the counter as he stood beside her. "I don't have anything going on today and um, I'd actually really like to take you out tonight, Chloe. Maybe for dinner?" Jamie asked her. "Damn, already going in for the date. When's the wedding?" he said teasingly before he nudged Rachel. "We were accidentally matchmakers last night." A laugh escaped his lips as he looked down at her before he shifted his gaze back to his coffee, bringing it to his lips and taking a long sip. Yeah, he definitely needed the coffee to balance his brain again. "I'm so amazed I still remember everything from last night. Usually when I do that much blow and drink that much my brain just fucking shuts off," he commented. "Yeah, that's called you building up a tolerance that you probably shouldn't," Jamie said as he looked over at him. "The fact that you were fine after four lines is a little much." Finn rolled his eyes and shook his head as he took another sip of his coffee. "You're literally only saying that because you've only done it like what - three times? Of course your tolerance is shit," he said with a laugh. "Doesn't matter though, I have a new person to party with and we had way more fun than you and me ever have, man," he said playfully as he looked at Rachel.

Rachel couldn't wait to be able to party with Finn again, but she knew that she definitely needed a break to let her body relax. She was a big party person, but she definitely needed a break to let her body heal and get back to normal before she completely destroyed herself all over again. As Finn teased her about being matchmakers, she nodded. "Mhm, we really worked our magic, I guess." Rachel took a sip of her coffee as she looked over at Chloe, happy that her friend was at least interested in someone. When she agreed to the date, she took another sip of coffee and sighed contently. It was weird for things to be happening so quickly, but she figured that if there was a connection, then she was happy for the girl. "Yeah, I mean, you were fucked up when I first saw you at the party but by the time I was starting to feel really fucked up you were practically just starting," Rachel laughed softly, shaking her head. "Well, I hope that we had more fun than you've ever had with him. Unless you're fucking your best friend, but hey," Rachel teased with a grin. "But yeah, we can party whenever. I need like a two day buffer between parties, but I'm totally down." Rachel tried to be the perfect little sorority girl, but she was tired of living in that shell and she just wanted to have fun and experiment and she didn't care what kind of weird situations it got her into. "There might be a party at the sorority house later in the week, we're having some kind of back to school thing, too. You can come if you want. I mean, I don't think it'll be as big of a thing as last night was, but it'll be fun. Sorority houses always have the better liquor. And I mean, since my room is there, I've got some good shit in there, too. Good liquor and I usually hide some weed in there. Chloe and I pregame pretty hard in my room before we go party," She laughed, Chloe nodding before occupying herself with Jamie again, smiling up at him. Rachel looked back to Finn before taking a sip of her drink. "Some parties I just chill in my room and have my own fun but you seem like the guy always down to party."

Finn knew that he got a little too crazy when he partied but he didn't really care. He was in college and having fun. He had junior and senior year left and he was going to make the most of them, that much he was sure of. "See, that's what made it more fun with you," he said playfully as he looked at Rachel. When she told him that they could party whenever, he knew that he was definitely going to take that to heart because he often found himself wandering off to parties on his own when his friends didn't want to go. While he made friends at every party he went to, he did like actually getting to go with people he was closer to. "A party at the sorority house, huh? I mean, I'm down. And me being there will make it as big of a thing as last night." Finn smiled as he looked at Rachel, knowing that he was definitely down to go to any party that she would be at. Especially if it ended the way the night before had. "We can always have a party in your room and have our own fun too if that's what you're up for. I honestly think the party in my room last night was better than the frat party," he said teasingly. Finn knew that he wanted to hook up with Rachel again. And again. Yeah, he wanted it to be a regular thing, that much he knew for sure. And from the signals she was sending him, he had a feeling it was mutual. "Oh, by the way," he said as he grabbed his phone from where he had placed it on the counter, him unlocking it quickly. "I kind of need your number in there if we want to keep the whole partying thing going. Otherwise I'll have to wait until I see you in class," he said playfully as he handed her his phone.

Rachel really didn't mind the idea of having a party just like the one that her and Finn had last night. While she definitely enjoyed having fun at the party, being alone with him was definitely ten times better. Plus, well, it made them both feel a lot better versus just getting trashed at some random party. "I mean, yeah. We can have just a party in my room. I've mastered the art of covering my fire alarm in my room so I can hot box it, so you can join in on that. It's not the same high as what you're used to getting, but still good." Rachel enjoyed just smoking most of the time, especially since it got her so relaxed and just made her incredibly giggly. "I'm down for whatever, though. You know I am. Chloe is a little more tame than I am, but I wouldn't say I'm crazy. I don't know if I can go as hard as you, but I can keep up." Rachel looked at him as he handed her his phone, her raising her eyebrow slightly. "You really are ballsy. I don't know, you just know what you want and you go for it," She laughed, her putting down her coffee for a moment to be able to put her number in his phone. Once she finished inputting her information, she handed his phone back to him and grabbed her coffee cup again. "Just text me whenever. You won't need to wait for class to get any information out of me. With our luck, class would be canceled and you'd be having to wait an entire other night to get a hold of me," She said teasingly, smirking gently. "It's gonna suck sitting through class all semester. Literally, I'm gonna be sitting there and watching stupid ass movies and writing notes and falling asleep half of the time."

Finn smirked when Rachel told him that they could smoke in her room. "Hey, I'll take any high I can get." When he handed her his phone, he couldn't help but laugh softly as she raised her eyebrows. "That's exactly what I do. If you don't go after what you want, you don't get what you want," he told her. Finn knew he was extremely straight up and blunt with people and while those traits often got him in trouble, they were also the traits that allowed him to meet people like Rachel. He watched as she added herself into his contacts and he couldn't help but smile as she handed him his phone back. He set it down on the counter beside him and laughed as she spoke. "There's no way in hell I'd wait that long. I'd be knocking at the door of Delta whatever until you let me in," he said teasingly. As she started talking about class, he couldn't help but smile. "I mean, honestly, I was planning on never showing up to this class but now that I know I have it with you I don't think it's so bad. I'm pretty sure we can figure out a way to make the most of being boring watching shitty movies in the back of a lecture center." Finn wiggled his eyebrows at Rachel teasingly as he looked into her eyes before he finished off the rest of his coffee. "I have a feeling this is going to be the start of a lot of fun. I hope you know that," he told her as a playful smirk pulled up at the corner of his lips.

Rachel rolled her eyes playfully at Finn's words. "Come on, it's not that hard. And you were halfway there. It's Delta Gamma, Finn." Rachel grinned, looking at him as she held onto her coffee. "And you're welcome whenever. I have a feeling your friend is gonna be there a lot so you can come chill, too. I don't know how much homework you get done, but if you want some motivation, I can provide. I usually chill in my room and do it because I stay clear of any common areas of the school for the fist month or so of school. The fucking freshmen are unreal and loud as hell so I just... avoid everything for a while. Plus, the sorority has literally anything you could ever need. A pool, food, wifi, and a lot of living space. It's nice." Rachel definitely didn't want to deal with people all over her all of the time, so escaping for a while was nice. "Yeah, well, we can make it interesting, don't worry. We'll gotta make sure that we get a good spot every class," She told him, her finishing her coffee off a few moments after he did. "And it will be the start of something fun, I'm sure of it." Pausing for a moment, she put her coffee cup down and looked at him as she ran a hand through her hair. "Well, uh, I'm guessing that Chloe is going to be sticking around for a while or they're going to be going out, but I think I should head out," Rachel said, shrugging gently. She didn't want to overstay her welcome, and she definitely did just want to go home, shower, and take some Advil. "Oh, Rach, if you want to go we can go. We can split an Uber. There's literally no sense in us spending twice the amount of money. And well.... Jamie wants to go out later so I should probably get a shower and get dressed and shit," Chloe said from where she was standing by Jamie. "Yeah, that's fine. I feel like I need a week of recovery but I gotta bounce back," She laughed, looking over at her friend.

Finn knew he was definitely going to take Rachel up on her offer to hang out at her sorority house. The sound of a pool, food and wifi plus getting to hang out with her were things he just couldn't pass up. Not when he lived in a shitty apartment with 4 other guys. When she said that she was going to head out, he nodded. "Hey, I get it. I think I'm gonna go back to sleep, honestly," he said with a laugh. As she spoke to Chloe, he couldn't help but share a look with Jamie. He couldn't believe after a hook up his friend was asking this girl on a date but if they really got along and he saw potential in her, Finn wasn't going to judge him. "Well, if you girls are gonna leave, I guess we should get the rest of your things, Rach," he said with a playful smile on his face before he nodded towards the stairs to his room. The second he was alone with her in his room, Finn slipped his arms around her waist and tugged her closer to him, him pressing his lips to hers. "Please tell me that last night wasn't a one time thing," he whispered against her lips before he pulled away from her. Finn didn't want a girlfriend - he wasn't great at the whole commitment thing - but he certainly wanted a friend with benefits. He liked Rachel a lot and he knew that he wanted to be around her whenever he could and he also wanted her in his bed whenever he could have her as long as she was down.

Rachel nodded as Finn mentioned getting her things from his room. Rachel got her phone out of her pocket and called for an Uber before stuffing her phone back into her back pocket. She followed him up the steps and to his room, her laughing softly as he tugged her against him and moved to kiss her. "Mm," She mumbled against him before he pulled away, looking up into his eyes. She knew that it was definitely what she wanted. She wanted to see him again, even if it wasn't just them trashed after a party. Getting guys wasn't something that she struggled with -- she was positive that she could get just about any guy she wanted, but she definitely would go back to Finn again and again if the sex and the connection they had was that good. "Definitely not a one time thing," She said as she looked at him. "We can keep seeing each other every once in a while. Just text me. I'm not gonna be able to be in your bed with one notification, but we can chill." A laugh escaped her lips before she wrapped her arms slightly around his hips, her fingers teasing against his bare skin. "I definitely would like to do this again." There was no doubt in her mind that she wanted this more than anything. Plus, Rachel was incredibly glad that she found Finn at the beginning of the semester. "Don't just ask me out on a date less than 24 hours like our friends here and I think we've got a good thing going for us."

[vishnuvvvvvvi]

 In this post, I’m going to put Ahrefs and SEMrush to the test.

So if you’re looking for a DEEP comparison of these two popular SEO tools, you’ve come to the right place.

Because in today’s post I’m going to compare Ahrefs vs. SEMrush in terms of:

Keyword research features

Backlink analysis

Technical SEO tools

Pricing and value

Unique features

And lots more

Let’s do this! 

  Introducing: The Two Competitors

In the blue corner, we have Ahrefs.

Ahrefs is best known as a backlink analysis tool. But over the last two years, they’ve added A TON of new features.

   Which is why it’s even possible to do a SEMrush vs. Ahrefs comparison. A few years ago Ahrefs was 100% focused on links.

Today, Ahrefs has a ton of features that make it a direct competitor to SEMrush, including:

Keyword research features

Keyword competitor analysis

Technical SEO tools (like a site audit feature)

Rank tracking

And in the red corner, we have SEMrush.

SEMrush’s killer app is the fact that it lets you spy on your competitor’s rankings.

 That way, you don’t need to sit down and brainstorm keywords. Just pop a competitor into SEMrush and get a complete list of keywords that they rank for.

As you’ll soon see, Ahrefs now has a similar feature. And we’ll compare the two later.

But it’s important to know that SEMrush started as a keyword research tool, which is where their focus is.

That said, SEMrush recently upped their feature game quite a bit.

In fact, today, you can use SEMrush to:

Optimize your content for SEO

Analyze competitor PPC campaigns

Reverse engineer a site’s top traffic sources

Analyze log files

Lots more

SEMrush has even started to get into the link analysis game. They’ve had a link index for years.

 (In fact, I recently compared the size and freshness of the Ahrefs and SEMrush index).

Ahrefs and SEMrush tied in that analysis. But a few weeks ago SEMrush announced a HUGE update to their link index.

The bottom line is that Ahrefs and SEMrush have similar feature sets.

So it’s time to answer the key question: which SEO tool is the best overall?

Let’s get started.

Which Tool Is Best for SEO Keyword Research?

First, I decided to see which tool was best for finding new keywords.

Let’s see who came out on top.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs has two main keyword research features:

Keyword explorer

Organic keywords

Let’s see how each one works.

Keyword Explorer is like most other keyword tools on the market.

Type in a keyword. And get a list of ideas.

What’s unique about Keyword explorer is the fact that Ahrefs doesn’t just show you search volume.

(Although they give you that data too).

They also let you know how many CLICKS you’ll get if you rank for that keyword.

Why is this important?

It’s no secret that Google is packing the SERPs with features that “steal” clicks from the organic results.

And Keyword explorer takes this into account.

For example, the keyword “Leonardo Dicaprio age” gets 12k searches per month:

When you search for that keyword, the answer shows up in a Featured Snippet.

Which is why 1.2k people (around 10% of all searchers) actually click on an organic result.

Super helpful.

One other thing that makes Keyword explorer cool is the fact that you can expand the results to get hundreds of different keyword ideas.

Nice.

You can also reverse engineer a competitor’s site using “Organic keywords” report.

As you’re about to see, this is very similar to SEMrush’s bread and butter feature.

SEMrush

Like with Ahrefs, you can see all of the keywords that a competing site currently ranks for.

Again: this feature is basically the same as Ahrefs with some minor differences.

(For example, they have different ways of estimating how much organic traffic a site gets from their first page rankings).

The unique thing about SEMrush here is that you get A LOT more in-depth keyword data in this report.

Ahrefs basically shows you search volume, CPC and competition. But SEMrush shows you A TON of data on each term, as the search volume trend and number of results.

Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on your needs. I personally prefer to focus on the key metrics. And I find SEMrush’s UI here too cluttered.

But if you’re a keyword analyst that needs to quickly analyze 100+ terms, it is super helpful to have everything you need in one place.

SEMrush also has a traditional keyword research tool.

Like most keyword tools, you can see that keyword’s search volume and competition.

And get a list of suggestions based on what you typed in.

What makes SEMrush’s keyword research feature unique is you also get data from Google PPC.

So if you’re an in-house SEO or run an agency, you’re probably doing SEO and running Google Ads campaigns at the same time.

And having SEO and PPC data at your fingertips can be SUPER helpful.

Overall, I do have say that SEMrush wins this feature battle by hair. Ahrefs may have a better overall UI. But SEMrush just gives you lots more data (both SEO and PPC), which makes it a more well-rounded keyword tool.

Which Tool Is Best for Analyzing Backlinks?

Next, I wanted to see which tool had the best backlink checker feature.

Like I mentioned earlier, I actually compared the link index in SEMrush and Ahrefs (along with Moz Pro and Majestic), a few months ago.

In that analysis, SEMrush and Ahrefs were virtually tied.

Let’s see which tool can find the most backlinks today.

For this mini-test, I used my own blog,  

Ahrefs found a total of 17,463 referring domain links. And SEMrush found 19,114.

 SEO Tool Total Referring Domains Ahrefs 17,463 SEMrush 19,114

And when it comes to total backlinks, Ahrefs found 54,444. SEMrush found 714,477.

  SEO Tool Total Backlinks Ahrefs 54,444 SEMrush 714,477

So based on this tiny case study, SEMrush has a larger link index. Which shows that they’re seriously investing in their link index and backlink analysis feature set.

That said, the size of the index is only ONE factor to consider.

For example, the UI also matters… a lot.

If you can find everything you need without needing to click 57 times, that’s a HUGE win. Link building is time-consuming enough. You don’t want it to take even longer because your tool is hard to use.

For example, I LOVE the fact that Ahrefs shows you a sneak preview of the text that appears around each backlink.

This makes it easy to see WHY people are linking to a specific page.

I personally find Ahrefs much easier to use overall for link stuff. It takes fewer clicks to see a page’s best links. The pages that have the most links. And more.

This was another tough one. But I have to say when it comes to backlink features, SEMrush and Ahrefs are tied. SEMrush’s newly-expanded index is great. And the UI has come a long way. But when I want to analyze a site’s link profile, I still find myself opening up a new tab and firing up Ahrefs (mostly because it’s got a GREAT UI).

Which Tool Has The Best Technical SEO Site Audit Feature?

The next feature I wanted to look at was technical SEO analysis.

In other words:

Which tool is best for finding technical SEO problems (and opportunities)?

Like with my backlink analysis, I ran my site through each of their site audit tools.

Let’s see what happened next…

Ahrefs

Ahrefs gave my site an overall SEO health score of 81%.

This was largely based on the fact that my site 300+ pages with the “noindex” tag.

This isn’t actually a problem (we add them to pages that we don’t want Google to index).

So I don’t agree with Ahrefs that this is actually a problem. It definitely CAN be an issue. But it’s something that should be placed under a “thing to look at” category vs. something that impacts your SEO health score.

They also found a few other issues, like slow-loading pages and meta descriptions that were too short.

To me, those ARE real problems that are worth fixing. So it’s nice to see that Ahrefs found them. Unfortunately, these actual issues were kind of buried underneath “issues” like noindex tags and pages that have a 301 redirect.

Ahrefs also recently added a “Site structure” feature.

As the name suggests, this shows you how “deep” different pages are from your homepage.

In general, you want to have a “flat” site architecture. So this is a really easy way to see whether or not your site has pages that are too many clicks away from your homepage.

SEMrush

SEMrush also has a very solid site audit feature.

Yes, you get an overall health score that gives you a general idea of how SEO-friendly your site is.

(At least when it comes to technical SEO).

And SEMrush also lets you know if your site has issues in terms of:

Broken links

HTTP status code errors

Crawl errors

Issues with robots.txt

Plus, they give you a list of things to start working on right away.

Finally, SEMrush has a cool “internal link distribution” report.

This breaks down how well your internal links are set up for SEO. In general, you want to internal link FROM high-authority pages TO pages that need more authority.

And this report lets you know if your site’s link authority is flowing in the right direction.

When it comes to technical SEO features, SEMrush comes out on top. It’s site audit feature it more robust. And in my opinion, it does a better job of letting you know what you need to take action on first.

Which Tool Is Best for Rank Tracking?

Both Ahrefs and SEMrush have rank tracking tools.

Let’s see which one is the best.

Ahrefs

Like any rank tracker, Ahrefs regularly checks to see where you rank in Google for a set of keywords that you give it.

I spot-checked a few of the keywords, and the rankings seemed to match what Ahrefs reported. There’s not much else to say here.

SEMrush

SEMrush also has a super accurate rank tracker.

That said, SEMrush does have a few more features than Ahrefs here. For example, they have a “Visibility” score.

The other thing that separates SEMrush is that they update tracked keywords pretty much every day.

And Ahrefs only updates theirs once or twice a week (depending on your plan).

So if you’re someone that needs to stay on top of rankings changes, once per week may not cut it.

In terms of rank tracking, SEMrush beats out Ahrefs. Both do what rank trackers are supposed to do: track your rankings. But SEMrush updates more often and has more robust features.

Which Tool Has The Best Support?

For some people, the support that a piece of SEO software comes with is as important as any feature.

Which is why I decided to put each tool’s support to the test.

For this test I send the same exact question to each support team:

Hey guys, I’m wondering how you calculate search volume for keywords. Is data from the Google Keyword Planner or another source?

This was a relatively simple question. But not something super basic like “how do I change my password?”.

Let’s see how each tool performed.

Ahrefs

To send my question to Ahrefs, all I needed to do was click on a little chat button in the bottom right corner of the page.

Easy peasy.

It wasn’t actually live chat. But I was happy with the fact that it took about 5 seconds to actually ask a question.

(Something that, as you’ll see in a minute, is not the case with SEMrush).

And about 10 minutes later, I received this helpful reply:

Nice.

SEMrush

Unfortunately, asking a customer support question to SEMrush isn’t nearly as straightforward.

First of all, there’s no link to contact support that I could see from my dashboard.

I actually had to scroll down to the footer and click the “Contact Us” link.

Then, fill in a bunch of details about my question.

I even had to check a “Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy” box.

THEN I was able to ask what I wanted to ask.

To be clear: this only took a few minutes. But it was literally 5x harder than with Ahrefs.

On the plus side, I got a helpful response about 30 minutes after I submitted my question.

Although both tools got back to my question promptly, I have to give the edge here to Ahrefs. It’s 5x easier to ask questions. And I got a response back a little bit faster.

Which Tool Has Cool Unique Features?

At this point, we’ve compared the main features of each tool. Now it’s time to look at some of the unique features that make Ahrefs and SEMrush unique.

Ahrefs

In my opinion, the one feature that makes Ahrefs different than most other SEO tools is: “Content Explorer”.

If you’ve ever used BuzzSumo before, then you know how this feature works.

Type in a topic that you want to write about…

…and see which content has already done well in terms of backlinks, social shares and more.

Ahrefs also has a handful of “mini features” that I use all the time… features that few other tools have.

For example, I tend to rely on Ahrefs for broken link building.

That’s because I can EASILY find broken external and internal links in Ahrefs. In fact, this simple feature has saved me dozens of hours.

Ahrefs Content Explorer

SEMrush

SEMrush also has a few cool features that Ahrefs doesn’t have.

The biggest is their complete paid search software suite. Ahrefs literally has zero features for PPC.

And SEMrush has A TON of PPC competitor analysis features to help you get the most out of your Google Ads campaigns.

And if you do a lot of local SEO, SEMrush has a “listings” tool that help you set up your NAPs the right way.

(And find NAP opportunities that you may have missed).

I have to say SEMrush is the overall winner in the “cool feature” department. Honestly, both Ahrefs and SEMrush have unique features that no other tool has. But SEMrush’s unique features (especially their full-fledged PPC software) are a must if you’re running Google Ads campaigns along with SEO.

[kuriquinn]

Underneath the Underneath [1/?]

Summary: As observant as he is, it take Kakashi years before he realises he's in an actual, adult relationship.

Disclaimer: This story utilizes characters, situations and premises that are copyright Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Shonen Jump and Viz Media. No infringement on their respective copyrights pertaining to episodes, novelizations, comics or short stories is intended by the author in any way, shape or form. This fan oriented story is written solely for the author's own amusement and the entertainment of the readers. It is not for profit. Any resemblance to real organizations, institutions, products or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All fiction, plot and Original Characters with the exception of those introduced in the books, manga, video games, novelizations and anime, are the sole creation of KuriQuinn and using them without permission is considered rude, in bad-taste and will reflect seriously on your credibility as a writer. You will be forced to juggle geese until you drop dead should you be found plagiarizing.

Warning: Spoilers for pretty much everything up to Chapter 699.

Canon-Compliance: As close to canon as fanfiction can possibly be. With a few personal additions :P Takes place during Part I, Part II and the Blank Period.

Fanon-Compliance: Takes place several years before An Inch of Gold and Unplanned.

AN: OC alert! There is an OC in this story! Ohmygosh! Okay, so I have had a lot of interest in my OC, Manako, over the past little while, and I got a few requests here, on AO3 and on tumblr to start showing her relationship with Kakashi a little more. I had been meaning to wait until once I finished with all my SasuSaku headcanon stuff, but then I thought, why not write it now? Kakashi and Manako's relationship happens entirely off-screen so as not to interfere or impose on the canon, so I can write a few pieces every now and then for those of you who are curious. I hope you enjoy!

Author’s Note2: In case anyone was not aware of this (and I’ve mentioned it several times), Kakashi and Manako are about 9-10 years apart in age. They meet several years before the Naruto series begins and slowly build a friendship. Despite the fact that this is a universe with different age appropriate behaviours and expectations than our own (for crying out loud, they have twelve year old kids fight to the death and massacre their families), and that for the vast majority of human history age differences and relationships at younger ages have always exists, with or without consent, I have gone out of my way to ensure that nothing physical or intimate happens between the two until Manako is 18 years old (legal voting age in Japan, in many place in Japan, legal age of consent as per Tokyo’s Youth Protection Law). There has been an ongoing trend across many fandoms lately to demonize any relationship with a large age-gap or where one partner is a teenager on the cusp of being legal. Interestingly enough, these same people have no problem with a 17-year-old girl being stalked by a 100-year-old vampire just because he looks like a 17-year-old boy. Go figure.

In laymen’s terms, if you’re one of those holier-than-thou, morality-police, purity-wank douchenozzles that think authors should censor their work to protect your delicate sensibilities from being exposed to stuff that happens in real life…kindly step out of my section of the sandbox and go play elsewhere.

This is the politest I get about it.

“Ah! Kakashi, my venerable rival!” Maito Gai declares with his usual pomp, pointing one finger straight in front of him, while his other hand remains hidden behind his back. “Today is the day when we settle our longstanding, noble contest!”

Kakashi raises his single visible eyebrow at the digit two inches from his nose. “Is that so?”

“Yes! You see, as I was enjoying my balanced and revitalising morning repast, I heard a foreigner mention a competition from their land! The honourable and youthful pursuit of juggling geese!”

From behind his back, Gai produces a tiny gosling that blinks up at Kakashi and honks in puzzlement.

Kakashi returns that blink. Behind him, he hears Kurenai and Asuma stifle chuckles.

“That’s a goose,” he says eventually.

“Well-spotted, you keen-eyed animal, you!”

Kakashi counts to three in his head, and then points out in as reasonable a voice as he can manage, “Isn’t juggling geese a little cruel?”

“Nonsense! Our Konoha poultry is the hardiest of the land!”

That’s not what I…what even…?

There are so many logical, well-thought out arguments against this, and yet Kakashi knows from experience none of them will suffice. And so, he pounces on Gai’s ridiculousness in the hopes he can dissuade him for once.

“If the purpose is to juggle geese, shouldn’t there be more than one?”

Gai’s elated expressions holds for several seconds longer, and then his shoulders slump and he glares into the distance.

“Damn you, Kakashi, with your cool logic!”

Well, that was a narrowly avoided spot of—

“Fear not! I will return with a gaggle of goslings for us to test our juggling acumen!”

And he speeds off, leaving Kakashi holding the goose.

“Well…” Asuma begins.

“That’s certainly an interesting way to begin the morning,” Kurenai adds.

Gai hurries back, snatches the confused bird, and disappears again. Kurenai shakes her head. “Is it just me or does he get more high-spirited every day?”

“It’s not just you,” Asuma assures her. “The man could tire out the gods…”

Kakashi sighs and glances at the sky; the sun isn’t even at its zenith yet.

This is not how his routine is supposed to go.

Not that he ever consciously planned to have something as mundane as a routine. As a general rule, shinobi avoid having those, being that they are trained to expect the unexpected. However, over the years since he moved up the ranks in Konoha, a certain procedure has emerged nonetheless.

Every morning he rises before dawn and visits the cemetery, standing before the Memorial Stone to pay respect to his fallen comrades. Depending on his mood he may simply spare them a few words, or perhaps he’ll spend an hour or two in silent remembrance of Obito, Rin and Minato-sensei. Afterward, he heads to Hokage Tower to see if there’s anything Lord Third intends him to do.

It’s been almost a year since the Hokage removed him from active duty with ANBU, as well as mandatory therapy and instruction to readapt his teaching methods for genin. Eventually he will be assigned his first genin squad, but for now he’s simply on the village duty roster. Still, the missions Lord Third assigns him are always for the best of the village.

In any case, he has a lot more recreational time than he ever did before. Privately he thinks the old man is hoping he’ll use these newfound free periods to socialise more, but at this point in his life, Kakashi isn’t keen on seeking out friendship. As a child he didn’t like the idea of mingling with other people, and as an adult he is even more socially hesitant.

It’s not exactly easy to make friends when every person you’ve ever cared about died and everyone else holds you responsible for it.

Still, in spite of his reluctance, he has forged some connections within the village.

First and foremost, there’s Gai, whose presence in his life was insisted upon by their respective fathers. By now, the taijutsu master is so much of a habit for Kakashi that he’s not quite sure what he’d do without him. No day is complete without one of Gai’s ridiculous competitions, though Kakashi tries to avoid them until the evening for simple conservation of energy. 

In the past few years, he’s also found himself in the company of Asuma more and more often. Kakashi is pretty sure the man has been ordered by his father to keep an eye on him, which would be annoying if Asuma were less interesting. The Hokage’s son is well-learned and well-travelled, and his stories fill the silences that would otherwise be awkward.

Then there’s Kurenai, who goes wherever Asuma does these days, and Yugao. She’s the only one of his former ANBU squad that he speaks to with anything resembling regularity, if only because she’s been going on fewer mission since she and Hayate started spending more time together. Tenzō, when he isn’t off on missions, will invite Kakashi for a drink or a meal (and then they both spend the evening trying to nonchalantly trick the other into paying for it).

He tries not to think of Itachi Uchiha at all.

“Are you actually going to juggle geese?” Kurenai asks, her mouth quirking upwards at Kakashi.

Asuma chuckles again. “That sounds like it would be messy…”

“Maybe I’ll be assigned a mission and be able to avoid him,” Kakashi groans.

“I don’t know – it looks like he’s coming back,” Kurenai points out, staring out into the distance.

Kakashi doesn’t need to be told twice.

Without really looking, he dives through the door of the nearest shop, just in time to avoid Gai’s triumphant return – now balancing half a dozen geese in his arms.

Peeking through the corner of the nearby window, he watches as Gai—upon realising Kakashi is nowhere to be found—begins to demonstrate exactly how one juggles geese to a bemused Kurenai and Asuma.

Kakashi sighs and slumps down, pressing his head against the wall. It’s going to be a while before he can slip away. Maybe there’s a back entrance somewhere—

“Unless you’re looking for a way to blow shit up, you shouldn’t be here,” a bored voice says from somewhere behind him. “My boss doesn’t like loitering.”

Kakashi looks up, noticing in the process that his chosen hide-out is one of the many surplus and supply stores in the village. The smell of ink, paper and gunpowder fill the air, and when he takes notices of the walls he sees row upon row of specialty parchment—the kind for explosive tags. He glances across the sales floor, for the first time taking note of the girl reading a book behind the check-out counter. She’s familiar to him, although in the second-hand kind of way that everyone in a small village is familiar, so it only takes a moment to place her.

Twins are rare in such a small village, and Manako Inuzuka is identical to her sister Hana. Brunette and dark eyed, with a solid-looking medium frame and a languid, unselfconscious bearing he doesn’t see in a lot of girls her age. She lacks the distinctive Inuzuka facial markings, which is odd considering she’s the child of the leader, but somehow she manages to look just as fierce.

Kakashi occasionally has business with Hana—sometimes his ninja hounds require urgent medical care, and she’s set to take over the village’s veterinary practice—but he has never spoken to Manako beyond a few random, forgettable encounters. He doesn’t expect this one to be any different.

Except, then his attention falls on the book she’s reading.

The book which happens to be the next installment of his favourite series.

The one he has been desperately waiting on for the last six months.

“That’s the latest Icha Icha novel,” he says.

“It is.”

“It’s not even supposed to be out for another month.”

“And yet, here it is,” Manako replies, turning a page.

“How did you get your hands on this?”

“I know a guy.”

He begins to approach the counter. “Can I know a guy?”

“That depends—are you into bondage?”

Kakashi does a bit of a double-take at this, opening his mouth and then closing it again as he studies her. She and Hana were in Itachi’s year, which means she can’t be more than fifteen or sixteen years old.

She has to be messing with him.

Even so, he’s not entirely sure what to say to that.  At his silence, she finally looks up, considering him with a critical eye.

“Oh. You’re him,” she says, and Kakashi waits for the usual qualifier—he knows the things people whisper about him: cold-blooded, friend-killer, traitor’s son. But then she adds, “You’re Pakkun’s pet.”

“Pet?” he echoes, surprised and disbelieving.

“Sorry. That’s how the dogs talk,” she says, though she doesn’t sound or look very sorry, turning her attention back to her book in a clear dismissal. “I mean to say you’re his human.”

He’s not sure that’s much better and gets the sense that she’s mocking him.

“Your sister is a lot more polite than you,” he says, which sounds immature and over-simplistic, but he’s still a bit caught off balance and doesn’t know what else to say.

She doesn’t seem ruffled by the comparison at all.

“So I’m told.”

Again, her words drip with dismissal, and Kakashi is inclined to take the hint. He turns back toward the shop entrance.

Except –

He turns around. “Out of curiosity—”

“No.”

He frowns. “You don’t even know what I’m going to ask.”

“You’re not getting my book.”

“I’d pay you for it.”

“But then it would not longer be my book,” she says, and then glances up, lowering her voice conspiratorially. “I’m possessive and materialistic like that.”

Kakashi resists the urge to pout, but only because he is a grown-ass man and a jōnin and feared by half the shinobi world.

“Surely there’s some arrangement we can come to?” he suggests, trying to sound smooth and casual and not like a slavering fanboy.

“You’re that desperate for cheesy romance and long drawn-out sex?” she raises an eyebrow at him, and he feels his cheeks warm beneath his mask because does she have to be that blunt about it?!

“Well what’s your excuse for reading it?”

“I have two X-chromosomes,” she retorts, and then crosses her arms. “And didn’t you hear? Long. Drawn-out. Sex.”

His cheeks flooding with even more colour.

“Should you really be reading that sort of thing?” he asks, a little tightly. “It’s not exactly…”

“Oh, but if it was a teenaged boy it would be alright?” she counters. “Talk about double standards…”

“I never said—”

“I have just as much right to read it as you,” she shoots back. “And if you think about it, it’s kind of creepier when it’s an old guy like you doing it.”

“…Old?”  Kakashi demands, voice cracking a little in astonishment.

“Well, with that hair of yours,” she shrugs. “Easy mistake to make.” He stares at her in reply, and she smirks. “See? It’s not nice to generalize about someone’s age.”

Kakashi decide right then that it’s time to leave.

Juggling geese is suddenly a much less challenging prospect than any more absurdist conversation with this…person. He doesn’t even ask about the back entrance, and is almost on the point of opening the door again when—

“I guess I could make you a deal.”

Kakashi pauses, the sudden image of himself reading his beloved, long-book at the end of a tiring day. It’s been so long…

“I’m listening,” Kakashi says, turning back.

“I need someone to field-test my specialty explosive tags,” she tells him. “But Old Man Third won’t let me hire a genin squad. Something about legal issues or child protection or whatever.” She makes a dismissive hand gesture. “None of the chūnin are allowed to, either, ever since the last time some moron didn’t read the labels and blew off a testicle.” Kakashi’s cheeks rapidly lose all earlier warmth. “And most jōnin are pretentious pricks that think their missions are more important than functioning equipment, so...”

Kakashi’s eye twitches. “Noted.”

“But I’ve heard you’re moderately intelligent, and apparently, you’re fast too, so here’s what I want—you come by every so often and try out my specialty tags, then come give me feedback, and I’ll hook you up with this book.” Kakashi is about to say that seems like an awful lot of work for one book, and then she adds, “And any others that my contact sets me up with.”

“You’re making literature seem a lot more clandestine than it is,” he accuses.

“Not all of us are elite ninjas. Some of us have to make our fun where we can,” she replies. “Are you in or out?”

Kakashi turns the offer over in his head.

The whole thing sounds an awful lot like responsibility, or even worse, accountability, and unless the well-being of the village is at stake, he tends to avoid both.

However, on the other hand, he’s heard from others that Manako’s incendiary devices are top quality, and that she doesn’t limit her work to simple explosives. Which could prove useful in situations where he doesn’t feel like expending effort.

And he really wants to read the book.

It’s telling that the only considerations he have pertain to his own laziness and guilty reading pleasures.

“Alright, it’s a deal,” he says.

“Good,” she agrees, nodding in a businesslike fashion. “But you’re still waiting until after I finish reading it.”

Which causes Kakashi’s shoulders to slump because how did he not see that coming. He can predict the moves of enemy ninja before they even consider making them, and this girl outmaneuvered him with a single sentence.

She smirks at him, black eyes dancing. “Of course, if I didn’t have to cut my break short lugging boxes around and doing actual work, I could probably finish this in the next hour…”

He shoots her an unimpressed look.

“Do you actually think I’m that desperate?”

“I think you just promised to carry out potentially dangerous field testing that could possible get you blown up just to get a chance to read the book. Damn straight I think you’re desperate,” she declares, black eyes dancing. “So either you’re really bored with your life, or really weird.”

She looks him over again, and he gets the sense that this time she is actually studying him, because her eyes linger on his mask.

“Weird,” she concludes, and nods to herself. “Which is good. We’ll be friends.” She then closes the book, holding the place with one finger and pokes another in his face. “But no sex, okay? I don’t want to deal with sad puppy-dog eyes when I break your heart.”

He can’t help his jaw dropping at either implication.

“Now get to work. There are crates of blank scrolls in the back that need to be stocked up here,” she says, going back to her reading. “And if you don’t do a good job, I’m calling out spoilers.”

Which is how Kakashi Hatake, elite jōnin of the Hidden Leaf, finds himself stocking shelves for the next two hours, wondering what exactly he has gotten himself into.

つづく

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Comments and constructive criticism are much appreciated, and very motivating—and if you enjoy my writing, check out my original stories as they are posted on patreon!

栗

Next Chapter

[vapaus-ystavyys-tasaarvo]

Revenge Sandwich Week 1

Okay I’m here to attempt to participate with actual words rather than just maps. I can do this. By the way I haven’t read any other posts yet because I wanted to make mine first! (Because I’m worried that if I do read other people’s posts they’ve already said everything I was going to say and then I don’t have anything. x) I mean, literary analysis really isn’t my strong suit.)

Turns out this book is still such a page-turner for me. :p It’s really reminding me why I loved Dumas books as a kid. I’m already a bit ahead of schedule because I just couldn’t stop reading. But I’ll just talk about this week’s part now.

So yeah, I did vaguely remember some of what happened here but there were a lot of details I’d forgotten. And even things that don’t count as “details”: SOMEHOW I managed to COMPLETELY forget that this was all about politics and Napoleon. I literally read the part about them stopping on Elba and went “hey wait is this a Napoleon thing?” and yes, turns out it was a Napoleon thing.

Anyway.

This story... or at least the beginning is kind of hilariously unsubtle, isn’t it? The book doesn’t exactly make you wonder who are the good guys and the bad guys. (At this point at least. I have the impression that this is going to change.) And Edmond is kind of boringly perfect and like EVERYBODY LOVES HIM except the couple of guys who’re jealous. Although he IS at least kind of charmingly naïve, the poor guy, so he does have at least one fault...

Well also he has a bit of a temper because of course he does, he’s a Dumas protagonist isn’t he? And btw that bit where he’s all like “yeah Danglars and me once had a row so bad that we almost had a duel over it (on Monte Cristo no less, that sure isn’t foreshadowing anything at all) but I’m sure we’ll get along fine from now on and he definitely would never betray me” rhat is EXACTLY the kind of thought process Dumas himself would have. Like I’m 99% sure he’s just outright calling himself out here.

I mean some of the characters do get some complexity already. M. Morrel is introduced as kind of a greedy bastard who just cares about his cargo rather than that his captain died, but then turns out that he genuinely cares about Edmond and is ready to even risk his own reputation to help him. Caderousse is an envious, selfish bastard but he’s also somewhat sympathetic. (Again, because he defends Edmond... this seems to be a bit of a trend here. Liking Edmond makes you more sympathetic. xD) And then there’s Villefort who’s... well he’s a really compelling character and I find him fascinating and I want to read more about him but I also hhhhate him as a person. :p Yuck, prosecutors. I feel like washing my hands. And I just see red when his only motivation to do the right thing seems to be just to please his fiancée and he like fantasizes about telling Renée about how nice he was. Ewww dude, you are the worst.

Renée is interesting because I kinda genuinely do like her but on the other hand she’s way too happy to marry Villefort which makes me side-eye her a bit. I mean yeah she’s an upper-class woman and probably doesn’t have endless choices about matters of love but still. (Also she doesn’t mind the death penalty apparently unless it’s for political prisoners. >__<) Well, we’ll see how things turn out. I hope she’ll keep showing up.

I do really like all the political stuff, even if it seems to be more about the intrigue and the plot than the kind of manifesto masquerading as a novel that Les Mis is. But I enjoy both kinds. :p It’s a fun contrast too, given that these are novels set approximately in the same era. (And Dumas still finds time to make fun of the Royalists which I appreciate.)

Oh but there seems to be quite a lot of class discussion too, right? Which is interesting. I’d really like to see where it goes.

Uh... that’s pretty much all the at least somewhat structured thoughts I had for now? Like I said, this isn’t really my strong suit.

Some random reactions and comments that I wrote down:

‘-- if it were known that you gave a packet to the marshal and spoke to the emperor, you might be compromised.’

‘How could it compromise me, Monsieur?’

Oh you sweet summer child...

‘I shall always have the highest regard for those who enjoy the confidence of my owners.’

That’s an interesting way to translate “mes armateurs”. (I had to check what it was in the original text, it felt so weird.)

- I love the bit about Les Catalans. It just appeals to me a lot, that kind of sense of a tiny community with an interesting history. I just appreciate it in a story (although I don’t really know how accurately they’re portrayed here and of course we only seem to get to meet two people from there.)

- Another thing is the strong sense of the era, it’s just very very 1815. I like it.

- Mercédès’s speech to Fernand is probably the most blatant kind of exposition dialogue ever lol

- Also at points it feels like maybe you don’t need to remind us that they’re Catalan like literally every time you talk about them? Especially with Fernand, omg. (And who says “with your Catalan knife” when they’re also Catalan themself?)

- So far I like Mercédès though, I don’t really have much to say about her otherwise. Fernand creeps me out, like he’s obviously meant to. He seriously doesn’t seem to care about Mercédès’s feelings AT ALL as long as she doesn’t kill herself. >___< 

- All the talk about it being bad luck to call a woman her fiancés name before they’re married and a man captain before he’s been formally appointed... there’s SO MUCH FORESHADOWING HERE OMG. I get it, everything is going to go horribly wrong! Stop reminding me!

- Danglars, why did you even talk in front of Caderousse? I don’t get it at allll. I mean at first I thought the novel was going to have Caderousse, Danglars and Fernand all conspire together against Edmond and I was so confused about Caderousse being there because he seriously didn’t have a good enough reason to hate Edmond... I’m glad it didn’t go that way but now I’m just baffled by Danglars.

- I don’t have much to say about Danglars in general, he’s probably the most one dimensional character so far. I mean I appreciate his twisted mind because it makes him a scarier villain but otherwise... I don’t know, we’ll see.

-  Btw isn’t it a bit weird how even though we get told that Edmond has all these friends and how all these people really love and respect him but they don’t really get named or introduced at all? Instead all the focus is on the three people who actually aren’t great friends. Just a thought. It’s weird.

‘a commissioner wearing his sash is no longer a man but a statue of the law, cold, deaf and dumb.’

Hah. :D

‘but, dammit, though he’s a Royalist and the crown prosecutor, he is also a man and not, I believe, a wicked one.’

‘No’, said Danglars. ‘Though I have heard it said that he is ambitious, which is much the same.’

Oh snap. Okay I really like that line even though it’s Danglars saying it.

- All the coincidences, like the foreshadowing and the character introductions, ARE NOT SUBTLE AT ALL. Buuuut then again what are you even reading 19th C. lit for if you don’t appreciate Poignant Coincidences....

- Uggghhh all the talk about trials is disgusting. Yuck yuck yuck. Hhhhate. The sheer lack of empathy in everybody except Renée. Also Villefort, HOW IS IT ANYTHING LIKE A DUEL WTF. Let’s make a list: a) duels are supposed to be agreed upon by both parties, b) it’s supposed to be balanced, not favouring one of the parties, c) both should be facing the same risks. YOU LITERALLY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE, YOUR OPPONENT HAS EVERYTHING ON THE LINE. ARGH.

- did I mention that I hhhate him?

‘Nowadays, the sword has been put aside and the gown is supreme: there is a wise Latin tag to that effect.’

‘Cedant arma togae,’ Villefort said, with a bow.

‘I did not dare to attempt it in Latin,’ the marquise replied.

Okay, relatable. x) (obviously I don’t like her either but)

‘So the guilty man has been arrested,’ said the marquise.

‘You mean, the accused man,’ said Renée.

Thank you, Renée, the only half decent human being in this party.

This restore to us had a revolutionary ring to the ears of the crown prosecutor’s deputy.

Fucking royalists, omg. (I do appreciate Dumas snarking about them.)

settled his features in front of the mirror into their grandest expression and sat down, dark and threatening, behind his desk.

Omg Villefort you dork.

- Also: interrogating a suspect while also thinking ahead to how cleverly you can tell people about it later: like this guy is simultaneously so relatable and so disgusting. It’s both hilarious and enraging. (Idk, it probably hits me particularly hard because he feels like such a real person.)

happiness makes even wicked men good.

Another good line.

‘To whom was it addressed?’

‘To Monsieur Noirtier, Rue Coq-Héron, in Paris.’

Oh shit... Suddenly it makes sense that Edmond ends up in prison. >_______<

- Aaaa poor Edmond has all the power here and he just doesn’t KNOW.

- I don’t have anything to say about the next chapter, just AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa

- This part has gotten so much harder to read as an adult tbh.

Villefort ran out but, on reaching the door, realized that the sight of a deputy crown prosecutor in such a hurry could upset the tranquility of an entire town, so he slowed to his normal pace, which was quite magisterial.

Omg this guy. I swear.

- Villefort is having his Storm Inside A Skull moment except he put HIMSELF into this situation and of course he turns out to be an Anti-Valjean if anything. It really feels like an echo of the same scene though, even to the point of being interrupted and pushed towards the final decision by someone coming to tell them that the carriage is ready.

- I don’t have much in terms of thoughts about the chapters with Louis XVIII. Mostly I just kept wondering how historically accurate this was. xD

Okay, that’s all I had. Time to read everybody else’s things!

[voymedia1]

10 Tips for Creating a Powerful Personal Brand Online

The segment for establishing brand today concerns the digital world more than the real one. It happens because social relations have migrated from reality to the digital sphere. The first time you heard about it, large agencies come up in the picture. What about a personal image?

Statistic tells us that brand becomes an inseparable asset of businesses along with every working person. Our future target audience dictates the rules of how to lead industries, opinions, companies, everything. Consumers of modern generations perceive branding as seriously as one could ever imagine.

Bloggers and YouTube residents are well aware of creating an image. They are great examples for learning the art of how to influence a particular community via pastures and logos.

The techniques below work better when they are applied gradually. Used at once, these strategies will get messy and send twisted messages to brand’s audience. Take time for deciding on them wisely.

  Buy Your Own Domain and Website

You will have to buy a domain and a host for serving your website. Usually, it includes a monthly plan. However, that’s rarely a big deal. People tend to become frustrated about the domain name.

When you begin, create a personal logo. After weeks of brainstorming, paying for creative writer’s help, they end up using own name, pen name or a name of their product.

  Examples:

“EmmaRundle.com”

“EmmieRundier.com” 

“EmmasWritings.com”

  Some do not suggest using your real name for several reasons. The first one is, obviously, for basic safety. The second one comes from PR-smarts though it is not so obligatory as they say themselves. If something goes down and you have to rebuild reputation, at least the name won’t be so evidently associated with a fault in reputation.

Many websites offer to host and provide you with easy drag-and-drop website creation. Attractive offer includes a sustainable monthly payment. Perks include their integrated library of high quality images. Unfortunately, they add their name to your link.

No need for getting proficient with web development as many websites suggest you know nothing about it and create useful tools for site building. Try to start with them if you want to shift from kindergarten of blogging and create a new site with targeted audience.

You can always hire a developer to work on any mock-ups made by UX designer. The investment will serve you for years. It will increase the number of followers and make you stand out among many other competitors.

  Connect with Audiences

Audience targeting can be achieved through social media. Make only relevant content. You can even steel funny stories from your friend who decides against publishing themselves. Always stay courteous enough. Never mention your friend by name or tag them. Skip naming third parties.

If posting content every day is far from your normal behaviour, you should develop this habit. You may see how many people relate to small things you thought were not relevant. Being a human validates your experience already.

Think of the main goal of your brand. Is it your city lifestyle? Or is it all about your career?

Think of the group of people you want to be targeted. Peers or HR/employers?

Making choices stated above will become your style guide on writing and resonating topics.

Don’t forget asking your web developer to add social media buttons on your page. Use your posts to lead the audience to your website.

  Launch Weekly Email Newsletter

Put up a box where followers can subscribe to emails. Allocate time and effort for weekly updates. Sending mass messages requires another purchase, mailer system. A developer can help you with the storage of those emails and connecting them to mailer.

Create emails send surveys for retrieving more information about subscribers. Weekly updates with new materials are the average not-so-annoying content used for contacting people directly. It’s the perfect timing for reminding about your brand.

Always draft a clear subject line and test occasionally. Again, content has to be meaningful.

Here are some general tips:

One consistent topic per letter

Single-scroll text

Simple and stylish design

Visual button with a lead on your page.

The mailing system lets you know when there’s trouble with message delivering. Use their support to help you fix it or hire an expert to make sure that messages find their addresses.

  Know Your Areas of Expertise

Source: Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

Apart from connecting through the daily experience, analyze thoroughly your offers for global and local communities. Keep an open mind travelling and target societal demands.

Target things you are really good at, even if they stray far from your degree or responsibilities at work.

Collect every feedback ever received, personal or professional. Setting aside the prejudice, it can be a gem coming from people that are not fond of you.

  Run a Personal Branding Campaign on Facebook

Social media is a great helper with reaching your audience. Remember about the option of getting a business page with an option to send ads as you grow and expand.

Create a scheduled content plan. Use custom essay writing services as a ghostwriter if you need assistance with wording at any time you create content. It’s a smart move if you pay for the service like Facebook advertising or mailing system and do not receive a revenue.

Teaming up with experts can help you increase brand awareness and exposure online.

  Donate Time and Expertise to Your Local Community to Open Doors

On every stage, it’s important to give away something. A bad topic for bragging becomes the perfect one to find allies. Offer your best expertise to bring actual value to make your community know about you.

  Never Stop Learning

This one’s crucial no matter what you do. Either improving expertise or hobby-skill visit educational event, online or evening training. Sign up for a newsletter for the trends and follow the gurus within the area.

Following your interests, you get exposed to the techniques used by celebrity trainer or area experts on self-branding. Mimicking their approach with further transferring to your personal promotion is something we all do.

Sing up for case studies by professional sources. They often help in solving complicated brand issues.

  Network at Key Industry Conferences

For the purpose of insider information, establish own network. Communication outside of the Internet and devices become increasingly rare. Yet, the conferences are the least outdated events to talk to folks.

Bring a friendly colleague as an ice-breaker, if you feel uncomfortable or lack company. However, major skills today include the ability for starting and supporting real-life conversation.

  Invest in Professional Photography

The web becomes a crowded place so the scope offered by the stocks may be insufficient. Unique visual content is crucial nowadays. Make sure that at one point of your personal brand establishment you get a professional photographer for your project.

  Stay Genuine and Comfortable with Your Inner Self

Source: Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

No matter how fake the world seems today, it’s actually visible when you are dedicated to your beliefs. Studies report that sometimes a difference between an online persona and actual human is dramatic.

Don’t overreact when you learn that people have expected something else from you opinionating your digital persona. Eliminate any future feelings of guilt by never pretending whether online or offline. Stylist and life coach might give good advice on staying yourself in different situations.

A personal brand has to stem and grow upon some concept, an idea. Having trouble defining it before taking the steps mentioned above, engage a good friend or consult image maker. Follow advice from your career counsellor if you’re focused on your career.

The process is time- and effort-consuming, whereas it’s not wise to expect everything to work from the first day. Whether your results are below reasonable expectation, apply effort and get help.

These actions will create a solid base for the future of your entrepreneurial activities, career, and even personal growth.

Make an attempt to uncover your side of a story that is useful to society. We all strive to leave a mark with our incredible life stories or useful content.

  Author’s Bio: Emma Rundle is a highly passionate and motivated Branding expert. She has helped many customers worldwide to introduce their unique voice to the digital world and business. Customers value Emma for subtle and effective solutions. She is keen on overcoming obstacles on the way to brand’s success and offers the best approaches to resolve them.

The post 10 Tips for Creating a Powerful Personal Brand Online appeared first on Facebook Advertising Agency | Facebook Marketing Company.

from Facebook Advertising Agency | Facebook Marketing Company https://voymedia.com/10-tips-for-creating-a-powerful-personal-brand-online/

[onlineworkyou2b]

Merch by Amazon seems to be on a role lately of tier ups as well as expanding the program a lot of us have grown to know and love. With the expansion comes opening up more slots for brand new designers and business people who have the chance to take advantage of all that Merch has to offer. Because of this max influx of people to MBA, here at Merch Informer we have decided to run a series that is more targeted to people who are just getting started. This series will be called “The Beginners Guide To Merch by Amazon” and should contain bits and pieces of information that should keep your account safe and help you blow up your earnings in record time even if you have absolutely no idea what you are doing (no one did when they started!).

If you were to go back and ask a lot of the seasoned Merch by Amazon sellers if they made mistakes when they started, the answer would be absolutely yes! Everyone had to figure it out as they went along because there were no guides or people to show them what they should or should not be doing. Today, I want to go over 4 things that you should never do with your Amazon listings if you want to turn this into a long lasting business.

#1 Putting Unrelated Keywords In Our Listings

You can still see this today when you are doing your research but one of the biggest trends that just will not seem to die is that people are putting completely unrelated keywords and phrases in their listings. Some people teach that you should put unrelated keywords in your title because those keywords are getting traffic. Others completely keyword stuff their description with unrelated keywords in hopes that these keywords will get them more visibility on that shirt.

This is all against the Amazon TOS and something that should be avoided if you want to keep your Merch by Amazon account. It was not too long ago that Amazon introduced limited character count in the bullet points to try and combat some of the spamming that is going on. While this helped the issue, it has still not gone away.

Remember that Merch by Amazon is still in its infancy. The program is a little under 2 years old at this point, and is still kind of a “wild west” environment. Do NOT listen to people who tell you to stuff your title, bullet points or description with unrelated keywords. It might pass today, but as Amazon makes small changes and cleans up the program, this will not fly in the future and you could be looking at a banned account. You do not want to take that chance.

This also goes for putting related keywords in your bullet points but just putting them in a list.

Just look at the shirt above. Look at their bullet points. While the keywords they have so blatantly shoved into their bullet points are all sort of related, the listing looks terrible and this is nothing short of spamming. Do NOT do this. If the bullet points do not sound coherent if you were to read them out loud to yourself, then you are not creating a good Amazon listing. You may have heard that Amazon rewards good listings and this is absolutely true. Do it right the first time and you should not have any issues.

#2 Parody/Satire

This is a really interesting one and something that is often found out the hard way with new Merch by Amazon designers. Parody is often fine with many PODs and in fact sell amazingly well if you land on the right niche. When it comes to Merch by Amazon though, you are far better off just not touching any parody designs.

Since Merch has not really figured out trademark/copyright law, they are more than willing to just take designs down or not even let them pass review in the first place. You have to think about this from the position of Amazon. They would rather take down designs that are perfectly legal in order to protect themselves from any future lawsuits or issues. They do not care about you (the designer), and just need to keep themselves protected. Therefor, just skip the parody for now if you are strictly doing Merch.

I am not a lawyer, but from my understanding, Parody is a defense, not a right. Parody and fair use have a lot of court cases that go over the small nuances and how they are used. Without trying to explain these myself, americanbar.org has a really good PDF that outlines some of these issues/court cases here: https://apps.americanbar.org/litigation/committees/intellectual/roundtables/0506_outline.pdf.

Now before we go on to the next point, you very well may see Parody or Satire designs on Merch by Amazon. Just because you see something live on Merch does NOT mean you can do the same thing. As silly as it sounds, there are private Facebook groups that do nothing but report these type of designs to Amazon so keep your account protected and play it safe by not going after these type of designs for the foreseeable future.

#3 Drugs and Alcohol

I get it! You get accepted to Merch by Amazon and the first thing you want to do is put up some 420 blaze it t-shirts. I see this time and time again, people asking why their marijuana shirts were not accepted and are stuck scratching their heads as to why their #legalizeit shirts did not pass the review process.

There once was a time where these shirts were allowed into the Merch program. I had my fair share of them and they sold VERY well! As the program matured though, Amazon realized that they are trying to be “family friendly” and since they are the seller of record when you sell shirts (remember you get royalties…), they started getting rid of all the Marijuana shirts as well as other drug shirts. When doing your research you may see some still under Merch, but these have not been caught yet. If you are selling through seller central, then you are free to list as many of these shirts as you want. Amazon just does not want to be the seller of record for any drug shirts even though some of these substances may be legal where you live.

The terms of service for MBA does not specifically say you cannot have these shirts on Merch, which is why a lot of new people are stuck wondering why their shirts are being rejected.

When it comes to alcohol though, these are technically allowed. The reason I added it to this list is that you really need to be careful when it comes to making shirts about drinking. You cannot use any of the names/brands of alcohol out there at all. I even heard of Jack Daniels getting people’s designs removed for simply using their scroll work in a design even if there was no mention of their whiskey at all. Tread carefully as you want to keep your account safe if you decide to make drinking shirts.

#4 Leaving Fake Reviews

I saved the best one for last as I have seen people doing this on more than one occasion.

There are two things you need to make sure you stay clear of when it comes to fake reviews. The first is that you never leave fake reviews on your competitor listings. There are a few scumbags who do this out there, so make sure you do not become one of those people. The second is that you should never leave fake reviews on your listings or purchase fake reviews.

When it comes to fake reviews, you may have noticed while doing some of your research that some of the reviews on listings do not have the “verified purchase” tag underneath them. One of the techniques that some less than stellar individuals have started is that they will go to the listing of a competitor who is doing better than them, or someone who they just do not like and leave a fake 1 star review on that listing. Now, while this review will not be “verified” customers seem blind to this. What a customer sees is a 1 star review and they will just steer clear of that listing all together! What you could do if this happens to you is get in touch with the Merch team and try and have the review removed. I have never heard of this working but if you have, please let us know in the comments below.

What is a lot more likely than what we just discussed above is that someone will either give themselves 5 star reviews or purchase them from a supplier. Not only is this against the Amazon TOS, but Amazon has even sued people over this!

Amazon sues sellers for buying fake reviews

Seriously, do not do this! When doing your research you more than likely will come across brands who have done this. One of the biggest offenders that I know off the top of my head is Steve’s Emoji Shirts.

As you can tell, none of those have the “verified purchase” tag on them, and are people who have not purchased. More than likely, they are just the owner of the brand/design using other Amazon accounts to leave themselves 5 star reviews.

This process is being cracked down on by Amazon is playing with fire. If you do not want to end up in court with the biggest eCommerce company on earth suing you, my recommendation is to play by the rules.