#so i told them that if anything ever gets announced they'll learn about it from me a second later

[seaofreverie]

TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fanfictiongirlie]

HP: Forbidden - Chapter Fifteen

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Parings: George Weasley x Female OC (Slytherin)

Description:

Rosalie Riddle lives in the shadow of her father, going to Hogwarts made her feel safe and happy and when she meets George Weasley she feels a whole new emotion. Follow her story from the beginning of her Hogwarts Journey.

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Can fluff be a warning? Little bit of angst. Fred still dies, sorry.

P.s. So this is a rewrite from a fanfiction I originally wrote when I was roughly 16. It was awful, truly awful, but I adored the story so I decided to rewrite it ten years later. Enjoy.

As we drew closer to the end of summer, Harry joined us at the house, he was surprised to see me at first. I felt bad but I cornered him a few days into his stay.

"Harry, can I ask you something?" I ask

He looks at me, almost knowingly. He looked different this year, older. 

"You want to know about the last task, don't you?" He asks. I nod. 

"Your father is back Rosalie, he asked about you" 

"He did?" I was shocked, I felt sick. I didn't want him asking about me. I didn't want anything to do with him. 

"He asked if I knew you, I told him I had only seen you around, and that we didn't know one another" Harry explains. I thank him and let him leave. Feeling cold and stressed I locked myself in my room for the next few hours. Not wanting to exist. 

______________

Back at Hogwarts, things were going to be different, a random person from the ministry was becoming a Professor, and I had a bad feeling about it. She looked the sort who'd be difficult. She was to become our Dada Professor. I wonder if they'll ever have someone stay longer than a year for that position.

Classes began as usual, however people were acting different towards me. I had a feeling it was because of what happened last year. Somehow people were blaming me for my father coming back and murdering Cedric. 

God, Cedric, I missed him so much. 

My classes went smoothly as they usually did. I kept my head down and focused on the things I was learning.  I tried speaking to Professor Snape as little as possible. I didn't know if I could trust him. Annoyingly, I spent every day terrified that my father would show up. 

My first Dada class had started with Professor Umbridge. She spoke in this annoying high pitch voice, it grated at my poor ears. She handed out our books, and I was shocked. It was a Dada book for beginners. We were in our fifth year, I'd hardly call us beginners. 

Harry was the first to argue, he yelled at Umbridge, even mentioned Cedric. 

"Harry's got a point, this is stupid" I added. 

"Detention! For the both of you!" Umbridge yelled. 

"I barely did anything!" I argued back. But Umbridge chose to ignore me. I grumbled to myself. And begrudgingly listened and did my work for the rest of the lesson. 

Once it was over and we left the classroom, Harry pulled me to the side, where he, Hermione and Ron stood. 

"Thanks for helping in there" Harry smiled awkwardly.  

"I didn't really do much" I answer, my smile just as awkward. 

"It's still appreciated" Harry added. 

I nodded and smiled, and left. It was time for dinner now anyways, I was glad classes were over for the day, this year was proving to be more difficult. Entering the Great Hall I saw the twins sitting at the Gryffindor table, I waved to them but ultimately I sat with Draco and Daphne. Draco's little gang were there too but I usually ignored them. 

"Hey girlie" Daphne smiled and hugged me. 

I started to load my plate with food, and happily joined in on conversation and eating. 

"We were thinking of having a little common room party tonight" Draco announced. 

"I have detention" I say glumly. 

"Really? You never get detention" Daphne adds, looking skeptical. 

"Its with that new Professor" I sneer. 

_____________________

Arriving at her classroom after dinner, Harry was there too, Umbridge let us both in and sat us down. Her office was completely pink. And it was tacky. I liked pink, but this was way too much. I liked the cats though. 

"Harry I want you to write I must not lie" She speaks

"And Rosalie, I want you to write I must not misbehave" 

"You haven't given us ink" Harry snaps at her.

"You won't need ink" Umbridge answers. 

Harry and I look at one another, trying not to laugh, and we started to write, surprisingly ink did appear on the page, at the same time my other hand started itching. I carried on writing trying not to pay attention. 

But then it started hurting, a lot. I looked at my hand and the two sentences I had written down were now copied onto my hand. 

"What kind of torture is this?" I screeched at Umbridge. She only looked at me and smiled. 

"This is ridiculous" I snap, standing up from the table. "I'm leaving" 

"Your detention isn't over yet, Miss Riddle" Umbridge yells at me. 

"I don't care" I hiss and walked out the room, I rushed away from her office and found a dark bench. I finally let the tears leave my eyes, and I sobbed. It hurt so much, and the blood was dripping off my hand. I knew I should probably go to the hospital wing, but I needed to let my tears out first. 

I heard voices so I tried to sink further into the shadows. 

"Rosalie? Is that you?" Of course it had to be my boyfriend and his brother. 

"Yes it's me" I try to sound as if I wasn't crying. 

"What's wrong?" George asked. 

I hid my hand behind my back, and the two of them sat either side of me. 

"Nothing" I smile, I could tell my eyes were puffy though. 

"You're lying" George frowned, I felt bad, I couldn't lie to him. 

"Promise you won't get mad?" I asked timidly. They both nodded, agreeing. 

I lifted my hand and showed them, the letters were still wet with blood, but most of my hand was crusty with blood now. 

"What happened?!" George asked, loudly. 

"Umbridge's detention tactic" I answered, the tears starting up again.

"I'm going to kill her" George sneers. 

"You won't!" I cry "I'll go to Madame Pomfrey, and I'm sure she'll tell Dumbledore" 

They finally agreed, after saying some choice words about Umbridge. By the time we reached the Hospital Wing, I had finally stopped crying. I think Madame Pomfrey was getting ready to turn in for the night, she was dressed in the night robes. 

"What are you doing out of bed!" She yelled loudly, making the three of us flinch. Before I had a chance to answer, George held up my hand showing the blood covered writing. Madame Pomfrey gasped and rushed forward, she pulled me to a bed and had me sit down on it. 

"What happened to you?" She asked. 

"Umbridge's form of detention" I answered glumly. She huffed about but cleaneased the wound and wrapped it in bandage. 

"There's not a whole lot more I can do unfortunately" She frowned, but then rushed us out of the wing. "Off to bed!" 

"I'll walk you to your common room" George smiled at me, Fred opted out of this, so it left George and I walking hand in hand. My good hand luckily. 

"I had a feeling this year was going to suck" I say, idly swinging our hands. 

"I feel like I don't belong here anymore" George admits

"I get the same feeling" 

Soon we reached my common room, I felt bad that George walked me all the way down to the dungeon, and he had to walk back to the towers. 

"Goodnight Rose" He says quietly, and reaches down to press a sweet kiss on my lips.

"Goodnight George" 

[aokoaoi]

— pairings : neteyam x fem!reader

— warnings : fluff. angst. no comfort. character death. major atwow spoilers.

— authors note : if you know me, i mainly wrote shuri fanfics. but now is the time for a new phase:p. might still post about shuri, keyword : might. anyways, happy new years to those who've just reached the first of january !

To Neteyam, you're like a rare precious gem no na'vi has ever discovered. You were like no other, and that's what got him attached to you.

At first, it was just friendship. Sharing memories together, sharing laughs and jokes, and even in those raids you were still with eachother. But then that friendship turned into something more romantically involved as he realized.

He hid his feelings for you, afraid of what would happen if your feelings weren't mutual. He definitely couldn't tell you, not when everything is already perfect as it is.

When his father announced that they'll be finding a home in the Metkayina clan in order to keep their current home safe, he saw the surprise in your eyes. A flash of worry and fright glistened in your eyes, and immediately you stubbornly argued with the clan leader.

It was like you weren't even afraid of his father at all, and no matter how much he rejected your offers to come with them just to be with Neteyam, you just put a furious pout in your face. Eventually, you used the 'Sully's stick together' weapon on the clan leader.

Of course, you weren't a Sully. But to the Sully's, you were basically family to them. Neytiri treated you like you were her daughter every moment you're with her, and to the siblings, you're basically like a guardian angel. To Jake though, you're a stubborn little prick. But not in a way that he disliked it.

And then the siblings got involved. Mainly Tuktirey.

Poor little girl was clinging in your leg, wanting you to come as well. She grew a soft spot in your heart, she was so dear to you even you can't resist her. When Tuk was putting up a pouty show for you and Jake, he eventually agreed to let you come with an annoyed grunt and a roll of his eyes.

When it was the time to learn the ways of the Metkayina, you were oddly fast to adjust, with the help of Tsireya of course.

You comforted him when he still wasn't making progress and even offered to help him even though you only knew so little. You first taught him breathing exercises like how Tsireya taught you. It took a couple of minutes because of how distracted you two would get, but he eventually got the hang of it.

But then you two spent less time together now that you were learning on your own. It saddened him, yes, but at the same time he wished you learned more with him instead of learning with the Metkayina's.

He eventually saw that you were drifting apart, and how he saw you less and less each day. He didn't know why, and you never told him why. He wondered what could have gotten you so distracted to the point you rarely talk to him anymore.

He saw you once and only got to talk to you once when Kiri had a seizure underwater. You rushed in with a worried look, and you turned to the na'vi nearest to you to ask what happened. And that na'vi was him.

Small words, short sentences. That was it.

You immediately ran to Kiri when she gained consciousness, your knees scraping the ground from how you you hastily crouched down to her level beside Neytiri, your hand on her shoulder rubbing comforting circles as she held her weeping daughter.

It was when he got the point. You didn't want anything to do with him anymore, that's alright with him. He'll give you your space if that's what you wished for. He'll avoid you, He'll not talk to you, but that's not stopping him from thinking about you all the time.

A painful feeling ached in his chest when he sees you with the Metkayina siblings, Ao'nung and Tsireya. You won't even talk to his own siblings anymore, not even Tuk.

Even though he didn't fully understand as to why you're doing this. he'll let you go.

He let's you go, even though he still thinks about you. Even in the battle field. Even when his siblings have been caught by the humans. And even when a bullet has been shot through his chest.

He wonders about what you'd think about him if you saw him now. Bleeding and vulnerable.

'Skxawng.'

He can't help but smile at the thought as his brother puts him up on a rock, his sibling and his father surrounding him. Jake orders Lo'ak to put pressure on his chest, and the boy does so. Lo'ak sees a small smile on his brother's face.

"What you smiling about, huh? During this situation?" He attempted to tease him, but the worry on his voice laced his normal teasing tone.

"Thinking about her." Neteyam says after a few beats of silence, tears swelling up his eyes as he struggles to stay awake and breathe. Lo'ak stares at him, breath hitching when he understood what his brother meant.

Neytiri then landed beside them, rushing immediately to her son worridly. She yells in agony, falling onto her knees and beside Neteyam.

Tuk exclaims something as they heard a flapping on the waters nearing them, and on instinct, Spider turned to the source. You almost fell off your ilu when you rushed to the bleeding boy, your feet harshly scraping on the rocks, making cuts in your feet.

You fell onto your knees as your breathing became uneven and harsh. Neteyams eyes glossed over your face, contemplating if you were real or if he was dreaming. Your tears fell onto his cheeks, and then he was reminded this was reality.

Your voice let's out small whimpers of 'no's, your hand touching the sides of his face as your thumb brushed against his cheeks. You feel a hand on your back, and you recognized the feeling of his father's hand immediately.

"N-neteyam, I'm here. Okay? I'm here now." He heard your soft voice call out to him. Oh how he missed that voice so much.

You let out a heavy sob, one hand coming down to his wounded chest as you tried to put pressure on it as well. Your ears attempted to silence the boys struggled breathing and small chokes as it brought more tears to your eyes.

He attempts to speak, but only ends up choking for air.

"..I want to go home." He chokes out, tears cascading down his cheeks as you caressed it. Jake let's out a heavy sound at his words, fighting the tears in his eyes as he went closer to his son.

"I know, I know. We're going home." Jake struggles the words out, leaning more towards Neteyam as you made more space for his son.

"We're going home, it's okay." The father comforts, his big hand coming to Neteyams cheek. You let out a pained breath at his words, your vision bluring from the tears collecting in your eyes.

Silence rang around you as Neteyam calls out for his father, but was unable to finish. Your heart stopped there, and your lip twitched into a frown. You watched as his pupils dilated as your hand felt his chest stop beating.

"Neteyam." You call out, your hand leaving his chest. You hear a sigh from beside you, and then Neytiris cries. Your heart ached as you watched Neytiri desperately shake her son awake, your lips twitching into a frown as the tears that collected in your eyes finally cascaded down your face.

My son.

Neytiri yelled, her voice breaking.

"I'm so sorry." You sniffed out, grasping Neteyams hands. You imagine the warmth in them like always when you get the chance to hold him. But now it was cold.

Cold.

Lifeless.

You brought his hand to your lips, and to your cheek. "My love, I'm sorry." You whispered into his hand, your warm breath hitting the coldness of his hand.

You then felt a body engulfing you, sobbing into your shoulder. Tsireya. Her arms held your shaking body as your let out harsh sobs, your lungs struggling to breathe air.

You shut your eyes tightly. You can't bare to see the sight of a woman you considered as your mother cry and desperately yell for her son. You can bare to see Lo'ak as his hands were bloodied with his brother's blood. You didn't want to see them suffer anymore. You wished it hadn't ended like this.

The boy you loved was now laid on the ground, unmoving, a mother was calling for Eywa's help to save her son. A son, who had to face his unfortunate fate all because of one man.

How can mankind be so cruel?

[cloud-ya]

why do you hate elysia so much

oooohh I love when people ask me about that, and it's been a while without such question

*clears throat and unrolls a comically long scroll*

First thing is the way she treats other people's personal space or rather the way she invades it, especially Mei's. My own trauma regarding touching without consent/warning or mocking if I express my displeasure during such is the main factor why I want to throw this pink thing across the room. Yes, this is mainly about that godawful horn touching scene, which I luckily skipped on accident, but wasn't able to skip the dialogue after that with Raven mocking the whole situation. Describe the groans Mei was making during it however you want, but everyone told me Mei was clearly not pleased about having her horns touched. To me it was just her taking any means to get to the Deep End, and since she had only two people to choose from and she mentioned before that scene that there's no way she'd get Kalpas to help her, she had to ask Elysia for help and she happened to be really fucking obsessed about touching her damn horns, so she had to let her do so as a price for getting to the Deep End and Aponia. I consider it learned helplessness, if it can be considered so at all - Mei learnt that there's nothing she can do to be in any control of the situation she's in, so she just waits through shit helplessly in hope that it'll just happen and go away on its own. What got me pissed off even more is Elysia announcing through a fucking megaphone that she finally touched Mei's horns. It felt so humiliating. Imagine you're forced to use means which would not be pleasant for you and maybe even putting you in great discomfort and the person you did it with just publicly announces it happened as if it was something brief and both sides were fully comfortable.

Second, her idealisation. It's rather ironic that she's so perfect and flawless and whatnot while being labeled a herrscher of human:ego - human, that flaws are literally a part of nature of. She talks all the time how beautiful and great she is, and if she's to complain someone else they'll just get told that they're "almost as pretty as her". Nobody will ever convince me that she's not a Mary Sue, because she's clearly written like one and while yes Durandal was accused of being Mary Sue too "but people later just forgot about her" - people are not bothered by her ridiculous powers anymore because they were executed in a rather decent way which saved her character, unlike for Elysia who kept turning out worse and worse and more shallow with each line of text.

Third, her ridiculous large influence on the entire story and plot. She popped up out of fucking nowhere and suddenly changed the whole history of Honkai and retconned anything that could be retconned in plot. Herrschers used to be untamed representatives of Honkai and its destructive nature, Elysia shows up and suddenly it's actually that she gave them a chance to be human via her sacrifice and all herrschers from the very beginning of the current era just, idk, weren't evil and if they were it's because they just chose to and it wasn't actually that it was Honkai controlling them. Ever since Elysian Realm and Elysium Everlasting a bunch of people dead for ~50000 years aka Flamechasers are having a bit too damn much influence on whole main story, with Elysia in the lead. They ruined Mei's character with the whole ER bullshit and I don't even feel like she got any major development while being stuck there. Let alone that absolute butchery which is Herrscher of Origin, Mihoyo clearly have no idea for a show-not-tell way to express that she carries all that knowledge and memory of Flamechasers, so they just make her obsessed about them (like constantly talking about them during the so awaited reunion with Kiana and Bronya after what? few months? if not more). Mei was boiled down to Elysia stan, if not Elysia 2.0. And with the discomfort she experienced back in Elysian Realm, even if it didn't get her any major trauma... it just doesn't make sense.

TL;DR: I hate Elysia because she often invades other characters' personal space which I'm very sensitive to, she's a shallowly written Mary Sue who also has ridiculously large influence on the main story for a side character.

[isabellafoster13]

This was requested on Wattpad by Bellaboo097023.

Ready for some protective Erza? 

I hope you enjoy!

Stop Flirting With Her! (Erza x Lucy)

If there was one thing that the people of Magnolia and the mages of Fairy Tail knew, it was to never, ever flirt with Lucy Heartfilia. 

For a couple of years now, Lucy had done what nobody had been able to do: she got Titania to be her girlfriend. 

Their relationship was announced at the following Grand Magic Games and Sorceror Weekly went crazy. The journalists who were sent to find out more about the couple led to the discovery of something that very few people were surprised to learn. 

Erza is a protective girlfriend.

Any of the poor journalists who had to interview either of the two women made the mistake of getting too excited and showered Lucy with questions faster than she could answer. Upon seeing her girlfriend get overwhelmed with questions, both personal and not, Erza wasted no time in requipping into one of her armors and threatening the journalists. She told them to leave her girlfriend alone, or else they'll face her. This, of course, was something that none of them wanted, so the journalists bolted away. 

Within two years, it became an unspoken rule that you do not flirt with Lucy, or even look at her in a way that could be mistaken for something that wasn't platonic or chaste, unless you want to almost die at the hands of Titania. And nobody was stupid enough to do that. 

A lot of other people can attest to this as well.

There was a time that Sting Eucliffe, the Guild Master of Sabertooth, flirted shamelessly with Lucy and asked her on a date. That ended with Erza throwing him out of his own guildhall. 

There was also that time when a fan of Lucy's offered to buy her a drink at a bar where the two women were on a date. The poor guy quickly learned a valuable lesson that day. 

However, this protectiveness has proved to be a good thing many times. 

For example, Erza and Lucy went on a job together shortly after the started dating. The dark mage they were fighting managed to separate them, getting Lucy alone with him. Erza, despite knowing that Lucy was a capable wizard on her own, couldn't help but worry greatly about her girlfriend. It was thanks to her strong urge to protect her girlfriend that she was able to find the two mages and saved Lucy from being captured when she was overpowred by the dark mage. 

There was another time when the two women were on a bar date again. Erza had left Lucy at the bar to go to the bathroom. While she was gone, Lucy had been distracted by two men who were arguing. This made her laugh to herself due to the two men reminding her of Gray and Natsu. While she was distracted, some other man had slipped a drug into her drink. Fortunately for Lucy and unfortunately for the man, Erza was returning at this point. Upon seeing someone trying to drug her girlfriend, the red-haired woman went into a rage. 

Nobody really knew if Lucy was aware of her girlfriend's protectiveness. It was difficult to believe that she was oblivious to it, but she never did show any awareness of it. She would never so much as bat an eye at her girlfriend threatening anyone who flirts with her, leading people to think that she either was oblivious to it, or she just didn't pay any mind to it. 

This brings us to the current point in their relationship. Erza was walking beside Lucy was they strolled through the marketplace in Magnolia. Lucy was looking around at the stalls, hoping to find some books. Erza wasn't very interested in visiting the marketplace, they never had anything that she liked, after all, but she was nonetheless happy to come if it meant seeing her girlfriend smile. 

It didn't take long for Lucy to find a stall that was selling books. Erza decided to hang back and stand a few feet behind her girlfriend, keeping an eye out for anybody who would dare to stare at Lucy. 

She knew that she was protective and should probably calm down a bit, but could you blame her? Lucy was beautiful, kind, and intelligent. She was the perfect girlfriend and Erza didn't want to loss her. She hated seeing anyone flirt with her girlfriend. She also hated the idea of anybody taking advantage of or harming her girlfriend. 

She had her back facing Lucy, not looking unlike a loyal bodyguard, when she heard Lucy laugh. She turned around, curious about what her girlfriend thought was funny. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the book stall owner smiling as he told another joke, earning more laughter. 

Erza's eyes narrowed into a glare, but she didn't do anything. She wanted to be sure that the man was flirting and not just telling jokes and being friendly. She watched the man closely, listening to his next words, "you like that book, yeah?" 

Lucy nodded, glancing down at the book that she was holding, "I've looking for it everywhere!"

The man chuckled, "I'm not surprised. It took me months to find it. I gave it a ready a little while ago, actually. It's quite good, I highly recommend it." 

Lucy grinned, "really? I heard that it was a great read!" 

The man leaned closer to Lucy, causing the blonde to drop her frown and give the man a hesitant look, and causing the redhead to tense in preparation to jump into action. The man purred, "I can give it to you for free." 

Lucy glanced away from him and took a step back, responding, "really?" 

"Yeah. On one condition." 

"W-what?" 

The man hummed after he raked his eyes over Lucy's body, "you're a very beautiful young woman. I would love to take you on a date. So, if you agree to go out with me, then you can have that book for free." 

Erza didn't give Lucy time to respond, rushing toward the stand. She slapped a hand on the stand and grabbed the man shirt with her other hand, growling at him, "stop flirting with her!" 

The man paled and began to tremble as he stared at Erza, fear clear in his eyes. He stuttered, "I-I wasn't-" 

Erza cut him off, "yes you were! I heard everything!" 

The man begged, "p-please, don't hurt me! Y-You can take th-the book! Free of charge! J-just don't hurt me!" 

Erza huffed before she released him and made sure Lucy had the book in her hands. Once sure that her girlfriend had the book, she wrapped her arm around the blonde's waist and lead her away, yet another poor idiot traumatized by Titania for making the mistake of flirting with her girlfriend. 

[rosiesung]

7 Days || Y.JW

for @geminirules "Just Friends" collab

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Pairing: Jungwon x Fem!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Friends to Lovers AU

Words: 3.63k

Warnings: Reader calls Jungwon a dick.

Synopsis: You are dared to pretend to be in a relationship with your best friend Jungwon. Initially, you go through with the childish challenge, knowing it will be insignificant to your friendship. But as the days pass, you begin to realise your true feelings for him. Will your revelations ruin your friendship? Or will something beautiful blossom because of them?

⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼

"I dare you to pretend like you're dating Jungwon for a whole week."

You looked at your best friend with wide eyes, a similar expression of surprise on his face. There was no way you were going to do that. It would be way too awkward.

"Come on y/n. Don't be a party pooper. It's not like you guys are going to fall in love."

Of course things wouldn't turn out that way. No matter what, nothing would change the way you saw Jungwon. He would always remain your best friend and nothing more.

Jungwon looked too embarrassed to say anything. Both of you knew it was just a dare. What was the worst that could happen?

"Fine. Starting tomorrow Jungwon's my unofficial-official boyfriend," you announced, linking your arm with his. Jungwon hid his face in his hands as everyone around you screamed and cheered. This was going to be one interesting week.

~

☀︎ DAY 1 ☀︎

Since you only had to put on a show in front of your friends, you figured the best thing to do would be to hang out with Jungwon in solitude. He didn't have a problem with your plan. You both had been having playdates together ever since you were three. He was comfortable being alone with you.

Both of you met at your secret spot. A small grove behind the schoolyard. It was a place the two of you had found while skipping classes one day. Ever since then, this was where you spent time together whenever you needed some peace and quiet.

"I can't believe you actually agreed to this," Jungwon said, mindlessly plucking the grass he laid on. You sighed, staring at the row of trees beyond. "A dare's a dare. Besides, we have nothing to worry about because we don't have feelings for each other."

Jungwon sat up. "You know that we can't avoid all of them for the entire week right? They're literally planning to hang out at the cafe just so they can see us in the act." He sounded worried. There was no need to be.

"Of course I know that. So what? We'll let them see what they want to. It's not like they're going to make us kiss or something. The most we'll do is feed each other and hold hands."

Unlike Jungwon, you had already thought everything out. You knew how far to go while respecting the boundaries of your friendship. All Jungwon had to do was trust you.

He cringed in disgust at your words. "You're going to pay for landing me in this mess. We've barely even started and I already feel so miserable."

You patted his shoulder, flashing him an assuring smile. "You're not alone in your miser mister. After this is over, I'll do all your homework for you."

Jungwon laughed. "Learn how to do your own first. Then you can come and ruin mine."

~

☀︎ DAY 2 ☀︎

As Jungwon had predicted, your friends called you out to the cafe. Both of you were supposed to show up together. Jungwon met you a block away from the cafe, looking incredibly reluctant. "Are you sure you want to do this," he asked, just about ready to turn back around.

There was a determined look in your eyes. "Remember when he had to play Hansel and Gretel's parents for that play we did in preschool?" Jungwon nodded. He could never forget that day. "If we managed to get through that, we can get through this without a problem."

That made sense. Appreciative of your pep talk, Jungwon took your hand and whisked you away to the cafe.

By the time you reached your destination, both your hands were sweaty. Jungwon was just as nervous as you were. Not only because you had to pretend like you were dating, but also because your friends weren't going to miss the opportunity to tease you.

Seeing you two enter hand in hand, everyone began hooting and cheering. Jungwon's cheeks flushed almost immediately. You had to drag him towards the table you were supposed to sit at. "It's nice to see you two arriving together," one of your friends said, making space for you.

Taking a seat, you watched in horror as they placed a glass of juice with two straws in front of you both. No one had to explain what its purpose was. You glanced at Jungwon whose eyes were fixated on the glass hesitantly.

"If we get this over with now we'll be at peace," you whispered, leaning forward to place one of the straws between your lips. You looked away when Jungwon did the same, feeling the heat in his face on your cheek. You were certain you had never downed a drink so fast in your life. It didn't take long for you to finish the contents of the glass, quickly sitting back up to catch your breath. Your friends couldn't seem to get enough of the event, laughing and clapping avidly.

"You guys are so cute," some said. "Both of you would make such a nice couple in reality," said others.

Sitting there amongst your terribly evil friends, you wondered how you were going to get through the next five days with Jungwon.

~

☀︎ DAY 3 ☀︎

Your friends had invited you to another escapade at the park. You couldn't tell what they had in plan this time but you were sure it wasn't going to be enjoyable. At least this time, you and Jungwon didn't have to show up hand in hand.

When you reached the park, Jungwon was already there. Your friends beckoned you over, making you stand next to him.

"Now that our subjects have arrived, here's your to-do list. First, remain holding hands the entire time we are here. Second, Jungwon, give y/n your jacket if she starts feeling cold. Third, walk her back home and make sure you give her a nice, sweet little kiss before she goes inside."

Jungwon let out a noise of surprise. He wanted to run as far as he could and never come back. Holding your hand was fine. He had gotten used to it because of the previous day. He didn't mind giving you his jacket, but you were already wearing one so he didn't see why he would find the need to. Jungwon could do many things. But kissing you was not one of them. It didn't matter if it was on your cheek, your forehead, or the back of your hand, because there was no way on earth that he would bring his lips anywhere near yours.

What neither of you realized was that your friends were willing to go to the farthest lengths to make sure you went through with their tasks. They made you two walk in front of them so that they could see your hands intertwined. When the sun went down and the air started getting colder, they made you take your jacket off so that Jungwon would be left with no choice but to give you his. Just when it seemed like your night of torture would come to an end, they even made you share a single cone of ice cream. When it was finally time to go home, two of your friends followed behind you to make sure that Jungwon did his bidding. It was awkward enough walking through your neighborhood hand in hand. Those who knew you cast looks of confusion and surprise upon you two. Eventually, you reached your doorstep. Jungwon let go of your hand, standing in front of you. He looked everywhere but at you, avoiding your gaze. You glanced behind your shoulder, rolling your eyes when you saw your two friends filming you from behind your neighbor's car. They weren't even attempting to be discrete.

"Hurry up and kiss me already. This is too embarrassing," you urged, slapping Jungwon's arm. He sucked in a breath, pressing his lips in a thin line. "Do you think it's not for me? I mean, I'm the one who has to kiss you for heaven's sake."

"Stop pitying yourself and just get on with it. The longer we stand here the more reason they'll have to punish us tomorrow."

Jungwon stared at you long and hard. He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned forward, pressing his lips onto yours without a second thought. You froze, eyes going so wide they might have popped out of your head. Even though it was probably only for two seconds, it felt like an eternity. Time froze as you stood in the foreign feeling of his lips on yours. He pulled away almost immediately, skipping down your driveway as fast as he could with a short wave and 'good night'. Still stunned, you entered your home, breaking into a smile when you closed the door.

~

☀︎ DAY 4 ☀︎

The next day, Jungwon asked you to meet him at your secret spot. So far, your friends hadn't made any plans to get you together. You saw Jungwon sitting in the middle of the grove, laying down on the damp grass as he usually did. Walking over, you sat down beside him, flicking his forehead so that he would open his eyes.

He grinned on seeing you, sitting up with a soft groan. "So, how was your night?"

You furrowed your brows at the question. It wasn't like him to ask you things like that. But you decided to overlook it. Maybe he was still feeling a bit awkward after the kiss you both hard shared the previous night.

You shrugged. "It was fine. How was yours?"

"I couldn't sleep," he revealed. It sounded like he'd been dying to tell you. "Why's that," you asked, believing that you had an idea of the reason.

"Last night scarred me," Jungwon shared, pretending to gag. You didn't know why, but hearing him say that made your heart sink. Suddenly, you felt horrible. "Was it really that bad," you asked, genuinely curious to know what he thought of it. Jungwon nodded, making you feel even worse. "It was worse than I thought it would be," he added. Your eyes started stinging. A lump formed in your throat and the longer you held it back, the more it hurt. You knew you hadn't been eager to kiss him, but you would argue about how 'bad' it was. But bringing that up right now would just be stupid. Jungwon would misunderstand where you were coming for and that would just lead to another disaster entirely. You had told yourself that you weren't going to let this dare get to you, but four days in you were already slipping. The longer you sat there, listening to Jungwon whine and complain about everything he'd had to do with you so far, the harder it became to control your emotion. Not able to take it anymore, you got up abruptly and ran away, leaving Jungwon sitting there extremely puzzled.

~

☀︎ DAY 5 ☀︎

You didn't respond to any of Jungwon's calls or texts. You didn't have it in you to face him. He would be disappointed if he found out the real reason behind your sappy mood. So you were gonna wait till you got over it before facing him.

You still couldn't believe that you had been so affected by Jungwon saying that he hated the kiss. Despite telling yourself that you disliked it too, you couldn't help but think otherwise. There was something so magical about it. You had never felt that way because of a kiss before. Whenever you thought back to it, an exciting warmth rippled through your mind. Your heart danced in glee and a wide smile formed on your lips.

But you weren't supposed to feel that way. Jungwon was your best friend. Besides, he hadn't kissed you willingly. You didn't understand why it felt so special to you when it clearly meant nothing to him. You knew you couldn't blame him for that. His mind was wired to see you as nothing more than a friend. You found it hilarious. Here you were, realizing that you probably liked your best friend after having continuously assured yourself and him that something like that would never happen. The sad part was that Jungwon would never reciprocate your feelings. You were all alone in this.

A knock sounded at your window, startling you. Slipping out of your reverie, you glanced towards it, eyes widening in surprise when you saw Jungwon crouched before it. You didn't think twice before letting him in. He entered your room and stood in front of you, crossing his arms over his chest. "You wanna explain what happened yesterday?"

You frowned and turned away shoulders slouching disinterestedly. "Is that what you came here for," you asked, regretting letting him in?

"Well did I have a choice? You've been blatantly ignoring me while all I've been trying to do is make sure you're alright," he said, stepping closer to you.

"I'm fine. If that's all you needed to hear, you can leave now," you replied. You didn't need him prying and prodding at you right now.

Jungwon stood his ground, clearly not satisfied with your answer. "No, you're not y/n. You aren't fine. Tell me what's bothering you."

You sighed and faced him. "Trust me, you wouldn't want to know."

Jungwon furrowed his brows. He didn't know what that meant. "I think I'll be the judge of that."

"It's you. You're bothering me," you spoke, narrowing your eyes at him. Jungwon hadn't been expecting that. But he didn't let the surprise show on his face. "What did I do?"

"You made me feel so worthless and undesirable. But that's not your fault. I can't blame you because you're right to think that way about me. I'm just pitying myself here and there's nothing you can do about it so please, just leave me alone." The tears were coming back again. You didn't want to break down in front of Jungwon. His face fell. He didn't know what to say to that. He thought you knew he was just being overdramatic. He seriously hadn't meant to hurt you. Before he could apologize, you turned to him. "I don't think I'll be good at keeping this a secret, so let me just tell you that I'm starting to catch feelings for you. If that makes you uncomfortable then you can leave. If you have something to say, just say it and go. But don't ask me why I feel the way I do because that's something I'm yet to figure out."

Jungwon was at a loss for words. He stood there, gaping at you like an open-mouthed fish before turning on his heel and exiting through your bedroom door. You heard your mother yelp on seeing him, probably wondering where he had shown up from. A part of you wished that he hadn't left, but the other was glad that he was gone. You felt like a fool for letting all of this happen. You should have never agreed to this dare. Who would have thought it would lead to something like this? There was nothing you could do now. There was no way you could change the way you felt. Because at the end of the day, it was as clear as ever, that you were undeniably in love with your best friend Yang Jungwon.

~

☀︎ DAY 6 ☀︎

Jungwon couldn't stop thinking about everything you had told him yesterday. He would never have imagined that you would catch feelings, especially through such a childish dare. Your friends had called you out to the park again today, but Jungwon wasn't going to go. He knew you wouldn't be there so there was no point. He wished he could tell you that he hadn't meant half the things he'd said about the kiss at the grove that day. He was just trying to show you that the kiss hadn't made him feel some type of way. Not just that, but he was also attempting to persuade himself that he indeed had loathed it. Maybe he should have been truthful instead of lying about it.

This was exactly what he'd been afraid of. Jungwon was always fond of you. He cared for you and he wouldn't lie when he said that he loved you. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that maybe he felt that way because he thought of you as more than a friend. Jungwon didn't want to convince himself that he liked you just because you had confessed to him. He wanted to understand the way he truly felt about you.

He knew every little thing about you. No one knew you as well as he did. Jungwon cherished your friendship and the time he spent with you. Whenever anything bugged him, he always came to you, knowing that you were the only person who could make things better. He relied on you more than anyone else. He couldn't go a day without speaking to you. After yesterday, he realized how important you were to him. The fear of losing you ate at him the longer he stayed away from you.

Jungwon hated knowing that you were sad. It hurt more to know that he was the reason behind it. He wanted nothing more than to hug you and apologize for making you feel bad. He felt guilty for everything he had done. It had only been a couple hours since he had last spoken to you, but it felt longer. He missed you so much.

So he left you a text, asking you to meet him at your secret spot. He kept his phone close, waiting till you replied. But you didn't. You probably wanted nothing to do with him. Nonetheless, he still hoped and prayed that you would give him one last chance to make things right again. He couldn't afford to lose someone as special as you. There was nothing for him if he didn't have you.

~

☀︎ DAY 7 ☀︎

Jungwon laid in the grass, staring at the dull sky above. It was filled with clouds, hiding the sun. The grove felt so big and endless when he was alone. When he was with you, it was much more cozy and bright, even if the atmosphere was gloomy.

He had been waiting for you for quite a long time now. You hadn't replied to his message last night, but he knew you had seen it. Just before he was about to lose hope, he heard the grass crunch a few feet away from him. Jungwon didn't have to look to know it was you. No one else knew the path to get here.

"What do you want," you asked, voice small but laced with malice. You were cross with him. Jungwon wished to change that today. He patted the space next to him. "Let's not pretend like we hate each other. You could do the worst thing to me but I'd still admire you."

You didn't argue and sat down beside him. Other than the tension in the air, everything felt normal. There was a scowl on your face. It must have taken a lot of convincing for you to come here. Jungwon needed to get to the point.

"I'm sorry about everything I said. I didn't even mean half of those things."

You scoffed. "Oh really? They sounded pretty heartfelt to me."

Jungwon sat up. "I was just trying to enforce the idea that I wasn't into you, on myself," he revealed, hoping that you would forgive him. "And being a dick was the only way you could do that? Jungwon, you weren't the only one who was attempting to suppress their feelings," you refuted.

"I know y/n. And it's my fault for not realizing sooner," he admitted, hanging his head. You sighed and shook your head. "This is so immature. I can't believe we're letting a stupid dare get in the middle of our friendship."

Jungwon chuckled darkly. "Maybe it's a sign that our friendship has run its course."

You turned to him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Jungwon smiled. "I gave it some thought yesterday. We're both attempting to be in denial of our feelings. Obviously, that isn't working out. If it wasn't for this dare, they would've remained buried deep down somewhere. But I guess you could say everything happens for a reason." He took your hand in his, intertwining your fingers. "I never realized how much I loved this feeling until I had to go a whole two days without it."

You couldn't even hide your smile. "Where is this going Jungwon?"

"Maybe we should give this a chance. Give us a chance. Who knows? It could turn out the be the best thing that's ever happened to us," he said, meeting your eyes.

"And what if it doesn't? We would be throwing so many years of friendship away."

Jungwon shook his head. "How long are we supposed to contradict how we truly feel about each other? That would take a heavier toll on us."

You laughed, squeezing his hand. "It doesn't hurt to try I guess."

Jungwon beamed. "That's the spirit!" It felt nice to see you smiling at him again. He was grateful for that. It was funny how a large part of his mood depended on you. If you were happy, he was happy. If you were sad, he was sad. His entire world revolved around you, and Jungwon knew the best thing to do was strengthen that bond.

"So, will you be my girlfriend," he asked, smiling cheekily. You bit your lip, looking at him through your lashes. "Of course I will."

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this fic. Please let me know how you found it! Thank you so much!

[naivesilver]

(Did I get so mad at Piccolino no Boken that I wrote an entire Pinocchio Swap ficlet about it? Yes, yes I did.)

😈😈😈😈

"We have a problem," Emma announces, much to Regina's chagrin.

"What do you mean, we have a problem?" The mayor asks, already dreading the answer she might receive. "I thought you'd already sent all of those kids back where they came from."

Which has already been disrupting enough to her sanity, mind you. Regina could have countenanced the existence of multiple, variegated versions of Pinocchio scattered across other worlds, and she was more than willing to intervene herself when she found out they'd been misplaced in one another's land, but it's the fact that they all had to come to Storybrooke before returning home that will likely plague her nightmares for a while.They won't ever regain their status as a quaint, peaceful little town again, she fears.

Emma pulls a face that is all but reassuring. "Yeah, that might be the issue here, actually."

"What?"

Instead of replying, Emma gestures vaguely behind herself, where August is making his way towards them. For a moment Regina thinks the man himself might be the aforementioned problem (which, on a common day, would be far from a stretch), but then she notices he's leading one of his miniature doppelgangers by the hand, a tiny little puppet with a red hat and an hesitant look on his face, half-hidden behind August's leg.

"Now what do we have here?" She mutters, feeling as though she shouldn't be so surprised by anything that happens to her, at this point.

August gives her a small smile. "Hey there. We- well, Pinocchio would like to make a request."

He crouches down to the other's eye level, gently coaxing the boy out of his hiding spot. "Go on. Tell the mayor what you told me. She looks scary, but she's a friend, I promise."

Pinocchio regards Regina with wide, uncertain eyes for a bit, pressing his lips together rather than saying anything, but after August nudges him again he clears his throat and speaks up, loud and clear.

"I don't want to go back. I want to stay here. Please."

He must be one of the youngest, this Pinocchio. Some of the other kids, made of wood and flesh alike, were already gangly and disgruntled like Henry used to be while on the verge of puberty, and there was one that looked suspiciously bald under his pointy hat, but the boy's voice is high and reedy, carrying the hint of an accent and betraying him as no older than six or seven in spirit.

That makes his request all the more disconcerting. Regina blinks, stunned, then manages to rasp back: "Excuse me?"

"I want to stay here. I don't- Don't make me leave. Please."

Emma shoots Regina a sideways glance, mouthing something that looks suspiciously like What did I tell you?, then bends down to address the kid from up close and personal, coaxing out a thin smile.

"No one's making you do anything," she says, not unkindly. "But are you sure that this is what you want? Don't you want to see your family again?"

Pinocchio shrugs, looking frighteningly dismissive. "That's fine. They'll be happier if I'm not around."

"You don't mean that. What about your father? He'll miss you, won't he?"

"I don't know. Maybe. But he said he'd leave me with the good fairy until I learned how to behave, and no one was letting me go back anyway, so…"

"Well, you've been behaving well enough for me," August says reassuringly, patting him on the shoulder. "You wouldn't be going back to her unless you want to."

Pinocchio nods, looking at his feet. "I know. Her house isn't there anymore. I checked. The tomb was still there last time."

"Tomb?" Regina echoes, perplexed. "What tomb?"

"The fairy's. I thought she was dead, but she was just angry that I'd ran away, so she made her house invisible and put a tomb there, to see what I would do. I think she became a dove, after, but I'm not sure. Everyone said it sounded weird when I told them."

Frankly, she isn't sure if she ought to believe her ears. She turns briefly to August, who regales her with an half-hearted, unsurprised shrug. "It's more common than you think. A few of the other boys said the same thing."

"She…Wait a minute, did Blue do that to you as well?"

The man grins ruefully, though it doesn't reach his eyes. "Didn't need to. She had, ah...better tricks up her sleeve to make me behave."

Regina feels vaguely sick, not to mention somewhat furious - on behalf of who, she isn't sure yet. "You're right. I agree. The fairy's out of the question. But your father, kid…"

"Geppetto will be fine. He said he was better off without me anyway. That he should have kept me tied up with strings."

That is...certainly something. She tries to picture Marco, loud, helpful Marco saying that kind of stuff to his son, but she fails immediately. It's too outlandish to even contemplate, and because of that, she's already failed in standing her ground.

"Regina," Emma interjects, glancing from her to that pair of rascals, "those passages we opened for the others- we can make them whenever we want, right?"

"If you give me a little warning beforehand, yeah." Regina knows exactly what is being suggested here, and she'd be lying if she said she isn't grateful for having a way out of this conundrum. "Alright. You can stay, if that's what you really want."

Pinocchio brightens up considerably in the span of a second, like a neon sign. "Really?"

"Really. We can think about your options later, if you change your mind. I just hope you won't feel lonely around here."

"I won't!" The boy looks positively giddy now, all but bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Everyone's been nice to me here. And I have Gina with me, anyway."

"Who's Gina?"

And then, the damnedest thing- the boy takes off his hat. Underneath said hat, a small, ruffled duckling sits on his head, its feathers a yellowish white and a genial expression on its snout.

Regina stares at it, dumbfounded. The duck stares back placidly, then smiles and opens its beak, but instead of letting out an obnoxious quack-

"Good morning," it- she says brighly, with the squeaky voice of a young girl. Pinocchio is smiling from ear to ear, now, and August looks far too pleased with himself for this little charade to be entirely unexpected.

For God's sake. That's it. Regina is never going to lend a hand to any of these guys ever again.

[mistaeq]

The Jobros: Finding out their s/o is Pregnant with Twins

TW // none

Original Request: Can you do the jojo's reaction to their s/o being pregnant with twins after a long time of trying? You can find this here.

The sweet @serenityblaze44 asked for this same prompt with the Jobros, so... here it is! <3

WORD COUNT: 2.6k

ROBERT E. O. SPEEDWAGON

As soon as you tell him, his eyes widen, like a cat who saw his favourite toy. It's almost as if he was a kid, and you were telling him that Santa was gonna bring him his favourite gift ever. No wonder, he'll be speechless for some seconds. Not only one baby, but two? This sounds all the way like a dream becoming reality. Living in the street like he did years ago, he could only dream about having a family.

You've been trying so hard to have a baby, you both felt ready, and after all the danger he went through along with Jonathan, Robert wants to settle down and have a family, finally starting something serious. But you had a lot of problems with getting pregnant, and he was losing his hope. Until you told him you were expecting a baby. And now, you were telling him they were two, two angels of his growing in your stomach. This feels crazy.

Speedwagon won't force you and won't get angry, if you don't feel like you'd like something like this, but he'd love to name one of the twins Jonathan or William if there's at least a boy and Erina if there's at least a girl. These people mattered so much in his life, and would be the happiest if he could bring these names with him forever. If you don't like the idea, he will respectfully accept it, and he's open and ready to hear your own ideas, too!

He wants everything to be completely organized, when the twins will come to the world. Every parent buys furniture and clothing for their baby, even before the birth, it's a pretty common thing. But Robert more or less behaved like Joseph buying stuff for Shizuka with Josuke's money. Speedwagon almost bought an entire baby store out of happiness and excitement. He's enthusiast and nervous. Bear with this loving gentleman.

"What do you mean I don't have to buy six cribs for the babies? What their two ones break and we need to change it?" he groans, handing you a bag, you looking at him with questioning eyes. "Nevermind... y/n, will you hold these fifty pacifiers for me while I get the twenty pairs of baby shoes out of the car?"

Speedwagon can't keep the news to himself. He'll call Erina before everyone else, and then all his friends, like immediately, to tell them the good news. He looks calm and rational, but he spent most of his life in London's street, and few years won't erase his loud and impulsive attitude. It's probably a good thing, after all. Even gentlemen can be excited. A little sudden, but hearing it makes Erina so happy, she'll be like an aunt for your kids!

He would enjoy reading books to your stomach during your pregnancy. He would have done it even if they weren't twins, but he claims that being them two, he'll need to work twice the amount he did before to teach them stories and literature. Robert is an amazing man, but still a too grown baby, he'll never stop his ideas about how to teach the children something. He just thinks about what he'd like to do or hear if he was a child.

CAESAR ANTONIO ZEPPELI

He stops practicing with his hamon for some seconds as soon as you tell him. Funny, he was so focused on his training that he swore he started hearing things. You didn't just tell him that the baby bubble growing in your stomach are in reality two baby bubbles. He... oh, forget it Caesar, you must have dreamt it. But you're right next to him, and almost immediately repeat what you just told him, making him realize what he heard is true.

It takes a while for the italian boy to realize it, but when he finally does, you can tell he's happy. Mamma mia. The adrenaline and excitemente in his body won't stop flowing, this is why, when Caesar will hug you, pick you up and jump around, hamon bubbles will still be coming out of his fingertips, and you find it the cutest thing ever. It's the physical proof of how happy you make him, there's no way to deny it. Family is all he ever wanted, over his flirting habit. You're the right one for him and he knows.

Prepare your kids and your stomach to get a whole load of opera music during your pregnancy. Caesar is a great lover of opera, and will care about his kids to be as informed on it and respectful of the genre. Either he'll put on some of it, of he'll straight up sing it for you and your future children. His singing voice isn't actually so bad, you notice, and this is how he earns the task of singing them the lullabies when they'll come to the world.

"Hey! What do you mean I get to sing them the lullabies... I'm good at opera... not baby songs..." he whines, almost sounding like a baby himself. "Fine... but at one condition. You change the diapers and I sing the lullabies. Take it or leave it."

He cares a lot about his family's traditions to go on. Being the flamboyant italian he is, Caesar prides himself on the love for his close family and relatives. He doesn't have a huge request for you, but he cares about what he's gonna ask. The father-to-be would be happy, if one of the twins is a boy, to give him Antonio as a second name. Like his own second name, and his grandpa's too. He secretly hopes the twins are a boy and a girl, he's always wanted a baby princess.

The young Zeppeli will grow twice more protective and caring of you. This translates in him not letting Joseph get closer to you than three meters away. This is how you learn to speak even louder to talk with people. Your loving boy will always be in front of you to keep you safe. You appreciate it, but sometimes he's exaggerated.

He'll probably beg you on his knees, for you to allow him to teach the children how to master the hamon technique when they'll grow up. You can't really deny it, sometimes it's useful. During your pregnancy, Caesar and his calming waves helped you coping with pregnancy pains and cramps, massaging your belly and leaving some bubbles around to soothe and distract you. Oh, your caring italian love.

NORIAKI KAKYOIN

When you told him the good news, his heart exploded with happiness and excitement. However, Noriaki is known for being a pretty calm boy, and he tried his best to keep calm after your words, too. You had to tell him to let go and don't worry about wanting to hug you, or pick you up and kiss you, or even cry, if he felt like letting it all out.

Before you even got pregnant, Kakyoin and you had been trying every single way on Earth to have a baby. Take count of your most fertile phase, buy a lot of pregnancy tests, using different positions, praying, making rituals, crying and asking Siri, in tears, why Noriaki couldn't manage to get you pregnant. Did those ways work so well that you got twice more pregnant than you expected? Nevermind, all you know is that you and your loving cherry boy are gonna have two beautiful babies.

"Listen... why do you think I can't get my baby pregnant? We've been trying every single way... do you have any advice?" as soon as Siri answered, Kakyoin's eyes widened, and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, don't give me the 'Sorry, I'm not sure what you said' treatment!"

One of his first thoughts, is that there's a small - but now it's higher because the babies are two - percentage of chances your babies might be stand users. Yes, it's not the highest percentage ever, but it's still there, and Kakyoin is pretty afraid of it. Stand users' lives are never calm and quiet, he had the occasion to prove this himself. They often go towards almost deadly experiences. He's gotta be a good dad and protect his children.

Hierophant Green is overjoyed! Noriaki and his stand worked hard, to create some decorations for the babies' room with emeralds. Green is a neutral color, since you don't know whether the twins will be boys, girls, or both. Still, you don't think colors like pink and blue are gendered, that's some stereotypical bullshit. But you had the luck of having green decorations, perfect for anyone, from Hierophant's power.

Kakyoin secretly hopes that at least one of the babies, no matter whether it's a boy or a girl, will have his hair color or hair noodle. Think about it, wouldn't it be funny, cute and incredibly special to have a small version of your husband/boyfriend walking around the house? Oh god, what if they're identical twins? Three Noriakis? Oh my.

Even if this might embarrass him a little, you'll often get to see his parents during your pregnancy. First of all, to give them the good news about the baby being in reality two babies, and second of all because mrs. Kakyoin would be on cloud nine, getting the chance to give you some parenting advice. That's also how you get to know some interesting information and curiosities about your man's childhood. The cutest things ever. But this... is another story.

NIJIMURA OKUYASU

Okuyasu.exe has stopped working. What do you mean two babies? He thought the shocking news were finished, after the pregnancy announcement. He's gonna ask you a billion times, on the verge of tears, if you're joking or messing with him, knowing how much these news matter to his heart. When he gets you're serious, Okuyasu just lets go and cries. He feels so damn happy.

He learnt to hate your period as much as you, honestly. Because everytime you got it, it meant another month in which he had failed in getting you pregnant had passed, and this made him feel useless and disappointing. You never thought anything like this about him, but making him understand this is pretty difficult, he wouldn't have forgiven himself until he succeeded. You wanted a baby and Okuyasu wanted so too, so he would have given it to you, no matter what.

"Oi... did you... you know, bleed this month already?" Okuyasu asked, with the eyes of someone who was afraid of asking. But you shook your head. "This is good, love... but let's not get our hopes up, shall we, y/n?"

He doesn't really have any special requests or ideas for your babies' names. Or better, he does have one, but will never tell you, as he thinks for sure that you'll never agree with doing it. Okuyasu would have liked the kanji "兆" ("chou": trillion) to be in at least one of your babies' names, to remember his brother. But your boy is pretty sure you'd hate it, and he'd never suggest this. You'll probably feel there's something he's not telling you and find out anyway.

Expecting two babies is tiring, and you'll need to rest a lot. Okuyasu would like to join you and hold you in your sleep, but he also wants to be awake to take care of you, get you something to eat or drink, or put in order his messy house to make it look at least decent for when the babies will come. This is why, while you take your naps, he works around the house and lets The Hand cuddle with you. It's always him, after all. He feels the way you hold his stand.

This leads to the father-to-be being often pretty tired, too. He overworks himself. At night, when he finally joins you in your bed, happens to fall asleep in a matter of seconds, wearing his ordinary clothes instead of his pajamas. You can tell he's gonna be a good dad. Some mornings during your pregnancy, if you happened to wake up before him, you'd quietly turn off his alarm clock for him to rest more.

Okuyasu's dad is on cloud nine too, as his family is going to get larger. Mansaku totally wants to take a photo with you two and his grandchildren, as soon as they'll be born. He accepted you and behaves with you the same caring way he does towards his son. He's changed in a better man, despite his appearance. But the first person Okuyasu told the good news to, was Keicho. He purposely went on his grave, because he knew his brother would have been proud.

BRUNO BUCCIARATI

You tell him the good news while he's working. Not only it'll make his day better, but it'll also hopefully get his mind off of that giant bunch of papers on his desk, for once. The capo suddenly stops, moving his gaze towards your eyes, then your stomach, then your eyes again. You'll have to repeat, or he'll be sure he's imagined what you said because of the too much time spent working. But there's no joke or dream, you're pregnant with twins.

Screw all the papers and all the work that's left. He's gonna get you in a so tight and warm embrace of his, and never let go. Libeccio's for dinner that night? Guaranteed. He's usually a calm man, but whatever is related to his family, gets celebrated. When you announced your pregnancy, you had a dinner with the whole gang at the restaurant, but this time Bruno would rather have something more personal and private with you. Make the dinner romantic.

When you were still trying to have a baby, Bucciarati was the one who managed not to lost his temper when every attempt of yours resulted in a negative pregnancy test. But when you weren't around, I won't say he cried, but was pretty close. He was afraid of not being able to give you what you wanted, and usually ranted about this with Abbacchio. Bruno wanted to be the shoulder you could cry on, and couldn't breakdown too.

You both decided to wait some time before telling the gang about the baby being in reality two babies. They were still excited for your pregnancy itself, Mista and Narancia above everyone, and giving another shocking news would have probably brought the peace to say arrivederci. They still managed to get you confess, the look in Bruno's expressive eyes was too happy not to notice.

Just like Giorno would do, Bruno wouldn't be happy if his two angels ended up being involved in Passione's business. He totally will let the gang around his babies, as he trusts them, but during your pregnancy you both decided that the one of you taking care of the babies on a certain day, wouldn't even think of getting close to Passione's headquarters with the children. And you agreed with Bucciarati, for your little ones' safety.

"You'll agree with me that our children's safety is the most important thing, tesoro mio..." Bruno murmured, caressing your cheek. "Let's not bring them close to this place ever, I beg you. I'm sure you'll understand."

He would enjoy talking and interacting with his babies by laying his head on your stomach, kissing it and listening to them moving in the last weeks of your pregnancy. Sticky Fingers is in love with you too, and Bruno won't ever lose the chance to close you in a cuddle sandwich between his body and his stand's to make you feel protected and let you know how proud of you he is. Bucciarati will be a special dad, indeed.

[neptunetheplanet7]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨 - 𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦

DM ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE PUT ON THE TAGLIST!!

;mikasa ackerman x fem!lesbian!reader

;modern au, band au

word count: 2.1k

warnings: swearing, floch’s bad flirting

bold italics is a text conversation

listen to the music masterlist

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disclaimer again!! i wrote this a long time ago. i know there are things that need to be fixed and things that don’t fit right. i plan to edit this story more in the future but today is not that day :)

You took a shaky breath in as you stopped midway of putting a clean sheet on the bed Mikasa would be sleeping in. The room still had some of her old stuff in it, it's just no one ever came in here after she left. You looked around at all the items she left behind. Smiling fondly at an old picture of you two, you noticed a small figure crossed out in the background. Glancing at the rest of the photos on the shelf, you noticed that every photo had something crossed out.

After looking at each picture, you came to the conclusion the figure was Jean. She must have only taken the photos without him and did this to the rest. You frowned and walked back to the bed. Carefully, you climbed onto it and propped a few pillows up to support you as you leaned back.

For the first time in two years, you got a good look around the room. On the side of the room with the door, there was a large glass window overlooking the balcony above the living room. You always found it strange that she chose a room like that when she usually kept those blinds shut. Her bed was in the middle of the room with a tv mounted on the wall across from it. On the other side of her bed, there were a couple of bean bags below the bay window that looked out on the driveway.

You sighed and took out your phone, pulling up old texts with Mikasa. The last time you texted her was three months ago when you got too drunk at one of Reiner's ragers.

mikasa

mikasas pleasdse

come home

i miss you

i miss you so much

we all miss you so much

come home to me.

She didn't respond to that and you wouldn't know if she even looked at it. She turned her read receipts off for everyone after the first week of trying to contact her. The only time she had ever contacted anyone was two weeks after she left the house.

Don't look for me. Don't contact me.

You got a lot of your friends asking if you got the same message. She sent the same thing to everyone who tried to get in contact with her. You still didn't know where she was or what she was doing. The only thing you knew was that she was coming home the next day. You sighed. Suddenly, you didn't feel like cleaning anything else. You briskly walked out of her room and dialed the number of your best friend.

"Hey, Y/n! What's going on?" Sasha's cheery voice rang through the line.

"Hey hey, Sasha. I'm doing great. At least, I think I am. Do you wanna go somewhere? You can pick me up? Or I can pick you up if you like."

"I'll come to pick you up, honey bunny, don't you worry." You heard her struggling with her keys on the other side of the line and snorted at the noise.

"Need some help, Sash?" You grinned while skipping steps.

"Fine, thanks." She grumbled. "I'll be there in fifteen! You stay put!" She briskly hung up.

Sasha had been your best friend ever since Eren's nineteenth birthday party. She caught you and Eren coming back inside just as she was about to leave, with half the pantry in her arms. She asked for your number to make plans to hang out and chat sometime. You happily obliged, which was probably the happiest thing you had done that night.

You tossed your phone onto your bed as you walked into your room. Your room was on the first floor. You got first pick since you were the one who inherited the house. The house was big and beautiful. It was also on a lake. Perfect for the parties Eren and Jean loved to host. Perfect escape from paparazzi.

Your room had big glass doors that opened to the balcony that wrapped around the back of the house. You had a great view of the lake. The room was painted white. There was a black marble fireplace in one wall with a small wardrobe you used for storing memorable items to the band. You didn't need to use it for clothes since you had a walk-in closet in the big bathroom you partly shared with your bandmates. Jean liked to use the large bathtub.

You collapsed onto the bed and stared into the vanity mirror next to it. It was then when you realized you were still in your pajamas. "Oh shit." Your eyes widened as you hurriedly stumbled over to the closet, falling over once.

You grabbed a pair of baggy sweats and a big t-shirt. With duck socks, of course. The outfit didn't look much different than your pajamas but Sasha would probably be wearing something similar.

You threw your hair into the easiest hairstyle you could muster. You grabbed your boots and hopped up and down while trying to put them on while also leaving the room. "Jesus." You muttered.

Your phone vibrated, signaling that Sasha was here. "I'm heading out with Sasha! You're on your lonesome!" You called out to wherever Armin was in the house.

"Okay! Don't be back too late!" He shouted back.

You laughed aloud as you realized how much he sounded like a dad. You opened the front door and ran to Sasha's car. "Let me in!" You knocked on the passenger window as she reached around to find the button that unlocks the door. Once it was unlocked, you swung open the door and hopped inside.

"Nice outfit," was the first thing she said to you. You glanced at her outfit and scoffed. Your predictions were correct, she was wearing something similar.

"Gee, thanks." You gave a lopsided smile and rolled your eyes.

"Where to, honey bunny?" Sasha said, giving a mock salute while her other hand rested firmly on the steering wheel. You giggled and thought about it. You called her on such a whim that you forgot to even plan anything.

"Uh how about Brain Freezes? I could really use a catch-up with Connie right about now." You suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea! Turns out you do have a brain up there." Sasha snickered.

"Oh good one, because you're the real genius here, clearly."

After a lot of lighthearted banter, you arrived at Connie's workplace. Sasha aggressively grabbed the door handle and slammed it open, causing the bell to fall off its perch and land on your face. "Oops." You grimaced and bent down to pick up the bell. You rang it in front of her face.

"Sasha! Y/n! My two favorite customers!" Connie jumped up and down on the other side of the counter. "How can I assist you ladies today?"

"I'll have the usual." You gave a half-hearted smile, head still impaired from the bell. Sasha had quite the habit of accidentally hurting you.

Sasha snatched the bell from your grasp and started ringing it. She announced her very long order that you could barely keep up with, but Connie was used to this kind of thing, especially with her.

You noticed one of his coworkers scowling at Sasha. You didn't like Floch, to say the least. He was always inviting himself to your parties but he was rude to all of your friends at the same time. He noticed your gaze and smirked.

He strutted over to where you stood, pretending to become very interested in toppings. "How are you, Y/n? It's been a while huh?" He leaned over your shoulder in a way that workers shouldn't with their customers. You made a hasty effort to slip away from his presence.

"It really hasn't. I came here last week. I come here every week and you say that every time." You usually tried to be nice to Floch, but today you didn't feel like being nice.

"Well, even a day without you feels like an eternity." He flirted horridly. You stared blankly at him until he awkwardly cleared his throat and traded spots with Connie at the register.

Connie took off his apron and handed you and Sasha your orders. "Sorry about him. That guy really can't take a hint even if it's right in front of his face." He shot Floch a venomous glare. "Luckily, you guys got here right as my shift ended! Wanna get out of here?" His previous anger seemed to dissipate in an instant.

"Yeah, I do! Where should we go?" Sasha beamed with her spoon still in her mouth.

"Can we just drive around? I've got something I wanna tell you guys." You played with your spoon in the ice cream, averting eye contact.

"Sure thing, Y/n. Let's go." Sasha and Connie said in unison.

Sasha let you drive her car since she was preoccupied with her mountain of ice cream. Connie didn't have a car, he failed his driver's test every time he took it. You'd think he'd learn most of the material by now. "Hey, Y/n?" He asked from the backseat.

"Yeah?" You nodded to him.

"Are you gonna finish that?" He said, referring to your cup of ice cream in the front cupholder. You sighed.

"Go ahead." He thanked you over and over as he leaned over and snatched it.

"So, Y/n? What was it you wanted to tell us?" Sasha wiped her hands on her pants and set the empty container in an extra cupholder.

You gripped the steering wheel harder then relaxed. You took a shaky breath in. "Mikasa is coming home tomorrow."

Connie started choking on your ice cream. "I know, I had the same reaction." You quipped.

"Mikasa..is...WHAT?" Connie managed between coughs.

"After all this time? It's been two years. Tomorrow? That's so sudden! Are you even ready to see her?" Sasha's mouth was gaping open. You leaned over and shut it for her.

"Yes, tomorrow. I still have to get the house ready. I couldn't even make it through her old room without calling you. Jean told us this morning. I don't think we should be worried about me being ready to see her. I think we should be more concerned about her and Jean." You informed. "But, then again, she told Jean about her return first. Plus he's picking her up tomorrow at the airport. So based on that, I think they're on better terms."

"You don't think they'll get back together, do you?" Connie said, his eyebrows furrowing.

You snorted. "Of course not. You know Jean is with Marco now, and he seems pretty happy with him. They've been together for two years now, probably longer if I'm being honest."

"Then what do you have to worry about?" Sasha asked, confused.

"Are you joking? I mean, what if she has found someone? What then? What if she quits the band forever? What if we argue? She dropped off the map two years ago. Completely. She stopped responding to me, to all of us. For two years I thought she lost her interest in everything and went to live a new life, with people better than me. And now she's coming back, out of the blue! It's too much." You stressed.

Connie and Sasha made quick eye contact. "Y/n, I think you're reading too far into it. I doubt anyone could lose interest in you. You're too cool! Let's look on the bright side, she's ready to come home and you finally get to see her again," Sasha said in an attempt to lift your spirits. You smiled graciously. You really were lucky to have a friend like her. "Right, Connie?" She gestured to Connie who looked very deep in thought.

"Didn't you and Mikasa go out in high school?" You almost crashed the car from the shock of the question.

"Briefly, yes. But we weren't 'going out' so to speak. We just, like, made out a couple of times." You could feel your face grow hot at the subject. You thought you were over your crush on Mikasa, but after hearing that she was coming home, the familiar feeling was coming back.

"You're going red, Y/n. I think it was more to you than just a make-out." Connie grinned while Sasha wiggled her eyebrows.

"You're totally in love with Mikasa!" Sasha sang.

"Shut up, you two. I don't wanna get into the details right now." You couldn't even try to hide your heated face since you were the one driving the vehicle.

"Not right now? So maybe somewhere down the line, you will?" Sasha raised her eyebrows and broke out into another infectious grin.

"Whatever, Sash. Enough about Mikasa and me. I really wanna hear about you and Niccolo." You gave her a similar grin while she slowly turned red.

"Nice one, Y/n!" Connie cheered.

"You idiots should just shut it!"

posted: 8/24/21

neptunetheplanet7© 2021

no reposts, edits, or modification to my work by anyone other than me.

[catzula]

Bakugou isn’t afraid of bees

Request: Would Bakugou with an s/o the complete opposite of him be a better request? Like he has a partner whose shy, soft, doesn't curse, cute,etc?

A/N: soo, this is long overdue, and I'm really sorry for that! But I have a lot going on, family drama, school and I'm just going through a lot, and I love writing, it helps me cope with stress, but all these things happening just make me slower, I'm sorry for that :(

Thank you for requesting this, btw, I'm not tagging you because last time I tagged anyone I got shadowbanned 🤡 so I'm avoiding tagging people like the plague, but thank you so so much for requesting! Hope you like it 💕

Synopsis: going swimming with the Bakusquad seemed like a good idea, but it was always guaranteed to end with some kind of a disaster, also, Bakugou is afraid- ow, sorry! Bakugou dislikes bees.

Bakugou had told you, he had told you that it was a bad idea to go.

He knew it, they did, and even you did too, but you went anyway.

But it wasn't your fault that you just wanted to spice up your summer break, and going swimming with the Bakusquad seemed like a perfect idea!

And you knew Bakugou wouldn't make you go there alone, especially if you wore your go-to swimwear that you knew just looked good on you. The one he liked oh-so-much.

"No fucking way, Y/N." He told you the moment he saw you standing at the entrance of the room with your beach bag hanging from your shoulder.

"Oh, it's going to be fiiine," you told him with an innocent smile, emphasizing the last word. "Kami-kun told me that they found this small cliff we could jump from and- h-he told me its only 5 meters tops, not even a cliff, really!" You corrected yourself when you heard a growl you were a bit too familiar coming from him.

"Kami-kun?" He repeated. "Kami-kun's gonna be there, huh? And when you're wearing that?" 

"Well, yeah! He even told me they'll make camp if the weather allows it, if not, he told me not to worry cause he'll make a fire and have a drink of two, you know." You kept talking with an innocent smile he usually adored, but it only made him want to shake some sense into you at the moment.

"No," He told you through his teeth, voice dropping an octave and sending chills down your spine, his blood boiling with something he didn't want to name (jealousy), his right eye started to twitch as he thought of the many memories he had of lightweight Kaminari.

He started walking towards you, the look in his eyes reminding you of a wolf that was looking at its prey.

"Don’t fucking go there, especially without me." He was suddenly too close to you, well aware of the widening of your eyes as he hovered on your frame purposefully, making you feel small underneath him. He smiled when you inhaled a shaky breath when he smiled, his lips almost touching yours, but not quite.

"That's no good, I already told them I'm coming." You whispered with a smile, your eyes fixated on your hands, "Kami-kun was so happy to learn I was coming, though he did sadden a bit when he heard you couldn't." Bakugou was well aware of how your eyes widened when his hand touched your cheek, sliding down to your chin to tilt it towards his face. He knew you couldn't maintain eye contact when he looked at you like that and that caused a warm feeling to spread in his chest, Bakugou would never admit it, but he adored your shyness.

"Well then," he told you as he backed up just a bit, "tell him he doesn't have to be all that sad since I changed my mind."

***

To say that Bakugou was protective of you would be an understatement. His hand was attached to your waist, sometimes even sliding down just a bit to tease you every now and then, causing your face to heat up.

He didn't even let you go when Kirishima and Kaminari had hugged you to greet you, growling threateningly when he thought Kaminari hugged you a little too long.

Despite the act he had on of the threatening, scary boyfriend, though, you knew all he would do was glare and frown till you kissed him on the cheek and told him he was your one and only.

Still, you were grateful he actually came with you since you knew he wasn't a big fan of the sea and what came with it.

He especially despised mosquitoes, something he had named 'the curse', and he was right to do so, too, making it the most hilarious thing you had ever seen.

An 'unnatural phenomenon' as Kiri liked to call it, was that the mosquitoes loved Bakugou. Even though he always had a mosquito spray on him and renewed it almost every hour, it never worked, and he often got bitten at least 20 times a day. He did everything he could to try and stop them from biting him (except for killing them since he hated killing mosquitoes) Bakguou always had you applying cream to his bites he often turned into wounds because he couldn't help himself but itch them.

(Still, you had to admit that the curse came in handy time to time since whenever Bakugou was around, nobody else ever got bitten.)

He also hated sand, hated getting wet, was too pale, and usually got burned very easily, and most of all, he hated bees. He wasn't afraid of them, Bakugou Katsuki wasn't afraid of anything, but it was safe to say that he disliked the black-yellow striped creatures with every fiber in his body.

So even though he said he was just there because he didn't trust his dumbass friends, you knew it was because he could tell you wanted him there, and he came, despite hating almost everything. But he didn't hate you, and that was enough.

"Get the fuck away from me you little shit!" He screamed right next to your ear, making you wince and giggle. "Did you spray your-"

"Of course I fucking sprayed the bug repellant." He grumbled as he itched the newest bite, his voice was harsh and words hard, but you knew he wasn't mad at you and that it was unintentional.

"Don't itch it, Katsu." You told him, putting your hand on the bite to stop him from itching it anymore, and he could swear he felt the itch went away with your touch.

"I'll get back at you, you know, for forcing me to come here." He whispered into your ear, but you chose to play dumb and smile at him innocently. "But I didn't do anything, you said you wanted to come."

"Y/N, you know very well that-" His speech was interrupted by the joyful way your name was announced, a blonde skipping your way with a charming smile. "Y/N, hey, Y/N, come on, let's swim!" Kaminari cheered, holding you by the wrist and pulling you up to your feet, away from your fuming boyfriend.

"If you fucking touch her again-" He started to threaten but closed his mouth when he saw a frown forming on your lips. "Be careful, dumbass." He told you instead, trying and failing to suppress the smile that forced his lips upwards when you flashed him a cute smile.

"Don't' you wanna swim, too?" You asked sweetly, and he scoffed. "Of course, I don't wanna fucking swim." He muttered, playing with the grass he ripped from the ground. "Ah, the weather is so hot, a shame, Bakubro." Kaminari smiled and shrugged, but Bakugou noticed how his eyes widened when you took your beach clothes off and stood with your swimwear.

"Wh- Woah, Y/N, you look... really nice!" He told you, his cheeks turning into a rosy color, the interaction making the others turn to you, too. You felt your cheeks starting to heat up, not used to getting so much attention as you felt your boyfriend rise to his feet, his arm wrapping around your waist with a scoff.

"I thought you didn't want to swim." You told him with a giggle. "You seemed really opposed to the idea just then."

"I changed my mind, shitty woman." He growled. "Dunce face is right for once in his life, the weather is really fucking hot."

***

"Soo," Kaminari muttered, looking at his friends' faces. "Who's gonna jump first?"

He sighed when no one answered him. "Oh come on, you guys are no fun! Kiri? The manliest of our group, won't you be brave and-"

"Nope, sorry bro, I choose to live." He told him with an apologetic smile. "I'll go in second, though." He grinned cheekily, and Kaminari sighed. "How about you, Mina?" He tried his chance with the girl who avoided his eyes with all she had. "You're the most adventurous and the craziest, I'm sure only you can pull this off." He sent her a wink but was answered with another apologetic smile.

"Nope, same as Kiri here. I'll agree to jumping when I see somebody can survive."

"How about you, dunce face? Trying to force people to jump, but not brave enough to do it yourself?" Bakugou teased him, causing Kaminari's cheeks to take a red color. "I-it's not that I'm scared, but I just- just..." He looked at his friends for any kind of help, but they liked watching him squirm instead. You couldn't help but take note of just how close he stood near the edge, almost a push away. But, of course, you wouldn't push your boyfriend, would you?

"Huh, you have to be more clear, Kami-kun," he kept teasing. "Why won't you-"

"Ka-katsuki!" You suddenly interrupted the panic written on your face making his heartbeat to double. "Y/N, what's wrong?" He asked as he started to come towards you.

"N-no, don't move!" You told him, trying to ignore everyone looking at you like you lost your mind. "Katsuki, don't panic but there's a bee-" before you got to finished your sentence, Bakugou had already thrown himself off the cliff, a splash sound following it not long after.

Your friends watched you silently, trying to understand what the fuck just happened-except for Kirishima since he was well aware of Bakugou's dislike of bees-, it was your and Kirishima’s simultaneous laughs that caused Bakugou to understand you tricked him into jumping in.

"You know he's gonna get back at you for that, though, you know that right?" Kirishima asked with a mischievous smile and you bit your lip. "If he can get his hands on me, of course." You went near the edge, slightly leaning forward to take a peek at your boyfriend.

He looked so utterly annoyed, it was pure comedy for you, so you didn't notice Mina and Kirishima sneaking up on you as you kept teasing Bakugou. "And how is the water, Katsu?" You asked him with a teasing smile, though his answer was the last thing you heard before you were also wet.

"See for yourself!" He had cried out with a grin. The first thing you knew after you fell was the warm body of your boyfriend's. He had pulled you to himself almost immediately before you even got the chance to run away.

"So you think you can play with me like that and run away?" He asked, voice low on purpose to make you flushed. His face got closer to yours, his lips millimeters away from your trembling ones that didn't get used to the cold water yet. "Wh-what are you doing?" You exclaimed since you knew he hated PDA more than he did the sand, and he grinned, the kind of grin that caused your breath to hitch in your lungs. You combed back his heavy, spiky hair that fell on his face now instead.

"I'll-" you didn't get to hear what he was going to do since his little teasing game was interrupted by another loud splash that came from right next to you, making you scream with how close it was, Kaminari who had tried to jump right on top of you two. "That little shit-" Bakugou muttered as he swam towards him, his hands finding Denki's head the second he came out to surface, pushing him back in before he got the chance to breathe, and you felt bad for laughing at his screams that were coming from the underwater.

Thankfully, Kirishima didn't take long to jump and save the dumb blonde from your boyfriend's hands.

Mina was the last to jump, falling with a loud cry of victory, falling right on top of Kaminari, who was just rescued by Kirishima from Bakugou's hands, their odd friendship making you giggle and secretly long for something similar.

"So," Kaminari spoke when he was done coughing water, "who's ready for round two?"

***

"Ah, to have someone as adorable as her rub sunscreen to my back." Kaminari sighed loudly before he got Karate-chopped on the head. "Shut up if you don't want to get killed today." Kirishima told him, his eyes turning to the angry blonde that sat in front of you, taking a relieved breath when he realized Bakugou hadn't heard him.

Since Bakugou had jumped earlier than expected -thanks to you- he hadn't worn enough sunscreen, and it was your job to rub it on his skin and try and stop him from complaining about it the whole day.

"Ah, it fucking burns, dumbass." He hissed when your hand touched his bright red shoulders. "Oh, stop being a ba-" You bit your tongue before you got to finish that sentence when he glared at you. "I'm sorry, Katsu." You grinned cheekily, leaving the smallest peck on his shoulder. "There, feel better?"

He did, in fact, feel much better.

"Shut up." He told you, turning his face in front of him so you couldn't see his smile. He had the smile the whole time you rubbed soothing circles on his back and arms, smile turning to an immediate frown as you did his chest, but you knew how he was feeling, if not because you knew him well, his heartbeat gave it away.

He bit his lip, trying to suppress the sigh of relief as you massaged his muscles along with the sunscreen. "Okay, we're good to go." You told him when you finished, moving to stand up, but were held back when he got ahold of your wrist and pulled you back, making you fall on his lap.

"K-katsu, what are you doing?" You whispered, face burning with embarrassment. "I couldn't get my kiss back there." He told you with a smirk, his face getting closer to yours.

You held your breath, afraid his friends would see, but also longing for a kiss. You tilted your face upwards to receive his kiss, jumping in your place when you heard a loud whistle. "That's my boy!" Mina cheered, clapping, "get the girl!"

"For fucks sake, we can't even get a minute alone." He muttered angrily, standing up without kissing you. You held the hand he offered as you stood up, but he stopped you before you could even take a step.

"Watch where you're going, dumbass!" He told you angrily, his eyes locked on a shiny piece of glass right next to your foot. It wasn't the only one, either, big and small pieces of glass were scattered on the beach, some even being pushed back and forth by the waves.

"Don't swim anymore." He told you suddenly, eyes still on the pieces of glass. "Oh, I'll be fine!" You told him with an encouraging smile, but he didn't seem so persuaded. "I'll be careful, okay?" You told him one more time, knowing he couldn't resist your smile, and he gave in with a sigh not long after.

"It's getting dark already," he told you, "just one more jump."

You smiled with glee, running back to the water to tell them to go for another round of jumping.

What happened after that wasn't Bakugou's fault. He had told you not to go many times, but you did anyway, and now he had to deal with this.

You had jumped too close to the shore, the water wasn't as deep as it was supposed to. He could tell it wasn't the moment you touched the water and heard your muffled scream of pain. You surfaced the water with the look of pain on your face, and he hadn't missed a beat before he jumped down.

"What is happening? What happened?" He heard Mina's voices as he surfaced, his crimson eyes looking for your figure. "I think she hurt her leg." Kirishima answered, also getting ready to jump in. Bakugou spotted you trying to get back to the shore, holding your left leg as you pushed yourself with your arms and one leg.

He swam to you as fast as he could, his arms wrapping you and stopping your sloppy movements. You stilled as soon as you felt him pulling you to his chest, carrying you out of the water.

You were out of breath, and he could see the tears in the corner of your eyes. "What happened, baby?" He asked, concern laced in his voice when he saw the drops of blood dripping from your foot to the sand. "I- is it bleeding?" You asked, trying to hide the tremble in your voice. "I think I jumped on a piece of glass, or maybe a shell? I don't know."

"Okay, it's okay, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." He soothed you, finding a good spot to put you. He felt your grip on him tightening when he tried to put you down. Thankfully, Kirishima had reached you as well, Bakugou nodded at him, receiving another nod from his best friend.

"I'll look at your leg now, okay?" Bakugou told you, and you nodded, biting your lip and trying not to cry. "Hey, Y/N?" Kirishima spoke, shielding your vision from seeing your leg. "Remember those brownies you made for us once? Did you know Mina tried to do them for us too, but ended up burning the kitchen?"

"Hey!" You heard Mina protesting as you laughed, she had also jumped and came to see what was happening. "You promised not to tell anyone!"

"Where's Kami?" You heard Kirishima whisper, and Mina smiled faintly. "You know he can't see blood."

"Should we go to a hospital?" Kirishima asked, and you whimpered. "No, no hospitals, I can't-"

Bakugou shook his head. "The cut's not that deep, we don't have to go to a hospital, but I have to clean and bandage this." Ksirihima finally moved away and you saw the cut on your leg. It was true, it wasn't very deep, but it still hurt a lot.

"We have to go back now," Bakugou told them as he swept you in his arms in bridal style and smirked at you. "'Im sorry," you told his friends, feeling bad about the fun ending because of you. "No, please don't say that!" Mina told you. "Yeah, we can do this again after you're well again!"

"Oh fuck no!" Bakugou growled, making you chuckle.

"Promise." Kirishima mouthed with a wink, and you chuckled again.

***

"You idiot." Bakugou muttered as he cleaned and finally wrapped the wound on your leg, pressing a kiss on your forehead. "I was fucking worried back there."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to jump on a glass." You told him with a pout, making him sigh. "Whatever, I’m just telling you to be fucking careful." He sat on the couch you were laying on, careful not to disturb you, the way he was acting as if you were a fragile doll making you roll your eyes.

"Can you get under the blanket already?"

"You're just trying to cuddle, you needy idiot." He told you grumpily, snickering when you didn't protest. "Yeah, I might be a needy idiot, but I'm a wounded needy idiot."

"Don't call yourself an idiot, dumbass." He told you with a light flick on the forehead and making you laugh, smiling when you laughed, doing as you said and getting under the blanket, his arms wrapping you and pulling you on top of his chest.

"How are you feeling?" He asked after a few minutes. You snuggled deeper into his chest, eyes already heavy with sleep. "It hurts a bit." You admitted, knowing he could tell if you lied.

You felt a soft peck on your lips.

"There," he muttered, recalling the way you soothed his burns earlier that day. "Any better?"

You grinned. "Much better."

[kali-writes-meta]

Oscar and Ironwood Part 2: The Toxic Bromance

I apologise for taking so long to post this essay. Recent events haven't been conducive to a contemplative state of mind. In Part 1 I covered the pile of rather ominous foreshadowing of Oscar and Ironwood's relationship, now let's see how it actually played out.

Oscar and Ironwood's relationship has the rhythm of a toxic bromance story. Ironwood is pining for someone else to come sweep him off his feet, and he gets Oscar instead. Ironwood makes no bones about the fact that he would prefer Ozpin, and spends their every moment together trying to turn Oscar into Ozpin. Then, at a dramatic moment, Oscar saves Ironwood by doing something that Ozpin would never do, proving that Oscar is the better man for this moment. And does Ironwood thank him? No, he's still too busy pining for Ozpin, unable to appreciate the man standing in front of him. Finally, Oscar makes one last attempt to reach Ironwood, who cruelly dumps him. It's a perfect example of a toxic bromance.

But, maybe I'm wrong. There are people who say that the final scene with Oscar and Ironwood in Volume 7 had Ironwood acting completely different from how he had previously acted towards Oscar. I didn't see that big of a difference, but maybe I missed something. Let's look at every single interaction between the two characters and see what we find.

When they first meet Ironwood warmly greets a bunch of people he hasn't seen in over a year, but doesn't ask about the one stranger in the group. It's a small incivility that could be put down to the stress of discussing highly classified information, if he didn't then proceed to discuss highly classified information in front of a COMPLETE STRANGER. Whether you see it as an etiquette failure or a security failure or both, it's clearly a failure.

Ironwood announces a new plan that will undo and replace Ozpin's plan, since Ozpin is gone and he has to use his "best judgement". Then he is introduced to the strange kid as "the next Ozpin" (Really, Qrow? You could have worded it better than that.)

Ironwood is overjoyed. He smiles broadly and quickly races to Oscar's side, even going down on one knee in front of him, at the thought that Oscar might not really be Oscar.

Let's pause on the kneeling bit. Who is Ironwood kneeling for? One kneels before a child, one's lover, or one's monarch. Ironwood might be kneeling before the child Oscar, but he NEVER kneels before Oscar again, so he's not kneeling for the child. He's kneeling before a lover or a monarch. I highly doubt it's for a lover, and "monarch" seems closer to how he was treating Ozpin earlier. But it is definitely someone for whom Ironwood feels a passionate bond. There's no doubt that this is the most emotional we have seen Ironwood to this date.

After Ironwood goes down on one knee, he learns that this is not the Wizard he has been looking for. Ozpin.exe has gone offline, and only Oscar is at home.

Ironwood is crushed. Instead of responding to Oscar's introduction and without saying a single word to the young man he's just been introduced to he looks away from him,

turns his back on Oscar,

and walks away!

If one of the main cast had been that rude to Oscar we still wouldn't have heard the end of it, but for some reason Ironwood gets a free pass.

Ironwood: Ozpin told us that too, once upon a time. (turning to face them) At least we have you, Oscar. You're safe here in Atlas. Maybe together we can figure out how to bring Ozpin back.

That's an interesting statement. Notice he still hasn't exchanged pleasantries with Oscar. He's saying that Oscar is safe, but he's not saying that he will take care of Oscar or do anything at all for him, except "figure out how to bring Ozpin back". He's setting the terms of their relationship at the start. He doesn't see Oscar as his own person, but only as an obstacle he has to get through to reach Ozpin.

Note the discrepancy between Ironwood's tone and his wording. Research has shown that some people pay more attention to tone than they do to word choice, so when there's a discrepancy between tone and wording they'll give more weight to the tone and dismiss the actual words. (It's a valuable tool for unscrupulous salesmen and con artists.) Ironwood's tone is warm and friendly towards Oscar and apparently it fooled some viewers, but his words are much cooler and less friendly.

Oscar notices the discrepancy, and it confuses him. He responds first to the warm tone and then to the cool wording.

Oscar: (grinning) Thank you, sir. (stands at attention) I mean, uh, general. Uh, Ironwood? (smiling awkwardly)

At this point their relationship is spelled out. Ironwood is deeply disappointed and dissatisfied that Oscar isn't Ozpin, and is going to try his best to turn Oscar into Ozpin. Oscar, responding to Ironwood's warm tone, is going to do his best to cooperate for Ironwood's sake. Ironwood's stance reminds me of what was said to another Atlesian back in Volume 1:

Port: "So the outcome did not fall in your favor. ...(I)nstead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique, and be... the best person you can be."

Ironwood is fretting about what he doesn't have. He isn't interested in helping Oscar be the best Oscar he can be. Ironwood just wants to turn Oscar into Ozpin as fast as possible.

We see the difference in the two mens' attitudes play out in the mine clearing story. Oscar expresses concern about how they are treating Ironwood.

Oscar: Ruby, hiding things from Ironwood, doesn't that feel like what Ozpin did to us?

But Ironwood shows a lack of concern for Oscar by not inviting Oscar to a surprise party Ironwood throws for Oscar's friends. If he was concerned for Oscar, why not invite him? But if Ironwood's only concern is turning Oscar into Ozpin, it makes sense that he would not even think to invite the young man. Such an action would not serve Ironwood's purpose, so why do it?

Later, Ironwood begins training Oscar.

Ironwood: You might not hear Oz anymore, Oscar, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to jog him loose.

Once again, Ironwood's tone of voice is warm and friendly, but his words are not. Notice that Ironwood doesn't say that he is training Oscar for Oscar's benefit. His sole stated reason for training Oscar is to "jog (Ozpin) loose". Ironwood has a good reason for believing this sparring technique will work to bring out Ozpin, but that topic deserves an essay of its own, so I'll cover it separately later. However, it doesn't work to jog Ozpin loose. Instead it helps Oscar improve and make more friends, to become more "the best Oscar he can be."

When sparring doesn't work to turn Oscar into Ozpin Ironwood falls back on the classic trope of the lovesick swain, he shows the substitute the special place where he and his idol made special memories.

Ironwood: I hoped bringing you down here might jog some memories.

This interaction is the third time that we've seen Ironwood speak to Oscar, and it's the third time he's said he wants to turn Oscar into someone else. There's no canon evidence that they have any other relationship at this point.

But, I can hear some people saying, how is this different from what the main cast did to Oscar? Didn't they treat him like a walking meat suit as well? It's true that in a fit of rage Jaune accused Oscar of being Ozpin in disguise, but he quickly dropped the delusion and apologized to Oscar at the next opportunity, and that was the end of it. There's never been another time when they have treated Oscar as if he was Ozpin when Oscar was in control of his own body. Ironwood is a different story. He persists in trying to turn Oscar into Ozpin.

For the third time, his tone of voice is warm and friendly, but his words are all about how he doesn't want to be here with Oscar. He wants to be with someone else. He seems to look forward to a day when he believes Oscar will be gone and Ozpin will stand in his place (in spite of all the evidence to the contrary) to Oscar's noticable discomfort.

Oscar: It feels strange, knowing that part of me helped come up with all this.

Ironwood: You’ll get used to it, I’m sure. Eventually, you won’t even know who’s who anymore.

Then, in that special spot, Ironwood tells Oscar his dream for the two of them.

Ironwood: We... didn’t always see eye to eye, but... I wish I could ask Ozpin what he thought of all of this.

As is common with lovesick swains, Ironwood is looking at the past through rose-tinted glasses. They didn't merely not "always see eye to eye". Ironwood was constantly arguing with Ozpin, keeping secrets from Ozpin (Penny), and going behind Ozpin's back to undercut Ozpin's authority (taking over the Vytal Festival). It's doubtful how much he would listen to Ozpin if Ozpin was there, but Ironwood is still making himself heartsick imagining the encouragement that Ozpin would give him. (You can tell he's viewing the past tinted with nostalgia, because if Ozpin were really there Ironwood would be getting a tongue-lashing.)

Imagine how dehumanizing this must feel to Oscar. It's entirely to the young man's credit that he does what he does next.

Oscar: Well, I can tell you what I think. The path you’re heading down where you’re the only one with the answers, where you do the thing you think is right no matter the cost, it’s not going to take you anywhere good.

Oscar has been giving Ironwood what he thinks Ironwood wants, to no avail. Now he gives Ironwood what Oscar thinks Ironwood needs.

And it seems to help Ironwood open up a little bit.

Ironwood: We have to stop Salem. Nothing matters more.

Oscar: Some things matter more, I think. Keeping our humanity. It’s what makes us different from her.

Ironwood: Sometimes I worry that’s her greatest advantage. Without humanity, does she still feel fear? Does she ever hesitate? When Salem hit Beacon, even with all my ships, all of my soldiers... I was no match for her. I’ve never felt so helpless. The way she told me she was there.

Oscar: It’s okay to be afraid. You just can’t let that fear control you.

Ironwood: I am not going to end up with Lionheart. Do you believe in me?

Oscar: I do believe in you, but not only you. I think the best thing you could do is sit down and talk with the people you’re most afraid to.

And how does Ironwood express his gratitude for Oscar's help?

Ironwood: (chuckles) Now you are starting to sound like him.

By denying Oscar's humanity once again.

Then comes Jacques' ball --, er, dinner party. Oscar is worried about what will happen to Ironwood there.

Oscar: Ironwood's going to be locked in a room at his rival's own dinner party. I know Jacques says he's happy to moderate, but all that really means is he'll be the one controlling the conversation.

Ironwood doesn't appear to show the same concern for Oscar, but drags the young man along into a potentially dangerous situation. Why? It's not for anyone's entertainment. It's not so Oscar can testify before the Council, which is the excuse for bringing the others. Oscar's secrets are not ones that Ironwood wants out. The only plausible reason left is so that a 14 year old kid can provide a world leader with advice and emotional support.

To everyone's surprise, that's what happens.

Jacques' treason and Watts' shenanigans come to the surface, culminating in a simultaneous cyber attack with a major DOS, riot, and Grimm invasion. Ironwood freezes in the clinch, unable to decide what to do.

Clover: Sir, we need ground support now.

Robyn: What we need is to start evacuating Mantle. If it's completely overrun, it's not going to be safe anywhere. Use the fleet to get--

Ironwood: If I move the fleet, then Atlas is vulnerable. I… I tried to keep the kingdom safe. And now we're losing everything.

It's Oscar that comes to Ironwood's rescue.

Oscar: General? Earlier, you asked for my advice.

Ironwood: I wanted Ozpin's advice.

Ouch. For the fourth time, Ironwood shows that he sees Oscar as nothing but a poor substitute for Ozpin. But then Oscar shines.

Oscar: And his advice probably would've been to keep your secrets. When we first got here, you already knew that wasn't the right course. You had a new plan.

Ironwood: It's time to give up on that plan. It's all falling apart.

Oscar: The panic you were worried about? It's already happening. The secrets you're keeping? They're about to be in the open anyway. It's time. Tell the truth.

Here is where Oscar does what Ozpin couldn't do, proving that he's not just a second-rate substitute for the real thing. This time he was better than Ozpin.

At this point Oscar has just pulled Ironwood's fat out of the fire, and what does he get? The only thanks Ironwood gives him since they first met, right before Oscar is literally told to go to his room.

Ironwood: Thank you. Oscar, I think it's time you get back to the Academy.

Afterwards Oscar tells Ruby, "He's finally choosing the truth over fear. We should do the same" and with her permission tells Ironwood the rest of the story.

Ironwood -- some folks think he took the news well. I don't. That looks to me like monumental "just this side of throwing up" shock, to be followed by monumental rage. As upsetting as he finds the news of Salem's immortality, he's even more upset that his adored hero kept secrets from him.

Ironwood: (distraught) Why? Why would Oz keep this from us? From the people who trusted him?

(You mean the person who went behind his back and undermined his authority?)

Oscar: He was worried you would lose hope. We're sorry we kept it from you, too. We didn't know who to trust. I figured you should know before you make any… sacrifices.

It's Oscar who prods Ironwood away from his pain and back to the present.

Oscar: Sir? What are you gonna do?

Ironwood: I… (collects himself) All we can do for the moment is what we can to save Mantle. That's what's in front of us.

Oscar: (smiling) He'd be proud of you. You're bringing the hope that Atlas was meant to inspire. A city in the sky is held to a higher standard.

Ironwood: You say that... like you were ther--

One again, the only compliment Ironwood can give Oscar, even after Oscar has done what Ozpin couldn't do, is to tell him he sounds like Ozpin. The man needs to work on some new lines.

Oscar goes back to JNPR's room with an escort of robot guards. Ironwood goes to deal with the crisis, and makes a good show until Cinder and Salem rattle him. The good news is that his monumental shock subsides. The bad news is that it's followed by monumental rage.

In the middle of a battle Ironwood decides to arrest the allies whom he now considers questionable, instead of using the age-old tactic of dealing with such a problem by sending them to the front line. (You can tell these boys haven't fought a war in a while.) He sends an Army unit to capture a same-sized Marines unit, and things go as well as could be expected. Meanwhile Neo goes to retrieve the Lamp of Knowledge, currently in Oscar's possession, from Oscar and JNR, and things go as well as could be expected.

Then in the middle of the Great Escape, Oscar turns back to try one last time to do what Ozpin couldn't do and would no longer have tried to do -- talk sense into Ironwood. Talking sense into Ironwood is something Ozpin had been failing at since Volume 2, and going by what he said to Oscar about Hazel during the Battle of Haven, "He's wounded in a way that cannot be healed", we can safely say that by now Ozpin would have given up on Ironwood as a lost cause. But, just like with Hazel, Oscar is going to try.

Their sixth and final interaction starts with Ironwood repeating basically what he said in the other five interactions, another variation on, " Are you Ozpin yet?" Even after Oscar has done for him what Ozpin wouldn't do, he still wants Ozpin over Oscar.

Ironwood: And... whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with?

Oscar: Still just me.

Then the conversation takes a different turn. Ironwood knows he's crossed a line, and he knows Oscar knows. The warm and friendly tone is gone. But Oscar tries to de-escalate the situation.

Ironwood: It was smart of you not to bring the Lamp down here. I wouldn’t trust me either right now.

Oscar: Trust is what I’m hoping to fix. I know we can still figure this out, all of it, together. Please.

Ironwood: Do you intend to fight me?

Oscar: No. That’s exactly what she wants.

Note that Ironwood anticpates a beating for what he's done. As the adult in a room with a teenage boy, HE should be the one pointing out the importance of not being bullied, manipulated, or coerced into doing anything stupid. Instead it's the teenage boy's job to point it out to him.

I've posted about this conversation in detail before, so I just want to make three points this time. The first point is that Ironwood's refusal to admit he's afraid is what triggers his violence.

Ironwood: You still think I’m afraid?

Oscar: We all are. It’s what we do in our fear that reveals--

Ironwood: That’s easy for you to say!

The second point is that Oscar finally understands what Ozpin meant about some people being "wounded in a way that can't be healed." Whether he agrees with Ozpin is something we'll find out in Volume 8, but he understands Ozpin better now.

Finally we have the end of Ironwood's toxic bromance with Oscar. And just as he did at the beginning, he insists on being the one to set the terms.

Ironwood: I am done letting others’ inability to see the big picture get in the way of doing what’s right. Robyn, the council, this kingdom... even you.

Oscar: Then you’re as dangerous as she is, James.

Ironwood: James is what my friends call me. To you… it’s General.

That's pretty much the way I saw it play out while watching the episodes in real time. I missed the discrepancy in tone and word choice the first time around; in my defense I'm a Southerner and used to hearing violent death threats dripping from honeyed lips. But I saw no discrepancy in Ironwood's behavior from beginning to end. He always wanted Oscar to be someone he wasn't, and when it became clear that Oscar was never going be what he wanted Oscar to be, Ironwood threw him away like a petulant child throwing away a broken toy. This wasn't the man I wanted Ironwood to be, but it's the same man we've seen since the beginning -- brave, charming, intelligent, and fatally short-sighted.