#sparky worked so well because they basically went with their own design for him and he fit in stylistically

[slarkzin]

The chances of fnaf 2 movie or especially fnaf 3 movie referencing salvage hoax in some way are pretty low but never zero 😼

[purplerose244]

My thoughts on Seabound!!! 🌊🌊🌊 (2/4)

SPOILERS ALERT!!!

For now, nothing to complain about! We got Nya, we got MAYA AND RAY, we got GILES PANTON BACK A LEGO SHOW!!! 😍😍😍

Of course now I'm definitely curious about what the story is really about, like I'm guessing Wojira will wake up at some point so... Great Devourer all over again maybe? 😅 Idk, for now I just wanna enjoy Nya having her moment 🥳

Alright, here we go!

GENERAL THOUGHTS

New alert for reader, during the Nexo Knights period I was and still am the hugest Clay fan. Now that his voice is in this season I might scream more than necessary... keep that in mind 😅

I love the humor in this, all random but still kinda clever 😂😂 Maybe I'm biased because I love Jay but still 🤷‍♀️

I really like the design of the marine world, very cool!! 🌊🌊🌊

I guess I'm not really seeing any big plot twist moment for now? Ninjago seasons have history of basing seasons on a "we need to prevent this event from happening but it will happen anyway", so I can see Wojira waking up no matter what 🤷‍♀️

I wonder if that will be shocking? Usually when this situation happen, someone makes a major sacrifice (Zane with the Overlord, sensei Garmaron with Chen, again sensei G with the Preeminent...). Maybe Maya? I DON'T WANT THAT 😭 But I am curious, everything is going nicely and I'm not sure what it will bring! 🤩 I'M EXCITED SO LET'S GO!!!

THE WRATH OF KALMAAR

So this is the name of Clay's new incarnation, neat! 👍

Okay really, for having a season lately the main character just can't help but be trapped by the villain: kinda Zane in the ICE Chapter, Jay in Prime Empire, Cole in Master of the Mountain... we can call it a tradition at this point 🤷‍♀️

Giant serpent, yadda yadda, I wonder if we're gonna address the Great Devourer at some point? Not mandatory, but the reference would be very cool 🤩

Clay's new incarnation is a prince I- *hyperventilates in awe*

Nya playing dumb lol, I don't know if that's personal experience as she used to get kidnapped a lot in the past or she just have too many idiots in her life 😂

ALSO ANOTHER BEST GIRL'S SMIRK

NYA YOU'RE TOO MUCH ILY ❤💙❤💙

Jay I love that you're so worried about Nya but maybe try NOT TO DIE? YOU'RE WITH LLOYD AND ZANE YET YOU'RE THE ONE GOING FOR THE SACRIFICE WTH?? 😱 But he's worried about his cool GF I kinda get it, also he didn't do it so good...

WHAT. THE. HECK.

WHO ARE YOU OH MY FIRST SPINJITZU MASTER YOU'RE ADORABLE I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU YOU ABSOLUTE CUTIE 🤩🤩🤩

So Giles is doomed to voice LEGO characters with daddy issues 😂 That being not having a dad at all or having one that is... a good guy? Idk he seems chill with the surface at first glance, I wonder what's the story of this family

Maya reminds of my mom, she also mentions her work a lot and I study the same thing. But she doesn't want to brag, it gets annoying but she just wants to give me advice. It's nice to see actually 👍 Also Ray reference NEAT ❤❤❤

Wow, if any child-parent couple of this show was doomed at going semi Emperor's New Groove style, I would've bet on Ed and Jay honestly 😅

Oh HECK yes I knew that with my water girls things were BOUND to get cool 😎 ... yeah I know where the door is *goes away*

JAY NO WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT TRYING TO DIE STOP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!! 😱😱😱

My GOSH that scared the crap out of me 😅 Jay honey we have too many deaths in this team, you're not helping... BUT YOU POWERED AN ENTIRE SHIP BECAUSE YOU LOVE NYA AND YOU DIDN'T DIE AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH BLUEBELL 💙💙💙

They were all so worried, I love this ninja family so freaking much 💜💜💜 Also better not tell this one to his GF 😂

And Bluebell?

Welcome to the "change eye color because of elemental power" team! WE GOT ANOTHER ONE I LOVE WHEN IT HAPPENS!!! 😍😍😍

Awww, Zane letting Jay be the captain, that was so cute of him 💕

Another great episode! Doing great so far but I still wonder if we got into the main story. Feels like there should be more, well we got time! Next one! 😊

LONG LIVE THE KING

Sooooo... that's one very telling title 😅 If we're going full Lion King on this one, I think I know where this is going 😵

Maya: Don't they know that metal taste terrible?!? (Again feels like Kai could say something like this 😂)

FINALLY NYA USING FREAKING WATER POWERS UNDER THE SEA!!! Thank you Maya for saying out loud what we were all thinking 👌👌

NINJA TO THE RESCUE!!!

Pff, okay, the fact that Kalmaar is all evil and cruel and then he gets startled like that, it's kind or adorable! 💕 Honestly Giles got such a deep voice, with Clay it was firm warm and reassuring, here we got plain devious and I ADORE it 😍😍😍

Maya come on don't doubt your daughter 😅 But I like her, and if she knew Nya they way we all do she wouldn't doubt that she could make it every time 😎

Yeah I was right, the king seems chill... oww I fear what's coming then 😳

Okay, so Kalmaar thinks that the world should go back to be lead by them like in the past, while the king just wants peace with the surface. And as we know, no drama no season so...

Yep, saw the death coming 😅

WHOA DID NOT SEE THAT LITTLE BLAME ACT COMING KALMAAR IS SO EVIL!!!... with a glorious voice but still (Rose focus on something that is not that godlike voice, you can do it 💪💪)

THE OLD ONE TWO I LOVE THIS SO MUCH COMBO ATTACK!!! 🌊❄🌊❄

Awww Benthomaar is actually really cute, he's so worried about his father 😢 And he's adopted apparently? I wanna know the story!!! 🤩🤩

Yep, there's the reason why Zane got a mask even though he doesn't need one, it completes his attire 😂😂😂 My gosh how I love this nindroid ❄

Did... did Jay just say phooey? Dude Ducktales ended a while ago but I'm still not over it 😭

I said it once before I'll say it again, Ninjago is really REALLY good at making death scenes. Like, omg, I genuinely felt sorry for them 😢😢 I also really liked that the king didn't ask to be avenged, he still wanted peace and he asked his son to protect the ninja and he cried actual tears...

MY HEART WTH 😭😭😭 So we're adding this to the real tears moments of the show, with Jay crying over pie, Zane with the flashback of his dad, Jay crying over Nya and Lloyd thinking the ninja are gone... my world this show is angsty 🙂

Third startle for prince Kalmaar, I love the gag 😂 Oh wait, king Kalmaar 🤷‍♀️

Okay, we got a coup, the ninja running away because they got framed, Benthomaar is most likely going to join them or at least help them, I guess Wojira will come out at some point while... Kai, Ray and Cole are still playing videogames? 😅

THIS IS GETTING COOL I WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT AAAAHHH HECK YES THERE IS THE HYPE!!! 😍😍😍

Although I hope we get more stuff with Nya and Maya, that's what I like 🤩

ESCAPE FROM MERLOPIA

I'm good at English and I can follow most of it, but the fantasy names are tricky so I didn't get before that this was the name of the place 😅 It's nice, at least it's not another Atlantis 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

LLOYD I SWEAR TO YOUR GRANDPA IF YOU TRY TO DIE AGAIN 😱

NYA YOU ARE NOT A GOOD SUBSTITUTE NONE OF YOU ARE OMG 😱😱

Ah, there he is, my new son Benthomaar 💙 He is so lovable already, I know nearly nothing about him and I like his character already a lot! He could relate with all of the ninja really, but maybe with Jay the most? They were both adopted after all 🤔🤔

*scribble note for a fanfic for later if this doesn't come up in the season*

Alright moving on 😗

I am so happy Nya gets a season, Kelly got a great emotional range that doesn't come out often in my opinion, but with a full introspection of water goddess we are all blessed by her voice acting 😍

Gotta say, admitting that Bentho didn't have to help them to answer the usual 'Can we trust him' question is pretty reasonable, like, better than other stupid answers 😅

Also don't mind me

Just screenshotting by ship 💙❤💙❤

Somehow lately we are letting Jay do the talking and I both hate and LOVE the fact 😂😂 Plain Bluebell nonsense, heck yes that's my jam👌👌

MAYA IS SO COOL OMG 🤩🤩

I literally can't not laugh at the startle gag with Kalmaar 😂

LLOYD WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT SELF SACRIFICING!! PLEASE IT'S NOT EVEN YOUR SEASON!! 😱😱😱😱

Aww Jay is still the Captain, nice! Wonder if it's giving him Skybound flashbacks... I hope not considering all he went through that time, poor Sparky 😅😅

ARE THOSE LITTLE WU ROCKETS?? 🤯

Can we skip a season and hang out with Pixal one time? I really wanna know how she organizes her free time to create these things 😍😍😍

THANK YOU LLOYD FOR NOT DYING ONCE AGAIN, MUCH APPRECIATED!!! 💚💚💚 My green bean needs a vacation... they all do 😅

THEY ARE

SO BEAUTIFUL 💙🌊💙🌊

Alright, back to the island hoping Kalmaar will not track us and follow us so he can get to the place and discover the amulet 🙂

Are we not calling the others? I miss my flame babe and Rocky ❤🖤❤🖤 Also RAY WATCHA DOIN I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING 🤩🤩

THE TALE OF BENTHOMAAR

Wait what? Shark boy backstory? SHARK BOY BACKSTORY?!? 👀👀👀

Wow, I see that Kalmaar didn't change a thing growing up, still the same gonna-be-a-villain 😂 Of course his voice got a lot deeper and cool and okay you know I love his voice moving on

I find it kinda funny that Kalmaar is so focused on royal blood and superiority, while Clay was basically a farm boy who worked his way up. Giles knows how to get the character no matter what 😍

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

BABY BENTHOMAAR AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

The king seems like such a good pers- fish- creature 😅 Now I'm double sad that he died, my world, why do I always care so fast, it's not healthy in this show where everyone could die 😰😰

I'M SORRY IS THAT KAI'S HAIR??? 😂😂😂 I LITERALLY CAN'T LOOK AWAY WTH I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS

Literally every frame of Benthomaar makes me love him even more 😢

Interesting that we got an academic villain, he kinda reminds me of Clouse in a way, maybe even Harumi since she studied her way to her plan as well? I like that we got a bit of personality too!

Using your little bro for your own purpose... it's very evil but kinda also brotherly like 😂

Benthomaar really gives me that very PRECIOUS vibe, kinda the perfect son but also a naive and unaware BABY 💙

LEGO HUG 🤩🤩 Not exactly reciprocated but still 😅

Ooohhh, so this is how he found the temple! I like this, it shows that Bentho is most likely physically stronger than Kalmaar, while evil brother is focused on brain and studies. They are planned differently, I like it! 😚😚

Ouch, peer pressure... sibling pressure? Eh you get what I mean 😂

POOR BENTHO 😭😭😭 YOU GOT THE NINJA NOW DON'T WORRY WE'RE NEVER GONNA LEAVE YOU ALONE YOU PRECIOUS SHARK BABY!! 🦈🦈🦈

Bentho: will I really fit in with you guys? Do you really understand how I feel?

Lloyd: Jay was adopted, Nya's parents were gone most of her life, Zane lost his father while mine turned evil

Bentho(tearing up): yeah that can work

Okaaaaayyyyy, I like that we got a bit of backstory for Bentho too! We didn't get much for Vanya in Master of the Mountain, which is the only thing I was sad about (very little detail, AMAZING season 🖤🖤🖤), nice to see it here!!

But I really want more Nya and Maya interactions, I hope we'll soon get to them again!! 😍😍😍

Alright, getting somewhere here! I'm very curious about what's next 🤩🤩

[bronzeflower]

The Fire of the Heart

Also on ao3

Chapter 2: Equals

-----

Bakugou had written Kirishima a poem. It was just some stupid thing that his therapist recommended - the whole ‘writing his feelings down’ or whatever.

Putting the poem on Kirishima’s desk was an impulse decision. Bakugou had the poem in his pocket and thought that if he wrote a poem for Kirishima, then Kirishima deserved to see it or something like that.

All of these things were done without much thought to them. Certainly, Bakugou didn’t think for a second about what Kirishima would actually think of the poem on his desk.

Except that was all he could think about now that Kirishima was actually in the classroom and looking down at the scrap of paper that the poem was written on, especially when the rest of his friend group started crowding around Kirishima.

But with how loud the group was, Bakugou suddenly became very thankful for the fact that the great majority of the class knew how to mind their own fucking business. He was pretty sure if others were any more curious about the situation, way more than the idiot brigade would be crowding around Kirishima.

Bakugou didn’t need that kind of immediate exposure.

Eventually, Bakugou got real tired of the so-called ‘Bakusquad’ making attempts to analyze his poem, so he went over there to put a stop to it, and, thankfully, the talk about his poem was dropped as soon as Aizawa ordered everyone to sit down.

The rest of the day passed by relatively normally, although there was that occurrence that happened during lunchtime…

“Come on, Bakugou! Please!” Kirishima begged, his hands clasped together and his eyes getting seemingly bigger. “Let me try your food! Just one bite!”

“No,” Bakugou responded, pointedly not looking towards Kirishima.

A moment passed before Bakugou felt Kirishima tugging at his sleeve in an indication to look over.

Bakugou made the very dangerous decision of looking over, and what he saw was basically a one-hit K.O.

Kirishima’s eyes were big, his eyelashes framing the sparkling reds, and it made it look like he was going to cry at any moment. This, combined with the pout that had formed on Kirishima’s lips, had Bakugou’s heart twisting like it was a towel that water was being wrung out of.

“Fine!” Bakugou found himself weakening, and he quickly shoved this plate towards Kirishima, whose demeanor quickly changed back to his usual sunshiney self.

Of course, Kirishima took one bite of Bakugou’s food and found his mouth on fire.

Bakugou smirked as Kirishima did his best to relieve the intense spice.

Bakugou went back to eating his own food and proceeded to realize that, because Kirishima used Bakugou’s spoon to try the food, it was an indirect kiss. The realization made Bakugou’s stomach feel like fireworks.

Bakugou was still thinking about it later in his room when he heard Kirishima giggling wildly.

“Someone is in love with me!” Kirishima’s voice barely managed to penetrate through the walls, and it was something Bakugou probably wouldn’t even have heard if he hadn’t been listening so closely.

The fact that Kirishima was so giddy because of the poem made Bakugou’s face feel like it was on fire. The butterflies in his stomach grew as Kirishima continued his giggling.

Despite no one else being in the room, Bakugou buried his head into his pillow to hide his blushing.

Also despite the fact that the poem for Kirishima was meant to be a one-time thing, Bakugou ended up a little attached to writing down his feelings as a coping mechanism and ended up writing yet another poem pretty soon after the first.

He left this poem on Kirishima’s desk once again, kind of hoping that Kirishima would be just as giddy getting this one as he had the first one.

Bakugou overheard Sero reading the poem out loud, and Bakugou immediately started to die inside. He refused to look over there, afraid that someone would notice his reaction to hearing the poem.

At least the conversation soon transitioned into the group teasing Kaminari for his crush.

They got to spar during hero training that day - one of Bakugou’s favorite activities that they did. It involved five-minute matches with an opponent, and then, when the time was up, they swapped partners. The idea was to learn how to fight various opponents and how to disarm them in a short period of time.

In addition, the swapping system was designed to make sure no one got the same partner twice to avoid too much familiarity.

This time around, Bakugou got to spar with Kirishima pretty early on. They sparred frequently, and so they easily fell into a routine, despite both of them doing their best to execute moves that they hadn’t tried on the other.

Fighting with Kirishima was always exhilarating. He was the only one who could properly stand up to Bakugou’s explosions, and that fact always managed to light a fire in Bakugou’s chest.

Kirishima managed to knock Bakugou back, and Kirishima stood over him with a mocking grin.

“Gonna have to try harder than that!” Kirishima taunted, his fists smashing together as he hardened himself in preparation for the impact that Bakugou immediately delivered.

The fight was ended much too soon by the shrill ring of the bell signaling a partner switch, and Bakugou found himself frowning at the fact that the battle was already over.

Sure, he’d be back to sparring soon enough, but that person wouldn’t be <i>Kirishima</i>.

“That always feels like too short of a time!” Kirishima complained. “We’ll have to spar some later to make up for it, yeah?”

Kirishima was looking toward Bakugou expectantly, and Bakugou felt all his breath leave him as he nodded and was suddenly met with Kirishima’s joyous grin.

“I look forward to it!” Kirishima declared.

“Better not hold back,” Bakugou finally managed to respond before they parted to search for a new sparring partner.

After Bakugou and Kirishima’s sparring session after school, Bakugou returned to his room fully intending to work on homework for the rest of the evening, but, before he knew it, he was staring down at yet another poem about Kirishima.

“Fuck.”

This was the last one, Bakugou swore. This is the last one he was going to write. If he wrote any more, then they would just continue to become more and more embarrassing until Bakugou would have to burn them up after writing them.

He couldn’t be having that because Kirishima actually liked the poems.

Bakugou could hear more giggling coming from the other room, and he could only imagine the look on Kirishima’s face.

Bakugou got flustered thinking about it for just a few seconds and immediately had to shift his mind to other matters.

So, yeah. Bakugou left the third and <i>final</i> poem on Kirishima’s desk the next morning.

But of course, Kirishima had to be late. And of course, their friend group started talking about during lunch. And of course, Bakugou had to deflect the fact that he was the one who wrote the poems without lying directly.

Lying meant that Kirishima wouldn’t think that it was him at all, and Bakugou didn’t want to deceive him like that.

That night, there was a lot less giggling than the previous nights where Kirishima got poems. Maybe he was just getting used to them.

Bakugou could barely believe that he wrote even one poem, much less three of them.

Maybe Bakugou should just suck it up and actually confess his feelings. It shouldn’t be that hard, and Kirishima would probably think it would be ‘manly’ or whatever to confess in person.

With that thought, Bakugou designed a plan to ask out Kirishima. It didn’t have to be anything fancy - just telling him was enough. And it was also best to not get his hopes up too much by planning out any over-the-top gestures.

Even if Bakugou believed that Kirishima deserved the biggest and best things in the world, those sorts of actions might not be received well if Kirishima didn’t reciprocate.

Bakugou proceeded to spend the next two weeks trying and failing to confess. Every single time he tried, he forgot every word he wanted to say the moment Kirishima blinked at him with his ruby eyes and frankly insane eyelashes.

He ended up writing his frustrations in poetry form, and he cursed up a storm as soon as he realized that he just wrote another <i>fucking</i> poem about Kirishima.

Bakugou left the poem on Kirishima’s desk once again. And of course, Bakugou started eavesdropping on the conversation happening between Kirishima and Sero.

Or trying to, at least. They were talking pretty quietly, which was kind of unusual based on their usual dynamics. Well, they started talking louder once the other idiots entered the classroom, so Bakugou ended up intervening in the conversation.

And apparently, Kirishima had someone he wanted the poems to be from, going by his awkward reaction when it was mentioned, and Bakugou desperately wanted to know who Kirishima hoped the poems were from.

And then Kaminari and everyone started narrowing down the list of suspects. And Bakugou was still on the list even when there were only four people left on it.

Thank fucking God Kirishima managed to deter the conversation to Sparky’s crush on Eyebags.

That night, Kirishima practically squealed over the poem from what Bakugou could hear and hearing Kirishima getting that excited over a stupid poem made Bakugou wonder if he should write just one more.

Just one more couldn’t hurt, right?

Except this one wasn’t all that impulsive. It was planned, and Bakugou actually thought about what it said, and how it was written, and it was infinitely more frustrating to write because of that.

Bakugou finally finished it after a week, and he practically slammed it on Kirishima’s desk as he sulked off towards his own.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kirishima look over it with an extremely serious gaze and then put it away. Kirishima didn’t even pull it back out when the rest of the idiot brigade showed up. He didn’t even mention it during lunch.

What Kirishima did do, however, was go over to Jirou about something or other when Bakugou was waiting near the door of the classroom to leave with Kirishima like they did every single day after class.

It was weird. It was outside of their regular routine, and Bakugou didn’t know how to feel about it. What would Kirishima want from Jirou that Bakugou couldn’t provide?

Bakugou didn’t have to think about it for all that long before Kirishima was thanking Jirou and coming back towards Bakugou.

“About time. What were you even talking to her about anyway?”

“Just some help on a, uh, personal project?” Kirishima answered. “She has the most expertise with music, so I figured she would be the best person to go to.”

“Hm,” Bakugou grunted, somewhat disappointed by the fact that he could absolutely acknowledge that Jirou was the best when it came to music. But, then again, Yaoyorozu was the best in the class, and that didn’t stop Kirishima from coming to Bakugou for help in his studies.

“Anyway, could you please help me with the math homework, Bakugou?” Kirishima requested. “I didn’t understand Ectoplasm-sensei’s explanation of z-scores at all.”

“Dumbass - it’s not all that difficult.”

“So you’ll help me then?” Kirishima glanced towards Bakugou with sparkling eyes that Bakugou could never say no to.

“Can’t have you failing the class, now can I? Especially when it comes to something as simple as <i>that</i>. Come on, I’ll beat the information into you.”

Kirishima joyfully went off with Bakugou for their study session.

Kirishima left early. Kirishima left early, and now Bakugou was trying to figure out why the hell Kirishima didn’t stay like he usually did.

It probably had something to do with whatever he was talking to Jirou about earlier. Something about Kirishima spending time with Jirou alone had an ugly feeling welling up in Bakugou’s stomach.

Bakugou groaned into his pillow. He didn’t have time to be feeling these stupid fucking emotions! Or thinking about Kirishima being alone with Jirou! He was training to be a hero, and he couldn’t let that kind of shit distract him!

Bakugou did his best to ignore every thought his mind wanted to spare towards Kirishima. He finished his homework. He worked out. Fuck, he even wrote an entry in his stupid fucking journal that’s been more helpful than anything else his therapist has tried to get him to do.

And now, it was around the time when Bakugou was winding down and getting into bed, and he still couldn’t stop thinking about Kirishima.

Kirishima and his cute red hair and his shining eyes and his bright-ass smile and the way he never failed to make Bakugou laugh and his refusal to go down no matter what.

Bakugou didn’t hear Kirishima’s giggling over the poems that night, and he wondered what Kirishima thought of the poem.

For the next week, Bakugou almost forgot completely about the poems he wrote for Kirishima. Obviously, he knew he wrote them and that Kirishima received them, but he shoved that information into the deep recesses of his mind in an attempt to focus fully on his schoolwork, despite the fact that Kirishima seemed to be spending a little more time with Jirou than usual, but Bakugou did his best to ignore that as well.

Bakugou was mostly successful until one weekend morning, wherein Kirishima came up to Bakugou and shoved a piece of paper towards his chest.

“I figured out you were the one writing the poems!” Kirishima blurted out before Bakugou could say anything. “So, here’s my response, I guess, to your last poem.”

“What?”

“Just read the poem, and get back to me later, yeah?” Kirishima said before hightailing it out of there, leaving Bakugou alone with the sheet of paper.

Bakugou looked down at the poem. He could barely read the words because he was so caught up in the fact that Kirishima wrote <i>him</i> a poem and that it was a response to his other poems, and he needed to focus.

Bakugou went to his room and sat on his bed and stared down at the paper.

<i>We are equals

If I am a fire,

Then you are it’s radiating heat,

The comfort after a long day

If your love for me is red,

Then my love for you is orange

Like the depth of your explosions

If I am an eruption,

Then you are the destruction that comes with it

And the certainty of its power

If I am the sun,

Then you are the moon and stars,

Dazzling all who see you

And if I am the king,

Then I don’t want you to be my subject,

Nor do I want you to be my sword

I want you to rule with me,

And fight alongside me,

And stand beside me

We are equals

That’s why you took my hand</i>

“Fuck,” Bakugou breathed out after reading the poem. “Fuck!”

Bakugou’s face was red. He could basically only see red. He barged out of his room and banged on the door beside his.

“Kirishima!” Bakugou shouted, and, sure enough, a somewhat sheepish Kirishima answered the door.

Bakugou didn’t even think. He just gripped onto Kirishima’s shirt to pull him towards himself.

“Bakugou?” Kirishima started, but Bakugou didn’t give him time to finish as he pulled Kirishima into a bruising kiss.

“You don’t get to call me that after writing me a fucking poem, holy shit,” Bakugou spat out once he let go of Kirishima.

“What? Bakugou-”

“Call me Katsuki, you dumb fuck,” Bakugou demanded, and he watched Kirishima’s expression go from confusion to one of absolute mirth.

“Katsuki, you wrote me <i>five</i> poems!” Kirishima exclaimed.

“Shitty hair-”

“Nuh-huh, nope!” Kirishima interrupted. “If I’m calling you Katsuki, you’re calling me Eijirou.”

It was then when Bakugou finally reflected on what he had just done, and he found his face getting way too hot.

“Ei-Eijirou,” Bakugou said with a lot less fire than he meant to, the mere fact that Bakugou could now use Kirishima’s first name making him feel like he was going to die, not to mention how Bakugou was just now processing that he just <i>kissed</i> Kirishima.

“Yes?” Kirishima blinked at Bakugou innocently, and Bakugou had to take a moment to remember how to breathe.

“Fuck! I’m-” Bakugou began, but the words ended up caught in his throat. “You, I, I, uh…”

Kirishima smiled so softly and so lovingly towards Bakugou that Bakugou felt like his heart was about to escape his chest.

And then Kirishima slowly brought his face close to Bakugou’s and kissed him, one that was so much more gentle than the kiss they shared earlier.

“How’d you know I wrote the poems?” Bakugou asked now that his higher brain functions were shot enough that things like worry didn’t exist.

“Your reactions, mostly. And, well, maybe a bit of hoping they were from you,” Kirishima admitted. “I liked them a lot.”

“I liked your’s too,” Bakugou responded, and Kirishima chuckled.

“Yeah, I figured. It hadn’t even been five minutes since I gave you the poem, and suddenly you were knocking on my door and kissing me.”

“Shut up,” Bakugou said, but there was no bite to his words.

“What if I don’t want to shut up, huh?” Kirishima brought his hands over to Bakugou’s hands, simply holding them and rubbing his thumb over Bakugou’s knuckles.

Bakugou took the opportunity to kiss Kirishima again, something in between the harshness of the first and the gentleness of the second, and Bakugou could feel Kirishima’s smile on his lips. Bakugou found himself smiling as well.

“Will you be my boyfriend, Katsuki?” Kirishima asked once they parted, and Bakugou let out a laugh at that.

“Fuckin’ obviously,” Bakugou said with an almost manic grin, and Kirishima squeezed his hands and gave him such a tender smile that Bakugou had to look away.

“Kiss me again?” Kirishima requested, and Bakugou obliged.

---

“Ohhh, Kiri, you’re looking sappy! Didja get another poem?” Ashido greeted when she entered the classroom.

“Well, not exactly…”

“Then whatcha looking so besotted for?” Kaminari questioned.

“Eijirou!” Bakugou shouted out, causing Kirishima to look up towards his new boyfriend.

“Yeah, Katsuki?”

“You coming over tonight?”

“Yeah, of course, I just have to get-”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on!” Kaminari interrupted. “Since when are you two on a first name basis!?”

“Since we started dating, dumbass,” Bakugou answered, causing the entirety of the Bakusquad to gasp in surprise.

“Since when!?” Ashido exclaimed. “And how dare you not tell us immediately!”

“It’s a recent development,” Kirishima admitted.

“How recent of a development?” Sero inquired.

“Like, yesterday, recent.”

“Then I suppose you can be forgiven for your crimes,” Sero joked.

“What crimes have I committed!?” Kirishima asked with faux offense.

“The crime of not telling your best friends the instant you started dating Bakugou!” Ashido declared.

“I’m afraid that’s a minimum of ten years in jail,” Kaminari acted downtrodden. “It is a grievous offense.”

“Wasn’t he found not guilty?” Bakugou interjected.

“I suppose he was,” Kaminari nodded in agreement. “But what about the poems? We still haven’t figured out who wrote them!”

“Actually...” Kirishima spoke up. “Bakugou wrote them poems.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet!” Ashido gushed.

“Weren’t you the one saying that there was no way I could have written the poems?” Bakugou scowled, and Ashido laughed in a somewhat awkward manner.

“I just didn’t expect you to be so mushy! It’s cute!”

“Don’t call me cute,” Bakugou growled, and the others laughed.

“How did you two get together anyway?” Sero asked, and Kirishima blushed.

“He wrote me a poem in response to all the ones that I gave him,” Bakugou said, and Ashido practically got heart eyes.

“That’s adorable! What did it say? Come on! Show me!”

“Absolutely not,” Bakugou spoke. “It’s mine.”

“Boo,” Ashido pouted. “I wanted to see it.”

“Write your own poem,” Bakugou demanded.

“That’s so much work though,” Ashido whined.

“Can’t get what you want without putting in the effort,” Bakugou said.

“I know, I know,” Ashido frowned.

“Ya know, you and Kirishima really are kind of adorable,” Kaminari commented.

“Eh? What makes you say that?” Bakugou shouted.

“Well, I can tell you right now that, currently, the two of you are holding hands,” Kaminari pointed out.

“So?”

“It’s just sweet! Makes me want my own romance, you know?”

“Go and ask out Eyebags then.”

“What! No! I couldn’t, well, maybe, but, like, what if he doesn’t like me like that?”

“How should I know.”

“Well, you were the one who asked out Kiri.”

“I just wrote him poetry, dipshit,” Bakugou said, and Kaminari looked like a lightbulb went off in his head.

“I don’t like that look,” Sero stated.

“I’ll write him poetry!” Kaminari declared.

“Didn’t we suggest that idea earlier?” Ashido asked. “And weren’t you too embarrassed by the idea?”

“Yeah, but that was before Bakugou and Kirishima got together. Now I know it’s something that actually works!”

“Glad you two finally got together though,” Sero said. “You two had been pining for ages, and I was getting a little sick of watching the both of you make moon eyes at each other.”

“Sero-” Kirishima began, but Bakugou spoke at the same time.

“How did you know I liked Eijirou? I only told Jirou!”

“What! You told Jirou and not us!?” Ashido exclaimed.

“Y’all are too excited,” Bakugou responded. “And I needed to vent to someone who wasn’t my fucking therapist.”

“Is that why Jirou was so willing to help me write the poem for you?” Kirishima asked.

“Wait, is <i>that</i> what you were going to Jirou for!?”

“Yeah?? What did you think I was doing?”

“I don’t know! I thought that, maybe, you liked her or something,” Bakugou’s voice got softer as he reached the end of his statement.

“Katsuki,” Kirishima was holding in a laugh. “Were you jealous?”

“No! Shut up!”

Kirishima stood up to give Bakugou a kiss. It was just on the cheek, but Bakugou was still thoroughly flustered.

“You two really are so sickeningly sweet,” Sero said, and Kirishima couldn’t help but offer a shining grin, and even Bakugou found himself reveling in the warmth Kirishima’s presence brought.

Bakugou smiled, and he didn’t even complain too much when his friends gushed over it.

He was just glad to hold Kirishima’s hand.

[teaplease1717]

Gosling ch 3

Here’s chapter 3 of my @bnha-fluff-week story! Thank you EmberStork for correcting.

Couple: TodoMomo

Rating: G

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19251016/chapters/45848893

Chapter 1 Link: https://teaplease1717.tumblr.com/post/185652318716/gosling-ch-1 

Chapter 2 Link: https://teaplease1717.tumblr.com/post/185677289231/gosling-chapter-2

XXXX

Operation turn Yaoyorozu back had started off as a complete failure. Hagakure had Yaoyorozu draw pictures, hoping her memories would be triggered by her subconscious. Instead Yaoyorozu had drawn a family portrait of herself and him. Ashido had hung it up on the fridge.  

Kaminari and Mineta's contribution was even less helpful. With the excuse that Yaoyorozu liked to read, they went into her room and pulled out her favorite encyclopedia. Except, the three year old could only make out the basic words and no one else understood the thick text either.

Bakugo even had tried his hand at helping by tying her hair up into its usual high ponytail – but that could have been because he was annoyed with the length more than any intention of truly helping.

Jirou had the most realistic idea, she had Yaoyorozu listen to music and when that didn't work, had the three year old sit down at her keyboard to see if muscle memory kicked in.

It didn’t.

Shouto leaned back against the couch, his eyes unintentionally drifting to find the three year old on the opposite side of the room. Koda had brought down his pet rabbit and Yaoyorozu and the rest of the class 1-A girls were currently preoccupied with it as the remaining guys sat around the couches exhausted.

Uraraka was holding Yaoyorozu's tiny hand teaching her how to properly pet the animal. At some point Ashido or Hagakure had pulled the hood up on the All Might onesie and were busy taking pictures of Yaoyorozu.

As if feeling his heterochromatic stare, Yaoyorozu’s black eyes glanced up for the hundredth time that day. Scanning the room, her face began to scrunch in worry until they landed on him and her shoulders visibly relaxed allowing Asui and Uraraka to pull her attention back to the rabbit.

Shouto swallowed over a dry lump in his throat. The tear stains from earlier were still visible on her cheeks and the guilt from it tore into his stomach like a knife. They had been taking a break and playing hide and seek. Everything had been fine until he had been 'it.' When the rest of the class had tried to lead Yaoyorozu away she had broken down, crying and begging for him not to leave her. The knife in his stomach twisted painfully at the memory of her tears soaking his shirt.

The worst part was that at that moment all he had felt was anger. Anger at seeing Yaoyorozu so desperate and scared and anger at himself for being the cause of her breakdown. Anger at just the whole situation.

Why him?

He knew it was just the quirk and the whole accident had been a coincidence but he had wanted to scream at her that this wasn't her. Yaoyorozu was brave and level headed. She wasn't driven by her emotions like him. She'd never get so upset over someone like him if she was back to her normal self. Would she?

“Well what's next?” Sero asked, breaking Shouto out of his thoughts.  Half of the class had migrated away after the incident as it became more and more apparent that Yaoyorozu was stuck until the quirk wore off.

“I don’t know, let's take a break,” Kamanari said, leaning back against the couch and looking up at the ceiling absently. "When is Aizawa coming back?"

As if on cue, Shouto's stomach rumbled. He looked at the clock on the wall and discovered that it was already late afternoon. He felt famished.

His last full meal had been at breakfast and with everything that had happened he hadn't thought to eat since. He'd just make something quick for himself. He stood up. Immediately Yaoyorozu's dark eyes darted to him. Watching as he walked into the kitchen before she allowed Jirou and Ashido to talk her back into returning to the rabbit.

Shouto sighed. It was disconcerting being the center of another's life.

He grabbed a pot from the drying rack and filled it up with water, placing it on the stove. He hoped she was okay with soba. He only knew how to make noodles and protein shakes but he doubted she would want the latter.

Shouto looked over at the girls. "Yao -Momo-chan want food?" He asked. He felt heat crawl up his neck but used his right side to counterbalance it. He had already been scolded by Ashido once for still calling Yaoyorozu by her last name. He didn't get it but sometimes it was better to choose your battles.

Yaoyorozu looked up and bobbed her head, the All Might hoodie sliding off, leaving her hair frizzy.

Shouto held back a smirk. Of course she'd want food. When was Yaoyorozu not hungry?

He opened the cabinet. Each student had their unspoken section for just their items. Shouto looked at his designated section. It was bare except for whey protein powder and a few noodle boxes. Grabbing a box of the soba noodles, Shouto paused. Yaoyorozu usually ate quite a bit, would one box be good enough? He hesitated before grabbing a second just in case.

Light footfalls stopped at the edge of the kitchen. Shouto glanced over at Midoriya.

The green haired boy shifted. He seemed nervous again, his eyes falling to the floor. “Todoroki-kun, are you okay?” he finally asked.

Shouto paused. Was he okay? He guessed he was, but he didn't know. This all felt like a test that he was failing miserably. Even before the quirk incident, he and Yaoyorozu were on opposite sides of a coin, so to speak. He'd like to think they were friends but they didn't have that much in common and hardly ever spoke outside of school.

Most of their interactions over the last three years had been Yaoyorozu sharing her textbooks with him, but that was something she would do for any of her classmates. And the few times she had invited him to study sessions, it was due to his quiet personality and the fact that they worked well together on homework.  

Admittedly, they had been hanging out more frequently ever since he had asked for her help refining his quirk. She had agreed, of course, and without hesitation because “heroes have to cheer each other on,” but outside of those training sessions, the only real time they had ever hung out was at the Ennichi festival back in first year. Still, he’d like to think they had grown closer as friends since then, but they certainly were not close enough that she would forgive him for making her cry.

Shouto looked away. It felt like an anvil had lodged itself in his stomach, holding him back from...something he couldn't name.   

“Fine…” he finally said, pouring the noodles into the water. Whatever he was grasping for wasn't clear and, as he did every time he didn't understand his own feelings, he shoved the emotion away. Compartmentalizing it to be dragged up and examined later when he was alone.

Shouto turned his attention back to his friend. Midoriya hadn't moved from the edge of the kitchen. He wrung his hands together. "It just seems like you've been on edge."

"On edge?"

"Yeah, on edge. Or not yourself." He explained hurriedly.

Shouto hummed. Perhaps he had been a bit cold since earlier?

"That's because he likes her idiot."

Shouto tensed. He hadn't heard Bakugo approach and by Midoriya's shocked and red face clearly he hadn't either. Shouto frowned. "Of course I like her, we're friends…" Shouto said, not looking at Bakugo. The statement made him feel suddenly uncomfortable. As if the word didn't fully explain the amount he trusted and relied upon Yaoyorozu.

"Eh! Todoroki likes someone?" Kaminari said, overhearing the end of the conversation.  He put his arm on Bakugo's shoulder and gave Shouto an assessing look. "How can you tell? His face never changes?"

"Mind your own damn business, sparky," Bakugo snapped. Swiping a fist at Kaminari who danced away, obviously used to Bakugo's antics.

Bakugo sneered at Todoroki. "Are you really that dense?"

Shouto didn't answer as he brought the pot over to the sink and poured the noodles into a strainer. Bakugo scoffed and walked away. Shouto could still feel Midoriya's green eyes on his back, most likely analyzing and picking apart Bakugo's words, but he ignored him as he turned on the cold water to cool down the noodles.

Shouto exhaled through his nose. “Foods ready,” he said, scooping noodles into two bowels and bringing them over to the table.

As if those words were a summoning spell, Mineta appeared out of thin air to sit down in front of the first bowel. “Oh boy I'm hungry!” He said, picking up a set of chopsticks.

Shouto swiped the bowel out from under him. “Not for you.”

“What?” Mineta asked, his face screwed up in mock hurt.

Shouto glared, unperturbed as he sat down. “Make your own.”

“Isn't Aizawa bringing food over later?” Jirou chimed in as she led Yaoyorozu over to the kitchen to wash her hands.

“Yeah, you just have to wait,” Krishima added grabbing his bag from one of the chairs. “Anyways, I got to get some studying done. I really don’t want to fail another one of Present Mic Sensei's pop quizzes.”

“You think he’s going to give us another one so soon? We just had one.” Ashido asked, her face looked pale at the thought as she walked over.

“That was three weeks ago,” Midoriya replied, sitting down opposite of Shouto. “And since half the class failed, I can’t see why he wouldn’t.”

Kaminari and Ashido moaned in unison.

"Spiky hair! Let's go! I don't got all night to cram that head of yours with English," Bakugo's eyes narrowed dangerously as he walked towards the front door.

"My hairs no more spiky then yours," Krishima sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Krishima turned to the rest of the group, "Well, I'll see you when Aizawa-sensei arrives. Todoroki," Krishima said, giving his usual sharp toothed smile.

Shouto nodded in understanding.

"Ugh...what will I do now that Yaomomo can't help,"Ashido said, flopping over a chair.

"I can tutor you if you are willing to pay for my services," Mineta's eyes gleamed suggestively.

"No! Gross!" Ashido snorted, kicking at the grape haired boy. "I’d rather fail!"

Sometime during the conversation, Iida's mind had short circuited. "What a dilemma! I should be a good friend and stay with Todoroki-kun and Yaoyorozu-san but my duty as class president calls for me to help my classmates in the stead of Yaoyorozu-san! What do I do? What do I do?" He finally broke with a cry.

"Calm down Iida-kun," Midoriya patted Iida's back. "It doesn't look like Yaoyorozu-san will change back anytime soon. I'm sure it's okay if you help."

"Oh Iida please tutor me!" Ashido pleaded, pressing her hands together.

"Yes! Tutor me too!" Sero said, getting up from the couch.

"Oh, I could use some help too," Uraraka said, rubbing the back of her head. "Todoroki-kun, will you be okay?”

Iida and Uraraka looked at Todoroki.

"Its fine," Shouto said, as the other students still hanging around the common area began to beg Iida for assistance as well. Iida's concerned expression evaporated, replaced with a big grin. And with an Iida type proclamation he promised to do his best to teach them in Yaoyorozu's place.

This left just four people in the common room. Todoroki, Midoriya, Jirou, and Kaminari (who Shouto wondered why didn't leave with the rest of the study group).

“What's this Todoroki,” Jirou asked helping Yaoyorozu up into the seat next to him.

“Soba. Cold,” he replied around a mouthful of noodles.

Jirou picked up the chopsticks and Yaoyorozu frowned. "I can do it myself."

Jirou looked down. "You sure? Can you use the big kid chopsticks?"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Okay, let me know if you need help." Jirou said, moving to sit next to Kaminari.

Yaoyorozu picked up the chopsticks and after two tries was able to pick up the noodles. She took a tentative bite.

Shouto looked over and almost choked on his noodles.  Yaoyorozu's eyes had grown to gigantic proportions. Slowly she chewed and Shouto could see the wheels begin to turn in her tiny head before a huge grin spread across her face and she shoveled more noodles into her mouth.

"Hey, don't eat so fast Momo-chan. You don't want to get sick," Jirou chided, leaning across the table to pat Yaoyorozu on the back as she inhaled her food too fast. Shouto hid a smirk behind his dipping bowl.

"She's so cute. Did Yaomomo always like soba noodles this much?" Kaminari asked.

Jirou paused, twirling her ear jack around her fingers. "I don't think she's ever had them before.

"Really?" Kaminari asked shocked. Shouto paused to watch as Yaoyorozu recovered to proceed and shovel more noodles into her mouth. All proper manners seemed to have disappeared as she chewed happily. He had always thought she preferred European food. Her impeccable manners and high class lifestyle seemed to lead him to believe that. It had never occurred to him that maybe she had just never had some common Japanese dishes he had grown up with.

Well if she liked his soba, which was barely edible, he should take her to his favorite soba house. Todoroki's heart faltered. What was he thinking? They weren't that close.

"Anyways, did you like the bunny Momo-chan?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah."

Kaminari's eyes glittered. "So who do you like more Todoroki oniisan or the bunny?"

“Oniisan,” Yaoyorozu said, without hesitation as she looked up, her face flashing in indignation at the question. Shouto contented himself with a deadpan expression as Kaminari looked across the table and winked. Jirou elbowed him in the side and Kaminari crumpled.

"Don’t ask stupid questions," Jirou hissed.

"Okay. Okay," Kaminari said holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "Sorry, what else am I supposed to ask?"

"I dunno, why not what she wants to be when she grows up?"

"Fine," Kaminari turned to look at Yaoyorozu again and smiled. "Momo-chan what do you want to be when you grow up?"

“I’m going to be oniisan’s wife.”

Shouto choked on his noodles.

Xxxx

Thanks for reading!

[machaaoo-blog]

Most likely to become an AO3 if it is as liked as I hope it to be.

Multi-chapter

Bad Lemons (Rated M) - Drugs, violence, language, etc.

It will have very touchy subjects that relate to very serious problems such as addiction and mental health -- if you can't handle it please don't read! (It'll come up in future chapters if I continue)

Description: Living it rough can really change a person, for better or worse. She became strong, bold and unbothered. Nothing could shake her back into a world full of untrue realities.

Fallin' Out

Chp 1 - Walk

"Where is Mina?" She hated waiting, she hated the train station even more. It's loud and obnoxious, which regularly interrupts her sleeping schedule. She would usually settle for a nice bench in the park or even the sidewalks that lead through a deserted alleyway; sadly both were taken by others who had her current living situation or rats. She'd rather her chances living amongst the rodents, maybe even be blessed with their sickness for the rest of her sad life than go back to a broke home. Of course she had other ways or options to get out of this predicament, she's full filled them, yet she never got the pay she deserved. Her welfare officer had an utmost disdain for her existence. He had and would go to lengths to make her life harder, and therefore couldn't be trusted. Then again her worse enemy yet had to be the people who she lived with: a drunk for a step father and a whore of a step mother, not to mention her elder step brother who doesn't pay a lick of rent allong with his crack sniffing wife. The female laid her head back abit and let out a single, "Fuck." How could she get adopted into their family, where the hell was child protective services when you needed them?!

She rubbef her bruised up limbs and does her best not flinch, and doesn't even bother to spare a glance at her wounds. She doesn't have enough bandages for that mess. Placed her pink fingertips on her cheek which was a mix of green and purple. She paid it no mind though. Not that she ever cared too much, but she why stress the luxury of caring about your appearance? Initially, even as a child, she always presumed that what truly mattered more than anything else about a person is personality. Hypocritically, however, she couldn't care less about either. Right now all that seemed to be on her mind was getting through her problems, with or without help.

You could say this makes Uraraka Ochako a rebellious teen. But yet that's not the case. She'll go wherever as she pleases, but she evades at all costs in the name of self-preservation. Put yourself in her shoes. How can someone last a day with her mentally unstable home? Truthfully when she was adopted into it, everything was dandy, until they went into a debt things just seemed to get out of hand. So she left and decided to break free, they never look for her, so who cared?

Ochako glanced up the clock. Though her chance to escape this time would depend on Mina's miraculous connections and genius planning, her fate rested in her best friends hands.

With a sharp inhale she slaps a bandaid on quickly and smooths it out tightly on the bridge of her nose. Placing her hand on the edge of the sink she looks up at her reflection. Curvaceous, petite, ghostly pale skin with contrasting pink cheeks with cuts and bruises scattered all over. She rolled her eyes and became resolute. Opening the door, then spamming it closed, she made her way out the bathroom she walks towards the bench, but is immediately halted when she sees a guy sitting in it. Her eyes narrow. A tall guy at that. Broad-backed with weird sand-blonde hair, why is it so...spiky? She stuffs her hands into her pockets and sits opposite the bench on the far side of the station waiting for him to leave. She wants to dictate it as a personal problem, but if he's depressed...well then she supposes he won't he moving a muscle any time soon meaning won't be getting her bed back for a long time.

20 minutes had passed and it was already 8:30am and he finally left his seat when a certain green haired boy hoisted Sparky off his heavy ass. They were total opposites and Ochako choked on her spit when the blond suddenly bitch smacked the other boy while both boarded the train.

"Ochako, it's me~!" Mina shouted, waving her small pink hands side to side.

"A private school...U.A? Mina, I know you see me as some Fallen Angel who could possibly be saved but they would never let me step foot on their grounds." Ochako placed her hand on her chest and gave a sly smile, "Look at me, all bruised up because some punk wouldn't lend me a light and look at him now." She pointed at the park bench across from them, "Knocked his ass out straight and now I'm stuck with his lighter that doesn't even work."

"I'm just trying to help you and give you a better life, Ochako. As your only friend take my offer. You know there's nothing for you here and you also know you have allot of pent up pride- let it go, and just come with me to U.A."

Ochako tilted her head to the side, her expression softened by the smile of Mina, her best friend.

°°°

"Ochako." She states. The receptionist looks up at her through her glasses with a look that says a first name like that wouldn't even slightly cut it at such a high-class school. The woman does some typing, and looks at the computer with no change of expression. This school held some of the finest and wealthiest, Ochako was out of her eliminate.

"Come with me."

Ochako followed behind the lady, her eyes looking out the school widows once in awhile to spot preppy teens. Even amongst the worst schools she's attended the students stuck out and looked different, they dressed and did as they pleased. Though her past schools were practically full of fights and no learning, gosh how she missed those days where her small gang ran amuck, when she felt empowered and dominating. She let of a tsk, it still felt that way, but those people she once addressed as family were quick to turn their backs. Clearly everything here is different from what she is used to. Designer brand bags, diamond watches and shoes she couldn't touch with her commoner hands. These damned rich kids all looked alike, she couldn't tell any apart, they all owned the same type of fashion and don't get her started on all the goop plastered on the female students faces. "Yuck." She stuck her tongue out at the window before entering another room with the serious, quiet receptionist.

°°°

Katsuki growled. "Aren't you supposed to be helping out the teachers or some shit?" She laughs as he intercepts her lips and responds immediately in the most favorable way. He pushes her against kitchen table, and slowly presses onto her receiving a deep moan in the process. She looked up at him with a gaze full of lust and want. "Who cares, someone else is can take care if it for me." She whined, pulling out out a condom with a smirk.

°°°

Ochako stared at her I.D with a look of disgust. Mina on the other hand slapped her knee and held her stomach, laughing like her life depended on it. "You look so ugly! EWW!" Mina pointed at the picture, "You flenched and your eyes are barely open!" She cackled. Ochako slammed open the window and held her arm back, "To hell with that." But before she could launch her arm and send that I.D flying Mina grabbed her arm. "Calm down, we got things to do, We gotta get you to your room."

"Well then take me to my room, please."

"But wait we gotta capture this moment!" Mina pulled out her phone and jumped back, getting on her knees and began to tap, flashes going off blinding the poor Brunette who stood before her.

"M-Mina please, my eyes-" Ochako placed her hands out covering the camera which signaled to her friend to stop; which, she did. "I wish you wore something cuter though." Mina pouted as she went through her photos, "You always wear the same thing Ochako."

And she wasn't wrong, her wardrobe was small, she never owned anything more than a phew shirts, jeans and underwear. Why by hundreds of dollars of clothes when she just needed seven pairs to last her throughout the week.

"What's wrong with how I look?"

"Well," Mina coughed, as they began to walk, "For starters...."

Ochako had wore the basics: A red baseball cap, a grey top and loose jeans that bagged from her waist abit to reveal her boyish underwear. Don't even get Mina started on the belly button piercing and tattoo. (which is located on her right arm, a whole sleeve so she constantly wears long sleeves when needed.)

"Alright but Mina remember you wanted to get these body modifications with me? And remember what you did? You chickened out because of your dad." Ochako placed her hand on her school dorms door, "You can't criticize what I wear either because you know I'm poor as shit." She unlocked the door and Mina stood behind her, a constant sorry escaping the pinkettes mouth, she opens the door, and stops in her tracks.

The sweaty bodies laid on the kitchen table, the blonde held a tiny naked waist with one hand whilst tugging at her short blonde hair. Ochako rose an eyebrow at the scene, this timing was horrible because those two were at mid-climax.

"Ah, yes! Katsuki-"

The blondes head falls in between the crook of the males neck. Her feet had become weightless.

"Ochako? Can we go in alrea-" Mina stops as she makes her way to the entrance. Ochako held her arm out from keeping Mina from entering any further. It finally took a few seconds for the two sexually tensed weirdos to notice the presence of two others.

"W-what are you doing here? Mina?!"

"What do you mean, what am I doing here, Toga?!" She shouted and covered her face, seeing a half naked Bakugou made the poor pinkettes hurl.

"Who the hel-" Toga was cut off.

Ochako walked into the room, unphased to see a naked man and woman, she lived in the streets and has seen this and much worse multiple times. Everyone in the situation just seemed to watch. As Ochako picked up their clothes she walked back to the nearest window opening it,

"This is my place, so get out."

Ochako threw their belongings out the window, their clothes slowly fluttering onto the schools dorm field. Toga and Katsuki grimaced, Mina slammed her forehead on the door and as for Ochako... well, she took a seat on the couch and flipped on the TV and began to watch animal planet.

[andrewdburton]

This blog is now a teenager: Thirteen years of Get Rich Slowly

Thie middle of April is a Big Deal in my world.

The trees have nearly finished blossoming, which means my allergies will soon go away. We're seeing more of the sun, which means the worst of my seasonal depression is behind me. Yesterday, on the 14th, Kim and I celebrated seven years as a couple. And today, on the 15th, Get Rich Slowly celebrates thirteen years of existence.

That's right: This blog is now a teenager.

In the Beginning

When I started Get Rich Slowly, I had no idea what it was going to become. I had no grand plan or vision. I just wanted to write about money while accomplishing three goals.

My primary goal was to document my own journey as I dug out of debt and (I hoped) eventually learned how to build wealth.

My secondary aim was to help my family and friends get better with their money too. (Although, truthfully, in my entire social circle, I was probably the person with the worst personal finance skills.)

And, third on the list, I wanted to make a little extra money with the site. I figured if I could make a few hundred bucks with it, I could pay off my debt a little sooner.

On 26 April 2005 — a year before I started this blog — I published an article called “Get Rich Slowly!” for my personal site. Here's what I wrote:

Today's entry is long and boring. It's all about the keys to wealth, prosperity, and happiness. Over the past few months, I've read over a dozen books on personal finance. Recurring themes have become evident.

These books have embarrassingly bad titles, seemingly designed to appeal to the get-rich-quick crowd: The Richest Man in Babylon, Your Money or Your Life, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich, Wealth Without Risk, etc.

Some of the books out there — most of them? — really are as bad as their titles. Others, however, offer outstanding, practical advice. The best books seem to have the same goal in mind: not wealth, not riches, but financial independence.

According to Your Money or Your Life, which I consider the very best of the financial books I've read, “Financial independence is the experience of having enough — and then some”. More practically, financial independence occurs when your investment income meets or exceeds your monthly expenses. Financial independence is linked to psychological freedom.

How is financial independence achieved? Again, the best books all basically agree. (To some of you, this will be common sense, stuff you've known all your life. To others, like me, this kind of thinking is a sort of revelation.)

Here, then, is my personal summary of the collected wisdom found in these books.

“It's nearly impossible to get rich quick without luck,” I concluded after summarizing all of these money books. “Getting rich quick is a sucker's bet. There's only a slim chance that you'll have the sort of luck that's required. You might as well play the lottery.”

Instead, I thought the underlying message of these books was simple: “It is possible to get rich slowly, however, with no risk, and with no luck. All that's required is patience and discipline.”

Get Rich Slowly 1.0

That original “Get Rich Slowly” article at my personal site proved popular. It went the 2005 version of “viral”, being shared at sites like Boing Boing, Lifehacker, etc.

A year later, I was still searching for a way to earn money on the side to help me dig out of debt. I decided that maybe I could earn a few bucks by starting a site about saving and investing. I actually thought mine would be the first personal-finance blog on the Internet! (Ha — little did I know! There were already dozens — dozens! — of other money blogs out there.)

On April 15, 2006, I launched Get Rich Slowly. It was successful from the start. For whatever reason, the stuff I wrote resonated with readers. They shared the site with their friends and family.

Within weeks, I had several hundred readers. Within months, the audience had grown to several thousand. Within two years, more than 500,000 people per month were coming to the site. It was crazy. It was completely unexpected. I was shocked. And grateful.

Those early days of GRS were a hell of a lot of fun. I was figuring this money stuff out in real time, and writing about my successes (and, yes, my failures) as they happened. I did some stupid, stupid stuff — but as time went on, I got better at managing my money.

Needless to say, writing about smart money management every day — for 1000 days — produces a lot of articles! Certain articles stood out as particularly popular — I think because they were particularly helpful. Anyway, here are some highlights from the first three years of the site:

In praise of the debt snowball (28 Sep 2006) — When I started Get Rich Slowly, I had over $35,000 in consumer debt. I lived paycheck to paycheck on a salary of over $50,000 per year. Basically, I was your typical American consumer. To get out of debt, I used Dave Ramsey's version of the debt snowball. A lot of folks want to complain that using this method is based on bad math, but so what? If math were the issue, I wouldn't have been in debt — and neither would many other people. The debt snowball works, and that's why I love it.

Are index funds the best investment? (24 Jan 2007) — At first, I was a bad investor. In fact, I was a gambler, not an investor. I took chances on random stocks in the hopes they'd shoot through the roof. Reading and writing about money quickly taught me that pros like Warren Buffett (and many more) actually endorse a simple investment strategy for average folks like you and me. For us, putting our savings into indexed mutual funds is the most reliable long-term investment.

Which online high-yield savings account and money market account is best? (21 Mar 2007, although this link is to a recent update) — As I started learning smart money habits, I realized it was dumb for me to leave my money in a big national bank that paid me no interest. But where should I save my money instead? To find out, I polled GRS readers. Whoa! Who knew this simple question would create such a huge response? Readers left over 1700 comments with suggestions about where to get the most bang for my buck.

Free at last! Saying good-bye to 20 years of debt (03 Dec 2007) — It took a lot of time and effort, but my new habits finally paid off. Three years after starting my quest, I wrote a check for the last of my consumer debt. From here, I could start building future wealth instead of repaying past folly.

A real millionaire next door (13 May 2008) — I used to live next door to an old guy named John. John was a retired shop teacher who had managed to build big wealth on a small salary. Now, in his 70s, he spent part of the year working on farms in New Zealand, part of the year on an Alaskan fishing boat, and part of the year puttering around his home in Portland. Later, I decided to interview him about what led to his financial success.

You can't always get what you want (24 Nov 2008) — Notes from a conversation with my cousin: It's okay to have something in your life that you hate. And it's okay to have something you want. It's natural. The problem is that once you get that thing, you're just going to hate something else, you're just going to want something more. It's not want that's the problem, but the habit of constantly satisfying wants.

So much happened in my life during these years, both good and bad. It seems odd to summarize that entire period in just a few articles, but I don't want to overwhelm you. (If you want to read more, check out the archives.)

Get Rich Slowly 2.0

While the early, heady years of GRS were carefree and fun, running the site eventually became work. A lot of work. Plus, all sorts of stuff was going on behind the scenes in my personal life. My best friend committed suicide. I was unhappy in my marriage. I struggled with my weight. It was all too much.

In early 2009, I decided to listen to the offers from people who wanted to buy Get Rich Slowly. Shortly after the site's third anniversary, I agreed to sell it.

When I sold, I became financially independent. (I was already on a path toward financial independence — or “FI,” as we say — but the sale helped me leap ahead several years.) My plan was simply to walk away and be done with writing about money. Turns out, I couldn't bring myself to do that.

You see, I love the GRS community. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to continue answering emails, sharing reader questions and stories, and documenting what I was learning about money. Instead of walking away, I stuck around for another three years as editor and primary writer.

During that time, we brought in other writers to help me manage the workload. I was always amazed at how each new voice added another dimension to the site. And our content changed in yet another way because I was becoming much more philosophical about money at this time.

I'd always stressed the importance of psychology; but as my financial philosophy matured, I became even more convinced that smart money management was all about mindset, not math. The math is easy. It's the emotional stuff that's tough. Some of the best articles from this era of GRS really get to the heart of these issues, and I hope that what I learned will be helpful to others, too.

The razor's edge: Lessons in true wealth (18 Jan 2009) — This is perhaps the most important article I ever wrote for Get Rich Slowly, although most people would never know it. In early 2009, my best friend took his own life. It had a profound impact on me. Here I wrote about what I learned from Sparky's life — and his death.

How to negotiate your salary (06 May 2009) — I don't think people spend enough time looking for ways to boost their income. There's a reason I mention this over and over and over again. Learning how to negotiate your salary is one of the best ways to improve your financial well-being.

Understanding the federal budget and The truth about taxes (August 2009) — We cannot have informed discussions about taxes and government spending if we don't have the baseline information. Because my own education on this subject was weak, and because I wanted GRS readers to be informed, I spent 12 hours researching a variety of tax topics. These two articles record my attempts to provide that baseline information. (I need to update these for 2019, don't I?)

Action not words: The difference between talkers and doers (30 Aug 2010) — If there's something you want to be or do, the best way to become that thing is to actually take steps toward it, to move in that direction. Don't just talk about it, but do something. It doesn't have to be a big thing. Just take a small step in the right direction every single day.

America's love-hate relationship with wealth (14 Nov 2011) — While writing about money, I've noticed that people in general (and Americans in particular) have a complex love-hate relationship with wealth. People want to be rich — but they're suspicious of those who already are. Why is that? How can we learn to be happy for the financial success of others?

A place of my own (16 Jan 2012) — The toughest blog post I've ever had to write: After months of hinting at things, I revealed that my wife and I were getting a divorce, and that I'd moved into an apartment of my own. This post explored some of the implications of that decision. (For the record: Kris and I continue to maintain our friendship.)

Eventually, after three years of lingering at GRS, I reached the point where I was willing to cut the cord. I gradually reduced my involvement until I was ready to walk away. I eased myself out of the site and into the life I'd been hoping to pursue.

The Quinstreet Years

I sold Get Rich Slowly in 2009 but stayed on as editor (and primary writer) for another three years. By mid-2012, it seemed that Quinstreet, the company that had acquired the site, was ready to run the site on its own. Plus, it felt like both the audience and I were both ready for me to leave.

So, I retired. Sort of.

Although I no longer had any active involvement in Get Rich Slowly, I still contributed articles from time to time. Plus, I wrote about money for other outlets.

In 2010, I published Your Money: The Missing Manual. (I'm proud of that book but it's sorely in need of an update.) From 2011 to 2014, I wrote the “Your Money” column for Entrepreneur magazine. In 2014, I released the Get Rich Slowly course. In 2015, I started a new site called Money Boss (which is now a part of GRS). And so on.

Plus, of course, Kim and I embarked on our awesome 15-month tour of the U.S. by RV.

I'll confess: I didn't pay much attention to Get Rich Slowly after I moved on. I checked in now and then, but mostly I ignored it. Looking through the archives, here are some of the articles that stand out during the Quinstreet years:

How to handle people who undermine your success (06 Jan 2012, by April Dykman) — April Dykman was always one of my favorite staff writers here at GRS. I loved learning from her progress. Here she shared some thoughts on how to handle haters in your life. As you work toward a better financial future, you will encounter people who think your choices are foolish. April — and the commenters — have some tips for coping with the criticism.

The power of personal transformation: Change yourself, change the world (16 Jul 2012, by J.D. Roth) — In July 2012, I spoke at World Domination Summit. This is the written version of that speech, which was all about overcoming fear, finding focus, and taking action. I argued that by finding the courage to change what's wrong in your own life, you'll not only improve yourself, but improve the world around you. (This material has become the psychological core of my financial philosophy.)

Romanticizing poverty and learning financial independence (03 Jan 2013, by Kristin Wong) — Kristin Wong was another great GRS writer. In this piece, she talks about different perceptions of wealth and poverty — and how those perceptions influence our choices. Her articles always led to great discussions.

All you need to know about saving for retirement (15 May 2013, by Robert Brokamp) — Before I left GRS, I brokered a deal with the Motley Fool that brought regular contributions from the hilarious (and smart) Robert Brokamp. He contributed many terrific pieces over the years, but I particularly like this crash course in retirement savings. If you're wondering where to start, start here.

You are the boss of you: How to find success with money and life (01 Aug 2013, by J.D. Roth) — I've always said that nobody cares more about your money than you do. But I've come to realize that nobody cares more about you than you do. The key to success — in every area of life — is to understand that you control your own destiny. If you want to be successful with money and life, you must act as your own boss.

How to track your spending (and why you should) (24 April 2014, by Holly Johnson) — Holly is another one of the great staff writers that GRS hosted during the Quinstreet years. (I'm excited because she's promised to give me a guest post soon about some of her home improvement fiascos. Should be fun!) I like this article, in which she takes a friend to task for not tracking his spending. He and his wife make a lot of money but they're constantly broke. Why? Because they have no idea where there money goes.

29 Ways to build your emergency fund out of thin air (18 Jan 2016, by Donna Freedman) — Donna has contributed a lot of great articles to GRS over the years. (And I hope that at some point in the future, I'll be able to afford to hire her to write here again.) I liked this piece, which provides tons of tips for boosting your saving rate. Saving more isn't just for building an emergency fund; it's also important for digging out of debt and, eventually, pursuing goals like homeownership and financial independence.

During the Quinstreet years, the GRS audience dwindled. This was in part due to the way they managed the site. They had good intentions (and lots of smart people behind the scenes), but they didn't have the same passion for personal finance that I did. Plus, they tended to make decisions that favored short-term results instead of long-term growth. I can't fault them for their choices — they did what was right for them — but I'm sad that the community eventually collapsed.

Not all of the collapse was due to blog management, though. Even if I hadn't sold the site, it likely would have faded eventually, and for a number of reasons: the rise of social media, the “death of blogs”, and increased competition from awesome new sites on a variety of niche subjects.

Get Rich Slowly 3.0

In 2015, I “unretired” from blogging. I founded Money Boss, a site where I posted long, meaty articles about managing your money as if you were the CFO of your own life. I had fun. The site didn't grow as quickly as GRS had nine years before, but after eighteen months, the site had acquired several thousand dedicated followers.

Then, in the spring of 2017, Quinstreet approached me. They asked me if I wanted to re-purchase Get Rich Slowly. Looking at the numbers, I realized it probably didn't make much financial sense to do so — but I didn't let that dissuade me. In October 2017, I bought Get Rich Slowly.

In the eighteen months since my return, I've published a lot of articles that I think are especially good. Here are some highlights:

What the rich do differently: Habits that foster wealth and success (18 Dec 2017) — I'm fascinated by the differences between rich people and poor people. Are the differences mostly a matter of class and economic mobility? Are people born to wealth and poverty and destined to remain there? Or are there observable differences in attitude and action that tend to lead people to specific levels of affluence? From my experience, it's some of both.

Start where you are (04 Jan 2018) — My main message to family and friends who find themselves at forty or fifty and feel behind the curve is: Don't panic. All is not lost. You're not too late. This isn't a contest. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

The plight of the poor: Thoughts on systemic poverty, fault, and responsibility (28 Feb 2018) — There are very real differences between the behaviors and attitudes of those who have money and those who don't. If we want ourselves and others to be able to enjoy economic mobility, to escape poverty and dire circumstances, we have to have an understanding of the necessary mental shifts. The problem, of course, is that it's one thing to understand intellectually that wealthy people and poor people have different mindsets, but it's another thing entirely to be able to adopt more productive attitudes in your own life.

The forever fallacy (11 Jul 2018) — The forever fallacy is the mistaken belief that you will always have what you have today, that you'll always be who you are today. The truth is that everything changes. You change. Your circumstances change. The people around you change. Nothing is forever. The challenge then is to balance this concept — everything changes — with living in the present. You must learn to enjoy today while simultaneously preparing for a variety of possible tomorrows.

The boots theory of socioeconomic unfairness (26 Oct 2018) — Last October, I spent a week exploring the relationship between cost and quality. Quality tends to come with a price. While there are ways to mitigate some of these higher costs — buy used, wait for sales, etc. — if you want to buy new quality items, you're going to pay a premium. Because of this, quality is often something reserved for the rich. Like so many things in life, this is fundamentally unfair. But that's how things are.

Why frugality is an important part of personal finance (31 Jan 2019) — Depriving yourself of certain “standard” choices now means you don't have to lead a life of deprivation when you're older. When you choose to spend less, you're not just boosting your bottom line. You're also gaining the time and freedom that would have been required to earn that money. Thrift isn't deprivation. It's wealth.

Saving regret — and how to avoid it (27 Feb 2019) — Very few people regret saving money. In fact, research shows that less than 2% of people would save less if they could re-do their earlier life. On the other hand, two-thirds of people wish they'd saved more when they were younger. Poorer people tend to regret not saving most of all. The bottom line: To avoid regrets when you're older, save more now.

I won't lie. While I'm glad to be back and I've enjoyed the past eighteen months, it's also been tough. I have lots to say, but I've struggled to figure out exactly how to say it. Blogging has changed. Expectations are different. I am different than when I started this site.

I'm constantly wrestling with questions like: How often should I write? (Once a week? Three times a week? At random intervals?) Should I share only new stuff? Or should I republish updated material from the archives? In the olden days, I used to share tons of things from other sites. Should I continue to do that? Or should I focus on my own thoughts? How long should my articles be? (A few hundred words? Or…a few thousand?) What topics should I cover?

If you walk through the GRS archives, you can see how I've struggled to find a rhythm for Get Rich Slowly 3.0.

My publication pattern for the past year has been…well, irregular. There are some months where I write and publish a ton, both from myself and others. There are other months — like this one — during which I publish little. (Real Life has been distracting me lately. I have plenty I want to write about, but no time to do it.) And my articles are all over the place.

I'm not worried, though. I know I'll figure things out. In the meantime, I'm having fun. I hope that you are having fun too. And, as always, if you have any suggestions and/or requests for things you'd like to see around here, please let me know. I want GRS to be a useful resource for you — for all of you.

The post This blog is now a teenager: Thirteen years of Get Rich Slowly appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/get-rich-slowly-anniversary/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[ronaldmorton]

AKC Trick Dog Titles Help Instill Confidence

Can I have a drumroll, please? Can someone toss the confetti? My dog is official an AKC trick dog, achieving both the novice and intermediate titles! An AKC trick dog title helps instill confidence and so much more in dogs. I don’t plan to have my dog do television, commercials, or movies; my dog and I worked towards our AKC trick dog titles for other reasons.

Here’s the scoop, why we did it, and how your dog can train for his or her trick dog title.

Canine Good Citizen

The American Kennel Club launched the Canine Good Citizen Program in 1989. It’s designed to teach responsible dog ownership behaviors to pet parents, while dogs learn basic training and good manners. The core of the program is the 10-step testing process. Whether pedigree or mutt, spunky Sparky or golden oldie, dogs of all shapes, sizes, and ages are eligible.

Most basic obedience classes or formalized CGC training sessions cover the skills needed for a pooch to pass the test, but I taught my dog from the comfort of home. That was in 2011. Fast forward to 2017 and Dexter and I wanted more. After getting to know Certified Professional Dog Trainer and CGC Evaluator, Geralynn Cada, this dog mom caught the trick title bug and set her sights on success.

The CGC title qualifies a dog to have five of the ten required tricks needed for the title of AKC Trick Dog Beginner. With five tricks under our belt, I decided to work with Dex and reward him with behaviors he already knew. In other words, my dog has a job: he feels good doing these things, gets a reward for doing so, and the crème de la crème: Our bond as dog mom/dog is further strengthened. That last part is my personal favorite.

Our dog, Dexter, is a Canine Good Citizen, and made the news about it!

Live in Harmony With Our Pets

Cada believes we should live in harmony with our pets, and I share in that philosophy. The sheer number of euthanized animals in this country due to ‘behavioral problems’ is a sickening epidemic. Dogs who partake in an activity, such as trick training, are more inclined to have confidence, feel valued and a part of their family’s pack, and most of all, are happy. Imagine if all the throwaway dogs in shelters suddenly had positive reinforcement training and love. Ask any shelter worker what their dream is and you will likely be told an empty animal shelter because each pet has a loving home.

Trick Training: Why Do It?

My why is personal: I want to strengthen and enhance the bond I share with my dog. He is happy doing what the AKC dubs ‘tricks.’ In essence, these tricks are actually behaviors that most dogs should know anyway as part of being an overall good canine citizen. It’s 2017 and dogs are citizens, after all.

My dog loves to please. He gets so excited when we make a fuss over his antics, so we (my wife and I) decided long ago to harness his talents and channel them into confidence builders. In other words, my dog is a happy dog. We built a life for him with happy as an end result. His overall demeanor and wigglebutt wag of the tail are indicators of success.

A dog who performs a few tricks for you is likely to be a dog who won’t pull on a leash. Dogs who share that unspoken bond with their humans are more inclined to channel that bond outside of trick training and performing time. It’s a win-win for today’s modern dog parent.

One of my proudest moments in training with Dexter came after his CGC title. I held my breath as the tester looked at the two of us and said, “You have quite the bond with your dog,” and then proceeded to tell me we passed.

Dexter practicing his board games!

AKC Trick Dog Title: Novice

There are two trick dog titles and two ways to earn them. For us, I practiced 15 minutes a day with Dexter, always ending on a positive note, for a few months. My dog is 9 years young, and our practice sessions have ensued over the years. The 15-minute practice sessions were more of a reinforcement, so if you are just starting out, be happy, be joyful, be engaged, and never scold a dog for not ‘getting it right.’ Not every dog is meant to be a trick dog, but every dog can form a loving bond with their human if properly trained, loved upon, and given respect.

Each level of AKC Trick Dog has its own requirements, so you can read more about those trick dog requirements here.

We filled out the official AKC trick dog application and visited an AKC approved CGC evaluator. Find a qualified evaluator in your area here.

Here’s a video of me and Dexter practicing the 5 tricks we did for novice level this summer, which we passed!!!

A post shared by Dexter and Carol B. (@fidoseofreality) on Aug 28, 2017 at 11:25am PDT

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AKC Trick Dog: Intermediate

Heck, why stop at novice when your dog has the wherewithal to conquer the intermediate level of AKC Trick Dog title. In pursuing this bonding experience, my spouse and I decided to see if Dexter would perform the additional ‘tricks’ necessary to obtain his intermediate title.

The application process is the same, and we had everything ready to go. In most cases, I would not recommend you test the dog for multiple titles in one testing session, but Dexter was raring to go and ready for it. With only 5 elements needed for his Novice level, we decided to try it and see how he would do testing for Intermediate.

For the intermediate title, handlers are not permitted to use food or toy lures. We are, however, allowed to use food rewards/clickers, of which we used treat rewards. The treat should be a high value one for training.

Check out the Intermediate Checklist here.

Here’s our practice video, and after much practice, fun, and good vibes, we passed!

Is My Dog a Good Candidate for AKC Trick Dog Titles?

Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Yes, you can start a puppy into training. The AKC has a test called AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy designed to get puppies off to a good start.

Get clearance from your dog’s veterinarian before starting any sort of training. Keep some basic tenets to training a dog in mind, whether you want to try for a title or just to have a generally well-behaved dog:

Never spank nor hit a dog. In her book, It’s Me or the Dog famed positive reinforcement trainer and star of her own dog behavior show on Animal Planet, Victoria Stilwell, writes, “When you hit a dog, you teach him to fear you, break his trust, and you weaken his confidence. Insecure dogs are the one who are more likely to lash out in an aggressive display.” Dogs are bigger spirits than we as humans. Watch an abused dog as he or she is rescued from a kennel; I’ve lost count to the number of dogs I’ve seen wag. They trust us, believe in us, and give us second chances. Give them a break, don’t hit, don’t slap. Teach, strengthen the bond, and simply love. Putting your hand(s) on a dog as a form of punishment is not only wrong but as harmful to the relationship you want with your dog.

Use positive reinforcement.

Never force a dog to do something.

Start slow.

Work in short bursts- no more than 10 to 15 minutes and always end on a positive note.

Don’t get frustrated or mad at the dog: Patience is key.

Introduce your dogs to others at a young age. If your dog is older, consider talking to a positive reinforcement animal behaviorist.

No matter your dog’s age, keep them mentally happy and engaged. One of the greatest joys of being a dog parent is bonding with your dog.

Life is short: Have fun with your dog!

Your Turn

Do you believe your dog is capable of becoming a canine good citizen and potentially holding trick dog titles? Here are the elements the CGC tests for:

Test 1: Accepting a friendly stranger.

Test 2: Sitting politely for petting.

Test 3: Appearance and grooming.

Test 4: Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead)

Test 5: Walking through a crowd.

Test 6: Sit and down on command and Staying in place.

Test 7: Coming when called.

Test 8: Reaction to another dog.

Test 9: Reaction to distraction.

Test 10: Supervised separation

Fidose friend, June Myers, recently passed the Therapy Dog test with her dog, Lucy, who went from homeless to hero of local nursing homes and various facilities. For each dog, there is a purpose. What’s your dog’s purpose? Bark at us in the comments below.

BONUS: Join us in Club Cocker: Wigglebutts Worldwide, a free and educational/fun Facebook group!

Here’s Dexter celebrating with his evaluator, Geralynn Cada:

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