#talking about how much they loved teen girl squad when they were younger and how surprised they were that people remembered it

[animutate]

i love it when i remind people that things exist i love it when i start talking about an interest to someone adn it makes them nostalgic tgat is literally the best thing w=you could tell me ever

[prettyforwoso]

Help Us Understand.

Barca x teen reader

Alexia x teen reader

Lionesses x teen reader

word count: 3500

Summary: y/n, a talented 16-year-old footballer, nicknamed "la princesa," battles the harsh realities of adolescence. Burdened by self-harm scars and body image insecurities, she attempts to hide her struggles from the team. The team uncovers her deepening eating disorder, prompting a collective effort to guide her through recovery.

tw: mention of eating disorders and self harm

Being a teenager in this world is hard. Not only are you working with shitty hormones and breakouts on your face, you also have to put up with the nightmare of other teenagers. Most of them are fine, in fact, what seems to be the worst of it, are the people who are no longer teenagers, and think that’s a valid reason to attack those who are younger and more vulnerable than them. Like you.

You are a lioness, 16, debuting at 15, now playing for Barcelona, a along side your England teammates, Lucy and Keira. You are known as “la princesa.” The nickname came around after your first game for Barca, in which, you scored a Hatrick and pulled a neat assist. the fans linking your talent to Alexia, saying how much you play like her. Quick, rough, strong. You have always been that way.

This nickname sparked a close connection between you and Alexia. She took you under her wing the second you got off the plane in Barcelona. She didn’t like the idea of you living alone in a new country, despite your ability to speak perfect Spanish. So, you lived with her “only for the first few weeks” which has turned into months. Alexia acts like she is trying to help you find an apartment, but isn’t, like secretly loves having you around, seeing so much of her younger self in you. She fusses over you, cares for you, feeds you, scolds you, drives you to school, gets emails from your school. She has stepped into your life and has supported you in every way a mother would.

You have a bad history with self-harm. It was Leah Williamson who noticed it first, well maybe just the first person to speak to you about it, but you don’t know that. You were rooming with her for your first England camp. Nervous about the girls seeing your scars, you were always wearing a long sleeve under your training kit, which at times got hard as it was summer.

A few girls would joke to you, “how are you not boiling?” was the consistent one that just made you want to rip the skin off whoever said it. It was some of the older girls who brought it up with each other at a post-match dinner that you managed to get out of. It was Lucy, Leah, Mary, Beth and Lotte who exchanged their concern, how they never seen your arms, how you were always somehow too busy for ice baths, how you shivered when someone would grab your wrists. They all kept a close eye on you, but decided not to come to any conclusions, as in reality, you were known to be the sunshine and smiles of the squad.

But you weren’t, and deep down, they knew that too.

It all came crashing down one afternoon, when Leah found a bloody rag in the bathroom bin, she investigated further and found your blades in the back of your phone case that you had left on your bed.

She called Beth to your room, who then called lucy, they gathered together in your room, talking about the next steps. The three of them sat in an almost silence, saddened by the conformed truth. They made their plan, not wanting to waste any time.

They found you in the games room, laughing with Ella as you and a group of girls played table tennis.

“y/n, sorry I just need to grab you real quick” Leah said, breaking her observant silence. You were pulled into a room, it all happened so fast. Lucy placing you on her lap, wrapping her arms around you and Beth pulling your phone out of her back pocket. Leah speaking, you didn’t hear any of it, your focus being on Beths hands, taking off your phone case and picking up the tiny metal blades. You just cried and cried as they talked to you, you didn’t say a word, not denying anything. You cried into lucy’s arms as they tried to understand you and your reasoning being the scars. It took some gentle tugging and tears of resistance for your top to be pulled over your head, leaving you in just your bra and pants in Lucys lap as Leah ran a gentle finger across the healed and fresh marks along your arms. Beth moved closer to you, taking your face in her hands, clearly holding back tears of her own.

No one was supposed to know. But when they did, it killed you.

The bad thing about talent is the expectation of performance, and when you underperform, you would be attacked online. The hatred and negativity really got you, and ruined a lot of your confidence and the girls knew that. They knew the comments you would get, about your play, your personality, your body.

The comments about your body were some of the worst, and they didn’t get better when you started at Barca, in fact, they got worse. It was almost like it was all you saw. You would make a post about a game and hardly anyone would speak about how well you played or how many goals you scored. All you would see was the comments about how your body has changed, how you look in the kit, your legs, hips, arms, boobs. It got so bad that you stopped posting all together and turned off all your comments. Soon however, they comments came to the Barcelona Instagram page, and the pages of your teammates. You worked harder that ever. Working out was no longer about training your body to perform and be strong, it became about looking different and making changes to your body physically.

You were running lengths each morning and evening as well as staying back at training. You weren’t fat, or thin, nothing abnormal for a teenager with a changing body. You had bigger boobs than you did 3 months ago, wider hips, thicker thighs, yknow, everything normal, but the fans didn’t think so, and that’s what got the best of you.

Alexia noticed your increase in running and working out but at first brushed it off as you wanting to prove yourself to a new team. But it soon became hard to ignore when you were finding excuses to not eat, the snacks she would buy you because she knew you loved them, sat in the kitchen untouched. She tried to pretend she couldn’t hear you coughing up each meal in the bathroom, more for her own comfort.

It became too much to ignore when others noticed.

“Why are you running so much little one?” Mapi asked you, completely innocently after training one day in the change room.  At first you pretended not to hear, until you realised the whole team was awaiting an answer.

“Do you think I’m just naturally the fastest on the team?” you joke back, getting a laugh from her and a few others. Alexia remains stone face, looking as though she could see right through you.

A few of the girls watched you through squinted eyes as you pull your bag over your shoulder, noticing your spine that wasn’t visible last week. They exchange looks amongst themselves as you and Alexia walk towards her car.

“I got a call from your school yesterday” Alexia says, hiding behind her sunglasses as she pulls out of the car park.

“Why” you ask dry as you pull your phone out of your hoodie pocket. Alexias’s silence was inevitable. You turn your head towards her, awaiting a response. She keeps her eyes on the road, rolling her tongue along her top teeth, looking out at the cars ahead in deep thought.

“Why are you hiding from me bebita?” she breaks her silence, with an almost whisper.

“What are you talking about” you snap back in her direction

“You tell me Pequeña, Why do you think your school called, Se honesta conmigo” her eyes didn’t leave the road.

“No sé” you reply, swallowing the truth that lingers on the tip of your tongue, threatening to reveal itself.

“What is going on with you” Sabes que no deberías actuar de esta manera.” She takes a breath, remaining hidden being her bold sunglasses, refusing to look you in the eye, scared of becoming too vulnerable.

The silence was deafening. Pulling up in the driveway, you reach for the car door, your attempt at defusing the situation quickly rejected as Alexia locks the doors, trapping you in a conversation. You refuse to turn from the window, Alexia now being the one begging for eye contact.

“Bebita, look at me” she whispers. Her failed attempt of a resolution resulting in her hand reaching for your long curls, gently moving your head around to see your face. Her breath hitches as she looks at the tears swelling in your eyes, immediately bringing her thumb to wipe them off your soft skin.

“I hate when you yell at me” you begin, chocking on almost every syllable. “Estoy tratando de ser valiente”

“oh cariño ven” she says desperately as she pulls you effortlessly over the centre console and into her lap, wrapping her arms around you. Your tears just get heavier, as you hide your face into her neck, the idea of getting out of the car, now long forgotten.

“Bebita, your school is worried, you are the top student, why are you not doing work? Hay algo que te distraiga? She gently nudges you in her arms as she askes. “I am worried for you, talk to me”.

You just couldn’t bring yourself too. The truth is, you were too distracted for school, for homework, for study. There was so much on your mind right now. The last thing you were worried about was classes that you already knew all the content for. You were hungry, not eating at all, desperate for control over your changing body.

The next dreaded team bonding night came all too soon. Your tried to convince Alexia you were too busy with school but she wasn’t having a bar of it, almost having to drag you out the door and into the car. Nothing you wanted to do more in that moment than curl up in bed with a teddy and your warm blanket Alexia got you for my room in her house. But it was unavoidable. Alexia was correct in the way of you having to be at the dinner, in her perspective it was to show up and be social, for you personally it was about proving the concerned rumours between the girls that you weren’t eating wrong. However, that didn’t exactly go to plan.

Alexia parks in the driveway of Mapi and Ingrid’s home and you follow her inside. You greet all your teammates, receiving a kiss on the cheek and head pat from most of them and they smile down at you.

Since the conversation in Alexia’s car a few weeks ago, she hasn’t let you out of her sight, you didn’t even get into the not eating stuff, but still has watched your every mouthful over the past few weeks. You still had your tricks, not eating when she wasn’t around, running now three times a day on top of training, and all else. You were deteriorating. Dark bags under your eyes and hallowed cheeks.

“Y/n come get some pizza before you sit” Frido pulls you to the kitchen away from the crowd that was the typical team bonding, this felt like a test.

“Oh no, its okay” you scan your surroundings before following up your statement. “Alexia fed me before we came” you smile, attempting to be casual.

“oh, that’s weird, we always have dinner at team bonding” she raised an eyebrow, questioning what felt like your whole existence. She grabs a slice for herself and tries to offer you some anyways, failing as you kindly decline, insisting you will have some later.

People were scattered everywhere around the home, some sitting around the table playing card games, others vacating outside with a drink. You scan the house looking for place to escape to. All you wanted was to leave the overstimulation that was this monthly event.

You head towards the empty bathroom, the room you spend probably the most time in at other people’s houses. You begin to almost run towards it as you hear your name being called. It was too late; Lucy was stood outside yelling your name through the door of the garden.

“Y/n, come talk to us we miss you” she giggles as she enters the room to get you. You begin the walk of shame towards her. Overthinking what is coming next. Stepping out the door onto the porch your gently grabbed by the back of the neck and brought to a group of women standing around. Their faces light up as they see you. The group consists of Mapi, Lucy, Alexia Frido, Jenni and Ona, all sharing a bottle of wine.

“Y/n, you want a drink?” Ona asks, you aren’t sure if she’s joking or not.

“No Ona, she is a child” Jenni interferes and takes the drink Ona is pouring, handing it to Lucy, who puts it down with ease. You crack a smile at the interaction. They think you are so innocent…

“You’re not old enough for a drink yet Bebita, especially on an empty stomach” Alexia jokes with a smile.

“empty stomach?” Frido butts in, tilting her head in confusion at the contradicting information.

fuck.

You let out a load cough to clear your voice before quickly excusing yourself from the conversation. “I need to pee” you announce before hurrying inside, finding Ingrid at the table, playing cards with a few others.

The group, now abandoned by you stand in a deafening silence.

“She’s not eating is she?” Frido breaks, looking at Alexia with wide eyes.

“Shes not doing good, no” Their captain reply’s looking down at the glass in her hand.

“So we were right” Mapi says through squinted eyes as she tightened her grip on the stem of her wine glass.

Most of the team has been talking for a few weeks now. Lucy briefly filled them in about your history with Self harm and how you were managing it now. But the not showing up to meal times and doing overtime in the gym was something she couldn’t explain. However, they soon linked it to the bullying from people online about your body. It became to much for them all when Alexia broke down in front of them, claiming her worry for you. It was clear there was a bigger picture to what you were letting them see, seeing as their usually stone faced, strong captain had tears in her eyes over you.

Your rapid weight loss didn’t go unnoticed, even coaching staff beginning to threaten benching you if you didn’t gain some weight, claiming you were too weak to continue at full trainings and games. You always just told them you were sick, claiming it as an excuse for the weight loss and loss of appetite.

At first, everyone, including team members believed you, until they noticed you weren’t getting better, like you would if you were really sick with a catchable illness.

“So what are we going to do? because we cant loose her, shes our best” Lucy asks, getting more frantic as the sentence rolls out her mouth.

“I’ve tried talking to her, she just lies, tells me shes fine, ella me ignorar��” Alexia says, finally looking up from her half full glass, meeting the eyes of her teammates.

“I know she needs me, but she won’t talk to me, she is sneaking into my bed each night for comfort, I wrap my arms around her when she falls alseep, ella tiene miedo de estar sola, shes been clinging to us, as if she is desprate for help, but doesn’t know how to ask. She won’t leave my side, unless there is food involved. luego ella desaparece” Alexia blurted out, speaking slow and clear, explaining herself.

“Maybe if we all try” Ona breaks her personal silence, earning a raised brow from a few listeners, the nodding heads soon followed.

“Bebita, can I come in” You hear Alexias voice beam through the small gap in the doorframe.

“A few of us are here too see you” you tilt your head in confusion at her followup statement, why are people here to see you, so late in the evening. You thought everyone would have returned home after team bonding, as did you and Alexia, why was there people outside your bedroom door?

You sit up in your bed, still tucked under the covers in your hoodie (that may of may not be Alexias) and shorts, clinging to your Stitch teddy. You close your laptop playing your movie and move it down the bed, finally giving Alexia a response.

“ehh, yeah come in” you say, unsure on what you are agreeing too.

You remain put under the safety of your covers, as if they would protect you from danger as the group of women enter your once personal space, finding refusge in spots around your room, most of them making themselves at home on your bed, espechailly Alexia, who comes up close to you and wraps and arm around your shoulders. Lucy, Ingrid, Mapi, Frido and Ona looked at you, as if they were waiting for you to break the artifical silence.

“Querida estamos aquí para hablar contigo” Ingrid is the first to speak up, beofre Mapi adds to her girlfrinds statement.

“I think you know what about” she fidgests with her rings. “we are just trying to understand”

“so help us do that, please sweetheart” Frido interupts.

You shake your head and close your eyes, as if you could open them and it would all go away. “I don’t know what your talking about”

“I have lectured you enough about your lying bebita” Alexia says in a stern voice.

The silence isn’t going away. You were in full control of it, and you knew that. You knew that they were waiting for you to talk, no one was going to make it easy for you.

”Desearía poder hacer que todo desaparezca” you shut your eyes once again as the tears start to spill out the creases. “I just want to be able to control what is changing”

The girls don’t speak, they are waiting for more, and they won’t break untill they are statified.

“I don’t know how to ask for help, or how to be okay” The tears get heavier as you push out the words, Alexia runs her free hand along your face, nudging you to keep going. You put in your best efforts to regain your breathing as your lip quivers in Alexia’s hand. Still no one was talking.

“I never meant for it to get this bad, I just wanted to get some control, I feel like there is so much online about me, rumors, hate, negitivity, all things I cant just reach out and get my hands on, to be able to toy with it and mold it to the way I want it. There is so little I can control, but my body, I can. No queria llegar tan lejos. Im so scared of losing myself, I want to hold onto the me that I am forever but I know I can’t, but I wanted to try, and that is why I yearn for whatever control I can get. So many ideas are put into my head about what my body should look like, how tall I should be, how much I should weigh, how tan I should be, how I should hold myself. I realised I am so calm and content when I play football, and that is because I am perfect at it, no one finds flaws in the way I play, but I second I step off the pitch I loose that warm feeling, because I have flaws again. When football is out of the picture, I am covered in them. I just wanted living to feel the same as playing, perfect and flawless.

The amont of tears in the room should safe a deadly drought.

“nuestra niña hermosa, estamos aquí” Ingrid climbs onto the bed coming closer to you, followed by the remaining womens in the room, all finding a spot, as close to you as they could get. So many arms are wrapped around you, so many hands holding your face, wiping your cold tears away.

“Let us help you darling” Lucy and Ona say in an unmost unison.

You slowly allow yourself to nod.

The following weeks were slow and painful, but what isn’t in recovery? The girls put it upon themselves to keep you in check, taking turns taking you out on small adventures, like going for walks or getting icecream to get you out of the house as you were ruled out of training and playing for a few weeks by your phycologist, that Alexia and Lucy insisted that you saw, they drove you to each appointment and picked you up, no questions asked. Meal time in the house became a big thing, Alexia discarding the idea of sitting around the table and eating, instead opting for sitting wherever, weather that was outside, or in, watching a movie, or just chatting. This change of environment around meals made eating less of a chore, as you got better, teammates would come over for dinner and it became more a social event, a more relaxing endeavor. You slowly made your way back to training as you got your fitness back, earning pats on the back from your team who you had made, very proud.

[artzychic27]

I have a Teen Titans AU. In it, Nath is Robin, Rose is Starfire, Kim is Beast Boy, Max is Cyborg, and Juleka is Raven. Got any headcanons?

Nathaniel The Boy Wonder

Sidekick to the greatest detective duo ever known... Beetle Woman and Catman

Prior to that, he was raised by a famous artist duo and inherited their skills

During an unveiling for a mural his parents painted, a gangster attacked the event and killed both of his parents

Beetle Woman and Catman investigated the crime, and as their alter egos, billionaires Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Agreste and Adrien Agreste, adopted Nathaniel, brought the mobster to justice, and made him their sidekick

He’s trained in several forms of martial arts, intimidation, acrobatics, and he’s an amazing detective

People call him Illustrator because he uses spray paints in his fights

Wears a hood since his red hair gives him away sometimes. His costume is similar to Robin’s but with a purple, black, and white color scheme

Always spray paints his signature on villains’ clothes whenever he’s done beating them up

There was one villain he could never catch and beats himself up for it every time. His name is Reverser. He’s a powerful sorcerer who can reverse anyone’s personality and bring heroes over to his side

Illustrator doesn’t know how how he does it. One minute, he’s fighting Reverser, the next, he blacks out and wakes up with black and white lipstick all over his face and neck. It’s so weird

And Beetle Woman, Catman, the servants, Tikki and Plagg, are always giggling and whispering whenever he talks about Reverser

One day when the detective duo decided he was old enough, Nathaniel was able to start his own team of heroes to protect a neighboring city

After a run-in with a blonde alien, a short cyborg, a jock who could turn into any animal on earth, and a goth witch, he persuaded them into forming a superhero group called the Teen Titans

Rose The Alien Princess

The alien princess from the distant planet of Fragrencia

Her powers are similar to Starfire’s, only the beams are a bright pink and she can control villains by shooting a pink mist from her hands

She has two siblings- A younger brother named Clover, and an evil older sister named Ivy

Clover was sent away in an escape pod after an attack on Fragrencia. Rose was crushed, but Ivy was thrilled

Ivy sold her into slavery to another alían race in order to bring peace to their war-torn planet. (Really it was just to get rid of her)

She landed on earth after using her superhuman strength to escape from an alien ship

While attempting to remove the handcuffs, she ended up destroying parts of the town and eventually ran into four teenagers whom she would soon fight crime with

The mysterious goth girl wearing the cloak was the one who talked her down and removed her handcuffs... Right before Rose kissed her so she could communicate with her

Rose is the most emotional of the team since her powers are strengthened by her emotions

She has a huge crush on Juleka but is a little intimidated by her to act on her feelings

It isn’t rare to see the two girls meditating together or sleeping in the same room in the same bed

Her favorite of Kim’s animal forms is a kitten and she can never resist his dough eyes

Kim The Animal Morpher

Superhero name: “Teen Beast”

A former member of the Xuppu Squad

He was raised by his geneticist parents and was always traveling the world with them. But he was never really interested in the stuff; he wanted to be a swimmer

One day, while they were exploring a jungle, young Kim was bitten by a rare green monkey and caught a serious illness

To save him, his parents gave him a serum with odd side effects- His skin, hair, and eyes turned different shades of red

After a boating accident his parents died after falling over a waterfall, but thanks to his swim training, he was able to make it out

Later, he sought out a superhero team called the Xuppu Squad and became their youngest member

Feeling alienated due to one of the more harsher members, he left and found himself in a new town

There, he met four other teens and assisted them in liberating an alien Princess

He’s become close friends with Max and often assists him with his projects

The others often tease him about it, but he doesn’t know why

Soon, he fell in love with Chloé Bourgeois, the former princess of Markovia who had the bower to render people immobile

He falls out of love with her after he betrayed him and his team by joining Hawkmoth, and he soon realizes that he has feelings for Max after he risks his own life to save him

His two favorite forms are the monkey and miniature horse. As a monkey, he’s able to pick things up with his feet, and because a horse is Max’s favorite animal

Max The Cyborg

Max Kanté was at the top of his class, had a bright future ahead of him and several academic scholarships... Until the accident

He was on a train that his mother was conducting when there was a crash that kill her and horribly injured him

The injury was so awful that his father replaced 99% of his body with cybernetics to keep him alive. This caused him to be shunned by everyone in his life, so he ran away

One night, he went for a walk out in a hoodie when he ran into a group of teenagers fighting a rather violent alien princess

He teamed up with them to fight the princess’ captors and together, they formed a team to battle villainy

He constructed their base of operations and its systems from a landing ship from the aliens sent to take Rose

He serves as the chief technician and constructs all of their gadgets and vehicles... With some help from a certain muscular boy

He has a... Slight, tiny, barely even noticeable crush on Kim and was heartbroken to find out he liked Chloé.

Max is a little self-conscious about being 99% cyborg, so Kim will often comfort him when he’s having one of “Those days”

After saving Kim’s life when Chloé betrayed them and almost risking his own, the two started dating

Juleka The Half Demon

Daughter of Anarka, Juleka was chosen to be the daughter of the demon known as Jagged, and succeed him with her new brother, Luka

Anarka was soon taken in by the pacifistic disciples of the Temple of Reflekta, a group from another plane of existence who forsaked life on Earth

In their world, Anarka gave birth to Juleka, who, like Jagged and Luka was born with the ends of her hair a different color

Fearing she would bring about evil, a magistrate tried to cast her into limbo, only to be destroyed himself

A spiritual leader named Roaar took Juleka under her wing and taught her how to submerge her emotions to ward off her father and brothers’ influences while perfecting her powers

After her teacher’s death, she had a dream where Jagged died and Luka took his place.

He explained that when she reached the age of sixteen, he would come for her and make her his ally so they could destroy the earth together as brother and sister

(He’s also really overprotective of her and went ballistic when she started fighting villains)

Fearing this, Juleka fled to earth where she ran into three teenagers fighting off a rather cute alien princess

Seeing her reason for rampaging, Juleka was able to remove her handcuffs without any trouble, and nearly died on the spot when she princess kissed her

Despite her insecurities, the other invited her to join their new superhero group

Juleka is terrified her own emotions, worried that if she feels something so strongly, that she’ll end up like her brother

As much as it pains her to do so, she distances herself away from Rose emotionally

Eventually, she’s able to express her love for Rose, just at a more muted level, and the two soon start dating

Her powers include teleportation, flight, astral projection, and she can make clones of herself

[worldwidemochiguy]

MFEEU! Second Generation Profiles 💕✨

↳ MFEEU! Tae Masterlist 

↳ Link to Yoongi’s MFEEU one shot and Hoseok’s 

↳ General Masterlist :)

The kids 

Jin

↳ No children (he’s happy being a godfather!!)

Yoongi

↳ Yoona 

Hoseok

↳ Seojoon 

Namjoon

↳ Namgyu 

Jimin

↳ Jihae 

↳ Jihyun

Taehyung

↳ Haneul 

↳ Haewon

Jungkook

↳ Minho

↳ Mina 

(wow i just realised i gave the rapline all one kid and the maknaes two kids huh)

When they’re born: 

first it’s Kim Haneul 

↳ the next year is Kim Namgyu and Park Jihae

↳ the next year is Park Jihyun and Jeon Minho

↳ the next year Jung Seojoon

↳ the next year Jeon Mina and Kim Haewon

↳ and five years after that... Min Yoona 

Profiles :)

Kim Haneul 

Tae and his wife’s first child

The eldest of all the mfeeu kids

Very protective of all her younger siblings, especially Haewon 

Minho has a crush on her for the loooongest time (she sees him as an annoying little brother) 

Abuses her privilege as the eldest to get all of her dongsaengs to do whatever she wants (apart from Jihae) 

She inherited her mother’s sincerity and tae’s determination 

Her and Namgyu are like the only responsible ones

Taehyung is very happy leaving the business in her hands once she’s old enough

As she grows older she realises the special feelings she’s always felt towards Jihae are different than how she cares for her sister

She loves Haewon of course, but with Jihae it’s different. She wants to always take care of her, spend every minute with her, kiss her. 

They start dating when Jihae turns 15. both Jimin and Jihyun tell her she better take care of Jihae or else. Haneul has no intention to do anything other than that.

Kim Namgyu

Namjoon and his darling’s first and only child

Strict with all of his dongsaengs but would let Mina get away with murder

He’d probably help her with it tbh

Haneul’s right hand man, slated to help her with the business once he’s older

He inherited his father’s intellect. He helps all his dongsaengs in their lil homeschool lessons and once he’s finished his work he’ll leave the classroom they have set up and go and sit with his father

(Namjoon is the softest dad ever oh my god 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺)

Namgyu has dimples that pop out every time Mina calls him ‘Namu’ 

Him and Minho have a brotherly relationship. He, along with Jihyun, help Minho to get over Haneul. 

He’s known that he loved Mina since she was 5 and he was 8, but of course he waited until she was 18 because of the age gap between them.

Mina had no such reservations. She asked him to date her when she was 14 and he had to gently turn her down because she was way too young to be dating a 17 year old. 

She would stubbornly ask him every year on her birthday if she was old enough to date him yet, and on her 18th birthday he finally answered with ‘yes’ and kissed her

That was probably the worst day of Jungkook’s life.

Park Jihae

Jimin and his girlfriend’s first child

Despite being one of the oldest, she is babied by the entire group, ESPECIALLY Haneul

She’s so soft like oml 🥺🥺🥺

she inherited her father’s stature so by the time they’re all teenagers she’s the most smol (along with Mina who’s only an inch taller than her)

(by the time Yoona reaches her teens she’s also taller than Jihae)

Jimin’s little princess

She barely leaves his lap for the first five years of her life

Shes so clingy as well 🥺🥺🥺

She follows Haneul around holding her hand bc she doesn’t want to get lost 

She really likes doing ballet. She tries to teach Haneul but they soon stop bc to put it lightly Haneul is hopeless

She is the softest big sister to Jihyun. 

The only time she gets mad at him is when he sometimes refuses to call her noona 

Once Mina and Haewon are born the trio has been completed

They are the unofficial maknaes of the group, along with Yoona who they treat like their own little dolly

They coordinate their clothes and everything. your squad wishes. 

She’s the most oblivious person though. she doesn’t even realise she’s in love w Haneul until her 15th birthday when Haneul kisses her. and then she’s like oh. oh.

they are the softest girlfriends ever bls i can’t 🥺🥺

Park Jihyun and Jeon Minho

Jimin’s second child and Jungkook’s first

I put them together bc they’re honestly inseparable 

They’re the troublemakers of the group, rivalled only by Mina and Haewon.

Jihyun was born two months before Minho, he insists that Minho calls him hyung

Minho refuses

Jihyun is the more responsible of the two, but barely. Namgyu’s kind of like their older brother, they both look up to him a lot. 

Seojoon is their dongsaeng who they lovingly bully

Minho has a massive crush on Haneul. 

He isn’t yandere for her, he just has a thing for noonas like father like son 

At one point he tries to have a rivalry with Jihae because Haneul likes her so much but it doesn’t work bc Jihae is so sweet she doesn’t even realise what he’s trying to do and also Jihyun is super protective of his older sister and he nips it in the bud

After that he resolves to get over Haneul because he doesn’t want anything to come in between him and Jihyun. 

Jihyun and Minho are definitely soulmates. Hoseok is convinced they will date at some point. There’s a betting pool which Jungkook refuses to enter bc he thinks its wrong to bet on his sons love life. Jimin on the other hand has lost almost a million won because he keeps betting that they’ll announce that they’re dating soon. 

Jung Seojoon

Hoseok’s pride and joy

He’s so similar to his daddy guys it’s adorable 🥺

He has so much energy all the time, it is common to see his little head popping over the edge of Hoseok’s desk as he jumps around the room

Namgyu loves him but he doesn’t understand him at all

Seojoon loves to play dress up with Mina, Haewon and Jihae

He is not trusted with Yoona bc, though his intentions are absolutely pure, she usually ends up crying 

Always breaking the rules. a loveable rascal we have here. 

He knows when to push boundaries but he’s largely well behaved bc his dad taught him well 🥰🥰 (unlike many of the other fathers who spoil their kids) 

Seojoon knew he loved Haewon since his fourth Christmas. Seojoon was hunting for the presents and when Haewon caught him, she joined him in searching instead of ratting him out.

From that moment on they were partners in crime. 

It was only inevitable they started dating, obvious to literally everyone except Taehyung who refused to believe his daughter was a rule breaker in any shape or form.

Jeon Mina and Kim Haewon

Jungkook’s and Tae’s youngest girls 🥺

I put them together for the same reason I put Jihyun and Minho together. They’re inseparable 

They were actually born within two days of each other. Haewon was born early and Tae always says it’s because she couldn’t wait to meet her best friend (besides him, of course)

Look Haewon even has his nose mole 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

They rival Jihyun and Minho in terms of general naughtiness 

Seojoon helps them out sometimes, and in that time Mina always giggles at how silly Seojoon and Haewon act around each other

but all Haewon as to do is mention Namgyu and Mina stops making fun of her and starts blushing

Haewon and Mina talk about Seojoon and Namgyu literally all the time

When they’re older they trick their parents saying that Haewon and Mina are hanging out together and Seojoon and Namgyu are hanging out together and then they swap

Namgyu would normally disapprove but it means he gets more time to spend with Mina so he’s not snitching 

Mina is sooo bitter when Haewon starts dating Seojoon bc Namgyu is apparently ‘too old’ for her so she can’t date yet

once Namgyu finally gives in on her 18th birthday and kisses her, she calls Haewon  up screaming with excitement (little does she know Namgyu at that moment is calling Haneul and freaking tf out)

when they get married to their boyfriends they have a joint wedding 🥰🥰 Namgyu was originally against it but Mina gave him her infamous doe eyes which she inherited from her father and he allowed it reluctantly

Min Yoona

Yoongi’s unplanned but very adored daughter

By the time she’s born, Yoongi is in his mid to late 30s

To be honest, Yoongi had been happy helping to raise his friends kids, i mean they were all practically his godchildren and there wasn’t a week where he wasn’t babysitting at least three of his friends children

But sometimes he would watch Tae teaching Haneul to dance standing on his toes, or see Hoseok playing hide and seek with Seojoon, and he would feel this strange ache in his heart

When they found out Yoongi’s wife was pregnant, they considered not going through with the pregnancy, but ultimately decided against it after one of the members let slip that Yoongi’s wife was pregnant and then all of the kids ran up to Yoongi with eyes as big as dinner plates, asking eagerly if they were going to have another little sister. 

As soon as Yoongi saw Yoona for the first time, he realised how stupid he was for not wanting children earlier. but he was almost grateful that he hadn’t had them earlier, because if he had then they wouldn’t be Yoona. And Yoona is perfect.

She’s babied by the entire group. Mina and Haewon are only five when she’s born and they love playing with her. She’s never left alone for a moment —  like Yoongi feared she would be since all of the other kids were so close in age and Yoona was so much younger. 

All of the children want their chance to play with Yoona and even the members love being able to play with a baby again after their children had outgrown it. 

If Yoona ever tries to start dating… oh boy. 

just to recap, the couples are...

↳ Kim Haneul and Park Jihae

↳ Kim Namgyu and Jeon Mina

↳ Jung Seojoon and Kim Haewon

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

About Assassination Classoom Characters - Isogai Yuuma

Our resident ikemen.

Isogai’s defining characteristic is pretty much ‘good at everything’. Assassination, sports, academics, looks, personality. He quite literally has it all. 

His warm, caring, and humble personality stop others from truly resenting him for it, though. 

It says that “poor” is his only bad trait, but honestly I don’t think that even really counts. His financial situation has probably even stood to help him develop into such a modest and caring guy. 

His main function, being a leader and the male representative for 3E, is the boost in morale he gives. He’s super approachable, so he’s a leader everyone can trust. 

On being super caring, it should be noted that his prized possession is his family, along with Maehara. Clearly, on top of how naturally sweet that is, it goes to show that he doesn’t prioritise material things so highly. 

A very important, yet often overlooked part of Isogai is his backstory. 

It’s super tragic, but his father died due to a traffic accident during his first year at Kunugigaoka. Whilst the inheritance was enough to keep him afloat in a shabby apartment, paying for his and his younger siblings’ school fees with just his (apparently sick) mother’s part time salary isn’t enough. 

His determination to help his mother is why he defies the school policy about part time jobs. It’s clear he’d do anything to help them. From the korotan art, we can see his siblings were actually rather young, so it seems to me than Isogai might be taking on an almost parental role when it comes to them. 

It also makes even more sense, knowing he lost one of them, that his family is his most treasured thing. 

Despite all of this, though, it really seems that Isogai manages to keep his head above water. Even with his father’s death, his grades didn’t slip. The only reason he’s in 3E is for breaking the part time job policy. 

A part of me wonders if his mother puts a little bit too much pressure on him, but with Isogai I can almost imagine it’s 100% voluntary.  

Something somewhat positive out of this is that Isogai really looks up to Karasuma. It’s definitely possible that he sees him as the closest thing he has to a father figure, and it’s really good for him to have someone like that. 

His fashion style, though cheap, manages to look presentable and almost cool. Irina mentions that he’s a little bit proper with his style, though. Maybe Isogai is a little concerned about his perfect image, deep down. 

Notably, though, the way he speaks (in Japanese at least) is very casual, relaxed, ‘teen boy’ speak. 

Of course, being number one ikemen, Isogai is very popular.��

He’s one of the few students who still receives love letters and the like from even the main campus. 

He’s too busy to date, though. Unlike Maehara, he’s not really girl crazy. Part of me thinks this might be due to his relationship with his mother, but he has a decent amount of respect for girls. He doesn’t want much part in Maehara’s lewd conversations. 

A little like Maehara actually, I think he gets along well with a lot of people, but he only really has one super close friend. He knows his entire dating history, apparently, which seems like quite a feat. 

I like to imagine them just hanging out, Maehara ranting about some new girl he’s interested in. It seems like Isogai is just nodding along and tuning him out, but he’s actually taking very good mental notes. 

Kataoka seems like his next closest friend, due to their ‘work relationship’. It’s said she’s really good at reassuring him in those rare moments he does feel a little down, though. 

He’s very often used as a go between or mediator for people. He can talk to most without stirring up bad feelings, since he’s diplomatic like that. Specifically, he has no fear talking to Karma, where some others are a little put off. 

Apparently he finds the Terasaka squad a little concerning... I can see why, though. I’m not sure they have the same core values. There’s no real dislike though. 

Sometimes, his classmates look out for him, and can tell when he really just needs to take a break. It feels to me at least like Isogai isn’t so proud to ignore them, and would step down for a bit. 

In summary, can Isogai be any more perfect? Maybe he’s a tiny bit of a mary sue, but it’s kind of impossible to hate him. It’s a good thing, I guess, that Matusi didn’t make his role crazy hyper important to the plot as a whole. That being said, I would love to see more depth about him pushing himself too far for the sake of others, as it seems to me he’d easily be in danger of doing that. 

MASTERLIST

[milquetoast-on-acid]

Milquetoast watches...Or Just Look Like One

...Or Just Look Like One S1xE3 Special Victims Unit: Episode Review

I feel like this gif fits for my rewatch. ;)

What this episode is about: When a popular teen is sexually assaulted, Benson and Stabler step into a modelling underworld of thoughtless parents, drug-dealing doctors and a trendy agency executive.

Old Lady: “I think I got the AIDS again.” hahaha what old lady? This little old lady actually says that to the paramedics!

Elliot: “A late model Sports Utility Vehicle.”

Me: Don’t you know that’s your parody name?

Check out  NTSF:SD:SUV:: It’s a crime show parody with Kate Mulgrew as the Captain...with a random eyepatch. 

Knap sack...who says that liv?

The dad is so creepy looking!

Elliot to Creepy Dad: “A trademark kinda like Jewel or Cher.” - Only thing I have to say about this...aren’t those their real names though? This girl changed hers to sound more exotic. 

Oh Look it’s Bebe Newarth! 

It's Lilith Sternin!!

Person: "This is Gulliani's New York." Oy! That takes a very different connotation these days.

________________________________________________________________

Olivia to Former Model: "Pardon, me you look familiar." Former Model: "I did some modeling when I was younger." Olivia: "The Ricky Blaine Case. You testified against Ricky Blaine, didn't you?" Former Model: "You have a pretty good memory. A lot of girls testified against the measuring man."

I love how this chick thought that Olivia recognized her from her photos. Instead it was from a case. Girl, you really need to get a life. All this girl does when she isn’t working is poke her nose in old rape cases. 

She's really tall!

The measuring man! That name for a perp. I just can’t take it seriously.  

Measuring Man: "Call my PO, I haven't touched a piece of tape in years." hahahahaha. This is hilarious this is supposed to be a serious crime but OMG, are they serious with this dialog? Measuring Man: "We were watching football at the halfway house." Olivia: "Really who was play?" Measuring Man: "Jets and Stealers." Olivia: "Try again. Cowboys, 49'ers." I love this! This is the second person they have encountered in their investigation that has made a wrong assumption. Model chick assumed Olivia knew her from her photos. Measuring Man assumed Olivia didn't watch football. Hahahaha! She just kneaded him in the balls!

Munch: "IF they fail the weigh in they don't work." Olivia: "110lbs is too heavy!?" (talking about modeling) They don't make the grade (they weigh too much) so they get pushed out! That's so messed up!

Here is a random gif of Elliot & Olivia from season 1 because I can’t find any of them from this episode. 

I wish I could be excited about a crossover here with the originals. Butttt...I never watched that 

The Stablers at home...

First of all...Kathy looks a frazzle mess. Girl is getting these kids ready for school. I can’t imagine having to wrangle that many kids. No thank you. Still loving the fact that Dickie Stabler is and has been played by the same actor for 22 years. Not to mention this kid really doesn’t know how to cut up his own food. He’s like stabbing the pancake.

Elliot is all like, yo Kathy why didn’t you tell me Maureen suddenly doesn’t eat. Kathy is all like that shit happened when you weren’t here. Elliot is all like...wtf do I do?

Elliot: "Hey, Maureen let's say we talk about food." Maureen: "NO!" lol Maureen! I just love the way she said that. And also the look that Dickie gives her.Als

Donny!? Briscoe calls Cragen, Donny instead of Don? Also everyone seems to already know Briscoe.

Munch: “He had so many half cocked booby traps around his apartment he tripped on one and blew himself through the bathroom door. We had to make three piles. Bomb squad pile, cornor’s pile, and a whatever pile.”

Elliot: “Yeah, that’s great.”

hahahahah! OMG Elliot is like whatever, I don’t care. Your not funny. But it’s the look on Munch’s face that says it all. He’s like I made a funny here and your not even going to laugh at it!

Oh my! What is that blue robe he's wearing? I guess because he's a writer he's got to look yuppie artsy.

Elliot asking doc about anorexia. Elliot is asking for a friend. That friend is him.

This guy looks like a mobster who should be in polyester but is wearing a fancy suit!

Joey Pool! Lol! He's so perfect! I love that Cragen is like, I have the perfect guy to charge in their for you. Can we get more of this guy? Joey Pool is kinda like that bull in a china shop.

Speed is like vitamins!? Well, that's new.

Of course, Don is thinking about food...IDK is this supposed to be a character trait? He has a belly there for food? 

Cassidy doesn't even know interrogation techniques. OY!

That's cool eye makeup! Props to the makeup/special fx department.

_____________________________________________________________

Final Thoughts:

Not a favorite episode, not an episode that I really enjoy all that much at all. I do remember not caring much about this episode. I don’t find the case very interesting. This is an episode that I could skip. It’s not a bad episode just not interesting. About the only thing interesting is the highlight to Anorexia and the challenge to perfection for models. 

Nice tie in for the case to mirror what’s going on in Stabler family land. 

[okayoonoh]

HENDERY’S FAMILY

a/n: i honestly can’t believe that i’m almost done with the first part of the series! thank you for sticking with me and i hope you continue to as i still have a ton of ideas for more scenarios and all that good jazz!

here’s where you can find all things nct as dads related! go and check it out!

WONG KUNHENG

he has 3 kids, 2 girls and 1 boy. his son is the middle child. wong xiuying is his oldest daughter, 3 years later, his son wong mochou was born and 3 years after that, his youngest daughter wong zhangjing was born. 

WONG XIUYING: >> as a baby <<

i know i have probably said this about ever baby girl

but she’s a princess

i definitely feel like hendery would be an amazing girl dad

like he has a lot of sisters

so i feel like he really understands girls well

and he would show that with his daughter

i def feel like no matter how prepared he thinks he is as dad, he manages to mess up but make everything so funny

like the first time he changed her diaper?

he made you laugh so hard, post labor you had to change your pants (that seems like a tmi pero giRLS CHILD LABOR IS NOT PRETTY AND IT’S DEF NOT OVER AFTER THE BABY. YOU DEAL WITH STUFF FOR MONTHS AFTER)

and that was gross talk with amy time™ lol

anyway

out of all of the babies, xiuying is the giggliest

like i feel like even when she cries, she’ll giggle

for some reason, when she just looks at her dad, she just starts laughing lol

and like even when she cries, if she sees hendery, she’ll just laugh

i feel like hendery is one of the best uncles

like all of the kids love him

and its the same especially when it came to his daughter

there honestly would not be a day without laughter

like xiuying would manage to make you laugh

hendery would manage to make you laugh

your household is just full of giggles even before xiuying could properly talk

pero, back to the princess thing

like she was such a gorgeous baby

she inherited hendery’s HUGE eyes

and whenever she giggled and smiled

oh man

like she was just so beautiful

like she’s just naturally so pretty

she has the prettiest smile too

like there was just so much happy and joy in your life because she was there

hendery would just be so happy around her

like he could be super duper tired from tour or from practice

like really exhausted

but the second he sees xiuying

oh man

his energy is instantly restored

just knowing his happy daughter is there, all of his energy is back

hendery is there for everything tho

like he’ll stay by her even when she’s crying like there’s no tomorrow

regardless of how exhausted he is, he’ll do everything for his little girl

>> as a child <<

she’s still so pretty

like she’s in so many dramas and commercials and ads and everything lmao

she’s so iconic tho

like she’s so funny

she inherited hendery’s funny bone

tbh all of the kids did

pero yeah

everyone always think she’s like a docile little thing

buT LMAO SHE’LL SHOW THEM REAL QUICK

WHAT AN AMAZING SENSE OF HUMOR THAT SHE HAS

SHE’S REALLY SO FUNNY THO 

like she really is

she’s so witty 

and her reactions are the best

even tho she’s in dramas and such, she laughs really easily

they really do get frustrated with her doe

but she makes it up bc the end product is really really good

she’s straight up a crackhead tho lbr

she can out hendery the man himself

like maybe a younger hendery could keep up with her

but as hendery gets older and he has more than just xiuying

poor thing is starting to get pooped lol

she’s best friends with xiaojun’s oldest son, xiao zhangwei

like zhangwei loves to sing and won’t stop singing

and she can just keep up with him

like he’ll just be singing ever song he knows

and she’ll be in the back with a tambourine lol

she just vibes so well with zhangwei

but whenever they’re together, it’s so chaotic

it takes at least 4 people to watch just the two of them bc they’re just so chaotic lmao

her biggest flaw really is the fact that she can’t really control her energy

like she doesn’t know when to calm it down

it’s all okay tho

she’ll eventually learn dw

but yeah

tbh she’s such a funny older sister

she wouldn’t do anything super dangerous with her little siblings

but like she’ll just say the weirdest and funniest things

like she’ll scream at the top of her lungs

“MOCHOU POOPED HIMSELF MOM!!! IT STINKS!!!” 

like she’ll scream scream that lol

she takes compliments well

whenever she gets complimented she just says “THANK YOU!! YOU’RE ALSO PRETTY!”

she’s a charming little ball of craziness

>> as a teen/adult <<

honestly

she kept her crackhead personality

but she can get really serious when needed

like when it comes to her career and her family and such

she’s super serious

but in other situations

she’s honestly the funniest

xiuying becomes a really good older sister

like if her younger siblings are getting out of check

she’s really good at keeping them in line

xiuying is def not scary

but like her siblings just naturally listen to her

she becomes a model/comedian/tv personality

like jaehyun’s son, jung leon, she’s just so beautiful and so funny lol

she honestly could care less abt like being super “feminine” and stuff to maintain her model image yknow?

like tbh

she probably tried to reserved and calm and such

but her personality just is too powerful lmao

she would slip a lot

her manager would scold her and stuff whenever she did slip up

and it got to the point where her manager just gave up lmao

they just let her do as she pleased and she skyrocketed in personality after that

but yeah, tbh, she really does take her career seriously

like super duper seriously

xiuying wants to live an honest life tbh

like she takes her career seriously, but when her manager told her to maintain a pristine image, she didn’t sit well with it

bc the image they wanted her to maintain is simply not her

she talked to her manager abt it and they understood and let her do as she pleases

and it really did help everyone in the end

she’s still zhangwei’s best friend

zhangwei joins a band and he’s the lead singer

xiuying knows zhangwei better than anyone tbh

they def don’t get together tho

like they’re the best example of platonic, heterosexual, best friends

to be 100% honest

xiuying has a huge thing for the drummer of his band lmao

ofc she goes to zhangwei’s concerts to support him

but her true reason to go is to see the drummer lol

everyone gets along so well with her

like literally no one seems to have anything bad abt her

if they do and they talk abt it, she’ll just agree lmao

like someone will say “your nose is too big.”

and she’s like “yeah, my nose is pretty big. it’s okay, it allows me to smell yummy food easier and better then.”

or like

“your eyes resemble the eyes of donkey from shrek”

and she’ll be like “omG REALLY? HE’S MY FAVORITE CHARACTER THANK YOU SM”

she takes hate the best out of all of the kids

like if someone is struggling bc they get some hate comments, she swoops in and pats them on the back and is like “dw. xiuying is here. let me teach you how to deal with the haters.”

but yeah, she’s really goofy and so gorgeous and just a well loved person :,)

WONG MOCHOU: >> as a baby <<

he’s also so pretty as a baby

he also inherited hendery’s big eyes

pero

his eyes are lowkey kinda creepy

like it was endearing with xiuying bc she smiled a lot

but mochou is super duper serious lmao

like he loves to stare

and it was lowkey kinda creepy

but overtime, when he smiled more, it became endearing lol

for sure, hendery and xiuying’s reactions were the best lol

like hendery and xiuying would be playing with mochou, trying to get him to smile

and mochou is just :|

he’s not mad

he’s actually quite happy

it’s just he wasn’t really the smiliest baby

xiuying and hendery would just have the funnies reaction

mochou is quite a looker tho

even tho his eyes creeped all of you out

from an early age it was very clear that mochou would be a talker

he was babbing from the second he knew he could makes noises

and hendery would hold out entire conversations with him

for example

mochou: aaaabbaaaa taaa maaaa

hendery: you know, that’s an interesting point, i’ve never thought about it like that before

mochou: daaaaaa aahhhpoooo

hendery: no, it’s definitely crazy, i totally agree. so tell me, what are your opinions on the current state of our economy?

mouchou: baaa

hendery: good insight, my son.

mochou loved to imitate you guys while you talked

like if you said “i love you!”

he would babble a reply that is really similar

even tho xiuying would play with mochou a lot

mochou was really good at playing on his own

xiuying loves to just explain everything to him

like every little detail about everything

she’ll bring him the most random things and just explain everything she knows about it

mochou was most definitely cared for by xiuying

he was just a sweetheart who creeped you out from time to time

>> as a child <<

omg 

he had the biggest imagination

and he let the world know it

like he was such a creative kid

mochou would make a new world whenever he played

like if mochou and xiuying were playing together

mochou would create an entire new world and xiuying would just be so excited the entire time

like

xiuying: “sO YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT THE HOUSE IS A SPACE SHIP???”

mochou: “YES!!! CMON, IF YOU GO TO THE WINDOW YOU’LL SEE A TON OF DIFFERENT PLANETS!!!

xiuying: “OHHH MY GOSH THIS IS SO EXCITING!!”

all of the kids love to play with him because his imagination is just so crazy

he’s still a huge talker

mochou is amazing at carrying conversations

like he’s is a pretty social bee and loves to talk to everyone

he loves to tell everyone everything

mochou belongs to the 127 squad

meaning he’s best friends with jaehyun’s son, jung leon, jungwoo’s second daughter, kim jieun, and haechan’s second daughter, lee haeun

when the 4 of them are together

you need at least 10 people watching them

by themselves? they have a ton of energy

all together? oh no

when he does get tired, he loves to draw

mochou is naturally talented at drawing

in all forms that require creativity, mochou is naturally talented in all of it 

he was naturally really good at singing

he was naturally really good at learning instruments

he was naturally really good at painting, sketching, drawing, doodling

he was naturally really good at writing

mochou has a lot in his brain and the best way he could get it out was through drawing and painting

even tho as a baby, he was kinda stoic and such, he made of for it as a child

he became just a smilie as xiuying

xiuying and mochou have the sweetest relationship

xiuying likes to scold mochou even if he’s not doing anything wrong

mochou just smiles and listens to his sister.

even his younger sister liked to torment him a bit

but tbh, he would just take it

he loves his sisters to death

he would let them play with him as they’d like, he was honestly just chill  about it

hendery would sometimes take mochou on “man” dates

but tbh

it’d just be the two of them getting ice cream or something like that lol

hendery grew up with a ton of sisters so like I def feel like he would be a little confused with how to raise his son

but I mean, if his mochou was more on the feminine side? so what?

hendery loved mochou for who he is

omg, both boys would be so whipped for the girls tho

like if hendery was watching all of the kids, he would for sure end up dressed up as a princess

mochou too

when you came home, hendery would have a princess dress on him that def doesn’t fit bc it’s xiuying’s dress

mochou would be covered in head to toe with makeup

and hendery would be talking in his girl voice about being the beautiful queen of the land

it’s the best thing ever tbh

>> as a teen/adult <<

he becomes a creator/director for movies and such

like his creativity is so amazing and it remains the same way until he’s an adult

and the world needs to know his stories and such

he vibes well with yuta’s daughter, nakamoto akari

they both have such an amazing imagination and they both just want to share it into the world

he honestly follows in akari’s footsteps bc like she has a bit more experience in this field than he does

mochou for sure works in the same animation studio she works at

and together, they just build the coolest worlds ever

they def have their own ideas and stuff

but like if they work on a project together

they lowkey can just sync up and like they barely need words

everyone else who works in the animation studio is like???

bc like akari would talk to mochou for like 2 min

and then he just nods and starts drawing

then she starts drawing too

and like the characters from the drawings look virtually identical

it’s crazyy

they’re on the same wavelength

he for sure still parties hard with his 127 squad

like during work, he’s serious and straightforward

but like leon, jieun, and haeun would pick him up at the studio and he’s screaming for some reason lol

not out of fear,

out of excitement bc he’s ready to PARTY HARD WITH HIS FRIENDS

i feel like mochou would have the same exact sense of humor hendery has

like

as an adult, if hendery and mochou were just spending some time together

it sounds like there’s two hendery’s in the room

and oh no

tbh

mochou? he’s getting all of the ladies

i feel like he would be the type to have a different girl fall for him each week

i also feel like he’s too clueless to reject or accept their feelings

omg one time

while he was at a work seminar

one of the people he met would write her number on a tissue or something

and she would hand it to him

and he would be like “thanks! my nose was a little stuffy”

thEN PROCEED TO BLOW HIS NOSE IN THE NAPKIN

he would be so clueless and just throw it away

and like he def didn’t do it on purpose

he would just flash her a smile and act like nothing happened

bc to him, nothing happened other than a nice person gave him a tissue bc his nose was stuffy

mochou is a funny one, that’s for sure. 

WONG ZHANGJING >> as a baby <<

she’s really nice and sweet and such

zhangjing is the maknae of all of the kids (for now)

she’s the baby baby

anD EVERYONE TREATS HER AS SUCH

like all of her siblings, she was just such a pretty baby

zhangjing was most def the most delicate out of all of her siblings

she was just the smallest

zhangjing looked like a little doll

compared to all of her siblings

she was the calmest and the most docile

zhangjing wasn’t excessively giggly like xiuying

zhangjing wasn’t creepy like mochou

she was just sweet and kind

everyone in the entire group is so whipped for her just bc she’s the baby

like whenever the entire group is hanging out, there is for sure someone holding her at all times

the boys just switch off who gets to hold little zhangjing

omg jisung would hold her for a sec and like want to place her on the ground

and instantly EVERYONE excluding hendery would jump and and be like “jiSUNG NOOOOOO”

poor jisung would be too shocked and just stay frozen with zhangjing in his arms

hendery would step up and be like “guys... it’s okay. zhangjing can go on the ground, she’s not made of paper.”

the boys just thought little zhangjing was too good for the ground lol

omg hendery for sure lives for the compliments whenever someone calls zhangjing pretty

like if she’s on a baby carrier and one of the boys would gush over zhangjing, he’d say the funniest things

like “oh thank you, made her myself! this beauty was made on a fun night around 9 months ago.”

feel free to smack him on the arm for saying that

zhangjing’s natural cuteness just made everyone around her melt

tbh, if you look at his kids all together

all of them are so pretty

like it’s crazy

zhangjing also got hendery’s eyes lol (all of your kids have them lol)

but her stares aren’t as creepy as mochou’s were

tbh, zhangjing’s eyes were always busy

she loved to take in the entire world through her eyes

bc of this, she was a rather quiet baby, simply bc she was spending most of her time observing the world

>> as a child <<

lmao tbh

she’s sunshine

she’s the cutest 

zhangjing honestly looks so innocent

the entire group still maintains the “doN’T LET ZHANGJING TOUCH THE GROUND” sorta mentality

even tho they all know that she’s fine and can do whatever she wants

for some reason, she just gives off the vibe

maybe it’s bc she was the youngest at one point

she’s best friends with lucas’s youngest daughter, wong lina

lina’s personality is actually closer to hendery’s personality

while zhangjing’s personality is closer to lucas’s

like lina can be upfront about her crackheadedness and just does whatever she wants lol

zhangjing is just purely happy practically all of the time

when something makes her sad, oh no

everYONE IS LIKE “NOOO WHO MADE YOU SAD WE’LL FIX IT DON’T CRY”

if you see zhangjing cry, you are 100% going to cry too, guaranteed. 

omg like one time

you would come home from visiting your parents or something like that

and for some reason, your entire family is in the living room and their all crying

your heart drops bc you think something bad happened

so you instinctively hug all of your babies close and ask

hendery walks over and envelops everyone into a group hug, dramatically sobbing

you try to get him to explain and through a ton of sobs and hiccups he manages to get out something like “zhangjing started crying because she figured out lina is going to be gone visiting thailand for the next two weeks.”

you take a look at your youngest and immediately start crying too

why? you don’t really know. but seeing zhangjing’s crying face just triggered it for you

tbh, at this point, zhangjing has superpowers lol

anyway

she remained as a super curious girl

like if she’s every put into a new place, she’ll spend the first 10 minutes just observing

most kids would just run and play without thinking too much

but zhangjing would slowly and carefully take a look around, taking in all of the details of the entire place

she loves all of her siblings

they all baby her lol

zhangjing is just so observant and curious and for some reason, is really good at making people feel emotions they didn’t think they were feeling at the moment lol

>> as a teen/adult <<

she becomes an actress

her roles are usually the innocent girl and such

like if you’ve seen my first first love story

she would play roles like oh garin (from my first first love story)

zhangjing is the sweetest honestly it’s so cute

like she plays that role really well

sometimes when i see that role, i can get annoyed a bit

but zhangjing does it in a way that it doesn’t really annoy people

she keeps her energy levels

and she keeps her puppy like personality

the group still babies her a bit, but it’s not too bad anymore

she still maintains her natural cuteness lol

like she’s for sure really tiny

so it’s just natural for her to be on the cuter side

she adores her siblings so much

zhangjing would cancel her schedules just to see all of xiuying’s shows

during her breaks, she would be catching up on all of the news pertaining to mochou

zhangjing still remains curious

everytime she’s on a new set, she’ll roam around everywhere just bc

she hasn’t played a lead role yet so she doesn’t need to be dressed up and ready right away

omg tbh, sometimes they would have to edit her out of the window in a background

just bc she was wandering and she didn’t know they were filming lol

they all forgive her tho, dw

it’s not a big deal for the company

now is it her natural cuteness that is making everyone okay with it? idk.

she’s the quietest out of all of her siblings

and she has a hard time making good jokes like they do

zhangjing doesn’t cringe at the jokes

she actually likes them a lot!

she just has a hard time making them herself lol

which is fine bc her siblings definitely make enough for her share lol

whenever zhangjing is around lina

they both talk each other’s ears off

out of all of the friendships of kids, lina and zhangjing are the most talkative

they just have so much to tell each other all of the time!

they maintained their friendship even tho they took two different career paths

zhangjing was the baby of the group for a couple years, all before the next wave came (this “wave” refers to the on the way families!)

---

here’s hendery’s gang of mini-hendery’s!!! i hope you guys liked it!

the fact that all three of them look like hendery does resonate with me and i wouldn’t have written it any other way lol

anyway, my request box is open! give me some inspiration plz!!

- amy <3

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: The Rebellion of Adrien Agreste, ch. 15

Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Luka Couffaine, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Luka Couffaine, Lila Rossi/karma, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/aneurism, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Kagami Tsurugi, Plagg & Tikki

Characters: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Lila Rossi, Jagged Stone, Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine, Penny Rolling, Anarka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Juleka Couffaine, Kagami Tsurugi, Alya Césaire, Chloé Bourgeois, Wayhem, Nadja Chamack, Nathalie Sancoeur, Sabine Cheng, Tom Dupain, Tikki, Fang, Principal Damocles, Caline Bustier, Ms. Mendeleiev, original minor character, Alec Cataldi, Lila Rossi’s Mother, Sabrina Raincomprix, Roger Raincomprix, Mylène Haprèle, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste’s Bodyguard, Nino Lahiffe, Nooroo

Tags: Lila Rossi salt, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Teenage Rebellion, Swearing, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Crack Treated Seriously, Lila Rossi’s Lies Are Exposed, Cuddling & Snuggling, Luka Couffaine Needs a Hug, Paparazzi, Parentification, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Gabriel Agreste Needs an Aneurism, Uncle Jagged Stone, we’re all queer here, the spirit of punk is sometimes just being allowed to be yourself, Kagami Finds Her Groove, punk rock fashion, Savage Kagami, Marinette protection squad, Good Parent Sabine Cheng, Good Parent Tom Dupain, Protective Kagami Tsurugi, Protective Luka Couffaine, Bisexual Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pansexual Luka Couffaine, Sharing a Bed, Pet Names, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Instagram, Bullying, Social Media, Anxiety, Makeover, Hugs, will cure your acne, Face Punching, Bad Ass Juleka Couffaine, Rumors, Protective Juleka Couffaine, Protective Adrien Agreste, Lawyers, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Holding Hands, accountability, mental health, Jagged Stone’s well-paid pet shark, How to Make the Evening News, Sexy eyeliner for days, one fish two fish Lila is a screwed fish, How to have fun and piss Gabriel off, Fuckery, sweet litigious karma, Alya sugar, lawyer shark doo doo doo doo doo doo, Schadenfreude, Bad Ass Alya Césaire, Gaslighting, abuse denormalization, Jagged likes his lawyers like he likes his pets: toothy af, Blood in the Water, Everything you didn’t know you wanted and some things you did, Gabriel Agreste is shark bait, Denial, Consequences, Principal Damocles salt, caline bustier salt, the impotence of Gabriel Agreste, snarky Nooroo, lies and the lying liars who tell them, Lila’s brain is a narcissistic hellscape, Lila’s mind is built like an Escher piece, Alec Cataldi salt, Adrien Sugar, wholesome salt, Fu Salt, Kwami Shenanigans, Nooroo is a little shit

Summary: The Impotence of Gabriel Agreste

Notes: I’ve received some amazing fanart for Rebellion. @redcoloredpanda drew Luka and Adrien snuggling, and @momo-oh-nono drew Marinette’s rocker outfit! So now chapter 17 is writing itself in my head, yay! Thank you for inspiring me!

AO3 link

Chapters 1-2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14

------------

Gabriel Agreste watched, fingers steepled, as the scene outside the school unfolded. He had, of course, realized quite quickly attempting to counter Adrien’s claims would be a foolish move. True or not, he would look like the villain if he were to try, accused of homophobia and perhaps classism given the way this Luka boy dressed. He had cancelled the story that was to appear, and hopefully nothing would leak.

On the bright side, he had a patsy. Lila was a loose cannon, currently proving so to the entire world, and he could easily claim she had mischaracterized her relationship with his son. She was currently trying to do the same thing, taking advantage of the fact that Adrien had not yet arrived to the mob of reporters.

“He told me he loved me. He told me we would go public, and he used me and then dumped me,” the girl was telling a reporter tearfully.

Gabriel was rather displeased with the implications of that accusation, which could impact the brand.

Fortunately, the reporter was more interested in the limo that had pulled up and deposited… was that the young designer?

The girl nearly fell, but someone rushed forward to embrace her. When the camera focused…

Kagami Tsurugi.

Nathalie shifted beside him, and he could feel through the miraculous that she was as startled as he was.

He could only assume Adrien was also in the limousine; from the “leaked” text messages the previous night and implications on social media, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was an accomplice. But this meant the scion of his business partner, someone he thought would be a good influence on his son, was likely also involved. Her presence was unlikely a coincidence.

Perhaps this was information he could use, but he filed it away for later as none other than Jagged Stone exited the limo next.

Despite the video the night before of the “jam session,” it was unexpected to see the rock star accompanying his son to school.

The announcement came as a surprise, as he didn’t follow the music world terribly closely, and certainly not a ruffian like Stone. Gabriel had been unaware that Marinette had been so prolific, that she had designed anything beyond the bowler hat.

“Please prepare a dossier on Mlle. Dupain-Cheng,” he ordered Nathalie. She immediately began to tap away on her tablet. “And perhaps her parents as well. We should know who we are dealing with.”

Next to leave the limo was Adrien and his… boyfriend. Clearly, the Gorilla had not been able to intercept them as ordered. Though he’d seen the disaster that Adrien had made of his hair in the photos and video the previous night, it still shocked him.

He studied the body language of his son and Luka Couffaine, frowning. They appeared to be close, the other boy looking at him in such a way as to make the “boyfriend” claim believable. For the life of him, Gabriel couldn’t figure out how they could have met—though from the dossier Nathalie had prepared it seemed the boy’s younger sister was in Adrien’s class.

When Mlle. Tsurugi caught Lila’s wrist, he found himself letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. From the angle of the camera he had been uncertain who she intended to hit.

The teens played for the cameras masterfully, and Gabriel couldn’t help but be a little impressed. If this was staged, they had organized a believable PR opportunity on extremely short notice. If they weren’t working against his interests, he’d consider giving them internships at Gabriel.

Beside him, Nathalie let out an involuntary incredulous snort at Lila’s ridiculous accusation of pederasty.

Luka Couffaine gave a remarkably level response, and barely had Lila spoken again than the cameras jostled, moving around in a way that made it difficult to see what was happening, though it sounded like Lila let out a little shriek.

The camera’s focused on a young woman with purple in her dark hair as she yelled, “How dare you talk about my brother that way! You’re not worthy of the bottom of his shoes!”

Rather creative, as far as insults went.

Jagged Stone saw fit to introduce the girl as Luka Couffaine’s younger sister, who had been mentioned on the dossier Nathalie had prepared on the “boyfriend.” And identified their mother as a former bandmate of his.

Gabriel let out a disgusted sigh. Of all the riff-raff Adrien could consort with, he chose someone close to a disaster of a man like Jagged Stone. That certainly explained why the rocker was involved.

Lila’s desperate claims that Luka Couffaine was courting Marinette Dupain-Cheng, though interesting, were quickly refuted.

And then Kagami Tsurugi spoke, a complete falsehood as Gabriel had not been aware of this supposed boyfriend before Adrien took his Instagram account rogue the previous evening. He would have to find out if she was being misled or intentionally lying to damage his image.

He frowned at Mlle. Dupain-Cheng’s allegations of sexual impropriety toward Adrien by Lila, glancing toward Nathalie. “Have HR investigate that.”

The cameras jostled again as Lila childishly threw herself at the girl. When they focused, Lila was on the ground, a woman in a smart business skirt suit looking down at her with a bored look on her face.

Nathalie started typing notes on her tablet as the woman, apparently M. Stone’s lawyer, outlined a list of charges against Lila. Her fingers stopped at Lila’s accusation—which, while twisted, was technically not entirely a lie.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. He had miscalculated, using this girl. She was far too much a loose cannon, clearly, out only for herself. He had known that, of course, but thought her controllable, someone who would not bite the hand that fed her.

“Have HR fire her immediately. Gabriel social media should put out a statement announcing that, stating an investigation will be made into the sexual assault claims.”

More drama unfolded on the TV, the situation interrupted by the inept principal of the school. Lila’s attempts at getting Mlle. Couffaine in trouble were cut off by the lawyer, who announced further charges based on the defamation and attempted assault against M. Couffaine.

He watched, stewing, as a touching goodbye took place between his son and the other boy, as they exchanged pet names, even.

Truly, if this was a performance, much had gone into it in under 24 hours. It left him uneasy.

The paparazzi continued filming as Mlle. Tsurugi left, as Jagged Stone tried to coax his ridiculous crocodile out of the limo, as Adrien and Luka flirted further, as Lila shrieked and tried to interrupt through what would have likely been violence if not for the snapping crocodile taking offense to her.

Her ire turned to Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, whose large father stepped in front of her as a shield, before she was scolded by the principal and ordered into the school.

Lila’s last attempt to turn matters in her favor, claiming Marinette was a bully, was laughed off by Jagged Stone.

The press swarmed them, calling out questions that were largely inane at best, though the one questioning the relationship between Mlle. Dupain-Cheng and Mlle. Tsurugi caught Gabriel’s attention.

“I think a call to Mme. Tsurugi shortly will be in our best interests, perhaps,” he murmured.

“I’ll add it to your schedule, sir.”

He was impressed when his son shut down the reporters, asserting his right as a minor not to be filmed. The boy had jumped to defend Mlle. Dupain-Cheng from a question regarding the “leaked” text messages, confirming he released them himself.

Ending his association with Lila Rossi was necessary, particularly if she was foolish enough to leave such damning evidence to be released.

The drama moved into the school, where the cameras would not follow, and Gabriel stood.

“You will watch through a butterfly?” Nathalie asked.

He only nodded in response as he moved past.

Gabriel didn’t transform until he was safely in his lair, ignoring the reproachful look from Nooroo. He quickly sent an Akuma out toward the school, letting it hover so he could get a better picture.

What he found was… boring. The group including Adrien and Mlle. Dupain-Cheng were seated outside the principal’s office, waiting on something. The girl herself was half-asleep against her mother.

Movement and anger caught his attention. A woman was stalking across the courtyard, then up the stairs. She marched right to Mme. Bustier’s room and started yelling… in Italian.

He guessed this was Lila Rossi’s mother.

The argument spilled into the open-air hallway, the rage from both of them potent Akuma possibilities—though he preferred not to use the younger Rossi any longer.

The Akuma was noticed, he realized, when shock and horror assailed him from all around. The Akuma dipped lower, drawn by the tumult, only to be captured.

Lila Rossi’s mind was a dungeon of grudges and entitlement, filthy and haughty. It always had been, but the sheer narcissism of her inflated self-import was cloying in a sickening way.

Before he could even begin to speak to her, though, pain assailed his senses, and he was abruptly aware that his connection had been severed. When he had his senses back, he realized his Akuma had been captured in a jar. He didn’t know what had led to that, but the emotions he felt were even more promising than the Rossis’.

The guilt and horror and anger of Alya Césaire was so potent he sent the Akuma beating against the glass to try to reach her, to no avail—it was only as strong as a simple butterfly. He couldn’t Akumatize her, no matter how powerful she would be. He couldn’t send out another Akuma, not with one already out, and Nathalie wasn’t strong enough for another try at Scarlet Hawkmoth, though this was the perfect occasion for it.

Before long, the Akuma was shut in darkness, and was thus useless.

He snarled in frustration, letting his transformation fall. Nooroo only regarded him silently.

Useless.

Only the mundane was left to him—a call to Mme. Tsurugi, after he’d calmed.

It would be hours, the Akuma long since purified by Ladybug, before he’d realize he could have recalled the power and sent out another.

No amount of railing at Nooroo would give him that opportunity back—and the kwami only murmured cheekily, “You didn’t ask” when Gabriel demanded to know why he hadn’t recommended it.

--

Marinette felt her phone buzz on her lap and snuck a peek at it.

Kagami: Are we dating now, too?

She could feel the heat rush to her face. A coughing fit overtook her. She only vaguely aware of what was going on around her, until a cup of water was pushed in her hand and she found herself in the hallway with Adrien.

He looked concerned, so she silently showed him her phone.

Another text had come in, as it turned out.

Kagami: M. Agreste called my mother. She wishes to know the answer to the question from that reporter.

To her surprise, he quirked a cheeky grin, his eyes lighting up. “Oh, you should.”

He was going to be the death of her.

[crqstalite]

oc interview!

tagged by @spaceprincealenko​ ! tagging,,, anyone who sees this because i’ve already tagged enough people today lol.

Alexandra June “A.J” Shepard

Role: First Human Spectre

BASICS

Full Name: Alexandra June Shepard

Nickname(s): Lexi (by Miranda or Kaidan only), June (see previous), AJ

Pronouns: She/Her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Occupation and Titles: First Human Spectre, Lieutenant Commander of the SSV Normandy, N7 Sentinel.

Birthday & Age: April 11th, 2154, currently 32.

Physical description: AJ stands at around 5′6″ (167.64 cm), with a mostly lithe build. Dark, nearly black eyes, and pixie cut naturally brown hair, though she dyes it red because it distances her from her past a bit. Deep scar on her neck from Akuze, and two lighter ones across her nose and jaw. Has about twenty million (more accurately, nine she keeps open) piercings from over the years, though more often than not, keeps the three up her left ear and two up her right with earrings in whenever she’s on shore leave.

Clothing style: AJ doesn’t usually intend it, but she goes for a far less ‘standing out’ sort of look than one would expect. Hiding in hoodies is usually her go to look, even though her dark makeup and bright red hair makes her rather difficult to lose in a crowd. Something like this.

BACKGROUND

AJ is a spacer kid, through and through. Mostly having grown up on various stations, home had always been among the stars (and Arcturus). She definitely doesn’t know much else, and for a time, that was okay. Having never known her father, it was just her and Hannah for the longest time. Her biotics then developed in her early teen years, and things shifted. Considering just how new they were around the time her aptitude was discovered, there were a lot of unknowns -- and to a point, that fascinated and terrified her. AJ just nearly skirted ending up at Jump Zero, which until she found out exactly what’d happened there, she was convinced her mother had effectively stunted whatever developing powers she had. Hannah had never wanted an implant for her daughter, even if she was lucky enough to still be alive after eezo exposure, she didn’t want to lose her to whatever side effects could come of it. Not to mention, AJ was just a frustrated person and frustrating person to be around. Loud, a bit of a perfectionist and not the best socially were a recipe for disaster. Funnily enough, small spaces weren’t good for a developing biotic, and a hyperactive kid with too much energy to burn. Regulating her emotions was a long and very difficult task stemming from her childhood, something Hannah just didn’t have the time or emotional capacity for. Every teacher of her’s always had something to say about the disruptive and frankly, entirely absent Shepard kid, and to no one’s surprise, it took a toll on AJ, who couldn’t really figure out why she was the way she was. No one was really able to help her either.

So of course, she doubled down on it. While she masked some things, she amplified others. AJ became a bit of a social butterfly, but only because she was rather intuitive to how others acted, and copied it near perfectly. Showing up to classes was rarely something she wanted to do, and was more than happy to sit and stare into space, or play with what limited biotic abilities she had. Which only lead to more of a rift between mother and daughter, the former who couldn’t figure out why her all around intelligent daughter was so determined not to use that intelligence for good, and the latter who couldn’t figure out what people wanted from her. They never verbally fought (well, not really. AJ can count on two hands how many times it was more a stern talking to -- and very one sided), but it was clear enough to AJ that she’d never quite be enough for Captain Shepard.

By the time AJ met Anderson around the age of seventeen, she was just near about to careen off the radar entirely. Hannah couldn’t figure her out no matter what she did, and AJ no longer really cared for what she thought. AJ had never gotten to be violent, but she was someone that her peers more respected than actually liked. One of the only students to still hold a passing grade (mostly off of exams) without having ever really shown aptitude for anything. A chance meeting during one weekend that really did turn her life around a bit, even if she was a bit put off by how kind Anderson was to her. The Alliance gave her a purpose at the very least. Her skills were put to use, and by nineteen, she’d followed in some of the footsteps that Hannah left. One of her first real deployments was to the eventual squad that followed up on leads to Akuze. One man, Walter Castillo, had taken a liking to her and took the young biotic under his wing. He was also the one that had made her begin using the name June instead of her first name, Alexandra, so that she could put some distance between herself and the girl that’d been such a thorn in everyone’s side. Staff Commander Castillo was one of her only acquaintances during that time, and like Anderson, a father figure to her.

Akuze was, evidently, the first time she’d ever failed. The entire mission plagues her like no other. She still deals with the lasting scars it left on her, and has never been able to really talk about the massacre with anyone, especially after Castillo was one of the last people for her to hear and she spent a very, very long four hours waiting for extraction, in the dark, and in tears.

After that, Shepard became a bit of a recluse. She was seen as too much of an omen to most to ever build lasting relationships with, and she didn’t mind it. She had seen herself as a disappointment to her mother for years on end and a failure to her squad on Akuze -- she wasn’t ready to add another crew to the list. She rose through the ranks rather quietly until Anderson picked her back up for a tour on the Normandy.

AJ was a name she chose for herself, in the end. Not Alexandra, who’d only be imperfect in the eyes of the people who cared about her, and not June, who’d failed the people who needed her. AJ Shepard was a blank slate, who was still tainted with the failures of the past, but was growing beyond it.

COMBAT & SKILLS

Preferred fighting style: AJ is a sentinel, which by every definition, doesn’t really make her a frontline soldier. Yet, you’ll find her leading the charge anyway. She’s trained in just about every weapon, but is more than happy to carry just a pistol into combat and relies heavily on her biotics. Mostly employing medium strength armor, and consistently will put her own wellbeing in danger for others. Some call her reckless. She is, but isn’t about to let someone die if she has anything to say about it. Not again.

Unlike her fellow sentinel, Kaidan, she’s far less about control. Not to say she isn’t capable, but when push comes to shove, she is not above cheap shots or letting loose.

Favorite weapon(s): Her pistol of choice is the N7 Eagle.

Special skills: An N7 Sentinel with extensive biotic training post-enlistment, and while fine-tuning is something she still needs to work on, her biotics are her favorite. She’s rather proud of how far she’s come. While sitting still to learn proper tech, she is definitely the creative type. Unconventional strategies are her forte, and and overload combo is the single best thing.

RELATIONSHIPS

Family: Hannah Shepard (mother), Miranda Lawson (wife).

Love interest: In her ‘canon’ of sorts, Miranda Lawson, who she’s happily married to after the Reaper War. In an AU, Kaidan Alenko.

Best friends: Has friends out of Jack (much to Miranda’s chagrin), Liara, Jacob, Kaidan, and James.

PERSONALITY

AJ is nothing if not a little bit spiky all around. She is blunt, and will never lie to your face even if it hurts. She is not one for empty compliments, at all. They piss her off, and she knows when someone’s lying to her face, even if it’s just to make her smile. Because of that, it takes a bit for someone to become even acquaintances with her, and she doesn’t like to get to know her crew that much, even if pressed. It mostly stems from her fear that as soon as she becomes as close to them as she did Walter, she’ll lose them. After they lost Ashley, it only became that much clearer. She left the investigation into Saren knowing more about her crew than they knew about her, and that was fine. That wasn’t ideal, but she didn’t know much better.

The crew of the Normandy SR-2 that followed her into the maw on the suicide mission were the first people who ever saw much of her personality, someone who was going through an identity crisis but also someone who didn’t really have anyone left she cared about, and was convinced she was defective. Her own floundering attempts to cultivate real relationships and friendships months away from possibly dying after already having been brought back weren’t futile, at least. Her past made her cynical, but given the time, it made her care for the people who weren’t out to get her that much more. While it may not have always been clear because of how quiet she was (and how many roundabout ways she had to show that she cared), by the time they arrived back to Earth, there wasn’t much question that she wouldn’t lay her life on the line for these people. Seen as a bit fatalistic at times, she only does it because, well, she can’t stand the idea of losing someone else. Suffocating almost. Still, it makes her a good friend though. 

Her love language is words of affirmation -- people confirming that she hasn’t done anything wrong, or that they still do love and care for her is all she ever wanted when she was younger.

The red, short hair and piercings were more of acts of rebellion, if anything, that followed her into adulthood. She gave it up during her service with the Alliance to revert back to brown, though went right back to it during her stint with Cerberus. Checks out and tracks that when she came back to the Alliance three years later, Kaidan didn’t recognize her at first.

[iggyalfi2319]

Between Borrower and Giant#2

 BBAG: 1/X/? - A/N

Oh wow! I didn’t expect it to take off 0.0

Thanks guys for showing your appreciation ^.^

I’ll try to keep doing my best!

Note: I don’t use the word “human” for any realm because, as I said, it’s a perspective matter. They are technically all humans but with two different scales. Giants and Tinies. Borrowers are Tinies who ventures in the Giant realm, but not all Tinies are Borrowers. - Some backstory in this one, and Virgil being a protective brother. (I really love my OC squad as much as Virge XP)

Warning: mention of dark past, nightmares, discrimination, mild fights, Tinies massacre.

=====BBAG=====

Power: (noun) A specific capacity, faculty, or aptitude.

Different: (adjective) Differing from all others; unusual.

Discriminate: (intransitive verb)  To make distinctions on the basis of class or category without regard to individual merit, especially to show prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or a similar social factor. - Everything is just a question of perspective. 

Virgil’s eyes fluttered softly when he caught the sound and the smell of Cara cooking breakfast.

He wanted to stretch out from his cramped position, before remembering that his young roommates where sleeping on him once again.

They came from very far before reaching this closeness.

Especially the youngest and smallest one, Björn and Milka, his childhood friend. The two were like brother and sister.

Their first encounter with Virgil wasn’t really the best.

- Flashback -

The two lost their parents because of Giants when they were even younger, during a Big Raid. Some Giants had come down to the other realm just for playing Smash and Grab in some nearby Tiny towns. It was like humans playing with ants.

After the raid, Amos and a few other Borrowers from other towns went to check the ruins, in case there was any survivors.

It was a real disaster.

There was giant footprints, crushed houses....and stomped corpses...

Virgil was accompanying Amos, at that time he was a lot smaller, but still bigger than everyone.

10ft for 15 years old.

In that situation, his size was rather convenient for working through the ruins.

The young Giant looked around.

It reminded him when Amos found him in the forest with no memories of what happened to him nor his family. He was just lying in the middle of a destroyed village, with no one else around but him. He was so scared and confused when the man, clearly older yet smaller than him by a foot or two, came to him -

Virgil’s breath started to get shallow.

The massacre surrounding him was making him anxious and scared.

When he heard a small whimper from a pile of rubble.

He immediately went to it, calling the rescuers.

“Leave the clearing to Virgil and secure the place.” Amos instructed. “Get the medical kit ready if they are severely injured.”

They are counting on me... It’s my first rescuing mission...I can’t mess up...

Virgil’s hands where shaking.

“No pressure. You have to stay calm.” Amos said.

The Giant teen exhaled softly and started to work. He delicately peeled off the big pieces of concrete, making sure to set them in a safe place, away from the ruins who threatened to collapse.

Soon enough, with the help of the other rescuers they cleared a path among the rubble.

“See anything yet?” One asked. “No, it’s still too narrow but it’s too dangerous to try to jostle the building any further.” Another shook their head.

Virgil couldn’t help but think he messed up.

When he saw what they were looking for.

“Move away.” He told the team, before grabbing a great handful off the building.

It revealed a small ginger haired boy, curled up on himself.

Instinctively, the teen went to pick him up.

Immediately, the boy let out a shriek of fear and tried to back away from his hand. He shot Virgil a terrorized look.

The sight of the boy’s icy eyes froze him to the core.

The boy was scared of him.

Of course he would be scared of you. He just got attacked by Giants...

Amos was about to tell the boy there was no need to be scared of Virgil -

“LOOK OUT!”

A big piece of concrete flew out of nowhere, aimed at Virgil.

He would have easily avoided it, if only he wasn’t frozen in place, the boy’s eyes locked into his.

The Giant teen got the full blow and was sent crashing down a few feet away.

“VIRGIL!” Amos yelled and ran to him.

“STAY AWAY FROM US! MONSTER!” Another child shouted.

They were probably a few years older than the first, standing rather tall, with short blond hair, glaring at Virgil with their valid brown eye while the right side of their face was badly injured. The smaller boy went to hide behind his friend.

As soon as the icy eyes were off the emo teen, he suddenly unfroze.

“Are you okay?” Amos asked him.

“I don’t know why but I was completely frozen...” He groaned softly. “But I think I’ll manage...”

“Are you siding with that...thing?!” The blonde snarled, trying to be brave.

But they were as shaking as the other child.

“His name is Virgil. And he’s not a thing.” The bearded man scolded.

“H-He’s a Giant!” They protested vehemently.

“He’s actually a special case.” Amos said. “As special as you two.”

The children’s eyes widened.

“How...” the smallest whimpered.

“When you locked eye with Virgil, you totally froze him. So I guess you have the ability to paralyze anyone who looks into your eyes.” The boy looked down.

“As for you...” Amos looked at the oldest. “The piece of concrete didn’t fly on its own, did it?”

“That’s quite some strength you have in here, lil guy...” Virgil grunted, rubbing the sore spot where he received the blow. Luckily nothing was broken, but that would surely leave some bruises.

“Milka not boy!” The little one huffed cutely.

“Björn!” The blonde hissed.

Virgil blinked.

“Sorry for assuming -”

“Keep your apology!” Milka cut him. “Girls aren’t supposed to be strong... so I can be as strong as I want as a boy!”

Virgil snorted.

“You can be a girl and strong at the same time, you just proved it.”

He poked her, as she growled and shoved off his hand with a surprisingly great ease.

“Where Björn and Milka go now?” Björn sniffled. “B-Bad Giants taken Björn’s and Milka’s parents... no family...”

“Did he always talk like that?” Amos asked, wanting to check if it was from the beginning or a trauma.

“Björn is...well...” Milka tried to choose her words, but the boy already looked down in shame.

“Hey, now, it’s okay.” Amos knelt down to their level. “You see, I have a daughter, and she is slow on her growth too.”

The children slowly eased down, but they were clearly still scared of Virgil.

“I get it...” he stood up and went to help on another site.

The kids exhaled in relief.

“Don’t be too hard with him...” the bearded man mumbled. “After all, he lost his family in similar conditions...”

“Are you sure he’s really not one of them?” Milk asked once again, trying to fight the urge to feel bad for the teen.

“We cannot be sure, but in scale speaking, it’s the same as you with him.” Amos tried to explain. “He’s merely doll sized to the Giants.”

Milka still wasn’t conviced but didn’t press the matter.

While the children were getting a medical check, Virgil helped the rescuers by clearing the rubble or carrying injured people toward the safe zone.

The team noted that thanks to him, they managed to save a lot more people that they ever did during all their previous after raid rescue missions.

Sadly for the teen, as expected, rescued people were scared and some even mad at him. For everything Giants did to them.

“You’re not like them.” A rescuer tried to comfort him. “These people are just scared.”

“B-B-But what if I really become a Giant?” Virgil rubbed his eyes.

“Just the fact you’re worrying about it makes you different from them. Also, you grew up with us. Another reason for us Tinies to trust you because we know you’ll never hurt us. At least not intentionally.”

“Exactly! What if I accidentally hurt you?” Virgil whimpered.

“Hey, it can happen to anyone. Everyone makes mistake. Now stop worrying over things that didn’t happen, a storm cloud is literally growing over your head.” the rescuer chuckled.

Virgil smiled slightly.

The night fell.

Everyone was gathered in the safe camp.

Well...almost everyone.

Virgil was a few feet away from there.

He could feel the people glancing at him warily, sometimes glaring. But the worse were the not-so-quiet whispers.

Either despite being the greatest sized type, he was still a Giant who could attack them any time. Or worse, he caught a disease that caused him to grow and was turning him into a Giant and they were afraid it might be contagious.

Virgil was scared about that one.

What if it was true? What if something was clearly wrong with him? What if he did turn into a Giant? What if -

“You should eat something.”

The teen got startled by Amos touching him. He looked down, seeing his foster father with a plate of food.

“That thing is going to eat all the food... They should give it to the ones who really need it instead...” Someone muttered.

Virgil hugged his knees, trying to make himself smaller.

Amos wasn’t the one to get mad easily, but there were lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

“His name is Virgil, and he’s not a thing.” He said sternly. “He’s my son.”

“It’s a Giant!” Someone else protested.

“So what?” Amos glared. “If he really wanted to harm us, don’t you think he would have done so a while ago?”

He rested a hand on the teen’s leg.

“This young man here is the one who helped us to rescue you. So instead of throwing stones at him, you should give him some gratitude.”

The rescuers who worked with Amos for a long time and who knew Virgil since he joined the Andersen family went to the teen’s sides. Maybe not all liked him, but they at least showed some respect because he was a good person despite the great bumps on the road at the beginning. If the teen could be a real moody pain in the @$$ sometimes, he still tried to do his best to help people he cared about.

“Everyone is tired and stressed out. I think it’s better for all of us to call it a night and go to sleep.” Amos said.

Virgil stood up, his hair shadowing his face.

Of course, people whimpered and cowered, expecting the Giant teen to be mad at them and attack.

“I’ll take the first turn.” He said, walking away from the camp.

Despite his size, he was pretty swift and quiet.

Björn and Milka watched him go, saying nothing.

The next day, they woke up on the sound of someone scratching the earth and wood snapping.

They went outside, looking for the source of the noises.

The other villagers had the same idea because they joined the children outside.

Their breath got caught in their throat when they found it.

Virgil was digging holes in the ground, bare handed. Then he carefully put down the deceased Tinies, planting a wooden cross next to each holes.

There was at least a hundred of corpses.

Each were ceremoniously placed in the improvised graves, a flower in their hands.

“Virgil.”

Said teen jumped out of his skin when Amos went to him.

“O-oh...good morning Amos...”

As the sun was slowly getting up, Virgil’s state was getting visible to everyone.

He looked really exhausted, like he hadn’t slept at all but also got a very rough night. He was all dirty with several injuries that looked like claw and bites marks

“Virgil...what happened?” Amos worried

“Hm? Oh you mean these?” Virgil showed his injuries before shrugging “I had a “little” skirmish with a bear, that’s all, haha...”

Dread fell upon the villagers. Seeing the Giant teen’s injuries, it was certainly not a little skirmish like he said. He had a bad gash on his flank, barely patched up and deep bite marks on his arms.

“You went to fight a bear?! On your own?!”

“Of course on my own, you guys wouldn’t be any helpful...” Virgil huffed.

“Virgil...” Amos muttered.

The worse was to admit that the young Giant wasn’t completely wrong. If Virgil, being almost at the same height/length as the bear, struggled to fight it off, what a bunch of Tinies could have done against such a beast?

“It was sniffing around the corpses.” The emo muttered, starting to work again. “I thought they deserved at least funeral...”

He laughed weakly.

“Too bad I’m not dead, huh-”

A resonating slap echoed through the ruined town.

Virgil was shell shocked.

Amos had grasped is shirt and downright slapped him.

“A-Amos....” Virgil teared up.

“Don’t you ever say something like that again.” The older man’s eyes were really stormy.

Virgil tried not to weep when, Amos hugged him tightly.

The teen broke down, the lack of sleep and stress catching up.

That was the only time Amos raised his hand at him. He was very angry and scared at that moment.

“Let’s get you treated, okay?” Amos spoke softly.

Virgil nodded.

Before collapsing.

“Still think he’s a nuisance?” A rescuer asked the villagers while the others rushed to help Amos with Virgil. 8 persons were needed to move the 10ft Giant.

Though, the teen was worryingly light for his size.

When Virgil woke up, he was surprised to find Björn and Milka seated by his sides.

“What are you guys doing here...” he muttered

“Hey, Björn, look! Mr Giant is awake!” Milka said.

Before deliberately placing the little boy on Virgil’s chest.

“Is Mr Giant okay?” the small Tiny fretted around the teen. His impossibly icy blue eyes locked inton Virgil’s dark violet ones.

“!!!” His entire body froze up, causing him to be unable to move or talk.

“Yeah, Mr Giant ~” Milka said sweetly. “Are you okay?”

“...” Virgil couldn’t even twitch an eyebrow.

While he did believe that Björn wasn’t aware of the use of his ability on him, he was definitely sure that Milka did that on purpose.

Just you wait you sneaky little -

“Björn, my boy, I need you to come with me. Amos wants to discuss about something very important with you.” A rescuer picked up the boy. “Ah! Wait -” Milka reached for him “Don’t worry.” The rescuer said, cradling the small child. “He’s not in trouble.”

Björn cooed softly in their arms.

Closing his eyes.

“Oh and Virgil.” The adult looked back. “Be nice to her, okay?” They walked off.

“Oh no...” Milka whimpered.

She slowly turned around, seeing the Giant form of Virgil towering her.

“Don’t worry.”  he grinned dangerously as he slowly creaked his knuckles. “I’ll be  V-E-R-Y nice to you.” “I’ve discussed with the village’s elders. They agreed to let you two live with us since you don’t have anywhere to go.” Amos told the boy.

“Huh?” Björn blinked, not sure to have heard right.

“Yes Björn.” Amos said, trying to focus on the boy’s flamboyant hair instead of his big teary eyes. “You and Milka will live with Virgil and I.”

Big fat tears flooded out the boy’s face as Amos hugged him tenderly.

“I wanted to tell you first because I think Milka would have done everything to make you refuse...” He ruffled his hair. “I know she just wants to care about you. But if it’s you who wants it, I’m sure she’ll follow you with no hesitation.”

“Björn is so happy!” The boy bawled out, creating a big wet spot on Amos’ shirt.

“Now now. Dry up your tears and let’s tell the news to Milka and Virgil. Okay?”

Björn paused.

“Does it mean Mr G- Virgil will be Björn’s brother?” He whimpered softly.

“Don’t worry.” Amos reassured him. “I’m sure you three will get along just fine.” SLAM

“GOTCHA!” Virgil said triumphantly when he pinned Milka under his hand onto the ground.

“Oh yeah?” Milka glared, before biting into his finger.

“OW!” The teen drew back his hand and glared back. “Oh really is it now!”

“Bring it on!” She challenged.

While Virgil was clearly advantaged by his size, Milka’s terrifying strength wasn’t something to scoff at.

The two bickered and fought over ferociously.

Every time Virgil immobilized her, Milka easily broke free from his grasp. She tripped him off his feet several times, but he was quick to get back up.

“Milka! Milka! Guess what!” Björn ran to them before stopping abruptly.

“AAAAAAH!” He screamed.

“Björn?!” Amos ran to him, when he saw the scene.

Virgil was restraining Milka by her waist as she was pushing his face away.

“ENOUGH!” Amos’ voice thundered.

Virgil froze and Milka used that opportunity to elbow him in the ribs and made him drop her.

“What on earth is going on here!” Amos crossed his arms.

“He/She started it!” They both said before glaring at each other.

The older male pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily.

“So, since you two seems to get along very well, there’s no problem in me saying that Milka and Björn will live with us, starting today?” Amos told them

“WHAT?!” Both screamed.

“I never agreed -” Milka protested. “I already asked Björn and he accepted.” She quieted down

“What about Cara and the twins?” Virgil spoke up.

He already had to deal with Matthias all the time. There was no way he could stand Matthias AND Milka.

Amos scratched the back of his head.

“I’ll face the consequences later.” He said sheepishly.

Virgil groaned and covered his face.

- End of Flashback -

“Hn..Hn...”

Virgil was pulled out of his reminiscing when he heard soft whines.

He looked down, seeing Björn curled up, crying softly. He was probably having a nightmare.

Björn didn’t grow much over the years, both physically and mentally. On cue, Björn still slept with a pacifier and his teddy bear.

Virgil sighed soft and sat up, careful not to wake the others.

He gently scooped up the ginger haired boy and rocked him against his chest like a baby.

“There there, it’s okay. I’m here.” Virgil hummed softly. “Shhhh.”

The boy cooed softly, gripping his shirt.

Virgil smiled lightly.

“He had another nightmare, didn’t he?”

The young man looked over the person who spoke.

Milka.

“He really likes you.” She said, standing before him. “I’m jealous.”

“Don’t say that.” Virgil shuffled, letting her sit on his lap. “You will always be his big sister and best friend.”

She sighed, crossing her arms.

“Do you want me to comb your hair?” He asked her.

“Huh?” She looked up at him.

“Your hair. Do you need help with them?”

“...” She looked away. “Fine.”

She went to retrieve the hairbrush before giving it to the young Giant and carefully sitting on his knee.

Virgil moved lightly his right arm so he could support Björn against his chest before taking the hairbrush and starting to work.

Despite his size, he was very gentle and careful.

“A lot happened since you grew them out, huh.” He said.

Milka just hummed.

Her vanilla blonde hair now reached just below her waist, as long bangs completely covered the right side of her face, hiding the reminder of the scary event.

Amos came over, about to wake the children for the day, When he saw the scene.

Despite everything they went through, it was clear that Virgil cared about each member of his family.

The old man chuckled softly, deciding to let them bound a little longer.

=====BBAG=====

(EDIT 19/05/2020: art of Virgil and Bjorn here )

BBAG: 1/X/?

Leave a comment and a like if possible ^^

(want to be @? let me know)

[in-class-daydreams]

Blue Star | Oikawa x Reader | Ch. 3

- Pairing: Oikawa Tooru x Reader

- Word Count: ~ 4800

- Genres: Fluff, angst, idiots in love(?)

- Summary: Sometimes, (Y/N) wonders if it was hard for her father to send her away. To a new prefecture, a new home, a new school. It all just might be worth it when after becoming the (suspiciously knowledgeable) manager of the Aoba Johsai boys’ volleyball club, she meets Oikawa Tooru. Together, they do their best to exorcise demons they thought would never leave. They learn about progress, when to strive for it, and when to accept the realities that cannot be changed.

Chapters: First | Previous | Next (coming soon!)

“We can’t fucking tell anyone about this!”

Oikawa stared blankly back at the naked girl in front of him.

“What? I thought all this was to get back at Tachibana and her squad? I thought we wanted them to know,” he protested.

(Y/N) pulled the covers tighter, “You think I want the whole school knowing about my sex life? I’ll just enjoy this personal victory while I get good dick as a bonus. It’s a win-win for me.”

“That’s really flattering, (Y/N)-chan, but I’m saving myself for marriage.”

“...”

“...”

“We’re literally naked as we spea-- You know what, moving on. No marks!”

Oikawa smirked, “Why not?”

“So no one sees them, obviously. That kinda defeats the purpose of tryna keep my sex life private.”

“That’s great and all, (Y/N)-chan, but uh,” he gave her blanket a light tug.

(Y/N) looked at him in disbelief. She whipped the covers off of her sore thighs, only to shriek at what she saw. Her poor thighs were littered with dark purple spots with a few deeper ones where his fingers had been. Oikawa had gone absolutely feral on her thighs. Seeing those marks again got her distracted by memories from last night. Luckily, her indignation stopped her from initiating round two.

“Oikawa! Are you kidding me? You went nuts!” she cried.

To her irritation, he just shrugged, “‘Twasn’t me.” He grabbed at her playfully and tried to pull her towards him. The action made (Y/N) kick at him to ward him off.

“Besides,” he turned around to reveal deep red scratches along his shoulder blades, “I wasn’t the only one who went nuts.”

(Y/N) gasped loudly. She gently ran her cool fingers along the marks.

“Oikawa--”

“Also, you can call me Tooru now, considering we’re naked in bed together and I’ve been calling you (Y/N)-chan since day one.”

The girl behind him huffed, “Tooru, you should have stopped me! These are so deep, oh my god!”

She dragged the comforter with her when she got up.

“Where’s your first aid kit?” she demanded.

“Bathroom. You know, I was a little too preoccupied to stop you.”

Oikawa hugged his pillow against his chest. He thought about how cute (Y/N) was shuffling around his room, trying not to trip over her blanket. The scratches really didn’t hurt, but he wanted to play up the pain a bit just to get her to fuss over him.

‘(Y/N)-chan, you’re gonna make me fall for you, and you won’t even feel sorry for it, will you?’

When she was finished tending to him, he felt her arms wrap around him from behind, her boobs pressed against his back.

“Careful, (Y/N)-chan, if you keep doing that, we’ll miss breakfast with Iwa-cha-- Uh oh.

“Crap!”

“You’re fucking kidding me!” Their heads snapped towards the doorway, where Iwaizumi stood with his palms pressed against his poor eyes.

“Iwa-chan! You could have knocked!”

“That hasn’t been necessary for the past ten or so years, Bakakawa.”

They both began to apologize but Iwaizumi just raised a hand to stop them, “Just-- Just get dressed. You two need Jesus. I’m gonna go bleach my eyeballs.” He fled the scene as quickly as possible.

Oikawa gave (Y/N) a sheepish grin.

“It’s okay, Iwa-Chan was gonna find out soon, anyway,” he tried to reason.

Mortified, (Y/N) buried her face in her hands.

~~

On Monday, (Y/N) opened her locker to the most stomach-churning smell she’d encountered since the last time Hubble had a stomach bug. Her hand shot up to cover her nose as she tentatively thumbed through the foul-smelling contents of her locker.

“(L/N)-san, you really should have put deodorant on today!” Obnoxious giggling sounded from behind her. The smell had seeped into the few items in her locker. Her PE clothes were smelly, but otherwise clean, and so was the old sweater she kept in there for emergencies. Soon, she came to the source of the smell: her gym shoes. Inside, she saw a disgusting looking liquid and egg shell fragments in each. They must have been in there since Friday.

“(L/N)-san, you should tell sensei about what they did,” a short-haired girl who used the locker next to hers whispered.

“No,” (Y/N) said with gritted teeth, “I’m not giving them the satisfaction.”

~~

“What’s this I hear about someone putting eggs in your gym shoes?”

(Y/N) was desperately trying to hush Iwaizumi’s outraged shouting. The two of them were stashed away in an empty stairwell where Iwaizumi had dragged her before practice.

“Keep it down! It’s not-- It’s not a big deal! They’re just being petty, Hajime. They’ll lose interest eventually.”

Iwaizumi was absolutely furious at both the petty prank and at (Y/N)’s willingness to tolerate it. The teen just couldn’t fathom any reason why (Y/N) should have to tolerate any kind of bullying at all.

“You didn’t fucking do anything! They’re just jealous of you hanging around Oikawa and that’s their problem! Why are you just gonna take it?”

“If I tell anyone, it’ll become a bigger deal.”

Iwaizumi ran a frustrated hand through his short hair, “They’re his fangirls. You should make Shittyka--”

“No!” (Y/N) made an X with her arms, “I don’t want Tooru involved in this. I don’t want him coming to rescue me.”

Her friend closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

“(Y/N), having him taking responsibility for--”

“Hajime,” she squeezed one of his large hands in both of hers, “Please. I just want to ignore all this until it stops.”

“Alright, fine. I won’t tell him, and I won’t make you tell him.”

“Thank yo--”

“I’m not done. The moment - And I mean it, (L/N) - the moment it escalates beyond petty shit like this, you’ll tell someone about it. Oikawa or me or a teacher, I don’t care who, but you’re not gonna just sit here and take it if it gets worse, okay?’

“Okay.”

Iwaizumi grabbed her by the shoulders, “(Y/N), promise me.”

“I promise.”

~~

[NEW] From: Tooruwu <3 [8:26 am]: Don’t miss me too much while ur off visiting ur parents! ★⌒ヽ( ͡° ε ͡°)

(Y/N) wished she could have been watching anime with Oikawa and Iwaizumi or facetiming Wakatoshi. She’d even rather be cleaning out Hubble’s litter box than be where she was now.

The past week at Aoba Johsai felt like she had a fresh start. All of her relationships were made organically, rather than being based on her reputation. Now, surrounded by the pristine leather seats being driven back to Tokyo by one of the family’s nameless, faceless drivers, she wondered if maybe it was all a dream.

Considering she had to move away and live alone while she was still in high school, she thought maybe her parents would come visit her in Miyagi, even just once, but apparently they couldn’t be bothered. In her opinion, her father was just too important and too busy to check up on his only daughter. Or maybe (Y/N) was just being bitter.

The chiffon of her navy blue dress was meant to be comfortable, expensive as it was, but the whole getup, the hair, the dress, the destination, it all felt like she was being forcefully dragged back into a persona that just wasn’t real.

The driver pulled up in front of the massive estate and all (Y/N) could think was, “I want to go home.’

‘This is your home,’ a nagging voice in her head said, but (Y/N) didn’t agree. Somehow, her empty apartment with her grouchy cat and her school with a gaggle of bullies and her two huge boy-friends was more homey than this sterile, impersonal mansion had ever been. The estate had been her home for roughly half her life, yet the place lacked the warmth that a familiar place out to have.

All she wanted to do was get through this dinner and appease her parents enough so they’d let her leave. If she was lucky, none of her resentment towards them would leak out. Not that she was very lucky, anyway.

Spread out on the dinner table in front of her were all her favorites, which possibly could have meant something if her parents were the ones that remembered that particular detail and not the cook. (Y/N) made a mental note to thank him personally when she got the chance.

The three of them eating at the same time was a rare occurrence. Before she moved, she used to eat alone. If her parents were out of the mansion altogether, she’d eat dinner in the kitchen with the household staff. Those days were her favorite. It was funny, though. She got to spend time with the kind and caring people in her father’s employ, but for some reason, she found herself longing for her parents, however standoffish and impersonal they may be.

Today, they smiled and made small talk with her. The three of them sat at the table, eating together like a family. It was the only thing she ever wished for when she was younger.

‘Then why does this feel so wrong?’ she thought.

All of it left a vile taste in her mouth. Any sort of serenity she might have felt at having received her childhood wish was utterly absent at the fakeness of this whole scenario. Her mother asked her about school and friends, her father asked how she was settling into the new apartment. It was as if he wasn’t the one who sent her away, and as if her mother wasn’t the one who didn’t have the courage to stop him. Make no mistake, (Y/N) loved her new home away from them. She adored spending time with her cat and Oikawa and Iwaizumi. It just hurt how easy it was for them to send her there. When her father decided to ship her a few prefectures over, it would have been nice if he’d bothered to ask her opinion on the matter.

The sound of tableware filled the looming silence before (Y/N)’s father cleared his throat, and the room’s atmosphere turned rather serious.

“Doctor Niçonell sent us your imaging results.”

‘It’s okay, (Y/N). You can do this.’

“According to her, your knee has made a full recovery, and you can go back to volleyball.”

(Y/N) looked down at her plate. She had almost forgotten what it was like to sit, crumbling before the one person in the whole world that it physically hurt her to disappoint.

“Daddy, I don’t think I want to go back to volleyb--”

“(Y/N),” the older man sighed, “No daughter of mine would give up over something so minor. What happened last year was a shame, but--”

The fork in her hand dug into her palm from how hard she was gripping it. It felt like she was going to vomit. Her heart raced in her chest and her stomach lurched. They had had this conversation several times, even before she moved. It hurt every time. Every time, it felt like she wasn’t good enough for him. After a while, maybe she could have tolerated disappointing her father. The problem was the deep, despairing self-pity she felt whenever she was reminded of what happened.

“I don’t want to talk about it, father,” she said quietly.

Whether he just didn’t hear her or if he was ignoring her, she wasn’t sure. Either way, he didn’t acknowledge her words.

“You can get back into shape and begin training again for tryouts next year. I will send you the contact information for the physical therapist in Miyagi. You’ll be back on the--”

“Father, please.” (Y/N) continued to grip her fork, desperately trying to keep herself disconnected from reality. She focused all her energy into blocking out the memories that threatened to flood into her mind. The throb of an old injury ghosted over her left knee.

“We’ve had this conversation before. I can’t--”

“(Y/N),” her father snapped at her sharply, “Many athletes suffer from injuries in their career. Often they get a torn ACL or other injuries where they can no longer do their sport. But you... There’s nothing wrong with you. You can go back, which is more than several athletes can even hope for. Stop being weak-minded, stop thinking about what happened and play. Be grateful that you still can.”

There were a million things (Y/N) wanted to say to him. She wanted to tell him she knew. She knew how blessed she was that she physically could play volleyball again. Heaven knew she wanted to. But whenever she stepped on the court, the dread built in her stomach and suddenly, she was a first year again. In her flashback, she was behind the back line on the semifinal court to make it to nationals. Then the scene changes and she is face down on the gym floor, and the pain in her left knee is excruciating.

“You will work with the new sports psychologist I’ve hired. I hear she’s one of the best in her field.” Her father didn’t seem to notice the internal battle she was fighting.

At the time, she thought that no moment in her life would ever bring her the same amount of devastation as that day, but she was wrong. The worst was yet to come.

Her struggle to suppress the awful memories failed. Fat tears escaped her eyes and trailed down her cheeks. Across the table, her father clicked his tongue.

“(Y/N), stop crying!” His tone made her cry harder.

“Stop. There’s nothing for you to cry about.”

She begged herself to stop, but she just couldn’t. Being in her childhood home and being forced to remember the incident brought every gut-wrenching emotion that she’d meticulously stamped down to the surface.

“Fine,” her father huffed, “We can talk again when you can handle it.”

With that, he stood from his half-eaten meal and left the dining room. Her mother immediately stood and made to follow him. On the way out the door, she gently clasped her daughter’s shoulder. (Y/N) jerked away from the touch. The gesture felt meaningless when the woman hadn't said a single word in her defense. Of course, her mother hadn’t defended her once in her life, but (Y/N) was still foolishly waiting to be surprised. (Y/N) didn’t see her mother’s expression, but she heard the door shut behind her as the woman hurried after her husband. Only after they were gone did (Y/N) stop fighting back her emotions.

(Y/N)’s eyes burned with the force of her tears. She gasped deeply to try and get some air around her sobs. The house, the dining room, her parents, the dress she was wearing, the memory of that god-awful incident surrounded her and felt like they were closing in. She wanted to leave the house. Run out the door and go back to Miyagi where she could feed Hubble the cat and video chat with Wakatoshi. Maybe if she got home early enough, she could go out and get slushies with Oikawa. All of a sudden, the quiet life she’d built for herself felt so far away and her feet remained glued to the floor. Her legs felt heavy and all she could do was sit and cry, and cry, and keep crying until her eyes ached nearly as much as her heart. The familiar feeling of loneliness wrapped around her like an old friend.

The door opened again and the driver entered the room. The man offered to take her home whenever she wanted.

Wiping her bloodshot eyes with her napkin, she said, “Thank you, but I’d like to take the train home instead.”

After assuring the driver of her choice, she made her way up to her old bedroom to change. Most of her clothing was at the new apartment, save for the Kitagawa Daiichi Middle School sweatpants in the back of her closet and one of Ushijima’s old hoodies she’d stolen from him the last time she was at his house.

The trains from Tokyo are never empty like the ones in Miyagi. Luckily, city people had seen it all and didn’t bat an eyelash at the comfortably dressed teenage girl with red eyes and a defeated expression. Soon after boarding the train, she found herself a seat. It seemed the universe had enough of bullying her for the day. Checking her phone, she found several Chapsnats from Oikawa. Some of them consisted of him whining that he misses her and wants to go get food. Others were handsome pictures of himself (though she’d never tell him that), and one picture of Iwaizumi doing homework with the eggplant emoji surrounding him and one large one edited right on his cheek. (Y/N) laughed at the messages, brushing lingering tears from her cheeks.

From Wakatoshi, she received a short video of him staring blankly into the camera and Tendou striking a T-pose beside him to assert his dominance while yelling “(Y/N)-chan, fighting!” She smiled gently at the middle blocker’s enthusiasm. She simply replied, ‘Thank you <3.’

Aiming the camera up, she snapped a quick picture of the stop the train was currently at and texted Oikawa back, ‘Ya girl’s gonna be back in Miyagi soon.’

Minutes later, she opened a tastefully blurry picture of him with a pair of sexy white clout goggles, paired with an array of emojis around him, topped off with a caption that said, ‘Ya boi is r e a d y.’

About two hours and a whole box of chocolate Bocky later, the train arrived at her stop. (Y/N) started walking while trying to text both Oikawa and Ushijima that she’d made it to Miyagi safely. She navigated the thin crowd well enough until she crashed into a solid chest, nearly dropping her phone in the process.

“Excuse me,” she apologized. Looking up, she gasped at the tall brunette in front of her.

“Tooru! What are you doing here?” she fought unsuccessfully to keep the bright grin off her face. Oikawa handed her one of the smoothies he was holding.

“Walking you home, obviously. Why else would I be here?”

“Because you like the smell of Japanese public transit?” she offered. Oikawa scoffed.

“You got me.” He threw a casual arm around her shoulder and led her towards the exit

(Y/N) took a sip of the drink he gave her, “Mm, this is good. What is it?”

“No clue. I didn’t know what you liked so I just pointed at a picture on their menu.”

“I like it. I think it’s watermelon?”

“Let me try.” She held the cup up for him. He leaned over and took a sip.

“Wait, yours is way better than mine. Gimme,” he grabbed for the cup. She giggled as she held the drink away from his thieving hands.

When they got to her apartment, she told him to make himself comfortable while she fed Hubble. To her surprise, the scruffy orange feline came right up to Oikawa. Hubble bumped the boy’s shins with her head affectionately. Bending down, Oikawa scratched the cat under the chin.

“Aw, aren’t you sweet?” he cooed.

“Fake ass, stinky ass cat,” (Y/N) mumbled under her breath.

Oikawa gasped loudly. He covered the cat’s ears with his hands, “Don’t be mean! She didn’t mean that sweetheart, don’t listen to her.”

Hubble shot (Y/N) a triumphant grin.

“Fine. Metflix and chill with the cat, for all I care,” (Y/N) put her hands up in surrender.

“Wait, no!”

“Goodnight, you two!” she slowly inched towards the bedroom. Suddenly, she got a face full of Oikawa’s flat butt when he tossed her over his shoulder. He unceremoniously plunked them down on the couch and gave her the remote to appease her. Giving into him, she flipped through TV shows. The two of them had binged Ouran High School Host Club the last time they hung out and were in dire need of a new show.

“Should we watch Stranger Things?” she asked.

“I thought we wanted to start Blue Exorcist?” (Y/N) leaned against his chest, “We’re not even gonna try not to be weebs?”

“Are we weebs if we’re Japanese teenagers living in Japan?” he asked with his chin on her shoulder.

“Oh, big brain.”

“Galaxy brain.”

Oikawa gave them a few minutes to settle into their cuddle session before he said, “When you stepped off the train, you looked like you’d been crying.”

(Y/N) stared blankly at the TV. The memory of dinner with her parents came back to her. When she tensed in his arms, Oikawa backtracked.

“It's okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I just wanted to check on you.”

Sweet as he was, (Y/N) couldn’t bring herself to tell him. If she did, she’d have allowed her old life and her new one to mix. Her mouth felt like it was glued shut when it came to telling him the truth.

“It’s nothing. Just family stuff,” she managed to say, which was a half-truth.

Oikawa nodded in understanding. He leaned down to kiss her temple. (Y/N)’s eyes widened at the gesture. Ignoring her reaction, Oikawa patted her thigh.

“Go take a shower.”

She got up off of him. “Spend the night?”

“Bold of you to assume I was willing to leave.”

~~

(Y/N) was in a familiar gymnasium. The edges of her vision were hazy and her mind was not fully in her own body. She wished she could stop having this nightmare. Living it once was enough.

Once again, she’s holding a volleyball. The referee blows the whistle once and gestures with their arm. Dream (Y/N) throws the ball in the air with one hand and launches into her serve. The scene changes and she can’t see anything, but she remembers she’s on the floor. Gasps and cries of horror come from all around her.

Another scene change. Now she has a black brace over her left knee. This time, her hand connects with the ball as she serves. It barely even makes it to the net, much less over it. Then, she’s on the right side, calling for a toss. The setter grants her wish. (Y/N) takes her approach. Plant one foot, then the other. Her knees are bent and her timing is impeccable. She does not jump.

(Y/N)’s eyes snapped open. Finally awake from that nightmare, she let out an exhausted sigh. Padding along the cold floor in her bare feet, she made her way to the kitchen. On her way out, she spotted a tall brunette boy sitting on her couch. She had almost forgotten he was spending the night.

As she got closer, she noticed he was still awake and watching something on his phone.

“Hey,” she croaked.

Oikawa’s attention immediately snapped from his phone to her. “Hey. Why are you awake?”

(Y/N) shrugged, “I couldn’t sleep. Do you want a GapriSun?”

“At 2 am?”

“Uh huh.”

He shrugged, “Yeah, sure.”

When she plopped down onto the couch beside him, an FIVB match between Japan and Argentina was playing on his phone.

“Is this 2018? They went all the way to five sets in this one, didn’t they?” she recalled. “Hang on, let’s mirror it on the TV.”

The two of them sat huddled on the couch. Every now and again one of them would comment, but for the most part, they sat in silence with their focus fixated on the screen.

“(Y/N)-chan?”

She raised a questioning eyebrow. “Seriously, how do you know so much about volleyball?”

“I already told you I used to play.” Oikawa nodded for her to continue. “Don’t read too deep into it. I wasn’t any good, I just understood it very well.”

Lying to him was such a crappy feeling. Of all the people that looked at her with either pity or scorn in their eyes, she didn’t want him to be one of them.

“Why did you stop?”

(Y/N) felt dirty. Instead of coming clean, she just shrugged, “I guess I just didn’t wanna do it anymore.”

Sensing the conversation was over, Oikawa turned back to the match. He watched in wonder at the skill every player on the court possessed. The sheer amount of time put into honing each skill was unfathomable.

Oikawa had been in love with volleyball for a long time. He remembered turning ten years old in July of 2004. That year, the summer olympics had made it back to its origin country, and was being held in Athens, Greece. Japan had not qualified that year, but Oikawa happened to see the final match between Brazil and Italy. The young boy was mesmerized by the tangible camaraderie and trust throughout each team, and the fact that it all coexisted with the talents of each individual. Though, there was one player on each team that he fixated on. He was the one standing next to the net and touched the ball almost every play. That player got to choose which of his teammates would finish their attack. In a way, he was like a king, ordering his soldiers into battle.

The day his parents finally bought him his own volleyball, he went outside. He remembers the ball slipping through his hands, hitting him in the face when he tried to set. Even though Iwaizumi laughed at him then, just the feel of the ball in his hand made electricity crackle through Oikawa’s nerves.

For an athlete, “that moment” where they get hooked on a sport is one of the best moments of their lives. That moment may come as early as junior league in middle school or as late as the spring tournament in high school. Sometimes an athlete would go years before realizing they would never experience it. Oikawa Tooru’s moment came before he even stepped onto a court.

“I’d play volleyball for the rest of my life, if I could,” he said fondly. “Whenever I step on the court-- I don’t know, it feels like I’m supposed to be there.”

“Probably because you are,” (Y/N) gently nudged him with her elbow. Oikawa shook his head no.

Oikawa just hummed in response.

The shrill ringing of her phone cut off whatever she was getting ready to say next. Both of them looked confused as she pulled the loud device from her pocket. (Y/N) paled at what she saw on the screen.

“Crap! It’s time to get ready for school!”

“Already?!”

(Y/N) yanked the boy up by the front of his hoodie, “Take a cold shower and get dressed! If we hurry, we can get coffee on the way to school.”

Oikawa pulled his shirt off as he scrambled towards the bathroom, “Did we have a test today?”

“Pray that we don’t! Tooru! We’ve been awake since eight yesterday! We’re gonna die!”

All she got in response was the setter’s anguished screaming from the bathroom.

~~

Iwaizumi raised a brow at his friend’s exhausted state, “What happened to your face, Crappykawa?”

“Be nice to me, Iwa-chan! I didn’t get any sleep last night,” Oikawa whined. The shorter of the two opened his mouth to ask why, then the door opened to reveal an equally exhausted-looking (Y/N). Iwaizumi grimaced.

“You guys are gross,” he grumbled.

“Iwa-chan, it’s not what you think!”

(Y/N) scrubbed at her tired eyes, “End me.” She flopped down into a chair.

“(Y/N)-chan, your eyes are super puffy still! Wash your face again before the teacher thinks you’re having an allergic reaction.”

Too tired to protest, (Y/N) dragged herself to her feet. She found that bully girl from before, Tachibana Akari, washing her hands in the bathroom. Too tired to care, she leaned over the other sink and splashed her face with cold water. The redhead made sure to shove (Y/N) harshly on her way out. (Y/N) instinctively turned her head to look. Before she could stop her sleep-deprived brain, she was shouting, “Wait!” Tachibana stumbled backwards when (Y/N) dragged her back into the bathroom by her blazer. Regaining her balance, the taller girl glared down at her.

“What the hell is your problem?!”

In response, (Y/N) removed her sweater and shoved it towards her.

“You bled through your skirt.”

Akari’s eyes widened. She rushed to the mirror to confirm that, yes, she fucking bled through her skirt.

“Shit! How long have I been walking around like this!” she hissed.

“Dunno. Probably not long. Later.” She dragged her tired body to the exit.

“Hey!” Akari waved the sweater bunched up in her hand, “You’re just gonna lend this to me?”

“Wrap it around your waist.”

“I know what to do with it, dummy! You’re really gonna let me use your sweater to cover my period stain?”

“Yup. Bye.”

~~

Taglist: @cristaldoodleskies @br0kenskeleton

[missjanjie]

Branjie Fic | Take Me Back to the Start (8/?)

Title: Take Me Back to the Start Summary:   Everyone remembers their first love. Not everyone carries those feelings from childhood to senior year. Yet Brock is starting his last year of high school while still longing for the relationship he lost five years ago. Meanwhile, José is at the top of the food chain and seems to have it all together. But maybe their story isn’t over yet. Word Count: ~3k (this chapter) / ~25.3k (total) Relationship(s): Branjie (Brooke Lynn Hytes/Vanessa Vanjie Mateo), Sportsdoll (Jan Sport/Nicky Doll) Rating: E

Read on AO3

José was never able to sleep the night before a competition, but for some reason, it felt worse tonight. It felt like there was more on the line— not only did he feel the need to live up to the expectations of the coach and everyone on his team, he wanted to be as good as Brock seemed to think he was.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how important Brock’s opinion was to him. Next to his mother, no one else ever seemed to believe in him so unabashedly, and he didn’t have the ‘parental obligation’ that he associated with his mom. Brock believed in him because he wanted to.

And maybe that should have put him at ease; it should be something to take comfort in. Instead it just made him feel like he had more to prove, that he had to prove he was worthy of Brock’s praise.

Either way, it was almost four in the morning and José was as awake as ever, and he knew he would regret it in the morning if he didn’t at least keep trying to get some sleep.

But it became clear that just wasn’t happening, so he texted Brock to see if he was awake.

‘You can’t sleep either?’ Brock sent in response.

‘Nope :(‘

‘Wanna call me?’

José grinned, sitting up in bed. ‘Yeah, one sec,’ he sent before calling him. “What’s got you up, boo?”

“I’m just nervous about tomorrow,” Brock admitted with a sigh. “Everything went well at the game, but it’s gonna be a whole other setting and it’s really gonna be a testament to whether or not I can choreograph or if I ruined everything for everyone.”

That definitely didn’t make José feel any less anxious – if anything, the knot in his stomach tightened. “If it helps, it’s not all on you. We did this together. We either succeed or we flop, but it ain’t all on your head. Or mine.” The last part was a reminder for himself, but it didn’t digress from the point.

“I don’t wanna screw anything up for you, though.”

José didn’t mean to laugh, quickly trying to stop himself. “You think you’re gonna screw something up for me? Boy, you must be really up in your head.”

“You say that like it’s a new development,” Brock retorted dryly. “I can’t help it, I just want everything as close to perfect as physically possible.”

“Yeah, what else is new?” José chuckled. “If you keep tryna be perfect you just gonna create impossible standards. You’re already the best dancer I know; if anything I should be lecturing you about being too arrogant, but you ain’t even cocky.”

Brock sighed with a light laugh. “I think if I started getting cocky I’d just end up apologizing for it,” he chuckled softly, then yawned.

José caught the yawn, rubbing his eyes. “I think we tired each other out,” he mused. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As late as it was, they did finally manage to sleep through the night, hoping it’d be enough to get through the next day.

------

Brock had been walking around the building the competition was in, as he’d ended up getting there before the team. But apparently, he had been wandering around too long, because all of a sudden, he looked up and saw Courtney barreling towards him.

“There you are! We started to think you got lost.” She took his hand, guiding him to the waiting area where the team was getting ready.

“Sorry.” He offered a half-hearted apology, now distracted by examining the group and, more specifically, looking for José to see how he was holding up.

José didn’t even notice when Brock arrived, deeply invested in the task at hand. He was standing by the freshmen on the team, fixing their hair and makeup, going over the steps. One girl seemed to look anxious, so he pulled her aside to give her a pep talk that lifted her spirits.

“He’s a real den mother, isn’t he?” Courtney remarked to Brock, who was leaning against the wall and watching him with the fondest of smiles.

“Makes a great team captain,” he agreed.

It was mutually beneficial as well — when José was focusing his attention on keeping the younger teens motivated and in good spirits, he had a solid distraction from his own nerves. If he kept preaching these words of affirmation, maybe he would start believing them himself.

Once the group had dispersed, Brock made his way over to him, pressing a kiss to his temple and giving him a light squeeze. “Holding up okay?”

“Trying to,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck, gaze shifting from the taller teen to the younger group. “It’s the first big competition for most of them, can’t let ‘em see you sweat, you know? They’re all looking to me to have shit together.” His voice was strained, without the distraction, he was back to being consumed with anxiety.

And Brock picked up on it, squeezing his shoulders and staring at him until José gave in and made eye contact. “Listen to me, we’re here because you’re an amazing captain. They look up to you because you’ve been an incredible role model this whole time. I don’t just believe in you because I like you, I believe in you because you’re one of the most talented, hard-working people I’ve ever met.”

Despite his stubborn efforts, José relaxed at his words. He realized he’d needed a pep talk just as much as his younger teammates. “Thanks.” He looked up at Brock, giving up any attempt at hiding the smile that fought its way to his lips. “Couldn’t have done it without you, though.”

“I’m glad I could help, but you guys are gonna be the ones tearing it up, and I’ll be cheering for you the whole time,” he promised.

Shortly after that, the squad was given a ten-minute warning, and Brock made his way out to the bleachers. He was sitting for about a moment before he looked up to see a familiar face joining him. “You again?” he joked.

“Yes, I’ve been stalking you this whole time.” Karl chuckled. “I’ve never seen a cheer competition before, do they all just perform their routines and that is it?”

“Neither have I, now that I think of it,” he shrugged. “But yeah, I can safely assume that’s the gist of it.”

Karl furrowed his brows. “You haven’t? Has José not been competing?”

Brock shook his head. “No, no, he has. But we… went a few years without talking, only picked back up recently.”

“Why?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Is it?”

He couldn’t tell if the question came from disbelief or genuine confusion, pressing his lips together and looking out ahead of him. “José and I have a unique history. Guess at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, mostly just happy with the page we’re on now.”

“Mostly?”

Brock pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering if being this nosy was a French trait, or something specific to this teen. “Everything is a work in progress, but things are going in the right direction,” he concluded. “How are you and Charlie?”

The expression that overtook Karl wasn’t unfamiliar to Brock — giddy, warm, rosy cheeks with an offset gaze—it was the same lovesickness that had plagued him since childhood. Only this time, he wasn’t looking in a mirror, and it brought a sense of relief to him, that he wasn’t alone in the smitten boat, so to speak. “Things are good,” he answered. “Very good.”

“I can tell. You two are good for each other,” he mused. “Don’t let anything get in the way of that.”

Karl nodded, then both of them shifted focus to the floor as their school’s team entered. The music began to play and the routine began, both of their eyes trained on every moment.

When it ended, Brock realized he had been holding his breath the whole routine. He stood up and cheered as the air returned to his lungs, filled to the brim with pride and admiration - it couldn’t have gone better if he tried, and a weight lifted off his chest.

But the nerves came back with a vengeance when it came time to announce the winners. Third place was announced, and after second, Brock was starting to get nervous. He was on the edge of his seat when the first place was announced.

“Holy shit, we won.” Brock didn’t register the cheering or Karl shaking him. He was stunned. That really happened. All of their hard work actually paid off in a tangible manner. It wasn’t until the noise had died down that he came back to earth. As soon as the team exited, he got up and ran to meet them on the other side.

The second José spotted Brock, he sprinted towards him. He didn’t say a word, just grabbed him by the face and kissed him hard, not letting go until his lungs gave him no other choice.

Brock wrapped his arms around José’s waist, picking him up and spinning him around. “That was amazing!” He kissed his cheek before setting him down. “I am so proud of you.”

“We did it!” José beamed when his words were no longer escaping him. His face was red and his eyes were wide, sparkling with enthusiasm and pairing perfectly with a smile that could outshine the sun itself. “We really fuckin’ did it.”

They did have to break apart when the rest of the team crowded around in collective celebration. Parents were running in to congratulate their children, people started to scatter as they posed for pictures with their medals.

José was the first to notice his and Brock’s mothers walking towards them. He chuckled softly, the two women were chatting animatedly, as if no time at all had passed since the last time they were in a room together. He admired the effortlessness in their camaraderie, it led him to believe that things could actually be normal between himself and Brock. “Aw look, they getting along.”

Brock chuckled. “What, did you think it was gonna be like the Capulets and Montagues?” He received a blank stare in response. “Romeo and Juliet?”

“Oh yeah, with Leonardo DiCaprio.” He nodded confidently, and they were embraced by their moms before Brock could offer a response.

------

It was getting late; the cheerleaders were starting to taper off after the celebration dinner. Everyone was a bit tired, but spirits were high and bright.

“Do you wanna come over? Maybe spend the night?” José asked with his mouth half full, washing the bite down with a swig of water. He and Brock hadn’t left each other’s sides since the win, they’d even been squished together in the restaurant booth until people started to leave.

Brock grinned, setting his napkin down on the empty plate. “Sure, if your mom doesn’t mind.”

“Naw, you were always her favorite anyway.” He chuckled, waiting for him to slide out of the booth so he could follow suit, and they walked out to his car with linked arms.

The drive back was quiet – Brock seemed lost in thought and José chose to focus on the road than press him about it. They’d had a long day, after all, he was sure if it was worth bringing up, it’d come out eventually.

Once they were finally in José’s bedroom, they were as relaxed as ever, watching Real Housewives reruns and getting just high enough to not know what city they were in. They had their own running commentary going, one that started as jokes and devolved into just mimicking what the women said in nasally, valley girl voices.

But after a while, the TV faded into the background, and they became more invested in their cuddling. And then cuddling turned to kissing, which led to groping.

“I think we should have sex,” Brock said suddenly.

José blinked in surprise, taking a moment to make sure he’d actually heard him correctly and he wasn’t so high that he had started to hear things (which would’ve been improbable with the meager amount of weed they smoked, but he could never be too sure). “Are you sure?”

Brock just nodded simply. “Uh-huh. I mean, I’ve been wanting to for a while now, but I, you know, overthought it every time and chickened out,” he explained, for once not feeling like he was struggling to stay calm.

He let out a laugh because yes, that was very on-brand for Brock and knew for sure that he was being sincere. “Well, if we’re being real right now, I have been wanting you to fuck me since the rain cockblocked us at the park.”

It brought him a relief to know that these feelings had been mutual for a while now, though it made him feel ridiculous that he’d been so adamant about holding out and hiding away. They could’ve crossed this path weeks ago, but he quickly concluded it was better late than never. “Then what are we waiting for?” he asked, pulling José into a kiss before he could answer.

Not that there was anything José felt like he needed to add. He kissed back with all the eagerness that had been building up over what felt like ages now. He was gripping onto Brock by his shirt, breaking the kiss just long enough to yank it off and toss it aside, his own following immediately after.

Brock was amused at the speed and dexterity the brunette expressed when he wanted something done, and he decided that all he needed to do was keep up with him. So, he scrambled to get out of his jeans, to get them both undressed as fast as the delayed connection between his brain and his hands allowed.

“Tell me if you wanna slow down or stop or anything.” The difference in their speeds had become apparent enough to José. Even without a request, he quelled his pace so they were at a similar rhythm, one that soon felt effortless to both of them. He waited for a beat, then reached into his drawer and handed him a bottle of lube.

“We don’t need a condom?” Brock asked, examining the bottle and figuring out what he needed to do next.

José shrugged. “Nah, you a virgin, and I tested clean. Might as well make your first time even better, you know?” He had always used protection with Kyle, insisting it was for safety. Despite being technically true, in the back of his mind, he knew it was because he never completely trusted that he was his only partner. Perhaps in another place and time, it would’ve bothered him, but he didn’t care anymore, and it was a freeing revelation.

Brock, on the other hand, accepted the explanation at face value. “That works for me.” He hummed, waiting for José to lay back. “You, um, need to prep first, right? Or am I supposed to do it?”

“You getting nervous already. Lemme do it,” he decided, taking the bottle back from him. “Pay attention, so you know what to do next time.”

He smiled, the idea that ‘next time’ was a given settled well with him, it made him feel warmth swell in his chest. “Should I take notes?” he joked, sitting cross-legged on the bed. But as he immediately realized, notes would not be necessary. Watching José surpassed any porn he’d ever watched. It had him hypnotized and practically drooling, he was absentmindedly jerking off to the sight that he couldn’t look away from if he tried.

And José absolutely adored the attention and tried to put on a show without being too loud. He worked himself just to the point of readiness, easing his fingers out and looking up at Brock. “You ready, big guy?”

“You fucking bet I am,” Brock chuckled softly. He took the bottle and used the lube to slick up his length, then very carefully guided himself into him, grunting softly as he did. It took him a moment to adjust, the feeling so new and overwhelmingly pleasurable.

José waited patiently for Brock to get comfortable. He already felt so good just having him buried inside him, just holding him close, one hand on his back and the other tangled in his hair. And when Brock started thrusting, he yielded to his movements right away.

Brock’s moans went from cursing and words of praise to unintelligible nonsense faster than he could’ve anticipated. His thrusts were a bit unsteady but deep and fervent. His hands were at either side of José, balancing himself until he moved one to grab his waist, giving him a better angle to continue.

Time faded out of relevance as the thrusts became more desperate and erratic, the two of them clinging to each other for dear life. It could’ve been anywhere from ten minutes to ten hours – they didn’t know, nor did they care. By the time they were both spent, they were lost in their own little world. Nothing else mattered, they could bask at this moment forever.

“So was it good for you?” José asked when he finally caught his breath and the room stopped spinning so much.

Brock snorted, covering his mouth. “Yes. It was very, very good,” he replied, wrapping his other arm around the smaller male and holding him close. “It was good for you too, right?”

“Of course it was.” He huffed as if it should’ve been obvious.

“Just checking,” he cooed and kissed his forehead, then yawned as he closed his eyes. “At least tonight we’re gonna sleep really well.”

José buried his face into Brock’s chest, mumbling a sleepy “Uh-huh.”

Brock exhaled deeply, holding him close, then gently whispering, “I love you.”

He got a loud snore in response and he laughed to himself. Maybe it was for the best, he thought as he started to drift off. The right time would come eventually.

[apple-grass-and-smiles]

History: Endlessly Repeating

Summary: History repeats itself. Or Alfred realizes that there aren’t that many differences between Martha and Thomas Wayne and Bruce and Selina.

A/N: Did I have to go through and read the Pennyworth wiki for Martha to write this because I haven’t seen the show and my knowledge comes entirely from beautiful gif sets made by lovely people? Most definitely. Hopefully it doesn’t show. (And if it does, just play along and accept that this is canon for Gotham!Martha. Please.)

One thing that Alfred Pennyworth has learned during his undisclosed number of years on this Earth is that some turns of phrase are far more accurate and truthful than others. Perhaps the one that holds the most validity in his mind is “history always repeats itself.” When he was still young and living in England prior to his time in the military he used to find the phrase obnoxious because surely history wouldn’t actually repeat itself. But then two things happened:

The first: he saw men, some good, some evil, and some simply too young for their morality to even matter, be murdered in front of him over and over and over again. Eventually he determined that history had to repeat itself because there was no way that each day he witnessed such misery was a new horror and not just a nightmare that had somehow gotten stuck in a loop.

The second happened decades later and featured slightly less bloodshed. The event? He watched Bruce Wayne fall in love with Selina Kyle and it was just like watching Thomas Wayne fall for Martha Kane.

***************************************************************************************************

It started early on, when Master Bruce and Ms. Kyle were 13. Alfred had objected vehemently to the young girl staying at Wayne Manor (Master Bruce did not need a walking, talking reminder of his parents’ deaths and Alfred did not need another teenager to try and keep track of), but had been overruled. The first couple days had been nothing short of a disaster. Ms. Kyle seemed determined to prove that ‘Cat’ was an appropriate nickname and walked around the manor not interacting with others and giving the overall impression that she could not be bothered with anyone else. Alfred himself didn’t mind cats, but began to think that he might not like them if they could talk back to him like Ms. Kyle could. He was ready to evict her without a second thought when he stumbled upon the most peculiar thing. Or, more accurately, heard the most peculiar thing.

Master Bruce was… laughing. His young charge was honest to goodness laughing. Of course, this prompted Alfred to poke his head into the study where Master Bruce had been sitting, only to find breakfast food being lobbed every which way by both Master Bruce and Ms. Kyle. Under normal circumstances, Alfred would have instantly punished both and made them clean the whole room, but it had been months since Master Bruce had laughed and Alfred suddenly realized that he probably would have walked over hot coals if it meant that the last Wayne would laugh for 30 seconds. That fact alone would have granted the two children immunity for their food fight, but then Bruce turned his head so Alfred could see his profile and it was like all the air had been sucked out of the older man’s lungs because for a moment he could have sworn that a young Thomas Wayne was the one throwing a croissant across the study and not his much younger son. As much as Alfred knew that Master Bruce would never be Thomas, he couldn’t help but smile wryly because having a food fight in lieu of actually eating their breakfast would have been very characteristic of the Wayne couple.

Thomas would have always been far too serious and self-respecting to engage in such childish fun, but then he met Martha Kane and slowly but surely she seemed to fill him with a pure joie de vivre rarely seen outside of a kindergartner’s birthday party. While Alfred could not remember the older Waynes ever engaging in a food fight, he had seen Martha play countless harmless pranks on her husband. (Her favorite was always to spray Thomas with the gardening hose, a simple trick Alfred so closely associated with her that he cried the first time he had to use the hose after her death.) Martha’s ability to make Thomas laugh had always been one of Alfred’s favorite things about her, even if he had found her casual attitude a bit obnoxious early on in their friendship. But that annoyance had quickly turned to a fondness before deepening into love and perhaps the same thing could happen with Ms. Kyle (though Alfred would be horrified at the very suggestion).

History was indeed repeating itself because a young brunette has just made a Wayne man laugh with such joy that Alfred couldn't help but smile himself.

***************************************************************************************************

Master Bruce’s friendship with Ms. Kyle continued to grow as the months passed until Alfred had begun to begrudgingly accept that the young girl was likely to be at least a semi-permanent fixture in their lives. He had taken to teasing Master Bruce about developing a crush on Ms. Kyle relatively quickly after the two had become friends, but had never anticipated the two developing a friendship as deep as their quickly became.

That had been the case with Martha and Thomas as well, so Alfred likely should have seen the writing on the wall long before he did. As it was, he did not become alerted to just how close his ward and Ms. Kyle had grown until they snuck into Indian Hill together. Martha and Thomas had snuck into more places than Alfred thought he could remember, especially in the early years of their relationship. Once the two had gotten married they spent significantly more time sneaking out of galas to go home than they did sneaking into enemy territory. But, sadly, it seemed like Master Bruce had adopted the habit of getting into places he should not have been sticking his nose in much, much earlier than his parents had. (Many years in the future, Alfred was disappointed, though not surprised, to find that a long-term romance did not dissuade Bruce from sneaking around.)

As Alfred stood next to a group of GCPD cars near Indian Hill and watched the two teens talking together, Ms. Kyle perched atop a squad car with Master Bruce standing so that he had to look up at her, Alfred found himself very grateful that if Master Bruce was going to insist upon getting into trouble that he had a friend to do it with. Hopefully, some day another one of Master Bruce’s peers would come along and act as a calming influence, but until then at least Ms. Kyle was good at making sure everyone survived their misadventures. Alfred was imagining what lovely young woman or man would be the one Master Bruce would be sneaking out of galas with in the future as Officer Gordon came over to say good-bye to Master Bruce so that the older man could go off to try and find Dr. Thompkins. Officer Gordon seemed to be another man whose rebellious nature had been tempered when a loving woman entered his life. Alfred was turning around to comment on that exact idea to Master Bruce when he found the young man sharing an inside joke with Ms. Kyle and the two curling into themselves as they giggled, two people in their own little world.

And here was history repeating itself again. Afterall, Thomas and Martha had been partners in crime, just as much as Master Bruce and Ms. Kyle were quickly shaping up to be.

***************************************************************************************************

Alfred does not know how to feel when Ms. Kyle shows up at the manor just as he had finally convinced Master B to accept that she had stood him up and that he had cooked such a lovely meal for someone who would never stick around. On the one hand, he could never wish harm on the boy who he loves so very much, but on the other, he cannot imagine a world in which Ms. Kyle will not cause that boy an undue amount of pain. That girl had not had to sit across from Master Bruce as the boy fretted and worried about her wellbeing. She had not seen how he had once cried talking about how their two lives were so different and how he’d give up anything so that she didn’t have to worry about money and food and a place to lay her head. He had not seen how Master Bruce had wrung his hands as he waited for her to show up. Alfred highly doubted that she had noticed how the boy’s eyes lit up whenever he saw her. How could a girl who floated through the world like it was hers know to treat Bruce Wayne like the precious soul he was?

Many years ago, in what felt like a completely different lifetime, Alfred had once had very similar thoughts about another couple. Granted, he had had a much higher opinion of Martha Kane at the time than he did of Selina Kyle, but he had worried about if Thomas was heading for heartache when his friend had started truly courting Martha. He could remember one early outing where Thomas had arranged for an elegant dinner at one of Gotham’s most impressive restaurants only for Martha to show up an hour and a half late. Thinking back, Alfred cannot remember what her excuse was, but he can still remember exactly what Thomas sounded like as he called Alfred from the restaurant payphone asking what to do once Martha was an hour late. The protectiveness Alfred had felt for his friend then was nothing in comparison to how he felt about Master B now, but even then Alfred had encouraged Thomas to break the romantic relationship off. (His mother had always said Alfred did not have the patience for a romantic relationship that lasted longer than six weeks and she certainly had a least a bit of a point.) Thankfully, Thomas had not listened to Alfred that day, but the present Alfred certainly was hopeful that Master B would cut Ms. Kyle loose tonight.

Alfred did not think he could quite handle seeing a repeat of a history where a Wayne man had to put his heart into the hands of a girl who was not as careful with it as Alfred thought she should be.

***************************************************************************************************

Sometimes history repeats itself in a way that makes Alfred want to give up. There have been countless nights since the one in the alleyway four years ago that Alfred thanked his lucky stars that he was not there to see Martha and Thomas killed. (He knows that is probably selfish and that he should wish that he and Bruce could have traded places so that the latter had not seen his parents’ murders, but Alfred doubts that he could have shouldered the burden of that experience a fraction as well as Bruce has.) And, as he stands at the front desk of Gotham Hospital trying to fill out paperwork about how Selina came to be shot in the study, he wishes that death was not a part of history that could repeat. In a cruel twist of fate, Alfred had not seen this surely fatal gunshot take place either; no, that burden would once again be Bruce’s alone to bear.

Alfred had already wanted to murder Valeska the second he had seen what the monster had done to Bruce earlier today, but when the only remaining Wayne walks back into the hospital waiting room, his eyes empty of hope and tears leaving tracks along his face, Alfred thinks that he would happily kill Valeska at least once for every tear Bruce has cried and still feel that justice had not been done. Alfred takes the clipboard of paperwork to go and sit next to his charge in the waiting room. He knows that no amount of words he could ever say will help Bruce to feel better, so Alfred simply wraps his arm around Bruce’s shoulders and pulls the boy into a hug, just like he had in a dirty alleyway after the Wayne’s were killed. The two hug for a few minutes before Alfred pulls out a handkerchief and reminds Bruce, just like he did then, to dry his eyes because people will be watching. The advice seems just as pointless now as it did before, but Alfred believes grief should be allowed to be private, so Bruce must appear composed until he can grieve in private.

Of all the ways history could have repeated itself, this is Alfred’s least favorite one yet.

***************************************************************************************************

Thomas looked at Martha exactly like that, Alfred catches himself thinking one day. It’s the middle of summer and Gotham has been separated from the mainland for about four months. Alfred is trying his hardest to make something edible out of the small rations he has been given while Bruce and Selina are sitting on the ground in the living room of the small apartment Alfred had claimed for himself and Bruce early on. He thinks they are trying to play Monopoly, but they seem to be struggling on account of at least half of the necessary cards being absent from the box. While Ms. Kyle seems frustrated by the missing cards, Bruce seems entirely content to simply spend the evening watching her as she tries to come up with a way for them to still play. His eyes are so soft and hopeful that it hurts Alfred’s heart. Alfred had once believed that Bruce would never get to experience that whole-hearted love that his parents had had, but it has continuously appeared that, for better or for worse, Bruce has found that love in Selina Kyle.

The two are almost painfully similar to Thomas and Martha in some ways. Bruce is as committed to justice as his father. Selina’s mischievous streak makes Alfred believe she and Martha would have been great friends and a force to be reckoned with. Bruce’s eyes and jaw could have only come from his father. Selina possesses a constantly simmering anger just beneath her surface that Alfred has only seen in Martha. Bruce and Selina find themselves in trouble just as often as they find themselves breathing; Thomas and Martha were only slightly better. Martha and Thomas loved each other more than anything else and Alfred hasn’t heard Bruce or Selina say so, but he firmly believes the younger two feel similarly.

Sometimes history repeats itself in bold ways. But more often than not, it repeats itself in the small moments. Moments like this one, where Bruce Wayne looks at Selina Kyle with all the love that Thomas Wayne looked at Martha Kane with.

***************************************************************************************************

It seems fitting that countless moments of repeated history should inevitably deliver Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle to the same destination as it had delivered the former’s parents. Some of the parallels between this Wayne wedding and the one decades ago are purposeful, but many are not and Alfred smiles to himself because, in a slightly cruel twist of fate, he is the only person who has had the honor of attending both ceremonies. (Perhaps, he thinks, the fact that he gets to see both Thomas and Bruce Wayne fall in love with women who make them better men is a gift from the universe and not the curse he had once felt it was.)

Selina, who took to wedding planning significantly more than anyone had anticipated, has done her best to duplicate Martha’s wedding bouquet and chose her wedding dress around how it would look with Martha’s pearls. The young woman had poured over old wedding photos and bent over backwards trying to find small ways to help Bruce feel his parents’ presence at his wedding. When Alfred had asked Selina why she was working so hard to include Martha and Thomas in the wedding, she had explained that this was the best wedding gift she could think of to give Bruce, a sentiment so beautiful that Alfred had had to excuse himself to cry for a moment. It was just like both Selina and Martha to work to find small ways to display their love for their significant others and it was a characteristic that made Alfred love Selina more than he already did.

The wedding ceremony is short and sweet and absolutely perfect for the couple that has already vowed to spend eternity together over and over in every possible way. Alfred had had a similar thought when Martha and Thomas had been married. The couple is exiting the chapel, grinning bigger than they ever have before and reminding Alfred of the joy he felt at Thomas and Martha’s wedding, when it happens.

History repeats itself one final time as two of Jeremiah Valeska’s henchmen shoot Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne, targeting and killing both Batman and Catwoman. Alfred’s world ends for the second time as Martha Wayne’s pearls once again fall to the pavement. History, it seems, is endlessly repeating.

***************************************************************************************************

A/N: That ending was not what I was originally planning when I sat down to write this (I was going to let it end happily), but the idea came to me and I couldn’t write anything else. I’m really sorry, folks.

[kusunogatari]

[ ObiRyū October | Day Eleven | Barbeque ] [ @abyssaldespair ] [ Uchiha Obito, Suigin Ryū, Hatake Kakashi, Nohara Rin, Jiraiya, Uzumaki Naruto ]  [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ Vulgarity ]

[ Previous ] [ Next ]

It’s become a bit of a tradition. The last day of Summer break, before everyone heads back to school, there’s a neighborhood get-together for all of the students, no matter their grade. Hosted at the largest house on the end of the street (which also happens to have an in-ground swimming pool), it’s one of the most anticipated days of the year, even though the day after is rather depressing.

The parents might even enjoy it more than the kids at that point, gaining their school year freedom with their kids shipped off for each weekday.

Though she used to be more into the participation aspect, as a senior in high school now, Ryū is pretty much part of the planning and executing committee alongside her father as hosts. The day before, she helps in pre-preparing all of the food for the barbeque, ensuring the pool is up to snuff and stocked with toys and supplies, and tidying up the yard to place all the outdoor furniture.

“How’s it looking out here?” Jiraiya asks from the porch.

Ryū, down below, is hosing off the dust from all of the lawn chairs. “Good! Almost done! How’s the menu? Do we need to get anything else?”

“We’ve got enough hamburgers and hotdogs to feed an army!” he replies with a signature grin. “Add in the chips and dip, the beans, and the drinks, and we’re good to go. I got a bit more than last year just to be sure. We can always have leftovers for a day or two!”

“Sounds good to me!”

“Pool partyyy!”

Seeing her little brother come flying out the back door, Ryū manages to drop the hose and scoop him up, twirling to help with his momentum. “Not until tomorrow! And you know you can’t go in the pool without your water wings, Naruto! It’s not safe!”

“But I wanna swim!” the four year old rebukes, cheeks puffed in indignation.

“You can! Tomorrow. I thought you were helping Dad in the kitchen, huh?”

“That’s boring,” the little blond mutters. “I don’t wanna make food, I wanna eat it!”

Ryū just laughs. “But you have to make food before you can eat it!”

“Nuh uh, that’s adults’ job!”

Grey eyes roll. “Well you’ll have to cook when you’re an adult, then. And you better learn how before then, huh? Or you won’t know how!”

Still struggling in her grip, Naruto grunts and drops the subject. “Lemme down!”

“Do you promise not to go in the pool?”

“Yeah, I promise!”

“Okay. Go back inside, it’s almost dark.”

Clearly displeased, he nonetheless follows her orders, dragging his bare feet the whole way.

She sighs, then looks over her handiwork. Seems everything on her list is done. The plastic furniture will dry overnight, so she shuts off the hose and then closes the cover on the pool. One last sweep, then inside she goes to help with dinner.

“Excited for tomorrow?” Jiraiya asks, still in the kitchen.

“Yeah! But I’m sad it’ll be the last one for me…”

“Nonsense! You can still participate while you’re in college, kiddo. And then you’ll just be one of the adults dragging your kiddos over, hm?”

Ryū gives him a look. “Getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren’t you?”

“What, I’m not allowed to tease you about grandkids?”

“You don’t need any for a while, you’ve got Naruto to worry about!”

“And he’s gonna need some kiddos to play with!”

She groans, bringing out more supplies from the fridge. “Oh my gosh, Dad…”

He gives a booming laugh. “You’ll get baby fever one of these days. Just do me a favor and finish college first, that’s all I ask.”

“I haven’t even dated anyone yet,” she counters, grinning.

“Much to my disappointment. I haven’t gotten to give anyone the tough, intimidating dad talk yet! I’ve been practicing!”

And so the banter goes as they cook, finishing and calling Naruto down for dinner. After dishes are done, Ryū retreats to her room and her computer. Social media is little more than everyone groaning about heading back to class, and seniors in particular being “so done” with high school already.

Scrolling through her feed, Ryū smiles softly at a post from Rin. Seems she and Kakashi went to the beach today, if her selfie is anything to go by. She’s already confirmed they’re both coming tomorrow. Technically Rin lives a few streets over, but...best friends get to bend the rules. And Kakashi is a few houses down. Then there’s some younger students, like grade schooler Itachi and his little brother Sasuke, who’s best friends with Naruto. Quite a few of his soon-to-be classmates tend to come over, too. Ryū often has to corral them all herself, the self-appointed babysitter.

Rin teases her about it and her mother nature. “Sure you don’t wanna be a daycare worker or something? You’d be great at it! Kids love you.”

“Not sure my energy levels could survive it,” she’d countered with a grin. As much as she likes kids...they’re a ton of work. She gets enough of that handling Naruto whenever she’s home to deal with her godbrother.

Otherwise her feed is just the typical, and Ryū soon abandons it for a bit of game-playing until bedtime. Already she’s prepared for both tomorrow and the day after: the last first day back of high school.

But it still takes her a little while to fall asleep, thinking it all over. Despite Jiraiya’s reassurances otherwise, something still feels really...final about tomorrow. Another stepping stone she won’t be able to come back to. Another year ending, and one beginning.

Either way, she can’t stop the passage of time.

Come morning, she wakes groggy, her lying awake meaning a slow start. No one is supposed to arrive until noon, so at least she has some buffer before having to handle anyone beyond her dad and brother. Breakfast is slogged down with many a yawn before changing into her outfit for the day.

Given there’s going to be swimming, she puts on her suit first: a longline bikini top and a skirt over the bottom piece until she actually decides to take a plunge. Her hair she ties up in a tail, a few shorter locks framing her face alongside her bangs.

By then, she’s finally fully awake, heading back downstairs to help Jiraiya with the last few finishing touches.

“How’s it looking down here?”

“So far so good! You got a lot done last night, thanks.”

Smiling at the praise, Ryū then glances up at a familiar voice. “Rin!”

Grinning ear to ear, the little brunette rushes into the yard, hopping up to cling to her taller friend. “Hiii! Hope you don’t mind that we’re early?”

“Not at all!” Holding Rin up, Ryū just nods to Kakashi rather than wave. “I can’t get over how tan you are. How many times did you go to the beach this Summer?”

“A few,” Rin replies coyly, letting herself be put down onto the grass. “Look, even ‘kashi has a bit of a tan line! And he’s always pale!”

Sighing lightly at his girlfriend’s antics, Kakashi lets her do as she pleases, lifting his sleeve to show the slight change in tone beneath it.

Ryū just laughs. And is then promptly cut off by Naruto running and crashing into Kakashi head-on.

“Oof!”

The girls giggle, Naruto throwing a slew of questions at the teens. As some of his late father’s favorite students at the high school he taught at, Rin and Kakashi are rather close to the little Uzumaki.

“Look how tall you’re getting, Naruto!” Rin praises, scooping him up. “You’re almost as tall as me, aren’t you?”

“He’s got a ways to go yet,” Ryū replies. Rin may be short, but not that short.

“You must be eating your vegetables like I told you to, huh?”

The blond sticks out his tongue. “No way!”

From there, once noon strikes, people begin filing in. All of the neighborhood children and their parents arrive, the large rear yard filling. Ryū opens the pool and it floods with splashing and squealing kids, all watched over carefully by a rotating squad of adults.

Ryū bustles around helping, distributing food and drinks while checking to make sure no one is missing anything. In between, she chats with others from her class, all smiles.

But eventually she notices something seems...off about Rin.

“Hey, you okay?”

She jumps a bit, turning to Ryū sheepishly. “Well, I uh...I might’ve invited somebody.”

“That’s okay! They not here yet?”

“No...I’m afraid he won’t show up...he seemed kinda on the fence about it.”

Ryū’s head tilts curiously. “Too shy, or…?”

“Yeah. And he, um…” Rin bites her lip. “...it’s kinda hard to explain. He’s not very...popular. He tends to butt heads with people sometimes…?”

“Uh, okay…” Ryū can’t help but hesitate. Is this going to cause any problems, or…?

“Maybe he won’t come. I was hoping he would so he could try and ease into things, y’know?”

“Is he new?”

“Well, no. But he had to change schools for a while.”

Something starts to click in Ryū’s head. “...wait...you mean Obito? The one who got in that accident?”

“Yeah! He’s been in a, um...a different school since he fell so behind after the wreck. And it...didn’t go well. Apparently it was pretty rough…”

“...I see…”

“But he’s able to come back this year to graduate with us, if all goes well! So I wanted him to come and sort of...reintroduce himself, you know?”

Ryū nods. “That’s fine.” She remembers that kid, vaguely. Ryū had mostly hung out with Rin back then, mostly only catching glimpses of him back when he’d try to woo her friend. But, well...Rin’s got a boyfriend now, so she doesn’t have much to go off of.

“Just, um...he’s a little rough around the edges now, if...you catch my drift. He had to be, after dealing with all those jerks.”

“Well, so long as he doesn’t cause any trouble, I don’t mind. Let me know if he shows up, and I’ll -”

“Oh! There he is!”

Jolting, Ryū follows Rin’s pointing finger to a figure coming down the sidewalk. His posture is slightly hunched, dressed in an outfit that makes her want to start sweating. Full pants, full shirt...he’s got to be dying! But as he gets closer, Ryū gets the feeling she understands why.

A myriad of scars pepper one side of his face, and she can see them go down under his shirt. Probably from the accident, then...he must want to keep them covered up. His posture is defensive, as though he expects to be attacked at any moment. And when he meets her eyes, there’s a weight behind his gaze she can’t identify...but immediately sympathizes with.

“Obito!” Rin calls in greeting, moving to the fence. A few people stop at her voice, looking to the newcomer uncertainty. “Hey, hey! Remember her?”

Ryū follows, feeling a bit unsure. “Hey,” she greets, flashing a tentative smile.

“This is her house! Remember what I was telling you?”

Obito’s eyes flicker over the property, and Ryū feels a sudden surge of self consciousness.

“I remember,” he replies, tone a bit awkward.

“It’s been a long time,” Ryū offers, trying to be friendly. “I’m glad you get to come back this year! I’m sure a lot of people miss you.”

“I doubt it.”

The girls exchange an awkward glance.

“Well...feel free to come in, if you’d like! Dad’s still barbecuing if you’re hungry. He’s a really good cook.”

“Oh please, we all know you prep the food and he just cooks it,” Rin laughs.

“Well, still!”

“...Obito?”

All three of them pause as Kakashi steps up.

“...Kakashi.”

“I...didn’t know you were coming.”

“Rin invited me.”

The couple exchange a look, and Ryū can’t help a small grimace. Seems that particular decision wasn’t discussed.

“...didn’t know that either,” Kakashi replies coolly.

“Didn’t know it was your business who she talks to.”

“So, uh -?” Ryū tries to cut in, only to be drowned out.

“I like to know who my girlfriend talks to, sure. That a problem?”

“Kakashi, please,” Rin murmurs. “Let’s not do this now, okay? Obito’s free to be here. Ryū said so.”

The boys stare at each other a long moment.

“...you’re right. Enjoy the party,” Kakashi then relents before an arm around Rin’s shoulder steers her away.

...well that was awkward.

Nervously itching her arm, Ryū mumbles, “...sorry about that…”

“It’s not your fault,” Obito retorts bluntly. “He’s always been an asshole. Not sure what Rin sees in him.”

“...guess we all have our reasons.”

“I can leave if you want.”

“Wh-? No! Please stay,” Ryū cuts in, her expression falling. “...really, it’s fine. You’re more than welcome here. If Kakashi’s going to be an ass, then...let him. But don’t let that turn you away, okay?” She softens. “...I know it can’t be easy coming back here after so long, so...maybe it would be good to sort of...take today as a test run…?”

Obito sighs, hands in his pockets. “Not sure it’ll make any difference. Everyone’s got their opinions already.”

“...maybe so. But, if it means anything...I’d like to get to know you again.” She offers a smile. “It’s been a long time, and...we didn’t know each other that well before. Maybe this is a good excuse to...try again?”

He looks her over suspiciously before softening a few degrees. “...all right.”

Her smile grows. “Okay! Hungry?”

“...yeah, a little.”

“Come on, we’ve got a whole barbeque going. It’s really good!” Ryū opens the little gate into the yard, letting him through. “So, hamburger or hotdog?”

“...hamburger, I guess.”

“Okay - we’ve got a whole bunch of chip types, too. And beans! We go all-out every Summer for today, so take as much as you want!”

As they approach the table where Jiraiya is serving, Ryū notices a momentary look on Obito’s face: one that says he’s far hungrier than he’s letting on.

...it makes her hesitate, a suspicion growing in her mind. But for now, she lets it slide. “Dad! Got a fresh burger? We’ve got a new arrival!”

Jiraiya looks up. “Sure! Just a minute, almost done with another wave!”

“You can pick all your condiments in the meantime,” Ryū offers with a smile.

A bit hesitant, Obito takes a plate and sheepishly prepares a bun. A mountain of chips follows, along with several scoops of beans.

Watching from over the top of the grill, Jiraiya exchanges a knowing glance with his daughter.

“Ryū, you want to eat? You’ve been running around all day!”

“Okay, sure. One more for me, then!”

“Coming right up.”

Taking up her own plate, Ryū stacks it high. She has indeed been busy up until now. Then Jiraiya gives them each a patty.

“Enjoy!”

“Where do you want to sit?”

“...uh…” Obito glances around.

“We can sit along the poolside if you want and put our feet in! It’s such a pretty day...and all the little kids are out now, so we shouldn’t get splashed!”

“...sure.”

Ryū leads the way, slipping off her sandals and sitting along the pool’s edge. Feet lazily kick through the water. Beside her, Obito kicks off his sneakers, rolling up his pant legs slightly to do the same.

“That’s better, huh?”

He doesn’t reply. Seems he’s too preoccupied with his plate full of food. Obito scarfs it all down like he hasn’t eaten in days. Teenage boys tend to have voracious appetites, but…

Well, she was going to try and talk to him, but...he’s clearly got other priorities. So Ryū goes ahead and eats too, watching as Kakashi and Rin, and Asuma and Kurenai start a water battle. The girls sit on the boys’ shoulder, trying to topple one another over.

“Gonna join in?”

She gives a start at the sudden question. “Huh?”

Obito nods to the pool, chewing another bite before swallowing. “You’ve got your suit on, right?”

“Oh...well, um…” There’s a sheepish pause. “I don’t...have anyone to play that with. But I might swim a bit after my food settles.”

His brow furrows at her answer, but he doesn’t rebuke. “...so how long have Rin and Kakashi been a thing?”

“...two years now, I think? It...took a while. According to Rin, Kakashi was worried about dating affecting his grades and time to work on school stuff.”

Obito scoffs. “Typical. He’s still top of the class anyway, right?”

“Er...yeah. Always has been.”

That earns a sigh. “Mister perfect...gets the girl, gets the grades…”

Unsure what to say, Ryū glances down sheepishly to her plate.

“Heads up!”

Jolting, Ryū barely has time to shout in surprise as Rin and Kakashi’s tower falls toward them. Rin tumbles forward, but Kakashi slams back against them. Water rushes over the pair of them with shocked gasps.

“God damn it, Kakashi!” Obito yells, struggling to his feet.

“It was an accident, Obito!” Kakashi counters, already crossing back to the other side of the pool and ignoring him.

“I’m soaked! You stupid -!”

Looking up at Obito’s strange, sudden silence, Ryū gasps - he’s gone rigid, clearly having some kind of attack. Balance lost, he topples head-first into the pool.

“Obito!” Slipping in over the side, Ryū finds a grip under his arms, hauling his head back above the water to let him gasp for air.

Immediately, the others react. Kakashi and Asuma help lift him up to the concrete walkway around the pool, Ryū turning him on his side in case he needs to cough up any more water. Fishing around in his pockets, she finds what she thought she’d find: a sealed pill bottle. Thankfully it was closed tight enough no water got in. She fishes out a tablet, stuffing it into Obito’s mouth. “Swallow!”

He does so with a little difficulty. And after a painful minute, his body starts to relax.

By then, several adults including Jiriaya have gathered around, the latter looking gravely serious. “Let’s get him inside and dried off.”

As the rest of the teens linger in the pool, shocked, Ryū follows in her father’s shadow. In another room, he trades Obito’s soaked clothes for some spares of his own, throwing the rest into the dryer. Obito is then laid on a couch to regain his head.

Ryū sits right beside him, brows pinched with worry. Her hands fiddle subconsciously with the bottle.

Slowly, color comes back to his cheeks, breathing regulating. His foggy gaze refocuses, and it turns to Ryū. “...h-how did you -?”

“I, um...I-I’d like to be a nurse, so...I read a lot of medical junk online,” she admits softly, a bit sheepish. “So I kinda...knew what to look for. It’s a good thing you had these on you.”

“...good thing you knew what to do with them,” he sighs, head rolling back to stare at the ceiling.

“...you okay?”

“...I will be. Thanks for, uh…” He pauses awkwardly. “...saving my ass.”

“Of course...I’m just glad you’re all right.” After a moment, she hands him the bottle, which he keeps clutched in a hand. “...is that...because of your accident?”

A gusty sigh escapes him. “...yeah. Happens randomly, but...especially when I get stressed.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Not your fault.”

“No, but...I still feel bad. Maybe I...should have let you go home.”

His eyes flicker to their corners at her. “...I’m glad I stayed.”

In turn, she looks up from her lap in surprise.

“Well...hopefully I won’t be too stiff tomorrow. I tend to get locked up after one of these…”

“Maybe you can call the school and -?”

“They don’t care. I’ll be fine.”

“...but -?”

“It’s fine. I’ll live.”

Given all she’s learned (and guessed) about Obito today, Ryū feels her heart clenching for him. The poor guy… “...well, if you need any help, just let me know...okay? I’d be happy to.”

“...thanks.”

By then, the day begins to wind down, and guests start filtering back out the way they came. Near the end, Rin and Kakashi come in.

“...you okay?” Rin asks, wringing her hands.

“Fine.”

“...sorry about all that,” Kakashi mumbles.

“Wouldn’t kill you to be more careful,” Obito counters with a glance.

Kakashi has no rebuke.

“Well, we’ll...see you guys tomorrow,” Rin then offers, still looking nervous.

“Bye guys.” Ryū gives a little wave, watching them go.

“I should head home, too.”

“You sure? Can we give you a lift back?”

“No, I -”

“I’d be happy to. It’d save you the walking.”

“It’ll be good for me to stretch my legs.”

“You won’t, um...there’s no chance you’ll relapse on the way?”

“Probably not.”

Ryū nibbles her lip. “...can I...give you my number, and you can let me know you make it back in one piece?”

“My phone got soaked.”

Oh. “...do you have a landline at home you can call from?”

He gives a huff of a laugh. “Stubborn, aren’t you?”

Her cheeks tinge pink. “...yes.”

“All right, fine. If that’ll stop your mother henning, so be it.”

Ryū walks with him out to the road, watching him like a hawk. “Be careful on your way.”

“Will do. Thanks for the food.”

“...thanks for staying.”

He nods, giving a salute before heading down the sidewalk.

After a pause, Ryū calls, “See you tomorrow?”

Obito stops, looking back. “...yeah!”

A small smile pulls at her lips. Well...maybe today wasn’t a total disaster.

     Phew, just barely got this done. Weekend was busier and more exhausting than I figured, so this is...late :’D But better late than never.      I wanted to base this in Obito’s bully verse, but idk if I really wrote it well kjdfdkjhg so forgive me, I’m not very learned in writing that kind of thing lol      I guess otherwise I...dunno what else to say? I’m very tired :’D Thanks for reading!

[thatguyniles]

Blog Post #1

Out of all the films we had to watch, Mid 90’s was the most interesting to me. I’m interested in learning to skate and the retro look has always been cool to me. It was also one of the only films to hold my full attention to the point where I rewatched scenes for my own pleasure. Long story short this movie is lit. One of the characters I most identified with would be Ray. 

In the skate shop, Ray explains how it is being black because Fourth Grade asks if it’s cool. Spoiler it’s pretty cool not gonna lie. Ray gives an example that I wasn’t expecting from the movie. He says when they skate in Beverly Hills, they already get looked at some type of way and people say they’re vandalizing and stuff, but it feels like it comes down harder on him. After hearing him say that it was apparent that I would probably relate to him the most since i’m a young black man, and have also felt that some instances the consequences are harder for myself. 

When Ruben is explaining to Stevie everyone's nicknames, he says that Ray doesn’t need one because he’s cool without one. I feel a similar way about nicknames. I don’t need a nickname to feel different or cooler because A) I’m already cool, and B) I feel like my name is cool and having a nickname would take away from who I am. Stevie also says that ray is cooler without a nickname. Ray’s friends obviously see him in a positive light, which is the same with mine (I hope). They’ve told me I’m a cool dude, even though I don’t see anything I do that makes me seem any cooler than the average guy. If I had to take a guess It’s probably how I carry myself, like Ray I come off as a chill, laid back kinda guy and I also have a knack for clowning on people. We both also question authority, whether it be demands or rules that are set in place.

 When Ray and his squad are posted up on the steps of a school, a security guard walks up and tells them that they gotta skidaddle before they get their asses beat. Of course in classic teen fashion they say no and start roasting his ass lmao. Ray and the guard get into an F-you match and Ray says “you smokin cigarettes on school property” and the guard says Jesus smokes cigarettes. Ray immediately claps back with “what kinda cigarettes he smoke”. The guard, caught off guard (pun intended) stumbles over his words and storms off. Long story short I’m a smart ass.

There are three common themes in the films we watched and they are, drugs, acceptance and alcohol. In Mid 90’s Stevie smokes cigarettes with Ruben because he wants to fit in. Ruben saying he should be more like him because he smokes, skates, and dips his pen in someone else’s ink *wink*probably gave Stevie more incentive to try and fit in within the group of skaters especially since it appears that Stevie is younger than Ruben is. In KIDS Telly steals a 40 and drinks it throughout the next scene. Later Telly is offered Whip its in one of his homeboys crib and does one, immediately feeling the high. Back to Mid 90’s, Fuck Shit gives Ruben and Stevie some of his ADD medication, much to the dislike of Ray. In the next scene the group goes to a party and Stevie is seen smoking weed with a girl he met that night. These themes are relatable to youth culture because teens and young adults are at a vulnerable point socially in life. 

Teens usually try to fit into groups that they see as popular or successful at that point in time.They try to feel accepted because they themselves are unsure of what they want to do or who they are. Humans are social creatures so not fitting in any group hits us hard mentally.

Now the part I’ve been looking forward to the most, a new soundtrack for Mid 90’s! I’m about to give you the greatest soundtrack ever just so you know. 

The first song I thought of was “There They Go”, a South african rapper named  Nasty C. This song in my opinion fits well in the scene where everyone is skating at the courthouse and the police arrive. Everyone scatters and I think the name of the song fits the situation well. The song just sounds like good chase music to me.

 Next is “Dr Birds”, by rap collective Griselda. This song fits more as an instrumental in the scene where Fuck Shit accidently hits Stevie’s older brother with his board during a trick. The two then stand face to face and Fuck Shit punks him making him walk off. The song gives off a standoff vibe and has a bell sound that reminds me of the standoffs from Dragonball Z right before a fight.

“Fubu” by rapper Royce Da 5’9” featuring Conway the machine comes to mind as soon as I saw the party scene. The song is from Royce’s album “The Allegory”, and like always he come with bars. The beat gives off a mischievous and sneaky vibe that I think would go along well with the low lit lighting and the weed they smoke since obviously they wouldn’t want anyone to know what’s happening here.

“Wish You Well” by rapper Amir Obe would fit perfectly during the scene when Stevie comes home high off the drugs he took before and after the party and runs from his brother around the house. The song has an intensity that isn’t too overpowering for the scene, even if only the beat is used.

“Kingdom Come” by Raury played in the back of my head when Ruben and Stevie were talking about nicknames. The song reminds me of togetherness with its calm mood and slower tempo. I think it works well when characters are connecting or expanding their relationship between one another.

“I’m Good Luv, Enjoy” by rapper Aaron May is a song I personally love to cruise to, so it’s only fitting I have it play during the scene when the group of skaters (and Stevie) are riding their boards down the street after Ray suggest they go skateboarding at the skate shop. The song would continue to play during the security guard interaction. The song has a good bounce along with the lyrics “I ain’t got time for you, get up out my face” work well because Ray gets in the guards face and clowns him which makes him leave. It reminds me of high school when me and my friends would crack jokes on the security guard at lunch.

“PTSD” by rap label Dreamville is a much better song to play when Ray and Stevie skate after his mother tells him he can’t hang with the skaters anymore. After his mom does her motherly duty Ray and Stevie have a heart to heart, and ray opens up about his younger brother who passed away. The song that actually plays during this scene is ass I’m not gonna lie. They needed to have me select the songs, Jonah Hill should cut me a check I’m just saying.

“Almeda” by Solonge is more of a joke selection. Don’t get me wrong the song is good, but if it were to play when Stevie downs a 40, that would be hilarious! Think about it as Steve chugs the bottle Solonge goes “pour my drank, sip, sip, sip,” lmao pure gold right there.

“Y U DON’T LOVE ME (MISS AMERIKKKA)” by Joey Bada$$ would play a little after Stevie gets drunk to Solonge. A lot happens in this scene and the trippy sound the beat has would complement Stevie and his impaired state especially when he gets into a fight with Ruben at a skatepark.

The final song I couldn’t decide between “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” by Nas, or “93 ‘Till Infinity” by Souls Of Mischief. These songs would play during Fourth Grade’s movie he was filming throughout the whole movie. The song that plays in the movie is an old school hip hop record, so I figured why not keep the similar sound, especially since he named the film wait for it….Mid 90’s.

You probably want to listen to this marvelous and swaggy soundtrack, oh what’s this a link to the soundtrack where did that come from. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0eFLRkG3KEgyMbWTGcJefn?si=RBLAKIsrTFqDLrsaLG_PSQ

[rplinkhoward]

Laven Secret Santa

Sorry this is so late. Originally was gonna post this yesterday but I got sidetracked ^^”

(So, this is dedicated to @bakausagirabi25. I was your secret Santa, and this was actually an idea that's been rolling around in my head for a while while I was writing my Parent Cross and Child Allen snippets. This is the perfect excuse to explore the idea of Allen actually having feelings for Lavi rather than Link in my original story. I hope it's not too uncomfortable, I know not a lot of people would probably like this kinda thing but…well, I hope you like it! For a frame of reference, this is set in a ModernAU and based on the alternate universe I created for my DGM fic series. Lavi Age: 16. Allen: 14.)

Allen was just about to sit and watch T.V. after getting home from school when he heard the door slam open and a very upset, red-head storm through the entrance and run up the stairs. Allen, who was holding a can of pop in one hand and a massive bag of chips in the other, stared up at the stairs where Lavi ran up to. Then he looked over at Cross sitting in his recliner, who seemed just as confused and concerned.

"I thought you were the one who usually had the teen angst. Did you guys decide to switch it up today and not tell me?" Cross asked while inwardly debating if this situation called for him to get up and 'be a dad' or if it was just a random case of 'fuck the whole world and everyone in it' teen rage that would dissipate on its own.

Allen gave him an annoyed look, mumbling under his breath that he wasn't that angsty and that Cross was a senile old man before he set his snacks down on the coffee table. Then he began to walk upstairs to investigate what was wrong with his friend. Well, ok, he wasn't necessarily a friend…I mean he was…but closer? A lot of people would probably use the term brother to describe their relationship, but Allen never thought it fit properly.

When Bookman was away on business, Lavi would stay with Cross and Allen. He even had his own room because of this. It's been this way ever since they were little, well, really ever since the first day they met. It was after Mana's accident, and he had just gotten used to living in the same space as Cross when he was forced to meet Lavi. Yes. He was forced. By Cross. Why? Because Cross thought that Allen needed to talk to kids his own age (which if he was being honest, he did because he seldom interacted with kids his own age before living with Cross) and Lavi wasn't necessarily…good at making friends. He had Kanda and Lenalee, but there were times Lavi got to be a little…overwhelming. Lavi was quite the hyperactive little kid when they first met (and he still was at times), and though he scared Allen half to death when they first met, the two connected almost instantly.

Allen would never forget how Lavi took everything in stride. His weird eye scar. His arm. The lack of responses Allen gave Lavi because he didn't know what to think about this new world he was thrust into without warning. It didn't faze him at all. Lavi just took one look at Allen and decided that they were going to be 'bestest best best friends,' and that was that. Lavi infused light into Allen's world, a light that he was afraid he would never see again after Mana's death.

The two were inseparable from then on. Attached to the hip. Every time they were around each other, they were touching each other in some way. A hand thrown over the shoulder, leaning up against each other, holding hands, one of their heads laying in the other's lap. Where one went, the other followed. If one was in the bathroom, one was sitting outside, blabbering about something. If one was crying, the other quickly followed suit. Many times they slept together even though they both had separate rooms. If Lavi decided to do some stupid stunt, Allen was always right there, his right-hand man. If one was sick, the other was curled up alongside, also ill.

They were a package deal, alright. They were dubbed 'Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum,' 'Double Trouble,' 'Thing 1 and Thing 2', among many others, most, of course, came from Cross. There were many times Cross swore they were twins separated at birth, which could be plausible considering Allen used to have reddish-brown hair before the accident.

Despite all of that, Allen never considered the two of them to be 'best friends' or 'brothers.' What they had was something different. It was a lot deeper, but Allen could never find a word fit to describe it. As Allen stood in front of Lavi's door, hearing the muffled screaming coming from behind the door as the other screamed into a pillow, he felt his chest ache and his eyes sting.

"Lavi, are you ok?" Allen asked, trying to reel in his own emotions. The last thing they needed was for both of them to be an angsty mess.

"Go away!" Was the answer he got. Ow. That sure stung. Especially since that was the first time Lavi told him to go away when he was upset. They'd never done that to each other before, it didn't matter what the other was going through. There were times where Cross or Anita had to separate them because they fed off of each other's emotions, but that happened very seldom. They were only taken aside when the other was in hysterics (mostly Allen) because it was easier to handle one kid in hysterics instead of two.

Well, Allen wasn't going to go away. No matter how much Lavi wanted him to or even after he got an answer. His heart wouldn't let him. So, Allen turned the doorknob and walked right in, against Lavi's wishes.

"Allen! Leave!" Lavi barked out. He was lying down on his bed, his back facing towards Allen. Allen ignored him and instead strode over to lay down beside Lavi, his arm circling around the older's body, his chin resting on his messy, red hair. Allen knew he already lost the fight as he felt his own tears silently roll down his cheeks as he laid with the other who was hugging a pillow, shaking. Allen didn't know if it was from sadness or rage, but he wasn't going anywhere. He was going to ride alongside Lavi on whatever rocky, stormy seas he was traveling on until the waters calmed again.

A small whine left Lavi's lips as he felt the other wrap himself around him, and he felt all of his composure break. The wall he attempted to build up to keep Allen away from him broke, though he knew it was futile to build it to begin with. He knew if the roles were reversed that he would do the same thing. So, the two laid there together for some time, having their little shared cry fest. One knowing why they were crying, while the other didn't.

As Lavi began to calm down, the other following suit, he choked out, "She rejected me…"

She? Rejected? Whoa, hold the phone! When did Lavi have a crush on someone, and why wasn't Allen told!? Well, shit, I didn't know it could do that, Allen thought to himself in surprise, shock, and a little bit of hurt. I mean, they told each other everything, and yet Lavi left out this detail!? Ow!?

"You didn't tell me you liked someone!" Allen huffed, his cheeks puffing up in anger as he smacked the top of Lavi's head, "When were you planning on telling me that!?"

"Ow!" Lavi yelped before he turned over to glare at Allen, his own cheeks puffing up in anger though he didn't look threatening at all. It was hard to look threatening when your eyes were puffy and red.

"I wasn't going to because you're too young to know what love is," was Lavi's statement.

"Too young!? What kinda crap is that!? I'm only two years younger than you, ya jerk!" Allen raged, but the anger was short-lived. There would be time for that later. Right now, he wanted to know who rejected him and why. Allen wanted to know whose butt he needed to be kicking, no matter what kind of rejection Lavi experienced. He didn't know why, but he was actually quite pissed off at the idea of Lavi loving someone, and he didn't know why.

"Well!?" Allen asked.

"Well, what?"

"You can't just say she rejected me and not tell me who it was or how they rejected you! Obviously, it made you upset! So!? Out with it! Who was it!?"

"It was the curly blonde girl in my class. Her name is Brittany-"

"Oh my god, Lavi, you didn't! You fell for her!? Brittany from the cheerleading squad!?"

"Yeah? So?"

"So!? Dude, she's a total bitch! I could've told you that! Anyone on the team could've told you that! She goes through guys like I go through mitarashi dango! She's totally toxic! How could you fall for her!?"

Lavi sighed and turned his back on Allen, "I knew you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, come on, Lavi, don't be like that! Look, I do get it, but you also should be logical about it! She treats her boyfriends like crap. Why put yourself in a position like that!?"

"Because it's love. Love makes you stupid and blind to the other person's flaws," Lavi huffed before burying his face in his pillow.

"Alright. Fair. So, how did she reject you?" Allen asked, gearing up for a fight. He already knew the rejection was probably not good, judging from what he knew of this girl. Allen was also super annoyed that Lavi would choose someone like her of all people. I mean, if he was gonna go for a girl over him, at least pick someone worthy! He didn't just think that…

"How do you think?"

"I can think of many different possibilities, but I'd rather hear it from you."

"I asked her out by reciting one of William Shakespeare's poems…Sonnet 18," Lavi lamented.

Allen resisted the urge to groan. Oh, dear gods above, out of all people, Lavi decided to quote a love poem, William Shakespeare no less, to her!? Granted, Allen couldn't understand anything Shakespeare himself, but even so, he would've appreciated it! Especially if it came from Lavi of all people. Lavi was terrific when it came to quoting or reading books. He transformed reality around him every time he read aloud, even if it was something totally dull like some textbook. Lavi made it fun! Besides, Lavi excelled in the drama club, and Allen knew that Lavi wouldn't have just read the poem, he would've acted it! Allen could feel himself seething with rage and jealousy at the fact that this she witch had to be the object of Lavi's affection. Allen would've melted into goo if Lavi performed a poem just for him! The only thing that girl ever appreciated was something glittery and diamond-encrusted!

"It was after practice…and I recited it in front of her friends like a total, lovesick, dumb ass," Lavi laughed scornfully* before continuing, "And when I was done…she laughed at me. It wasn't that soft, airy, kinda laugh either, like an awkward, nervous laughter. She was cackling at me and asked me why I would think she would go out with someone like me. Some guy with an eye patch that was a total factoid, nerd that always read books and hung out with losers…." Lavi recounted forlornly.

"Lavi…" Allen breathed his hand ghosting over the redhead's shoulder in sympathy. He could picture the scene clearly. He could practically feel the way Lavi's heart must've been beating as he recited that poem allowed towards his crush. How it pounded against his ribcage like a wild beast thrashing against a cage wanting freedom. He could feel his palms sweating and the tension in his body, hear the smallest of quivers in his voice. Then he could hear her hideous cackling, the mirth in those disgusting, puke green eyes (or at least that's the color it looked like to Allen). He could hear her nasally voice spitting out those words at Lavi and feel the ache in his chest before his heart dropped down to the ground. Broken. Splintering into pieces, like a plate being thrown to the ground.

"Then her friends laughed at me to…I didn't notice until after she rejected me that one of them was filming the whole thing..."

"I'm sorry…" Allen breathed, his eyes filling with tears once again. His heart hurt…a lot, but he couldn't imagine the magnitude that Lavi must be feeling.

"She told me that no one would ever love an ugly freak like me and that I should just hole myself up somewhere and die," Lavi whispered, "Then I walked away."

Allen gasped, "That fucking bitch…."

"She's right, though…I mean, there hasn't been a girl yet begging me to go to prom with them. I'm not necessarily Mr. popular…"

"That's not true! I'm sure you got plenty of girls who would want to go to prom with you! They're just too nervous to ask you!" Allen responded, holding back on saying that he would personally love to go to prom with Lavi.

"We're best friends, and we live together. You're supposed to say that," Lavi said with an eye roll.

"No, it doesn't! As your best friend, it's my job to tell you the truth, and I am doing so! Brittany doesn't know what she's missing! None of the girls at school know what they're missing! I can say that because I actually know you and I can vouch for that! You're really smart and funny! You always come up with the best ideas-!"

"That's not what Cross thinks. It's a miracle we didn't kill ourselves years ago, …especially when we decided to ride down the stairs in a box. Or that time in the summer where we tried to jump into that cheap pool we had from the roof," Lavi interjected.

"So!? Cross is an adult! It's his job to hate fun!" Allen huffed.

"There is a difference between fun and doing something that could possibly severely injure or kill you."

"Pfft whatever, you're changing the subject!" Allen interrupted before continuing, "Anyways, as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me…you're really smart, funny, you come up with great ideas, you are an amazing performer, you have a cool eye patch, you're dreams of traveling the world are super interesting, your body is amazing-"

"I look like a skinny twig-"

"YOU MEAN YOU HAVE AN AMAZING BODY!" Allen yelled over Lavi's interruption, "You have the clearest, most beautiful green eye I have ever seen! You're compassionate, you are a great friend and like the best cuddler on the planet. If they're all too blind to see it, and if you're too blind to see it, then I guess I'll just date you myself!"

"Huh?" Lavi asked.

"I swear to God Lavi if you ignored me all that time-"

"I was listening, I just think I misheard you. What was the last thing you said?"

Allen blinked in confusion before stating, "You're really smart?"

"No! The last thing, not the first thing!"

"You're the best cuddler?"

"No! The very last thing you said!"

"If they're too blind to see it, then I guess I'll just-" Allen repeated before his face went a dark shade of red in realization. Oh my god, he literally just said that.

"Well, it's been a great talk Lavi, but I just realized I have a place to go to! Y-Yeah, a place far away…like under a rock-I mean a house! Yeah, Lenalee's house! I promised that I would do something with her at her house because she lives in a house and yeah! Bye! Feel better soon, " Allen stammered as he tried to make a break for it. Before Allen could fully get off of Lavi's bed, he felt the other grab his leg to keep him where he was.

"Wow! Lenalee lives in a house!? Who would've thought!" Lavi stated sarcastically before he turned serious again, "So, what is this about dating me yourself?"

"It's nothing! It just slipped out. Ya know how it is. Just being a supportive bro. Cuz that's what bros do. Yep. It's only two dudes being bros. Bros being dudes. Nothing to read into too deeply, ya know, "Allen continued to stammer.

"Yeah, because it's totally a dude thing to talk about how beautiful the other dude's eyes are, "Lavi deadpanned.

"Hey, two bros can totally compliment each other's eyes. It's not just a chick thing. Don't be like that," Allen stated.

"Fair. But telling the other bro that they'd date them?"

"It's a compliment!"

"See, I thought that, but it's obvious from how red your face got that it's not just a compliment."

"…."

"…."

"I have a skin condition…" Allen offered weakly.

Lavi gave Allen a knowing look. Allen sighed and flopped back down on Lavi's bed, his back now facing him, "Let it go, Lavi."

"Do I look like Elsa to you?"

"Hey, don't be bringing my girl Elsa into this! She is a queen!" Allen snapped.

Lavi rolled his eyes and poked Allen's side, making the other jerk in surprise.

"So…you would date me?"

"…Yeah…so?"

"In a platonic way or like in a…ya know…in the other way?"

"What do you think!?"

The two fell in silence for a long moment.

"Are you disgusted by me?" Allen asked.

"No. Why?"

"Well, I mean, we live together. We're like brothers."

"I think of it more as best friends helping each other out. I mean, where else would I go when Gramps was on one of his trips?"

"Still…isn't it wrong?"

"Life is too complicated to be evenly split down in the middle into right and wrong. Especially when feelings are involved. So, I guess it depends on how you feel. When did you begin to feel differently about me?" Lavi asked, turning around, so his back was facing Allen's.

"I don't know…I don't think my feelings ever changed. It always felt different to me. Ever since we first met," Allen explained, "I didn't really think anything of it because it seemed like you were mostly into girls anyways."

"Yeah…well, I only chased after girls because it seemed like you were set on being with Link for your entire life. I didn't think I had a chance, or that you'd ever look at me that way. I mean, I was always jealous of Link. Ever since you two became friends. Even after all these years. There was no way I could compete with someone like Link," Lavi admitted.

"Yeah, he does make pretty good sweets," Allen admitted, as he turned around to face Lavi's back, "But my stomach isn't the only way to my heart. If someone asked me…I'd have to say that you were my first love. Even if I didn't have any idea what that word meant at the time. I still don't think I even know what it means."

"So…what do we do now?" Allen asked after a few minutes of silence went by.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"…I want to see where this leads…" Allen responded hesitantly. He was afraid of what Lavi would say.

Lavi hummed softly and turned around, so he was face to face with Allen once again. The two of them stared at each other, Allen looking shy, while Lavi looked back in certainty. Lavi sure looked a lot braver than Allen, but that was always Lavi. It wasn't often that the redhead looked uncertain. When he set his mind out to do something, he always seemed so confident that it was going to work out in the end, even if it was clearly a stupid idea. Allen could remember countless times where they were about to do some silly stunt, and he would look over at Lavi warily to see the other's look of determination. Seeing his face like that always calmed Allen in the end because no matter what happened, he knew that they would be ok. If they ended up getting hurt from their latest stunt, he knew they would be ok because he had Lavi right beside him.

So, though Allen was shy and uncertain of how to go about this new relationship dynamic they created, he knew it was going to be ok. No matter what happened, even if they eventually broke up or whatever, it was going to be ok. They were going to be ok, and nothing was ever going to change about them because of this.

Lavi moved closer, close enough that their noses were touching, his eye flitting up to meet Allen's to check his reaction, to make sure Allen wasn't getting too uncomfortable. Allen wasn't uncomfortable per se, but his heart was pounding like crazy to have Lavi this close to his face. Under any other circumstances, he wouldn't have batted an eye, but with this new context, having Lavi this close had a whole different meaning.

Then Lavi's lips connected with Allen's shaking ones and-oh! It's like in that moment everything connected so perfectly together, like all the confusion Allen felt over what their relationship exactly was, was finally solved. All that weird tension and confusion he felt fluctuating over the years finally dissipated now that he had an answer.

As Lavi eventually pulled away, much to Allen's reluctance, he asked, "Did that feel ok?"

Allen's response was to move towards Lavi to do it again. He wanted that bliss again. That clarity. He wanted to feel the way their bodies connected together so perfectly. Lavi didn't mind; in fact, he was over the moon that Allen didn't pull away in disgust. He was glad that it was reciprocated, that it didn't make things awkward between them.

"Can you recite that poem for me?" Allen asked after a few minutes of silence as they enjoyed each other's embrace, occasionally kissing each other or another part of the other's body. Just merely enjoying this newfound relationship they created.

"Hmmm?" Lavi hummed lazily. The lack of oxygen to his brain making him dazed, and his head buzz happily.

"The poem you recited to Brittany. I want you to recite it to me. Please?" Allen asked, his head tilting to the side. He wanted to see how animated Lavi would get reciting it again. He wanted to see the love in his eyes as those words floated out of his lips. Allen wanted to see that love directed at him. To appreciate that love. The love that was meant for another but was rejected. Such lovely feelings deserved to be recognized.

"Sonnet 18?" Lavi asked. Allen could see the other search the air, mentally trying to find the compartment the poem was stashed in in his brain. Allen always loved to think of Lavi's head as a computer of sorts with how much information he managed to squirrel away in it. Once Lavi located what he was looking for, that beautiful green eyes paused like a computer arrow finding the article, word, or picture it wanted to click on, then the little window popped open with the information Lavi sought for.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

  So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee." Lavi recited, his voice taking on an old accent that Allen heard used when he talked with Bookman and on occasion when Lavi was expressing a large amount of emotions. Neither of them would tell Allen where that accent came from, keeping it a secret that only Bookman and Lavi knew. Even so, Allen still loved it, how soft it sounded, like the wind gently rustling the leaves of trees. He loved the way Lavi would roll his r's a little bit. To Allen, it sounded almost of Scottish descent, but he couldn't be sure.

Allen admired the way Lavi's eye glittered as he recited the poem, the way the glitters would fade momentarily as his eye darkened in love, in lust, passion. Sort of like a flickering flame. This is one of the biggest reasons Allen loved to hear Lavi when he read aloud or performed a piece; he loved the light that would flicker in Lavi's eyes, the emotions sparking and coming to life.

"How was that?" Lavi asked.

"That was adorable. I can't believe she rejected you with that. She wouldn't know what love was even if it hit her in the face," Allen said happily, his cheeks alight in flattery.

"So, you understood the full extent of what that poem means?" Lavi asked, deciding to quiz Allen.

Allen's happy face dropped to one of embarrassment. No, he didn't understand a single word that Lavi said. He really sucked when it came to reading and comprehending what he was reading in general. To him, Shakespeare spoke in total gibberish. It was still romantic to see Lavi spouting off said gibberish, though.

"No…" Allen admitted.

Lavi sighed, knowing that Allen probably wouldn't, "Thought so."

"So, what does it mean?"

"The speaker is basically comparing their beloved to a summer's day. Near the end of the poem, the speaker talks about what makes their beloved different from a summer's day. Summer always ends and moves on to autumn, but the speaker tells their beloved that their beauty will always last, unlike summer," Lavi explained.

"Awwwhhh…you're a total Romeo."

"Pfft, Romeo?"

"Yeah, you know, like Romeo and Juliet?"

"Well, I would hope I would be less stupid."

"What do you mean? Why is Romeo stupid?" Allen asked.

"Oh my god, did you learn nothing from your English class?"

"I learned stuff! I learned that English makes my brain turn to mush!"

"Oh my god, Allen…" Lavi sighed.

(Ahhh, I hope this was fluffy enough where not everything was too angsty! I hope you enjoyed it <3)