#totally late and extra lengthy sorry

[hvneymelons]

For Dante, maintaining close friendships - and fruitful ones at that - meant the world. There was a large portion of him that wished he could simply love them all equally and distribute himself so that they could each hold a piece of him. It was hard being out in the world of music, something that he hadn’t put much thought behind until he was back at home. Life on the road was ever changing, and fast evolving, meanwhile here everything felt as though it stopped. Time moved slower and yet so fast all at once. It was disorienting for someone like him. It probably also didn’t help in the matter that he returned.  More often than not coming back home was like a guessing game. Who’s still around? Who’s moved on with life? Who’s having kids? Who’s this, and who’s that. The questions were never ending, and then there was trying to figure out who he was to them after. If they had been friends upon his leaving, did coming back maintain that friendship? Did they somehow become acquaintances now, and were the inside jokes still intact? To him, walking out of Blue Harbor encapsulated the town in a small bubble and froze it in time. Yes, life went on, but unless he kept in contact with everyone he knew then they were just frozen until his return. Dante hated the alienness of it all.  “No.” he said, surprising himself even, “I don’t know.” Dante hadn’t really thought about being on the road for a while since coming back home. Making music, always, but physically going away once more he didn’t know if he had it in him. If that was a life that he still yearned for. He had everything that he needed at home; His grandpa, his pretty girl even as they weren’t speaking to each other much, his closest of friends. Music would always be a part of him, but he didn’t need to be traveling all over in order to do what he loved. It’s something that his grandma had always said to him growing up but he never fully understood until now that she was gone. The thought was depressing when he put it that way, because if he had listened to her, he could have spent her last years at home with her. Her last moments even.  Dante shifted over, laying his head near Ruairi as he aired his thoughts. “I keep wanting to do something, but I don’t know if it sounds crazy.” He went on to explain how over the last few months he had been meeting with different industry affiliates and setting up meetings for his own research. Opening up an indie record label based out of Blue Harbor to further aid the exposure of local artists not just in the town but neighboring cities as well. He’d set up shows and help in producing and writing music as well as partnering with the likes of MOREMUSIC Studios. He had an entire plan throughout, just waiting to be put in motion. “A little ambitious, huh?” he asked, glancing sheepishly at his friend.

"I'm the sore loser?" Ruairi sputtered, laughing as he slung an arm across Dante's shoulders and pulled the other man into a half-hearted headlock and several obnoxious kisses pressed into his hair for a handful of seconds before he nudged him away and allowed Dante to right himself at his own pace. It was easy―whatever was between them was firmly rooted in a solid friendship and Ruairi relied on that fact to comfort himself when he wondered how their relationship might shift as he got serious about other people. He imagined it wouldn't change much but he'd never looked at his relationship with Dante―with their flirting and teasing and general level of physical affection―to mean more than the fact that he loved the other man deeply in a way that worked perfectly well for them. He'd have said the same about all of the close relationships he had in his life―whatever an individual dynamic might've been, it was unique and special to him and he was reluctant to let anything change it.

"I don't think that's weird," he said with a shrug, shifting so he could look at Dante without having to crane his neck at an odd angle. He found himself smiling as he listened to the other man speak―allowed the comment to settle between them for a few beats before he nodded, "I reckon it was always gonna feel a bit different once you settled down here, love. You were gone a while and y'know― the more things change, the more they stay the same and all that. D'you miss it? Bein' out on the road and stuff?" He asked, tilting his head so he could look at his friend curiously.

He hadn't been the most adventurous person in the world to begin with but when Fionn was born, Ruairi hadn't spared a second thought to losing out on traveling or doing anything at all that wasn't throwing himself into being a proper father to his son. He imagined they'd be able to travel together a bit more now and Fionn was happy and Ruairi wasn't in a hurry to tour the world if it meant leaving his son behind for any reason. It wasn't where he'd imagined he'd be in his life but he'd not have changed it for anything. If anything, it made him appreciate his friends that much more―all of their varied experiences and points of view and everything else―it was just another thing to love about them; another thing to love about Dante.

[omoghouls]

I’m sorry your tooth is hurting! Here are some omo-thoughts to distract you: how about Emm in the classic ‘professor is desperate during a lengthy lecture and is trying to make it to the end of class.’

Waaa it's alright! Thankfully, it feels better now- just feels weird whenever my tongue touches it (nothing is open tomorrow so, just gotta hold out until Tuesday xD)

BUT OMGG👀👀👀👀👀

This man is meticulous and throughout with his explanations and examples because he wants his students to have the best understandings- so you know his lectures are insanely long.

Which most pupils prepare for. Emmerich does too,,,,most of the time. But today, he was a bit frazzled - maybe he was running late or preparing for the lesson, leaving him very little time to do anything except gulp down his tea😎

So, he's trying sooo hard to appear prim and proper as he's teaching- squirming a small bit behind his lil podium or extra movement around the room to help keep his mind off the fact his bladder is fit to explode-

:^3c He'd totally try to hide his lil whines with coughs or throat clearing- maybe he even thinks of ending class early. But- then the students won't learn about the wonders of whisp and why they're such a lovely shade of blue!! No, he must hold it!

Annnd maybe as the last student leaves the room- the door barely clicks shut- the poor dam breaks and Emmrich stands there in horror as he wets himself in the classroom

Thankfully, the floors of the necropolis are oddly wet as is- so Emmrich is able to cover up that puddle of urine up xD Poor guy buttons up his jacket, keeping his books infront of him as he skuttles back to his home-

[whorangdan]

pretty boy

part one of what i'm hoping will be a series. i decided not to split this so it is a bit lengthy, i apologize.

around 3.7k words, shy!virgin!joshua, praise kink, slight finger sucking, blowjobs, overuse of the word pretty, pretty boys being pretty, reader is shameless, joshua's a wreck, soonyoung cameo at the beginning, sorta proofread, sorry for any mistakes xx

you've always taken a liking to the pretty boy living in the apartment across yours. you've seen him around campus and had him for one of your classes so it wasn't like you were a total stranger, you two had interacted before. like the times the two of you left your apartments at the same time and awkwardly bowed your heads towards each other before the both of you went your respective ways.

you had to admit, the boy was cute. his black hair messily fanned across his forehead, and you've seen the way his eyes slip into crescent moons whenever you catch a glimpse of him smiling during class. you'd be lying if you said he didn't interest you.

deciding to get closer to the pretty boy, you approach him during class. from the short talk you had with him you found out two things. 1, his name, joshua, and 2, he was valedictorian of his graduating class in highschool.

you had given him your number, passing it off with some shitty excuse of "if any one of us ever misses class we can catch the other up, yeah?"

luckily for you joshua didn't seem to think twice about your lame excuse. he nodded, chuckling as you saved your number into his phone. you cursed your heart as you felt it flutter at his laugh. damn it.

______________________________________

the next time you saw him was at a café. he was a few people ahead of you in line. the boy picked up the hot chocolate he ordered and made his way to a table in the corner. cute. your thoughts were interrupted when someone behind you coughed, signalling for you to order. embarrassed, you mutter an apology and quickly order your drink to catch up to him.

"hi joshua! is it alright if i sit here?" you asked warily, slightly afraid he would say no. but of course, this was joshua hong.

he nodded, "of course. i was going to get in some extra studying before my next class but this is okay as well!"

"oh shit i'm so sorry. i could leave if you'd like?"

joshua brushes it off, "oh no you're fine, i've prepared enough, really!" he returns the smile you pass him and you feel your heart soar.

the rest of your time at the café is filled with mindless chattering of the project your professor assigned, the upcoming exam for your class, and joshua's work habits. you learn he loves being involved on campus, joining clubs and helping out when he can. you also learn he doesn't really take many breaks from school, instead opting to head to his apartment right after work.

"you really don't go out? not even by yourself?" you wonder, curious to how he even survives. junior year of college isn't the easiest. joshua blushes, not wanting to seem like a complete loser.

"well...i..i go to the shops a lot? to get food and stuff...and i go to the park a lot too? when i want to relax..." he trails off, not being able to think of anything else. his cheeks are red and he's shuffling nervously, awaiting your reply.

you simply smile. "that's cute, joshua. is it enough for you though? like, is it ever enough to feel completely free? sometimes it's good to forget about school, you know. there's a lot more to college than grades and studying," you tell him, sipping your drink. "not that it's a bad thing to focus on that stuff, of course." you add, not wanting to make him feel bad.

"i-i mean yeah..." he chews on his lip. "i'm kind of used to it all, i've been like this since highschool. sometimes it does become too much but there isn't really anything i can do about it." he finishes. you hum, impressed by his work ethic but also feeling pity for the poor boy.

"if it works then it works, nothing wrong with that. how about work?" you play with the straw in your drink.

"i work here, actually. it's not the most money, but it's enough for me to buy what i need, with a few dollars extra to buy miscellaneous items." he replies and as if on cue, an employee from the cafe strolls up to your table.

"hey, josh! you working later today?" the boy, who you recognize as soonyoung from one of your classes, wipes the table next to yours with a rag.

joshua nods, "after class, yes." soonyoung looks to you, stopping his cleaning.

"oh, hey y/n! i didn't know you knew joshua. small world, isn't it?" soonyoung laughs at his own comment.

joshua looks between the two of you, his brows furrowing. "you two know each other?"

"i have him for physics," you say at the same time soonyoung says, "i have her for physics!" the both of you stare at each other before soonyoung laughs and walks away, muttering something about how the world works in crazy ways.

you look over at joshua and he shrugs, sipping on his hot chocolate. you end up walking out of the café until the two of you need to part ways.

"see you in class, y/n!" joshua walks off hurriedly and you watch as the bunny keychain on his bag bounces with each step.

__________________________________

the two of you seemed to click together instantly and spent more time together than you first thought you would. you had a habit of going out together on the weekends and although at first it took an embarrassingly long time convincing joshua that it was okay to actually leave campus, now it's something he suggests himself. and it wasn't rare for joshua to spend the night over at your place, usually when the two of you are staying up late studying, but there are also times when joshua invites himself over, claiming he can't sleep. you don't understand how you help with that, especially since he sleeps on your couch on those nights but hey, you could never say no to him. you have been to his place before but most of your time together is spent at your place, seeing as you always have a full fridge.

of course with all positives come a negative, and you find your feelings for the pretty boy have become increasingly harder to ignore. through your time with him you've also learned he's incredibly fun to tease. the boy flushes at the mere mention of sex and doesn't seem to have any idea of even the basics. of course you aren't stupid and know very well what that means but joshua's always quick to shut any idea of him being a virgin down.

"i have done stuff before, y/n! i p-promise!" though the way he shuffles on his couch screams otherwise.

you chuckle. "i believe you, joshua, i swear. it's just fun to tease you like this. you become a blushing mess and it makes me want to ruin you." you tease, not really realizing the impact of your words until you notice joshua's cheeks flare up.

"...wh-what—what did you say?" joshua stutters, not daring to look up from where he's staring down at his hands.

"i was joking, shua! i wouldn't do anything to you if you didn't want me to." you laugh. hearing that makes joshua flush even more, your choice of words causing him to believe you want to do things to him.

"a-and...and if i wanted you to?" he admits after a couple minutes of silence. sighing, you take his shaking hand into yours.

"then i would do anything you'd ask. so long as you're okay with it." you shrug. joshua's mind is spinning, jealous at how you could be so casual with this while he was shaking like a leaf. it wasn't fair.

joshua slowly lifts his head and looks you in the eye, a look of determination settled on his face. "i want you to," his shaky voice betrays him and you smile fondly, reaching a hand up to stroke his cheek. "to ruin me." he finishes.

"you're so cute, joshua. really, you are. have you ever kissed anyone, pretty?" the new nickname has joshua almost whimpering, not used to this kind of attention.

he shakes his head, "n-no...i haven't really...done anything...with anyone..." his head drops in shame.

you lift his head to look at you, staring into his eyes. "there's nothing to be ashamed of, pretty. i'll take care of you, if you allow me to." your words have him shuddering and he nods, so desperate already.

"i need words, joshua." he swears he almost moans then, biting his lip and managing to form a shaky yes.

dragging your hand to his neck you pull him in for a kiss. his lips slot against yours and you can tell he's nervous by the way his fingers tap against his thigh. you intertwine your other hand with his in hopes of calming his nerves. luckily it seems to work, his kisses becoming less shaky.

as the kisses become hotter and more desperate you pull away and he whines, chasing your lips.

"it's okay, baby. just a little change of position." you drag his thighs to pull him into your lap and he yelps, hands coming up to grip your shoulders. joshua flushes as the nickname and the closeness of you two hits him simultaneously.

"is this alright, pretty?" you hum, bouncing your intertwined hands on his thigh. joshua opens his mouth to answer but his breath gets caught in his throat and you laugh. he's so unbelievably precious. joshua nervously smiles at you.

you pull him in for a kiss again, your hand going up to his hair. deciding to experiment a bit you tug at his strands lightly and he moans into your mouth. pleased, you pull his hips closer to you. you detach from his lips and kiss down his jaw and neck. little whimpers leave joshua's lips and you see him bite his lips as if to muffle his noises.

"uh-uh don't hide your noises from me, pretty boy." your thumb reaches up to tug his bottom lip out from under his teeth. joshua nods and you take the time to examine how gorgeous he looks right now. his lips are swollen from the kissing and biting, black hair messier than you could ever imagine, and a blush lays prettily on his cheeks all the way down to his collarbones peeking out from his shirt.

his eyes are glazed over with desire and need. when he looks down at your thumb you get an idea. hesitantly, as if to just test the waters, you poke at his lips with your thumb, circling his mouth. as if reading your mind, he slowly opens his mouth, allowing you to slip your thumb between his lips.

"suck." you order, the rest of your fingers curling around his jaw. joshua obeys, his tongue and mouth working together to engulf your thumb. his head bobs and when you apply more pressure to his tongue his eyes slip shut, a cute whimper leaving him.

"oh, you like that? sucking on my fingers like this? of course you do. does it make you feel good?" joshua's moaning at your words, his hips beginning to lightly rub against yours. you chuckle at his pathetic attempts to pleasure himself.

"already so needy? i haven't even touched you and you're already so hard." he whines against your thumb. taking your thumb out of his mouth you pull him into another kiss, basking in the way he moans into your mouth.

"let's head to your room, yeah? your first time shouldn't be on a couch." you tap his thigh and he shuffles off your lap, taking your hand and leading you to his room. walking in you realize you've never been here before, and suddenly you're reminded of who it is you're doing this with.

his room is very clean and neatly organized. you take a second to look around, taking it all in. his desk is filled with random school stuff and you catch a glimpse of his assignment from your guys' class. on his dresser you see cute little houseplants, some random bottles you assume to be colognes and perfumes, and what looks to be a projector.

"what's this?" you gesture to it, walking closer to examine it properly.

"it's a...it's a star projector...when you turn it on it lights up and fills the room with little stars...i like turning it on when i can't sleep..." joshua nervously mumbles, scared you might find it childish. instead, you smile and you feel your heart melt. god how much cuter can he get.

turning around you see joshua sitting on the edge of the full sized bed in the middle of the room. he stares up at you and you notice the way his eyes are still glossy, and when you see the tent in his pants you remember what you're here for. dragging him into a kiss you push him into the mattress and he moans against your lips.

you hold yourself up with one hand and reach the other around to tug at his hair, using his moan as an opportunity to slip your tongue into his mouth. grinding down on his clothed crotch he whines pathetically into your mouth.

you pull away and rest your forehead against his to catch your breath.

"...please..." joshua begs, unsure of what he's asking for himself.

"what do you want, joshua? tell me what you want, pretty." you grind against him once more and he whimpers needily.

"i don't...i don't know..." his cheeks flare up and you're reminded he has absolutely no experience whatsoever.

"that's okay, baby. i'll help you. it's all about you today, so tell me what you want. we don't have to do anything you don't want to, you can say no at anytime." you reassure him, sensing how nervous he is. kissing his cheek you pull away, sitting against the head board. he makes his way into your lap and let's his head fall onto your shoulder.

"i don't think i'm completely ready for it yet...i'm sorry y/n..." he trails off and you swear you hear him sniffle. your hand reaches up to card your fingers through his hair, pulling him away from your shoulder to face you.

"hey, listen, shua. don't apologize. at all. it's okay. look at me," his eyes are still focused on your shoulder, not wanting to meet your gaze. he shifts his eyes to your face and you can see how desperate he is and how his eyes are laced with worry. "we don't have to do anything you don't want to."

he nods and you kiss his nose, then his cheeks, and forehead, and nose again until you're littering tiny pecks all over his face and he's smiling again. you kiss him again, more innocent this time, and you try to convey your feelings for him through this kiss, letting him know you care for him regardless of whether you two have sex or not. you can tell the message gets through to him by the way he shyly looks down when you pull away.

the scene would look incredibly awkward to anyone else. joshua's sitting in your lap, head on your shoulder, with you gazing down at him warmly. the mood is most certainly not matching the hard on in joshua's sweatpants. but you found it all the more endearing, and you weren't going to make anymore advances unless he wanted it.

joshua is reminded of the problem in his pants and he flushes once more. he may not be ready for the real deal, but he certainly wants to get off tonight. slowly, he grinds his hips. you don't even notice he's doing it until his breath hitches and he grips onto your arms for leverage, quickening his pace.

"..a-ah...i'm sorry...im just–" he's cut off with a moan and you nod at him, signalling you understand.

"i know, baby, i know. do you want a little help?" he nods furiously. you guide his hips a bit more, thrusting up to meet his moves. the friction has joshua's eyes rolling back, not used to such sensations.

"do you want to get off on my thigh, pretty? or do you want more? what more can i do hmm..?" you hum, stroking joshua's hair as he keeps up his movements.

he shakes his head, "help me, please. please help me—touch me please." joshua reluctantly slows his thrusts, staring up at you with his pretty eyes. smiling, you nod. grabbing his wrists you change your positions, now hovering over him.

you kiss down his neck, nipping and sucking at the skin. joshua melts into the mattress, his hands gripping the sheets. you play with the bottom of his shirt, looking up at him. he nods, lifting his arms to allow you to slip the shirt over his head.

you take a minute to admire his body. his torso is slim and his skin is even, small moles littering his skin here and there. he's so gorgeous, you think. you let your eyes wander up to his neck, hickeys beginning to bloom, a pretty contrast with his fair skin. you're interrupted from your thoughts when joshua makes a noise of embarrassment, hands coming up to cover his blushing face.

"don't hide from me, joshua. you're beautiful." you coax, grabbing his wrists to lower his hands. you smirk at the way he whines at the praise.

"th-thank you..." you stroke his cheek before continuing your way down his torso to his waistband. you thumb at his pants and he lifts his hips, allowing you to slip the sweats off his legs.

joshua's face is burning up, not used to being so exposed. you're settled between his legs, hovering over the pretty boy.

"you look so pretty like this, shua. such a pretty boy you are." joshua whimpers, your words of praise going straight to his cock. you litter a few more kisses on his torso, going lower until you reach his boxers. you give open mouthed kisses to his length, the dark patch by his tip spreading the more you toy with him. moaning, joshua thrusts up against your mouth.

"no no, pretty. patience. i'll take care of you i promise. good boys wait patiently, and you're a good boy, right joshua? you'll be a good boy for me?" you tease, removing his boxers completely.

joshua nods desperately. "y-yes...i'm a good boy...your good boy..." he whines at his own words, the praise becoming too much. his neglected cock lays against his stomach, precum leaking over the tip and onto his belly. the hair down there is neatly trimmed and for whatever reason that makes you smile. cute.

"of course you are, joshua. my beautiful good boy. waiting so patiently." his hands are moving about, not sure where to put them as he tries his hardest not to grind his hips up. grabbing his wrists you hold them above his head, pressing a kiss to his forehead while you're there. "keep these up here, don't move. you can do that right?" joshua whimpers, nodding.

letting go of his wrists you turn your attention back to his cock. giving kitten licks to the head you glance up, taking in all of joshua's needy noises and using that to motivate you. you leave little kisses on the head before you take him into your mouth, joshua's hips jolting in response.

taking his entire length in your mouth was quite easy, not that he was small or anything, but he wasn't the biggest either. joshua's moans spill out of his mouth, hips slightly bucking before you rest a hand on his hips, stilling his body on the bed. your tongue circles his tip while your other hand works on the rest of his length. the extra attention to his sensitive head has joshua whining, breath catching in his throat when you lick over his slit.

"feels good—oh god—feels so good..." you pull off his cock, your hand still stroking him. you notice the way his hands are still right where you told him to keep them, his eyes shut in bliss as your hand works to pleasure him. you find yourself smiling at how obedient he is.

his legs wrap around your waist, bringing you closer to him. leaning down you suck more marks onto his skin. joshua's moans are higher now, and with the way his hips are sloppily thrusting into your hand you're certain he's close.

"are you close, shua?" nodding, he opens his eyes to meet yours. "good boys ask for permission." your wrist works faster, thumb rubbing his slit.

"please...can i please...y-y/n...please can i cum..." he twitches against you, desperate for release. you jerk your wrist and joshua thrashes his head against the pillows, his thighs shaking with pleasure. you lean down to press soft kisses to his inner thighs, sucking marks onto the smooth skin.

"yes pretty boy, you can. cum for me, joshua." his back arches off the bed, streaks of cum coating his torso and your hand. you pull off when he's writhing from overstimulation, hands gripping the pillow above his head.

cute whimpers leave his lips when you clean him up, the post orgasm aftershocks combined with your gentle touches have him on cloud nine. joshua's eyes are closed, sweaty hair stuck to his forehead. as gently as you can you pull him into your lap, being mindful of how sensitive he still is.

you stroke his hair out of his forehead, caressing his cheeks while he comes down from his high.

"hello, pretty boy. you did so good for me, shua. you were wonderful." you coo when he opens his eyes, his lips turning upwards at your words. joshua opens his mouth to say something but he coughs last minute, throat scratchy from all his moaning.

"oh i'm sorry, pretty. here, drink up." you press a water bottle against his lips, guiding him. when he's had enough he pulls away, head immediately dropping back on your chest.

"how was it? did you enjoy it?" you question, intertwining your hand with his.

"it was good...thank you y/n." he smiles up at you, squeezing your hand. you return the smile, rubbing his back and coaxing him to rest. joshua's eyes shut and he drifts off to sleep.

sighing softly you shift your positions so joshua's laying next to you. he hugs your waist in his sleep, cuddling you closer to him and you wrap your hands around his naked waist. bringing the sheets up to cover the both of you, you let yourself rest as well.

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

[hermannsthumb]

I have a fun prompt I've been thinking about I hope you have time for one day! When Newt and Hermann meet actually things go really really well and they even get together. It's just they bicker so much and have huge science-based arguments that everyone assumed they must have hated each other on sight.

sure thing! i had fun with this one

----

"So," Newt says. "I was talking to Tendo today."

Across the mess table, Hermann hums in feigned interest. Newt knows it's feigned 'cause Hermann doesn't stop either thing he's doing: using his left hand to wind noodles around a fork, and using his right hand to scribble away a series of lengthy equations on the back of a paper napkin. His full attention has been hopping between both for about ten minutes now—no room for Newt to slip in there. He's testing his limits enough as it. Half of the last equation ended up scratched into the tabletop, and the last time he lifted his fork to his mouth, it was empty. And then he swallowed anyway. Newt kinda loves the guy.

"Yeah," Newt says, deciding to continue like Hermann responded the way he was actually supposed to respond, which would've been something along the lines of what an utterly fascinating story, Newton, do tell me more. I love hearing you talk, Newton. How marvelously smart you are, Newton, and how melodic and breathtaking your voice is. Now watch me bite down on an empty fork again. "Kinda funny. He was asking how we met."

Hermann finally looks up at Newt suspiciously over the rims of his glasses, which are slipping slowly down his nose. He stills them with the tip of his index finger before they land in his dinner. "Why?"

"I don't know, man," Newt says. "He just was. It was like, small talk, you wouldn't get it. He dropped by the lab when you were out this morning to let me know that there was extra space if we wanted it. Like, lab space." Hermann resumes scratching an equation into the table absently. Newt rolls his eyes. "As in, we could have separate labs if we wanted now."

Hermann knits his eyebrows together. "Separate laboratories?"

When Newt and Hermann first started at the Hong Kong Shatterdome, the k-scientist team was pre-existing and significantly bigger, and anyone who joined on later—like, you know, them—basically got shoved in wherever they fit. For Newt and Hermann, that happened to be Laboratory Space D, Basement Level 1 (the only basement level), along with a former marine biologist who was killed on a research excursion a month later when a kaiju made unexpected landfall, like, right on top of their chosen shelter. Bad luck. Anyway, Newt's known about the existence of other Hong Kong Shatterdome lab spaces in the vague and absent sort of way that you would an urban legend, but (similarly so) he never thought he and Hermann would actually ever lay eyes on one. And then Tendo stopped by to dangle it in front of Newt on a stick.

"The other labs were being used as storage for ages after everyone else—" Newt searches for a word tasteful enough to encapsulate got stomped by a kaiju and wised up and decided to live out what are probably our last few days before the world ends with their families instead of alone in a military bunker. "—left. Anyway, Tendo told me they've been going through shit like crazy this month, I think to see if they can salvage any old tech, and that the other labs are basically totally emptied out now. We just have to ask and they're ours."

Hermann sets down both his pen and fork, twisting his mouth contemplatively. He finally loses the battle against gravity with his glasses, and they miss his plate by an inch, swinging back on their chain and bouncing harmlessly against his chest instead. Newt briefly wonders if getting a chain for his own glasses would save them from their frequent fatal falls into kaiju organ cavities and buckets of non-neutralized kaiju blood, but decides not even the money he'd save on replacement pairs would make a fashion faux pas like that worth it. "You know I don't much fancy the basement," Hermann says.

"Your joints," Newt agrees. The damp of the basement sets Hermann's joint pain off frequently, something Hermann talks about just as frequently. Newt's not really a fan of the basement either, though for different reasons—he would kill to get some windows and natural, non-fluorescent light in there. Sun lamps can only do so much. He's pretty sure he'd fucking glow if he stepped outside right now. Also, it's cold down here.

"And it might be nice to be closer to LOCCENT, in case of an emergency," Hermann continues. "And closer to—oh, hang on. What has this got to do with us?"

"Huh?"

"How we met," Hermann says. "You said, that Tendo asked—"

"Oh," Newt says. It's his turn to play coy. He stirs his chopsticks through his own dinner, accidentally flicking a piece of tofu to the table. It lands on top of Hermann's etched equations. Hermann scowls, because that's how their routine goes: Newt gets Hermann's stuff dirty, and Hermann gets mad. "Well. It was just that Tendo was like you can finally be out of each other's hair, how the hell did you guys get stuck together anyway when you obviously can't stand each other, that kind of stuff."

"Ah," Hermann says.

"And I said that it was because we knew each other before," Newt says, "and that we transferred here together. And that's when he asked."

"And what did you say?" Hermann says.

"That we used to correspond professionally," Newt says, "and met at a conference way back in 2017." He adds, with a grin, "Also professionally."

This was technically true. Newt and Hermann did write to each other, professionally, and they did meet at a conference, professionally, but what went down after a long and public shouting match in the events hall of a very nice hotel—in Hermann's room, five floors up in that very nice hotel—was not very professional. The events of the week that followed—spent, intermittently, between Hermann's hotel room, several coffee shops, a bench under a tree in Newt's favorite park, a rotation sushi restaurant, brushing knees shyly on the tram, and, finally, clasping hands on the staircase of Newt's apartment and gazing deeply into each other's eyes—weren't very professional, either, but Newt likes to think that they were very romantic. Rom-com level shit. Newt revealed none of this to Tendo, who referred to the 2017 conference as that Infamous Day for the rest of their conversation. "Well, it was professional," Hermann sniffs.

But he reaches across the table, and, very timidly, crosses his pinkie over top of Newt's. It's the most blatant form of PDA Hermann ever willingly engages Newt in. Newt thinks if he ever tried to touch two fingers at once in anywhere but the lab, or God forbid, hold his whole hand, Hermann's ears might start emitting steam like something out of a cartoon. "It might be nice," he says again.

Laboratory Space D, Basement Level 1, is unique—Newt knows—in that Newt and Hermann's quarters are connected to it directly. None of the other labs have that luxury (and Newt has a feeling it's because Lab Space D wasn't actually intended as a lab space). He remembers being told that when they were shoved into it. Yeah, you have the darkest and tiniest lab space on base, but your rooms are right there! When Newt wants to go to Hermann's room, or if he's in Hermann's room and needs a sweatshirt or something from his own, he just has to step the three feet between their two doors. Moving labs could throw a wrench in that—they might be asked to move quarters, too, and might be shuttled to opposite sides of the Shatterdome, and though they could just bite the bullet and request couple's quarters already, it's nice to have their own spaces when they need it. That would never work. And, well, besides—the lab, their lab, feels like home to them at this point. Newt shrugs.

"On the other hand," Hermann says, and he taps Newt's pinkie lightly, "I quite like how things are. I can live with the damp, really."

"We can get a dehumidifier," Newt offers.

Hermann nods, and he gives Newt the barest hint of a smile.

Their monthly delivery of lab supplies—whatever they can afford with their shoestring budget, which, these days, mostly means chalk, rubber gloves, and nice instant ramen—comes three weeks later. Newt wouldn't exactly call the Shatterdome delivery guy a friend, seeing as he has yet to divulge his name to Newt (and also Newt's pretty sure he has a thing for Hermann, since he always seems to wait until Hermann is in the lab to stroll by with his package trolley and always calls him Dr. Gottlieb with big stupid heart eyes, oh, Dr. Gottlieb, that new sweater looks soooo nice on you!, so anyway, that makes him Newt's rival by default), but he, at least, recognizes and acknowledges Newt at this point. That's more than Newt can say for most people on the base. After his usual greeting to the two of them (hey, Newt, oh, hellllooo, Dr. Gottlieb, did you do something new with your hair?), he starts to unload their packages, also like usual.

"I was surprised to see that you guys are still down here," he tells Newt, not like usual. "Tendo mentioned something about you getting your own labs."

"He did?" Newt says, meaning to frown, but grinning instead. It's kind of fun to be the subject of gossip. He pulls off his gloves and tosses them in the trash to help with their supplies—the dehumidifier he requested should be in there, and it's fancy and definitely on the bigger side.

"Yeah," their delivery guy continues. He hands Newt a fuckin' massive brick of a package. Hermann's stupid chalk. The amount that Hermann tears through in a month really is astounding: Newt has a private theory that Hermann is an undercover space alien from a planet where chalk constitutes all of the primary food groups, and he secretly sneaks out here and eats it in the dead of night when Newt is asleep. "Anyway, sorry I'm late," the delivery guy says, as Newt imagines Hermann crunching on a piece of chalk like a carrot stick, "I went to all the other labs first."

"No worries, dude," Newt says. "Sorry for the confusion."

He lugs the package over to Hermann's desk, and drops it down on the only spot not over-cluttered with papers and books. Hermann complains about Newt's messiness a lot for a guy who is just as bad, if not worse. "Need any now?" Newt asks Hermann.

Hermann, scribbling away at his chalkboard, grunts. Newt decides that's a no.

"Hard at work, Dr. Gottlieb?" the delivery guy says, practically fluttering his eyelashes.

Another grunt. Newt snorts.

"I thought you guys would've moved right away," the delivery guy (obviously disappointed at Hermann's lack of attention) tells Newt. "Tendo mentioned you've been stuck together for a while, ever since some sort of dramatic confrontation at a conference ten years ago." he adds eagerly, "Did you really get thrown out? I don't know how you haven't killed each other yet."

"It's taken a lot of hard work," Newt says. Yeah, the whole being-ejected-from-the-conference-and-barred-from-all-future-ones-forever thing is technically true too, but everyone there was too stuffy and serious for Newt's fun vibes anyway, so he thinks it's their loss. The most important part of the scientific breakthrough process, Newt frequently thinks, was having someone there to challenge you and push back at you. Sometimes loudly. And in public. In the conference hall of a very expensive hotel, in front of all of your scientific peers, some hotel security guards, and a poor graduate student who made the mistake of asking you and your penpal-colleague for your joint opinion on something and got caught in the crosshairs. Besides—out of everyone at that stupid conference, Newt and Hermann were the only ones snapped up by the PPDC, so it's doubly their loss. "And, yeah, we got thrown out. Me and Hermann fight a lot, but we always make up eventually. It's no big deal. It's, like, our thing."

"Make up?"

Newt waggles his eyebrows and doesn't elaborate. The making up part is the best part of arguing with Hermann, honestly, but he's not about to go giving private details about stuff like that to his rival.

By the time Hermann finally descends his ladder, three hours have passed, and Newt is frowning over an email he's just gotten from Shatterdome HR. Hermann will probably see it in a second when he checks his own email—it was sent to both of them, after all—but Newt waves him over to his desk anyway. "Look," he says.

He draws out the spare chair he keeps by his desk (for Hermann), and Hermann drops into it gratefully, propping his cane up against the arm. Then Hermann pushes his glasses up onto his nose and scans the email with a frown of his own. Newt reads it aloud for him anyway. "'Subject: Quarters Reassignment,'" he says. "Dear Drs. Geiszler and Gottlieb: It has recently come to our attention that you will be transferring to Laboratories A&B. Should you wish to transfer quarters as well, you will find the necessary paperwork..."

"By Jove," Hermann groans, and pulls his glasses off again, smudging a bit of chalk on his cheek, "can't they just leave us alone?"

Newt laughs. "I'll tell them we're not interested. Wait, listen to this bit at the end: Congratulations—this must be a relief! Guess they were getting your complaint forms after all, Hermann." Both Newt and Hermann had long-since assumed that any and all official complaint forms stamped with a k-sci lab return address are filed right into the garbage. It's never deterred Hermann from sending them in, though.

"Hmph," Hermann says.

Newt carefully rolls his shirtcuff back down to his wrist and uses it to rub off Hermann's chalk smudge. When it's gone, or at least, mostly gone, he brushes his fingers back through Hermann's short hair. Hermann's eyelids flutter shut, and as he leans into Newt's touch, his creased forehead smooths just a little. "Mm. You're lovely," he murmurs. "We really ought to tell them we're married. It's gone on long enough."

"I guess," Newt says. "But it's kind of funny, isn't it?"

[narrators-journal]

Don’t leave me

Somehow, you'd gotten yourself into a mess of a relationship, and now you weren't sure exactly what to do. It had started out so sweetly, Chuuya had been a fun, charming, and very handsome man, and he'd taken a swift interest in you after (f/n) had introduced you to him. The whole thing had you on cloud nine. Chuuya would shower you with gifts after lengthy work trips, would take you on fancy dates now and then, and, while prickly, somewhat protective, and aggressive, he was also abundantly affectionate and was surprisingly vulnerable and sensitive at times. In total, he was a wonderful guy, and things were great for the time, but the 'honeymoon phase' ended abruptly. The day had started out normally, you'd woken up to an empty bed, Chuuya once again gone, likely for a while, so you simply took advantage of his absence and picked up clothes and did regular chores. After all, ever since Chuuya had began to stay over more and more, your home was quicker to get cluttered and messy. But, you didn't mind too much since the bit of extra mess was well balanced out by your boyfriends charms, affections, and the fun the two of you had when he was around. So you just hummed a tune while plucking his clothing off of the bedroom floor and put them in your laundry basket. However, you stopped when a spot on his shirt caught your eye. Upon closer inspection, your first thought was sadly confirmed. Blood. You'd been with the man long enough to have learned to identify a wine stain on his clothes, but this wasn't quite the same. This stain was lighter around the edges in some parts, and there was splatter that, thanks to a slew of crime shows you'd seen, were high velocity rather than the light-weight missing his mouth with his wine glass. Where the hell did he get blood to spill like this though?? Did he hurt himself at work? You thought, a wave of anxiety turning your thoughts to scrambled gibberish for a moment, only calmed when you took a few deep breaths and tried to think straight, Hold on, hold on...He doesn't work on a job that would put him at risk of losing this much blood, so...what if this isn't HIS blood? You thought, and it honestly sort of plagued you for the remainder of the morning. What if he did get hurt though? He couldn't have killed someone, right?! The thought continued to run laps around your mind while you anxiously waited to see if your boyfriend returned home, which he thankfully did somewhat swiftly.          "Hey babe, I'm home!" Chuuya called as he walked in with an armful of groceries and a line of bags behind him on a string floating due to his power. However, when he saw the distressed look on your face, he paused and tilted his head a bit, "What's wrong?" Suddenly, you were in hysterics as you word-vomited about the stain and your concerns. Afterwards, Chuuya just sighed, walking over and wrapping his strong arms around your slightly shakey body, "Calm down, take a deep breath." He soothed, petting your (h/l), (h/c) hair until you were less frantic. After that, he sat you down, taking the shirt you were grasping as if your life depended on it and looking over the stain. He was quiet for a moment, and for an instance you saw a flash of panic in his sapphire eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it had been there,           "Babe, you've wound yourself up about a wine stain," he snorted, giving you a playful, attractive smile, but right now it did little to sooth your anxiety,          "C-chuuya, I've seen enough tv to recognize blood splatter, i-it's not even the same color as a wine stain??" you pointed out while getting back to your feet, but he shook his head and pushed you back into the chair,           "(y/n), I promise you, it's only wine, you're making a big deal about this when there is nothing to freak out about," he assured,           "Than why'd you look scared for a moment? If it's just a wine stain, why did you get scared?" you asked, and that seemed to finally break his mask of calm. His face twisted into a mask of annoyance and he growled a bit,           "Just drop it, (y/n)." His voice had lost its calming edge and become stern and left no room for argument, but you shook your head and pushed him away to stand up,           "No, tell me what the hell that stain is. Did you get hurt? Did...did you hurt someone?!" you questioned, but Chuuya'd shut down, just huffing and turning to go back to the groceries he'd bought and put them away. For a while, you were stuck in a tense silence while Chuuya cooked. He was usually pretty honest, and quick to apologize when he got like this, but an hour passed and your moods only soured. He tried to give you food, but you spitefully refused, and any other attempts to get an explanation for the random stain on his shirt were ignored at best. By the time bedtime rolled around, the atmosphere in your apartment was suffocating, so you finally spoke to your boyfriend,            "I'm going to go stay with (f/n) for the night." You told him bluntly, having learned that if you were to hang out with your friends without planning a month in advance, you'd have to just put your foot down and walk out. However, this time, Chuuya reacted a lot more hostile.            "Why? There is no reason for you to go over to their house." he said, glaring at you coldly while he stood in front of the door,            "Because, you're being an asshole and I don't want to be around you right now." You told him, being honest along with snappy, making the redhead throw his hands up in exasperated annoyance,               "Really?! All because of a fucking shirt?" he snapped, about snarling at you. Honestly, it kind of frightened you when he got this way, but you had let him shut down the conversation about the shirt, not this.             "If it's just a shirt, than explain that stain to me so I can stop fucking worrying! Because, right now I fear you've been attacked, or have killed someone!" You demanded, trying to push past him angrily, Suddenly, Chuuya grabbed your arm, yanking you away from the door,              "Fuck that, you're not going anywhere!" The force of his words and the strength of his grip sending ice into your veins, making you look at him with wide (e/c) eyes,              "Chuuya, let me go! Y-you're being scary!" You said, trying to pull your wrist from his grip to no avail,              "No! Stay here, i-it's far too late for you to go anywhere anyway," he pointed out, trying to reason through his ill temper, but by now you were too scared of him to want to stay, even if he had a point or gave a believable explanation for the stain, so you kept trying to get away. As the two of you struggled, you could see your boyfriends face go from pissed, to panicked, accompanied by pleas for you to stay, to not leave, that he was sorry, but you ignored them all and just pulled on your aching wrist with all your might. Finally, you got your hand free, but without Chuuya to hold you up, you ended up falling backwards into the front door and knocking yourself silly. You could hear Chuuya talking to you, but the force of your skull smacking against the door made the world swim and distorted his words. Suddenly, he wrapped his arm around you and picked you up without an issue, ignoring your wriggling and disoriented arguments while your senses returned,          "Stay here, I'm sorry for losing my temper, alright? Just...Just come on, let's go to bed," he was saying, his words full of distress while he carried you to the bed and placed you in it, pushing you back when you tried to sit up. In record time, Chuuya got into the bed with you and pulled you close to him, keeping you trapped there in his strong arms and muttering apologies until you finally began to feel bad for your moment of rash decisions and just cuddled up to him with a sigh. You could talk to him about everything tomorrow.

[theflashdriver]

The Dead of Night

Grogginess encrusted all of Blaze’s senses, morning had come much too quickly. The feline princess of the Sol dimension was enveloped within her bedsheets, her eyelids her only shield as she dared to fight the light that had broken into her room. She was no stranger to early mornings, even those that followed late nights, but she was certain that foolishness had cost her some extra rest this morning. Usually, she’d be awakened by the ringing of her alarm clock, a device that Marine had cobbled together, but this morning was different. It seemed she’d left her balcony curtains open and, as a result, Summer’s early sunrise had managed to flood the room.

She had meetings this morning but none of them till ten, it couldn’t be later than seven. In total, she was probably owed another hour or so more of proper rest. She’d been up till one last night, reneging on social contact as she pored over a lengthy and especially drab paper regarding fishing quotas in the waters near the edge of her kingdom. She would be meeting with stakeholders today, representatives from individual fishing firms and other local groups, with the intent to gather opinions and set out potential changes in policy. Either greater monitoring of catch weights in key areas was required or stricter limitations on the legal fishing methods divided among the catchment zones would-

“Blaze, are you awake?” A familiar voice had cleaved through her thoughts and prattled into her sensitive ears. Suddenly, the early light made a lot more sense. Sunlight wasn’t falling on her eyelids; it was psychic energy, “Oh no, oh no, what do I do. I don’t want to wake her up, but I don’t know what to do. It’s not like there’s anyone else I can turn to, but I don’t want to wake her up. What do I do, what do I do-

“Silver, what are you doing in here? What time is it,” She groaned, forcing herself to sit up and rubbing her eyes with her palms.

“Blaze! You can hear me? I’m so glad!” He shouted, much too loudly, “I-It’s only three o’clock, I’m really sorry. I tried everything but, um, I’ve got a problem and I don’t know how to fix it,” The panic in his voice offset any annoyance she felt, “I’ve tried everything, but I think I’m stuck. I really hope this won’t last forever.”

Her eyes finally opened but to call the sight before her peculiar would be a grave understatement. Her room was still mostly dark, gently tinted with cyan energy, and the psychic hedgehog was nowhere to be seen. It was no wonder she’d been awakened though, what looked to be an orb of bright psychic light was hovering directly in front of her face. It was almost blinding to look at and it refused to stay still; as Blaze turned to look for the hedgehog it kept trying to drift into her vision. His voice had sounded so close, yet he was nowhere to be seen.

“Silver, where are you?” She called out, forcing back a yawn as concern mounted, “And what’s wrong?”

“Oh geez, well,” The orb drifted back into view, almost bumping into her head as it lurched through the air, “I’m right here Blaze. I don’t really know what I look like, but I’m right in front of you.”

Blaze squinted at the glowing orb. In all her life, Blaze hadn’t met another psychokinetic nor anyone capable of replicating the hedgehog’s abilities. It was unlikely that this was some sort of trick concocted by Eggman or his future counterpart. It was however incredibly hard to believe that her best friend, a nineteen-year-old hedgehog, had metamorphosed into a glowing globe overnight.

“Silver?” It was too early for this, she couldn’t begin to calculate what was going on, “What happened to you?”

“I don’t want to alarm you, but I think I might have turned into a ghost,” He said, in a strangely emotionless tone.

“You’ve died?!” The feline practically jumped out of bed, suddenly wide awake, only for the mote to follow her.

“M-Maybe? I don’t think so? I’m just a ghost, for now,” He answered, sounding entirely unphased despite his stutter. Whether he was or not, this new form didn’t carry with it the tell-tale signs of his overtly expressive nature, “What if I am dead…”

“How did this happen?” She demanded to know, casting his aloud thought aside.

“I didn’t mean to, I promise! I was just practicing with my powers, trying out new things, and I kind of… pushed myself out of my body? I wasn’t tired so I decided I’d burn up some psychic energy, but I guess I used too much at once. I fell over one moment and the next I was like this. Oh no, that was stupid, really stupid,” He muttered on. Though his traditional gesticulations were lost, they seemed to be mirrored in the orb’s own warbling and the light’s intensity, “I’m pretty sure I’m still breathing, it looked like I was, but I can’t really touch anything right now, look.”

With only that brief warning, the orb flew straight through her head. When the princess turned, she found him simply floating behind her. She hadn’t felt anything as it phased through her, not the usual touch of his psychic grasp nor even some form of ghostly cold. It was as though he truly had become light, but a light that carried no heat. He was more like the glow of an electric torch than something more traditionally natural or supernatural.

“So, your body still exists? It’s just lying on the floor” She confirmed, befuddlement plain in her tone, “Did you look hurt? Ill?”

“I had a look, but I was face down. My chest was rising and falling but…” A humming groan, the sort that would typically escape his mouth when he was deep in thought, emanated through the room, “Every time I tried to touch myself, I’d just pass straight through. I couldn’t flip myself over, psychically or otherwise. I can’t summon my psychokinesis at all right now actually…” Realisation seemed to strike him, “Do I even have hands right now…?”

Blaze began to race for the door, not thinking twice about his query or her currently pyjama-clad form, “You were still in the guest room, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, I was,” He answered, catching up and following her into the hall, “I nearly hit my head on the bedframe as I passed out.”

“Alright, at least your body is somewhere safe. If it was still breathing, like you said, then that’s a good sign,” She was trying to think rationally in an attempt to calm both him and herself, “This is probably just some kind of power that you didn’t know you had. Assuming that is the case, you should be able to return to your body.”

“I tried phasing back into myself, but it didn’t work,” He quickly reminded her, “If it is some sort of new power then I have no idea how to control it.”

“You’ll learn with time, but I promise that I’ll do everything I can,” She swore, picking up the pace.

“Thank you, Blaze,” The orb responded in its still static tone, “I feel so bad for putting her through this. I need to make it up to her somehow. She has meetings tomorrow but she’s running around and trying to help me before she’s even out of her pyjamas,” The princess threw him a glance, why was he talking like that? “She looked so comfortable back there; she looks so cute even now. There are more important things to deal with but seeing her in that shirt is just adora-

“S-Silver,” She stuttered, staggering to a stop. The princess’ pyjamas were simple, consisting of a set of black spats and an oversized purple t-shirt. An oversized purple t-shirt that was his yet had once been his but just so happened to be loosely hanging from her shoulders, “Now’s not the time.”

“Not the time for what?” He asked, his voice still devoid of tone.

“We’re dealing with your potential death, we don’t have time to deal with my pyjamas,” She huffed, turning and picking up the pace.

“Wait, y-you heard that?” He questioned, “I only thought that. But, then, what’s the difference between thinking and speaking when I’m like this. I didn’t consider that, it’s not like I’m moving my mouth. Oh no, oh no, did you hear anything else? What have I said?”

“Was there anything else to hear?” She was certain that question sounded menacing but, truth be told, Blaze was simply bedraggled, and embarrassment had grasped at her throat. It was almost certainly choking her white muzzle into beet red.

“N-No, no!” He insisted, only to very quickly and unintentionally elaborate, “She just looked so cute lying there, but she always looks beautiful, I can’t help thinking that. It was just nice to see her so comfortable, the past few days have been rough and, well, we’re in a castle. I couldn’t help comparing her to sleeping beauty. Oh, this is so stupid. I was just-

“S-Silver!” The princess whisper-shouted, starting to run again and feeling herself grow hotter and hotter, “I can still hear you!”

The orb-hedgehog let loose a bizarrely emotionless sounding squeak of panic, a sound not dissimilar to an old door hinge, before shooting straight upwards, phasing through the ceiling and into the corridor above. Blaze rounded to reach the staircase, not daring to pause as she rushed. Without him at her side though, she felt much freer to drop her stoicism; her hands came up to cover her cheeks and she felt sweat grow on her brow.

In whatever this state was, the hedgehog couldn’t hold a thought inside of his head. He didn’t even have a head! This situation was growing more ridiculous with each passing second, her best friend’s body was apparently in some sort of catatonic state while his consciousness was running rampant in her castle. Had anyone else seen him? Had anyone else heard him? The palace was mostly empty but there were guards stationed on the grounds and Gardon’s room wasn’t too far away. The elderly Koala had become a heavy sleeper in his later years, but the moment he sensed something was awry, he’d be up with sword in hand and his uniform pulled over his pyjamas.

The thought of pyjamas pulled her back to her own situation as she made her way up the final flight. Normally, comparing her to a princess, let alone a fairy tale one, was a sure-fire way to earn the feline’s scorn, but something about the comparison was lingering with her. She wanted to convince herself that it was just a hint of the hedgehog’s naïveté shining through, but there were several aspects to the circumstance that made it feel like much more than that.

First and most obvious was that situation he’d found himself in; the fact that he had been so fast to draw a parallel to her, so casually, despite his own panic? That much on its own would be enough to send her into a hissing tizzy but then there was the nature of her current clothing. This shirt she was wearing was one of his shirts, of all the things, of all the options; it set her heart and face alight as she arrived on the landing. Silver had insisted on taking up various chores while he stayed in the castle; laundry had ended up being one of them. She’d tried to insist that he just rest while he was here (and remind him that he had never operated a modern washing machine) but that hadn’t stopped him from taking the job on, along with a handful of other roles.

As the princess reached his door she hesitated, Marine’s jeering about Silver being her butler entered the princess’ mind but that wasn’t what had made her outfit so embarrassing. Just as he’d been new to laundry, the hedgehog was new to clothes and so, more often than not, one or two of his articles would find its way into her pile. She’d returned a couple of shirts to him at first, a few pairs of socks too, but this shirt was different. Tonight, on her way to bed, she’d realised his mistake and opted to capitalise on it. Having scarcely seen him all day, maintaining her wall despite his pleading, it’d been a comfort.

Now it was a catalyst for her embarrassment, keeping her from opening the door that she could hear his floating form presently inside. Most important of all was the comparison he’d apparently made. Despite her being so dressed down, despite her hair surely sticking up on end and the freshly awakened aggravation on her face, he’d compared her to sleeping beauty. If he’d done it under any other circumstance she’d have been able to shrug it off but during his present situation, while she was like this and he was like that? How could he be so naïve?

Swallowing, taking a deep breath, she turned the doorknob and pushed into the room.

“Oh, she’s here!” The orb was still somewhat blinding, it took a moment before she could even make out the hedgehog’s form, “Hey, so, as you can see, I’m…”

What caught her attention first was what the hedgehog was wearing. Despite the hour, and this being his bedchamber, the hedgehog was well dressed. A white dress shirt, specifically slit to allow his spines to perforate out the back, and suit trousers garbed his form. It took a moment for her to realise why he was dressed like that; with today being laundry day, it’d probably been all he was left with.

She hurried to his side and set her hand on his neck, immediately feeling his pulse. His breathing was light but there was warmth beneath his fur and on his muzzle. Perhaps even a little too much warmth, did he have a fever? Blaze glanced up, taking in the room properly. Everything was in place, from the bed to the bedside cabinet, nothing was amiss.

Taking control of the situation, she informed her partner, “I’m going to move your body to the bed, just so you’re in a better position.”

“Alright,” The orb hummed, “I feel so bad… I shouldn’t have-

“Don’t, Silver,” She cut off his emanating thoughts, “I’m glad you came to me rather than waiting till tomorrow all on your own. Who knows what might have happened.”

As gently as she could, the pyrokinetic rolled her partner over. His face was restful, his expression similar to that she’d seen watching over him for dozens of nights. Despite the tenderness she felt, and the calmness that flowed over her person, her eyes couldn’t help but wander south.

“Why is your shirt unbuttoned?” She asked, tearing her gaze from the curls of white fluffy that

“I-It’s hot in here,” He stammered, his voice still entirely devoid of emotion, “Well, it was hot in here. I can’t really feel anything right now, only really where you’re touching me.”

“Wait, you can feel…” Blaze moved her hand from his face to press into chest fur, holding the contact, “Can you feel this?”

“Not nearly as much,” He replied, “Even when you were touching my face though, I could only slightly feel it.”

Keeping that in mind, she slipped her right arm behind his neck and caught beneath his knees with her left. It was fortunate that the hedgehog was so light, otherwise she’d risk dropping him in a state where he couldn’t fall safely. Usually, the time traveller had been the one to pick her up going all out during a fight. More recently though, her going all out meant overworking in the library; he’d tucked her into bed at least a dozen times. Something about it, feeling the warmth of his frame and holding him tightly against her, was eating away at her lingering sleepiness.

The orb that seemingly held the hedgehog’s consciousness followed her movements, arriving to float above his body as she placed him atop the duvet. In a clear attempt to avoid vocalising further thoughts, the mote was currently humming to itself, though every so often a word or two would sneak out. Blaze wouldn’t admit it aloud but, the fact he was trying so hard to avoid speech just reminded her of what he’d said before. It made her consider what else he might be covering up. If he could hear her thoughts as she could his right now, then Silver would know that-

“S-So, um, I have no idea how to fix this,” He admitted again, his light flaring just a little brighter.

“Well, you can feel through your body, so that seems like a place to start,” She placed both hands on his face, first gently smoothing back his quills before lowering her hold to his muzzle, “Do you trust me to try some things?” She asked, totally unsure what she’d even be trying.

“Of course, I do,” The orb-hedgehog responded without hesitation.

With that assurance, Blaze set to work. First, though it was admittedly just an endeavour to keep herself distracted and buy time to think, the feline began a more thorough examination of the hedgehog. She opened his eyes only to find they lacked light, opened his mouth and felt the heat of his breath before finally, with nothing else to really fixate on, holding his nose shut.

She’d heard that was a way to wake people up, but the hedgehog seemed to simply switch to breathing through his mouth. Still, she thought it important to ask, “Does that feel any different?”

“It’s weird, I’m not feeling as much in my face anymore,” He seemed to realise, “O-Oh no, is it getting worse? Am I-

“Stay calm Silver,” She released his nose, letting the air flow normally, “You don’t feel any colder, you’re still breathing…”

“Y-You’re right, and I don’t feel any different. It’s not like this is hurting or anything,” He rationalised, “Well, I’m not feeling that contact as much, but outside of that I feel exactly the same. What could have changed…”

“How much can you feel, can you feel the bed beneath you?” Blaze questioned.

“No, it’s as if it’s not even there,” He answered, “But whenever you touch me, I do feel it; even if it’s just for a moment before that contact vanishes.”

“The contact vanishes?” She continued to analyse, ruling out some possible conclusions.

“Yeah, it… how do I explain this,” He seemed to cut himself off before babbling, “I feel the initial contact, and if you’re moving along my body then I feel it, but if you keep the touch still it just sort of… vanishes.”

“Is the initial feeling stronger than what comes later?” She tried to confirm.

“Yeah, when you first touched my face I felt it a lot but then when you moved to my chest it was much softer, it faded more quickly,” He posited.

“Your face is more tender, less protected,” Hypothesis sprung into Blaze’s mind, urged by Silver’s own mention of hurting. Testing her theory involved tricking him, but it was for the greater good, “Perhaps it’s just because it’s more sensitive?”

“I don’t think so. When you picked me up too, I felt that way more than-

Without warning, she pinched his cheek. A twitch lurched through his frame, she saw his eyelids twitch and his brow harden.

Yet sound still came from the orb, still floating by her head, “Ow, what was…” His voice remained emotionless, even in shock and pain. Curiously though the light of the orb seemed to dim for just a moment before brightening, “Oh,” He quickly realised, “Oh wow, I really felt that!”

“I’ve got two theories,” Blaze openly mused, “Either harder contact is the key, meaning I might have to hurt you to wake you up, or…” Rather than that, she focused on theory two, “I don’t know if it’s possible in your current state, but could you look away?”

“Um, I think I can?” The orb did seem to rotate, Blaze could tell that much by the shifting pattern on the wall, but the front was essentially indistinguishable from the back, “How’s this?”

“You’d know better than I would,” She called back to him, “Keep looking away.”

Surprise: that was the hypothesis she most wanted to test. From her first touch of his face to the sudden contact of being lifted, it seemed unexpected contact prompted more tangible responses from him. Second to that was injury and, while she could certainly injure him quickly and surprisingly, the feline couldn’t bring herself to attack his sleeping form without testing other options first.

Rather than go for his cheeks or his nose again, Blaze opted to use her extensive knowledge of the hedgehog. She had dealt with his mess of quills enough times to know just how sensitive his ears were; a tug at them was more than enough to get his attention, even when he was entirely distracted. In position but not yet touching him, she turned her gaze to the orb. With her forefinger’s claw, she deftly itched along the underside of his ear and watched as, immediately, the orb’s brightness slightly dim. She threw her gaze to Silver and saw him twitch but the effect had been less than her prior endeavour. Either way, pain wasn’t a requirement; surprise seemed to work.

“I felt it, I really felt it, but…” Perhaps this time the response had been lesser because he was expecting something to happen? “It wasn’t enough again.”

“We’re not done yet, just give me a moment to think,” Blaze shifted to sit on the bed next to him, thinking for a moment, considering what else she could do to surprise him.

The hedgehog’s humming, now less interrupted by words, filled in for the otherwise quiet of the room. Her eyes cast back down to his actual body, watching the gentle rise and fall of his chest and becoming ensnared by the softness of his expression. Gently, she took his hand in hers, noting that his usually glowing symbols were presently grey.

It was only as she released his hand, setting it atop his chest, that a thought dawned upon her. Something very obvious, yet something Silver would not expect. Something she hadn’t expected to do to him, not until much longer had passed at least.

It was embarrassing, it was so embarrassing; the feline shot back up to her feet for fear of radiant flames being stoked and spreading to him. Regardless of her embarrassment however, Blaze snapped her head around to look at the orb, “Can I do anything if it means waking you up?”

“Whatever you think will work, you can do it,” He responded, without hesitation.

She felt hesitation building in her mind, her fist clenched, “You still trust me, don’t you Silver?”

“With all my heart,” Whether that was a thought or his intended speech, she didn’t wait to find out.

“Then trust in this,” She couldn’t hesitate, not after saying that, not if she wanted the surprise to take full effect!

The princess leant down and, without so much as blinking, put her lips to his. The response was immediate; Silver’s shock likely aided by the fact it’d all happened in full view of the hedgehog’s own out-of-body perspective on the exchange. Part of it might have also been how close she’d come to crashing her teeth into his. His lips were soft for just a moment, that tenderness rapidly replaced as life seemed to surge into his form. Blaze’s only response was to shut her eyes and maintain contact, both out of fear he’d drift back out and of whatever look claimed his once resting face.

This effort proved to be foolish however as, after but a moment, Blaze felt a thorough and consistent shift from the hedgehog. His head had left the pillow and he was returning the contact. It wasn’t quite a fairy tale scene when she opened her eyes, a combination of the surprise and regaining control seemed to have stoked the intensity within him. That much was more than obvious from the look in his eyes.

The kiss didn’t last for long after that; for as enjoyable as the effort was, it was clear that neither of them especially knew what they were doing. The moment they separated, Blaze shot up to stand straight while the hedgehog half followed her by fully sitting up. For a moment, just a moment, the sounds of their heavy breaths filled the room. The hedgehog coughed, clearing his throat after both the surprise and perhaps to clear his airway after spending so long in such an odd, cationic, state. Blaze couldn’t stand to look at him, not for a minute or more at least.

It was only once their breathing had slowed to near silence that Blaze threw a glance in his illuminated direction only to find that he’d turned to her first. Immediately however, eye contact broke again. Heat was bubbling on her lips, on her hands, in her heart and in so many places. What was she supposed to do now? What was he supposed to do now? It was all such a mess!

She dared to glance at him again, finding his fingers were on his lips and a glow had consumed his golden eyes; he was still processing, completely out of action. She had to take initiative, just as she already had; she couldn’t let him, otherwise this stupidity would continue. She had to pick the right words, she just had to, but there wasn’t time to think!

“W-Well, now we know who the real sleeping beauty is, don’t we?”

The joke hit the air between them like a brick hurdle by the world’s wimpiest hooligan against an unbreakable windowpane. True silence claimed the space between them as their eyes crashed into each other, natural drawn to that utterly awkward joke’s source and its receiver respectively. Not more than two blinks later, a crooked and bursting smile had swollen onto his face. The same look, albeit likely more muted, was shared on hers.

Those cracking smiles gave way to laughter. Laughter gave way to him buckling forward and her using his frame for support. This had all been so very stupid, from the impetus of his arrival to the concluding joke. Despite her rude awakening, the double dose of embarrassment she’d induced and the dangerous trajectory she’d set them on, Blaze knew things would be alright. Her meetings were creeping ever closer, she couldn't begin to guess the hour, but with of this morning's bizarreness behind them, Blaze wanted to savour this silly moment.

[jalaluvsu]

Interference

https://beautiful-disasters-sunshine.tumblr.com/post/631749044177403904/what-if-marinette-was-tims-little-sister-who-was

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“Y’know, just ‘cause Kori’s got a baby coming doesn’t mean you can boss us around Robin,” Beastboy whined as he stepped out of the Zeta Tube.

He scoffed at the notion, “That’s literally exactly what I can and will do, you absolute buffoon.”

“Oh, shutup.”

He sighed. There isn’t ever a moment where Garfield doesn’t wish Starfire still led the Titans. The past three weeks have gone by at an agonizingly slow pace, filled with never ending fights between him and Damian. And! Before you get the wrong impression, no, he did not start these fights. In fact, he was practically the one getting attacked!

Really, what’d you expect him to do when Damian insulted tofu during dinner at the Waynes’? Smile and wave?

Laughable.

Garfield will tell you what happened after, whether he’s proud is a matter of who asks. Let’s just say Alfred’s put him on a month-long ban from the dining room at the manor; worth it, nonetheless.

“Beastboy, earth to Beastboy,” He heard Raven chant over comms. Oh, right, the mission.

“Reporting for duty!” he saluted obediently, like the responsible hero he is.  

“Stop standing there and you know, actually read the coordinates I sent to your navigator,” he grinned at her snark as he pulled out his compact. A hefty amount of unchecked notifications was in its wake.

Automated message coupons from the local pizza place at Jump City (hell yeah!)

Missed calls from Terra, he faltered at the offending contact; as if he would respond. The time for that has passed, long passed.

He scrolled down the small screen as he flitted his gaze past the hundreds of junk mail. Ah, and lastly, one lengthy preview of information regarding the mission. The text listed an address along with...enrollment details? Huh.

Garfield glanced both ways before crossing the busy street; him previously being in the too-bright alleyway. 

Okay, see, he knows what you’re thinking. Someone like him- or rather someone who looked like him, would stick out like a sore thumb. Especially in a place like Paris. How common were metahumans here? Probably not as high as the rate in Metropolis, that’s for sure.

There were only so many green colored people, and a good ninety-nine percent was or is associated with heroes (vigilantes, fine) or even aliens. That being said, he was keeping it on the down-low. In Paris, he wasn’t the cool, collected, and most desired by all Garfield Logan. In Paris, he was just Grant Roth. What? It’s a good cover! And he was planning on taking Raven’s surname eventually anyways. (wink wink, nudge nudge)

A few spells and enchantments via Magical Goth Gf ™ prior to his ride in the tubes later; he practically looked uncanny to his appearance before the whole ‘failed experiment injection’ thing. You know, a mop of auburn hair, pale as paper skin, and cutesy little freckles (Blue Beetle’s words, not his) (Okay, maybe it was his too..)

Garfield pulled out his pocketed compact once he safely made it across the street. Now that he gave more than a glance at the address it looked...short. In fact, it was vague, extremely vague. He discreetly looked around for any eavesdroppers and lowered his voice to a whisper as he walked down the 21st arrondissement.

“Uh, guys? Where exactly am I supposed to go?”

He hated not knowing how to do something he was expected to, incredibly so.

“I was hoping you’d dispose of your body there,” he paused, "but since you asked so nicely, we’ll tell you.” Robin chimed in matter-of-factly.

Garfield could practically feel the next set of words. He didn’t know what they were, but they were going to suck. He just knew it.

Raven took a long swig of coffee before announcing the dreaded news, “We’ve signed you up for a foreign exchange student program,” 

Ah,

“You what?!” he shrieked. A couple of onlookers gave him dirty glances, he smiled sheepishly.

Blue Beetle toggled his audio, “C’mon Gar-“ Robin interrupted,

“No names on field!”

 “Shutuuuuup,” he drawled out.

“Anyways, Beastboy,’’ cue pointed glare at Robin,’’ did you really think we’d let you roam around without a leash for what? Three months? In a foreign country of all places?” Garfield could practically hear the smirk in his voice, the fucker.

“I was hoping, yeah!” Damn. He thought he would get away with them actually trusting him here alone, wishful thinking on his part.

He pouted at the idea as he scouted for a place to lounge in.

Raven huffed, “You’ll be living with a host family during your stay at Paris, if it wasn’t clear enough already.”

He froze; what other surprises were up their sleeves?!

“C’mon, be real for a sec. I’m a superhero, I don’t need to go to public school, I don’t need a couple of strangers!” he stressed as he weaved between crowds of Parisians.

Ooh, a bench. He sat with the intent of winning this argument, no matter the consequence. So what if he looked crazy, supposedly talking to himself? Priorities people, priorities.

“Doom Patrol’s strict orders, you know, ‘cause they can’t homeschool you a whole continent away,” Jamie deadpanned.

Garfield dragged a hand down his face. Stupid Doom Patrol, stupid worrying for his wellbeing. “But- it’s a mission!” he gestured rapidly, in clear exasperation.

Jaime tsked, “And? Gotta keep that brain of yours in tip-top shape, amigo!”

“Whatever, man;” he got up to dust himself off, “still don’t know how that’s related to the address on the Seine but- “

“They live there, your host family,” Raven supplied.

Garfield scratched his chin in wonder. Who lives in a body of water? That’s so- Wait. His friends were totally holding out on him!

“You guys didn’t tell me I’d be staying with Aquaman! That makes this ten times better!”

What were the chances that the man himself was in Paris too? They can bond over sea creatures, and Garfield could show him his animal transformations! This mission wasn’t so bad, it wasn’t bad at all. He had an extra skip in his step as he pranced down the pavement.

“Are you entirely brain dead?” Robin audibly face palmed,

”No, you’re not- you know what? Yes, you’re going to be living with Aquaman. At a river. In France,” quiet murmurs along the lines of ‘idiot, and ‘cómo adorable,’ sounded out from his remaining teammates.

“This is gonna be so awesome!” Garfield exclaimed giddily.

He spotted a boulangerie-pâtisserie a couple blocks away. Aha! Time to get him some sweet, sweet, treats. And hopefully, some directions.

“Robin spent weeks doing full analysis on the whole family,” Jaime grinned over the comm.

Raven cut in, “Even though it was incredibly self-destructive, “

Analysis? On the King of Atlantis? Boy, no one was safe from Damian’s wrath.

“Awww. You do care, Robin!” he cooed as he entered the bakery.

Robin gasped, affronted, “Don’t flatter yourself! I needed to make sure you wouldn’t feel obligated to blabber all our secrets, obviously.”

“Better than nothing, I suppose,” Garfield shrugged to himself, but quickly zipped his lips shut once someone came into view.

“The Couffaines are...adequate at best;” he quieted, “well, at least from what I could infer before I was so viciously torn away from my research!” was sniffed hotly.

Couffaines? Was that a code name?

“If I didn’t know any better Robin,” Jaime mused, “I’d think you were taking after Tim, especially with how many late nights you’ve had...”

A beat.

Garfield ignored the squabble taking place in his left ear, opting to chat with the kind looking, lady at the register.

“Hello! What can I do for-“ she looked up from tying her apron,

“Oh! You must be new here; I don’t recognize you,”

Garfield offered his hand, “Hah, yeah! I was just walkin’ around town. I’m Grant, by the way,’’ he silently praised himself for remembering his alias.

She shook it firmly, “Sabine.”

A warm smile was sent his way before she gestured to the variety of sweets on display. His mouth watered at the sight and contemplated his choices, no matter how hard it was.  ‘’What would you recommend?’’ he whispered, completely in awe.

Sabine paused to give him a once-over before lighting up. ‘’Well, you don’t strike me as a tart kind of guy so, how do you feel about chocolate?’’

‘’Love it.’’

‘’Great! My husband just put out some fresh Pain Au Chocolates before you came in!’’ Score. His luck hadn’t completely run out.

‘’That sounds fire! I’ll have that,’’ he exclaimed cheerfully.

She blinked at his wording, ‘’Pardon?’’

What? Did she not unders- Oh.‘’Sorry, American slang. It means cool!’’ he rushed out.

She mulled it over, ‘’Ah, okay. Well, coming right up!’’ Sabine opened the glass in search of the Pain Au Chocolates.

“Don’t ever compare me to that insufferable fool, -“

He snickered, “Your brother?”

Robin fumed, “-you complete and utter nincompoop!”

“Now, now, don’t use big boy words on me,” Jaime taunted.

“I’ll show you ‘big boy’ words-! “

Garfield faux scratched his ear in favor of switching off the comm as he watched Sabine bag the treats. He grinned in thanks once handed to him.

“If that’ll be all...?” She trailed off.

He wasn’t really paying any mind as he took a big whiff of the sweets. His thoughts floated over to a haven filled with a never-ending overflow of pastries. Ah, what’s stopping him from staying here forever? A pat on his shoulder, apparently.

“Hm?” Garfield found the petite baker leaning over the counter with a patient smile.

“Sorry, I totally zoned out! Did you say something?” he rubbed his neck bashfully.

She chuckled, “I asked if there’s anything else I could do for you, sweetie.”

If there anything else she could- Right! Yes, he needed to know where the hell he was staying at. Garfield fumbled for his phone, luckily for him he copied the address into his Notes app.

“Yeah actually! Well, not food wise but, I’m here in Paris for,” he blanched momentarily, “uh, an exchange program; and I have a like host family here, right?” he gestured to his voice; the American accent evident.

She nodded.

He continued, “And I don’t really uh, like, know exactly where I’m supposed to meet them. I was wondering if you by chance knew someone who lived on the Seine around here?” Garfield shoveled a croissant into his mouth.

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

Marinette was a lot of things.

To some she was the sweet bakers’ daughter, insanely witty and clever, granted a bit scatterbrained, but she was your trophy student by all means of the word; to others though, she was someone to be wary of. A classmate’s spew of lies crawling under their skins, itching to be taken into account. Every move watched meticulously, waiting with bated breath for a slip up, for anything to grasp on to.

In simpler terms, Marinette was over it. Over being unable to speak her truth; over being villainized, constantly put under a spotlight. There was already enough on her plate, one of its regulars accumulating to a steadily-rising designer. One of her biggest flexes, if she was being honest; because really, what fourteen year old could say they constructed glasses for the Jagged Stone? Surely not the average bunch.

Oh, and did she mention superheroine? Yeah, she’s a superheroine.

The whole gig was shoved at her face, three months shy of her thirteenth birthday; and by gig she meant a brief guide, a blindingly red polka-dotted suit, a questionable choice of weapon (seriously, a yo-yo?), and an ill-timed partner.

Nonetheless, she worked with what she got. It's kept her alive so far already, why complain now?

She rubbed her eyes with a stifled yawn, ‘’Radiant....Carefree....Dreamy…’’

Marinette slammed the snooze button at the sound of that god forsaken jingle. Christ, she needed to change her alarm. All it did was make her reminisce of her former crush on Adrien Agreste; top teen Parisian model, son of fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste, and current boyfriend of future Olympiad, Kagami Tsurugi. Alas, old habits die hard, and this one was going to crash and burn any time soon; Marinette was sure of it.

A groan sounded out as she flopped to the floor, skillfully ignoring the tinkling laughter coming from her bedside. Ah, who was she kidding? It’d take some sort of absolute miracle to get over him completely. She would end up forever lonely, pining over a taken man, indefinitely getting dropped from position as lead designer for Jagged, friendless, Akumatized, disowned by her parents-

“None of those things are true, and you know it!”

She snapped her gaze up to the floating embodiment of creation, Tikki. Had her friend really thought that, that look could get Marinette to take back her spiel? She looked like an angry kitten for crying out loud!

Her cheeks reddened as she got up and dusted herself off, “Did I say that out loud?”

Judging by the narrowing of the tiny god's eyes, she’d say yes, it was said out loud. Damn, she was not looking forward to a morning lecture about her declining self esteem and her tendency of speaking her mind. Before Tikki could get even a word in, the Just In Case™ alarm for bad mornings went off. She shot the kwami a rueful grin and scurried over to the counter.

“Radian-“ the clock was chucked out of the three story building. Marinette watched from her window as it plummeted to its demise, in a heap of cheap metal and wires. Lovely.

A red blur zoomed to the front of her face, making her go cross-eyed, ‘’Marinette!’’ Tikki frowned shakily, struggling not to smile at her antics. 

She shrugged and skipped over to her closet, in search for acceptable clothes,

‘’What? It was getting annoying! And besides, it’s not like it was worth that mu-!’’ They both froze at the pounding of the trap door.

Ugh, couldn’t they wait to bother her later?

‘‘You better get out of there soon, young lady! I don’t want another call from your school added to the list,’‘ Marinette was going to absolutely combust. It sucked enough that barely any of her ‘‘friends’’ stuck around, but Tom and Sabine? Really? Believing some complete stranger over her? It must be the lack of familial relation that makes it sting a bit less. It must.

She groaned tiredly, ‘’Yes, Sabine.’’

Once the descending pattering of her footsteps quieted, Tikki raced over to latch onto Marinette’s cheek. Her bluebell orbs peered up at her, filled with sympathy for her holder. She shook her head at the silent offer to talk; there’s no time for a pity party. 

The kwami sighed sadly, before pecking her cheek and floating over to rest on her shoulder. Marinette plastered on an encouraging smile, ‘‘C’mon Tikks’, help me pick out and outfit for today! You know how indecisive I can be,”

After some thinking, they’ve come to the mutual decision of something completely out of Marinette’s alley. Instead of her usual pink capris, floral shirt, blazer, flats, and pigtails; she sported a plaid pleated skirt, a tucked in Queen Bee graphic tee, black two-inch heart buckled platform Mary Janes, and spacebuns. Who knew her wardrobe from Clara Nightingale’s on-set music video would come to use? 

She ogled her reflection with a satisfied smirk, yeah, she was hot. 

‘’Holy shit, Tikki, if I was still into Adrien,’’ she whistled, ‘’he’d drop to the floor as soon as he saw this; and that’s coming from me!’’ 

The kwami shook her head good naturedly, ‘’I’m glad you think so. I really like confident Marinette!’’ she nudged her shoulder, ‘’Although, I hope you aren’t doing this for your classmates’ approval...’’ 

She directed her gaze at Tikki; an other person’s approval? Why would she do something for another person’s approv- Oh. She actually wasn’t that far off. 

‘‘Pssh. No, I would never! This is all me baby! The awesome, cool, and Pinterest board version, I mean,’‘ Marinette gave her little friend finger-guns and grabbed her purse. Enough about her, they needed to get to school before she was late again. 

‘‘Get in Tikks’, if we wait any longer I’ll be,’‘ she checked the time on her phone, ‘‘like five minutes late to homeroom!’‘ 

She flitted into the bag as Marinette settled it onto her side. With one last look-over, she was off. 

To say she struggled down the stairs was a complete and utter understatement. She almost died, multiple times. Maybe the platform shoes were a bad idea, a very, very, very bad idea. Marinette clutched onto the railing with an inhumane grip that could rival Alya’s on her phone; and that was telling you something. 

Once she made it passed the death trap, or rather simply a few steps, she grabbed an espresso and a handful of cookies; the former being for her, and the latter for Tikki. She gave a fleeting wave to Sabine and Tom, not that they gave any mind. 

She pulled out her phone, 8:26, she could work with that. Her phone buzzed with a text notification. 

 (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ 𝖈𝖍𝖑𝖔𝖊 𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍 ♥          ɴᴏᴡ

where the fuck are you

Marinette snorted and slid the cookies into her purse. She unlocked the screen and tapped the message icon.

{𝟖:𝟐𝟕}  .•°¤*(¯`★´¯)*¤°   🎀  𝓃𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝑒  🎀   °¤*)¯´★`¯(*¤°•.    

wouldnt you like to know weather boy

.

.

.

{𝟖:𝟐𝟪} (っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ 𝖈𝖍𝖑𝖔𝖊 𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖇𝖎𝖙𝖈𝖍 ♥

wow ur so funny im literally laughing so hard rn 😐

.

.

{𝟖:𝟐8}   .•°¤*(¯`★´¯)*¤°   🎀  𝓃𝑒𝓉𝓉𝒾𝑒  🎀   °¤*)¯´★`¯(*¤°•.  

thank you, thank you, im here all night 🖤

.

 Marinette looked both ways before crossing the intersection, Dupont just about a block away. She chugged her now-cold coffee and tossed it in the recycling bin, ‘’Score! And the crowd goes wil-!’’ the atmosphere suddenly stilted.

‘‘Dupain-Cheng,’‘ she swiveled around, and was met with the putrid swamp green slits shes grown to despise. 

A snarl rolled off her tongue, ‘’Rossi.’’ 

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omg guys so hi. im doing this. im actually doing the thing i said i would do here  cuz im a bad bitch. 3k words i think. sorry for any mistakes i literally wrote this while watching pbs kids LMAOOOASODFWOEB @beautiful-disasters-sunshine idk if u still wanna be tagged when i do this kinda stuff but pm me if u dont <3

[bedtimebrain]

EXO D.O.: Summer Love Part 2!

The part 1 was a lil lengthy on the intro, but still hope you like this one! Check out part 1 if u haven’t!

Part 1

Characters : DKS x reader (+ Chanyeol)

Ksoo’s is an actor having a musical where you are working at. And a summer crush begins...

You read the next line

/reach for her hand and give a forehead kiss/

OMG

NO THAT AINT HAPPENING

Your fight of flight instinct kicked in, you moved backwards a few steps as Kyungsoo got closer. You saw him reach out to your hand so you turned your body to avoid his reach, and you saw the director frowning at you about to get annoyed at you for not cooperating.

Honestly you didn’t care, not like he pays you, you’re about to walk off right now, and so you did.

Just as you turned to walk off hurriedly, you felt a firm grip on your hand, then a tug, which pulled you straight into kyungsoo’s chest. His arms were around your shoulder but your arms were frozen beside you.

You were absolutely frozen and tense, you could feel the vibration against his chest as he read the next line, but you had absolutely no idea what was being read.

The director cut in

‘Ah, that’s the feel I’m looking for, okay, we will change the forehead kiss to this instead. Alright let’s get off work!’

Kyungsoo let you go and looked at your face ,

‘Y/N are you alright? You’re really red on your cheeks’

You finally regained your senses as you set a good distance between both of you

‘Yes , I’m alright. Did u really have to go that far though? I was totally caught off guard with the touchy things happening, haha’

You tried to laugh it off and play it cool, ignoring your heart that was beating 200 BPM and the (sweet) replays in your mind of what just happened.

‘Ah , I just wanted to practice it well and get the feel right. I’ll buy you bubble tea to thank you for your help then!’

‘It’s okay Kyungsoo, I’m in a rush I’ll head off first!’ You awkwardly and abruptly walked off, not even returning a bye to Kyungsoo.

You’re definitely going to get scolded for the dirty stage tomorrow but you wouldn’t stand there another second without being sure you aren’t going into cardiac arrest the next second.

Throughout the day, your mind kept returning to the touch of his hand and the warmth of his chest. You let out your inner scream , hugging your sofa cushion to muffle it. You were a little happy about it, but in absolutely denial that you wanted more of that. This can’t be happening, what is happening? Do I really like that? No way. You decided to watch a movie to shake your mind off it and soon fell asleep. ----

Kyungsoo on the other hand, kept seeing your face in his mind. What’s up with her though? Did I really cross the line? She looked like she really hated having to do that extra work. Though I was just hoping to practicing my lines... and was absolutely normal my heart started to race like mad when I hugged her...? Ah, whatever, forget about it, thinking isn’t going to solve my worries. -----

The next day at work you made a conscious effort to avoid Kyungsoo. Seeing him from afar, u pretended you forgot something and went another way round. When he dropped by to say hi during lunch you claimed you were so busy you couldn’t waste another second at lunch.

In the late afternoon, you were busy in the store room packing the giveaways for the shows. Switching off the lights and carrying the boxes you were just about to leave when Kyungsoo walked into the store room.

‘Oh my gawd , that scared me!’ You exclaimed and proceed to overturn the giveaways all over to the ground.

‘I’m so sorry I didn’t know someone was inside, the lights were off when I looked in. Let me help u pick it up’

You both quickly picked up the giveaways in silence, that feeling of nervousness and awkwardness returned back, hitting you straight in the face. All you thought about was escape escape escape.

‘Ah ok , thanks Kyungsoo, I’m going to leave now’ you said quickly without making eye contact with him.

Turning the knob, you were almost in disbelief .

The door is locked ?! You started to panic and kept turning the door knob multiple times

‘Hey it definitely looks looked, calm down. Give a call to chanyeol’

Without even replying him, you called chanyeol, he said he would be right back in 10 minutes to unlock it for you.

After relaying the msg to Kyungsoo, you both looked at each other. You thought to yourself, there’s clearly no avoiding this situation. You calmed your heart, pretended everything was fine, and asked him

‘Hey how’s the preparation going for tomorrow? I thought I never asked you this, do u like the musical you’re doing actually?’

‘Oh it’s going fine. Yeh I do, somehow I feel like I can relate to the sorrow in the musical..’ Kyungsoo replied a little quieter than his usual self with you.

The awkwardness and tension weighed heavy in the atmosphere. After some visible hesitation from Kyungsoo, he went ‘And about yesterday, I’m sorry if you felt I overstepped my boundaries or if I gave you extra work to do. I hope you would stop avoiding me like this.’ He looked you straight in the eye which reflected sincerity.

‘Ah, it’s not you , it’s just me, really. But okay I heard you’ you returned his gaze and oh boy this warm fuzzy feeling came to you , you’re definitely crushing hard on him.

—-

The next day came which was also the last 3 days before the wrap up. Everyone was busy, and there you were busy stealing glances at Kyungsoo. You figured there’s absolutely no way you can avoid him, you might as well accept your feelings and feed on it instead.

Strangely, whenever you needed help Kyungsoo was always nearby, and always helped you without letting you reject him.

During lunch he would pop by with desserts and side dishes saying the musical team ordered extras and gave them to you. And they were always your favourite.

For the next 3 days Kyungsoo would come as early as the technical team, which was 2 hours before the cast’s report time. Saying he wants to soak in the quietness and set before the actual musical. But he always came with breakfast and asked you to have some because he made them. You didn’t reject either, wanting to talk with him before the day gets busy. You guys often talked until you get called to do work or until you realise just how long you guys have spent talking and you scooted off in urgency to prepare for the day.

On the third day after the show, Kyungsoo approached you and chanyeol

‘Hey guys let’s take picture together! It’s my last night here in the theatre’

It hit you a little harder than it should that from tomorrow , he would not be in your daily scene anymore.

Chanyeol congratulated him with a big hug and you all took a shot together. The sadness of him leaving felt overwhelming suddenly you wanted to escape to sort your thoughts after the picture. But Kyungsoo grabbed your arm lightly as you were about to leave ‘Chanyeol, take a picture of us together please!’

He held you by the shoulder and you bravely put your arms around his waist and you both caught each other in The Eye and looked away shyly , laughing, into the camera.

‘Chanyeol, Y/N! Hurry up! The theatre is closing in an hour! Pack up the stage!’

With your manager’s shout you and chanyeol both could only say your hurried goodbyes to Kyungsoo. And turned to head off.

But thinking how it was your last day to see Kyungsoo, you turned back and walked towards Kyungsoo. And he was looking at you too.

Stopping in front of him, and gathering all your inner bravery you stepped toward him and hugged him. That must have surprised him, you felt him tense up had a delayed reaction of hugging you back.

‘I will miss you Kyungsoo, I loved our times together. Thank you for making me like coming to work so much more’ you said it fast before you let go and ran away.

In that haste and embarrassing moment you were not to sure if you got it right, where your head leaned on his chest, the rhythm of his heart seemed to match yours, madly pumping.

As you walked home that night, a bitter sweet moment was left to yourself as you let it sink in the times you guys had together and special bond between the both of you. You let tears streamed down as you come to terms of not being able to see him again, braving yourself for a new normal from tomorrow without him.

—

Heading to work the next day, you saw Kyungsoo waiting outside the back entrance for you. Your heart skipped a beat , and you couldn’t hide the smile on your face.

‘Y/N! I have a flight to catch but I thought I couldn’t go without giving this to you. So I came here to pass you this!’

He handed you an envelope

‘I got to go now.. I hope we see each other again’ saying it with a smile, he waved good bye and went towards the car waiting.

You watch as the car drove off.

Opening the envelope, it was the picture of both of you yesterday.

At the back of it wrote

‘Y/N,

Thank you for giving me a beautiful memory to remember. I think about the times we spent together more than you can ever imagine. I’m glad to have met you. If you feel the same, drop a text at the number below... I’ll be waiting eagerly :)

Kyungsoo’

You couldn’t smile any wider , and let out the internal scream you have been holding back.

You flipped out your phone and texted

‘Hey:)’

[spongeekat]

Life as a Super Powered Omega Sucks (Chapter 1)

read on ao3

Masterlist Here

Summary:  Peter just got invited on his first lengthy Avengers mission, one that will prove whether he's fit to continue operating as a hero on the streets of New York. Unfortunately, he's also an omega disguised as a beta, and on the week of starting his heat. Unable to miss out on the mission for the sake of his future, he goes anyways, equipped with a dangerous quantity of heat suppressants and an optimistic outlook. However, he wasn't prepared to end up spending most of his time with Alpha and long term friend Wade. Will he survive the mission and get back in time to spend his heat at home? Or ruin his health and suppress his heat long enough that he can prove his worth to SHIELD and the Avengers?

Peter Parker wasn't exactly ashamed of being an omega. Sure, he hid his status like the plague- masking his scent with an artificial beta spray, using heat suppressants at any given chance, only going off them when it was guaranteed he had a free weekend to spare, and wearing clothes that highlighted his un-omega-like toned arms when he was feeling particularly insecure about it- but it wasn't out of fear of being seen as such. But if you needed a picture painted of why he chose to hide his biological assignment in lieu of presenting himself as neutral, the one word he could begin to create it with was ‘Alphas’.

Alphas secreted dominance with them wherever they went, leaving their cocky, charismatic scent all over public spaces. School was no different. From the days of 7th grade and up, when puberty started hitting Peter's classmates and kids were presenting left and right, the alphas took total control of the hallways. Big man Flash was the first to show clear signs of an alpha, and the rest of his crew of alphas and wannabee-betas fell right in line behind him. With the rise of Alpha-Beta and Beta-Beta relationships being accepted in society, omegas were far and few. Male omegas were even rarer, making up just 25% of the omega population. History taught the extremely fertile gender was previously discriminated against harshly by those that believed them to be nothing more than baby-making machines, and nearly eradicated, as only Alpha-Omega relationships could produce omegas. However,as the omega population went down, closely followed by birth rates, everyone had begun to realize the necessary role omegas played in re-population. As such, omegas were presently celebrated and respected; lusted after and worshiped by alphas and betas alike.

But that was mostly in their later years. Before alphas started to develop their sexual drive, they reveled in the chance to show their power over others, and omega girls tended to be their target. Peter saw kids shoved into lockers, thrown in trash cans, and pushed around on a daily basis. He’d only known 2 omega boys in his life, and the teasing had gotten so severe they eventually moved to homeschooling. Luckily, he hadn't presented, and when he reached 14, he was officially declared as a beta by the school nurse, giving him a pass to fly under the bully's radars at least a tiny bit more effectively.

Unfortunately, being born as the child of a purebred omega and a groomed Alpha such as Mary and Richard left you more susceptible to presenting than other children. So when Peter awoke when he was 17, a few years after he'd taken on the Spider-Man persona and met Mr Stark, sweating and clawing at his clammy skin mid-heat, he knew the universe was doing whatever it could to fuck him over. Besides just school bullies being an issue when it came to his identity, another major reason he had to conceal any evidence of his omega status was the fact that he was Spider-Man. Not only would he most definitely be looked down on by his enemies or perceived as weak, but with the Avengers hardly taking him seriously as it is, and police on high alert searching for an alpha with superhuman strength, he didn't want to risk losing any more respect from the public. He wasn't totally popular at the moment. Besides, being known as an omega, especially a male omega, publicly would narrow down the search quite a bit. What was he, one of 20,000 in all of New York City? Luckily, he'd been pretty successful in hiding it so far, even on days such as today when he was on the week of his heat and could feel the hormone changes already. There was some big-name-but-secretly-evil private investor from some big-name-but-sketchy company that had been quietly investing in illegal technology on the terrorist level, or at least that's what Peter had gathered so far. He always did have some trouble figuring out what Coulson was actually saying, especially when he was distracted by...everything. Particularly a shiny-- "And we can count on you for that, right, Spider-Man?" Oh yeah. That was him. "What? Yeah, yeah, of course." Peter flashed his biggest grin to show he had definitely been listening and not spacing out like the 20 year old kid he was, but Coulson obviously couldn't see it through the spandex of his mask. All intimidating and slightly patronizing pairs of eyes turned back to stare at him, and he felt himself melting into his seat in guilt. Coulson drew a long sigh, rubbed his temple, then turned back to the map projected on the screen. "So, to repeat for Spider-Man, this point of investigation on the building will be a stealth mission. We'll send Natasha and Steve to the ground floor to  take out the heaviest of the security, and once they take notice of you, Spider-Man should have plenty of time to access the elevator shaft and descend to the bottom floor unnoticed. Once you're there, you need to find a way to get Tony in so he can disable the bombs placed on each level. That way, our agents can effectively infiltrate the premise with as little resistance as possible, end the weapons trade in Cabo, and place as many of the workers under arrest as we can.” Now Peter was a little confused, mostly by how he had spaced out all the way from the Russia plans to Mexico, but he was at least a little too proud to raise his hand and ask.

“We already have your escort ready for your portion of the mission, Spider-Man, so don’t worry about that piece. We’ve already made contact and he shall be there tomorrow when you depart.”

“I need an escort?” Peter earned an intense frown for his comment, and he shut himself up right away. “I mean, yeah. A-Okay with Me.”

“Intelligence gathering will begin tomorrow. Meet here at 4 for your flight. Yes, Clint, 4 in the morning. Don’t be late, and don’t forget to bring any supplies you may need for a mission that may take up to two weeks. The majority of your time in Russia will be spent on hold as back-up, in case something goes awry, until we make our move on their transportation facility once we’ve acquired enough data. Keep that in mind when packing. ” With that, Coulson officially ended the meeting and began to gather up what he had brought over. Peter was happy to escape, until he realized what exactly Coulson had said. Two weeks? No, there was no way he could be gone that long. His heat was due sometime around Friday, maybe Monday at latest. Tomorrow, Tuesday, at earliest. He couldn’t go on a trip with the Avengers when it was so close. That would be a story he would never live down.

“Yo, hey, Mr. Stark.”

“Kid.”

Peter side-stepped Captain America as he shuffled past, ending up in front of the man who had brought him into this line of business in the first place. He wasn't aware of Peter's omega status. Mr Stark hardly trusted him enough to allow him to be an Avenger in the first place, so Peter had hacked into Karen's programming with Ned's help to keep her from relaying omega-related health information to anyone else but himself. "Hey, uh, he said this mission was going on for 2 weeks?”

“Yep.” Mr Stark answered as he shoved his expensive tablet into its case, depositing it in his bag. “Homework standing in your way?”

“No, no, that’d be totally uncool.” Peter mentally crossed that off his list of excuses he had prepared. “I just don’t know if I can like...keep my cover that long. I have a lot of people that expect to see me every day. I don’t think the flu will work again.”

“Then use the Stark Internship papers I signed.” Mr Stark sighed thickly, turning to face Peter with an impatient expression. Peter internally cringed, able to see the extra stress he’d been under reflected on his face. He was five seconds from being scolded. He could feel it like a truck about to run him over. “Tell them you’re going on a school trip. Use my card and book hotels for proof. Figure it out. You’ve known since yesterday it was this long.”

“I...you’re right.” Peter relented. Guess there was no helping it, then. He’d just have to make sure to make the mission went by fast. And bring as many heat suppressants as possible, no matter how ineffective they were on him. “Sorry. I’ll get it sorted.”

“Good. This is your chance to prove we can trust you as a part of this team.” Mr Stark continued, walking past Peter and towards the door. Peter kept up with him easily, shadowing him through the hallways of the tower. “You’re young, and that’s kept SHIELD off your back for years. Don’t let this mission be the reason you have to give up everything you’ve worked towards.”

“It’s that important?”

“It’s that important.” Mr Stark repeated back.

Peter hadn’t even begun to consider this may be some sort of test to allow him to continue to operate in New York without proper jurisdiction. However, that made sense. Why else would an entire important section of the mission be dedicated to him? Or at least he assumed it was important. He wasn’t paying attention during the rest to find out what anyone else was doing. In fact, what was the goal of their mission again-- ?

Mr Stark’s shoulder came up close to Peter’s face too fast,and he realized too late he had stopped walking. He barely managed to catch himself before he rammed into the taller man from behind, taking an uncomfortable step back. Mr Stark turned to face him with a suspicious expression, slight worry maybe-possibly mixed in there somewhere. “You’ve been acting weird since yesterday.”

Peter swallowed. Pre-heat brain. But he couldn’t say that. “I guess so? It’s probably just because I’m around all of you guys and-”

“Cut the crap. What’s up? Why are you so determined not to go?” Mr Stark eyed him, as if he could see through his facade if he stared long enough. “Are you hurt?”

“What? No, I’m fine. Totally good.” Peter insisted, only realizing his missed opportunity once it was too late. “I think I’m just tired. I’ll make sure not to stay out too late tonight for patrol.”

“Maybe stay home and sleep the entire night. I’m sure New York will survive for a night.” Mr Stark still didn’t look like he believed him, and Peter almost preferred being ignored.

“I’ll think about it.” Peter agreed, though there was no way that was going to happen when he was already going to be gone for an extensive period of time. “Anyways, thanks for the talk. I should really get working on my excuses and alibis and stuff.”

“Right. Try to take it easy.”

“Will do.”

Peter peeled out of the conversation before Mr Stark could press it any further. He sprinted through the hallways of Stark Towers, pushing on each window until he found the one that was actually able to be opened at this height, indicated by a small rush of wind detectable only to his sensitive ears. His gloved hands pressed lightly on the surface, letting the glass pane swing out after some resistance. Peter crawled up onto the sill, his path home highlighted between the numerous skyscrapers littered along the streets. The cars honking below gave a rise to his adrenaline, and then he was falling, leaping from the building to give himself enough distance not to hit the wall, but free-falling like a bullet through the wind. 10 stories or so down he finally caught his fall, webs shooting out from both wrists with a distinct thwip . His arms jolted at the end of his dissent, before he was soaring again through the air, waiting until the last second possible before he would let another strand sail out and grip onto a pole or a ledge. All the while, calculations of heat suppressants and calendar days ate through his brain. He was sure this mission was just going to last a couple days, and the 2 weeks warning was just precautionary. They’d be in and out within a few days, and he’d be home and in bed by Saturday at the latest. They were the Avengers! It didn’t take that long for these kinds of things.

Probably.

"Hey Karen?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"Falsify a good health report if Mr Stark tries to check on me. Also, can you tell me how much is in my bank account? Suppressants are pretty expensive."

"Of Course, Peter." Karen responded, making Peter smile as he felt slightly less alone. "I believe you have about 3 doses remaining at home, and can afford a pack of 12 from the budget pharmacy in Northwest Queens."

Shit. "Thanks, Karen." Peter would just have to make do somehow.

--

Peter was not awake, by any means, the next morning.

He had followed Mr Stark’s advice and passed out before midnight. However, that still meant he only got a few hours in before he had to be up and packed by 3. He shoved a few days of civvies into a bag, rolled up tightly to conserve space, basic toiletries and underwear, and of course packed the rest of the space with necessary tools in case he got unlucky enough to end up in heat; a week’s worth of heat suppressants (enough for a normal metabolism to last a month, but he was unlucky enough to burn through a day’s worth in a few hours), 2 bottles of faux scent to mask his, and anti-anxiety medication to take the edge off if he was in a difficult spot. With that, he snuck a quiet breakfast and left Aunt May a note, before taking off with toast in his mouth towards the hangar he was told to meet in.

Peter was surprised to find himself to be the only one in full uniform. Mr Stark had his suitcase in hand but had made no attempt to wear it even partway, Steve had on sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt, in similar style to Sam, though his wing containment unit was in his arms, Clint hadn’t even changed out of his pajamas, but he did wear his bow over his back, and Natasha was in her bodysuit without any of her normal accessories layered on. They were still waiting for Peter’s supposed stealth mission escort, as well as Scott Lang, but otherwise Peter felt quite out of place.

“Don’t tell me you’re a morning person, too.” Clint walked in front of Peter, eyeing his suit with a yawn that made him look half-asleep still. “Sam and Steve exhaust me even thinking about waking up this early. I can’t be the only one thinking this is ungodly torture.”

“I’m running on pure adrenaline right now. I only got a nap in last night.” Peter admitted in a low voice, stretching to work the soreness out of his muscles. Usually he could sleep in short spurts and still have some energy for the day. Today, however, his body decided to try to shut down every 5 minutes and force him into a coma. “Honestly, I hope this plane ride is long enough to get a couple extra hours in-”

“I KNEW OUR LOVE WOULD PREVAIL.”

“Oh no.” Peter blanched, and didn’t even dare turn around. “Please tell me it’s not who I think it is.”

“No one told you?” Clint tsked, giving Peter a pitying look. “Yeah, sorry. He’s the only one we felt complimented your skills enough to be your escort.”

“Spidey, we’re finally official teammates! Or I guess I’m more like your babysitter. That just takes all the sex-appeal  out of it. Ooh, wait. I’ll be the professor, and you can be my favorite student I give after school lessons to.”

“Please tell me this is a joke.” Peter swallowed hard, able to smell the alpha behind him from where he stood. Apparently he was the only one that noticed how intense of a scent the man carried with him, as no one else seemed as repulsed by the air.

“Sorry, dude. Can’t always get what you want.” Clint threw Peter a grin that was so smug he wanted to wipe it off his face. However, he made a mental note not to try to attack any of his teammates no matter the situation, and turned to face his battle head-on. Clint passed by the red-clad newcomer with a short, but crisp, high five, and gave the spider one last wiggle of his fingers. What a jerk.

“Heeeey, Deadpool.”

“I thought they were kidding when they said you were on this mission.” The mercenary - or ‘in the process of retiring from murder’ mercenary- crossed the distance on the roof, standing inches above Peter. He wasn’t intimidating, however. More like… a giant, annoying man-child.

Who Peter also happened to be sort of really good friends with. Like, to the point they played video games maskless at Wade’s Manhattan safe house and split pizzas when on patrol. And Deadpool knew his name and face. But he wasn't Peter's first pick to accompany him on a mission Peter was trying to prove that he was mature enough to be on.

“Ouch.”

“Not that there’s anything wrong with you, Pumpkin. But you gotta admit, if I get asked to join in on missions before you, something seriously needs to change about your job performance.”

“Pretty sure they only brought you along as a bullet shield. So you could distract the bad guys with your giant mouth.” Peter shot back, though all in good humor.

Wade made a dramatic gasp, one gloved hand shooting up to cover his lips in true theatrical fashion. “I guess it’s good my kink is getting used.”

“That’s...A weird kink to have.”

“Does it turn you on?”

“Not at all.”

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”

“Hey, Tweedledee and Tweedledum.” Mr Stark’s voice sounded behind Peter, jarring them both from their banter. “Get ready to board.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Wade saluted in response, then glanced back down at Peter. “You’re sitting by me, right?”

“Definitely not.”

“Awww, Spidey!”

“Let’s go.”  Natasha ordered, her head peeking out from the corner of the craft.

Wade threw out his hand with a gentlemanly “after you.” Peter, unable to resist a moment of humor and making Wade laugh, half-courtesy’d in return and made his way towards the short ladder leading into the plane.

The inside of an Avenger’s aircraft wasn’t anything like Peter had pictured. Being sponsored by a billionaire apparently didn’t reap the benefits of travelling in style; rather than being filled with alien tech, or super advanced spy technology, or even genuine leather seats, the inside of the plane was rather bland. It featured a cockpit illuminated with buttons and levers that Peter hadn’t the slightest clue their true intention, only slight privacy given to the designated pilots at the front. Behind that rested a computer Peter had to resist the urge not to immediately ask to study, as well as spaces in the sides for weapons and storage. The seats were spaced so that there were 8 passenger seats, stretching along the length of the plane. Peter situated himself in the back, close to the hatch they used for for entering. Somehow, having an escape route made him feel more secure than the claustrophobia he would feel trapped between two well-respected heroes. Or maybe he was just self conscious. Either way, he sat himself down as far from the others as he could get, and shoved his backpack in his lap.

Wade decided to take the spot right next to him, despite 3 other seats remaining open, and Natasha -looking as judgemental as ever- took the space across.

“The Itsy Bitsy Spider ran up the water spout. Down came the rain and washed the spider out!” Wade apparently became quite the comedian under pressure, pulling out his katana Bea - or maybe it was Arthur- to start sharpening the length. Both the spider-themed heroes gave him an irritated look, Peter a bit more disbelieving he would bother one of the scariest members of the team, before Natasha cleared her throat.

“I’m sure I could find a way to make sure you don’t come back from death, if you keep this up the entire ride there.” The ginger commented dryly, crossing her legs in a way that Peter felt he was a second away from witnessing Wade’s true demise

“That would be my lucky day, cupcake.” Wade grinned back, sliding his katana back into its holster. Despite his cool exterior, Peter knew he thought Natasha was hot shit that could beat him to a pulp. “I’m quaking in my suit. I don’t know if I’m scared, or excited, but probably both.”

Scott swiveled in the chair placed just in front of the computer he had claimed, the metal loudly squeaking to catch their attention. “I am not dealing with you two arguing for 12 hours.”

“15 hours.” Bruce mumbled, though he remained primarily focused on a notebook filled to the brim with incoherent scribbles.

“I am not listening to you arguing for 15 hours!” Scott corrected, folding his arms in a fatherly fashion.

“I don’t even remember you being invited, LadybugBoy.” Natasha’s subtle but annoyed comment instantly sent Wade into a fit of laughter, jolting her from her anger. The change of Wade’s attitude was just enough for her to relinquish her dangerous atmosphere for a moment, and she settled calmly back in her seat.

“It’s Ant-Man.” Scott mumbled indignantly, which only served to make Wade laugh harder. The ex-convict turned back to his computer to rest his head, and for once in his life Peter saw Natasha crack an expression similar to a grin.

The conversation seemed to settle their nerves, as well as at the 4 AM call time, because the Avengers grew completely silent within the hour. Clint dozed off first, followed by Bruce (after he injected himself with some tranquilizer he often kept with him), and Natasha dropped into some weird relaxation that was close to sleep, with her body still tensed and at the ready to fight at any time. Scott was still sulking by the time Peter felt himself start to fall asleep, a yawn being the first sign of his body begging for a nap. Wade seemed to notice immediately despite the mask, because a gloved leather hand wormed its way to the top of Peter’s head to try to pull him in to his shoulder. Peter didn’t budge, giving Wade a deadpanned look. “Dude.”

“What?” Wade asked innocently, his arm retreating back to his side.

“I’m not sleeping on you.”

“I am the best goddamn pillow you will ever use.”

“We’re on a plane with the Avengers.” Peter said in an awkward whisper as if it wasn’t obvious, crossing his arms stubbornly.

“You don’t have to be shy about our secret relationship, Spidey. I’ve already told everyone you’re my lo--”

“Friend.” Peter cut in, groaning and sitting back in his chair with a huff. He had to admit, the seats weren’t very comfortable, and his stomach was tight with anxiety. Talking with Deadpool was easing at least a little bit of the pressure.

“Friend with benefits. Just as exciting without the emotional attachment. I like your style.” Peter didn’t really have the energy to argue against Wade’s ramblings, so he just let his eyes slip shut and tried to focus on staying awake, figuring he could just rest his eyes for a few minutes. Eventually his body grew numb enough he was a little more comfortable, and the rest was doing wonders for his scattered brain and anxiety.

His eyes shot open again when they hit turbulence, and he realized he had been passed out for an extensive period of time. Long enough that nearly everyone was asleep, including Wade, who was passed out on Peter’s arm. Peter stared at him for a few minutes, trying to decide whether to push him away and save himself the embarrassment of anyone seeing, or let him continue to slumber to make up for the nights he’d let Peter stay over on his couch and eat his fridge dry.

He ended up choosing the latter after an extensive internal debate, though most of it was because his arm was completely asleep under the weight of his large head and leather mask, and he didn’t have the strength in it to push him away. It worked out fine in the end, once Peter had grown tired enough to fall back into sleep, when Wade’s head created a hard pillow for him to drop his cheek on. And that was how they spent their flight, until Wade roused and immediately started teasing Peter for falling asleep on him, to the point he got up and changed seats out of annoyance.

There was a reason Peter had said no to sitting by Wade. He was an asshole. Comfortable, but still an asshole.

[smolbeandrabbles]

Sure Be Cool If You Did - Ralph Anderson x Reader (The Outsider)

GIF Credit @benmendo

Author’s Note: Hahahahaha.... I know. I’m incredibly early. I’ve jumped the gun! I’ll reblog it when we actually get the show. But I read the book, so here we are! You can’t stop me writing this! Yes, reader has a last name, it’s my little joke. I’m sorry. Disclaimer: I will never, ever, do justice to Stephen King’s genius - but I tried my best!  / Lyrics, gifs, characters not mine

Set in an AU where Jeannie & Derek don’t exist *gasp* Heresy!

Premise: After working a case together, Ralph figures he’s got a break through - he needs to tell you about it. But arriving at your house doesn’t turn out as he expects...

Words: 3145

Warnings: Potential “The Outsider” spoilers  

_____ Now you're standing in the neon looking like a high I wanna be on Baby it's your call No pressure at all You don't have to keep on smiling that smile that's driving me wild And when the night is almost over Meet me in the middle of a moonlit Chevy bench seat And do a little bit of country song, hanging on You don't have to keep me falling like this But it'd sure be cool if you did You can't shoot me down 'cause you've already knocked me dead Got me falling apart with my heart talking out of my head Let your mind take a little back road just as far as you wanna go Baby, I'll do Whatever you wanna do... --- Ralph Anderson could have just gone home. He should have just gone home, he wasn’t on call, you weren’t on call… It could have waited until the morning. It wasn’t that it was late, just a little unsociable for him to go banging on your door about something he’d thought on from an interview you’d conducted that day, that he thought might be a breakthrough. He drove slowly back home, and took the wrong turn off. Well, no actually he didn’t – he took the correct turn off for what he believed was your address. He felt like you had to know. As his partner you had a right to know. He liked having you around, you were a good wall to just bounce ideas off – you had a similar wavelength, but just diverse enough for you to both interpret things a little differently. Maybe you’d think nothing of it – but he’d never know if he didn’t tell you right now… You were good to have on the team; old enough to be an experienced detective, young enough to still be enthusiastic about every single case you had to work on. Even the ones that had Ralph groaning and wishing he didn’t have to fill paperwork in for. There was just one thing about you though; that had the whole station cracking up. Your last name. It was the same as his. Andersson. You had the extra ‘S’. That made you Anderson & Andersson. And everyone made the same oh, are you together!? joke that was wearing pretty thin pretty quickly on him. Although you’d now come up with a perfectly mysterious counter, with that little smile of yours; “We’re partners, yes.” So here he was, knocking on the door of one Miss.Y/N Andersson. He stood and waited, and when at first there was no answer he wondered why he’d bothered with disturbing you with this… He took a step back to leave, but as he did so the door opened, at first just a crack, and then a little wider. But he wasn’t faced with you, in fact Ralph had to look down to see who he was faced with. Looking up at him with eyes full of curiosity was a little girl who couldn’t have been more than five or six. He was a little taken aback and was thrown into a sudden panic; did he have the wrong address?! Was he about to look like a total idiot? Or maybe this was your house; and he was trying to read too much into this – little sister? Very little sister? Niece? Hell, for all he knew she could just be a kid that you looked after. Ralph realised there was a lengthy awkward silence hanging in the air, and he raised his hand from his pocket; “Uh, Hi?” She didn’t respond, her eyes simply scanned from his face down his body; and widened as they fell on his FCPD badge attached to his belt. Then she was both running and screaming down the corridor he could just about see behind her; “MOMMY!!! MOMMY---!!! THERE’S A DETECTIVE AT THE DOOR---!!” Mommy? Ralph put his hands to his forehead and for a minute felt like the world’s worst detective, world’s worst partner… world’s worst friend? How did I NOT know?! He looked back at the empty corridor and realised he’d only created yet more awkwardness. Well, now you’ve done it Mr.Anderson… He peered around the door; did he walk in? Did he close it and walk away? What if it turned out he was still in the wrong place and the person being called by the girl wasn’t even you-!? As she ran into the kitchen, she paused by you eyes disproportionately wide. You were still flicking through todays paper, as you hadn’t had much of a chance yet, and didn’t really turn to her; “Oh yeah? How’d you know?” As expected, she got her wild imagination from you, and this person could be anyone. “He has a badge like yours... Mommy...!” "Hmmm?" you glanced across to her wide eyes. Clearly she'd just left this Flint City PD member on the front steps too. "... He does!?!" Wait. Did she mean it was a Flint City PD badge...? Or a Flint City... Detectives badge... In which case...“...Alright... What...?”  You crept across to the kitchen door leading into the hallway and poked your head around it. Instantly your face reddened. Oh. CRAP. Of all the men to be standing there, hands on his hips, pushing his jacket back to reveal his shiny FCPD Detective insignia… The door wasn't quite closed on him and luckily he wasn't looking up. Ralph Anderson. You pressed yourself up against the door frame again, and took a deep breath. He knew. He knew. He knew. He knew. You closed your eyes for a minute. Okay. Okay... We can't leave him on the front step if he's here for work reasons. You turned back to your daughter for a moment; “Sweetie, why don’t you go watch TV okay? I’ll go talk to him...” She smiled like only a child could, with no clear understanding of the situation; “Okay!!” and off she ran again. You took another deep breath, and counted to ten. You pushed yourself back around and walked briskly up the corridor, just enough on the side of the door half closing his in face to make sure he didn't see you before you put your hands on it. You bit your lip, gave yourself a nod and then pulled it slowly open again: "Uh. Hi...." Ralph gave you a smile, and you noticed his eyes flick behind you to check if she was still there "Yeah. That's exactly what I said.” You bit your lip again and shrugged gently; “...Uh... This is not a... doorstep conversation, please come in.” “Oh. Thank you...” Ralph stepped inside, but then almost immediately countered your reaction; “It’s no big deal! I can’t believe I didn’t know! I’m kinda sorry I didn’t... I mean-” “Thank you.” You shook your head, if he knew she existed, he might as well know everything “But... She’s not mine.” “Oh...?” Clearly there was more to that story, though. You beckoned him through to your kitchen and ending up fixing him a drink. For a little while you both stood in the kitchen in almost absolute silence, watching your little girl absorbed in her cartoons. Ralph’s eyes flicked between the two of you, still thinking: Maybe she was still a blood relative? But then she’s calling Y/N mommy, so...? “She calls you mommy..? Adopted?” “Kinda. Something like that.” “..Something like that...? Does she know you aren’t?” You tipped your head; “I think she does. Somewhere in the back of her mind. I think she does. But, she’s probably not old enough to understand that. And I’m not sure how I’m meant to explain it just yet...” “So... How’d you come to adopt her?” Here came the unprofessional confession, and after some hesitation you decided it’d be worse if you didn’t tell him and he did the research himself; “...Her parents were murdered... It was horrible and certainly not something I want to remember...” Ralph paused his sip; “...She’s a case kid? Your case?” “Umm hmm...” You nodded and you could see his brain working behind those sharp blue eyes; is that even protocol? “...I don’t know what rules I must have broken. But there was NO WAY anyone in that office was going to tell me otherwise.” “What’s her name?” You smiled gently. Now for the punchline that Ralph had to understand was funny; “Renee.” “Renee?” His face split into a grin and he laughed; “She’s genuinely R.Andersson?!” “Yeah. I know.” Ralph’s chuckle continued as he shook his head; “That’s… that’s just-- really great… Wow… You really are something…” You glanced back across to him watching Renee and wondered if he really meant it. You wouldn’t have thought that Ralph Anderson, of all people, would lie… But you also couldn’t help but feel anxious. It’s not like you were dating, but you’d thought about it before. And recently a lot, what it would be like to have your partner as a… partner. But you’d seen it happen so many times before in the nearly four years you’d had her. How you’d start feeling comfortable with someone, but the second they found out about Renee they’d simply leave, and you’d never hear from them again. You tilted your head, wondering if you should simply just voice the concern. Whether you knew if he liked you like that or not; “Does it bother you?” His eyebrows furrowed as his eyes found yours again; “What? NO. No! Why would you...?!” You didn’t have to answer him with words, your look was significant enough; Well, it’s bothered everyone else. Ralph answered that look; “I’m not everyone else.” And he was going to prove it. Taking another sip, he put the cup down and walked out into your little living room. It was all you could do to watch him go, a look of mild surprise on your face. He sat down and addressed her; “Renee! I’m detective Ralph Anderson... It’s nice to meet you.” She was still staring at him in wonder, and even then her eyes could still go wider, of course it was a name she would recognise, you talked about him often enough. “Ralph!?!” She whipped around on the sofa to face you, and you weren’t sure you’d ever seen her look so happy.  Turning back to him Renee shout-whispered as only kids can, “She talks about you ALL the time.” It was Ralph’s turn to look at least a little surprised; “Oh. Uh huh!?” “Mommy says you’re the BEST detective ever. That you solved an impossible case!!! You are her idol! She says that a lot!” Alright, that might have been true enough, when your little town PD had asked for someone to transfer to Flint City you’d jumped at the chance to get to work with Ralph Anderson, because you’d heard so much. But that didn’t mean she had to tell him that!!! Faint pink crossed his cheeks, and you knew it was also crossing yours; you couldn’t help but cover your face. Oh Gods! Kids! Renee of course was oblivious to what she’d done, and was now looking between two adults at various stages of red. Ralph eventually cleared his throat to relieve the awkward tension, changing the track of the conversation completely; "Oh! Have you ladies had dinner yet...?" He glanced at his watch; "In fact I'm sure we can go catch a movie." You raised an eyebrow at him, unsure if you were quite hearing this right; “…Like a date?!" He gave a little shrug, but he didn’t miss meeting your eyes, he wasn’t going to be shy about this; "Like dinner and a movie.” Renee apparently didn’t miss a beat, and she gasped; "Mommy! He's asking you on a date!!!" Ralph turned a deeper shade of pink and his eyes flicked between you again, then he gave another shrug and a sweet smile; “I guess a date.” You couldn’t help but give a shy giggle; "I guess I can only say yes... buuut will you let me get changed first!? I gotta look my best if Detective Ralph Anderson is taking me out!" He turned to Renee as you made a move to run to your staircase; “You better be coming too, sweetheart.” You paused at the significance of what he’d just done, and looked back to see her eyes light up. For once, that kid was completely speechless. And so were you. ** If you were truly going to label it a ‘date’ – it was probably one of the best you’d ever been on. Ralph paid you both the adequate amount of attention, and if you hadn’t already fallen for him, you were falling for him now. And there must have been chemistry or something, because you watched the way that even though Ralph gave her attention, when he was talking to you Renee watched you both with a look of awe on her face. Like she was watching something unfold right in front of her.   This wasn’t some kind of courtesy, he wanted to know everything, and was willing to give up just as much information. You knew he was a good man, but watching his interaction with your daughter let you know he was also a great one. How he answered her questions, how he showed interest in what she was telling him, even when sometimes it was little babbled childish nonsense. How he picked her up and carried her, but held his hand out for yours. And the smile on his face when you took it. He was falling for you too… Or simply he was letting you know the feeling was mutual… It was sad to see the credits on the movie roll, and knew that you’d now have to go home. Even though he’d be driving you, those few precious minutes on the car ride home wouldn’t be enough. You knew that. So did Ralph, but he decided not to voice it – he’d get to see you at work. This night wouldn’t be lost on him. “You know you don’t have to carry her, right?” “No no… I want to…” You walked to your car, with a sleepy Renee clinging onto Ralph as he held her; “…Besides, you probably have to do this all the time…” “That’s…. what I have to do for my daughter. That’s not a problem.” “Yeah well, tonight, I’m giving your arms a rest – okay?” You chuckled “You don’t need to, but that is very kind of you.” “Oh don’t worry, I can have you hauling evidence boxes around tomorrow to make up for it.” “Oh, God, you’re too kind!” He laughed; “Oh, I try my hardest!” Renee was asleep by the time you’d both belted yourselves into the front of his car; “Ha…” his laugh was soft as he caught her in his rear-view mirror and turned around “…I wore her out!” You turned too; “…God bless you, Ralph Anderson, it takes me years to do that sometimes.” “Well there you go, if you need help, call me.” You made cute small talk again on the way home; and you loved hearing him laugh at all your little inconsequential remarks about things. Talk turned to ridiculous cases; of course it did, you’d both had your fair share… You both still did. The type where you’d turn up, hear it all out and give each other the same here we go look. “OH-!” His brain clicked, and he suddenly remembered the actual reason he’d even bothered to turn up at your house; “I meant to say, I think I have a clue on this case! Because of your interview work-! That… should have been one of the first things I said.” “…Well, I guess tonight was full of surprises…” Ralph smiled, gently, “I guess… Either way, I’m glad that I had the idea to turn up – and didn’t wait until tomorrow morning.” “I guess it can wait until tomorrow morning though…?” You turned to him with a gentle smile “I’m happy you turned up on my doorstep too, Ralph.” He laughed; “It can wait… But I’m glad I did too… She’s a great kid… You’re a good mom…” “Thank you for inviting her.” “Why wouldn’t I?” “Everyone else just runs…” “Well, they’re clearly missing out…” He gave a shrug, “What is wrong with people…” You couldn’t help but almost laugh, considering your line of work - if even the both of you didn’t know; “Well, isn’t that the one great mystery…” There was nothing more telling than the disappointed sigh that escaped your lips as your house pulled into view. Clearly it was a good evening, he’d try not to get too smug about that, but he was certainly happy. You opened the car door slowly, and again didn’t want to leave.  “…Do you want me to come help with her?” You shook your head; “No… It’s okay… It’s getting late, Detective, and it sounds like tomorrow is going to be busy…” But your smile was beaming “Thank you, for offering – and… Thank you, for the evening… I had a great time, and again I can’t thank you enough for inviting her.” “No trouble… I had a… great time too.” He didn’t quite meet your eyes this time, and the way he bit his lip was shy. Ralph did still walk you to the door though, even if you were carrying your daughter this time. You were surprised, but also glad, that she was still asleep. Your porch light flicked on automatically as you fished your keys from your bag. “Thank you… again, you… didn’t have to do this… you could have just told me about the case and left.” Your sentence was broken as you unlocked your door and pushed it open, turning back to him. “Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad you both had a good time… He watched you for a minute in that light, 20 things at once and she’s still on top of it all… Ralph Anderson couldn’t help it, you were the same at work – so he knew this – but it was different here. There was something all together different about what he’d witnessed from you this evening, so how could he not? “Y/N…” “Mm hm?” His smile was back to shy and humble, like he was about to ask you to break his heart; and he was –  “…May I kiss you Goodnight?” About a thousand joyful emotions must have crossed your face at once as you opened your mouth and had to close it again, because you weren’t quite ready. You gave a gentle half-laugh and tried again; “You may.” You were pretty sure you were sharing the same smile as he leaned in and caught your lips with his; the kiss was gentle. But it was still a real kiss. He kept it respectfully short as he pulled away; “Goodnight, Y/N… I’ll see you at work tomorrow…” “Goodnight, Ralph…” You were both shades of pink again “…Thank you for this evening.” “You’re very welcome, hopefully we can do this again?” You nodded “I’d like that… I think we’d both like that.” “Me too…” He gave a smile and turned to leave, but then paused at his car; “You know I was kidding about the heavy lifting at work right!?” You laughed; “We’ll see, Mr.Anderson! We might need to do such things!” “God, I hope not!” He gave a wave, “Sleep well!” “And you…” You watched him reverse from your drive, and on down the road until his tail lights disappeared with a beaming smile on your face. Thank God for case break-throughs… and kids!

--- Thank you for reading! 🙏💕

I think just due to the nature of this one I might keep the #MendoTagSquad out until at least January...!

[iamartemisday]

Why of course I have to ask for Lokane 💍

where they get married

Outdoors most definitely. Possibly on the roof of a skyscraper so they can be extra close to the sky. Loki would add extra stars to the sky and work some magic to make the moon look bigger. (He’d do it for real but there are tides and silly things like that.)

when they get married ( ie what time of day, what month and season etc. )

At night during the full moon. Probably early summer or late spring when it’s warm but not too warm.

what traditions they include ( do they get married under a chuppah and crush a glass, garter toss, ‘something borrowed, something blue,’ etc. )

I feel like they’d mix traditions. Jane would wear white, but she’d probably have some green somewhere because it’s Loki’s color. Maybe he’d make her a necklace with green stones or something. He’d wear ceremonial armor and they’d exchange rings, which Loki probably made himself because Jane deserves it and because anyone else would just go to the store like a plebe. Real men forge their own jewelry out of fire!

what their wedding cake looks like

….who smashes cake into whose face

‘Are we supposed to do this?’‘Some couples like it, but I’d rather not.’‘Very well.’Suddenly all their guests have cake smashed in their face.‘Loki!’‘You put the idea in my head, dearest, and you expected me to do nothing?’

who proposed to who first

Loki proposed. He wanted to make a big gesture, but he knew Jane would prefer a more intimate affair. He compromised by taking her to the top of a mountain and spelling his proposal out in the stars.

It was headline news for weeks.

who walks down the aisle and who waits at the altar ( or neither )

Jane walks, Loki waits.

what their wedding dresses / suits / other look like

Loki would probably wear something like the coronation scene in Thor 1. Maybe without the helmet, though. That thing can get snagged on flowers and stuff. Jane would probably favor a simpler dress. No big fluffy princess gowns. Maybe something like this: 

what their wedding colour scheme is and what sort of decor they have

Blues and purples for sure. Anything space or magic themed. Their wedding cake has constellations on it so their decor should, too.

what flowers are in the bouquet ( if applicable. bonus: what do the flowers mean? )

Lily of the Valley. Loki gets a good deal from his buddy Ēostre.

what their vows are ( eg poetry, traditional, improvised etc. )

I feel like they wouldn’t have long vows or anything overly creative. Jane’s not much of a writer and she doesn’t want to give Loki the chance to be like ‘I would move the Earth for you’ and then disrupt the planet’s gravitational pull to prove his point.

if anyone’s late to the wedding

I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be on time. Maybe Tony if wants to grab a last minute wedding gift for them. (‘I’m sorry, Rudolph, I just saw this Viking helmet at the discount costume store and it just spoke to me. Really brings out your eyes.’)

who’s in the bridal parties / groomsmen / other

Darcy would probably be Jane’s maid of honor, and Thor would be Loki’s best man. I don’t think they’d have a huge wedding party otherwise.

what their bridal party / groomsmen / other are wearing

Thor wears his armor, and Jane gives Darcy carte blanche to pick her own dress since Jane’s not the most fashion savvy person. I feel like Darcy would look good in something like this:

who gives speeches at the reception ( bonus: what do they say? recount a sweet memory or two between them? tell an embarrassing story? )

Thor starts giving a speech about the time Loki almost fell into a volcano in Muselphiem and Thor had to save him, but then he mysteriously develops severe laryngitis and can’t talk for the rest of the night. Weird how that happens sometimes.

who catches the bouquet( s )

Jane intentionally throws it Sif’s way. (‘Confess to Thor already, geez!’) Unfortunately, Sif has her back turned, assumes whatever is whizzing at her head to be an attack and impales the flowers on a blade. Petals and broken stems are everywhere.‘Eostre will kill you.’‘Shut up, Silvertongue…’

what their wedding photos are like ( are they sweet, with the couple holding hands or kissing or ~gazing into each others eyes~? are they silly, with a snapshot of the ‘cake-smash’ moment? or are they artistic, with one of them facing the sunset or holding their bouquets? )

Some of them are perfectly normal and beautiful (the ones with just Jane and Loki). Some were boring, so Loki added a few alterations before they were developed.‘Why does Thor have a horse tail and rabbit ears?’‘You don’t think they suit him?’

what sort of food they have at the reception

I feel like they’d have a pretty eclectic setup. Jane’s partial to Mexican from her time in Puente Antiguo, but Loki needs some of Asgard’s traditional dishes as well. The full roasted goat was a bit much, but Jane can’t deny it tasted amazing.

who cries first during the ceremony

Tony, because he always obnoxiously cries at weddings. And because Loki gave Morgan a pony for her birthday and now she totally likes him best out of everyone??? Not fucking way, Reindeer Games!

how wild their reception gets ( who dances the best, who gets drunk first, etc. )

It’s a half Asgard wedding. You tell me.

what their rings are like

Gold bands with shift between different phrases and images. Also they have sensors to let one know when the other is in danger. Loki adds lots of little features like that because again, real man!

what sort of favours they have ( heart shaped sparklers, mini champagne bottles, personalised candy etc. )

Loki makes tiny model constellations to place on all the tables. They hand out extremely tiny bottles of Asgardian ale. Like barely one swallow. It’s enough to get an average human completely trashed, but probably not kill them.

where they go for their honeymoon

Loki takes her on a lengthy tour of the galaxy, showing her more stars than she ever knew possible. It turns out to be kind of a bad idea because she keeps interrupting their (cough) alone time because look at that star right there. I’ve never seen that star before. Look, Loki, look!!!

something memorable that happens during the party / ceremony ( do they run out of ice and someone goes to get it in full formal wear on foot, does anyone fall asleep in the middle of the party, etc. )

A random terrorist attack happens halfway through the reception. All Avengers and allies are needed. This is extremely bad timing as they haven’t even cut the cake yet. Loki rolls his eyes at all the whining and ‘this is important we’ll come back when we can’ blah blah blah.

Loki then disappears, only to return a minute later, wiping his knife clean like ‘okay taken care of.’

The party continues and nobody says anything about the blood on his armor.

who officiates the ceremony

Heimdall. Tony offers (he can perform legally binding marriages because of this thing from grad school when he got drunk in Atlantic City and… well it’s a long story), but since he’s still pissed about the pony thing, Jane politely declines. Tony agrees this is probably for the best as he might not be able to resist coming in on a horse since Loki obviously loves horses so damn much…

what song their first dance is to

I like Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls for them.Shockingly enough, Loki doesn’t change the song to something stupid like Jizz in My Pants as a joke. That would be too obvious (and he already filled the rest of the wedding playlist with Weird Al songs anyway).

who gives who away as they walk down the aisle

I think Jane would give herself away. It’s their moment, even if a lot of people are watching, and Jane wants it to be personal. Just him and her, the way it was meant to be.

[yurivil]

Tails of St. Vesperia

Unfinished TOV mermaid AU no one asked for that’s been sitting on my computer for 8 years and I totally forgot about it until TOV:DE was released and I fell back into TOV hell. Will 100% never be finished and if someone wants to take the reins to this fic have at it. I like slow burn Fluri so this is mostly self indulgent. 

Tails of St. Vesperia

Rating: T for language

Characters: PS3/DE main cast (Flynn & Yuri main)

Pairings: Undecided 

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Drama

Warnings: AU, spoilers for Patty’s past. 

Summary: Flynn, a student at the University of St. Vesperia, was surprised that Headmaster Dionia wanted to see him. He was even more surprised to find out why. “The Headmaster wants to see me so he can show me a fish?” 

Magic!College AU

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Nets. They entangled his limbs, restricting his flailing attempts to free himself. Part of his panicked mind was vaguely aware of being tugged upwards. No. He couldn’t be seen. He had to get away, back to –Hell, anywhere but here. The man thrashed violently, only succeeding in entangling himself more. A sharp cold was suddenly present on his back. 

‘…Damn!’ 

They had managed to pull him to the surface. The warmth of the water was suddenly completely gone, the chilled air taking its place. In desperation, he used his freed hand to try shoving away from the hull of the boat. His arm was suddenly grabbed and jerked upwards, yanking him into the boat only to land hard on the deck. 

“--ty, get back!” A gruff voice yelled.

Pushing himself off the deck, he managed to glimpse through the net. He caught sight of a small blonde girl with striking blue eyes and a… pirate hat? There was a piercing pain on the back of his head. And everything went black. 

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

Flynn was surprised. Never in his years at the University of St. Vesperia had he received such an urgent request for his presence directly from the Headmaster. Well, he had. But only for last minute check ups on things such as arranging homecoming, speaking at ceremonies, and giving financial reports of clubs. Those were to be expected of any student council president.  He walked briskly across the campus, freshly frosted grass crunching under his feet, eager to complete whatever task he presumed Headmaster Dionia would ask of him. 

Rounding a corner, the aquarium facility came into full view. He couldn’t figure out why the Headmaster would ask to see him here of all places. The blond shivered, pulling his uniform jacket closer as he made his way across the parking lot. The facility’s size never failed to impress him. Next to law and medical degrees, St. Vesperia also specialized heavily in marine biology. This was said to be due to the former headmaster Cypher’s influence. Now retired, the man was still in love with the sea, as he often took his granddaughter with him on his weekly fishing excursions. Flynn smiled at the memory of the little girl. 

“Flyyyyn~!” A young girl’s voice rang out in the late autumn air.

Speak of the devil. She was running towards him from across the street, red beret on her head and binoculars slung over her shoulder. 

“Hello, Patty.” He smiled at her as she approached.

A lengthy conversation followed the rest of their trip across the parking lot. It revolved mostly around Patty making him ‘guess what,’ Flynn guessing, and Patty just returning a ‘guess again.’ Approaching the door, Patty had slipped on a small patch of ice, though luckily for her, Flynn had grabbed the back of her vest, setting her back on her feet. She stared back at the patch of ice as if it were from another dimension.

“…Patty?” He questioned.

“Don’t you know what this means? It’s ice fishing season!” She turned to look at him, grinning, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. Right, fishing. He should have guessed. Wait a minute… That was it!

“Did you catch a fish last weekend?” 

“Kind of.” She looked to the side, as if unsure how to explain it. 

“Kind of?” He pulled open the glass door, stepping inside.

“You’ll just have to see. That’s why the headmaster called you.” 

Flynn faltered for a moment, before looking at her incredulously. “The Headmaster wants to see me so he can show me a fish?”

“It’s… Well...” Flynn raised an eyebrow. “Not comp—“

“Miss Fluer!”

Flynn’s back straightened automatically at the voice, letting the door close on Patty, who simply stuck her tongue out before running off. Flynn turned and all but saluted to the man. “Headmaster Dionia.”

“Schifo.” The taller man nodded to him. “I appreciate you coming on such short notice.”

“It’s not a problem, sir.” Was his reply, “But, if I may, why the aquarium facility?”

The Headmaster turned and began walking down the hall, Flynn following, before he spoke, “I would presume you know of the previous Headmaster Cypher’s… hobby. Regardless, he and his granddaughter came upon a rather interesting discovery on their last expedition. Cypher requested that it be kept here, and that the public not know of its existence just yet. That said, anything you are about to see or hear is not to leave this building, understood?” He came to stop in front of a door labeled intensive care.

“Y-yes, sir.” He managed. Flynn’s mind was reeling. So he really was here to see a fish? And an extremely rare one, from the sounds of it. Despite feeling flattered to be one of the few people that had the chance this supposedly rare fish, the blond couldn't help but wonder why in the hell that he was here. He was a criminal and justice major, not a marine biology specialist. 

After undoing what Flynn counted as three separate locks, the Headmaster opened the door and they stepped inside. There were no lights on in the room, save for those illuminating a massive tank on the far wall. The water glowed a surreal blue-green, but a flicker of purple instantly caught Flynn's attention. Whatever it been, it darted behind the large coral-head that took up nearly a third of the tank. 

"Was that���?" Flynn trailed off, casting a glance at the other man as he came to stand next to him in front of the tank.

The Headmaster nodded, "It's extremely cautious about anything new. Unfortunately, it also seems to have a very strong dislike for both myself and most of the caretakers here at the aquarium."

As Alexei finished speaking, he raised a knuckle to the glass and rapped on it as though he were knocking on a door. 

The harsh sound made Flynn wince, and he actually felt a little sorry for the fish. "Erm… Headmaster, not to be rude, but don't most fish-"

"I think you'll find this fish to be more intelligent than most." 

There was a loud thunk in front of Flynn that made him start, but by the time he turned to look, he only saw a lone chunk of coral sinking to the flat, sandy bottom of the tank.

"What in the world…?" Flynn stared. 

The taller man chuckled, "Regardless, I'd like you to spend some time here."

"Here, sir?" 

"Simply put, in this room. You may use it as your own private study hall, if you like."

While the idea of a study hall in which he could work uninterrupted was very appealing to Flynn… 

"What exactly will I be doing while I'm here?""I suppose you could say that you'll be socializing. The reason is that this fish is extremely dangerous for the aquarium staff to even feed. Leblanc was almost drowned yesterday. I hope that, through showing it humans aren't a threat, it will allow us closer, so we can study it in further detail. You may read, study, whatever you wish."

A study hall all to himself it was, then.

"I understand. I'll come everyday after classes."

"Good. Any other questions?"

"...You had said Mr. Leblanc was almost drowned?"

"I was told that the fish stole something from him and that he dove in to get it back. Ridiculous as it sounds, Leblanc was never really… Suited to be swim-team captain."

"Aha…"

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

It had been about two weeks since Flynn started going to his private study hall at the aquarium. He enjoyed finishing his school and student council work nearly two hours earlier. It gave him time to… Actually have spare time. As per instructions, Flynn wasn't allowed to turn on any lights save a small desk lamp for when he was working. A few times, feeling as though he were being watched, Flynn would jerk his head around, only to catch the literal tail-end of the creature as it dove behind the coral. Rather than stress over not seeing the fish, Flynn preferred to spend an extra hour either reading a book or watching a movie. The blonde had discovered a small TV on the desk near the tank, and also an old DVD player. So, Flynn would watch all of his favorite classics he was lucky enough to have on disk.

 Today was a marathon of John Wayne movies that Flynn never got tired of. Half-way through True Grit, even Flynn couldn't help but smile and roll his eyes at the corny movie lines. In doing so, he caught a shadow out of the corner of his eye. It was in the tank. And it was definitely not a fish. Flynn blinked. 

There was a person. Watching John Wayne. From in the tank.

Why would someone- When did they- How had Flynn not noticed? 

Cobalt eyes flickered to the side, as if to make sure Flynn wasn’t looking. Which he was, much to the tank-dweller’s surprise. Their eyes went wide and their mouth fell open, allowing bubbles of air to escape, before they jerked back, speeding away in a blur of… purple? 

Flynn stared to where it -they- had disappeared behind the coral head. They would have to come up for air at some point. The sound of gunshots rang out from the TV. The blond didn’t move an inch, hardly daring to breathe. He kept his eyes on the coral head, not letting his attention falter for even a moment. He was vaguely aware of the clock in the room ticking. 

Minutes passed. Flynn had at some point started counting the seconds of the ticking clock, and had already counted to sixty some twenty times. He was just about to resume his movie marathon when, tentatively, half a body appeared from behind the coral, partially obscured by a sea fan. The face and upper body were most definitely human, but... The lower half was decidedly not. There were scales and a tail and... A mermaid. 

Those cobalt eyes bore into him, and Flynn could do nothing but gape in return. There was a mermaid -merMAN- directly in front of him and his mind was reeling. What kind of creature was this? It seemed intelligent enough to enjoy movies. It was obviously sentient. 

----------

Sorry not sorry ran out of juice for this AU. My further idea is that Yuri only writes in Russian so when given an underwater dry erase board, Flynn has to take pictures and ask (language major) Judith to translate (or alternatively google translate the hell out of it). The entire Vesperia gang does their best to get Yuri back to the ocean but meanwhile Yuri is internally debating if he’d rather stay with Flynn or return home. 

[buddhasfanficdictatorship]

Fanfic Progress Update: Light at the End of the Tunnel and Going Forward (Part 2 of 2)

Part 1: Here

Sorry this took awhile get out, my lying ass said “a few days” last time, but a month is about the same amount of time... right? I’ve been busy trying to finish up a fic I wrote for a very helpful friend as a Christmas gift, which obviously isn’t late as crap now. Besides that, some unavoidable stuff came up (including having my phone containing writing notes totally crap out on me, internet issues, oh and almost becoming homeless because my landlord jacked up rent a bunch without notice, forcing me to try to sell my plasma and to scramble for money. That was fun. But that’s a whole other story).

I hope you’ll understand that real life troubles have to take priority. I know, it’s always excuses with me, sorry. I wish I could control my life and not have all this shit constantly come up too.

Okay, now that my customary pathetic excuses are out of the way let’s get down to business! First up? Fic progress updates! But PREPARE FOR AN ONSLAUGHT OF WORDS! (as if that’s anything new).

The Bonds That Never Break: The last piece of the “Birthday” chapters (which were originally supposed to be one but got split because all these issues) has had some progress (maybe 1/4 of the way) and won’t be a difficult undertaking finishing it up since I know what I want to do, but... Honestly I've hit a major roadblock with the fic beyond this point. My ideas for original stuff are coming up empty and simply rewriting the entire plot isn’t my plan (even now I think the ratio is too far skewed for canon content without enough additions of my own).

The problem as I said in my Author’s Notes of the most recent chapter is the format keeps me tied to the canon, which limits my options. I love the idea, but I can’t deny doing a faithful canon rewrite is a pain sometimes. And in the coming chapters my new ideas are pretty much nil beyond a few scattered chunks from the Konoha Crush arc to about halfway through Shippuden.

Side Note: I planned on skipping canon rewriting most of Shippuden. The fights with Akatsuki and such don’t really play into Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship and I’m not interested in doing that much extra legwork beyond the main focus of this fic. I only care about the dorks and their story and elements of the anime that deal with it. So beyond that, we’ll jump a bunch of that and go directly to the end, a new ending where they get together eventually, where everything will be new.

So me being stuck being the case, I MAY skip forward a ways to something more solidly planned and thought out, and come back later to fill in the gap. Maybe to the point after the ending where everything is my own creation so we can see the dorks repairing their relationship and just making out like they SHOULD have done from the start. We’ll see what happens. I’d be very interested in hearing reader’s opinions, maybe I’ll set up a poll to see what you you think.

I REALLY think I need to put this on hold for a while and watch the anime start to finish, to help inspire me and bring back my passion. I love these guys but over the last year and a half my interest has faded. I need to get back into the ship and reignite those feelings I first had when I started the show so I can channel that into better chapters.

The Horny Canine Boys of the Hidden Leaf Village: Having trouble with this one too. To put it in semi-simple terms, I know what I want in chapter A and chapter C, but connecting them together with chapter B is causing me issues. Haven’t started the next chapter yet (technically the conclusion to the most recent one, since I broke that up because I wasn’t finished and had gone so long without updates) but I do know what it will involve and have plenty of notes so it shouldn’t take TOO long. That being said, from there I’m not sure what to do. I might skip forward and do chapters later on in the story first since I have a clearer idea of what I want them to be. This fic is mostly porn without plot so it’s not like skipping around would matter that much, but it’s still pretty frustrating. Probably going to make a poll for this one too, to get reader’s opinions regarding to skip or not.

Dogs Keep it in the Family: Some progress on finishing up the update I cut short, mainly need to assemble all the parts and ideas together into a cohesive whole. So not too much work. The problem with this one is mainly issues of quality I have with it, content not meeting my expectations. I have plenty of notes and a few more chapters plotted out, it’s mainly just finding the occasions where I can get some good writing done. That aside there’s also a lot of questions beyond the first couple chapters of what I want to include that I’m not sure about. I need to think more about this one.

The Unorthodox Journey of a Pokemon Breeder Boy: The next chapter of the Charizard segment is roughly half way done. But I pushed this out way too soon mainly because I was so sick of it being constantly on my “To-do list” in an in-progress state during months and months of interruptions. Going forward though I’m not really sure what I want to do with it; I simultaneously have this grand vision, but an abnormal lack of concrete ideas for new chapters. I’ve had some little sparks of inspiration and prompts, but beyond that I’m just not feeling it flow into a greater idea.

Here’s my planned schedule for this round of updates. Thing’s could change, but I’ll make a notice if they do.

1. Untitled Inuyasha fic; Koga/Ginta/Hakkaku threesome. This is a gift for a friend I’ve been trying to finish for weeks now

2. The Bonds that Never Break. Last segment of the Birthday chapter

3. The Horny Canine Boys of the Hidden Leaf Village. Next half of the Dogs Will Play chapter. This one has the least recent update (and is by far my most read fic) so I might push it ahead.

4. Dogs Keep it in the Family. Last chunk of the Mother’s Stern Hand chapter

5. The Unorthodox Journey of a Pokemon Breeder Boy. Second half of the Charizard segment

Next are details of my plans going forward. It’s lengthy (it’s ME after all) but important so I’d recommend checking it out. Long story short: After updating each of my current fics, I’m temporarily switching over from the large projects above to one-shots for a time.

But I’ll still be writing and I’m not dropping any of those big fics! I just need a break from the intensive work they require.

On to other matters. If you’ve read my other insanely long updates (if you have you’re a trooper) you’ll know I haven’t been having a great time for a long while. If not, check Part 1 or older Progress Updates for more info. Long story short, I’m completely worn out from endless months and months of bullshit. Even though its FINALLY quieted down now, I still need a break.

You might say, “But you’ve been on hiatus for months!” That was because I could never get a night without fist fights or drunk parties or literal death threats being screamed all hours. That hiatus was because I couldn’t focus, because I was in a stressful situation and had no real alternative.

Now I’m saying I need some mental health time, a break from scrambling between fics that went without updates or had half finished chapters as compensation for that utter nonsense, trying to catch up and failing to get back to normal because of it. I went straight from that atmosphere into rapidly trying to get everything back up to speed, never taking a breather and celebrating my freedom. I need to take a few steps back and gather myself, actually breathe easy without fears of drunk assholes trying to break in to people’s apartments, before I jump back into things.

Because of all that crap, I had to make do with putting out lazy and poorly constructed work. It made me feel like a shitty writer and that I was letting readers down. I can’t express how awesome people who stuck by patiently waiting for updates, understanding I wasn’t in a great place, really are. But not doing my best made me feel like I wasn’t meeting expectations of people who had been so nice. Yes it’s just fanfiction, maybe I’m getting dramatic, but still.

I’m so sick of putting out half-assed or incomplete chapters and fics. Rushing from one to another, scrambling to make updates that aren’t complete or as polished as I would like, leaving this trail of disappointment behind me. I look at what I’ve produced lately and I’m just so deeply unhappy with the quality. Most of that was the horrible situation I was in, but now it’s my haste, like I’m trying to do 5 things at once to catch up now that things are okay and none end up great. I appreciate dearly readers supporting me and being understanding all this time. But when you KNOW you can do better and aren’t meeting your own expectations it’s very frustrating. I take my writing, even if it IS only fanfiction, seriously. I feel a commitment to making the best chapters for people who enjoy what I do.

These big projects are so exhausting, so much work tweaking them just right. All the effort and time I spend has just worn me out. It’s gotten to the point that I’m starting to resent working on them, it feels like an obligation. I rush through stuff trying to make everyone happy and in the end my work suffers. It’s tough to make good stuff when it feels like a chore. And that’s never a good mentality to have when writing. I’m not doing my best work when it’s not fun.

Add to that the fact that my notes are an ABSOLUTE CLUSTER FUCKING MESS. Bits and pieces of stories saved in Google Docs, on my phone, and written in spirals, scattered everywhere. There are things for both Canine Boys and Bonds that I didn’t write down when I was breezing through work that I have now forgotten in my haste to churn out dwindling chapters and struggle with all the bullshit that had overwhelmed my life. That’s a big problem.

For example. In Canine Boys I know what I want to do with chapters 5 and 7, but my notes on 6 are paltry and I have since forgotten what I wanted to do. Problematic, even if it is just porn.

And there are pieces to the planned ending of Bonds that are hazy and difficult to remember because of the time that has passed, mental stress, and lack of organization. I need to get things in order first thing.

No joke, when I look at all my future plans and mess of notes, sometimes I get micro-panic attacks. Because there’s just SO MUCH to do, SO MUCH I need to plan and write, and oh god what did I forget this time, ugh I can’t figure out how to move on and do the next chapter, I can’t remember what good thing I planned for this and I’m disappointing my readers!!! ect. It’s truly overhauling sometimes. And it’s not pleasant or an effective way of writing. I need to get this mess sorted out, lay back and have some brainstorming to fix all those plot and continuity issues.

As if that wasn’t enough, my phone had loads of good things saved on it, ideas for both Bonds and Canine Boys that were GREAT and necessary to moving the stories forward. Well a few days ago it totally crapped out and I can’t access it. Losing the notes saved on my phone has left me pretty bummed. It’s like a knife in the heart. Because I had SO. MANY. GOOD. IDEAS. ON. THERE. And the thought of them just gone makes me just want to give up because I worry I won’t ever come up with something to match and replace all that was lost.

So yeah, I need to take a step away from these big works. All that being said, I’m not on hiatus anymore. More like semi-hiatus. I’m taking a break from “serious” writing, from these huge projects (all 4 current fics would count) and switching over to some smaller one shots in the meantime. I need time to recoup and rest and actually celebrate my newfound peace and quiet without deadlines. I want to work for a while with worrying about timely updates or letting readers down with quality issues. I’m going to take a breather, regain my confidence, organize my disaster notes, and come back strong, RATHER than keep limping along as I have been.

SO, once I make one more update to each of those 4 fics, I’ll be putting them off to the side for a while and focusing on simpler one shots. Hopefully people will check those out too, it’s still me and my style, just smaller (and a friend joked that I don’t do small projects. A one shot for me is like 10-20k words).

After these updates, which in all honesty won’t be my greatest work, not that I’ve been excelling for a while, I am DONE doing shoddy unfinished work. No more.

Once these chapters are out I’ll be shifting to one shots for a temporary cool down so I can gather my thoughts and organize my ideas. This should mean when I come back to these the quality is better, my inspiration is restarted, and I can get back on track writing fluidly instead of struggling.

I have no idea how long this period of smaller works could last. I would estimate anywhere between 3-9 months, since I want a more long term period of separation. Too much focus and worrying has made dealing with them tedious, I just don’t want to have to worry about them for a bit.

As you can see from teh Future Ideas section of my Masterlist I have LOOOTS of ideas. A good number of WIPs were recently inspired by my friend Ren and his beautiful, dirty mind. No I am not working on all those works in the Future Ideas at the same time, this is just a list of ideas that have popped into my head over time. Some may eventually be dropped if I can’t work them properly, but I do have a good chunk of progress already done on a number of those, while others have a few paragraphs written, and some are pretty much a premise and a few sentences.

Do not expect all those to be finished soon. This is a VERY VERY long term look at my plans. Like, over the few years or more probably, knowing how slow I write and how annoyingly perfectionist I am. I will likely shift priorities around between all these as new ideas inspire me or old fics require attention, but from now on I plan on trying to focus the bulk of my attention on 2 or 3 projects at once. Sort of like an assembly plant; one fic in pre-production, one in the process of being built, and one getting the final touches. That way I can churn things out more efficiently. I think that's a much better way to balance all my fics than rushing to and fro manically.

DO NOT WORRY! Just because I have all these future plans doesn’t mean I’m abandoning any of my current fics; Bonds that Never Break, Canine Boys, Dogs Keep it in the Family, and Journey of a Pokemon Breeder Boy will still get attention and I have plenty of thoughts, notes, and plans for those going forward. This list of fic ideas is just a glimpse into my thought process and future plans, in addition to somewhere I can keep readers updated with my priorities (I’ll make updates here as well).

I know what you’re probably thinking. “Oh great, more fics you won’t update on time.” Or “Perfect, the one I like is being pushed aside by this new stuff.” Remember this semi-hiatus is only temporary. Most of the ideas I have in mind are one shots. And they aren’t as intensive as my current works, they’re a much needed break so I can refocus and collect ideas for the major projects. I’m not abandoning ANYTHING, NONE of my fics are getting dropped. I’m just taking a more long term view of things so I can stay in shape.

I’m deeply sorry if some people don’t want to deal with that and jump ship, I completely understand your frustration. I fully expect to lose some readers, much as that pains me. But most importantly I need to do what’s right for me.

There’s a saying, “The candle that that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” I’m at that point. I don’t want to burn bright with a few good chapters and end up burning myself out before really finishing anything.

[kayr0ss]

Appointments Chapter 3: Friendship no Jutsu!

[LWA, Diakko, Small Town AU, Fluff and Slow Romance, Pining™ lol]

Chapter 1 & Table of Contents [Links] AO3

“And then I named him Toby!” Akko grinned, whispering over her shoulder towards Lotte.

The afternoon Sociology lecture was winding down, and it seemed even Professor du Nord was fidgeting to get out and enjoy the pleasant weather. Akko, on the other hand, was dying to be anywhere other than a stuffy classroom; she was in much too good a mood to be sitting still. Honestly, wow, how did people who had five hour lectures survive? Was there a whole breakfast, lunch and dinner service in between? Five hours! Akko was at her wit’s end with just two!

Then again, it might have been the extra energy today. Akko was feeling chipper—even more so than usual. She wasn’t late to class (she’d love to shove that to a certain medical practitioner’s face), she was starting to settle into the routine of her new life in town, and best of all: she had a new friend.

A new, adorable, purring, might-not-have-had-rabies-shots, cat-friend named Toby who poked around the school shuttle stop at the town center.

All that was left was to find a part-time job.

“You can’t just feed stray cats!” Lotte hissed under her breath. “And how did you know it was a boy? I hope you didn’t hold it, Akko, it can be very dangerous to—”

“It had balls?”

“That… makes sense,” Lotte blinked. “But still. It’s going to start expecting food at the same place, especially if you’ve been doing it for a few days by now.”

“I live near the shuttle stop,” Akko shrugged, casually waving her hand. Her friendship with Lotte felt like a rock that kept her in place while she explored her new environment, and in her own Akko-way, she was thankful for it despite the nagging. Akko could recognize care expressed in its different forms.

There was no bell to signal the (rather awkwardly-timed) end of Sociology class, but the room’s listless chatter cued Akko in to check her watch.

16:43!

Two minutes never felt so long. She huffed impatiently, tapping her fingers on the desk.

“You’re extra fidgety today.”

“I’m going to go see Toby!” Akko completely ignored Lotte’s exasperated eye-roll. “Jasminka likes to give me left-over bread and crumbs for him! He already shows up when I wait for the shuttle to school anyway.”

“You’re literally just taking Sociology and Physics. What about the rest of the days?”

“I’ll walk by and feed him?” Akko said as if it were obvious. “I like taking walks, anyway.”

“So I’ve heard,” a kindly voice said from a short distance away. “University Admin has been so kind to inform me that a student with brown hair and red eyes ran from Central Blytonbury to my class during the start of classes.”

Akko “P—Professor!”

“Miss Kagari, correct?” the woman sported glasses and had a welcoming smile. Akko noticed that while she was a good professor, she seemed a little… easily stressed at times. She had fascinatingly red hair, which transitioned to blue towards the end. It looked liked she was growing out her hair and abandoning a former dye job, and Akko was about to suggest that it was long enough to be trimmed before remembering that she had been asked a question.

“Yes,” the brunette nodded, and Lotte had turned to watch the exchange.

“I don’t recall you being late for my lecture,” Professor du Nord pointed out. “What time did you leave Central?”

“Er—Ano—” Akko strained to remember, feeling a little nervous. Why was she asking? Was she going to get marked late even if the Professor came in after? That wasn’t fair! Suddenly, she remembered the panicked feeling of only having thirteen minutes to get to class and, “oh!” she mumbled to herself, driving a fist into her palm, “it was around two thirty-two when I bumped into ‘pretty blonde doctor.’”

Both Lotte and Professor du Nord raised their eyebrows in amusement, and the older woman smiled. “That’s rather impressive. Although I also heard you made quite the commotion along the way.”

Akko looked a little embarrassed, “sorry! I’m new in town and—”

The woman raised her hands to placate a visibly upset Akko, “what I came here to ask,” she interjected, “is if you would be interested in the University’s running club.”

“Running club?” the brunette paused in thought. That was… not what she expected?

“Mhmm,” Professor du Nord demurely clasped her hands. She didn’t look particularly athletic, or even interested in anything related to running or sports, but people in this town have surprised Akko and she really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Sucy looked like she was into some weird stuff but not, she didn’t know, fungi. And apparently Jasminka from the cafe can chug.

“I handle the track team and the running club,” the professor affirmed. “Anyway, it’s an open invitation, I’m sorry if I’ve kept you indoors for too long. Let me know what you think!”

“Oh no! It’s not a problem professor!” Akko waived her hands, flustered. She was warming up to the older woman faster than Lotte could say ‘Akko, no!’ (which was pretty fast) and suddenly Sociology class was a more exciting concept than it previously was—especially now that she knew the professor seemed like a cool, albeit kind of nervous, and surprisingly sporty person.

“If you’ll excuse me,” the older woman waved. She was walking off the next moment, and Akko noticed there was a certain power in her strides that made for an interesting impression when put side-by-side with her personality.

“Officially my favorite teacher,” Akko nodded with conviction, pulling her backpack onto one shoulder.

“You only have two,” Lotte chuckled while she collected her books. “And from what I’ve heard about that physics professor, there wasn’t much competition.”

Somewhere along the walk to the campus shuttle station, Akko had lured Lotte into ‘going to feed Toby’. She knew Lotte wouldn’t say no to a trip to the local cafe, but she was damn well going to use every opportunity to talk about her cat-friend if it showed itself. The bus ride was spent gawking out the window and looking through a list of job postings she’d collected. She considered asking if Jasminka needed some help in the cafe, but if she could remember correctly, there was a new kid helping her out already.. Having so much free time was nice, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t beginning to feel guilty over her parents’ allowances. And honestly, having so much time was beginning to get boring.

‘Gym Instructor Needed’ Disaster waiting to happen.

‘Library Staff’ Would bore me to death.

‘Test Subjects Needed’ —> Willing to sign health waivers —> Semi-invasive Chemical testing —> Competitive Payment —> Non-disclosure agreement

“Hey,” Akko elbowed Lotte, “how much do you think they pay the test subjects?”

The other woman looked over to the advertisement and visibly paled. She grabbed the paper, groaned, and flipped out her phone to send what seemed to be quite a lengthy (and expressive) message to a friend.

“I never want to go through pulling half-unconscious strangers out our apartment building,” she shuddered.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she quickly said. “Anyway, we’re here.”

Akko was off the bus and running the next second, crossing towards the cafe (“Akko! Stop trying to beat the crosswalk light!) which was at the opposite corner of a small intersection. Central Blytonbury wasn’t anything like the other ‘City Centers’ she was used to. It was just—literally—at the geographical center of the town. It had the cafe, the shuttle stop, the clinic, and at every direction of the intersection you could find other notable areas like the park, a small gym, a row of brownstone houses (Orion Street - eastbound was where Lotte and Sucy boarded, and Akko was elated to find that out because she was just a few blocks down) and finally, the road towards the markets.

The smell of brewing coffee was becoming so familiar to Akko now that she could probably tell Jasminka’s coffee shop apart from others. She skipped across the shop’s front patio with Lotte barely keeping up from behind.

“Jasminka!” she grinned, bursting through the door.

“Akko,” Jasminka cheerily replied, “and hello as well, Lotte.”

“Hello!”

“I was just telling my friend about you,” the Russian woman was about to introduce her to a bright-haired woman who was leaning over the counter with a boyish swagger when the woman in question nearly choked on her coffee.

“Holy shit!” she grabbed at her stomach, trying not to double over in laughter, “you’re that girl who totally wiped-out at the park! With the bike!”

Akko blinked. It’s the football coach. It was the freaking football coach who had to help her up. “Stove top hair football coach,” she blurted out.

“S—Stove top hair?!”

“Why does this keep happening to me,” Akko mumbled to herself in disbelief. This town really was ridiculously small.

“I can’t believe you dissed my hair,” the woman growled. Lotte and Jasminka watched in apprehension from the sidelines while the two, fiery personalities sized each other up.

“I mean that in a good way though?”

“How do you even like, mean that in a good way?”

“It looks badass!”

The woman blinked as if to consider the comment, “well I was going for that.”

That was apparently a good enough introduction because Akko held out her hand with mischievous enthusiasm. “I’m Akko! Be my friend!”

All things considered, she was surprised when the woman grinned. With a firm clasp, she took Akko’s hand, “my name is Amanda O’Neil!”

——

They had a cat problem.

“I guess it could be pretty bad,” Barbara scratched her head. “I mean, what if we had allergy patients and there are stray hairs near the clinic entrance.”

“Precisely,” Diana nodded, barely looking up from her copy of Clinical Respiratory Medicine by Spiro, Silvestri, et al. “There is also the matter of cleanliness and upholding medical standards to keep our permits. We’re going to have to find whoever’s leaving the breadcrumbs and have a few words.”

“Poor cat though. It was growing on me.”

Whether or not she felt sympathetic towards the cat was irrelevant to Diana, they had a job to do and an animal loitering in the nearby area was not something that could be compromised on. While the whole ordeal wasn’t necessarily that big of a problem, Diana found solace in the stability of her daily routine. She liked knowing what she would be doing at any given time of the day, and any errands out of her routine were planned and prepared for. The cat was not. “I can report it to the local shelter. If no one within the area claims ownership, they can take him away.”

“It’s a him?”

“Male genitalia,” Diana supplied professionally.

Barbara chortled, but with a wave of her hand she pushed the topic aside.

“Alright, let’s end that conversation there,” the dark-haired woman stood from the examination stool and pulled a cat-like stretch. “Where on earth is Hannah?”

As if on cue, the bell by the front door alerted them to an expected visitor.

“Sorry!” a woman with auburn hair tied up in bow walked into the clinic with familiarity. “We ran out of losartan and I had to make sure the stocks were replenished.”

“Huh,” Barbara blinked, recalling that the drug was used to treat high blood pressure. “That’s odd. I never remembered the people as being hypertensive.”

“Quite an amusing coincidence,” Diana gently closed her book. “I can think of a few individuals who’d definitely contribute to a rise in collective blood pressure.”

“Is this the Kagari girl again?”

“Kagari?” Hannah inquired. “The girl you sent to the pharmacy for antibiotics?”

Diana nodded, “she was quite the character. It was rather… frustrating. I am not sure what to make of her behavior, most especially since she seems keen to cause trouble at every corner she is found.”

“At the pharmacy, she was in line with that old man, uhm—” Hannah gestured in the air, finding the name at the tip of her tongue, “—Mr. Landon! Yeah, him, with the cane? And she goes, ‘is that a wig? It looks nice!”

“No way,” Barbara shrieked. “That old man’s grumpier than a cave bear!”

“He laughed,” Hannah said incredulously, “and said he wished everyone had a sense of humor like she did!”

“I wouldn’t put that past her based on what I’ve seen,” Diana nodded. “It’s fortunate that Mr. Landon found it amusing, but I doubt the rest of the townsfolk will be as receptive to her antics. Moreover,” Diana leaned back, taking off her glasses and neatly folding them on her desk, “she goes gallivanting around this way while enrolled in University. Scholars should conduct themselves accordingly, and not go pushing people around while running in the streets.”

Hannah and Barbara shared a look.

“She went even as far as to have an altercation with Dr. Meridies—the professor from Engineering, if you recall.”

“Well,” Barbara looked a little amused, “if you put it that way, she does sound like bad news.”

“I shouldn’t be one to deliver a judgement on character,” Diana crossed her arms, brows furrowing in frustration. “But I simply… can’t make heads or tails of it.”

Hannah laughed. “Wow. This is the most worked up we’ve seen you since… the Physician Licensure Exam?”

Diana was about to voice out her dissent, but then she realized she was getting unreasonably worked up over an acquaintance. She felt her face flush a little, but she digressed. It was nearing five-twenty in the afternoon and she was finally able to invite Hannah and Barbara for a very-much-planned and on-schedule coffee.

A minute before the clock struck five, the group was welcomed by the signature aroma of Jasminka’s brew. There was no cheesecake today, so the chocolate croissants would have to make do. She considered trying a sandwich—the shop liked to cut off the crusts (she always liked her sandwiches that way). On some days, Jasminka liked to suggest her something new, but Diana would politely decline. She always took note of her suggestions, though, stowing it away incase of she felt adventurous one of these days.

Whenever that might happen.

So English Breakfast tea with croissants it was. Hannah opted for something with vanilla, while Barbara ordered one of those peculiar mocha-peppermint frappuccino that Diana could never bring herself to try.

“What?” Barbara crossed her arms defensively at the looks she was getting. “Let me have my Christmas-flavored drink.”

“We didn’t say anything,” Hannah smirked with amusement, pulling her two companions towards a booth. Diana noticed that there was a new assistant in the cafe preparing their orders. Jasminka was cutting off the crusts of a fresh order of sandwiches, putting the crumbs into a paper bag before walking out from behind the counter towards a table and—

Oh. She blinked, registering familiar brown hair bobbing about in its usual childish fashion. Its owner shot Jasminka a grin, thanking her for “giving the local kitty food” before accepting the paper bag with red, sparkling eyes. Everything began to click into place, she really should have expected this, and before she knew it Diana was striding towards the table with authority in her gait.

“Why am I not surprised that you had something to do with the stray cat at Central?” Diana crossed her arms, a neutral expression gracing her features while she stared Akko down. She noted that she was seated and apparently acquainted with Amanda O’Neil, and good lord—did the two individuals most capable of raising the town’s collective blood pressure really need to be friends? So soon?

“You mean Toby?” Akko grinned.

“I see you’ve named him.”

The other woman—the one with glasses and light orange hair—she remembers as a regular, though she was mostly on her own when Diana saw her. She looked quiet and put together but somehow perfectly comfortable with her two, hardheaded and turbulent companions.

“Of course!” Akko blinked. “He’s my friend.”

“Wait a minute,” O’Neil slammed a palm on the table, squinting her eyes between the blonde and the brunette. “You two are friends?”

“Yes!” Akko asserted, in stark contrast to Diana’s calm and collected, “no.”

The blonde actually gawked a little.

She thought they were friends? She…? Diana was baffled. “You shoved me at a crosswalk, complained the entire time I was treating you of your injuries, refused to listen my medical advice—I can see scarring around the wound, I know you picked at it—and then entertained a stray cat around the premises of my clinic.”

Amanda face-palmed, “wow.”

“Exactly!” Akko stood up and balled her fists, shooting Diana a challenging glare.

Diana blinked. Exactly?

“Doesn’t that make us friends?!”

Caught completely off-guard by the assertion, and absolutely confused by this woman’s logic and definition of what “friendship” is, Diana found herself pushed to a corner. What on earth? What had either of them done to warrant friendship? Was she seriously declaring friendship while going red in the face with irritation?

Without truly thinking about her response, Diana stammered.

“I—I suppose?”

“See?! Was that so hard?!”

It was… frighteningly easier than she thought.

-

Hey guys! So here's the third chapter - I hope you all enjoy it! Amanda finally makes an appearance, and we will be seeing more of Toby in the future ehe ehe ehe.

Addendum: I made a rough map of fanfic!Blytonbury as a reference for when I write directions / travel times. I just thought I'd color it and share if anyone cares LOL. This chapter is so satisfying to post just because of how much trouble I had writing it, schedule-wise. But ya know, people need to make a living so I’m thankful to at least have some time to write! <3

[Bright red w/ Arrow - Central shuttle stop and the road to LNU; Blue - the Clinic; Brown - Jasminka’s Cafe; Maroon (Southwest) - Akko’s apartment bldg!; Purple - the Pharmacy; Yellow - Sucy & Lotte’s apartment!; Pink - school where amanda coaches football; Light blue - Diana’s house!; Dark blue - Library; big green - park w/ running track; green cirlce - the big oak]

[yeonjuins]

helloo!! ♡︎♡︎ school was cancelled?? You’re so lucky!! At least you get to have another break ♡︎♡︎♡︎ I didn’t really have to go to class since I have to take exams today and i have one more to take (boo) JSJSJD and it may or may not be a shock,, but I added all of them to my playlist after giving them a few listens,, really cool songs ♡︎♡︎♡︎

Winter is actually my first JUNNY song,, I found it when i looked through Yayyoung’s music but I’m thinking about seeing about his other music since I liked his voice so much.. and same! Yelloasis voice was such a nice addition to the song

and yes yes I like Yayyoung a lot AJAJS I have most of her songs in my library,, i checked her out after listening to insomnia,, her voice was just so pretty and I was like I have GOT to see if she has other music and gratefully she did SKSKDK and yo I almost recommended “do you feel like you have no one to turn to” and “if only you knew” but I went with like a sunflower instead LoL and no need to apologize I tend to do that too but yes that is definitely a song for a late night drive

I honestly forgot where I got fallin for U from but 100 percent it was from tic tock- SKSK but yes that’s exactly what I pictured to when listening to it and yes her voice is so great and I really like those types of songs and like the melody she sings it in ,, idk I just find it unique aksks

and for history I was totally obsessed when I found it on this Spotify playlist and I was like wow this is so good,, (I’m always talking about vibes) but the vibes is just so >>>> like it’s so floaty ,, but I just love love that song so much and I’m glad you liked that one the most ♡︎♡︎♡

if that one’s your favorite I am giving you another forehead kith- ♡︎ i love ‘close to me’ by her as well but I absolutely love out of touch,, my go to song from her besides nobody else but you,, I have most of her songs in my library but haven’t listened to them yet pftt I’ve just been rotating between love you lately, out of touch, nobody else but you, and close to me but I’m going to eventually see about the others

I’m glad you enjoyed the songs ♡︎♡︎♡︎

and I will definitely give that a listen later on!! I just finished an exam and decided to take a break before studying for the next one I have to take but now it’s turning into procrastination- KAKSKS so I will be back later ♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎ enjoy your day!!

(lengthy response!)

yes !! school was cancelled because there was a snow storm here last night so roads this morning were extremely dangerous for students to walk on (can confirm ! almost slipped several times yesterday and had to have a friend walk me to my bus stop because i was wearing sneakers that don't have any grit so i held onto her the entire time <3)

i also dropped a course this morning so i feel like i have a weight lifted off my chest (": it was a math course too so i'm very glad i don't need to worry about any sort of tests i need to take/whatnot and the process was so simple too (thought i would have to wait until tuesday in order to drop the course but after a few emails he was able to make the change in my schedule from home (": )

goodluck on ur exams my love omg i didn't know it was exam season for you ;0 i hope all ur exams / classes are going well my angel u got this <3 make sure to drink loads of water and get in your extra meals !!

i have not taken an exam in like .... 2 years (horrifying really) but i think if i were to have an exam thrown at me about a topic i know well i'd be fine (":

oh also update (i was planning to make this a whole rb post but i can tease it here hehe) : the seller had ONE more mark pc CRIES.... i got it just in time (": she just needs to find me a video of everything and then he will be mine which is . insanity to me because i've stanned him longer than yj but i have more yj pcs PAHAHHA it is time i build my collection (:<

i hope the rest of your day has been going well so far my love... sorry for taking a while to respond, i was awake at like 6:45am and surprisingly stayed awake to only then crashed for like an hour in the afternoon PAHAHA

[michaelandy101-blog]

5 Native Enterprise Advertising Takeaways from MozCon Digital 2021

New Post has been published on http://tiptopreview.com/5-local-business-marketing-takeaways-from-mozcon-virtual-2021/

5 Native Enterprise Advertising Takeaways from MozCon Digital 2021

The creator’s views are solely his or her personal (excluding the unlikely occasion of hypnosis) and should not all the time replicate the views of Moz.

What a deal with to expertise three days of deep studying at MozCon Digital 2021 with a number of the world’s most revered digital marketing professionals. Whereas solely one of many classes was particularly targeted on native enterprise technique, it’s my native web optimization bias to see every part by way of that lens. I took pages of notes of ideas that I do know can have super applicability for native enterprise homeowners and their marketing companions.

The MozCon 2021 video bundle is now on sale for anybody who couldn’t make it to the convention, and in the present day I’d like to provide you a style of what you stand to be taught from a number of the most related and thrilling shows, which you’ll put to work for the native companies you’re selling.

Get the MozCon Digital 2021 Video Bundle!

1. Research start to floor Google Posts methods

Google Posts have existed for about 5 years, nevertheless it’s solely just lately that we’ve began to see research performed that establish successful techniques using them. Joy Hawkins was our one strictly-local skilled at MozCon 2021, and she or he used her speaker spot to set out a smörgåsbord of Google Posts ideas for viewers primarily based on her agency’s testing. Right here have been a few of my favorites:

Supply and COVID-type Posts acquired probably the most clicks in 2020, and posts that includes specials are clear winners.

Don’t use inventory images, however do use textual content in your photos to extend engagement.

Have enjoyable with emojis in your posts — they enhance clicks!

These are only a few of the takeaways you’ll derive from Pleasure’s session, with the general understanding that, whereas posts don’t seem to have a direct impression on native pack rank, they will affect native justifications for 60 days at a clip, and, after all, enhance site visitors to your web site!

2. Native prospects want data, even amid disruption

I picked up a operating theme within the excellent shows by Shannon McGuirk, Cyrus Shepard, and Ross Simmonds: the COVID-19 pandemic has positively not decreased the general public’s want for data from the Web. Every speaker approaches this phenomenon from a unique angle:

Shannon’s firm misplaced 50% of its income within the first couple weeks of the pandemic and needed to transition from long-term content material planning to a extra reactive model of marketing that is ready to transfer shortly with the instances. Identical to digital companies, native ones are encountering a state of affairs by which it’s more durable to plan promotional actions, particularly when there are fewer accessible native journalists to outreach to. Shannon’s presentation gives up, in extraordinarily clear element, how her firm has realized to outlive amid disruption.

Cyrus explains how the patents Google is investing in surrounding person habits set objectives for companies to be the primary click on, the lengthy click on, and the final click on for searchers. With the fitting content material, your native enterprise ought to be the useful resource the general public chooses first from Google’s outcomes, stays on longest, after which doesn’t must navigate away from as a result of their wants have been met. As Cyrus explains, “User satisfaction is the #1 ranking factor!”

Ross explains why it’s worthwhile to consider your model as a media firm, and predict what might be vital to your neighborhood to be able to spend money on related content material. It is a tenet in Moz’s Important Native web optimization Technique Information by which we urge native enterprise homeowners to see themselves as publishers.

three. Sorry, however your native enterprise web site has content material decay

It might really feel a bit such as you’re sitting in a dentist’s chair listening to this, however fortunately, Kameron Jenkins from Shopify has a treatment for this state of affairs, by which site visitors to your web site’s older pages and posts naturally deteriorates over time. In case your native enterprise depends on content material publishing to generate site visitors and income, content material decay is an enormous drawback (and a steady one) as a result of your articles are all the time getting older. The answer to that is to have an ongoing content material refresh technique by which you establish and replace growing old articles to maintain them related.

However the bigger your content material library is, the more durable it may be to perform this process. The truth is, Kameron discovered that 25% or much less of content material entrepreneurs’ time is spent on content material refreshes. The excellent news is that a mixture of free instruments could make it a lot simpler so that you can begin reversing decay. To wit:

The free “landing pages” report in Google Analytics allows you to set a date vary to see which of your content material belongings are dropping site visitors over time.

Google Search Console can also be free and allows you to see which belongings are dropping search positions over time.

Again in Google Analytics, the Aim Conversion Charge and Completions columns present you which of them of your belongings have the very best conversion charges, serving to you prioritize refreshing older belongings which have the potential to ship probably the most conversions when you replace them.

If you are going to buy the MozCon 2021 video bundle, you’ll see all of the screenshots in Kameron’s tutorial, and she’s going to stroll you thru contemplating how you can refresh a web page to provide it a brand new aggressive benefit with unique analysis, recent quotes from specialists, improved inside hyperlinks and extra! Any native enterprise that has severely embraced publishing as core to their online marketing technique ought to see significant advantages from studying to refresh decaying content material as a substitute of letting it sit unmanaged.

four. A contact of experience could make a ton of distinction in an area context

Many audio system at MozCon seek the advice of with giant enterprise purchasers and are all the time having to look onerous for techniques that may set manufacturers aside in ultra-competitive markets. The nice information for native companies and their businesses is that our markets are, by nature, restricted to native geography, which means that nifty techniques can present monumental wins for us inside a set metropolis or area!

Take a look at Joyce Collardé’s side-by-side comparability of a consumer on the left utilizing video schema markup vs. a model on the fitting with out schema. Think about how your native enterprise can command extra display house, with only a contact of technical know-how:

She additionally has a ton of nice ideas for B2B fashions, a lot of that are, after all, native!

In the meantime, Lily Ray’s phenomenal presentation is a must-watch for any native enterprise in an trade that has a direct impression on folks’s lives and funds (suppose docs, dentists, monetary advisors, and many others.). Lily demonstrates the large adjustments which have taken place in natural search engine outcomes since Google’s 2018 “Medic” replace, favoring manufacturers that meet Google’s standards for experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T). If your small business is in a your-money-or-your-life (YMYL) class, studying to bake E-A-T into your content material and marketing methods may give you a major elevate in your native market.

Rob Ousbey mentions a favourite software of mine for locating native linktations: Hyperlink Intersect. Then he turns this concept on its head with a brand new Moz alpha experiment known as Topical Hyperlink Finder that can assist you discover topically-relevant hyperlink alternatives for key phrases your opponents are rating for. Moz Professional and Moz neighborhood members are invited to play with this software, and I feel it may very well be a terrific benefit for native companies in search of trade hyperlinks. Whilst you’re at it, take a look at the alpha of the On-page Key phrase Grouper that can assist you decide when to interrupt up a subject into a number of pages as a substitute of placing all of it on a single URL.

Lastly, Casie Gillette’s reference to Recordit that permits you to customized create GIFs instantly delivered to thoughts Darren Shaw’s recent discovery that you should utilize these as a substitute of static photos on Google My Enterprise Merchandise when you save them as a JPEG as a substitute of a GIF. Don’t go overboard, however delicate animation may actually assist your native enterprise’ merchandise stand out!

5. Buck native traits and dare to be totally different

A number of MozCon 2021 audio system warned towards operating a enterprise on assumptions. There are all the time information traits in marketing and glossy new issues in the best way of tech and technique, however what really issues is what works on your prospects. For instance:

Casie Gillette, talked about above, made a terrific level in reminding us that there’s a widespread narrative that “print is dead”. Inform that to Yankee Candles, whose print catalogues performed a key position of their 122.9 million gross sales in 2020. It wasn’t way back that nearly everybody assumed the milkman was a factor of the previous. Not so! Takeaway: don’t simply latch onto fads. You could learn that your native enterprise wants to speculate hours every week on social media marketing, but when your individual prospects are telling you that what they really need is dwelling supply, or better-trained employees, or a cleaner retailer…put your money there and provides it to them!

Moz’s personal Dr. Peter J. Meyers reminds us that our brick-and-mortar opponents is probably not the identical as our opponents within the natural SERPs. You’ve obtained to review the outcomes that come up for the searches that matter to your particular prospects to see whether or not you’re proper about who is definitely competing with you there for vital phrases.

Wil Reynolds advises bringing a small ego to the web optimization course of, and a willingness to be unsuitable and query every part. He urges manufacturers to make marketing choices on the idea of knowledge, summing it up deftly: The much less you perceive your buyer, the extra you spend to amass them.

It’s my take that native enterprise homeowners have a bonus over their digital counterparts, since you dwell the place your prospects do and should even have been absorbing the tradition of your city or metropolis your entire life. Within the native context, tech is there to make speak simpler, and your highest-level takeaways from the MozCon 2021 video bundle might be a brand new degree of confidence and experience to make you a extra considerate, geared up communicator.

Your online-only colleagues must take these expertise into an enormous area, competing with everybody on this planet to be heard. However for you, marketing an area enterprise, an academic funding in your self and your workforce may give you a unprecedented enhance alongside the worthy journey of changing into an area family identify.

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