#without them either being weirded out by how fast i've gotten over it

[chronicbackstabbingdisorder]

Uuuugh anxiety has me wound up so tightly =_= It has been a very stressful couple of weeks and I gotta go to the dentist today and I don't fucking wanna but I already rescheduled twice

[theobsessiveloser18]

Headcanons of being best friends with Tory Nichols

•She was Miguel's girlfriend when you met her (as his best friend and almost older/younger sister, he think it was appropriate for you to meet her) she was too different from you, you don't know if because of that, or because she was an overly conscious teenager (unlike of Sam that you hated, maybe because she was too similar to you) you loved her and she loved you

•They became fast friends, spending time together without Miguel being involved.

•You were also Aisha's friend, so the 3 of them became the best friends of all time, it was weird for people not to see them together, they became the best-known trio of school friends (the karate girls and their chick the protected)

•Tory opens your eyes to the evil of the world, how important it was to develop character to survive, and since it's not bad to not always be the best person of the day (a topic that tormented you) you help her survive, you support her with your brother and his mother, looking for a way to have their pockets full at the end of the month, getting to work together (sometimes you give her part of your payment, she doesn't like it very much, but you don't need the money as much as she does), you are her greatest moral compass, she always comes to you for advice, comfort and a good listening ear, she knows that deep down you condemn her bad girl behavior, but also that you have never shown any double standards with her.

•If they aren't hanging out together, they'll be on long phone calls (with or without Aisha) so you were quite surprised one day when you texted her, at the time you knew she had left work and she didn't reply (After a day work, Tory needs to vent, but now the hard thing for her is not to survive the injustices of the world, the hard thing is to breathe in a world which is inhabited by Samantha Larusso

"It's a real pain in the womb, but I think the reason I can't stand her, is because I'm more like her than I'd like, 2 stupid girls who have never worked for what they have, and can't understand the behavior of a certain 'type of people' to whom life has treated them like a bag of garbage, and they do not deserve your attention, only your criticism for their 'troublesome' aura and 'low morality', so pathetic ”and the real Tory nichols was so upset you thought she was going to slap you

"Listen to me carefully, why if I have to repeat this to you again, when I finish speaking you will have a knife buried in your vagina, Larusso would beg to have some of your human decency in her fingernail" you swallowed dryly, she sighed tired and more calm she continued "It's not your fault that life has been fairer to you, in that sense I suppose 'Sweetys princess' isn't either, but the difference between you and her is that you listen to people, you try to understand them, and you're not only concerned about your point of view, you and Aisha are the best people I've met in 17 damn years of life, even my boyfriend doesn't make that list, don't torture yourself, you really are a good person”

"Thank you" was all you could say

Her confrontations with the princess make Tory feel like a mess, and you walk in to comfort her.

"Don't worry Tory, it wasn't your fault, Sam shouldn't have accused you of stealing her mom."

either

"I understand your anger, but I think that pushing Sam on the track was not the best option, his enmity will last longer, and Miguel can get angry with you"

"He was on my side, he's great"

"He is, but... sorry for saying this, but I think he still hasn't gotten over it" you noticed the pain in her voice when she said

"Someday he's going to have to get her out of her mind, right?"

"You shouldn't be the girl I used to get over her ex-girlfriend" she leaned back on your shoulder.

"I don't think she's going to get any better from the world"

"Believe me, you'll do it, you deserve it" you gave him a small kiss on the head)

Your suspicions were true when you found out about the fight at school the next day, you didn't know whether to thank God for missing, or curse under your breath , you could have stopped Tory

•You visited her while she was in juvie (also Robby, you were so upset that Johnny had almost abandoned him and so frustrated that they wouldn't let you bring her practically anything from the outside world) she appreciated visiting time, you told her a lot of things (minus the fact that Miguel and Sam seemed to have reunited, after the boy woke up, for obvious reasons) you brought him certain things and took care of his family until they released her

•You wanted Tory to have a party in case she came back but Aisha had recently moved away, and your friend is very sad about it, and she wasn't in the mood for noisy and lively moments even with you, but they took her brother to the park and ate liters of ice cream while watching the embarrassing romantic comedies of all time.

•Miguel was pretty mad at you for continuing to hang out with Tory, but you weren't abandoning the girl.

•you were quite surprised that he was still practicing karate after all that had happened, you thought Kreese was a cynical son of the devil, kyler was not right in the head, and the other students seemed like a horror comedy, but she was firm about it

"Karate is the only thing that motivates me not to give up now, neither this nor Sensei Kreese are to blame for what happened, Miguel and they are going to get what they deserve, everyone who bothers me is going to wish they had been aborted.” His words worried you, but then Robby entered the dojo and you caught a glimpse of peace.

•Sometimes you go to look at the keys, the sensei doesn't bother you, and the cobras have a neutral opinion about you

•You love watching robby try to make progress with tory

"He's fascinated with you, I'm serious Tory, if you don't care, when you least see him coming he'll steal a kiss from you"

"don't talk nonsense , no boy who cares a bit for his cheap ass would even think of trying to steal a kiss from me."

"You haven't seen how he looks at you, not even Mr. Darcy could look at such a passionate look, my holy God, It's sooo comely" your friend laughed a little at your attitude

"It's striking" she answered with a nervous smile, they both noticed it, and she changed the expression on her face to a stoic look that lately you've been seeing frequently "But I think she still doesn't surpass the princess, and sometimes he behaves way too pure to be a cobra definitely wouldn't notice me”

“believe me the girl left her mind a long time ago... and tory we all noticed you”

•You were the happiest person in the world when your friends started dating and when Tory won the championship, you waited for her to come out, you hugged and you rolled her in the air, you walked home in a side hug

"It was obvious that you were going to win, none of those fans had prepared as much as you"

“Thank you for staying until the end”

"Whenever you want... are you alright?"

"Just a little tired, mopping bitches is fun but exhausting. You know what I mean?" you laughed a little

"Yes, I think a little"

"But I do not reject a hamburger combo, you stay to sleep"

"Yes my lady" she gave you a kiss on the cheek, and rested her head on your shoulder

•Winning the championship did not bring any positive change in Tory, what's more, you could say that she made things a bit worse, she had never been so depressed, you didn't know what to do to help her

"Y/N believe me you have already done a lot for me, you are the person who has made me smile the most in life, and that will never change"

•Shortly after you found out about the problem she was having with Cobra Kai, and it all made sense to you.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I thought you might be hurt"

"Okay Tory, you did what you thought was best for everyone."

"But it wasn't worth it, Silver and Kim continue to rot minds and Larusso ended up demotivating me, I don't know how I could have thought that he would help me, she is still a dancer in his glass box, instead my best friend would surely have encouraged me to leave this stupid plan long before, really sorry”

"Calm down Tory, I'm sure what you did will be worth it... in the meantime let's pawn our dresses and buy cheap land" Your friend smiled excitedly, game night for you

•After Silver fell you had the perfect idea, it was time for Tory to take a break from so much crap, 'Day off for Nichols', it was hard but you managed to convince her, Robby and Mrs. Larusso would take care of her brother and mom

•They started the trip in a car, you drive while your faithful co-pilot marveled looking out the window, it had been a long time since he had taken a trip, and he was definitely enjoying it, they sang the songs you had listed at the top of their lungs: try, Carreles whisper, i will suviver, Billie Jean, among others

•You hadn't told her where they were going so she was really excited, they walked a long time to their destination

"Here it is"

"Wow I don't know what to say, I was hoping for anything but you would buy me a house in Santa Barbara, 5 hours from where I currently live, you want me quite far from you, huh?" she gave you a mischievous look and you rolled your eyes "But hey who would protest in front of a Free house, so thank you" hug you

“Lummox, the gift is not the house, it is who is inside it”

"And who is there?"

"You will tell me" You knocked on the door before Tory's confused look, after several seconds, Aisha opened the door as surprised as the blonde, they both screamed and hugged each other, still with the girl in her arms, she said.

"When you said that they would visit me one day, I did not imagine that they would or that they would come without warning"

"Hey!, best friends never forget, also what is the point of surprises if you know they are going to happen"

"Come here arrogant genius" They pulled your hands, and you joined the now group hug

•They talked non-stop for hours, they had a lot to tell each other, they watched a movie, and they got to know Santa Bárbara, the most impressive thing... they did a lot of shopping, they wouldn't go home empty-handed

•They spent the night at Aisha's house, and after breakfast they began the return trip

"I love you"

"It's mutual, you know, Tory."

[jugg3rn4ut]

I have Thirteen Eyes and they all fit in my skull.

These Eyes are big and brown,

Dark though, maybe black.

They don't see too well.

I would wear glasses,

But where would I find a pair with so many lenses?

I just have to squint.

It must be frightening to have me squint at you.

No one else I know has Thirteen Eyes.

Do you?

Probably not,

You likely have two,

One on either side of your face.

Mine are dotted around my head.

People regard me with some caution,

Perhaps some awe.

Having so many Eyes is fascinating for others.

To look at, that is.

"You must see so well!"

I can't.

"Imagine all the money you could make!"

I haven't made a penny.

You'd think these Eyes would come with abilities,

Insight into the past and future,

A knack for multitasking,

An automatic business opportunity perhaps?

But my vision is blurry

And I look odd.

How do I market them?

Go on a talk show?

Break a world record?

Join a circus?

It wouldn't last.

I can't keep up,

I won't stay relevant,

I'll just be the creep with too many Eyes.

I can't sleep well,

How would I lay my head on a pillow

Without getting feathers in an Eye,

Poking one with a corner of the duvet?

The Eyes don't close all at once,

There's a weird delay,

Much like a blinking lizard.

Am I a lizard?

I often get eyelashes stuck in the tear ducts,

Some are quite hard to reach.

Showering is painful,

Soap burns

And I can't close all my eyes

To dodge the suds in time,

So I just writhe in discomfort.

I don't like showers.

I don’t have any hair,

Just Eyes everywhere.

I see people with pigtails and braids,

It's rather miserable.

I have friends,

Always have done,

But it's hard to feel comfortable with a friend

When they can't stop staring.

I'm so volatile.

I see so much at once,

Yet I can't see any of it properly.

It's so overwhelming it makes me twitch and itch.

I feel like a disappointment.

So many Eyes and so little to show for them.

I just stay in bed all day

Because I dread being seen.

Or seeing.

I'm so insecure and yet I refuse to admit it outloud.

I'm supposed to be cool, I have Thirteen Eyes,

I'm supposed to be superhuman,

But my Eyes don't work.

I'm so undesirable,

Imagine waking up in the morning,

Rolling over in bed,

And seeing a mass of Eyes staring back at you.

I'm so angry.

I didn't ask for this!

It wasn't my idea!

My life is ruined forever because of the way I am.

I can't fix it.

There's no cure.

How do I even cope with it?

It just gets worse as I get older.

Life is so daunting,

What if I have children and they come out like me?

No,

I can't risk that.

I can't get a good job,

I'd scare the customers away.

My Eyes could be a crazy selling point,

But that'd only last so long.

I can't cope with this,

I think I've begun hallucinating.

Or maybe my Eyes do have powers.

Maybe they can see the Unseen.

If so,

I wish they didn't.

The Unseen must be unseen for a reason.

The things that appear to me are abhorrent.

Bugs and viscera,

Distortion and death.

Sometimes they even have a smell!

Or maybe that's just me.

I haven't showered in so long,

The water's gone green and viscous.

My vision has gotten clearer.

I wish it hadn't.

Everything's become too clear,

And I can't shut it out.

I think I've reached the end now,

There's nothing more to write.

So I'll do this again now,

Before the cold starts to bite.

I had Thirteen Eyes and they didn't fit my skull.

They're no longer big and brown, they're just red and dull.

They see very clearly now, the two that remain.

After gouging the others out, I'm in a bit of pain,

But that's OK, it won't last much longer,

I'll bring it to a stop.

I'm looking over the bridge now,

It's a very long drop.

That comforts me. It'll be over fast.

The snow is falling so it's probably time.

You can treat this as my final goodbye,

A last hurrah, a parting gift,

I'll die content,

I'll die with Two Eyes.

[downwiththemutantnjnjaturtles]

We Met Within This Screen [chapt. 6]

[Donnie x reader]

sfw, chapter 5 here

Come on, save it, save it, Donnie chanted to himself later that night, at home and tucked away in his room trying to figure out how to neutralize the situation. He paced along his bed back and forth, phone in hand as he wracked his brain thinking about how he'd get her to let it go. He could tell her that she was...overtired? Go the stereotypical route and say it was just her eyes playing tricks on her? Try to play it off as human teenagers messing around on the roof?

She'd gone to bed already. He hated that he couldn't pursue the subject until morning, her morning, but by then, he'd be tired. When she woke, he slept. But he needed to get it resolved as quickly as possible, so he reckoned it was time to pull an all nighter. Luckily, that wasn't anything he wasn't used to.

He figured he'd get the preliminaries out of the way so he could get right to it when she eventually texted back.

"Good morning

I know you're not awake yet but I figured I'd get an early start today.

I want to know, what exactly did you see last night?"

He shut his phone off and set it down on the bed, fingers rubbing his temples. Depending on her answer, this would either be difficult, or near impossible.

The rest of his time was spent just waiting around for her to finally wake up, dodging all his brothers and trying to occupy himself with something. He was fiddling with the radio he kept on the floor next to his bed when his phone notified him of a message. Turning the volume up, some old-school rock played softly. He didn't always keep music on when he worked, which was what he was doing felt like, but something needed to fill the silence. It also made it feel more casual to have the radio on, for both himself and for whoever might stop by his room.

"Good morning to you too

That was...sudden??"

How nice it was to read those words coming from someone who wasn't his family. Not that they said it like that often anyway, but the small gesture hit differently.

"I'm just really curious about what you said you saw."

Curious? Not quite. More like dying to know, and not because he fancied himself some cryptid hunting.

"That's fair I guess

But don't laugh, ok?"

"I'd never, [y/n]"

"Well

Okay

They were big

But no like not the overweight kinf, not even just 'tall guy' kind of big

kind*

You know?"

Yeah, I aware. I'm 6'8" and have a giant shell on my back.

"They?"

He was hoping she'd only seen one of them. Maybe it would have been easier, but, of course, that wasn't the case.

"I think there were two

Idk it just looked really weird, it was dark but the silhouette from the light made them look bulky, I don't know what it was"

Lips pursed tight, he looked up from his phone, and all of a sudden that music in the background was suffocating. He quickly reached over and shut it off. He needed to be able to divert all of his attention to one thing. Except, even though he should have been spazzing over her spotting them (even if just for a split second), a concern crept up in the back of his mind that made him scoff at himself. The need to know was too great.

His eyes fell on his scaled, three-fingered hand as he typed.

"Did it scare you?"

Perhaps it wasn't what he should have been focusing on. But he was. He knew she hadn't seen much, but what if she quipped that it was frightening, or gross, or…?

"I don't know, Bo

I guess it was kind of freaky

Uh, do you actually believe me? That I saw something?"

"'Freaky?'" he repeated to himself in a whisper, brow ridge furrowed. What was I expecting?

He had to shake himself of whatever was going on in his head at the moment, because there were more pressing matters at hand. Like what he was going to answer her question with. Theoretically, he could go two routes; one, invalidate the experience and try to walk on the line of telling her that it was not real without making her feel crazy. And then probably get mad at him. Or two, go along with it, if he didn't have the heart to do that to her. The answer was already here; he let out a deep sigh. Two, it is.

Nothing could make him want to make her feel that way, even if it meant he'd have to put in a little extra effort in fixing his mistake.

"I wouldn't doubt your judgement, [y/n]."

"Thanks

That makes me feel a lot better

You're a really good guy, Bo :)"

Freezing, he sat and stared at the screen before slowly taking the phone away from his face, lips moving, but no sound coming out. He had no idea what to say; all he could focus on was the fact that the girl he undeniably liked thought he was a good guy. And that, presumably, it meant she might have liked him as well. Big on the "might", he realized as the logical part of his mind took over once again. Regardless, he licked his lips and got to preparing a worthy response. He didn't want to come off as flustered as he felt. Donnie was aware he was not particularly suave—he took solace in the fact that she couldn't see his face or hear his voice. He contemplated on acting a bit more "cool guy" than he actually was, but wanted her to like him for him, not a facade. Which was a major contradiction to all that he had done up to that point, but the least he could do was be the person he was on the inside!

"You there?"

"Sorry, I got distracted…

You really think so?"

"That I think you're a great guy?"

"Well...yes."

"Totally. 100%"

His heart was going, he was stammering to himself, and a new feeling enveloped him. He was no stranger to the different emotions; he'd gotten familiar with many of them. Because though he didn't always show it, he had a lot of feelings. These, he felt most viscerally. But he had to get back on track. If he could push last night's incident under the rug, all would be well. More well than it already was, considering.

"Thank you, [y/n]

To be honest, I've never had a friend like you

So, do you want to talk more about what you saw? I know I'm switching tracks quickly, it's just very….interesting."

It was a jarring and awkward subject change, he knew that, but he desperately wanted to get it out of the way. The sooner, the better.

"I suppose

You seem pretty interested in it"

Maybe she wasn't hanging onto the experience like he'd thought she would. There were so many tales of people seeing inexplicable things and becoming enraptured by the experience that he guessed he should only expect the worst, but it appeared that she was not so obsessed. Crisis averted?

"Not too much, I was just wondering

We can forget about it."

"Oh, I'm not going to forget about it, Bo"

There it is, he thought, not surprised.

After thirty minutes of attempting to throw her off without coming off as suspicious himself, he had to take a breather, reorganize his mind. Only to come back and find that she had to go take care of things, and that she'd talk to him later. He'd done as much fixing as he could; at that point, it was as good as it was going to get. The thought of being looked for by his unknowing friend loomed about in the coming weeks as they did their patrols, when they would pass by her residence, and the times that he snuck off to stop by himself. Sometimes accompanied by Mikey, but he tried to keep it as solitary as possible. Soon, watching her on her balcony from that roof became part of his routine. He vaguely thought sometimes that watching her like that could be considered creepy, but that ship had already sailed.

For the third time in the last month he was there yet again, on the same roof, watching the same balcony, watching the same girl. Sometimes they texted, sometimes they didn't. The times he wasn't talking to her as he sat there were the times he daringly crossed the threshold onto the fire escape. There were only a few instances of that. But did he still feel out of his mind doing so? Yes. The window only looked into part of the living room and kitchen, but he felt scandalous to do it. Most of his time there was spent only with his shell against the wall next to the window, just out of sight. He could always hear her faint but noticeable footsteps coming and could easily vault the railing and climb up or drop down. She couldn't get past his keen hearing unless she knew to tread lightly.

Mikey was with him once again, this time out to look for scrap rather than patrol. He'd been buddied up with his younger brother more often ever since their talk that night in Donnie's room. They only stopped by because they were already out and had a viable excuse.

"Does she know about us? Like, me, Leo, Raph..." rambled Mikey, curious, as he practiced one of his new moves with his skateboard. He kicked up onto the ledge of the roof and skidded before hopping off, tucking the board under his arm. "You guys have been together like, what, two months? And she doesn't even know your name."

Fiddling with the strap reaching around his shoulder, Donnie replied matter-of-factly to hide the embarrassment that was ailing him at the thought, "Okay, for starters, we're not 'together'. And secondly, she hasn't mentioned voice chatting in a while."

"And?" He got back on his board, zooming by Donnie.

"My name? It just hasn't come up," Donnie shrugged.

"Call her, then!" Mikey smiled, still preoccupied with his board and trying out his new tricks. Donnie gave a light scoff and shook his head. His brother passed behind him where he sat leaned against the water tower.

"I don't want to just call her out of nowhere, Mikey, she might be asleep."

He also didn't want his brother there when he did.

"You gotta not be so shy!...oh, look, in the window. Right there. See? She's up," he quipped with a small smirk. The curtain was drawn, but the light had turned on at some point, and they could see her silhouette moving past. Donnie looked over his shoulder to say something but felt a hand slip into his pocket on the other side, stealing his phone right off of him. He was fast, but Mikey was faster in jumping into his board and gliding all the way to the other side of the roof with the fussy turtle hot on his trail.

"Mikey, quit it!" Donnie barked, lunging toward him for the phone.

"You'll thank me later!"

The two wrestled for the phone, Mikey holding it just out of reach as he tried to navigate the screen without dropping it.

"Come on," grunted Donnie as the tussle led them near the edge, where Mikey held it precariously over the alley below. His glasses were jostled off his face when a stray hand bumped them, causing them to fall amongst their feet. Squinting, he partially knelt down and searched for the pair while still looking at his brother and his phone, trying to stretch his arm long enough to snatch it. "Really?" he groaned, "just give me the phone!"

Donnie slung out his staff and used the other end to whack his wrist from underneath just as he pulled away from the edge, losing his grip on the phone. Mikey tried to catch it but it bounced off his hand, going right over the side of the roof and plummeting down into the alley.

Mikey froze. Donnie finally found his glasses.

Laughing nervously, Mikey turned back to him, "Whoops…"

When he didn't immediately find the phone on the ground, Donnie knew what happened. He looked over the edge, and there it was, sitting on the pavement in the alleyway. The building wasn't incredibly tall, but enough to do some major damage. He'd have to switch for one of his spares if he didn't want to deal with a busted-up screen.

"I don't need your 'help', Mikey, so leave it alone next time," Donnie said and gave him a narrow-eyed look, huffing as he leaped down to retrieve it.

Mikey may have been insistent, but he knew then it was time to stop. All he wanted to do was help. For his shy, flakey brother to come out of his shell (no pun intended). Donnie, at that time, had the biggest shot out of all of them for something unique and good. He hadn't yet worked out the logistics of how to bridge the gap between the two, but it was a calling of his to help him along.

Donnie watched for people from behind a corner before creeping out to get the phone, which was face down on the concrete. No doubt cracked to all hell if not completely shattered, though it did have a case.

But as he got closer, he heard a voice. From the phone.

He picked up the phone timidly and shot a glance up at the roof, where Mikey was peeking over the edge in apprehension. Without a word, Donnie activated the taser in his staff, pointing it at his brother and zapping it briefly. He flinched and retreated out of sight.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Bo?" she asked again, tone riddled with confusion. "What was that?"

"Uh, yes—hol—hold on, please," stammered out donnie, flying around the corner and pressing flat against the wall as a group of laughing people passed by the alley. "Just one second," he said nervously. Above him, Mikey was rapidly motioning for him to get up there, eyes wide and body trying to stay low. Baffled, Donnie gestured back at him, mouthing at him to keep his pants on for one more minute while he made his way up.

"Hey, what's going on there?" she inquired, concerned.

A street cat abruptly skittered out from between his legs from the dumpster he stood next to, and he had to stifle a startled yelp. He hopped up onto the nearest fire escape, trying to control his breathing. "Hey, hello…[y/n]," he half-chuckled, distracted by working up the building one-armed as he kept as quiet as possible.

"What was all that? And who's 'Mikey'?"

There was suddenly a shout—Mikey's shout—and his stomach did a jump. He sputtered as fast as he could, "I'm sorry [y/n] but this really isn't a good time, and I mean it really isn't," he pulled himself up onto the roof, and there was Mikey, fending off men clad in black, "so I have to go, but—"

"Don, dude! I need help over here!" cried his brother, sliding out of the way as a sword was jabbed towards him. He countered with a harsh uppercut to the man's chin, sending him stumbling backwards. The blade fell to the concrete with a clank.

"'Don'? Bo, what the hell?! Who is with you? And—"

Donnie jumped into the battle, a mix of nine or ten armed men with swords other weapons, and Mikey trying to stave them off, swinging his chucks with nothing short of reckless abandon. But he still didn't hit himself with them.

Ending the call, he secured the phone in his pocket. He wailed the guy closest to him in the side of the head with the heavy staff, then kicked him in the chest. The man fell to the blow, and Mikey ducked underneath the length of Donnie's weapon just in time as the two came together. Stray bullets flew past them, some colliding with their shells as they spun around for protection.

"How was it?!" Mikey yelled over the clamor, breathless. Donnie sidestepped from the rapid hit he sent towards the human to his left.

"What are you talking about?!" Donnie loudly questioned, flummoxed of what could have been going on in his brain during a fight. "We're kind of in the middle of something here!"

"Your phone call!"

"Yeah, the hell's the talkin' about, Don?" a gruff voice cut through the jumble.

Both of the boys whirled around to see their older brothers there, weapons drawn.

"Oh, right. As soon as I saw those bad guys coming, I let them know," said Mikey casually to Donnie, throwing his fist into the face of the man coming up behind him. "You know, standard biz."

With the rest of the team there, the fight was over twice as fast. Some groaning in pain and some unconscious bodies littering the area, along with their weapons. Leo finished the last one and sheathed his swords, eyes on their tallest brother while Raph kept watch around them. Donnie swallowed as Leo approached him.

"Don, you said you were going out for scrap metal," Leo stated.

In the background, Mikey grabbed his skateboard and was going to try to kickflip over one of the knocked out guys, but Raph yanked the board from him, growling. He checked all of the men to make sure they were down and would stay down.

"We were...just on our way back?" Donnie answered. Nearby, there was a small pile of scrap he'd collected, though definitely not enough to justify being out that long.

"So you stopped at your friend's place?" Leo deadpanned, crossing his arms. "Didn't you think that this could get her in trouble, too? Her apartment's right there, dude!"

Mikey budded in and corrected him, "Ah, we stopped by [y/n]'s. And nah! It's all good."

Donnie's face twitched. "Of course I thought about it! That's why I've only come here three times since, and only thirty minute intervals!" he bit back, throwing his hands up. The rest of his brothers all looked at him and his specificity. "I'm not naive, Leo."

The leader pushed past the both of them, signalling that it was time to leave, and they followed. Not before Donnie got what little metal he had collected and put away his staff, tucking the stuff under his arm. Raph joined alongside Donnie as they ran. "What's with all the secret' stuff, Don? First, ya hide it to begin with, then, ya make out like you were done, and now you get jumped by Foot guys by her place when you shoulda been gettin' scrap!" he said. "How were we supposed to cover for ya if you're lyin' even after we let you off?"

"Technically, I did get some!" Donnie remarked. He held up a piece of the scrap for him to see, and Raph snorted. "But..."

Well, his question would be a little harder to answer.

Next block was the nearest manhole, where each turtle swiftly jumped in, knowing by heart (and years of wandering) most of the sewers and the way back home. In some tunnels was Mikey's telltale graffiti, but it was scattered throughout the place enough to not be a giant arrow to their hideout. In the last portion of the run was the tunnel they always slid down, and once they were actually home, Donnie knew what was coming. Master Splinter was already waiting for them by the time they arrived.

"Uh-oh," Mikey said upon seeing him, sinking behind his brothers. Raph pushed him back up front.

Dropping the scrap in his arms, Donnie squeaked, "That's not good." He quietly cursed how high pitched his voice became when he was nervous.

"Yeah…" Leo cleared his throat, looking down at his hands clasped in front of him. The situation had an awkward tension for everyone in it, save for Raph, who was immune to it by then and Splinter himself. "We took care of the soldiers," he added more seriously. "Got out of there before too much attention was drawn.

"The police may be able to handle them from here, but it will not make a dent in the Shredder's forces," explained Splinter, grave as he paced along the line of brothers. "He owns the city. Until I say so, there will be no venturing to the surface. You are all lucky to be unharmed."

"That ain't it," Raph piped up. "But they'll be bringin' the big guns, next time."

"Oh, I am well aware."

"Um...of which thing?" the nervous turtle questioned, exchanging glances to Raph and then Mikey.

Splinter raised his brows knowingly, and that was all it took for Donnie. The floodgates of his signature anxious chatter opened. He grabbed the edge of Mikey's shell and pulled him over into the spotlight with him, "I met someone over an online game and we started texting after a few weeks, and—and Leo found out and I said I would stop, but we never told you," he gestured toward their brother in blue, who refused to make eye contact, "so I told her that it was through and then Mikey somehow convinced me to go back on it," he sucked in a breath, and Mikey grinned uncomfortably, "and then we started talking again and I don't know why, but I went back there to her apartment building and it was just…stupid."

There was a cumbrous pause. Donnie was stiff as a board, Mikey couldn't look at any one thing too long, Leo stood in his polite but awkward stance, and Raph started to whistle.

As poised as ever, Splinter spoke. "I know."

All four pairs of eyes shot to their father.

"What?"

"Uh..."

"Huh?"

"Wait."

They expressed their collective confusion at the same time, and Splinter chuckled. Donnie wanted nothing more than to be able to retreat into his shell, but that was physically impossible. "Nothing gets past me, especially not you and your nervous habits, Donatello. You are scratching that spot on your neck again, son."

Flinching, Donnie pulled his hand away. He'd be damned; Splinter was right.

But unbeknownst to them, there had been spectator of their fight on the roof that night.

————————————————————————————————

shh do not think too deeply about this my children

a/n: haha plot device go brrrr

i need to finish this cursed fanfiction

[athys-obelia]

summary: no one's evil au lmfaooo but make it pt. 2

character/s: anastacius de alger obelia, claude de alger obelia, athanasia de alger obelia, jennette de alger obelia

and here's part 1 <3

oh my god okay. okay. so.

ana, claude, athy and jennette - they go on a LOT of vacations

claude complains every single time but anastacius pulls his trump card and sends athy and jettie BOTH after him

u think he's strong enough to say no after that? lmao jokes

and their vacations always go this way:

jennette: isn't this scenery just gorgeous, uncle

claude: indeed it is. and...quiet

jennette: ...too quiet

[cut to anastacius in the distance, fighting a bear as athy cheers him on]

athy + anastacius, hands down the most chaotic pairing yes i will not be taking criticism

they have tea in ana's palace everyday, just the two of them, they're so poised and picture perfect through the entire thing everyone thinks it's just the emperor giving profound advice to his heir

it's actually them deadass scheming,,, ana has no qualms discussing everything from court gossip to military tactics, both of which she's so on top of all the time

if anyone shit talks jennette or claude, this tea party is where their slow and agonizing demise is planned out to the dot

[true story - count sivan once made the fatal mistake of expressing his favour for athy as the next empress, dissing jennette by comparing her to athy sm which inevitably sparked a debate that ranked the princesses. a week after athy's sources informed her of the kindling behind this new debate, the count's sudden divorce became the talk of the town, and the man's business faced bankruptcy all of a sudden. the sivans still haven't recovered.)

athy n jennette were actually allowed to visit kiel in arlanta a few times, except it was too dark at their first arrival, postponing the meeting to the next morning

buttt then jettie can't sleep and she decides on a midnight snack run (their hotel doesn't really have the maids the palace does, but oh well. she's left the palace w lucas n athy plenty of times)

felix tags along btw, he knows this trip is important to the girls since they're leaving the palace without their Overprotective Papas™ for the first time and want some sense of independence, but... she's just so smol n he couldn't bear it if anything happens so he just shadows her

she totally knows he's there

n e ways so there's a juice place right beside their hotel which she aims for, but when jennette reaches it, it's closed

and out of nowhere, a voice addresses her - "hey you, do you come here a lot?" she nearly jumps out of her skin at the brunette, relaxing when she sees he's literally a kid around her age and not a murderer lmfaoo "me neither," he continues without waiting for her, pouting at the closed sign, before he asks for her name and whether she's new in arlanta

she confirms that yes, she's only visiting, and refuses to tell the stranger her name, still feeling strange at being addressed as 'you' for the first time (well, minus lucas, but he was like her brother and had the emotional capacity of a teaspoon, so)

he eyes her. "you're so weird. i've never seen a girl out so late before, and alone too. are you stupid?"

(felix has his sword out at this point)

she's flushing now and has no idea why she's still out here, but then this stranger kid apparently senses her mood and tells her the best ice cream store in arlanta is not too far away

(he also explains he knows someone who's starts doing weird things when she's hungry as well, and tries to defend that ice cream is actually a healthy midnight snack, "you can just take a healthy flavour like strawberry or mango, mangos are healthy,,right"💀️💀)

so jettie has travelled all the way from obelia, she loves her papa but he would have a heart attack if he found out she was ever awake this late?? yeah bc she's never getting this chance again, jennette accepts the offer

the stranger boy seems to be taking the whole "i'm not telling you my name," thing like a joke, and asks what he should call her since 'you' was getting boring

she goes with "lady j" and like a knight, the boy becomes "sir c"

(felix is on the verge of committing a crime - the princesses can only have one knight, after all)

they walk as the the boy navigates the streets in the dark, and she asks whether he's from the academy, seeing his uniform

"of course i am! you could probably tell bc i look so smart, right?"

she snorts. "yeah, that."

she also comes to know that this guy,,,well he might as well be a tourist? she's out here asking stuff like "oh where's the statue of lady alphia?" or "aren't we really close to the museum where they keep the first emperor's sword?" and he goes "lady do i look like your brochure?? but if you turn right from here there's a cool arcade and across the street from there is the best street food vendor you'll ever eat from."

well at least mans had his priorities straight 😌

"so can you take this off?" he asks, pointing towards her dress once they've neared the store

um???????? sir tf????????????

anyways jettie has been living with lucas n her dad farr too long to not take this the wrong way?? "...no?"

the boy raises an eyebrow "look, it looks like an expensive cloak but i promise i'll return it, alright? i gotta hide my uniform."

ohhhhhhh. 😳.

so she unfastens the cloak and because he's kinda just staring at it cluelessly (he can't even tie his shoelaces fight me), jennette sighs and moves the clothing over his shoulder, fastening it in place at his neck

he's literally a tomato when she looks back up and realises that yes, we are way too close rn

bc she's ana's daughter, jennette by default cannot function when she's flustered. so she kinda stumbles backwards like a fish out of water (years of princess training n etiquette? where art thou??) and 'sir c' has to grab her forearm so she doesn't bump into the pillar behind her smfh

the shopkeep is definitely suspicious of this pair that's definitely too young to be out so late, but chalks it down to his sleeplessness

they escape the store with the ice cream before the shopkeep can ask any questions, and 'sir c' escorts jennette back to her hotel. he climbs onto the roof of the building, helping her up as well

(felix wishes he had a magic stone to capture this moment, this is the first time he's seen jennette become such fast friends with someone)

she stands on the roof (it hurts her butt so she doesn't wanna sit)

"my sister would be so jealous right now," jennette murmurs, "she told me her ideal first date would be either a picnic or something like a moonlit walk. we're having like a moonlit picnic."

it's silent for a few seconds the boy speaks up, "is this a date?"

oh-

oh.

"i mean- i didn't- i don't- uh."

give her some time lmfao she's loading

"i don't really mind that," he tells her, and she thinks she might just walk off the roof in her embarrassment - who just says something like that?? "you're probably feeling really lucky right now, right?"

jennette: ✊😔

he does look pretty in the moonlight, she admits to herself, listening as he excitedly tells her about his siblings at home and how she should send an offering to the gods since they gave her the good fortune to be on a date with the most good looking one of all four of them

in turn, she tells him about how she spent her childhood away from her amazing dad and had gotten closer to him recently, about her sharp-witted uncle, her sister and friends

(the 'friends' section includes felix and he's melting)

she smiles - it's almost as if, at finding out he treasures his family just as much as she does, they've gotten a bit closer

and he tries to listen. jennette had guessed that his temperament was somewhat like her dad's - her dad didn't know how to listen, always making his opinion known before anything else, though she supposes as emperor he could do that

'sir c', on the other hand, tried his best, his blue eyes focused on her as he almost burst from the unsaid words he was holding back, trying to let her finish. the sight was an odd mix of sad and insanely adorable that she couldn't help but let him tell her about everything he couldn't hold in

sensing she could pass out from her exhaustion nearly half an hour later, and 'sir c' escorts her to her window and helps her sneak in bc "what sort of knight would i be otherwise?!"

(felix can't stop shaking the entire night)

the next morning, jennette's heart is pounding as kiel shows her, athy and felix across campus - the chance is low, but still...

"ezekiel!" comes a voice, and the four watch as a turquoise haired boy waves down the alpheus heir "are these the guests you mentioned?"

kiel introduces the trio to johannes vastia before asking, "where's cabel?"

"at the training grounds, he asked if you could bring everyone there so he could show them around there."

"... they're my guests though?"

athy is quick to befriend johannes (i mean she and his sister are practically the same person, so) and at the grounds, jennette's blood runs cold

(so does felix's)

the brunette doesn't notice her at first, arguing with johannes about something as kiel introduces him as cabel ernst

jennette is hyperventilating?? actually back up is this girl even breathing??

cabel ernst from kiel's letters? the 'loud and obnoxious cabel ernst', who gradually turned into 'my acquaintance cabel ernst', then 'hardworking, passionate cabel ernst', and finally 'my friend cabel'?

she'd actually rather admired this slow build of respect between her friend and the ernst boy, and had even expressed her interest to meet him

"this is the first daughter of his highness prince claude de alger obelia, princess athanasia-" cabel mock salutes the princess before his mouth forms an 'o' and he remembers to bow, "-and here's the emperor's only daughter, her highness princess je-"

andddd his eyes widen comically "-hey, lady, it's you?"

yeah jettie is on the brink of literal death - her entire face reddens as this...cabel, grins at her

she watches as he glances behind her, "and you're the guy who was following us - sup?"

felix flinches "...you knew...?"

cabel shrugs. "i mean you do kinda suck ass at the whole subtle thing."

"don't say it like that," jennette retorts, "felix was trying his best."

"princess 😭😭 you knew as well?"

"uhhhh no?"

athy + kiel in a corner: 👁️👄👁️

they watch as cabel's eyes widen all of a sudden and he just,,,runs away

...🐦...🐦...🐦...

yeah well anyway he comes rushing back a few minutes later, a piece of cloth in his hand "...*huff* here *huff*...you go."

athy totally flips out "jennette is that your CLOAK???!??"

"uhhhhh no?"

"um do you realise uncle would literally wage war at this."

and as if it would make everything better,

"i washed it," cabel offers with a grin

"you didn't," the vastia heir deadpans

"i mean, johan helped a little bit."

kiel smiles murderously at the pair. "johan, did you know cabel took the princess out?"

"wait, you're a PRINCESS??"

your honour they aren't very smart

so the group orders some coffee (milk for cabel smfh) to find out what happened, cabel mentions "date" and everything goes to shit again lmfao

kiel and felix scheme against poor cabel while athy n johan get over that stage pretty quick ("listen. MY sister will be living with ME after the marriage and if your friend wants to be with her he'll have to come with us to obelia." and johan's just like "fine by me ✌️😊") and start planning the wedding

cabel + jennette dip n sneak out of the academy again to get the juice they couldn't the night before bc shit is getting awkward here

on another note, our uncle cius' musical intelligence is actually very high - he can probably play more instruments than i can name tbh, but he feels most comfortable singing and i shit you not, this man has straight up an angel's voice

(didn't like singing in front of others coz he was secretly a nerd and only knew old love songs with deep lyrics, athy found out and educated him)

jennette tends to have nightmares often, most often regarding their family - she's seen her father murder her uncle for the throne, and vice versa, athy admitting her affections towards jennette were a front to get the position of crown princess, her uncle killing her to solidify athy's claim, etc - her family is her everything, so despite however many times these horrible scenes play before her, she's left sobbing uncontrollably

and on these nights, she leaves for her father's room, who holds her close and sings her to sleep

also lucas n jennette are like sibling duo# 1,,, jettie is an active lucathy shipper even though he denies it sm - like their dynamic is just peaceful walks in the gardens as she watches the plants n lucas shi talks the nobility and kiel

claude and athy have a thing for each other's sleeping on each other? idk it's weird

athy once fell asleep on the couch while reading with him, and claude moved her head onto his lap so she wouldn't be uncomfy sitting - well, she woke up to his hand absentmindedly raking through her hair and it was just so soothing that whenever she's tired and he's working or reading, she just plops her head on his lap and zzzz

and claude wondered what was up with that, so she proposed they switch roles and he felt so awkward trying to lay down in front of her lmao

obviously athy noticed and she just started reading, thinking he might be more comfortable if her attention isn't on him completely - she ended up reading out loud while playing with his collar and he just,,,passed out

also anastacius has definitely pulled jennette aside regarding the issue of his heir at some point - she had been hesitant at first before admitting she wouldn't like to be the empress at all

i know we'd all love to see empress!jettie and her sister duchess!athy ruling the court, but i really really really can't see her wanting the title?

so thus start athy's empress lessons, but holy shit her teacher is mean

like this man makes me want to bash his face in?? so he doesn't like the idea of athy becoming empress over jennette at all, all bc of both hers and claude's mothers being commoners

he has one of those long ass sticks that you use in presentation to point at stuff?? idk but basically mans has athy name every region, its lords and their vassals during their first lesson

the first time she gets one wrong, she's too shocked as the stick meets the delicate skin of her forearm to react

now the thing is, wmmap!athy would probably stand up against this bc her dad is the emperor and she's his only heir, but i imagine with anastacius' social nature he holds many parties / balls where she's probably heard claude's mom + diana slander and it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to be self conscious abt it (now she's the emperor's heir while jennette, 100% royal + noble blood, is right there which probably makes her feel even less legitimate)

so she endures it, the light marks on her arms as well as the taunts of his she's too smart to not understand - perhaps this is the price to be accepted in jennette's place?

and honestly, no one really notices until at breakfast a few weeks in, where jennette mentions how her dresses are still so modest when sleeveless dresses were more in fashion - ana is suspicious because athy is always on top of these things, societal trends and such, and claude is sus from the way she hesitates slightly in her answer, "i haven't had the time lately, i suppose"

the lesson after focuses on ettiquete since everyone knows she's good at politics and such already, but now tears of frustration are pooling in her eyes because what the hell?? this guy had made an opinion of her long before he even met her, so anything she did would be wrong in his eyes

he gives her a sinister smile, "tired, princess?"

"no," she insists, keeping her voice level. he's about to spout some other nonsense, when anastacius enters the room, taking a seat across from her

anastacius watches quietly as athy answers the teacher's questions in her "public" voice. he watches as her usually cheery disposition is replaced by something far more...dead, despite the front she puts on for him. he's soundless as she hesitates in her answers where she normally would've been louder, more confident. he stops watching in silence when his niece flinches at the sight of the stick

oh.

he interrupts her lesson, not missing the way she winces almost imperceptibly when he grabs ahold of her arm, announcing, "we're going."

he just- it's just that that was the moment he knew for sure - the sight of his niece emotionally disheveled for the first time reminds him too much of how his own brother had once been, and he'd... he'd promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt his family anymore

he ends up taking her to the port with some of his advisors to welcome some royal guests, insisting that she would learn better from experience rather than books - but the guest delegation gets so boring that he sneaks her out of the meeting n they end up in the streets

now athy has no idea where they are, but apparently her uncle does?? ana has his hand on her head as he navigates the streets of the capitol as if he comes here everyday, using magic to casually disguise the two of them

in the meantime?

felix is at the port trying to cover for them smfh, he makes up this huge story about how the great wise emperor wanted to familiarize his heir with the locals, understand her subjects, yada yada

back at the palace prince claude is currently dragging a man by his collar and only upon jennette's insistence does he throw him in prison rather than literally kill him

(jettie visits him later in prison to give the guy a piece of her mind, after felix's visit he's sporting a few noticable bruises and the prisoner is practically unrecognizable once lucas visits)

back to athy + ana, they end up stuffing themselves with some super good street food as anastacius confesses that yes, he has definitely been sneaking out of the palace ever since he was a lil kid

athy almost mentions that she, lucas n jettie sneak out too but that might give him a heart attack, so

"it's so pretty, uncle cius," she says, gesturing towards the necklace he holds up. once he's paid for it, anastacius fists the necklace, opening it to reveal the jewel pendant - now imbued with his magic and replaced with gold lettering of the word athanasia

and she realises that yes, that's what both him and her dad have called her all her life, haven't they?

"you're my heir, athanasia," he uncle tells her with a small smile, "i am proud of that."

getting teary, she tells him, "i'm really proud of you too, uncle cius," triggering a very flustered + blushy anastacius

this mans craves validation - not from the sycophantic nobility, or the obsequious concubines he'd dismissed all those years ago, but from the family he thought he'd neither have nor deserve

and just the acknowledgement is so large for athy - he wants her as his heir, not because she's his niece, but bc he trusts her to look after his hard work after him??? - yeah she's totally bawling her eyes out

anastacius magics her a handkerchief but my mans magic isn't that strong?? lmao he's used up so much by now that the 'handkerchief' turns out to be some scratchy tissues

awkward amirite

nope! athy laughs at that, offering him a sip of her drink as she magics another straw and a proper handkerchief lmfaoo

n e ways so when they return, everyone's shocked to learn that the crown heir, princess athanasia will actually be joining the official circles as anastacius' temporary aid - he doesn't wanna entrust her to anyone but family, and decides that the best way to learn is by his side

(she's so confused bc lucas doesn't normally bat an eyelash when she wears the prettiest gowns, but he deadass can't look her in the eyes when she's in her aid uniform - it's more like a suit than it is a dress)

yes lucas women in suits >>>>>

everyone is STUNNED when at dinner, claude proposes they leave on vacation??

anastacius is just not having it?? like no, this is not my brother, and he throws a grape at claude to check if it's a clone or sum (¿¿how does that work??)

anyays so he ain't no felix, ana's aim is ass and it hits jettie instead

mans nearly gets on his knees to apologise

long story short everyone preps for vacation, but by some aCCiDeNt claude n athy end up at a different destination than jettie n ana, when she suggests returning to the palace to regroup, mans deadass sulks

"so you wouldn't like to spend this time with your father, despite barely visiting my office for weeks?"

o-oh

so at their return, the nobility starts pestering everyone that the princesses aren't independent enough, yada yada idc so to quell this annoyance, to the girls' joy, they get to move into emerald palace together, while claude and ana stay in the ruby and main palaces respectively

literally emerald palace becomes such a cool place to be in since it's the residence of the only decent people in this family, the brothers spend hours going through the requests of maids who want to be transferred

it's such a busy time because of athy joining the court and jettie starting her studies as well - naturally, since she isn't becoming empress, she'll be getting the duchy claude + athy were to be given in the beginning

speaking of futures, jettie's interest in plants and cooking has definitely branched out into herbs

claude notices her tending to a small garden during his visit to athy and even gives her a few tips (he had been studying medical since he was a kid, and picked it up again when athy was born and the empire stablised somewhat)

this soon becomes a routinely thing, and he actually starts reading up on some herbs and even orders a few for her prospering garden

after a month of her learning from books, claude proposes adding a medic as one of her teachers, and turns out his hunch was right?? she's excelling at medicine and they keep it between themselves for the time being

it doesn't last long though, bc they're on a hunting trip when ana injures his leg

and !! this girl istg, she gets to cleaning and wrapping the wound without blinking an eye, as if it's the most natural thing ever, and claude is just smirking while athy and anastacius and literally everyone else: 🌟💞✨jettie✨💞🌟

literal tears coming out of anastacius' eyes "how come my daughter is smarter than me😭💅"

claude: that's not a very high standard, brother

anastacius: ✨suddenly i'm an only child✨

behold, the people in charge of running an empire everyone 👏👏👏

even though jennette is claude's (unofficial) student and athy is her uncle's heir, they both ask their dads to the debutante

yes athy does dance with lucas, anastacius sent him an invitation even though he wasn't a noble (he's an active match maker 😌) and nobody dared question the emperor's special guest

at the end of the night, kiel gives jettie a letter from arlanta - it's an invitation to the academy during holidays, from a certain brunette

when she brings up the subject, felix lets out a squeak and literally everyone goes silent 😭😭

athy n kiel are just out here DARING him to spill them beans

but anastacius takes on look at his excited lil kid and decides that yups, she's going to get everything she wants

a/n: i literally don't know how many parts this should have lmaoo but y'all made it this far!! thanks for reading i hope you liked it<3

[13eyond13]

Who is your favorite mangaka other than tsugumi ohba/takeshi obata?

I haven't read a lot of manga yet honestly, as I didn't have much chance to either watch anime or read manga growing up. Death Note was my big introduction to animanga stuff back in the day, and though I've dabbled in a few other series over the years it's still the only one I've ever been obsessed with in any way. But I'll try to remember what else I've gotten into thus far.

I really liked One Punch Man and Mob Psycho 100, both as anime and manga. ONE has a great dry and weird sense of humour that often makes me lol, but I stalled after season one for both of them and haven't picked them up again since. I think MP100 was cuter and had more feels, but OPM made me laugh more, and sometimes it had surprisingly emotional parts to it as well.

I also enjoyed reading all of the Beastars manga by Paru Itagaki recently, and I actually finished the whole thing, which is pretty rare for me with longer series. The first episode of the anime really didn't grab me because I didn't like the animation style at all, and I was kinda just like: "ugh this looks like Zootopia meets Twilight, no thanks" lol... But when I checked it out in manga form I really liked the drawings, and I felt like I could get a better sense of the characters' personalities when reading the story instead. I thought it was quite original and strange overall, and I especially liked that the characters were pretty complex, and the worldbuilding was really interesting and detailed too.

I loooove the look of the art made by Ryoichi Ikegami, it kinda reminds me of Obata's art a bit. I haven't read any of his stuff yet, but as soon as I can hunt some down I would like to. This video of him drawing on camera and being interviewed by Naoki Urasawa is pretty cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbtO-rFM0ks&ab_channel=MangakaArt

Naoki Urasawa is another mangaka I like, and who I checked out because everybody always recommends Monster to people who like DN. I think I like his writing a bit more than I like his art. The first part of the story I read was well done and definitely one of the better manga stories I've read, but it is also so dark and solemn that it makes it hard for me not to get a bit exhausted emotionally by it after a while. So maybe that's why I haven't fully finished it yet.

I read some of the original Devilman manga a while back, and the art style was pretty enjoyable to me. It was definitely making me laugh sometimes as well... had such an odd vibe to it, I should probably go back and try to finish that sometime.

I also randomly own this art book by Kaori Yuki that I bought way back in the day because I liked the art style, but whenever I tried to actually read one of her stories (Angel Sanctuary) I really didn't like it and I dropped it pretty fast. Still enjoy looking at the drawings, though.

I've gotten partway through both the Naruto and Hunter x Hunter manga series now, because I'd like to at least get familiar with the popular classics like that. I thought both had really good beginnings, though without having any childhood nostalgia attached to either of them they feel a bit too young to be something that will really grab me now maybe. I'll probably finish them both eventually, but I think if Naruto keeps being a whole bunch of them just explaining their moves to each other during fights and laying out all the technicalities of their powers and so on I'm going to get a bit bored, because that's like the least interesting thing to me in this kind of story lol. Luckily it also seems like the characters and relationships and world are pretty interesting, too.

I've also read some of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (about half of part 4), and I'm kinda meh about it so far. It's sort of on the same level of watching wrestling for me in being mildly amusing for how flamboyant and eccentric and macho everybody is, but definitely not something that I feel strongly attached to or sit there and think about seriously for any length of time.

I own a collection of Junji Ito stories as well, love the creepy art so much!

Yuri! on Ice was cute.

And I started reading Sailor Moon and thought it was some of the most appealing and iconic art I've seen yet, and Usagi was cute and funny and charming as a character in the little bit I read of that.

[toomanyfandoms02]

The Journal // George Weasley x Reader

I LOVED THIS REQUEST FROM @rainy-day-gracie OMGGGG it was SO fun to write.

Don't forget that request are open and dialogue prompts are on my page!

Summary - Reader loses her diary and has to go on a search for it.

Word Count - 1.75k

Prompts - "When did you take that!" ~~ "I hid it."

Where was it?

WHERE WAS IT?

Now, I didn't like to refer to my personal notes as a diary, I prefer journal. But the point is, it was missing.

Missing from the small compartment under my bed where I had hid it. Not that I expected anyone to take it, but it calmed my anxiety so I did what I could.

The journal looked just like my sketch book, I did this on purpose so that people wouldn't question why I had it out and was writing in it on occasion. They would just think I'm sketching per usual. But I made sure to keep good track of it, because I truly *did* have very personal information in there, like any journal would. So at this point, I'm frantically running around asking my dorm mates if they had seen it. First asking Hermione and Parvarti because they knew of the book. Then asking Ginny Weasley and Sophie Roper.

They had all claimed to have not seen it.

So I rushed down to the common room. Checking the side tables, under the couch, on the fireplace mantle. But it was useless, I *know* I closed it in the compartment 2 days ago. I remember it distinctly because I had written a rather private thing in it that day, and I wanted to stop thinking about how it made me feel.

*Potions, one of my least favorite classes for a few reasons. (Maybe because we had it with the snooty Slytherins or maybe because Severus Snape taught the wretched class, who's to say.) But there was one thing that made the class shine for me despite the things I hated about it.*

*George Weasley.*

*Somehow we had managed to be partners for this potion by random. Much to Snapes disliking. But he had to let it go since the picking was truly random.*

*"Today we will be making the Babbling Beverage, does anyone know what this potion does?" Snape asked in his usual monotone voice. A slytherins hand shot up from the back, explaining that it makes you speak uncontrollable nonsense. George leaned across the table to me.*

*"Guess it wouldn't change much for you then, huh?" He laughed, leaning back into his seat with a shit-eating grin.*

*And that's what sparked me to write in my journal. I felt I had to do it immediately, so I did. I whipped it from my bag and held it in my left hand, not laying it on the table where he could see.*

*"What are you writing?" He asked, trying to peak at it.*

*"I'm drawing you Bimbo!" I laughed but that's not even close to what I was doing.*

**I really thought this was only the stuff you could read about, this feeling. A laugh has never brought louder music to my ears, and that smile, I feel like I've never seen him smile like that. He never fails to bring a shining moment to my day. I hope that I make him feel this way sometimes. The tightness in my chest, the way my heart feels like it's having palpitations because its beating so damn fast. Or the way I think he's just so perfect. I sound like such a teenager gosh.**

*I never used names in the thing just in case someone ever got a hold of it.*

*"Why don't you ever let me see your drawings?" He pouted, grabbing at the book and nearly having a hold of it. I snatched it from him quickly.*

*"Because I'm still learning and I don't like them very much." I lied, holding the book to my chest.*

*"I bet they look fine." He muttered with another pout before going to grab ingredients.*

After I decided there was no use in panicking, I took some deep breaths. I had to get to Potions soon, I could talk to George about this and vent to him about the stress I was under at the moment. I grabbed my Potions book from my side table and headed that way.

To keep me distracted by what I felt like were prying eyes in the corridors, (which no one was probably looking at me, that's paranoia for you) I flipped through my sketch book. I flipped through it all the way to the potions door. But one step in and I had nearly dropped it.

George sat, tipping his chair back with what I was positive was *my* journal. He looked deep in thought, his right index finger dragging down one of the pages to read it. I recovered my sketches and stomped over to him, alerting him of my presence. He stood from the seat, holding the book from my reach.

"When did you take that?!" I tried to express my concern quietly so no one would but in on the convo, my arms crossed over my chest.

"Technically I didn't take it." He replied in a cocky manner. "Sophie got it for me."

"But I hid it! That damn girl, I knew she was being suspicious. Give it back, now Weasley, I'm not playing." I held my hand out for it.

"Not until you tell me who you fancy." My face paled, he had read some of it that little snot. That made me quite scared, I did not want him knowing that.

"George it's just ramblings that I come up with, like short stories."

"These sound pretty realistic to me." For a second there his face seemed hurt, but I will have to look over it considering the situation I'm in currently. He brought it to his eye level, still to where I couldn't reach it, and flipped through pages to find one where I write something lovey. "How about, 'He made me laugh so hard I nearly choked today, how does he do it? Do girls seriously not see the charm in this man? I sure do.'" He flipped more, reaching a sufficient page clearly.

"Or, or this one. 'I like him so much I want to be part of his family. Have you ever liked someone so much you *want* to meet their family. I want to be a Weasley-'"

You've got to be kidding. You've **got** to be kidding.

I must have gotten so caught up with writing it that I just let a name slip. Why would I do that. My hand was clasped over my mouth firmly and George was still holding it eye level, seeming to read it silently. I sat in my seat and put my head on the table so I didn't have to watch anymore.

I figured this would happen this way, it wouldn't be me directly telling him. But I thought I would cry, because the thought if it happening made me cry. But I was actually just scared and embarrassed. Scared of rejection and embarrassed that it happened like this.

I heard the book lay next to me softly on the table and the seat across from me scoot out.

"I'm going to get the ingredients for today." He said quietly. I could see his feet walk away from my view under the table. My head was brought up, grabbing the journal and shoving it into my bag shamefully. He came back with small jars and measuring spoons.

"I didn't mean for her to grab your diary you know." He confessed, not looking me in the eye. "I was trying to get her to grab your sketch book. I wanted to see your sketches. But I'm guessing the books look the same so she grabbed the wrong one. I'm sorry for reading it, that was personal." He was fiddling with his hands, his key sign of nervousness, I could tell he meant his apology.

"Its okay, I would have done the same thing if I had yours." I chuckled, trying to relieve the tension in the air. That brought a smile to his face, finally looking me in the eye.

"So, do you have a crush on Fred?" He asked, his face cringing slightly.

He's kidding right? Surely he's not that dumb. My eyebrows furrowed probably as far as they could.

"What?" Was all I could get out. I could not believe this idiot right now.

"Well I hope it's not Ron, that would be a little weird I think, and surely it's not me."

"Yes it is!" I protested back pressingly.

"Its Ron?!" His face was horrified now.

"No you dimwit! It's you! Merlin are you dumb! Georgie you're all I write about in here nearly, look." I pulled the book out again, flipping to a random page. "I taught him how to braid today, he told me he didn't know how and I told him I was perfect to practice on. He's actually quite good at it, I think he knew how to braid. For a moment there he was just playing with my hair and I thought that I might just blackout, it was a dream." It was from a night in the common room. "Or, more proof. 'The boy was sitting across from me on the couch in front of the fireplace today. It was perfect to draw, or at least try. The sketch is kind if shit but I can tell its him and now it think I'll look at it every day because I loved that moment.'"

George's face looked so happy. It was another one of those smiles that drove me mad, but I guess everything about him drove me mad, didn't it?

"You really feel that way about me?"

"Of course I do. I thought it was obvious. And I'm sorry to spring it on you like this."

"Well I certainly was too much of a wuss to do it myself." He said with a nervous smile.

"You mean, you feel the same way?" There's absolutely no way.

"Well of course." He said, as if it was the most casual and obvious thing in the world. "Do you see me act the way I do around you with anyone else. Braiding anyone else's hair, trying to stay calm and collected and seem cool around anyone else."

"Well that's because we're best friends."

"But is that the case for either of us?" And he was right. We only acted this way around eachother because we were hopelessly pining for one another, without even knowing it. And it was consistently working.

"Well aren't we just the perfect pair." I said with a giggle, pouring ingredients in the cauldron for the first time in 10 minutes.

"Are we a pair now?" He asked with a cheesy smile.

"Is this your way of asking me out Weasley?"

"Maybe."

"Then yes, we *are* a pair."

[deadbiwrites]

for the "send me a ship+sentence", but it's a song lyric: Supercorp + "I know I've kissed you before, but I didn't do it right" (Mitski)

( @swankserene , this one's for you. And it is also too long, so... whoops?)

'I know I've kissed you before…'

It's startling, almost, how warm Lena's forehead is under her lips. She's finally fallen asleep, having daintily downed three bottles of a nice red on her own over the course of… well, who knows how long really. Lena doesn't stir, and Kara sighs gratefully, pulling away and rolling gracefully to her feet. "You're sure you've got her? I can stay, I know Ruby probably has school…"

Sam shakes her head with a sad smile. "Nah, don't sweat it. I have this routine down pat by now. She's gonna be asleep until at least noon tomorrow."

More startling than Lena's drinking is the word 'routine' being used to describe any part of it. "Right. Um, call, if anyone needs anything?"

"I will, but we won't. Go get some sleep, Kara. I've got her handled."

"Okay." Kara steps into Sam's arms, quickly finding herself wrapped up in the sort of hug only a worried mom can give, all reassurance and softness and home. Kara clears her throat as it tightens at the wash of memories she associates with these sorts of hugs, stepping out of the embrace and adjusting her glasses. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

'But I didn't do it right…'

Lena's nervous. 

Obviously she's nervous- giving a speech to several hundred people is never a fun event for her, Kara knows. But there she is, all the same, climbing the steps up onto the stage, her patented work smile fixed in place as her eyes dart around the crowd. Kara grins, pretends to stretch as an excuse to raise her arms over her head, and when Lena spots her, a smidge of her real smile peeks through. Kara waggles her eyebrows, spreading her hands a bit to show off how exactly in the middle of the crowd she is. All the easier for her friend to be able to see her while she's talking.

Lena huffs fondly, takes the podium, and gives the speech that Kara had helped to write, one they're both happy with- proud of, even, especially when one of Kara's jokes pulls a good laugh from those gathered. Lena finds Kara then, and Kara grins at her, a little smug, and blows Lena a big, exaggerated kiss. Lena had wanted to leave that joke out, and so Kara figures she can rub it in a little that it went over so well.

Lena chuckles at her antics, rolls her eyes, and continues on.

Kara relaxes back into her chair, watching as the previously tense crowd does the same.

It really is a great speech. 

'Can I try again…'

Noonan's is stupid busy, even for them, even for brunch on a Sunday. It'd taken almost an hour and a very annoyed name drop from Lena for them to get a table, but she, Sam, Lena, and Alex have been coming here for brunch for like a year, so all these newbies can shove it, for all Kara cares.

Lena and Alex are sharing an entire pot of coffee between them, Sam having opted for tea (something about a headache) and Kara, of course, went with their hot chocolate.

"How can you drink liquid sugar at 10 in the morning?" Alex asks. "Hot chocolate is for cold days outside."

"How can you drink that caffeinated sludge ever?" Kara shoots back.

Alex's mouth drops open in shock, and she cups her hands protectively around her mug. "Kara! The magic bean water can hear you!"

"They need their go juice," Sam says safely. "You don't wanna see that one sans coffee."

Lena's affronted. "Excuse you, we're both lovely regardless of our morning coffee.

"Speak for yourself, Luthor," Alex grumbles, humming happily as she sips. "Mama needs her coffee."

"And you are not lovely when you go without,  don't try to lie to them," Sam chides. She turns to the Danvers sisters. "She once locked herself in the server room- which is freezing cold- because she left her half-empty,  ice-cold coffee in there."

"Yeah, sounds about right," Alex agrees. At Lena's look, she shrugs unapologetically. "Hey, I'm familiar with your work."

"Traitors, both of you," she grumbles. She turns to Kara with her best puppy eyes. "I'm nice before coffee, right?"

Kara squeezes Lena's hand, bringing it to her smiling lips and pressing a quick kiss to the back of it. "You're always my favorite," she says, neatly sidestepping the question.

Lena grins smugly at the others. "See? At least Kara loves me."

Sam rolls her eyes, Alex starts in on Kara because 'Since when am I not your favorite?', Kara jibes back, Lena pretends a bit under all the commotion she's caused as she drinks her coffee, and all is right with the world.

'And again…'

Movie nights are a necessity to Kara. Movies are a good chunk of how she figured out how to be human. They've always been a part of her life on earth.

So when she'd heard Lena say "I haven't seen that one" a few too many times, she'd declared that best friends need to educate one another in pop culture and started catching Lena up. Once a week, they settle on Kara's big, squishy couch in their various styles of pajamas, armed with junk food and every streaming service known to man. It's slow-growing, because usually Lena has to bail after just one or two movies because of work, but they're starting to make real progress. Just last week Kara had started a quote from Tangled, only to have Lena finish it.

She'd rarely been so proud. 

Tonight is different, though, because they're watching movies that Lena has seen but Kara hasn't, and neither of them have work tomorrow. They've powered through a frightening amount of pizza, their snacks are scattered over the coffee table,  and they're just setting in for the third classic Godzilla movie when Lena scoots a little closer to Kara and drops her head on her friend's shoulder. 

"Sleepy?" 

Lena shakes her head, her hair tickling against Kara's neck. "You're just warm."

Kara chuckles, dropping her arm across Lena's shoulders to pull her in closer and planting a kiss on the top of Lena's head. She grins when it makes her friend go just a little more boneless against her. "Sure."

Lena grumbles at her, which is offset entirely by how she burrows further into Kara's side.

Halfway through the movie, she's wrapped up in Kara and several blankets, snoring lightly on the blonde's chest.

Kara doesn't mind.

And again…

Lena's been getting really good at starting up acts of affection, and is a lot less panicky now when they're directed her way, accepting them as what they are rather than some sort of trap. 

So it's been a lot of her initiating hugs, grabbing Kara's hand when she wants to show her something, looping her arm through Kara's when they're walking together. Little things.

So when she'd given Kara a quick, distracted peck on the cheek as she darted out of Noonan's and back to L-Corp, it's totally fine and normal that Kara's a little bit giddy all day. She's just proud of her friend is all, happy that she feels safe enough with Kara to let her walls down. It's a nice feeling that has nothing to do with the phantom feeling of Lena's lips on her face.

Nothing at all.

And it keeps happening.

Outside CatCo, when she drops Kara off after an early lunch/late breakfast.

Leaving Alex's apartment after game night, Lena gives her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

When Kara pays for tickets to that weird foreign SciFi Movie Festival that Lena's been talking about for weeks.

Over and over. But only to Kara. Everyone else gets a hug and a squeeze, no kiss.

And if Kara preens at the attention just a little, well that's nobody's business but hers.

She mentions this to Sam and Alex one day when she's collecting them from whatever drunken adventures they'd gotten up to the night before and both looking worse for wear.

"You know," Sam drawls, "people tend to show affection the way they want to receive it."

"Really?"

Alex nods enthusiastically, suddenly more lively than she's been all day. "Oh, yeah. I read about it in a psych book."

"Maybe you should try giving her a kiss on the cheek," Sam says with a shrug, and if Kara wasn't driving she'd have seen the mischief on her friend's eyes.

"Huh. Okay, I'll do that, then."

She doesn't see the looks this statement receives, either.

**

It's totally an accident. 

Lena goes for a hug after a movie night, and Kara knows what's coming by now- kiss to the cheek, tight hug that's never long enough, step away, say goodbye. 

Easy. She'll give Lena a cheek-kiss before the hug part.

But she gets stupidly nervous for some reason and when Lena turns her head, so does Kara, and her mouth lands sorta sideways against Lena's. 

They both freeze.

After half a beat, Kara pulls away, lets out an awkward half-laugh, adjusts her glasses. She knows her face must be flaming red. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't. I missed?"

Lena smiles, cocks her head to the side. "It's okay. I don't mind."

'Oh.'

"Oh." Kara adjusts her already-straight glasses again. "I um. I didn't mind either."

"No?"

Kara smiles shyly, shakes her head. "No. But, um… would you mind if I maybe tried that again?"

Lena's smile isn't one Kara's seen before,  but she could light up the eastern seaboard with it. "Not at all."

"Cool." And she steps into Lena, and Lena steps into her, and it's everything. 

'And again?'

"...so then, the bad guy was shooting this laser beam at me, and I had to fly super fast to beat him. But don't worry, I win every time."

"Do you?" Lena asks from behind her book, clearly amused.

"I do." Kara's hands slide over Lena's stomach, slick with delicious-smelling cocoa butter that Lena won't let her taste. 

"Every time?"

"I got you. That's all the evidence I need," Kara says, flashing her a charming grin.

"You flirting with me when I'm fat and crabby is exactly why I married you, you know," Lena informs her.

"I thought it was my nice butt. And you're not fat."

"That's just a bonus." Lena tossed her book onto the couch and works her fingers into Kara's hair, scratching lightly at her scalp until Kara's practically purring under her ministrations. "Keep telling me I'm not fat with that much conviction. I'll never believe you, but it's nice all the same."

"Can do." 

"How's the little one?"

Kara closes her eyes, tips her head to the side. "Sleeping."

"I figured- I haven't been kicked in the ribs for almost an hour."

Kara winces. "Sorry. I know it probably sucks, but it's legitimately the coolest thing ever, to me, that you can just… make a human. Like that's insane."

Lena chuckles, cupping her wife's awestruck face lovingly. "It's not so bad when I have you babying me. Not everyone can get authentic Thai at 3:30 in the morning."

Kara shrugs unapologetically. "Other people need to step their game up." Her head cocks suddenly to the side, and Lena knows what's next before Kara even says anything. 

"Duty calls?"

Kara sighs, frustrated. "Yeah, car crash on the bridge. Won't take too long, traffic is just too bad for the EMTs to get to them for like, an hour."

"Be safe."

Kara's gone and back in a blur, now wearing her super suit instead of pajamas. "Always." She presses a kiss to Lena's rounded belly, pulling a laugh from her wife when she seizes her chance and licks some of the cocoa butter off of it. "I'll be back, I have more stories."

"Do I get a kiss too?"

Kara rolls her eyes playfully. "But I already give you so many!"

Lena shrugs. "You knew I was needy when you married me."

Kara huffs at her, grins, leans down, and kisses her deeply.

"You're slippery," Lena mumbles against her lips.

"Cocoa butter."

Lena hums, pulls her into another quick kiss. "You were right, it does taste good."

[houseswolo]

Day 3 - 'Tis The Season To Be Thirsting

The reveals are running a couple days late thanks to our mods getting lost in finishing @nanowrimo (HUGE PROPS to everyone who participated!) - stick with us, we have some awesome people in store!

"Stand with me, Rey"

@my-jedi-life

(Twitter: @MyJediLife | Ao3: MyJediLife)

What got you into Star Wars?

I was 3 when I saw ANH at the drive in with my family. It's my earliest memory. Fast forward 40 years or so, when my best friend Jennifer decided we were watching SW together online. When I saw Adam's face, I was gone all over again... my obsession came roaring back.

What made you a Reylo? Lightbulb moment!

Honestly... I think I became hardcore Reylo with the hand touch.

Why do you write / make art?

Because I have these idiots in my brain telling me to write their stories, and if I don't I may go insane.

The Object of your Thirst…

CLYDE LOGAN. (Or Adam Driver in all other forms)

Which Adam look do you like the best?

Umm.. his Clyde look. Long hair, scruff... goatee and stache.

Which Adam avatar/ role do you like the best?

It's me, people. Clyde Logan.

Which part of Adam do you like the best? 

His hair - NO - his lips - WAIT - his eyes... everything. I choose everything.

Favorite Star Wars Movie

The Last Jedi

What do you like to write / draw / paint the most?

Reylogan. Soulmates is a close second.

Your TRoS Prediction

Bendemption by Kylo Ren dying to help get rid of Palpy, and being brought back by some very familiar Force Ghosts as Ben Solo... ending with him and Rey and a binary sunset.

If you were an aesthetic... (colors, images, feels....)

Angst, swirls of dark greens, purples and black.

If you were a candy bar, what would your name be?

Sweet & Nutty

What's your ideal environment for writing / creating? 

On my couch, headphones on and music cranked up high.

Are you a dom or sub? 

Sub?

What's the most exotic/wierd place you've gotten intimate?

In the back of a 1966 Volare in a state park.

What's your kink?

Adam Driver

Use three words to describe yourself.

Loyal, creative, loving

Meaning behind your nick / ID name

I am living my best Jedi life? I have no idea. It just sounded cool.

Are you a big spoon or little spoon?

Little spoon.

Do you like it rough or soft? 

Both?

Favorite toy

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Favorite fic you read

Forbidden by koderenn, Cable Guy by littlemistake, LWABOC by diasterisms, Unravel Me by UnderTheCancerMoon

Favorite fic you wrote or favorite art you made

River Deep, Mountain High

Favorite SW character besides Kylo and Rey

From the EU: Jacen & Jaina Solo. Maz Kanata and the Mandalorian from Canon.

———

@thoseindarkness

(Twitter: @thoseindarkness | Ao3: thoseindarkness)

What got you into Star Wars?

My Mom when I was a baby, though TLJ brought me into the fandom and publishing fics.

What made you a Reylo? Lightbulb moment!

All the amazing and detailed meta that I saw on Tumblr after TLJ. When I went for re-watches in the theater I wondered how I'd missed all those sexual overtones the first time around.

Why do you write / make art?

Because the voices in my head would drive me crazy if I didn't let them out to play.

The Object of your thirst...

Kylo Ren (in the mask), Ben Solo (out of it), Rey, Hux, Poe, Rose, Holdo. I'm an equal opportunity thirsty.

Which Adam look do you like the best?

That 70's running shoot he did. That's how I like him, lean and wiry, not buff. He's got a great build for it.

Which Adam avatar/ role do you like the best?

Tie between Ben and Phillip Altman.

Which part of Adam do you like the best? 

The way his jowls wrinkle when he's emoting.

Favorite Star Wars Movie

Movie: Rogue One. Story: Rebels.

What do you like to write / draw / paint the most?

The real world in every messy, ugly, complicated detail. I think the idea of literature as pure escapism is flawed. I like to show the world as it is and then reveal the beauty in the imperfections. There cannot be light without darkness.

Your TRoS Prediction

I'm not getting my hopes up for anything and can't wait for it to be over. That's when the story group can have the reigns back and start pumping out all the stories that will backfill what really happened in the 30 years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. That's what I'm most looking forward to.

If you were an aesthetic... (colors, images, feels....)

I think my username says it all. 😘

If you were a candy bar, what would your name be?

I don't know what it would be called, but it would have dark chocolate, Nutella and raspberry.

What's your ideal environment for writing / creating? 

At my desk at home, one of my comfy hoodies on, a cup of coffee, some good mood music, and a Reylo fic prompt.

Are you a dom or sub? 

Lifelong switch.

What's the most exotic/wierd place you've gotten intimate?

You're going to have to define exotic/weird. I've gotten intimate in semi-public and group settings. I once went through a tollbooth topless while being fondled. Does that count?

(HS: Hells yeah, that counts 😆)

What's your kink?

An inquisitive mind. Not kidding. That will turn me on faster than anything else could.

Use three words to describe yourself.

those in darkness

Meaning behind your nick / ID name

In high school I liked to come up with AIM screen names by creating these evocative incomplete sentences. Like quoting song lyrics without the songs. "thoseindarkness" was one of those names. I liked it so much I've kept it all these years and it's always been either a nerd or writing aligned username for me.

Are you a big spoon or little spoon?

Lifelong switch.

Do you like it rough or soft? 

Yes, please.

Favorite toy

The goat 🐐

Favorite fic you read

Very tough call between Wanting by Minkel23, Score by SpaceWaffleHouseTM, and Requiem for a Monster by roane. They are all *very* different.

Favorite fic you wrote or favorite art you made

All the ones I haven't shared yet. Particularly the canon post-TRoS story I've been sitting on since TJL came out.

Favorite SW character besides Kylo and Rey

Kanan mother fucking Jarrus! Since this is a thirst highlight I may as well tell you... I would do such naughty things to that man. Or have Hera do them for me. 🖤

———

Meet the other Thristies!

Thirst Order Advent Calendar Day:

1 | 2

cc: @tazwren @deadlikemoi @drnucleus @ashtyntaytertot @lostinqueue-ffa @my-jedi-life @shestoolazytologin @kaybohls @nite0wl29 @cosmo-gonika @wilsonthinks66 @roguesinside @areylofan @3todream3 @koderenn @queenoferebor @thereylowritingden @housedadam @house-crylo @houseplaidam

[dakotablackwood]

Silence [Pt. 2]

Part 1, Part 2

Warnings: Unsympathetic Virgil, deception, manipulation, physical pain, bottled feelings, disguised violent threat, murder mention/joke, cursing, insults, hatred, Phonophobia [Fear of loud noises]

Ships: Loceit??? Who knows??? DLMP, other ships TBD

Prologue: It all got to be too much for Deceit sometimes. He's a flawed side, defective, useless. He isn't supposed to have these fears. He isn't supposed to flinch every time he drops something. He isn't supposed to have a panic attack when the dryer at a fast food restaurant is just a little bit too loud. It only gets worse when Virgil decides to mess with him. He thought Virgil would get better after being with the light sides. He didn't think Virgil would do anything to harm him. He couldn't hate Deceit so much that he'd hurt him, right?

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

When he woke up, he almost thought it was all a dream. Well, he hoped it was. As distinct hushed whispers came into focus, he knew it wasn't. If that wasn't enough, the texture of his bed felt….wrong. He didn't want to move, he didn't want to open his eyes, he didn't want to do anything to give the impression he was awake. It made him sick just thinking about the look on their faces. He'd honestly rather spontaneously combust than have to deal with their hatred. They probably thought it was a joke, some tactic to gain their trust. That would be fine, at least they would leave it as that. Maybe it would be better that way. 

Suddenly, a specific comment caught his attention. It was quiet, and he seemed to be the only one who heard it.

"You always screw things up, don't you?" 

Deceit's eyes flew open, and he was sitting up in just a few seconds. He regretted it immediately. Not only had he caught the others' attention, but he was now dizzy with how fast he'd gotten up. His mind blurred and his vision gave out. His body started to sway while he held his head, waiting for it all to stop. 

A hand settled firmly on his upper arm. He couldn't comprehend it until a few seconds later, but when he did, he noticed that it hurt. It burned, really. As the dizziness subsided, he was able to look up and see Virgil, Logan, Patton, and Roman all standing over him. All he could focus on, though, was Virgil's hand over his arm, barely even touching him. 

Deceit had fallen back, landing on his pillow at some point in his dizziness. He hadn't felt it at all, which was weird, but then again he was really dizzy. Normally, he would've cared about the fact that he wasn't in his own room. He would've been appreciative of the attention he was getting, if it weren't for the searing pain of Virgil's hand on his arm. He was so confused. 'How is he doing that? What did I do? What is happening?'

The pain made him bite his tongue, flinching and moving around uncomfortably. 

He opened his mouth to speak, and as soon as he did, Virgil pulled his hand from his arm. Deceit gloved hand went to rub his skin where the side had touched him, "Why- how did you do that?"

Virgil mocked confusion, as if he wasn't speaking to the master of deception, "What do you mean, snake face? Are you already trying to mess with us?" He glared, but to Deceit, it meant 'shut up, no one will believe you'.

Deceit just rolled his eyes, not wanting to play these games. All he wanted was to know why he wasn't in his room anymore and how the hell he got here. He looked at the others, scanning each of their faces. Patton's was concerned, ever loving and caring. Roman's expression displayed uncertainty. Logan's was calm, but his eyes. His eyes showed concern. Genuine concern. 

One of the things Deceit can do is see true emotion through people's eyes. He was able to see how someone truly felt, if they showed it or not.

Even so, he thought even the others could see Logan's emotions if they tried. They were always so strong, but somehow, the others never saw them. They never saw how truly emotional Logan is. It seemed so obvious to Deceit, but the other seemed to have his emotions so covered up that the others just didn't quite notice it. It was so confusing to Deceit. How did they not see it?! He was upset and almost crying, how did no one notice?

It always baffled him how the others could be so smart, so attached to each other, and yet they couldn't notice things like Logan's body stiffening (hurt, upset, angry) or him going silent (ignored, surprised). Deceit noticed these things, yes, but Logan's eyes broke every little external wall he put up for himself. He could have a cold hard expression, but be incredibly hurt or excited. 

He quickly snapped back to life when he heard Patton's voice suddenly, "Deceit, are you….are you okay? Yesterday was rough for you, I imagine." He chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Deceit's eyes were still just slightly red from crying, and he could feel the dried tears on his face. He remembered every detail of last night and flinched, "Perfectly fine, Patton. I've been fine, last night was nothing. It was simply a burst of emotion that I obviously couldn't handle. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave before you all start hating me again. I'd rather not be here for that part." As he stood, he finally took a look at the room he was in. Obviously Patton's, with blue walls decorated with rainbows, kittens, dogs, stars, and every other happy thing you can think of. There was a wall of pictures and memories from Thomas' past. They showcased big accomplishments in their host's life, like when Thomas got an award and when he got the lead role in a school play. 

The room was bright and happy, everything in it was something from Thomas' past that held value. 

Patton's room and Deceit's were very very different in that aspect, despite having the same layout.

Speaking of Patton, the side frowned when he went to leave, "Wait, ki- Deceit!"

At the mention of his 'name', the deceptive side turned to look at the bubbly dad. It didn't hurt that he didn't call him 'kiddo', it didn't, it didn't, it didn't, he wasn't a kid why would it hurt- "Yes, oh so loveable Morality?"

Patton crossed his arms, "Please tell us why you were so upset. We've never seen you cry before, we're just concerned."

He didn't know what bothered him so much about that little statement, but Deceit just hissed in annoyance, "Concerned? Really? Don't even try with that. I don't do anything that important, now go do your job and stop lying to a liar. Honestly Morality, you could've called me stupid to my face and it would've been less insulting." He could taste the lie on his tongue. It was a nice, rich honey-like substance. If it wasn't for the blatant, hurtful lie he would've appreciated the taste. He craves it, and this would've been a victory if it weren't for the pain that came with it. 

"Well, I care king cobra!" Roman said defensively, "I mean, come on! We're not part of a mean person, we can't completely hate you! Have a little faith in us man, we're not that terrible." The prince huffed, looking to the side like an insulted teenager. 

"Yeah, we're not going to like….kill you or anything." Virgil 'agreed', and somehow, no one noticed the sarcasm except Deceit. 

This just made the snake faced side uncomfortable. The way the other's eyes darkened, how Virgil's smirk looked sinister to only him. It all just made him want to throw up.

"Right, well, I'm going to be in my room. While I'm there, try to keep it down for me." Deceit asked casually before sinking out. He didn't feel comfortable anymore, and he didn't need to deal with this right now. As soon as he made it to his room, he groaned and went to go look for his hat.

Now, any other side/person would've thought Deceit's request probably had nothing to do with the reason he was distressed the previous night. However, that little statement had confirmed everything that Logan had hypothesized already. He knew why he was crying, and he knew exactly what that meant. Was he going to tell the others? No.

Now you might be thinking "why not?"

Because, put simply, the others had had enough of his explanations, lectures, and definitions. He didn't think they would understand or care about what it meant either. They would lose interest, ignore him, dismiss his information as invalid.

He really did care about Deceit. He knows more about Deceit than Deceit even knows he knows about. He knows Deceit knows more about him, too. Does he care? No. He actually quite likes how someone can see past his hard exterior. 

Yes, it was hard to be the logical side. It would be harder to do his job, though, if the others hated him. Which was why he felt kind of bad for Deceit in a way. While filming SvS, he had to step in and stop the other. Not because he wanted to be rude- despite how rude it might've came off as to Deceit- but because he knew the others wouldn't listen. He knew the snake side wasn't going to get anywhere, and it was better if it was stopped before the deceptive side felt just as bad as he did when he himself was ignored. It wasn't worth it to keep going, because it would only hurt worse the longer it went on.

He made a mental note to keep the noise level to a minimum.

After a few minutes of silence, he decided enough was enough and that they were wasting time, "We all need to resume our individual work elsewhere. We are not accomplishing anything standing here except for 'effectively' wasting valuable time. If we are done here, we should disperse, as I believe we cannot properly do our part in helping Thomas without moving from this specific spot. I will leave now, and I expect everyone else, excluding Patton, to do the same. This is Patton's room, obviously, so technically he's where he needs to be. Apart from him-" He was cut off by a groan from Roman.

"Alright, alright we get it! We're leaving!" Roman said before sinking out with raised hands.

Virgil just shrugged, leaving silently with a peace sign.

After the last of the two left, Logan sighed and finally sunk out. 

Back in Deceit's room, panic was starting to rise as he searched everywhere for his hat. He just couldn't find it, and he didn't have another one. He was hyperventilating as he checked the floor for the twelfth time, sweaty with fear. It had to be there. It HAD to be there. As he searched, he felt more and more vulnerable and defenseless without his hat. He was searching for hours, having destroyed his room in the process. He was crying again by the end of it, on his knees in the middle of the room. His hair was messed up, his makeup even more messed up than before. He wanted his hat so badly, it was childish. It was so so childish but he NEEDED it. It was his hat for god sake. It was one of the only things that gave him comfort, the only thing beside it being his gloves. He felt stupid, but he also felt so….exposed without that damn hat. Burn anything in his room, sure, he didn't care. The only things he ever cared about was his hat and gloves, so be it if everything else is gone. He was so annoyed, upset, anxious. All he wanted was his hat, was that too much to ask?

Back in Virgil's room, tucked discreetly into a drawer and covered by clothes, was a little black hat. Inside, hidden from the eyes of everyone, was a little embroidery of a two headed snake.

[noutenki-scans]

Jun, do you think you could walk us through how you buy your doujins? I've been wanting to buy some kros doujins FOREVER, and I know there are multiple tutorials/advice online but I want to get advice from someone who's actually gotten their doujins successfully shipped to them! Is there a website you recommend using, or a tutorial online that you follow? Would appreciate it greatly ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

How I order doujinshis online?I’m always happy to help a fellow karaoso enthusiast! I hope you have basic knowledge of Japanese so you can navigate easily. Otherwise chrome automatically translating the site works too I guess.

This post may end up pretty lengthy since I babble a lot. So continue ahead only if you want to.

Many sites don’t do international shipping so you will need to find yourself a proxy service or a freight forwarding site. Freight forwarding is the cheaper option of the two. Tenso is a fan favourite it seems but I use TensoJapan cause the fees are cheaper. You’ll need to provide your ID verification to use either of their services though. As for proxy services. I’ll mention some later below. It seems TensoJapan also provides this service now. ^^ 

The sites I use varies. If possible I like to support the artist and use the link they provide in their pixiv post for that particular work. (Usually toranoana) However if it’s quite old, chances are that it’s already sold out.

Toranoana A great site to buy new doujinshis. It’s far the easiest site to navigate and has the best range in terms of new books. Most of the products also have the synopsis and a few sample pages as well! The go to place to really support the artist! This post explains really well on how to shop there! Really use that auto translation on chrome to your advantage if you need to! If you are soley looking for KaraOso djs, here has all the instock books for that pair. And here is the full list, although most are out of stock lmao. (good reference when you want to buy second hand books though!)

If you plan to use a freight forwarding service, you need to create a Toranoana account yourself. When you write in the detail, make sure to input the Japanese address that you were given for shipping details. For when Toranoana charges you for your order, it’s quite funny cause they charge you then return the money straight away (I guess it’s to check if your card works) and when your order is ready to be sent, they’ll take the payment properly. They don’t accept PayPal as payment though. So if you don’t have a credit card, you’ll have to use a proxy service instead.

For proxy service, try using the one toranoana is advertising at the moment, AOCS. AOCS creates a toranoana account for you when you register with them and also you don’t need to provide them your ID for verification! At checkout you just need to select the acos option for delivery! from here, AOCS will pay for your goods on delivery and send you an invoice. They accept PayPal as payment. Once that’s all paid up, they will send you your goods. :)I’ve tried it and yes, it’s very simple to use and convenient but the shipping is a lil pricey since they only send by EMS. Fast shipping though!

Pros:

Easy navigation. They have tags for coupling names and filters to narrow down your search. 

Free domestic shipping if you spend over ¥9720.

Toranoana is fast with processing your order and getting it to your freight forwarder/proxy service.

Cons:

Once it’s out of stock, it’s gone. You can apply for a re-sell or set an notification alarm if it ever restocks.

A bit pricey because you pay for tax.

They may cancel your order if they notice you are using a proxy. I don’t know if they still do, it’s just what I’ve heard over the years. For sure tenso and tensojapan are in the green though!

Ok, so you really want a particular work by a certain circle, or just their works in general but it’s out of print…Usually this is the case for me when I see all those out of print djs on Toranoana…You can try your luck in 2nd hand stores! Or even Yahoo auctions. 

Yahoo auctions would be the last place I’d go for, cause ordering from there can kill your wallet. Especially if you buy from different sellers. You’ll have to pay for domestic shipping on each of the auctions. There are proxy services designed for Yahoo auctions, but the one I have tried is DeJapan. Their service is good and their processing and shipping is fast too! My order came 3-4 days after it was sent! They only send by EMS though. Quite pricey but reliable. if you are still interested in purchasing osmt djs from yahoo auctions, try ‘おそ松さん 同人’ in the search bar.

MandarakeSells second hand goods. I like this site a lot! They do international shipping with several options too. So you can skip the whole middle-man business and having the option to choose for the slower, but cheaper postage.The search bar isn’t as friendly but if you know what you are after, or the circle you are interested in, then it’s a lot easier to navigate. Just be aware mandarake has different stores so if you end up getting anything from this site, make sure to check which store it’s in! Try getting all your items from the same store, otherwise you’ll be paying a lot for shipping!! When I make orders I like to at least group 5 djs from each store if I can’t get it all from the same store. But I LOVE their quality!! Their second hand stuff look pretty much brand new! Unless stated otherwise in their listing. I’ve had some djs where it didn’t even look opened! 

Pros: 

Usually cheaper than buying new. 

Can find the older titles here. 

Tax free. 

Has English support and navigation. 

Relatively fast processing time. 

They send internationally! 

Cons: 

No consolidation. Each store=different order=more shipping cost. 

Second hand goods. So it’s not brand new. 

Price can be ridiculously expensive based on its rarity/popularity even though it’s not a new book. I actually bought 2 titles for 4k yen each when the original price is just over 1k. But I really wanted those books soo….I just bit the bullet lol.

SurugayaA real gem! ♡My favourite second hand store for djs~ Their navi is a lot better than mandarake and has way more items! This is the place to go for any rare goods~ here is the search page for karaxoso. 

Did I tell you they have free domestic shipping if you spend over ¥1500?? That’s like $15 lol. They do however have a processing fee if your order is under 5k yen. It’s under ¥300 so still very cheap! Surugaya often have ‘time sales’ and campaigns too! So it’s good to keep an eye out. When you click on an item, there’ll be a red text saying “this product will have a time sale soon” if that’s the case. So if you time it right…maybe you can get it cheaper. But I had many djs go out of stock on me while I waited for a campaign to come (some items sell out within a couple of days) so I don’t risk it anymore if there are items that have only 1 in stock in my cart. 

Also this is one of the stores where you can buy without a credit card and use PayPal instead! But if you are buying R18 goods, you can only pay by credit card. They don’t accept foreign credit cards apparently. I did have an order cancel on me when I paid by credit card and I got an email saying I used a foreign card and they can’t accept it. I’m still very gutted about that one. But I’ve also had successful orders using the same exact card…..so it’s really a gamble. PayPal as payment is friendlier I heard! But if you really want to buy r18 goods from here, may luck be on your side and hope they don’t detect your card. (or use a proxy service that allows you to buy R18 goods) 

The other downside for this site is the waiting time. Surugaya also has many warehouses and so they have to wait for all the books to arrive in one place before they ship it out to you. But usually with my experiences it takes them about 4 days to complete my order and ship it out. But I did have orders take over a week to process before. As long as you don’t order during the busy times of the year it should be fine.

Pros: 

Usually cheaper than buying new. (Most of the time the djs are cheaper than mandarake.) 

Best range. 

Often have sales and campaigns 

Has English support (But they will answer in Japanese) 

Free shipping on orders over 1.5k yen 

Cons: 

Slow processing time. 

Like mandarake, some items are ridiculously expensive. 

Your card may get declined for being a foreign card. 

Note: Previously, I’ve noted you can use debit card as payment…but honestly? it’s kinda weird. From personal experience, make sure you have double the amount of money in your account of what you need to pay for. Until the day it’s ship it. Surugaya likes to take money from you…how should I say…twice(?). Like….how do I explain this…on the day you place the order, money is taken from your card. Your payment will appear as pending on your bank statement. But actually they don’t approve your payment until it’s all ready to be sent to you. On that day, they take the payment from your account again. Like. It’s weird. And if you don’t have that amount available on your card on that day, you get an email from customer service saying they couldn’t go through with the payment. That there was a problem. If you paid by paypal (using your debit card), they will retry the payment if you can provide them evidence that it wasn’t PayPal that made the error. If you paid by using credit card (with your debit) they will cancel your order since the only other option to send the money is by bank. So if you have enough money in your debit card to pay for your order twice, your payment will go smoothly. And that extra payment they tried to make? It won’t even appear on your statement lol. In the end that money isn’t taken from you, so don’t worry about them actually charging you twice for your order.I was so confused why my payments weren’t going through and I only found out by contacting both my card dealer and PayPal. I use my debit card for online purchases so I only put in the amount necessary you see… 

Tldr; Surugaya tries to take money from you twice but only one goes through and you need enough funds for both in order for your transaction to go through smoothly if you are using your debit card.

[leftnipsdoodles]

I would like to hear your reasons for not liking Telltale. I'm not trying to stir the pot, I'm just genuinely curious. (You know, aside from what I've heard they do to their gamedevs)

WELL. if you INSIST

gameplay: none of your choices matter. you usually get 3 choices with either of them making such little difference that you might as well stay silent. the story is set in stone so it doesnt matter how you get there. now, a game like this having a string of events that happen regardless of choice makes sense. but when i treat a character badly and dismissive the entire game and all it does is change our relationship from a romance to star-crossed lovers, or when i do my best to trust and care for a character and they still make my character betray them in the end, or when i go out of my way to pledge allegiance to a cause only for the game to pretend i didn’t bc they didn’t plan for someone to do so, then how fucking dare you advertise this game as being about choices.

i’ve played games like mass effect, that had a core plot that wouldnt change, but every decision you made somehow affected your standing in this plot, your relationship with someone, or just the way your character is portrayed. hell, even in hotel dusk, if you’re mean to ppl, the protag’s personality changes accordingly in scenes where you don’t have control of his reactions. and that game’s a straight up visual novel.

art, design, whatever: ugly as hell. it works for some of their games (wolf among us, borderlands), not for others. but they’re holding onto it as their trademark style and it rly holds them back. however, this one’s subjective, so my other big point about it is:

the animation. absolutely atrocious. every animation is so badly paced and unintentionally awkward that everytime it needs to be purposefully awkward, it just falls flat. not to mention, when a scene is meant to be dramatic, or funny, or heartwarming, or even just fast-paced and action-filled.. it ALL falls flat. there’s not a single scene that feels organic and for a game that’s all about immersion, this is unacceptable. and ofc its not just the character animations alone, its also things like camera work and general pacing. but if they fixed one of these things, it’d already go a long way.

dialogues are just as awkward for the most part, especially because the devs clearly didnt think most of them through when it comes to the choices. they let conversations play out the same, bar one sentence loosely referring to your answer.

also, there is no skip button. you cant skip through the usually long voice lines even tho you can have subtitles on, thus already reading what the person is saying. this sounds minor but it seriously starts to get on your nerves, esp when you’re stuck in a scene that youre not interested in (bc, e.g., you don’t care about the romantic relationship the game has been trying to push you into from the start)

characters: bad. most of them feel the same. again, this is subjective, but i have a huge pet peeve with writers not adjusting their writing style. characters that shouldn’t have witty one-liners bc they’re supposed to be menacing get them anyway bc the writers couldnt help themselves. every character can develop a nervous stutter at any given moment, as if that’s sth that’s universal to people. stuff like that.

i remember in boderlands, when i finally got to meet handsome jack and thought ok, now it’s finally get more energetic and fun, he didn’t feel much different from the characters we had already met. and don’t even ASK me about the characters in batman. they even LOOK interchangeable for the most part bc guess what, telltale character designs are either ridiculously plain or ridiculously over-designed.

and this isn’t mentioning how much the characters miss their mark. you’re supposed to think of x character as a sympathetic freedom fighter who has their heart in the right place and is worth getting to know, but they wrote them as a rude, whiny, borderline sociopathic asshole who makes me wish telltale had the balls to let you make big decisions so i could kill this dick already.again, its subjective. but thats the beauty of a game about CHOICES. if someone feels differently about a character than you intended, you let them choose to act accordingly and experience the game in a different way.likewise, characters that are supposedly horrible and irredeemable but rly only did one messed up thing that you dont care about. but the game forces you to condemn them for it anyway. like alright then, bye.

and ofc, the protagonists are……….. weird. first of all, half of them are voiced by troy baker and as great as i think he is as a voice actor, im sick of him. especially since he delivers all his performances in his normal voice. im starting to feel like im playing troy baker more than rhys wayne or whoever.

and to latch back onto what i said above, what the game does with them is awful: you’re supposed to identify with them bc you get to decide how they act but at the same time they’re more or less established characters and if you don’t relate to them from the start, the game dismisses your choices. so in the end, it’s neither here nor there. i remember i thought rhys was gonna be great bc he was the protag, but one of the bad guys, and he was one voluntarily and with a lot of conviction. thats so fucking interesting! i wonder how this game is gonna play out if i indulge in my love for this concept! i wonder if i can end this game as the new head of hyperion! yes, look at me go!! this is awesome!! this is everything i wanted!! my relationship with jack is the only one that actually feels rewarding and now we’re gonna be the bad guys together!! this makes all the hours i wasted on this so worth it i can’t believ- oh we hate hyperion now for no reason and want to kill jack. ok then.also full offense but as the game went on it kept going out of its way to make rhys look incompetent and humiliate him and is that rly what you want for the character you’ve (allegedly) been making decisions for..? it just felt uncomfortable after a while lmfao

anyway, in general, the idea is nice, the execution is horrible. kinda like how i tried to section these things off into different topics but ended up rambling without structure anyway.

like, look. ive gotten tired of bioware games too. i probably couldnt play mass effect again just bc ALL bioware games feel the same (even tho i like some of them more than others and mass effect is definitely still one of my fav trilogies ever. but if you keep reusing gameplay, voice actors, animations, etc… it just gets tiring).

so i think telltale’s 2 biggest sins are not giving you the control of the story they promise you and desperately clinging to their ways in order to keep their trademark style

[estrxlar]

The Ghost Of You

18 - I’ve Missed A Lot

This chapters songs:

Car; Porches

The Poetry Of August; Lamp

Homage; Mild High Club

- Y. L. Perspective

"What'd I miss?" I ask, running up to Kiyoko. My left shoe was barely holding onto my foot after I'd run so fast from the changing rooms to the gym.

For the past two practices, I'd had to skip to do a couple of recording with the band. But man—I missed the wrong days.

Her greys eyes grow wide as she shouts. "Y/n! There you are. I was wondering if you would show up to—" I quickly put a finger over her mouth.

"I don't want anybody knowing I'm late!" I whisper loudly. Once my other shoe was on, I straightened up my back, looking at the gym in front of me.

'Why are there so many random men here?'

"They've already noticed, Y/n. Just sit tight, I'll go tell the coach who you are before he kicks you out of e gym."

'Coach?!' I think, turning to question Kiyoko and her statement. But before I'm able to, she's already speeding to the side of an older, taller man.

It was only a day before our weekend training camp was next on our schedule. I didn't think too much about it. My only job was to clean up after my team and take care of them with Kiyoko. I was so caught up in writing new song lyrics that I had completely forgotten about Eclair and her presence, which was now a part of my day.

"Hi, Y/n! It's nice to see you again!" Her soft voice says from behind me as she comes to my side, looking at the floor in front of us. "The team missed you!"

I nod, smiling. 'Please, be quiet today.' I thought to myself as my eyes wavered towards Sugawara. He smiles at me, waving one of his hands, then putting it back down.

As for my relationship with him, it hadn't changed much. We were still staying silent about being together or not. I think what made us both have our doubts about being girlfriend and boyfriend was the idea that we would get too attached. Either way, that didn't change the fact that we already acted like a couple. The only difference was that we didn't have labels.

Kiyoko ran back to me in an instant with a scared expression on her face. "Uh...the coach wants to see you personally. He's right over there," she says, pointing to the man.

I gulp down the fear that was choking me and nod to Kiyoko, walking towards the man with my head down and my hands together. When I arrive at his side, I introduce myself as the manager. "My name is Y/n L/n, one of the managers of this club. My apologies for arriving so late, sir," I say, straightening myself again.

"Ah! Takeda had told me there were two managers. It's nice to meet you, I'm Ukai. For now, I'm nothing official. Your team supervisor is simply a persistent son of a bitch, so I had no choice but to come down and see what the fuss was all about." He explains himself. "So, it seems your team is a bunch of feisty young boys. Do you have any notes on them you wanna give me? I'm trying my best to get them into shape before that practice game they have after the training camp."

"Hm. I do have a couple of things I've been saving recently. My only big concern is how to get the little guy— Nishinoya— to become an official part of the team without another player." I point my pen to the second year as he stretches out his arms.

Ukai seemed to be one step ahead of me, for he raised his brows, pointing to yet another boy. But this one was nothing like Nishinoya. He was most likely the tallest on the team and had the features of a grown man. "Well, that issue seems to be fixed already!"

I purse my lips, embarrassed that I'd been so stupid as to miss so much. "I'm sorry, Mr. Ukai. I haven't attended practice ever since Tuesday, so I haven't been caught up on what's been going on," I say in a disappointed tone.

"That's alright. You just make sure to catch up with your friend, Kiyoko, and you should be all set. For now, just sit back and watch the practice game," he says. With that, he sends me off back to Kiyoko. I hadn't thought that he would be so nice to me after the look he gave me from afar. But I was glad that he'd let my absence slide this time.

Throughout the game, I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody other than the people on the bench, which was only a few of the boys I wasn't too comfortable having a conversation with. As for Kiyoko, Eclair wouldn't stop pestering her with facts about France and her appreciation from the team. Especially Sugawara.

But all wasn't too bad. In fact, this was the best game that I had ever attended. Not only was I able to see the skills of Nishinoya and his partner further, but Koshi was included. He was with a few of the older men and Noya, as well as Asahi, the man that was resistant to come to any of the previous practices.

There were many times when I wanted to scream and shout for the boys. Thankfully, I decided to be smart and not make a full out of myself. Instead, I sat tight, completely focused on Koshi. Was it a bad thing that I hadn't noticed his talents beforehand? I felt horrible that I hadn't been asking him about volleyball. The moment that he began to play, I was able to see just how passionate he was about volleyball. The gym floor was where he belonged, just in the way that I belonged with music.

Just like that, the first set had ended.

I spent no time gathering water bottles for the men, handing each of them a towel and bottle. Sadly, I wasn't able to reach him before Eclair did. It wasn't as if I could go against her actions. Koshi and I hid our feelings from the team, so it would be obvious if I stole him away for a second to give him compliments. I wanted nothing but to praise him for doing so well in the game.

After the boys return to the court, Kiyoko bumps my shoulder. "You know, I haven't seen Sugawara in such a good mood until recently. He's matured into a more enthusiastic guy. Do you think that has anything to do with you?"

"Maybe. It doesn't matter, though. I just want to see him do what he loves," my voice breaks in an instant as I put my hands together in front of my face, smiling at him as he looks back at me.

-

Though I had absolutely no clue who the extra grown men playing with our club were, Kiyoko and I still bid them a farewell before beginning to clean up with the rest of the team.

"Y/n! I wish we could have talked to you more today!" Nishinoya runs to my side, putting his hands onto my shoulders. The young man didn't seem to take the hint that I wasn't interested in him. Still, it was nice to be surrounded by a change of scenery. I was used to quiet, composed friends and family. "Asahi! You've gotta meet our new manager!"

The two of us look at the tall boy as he grows fearful. What did someone like him have to be scared of? It wasn't as if I would bite one of his fingers off. Hesitant to greet me, he rubs his neck, awkwardly smiling. "H-hi, I'm Asahi. It's nice to meet you."

"Mhm, you as well."

Am awkward silence overcomes us.

"Oh, come on! You call that a greeting?!" Tanaka intervenes, taking Asahi and I's hands and bringing them together. "Asahi, this is our totally awesome new manager, Y/n! She's a great girl and very fun.

Y/n, this is Asahi! The cry baby!"

"Hey! I'm no cry-baby," Asahi says, frowning.

I smile back, taking my hands back into my pockets.

"Erm, it's nice to have you back on the team, Asahi."

Suddenly, we all bring our attention to the temporary coach, who clapped his hands together.

"Great game today, everyone. Our main problem is receiving, so we'll be practicing that tomorrow, got it? After everyone has gotten their things together, please make sure to get lots of rest and arrive here tomorrow at 6:00 PM!"

Everybody nods, bowing lightly and running out to change into their regular school clothes. As for me, I decided to simply take my clothing in my bag and head home in my uniform. As did Sugawara.

I head out of the locker rooms and make my way to the usual spot we met up at after practice. There he was, looking up at the stars. He soon notices I walk towards him with absolute joy. "Why hello, Y/n."

"Hello, Koshi," I utter to him, smiling at his silly behavior. He wraps one of his arms around my back as always, beginning our walk towards home. "You were so good today! I haven't ever seen you play before. I wish I could have known sooner so I can suggest things to the team, like, 'Sugawara sure is a great player!' You know?"

"Well, now that you've seen me play, I think it's time I hear your band perform."

I'm surprised by Sugawara's words. Hear me perform? I could have sworn he'd already heard me and my friends perform a song. I tell him, "well then, you'll just have to wait till our competition. It's around next month. And if you'd like, you can bring Daichi and Kiyoko along. That Asahi kid too, I'd he's your friend."

"Can you imagine the number of requests you'd get from the first and second years if you told them you're in a band? They'd go crazy," he says. "But if it's next month, doesn't that mean you've got a lot of work to do? Are you sure you have enough time to be coming to volleyball practice?"

"That's why I need some help on finding an idea on what to write about! So far, I can't find a way to write anything." I slap my forehead in disappointment.

Sugawara lovingly pats my head. "Just forget about that for a second if it's bothering you, sweetie. Are you excited about this spring? The tournament is coming up as well. Have you talked to your friend Oikawa about it?"

"Koshi, he isn't my friend! And no... we haven't talked ever since the practice game. Should I ask him to say what he wants before I block him for good?"

He shrugs. "I dunno. Honestly, I've never had anybody be very persistent to apologize after something so mean."

"Hm. It's okay. I'm excited to be spending some time with you~" I lean into him, making him stumble slightly. "I know it's weird to say, but I'm proud that you decided to play today. I know you have potential that you don't use and it hurts to see you bottle up your talent that way."

Sugawara looks at me with the most gentle expression he'd ever shown the earth. "I—I try. Thank you. I'm glad I could show you that I'm not a completely useless player," he chuckles. "Honestly, I don't think I'm gonna be playing on the court this year."

I nudge him hard. "Sugawara! Don't say things like that. You're speaking words into existence. Try to have as much confidence as possible and I'm sure that our...new coach...will let you play!"

"Hm, maybe."

By the time we had arrived at my house, the clock struck 8:00 PM. I hadn't expected to be staying out so late. Since there was a surprise practice game, I had no choice.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," I say, unlocking my front door, and stepping inside the house. As always, it was quiet and felt empty. I turn to smile at Koshi one last time before closing the door, but he stops me with a rug at the wrist. "What is it?"

"Uhm...since it's Friday, do you just wanna sleepover at my place? That way we can get ready together tomorrow." His skin turned peachy as he asked.

I was yet to visit his house. It was always mine that we'd hang out at, so I was very caught off guard by his request. Come to think of it, I didn't know much about his family or lifestyle when it came to being home. All I knew was that his mother left his family with a cloud over their heads. And so, I laugh awkwardly, "ha, are you sure it's okay with your dad? I wouldn't want to be intruding or anything."

Sugawara quickly shuts down my reply, saying, "of course not. My little brother has people over all the time. But if you don't want to, that's okay."

I felt nothing but happy that he had invited me over, but was it really a good idea? After what he described his father as I was scared he would think of me as a burden. Although, I didn't want to pass my chance to meet his family. And so, I nod slightly.

"Okay, yeah! But I have to get some things together. Do you wanna come inside real quick?" My excitement is heard through my tone. I open the door wide for him to enter the house. He does so, happy that I had said yes.

-

"Come on in!"

Not in a million years did I ever expect Mr. Sugawara to be such a welcoming man. So tall, too.

"I've just gotten back from work, so excuse my strange appearance," he says to me as Koshi and I walk into the house. The man was the spinning image of his son: silver hair, hazel eyes, and thin yet strong build. But no beauty mark. He wore black blazer pants and a button-up white collared shirt, telling me he was a sophisticated man.

I bow. "Thank you for having me, Mr. Sugawara," I say to him.

"It's no issue. Your brother and I were just finishing making yakitori," he stated, before rushing back to what I assumed was the kitchen. After Koshi closed the door behind us and we took our shoes off, he led me there.

He and his other son were setting up the dining table. The boy was surprisingly shorter than Koshi, had pale brown hair instead of silver, and matched beauty marks with him. 'His mother must have been a brunette', I thought to myself as he ran off to help his father and brother.

Not soon after did the younger Sugawara look my way in the surprise of my presence. "Uhm—hi!" He says. The voice that came out of him was just as raspy as Koshi's, but a bit more aggressive and whiny.

'So...his mom must have had brown hair, was a short woman, had a raspy voice, AND gave her sons the beauty mark..' I was very quick to build an image of what I imagined his mother to look like. If only I'd be able to meet her in person.

"Hello. Could I help you guys with anything? I'd love to." My hands rub together like clay, sweaty and clammy. I didn't realize how nervous I was to be around so many men at once.

"No need, I'm just about done!" Mr. Sugawara placed a very big plate of skewers in the middle of the table. "Why don't you sit down with Isao and Koshi."

I do as told and make my way behind the kitchen and into the dining room, where a fair wooden table and a few zaisu chairs surrounded it.

The younger boy decides to sit across from Koshi and me, snaking eyes at me every few seconds. I think not much of it. It must have been strange to have a random girl join him and his family for dinner. Nonetheless, he doesn't think twice to begin his pattern of questions. "So, are you Koshi's girlfriend?" He bluntly asks with a grin on his face as the mentioned man scolds him.

"Isao! It isn't polite to ask people questions without introducing yourself first," He says as his dad continues to pour cups of water in the kitchen, pretending not to hear much of the conversation.

I feel my cheeks heat up immediately. How could I have explained that we were in love for quite some time but haven't been tied down yet? I clear my throat, looking at Koshi, who is shutting his eyes in embarrassment.

"Oh! Well, I'm Isao Sugawara. It's a pleasure to meet you...Y/n is it?"

I'm utterly surprised by his question. From what it looked like, Koshi had already told his brother about me. It was flattering yet terrifying. "Yes. It's nice to meet you as well." I try my best not to sound grim, but it's hard when you're stuck in such an uncomfortable situation.

"I'm guessing you're the one he's been hanging out with so much! You're so pretty! Come to think of it, I don't think Koshi has ever had a girl over." The boy chuckles.

'I thought he had many girls wrapped around his finger.'

Ending the most heart-racing conversation I'd ever experienced, Mr. Sugawara comes back with a few drinks in hand. "Well then, let's get to eating!" He exclaims, giving everyone their glass of water before sitting down next to his youngest son.

Each of us grab a skewer and began munching on the delicious chicken yakitori. Every once in a while I'd look up at the family, who didn't seem to be by the idea someone out of their comfort zone was there. As for Koshi, he kept asking if everything was alright for me and smiling. The sweet guy had no clue how shaken I felt.

"So then, tell us about your friend, Koshi." His father gulps down the last bite of his yakitori to drink a sip of his water.

The boy blinks a few times. "Uh—well, Y/n and I used to be friends during our first year but separated until this year. We've really renewed our relationship!" He laughs anxiously, downing his glass of water after his brief explanation.

"So, do you like to play volleyball too?" Isao interjects.

"Uhm, not exactly. I'm just one of the managers of the volleyball club. I've only been there for two weeks," I reply.

"What do you like to do? You seem like a sophisticated girl!"

Koshi snatches the chance to speak about me. "Y/n is a musician! She plays guitar and is a vocalist for this band she's in. She's even going to sign with a big label once she graduates!"

"Oh, cool!" Isao slams his hands on a table with a bright smile spread across his face. "I've always wanted to meet a musician! Koshi is so lucky to have a cool girlfriend like you, Ms. Y/n!"

He snaps at his little brother again for calling me his girlfriend, nervous now that his father was listening in this time. But Mr. Sugawara simply chuckles. "How fun, Y/n. So, I see you have some big plans! What kind of music do you and your band play?"

'Jesus, I did NOT expect that.'

"Mostly rock, sir. We're more of a punk band than anything," I say, folding my hands in my lap. Though the yakitori was delicious, I wasn't Anel to take in another bite. "May I do you all a favor as to wash the dishes? I appreciate you having me over so suddenly."

I stand up from the zaisu, picking up both my plate and Koshi's. Isao and his father also hand me theirs, thanking me for my kindness. "Do what you'd like! Thank you for joining us."

-

MF PLS VOTE THE RATIOS ARE SO SAD

IS MY WRITING THAT BAD?

also ily pls take care of yourself <3

- estrxlar

[enixamyram]

I've loved all of the fanfics that you've put out for Curious Archer! So my idea is that first time Alice goes to the farm to visit Robin and there's this giant dog there (old English sheepdog named Bayard)and she's like fangirling out because she's never seen a dog before because I imagine there not many in the Enchanted Forest. So like she and Robin are massively bonding and falling in love over this dog. I usually imagine this happening before they've gotten together. Hope you like the idea:)

The Small Hairy Horse

Summary: On one of Alice’s first trips to Robin’sfarm she is attacked with a series of wild kisses – and not the kind shewished she could get. Robin is surprised that Alice has never seen a dog beforeand the girls share a short adventure returning him back to his owner in thewoods.

  Since beingfree of the tower, Alice experienced new things every day. Whether it was thetallest tree she could climb or the deepest mines she could crawl into or evenjust the largest lake that she could swim across, Alice was experiencing it alland more. After a lifetime of living in the tower, she was taking advantage ofevery second she was now out of it. She didn’t even sleep under any form ofcover, if she could help it. She either found places high up in trees ormountains or in warm open fields, sometimes picking out camp sites that hadrecently been abandoned since most bandits assumed that there was nothing of interestleft in them so for the most part, they remained undisturbed. But no matterwhere she was, she always slept under the stars and the soft silver glow of themoon as much as possible. However, that was only when she did sleep. Excitement and giddiness kept Alice from getting morethan just a few hours each night, which also helped keep her alive in someways. After all, there were still plenty of thieves and killers roaming theforests at night, just looking for unsuspecting victims to prey on.

  Yes, life hadbeen good since Alice had finally escaped her tower. She hadn’t had a badthought about the outside world since, nor a good one of the high room she hadgrown up in that was settled in the middle of nowhere. In the end that towerwas not her home. It was her prison. And now she was free, she would beperfectly happy to see it destroyed beyond recognition. But then that wouldrequire her to go back and to actually see it again. And that little idea was noton the list of the things Alice planned to do before she died of a ripe old age,only after living a life of adventure and wonder here in the Enchanted Forest.

  Some daysAlice felt the urge to go exploring more of the world, and other days shecontent to relax in beautiful settings and wild habitats and then there weredays like today, where she felt the urge to visit friends. Alice didn’t havevery many friends – a side effect of living her life locked away from the restof the world – so the ones she did have were very precious to her. Even if theyweren’t the most typical people you’d think a young woman such as herself wouldmake friends with.

   One of her moretypical friends, however, owned a farm close by to where she liked to walk.Robin Mills lived with her mother, and she and Alice had met throughinteresting circumstances to say the least. Ever since then they met up withone another quite frequently, however this was the first time that Alice wouldbe going to Robin’s farm on her own. She and Robin had taken walks down thereduring long days when they had nothing better to do, but Alice had alwaysdropped her off before heading home almost immediately without hovering orwaiting to be invited inside. At the time, she had still been awkward aroundother people, but she was growing much braver as of late and decided to make abold move on a spontaneous whim. So as of today, it would officially be thefirst day that Alice would be surprising Robin with a visit. She planned towalk straight through the main gates and, if she was really feeling up to if,then she might even try and seduce an invitation inside the house.

  From the second Alice first saw her, she feltsomething strong for Robin. At first it was just pure lust. After all, Robinwas a beautiful – sometimes even a sexy – woman and Alice would be a fool notto notice that during the many hours they frequently spent together. And eversince then, the feelings she had for her began to grow until they turned fromsimple physical attraction to something more…

  This was all newfeelings for Alice, so she hadn’t told anyone about them. Not even her papaduring the rare visits they had with one another. She didn’t want to say anythinguntil she understood it enough herself. So, until then she was just going topretend like being around Robin didn’t leave her feeling a weird combination ofhappy confused and neither did it make her feel just as good, if not better, thanher new-found freedom from the tower. The only other person to make her feelthat good was her papa but for verydifferent reasons.

  Approachingthe farm, Alice kept an eye out in case Robin or her mother were about to seeher and mistake her for a thief about to make off with one of their animals.Though she had no idea how anyone would even go about getting away withsomething like that, especially considering who owned the farm, but Robin saidthere were always people stupid enough to try. Alice didn’t think they wouldmistake her for a common thief, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure how theywould react, as she had never shown up to their home unannounced before and shedidn’t want to do anything that might upset them. But despite Alice’s nerves,the land around her seemed mostly deserted except for the few animals that shecould see from where she stood outside the main gate.

  Alice hadnever seen real animals before escaping her tower. The closest she had come wasa picture book her papa brought home to her one day, showing her all kinds ofanimals that you got in farms like pigs and cows and horses and chickens. Hehad tried to describe other animals to her, like cats and fish and whales anddolphins, and all the birds that passed overhead in the sky when he was on hisship, but for the most part Alice found she couldn’t picture them to the extentthat she knew they could be. So, when she found out that Robin lived on a farm,she was more than a little excited to see it for herself.

  Now that shewas up close, she couldn’t resist pausing in her search for Robin to insteadlook down at the fat pigs snorting loudly to her left. Once again checking thatthere was no one to take offense to her approach, Alice opened the gates andslipped inside, walking over to the pig’s pen and looking down at them, smilingat the way the younger ones cuddled up against their parents, while othersstumbled over to their bowls for a sloppy meal. It was amusing, and Alicegiggled down as she watched them, leaning forward against the gate.

  What happenednext happened so fast that Alice didn’t have any time to defend herself. Oneminute she was standing, leaning over the pigs, the next something hit her fromthe side and she was knocked to the ground. She hit the dirt hard and beforeshe had a chance to recover, something large was on top of her, a rough wettongue overlapping her face and neck and even catching the bare parts of hercollar bone and shoulders. It was such a shock that she was screaming beforeshe even realised she wasn’t in any danger.

  Alice pushedher hands up and into a thick wad of stringy fur. When she pushed the creatureaway enough that she could see it, she found herself looking at the strangestanimal she had ever seen. It was like a tiny hairy horse or something.

  “Alice!”

  Robinappeared in the distance, running down towards them with her arrow notched inher bow, hurrying as quickly as she could with an expression on her face thatwas both worried and angry at the same time. However, she stopped short whenshe saw Alice struggling to push the animal off of her and blinked, taken bysurprise for just a short moment at the sight of them before she swung herarrow and bow into place on her back and shoulder and continued her run over.Together the two girls managed to push and pull the animal off Alice, dragginghim back a few steps as Alice rolled quickly back onto her feet.

  “What isthat?!” Alice demanded, gasping for breath and wiping the drool off the sidesof her face.

  Robin hadmanaged to calm the animal down by running her hands over his head and back,roughly stroking him, so much that her fingers tangled in his thick fur and shehad to repeatedly pause to free herself or risk putting it right off. Part ofher still felt the after effects of hearing Alice scream, including a franticallybeating heart and a knot in her stomach, but she still found herself grinningto see Alice looking so startled with her hair tangled from where she had beenrolling on the ground. On top of that little amusement, it had been a longwhile since Robin had seen a dog. According to her mother and aunt, they were ararity here in the Enchanted Forest.

  “I think it’san English Sheepdog…” Robin said slowly, squinting at him before letting out asqueal of laughter when he turned to give her face a lick. “Yeah, I’m surethat’s it.”

  “An EnglishSheepdog?” Alice blinked, frowning down at her. “I didn’t know there was morethan one kind of sheep…”

  Robin paused,mid stroke of the dogs long white and grey fur. She stood up, keeping a hand onthe animal’s head to keep him from jumping up at either of them again. “Alice…Have you never seen a dog before?”

  “No.” Aliceadmitted. So, it wasn’t a sheep, then? “There weren’t in any of the books thatpapa brought me.”

  “Oh,” Robingrinned and led the dog over to Alice, still keeping a firm hand on his backthe whole time so he didn’t surprise her again. “Well, this here is a dog! Andthere are different kinds of dogs and they all have individual names but, well,this one is called an English Sheepdog.” She explained. She never knew howdifficult it was explaining a dog to someone until she tried to.

  “So… It’s aSheepdog… And a dog?” Alice asked, eyeing the animal warily.

  “Yup. It’slike, they’re called dogs, but they have sub categories about what kind of dogsthey are.” Robin went on, kneeling beside the animal and scratching behind hisears. “I personally like King Charles Spaniels the best but this guy’s prettycute too.” She grinned up at her. “You can get aggressive dogs, so you have tobe careful, but this guy seems pretty friendly. I think he just wanted to sayhello.”

  Alicehesitated, then moved to stand on the other side of him. She reached downslowly and copied Robin’s hand movements so that she was also stroking the dogbehind his ear like she was. Almost immediately he dropped down to the groundand rolled so his stomach was facing upwards and his paws were bent in the airabove him, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he twisted his headto look up at the two girls happily. The white fur fell in front of his facebut under the messy strands, Alice could just about see a pair of large wideeyes watching her closely.

  “He reallylikes you.” Robin laughed, scratching the dogs stomach. “See,” She pointedtowards where a thick furry tail was sweeping back and forth, kicking up dirtand dust like a broom. “When they wag their tail like that, it means they’rehappy.” She looked down at his face. “Though I am surprised, I heard that thiskind of dog normally has docked tails.”

  “What doesthat mean?” Alice blinked.

  “Uh, it’ssomething to do with cutting them short.” Robin explained with a slight frown.“But I’m not sure about the details.”

  “Cuttingtheir tails short? Doesn’t that hurt?” Alice said nervously.

  “I’m not surehow it’s done.” Robin admitted. “I think they make it, so it doesn’t hurt them.”She lied. Really, she had no idea, but she hoped it was done humanely.

  Alice turnedthoughtfully back to the dog, staring down at his exposed stomach. Now that theinitial shock had passed, Alice noted that he did look pretty sweet, staring upat her with a big dopey smile on his face. She dropped to her knees and usedboth hands to stroke him now, a little bit enthusiastically but he didn’t seemto mind. In fact, just like that, his tail began to move even faster, and Alicegiggled down at him.

  “You know alot about dogs,” Alice noted, looking up at Robin.

  “Well, backin Storybrooke, you’d be surprised how much is just common knowledge.” Robinexplained. “Plus, I always wanted a dog. I’d hoped once we got a farm that wemight get one – these types of dogs are used a lot for herding other animals.But they’re so rare here, mum never bothered.”

  “He’s sweet.”Alice beamed.

  “I wonder ifhe has an owner.” Robin said, feeling along the dog’s head.

  “What are youlooking for?” Alice asked.

  “Back inStorybrooke, people gave their dogs collars. Sometimes with name tags andstuff. So, if they went missing then someone could see it has an owner and helpthem find a way back home.” Robin went on, then sat back on her heels. “I can’tfind one. But there are different rules here, so it could still have an owner.He’s pretty well behaved and well fed for a wild animal.”

  “How do wefind his owner?” Alice asked, suddenly looking worried. If this dog had a home,then he should return to it as soon as possible.

  “Normallydogs are pretty good for finding their way home… Or the trained ones are, atleast.” Robin shrugged, standing. “Tell you what, why don’t we take him for awalk down through the woods and see if we can’t help him find his way back?”

  “You thinkthat will work?” Alice asked, chewing her lip, all the while still stroking thedogs stomach, though now more cautiously.

  “Worth ashot.” Robin shrugged. “If you’re busy I could do it on my own-”

  “I’m notbusy.” Alice said quickly.

  Robin smiledat her and butterflies knotted around in Alice’s stomach – but almost like in agood way. She found herself grinning back up at her and temporarily forgettingto stroke the dog. She remembered a second later when he stood and pushed adark wet nose against her neck. It was cold and caused Alice to squeal aloud,no longer afraid of his affectionate cuddling, and giggled as his fur tickledalong her chin and under her ears just before he began to lick her again.

  She pushedhim back once more, standing and looking up to Robin again. Now that things hadcalmed down, she realised Robin had run out to her while only half dressed forwhatever reason. She had on white leggings and a white under shirt but wasmissing her usual green cloak and brown leather vest and her brown hunting trousers.She didn’t even have any shoes or socks on her feet and toes twitched slightlyagainst the cold uneven ground.

  “Did I pullyou away?” Alice teased.

  Robin’scheeks turned pink and she took a small step back. “Uh, yeah, I’ll be rightback.”

  Alicegiggled, watching Robin turn and jog back in direction of the house. After shehad disappeared, Alice turned back to the dog. He had sat back for a moment andwas watching her with the slightest head tilt, like he didn’t understand whatwas happening.

  “She camerunning for me.” Alice explained, feeling ridiculously proud. Then she droppedto her knees and began scratching his ears and head like Robin had been doingearlier, pleased when she got a positive reaction from it.

 O*U*A*T

  A few minuteslater, once Robin had returned (now fully dressed) she led the way out of thegates, locking them behind her and leading them down the path that she normallytook towards town. At first, once he got going, it seemed like the dog wasgoing to leave them behind and disappear out of sight. He bound ahead and overa slight dip in their path that was the start of a hill so that his whole bodyvanished from a moment only to come running back a few seconds later, loopingaround the girls and jumping at them until they each tickled his ear and chinbefore once again running ahead. He did this three times, one after another,and each time was just as amusing as the last.

 “He’s got somuch energy.” Alice laughed.

  “Yeah, I’llbet he’s really excited.” Robin grinned. She had her bow in hand and her arrowsresting over her back; a girl always prepared for the worst. “So, what broughtyou round this morning?”

  “Oh, I justwanted to see you.” Alice said, then shrugged. “I mean, see if you wanted to gofor a walk or something.”

  Robin nodded.“Did you get to the farm okay?”

  “Yeah. It waseasy.” Alice lied. It had taken her three wrong turns before she found the pathRobin had told her to look out for.

  “Good.” Robinnudged her. “I’d hate for you to get lost.”

  Alice foughtthe urge to blush. “So, tell me more about dogs!” She said quickly. “I reallylike this one. Are they all like him?”

  “Well, like Isaid, you can get some that can be mean. But they’re like people. There aregood people, and bad people. Good dogs, and bad dogs. There are dogs who can beexcitable and there are dogs who can be shy. Some can be trained, others can bea little more stubborn.” Robin explained. “Actually, I almost thought the dog wasattacking you when I heard you scream and ran over, but when I reached you, I guessedhe was just playing around. You can normally tell a lot by just the way theyhold themselves and their body language. I’ll teach you it all if you’d like.”

  “If he wasattaching me. Would you have killed him?” Alice asked, remembering how her bowand arrow had been set and ready to launch.

  “Yes.” Robinsaid without hesitation.

  “Really?” Forsome reason the idea of someone hurting a dog like this one, even Robin, wasupsetting.

  “I wouldn’thave liked it… But sometimes animals need to be put down. Especially if they’rehurting your friends.” Robin shrugged. “It’s not a nice thought but sometimesit can’t be helped.”

  “Well, I’mglad you didn’t have to put him down.” Alice said, after a moment of gloomysilence. “He’s really sweet.”

  “He is!”Robin grinned happily, then winked at her. “Hey, you wanna see something fun?”

  “Fun?” Aliceblinked.

  Robin scoopedup the thickest stick from the side of the road. “This is how a lot of peopleplay with their dogs.” She explained, positioning the stick against her bow.She didn’t quite pull it back as far as she would if it was an arrow, and aftera second, she whistled loudly. The dog came running back towards them again andRobin released the stick just before he reached them. It flew through the airand promptly the dog bound back after it, barely pausing long enough to turnaround so his fuzzy paws skidded and kicked up dust from the dirt road.

  Alice laughedas he came running back to them a few seconds later with the stick in hismouth, jumping around them as excitedly as a puppy. When Robin reached for thestick, he jumped away from her, running around before coming close, only toduck as she tried once more to take it. On the third time she managed to get ahold of one end and while he refused to let go, Alice could see, even thoughthe matt of fur falling down over his face, that the dog was having the time ofhis life. And in return, so was Alice! She hadn’t even known what a dog wasthis morning but now, she wished she had a dozen of them like Robin and her mumhad a dozen pigs and sheep back on the farm.

  “You wannatry?” Robin asked after the dog brought the stick back them a fourth time.

  “Can I?”Alice asked excitedly.

  “Go ahead!”Robin laughed.

  Alice turnedto where the dog was hunched over, wiggling his bottom in the air with thestick still between its jaw, looking up at her (or she assumed so – how couldhe see with so much long fur in the way?) and waiting patiently for her. Butwhen Alice reached down for the stick, he dived away.

  Alice heardRobin laughing loudly behind her. “You’re going to have to be a lot faster thanthat.”

  “Alrightthen,” Alice said, pushing up her sleeves to the elbow and jumping forward. Shemade a grab for the stick, but the dog ducked under her arms and ran around herlegs. She found herself spinning in circles trying to get him but every timeshe had him cornered, he easily slipped between a gap that seemed so muchsmaller than he should fit through.

  “Need ahand?” Robin giggled.

  “Yes,please.” Alice shouted, still trying to chase the dog around in circles.

  Robin tuckedher bow over her shoulder and made her own dive for the dog. She had betterluck than Alice, and if she hadn’t been laughing so much then she probablycould have caught him with ease, but as she couldn’t stop the giggles, shefound she was stumbling and missing just as much as Alice was. The two girlswere running in circles, trying to block the dogs exit off only for him to slipaway each time. And for the chase, the dog seemed at his most happy, pleasedthat everyone was playing the game with him now.

  After a whileAlice and Robin began to run out of breath. They gasped and clutched theirsides, still laughing as the dog bounced in between them, daring them to tryand make another grab for him long after they had slowed to a stop. Robin andAlice both tried a half-hearted grab for him a few times and ended up fallingagainst each other for support, still laughing as they dropped to their kneesto catch their breath. The dog watched them for a moment before dropping thestick and running over, slobbering wet kisses all over Robin’s face and thengoing to do the same for Alice. They pushed him off, still laughing as theystroked his long-tangled fur to keep him happy as they both continued to pantharshly until they had their breath back long enough to talk.

  When they hadfinally stopped laughing after an unknown amount of time had passed, theyclimbed shakily to their feet and Alice dived for the stick, snatching it up beforethe dog had a chance to react. The dog caught sight of her and barely had achance to run at her feet before she was throwing it as hard as she could backup the way they were heading. And just like that, the dog was off, running awayfor the stick with all the energy in the world.

  “I keep callinghim ‘the dog’ in my head.” Alice said suddenly. Even now she was stillbreathing hard and her face was beginning to ache as she tried talking throughher constant smile. “He needs a name.”

  “He probablyhas one, but we can pick something out until we find his owner. What do youwant to call him?” Robin said, sounding as winded as Alice.

  “I can namehim?” Alice blinked.

  “Why not? Ihave a whole farm of animals I can name.” Robin joked.

  Alice watchedas the dog came bounding back over to them. He continued trying to tease themwith his stick but when neither girl gave in to the game he dropped the woodenobject at their feet and continued running ahead and coming back again, almostlike he was encouraging them to keep moving.

  “What’s atypical dog name?” Alice asked.

  “Whatever youcan think of!” Robin said, waving her arms out dramatically before she beganlisting names off the top of her head. “Scruffy, Rover, Scooby, Marley.” Shewaved her hands again. “You can name him whatever comes to mind.”

  Alice staredat her then smirked and said. “Well then… I think he reminds me of a Robin.”

  “Oh really?”Robin said, raising an eyebrow immediately. “And why is that? Do you know a lotof Robin’s who have messy hair and pant a lot, running around with sticks intheir mouth, giving soggy kisses to every stranger they meet?”

  “Actually, Iwas thinking because he’s so sweet. And fun. And makes me laugh! And cute.”Alice beamed.

  Robin staredat her, then asked quietly. “You think I’m cute?”

  Alice frozeand turned away quickly. “I said aRobin. That doesn’t necessarily mean you.” She said, trying to sound casual andwishing the obvious heat would leave her face.

  “Who else doyou know that’s called Robin?” She challenged playfully.

  Alicehesitated again, then shrugged and waved as the dog once again returned tothem. “Him, of course.”

  The youngergirl let out another short laugh and nodded. “Okay. Fine. I said you could namehim so name him whatever you want.”

  “Robin, itis.” Alice teased.

  “Fine, butI’m going to call him RJ instead.” She winked. “For Robin Junior.”

  “Okay.” Alicesaid, not looking at her, but there was a not so subtle grin on her face and ashine in the corner of her eye.

  She startedto walk, not paying attention to what was in front of her – still too busythinking about the wink when Robin suddenly grabbed her hand. “Wait. Look!” Shesaid, pointing ahead of them.

  The dog,newly named RJ, was pausing a little way in the middle of the path, turning andsniffing the air before diving in between the trees for the first time. Thegirls glanced at one another shortly before they broke into a run and followedhim as quickly as they could before he got too far. It didn’t take them long tocatch up once RJ slowed down his pace and began to wander along, sniffing thewhole way like he could smell something familiar and was following the trail,twisting left and right at odd turns but walking in the same general direction,deeper into the woods.

  “Told youhe’d find his way home.” Robin said proudly.

  “I neverdoubted you.” Alice said. She glanced down then asked shyly; “You gonna let goor…?”

  Robinrealised she was still holding onto Alice’s hand and let go sharply. She smiledat her and half shrugged like it was no big deal. But the fact that she didn’tquite look Alice in the eye when she did, told Alice that Robin wasn’t nearly asconfident as she liked to pretend she was.

  That was so sweet.

 O*U*A*T

  Time waspassing quickly, if only because the two girls found themselves enjoying thewalk a lot more with the added member to entertain them along the way. RJcontinued to be a delight, so excitable and easily entertained that it wasimpossible not laugh when he got pieces of broken leaves stuck on his face midsniff. Along the way, Robin paused in their search to check to see if RJ knewany simple commands or cute little tricks. It turned out he knew a lot, and itwas the first time that Alice had ever seen an animal that would sit, rollover, or lay down upon command. Afterwards, she also filled Alice in with somerandom facts she knew about dogs, including naming as many breeds as she couldthink of and describing them to the best of her abilities. Much like her papahad done for the animals they couldn’t find in the picture book.

  “And this isjust common knowledge?” Alice asked, amazed. It sounded like there was just somuch detailed information, she didn’t see how so many people could possiblyknow it as just some off handed thing.

  “Well, not everyone knows it all. But I thinkmost people can name dogs like Dalmatians and Golden Retrievers and stuff.”Robin explained. “They’re pretty popular back in the other world.”

  “Dalmatiansare the spotty ones, right?” Alice asked.

  “For the mostpart.” Robin nodded. “Some dogs are cross bred so they’re like two differentbreeds mixed together.”

  “That soundsvaguely horrific.” Alice mumbled, imagining a malformed animal forcibly mixedwith another.

  “It’s notreally.” Robin grinned. “In fact, some of them can be really adorable.”

  “I wish Icould see them.” Alice said wistfully.

  Robinhesitated then said softly. “Maybe you can. One day I mean. Magic beans arerare but if I ever find some that will let me visit everyone back inStorybrooke, I’ll take you with me. I’ll show you all the dog breeds and someother cool stuff too.”

  “Other stufflike what?” Alice asked.

  “Like howabout a zoo? There are hundreds of animals all over the world that you’ve neverseen but you’d be able to if we could go to a zoo.” Robin explained. “Things likelions and eagles and gorillas and all kinds of reptiles.”

  “I’ve see alion.” Alice noted. She’d never heard of the middle two, however, and wasunsure about the last one.

  Before Alicecould respond, RJ suddenly stopped mid step and began to growl. Alice may notknow dogs, but she recognised that sound well enough and immediately tensed,reaching for the dagger she kept hidden at her side. At the same time, Robindropped her bow back into her hand and slipped an arrow into place against its frame,lifting it up and aiming at the unknown threat in the shadows in front of them.

  No one moved,not even RJ though he continued to growl, which seemed so much louder in thedull silence of the woods, echoing slightly in the open space. A moment later,a wolf stepped out from behind one of the trees. It was full grown and had itslips pulled back in a threatening snarl. It also had a nasty cut along its backleg that was causing it to limp but that did nothing to lessen the frightening affectit had on the others, nor the angry expression on his face. It moved forward,creeping towards them with its bright eyes fixed on RJ and the girls. Alicealso noted how skinny it was. Its injury looked fresh, but she had a feeling itwas older and possibly had caused him to suffer, unable to hunt which was why hewas as skinny as it was.

  “Back off,wolf.” Robin mumbled, taking a slow step forward so she was standing beside RJ’shead.

  “Can youscare him off?” Alice asked, pulling out her knife and moving closer so shecould assist if needed.

  “No. Lookinto his eyes. This wolf’s gone mad. Probably had an infection in that leg ofhis, which is why it hasn’t healed properly.” Robin explained.

  “You can tellall that just from his eyes?” Alice blinked.

  “I’ve hadmany years hunting animals.” Robin said, never taking her eyes off of the wolf.“You get to know the signs after a while.”

  RJ growledloudly, but he also took a step back. He was a dog used for herding, notfighting. He may be putting up a brave front, but the poor thing was probablyas scared as Alice was. In fact, the only thing keeping Alice from being trulyfrightened, was how calm and confident Robin appeared. She trusted that Robinknew what she was doing, at least.

  “Are yougoing to kill it?” Alice asked, not wanting to distract her but unable to keepquiet. The wolf was crouching towards them, still glaring and snarling withsharp drool covered fangs in between its jaw.

  “Yes.” Robinsaid, just as bluntly as before.

  Alice wantedto ask what she was waiting for but forced herself to bite her tongue. Insteadshe shuffled forward so she was by RJ, so she too could defend him if the wolfmade a move forward. This wasn’t her first time seeing a wild animal, nor wasit the first time said animal had made threatening moves towards her. But nomatter how many times she faced them, a life time of shelter inside her towerprison meant that she still felt the same fear clench her stomach each andevery time.

  The wolflooked up from RJ, towards Robin and then Alice. It seemed to be making up hismind on which one he would go for, either ignoring or simply not recognisingthe weapons both girls had in hand. Now that she was looking, Alice realisedshe could see the madness that Robin had been talking about. Its eyes wereunfocussed, even for an animal, and they twitched constantly, looking back andforth, not because it was trying to pick a target but rather, because its mindcouldn’t concentrate on just one object. Alice had a feeling that, if the wolfhad been a human, he’d be sweating through his clothes and gibbering madly.

  Withoutwarning the wolf jumped. It launched itself straight towards RJ (probablythinking it would be the easiest due to his small size) with a loud growl thatstartled even Alice. So much so, that she found herself frozen and unable to doanything to protect RJ like she had originally intended.

  Luckily Robindidn’t freeze. In a swift motion, she turned her bow to follow the wolf as itjumped and released the arrow. It shot through the air and pierced the wolfdirectly in his chest, causing him to collapse in a heap at their feet. It allhappened in a matter of seconds and Alice realised she was holding her breath onlywhen it was over, and she gasped loudly, taking a small step back as she lookeddown at the wolf’s body, now nothing more than a limp corpse. The arrow seemedto have pierced the wolf’s head directly, leaving on a small amount of bloodtrailing from the direct hole Robin had made.

  “Sorry,”Robin said, walking over and pulling her arrow free. “I didn’t mean to scareyou. I just like to make my kills clean. Especially when I’m putting somethingout of its misery.”

  “That’sokay.” Alice said quickly. “I wasn’t scared.”

  RJ barked, asif to agree. He hadn’t been scared either.

  “Good,” Robinsmiled, throwing her bow back over her shoulders.

  Alice paused.“Um. Should we bury him?” Alice asked, looking down at the wolf.

  “Not muchpoint. Leave him to the other animals.” Robin shrugged.

  “To eat?”Alice cringed.

  “Naturalorder.” Robin explained. “Even if he’s not food for some other animal, sincethey could smell the infection on his leg and go for something else, he’ll rotand become food for the earth. As it should be.”

  “So why notbury him then?” Alice pressed.

  “Otheranimals will smell him. Some will probably be desperate enough to dig him up,so, like I said, not much point.” Robin said casually. “It’d just be a waste ofour time.”

  Alice foundherself staring at Robin. She was amazed by just how much one girl could know.She made it seem like everything was just casual information, things mostpeople knew, but at the same time, the way she spoke made it sound like she wasa professor in all things animal and nature.

  Smart andpretty. Some girls just had it all.

  “Sorry,”Robin said suddenly, noticing Alice staring. “I’m being too blunt.”

  “No, I’mjust… Constantly amazed by you.” Alice admitted, smiling at her then addedquickly. “I mean, amazed by what you know. I hope you can teach me some.”

  “I’m sure Ican give you a few pointers.” Robin grinned.

  Suddenly RJjumped at Robin, putting his paws against her chest and licking her neck andchin when she ducked slightly. She squealed in surprise, taking a sharp stepback to avoid toppling over.

  Alice laughedaloud. “I don’t think RJ likes being out of the conversation.”

  “Attentionhog,” Robin said affectionately, scratching his back before waving a hand.“Well go on. Danger’s gone. Lead the way back to your master.”

  With thathalf-hearted command, RJ turned and started running again. Alice and Robinfollowed behind, both making a point of not looking down at the wolf corpse asthey moved around it. Alice still felt funny about just leaving it there.Especially when she thought back to what Robin said about animals leaving himbecause of the infection on his leg – what if the animal didn’t and then gotsick? But at the same time, she truly did trust Robin, so she pushed theworries out and focussed on keeping up with RJ instead, who was moving evenfaster than before now.

  “I think we’regetting close.” Robin said, jumping a fallen log and turning to hold a hand outfor Alice.

  She didn’tneed it. Her travels had done her a lot of good, but even before that Alice hadclimbed around the inside of her tower room like it was a jungle gym for children.But she still found she happily accepted the offered hand, and the needless assistanceto climb the log and jump down again before they continued the quick stroll afterRJ.

  “I’m gonna besad leaving him with his owner.” Alice admitted. “I really like having himaround.”

  “So, you’reofficially a dog person,” Robin grinned, then sighed. “But yeah. Me too. It maynot have been for very long, but I’m already attached to RJ. I think I mighttry convincing mum to find a dog again. Now that we’ve settled down here, shemight even listen.”

  “Can’t shejust wave her hand and make one appear?” Alice asked.

  “Well, unlessshe literally steals a dog from someone else, it wouldn’t be real.” Robinsighed.

  Alice sighedwith her. “I wish she could just magic a real dog to life. It might be nicehaving a companion in my travels.”

  Robin glancedat her. She looked like she was going to say something but before she could, RJcame bounding back and jumped her. This time Robin wasn’t quite able to keepher balance and was knocked right over, RJ landing heavily on top of her andlapping at her face so much that she almost felt like she was drowning underhis slobber.

  Instantly,while Robin tried to push RJ off, Alice stood back and watched with a laugh.She knew she should help, but it wasn’t often that Robin was left caught offguard and defenceless so, for the moment, Alice was going to enjoy it.

  Finally, sheleaned over, putting her hands on her knees. “Need a hand?” She askedinnocently. Robin had managed to push RJ back, so he could no longer lick everyinch of her face, but he was still stubbornly refusing to get off.

  “Oh no,”Robin said with a sarcastic grin. “I’m fine! This happens all the time. Boyscan’t help themselves.”

  A part ofAlice giggled, but another part felt her stomach knot. Did guys really chaseafter her? The idea bothered Alice way more than she was willing to admit.

  “BAYARD!”

  RJ jumped offof Robin and turned to greet a tall bulky man dressed in a series of furs andleathers. He had a sharp dagger against his hip and a series of arrows restingover his back with a bow in hand that was twice the size of Robin’s and notnearly as well taken care of – it was chipped and scratched and roughly puttogether. He had a thick beard and long black hair, but his eyes were friendly,and his booming voice sounded like one who spent many days laughing rather thanshouting at people.

  Alice reacheddown, helping Robin climb to her feet and using her sleeve to help wipe some ofthe drool left over on her cheeks. When they cleaned up they saw RJ sittingpatiently at the man’s feet as he stroked the side of his face affectionately.

  “I’ve beenlooking all over for you, Bayard.” The man said.

  “Bayard?”Alice blinked.

  “Told you heprobably already had a name.” Robin grinned. She nudged Alice gently andlowered her voice “I personally like your name better.”

  The manlooked up, as if first noticing them. “Did these kind young ladies go throughthe trouble to bring you back to me?”

  Robinimmediately stepped forward. “No trouble. Actually, it was a lot of fun.” Shegrinned at him. “My friend hasn’t seen a dog before, so it was a goodexperience for her.”

  “Well they’rerare around these parts.” The man explained, standing. “Thank you, for lookingafter him. He’d a good boy but has a habit of running off when he gets excited.He always finds his way back eventually, but I worry about that one day whensomething will happen… I’d like to repay you if I can.” He reached into hispocket.

  “Oh, we can’taccept anything. Like I said, we enjoyed his company.” Robin reached down,scratching RJ- or rather, Bayard’s head one last time. “Makes us both want oneof our own.”

  “Well, sadly,he’s the only one I have,” The man said. “And I’m lucky to even have him. It’sa sad story I’m afraid and I won’t upset you with the details but I’d stilllike to thank you. Not many people would have gone through the trouble.”

  “I canimagine.” Alice said quietly. If dogs where are rare as they both kept saying,she could see anyone who managed to stumble across one might not have the mosthonourable intentions.

  “Well if youwon’t accept anything, at least take my thanks,” The man said. “Maybe one day we’llmeet again, and I can repay you properly.”

  “You neverknow,” Robin beamed. “I find we tend to run into familiar faces more than weeven realise.”

  “The name’sBorrick. But most people just call me the Huntsman.” He said with a grin. “Nota nickname I love but it’s accurate enough.”

  “I’m Robin,and this is my friend; Alice.” Robin said as she reached out to shake Borrick’shand while Alice hung back, still a little unsure.

  Unfortunately,they couldn’t have a real conversation. Now that he had his furry friend back,Borrick explained that he had to head home before the campsite he had left tofind Bayard was ransacked. He did, however give them a moment so Alice andRobin could say their goodbyes to their new four-legged friend. They turnedback to Bayard, each reaching down to give him one last stroke as he returnedit with a wet kiss on their cheeks and chin, even letting them cuddle into histhick soft fur one last time before they stepped back and watched as Bayard andhis owner turned and started back in the direction of temporary home. Robinnoted how much calmer Bayard was now that he was by Borrick’s side, no longerrunning in hysterics like he had with them.

  For somereason Alice felt they were saying goodbye to an old and familiar friend. She’donly met Bayard a few hours ago and she was strangely miserable to see him go.Robin seemed to understand, and she silently reached down, taking Alice’s handand lacing their fingers together with a soft smile. They both knew the chancesof finding another dog was slim, let alone actually owning one themselves, butthey could still dream of it. And who knows, weirder things had happened forboth of them in life.

  “Come on,”Robin said, tugging gently to guide Alice back the way they came. “Come havelunch at mine.”

  “Are yousure?” Alice asked, noting that even when she began to walk, Robin didn’t letgo of her hand.

  “Yeah. I’vealready lost my dog, I’m not losing you, too.” Robin joked.

  It was just ajoke. Yet, somehow, Alice still felt like Robin had just made a promise. Andshe planned to hold her to it.

Hope you like it! I had fun writing it up! Lol! Also, one lil note, the Huntsman at the end was meant to be like an Alternative Version of Graham. So yeah, tell me what you think!

[douchebagbrainwaves]

I'VE BEEN PONDERING PRODUCT

If you don't and a competitor does, you're in startup territory. Competitors commonly find ways to work around a patent. If your startup grows big enough, however, is an outlying data point. Whereas if a startup regularly does new deals and releases and either sends us mail or shows up at YC events, they're probably going to have to work on something interesting with people I like. Making wealth is not the only reason investors like startups so much? Wozniak was able to make himself one. I mentioned, a pretty bad judge of startups. The distributors want to prevent the transparency that comes from having prices online. VCs want to invest in startups is not simply that they like what they can't have, but because the process of raising money. Rtm and Trevor and I do because we always have, and Jessica does too, mostly, because she's gotten into sync with us. He seemed to regard it as a computer system executing that algorithm. I'd guess the most successful founder we've funded so far, but the effect on your morale and your bargaining position is anything but.

They would have both carrot and stick to motivate them. Plus the maxima in the space of startup ideas are not spiky and isolated. In this respect, as in many others, the eminent are prisoners of their own people would rebel. The professor who made his reputation by discovering some new idea is not likely to be the most valuable sources of ideas in the visual arts, where there's almost no overlap between the teachers and the leading practitioners. Wealth is as old as the web grew to a size where you didn't have to be crazy to refuse. Electricity seemed an airy intangible to most people, including the experts themselves, can measure. Now when we talk to them. Families are entitled to their own traditions, and who am I to argue with them? If you do make users register, unless you need to win. McCarthy alone bridged the gap.

Evelyn Waugh and Nancy Mitford. You think of n/2 of them in San Francisco. It seemed to me as a twelve year old football expert that the best of them all was Jack Lambert. Parents will tend to do this when they can help a startup, by turning you into a tame animal who thinks he needs an office to work in software. Because an ordinary employee's performance can't usually be measured, he is not expected to devote your whole life with no hope of anything better, under the thumb of lords and priests you had to give all your surplus to and acknowledge as your masters. If the tests a society uses are currently hackable, we can spring on the world a stream of new startups that might otherwise not have existed. You rarely hear of a startup is the embodiment of understanding your users will even ensure your morale, it will probably fail. Why do startups have to be secretive with other companies; they'd have to be about.

But there are two things different here from the usual confidence-building business have already achieved their goal when you buy the book or pay to attend the seminar where they tell you how great you are. In restoring your old car you have made yourself richer. A startup is a company designed to grow fast, I mean it in two. IBM. The classic 5 paragraph essay is really a list of n things. I've never cried like I cried at his funeral. And you know what jobs are like, but you can't expect to hit that right away. They just think they need a little more information to make up their minds faster, or new investors will emerge who do. Also, technical advances tend to come from unorthodox approaches, and small companies are less constrained by convention. By giving him something he wants in return. So it is easier to manage than generating returns from dividends.

Whereas a search engine you have to frame it as a personal insult when someone from the other team had possession of the ball on his side of the line of scrimmage. Yesterday one of the many weird little problems you discover when you get rich is that there are a lot of money for them, and IBM could easily have gotten an operating system elsewhere. Of course, all other things being equal, a very able person who does care about money, or to prevent you from overspending are so basic that they may even be the majority. It's not just that it's more straightforward. Let's think about how such a management company might be organized. Those characters you type are a complete, finished product. TV for 2 hours, let alone a whole day sitting on a park bench.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we could achieve a 50% success rate? If you want, there is not a bad way to think about the whole experience. Most people who are reluctant to do anything that completely took over my life the way a startup does. There have to be profitable to convey to investors that you'll succeed with or without them. They just think they need a little more information, and that alone is a black hole. One reason it's so brutal is simply the brutality of markets. If you grow to the point where anyone considers you worth attacking, you're doing well or badly. The most important thing that the constraints on a normal business protect it from is not competition, however, because its rarity is guaranteed by the U. How much are you trying to raise?

The startup may have more long-term potential, but you'll have it all to yourself. Here is a brief sketch of the economic proposition. When the Mac came out, he said that as a kid growing up in Saskatchewan he'd been amazed at the dedication Jobs and Wozniak were marginal people too. In that case, tweak your product and try again. IBM. But they played offense, and you assemble a team of qualified experts and tell them to make a lot of research and decide for themselves how valuable your technology was. The most important reason for having surprisingly good customer service. The more complicated the world gets, the more heat they get if they screw up—or even seem to screw up. At least, that's what we advise, and we got Java applets. Startup is a pole rather than a pleasure. Eventually a successful startup will get acquisition offers too. How would you get food, if you can.

[stories-and-sails]

Marmageddon: The Paranormal Romance No One Wanted (An Excerpt)

“I've tried to tell this story a thousand ways. When you get to my age…” “You're twenty-four.” “Ahem. When you get to my age, you realize that stories aren't as simple and straightforward as they seem.” “You're not my grandpa. Cut to the chase.”

It started when that marmot bit me. I mean, obviously that's how it started. He was underneath my truck when I—well, that part isn't important. It started when that marmot bit me, and the first full moon after that, I transformed into a marmot. I'll spare you the denial and disbelief. I mean, would you believe it if you woke up in the body of a rodent, lying in the middle of your front lawn in a pool of decapitated grasses, hands and face smeared with mud? I had become a monster. I had become the thing I feared most.

“You’re being extreme,” “You can't understand. You're not were.” “And you're not a were-wolf. You didn't bite anyone or maul any innocent villagers.” “Still. The shock. The horror. Like I said, I'll spare you the details about coming to terms with who I had become. It wasn't pretty. In time, I’ve come to accept myself. That I have appetites for things that normal men don't.” “Oh my gosh, Hunter. People eat vegetables all the time.” “Rabbit food. It's not natural.” “Are you going to tell the story, or are you going to keep being ridiculous?”

You have to understand that when you first become a were-marmot, the changes aren't voluntary. You can be in the middle of driving your truck, and hear a strange noise, and BAM, you've got your little marmot paws clinging onto the steering wheel and no way to reach the brakes. Or you'll be in the middle of scurrying into the burrow when suddenly you get this funny feeling in your gut and WHAM, you're raising the roof. Literally. That's a problem for people like us, of course. Lot of the new guys don't ever make it through the first few months.

It wasn't like I could just call into work for four months straight. And who was I supposed to tell? “Hey can you come check in on me at the house? Might turn into a marmot and not be able to reach the door handles.” No. This was the kind of thing I had to handle on my own. 

So there I was at work, standing out by the shed with the guys and waiting to see if the rain was going to let up or get worse, but then I saw this marmot running through the field. Every now and then he'd stand back on his haunches and wave his little paws in the air like he was trying to get our attention. Shoot. I knew right away it was Swiftpaw. They would have sent him to warn me, but only if there was a real problem. The guys were starting to notice that something weird was going on, and worse, Emma had decided he looked tasty. 

“Emma,” I said, leaning down next to her ears. “Calm down, girl. That's a friend, not a food.” But her eyes were fixed on him, and she was getting that crazy predator glint in them. Maybe I could have gotten her to calm down, only at that moment, I felt a weird twinge in my gut. Not a “shouldn't have eaten those pickled eggs” twinge. A transformation twinge. 

“Uh,” I grunted. “I gotta..” I started running for the corner of the building, hoping I'd get there before I shrunk enough to notice, especially since all the guys had turned around to watch me run, laughing and calling encouragement. For all they knew, I’d been making an awful lot of sprints to the bathroom lately. You're wondering about my clothes, right? When I told you that I kept transforming in the middle of daily activities, you wondered what happened to my clothes every time. This is what: I ran right out of my shoes first, and then collapsed, writhing as fur sprouted from every inch of my body and my teeth and snout elongated. When it was over, I was surrounded on all sides by denim. I've chewed my way out of more pairs of pants than most folks have. 

I managed to wiggle out of this pair without chewing and dragged them to a corner where I hoped they’d go unnoticed by the guys. I didn't want to answer the questions if they found every article of clothing I wore that day dropped on the floor of the shop. Again. 

After wrestling around with my clothes like that, I'd lost some time, so I scooted on out to see if Swiftpaw was still in the field.

I stood up on my hind legs and sniffed the air, sensing the many details that human noses just don't get. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there are a lot of different poop scents around a farm. A whole mosaic of them, really. But I didn't have long to stop and smell the, uh, roses. Emma had chased Swiftpaw to the top of a fencepost and was leaping around, barking her head off. Most of the guys were just standing there laughing. At least Hinkley was trying to call Emma off whenever he managed to catch his breath. 

This was going to call for a decoy run. 

Letting out a chittering whoop, I scurried down the hill. 

You notice how fast marmots are when you hunt them. I've noticed it before. They’re fast. They boogie. But you don't realize until you've been one of them how fast it feels to go flying over the ground, the long grass whipping against your cheek pouches, paws barely skimming the earth.

“Okay, you're not a thoroughbred racehorse, either.” “Well. No. But it feels really fast, okay?” “Sure. So you were sprinting majestically across the field.”

To rescue my friend from Man's Best Friend. Right.

Luckily, Emma seemed to think that a sprinting target was even more fun than a fixed one, and she ran after me, which gave Swiftpaw enough time to get down from the fencepost and make for the burrow. 

Unfortunately, Emma seemed to think the sprinting target was more fun than the fixed one, and within seconds she was hot on my heels. 

“No!” I shouted over my shoulder. “Emma! Bad dog. No chase. Go home.” I swear I saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes, even though I didn't speak with my human voice. It was almost like she knew who I was. Which would have been impressive if she hadn't watched me transform in front of her own eyes about fourteen times since I'd been infected.

“Emma!” I shouted. “It's me! I buy you dog food and let you sleep in my bed. Do not kill me.”

Her momentary confusion bought me enough time to scoot my butt into the burrow, and she couldn't follow. She sniffed and scratched around the entrance for a few moments, and several of the marmots in the little burrow turned to give me irritated looks.

“Sorry,” I offered. “She followed me home.”

Loosetooth's head popped into the room. “Hunter. You're here. We sent Swiftpaw to warn you of the danger.”

I grimaced. “Yeah. Maybe next time he should—you know, kind of sneak around the back instead of running up doing semaphore signals.”

She waved away my suggestion. “There's no time for subtlety now. Rumor has it the Marmoth has been spotted to the east.”

I chill ran through my fur, even though I didn't know what she was talking about. “The what?”

“The Marmoth” she repeated solemnly. I saw several of the nearby marmots pause to look at her, their eyes seeking confirmation. 

“It cannot be,” one of them said in a hushed whisper.

“We believe that it is true. That the Marmoth has returned,” she turned back to me, and I could see that her fur was standing on end and her eyes were huge in fear. “The Marmoth is like you and I. He once was human and now is marmot. But he is—really, really large.”

“Okay…”

“He never settled between human and marmot. Instead, he is caught between. A marmot the size of a man.”

“Okay…” I repeated. I was waiting for, something scary. Like, he was really big and could shoot snakes out his nose. Or, he was really big and had an army of snakes. Or, he was really big and—

“Well. Don't you see?”

I squinted. “Uh, no? You're saying he's the size of a human. But so am I, most of the time.”

She dismissed this too. “I should have known one of the new pups would not understand the danger we face from the Marmoth. But rest assured, those of us who remember know the danger. He destroyed more than one den when last he passed through.”

Murmurs of agreement spread around the group, and several of them were looking at me with expressions of disgust. 

“Okay, okay!” I held my paws up in front of my chest. “He's a big deal. We need to chase him off. Is that right?”

I'd made the mistake one time of saying that I could shoot something while I was in my human form, and the entire marmot community had shunned me for a week. It left me feeling strangely bereft. I'd put my gun in the back of the closet and replaced “shoot” in my vocabulary with “chase off.” Where it was appropriate, I mean. I wasn't about to go ask the guys if they wanted to chase off some pool. There was a lot of context involved with switching between forms like I did all the time. 

Anyway, the marmots looked at me like this was a really shocking suggestion. “You wouldn't say that if you'd met him. If you'd seen what he could do. What he has done.”

How scary could some oversized rodent be? I wasn't trying to downplay their fear, but I was pretty sure my colony could “chase him off” if need be. “You speak of what you do not know,” she intoned. “Go home. You will see the devastation there.”

That was enough to make me want to human back up, but I couldn't just flip the switch. Besides, I was still stuck in the middle of the burrow, and I needed to scoot on out of there before turning back into a human. 

“Great,” I said. “I'll see you there.”

I'll be honest. When I first turned, I didn't think I was going to get too involved in the inner workings of the marmot people. I mean, they were animals, and I was a human, so what could we possibly have in common? But it's a lonely thing, being a were-marmot. Even your own dog will turn against  you, and eventually you start turning to the company of those like you. Or like you in some way. Within the marmot colonies, there were a lot of folks that were pure marmot, never human. There were a number of were who, once they could actually control the shifting, chose to stay marmot most of the time. There were those of us who'd been made through an infected bite, and were-marmots that had been born because their parents were were. We didn't all have the same view on everything, but they understood better what I was dealing with than any of the full-time humans I knew. None of them had even heard of were-marmots. So even if my colony was a little extreme sometimes, and even if they did like to eat unspeakable things, I liked them. If this Marmoth was a danger to them, I couldn’t take it lightly.

“Were they right? When you got home, I mean, was it as devastating as they said it would be?” ... “Hunter? Hunter, are you okay? You're kind of spacing out.” “Oh. Oh, right. I was just remembering.”