#you freaking amazing human let me freaking smooch you

[marsvillee]

im sobbing even worse

Cat named Mars (catboy!hwa hcs)

(masterlist) (perma-taglist)

😻 pairing: catboy!seonghwa x gn!reader 😻 genre: headcanons, fluff, crack, demon? to cat? to roommate? to lover? 😻 summary: the longest bulletpoints about what it would be like to have catboy!hwa as your bf - the whole story 😻 wordcount: 4.5k 😻 warnings/tags: editing? who is she, unhinged crack part nyah, catboy!hwa, cute catboy!hwa, soft and polite catboy!hwa- okay i will stop |, language, food/eating, mention of others not treating animals well, sweater paws, mention of adorable nerdy hobbies, domestic, cuddle, a surprise about how hwa ended up being a cat in the first place, both past and present tense used, mainly lowercase 😻 taglist: at the bottom of the fic~ 😻 a/n: let me drift in the soft and fluffy catboy!hwa lands until waterbomb strikes, for my own healing; my braincells are out of service but i hope you enjoy <3 all reblogs, thoughts and notes appreciated! big hugs!

once upon a time he was a cat

there was never a moment to think about anything except work, and maybe about groceries and bills (but even those things normally hit you at two o'clock in the morning, leading you to check your phone and make make amendments to your schedule in a panicked state). there was never any room for a cat. until there was.

of course there just had to be an adorable kitty, at most maybe a couple of years old, lean and with jet black fur that was surprisingly shiny for an abandoned cat, sitting square in the middle of a cardboard box on the side of the street that formed a part of your regular path and commute to and from work. in the morning, you had locked eyes with the cat, heart bleeding and hurting for the poor creature but secretly hoping that someone else would take it - you couldn't take care of it, could you? in the evening, you were huffing and puffing with the cardboard box in your hands and the cat happily meowing, its tail stretched out upwards into a chimney pipe, slightly tilted to the side at the very end. you read somewhere that it meant the cat was happy, so you were going to take that as a good sign.

sat on the floor at the entrance to your apartment, you eyed the beautiful creature as it kept on purring and trying to hop out of the box and towards you, while you were insistent on keeping it in, lifting a cardboard flap repeatedly in an effort to prevent it from jumping. so. now you had a cat. there was nothing in the box, and on the outside, in horrific scrawl was a message suggesting whoever took the kitty either "kept him, or throw him away, whatever". non-humans. "that's who your previous owners were, right kitty?" you mumbled to no one in particular, but it seemed that the cat picked up on your speech and inched closer to you, ears moving like disks to pick up signals. "so you are a he, yeah?" a meow. so you were right. at least the beasts from this cat's past got one thing right. "do you have a name? actually… you know what do you want a… new name?" you were fast on the attachment scale, you realised. it had been barely a few minutes and you were already trying to name the cat who you had not even checked for diseases, nor had any basic facilities to take care of him. but he was more than excited by the prospect, and mewled in what sounded like gratitude. you began to list off names, eventually boring the kitty, and he started to falter in his enthusiasm. all until one name rang a bell.

"Mars?"

and that was how you ended up with a black cat named Mars.

by the power of actually having to shake paws with a cat, and you promising to get him quality snacks, you managed to get Mars checked at the vet who confirmed everything was fine, and was equally as amazed as you that he was so well groomed and neat. while you knew you did not have much of a right to do this, your inner pride still swelled and, to yourself, you said that 'yes, my Mars is really neat and handsome'.

you took to addressing Mars as 'your handsome boy' and that seemed to wake him up and get him speeding towards you faster than anything else could. also 'the prettiest star' and 'my universe' and 'marvellous Mars' all worked wonders.

at the same time, he was shy, as if he did not want to disturb you with his antics. always tip-toeing around you as silently as a cat could (which was very silent, to the point where he jumpscared you a couple of times but that is okay because excuse me did you see his precious face????) and never taking up much space, even though… hello? Mars? you are a cat?? he would rarely ever hop on any surfaces unless you explicitly told him to do so - this had left you convinced that your cat was well-versed in human-speak. he never meowed for food until you had told him to vocalise and tell you if he was very hungry, and gave him a rundown of his eating schedule and how it was important that he drank water. he was the politest cat you had ever met, while at the same time his timidness made you wonder if you were in any way intimidating. not once did Mars ever enter your bedroom, even though you left the door wide open for him, preferring to crash on the couch or on the floor of some other room. the first couple of times you joked about it saying "are you scared you'll see something, Marsy?" but when your cat actually looked away and hunched over, you were convinced that you hit the nail on the head, and that you were probably either hallucinating or were slowly turning into Doctor Dolittle.

but you were persistent. and insistent. and you took the little blanket with kuromi decor on it from him (yes this was that extreme of a situation) and put it at the edge of your bed. climbing in and covering yourself in the many layers, you looked at the terrified figure hovering at the entrance to the room, boba eyes as wide as saucers. he kept on looking at the blanket, then at you, then again at the blanket, then again at you, probably wondering if he could snatch the thing and make a run for it. you were on the verge of giving up at this point. sleepy, with work tomorrow, you were not about to engage in a whole war with your cat.

"you know what, if you want to stay, you can stay. i promise i will not hurt you, nor will i push you out. if you want to come closer, do. if you just want to take the blanket and leave, you can do that. your choice. i won't be hurt. i promise. you are already super brave and i love you either way. okay, Mars?" he did not respond, frozen in place. "my handsome boy?" his head twisted towards you. "precious?" a blink. another blink. one paw in front of the other. "are you actua- wow! I am so proud of you my baby! my brave boy!" you were cooing praises at him like there was nothing else in the world that existed as soon as he hopped onto the bed, foregoing the blanket and making a beeline towards your face, as though that was his read source of comfort. he was afraid to look away, focusing on your every expression as you patted his head and let him nuzzle into you. "you are so so brave, you know that? i know this is hard, so if at any point you want to leave, you can, okay?" purring louder than a powerdrill was the response you received. along with kitty cuddles through the whole night. because apparently, your cat was a koala all along.

and even in his cuddles he was gentle. you did not think you had ever seen him use his claws… ever. except maybe on a few toys but as soon as you were in sight poof gone, soft Mars activated. he was like your personal heater, careful to wrap himself closer to you not to push you out, but to instead complete whatever curled up position you were lying in. if you were stretched out to the side, he would find a place. if you were in a ball? he would find a place again. if you were lying down straight for whatever reason? give him a couple of nights to get comfortable, and now you had the ultimate cat comforter either on you, or around your head. and yes, you were blessed with a cat who barely shed, somehow. some of your friends who had cats almost cursed you when they found out, but you only smiled, looking at your lockscreen. nowadays, even during the workday you were thinking of Mars at least a little bit.

maybe you were spoiling him a little bit, but it was too adorable to see him watching you play legend of zelda or animal crossing on your nintendo switch. and when he saw that you got a gift from a friend in the form of a lego set? well. you were literally afraid to open the box because of how hyper your cat got - perhaps not today…

you fell into the most pleasant routines with Mars, from waking up and going to bed together, to eating breakfast and then 'parting ways' for you to attend to human business and him to his 'cat business'. it was cute. it made your head sing. you were happier than you had ever been. all thanks to that one random day. one random box. and one black haired kitty who radiated sunshine.

it was the eve of the one year anniversary of you being the proud owner of, or how you preferred to say it, the best friend of 'L/n Mars', and you were as sure as his ears were pointy in wanting to go all out with your celebration - minus the guests (because the last time you had invited a male friend of yours over your cat turned into a whole other creature and then sulked for at least three days until you took a day off work and called it 'Mars day', but you just assumed it was some territorial thing). you had set up little themed decorations, found a cute little headband with the number '1' that is suitable and safe for a cat and would not hurt his head, got a matching, human-sized one for yourself, made a whole dinner for your favourite kitty from scratch - the ingredients all checked with the vet who you now casually called by first name because you did not dare ever give Mars anything that might harm him and would rather panic call the doctor.

you were sat at the coffee table, so that it would be easier for Mars to reach the food (you set pillows on the floor for extra comfort, for which he thanked you with a loud meow), and had your respective mini-cakes set out in front of either of you. you had given up on making him ever eat kitty food - another peculiar quirk of your cat, so the 'cake', which was more a protein gift than anything, was fully home made. but Mars was happy. more than happy. if cats could smile, that was exactly what he was doing, right at you, squinting his eyes, threatening to hop over the table. you told him to wait, and quietly whispered your gratitude to him. much to your delight, he waited and listened, clinging onto every word.

"you know, i really think you are an angel. before you i was quite… how do i say this… life was just passing by. and now i look forward to it. and to be able to see you every day, to have fun days with you, to talk with you… all of that brings me so much joy and i hope that i can make you at least a little bit happy too. i wish you could tell me what you want, of course, but i really do think you know what i am thinking, what i am saying. and i hope that i am right in saying that i can understand you a bit too. you really are the smartest, most precious Mars. light of my life. i love you so much, my gorgeous, and here is to many years more, cheers~" you clinked your glass with orange juice with his water bowl, and giggled when he took a couple of neat laps to match with your gulps, only to lick his lips and hop off the pillows and go under the table.

in a matter of seconds, he reappeared at your side of the table, and poked at your lap with his paw, looking up at you with his bead-like eyes that seemed to contain the whole universe in them. you pat him between his ears, scratched under his chin, delighting him, and then stretched out your legs, gesturing towards your legs to signify that lap-napping season was open. Mars did not need to be told twice, and soon enough you had a black cat curled up on your lap, purring away, mewling a couple of times when you started eating to remind you that he was hungry too.

"so you want me to feed you now, too? aren't you cheeky-"

as if you could refuse him. you would be lying if you said you could. so there you were, on the floor and feeding Mars, quiet music playing from your phone, not quite sure if you could be any happier.

"i love you."

quite the contrast to what happened the next morning.

suddenly he is a catboy

when you wake up, Mars is nowhere in sight, and even when you call him, to which he would reply with at least a meow, you are only met with silence. you are alarmed, but wait in bed for just a little longer to see if Mars would come to you. nothing. you call again, 'pspspsps' him, all to no avail. only the breeze and the birds outside, along with inexplicable rustling from another room in your apartment. you raise an eyebrow and prop yourself up on your elbows. more rustling. a door opening, which sounds like the closet where you kept your warmer clothes. what is going on? another door closing. footsteps? you are on high alert. grabbing your phone and the light saber model which you had made a while back and kept safe by your bed, as it turned out exactly for this kind of moment, you head out to face whatever, or whoever is the source of the sound.

you are stealth itself, rounding the corner with weapon in hand, ready to face the attacker - or so you thought. until you come face to face with the tall, young man dressed head to toe in your clothing, namely a tracksuit that you had accidentally gotten in the wrong size and then somehow ended up being refunded for without returning the item, and a beanie that he had pulled over his head. spikes of jet black hair are poking from under the hat in all directions, and his deep brown eyes are widened in shock as he freezes on the spot and stares back at you.

"so, what the hell are you doing in my clothes?"

"y/n- i-"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?"

"i can explain-"

"nope do NOT get closer what-"

"Mars…. i…. it's me… your uh… cat."

"what?"

he looks embarrassed beyond belief, and crumbles to the floor, sliding until his back is against the wardrobe. wrapping his arms around his knees, he is scared to look up at you, worried that you would never recognise him, never accept him. this is exactly what he has been dreading all this time, and was heartbroken when the curse was finally broken, despite him technically being free now. he does not want to be away from you. this is his home. you are his home. you are the one who showed him true love.

"if it is okay… may i take this beanie off for a second?"

"i didn't even let you put it on in the first place," he winces. you feel a little bad, but hold your ground. his eyes sparkle in a way that is a little too familiar, reminding you of a certain someone. the cat who he mentioned. your precious cat. Mars.

"okay… here goes…" he slides the material off, making you gasp. hidden under the beanie is a pair of cat ears, fluffy, the same colour as his hair, and twitching as he adjusts after having flattened them to minimise their visibility.

"yo what."

"i have… a tail too."

"WHAT?"

he is not joking. a black tail to go with the black ears, sliding out from under the oversized hoodie. you are not sure what happened next, but you wake up on the sofa with the man, who you are now guessing is some human cat hybrid version of Mars fanning you with a magazine.

"I AM SORRY, Y/N PLEASE WAKE UP I AM SO- oh you are awake thank goodness i missed you i am really so sorry…" he drops the magazine almost instantly, leaning towards you and wrapping you in a warm embrace, much to your surprise. you yelp, but the softness, as well as his ears moving in the cutest way while he hugs you make you accept the gesture, and return it.

you never thought you would hear a grown man purr exactly like a cat, but here you are. well, you never thought you would have a catboy in your apartment either, but this is already happening so...

"so, Mars?"

"yeah?"

"you have some explaining to do."

after what turned out to be at least two hours of you and him going back and forth about what had unfolded and what was the history of the young catboy's state, you find out that, in reality, his name is Park Seonghwa, and that he is a demon, of all things. that is right, a demon. set out to curse and haunt and spread sin. but no, he is cast out of hell because he is too kind and soft. and so he had been cursed to be a cat, until for a full year, someone could give him their whole heart, their full love. while he explains this to you with a fondness unlike anything you had ever seen before in your life (except in what you perceived from cat Mars's eyes), you begin to blush, realising that all this time, you were talking to and confessing to him. Seonghwa. this handsome man who was always by your side and-

oh. and he was sleeping in the same bed as you. just great. you flush an even deeper shade and cover your face. and he had been jealous, not territorial, when your friend had come over.

"are you okay?"

"so okay."

"hug?"

"i, uh-"

"you give really good hugs."

"Park Seonghwa do you really want to make me suffer?"

"I AM SO SORRY ARE YOU HURT? DID I SAY SOMETHING WRONG I AM SO SORRY?!"

"no you are too cute. come here"

catboy!hwa headcanons

is initially cautious because well… you got used to him being a cat and now suddenly you have a whole man with cat ears and a tail walking around your house. he catches on to the fact that you are kind of shy around him too, but he does not push it, at least not straight away.

because that would mean that he has to get over his own shyness towards you extra quickly, and that proves to be difficult when it hits him that, well, he is now a person too, and you are a person, and he fell in love with you, and you told him you loved him before - on occasion he just walks around blushing with his ears pressed flat to his head but don't point it out he is already struggling ;~;

you might have to be the one to initiate the contact again because he is literally too scared to overstep anything and everything - even when you bought him his own first few sets of clothes as a 'human edition anniversary gift'. you approach him to give him a hug and he groups up as if he is about to dive into a pool, hands to his chest, eyes wide. but is he moving anywhere? no. does his purring give him away? yes. after that the two of you gently reintroduce physical touch and it makes you realise just how much you miss Mars, particularly because Seonghwa is still a little distant for understandable reasons. But you both are trying your best.

if you massage his head and scratch behind his hears he will melt - his favourite thing in the world is having his head rest on your lap with his eyes closed while you ruffle his hair really slowly and run your fingers through it.

desperately misses the times when you would call him handsome and pretty and smart, and every single affectionate word in the universe so he tries his damn hardest to get you to do that again, first by trying to be nice and helping you around the house, and when the results are not to his satisfaction and when cuddle sessions are pretty much the norm, but words of affection aren't… he pouts and openly asks you why you don't call him that anymore. you squeak the words out but the reaction makes every next attempt easier than anything.

he is scared to approach your room again, though, and this time you say nothing because well, this is a whole other territory. a couple of months pass before you consider and that is because you find him sleeping on the floor a couple of times, curled up with is tail covering his face a little, and he said it was because "he is scared otherwise and here is safe". so you take out a futon for now, but he is more than happy with this progress.

he learns how to cook both from you and from tutorials online, and then starts remembering what he used to cook a long time before - you basically stop cooking altogether because now he is insistent on waking you up with breakfast, packing you lunch and greeting you with dinner. he sometimes gets a bit too experimental, but you do not mind it too much because at least he cleans everything up.

you think you can ignore the lego in the corner of your living room? no :) it is a date now. a lego building date. for four hours straight. on the floor. him running this ship like you run your team at work. and his focus, his professional approach to the matter is a little too attractive, you admit to yourself. and somewhere along the way that translates into you planting a kiss on Hwa's cheek. this is the only time over the whole four hours that he drops the pieces he is holding in his hands, gazing at you, not quite sure if what he felt just now was real or not.

but nope, judging by your attempts to avoid his gaze this was very real. so he gets real bold real quick and guess who finds themselves trapped by two tones arms on either side of you, back on the floor, a curious and mischievous face a mere inch away? that's right, you. wants to build a starship, accidentally builds a relationship along with it - a major win.

there isn't ever a platonic stage really. an extensive awkward stage? sure. a roommates-maybe stage? sure. two people who like each other? sure. and now, after many months of you settling into a new routine, two people who love each other and keep telling each other that.

he finds a job that he can do remotely, and in this way remains mainly at home and around the neighbourhood with his beloved hobbies and balancing you out. in this way he now starts to sneak support to pay bills and to buy you little gifts (as a little apology for taking your clothes sometimes - read often)

it is not Hwa's fault that he misses you very quickly. it just happens. then one thing leads to another and he is lying on your shared bed hugging a hoodie of yours. eventually that leads to him dragging a couple more items out of your wardrobe and making a little nest out of them - only then does his worry go down and he goes for a nap while curled up in a ball.

when he knows that you should be arriving soon he starts walking up to the window, then away then back to the window, and away again. cycle repeats itself until he can spot you from a distance, and then he just stays by the window.

he helps you redecorate and rearrange your apartment, considering that you now have a 5'10'' human cat instead of one you can hold with two hands, and shocks you with just how many details he remembers about you, down to allergies, what colours irritate you when it comes to interiors, what plants you had to give away to keep him 'in cat form' safe - even though yes, he would not eat them, but how were you to know that?

he remembers all your special days, and hopes you remember his, too. thankfully, he knows his own birthday and using cat mathematics, converted from demon to cat to human. and so, now you can celebrate him wholeheartedly, only this time that also involves you taking him to go have a picnic under the cherry blossoms.

you and Seonghwa go to pick out and buy him a phone together, and you spend a whole day teaching him how to use it. soon enough your own phone goes off with notifications from him. he sends you fun things throughout the day and if he is busy, he sends you a selfie or a heartfelt message.

likes to curl up and read poetry with you. doesn't matter if out loud of in silence. what matters to him is that you are close. and good luck trying to get away - he has a tail and it is wrapped around your leg like an alert system so that he can tackle you right back to the couch or the bed. because it is you and Seonghwa time.

occasionally sings you lullabies that he either overheard somewhere or remembers, breaking into a smile when you wriggle closer to him and fall asleep, stress melting away from your every feature.

overall you are now living with a catboy Hwa cast out of hell for being too nice, who also turned out to be a big nerd, with heart eyes for you, sweater paws instead of actual paws, the occasional feline habits still coming through (like him rubbing his face against your shoulder, or your own face, or him hissing when frustrated or threatened, or him having the widest stretch in the morning, or… actually he is still part cat so, you have to deal with it), and all the love to give. thankfully not in the form of something he hunted. he buys birds at a store now. meant to be cooked. human-friendly.

he brings you a limited edition starship instead. if you display it he will look at you like he is falling in love with you all over again - if that is even possible because that would mean stopping loving you now, and that is the one thing he cannot do <3

😻 taglist: @acciocriativity @justhere4kpop @byuntrash101 @shakalakaboomboo @starillusion13 @hongthoven @cqndiedcherries @uwuheeseungie @cheollipop @frankenstein852 @charreddonuts @miriamxsworld @mingigoo @michel-angelhoe @innsomniacshinestar @foxinnie8 @preciouswoozi @wooyoungjpg @nebulousbookshelf @wowie-hockey @hongjoongs-patience @ssaboala @jaehunnyy @kitten4sannie @maddkitt @pocketjoong-reads @lightinyreads @ren-junwrld @burnmepls @pyeonghongrie-main @archivesummer @little-angel-k @marsstarxhwa

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, please leave a kind reblog, much love!

[konata-izumi-kinny-writes]

MTMTE Swerve, Rodimus Prime, Ratchet, Kup, and Strongarm (Rid2015) with a Human S/O who loves singing

Part 1

Please don't ask how a human lived long enough to board the Lost Light, because i have no idea in the slightest 🤣

Also... oml i LOVE Strongarm SO FREAKING MUCH AAA- SHES SO COOL <(●´∀｀●<)

Swerve

He just stood there as he realized that amazing melody is coming from you!

He thought he was hallucinating and that maybe he had a bit too much filtered Engex

Nope! Its just you.

Swerve is amazed though, he talks about it to everyone and just doesn't shut up about it 🤣❤

If you don't have stage fright he'll ask you to sing at the bar as entertainment... and to keep him company.

Big boi misses you when you're not around.

He gives you lots of human-safe drinks to give you a break and help you stay hydrated.

Expect lots of smooches after you're done with your little musical lol

If you do have stage fright, no worries, he understands and won't pressure you.

He'll be really proud of you if you come out of your shell though. Like. Incredibly proud.

Won't stop ranting to you about how amazing your voice is once the thought crosses his mind

He means well, he loves you a lot 🤣

He harmonizes with you

Hes not the best singer out there but hes not the worst either. He tries though.

He carries you around like a baby.

Its because he loves the vibrations of your voice resonating against his spark chamber

Rodimus Prime

Big flashy bastard 💛

He loves you and your voice. A lot.

Has you sit on his lap whenever he has to pilot the Lost Light.

No need for a radio, he has you 🤣

If you have stage fright he helps you get over it (ofc in a gentle way)

Loves any cheerful or upbeat songs

He likes Kikuo but only because he doesn't know the lyrics. Loves the melodies.

Hes very musical, so he'll probably end up singing along with you.

Lay on his chest and hum a tune, it'll be like the equivalent of a cat purring on your lap.

Hey, maybe it inflicts the same effects and benefits a cat's purr has too :D

Big flashy bastard. He loves you.

Ratchet

Big frumpy medic

He was really surprised to hear you, he was impressed though.

He doesn't have too much off time unfortunately, but when he does he just relaxes with you and listens to you.

You calm him down a lot

Your voice especially helps Ratchet after nightmares or particularly bad days

Very understanding if you have stage fright

He takes a slight interest in how your vocal cords work, doing research and studying how your throat moves with every noise you make.

Sometimes he lets you go with him so you can help calm down his patients

Despite how frumpy he is, he loves you

He loves songs from The Beatles

Sorry if this is short :(

Kup

Another big frumpy man

He was speechless the first time he heard you

Kup approached you and gave you a pat on the head after you noticed him

"Didn't know ya had such a pretty voice, doll."

Gave you a kiss then picked you up. Kup sat down to relax and enjoy a cygar as he put you on his lap. Whether you continue singing or not, is up to you.

He'll give you good advice if you have stagefright.

You listen to his war stories, he listens to your melodies.

He'll sometimes hum along with you, otherwise he stays quiet while bouncing his leg to the beat.

Sometimes he likes to distract you with kisses on the cheek

Romantic old bastard 💙

Strongarm

BIG STRONG BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ILOVEHERSOMUCHAAAAAAAAAA-

*ahem* right, sorry.

She legit thought a radio was playing when she heard you. She went to investigate and turn it off, but she found you instead.

She picks you up into a hug and tells you how much she loves your voice.

"Well color me impressed, sweetspark.. your voice is the best i've ever heard!"

Lots of kisses and praise was given, even at the expense of being teased by Sideswipe

Its okay if you have stage fright, shes perfectly fine being the only one to hear your beautiful vocals

She likes almost any kind of music as long as theres a melody to follow.

Harmonizes with you

Very protective, theres lots if decepticons out there and she doesn't want you to get hurt.

Overall, Strongarm is a very sweet lady and she loves you a lot. 💙

Thanks for reading

Requests are still closed, i'm sorry.

[mefiman]

Hamato Family’s First Visit to the Hidden City

Story request by @rottmntrulesall. Hope you enjoy the story, bud! ^^

"C'mon, everyone! Hurry up!" Michelangelo's impatience was obvious in his excitement. He and his siblings were finally going to show their dad's relatives for the first time to the Hidden City for two reasons; one: to view the many wonders of the other world and two: to have a formal, proper meeting with Draxum's parents. The latter part had instilled some unease into the Hamato siblings, especially Saki who was wary about stepping foot into a mysterious world and was about to see for himself the father and mother of the "monster" who altered his younger brother many years ago.

"Are you sure this place is safe?" Hamato Kenji asked. Raphael glanced at his uncle, understanding his uncle's concerns. "We've been there a lot, Uncle Kenji! We did encounter a few dangers there before but other than that, the people there don't usually attack humans unless provoked." Raph assured his uncle.

"There are a lot of places to visit like the many resorts and spas if you want to have a massage and ooh, Señor Hueso's Run of the Mill Pizza where they make one of the best pizzas! I know the manager of that place, we're amigos~" Leonardo took the chance to quip in.

"I can't wait to see Grandpa Mons again! Wait till you guys meet him yourselves, he's the nicest, sweetest grandpa you'll ever meet! He's still as strong as he's gentle!" Mikey said happily.

"I wonder if Grandma Chemia has some wicked new inventions to show me!" Donatello exclaimed.

"This would be my first time seeing my grandparents, Arachne..." Ariadne whispered to her best friend, Arachne.

"You've never seen them before?" Her friend asked.

"Once when I was a baby... I haven't seen them for years." The yokai femme told Arachne.

"Alright, kids, you've shown us all that you're excited to bring us to visit the Hidden City, Mikey, can you open the portal now?" Splinter asked.

"Sure, Dad!" Mikey got to work quickly.

Draxum felt a tinge of anxiety inside himself. He could not recall the last time he visited his creators ever since he moved out of home to pursue his alchemy researching, away from his parents' constant arguments, half of which is about their preferred methods of raising him. It was a surprise how those two still manage to live under the same roof despite their obvious clashing personalities. He guessed that they tolerated each other just for his sake. His parents had never produced any more offspring after him and one of Arachne’s parents...

"Hey, are you okay, Dad?" A female voice asked him. Draxum jolted from his pondering to find that his daughter, Poison Ivy asking him out of concern. He just gave a small smile as he ran his clawed hands over her helmet. "Am fine, just thinking about your grandparents." He assured her. He marveled how Ivy much had grown from the last time he scientifically created her with his and Lou Jitsu's DNAs; she being so tiny as a developed newborn infant growing in a liquid chamber to a young lady around the boys' ages. From what he knew later on, Splinter raised her along with the Turtles. Ivy had lived her life at first as a normal human teenager until her yokai genes started appearing. The initial discovery of her origins did shake her world but over time, she had learnt to accept and use them to assist her brothers in their adventures. She was intelligent like Draxum and his mother with his father's gentle, mature nature as well as Splinter/Lou's sassiness. She loved to study on botany and coincidently, her powers involved using vines and summoning plant like monsters at will. She recently revealed her sexuality preference as a lesbian and had a girlfriend who is a fellow classmate and witch trainee/apprentice in disguise. Both her creators and siblings were happy for her. As of now, she was cradling her younger sister, Venus de Milo was giggling and squealing as April, Ariadne and Arachne cooed and tickled her belly.

The group watched Mikey draw a symbol on the wall at an alley. Once the symbol was drawn, an open portal revealed. The Hamato siblings' mouths went ajar, not believing what they just saw. "if you think that's mind blowing, you haven't seen nothing yet!" Mikey grinned. His three other brothers and the three girls each took hold of one of their Hamato uncles and aunts's hands. The moment they all jumped into that portal, they found themselves staring at a massive part of a what seemed to be a huge city. The sky above was unlike Earth's skies; instead it was orange with some brown. The architecture of the buildings there were monster shaped with some tall, castle like structures far away from the city. There were a lot of people of all shapes, sizes, colors and appearances walking, running, passing by each other, buying their needs or doing their usual business trades. The Turtle family allowed their Hamato relatives to take in their first view around them. Saki's eyes were bulging out of his sockets, he could not believe for his life what he was seeing. Anthropomorphic, mostly consisting of animal, everyday objects, monstrous and supernatural like individuals roamed every part of the streets around him, he felt as if he was having a strange dream that defied logic! Nori on the other hand, looked right and left, taking in interesting sights that captured her attention. Underneath a calm façade, Kenji was freaking out internally at the new, foreign view. Hiroki was squealing in delight similar to a child had just discovered a world made of toys and sweets. Her twin, Hikari was a bit calmer than his sister, feeling a thrill of danger running through his veins. Last but not least, the youngest Hamato sibling, Mei's stance looked poker face yet she looked around to see if there were any Gothic like people that she can interact with. The Turtles and the girls grinned, seeing the reactions of the others.

"What do you think? Surreal, huh?" They ask.

"Amazing.."

"Fascinating..."

"I can't believe what I'm seeing..."

"Someone please tell me that I'm dreaming..." Saki mumbled, still not believing.

"No, you're not," Draxum replied, going straight to the point with an indifferent expression. "May we please hurry to my parents' house, I bet they're waiting for our arrival..."

"Oh yeah!" Mikey clapped both his hands once. "Lead the way, Draxy!"

Draxum sighed as he took the lead of the group. Along the way, there were a few whispers around and behind Draxum coming from the city people but Splinter and Ivy took hold of both his hands and gave a comforting, assuring squeeze, making him feel better. Ariadne gave her uncle a comforting hand on to his shoulder. They were soon out of the main city square to a further distance into the woods. They had to climb up a hill for a while until they reached a big mansion residing there.

"We are here at last. My childhood home..." Draxum said, looking at the grassy, serene valley below, reminiscing the times where he as a little one ran galloping around the field, cartwheeling with glee among the flowers and his sire teaching him the basics on how to defend himself the predator way. Both father and son spend their days in the early years, sparring with each other...

"Draxum, my son!" The former alchemist warrior villain snapped out of his memories to find himself being engulfed into the arms of none other than his dear, loving old father, Monsrage who brought his only son into a crushing bear hug which knocked the wind out of his lungs. "How have you been, my little baby boy? It's rare that you visit us but it's so wonderful to see you bring your family along! How delightful!" the older yokai gushed, his bushy tail wagging with unlimited enthusiasm like an excited puppy. Monsrage was rather huge and muscular with perked up, pointy ears, silky straight black hair unchanged through time and a fairly long beard to match. Like Draxum before, he wore a battle mask. He had a significant dark upperlip. His body had different shades of blue just like his son, Draxum when he was armored. Monsrage's eyes were the same like Draxum's. His feet in particular, was a noticeable difference. Unlike his wife and son, his feet were shaped like a lion's paws, fitting for him coming from a predator species.

"Father, it's great to see you... but can you please let go now? I can't breathe..." Draxum choked out, being smothered by his sire's busty chest. Monsrage immediately loosened his grip, apologizing profusely while checking to see if he had accidently broken any of his son's bones. Draxum shook his head, smiling a little. His sire had never changed all these years, still a concerned worrywart. And he bet his mother had not either...

Chemia on the other hand, was greeting the rest of the visitors with feverish energy. She was a redhead with shades of pink for her skin colour and her ears, long and drooped. Her eyes had a little twinkle in them, a part of her eccentric personality and plump, red lips. Like her husband, she wore a mask. Donnie, April, Arachne and Ivy were given a whirlwind hug the moment they came in front of her. Monsrage went back to the mansion with his son to give the new visitors, the Hamatos, April, and Arachne a warm greeting as well as welcome his beloved grandchildren with his signature bear hug and proceed to pepper their faces with smooches which they were delighted to have especially Mikey, Ariadne, Ivy and Venus. Monsrage and Chemia ushered them all into their humble abode. The Hamatos were initially skeptical about meeting Draxum's family but they were soon warmed up to them. Later on, the mansion was filled with guffaws of laughter as Monsrage showed them all baby pictures of his son which embarrased the poor warrior scientist. Donnie, April and Ivy were treated to Grandma Chemia's latest creations. Monsrage himself had a blast, playing with Venus and sparring with the Turtles and the girls. Arachne was delighted to meet her grandparents as a young adolescent, telling them about her achievements, adventures and that her own parents are doing well. The Hamatos became comfortable talking with Draxum's parents over some snack delicacies. Overall, everyone had a wonderful time at the Hidden City.

I had fun writing this! Was tiring but oh so worth it.

The Hamato siblings (minus Lou/Splinter) and Venus de Milo belong to @rottmntrulesall while Ariadne and Arachne are the OCs of @mikeykawaii/@mikey-ho. Monsrage, Chemia and Poison Ivy along with the mention of the witch girlfriend belong to me, @mefiman. I hope you don’t mind me incorporating your girls into this story, @mikeykawaii but I’ve been dying to add them in, especially Ari meeting her grandparents! ^^ 

[ererokii]

I know I’m rather late to the party but your God’s Servant post and other anons’ thoughts about other characters as archons have given me some inspiration. And now I must share it with you, I hope you like it.

Diluc as the Pyro Archon:

He is the freaking god of romance, or at least he should be. (If his little human lover ever told him that they’d succeed in making an archon blush before having to deal with the consequences.) He’s a gentleman through and through, treating you with the respect and dignity you deserve as his lover. He is also quite conscious of the size and strength difference between the two of you. So he treats you extremely gently, letting you pick the pace when making love for the most part. If you ask he’ll of course take the lead, remaining as gentle as he can as he drags a finger tip against your sex. He’ll keep things slow and gentle for a bit before picking up the pace and turning you into a poor overstimulated mess. Afterwards he becomes the king of aftercare, helping to clean you up and helping to soothe any lingering pains with warm gentle touches.

“Are you alright, love?” The red haired giant asked while gently running a finger up and down the length of your spine as you laid naked and panting in his grasp after a rather long session of love making. The pure concern and love in his gaze reminding you that you had this powerful being completely wrapped around your little finger.

Oh anon come here while I smooch your amazing brain (and you’re never late <3 I loved reading this)

I love this so much !!! This is so cute too Ugh, diluc is romantic and so gentle with his beloved little human, it’s so cute and he def goes at your own speed, and he’s not much of a teaser (like morax smh) and ugh he has the heart eyes when he stares at you <3

PLEASE GIVE ME MORE PYRO ARCHON DILUC CONTENT I BEG

[spock-smokes-weed]

top 5 comic characters, storylines (can do one for marvel and one for dc or mix them ;))

BLARGH THIS IS SO HARD!!!!

Imma have to keep this to just DC because I can’t narrow it down that much. Also be aware that this isn’t a set list and who my faves are change basically every week depending on my hyperfixation.

5. Superman- I know Clark gets clowned on for being boring, but I think he’s honestly such a deeply interesting character. Having a character who’s all about just being a good person, and using the power you have to help instead of destroy is very comforting to me. Clark could crush the world into dust if he chose to, but he wouldn’t, and everyone knows he wouldn’t, and I love that about him so much. I also have such a deep love for the Jewish religion, and the character of Superman is basically a giant love letter to judaism and that makes me so 💕💕 

4. Oracle- I’ve had a big ol crush on Babs since I was in middle school, and I just think shes such a badass. She’s still extremely capable while still distinctly disable and I just love her so much??? She was the backbone of the old batfamily and she kept everyone grounded. She survived so much and came out on the other end a magnificent and brilliant woman and I just wanna give her such big smooches. 

3. Batgirl (Cassandra Cain)- I love Cass so much, okay??? I love her so much. I think she one of the most interesting and complex Batman characters ever created. She was sculpted by pain and tragedy, but she refused to let that hold her down and said “no I deserve to live, I deserve to be happy.” Cass carried such a heavy burden of self loathing and thought she had to constantly sacrifice her life to ever have worth, but seeing her grow from that and learn to love herself was so freaking beautiful man. I also love how stubborn and crass she is!!! She’s so wild and isn’t afraid to let things get a little crazy and I just adore her 💕

2. Robin (Tim Drake)- we all knew this one was coming, lads. My blog is basically just “oops! all Tim!” at this point, but I really do love this boy with all my heart and soul. With our getting too personal, I relate to Tim a lot and I think he was such a fantastic Robin. Robin the character is someone who I’ve loved since I was a kid, and Tim really made robin into something that was his. He’s so kind, and feels so deeply for other people, he likes to have fun and can still be what Robin is supposed to be, but high lights all of the best parts of Batman and always encouraged Bruce to be better. He’s been through so much heartbreak, but never lost sight of his compassion and I love him so much for it. I would love to see him step into the role of the bat some day because I think he would evolve Batman into something that’s uniquely his. 

1. Batman- so I know most ppl would think Tim would be my number one, but nope!! It’s Bruce!!!! Batman was probably the first fictional character that I ever really latched onto, and I’ve been a fan of him for as long as I can remember, so he gets nostalgia points. But one of the things that keeps him as my number one is that he’s so deeply human. He’s a person who’s fueled by compassion for life and became who he is because he never wanted anyone to go through what he went through. He can be difficult, mean, or even down right cruel, but that doesn’t chance the fact that fundamentally he’s a good man. And a good man who loves his city and doesn’t want to see anyone else in pain. He drapes himself in fear and darkness, but that’s all it is, an aesthetic. The real Batman is someone who can see the humanity in everyone and thinks that no one is past saving. He’s also an amazing father and loves his kids and I just abajshajeje love Bruce Wayne so much.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers Blood & LoveSweat [Ayato ver.]

Original title: 海の中で吸愛

Source: Diabolik Lovers Summer Fest Drama CD: Blood & LoveSweat

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Midorikawa Hikaru

Translator’s note: I should have expected this since they are at the beach, but there were a lot of background noises in this track (splashing water, the waves, etc.) which did make a little difficult to hear what the character is saying at times. Thankfully, Ayato isn’t exactly known for his long, sophisticated conversations. xD By this point, he just has a set amount of phrases he recycles when talking to the MC.

Shuu ll Reiji ll Ayato ll Kanato ll Laito ll Subaru

Track 1: A Bloody Affair (1) In the Ocean

The waves can be heard in the background.

*Splash splash*

“...Hah? Well if it isn’t Chichinashi. ...What I’m doing? Are you an idiot? When you go to the beach, there’s only one thing to do, right? I was swimmin’.”

You seem surprised.

“Hehe...What’s up with that face? Were you worried ‘bout me? Why? ‘Cause it took me a while to get back?”

Ayato walks up to you.

Yeah, yeah. You just loooove me, don’t you? Heh. You masochistic freak. Come on, let’s go. ...Haah? We’re headin’ back.”

The two of you start walking. 

“...Hm? Are you hot? You’re sweatin’ like crazy. On your face and the side of your neck. Looks pretty sexy.”

You explain.

“Haah? You were running ‘round looking for me? Heeh...Why were you so desperatebly searchin’ for me, huh?”

You get flustered. 

“Hehe...Did watchin’ the ocean at night put ya in the right mood or somethin’? To have your blood sucked by me, that is. Hehe. Bull’s eyes?”

*Rustle*

“Haah...Mixed in with the scent of your sweat...It smells incredibly sweet. Hehe...Irresistable. Come on, follow me.”

*Splash*

“How’s that? Gettin’ in the water should help you cool off a little, right? It’ll wash away the sweat as well, so you’ll kill two birds with one stone.”

*Splash splash*

“...’Kay. Let’s go in a little deeper. Havin’ the water reach no higher than your hips is no fun. Hehe...”

Ayato drags you along into the ocean.

*Splash splash*

"Perfect, those others guys shouldn’t come and disturb us all the way out here. You’re at fault for provokin’ me with the scent of your blood and sweat. I’ll take my time savoring you thoroughly.”

*Splash*

“Does having your blood sucked in the sea scare you? Guess that makes sense. The water will make it hard to stop the bleeding after all. Hahaha...But don’t you think that’s what makes it great? Goin’ all the way to the edge...”

You start to panic.

*Splash splash*

“Haha, this is hilarious! So you’re a bad swimmer (2)? ...Don’t fight back. Show me your tongue. Mmh... Nn...”

Ayato kisses you deeply, biting your tongue in the process.

“Mmh...”

*Smooch*

“Haah...You know...The feeling of your body floating in the water, swayin’ from left to right...Don’t you think it’s similar to the high you experience from havin’ your blood sucked?”

*Splash splash*

“Hehe...Lookin’ at me with tears in your eyes like that...You really are a natural at tempting me.”

You flail about.

“...Don’t struggle! ...Hehe, Chichinashi? Are you doing this ‘cause you know that the more you struggle, the more I enjoy it? You sure though? At this rate, I might actually let go of your hand.”

You suddenly stop struggling.

“Ah! I thought of somethin’ nice! You know, humans make this really lewd face when you squeeze their throat as they reach their high (3), right? Let’s test it out. You know, squeezing down like this and...Sucking your blood from below.”

ー Ayato bites you.

*SPLASH*

“Hahaha! Does it feel that good, you’re spasming? However, it’s a pain to have the water splash all ‘round. ...Haah? I guess I can just do this...Make you stop breathin’, that is...!”

He suddenly pushes you under water.

*Splash*

“...I can just push you all the way under water, huh? ...What? Was it painful? Hahaha...Just having your air flow cut off might be painful but...”

*Splash splash*

“If we add pleasure into the mix, I’m sure it’ll feel amazing.”

*Splash*

“Come on. Turn around. I’ll bite your back. Mmh...”

*Smooch*

“...See? It feels good, right? Take a dip. (4)”

Ayato forces your head under water again.

*SPLASH*

“Haah...How did it feel to have your blood sucked while out of breath? ...Want me to do more? Hm? You’ve had enough ‘cause it felt like you were gonna drown? Fineー I won’t push your face into the water anymore.”

You turn around. 

“Hm? You prefer the front over the back? What’s this? You’re just beggin’ for attention today. I’m in a good mood, so I’ll suck from your tongue again. It’s pretty hard to get a good bite, but you seem to love it there. Open your mouth...If you’ve got no strength left in your body, I’ll do this and...”

Ayato embraces you.

“...Support your frame. Mmh...Nn...”

Ayato kisses you.

“But you know, this made me realize that when you’re feeling good, your blood is way sweeter than when you’re suffering. Pleasin’ you is on the very bottom of to-do list, but if I get to drink sweet blood, I guess I have to be gentle with you even if it’s a drag.”

*Splash*

��Come on. Let me bite your neck one more time. I’m so incredibly parched...”

He bites you.

“Haah...Delicious...Your blood really is nice. Usually I’d love to take you back inside (5) and take my sweet time indulging in your blood, but today the other dudes are ‘round as well. ...Let’s lose ourselves right here. (6) The fact that we did it here...Will be our little secret. Okay?”

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) Every single track of this CD has the word 吸愛 or ‘kyuu-ai’ in it. This actually isn’t an existing word in Japanese, but it is used very often within the DL franchise. The word is made up of the characters for ‘to suck’ and ‘love’ and they typically use it as a synonym for sucking blood.

(2) The exact term he uses here is カナヅチ or ‘kanazuchi’, which actually means ‘hammer’, but is also used to refer to someone who is a terribly swimmer, referring to the fact they’d sink like a ‘hammer’ (or stone in English) because it’s such a heavy object.

(3) I listened to this part a couple of times but I am fairly certain he says いく時 or ‘iku toki’ here. The word ‘iku’ is most commonly translated as ‘to go’, but it’s also used in a sexual context to refer to having an orgasm. *coughs* 

(4) Literally he says ‘now put your face in’ but I didn’t really like how that sounded as much. 

(5) Ayato refers specifically to the (bed)room here, but it’s actually not quite clear if he means your/the MC’s room or his own room (since it isn’t specified in Japanese) so I went with the neutral translation of ‘inside’. 

(6) Once again he uses the verb いく or ‘iku’, heavily implying that he’ll do more than just feed off her blood. Honestly, by this point, the act of blood-sucking is just one big metaphor for sex, I feel. xD Every time they talk about ‘thrusting their fangs in deeply’, I just can’t help but wonder ‘...Is that  really the only thing being thrusted inside?’

[gustafsnightangel]

Shattered Lives Ch 40 Pt 1

Sildie woke refreshed, even if miss Lily was screaming her head off feeling anything but. “I’ll get her.” She chuckled as Gustaf went to move her off him to do exactly that.

“You sure?” He mumbled. She loved that half asleep voice, the crumpled look on his face that told her he’d slept and slept hard.

“I’m sure sleepy head.” Her kiss was sinful.

“Someone had a good night.” She heard the smirk in his voice and giggled.

“Yeah some guy fucked my brains out, he wasn’t bad.” His expression made her laugh as she threw her robe on. “You’re better.” She grinned and kissed him chastely.

“I should hope so.” He growled indignantly. “Otherwise I’d have to prove otherwise kitten.”

“Promise?” She teased, her lips brushing against his.

“Absolutely.” His grin was wicked before he devoured her mouth.

“Goodie.” She kissed him again before she sashayed away to rescue Lily from her wet diaper, the groan and thump of something heavy hitting the bed confirming he’d face planted into the pillow.

“You kill me love.” He called after her. “All those salacious curves.”

She changed and dressed Lily for the day, roused the boys and had them start to pack while she made breakfast, Brendan offered to supervise and she knew he was still a little shaken from yesterday. When she asked him about it he said that he and Gustaf had talked. Her man never ceased to amaze her, the way he just took care of things, explained things to the boys so they understood without freaking out.

Coming into the kitchen there he was, sweats slung low on his hips, those lower back dimples she adored in full view, simple white cotton tee, so normal yet so fucking sexy.

“Tea is steeping.” He said quietly as Lily squealed a dad dad and lunged for him. “And good morning to you too little lady.” He chuckled as Sildie handed her over, not that Lily gave her much of a choice in the matter.

So normal, she thought, and Ana doesn’t get to destroy this, she doesn’t get to take this from him, from us, she’s not worth it. She had to try harder for Gustaf, to not let her anxiety spiral as quickly as it did yesterday, he was trying, and she needed to do the same. Together, together they were stronger.

“That’s a lot of thinking going on in there.” He said gently, tapping her temple and kissing her, catching her unawares.

“Sorry.” She shook her head as if to clear the thought physically.

“You ok?” He asked, brow creasing in concern.

“Yeah, just reiterating to myself that she doesn’t get to destroy this and she’s not worth the effort of getting as upset as I did.” She shrugged. He left the pancake batter for the moment and crossed to her, pulling her in for a hug.

“No she doesn’t.” He toyed with the wisps of hair that hung at her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too and I’m so ready to eat, get packed up, and get in the car and go.” She kissed him sweetly and he smiled, she was putting it behind them where it belonged. “Just a blip. I freaked out yesterday, but she’s just a blip and we need to move past it.”

“Just a blip.” He murmured and kissed her, that longing making her go weak at the knees.

“Or you could just kiss me like that again.” She sighed, his chuckle making her smile when he did exactly that.

“Anything for you my love.” He grinned devouring her mouth a third time. He smooched Lily after she made a fuss until she crumpled against him giggling. “And you too Lily bear.” Turning back to the pancake batter Lily helped stir in the milk while Sildie poured the tea.

She took over cooking the pancakes as Lily was determined dad dad was her go to person of the morning and would not be denied cuddles and kisses and the mans undivided attention. “I’ll go and start packing for this monster.” He said softly and kissed the back of her neck causing her to shiver.

“Sounds good.” They were becoming a team she realized, still a little disjointed, but better than it had been when they lived in separate apartments. As she fussed around the kitchen making breakfast she smiled at the noise from the boys rooms, happy, excited noise. No tears, no sadness, no grief, just three boys that were finally having a childhood and making some memories.

Her phone pinged with an incoming text and she held her breath as she opened it. Leon.

Some good news for you at last, they remanded her in custody, no bail. Trial is set for February 16. She’ll be cooling her jets in a cell for a few weeks. The judge was not amused.

She let out an explosive breath and grinned. Some justice at long last. But she knew what the judge wasn’t amused by, the potential to walk on a deal.

Thanks for the update Leon. We’re out of town for the next ten days. Let’s touch base when I’m back to work?

Sounds good. I’ll copy Lindstrom, make sure you contact him when you get back into town. This will undoubtedly pull you and Lucas into it, maybe Gustaf.

Absolutely. I’ll be emailing him here in a moment regardless. We are prepared for whatever comes.

Sounds good. Have a great break, god knows you deserve it.

Count on it. Thanks again, for everything.

She owed Leon more than he realized. The fact he’s found her charm was just the start.

“Why the grin that clearly says you’re the cat who ate the canary and got all her Christmases at once?” Gustaf chuckled as he came in a little while later with Lily chattering in his arms and her bag.

She turned her screen around and showed him the messages from Leon and watched a grin spread across his face.

“I’m not one to bask in another’s misfortune.” He said. “But, it’s about fucking time something went right for us.”

“It’s only just beginning love, but this is a damn good start.” She kissed him fiercely.

“A long road ahead huh.” It wasn’t a question, because he knew damn well this was just the start of the shit storm that was brewing.

“I guess we’ll see. I’m not celebrating just yet.” She said chewing on her lip, brain going a mile a minute.

“Fair point.” He kissed her tenderly, the action freeing her lip and pulling her thoughts away from their destination of work. “Let it go now love.” The pleading look in his eyes had her drop all those toxic thoughts in a heartbeat. “We both need to let it go for now.” He smiled at her nod.

“You’re right. Letting it go. We have snowball fights to organize, marshmallows to toast, giggles and smiles to enjoy.” She said blowing out a breath and grinned.

“Amongst other things.” The goofy wiggle of his eyebrows had her chuckling.

Once breakfast was ready they sat as a family around the table, eating and laughing, throwing around ideas and what activities they were going to do at the cabin. With full bellies the kids helped Gustaf pack the car while Sildie packed her own clothes, got an email off to Lindstrom, and sorted the snacks. Car packed, children buckled in, Gustaf looked over the top of the car at her and let out a breath. “We got everything?” He grinned, it had been a flurry of non stop activity all morning.

“Kids, clothes, food, and most importantly, you sweet man. It’ll have to be everything or we’re never going to get out of here.” She snorted.

“Exactly what I was thinking.” He was almost bouncing with excitement to get going like the big kid at heart he was. She loved seeing this side of him carefree and happy.

They were finally in the car and on their way before she noticed it hanging from the rear view mirror. The ribbon still stained with red paint, the charm needing a good clean and a little worse for wear, but it was there, where it belonged. He hadn’t gone out and replaced it just to make her happy. He’d found a way to find it, to right the wrong of another human. To maintain a piece of her brother, a man he never knew. She reached up a hand to brush a finger over it and looked at him, her eyes welling with tears of gratitude. He got it, he got her, and what she needed, what that one little gesture meant to her and the kids.

His quick glance at her before snagging her hand and kissing her fingers had her smile through the tears. That smile was all the thanks he needed before he lightly held onto her hand as he drove. The grief was there but she seemed more at ease with it now. Allowing it to surface and be there but not overwhelm her or send her spiraling into despair.

A few hours later they arrived, his best girls fast asleep, the twins quietly chatting, Brendan with his nose in a book. He felt the stress leave him as the boys climbed out of the car, all the anger and frustration from the past week melting off him. He sighed, the snowy landscape in front of him consuming every ounce of stress and bitterness. It had only been a week yet it felt like a year. “Brendan can you get the twins inside? Maybe choose your rooms and then come grab the bags?”

“Sure.” The teen rounded up his brothers and they headed inside to explore.

“Don’t wander too far.” He called.

“We won’t.” The three of them answered.

“Masters of mischief.” He mumbled as he rounded the front of the car grinning. “They’ll be in the snow hurling it at each other in minutes.” He chuckled. It reminded him of Alex, Sam, and Bill when they were kids, always getting into something they weren’t supposed to.

Opening the the passenger door he crouched down and grazed his knuckles along Sildie’s cheek, her sharp inhale as she woke telling him she had been out cold.

“I’m up.” She mumbled.

“You crashed.” He chuckled. “Must be the mountain air.” She could hear the humor in his voice.

“Must be, or it was the mind blowing sex I had last night.” She said softly, that face she thought, they broke the mold when they made him. Eyes of ocean blue and a sinful poets mouth.

“I wear you out kitten?” He growled, that tone he knew made her wet.

“Not complaining.” She snorted.

“The boys are exploring the cabin.” He said seeing the question on her face at the quiet in the car. “I was about to get Lily out and then get the boys to help start hauling everything in.”

“I’ll get Lily, take her in.” She said as he stood and opened the back door.

“I’ll go and see what mischief the boys have found then. It’s way too quiet in there.” He chuckled, kissing her cheek quickly before going to hunt down the boys.

The kids had found mischief, already outside having a snowball fight which was why the cabin was so quiet. Rounding them up, all smiles and giggles, they helped Gustaf unpack the car while Sildie took Lily inside and put her down for the rest of her nap.

As it was well past lunch time Sildie started to prepare an early dinner as Gustaf took the kids exploring in and around the cabin, finding out where everything was and what the place had to offer. By the time they sat and ate the twins were already planning their day tomorrow.

“How about we each choose an activity for the day and all do it together?” She said watching them closely, half expecting the boys to balk at the idea of doing something she might want to do. She wanted them to do things as a family as much as possible this trip. Solidifying the bond between Gustaf and the boys was crucial, and for that, they needed time together. To talk, to fight, to laugh, to just do boy things with a man that wanted to be a father to them in every way possible.

“I like that.” Brendan said eating his sandwich. “We could write activities down on bits of paper and then choose them at random?” He shrugged.

“I like that idea even better.” Gustaf grinned. “Two activities each, and that’s what we can spend the day doing, or a few hours depending on how we all feel.”

“Whatever we want?” Liam grinned.

“Whatever you want.” Gustaf knew exactly where his devious little mind was going.

“You may regret that decision later.” Sildie muttered and smirked at him over the top of her teacup.

“Quite possibly.” Gustaf snickered as he sipped his tea, the boys just grinned at him. Oh he was in so much trouble, he thought. He was expecting them to gang up on him and had to remember to wear a base layer and turtleneck, to stop the snow going down the back of his neck, because he knew that one was coming. Once he’d finished eating, Gustaf found a pens and paper and had the boys write their two activities down. They scrunched each one into a little ball and tossed it in a salad bowl Sildie had found in the cupboard.

“Ok, let me grab Lily and then we each draw two out of the bowl.” Sildie said as she went to collect Lily, the little lady starting to make a fuss. The boys were giggling when she came back in the room. “What are you up to?” She asked knowing something was afoot, the wink from Gustaf asking her to just play along.

“Alright, youngest to oldest, Finn you’re up.” Gustaf said as Sildie fixed Lily a bottle, the tiny child snuggled in close to her mum mum.

“I got, hiking.” He said and put it on the table as Gustaf wrote it down, that would be a good one for tomorrow while the weather was still nice, he thought.

“Snowboarding.” Liam said excitedly. “That was one of mine.” His grin was wide.

“Well we’ll all get to have a go now.” Gustaf chuckled.

“Build a snow family.” Brendan laughed and Sildie smirked, that was one of hers.

“You’re up love.” Gustaf said.

“No, you are. I’m older than you.” Her chuckle playful.

“Snow fort.” He said looking at her, that desire for her flooding through him.

Her hand dipped into the bowl. “Snowball fight.” She said. “Well that was a given.” She added with a snort. “Go again Finn.”

“What about Lily?” He said quietly.

“I think Lily will be happy with whatever we’re all doing love.” She said gently. “Maybe we can have a Lily safe snowball fight like we did before.” He smiled and nodded, face lighting up.

“Snowball fight.” He giggled holding it up. Liam’s hand dived in to reveal another snowball fight as did Brendan and Gustaf.

“I think I’ve been played.” She muttered with a huge smile on her face as she pulled out another snowball fight.

“A little.” Gustaf’s wink make her laugh, that laugh he adored as he wrote them down in order that they came out of the bowl. “The weather should be nice tomorrow for a hike.”

“What should we pack for lunch?” Sildie asked.

“Picnic.” Liam said bouncing in his seat. “With cookies.”

“With cookies.” Gustaf chuckled. “Can’t forget the cookies.” She loved that smile, the one that said I don’t have a care in the world except for the people in this room. He was relaxing already, the stress and anxiety starting to melt away. Those crows feet she had a weakness for out in full bloom.

“Keykey.” Lily squealed as she reached for Gustaf.

“Yes little lady, lots of cookies.” He plucked her off Sildie’s lap and kissed her until she giggled, his scruff tickling her, tiny hands tapping his face.

They spent the late afternoon settling in, just taking time to relax and unwind. Bathed and in pajamas, the twins had their heads together formulating a plan for the epic snowball fight. Brendan had curled up on the couch with a book, and Gustaf did the same in the one seat with Lily in his lap happily snuggled in chattering and playing with her toys, Gustaf reading to her quietly. Sildie had slipped away to soak in the tub, a time to unwind, to start her vacation off right. She could hear him reading and the tone of his voice soothed her. “I could listen to him talk all night.” She sighed, sinking up to her neck in hot water. There was something about his voice that always set her mind at ease and calmed the raging storm of her thoughts and emotions. This was a different tone to the one he used in the bedroom, but both equally arousing in their own way.

She cleared her mind, let all the events of the past week come to the surface, acknowledged the way they made her feel and let them go. Sent them out into the ether for the universe to take care of. It was her own form of meditation, one she’d let slide since her brother died and she needed to get back in the habit of letting shit go. As her mind cleared from all the anxiety and stress, she thought to the future, their future. About making partner and what that would mean for her, for them as a family. With Gustaf’s help she knew she’d be able to handle it, even if in the beginning it would be a learning curve. “I can do it though, with him beside me I can do it.” She knew she could do it without him, but with him would be so much easier. She would hopefully make partner and get her career back on track.

Gustaf had saved them from spiraling out of control, from drowning in grief and despair, and in turn they had saved each other. It was time to put the grief aside and live life, she decided. She couldn’t allow it to consume her as it had over the past year. This was a new year, a time for new beginnings, a time to become a family and figure out their future together. “No more wallowing in your own self pity, they’re all grieving. But it’s time to move forward.” She muttered. “There’s a life to start living, with a beautiful sweet man in it.” She smiled at that thought, her man, their family, a future together. “Mine.” She said softly. “He’s mine.” Her throat choked up with emotion. “Only mine.”

Gustaf looked around the living room. A happy Lily curled up with him playing and talking in her own way quite content, Brendan with his nose in a book, the twins formulating their attack strategy for the snowball fight. Normal, no grief in sight, and genuinely happy. Sure, he knew it was there just below the surface, but they were healing, the sorrow not as all consuming as it was when he’d rescued a few wayward oranges at their door. They would continue to grieve, he just hoped he’d made it easier for them to process and to think about a future where it didn’t rule their lives. “One step at a time huh Lily bear?” He muttered quietly. “Slow and steady.” The tiny girl snuggled into him, the affection and unconditional love she gave melting his heart.

He let his mind wander to Sildie, their future, as a family, as a couple. Marriage kept springing to the forefront of his mind. He never thought he’d contemplate marriage again after Hanna, but with Sildie it was different. He was different. Would she want to get married? Could he be the husband she deserved? He wanted it like his next breath, to give himself to her completely, commit himself to her, to the kids. He glanced at the three boys, what would they think about it, he wondered? “Maybe I’ll have to ask them.” He mumbled against Lily’s temple, kissing her softly. “I already know where you stand on the matter young lady.” He chuckled and Lily squealed a dad dad as Gustaf’s scruff tickled her cheek as he kissed the little girl.

Maybe kids of their own, he thought. He wanted kids with her, no question about it. “That’s her choice though isn’t it little lady?” He kissed Lily’s head. “Her body, her choice. And she already told me where she stood on the matter in the very beginning.” He mumbled. “It would be nice for you to have a playmate though, huh? A little Sildie to cuddle.” He grinned against the child’s hair as he imagined a child with Sildie’s copper hair and ice blue eyes. “Or a little Gustaf you can boss around.” His soft chuckle made him grin wider. “I’m such a sap.” He whispered and Lily hugged him right. “I want everything with her Lily, absolutely everything.”

“Mum mum, dad, dad, dad.” She chattered softly.

“Exactly.” He kissed her head and went back to reading, oddly feeling more relaxed about it after chatting with his pint sized shrink.

Sildie pulled herself out of the tub and dressed in her pajamas. She felt loose and relaxed, much like she’d soaked all the stress off her body and let it swirl down the drain. Her mind had finally quietened, her thoughts drifting along now instead of zooming a mile a minute like they had been.

Padding out to the living room she smiled at the scene, such serenity, it choked her up. She started to make some hot chocolate from scratch, the one she usually saved for Christmas or special occasions. To her this was a special occasion, their first vacation together, the calmness that had settled over all of them was something to be acknowledged. “Who’s up for toasting some marshmallows?” She said softly and instantly had three boys at her side, the fourth standing behind her, Lily in his arms, a hand circling her hips. “You guys will need to find some toasting forks or skewers.” She chuckled as they raced off to do exactly that as Gustaf kissed the nape of her neck.

“You smell nice.” He purred, tongue teasing the dip at her collarbone.

“I’m all warm and soft too.” She murmured, her hand reaching back to rest against his thigh pulling him closer, the nuzzle against her neck making her weak at the knees. Her man knew exactly how to turn her entire system to goo.

The boys bounded back in, Brendan holding up some toasting forks he’d found in the mud room closet, those grins wide. It had been a long time since she’d seen them this happy, saw those smiles bloom in genuine joy not just putting on a brave face.

“Lily and I will stoke the fire, we need embers to toast marshmallows properly.” He kissed her quickly before heading over to the open fireplace.

Once the fire was happily crackling in the hearth they all sat around it as if it were an outdoor campfire. The six of them in pj’s or sweats, hot chocolate with an abundance of cream and marshmallow, and giggles, lots of giggles as they talked about snow forts and snowball fights. Gustaf telling stories of his childhood and the mischief him and his brothers got up to.

“Don’t give them ideas.” Sildie scolded, and he grinned at her. A boys childhood was nothing without mischief.

Sildie reminisced about her and Quinn as kids with their parents, much happier times, and good memories for the boys to have. She found it didn’t destroy her as much, sure it still gave her that ache in the chest, that longing to have them here, but she didn’t spiral. That’s what she needed to hold onto, those good happy memories, and she need to share them with the boys, with Gustaf. This was the way she needed to help them heal.

As the fire died down to embers they toasted their marshmallows.

“Nothing like the crispy outside, and a gooey inside.” Gustaf said as he blew on a little bit of marshmallow for Lily to taste. They’d all be on a sugar high for the next little while which was fine, they were on vacation, the everyday rules didn’t apply. He kicked back, Lily clinging to him as he read Harry while they finished the marshmallows and had another round of hot chocolate.

At nearly ten, Lily was asleep in Gustaf’s arms, and the twins were almost asleep curled up with Sildie as they listened to the story. “Time for bed I think.” Gustaf said gently as he watched Finn stifle another yawn at the end of the chapter.

“I think so too. Hiking tomorrow and a picnic.” She stood and helped the boys to their feet following them to the rooms they’d chosen to sleep in. Finn broke away from Sildie and rushed back to hug Gustaf tightly, Lily barely stirred.

“Love you dad.” He said quietly and Gustaf felt his throat tighten, it sucker punched him every time.

“Love you too. Get some sleep.” He watched Finn go and let out a careful breath. “I doubt I’m ever going to get used to hearing that.” He muttered to Lily as he got to his feet and carried her to bed.

With the boys settled and Gustaf dealing with Lily, Sildie set her phone to play some slow jazz in their room as she stared out the window into the night. This was the peace she craved for them and hoped one day soon they’d feel it in their own home. She heard him close the door, his soft steps to her before those arms wrapped her up, his scent equally comforting. Turning she swayed, his hands fitting her against him just right.

“I love dancing with you.” He said softly. “It was like we were made for it, you fit just right.” He kissed her temple and lingered, her scent filling his mind. Home, love, peace.

“I love it too. Just this, nothing fancy, just you and me and some good music. It’s perfect.” She said softly and rested her head against his shoulder, her thoughts drifting nowhere in particular.

“The only thing that would make it better would to be naked.” He said a while later, the soft growl making her chuckle.

“Then you’d better take care of that then.” She teased.

Gentle fingers aroused as they peeled the sweats and pajamas from each other. Both naked, he danced her around the room, slow and soothing until she was almost asleep on her feet.

“Into bed love.” He said tenderly and kissed her brow before helping her in. She snuggled in and kissed him, love and need pouring from her. Rolling, he pressed her into the mattress, the feel of those lush curves against him making him harden. “I can never get enough of you.” He murmured. “My goddess.” Her legs wrapped around his slim hips and she drew him closer, an invitation to slip inside. To claim each other. With a gentle thrust he buried himself to his hilt in her wet heat their mutual groans mixing with the jazz.

Her hands roamed that well honed body, all the dips and valleys that made him irresistible as his hips flexed, cock filling her. He made love to her, the gentle push and pull as their bodies intertwined and danced together. She came with a soft sigh, her release rolling over her taking the last of the stress from her body. He joined her in pleasure a moment later when he came with her name on his lips. Curling her in to him, she went lax in his arms. “Sleep love.” His smile wide.

“Gustaf?” She mumbled, hovering on the edge of sleep.

“Mmmm?”

“I’m so in love with you.” She slurred.

“You’re my everything Sildie, sleep now.” He switched the music off and let the silence of the cabin soothe him to sleep, peace at long last.

@hausofobsession @ill-skillsgard @grandpa-sweaters @authentic90skidd @tuckersgirl @fairlyfallacy @flowers-in-your-hayr @raewritesfiction @stinkerbelle007 @kamie-b @mrsaugustwalker @skrsgardspam @loliwrites @trippedmetaldetector @lihikainanea @fay-walden @nandadb

[dracula-in-purple-story]

Romantic Idiots

How to confess to your crush(es)?

Option 1 : Do not let your brain and heart clashes together and give you mixed signals. Then confess.

Option 2 : Give him/her/them an Applin or any shiny Pokemons. Then confess.

Advice : Panic if fail. 

“Panic if fail? What’s that supposed to mean, Grandpa?” Hop glanced up hesitantly as he finished noting down the old man’s advice. His ex-champion brother nervously clenched around his Charmander plushies. 

The grandfather smiled coyly as he went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of tea while the brothers tried to follow behind him. Their mother chuckled at this silly scene before the grandmother answered for her husband, also smiling coyly.

“Panic as in running away like an idiot. I swear to Arceus, when I was at your age, Leon, your grandpa over there tried to asked me out by throwing a Poke Ball at my window. Poor Appletun dearie got a fright that time and refused to acknowledge him for a decade.”

“Hush, sweetheart.” the blushing old man ruffled his wife’s hair before settling down. “Our daughter-in-law got it worse than you. Am I right, Helen?”

The said woman just sighed blissfully before snorting out loud, almost making the brothers laughed if they weren’t asking for some love advices. Standing up, she shuffled through the living room to picked up her wedding photos and was reminiscing the moment.

“Mom?” the older brother asked gently as to not interrupt the moment.

“Yes, Leon?”

“How did Dad confess? It can’t be worse than Gramps’ attempt.”

“Yeah!” the younger brother butted in while grinning at the offended-looking man, “What was it like? Could it be he try to serenade? Bet he sounds goofy and passed it down to Lee!”

“Hey! I sound amazing, Hopscotch! You are just jealous!”

“Boys,” the mother smiled at her sons’ playful banter. When they finally stopped, she smiled even wilder as she recounted the fateful evening.

“Well, he didn’t serenade, for starters. But he did tried to make an A Capella with Rotoms and Dittos. Never worked out since he first practised it at the Lake of Outrage. The Rotoms snitched on him with the Dittos were making ‘He love You’ letters while I saved his arse.”

“Oof, ouchies.” Hop scrunched up his face jokingly while Leon laughed as he imagined the scenario over and over. They pulled out their own RotomPhones when they were done though. 

“You better not snitch on me, dude. I must do this myself.” The ex-champion pleaded with his little bro nodding beside him.

“You got it-Roto! Don’t stutter when you confess-Roto!”

“We make sure to taped you guys so we can see who’s got the worst end of the stick-Roto!”

“ROTOMS, NO!”

The purple-haired brothers panicked as they chased their cackling phones, leaving the amused adults behind. 

“I bet two thousand PokeDollars that they would failed terribly and cutely at the same time.”

“No need to bet, Mother. It’s obvious that their ability to confess is still strong in their blood.”

“Rude, ladies. Very rude.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Now back at their shared apartment at Wyndon City, Leon was pacing around. His little bro had already went out to find his crushes. The new chairman wished he had this kind of courage. He wished, just not gonna happen. He and Raihan are just friends with a healthy rivalry of ten years! How is he going to react if he just confess out of the blue?! That’s why he got a perfect plan! Sonia had helped him devised a lot of plans. Plans related to shiny Pokemons were quickly rejected due to him being a natural shiny repellent. Flowers were also a big no, Raihan’s Pokemons tend to gobbled up flowers from his fans. Chocolate was supposed to be part of the plan, but Sonia rejected that idea because it was overrated. So this is the result. Just ask Raihan to go out with him and make sure he knows it’s a date and not a Valentine’s Day hangout. Solid A+ Plan! “Over a phone call? So outdated, Master Lee. Not gonna lie but that’s so last season,” the RotomPhone floats around in front of Leon while showcasing the contact details of his master’s dream man. “I don’t want Raihan to see my face if I ask him face to face! It’s too obvious!” “Ain’t that the plan?” “No!” “Okay, okay! Geez, you humans are so overly complicated. What happen to mating calls? It’s so much easier.” “Shut it, Rotom...” With a heavy sigh, he slouched over the single-seat coach. Maybe it’s a bad plan, but it’s the only foul-proof plan he could ever execute. “Okay,” Leon sat up and slapped both side of his cheeks to concentrate, “I’m ready! All I have to say is ‘Go out with me this evening’!” Snatching RotomPhone from the air, while apologizing, the purple-haired man pressed ‘Call’ with confidence. It rang for a few times before the Dragon Gym Leader picked up with his smooth, husky voice. The voice he should still get used to but still melt every time he heard it. “What’s up, ex-champ? Feeling lonely on Valentines?” Let’s be boyfriends. Leon’s mind went on short circuit for a bit. He didn’t respond for a minute, making the silence unbearable. “Uh, Leon? Are you there?” “LET’S DO BOYFRIENDS’ DATE!” Unfortunately, his mind ended up fusing what he initially going to said and his current thoughts. Freaking out, he ended up the call without hearing the reply. He just screwed up. He managed to screw up the only foul-proof plan. This is not what it should happen and yet, here he was. Leon stomped his way to his bedroom, slammed his door open and threw himself onto the bed in frustration. He really shouldn’t take Option 1. ~~~~~~~~~~ Arriving at the Hammerlocke Gym, Hop quickly strode towards the lift, and quickly slid his access card. He went in but not without getting bumped by Raihan, who never seems to noticed him as the top Gym Leader dashed outside with the biggest grin plastered on his face. Leon succeed, huh... The lab assistant shook his face to focus on his mission. He really put a lot of effort finding these Pokemon after all. Gramps’ advice always worked! Reaching his destination, he walked out slowly towards his so-called Rival Gang. They were grooming and playing with Zacian and Zamazenta. The Legendary Pokemon was really ease up on Victor and Gloria real quick. Hop let out his own Legendary Pokemon partner, Eternatus, scaring the occupant in the room, especially the albino-haired boy. “Hop! You idiot! Are you trying to scare me half to death?!” I wanna smooch you til I melt though. Grinning characteristically, he settled himself down between the girls, who now switched their focus on Eternatus. Victor, the new chairman’s secretary, smiled gently at him as greeting. Arceus, I would love to see your smile everyday, every time. “So, how’s the research coming up, Hop? Having such a rowdy Pokemon like this dragon must have damage the lab a few times.” Marnie smirked at Hop while throwing a Heavy Ball for it to catch. Such a graceful badass. With a super effective smirk. “Natus can shapeshift to a smaller size to roam freely so it’s not a problem,” the lab assistant answered before side-glancing his Legendary partner, “the problem would be giving Sonia a hard time to examine it.” “Typical. Seems like giving you Eternatus is the right choice. After all, I don’t think I can handle two huge responsibilities at the same time. Am I right, Zacian?” Gloria, the newly-crowned champion, winked at the Sword-wielding Warrior Pokemon. Zacian huffed out a pleased grunt, almost indicating it agreed with her. Are you trying to faint me with your adorable wink?! Finding the right time, Hop waited for the opportunity as they talked and played around. Occasionally battling or betting matches, making curry at this unusual location, talking about work. Hop had to thank Arceus when Victor popped the question. “So... today’s Valentines Day, ain’t it? You guys got some confession to make?” Silence taking over the room. Marnie and Bede tried to hide their blush but failed miserably while Gloria was looking embarrassed for once. Hop took a deep breath. “I do.” Shocking his gang again, he took out four Love Balls. Each of them had their unique designs that Hop took the time to do. “It makes me sound crazy but I think... I have a crushes on you guys. Super, duper big ones,” he slowly exclaimed as he handed them each of their own unique Love Balls, which they took it gladly. A good sign. Victor had Sobble with heart-shaped eyes drawing; Gloria had Scorbunny with its ear forming a heart-shaped drawing; Bede had a heart-shaped Solosis drawing; Marnie had Morpeko with heart-shaped cheek pouches drawing. “Hop, I hate you,” the Fairy Type Gym Leader started scowling. While Hop thought he was already damaging their friendship, the blushing albino head also threw him and the others a Love Ball. “You make me look so underprepared that it hurts.” “Me too.” The Dark Type Gym Leader joined in as she too had four Love Balls. “Me three.” The secretary chimed in, also with another four Love Balls. “I’m an idiot,” Gloria was flushed red as she took out four boxes of chocolates. The gang bursted out laughing at their rightfully-called lover. Lovers... that rings nicely to my heart. Our heart.

[bewareofchris]

Help! My plot is stalled!

It’s alright, friends.  We’ve all been there, sitting at a desk or laying in our beds, staring at the screen wondering what in the holy beef jerky has gone wrong because our ability to write has just come to a screeching halt.

We’re uninspired.

We’re unmoved.

We’re incapable of figuring out what happens next.

It’s time like this that our instinct is to grab a machete and start cutting through extraneous characters like a boiled steak knife through Jell-O.  We’re throwing romantic curve balls and car crashes at our protagonist so quickly they don’t have time to recover from one before they’re being traumatized by another.

Sometimes, we think, now is the time to reveal that our beloved Protagonist is actually an alien from another planet who survives by consuming the souls of lap dogs and his insatiable thirst for Pekineses is causing him great distress because the human mate he has chosen for himself has three such delicious morsels.

BUT, never fear my friends.  Here are some ideas to help you get out of that hellish valley of despair and back on track.

Take a break.  Have a snack.  Stretch your limbs.  Go for a walk.  Call a friend who listens to things and explain to them how your story is stupid and you hate it and it won’t move.  You don’t need to let your friend talk at all. Just keep complaining about your story until suddenly you realize what went wrong.

Daydream about what your character would do if you were to suddenly abandon him/her with six kids under the age of 5 at a busy theme park.  Or what he/she would do if they suddenly found themselves trying to talk two very angry kingly types out of starting a civil war because they disagree on which side of their toast to spread butter on.  Put your character in the MOST ridiculous scenario you could possibly imagine.  Make them rationalize their way out of it.  Don’t make it easy.  Six kids under the age of 5 when you’ve never dealt with children is basically hell.  Let your character suffer, and fail, improve and finally win (or at least survive).

Fantasize about beating your characters with a metal pipe.  Imagine their pleas for mercy as they try in vain to remind you that they are fictional constructs and this is not their fault.

Once you’ve cleaned your system of these violent urges toward non-real people, sit back down.  Re-read what you’ve written, if it’s still as bad as you thought it was, here are some actual bits of advice:

Regardless of what Rafiki once said about moving on and forgetting the past, the problem that you are presently experiencing is mostly caused by something that went wrong in the recent events of your story.  Take another look at the latest choices that your main or side characters made and ask yourself if maybe them making A DIFFERENT CHOICE might put your story back to rights.

Take another look at your character and his/her story so far.  Is your character excelling in every facet of his/her life?  Have they faced any obstacles that amounted to more than a mild inconvenience?  Are they generally well-liked?  Respected?  Do they have noticeable faults?  Are these faults presented in a way that allows other people to be annoyed by them?  Have these faults gotten in the character’s way?  If your main character is Too Good and Such Winning or Basically Useless and Always Failing then your story is imbalanced and it can’t move forward because you’re not allowing the protagonist to experience growth and change.

Are there relationships?  Friendships?  Family?  Rivalrys? ROMANCE?  You need relationships of at least 2 different types in a story.  Preferably more.  And they can’t all be the same kind with different names.  And they need to also be developing with your characters.  So Protag makes an unpopular choice with his family but his BFF is loving it and his Romantic Interest thinks it could be good for him.  You have so much material right there!

DO. NOT. MURDER. ANYONE.  Dismemberment is okay if you really want to have to take the time out of your story to focus on the emotional and physical effects that a traumatic event inflicts on your protagonist.

DO NOT MAKE YOUR ROMANTIC INTERESTS HATE EACH OTHER OVER SOMETHING STUPID.  Please.  Please don’t do this.  It’s really just not worth it.  If you make them so angry at one another they’re screaming death threats and then the next day they’re like: I guess we love one another again you cheapen the impact.  If this is a story about overcoming things and growing as people and forgiveness then yes, break them up and get them back together but don’t do it just to have an exciting screaming sequence.  Or do.  I mean, you do you.

Instead of tearing your couple apart, have them get together.  Have them spend a weekend doing silly, childish, amazing things.  Let them smooch, and cuddle, and eat candy together.  Let them waste money they don’t staying overnight in a fancy hotel.

Visit a Significant Character from your Protag’s past because they are in need of comfort and guidance.  Allow them to reminisce about the good old days, and whine about how they don’t feel like they’ll ever be that happy again.  Let your Significant Character hit your Protag with a rolled up newspaper.  STOP BEING A NINNY, PROTAG.  STOP IT IMMEDIATELY.

Give your Protag an unexpected promotion.  You were just a kid that cleaned stables, but we noticed that you’ve got a real way about you that suggests you’re WIZARD MATERIAL.  Build that Protag up, let him feel pride and joy and love.

(And then make the person that promoted him have questionable morals.  Make him vaguely untrustworthy.  Watch your starry-eyed protag battle against a shady man of questionable intentions to see who wins in the end!  But not with the fate of the whole world.  Like the fate of a small village at most.)

Give your Protag the single worst day of his entire life that does not involve physical altercations and/or death.  Maybe he/she pulled a muscle having athletic sex that morning, was distracted by the pain in the shower,got soap in their eyes, limped to the car to find it was out of gas, went to a busy gas station, got coffee that was too cold to enjoy, was late to work, had more work than usual, the pain meds never started working, left his lunch at home, couldn’t buy anything because they ran out of time, had to listen to the Obnoxious Co-Worker next to them complaining about Obnoxious Co Workers Obviously Useless Significant Other for an hour and a half, left work late, forgot about plans to meet up with a friend, got ignored by friend at meet up, comes home and collapses in a pile of self-pity and physical pain and has Significant Other rub their aching pulled muscle and listen to their complaints.

You could do a car wreck, or you could just ruin your Protag’s entire life by having the transmission die in the middle of traffic.

The point I’m trying to get across here is that you have to have a journey that is balanced with ups and downs.  If you’re only going up, or you’re only going down, or you’re not going anywhere at all but straight forward on a 300 mile car trip across a flat surface with no trees, there’s no story there.

You could shoot someone, or you could have your Protagonist do something that injures their relationship with their Best Friend and Confidante.  Then your Protag protests their innocence to the point that it’s obvious they are being Stupid now.  Let them roll around in undeserved pity.  Let nobody else agree with them, and still they refuse to acknowledge they are stupid.  And then let them FINALLY, sort of, a little, admit they were wrong and instead of them offering a half-assed apology and moving on like it never happened, make them work to repair the damage they inflicted.  

Put your Protag in a position where they have to defend a friend/family member or romantic interest in a non-physical way.  Susan from Biology was telling Quentin and Theodore that Protag’s BFF eats his own snot.  And Protag is like OH MY GOD I’M GOING TO GO FIND SUSAN AND SCREAM A STRONGLY WORDED LETTER AT HER.  (or start vicious rumors about her behind her back, and take utterly glee at her humiliation, and then finally think: did I go to far?  I don’t think I went too far.)

DO. NOT. GET. SOMEONE. PREGNANT.  Do you knows what happens when someone’s pregnant?  They end up with a baby.  (Or a miscarriage.)  That pregnancy cannot be handwaved away.  If you’re not here to write about the amazing journey from sex to birth and lifetime of parenting that follows, you are not here to get someone knocked up for the drama.

Sure, let your Protag develop a desperate attraction to someone’s that not the Primary Love Interest but if the Primary Love Interest and Protag already have sexual and romantic tension building between them, maybe let the audience know that this is one of those things where you’re lonely and you want companionship and it’s not really that fair to Someone You Just Met and Now Want to Have Sex With.  Let Primary Love Interest struggle to be supportive.  or let Protag and Primarily Love Interest be mean-spirited little shits and mock the poor Someone You Just Met.

DO. NOT. MURDER. AN. ENTIRE. VILLAGE.  Did a spell go bad?  Did a curse escape?  Did your magical being accidentally create a sixteen foot tall metal horse with a thirst for squirrel hearts?  Remember that wholesale murdering of innocent side characters nobody cares about does effectively nothing for your story.  Don’t kill the entire village.  Let your character freak out because he/she misplaced a curse and ANYONE COULD HAVE IT.  Let them ransack the village developing a reputation as a mad man to find it.  Let him work furiously to develop a cure to the curse and refuse to rest until everyone’s been inoculated against said Curse, and then idk, he finds it on the floor under his work station.  Or, let him realize a curse is missing and he just kind of says nothing while he watches the village to see how effective it is.

SIDE QUESTS, so here me out.  This works best for longer stories and serial type works of fiction, but if your character has only one goal and never any other goals or distractions or purposes or interests you are seriously shooting yourself in the foot.  Don’t focus all your energy on Protag Loves Love Interest.  Protag also has Family Drama.  (Did you hear that Bobert is trying to buy a fucking boat?  A boat!  Why does he need a boat!  He can’t swim.  He’s going to die.  A boat.  A god damn boat.)  Protag has ambitions at work that are being undercut by Evil Boss.  (And anyway, Worst Boss Ever, he just comes over and drops this massive work load on my desk and he smiles at me because the Main Boss is coming tomorrow and my desk will be the only one covered in unfinished work.  What choice do I have?  I can’t quit, I need this promotion, so I stick to it.  I stay late, I work as hard as I can and...)

I know it’s not for everyone but Sex.  Unless your characters are Too Young to have a developed sexuality, that sexuality needs to be in your story.  I mean, if your entire story takes place and Grandma’s funeral, then you probably can skip this one.  But if your story takes place over any length of time, sex and sex-adjacent things need to be brought up.  They don’t need to be graphic.  They don’t need to be gross.  It can be a kiss, or the yearning for a kiss.  It can be a meaningful, flirtatious touch.  It can be the idea of a flirtatious touch.  There can be complaints of a need for flirtatious touches.  To each their own comfort level, but some sense of sexuality and how that is a Driving Urge in your character is also good.

Introduce a Rival.  Go ahead.  Let your uncontested King of Bowling protag meet a New Challenger.  Send them spiral with fear that they may not be top dog anymore.

Force your Protag and Antagonist to form a momentary truce.  Let them come to some understanding of the other that makes their future interactions more difficult.  

Strike your Protag with a Great Unfairness.  They didn’t get the promotion.  They couldn’t pay the bills.  They weren’t selected to be court jester.  They didn’t get to the store on time.  Someone else got to the top of the summit before them and now they’re basically trash to history.

Randomly have your supposed Antagonist turn out to Actually a Decent Guy that you’ve been blaming for all the wrongs in the world because it was convenient and really the actual antagonist can’t be defeated because he/she overpowers you somehow.  But with Actually a Decent Guy and his Surprisingly Nice Friends and you and your friends, you stand a chance.

Push your protagonist into a mud puddle.  Just for shits and giggles, make it so there’s not a dead body in there with him.  Or put one in if you want.  Nothing says ‘happy fun times at plot-stalled high’ like a decomposing corpse where one shouldn’t be.

Break your Protagonists heart, and let there be people that love them.  

Have fun, take your time, embrace the mundane and ridiculous aspects of life.  ALWAYS give your character flaws, and make them aware of them, and let them grow.  That’s the story.  All the other nonsense, the car wrecks and gunshots, and serial killers doesn’t matter in the end.  The reader is looking for Relationships That Matter and Characters that Grow.  Characters that stink of humanity, that reflect something about human beings the reader has met (or the reader themselves).  They want to connect, they want to love your character and they can’t do that if your character is Perfect.  Nobody’s perfect.  Stories stagnate when they can’t grow.  Let your story grow.  Let your characters grow.

[ishkabibblebafflegab]

the ‘When the Frig Will Kacchako Happen Pool,’ ftg. class 1-a and precisely one supercilious blonde buttface

so.

a darling flamingo made of confetti recently commented on ‘a feat equal,’ the centerpiece story of my kacchako-steeped floaty ‘splodey-verse, demanding to know how big the ‘when will kacchako FINALLY FREAKING SMOOCH’ pool (which was revealed to’ve existed for...a while in the last chapter of ‘afe’) had gotten in the year-plus since it was started.

which got me thinking.

here’s my answer (and i’m convinced this is how *any* class 1-a spearheaded kacchako pool would play out, in my fic universe or otherwise):

LET'S BE REAL THAT POT WAS SWOLE AF

YOU KNOW HOW THESE AMAZING 1-A ASSHOLES LIKE TO ESCALATE

KIRISHIMA LAYS DOWN 5,000 YEN TO KICK THINGS OFF, GOOD-NATURED-LIKE

*SMAP* MINA SEES THAT BET AND FUCKIN' DOUBLES IT

TSUYU DEADPAN WONDERS IF THIS IS THE SORT OF THING RESPONSIBLE, LAW-ABIDING HEROES SHOULD BE DOING WITH THEIR MONEY AS SHE SCROLLS THROUGH HER PHONE'S CALENDAR AND CALLS IT AT SIX MONTHS POST-'DREADFUL SPECTACLE'

SERO'S ON HIS OWN FOR THE FIRST TIME AND LIVING EXPENSES ARE A THING HE'S LEARNED THE HARD WAY HE HAS TO BUDGET FOR AND IF HE PUTS IN HE'LL BE EATING RAMEN AND TAKING COLD SHOWERS FOR A FULL MONTH --BUT HE FEELS *REALLY GOOD* ABOUT NEXT MAY

DEKU'S MUMBLING TO HIMSELF ABOUT VARIABLES AND DETERMINANTS AND MATRICES AND MATCHING EVERY BET LAID DOWN AS HE COOKS UP THE FIRST BATCH OF SIDE POTS (WILL IT HAPPEN ON OR OFF THE JOB? WILL URARAKA OR BAKUGOU MAKE THE FIRST MOVE? WILL THEY TRY TO HIDE IT? ETCETC)

TODOROKI HAS VIRTUALLY NO ACTUAL INTEREST IN THE OUTCOME, BUT DECIDES TO PARTICIPATE BECAUSE DEKU SEEMS EXCITED ABOUT IT

IIDA DOES *NOT* CONDONE GAMBLING, BUT IF THIS IS HAPPENING IN SPITE OF HIS FERVENT OBJECTIONS HE MAY AS WELL MAKE A SPREADSHEET

MOMO AND SATOU PREPARE REFRESHMENTS AT THE MONTHLY CHECK-INS, AND THREE MONTHS IN, MOMO CONGENIALLY OFFERS TO DOUBLE WHATEVER THE FINAL AMOUNT IS IF THE POOL CONTINUES BEYOND A CALENDAR YEAR

TOKOYAMI PROSAICALLY PROCLAIMS THAT HUMAN EXISTENCE IS BUT A BRIEF PINPRICK OF LIGHT BETWEEN TWO ETERNITIES OF UNFATHOMABLE DARKNESS, AND DECRIES THE VERY NOTION OF BETTING ON THAT MOST PROFOUND AND INTIMATE OF EPHEMERA, LOVE (HE ALWAYS PAYS HIS MONTHLY STIPEND EARLY)

URARAKA HAS A HABIT OF POURING HER FEELINGS OUT TO KODA'S BEST RABBIT BRO ON HER LUNCH BREAKS AND/OR AFTER POST-WORK DRINKS, THE SUBSTANCE OF WHICH KODA NEVER ASKS HIS BRO TO DIVULGE, THOUGH HE DOES SEEK THE RABBIT'S ADVICE ON WHEN AND WHERE TO PLACE HIS BETS

HAGAKURE ADMINS THE GROUP CHAT AND INCENTIVIZES 'STRETCH GOALS'

SHOUJI DOESN'T PARTICIPATE WITH HIS MONEY, BUT HE OFFERS TIPS AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE GROUP CHAT

MINETA SHITPOSTS CONSTANTLY UNTIL HE GETS HIMSELF BANNED --FROM THE CHAT AND FROM THE CONTEST (ALTHOUGH HIS CONTRIBUTIONS UP TO THAT POINT ARE OBVIOUSLY FORFEIT)

AOYAMA MAKES NO DIRECT FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND PLACES NO ACTUAL BETS, BUT HE PURCHASES A NEW, EXTRAORDINARY VINTAGE BOTTLE OF WINE EVERY MONTH TO DONATE TO THE WINNER

MONOMA PUTS IN MONTHLY FOR THE 'IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN' SIDE POT HE'S GOT ALL TO HIMSELF (HOW HE EVEN FOUND OUT ABOUT THE POOL IN THE FIRST PLACE IS A POINT OF BAFFLING CONTENTION)

KAMINARI OFTEN AND SHAMELESSLY BORROWS MONEY FROM BAKUGOU TO ANTE UP

SHINSOU, LIKE TODOROKI, HAS LITTLE VESTED INTEREST IN THE OUTCOME OF THE POOL, BUT IS SECRETLY TOUCHED HE WAS ASKED TO PARTICIPATE AND CONTRIBUTES TO A HANDFUL OF THE SIDE POTS

OJIROU ABSTAINS FOR AS LONG AS HE'S ABLE TO REFUSE HAGAKURE'S DOGGED SOLICITATIONS THAT HE TAKE PART IN THIS CRUCIAL 'CLASS BONDING' EXERCISE, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE FULL-GROWN ADULTS WITH JOBS NOW AND THEY ALL *WORK TOGETHER* AND STILL HANG OUT CONSTANTLY AND JUST...THE LOGIC OF HER APPEAL IS AS INVISIBLE AS SHE IS (HE LASTS FIFTEEN MINUTES)

AIZAWA IS ASKED ONCE AND NEVER AGAIN

JIROU'S TOO COOL FOR THIS POOL: SHE CALLS APRIL OF THE YEAR FOLLOWING AND REFUSES TO PONY UP ANY OF HER MONTHLY DUES, CLAIMING THAT IF SHE LOSES SHE'LL PAY THE LUMP SUM ALL AT ONCE, BUT INSISTING THAT SHE'S NOT GOING TO LOSE SO SHE'S NOT WORRIED, EVEN WHEN THE POT SWELLS TO BANK-BREAKING PROPORTIONS

NEEDLESS TO SAY,

JIROU WON HERSELF A SMALL FORTUNE, AND FOLLOWING THE EVENTS OF THE LAST CHAPTER OF ‘AFE,’ THAT GROUP CHAT ABOUT TO BE LIT

[clubgazette]

the GazettE Live Tour 18-19 THE NINTH / PHASE #04 -99.999- @ Backstage werk, Munich 2019.06.18.

It’s so bloody hot omg we all look like we’ve been swimming. It turned out the AC was broken (had been so for several years according to bar staff??), apparently it was 35-40C on stage due to the stage lights. I don’t know how hot it was in the rest of the hall but it was h o t. I’m surprised not more people collapsed tbh.

Ruki is... not doing well :( he’s taking a lot of breaks from singing and his voice sounded like it’s near breaking several times. (Edit: several people thought it’s connected to the eathquake/tsunami warning that happened back in Japan a bit earlier that day, but he really sounded like he was just getting ill)

Terry: Can we talk about how Ruki pushed two of his fingers all the way into his mouth and smooched them sensually as he took them out

Emi: Reita was insane, he kept coming to the front and he was just going crazy, widening his eyes and sticking out his tongue and omlll. He was sweating so much, his tech came out multiple times to clean up his sweat, I also saw aoi dripping sweat and ruki kept shaking his jacket.

Kai messed up a bit in UGLY and they nearly stopped (the others were all smiling/laughing) but they kept going after all. When they came on stage again for encore and it was time for Kai’s MC he started with “sorri.... I make... mistake...”  😂😂😂

Emi: Kai was freaking adorarable, he apolgised for messing up during ugly which was so cute, Ruki just looked back and started singing again and then shrugged and laughed, Aoi couldn't stop laughing either.

Ruki was a bit better for the encore!

Reita tried to time the throat-cut motion with Ruki for inside beast but Ruki only did it half-assedly so it failed 😂😭

Hyenaaaa I didn’t catch any of the Uruki action bc Reita came over to kamite and was playing with us 😭 BUT I caught the Aoiha afterwards!! Aoi came over to kamite and slowly went towards Uruha. Uruha noticed him and slowly lowered himself in front of Aoi (beaming). Aoi was nodding and smiling and it looked like they were talking. Then Uruha laughed and slowly got up again, Aoi (still smiling and nodding) moved behind him and played close behind him for a few moments until Uruha went back to his mic and Aoi went back to shimote.

Hika: Ruki put his arm around Uruha and few seconds later he patted his head lovely 😭😭😭

Hika: Kai's little solo at the end of Undying... It is E V E R Y T H I N G 😭😭😭😭

calmhyena: Uruha and aoi were super cheerful and uru interacted a lot with the crowd! He seemed happy, showed us that he was sweaty too and replied to our hearts with another heart!

Reita threw a pick towards kamite and it landed on the edge of the stage. He laughed (super cutely 😭😭😭) and then continued throwing to shimote.

Uruha recorded the crowd (with their cameraman’s extra equipment) while Kai was taking pictures! Despite everyone being exhausted the crowd cheered a lot.

Kou: At the end of the live, Uruha took a phone from staff that they were using to record and recorded the entire crowd, while interacting with everyone. 😭💕 He's such a sweetheart.

M&G:

I set a goal for myself: look Reita in the face (I never quite can) since it’s the last m&g for me. Kou went in front of me and f—... I get to Reita and he goes “hey hey look at me” in English 😭😭😭😭 I panicked and said いえいえいえいえ無理無理無理 (nononono impossible) and he LAUGHED and patted my hand

I asked a Ruki if he’s ok and he looked both happy and a little embarrassed. He said he’s alright, apologised while laughing, and then said thank you.

Me: ルキさん、大丈夫ですか？喉はどうですか？ R: あっ、なんとかなるよ。フフごめんね、ありがとう！

I told Kai: don’t worry about today’s miss! (I wanted to say more but he interrupted me by BURSTING OUT LAUGHING) Kai: HAHAHAHA SORRY SORRY (slapping my shoulder repeatedly and pulling at my hand until staff grabbed both my shoulders and basically frogmarched me past Uruha <-- I did not stay in front of him particularly long (and he made it hard to leave because he was pulling on my hand lol) so I don’t think the forceful handling was justified)

Staff kept shoving me past Uruha, I barely had time to say “thanks” :( he held on to my hand and held me back while staff shoved me further and further lol... I feel really bad for him being last. He has no time to talk to anyone and he loves m&g :/

Kou: Staff pushed us way too quickly through meet and greet, especially in front of Uruha, who was last. I was barely able to say otsukaresama before I was being shoved towards the door. The staff who was shoving people away from Uruha not only ruined a lot of fan experiences, but you could also tell Uruha was quite distressed. 

Kou: Very disappointed with German venue staff. At both Cologne and Munich there was one, maybe two, good/kind staff, but the rest were all on power trips and were total dickheads.

Thread on B7Klan being less than accommodating, including neglecting to follow up on disabled customers.

Kou: The staff member (who was huge and muscley af btw) who was pulling people away from Uruha didn't just push like staff normally do, but would grab you by both shoulders or even by the hips and DRAG you away from him and shove you towards the door.

Lili: I just want to let you all know that when I told Reita "You rock!" He answered "Yes I Rock" and did a stupid pose doing 🤘🤘like of he was a statue model ... XD 💛

Emi: I was shaking after speaking to Aoi so I was super nervous going up to Reita, I wanted to say something simple like thank you and I love you. So obviously aishteru is a bit intense so I was told people usually say daisuki instead, well...

Emi: I went up to him and I could barely look at cus omfg it's Reita. I managed to get out thank you and daisuki But IT WAS SOOO EMBARASIINGNG. I felt like I was telling my school crush that u liked him, AND THEN HE STARTED GIGGLING AT ME.

Emi: After the Reita incident I was sooooo embarrassed so I couldn’t help but hide my face, Ruki took my hands and started laughing at how embarrassed I was, he was so smiley and warm and even though I only said thank you he really leaned in and listened to what I said.

Emi: Then we went to Kai, OMG WHAT. Kai is the most gorgeous human ever, he is ALWAYS smiling. Its important to know that I had been crying through the whole encore. so after I shook his hand I covered my face and he just said in the cutest voice "don't cry! Don't cry!"

Coldroute: Arm wrestling with Reita at the M&G - I WON !!!

Coldroute: And i touched his biceps - GUYS, THIS MAN HAS FUCKING MUSCLES I FELL IN LOVE IMMEDIATELY

Christina: I was shaking hands with Reita when i asked him to give me a high five and he said „yeah!!“ leaned back just so he could put extra power in his high five AND IT WAS AWESOME

Special shoutout to the friendly and helpful fans I met everywhere, you are all amazing! Thanks to fans who organised queueing when staff would not, and thank you so much to everyone who cooperated with the fan made systems and made this WT such an enjoyable experience ☺️💖 WT13 was quite stressful and not that enjoyable for me so I ended up skipping WT16, but you guys have showed me that world tours can be amazing (even though I wish we had ticket numbers eliminating the dumb system of making people sleep on the street).

[scuzmunkie]

Run, Little Rabbit, Run: Chapter 9

A/N: My darling little pumpkins!! How I love you so!! Thank you so much for coming in this journey with me!! I’ve made some amazing friends along the way and I appreciate each and everyone of my followers!! You guys have no idea how emotional I get when I read your comments!! Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much!! And now for chapter 9! You know the drill, lmk if you’d like to be added to the tag list and if there are any mistakes!! Enjoy! Smooches!! Baron Corbin x OFC Word Count: 2000+ Warnings: language and moderate sexy times. (I suck at writing smut, so I don’t attempt it lol) Summary: Run, Addie, the Constable is coming for you..... +++ “Baron, I need some space.” Addie giggled, trying to gently push him away. This earned her a low growl and a soft nudge against her head. “Too bad, little rabbit, I wanna be close to you.” He rumbled. “Ok, love birds. As cute as you two are, I have a match tonight and I need to look flawless!” Alexa said giving them a mock scowl. “Watch it, pixie.” Baron growled, playfully snapping his teeth in Alexa’s direction. Addie softly bopped him on the nose with her pointer finger. “Be nice,” Addie stood on her tiptoes and pecked Baron on the lips, “I’ll see you later.” “Fine...” he mumbled against her lips, “I love you. See you tonight.” “Love you too.” Squealing when he smacked her ass as he walked away. “THAT’S RIGHT!” Alexa beamed, “Tonight’s your first change!! Ooooh, are you nervous?” “Um, a little. From what the others have told me, the first time is pretty painful.” Addie chewed her lip as she put the finishing touches on Alexa. “Michael offered to use his magic to try and dull the pain but I want to feel it all, y’know? Get an understanding of what Baron went through.” “Well, you’re a hell of a lot braver than I am. I’d spring for that magic offer faster than a jack rabbit on a date.” “Thanks for the visual.” Addie said as she grimaced. Alexa placed a loving hand on Addie’s. “You’ll be fine babe. Baron won’t let anything happen to you, he’ll be there every step of the way.” With that, she kissed  Addie’s cheek leaving a huge lipstick kiss mark. —- Baron stood in front of Addie, his nose buried in her hair. He held her small hands in his calloused ones as the night air kissed their skin. The wind blew through the trees as the leaves rustled. He could hear her heart beating faster than normal. It was natural for his little rabbit to be nervous. “Don’t worry, beautiful. I’ve got you.” He whispered as he pulled her into his arms. He loved how perfect her body fit with his. Leaning down, he kissed Addie, trying his best to calm her nerves. She happily welcomed the distraction. “Ok,” he whispered when they pulled apart, “first thing’s first, take off your clothes.” “What?” Addie squeaked out. “Don’t worry, I’ll put them in my backpack. They won’t get dirty.” He said as he nodded his head to the bag that hung from one of the handlebars of his motorcycle. It was a sweet gesture but her clothes getting dirty wasn’t what she was worried about. Although they had been together since that horrible night, they hadn’t been intimate yet. Addie still felt self conscious  about her body even tho Baron reassured her that he loved her body. Sensing her unease about shedding her clothes in front of him, Baron kissed her forehead. “Baby,” Baron murmured, “we’ve been over this, I think you’re sexy as hell. You don’t need to hide your body from me.” “No, I know... it’s not that, well not totally that. I got sick in my teens and I’ve only really been with one guy. We had math together. It was just one time and it wasn’t great.” She rolled her eyes when Baron growled at the mention of another guy touching what was his. “Oh stop that. What I’m trying to tell you is that I’m not super experienced and not used to people seeing me naked.” “Oh babe,” his voice low and husky, “I don’t give a shit about how experienced you are. When the time comes I’ll take care of you...” he buried his face in the crook of her neck, “I’ll make you feel things you’ve only dreamed of.” He gently bit her sensitive skin, “I’ll worship this gorgeous body so good, you’ll be a whimpering mess begging me to never stop.” He pulled back and kissed her lips then her forehead. By now Addie felt like she couldn’t breathe. She wanted to let go and lose control around Baron. But there was something that had to be done first. Taking a deep breath, Addie backed up, reached for the hem of her shirt and slowly undressed under the light of the full moon. Once she was completely bare before her alpha, she looked at him for further instruction. Baron was currently in a daze as he stared at his mate’s voluptuous, perfect body. His wolf was practically biting at the chops to take her right then and there. Shaking his head, he quickly removed his shirt knowing that the skin to skin contact will help her through her change. He walked towards Addie, pulled the hair tie from her braid and brushed his fingers through her hair. “This’ll be easier if we’re sitting, ok?” He watched as she nervously nodded her head as she sat on the ground. Sitting behind her, Baron wrapped his arms around her soft tummy and pulled her between his bent legs, against his chest. He kissed her shoulder where his mark was, pride running through his body when he felt her shiver under his touch. “Relax baby, breath with me.” Closing her eyes, she let her head fall back on his shoulder as she placed her arms on his. “You’re going to feel a dull heat throughout your body and it’s going to intensify. Do you feel it?” “Y-Yeah, it’s not that ba- OH! I lied!” Her nails dug into Baron’s skin. “It feels like I’m on fire, it hurts Baron!” She winced and whimpered in as it got worse. Baron tightened his hold on her while kissing her mark again, trying to ease her pain. He knew that what was about to come would be the most excruciating pain she’d ever feel in her life. “I know, baby, I know. I need you to listen, next you’re body is going to morph into an entirely different being.” He murmured against her ear, “Your bones will break and reform into your wolf. It’s going to hurt but I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” “I’m scared, I don’t know if I can-!” She was cut off by her own scream as her back arched as they both heard that pop of her first broken bone. Just as she was about to scream in agony, Baron sunk his now sharp teeth into her shoulder. Addie moaned in pleasure and pain as her body leaned into Baron’s. He did all he could to distract her from the anguish that was tearing through her entire body. Unable to hold onto Addie anymore, Baron jumped back as her body changed into a breathtaking red wolf. Finally able to catch her breath, Addie looked at Baron with big eyes. She tried to stand, but wasn’t yet used to this new form. Her head felt like it was going to explode as all of her senses felt like they had just been cranked to eleven. “Easy babe, take your time.” Baron whispered as he slowly approached his luna. “It’s going to take some getting used to.” He helped Addie to her feet, running his hands over her fur once she was able to stand on her own. He stroked her fur, marveling at how soft it was. Unable to stop himself, he leaned into her side lying his head on her side as his hands continued to pet her soft coat. Closing his eyes, he listened to her heartbeat, never taking it for granted as he thought about the night he had almost lost Addie. It had been almost a full month since then and he made sure to tell her everyday how much he loved her. Feeling antsy, Addie gently shook him off. Her paws started to fidget, like they needed to dig into the earth while she raced through the trees. ‘Patience, my dear.’ A voice said in her mind, causing Addie to yip in surprise. ‘What?! Who are you?!’ Addie asked, trying not to freak out. ‘I’m your wolf.’ Addie recalled Baron trying to explain this to her, though she didn’t feel prepared at all for the real thing. ‘Relax and trust our alpha, he’ll take care of us.’ Baron stood in front of Addie, running his fingers through the fur around her neck. “You are so beautiful.” He whispered as he leaned her head down so he could place his forehead on hers. Stepping back, Baron took off the rest of his clothes and took on his wolf form as well. Addie watched as Baron crouched, his body morphing into a dark grey wolf that easily stood a foot and a half taller than Addie’s. Walking towards her, Baron ran his muzzle along hers, scenting her. Once he was satisfied with his work, he kicked her neck then playfully nipped at her. Wanting to be closer to him, Addie nuzzled under Baron’s neck. Nudging her head with his nose, Baron tilted his head towards the open woods. He started to run from her, barking for her to follow. Addie didn’t need to be told twice as she took off after him. When they had their fill of running under the night sky, Addie and Baron laid on the ground near his bike. Sensing that the sun would be up in a few hours, Baron stood and changed back to human. “Turning back into human is a lot easier. Close your eyes and picture your human form.” He instructed when she too stood and tilted her head to the side. Closing her eyes, Addie did as she was told. Although it took some time, she was finally back to her old self. She opened her eyes and looked at Baron. He looked so majestic under the light of the full moon. Closing the gap between them, Addie used Baron’s shoulders to pull him down into a heated kiss. Growling, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against his body. Her plush body felt like heaven against his hard body. Pulling away, Baron quickly ripped open his backpack and pulled out a large blanket and laid it on the ground. Sitting on the blanket, Baron reached out a hand towards his beautiful Addie. Once she was in his arms, he laid her on her back as he hovered over her as he nestled between her luscious thighs. She cupped his face pulling him down for another kiss. Moving from her lips, down her jaw, finally reaching her shoulder, he left open mouthed kisses on her skin. He bit her skin as she dug her nails up his back, causing him to growl against her neck. Her thighs tightened around Baron as she ground her hips into his. “Little rabbit, if you keep that up I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to control myself.” He growled against her ear. “Maybe I want to lose control with you.” She purred, pulling back to look into his now glowing eyes. “I need to hear you say it Adelina.” He said, a cocky smirk on his lips as he watched her shiver at the sound of her name on his tongue. Growling, she pulled him by the back of his neck, crashing her lips against his as she bit his bottom lip. “Take me, alpha.” She said as she stared into his eyes. Letting out a roar, he held her tightly by her hair as he marked the delicate skin of her neck with his teeth. She dragged her nails along his spine as she arched into him. Under the stars, Baron kept true to his word, reveling in every gasp, whimper and moan he drew from her as he showed her body the love she deserved. At the height of their love making, Baron stared into Addie’s eyes. “Tell me you love me.” Baron growled out. “M-More than anything.” She panted out as she bared her neck to him, a little tip Ruby gave her. Throwing his head back, Baron howled at the full moon then sunk his teeth into her neck as Addie cried out his name. Collapsing on her soft body, Baron held Addie close as they basked in each other’s afterglow. A single tear fell from Baron’s eye as he stared at the beautiful gift the moon goddess bestowed upon him. Stroking her hair as she let out a small yawn, Baron pulled a few things from his bag and gently cleaned their bodies. He pulled her to her feet and helped her get dressed then throwing his own clothes on. Packing everything back up, Addie took the bag from his hands and put it on her back. With ease, Baron lifted Addie and placed her on his bike then mounting it himself. Wrapping her arms around his torso, kissing his back between his shoulder blades. “I love you.” She whispered as she rested her chin on his shoulder. Baron turned his head and kissed her cheek. Staring into her eyes, Baron leaned back and exposed his neck to his luna, a sign of full submission and respect. Addie softly bit his neck, shivering as he moaned under her teeth. When she pulled her teeth back, she kissed the small mark she left on his skin. “It’s official now.” Baron whispered. “You’re my luna, my equal, my moon. Mine as I am yours.” “Yours as you are mine.” Addie whispered. “Forever.” He said as he kickstarted his bike and made their way back to the hotel. “Forever.” She whispered back as the wind cooled her heated skin. The Moon Goddess smiled down as she watched her wolves start their new like together.

+++

Darling Little Pumpkins:

@haven-raven012591 @kittysilver86 @calwitch @hanaslay @feathers-and-flesh-and-wrestling @melinatedmuse @neversatisfiedgirl @empress-with-the-crown @houndsofjxstice @thegloriousdisaster @lost-in-the-stories @wrestlingfae @captainwinterwriter @imagine-all-the-fandoms @hardyfangirl3 @team-elias @yndaree @briqueenofthenorth @belsoleleann @finnbalorsbabygirl @nonnirenea @scarlettquinn

[mogwaicutiepie]

Meta: Gizmo’s Vocabulary in Gremlins

Gizmo actually talks a lot in Gremlins, and while much of it is in the background of the scenes and might be hard to hear, if you listen to what he’s saying, you’ll learn that he not only is very much paying attention to his surroundings and what’s going on, but he also has an extensive vocabulary.

Now, Gizmo does know more than one language which he can understand if not always read and speak. We know he speaks his little mogwai language, he is heard speaking Chinese with Mr. Wing, and he speaks English throughout the film. Using language, Gizmo not only expresses his current mood, but also reacts to things that are happening around him. Here I have broken down the various English words I’ve heard Gizmo say throughout the film, to illustrate how intelligent he is but also just for cuteness purposes.

Whenever Gizmo sees a dog, he says, “Woof-woof!” This is not just an imitation of the sound a dog makes, but he also uses it as a name. He says it when he first meets Billy’s dog in the beginning, and then again at the end of the film as Mr. Wing is carrying him away in his box. As they pass by the dog, he says, “Bye-bye, woof-woof!” He is also heard saying it during the Snow White scene. As Billy and Kate pass by the movie screen, Gizmo sees animated animals and yells out excitedly, “Woof-woof?!” as if looking to see if there’s a dog there. Near the end of the film when he is driving the toy car, he warns Billy’s dog twice by yelling out, “Woof-woooooof!” in the same way someone might honk a horn on a car or say “beep-beeeep!”

Speaking of cars, Gizmo loves them. He does the same thing with them as he does with dogs, turning the sounds they make into their names. A car is a “vroom-vroom” to Gizmo, and he is heard saying this multiple times throughout the movie. Of course he says it when he watches racing on TV, but he also says it rather excitedly when Billy takes him in his car for the first time, almost in the tone of, oh boy, I’m actually getting to ride in a car! Near the end of the film, he says it again when driving the little car in the toy store.

Gizmo’s relationship with bright light is understandably a bad one, and maybe out of necessity he’s learned how to say it. He yells out “bright light, bright light!” to let nearby humans know that he is scared or displeased with the amount of light and that he wants them to do something about it. When Gizmo falls in the trash can in the beginning of the film and Billy takes him into the bathroom to get the bump on his head bandaged, the light is flipped on. In a comical moment, Gizmo freaks out a little and is fully prepared to get all bent out of shape, given that he was in a bad mood from his fall. But then Billy turns out the light and he recognizes that he has to quickly stop his tantrum. He ends up saying, “Bright light, bright light, (mogwai complaining), ahhhhh! Ahhh!.........oh.” The “oh” at the end is so adorable, like the human equivalent of “oh, okay” or “fine, then.” His whole tantrum is derailed right then and it’s so cute. But moments later he is back to muttering and complaining in his mogwai language, letting Billy know that he is not having a good time by any stretch of the imagination.

Something else Gizmo does is to say something is “neat!” if he really likes it. This might be something he does on his own or he might have picked it up from Billy. When he was reading the comic strip with the 3D glasses, Billy asks him if he’s having fun and Gizmo repeats, “Fun!” Then Billy says, “Neat, huh?” and Gizmo repeats, “Neat!” He says this much later in the film when he finds the toy car in its box and exclaims, “Vroom-vroom! Neat!”

Gizmo also reacts to hearing the word “mogwai.” Almost every time it is spoken around him, he will repeat it. I’m not sure why he does this, other than maybe he is just happy to be spoken about? Maybe he is just agreeing or reinforcing it like, yes, mogwai like me, or something? Whatever the reason, it’s very cute. Not only does he repeat it when it’s said around him, but he says it on his own as well. When he’s in Billy’s backpack and they’re searching for the gremlins, Gizmo can be heard muttering, “Other mogwai.” When Billy realizes they’re all in the movie theater and it talking to Kate about it, Gizmo says it again when he’s brought up to the window and can see the gremlin inside. He says it one more time at the end of the movie when explaining to Mr. Wing everything that had happened to him. “Gremlin” is not a word he knows. To Gizmo, the gremlins are just the “other mogwai.” He doesn’t seem to distinguish between the mammalian and reptilian forms and recognizes them as the same individuals they were before their metamorphosis.

When Gizmo spots a gremlin or sees their handiwork, he will say, “Uh-oh!” as a kind of warning to Billy. When he makes eye contact with a gremlin, he says, “hmph!” defiantly, expressing his stark disapproval of their actions, and sometimes will squeak or shriek with affront at their very presence.

Gizmo does his best to sing the dwarves’ mining song from Snow White, something the gremlins do as well. He’s got the “hi-ho” bit down really well, but then he kinda mumbles through the other words in his mogwai language. He does get it right at one point. The little guy sings on key, though, you gotta give him that much.

Little Gizmo is also at least somewhat familiar with human courtship. When Billy and Kate kiss in front of him, he says, “Awwww…” and then makes smooching noises. It’s barely audible, but it’s definitely there.

As Billy is preparing to blow up the movie theater and is setting the cloth on fire, Gizmo yells, “Boom! Boom!” He’s a perceptive little guy, and he knows what’s about to happen. When the explosion rocks the movie theater, Gizmo is amazed by it. He yells out, “Wooowwuuuuuh!” with the same inflection as a human would yell, “Woooweee!” In other words, wow, that was really big and exciting!

Just before he leaves the Peltzer house, Gizmo is able to say, “Bye, Billy,” as a parting sentiment to someone whom he probably considered a friend at that point. This and the fact that Gizmo calls Mr. Wing “father” in Chinese really illustrates that he has the ability to recognize different people and is able to form emotional attachments to them.

At the very end of the movie, as Mr. Wing is carrying Gizmo out of the Peltzer house and down the street, Gizmo starts chattering away, telling Mr. Wing about all the things that happened to him. He can be heard saying “woof-woof,” “vroom-vroom,” and “other mogwai” as he excitedly shares his tale. Twice he can be heard singing the Snow White song as well. This illustrates that mogwai have very good memories and that all these events left a significant impression on Gizmo.

In Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Gizmo’s English vocabulary has clearly expanded. The most adorable string of things he says is actually at the very end of the movie. He first says, “Go home now,” and then asks Billy if he has TV at home with “TV?.” He then proceeds to list all the channels he likes to watch, such as Showtime, HBO, TNT, and Nick At Night. This shows that Gizmo is absorbing the habits, technology, and culture of the humans he’s exposed to.

Also... is it possible that Gizmo knows a little Japanese as well? Because I swear I heard him say “baka” as he looked up at a ceiling to see the pupae of his fellow mogwai. “Baka” means unwise, foolish, or stupid... so he’s basically calling them dumbasses for eating after midnight and metamorphosing into gremlins. Gotta love that mogwai sass. XD

[barry-allen-in-your-area]

Superpowers

Summary: Barry is positive you have superpowers because you talked to people as if it was nothing. Also...you kind of always knew where he was going to be and it freaked him out.

Pairing: Barry Allen/Female Reader

Warnings: A poorly written smooch wont hurt anyone

Word Count: 1700+

Note: my first attempt dont @ me omg

Barry doesn’t remember how you two became friends. All he really remembers is you sitting next to him in college English freshman year and then how from that point on you were always around him. He realized that you somehow always knew where he would be. He would be going over to a cafe to grab a quick drink, and you were already in there like you were waiting for him.

Or even one time he was on his way to criminology and you popped out from behind the wall and he jumped and cursed so loud. You began to laugh and trying to apologize. Barry wasn’t mad, he was just really, really confused.

He didn’t mind, actually, because he for some reason liked the attention you gave him. It felt nice to have someone who wants to be his friend, especially someone like you. 

The only place you weren’t at was his apartment or his warehouse where he kept his Flash suit. At least until today when he climbed through the gate and saw a figure leaning in front of the door. he near out screamed when he saw it was you, a warm smile on your lips and waving.

“So this is where you go- huh- pretty neat,” You said, eying the large warehouse door with a chain and lock on it. Barry just stared at you with wide eyes.

“How-How did you find me?” he asked, you shrugged, resting your hands on your hips.

“I have superpowers,” was all you said before gesturing him to open the door, “Come on! I want to see what’s inside!”

Barry’s eyed you, his suit was out in the open, you would surely question him and it didn’t look like he was going to get rid of you that easily, or at all. Barry let out a sigh.

“You’re not allowed to ask questions, okay?” he pointed, you nodded.

“Got it!” you smiled, excited to see where Barry spent all his time at. Barry didn’t notice how his eyes lingered on your lips that had worn your smile. He turned away, opening the large metal door.

Barry met you during college, you both had the same English class and you were the only one who talked to him, in fact, he noticed that you talked to everyone. You didn’t care who it was, or if they didn’t want to be bothered, you just would swoop in and somehow hold a conversation.

That’s one thing Barry really likes about you. You’re very interactive and charismatic, you can get your way through any conversation. Professors liked you a lot too. You were also very open-minded, which is why you were so good in that group project in English, you took others ideas, expanded on them, and you listened to them. You weren’t rude to them, even when their ideas were stupid- you simply explained why it wouldn’t work, but you still would think of a way it would work.

You had this way about you that just made people like you, and Barry was sure that when you said “I have superpowers” you meant that. Barry was awkward, he knew it, and very antisocial. Talking to others wasn’t very easy like you made it seem. In fact, he was a little jealous how good you were in interaction.

He’s come to the conclusion that either you really did have superpowers, or you were just that good at reading people and guessing.

Another good thing was that you never asked questions- even when you saw his Flash suit the first time you came into his warehouse, you just stared at it before nodding and saying, “Cool!”

Barry raised both brows, expecting you to at least looked confused or interested.

“That’s- wait, you’re not going to ask?” he pointed.

You shook your head and moved forward.

“You told me not to!” you called behind.

Barry stood there, jaw agape because he was sure you would at least ask what it is was for, but you quickly ignored it as if it wasn’t even there and wandered over to his computer to see what he was up to.

“Cool place,” You muttered under your breath before turning to him and giving him a winning smile, “Pretty cool place you got here, Barry,” he couldn’t help but fall over his words.

“You’re not going to ask about the suit?” he asked again, pointing awkwardly. You looked at it again, and then back at him with a small smirk.

“Why? Do you want me to?”

“No…” Kind of, he thought, I have an answer ready.

You shrugged, “Then no! But I do have another question…”

Barry blinked, “What?”

“Are you... busy?” You asked. Barry tilted his head.

“Not at this moment...” he replied, you smiled widely.

“I was wondering- since you're not busy we hang out and watch some movies, either at my place, I got a lot of movies...”

Barry froze in his spot, processing what you had just said. You kept the large smile on your face as he stared. You were inviting him over to your place? Did he hear that right?

Your smile faltered slightly, and your eyes roamed back around the room. You suddenly pointed at an empty pizza box, “We can order pizza too...” Barry stared at the box, before looking back to you.

Come on, just say yes, stop standing here and looking like a damn fool, you know you really like this person- now is your chanc- Barry froze, realizing that oh yeah- he liked you a whole lot. The fast-paced beating of his heart and his inability to answer your question was honestly a dead giveaway.

“So...” you voice lingered gently. Barry suddenly nodded, really fast.

“Um- yeah!” was all he could muster up without stuttering or falling over a vowel or something. You looked completely relieved and happy. 

“Okay! Nice! Wanna head over now?”

Barry nodded too quickly now.

“Y-yeah!” 

He didn’t expect the night to go this way, not at all. Barry expected himself sitting on the edge of the couch, farthest away from you and just watching the movie in awkwardness, but no. You two were both sitting in the middle of your couch, the movie forgotten as you too talked. You talked and you talked a lot, Barry doesn’t remember the last time he talked this much to a person.

He was somehow making you laugh, and you were definitely making him laugh.

“So what was it that made you want to talk to me?” he asked suddenly, you hummed in thought.

“I thought you were very cute, honestly,” Barry almost choked on his spit at your honest response, “What? You are!” you pointed, “And I just thought- I’m going to talk to this guy, he’s good looking...”

Barry blushed suddenly, you thought he was cute? You let out a laugh and drank out of your cup of soda.

“How about you? Were you surprised?” you asked, Barry shrugged.

“I just thought you were weird- I still do,” you chucked and he smiled.

“Why am I weird?!” you turned your head to him, smiling widely. He shrugged once more and took a slice of pizza from the half-eaten box on your coffee table.

“Because you are so good at talking with people- like you have a superpower or something for it,” Barry said before biting into the slice, “You just have this way with people, like you know what’s going through their mind or something before they even know-” he explained with his other hand. You smiled softly, messing with the string on your sweatpants.

“You think I have superpowers because I know how to talk to people?” you asked, Barry shrugged.

“No- I mean like you read their minds or something-”

You sat crisscrossed, facing him, “Let’s test it then, here- sit this way…” You gently grabbed his arm, he stared at you with confusion as he crossed one leg and turned his body to face yours, you released his arm and leaned in slowly, keeping your eyes on him.

His cheeks heated up slightly at this sudden closeness.

“Ask me what you’re thinking…” you said in a hushed tone. Barry tensed up, his mind asking what’s going on over and over again. He knew if he tried to speak, he would just be a stuttering mess, and probably spit on you or something. Somehow he would ruin this and you would get up and sit on the other couch, you would probably ask him to leave too. Oh god, what has he gotten himself into he should go-

“Don’t panic,” you said suddenly, now grabbing his arm gently, his eyes widened. Can you...can you actually read minds? He had super-human speed, could it be possible for you to have a power too? He felt his heart rate suddenly begin to slow down, and his body become less tense. His breathing became more steady, and his eyes fell on yours without trying to find a way to look elsewhere. Hell, he was mesmerized by you now.

“Go on...ask me,”

Barry licked his dry lips, before asking in a cracked tone, “What am I-I thinking about?” Your hand suddenly found your way to the back of his neck, you leaned in closer.

“Probably about me,” was all you said, Barry blinked. That wasn’t very specific- but his thoughts were cut off when he felt your lips crash into his. He hummed in surprise because he didn’t even know you were holding onto him.

Your soft lips moved against him, and after a second, Barry began to move his too when his mind understood what was going on. Your hand ran through his hair, and his moved around your waist.

Wow, he thought, this was...this was amazing. He found himself deepening the kiss even more, and you comply. This kiss was started to get much more heated, but he didn’t mind and you didn’t either.

You were the first to pull away, your lips parted and cheeks tinted red. Oh god, if you looked all flustered he probably resembled a damn tomato. You gave him a shy smile all of a sudden, a smile he’s never seen on you before because shy wasn’t apart of your personality, but here he was, witnessing a flustered you.

Barry smiled, “You were right...I was thinking about you…” he said, he was always thinking about you. You let out a laugh, your cheeks burning bright red again, “You know...I have a superpower too…”

You tilted your head, “Oh, do you? What is-” but you were cut off when you suddenly found yourself on the floor in the blink of an eye and what you thought you saw was electricity with Barry on top of you.

“I’m pretty fast,” he said, a bit warningly.

You blinked in surprised because how on earth did he do that, but all your thoughts and questions were faded away when his lips crashed back onto yours.

[richiefuckfacetozier]

Chapter 4: Don’t You Want Me

Story: It’s Not My Fault

Title - Don’t You Want Me by The Human League

It can also be found on Archive of our own

For other chapters - | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |

“Bill, what the fuck am I looking at?” Richie blurted out. The losers had all gathered to check out Bill’s new car. He was so excited that his parents agreed to get him a car, so he called everyone over for a big reveal. Richie and Eddie were hanging out already and arrived first. Bill insisted they wait for the rest of the group to come, so they waited on Stanley, Mike, Ben, and Beverly. The minute the rest arrived, Richie sprinted to the garage dragging a protesting Eddie with him. They opened the garage door to see a big blue van. Richie was disappointed, “It’s a Mom car.”

“Rich,” Eddie began with a don’t be an asshole look, “Didn’t we talk about trying to think before we speak?”

“That only applies to hanging out with you. The rest of the world will take me as I am, you nag” Richie insisted.

“I’m not trying to nag you, just give a little perspective on your Trashmouth.” Eddie huffed.

“Fuck you very much,” Richie smirked at Eddie’s annoyance. “But it does, in fact, look like a Mom car.”

Bill touched his car affectionately then glared at Richie, “Don’t l-l-listen to him, Mama, he’s j-j-just jealous.”

“You named it Mama? It’s definitely a Mom car now.” Mike agreed. Richie turned to Mike for a high five and Mike obliged, perhaps for the first time.

“No! It’s a v-v-van that some women who are mothers d-d-drive. But it is not a car s-s-specifically for mothers.” Bill argued, almost shielding his car as if the insults from Richie and Mike were hurting its feelings.

“Are you a Mom, Big Bill?” Richie looked at him fake seriously.

“You don’t have a car, so you can’t talk Richie. Besides, Bill’s a better Mom to us than any of our parents.” Stanley defended. Stanley always either had a weird comeback or a great dry sarcastic response, there was no in between.

Bill looked at Stanley and smiled confusedly. “Um...Thanks, Stan. I guess?”

All of a sudden, Richie got really excited from the direction the conversation was heading. His eyes lit up under those huge glasses, giving him a bug-eyed expression, “If Bill gets to be the mom of the group then I am the Dad!”

Eddie, who was leaning into Richie’s shoulder absentmindedly, scoffed at this, “What makes you the Dad?”

Richie lowered his lips to Eddie’s ear, “Your Mom called me daddy just the other day when we -”

Mike punched Richie in the arm before he finished, “That’s wrong on so many levels,” Mike laughed.

“RICHIE! Don’t be fucking gross!” Eddie screeched turning around in an attempt at tackling him to the ground. His small hands were hitting every single part of Richie he could reach. The tiny jabs were powerful and calculating. Beverly and Mike were laughing at the exchange, while Ben looked wary of the fighting. Stanley whispered something to Bill that Eddie could not hear, but was sure it had something to do with ‘Get a room’.

Richie, being taller and stronger, got a hold of Eddie’s hands then flipped him around trapping Eddie’s arms to his side and encircling him in a vice grip. “Let me go!” Eddie yelled fighting as best he could but the arms around him were too strong. His feet left the ground for a moment kicking at the air.

“W-W-WATCH OUT FOR MAMA!” Bill cried exasperatedly.

Richie set Eddie down on his feet. “I can tell great Dad jokes,” Richie said obviously and he let go of the struggling boy. “Don’t you know me at all, Eds?!”

“Don’t call me, Eds!” Eddie went to try and hit Richie again but he dodged the blow by grabbing Eddie’s hand and twirling him around. Richie kissed Eddie quickly on the lips. Eddie blushed red, his breath always taken away from Richie’s affection. He anxiously looked out the open garage at the street below and prayed no one saw.

“We shouldn’t kiss in public,” Eddie grumbled but kept holding Richie’s hand reluctantly.

“Not into Public Displays of Affection, Eddie?” Beverly said as she ruffled his hair.

“We just shouldn’t.” He swatted her hand away and flattened out his hair.

Richie rolled his eyes not wanting to fight more, “Anyway, as I was saying, I deserve to be the dad of the group.”

“I don’t know Richie,” Beverly said knowingly as she tapped the edge of her chin. “Last week, when Stan and I went to the market to grab milk for baking, the cashier asked if we would like the milk in a bag and Stan said ‘No, just leave it in the carton.’”

Bill laughed remembering aloud, “And when I t-t-told him I was hungry the other day he said, “Nice to m-m-meet you, Hungry. I’m Stan.”

Ben jumped in, “Oh! Oh! And today when I said, ‘Hey I was thinking...’ before I even finished he responded ‘I thought I smelled something burning.’”

Richie turned to Stanley in surprise, “Stan...are you secretly funny?”

“My hilarity is no secret.” Stanley lowered his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s just not as up in everyone’s faces as yours tends to be.”

“There’s my grumpy, Dad.” Richie grinned broadly. Stanley’s lip twitched about to smile at his friend’s comments. Eddie suspected Stanley always feels a little outside of the group and that being considered the dad actually means a lot to him.

“So when are we doing our road trip?” Richie asked.

“Oh my god...I totally forgot about that deal,” Beverly’s eyes shining bright, “You HAVE to take us on a trip, Bill!” She grabs his hands, jumping up and down. He looks at her in alarm but smiles back sweetly.

“We must do this!” Mike added in quickly.

The group had agreed about a year ago that whoever got a car first had to take the losers on a road trip somewhere.

“Well,” Stanley piped in. The group looked at him, “My cousins live in Vermont and they are out of town next weekend. We could go there?”

“Really, Stanley?” Ben said happily, “That would be amazing, there is so much we could do in Vermont!”

Stanley nodded, “They are pretty relaxed people who most likely won’t mind a bunch of teens taking over their place...hopefully.”

“It’s December so we could probably go skiing!” Mike cheered.

Beverly came over and together they jumped up and down saying “Skiing! Skiing! Skiing!” Richie let go of Eddie’s hand to join their merriment. The three were being totally crazy that Bill, Ben, Eddie, and Stanley stood awkwardly before Bill finally said, “YES! Ok! J-j-jesus Christ guys.” They started whooping and hollering. “But first,” Bill began, “Mike and R-r-richie have to apologize to Mama.” Mike looked at the car, “I’m sorry, Mama. You are perfect.” Richie got on his knees dramatically and kissed the front wheel. Eddie and Stan gagged in horror. “Oh, dearest, darlingest, Mama. You deserve better than me in your life. Will you ever forgive my coldness?” “Alright get up, you f-f-freak.” Bill grabbed Richie’s arm and yanked him up. The two boys were almost the same in height, Richie thinner than Bill, who was much broader. “You’re brushing your teeth and washing your hands before touching me again today,” Eddie demanded. “Awwww, don’t want a smooch from me baby?” Richie made kissy faces in Eddie’s direction. The rest of the group braced themselves for an argument to break out. “I’m not a baby. Don’t call me that.” There was nothing Eddie hated more than being called a baby. As if his height and small build weren’t enough to deal with. Being called “cute” or “a baby” was the worst. “You’ll always be a cute baby to me, Eds.” Richie smirked. Eddie could not believe the nerve he had, calling him three things he hates in one sentence. Eddie opened his mouth to curse him out but felt Beverly’s hand clamp his lips together to cut him off. “And....scene!” Beverly gave them a deathly look clearly fed up with the fighting. She removed her hand from Eddie’s mouth, “Ok, Eddie? Let’s just go inside and talk about Vermont?” Eddie shook his head, “You know full well my mom will not let me go,” Eddie turned on his heels and began walking out of the garage. “I’ll talk to you guys later. Nice car, Bill.” As Eddie retreated he heard Mike say, “Ok but Bill hear me out. Can we call the car Big Bill’s Blue, instead of Mama? It’s so much cooler.”

“No Mike,” Bill responded. Eddie couldn’t help but smile at that exchange as he walked away from the house.

He stuffed his hand into his pocket to find the gloves he had worn earlier. Maine in December is freezing and snowy. He put the gloves on quickly and could hear someone’s crunching boots behind him. Richie put his arm around Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie would have pushed him off if his warmth was not so inviting. “I’m mad at you,” Eddie snapped.

“Seems like a normal day of the week situation,” Richie smirked.

“I’m serious Richie. I don’t want to be called cute or baby. It makes me feel like a little kid. I’m fucking 16 years old.” Their steps began to pace together easily. Eddie was hyper-aware of his surroundings. The last thing he needed was for his mom to see them walking so intimately.

“I know I know. I can’t help it when you’re the cutest in every room I’m in and my boyfriend who I want to call baby.” Richie let his arm fall to Eddie’s waist, so he could put his left gloveless hand in Eddie’s jacket pocket.

“Why do you never bring gloves, ya nerd?” Eddie said softer.

“Then I can’t do this!” Richie took his right hand and put it against Eddie’s warm neck. The sudden iciness made him yelp in shock.

“I hate you.” Eddie smacked Richie’s right hand away from him.

“Love you too.” Richie kissed Eddie’s soft cold cheek. His face heated up in that embarrassing way it always did. The red starting at his cheeks, spreading to his hairline and down his neck.

Eddie shoved him so they were walking a small distance away. “No. Kissing. In. Public.” He hissed out.

Richie went silent at this second rejection. Eddie could tell he was trying to take a moment to compose himself and not blurt out like he usually does. It’s a tactic he had been working on for Eddie, but could not get the hang of not speaking his mind. It was not a huge deal because Eddie loved that Richie could say anything with complete confidence. He just wanted Richie to stop getting so many ‘speaking out of turn’ detentions for avoidable offenses.

The moment lasted about one minute before he said, “What’s up with this new rule? No kissing in public. Literally, no one cares.” 

“Yes, they do. It makes people in this small ass town uncomfortable.” Eddie put his hand on his chest tapping it a couple times. This helped when his breath became short and panicky, “And we’ve always had an unspoken rule to not kiss in public. Empty hallways, classrooms, or if it’s dark outside, sure. But...I just...we shouldn’t Ok?” Richie huffed out a sigh, “I am not a mind reader like you are Eddie. I do not observe people and make calculating decisions depending on the company.” 

Eddie frowned staring straight ahead, “You make me sound like a shitty politician.”

“I’m just saying, I don’t care what people think. You shouldn’t either.” Richie branched off from Eddie, heading toward his house.

Eddie stopped in his tracks looking after him, “Aren’t we hanging out at my place the rest of the day?” He calls to Richie’s retreating back. He knew how Richie got during serious discussions with Eddie. He either makes an inappropriate joke or avoids the situation, but Eddie wanted to keep talking this out. He was not saying anything right to Richie today.

Richie turned looking at him with a sad smile, “You have to go and convince your mom to let you go to Vermont. Me being around will not help.” He took out a cigarette from his jacket and started searching his pockets for his lighter.

Eddie hesitated, watching Richie steadily then said, “Ok...right. I’ll try, but I’m not too confident about it. See you tomorrow?” Richie took a drag of his cigarette and blew it out nodding his head contemplating something.

Eddie longs to go up to Richie and kiss him without abandon. The curly haired boy’s cheeks were tinted pink from the cold. His eyes showing every emotion he was feeling without being ashamed. Eddie wished he could be carefree like Richie, but that was asking too much of him. Eddie looked at his feet and kicked the ground lightly.

“See you tomorrow lover boy.” Eddie looked up at Richie’s patient and kind face, ready to jump into his arms. He willed himself to be in control but it was so hard when Richie stared at him with those brown eyes of love.

“Bye...babe.” Eddie tried awkwardly, almost whispering it.

Richie grabbed at his chest, “I think my heart just tried to jump out of my chest!.”

“Shut up, asshole.” And with that, Eddie turned and walked away but not before giving Richie a wave goodbye.

“NO EDDIE!” His mother screamed.

“Ma, it’s only for a weekend. We will be really responsible, I promise.” Eddie knew the conversation was not going to end well. He tried to stay calm because it was the only way to get his mother to hear him, but she was in fine form tonight.

“I am not letting you and your friends go on a trip alone. You are too young. You could get hurt! What would I do if something happened to you? Or what if something happened to me and I can’t get ahold of you?” She had started to cry at this point, which just made Eddie feel horrible. He used to cry when his mom cried, but now that he was older, realized it was a manipulation tactic that she uses. An effective one.

“Maaaaa, please don’t cry. I will go to the grocery store, prepare some meals, I’ll get your medication, I’ll leave notes with the neighbors to check in on you, and I will call morning and evening! All my friends are going, this is really important to me.” Eddie was pleading, an embarrassing sight that he was thankful no one else had to witness.

“So what? You go away for the weekend? What if you decide to never come back to me?” She wailed.

He heaved out a big sigh, “Ma, listen, I am coming back. it’s just a couple days. And besides, this is good practice. What about when I go off to college?”

She sniffed indignantly, “You can go to a college nearby and come home after classes, it’ll be like nothing is different.”

Eddie gaped at her in bewilderment. He was wracking his brain for how to approach this respectfully and with dignity but the only thing that came out was, “No, I absolutely will not!” He wanted to add a fuck in there but caught himself before a disaster happened. “I plan to get out of this town as soon and as fast as possible.”

“Eddie, HOW CAN YOU LEAVE ME?!” His mother’s tears were rolling freely down her puffy face. It was a horrible sight.

“Ma, I’m going on the trip to Vermont. I’m not a baby anymore. You need to realize that.” Eddie went up the stairs toward his room. He wrenched open his door quickly and was going to slam it, but thought better of it closing the door normal. He closed his eyes, head leaning against the door. After composing himself, he turned to get ready for bed and saw someone on his bed.

He let out a silent scream because he was in so much shock nothing could even come out. Heart racing, he realized it was Richie.

“I love it when I can take your breath away, Eddie.” Richie grinned broadly.

Eddie quickly locked his door. “How did you get in here?” He asked horrified.

Richie shrugged, “You leave your window unlocked.”

“I live on the second story!” Eddie racked his hands through his hair willing himself not to pull it out from frustration.

Richie watched Eddie with a weird expression as if he was anxious about something. He sat cross-legged on the bed, leaning against the wall casually. His face was flushed and his eyes were really tired, almost like he aged in just the few hours they had been apart. Richie cleared his throat, “Easier climbing in then climbing out, trust me.”

Eddie nodded then bounded over to his closet. He took a step in to grab an extra blanket and pillow. “Eddie no! Don’t go back into the closet! Who will I make out with then?!” Richie yelled dramatically. “I guess Mike is probably my backup.”

Eddie shushed him, “Richie! Shut up. Mom will hear you. Also, Mike would never kiss your ugly face.”

“I am a fucking catch, don’t pretend otherwise.” Richie bragged, “And no she won’t. I’ve slept over many times and Mrs. K can’t hear a thing when the tv is on.” They went silent to listen, and sure enough, the only sound that could be heard was the tv blasting from the living room.

Eddie tossed the blanket to him and put the pillow next to his own. Richie wrapped himself in the blanket so the only thing that could be seen was his face. “Oh, my stars! Do I get to sleep in the same bed as the great Mister Kaspbrak?” His girly southern girl was getting a little better.

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Only if you want too.”

“I get to be little spooooooon!!!” Richie sang. Eddie was grateful for Richie’s ability to make light of any tension. “I feel so scandalous,” Richie wiggled his eyebrows in what he probably thought was a sexy way. Eddie would never tell him that it did look adorably hilarious.

“I’m going to brush my teeth and wash my face. Do you need a toothbrush?” Eddie walked over to his desk to see if he had extra toiletries.

“Nah, I’ll just use yours baby boy.” Richie wiggled his eyebrows again.

Eddie gagged at the thought, “You absolutely will not.”

“That’s not what your mom said when I-“

Eddie unlocked and opened his door quickly so he didn’t have to hear the terrible Mom joke.

He went across to the bathroom and began his evening ritual. He washed his face, put on lotion, then began brushing his teeth for 5 minutes. He took a look at his watch trying to stay focused on brushing every inch of his teeth but kept thinking about Richie sleeping in the same bed as him. They’ve shared beds before, up until 13 then Richie would take the floor and Eddie the bed. Even at Richie’s place, he always wanted Eddie to take the bed so he would feel comfortable. Now that they were dating, it occurred to Eddie they have not slept over at each other’s places in a while. It will be fine. It’s just Richie. Eddie thought, but he tapped his chest to keep the panic down.

When he went back into his room, firmly locking the door behind him, he looked over at Richie. The boy had taken his glasses off and was laying down with his eyes closed. He was not breathing heavily or snoring, which meant he was resting his eyes. His body was still cocooned in the blanket but his head was free. His dark curls were sprawled on Eddie’s pillow. Eddie swore Richie looked more like a movie star than a regular teen. Since he was not cracking jokes or making weird faces, he had a blissful expression. Eddie admired his long dark eyelashes. It was crazy to think he was ever not infatuated with this boy.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Focus Eddie. He thought while going to his closet to grab pajamas and began stripping off his clothes to change.

“Nice undies,” Richie’s amused voice came from the bed.

Eddie blushed furiously, “Your sister thought so too.” To which Richie laughed.

“Not that I actually can see them. You’re more like a blurry blob from this distance.” Richie mused. “The most beautiful blob I know.”

“You flatter me,” Eddie chuckled putting on a baggy sweatshirt and pajama shorts. He came over to the bed. Richie got up so Eddie could turn down the sheets for them. Richie snuggled in and Eddie climbed in facing him.

He brought his hand to Richie’s face lightly caressing his cheek. Richie let out a contented breathe that was toothpaste minty fresh. He closed his eyes again. Eddie waited a moment then asked, “Do you want to talk about today?”

“Today was just like any day,” Richie said nonchalantly. “My boyfriend won’t be intimate with me in public because apparently, this small town is fucking uncomfortable with it.”

Eddie tried not to get offended at the unnaturally flippant tone, “Richie, I just don’t want…”

He continued speaking over Eddie keeping his eyes firmly shut, “So to prove him wrong, that in fact, no one gives a shit, I came out to my parents.” The gravity of this statement made Eddie’s heart pound and his ears ring a little. The hand he had on Richie’s face frozen.

“How did they…”

“They took it pretty horrible. Dad would not look at or speak to me and his face was disgusted. My drunk ass mother went on a long tirade about how if she had a daughter this would not be an issue. She wouldn’t have to deal with a faggot son.” Richie opened his eyes to stare at nothing in particular then added lamely, “As if girls aren’t gay too sometimes, that’s really not fair to the Lesbians.”

Richie’s expression was so heartbreakingly sad that Eddie thought the boy would cry. Instead, it was Eddie who started to tear up. The combination of the fight with his mom and now finding out his actions led to his best friend being hurt, it was too much.

Eddie went to retract his hand from Richie’s face. How could he even want to be near me? But as his hand left, Richie grabbed it and planted it back.

Tears were falling heavily now as he said, “I’m so s-sorry, Rich. It’s all my…”

“Shut up. It’s not your fault.” Richie said furiously. He took his hands and locked them behind Eddie’s back to pull him closer. “Why are you crying? I’m the one who was called a fag today. By the way, why are cigarettes and gays called fags? They have nothing to do with each other.” Richie frowned thinking for a moment. Eddie took a shaky breath trying to stop his tears from becoming sobs. Then Richie added, “I want to be called something cool, like a vampire.” Richie made a ridiculous Dracula face: revealing his perfect teeth and mimicked going for Eddie’s throat.

Eddie gave a sobbing half-laugh pushing his face away. Then tried to bring them back to the situation at hand, “I just could not say the right words to you today. I saw the look on your face earlier and should have made us talk more before you went home.” He watched Richie press his lips to Eddie’s palm lightly. “I wish we could kiss in public, but until I get the courage to tell my mom. We just can’t.” Eddie tried to get his breathing under control. Richie began rubbing small circles through the fabric of the sweatshirt. In felt relaxing and sweet. “You are so carefree and the bravest person I know. I cannot believe you were able to just tell them like that.”

“You are plenty brave too. It took a lot of courage to stand up to your mom like you did,” Richie said quietly.

“Heard that did you?” Eddie chuckled waterily. He brought his head closer so their foreheads touched.

“I did. It was hot hearing you be so strong.” Richie kissed Eddie’s cheek. Eddie smiled at being called ‘hot’, it was a nice change from ‘cute’. Then Richie blurted out, “Can we stop feeling sorry for ourselves and fool around now?”

Eddie barked out a laugh, “We have school tomorrow, we should sleep.” Richie’s hands were starting to do distracting things as he ran them slowly up and down Eddie’s sides over the sweater.

Eddie gently ran his hands through Richie’s black curly hair, aware as he did that Richie was watching him through half-lidded eyes. It was so unusual to look at him without his glasses. He had big eyes already, but the lack of magnification was foreign. Those beautiful golden brown eyes getting darker as Eddie reached behind to keep both hands around the back of his neck.

“Fuck it. You’re right. I hate feeling sorry for myself.” Eddie leaned forward and touched Richie’s lips—not a kiss right away, just a brush of lips against each other. It was enough, Eddie felt Richie’s pulse speed up, and he leaned forward, trying to capture Eddie’s mouth with his.

Richie shifted to hover above Eddie, an intimate position they had never done before. Richie tending to be bolder than Eddie with everything. Richie’s hands slid around Eddie’s waist, up under his sweater. Eddie’s breath hitched a little at the cold hands on his back, but he did not pull away. He always loved the way Richie held him. Careful, but not too gentle, not so gentle that Eddie ever felt Richie was more in control than he was. Eddie liked that about their relationship, liked the way his heart hammered uncontrollably.

Richie’s hand went to Eddie’s heart, “Your heart’s beating so fast,” Richie whispered.

“It always does when you’re around,” Eddie said bringing their lips back frantically in case Richie was about to make fun of him.

He dug his fingers into Richie’s shoulders, into the fabric of his T-shirt, feeling the resistance of the muscles underneath, and kissed him with all the desperation of the day.

He took his hands off Richie’s shoulders, gripping the front of Richie’s shirt, and pulled him against his body. He let Eddie do it with no resistance, folding his body against Eddie’s until they were pressed together everywhere—chests, hips, legs—like puzzle pieces. His hands slid back down to Eddie’s waist and he kissed him, long and lingering, making Eddie shudder.

Their hearts were slamming together through the layers of fabric that divided them. Eddie was drowning in it, in the sensation of Richie kissing him; of letting his hands slide freely over his skin.

Eddie hesitantly slid his shaking hands under the hem of Richie’s shirt, and let his fingers slowly explore what was underneath: the tight, hot skin over his ribs, the angle of his hipbones above the waistband of his pajama pants. This was uncharted territory for him, but it seemed to be driving Richie crazy. He was moaning softly against his mouth, kissing Eddie harder and harder, as if it would never be enough.

Then Richie broke contact and rolled over. They were both panting. One of Richie’s hands had not left Eddie’s waist and the touch was enough to make Eddie explode inside.

“Why…” Eddie said between a big breath, “Did you stop?” He was suddenly feeling very self-conscious. Thinking that maybe he did something wrong. He could feel his flushed face redden even worse.

“I didn’t want to get carried away,” Richie said chuckling. “You get me hot and bothered, Eds.”

Eddie smiled, “How are you the more sensible person when we make out?” They both laughed. Eddie took deep breaths to let his face return to a normal shade. Richie removed the hand from Eddie’s hip and turned to his side. He reached over and grabbed Eddie’s hand to bring it around his waist.

Eddie intertwined their fingers as he snuggled against Richie from behind. “You weren’t kidding that you wanted to be the little spoon?”

“I never kid around about s-s-spooning.” Richie yawned through the last word. Eddie squeezed his boyfriend’s hand as he closed his eyes. It did not take long to drift into sleep.

[foxesandferrets]

Big and Little

Hi guys! The Haikyuu Siblings Zine (a free e-zine) is available now!! We wrote a little collab for it featuring the Hinata siblings, with a side of kagehina because we’re weak. We hope you enjoy it!! A lot of effort was put into it and it has several amazing works!! Claudia wants to dedicate this piece to Pixie, an amazing human being that left us too soon, but touched so many lives and will be hardly forgotten. The art she made for the zine shows the bright and wonderful artist she was. I hope she’s resting in peace. 

********                          ********

Car rides usually make Natsu feel sleepy, but today she couldn’t fall asleep even if she tried. Her mom looks happy too, and, well, it’s not every day that the freak duo of the national team comes to visit. The last time Natsu saw her brother was for their New Year’s party, and the last she’d heard of him was from TV; the national team classified for the world cup, the match point made by Shouyou.

She was so excited when Shouyou announced he would come home to rest, which is a novelty because as far as she knows, he loves being on the move, but she won’t complain. Natsu wants to feel she has an older brother again, to play and bicker like before he left home.

Her mom parks the car and Natsu is out before she can remove the keys, running to the meeting point. In the distance she can make out the bubbly orange boy and his tall cranky partner, both carrying big gym bags and wearing their team jackets.

Shouyou notices her and waves his arms way above his head, grinning from ear to ear. Natsu can’t stop herself, and when she’s by his side, hugs him. There’s something different though… her big brother is…

“When did you get taller than me?!” He shouts, stepping back and staring wide eyed. Natsu hears a chuckle from beside them.

“We were almost the same height the last time you visited,” Natsu smiles, kind of proud of herself. “Hi Kageyama-kun!”

Kageyama gives her a side smile, and ruffles her hair.

“Don’t do that!” She laughs as her brother speaks again.

“But I’m the big brother!”

Just then their mom catches up with them, smiling wide.

“Shouyou! I’m so glad you’re back!” She says, a hint of tears glossing her eyes.

They all make their way back to the car but as soon as they exit the train station Kageyama tells them that he’ll go to his house by bus.

“Are you sure? We can take you there.” Hinata’s mom says.

“Yeah,” he scratches his neck, looking sheepishly at the ground. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been here so I want to make the whole trip.”

“I’m sure your parents will be happy to see you,” their mother continues, smiling softly. “Will you be coming to Natsu’s birthday tomorrow?”

“‘Course,” he replies, smiling politely—or as close to a smile as Kageyama can get.

“You guys go on ahead,” Shouyou tells them, “I’ll be at the car in a second, I just need to tell Kageyama something.”

The two nod and start to leave, but as they turn Natsu sneaks a peek around the corner, seeing Shouyou lift on his tiptoes to peck Kageyama’s cheek. Natsu hurries away, hoping they didn’t see her snooping.

When Shouyou climbs into the car, grumbling something about tall sisters getting the front seat, Natsu can barely hide her knowing smile.

—

“Hey, big bro, wanna play some basketball with me?”

“Sweetie, let him put his bags down before you start dragging him outside,” their mother chuckles, shaking her head as she prepares to cook dinner.

“Are you kidding, Mom? I haven’t touched a volleyball for two days, and a basketball is close enough. My fingers are tingling,” Shouyou responds, wiggling his fingers to prove his point. He drops his duffel bag in front of the hallway and follows Natsu to the backyard, face eager.

She starts off easy, just dribbling the ball and passing it to Shouyou, though he can’t quite get the hang of bouncing the ball instead of hitting it into the air.

“Ow!” He yells, rubbing his wrist as the ball falls with a dull thud to his side. “That hurt.”

“It’s not a volleyball, dummy,” Natsu sighs, catching the ball and tucking it under her arm. “It’s a lot heavier and harder, it’s not meant to be smacked around with your wrist.”

Natsu shoots the ball over Shouyou’s head, smiling at the sound of it hitting the hoop and bouncing against the asphalt. Shouyou pouts, but she knows there’s no disdain behind it. She feels as if she’s walking on air, falling into conversation so easily with her brother as if they were just together the day before, as if he never left in the first place.

“How’s the team going? I remember you saying you were joining the basketball team,” Shouyou asks, picking up the ball and attempting to dribble again.

“It’s going great!” Natsu smiles, chest swelling with pride. “I’m on the starting team, just like you were your first year.”

Shouyou passes her the ball, tossing it up instead of bouncing it, but she doesn’t comment. “That’s awesome! You must be pretty good. The only reason I made the starting team was because of Kageyama.”

“I’m the only first year who made it,” Natsu explains, deflating a bit. “I think it might just be for my height, but I want to show them that I’m not just tall, I’m a good player and I deserve that spot.”

Shouyou’s expression turns thoughtful. “You know, it took me a long time to feel like I deserved my spot on the national team. Kageyama has always been more skilled than me, and I felt like I was just tagging along at his heels, but after years of training together I finally realized I earned my spot, not just our teamwork. If you’re already confident in your ability then you’re leaps and bounds ahead of where I was.”

“And centimeters above where you were,” Natsu smirks, covering up the emotions she feels swelling in her chest with jokes.

“Funny,” Shouyou deadpans, taking the ball as she bounces it towards him.

“So what’s going on with you and Kageyama?” Natsu wiggles her eyebrows, surprised when Shouyou smiles.

“So you, uh, you saw that?” He asks, embarrassed, passing the ball again.

“Saw what? The smooch or the years of secret pining?”

“When did you get so sassy?”

“You brought Kageyama around too much when I was little,” Natsu answers. “I learned from the best. Now spill, are you guys finally a thing?”

Still smiling, he looks down fondly. “You could say so…”

“Oh! Come on! Do I need to go to his house and make you both sit and talk?”

“Rude!” Shouyou laughs again, hitting Natsu lightly on the shoulder. “We are a thing, but we haven’t told anyone. Well, before now. You’re the first one to know.”

Her brother’s words and affectionate expression make Natsu tear up. She’s aware of the way many people view same-sex couples in Japan, so she can’t imagine how hard is for both of them to continue their relationship with such a public career. She’s so proud of her brother; the courage he shows in the sport he loves and his personal life is a path she wants to follow. And being the first one to know about all of this makes her the happiest person alive.

“I’m really happy for you guys!” She drops the ball and hugs Shouyou, the thump of the ball and the birds singing in the background the only sounds around them. Natsu doesn’t want to break the contact because she knows what kind of face her brother is making; he’s smiling wide and trying not to cry in front of his little sister.

They stay still for a while, feeling each other’s warmth and their love and trust that never faded; it’s like nothing has changed since Shouyou left.

Natsu is the one to break the comfortable silence. “Hey, big bro.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s keep playing so I can teach you,” she laughs, patting his head before going to get the ball.

“I’ll show you how fast I can learn!” Natsu sees him rubbing his eyes, knowing she was right.

Shouyou prepares himself, going into a volleyball receiving position, and Natsu giggles. Some habits really do die hard.

---

Kageyama is the first guest to arrive the next day, wasting no time in giving Natsu his gift.

She thought they would behave differently now that they’re dating, but as soon as Shouyou reaches the living room and sees Natsu holding Kageyama’s gift they start arguing about big brother’s rights and how stupid the other is.

“I’m her brother so she has to open my gift first,” Shouyou declares, and, without letting Kageyama respond, darts out and returns in a second, shoving a messily wrapped package toward Natsu.

Kageyama rolls his eyes.

“Geez, why does everything have to be a competition with you guys,” Natsu says, sitting on the couch and ripping the paper open.

Her breath catches in her throat when the colors of the National Volleyball Team flash under the wrapping. Natsu takes it out and holds it in front of her, speechless, looking at Shouyou, whose eyes are shining with excitement.

“I can’t believe you got me the jacket!” Natsu is sure her smile splits her face in two.

“Try it!” Shouyou beams.

She puts it on, the hem only reaching her navel and exposing part of her shirt.

“I can use it with a shorter shirt and-”

“No, not happening. I’ll ask for another size,” Shouyou interrupts her, smile disappearing. “It’s too short.”

“What do you mean? I think it’s fine, look the sleeves fit perfectly!” Natsu turns to show them, but Shouyou’s gloomy expression doesn’t change.

“Let her be. You’re not her dad,” Kageyama says, bored.

“I’m her brother and that’s close enough,” Shouyou protests, looking indignantly at his boyfriend.

Natsu let’s them argue as she opens Kageyama’s gift, a dress covered with a sunflower pattern. She stands up and realizes it’s kind of short too, barely reaching the middle of her thighs.

“Why did you buy her a dress that short?!” Shouyou starts again.

“How could I know she would outgrow you?! I just got your size!” Kageyama shouts back. “Your gift was too small, too!”

“I didn’t know she was taller than me now!” Shouyou stands and goes to grab it, but Natsu dodges him, laughing. “Natsu! Let’s go exchange it!”

She leaves the room and hears Kageyama tell Shouyou that it can’t be exchanged, followed by more arguing, but Natsu doesn’t care. She’ll keep their gifts.

Some things don’t change. Natsu can see it in the way Shouyou smiles, or hear it in the way he and Kageyama argue, and she couldn’t be more thankful. For years she felt as if everything was moving too fast, her brother leaving to start his own life just as she was old enough to really need his guidance, but now, having him back, she realizes he never truly left.  

Shouyou will always be Shouyou, and no matter how tall she grows or how far he goes, he’ll always be her big brother, and she couldn’t have asked for a better one.