#you know what that is? a group project that is very likely to never be finished and will end in a fight and unequal work

[lou-struck]

The Only One

Shoto Todoroki x reader

W.C: 3k

~ A surprise delivery from your loving boyfriend creates some unexpected tension in your relationship after a few words from a jealous coworker.

Daffodil - Flower Representing regard, unequalled love; You’re the only one.

Creeping under the cover of darkness, you nervously grip the splintered wooden handle of your shovel. The impossibly tall wooden fence looms over you intimidatingly, its sharpened edges gleam like dusty steel in the moonlight, daring you to make your move. 

The task ahead of you seems impossible, but with no gate latch or hinges in sight, you grit your teeth and readjust your grip on the large woven sack that prickles your hands. Slinging it over your shoulder like an out-of-season St. Nick, the awkward weight pulls your center off balance as the damp, earthy contents seep through the material and onto your dark sweatshirt. 

You cringe as you begin to pull yourself up and over the pristine wood; your shovel dings lightly against a stray rock as you lower it into the bark on the other side. 

Halfway up, your body scrapes against the fence top, but you are in no hurry to move. A large guard dog sleeps soundly in the next yard over. Judging by the several warning signs and the large holes in it's owners fence, he may not be the friendliest. 

You lower your cargo first, it hits the ground with a muffled tap, the slight sound making you flinch as you scan the empty yard, finding no one. Relief fuels your breathing as you realize you have made it over the fence undetected.

In the light of day, deliveries like this can be explained, but now, under the cover of slivered moonlight, explaining yourself to a patrolling security guard or nosey resident would be unconvincing at best. 

Taking hold of the sack and shovel once more, you creep through the large garden until you make it to the spot you had marked earlier up against the darkened house. The suspense and the adrenaline pull a shaky exhale from your lips as you raise the tool, ready to begin digging. 

You have to make things right…

Gripping the handle with both hands like King Arthur with Excalibur, you drive your weight forward, ready to puncture the ground below. But it never makes contact, for when just millimeters from the ground, your feet are suddenly encased in a thick sheet of ice, rendering you completely immobile. Your legs begin to numb under the stinging sensation as you curse under your breath. 

"Shit." you breathe, the words carried from your lips by a cold cloud of condensation as the gentle scraping of slippers on cement grows closer and closer. 

He wasn't supposed to be here.

"I don't know who you are or what business you have in my backyard, but trespassing is prohibited." a cold voice says. "Drop the shovel and stay put while I contact the Authorities."

You raise your free hands as the shovel hits the ground, sliding away on the ice as you pull back your hood. "Please don't, I can explain."

With your feet still frozen to the ground, turning your body entirely is impossible, but you are able to twist your torso to meet the heterochromatic eyes of Shoto Todoroki, your pajama-clad, very confused boyfriend. 

~

Twelve hours earlier…

Lost in your work, you worry for your posture.  You have been hunched over a project that, if done well, could put you on track toward an amazing promotion. Higher pay, better benefits, and a bigger, private office on a new floor would be a dream come true. 

Although you do like some of your coworkers, ever since you and Shoto made your relationship public, things have been difficult. 

Jealous glares and petty whispers seem to follow you everywhere throughout your department as they wonder how you managed to seduce (their word, not yours) one of the nation's top heroes. You still have friends, of course, but a few of your acquaintances have really been showing their true colors lately, making for a rather unfriendly work environment. Invites to group lunches and after-work karaoke sessions have disappeared, and you have found yourself feeling a bit more lonely than before. 

When your troubles first began, you had vented your feelings to a mortified Shoto, but after you managed to convince him to not decorate your office space with some new ice sculptures, he brought up a good point. If your coworkers are putting more effort into creating petty drama, then they are not as focused on advancing their careers. 

"I have a delivery for a y/n," a soft voice says. The mention of your name reaches your ears, and you turn your attention to the front desk, where a young man in a green vest and visor gets pointed toward your desk by the little grey-haired receptionist. 

"Hi there, are you y/n?" he asks, a soft little smile on his face as you nod. "Perfect, I have a delivery for you from an S. Todoroki." He holds out a clipboard and pen for you to sign; as you take the pen and scribble your signature on the delivery sheet, the man sets a pot of soil on your desk and raises his hands as a warm green light spills from his palms.

From the soil, green stems sprout, growing in size along with long, thin leaves and a massive flowering blossom. In seconds, rich yellow and orange petals emerge, leaving you with a pot filled with enormous, fresh daffodils. 

The delivery man wipes his brow as you look at your gift in amazement; sending fresh flowers to your workplace is one thing, but hiring Someone with a quirk like his to grow them in front of your eyes is another; you can only imagine how much your boyfriend spent. "Wow, these are beautiful; thank you so much."

"No problem," he nods, "Someone must care about you a lot to order our premium package. Have a great rest of your day."

As the delivery man turns and walks away, you take a moment to just enjoy the fresh, beautiful flowers Shoto had ordered for you. The sweet smell of spring fills your little cubicle and for once, you find yourself feeling relieved that your coworkers decided to all go to lunch together. For this gift was only meant for your eyes. You could only imagine what rumors they would spread about your relationship if they saw something as wonderful as this. 

Attached elegantly to the base of the flower pot lies a white note card. Curiously, you flip the front of the card over and see the familiar scrawl of your boyfriend's handwriting. 

"See you tonight y/n"

You smile as you run the pad of your thumb over the letters, thinking about your dinner plans. Shoto has wanted to try out every Soba restaurant in the city, so the two of you try to check off a new one from your list every few weeks and tonight just so happens to be soba night.

It doesn't take long for the sound of chatter and approaching footsteps to reach your ears. 

"Oh wow, those are beautiful, y/n," one of the guys from finance says, walking over to your desk to admire your gift. "Are these from that boyfriend of yours?

His question seems genuine, and you smile, turning the pot towards him. "Yeah, they just got delivered not too long ago. It was a nice surprise."

"I bet," he says, offering a kind smile before he heads back to work. Although his intentions were good, his kind words sent the vultures flying. 

"Oh, flowers," another coworker gushes, her tone patronizing as she regards your gift. "How cute. But I have to ask, is your super strong Pro Hero Boyfriend stupid or something?" 

"Excuse me?" you ask, struggling to control your tone. 

She smiles and gestures to the daffodils with claw-like hands. "It's just daffodils aren't really a romantic flower. Ya know?" 

Although you didn't ask, she reaches into her purse and pulls out her phone, scrolling through her camera roll until she finds the picture she's looking for. "Here, look at this." she coo's sticking her overly bright screen right into your face. The photo is of an enviable bouquet of roses you remember her gushing to everyone in the office about last week. "My boyfriend bought me roses the other day. Isn't that romantic?"

"They're lovely," you say flatly, handing her phone back to her. Wanting to be anywhere else other than talking to her. 

She sighs, fluttering her lashes as she looks at the photo. "Some guys just get it, Ya know? They understand how to put real effort into relationships. Roses are Traditional, they take time to grow. But Daffodils just pop up every year in my yard like a weed. But I'm sure that boyfriend of yours just doesn't know better."

"I'm happy with the daffodils," you say firmly, and you mean it. They may not be the most traditional flower, but Shoto isn't like any other person you have been with. Despite having endured everything that life has thrown at him, he has the sweet, almost goofy kindness ingrained into his character. 

"I'm sure you are." she coo's turning heel and starting to walk away. "But take my advice sweetheart. Sometimes, getting nothing is a whole lot better than getting a thoughtless gift. Know your worth."

You exhale deeply as your coworker turns on a dime, a coy smile on her lips as she saunters over to her desk. You are so irritated with her pick-me behavior and typical cattiness that you feel your cheeks warming with anger. 

In an attempt to cool off a bit and create some distance between yourself and your rude coworker, you calmly stand and walk over to the water fountain by the elevators, but you only make it to the archway when you notice Shoto standing there. 

He is still in his hero costume, but despite having been on patrol since the weary hours of the morning, he looks completely unharmed. You sigh in relief as you walk over to him, stopping when you notice the unreadable expression on his handsome face. 

"Sho, what brings you here?" you ask worriedly. You reach out to gently touch his arm, but he pulls it back quickly as if you were a livewire. 

His heterochromic eyes meet your own as he rubs the back of his neck. The frown on his perfect lips tells you that whatever it is he has to say isn't going to be good. "y/n, I had stopped by in person to tell you that I had to pick up an evening patrol for a coworker, and I will be unable to have dinner with you like I planned." His tone is flat, but your ears pick up just a bit of hurt hiding behind his strangely formal words. 

"Oh no," you say, genuinely mirroring his frown. The place on your list today was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that he had been excited to try for a while now. "What time would your patrol end? I could swing by the restaurant and take our food to go. We could eat at your agency."

"That won't be necessary," he replies, casting his eyes to the ground. "I'll make reservations  at a place far more traditional for couples for another night."

Realization hits you like a freight train; he heard everything your coworker had just said about the flowers, and although you had never said anything against him, you find yourself feeling guilty for not saying more in Shoto's defense. 

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says softly, turning and retreating into the closing elevator before you can blink. 

"Shoto, wait," you call, stepping toward the doors as they shut fully. Now alone, you are left to deal with the hurt in your heart as you try to figure out what you can do to fix this. 

~

You are beyond out of breath as you rush down the sidewalk towards Shoto's agency. Your work shoes, not made for this level of physical activity, pinch your toes as the delicate soles scrape the rain-dampened pavement. 

Street lamps begin to brighten as the setting sun disappears behind a line of west-facing skyscrapers, but thankfully, there aren't many people out walking this evening. 

The motion-activated glass doors are just meters away from you as you catch a glimpse of your boyfriend's darkened office window. Your heart sinks even deeper as you wonder if you have missed him. 

You have…

But what you did not miss, however, was the locked glass doors to the agency, which you walk into face-first with an embarrassing thud. 

Your hands fly to your face as you tenderly rub your nose. "Oww. That hurt."

"Excuse me," a soft voice asks from behind you. "Are you alright? That was quite the hit you took there."

Embarrassment coats your features as you turn toward the good samaritan, only to find a familiar freckled face. "Oh, Midoriya. You saw that?"

Your friend's green eyes are full of worry and if you're not mistaken, a bit of humor as he looks you over for any lasting injuries. "I did, but it was the noise that really got my attention. What are you doing out here?"

"I was looking for Shoto," you say at last. "We didn't leave on the best terms earlier, and I wanted to talk to him before he started his evening patrol."

His brows shoot up in concern, "oh? What happened? I thought he had planned something for you today."

Despite your current mood, the image of those beautiful daffodils flowering on your desk brings a smile to your face, as if the yellow and golden petals were warming your spirits. "He did; the flowers were beautiful," you say wistfully. "But then a coworker of mine decided to go on a tirade about how daffodils were untraditional and not romantic, and Shoto heard the whole thing."

"Oh, that's terrible," he says, clearly as appalled at your coworker's behavior as you were earlier. "Shoto put a lot of thought into choosing those too."

"He did?"

"Yeah," your friend says eagerly, and you can tell that he is about to ramble. "He had heard about how different flowers mean different things, and he wanted to send you a message. He kept studying flower language on his breaks and even got to the point where he started mumbling the names of the plants we passed by when we were on patrol."

Your voice comes out as a whisper. "And what do Daffodils mean?" 

"Well," he clears his throat. "Giving someone Daffodils means that you are the only one for them."

Your heart flutters as you feel beyond touched that he gave you such a meaningful gift. "I feel terrible, thank you for telling me." and you begin to think of what you can do to fix this situation.

Izuku shifts his weight awkwardly as he watches you ponder, taking a small step back when you reach a breakthrough. "W-what's with that look in your eye?"

You only smile as the cogs turn in your head. "I think it's better If I don't tell you."

~

Back to the Present, 

Your feet are encased in ice as Shoto looks at you with a bitter concoction of worry and guilt on his face. 

"I'm so sorry, please stay still while I melt the ice." He says firmly getting to his knees and placing his left hand on the ice. 

The water steams and evaporates as you wiggle your numb foot free. Your work pants are completely soaked and the material begins to itch your skin as you take a few cautious steps. 

"I thought you were on patrol," you say embarrassedly. 

"It was a partial shift," he replies. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

"I'm fine; you didn't hurt me, Sho?"

Now comforted by your words, his teal and grey eyes drift to the sack and shovel in your hands. "May I ask what you are doing in my backyard at this hour? I shouldn't tell you this, but if you wish to bury something, there are other places that are far less detectable."

Your eyes widen as you realize what he is talking about. "I don't need help burying a body, Shoto," you say firmly. "I-I just wanted to do something for you."

You reach into the brown sack and open it widely. Shoto stares at the contents in confusion as he removes a dirt-covered bulb from the bag. 

"Are these onions?" he asks. 

"No, Shoto, these are daffodil bulbs," you chuckle. "I wanted to plant them for you as a thank you for your gift earlier. They were beautiful."

"Oh…" he blinks, "Forgive me, but does gifting one daffodils mean…"

"Yes"

"Please, will you say it out loud for me." he asks, his voice tender as he looks at you with adoration. 

"It means you are the only one for me." you say with a smile. Your dirt-covered hands wrap around him as he pulls you into a loving embrace. "I'm sorry about earlier, I think you are beyond wonderful and I would never want you to change."

"I apologize for my behavior as well," he admits. "I never thought this kind of love would find me so I never prepared for it. I'm still finding out what people in relationships do to express their love, and when I heard your conversation earlier, I felt… Inferior."

"You are anything but that," you murmur against his icy-hot skin. "I love that you went and got me flowers, but even if you didn't I would still know how much you care about me."

A soft pout appears on his lips. "I'm still going to buy you flowers, and they are going to be far superior than the ones your coworker was bragging about getting from her boyfriend."

"I don't think you will have to try very hard to compete with that," you laugh, recalling an interesting bit of gossip you heard during the second half of your work day. "Apparently, her boyfriend found out she had been stealing his credit card to send herself flowers and broke up with her."

Shoto, ever the gossip lover, pulls back from absorbing the information you just gave with a stunned, amused smile. "Let's go inside, Darling. I'll give you a warm change of clothes and you can tell me all about it over a cup of tea."

"Yes, please," you giggle as he ushers you inside. Your steps are far lighter than before as the two of you find yourself together once more. 

Tagging: @pixelcafe-network

[softer-sunny]

Do You Ever Laugh?

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Word Count: 3,492

Summary: Echo can't get Crosshair to laugh at his jokes. Turns out you don’t need to be funny as long as someone’s ticklish.

Ao3 link: Do You Ever Laugh?

This is a tickle fic

Thank you @iamawolfstarsimp for requesting this ages ago! Sorry it took so long but I’m excited to finally have it done ☺️

Echo was convinced no one had ever made Crosshair laugh before. He certainly hadn’t. That was really starting to irritate him. It hadn’t been too long, just over a week with clone force 99, and things were going a lot better than he anticipated. Integrating into a new group was always going to have its challenges but clone force 99 was far easier to fit in with than he expected. Tech constantly tugged him along for projects he wanted Echo’s help with. Wrecker wanted his company on trips to get supplies. Even Hunter had started asking for his opinion on their plans, giving him freedom to suggest changes where he saw fit.

There was only one glaring problem.

Crosshair. He hadn’t been cruel, nor had he pushed Echo away. They were entirely amicable if not for some petty squabbles every now and again but that was to be expected. The beginning stages were coming together well enough but Echo still hadn’t gotten a good read on him. It wasn’t exactly easy to work with someone who never seemed to crack a smile, never even budged as far as Echo had been concerned. Crosshair was the king of thoughtful looks, head tilted to the side, eyes narrowing as he thought. There wasn’t much Echo could do to make Crosshair amused. Oh, but he tried. He certainly tried. Telling stories, making jokes, attempting to connect with him on a very baseline level. All of it had been met with a careful distance. Not malicious, just guarded. That’s exactly what was happening now as Echo tried to make nice with their sniper. Making nice meant several jokes that he thought were perfectly timed, worked well enough with what seemed to be clone force 99’s particular brand of humor, that would’ve landed with any of the rest of them. However, Crosshair hadn’t cracked a single smile. Hell, he’d barely raised his eyebrow when Echo said ‘I’ll give you a hand’ while holding out his scomp to take an extra supply bag from Crosshair.

Whatever.

Echo knew his puns were funny whether the sniper wanted to admit or not. The rest of the 99 were minding their own nearby, huffing a laugh every so often, or chiming in as they talked. Crosshair was fine sharing stories, humming as he listened, but nothing - absolutely nothing - was getting him to smile.

Was it so bad to want that?! Echo had always gotten at least begrudging amusement at his puns. Interest in his stories that ended with amused smiles. Connections that felt easy and fluid. Crosshair was tough to get to know but mainly because he kept himself under a lock and key, not yet ready to let Echo in. One a level he understood that but the part of him that wanted to get along with his new squad just kept poking at him.

Yet another joke hadn’t landed - this time one at his own expense seeing as Crosshair was always tempted to poke fun at him - and now Crosshair had moved on from feigning disinterest to giving Echo a very disappointed look, shaking his head like he’d never heard something so unfunny a day in his life. Echo glared back in response.

“Do you ever laugh?” Echo asked, trying not to sound like he was complaining. His voice, however, pitched up into something closer to a whine. Maybe pleading would get his point across.

“I don’t laugh.” The deadpan reply was coupled with an eerily detached expression that Echo was just grumpily sick of seeing. With a groan Echo ignored him, huffing and he dropped his chin in his palm. Ignoring him further when Crosshair’s eyebrow twitched smugly. At this point he knew this was just to irritate him. It was Crosshair’s brand. Find the thing you wanted then refuse to give it to you, brag about it when you finally gave in and bickered with him over it.

“That is inaccurate.” Tech’s voice drew Echo’s eyes upward. Tech was standing, datapad in hand, peering over it at Crosshair. Echo watched with interest as the sniper shrugged, still leaning against the wall as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Never laughed a day in my life.” Crosshair insisted. You have! You have, you bastard!

“He’s being ridiculous.” Hunter rolled his eyes as he joined the conversation, plopping down next to Echo on the bench. With a huff Echo slumped against Hunter’s shoulder, playing up his disappointment at not being funny enough for their dear old sniper. Hunter accepted his weight, adjusting so he could hold Echo up comfortably.

“Everyone laughs.” Echo reasoned, if not a bit grumbly. Hunter grinned at him in response, a sympathetic pat to his shoulder in solidarity. Crosshair was going to torture him on purpose and he was powerless to stop it.

“Not me.” Crosshair remained unphased, moving only to lean more casually against the wall, slumping now in a way that was done only to infuriate Echo further. Smug son of a bitch always flaunting that aloofness.

“Oh, yes he does!” Wrecker accused, glaring far more intently at his lankier brother. Said lankier brother seemed to actually react to that, body stiffening and eyes widening.

“No , I don’t.” Crosshair bit out. The two of them stared at each other, both of them in a standoff that Echo didn’t quite understand. He raised an eyebrow when Crosshair started to sweat, slowly pushing off of the wall to stand straight as if he’d have to run for his life at any minute. One look at the other two 99s proved he was the only one out of the loop.

“We’ll show you how about that?” Wrecker stood, cracking his knuckles, and that was interesting. Echo looked between them like he was about to watch a fight, and maybe he was. Crosshair was already trying to scoot away, hands held out in front of him to display some kind of call for mercy. Whatever was about to happen had all of the room’s interest and Crosshair seemed mighty reluctant to let it happen without a fight. Wrecker strode forward, the other man shrinking away with a shake of his head, a silent call to stop.

Wrecker didn’t accept that plea.

“Wait. Wait, no!” Crosshair pleaded as Wrecker grabbed his wrists and yanked.

Crosshair was knocked off of his feet in seconds, so fast Echo barely saw how Wrecker got him in the hold, squirming as he was trapped in a bear hug so tight Echo felt constricted. Wriggling, Crosshair’s feet kicked out as Wrecker manhandled him into position - one arm holding him snuggly while the other could irritate at will. At least, irritating is what Echo has expected Wrecker to do.

What he didn’t expect was the other hand to go straight to Crosshair’s side and squeeze - one, two, three times - while choked off noises were forced out of his throat. With another squeeze Wrecker latched on, somewhere near the bottom rib, and wiggled his fingers in as if he’d done this a million times. Well, he probably had, considering that move had those garbled noises turning into panicked laughter.

A smile finally - begrudgingly - split Crosshair’s face in half and Echo, delighted, couldn’t help but match that expression. After days of trying, days of hoping he could get that stubborn man to laugh just once he was getting everything he wanted in minutes with one very simple thing.

“See, told ya.” Wrecker called, brightness in his voice. His fingers moved to spidering up Crosshair’s ribs and that got him to jolt away, his hand desperately grasping at Wrecker’s wrist and pulling.

“Are you tickling him? Is Crosshair ticklish?!” Echo asked, trying not to sound so excited. He knew the answer, obviously, but he needed to get his disbelief out in the open. There was the man that plagued him on purpose, squirming and kicking and laughing while his limbs swung wildly in the air. Tickled! He was being tickled! Echo couldn't believe it.

He’d seen the 99 tease each other, poke at each other to irritate, but they hadn’t done this yet. This was entertaining for sure. All that bubbly playfulness started to grow in Echo’s chest. A familiar tingly feeling that he always got when a fight like this broke out among his old squads.

He hadn’t even realized he missed it until now.

“We often do and yes, he is. That seems obvious.” Tech interjected, much to Crosshair’s chagrin. He choked out a disgruntled ‘Tech!’ but couldn’t get much else out otherwise, falling back into nervous titters as Wrecker continued to dig into his side. Tech’s datapad was sat down out of the way now and he sidled up to the two of them as if studying a particularly wiggly specimen. Tech reached a hand out that Crosshair immediately tried to slap but Tech, good ol’ Tech, was faster. He gripped Crosshair’s wrist then dove his own fingers directly under Crosshair’s arm, fingers moving in a way that made Crosshair screech. Echo felt himself pull his own elbows to his sides, subconsciously hiding in Hunter’s shadow. Someone remind him never to get on Tech’s bad side.

“This is torture!” Crosshair complained before falling into breathy laughter once again. It almost looked like he was getting electrocuted, or a fish out of water, flopping about in the hold as if it would change anything. Wrecker’s hold was firm, unbreakable, and he was stuck whether he wanted to be or not.

“We were taught how to withstand torture you will be fine.” Tech added and Echo laughed in shock at Tech’s casual humor. Whether he meant to or not he always seemed to pinpoint the exact right thing to say.

“Imagine that. Big, tough, sulky Crossie being so sensitive.” Echo couldn’t help it. Teasing was natural, grinning when a glare - as heated as he could manage while laughing like a maniac - was aimed in his direction.

“Don’t call me that!” Crosshair bit out. His body flung to the side when Tech changed tactics. His hands found a spot right above Crosshair’s knee, squeezing quick little bursts into the area without breaking his careful concentration.

“What? You don’t like Crossie?” Hunter was teasing now, too, getting up from the bench to join the little group that seemed intent on making Crosshair a mushy little pile of goo. Without preamble Hunter started poking over his stomach which made his knees yank upwards to try and cover it. Crosshair’s head shook back and forth, a bubbling laughter accompanying each and every poke.

He nearly knocked Wrecker in the nose with his head when Hunter ran gentle fingers over the center of his stomach, dancing over the fabric of his shirt playfully.

Oh Echo could practically feel those tingles. Dancing across skin that was so vulnerable like that, held in the air without a way down. Echo could remember getting ganged up on like that. The dominos often played like this, finding a target and all attacking at once. Hell, even Rex and Cody had a tendency to take him down a notch if he was getting under their skin. Some very giggly wrestling matches were all it took to remind him of who really had the upper hand when sparring with his COs.

A particularly loud cackle got Echo’s mind to focus again, tuning back in to watch as Hunter kneaded at the spot on Crosshair’s lower belly. That must tickle like hell with the way he started thrashing.

“I can’t stop smiling.” Echo commented only to cover his mouth with his hand a second later to hide it. It was too easy to throw out remarks that made Crosshair’s ears burn more, embarrassment flaring under his skin. This was something Echo could get on board with.

“Just wait until we get to his neck.” Hunter’s casual threat hit right where he wanted it to as Crosshair’s eyes went nice and wide.

“Don’t you dare-” The scream that cut him off nearly knocked Echo off of the bench.

“Too late.” Wrecker’s fingers were there in an instant, wiggling gently into the soft skin under Crosshair’s ear. Now the man was red faced, giggling mad, squirming at every single touch no matter how gentle. Wrecker’s big grin matched the look on Echo’s face for sure, his eyes meeting Echo’s. “Don’t worry. He’s just being weird about laughing because you’re new.”

Discomfort flashed through Echo’s body in an instant. If that were true, that Crosshair only acted aloof because he didn’t know Echo well, then maybe this wasn’t as fun as he thought it was. It wasn’t fun if they were causing some kind of distress, although he hadn’t picked up on any just yet, that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Echo rubbed the back of his neck.

“He doesn’t have to endure this in front of me if he’s uncomfortable.” Echo’s voice came out quiet but he was clearly heard, Tech peering over his shoulder but stopping his fingers entirely. Hunter was next, sensing the change in tone and pausing. Even Wrecker stopped teasing at the skin on his neck. While it did seem reluctant they let Crosshair go, allowing him to get his feet back on the ground. He didn’t last long, knees giving out so he could drop onto the ground by their feet, breathing harsh puffs of air into his lungs.

Echo watched with worry, unsure if this was typical or not, as Hunter crouched down. Did they go overboard? He just wasn’t sure yet. Briefly, he thought about how it would feel if someone pushed him too far. Not listening when he clearly wanted it to end. That wasn’t what he wanted at all.

Hunter flattened his hand over Crosshair’s now messy hair, taming some of the strands that stuck up every which way. “What d’ya think, Cross? Newbie gave you an out.” Hunter asked, patiently waiting while Crosshair got his breathing under control. Would Crosshair just answer?

It took a few moments, his face turning back to a semi normal color the more time he spent free of their tickling fingers. Crosshair swallowed, cleared his throat, then finally looked up. An almost calm look was on his face now, the lines that showed his glare softening into something that made him appear younger than he was.

“If you think I’m admitting defeat you don’t know me at all.” Crosshair croaked out, much to Echo’s immediate amusement, biting the inside of his lips to keep a grin from immediately splitting his face. Damn, he could take a beating. Echo wasn’t sure he’d last that long if it were him.

“You asked for it.” Wrecker laughed, kneeling down just as Hunter’s hands found Crosshair’s rib cage, wiggling the tips of his fingers between them. All that fight was renewed now, squirming and laughing with all his might now that he could really move. It was funny to see them go back to attacking him now that he’d given a green light, not holding back.

Echo slipped from the bench to sit in front of them, perfect view of the gleeful expression on Crosshair’s face. All those hands attacked him without mercy, scribbling into crevices, poking into soft spots, squeezing along his thigh so his legs kicked out against the floor. Echo was mapping a perfect plan of attack for the next time they got this chance, committing it to memory so he could threaten and start a fight later on.

“You should try.” Tech said, eyes watching the way Echo’s fingers twitched. He had to admit that he was tempted to join but would it cross a line? They hadn’t been exactly chummy lately and Echo couldn’t afford to piss the grumpiest 99 off. “He will not be angry, if that’s why you are holding back.” Dammit, Tech, stop reading his damn thoughts! Echo sighed through his nose. Well, if Tech thought it was okay.

Scooting closer he tried to find an in, somewhere he already knew worked, somewhere not that intense. Crosshair was already wheezing, much more and he may just pass out. That wouldn’t be very fun. Hunter, actually, made the decision for him.

“Right here. We’ll let you do the honors.” He pointed to the crook of Crosshair’s neck, fingers barely touching skin but making him shiver regardless. Echo reached out, trying to mimic the way they had done it earlier. Crosshair flinched away from the finger tracing his skin, and Echo smiled to himself, pleased to be able to join in and get an immediate reaction.

“Real gentle.” Wrecker suggested, tugging on his own ear like it was a hint, a wink thrown in Echo’s direction. Echo hummed, fingers tracing upwards to the shell of Crosshair’s ear, hoping it was as much of a hint as he thought it was. It got an instantaneous squeak, scrunching up as he dissolved into gentle tittering. The rest of them slowly started to pull away, hands leaving with a last squeeze, one last scribble, one last poke, until it was just Echo. His gentle traces were well received - Echo noticed - still giggling but much softer now, arms wrapped around himself. He rolled around on the ground, scrunching every so often, but he always uncurled himself to allow more of those traces. Scratching his nails got a particularly loud laugh, curling so his back was to Echo. A stroke of genius made Echo scribble his fingers over the back of his neck, laughing when Crosshair immediately turned back over, head shaking to rid himself of the sensation.

He could imagine this would be a good way to coax laughter out of Crosshair in the future. Have him lay his head in Echo’s lap and trace gently over his neck and ears, hear him laugh in a way they rarely ever got to, leave him to recover then surprise him with a sneak attack when he was settling down again. Part of him knew Crosshair wouldn’t tug away but he left that to tease about on a later date.

While letting Crosshair go was necessary, it was with regret. Echo pulled away, finally removing all those sensations from the man now panting to get his lungs working properly again. Hunter sat cross-legged next to him, rubbing firm circles on his back as a soothing tactic. Echo made note of that too. Fine with being touched after if the touch didn’t tickle. Good to know.

“You’re all bastards and I will get revenge.” Crosshair croaked, eyes closed.

“I’m sure you will.” Hunter agreed, even if he rolled his eyes. It took a few minutes for Crosshair to recover, surrounded in his little cocoon of mean, cruel brothers who had clearly tickled him to death.

Tragic, mean, so horrible.

Damn, he’d missed this. These playful fights were a simple joy he hadn’t quite realized were something he had been craving. The simple connection, careful affection, gentle ways of irritating each other. It brought something brighter to Echo’s chest.

Eventually Crosshair peeked out at them, studying Echo’s face.

“What’re you staring at?” Crosshair complained, although he didn’t move from the hand petting him. He didn’t even sound cross for the most part, just curious. All that laughing had left him sounding less broody, even if it was still under all of that calm.

Echo shrugged, still fighting that smile that wouldn’t remove itself from his face. “Just plotting for the next time you piss me off.”

Light flickered in Crosshair’s eyes, something dangerously playful. “Oh, I’ll be plotting, too.” Now Crosshair was smiling for completely different reasons, evil flashing through his gaze. “You ticklish, Echo?” Just as Crosshair had earlier, Echo’s body tensed, flashing hot in a way that he knew would bring a blush to his cheeks. How were you even meant to answer that question? No answer was good. Yes only invited people to try it but No just meant they’d attempt to anyway. Regardless it was a question you were meant to be stuck between, no way to navigate it casually. Instead of answering Echo pressed his lips together, a move that still had Crosshair grinning menacingly at him.

When Crosshair pushed up off of the floor to sit up, Hunter’s hand falling away, Echo couldn’t help but flinch backwards, away from the possibility that he could be next. He heard Wrecker chuckle, an interested hum from Tech, and couldn’t shake Hunter’s knowing grin.

“I’ll get you next time.” There was a threat so clearly on Crosshair’s tongue but Echo ignored it, huffing instead as he wrapped his arms around his middle. Crosshair made note, clicking his tongue, but left him be.

He may have to be on the lookout for sneaky and underhanded payback but Echo couldn’t find it in himself to care. No, he had to plot his own rascally attacks. Maybe this was how they finally broke through that leftover wall. Playfully tearing down any space between them brick by ticklish brick.

[radioroxx]

What do you think Odile does for a living? She feels teacher like to me. What do you think she would do post canon?

HMMMM THIS IS GOOD QUESTION…

ive seen a lot of people hc her as a teacher / professor so i!! think that suits her pretty well. specifically as someone who studies + specializes in different types of craft (that would be why shes so proficient in multiple craft spells. also how she was able to figure out the loops stuff, AND to find something that could prevent siffrin from looping back).

post canon i am not sure… i am always torn between how the party would handle things post canon. obviously they would keep travelling for a bit, odile alongside her family without the stress of. constant sadness encounters + a king to kill lol. i think maybe she would get to take her time, reeaally get to know vauguardian culture when not within. a crisis. as was her original intention.

eventually. EVENTUALLY. when the family settles down somewhere (i am a “they all get a big house together” believer lol) she would get back into craft stuff. maybe go back into teaching too—surely people would be eager to hire a saviour. especially though i think it would be neat of her to try looking into wish craft etc, as a long forgotten form of craft. to satisfy her own curiosity, for siffrins sake, or just as a way of preserving the countries culture in whatever ways possible.

[moreaujeans]

IM FREEEEEE

[prcttylittlebirds]

rafael enjoys watching venus get excited about her upcoming projects. there’s something about how her eyes light up when she’s talking about something she’s passionate about. “perhaps you can give me a sneak peak?” he dares to ask, smoking at her as he leans on his elbows. venus is very protective over her art, and he knows the answer is probably going to be no, but he never knows. maybe today she’ll show him something she’s working on. “i wasn’t touching anything below the waist on purpose, silly. if you want me to get the spot i missed i will?” given how things are between them, he’s trying to be as respectful as he can. his mind can wander if he lets it go there. “i can resume the massage later, but you gotta give me one too this time.” he looks into the distance where the rest of the group is still playing what seems to be a very aggressive game of volleyball. he turns his attention back to venus. “i would, only a little bit, though.” he has a puzzled look on his face when she asked if he wanted to have that discussion. “ i’m not sure? eh, it just seems like a very heavy talk, and i don’t know if either of us can handle that conversation right now. i can’t even— i’ve just been trying to take my mind off of it?”

rafael has no idea how making a music video works, but it’s always interesting to learn about various parts of her job. if she wanted to talk about it for hours, he’d be happy to listen. “i can’t wait to see what you were able to do in a day. that sounds fun— shooting a music video. you said videos? as in you did multiple videos in one day? that’s wow…” venus seems to always find a way to shock him. even though things are a bit weird between them right now, he still will find a way to support her music just as he has been even when they didn’t know each other. “you’re welcome i’m gonna stop touching you, now. the sunscreen’s been well absorbed. those knots were just… right there.” although there are some truth to that, he really just wanted to have some physical contact. after he rubs the access of sunscreen into his hands, rafael position himself back on the towel next to her. “it’s okay, i won’t look if a nipple pops out, or i’ll just pretend i didn’t see it.” he grins, knowing what she meant by it being awkward. “no, i’m kidding, sort of. it’s fine. i knew it was going to be weird seeing you after the incident… i don’t know how to talk about that. should we talk about it? what i said? it was intense. i’m sorry for making things more awkward. i hope we can move past that…” he leaves room for her to interrupt him, maybe stop him from rambling too much.

[eclarinet]

same soup... different day

[pepprs]

prefacing this by saying im fine and its whatever and im mostly numb to it. but it kinda fucking sucks that being gaslit about my own sexuality leads to… doubting my own sexuality lol!

[thingsidrawgohere]

Alright. I'm calling it done before it kills me. This is Second Head. It's an Art Book containing instances of the phrase "second head" in fanfics found on AO3. I'll explain much, MUCH more in the cut.

So when I say 'art book', I mean this is an intrinsic piece. I have no motivations aside from personal amusement and interest in outcome. A lot of money was lost/transmuted into free frustration in this project and I have no claims, obviously. I will prolly be the only person alive to read this.

THAT SAID. I have noticed in my years reading fanfic, there's a few linguistic shibboleths that arise in authors who also have experience in the mines. I think there's not a soul alive who hadn't wandered across a 'ministrations' when reading Narutos oral sexing. There's- Hold on. Here's some pix.

There's an impulse, I think, to in-group even when performing a creative act. A feeling that there are certain ways one Should go about the act, by virtue of seeing it performed that way. Especially so when 'training' at the act is often just Doing. Double Dog Especially when the act is exclusively for oneself with very little oversight. Which is to say, we make what we see and we make what we think we should make. At least, at first.

Now, I've been noticing 'grew a second head' (to insinuate surprise) in fanfic for some time. I've never seen it used Outside of fanfic. (Edit to add: I am not making the argument the phrase is from fanfic. Nor do I Believe it is from fanfic. Jesus Hopping Christ, people. That's not what this project is about.) That may speak to my own bad habits but it got me curious. So a friend and myself downloaded a mirror of AO3 from July of 2024. He did some code- Stuff to scan the mirror for "second head" and of the ~13 million works, ~70k (English) results were returned. That's a rounding error, honestly, but Far FAR more than I expected.

This book is 401 such examples that I personally selected for a variety of reasons. The number itself was arbitrarily chosen. Each page is separate fic, the roughly 300 words around our key phrase.

I don't think repetition or mirroring is a negative thing. I think it's quite charming. Nor do I think it's a sign of a 'bad' artist or 'bad' art. I think it's a signifier of personhood, of belonging, of enthusiasm. Of culture shared and wishing to share. I think it's real sweet. I always smile when I catch a 'grown a second head' in a work.

And it's really fucking funny when it's John Sherlock getting a sloppy toppy. Bless.

Edit: Fixed a very VERY funny error.

Edit: I am not making the argument that the phrase is exclusive to fanfic or, fucking forbid, FROM fanfic. I'm stating this Again because we skim here. Also- If you would like slamdunk my ass by stating the phrase predates the Internet or your GenX parents use it, please use 'sailboat' in your comment so I know you're specifically trying to kill me.

Edit Edit: You know what? Fine. I DO think this phrase came from fandom. I think ENGLISH came from fandom. I think YOU came from fandom. I think EVERYTHING came from fandom. The Sun, the Moon, the Seas- Fandom. Specifically Sonic Mpreg. The second head was Shadow the Hedgehog crowning. Congrats!

[the-travelling-witch]

ahhh ian, omg i loved reading your reaction!! <3

first of all, you took the words right out of my mouth, i LOVE me a good unlikely friendship, like give me a group of people who otherwise never would have met if it weren’t for that very specific set of circumstances and who start bonding over it, i’ll EAT IT UP!!

that’s why i really wanted to write yuusha + yuuna + cass, let those girls (gn) form their nrc support group, they deserve it after dealing with everyone’s bs on the daily ㅠㅠ like sure they raise an eyebrow on who the other gets involved with but omg if someone else has something to say about any of them—

(also what are the chances cass and yuusha find out about riddle’s little crush before yuuna 👀 (i think we both adore the heartshackle dynamic, so adeuce + ramshackle support group is definitely going to cause some trouble))

“your ocs always have some of your traits” well selene and angelica’s is that i can never be mean to oz ever ㅠㅠ /silly; and YEAH jamil needs to start profusely thanking angelica for saving his life bc if she hadn’t been created the literal same hour as selene, you know i absolutely would have pushed my bug oc on jamil :3c (time to make another bug oc for no reason whatsoever)

oh carmilla would be a great wingwoman if she wanted to but if she helps you, it’s the same as jade or azul suddenly deciding to help (though i’d say, she is even more discreet about her motives bc she’s not as shady overall jshsh); her reasoning for playing cupid this time around was sth along the lines of “jamil is in a terrible mood and projects it around the entire dorm and it harshes my vibe —> spending time with the prefect would put him in a better mood —> i get to relax around the dorm again with minimal effort + i get to declutter + it would probably net me some bonus points with the prefect (um related) = win-win-win situation” (meaning carmilla wins thrice with no drawback lol)

she tells jade about it later that day and he wonders if it’s too early to look up fae marriage customs /j (he found someone to match his freak hshsh)

(i said this to syder already but i think carmilla does have a bit of a soft spot for mayu, meaning she would have also helped if it was only a win-win situation /j. she'll ask 'is no one going to subtly support this magicless human while pretending not to care too much' and then not wait for an answer; news just in: fae now whisk lost humans away to assume the role of their big sisters / silly)

anyway, seeing your reblog was like an instant serotonin boost and i’m still so giddy, if it wasn’t obvious by now, i love talking about all my chaos children <333

𝐎𝐂 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐒 (𝐟𝐭. 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬' 𝐨𝐜𝐬)

summary: i was plagued by the visions of my twst ocs interacting with my moots’ ocs, so here we are (aka i had a sudden burst of motivation to write about them interacting and now i'm very nervous to post this)

characters: cassandra, selene, angelica, carmilla (my ocs); @crystallizsch’s yuusha and yuuna, @viperbunnies’s oz (ft. yuudai), @anbaisai’s mayu

warnings: bullying (oz's part); jamil slander bc i love him <3 (all parts)

a/n: if i ever manifest in your dms with cryptic questions about your ocs, be not afraid, just answer them :3c (also i need to set up my oc directory and finish some intros fr)

twisted wonderland masterlist

CASS + YUUSHA + YUUNA

The sun was still high and clear in the sky as Yuusha made her way towards Ramshackle. Most students had already either returned to their dorm by this time or were still goofing off with their friends, sparing her any unnecessary run-ins with any of the college’s troublemakers. But, at NRC, a day could only stay peaceful for so long. When she passed by the mirror chamber, her phone vibrated.

Ramshackle Support Group 

yuuna: @.yuusha be careful when you come back to the dorm yuuna: the stairs to the second floor caved in again yuusha: i’m still close to the school, i’ll go talk to crowley about it Cass: Wait for me, I’d also like to have a chat with the Headmage. yuusha: we’re not killing him Cass: Not even a little?

A few hours later, with the sun already far behind the horizon, the three girls fell onto Ramshackle’s rickety couches in exhaustion. Crowley had very generously provided them with funds to purchase supplies for repairing the stairs, but had otherwise not lifted a single clawed finger. Likewise, Grim was nowhere to be seen when he heard of physical labour.

“So,” Cass broke the silence, lifting her head from a cushion, “when are we going to ask Kalim for help instead of that useless weirdo?”

“We can’t just go and mooch off Kalim just because he’s rich,” Yuusha interjected, rolling over and settling into a more comfortable position at the other end of the sofa.

“Why not? Every other student in this school seems to be absolutely loaded. We, on the other hand…” Cass fished out a pillow under her golden locks and demonstrably pulled open the entire seam by a loose thread. “It’s not like Kalim would even notice.”

“Well, by that standard,” Yuuna chimed up while straightening out the bow in their hair, “why don’t you go ask Leona, Cass? I’m sure he’d be more than willing to help you out.”

“Yeah right, and next you know Azul will start handing out freebies,” the blonde snorted. Discarding the thread between her fingers on the coffee table, she started fiddling with the frazzled pillow cover instead. “Why are you bringing him up anyway? Aren’t Idia or Malleus or Vil just as rich?”

Her dorm mates exchanged knowing looks before Yuusha tilted her head towards Cassandra again with a grin. “Oh c’mon, we both have eyes you know.”

“And I’m not sure if those are working correctly.”

“Why deny it?” Yuuna giggled, taking a sip from the mug cradled between their hands. “Sure, Leona’s got an attitude problem and is generally unpleasant, but it could be worse. Probably.”

“You’re imagining things, why would I—“ Breaking herself off with a sharp exhale, Cass pulled the seam taught between her hands. “I’d rather throw myself headfirst into a pit of horned serpents than ask that ass for a favour.”

“Mhm, I’m sure you’d like to ask that ass something else instead,” Yuusha gleefully joined in the teasing. A second later a certain cushion hit her square in the chest, which didn’t deter her. “Or are you saying you decided to join Jack’s morning run, which just so happens to end at Savanaclaw’s morning practice, with no ulterior motive?”

“It certainly wasn’t so I could see Leona more! But anyway, since I already brought up snakes just now,” Cass started, turning her bright eyes on Yuusha. “Why don’t we talk about what I saw when passing by the courtyard this afternoon?”

With a telling glance towards Yuuna, who sat curled up in their armchair now, Cass added, “Involving a certain Vice Housewarden.”

“Oh my god! Did you come home late because you were meeting with Jamil?” There was genuine excitement in Yuuna’s voice as they perked up where they sat. “You gotta spill the beans now.”

“Only if a certain someone spills the tea on her and a certain lion.” The pillow flew back towards Cass.

“There’s nothing to spill here,” Cass retorted, catching the projectile easily.

“Oh right, by the same chance Grim will pass the next potions exam.”

“I noticed you didn’t deny that there was something going on between the two of you.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes!”

“Both of us actually!!”

It was a long night at Ramshackle. (Some say they’re still debating their terrible taste in men to this day.)

SELENE + ANGELICA + OZ (ft. Yuudai)

Of course this would happen to him of all people. If anyone was unlucky enough to accidentally delete the message stating where the film research club would be meeting and then miss Yuudai, who had forgotten his phone at the dorm that day, by a few minutes, of course it would be him. And though he knew better, when Oz was running all over campus trying to find the prefect, he started hoping to run into someone who could point him in the right direction. Which was when he quite literally ran into magift players on their way home from a gruelling practice and looking to blow off some steam. 

“Tch, I thought I smelled another beastman around,” one of them scoffed as they started crowding around Oz, making him scrunch his nose in distaste. “Turns out it was just this little runt.”

“Yer always hoppin’ all over the place, aren’t ya?” The one on the left joined in, laughing as he started jabbing his finger into Oz’s birthmark. “Why don’t ya show us a trick, ya little freak?”

“Look who’s talking.” A clear voice cut through the air. Over the guys’ shoulders Oz could spot green hair and a pair of orange antennae. Selene looked entirely unimpressed by the scene she was witnessing. The dark-skinned girl walking next to her didn’t look any happier either. “The only freaks I’m seeing are the giant idiots running their mouths for no reason. Are you having fun only picking on people smaller than you?”

“Ha? You got some kind of problem, you bug-legged freak?”

“Oh, no, you’re the only ones with some kind of problem here. Your vernacular for example,” Selene waved them off. Her voice made it clear that she was completely over this conversation and considered talking to them a waste of her time. Slipping a phial out of her pockets, she swirled its luminescent contents around with a pensive look on her face before fixing her gaze on the magift players again. “Since you never pick on anyone your size maybe I should shrink you down to the size of mice? I need to test this one anyway…”

Seeing the seriousness in her expression the guys urgently whispered between each other before deciding to scram but not without hurling a few more insults at the Pomefiore student. In response, Selene only gave them a meaningful look and her lip curled slightly at the corner.

“If I was you, I’d be careful with the cafeteria food for the next few days. Who knows what could accidentally slip in there.”

With the athletes out of sight, Oz’s shoulders finally dropped their tension and he heaved a sigh as he approached the two girls. By now, the potion had already vanished somewhere behind the width of Selene’s flowy sleeves.

“Thanks for stepping in,” Oz started, before adding a little more hesitantly, “but you wouldn’t actually spike their food, right?”

“It’s true that I’ll eventually have to give this potion to a person but I’m still perfecting the ratio of the ingredients,” Selene shrugged nonchalantly. Seeing Oz’s unconvinced expression she added with a small smile, “As long as they think there’s the chance that I would, it’s sufficient. Some people would call human experimentation at this stage unethical. And frankly, that’s more paperwork than I care to bother with, so don’t worry about it.“

“‘Those people’ are called an ethics committee, Sel, for the seven’s sake. Also quit making such jokes or Oz will think you’re being serious about it,” Angelica spoke up, exasperation and fondness mixing in her tone as she smiled at her girlfriend. As she shook her head, the star-shaped buns on her head bobbed, making various accessories in her hair glitter like stars in the night sky. Then she turned her dark eyes on Oz. “Anyway, that aside, are you okay?”

“Just a bit shaken up, but otherwise I’m fine,” he said. Absent-mindedly, one of his gloved hands traced the spot where the guy had poked him but Selene’s dual-coloured eyes caught on to the movement. Digging through her purse, she procured a compact mirror and concealer.

“Your make-up came off a little. If it makes you more comfortable, you can touch it up. It won’t be perfect but our teint is similar enough for it to pass.” Holding the utensils out to him, Oz took them from her. “The cushion’s unused if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Oh no, that’s not it.” Considering just leaving it at that, Oz trailed off before exhaling deeply. From all the brief times he’d talked to Angelica and Selene, he didn’t think they’d make fun of him for what he was about to say, so he plucked up his courage. “It just feels a little silly sometimes that I care so much about something like a birthmark.”

The girls exchanged a quick glance before Angelica smiled at him warmly, reaching out to hold the concealer while Oz applied it in the mirror. “I don’t think it’s silly at all, if that helps you.”

“I agree,” Selene nodded, adjusting her glasses afterwards. “We all have traits we feel insecure about, especially if others have commented unfavourably on them in the past. Some days we feel more comfortable showing them and on others we’d rather hide them from view. I think most people feel like that.”

When she took the make-up from him again, Oz couldn’t help but notice the pink colour staining her arms from the tips of her fingers to her elbow. He obviously had known it was there, but hadn’t paid it much mind up until now. Something told him Selene had personal experience in the matter as well.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Angelica spoke up again, “what happened earlier anyway? I find it hard to imagine that you wronged them somehow.”

“Oh!” Oz suddenly remembered the club meet he had to get to, so he very quickly explained his problem to the couple, who listened attentively even as he nervously thumped his foot and nearly bit his tongue. “So just when I started hoping to find anyone from the film research club, I ran into them instead.”

“Well, you found someone who can help you in the end after all. Though we’re not from the film club, Selene has something she wants to ask Vil, so we were actually just on our way to meet them.” The Ignihyde student’s voice was so light and welcoming as she spoke, it was hard to imagine she actually went to NRC. “If you want to, you can accompany us.”

“That would be a big help,” Oz took her up on the offer. 

Soon enough, the late afternoon was filled with the usual complaints levelled at teachers and classmates. Selene described how she had passed by the first year’s botany class on mandrakes recently and had nearly had a heart attack because she had thought she heard one of the plants scream, but it had turned out to be Sebek instead. The art teacher had once nearly tossed out Azul’s assignment because they hadn’t recognised it as a finished painting, Oz told them. Angelica recalled how, in her first year, they had had joint potions classes with the third years once and she had almost passed away when she was partnered up with Leona, only to barely catch his head from nodding off into the potion.

“Looks like we still made it in time,” Angelica sighed in relief as they spotted Vil assigning tasks from a distance. Turning to Oz with a smile, she brushed a stray coil out of her face. “It was fun talking to you. Makes me wonder why we haven’t interacted more before, despite all of us being second years.”

“I don’t think that’s on either of us,” Selene interjected, her antennae and the green-pink moth wings on her back fluttering in the evening breeze. “It probably has something to do with the fact that Oz hangs out with Jamil a lot and that guy has always been giving me the widest berth possible.”

“Ah… Please don’t hold it against him,” Oz tried to defend the vice housewarden, knowing how he already reacted to bugs the size of his finger. While wondering what else he could say, he heard his name being called. “Well, I’ll see you around then. And thank you again for everything.”

“You’re very welcome. And good luck with those photos!” Angelica waved him goodbye as the two made their way over to Pomefiore’s housewarden.

Selene only elegantly tilted her head down as they parted but still left him with a friendly “À bientôt.”

In the meantime, Yuudai had made his way over to him, camera already hanging around his neck as he’d no doubt gone through most of the preparations already. Despite that, he still grinned at the sophomore.

“Oz, there you are. I was already worried you had forgotten that we’re helping Vil today.”

“How could anyone possibly forget that?” Scratching his head, he decided to gloss over most of what had happened. “I just got held up a little. Anyway, what can I help you with?”

CARMILLA + MAYU

“Mayu! Just the person I was looking for~”

Looking over her shoulder for the sweet voice calling her name to find the hallway completely deserted, Mayu shook her head and turned back in the direction she was going. Only to nearly jump out of her skin as she came face to face with a pair of sharp, teal eyes.

“Sorry, did I startle you? That wasn’t my intention,” Carmilla cooed, not sounding all that sorry. The ghostly flames around her flickered mischievously as the fae fell into step next to her. “You were on your way somewhere, weren’t you? Why don’t we walk while we talk, hm? It’s been a while since we last got to chat, how are you doing? Nobody’s giving you any trouble, right?”

“Oh uhm, I’m doing fine and everyone’s very nice to me. Thank you for the concern,” Mayu answered, giving Carmilla a small smile. As they continued towards the library, the prefect fiddled with her cuff sleeves as she hesitated to say what was on her mind, before conceding. “Actually, I’m struggling with Ancient Curses at the moment. I just never seem to get them right.”

“Ancient curses, huh? I’m quite good at them, but so’s Jamil if I remember correctly.” Casting a studying glance at the girl next to her, Carmilla went on smoothly. “Haven’t you asked him for help before? I’m sure he won’t try to weasel himself out of tutoring if it’s you.”

“I did think about it,” Mayu admitted with a sigh, “but he’s been so busy lately, even more so than usual. And I don’t want to bother him.”

A gasp echoed around the hallway as Carmilla halted in her tracks at a crossroad, head whipping around to the younger girl next to her. It made Mayu stop, too, and look at her curiously. 

“Does that mean he hasn’t even been making time for you?” The fox’s usually playful expression had shifted, regarding her with eyes that had softened around the corner in sympathy. 

“No! It’s not–” Mayu immediately piped up, holding her hands up in defence. How did they end up talking about her and Jamil in the first place? “I know that he does try to make as much time for me as possible. He just has a lot on his plate at the moment.”

“Oh dear, that won’t do. Tell you what, I actually came here to ask if you want to take some clothes off my hands.” Procuring two bags stuffed full with fabrics out of thin air, the idol held them out for her to take. “They’re all products from brand deals that aren’t really my style or colour, but I thought they might look cute on you. Especially since you came here without anything you could call a wardrobe. If you end up not liking them, you can just give them back to me, I don’t want you thinking I’m just dumping my old clothes on you.”

“Oh, that’s too kind of you, Carmilla,” Mayu exclaimed, pleasantly surprised by the weighted bags now dangling off her arm. Running her fingers over the soft material lying on top, it reminded her of the comfy hoodies she regularly ‘borrowed’ from a certain someone. “I can’t wait to try them on.”

“Don’t mention it. Normally I’d just leave it at that but considering what you just told me, you should totally wear them the next time you go out with Jamil! In fact, why don’t you just ask him out the next time you see him?” And just like that, all worry was erased from Carmilla’s face and her sunshiney smile was back on as she curled a pink strand around her manicured finger. “Personally I don’t get what you see in the guy at all, but I do commend the charity work. Plus, as you said, he could reaaallllyy use a break~”

“Hm, I don’t know about asking him out all of a sudden,” Mayu contemplated, her dark eyes trailing over the bricks in the walls as she considered it. “But I would like to do something nice for him.”

“I totally support it! Oh, actually, that reminds me! There’s an upcoming festival in Foothill town, celebrating the new year. It’s always super cute and scenic.” As Carmilla spoke, the air around them filled with magic before displaying luminous scenes of people mingling in the streets of the quaint town, various foods and items in hand as the night sky was illuminated by fireworks. “You should really go and experience it for yourself. Can’t let an opportunity like this pass you by, right?”

“Right,” the prefect echoed as she watched the last wisps of the illusion fizzle out into nothingness. With newfound determination, she fixed her big eyes on the fae again. “Thank you so much, Carmilla. For everything.”

“Oh please, I hardly did anything. And about the clothes and the festival,” she leaned towards Mayu with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eyes, “let’s keep it a secret between the two of us, no need to credit me. Consider it my good deed of the day.”

As Mayu nodded, albeit a little confused by the request, Carmilla’s ears twitched at the sound of a familiar set of agitated footsteps. Feigning surprise as she looked down at the time of her phone, she gave the younger girl an apologetic smile.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave. It was fun catching up, we should really do it more often. For now, though, you’ll have to excuse me.” Slinking past Mayu with a wink, the soft fur of Carmilla’s tail brushed against her uniform as the pink fox disappeared the same way she had spontaneously showed up earlier. “Toodles~”

Hand half-raised to wave at the now empty hallway, Mayu took a second to process what had just happened, from beginning to end. The bags in her hand corroborated that she hadn’t just imagined it and when she looked up any events that would soon happen in Foothill Town, the festival was there too. With a shake of her head, Mayu wrote it off as just another one of NRC’s daily occurrences. Just then, someone else rounded the corner. 

“Prefect, what are you doing here?”

“Oh Jamil, hi. I was on my way to the library to look for books on ancient curses.”

“Ancient curses? I still have some notes I could lend you from my first year…”

Carmilla only caught the beginning of their conversation as it trailed off in the distance. Mayu was right when she said Jamil could do with a break. It had gotten to a point where seeing him in the morning started putting her on edge too and it made her fur stand on end. Especially when it affected the other students in the dorm as well. Palpable tension and all that. Needless to say, something had to be done about it if Carmilla wanted to go back to some relaxing peace and quiet.

No harm done by pulling a few strings if placating their vice housewarden also benefited the prefect, right?~

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[lamtfluff]

A few years ago I had a phase of being REALLY into digital privacy, using tor, duckduckgo, etc before suffering some burnout because I was trying to be 100% secure. So I'm by no means a expert I'm just relaying experience.

The culture of a lot of left leaning and "fandommy" sites (tumblr, twitter, etc) tends to fear/dislike (or just not know about) a lot of the IT stuff used by people into online privacy because they asscoiate it with "techbros". ESPECIALLY anything even remotely involving cryptocurrency. But if Trump is going to start censoring things and making morning after pills harder to get now might be a VERY good time for Americans to get into online privacy and how to avoid being tracked as well as avoiding censorship. Perhaps even some crypto to buy things discretly (or perhaps if ICE agents start caring about cash?) and because many activists groups also take donations in crypto. Never dealt with crypto myself but from what I know Monero was designed to be more untracable than Bitcoin. Don't know how succesfull that is though. Definetly get into privacy in general though.

I'll leave some useful links to get started. Words of advice:

Don't install a fuckton of privacy extensions on your browser, your unique combination of extensions will give your browser a unique fingerprint. Instead read up on and pick a few commonly used ones.

The BIGGEST annoyance for me was acedemic/proffesional settings because noone wants to switch over to some software they never heard off for one group project. Personally I use some normie software for exclusivly proffesional purposes with NO other information on me and do my actual browsing/leisure computer use more privatly.

https://www.privacytools.io/os: General software/browser/etc recomendations.

https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/: Test how private your browser is.

https://www.torproject.org/: THE gold standard for privacy focused browsers. Also obscures ip. Might not always be practical. Has the disadvantage of being notoriously slow and is blocked by some services/websites to avoid people bypassing ip bans and whatnot. Probably don't use this as your everyday browser but if you ever need to look up anything without censorship use tor.

https://tails.net/: Install a portable mini operating system on a usb stick to browse privately from any computer.

https://www.eff.org/ Electronic frontier foundations website.

https://mastodon.social/explore Don't have experience with it myself. But open source social media that should be much harder to censor.

Tumblr probably won't like me talking too directly about this because of ties to piracy but for people interested in banned books https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_library should be an interesting read...

[astrow1zar6]

Astro Observations- 37

Scorpio moon are surprisingly really big people pleasers. They have an amazing ability sense what a person desires and tell them what they want to hear. This why they are such good manipulators.

Neptune in the 1st house people are CONSTANTLY getting projected on. If you have this placement you’re probably used to people telling you “we are so much alike!” And then think “I’m nothing like this person”. People see in you what they want to see and you unconsciously mirror others personality and mannerisms creating an illusion to others that you guys have a lot in common. Most people never learn the true you (people with this placement barely know their true self themselves!)

Capricorn moons are the definition of Jack of all trades. They are so handy to have around.

Cancer moons usually have very odd/bizarre childhoods

Venus in the 1st house people tend to be very lucky when it comes to finding a good partner. They attract others to them like bees to honey so they usually have a lot of options. Also money tends to flow to them pretty smoothly. They have such charming personalities that they are able to get higher paying jobs with very little effort (pretty privilege has a lot to do with it).

Gemini risings feel uncomfortable when things get too stable. You’ll always see them moving a lot or changing jobs constantly. Even their friend groups are always morphing.

Water and earth mars I notice create a more plump and curvy body in women and air and fire mars tend to have a more athletic and lean body type. (Scorpio mars tho however I notice tend to be more lean and athletic)

Mars in the 8th housers can be amazing athletes. They have such incredible willpower and persistence that they can really excel in sports.

Moon in Scorpio and Moon in Capricorn are the most common moon sign I see among celebrities. The least I see tend to be Taurus Moons and Cancer Moon. (Isn’t it funny they are opposite signs!!?)

Saturn square Venus in synastry is so obnoxious to have. You feel such a strong pull towards the other but it takes you guys so long to interact. Having this placement feels like you are meant to be in this persons life but God is putting every obstacle in the way so that you can’t really ever get to know eachother. And when you get a chance it’s almost uncomfortable and too formal (especially on the Saturn persons end) then you go back and think about this person all day wishing you could’ve said more☹️

Venus in the 6th house seems like such a bummer to have😩 I’ve seen this creates someone who tends to overwork themselves a lot. They tend to miss out on a lot of friends and good relationships because of work. This placement can cause a lot of social anxiety from what I’ve seen. On the bright side however they can make amazing bosses and develop close relationships within the work place. They are more likely to date a coworker than most. Big office siren energy.

Aquarius suns love saying/doing out of pocket things to make others uncomfortable lol. They get a kick from shocking others which is why people usually see them as eccentric.

Aqua moon women love wearing baggy boyish clothes. They feel more confident when they express themselves a little masculine I notice.

Taurus moons tend to make friends that looks similar to them. Whether that be physically or fashion or personality. And they tend to surround themselves with attractive people. (Venus influence)

A lot of pornstars have heavy Gemini placements

Mars in Aquarius I feel like Is the most rebellious Aquarius placement.

Moon in Pisces men can prefer having women friends over male friends. Even if they are straight. They feel more comfortable in feminine energy and are usually outcasted by other men.

Capricorn risings at one period in their lives had a really intense relationship with their mothers. They may have had a period where they didn’t talk to their mothers or they didn’t get a long well for some reason.

Saturn in the 1st house people have probably the worst self esteem issues I’ve seen in a placement. (Especially if they have Venus in the 1st house or Virgo placements).

I notice fire signs tend to be more into alternative fashion than most (goth, scene, emo, grunge, ect.). (Especially Aries)

Pisces Venus men never really get into relationships much. I see they’re always in these weird codependent situationships.

12th house stellium people are usually all into stuff like astrology, tarot, wiccan ect.

It’s very uncommon that I see Virgo moons who are spiritual or into things like astrology or religion. I notice they are usually atheists.

[deadsetobsessions]

Snart Jr.

Lovely prompt by @stealingyourbones in her long prompts list, in which Danny Phantom meets the Rogues of Central City! This will have multiple parts, I just haven't written them yet.

Disclaimer: I know very little about Captain Cold and Mirror Master despite having watched some of the Flash. The general vibe I get from Flash is that Flash just really cares about his rogues as evidenced by how he talks to them and doesn't immediately one-shot them like I'm pretty sure he could do. And that Captain Cold is a snarky asshole that just wants to steal things and follow his plans as planned? Tbh, the whole mini-arc/episode with him just felt like Snart was trying to coordinate the world's riskiest group project. He was so done by the end lmao

"Huh. That's new."

Danny hovered an inch off of the ground, having just been spat out by swirling green portal. He was going to have to get back to the Zone later to hot potato Skulker through a couple of portals in revenge. He had a math exam he had to study for, dammit.

Danny sighed. Might as well see what's happening. The portals rarely lead somewhere boring, and Danny was bored. He floated further in, form going intangible and invisible as he passed through thick but insulated marble walls. See, Jazz? He could totally plan ahead. He's also learning that he could probably rob a bank easily, but Danny would never.

"Never been spat out in a bank before," he hummed, eyes flickering on the numerous forms of cowering people in the lobby. The goons scattered about don't see him, but it would take another ghost to even detect his presence so it was to be expected. He moved further in with little hindrance and soon touched down onto polished floor behind two incredibly suspicious individuals.

"What-cha do-ing?"

The two figures, currently and obviously robbing a bank, whirled around in surprise. Their respective weapons whirred to a start before they stopped, baffled by the meta teen standing there with his white hair waving about and innocent look pasted all over his face.

Leonard Snart knew instinctively that the kid was so full of shit. He'd bet his entire plan on the fact that the kid knew exactly what kind of shit he was stirring. Still, Snart was guilty of a lot of things but direct child-endangerment wasn't ever one of them.

"How'd you get in here, kid?" Mirror Master raised his laser pistol, ready to distract and divert the kid with threats of violence- which Snart glared at him for- or with his hall of mirrors that he'd run to.

Danny shrugged. "I walked. If you guys didn't want me here, you should have guarded the place better."

"They were supposed to," Snart drawled. He cased the kid. Teen. The kid had a weird halo effect, that seemed to draw the eyes to the stylized letter on his hazmat suit. The kid was young. Meta. Non-hostile. "You trying to stop us?"

Danny shook his head. "Nah. Came from the Ghost Zone so 's really non'a my business. I was just being nosy."

Snart gave a curt nod and nudged Mirror Master back into cracking the security measures.

Mirror Master scoffed. "What the hell is a ghost zone?"

"I mean, it's pretty self explanatory, right? It's a zone where ghosts live. Hence, you know, Ghost Zone." Danny did a little jazz hands (oh, yeah, he was definitely gonna get Jazz to make that joke sooner or later) for emphasis.

Snart paused for the slightest bit before continuing with his task. Did ghosts exist?

"...Did the Flash send you here, kid?"

"I'm not a kid," Danny scowled, walking right up to them. He got enough of that from his own Rogues, thank you. "And what's a Flash?"

"The Flash, kid." Mirror Master corrected, shoving monitors and PC's and expensive looking office chairs into... a mirror dimension? Danny shrugged and rolled with it.

"Who's that? Your boss?"

"Local superhero, not our boss. You're not from here," Snart quickly deduced as a small smile wormed onto his face from successfully cracking the security without setting off an alarm. They'd have ten minutes before the system cycles the access codes again and flags the fraudulent ones. That should be enough time.

"Superhero? Are they fast? Actually, where is here?" Danny glanced around at the now bare security office like the Flash would show up.

The guy in green and yellow took everything not nailed down to the ground. Danny respected that, even if he kind of wanted to stop the robbery. But he's not really supposed to interfere. That would be uber rude, since it looked like the guy in the fur jacket seemed like he had planned everything precisely.

"You're in Central City, kid. Did you take a wrong turn trying to get to Keystone or something?" Green-yellow guy snorted.

"Gonna be real honest with you, I've got no idea where that is. What state are we in?" Danny followed as the pair rushed to the safe doors. He could offer to phase them through but no matter how flexible Danny's morals have become over the years, he was going to draw a line at actively helping a person commit crime.

"Kansas. Do you teleport? Are you a teleporting meta?" Snart asked, eyes intense as he both glared at Danny and pressed an ear to the safe door.

"Nah, I wish I could teleport. Getting to school would be so much faster. Kansas? Huh, I've never been."

"How lost are you, kid?" Mirror Master incredulously paused from robbing the packages that were delivered to the bank.

Danny shrugged. "Oh, I'm Danny. Who are you guys?"

"Captain Cold. That's Mirror Master."

Danny shifted as the safe clicks open. "So, uh, are you guys the villains here?"

Captain Cold shot him a weird look. "We're actively robbing a bank, kid. That should be obvious."

"Also, you're acting real calm for a kid speaking to two of Fawcett's best super-villains." Mirror Master chimed in, laser-ing off locks on deposit boxes and shoving cash and stuff into his mirror dimension.

Danny padded in after them. "Eh, you haven't shot at me- not even on sight- yet, which is more than I can say for law enforcement, so you're pretty chill in my book."

Captain Cold snorted, pointedly taking his freeze gun and breaking off a large manual lock. "I believe it's my job to be the chill one. Plus, we don't kill. The Flash would be up our... business if we did. It's not worth the trouble."

"You can say ass. I've heard worse."

"Not from me, kid."

Danny hadn't had that kind of consideration from anyone in a long time. Even if it's a bit... mother-hennish, the halfa couldn't find it in him to be annoyed. "Ah, okay. Well, you also haven't kidnapped me or tried to stop me from following you, so..."

Mirror Master shoved a giant painting into his dimension. "You haven't tried to stop us; it'd be weird trying to stop you."

"Makes sense."

"Heh. You're alright, kid. Though... who's kidnapping you?"

"My fruit loop of a godfather. It's a thing," Danny avoided the searching gaze like a pro.

"Hold this." Captain Cold said suddenly, giving Danny a massive dufflebag.

"Wait, what?"

Captain Cold began stuffing the bag with cash and once the money in the vicinity (not that much) went in, he said "Go look around. Having another person in here is a risk so you might as well make up for it."

Danny's calling it. Captain Cold was full of shit. The guy's a big softie. Danny smiled sheepishly and agreed. Danny circled the place, pointing out expensive looking stuff- "for fun" and not because they were nice to him- when he felt the tell-tale zaps of an anomaly in Clockwork's domain.

"Move!" He shouted at the two villains, both of whom dove out of the way. Instinctively, Danny threw out his gloved hands and iced the floors, instincts bristling at the incoming danger. His jaw dropped as a blur encountered the ice and went ass over tea kettle onto the floor, unable to stop its own momentum.

"Oh shit!" Danny uttered, eyes wide as the blur slammed into the opposite- reinforced- wall with a pained shout. The stopped person was wearing red, with a lighting bolt motif all over their uniforms. That implied speed. Speed implied "The Flash." Danny knew a hero when he saw one and he just iced him. Shit.

"What-" The Flash groaned. Mirror Master and Captain Cold gaped.

"OhmyancientsI'msosorrygottagobye!" Danny shouted.

"Hey, wait, kid-!" Captain Cold shouted. Danny ignored him, going invisible in a panic and sank into the ground, mortified. After thirty seconds of self-hatred, he zoomed out and away. Danny held his head in his hands as he flew back to where Amity was...

Only to stare down at the empty plots of land where his city was supposed to be. Danny shoved a hand into his chest and pulled out his phone.

[No results for Amity Park. Did you mean "Amity Arkham"?]

"What."

Any research he did after that only turned up a Jasmine Fellona, a budding neurobiologist in her field, and other people that were adjacent to the people Danny knew. But nothing, nothing from Amity Park.

"Oh, yeah, we're definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy."

---

As the Flash stood around to keep an eye on the hand-cuffed villains, he couldn't help but ask.

"So, uh, Snart. Did you... get a kid?"

"What." Snart asked, incredibly done with this shit.

"You know. Snart junior? With the ice and everything?" Flash gestured at the un-melting ice that covered the floor leading into the safe. "I mean, I'm not thrilled you're pulling your kid into a life of crime..."

"No."

"Wait, you had a kid and didn't tell me?" Mirror Master asked, mildly offended. "That was your kid? No wonder no one shot at him!"

"He's not my kid." Snart gave Flash the stink-eye. "And don't you have a couple of baby sidekicks running around?"

"C'mon dude, you're so obviously fond of him. It's okay, you don't have to hide it." Flash avoided the topic... in a flash.

"Can someone arrest me right now so these idiots can be removed from my vicinity?" Snart snarked to the approaching officer, jerking his head to point at the beaming Flash.

"You and me both, buddy," Officer West sighed.

---

One trip to the zone and a stressful conversation with Clockwork later, Danny was found in his keep, smacking his ghost head into the ghost wall of his ghost keep. Danny would unleash a Wail if it didn't have the nasty habit of bringing everything around him.

Apparently, he got "Amity'd," a process which meant Amity spat him out like an over chewed dog bone and refused to take him back.

"That doesn't even make sense! I left there a bunch of times! And came back!"

"The city has decided that it was your time to leave, Danny." Clockwork spared a wane smile for the curled up boy-king.

"I have people to protect there! My entire life! My haunt!" Danny yelled, breaths that he didn't technically need coming shorter and shorter. The neon green of the Zone whirled in and out of his vision in a dizzying shudder of anxiety and incoming panic.

"It wasn't your haunt, I'm afraid. The city nurtured you as a young spirit- thus shared her haunt- and has decided that it was time for you to... leave the nest, so to speak."

That stopped Danny's panic in its tracks. "Are you telling me she NightVale-d me? Some kind of involuntary coming-of-age bs?"

If he weren't on the edge of hysterical laughter, Danny would take a moment and proudly say to Mr. Lancer that he had paid attention in class.

"...Yes."

"Fuck." Danny dropped his head down in despair. His head made a loud thunk. The bag of cash he'd accidently made away with sat innocently at his feet. Further proof that it wasn't some nightmare he'd wake up from anytime soon.

---

Danny slumped over the desk, exhausted. Technus had lent him a ghostly hand and hacked into government data bases to re-establish his social security number and all the other dumb bits and bobs that he needed to establish his identity because Amity was an actual ghost town. Ghost to reality, ghost to real life. Ancients, Amity even had their own data network, which he couldn't access outside of Amity itself. This meant that Danny couldn't even call anyone. Ugh.

"I gotta find a place to live," he mumbled to himself. Danny, despite knowing that he needed to do things, did not move for another ten minutes.

Then, as his phone alarm went off, buzzing on the table. Like... Clockwork... Danny sat up straight and wiped all traces of wallowing self pity off his face. The people in the library- students- gave him solemn nods of solidarity. Danny nodded back and left the library.

He wandered around Fawcett City, somewhere Clockwork had recommended he stayed. With Clockwork, recommendations tended to be life-important (plot-important?) orders. Danny liked the place, really. It gave off the weird and settled "what-the-fuck,-Box-Ghost-did-you-have-to-destroy-the-mall?" vibes Amity constantly gave off after the ghosts started coming through. He thought he even saw a talking tiger! Awesome.

"Hey, are you new here?"

Danny looked down. His reflection stared back at him.

Did he have another kid? Did someone clone him again? Ancients curse you, Vlad!

"Uh- yeah."

"Oh. Do you need help getting around? I was born and raised here all my life, so I can totally do that!"

Oh thank the Ancients, this wasn't another Dani. Just a weirdly similar looking kid.

"You know I'm a stranger, right?"

"I don't think anyone helping Nanny Mae pick up her oranges would hurt kids," the kid said archly, but with a grin so like Dani, it made Danny miss his younger sister.

"Okay, you got me there. But still."

The kid sighed. "I know how to be safe, thanks. I'm Billy!"

"Danny. Nice to meet you."

"Okay, Danny, where you off to?"

"I'm actually trying to find a place that'll be cheap to rent." He's sixteen, but Danny could totally pass as eighteen. "I'm thinking about moving to Fawcett. It's nice here, with all the ambient magic and stuff."

This got him a wide-eyed look. "Do you use magic?"

"Something like that."

"Cool."

Danny took in the considering glint in Billy's eyes and decided that it was future!Danny's problem. Present!Danny was currently occupied with trying to stay off the streets. That giant bag of cash he'd accidently absconded with would be helpful and Danny felt kind of bad... but his growling stomach had chased that away quickly.

"This way!"

Danny shrugged his wavering morality off and followed the kid, shouldering his new and stolen duffle bag. If anything happened, he could just go ghost. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing that's happened in this city, Danny made sure to check.

"Have you been by the zoo?" Billy began to rattle off his favorite details about the Fawcett city zoo as he wove around the city.

Danny didn't think he'd actually have to go ghost.

"Not yet, actually. Is it true that there's a talking tiger there?"

"Yeah! Tawky Tawny! He's my friend!"

"Awesome."

[leslie057]

probably that she loves guns or something...she doesn’t love guns, she doesn’t enjoy using them, nor does she even pride herself on her aim in my opinion. she simply recognizes that it’s a skill of hers and, because it’s a skill of hers, it’s something she has to fall back on time and time again for her safety and the safety of others. she’s careful with that and she’s serious about it. [“there’s a six year old in the house—i know where i keep my guns.”] her relationship with weaponry and just battle in general really stands out to me against other characters. we can take eddie and steve for an example; in the field scene in s4, we see eddie bragging about/playing with his spiked shield in front of dustin. he made it, it is an extension of him, he’s proud of it. in a way, the only thing that is keeping his courage up at that point is his desire to prove himself. he doesn’t want to be the one that retreats, but obviously this is nightmarish shit, so he kind of starts to think of the weapons as toys to make it easier (or that’s how i saw it, anyway). just like a dnd game. steve had a similar thing going with his (nancy’s) bat—sure, he’s protected plenty of people with that bat, and that’s great, he’s very brave, but the way he swings it around like it’s a toy is a little objectionable because it’s like…okay, that’s enough, let’s not play with that. the bat is seen as an extension of steve as well, and for both these boys, as brave as they are (i’m really not trying to completely shit on them, i’m not, and steve is a protective person which is wonderful), we as viewers do get this sense of—particularly during battle scenarios—how aware they are of…themselves. it’s all about them, it’s all about what they can represent for the group (valor, basically). it’s about their personal growth. disclaimer i realize that this is a show with a lot of monster fighting/action happening in it, and also the duffers want their characters to have badass moments, and also they like to lean into some campier physical acting (hello unnecessary flip steve did onto that mattress), which is—fine.

but i find it so weird that a good portion of this fandom reduces nancy to her battle skills, skills that they think represent her identity. i find it weird that people don’t see how much it takes out of her having to be the leader all the time, that people think she’s driven by ANYTHING other than her survivor’s guilt, that she’s supposedly found confidence and purpose in the guns or something, that she’s empowered through that. i mean. yeah, she’s empowered by the fact that she’s not dying. that she can prevent others from dying. i would be much quicker to argue that steve finds confidence/purpose/maybe even satisfaction in battle (not that he doesn’t genuinely want to protect his friends, he does, not that he doesn’t have ptsd, i am sure he does, and he probably doesn’t take literal pleasure in the fighting, per se). there’s just this…..desperation to be the big savior there. i’m sorry but there is.

he projects this onto dustin and eddie at the end of s4 [“don’t try to be cute or be a hero or something”] to which dustin reassures [“don’t worry, you can be the hero steve”] with a judgmental note in his voice, honestly. which is interesting, too.

nancy does not want to be a savior—she just wants to save.

she uses guns only because she’s good with them, because she has to, she needs protection and others need protection. i’m sure there are times for her when pulling the trigger is somewhat of a cathartic release, but i also think she kind of NEVER wants to pick one up again for the rest of her life. of course, if that happened, she wouldn’t be cool and interesting to [some] fans anymore, so. whatever.

tldr; nancy is full of fear and rage, not violence, and she is probably SICK of those damn guns !!! please start looking at her as more than just a “badass.”

what is a mischaracterisation of Nancy wheeler that gets on your nerves (answer in comments pls)

[neos127]

enhypen x fem!reader | brought the heat back

genre. toxic enha! established relationship + hcs cw. the boys are pretty toxic & manipulative notes. obv this isn’t how i believe they act irl! i was just inspired by bthb lyrics

heeseung . . . ‘why is he looking at you like that’, heeseung thought as the two of you were sitting in a cafe. to say he was a jealous person was an understatement— heeseung was very possessive. you were his and his only, why couldn’t people understand that.

“hee, calm down.” you mumbled, noticing the way he gripped the small coffee cup, the drink spilling onto his hand. heeseung sighed, letting you clean him up. as soon as you discarded the coffee covered wet wipe, heeseung immediately pulled you to his side, making you sit against him in the booth.

“heeseung…” you warned the boy, feeling his lips trace your neck. the man who had been looking at you prior looked away in embarrassment. you never really favored pda, but your possessive boyfriend certainly did.

“tell me that you’re mine. mine only.” he muttered in between kisses, causing you to blush furiously. you let out a nervous giggle before turning your head to meet heeseung’s eyes.

“i’m yours, always.”

jay . . . you were positive that jay’s arms hadn’t left your waist since you arrived at the party. whenever you two stood in a group, jay would stand behind you with his arms wrapped around your waist and his chin on your shoulder/head. any time a guy even glance at you, his grip would tighten. you had to stop jay from getting into a fight when a guy had approached you, trying to get you into one of the spare rooms.

jay had thrown his beer into the guy’s face, about to swing at his face before you pulled him away.

“jay…i was okay. i can handle myself.” you sighed as the two of you sat on the front lawn, waiting for his best friend to pick you both up.

“i know but, you’re my girl. they don’t even deserve to have the pleasure of looking at you.” jay muttered, his jaw clenching. you let out a curt laugh before reaching over and messing with his hair.

“and i wouldn’t want it any other way.” you replied, leaning over to kiss him.

jake . . . your boyfriend was acting like a child, and you weren’t too pleased about it.

“get off the phone.” he murmured against your ear before continuing his assault on your neck. you were positive that jake had left a couple hickeys on your skin already. he had been sucking on your neck and running his tongue over the marks constantly since you started your project. you were working on it with a male classmate and jake didn’t like that.

jake’s kisses only increased the more you ignored him, his hands slowly sliding under your shirt and resting under your bra. you let out a soft moan, freezing when you realized that you were still on call.

“y/n, you okay?” your project partner, heeseung spoke up. before you could even get a word in, jake spoke up for you.

“she’s busy.” jake sneered before pressing the red ‘end call’ button on your phone. you turned to face the man, about to sold him but jake didn’t care. he interrupted you with a kiss, already lifting you out of your seat and towards your bed.

“it’s my turn to have your attention.”

sunghoon . . . you had never seen sunghoon so angry before, it was honestly worrying. you knew that your boyfriend was the jealous type, and his emotions were only heightened whenever he had a game. a member on the opposing team made a score, winking and making some crude remarks towards you. sunghoon already hated him, especially since he always seemed to hit on you.

your boyfriend was already pissed off so he absolutely lost it, throwing his helmet on the ice and roughly spitting out his mouth guard before slamming the guy against the wall of the rink. you didn’t pick up much of what sunghoon said, only a couple of curses here and there. the guy pushed sunghoon off which resulted in him swinging at his face. you gasped and stood up, watching as sunghoon was pulled away by his teammates.

he ended up receiving a red card and was chewed out by his coach before he stomped to the locker room. you followed after him, wanting to comfort your boyfriend who was obviously fired up.

“sunghoon! what the hell was that?” you called after him, nearly getting hit by the door on your way into the locker room.

“that dickwad is a piece of shit. i can’t stand him. especially when he thinks that he can just look at you without me wanting to pull his teeth out.” sunghoon snarled, his voice still raised as he paced around.

you frowned, putting a hand on his chest to try to calm him down. he stopped, taking a deep breath before placing his hand over yours and leaning against the lockers.

“you’re mine only. i can’t let other guys talk about you like that.” sunghoon said, leaning over to rest his forehead against yours. you smiled, finding his possessiveness to be a bit attractive. even though it got him benched for the next few games.

“don’t worry, i don’t accept attention from any other guy but you.” you whispered, running your thumb on his bottom lip.

sunoo . . . “who was that guy you spoke to earlier.” sunoo asked, cornering you in the kitchen one night. you jumped a bit at his presence, not expecting your boyfriend to still be up as you grabbed a glass of water.

“just a friend.” you replied, shrugging as if it was no big deal. to sunoo it was a big deal. he couldn’t stand the attention you would get from men, it made him extremely envious when you decided to be nice and engage.

“why were you smiling at him like that?” sunoo asked, his tone extremely calm but his gaze was hard and set on you.

“sunoo, he didn’t mean anything to me.” you replied, placing the glass down and walking over to sunoo. you rested your hands on either side of his face, giving him a reassuring smile. you knew how jealous your boyfriend could get, especially when it came to guys giving you their attention. if a guy happened to look at you for a second too long, sunoo felt like snapping their neck.

“he better not.” he mumbled before pulling you into a heated kiss.

jungwon . . . was it unfair of jungwon to rip you away from a lunch with your friend? possibly. but the friend was a guy, a guy who wasn’t your loving boyfriend. he couldn’t have your attention stolen by sim jaeyun when he was simply sitting at home bored out of his mind. so, jungwon called you up, pretending to sound sick so you would come to his apartment. he knew that he was your weakness, you would do anything for your precious jungwon.

so you excused yourself from lunch and raced to jungwon’s apartment, worried about your boyfriend. jungwon laid on his bed, putting a frown on his face as he explained that his ‘stomach ache’ was debilitating. you cooed at the boy, softly running your hands through his hair.

jungwon sighed, fighting back a small smirk. he finally had you to himself again…he was in heaven.

riki . . . the boy was fidgeting, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as he watched a store clerk clearly flirt with you. he had been watching the guy ever since you two walked into the store, the punk had been waiting for a chance to get you alone.

“i was wondering if i could get your number?” the guy asked, pulling his phone out. you froze, feeling awkward already. you were about to tell him that you had a boyfriend before you felt a presence behind you.

riki towered over you, his height seeming to intimidate the store clerk in front of you. he wrapped his arms around your waist possessively, resting his head on top of yours.

“she’s taken.” riki said curtly, his eyes darkening as he stared down the guy in front of you. he nodded, quickly walking away without another word.

“riki…” you giggled, turning around to face your boyfriend who looked extremely pissed. riki had always been a jealous boyfriend and it was amusing to see how he subtly staked his claim over you.

“these idiots don’t deserve an ounce of your attention.” he grumbled, keeping an arm around your waist as he pulled you out of the store. you let out a laugh, shaking your head.

“riki, where are we going? i want my snacks.”

“a different store without that asshole.”

[katsukistofu]

it took me by soap-rise

contents ౨ৎ ⋆ k. bakugo x fem reader. 4k words — fluff. cursing. slightly suggestive. ⭑ of course your public nuisance no. 1 has to hog your favorite shower stall the day you forget your body wash in it.

Katsuki was honestly starting to suspect he wasn’t your type. 

Which one, was something he’d never even bother to consider. He’s ripped up more confession letters than he can count after three years. Graduation was just around the corner and he still hates social media, but even he knows how popular he is on it because of his classmates whining about it all the damn time. He knows he’s well-liked, and it’s not just his ego talking.

Genuinely it's a thought that would never occur to him, if only Eyebags wasn’t lounging around you all the time, casting annoyingly cocky glances at him as he taps your shoulder and leans in to whisper whatever the fuck it is in your ear whenever he passes by the two of you.

Not that he cared. 

Two, when Dunce Face dared you to say who you thought was the most attractive guy during a game of truth or dare in the common room last year, while he pretended to be disinterested when he very much in fact was not, you had offhandedly answered with that half-n’-half bastard’s name, who could not be more polar opposite to him.

Again, he really couldn’t give less of a fuck. 

Not like he’s been thinking about it since then. Totally. Not.

Katsuki also hasn’t been thinking about how it should be him whispering in your ear instead of that purple haired extra, the endless list of things he could say to make you squirm and blush in your seat. 

Of course, that doesn’t happen because you’re too busy arguing with him, like usual, about the new group project Aizawa just assigned. Something about reconnecting with their roots before graduating. With you two as partners, much to the amusement of your classmates.

“We should work on the script first!” You insist while he leans back in his chair, observing you get more and more worked up.

It should be irritating as hell, your hand gestures, your matter of fact tone, but what’s really bothering him is that it’s not. He’s not sure when that started happening.

“It’s better to prepare the interview questions we’re going to ask our parents when we visit each other's homes.”

He snorts. “What are we, some ditzy news report crew? We’re not gonna waste time doing that, we should just visit your place first, then mine and get it over with.”

You spin away from him before he can open his mouth again, and raise your hand. 

Aizawa slowly turns to you with a sigh, already knowing what you’re about to ask.

“No.”

“But Mr. Aizawa!” 

Eyebags casts an amused glance in both of your directions, and Katsuki scoffs. 

No way in hell was he letting you switch and downgrade to an extra like him. 

“What, you’re chickening out?”

You ignore him. “Can I please switch partners?”

“No,” Aizawa deadpans.

“But—“

“No. One more word from either of you and you’re getting zeroes.”

The both of your mouths snap shut, and you glare at each other.

“When you’re a pro, you don’t always get to choose who you team up with.” 

Aizawa rubs his temples. 

“And you’re supposed to be my top ranking students. You’re not first years anymore, so act like it.”

You hang your head. Like a scolded puppy, Katsuki notes. 

“Yes Mr. Aizawa.”

From the corner of his eye, you flip him off under your desk and his lips can’t help but twitch. Does he really still piss you off that much after all this time? 

Without hesitation, Katsuki flips you off back.

‘Fucking teacher’s pet.’ He mouths with a smirk.

‘Asshole.’ You mouth back.

Aizawa sighs again, throwing a pointed look at Sero and Denki who are struggling, and failing, to hold back their giggles behind you. 

This was going to be a long week.

It’s the day after the group project was assigned, and you’re still reeling from the fact that out of everybody you had to get paired up with, of course it had to be your crush. 

Hey Siri, does it make you a masochist if for the past three years you've been in love with a guy that’s laser-focused on his personal development and has zero interest in dating anyone other than his career, ever? 

Are you a masochist if you kind of find that kind of hot?

Just when you were starting to make a pros and cons list with Mina the night before to try and ick yourself out, too. But even that was getting increasingly hard to do.

His growth was undeniable, and you curse at him for being almost as mature as he was attractive now.  

Well, towards everybody except you. 

Three steps away from the door to your room, you freeze in place as your brain stops your usual ramblings of the blond boy to register two alarming facts.

One, the bottle of body wash you usually use was not in your hand like you thought it was.

Two, it was in fact, still in the shower stall you left it in.

Pink house slippers slap against the floor’s carpeting as you race back to the showers with a death-like grip on your towel.

You’re slightly out of breath as you clutch the doorway of the showers, and just as quickly as you enter you find yourself exiting lightning fast at double the speed, nearly launching yourself against the wall of the hall outside. 

With your heart racing uncontrollably, tips of too familiar blond hair disappear into the stall you were in moments ago.

Too familiar, for your liking. 

But that strong jawline you caught a glimpse of was unmistakable.

Your irritating classmate slash crush you were trying to get rid of was taking up your shower stall.

Okay technically it wasn’t yours but it was the one you used everyday, each morning and night. You’d claimed it when you first stepped foot in it at the beginning of your first year. 

So basically, it was yours. 

And you definitely don’t remember that bastard ever using it until today.

A screech jolts you from your thoughts. He must have turned the water on, which you can hear, but strangely there was no steam wafting out at all. 

The realization creeps up on you like the sound of running water that trickles down and echoes throughout the room.

Hold on.

What was this idiot doing taking a cold shower at four in the morning?

The all too familiar soothing scent of cherry blossom fills the chilly air, and your eyebrows furrow even more in confusion. 

And was that your fucking body wash he’s using?

You take a deep breath. Okay, calm down. He’s bigger than you, probably stronger too, that stupid gym freak, not to mention taller than you. 

But your fingers were still itching to whip out your quirk and shoot a moonbeam at his crotch.

Because why the fuck was he using your L’Occitane Cherry Blossom Bath and Shower Gel?

Trying to sneak a glance to confirm your suspicions, the obvious shadow of Bakugo is visible through the glass, and you duck back into the hallway. 

Oh my god, it is him. 

Taking a cold shower in the morning like a crazy person. Although you hate to admit it, that would explain his perfect skin. Everyday you wake up and see his flawless face, you go to bed praying that he gets a blemish.

The shower turns off, and you let out the breath you were holding. Confrontation wasn’t your strong suit, but when it came to your possessions, you weren’t about to be a doormat. 

You cross your fingers and pray that he’s wearing clothes.

“Bakugo! Come out here, we need to talk.”

He snorts, already recognizing the chiding voice about to round the corner, and turns. “Picking a fight with me outside of class? Thought you had more self-respect than tha–”

Bakugo is then sharply cut off.

By you hurling into his very naked, very bare chest.

He forces his eyes to not linger on the dip of your collarbone, and as he looks down on you he sees you struggling to do the same in his direction.

You accidentally make contact with his eyes.

The rare, amused look on his face sends something strange and hot down your spine, and you force yourself to turn away so sharply you think you dislocated your neck.

Bakugo smirks. “Wasn’t nearly this focused when we were working on our project.” 

An embarrassing noise escapes from your mouth, and his lips curve ever so slightly on his handsome face at the sound. 

He’s never seen you this flustered before.

It’s kind of cute, he admits this time.

Despite your clearly humiliated state, you point an impressively steady finger at the object in his hands. 

“That’s um, that’s mine.” You awkwardly clutch your towel tighter, suddenly feeling very naked in his presence. Seriously, why didn’t you put a shirt on before coming back?

His eyebrow raises and he lifts the bottle slightly. “This?”

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh,” he says disbelievingly. “Don’t see your name on it.”

You sigh in exasperation, did he always have to be so uncooperative with you? “It’s mine, okay? Just give it back.”

Bakugo's eyes narrow as he studies you. Like you’re a puzzle piece he’s trying to make sense of.

And as much as you hate to admit it, the focused look on his face was annoyingly attractive. 

“That’s funny.” 

You open your mouth, your patience is on the last straw and you’re about to yell back ‘what is?’ and snatch the bottle out of his hands when he smirks, holding it high out of your reach above his head with his bicep, still gleaming with water from his shower. 

“Because this is mine.”

You blink at the water falls from his raised arm onto your nose, not registering what you’re hearing. Looking away from the pink translucent bottle above your head, your eyes meet his again.

“What?”

“You heard me the first time.”

You can’t help but stare at him incredulously.

“I don’t think I did.” Confusion could not be clearer than glass in your voice. 

“You—You use L’Occitane?”

He averts his eyes from the droplet that falls from your still wet hair and rolls down what skin you have exposed, disappearing into your thankfully tightly wrapped towel.

“Dude. You are so not cherry blossom bath and shower gel material.”

He snorts. “Fuck is that supposed to mean.”

“I don’t know! I thought you’d use like, Dove MenCare or five in one.”

“Five in one? Are you stupid?”

“Apparently! But—Oh my god can you stop flexing your biceps for one fucking second.” You groan. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.”

“Why were you looking?” 

“I can’t help it! They’re distracting me and—“ You clap your hands over your mouth, glancing at his slightly amused expression with horrified eyes.

“Distracting you?” His voice is low, and you curse at the way your stomach flip-flops. 

“Um.” Fuck. Where did that even come from? “I meant, uh.”

“Trying to take it back now?” He smirks. “Coward.”

“I am not a coward!” You glare at him. “And I’m not feeding into your ego.”

“You just admitted you were staring at my biceps and thinking about what body wash I would use.”

Okay, so you’re just digging yourself a deeper grave. Your cheeks are warmer than the shower you took earlier, and you can’t even deny it.

“Creep.”

You huff. “Okay fine, I’m a creep. Just give me my body wash back.”

“Told you,” he starts walking away, towel still wrapped around his waist. You pointedly look away towards the wall. “It’s mine, dipshit.”

“Wha–” You whip your head around just as he disappears behind the corner, too tired and irritated to even chase after him, and with a sigh you walk into the shower room, heading for the stall you used earlier. 

Your eyes widen as you stare at it in embarrassment. 

There your bottle of cherry blossom body wash sits, untouched in the shower caddy. 

As you head back to your dorm room, the body wash safely clutched in your hand, you wonder.

Was it too late to call in sick for today?

Aizawa did not in fact let you call in sick, and you're painfully reminded of everything that happened in the morning as you complain to Hitoshi about it. Your best friend snickers as students file into the cafeteria behind his seat.  

“You’re so stupid.”

You take the opportunity to shove a sweet roll into his open mouth. “Shut up! I’m going to pretend like it never happened.”

Hitoshi snorts, taking the bread out of his mouth. “Good luck with that. But hey,” He leans in with a mischievous grin, and you glare daggers at him. “Isn’t this the most progress you’ve made since you started liking him since, what, first year entrance exams?”

Your jaw drops. “Excuse me?”

He takes his sweet time eating the roll in his hand instead of elaborating, like the petty asshole he's always been. Your fingers tap impatiently on the table of the cafeteria as you wait while he chews.

After what seems like an eternity, Hitoshi finally swallows. 

“I mean, you’ve never really made a move on him this whole time. Kind of just been a spectator, like a creep.”

Warmth rushes up your neck as you’re reminded of what Bakugo called you yesterday. Creep.

“I can’t help it! The only time we ever speak is during class projects, and even then we’re always arguing. I just don’t know what to say to him.”

“I know.” Hitoshi raises an eyebrow. “Woop woop. 3A’s own live little romcom.”

“I’m gonna kill you.”

“Okay, but after I finish this soup.” He blows on his steaming spoon, and pauses as a thought occurs to him. 

”If he didn’t like it though, he would’ve told you by now.” 

You can’t help but perk up at that. “You really think so?”

“Yeah.” He spoons the soup into his mouth. “Oh. This is good, why didn’t you get any when we were in line?”

“...The red color reminded me of his eyes too much.”

Hitoshi sighs. 

“For your birthday, I’m going to admit you to a mental hospital.”

“It’s not that bad!” You insist and he snorts derisively. 

The both of you know you’re lying.

The ride to Katsuki’s house after class is awkwardly silent.

Your folks conveniently went out of town to visit some relatives you’ve never even heard of yesterday, so the both of you were left with no choice but to interview his parents only.

The train is almost full, and every seat in the car is taken except one.

“I’m standing.” 

Katsuki grabs onto the handle above his head, a silent signal for you to take the only seat left and watches with barely concealed amusement in his eyes as you hurry to sit in front of him without a word other than a small ‘thanks.’ So skittish today.

He’s not sure if he likes it though. You being quiet around him. 

You’ve said less than two sentences to him since this morning, and he almost misses your snappy quips.

Almost.

He hides a sly grin. It’s all his fault you’re acting like this, and he's going to enjoy it while it lasts.

You’re putting your earbuds on, and just before you put the left one in, he snatches it out of your hands and puts it in his ear.

Your eyes widen cutely, too stunned to speak.

"Just don't play anything shitty." He turns his attention back to his phone, ignoring all the smoochy faces the group chat's sent him about you as he sends his mom a quick text to tell her you two are on the way.

With a shy nod, which he can't help but note is so unlike you, you scroll down on your own phone and click on a playlist.

Katsuki's eyes widen in surprise not even five seconds in.

The instrumentals, those vocals. He knows this song.

He loves this song.

"You listen to Pierce the Veil?"

You blink up at him. "Yeah. I do."

He can't help it. The edge of his lips twitch as he recalls what you said to him yesterday, and he mimics your exact tone.

"Dude. You are so not post-hardcore alt rock material."

The expression on your face is priceless.

Katsuki never uses his damn phone camera but he almost wants to snap a picture right there and then.

Except of course, you do the unexpected.

You giggle at him.

He can't help but feel a little proud. Take that, stupid fucking Eyebags.

"I guess you're right," you laugh behind your hand. "Jirou recommended me some songs last year and I've been a fan ever since."

"Then what's your favorite lyric by them?"

"Oh my god." The grin on your lips spreads a warm, sweet feeling across his chest, like strawberry jam on hot toast. "You're one of those people that see someone wearing a band shirt and go 'Oh you like them? Name five of their songs.'"

He scoffs. "I do not."

"You totally do."

Katsuki rolls his eyes. "You trying to distract me from the fact you're a fake fan?"

You fake a little gasp. "Me? Never." There's a thoughtful hum that comes from your lips, and he observes you as you take a moment to think.

"My favorite lyric has to be 'been counting the stars and scars, how I’m becoming a work of art.'"

The Divine Zero. Fuck, he loved that song too.

"Huh. Guess you know your shit."

You huff proudly, so similar to a dog happily wagging its tail that he resists the urge to pat your head. "Of course! What's your favorite lyric?"

He smirks, staring directly into your eyes.

"I’m gonna tear out the thread one by one from your skin till your bones feel embarrassed by all the attention."

Your lips fall into a flustered 'o' shape and you turn away when he finishes, nodding. "That's, uh, that's a good one too."

He bites back a laugh as you hurriedly switch playlists, and a familiar R&B tune starts singing in his ear instead.

Mitsuki’s face greets the two of you as she opens the door.

“Katsuki! You're here early—oh!"

She spots you. 

“You’re one of those cute maid girls from last year’s cultural festival!" 

Your cheeks flush as you remember. That stupid day when Denki’s suggestion finally won the class vote. She was visiting for Bakugo’s role as an oni in the haunted house, and happened to stop by the maid cafe in the class where you and the rest of the girls were working. “Yes ma’am.”

“I didn’t know you were Katsuki’s girlfriend.”

“What?” Your mouth drops. “Oh, I’m not—“

“You brat! You never told me you were going out with a sweet, pretty girl like this.” Mitsuki scolds in her son’s direction. Your cheeks grow warm as your curious eyes can’t resist trailing over to see his reaction.

"She's not my girlfriend, Ma."

Oh my god, was he blushing?

Mitsuki sighs in disappointment. His crimson eyes meet your widened ones for a split second, then he's brushing past the both of you and heading inside the house.

His mother smiles at you apologetically. "Sorry about him, his puberty came late."

You can't help but snort. "It's okay Mrs. Bakugo, I'm used to it."

"I heard that!" A yell comes from down the stairs.

Mitsuki and you share a mischievous glance, and she ushers you inside. You take off your shoes and look around.

So this is where Bakugo grew up.

There's the smell of green tea in the air, and was that a vanilla candle burning somewhere? Framed photos of Bakugo with his parents are on the wall as you walk into the living room, and you can't help but coo at the one where his chubby baby cheeks are smeared in frosting while he blows out a candle shaped like the number three.

The interview flies by in a breeze. You do most of the asking.

Okay, you’re the one asking all of the interview questions. A warm mug of steaming green tea is placed next to you on the coffee table from your cross-legged position on a cushion.

Bakugo sits next to you, unnervingly silent ever since his mom's outburst from before, as he types up his mother’s and occasionally his father’s responses on his laptop.

It’s funny, the way you think he doesn’t notice your shivers.

"Ma." He glances up from the keyboard. "Do you need to turn the AC up so damn high all the time?"

Mitsuki rolls her eyes, taking a sip of her tea. "It's warm in here!"

He sighs, eyes flicking over to you, and starts getting up from his spot on the floor.

You stare at the hand he holds out to you. And with great interest, so do Masaru and Mitsuki, who mutters something to him that you better be her daughter-in-law within the next three years.

"Come on," Bakugo says gruffly, tugging you to stand.

You stumble a bit as you walk through the hallway with him and up the first few stairs. "Where are we going...?"

"My room. To get you a fucking jacket."

“No, I don’t need it—!” You're cut off with a sneeze.

He groans, and shrugs off the black fleece-lined one he's wearing and bringing you into him by tightly wrapping it around your shoulders.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?” He grumbles. He's so close you can see how unfairly long his lashes are, and you're not sure if it's the sheer nervous adrenaline from him being so near or the scowl in his voice but you giggle, feeling bold.

“It’s sexy to see you prove me wrong.”

His eyes widen, and he quickly recovers.

“You’re so fucking weird.” There’s an unmistakable fondness you catch in his voice as he says that, and you shiver this time for a different reason. 

"Your jacket's too big on me." You flop your newly acquired sweater paws in his face.

“Shut up.” Bakugo snorts as he zips it up for you in one smooth motion. “Fucking baby.” 

“You're the baby!" You retort. "I saw your pictures on the wall."

There's a groan from him. "No you didn’t.”

"What, they're cute! I'm gonna send one to the class group chat."

Bakugo shoots a glare at you, and you teasingly wiggle your phone screen in his face. "Don't you dare."

"Hmm, okay I won't. Only if you do something for me first."

He smirks. "Fine, what do you want?" Bakugo leans closer to you, and your cheeks burn hot. "A kiss?"

You were not expecting that.

The way your eyes linger hopefully on his mouth looks like he's right. "Um."

"Um?" He huffs a laugh with his face hovering in front of yours. Bakugo's hot breath teases your lips, and you can't think.

Fuck it, you don't even care if he's just joking anymore. If this is your only chance, you're going to take it.

"Yes."

Bakugo cocks his head to the side, irritating to the very end even when you're on the brink of giving in. "Yes what?"

Your eyes squeeze shut as you blurt out, and you can almost hear Hitoshi cheering in the distance.

"YesIwantyoutokissme!"

"Fucking finally." Your eyes flutter open at his murmur, what did he mean by that? But you don't get to spend another second thinking about it because suddenly his soft lips are on yours and your heart skips a beat as you realize Bakugo is kissing you.

It's feels almost scarily natural to lean into his touch, like a gravitational pull getting stronger and stronger the longer you're near him, and you wonder why you didn't sooner. You numbly acknowledge the growing sweatiness of your palms as your nose bumps against his gently.

His comforting hands cup the back of your head, tangling his calloused fingers in your hair as he guides your mouth against his. A delicious little sound escapes from you the moment you break away from him and it only makes him want to close the gap between you again with more hunger, and he nips at your bottom lip like a starved man.

"Knew you always liked me, by the way." Bakugo gives you a wolfish grin, as the both of you pull back for air, leaving a trail of saliva still connected to your lips in your wake. He slyly glances at your dazed self sideways, flashing you a rare sight of his canines.

"Was just waiting for you to stop being such a damn pussy about it."

[phoenixyfriend]

Star Wars Time Travel Rec List

About time I put together a General Rec List for Star Wars Time Travel, yeah?

Organized by the time-traveling character(s). I'm adding a star for my favorites that imo you have to read. I'm not going to claim that those are necessarily the best, because I feel like that's not objective and also kinda mean to the ones that are good since they might just not be to my personal taste, but they are my favorites.

Obi-Wan

Anakin Skywalker

Ahsoka

Clones

Other Prequels-Era Characters

Two or more people

Luke or Leia

Other

Tagged authors where I could. If they aren't tagged, I either couldn't find their tumblr, they have their settings such that no one can tag them, or they blocked me for one reason or another.

Obi-Wan

It Was Another Time and I Another Man by Pell_Binterhol - under "Groups"

Ashes To Ashes, Dust To Dust by @livsy ~35k+, complete Obi-Wan is a time traveler, mental from the OT. What makes it unique is that the fic is from Anakin's POV. It's a very heartwarming piece.

⭐Take it from the top and try again by @mauverawrites ~170k, series - two fics complete, more on the way Possibly the best way to describe this series is as the platonic ideal of an Obi-Wan time travel fic. Weird Force stuff? Check. Obi-Wan having spent years on Tatooine? Check. Qui-Gon surviving? Check. Obi-Wan doing some shady illegal stuff to get money and infiltrate crime rings so he can save the galaxy? Check. Anakin being adorable as an initiate, and Shmi being saved from Tatooine? Check. Surprise Feemor? Check. It's all the bits you (or at least I) hope for when opening a new Obi-Wan Time Travel fic, and it never feels stale or repetitive or cliche. It's just a Very Good Fic.

The Exchange by @misslearn - under "Groups"

An Abundance of Obi-Wans by The_Last_Kenobi (orphan_account) ~45k, abandoned Unfortunately we'll never know how this ends, but it's a lot of fun while it lasts. Baby Obi is being haunted by three ghosts of his future self.

A Padawan at War (Again) by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"

Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars- under "Groups"

These Paths by HiddenEye - under "Groups"

⭐the massive machinery of hope by @killbothtwins 150k, complete Do you want comedy? Yes, you do. This one is great. Go read it. It's one of my favorites for a reason, and the reason is that Obi-Wan is a sarcastic little shit with a billion quips.

Living Memory by elsa3beth 353k, on hiatus, possibly abandoned? Obi-Wan Time Travel, leans a bit more heavily into the distrust and despair surrounding Anakin (due to Vader things from the future) than most.

⭐The Desert Storm/Rise and Fall by @blue-sunshine-mauve-morning ~1.6m (1592k), ongoing This is one of the longest, most consistent, best-regarded time-travel fics in the fandom for a reason.

⭐Reprise by Elfpen ~560k, ongoing Another Obi-Wan time-travel fic, this one using that favored cover story of "Ben is Obi-Wan's biological uncle," and I love it so much for how it explores both characters and political events.

Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - under "Groups"

Current of Fate by @feybarn ~195k, on hiatus? It's been so long since I read this one that I can't quite remember what it was that I liked about it so much, and it's too long to do a reread right now... but I do remember loving it, especially when it switches to an outsider POV for the second fic.

Anakin Skywalker

The Exchange by @misslearn - under "Groups"

A Padawan at War (Again) by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"

Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"

War Drums by @intermundia ~91k, ongoing Vader travels back to TPM. Runs off with Obi-Wan into the stars to Achieve Some Goals to take down Sidious. Gets quick-aged to 19 by some Dathomiri magic. Projected to be Obikin.

These Paths by HiddenEye - under "Groups"

Old Promises by @threebea ~65k, ongoing Time Traveler Anakin panic-kidnaps Initiate Kenobi. Absolute disaster of a man.

An (Un)fortunate Haunting by @kooriicolada, @scarletjedi 3.5k, oneshot Anakin thinks the Vader ghost haunting him is a hallucination. This one is technically more than just Anakin, but it's... mostly Anakin.

⭐Force of Many Sights by DAsObiQuiet ~480k, on hiatus? Vader to TPM, possessing his younger self. This fic has a heavy, and much-appreciated focus on therapy as it functions for someone of Vader's... particular situation. This is also technically a "Groups" series, since it's also got Siri Tachi as a time-traveler, but her POV is much smaller, and it takes... I want to say about 100k words for her to really start playing a more active role in the plot.

Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - under "Groups"

Ahsoka

I don't know why all the good Ahsoka time travel fics are her as part of a team, but they do in fact fuck, so. I LIED I forgot to bookmark one of the Ahsoka fics I like.

Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"

These Paths by HiddenEye - under "Groups"

Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - under "Groups"

Living in Borrowed Time by @scribbling-albatross - under "groups"

⭐Although He Smiles by @autumnillustration - ~157.6k, ongoing This one is amazing, it's an Ahsoka main, and she is very funny with Padawan Obi-Wan and adorable with 9yo Anakin. Lovely.

Clones

love is with your brother by Petrichor (Mythmaker) ~8k, complete TCW Rex bodyswaps with his baby self. POV is Ahsoka during the clone wars.

Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars - under "Groups"

These Paths by HiddenEye - Rex and Cody - under "Groups"

Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel - Rex and Cody - under "Groups"

Living in Borrowed Time by @scribbling-albatross - Rex - Under "Groups"

⭐Dominoes by meridianpony ~380k, ongoing All five Dominoes go back to the beginning, from the points of their deaths! (Disclaimer: Echo's treated as having died at the Citadel. I think the fic started before his survival was revealed.) Technically this is a group, but all five are clones, so...

Other Prequels-Era Characters

there is no death by @ashkav ~140k, ongoing There is something really cool about Cal Kestis time travel fics, especially when he's got a decent amount of knowledge of The General Situations (e.g. Anakin will become Vader) but is missing so many details, like Why and How.

⭐An Echo in the Force (a whisper in a cave by @stardust2flame ~8k, complete Feemor is trapped in a time loop. This was actually written as a gift to me, so it has a special place in my heart.

⭐Mace Windu Fixes the Timeline... And Breaks it in Whole New Ways by AbsentmindedAuthor98 ~52k, ongoing Absolutely choice series based on an AU by @suzukiblu. Mace Windu does some time-traveling. He takes on Anakin as his padawan on an impulse, but he ends up doing his damnedest to be a Good Master for the kid. Depa helps.

Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by @yellowocaballero - Fox - under "Groups"

Make a Brand New End by @batshieroglyphics ~120k, I think on hiatus Another Feemor fic! This one's not time-loop, just time travel. Lots of juicy Qui-Gon drama.

⭐Not a Good Man by @feybarn ~28k, ongoing Imperial era Boba Fett goes back to AotC. He decides to fix things, partly by trying to get his dad to fall in love with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

a distant fire is burning by e_va ~47.5k, ongoing This is another Cal fic! It's got video game logic in it. Also, Anakin and Cal are both being so weird about sort of being adoptive brothers, it's great.

⭐They Don't Care About Us by @ironhoshi Time traveler Boba! And Cal! They're doing great, sweetie. Their best. Obi-Wan and Jango are mostly just confused. (Has anyone checked on Anakin? Someone needs to go check on Anakin. Again.)

Groups

It Was Another Time and I Another Man by Pell_Binterhol ~200k, incomplete This is a very fun fic that involves multiple time-travelers from multiple points in time. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon from the Legends novels are pulled forward into TCW, and Old Ben and Luke are pulled back from the OT, and some spoilers as well.

⭐The Exchange by @misslearn ~120k, complete A swapping-style time travel. RotS Anakin&Obi-Wan end up in TPM, and TPM Anakin&Obi-Wan end up in RotS. Shenanigans ensue. (Also trauma.)

⭐Can We Start Over? by @triscribe ~22k, ongoing Most of the Jedi have time-traveled from the points of their deaths to about a year pre-AotC. Some handle it better than others. The POV is Aayla, which I find very cool.

A Padawan at War (Again) by @itstimeforstarwars ~183k, ongoing It's technically more of a de-aging than a time-travel, but hey! Still a good read! TPM Anakin and Obi-Wan take the place of their TCW selves, who no longer exist.

⭐Free Jedi to Good Home by @itstimeforstarwars ~complicated as the second fic has been hidden, ongoing This is one of my favorite series, but as you can see by the above, it's in a bit of a timeout right now. Bookmark it for later? Also, there's an entire side series called Inspired By One Hundred Hours To Rearrange The Stars.

These Paths by HiddenEye ~90k, complete Our five TCW mains (Obi-Wan, Cody, Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex) are booted forward to the Original Trilogy. The latter three are deaged to their TPM ages (9, 4, baby respectively). Also it's CodyWan.

Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by @yellowocaballero ~33k, complete Leia and Fox time travel! This one is very dark. That said, it has a comedic counterpart that I love, which is only available on tumblr: ⭐Fox & Leia's Holiday Special

⭐Realign the Stars by @fortunerainwrites, @TerinAngel ~68k, abandoned Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, and Cody, from TCW to TPM. Despite the unfinished state, I cannot deny the oddly intense level of influence this fic has had on my own approach to star wars time travel fics.

⭐Living in Borrowed Time by @scribbling-albatross 118k, ongoing Rex and Ahsoka are time-travelers! They are so, so very fucked up. Sure do wish they had access to therapists that could actually be cleared for knowing their Extensive Lists Of Traumas. This one definitely had a huge impact on how I characterize Rex and Ahsoka since I entered the fandom.

Luke and Leia

Twilight on Owl Creek Bridge by @yellowocaballero - Leia - under "Groups"

There is another Skywalker by WabiSabi ~85k, on hiatus? Time-Traveler Leia! Mentally in the sequels, physically in her thirties, and chronologically in the clone wars. Also Luke's sharing space in her noggin.

Shifting Sands by @chancecraz ~180k, ongoing "Ongoing? But it hasn't updated since 2021!" The last time it updated, the chapter was 65k, after over two years of radio silence. Trust me when I say that the lack of recent updates means nothing for this author. Anyway, Sequels Leia to about a year pre-TPM, hangs out with baby Anakin and Shmi and then neatly inserts herself in the plot.

⭐Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns by @chancecraz ~860k, ongoing Same author as above, same disclaimer for the gap since last update. Sequels Leia does a mental time-travel into her ANH self, specifically the 'being tortured on the Death Star' moment. It's so fucking good.

Old Man Luke by @scarletjedi ~110k, ongoing Sequels Luke to TCW! He is very cryptic, channeling the Jedi who taught him! Fun!

⭐Sith Lord Swell by AMournfulHowlInTheNight ~53k, ongoing Luke and his students (including Ben Solo) travel back in time to a bit before AotC. They decide the best way to proceed is to pretend they are Sith Lords. This is primarily a comedy fic. Luke really enjoys fucking with people.

⭐Don't Look Back by @this-acuteneurosis ~700k, ongoing Post-OT Leia (after the deaths of most of her friends) physically time travels to a year or two before AotC. She is taken in by the Lars family, and then she and Shmi start to head for Coruscant, run into Padme, and join the Nabooan government in Padme's employ. Do you want a fic that feels like 70% politics and logistics and trade routes? Because that's what this is and it's great.

Other

The Way of Conquest by pagination ~76k, ongoing There is something very funny about the time-traveler not even realizing they are about thirty years into the wrong time. Din has no idea when he is. Grogu does, but he's not telling.