#you know who's at the Academy getting taught....Era :)

[captainderyn]

[Fic] To the Brink

Summary: Five finally reaches a breaking point in his Imperial Intelligence career that jeopardizes not only himself, but the well being of Roslynd has well.

Warnings: Implied torture, implied past addiction

Notes: This was meant to be a prompt fill...it is instead a lot more than that. I ramble more in the tags lol. Hope y'all enjoy the first fic with Five and his new wifey...of course it'd be angsty.

This is set ~2-3 years prior to the start of the Imperial Agent story line.

--

"Cipher Five are you listening to me?"

Five tilted his head back against the tree he hid behind, the thorny bushes concealing him from view scratching and catching against the thick material of his uniform.

"I'm always listening to you, Fixer." He murmured, blinking up at the sun that dappled between the thick foliage above him. The green blurred in front of his eyes and he squeezed them closed before peeling them back open.

Shaking his head didn't work either and he scrubbed a hand across his face, keeping himself in the darkness as he focused in on the voice coming in through his ear piece.

Roslynd's voice encompassed him, the familiar cadence a balm to his fried nerves. He yawned, keeping a hand over his eyes to focus solely on her voice instead of the blaring light of his visor's HUD.

"...haven't received new intel since I briefed you yesterday. They've got their movements and plans locked down tighter than the Dark Council's donation history."

Her words blended together in a series of syllables and sounds, relaxing none the less. The soft clip of her accent wrapped around him and he didn't realize the darkness had changed around him until the scrape of bark against the back of his neck and her voice sharpened,

"Five? Cipher Five!"

Pulling his eyes back open, he let his hand drop back down. Rocks may as well have been dragging down his eye lids, "Mmm, I'm still here Fourteen, don't worry."

He could practically feel her displeasure through the comm channel. If they were in the same room, she'd be staring him down with that look on her face, where her brows drew low over her eyes and her lips pressed together until she figured out exactly how to professional rip him a new one. Her hands would be on her hips in the way she always fell into when irritated.

A pang went through him. What he'd give to not be sitting out here in this oppressive humidity of some backwater planet and instead back in Kaas City. 

"As your Fixer, I think you should call off this stakeout and return to base. It's already been several hours with no changes in information. This is not sustainable for the mission."

As far as the record keeping software that monitored and scanned their secured comm channel to report anything off Imperial Intelligence cyber specialists it was just simple concern in Fourteen's voice.

He caught the edge in her voice though.

The HUD in his visor lit up, tracking a series of alerts. He scanned through the text, sifting through what information was actually important as the text disappeared faster than he could read all of it.

"Our targets have made their late arrival. The mission can still be completed."

"Cipher, I think its best to withdraw from this mission." He heard Fourteen clicking through screens through the comm, her fingers flying across the keys, "Your latest biometics--"

He palmed an adrenal stim from the pack at his belt, injecting it in one fluid motion. The location smarted from others he'd previously injected over the long hours of this stakeout, the rush of energy it gave like static through his veins. That was the last one he had in his pack. In yet another practiced motion, he pulled a fortitude stim as well, that one like a rush of cold, clarifying water through his mind.

"I only desist when I receive orders from Keeper." He reminded her.

An ache went through his chest, he wasn't sure if it was from the stims or from the stilted breath Fourteen loosed over the comm. It was the last bit of the woman beneath the agent he got before that cool, level tone returned.

"Understood. I expect you to report in no later than 1600 Kaasi Time. Standard recovery procedures will commence within the next day if that deadline is missed." 

He didn't miss the slight waver in her voice on recovery. Gathering up his sniper rifle, Five hovered his hand over his ear piece, "Heard loud and clear, Fixer. Going dark."

The silence when he clicked off his calm set his nerves back on edge. Even when she was silently pulling up information to brief him on, Fourteen's company through the static was a tether to him.

He crept to the outlook he'd scouted earlier, pressing himself down among the swaying grass and pushes. A few thorny leaves scraped the back of his neck and he grimaced.

The last adrenal stim pushed his luck too far. He could feel his heart hammering erratically against the ground as he flattened himself against the earth, bracing his sniper rifle so he could zero in on the approaching targets. His hands were shaking and he gripped the body of his rifle tighter, peering through the scope.

Each blink felt too heavy, threatening to pull him under.

His target came into view, the speeder crawling along.

Taking a deep breath, Five steadied himself and aimed.

Fired a single shot.

And missed.

---

Roslynd flipped her wrist up, staring at the screen of her watch for the third time in the last three minutes.

15:55

15:56

15:58

She'd gone two minutes without looking, a new record. Instead of checking her watch again as she let the screen go dark, she checked her datapad. Nothing.

Checked her earpiece for any messages she might've missed. Not a single notification.

All of her other briefings and meetings were over for the day. The agents were packing up their things to leave for the night, closing down the building except for those working the overnight shift.

Roslynd herself was supposed to leave at 17:00, after Five reported in and confirmed the status of the mission. The hour she'd given herself after was to write up a quick report, to be finalized and sent to Keeper tomorrow morning.

She toyed with the ring on her finger, the stone catching the blue light of the sleeping data terminals.

Keeper passed by her office and she darted out the door, falling into step alongside him.

"Cipher Five still hasn't reported in." She tried to keep her voice steady, to not sound too harried. Inject just enough of her frustration to make it seem like she was just pissed off she may have to stay past her scheduled departure.

Keeper glanced askance at her, the wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes deepening as he checked his chrono, "He still has time to report in."

"The mission was planned to take less than an hour, the other three were to provide a buffer for him to return back to base. You know how punctual Cipher Five is and I set the deadline for today to account for that, this is unusual behavior.” 

The older agent studied his chrono once again, before fixing Roslynd with a long look. His eyes dipped down to where she was still fiddling with her ring with enough force that her skin was turning red. She dropped her hands, gripping them in a tense parade rest behind her instead. 

“Fixer Fourteen, I think you should retire for the night, the Fixers for tonight’s shift will monitor comm traffic for Cipher Five’s report. You’ve put a lot of overtime into this mission. Besides, you have someone waiting at home for you.” 

Keeper always had a habit of caring for his agents too much, giving them more leeway than many of the Sith breathing down Intelligence’s neck wanted. Treated them too much like people, with lives outside their work instead of means to an end. 

She blinked against the burning in her eyes, trying to keep her voice from sounding too robotic as she said, “Will do, Keeper, thank you.” 

Knowing damn well she’d be returning to an empty apartment, with only the fluffy feline Agent to greet her. That she'd be lucky to get more than scattered minutes of sleep tonight.

She didn't miss the knowing look Keeper sent her way before bidding her good evening and leaving her standing in the hallway. She simply chose to ignore it.

---

Three days.

The longest thirty-six hours of her life. Hours that wouldn't pass faster no matter how much she paced, how much she tried to work away.

Nights spent awake, trying to quiet Agent's own pacing and yowling as he refused to settle into Roslynd's lap and insisted on searching for Five.

It was twenty-four hours after Roslynd left headquarters that recovery procedures were enacted and a team was sent to the backwater planet Five was meant to be on.

Roslynd had watched their progress from her office, tuned into the feed from their comms and watching their progress on the map spread on her second monitor.

They found him trussed up in a backroom of their targets' hideout, so bloodied, swollen, and bruised that their identity scanners threw errors. One of the junior ciphers on the recovery team cut Roslynd's access to their HUD visual feed.

Roslynd cut her own access to their audio feed soon after, when their questions to Five returned near-unintelligible, garbled answers. What had they done in twenty-four hours?

Rocking back in her chair, she scrubbed her hands over her eyes, pressing so hard she saw stars.

"Fixer...?" A tentative voice paired with a knock on her door. She nearly leapt out of her skin, thankful that she'd already closed out the tabs she'd been keeping on the recovery team, "Keeper wants to see you in his office, something to do with your current mission."

Her stomach dropped, but she pushed her chair back anyway and walked on shaking legs to meet Keeper, putting any indication that she knew more than she was supposed to far, far down inside her.

"Fourteen, you look awful." Was the first greeting she got as she closed the door behind her and pulled the blinds as he motioned for her to do.

She fell into a parade rest, pressing her lips together, "I've been concerned about the mission, sir."

"Then you'll be relieved to know that the mission was a success. Cipher Five eliminated his assigned targets."

It took everything in her for her only reaction to be a tilt of her head and a quirk of her brow, "Oh? So the mission is a success."

Keeper scrubbed a hand across his jaw, frowning at something coming through on his datapad. The blue light cast deep shadows over his features, "With collateral damage, yes. As you've probably guessed, Five was compromised in the field."

She knew, she knew and it still ripped through her heart with enough force that her knees quaked and her head went light, "Tell it to me straight, sir. What condition is my agent in."

My agent. My assigned field partner. How would his failure reflect on her. Nothing more.

Still, Keeper motioned for her to sit, steepling his hands when she did. Everything about this was so far beyond acceptable protocol. As Fixer she was not entitled to this information, all she needed to know was that the mission was a success.

She was focused too hard on keeping her breathing steady and her eyes dry to care what Keeper did or did not know. At least the blinds were drawn, at least no other eyes were watching. She clenched her hands, clasped in her lap, so tightly that her knuckles popped. 

“Preliminary data suggests he hit his targets then experienced some manner of incident. The remaining adversaries took advantage of that lapse to take him into custody and attempt to extract information from him.” 

Information that he wouldn’t have given, especially not after only twenty-four hours, though the mere thought sent a lurch through Roslynd’s stomach. She stared hard at the screens behind Keeper until she felt like she could breathe again.  

Keeper’s voice softened, no, quieter, so that she had to lean forward to hear, “I’m placing him on medical leave upon his return. Clearly something is going on, and I’d rather my senior Cipher be out of office temporarily than lose him all together.” 

“Thank you.” She got out from behind  the lump forming in her throat and nodded along as Keeper picked his voice back up, returning to that clinical tone. 

“As Fixer you are not permitted to debrief him while the medical staff perform their evaluation of him. However, as you’re the one most acquainted with working with him, I would like you to see to it that Cipher Five makes it to a taxi home.” 

Roslynd glanced up at Keeper, at the raised eyebrows wondering if she’d deny it. She didn’t have the strength to, “I’ll make sure he makes it home, sir.” 

“Good,��� Keeper looked older now, worn down and weary. How difficult it must be to watch his agent get picked off like flies on the daily and so rarely be able to do anything, “Dismissed, Fourteen. The shuttle is set to arrive by evening.” 

She tried to remind herself as she busied herself with her remaining work and placing an order for supplies to be delivered to their front door by the evening, that things could be worse. Plenty of agents didn’t return from these kinds of incidents after a paltry two days of being MIA, plenty didn’t return it all. 

Instead of soothing her, it only gaped the pit in her stomach further until she found herself paralyzed in her desk chair, spiraling down all the what ifs. She was stuck thinking circles around the folder tucked in her desk drawer at home, where Five had methodically laid out all relevant information, desires, and plans for her if he were to ever not come home, when another agent came to notify her of Keeper’s order to retrieve Five from the medbay. 

It wasn’t another younger agent, but another cipher. One of the few remaining from her and Five’s graduating class from the Academy. The one agent Five would probably consider a close friend outside of the office. 

Cipher Seven gave her a grim smile, “You look like shit, Ros.” 

She aimed a withering look at him as she gathered her things and slung her bag over her shoulder. She tried and failed to keep her hands from shaking. Her muscles would ache tomorrow from all her trembling, “Keeper said the same thing.” 

Seven snorted a laugh and it eased some of her tension. It couldn’t be horrible news if he could laugh, “Do you know how he is?” 

The cipher slung an arm around her shoulder as they walked, waving off the few nosy agents trailing them. A breach of decorum, most certainly, but headquarters was well past closed, and they’d been here long enough to bend a few rules, “You know Val, pissed off as ever that something went wrong in the first place.” 

She pursed her lips at the bold usage of Five’s name, even a nickname. He hated using it anywhere near Intelligence. No matter that his full legal name was written in his files. It was his little bit of paranoia that he clutched closely, the same paranoia that kept him from wearing his wedding band. 

She supposed the last few days was proof as to why exactly he did that. 

“I’m serious, Rhys.” She snapped, but breathed out a sharp breath from her noise and softened her voice, “Keeper didn’t tell me much.” 

She knew Rhys had a habit of diffusing with humor, but there was no place in her shot nerves for jokes or light comments. He was lucky she could speak at all. Thoughts of that stupid folder still threatened to steal her concentration. 

Another reasonable, yet agonizing, part of Five’s need to have everything meticulously in place. 

“Shit, sorry, I know.” Rhys winced, “As far as I’ve been told he’s better than when they found him. Nothing that isn’t just superficial. The team that found him says he’s slept off whatever cocktail the bastards used to try and get him talking.” 

Another piece of her relaxed, and she blinked towards the ceiling, “Good. He seemed…off when I was on the comms with him before it happened. He wouldn’t listen to me when I told him to back off the mission.” 

Close friends as they were, she couldn’t bring herself to share the sinking feeling that she knew exactly why this mission had gone wrong. Something in her stopped the words that Five was hurtling down a dangerous path, getting closer and closer to some edge she couldn’t see because of the demands placed on him. 

Rhys already knew that Five had barely been home, sent on mission after mission by Keeper on behest of his higher-ups. He could infer enough from that. 

“He’s going to have a fit when he learns that Keeper put him on forced leave.” was all Rhys offered. The ‘it’s necessary’ went unspoken, even if it meant Rhys was going to be picking up the slack. 

Roslynd kept a remarkable leash on her composure as they slipped into the medbay. She was even more impressed with how steady she kept her voice as she leveled a look at Five and simply said, “Keeper’s directed me to make sure you find yourself a taxi home.” 

If she looked like shit, then Five looked like death. Though he’d been given a pair of loose black pants and long sleeved shirt instead of his dirt and blood stained uniform, that didn’t hide his face. His eyes flitted up to her from beneath deep bruising that extended over his nose all the way down to his jaw. 

The hands that circled the cup, filled with whatever concoction the med droid was harassing him to drink, were no better. His knuckles were scratched and cut up to the point she wondered how he held the cup at all. 

Superficial, Rhys had said. Superficial still hit her like a punch to the gut. It took everything in her to nod at the medical droid and ask, “What is my agent’s prognosis?” 

Rhys slipped beside her to help Five up. She didn’t miss the way Five winced or the way he moved like his entire body hurt. Nor did she miss the heated, quiet conversation between the two friends as Rhys stabbed a bendy straw into Five’s styrofoam cup and snapped at him to drink up. 

It was a sweet bit of normalcy as the medical droid pulled up its diagnostics, “Cipher Five is recommended limited activity until contacted by his supervisors with further instruction. It is also recommended that Cipher Five cease usage of adrenaline based stims.” 

The droid padded off to the next curtained off area, its monotonous voice picking up again, but Roslynd’s eyes were fixed on Five. He had his eyes fixed on the ground, focused on putting each foot in front of the other and snapping at Rhys to keep his hands off when his friend attempted to help him. 

At the weight of Roslynd’s stare he glanced up, expression going unreadable at whatever he found there. 

Rhys walked with them until they were out on the taxi pad. He had his uniform jacket pulled up over his head against the incessant drizzle, stopping just shy of the roof’s overhang. 

“Get home safe.” he told them both before looking at Roslynd, “And don’t worry about coming in tomorrow, Keeper already doesn’t expect you.” 

The old man was watching out for them once again. Roslynd didn’t have the energy in her to give anything other than a nod. That was all she’d been able to muster consistently: nods. 

Even if her head was beginning to spin too much to even manage that. The lack of sleep and her inability to keep much down was catching up with her. 

Five glanced over her shoulder before sliding close enough that their arms brushed. Then his fingers hooked through hers, his thumb brushing over her ring. The gentle touch was enough to bring tears to Roslynd’s eyes, that slid down her cheeks and mixed with the rain as the taxi finally pulled up. 

He kept their hands interlocked, his thumb brushing over her knuckles, all the way home. Until they slipped through the door and with it slipped away Five and Fourteen. 

She pointed to the couch, a silent command, and he toed off his shoes to obey as she shrugged off her rain soaked jacket. Agent careened from the bedroom, chirping and brrup-ing with his feathery tail straight up in the air. 

In the short time it took her to hang up her jacket, Agent already claimed Five’s lap, purring so loud that it seemed to shake the entire couch. Roslynd tucked herself on Five’s other side, falling against him as his arm looped around her waist and pulled her close. 

He grunted in pain as she connected with him, but tightened his hold when she tried to scoot away. She relented, resting her head on his shoulder with as much care as she could. She didn’t even know what beneath his shirt looked like. If it was anything like what they’d done to his face…well. He’d be sore for a while. 

“I thought I’d lost you, Val.” she finally broke their silence. 

Five leaned his head against hers, his hand trailing up and down her side as she added, “What happened?” 

“I don’t know.”

 She hadn’t realized the rough gravel to his voice until now. Did that mean that when they…had he been…? She squeezed her eyes closed against the unbidden images of the pain they’d inflicted on him, on the shouts and screams that must’ve been torn from him to shred his voice like that. His arm tightened around her. 

He cleared his throat, though it did nothing to help, “I remember taking out our key targets, then nothing until I woke up in their safe house. I don’t know if I passed out, or if they hit me with a neural detonator, or a concussive shot…” 

Roslynd reached out to brush her hand over Agent’s furry head. The cat pushed his head into her touch, paws frantically kneading Five’s stomach. 

“Stims again?” She kept her voice neutral, even as she felt Five slump next to her, as if he’d been waiting with baited breath for her to bring it up. 

“I didn’t realize how bad it was getting again.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair and she followed the motion, watching him card his fingers through strands that were going gray at the temples. 

She hadn’t realized how often he’d been gone, how often Keeper had been sending him out on missions until she stopped to wonder how she hadn’t noticed yet. She was so used to working with him on the job, to speaking with him daily but…she hadn’t seen him for more than a few days at a time in three or more months now she realized. And most of those days had been spent sleeping, resting with the stress their job put on them. 

Her stomach sank and she turned her face against his shoulder, steadying herself in his warmth. 

“Keeper is granting you leave.” She admitted into his shoulder, not amending that ‘granting’ was a pretty word for ‘forcing’. 

“I know. Rhys told me.” Five sighed, “I’d also talked to Keeper before this mission about transferring to a position here for a little while.” 

She hummed in interest, trying to remember if he’d already mentioned this before. 

“I didn’t want to get your hopes up, but Keeper wants me to take a stint instructing at the Academy. Wants me to evaluate the cadets for potential cipher designations.” Five interlocked their hands again, “I can’t keep going like I am and I don’t want to spend more time away from home than not.” 

He’d been working like this for over a decade of his career in some capacity or another. The Cipher designation was a risky one and each time he left the odds stacked further and further against him. He and Rhys were already an anomaly. Most of the Ciphers they’d graduated with were nothing but names on the memorial wall now. 

Roslynd allowed herself to sink into Five, take in the fact that he was here, that he might be staying here, and at Agent, purring so hard still she was surprised he still had breath. 

Her little family. Their little family. 

Together, okay. Not broken, not lost. 

“I think that would be perfect.” she murmured, realizing in the silence after that Five had fallen back asleep, his breaths soft against her hair.

[uzumaki-rebellion]

Spinning the Block Part 1

Pairing: Terry Richmond x Officer Jessica "Jess" Sims

Warning(s): 18+, Angst, Mentions of Racial Tension.

Summary: Jess Sims attempts to pay her respects.

Word count: 3.2K

"Turned into an inconvenience

You only want me when convenient

I know that I could probably block you

But for some reason, I wanna see you

And you know I give a damn about you

You got me sittin' here thinkin' about you

And how your name triggers all my emotions

Into my eyes, into an ocean"

Normani – "Insomnia"

Jessica Sims knew in her heart she had no right to be at Michael Simmons' mother's house.

She'd driven an hour from Shelby Springs into Greenwood carrying a homemade lemon pound cake in the passenger side of her slate gray Dodge Durango. Her mother's recipe had her SUV smelling like fresh butter, sugar, and citrus.

The closer she got to the neighboring town, the tighter her fingers gripped the steering wheel, worrying if she'd see Terry Richmond again. He'd been on her mind for weeks…haunting her. She lost sleep and her nerves were so bad she had to get a prescription for sleeping pills just to function daily. Jess tried every home remedy from chamomile tea to a glass of warm milk before bed to fight insomnia.

Nothing worked.

Each night she crawled between cool sheets and stared at her bedroom ceiling, wishing things were different. Wishing she'd done things differently. Terry's smoldering sea-green eyes always came into focus, taunting her, preventing much needed rest.

When he walked into her police station to file a robbery complaint, she'd believed her department ran a tight ship. Her training had taught her to be fair but firm in following the law by the books. Chief Sandy Burnne had been her mentor, the one who recruited her straight from the police academy. She planned her law enforcement career while in college, joining the police academy a year after graduation. Her family wasn't too keen on the idea, preferring she use the hard-earned sociology degree to get a regular job and start a family like her older brothers. Jess had other plans. She wanted to be the first Black female police chief in Shelby Springs.

Wielding a badge and a gun allowed her to protect her own community. She had a certain charmed way of speaking to people that let them know not to test her, but that she'd hear them out with their problems whether they were in the wrong or right. Her excellent reputation around those parts gave her access to places that would unnerve the average person. She grew up a tomboy running around hunting with her father and brothers, physically fighting anyone who crossed her. She abhorred a bully, and that caused her problems with some of her colleagues that used their badge to sling their dicks around. Jess didn't go along to get along, but she picked her battles carefully to achieve her long-term goal: to run the department herself one day.

Men tested her all the time, and she did her job ignoring the micro and macro aggressions. Chief Burnne always had her back despite the cracker ways he tried to keep under wraps. He came from an era of uneducated Cajun rednecks filling up the department. Nowadays, there were more cops coming onto the force with education, melanin, and sometimes a vagina. A lot of old-school men didn't like that. Chief Burnne didn't either, but he accepted her and showed Jess respect when she did her job well. She impressed him, and he took her under his wing. She never revealed her goals to have his job in the future. Staying quiet, observant, and efficient worked to her advantage. Chief Burnne opened up more that way, spilling his tips on how to handle the job and people his way.

That is…until Terry Richmond showed up.

Jess misread his intentions from the start.

The second he strode into the office, she sensed a cockiness in him that smoldered beneath the surface. Most Black men in Shelby Springs were older and paunchy from a sedentary lifestyle and good Country Cookin', or lean youngsters with hustler's dreams of getting away from small town life. Terry was built strong and muscular, like a brick shithouse. He carried himself different. Spoke with controlled diction. He was a country boy for sure, but one that didn't work around Shelby Springs. She would've noticed his striking looks at the bars or cookouts broadcasting that he was living mighty fine. Employment was good with the new petrochemical plant ten miles away, and the Black community she lived in thrived with folks making good money, something that hadn't happened in over thirty years. Black folks, especially the men, being flush with cash and a pride about themselves irritated the white community. Negroes were acting a little too uppity lately. Buying new cars and scooping up property. Getting their homes built from scratch. Purchasing big fishing boats to use on Lake Tremblay. Sending their kids to college.

Tensions erupted in bars, public gatherings, and even football games at the local high school whenever white and Black people mingled in the same spaces. That's where Jess worked her magic. If she caught word of trouble brewing, she'd make a phone call to family and friends, giving a warning about police sweeps and rednecks making a commotion. The community grapevine activated and her people acted accordingly to stay far from trouble.

When it was her time to do patrols, Jess stayed visible in the white areas a lot. Her paternal great-granddaddy Adelore Seraphin was a fiery white Cajun who never married her great-grandmother, so she never gave their only child, Jess's granddaddy, his surname. The Sims family were proud Black Cajuns who turned their nose up at white trash. Adelore was considered trash because he wouldn't divorce his wife to marry Zema Sims. There was something about her Paw Paw's wife not giving him a divorce on account of them being Catholic. Granny Zema was an African Methodist and didn't give a damn about what Catholics thought about divorce. Paw Paw left that white lady and built Granny Zema a house to show that he was for real about building a life and family with her. So that's what they did. The white wife kept the marriage title, but Granny Zema kept the man.

It was a scandal, and as far as her Paw Paw was concerned, his only issue was that he didn't want that other woman to get part of his pension. She never did because she died before him, a bitter alcoholic, still screaming about the Black bitch that stole her husband. Technically, Granny Zema didn't steal him. She had him first, but back in their time, they couldn't get married because of miscegenation laws. So they broke up and Paw Paw married the white woman…and lived miserably. He started tipping out and one thing led to another. Jess's granddaddy, Hebert Sims, was born.

Jess's connection to Adelore Seraphin meant she had white Cajun relatives all up and down Shelby Springs. The kin on that side, who knew the family tree had an extra dark branch, tolerated Jess when she made patrols or answered calls of domestic disturbances in that section of town. Nothing on her screamed Seraphin except for her eyes. She had Paw Paw's discerning eyes. So did her daddy. She moved in the world like a Sims, but them pale kinfolk recognized her as the great-granddaughter of that trouble-making Seraphin behind her back. That gave Jess intimate knowledge of how outsiders perceived the proud, flourishing Black community. Trouble.

So when Terry Richmond rode his fine ass into Shelby Springs, he was already a problem before Lann clipped him with the police cruiser.

When he sat down in front of her while she typed in his descriptions of who robbed him, his tone was confident. His demeanor crafty. She was shocked that he recorded their conversation, equally shocked by Chief Burnne's sudden aggression toward him. Lann was an asshole to everyone, overcompensating for some deep-rooted male insecurity. Her first thought was that the Chief might've known something about Terry that she didn't, and she expected to be filled in on the matter. Drug couriers were a thing within small towns, and it wasn't above suspicion that drug runners would use a decoy disguise to pretend they were regular citizens going about their day. She went back and forth in her mind about Terry's reason for carrying so much cash in a backpack on a bike. It looked and sounded suspicious, especially with the drug busts they'd done a few months previously on the bridge during a police chase. She had picked up her own distant white kin at his house, the run-down place full of meth and illegal fentanyl. Opioid use was up. Drug dealers were racking up millions transporting that cash economy and product moving across state lines in Louisiana grew. Chief Burnne's own nephew had died of a drug overdose ten years ago, so anything that had a whiff of drug activity got his hackles up.

That was the hard line story they fed Jess for five years as she accepted civil forfeitures as a necessary part of police work. Portions of white and Black men from Shelby Springs and other bordering towns thrived in the drug trade. Sex trafficking, too. Her department prided itself on breaking the supply chain.

It had all been a lie.

Chief Burnne's lie. His department…his rules.

Jess had been inadvertently complicit.

A rule follower, and a staunch believer in the church of right and wrong, she turned a blind eye to activity that should've raised suspicions. Instead, she quietly looked out for her people on the domestic front, dousing potential flames of racist attacks, especially with all the MAGA crowd flaunting their bigotry and jealousy. Jess was more worried about racist attacks happening. Red necks were openly riding around in trucks carrying lynching ropes with right-wing slogans for bumper stickers. The south was always going to be the south, and America was always going to be America…the United Racists of America.

Jess literally couldn't be bothered if suspicious men passing through town carrying ridiculous amounts of cash got hemmed up. She damn well wouldn't coddle grown ass Black men if they got busted for doing crimes. Her daddy instilled in her a strong bullshit detector for her dealings with that.

"Sweetheart, Black men have to decide for themselves if they want to do right in the world. Black women can't keep the cape on forever, or come running with mops and brooms to clean up their messes. If Black women can get up every day and build up their community in the same terrible conditions as us, then they gotta stop babying these men who tear it down. There's no excuse for a Black man not wanting better for himself or his people. We done come too damn far to be the new terrorists against our own women and children."

Jess listened well. Applied it to Terry.

Something in her gut knew something wasn't right, but she didn't want to put herself out for some stranger who might've been tearing people's lives apart transporting thirty-six thousand dollars in cash. Black people always suffered the most with drug addiction and drug crime because of generational poverty and the predators who took advantage of that. Terry could've been lying to cover his ass for a drug cartel. She didn't know him, didn't know who his people were. He came into her life that day and turned it upside down. The only silver lining she clung to in the end was that she saved his life twice. Once when Officer McGill almost blasted him with a rifle when Terry dragged Marston behind a cruiser to safety. Jess slammed her hand on the weapon. McGill looked shell-shocked by the turn of events. She felt the same. Her boss had shot a fellow officer and made a speech to them all about how he would cover it up. If Chief Burnne harmed a white man that easily, he wouldn't blink twice before taking her out. The second time was when she carried out a PIT maneuver and knocked Burnne away from Terry, providing his last escape. The death of his cousin and the treatment he received in Shelby Springs were irredeemable. All she hoped for was peace in her own mind that she acted on the right side of judgement.

Jess followed her SUV's navigation system and pulled onto a street full of cars parked everywhere. She passed by Rosa Simmons' single family brick house with a large manicured lawn. Mourners milled about the front and the entrance door was wide open. After all the legal and medical inquiries, along with the criminal investigation, it took the Simmons' family three weeks to get Mike's body returned for burial.

She parked two blocks away and smoothed out her most subdued black sheath dress. It was plain and appropriate for the occasion. She carried the pound cake in a round Tupperware container and listened to her kitten heels click-clack on the narrow sidewalk. Her stomach churned, nearing the home.

"Hi..hello…hiya doin'?" she said, passing people she didn't know on the walkway to the house.

Heads nodded at her with sorrowful eyes and stooped body postures. The atmosphere inside the modest home was thick with heartache. Jess contemplated doing a pivot right back outside, but an older woman in her fifties with short-clipped hair sitting on a recliner noticed her.

Mike's mother, Rosa.

"My condolences, Mrs. Simmons," Jess whispered.

She didn't want to bring attention to herself and stepped forward, past a throng of people carrying plates of sliced ham, potato salad, and baked beans.

"Thank you for coming…oh you brought something, how thoughtful."

Rosa stood up.

"I can take that," Rosa said.

"Ma'am, I can put it with the other food."

"Mm-hmm, yes, the dining room table is right back there. Did you go to school with my Michael?"

"No, ma'am. I knew him from somewhere else. I'll put this away."

"Okay, baby. Fix yourself a plate while you're in there."

"Thank you."

Jess's eyes darted away and took in the other mourners. Her heart thumped a triple rhythm. It was best to put the cake on a table and leave. The stress of feeling like a traitor to her own wore on her nerves.

Delicious odors of soul food guided her nose to the dining room. The dining table could've buckled under the weight of so much food. Folks old and young helped themselves to fried chicken, crawfish, turnip greens, gooey macaroni and cheese, and a pot filled with smoked chiltlins.

She pushed a crock pot of brown gravy aside to make room for her cake next to a half-eaten sweet potato pie.

"Who let this woman in here?!"

A light brown woman with soft, shoulder-length curls glared at Jess, her lips curled into an angry snarl. Everyone looked at Jess curiously, wondering what was going on.

"Mama! Who let this dirty cop into our house?"

Rosa rushed into the dining room. Jess held out her hands.

"I just wanted to give my condolences—"

"You're the reason my brother is dead! Who let her in? Who?!" Mike's sister screamed.

The anguish in her voice brought tears to Jess's eyes.

"I'm sorry…everyone, I'm sorry…Mrs. Simmons…"

In her peripheral, Jess noticed Terry coming from a back room wearing a dark suit. She ran away as fast as her kitten heels could carry her. She knocked into people and brushed past other family members on her way out the door.

"Jess!"

Terry's deep baritone called to her, and she pumped her legs faster. Reaching the car, she fumbled for her key fob and unlocked the SUV. She jumped in and Terry banged on her window.

"I'm sorry I came. I didn't mean to upset your family," she said, starting her vehicle.

"Roll down your window."

His commanding eyes stared right through her. She rolled her window down partially. Wiping tears away from her cheeks, she faced her front window, unable to look at him.

"I know it wasn't easy for you to come here."

She shook her head, and a violent sob choked her throat.

"Listen…give me your number. I'd like to speak with you about all of this… at a better time—"

"No…this was a mistake…I'm sorry…I have to go—"

"Fucking bitch!"

Mike's sister threw Jess's cake on the car. The Tupperware container burst open and the pound cake crumbled all over the hood.

"Livia! Stop!"

Terry walked toward his cousin, and she ran from him toward the sidewalk. Other family members had followed them to watch the scene. Jess's stomach sank to the floor of her car.

"You did this to Mike! You goddamn greedy cops sent my brother to die and I fucking hate you! Get outta here, you murdering bitch!"

Livia picked up a heavy rock and threw it at the passenger side window, fracturing the tempered glass. Terry lifted his cousin up by the waist and carried her away. Jess drove off quickly. Cake crumbs fell away from her hood and she screeched her tires with a hasty exit.

She didn't hold back on crying, allowing her tears to wash away the shame and embarrassment.

Back in Shelby Springs, she paced the floors inside her house, drinking whiskey, and pondering her fate. Mike's burial was only the start of her troubles. Next came a lawsuit Terry filed against her department. It would probably finally bankrupt them like the last legal settlement they paid almost did. With the dashcam evidence, plus her, Summer, and Marston's testimony, Terry was sure to win a large payout. Her career was in jeopardy, and their department possibly disbanded.

She downed a half glass of Uncle Nearest whiskey and looked at her black dress. The audacity of her showing up in Greenwood thinking she could dip in and out without consequences.

Jess had to face her part in Terry's life being traumatized forever. Losing her job was a small price to pay for his lifetime of pain.

She leaned her head against her living room window in the dark and watched a swarm of fireflies do a light dance outside. Her grandfather used to say seeing fireflies brought good luck. Jess desperately needed that to be true.

Crawling into bed with her dress still on, Jess stared at her ceiling again, semi-drunk and all cried out. She thought about Terry calling out her name and running after her. He didn't sound mean or angry when he spoke to her briefly. Asking for her number surprised Jess, because…why? What could they talk about that would fix the wide valley between them? Maybe he wanted to yell at her too, get his justified anger off his chest. She deserved it.

Jess curled into the fetal position and thought of Terry. Even in mourning, he looked handsome in his suit. For the first time in weeks, she fell into a deep sleep without having to use medication.

Part 2 HERE.

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[discordiansamba]

rotating an AU idea that I like to call "zuko and toph and do terrorism while rookie avatar aang feels like he's getting in over his head already" in which the hundred year war never happened because roku chose not to spare sozin, only to die shortly thereafter. the air nomads continue to thrive, but the air avatar dies of an illness in their childhood.

avatar korra guides the four nations into a time of prosperity, fueled by technological revolutions from the fire nation, agricultural innovations from the earth kingdom, seafaring knowledge from the water tribes, and diplomacy from the air nomads. she dies under mysterious circumstances, followed shortly thereafter by the loss of the earth kingdom and fire nation avatars- so the white lotus has a vested interest in the survival of the young air nomad avatar, Aang.

he grows up with his mentor, monk gyatso- but is also taught the four elements much earlier than previous avatars. he befriends the children of the southern water tribe's chieftain, the daughter of which is taught waterbending alongside him by his masters hama and pakku (who never see eye to eye). when he is fifteen, gyatso decides it would be a good chance for aang to see the world with his friends-

-starting with the newly formed republic city.

(or: it's an era swap without being a true era swap.)

aang is hopeful that his time as the avatar will be as peaceful as korra's was (you know. aside from the 'died under mysterious circumstances' thing). this may be wishful thinking given the recent unrest in the fire nation- mysterious assailants invaded the palace in the dead of night, resulting in the death of fire lord iroh and his heir, prince lu ten, and the disappearance of the young prince zuko.

the case was never closed.

iroh's brother, ozai, ascended to the throne in his place. his reign has been plagued by trouble ever since- in the form of a pair of masked terrorists known collectively as The Blue Spirit. as the Avatar, it's Aang's duty to stop the pair- which is a lot harder than it should be, given that nobody knows who they are.

at least he has the peaceful refuge of the Jasmine Dragon, run by old man Mushi and his nephew, Lee. the heiress of the Beifong family, Toph Beifong, and the princess of the Northern Water Tribe, Yue, are almost always there as well during their breaks from the Republic City Academy for Fine Young Ladies. even the bodyguard the White Lotus sent to Republic City with him opens up and just acts like a normal person while they're at the Jasmine Dragon.

(her name is Suki. she's a Kyoshi Warrior. Aang and Katara are pretty sure Sokka's in love with both her and Yue.)

...now if he could only figure out how The Blue Spirit always manages to have a leg up on them.

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Traditionally, I Love You ~ Bakugou Katsuki x Reader ***

Summary: A small, soft and very fluffy story where Katsuki falls in love with a girl from a traditional upbringing who learns about the modern life for the first time when she’s forced to get into U.A. Their relationship develops beautifully, and they take a step further, under the guidance of Katsuki, who shows her that being intimate is for pleasure and connection, not just for heir-making as she was taught.  ( It’s going to be mainly female-pleasure focused, and an extremely soft Katsuki x )

Bakugou always prided himself with being the absolute best at everything, the future #1 Hero, and though he didn’t get in U.A. through recommendation like those privileged extras, he rightfully got the highest score at the entrance exam.  He played it cool all the time, though even he had to admit, his enthusiasm may have gotten the best out of him at times - He wasn’t going to show his happiness though, of course not, he was above fawning over heroes and being in a hero academy - Unlike that dumbass Deku, he was so ridiculous, he couldn’t only laugh in his face. It was humiliating even knowing they were from the same class, let alone that he considered him a ‘friend’. Ha! As if Bakugou would befriend a Quirkless nobody like him.

Still, after a few weeks in U.A., on one morning when Aizawa was supposed to come over for homeroom time and say his good mornings, he brought over a girl around their age. She was dressed in a traditional outfit, and her hair, too, was long, worn and pinned with a pretty flower accessory, and her make up was white, with a little bit of red around her eyes, highlighting an almost cat-like look. She looked like a traditional porcelain doll. Bakugou didn’t even want to look at her - Too soft, he thought. Why was she here anyway? Surely, there was no way she wanted to be a hero, not someone like her.

But Bakugou’s ears perked up, as though he was some kind of animal - She was their new transfer student classmate. This girl who looked like she was being an actor ripped from a movie set in the 16th century sengoku era... She was supposed to be their new student. What a load of bullshit. There was no way she could have a proper Quirk... Unless she had a healing Quirk? Perhaps so - Apart from Recovery Girl, there was no one in U.A., or at least that he knew, who could heal others. Surely, for healers, there must be better schools, aren’t they? So why was she brought here to begin with?

“My name is L/N Y/N. I am going to be your classmate. Please, treat me well.” the girl bowed deeply at them, so soft-spoken that Katsuki couldn’t even hear her. Was she the shy-introvert type, or was this her whole persona, of a pretty, traditional girl? How clichee. Bakugou already hated her, though he couldn’t stand the overly loud and obnoxious kawaii-bullshit girls either; Their forced, high-pitched voices grated his brain to the point of over-bleeding. It didn’t matter though. Bakugou wasn’t in U.A. to get in a relationship. He was there to learn and train to his body’s limits, and far beyond.

Aizawa then informed them that Y/N was from a village with strict, traditional views, and she needed to be integrated in their society, as she doesn’t even know how to use her phone. The school was gracious enough to provide her with a good enough cell-phone, but there was only so far she could go, all by herself.

Of course, all those stupid extras fawned over her like months to the flame, they were talking to her, all at once even, and they all tried to explain to her things, different things, of different topics. Katsuki didn’t want to bother with her, or with all those fuckers, it was far too much of a drag, and he had more important things to be doing; Though, his eyes wondered of their own accord, lingering from the corner at the girl being ganged and chatted up by more than half the class. She looked overwhelmed having so many people around her, but she tried to keep a polite smile on her face. What a weakling. Yes, he could sympathise with being uncomfortable around people like that, but he would retaliate immediately and fuck them up real good, so they’d know never to bother her again like that.

The classroom was so unbelievably loud that Katsuki’s senses found themselves overwhelming - And they weren’t even in his ear! “SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY YOU FUCKING EXTRAS! YOU’RE TOO FUCKING LOUD - TAKE IT THE FUCK OUTSIDE ALREADY!” the boy slammed his fist into his desk so hard that the others thought it was going to break. Though he was glaring at them, the class now deathly silent, he unintentionally spotted a grateful smile, small yet tender, on the girl’s face. It was addressed to him. What, did she think he did it to save her? What an idiot! Stupid, old-school girl! She better not think they’re friends now or something stupid!

Katsuki slumped back down in his chair, and thankfully, as the class was about to begin, Y/N left, as she was to properly start her curriculum at the beginning of the next week.  Of course, the only topic of conversation during the week was the new girl, and how everyone tried to text her, only to get ignored and wonder why. Did those idiots completely forget the new girl was technologically challenged? That she allegedly didn’t even know what a cell-phone was? Maybe that dumbass had no clue how to turn on the damn phone, let alone write and reply to their stupid-ass texts?! What’s so hard to comprehend, for the love of --

Bakugou was so over the whole mess with the new girl, that he hoped she’d never come back to U.A. But no, she did, and now she was wearing their school’s uniform. She had long and slender legs, beautifully sculpted, and the black stockings made them look even prettier, Katsuki noted, and the white shirt with the tie looked good enough on her. Her hair was done just as before, but she wore no makeup anymore, though her nails was rather sharp and painted black, as though she was a cat or some kind of predator animal. Katsuki’s ears widened slightly - Did he really associate ‘pretty’ with this girl? What was wrong with him?  Gah, he had to do an active effort to avoid her now, who knows what other stupid things he’s going to think about without realising.

He spared her a quick glance, watching her take the empty seat two spots to his right - Her gaze was down on the floor, and her cheeks were red as her hands were trying to keep her short skirt down. Was she... Embarrassed with the outfit? Coming from a traditional background and having to wear only dresses that cover you fully, and now, a short skirt and a short sleeved shirt... Yes, that made sense, he realised. How was she supposed to focus on classes if she’s fixated on her insecurities. Even worse, that stupid grape dumbass had to fluster her up even more by flipping her skirt and commenting on her behind. Though she remained silent and got herself seated with no comment, Katsuki noticed small tears forming in her eyes. How annoying - She should have made wine out of Mineta. Why isn’t she defending herself? Why isn’t she beating that fucker up? Was she unable to? Did she really have such a stupidly weak Quirk that she couldn’t even fight that worthless fuckass?

Bakugou, and everyone else; They were all going to be left speechless soon. They were all wrong. They needn’t coddle Y/N, they just needed to help her integrate. She didn’t require pity by all means. She just wanted to be a normal person, around many other normal people. That was made fully understood, or at least, she hoped so, once, out of all the people in 1-A, Y/N chose Bakugou to pair up with for the 1v1 exercise.

“Y/N-chan, you shouldn’t choose Bakugou, he doesn’t hold back!” one of them said. “L/N-chan, don’t fight against Kacchan, he’s very, very strong!” dumbass Deku exclaimed in fear. “Y/N, he’s going to kill you!” another one of those damn extras warned her.

Instead, Y/N, now wearing the U.A. training clothes, the jacket zipped up fully, up to her chin - She walked up to Bakugou and bowed deeply at him. “Will you please be my partner today, Mr. Bakugou Katsuki?” The blond boy couldn’t only look down at her, scarlet eyes wide with confusion - Why the hell was she being so overly polite with him, he wasn’t 40 years old or something, what the fuck? “Yo, extra, stop calling me that. One same is enough, no lame-ass honorifics or something.” he grunted, though everyone seemed surprised that he didn’t yell at her at all. His tone wasn’t even raised, as usual, nor was his voice gruff. It almost felt as though he tried to keep his voice at an acceptable level, as to not overwhelm her senses. Was Bakugou being... Considerate?! “Yeah, sure, we can pair up, whatever. But I’m not about to go easy of you, get it?” “Thank you very much, Mr. Baku... U-Uhm... Katsuki...?” the boy found his cheeks warming up slightly, looking away. She was the first girl who called him by his first name like that, how annoying. Still, it was his fault for being so vague, and he didn’t want to confuse the girl more than all these new things already were - Might as well get used to this and suck it up. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” he muttered, shoving his hands deep in his pants pockets and walked away, to the side of the court, where everyone else was standing.

Aizawa had some pairs fight between each other - First, without Quirks, then, with them. Sero with Mina, Kaminari with Kirishima, Jirou with Yaomomo, Tokoyami with Tsuyu, Koda with Sato, Ojiro with Shoji, Iida with Todoroki, Uraraka with Deku, Aoyama with Hagakure; And no suprise, nobody wanted to fight against Mineta, but eventually, one of the winners would have to volunteer to fight him also. What a drag.

Katsuki’s match against Y/N was the last one, but also, the most anticipated... And feared. He unzipped his jacket and threw it on the ground, doing a little warm up. He liked fighting in a tank top only, gave him the mobility he needed. Y/N, also, though she looked incredibly bashful, took off her jacket. “No weapons, Y/N.” she nodded in acknowledgement at the teacher; Katsuki could only look quizzically at her, though he hadn’t the time to question her supposed proficiency in weapons. Perhaps a conversation for later on. “Have a fair fight. No Quirks in the first round. Go.” as with all the other matches, Aizawa spoke the drill, and the two students stepped away from each other.

Bakugou watched as Y/N’s demure visage turned completely blank and cold, and she was staring him dead in the eyes; She hadn’t taken any pose or stance, instead, her hands were held in her pockets, waiting leisurely. He wasn’t going to wait around until Y/N attacked, he hated waiting at all. Despite the gasps from the other idiots, he rushed in a blitz attack, like a bull at the matador, attempting to ram into the small, frail girl that was pathetically standing there - One punch was going to settle it all, no need for an overkill, he thought. The momentum was catching up, and it was time to strike.

But Bakugou found himself flying away, slamming into the ground and rolling pitifully. What happened, he wondered, looking at the girl who was returning back to her laid-back pose. He had to attack again and see what happened - This little idiot was tricky, and he had to learn her patterns. He needed only grab her, and it was over. No matter how tricky she was, her strength was lesser than his - The laws of physics dictated that truth. What he hated though, was that everyone was cheering her name, praising and encouraging her. How annoying.

He lunged at her from behind, only to get surprised once more, as she threw herself to the ground, backwards, and rolled into his feet, making him stumble and fall to the ground with yet another great thud, and watching with blurry eyes as she nonchalantly stepped away.

This time, he actively engaged in a veritable exchange of jabs - She was flawless in dodging each of his fists; And worse, her accuracy as she punched all of his vital points seemed to affect him; Bakugou grunted, his body instinctually stepped away from her. Y/N leapt forwards, kicking his thigh so hard that it made him kneel with a pained growl - She then used his knee as a stepping stool and used her elbows to hit hard on her opponent’s head, followed by a powerful blow to the temple.

Bakugou Katsuki was on the ground.

“YOU GO, Y/N! YOU’RE THE BEST!” Katsuki wanted to shriek with rage at all the praising and the cheers, none of them addressed to him. It was driving him into an unfocused anger, only to hear Y/N’s voice, washing over him like a cool, soothing river. “Please, do stop your unnecessary cheering. I and Katsuki are in a fight, and it is disrespectful and rather unprofessional to meddle with one’s morale. We are doing our best. Please appreciate our efforts and be considerate.” though her voice was soft, her words seemed to have enough of a harsh edge that it made the others stand up. She then stepped in front of him and crouched to the ground, extending her hand for him to take and get up. “Katsuki, let us continue our honorable match, please. I am truly honoured that you are fighting me with all that you have, and I respect you dearly.” Y/N smiled as she felt the boy roughly grab her hand and helped him up. They shared a few brief seconds of eye contact, and she smiled tenderly at him. It almost felt as though they’ve connected, understood each other perhaps. He didn’t know why he hadn’t felt compelled to yell at her, scold her for taking pity on him or making him feel lesser, weaker - Hell, he didn’t even slap away her hand. Why wasn’t he feeling as angry as before? He truly couldn’t understand it, but he found the fog of anger dissipating slowly, and finding his focus again.

Once back in position, Bakugou ran into her close area circle and engaged in another barrage of jabs, lefts and rights, roundhouse kicks and sickles; Still, she somehow managed to predict the moment he tried to charge at her with a more powerful punch - She blocked it with her arm, so well that she only slightly slid backwards. He was able to notice the exact second her face twisted in agony, for just a split second, though she didn’t even whine or cry from the pain - She was silent as a lake.

Katsuki took a step back and got in another stance, making the girl mimic him. Ever since he was in school, he trained himself, following various routines online - Of course he was familiar with fighting styles. He always thought Aiki, the style Y/N seemed to be an expert in, was for weaklings. In a way, he was right. In another way, he was proven wrong, considering how well she was able to counter him thus far.  Still, he knew a little bit of everything; Surely, he could trick her into thinking he knows Karate just as well. His fists were tightly held in a basic karate stance, whilst she had a similar pose, though her hands were open. It was the perfect example of a Karate vs Aiki fight, a battle of Strength vs Softness. He almost thought it ironic, how well it described even them as people.

Neither of them move, analysing each other, every tweak of their body, every breathing, every blink of their eyes; Y/N’s foot was sliding forward, inch by inch, and he mirrored her move. Seeing as he, too, was approaching, the girl lunged at him, and he did the same. In a split second, Y/N redirected his own move against him, making him fly backwards, once again. “To think you would fall so far away... As expected of the strongest student in class 1-A. There is no one else with such incredible physical prowess.” Y/N praised him; If they weren’t fighting, he was going to blush furiously, but he couldn’t afford that during a fight. Later, perhaps, when he could blame it on the work out he was getting with this fight.

Once again, Y/N maintained no stance, and awaited Katsuki to lunge at her - He threw what seemed to be a hundred thousand hits her way, all of them at such speed that the others could barely differentiate them; Y/N didn’t flinch. She knew they were all fakes. Instead, as Katsuki attempted a real kick her way, she grabbed his shin, making him lose balance - He must have been expecting that though, as he twisted and ended on his feet. Such flexibility, fascinating for someone so tall and buff like himself. Praise-worthy, Y/N thought.

But L/N used her own hand to roll at the back of his ankle whilst he tried another kick, only for her to slam the heel of her foot into his chin, making him stumble backwards with a grunt. Everyone seemed to be greatly enjoying the fight, it was fascinating and far better than any of them was able to manage - Though they were still internally cheering for the underdog to win, they had to agree that they both were doing fantastic.

"I’ve analysed all your attacks, dumbass. I know your strategy and all your Aiki moves. You need a strong opponent, so you can counter with a move that equals their power, with yours attached to it. You don’t need to be strong yourself. But what would you do if I were no longer an opponent? I'm not going to attack anymore. Let’s see what you do when your weak-ass fighting style gets obliterated." Y/N held her hands in her pockets, watching as Bakugou kept standing tall. She chuckled, stepping around him. "Well! I suppose there's no need to do anything against an opponent who does nothing!" she grinned leisurely. "As a result, there will be no fight! I have nothing to lose, spending the whole match waiting and doing nothing - But you do! You want to win, don’t you? You know, if there is no victory, there is also no defeat. What an idyllic world we live in!" though she spoke, Bakugou had no other word to usher. He wasn’t going to respond to her provoking, especially as he knew she meant none of it. "... However, I suppose this is still a match, in the end. You're trying to come up with a battle of stubbornness. I guess you can say I'm proud that I could make even you come up with such an impertinent strategy, against some weak, inexperienced opponent such as myself. Truly, I'm flattered! Thank you for taking me seriously, despite my physical weakness." she continued. "Your techniques and mine - I'm far too young to say it doesn't matter whose are superior, or that strength doesn't matter." as soon as she found herself behind her opponent, she sprinted at great speed, hoping to reach his spinal cord;

Before she could incapacitate him, however, Y/N felt a pressure in her stomach, strong enough to send her flying a crazy length, and she stumbled over the sand, rolling pitifully on the ground. No amount of damage that she chipped from the boy felt equal to this single punch that connected. She had gasped like a fish on the land, trying desperately to get air back in her lungs. Her hair tie had broken, and her hair cascaded almost gracefully in elegant waves over her body.  

As soon as he stepped by her side, Y/N instantly shot to her feet, long hair dancing beautifully around her, almost bewitching the boy with her natural beauty; though she leisurely managed to catch his wrist and throw him away, sending him off with a temple punch also, watching him slam his head into the ground. The girl was panting with exhaustion already, many minutes having passed indefinitely. “It takes a lot of energy for you to pull off such stunts, huh? Throwing me like that only makes you lose strength and stamina. I must be weighting twice your own.” Bakugou let out an amused breath, smirking, though he himself was sweating and needing some air. “You are correct. I am really exhausted. I have never fought anyone so equally before, especially without a Quirk. It is most fascinating. I doubt I could kill you.” the tired smile was enough to charm the boy, though he was confused at her later statement - What was it about killing she said? No matter, he frequently threatened to kill his classmates, it didn’t matter.

With both opponents standing, both taking their stances, Y/N slowly, but steadily inched forwards towards her opponent until their toes were touching each other; Bakugou readied his fist to punch Y/N's face - She managed to dodge, and with her cleavage, shoulder and arm, she was able to redirect his blow, making him stumble before he was punched down into the ground once more.

“Are you done playing around? I ain’t feeling shit from your kitten punches.” Bakugou scoffed tauntingly, and with a well-aimed punch, Y/N was sent flying across the court painfully hard, looking like a discarded ragdoll. The boy continued walking towards her, watching as she was stumbling and struggling to get up; She had a pained expression on her face, holding her head - She must be feeling very dizzy. “Lost your balance, huh? I’m ending it now. You fought better than those fucking extras.” he praised, readying another strike to finish the match, only to find himself stumbling forward as Y/N threw herself at his feet to trip him once more - In detriment of her feeling the vertigo twisting even faster. “What did you accomplish with that anyway? Are ya afraid of losing or what?” 

Their classmates were yelling at them to stop fighting - Both of them were covered in scrapes, bruises and blood - But when Aizawa asked if they wanted to declare an end match, they both snapped at them all, a negative answer firmly rasped. Neither was going to take away from the respect they held for each other after such a fight.

Y/N was barely able to turn and flex her arm to receive another one of his powerful punches, though she couldn’t take it anymore. Her body felt broken, and she was barely able to get up and stand properly. She was clutching at her arms and hands, she was hurting dearly; Her eyes were glassy also, no doubt, wet from the pain she was enduring. 

Even in that vertigo state however, she was able to dictate the flow of battle, slapping her palms over the opponent’s, and stumbling about, keeping the boy at bay, unable to move further - If he tried, she’d easily evade his move and counter - She even clinged to his wrist, stomping her foot flushed against his own, pushing onto it and making his trip. With the little energy she had left, she used his knee to grapple him, this time, more accurately, with her leg over the back of his neck - She pulled herself up in one move, grabbing a fistful of his hair and jumping behind him, grabbing him down and slamming him into the ground - The boy yelped from the excruciating scalp pain he was feeling, though his body could barely feel any other pain.

Y/N brought him to the edge of his patience, though he couldn’t deny he had been enjoying this fight dearly, but it had to end soon. Even he was feeling exhausted, his muscles aching for some relief.  She lunged at him and tried to hit him at the same time he tried to deliver another powerful punch, only for her to somehow evade the hit - He needed a few seconds to realise how she was able to seemingly disappear for a single blink of an eye - She was smart and shrewd, she managed to evade his monstrous hit, simply by shifting her joints just a little bit, yet fast enough to create the illusion of not having moved. But the second hit, she was unable to parry or dodge, and she was on the ground - Y/N saw spots in front of her, and her vision had gone to shit. She was clutching at her head, her arms visibly trembling as she tried to get up from the ground, only to repeatedly fail and fall down. It looked far more difficult than any plank exercise, Katsuki thought, but she hadn’t given up. He was almost shocked, seeing the beautiful porcelain doll girl being so resilient and unbending, though he hated being the one to get her in this state, be the one to bring her such suffering.

Wait - Why was he pitying his opponent? She was worthy of fighting him, she was above those extras - He was praising her, not pitying her. He was strong. Stronger than most.

Once she was finally on her feet, hoping her head would stop spinning already, and struggling to keep standing; One of her knees was hurting so bad, Katsuki could see her leg repeatedly giving up; Despite all her agony, she found some place to muster up strength, and as Bakugou lunged at her, she got in a low stance, leaping at him, grabbing his wrists and pulling him forward, aiming for a barrage of hits at his vitals - When he was too busy blocking her hits, she side-stepped and tripped him, making him stumble backwards. 

How much longer was she going to drag this on, when she had already fallen off the shelf and shattered? Had she no regard for her body and health? Hell, he could kill her on the spot, yet she was still fighting.  His face must have looked almost demonic to her - He was going to use all of his strength on this last punch; The only way to win this was to knock her out, he realised, her resolve was far too powerful.

Just as they got in each other’s territory however - He stopped, just before his fist touched her face. His eyes were wide and lips parted slightly in shock, as the girl’s body completely gave up, and she fainted in his arms, just as she tried to hit him. She looked so small, so frail, so... Cute? He found himself wiping the dripping blood going down her chin from her busted lip, before picking her up bridal style - His arms were shaking like crazy, though somehow, he still found the strength to carry the flower-like beauty. “Bakugou wins.” Aizawa declared, nodding at the blond to go to the infirmary.

The whole walk to the hospital wing, Katsuki looked down at the peaceful face of the doll-like girl. Who knew she was able to fight so well, resist so long, even faced against someone as strong as him. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what her Quirk was, and he was almost upset he couldn’t fight her properly either. Perhaps another time; Next time they were to go on a 1 on 1, he was going to choose her, the same way she chose him.

“Did I do well, Katsuki?” an almost broken voice, yet surprisingly sweet, called out. “Hella.” his whole body rumbled with a chuckle, earning a lovely smile from the girl. “I am happy.” the boy hummed in agreement; The sentiment was shared.

That evening, when they were done with classes and Y/N was in a good enough shape, Bakugou offered to walk her back home. He wasn’t all that great at socialising, and definitely, neither was Y/N. Though the walk was rather awkward, they still found each other’s company seemingly comforting, and the tender smile she gave him when she said farewell...

Katsuki found his heart beating weirdly fast, and this time, it wasn’t from the cardio workouts he was doing. During their weeks at U.A., Bakugou had the two idiots sitting between himself and Y/N fuck off and change desks, urging the girl to stay next to him, under the pretext that she needed to be showed how to use a phone and what not. Of course, that was just silly, but he had no clue how to get closer to her, without looking pathetic.

It was shocking how with her sweet voice, she was able to sooth his nerves, lessen his rage and frustration, hell, with a simple touch on his arm, she was capable of making him stop yelling at those other extras, especially the dumbass, 1-braincell ‘BakuSquad’ as those idiots liked to call themselves. He hated them so much, it was unreal. He couldn’t understand - Honest to God, he couldn’t - She was just another girl, a classmate, a person just like any other, so why the hell was he always thinking about her? She was his first thought waking up, and his last, falling asleep.

Love, his parents teased him. Love, his friends teased him. Love, his own heart teased him.

Why the hell was everyone making him feel like such a fool, for having feelings for someone? To hell with them all, damn extras. He deserved better than this. Despite all the humiliation he felt whenever someone taunted him with what he felt, despite his mind yelling at him intently to run away and sever any kind of friendship he had with Y/N... He simply couldn’t resist her charm. She was so pretty, blushing as she had to show so much skin in the U.A. uniform, and even her Hero outfit, it resembled that of a priestess, yet instead of hakama, she had a lovely skirt with large splits that allowed for mobility and agility, giving the impression of being covered, yet when she moved, her legs were beautifully on full display. Her blouse also seemed to highlight her most graceful curves, and her sleeves were technically long, and could be used as pockets - Very practical, she loved that feature the most.

The first time Bakugou saw Y/N wearing her Hero outfit was during the USJ incident - She was so beautiful, he was lost for words, but annoyingly enough, so was Mineta, who continued making her uncomfortable - Of course, until he blasted that fucker all the way to the flooded area, hoping he’d drown.

But what was supposed to be a fun activity, playing as heroes, turned to be most worrisome, and Bakugou felt a spike of anxiety being teleported away and forced to wonder where Y/N was, if she was okay, if she could handle the natural tragedy landscape she had to go against, or even the villains. He had to get the hell out of there and search for her, make sure she was alright. Those worries proved ignorant however, as by the time Katsuki was out of the collapsing building, he, Todoroki and Deku were there, watching Y/N unleashing blue flames and... Killing villains with a long spear. She was aiding Aizawa, though not as anyone would expect. Y/N was definitely not the sweet little angel everyone depicted her as. Instead, she looked as though she was wielding the onibi spiritual fire of a fox spirit - And she looked like a malevolent Goddess doing so. She was ruthless, with no mercy. Bakugou felt a shiver down her spine, seeing all that blood - Only villains killed, that’s what they were all told... And seeing the girl he was crush on doing what villains did, it made his mind spin a little.

That worry completely dissipated once a blue haired freak and some huge-ass beast attacked them. His mind was running a thousand times per second, though his body was simply frozen, watching the small flower being crushed with such brutality, that he felt physical ache, as she laid there, in a pool of her own blood, yet still struggling to get up and save frog girl, grape boy and useless Deku from getting decayed by that freak with zombie hands groping him. Perhaps, if it weren’t for All Might coming over and saving everyone, they wouldn’t have made it out alive. It was completely maddening, thinking that, no matter how much they work, they weren’t anywhere close to beating the villains. How incredibly depressing, just like seeing the mummy-like bodies of both Y/N and Aizawa, as they came to school literally the next day, as though nothing had happened. Nothing changed for them - But it did for him. 

How could anyone pretend nothing happened, when they had to be stronger and stronger and even stronger than the strongest, just to get even with those fuckers and ensue the peace of the country. It was pathetic, all of it, and since then, Bakugou began overworking himself to the point of physically collapsing daily.

The occasion to rise up and show how much he improved was given to him when the Sports Festival was announced. He tried to get Y/N not to compete, afraid that her body wouldn’t cope, still damaged - But her dismissive smile managed to convince him without much arguing. He could never say ‘No’ to her, for whatever reason. But he should have. Oh, how he hated himself for being unable to convince her out of it. She pushed herself hard enough with the first task, using the fire boost to get to the finish line, and then, he chose her in his team, to make sure she was fine - They didn’t exactly win, much to his dismay, but they got in the last task of the festival, which was the most important one - The 1v1 fights.

He fought Uraraka and he fought Todoroki, and in the end, he had to fight none other than Y/N, whom he had no idea how was able to get so far. Before the match, he cornered her. “Give up. Your body is failing you.” he trapped her on the wall, but that fox-like smile of hers shattered his resolve. “Don’t worry about me, Katsuki. I want to give you another honorable fight, this time, with out full potential.” he could feel his heart trembling with emotion just by hearing that lovely voice of hers. “What the hell potential, when you can’t even properly stand up straight?!” he protested, only to feel a hand on his face, gently caressing it. “Don’t worry.” that warm smile, and her touch... He couldn’t help but lean into her hand, grunting, his face flushing with love. “I know you will respect me and my strength. Fight me as your equal.” “Don’t go around blaming me if you won’t get up after I defeat you again.” he huffed, pushing her forward toward the fighting court.

Unlike in the match he had with Uraraka, he wasn’t going to be called a villain anymore. Not only Aizawa himself defended him, but even she yelled at the public. She had run on the pitch so shamelessly and started scolding the audience! If Katsuki weren’t so flushed up from the fight, he was going to be from the way his heart was beating at being portrayed as a strong hero. But now, he had to fight for the #1 spot against the girl he was crushing on. It would have been a privilege, were it not for her collapsing body. He hated that he couldn’t properly fight her, and he could see the bitterness she was hiding, hating her own vulnerability. They formed an indestructible bond from that fight - They value fighting, sparring, practicing together, it felt like their hearts connected indefinitely... Alas, there they were, with no choice. Neither of them could disrespect the other and give up, but it was oh so painful, fighting this way.

Still, Y/N fought him with everything she had, no matter how much she was hurting. She fought, and fought, but her mystifying blue flames didn’t even burn the boy - They felt like a warm caress at the sea side; But Bakugou’s explosions were so painful, so destructive, that he blasted the girl into oblivion.

This wasn’t a win. Bakugou didn’t deserve the #1 spot, not in this condition. He didn’t want to see Y/N laying on the grass, motionless.  To hell with the Sports Festival, and to hell with everyone else. He ran to her side, holding her in his arms, brushing away her beautiful locks from her face, and picking her up, for the second time. It seemed to have become a rather amusing pattern for them - Fighting to the point of unconsciousness, and carrying her to the infirmary.  Y/N smiled, nuzzling into his chest so cutely. “You smell like sugary caramel. I love it.” his breath hitched in his throat, unable to respond properly to such a compliment. “Sh-Shut up, stupid.” his face was even redder, and if the girl would see how she was making him feel, no doubt, he’d have said some pointed word to fluster him even more. Though she never said anything hurtful or teasing, she was honest to such a degree that it made him lose his mind with adoration.

The whole year, Bakugou found himself courting the girl - In his own way, of course - Everyone was making fun of him for dating, but he hadn’t the guts to ask her out yet. He got her flowers, and they hung around often; He even cooked for her at some point, and would buy her some pretty accessories - They weren’t expensive by any means, he was just a normal boy with some pocket money - But whenever he’d see a cute hair pin, or a bracelet, he couldn’t resist. Flowers were his favourite accessory on her though. She was very pretty - Pretty beyond imagination - Pretty enough to drive him so crazy that he’s unable to ask her out.

The situation only got worse when they had to move in the dorms, and they were basically together for so long, day and night, they were together. Hell, at some point when watching a movie on the couch, Y/N fell asleep, cuddling into his side, her head lulled on his shoulder, and he was unable to move the whole night. He guided her head to comfortably rest on his thighs and had Kirishima bring over a blanket to make sure she stays warm. He tried staying awake the whole night, playing and caressing her hair - But his sleep schedule didn’t allow him such a luxury, and by the time the clock showed it was 10 PM, he was long asleep also. Of course, the adorable imagery fell prey to their classmates photographing them and using the picture as blackmail material for Bakugou - Y/N seemed completely dismissive, even going as far as to say they look very cute when sleeping - But he couldn’t do it. He just wanted to blast those nasty fuckers to hell and back. 

Katsuki wanted to ask Y/N out, honest to God, he did! He was just so embarrassed out of his wits that, every time he tried, he blurted out something completely random, and gave up. That is, until later in the year when they got attacked by some villains on the street, and Y/N received an almost-fatal wound for shielding him. 

He hated her.

Only Heavens know how much Bakugou hated Y/N.

How DARE she do something like that?! He didn’t ask her to sacrifice herself to him - Can’t she understand what he’s feeling?! If she dies, he’s going to hate himself forever, blame himself for her death - How can he live, knowing that he killed the girl he fell in love with?! It was unfair - SHE was unfair! Stupid! Stupid! INCREDIBLY stupid!

He held her hand the whole day and night as she rested on the infirmary bed, and he shed fat tears, generated from the myriads of overwhelming emotions he was feeling. He was dying inside, and he wanted to rip his hair out; Open his rib cage and tear his heart out; He wanted to screech into the skies blasphemies and other foul words, blaming every living and unliving thing in this world, and any other universe, all for bringing this lovely girl into his life, making him fall in love with her, only to have her taken away from him like that. He couldn’t take all this worry and fear - Not at all.

“Fuck, Y/N - Don’t die... Please, don’t die. I haven’t gotten the chance to make you my girlfriend... To tell you how much I love you... Fuck... Please... Don’t do this to me. I can’t take it - I can’t do it without you.”

For three days, Bakugou was a mess; He couldn’t function properly, he couldn’t think straight. All he wanted was to hold Y/N in his arms and tell her everything that he was unable to before, he had to be strong, mentally, emotionally, physically - She saved him, she was there for him, she always cared and cherished him, helped him with his emotional instability and what not - And what did he do? He wallowed in self-hatred for not being strong enough to defeat Quirkless Deku, and now, to be the hero that Y/N needed. Pathetic, that’s what he was.

“Katsuki? Why are you crying?” Bakugou’s mind went blank, hearing that groggy voice that sounded gorgeous, even in this state. “You are too pretty to cry. Please don’t cry.” Y/N struggled to get in a sitting position, cupping his face and placing a sweet kiss on his forehead. “Your tears are breaking my heart. Please, don’t cry. Not for me.” she tried to comfort him, her thumbs wiping away the tears, only to be startled by his emotional outburst yell. “IF NOT FOR YOU, THAN FOR WHOM?!” he cried out. “I FUCKING LOVE YOU, AND I WAS TOO MUCH OF A FUCKING COWARD TO TELL YOU! YOU ALMOST DIED FOR ME! YOU ALMOST DIED IN MY ARMS! I THOUGHT YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO FUCKING WAKE UP, DAMN IT!” still sitting in the chair besides the bed, his arms wrapped around her waist, crying in her lap; His body was violently shaking with each sob. “SO DON’T TELL ME NOT TO FUCKING CRY! I CAN’T - OKAY, I JUST FUCKING CAN’T! I WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU, AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! IF I CAN’T EVEN PROTECT THE GIRL I LOVE, WHAT THE FUCK CAN I DO RIGHT?!” he wanted to release all the bottled up feelings he kept hidden, but he was unable to. Y/N rose his face up, and kissed him. Y/N kissed him, right on the lips. Fuck, he must taste like salty tears, how pathetic of him, the boy thought. Still, those deprecating thoughts disappeared, as soon as he saw that beautiful yet tired smile of hers. “I am happy that you reciprocate my feelings, Katsuki.” he thought he was flying on clouds. “You can do anything you set your mind to. You are incredibly intelligent and strong - And I have all confidence that you are going to become the strongest hero out there.” with a tug on his arms, Y/N had the boy lay down with her on the bed, pulling his head to rest on her chest as she snuggled and pampered him as though he was a spoiled kitten. He started tearing up pathetically, holding her tightly, forgetting that her body may still be aching, and he cried into her soft chest, completely unaware of how it might be thought of as intimate. He was simply drowning in an ocean of emotions, and he needed to tire himself up by crying to sleep.

From then on, Y/N would tell him things about her - How she was raised up to be the defender of the village, and kill if someone was threatening them; How she had to act like the perfect princess and smile at everyone, no matter how tiring it was. She admitted to being so happy that someone was treating her like a normal human being, not the new student, or some pretty girl, clueless to the world - And fighting was always a common tongue spoken by the strong.

She didn’t care about becoming a hero, she just wanted to be in control of her overwhelming, untamable Quirk, and be strong enough to protect what she held dear to her heart - And Katsuki was included amongst those few things she cherished above life itself.

He, in turn, would admit to feeling inferior to Deku, especially after All Might visibly favoured him so much, and how he hated himself for not being strong enough yet to do everything that he set himself up to. He had such a borderless vision that he often felt too slow to achieve those things, and it was driving him crazy.

With time though, the two love birds learnt how to not only take care of each other, but of themselves also. They knew each other so well, and they were so close to each other, that it would put everyone else to shame. The BakuSquad would take random pics of them in all the cutest states - Be it that they fell asleep cuddling each other, or they were holding pinkies, that they were kissing each other’s cheeks, or fixing an item of clothing - Sometimes, even with sillier things, like using two straw to drink from the same drink, or sharing a cake together and one of them is feeding the other. Everyone loved this new iteration of Bakugou - Easy to get an outburst out of him, but he wasn’t outright threatening everyone anymore, and he wasn’t blasting them to death as often either! It was an amazing win!

Katsuki and Y/N were U.A.’s IT couple all the way to their third year, and they enjoyed continuing to stay in the dorms all the same, to the point that they wanted to move in together after finishing school - Well, money might be an issue at the beginning, but they both wanted to work hard enough to afford a little piece of heaven for themselves only, and no family to bother them anymore.

Until then, however, enough time was going to pass, and there was much Katsuki still had to teach Y/N, including how to play video games, or properly operate a laptop. He had some help in showing her about modern fashion and many other things on the side. There was something, however, that only Katsuki was allowed to teach her - Not that he was an expert by any means, but he was a boy, and even he had some needs; Having a pretty girl like Y/N by his side only served as fuel for his desires, but never once did he try to do anything with her - With a traditional upbringing like her own, he was well aware of how intimacy would be viewed, and he wanted her to get used to it at her own pace.

Still, one evening, she was idly tidying up some things in his room, and a conversation arose after the movie they were absent-mindedly watching; Or rather, just played in the background; Depicted some rather interesting scenes. “Why would one want to have a child with a man she just met? Surely, she would want to get married first - How unrealistic.” she spoke casually, seemingly amused at the scene. “Nobody wants a child.” the boy scoffed blankly, playing around some phone game. “Then why are they sleeping together?” she spoke as though she was challenging his knowledge. “People don’t get intimate just to have children anymore, Y/N. Hasn’t been that way for a while now.” he muttered, his cheeks flushing at having to say such words out loud; His heart was pounding hard against his chest, and he quickly changed the channel to something unrelated, like the weather. “Really, now? Then why?” she looked at him with such a cute, confused face, that made the boy want to smash his lips onto hers. “... Pleasure.” the boy coughed, trying to hide his burning face with his phone. “Pleasure?” Y/N’s surprise was great. “No, that can’t be right. Grandma said only boys feel good. Girls feel pain.” “What?!” Bakugou’s eyes seemed to be wide like hers, the shock making him jolt up. “No, that’s bullshit, what the fuck.” he almost looked startled. “Really? Are you sure? She seemed certain. The other women from the village said the same thing too.” Katsuki wanted to drag his nails across his face at the complete nonsense he was hearing - Instead, he was standing in front of Y/N, so close to her that he could feel her heartbeat. He wrapped an arm around her torso, her back secure, her head resting against his palm; He leaned in to kiss her - But unlike the cute, innocent kisses from before, he deepened the kiss, to the point of forgetting how to breathe. “What do you feel when I kiss you?” his low, raspy voice spoke into her ear. “I-I...” her breathing felt heavy, just from this. “I feel like I want you to kiss me more.” the boy complied - He kissed her until her mind went numb, his free hand picked her chin, his thumb trailing her bottom lip dearly as he leaned away just enough to tease her, but not far enough that he couldn’t feel her picked up breathing anymore. His rough hand went down, holding her supple throat dearly, and went down to her chest, to her abdomen, and down on her thigh, and up her skirt.  “Tell me what you feel now.” he kissed her again, as his fingers found themselves caressing her clothed womanhood, up and down, again and again, across her slit. He could feel her heart beating so fast, and a small whine escaped her throat as he started circling her clit, each time, applying just a little bit more pressure. He had her propped against the wall, his arm holding her supporting her depleting weight as she was quickly succumbing to the unknown feeling overwhelming her. “What are you feeling?” his lips still brushing against her own, the boy teasingly asked, triumphant at seeing his girlfriend with glazed eyes - Her hands gripped painfully tight on his shoulders, pulling him closer to her. “I-I don’t... I don’t know what this is.” her voice sounded to almost morph into a sweet mewl. “I can’t - I can’t name it. I’ve never... Felt like this before.” “Don’t think much. Just say if you want me to continue or not.” unconsciously, she seemed to be pulling him closer to her body. “Yeah... I want you - I want you, ‘Tsuki.” whether or not she knew perfectly well the way she was teasing him with her words, he wasn’t sure, but the effect she had on him was unreal. He kissed her with more fire, drinking in her first climax; Those sounds she let were so cute, he wanted to hear more; He was so greedy for her, for her body, he almost felt ashamed with how much he was in love with her. “Did you like it, Y/N?” the boy asked, his lips trailing down her jaw, and to her neck. Y/N whimpered a positive answer. “Do you want more, my greedy little kitten?” “Tsuki, don’t tease me like that!” she pouted, only to feel that overly adventurous hand pull down her panties, cupping her private part - Gently, he his fingers touched her folds, exploring around her soft, warm skin, and inside her wet cavern - One finger, inside and out, whilst he abused those sweet spots on her neck, earning gasp after gasp, all from how good he was making her feel.

The boy couldn’t grasp his mind around how incredibly how she was, or how wet he made her already - He was ecstatic, so proud of himself, he wanted to see the full extent of her reactions, all the sounds and expressions he could make her have. Another digit added, her spine arched suddenly against his arm. “Ts-Tsuki... If you go on... I can’t stand up...” she breathed out so enticingly that it drove the boy crazy. “You can, just a little more.” the boy had to place his lips over hers to cover a whine of his name as he curled his fingers just right - Her sharp fingernails dug into his flesh, desperately trying to keep herself upright, but he felt like a melted puddle in his arms. She felt flask, her wetness leaking down her thigh shamelessly from all her arousal, and another climax, more intense this time. “That’s my good girl.” he smirked down at her, bringing his fingers to his mouth, licking her juices shamelessly that the girl covered her face and looked away. “D-Don’t do that, it’s lewd!” she exclaimed, only to hear him chuckling and guiding her to lay down on the bed. Making sure the door was properly locked and changing the weather channel to some music, he sat down between her legs, leaning his chin on her knee, and looking down at her with those beautiful crimson eyes of his. “I have many other lewd things I want to do to you.” he admitted, his hand over hers, squeezing it with comfort. “If you want me to, I can show you, there is pleasure in love-making.” in a swift move, Bakugou was positioned on top of her, leaning on his forearms, on either side if her head. He kissed her deeply, his teeth gently grazing her lip, pulling on it playfully. “Do you want me to go on, my love?” In spite of her embarrassment, and how it went against everything she was taught, Y/N nodded her head. “I need you to tell me. Say it. Out loud.” “Don’t tease me like that.” she pouted at him. “I want you to love me, ‘Tsuki.” “I will love you any time you want me to, Y/N.” the vibration of his voice sent shivers down her spine, as the boy dripped down to her torso, his hands roaming up and down her body, taking off her blouse and skirt. She was so beautiful, laying down in all her glory, naked, and blushing so hard.

His finger gripped on the plush of her thighs, pulling them apart just enough to get close to her dripping cunt; He placed kiss after kiss on the inner skin of her leg, and in between, to her overly stimulated bundle of nerves that made her body twitch with each flick of his tongue. Y/N had to put a hand over her mouth to stifle an unconscious whine, the weird feeling of his wet tongue licking all the way up her sleeve, and down to her entrance - It was so weird, but she didn’t hate it - It wasn’t a bad kind of weird, it was rather pleasant. Pleasant enough that she was losing her sense of ration over the way he was making her feel. The way his hands were holding her, how his mouth was kissing and sucking and pulling.

With the way Y/N was unable to properly keep her body under control, Katsuki knew she was close again - She was so precious, and he didn’t want to let go of her the whole night - And every other night also. He wanted to see her, to hear her, to kiss her every day and every night, for the rest of their lives. Suddenly, Katsuki stopped, and he quickly took off the tank top he was wearing, making Y/N whimper softly. Though she wanted to protest, her body feeling about to explode, she placed her hands on his chest, trailing down to his abdomen, before quickly pulling him down on her body, his whole weight unsupported - But she loved the proximity, and how intimate it felt, being so close, kissing him, feeling his body like that. Y/N loved his body, she wanted to see him shirtless like this more often, she wanted to hear him go crazy with pleasure, the very same way he made her feel.

But not now - Katsuki had other plans for the night. “Still want to continue? Are you ready?” the boy asked, sucking on her neck. “I don’t know if I’d be able to stop, once I begin. I’m addicted to you. I’m addicted to everything about you.” he sighed, his chest heaving up and down from excitement. “Yes.” she breathed out. “I want you. I don’t want you to stop.” Y/N spoke again. “I want to make you feel as good as you make me feel.” “Another time, angel.” Katsuki chuckled softly, a hand reaching into the drawer and quickly taking a condom, putting it on. “Tonight, it’s all about you, sweetheart.” 

Once again, he hoisted her up with one arm, the other hand holding her own, fingers intertwined. He felt her squeezing him as he entered his tip inside her womanhood, slowly going in. Though the music was loud, Katsuki kissed Y/N deeply, afraid he sweet mewls might be heard from outside; Fully sheathed, he let out an exhale, trying to keep himself composed, but he was failing miserably. The way she felt around him, how tight she felt, clamping down on him, it was killing him in all the best ways possible.

Again, he went pulled out almost fully, before going back in, long strokes, maddening, so full of passion, full of love, hitting and scraping at her sweet spot - His hand felt as though it was being crushed, and his back might as well be bleeding, or at least held the marks of her nails - He loved it. He loved this feeling, it heated him up, it made him feel nirvana approaching fast.

“I love you.” he mumbled, kissing her again; Her body soon started twitching, stiff; He felt his member being lovingly held captive inside of her as he rode her sweet release, and soon, he found his own. He wanted to stay like that inside of her, to be connected to her. “I love you, ‘Tsuki.” her voice was so delicate, so euphoric, that it made the boy bite his lip and pull away, before he’d be tempted to tire her out even more. He knew, however, that next time, he might be teasing her more - It felt too good, seeing her so glazed with pleasure, pleading for him to continue and be good to her. And it felt even better, having her say she loves him. It was the best feeling in the world.

Katsuki grabbed his tank top back, giving Y/N one of his larger Tshirts to sleep in, and brought over a pack of baby wipes, some water and snacks. He got the volume of the music down, and changed again to some movie, as Y/N cuddled dearly into his side, her head resting on his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat. It didn’t take long for him to play with her hair, that she fell asleep, that beautiful smile ever painted on her face. “You have no idea how much I love you, Y/N.”

[pomplalamoose]

Can we please have some luke fluff hc’s?🙏 from any era idc i just love your writing💗

Thank you so much, anon!!! <33

I'm so on board for more lighthearted Luke content to warm our hearts, it's what he deserves🤝🏻

Also I veered into kinda new territory for me; while many of these take place in the Star Wars universe as normal, I included some modern day AU ones too

• the Jedi are taught to take extra care of their clothing and appearance because whenever they're out and about they take on a mostly representative role, whether they want to or not

• this also includes learning how to correctly mend and take care of their belongings

• I don't think that this was at the very front of Luke's education though, Obi-Wan and Yoda really had more pressing conditions to work with

• however, as everyone can clearly see, nobody had to specifically tell Luke about this

• (just look at the man)

• not only did he grow up with maybe one (1) relatively good fitting outfit, I'm also sure that because of this he was taught how to fix holes and re do seams as well as sewing his buttons back on himself

• I'm even convinced he's able to make a simple pair of pants and a shirt from scratch should it be really necessary

• something about the picture of you and Luke sitting together on a warm summer evening or during a winter night and you watching him silently working away is just the peak of domesticity

• he enjoys fixing clothes, especially if by doing so he can do a favor to those he loves

• I think in a way it calms him too

• he'd definitely help out his Padawans with it as well

• I firmly believe he owns a small sewing kit, complete with a thimble

• (maybe two: one he's actually using and a second hand made one out of porcelain because he thinks it's really pretty)

• maybe, in addition and if he has the time, he'd try out similar activities like crocheting, knitting, stitching, etc.

• I don't think he'd be very good at it but everything he crafts is made with love and there is no one around who doesn't appreciate his efforts

• imagine him knitting little socks and hats and scarves for all of his students

• for some reason he really struggles with online tutorials though

• they're always going too fast, he can't see what exactly it is they're showing, and often times they're just overcomplicating really simple steps

• he finds this to be very frustrating

• he probably uses a very (very!) old fashioned book to learn instead

• its margins are full of scribbles of its previous owners and Luke adds his own

• he draws smiley faces next to the patterns he likes most

• Luke is a DIY king

• something that really comes in handy as a Jedi master

• at the very beginning, just at the start of his own academy, he definitely did most of the occurring tasks himself, also including preparing the meals for everyone

• he's a decent cook but I think he'd get really into baking

• baking bread is one of his favorite free time activities

• my sister insists upon the fact that he'd make the absolute best focaccia

• (or its Star Wars equivalent at least)

• he really likes trying out new recipes, especially those he never heard about before

• with varying degrees of success, as some of them are not meant to be made by humans

• but worry not, nothing is getting wasted

• Luke's collection of little fish friends is always happy to eat the remaining crumbs

• (for those that don't know what I'm talking about, check out my other random Luke headcanons if you'd like)

• he has special outfits for his training sessions, including many different shoes

• depending on what or where it is he's practicing, he chooses them carefully

• inside he's wearing soft slippers and soft slippers only, boots are a no go

• it's very much established that Luke is wonderfully emphathetic and always ready to stand by your side, may it be during your period or when you're struggling mentally

• he's still wonderfully emphathetic and caring when you're sick but like, only from very far away

• he'll refuse to come near you if you so much as mention you're not feeling well

• if you have to sneeze or cough even a little bit he's immediately asking whether you've fallen ill or are about to

• just say you feel like you're getting a cold and he's on retreat immediately

• he can't get sick as well!

• he's working with children!!!

• at least one of them is always sick anyways, he can't be contagious under any circumstances!

• he'd feel so bad if he were to be responsible for even more of them suffering

• he feels horrible for not being there for you too though

• so he still does his best

• he prepares warm meals and tea every day and let's R2 deliver them

• he always checks in on you when you're asleep

• he changes your bed sheets while you take a shower or a bath

• he'd totally make a doctor's appointment for you if you're too scared to make the phone call yourself

• he makes sure you're taking your medications

• he pats your back and strokes your hair using the Force

• Luke would absolutely hate quarantine

• at first he'd still be pretty optimistic, thinking it won't be that bad, maybe even fun?

• he'll just meditate a lot, right?

• after all he has mastered his temper now, his patience renowned among his friends and students

• this mindset works at the beginning and for a while he's happy to sleep in for as long as he wants to

• however he forgets about the concept of time quickly enough and soon has no idea what day it is

• when was the last time he had breakfast?

• since he's a very outdoorsy person, always on the move, always doing something, it wouldn't take long until he's getting kinda antsy too

• and while he does enjoy the calm and quiet, he's mostly used to being the center of bustling activities

• soon he takes desperate measures to pass the time, even trying out things he before swore to not be interested in in the slightest

• I see him taking lots and lots of Buzzfeed quizzes

• he texts you about every single result

• one of his first ones was about what kind of animal he'd be and he absolutely hated the outcome

• he eventually ended up making his own quiz because of it

• he likes watching you play video games more than playing them himself

• it's very relaxing to him, especially after a long day at work

• plus he gets to hold you extra close under the pretense of being very interested to see what's going on on screen

• he dozes off pretty quickly though

• while he's happy to let you play whatever you want, I think he has his favorites as well

• Animal Crossing being at the very front

• he loves when you show him your town or island, how you decorated your house and which villagers you're best friends with

• he too would have the newest game, simply because you were missing a few items and he was determined to get them for you

• it would totally escalate during quarantine though, and suddenly he'd have a fully decorated five star island

• (Luke Skywalker plays Animal Crossing with a passion and I'm ready to fight anyone about it)

• for some reason he gets really competitive during Mario Kart and Just Dance

• he unapologetically wins at every single Wii Sports mini game and no matter what you do and how much you practice, he's always better and not in the least bit sorry about it

• he is a Macher™ (please let there be some German fans who know what I'm talking about)

[rozaceous]

Road to Ninja!Mariko? Or maybe a zombie apocalypse au Mariko? I’m sorry I only have very stupid ideas.

An AU where she is reincarnated earlier in canon? Like around 2nd or 3rd war?

anon, you had no way of knowing this, but my original naruto oc was not in fact mariko, though the two share any number of traits! i ended up abandoning that line bc i couldn't wrangle the amnt of foreknowledge required to make canon come out vaguely canon-like, my ideas about canon kept evolving, and there wasn't a plot so much as a few scenes i had in mind.

but here, have nohara yua, who got assigned to uchiha shisui's genin team. (yes, that nohara) she's end-of 3rd war era, approximately, bc kishimoto's timeline is...flexible. i know this isn't quite what you were poking at, but it's what i've got so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yua all but slams down the last of the dishes on the puny dining table in Sasuke's puny apartment before slamming herself down in front of it all.

"All right, kid," she says, starting to serve herself from the pot of stew. Sasuke warily follows suit. "We're gonna have a talk, and it'll be a bit gross because feelings are a thing, but bear with me. Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu."

Yua prods her stew until it's fully mixed with her rice. "Right. So, excepting my older sister with whom I do not get on most days ending in a y, and a friend who's probably crazier than me, I've basically lost everyone I've ever loved. Family, friends, mentors--my heart's a graveyard. And this isn't my idea of attempting compassion," she says warningly, not missing Sasuke's sudden curled lip. He frowns at her instead, caught out. "I'm telling you this because you should know from the get-go that I'm not what you might call emotionally stable. On the other hand, most shinobi aren't, but then again, most aren't quite the level of fucked up I've attained. Though I can name a few. Whatever. That said, I'm also really fucking good at my job."

She shovels a couple of bites into her mouth while Sasuke looks on with an expression of vague disgust at her lack of manners. Yua doesn't give a shit.

"The Academy's probably going to be doing away with early graduation entirely pretty soon since we aren't in wartime and no one wants to chance repeating your precious brother--" Sasuke flinches almost imperticibly and Yua tramples on "--but with that caveat, I graduated at the age of nine, got promoted to Chunnin at ten, and was a jounin by the time I was fourteen. I made the bingo books when I was twelve, and right now I'm listed anywhere from B to S rank. Depends on the country, but Suna's shit and practically lives to piss me off, so the day they give me the satisfaction of treating me like a real threat is the day they get snow in their forecast. They're just bitter that I'm better at wind jutsu than them anyways. Iwa and Kiri are better, though, they take me seriously and have a pretty accurate take on my abilities between the two of them.

"My honest self-assessment is that I'm A to S rank, depending on what type of work you're looking for. I'm not an all-rounder by any means. My taijutsu is decent, bukijutsu is acceptable, and my genjutsu are good but my repertoire is pretty small. I'm ninjutsu type, through and through, and that much I'm damn good at. There's maybe two ninja in the village that can give me a run for my money in ninjutsu, and one of them's the Hokage."

Sasuke has virtually abandoned his stew to stare at her beadily, interested despite himself.

"Now I did all that without any bloodline bullshit, without clan techniques, and almost exclusively being self-taught. And since you're clearly wondering why the fuck I'm telling you my résumé, I'll say: if you wanna learn, I'll teach you."

Sasuke's eyes flare wide and, never one to miss an opportunity to pause dramatically, Yua takes another couple bites.

"Why would you teach me?" Sasuke demands as soon as it's clear that she's not immediately going to explain herself. "I barely even know you."

Yua chokes on a laugh while mid-chew and then starts coughing. She ends up having to gulp water to clear her esophagus.

"Yeah, that's true enough," she admits once she has herself under control. "I've got no credentials as a teacher, either; I've always sort of brushed off taking on a genin team even though I'm sure I'd like it. Partly it's because once you teach someone something, even though you're technically responsible, you've got no control over how they use what you've taught them. Students go errant all the time. And partly it's that I'm an emotionally stunted softie who would imprint all over a bunch of baby genin and mother them within an inch of their lives.

"But I'm still hoping that you'll take me on, kid. Itachi wants to fuck up our lives? Fuck that, I say. He wants you to get strong, to live like shit, all full of unhappiness and hate just to have the chance of taking him in a fight?" Sasuke's hand is white-knuckled over his spoon. "Fuck that," Yua says passionately. "Fuck that asshole and fuck what he wants. I'll make you strong enough that there won't be a damn person in the world, not Itachi or anybody, who can tell you how to live your life. Because if I can give you my skill set, your eye magic baloney combined with the fact that you've got talent in spades and a damn good work ethic will mean that you'll be virtually untouchable."

It's true, too. A Sharingan user with perfect chakra control would be able to steal and then duplicate any jutsu like Kakashi on steroids because of the lack of chakra drain from being able to properly turn off the doujutsu and the efficiency in performing those jutsu. A Sharingan user with perfect chakra control who can use substitution jutsu so well that it's basically teleportation? Unmatched versatility in attacking, superior speed, evasion, illusions-- the word invulnerable comes to Yua's mind.

---

Yua decides that it's time to step in when Naruto is unconscious at Sasuke's feet and the transformation granted by the curse mark starts to recede from his body. She substitutes from her place in the trees to a spot atop the water in his line of sight, just far enough away that he isn't going to feel provoked. Nonetheless, he jolts when he sees her, and she feels the chakra rising in him as though to attack.

"Calm down," she says quietly, words nearly lost in the crashing rush of the waterfall behind her.

Sasuke's hands return to his side, but they're clenched into fists and he regards her warily.

"Yua." His voice is raspy, a little dull. And no wonder, if he's just finished attempting to beat the life out of his best friend only for his tutor to show up. "I'll fight you, too, if I have to."

There's no relish in the words.

"No," she says, still quiet, feeling like the moment deserves her solemnity. "I'd say you've demonstrated your resolve to leave. I won't be the one to drag you back."

---

Sasuke stares at Yua, feeling something almost like panic climbing up his throat.

"The--your mission--"

"Fuck the mission, Sasuke," she says gently, and her expression is sad but not accusing.

He doesn't understand. He'd steeled himself as soon as he'd seen her, knowing that for her to show up at such an opportune moment meant that she'd likely been watching the fight between him and Naruto and that she now has a perfect grasp of her surroundings and Sasuke's condition. And Sasuke knows that even if he were in top shape and had the full use of the curse mark, even if his chakra wasn't as weak as the flame of a candle, he would stand little chance against Yua. She'd shown him the gap in their skills often enough, after all, and she's the one that he's closest to ever since everyone died, the one who made sure he ate well and did his homework and got enough rest, who taught him chakra control and how to shunshin, who calls him things like Little Duck and ruffles his hair no matter how much he protests. Naruto may be his friend, but Yua is the closest thing to family that he has left, is the person with the strongest claim to him, the one most likely to make him return, either through force or personal ties.

Even so, he'd been willing to fight.

So for her to stand before him now and announce that she's abandoning the mission that so many of his peers have hurt themselves over, that she'll ignore the orders of her Kage with ease, and all of it without the faintest trace of judgment on her face after he's tried to kill his best friend--he's just like Itachi who stole Shisui from her--

Yua must understand whatever his features are telling her without words, because she says, "I told you at the beginning that the danger of teaching is that the teacher has no control over how the student uses what they're taught."

Students go errant all the time, his memory echoes, as if summoned by her reminder. He feels it like a punch to the gut. He'd known, before, that he was essentially betraying her by leaving Konoha for Orochimaru, but now he knows it the same way that he knows one of his ribs is fractured.

"But I also told you," she says, "that I wanted you to be strong enough that no one could tell you how to live your life. And that's what I want, for you to have the power to make your own destiny. And you think that Orochimaru has something that no one else does. That his offer of power is unique, superior. So, as the one who promised that to you initially, I apologize for failing you."

And she inclines her head--Yua bows her head--

"Stop," he says in a gasp, and there's moisture building in his eyes. If it sounds like he's begging, it's because he is, because if Yua keeps talking, keeps forgiving him, then his resolve will fail him and everything will have been pointless.

"No," she says, with sudden firmness, and she stares him straight in the eye. "You're choosing your own fate, Sasuke, and I won't resent you for it. This is the path you're walking now, and you can't turn back, you can't be swayed. That's what it means to tangle with destiny--there's no room for regret. And if you're going to Orochimaru, there can't be a single doubt in your heart."

"But why?!" The question rips out of him in his desperation to understand. "After all of this, after everything, why would you let me go?! How can I--how--you--"

"Because I love you," she says without hesitation, even though he sees the glossy film covering her eyes and starting to stick to her lashes. The ferocity of her words takes him aback as much as the content. Literally, too; Sasuke takes a half-step back. "Love is the tie that binds us to one another, but it's not a chain. And anyways, I promised you freedom."

Yua starts to walk towards him, and he stands frozen beside Naruto's unconscious form until she's right in front of him. He thinks, somewhat hysterically, that he really doesn't stand a chance against Yua in a fight if all she has to use is a few words before he's as paralyzed as a fearful rabbit. Naruto--and he forces down an absurd giggle--could stand to learn from her.

She pulls him into her chest tightly and he's helpless against her. No matter that she's only barely taller than him now, no matter the muscle and experience he's gained; she overpowers him.

The hand she has pressed to the back of his head trembles. And then, before he's had time to relax into the embrace, she releases him.

"Take care," she says, and a pair of tears streak down past the purple marks on her cheeks. Sasuke studiously ignores the damp spot he's left on her shoulder.

"I--I will," he says.

They stare at each other for a long moment, each aware that they won't be seeing one another any time soon, and that the next time they meet they may very well be on opposing sides. Sasuke feels something burning deep in his chest, something that's been aflame ever since he'd started fighting Naruto in earnest. It hurts him, warms him; he feels like he's going to choke.

"Now get outta here, kid."

Still helpless against her, he listens.

---

Yua's washing her parents' and sister's headstone like she has every fourth Friday for the past several years when Kakashi finds her. She hands him a soft brush; she's learned to bring more than one.

Kakashi, faintly smudged with dirt and smelling of tree sap and algae and sweat, takes it from her wordlessly, crouching and dousing the brush in her bucket of water. His strokes across the stone are precise and thorough, practiced, and they work in quiet symphony for several minutes.

Finally, he leans back on his heels and says, "I thought you were going to talk some sense into him."

If it's not anything to do with work, Kakashi tends to say only exactly as much as he has to, speaking in bare thesis statements without the supplementary paragraphs that show how he's reached his conclusions, and as such, Yua has become extremely good at reading between Kakashi's lines.

Sasuke is gone, and Kakashi doesn't know why she didn't do more to stop him.

She exhales slowly and with purposeful evenness, offering respectful attention to the characters of her mother's name as she washes them. "I think Sasuke is operating from a different definition of sensible."

Kakashi's snort lacks humor.

"He's no fool, Kakashi," she says lowly. "Rash and impulsive, sure, but not stupid. I'm sure he knows exactly what he's walking into. Orochimaru's made no secret of wanting Sasuke's body for his own."

"I fail to see how giving Orochimaru the precise thing he wants fits any definition of sensible," Kakashi says dryly.

"There's a three-year timeline before Orochimaru can take another body," Yua contradicts. "And I think that for Sasuke it'll be plenty of time."

"For?"

"Becoming strong enough to kill Orochimaru and eliminating the threat against him altogether." Kakashi's head turns to her slightly, but Yua only notes the motion in her peripheral vision. "For better or worse, Konoha's changed since either of us were genin. At his age, I was a chuunin in the bingo books of all the major countries and you were a jounin. Don't get me wrong, in terms of comprehensive skill level, Sasuke is above where I was, but I would've won in a fight because of experience. Experience is a hard teacher, but if you manage to survive it, there's nothing better. And with that stupid curse mark and the certain knowledge that he's targeted by Orochimaru, how much field work could Sasuke really have been guaranteed?"

Kakashi's gaze on her is wary, but he doesn't interrupt.

"If he'd stayed, Sasuke would've been trained to the bone, but he would've been coddled from the world outside the village," Yua says. "And Orochimaru's already breached Konoha's defenses, has killed the Kazekage and the Sandaime Hokage. There's no guarantee that he wouldn't do something equally drastic again for the chance of getting at Sasuke, with no attention to collateral damage. And besides, if we were truly capable of keeping him safe, he wouldn't have that curse mark in the first place. So I'd say Sasuke is taking a lot of factors into account."

Kakashi sighs, running a hand through his messy stack of hair. Yua glances over, intrigued as always at the sight. If his hair is stiff and voluminous enough to defy gravity as it does, how does his hand not get caught?

"Then I guess I'm having a hard time accepting that my student is relatively safer in the hands of the S-class nuke-nin that wants to throttle his soul and possess his body," he bites out. "Especially since I like to think that between the two of us, even Orochimaru wouldn't be too much to handle."

"I'm retired from field work," Yua reminds him, though in truth she's warm at the open expression of respect at her abilities considering how long it's been since they've worked together.

Kakashi gives her a flat look. "I seem to remember you holding your own during the Crush just fine."

"I suppose," she says blandly. "But the fact of the matter is that Sasuke doesn't think that he has anything left to learn from me. And maybe he's right; there's only so many chakra control exercises I can give him. I'm in no position to offer field work."

"There was an easy way to change that and you know it."

Yua drops her brush and pours the remaining water over the stones. Some of it splashes at her bared toes. Kakashi offers his brush back and it clatters into the bottom of the bucket.

She joins Kakashi in resting in a squat, butt nearly touching the ground and her arms crossed over her knees, chin resting upon them.

"My goal in teaching Sasuke was to make him strong enough to choose his own destiny. And what he does with what I've taught him has always been his decision."

"Yua--"

"Was I supposed to drag him back?" Yua interrupts, surly. "He's demonstrated his resolve to leave, I'd say. I couldn't love that boy more if he were my own flesh and blood, but I'm not going to chain him down based on some hypocritical idea of what I think is best for him. I can only trust that I've taught him well enough that he'll make it. The other option is despair and agony and I've had enough of that for my lifetime, thanks very much."

She presses her eyes into her forearms. "I've made, Kakashi. I kept him as safe as I could all this time, I trained him and made sure he ate properly, I taught him how to keep house for himself, asked about his grades in school and what he learned in class. But never once did I tell him about my true motive in retiring to hospital work. I wasn't as honest as I should have been, and part of me--I want Sasuke in my life forever, but part of me is glad he's gone so I don't have to worry as much about the fallout of my actions. And part of me is scared of what he'll do when he finds out what I've kept from him."

There is, for a long moment, silence.

"You've always acted according to Sasuke's best interests." Kakashi's voice leaves no room for rebuttal. "If you weren't honest with him, it's because it wasn't safe. You know that as well as I do--better, even, so don't go beating yourself up about it. No one expected you to take care of Sasuke and no one would have asked it of you, but you stepped in where no one else did. You've done a good job with him, Yua, and if you're saying that you think he's strong enough to make it on his own, I'm sure he'll come out on top. Though I don't like it.

"And as for what'll happen when he finds out the truth…" Yua dares to peek up from her arms as Kakashi pauses, and he treats her to an eye smile. "Maa, don't underestimate how much that brat loves you, too."

"Tch." But despite the lingering sense of anxiety, Yua does feel comforted. And then she snickers. "Look at us, having a conversation about feelings like emotionally competent adults. Is there snow soon?"

"You can speak for yourself," Kakashi says primly. "I am certainly not and never plan to be something so dull and mature-sounding as emotionally competent. It's likely dreadful and far too much work. Besides, I have an image to maintain."

"Yes, heaven forbid that I mar your reputation as the Angst Lord of Konoha."

"Precisely."

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I like the gloom. My dislikes are sunshine and good cheer. Hobbies include brooding over my tragic past and staring moodily off into the distance. I have no dreams for the future because hope is a delusion for those too afraid to engage with the despair that is reality."

"You know me so well."

Yua laughs.

---

Tsunade hasn't been back in Konoha for very long, but she's been around long enough to hear about how Konoha's once-notorious Nohara Yua, whose fame had reached even derelict pubs and casinos, had turned into the sweet-mannered, harmless-looking woman barely past girlhood that had first greeted Tsunade upon her arrival in the village hospital. Well, Tsunade has nothing against sweet manners or looking harmless, acknowledges their advantages, even, but Nohara Yua had embodied those qualities to the extent that Tsunade had started to think that the girl who had been renowned as the Windwalker and internationally feared as a ninjutsu master had been the result of overblown rumor, carefully planted misdirection, and willful blindness.

Initially, Tsunade had found her to be a competent enough doctor, and generally inoffensive. Upon learning who exactly had briefed her on her new patients' statuses and given her the rundown on current hospital procedures, the cognitive dissonance had been so great that she'd had to be assured that yes, it was that Nohara Yua. No, really.

And the nurse assuring Tsunade had, with the reluctance born of politeness and the thoroughness born of a love for gossip, told an astonished Shizune and skeptical Tsunade in an undertone why the Windwalker was working as a member of hospital staff. And then Tsunade had been well aware that she was in no place to make comments about lifestyle choices after losing a lover.

Still, that the woman apparently took on D-rank home repair missions as a hobby did not inspire Tsunade to believe that Nohara was ever anything other than a reasonably talented kunoichi whose offensive abilities had been rather exaggerated, both out of strategic convenience and a desire by other kunoichi for a female figure to look up to as the next--well, her. And even if Nohara had been as lethal as her reputation had painted her, Tsunade had been sure that that person was as dead as Uchiha Shisui, replaced by someone content to live out the rest of her life in a much quieter fashion.

But Tsunade only had been sure because right now the woman in question is standing in front of her desk next to Hatake Kakashi, explaining oh-so-succinctly about the steaming pile of shit that Hiruzen-sensei had left her to inherit, the ooze and stench of which is still far from stale for all that the rug has been thrown over it for almost half a decade. The same festering dung heap that Nohara has apparently been investigating secretly and under her own initiative, with no one but Hatake in the know, for the last four years.

"So let me get this straight," Tsunade says, in the full knowledge that she'll be getting absolutely plastered later this evening no matter what Shizune has to say about it. "The Uchiha were planning a coup against Konoha leadership."

"Yes."

"And the Sandaime was aware of this."

"Yes."

"And not only did Itachi not go insane and kill his entire clan, but he was acting under orders. From Danzo. Whom Itachi believed to have the Hokage's approval."

"Yes."

"And Itachi is now acting as an undercover agent without a handler in the international terrorist organization known as Akatsuki."

"That's correct."

"While Danzo is currently operating a secret military organization within Konoha itself, which answers only to him, and which the Sandaime falsely believed to have been dissolved as he ordered several years ago."

"Yes."

"And this organization has infiltrated Konoha's active forces on every level with no one the wiser, and has been taking and executing missions without official sanction."

Nohara's gaze slides to the alcove of Tsunade's office, where the ANBU agent on duty is hidden under seal--oh fucking shit--

"ANBU Cat is someone I trust with my life," Hatake inserts smoothly.

"What a fucking relief," Tsunade snarls. "Cat, get over here."

Cat is crouched in front of her in a flash.

"Get that decorative plate off your face, Cat," she snaps. Cat follows her instruction with admirable speed and Tsunade looks into the unassuming features of a man approximately Yua's age who is clearly struggling to master some kind of emotion that makes him look extremely nauseous. "Your name, Cat. Not ANBU designation."

"Tenzou, Hokage-sama."

"Right. Tenzou. How long have you served in ANBU?"

"Seven years, Hokage-sama."

"Long enough to have known Uchiha Itachi."

"We were briefly on the same ANBU team, Hokage-sama, along with Kakashi-senpai and Yua-senpai."

"And do the events that Nohara has just finished describing sound plausible to you?"

Tenzou's eyes lower momentarily before conscientiously returning to meet her gaze. "They sound as plausible as Itachi having a violent mental break, Hokage-sama."

"And do you know of this organization called ROOT?"

In response, Tenzou opens his mouth and sticks his tongue out as far as it will go. For one horrible second Tsunade flounders, wondering if this is some faddish gesture she's too old to understand, and then she sees the seal.

"That bastard," Tsunade whispers.

Nohara snorts. "Yeah, he likes to seal up the tongues of anyone who does work for him so they can't blab. Most of my investigation into ROOT has been looking at what should be there, not what is. You find it by spotting the empty space.

"I know that he has shinobi that he's trained specifically for years, and then there are others who have engaged in missions with him thinking that they're partaking in some extra black black ops, not aware that they're doing anything that isn't perfectly legitimate, if secret beyond all reason. Kakashi got sucked in years ago, before he realized that Danzo was operating off books, and Danzo dropped him like a hot cake and left him to fester under that godforsaken seal. Recon work has been a bitch."

"If your goal was to squirrel out ROOT, why didn't you return to ANBU?" Tsunade questions narrowly. "Surely it would have been easier to gather intelligence while on Danzo's recruiting grounds."

Nohara stills, looking discomfited for the first time. "There were several reasons," she says finally. "Part of it is that I wanted to be there for Sasuke, and having a set schedule at the hospital and no missions taking me out of the village made that considerably easier. Part of it's that I want Danzo to think I'm none the wiser to his schemes, and I'd say I've done a good job of being soft and overly emotional, exactly like he hates in shinobi. And then, well, I honestly wasn't in any shape to take on ANBU work." Nohara clenches her hands at her sides, and her stare is borderline defiant. "My partner had just died under suspicious circumstances, my friend and captain had killed his clan and turned missing-nin. Not to mention, I'd just finished recovering from a mission that I'm pretty sure was supposed to off me. Bluntly, I was a fucking mess."

Hatake slides Nohara a look and Tenzou does the same, though Tenzou's look has the distinct tinge of pity whereas Hatake's is merely assessing.

"Mostly though," Nohara continues, "I no longer had faith in the Hokage. Shisui went to the Sandaime about the coup, and the next thing I knew, Shisui was dead and the Uchiha clan was gone. Things had gone extremely and terribly wrong and I knew that either the Sandaime was in on it, or he'd been too ineffective to prevent it. I could never betray the village that Shisui loved so much, that my family died to protect, but neither could I serve under Sarutobi Hiruzen."

Tsunade understands her phrasing perfectly. The village that her entire family--barring one estranged sister--had died for. The village that Shisui had loved. Not Yua.

"I can understand using Sasuke's departure from the village as the the impetus for bringing this to my attention," Tsunade says slowly. "But I have to ask the question: what do you plan to do if I don't pursue your investigation? What if I decide to leave things buried, or even to silence everyone in this room?"

Hatake freezes entirely, expressionless, and Tenzou's eyes widen.

Nohara merely blinks.

"I came to you with this information because I think that you have a sense of justice," she says. "The Sandaime was too focused on mercy, not realizing that mercy without justice is nothing but weakness. Honestly, I think the man was a coward. But you know the pain that I know, Tsunade-sama, and you left Konoha because you couldn't abide the senselessness of the loss, and I think that you're back because you want to see that loss made meaningful. And if that's the case, if what I hope and think about you is correct, then I'm ready to serve you in whatever capacity you think best without reservation.

"But if not." Nohara's voice doesn't harden or raise, her face doesn't shift. Even so, the room feels a degree colder. "Even heaven won't stop me, Tsunade-sama. I'm not interested in revenge, but if you deny justice to me, to Sasuke and Itachi and all the dead, then there will be no stopping me. I won't let anyone demean the ideal that every shinobi on the Memorial Stone died to honor and uphold. I won't let the Konoha that so many have fought and hurt for turn into an empty shell, devoid of meaning. I've done my best these last few years to work so that this wrong can be resolved as peacefully as possible. And even if I let it be a convenient face, I've genuinely tried to live gently and kindly. But in the end, I'm a shinobi. If it means that I can look the boy I raised in the eye, if it means I can take my friend's hands and let him put down his sword, and if it means that when I die I can say to my parents and my sister and my partner that nothing they suffered was in vain, then I will use every scrap of knowledge and strength I possess for violence, and I won't hesitate to cut down you or anyone who stands in my way."

Silence reigns, and Tsunade doubts that her left eyebrow has ever strained so high. Yes, the woman before her is certainly no accommodating doctor. This is a woman who is every bit the efficient killer of her mythology and then some, crafty and slippery and with a diamond will.

She scoffs. "I'll consider myself warned, then."

[rainbowkirby]

Mortal Kombat Bloodline Episode 1: A New Generations.

Once there a Hourglass, a New History a new era and New Generation, since Liu Kang Defeated Kronika. Then he also defeated the evil Titan Deadly Alliance and Titan Havik. Now the new Era is now continuing Growing and Growing. Now there will be a new Generations when the Time has come. In 5 years later Liu Kang and Titan Kitana has finally had a Child who is now born to be a next generation, One day The child name Liu chi will become a Protector of Earthrealm.

Liu Kang: I wouldn't Thought that Our timeline is Growing.

Geras: Indeed, because without you. It wouldn't be same. Thanks to you since you keeping our timeline in peace.

LiuKang: It's been a Blessing.

KitanaTitan: He beautiful.

Liu Kang: yes, he is. Soon little one you will become a Protector of Earthrealm.

In 20 years Later in wu shi academy, LiuChai has finally growing up to become a Shaolin monk with his new Generations. He has a friend named Kung Jin. Kung Jin is a cousin of Kung Lao and there is a Outworld Sorcerer of Earth and Light named Shimmer. Shimmer is a wizard of the Phantom Forest Far from the living Forest. A Three Master as a new Generations in wu shi academy, Raiden his brother, Fujin, and Kung Lao. Shimmer also has a master named Leo he is a master of the sorcerer of earth and light, he also lived in Phantom Forest in Outworld. LiuChai Kung Jin and Shimmer join the Shaolin and learning about Raiden is gonna teach them.

Raiden: Greetings My fellow Students it is good to see you here in the wu shi academy. It's been my pleasure to teach you how to learn to do techniques Skills, Including Kombat.

Fujin: and we are more then Happy to show you.

KungLao: And it's good to see you here my cousin, I wouldn't thought you're here.

KungJin: aren't you Surprised?

KungLao: More then likely.

Raiden: I'm glad you here to join us, Liu Chai.

LiuChai: I am more then Thrilled to be here. My father send me here to join you.

Raiden: And what about you, you must be new here.

Shimmer: Umm...well...I haven't been a Wu shi academy before....

Shimmer gets very shy but luckily Raiden, Kung Lao want to motivate Him to learn not be afraid and be more comfortable to be with them.

Raiden: Don't be Shy to introduce yourself, tell me your name, Outworlder. We heard that Master Leo Tought you many things.

Shimmer: Do you know Master Leo?

KungLao: Of Course we do, we know him in Outworld.

Shimmer: I'm Shimmer, the wizard of the Phantom Forest, the sorcerer of Earth and light. I am here to fight for peace that what we all deserve. I am here to join you to learn about Kombat and become a Earth Realm and outworld defender.

LiuChai: You been a Outworld before?

Shimmer: yes, I have been, Master Leo and I visited the empress Mileena. She is empress in Outworld. Outworld is beautiful place for all beings.

KungJin: I wonder what is looks like, is it different? I thought Tarkatans and Zatarons are Cannibal.

Shimmer: No, they are carnivore, but they are not cannibals. They have Condition and they have Disease but luckily it's not contagious at all.

KungJin: I'm glad you told me that I not gonna get caught by a Tarkatans cooties.

Shimmer: Don't Worry, They are different species. I've been a Tarkatans Colony to give a Tarkatans some treatment.

Liuchai: What Kind of treatment. Like Medicine?

Shimmer: Yes...A homemade Special Treatment for the patient.

Raiden is gonna teach LiuChai KungJin and Shimmer how to do techniques Skills, and how to become a Protector of Earthrealm.

Raiden: Alright Everyone today is the day that we are gonna teach you all how to do techniques just like Liu Kang Taught us.

Fujin: Remember, don't feel pressured about winning or losing. It's about defending the Earthrealm and that's what you guys here for.

Suddenly theres a Evil Sorcerer came out of nowhere and Confronts Raiden. His name is Mantro. Shimmer has a bad feeling about Mantro, he is a enemies of Master Leo and Shimmer 2 years Ago.

Mantro: Excuse me for interrupting your moment, Raiden. But what if someone wants to win the fight in Kombat and what if you'll lose in Kombat and get easily Killed. That would be ashamed. Don't you think?

Raiden: the rules has changed, Mantro. There's no killing in Kombat.

Mantro:(chuckle) oooooh Raiden you imbecile, you don't know the history of Mortal Kombat.

KungLao: you don't have to kill people in Kombat.

Mantro: Shut your Trap or I'll shut it for you!!(To Kung Lao)

KungJin: hey don't you dare Talk to my cousin like that!! (To Mantro)

LiuChai tries to calm Jin down but Mantro chuckle and smirks. He walk to Shimmer and threaten him.

Mantro: And You, You think it's a good idea to become a Shaolin Monk in the wu shi academy? For What? To fight for peace? .......(Chuckle) Pathetic

Shimmer: Why did you think that?

Mantro: you might be think that everything is peaceful.........You Never know whats in the future.

Shimmer: what that even mean?

Mantro: it's means there is no such thing is peace. The whole world will be agony....keep that in mind.

Shimmer: Are you threatened me?.....I don't believe that......

Mantro: (chuckles) the agony will soon overwhelm you.

Mantro Walks away the wu shi academy. Shimmer is scared and shivering, but luckily LiuChai Calms him.

LiuChai: Are you alright Shimmer?

Shimmer: I don't know, I just got confused.

KungJin: who is that jerk?

Shimmer: that is Mantro, Master Leo and I don't Trust him he's is our worst enemy. He threatening Master Leo to get his own way. I don't know what he'll do. I really don't Trust him..to me he is way worse than ShangTsung.

Raiden: I'm glad you told me that Shimmer. It is a good call about not trusting that guy.

Shimmer: when I get back to the phantom Forest and tell Master Leo.

KungJin: Don't let the basted bother you, you should come to Madem Bo's later Tonight. You should come meet us here.

LiuChai: that's sounds good, you should come join us, Shimmer.

Shimmer: Really....I would loved to... besides I need to clear off my mind from a threat by Mantro.

Later LiuChai KungJin and Shimmer went to Madame Bo's Tea House and Shimmer introducing Madam Bo and they are about to grab a bite to eat.

Shimmer: Wow, this place looks amazing, and its smells nice.

KungJin: guys I would like to introduce Madame Bo not only she's a great Cook but she's also a fighter too.

Madame bo: it's nice to meet you.

Shimmer: it is good to meet you, your place is amazing.

Madame: why thank you, kind sir, what's your name.

Shimmer: I'm Shimmer and I'm from outworld.

Madame: Iv never meant the outworlder before.

Shimmer drinks. A tea and he absolutely loves it.

Shimmer: oh wow, the tea is amazing. I don't know how she's made it so delicious.

LiuChai: Wow Jin, good Call.

Shimmer: Wow it's amazing, the food is Fantastic. I gotta show Master Leo with this he's gonna love it.

But then suddenly there is uninvited guest arrive in the tea house there is a man name Kano he is from the black dragon there is a cowboy in Outworld Erron and there a Young man wearing a hoodie his name is Spectrum, he is shy and he has no idea what's going on. So Kano is here to confront Madame Bo.

Kano: Step Asides Old Lady, We need a Lucky cat for the weapon.

Madame: it's a gift from my mother. You can't have it.

Kano: sorry ma'am, it's ours now.

Madame Bo: I don't know you and I don't make deals.

Kano: then you left me no choice.

Spectrum doesn't like how is going so he immediately stopped Kano from insulting Madam Bo.

Spectrum: WAIT!!! You can't do that. There's no way Im signing up for this. You gonna insulting a poor woman, are you insane?

Kano: Out of my way, bugged eyed.

Spectrum: You can't do That! Just stop!

Kano push Spectrum aside to get his way to try to fight Madame Bo but Madame fights back and she knocked Kano out. Everyone is Surprised to see that.

Shimmer: Wow!

KungJin: I told you so, shes not fuck around.

Shimmer: holy shit! She's good.

Kano Erron Black and Spectrum walks away. But before that Spectrum gives money to Madame Bo and then walk away.

Spectrum: Sorry about that.

KungJin: Who are they?

LiuChai: that's a Black Dragon and his name is Kano he is a criminal in Outworld. I must tell my father about something, because something is not right. You two go gets some sleep.

Later Liu Chai teleport to the hour glass to see his father Liu Kang and tell him about what he saw.

Liu Kang: Son, it's good to see you back. You look worried. so tell me, what brings you here?

LiuChai: we saw a black dragon Kano at the tea house, but luckily Madame Bo take him down. But still it worries me how the dragon just came out of no where.

LiuKang: I see, someone must be teleport the black dragon to Earthrealm, it's seems a bit suspicious.

LiuKang: Geras, check the hourglass, makes sure there is no issues.

Geras check the hourglass. Meanwhile Kano and the other teleport in the ruins in Outworld, the sorcerer Quan Chi is the one teleport Kano and the other.

Kano: that little Shit Had a Audacity to fail our Mission.

Quan Chi: did you find it

Kano: No...

Spectrum: Oh yeah right, gee thanks... Thanks for making me become a bad guy for defending a poor lady who works at the tea house.

Quan Chi is Furious with Spectrum for failing his Plan.

Spectrum: Master I can explain....

Quan Chi: save your tongue Spectrum, you disappoint me. It's not the first time you failed me.

Spectrum: I'm sorry, but I can't let anyone else assaulting a poor lady at the tea house, don't you think it's a bit too far?

Quan Chi: I Don't Care about that, Spectrum the job needs to be done...

Spectrum: but Master, I.....

Suddenly the dark portal interrupting and there's Mantro arrive and chat with Quan Chi.

Mantro: Quan Chi, it's good to see you. Iv been looking forward to have chat with you.

QuanChi: Long time no see, Mantro, why are you here?

Mantro: you do know the lucky cat gold that Madam Bo have is quite Useless...there is a powerful weapon that I been looking forward to steal. The telesman is called the bloom telesman it's a power of earth and light. It's in the phantom Forest Far next to the living Forest. And look what I found from out of nowhere.

Mantro found Shinnok's Amulet.

QuanChi: a Shinnok's Amulet, where did you find it?

Mantro: My fellow Sinister Found it for me, he requested me to get a bloom telesman so we can unleashed Shinnok back to life so we can rule. You should join me Quan Chi, Sinister would be pleased.

Spectrum shocked and he's doesn't like to sound of it at all. QuanChi agrees with Mantro to join them including Kano. But Erron Black is not sure about it so he decided to agree with Spectrum.

Spectrum: Ummm.... Master?

QuanChi: I'll tell my allies to join us.

Mantro: Good but First, unleash General Shao and Reiko so they can overthrown the Empress..

Mantro: Soon, once if we succeed our plan, if we can touch the hourglass, we will do what ever we want. The Whole World Will be Agony.

Mantro Evil laugh but Spectrum and Erron gets a very Bad vibes.

To be continue......

Episode 2

Peace in the Phantom Forest

[snowmoonandflower]

Chapter Notes | shibui; the stillness of persimmons | part one

chapter notes

this segment of the story was very loosely planned, but took a life of it's own when i started writing. it sprung to life to such a degree in fact that i didn't get to cover the events i wanted to in this chapter, even though i'm dividing it into parts - there will be a part two, then i have pushed the following events to a new chapter entirely.

today, let's talk about training, final selection, and mastery of the arts

we only have a very rough reference of how "fast" someone must train to be considered a "fast learner" or "natural" in kny, so here's my reasoning/logic for sanemi being considered a prodigy for his age.

tanjirou trained under urokodaki sakonji over the course of two years to make it to final selection at age 15, and is noted for slaying the hand demon, an old and powerful demon (for the context of final selection). this demon is anywhere from 44-47+ years old, which is many many many years and hundreds of potential trainees who have failed to eradicate it - we can safely presume this was an incredible feat on tanjirou's part.

side note about the hand demon and timelines - the hand demon himself states he was captured by urokodaki 47 years ago, however i personally am of the opinion that since the hand demon was isolated from human society for so incredibly long with only trainees to taunt and consume, his understanding of time would be extremely skewed (as we all collectively experienced during the 2-3 year period of covid lockdowns where keeping track of time while isolated was a chore, even in modern day society with access to the internet).

so if we take the demon's comments as only a rough estimate, we can assume it ran amok undisturbed for minimum 44 years if it was captured in the last year of the keiou era (1868) and we assume that tanjirou's final selection takes place in the first year of the taishou era (1912). if we take his comments literally and place his capture on the last year of keiou, that would place tanjirou's selection 47 years later in the year 1915. the current year as of this chapter in the fic is 1908 - sanemi is 14 - so it will be 1915 when he is 21, his canonical age in the series. so take that as you will!

kyoujurou is a hashira at age 20 at the start of the series. being part of a long line of previous flame hashira, we can assume he began training at an early age. we get implications of natural talent as it is said that he not only taught himself advanced flame breathing for a book, but also because his esoteric skill, rengoku, was developed and used exclusively by him.

senjurou is seven years younger than kyoujurou in this story (his canon age is never confirmed outside of kimetsu academy, which is an AU itself). this places him at age 13 in 1915. we know that at the start of kny, senjurou had recently completed final selection, but his nichirin blade did not change colours.

there is implication that he had essentially the same training as kyoujurou. his brother took up the role of mentor when shinjurou stopped caring, and that very well could have affected his regimen and progress. regardless though, his sword did not change colour, so i take this inferences to mean that senjurou didn't have the natural talent or dedication of his brother when it came to swordsmanship.

muichirou canonically becomes the mist hashira after only two months after his final selection. he is noted as being extremely exceptional, and that the feat itself outmatches most of the other hashira combined with his age. as he is 14 when the story starts, we can assume he is at the very least 13 when he wakes up and recovers, begins training, goes to final selection, then becomes hashira.

gyoumei is canonically considered the strongest hashira of the current era. it is said he also became a hashira in only two months, despite being much older when he became a demon slayer proper. he had no formal training, much like muichirou, and his skill is noted to be "innate" or "natural". this is considered extremely exceptional.

piecing together this information, i've basically spitballed this approximately timeline on training to be a demon slayer:

the five great families are exceptional, as they train their children in the breathing arts at a young age (maybe from the moment they're old enough to hold a sword!) typically, they enter final selection anywhere between ages 11-13, however waiting until this age is more of a formality and a kindness to not thrust their child soldiers so readily into their war with the demons. children of the great families aren't expected to master their breath techniques, but its a common occurence

outside of the families, anyone who grew up with knowledge of the corps and were dedicated to training to be a slayer still typically will not take final selection until age 13-15, and while they do not train as extensively from as young an age as the great families, its still expected that most would have 2-5 years of experience and no mastery of their skill by the time they go

there is no age limit for final selection - you can be as young as 11 or as old as 18, maybe even older. i do not see the corp being ageist in their battle against kibutsuji

an "average" person (like murata or senjurou) cannot master breathing techniques, no matter how long or hard they train - even those who complete final selection typically are not "masters" of their chosen art! mastery is not a matter of just dedication, and not everyone can be a master, even if they train for 20+ years. there is a degree of innate talent

for those who have the potential to master a breath style, it typically takes over 5+ years to achieve true mastery - those who achieve mastery earlier than this are considered prodigies, even amongst the great families

in one month, sanemi has perfected total concentration breathing and is noted by several others (who are masters as well) to have "complete mastery" over at least one of the forms of wind breathing, which in this story is specifically described as the hardest and most aggressive technique to learn. he is not a natural talent like gyoumei or muichirou, but he is certainly considered a prodigy even by the standards of the five great families.

so lets give them a rough standing on where they stand as "prodigies"

gyoumei and muichirou are considered prodigies or extremely exceptional talent, not heard of or seen since the sengoku era

sanemi is considered a prodigy, though not to the degree of the former two

kyoujurou is exceptional and would be considered a prodigy to "normal" slayers - to the great families however, he is simply doing what is "expected" from such a prestigious line. i will say his determination sets him apart though

tanjirou is considered exceptional - not a prodigy, but an exceptional swordsman with exceptional circumstances. i think most "normal" people like murata or gotou would think him a prodigy though

that's all for this half of the chapter notes! when i post the next half of the chapter next week, i will continue with more notes that would be considered spoilers at this time.

feel free to send an ask if you have questions, as my inbox is open!

[isorottatime]

god, you know what i think about a lot?? sabine’s opinion on the jedi. she was raised in empire-era mandalore (well. krownest. mandalore system) and then sent to the imperial academy when she was 12~13. so there’s no goddamn way she ever had positive opinions on the jedi. and don’t worry, i didn’t forget the siege of mandalore!! yes, ursa fought with ahsoka…. but that was because of bo-katan. bo-katan is not a fan of jedi. during s7 she was even less of a fan of maul so “other enemy of my enemy is my friend” yadda yadda— i’m getting off track. ursa was a nite owl, is my point; an offshoot of death watch. yeah, the nite owls were evidently a bit less hostile towards jedi… but then, the empire. i don’t think it’s talked about enough that the empire absolutely decimated the public’s opinion of the jedi. they said the jedi were planning a coup (which they did, but let’s not get into these details here) they slandered their reputation; for example, they said plo koon killed children. anyway. ursa raised her daughter under imperial rule; it’s shown in season three that sucking up to the empire is very important to her (obviously. to survive lmao). and she’s mandalorian. so tween sabine absolutely grew up hating the jedi. then! the imperial academy— the propaganda against the jedi didn’t contradict anything she’d been taught so far, so why would she question it? she didn’t even really question the empire until they used the duchess like … that. she was raised pretty comfortably. then just because she defected and evaded the empire, why would she question what she’d been taught about the jedi? what would push her? the general public’s opinion hadn’t just flipped after o66, people had been losing faith during the whole war. sabine had known nothing but negativity about the jedi. then!!! she’s found, half dead (ketsu showed no signs of jedi non-negativity, either) by these three randoms and a murder droid. how does she find out kanan’s a jedi? does kanan keep his distance at first, then she confronts him? 14~15 y/o sabine finding herself having to rely on these strange people to nurse her back to health, with nowhere to go.., then she finds out one of them’s a jedi… her whole settling in arc in general. i Crave it. how did her opinion on the jedi change?? ++ we get one line from hera in trails of the darksabre, where she says “remember how long it took for her to trust us.” i’m chomping at the bit where is sabine’s arc about her trusting the crew. taking them as her new family. she’s the most wary when ezra joins, she doesn’t trust him tipping her life —that she finally feels settled into— upside down. he’s 14~15, just like she was when they found her. is the crew trying to replace her? they found a kid who’s got more skills. of course she was only there because she was good with weapons. this kid is force-sensitive! her times up. oh god what now— you get the picture. 

this absolutely spiralled away from my original point 

[twsted-tales]

🏛️Welcome to Pantheon Stave University🏛

      Before the age of magicians, before even the time of the great seven who have become legends in their own right, there was the age of the gods in Twisted Wonderland. An era where the gods of our ancient past walked the earth with mortals as far as they eye could see. Where heroes sprung up and shocked the world in awe from their glory. Though as all things are in the world, nothing can last forever, even the divine has their time to take a bow from the world stage, leaving it in the hands of mortals and the heroes they had sired. But even heroes do not stat off as legends, they must be taught and guided to meet their potential, and it is this school: Pantheon Stave University where heroes of the past had trained, and now it too houses the heroes of today, continuing the path of the gods one step at a time. And it is my profound honor to welcome you into its ancient halls, my heroes of today. - Chiron, the trainer of heroes, and Headmaster of Pantheon Stave University.

~SCHOOL BIO~

It has existed for quite sometime and has a lot of history behind it, but it seems even though it’s been able to adapt to the current age, the old school has seemingly begun to lose its luster. Often being overshadowed by Night Raven College, and Royal Sword Academy in the modern day. But although its halls may not glitter as bright as it used to, Pantheon Stave still has so much greatness to show the world. If only it’s students could stop stepping on each other’s toes for five minutes they could get on that. But despite this hangup, Chiron will try to get his heroes to be the best they can be regardless of their bickering at the end of the day

Pantheon Stave University or PSU for short is an ancient magic school inspired by mythology, specifically 7. Them being Greek mythology, Egyptian mythology, Norse mythology, Chinese mythology, Japanese mythology, Celtic mythology and finally West African mythologies.

Headmaster: Chiron

     The headmaster of the Academy is Chiron from Greek mythology, the famed immortal Centaur who served as the trainers of heroes from Greek mythology. As a character and headmaster to put it simply, he's very much like a grandpa. Wise, caring, patient and tries his best to be fair. He carries an air of "I've seen everything twice but I'll try my best anyway." He's very, very old, no one really knows just how old this Centaur is, but he always carries himself with a grace and wisdom of seemingly centuries of hardships and experiences. And also the stress of constantly having to repair the school from rowdy, and incredibly magical potent children who seem to always have to one up each other. One day of peace, that's all he asks, but if time has shown him anything, that's very unlikely to happen.

The dorms of PSU aren’t stylized after one god in a mythology like how NRC is inspired by one of the great seven. Instead their dorm view the gods as a whole and use their pantheons as a source of inspiration, as well as guidance on what not to do. As each Dorm bears an ideal to strive towards, they are not to just emulate and find inspiration from the gods, but they’re encouraged to try and be better than them. For even gods aren’t infallible, and if you were to get Chiron started on the subject, you had better hope you packed a lunch. The old centaur has plenty of tales to share about how the gods have made fools of themselves in the past. Especially a certain king of the skies he knows. 

School Uniforms:

The uniform for PSU is pretty simple despite its age. It usually consists of a Violet blazer with gold designs atop it. As beneath it is a black turtle neck, and later slacks/leggings at the end.

But if there's two things that each uniform shares, it would be the dorm sash that wraps around your waist, and the magic ring it's students use for their magic. With the only exception being the Dorm Leaders and their vices.

Each vice and head dorm leader gets a plain looking wooden stave that transforms into an item that best fits them as a person. In the case of one dorm leader, his stave transformed into a literal lightning bolt he can actually send lightning through. And the usual target for those bolts is a fellow dorm leader who enjoys riling him up.

(The amazing art above was made by @crestbaby)

Dorms:

Olympus:

Twisted from: Greek Mythology

Ideal: Humility

-Olympus is the oldest dorm inside of PSU, and with it bears the longest stretch of history within the halls as it is the only surviving remnant of Schools early history still in constant use. Olympus is of course based on greek mythology, and with it, their ideal to strive towards is that of Humility. It being the opposite of hubris, one of the most frequent flaws found within greek mythology. 

Like the Olympians the dorm was inspired by, the dorm excels in innovation such as how the Olympians improved how to rule from the Titans before them. And how the Titans Learned from Ouranos etc etc. The dorm is built upon humility, and making improvements to what came before, as each new breed of God's improved on what the past lacked.

To be considered Dorm head, the student must usurp the previous leader. As if saying your way of doing things is so outdated, a simple rebellion toppled you. This system was made through inspiration of when the olympians battled the Titans for control of the world. Ushering a new age.

Oamanu:

A style of magic most students of Olympus excel in would be divination magic. Predicting future events in things like prophecies.

The Color scheme for Olympus' sash is Blue and White

Twisted from: Egyptian Mythology

Ideal: Balance

-Oamanu is the second oldest dorm within PSU. This Dorm was based on Egyptian mythology, and through it, the dorm holds the trait of Balance. Reason being is because in Egyptian mythology, it favors order above all else and views chaos as too destructive and evil. But in life there must be a balance of Order and Chaos, so that is the trait of this dorm.

To be Dorm leader, the students must do two things, be the most skilled/powerful magician of the dorm and must continue to have the most amount of newly made spells in the dorm during a school year. Whoever is the most skilled magician is the leader cause they've proven themselves to be the wisest and strongest of the students for now.

Students who enter this dorm usually excel at incantations and the weaving of magic. Its quite expected of its students to make and form new magic spells and techniques.

Vangard:

Oamanu comes from combining Oasis and Manu(the place im Egyptian mythology where Ra dies, starting the night)

The Color scheme for Oamanu's sash is White and Gold

Twisted from: Norse Mythology

Ideal: Acceptance

-Vangard is a dorm was based on Norse Mythology, and thanks to it, the dorm holds the trait of Acceptance, reason being, in Norse Mythology the fear and worry of ragnarok and trying to prevent it as best they could. This is most seen with the likes of Odin who often tried as hard as he could to even slightly alter the coming fate that approached him. So a trait for this dorm is that of accepting what is out of your control.

Students who go into Vangard often excell in Athletics and combat, students here are often hearty and very, very competitive. Taking joy in bringing each other to their limits and trying to break past it.

This is the most straight forward system of being dorm head, it's a test of strength and combat. Basically either a fight to submission or arm wrestle. Anyone can challenge the current dorm head to a bout at anytime and anywhere no matter what.

Xiao-yù:

The name came from me combining Vanir and Asgard

The color scheme for Vangard's sash is silver

Twisted from: Chinese Mythology

Ideal: Freedom

Students of Xiao-yù often excel quite a lot in practical magic. Finding ways to use and integrate magic into regular life in very orderly and useful ways

-Xiao-yù This Dorm is based on Chinese Mythology, and due to that inspiration possesses the trait of freedom, this is due to the rigid hierarchy of Chinese Mythology. This isn't to say get rid of order, but to allow people to control their own destinies and choices. Not limiting someone by fate or position.

This Dorm doesn't really have a way to change dorm leaders despite its trait. It's very bureaucratic, whoever is the last dorm leader searches for who is the most skilled and orderly of the students and chooses them to be their successor. Vice dorm leader is close to this, whoever the new dorm leader is chooses who is their vice dorm leader, but, in special cases, (like the current one) if say someone is so freakishly strong or charismatic they can work or raise enough havoc so that the dorm leader has no choice but to give them the role.

The Color scheme for Xiao-yù's sash is Jade

Shintokami:

Twisted from: Japanese Mythology

Ideal: Duty

-Shintokami This Dorm is based on Japanese Mythology and it's trait is Duty, this is connected to the Amaterasu cave story where she gave up her on duties and role due to a situation with susanoo. This trait means that despite the harshness and unpredictability of life, you keep moving forward despite what fear or pain you may have.

Students in Shintokami specialize in ancient branches of magic, often preserving and utilizing traditional styles and relics of the past.

Gaelicia:

To become dorm leader, the students place a bet on who can use ancient incantations and techniques to form the most life-like and moving animations of magic. Like say you craft a fox doll, through using that ancient magic and animating it, you've made a new creature of magic(this is a reference to when amaterasu and sussanoo made a bet where they each had to make new gods)

The Color scheme for Shintokami's sash is red and white

Twisted from: Celtic Mythology

Ideal: Forgiveness

-Gaelicia is a dorm was based on Celtic Mythology, and like the dorm above, it's trait is based on its current dorm leader, and the trait for this dorm is Forgiveness. This is due to the dorm head being based on the Morrigan, who had a myth where after getting swiped left by Cú Chulainn, and so was so mad she made sure to make him suffer as much as possible before having him die.

Students in Gaelicia like Vangard hold warriors in high acclaim, but while this is so, the dorm also is very adept in curses and bending a situation to their favor

Itan-ori:

To become the dorm leader of Gaelicia, each student will have a battle of combat and curses, showing which side had tipped fate in their favor with their battle.

The Color scheme for Gaelicia's sash is purple and black

Twisted from: West African Mythologies

Ideal: Creativity

-Itan-ori is a dorm is based on really multiple west African mythologies. But thanks to its dorm head, it bears the trait of selflessness, this is due to the dorm leader being based on Anansi. Who while he did good, often did so for greedy and selfish gains. If you are to be a leader and are told to help people, you must do so without selfish want.

Students in Itan-ori excel greatly in the creative side of magic. In a way capturing its heart as they use it alongside their imagination and creativity to mostly do art or more creative things on a battle field like tactics.

To become dorm head, there are two ways, the first, a vote, the dorm mates of each student takes a vote on who they believe is best suited to be dorm leader.

Second: both students do a bet, whoever wins the most games or completes the three difficult tasks given by the oldest dorm members wins the position.

Dorm Leaders:

Itan in certain Yoruba translations mean tale/story, and Ori is just a shortening of Orisha

The Color scheme for Itan-ori's sash is orange and black

From left to right:

Julius Shroud: Second year Dorm leader of Olympus, and twisted from Zeus

Khalid Aten: Third year Dorm leader of Oamarunu, and twisted from Ra

Alvis Oden: Third year Dorm leader of Vangard, and twisted from Odin

Morrigan Crowley: Second year Dorm leader of Galecia, and twisted from The Morrigan

Akari Okami: Second year Dorm leader of Shintokami and twisted from Amaterasu

LIn Cheng: Third year Dorm leader of Xiao-yù, and twisted from The Jade Emperor

Anansi Khari: First year Dorm leader of Itan-ori, and twisted from Anansi

Other Fun Facts:

To be eligible to join this school, every student must have ridiculous amounts of raw magic power and potential. Almost as of you're some kind of demi-god

Unlike say NRC for example, each trait listed is more of a goal or path to work towards for each member in a dorm. To in a way become better and learn from the flaws of the mythological figures. Each character is very flawed in their personalities and through this have to work to overcome the myth connected to them. To be better than the legends which inspired the dorms.

Due to its Age, PSU has changed greatly over the years. At in its earlier stages, it was merely a place where Chiron taught the magicians and heroes of old how to battle and fight against monsters, and dangerous beasts in the early days of Twisted Wonderland.

But as nations began to form stronger foundations the world over as the age of chaos cane to its end, PSU entered its next age. Beginning to not just teach regular trainees and other royalty how to do warfare, but also began to teach it's students how to be leaders depending on which dorm they were put in, with each one specializing in a different styles of leadership inspired by their time at PSU.

And finally in its current age, it's became a place where powerful and aspiring magicians the world over, no matter what class or origin they have could come to learn and prepare for their careers later in life

But even as PSU changes throughout the years, there are some traditions that are still clear to see in the old school. That being combat class, which even to this day, every student learns at least the basics of defending themselves. Although people aren't fighting against monsters on a daily basis, this tradition still stands. For there have been many times in its history where PSU has been forced to defend itself from violent forces. Showing the scars on its campus as weapons and other signs 8f weapon wear and tear are peppered throughout the building.

Instead of using Magical pens, students of PSU use magic crystal rings to use magic through. These often resemble class rings in appearance. The only exceptions are Dorm heads and their vices. They receive a stave which transforms into an item that fits the person. As an example: Julius' Stave transformed into a lightning bolt when he received his.

In the heart of the school, there stands a gigantic tree humming with intense levels of magic. Through this tree people go to their dorms. Holding up their rings to the tree as one of it's branches curls down opening a portal to the dorm's realm.

[fuckmymunson]

💫𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮n

5 facts ab me (preference for men marauders era or stranger things 🤭🤭)

- i’ve been told i’m pretty smart and i’m a huge film buff, i love studying movies etc and i’m a pretty good director myself.

- ik a lot ab pop culture and i make lots of references.

- yesterday my friends and i held a fake funeral for a made up man named robert, i decided he would be a sex fiend who worked at ihop and taught us math. ☺️☺️

- im very passionate ab the things i like

- very loyal to the ppl i care ab and i’ve been told i give good advice 🙏🙏

Rip Robert fr, may he rest in piss...

I match you with… 🥁

Sirius Black!

You two are meant to rule the world.

Expect tons of crude jokes on his part, he knows you can match his vibe and his humour, so it's not on his plans to ever let you go.

Sirius also knows he's sometimes a bit weird to get along with, he has trouble expressing himself from time to time, not because he doesn't wanna, s'just because he's not used to being vocal about his problems. Whenever his mind is getting the best of him, this man knows the best place to go is you, to be safe in your arms and to hear your advice, to be kissed and held by you, it's simply magical.

Oh, and he will share that passion with you, I hc Sirius as a literal theatre kid, so you being a wonderful director just boosts his ego:

"Hey, I learned this script you sent me, bring your camera, babe, and get ready to see the most breathtaking acting of your life!"

"Sirius, it's just a normal Shakespeare script—"

"Shh! You'll ruin the mood!"

One of his favourite activities is laying down next to you, cuddling, watching an academy award movie and talking about it as if he was the presenter, kissing your forehead every now and then, and groaning in annoyance every time you ask him to shut the hell up.

Mwah <3.

[ashdumpsterpile]

Academy Era Mckirk

anyway here's my top 10 academy era mckirk recs enjoy.

Step 1: Enlist in Starfleet. Step 2: ????? Step 3: Profit. by hellostarling

Jim spends three years at the Academy, and he totally manages it all by himself. Well, Bones helps a little. Or a lot. Maybe.

This is Jim's Starfleet education and all that entails: the ups, the downs, the prank wars, the winter vacations, and the awkward boners.

Once More unto the Breach by AnEscapeFromReality

James Kirk was the rudest student Professor Heleine ever taught. He stomped out of the middle of the professor's lecture like he wasn't a mere cadet. Well, the professor was done putting up with him. If he couldn't sit through an expert lecture, then he should give the lecture about Tarsus. That would teach him some respect.

What Sulu Sees by IsmayDeVain

How Kirk Slowly Endears Himself to His Crew by Becoming a Human Punching Bag, Plunging off a 300 Foot Cliff, Getting Crushed by a Giant Ass Pipe, Nearly Getting Blown to Itty Bitty Bits, and Suffocating Because of His Own Medically Inept Body. (Although, not necessarily in that order.) Or five times Kirk puts his crew before himself and one time they return the favor.

(this is post Star Trek 2009, but it includes flashbacks to the academy so I'm counting it.)

Shelter by schweinsty

Five times Jim told someone about Tarsus IV, and one time they already knew.

The World May Never Know by SadieYuki

How many lies does it take to get to the center of a Jim Kirk?

Or, five times Jim Kirk hid the truth from Leonard McCoy, and one time he finally opened up.

Cpt C. Pike and C/ J.T. Kirk’s guide to unexpected Co-Habitation by InsaneSociopath

When the Admiralty first delivered their ultimatum, Chris Pike didn't know who ought to be more offended; Jim Kirk, for being treated as if he were incapable of being independent despite being twenty-two and a certified genius; or Chris himself, for not getting any choice in who lived in his spare bed room for the next twelve months dammit!

Or: Things Captain Christopher Pike learns about both himself and Cadet James T Kirk during their (not so) brief period of (initially) forced co-habitation.

Leonard H. McCoy's Guide to Keeping a Friend by highschool-facelesshellion (mutalune)

Leonard came to Starfleet with nothing except a half-finished degree and an empty bottle of cheap booze. It took him months to realize he had a best friend waiting in the wings for him to get his act together.

Or: How Leonard made a best friend by being an unobservant but decent person and how his conscience wouldn't let him be undeserving of the kid's freak affection.

Quirks and Their Side Effects by highschool-facelesshellion (mutalune)

Jim Kirk's always been a weirdo.

Leonard could use some more weird.

The Little Things by summoner_yuna_of_besaid

Jim thinks about how he came to this moment: how he just happened to go and visit Bones when the man was with a patient diagnosed with ADHD who was looking to refill his medication. Funny, he thinks as more tears roll down his face and his lips tremble, how the most innocuous little things can change your life, forever.

...

In which Jim Kirk learns about himself and his mind, struggles to understand it, and his friends and family help him handle the fall out.

Any Road Will Take You There by shoreleave

Slow-developing K/M, beginning right after the shuttle ride and showing what happens the first year at the Academy. Told from McCoy's POV.

___

(anyway drop into my inbox to cry with me about aos kirk)

[sanstropfremir]

Why are the theatre/film schools like that? 💀💀💀

In mine most profs were complete idiots. One of them, a well know actor and the president of the Academy at that time, did absolutely nothing in class. He bailed most of the time due to “shootings” and the few days he came we practically did nothing, just some chats with him about his job. To grade us he asked us to write in a paper what we thought we deserved. I kid you not.

Another one, who was a tv producer, was most likely very mentally ill and undiagnosed cause he would have the most random shitty ideas that we had to comply with and a lot of mood-swings. The day of the final exam he came 40 mins late because he was smoking week in front of the back door and then proceeded to give us the weirdest exam ever that kept us a minimum of 3 hours there. We had to make a plan of how to shoot an event and he kept adding snipers, famous people and animals to the mix.

There was one that I deeply hated cause we had 3 classes with him that were practically the same. He was more on the sociology side but did not know at all how to be a professor. His classes consisted of spiting facts and giving 10+ random bibliography per day. I learned nothing and I still have murderous waves every time someone mentions his name.

There was a couple who were married and had the sane vibe of old and way to classical. They were harmless until the end, when we learned that they blocked A LOT OF THINGS to make the space and curriculum better. Like, requesting funding to take a paid intern for their research lab of 3d shit, choosing the one (a friend of mine), signing the contract and then NEVER DO ANYTHING NOR SPEAK WITH THE CHOSEN PERSON. She had to go crying to the dean for a response and even then they were not held accountable. The school employed her as a paid intern in another department to make up for it but the rest never got resolved.

Other profs were alright, just very weird characters. The screenwriter prof was a very funny man but deeply depressed and had us all worried at first hour on Mondays (his Very Bad Day).

And on top of that was The Building™️. You see, ours was made by a very famous architect and it won several awards. Every couple of weeks we had someone taking photos of it. However, it’s the most impractical building ever because it was built as at a museum and not a school. The chairs are absolutely demential. So uncomfortable and very easily breakable BUT they cannot be replaced until 20-30 years from now because they signed a contract with the architect that said so. There is one (or two if your lucky) power plug per class but millions on the corridors. The bathrooms stalls are so narrow that if you want to enter with a bag/backpack you cannot close the door. In fact, some of those doors barely close without anyone inside. The editing rooms have gigantic windows where you cannot block the light so you can’t see shit on the computers. Well, windows are a thing in general. Classrooms have them but only one of them can be open partially with a button and let me tell you it does not help to ventilate properly 🙊. And the doors, boi, most of them had the handle broken so someone was always at risk of getting trapped there. You taught that they would fix this but it’s been more than 6 years since I finished and it’s still the same. There’s a twitter account that posts the shenanigans that are going on and most shit is the same.

So yeah, wild shit is always happening I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

✨🎥 anon

literally all film/theatre schools are same shit different channel slkdfjsldkjflskdjflskdjflsdjflsdkjf oh i feel you for all of this. most of our profs did actually know what they were talking about thank god, but a lot of them were old bastions and hadn't worked professionally in AGES so they were sooooo out of date to how the scene actually operated in the modern era. we had a couple of real characters and one of which was the director for my thesis show, who was five foot zero inches and thin as a twig, wore leather pants frequently and called everyone 'lovey'. and like i previously said, was somewhere between 65 and 85 and nobody could tell bc she occasionally went to switzerland to have some crazy type of botox done to her face. we did have potentially maybe two sexual abusers?? i never got confirmation on any of it bc it was kept sooo tightly under wraps but in one case i'm not sure if there was any evidence brought forward (he was just a regular abuser though, that guy fucking SUCKED), and the other guy i only found out about from a former student bc the whole thing got swept under the rug bc his wife ALSO worked in the department. also the whole staff was like. so racist. the year after i left one of the shows that went up to committee for season suggestion was a show written in the 70s that had a bunch of racial slurs in it (and no people of colour in the script) and almost the entire student body put a petition up to remove it from selection but the director wouldn't stand down so they did it anyways 💀💀💀 i was fucking glad i was out of that hellhole by that time.

and oh my god the building architecture.....never before have i been so glad that there's no famous architects from anywhere near my hometown bc fuckin YIKES. we had a designated separate building from the rest of campus that was built in the 80s specifically for the theatre department, so we rarely left bc all the rehearsal rooms + class rooms were all in there with the theatres. and almost no non-theatre students came in bc there was only one 'theatre' class that a non-registered theatre major could take, and that was a public speaking class, so every time that class happened once a week we'd all give eyeballs to the lost looking business and sciences majors coming in. also there were signs on like every door that said 'no non theatre personnel beyond this point' (bc the building also had the box office and held audiences for when the shows were running) so anyone who was lost always looked extra lost. plus the whole thing was a huge maze bc there were upper level catwalks and corridors that connected the grid + fly systems between the two theatres, so the techies sometimes would go up to the upper levels and not come down for the entire day.

oh and there was a tradition where if you had sex in the building you would mark the spot with a black 'x'. in my first year we did a show with a big coffin as one of the setpieces and on one of the last nights of the run two of the actors fucked in it

[watevermelon]

Possessive | College!Ushijima Wakatoshi x Reader

✧ Summary: Libero to the women’s Fukurōdani volleyball club, you moved away from Miyagi and to Tokyo during your first-year. And while you cherished your high school years, you wondered how different it might have been if you stayed with your childhood friends at Shiratorizawa. After a failed confession in junior high, you were more than surprised to re-connect with the strong ace in college.  ✧ Warnings: Implicating language and some out-dated head-cannons ✧ Tags: Fukurodani crew! Akaashi being an instigator from Kuroo’s influence probably, subtle Jealous moments, fluff, cleared-up misunderstandings, angst, and mutual pining at one point ((this is a long one)) -> A/N: If you are an oldie fan of HQ you might have seen this on Deviantart (we shared an acc there and now stuff is getting migrated 😛 )) -> Masterlist

--------xXxXxXxXxXx------

You were on the phone, lazily chatting away with your favorite Salami and catching-up with what you had missed since the last time he called. You went to Shiratorizawa Academy Junior High with the red-haired middle-blocker and many of the other current third-years. During the break of your first-year of high school, your dad got a new job in Tokyo and it was off to Fukurōdani Academy for you.

It was an amazing three-years that you would not change, from Bokuto’s inconsistent confidence – which did extend to girls! – to Akaashi’s eternal suffering. You were amongst the many who cried at graduation. It was not until you heard your own name called and you were approaching the stage to receive your diploma that it finally hit you that this would be your last walk on the field. No more all-nighters with Akaashi or getting in trouble with Bokuto – well, that’s actually entirely possible in the near future. But it was truly an end of an era and you would give anything to be able to watch memories of those three-years.

Bokuto was a proud dad of his team and put on a strong face. But you were soft at heart and immediately felt tears break your stern façade the moment you saw captain Akaashi. And for once, the usually stern setter smiled at you. It was a pure instance that would forever brand your heart.

There were too many ‘what if’s’ concerning your time at Shiratorizawa and if you had stayed there for high school instead. It was better to be focused on reality than what could have happened. You loved your time at Fukurōdani Academy and connected well with the various people you met.

You can, however, admit to mentally wandering off once or twice during class, pondering how your childhood friends were dealing without you. Did they miss you? How is everyone? You would get various glimpses here and there throughout the schoolyear from the various sports channels, seeing the familiar tufts of hair signifying the guess monster and his ace.

They came to you almost twice a year. Shiratorizawa was a powerhouse school, there was no doubt about it. And they never failed to appear at nationals that were held annually in Tokyo. They were a reliable team, much like your own, and you would meet-up for the customary trash-talk between the Miyagi-representatives and yourself from the Tokyo Prefecture. You could look forward to seeing them around those times of the year, it was that simple. They were reigning champions and kept the title strong.

You could still remember first seeing them at the fall national competition. It was your first Interhigh and the women’s team had advanced to the National Playoffs. You were nowhere near the starting lineup, but you still felt the pride of your school swell within you as one of their libero’s.

The men’s and women’s volleyball team were leisurely walking through a hall of the gymnasium, trying to emanate their most serious and daunting look possible. You walked alongside your new outgoing classmates, Kōtarō Bokuto and the male libero Haruki Komi. Both of them were rays of sunshine, but it seemed Komi was better at withholding his enthusiasm.

“Don’t look now, but there’s one of the rising aces everyone has been talking about at your ten o’clock.” Haruki whispered in your ear, lightly nudging your elbow.

You glanced to the side and the bright-red gravity defying hair was enough to signify who was before you. In the loudest inside voice you could muster, you basically yelled, “I figured swans would be more concerned with looking pretty than anything else.”

Immediately, Tendou whipped around to see who the fuck was talking shit.

Haruki was instantly regretting bringing the purple-clad giants to your attention. He grabbed your arm and quickly tugged you to hide behind your senpai’s, who could handle the diffusing the situation. Bokuto was simply smiling away, both curious and excited to see his prospective rivals. The older, calmer members of Fukurōdani Academy were quick and you felt some weight fall on your shoulder – probably your very captain telling you to silently shut the hell up. But when they saw Tendou’s smile and Ushijima’s confused face, they were just as perplexed.

“Missed me boys?” You waved at the crowd of Shiratorizawa jackets, spotting a few familiar faces.

“We have a traitor in our midst!” Tendou yelled back, ruffling you hair and gaining surprised laughter from Bokuto.

During that Interhigh National Tournament, your team was defeated in the quarter finals by an all-girls school called Niiyama High. With a proud mindset, you set your eyes on your next chance in the spring with the third-years leading the charge. Unlike most schools, you were a powerhouse and not a single problem, like college exams or even graduation, was going to stop the third-years from continuing to Spring nationals.

The women’s team were comprised of mostly strong-willed women with fervent determination. You were quick to pick-up your dignity after the lost match and decided on supporting your male counterparts at the tournament. The match between the men’s teams of Shiratorizawa and Fukurōdani Academy were still going on and it was hype as fuck.

Both schools were known powerhouses, coming with complete cheerleaders, an entire cheering section, a band, and a teacher delegated with the pure role of leading the loud shouts. On the court, it was easy to tune out the audience and keep your eyes focused on the enemy in front of you. But as the women’s team scoured for seats, you could not help but be amazed at the sheer amount of people from your school who showed up to cheer. Bokuto was anxiously squeezing his hands at the sidelines, but you knew he was destined for more.

You and Bokuto had an affinity for befriending members of other teams and after the Interhigh tournament came the Kanto training camp – which rightfully handed you another ass. Other powerhouse schools taught you that you truly had much more to learn. Ubugawa, both men and women, were widely-renowned for their power serves. And as a libero, this awarded you constant red arms and a couple overly-excited receives to the head.

But it also brought you the greatest gift of all – or maybe worst, who knows?

This friendly camp introduced the sassy duo of Tetsurō Kuroo and Morisuke Yaku. Yaku was an amazing libero whom you admired from afar, even in your younger years. And this camp gave you a personal connection to the young man. The first few times you tried approaching him, your shyness would often kick in. Three years later and you could get away with lounging your legs across his.

In your second-year, Bokuto was already vice-captain while you only just gained a position on the starting block. It was, you figured, entirely natural since Bokuto was gaining ranks amongst national spikers. And that year, you secretly believed in your heart, was the best year of the three. The weight of the world had yet to be placed on your shoulders and there was no looming thought of graduation on the horizon. And that year ushered the era of Akaashi. You heard his name constantly, from both Bokuto and other male volleyball players, but was never fully familiarized with the boy.

You knew from bits and pieces that he was charming young man that Bokuto held in high-regard. A junior high picture showed a cute boy with dark scruffy hair, around your height. But hot momma, you were not prepared at all. Akaashi was a good amount of centimetres taller and his build accentuated his role as setter. And you were not going to lie, he was attractive.

You spotted him several times at practice, but you were too shy to actually introduce yourself. It took Bokuto literally shoving you at the poor boy for you to finally say hi. Something about Akaashi reminded you of home. His personality reflected several different members of your previous male team and something in particular about him often had you with a reminiscent smile. He was determined like Semi and incredibly proper like Ushijima. You even saw bits of Tendou in his sass and it was within a few days that you decided that this boy was going to be one of your best-friends.

The pretty-setter was in advanced classes and had no problems being included in courses with his older senpai’s. In the study group, Akaashi was the one often leading the charge and you thanked the stars for blessing your life with such an amazing guy.

By the time it was your third-year, Akaashi was already tired of your shit and would steer you away from any team with a semblance of purple in their uniform. Of course, he could never fully keep you from your original idiots and had to withstand it eventually. You progressed onto becoming vice-captain with your exuberant setter at the lead. The men’s vice-captain wondered on several occasions how the two leading counter-parts were so completely opposite to himself. You almost felt bad, but you knew that Akaashi secretly loved the attention he received from the extroverted cast. Between the two captain’s, you found yourself to be a tiny bit tamer and that caused Akaashi to find friendship in you.

It was during your last Spring Tournament that you felt your heart break. You were entirely focused on the winning title, but of course seeing the boys of Shiratorizawa was something you looked forward to. It was an added bonus to achieving a spot on the national scene. Sure, it was amazing for your volleyball team to achieve a title of that high regard. But it was never about the destination, but the journey. And you had multiple memories of fun and laughter when your team hung-out with Shiratorizawa.

But they never showed up.

You rubbed your eyes to reread the brackets, the name ‘Shiratorizawa’ never appearing on the paper. You asked Bokuto if there was a typo, but he was proud to reply that his apprentice finally brought the great Ushijima to his knees. You knew Karasuno joined the Kanto training camp during the summer, but that did not imply anything. Sure, it was to train powerhouse schools, but neither Shinzen nor Ubugawa qualified for nationals this year.

And yet, after watching the last two sets of Karasuno vs. Shiratorizawa, you knew.

It was over.

Your paradise was long gone and you wondered why Tendou never brought-up the subject while he kept in close-contact with you.  You kept your friendship with Tendou throughout high-school. He was eager to text and had no reserves about calling you. Ohira and Semi were both polite, but kept a considerable distance since you were only on generally nice terms before. They had no reason to make the effort and reach out to you. Seokawa had his own problems. And you heard from Tendou that the poor vice-captain was on the chopping block from the starting lineup from the hands of a new first-year.

Ushijima… He was continually elusive. Whether in-front of you or miles away, Wakatoshi would speak to you in concise words or none at all. You were okay with that in junior high, but the emptiness of his expressions seemed to echo with every day you were apart. You were close to the ace before you left, one of the few proud females to call him your friend. The two of you had a mutual understanding, able to communicate without words and truly appreciate the other person. He was not another pretty face to you, but a genuine cinnamon roll who needed help in the world. Ushijima was brutally honest and incredibly dense, traits that radiated in the young-male that you understood from his upbringing.

And yet, when you confessed your feelings to him before you left, he simply replied, “Thanks, you’re a good friend. I like you too.”

Out of embarrassment, you did not want to push the subject and just nodded at his words. Despite the limited amount of terms in his vernacular, Ushijima seemed to always make them sting in your heart. Tendou heard the news secondhand from his best-friend and attempted to confront you, but by then you were long gone. It was easier to dodge the questions when the eyes of the guess monster were not narrowing before you.

Most of the graduating volleyball players who continued with the sport advanced to a prominently volleyball-oriented college. So you were stuck with Bokuto, Kuroo, and many others for another four-years, not that you were complaining. This also implied another four-years of being included in party central and that thought alone made you tired. To your astonishment, Tendou had informed you that Ushijima was also going to Tokyo U, along with a few others from the Miyagi prefecture. You were excited at the prospect of being reunited with a few others, but was quickly heart-broken at the news of the Guess Monster quitting volleyball.

You could only imagine a team with both the owl and cat. It must be hella scary for the opponent! Kuroo, you were sure, was one of the best middle-blockers in the Kanto prefecture and having two formidable aces only added to the team’s repertoire. One more year and Akaashi would join them. That would be the power team you would pay to see. But after spotting the gaudy, yet incredible skill of Oikawa Tooru, you stated that the team was overpowered and needed to be fixed because it was simply unfair.

Your training with Yaku did not betray you and you were proud to represent Japan on the professional scene. Seeing your past rivals from Niiyama High only fueled your passion. It proved your ability to stand at the same level next to previously prestigious “queens of the court.” Only one other female enrolled in Tokyo U with you from Fukurōdani Academy and the two of you were roommates. She was your only friendly familiar face on the team and it seemed like the Miyagi prefecture had more strong males in volleyball than females for the school-year.

The sport itself was nothing in comparison to high-school. Even while attending a private academy, your time at Fukurōdani was more laid-back than college. The men’s and women’s volleyball teams were entirely separate entities and they were not as close-knit like in high-school. Bokuto and yourself had a tight friendship and kept your study group from Fukurōdani, with the addition of Kuroo and Oikawa. As the schoolyear progressed, you saw the addition of Yaku and even later Ushijima.

The only times you really hung-out with the boys was concerning class or getting lit. Kuroo was a party-animal and you learned the different player’s names as they flit through party to party. And since Ushijima was the way he was, you almost never saw him. It was ironic. Tendou attended school in Tokyo as well, but at an entirely different college. And yet you talked to him more than Ushijima, who was always only a few minutes walking-distance.

That was until your spring semester, when you had to share a general-education class with the ace. Ushijima did not ignore you, he acknowledged your presence with a friendly head-nod, but never actually engaged in conversation. It had been three full years since you had a meaningful conversation with someone who used to be your best-friend. Akaashi advised you to stop acting like a little bitch and actually talk to him. And you decided on not letting this opportunity slide.

At the start of the next biology class, you took the seat next to Ushijima’s usual spot. You saw the almost unperceivable narrowing of his dark eyes as they gazed over you, but held your ground. There were a few minutes to the start of class, so you initiated conversation.

“So how’s volleyball?” Three years of not talking and that’s your leading question?? You internally screamed, but later thought of it as appropriate. Ball was literally life for Ushijima, so asking a question of ‘how are you’ would undoubtedly include the sport.

“Fine.”

“How are you handling Bokuto?”

“He is loud, but a rational spiker who is good for the team.”

“Yeah, he tends to bring out the best in other people.”

“Ah.”

“One more year and Sakusa is rumored to join the college team. Looks like Tokyo U might have more rivals within the team than on the outside.”

“I will accept anyone’s challenge.”

“… Nice.”

So much for that! You sighed outwardly, labeling your attempt as a defeat and willing to just end the conversation there. He seemed to notice your distress, but made no effort to address it. Instead, you took out your phone and readied to text Tendou depicting your failure.

Right when you were going to click send, Ushijima spoke and took away from your line of thought, “You were the vice-captain of the women’s team at Fukurōdani Academy.” He was stating more than asking and you simply nodded to affirm his statement.

“How did you know?”

“Tendou supplied daily updates on your status.”

“Oh..” You were inwardly blushing. The Guess Monster was such an instigator, even when he was miles away he was trying to set you up with his ace! You found his actions loyal and damn, he was hard-core bro.

“It is rare for a libero to be chosen to lead a team.”

“I didn’t exactly do that… My friend who was the captain was much more inspirational and had no problems rallying the team. I was more of the foundation that would support you from the distance.”

“Many do not realize the importance of a libero.” The statement was completely ambiguous and you were unsure if it was a compliment or something Ushijima was simply stating.

Your conversations continued on like this for the rest of the semester. The two of you were cordial and even shared lunch several times. However, the dark-haired spiker still spoke with concise and blunt words. To any outsider, it appeared that Ushijima was simply entertaining your attempts at friendship. But you knew. Years of patience and experience had already taught you that Ushiwaka already categorized you as a friend. Otherwise, he would make no effort to even listen to you and would directly shut you down.

During the break, many of the students would return home for the extended amount of time. And to celebrate their last night, Kuroo of course arranged a party to include their soon-graduating seniors. It was more laid back and invited both the men’s and women’s volleyball team. And for once, during the entire first year of college, you saw Ushijima at a party.

You were, by no definition, a party-animal like your close friends. Bokuto and Kuroo thrived under social events and you viewed it as simply trivial. You could enjoy the occasional party and drinking with your friends. But you preferred smaller groups of hanging-out with the few people you cherished. Lazily watching a movie or playing video games appealed more to you than the party-scene. There was nothing wrong with it! You just preferred something more low-key.

There were certain members of the men’s volleyball team that seemed to simply baffle you with their personalities. Kuroo was the master of provocation and off the court, he was the sass master of the new volleyball mean girls – mean boys? You simply named them the salt squad, since it was easier. The combination of Kurro, Oikawa, and Bokuto was too much for one friend group and you often avoided their loud boisterous voices during a party.

Kuroo, however, had no problem spotting you in the doorway the moment you entered and just as quickly there was a drink in your hand. You sipped away, tasting the familiar flavor of honey jagermeister. Bokuto was probably the happiest of the bunch, singing offtune into the karaoke machine whilst the music of the party boomed around him. There was no doubt he would be sad at losing his senpai’s, but that gloomy thought lasted for a brief moment until he was reminded that Akaashi would soon be joining the squad. You worried for the poor setter – by the end of your third-year Akaashi looked done and you could only imagine him at the end of another four years.

You off-handedly expressed this thought to Bokuto once, who simply waived it off and implied that at least Akaashi will be reunited with you, instigating something yet again. Kuroo agreed before slapping you on the back, offering encouraging words along the lines of you finally hitting that.

“One more month until you’re reunited with your lover boy!” He enthusiastically yelled with a distant Haruki agreeing. You rolled your eyes and pushed him away jokingly.

The two – with the help of even Kuroo! – had no problems shipping you and Akaashi together throughout high-school, even going as far to lock the two of you in the storage closet. But you knew. Akaashi had his eyes set on someone else, they were just too oblivious to see how enraptured the setter was. If anything, Akaashi was the brother you never had.

The party was loud and you wondered how none of the RA’s attempted to break-up the source of probably many complaints. It occurred to you somewhere along the way that they were probably at the party as well. It was the end of the schoolyear, of course everyone would be more laid back.

Oikawa offered you a hello and took a quick snap with you for social media before continuing to flit through the party. You wandered on your own, spotting other members of your team and waving joyfully at them. A different red solo cup made its way in your hands, bringing the grand total of drinks to four full red-solo cups in five minutes. There was music booming through the rooms and you were not a dancer, so you steered clear of that particular area. Once you reached the living-room, there was a large aura projecting discomfort and looking entirely out of place.

Ushijima was sitting on the couch, looking incredibly bored and sporting his usual stoic-look, sandwiched between fellow non-party animals, one who you recognized as Daichi Sawamura. You knew the other was generally calm, but not at all reserved. You made eye-contact with the ace, ready to make your way over and the other two acknowledging it. Daichi offered his seat to you and you figured this was an incredibly rare opportunity, which you would not be surprised if never happened again.

“You look like a true farmer against us city-folk.”

“That is because I am from a small town.” Ushijima explained.

“I mean, you look out of place. Maybe that wasn’t the best analogy,” You sighed inwardly, “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“It occurred to me that most of the team socializes this way.” Ushijima explained. “This may contribute to future synergy.” You nodded at his line of thinking and sympathized with the ace.

You sat in comfortable silence, occasionally sipping your drink and mid-way realizing you had never experienced this particular burn down your throat before. It was the number one rule at a party to never drink from an open container or simply from something that you were unsure of the contents. You thought back to your first two, given to you by the trustable Kuroo. But the next few drinks drew blanks and it hurt your head to think about it.

Ushijima, spotting your expression, did not hesitate to take the cup out of your hand and set it on the table. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just wondering what the hell that was.” You held your head and knew there would be an oncoming headache.

You wanted to get fresh-air, getting up without saying goodbye. You pushed through the crowd, faces blurring together and no one really speaking to you directly. The door was not a far distance and you were quick to rush outside. There was a trash-bin by the lightpost and you leaned over it, the feeling of bile crawling up your throat but never fully making it up. An unfamiliar hand was on your back and you turned around to see Ushijima attempting to comfort you.

“This is far from alright.” He noted with hard-eyes, but did not halt the movement on your back.

“I thought I could take it.”

“Where is your dorm?”

“Looking to finally make a move on me, Waka-chan?” Woah, backup! The effects of alcohol seemed to be seeping down in your mind, but there was nothing you could have done to stop the words from leaving your mouth.

Thankfully, the ace ignored your words and put an arm around your waist and threw your own around his shoulder. The poor man carried you back into the building, but to another dorm room. You felt bad for Ushijima, having to drag along a drunkard to probably his own room.

There was no other inhabitant – you figured his roommate was probably at the party – and you took note of the neat room. Ushijima placed you precariously on his bed before going into another area, you presumed the bathroom. The walls were sparsely decorated – you could attribute that to the fact that everyone would be moving out soon for the semester end.

You sat-up, observing the unusually decorated desk of the ace. You knew instantly that it was Ushijima’s since the first frame was of his team back in Shiratorizawa. From his number, it was during a time that Ushijima was captain, but to you that could have literally been any year. It was no secret that Waka was strong and you wondered if he had a leadership role for multiple years. Another frame was depicting prom, you assumed, with various third-years of both the men’s and women’s volleyball team looking snazzy.

The last frame left you breathless.

It was of your junior-high days. Tendou was happily sporting his unforgettable bowl-cut with Reon showcasing his brand new toy in the background. In the foreground, was you and Ushijima side-by-side. You had an arm tucked in his, but the two of you used opposite hands to form a single heart. The only reason he had agreed was at the sly provocation of Tendou and his general naivety.

But why did he keep it?

You were holding the frame by the time Ushijima came out of the bathroom and instantly commented on it, “Look at little Waka-chan! You were so cute. Ha, you’re still cute.” Ushijima lifted an amused brow before attempting to grab it from your hands. He was guiding you to his bed, placing you there to lay down.

“I wish I meant something to you.”

Alright, you were definitely drunk.

His grasp loosened and you could sense distress in the dark-orbs that gazed at you. “You mean a lot to me.”

You sighed and seemed to not notice him tucking you into the bed, “Yeah, yeah. You told me that before. I’m a great friend.”

“You are referring to the time that you stated your feelings for me.” Ushijima clarified and you were only growing more exasperated.

In your alcohol-induced state, you had no filter and lifted your arms in derision. Taking a deep sigh, “Well duh. I confessed and you just waved me off.”

“I want to get to know you again.” Ushijima stated, “Now get some sleep.” You did not have it in you to fight back, but instead snuggled further into the pillows of your previous unrequited love.

The next day, you were sporting a headache that pulsed from the back of your head and hammered its way to the forefront. Ushijima was a gentleman and you had no qualms about waking up in his bed, squeezed between the wall and his large figure. He stirred the moment you moved, but you were too occupied with the throbbing pain to care. It seemed he was prepared for this moment, handing you a banana and a drink that looked too green in your opinion.

Ushijima put a hand in the small of your back, guiding you to sit-up and drink. You leaned into his touch, too mentally exhausted to really question what was happening. His other hand outstretched across your waist and you off-handedly noted that his roommate still had not returned to the dorm. Eye contact with the ace was too intense for the quiet morning, so you leaned further into the steady chest of Ushijima. You could feel the light thump of his heartbeat and closed your eyes against the reliable man.

Three years and it seemed Ushijima still had you in the palm of his hand.

And unfortunately for you, unlike most who get inebriated, you remembered everything from the previous night.

But Ushijima never commented on your leading words, so you decided to not bring them up. There would always be the mental reminder that you slept with the love of your life! And seeing him would just raise a blush. But Ushijima always seemed unconcerned in the matters of love and you let the days pass without bringing up your emotional distress. The last time you confessed did not exactly result in a happy ending, so you were content with saying nothing. You were happy with the simple memories of his strong arms surrounding you and his manly scent. Ushijima did not use scented shampoos or cologne simply because he found no need to, so his particular scent was entirely natural and entirely him.

There was a shift in your friendship, in the small gestures that you were gradually noticing. Ushijima was not a man of words, but of action. After class, he would wait for you to pack your things or even hold your backpack for you. When walking side-by-side, he made sure to keep a closer distance to you than anyone else. These things always garnered a smile.

Finals were quickly approaching and, even though volleyball was your love, you still had to maintain your scholarship. You haunted both the gym and library, your favorite ace trailing behind you at each destination. When majority of the volleyball males failed to show up to another study session, you were left alone with Ushijima. You took this opportunity to throw endless questions at the ace, who was willing to supply answers.

“I don’t remember Shirabu…” You said.

“He did not attend Shiratorizawa in junior high.”

“Oh. But I’m sure he’ll make a good captain.”

“They have enough talent to carry them far.”

“Kind words from the intense ex-captain.” You commented, then continued.  

“I heard Daichi Sawamura is from Karasuno.” You simply stated, waiting for him to interject. Ushijima only looked at you expectedly, supplying you with no words. “If you could, would you play Karasuno again?”

“Yes.” He paused, looking down at the textbook then back up at you. “I wanted to crush them.”

“I understand.” You nodded, “Anyone in particular?”

“Hinata Shoyou and Kageyama Tobio.” Ushijima was quick to respond and it was at that moment that he looked true to the scary rumors spread about him.

He was the type of person you could easily irk, but he would not express it unless you pushed him to do so. Waka was naturally patient and would not engage in useless confrontation. Ushijima and Tendou, you remembered, were prime members of the original Shiratorizawa salt squad, but they never actually hated anyone. And yet you could tell here and now that Ushijima’s feelings ran deeper than just animosity.

“The freak quick duo?"

“Only the setter has true talent.” He stated, but you could tell he was holding something back. You reached over and placed a light-hand on his own. Instinctively, Ushijima clenched it, but quickly relaxed under your touch.

“I hate baseless confidence.” Ushijima hesitated again, organizing his thoughts. “Hinata Shoyou was unable to demonstrate below average skill in blocking and receiving. Every time he served it seemed as though it was his first time. And yet…”

You put your book down at his silence, the sentence carrying with no ending. It was baffling to the ace, who was blessed with immense talent and height to carry him to nationals all three years of high-school. And yet his final tournament was stopped short by someone who was a full twenty-five centimeters smaller him. Not only that, but you could only imagine the disappointment after years of absolute victory to a fallen powerhouse.

“It is indescribable with words.” Ushijima settled on saying, “Hinata Shoyou and Kageyama Tobio have incredible synergy that is impossible to duplicate elsewhere.”

You nodded at his explanation before returning back to the study material. It was rare moments like this that showed that Ushijima was willing to open up his world to you. On more than one occasion, it seemed like you were prying. But Waka was quick to end your worrying by supplying questions of his own and even seeking out your friendship. It was slowly becoming like old times, but with the added benefit of a deeper relationship than one in junior high.

The semester break left you alone in Tokyo with your old friends – the Miyagi crew heading home for the extended amount of time. Thankfully, Ushijima fully recognized your growing friendship and made sure to socialize with you on a daily basis, with texts and even long phone calls into the night. It was quieter without Oikawa, but Kuroo and Bokuto were quick to integrate Akaashi into their group. You felt bad for the poor guy, but at least Kenma was attending the college as well. The blonde did not continue playing volleyball, but you could not separate his presence from the sport.

The new semester issued in so many more names that you literally could not keep up with the sheer amount of new volleyball players. You settled on the fact that every pretty person on the team had to be a setter after seeing the full line-up. Oikawa was fairly obvious, but Akaashi and the new addition of Shirabu Kenjiro definitely reinforced this fact. You had a palpable bias for befriending players from the Miyagi prefecture, since that was your previous home, but it was impressive how many of them from that area progressed to the Tokyo University.

You heard a considerable amount about Shirabu from Tendou and you learned quickly that he would add to the salt squad of Oikawa, Kuroo, and Bokuto. Sakusa was incredibly quiet and you wondered why Bokuto painted the poor boy as such an antagonist. Of the top five nationally ranked spikers of your graduating year, three of them were on the same team now. You wondered, several times in fact, how the hell the college was able to procure such a strong team.

Nishinoya was a ball of sunshine and a libero that made you wonder how he slipped under your radar. You got a quick glimpse of his skill when you watched his match against Shiratorizawa, but it was nothing like the upfront experience of his receiving skills. His dexterity was recognized by Yaku and the three of you, along with the other older female libero, formed a training regimen for your benefit.

Since you had priority registration this time, you were able to schedule classes with a friend in each one. Many of the volleyball members took sports medicine as their mandatory science elective and a good amount of you vowed to take it together. It was a class that few others would sign-up for and you were sure that you would all be able to enroll into the same class time. At first, it seemed like a good idea to share a class with many of your close-friends.

But, holy shit, you were wrong.

It was clear that this was not thoroughly considered. Your roommate was so enthusiastic and her attitude was fueled by the mean boy’s trio of Oikawa, Kuroo, and Bokuto. If that was not enough, of course, Akaashi and Ushijima were roped into taking the class.

The elective class, comprised of forty people in total, had a combination of seven crazy volleyball players and it was rare for a class to go by without your group getting yelled at by the professor. Literally, every single one of those boys were the captain of their respective team in high-school.  And yet??? How?? You wondered more than once.

It would always start with Oikawa’s never ending anger at Ushijima. From there, Akaashi could either decide to mediate the situation or allow Kuroo to provoke Oikawa more with teasing. If it was the latter, Ushijima seemed immune to their words and that only caused the two to get louder and more irritated. If it was the former, Bokuto would urge Akaashi to allow the two to settle their issues and it easily became an even more exasperating situation.

The worst option, was when the salt squad put aside their issues to provoke the ones around them. In high-school, Kuroo and Bokuto had no problems shipping you with Akaashi and Oikawa caught wind of this news fairly quickly. Your roommate from Fukurodani knew the truth, since you told her your history of Ushijima long before when the two of you were still attending high-school. But that fact did not stop her from joining in teasing you.

It was hella annoying, but your efforts to stop them halted long ago since there seemed to be no end. Both you and Akaashi would usually just ignore their teasing. But since Ushijima was in your class, fully present and listening to this, you stopped their attempts to get you and the setter together.

“But seriously.” Kuroo was urging you yet again during the break, “You guys are so cute.”

“You would have volleyball children!” Oikawa joked.

“Make sure they join the Fukurodani team.” Bokuto added, not looking up from his notebook as he copied down the notes off the board. You would urge on several occasions that this was not the case. Ushijima seemed to believe you words. And yet, every time he was present to hear the teasing his eyes would linger for a second longer or be a little too intense. But it was gone in seconds.

They took it too far one night, claiming to invite everyone out to dinner but only the two of you would be present. Akaashi had no problems with proceeding with dinner and you were fairly hungry. There was originally nothing stopping you from having a good time anyway, if not for the presence of Ushijima Wakatoshi. He just so happened to be present with Tendou at the restaurant, lounging by the window and listening to the boisterous voice of his best-friend.

You wanted to remain unseen, but unfortunately was seated directly next to them.

“(F/N)-chan! Wow are you finally dating?” Tendou asked, skipping all introductions to call you out. “Wait, I’ve seen you a few times on (F/N)’s Instabook. Good for you girl, he’s a good catch too.” Tendou lifted a thumbs-up in your direction and winked at Akaashi.

Akaashi, sick and tired of shit and future shit for the past four years (with an additional imminent three), slapped a palm to his forehead. Tendou gave a nervous laugh when the setter raised his head and settled a hard gaze on the red-head. “We are not dating.”

Akaashi then slowly turned his head to Ushijima and narrowed it with a certain passion that had the ace minimally narrow his brow. However, neither male waivered in their gazes. “I would not be subjected to this if a certain someone,” He took a long pause, “would confess their feelings for (F/N).”

Tendou was only more confused, turning his head to gaze between both boys. “Our friends are trying to get Keiji and I together. So they invited us to dinner and didn’t show up.” You explained.

“Oh.”

Ushijima and Akaashi had yet to relieve themselves of the eye-contact and you wondered why the hell they showcasing here and now their immense male pride. Tendou rolled his eyes and refused to comment on the situation.

Akaashi started, “With all this time (F/N) and I are spending together, we might as well date.”

That elicited a response, however incredibly minimal, from Ushijima. Unfortunately for the previous Shiratorizawa ace, his two best-friends were witnessing his unusual behavior. You and Tendou had spent so much time and were fine-tuned to the quiet man. And the slight narrowing of his gaze did not go unnoticed by either of you. Additionally, Akaashi was incredibly perceptive and observed the movement as well.

Akaashi lifted his chin and continued to push, “Maybe our friends were right. Maybe we should date – it’s not like there’s anything stopping us, right?” Akaashi turned to you and suddenly all three pairs of eyes were concentrating on your response.

Having Ushijima’s tense gaze pointed at you, it was overwhelming. You could see him clench and unclench his fist under the table, a form of stress-relief that you noticed the ace doing more than once in the past.

“What a love triangle we have here.” Tendou commented, smirking away and attempting to disseminate the tense atmosphere.

You opened you mouth to reply, but it was at that moment the waiter approached your table. She asked for your drinks and possible appetizers and by the time she was gone, so was the guess monster and his ace.

“Sorry Tetsurō jr., since when did you provoke other people?” You inquired the setter across the table from you.

“I always have, you’re just too dense to realize.”

“Excuse me?!”

“I spend most of my time with Kuroo-san, Oikawa-san, and Shirabu. Believe me, I’m the good one.”

“You mean Kōtarō is the good one.”

“Yeah right,” Akaashi scoffed and you tilted your head in surprise, “The moment you walk away Bokuto-san has no problems ogling your ass like the rest of them.”

The rest of your night went along smoothly, with of course, more teasing between you and the setter. Your friendship never wavered, even with a good year apart (not really since c’mon you texted all the time and had dinner multiple times together anyway). It was nice to have the entire squad back, but this time including your most beloved member from Shiratorizawa and other crazy Miyagi members. It was like your second-year at Fukurōdani Academy, but better.

Akaashi walked you back to your dorm, since he was a gentleman, not matter how sassy. You waited outside your door and he was quick to say something, “Don’t think I’m going to kiss you. I just said those things to elicit a response from your crush.”

You laughed as you smiled, “Really?”

“You’re cute (F/N), maybe in another life we could be together. Who knows? We could have been married, had cute volleyball babies, and spent our lives basking in one another’s company.” Akaashi tenderly stated, gently pushing a strand of hair behind your ear, before his entire expression dropped, “But for now, you’re not worth getting my ass beat.”

“Wow!”

“Sorry sweetheart, I have my own love to pine unrequitedly for.”

“But she likes you.” Akaashi rolled his eyes and ‘lightly’ pushed you into the door, resulting in you getting thrust fully against the partition.

You landed in a loud thud as you giggled, not at all surprised if your next door neighbors heard it as well. Your door immediately opened to show both your roommate and a furious Ushijima, who quickly guarded you by pushing your body behind him. He looked entirely ready to fight Akaashi and you grabbed the crook of his left elbow before the situation got out of hand.

“Wakatoshi, we were just joking around. Thanks for seeing me home Keiji-kun.” Akaashi had a face you could not describe with words, a mix of two opposites: frightened and belligerent. Like he was prepared for this fight to happen, but already knew that he would lose before going into it.

He waved goodbye and you closed the door lightly, turning towards the two occupants in the room.

Your roommate was the first to talk, “I just realized I forgot something in Bokuto’s room! I should probably go get it before he falls asleep.” And with that lame excuse, she was gone.

“What are you doing here Waka?”

“Do you like Akaashi?”

“Of course, he’s one of my best friends. Akaashi has had my back for the past few years and I honestly can’t imagine high-school without his friendship to anchor me.”

Ushijima nodded and continued, “Would you date Akaashi?”

“Absolutely not.” You replied instantaneously, “I don’t think I could ever be able to view him in that light.”

“Earlier Akaashi referred to the possibility of someone confessing their feelings to you. And that would stop your constant association with him.”

“Yeah…”

“Who was he indicating?” Ushijima seemed genuinely interested and you had no idea how to address the situation.

Akaashi, in his deranged mind, believed that Ushijima returned your feelings and the only barrier to your relationship was your own refusal to confess. But he was wrong, you knew. You knew more than anyone else that Akaashi was wrong in every way. Ushijima’s only love was volleyball. It consumed his heart and mind and there was no room for anyone else, especially not you. And the past few years was enough concrete evidence.

“It doesn’t matter. Akaashi was wrong and just making a false assumption.”

“Then what is stopping you from dating Akaashi?” Ushijima sat on your bed, never breaking eye-contact with you, “You two are intimately acquainted already, single, with similar interests.”

Ushijima never really took an interest in your personal life. He was distant about personal barriers, never even getting close to the line. And yet here he was, freely asking and you were providing answers without hesitation. That was, until that one in particular. You knew the reason already, but to explain that to the object of your affection seemed entirely out of the question. You cherished your friendship with Ushijima and did not want to ruin the dynamic you had just recently rekindled.

“I’ve only had romantic feelings for one person.”

“And that is?”

Taking a deep sigh, you closed your eyes and reopened them to see the expectant eyes of Ushijima Wakatoshi. But they were laced with something else: hope? No, it was pure vulnerability. It was rare to see that on the stern face of your favorite ace, but it was undoubtedly splayed across his visage. You felt the tendrils of hope crawl at the corners of your heart. Even one of the most nationally recognized volleyball players could get anxious, but seeing it was reminder that Ushijima Wakatoshi was human.

A living, breathing, human susceptible to the clutches of emotion and maybe even love.

Grabbing onto your already fading confidence, you dragged out. “You know already. Wakatoshi…” You hesitated for a second, wondering how you should word this, “You’ve had my heart since junior high.” You murmured and quickly looked down at the ground, feeling just as exposed at revealing your darkest secret to your love of nearly eight years.

You returned your eyes back up to the ace, who was gazing fondly back at you. He was off the bed, standing at full height with his mouth open only slightly as if he wanted to say something in reply. He towered over you and you felt the full weight of your confession in the growing silence. Ushijima clenched his jaw and you quickly assumed that your words were a mistake that he did not want to hear - for a second time. Your breath came out ragged and you were sure tears were already formed at the corners of your eyes. You sorely wanted to take it back, to go back just a couples minutes and make up some excuse, but it was far too late.

Eight years was too long to be in love alone.

You clutched at your chest and turned to leave your own dorm, but Ushijima was quicker and grabbed your elbow. He spun you around and you landed softly against his chest, encased in the arms that you yearned to be in since that night you were drunk. He was looking down at you, a rare smile directed towards you alone and that fact single-handedly had your heart soaring. Ushijima nuzzled his nose into your hair and pulled your arms around his body.

“You should have been this clear the first time.” Ushijima spoke, his phrases getting muffled against you and yet you understood every single word. “Since it was been the same for me.”

“What?” You pulled back to look at him, “But you rejected me.”

“No, I did not. If I remember correctly, I told you that I liked you too.” Ushijima corrected, arms resting at your waist to get a good look at you.

“You said I was a good friend! You put me in the friendzone, never to date and just some pal like Tendou.”

“You and Tendou are not the same to me.” Ushijima raised a brow at you, “I do not want to date Tendou. And I certainly do not want to kiss him.” Any argument dissipated in your mouth and you were sure your eyes were wide eggs peering up at Ushijima. One look at his face and you could tell from the amused tilt of his lips that he was teasing you.

You smiled and leaned further into his chest, propping yourself upward on the edges of your toes. He had that small grin reflecting back at you, inclining himself downwards toward your height. Your noses gently bumped one another before he claimed your lips, placing a light peck on the silky skin. It lasted no more than a few seconds before Ushijima leaned back, placing one of his large hands on the back of your head for a more possessive position.

You kissed him eagerly, not showing even the slightest bit of hesitation when he swiped a warm tongue against your lower-lip. In response, you could not stop your growing smile and he was quick to explore your cavern.

Ushijima pulled back after an unmeasurable amount of time, leaving you heavily disheveled and clothes upturned. Never, in your nineteen years of life, would you expect Ushijima to be so passionate in something besides his beloved sport. Placing a curious touch on your lips was enough to signify that they were swollen, you could only imagine how you looked at the moment.

He was leaning his forehead against yours, moving his hands to cover your own and rub tender circles over the skin. “It is around midnight, I do not want to impose over your sleep-schedule.”

“But I don’t want you to leave.” You whispered back, placing a light kiss on the tip of his nose. Seeing the mighty Ushijima with a flushed face ignited a fierce desire in your heart. But when he started biting his lip, you were not sure if you were still breathing.

“Neither do I.” He placed a prolonged peck on your lips, raking a lazy hand through your hair while the other stroked your hip beneath the loose cloth of your shirt.

“We could’ve been doing this the entire time.” You spoke, words coming out in a small whimper under his ministrations.

“Looks like I have to make up for lost time.” Ushijima mumbled near your ear, in his deep husky voice. You nearly mewled purely from his words, but when he lightly sucked at your collarbone, you swear you died right there. The desire you previously felt sparkling beneath the surface was being dragged to the forefront, ready to combust and roaring proudly in your ears. You were surely intoxicated off the glorious specimen that is Ushijima Wakatoshi, the love of your life.

And suddenly he was grasping you chin, nuzzling your noses before lightly brushing your lips against one another. Ushijima paused, barely touching you and yet breathing in the same air, before crushing his lips against yours. He did not hesitate to take your bottom lip into his mouth, sucking away. It was an action so possessive and yet so Ushijima that you moaned into the touch.

“It’s only ever been you.” He murmured against your skin and you were fully unable to respond, head spinning purely off his affection. You never took Ushijima as the type to shower his significant other with fond words, but that was not entirely fair since you never imagined him even dating.

By the time you pulled away, it seemed Ushijima had already placed you to sit on your bed. It was astonishing how much you trusted him, how much he could get away with and you would sincerely follow him. He had a knee of the bed, dominantly hovering over you and invading all personal space.

“Ushijima,” You whispered against his lips, tenderly grabbing his face with both your hands to get a full look at him. He was always handsome, but seeing him with affection pointed only towards you – you were sure that he was your soulmate.

He hummed in question, eyes marginally open and a minute smile gracing his face. You continued, “I love you.”

Ushijima’s smile only grew, “I love you too.”

--------xXxXxXxXxXx------

-> Masterlist  -> A/N: Hope you enjoyed the long-ride of this fic! There’s a lot going on and this was made around 2017-ish, so I’m happy that some of it hasn’t been disproven. :))

[dalekofchaos]

Killing The New Republic and Luke’s New Jedi Order killed the Sequel Trilogy

Disney you’re a business, who’s all about money, but then you chose to destroy the New Jedi Order and New Republic, that is definitely killing your billions, even after refusing to put storytelling first and foremost, and then having the audacity to claim “we don’t have source material�� never mind the countless series of video games, comics, novels, tv shows and films, merchandising etc. Not to mention all the fucking stuff you could’ve done with the NR in BATTLEFRONT! YOU COULD HAVE MADE WITH THE NEW REPUBLIC AND NEW JEDI ORDER!

But no. Instead you made Leia an incompetent general leading an even weaker  and an on the budget Rebel Alliance. Han’s character arc was dropped, Han and Leia’s iconic romance was broken up and they were both turned into absent parents and Luke’s Jedi Order failed and 30 years of peace was undone pointlessly. But instead you just wanted Rebels vs Empire 2.0, but only this time around it’s dumber. 

Do you know what we could’ve done with The New Republic? Leia as Chancellor. Han and Lando as her Ministers of Defense. Boba Fett, Din Djarin and Bo-Katan leading The Mandalorians together as allies to the New Republic. We could’ve had a House Of Cards/West Wing/Game Of Thrones styled writing for the overall politics of The New Republic. You could’ve made a goddamn fortune on New Republic troopers, armor, weapons, fighters and frigates. Hell, you could even have The New Republic wield their own Star Defenders as opposed to Star Destroyers.  I am well aware that canon demilitarized The New Republic and already made a post on why disarming the New Republic in new canon was stupid.

What should have happened is that the NR commanders the Imperial Fleet and starts protecting systems who join the NR, all while chasing down and fighting any of the Remnants (Moffs, Warlords, Crime Lords, etc) who have grabbed power in the resulting vacuum. We could have seen an evolution of ships from Old Republic to Empire to NR ones. They could have renamed Star Destroyers into Star Defenders. Hell, they could have had a Republic of independent systems, each with their own sizable military, so that power isn't centralized.

Here is what the Sequel Trilogy could’ve been with the New Republic in power.

This could have been an interesting question for the ST. What happens after you win a war? How do you not make the same mistakes or become the thing you fought. What happens in a power vacuum? The NR should have been the dominant emerging power, and the Remnant should have been a small, secretive, unknown order, striking strategically from the UR where they hid, and causing fear and panic to spread in the NR. But no, instead of telling an interesting story, we are force fed the recycled poorly written rehashed Rebels vs Empire and the Rebels are made to be weaker than The First Order. The First Order are a terrorist movement, they should not be reigning after Hosnian Prime’s destruction, ESPECIALLY AFTER LOSING STARKILLER BASE! Concentrating your government and defenses around only one system is really stupid(AND BAD FUCKING WRITING) The New Republic’s forces should have been spread far across the galaxy. So after Hosnian Prime, The New Republic  sees the bigger picture and mobilizes their fleet and unites their forces with The Resistance. Instead The New Republic is stupidly destroyed because Rian wanted the Rebels to be the Rebels again.(lol this movie is fucking dumb) God forbid we get The New Republic fighting the First Order and making the heroes looking strong in force instead of stupidly having all the Rebels fit inside the Falcon. For the love of fucking god I hate this fucking timeline.

As for The Imperial Remnant. Thrawn, and Rae Sloane would lead the fleets and  Darth Plagueis and the Knights Of Ren would would be in command of the dark side.

Do you have any idea how fucking frustrated it was to play The Battlefront games with The Resistance who are just discount Rebels? They look fucking pathetic.

JUST LOOK AT THE NEW REPUBLIC IN THE MANDALORIAN!!!!!!!! SO MUCH POTENTIAL!

Oh and just look at the NR Troopers from Legends and fan concepts

SO. MUCH. POTENTIAL!

As for the New Jedi Order.

Ya’ll were sitting on a GOLDMINE with the New Jedi Order. You murdered the goose which laid thegolden egg. Imagine proper video games, novels, animations, films in that era.  Think about all of the unique characters and designs we could’ve seen, all the unique toys they could have sold, plus they could’ve centered Galaxy’s Edge around becoming a Jedi, building your own lightsaber, and undergoing training at Luke’s academy. I know they have a lightsaber-building thing there currently, but it would’ve made a lot more sense if they could’ve tied it in to the new trilogy with the New Jedi Order. Plus, Mark Hamill was the only one of the major OT actors who was willing to continually reprise his role well into the future, and they reduced Luke’s role to a cameo in 2/3 sequel movies and ruined his character and killed him off in the other one. They could’ve kept Luke around for several more decades and thrown him in to as many TV series, video games, and movies as they wanted to, and people would’ve flocked to see or purchase whatever he’s in, because it’s freaking Luke Skywalker. Destroying the New Jedi Order offscreen and ruining and killing off Luke Skywalker were the two dumbest decisions made with the sequel trilogy. They could’ve made BILLIONS off of this stuff. The continued pre-trilogy and post-trilogy stories, the toys, the merchandising, the video games, the books and comics, everything. What makes matters worse is that as I said, Mark Hamill was the only one who wanted to continue with his role,( Also he is an accomplished voice actor so he would have done well in the animated stuff, which also gives him opportunities to do action scenes without being young) he honestly probably would’ve been willing to reprise Luke up until he was in his 80s or even into his 90s, hell, Billy Dee Williams was just over 80 when he reprised Lando in TROS, and Luke wouldn’t even need an action-heavy role as he got older, as the Grandmaster of the New Jedi Order, he’d be able to have a similar role to Yoda in the prequels and The Clone Wars, where he provides wisdom and guidance the majority of the time, but he every once in a while he steps into battle, while the new characters go on the vast majority of the adventures. They really shit the bed with these new movies, because using the New Jedi Order with Luke as Grandmaster would’ve made them BILLIONS. I truly don’t understand how such a money-hungry corporation could’ve missed out on this, because using the NJO would’ve been like printing money. It’s genuinely baffling.

We could’ve had it all

Source

Source

For story purposes. It could’ve been like this. 

Luke starts to rebuild the Jedi by training his sister Leia. Leia could not fully commit to the Jedi because she had to lead the Republic as Chancellor, but she is made an honorary member on his Jedi Council. Leia would agree to be trained as a Jedi Master. Leia has a Yellow Lightsaber she keeps hidden should the moment arises. Leia’s most powerful force ability is Battle Meditation. After training Leia, Luke eventually encountered The Emperor’s Hand Mara Jade. Their dynamic and romance would be the same as in Legends. Eventually after Ezra Bridger returns, Ahsoka Tano, Cal Kestis, and Ezra Bridger return and join Luke’s Jedi order. The Jedi council would be this. Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Mara Jade, Ahsoka Tano, Cal Kestis and Ezra Bridger. The new Jedi Order embrace both the Light and Dark Sides Of The Force instead of repeating the mistakes of the Jedi of old and so balance can be brought to the force. Balance would mean understanding both aspects of the force and you can indulge in your anger and more toxic emotions, but you can’t let them rule you and when you can come to peace with that, that’s when you have balance.

Also, Luke’s Jedi order would include multiple aliens species from Wookies, Twi'leks, Iridonians, Trandoshans, Mirialan and you get the picture. 

Finn would be a mix of Kyle Katarn and Finn Galfridian.

For those not familiar with either character. Kyle Katarn, a self taught force sensitive who was a former Imperial Stormtrooper that later became a Jedi Master, Battlemaster and a Jedi Council member. Finn Galfridian, a Jedi who is from Royal background and is part of the New Jedi Order who was being taught by Luke Skywalker Finn could still be a Stormtrooper that chose empathy and to walk away, this results in Finn becoming Force Sensitive and brought to be trained by Grogu. We would later find out that Finn is a lost prince of Royalty stolen by The Imperial Remnant. Perhaps, in this scenario. Finn could be the lost Prince of Naboo. Finn would of course continue fighting in the war, but with Artorias on the New Republic’s side, they will gave more funding and at least another ally. It would also provide Finn the ability to have a home for the Stormtroopers after Finn liberates the Stormtroopers from the Remnant. Finn could allow the Stormtroopers that still want to fight to serve in the Naboo military. The Naboo having weak defenses could greatly benefit from having trained soldiers serve them and if the Stormtroopers would prefer a peaceful life, Finn can offer them a civilian lifestyle away from the judgment the rest of the galaxy would give them for their past, even offering them reparations.

Also, Finn would find love with best damn pilot in The New Republic, Poe Dameron!

Luke and Mara would have a daughter. Kira Jade Skywalker(who of course would be Rey) she would grow up loved, with her family and with the Jedi. They would all truly be With her. 

Ben Solo, Breha Solo(Played by Billie Lourd) and Jaina Solo(played by Millie Bobby Brown) would be the Solo children. Ben, Breha, and Jaina would all grow up close and would thrive as Jedi while their parents would visit and shower them with the love they would naturally receive from Han and Leia as their parents and Han and Leia would stand strong together leading The New Republic

You could have Ben Solo being the most promising of Luke’s Jedi Knights. He can either stay as a Jedi or choose The Imperial Remnant and become Kylo Ren. The Jedi Order is split between the Jedi loyal to Luke and those loyal to Ben. I will say Ben’s fall would be similar to Jacen’s. Because he sensed something terrible coming. The Grysk. He feels that the Jedi and the NR would not be enough. So he gives in to Darth Plagueis and leads the Knights Of Ren. But when The Grysk attack, Ben shows us his true colors and returns to his family to fight The Grysk and unites both The New Republic and Remnant. 

If Ben doesn’t turn to the dark side, Ben would stay true to the Jedi and his family. Ben would lead the Jedi to face the Knights Of Ren and destroy Plagueis.

Together Kira, Ben, Breha, Jaina and Finn would rise together and destroy Darth Plagueis and end the Sith once and for all.

But that’s not the end, because The Grysk would invade the galaxy.

Towards the end of the Trilogy, The NR and FO will join forces to fend off The Grysk invasion. Sloane will call for a cease fire and signing a treaty with Leia, where The NR and FO align their forces and build The Galactic Federation. Building a better galaxy together. Leia's vision for a Republic and Sloane's virtues for the Empire.

We get the legacy characters getting treated with respect, we get the new generation built upon and being prepared for the coming war and are all treated as important heroes, we have a FO treated like strong villains and a stronger threat to unite both forces and we have peace in the end. This is how I think the ST should have been handled.

The theme should’ve been family. It’s about how the Skywalkers and Solos lead and protect the galaxy. How well Han, Luke and Leia became after the fall of the Empire and the upbringing of their children. It should end with all is well with the Skywalker and Solo families. Not end in misery.

As Carrie Fisher said

“It’s about family. And that’s what makes it so powerful.��

We could’ve had it all.

[neocatharsis]

NCT’s Sungchan Talks About His Trainee Life, Gratitude For Members, Goals, And More

NCT’s Sungchan participated in his first-ever solo photo shoot and interview with Allure magazine!

When asked to briefly describe what kind of person he is, Sungchan replied while laughing, “Right now, I think I’m someone who is very lacking. However, I’m still someone who is always evolving. Even with today’s shoot, I think I’ve improved from when we first started.”

Sungchan is one of NCT’s two newest members, joining the group late last year for their comeback with “90’s Love.” Sungchan spoke about receiving the exciting news of his debut, sharing, “I couldn’t believe it. It’s hard to explain it in any other words. My mom was really happy and a lot of my trainee friends congratulated me too. Although debuting was my dream, I knew that my debut was not the end and rather the beginning. Since I’m joining NCT, I want to become someone worthy of enhancing NCT as a team. I want to receive recognition in many different aspects.”

He also revealed that he was a trainee for around four years. Sungchan explained, “At first, I was nearly the youngest member, and after three or four years, I became the oldest. Mentally, that aspect was a bit difficult.”

Immediately after debuting, Sungchan joined NCT for their full group promotions with all 23 members. He talked about his experience diving into such a large-scale project right away, commenting, “Since my members had debuted first, they have a few years of experience whereas I didn’t know anything. However, they taught me a lot with regards to a lot of different things. If I debuted into a new team, there probably would’ve been a lot I didn’t know, but I think I was definitely able to learn quicker because my members were teaching me. Since it was my first time, there was some disappointment. I’m going to work harder so I can be more satisfied with my next promotions.”

Sungchan also discussed immediately winning first place with “90’s Love,” sharing, “I did receive the award but it didn’t feel real at all. I nervously shared my acceptance speech while holding the trophy but I was so nervous that I just moved on. I believe I received it because I was with my NCT members. I also think that’s why it’s such a meaningful award. I teared up. When I did my first music show pre-recording, I was so nervous, but I remember my members told me that there wasn’t any reason to overthink it and that I just needed to enjoy the performance. I keep thinking about those words.”

He added that there were no fans present when the group won first place, explaining, “I haven’t met fans once until now. We’ve done fan signings and concerts through video calls but I haven’t been able to meet them once in person. That’s why it doesn’t even seem like I’ve debuted.” Laughing, Sungchan continued, “No one recognizes me and my fans haven’t seen me in person yet.”

Sungchan talked about listening to NCT tracks while he was a trainee and picked NCT 127’s “Baby Don’t Like It” as his favorite song. He explained, “It’s a song where the rap and vocals are so good, so if you haven’t heard it yet, you have to go listen to it. When I was a trainee, I really liked NCT songs.”

Not too many people are familiar with Sungchan’s pre-debut era and he explained that it was because he had just been so dedicated to his life as a trainee. He shared, “That’s why besides my graduation photo, I have no old pictures.”

Sungchan also explained how he became a trainee, revealing, “At first, I was cast on the street. I was sure that it wouldn’t work out, but I was cast twice by our agency so I thought that I wanted to try it out once. Even if you get casted, you have to audition, but I thought that my skills were too lacking to do that so I started attending a dance academy. I took another audition and then passed.”

The interviewer later mentioned that Sungchan had described himself as someone who is always evolving and asked what he thinks he has improved the most. Sungchan answered, “When I first entered the agency, I was so lacking, but I think I was able to debut because I worked hard. Up until recently, I mostly focused on rap, but these days I feel really happy when I hear that my singing has improved. I want to consistently improve in all positions. My goal is to become someone who suits the word ‘all-rounder.'”

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