#Pidgeons are a close second

[duck-a-doodle]

COD IMAGINES

TACTICAL CUDDLE BUG 2/4 Chapters 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

TF141!reader x 141

Masterlist

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The most serious member of the 141 is secretly a very affectionate person.

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You were a consummate professional through and through.

That is, until you slipped up.

Ghost, Gaz and Johnny would tease you for curling up against your Captain during the flight home, and they would press further when you refused to make eye contact out of embarrassment.

You would look on in horror as Gaz described the way you clung onto his vest. Ghost, who decides to mess with you a little, said that 'you even rubbed your face into his chest'.

With all the open teasing, they felt a mild sense of satisfaction when you bit back indignantly, telling them that it was cold, and that you did not do what Ghost says you did (not that you were aware of).

The captain, who was rather amused, did not seem to mind one bit and listened as the four of you went back and forth on what exactly happened during that flight.

The second time you did it was after having gone to the gym.

You, Johnny and Gaz were done with all your sets and took turns to use the shower. The boys had let you go first, followed by Johnny. And by the time Gaz came out of the shower, he stopped short in his tracks.

There you were, pidgeon-toed and pressed cheek-first into Johnny's bicep, almost ready to slide off the bench you were waiting on.

They couldn't decide if they wanted to wake you, prank you or tease you with blackmail afterwards.

They whipped out their phones without hesitation.

By the time they were done, they took enough pictures to fill a photo album.

After backing up their 'data', Johnny moved to keep his towel in his duffel bag and accidentally let your head hit the wall behind you.

"Ah, shite! M'sorry, bub-"

You propped yourself up groggily with your eyes closed and your nose scrunched. Gaz snorted at your expression while Johnny belted out heaps of laughter before grabbing your arm to sit you up properly.

"Och, look at ye, ah dinnae ken ye'd snuggle up ta a'body when yer pure done in-"

Johnny halted when you fell forward as his grip loosened, snuggling right into his chest and falling back into slumber.

That night, Simon and Price received an inordinate amount of images of Johnny, posing with your dozing self hanging off his torso.

Their responses were 'nice backpack' and 'bring our koala back safe' respectively.

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A/N: I headcanon that Johnny can and will bite out of cuteness aggression. And he blames you for it.

[interactyouth]

hello, do you have any videos or youtube channels recs to learn more about being intersex (that touch on any topic)? if you do, tysm!

I do, thank you for asking! I apologize that many of these are not closed captioned in advance, but I've compiled a playlist of SOME videos that I've seen online. I would like to add some clarification, though. Many forms of media that are available will use the derogatory word, "hermaphrodite", to describe intersex people. Due to its extensive history in medical pathologization, it is considered a slur and should not be used by perisex (non-intersex) people. Reclaimed usage of the term (similar to slurs reclaimed by the queer community) is only reserved for intersex people due to said history. However, medical contexts continue to use it as a diagnostic label, so many intersex people must use it when trying to receive affirming healthcare.

As a result, it's important to be aware of this information when many forms of media, both old and new, contain the usage of this word.

While the word is genuinely relevant for discussions of animal and plant biology, it does not accurately describe the anatomy of intersex people. Unlike animals and plants, human beings--whether perisex or intersex--are generally not capable of having two different sets of fully functioning reproductive anatomy. Sex (for humans) is a bimodal spectrum, and is not a binary. As such, bodies can look many different ways due to innate variations of sex characteristics!

Now, I'll highlight a few specific videos in particular below:

A 2016 TedxTalk by an important intersex scholar, Dr. Georgiann Davis. She has written dozens of extremely important publications over the past decade! Here is a 2011 publication and a 2015 publication discussing the pathological medicalization of intersex people , and a 2016 publication that additionally describes the medicalization of trans experiences.

Emily Quinn's 2018 TedxTalk and her 2018 Ted WOMEN presentation (the second one is captioned). She also has a YouTube channel!

Pidgeon Pagonis has a YouTube channel, and they have been featured in several different interviews across the years during their ongoing advocacy work. They have a 2019 documentary about their experiences, and they have a website.

Here is an archived video from 1997 of intersex people discussing their experiences with other intersex people at a gathering held by Intersex Society of North America, whose work is currently continued by interACT.

In collaboration with Human Rights Watch, interACT worked on a 2017 report and video to raise awareness of the harms of medically unnecessary surgeries performed on intersex children without fully informed consent. The video is captioned.

Activist Sean Saifa Wall has spoken extensively about his experiences on media platforms, and he is a co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project, which focuses on empowering Black and Brown intersex people in advocacy work.

There is a 90 minute documentary that was released in 2023 called Every Body, and it details the life experiences of three intersex people.

While not a video, there is also the personal experiences of intersex youth as documented in a 2023 doctoral research dissertation done in collaboration with interACT: “'Support the shit out of them:” Intersex emerging adults’ socialization experiences and recommendations for caregivers of an intersex child".

Overall, I hope this is suitable resource, and thank you again for the question!

[futuremrshoran09]

✨Catfished✨ a Niall Horan fanfic

Part 1 : Wrong number

I looked over my textbook. I was reading but not really processing information. Id been doing this for an hour looking for any distraction to take my mind away from this stupid book, i hated biology and i hated studying but i had to. The familiar ding of my phone goes off and that was enough for me to throw my book to the side and be done for the night.

"It was lovely meeting you today at the coffee shop ;)"

I hadn't been to a coffee shop today? Or ever really, New York coffee shops are way over priced and my cafe Bustello at home was just as good.

"Sorry man I think she gave you the wrong number" I text back. i look back over at my biology book knowing i should pick it up again but this interaction was way more intriguing than anything in that book.

"Well, this number just got a lot more interesting, What are you up to?" i read across my screen. I couldn't help but actually laugh, who says that?

"studying for my midterms" i reply.

I bit my lip, was i really about to waste my studying time texting a complete stranger i mean he could be a stalker, or a serial killer. I looked back at that stupid fucking book again and decided that id rather risk texting a serial killer than finish reading about genetics.

"how about you stranger"

"Hanging out.. at work. With my coffee. and aye given the circumstances i could call you a stranger too" he replied.

Should i give him my actual name i thought to myself. I've watched too many true crime documentaries to know that was a bad idea. ill give him just my first name i thought as i typed it out.

"Priscilla, and you ?"

i watched text bubbles appear on my screen, why was i so invested in this is all that i could think. Then the bubble disappears. I groaned throwing myself back onto my bed "c'mon serial killer i really don't wanna study" i say aloud to myself. Almost as if he had heard me say that a new text appears.

"Adam" was all that it read. "Very generic name" i thought to myself. Let me see what else i can get out of you "Adam" if that really is your name.

"Tell me about yourself Adam" by this time i was fully invested and getting up from my bed to grab a snack.

"I'm 30, I'm a music producer, i like beer and coffee, i have terrible luck with dating, and I'm afraid of birds" I laughed to myself while pouring myself a glass of wine who the fucks afraid of birds i thought to myself.

"your turn" the next message reads.

I bit my lip thinking what can i tell him about myself. i really wasn't an interesting person. i started typing, no i mumbled deleting it. starting up again.

"I'm 25, in school for nursing, and I'm from the Dominican republic" "oh and who the fucks afraid of birds" i couldn't help sending that second message i mean really who the fuck is actually afraid of birds?

"ooh Dominican, i speak a little Spanish" Then another message "have you ever seen a Pidgeon up close? those fuckers are terrifying"

i smirked reading that last part, i put my wine down thinking of what even to say next.

"weird area code are you not from New York?" - Me

"I travel a lot, I'm actually from the UK but work takes me around a bit" - Adam

"oohh a man with an accent, hot" -Me

I immediately regretted sending that last message. I really wasn't about to flirt with a stranger. Or was i bored enough to actually entertain this.

"are you flirting with me love?" - Adam

" i dunno Adam am i", i respond

"i sure hope you are" - Adam

"you don't even know what i look like. - me

"Send me a selfie then ;)" - Adam

I bit my lip looking around as if someone would tell me not to, i mean i lived alone who was there to stop me. My mom always told me not to talk to strangers on the internet but i mean this was the 21st century how else was i supposed to meet people. I was conflicted i mean this was crazy no? Fuck it i thought to myself. I scrolled and scrolled, i really wasn't a girl who felt comfortable taking pictures. I never thought i was conventionally "attractive". I was a pretty borking girl honestly, long black curly hair, glasses, and i never wore anything special. i picked the one photo i actually was dressed up in, it was my friend melissas birthday and i had on a corset top, ripped boyfriend jeans and my favorite black kitten heels. i was caught off guard laughing at something and although my hair looked pretty wild in the photo it was the one post on instagram that actually got a bunch of likes. i pressed send, and immediately threw my phone on the couch. did i just fucking do that..

a few seconds passed before i heard a ding. i was fucking nervous. why the fuck was i nervous i mean i could just block this guy and i never have to think of this day again. right?

"wow" then another ding "gorgeous, i love the hair"

i could feel my cheeks get hot. pathetic i thought to myself, was i really blushing over a simple compliment a total stranger was giving me.

"your turn" i replied

i thought this is where you stop replying Adam, no way you're gonna send me a picture of yourself. but i wanted him to...

A picture of a brown haired green eyed guy popped up on my screen. "sorry to disappoint but im not all that cute." the message read.

I smiled. He was actually super cute, but id watch enough of the show catfish to know to reverse google the image. Nothing popped up... I bit my lip thinking back to what nev and max did on the show. i googled "phone number look up" and clicked the first one that appeared, i paid the $1.99 and waited. God this took forever. But again, nothing. Okay i mumbled i typed in "Adam producer Uk" into google. A crap ton of came up but nothing helpful and nothing that could help me determine if this guy was legit or not. I was so deep into my search that i hadn't even realized i left Adam on read until my phone dinged again.

"was i really THAT ugly"- adam

i laughed typing "no!" i just just prepping dinner!" i]I lied, i was not gonna tell him that i was googling him up down left and right.

"IMessage games" he repleid

can you handle taking a loss ? i replied.

-------------------------------------------- 3 weeks later ---------------------------------------------------------------

Id been talking to Adam for damn near 3 weeks and honestly... i kind of liked him. Every morning he'd send me a "good morning beautiful" audio message. Adam would text me all the time, and when i say all the time i mean all the time. At work? In the studio? out for dinner? he was aways texting. The problem? he wouldn't facetime me. I mean yeah he'd sent me a few more pictures of himself, and vice versa but he'd always have an excuse as to why he couldn't FaceTime.

I was in my bedroom packing up my books for the next day listening to music on the tv when i got a message from Adam.

i miss you - Adam

i smirked replying "i miss you too, can we pleaseeeeee ft or at least a phone call."

a chat bubble popped up... then disappeared. of fucking course. I threw my phone on the bed, as much as i knew i needed to cut this off i just couldn't something about Adams good morning messages flirty texts and desire to always know what i was doing pulled me back every time.

"call from adam" siri announced, i broke my neck no way he was calling. i snatched my phone from the bed a little disappointing that it was just a regular call and not a facetime. But hey this was better than nothing. right ?" hello" i answered. i could hear a loud laugh in the backround, "hi love" i bit my lip i didn't even know what to say i mean we texted all day everyday but now that it came time to actually talk to him nothing came out.

"you alright cat got your tounge ?" he asked in that stupid accent that lowkey made me blush every time i heard it

"fuck you" i laughed

"woah there that's a bit forward innit ? I'm all for it though."

i laughed turning down the song that was playing so i could hear him better.

is that "slow hands" playing in the background he asked

"yeah you know it" i laughed thinking of big manly Adam listening to such a song

"know it ? i love it."

"No fucking way me too" i said throwing myself on my bed. "i fucking love Niall Horan. I've loved him since his one direction days" i chuckled looking over at my tapestry of the boys.

"oh yeah" he asked "who was your favorite?"

"Niall duh" i laughed." i always swore i would marry him" i laughed into the phone. Then i really started laughing thinking of my delusions. "i used to think that id run into him in the middle of the street one day, that we'd bump into each other lock eyes and fall in love."

i could hear Adam burst out laughing, "you really thought that" he said as his laugh died down

"don't laugh at my delusions" i muttered "and yes yes i did. teenager me had a whole life planned out for us in her head."

"oh yeah tell me about it" Adam responds.

"well" i said looking over at the tapestry "id move to London to be with him and we'd get a little apartment near the studio, we'd get a dog and name her lucy. and when he and the guys went on tour id tag along. experiencing every city, fan and moment with him. after a few years he'd propose we'd get married in Ireland" i laughed , "buy a nice house away from everything and have not one but two boys. i spend the rest of my days working as a nurse while he continued doing his thing and every night wed have family dinners before going to bed". i smirked thinking about how stupid i was as a teen.

my delusions were cut off by Adam busting out into a loud laughter again.

"hey!" i yelled

"I'm sorry I'm sorry" he laughed "but you really did have a whole life planned out with him."

"yep but here i am still in my crappy New York apartment talking to you" i mumbled

"ouch that kind of hurt my feelings" he remarked

"I'm sorry" i smiled "i didn't mean it that way."

"you know" Adam said, "Niall's playing msg tomorrow night any chance you got tickets to meet the love of your life?"

now it was my turn to laugh obnoxiously loud into the phone. "tickets to see niall? i could barely afford my car payment this month."

"hmm" he said. "remember how i told you that i work in music" he asked

"mhmm" i mumbled trying to stuff my last textbook in my bag

"what if i told you i could get us tickets to go see niall tomorrow, would you come with me?"

my book dropped out of my hand making a loud thud as it hit the floor. no way he was serious.

"yeah right" i laughed "no way you're gonna make that happen"

"i promise you i can make it happen" he said, i could hear is smirk through the phone.

"so you're telling me that you wont FaceTime me but you'll meet up with me tomorrow to see THE Niall Horan"

"all im saying is that you and i will be at that show tomorrow and that i expect a kiss for making it happen." he chuckled.

i smirked down at my phone almost blushing. "i think that fair" i laughed," but if Niall Horan decides to sweep me off my feet and take me with him i just want you to know that i 100 percent will leave you there"

" i guess that a risk I'm gonna have to take", i could hear a yelling in the back, before Adam said "I've got to get back to work, ill send you your ticket tomorrow morning yeah?"

"alright lets see if you do" i say rolling my eyes.

"and priscilla?" he said

"hmm ?"

"make sure you're ready to give up that kiss cause ill be looking forward to it". i could feel myself blush as the 3 beeps that indicate the calls over rings in my ear.

was i really about to see my childhood crush preform... the better question was i really about to meet up with a complete stranger who i knew for a fact was catfishing me?

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Hi loves! its been years since ive done this so i hope you all like! I actually used to be a bit popular on this app yearsssss ago and I decided it was time to give it another go ❤️ please let me know if i should continue ! it gets better i promise ! im also open to request!

[mxkokopuff]

Your Italicized "Oh": The Kiss

you typically wait until the last second to believe the truth--because it would destroy you to believe it, and then find out it was a lie. you are someone who has never wanted to want, but has rarely been able to do anything else. the idea that you might have to break down your walls for the sake of someone else, someone who could easily decide they don't like what is on the other side, is harrowing. why let people get close enough to be rejected? you are enough for yourself. and you will tell yourself that every time you catch yourself staring at their mouth, smirking at their joke, finding a reason to flick their shoulder. until the kiss. that's when the flood of want, want, want bowls over you and you realize that you are torn between two ways of living. Oh, you think. because despite how complicated you have made it, the moment you kiss, somehow, things seem incredibly simple. they won't be once you start thinking again, but for now, for this moment, you live in the quiet peace of revelation. Oh.

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FUCK.. YEAH OKAY THIS IS ABSOLUTLEY KOKO POLYCULE CORE i'm so f i n e

tagged by @disciple-of-frost (THANK YOUU this was fun aa)

i taaag @agender-pidgeon @mrlarkstin @arinaxiv and whoever else wants to!!

quiz link: https://uquiz.com/quiz/xrQfLd?p=1709713

[nnnnoooooooooooo]

Last night, after watching a movie I had recorded, the television defaulted to TCM, which was playing 20th Century Fox's How Green Was My Valley (1941, John Ford). It was already well into the second half of the film, and I let it play on for 10-15 minutes. During that time, the film brought me to tears four separate times. I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous this was, nothing destroys me like this film.

Normally, I'm not a crier. The exception to that is when I'm watching a movie directed by John Ford, but even by John Ford's standards, this was a lot. When I realized that the film was gearing up for its climax, I made myself get up and turn it off.

It's an adaptation how Richard Llewellyn's novel of the same name, about a Welsh coal-mining community seen through the eyes of the youngest child of the family as he grows up. However, it was adapted into film by John Ford, so the film is altogether an Irish affair. The film has one Welsh actor, Rhys Williams, who plays Dai Bando, a local boxer.

Like the novel, the film is centered around Huw (Roddy McDowell,) the youngest of the Morgans, and the home of his coal-mining family. Seen through the eyes of Huw, the movie depicts a town where nothing ever seems to change, and yet everything is irrevocably lost. It is simultaneously one of the most comforting and devastating films ever made.

Typical of a Ford film, every moment, every gesture, and each beat of stillness are full of meaning. Huw's brothers tower over him, we see the characters from their backs, and their shadows haunt the walls. Each life-changing event in Huw's life is catastrophic in its own way, and yet every time, the following day we see the village restored to normality, as if nothing occurred. People fall away, life changes, and though his entire life is contained in this community, he begins to find himself alone.

Also typical of a Ford film, the film is an exploration of what it means to be a community. In fact, it's a rather damning examination of what it means for a community to remain unchanged, in spite of the world around it, and the lives of those in it. The collateral damage from this stasis manifests itself in the lives of its inhabitants. For the community and the mining corporation to remain the unchanged, its people are made disposable.

Somewhat sadly, the films is mostly remembered today as an answer to a trivia question. How Green Was My Valley won 5 academy awards, with Outstanding Motion Picture (awarded to the producer, Darryl F. Zanuck) and Best Director (awarded to John Ford) among them. Given that these wins came over Citizen Kane, these wins are now perceived somewhat infamously as short-sighted folly. This should not be so. However, How Green Was My Valley remains in high critical esteem, and is well-loved by those who've seen it.

Personally, How Green Was My Valley is my second favourite film of all-time, I believe it to be the finest film John Ford ever made, and John Ford is, in my estimation, the single greatest director to have ever worked in film. If a better film has ever come out of Hollywood, then I haven't seen it.

P.S. I also cried once while looking up these photos, and then once more while reading some of the closing narration of the film. This film is to me as 'Li'l Brudder" is to Homestar Runner. All this, and I didn't say a single word about it's two highest-billed stars, Maureen O'Hara and Walter Pidgeon.

[kidge-planet]

Kidge summer event

Day 6: smoothie 🥤

Characters: Pidge/Katie holt, Keith Kogane, Hunk Garret, Lance McClain, Allura Altea, Shay, Kosmo....

Pairing: pidge and keith : kidge ( Hay : Hunk and Shay ) ( Allurance )

post season 8

A/N: Allura is still alive in that universe.

It was one of the multiple paladin's meeting on New Altea where the Altean Sun was lighting the multiple field of colored junibery flowers.

The paladins were gathered around their usual table where only one of them was missing. Unfortunately, Shiro was in vacations with hid husband, Curtis.

Passing that detail, it was such a nice summer day.

Hunk and Shay, his girlfriend, had made lunch for everyone. It was now time for a refresh...

"What can we do for dessert?.."

Hunk asked in worry.

"Well, I'm sure they wouldn't mind eating a burnt cake... Besides, they're your friends, They would understand."

Shay answered as she was looking at the cake that had burnt in the oven.

Hunk sighed at Shay's words and turned towards the window to see his friends.

He saw how Keith and pidge were close at the table. How Keith tried to flirt with her and how she was not bothered with it.... Actually, she was even flirting back.

He then turned to see Allura and Lance: Allura had a grin on her face, she was starting at both Keith and pidge with the same thoughts then Hunk.

Lance, him, had a hand on his girlfriend's hip. He was also looking at the two but not with the same expression. He was more like: "dios mío, get a room!!"

Hunk got his head inside the kitchen again.

"have you noticed how Keith and Pidgeon are flirting together? Like man, they got very close in the last years and I'm pretty sure they have feelings for each other... The problem Is that or they don't even notice their feelings, or they are just too awkward to try something..."

"There was a time where I thought they were dating..."

Shay admited. She gave the burnt cake to Kosmo that was laying in the kitchen's ground. ( Kosmo with his cosmic stomach could literally eat everything...) The kitchen's ground was cold, that's why he was laying there. 'CAUSE DAMN, IT WAS HOT OUTSIDE!

"it's hot, isn't it little one?.. let me get you some nice ice. Maybe a cold drink would help you too?"

Shay gave a pat to Kosmo before to give him some ice.

"you know what? That gives me an idea of desert..."

Hunk said with a smirk as he turned back to smirk at pidge and Keith...

Later, Hunk and Shay arrived at the table with the deserts:

"Ok everyone! The cake burnt... BUT! I came up with another idea of desert that I hope you'll enjoy!"

He placed the plate on the table; It had 3 smoothies.

One was green and red with a small slice of watermelon and kiwi. The second was completely blue but with two shades of it and a few blueberrys on it. The third one was yellow had Chocolat at the bottom and on the top of it.

"I made smoothies that you guys can share! Allura, Lance, I made you a blueberry smoothie with a small touch of mint inside of it. I picked that taste because you both were paladins of the blue lion... As for Keith and Pidge, I know you guys are not dating but I thought it would be nice if you shared your's... do you mind it ?"

Hunk knew exactly what he was doing. He also knew that they would agree for sure.

"Sounds good to me."

Keith said. He blushed slightly and turned his head to see pidge's reaction.

"Same."

She also blushed.

"All right! For you two, I picked cucumber, mint, kiwi, watermelon and strawberry. Reffing to your lions but also the the fact that you were both the arms of voltron! Now, I hope you guys will enjoy your drinks and that they will refresh you!"

Everyone thanked Hunk and Shay.

Hunk sat next to Allura. She turned at him:

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

She asked with a grin.

He placed a finger in front of his mouth and blinked.

"Hope that one of them will finally be courageous enough to ask the other out..."

She said in a sigh.

"I'm sur they will."

Hunk smiled at the two that were sharing the green and red smoothie. They were laughing together, not even noticing that everyone was staring at them.

They were in there own world, with their refreshing smoothie that sure tasted amazing in this summer day.

( SORRY FOR BEING SO LATE!!!!!JZJDFBISBDSIBFSIFBFIZND!!! Also, Hunk is the best match-maker ;). )

[electrasev5nwrites]

Ninja Daily: Vapors 88

"Kakashi-senpai!"

He lazily glanced at his pink-cheeked kohai without halting in his push-ups. A safe fifteen feet away, Gai was enthusiastically doing his own workout, counting at the top of his lungs while his creepy bug-eyed devotee shouted encouragement and danced around.

Unusual. Tenzou usually had the sense not to wander too close to Gai. Not after the unfortunate incident when Gai had corralled him into whatever challenge had been going on at the time. Something involving counting grains of rice, if his perfect memory served him correctly.

Tenzou nervously glanced between his two superiors, before seeming to clench his jaw. "Senpai, Hokage-sama came back today."

"Thank you, messenger pidgeon," he allowed graciously, raising a sardonic eyebrow before turning his face back down to the ground, concentrating on his repetitions. He had let Gai win tic-tac-toe last time, so he had to win this challenge or face insufferable gloating about being two points ahead in their never-ending game.

Gai gave an enthusiastic roar from his belly, clapping his hands between reps and pounding his palms into the ground when he landed with enough force to send little cracks spidering through the dry earth. His kohai seemed more uneasy than the commonplace sight merited.

"Aiko didn't come back with her."

By the time the grin had faded from Gai's face in a sort of wary realization that now was not the time to taunt his rival about imminent defeat, Kakashi was already bounding through the upper branches in a path that cut rudely through two more training grounds on the way to the central administration building.

Tenzou caught up to him a few seconds later, clearly having been blind-sided by his sudden motion. "Don't- I mean, I don't really know that anything is wrong," he huffed, giving Kakashi a wide-eyed glance that perhaps hinted his expression was less than pleasant. "I just heard from Kotetsu when he got off his shift." He swallowed dryly, falling a half-step behind his commander. "Maybe she stayed late for some reason, or went to Suna with their ambassador. She spends a fair bit of time there."

The awkward reassurances didn't make him feel any better. The look on Tsunade's face when she saw him pick open the lock on her office window and step in made him feel considerably worse.

"It's like you have this seventh sense for when your underlings are in trouble," she remarked tiredly, dropping her gaze to her hands. "I was about to send for you."

The sound of Tenzou's sandals scuffling behind him was the first thing he noticed that indicated the boy had actually followed him in. Kakashi was holding his breath, tempted between pushing the Hokage for an explanation and not wanting to hear what she had to say.

"Akatsuki," she said finally, giving him a pitying look, wrinkles phasing through her genjutsu into visibility. "They sent at least one agent into the conference, supposedly from Ame. Aiko was… Aiko interfered when this woman assaulted Sabaku no Temari, and is currently missing in action. Along with the two jinchuuriki who were in the area." Her listless tone somehow made the news worse.

His jaw was locked shut.

"Missing in action?" Tenzou repeated quietly. His face was pale, but Kakashi didn't see. He was still staring at the wall behind Tsunade's head, struck stone still by horror.

"I'm sorry." Tsunade leaned over and painstakingly removed a worn envelope from her knapsack, which Yamato only now realized was still sitting on the floor by her desk. "Here." She stood to press it into Kakashi's hands, and seemed to waver on the thought of hugging him for comfort. He took it absently without looking at what he had.

She looked away and sat back down without offering any comfort. Probably for the best. He wouldn't know how to react to it. "For what it's worth, I don't think that they would necessarily want her dead. She's valuable. Akatsuki might want to barter her for Naruto. Of course, we can't…" Tsunade swallowed hard and averted her eyes, before quietly adding, "and she's a tricky little thing. Maybe she can get away."

"If she could, she would have," Kakashi muttered brokenly, hands limp at his sides. "but she's not dead."

The Hokage seemed surprised by his optimism, but nodded. "We have to hope so. I won't declare her dead until I abso-"

"No, I mean that she literally can't be dead," he interrupted testily, giving the floor a resentful glare. "See?"

Yamato and Tsunade exchanged a look that implied he'd lost his damn mind.

"Senpai, that's a kunai," the younger man ventured cautiously when Kakashi gave it an impatient shake with the hand that wasn't absently clutching the sealed envelope.

"The sealing formula is still on it," he bit out sullenly, slipping the weapon away. "Hiraishin is sustained through constant connection with the creator. It would have failed if she were dead." After Minato had died, he had thought it was merely a nightmare for months and would only accept the truth when he felt the now ordinary kunai that he'd carried since he was twelve. He would never forget how it felt to hold a dead, empty piece of metal that had once been a source of comfort and strength.

The other two looked relieved for a second, before Tsunade had a thought that made her queasy.

"Does that mean my desk is going to explode one day?" She prodded it experimentally with a forefinger.

He didn't have time to answer before Tenzou interrupted with a suspiciously high-pitched, "Aiko-chan gave me an explosive without telling me about it?"

"Probably," Kakashi admitted honestly. "That sounds like something she would do. But no, they won't go off accidentally. The explosion is an intentional addition to the formula that she can activate at will. She wouldn't be so reckless as to give a half-dozen people seals that would explode if she died. Aiko isn't that irresponsible or short-sighted." He gave a slow exhalation, closing his visible eye and letting his head sag.

"But that's great news," Tenzou tried placatingly, giving him a faint smile. "We know she's okay."

"Of course she's not okay," he scoffed, gritting his teeth painfully for a moment before he continued. "If she were, she would just return."

"She could be lingering in order to try to assist the other hostages," Tsunade mused, looking as though his hypothesis was the best news she'd had all week. "Aiko would know that Iwa and Kumo are looking right at us. If she came back without them…" She grimaced. "That reminds me. I have a mission for you two of the highest level of sensitivity. The Raikage had already sent his proposed meeting time for exchanging the prisoner when I got back, and I don't want to exacerbate things by being late. The jackass scheduled it with such short notice that I will need you two to leave within an hour or so to make it on time. He probably didn't want us setting up an ambush," she mused sourly.

"Noted," Yamato mumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck. "But, about Aiko… What are you going to tell everyone else?"

Tsunade gave Yamato a helpless shrug, overlooking the man sulking between them. "The truth. What else can I say? I considered keeping this from Naruto when I realized just how hard it was going to be to keep him from doing exactly what Akatsuki wants, but it would be too cruel. Besides, I can't keep this quiet. Especially if it really is going to lead to war." She cringed, curling into herself and wrapping her arms around her chest, rubbing her sides as if she felt a chill.

"When exactly did this happen?"

At the sharp tone, Tsunade jerked to attention and directed all her attention to Kakashi, who suddenly looked intense and dangerous instead of like he was about to crumple over. "Ah—in the early hours three days ago," she clipped out, concentrating to remember more detailed information. "I last saw her at perhaps three in the morning."

"That's a long time for her to be incapacitated," Yamato noted uneasily. The worry on his face wasn't hard to decipher. She couldn't possibly sleep that long—they must have either poisoned her or all-but killed her to keep her immobilized for days on end.

He didn't even want to think about what awful things she might be enduring.

A day prior

"And then Kakuzu-sempai said that Hidan-san was a nuisance, so Tobi thought that Hidan-san might be sad and Tobi went to ask him if he needed to talk about his feelings, because that always helps Tobi!" There was a mournful silence, and then Madara Uchiha added with a quiver in his artificially high voice, "Hidan-san was embarrassed and he told Tobi that he didn't need to talk about his feelings. He didn't even want a hug! Wasn't that silly of him, Aiko-chan?" As he talked, he flung open a door and trotted in, leaving her to trail behind. He was very unlike the uber professional Itachi, she noted.

Before meeting this man in person, Aiko hadn't been certain if he was Obito driven mad by pain and grief, if he was Obito possessed by Madara but still somewhat present, or if Madara was merely wearing Obito's body like a fashionable coat. Now, she couldn't be anything but certain that there was nothing of Obito here, because no one who was anything less than pure, unadulterated evil could come up with a deception and persona as offensively irritating as this one. This act had been the product of decades of learning how to be an irritating jackass. Obito simply wouldn't have had the time to become this deranged.

"It was terribly silly," Aiko agreed solemnly, giving him a shy smile. "I bet he was just too bashful to accept it."

Evil lunatic or not, she valued her skin. Oddly enough, she might be safer with Madara than Itachi or Kisame. Itachi had reasons to kill her to protect Konoha, and Kisame or another Akatsuki might kill her if they thought it worth Pein's anger. Sure, she didn't have the thin protection of Pein's desire to keep her alive in regards to Madara, being as he was the real boss here. But he was also a person who planned, like, twenty years ahead. Sure, his plans were stupid, (form criminal organization, fuck around with Konoha, and then somehow rule the world?) but that was beside the point. The only reasons he would kill her would be if she was in the way of his plan (which she couldn't help) or if she ticked him off to the point where he didn't care about interfering with the efficiency of his puppet organization doing what he wanted it to do.

So instead of taunting him, she was pretending to be charmed by Tobi, since option # 1 (otherwise known as 'run away screaming bloody murder') was difficult when in a towel and half-dead from hunger and chakra exhaustion.

"Would you like a hug?" He leaned in far too close, as if trying to put her off balance or trick her into displaying unease. But Aiko was a goddamn champion of hiding distress behind a cutesy girl act, and she didn't so much as flinch. "You seem sad," Madara finished gravely.

' Sure, you crazy bastard.'

"I am a little sad," she admitted, gently shutting the drawer of no longer needed clothes that Deidara had left behind, clutching a black shirt with mesh shoulders to her chest. "I think you're right, I could use a hug."

He squealed and threw his arms around her shoulders—then just as easily flinched away dramatically and backed up all the way to the other wall. "Eek! Aiko-chan, you haven't put on clothes yet!" he wailed.

' No shit, Sherlock.'

"J-just turn around!" She squeaked out. It was lucky that he did, because she was unable to fake a blush. It was somewhat of a relief to drop her towel and pull the shirt over her head, even though it felt really fucking weird to wear a dead man's clothing and the mesh fell in a way that Anko would have approved of. Beggars couldn't be choosers. Deidara had been on the petite side for a man, but she was petite for a woman, so the shirt's hem was just barely long enough to be decent if she stayed perfectly still and there was no breeze.

That didn't seem like a likely combination of circumstances, so she pulled open the next drawer in hopes of finding pants, without noticing that the Uchiha turned around at the noise. It was just full of hair products, so she knelt to open the bottom one. That was successful. Aiko pulled them on post-haste, not caring that they were the worst fitting thing she'd ever worn. She could adjust the fit and make do. "I'm decent, Tobi-san," she called out, before turning around herself.

She had to blink at just how close he was. Aiko hadn't heard him move at all. To cover her surprise, she bit her lip before asking, "Is there a belt around or anything?" To demonstrate, she lifted her arms straight up so he could see how ill-fitting the slacks were.

"Ahh, you're so cuuuute, Aiko-chan," he squealed, lurching forward to pick her up around the waist and shake her around. She put a steadying hand on his shoulder and tried not to vomit.

"Tobi-san, I don't feel well," she choked out, meaning it.

Apparently he didn't want bile down his back, because he immediately stopped and put her on the ground gently. "Tobi doesn't think that any belts here would fit you." She had the odd sense that his lower lip was wobbling when he tilted his head down. It almost immediately popped back up, though, and he bounded off to the closet. "But Tobi is certain that he could make a new hole to make a belt smaller!"

'You're a genius alright,' she thought cynically. 'I have now known you for almost five minutes, and I know that I do not want you to be anywhere near me.'

"I would like that." Politely, she did not move towards the closet. Shinobi tended to get crabby when someone moved to box them into a confined space. The garment he emerged with was a very thin black belt. He painstakingly gouged out another hole with the tip of a kunai and then handed it over with a triumphant flourish.

' I might be safer with him, but this is nerve-wracking. Maybe I just should have stayed put in the first place.'

Itachi briefly pushed down the urge to give up on his elective situational pacifism when he came back after having begged a change of clothes off of Konan to find that his charge had apparently wandered off in the three minutes he had been absent.

'This child is an idiot of impressive proportions,' he noted tiredly, following the little wet footprints down the hall. They led to the kitchen—but faded before they led him back to the girl who'd left them. He didn't need them, however. A girlish voice was barely audible through the closed door to what had been Deidara's room once upon a time. Unease flickered in his consciousness. Either she was talking to herself, or she had run into someone else in the base.

He couldn't think of a single person in his area who could be trusted to behave around a captive from Konoha. Especially one who had potentially damaging information.

Perhaps he should have killed her when they had been alone earlier to prevent her knowledge from falling into Akatsuki's hands. He was loathe to end her without an immediate sense of danger, however. If all was truly well in the world, Itachi would never have to harm another sentient being in his life.

With a small amount of expertly hidden trepidation, he pushed the door open.

Immediately, he wished he hadn't. His patient was wearing some of Deidara's old clothes and sitting cross-legged on the duvet next to the man who called himself Tobi. They both looked up at him, but he had no illusions that the expression hidden behind that mask was the innocent curiosity on the girl's face. Madara was almost certainly getting no small amount of enjoyment out of this play-act. Had he accompanied the girl to thwart Itachi? As a silent threat? Or just because he got some strange amusement out of letting her think him a fool?

"You're just in time, Itachi-senpai!" his elder chirped in a tone that sounded demented to his ears. The placid enjoyment on the girl's face implied that it was his additional knowledge that gave him that sense. Then again, the amount of uncharacteristic trust and positivity on her expression was downright suspicious. Surely she wasn't so stupid as to genuinely be charmed by someone met in a den of S class criminals? Perhaps it was an attempt to ingratiate herself with someone who might help her escape—Tobi did portray himself as the most approachable.

' Then again, it is possible that she has recognized Tobi as someone to be wary of and does not wish to risk angering him.'

It seemed implausible from the manner in which she had provoked Pein that she would choose to kowtow to Tobi unless she seriously believed she was in imminent danger from him.

If that was the case, she had excellent instincts or her frightening visions of possible futures had let her on to Madara's secret identity.

The teenager tilted her head and smiled at him. "We're playing Go-Fish!"

Yes, that was downright uncannily out of character. The girl was acting. At least she was good at it: she seemed genuinely pleased to find herself playing child's games with a madman.

"I am afraid that I must borrow your companion." He let his expression linger deliberately on the prisoner. "Pein-sama has requested that I provide her with medical attention."

"Awww, Itachi-san! Can we play more later?"

Message received. Madara did indeed suspect he would try to keep the Uzumaki girl away from him, and he couldn't disobey now.

"Of course," he agreed tonelessly. There was no other option. "I prepared the medical supplies in the room where you were awoken. Come."

"No need for that!" Madara interrupted in that vexingly high pitched tone he favored, swiveling his orange mask to stare directly at his female companion. "Deidara-senpai kept some in here! I can get them for you." The quickly retrieved kit was rather disproportionally stocked with burn treatments, but it did have the antiseptic and bandages that would suit his purposes.

He kept the displeasure this solution aroused off his face. "Very well," Itachi agreed as if he did not care one way or the other. "However, it was unwise for you to dress her before her wounds had been treated. Deidara's shirt will have to be removed." At the reflexive grimace that provoked, he found the opportunity to add, "Perhaps it would be less intimidating for your companion if you were to give her as much privacy as possible."

"Whatever you say, Itachi-senpai!" Tobi bounced off the bed and out the door, a hint of menace in his almost manic movements that came just an iota too close to Itachi himself.

"I would suggest wrapping the towel around your torso to give me access to your wounds," he directed, strangely less comfortable now that he was alone with the otherworldly girl who knew far too much. Especially since he had just essentially ordered her to take her clothes off. He might have offered to wait in the hall while she changed, but it had already been proven that she would wander off given thirty seconds unobserved and immediately locate the most dangerous human being on the continent, so it seemed to be an ill-advised course of action.

Instead, he politely averted his eyes and tried to forget that there was a half-naked woman in the room until she rather testily informed him that she was finished.

"Do you have any wounds that are not readily apparent?" The set of her shoulders was stiff as he went about painstakingly sanitizing every little slice into her skin. It looked as though Konan had rained down attacks from above—the top of her head and shoulders had by far the worst of it, although she was permanently missing a small slice out of her left ear.

"I think I might have a concussion," she offered grudgingly, clearly trying not to look at him.

Itachi attempted not to dwell on the fact that she could hide her discomfort around the most dangerous man in the world but trembled at his touch. He instead concentrated to summon the little tinge of medical chakra into his right palm and gently passed it over her scalp, combing through the drying hair carefully and avoiding sealing up any cuts he had yet to sanitize. There was a technique that provided merely diagnostic feedback, but he had yet to acquire it, so he had to make do.

What he found was beyond his abilities. "You are technically correct in that you have a concussion, but it is not so simple. You are experiencing a brain hemorrhage and the swelling will soon become severe." His pronouncement was dispassionate, but he was already off in thought, discarding possible solutions. He could only conclude, "We have no medic who can treat this."

"You don't, huh." Her voice was oddly toneless. "Am I correct in thinking that a lack of treatment may result in permanent loss of brain function?"

"Probable," he agreed, a little perplexed that she was taking this so calmly. "Although stroke or death are also possible."

"I see." She clipped the words together. That seemed to be all she had to say, so he quietly went back to his work, extracting bits of dirt she had missed on her back especially and sanitizing everything before he went back and took the opportunity to practice his mastery of the mystical palm technique, prioritizing the deeper gouges in her hands and wrists that may restrict her movements.

Should he offer to help her escape? She already knew that he was a double agent. The words stuck in his throat when he tried to summon them, however. It was far too dangerous to say such a thing in this place, and he did not see how he could possibly return her to Konoha without implicating himself. As abhorrent as it was to cause harm to another person even through inaction, his mission was far more valuable than her life and safety to Konoha as a whole. Akatsuki was going to perform their second extraction tomorrow and add the two-tailed beast to the statue with the eight-tailed beast when the other members returned to the base. He would have to be present for this event, and the girl would either be locked up or unconscious for the duration to reduce possible complications.

…Probably both, given her obvious propensity for troublemaking.

Then again, if she knew anything at all about the sealing procedure, she would know that no one would be available to watch her. The Uzumaki child was not without intelligence. It was both her best chance and completely hopeless.

Perhaps she had something up her sleeve. At least he could offer a little information and see if she could help herself. "Do not expect further assistance. I will not be available to re-treat your wounds tomorrow. I will be recovering my full chakra capacity in anticipation of the day's events."

The evaluating way she gazed up at him was reassurance enough that she could read between the lines to what he was actually conveying, so it was acceptable that she gave no reply.

"I knew you two would have fun together," Kisame observed from the door. Itachi did not bother to reply, letting his hands fall back to his side and turning to face the taller man. She could keep the patchwork map of scratches. They were not life-threatening, and not worth the effort of healing.

His blank expression seemed to fuel Kisame's amusement. "I don't know what I'm interrupting, but apparently I'm the babysitter, red." He bared his teeth at the Uzumaki girl, but didn't let his gaze leave Itachi. "So you can relax for a while, Itachi."

He gave a small nod. That was acceptable. If the girl was to attempt to escape, he did not want to be forced to thwart it or risk being suspected of complicity. It was best to be as far away as possible. "Of course."

'Well, hell. That's not good at all.' Her hands were trembling, so she pressed them into her lap and tried to ignore the S-class missing nin eying her like she was a particularly interesting insect. She didn't have the energy to care about Kisame right now, or even to be relieved that Itachi had finally left her alone.

Aiko had just received rather bad news, after all.

Her mind was the one weapon she could not do without. She had already judged that it was far too hazardous to risk using Hiraishin in this state with the easy assumption that a few days' time at the absolute most would rectify the situation. Then she could rattle off an insult to whatever Akatsuki was lurking about and go home a hero with two jinchuuriki in tow.

'Or I might only have their bodies, and then I'd have to make sure we all permanently disappear,' the creep of doubt that she'd been ignoring piped up insidiously. Before now she had been able to ignore it, but it seemed much more real and probable now that she had both a tight deadline imposed by the rapidly approaching time when the Akatsuki would gather to extract one of the bijuu complicated by her body's pathetic weakness.

But she didn't want to die. Not for stupid fucking Konoha.

That left only one recourse, then. She had to try to escape. The plan was hardly complicated: her only chance was to hope like hell that she could still use Hiraishin, steal the jinchuuriki, and leave.

"Hey, red." An enormous foot nudged her ribs none too gently, drawing her attention up to the man in the room with her. "I don't appreciate being ignored."

"Sorry, blue," she replied automatically, blinking up at the toothy behemoth hovering over her. He just grunted, and then thoroughly creeped her out by leaning in and sniffing her hair. Aiko froze.

His breath was hot on the back of her neck when he grunted, "You stink like Itachi's cheap soap."

She tried not to let her mind dwell on the fact that the Uchiha bastard apparently didn't even use shampoo and his hair was a hundred times nicer than hers. That big dumb butt. Unknowingly, she pouted, puffing out her cheeks irritably.

"Well, I'm supposed to do this every hour or so, and I'm already behind," Kisame sighed, soft rustling sounds behind her clueing Aiko in that he was doing something.

"Do what?" she asked a little suspiciously, swiveling just enough to see that the very tip of his sword was unwrapped before he rested it on her shoulder. The weight nearly bowled her over, but it was the sensation of tiny needles in her flesh that made her mindlessly jerk to push the weapon away.

He caught her wrist, and it seemed pitifully small in his gigantic paw. "I wouldn't touch her if I were you," Kisame cautioned in a rumble with a strange undertone she couldn't quite identify. "She only likes me enough to tolerate touching. You might lose a hand or more."

That sounded like a massive bummer, so Aiko just tried to shrink away from the blade bulging obscenely against her flesh. It followed her movements. Finally, she gave up. "Why are you using me as a shelf?" Aiko managed to force out, feeling so much worse than she had a moment ago, even discounting the blood trickling down the flesh Itachi had just healed.

"Pein-sama seems to think you're dangerous," he informed her lightly, pulling the blade away nonchalantly while she tried to catch her breath, gripping her stomach with both arms. "I happen to be an expert at draining a person's chakra to exactly what they need and leave them none for daring escape plans."

"Ah," Aiko huffed out, vision flickering slightly. "The joke is on you, then. My daring escape plan requires no chakra at all. I'm going to impersonate you and walk right out of here."

He threw his head back and laughed. Then he scooped her up like she was a kitten and cradled her with a single arm, striding out of Deidara's room with two long steps and back up a vaguely familiar hallway. "How do you intend to do that, red?"

"I was going to beat you up with just taijutsu, switch our clothes and then tell Itachi I'm going out for ice cream," she mumbled, feeling her head sag against his chest despite her best efforts.

"Well, you'll need some fuel for that," Kisame informed her mock-seriously, kicking out a wooden chair and settling her into it with surprising gentleness from such a large, scary-looking person. "I'm afraid that protein would help you re-build your chakra levels, so you'll have to settle for rice porridge. It's the only other thing I can cook."

She might have fallen asleep, but Aiko vaguely remembered noting that he put an ungodly amount of honey into the steaming bowl he set in front of her.

"Hey, can you walk, red? I don't want to stand around while you eat."

Aiko gave it a valiant attempt, but ended up nearly sliding under the table when her attempt to push her chair back failed.

"I will take that as a no." She blinked, and then she was picked up just the same as before, dazedly blinking at the bowl in his massive fingers while he walked outside. Aiko found herself propped up against the building with the hot bowl on her legs. He ruffled her hair fondly before straightening to his full height. "I have energy to burn, so you're going to watch me train. I agreed to keep you out of trouble, not play nursemaid."

Her tongue felt heavy and dry in her mouth, but he hadn't thought to bring her a drink. Aiko dubiously glanced down at the food she'd been allotted. She felt so weak and queasy that eating sounded like the last thing she wanted to do, but it could only help improve her condition. There was absolutely no chance that she could escape in this condition, and she had no idea how long it had been since she had eaten. Her physical state would only get worse the longer she went without caloric intake.

She nearly gagged at the heat and sweetness, but forced it all down. Oddly, she felt incrementally better within minutes: good enough to pay some attention to what Kisame was doing. It was actually rather interesting, from a professional standpoint. He was sparring with four water clones on a shallow lake of his own creation, dodging what had to be at least B level techniques from all of them that did things like boil the water, attempt to drag him down, or hit him with anything from man-sized sharks made of water to concussive bullets like what she used.

"You know, you're the first really strong water-type I've met," Aiko mused aloud. The statement hadn't been intended to flatter, but he looked proud nonetheless.

"You haven't seen nothing yet, itty bitty. I'll do this jutsu with just the chakra I got from you."

'I really wish I could focus enough to remember those handsigns,' she thought blearily. At this point, she wouldn't even certain that she was seeing them all. Thoughts of memorizing them so she could steal his toy were completely lost when she realized that he was forming a gigantic tank of water in the air that towered over the entire building she was pressed up against, sides as flat as if there was glass to keep them in despite the fact that she could see the liquid was raging in a vicious current. Whoa. He was standing on the top of the rapidly rising water, and tossed her one last look that implied he never got tired of showing off before he grinned and started working on another series of handsigns.

"This area is all under my control," he informed in a half-shout, rolling his shoulders menacingly. "It's impossible to escape, but right now, anyone who can walk on water would be fine. I could trap them in a water prison while their movement is constricted, but that gets old. This is how I drag my victims to the bottom, or tear them apart."

The water lurched and—were those twenty foot sharks circling in the water to create a whirlpool? They definitely were, and there were too many moving too quickly for her to count. Just trying to follow their movement gave her a headache.

Her priorities quickly changed when the 'sides' of the tank suddenly disappeared, and several thousand tons of water came rushing at her with a swarming mass of angry looking sharks on the top. She had just enough time to think, 'oh shit' before Kisame scooped her up with a laugh and landed easily on top of the building, grinning at he looked over the swamp that he had just formed.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe. Poor itty bitty." A massive hand tweaked her nose, and he laughed again when her eyes crossed.

"Where is the water going?" she changed the subject, embarrassed that she'd frozen. It was disappearing with an almost shocking haste, and there had been an enormous amount of it- easily six times what she could make.

'Did he really use just my chakra? He must be so much more efficient with it than I am.' Contemplatively, she glanced down at the enormous trunk of an arm that was supporting her. He just didn't look like a guy who cared to use finesse.

"Pein-sama installed a drain system," Kisame admitted carelessly, jumping back down on top of the draining liquid and heading towards the other side of the building he had just abused. "My jutsu practice supplies the water for the base."

Aiko blanched. It was a pretty big building, and he was just one man.

'These are the types of people I'm dealing with,' she remembered with a sinking feeling. 'I can't fight on a level ground against any of them.'

It was dreary and rather dark out, but it was difficult to gauge the time because it sort of looked like the sky was always that way in Ame. She was pretty sure she was in Ame. The rest of the night wasn't terribly eventful, but it must have been evening at least because Kisame only drained her chakra three more times before he set her on Deidara's bed, patted her head like she was a kitten, and then locked her in for the night.

'I really might die here,' she realized with dawning horror the first time that he came in and woke her up by draining her chakra again before shuffling away in his pajamas. That hadn't seemed real before. She always got out of sticky situations. Being slippery was like, her thing. But they really were doing a professional job: When Kisame said he was going to drain her chakra every hour, he really fucking meant it. She drifted between a haze of sleep and unconsciousness all night, and felt like absolute crap in the morning.

The thought that the jinchuuriki were probably worse off than she was… was not reassuring. They almost certainly weren't being fed because Akatsuki was going to kill at least one of them sometime that day. There would have been no point. So they were probably being kept drugged into unconsciousness to prevent any struggles. That would be what Aiko would have done. That meant that they probably would have something of a fighting chance if allowed to wake, she hoped, since they'd have their chakra.

Good and bad. If they were capable and decided to work with her, that would work in her favor. If they were in better condition than she was and still wanted her dead, she would be screwed and very possibly vulnerable. That was one of the reasons that she decided she could only go to Konoha—yes, if it turned out that Fuu or Nii was still hostile, they would claim Konoha had done the original kidnapping and just tried to trick them. That was bad. But being alone in the middle of nowhere with two possible hostiles was far worse, and she desperately needed medical attention and safety. Aside from being where she felt safest, Konoha had the best hospital and medics in the known world.

"Feeding time, for Samehada first, and then you," Kisame promised cheerily, flinging her door open. Aiko winced and wished that hiding under the sheets was a valid tactical strategy.

True to his word the day before, there was none of the meat or nuts that she was craving frantically when Kisame fed her in the morning. She tried not to glare or let her head hit the table when a goddamn salad was put in front of her while Kisame settled down with miso, rice, and four fish.

It was a perfectly good salad… a bizarrely good salad, if she were to be honest. Kisame apparently didn't believe in dressing, but he did believe in spinach, mandarin oranges, grapes, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. She could see the logic behind the composition—a lot of iron to help her replace her lost blood, and a variety of nutrients from other sources. It still wasn't answering the insane craving in her bones for something she could turn into pure life energy.

'I am going to escape, go home, and eat half a goddamn cow,' Aiko promised herself, because the alternative was to lay down and die. For now, she ate the entire salad and asked for seconds. She got more sweetened rice. What the hell was up with this man and sweetened rice?

Still, this was probably the best that she was going to feel. It had been almost an hour since Kisame had last drained her chakra. She had no idea when they were planning on performing the extractions, and they probably wouldn't be so helpful as to tell her. Really, they probably wouldn't be so obliging as to leave her conscious and unobserved while they got to work. If they had any sense at all, the first order of business would be to knock her the fuck out so she couldn't use the chakra she would be accumulating while they were too busy to pay attention to her.

So she experimentally rolled her ankles under the table and looked up at Kisame endearingly. "Thank you for breakfast, blue-san. You know, you seem out of place here. How did you end up working in chateau crazy?"

He stared. "You think I seem like the sanest person here?" he clarified gingerly. At her nod, he shook his head slowly. "Well, that's a new one. Usually the assumption is that Itachi is least likely to peel someone's face off and wear it to bed. No offence, red, but I don't feel like talking about it."

"That's fair," she admitted evenly, propping her chin up on her hands and feeling around for the two Hiraishin seals she was most concerned with at the moment. They were in the same locations she had originally noted when she first woke up. Aside from feeling tired, she was almost used to the constant splitting headache and fatigue from chakra exhaustion. She could do this. "I just thought I should ask before I enact my daring escape plan and all," she teased with a smile, scrunching up her nose. Oddly, he didn't seem to take the warning seriously at all. "You know, if you ever decide you want to make a break from these nutjobs, I will totally hide you in my apartment if you agree to teach me how to be completely and utterly terrifying with water jutsu. I've always wanted to be internationally feared." She gave a real sigh of longing.

"As appealing as the thought of being confined to a teenager's apartment is, I think I will have to pass on that one," he rejoined dryly, sticking his chopsticks in his now-empty bowl and leaning back slightly. "I'm flattered, though."

"Well, I'm sure that Tsunade-sama would let me bring you in legally if I asked, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to share," she pouted mock-regretfully. He was by far the most impressive master of water jutsu she had ever used, and given half a chance to learn from him, she would walk over broken glass to do it.

Still, there were pretty shinobi princesses to rescue, less sucky places to be, and meat to sink her teeth into. That sort of thing. Shouldn't dawdle.

Kisame snorted, looking almost fond of her. "You're a weird kid."

"And you're surprisingly cool," she countered, locking onto the signature that she thought was Fuu. It was hard to tell which of the other woman disliked her more, but at least Fuu was more frightened of her than angry with her. Hopefully, she would be willing to listen and cooperate to save her own skin. "So long, and thanks for all the fish," she added with a pointed look at the fish he had definitely not shared. He was just making a confused expression when she yanked on Fuu's chakra signature—and found herself falling to the ground, clutching at her aching head. If anyone else was there, she had no idea and she was completely at their mercy, because the pain was unbearable.

The first thing she noticed when her vision returned from 'white' and the feeling had changed to a throb instead of an electric current that consumed her being was that she was crying on her hands and knees. The second thing was that Fuu was conscious but badly beaten, and chained to a wall. She also looked somewhat alarmed.

Aiko had to purposefully wipe away latent curiosity about just awful she must look judging by Fuu's expression. "Sorry about that," she slurred. Oh. Embarrassing. Was she drooling? She wiped the side of her mouth. Well, it wasn't drool. Wasn't sure if blood is better or not, so she put the thought aside for later. "I don't know about you, but I think we should rescue ourselves. How does a jail break sound?"

"You look like shit," the other girl said bluntly, before pointedly tugging on her wrists. "And I doubt you can break these."

"No need, I'll just grab you. Um." She hesitated, feeling like throwing up, but forced it down. "Nii Yugito is the next stop, and then we blow this popsicle stand. If that happens again, can you watch my back while I recover? Am bleeding in the brain," Aiko explained, waving at the general area of her head as she lurched forward to wrap her arms around Fuu's waist. She looked like she'd been through hell, but that the aforementioned hell had happened several days ago. To a normal person, that would make little difference, but it was a different matter entirely when applied to a jinchuuriki. The cuffs were the awful kind that stopped chakra circulation, which made some sense to a distant part of her brain. But now was not the time to stop and think, and the ability to do more than one thing at once was apparently no longer something she could do.

"Of course," Fuu murmured from above her. "If you can really get me out of here."

"Hold on tight," Aiko huffed, despite that not making any sense at all since she was the one holding onto Fuu. Concentrating on taking just Fuu and not the metal touching her limbs was shockingly difficult for something she didn't usually have to think about, but she managed.

' One more to rescue. If I wasn't more concerned that Yugito might attack me on sight, I would have gotten her first and probably left Fuu for dead once I realized how hard this was going to be. She's much more politically important.'

Didn't matter now. She tenuously gripped the Hiraishin seal that was closest- and by closest, she really did mean closest by an enormous margin. At least the two jinchuuriki were closer together than she had been to Fuu. Maybe this wouldn't be so terrible. She only had to make two more Hiraishin. Go to Yugito, go home. She could do it. She could do dozens within seconds at her best. This was nothing.

But the seal slipped out of her grip. That had never happened before, even when she was first learning. Frustrated, she attempted to lock in on it again—and succeeded this time.

When the ringing in her ears stopped, the first thing she knew was that she was making an awful wailing sound and it hurt her throat. Aiko stopped immediately and tried to push herself up, noting that her vision appeared to be shot. It was far worse than the double vision she had first woken up to in the Akatsuki base where even now pursuants were likely mobilizing. How long had she been disabled by that travel?

Of course, it was worse than she realized.

"I thought you were dead," Aiko croaked out at the foul-mouthed blur that Fuu appeared to be fighting. Hidan (she was pretty sure that was who it was) responded with an obnoxious laugh.

"Hey, you're that bitch who'd heard about Jashin! Did you come to convert, or just to donate your body to the cause? I might have fucked you before, but you look like total shit now. Still, Jashin accepts all forms of fucked-up ugly whores. Equal in his sight and all that shit."

"Yeah, that's him," she muttered to herself, struggling to her feet. Odd. Was the floor really moving, or was she seasick for some other reason? "Yugito?" she called out plaintively. "Are you here?"

The response was raspy, as if she was breathing through a lungful of blood. "the fuck happened to you, Uzumaki? I'm right here."

"Okay, good," she mumbled, awkwardly fisting a handful of the clothing she felt when she stumbled in the direction of the familiar voice. "You're not tied or anything, right?"

There was a brief silence from the only other person not involved in a fight. When it came, Yugito sounded a bit unnerved. "No. I was just uncuffed by this asshole."

"Cool." She stood as straight as she could in the disorienting blur of colors that had become her perception, and wrapped her trembling arm around what felt like Yugito's waist. They had to go, they had to move. Beating Hidan was pointless and would just give reinforcements time to show up. "Fuu?" she called out plaintively, hoping the older girl would know what she wanted. Aiko was almost surprised by how weak her own voice sounded.

A heartbeat later, a thin arm was around her waist. "I'm here, move!" Fuu barked out. Aiko obeyed thoughtlessly, thinking of nothing but home. She wanted the seal in her bedroom but really Tsunade's office would be a better choice, she would meet a medic there and this all could get sorted out, it was going to be okay.

But when she came back, cheek lying in what seemed to be mud and her own bile, Aiko felt raindrops on her body. "Please, god, tell me we're out of Ame," she choked out, not bothering to suppress tears. Everything hurt, and the blurs of colors had turned to shades of red that were completely useless for navigating. There was a hand on her shoulder—Yugito, she thought, because that was where the older woman's voice came from.

"No, we aren't. But we can wait a moment for you to feel better and run from here."

She sobbed openly, pushing herself up to her knees and palms. Her head shook. "No, we can't," Aiko frantically explained, just wishing this nightmare would end already. "He uses rain like I do to sense. They know where we are. If we're in the rain, they're coming directly to us. We have to go. Please, god, work this time," she wailed, not even noticing that she was reverting to English. "One more. One more." Blindly, she reached out, feeling for Fuu. "I need to touch both of you so we can go again."

"Uzumaki, you're going to kill yourself!" Yugito spat out, sounding—odd, was she sounding concerned? But didn't she hate Aiko?

"I might, but if I don't, we're all dead," she wheezed. Only the sensation of heat on her cheeks let her know that tears were mixed in with the rainwater. "I think I have one more in me."

No one answered her, but arms were wrapped around her torso from both sides.

Aiko took a moment to hope that neither of them would take the opportunity to kill her. It wouldn't be hard now. Honestly, at this point, she didn't think there was any chance she could make the trip to Konoha. But she had to try.

And she pulled on the seal in Tsunade's office one more time with everything she had. Literally everything—she was unconscious before she hit the ground again somewhere new.

[spinningbuster98]

I'm not quite sure if I really wanna say that Resident Evil 4 is one of my favorite games ever

It sure is one of my most replayed though, counting at around 20 playthroughs in about 2 years. Yeah I didn't grow up with this one, I first played this 2 years ago and it wasn't even my first RE game! My first taste was the RE2 Remake, then I played most of the classics on PS1 and THEN I tried RE4, so nothing I will say about this game will be influenced by nostalgia in any way

So there are...quite a bit of things to say about this one, but luckily it's more than long enough to give me enough time to take things calmly

For now I'll just say that RE4 has perhaps one of the best intro sequences I've ever experienced in a videogame, about on par with the likes of Super Metroid in terms of quickly teaching the basics to the player and setting the mood

You start off with a bunch of quick and easy enemy encounters in the middle of a moody forest, just to allow you to get the basics of how the controls and combat work. In the menu there's even a playing manual (more will be given to you as you progress) that teaches you the basic controls and gives you some general tips.

It's pretty easy and straightforward, you make your way through the forest passage, you save the dog from the bear trap (do it you heartless bastards), it's all nice and cozy

....and then you reach the village

This is where the game suddenly takes the training wheels off without any indication whatsoeve

Up until this point the game had essentially lulled you into a false sense of security but now it gives you a very memorable taste of how it's going to act from now on

You may think that, upon entering the village, you'll be able to sneak past those people, but you can't, you will ALWAYS be discovered by someone and just like that all Hell breaks lose

The game immediately gets on your ass. There's nothing to prepare you or tell you what you should do. No cutscene telling you you've been discovered, only the music changing to the enemy theme. The game doesn't pop up a tutorial giving you tips on how to proceed, it doesn't give you objective markers or even what you should do in general!

You are completely on your own, you have to survive this onslaught of possessed villagers as you get surounded on all sides. You have to run around, collecting resources as you go and try to take down these guys whenever possible while never staying still too long.

You can enter some of the homes to steal their resources, but you might just find yourself pidgeon holed inside as the Ganados swarm the place and trap you inside.

Did I mention that one of these guys, Dor Sàlvador, has a chainsaw that can instakill you?

On your first playthrough you will likely die as you run around panicking, unsure of what to do, trying your best to stay alive, tension building with each second as you spend more and more of your limited resources

The game will only let up once you either kill a large number of enemies (very unlikely on a first playthrough) or manage to survive for a set amount of time

And just like that Leon says his famous catchphrase and the game drops its title

The rest of the chapter is pretty simple, mostly straightforward combat encounters as you make your way through the gloomy country side.

Finally Leon rescues a mysterious man who was being held up in a closes and he gets to meet the Big Cheese of the Village! An enourmas man who doesn't look very friendly!

So what does our hero do? Shoot him in the head? Toss a grenade? Slice him with his knife?

Nah he immediately tries to roundhouse kick the 2 meters tall wall of muscles and gets his shit kicked as a result

Nice job Leon

[rubywithin]

Zone Gate Part 3

(Noelle) "I draw".....I don't know what to do, I don't have anything stronger than his Eagle! Hmm I think I know what to do about this guy, "I summon Bush Deer and attack you directly". I placed 2 effect cards as I need to either guard or bait his destroy effects. (Shin) "I draw then I summon a Flame Sparrow and both my monsters will attack you directly!" (Noelle) "I will stop Sparrow's attack with a Mossy Shield". Perfect, he placed one of his own effect card's but that didn't matter to me! "I activate Nature's Gate and summon a new Bush Tiger and Bush Snake, they will then joint attack your Eagle". Two monsters can attack together but it uses up both monsters attacks. "I will then have my Deer attack you directly" (Shin) "I counter with Flame Shot!" he destroyed my monster....". Hmm he is probably going to try and evolve again, I...don't have anything to counter with! It then hit me....if I had attacked with all 3 monsters he would of been on his last life.

(Shin) "I guess my turn, I summon a new Inferno Pidgeon and my monsters attack you directly! I then conclude my turn with 2 effect cards". (Noelle) "That's it....I thought you would of put up more of a fight, all three of my monsters attack you directly". (Shin) "I activate Flame Shield to block your Tiger", (Noelle) "You think I'm done I will activate Beastly Instinct so my Tiger can attack again". (Clive) "Um Noelle I think you should calm down a bit!" (Noelle) "Back of Clive, I am so close to ending this guy's rain of terror" once my attack hit's it is game over. (Shin) "I activate a second Flame Shot, the guard was just to get you to waste that Instinct card!". Whatever I can just place another shield and only take one damage. (Shin) "I will start by activate Burning Pillar, then with a destruction count of 2 my Flame Sparrow can evolve too Flame Gryphon. When summoned he can destroy an effect card and I will choose the second effect card!" No way...how I should of won this battle already....what went wrong?

(Shin) "My Gryphon and Pidgeon will now attack you directly" I had to take both of the attacks! How could I lose to this guy....I had him beat if I didn't attack his Eagle. "Now hand over the Gate Card!" I took it out and handed it over too him...that card why did I wager it? I felt so ashamed....(Clive) "How can you just take a rare card like that?" he then grinned, (Shin) "Your friend was a fake hero, she resorted to making a deal with me just for a battle. Zonelle is full of people like her who try to stop people like me by making wagers. If she was noble she would of challenged me with no stakes but nope she had to put her card on the line. If I lost and was banned from this place you wouldn't have kicked up as much of of a fuss!". I clenched my fist because I knew he was right....I took out his Eagle just because I wanted to over power his strongest monster at the time. I am a disgrace to Zonelle, I ran out of the cafe....I can't believe I threw away a Gate card like that!

-Outside of the cafe- (???) "Boss this is Gen reporting in, looks like that Shin guy has a new victim. However this time he seems too of won a Nature Gate card! (Boss) "Hmm that card could be his key to bribing higher ranked players into facing him. Continue to observe his progress I think he could be a potential ally for us". (Gen) "Yes sir" why would someone be dumb enough to wager a Gate card against a superior opponent though? I wonder if a round two will happen....or do I claim the prize for myself? Decisions decisions.

[ronnieiswriting]

Unlike a Knight

Sellsword Din Djarin x F!reader PART 3

WC: 2,552 part 1 part 2 Tags: eventual smut 18+, explicit language (swearing but in a fancy olde english kinda way), descriptions of violence and harassment Join the taglist Masterlist

It happened in a second: The stall vendor exchanged the coins in your hand for a clay pot of powder and the sellsword’s hand closed around your forearm. You didn’t know the order in which the events occurred even as they did- before you could process either of them you were being pulled away from the scene.

You tried to pry your arm free from the man’s grip but he already had you moving, tugging you in between the market stalls towards a slim alleyway between two buildings. Behind you, the general roar of the market grew muted.

If you’d thought anyone was going to jump to your aid in a bustling city where the occurrance of a man dragging a woman somewhere was as insignificant as a pidgeon shit then you were stupid. But you weren’t- you’d learnt well enough that the only person who would always come to your rescue was you.

“Let me go!” you dug your heels into the ground and summoned the momentum to finally tear your arm from his hold. But the sellsword was stronger than you.

“Stop struggling.” He said as he took the pot from the cradle of your hand and hefted you over his shoulder in one fluid motion- just like he had done to the bounty- continuing to weave though buildings and skinny streets.

“How dare- you beast, put me down!” You wished you had brought a knife with you as you would have had the perfect vantage point to wedge it in the gap between his pauldron and the beskar mail.

But before you could think of another way to escape his hold, you were being let out of it.

The sell sword let you down on the stone alley way and as soon as you found your footing, you struck him across the face.

“Gods, woma-” He barely reeled from the force of your slap but he was blinking hard at you, eyes beginning to deepen in the dim light. He could hold you in place with his gaze alone, “How long have you been wanting to do that?”

A squeak threatened to leave you. But despite the flustered effect he dared on you, you glared at him. “From the first moment I laid eyes on you.” Then you snatched back your pot from the crook of his arm.

The corner of his lip curled slightly and you were reminded of the other things you had wanted to do since you saw him. But the way he looked at you, eyes raking over you again, made you feel like he knew every single illicit dream you had had. Like an animal, his nostrils flared and his eyes darkened as if he could sense the rising heat in you, his hands on you. He glanced away and the look was gone. “What are you doing here?” He asked you.

“Pardon me- is this your city?” you asked back, perplexed-- as if he was not the one to literally lift you from your perfectly mundane errand!

“It’s beyond what you’re capable of handling.”

“Excuse me?”

His smugness was replaced with astonishment, one long (strong) arm shooting out to the side in frustration, “If I hadn’t pulled you aside when I did you would have been ambushed by the thieves I saw watching you- or anyone for that matter! You do not know this city- how can you--”

“What does it matter to you what happens to me?” You interrupted.

He clicked his tongue. “You think I have no morality, is that it, woman? You think I’d like to watch you get robbed or assaulted?”

“You have no qualms about grabbing me like that, though! Just when I thought you couldn’t care less for a woman’s dignity.”

The sellsword hummed. His composure returned to normal- aloof. “Its not my job to be gentle. And so- I’ll ask you once more: What are you doing here?”

You thought about striking him again, about just leaving, but with the way that both of you refused to acquiesce you’d likely stay in place all night. “Since it matters so much to you- Kuiil is still fevered,” you motioned to the clay pot in your arm, “I needed things to make a remedy for him.”

He looked you over again. “And you have everything?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” The sellsword nodded, “Come with me.” He stepped beside you and took your arm.

This man seemed insistent on vexing you. But he already had you on the move again, tugging you (as opposed to the way he dragged you before) alongside him. “Have you lost your mind?!”

He scoffed at you, leading you out of the alleyway and back into the bustle of the city streets. “You will. This city isn’t safe.”

Despite his demeanor, you found yourself somewhat more willing to go along with him- or maybe you just preferred not to waste more time confronting him. And you had to admit there was something comforting (albeit frustrating) about being escorted by such an intimidating man.

You observed in awe how people avoided him by instant, parting crowds with ease. “Certainly not with you in it.” you muttered under your breath, though loud enough for him to hear.

...

“Sit down here and don’t speak to anyone.” Din said, encouraging you to sit at the end of the bar. “I won’t be long.” As he stood up fully he wasn’t ignorant to the urges you inspired in him- urges he’d been fighting since he saw you in the market.

Actually, he hadn’t stopped thinking about you- not since the night he walked into your inn looking for his bounty. He’d much rather have left with you thrown over his shoulder.

You rolled your eyes at him as he turned, and it gave him a certain amount of comfort that you could hold your own… though among the patrons of Karga’s Keg tavern, Din couldn’t be so sure.

Greef Karga was hardly royalty but no one would know it looking at him. He adorned himself in chains and brooches and often a fine half-cape that was embroidered and heavy; all of which made him stand out among those which filled his bar. Din found him quickly this way, tapping him on the shoulder so as to get his attention away from the tourney knights across from him who had him engaged in a hearty laugh.

Greef beamed up at him when he turned. “Ah! If it isn’t The Guild’s greatest man!” After Din nodded to him in greeting, Greef gestured beside himself, “Sit, friend. You must hear of what happened in the lists this morning.”

Din didn’t sit. “My apologies, but I’ve only come to discuss the next bounties, Karga.”

Greef hummed, “So be it.” and he excused himself from the passionate retelling of the knight’s tale.

Hidden from the view of the rest of the patrons, in a small meeting room in the back of the tavern, Greef Karga handed the sellsword a small purse of gold.

“You’ve done well, friend.” He said, watching as Din counted out the pieces. 9 gold crowns and 7 silver crows. “Although, I must pose my previous offer to you again.”

“I don’t want it.”

“These bounties pay a lot more gold though-”

Din tied the pouch shut again. “I earn enough gold.”

Greef sighed at the man. “Enough to survive maybe. But wouldn’t you like to buy some land, raise a family- warriors, that’s what Mandos say right?”

“Right.” It was true- the amount he had just earnt would provide for him little more than a week, and that was without a proper roof or hot food. “But surviving is enough for me.”

“You’re one in a million.” Greef smiled.

Din didn’t smile back. “No amount of gold would make me take a knee for the crown.” The joyous laughter of the tourney knights permeated through the door.

Oh, to be a Knight. Such a life sought glory and honor, taking sweet maids and the favor of high lords– only to then be at the mercy of the same lord, or the crown; to be used as a rich man’s pawn when dirty deeds needed doing. A wasted life, Din thought. He would never allow his honor to rest upon another man’s hunger for power.

Greef Karga worked for the crown, yet he was far from being a hired sword. He worked on the King’s council as an informant. Of what he informed, (outside delegating bounties) Din did not care to know; his duty to the man was merely a duty to his own purse.

“I understand.” Karga said. He took out a rolled parchment then, sliding it carefully over to Din, “But there are always other prospects for you, my friend.”

Din recognised the seal as that of the late King. Tentatively, he pried open the wax seal and spread the scroll out. One word jumped out at him. “Arvala?”

Greef inclined his head, “A good swordsman is hard to come by as you know- and one of excellent skill even more so.” He stood then and Din slipped the paper into his pocket. “Think about it, Mando. I’ll see to sending you another bounty before the week’s out.” he stretched out his hand.

Din shook it, “Thank you.”

…

He knew he shouldn’t have taken you with him to Karga’s Keg- but now, as he walked back into the main room of the tavern, he really wished he hadn’t.

Standing over you- leering- was a man. One he’d seen lurking in the corners of Karga’s like a spider- Toro. Toro was always hounding other Guild members for their bounties, always looking for a way to bribe himself the kind of notoriety that came with years of experience and scars.

And Toro was saying something to you, pointedly too with the way his entire frame stretched over the spot you sat in, his hand pressed against the wood of the table. Din would not let this spider pounce.

Din was crossing the room in an instant with his hand locked to the hilt of his sword. But before he got halfway to you, you were standing. And with a move you only carried through on impulse, you slapped Toro across his face.

You spotted Din then and he met you halfway. Without even thinking about what he was doing, Din took you by the hand and pulled you around his body.

“Who let you back in, Calican?” The words came out of him in a steamy breath, his blood boiling with unspent adrenaline. Din hated few people. After all, most criminals did what they did out of desperation more than vile will… most. Toro wasn’t a criminal (or rather- not one that was bounty worthy) but he was arrogant and entitled to the extent where he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

But the reddening mark on the side of his face took his confidence down a peg or two. A satisfied smile threatened to disturb Din’s stony glare. “Where’d you find this one, Mando?” the younger man smirked, eyes lingering on your form. “She’s a feisty one, huh.”

Din wanted to run him through. “Karga’s is Guild Members only.” He spoke through gritted teeth but the disdain sept through the gaps- almost like a primal hiss. “You shouldn’t be in here.”

The chatter in the tavern had died, casual conversation forgotten when there was a fight stirring.

Toro huffed a laugh, “You’re the only one who doesn’t want me here… now your little squeeze, here-”

This time you struck him right in the middle of his face, the impact punctuated by a harsh cracking sound. Toro swiped a hand under his nose, smearing a track of blood across his face.

Oh~ Good girl, Din thought.

There was a chorus of hollers and whoops from around you both, the sound of a door slamming shut declaring the end of the imminent brawl. “What is the meaning of this!?” Karga’s voice projected across the room.

Din hauled Toro into the center of the room by his upper arm. “Calican is far too young to be in here and his constant harassments on the women in here have gone largely unpunished.”

Karga nodded solemnly, “I’ll handle him, mando.” he said, coming over to stand opposite you. “My apologies, dear- this behavior is most certainly not-”

Din cut Karga’s speech short, taking you by the arm again- though noticeably gentler now. “We’ll be on our way now, Greef.” And then he led you back through the tavern door, picking up your basket from the table on the way.

…

“Still think I can’t handle myself?”

The sellsword shook his head at you. “Calican is a kid- nothing compared to what's really out there.” He looked down at you again and when he realized he still had a hold of you, he let you go. “What if you ran into a man like me?”

It was true, Toro was significantly smaller than the sellsword and he had nowhere near as much armor on. You met his eyes, “I have run into a man like you- or had you forgotten that night already?”

He came closer then, dangerously so. The honey tones you had seen in his eyes were churning now, deepening further and further. “Then why haven’t you broken my nose yet?” He said lowly.

You gulped. “Y-you’re tempting me.”

You thought he’d pull away then like he had before but his hand came up to your face. One gloved finger traced the edge of your mouth and your lips parted with a shaky breath. The corner of his own lips tugged up ever so slightly, amused by the blush that you were certain was taking over you. “You’re stubborn…” The sellsword removed his finger from you. “We’re taking my horse.”

You reeled over his words, spluttering, “You still insist on seeing me back to the inn?”

You’re decidedly indignant but you follow him anyway to the stables at the end of the lane. His pace is considerate, striding slowly so you can keep up. “Yes.”

The sellsword’s horse was beautiful- a large black great horse with a striking silver mane and tail. He attached a leading rope from his horse to Kuiil’s mule, Blurg while you stroked the forelock of his great horse.

“Her name is Crest.” he said softly.

You smiled, “Crest.”

He then held out his hand to help you mount his horse which you took. However he made no move to stand aside for you to access the reins- instead he pulled you closer, moved your hand to his shoulder and wrapped both of his hands around your waist. With ease, the sellsword lifted you up into the air and onto Crest’s saddle, your basket tucked close to your chest.

Din followed you wordlessly, mounting his horse behind you in the saddle. He reached around you on both sides carefully, taking the reins and prompting Crest to start moving.

He tried to resolve himself to focus on the journey ahead and to not let his attention fall to the curves of your form in front of him. But his faith in his own ability to do so fell quickly when you leant back into his chest.

This would be a long ride.

__

FIRST AND FOREMOST: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE- I've literally been stuck on finishing this chapter forever because the pacing was so off-- not that I managed to fix it or anything, this is still a hot mess but its something!

Taglist: @gingersnappe-9 @literallydontlook @lady-djarin @hallway5 @myloveltcomandante @stevie75 @elinedjarin @fan-of-encouragement @bearcina @iwantadecentblogname @luxmundee @magikfanatic @tuskens-mando @autumnleaves1991-blog @kirsteng42

[bybdolan]

AMY! https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/taylor-swift-the-bob-dylan-of-our-age-pmlg5m7hl

You are the third person to send me this link but I finally managed to dodge the paywall to the article in order to make a nuanced statement, and that statement is: Mhh.. idk?

If you have been around for a while you have probably been witness to me arguing why I tend to disagree with statements such as "Taylor Swift is the new Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen!" (Spoiler: It is because I personally find a lot of the impulses Bob and Bruce use to create art vastly different to the impulses Taylor uses - Taylor's art is tied to her life and her experiences in a way that many, though not all, of Bruce' and Bob's songs are not) and generally speaking I tend to find most of the comparisons sort of lame because they kind of revolve around the "both of these people are great songwriters who were the voice of a generation!", which is true but doesn't capture what makes these artists special. That said, I do think the article makes some interesting points in regards to how both Bob and Taylor came out of a scene that highly valued authenticity and were punished for breaching out of it, and I also agree that Taylor's influence on the future generations of songwriters likens her to Dylan, as does her tendency for self-mythologization (although her n Bob's public personas are radically different) (+ Bob is much more intertextual in general). I also think both are excellent in transporting you into the scene of a song and making you envision the setting and characters. However, I personally can't simply look past the vast difference in subject matter and style that these artists have. "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" is a great song, as is "The Times They Are A-Changing", but they obviously deal with very different things. And sure, perhaps it is unfair to pidgeon-hole Bob Dylan as a protest singer (a comparison to "Tangled Up In Blue" for example would make much more sense), but it IS a significant part of his oeuvre and part of what made him "the voice of a generation". The same can be said for Taylor, who captures the anxiety of the social media generation incredibly well, but writing songs about brewing revolutions and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation is a lil different than writing songs about how tough it is to preserve your sense of self in times of Instagram & Co. Not that one is per se more deeper or worthwhile than the other, it's just different. (I do wonder why we never see the comparisons between Dylan and certain HipHop artists, who genuinely follow into Protest Song footsteps.)

And, to simply be biased for a second here: I consider Bob a better and more versatile writer than Taylor and because I specifically hold his more Protest Song-adjacent songs close to my heart for how well they manage to capture broad anxieties within society/young people in particular, the comparison will always slightly rub me the wrong way. But as I am not a music journalist writing for a major publication... That's okay.

[charlottecharlcs]

Pushing Daisies S1E4: Pigeon

Our pie-baking necromantic private investigators investigate the death of a pilot who accidentally crashed into an apartment building- or so they think. The real plot involves an escaped convict, a long distance romance, and a pigeon.

There's a lot going on in this episode, so plot crash course to take us up to my first musical scene: Olive finds a dead pidgeon outside, it brushes against Ned and becomes alive again. Immediately after a plane crashes into an apartment building. Ned, Chuck, and Emerson go to investigate, Olive goes to see Lily and Vivian to see if they can fix the bird, lovingly named Pidge. Ned is jealous of the handsome stranger who lives in the apartment who gets to spend some quality time with Chuck- but wait! The stranger is actually an escaped convict who hijacked the plane and posed as the apartment's resident!

Chuck is with Lem- the convict- at the Pie Hole, completely oblivious to his true identity. He tries to hold her hand, but at least this convict understands consent because he pulls away as soon as he realizes she's uncomfortable. But Chuck asks Lem to hold her hand again, if he can be quiet and she can close her eyes. Lem is obviously kind of confused but goes with it, and Chuck imagines instead that she is holding Ned's hand the way she never really can.

The music starts in this moment in a quiet piano rendition of the show's usual love theme; tentative, emotional. As Chuck opens her eyes, Lem is replaced with Ned and we see her imagination. Suddenly the music swells to a string orchestra. When she opens her eyes again and sees Lem, the music abruptly stops. The facade is ruined. Then, the camera dramatically swings to the side with a dramatic musical sting to the following shot:

It's honestly one of the funniest things I've ever seen- Ned continues to be jealous for the rest of the episode, but like in a cute way. Even when Chuck tells him what she was imagining.

Ned: Is that supposed to make me feel better?

Chuck: Well. Yeah.

And now for another random musical number! This time featuring, not one, but two Broadway legends. In the car while following a newly healed Pidge delivering his message (oh yeah, he's a carrier pigeon), Olive and Vivian sing "Birdhouse In Your Soul" by They Might Be Giants. Honestly, I can find very little further reason behind this other than, once again, if you have Kristen Chenoweth and Ellen Green together in a show, it would literally be a crime not to make them scene. The pair did have a conversation earlier in the episode about Vivian's grief over Charlotte in which Olive advised her to "Make a little birdhouse in your soul". But honestly the whole conversation felt like an excuse to then have them sing the song. The sequence only lasts about 30 seconds, and I honestly wonder what idea came first- having them sing this song in an episode about birds, or an episode about birds so they could sing this song.

I do have to say, the eccentric energy behind They Might Be Giants is a perfect match for the show. And as I was also a fan of that group at age 11, this was pretty much the biggest crossover of my lifetime until Endgame. So does this scene make sense? No. Do I love it? Yes. And I feel the need to put my theatre training to work here- this musical snippet does still serve to further character. It shows the differences between the two sisters and their grief- Vivian is obviously grieving the loss of her niece, but with some emotional support she is able to feel happy and connect with Olive through singing. Meanwhile Lily is in the front, stoic and grumpy. She hasn't opened herself up- she continues to keep her grief inside and will not engage in silly musical acts. We find out why her feelings are a bit more complicated later in the season, but I'll keep that secret for now.

Okay so basically, Lem was after some diamonds his old prison buddy buried at an old windmill, but he finds out the woman who lives there is Elsita, the woman he's been writing letters to in prison via carrier pigeon and has fallen in love with. Here's a quick reenactment of me seeing the first shot of Elsita:

Holy shit, Emma from Glee???

Anyway, eventually the team deduces and dead-bodies their way to the windmill and arrests Lem, getting the reward money as planned.

And now for the final scene, my favorite of the episode. (You'll probably start to see a theme here.)

You see, at the beginning of the episode Ned gifted Chuck a bunch of bees because she loves beekeeping. It's very sweet, they have a cute little beehive city on the roof so they can be "unorthodox urban beekeepers" as Chuck calls it. Then they spend the whole episode being really upset about the the fact that they can't touch.

So here we are, the final scene. Chuck and Ned standing on the rooftop in beekeeping suits. Ned turns on a record player, and a waltz starts in that buzzy, vintage tone. It soon fades to the normal undiluted sound of nondiagetic background music as they dance together, their beekeeping suits protecting them from the skin to skin contact that would kill Chuck. Pushing Daisies often uses musical cues to determine which genre it is currently inhabiting, from comedy to detective drama. This scene is, undoubtedly, a romance, and it's a great way to end an episode filled with so much tension.

[goggles-mcgee]

Too Late: Nadja & Alec (Commission for miner249er)

Second chapter of @miner249er ‘s commission!

Chapter Summary: The TVi News Special with hosts Nadja Chamack and Alec Cataldi

Previous Work

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“Don’t be bemused, it's just the news! I’m Nadja Chamack and I am joined today with Alec Cataldi. Today’s hour special brought to you by this studio is ‘The Protector Really Paris’s Protector?’ This has been a hot debate amongst blogs, forums, and many more platforms. We bring you not only the public opinion but never before seen footage of the Protector.” Nadja gave her standard intro and she tried to put as much energy in it as she could but as soon as the words left her mouth she felt sick. If the words had tastes they would have been ash. She knew her studio wasn’t the best, her akumatization was a shining example of that, but her studio teaming up with Alec Cataldi? That was bad news waiting to happen. They sprung this whole ‘special’ on her only hours before so Nadja hadn’t even been able to warn Sabine and Tom about it. 

Ever since she was a little girl Nadja knew she wanted to be on TV. At first she thought she wanted to be an actor, she never thought she would become a reporter but when she did she fell in love with it. Following a story and being the one to let everyone know about it, it was a rush she sought for years. Then she had Manon, she still chased stories but she liked to think she had toned down the recklessness people told her she had before, but then Ladybug and Chat Noir showed up and her bosses demanded more of her. More shots of their fights, more close-ups of akumas, interviews with akumas, interviews with the victims, interviews with the heroes, the workload just got steeper and steeper. Of course Nadja was grateful for her city’s heroes, more than anything, Hawkmoth wasn’t just some silly villain like many thought, like her studio thought, he was a terrorist plain and simple and he had covered Paris in a blanket of fear.

Then one day he was gone, along with his accomplice Mayura, but with them was the disappearance of a girl that Nadja cared for deeply. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she had met the girl when she was a tiny little thing, a little younger than Manon when Nadja had first visited Tom & Sabine’s Boulangerie Patisserie. Nadja had been just starting out at her studio at that time and she had just gotten through her first broadcast so she thought why not buy herself a little reward? A producer at the studio had actually been the one to suggest Tom & Sabine’s, she had been raving about their cakes and tarts so Nadja decided to see if they really were worth all the hype. No surprise here that they really were. What really made that day memorable besides the tasty treats was the little girl who came up to her and held out a hand to her shyly, she had never been great with kids but she did the only thing she could think of and put her hand out.

That was when she had gotten her first ‘Marinette Original’ as her parents had taken to calling her creations. It was a little hair clip with a bow on it, the bow was clearly taped onto the clip but it was precious all the same. She fondly remembered Sabine lightheartedly scolding her daughter for just making someone take something from her instead of asking if they wanted it but it was obvious the little girl didn’t fully understand. Nadja had laughed and laughed and had thanked the girl, she still had that clip, but now she had to keep it in a safe due to thieves who called themselves “modest collectors.” It pained her to see people forget the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng and only remember her as Paris’s last akuma, the Protector. It was hard enough trying to explain to Manon why mommy had to talk about Marinette on the news so much, it was harder to lie to her about when or if Marinette would come back. 

Manon had taken to writing letters for Marinette to ask her to come back because she missed her. Nadja had to call into work that day, in the early hours of the morning, Manon had awoken from a nightmare and had been crying. Nadja had gone into her daughter’s room to console her when Manon caught her off guard by asking if the reason Marinette wasn’t coming back was because Manon had been bad the last time Marinette had babysat her. It had taken a long time to convince Manon that that wasn’t the case, and when Nadja got a moment alone she let herself cry and pray to anyone listening to bring Marinette back home to them. 

“What do you think Nadja?” Alec’s voice ripped Nadja from her memories abruptly. 

“Well-,” She started keeping her face calm though inside she was stressing, she hadn’t been paying attention to what Alec had been discussing.

“If you ask me those kids are as bad as Hawkmoth was! The talk about what happened in that classroom is all the evidence I need.” Oh so he was talking about Marinette’s classroom, or as they have been dubbed, The Akuma Class.

“That’s not evidence Alec, and you should know since you host one of the most watched shows on television, Alternative Truth.”

“That’s right Nadja! Where everything isn’t always true, but nothing is really false! But really, what is your opinion on the akuma class being the reason behind the akuma The Protector?” Alec asked as he turned to face Nadja, though not fully so the cameras would still get a good shot of him. “Many have said they were at school that day and the Protector was there to speak her truth!”

“I...I know I don’t speak for every akumatized person out there Alec, but I do know someone can be akumatized for anything. If the rumors of what went on in that class, in that school are true, then it’s no wonder Mlle Dupain-Cheng was akumatized. I don’t know if anyone would have been able to withstand that treatment.” That was the answer she settled on, she didn’t want to feed any fires and she certainly didn’t want her studio to know she knew what happened in the classroom since Sabine told her everything. Nadja swore she would do her best to keep it off-air, this was her best she reasoned to herself even if she didn’t believe it. 

“Too true Nadja! I mean we’ve all seen how many times M Pidgeon got akumatized, or even Gigantitan. A literal baby. One has to wonder how sane Hawkmoth really was, which leads me to a juicy rumor! That our own resident hermit fashion designer Gabriel Agreste was the one and only Hawkmoth.” Alec announced with his usual flair and Nadja, not for the first time by any means, had to wonder how he didn’t get sued, or if he did how he never was scared of the possibility. 

“That is quite the rumor Alec. Is there any legs for it to stand on?” She asked per her vague instructions given by the studio's director. 

“Glad you asked Nadja! We have a video of The Protector going into the Agreste Mansion and after a period of time, leaving. Now we don’t know what happened inside but hours later we had you and your team there at the mansion along with other news stations when M Agreste and his assistant Mlle Nathalie Sancoeur were brought out of the mansion on stretchers. Then not long after, in your words,’ a dazed Mme Agreste was spotted coming out of the house.’ That was after the police search!” Nadja had to hand it to Alec, he sure knew how to run his mouth. 

“I do remember that day. But how is that connected to Hawkmoth?” Now she was genuinely curious about what he was insinuating.

“Think about it Nadja, why would the Protector, an akuma who proclaimed to protect the innocent, go into the Agreste Mansion. Then later it is found that M Agreste and his assistant just so happened to be “attacked.” From the footage we have of the two on stretchers, they were in bad shape and the only one who visited them was the Protector! After that we haven’t heard from Hawkmoth or Mayura. Plus the Protector promised she would get rid of Hawkmoth for the people of Paris.”

“So you don’t believe it was just a random attack that happened at the same time that an akuma was loose in Paris?”

“I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that there are a lot of big coincidences. And I’m not saying definitively that Gabriel Agreste was Hawkmoth, but the rumors do make a compelling case! He had the time to himself to akumatize anyone he pleased, he had a partner, if we are inferring that Mlle Sancoeur was Mayura, and he had a motive. But again this is all speculation.”

“Speculation. Right.” Nadja could feel a familiar sense of dread in her stomach, in her chest, in her throat as she got ready to segway into her part of the special. Her and Alec would continue to go back and forth on their subjects but Nadja had been wary since they started. “Speaking of possible secret identities, recent evidence has shown us that...that may just confirm the popular rumor and theory that Marinette Dupain-Cheng, The Protector, was actually our one and only Ladybug.”

Nadja hadn’t wanted to believe it, that Marinette was Ladybug, not because she couldn’t see the girl as their hero, but because it made too much sense and that scared her. It scared her because it meant they had all placed their lives in the hands of a teenager, they had placed a responsibility that only adults should have to handle, on a child. They took a normal childhood away from her, or as normal as it could be with a villain who preyed upon emotions but the point still stood. It was weird, before Marinette had disappeared, if Nadja had seen a picture of her and Ladybug next to each other she would have said they were obviously different people, but now it was like a slap to the face because of how obviously Marinette was Ladybug and vice versa. 

“Now, I know that it is a lot to process,” I’m still processing it, “but let’s go over the evidence and as promised viewers video footage of The Protector in action. This footage was donated to us by an anonymous source who had happened upon The Protector out in the open when she was akumatized. I want to warn everybody, the footage may be shocking to some viewers. Roll the clip please.” Nadja felt like the words shot out of her mouth before she could even think about them but she knew she was supposed to say them so why did they leave such a foul taste in her mouth? She couldn’t even force herself to watch the video a second time, her and Alec had to review every video or post they were going to show on the broadcast and she had barely kept it together then. Now? She felt like she was being held together by cheap scotch tape. 

Even if she wasn’t watching the video she could still hear Marinette’s cries, her sobs, she lost the fight as she had a tear fall. She did her best to be discrete as she brought her handkerchief up to blot the tear away but that was a mistake. There on the edge of the handkerchief was Marinette’s signature, she forgot that she had been given it when Manon was born. It was a present from Marinette, the girl had joked it would be a help for all the tears she was crying because she had actually given birth and actually made a tiny human being. The same tiny human being who was distraught that not only was her favorite babysitter gone but Ladybug who she adored. That only caused more tears.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding Nadja...Nadja are you okay?” Alec asked, it was actually the first time she had ever heard or seen him care about anyone else other than himself and she didn’t even know if it was genuine or just for the cameras but it still got to her.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” She stammered as she wiped her tears before giving the camera a practiced smile. “Now before we discuss everything in that video I will say we do have many more to share so stay tuned Paris!”

As soon as she was given the sign that they were on commercial Nadja couldn’t hold it in anymore, she let herself cry. She had tried to be so strong for Manon, for Sabine and Tom, but it was too much. She was vaguely aware of someone talking to her and pressing a box of tissues into her hands but what snapped her out was her boss’s voice. “Snap out of it Mlle Chamack we have a show to do.”

“Snap out of it?” She asked hollowly, out of her peripheral vision she could see Alec glancing between her and her boss before wiping his hands on his legs and pulling out his phone. “You sprung this on me. You knew I had connections to Marinette and her parents. That’s her name you know? Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s not just another akuma, hell she’s not Paris’s last akuma like you have named her! She is a teenager, a little girl! A little girl with a mother and a father who are probably sitting at home watching this wondering why their baby has to be seen like this!”

“The Protector is a public figure, Nadja.” Her boss lamely responded back.

“And what? That makes it right? I have worked here for a long time, I had been pressured to work harder, get the stories, get the results and I did. Never have I felt such shame. I love my job but you make me hate it. She’s a child for crying out loud! Do you not realize that? Ladybug was a child! And all you’re worried about is the story!” Nadja knew she must have sounded hysterical but it was so hard to reign in her emotions once she got started. She knew it wasn’t a rare occurrence nowadays but she hated feeling out of control. “She babysat my daughter, my daughter has been asking me everyday when Marinette, when Ladybug, will come back and I don’t have an answer. But she thinks I do because of how much I report on everything!”

“Nadja...I’m sorry. I didn’t think,” her boss began.

“No you didn’t. And you haven’t. But for once in your life think now. I can’t get through this the way you want me to. I know her, I know her parents and this is probably breaking them. So if you want me to continue reporting, let me do it my way. Or I swear I will take those job offers I have been getting recently and I won’t look back.” Nadja’s voice felt a little hoarse but she didn’t care.

No one spoke for awhile until an intern shakily told them that they would be back on-air soon. Then everything was back in motion. Alec hastily took a drink of his water while Nadja’s makeup artist came out to do touchups, she was very gentle, almost hesitant. Even though everyone was doing their best to relieve the tension in the room, Nadja’s gaze from her boss did not waver, not even for a second, even as he ran a hand over his face. There were murmurs going on, probably about the spectacle she created but she really couldn’t care less. 

“...Okay Nadja...You do this how you want to. For what it’s worth, I am sorry.” He finally said.

“I appreciate that.” She breathed out. “When we report on her, please just...say her name. She isn’t the Protector, she isn’t just Ladybug, she’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng and she is still missing. Yes, she was Paris’s last akuma but that’s not all she was. Yes she was Ladybug. Our hero who did everything to keep us safe, even when she was akumatized. She is also a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend. Not an icon. Not a celebrity. So for the love of God have some empathy. Yes we are reporters but we are more than that as well.” 

Again it was quite but then there was a chorus of murmured agreements, even from her boss and Alec. She gave a firm nod at everyone as she took a deep breath to steady herself for when the cameras would be turned back to them once more. This time though she would get to talk about Marinette as more than what every other news station, magazine, newspaper, and blog had been painting her out to be. Her and Alec would still do their parts, they would still talk about what they were assigned but Nadja was determined to put more humanity into the special. 

“I’m sorry Nadja. I have never thought about it the way you have. I guess I was always in the mindset of the akuma being separate? If that makes any sense?” Alec admitted.

Nadja gave him a sad smile and patted his hand. “It’s okay Alec. I understand...when I was Prime Queen...I didn’t want to believe it was me. For a long time I refused to believe it was me, but it was. The akumas are people and I think it’s time we start acting like it.” 

“Yeah...yeah I think you’re right.” Alec mumbled. Nadja wasn’t sure if her words truly did anything, everyone in the TVi studio knew how Alec was, but maybe now that Hawkmoth was gone, maybe everyone could move on and grow. 

Nadja turned to face the cameras when the cameraman waved to get their attention and started his countdown, when she knew the cameras were on Nadja gave them the most sincere smile she could. “Welcome back everyone, Nadja Chamack here with Alec Cataldi as we continue our special, ‘The Protector Really Paris’s Protector?’ Before we continue on I would like to start off with I lied before when I said I was fine before the commercial break. I knew Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the one you all like to refer as her akuma name, before I continue on with the rest of my report I would like to tell you about her.”

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[hitsuackerman]

Soul Chicken (Hawks x Reader)

Prompt: Soulmate AU where the first words your soulmate says to you are written on your wrist and while Hawks has an absolutely unhelpful phrase written on them, y/n has something....unique.

(so this was generated by an OTP one shot generator and it caught my attention :D it was... challenging to say the least but still fun!)

contains: 4 year age gap (not that ya’ll would mind), fluff

Soulmates.

This was the one thing Hawks always managed to save for later. With just how fast he likes to move, he regularly shoved the idea aside. It was as if his mouth acquired a bitter taste each time it entered his train of thought.

How did this enter his mind once more? Oh right. The two people he had saved turned out to be soulmates. Such luck for them, he supposed.

Not that he didn't care, though. This bird child-man always dreamed of seeing who the universe had paired him up with. But to his luck, the letters etched on his skin were almost cursed. Cursed to the point where he merely gave up his search.

The first words his soulmate would tell him. The first words that would open new doors for his feathers to explore. Despite keeping his smirk pasted on his face, his heart would ache when he hears people saying it.

'Hey'

Those were the words inked on his inner wrist. A 3 letter word that was as overused as the word 'you'. How in heaven's name was he supposed to find his other half with every other person greeting him 'hey' with different variations.

Munching on his piece of chicken, he cleared his desk and began to look over the files his agency prepared for him. Laid on his desk were the profiles of possible interns he could gather intel from.

"Todoroki Shoto." He read and scanned the bio data. Endeavor would not be happy if he took him in. As tempting as it would be, he placed it on the discard pile.

"Bakugo Katsuki." His pupils shrunk at the memory of this kid being chained to the post. All while trying to bite off All Might's hand. "Little too wild for my taste."

"Tokoyami Fumikage." He immediately stamped the approval sign on it. A fellow bird in his agency? Hella fun!

"(L/N) (Y/N)." The 4th placer in the UA sports festival. His eyes drifted to your age. "Huh, interesting. Eldest of the class due to late enrollment and personal issues. 18 while the rest 16."

Nodding his head, your quirk wasn't too flashy but made up for its efficiency. Similar to his Fierce Wings. With his index finger tapping on his desk, he turned to his desktop and began digging up information about you.

Orphaned at the age of 6 due to villain attack. Jumped from foster house to foster house, a trouble maker? Top 2 in the class, makes up for intelligence? Pleasing to the eyes. Not bad, if he were to put it more into thought.

Biting the last chunk of meat, he approved of your possible application in his agency.

-----

"Yami…" You nervously whispered as you gripped onto his sleeve. "I'm nervous. I don't understand why he'd include me as a possible intern "

"Nonsense. You proved yourself worthy during the Sports Festival." Tokoyami tried to reassure you. Behind you, the window gave him a grand view of the city moving fast.

The two of you were now seated snugly inside the shinkansen. Because it was in the afternoon, the train wasn't as crowded despite buying reserved seats in advance.

Tokoyami's words seemed to work. Letting go of his now crumpled sleeve, you apologized but he simply told you it was no big deal. Looking at your hero suit cases, your eyes landed on your wrist.

It always made you wonder, what situation would your soulmate say those words. It was all too… random yet specific. Rubbing your thumb on the rather long phrase, your thoughts were cut.

"Is that… what your soulmate is supposed to say?" Tokoyami asked as he read the sentences. "Rather unique to say that on your first meeting."

"Ugh. I know." You sighed and tugged your sleeve a little lower. "I honestly gave up thinking of scenarios on how I'd meet this person."

"You are of legal age. I think it would be much easier to access places. But seeing those words, maybe you just have to look for people eating?"

"That's true but I think a part of me just wants to be surprised as to how we'd meet and how we'd exchange phrases. I did think this person would be at a fast food chain or some sorts, but I'd like to think he's responsible enough."

Tokoyami simply nodded. Looking down on his wrist, he too, began to wonder what circumstances would bring him and his soulmate together.

Feeling the train come to a halt, the two of you began to exit and board off the train. It felt like a blur, to be saying farewell to faces you see everyday. Though it would only be for a week, you would miss Ochako and Tsuyu.

When the high rise buildings were now in sight, Tokoyami nudged your elbow and pointed to a hero holding up a sign with your school's name on it. As the two of you walked towards the hero, you saw how the sign truly matched Hawk's Agency.

Ah yes. Hawks.

Your anxiety began to creep back up. Why would a pro-hero like him want an orphan who went to school late intern for his agency? Was this some sort of pity party? Or was your quirk enough to catch his attention?

"Calm down, (L/N)." Your friend whispered as he opened the car door for you. You sat in the back as he sat on the passenger's seat.

"Are you all excited to meet the #2 Pro-Hero?" The hero asked as he set the car to drive. His cheeks gave off he was smiling from your angle. "He's a pretty chill guy, you know. So if ya'll are anxious, he'll only catch that and make fun of you."

"How long till we reach the office?" Tokoyami asked.

"2 blocks from now. It's that building over there."

The two of you followed where his index was pointing at. It wasn't easy to miss. The building was huge and it was evident that his office was on the top floor. From your eyes, it would be the perfect height to take off for his wings.

The hero dropped the two of you by the entrance. Thanking him for the ride, 2 sets of eyes watched as the car turned to the corner. Probably to park in the underground carpark.

"Shall we?"

"We shall."

The two of you proceeded to the receptionist. Judging by your uniforms, the two of you were given key cards to enter his office on the 35th floor.

"He's still out, though. Make yourselves comfortable. He won't be taking too long!" The receptionist said with a smile as she pointed towards the glass elevator. That got you thinking fire drills must be a pain in the ass with this amount of floors.

The view going up felt as if you two were flying. The way the horizon slowly showed itself was something you could look forward to for the whole week. Your bird friend agreed as well.

When the elevator doors opened, you two were met with a frosted glass wall with 2 capital 'H' on it. Similar to what his belt had. It was nice tho. Branding on point.

Before you could enter, you heard the buzzing of a phone. Feeling it wasn't yours, you looked at Tokoyami and told him it was alright for him to take it. Telling you he'd follow suit once the call was over. Pushing the door for you, you walked into his office. 

The office was definitely expensive. Glass windows framed 3 out 4 corners, his desk was simple but you could tell that the material was durable and expensive, 2 large paintings hung on the wall as well. Most probably commissioned since it fits Hawks image.

Walking towards one painting, you were about to touch the edges when your vision began to blur. Your body felt as if it were being tugged into the air rather forcefully. Harshly spinning you around, you were face to face with the Pro-Hero himself.

Your heart raced when it sunk in that it really was him. He was more handsome in person. His piercing yellow eyes seemed to observe you. Watching your every move.

His hands began to roam your sides. Patting motions till he seemed to find what he was looking for. Taking it out from your pocket, his gloved hand now held on to your ID.

"Hey!"

His eye twitched. You were officially the 15th person who had said 'hey' to him in a span of 4 hours.

"I swear that phrase would be the death of me." Hawks reacted in an emotionless face. Trying his best to compose himself to a student who merely wanted to feel the painting. "Tsk. Knew that last nugget was bad luck."

Though it wasn't his intent to scare you, he just thought it would make a good long running joke for the duration you would stay. He just… snapped when he heard those words coming from you.

Looking back at you, he placed you back on your feet and took off his yellow visor. A big teasing smile appearing on his features. Complete opposite to what yours had.

"Hey, take a chill pill, my little intern. I was just messin' with ya." Hawks assured you as he gave you the finger guns.

"Y-You… S-S-Sentence…" Your mind failed to function upon hearing his first to you. The same words you had memorized and knew by heart. Your eyes were desperately trying to hold on to something but all you could focus on was Hawks and his crimson red wings in front of you.

The look on your face was a mix of shock, fear, and a slight dash of awe. What did he say that made you react that way? All he commented about was…

His mind clicked and his jaw slightly dropped. His pupils enlarged when he finally bought 2 and 2 together.

"Holy pidgeon smokes…" Hawks thought out loud while nodding his head. "Looks like things are bout to get interesting, my little soul chicken~"

You couldn't help it. A soft giggle escaped your lips when he called you his 'little soul chicken'. By now, you were positive your cheeks were all sorts of red. When he took a step closer, you bit your lower lip in an attempt to calm your rapid beating heart.

"Don't bite your lip now, birdy. We just met." He said as he used his index and thumb to make you face him. Damn. You're prettier up close.

His feathers seemed to shake a bit and he let go of his touch. A second after, Tokoyami entered the door and bowed at his new mentor. After telling him there was no need to act all business like, he pointed towards the couch and told you both to sit down.

"So today," Hawks began. "I won't let you both do much. Just get settled in and take the feel of this agency."

His eyes would linger at you when he said the words 'settled in' and 'take the feel'. When he saw you understood his implied meanings, he gave you a wink and proceeded with the necessary instructions.

"Tsukuyomi. Your room would be on the 27th floor." He said and tossed the keycard. Tokoyami caught it with ease. "And you, my precious love nugget, will stay on the 30th floor."

By now your face was numb from all the heat that had traveled upwards. Expecting him to toss it, the key card was given to you by one of his feathers. Taking it from the floating feather, your breath hitched when the feather found its way to your lips. Brushing it ever so softly before returning back to his wings.

Tokoyami wasn't quite sure what was happening. He had heard that Hawks had a carefree attitude, he just didn't expect him to hit on you right then and there. (Though he did have a feeling that at one point you were bound to get bombarded with his flirtatious attempts.)

"So… Any questions?"

"What time do we start tomorrow, Sir Hawks?"

"We start at 7am. That good?"

The two of you nodded. With that, he dismissed you both and gave you free will with what you wanted to do on the first unofficial day of internship.

"Not you though, chickadee!" The way the light bounced from his golden eyes made them glow. "We still gotta talk."

Tokoyami squinted his eyes at you. His peripheral vision on Hawks. Brushing the thought aside, he excused himself and went towards the elevator.

When you heard the ding, your heart stopped when Hawks stretched his wings. Showcasing their impressive span. They began to shake a bit with each step he took. He would spread his wings and pull them back half way before extending them once more.

By the time he was in front of you, you were all smiles as he began to fold his wings alternatively. It was all too amazing, how this person had wings as a quirk. In the blink of an eye, all you could see around you were his feathers and the gorgeousness of his face.

"What was that for, Hawks?" You covered your mouth. Trying to hold in a giggle.

"Hey. Don't. I like seeing your smile." He said as he gently held your wrist, pulling it down to reveal what his eyes wanted to see. "And that little exhibition I did was a small mating call, soul chicken."

You began to fold your arm and imitate how chickens flap their wings.

"Not as impressive as yours, but I hope that did the trick!" You were now grinning from ear to ear. Seeing him chuckle at your lame attempt at flirting caused his stomach to swarm with little lovebirds.

"Oh. It definitely sealed the deal~"

His hand began to trace your arm till he stopped on your hand bringing it closer in order to see his first words meant for you.

'I swear that phrase would be the death of me. Tsk. Knew that last nugget was bad luck.'

"I can see why your eye twitched when I said 'hey'. That's literally the most overused word." You commented when you saw his mark.

"That's what I tell myself everyday." An amused grin plastered on his face. Suddenly, his pupils shrunk and his feathers began to ruffle. "You afraid of heights, birdy?"

"Not really. No. Why?"

His arms wrapped you tightly. Bringing you chest to chest with him. His wings now spread out with the occasional flap.

"Hawks…"

"Better hug me tight, nugget. You're in for a wild ride~"

Giving your cheek a quick kiss, he flapped his wings once more. This time with a bit more force in them. You could feel your feet leaving the ground. On instinct, you immediately wrapped your arms around his neck.

Next thing you knew, you were screaming with joy at the feeling of being swooped away from your feet. Literally.

Little did you know that Tokoyami had been watching the whole fiasco.

"Things really are going to get interesting." He said with a small smile on his face. Happy that his close friend found her soulmate.

With that he finally exited the office and made his way to his room.

[magmahurricane]

Carey’s dad, Bernard! I gave him heterochromia based on my URL namesake, a childhood dog of mine named Pidgeon, who had one blue eye and one brown. 

Bio under cut! CW for descriptions of death, illness, and mentioned suicide! 

Name: Bernard Jess (Birth name: Ralph Ellis) Playlist: Here! (Spotify)

Age: 48 Occupation: Con artist Location: Varies; travels around Northamer in his RV Birthplace: Sand Blast City  Alignment: Chaotic Neutral 

Species: Dog (Based on tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) Sexuality: Bisexual

Personality: +Positives: Charismatic; Clever; Exuberant; Jolly; Optimistic; -Negatives: Conniving; Fraudulent; Cowardly; Selfish; Opportunistic A real “people person” at his core, Bernard knows exactly what to say to get people to drop their guard around him. Armed with his wit and a silver tongue, he picks his marks and runs his scams, playing his short cons and booking it at the first sign of trouble. While he isn’t shy about his lifestyle of lying, cheating and bullshitting his way through life, he does truly love his wife, and holds the memories of his mother and father close to his heart. Likes: Bluegrass; Country music; Whiskey; Swindling people; Dislikes: The law; working; his hometown; dwelling on the past; violence; hospitals  Hobbies: Acoustic guitar, fishing, storytelling, people-watching

Backstory (remember to heed the content warnings above!): 

 Born to Shirley and Maverick Ellis in the smog-filled, dome-covered rogues gallery known as Sand Blast City, Ralph had a fairly average childhood. While he attended school, his mother Shirly worked as a waitress in a dingy but well-known diner and his father, Maverick, worked the nearby mines. The Ellis family were very poor, and young Ralph often wore hand-me-downs and frequently struggled to keep up with his peers, making him a target for bullying. 

When Ralph was 9 years old, Maverick perished as the mine collapsed. Shirley took a second job in a desperate effort to both pay for his funeral, and provide for their son. Ralph found himself targeted by bullies even more, though found support from other children who lost family in the mines. Life went on, the Ellis’ struggling to make ends meet and cope with the death of Maverick. 

With no one to babysit, Ralph began heading into the diner after school, sitting at a booth and doing his homework. Over the years, he came to know its patrons, became familiar with its regulars and staff, and slowly began to master the art of people-watching. Ralph would sit, and listen, and watch these people - and got an earful of all the latest gossip. He learned that the man living in the apartment across had a nasty divorce and was a recovering alcoholic. The mother of one of his bullies was working the streets to keep food on the table. The stories of the neighborhood gambler, the old woman who also lost her son in the mines, the local politicians, of the baker who was having an affair, of the rich tourists who would make yearly stops in town - Ralph knew everyone. 

And just like that, school life had become easier. No one would dare cross Ralph Ellis, because Ralph had all the dirty laundry on everyone - kids were less keen on bullying him when he threatened to expose their families as drug addicts or whores, or when he could tear their family apart with news of an affair. It wasn’t long until Ralph realized the power he held over his peers, and began blackmailing them into doing favors, such as carrying his stuff, doing his homework, and buying him clothes -- for the first time in his life, Ralph was able to wear more than hand-me-downs from the local thrift store.  Life was starting to look up, and things were good.

Then it wasn’t. When Ralph was 15, his mother discovered she had cancer. They couldn’t afford treatment, and Shirley certainly couldn’t stop working her two jobs. Ralph took up a part-time job as a delivery boy, then a full-time job as Shirley’s condition worsened, dropping out of school to help. Within a year, she passed away. 

And suddenly, at the tender age of 16, Ralph found himself orphaned, and within a few months, homeless. Despite everything - his father working his whole life and dying in those rotten mines, his mother taking two jobs, and Ralph himself giving up his education and taking up work - the Ellis family just couldn’t get ahead. Honest work didn’t pay. But he remembered coasting along in school, being able to pull peoples strings and manipulate others into working for him. He remembered the woes and weaknesses of the people around him. In a dog-eat-dog world, Ralph was determined to make his mark and make the most of the lemons life gave him. 

Then, when Ralph was 19, a great plague swept over Sand Blast City. People were dying in the streets, and even more were panicking, desperate for a way to save themselves. Ralph saw an opportunity - his customers already trusted him, and he’d made it this far. It was time for his biggest, and riskiest, con yet. With a few local herbs, clean water, and a bit of cheap cold medicine, Ralph began marketing his miracle potion, promising immunity from the plague. With help from his silver tongue and the trust of the locals, the potions flew off the shelves. Ralph made more money than ever, and was, briefly, toted as a local hero. He knew he should have packed up shop and gotten the hell outta dodge, but he wanted to milk this operation for all it was worth. He stayed, intending to make and sell more of his miracle tonics… 

And then, the plague got him. 

 The virus wracked Ralph’s body. For days, he lay by his wagon, delirious with high fever, struggling for breath, believing this would surely be his end -- and it almost was. Family of his customers tracked him down, furious that their loved ones weren’t protected as advertised. They beat the sickly con artist, and left him at death's door.

Ralph survived by the skin of his teeth, although not unscathed; as if a reminder of his treachery and what he’d done, his lungs were ruined, leaving him athsmatic, with a persistent cough and physically frail. But Ralph was nothing if not determined - as soon as he was well enough, he high-tailed it out of Sand Blast City.

Ralph would spend the next 5 years as a vagabond con-artist, selling cheap or bootlegged wares, which he either stole from yard sales or breaking and entering homes, pulling cat-in-a-bag cons and change raising, and continuing with his snake-oil salesman act. He often found himself being chased out of town, or on the run from local bounty hunters for crossing the wrong people. He also began using different names, switching his alias every few months or every year. 

Then his life was changed when he stumbled into the Southern Baronies; an uppity, bountiful region famous for its large chao gardens and wine exports. It was then he met Margaret Blanche, one of Josiah Blanche’s daughters.

The Blanche’s were a prestigious family, renowned for their famous vineyard and exports, as well as owning the land upon which the Chao Garden was located. They were filthy rich, and acted the part -- which may be precisely why when Ralph, under the name ‘Bernard Jess’ - showed up, Margaret was smitten. ‘Bernard’ was exciting; he was handsome, charismatic, entertaining, funny, and judging by the stories he told the Blanche family, he led quite an adventurous life. Margaret had grown so bored of her life and wanted what Bernard had. Likewise, Bernard wanted what the Blanche’s had - their lavish lifestyle and money. He had come to them with the intention of robbing them blind, but found himself enamored with Margaret.

Josiah, of course, didn’t approve. He forbade the young couple from seeing one another, and had Bernard escorted from the property, deciding the young man wasn’t good enough for his daughter. Bernard knew he couldn’t really do anything about it, and focused on his cons with the other families in the Baronies. He and Margaret occasionally crossed paths during this time, and the two would spend time together in secret. Margaret fell more and more in love with the whimsy and rebellious attitude Bernard had towards life, and when it came time for Bernard to leave the Baronies, Margaret ran away with him

Life on the run together was golden. The two of them staged robberies, worked cons, and had made a small name for themselves. However, within a year, things suddenly took a turn when Margaret realized she had become pregnant. Fearing for her future, she pleaded with Bernard to take her back to the Baronies -- this had been great fun, but she was already tired of living off meager meals and on the run, and the pregnancy scared her. She wasn’t cut out for Bernard’s lifestyle, but promised him that upon returning, they would marry and he would join the Blanche family proper, and be able to leave this life behind.

And so they returned to the Baronies… Only to be humiliated by Josiah and the rest of the Blanches as they sneered and mocked and chastised Margaret for her stupid naivete and revealed that during her year-long romp with Bernard, they’d completely disowned her. Margaret, Bernard, nor their unborn child would see a penny of the Blanche fortune, nor were they even allowed on the property. Margaret was disgraced, disowned and suddenly, for the first time in her life, left with absolutely nothing. She was terrified and heartbroken, and all Bernard could do was be a shoulder to cry on - while knowing all too well this was his fault. 

Bernard managed to make a very small arrangement with Josiah to make things just a little easier; on the very edge of the Baronies, hidden out of sight so as to not tarnish the view of the Chao Gardens and beautiful manors, was a small trailer park known as Barrow Creek. Bernard convinced Josiah to at the very least buy them a small plot of land, allow them to set up a RV to live in so Margaret could, at the very least, have a roof over her head. Josiah agreed, and the young couple moved into their new home.

Carey was born that year.

Margaret hadn’t wanted the child; as far as she was concerned, this was more Carey’s fault than Bernard’s. It didn’t help that Carey had been born with a defect - her left arm hadn’t formed past the shoulder. The baby was weak, requiring constant care and attention, and oh, how Margaret wished to smother the life from it and be done with this burden.

It was only on Bernard’s insistence that Carey was kept alive and fed; already, he was scheming how to make the most out of the situation. He felt nothing towards his daughter but inspiration -- he could make this work to his advantage. A disabled child would bring out the sympathy in people, making his cons go a lot smoother. People would give money out of pity or adoration for the disadvantaged family, he could spin a thousand sob stories about how she lost her arm, open donations to go towards putting her in school or getting her a prosthetic - in reality keeping the money for himself - and the possibilities for profit were endless.

For much of her infancy and childhood, Carey was toted around during Bernard’s many schemes, helping rake in donations from charitable and kind people. As she got older, Bernard got Carey more and more involved in his cons, reciting lines with her and having her partake in more elaborate schemes. He also taught her the art of picking pockets, breaking locks, lying, and stealing. By age 7, Carey was doing all this and more, being made to cook and clean and was expected to earn her keep for living with them, with Bernard making sure she understood that she was a financial burden unto her parents, all while using his charisma and manipulation to keep her adoring him.

However, during all of this, Margaret’s mental health was declining. 

Gone was the bright, sheltered woman who wanted a life of risk and adventure - Margaret was bitter, angry, and jealous… but never directed any of it towards her husband, instead taking it out on their daughter and anyone else unfortunate enough to cross her path. She spent most of the day drunk and unhappy, or waiting for Bernard to return when he’d drive with Carey out of town to run a con. 

Bernard was oblivious, for a time - and when he did become aware, he tried to ignore the problem. The rising tension between Margaret and Carey, Margaret’s drinking problem, and their growing debt were all things he tried to brush off, even as Margaret attempted to drown Carey out of jealousy for her spending so much time with Bernard.

By the time Carey was 10, the Baronies were no longer safe for the Jess family. People had wisened up to their act, the bounty hunters were closing in, as was the law. Desperate to get some cash for the road ahead, Bernard conspired to rob the Blanche’s estate. It would be a final sendoff, the last big gig before the Jess family laid low for a long time. Margaret was eager to reclaim what she’d left behind, but Carey had grown ill from neglect. She was sick with pneumonia, and thus sluggish and of little help - and so Bernard put her on guard duty, to keep an eye out if the cops or other signs of trouble appeared. 

The heist didn’t quite go as planned.

In the end, the cops were called, and Bernard had shot and killed Josiah in an altercation. As Bernard and Margaret fled the scene, they left behind Carey purposefully, knowing the cops would stop for the small, sickly child. This allowed the couple to make a clean getaway, while ridding themselves of Carey’s burden. 

It has now been 13 years since that day. 

Bernard’s working alone now, with Margaret having taken her own life a few years ago. He carries that weight with him, knowing full well he ruined her life and that his neglect led to her deteriorating mental health. He still wears their wedding band, and insists on remaining loyal to her memory, though he does oftentimes feel lonely. 

It’s difficult to pin where Bernard is at any given moment, as his cons often see him travelling all over Northamer. He’s still running his cons, hoping for that one big break and dodging bounty hunters and cops at every corner, keeping his past and his regrets close to his heart and hidden under lock and key.

[phoebestarks]

Tell us about Fever Dream! What inspired you to make it a screen play instead of a book? Who are the main players?

ngl i was hoping someone would ask ab this buttttt fever dream is actually for my senior capstone! i go to a charter arts school so we have to do capstones at the end of our high school careers to show our improvement and it's not due until like, april 2022 but i'm stupid and decided to make this way harder for myself so i decided to start it now!!!!

it's actually a screenplay because the whole concept for it is what i thought high school was going to be like, hence the "high school's a major FEVER DREAM" tagline. it's also a screenplay bc i am trying to get more confident w this type of these since i'm going to be in honors playwriting (and possibly writing something for my school's theatre department!!!!) and also that means i can get some of theatre friends to help me!!!

anywayss the rest is going under the cut!!

sooo the main players are as follows: sam, harry, gia, aimee, kate, and marina. gia's twin brother and harry's friends isaac & reese are also in it but they're not like the main characters like the others are.

sam carrigan (played by sarah pidgeon) is the ULTIMATE self insert. like she's actually just me. she's also just like the most passive protagonist i've written in a bit? mainly because i feel like high school, in this setting, doesn't really bring any lee-way for me to have like this crazy ass protagonist since it is just a high school comedy.

harry wilson-arreaga (played by froy gutierrez) is one of sam's love interests. he's the one that little me would've been OBSESSED with. like embarassingly obsessed. he's a bit of an airhead and it's apparent but he's not like, rude or anything. just a bit shallow. he's also a football player for another hs (since the school they all go to is a performing arts school) and he's also in the theatre program!! he's like, the lead in everything bc he's only masculine-presenting person truly invested in it. (he wants to go to nyu, like he's that serious.)

gia rogers (played by ryan destiny) is sam's second love interest! she's really popular and they go through a bit of a one-sided enemies to lovers arc (sam is just like...incredibly jealous of gia to the point of no return lmfaoooo and gia's just chill w her and thinks she's funny) and she's the one sam indefinitely ends up with. she's a piano player, and her brother, leo (played by aubrey joseph, who is my beloved) is also a musician! he's a saxophone player and he's in band w sam!!

aimee jackson (played by lovie simone) is one of sam's two best friends! she's dating kate, sam's other best friend and she's honestly an angel. unproblematic and really just trying hard. she's sam's childhood best friend and they're really close. she's also the head of the costume department for the theatre program and just...she's my beloved. she's what bubbles from the powerpuff girls live-action should've been. she's also just really chill and sweet while not being a pushover?? it's great. alsooo she's valedictorian bc aimee is literally perfect.

kate carter (played by mia healey) is sam's other best friend. she's an incredibly passionate actress and it comes off as too much for some people but sam's known kate since middle school and could never part w her. kate's like...u know the meme where it's like, there's two people and one is like "x ordered no pickles?" kate's the one that would say something bc sam and aimee wouldn't want to overstep. she's also in theatre leadership and helps helm all the big projects.

marina kalua (played by auli’i cravalho) is a new transfer kid! she’s doesn’t really know anyone but sam takes an immediate liking to her and they become fast friends. she’s in the visual arts department and is shadowing aimee since she’s two years younger and is set to take over the costume department once aimee graduates!!! she’s super duper sweet and is maybe sorta based off of one of my best friends mj (but we don’t take ab that one lmfaooo) but she’s baby and definitely a much needed bit of optimism in the story!!!