#and you can pull off a ton of stuff if things are set up right but like basic upkeep?

[whitecompri]

😆 Okay, here's a fun idea in mind:

Imagine hedgehog dads' trying to help the kids with their homework (particularly math), and they happened to be just as stumped as they are. And it results in utter chaos.

Inspired by the 6 × 3 video from the classic HARDSTOP LUCAS (if you know him). 😎 🫡

Hope this idea works! If you don't wanna do it, that's fine too. Just a funny idea that I NEEDED to get out there, lol! Have fun! And thank youuu! ❤

Daddy Homework

Pairing: Sonic x Reader; Shadow x Reader; Silver x Reader; Scourge x Reader

Genre: Fluff, light comedy

Rating: G (General Audience)

Warnings: None

A/N: Thank you for the request! I loved the idea, I thought it was a great fit and very funny. I had never seen this video before, and I thought it was really funny too, lol. I hope you like the result!

Sonic

It was late afternoon, the final rays of sunlight streaming through the kitchen windows. The blue hedgehog was leaning casually against the counter, taking a sip of his soda. His ears twitched toward the front door as he heard it creak, signaling someone’s arrival.

Almost immediately, the door creaked again as it closed, followed by small footsteps entering the house.

Slightly turning his head, his green eyes scanned the kitchen entrance, seeing the little blue hedgehog walk in slowly, looking tired, with her backpack on her shoulders. She slipped the straps off, tossed it beside a chair, and, with some effort, managed to sit on the chair—which was taller than her.

“So, kiddo? How was school?” Sonic asked, walking to her side and pulling out a chair.

“Tiring... It’s so boring having to sit in a chair all day...” She crossed her arms.

“I know how it is... But just relax, it’ll be over soon.” He gave her a light pat on the back.

“Dad, can you help me with my homework?” she asked quietly.

“Sure thing. Just show it to your old man—shouldn’t be anything too tricky.” He laughed, leaning an elbow on the table and setting aside his soda as she reached for her bag, pulling out her pencil case and notebook.

She carefully opened the notebook, flipping through the pages until she found the lesson, then handed it to her dad, who smiled and scanned the page.

“All right, let’s see...” Sonic began to read. “An isosceles triangle is a type of triangle that has two equal sides and—hold on, what? Congruent? Equal angles? Formed with the base?” He furrowed his brow, tilting the notebook as if that would help him understand, his confident grin fading as he read. “Huh... where’s the good old math?”

He looked at his daughter and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s up, Dad? You’re an adult, right? You should know this stuff.” She crossed her arms at him.

“I’m an adult with tons of knowledge and experience in many fields, just not triangle puzzles. By Gaia, I don’t even know what that is. I thought math was just adding, subtracting, dividing, and multiplying!” He crossed his arms back at her.

“But that is math, Dad—it’s trigonometry!”

“To me, that just sounds like a snowboard trick. My thing’s speed. I wasn’t made for tough stuff like this. If it were a simple addition or subtraction problem, I’d handle it no problem.” He handed the notebook back to her.

“Can’t you at least try? This assignment is going to count for a grade!” she sighed in exasperation.

Sonic paused for a few seconds, looking at his daughter intently before taking a deep breath.

“All right...” He ran a hand through his quills, frowning. “What do I know about triangles...” He tapped his finger against his temple, closing his eyes tightly, thinking, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.

Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, opened his eyes, and dashed off, leaving his daughter confused and staring at the spot he’d just been.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Sonic reappeared in front of her, holding a small decorative pyramid ornament made of metal.

“How’s this?” He flashed a sly grin.

“And how are you planning to solve my homework with that, Dad?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just use a ruler and add the sides, right?” He tossed the little pyramid into the air and skillfully caught it.

“Of course not!” She took a step forward, pointing at the notebook.

“Sweetheart, solving puzzles is way outside my dad skills...” He flashed her a grin.

“They’re asking for angles, Dad… A-N-G…”

“Okay, no need to spell it out, I get it...” He puckered his lips at her, gripping the pyramid in his hand and setting it on the table, pulling out a chair as she sat across from him.

“I got something that might help...” She rummaged in her backpack and pulled out a round ruler marked with angles.

“Now that helps...” He took the ruler and placed it next to the pyramid, squinting as he inspected the measurements.

“So?” asked the little hedgehog innocently.

“Ninety degrees?” He raised a confused eyebrow, studying the ruler more closely. “Write that down—ninety degrees. And if your teacher gives you trouble, just say your dad helped.” Sonic sighed, handing the ruler back and folding his arms.

“You’re giving up?! We didn’t even really start!” she exclaimed, slapping her hand on the table.

Just then, you entered the kitchen, drawn by the commotion.

“What are you two up to?” you asked, standing at the table and observing the small pyramid now in place.

“Dad was trying to help me with homework… and totally failing,” Sonic pouted at you, then turned to you.

“I wasn’t totally failing—I can’t fail at something I haven’t really tried yet!” He folded his arms again.

“Let me take a look at the assignment...” You picked up the notebook and scanned it, your eyes widening. “Your age and this? Are you really supposed to be learning this already?” you questioned your daughter, who nodded.

“Look,” you said, leaning close. “We start with the law of sines…” You showed her precisely how to complete the exercise.

Sonic’s mouth dropped open as he watched you teach your daughter. Then a small smile spread across his muzzle as admiration glowed in his eyes.

“...Exactly right. Now, to finish, you’ll find the result—2√3, perfect!” You smiled at your daughter, praising her. She looked thrilled.

Then you looked at Sonic, and the intense way he was staring at you made your cheeks flush hot.

“W-what?” you asked, looking away.

He stood and came to your side, wrapping his arm around your waist.

“That was amazing.” He winked at you.

“Well... everyone’s got their areas of expertise, right?” You scratched your neck.

“My area of expertise says I’ve just fallen even more in love with you...” He offered you a knowing side smile. “I’m so lucky to have someone so smart in my life...” His voice dropped lower.

Just then, your daughter broke the spell.

“If you two are gonna kiss, wait until I’m gone—I don’t wanna see any of that.” She said firmly, her ears drooping as she packed up her things.

“Oh, my bad, kiddo...” Sonic chuckled and gave you a quick kiss on your forehead. “We’ll continue later...” He released you, grabbed his soda, then crouched beside your daughter to ruffle her quills playfully.

“Wanna go for a run? Not that you’ll beat me, but it’ll be fun.” The little one gave a mischievous smile and nodded, and in an instant, the two of them were gone, leaving only a blue blur behind, their clothes fluttering in the rush of speed.

You sighed and closed your eyes, shaking your head. It was amazing how he still made you blush, even after all this time together—and it was one of the things you loved most about him.

Shadow

It was early on a weekend morning; a gentle breeze rustled his black quills as he focused on the task he had chosen for the day: cleaning his motorcycle.

Shadow carefully wiped the metal parts, his red eyes scanning for any specks of dirt on the vehicle.

He heard small footsteps approaching across the yard and didn’t even have to look to know it was his daughter—he knew the sound of her walk too well.

“Dad?” she called softly.

“Hm?” he responded, placing the cloth on the handlebar and turning to her.

She came closer and handed him her open notebook.

“Can you help me with my homework?” she asked as he took the notebook into his hands.

“Sure... Come, let’s sit over here.” He guided her to sit at a small wooden table nearby, placing the notebook down and beginning to look over the assignment.

“So? You know the answer, right? This assignment’s even messing with my sleep,” she said worriedly, fidgeting with her fingers on the table.

“The powers (-2)^4 and -2^4… are they the same or different...?” He read the question quietly, then brought a hand to his chin, narrowing his eyes. He took a few seconds to think before clicking his tongue.

“Dad? You don’t know the answer?” the little one asked.

“It’s not about not knowing... The real question is... what’s the point of this in your life?” He looked into her eyes.

“I won’t pass the school year if I don’t know it,” she raised an eyebrow at Shadow, who just closed his eyes and sighed.

“You don’t know how to do it, do you? I thought the Ultimate Lifeform would be able to solve something like this easily...” she crossed her arms at him.

“I was created for many reasons, but solving math questions was definitely not one of them...” he said, picking up a pencil and trying to scribble something in the notebook.

“Why are you answering it then?” she leaned over slightly, trying to see what he was writing, eyes widening when she saw him doing some absurd math.

“Dad, you’re adding both numbers? That’s not how it starts!”

“I’m trying...” he gritted his teeth, grabbing the eraser and rubbing out his scribbles.

“That’s just scribbles, Dad... not the answer,” she raised an eyebrow at him.

“Tell me how to start the question then...” He dropped the pencil on the notebook, crossing his arms, waiting for her to respond.

She scooted closer, pointing at the problem.

“Dad... this is raised to the fourth power... that means you do two times two four times... not two times four!”

Shadow looked at her with his mouth slightly open, processing her words for a few seconds, then raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t get it... if I do two times two four times...” He discreetly counted on his fingers. “It all comes out to four...” His red eyes looked at her in confusion. She just put a hand to her temple.

“No, first you do two times two... then you do two times four!”

“Whoever made this wasn’t very smart... There should be a better way to visualize it... How was I supposed to know this is how you do it?” He raised his hands in disbelief.

“By learning math?” she crossed her arms at him.

“Math never helped me protect the world...” He crossed his arms right back, grinding his teeth.

Watching the two of them at the little table outside, seemingly locked in a long debate, you raised an eyebrow and slowly walked outside, stopping beside Shadow and looking closely at what they were doing.

“Homework?” you asked, noticing how Shadow’s shoulders instantly tensed up at your approach.

“Yeah... but Dad’s not really helping much...” the little one said softly.

“Ah, sweetie, Shadow is terrible with anything school-related.” You giggled softly, watching your daughter’s surprised expression.

“What do you mean?” she asked, stunned.

“Your dad never turned in a single homework assignment in his life when he was living on the ARK.” You placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling him tense up even more.

“...I thought we agreed never to bring up that detail about my life again.” He muttered lowly, blushing slightly under his fur.

“Sorry, but she had to know, Shads...” you whispered.

“Whoa... I had no idea Dad was the Ultimate Slacker...” she said, amazed, staring at Shadow.

“Well... I can help,” you said, pointing at the notebook.

The little one began writing, while Shadow silently followed along with his eyes.

He raised an eyebrow as he watched the simple steps being completed.

“There you go, the answer’s 16 and -16, perfect.” You praised her, and she happily took her notebook and ran back inside.

Then, you turned your gaze back to Shadow, who sat with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

“Don’t be upset, Shads.” You smiled, walking up behind him and placing your hands on his shoulders. This time, he relaxed under your touch.

“It’s just a bit of math... nothing you’ve ever needed before in your life...” He nodded briefly.

“...Would you teach me?” he asked softly, making your face light up.

“Of course! I can give you private lessons anytime you want—it might be helpful to know the basics.” You hugged him from behind, resting your chin on top of his head.

He let out a quiet ‘hmph,’ though a small smile began to form on his muzzle as he enjoyed being close to you and the idea of spending more time together.

Silver

The white hedgehog was humming softly, content, as he gently poured water from his watering can over the garden. His golden eyes sparkled with pride as he admired all the green and blooming plants.

After finishing, he set the watering can down, placing a hand on his hip to take in the view—until, from the corner of his eye, he spotted a little hedgehog standing at the door, watching him.

Silver turned his head slightly, now seeing his daughter clearly. He smiled warmly and floated over to her with his powers.

“Hey there, little one. What’s wrong?” He landed in front of her, noticing the worried look on her face.

“Dad, I need help with my homework...” she said, hugging her book. Silver’s eyes lit up.

“Great! I can help you—let me take a look.” He smiled, carefully taking the book as she showed him the homework page.

“Okay... Solve the complete quadratic equation using the quadratic formula... 2x² + 7x + 5 = 0...” He stared at the equation for a few seconds, scratching the back of his neck.

“Dad?” the little one asked.

“Uh...” He furrowed his brow at the page. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life...” he admitted softly. “Bhaskara is... what, exactly?” he asked in a whisper.

“The guy who made this up... or something like that,” she shrugged.

“Hmmm...” He rubbed his chin, pouting in concentration. “But... doesn’t this equation already have an answer?”

“I think it wants the value of X, Dad, not the value after the equals sign...”

“Ah, right...” He shrank into himself a little, clearly intimidated by the equation. “In the future we don’t have anything like this... Math’s really different over there...” he murmured.

“That’s true... I guess I never thought about it...” the little one crossed her arms, thinking.

“But I can still help... let’s go.” He smiled, taking the pencil she handed him.

The hedgehog sat down on the ground at the doorstep, the little one doing the same, both examining how to begin.

“Alright... if I have two X’s... let’s say I have...” He looked around and smiled as he spotted two small stones, placing them in front of him. “If I have two stones with this little number here...”

“Dad, I don’t think that’s how you do it...” she raised an eyebrow at his method.

“Relax, sweetie... In the future, math works like this... I think.” He looked away. “Anyway... moving on, how about...” He tapped the pencil to his chin.

“How about we just start with the formula?”

“You mean that... Baskada thing?”

“Bhaskara.”

“Yeah, that one... Well, I wish I knew what that formula actually is...” He gave her a sheepish grin. “There’s gotta be another way to do it...”

“No, Dad... there’s not.” She shook her head. Silver pouted.

“Not even... if I try using my powers?... Even if it probably won’t help...” he laughed.

“It’s okay, Dad. Thanks for trying to help...” she said softly, reaching to take the book back.

“Wait, I’ve got it!” Silver said suddenly, excited, turning around and heading inside. The little one followed, hopeful and curious.

He found you at the kitchen table, reading a book calmly.

The hedgehog sat in front of you, beaming, and placed the book in front of you. You looked up from your book, curious, then saw the workbook.

“Homework, huh?” You smiled.

“Can you help?” Silver asked, as the little one stopped at his side.

“What’s the task?” You marked your page and set your book down. “A quadratic equation? It’s been years since I’ve done one, but I think I can help.” You said cheerfully.

“Thank you, you’re a real lifesaver...” Silver laughed, crossing his arms on the table. The little one did the same.

“It’s nothing. If you want, I can teach you too.” You smiled.

“Sounds great to me. Math in the future is... not exactly like this.” He scratched his neck, glancing away.

“I know, alright, let me see what I can do.” You analyzed the question, grabbing a pencil and beginning to explain to both of them how the equation worked, making small pauses to remember things before continuing.

However, Silver was actually more focused on you than on your explanation. He was watching you with a soft gaze, following every movement you made with his eyes, a little smile on his face.

Then he let out a long sigh, catching your attention.

“Everything okay? You seem lost in thought...” You laughed, watching him blush and his eyes widen.

“N-no, it’s nothing! I was just... admiring you...” He looked away, scratching his arm.

You chuckled softly.

“Thank you, Silver. You're adorable...”

He smiled gently, then suddenly stood up from the chair.

“I-I’m gonna make us a snack... I’ll be right back!” He fumbled a little trying to get out of where he was, quickly heading to the cabinets, looking for ingredients.

Now it was your turn to admire him, watching every agile movement and the little smiles he gave.

“Mom...?” The little one called, breaking the spell and bringing your attention back to her.

“Ah, sorry, here, you just have to do this and you’ll finish the equation.” You said quickly. The little hedgehog giggled softly, clearly enjoying the cute interactions between her parents.

Scourge

The hedgehog was sprawled out on the couch, his muzzle fur covered in chip crumbs as he munched away. Every now and then his hand reached into the bag for more snacks, bringing them lazily to his mouth.

He shifted a bit, stretching his back, enjoying the calm of the house at night. In the armchair, you were curled up reading a book, also savoring the peaceful moment.

That was until the sound of a bedroom door upstairs echoed through the house. The familiar creak made Scourge flick his ears back. He licked his fingers and tossed the snack bag aside. His blue eyes followed the sound of tiny footsteps coming down the stairs, already spotting two little green-furred hedgehogs whose eyes sparkled mischievously upon seeing Scourge.

“Dad!” the older one called out, coming down quickly, followed by her younger sister.

“Whaddaya want?” he asked, stretching and sitting upright to look at them.

“...Help us with homework?” the older one asked with an innocent look, showing him her notebook, the younger mimicking her with hers.

“Uh...” Scourge looked at their notebooks, scratched his neck, then glanced over at you. “Hey... think ya could gimme a hand here?” he asked. Slowly, you lowered your book, observing the three—but didn’t even have time to answer.

“Dad! We want your help this time. Mom helps every time!” the older one insisted, crossing her arms and staring at Scourge. His ears turned sideways, clearly uncomfortable. You let out a husky chuckle, enjoying the scene and his interaction with the girls.

“...My help, huh?”

“Yes...” both said in unison.

“You sure? 'Cause askin’ a stranger on the street might be smarter...” Scourge laughed at his own joke, but his smile faded when he noticed the girls were still serious, arms crossed.

“We don’t care if your head’s empty...” the little one said.

“Hey, watch ya mouth—I’m still ya dad...” he pointed to himself, making the two exchange confused glances.

“Anyway... you heard my sister, we don’t care, we just want your help...” The older one placed the notebook in his lap, waiting for his next move.

Scourge sighed, thinking for a moment, scratching his cheek before clicking his tongue.

“Aight, screw it. I’ll help ya two.” He extended his hand, opening the notebook to the last page.

“This one... just this one left...” The little one pointed to the question.

Scourge cleared his throat before reading aloud.

“What’s the volume ‘n total surface area of a rectang’lar prism with... what—5, 7, and 9 cm?” He paused, trying to make sense of what he just read, then furrowed his brow. “What the hell’s that even s’posed to mean?” He looked at the girls.

“Dad, you’re supposed to know that!” The older one crossed her arms.

“Pfft, yeah right. D’you see me lookin’ like someone who loves math?” He raised an eyebrow at them.

“No, but I thought you’d at least be useful for helping.”

“You’re really gonna keep throwin’ shade at ya own father?!” He gritted his teeth.

“Of course! How can you be the leader of a gang, become a king, fight a bunch of strong people... and still not know how to do basic math?” The older one waved her arms, trying to wrap her head around the fact that Scourge just didn’t know how to do that question.

“I never had to know nothin’ about volume or area... or whatever them scribbles are in that notebook... My brains ain’t about stupid numbers, alright?” he muttered, clearly getting irritated.

You let out a quiet giggle, continuing to read but clearly listening to the conversation.

“You laughin’ at somethin’?” Scourge raised an eyebrow at you.

“Nothing, I was just reacting to a funny part in the book...” You winked at him, returning to your reading. It was pretty obvious the book wasn’t the reason for your laughter.

“Tch... Aight, ya little punks...” He grabbed a pencil and started scribbling something—an absolutely horrendous scrawl. “Done and done. Daddy left a lil' note for the teacher.” He grinned smugly.

“Dad... I hope that’s not a threat...” the older one said in disbelief, taking the notebook from his hands and reading the note. “Teach my daughters something that’s actually useful?” she read aloud.

“Whaddaya think? Just saved ya from homework ‘til the end of the year...” He leaned back on the couch, hands behind his head like he’d saved the world.

The little one huffed, grabbing an eraser and rubbing out the note he’d written.

“I’m not showing that to the teacher...” she frowned.

“Daddy... can you help me?” the younger one asked quietly, holding up her notebook.

“This homework’s already meltin’ my brain...” he sighed, taking the notebook—only for his face to light up with a huge smile. “Six times three? Easy, kid. That’s twenty-one—write it down.” He handed back the notebook, puffing his chest proudly, feeling like father of the year.

At that moment, you lifted your eyes and stared at him in surprise, then raised an eyebrow. The girls looked at Scourge with the same mix of shock and confusion.

“Scourge...” you said softly. “Twenty-one?”

“What? That ain’t right?” He scratched his head, starting to count on his fingers.

“Dad... It’s eighteen...” the older one said with her mouth agape.

Scourge’s eyes went wide, his muzzle visibly flushing even through his fur. He looked away, crossing his arms.

“I-I knew that! C’mon...” He squeezed his own arm, then suddenly got up and left, muttering, disappearing into the kitchen.

You watched Scourge carefully, then turned to your daughters.

“Let Daddy rest his brain. I’ll help you.” Smiling, you closed your book and placed it on the coffee table.

You already knew Scourge would probably stay sulking for quite a while after that scene. But you were also determined to comfort him later and make sure he wouldn’t stay upset about it.

[thelongestway]

You know how people say, "if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging?"

Well, that's fucking easy mode. Hard mode is that you're find yourself in Tetris, and "stop digging" isn't particularly cutting it when the shapes pile up.

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

idk if this is a sex ed question, or if you're the right person to ask, sorry, but do you have any reputable sources about what testosterone *actually* does?

i see people saying it limits your emotions, that it gives you breast cancer, that it makes you malnourished, its a second more dangerous puberty, etc, and I'd like to think im good at picking out lies, but there's a lot of stuff that sounds like bullshit coming from blogs i thought were trustworthy.

if not, all good, thank you in advance!

hi anon,

I'm really glad you sent this ask, because this kind of scaremongering misinformation is deeply upsetting and I'm so happy to provide a better information.

there are tons of reputable sources as to what testosterone does; some that I'll be pulling from in this answer include Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medical School, University of California San Francisco, Mayo Clinic, the Society for Endocrinology, and Planned Parenthood.

so, what's up testosterone?

testosterone is a hormone produced in everyone's bodies, either in the testes or the ovaries depending on which set of equipment you're working with. all bodies produce both estrogen and testosterone, usually in different levels. regardless of the genitalia you were born with, how you understand your gender, or what levels of testosterone you have in your body, testosterone affects things like your sex drive, your hair growth, muscle and bone density, and the production of red blood cells.

in people born with testes, puberty usually comes with an increase in testosterone that kicks off changes such as growth of the penis and testicles, the production of sperm, an increase in hair growth all over the body, deepening of the voice, greater production of oil on the skin, and an increase in height, weight, and muscle mass.

either an overabundance or a deficit of testosterone can have health complications, just as having more or less of any hormone that a body needs can cause complications.

people who choose to transition by taking testosterone will experience many similar effects as cisgender men going through puberty, including the increase in body hair, skin oils, and muscle mass, as well as a deepening voice. while people on testosterone are unlikely to experience significant growth in terms of height unless they start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) at a fairly young age, testosterone does frequently cause a redistribution of fat on their bodies to be more similar to that of cisgender men. bottom growth, the increased size and sensitivity of the clitoris to more closely resemble a penis, is also common; the clitoris and the penis are homologous structures (they're made out of the same goo when embryos start developing genitalia), hence why they react similarly to testosterone.

to address your specific concerns:

testosterone does not limit the range of a person's emotions. while it may impact a person's mood and the severity of their feelings, the same is true of any hormone - for instance, people also report mood changes when they take antidepressants or birth control. the sometimes drastic mood fluctuations experienced during puberty are not tied to a specific hormone; this is a turbulent time regardless of what hormones your body is producing the most. testosterone is stereotyped as making people angry and violent, but all people are people regardless of their biology and are shaped by much more than the hormones in their body.

while cisgender men and trans people on testosterone can both get breast cancer, testosterone does not pose any particular risk. several of the sources linked about don't find any significant link between taking testosterone HRT and an increased risk of breast cancer, reporting that transgender individuals who take testosterone are not at any particularly higher risk of developing breast cancer than cisgender women. for more detailed information about potential health problems affiliated with taking testosterone, I recommend the "Risks" section of the linked UCSF document. yes, there are health risks affiliated with taking testosterone; this is true of literally any medication and, more importantly, is also true of just being a person with any kind of hormones in your body. cis men and women also have health conditions affiliated with being cis men and cis women, this is the price of admission for having a human body. nobody gets out unscathed.

there is no evidence that testosterone causes someone to become malnourished. people undergoing a testosterone-based puberty, whether they're cis or trans, are likely to experience a great deal of growth and bodily changes that will use a great deal of calories, which means they may be hungry and need more food than they did previously. this is a normal effect of puberty on a body, and is only a risk for malnourishment if a person isn't able to eat in sufficient amounts to keep their body properly nourished.

there is nothing about a testosterone-based puberty that is "more dangerous" than an estrogen-based puberty, which is what I assume is the point of comparison. puberty is a completely natural process that does not pose any significant dangers unless you want to be a real dipshit about it and pull some shit like "puberty is dangerous because you grow breast tissue and then you're at risk for breast cancer," in which case sure, great job, Sherlock. you solved it, puberty is cancelled forever. I cannot emphasize enough how stupid this is, conceptually; roughly half the human population goes through this kind of puberty every day and they're fucking fine. puberty by itself is not a risk factor of anything.

I don't know what particular interest the blogs you've been following have in making testosterone-based puberty sound like it's going to turn you into an emotionally stunted skeleton with breast cancer, although I fear it's transphobia hidden unsubtly behind concern trolling and disdain for cisgender men.

if you're interested in taking testosterone and are concerned about the changes you might see in your body please, for the love of god, consult with reputable health resources and a doctor rather than whatever nematode is posting about testosterone ruining your life.

[babyleostuff]

s/o being afraid of storms | ot13

ᥫ᭡ theme: fluff & comfort ᥫ᭡ warnings: generally gn!reader, but mentions of makeup with seungkwan

[ ☁️ ] seungcheol

he’d probably hold you through the whole storm, because no place is safer than your boyfriend’s arms. of course he’d do the basic stuff, like playing music to drown out the sound of thunder or he’d put on your favourite movie and order tons of food to distract you from the weather, but one thing would be sure - the whole time you’d be securely placed in his embrace, even while he’d be walking around the apartment to gather all of the necessarily supplies. he’d have your arms wrapped around his waist, and one of his hands holding your head against his chest.

[ ☁️ ] jeonghan

similarly to cheol, hannie would opt for physical touch to calm you down. you’d be lying in your bed, under tons of blankets with you wrapped up in one of his fluffiest cardigans. your head would stay on his chest the whole time, right above his heart, so you could hear his heartbeat, and jeonghan would gently rub your back, his thumbs rubbing soothing circles to lessen your anxiety. between talking and moments of silence, jeonghan would hum or sing quietly, his lips moving against your forehead in a calming manner, reminding you that he’s there and won’t let anything bad happen to you.

[ ☁️ ] joshua

you’d take a nice bath together. joshua has his notifications on for the weather in case of a storm, so he could call or text you beforehand if you were apart, or prepare something to take your mind off the thunder and heavy rain - and he usually goes for a bath. not only is the storm less audible in your bathroom, but you also get to spend some quality time together, in such an intimate but domestic way. he’d light on some candles for the mood, add your favourite scented soaps to the bubble bath, set the takeout next to the tub so it’s easy for you to reach you’d end up sitting face to face with shua gently running his hand over your calf to remind you that he’s there with you, ready to protect you from any thunder and storm.

[ ☁️ ] jun

would build a fort in your living room. jun would try to make a bit of a fool out of himself to cheer you up and make you laugh, as you’d carry all the blankets, pillows, and plushies you could find lying around your house. the fort in itself would probably collapse a couple of times, and you’d have to pull out a youtube tutorial to make one that would actually last for more than two minutes. jun would hang up some fairy lights, and you would be busy ordering takeout, already wearing his hoodie (his clothes add +100 to your comfort). he’d make you so giggly and giddy about the fort that you’d barely pay any attention to the thunder and rain.

[ ☁️ ] hoshi

would try to distract you by coming up with the most random ass activities. hoshi is an endless source of energy and crazy (and sometimes very questionable) ideas. he would have no problem setting up a yoga studio in your room so you could do "partner yoga" (at one point you thought that soonyoung broke your rib because he didn't catch you and you fell to the ground) or doing a thousand different tik tok challenges that he has saved in a separate folder on your phone. you can rarely be bored with hoshi, so his infectious energy would be a good way to take your mind of the storm, but if he noticed that his ways of calming you down wouldn’t be working, he would gently drag you to the couch, wrap you in a blanket and sit next to you throughout the storm until it passed.

[ ☁️ ] wonwoo

having a boyfriend who’s obsessed with gaming is like a dream come true in this scenario. he’d place you on his lap, a blanket around your shoulders, headphones covering your ears, with one of his hands resting on your thigh or waist, and the other showing you which keys on the keyboard to press. wonwoo would keep his head propped up against your shoulder or nuzzled into your neck if he saw you were doing fine on your own, and whenever you’d manage to kill an enemy or pass a level, he’d place a kiss on your cheek, successfully making you forget about the storm raging outside.

[ ☁️ ] woozi

you know what i’m going to say. you’d either be in his studio at home, or in the universe factory, you - closely snuggled to jihoon’s side, and woozi - with an arm tightly wrapped around your shoulder, his lips resting against your temple or forehead. you’d both share earphones, so you could still hear your boyfriend explaining the details of whichever song you’d be currently listening to, like the lyrics, production, beat, etc etc. and if you were up for it, woozi would be more than happy to indulge you in making a song as well. you’d come up with some silly lyrics that wouldn’t make much sense, a wilde beat, funny adlibs. all the good stuff.

[ ☁️ ] dk

i feel like he wouldn’t have like a specific thing he’d do - it would all depend on the day, how bad the storm would be, and how scared you’d be. seokmin would definitely stay close to you, no matter what - his hand would always be holding yours, or at least the sleeve of your shirt so if the lightning struck he’d be right next to you to comfort you, and wrap you up in a safe bubble (which is his arms). on some days you’d watch a movie, on others you’d cuddle under the blankets - the biggest priority for dk is to hold you and keep you safe.

[ ☁️ ] mingyu

chef mingyu comes into action - IT’S TIME TO COOK! gyu would put on some music (probably your shared playlist), take out all of the ingredients (when you asked him what he was about to cook he just laughed and said he’d be improvising), and in his clingy puppy fashion would make you stand between him and the kitchen counter. the whole evening would be filled with your shared laughs, your boyfriends whines, and you running after mingyu after he ate some of your food, and you’d forget about the storm in no time (which makes mingyu feel so warm and fuzzy because it’s only a testament on how safe you feel with him). 

[ ☁️ ] minghao

he would read to you. the second he’d notice the first signs of the storm or when he’d get a notification on his phone about an incoming storm, he’d gently pull you towards your bedroom - your safe space, give you a change of clothes (his clothes) so you could be comfy, and lay next to you, having you snuggled close to him under the covers. you’d still be able to hear the thunder outside, but thanks to minghao’s gentle voice you wouldn’t pay a single attention to it. his soothing touch, and his calming voice is everything you need during a bad storm.

[ ☁️ ] seungkwan

to take your mind off the weather he’d propose to do your makeup (he had seen countless challenges of doing your significant other’s makeup, but he’d never found a good enough excuse to ask you if he could do it). seungkwan would actually do a pretty decent job at distinguishing concealer from foundation, applying the contour in the right places, and picking a fitting eyeshadow colour. the funniest part would be his comments, he’d act like a youtuber doing a makeup challenge (the only unfunny moment would when he almost poked your eye out with a maskara).

[ ☁️ ] vernon

MOVIE NIGHT!!! yeah, it’s movie date night, and no one is going to stop you from watching your favourite movies or bad horrors through the whole night :))) there’s nothing better to be cuddled under a thick blanket, your feet and arms tangled awkwardly, with vernon’s head resting on your chest so you could thread your fingers through his hair, various snacks laying on the table in front of you. vernon would try to be extra funny on his commentaries to take your mind off of the storm, or come up with the most out of pocket reactions to make you laugh. 

[ ☁️ ] chan

channie would use his super duper dancer skills to make you forget about the storm. you were quite surprised when he randomly started to rearrange the living room, moving the couch and the table, leaving only the fluffy carpet (at one point he thought about distracting you simply with his muscles while carrying the furniture, but eventually gave up because moving the TV would end up in a disaster). he’d let you choose a random song without telling you what he was up to, leaving you stunned but intrigued nonetheless. and you’d have so much fun with the dancing - chan would pretend to trip on accident or mess up the moves to make you laugh, lift you, spin you around, chase you around the apartment. just two idiots in love.

taglist (if you want to be added, check my masterlist): @jeonghansshitester @weird-bookworm @sea-moon-star @hanniehaee @wonwooz1 @byprettymar @edgaralienpoe @staranghae @itza-meee @eightlightstar @immabecreepin @whatsgyud @hyneyedfiz @honestlydopetree @vicehectic @dkswife @uniq-tastic @marisblogg @aaniag @daegutowns @carlesscat-thinklogic23 @embrace-themagic @ohmyhuenings @nidda13 @hrts4hanniehae @k-drama-adict @isabellah29 @f4iryjjosh @bangantokchy @mrswonwooo @bangtancultsposts @lllucere @athanasiasakura @onlyyjeonghan @haecien @caramyisabitchforsvtandbts @hannahhbahng @valgracia @ohmygodwhyareallusernamestaken @mirxzii @hhusbuds @wonranghaeee @rosiesauriostuff @gyuguys @tomodachiii @veryfabday @lilmochiandsuga @asasilentreader @mrsnervous @bewoyewo @sharonxdevi @wondipity @gyuguys @raginghellfire @treehouse-mouse @waldau @wonootnoot @hellodefthings @dokyeomkyeom @sourkimchi @bbysnw @hoichi02 @aaa-sia @haneulparadx @minvrsev @zozojella @wonootnoot @kimingyuslover @wntrei @honglynights @jihoonsbbygirl @uhdrienne @bloodcanbehot 

[steddieas-shegoes]

On school picture day, Steve always gets the kids ready. It’s not that Eddie doesn’t want to, it’s that he kind of hates making them dress up for a photo when 99% of the time, they’re just kids.

Except Steve had to go to a training conference for guidance counselors this week and picture day is happening whether they like it or not.

Their oldest, Jules, can do everything herself now. Prefers it, actually. She’s been extremely independent since she turned 10 a few months ago and neither of them try to stop her.

But their twins are only six, and James and Connor are like tornadoes who interrupted a category five hurricane and wore their most stained clothes while doing it.

“Let’s at least brush your hair,” Eddie suggested, already mentally preparing for the arguments that would cause. “Just for the picture and then you can mess it up however you want.”

“But daddy lets us wear it crazy!” Connor lies.

“And he lets us take off our shirts!” James lied even more.

“You guys don’t even know how to lie right,” Jules said as she finished braiding her own hair.

“We don’t lie!” They said in unison.

Eddie used to think the twins talking and doing things at the same time was just coincidence, but now he knows it has to be some kind of evolutionary benefit to outsmart the parents.

“Let’s call daddy then and ask,” Eddie said, immediately being met with silence. “Oh, can we not? If he lets you do that stuff, then it shouldn’t be a problem right?”

The twins shake their heads.

“Great!” Eddie pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and pretends to dial Steve. Steve’s not gonna answer, so he just sends a quick text to let him know it’s fine and to let it ring to voicemail. He holds the phone up to his ear as it rings twice and then goes to voicemail. “Hey sweetheart. You know how it’s picture day? Mhm. Well the twins told me you usually let them just go without brushing their hair or even wearing a shirt! I thought that sounded silly. So you don’t?”

“Wait! Okay we lied a little!” Connor yelled, suddenly panicking at being caught.

“And maybe a lot!” James added, already trying to climb Eddie’s side so he could reach for the phone.

“I’ll go get them ready, love you, bye!” Eddie rushed out and hung up so he could hold James safely. “I think you think I’m a fool.”

“No dad, you just let us be crazy,” James said.

“So does your daddy. Just not on picture day. You know the rules. We do this for him, right? We get nice and handsome and we smile for the camera so we can hang the pictures on the fridge.” Eddie glanced at last year’s school photos, resisting the urge to cry at how big they’d all gotten so quickly. James was missing three teeth now, Connor seemingly lost a ton of his baby fat early, and Jules had started wearing earrings. “He likes seeing your faces on the fridge.”

“But can’t we just wear our regular clothes?” Connor begged from his other side.

Eddie looked down at what they were wearing. It wasn’t that bad. No stains, at least. And no holes. That was rare for them.

“You can wear these clothes if you let me make your hair look nice,” Eddie bargained.

“Daddy’s gonna kill you,” Jules said with her arms crossed.

“He loves me too much. Plus who else would do the dishes every night? He can’t kill me!” Eddie joked, tickling James before setting him down on the floor. “To the bathroom, my princes! Make haste!”

They ran for the bathroom quickly, nearly tripping over each other in the process.

Eddie’s phone vibrated in his hand with a text from Steve that just said ‘if they don’t brush their hair for pictures, Santa won’t come.’

Eddie texted back quickly: so cruel. as his most sexiest elf, I wouldn’t pass over their house.

Steve sent a ‘🙄’ and then a ‘😘’.

Eddie pocketed his phone and went to help the boys with their hair.

When they got the pictures back a month later, Steve shook his head, but couldn’t quite hide the fond smile.

James and Connor both forgot to give normal smiles into the camera.

But their hair looked almost perfect.

[bamboobooshark]

REMY LEBEAU X LITTLE!READER

⊹ ࣪ ˖🂱 ⋆˚⟡ BROKEN RULES : 840 WRDS

<RATING: PG, FLUFF, CRYING, AGERE>

A/N : “Bamb can we please get content other than X-Men agere?!” Not yet!!!!!! Please!!!!! My only CGs are fictional!!!! And I’m also in the process of writing a Wolvie request, Rogue headcanons, and tons of other stuff… ANYWAY uhm this is based off of one of my CG!Remy headcanons, so I hope y’all enjoy :]

<SFW INTERACTIONS ONLY, MDNI/18+ ONLY BLOGS WILL BE BLOCKED>

Remy has been watching you all day. From the moment you came running to him because you had a nightmare at almost three in the morning, making you breakfast, watching Saturday morning cartoons, coloring with you, listening to some music, and playing card games with you. He was so tired right now. He tries his best to keep himself awake while being slumped against the couch. His hand absentmindedly runs up and down your back. You’re snuggled against his side with the back of your head pressing his chest. You kick your feet a bit off of the couch. Everything is so peaceful right now: Remy’s touch, his soft humming, your favorite movie on the TV, the sound of your legs moving against the fabric of the couch. You wouldn’t have it any other way.

Remy yawnes loudly, unable to contain his sleepy demeanor any longer. He moves his arm from your back to rest against your shoulder, his thumb reaching up and rubbing your cheek. “Gambit’s sorry, cher. I’m tired right now. I can barely keep my eyes open,” he mumbles while looking down at you with a tired gaze. It takes you a moment to process what he’s saying considering how focused you are. Once you get a second to take in what he said, you pout softly. You paw at his chest and give him a pitiful look while whining. He lets out a sad huff. Remy hates it when you’re sad. He doesn’t get angry; he just gets sad too. You’re his favorite little kid. He can’t let you be sad.

“Stay awake a little longer. Please, papa. I don’ want you to go to sleep,” you whine to him. Remy nods in understanding to your gentle pleading. “I know, mon chéri. But I can’ stand to be awake much longer,” he tells you. He displays an odd look on his face as he attempts to come up with a compromise. When he does, he kisses your forehead out of pure joy for thinking of such a good idea. “How ‘bout this? You an’ I go upstairs an’ cuddle. You can stay wit’ Gambit and he can stay wit’ you, cher,” he suggests with a sure smirk. Despite his confidence in his idea, you shake your head no. Remy bites the inside of his cheek nervously in response. He subconsciously holds his breath as worry begins to set in. He can’t let you go unsupervised or not be by his side. You and him have to be practically attached when you’re regressed. The last thing he wants is for you to end up lonely or anything worse. You go back to focusing on your movie, and Remy trusts himself; he could take a little power nap. Nothing too long, right?

 

He may have been a little far off. Next thing he knows, he’s waking up to a startling clanging and the sound of your feet quickly padding along the floor. He rubs his eyes and cards through his messy hair while looking around. The second he hears you crying, he goes into complete panic. “Oh! Mon chéri! Where are you? Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asks out loud while getting onto his feet and trying to find you. You’re cowering in fear behind the couch, terrified that Remy is going to yell at you or punish you. However, when he finds you, he gives you the most genuine smile ever. He squats down and holds his hands out to you. “C’mon. Gambit ain’t mad. He is worried t’ough. He was scared you were hurt,” he explains to you while motioning for you to come into his arms. You nod your head and try your best to get to Remy your vision blurred by tears. “Dat’s it, mon chéri,” he praises as he pulls you to his chest. He wipes your tears and gently pets the back of your head with his warm hands.

“Now, care to tell Ol’ Remy what happened?” he asks sweetly. You nod your head against his chest slowly. You point over to the curtain rod that had fallen on the floor. Remy looks over with wide eyes and winces at the idea of every possibility of what could’ve happened. “I was walkin’ by the window and I slip on the curtain. I didn’ mean to make the metal thingy fall. I’m sorry, papa,” you explain, your voice quivering as you start crying again. “No, no, no. Dat ain’t no reason to be sorry. I promise. I don’t got any reason to be upset with you either. Long as mon chéri is safe,” he assures you, lifting up your hand to kiss the back of your palm. You giggle through your tears when he gives you the gentle kiss. Remy wipes another tear from your cheek and looks at you endearingly. “Dat’s it. Show Ol’ Remy dat adorable lil’ smile,” he coos. Out of impulse to do so, he pinches your cheeks softly, only resulting in more happy noises from you.

[misfit0789]

Jersey Swap

Georgia Stanway x Reader

Summary: Georgia visits R at her professional baseball game.

Word count: ~650 words

Warnings: None

Short little thing I wanted to post based on Georgia being at the New York Mets game the other day.

"I never get tired of seeing you in those pants" I jump as Georgia smacks my ass before wrapping her arms around me from behind and laying her head between my shoulder blades.

"Babe! I know you love me in these almost as much as I love you in your kit but," I turn and press a kiss to her forehead, "you only have a few minutes down here before you have to be up in the suite for the game. I think David has the jersey's we are swapping. I mean I have tons of your jerseys already but what's one more?" I smile, she rolls her eyes before pulling away from me and heading towards my twin in the dugout. I sigh and follow behind her.

"Ahh there is my favorite sister-in-law," David cheers opening his arms and pulling Georgia in for a hug. "Oh how I've missed you. I still don't get how you can put up with her."

"She's your only sister-in-law genius," I state grabbing the jerseys off his shoulder, but not before landing a slap to his head. "Besides you saw her when we were in London playing the Phillies. Now give me my wife so we can take some pictures before I have to go warm up Tylor." I joke pulling Georgia by the arm into my own arms. I press a kiss to her head as she giggles but waves by to David.

"Bye Dave, I'll see you after the game, we're going to dinner tonight anyway." She calls, he nods and gives a thumbs up before making his way to the bullpen. "Now, where were we?" I smile and hand her my jersey for her to hold in the picture, not noticing the camera crew already taking pictures of us.

"Okay you two, just a few more pictures and Y/n you're all set to go warm up." The social media team member says, we both nod and hold up each other's jerseys smiling for the camera. Once they finish with the pictures I hand Georgia her jersey to hold on to for me.

"Thank you babe. I will see you after the game. I love you," I press a quick kiss to her lips.

"I love you too. Go kick some Padres' ass love." I smile and nod pressing another kiss to her lips before moving to put on my catcher's gear.

~~~~~

The game ended in a victory for us winning 11-6 with myself hitting a home run. I finish cleaning up my stuff in the locker room before meeting Brandon and David at the doors with my bag in hand.

"Geeze you take forever!" Brandon exclaims David chuckling at his side, I smile and shove him to the side before moving past him to meet up with our wives for dinner.

"Yea well, I'd like to see you both sit and sweat in that catcher's gear most of the game, then see who can clean up the quickest." I say before opening the door to where the girls are waiting.

"Baby you did amazing!" Georgia exclaims, I laugh and drop my bag to catch her as she jumps into my arms spinning us both around before setting her back on her feet, my arms wrapping around her waist.

"Thank you, my love. Now, I don't know about you but I am starving. Who is up for some food?" the boys yell in agreement before moving to the exit, their wives shaking their heads but following behind. "Why do I talk to those two again?" I ask Georgia, removing one arm from her waist and grabbing my bag so we can follow behind the others.

"Because one is your twin and the other is your best friend." She giggles, I sigh and nod pressing a kiss to her head.

"Right, forgot about that." She smiles and leans her head on my shoulder as we continue our way to the car.

[aloesarchives]

Domestic Headcanons w/ Mama!Reader and the Fushiguros #2.5: Teen!Mayumi (OC)

TW/Warnings: Domesticity, AFAB/Female Reader, Family life, unhinged crack, JJK OC(but not main x Reader), tons of swearing, Mayumi is truly a Gen Z kid

Pairing: Toji Fushiguro x Fem!Reader

Pronouns/Usage: She/Her, Mama/Mom

So, it's been awhile since I've actually posted anything. College, projects, life in general fuck my ass up frfr. On top of that, I got really bad writer's block and being burnt out. I've been spending time with family and friends and it's been giving me motivation to write again. So I'm trying to finish my long wips before my winter break ends!

I also made reference pics of Mayumi for anyone who's curious on what she would look like. These pics of Mayumi were based on my appearance since she's an self-insert combination of me and Toji lol. I had to work with what I got to visualize her. If you has questions or wanna ask more about her, feel free to drop an ask in my inbox!

(Credits to the creators of the photo generators from Piccrew and Storior. I didn't create the generators but used them to create these pics)

Preteen!Mayumi:

Teen/Highschool!Mayumi:

Mayumi wasn’t a menace or a problematic child. Nothing was too extreme that required strict parenting. As she grows up, she’s not as rebellious as you imagined. She only talks back to Toji, never you. But even then, she’s setting her boundaries up and setting herself up. 

She’s in her own little world, doing her own thing. A go-getter if you will.

Only taking after the green eyes of your hubby, she is a mini version of you through and through. Performing well and evolving into an academic weapon of mass destruction. School has never been an issue for her or will be in the future. She is a competitive person at heart but stays humble as much as she can. She most definitely does Kendo, Kyūdō, and Karuta. You and Toji always go to her competitions. She’s always on the podium in first place. She’s only good because Toji’s the only one who has the physical prowess to match. And Toji doesn’t go easy on her during their training. But your daughter is grateful that her Papa supports her interests and wants her to succeed, which proves your point that you made the right choice in choosing a husband and father for your children.

But Mayumi in her teen years, she turns a complete 180 and becomes a mini Toji. A menace. 

She isn’t a bully nor picks on others. It’s the other way around, she is fully beefing with egotistical kids that think they’re all that and can do anything. Her reasoning is quite interesting because she’s trying to show them that the stuff they pulled off wouldn’t slide in the real world. She’s helping them out because the stuff they pulled can be digging their own graves if they mess with the wrong people. The bullies jump her off-school grounds and after school hours, too bad it leads them to either having a bruised complex, pride, or straight up CTE.

She never fought in school, no never. That's after-school activities for her. Even if that were to happen and you and Toji had to be called down, the only thing that matters to Toji is whether or not Mayumi won. But the answer is always the same, which is yes. That’s you as well but you had to be the reasonable parent in the situation. If any of the parents of the bullies trifle with you, you can pull your connection cards on them and it shuts them up good.

“Oh, you think your threats scare me? Bold of you to assume I could feel shaken by someone like you. It’s not like your company violated several labor and wage laws, or your money embezzlement affairs? Hm?”

Once she got to high school at Jujutsu Tech, no one wanted to shit on her because they all know they’ll get boxed up by her after hearing the things she’s done to people that tried her.

She never explained how she controls her impulses. She credits her strong will power but you remember your husband is Toji. And with that, you know her sudden urges to do something reckless/impulsive are watched under the supervision of her father. You know this because one day you saw her long jump over the koi pond in the backyard of your home. She cleared it with perfect form and footing. You’re dead when Toji starts teaching her optimal forms and techniques so she could have a higher vertical and be nimble in the air like he is. 

She isn’t a trouble-maker. She’s not as reckless or impulsive like others around her age. You ask her why she doesn’t participate in day adventures or nightly escapades. She said most of her friends have curfews and can’t be out late. All of them have different routines so it’s hard to find time to hangout on the weekends. Mayumi also said she doesn’t know what’s lurking at night and wants nothing to do with it. And She knows Toji will know whether she snuck out at night. But she doesn’t want to cause you and Toji any trouble so she either doesn’t get into trouble at all or does but it’s a situation she knows she can easily handle herself.

She is a certified Zen’in hater and the most vocal about it too. She really doesn’t acknowledge that half of herself and purposely avoids talking about them in a familial matter. 

She is definitely stealing Toji’s old clothes and adding them to her wardrobe. The jackets he doesn’t wear anymore? She stole them and is a part of her wardrobe. She says she is repurposing them when she really wants them. 

Most of her teen years were filled with K-pop, her aesthetic is Y2K for sure. The staples of her closet are cargo pants, those long retro denim skirts, oversized t-shirts and jackets.

Because Shui sometimes visits Korea for business, Mayumi is always asking him for a TWICE, New Jeans, or BTS vinyls. She gets him all three in her room on display and plays them when she wants to chill out in her room.

Mayumi likes to spend time with Maki, Mai, and Nobara. Trains with Maki alongside Toji. No wonder Mayumi is so good at fighting. She was literally taught by PEAK.

The sibling banter, oh my god. “Mom, get this Emo kid off his ass and tell him I need him to come with me to watch a movie!” “Why me? Can’t you ask Tsumiki or your friends?” “Ugh, because my friends are busy and Tsumiki-Nii won't come home until after her club. Plus, you’re not doing anything right now and today’s our weekly sibling bonding time!” Megumi groans and grumbles before getting up off the couch and grabbing his wallet. Or her saying, “Gumi-Nii, this is why you got no maidens” when Megumi told her to leave him alone when she went into his room to bother him. 

Megumi has to deal with her as he is the main victim of her antics. Getting teased and roasted endlessly. He knows everyone's footsteps and knows who coming. That's only because he needed to recognize when Mayumi is coming and needs to mentally prepare himself when interacting with her. This is what happens when Mayumi got your looks but Toji's personality.

Begs Megumi to bring out his shikigamis so she can take pictures of/with them. Putting silly accessories on them like bows and hair clips. She puts hats on his divine dogs or take pictures of them at funny angles.

Don’t get me started on her inheriting Toji’s shit talking and banter. Her snide remarks and roasts are creative and out of worldly that Toji takes mental notes. Prime example, upon learning Toji and Satoru’s “shared past”, her insult library grew. “Dad, I don’t wanna hear anything from you! I’m talking to the same man who had beef with a bunch of high schoolers because his pockets were itching!” Turns to you “Can’t believe you looked at this and thought, ‘Oh, I’m definitely gonna make him my husband and the father of my future kids.’” You raised an eyebrow at her when you looked up from your laptop, “Mayumi, Dearest, you can’t be saying that. If I never gave that man a chance, you, Megumi, and Tsumiki wouldn’t exist. Besides, if it wasn’t for me, your Papa would be seeing a Michael Jackson concert or be at a Tupac meet and greet right now.” On second thought, maybe she got the shit talking from you too.

Continuing on the previous thought, Mayumi will say the most out of pocket, unhinged, crazy type of insults and curses you will ever hear. A prime example of this was during the Tokyo-Kyoto exchange event in Mayumi’s first year Jujutsu Tech. It was a 1v1 tournament between the Kyoto and Tokyo students. Mayumi’s opponent happened to be a third year student from the Zen’in clan. As you were watching from the sidelines with Toji, you couldn't help but notice Mayumi’s expression. She was locked in and basically mean-mugging them. Any and all insults were brushed off and unfazed. As she expected, your daughter knew her distant relative would pick her a part for being a celestial restricted user and not having any curse energy. As the fight went on, Mayumi was getting annoyed. Not because her opponent was hard, oh no not that. She was annoyed by the fact her opponent was all bark and no bite. Like her opponent was legit trying but it wasn’t enough for her. She could’ve easily ended the match, Toji and you knew that from the start, but she wanted to hold out in case her fight would get interesting. Alas, it didn’t and Mayumi was disappointed as hell. As she would put it, she’s related to frauds. Her opponent was yapping away with the classic “You got lucky” and “this isn’t my full power” shit. Now she’s just getting mad that her opponent was absolute garbage. Her opponent said something that you couldn’t quite make out, but Toji did as he let out a huff. You guessed it set off Mayumi because she stared them with the iconic Toji glare, clenched fists and teeth, and said “Choke on my dad’s dick and get pegged by my mom, you damn fraud!” Then proceeds to give that Zen’in the most devious combo imaginable, it connected so well it would be a perfect score in any fighting game. The fight was over with the obvious winner being Mayumi. But you and Toji, stunned for a solid five seconds before bursting out in laughter. For as vulgar and out of pocket your daughter was for saying that, it was creative. Toji even had tears in his eyes because he was dying of laughter but also how proud he was of Mayumi. That combo was crispy and only his daughter could do something like that.

She is so much like Toji that when she was fighting a Zen’in member(s) (99% Naoya), she locked in and did a pose. She had this look in her eyes and her grin was done in a way that’s almost primal. Then everything clicks and she’s giving them flashbacks because she’s giving TOJI AURA. She’s reminding them of Toji and piecing them up like her Pops. As Mayumi likes to put it, she’s running it back to her papa. The get back on the Zen’in clan for Toji. And she fucking delivers, ate that shit up and left no crumbs behind. She’s infamously known to be compared to Toji in the Jujutsu world but she wears that shit with pride and honor. “Disrespect my papa, then I’ll give you guys that generational fade that even your descendants will feel the secondhand embarrassment that you’re their ancestors. Straight up Frauds.”

Forces Toji to take selfies with her. Just a teenage daughter dragging her dad around. She’s just a girl, your dearest daughter, just dragging your 6’1 boulder of a husband around. Doing those drink dates and posting them. 

Okay, in my Modern/Toji Lives Au, since Shui doesn’t dip out and go under the radar he has a presence in the kids' lives. Every Time he’s over, he and Toji are yapping away at each other. Every time Mayumi is about to go out, she stops by and greets Shui and Toji before leaving. Usually she would be out the door when she has to go somewhere but there’s always a five minute gap. Turns out, she waits for Shui to give her cash and leaves with at least  29,000 Yen(close to $200 US). Watching this unfold is sometimes jarring because your husband and his friend at one point in time wretched havoc in the Jujutsu/underground world. Now, they’re just two older guys, chilling on the engawa of your home, and having a drink.

Mayumi is running Satoru’s pockets. Gifts, money, anything you name it, he’s getting her something. Satoru told you that as the unofficial oldest child and brother, it’s his job to get gifts and provide some financial incentive to his younger siblings. Since this is voluntary for Satoru, Mayumi is taking full advantage of it. When Mayumi got to that age, Satoru even offered to pay for schooling if she wanted to go to college/university or study abroad. Toji felt a bit insulted with how Satoru was casually flexing his wealth right in front of him. But Toji being the guy with an eye for better deals, he’ll silently let Satoru spurge on Mayumi if it meant he didn’t have to spend a single dime on her.

Ends up having a popular social media presence because she went viral from a post that had you and Toji in it. It was caption with something like "I want what they have/ Why my standards in love are so high" and it's you and Toji doing domestic stuff with Toji having this loving look on his face and you giving him a soft tender expression.

She doesn’t take her account seriously and just posts fun stuff or things for shits and giggles. Probably makes Toji do trends with her or takes videos of him doing mundane things around the house that got netizens foaming at the mouth. Then netizens start foaming at the mouth and become rebid when they find out about you. Doing a mom reveal and people were asking in the comments your skincare/makeup routine, making barking noises, etc. Then she does a family reveal where she includes Megumi and Tsumiki and people say the most unhinged things.

“You guys need a table? I can be a table for you guys”

“If yall need a chair, I’m the best chair to sit on. I can hold everyone.”

“Bro, please, save some for the rest of us! Like, let me have a fighting chance! Please!”

It gets worse when she posts a picture or video of her hanging out with Satoru, Suguru, or Nanami.

When Mayumi reveals both you and Toji’s ages, she did a video of your secrets while you say something sweet and practical like family and dropping your skincare routine then there’s Toji’s portion of the video. Toji just says: “My wife” and that’s it, does not elaborate on it. When Mayumi presses on, Toji responds “Your mom, Mayumi. I mean, do I need to say anything else because I legit got nothing else, Sweetheart.”

She does those livestreams to answer questions, you sometimes watch them when you’re away from home. They make you feel better and you do get a laugh out of them. 

Mayumi doing a livestream: “How old is my dad–? Too old for you all! And he’s married! shows a picture of you in the livestream Married! He’s taken! So stay away from my father! Stay away from my father, guys!”

Did a livestream with you and Toji and the amount of time Mayumi had to chastise Toji because the stuff he says will get her banned is hilarious and you are just watching the carnegie unfold right before you.

She did one livestream with her friends doing the hear me out challenge. And one of them pulled out Toji’s picture and put it on the brownie cake. Mayumi: “gasps! That’s my dad! Why the hell did you guys put my dad in!?” It gets worse when her other friend puts a picture of you in there too. Everyone was laughing while Mayumi was straight up flustered and stressed. Poor girl, she doesn’t need to be reminded that everyone wants to bang her parents.

Mayumi begged you to do that trend where daughters put their mothers in their style/clothes. That post was a hit but Toji wasn’t home for that. So when she made a post of Toji’s reaction to the post where you’re wearing Mayumi’s Y2K clothing, it was a hit too. That’s because as Mayumi sends him the post and he watches the post on his phone, Toji watches the video before looking up at Mayumi, with her phone pointed at him, and saying, “You want a younger sibling, Mayumi?” And she lets out a scream that was perfectly cut at the end of the video. 

Toji definitely spends the most time with her, they are very close to each other. They vibe on another level that you know you can’t even get. You’re aware she confides about anything and everything to you but always goes to Toji first since he’s more empathetic of her situations and what she goes through.

She’s the extrovert of the family (if you weren’t already one) but spending time and being near her is fun and entertaining. Mayumi is the apple to everyone’s eye but knows when to be strong and stand ten toes when she needs to be. She’s still a kind, considerate, and compassionate person. She’s just more outspoken now that she’s a teenager and she’ll stand on that. She’s a wonderful mix of you and Toji and is a certified Gen Z kid who loves her parents and siblings.

Taglist:

@luqueam @ploylulla @tqd4455 @wolywolymoley @captainbabybear @ravenswife @tqd4455 @k-kkiana

Taglist(w/o links):

@szillx @SleppyAnn @g0th1xac1d @kneelarhmstrung

[faislittlewhiteraven]

Fais fanfic rambles: Introduction to my 'Selkies by Starlight' ISaT AU

Note: Not to be confused with @looped-140-and-counting / Soren_793's wonderful Selkie AU oneshot series 'The Northern Islanders are Selkies' which was hugely inspiring for this if potentially VERY different in vibe (we got very into talking about cloaks! XD)

Basic premise/summary:

In an alternate version of the precanon adventure, the party lead by Mirabelle to stop the King freezing Vaugarde in time, recruit Siffrin as per usual.

Thing is, Siffrin is a Selkie.

A very skittish selkie without a cloak of their own, who openly wears the cloak of another, and due to Reasons is under the impression that the party know all both of those things and the Implications about them, and for whatever reason have decided to welcome him into their group anyway.

Which er, he's completely wrong about as the party know absolutely nothing.

Mira and Isa like most Vaugardian humans think 'shifters' are just fairytales, Odile knows shapeshifters are real but is only really familiar with how foxes like her father work, and Bonnie is actually able to sense some pretty major things but is a preteen dealing with a lot and hasn't even joined the party yet, so this pretty major misunderstanding is sustained for quite a while...

Cue the AUs' main focus being on the resulting party dynamic shifts as more and more canon divergence due to Sif's 'selkie stuff' (both cute and serious) comes into play, the party slowly realising something is up, and all of it hitting an eruption point right around the time of the 4th Orb/the loss of Siffrin's eye...

Some key world building notes: (Note: very summarised from my docs. I have like 20k+ words on this stuff XD)

The Island - Probably the most drastically different thing from canon here, the Island was not forgotten or erased here. Rather it is hidden away and permanently shrouded in Wish Craft generated fog from 'those without cloaks'. Side note: Sif is still unable to return home and continues to have some very plot critical memory problems but those are due to unrelated issues, which means yay I get to have Sif talk 'home culture' with the others in this =D Also idk why the King is freezing Vaugarde still. I've got a few ideas I'm not sure about and he's not in focus enough for it to even matter really, but random suggestions -especially those with possible selkie motivations- would be very much appreciated.

Selkie powers in my setting - Went into something of a deep dive regarding selkie folklore for this and did you know they have an absolute ton of seer/oracle based stuff going on?

From selkie being summoned by their human lovers shedding seven tears into the ocean, to a selkie man telling a former lover that he and their child will die at the hands by her genuinely good and loving future husband, to a selkie woman forseeing her fisherman husband about to die out in a storm just in time for her to swim over there and rescue him, etc.

So... Yeah. This AU has a lot of plot relevant sensory/seer stuff going on as well as the standard seal shapeshifter stuff (Islander selkie traditionally believe it to be the Universe talking with them, in the same way Wish Craft is talking to the Universe), and going off all the stuff I read decided it'd be most fitting if the general rule for how it all works is: - Selkie always passively have a bit of it going on (aka Sif's canon 'you sense someone nearby' stuff) which like most things can be enhanced with Craft use a bit. - Near perfect understanding of all 'connected' bodies of water (aka they know EXACTLY where the tasty fish are/will be and can probably get a general sense of location for most people on a boat) - Potentially get strong 'visions of the future' and/or instincts on what they need to do to avert an outcome when it comes to loved ones being in danger/distress.

They also maybe get to pull very fast, high power Wish Craft 'curses'/miracles' at idk, the cost of something major like their cloak or lives (mostly based off of the The Legend of Kópakonan where the whole island of Kalsoy was cursed with death by a selkie in retaliation for her husband and children being murdered) but not super attached to this idea past it being in 'seal shifter' stories in-setting.

Other non humans in setting and regional differences in shifters - Pretty much only selkie and selkie issues are in focus here, but just as a general thing, all non humans in setting are shapeshifters and originated from human ancestors who went crazy with the the Body Craft and/or used Wish Craft in some way.

Ka Bue in particular has a ton of them since yokai, with their origins being various sects/clans back in the warring eras going so nuts with trying to weaponize Body Craft (super soldiers, enhanced life spans, infiltration, exploiting attraction to furries, etc), that after some particularly high profile incidents (for an idea plz see: Kiyohime, Tamamo no Mae, Kachi-kachi Yama) and 'Body Craft misuse leading to shut down of the brain/vital organs' being the most common cause of death for 10+ years once peace time was established, eventually Ka Bue's authorities set their foot down and banned Body Craft altogether.

Currently the shifter population in Ka Bue is around 30% of the population, shifters are required to have ID regarding their forms (or potential forms if they're merely 'half'), and it's considered distasteful for a shifter to be in non human form outside of private settings/necessity and even ruder to ask a shifter about their non human forms if they haven't brought the topic up yet first (kinda like seeing/asking about someone's underwear or something XD).

In contrast the Vaugarde, Mwudu and Porteria region is extremely shifter sparce, with most of its original shifter population being the result of various Universe worshipping peoples (mostly small groups, like greek mystery cults) deciding to use a big Wish Craft ritual as some sort of religious rite and becoming shifters as a side effect of their primary Wish (usually stuff like 'we wish for us and our descendants to be one with You and the sea/air' or 'may we Change with the phases of the holy moon' etc) which granted them some pretty neat skills but also tended to come with some 'potentially nasty' drawbacks attached (see: selkie and swan maidens with their cloaks, werewolves Changing in both body and mind etc) Which er, lead to some issues born of lack of knowledge about this stuff, later some very nasty anti shifter sentiment in the region, and then around... IDK 200 to 300 years ago or so ended up exploding into violence and other very nasty things, with most shifters able to do so fleeing the region, and those that couldn't either enduring horrible conditions until they could escape/died or went deep into hiding, with the Island's Country being founded by the two later groups who used Wish Craft to hide their new home, erase awareness of their existence from their enemies (a short term, fully intentionally 'forgetting' blast centered specifically around shifters), and developed a LOT of culture and traditions regarding when, who and what can be told to 'outsiders' about themselves, Wish Craft, etc in order to keep their people safe.

There are shifters living in present in Vaugarde of course (anti shifter sentiment died back a LOT after most people stopped thinking they were real, and most modern day Change Believers are more likely to view these 'totally fictional/allegorical' beings as children/messengers of the Change God rather than 'evil demons who stole power by tearing apart the Change God's cloak for themselves and thus have to be hunted down and made to repent' propaganda take that was everywhere back then) but numbers actually living outside the Island as opposed to merely visiting remain low, since either the shifters know their history and stick firmly to their 'stay secret' traditions or quickly pick up on how oddly unknown shifters are around these parts and decide to err on the side of caution... Also 'trust worthy' humans who do learn about them (usually northern coastal folk, gee wonder why) tend to help cover them up so... Yeah =D

---

And... Yeah!

This is hella long as is, so will stop here and ramble about the actual 'how this all affects our beloved Sif and Co plot and culture wise' stuff that is the actual meat of the AU in another post later, but hope this made for an interesting/idea provoking read, know that I have no issue with anyone using any of this for their own works (just please, don't use the 'Selkies under starlight' same story name unless it's actually a fanfic/fanart of my 'hopefully soon has a chapter/one shot up' fic/Ao3 series of the same name so people don't get confused), and I would love to chatter with you about any thoughts/questions you might have so...

Wishing you a good day =D

(sighes in relief finally getting this post finished after literal months. Pheeeeww~)

[acute-crashout-jeyuso]

Ry’s Blurbs!

Prompt: an anon gave me a shit ton of prompts but there was one that stuck out about Rhea’s pets! This is Prompts 1 of 3 that I’m gonna do for that list

Jey/Rhea/Solo - Rhea for a Day

It started as a good idea.

Jey and Solo had big plans for Rhea’s birthday.

“Let’s give her a break, Uce,” Jey had said confidently the night before. “We’ll do everything she does for a day, and she can just relax.”

Solo, being the ride-or-die that he was, had nodded and grunted in agreement. “Yeah. We got this.”

They did not have this.

At all.

Task #1: Cleaning the House

It started with simple things. A little sweeping. Some light dusting. Nothing too complicated, right?

Wrong.

Five minutes into sweeping, Solo somehow broke the broom in half.

“How the hell you do that?!” Jey yelled, arms thrown up.

Solo held up the now two-piece broom, blinking. “I don’t know.”

“Dawg, it’s a broom!” Jey ran a hand down his face. “You sweeping or tryna fight it?!”

Solo shrugged. “Shit was weak anyway.”

That was when Jey somehow knocked over the entire shelf in the living room, sending framed pictures, candles, and a decorative skull Rhea loved crashing to the floor.

The boys stared at the disaster before them.

“Aight… maybe we should move to laundry,” Jey muttered.

Task #2: Laundry

“You think she sorts by color?”

Solo frowned, staring at the laundry baskets like they were a complex algebra equation. “I don’t know, Uce. She usually just asks me what t shirts I like and don’t like.”

Jey scratched his head. “Yeah, same… but Rhea’s, like… particular about her own stuff.”

“Then let’s just do it all at once,” Solo suggested.

This was mistake number one.

Mistake number two?

Not checking the settings.

Thirty minutes later, they opened the washer—

And pulled out a tiny, shrunken version of Rhea’s favorite hoodie.

Jey gasped. “Oh, fuckkkkkkkk.”

Solo held it up, eyes wide. “Ain’t no way this was adult-sized.”

“BRO, YOU JUST TURNED HER FAVORITE HOODIE INTO A DAMN BABY OUTFIT.”

Solo muttered something in Samoan that probably wasn’t appropriate as Jey grabbed the ruined hoodie and threw it into a special pile of failures.

They both agreed silently—they were never speaking of this again.

Task #3: The Dishes

How hard could dishes be?

The answer? Very.

Solo was in charge of loading the dishwasher. Jey was in charge of rinsing. Seemed simple.

Except Jey accidentally broke a plate five minutes in.

“Yo— my bad, Uce—”

“We good, we good—” Solo turned to help—

And immediately knocked over an entire stack of bowls.

CRASH.

Jey stared at him.

Solo stared at the mess.

“This ain’t going how I thought it would,” Jey admitted.

Solo just sighed and added the broken dishware to the failure pile.

Task #4: Yard Work

“I’M NOT BUILT FOR THIS, UCE!!”

Jey was sweating his ass off, struggling with the lawnmower. The damn thing wouldn’t start no matter how many times he yanked the cord.

Solo, meanwhile, was trying to use the weed whacker.

Trying being the keyword.

Because the second he turned it on, the string snapped off, and the machine died instantly.

“Damn, this thing weak as hell,” Solo grumbled, kicking it lightly.

Jey, still fighting with the lawnmower, finally gave up and threw his hands up. “Man, Rhea does this every week?!”

They both stood there, staring at the disaster of an uneven, half-cut, patchy lawn.

“We should just move on,” Solo said flatly.

Jey wiped his forehead. “Yeah. Next thing on the list?”

“Walking the dogs.”

⸻

Task #5: Walking Bella, Barry, and Luna (aka Pure Chaos)

Jey and Solo were confident about this one.

They loved the dogs. The dogs loved them. Easy.

They got the leashes ready, got the dogs outside, and started walking.

And for about five minutes—everything was fine.

Then.

Barry disappeared.

One minute the bull terrier was there, happily trotting along.

The next—gone.

Jey stopped mid-step. “Wait—where Barry go?!”

Solo turned around, eyes wide. “Shit—BARRY?!”

Panic.

Bella and Luna looked at them like “we told you not to do this.”

“Uce, we lost the dog!!” Jey whisper-yelled, already scanning the area.

“HOW WE LOSE A WHOLE DOG?!”

“I DON’T KNOW, MAN, JUST HELP ME FIND HIM!”

New Task: Find Barry

For an hour, they searched the entire neighborhood.

“BARRY!!”

“BARRYYYYY!”

Solo even tried bribing random strangers. “Yo, you seen a bull terrier? I got $20 on me.”

Jey was stressed out, pulling at his braids. “Man, Rhea gonna kill us, bro.”

“Nah,” Solo shook his head, looking deeply distressed. “She’s gonna kill you. I’m her favorite.”

Jey shot him a glare. “Bro, shut up and help me—”

“Fine, fine—”

But after another hour, no Barry.

They had to face Rhea.

Another New Task: Try Not To Get Dumped

Dragging their feet like two kids who just got sent to the principal’s office, Jey and Solo stepped onto the back patio—

And froze.

Barry was in the pool.

With Rhea.

Rhea, completely unbothered, lounged on a pool float, lazily tossing a toy into the water for Barry to fetch.

Jey and Solo stared.

Rhea turned her head, pulling off her sunglasses. “Took you two long enough.”

Jey’s eye twitched. “You knew where he was this whole time?!”

“Yeah.”

Solo blinked. “Why you ain’t tell us?”

Rhea smirked. “Because I knew you’d freak out. And it was hilarious.”

Jey dropped his head against Solo’s shoulder, exhausted.

“Happy birthday, Rhea,” he muttered dryly.

Rhea laughed. “C’mon, get in here, idiots.”*

Jey sighed. “You tryna drown me after the day I had?”

“Maybe.”

Solo was already pulling off his shirt, grinning. “Hell yeah, let’s go.”

Jey, shaking his head, muttered, “I hate this family.”

Then he jumped in anyway.

Because at the end of the day—this was home.

[hpowellsmith]

Honor Bound is in copyedit!

I’m delighted to let you know that I’ve sent the full draft of Honor Bound to my editor Abby!

Play Chapters 1-3 of Honor Bound here, and read all about the game here.

More about the testing and revision process, and wordcounts after beta testing, below:

Beta testing started in mid-August and since then I’ve added around 50,000 words to the game. Some of this was expanding things throughout the game, and most of it was expanding the epilogue sequence to include LOTS more detail about where the PC is living at the end, their career choices, who they’re living with if anyone, letters from friends and loved ones if they’re living in different places, and rundowns of what major characters are up to if the PC’s living in the same town/location as them but not living in the same house.

That whole section ended up incredibly branchy and complicated, but I’m really proud of it - I think it caps off the game nicely. Yesterday I played through several of the ending scenes and felt really good about them, which is a nice feeling to have.

Honor Bound is now going to copyedit, and it’s looking like the release should be somewhere in early December, depending how long the copyediting takes. Copyediting is certainly a big job, because right now the game stats are:

Total wordcount: 592898 words Average playthrough: 98553 words

So each playthrough sees about 16% of what’s there, which means a ton of variety from playthrough to playthrough… and there’s a huge amount there to see even on one playthrough.

I’m incredibly grateful to all the testers from start to finish and everyone who has cheerled, supported, and given feedback that’s helped get this game into shape. I massively appreciate everyone here who subscribed which gave me a real helping hand, and who gave feedback on early versions of the drafts.

I’ve learned a huge amount from making this project, and have stretched out of my comfort zone in a variety of ways. It’s interesting seeing what writing-process-mistakes I didn’t do because of learning from Royal Affairs, and where I committed whole new coding crimes. (Next project, I am going to go easier on the nested *gosubs so it’s easier to troubleshoot and read. I am sure I will do something else that makes the code horrid to read.)

It’s the largest and most ambitious of my CoG games, and I’m proud of how the plot’s paced and pulls together. I’m incredibly fond of the characters - even if I put them through horrible things. It was so different writing characters who were older and more mature in various ways than the teenagers in Creme and Royal Affairs (and the young adults in Noblesse Oblige, who are all going through… a lot), but still with plenty of flaws, foibles, and hangups. I was delighted when characters surprised me, as well as when I could feel “oh, this is classic [character]” and their dialogue came naturally. There are some personality nuances that I’m not sure anyone will end up noticing, but felt lovely to put in because I had such a strong sense of who the characters were.

I’m also really pleased with how much I’ve personalised the PC’s dialogue and internal voice. When the PC speaks in the text (and often in the dialogue options), their tone and vibe is almost always informed by how their personality has been expressed by the player, which works with the choices the player’s making to make the PC feel their own. I really wanted to make the PC feel like an adult who’s gone through Some Major Stuff and is in a position of figuring out their principles and purpose because of it: there are a ton of different ways in which they can respond to what’s happened to them and to what happens throughout the game.

I’ve really loved exploring a new part of the Creme de la Creme setting and show such a different culture to Westerlin. I hope you all enjoy Honor Bound once it’s out!

(and… please wishlist on Steam if you haven’t already - it really helps!)

[yuurivoice]

Maybe kind of a basic question, but In what ways are writing a novel and writing for your audio rps/dramas different? In what ways are they similar? Also, congratulations on starting your novel!

The immediate wall I hit while approaching those first paragraphs was the pressure I put on myself to write "correctly". It's not so much the dialog, the story beats, structure, etc. which apparently is what a lot of writers struggle with, but for me it's like......the rules of writing? Like basic 101 type shit. Formatting dialog and the associated rules and unique little bumps you come up against in structuring it had me pulling my hair out.

But I just accepted that it is gonna be a little messy and probably need someone who Does This Shit For Real to come through in the earliest edits and show me what I messed up.

And as it turns out, once I accepted it, it really wasn't that fucking big of a deal lmfao

I still am not a planner. I feel very insecure seeing all these authors on Tiktok who have immaculate planning, outlining, etc etc etc and what I had to do there was like...have a real talk with myself.

I have made a career out of my writing. That's not bullshit. That's not ego. That's literally what every single person who has set out on this path dreams of doing, and I did that shit. So maybe, just maybe, I need to worry less about somebody who hasn't accomplished shit has to say about their process, and take my OWN process a little more seriously.

I was talking to my mom about it, and I told her i came to a conclusion after my little sit down with myself. I will throw myself at this the same way I have done everything else and trust myself. One of two things will happen. I will either be humbled and have to refine my craft and learn the hard way. Or I will succeed.

The same exact results of any other thing ever. So maybe just shut up and do the damn thing and start going!

My process is basically the same, but with some specific guardrails and planning. I get to layer things a bit deeper, I'm thinking about inner and outer motivations wayyyyyy ahead of time, reasons for things happening that extend beyond the text so it feels natural and logical. I think about character arcs well ahead of time and have a vague vibe path in my mind rather than an entire outline.

It's similar to what I'm doing with Evalas. I am planning and creating under the assumption of success. When I was making BitterSweet, Shattered, Lost & Found......it was sorta like living week to week. I got some ideas but this shit could tank and I'll have to pivot away from it. But now I have the confidence to create with a bigger, broader, longer term plan because I have a proven track record of success.

I'm doing a lot of learning on the job, but I think being an outsider in terms of my approach and way of doing things is what works best for me. I'm not an avid reader. I am not educated. I am not sitting on a stack of notes and doing a ton of world building etc etc etc.

It was similar with the audio stuff. I didn't know there was a whole community, didn't know what GWA was, didn't know there was a whole slew of creators on YouTube, and so on.

So reminding myself that I'm that fucking guy and I should act accordingly has really helped me. I don't love showing that outwardly all the time because I'm sure it can look some type of way to folks, but people who know about the journey and the story understand that it's earned. And I've always tried to use that confidence to inspire others, instead of jerking myself off or flexing. I was literally at ground zero, and it was a genuine love of creating neat stuff that got me up outta there.

So I gotta focus on what I do that works, and what makes me and my efforts tick. Not what everyone else has done, or the "right" way, or whatever else. If the words get onto paper, and I maintain the same charm and cheek that YuuriVoice characters bring with them, then I've succeeded.

Thank you for joining me on the ride!

[popculturebuffet]

Kim Possible: So the Drama 20th Anniversary Review

Hello all you happy people! I'm.. so happy to finally get to cover this one. It's one I've wanted to for a while. I held off for a bit because I had it as a patreon stretch goal back when those existed, then when those went away with patreon's restructuring, I simply never found the room in the schedule.

This ended up working out wonderfully though as a few weeks ago marked the 20th anniversary of the film! Huzzah! I feel old! So it's the perfect time to revisit one of my faviorite disney films.

This isn't hyperbole: So the Drama is a wonderful film that perfeclty encapsulates everything that made it's parent show a classic: smart writing, relatable conflicts, stylish action and a stacked vocal cast at the top of their game. It's the peak of the mountain for a show that was already excellent while also being a great standalone. If you love the show, you'll love this. If you haven't heard of it it, it's a great intro.. while also being the intended series finale. Somehow it pulls it off.

For those less familiar with the show, Kim Possible is the story of or titular heroine, a mix of buffy and james bond, a superhero who armed only with exceptional martial arts and acrobatics skills and gadgets from her man in the chair wade fights all kinds of over the top super villians.. but struggling with day to day issues. It's a ballance a lot of shows struck, but one that works: Kim does the superhero stuff well, but struggles with the real world.

Serving as her perfect foil, Ron Stoppable is kim's best friend, sidekick and a teen who struggles everywhere, dosen't really care about his social status, and tends to panic in the high stress situations our heroes are in. Ron is a very shouty character, one who in the wrong hands could've been annoying.. but instead is just a relatable guy. Kim and Ron's dynamic reminds me of Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck, if far less toxic and more supportive; one is this uber ace who has personal issues but can do most of what they set out to do, the other's a more average joe constantly dragged into danger but is far more capable and dangerous than he comes off as. Kim keeps ron safe and gives him an only friend, Ron unconditionally supports kim, gives her advice and often helps her get out of her own head. Add in 80 tons of over the top but funly campy super villains and you have yourself a perfect show.

So the Drama is something Schooley and McCorckle had in their back pocket since season 1. They weren't sure the show was going to be a hit and it's understandable: this was the first disney show in a LONG time that was created just for the Disney Channel and didn't have one Saturday morning as an on ramp. There was no telling how well it would take off or the network would treat it. So they wrote the finale movie early just in case, likely to air as a three parter.

Instead.. the series was an unquestionable success. Kim Possible remains one of Disney's most loved, popular and well respected shows. As a kid of the time I loved it, as an adult now it STILL held up when I rewatched a bunch a few years back. It's smart, stylish and funny. It was an easy hit and effortlessly made it to Disney's cap of 65 episodes. So the film was saved for the actual end of the series at the end of a short third season instead and when aired was a massive hit with audiences, me included. It was such a hit.. fans wanted MORE and in the only time in Disney history.. disney actually listened, giving the series a startlingly rare fourth season to follow up So the Drama. So let's see just what makes this film such a great finale, entry point and film in it's own right and how Kim Possible was going to go out with a massive plot, a massive romantic moment... and er... some third thing.

The film's plot is excellent: Schooley and McCorckle pack every second of the films 71 minutes without feeling overstuffed. Every bit of the film either helps the plot along, helps with the character, or sets up something for later. Some setups are transparent: Kim's father James nearly erases a project he's working on with a voice command, and unsuprisingly does so on purpose later when Drakken comes to steal said project. Others are a bit more subtle: Ron's scooter barely running is a gag early on, but becomes a detriment when he has to escape drakken's little tiny robots later, then boomerangs back to relevance using some rockets Kim's twin brothers were tinkring with even earlier.

The film's save the world plot is the king of this: the setup is one we've seen before: Dr Drakken, kim's arch enemy and one of voice acting great John Dimaggio is trying to conquer the world somehow, starting with the attempted kidnaping the head of japanese toy giant Nakasumi Toys with the help of his snarky sidekick Shego, comedy and voice legend Nicole Sullivan in her best role.

Drakken was really.. the only choice for this. Kim does have a solid rogue's gallery: The delightfully smooth billionaire who stumbled into super villiany through pure power sucking callousness and decided to go all in for funsies Senior Senior, british martial arts master and monkey man Monkey Fist, deranged beanie baby collector and genetics master DNAmy, and one of my personal favorites no one talks about Frugal Lucre, a supervillain whose genuinely talented but also very budget conscious. Kim stacks up with Danny phantom as one of the few kid heroes at the time to really have a solid rogues gallery.

That said.. most of them went underused: the only two to get used a LOT were Drakken and Senior Senior Senior... and both for good reason. Their entertaining hams with interesting gimmicks: Drakken is a loveable buffoon who has hilarious banter with Shego , his cranky earnestness playing well off her not giving a fuck attitude and tendency to either poke holes in his schemes or marvel at how stupid they are or what costume he's found an excuse to wear as a result. They also make a perfect foil for our heroes with the dumbass male people look down on being the driving force of the duo, though like kim and ron sheego is the one everyone attributes any success to, and not without reason. The Senior's just have a good hook, with Senior Senior Senior being the rare billionaire who realized "Wait i'm a super villain".. and then instead of complaining about dei or some such bullshit decides "Fuck it let's ransom paris".

And while Senior rips... Drakken was the right call. At this point Kim's fought him 28 times, Sheego 30. If this was going to be her last adventure, it had to be Drakken. He started the series both in the first aired episode and the first episode produced, he's the one to end it.

It also makes him being a threat this time.. that much more of a shocker. Again she's beaten him 28 times. A little under half the series is Kim kicking this guy's ass with the real threat being his right hand woman's green glowing right hand. Also the left one.

What makes this plan work is something he's rarely deployed, something most hammy supervilians don't seem to do and fellow doofy mad scientist we love to see every episode Doctor Doofinschmritz has never quite mastered: He dosen't make his plan as obvious. This big operatic scheme BEGINS the same way as usual, do some kidnapping, steal some shit.. but he has steps other than ???? and profit. While he nearly fails in kidnapping Nakasumi San it's not obvious WHY he was doing it. Kim correctly pegs SOMETHING is off about this, that it wasn't for nothing.. but can't figure out what and reluctantly slides it off due to a combo of having her personal issues crop up, and Drakken not exactly being a man known for subtlety. He's bright blue, his sidekick is pale with green energy and his plans have included: using japanese technology to build a giant robot, trying to destroy wisconson from inside a giant cheese wheel, using killer fembots to abduct his old college friends/enemies, attacking canada with a weather machine, mind controlling a retirement community in florida, using a giant poodle to attack Area-51, manipulating DNAmy to make him a giant monster, trying to steal ron's millions he had for an episode his evil schemes, and using a rap career to sell brainwashing shampoo. Not all of his schemes are this deranged, half of the ones I was reminded of are pretty stock super villain stuff, but it makes the fact he just.. randomly decided to try and kidnap a toy designer and billionaire less random.

Yet every step of the plan.. is well thought out, threaded in a way that isn't at all obvious to the audience until the big reveal later in the plot. Early on he makes it clear he also has plans for Kim.. if in a most drakken way as he has his various fellow grown ass men henchmen researching teenage behaviors. And when one responds with made up slang I love his sad response of "We lost stevens".

He goes to info broker Big Daddy Brotherson, an a-class name, to get info in another wonderful set piece: this time it's an underwater lair a classic and while Ron get sucked into poker and thus the greatest monster of all

Kim goes undercover and Drakken.. gets thrown out a lot for pissing off his host and not listening to sheego. So normal thursday for everyone.

What he wants is the location of some nanotech, something he used before in the first aired episode. I like the little callbacks here and there, that this plan seems like a greatest hits... because it entirely is. Yet it's Drakken using that idea WELL, taking bits from his other schemes and past adventures and stitching them into a plan that actually works.

And as an added bonus the scientist he's stealing from, as I mentioned earlier, is Kim's dad james played by Voice Acting Legend, Attorney at law, former mayor of crystal cover, and general god Gary Cole. I cannot hype this man up enough. James is a rocket scientist and his wife Ann played by the equally legendary Jean Smart of Hacks and Designing Women fame, is a brain surgeon. The two are mostly there to just casually talk about their highly demanding jobs and delightfully shrug off their daughter's globetrotting.

It's endlessly refreshing that for once in a superhero show there's no sneaking around and the parents are just.. kind and supportive. They call kim on her shit on the times she does stupid shit like any teens, but they trust her, support her and in James case, will launch a boy into a black hole if they hurt her. There's no having to hide her double life or even if she dosen't have said parents put endless pressure on her or deny her existence as a teenage girl entirely. Their just.. there for her and a delight.

The two know each other because they went to college together. The episode Attack of the Killer Bebe's revealed that Drakken, then Drew Lipsky, was friends with James but they fell out after Drakken tried to use a bunch of sex robots for their dates for a dance and got laughed at for weeks for it. As they should. It was not a smart move. Still he swore revenge. And if I had a nickle for every time a nerd from college sought revenge on his old friends with fembots in an elaborate scheme i'd have two. Which isn't a lot but it's weird this happened twice.

The Venture Bros, another one of the 2000's best shows, used almost the exact same plot. Instead of Doctor Venture's arch enemy, who also went to college with him because they took the fantastic four reference of reed richards having gone to college with dr doom (A real thing and not even the only time that joke's been made in a show i've reviewed. Danny Phantom also did this. ) , and ran with it, it was Mike Soriyama, their shier roommate with a hopeless crush on his classmate Leslie who blamed them all for humiliating him for loosing his chance.. instead missing the point they all REALLY sucked in college. And still do now!

I love the whole interaction: James refuses to be scared despite being kindapped.. because he knows his daughter will save him. He deletes his files using the voice command and even when threatned with a brain draining, does not give Drakken any itoa of satisfaction, just smugness and calling him by his real name which bothers him. He gets the info Drakken wanted sucked out, which seems to be temporary as he gets it back later but makes sense: his brain was messed with and a day or two would restore the info, but likely not the actual encounter. He dosne't loose the hephistus project entirely but dosen't remember the whole deal that happened.

And with all this build up.. Shego STILL can't figure it out. This leads to my faviorite scene of the film, and there's some hot competition. Sheego is upset she can't despite trying and goes to force the plan out of Drakken.. and he dosen't budge. She threatens him, snarks at him, the things that usually work or rattle him.. but he's fine. And then he explains why: Kim possible isn't smarter than Sheego.. so if Sheego can't figure it out.. KIM can't figure it out. Drakken wasn't not telling sheego for his normal reasons of being a bit of a dipshit.. but to make damn sure Kim hadn't connected the dots. And probably the smug satisfaction of getting one over on her. I mean he's still Drakken, though props for not gloating to her more than that. You'd think he'd rub it in more but he's just satisfied she has faith in him for the first time ever.

That smugness is justified as the plan is brilliant.. but before we can get to it.. .we have to get to the OTHER half of the plot. This is normal for Kim Possible: Kim, Ron or both typically have a normal mundane thing to deal with: Detention, dating, a ski trip, that sorta thing and then the spy mission plays off that in some way or is effected by our heroes issues that week. Ron getting a manager job means he can't help kim on missions, Ron's attempts to impress his crush get him trapped in a video game, Ron's accountant dad ends up in a mind battle with a math based super villian, you get the fomula.

This is tricky to thread as it takes some effort to amp up a usual plot into movie length.. but it can and has been done wonderfully: The Simpsons Movie takes homer being a callous jerkass and putting his marriage and the town in danger through his stupidity and simply amps it up to "his callousness gets the town domed off and Marge leaves him because he wont' save live". The Bobs Burgers movie simply gives them a BIGGER money woes plot, with a giant hole, an impending loan and their landlord facing a murder charge. Big City Greens takes the usual "Cricket gets into a shenanigan and quarrels with his dad" plots that were in a lot of the earlier episodes and sends it literally into space.

Kim possible does the same and did it before all of these. The supervillian action is bigger, world threatning and multi layered and the teen drama is likewise big, unique for the series and impactful: Kim gets a boyfriend.. and Ron has to face the fact he has feelings for her.

Kim and Ron are unique. Having a will they or won't they with the main characters isn't and was in fact the faviorite trend for action shows. Avatar the Last Airbender, Danny Phantom, American Dragon all had this too and shows after like Star Vs and Miraculous Ladybug would try.

The thing is aside from Amdrag none of these examples are.. good. It is hard to thread a will they or wont' they like this and save it for the last episode and not piss people off. I know, the constant teases from the nick advertising department and osmetims in episdoe for Kataang were like living in a living nightmare. Ditty for Danny and Sam.

In contrast Kim Possible was more subtle with it: There were hints their might be something more than friends there but the show didn't overly push it: they teased it once or twice, had her be jealous of one of his love intrests, refrenced the spider-man kiss.. they poked at it, they knew fans REALLY wanted it but they also let it flow naturally. The two feel like real friends who are honest with each other, with Kim embarassed at Ron's antics at times, but are there for each other. Any time ron's given the choice between some new hobby or kim, he picks her, without her forcing him to or any such nonsense. He's unflinchingly loyal and , this is important.. he dosen't expect shit. He's not her friend to try and date her, he's not doing shit because she'll go out with him if he just waits like far too many works did in a way that poisoned my young brain. When offered the idea when she was under the influence of a device that affected her mood, he turns her down not because he's not intrested.. but because he values their friendship more. BUT THE FRIENDSHIP is used a LOT in these kinds of situations and kim plays it.. like reality. Relationships CAN be messy and if it goes bad you may loose something. Both parties, or all three in some cases, have to be sure this is worth it.

In most media though I find myself thinking back to some words of wisdom from an old friend

That's the problem: It's clear their at a breaking point and it's either obvious to everyone but the party being pined over, or they simply won't just.. talk it out. I get teens, what this is primarily used with, aren't exactly rational a lot of the time but come the fuck on.

Kim and Ron pulled off waiting for the finale to have them catch feelings.. because we have three seasons that, while caked with hints there was more under there and Ron was aware of it but scared of it, a genuine, beautiful friendship. Two people who may joke, Kim makes a lot of snarky asides, but genuinely love each other and will defend each other every time. Their friendship isn't an alternative to a relationship but something important a relationship could mess with if it didn't go right. Even if this had ended with season 1.. you could see just how much these two need each other and why they'd be in denial: the alternative is messy, sweet and possibly would leave them both without the one person whose been there for them since pre-k.

The two finally start down this path for a simple reason: Bonnie Rockwaller

Bonnie, played by Kirsten Storms of Days of Our Lives and General Hospital, is Kim's cheer teammate and school nemisis, a rich girl who feels entitled to Kim's spot on the cheer team, tries to paint Kim saving the world as some weird hobby, and seems to just.. resent the fact Ron exists let alone is often around the cheer team as Kim's friend and the team's mascot.

Kim dosen't take her shit though and that's what makes things work with them: Bonnie TRIES to rattle kim, steal her spot as captain various other shit.. but it generally fails horribly. When it works.. it's because she happened to tap into Kim's insecurities and in those cases Kim's own anxiety and self conciousness does the real work. It's a realistic example of bullying: needling like that often got to me simply because I'm that anxious and self loathing, while with Kim it takes ab it more effort and with Ron it rarely actually lands. Ron has enough self confidence to not give a shit most of the time.

This time though.. it does work but realistically. Bonnie for once has something Kim dosen't: a boyfriend. As does the rest of the team. And while Bonnie's relationship with Brick Flag, played by former bad sad boy and once and future tom Rider Strong, isn't exactly strong, it's on and off again to an extreme degree and the nice as heck brick is not at all a fit for her, it's A relationship. As someone whose badly craved a relationship in the past, and part of me still REALLY does, I get that lonliness, this idea that everyone else is ahead of you and your so far behind simply because your single.

It also works.. because it's something the series has been consitent with: Kim did have a longterm crush on the most 2000's cardboard cutout to ever exist Josh Mankey, who appeared twice a season in the first two, but had no real relvence. My young brain was tricked into thinking he was more important than he actually was. Ron had two love intrests, Zita, a gamer girl at their school, and Yori his classmate at the secret ninja school he attended once. He was also hit on by Tara, one of the cheerleaders. What i'm saying is Kim didn't date much and Ron had more game than he knew what to actually do with.

Kim blames her saving the world on that, saying it intimidates them... but her true enemy isn't the male ego, it's... herself. Kim has a lot of anxiety, and her biggest enemy in her day to day plots is getting in her head, either stubbornly doubling down on an idea and ignoring what's in front of her, or letting her fear consume her like the gaping maw that it is. Can relate. She gets in her own head often, and this is the perfect kinda dillema for that. Her other best friend Monique, played by Raven Simone, points out Bonnie is full of shit.. but Kim is still understandably mopey about being single and taking a seemingly platonic date to prom. Ron by contrast isn't bothered with the idea of being her silver medal at all. Bonnie simply hit just the right nerve.

So enter Eric, the seemingly perfect boy. He's played by phil phil phil of the future actor Eric Ulman, a smooth talker whose new in school and pisses ron off by taking his parking spot.. then politely lets him has it and they become buddies. Eric quickly finds kim "extreme steam"

But says it in a way that implies things that gets Ron honked off at him disrespecting her.

It dosen't taken long for Eric to impress kim with his charm, his looks and er....

Yeah Eric gets a lot of mileage out of the fact he "just happened" to show up right as Kim was badly wanting a boyfriend and is nice enough. We learn nothing about him but he has enough charisma and that kind of generic handsome that most obstacles to the main couple have to buy it. He showed up at the right place and the right time and Kim's just happy.

Ron isn't. He's mopey the whole relationship, not getting at first that he's jealous of eric, and not liking that eric shows up everywhere he and kim happen to be. The latter as fair as his near magical ability to show up just at the right time to interupt kim and ron is hilarous as it is creepy as given the later reveal, he's probably stalking her.

It's not helped that Ron and Kim spend ALL their time together. Ron has other friends but Felix didn't exist when this film was written and Rufus his naked mole rat can do MANY things.. but he can't reallly hang out without the health department getting called. Ron dosen't really have a life if Kim's not around and he instead mopes: Eric is EVERYWHERE and he can't escape her being pushed in his face.

Not helping is that his one safe refuge is changing. In a year where several stores i've seen for years are shutting down, can relate. Ron frequents the Bueno Nacho, their easy taco bell stand in that got me hooked on the restraint at an early age. I still use their nacho cheese to make nacos, so good. But the naco being discontinued, deals being canceled and kids meals are all rattling the poor guy. The only place he has is changing, no one but kim signs his petttion.. he's spinning out.

Ron can be a bit of a dipshit in this part, just moping around kim and her boyfriend or freaking out.. but you get it. He dosen't have much in his life: supportive parents, a sweet naked mole rat, a barely functioning moped.. he lost both his best friend and his faviorite restraunt in days. He can't even go for pizza at her house without eric being thrown in his face and it's clear he just DOES NOT want to face the why.

Now this could still be bad.. Ron being a tad pissy still isn't the best look and had it JUST been there, the work would've been bad. But for one.. Kim notices and gently calls him on it: i'ts layered: he is being passive agressive.. but he has not much else and you can tell from the performance, especailly when Kim talks to him about it in his old treehouse, that he's starting to accept WHY he's so nettled by this: He loves kim, but isn't so much of an asshole he tries to ruin their relationship.

What cements this is his talk with Rufus when prom night hits. Rufus is the voice of reason when Kim can't be and urges ron to stop fucking ignoring this and hoping it goes away. But Ron reveals he has VERY valid reasons for not going for it. This fucking hurts and he has finally realized he has feelings for kim.. but knows having her choose between him and Eric is risky: If she likes Eric more... it might destroy their friendship. Confessing is weighted as hell and risky and unlike most examples where your friendship's already ready to pop here Kim's ignoring ron's mostly just been.. because she's happy. She does try to work it out and talk it over with him in the treehouse and he does the same. She cares and once the honeymoon phase was over they'd probably still hang out more, he'd just have to accept eric was around and he'd lost his chance. But loosing her entirely, loosing that friendship, hurting her and himself like that... he can't. Ron isn't not telling her because of THE PLOTTTTTT or contrivance... he'd rather have Kim in his life and have his heart hurt for a while than risk having her not in his life at all. It's what makes us root for him besides being a main character and not having Kim microchipped so he knows where she is at all times: Ron wants what's best for her. If eric makes her happy, then he's fine with stepping aside. Despite his histornics when it comes down to it.. he chooses her happiness over his and in this case.. it's the right move.

He chooses instead to drown his sorrows in nacho cheese, can relate while Ned , the manager at the Buneo Nacho played by Eddie Dezen and Ron's contact there and former boss, TRIES to warn Ron something evil's going on: a new manager has been hired played by Diedrich bader whose bald and evil. Ron being ron dosen't notice ned wrote evil in taco sauce on his tray.. but does notice the bendy straws are gone and when new manager man is too baffled to respond Ron calls the home office.. and gets DRAKKEN.

I LOOOOVVVEEE this twist. I mean first off we get Drakken in a costume always a good time in this case a texas style patterened blue and white shirt that looks awesome. The second.. is how everything clicks together. We'd gotten a hint at this earlier as Nakasumi's design drakken stole was being distrubited in kids meals at bueno nacho in japan, the hot new toy el diablo.. which are naturally also robots. Stan sicks them on Ron.. and EVERYTHING clicks perfectly into place. It's why I had to cover both parts seperatley: besides being easy.. both parts come together beauitfully for this final act.

The plot itself is awesome and fittingly big in scope: Drakken bought out Bueno Nacho because it's a global franchise, something established in season 2 but likely in the back of the writers mind from this. He stole the el diablo deisgn to make it something kids would want, the hottest new thing and he added kiddie meals to distribute. The hephestus project was stolen so he could make the el diablos robots that could function in smaller mode.. then use the nanotech to grow into larger forms and take over the world. At Midnight, because of course it's midnight, all the El Diablos and superhuman crew will gather up anyone who knows more than they do.. and you know world domination.

The El Diablos are tough little bastards and Ron barely evades them.. then just as he runs into the Prom in a panic looking for help they vanish and Eric tries to play it off as him being delusional.. but in a show of pure faith.. Kim belivies him. That and with the body swaps, nanite zit bombs, ron being turned evil once, drakken trying to murder wisconsion with a wheel of cheese, the martial arts master they fight reguarly who had a genitist give him money hands, said genticist giving herself gorilla hands to stalk him, rufus getting into a kaiju battle with a poodle, a man trying to destroy the internet with a coupon, and Drakken's rap career they've seen weirder.

And this is the first time Drakken buckles a bit.. not incredibly but seeing Kim and ron on the way to figure out his plan, going to James for help, does rattle him.. but he rallies. Every other bot activates at midnight. Middleton goes live NOW. And what makes this even better is... he knows Kim will likely beat him. He's aware this will only stall her.. and he's banking on it, already having Shego go pick up his contingency plan: Eric

So Kim regroups at home with the help of Wade, or as much as he can and her dad, who points out this is his project and the robots require transmitters... the OTHER reason for the bueno nachos. Our heroes go to wreck middletons, helped by Jim and Tim beefling up kim's scooter and we get a hell of an action sequence as Kim uses the grande sized diablo after them .. to destroy the transmitter.

Naturally this goes how you think it would next: Drakken calls into Wade so he can tell Kim "I"ve got your boyfriend neener neener". Which is a nice use of his usual jackassery: Normally him doing that would be the end of his plans, with Kim easily thwarting him.. but once again... he's COUNTING on her reactions. She's used to his obvious traps.. but he has a far less obvious one. To her and Ron anyway, to the audience they've probably started to piece it together and to a lot of you you've seen this so you know what's coming

But first.. Kim has to get suited up, and instead of her iconic crop top and cargo pants, she has something special for the occasion: the battle suit. The battle suit is cool as hell and despite only showing up for the climax, was used in the promotions: for the posters, the dvd cover everything and given it's this cool looking futuristic new suit that amps up kim's strength and agility and allows her to throw energy blasts back with a handball.. thing. It's the ultimate evolution of wades tech. It's also as usual for this type of thing only a prototype and not ready and yadda yadda, this doesen't come into play, it works fine.

It allows kim to not only fight Shego even better than usual, not having to worry about countering her hands as much, but easily tear through the mooks. Eric then shows up still in his tux, and Kim let's her guard down... and when she says his name "Actually here i'm known as Synthrodrone 901"

And then he shocks her.

Yes Eric was a synthodrone.

Drakken's robot minions that have shown up once or twice.. basically a robot that's a bag of goo.

Yup Eric.. was a plant this whole damn time, designed to distract Kim so she wouldn't put the pieces together. What's more on this watch, paying closer attention to Eric's behavior pre-reveal.. EVERY action is calculated. He introduces himself by taking Ron's spot, giving him an easy in so he dosen't have to just come up and hit on kim, he shows up everywhere likely because whatever research Drakken's minons did on her meant they could predict her movements and he slowly shoves ron out without being openly obnoxious because it's been shown often that Kim is less effective without Ron. Any time he's gone from the team throws her off. This isn't something I think Drakken ever fully noticed, but it's something his researchers likely gathered or Eric started to notice on his own and took advantage of. And while Drakken likely didn't know about the kim ron stuff going in, Eric definitely picked up on it and drove the wedge every chance he had: it's not a coincidence he tended to show up any time the two were alone that wasn't a mission. While Drakken's research started the plan it's clear he programmed Eric well enough to do the rest.

It's all well pulled off: Having the love interest backstab the main character is hard to pull off, especially in this case. but Kim's insecurity was well established, is throughly human and the techniques Eric uses are all gaslighting 101. What makes eric a threat is the realism: not everyone has a mad scientist arch enemy who would do vast research on you to create a perfect boy robot to seduce you and throw you off his trail. But just about anyone can be manipulated and taken advnatage of by someone they loved. It makes it painful as hell.

Drakken rubs it in a little but leaves kim and Ron in the basement. And.. he's almost won as Kim's utterly broken by this and you understand it: She lost at the thing sh'es good at, saving the world, and got gas lit by a weird android man, seemingly confirming every fear she had about herself. When the truth is like any situation like this.. it's all on Eric and the creepy middle aged man what made him. I get why Kim beats herself up.. because I beat myself up, we all do. It's what having anxiety is like.

Thankfully Ron is there.. and gives us one of the best confessions in the history of animation

 "All right, KP, this pity fiesta is over. Drakken has not won, he played you. Now it's payback time. And, y'know, there are guys out there that are better for you than Eric. Guys that are real for one thing." "You really think there's a guy out there for me?" "Out there.. in here"

Ron confesses.. but he dosen't do it for him. He takes the risk.. because Kim needs it. Because she's at her lowest and needs to know someone loves her. Even if things were weird after... her happiness was what was important. It's why he didn't try to compete with eric.. and when now he's broken Kim's heart.. he's there. It could've sooooo easily come off like ron was trying to pick her up on the rebound.. but it misses it entirely. Ron simply wants Kim to know she's loved: that's it. He expects nothing. Dosen't try to pick it up after the world's safe. Just tells her he loves her so she knows she's loved at the moment she badly needs to hear it. And her response is a suprised.. but delighted really. Rufus needs to cut in to free them because you know, end of the world and such, but it's nice how this big dramatic moment... is just happy. Ron is nervous as hell when telling her, understandably given what he's risking for both of them, but Kim just seems genuinely elated.

I don't think Kim really THOUGHT about ron in that way. It's a huge step up from the usual "THEY DON'T KNOW EVEN WHEN THEIR TRYING TO PRACTICE KISS A MANEQUIN OF THEM " level of obliviousness I have had to deal with my whole damn life. Granted I didn't have such a specific example till Miraculous Ladybug, but I digress. Kim likely used the whole "he's a nerdddddd" thing to put up a wall between that. Ron was a tad more self aware as there had been several episodes where he was a bit too specific in denying them as a couple, but not so much that he genuinely considered it till now. Kim didn't realize the spark was there while Ron recognized it on some level but had no intention of lightning that fucker up.

Once they actually confront those feelings... it's easy. It's what makes this so sweet. There's no big operatic reaction, Ron just nervously admits what's been there all along, Kim is shocked for a second and then realizes "... wow that feels.. right. "

But before it can feel right in this motherfucker, feel good in this motherfucker, they have to turn this motherfucker. Kim gives one of her best lines in the entire series when storming in on Drakken who true to form is bragging about catfishing a teenage girl with a robot he had stalk her

"Your right Drakken, boys, dating. IT's hard. But this is easy!"

Then she kicks him across the fucking room and the final fight begins. It's a tense well done battle.. and a triumphant one with Kim taking on Shego as usual and Ron vs Eric.. which dosen't go quite well as what martial arts skills ron has are tied up in his weird subplot about mystical monkey power, but we still get some great action. Eric seals his fate by mocking rufus.. and when it seems all is lost... Ron just sits back and smirks. "Little dude holds a grudge".. and then rufus fucking bites out eric's non existant tendon and reduces him to a puddle of goo while he shrivels away.

Props for them both going that hard and giving me my night terrors for the next few weeks.

Not to be outdone Kim then SUPERKICKS Sheego into the transmission tower Drakken was using so hard the fucker collapses and Disney had to insert a scene of Shego in a paddywagon after this scene because Kim just.. straight up murdered her otherwise while Smirking triumphantly

Ron is less horrifying than his teammates but still confronts Drakken, whose baffled Ron is upset that ruining Bueno Nacho pissed him off this bad. And when Drakken still can't say his name Ron forces him to.. and FINALLY gets it. Boo Yah.

So the villians are arrested and somehow Shego lived so we're good there. With that Kim says there's still time... Ron wonders "For what" and she happily drags him off.

As it turns out there's time for the Prom, which is still going at 1am but presumably Barkin was distracted by all the giant robot attacks and forgot to shut it down. Barkin, Kim and Ron's only teacher and local grumpus played by the incomparable Patrick Warburton... is weirdly not in this film and is the only major supporting character to not show up, but I assume Barkin's there in spirit because the school has no other teachers or staff.

So Kim and ron show up... hand in hand

Bonnie on the other hand thinks it's hilarious and tries to mock them.. only for everyone present to cheer like Rodney Dangerfield just told them we're all getting laid. As they should. It's a nice moment and while you could say "Wow that escalated quickly" it fits. Once the two accepted they had feelings for each other... it was again, easy. There's no risk, only reward. The enemy of this couple getting together.. was their self doubt, Kim's in carring way too much about what Bonnie thinks, and Ron in worrying abotu ruining things. I mean he was right on not making her pick between him or eric, that's a LOT to ask and he didn't know Eric was a creep, a weirdo and did not belong here, but them as a couple works for the same reason they worked as friends: they support each other. They dont' do it blindly, but their there: WHen Ron was having his treehouse mope sesh, Kim made time to talk things out and make him act lik ean adult, while Ron snapped kim out of her darkest hour by reminding her A) so Drakken got one over on you, go kick his ass and B) she's not alone and she never has been. IT's why fans wanted this and why I still hold this up as the golden standard of friends to lovers. It was inevitable like most of those... but it wasn't because they were a guy and girl who were friends. It wasn't because the show kept saying it until the audience either believed it or just tolerated it so they could get on with their lives. It was because the two had genuine chemistry, love one another, and something already fantastic they had naturally grew into something else fantastic. As Christy Carlson Romano's excellent song could it be plays, the two dance, kiss.. and enjoy this moment.

The show went on after this largely because fans demanded it once they realized it was ending just at the good part. The only part of this I really don't like is the INTENTION was to end it there, but I get it. It's how things were done and Disney likely feared such a big change because they hate continuity as it means you can't just.. air episodes however the fuck you want.

Thankfully disney DID listen to the fans... and likely their wallets but hey, whatever got us another season. And season 4 first plays with the idea of what most series would do at the time, with a nightmare of kim's face melting.. only for Ron to call Kim and for us to find out it's been months, this is just an anxiety dream he has, their still together. The show even keeps most of the big changes as a result of the movie. With Prom over Kim and Ron are now seniors and the idea of their futures plays into the season here and there. Drakken remains in prison for several episodes while multiple villians break out sheego to be their sidekick now. There's a bit more continuity than usual, and more I could get into best saved for another day if there's demand for it and another finale I admitely didn't like nearly as much, but is still solid enough. We got more after happily ever after na dit was great. Also they broke the battle suit the first episode back and didn't bring it back till the finale, suprising no one.

So it wasn't as obvious as I could make it, I love this movie. Reviewing it this rewatch only made me love it MORE, spotting more details and just how tightly packed this flim is: every moment has purpose, every bit of the plot stacks up, and it rewards a rewatch with bits of foreshadowing and setups for later. It hooks up a couple fans wanted, gives Kim possible a movie sized plot on a tv sized budget and still looks amazing. If you haven't seen Kim Possible the film stands WELL on it's own. It fills in the dynamics, catches up the audience and works well as an action movie with a slice of romance. It honestly does romance better than most action films. It's not shoved in there, like the Fall Guy it's just as important as the punching and twists.

If you can check out this movie, it's on Disney +, it's excellent and it's well worth your time both as an extension of the series, and as a film. Go watch it, happy prom, and thanks for reading.

[reflectionkittendebitcard]

"Oooo, this new dress I got would work perfectly for the occasion. I've been wanting to bring them back in style. ♡ Of course, I could pull off anything, but I'm tired of the jean accessories that have been going around. I might need to get a bigger closet to fit all the different styles... Here, you have to match! I know that humans are doing this thing called polyester. I'm not very fond of it. No fashion to it—it was only created to cut costs! Honestly, Satan must be eating a ton of rage with all these ideas he keeps feeding the humans. Oh no, I just realized that this shade of pink has too much yellow in it to go with the dress. That's a bummer. In my mind, the tones matched. It could be that I was thinking about the necklace's appearance while I was at that party. The lighting was different. I don't even have my room fully lit other than when I'm analyzing colors. Creatures like me prefer the dark, you know? You were born in a desert area, right? Somewhere near there? Don't they have scorpion in the Center West? Hm, actually, Center West doesn't sound right. Where was Israel located again? They didn't have all these new names and labels back when the Sumerians were around. I can't believe people are still fighting over the land, and the reasons always change too. Humans are an awfully chaotic bunch. They should just kill everyone who disagrees with them to establish their authority. ♡ It always works for me. I suppose I shouldn't keep the sentiment considering that Lord Diavolo wants more peace to be in the Devildom. I'm unsure the extent of peace though. It seems more "being respectful of different realms and their customs" than "changing how our realm does stuff internally" in terms of the entire affair. Many mumblers were fussing about how people would see the Devildom as soft. Ahahahahaha, they're fools. We're demons. Our trickery and maliciousness go hand in hand. If anything, a mask of peace disarms. I haven't seen any declarations cutting down on cannibalism or demon slaughter, so I'm content with the changes. What I'm not content with is how uninclusive fashion has been as of late! I think I'll set the jewelry aside. I'm not getting anything done at this rate. It's a pity you never want to dress up; I could pull anything out for you. I have plenty of outfits that would look good on you, even if you want to cover your pact marks. It's charming how they avoid you like the plague. What do you think, the green base or the blue base? Both of them compliment. I can tell by how you're squinting that you think neither. Good observation. I wouldn't want to be caught dead wearing the blue. It was in style four trends ago. And the green was obnoxious while it was in style because some demons just don't know when to acknowledge when something doesn't suit them. I'll just start with the dress and add the other things as they come! A good center to focus on can always trick my brain into working productively. You once told me you do something like that when it comes to your spell work. Something about humans and… I forgot. Must not be that important if I wasn't listening. Immortals can't forget that easily after all-"

Asmo speaks a mile a minute while going back and forth between jewelry case and closet. He knows the sorcerer is probably only digesting half of what he is saying, but he can't help it. He misses having him around. Solomon has been busy with his own research on and off enough for some of his pacts to not even know what realm he was in. The only reason Asmo knew anything was because Barbatos would mention his contractor's state every now and then in conversation. Solomon was a hard person to ignore the existence of, even if you aren't tied to him by pact.

"What if you tried choosing your accessories then challenging yourself to find something that will match? It'll lower your options."

Asmo bounces—though he will deny bouncing and say he floated gracefully—over to the bed and drapes on it.

"Good idea for the man whose only fashion sense is looking magical, but I'm doing the opposite, actually. That was what I said in my fifty-third sentence.

Do you think I'm counting?

[jadejetts]

feel like i should finally post the few bits of music related to astrothrill i've made in the few years past. its been long enough that i feel comfortable in doing so :]

most of the stuff i did in this time was with LMMS, which, a bunch of vsts are a buggy mess in!! genny vst is what i primarily used (with the SEGAudio soundfont later on), along with spooky keys as a theremin- the former randomly putting sustain on a note even when the entire song is turned off, forcing you to restart the program and keep trying to export until it decides to work fine, and the latter's wibbly-wobbliness is just. gone in newer versions. songs with spooky keys made in older versions will keep their wibbly-wobbliness, but placing any new notes is a no go!! in learning all this, I don't recommend LMMS to anyone unless it's a last resort- unless things have changed since i last used it!!

this here is my oldest piece of my astrothrill stuff, circa 2021. i had an imagery of a scorched hill with a once-abandoned base sitting atop it,, with it's new resident of Sairen-X9. WAY too depressing in hindsight for the main style I wanted to go for.

i eventually re-arranged the melody into something a lot faster and action-oriented. the first half of this was done in a few weeks after, but the second half was done a couple years down the line into 2023 after being stuck for ages. a fair bit better to what i thought i wanted!! nowadays i still feel it's not "bright" enough, this still feels like something you'd hear in the later half of whatever AstroThrill's gonna end up being, rather than something that sets the overarching tone of fun cartoony sci-fi yknow?? this only says final because i'm done iterating on this particular version rather than me feeling like it's ready- ill get it there eventually :]

onto another song now! this one's just a snippet, didn't get too far- but i feel like what Is there is quite close to what i want!! i've always enjoyed marches with that rolling drum sound (looking at astro blaster's queue music) and i did want to try and pull something like that off eventually!! the inspiration that gave me the spark for this was one of the final bits of music in fortnite's collision event- specifically when you're shooting down a bunch of spikes right above the zero point (shoutouts to Phill Boucher [pronounced boo-shay] who's music is too good for that game)

and then i experimented with it again, probably going "what if i cut it down or something. jazz jig rhythm for no reason" and it just kinda. formed into This. i am SO shocked and happy with how this little jingle turned out- i wanted it to feel older than the rest of the stuff i had, like late-70s to mid 80s, and sustaining the notes gave it that little extra flair that feels Perfect. instrument-wise can still be improved by going for actual old synths and not SEGAudio but it's what i got and used ghsCXLKH

this last snippet here goes back to sairen's theme- i just had another jolt of inspiration of the beginning melody in this song during a particularly tense game of capture the flag(? maybe it was infection) in halo infinite ghscvklhcklv after making this it made it very clear that what comes really easy to me music-wise is dramatic stuff darker in tone than the music AstroThrill needs, but this is still probably my second favorite piece i've done right behind the gamma co. jingle from an "instrumentation completeness" standpoint

i haven't fiddled around with music for a while and i definitely gotta get back to it!! these here are some of my favorite pieces of art i've ever done, mostly because music is so utterly special to me. not that other forms of art aren't!! but music is like. insane. shoutouts to micheal giacchino, mike morasky, tee lopes, a TON of people who've worked with nintendo (jun ishikawa, hirokazu ando, megumi ohara, yuuta ogasawara, ryo nagamatsu, shiho fujii, and naoto kubo to name a few), tony grayson and john "joy" tay for being some of my absolute favorite musicians and gigantic inspirations to me not just music-wise but art-wise as a whole

[seeingivy]

Hi!! Can you do an angsty song fic for “hits different” with Gojo? Love the ts series !!❤️

hits different

satoru gojo x f!reader

**part of my satoru as taylor swift songs series

content: older brothers best friend!satoru, teenagers being dumb teenagers, drinking, satoru calls reader belle, reader spends a fuck ton of money on toji's credit card

an: HELLO SWEETIE PIE!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DA LOVE IM GLAD YOU'VE BEEN ENJOYING IT SO FAR. this ended up at a 9k so I hope you enjoy pookie

--

present day 

“Are you even listening to anything I’m saying?” he asks, his hands folded across his menu. 

You close your own menu, setting it neatly on top of the plates, as you look over at him - the look in his eyes downright murderous. Granted, sticking your nose in the menu while he was trying to talk to you for the past twenty minutes couldn’t have helped, but he should cut you some slack. You’re really hungry.   

It’s then and there that you see the look, that twitch in his right eye, and know exactly what’s going to happen. Toji Fushiguro, the accountant you’ve been dating for the last six months, is about to break up with you. 

“It’s like you aren’t even paying attention when I talk to you, when I’m trying to sit here and tell you how I’m feeling.” 

“Okay. So tell me how you’re feeling, Toji.” 

He flares his nostrils, exasperated by your response. You thought it was polite. But you’ve been told your tone is downright argumentative, like grating nails on a chalkboard. 

And then Toji lays out his final card, waiting for your broken expression. 

“I’m breaking up with you. You-you and me. We’re done.” 

No broken expression comes. Because you don’t let idiots like Toji think they have power over you, your feelings for even a second. 

“Okay. Well, I still came here to eat dinner so could you pass me the main menu?” 

You give him your best smile, sickly sweet, and it pushes him over the edge. 

“Are you fucking serious? You’re not going to say anything to that? Anything at all? I just broke up with your pathetic ass and you don’t even feel a bit sad about it?” 

You set the menu down again, crossing your wrists against your chest. 

“Do you want me to, Toji? Because I can if you want me to.” 

He gets even more frustrated, standing up at the table to yell his final words before he storms out. 

“Do you know what your problem is, Y/N?” 

“Please enlighten me. I’m dying to know.” 

“You-you’re shit to be around. Literally the most frustrating, agitating, irritating person I’ve ever met. You can’t ever take anything at face value - you just argue and argue because it’s the only thing you know how to do. True love could knock on your door and you’d send it running away with that cold, dark heart in your chest. Because you’re hard to love.” 

You clench your fists under the table, drawing blood against your palms. 

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t as agreeable as you wanted me to be. Surely the secretary you’ve been fucking for the last three months we were dating is a sweeter taste in your mouth than I am.” 

“Wait, what-” 

“If you’re going to fuck another girl while you’re dating me, make sure you don’t butt dial me while you’re doing it, sweetheart.” 

He furrows his brow, ears pink from what you’re sure is embarrassment as he storms off. You turn your head over your neck, lifting your hand to signal Nobara, Megumi, and Itadori to join you at the table. 

They all awkwardly take the empty seats at the table, Itadori immediately reaching for the free bread on the table and Megumi reaching for the bottle of wine. 

“You okay?” Megumi asks, a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“Toji has this really, really shit habit of leaving his stuff everywhere. His sunglasses, his keys, his wallet.” 

You hold the wallet in the air, Nobara immediately snatching it from your hands and pulling out his credit card. 

“No way.” she says, immediately running through the menu to find the most expensive thing to eat. 

“He’ll cancel it tomorrow. So, we should make the most of it tonight.” you say, the three of them smiling back at you. 

“You know, I’d feel half bad about this but he cheated on you for three months, so I really, really don’t.” Megumi says, ordering another bottle of wine. 

Itadori puts his hand on yours, squeezing once as he asks. 

“Are you sad about it?” 

“Not really.” 

“Oh, come on. She’s heartless. Ever since that idiot she dated from her hometown took her heart and went running with it, she’s been cold ever since.” Kugisaki says, spreading the leftover butter on the bread she just stole from Itadori. 

“Exactly.” you say, smiling at the three of them. 

You tilt the rest of your wine into the back of your throat, the sensation burning as you push it down. 

You hate that after all these years, even the mention of him makes your head spin. 

Satoru. 

--

two years ago 

“Go fuck yourself, Y/N.” 

“Real clever, Getou. You really got me there.” 

Getou immediately knocks you off your chair and starts wrestling with you on the ground - the two of you yanking each other’s arms and pulling each other's legs. 

“Cut your hair, Getou. You look like a hillbilly with that uglyass manbun.” 

“Check your attitude, Y/N. You’re getting bitchier as time goes on.” 

You immediately reach up and grab a fistful of his hair, yanking hard as he elbows you in the eye. And you’re about to punch him straight in the stomach before you feel two arms around your waist, the hold firm, as you fight off the hold. 

“That’s enough from you two, alright?” Satoru says, his voice in your ear sending a shiver down your spine. 

“It’s not enough, Satoru. I need to give him a piece of my mind.” 

“You’re going to give him a piece of your mind with your fist, princess?” 

He finally lets you go, Shoko mimicking his actions as she lets Getou go on the other side of the kitchen. You’re both glaring bloody murder at each other, the stupid look on his ugly face only enraging you more. 

“Quit calling me princess, it’s stupid.” you murmur, lifting your hands up to fix the mess Getou made of your hair. 

“Cmon, Belle. Don’t be like that.” 

You cringe at the nickname, even worse than princess, as the memory comes straight to your mind. Third grade. Halloween Eve. 

You were going to be Cinderella for Halloween - all set with fake glass slippers and a sparkly blue dress and butterfly hair clips. But Getou and Satoru had come home straight from their soccer practice, all muddy and disgusting, and accidentally sat on your costume. 

The pretty blue dress you had saved all your allowance on was ruined and along with it, your hopes of impressing Haibara - the guy that you had a crush on at the time. 

Except Satoru, in his infinite kindness that he’s always shared with you, dragged you to the costume store the day after, his hands wrapped around your waist as he biked the two of you there in the scorching midday October heat. 

“Do you guys have any Cinderella dresses left?” 

“They’re all sold out. We’re so sorry, sir.” 

As the clerk walks away, Satoru turns over to you, a giddy smile on his face. 

“Did you hear that? That lady just called me sir.” 

“Really funny, Satoru.” 

You push him into the stand by the cashier, as you stomp to the other side of the store. You look up at the little catalogs, the sparkly blue dress in the picture with a red “sold out” sign stamped on top of it. He catches up, his hand soft on your shoulder, as he talks. 

“Sorry we messed up your dress, Y/N.” 

You can feel the tears building in your eyes as you start aggressively swiping them away, trying to hide the fact that you were crying in front of Satoru. Knowing him, he was just going to run home and tell Getou so the two of them could laugh at you. 

“No, you’re not. You probably did it on purpose.” 

“We didn’t, I-I swear.” 

“Getou literally told me yesterday that he thought it was stupid I wanted to be a princess for Halloween. That girls like me aren’t princesses, because they have a rotten attitude. He said I should dress up as the Scream instead.” 

You look over at the ghost mask - all elongated and scary - and it only sends more tears running down your face. 

“Hey. You can still be a princess if you want to be.” he says. 

“No, I can’t. Because you guys ruined the costume I already did buy. And I don’t have the money for another one because I-I spent my entire allowance on that costume.” 

Satoru pulls out his wallet and brings his hand down to yours, placing the crisp dollar bills in your hand. You look over at him and he’s smiling - the tips of his ears pink. 

“Now you have money for the costume.” 

“There’s still no costume, dumbass.” 

Satoru drags you down the aisle and points at the sparkly yellow dress, his hand now slung around your shoulder again. 

“They still have this one.” 

“Belle? You want me to be Belle?” 

“You’re more of a Belle than Cinderella. Getou’s right in the sense that you’re a little bit too harsh to be a Cinderella type.” 

“Geez. Thanks Satoru.” 

“But you’re smart, ambitious, headstrong enough to be a Belle. Cinderella’s the type of bitch to always back down from a fight. Belle on the other hand fights for what she wants, like you.” 

You look over at him and smile, your heart pounding in your chest as the two of you biking back to the house with the sparkly yellow dress in the bag in between you guys. 

“Just don’t fight to date a literal animal like Belle, okay? That’s bestiality.” 

“Shut up, Satoru.” 

You feel a hand on your head, shaking hard, and grounding you back in the moment. And at your irritation at Getou, who's still hurling insults at you from the other side of the room. 

“She started it, Shoko.” he says. 

“No, I didn’t. You’re the dumbass who-” you start. 

“I’m so fucking sick of you, Y/N. You’re always fucking nagging me in some way or another. You know, I heard you crying the other day about how you’re the only girl in your class who's never had a guy like you. Maybe if you took a look in the fucking mirror you’d realize why. You’re insufferable to be around.” 

You can feel the tears welling in your eyes - hot and angry - as you bolt straight out the door and down the street. You can faintly hear the three of them calling for you, but you reach straight for the bike on the curb and go as far as you can. 

You make your way five blocks down from your house to eventually stop at the lake, resting the bike against the dock before you walk down. You take your shoes off and dip your feet in, watching the sun fall behind the water and the sky turn brilliant, beautiful shades of pink, orange, and yellow. 

And when dark blue starts creeping in, you lay back against the dock and watch the stars trickle into the night sky, hundreds of tiny sparkling lights. Except your view of the sky is then obscured by Satoru’s face, upside down from your vantage point. 

“Hi Belle.” 

“Screw off.” 

He sits down, taking his own shoes off and dipping his feet into the water to lie down next to you. 

“Did you have to take my bike when you ran off? Yours was two feet away from it.” 

“Closest one. Cry about it, Satoru.” 

You both sit in silence, save for the sound of your feet splashing in the water as Satoru breaches the topic. 

“Never had a guy like you, huh?” 

“You’re such a fucking asshole, you know that? First, you watch Getou literally rip me a new one for no reason and now you’re here to rub it in my face?” 

“You know that wasn’t what I was doing. Have I ever made fun of you like that?” 

You sit up, running your hands through your hair, as you look down at the water, your leg sending ripples far beyond. You swallow hard, the tears rising to your eyes again. 

“No, Satoru. I haven’t had a guy like me like that. I’m the only girl going into senior year who hasn’t been kissed by a guy.” you whisper, the confession making you turn red with embarrassment. 

Satoru sits up, scooting closer to you so your knees are knocking each other, as you both look down at the water. 

“So why’s that a big deal, Y/N? You’ve never cared about what people think, let alone men. I mean, you’re basically a misandrist at this point.” 

You smile, looking over at his blue eyes, almost indiscernible in the dark of the night. 

“It’s a big deal because I want someone to like me. I-I know that you all think I’m mean and I argue all the time and-and whatever, maybe it’s true. But, I want someone to like me. You know, butterflies, first kisses, someone who saves all their secret jokes for you.” 

He puts his hand flat against your forehead, like he’s checking your temperature. 

“You feeling okay? Who are you and what have you done with, Y/N?” 

You shake his hand off, rolling your eyes at him, as you both laugh into the night. 

“You’re so mean, Satoru. I hate you.”

He lifts one of his legs out of the water and turns to his side, so that he’s facing you. You mimic his motions, the look on your face bored as you look over at him. 

“I’m going to tell you something, and it’s going to wound my ego a little bit, so don’t tell anyone okay?” 

“You with a wounded ego? I would live for the day.” 

He lightly nudges you before turning back down to the water, swishing the water with his legs. 

“What you said isn’t true, Belle.” 

“What part?” 

“About going into highschool and not having a guy like you.” 

“That guy who chased me around in first grade doesn’t count because he literally thought I was-” 

He brings his hands down on your face, squishing your cheeks so hard that you can’t get another word out. His eyes are closed, his face only a few feet from yours. 

“Princess, I really, really love it when you argue with me like that but can you please just let me finish?” he whispers, the words sending a shiver down your spine. 

You nod as he lets go, giving you a satisfied smile. He turns his head back to the water, leaning over the dock.

“That guy in first grade did like you. And I like you too.”  

He looks over and smiles and it makes your blood burn. You lift your hands to cover your pink face, the implication of the entire thing making your stomach burn with anxiety, embarrassment, and the gross, mushy gushy feelings you’ve had for Satoru for years. For the boy who always came to your defense when you’re fighting Getou, always came to your aid when you were crying, and the only, only person you’ve never argued with. 

“So quit crying about it, okay? My type has always been girls like you.” 

“Girls like me?” 

“Argumentative.” 

You nod as Satoru stands up, holding his hand out. And ignore the pounding in your chest when his skin touches yours. You both walk your bikes - you pushing his bike and him pushing yours back down the blocks as you cheese at each other in the dark, sharing a secret smile before Satoru ducks back into Getou’s room. 

--

three months later 

You push up on the counter, swirling the cup of lemonade in your hand as you watch everyone mill around the party. 

Your parents went out of town on a business trip. Getou throws the biggest party of the summer. And specifically tells you to stay in your room, because no one likes freshmen at a party. 

Yet here you are, drinking lemonade and watching everyone mill around the party. Getou’s trying too hard to hit on a girl way older than him and Shoko and Utahime are so blatantly flirting that its giving you physical pain to watch them pine the way they are any longer. 

But there’s one person you haven’t seen. Satoru. 

He should have been back from his family trip to Tokyo for the summer since school was starting next week and there’s no way that he would miss anything that Getou and Shoko planned. 

Even the thought of him makes your heart race, his swift admission of his feelings for you that were all but unrequited right before he left. You feel a tap on your shoulder, throwing you out of your thoughts.

“Hey. Can you hand me a cup?” 

You halfheartedly smile as you reach over, handing her a cup from behind you. She gives you a smile as she swirls through the random potion Getou was serving - a dark purple color. You’re sure there’s an unfathomable amount of liquor mixed in and that it tastes disgusting. 

“You want some?” 

“I’m good. Getou poisoned that for all I know.” you mutter, which elicits a laugh from her. 

“Interesting guy. He’s cute, right?” 

You gag, the thought making the lemonade you just drank roll over in your stomach. 

“Disgusting. He’s my older brother.” 

She laughs, pushing up on the counter to sit with you and smiles. 

“My bad. He’s ugly, downright horrendous.” 

“Thank you.” 

You smile as you look over at her, her eyes scanning the mess of people in front of you two. 

“Oh shit. Wait, you’re Y/N, right? Satoru was talking about you.” 

And any good feeling you have is now replaced with a green, jealous monster. And that part of you - the one that argues, the one that feels bitter, anger so powerfully is fighting its way out. 

“Y-yeah. How do you know Satoru?” 

“I don’t. I just met him upstairs. I almost puked in your room but he stopped me, helped me to the bathroom, and held my hair for a while while I threw up.” 

“He’s a real nice guy, isn’t he?” you say, the sarcasm dripping from you voice. 

Of course the asshole shows up to your house and flirts with another girl in your bedroom. Typical. 

“Yeah. Cute too.” 

Just then, Satoru and Getou walked up to you - with complete opposite expressions on their faces. Satoru is shining like the sun, his cheeks tinted pink which you’re sure is from drinking. And Getou’s glaring at you like there’s no tomorrow, his forehead scrunched up in irritation. 

“Y/N.” 

“Getou.” 

“What are you drinking?” 

“Lemonade.” 

Getou snatches the cup from your hand and sets it down and by the look on his face, you know he’s about to start a fight with you. 

“Are you fucking dense? That’s not lemonade, dumbass.” 

“Do you think I was born yesterday, idiot? I took it from the unopened bottle in the fridge.” 

“You shouldn’t be here right now. You’re too young to be here.” 

“You’re one year older than me, Getou. And don’t throw a party in my house if you don’t want me here.” 

Satoru puts a hand on Getou’s shoulder, whispering something in his ear until he gives you one last glare and walks away. Satoru gives you a big smile but before he can talk, the girl from before cuts him off. 

“Do you want to dance now? I promise I got all my vomit out earlier so I won’t throw up this time.” 

She gives him a big smile, and you swear Satoru’s considering it by the way he pauses and looks at her, which is enough said for you. You push up off the counter, telling them you’ll be right back and run off to the lake again, this time stealing Getou’s bike from the curb. 

You’re pushing your legs so hard that they’re hurting, the tears biting cold against your skin from how fast you’re going in the middle of the night. And when you make it to the dock, you throw his bike against the grass and angrily kick your shoes off as you start taking your clothes off. 

Is it a good idea to go skinny dipping in the middle of the night, alone? No. But is every human person that would come to this park at the party? Yes. 

Which is the only reason you take the plunge and stare up at the moon, a tiny silver crescent in the sky. You hear a splash behind you after a few minutes and are met with Satoru, wet hair matted on his forehead. 

“Find your own lake, weirdo.” 

“You know. You shouldn’t skinny dip in public. People could see you.” 

You look over to his pile of clothes and shoes, neatly folded in the pile next to yours. 

“Same goes for you, pervert.” 

You roll your eyes at him as you cross your hands across your chest, turning to your back so you don’t have to look at him. He’s faster than you are, because suddenly he’s floating right in front of you, inches from your face. 

“Did I hurt your feelings, princess?”  

“Quit calling me that. It’s disgusting.” 

He brings his hands to your face, pushing away the tangled wet mess of hair on your shoulders. 

“You like it when I call you that.” 

“No, I don’t.” 

“Yes, you do, Belle.” 

“Satoru.” 

“I’m not saying my piece till you say yours. And you want to hear mine, so talk.” 

You take a deep breath as you look at his face - all calm and blank faced like he didn’t just do the biggest asshole move he could have. 

“You’re a dick, you know that? First of all, you tell me all this shit about how you like me right before you leave. And then when you come back, the first thing I see is you talking to another girl? You were holding her hair in the bathroom, fondling god knows what in my bedroom and now you want to come here and skinny dip with me? I am not some consolation prize you get to have because she was bored of those ugly pool noodle dance moves you have and don’t ever think for a second that I will be.” 

You finish, your chest heaving and a shiver running across your body from the cold water. And instead of a sincere, kind-hearted apology, an acknowledgement of what he did - Satoru Gojo is laughing in your face. 

You reach forward to smack his face and he stops your hand in the air, tangling his fingers with yours. 

“You’re so ridiculous, you know that?” 

“You’re so fucking r-” 

“Fondling? Pool noodle? Where do you even come up with this stuff?” 

He brings his hands up to your cheeks and leans your head forward, pressing the softest kiss to your forehead. You can feel your head short circuiting at the sensation, your arms tingling from how close he is. 

“You’re so, so ridiculous you know that? I’m never going to get tired of you.” he whispers, the words making your hair stand on their ends. 

“What-you can’t just say that and-” 

“Why do you think I was in your room?” 

“What?” 

“I was in your room, because I was looking for you. And I thought I was being nice by stopping that girl from puking all over your sheets - because I know you hate laundry and Getou isn’t going to do it for you - so I took her to the bathroom.” 

You can feel the embarrassment rushing to your face for misreading the situation entirely, taking the palms of your hands and rubbing them into your eye sockets. He laughs as he tangles his hands around your wrists, placing them around his own neck. 

“Still the only senior who hasn’t been kissed yet?” 

“Huh?” 

“I’ve been thinking about what you said. When I saw you last. Are you still the only senior who hasn’t been kissed yet?” 

“Oh. Oh, yeah. But I-” 

“Good.” 

He leans forward, tangling his hands around your waist as he presses his warm lips to yours, his hands squeezing you as he laughs into your mouth. You don’t have much to compare it to, but by the way he’s hanging off your lips, you can tell he’s eager. Way too eager - to be kissing you of all things. 

“Satoru.” 

“Hm?” 

“I like you too.” 

His face breaks out into a smile, so big that it makes you smile too. And when he cups his hand around your face again to kiss the tip of your nose, you can feel your insides screaming. For him. 

“No telling Getou. He’s going to kill me, okay?” 

“As if. He literally hates me, he’d be glad if-” 

“No. He can’t know. You-you’re his little sister. If he finds out I even looked at you this way, he-he’d end me where I stand. Trust me, Belle. If I break my promise, he'll never talk to me again.” 

“What promise?” 

“When we were little. He made me promise I wouldn’t like you.” 

“And yet here you are. Naked in a lake with me.” 

“You like to argue. I like to break rules. We all have our vices, princess.” 

You lean into his touch again, pressing your lips against his, as the moon shines a bright light on the two of you in the dark. 

--

four months later 

You and Getou awkwardly stand in the kitchen, by the open bottles of champagne, as you both secretly circle the glasses behind your back. Getou has his moments - and this is one of them. When your parents put you on display like shiny trophies for their coworkers, bragging about how smart the two of you are.

“You decided where you’re going yet?” 

“Tokyo or Kyoto, Toto.” 

“Toto. Ew. You haven’t called me that since we were little, idiot.” 

He brings his hand around your shoulder, tucking you into his arm as you lean against his shoulder, smiling. After Getou really realized you’d be leaving at the end of the year, he’s been nicer. Granted, he still fights like hell but he has his odd moments. Like this one. 

“You’ll always be Get-toto to me.” 

“I’ll get you a little Totoro plushie before you go, okay? So when those bastards you date fight with you, you’ll always be reminded you have a little bitch in you ready to fight.” 

“Why are you praying for my downfall? You’re not gonna manifest a sweet, warm love for me?” 

“Please. The guy you end up with will be all fireworks. Soft fireplace love has never been your thing.” 

He ruffles your hair as Satoru walks up, his tie loosened already. He gives you a smile and then shakes hands with Getou, the three of you leaning against the granite countertops, watching your parents mingle through the crowd. 

“D’you pick yet? Because Tokyo’s the right choice, Belle.” 

“I’m still thinking, Satoru.” 

“C’mon. Imagine it - you joining me and Getou in Tokyo. It would be really fun.” 

Satoru’s just trying to piss you off. He knows that you’ve already picked Tokyo, because it means you don’t have to long distance date anymore. No more driving up to see each other in between, getting pulled away from each other by the constraints of time or distance or really anything else. 

One of the smaller girls at the party tugs the end of your dress, whispering in her ear that she wants warm milk, which you happily oblige with. Satoru and Getou stay in their spots as you start rummaging through the kitchen, picking out a little glass and warming up the milk for her. 

“Honey?” 

“Yes, love?” Satoru responds, turning his gaze over to you. 

You feel your eyes widen and Satoru’s face turn red as he looks over at you, realizing you were asking the girl if she wanted honey in her milk and not calling him. You both look over to Getou, who has a very strange look on his face that you can’t really discern. 

Fuck. 

You hand the girl her milk and stand farthest away from Satoru, giving Getou a weak smile as you all stare at the party again. 

“Look. It’s Shayla.” 

You and Satoru crane your necks over the other side of the room, one of your neighbors daughters saying hello to all the guests. Which you’re sure you’re getting to get a lecture about now, since you didn’t want to spend the time saying hi to all of them. 

“Remember when you had a really big crush on her, Satoru? Since we were kids?” 

“Uh, yeah. But I was just really little, y’know.” 

You can feel your throat drying as Getou pushes on, each word making your heart burn in your chest. 

“Yeah, but. She was basically your first love. Who forgets that? Who compares to that?” 

“I don’t know if I would say she was my first l-” 

“Then who is, Satoru? Because it’s not my sister, right?” he asks, his voice firm. 

Satoru said that he would tell Getou when you officially announced you were going to Tokyo. Because once you lived in the same city, nothing would stop you from being with him - not even his best friend. 

“No, no, why would it be her? She’s been annoying us since we were little, arguing with us and all that. You-you’re right. It is her. Shayla’s always been my type.” he says, his gaze lowering to the floor. 

You feel your heart sink, twist into a jumbled mess as Getou smiles and gestures for her to come over. There’s a fair amount of protests from Satoru as she walks over, which you know is him trying to save face. He deals his final blow the second she walks up, definitively and wholly breaking your heart into pieces. 

When Getou starts setting the two of them up. When Satoru actually takes her number down. When she presses a kiss to his cheek and winks before she walks away. 

“I have to pee, Toto. Cover for me?” 

“Yeah, got it.” 

And the second you walk away and Getou watches you wipe the tears from your face as you walk past, Getou knows he’s right. 

“Getou. You have to-” 

“No, Satoru. Are you fucking kidding me?” 

“Wait, what- you can’t just-” 

“She’s my little sister. She’s not some toy you get to play around with till you figure out how you feel. And you don’t get to embarrass her by hiding her away either.” 

“We were going to tell you when she told you she’s going to Tokyo. You-you’re the reason I hid her away. I’ve liked her for years and I put that away because you didn’t want me with her. And now I-” 

“Don’t blame your shortcomings on me. Even if you did have to hide it in front of me, I would never call the girl I loved annoying to her face and throw everything she’s hated about herself in her face to make a point.” 

“I didn’t- Getou you’re the one who made her hate that about herself and-” 

“You love her?” 

“Obviously. Why would I go to the trouble of hiding something when-” 

“Talk to her again and I will literally break your face. In what world do you treat someone you love like that?” 

As Satoru watches Getou walk away and thinks about how hard you’re crying upstairs, he realizes he’s in his worst nightmare. Losing his best friend and the girl he loved on the same day. 

You and Satoru make promises that day. 

He promises that he’ll wear his heart on his sleeve from this day forward. You promise that you’ll tuck your heart away where no one can ever touch it again. 

--

present day 

“You’re no fun, Y/N.” Itadori says, pushing the paper into your space. 

“And you suck at tic-tac-toe.” you respond, sliding it back. 

Nobara and Megumi laugh as the three of you sink back into your chairs in the back of the conference room, your marketing manager droning on about stocks, the future of the company, and god knows what as you try to drone him out and focus on winning your seventh round of tic-tac-toe with Itadori. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t take much. 

“And lastly, we’ve employed a new marketing manager to work with the sales team. The four of you back there can decide who he’s going to be working with for onboarding.” says Ijichi. 

You nod as the four of you turn to each other, matching smirks on your face. 

“Rock paper scissors?” Nobara asks. 

“Deal.” 

It’s not that you’d hate to work with the new marketing manager. But the past three marketing managers were driven out by the end of the month because of you guys.

Megumi was too harsh with the first girl, who left crying when he asked her if she got her marketing degree from a trash can. Nobara drove the second guy away when she found out he chewed too loudly while eating lunch, claiming that he wasn’t a good fit for the company. And Itadori drove the last girl away, because she fell in love with him and he didn’t return her feelings, which made her resign the next day. 

“You know, logically. It’s your turn.” Megumi says, holding his fist up to Itadori. 

“Nope. We honor the rock paper scissors tournament in this friendship. 

You mince your words four rounds later because you’re the pouty loser getting stuck with the stupid marketing manager. You slide back into your chair as you massage your temples, preparing yourself for the upcoming headache for the next month. 

Either a lover, an incompetent idiot, or a loud chewer. 

Nobara and Itadori sling their hands around your shoulders, pinching your cheeks, as Ijichi swings the door open and the marketing manager walks in. He readjusts his tie - loosely hanging from his neck - and when you lift your head to actually make eye contact with him, you immediately sit up in your chair, your skin burning. 

Because Satoru Gojo is no longer six thousand miles away in Tokyo - out of sight and out of mind. He’s three feet away from you - taller, older, and more attractive than the time you saw him last. 

Everyone files out of the conference room, leaving the two of you standing miles away from each other, with you refusing to meet his eye. He walks up and holds his hand out, a shy smile on his face. 

“Satoru Gojo.” 

You put your hand in his - the touch warm, soft, all the way you remembered it. 

“Y/N L/N.” you respond, mimicking his voice. 

“Y/N, huh? You look more like a Belle to me.” he responds, smirking as he walks out to your cubicle labeled right across. 

You stomp right out, following him into your cubicle, as he takes the seat across from yours and starts eating the candy in your jar. You roll your eyes as you smack his hand, the smile on his face so big it's pissing you off. 

“Just so you know, there’s a very notorious reputation for running out the idiot who takes your position. And trust me, I’ll have you out by the end of the week.” 

“Is that a challenge, princess?” 

“You can’t flirt with me. I’m technically your boss, Satoru.” 

“You like to argue. I like to break rules. We all have our vices, princess.” he says, sticking one of your caramel candies in your mouth before pushing off your desk and making his way down the other side of the office. 

Six hours later, you’re face planting into the table at dinner, the words echoing through your mind. Along with all the memories you buried deep, deep down and tried to forget. Of running off to the lake all summer, Satoru washing your hair softly in the showers after, of nestling up in his arms to call it a day. 

Of Satoru rubbing circles into your back every time you fought with someone, of you kissing him after every fight he had with his dad, of whispering I love you against each other's lips like it was a sacred oath. 

“You look horrible.” Megumi says, sharing a judgemental look with Itadori. 

“Shut up.” 

“It’s just one of those lame interns. Just do what Nobara did - say he smells bad.”  Itadori responds, the three of them laughing. 

You dig your forehead into your forearms, only lifting your head to drink more of Itadori’s beer, as the thoughts race through your head. 

In all honesty, the problem has always been easy to avoid. Two years ago, Satoru smashed your heart into tiny pieces. You decided that you wouldn’t go to Tokyo or Kyoto like you planned and picked up everything and moved to New York instead. 

You didn’t say goodbye. To him or to anyone. Your parents drove you to the airport and Getou gave one of those weird, repressed older brother hugs and then you turned on your heel and never went back. 

You have a nice job. Friends who love you. Your dating life is abysmal at most - a long stream of guys you’ve ghosted, fought, and broken up with. Unfazed, unperturbed - calm, cool, and collected. 

It doesn’t bother you. Because you stuck by your promise. That you’ll tuck your heart away where no one can touch it. But it only takes five minutes of interaction with him and you can feel the concrete walls around your heart turning into clay, softened by the sweetness he’s always possessed, the softness he’s always shared with you. 

You have to drive him out of here as fast as you can. 

--  

Seven weeks later and Satoru remains at the company, steadfast and true. 

It drives you crazy, having him around. So up in your space, his smell lingering in your cubicle even after he walks away. He makes stupid jokes that make you smile so hard that you’re fighting the tears in your eyes and flirts with no shame like it’s breathing air. 

All in all, he’s everything you loved about Satoru, in your head again. In an even more attractive body, because of course time is nice to the asshole and he’s fit in all the right places. 

You ignore him the best you can, until you can’t anymore. 

You make it down to the parking lot, your high heels in your hand as you unlock your car and start loading your stuff into the trunk. 

That’s when you see him, slumped against his car with the hood popped open, with a very, very confused look on his face. You clear your throat loudly, which catches his attention. 

“Oh. Heading out late, Y/N?” 

“Looks like it. You?” 

“Ah. I actually meant to leave early today but my car hasn’t been starting so.” 

You take one look at his pouty face and give in. You slam the trunk of your car shut and whisper the words out, so fast that you can’t even think to regret them. 

“Get in the car.” 

“Huh?” 

“Get in the car, Satoru. Unless you want to stay here for the rest of the weekend, then be my guest.” 

He gives you the brightest smile you’ve seen as he all but jogs over and settles into the front seat of your car, slumping down in the seat that’s pushed all the way up. You back up out of the parking garage as he plugs in the address for his apartment, a modest thirty minutes away from the office. 

“You know, you can move the chair back. I’m not going to bite your head off if you do.” 

He laughs and you see his shoulders deflate as he adjusts the seat, his long legs now spread in the open compartment underneath him. 

“What a shame. I’m into that type of thing, Y/N.” 

“Always the perverted one, weren’t you?” you respond, smiling over at him. 

Stop it, Y/N. Stop it. 

“Who the hell sits up here anyway? A toddler?” 

“Oh. It was just this guy I was talking to. He was really short but he always felt the need to monitor my driving so he pulled the seat all the way up to watch the lines.” you respond, turning left onto the street. 

“Ah. One of your many romantic escapades, so I’m told. I’ve heard you’ve become quite the player, Y/N.” he says, leaning against the glass. 

“Learned from the best, Satoru. Except this time, I don’t get overinvolved.” you respond. 

He laughs, leaning back in the chair as you both fall into a comfortable silence, the tension hanging in the air eating at your skin. It hangs in the air, like an embarrassing elephant in the room. 

Satoru’s the one who pokes it. 

“Then, you should get involved with me. Again.” 

You keep your promises to yourself. But Satoru keeps his too. An oath to wear his heart on his sleeve is translated into him fighting to get you back. 

You slam the breaks so hard that his forehead goes straight into the sun visor, a groan leaving his mouth. You apologize and immediately reach forward, cupping the side of his face and eyeing the angry red mark on his forehead. 

“Yikes. I’m sorry, Cyclops. That caught me off guard.” 

“Be careful, there. Almost thought you cared for a second.” he says, smirking. 

You park the car in front of his apartment and look out the window, the words making your head spin. 

“You know, I can tell you want to.” he says.

You turn around and frown, reaching forward to flick into the soft skin of his cheek. 

“Please. You’re not even all that-” 

“You brushed your hand against mine when we walked to the conference room. I caught you staring at me during the company lunch on Thursday. And I know you just stopped talking to the short guy because Itadori told me. What’s the worst that could happen?”  

--

The worst has happened. Because for the second time, you are irrevocably and deeply in love with Satoru Gojo. 

Maybe you never stopped. 

Just like you were when you were seven, you’re incredibly drawn to him, like two magnets being pulled together. What was supposed to be one date, one lousy hookup like every other guy you’ve talked to in the past year turned into a complicated, mushy gushy feelings mess. 

You stayed over at his house that night. But then he was shirtless, singing in the kitchen as he made you breakfast in bed the next morning. And little by little, he’s crawled into every little part of your life. 

He insists on driving you to work, buying you a sugary overpriced latte you would never splurge on for yourself and a pastry to go with it on the way. He claims he doesn’t want any but reaches over the seat to take a bite and then press a chocolatey kiss to your lips. 

He hangs out with you and your friends after work. And like always, he always backs you up in the thousands of petty arguments he has with each of them and then tells you that it turns him on when he drives you home. 

He draws little shapes into your skin every night, asking you to guess the little drawings he’s making while his soft, smooth voice lulls you to sleep. And when you wake up, you can’t help but watch him, the little freckles he had when he was seventeen still the same. 

It makes your heart warm. The soft feelings you’ve always had for him, they make you warm. 

Which is why you curse yourself for ever thinking things could be different, when he drops the ball three months later.  

“Can you drive me to the airport on Friday, princess?” he asks, his breaths tickling your nose. 

“Where are you going, Toru?” you murmur, burrowing yourself deeper into his skin. 

“Home. The job posting was temporary, remember?” he responds, pressing a kiss to the top of your forehead. 

“Oh. Are- you’re not going to look for a job here?’ 

“Nah. Time’s up right?” he says, the question hanging in the air. 

And when you wake up the next morning, to find him in your kitchen with a bowl of cereal all poured out for you and a bouquet of flowers, you can’t help but yell at him. After the shit he pulled last night. 

“You should probably go to your apartment and pack your stuff up. Since you’re leaving tomorrow.” 

“We can do it tomorrow, Belle. Most of my stuff is here anyway.” he says, holding the bowl close to his mouth as he leans over the counter. 

“I can’t take you tomorrow. Megs said he will so you can ask him for help. He-he’s actually on his way now to get you.” you murmur, crossing your hands against your chest. 

He frowns, coming up close to you to wrap his arms around you which you quickly side shuffle out of. You push past him and walk into the kitchen, clutching the countertop hard. Satoru smiles to himself before he turns around, knowing he’s won the war. 

“Do you want me to stay, Belle?” 

You roll your eyes, the audacity of him even suggesting that just pissing you off more. Irritated, because of course he said that. Agitated, because he can read you like a book. 

“No, Satoru. Go home.” 

“You sure? Because it seemed like-” 

“Do you really think it would bother me if you left, Satoru? Do you really think you’re different from any other guy I talked to?” 

Satoru frowns, the angry look on your face the opposite of the love-struck, warm confession he was expecting. But then again, this was you. Argumentative to your core - so he just needs to wrangle it out of you. 

“I know I’ve been here longer than the rest of them, that’s for sure.” 

“And do you think that makes you special, Satoru? Do you sincerely, genuinely think any of that means I would want you to stay right now?” 

“Well, wait- I’m not just any other guy now, you and I, we-” 

“We what? Have history? A long term fling doesn’t make us soulmates, Satoru.” 

“That wasn’t a fling. You and I were-” 

“You and I were no different than what we are now, Satoru. You should have known to not get over involved. I told you from the start that this is how it would be. You leaving didn’t faze me the first time and it won’t faze me the second time either, sweetheart.” 

Satoru moves past you, yanking his hoodie on and grabbing his key off the hook as he swings the door open. And when he shuts the door behind you, his tear-stained face being the last thing you see, you sink onto the floor and can’t help but sob. 

For the first boy you ever loved. Who burned you so bad, that you burned him too. Who soothed over every angry, irritating, argumentative part of you, until it was something you unleashed on him too. 

You wonder why you let yourself into these sinkholes in the first place. 

--

“Hey, man. Have a safe flight home, okay? It was nice getting to know you.” Itadori says, lugging the last of Satoru’s luggage out of the back. 

Satoru gives Itadori one last hug before Megumi starts lugging his bags into the terminal with him, the intense feelings from the day prior still hanging on his chest. 

“You-you’ll take care of her right? After I’m gone?” Satoru asks, as he pulls into the line. 

“Who?” 

“Y/N.” 

“Oh. Yeah, I will. This time around though, I’m not letting Itadori and Nobara invite her to the bar.” 

Satoru smiles, the thought of you drunk, making his heart ache. One of his many favorite sights is you on your fourth glass of wine - when your lips are all pink and when you climb all over him, whispering the corniest, cheesiest things that come to mind. 

“Princess. You’re kind of cutting off my circulation here.” 

“Sss-sorry, Satoru. Wanted to get closer.” you whisper, tangling your arms around his neck and readjusting in his lap. 

“What’s closer than this princess? You’re literally on top of me right now.” he responds, cupping your face to push the hair away from your face. 

“Not close enough.” 

“The only thing closer than this is if you crawled into my skin and became a part of my bloodstream.” 

“Is there a way to do that? Because I would.” 

“You wanna be that close to me, huh princess?” 

“Even when I’m sitting right next to you, right on top of you, literally skin to skin - I still can’t get enough of you. I want to be this close, all the time.” 

Satoru shakes the memory from his mind as the people behind him gesture him to move forward in line, his heart hanging heavier in his chest. 

“She always drinks too much, doesn’t she?” he says. 

“Well, yeah. It’s usually funny. But now she’s going to go back into her moping, angsty teenager phase for the next seven months. I’ll probably be dragging her out of that bar on her legs, for all I know.” 

“Y/N? Angsty? That’s real funny.” 

“No, I’m telling you. When we first met her, all this girl did was cry in the bar. Her sadness was like…contagious or whatever it was making me depressed. One time she sang All Too Well, on the countertop while sobbing until the bartender literally had to kick her ass out.” 

“The first guy she dated when she moved here was that bad, huh?” 

“No. Itadori and Nobara have this running theory, they’ve been trying to figure out who he is for a while. The one thing we know for sure is that he’s definitely from her hometown and that she broke up with him right before she moved here.” 

And that’s when Satoru gets it. That you’re a goddamn liar. And that you definitely did want him to stay. 

Satoru does the only thing he can. Drops everything and runs straight out the airport to make his way back to your apartment. He’ll be damned if he makes the same mistake twice. 

--

You look up from your spot, sprawled on the cold tiles of your kitchen floor, when you hear a key turn in the lock. You immediately sit up to find Satoru, an almost angry look on his face, when he storms in and bends down in front of you. 

“Forget your diapers, grandpa?” 

“Shut up, Y/N.” 

“It’s a long flight. You don’t want to have an accident do you?” 

He brings his hands up to your cheeks, squishing hard so you can’t get another word. And what he says next, the same words he uttered to you in that stupid lake, sober you u pearl fast. 

“Princess, I really, really love it when you argue with me like that but can you please just let me finish?” 

You swallow hard as he gives you a satisfied smile, giving him a soft nod. 

“Do you want me to stay?” 

“God, Satoru. Just quit it with this shit, I already told you no and I mean-” 

“You also told me that it didn’t faze you when we broke up the first time. But then I find out, you were slurring my name in bars and crying about it for months.” 

“So? Do you want a cookie or something?” 

“So you’re a liar. And now I want to know the truth. Do you want me to stay?” 

His eyes are burning, bigger than you’ve ever seen them. The gaze itself is piercing, making the ends of your hair stand up on your arms and legs. You shake his hand off your face as you stand up, scrambling to the other side of the kitchen. 

“I don’t want you to stay.” 

“Yes, you do. You’re lying, Y/N.” 

“No, I’m not. One measly piece of information my friends mention in passing doesn’t mean it’s about you, Satoru.” 

He brings his hands around your wrist, curling his fingers around the skin and squeezing twice. 

“I made the dumbest mistake of my life. I had an opportunity, a real one to be honest about how I felt and I fucked it up, okay? I’ve regretted it every day since you walked away. You were going to go to school - with me. We were going to be together. But then you picked up everything and move to the other side of the fucking planet to halfheartedly date all these guys without a care in the world.” 

“What does stating facts do for you, Satoru? What is it you want me to say?” 

“You know what I want to hear. Say it, Belle.” 

“What? That I left because of you? That I loved you so much that it made my heart hurt? That every second I’m around you it only feels like my love gets bigger for you? That the only person I can’t bring myself to get over is you? Because what does me saying that do for me because you’re just going to-” 

Satoru smiles before he closes the space between you, pushing you into the counter and cradling your cheeks in his hand. He’s leaning into the kiss, so hard that you can feel almost his entire body weight on you as his lips press against yours. 

He’s shaking hard and smiling into the kiss, pulling you back in every time you try to stop, his hands running in your hair as he laughs into your mouth. 

“Was it so hard to tell me that you wanted me to stay?” he whispers, giggling into your ear as he presses kisses into your neck. 

“Was it so hard to tell me you wanted to? You just had to come have this big moment with me here when-” 

“Yes, I did. You deserved a big, lengthy love confession when you were seventeen, at that stupid party. I’m trying to do right by you through this dramatic shit now.” 

“Because this is doing right by me? Making me cry and then running back?” 

“It’s romantic, princess. I ran out of an airport for you.” 

“After we argued. That kind of puts a damper on it.” 

“Oh, shut up. You know argumentative girls have always been my thing.” 

You place your hands around his face, yanking his head out of the crook of your neck as you hold his face in your hands, the skin soft. He still has all the little freckles, the same eyes and nose that you loved when you were seventeen. 

That you love. You love him. 

“Satoru.” 

“Yeah?” 

“How did you get a key to my house?” 

He rolls his eyes as he breaks out of your hold, sticking his tongue out at you. 

“That would have been a really sweet moment for a confession. You ruined it, princess.” 

You smile as you make your way into his arms again, looking up at him from his hold. 

“I made a copy of your key, Y/N.” 

“That’s illegal, Toru. Breaking and entering.” 

“You like to argue. I like to break rules. Everyone has their vices.” 

You bring your hands back up to his cheeks again, the smile on your face hurting your cheeks as you press a kiss to the side of his cheek. 

“Isn’t love the greatest vice, Toru?” you whisper. 

“Maybe for me. Every normal thing hits different when it comes to you.” he says, closing the space between you two again.

--

the satoru as taylor swift songs series masterlist

taglist: @porridgesblog @k0z3me @kayleegomez @yihona-san06 @bsenpai @sweetenertea @skzismyhome @mykyoon @violetmatcha @rebeccawinters @luna0713hunter @shotenvinsoot @itzmeme @squirrelspoetry