#'none of them like you; everything you say is stupid and needless; nobody cares if you can come to lunch; they'd be better off without you'

[thesquireinvictus]

Why must I cringe at 95% of what I say over text??????????? I mean CRINGE!

[nyctophicbtch]

Prison Break - Dream x Reader (platonic)

[ Dream x reader ]

Request: Hi! Can I please get a fic where Dream and reader were really close /platonic, and dream manipulated them a lot. But now he’s in prison, and Sam and puffy raised them for a while, but then dream escapes and he makes it clear to Sam that he’s after reader? Thx! I love your writing. /gen

Warnings: none

Word count: 1,031

Just sitting here alone reminded you of the times you and Dream would come here to get away from everything. You couldn't believe he would do such a thing, after all the two of you had been through, was it really all just an act to him?

You looked to your left where Sam was talking to Punz and took a deep breath. You had promised Sam and Puffy you wouldn't fall for his tricks again. You wouldn't let him manipulate you any further.

Still, the thought of Dream made the thoughts in your mind go wild. You had so many unanswered questions to ask him, but you reminded yourself that it's best to stay away from him, even though your curiosity was starting to get to you. You heard that Dream hadn't gotten many visitors since he was in prison, and you had to admit that you felt a little bad for the guy.

"You okay?" You heard Niki's footsteps approaching you.

"Yeah I'm fine." You hugged your legs to your chest as Niki sat down beside you on the grass.

"You know you could go visit him. It'll help you release all the stress going on inside of that little head of yours." She momentarily suggested.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? What if he–"

"As long as you don't let him get into your head then you should be fine."

Needless to say, that was all you needed to hear. You thought about visiting Dream, and with Niki's encouragement, you were utterly sure that you were going to visit him today.

You spent almost half an hour contemplating everything and thinking of questions to ask him. Maybe you were overthinking this? Surely not, right?

You headed towards the prison after scheduling to visit Dream this morning, making sure you weren't carrying too many valuable items with you, Niki walking right beside you. Sure she was a really good friend and the two of you were pretty close, but she wasn't as near as close to you as Dream was. You still couldn't understand how you had been blind enough to be used by him so many times, especially in wars. But your thoughts were cut off as someone blocked your way.

"You're not visiting Dream are you?" Jack Manifold asked and you hesitantly nodded.

"He just escaped prison a few minutes ago. He got away, but everyone's on the lookout for him right now."

"Oh..." That was all that came out of your mouth. You couldn't muster any other reactions nor words, and all that was going through your mind was how in the world did he escape the world's best prison?

"Anyways, I have to go help the others. And by the way, sorry about Dream." Jack said before quickly rushing past you.

"How are you feeling?" Niki asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"I don't know…"

Meanwhile, Dream was on the run, trying to not get caught by anyone in the SMP. George stalled him some time as he headed towards your house, in hopes that he finds you there, but to his disappointment, you were nowhere to be found.

"Dream." He abruptly turned around to face a not so happy looking Sam who was probably ready to turn him in.

"I just need to see y/n. Just this once. You don't have to like me, but I'm seeing y/n either way." Dream said sternly, which caused Sam to let out a sigh in defeat.

"Don't do anything stupid." Sam gave his final warning before leaving the house, and without wasting time, Dream rushed off to find you.

He instantly thought of the one place where you might be, the secret place that only the two of you knew about, the place where you share secrets with each other.

He pushed aside a few vines and leaves to reveal you, sitting on the edge of the lake and gazing at the view.

You felt his presence from behind you, but stayed silent. You knew it was Dream, nobody else knew about this spot unless Dream told anybody, which is very unlikely of him to do. You felt the tears threatening to fall from your eyes as he walked closer towards you. Your eyes closed as he sat next to you, gazing at the lake and not saying a word, just the sound of nature filling in the silence.

"Y/n–"

"Don't." You cut him off and finally opened your eyes. You couldn't bring yourself to look at him, knowing you would break down in front of your ex best friend.

"At least let me give you an explanation." He pleaded, eyes searching for yours.

Silence.

"Was everything just all an act to you?" You asked, finally breaking the silence with your eyes still fixed on the water in front of you.

"Not entirely... You were my friend, and I did some things that were not okay. I'm just asking for a second chance." 

"How can I be sure that you're not just going to use me again." You weren't sure whether he was faking this or not. You promised Sam and Puffy, and your friends that you wouldn't fall for his tricks again, but you also missed Dream. You missed your closest friend, Dream, whenever he wasn't manipulating or using you. You wanted to give him a second chance, which was probably a bad idea and you'd just get hurt again, but it was a risk you were willing to take if it means having a slight chance to get your best friend back.

"You were always my friend. I just saw an opportunity and decided to take it. It was stupid of me and I should've never done the things I did to you. I'm sorry, please give me another chance." Your whole face softened at his words. Back then, no matter how bad it was, he was always able to make you forgive him for his mistakes and you were the same to him. This was probably going to end up the same way it did last time, but you didn't care at the moment. You just wanted your best friend back.

"Okay."

[obxsummer]

Three Times // JJ Maybank

word count: 3.6k

pairing: jj maybank x reader

warnings: child abuse, descriptions of injuries, underage drinking, cursing, honestly these poor kids wow

summary: the two instances where you flinch at jj’s touch and the one where he finally finds out what’s wrong.

requested by @jjobx​

masterlist

ask me stuff

--

The first time, JJ got suspicious.

You wanted to scream. Your voice was gone, lost somewhere in the chaos as you curled up on the floor of the kitchen. You wished you could leave, go back to California with your mom, but she was gone, and instead, you were stuck here with your shitty father and primadonna of a step-mother. It had started recently, the abuse. The first few months in the Outer Banks had been awesome. You were so excited to finally be on the coast with the remainder of your family but it changed faster than you could blink.

You never knew stating your opinion on what to have for dinner would end with bruises on your ribs and a bloody lip, but your dad never failed at making sure you knew your place. “Fuck,” You mumbled as you got to your feet and grabbed a paper towel to wipe off the blood from your face. Glancing at the clock, you knew you were late for movie night with your friends so you ran upstairs to cover up with some makeup before walking out.

A few days after moving in with your dad, you had met the resident Pogues: John B, JJ, Kiara, and Pope. Their friendship was unmatched, but they were quick to welcome you into their group with open arms. The five of you got along so well it was as if you had known them your entire life. It didn’t take long until you found yourself staring at JJ most of the time, curious as to what it was like to be wrapped up in his arms as more than friends. Luckily, he was open to letting you find out and the two of you had been dating since.

The usual chaotic energy was evident when you made it to John B’s house. You could hear JJ’s laugh as soon as you stepped on the screened-in porch followed by Kiara’s scream. It was evident what had happened, with Kie’s soaked hair and clothes while JJ held empty water bottles.

“You dick!” She screamed as she turned towards him to attack him for revenge. “That was freezing!”

While your boyfriend was busy defending himself, Pope greeted you with a drink. “What’s up?” He asked as he uncapped your spiked lemonade for you.

You shrugged your shoulders and gave him a smile before taking a drink. “The usual, Pope. I can’t wait to move out.”

Your friends weren’t strangers to the fact that your dad and step-monster were mean at times, but none of them knew the extent of everything. You chose clothing wisely and always covered anything up with makeup before getting close to them. Even when you and JJ spent time alone, you were careful about how much you revealed.

“Babe, help me!” JJ whined for your assistance as he continued to fight off Kie’s anger. You shook your head at his antics and continued to sit next to Pope just as John B entered the area.

“Absolute dumbass,” John B mumbled as he sat on your other side. He twisted his bandana around his neck before relaxing against the couch cushions. “You know not to fuck around with Kie, bro!”

Once Kiara managed to get JJ back enough to her standards, she let him go. With a satisfied smirk, she stepped back to admire her work. While JJ had managed to get her with water, she found it fitting to retaliate with the rest of her beer which covered his t-shirt and hair.

“Ah fuck,” JJ cursed as he pulled his shirt off his body and threw it on the ground. “Now I gotta shower, Kie.”

She didn’t even apologize and instead went inside to get another drink. JJ groaned and tried to dry his hair off as much as possible with his shirt before facing the three of you with a frown. You couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped at the sight of him looking like a wet puppy.

“Come on.” You stood up and offered him your hand. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Whistling followed your words as Pope and John B winked at the two of you, leaving JJ to flip them off as he let you pull him inside. You walked into the back room to grab an extra shirt from the collection of clothing that was forming slowly. Honestly, each of you had a fair share of your stuff around John B’s house. You weren’t sure why, probably because you all spent so much time here anyway, but it was turning out to be convenient.

“Here.” You handed him a new shirt alongside a towel for him to shower. “Now go clean off so we can actually get drunk and enjoy the night.”

“You’re so good to me.” JJ took the items before setting them aside and turning back to you. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closure. You shook your head at him, leaning forward to kiss him lightly before moving back. JJ’s hands squeezed your hips but you jerked back at the sharp pain in your side from where your step-mother’s heel had connected with your body.

JJ let go instantly, his eyes filling with concern at your reaction. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt you? I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“JJ, you’re fine, bub. Go shower.” You quickly made a move to get around him and head back outside, but his hand grabbed your wrist, pulling you to a stop.

“Talk to me,” He whispered as his thumb rubbed your cheek gently. “What happened?”

You shook your head and gave him a smile to try and reassure him. “I fell down the stairs earlier because I was moving too fast to get here. It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.”

Although he didn’t seem convinced, JJ let you walk away. He watched you disappear onto the porch again before he moved into the bathroom to shower. He wasn’t an idiot. As someone who fell at the hands of his father, he knew enough about the pain that followed and how often it had him flinching in someone’s grip. Now, he was worried, but if you weren’t going to tell him, he would have to figure it out himself.

--

The second time, JJ got frustrated.

You were laying out on the HMS Pogue next to Kiara, both of you tuning out the boys as you tried to tan. It was John B’s birthday, and despite your wishes to throw a small party, he really just wanted to spend the day with the four of you doing whatever he wanted to do. For him, that meant getting drunk on the boat by three and crashing on the couch to watch movies all night.

You had managed to avoid setting your dad off the entire week and you were hoping he would be in a good mood for you to invite your friends over for some pizza and movies. You never really asked much of him, or your step-mom Kimberly for that matter, but he somehow found a way to make it seem like you did.

Once you guys made your way back to shore, you pulled out your phone to call your dad while everyone unloaded the boat. Sending JJ a look, you stepped aside to be away from the noise for a few minutes.

“Hello?”

You took a deep breath. “Hey, Dad! Um, are you busy?”

You could hear him sigh. “Not at the moment, but I don’t have much free time. What do you want?”

“I was just wondering if I could have a few friends over to hang out, maybe spend the night? I was going to order pizza, and pay for it of course, but I just wanted to see if-”

“Goddamn it! I thought Rick handed this in. Y/N, look, I have to go. You know the rules, nobody at the house. Your ass better get home now or you’re grounded, do you hear me? And Kim said you didn’t even do your chores so you’re already on thin ice.”

Tears filled your eyes as you nodded. “Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Stupid bitch. Leaves her worthless daughter to come to me and become my problem. How the hell is that fair-”

You hung up, not wanting to hear another word he was saying into the phone. You turned around to see John B and JJ waiting for you to finish up. You quickly wiped the evidence of tears off your face before walking towards them.

“Everything okay?” John B asked as he recognized your upset expression.

You forced yourself to smile as you shook your head, shoving your phone into your pocket. “My dad needs me home. Something about people visiting. I’m so sorry, JB. I tried to reason with him but he’s just-”

“You’re good, Y/N.” John B stood up to give you a hug, rubbing your back as he did so. “Seriously, don’t worry about it.”

“You were supposed to spend the day with us though!” JJ interrupted as he stood up. He was clearly upset about your departure and for some reason, he wanted to make sure you knew. “This is bullshit, Y/N! You’re seriously leaving early on his birthday.”

You shook your head, not needing JJ’s criticism at the moment either. Thankfully, John B came to your rescue. “Bro, leave it alone. There will be a million and one opportunities for us to watch movies together. It’s no big deal”

“It’s your birthday, man,” JJ continued to argue. “We promised we’d spend the day with you.”

You stepped back slowly, inching towards your car that was parked next to Kiara’s. “I’m sorry,” You mumbled as you watched your boyfriend try to reason. “I wish I could.” Without another word, you ran to the driver’s seat and climbed in. As the car came to life, you spared a glance out the window to see JJ glaring at you before driving away towards the place you barely considered home.

Kimberly had taken care of you herself once you arrived. It started with screaming about how you didn’t tell her you were leaving this morning, which you definitely did, she just didn’t listen. Then, it was pulling at your hair, followed by scratching the hell out of your arms and even your face with her razor sharp nails. It ended with her shoving you on the floor of the kitchen, telling you to clean the house until it was spotless or you’d regret it later.

You regretted not running away is what you told yourself as you showered later that night. Your knees were bruises from all of the cleaning and you swore Kimberly drew blood in multiple places with her devilish hands. It all ended with a lovely punch to the ribs from your dad once he found out that you didn’t clear your day’s events with them. Needless to say, you should’ve stayed at John B’s and never come home.

Crawling into bed, you let out a drained sigh at the feeling of your soft sheets and pillows. Nothing had ever felt more relaxing. You stayed there for a moment, just embracing the sound of silence that you had never found to be so peaceful. A second later, the silence was gone as someone knocked on the balcony doors.

With a quiet whimper, you pulled yourself out of bed to open your curtains to reveal JJ standing outside. You put a finger to your lips before opening the door slightly to let him in.

“What are you doing here?” You asked once you closed the door and turned to face him. Luckily, there was limited light meaning JJ wouldn’t see the true extent of what was going on behind your hair-covered face and long sleeves.

He shook his head as he kicked his shoes off and tossed his hat aside before flopping on your bed. “I wanted to see you. We didn’t get to spend much time together today.”

You frowned and moved to sit next to him. “I know. I’m sorry, Dad was just being really uptight about everything and-”

“Baby, it’s okay,” He said as he rolled on his side to face you. “Look, let’s not talk about it. I just wanna spend some time with you.”

You shuffled down to lay in his open arms, enjoying the smell of his cologne mixed with the weed he no doubt shared with Kiara at John B’s. You were grateful that JJ could sometimes see through the lines, even though he could be difficult at other moments.

“Missed you,” He hummed as he kissed your forehead, his lips moving down to press against your neck as he shifted to hover over you. Your hand lifted his chin up to meet your own as you locked your lips with his, moaning at the taste of his watermelon chapstick. You loved the little things about JJ, the things he probably wouldn’t even notice himself. Like the freckles on his face, or the dip of his collarbones in a white t-shirt.

JJ’s hands moved to your waist as his thumb rubbed a circle against your hip bone. The second his fingers wandered under your shirt however, it was game over. You gasped and pulled away, instantly sitting up as you shied from his touch.

“Y/N-”

“Sorry!” You interrupted as you put your head in your hands. “I just… I’m not in the mood, JJ.”

Completely flustered, JJ got off your bed to stand. “Not in the mood?” He repeated, “Y/N, what the hell is going on?”

“Keep your voice down,” You whispered as you feared your parents would hear.

“No!” JJ ignored your pleas. “You’ve been acting so weird lately, and now I think I know why. First, it was the other week when Kie dumped beer on me and you pulled away, then today leaving before movies, and now you’re not in the mood?” He mocked you as he waved his arms around angrily. “You’re cheating on me.”

“What?” You gasped as you got to your feet. “JJ, no. I swear that’s not what’s happening, I just-”

He cut you off, holding up his hand in front of you. “I don’t want to hear it. Until you tell me the truth, this, us. We’re done.”

You froze in your spot as he collected his stuff before walking out onto the balcony, slamming the door loudly behind him. You winced at the noise, praying it didn’t echo through the house. Your luck had run out, however, and the sound of stomping feet soon followed before your door was thrown open.

“What the hell was that?” Your dad shouted as he observed the room, noticing you were standing next to your bed silently. “Answer me!”

You shook your head as you pointed to the balcony. “I left the door open and the wind blew it shut!”

Your dad seemed to consider your answer for a moment before his eyes dropped to the floor. He took a few steps forward and bent down before standing up with a white necklace in his hand. You bit your tongue, instantly realizing it as the one JJ always wore.

“What’s this?” He asked as he turned to face you.

“It’s mine,” You answered quickly, “I made it.”

Your dad seemed to grow angry. “This isn’t your necklace. Was there somebody in here?’

“Dad, no, I didn’t-” You don’t even know why you bothered, he wouldn’t believe you anyway and instead of arguing, you just let him win.

If JJ had stayed on the balcony thirty seconds longer, he would’ve heard you cry. He would’ve heard the scream you let out from the pain your father inflicted on you, but he was gone. And instead, you were left to cry on your floor as you clutched the shark tooth necklace in your hand, wondering if you’d ever see him again.

--

The third time, JJ got answers.

You continued your life on but this time, it was without the Pogues. You hadn’t spoken or seen JJ, not that you really could considering you were grounded for lying. On top of that, you doubted he wanted to see you. He thought you were cheating on him, anyway. Why would he want to see you?

You left the rest of the group alone too, figuring they’d take JJ’s side over yours anyday. They had known him for so long, much longer than you, so you didn’t want to make them feel like they had to choose. You didn’t want to ruin their friendship because you failed at providing JJ the reassurance he needed.

The surprise came in the form of a text message. John B had asked you if you wanted to come get the stuff you left at his house, not knowing if you’d come back again. Although it was a sting to your already bruised heart, you knew this would be the final goodbye. Pulling yourself together, you waited until your dad and Kimberly were at work before sneaking out.

You twisted the shark tooth between your fingers as you drove silently, letting your mind wander until you pulled up to John B’s house. Thankfully, Kiara’s car was nowhere in sight, same with JJ’s bike, and you were hopefully it was only John B in the house.

“Hey,” You mumbled as you walked onto the porch. John B was laid out across the couch with an arm over his eyes as he waited for you to show up. When he looked at you, he swore it was a different person. Ever since you lost contact with JJ, you had taken it out on yourself. You looked so small, so weak compared to the last time he had seen you. He could only hope this plan would work.

“Your stuff’s inside,” He said after a moment while standing up. He watched you for a moment as if you would shatter into a thousand pieces in front of his eyes. “Come on.”

You followed him through the door to stand by the couch as he went in the back room to grab your stuff. A moment later, he reemerged with the pile in his hand. He stopped in front of you as you reached out to take the stuff from him. “Y/N, I’m really sorry for this.”

“Sorry for what? Ow!” You were tackled onto the couch as someone jumped onto you, pinning your arms above your head. Opening your eyes, you saw JJ hovering over you, his legs keeping yours down as he held you in place. “JJ, what the fuck?”

“What are you hiding?” He mumbled as he hand left your wrist to pull your shirt over your head. You screamed at the sudden motion, already feeling your body ache with the sharp movements as you tried to wiggle out of his grip.

“JJ, stop! You’re hurting her!” Kiara interjected as she attempted to pull him away. It was too late. JJ let go anyway, but he already found his answer. Your entire stomach was covered in bruises, not to mention the scrapes on your arms and bruised knees. He was in shock.

You pulled away from him, sitting up as you curled into a ball. You had wanted to tell JJ back when everything first started, but you feared you would get taken from your friends. That was the worst thing in your mind. You couldn’t lose JJ, or even Kiara, Pope, and John B to get away from your dad. They were the only people who you held close, who you could relate to and be honest with.

“Y/N…. what the hell?” JJ sat back on the couch in shock. Kiara placed a hand on his shoulder to give any form of comfort. Honestly, none of them expected this to be going on behind the scenes.

John B stepped forward and crouched down next to you, being careful as he placed his hand on your arm. “Y/N, can you tell us what happened?”

You shook your head as you tried to catch your breath. “My.. my dad and Kimberly aren’t the easiest people to be around. At first, it was fine. We were good and everything was good, but then they started getting mean and-and violent and I didn’t know what to do, okay! I just try to avoid them and please them and-”

John B pulled you into his chest, holding you in an attempt to calm you down. JJ was still trying to wrap his head around everything going on. He was no stranger to violent parents, but you had hid it so well he was shocked that he never knew. Sure, he had his suspicions, and he was worried, but he never would’ve thought it was this bad.

“Fuck. Y/N/N,” JJ mumbled as he reached forward to grab you from his friend and hold you in his arms. He never wanted this life for you. You didn’t deserve the pain of losing a parent just for another to not want you around. That wasn’t fair, this wasn’t fair.

“I”m sorry,” You whispered as you held onto his t-shirt tightly. “I didn’t mean to make you mad or-or lie. I don’t want anyone to find out and then I’ll lose you guys and it’s… I can’t do that, J.”

“You’re not gonna lose us, baby,” He responded as he kissed your forehead, his eyes narrowing on the necklace of his that you were wearing. He knew he had a million apologies to give, especially with your argument the other night, but for now, he just wanted to hold you and keep you safe. “I’m not gonna let that happen.”

There were a lot of things that you didn’t know, but as your friends surrounded you with their hugs and just stayed there with you silently, you started to learn. You learned that people don’t always judge on your decisions, that they’ll support you no matter what you’re going through or where you come from. But the most important thing was that you had found your family in the Pogues. That you knew for certain.

[minheeology]

treasure reaction ➳ you visit them at practice.

requested? : yes!

pairing : treasure x neutral!reader

genre : fluff!!

warnings : none.

word count : 2.2k

a/n : it was hard to come up with twelve scenarios.. but nevertheless, i hope you enjoy it!

hyunsuk

you walked down the halls of the building in which your boyfriend worked. you had just gotten back from a trip, and despite it being late at night, you decided that you wanted to see your boyfriend. pushing open the door to the practice room, it was fairly empty. only three members, your boyfriend included, were still practicing. upon hearing the door open, they all turned to look at you. hyunsuk let out a gasp and made his way over to you after telling doyoung and haruto to take a break.

“baby!” he said with a giant smile, “i missed you so much! yah, what are you doing here so late?”

as he pulled you into his arms, you replied, “i missed you too, that’s why i’m here! i don’t care how late it is, i wanted to see you.” you admitted shyly.

“you’re cute, you know. but your health is important!” he scolded, but he still gave you a kiss, happy to see you.

jihoon

it was your boyfriend’s birthday, and due to his busy schedule, you hadn’t had time to see each other much. at first, you accepted that you were going to have to celebrate jihoon’s birthday another day, but thanks to the other treasure members, this wasn’t the case. while treasure was practicing, hyunsuk made up an excuse to leave the room, and nobody thought anything of it. when he left, he went to find you, leading you to the practice room. you had a cake in your hands, adorned with candles, ready for your boyfriend to make a wish. you slowly made your way into the practice room, and the members began singing happy birthday almost immediately, having been in on the plan the whole time. needless to say, jihoon was indeed surprised.

“happy birthday, baby. make a wish.” you smiled and watched as he blew out the candles.

after doing so, he looked at you, “making a wish was difficult.. i already have everything i could wish for right here.”

yoshi

some days, you had to admit it. you missed your boyfriend. unluckily for you, he was constantly practicing. you knew what you were getting yourself into when you started dating yoshi since he’s an idol, but it was hard to be away from him. with this in mind, you got ready and made your way to the yg building. after texting hauruto for directions, you finally found yourself standing in front of the practice room. for several minutes, you stood outside, waiting until the music died down. when it did, you took this as your cue to walk into the room. everyone’s heads shot up to look at you, but yoshi was the only one to react.

“y/n?” he nearly yelled as he made his way over to you, “how are you, my love?” he pulled you in for a hug.

“i’m good, better than before now that i’m here,” you chuckled as you pulled away from the hug, “i’m sorry for showing up without warning, i just missed you a lot.”

“never be sorry, you’re always welcome here, okay? you should stop by more often.”

junkyu

it was your anniversary, and you wanted nothing more than to spend it with your boyfriend. unfortunately, he was preparing for a comeback, and you two never had time to make plans to celebrate. luckily for the both of you, you always thought fast. after confirming with a few people, you prepared a tiny picnic basket filled with yours and junkyu’s favorite foods, and made your way to the building where your boyfriend was currently learning knew choreography, completely oblivious to what was about to happen. when you arrived, jihoon let you inside, and led you to the room where junkyu was. when junkyu spotted you, he was initially shocked. he hadn’t expected you to show up, let alone with food.

“i come bearing gifts.. happy anniversary, junkyu..” you spoke as he strode over to you, placing a kiss on your lips.

“you’re so amazing, you know? happy anniversary, baby, i love you.”

“i love you too.”

mashiho

it wasn’t uncommon for you to surprise mashiho during practice. he was constantly working to improve his dancing despite the fact that he was incredible at it. however, recently, you had been busy with your classes, giving you no time to visit your boyfriend. this is why, when you showed up with some take out in hand, mashiho was caught completely off guard.

“baby?” he asked as he walked over to you, “i thought you had to study for a quiz?”

“i did- i do, but i wanted to see you first.. i figured you might be hungry. plus, you’re more important than a stupid quiz anyway.” you blushed lightly as mashiho planted a kiss on your forehead.

“well, then who am i to say no to you, angel. let’s eat!”

jaehyuk

you had always been close with the treasure members since the beginning. jaehyuk made sure of this, wanting all of the important people in his life to get along well. today, you were more thankful for this than ever. asahi had texted you saying that jaehyuk was being down on himself at practice and needed cheering up. after discussing it further, you rushed over to the building where your boyfriend was. you felt like you couldn’t walk fast enough as you made your way into the practice room. due to the force you used on the door, everyone turned to look at you.

“y/n, what are you doing-” you cut your boyfriend off as you pulled him into a hug.

he knew what this was about, not asking any more questions. he hugged you back, thankful to see you despite his initial reaction. when you pulled away, jaehyuk pulled you over to the side so that you didn’t interrupt the other boys.

“i’m sorry for just barging in.. asahi told me you were having a hard time, and i-” you started to ramble, but your boyfriend stopped you.

“i’m happy to see you, you know.. i needed to see you right about now. thank you for coming..”

“of course. i’m always here if you need me.”

asahi

lately you had been seeing asahi less and less. sure, you facetimed often, but it was nowhere near the same as seeing each other in person. you missed your boyfriend, but you also understood that you were both adults with things to do. still, you wanted to see him so bad. the thoughts of seeing him clouded your judgement and soon you were walking into the practice room unannounced. all twelve members looked at you in a slight panic, relieved to see it was just you who had walked in. asahi looked at hyunsuk for approval before walking over and hugging you tightly. neither one of you said anything as you both weren’t good with your words. you didn’t need to say anything. you both knew that this was something that you needed.

yedam

you and yedam were lucky enough to be classmates, so you saw each other often. however, on this particular day, yedam hadn’t shown up for school. you thought that maybe he was just sick and sleeping the day away, which is why he didn’t text you about missing school, but something was telling you that wasn’t the case. after exchanging a few texts with doyoung, you now knew that your boyfriend was not sick, but had been practicing all day instead. you took this as your cue to go and try to convince him to take a break. and that’s what you did. you arrived at the yg building after your classes and found yedam still dancing away in the practice room. since he was the only one in the room, you didn’t hesitate to walk in.

“hey..” you spoke, and yedam jumped, having not seen you walk in.

after turning off the music, your boyfriend looked at you, “baby? what are you doing here.. it’s late. you should go home and rest.”

“you need to rest too, yedam.” you started, “i came here partially because i wanted to see you, but also to tell you that you’ve done a great job today and deserve a break.”

after taking in your words, yedam nodded, “you’re right.. i just really want to nail this choreography.. but hearing you say this.. it means a lot- and i’m gonna listen to you. thank you for coming tonight..”

“i’ll always be here,” you kissed his cheek, despite him being sweaty, “now come on. let’s lay on the floor and you can play me some of the demos you’ve been working on.”

doyoung

you had been out with your friends when you realized you were close to the yg building. your friends convinced you to go say hi to doyoung, your boyfriend, but you didn’t know if you wanted to intrude on him like that. eventually though, you found yourself in front of the newly redone building. you told your friends you would catch up and sent them to continue shopping before making your way into the building. it was hard to navigate, but when you heard the loud music blaring down the hall, you knew that you were nearing your destination. 

when you walked into the room, you found doyoung in the room with four other members. when you and doyoung made eye contact, he blushed. having been the youngest member in the room, he did not expect for his girlfriend to come unannounced. doyoung acted fast though, walking over to greet you with a kiss on the cheek.

“babe, you didn’t tell me you were coming.. what a pleasant surprise.. what brings you here?” he asked, a shy smile still on his face.

“i was in the area with my friends and they convinced me to come see you..” you admitted, “i didn’t want to bother you, but they insisted.. plus, i kind of, well, really wanted to see you.”

“well, i’m glad they convinced you, because i really wanted to see you too.”

haruto

if you’re being honest, it kind of just happened. while watching a romcom alone, you started to realize how much you missed haruto in that particular moment. you hadn’t given it much thought before jumping up and getting ready to leave the house. once at the yg building, the place where you and haruto had first met, you navigated the halls with ease, walking into the practice room where your boyfriend was not three minutes later. haruto was shocked to see you, but greeted you with a hug despite it all.

“what are you doing here, y/n? not that i’m not happy to see you, but-” he cut himself off before he dug himself into a hole.

with a laugh, you shrugged, “i just missed you today is all.. i didn’t think about it much, i kind of just.. came here.”

“god, you’re so cute..” he chuckled, “do you wanna see the new choreo we’re working on? it’s so cool, i think you’ll like it..”

he sounded so excited, which made you excited as well, “of course i want to see it! what are you waiting for?” 

and with that, the music started playing once again.

jeongwoo

you didn’t plan to show up at the yg building, but jeongwoo missed class and you needed to bring him his work. had he answered your texts, you would have known he wasn’t home, but after a trip to the dorms with no answer, you were left with one other option. that’s what brought you here, watching your boyfriend practice through the window on the practice room door. sure, you should have assumed that he was busy, but you hadn’t been thinking straight until now. since you had already gone all the way there, you just walked into the practice room. 

jeongwoo noticed you right away, calling out to you, “y/n! hi!” he said before jogging over to you, “what are you- is that schoolwork?” 

“yes, it is.. they asked me to bring it to you, but i didn’t know where you were, so.. surprise?” you held the folder out to jeongwoo who took it and flipped through the pages.

“man, this sucks.. but hey, look at the bright side.. i got to see you.” he smirked a little but, prompting you to giggle.

“you’re so lame.. oh, yeah, and that’s all due tomorrow, by the way.”

“oh man.”

junghwan

this was all hyunsuk’s idea. junghwan, being the maknae of treasure, had been shy to introduce you to his members in fear of teasing. hyunsuk had taken it into his own hands, asking if you could stop by the dance studio during one of treasure’s dance practices, and you were more than happy to do so. however, as you were walking to the practice room, you started feeling nervous. you didn’t let this stop you though, as you’d take any chance to see your boyfriend. with this in mind, you walked into the practice room. when junghwan saw you, it looked as though his eyes would pop out of his head. he took quick strides towards you, his face begging the question of ‘why are you here?’

“hyunsuk invited me, if you’re wondering why i’m here.” you spoke, turning to look at all of the treasure members, “are you gonna introduce me?”

junghwan, clearly flustered, began to speak, “um.. this is my partner, y/n.. i’ve been meaning to introduce them to you guys for a while, but.. yeah.” 

“nice to meet you all,” you looked up at your boyfriend, “this is more awkward than i thought it would be.”

“yeah, me too.” junghwan agreed, causing the other eleven boys to laugh.

[woodrokiro]

Do It For the Band, Part Six (fic)

Fandom: Bleach

Pairing: IchiRuki

Summary: When Tatsuki said she wanted their sophomore album to be the next Rumours, this is NOT what she meant. Band AU. Read Part One, Two, Three, Four, and Five. 

Tatsuki never thought she’d live to see the day that she has to drag herself to jam with her friends.

Sure, she’s been pretty hung over on some of her work days; but she was always, always able to pull herself out of bed, pop a couple of Tylenol and be on her way to make a racket. It made no sense how she could still be giddy to beat some loud drums when she had a throbbing headache - but.

She loved it. She loved her band. 

She still does… But she hates Ichigo right now.

Ichigo, who’s being a real insensitive dick. Ichigo, who went on a date with Orihime, aka her-best-friend-aka-longtime-love-of-her-life-maybe-who-knows-she-never-got-a-chance-to-find-out-cuz-of-her-dickwad-friend. 

Ichigo, who is doing this as some stupid fucking vendetta against Rukia, or to forget her, or whatever the fact is being a dumbass and everyone is having to pay for it.

Needless to say: she’s worked herself up to a pretty furious state by the time she rages to practice.  

She stomps over to Chad’s garage, viciously lifting the the heavy door while simultaneously (unreasonably) half expecting to be faced with the sight of Ichigo and Orihime making out - 

When her eyes adjust to see into the garage, there’s none of that (thank God). They’re not even next to each other. Instead, she’s met with a very different sight.

Ichigo’s stewing in the corner, hands stuffed in his pocket and visibly grinding his teeth. Chad is sitting quietly next to him but definitely trying to blend himself into the shadows more than usual. Orihime is looking down at her hands across the room, silent and stiff.

And Rukia is plugging her phone into their speaker jack rather manically. 

“Ah, good afternoon Tatsuki!” Rukia greets the drummer with a too-large, sparkling smile that she recognizes as Rukia’s favorite mask to put on when she’s pissed. The vocalist has noticeable bags under her eyes from… Lack of sleep? Crying? Who knows. Her heart cracks for her.

The pity doesn’t last long when Rukia continues, sickly-sweet. “Since Ichigo was so kind to tell us we should start working on new stuff - “

“Woah woah woah, I didn’t tell you - ”

“My mistake!” Rukia sends Ichigo a somehow-withering smile that could kill. “You’re so right, we all agreed. In any case, I decided to start sooner rather than later. I recorded a quick version by myself last night at - oh, I don’t know, two A.M. - and sent it to Urahara by five.”

Ichigo’s foot starts tapping as he leans forward, arms crossed. “You sent something to Urahara without showing us first?”

“He said he liked it, but to get it passed through you guys. Of course I agreed, so… Here we are.” Rukia’s not looking at him any further, instead sending a hard glance to Tatsuki. 

The drummer knows it’s not really directed at her - more like a woman’s communication-without-words kind of thing - but she finds herself gulping anyway.

--

Here we are indeed. 

Oh you got stars in your eyes, baby

If you think this will work

I won’t follow your galaxies

Won’t fall for that fucking smirk. 

When will you realize the stars were never yours?

Never at any time, never at any time.

The song has turned to pure obliteration by the end. Rukia’s voice intentionally fades out at the finish, but not without absolute raw emotion, pure fury that leaves goosebumps on Tatsuki’s skin. 

Rukia stands in the middle of the garage, hands on her hips, looking proud and dangerous and fiery as she stares straight back at Ichigo’s stone-faced glare. 

Good for her, Tatsuki thinks before remembering: wait. She shouldn’t be rooting for this. 

This is the beginning of a war. 

As if on cue, Ichigo clears his throat, raising his chin to match Rukia’s arrogance.

“Great work, Kuchiki. Way better than anything you’ve done so far, I’d say.” 

Rukia’s nostrils flare. “Is that a comment on my previous work?”

“Not at all. Just… Inspires me to step up my game. In fact…” Ichigo stands up, dusting off his pants. “Is it cool with you all if I cut out early? Think I have some writing to do too, alone.”

“Absolutely not, Ichigo.” Tatsuki is shaken out of watching the trainwreck that’s her life. “Chad, Orihime and I did not come here for you to cut out without even practicing - “

“No, I think it’s fine, Tatsuki.” Rukia’s eyes glint with a challenge. “We can practice… Without Ichigo.” 

An excruciating silence follows. Tatsuki can practically hear Ichigo’s teeth crack beneath his grinding.

“... I can wait to write.” He roughly grabs his guitar, quickly getting to work on tuning it. “Teamwork is important. We’re nakama, after all.”

Something about the pointed word visibly causes the keyboardist to flush, but she starts to unplug her phone from the speaker jack anyway.

The next hour of practice may just be the most painful hour in Tatsuki’s life.

--

She thought she might have an idea of what happened between Ichigo and Rukia from Rukia’s song Celestial Lies - okay, so Ichigo broke a promise? - but seeing what kind of songs follow after that practice from both of them leaves it all… A little muddled.

The next day, Ichigo sends the group chat audio of a break up song.

Eyes softly gazed 

Heart breaking stare

Who knew you’d crush me 

Lying is your best jewelry you wear. 

Everyone hits a wary thumbs up reaction except Rukia, who hours later only replies: Did Urahara approve of this one?

Yes. Ichigo sends back at a neck-breaking speed… 

Followed by a :).

A few days later, Rukia sends another audio. 

It only took you ten days to realize 

I wasn’t good enough, but no one’s ever good enough

No one’s ever nice enough, 

No one’s ever fucked you enough

Called your bluff enough

Said your name like a God enough.

Now Ichigo’s response is a weird song about a siren with lavender eyes feasting on a golden-haired sailor’s skull, and Tatsuki didn’t know what to think happened but frankly? She doesn’t care. 

She calls Urahara immediately. 

“You know what this is gonna do to us, right?!” She shouts into the phone. “This isn’t doing anything but hurting the band, letting them go at it like this!” 

Urahara - to his credit - listens patiently from the other end as she explodes. He has the decency to voice his sympathies, that it must be really tough working in a group with… So many opinions.

“These aren’t opinions. These. Are. Fatalities.” She grits out. 

“I understand, Tatsuki-san, but…” She can nearly hear their manager shrug. “This is… How good music is made. I hate what it’s doing to your nerves, but you have to understand that this is how I get you guys out there.”

“At the expense of our friendship? What kind of manager are you -”

“A good one.” His voice drops low, suddenly serious in a way she’s never heard before. “What would you have me do, Tatsuki-san? Tell everyone to stop writing mean songs? Have them hug it out? You know that does nothing for any of us.” 

“That’s not what I’m... “

“Tatsuki.” His voice lifts, a bit gentler. “This is what you all wanted, what you’re working hard for. Whether or not they get through this… Nobody can say. But that’s not gonna change whether or not they stop writing these stellar pieces. You know how good they are. So… I hate to tell you, but you’re gonna have to suck it up. Enjoy it while it lasts. It might make your career.”

She hangs up immediately, knowing he won’t be offended.

He knows that she knows he’s right. 

--

Almost like a God-sent gift for Tatsuki’s suffering, Orihime breaks it off with Ichigo after only a few weeks. 

The relationship ends - quite spectacularly - in disaster after a couple of dates… Just as Tatsuki thought it would, but hey. She’s not going to gloat about it, only promises whatever deity is responsible a huge offering the next time she happens upon a shrine. 

She hears all about it from Orihime, of course - she’s way too pissed at Ichigo to speak to him about anything besides business - who tells her they got a couple of drinks, dinner a few times. 

“It’s a very nice time! But he’s not… It’s…” She sighs forlornly and it makes Tatsuki hurt for her. 

“He hasn’t made any moves, huh.”

The stage manager shakes her head, suddenly grabbing her water to keep the tears misting her eyes at bay. 

Tatsuki wants to kill him. 

“He said I looked nice. He opens the doors for me, pulls out my chair, pays for my bill. He and I have… Fun, I think. At least I do - and he’s very kind, such a gentleman -”

“It’s okay, Orihime. You can say it: he fucking sucks.”

Orihime laughs a watery laugh. “No, nothing like that. I just… This Rukia thing. It’s so… Intense, right? In practice? I should’ve known. I feel so stupid.”

“... Orihime.” The drummer puts her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Nobody could’ve known. Had I known? You’d find me on a cruise ship, drumming for some dumb cover band.” 

“You make jokes like that, Tatsuki, but you’re the band’s lifeline.” Orihime shakes her head, blinking back tears. “I just… Rukia is so… Goodness, she’s lovely. And talented. And so, so kind - “

“Orihime - “

“And I’m not one to be jealous, I know I’ve only known Ichigo for about a month now so I��m really not too upset about that. But I’d - I’d love to be someone’s first choice like that. I’d love to be the person that someone wants to write songs about, that inspires someone so much. Because that anger that’s coming through their songs… That’s them caring, you know? That’s them caring so much that good or bad, they want the whole world to know, and yeah I don’t love the bad so much but I do love love and want to be cared about like that one day but I’m not as smart or talented as Rukia-chan so - “

Tatsuki interrupts her by firmly pressing her lips to Orihime’s, her hands snaking into her gorgeous auburn hair and suddenly: everything is perfect, angels are singing and if she died at this very moment she would be too blissed out to fight it. 

She briefly breaks it off, nudging Orihime’s forehead with her own. “Rukia is also my friend, but don’t get it twisted. They’re both absolute shits.” 

Orihime laughs, smiling softly at the drummer before she goes back in and Tatsuki thinks band drama?

Who gives a fuck. 

--

Her new girlfriend calls her the next day to say she’s told Ichigo, and Tatsuki sighs. She was about to enjoy her morning by smoking a joint, but. Priorities, she guesses. 

She arrives at Ichigo’s apartment door within the hour, banging until he opens it.

“Y’know, how you get beyond the buzzer at the building entrance is beyond me - “

Tatsuki wastes no time. “Orihime told you, yeah?” 

Ichigo rolls his eyes, but a rare, small smile betrays him. “Yeah, she told me. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. You mad?” 

“What? No. Of course I’m not mad.” 

“Cool. ‘Cuz what the ever-loving fuck, Ichigo.” 

“... Not sure what you mean.” Ichigo’s eyes turn to flint as understanding dawns on him, and he’s about to close the door when she stomps on his foot. 

“Tatsuki, what the hell--”

“Don’t ever try to do that to me again. What is this all about?” 

“God, we didn’t have a - Orihime and I are friends! It’s all been worked out! What do you care, you got your girl - ” He shuts his mouth at the giveaway as Tatsuki narrows her eyes. 

“Is that what this is about? You didn’t get your girl so you tried to get mine?”

“No, Tatsuki. I had no idea you liked her, I would’ve never had - and what do you mean ‘my girl’?!”

She ignores the question and chooses instead to ask in reply: “Have you talked to Rukia?”

A beat.

“... We’re not discussing this, Tatsuki.” 

“Like, really talked to her? ‘Cuz I know you, and a whole lot of this bullshit could’ve been avoided had you just - “

“I’m not discussing this with you Tatsuki.” He looks down at his phone, lighting up the screen to look at the time. “Look, there’s a few more hours until practice and I wanted to get in some writing - “

“Of course you do.”

“... Just do me a favor. Please? Don’t - don’t ask me to talk about that stuff. You’re my friend and you scare the shit out of me - but I’m drawing the line there. Unless it has something to do with the band - “

She’s getting pissed all over again. “Ichigo, you know it effects the band - “

“We’re professional.” He snaps, and the quick show of temper stuns Tatsuki. He’s never had the nerve to talk to her like that, ever.

She’d be impressed if it wasn’t for the circumstances.

“... Congrats again on you and Orihime. I’ll see you two at practice tonight.” 

He slams the door.

“... And you can kick my ass for doing that, later!” His muffled shout sounds from the other side of the door. 

Tatsuki leaves in a hell of a less good mood than when she came.

[littlebabycrybtch]

bro..... im sooo tired of ppl being whiny freaks about ppl liking fictional shit ‘~too much~’. like bitches are literally fully convinced if you prefer acting out certain ideas in fiction but not irl, thats not your normal preferential boundaries but rather your brain is a mental illness BOMB and you need to be fucking hospitalized for being imaginative and having autonomy. like yall if its not taboo or smth shut uuuuhp man you’re not ‘concerned for their health’ or w/e you’re fully just tryna get away with being a nihilistic asshole who lacks sympathetic reasoning skills. listen to me. fiction is valuable. the thoughts we have on it are important. the personal lack of value you happen to put on a media is next to worthless. its not a fuckin waste of time dude, creators are people, who live in the real world, they experience it and have ideas through it and about it, they form and tweak their ideas while still definitely existing in the real world, and then put that back into the world with a new angle and new perspective, to share with other people definitely encountering it in , you guessed it , the real world. thats not disconnected. its not nothing. these things do not magically appear from fairytale land, they are created. stories mean smth, people tell them for a reason, its ok to feel smth for any story, why would we even tell them if not with the intention to impact others emotionally somehow i mean??? fiction does not Just affect reality, it is valuable to real life society, it is a functioning thriving part OF reality. 

humans have told stories since the dawn of our existence. it is literally all but an inherent species trait for us to imagine things, its tied to each and every one of us, and to reject ‘fantasy’ as smth worthless to human life is frankly just fuckin wrong and weird of you. bitch we are Supposed to get outside the box, the fandom ppl you cringe your pants over arent thinking abt fake shit too much, you guys very often just arent exercising abstract thought and imagination enough, which actually hurts your ability to engage with it critically in all the ways its meant to be. if you dont see the value in fiction its because you put in no effort to form the analysis skills. in other words, you idiots dont get the hype bc you’re too stupid to get how you're supposed to compare a book to the real world it came from. ‘uu but cmon not everythings valuable what about [tumblr designated cringe media]-’ 1. ok! somehow you havent come to this conclusion yourself yet but thats not real, whatever ppl get to enjoy is not all abt you, your bias means less than dirt to others outside of hivemind social medias, you can keep it to yourself, ppl shouldnt care about it bc it means nothing outside of ur own space, its literally funny to me that you’re so elitist you want me to cater my interests to you, Your Standard Of Quality Isnt Universal, 2. ranking the values of fiction is the waste of time here, if you compare mlp to pride and prejudice ill dissect your teeth, different emotional impacts from tragic to funny to Just A Vibe are all able to be assessed as ‘valuable to somebody else so leave well enough alone’ if you dont have 2010+ funnyman brainrot disease that makes you incapable of reflecting on anything you can find a way to joke abt first.

i mean seriously like. whenever randos start engaging with medias you ppl dont like or in ways you dont get, the strawmans yall make up to get to be cringe culture vultures abt such benign shit, and almost Always at the expense of neurodivergent people with a deeply rooted undertone of extreme ableism might i add..... its just so selfish. u have a brain ok, you’re manipulative but we both know you dont Actually think ppl automatically default to being a waifu obsessed incel rotting away at their basement computer, stagnating their social skills and straying further and further from reality with each passing day, a poor disturbed wretch that you just HAVE to save from themselves, all bc they say they. prefer fictional porn or w/e to having sex irl. buddy thats not a big deal, theyre normal, just different from you. theyre fine, you’re just uncomfortable. as a functioning adult you’re gonna have to try and recognize that sometimes that feelings gonna be 100% on you, and you cant always just lie abt the validity of it to make ppl feel obligated into agreeing with you. this is gonna be one fragment of their personhood and your self obsessed brain imploding over how unrelatable that is doesnt fucking matter, grow up bitch like. how detached do you have to be to think thats so unstable or morally wrong.... its just a completely inconsequential preferential decision that only affects them and isnt a wrong choice at all cuz nobody has to get their dick wet if they dont wanna for any reason ever and thats gotta be that tbh.... and it kills me cuz they still inherently experience the real world and are capable of thinking abt it critically,,, even tho they... masturbate to drawings or w/e the fuck ppl think is unhealthy ???? like? imagination is just fun we dont need to moderate it anymore than we moderate other fun activities i mean lol ksdjfsd this is the DEFINITION of ‘just vibing’ no one FUCKING cares and it deosnt fucking matter the way you desperately try to make ppl think it does just so u get to be loud abt ur shortcomings as a decent understanding person. 

‘uuuuuu im sorry but thats unhealthy :///’ you sound like a goddamn maniac dude stories are not unhealthy having feelings abt them is not unhealthy thinking some anime bitch that was DRAWN TO BE HOT , IS HOT, is not UNHEALTHY and you clowns arent convincing anybody you ‘care’ abt that concept anyways !! im losign my mind here skdlsdfsd medias are literally DESIGNED TO DO THIS TO PEOPLE... WE’RE SUPPOSED TO FEEL THINGS FOR IT.... IT IS WHAT MAKES THE ART WE’VE TAKEN PART IN FOR CENTURIES, “ART”.... ITS JUST... HAVING IDEAS AND EXPERIENCING IMAGINATION..... whats wildly unhealthy actually is yalls toxic obsession with ‘harsh truth’ and validating your stupid ass cwinge feewings to the point where everything that gives your underdeveloped selfish ass hives has to be a matter of health and morals and whats ‘best’ for everyone. u dont know that shit!!!! ur a petty brat and im not ur mommy ok i wont baby you so u dont feel like the shitty whiny person you are, you need to grow and do better and think outside urself already, dont put the responsibility of making u feel right for judging somebodies benign hobbies on me. i wont bc its wrong and unnecessary. you’re not a savior no ones falling for that lmao you’re just a bitch girl xoxo get over it shit truly does not matter. let them write nsfw self insert fics instead of banging !! 

to make it real do yall really not Get that basic consent kinda doesnt just mean ‘no when im not in the mood at the time’ but it means ‘no if i just dont fuckin feel like having sex ever for literally any reason at all bc i choose what i do’ and pressuring them, even with what your warped brain translates as the best of intentions, is inherently disgusting? especially with the ‘i know how to help you’ attitude like......... ohhh die soonly ew lmao! lay off this nasty shit already please it doesnt matter! stop trying to make it matter!! its not hurting you or them you stupid tumblr phd ass!! and like again yeah some media shits just truly gross but tbr now its like even That kind of shit, the Real social issues caused by Actually problematic media that ppl should discuss Genuinely without ulterior motives, is being used more and more rampantly as just a stepping stone to get to the needless mockery of other harmless things in the media they want an excuse to bag on.......... like a bitch cant just be grown and talk about problems at face value without getting a bully jab in. smhhhhh you all fuckin suck please just stop talking already. so anyways yeah being attracted to fictional characters instead of real people or w/e IS funny, funny how many boyfriends they have when u have none xoxo theyre having fun and you can die sad abt it they get to die 5 times in an angsty fantasy fic and be brought back with mouth to mouth by fuckin kakashi every time and then they go get lunch irl while ur updating tinder bitch ... different fucking strokes ig !

[just-a-creep-babe]

Matchup!

Commissioned by my frendo @your-friendly-neighborhood-elf, thank youuu!

~Requests are closed~

Masterlist: x

I match you with: Jeff the Killer and BEN Drowned

Ah yes, the chaotic polyam squad

Jeff is usually a major jealous asshole, but for some reason, he’s fine with you being with BEN at the same time

There’s just something about who you are as a person that reassures him

He’s still snarky and sassy bout it tho, there’s no changing that about him smh

Your relationship with them is a very “fight me” “I can fight myself better than you can, tiny” kinda thing

Which basically means lots of playful teasing and totally ridiculous arguments

BEN’s not the tallest guy, but he’s definitely taller than you, so he makes a lot of short jokes 

He can’t make them very often, just let him have this

They both like ruffling up your hair and messing with you just cos they can

And they also think it’s super cute when you snap at them & act all feral hehe

Cuddle piles are definitely a thing

BEN’s usually the one to initiate them, and Jeff almost always grumbles about it, but he can’t hide how much he likes them

Good luck trying to get out of those btw, because they will pin you down & smother you any way they can to force you to stay

Also, the fact that you’re always getting sick?

That’s not gonna stop them from squishing you against them whenever they feel like it

Y’all end up sick together all the time 

E.J’s completely discouraged and Dr. Smiley’s given up on trying to help you three

Also, one time, they tried to team up & make you some chicken noodle soup to help 

And it actually did taste pretty good & you felt better

But the kitchen was a mess 

There were noodles on the walls, some dangling from the ceiling, even a couple lodged in the strangest nooks & crannies 

They got grounded for a while 

It’s a miracle they made it this far in life tbh

They’re not very good at helping whenever you’re in pain ngl, but they do try

BEN tries to distract you from it, usually with video games and more stupid jokes

While Jeff tries to force you to work out with him because he thinks it might help

It doesn’t really, but I mean, it’s the thought that counts, right?

If you ask either of them, they’ll gladly steal totally legally acquire painting materials & art supplies for you to keep doing art and sfx makeup

They’re both thoroughly impressed by your skills, and while Jeff sometimes scoffs or shrugs it off, saying he could do better, he honestly can’t hide how amazed he genuinely is

He doesn’t really like admitting he cares or anything, so if you bring it up & tease him about it, he’ll get all defensive 

BEN’s more receptive to vulnerability & affection

He likes hyping you up and talking about how great you are, how skilled your work is, how you’re so cute and adorable and tiny

And he’s actually a pretty good hype man tbh

So whenever you’re starting to get anxious, or when someone says something mean to you, he’s there ASAP to comfort you

Lotsa compliments and praising uwu

And he doesn’t just bs either; he honestly means everything he says

If you just wanna vent to him, or cuddle together while he plays a game, that’s all good too

He just wants you to be happy <33

If Jeff finds out someone hurt you in any way

Hoooo boy, they’ve got another thing coming

Nobody talks shit to his favorite person

Ever

He’ll threaten them & even fight them if he has to; anything to make them think twice before hurting you again

BEN’s got a bit of adhd too tbh

In fact, he’s happy he can relate to you better when it comes to certain things neurotypicals can’t understand

Sometimes Jeff gets confused as to what tf you guys are talking about cause it’s a bunch of random shit he can’t keep up with

So BEN very often calls him out on it for “being such a plebe”

Which gets him a good smack up the head

But let’s be honest, he prolly deserved that at some point

ALSO since you’re so good at doing sfx makeup, the three of you have definitely pulled off some good pranks in the mansion

And I mean, how could any of you resist, right?

Masky’s probably the most common victim

He’s just so grumpy & paranoid all the time, he needs to lighten up~

The best one was when Hoodie was in on it & you made it look like his face was all fucked up

And then Jeff pretended to be stabbing him just when Masky walked in

And, needless to say, he was none too pleased at the sight

Slender had to end up interfering, and it was a lil scary in the moment, but in hindsight, the lot of you can’t help but crack up at the thought

The look on Masky’s face lmaoo

The boys own a good few pairs of weed themed underwear too

And a few of them have similar designs 

So sometimes y’all end up sharing them accidentally?

It’s probably fine tho

Cause if you’re wearing it, it means it was put through the wash, so at least they‘re not gonna dirty, yknow?

They’ll smoke up & drink with you whenever you’re in the mood

BEN prefers smoking and Jeff prefers booze, but they don’t usually turn either down

The three of you are a straight up force to be reckoned with

Like I said, an absolute chaotic squad

Your bond is insanely strong since you’re dating your best friends and vice versa

And like, no joke, other people are super jealous of what you have and also afraid sometimes ngl

You’re the perfect trio of complete madness & disarray but also love and occasional soft boi hours uwu

[xxfanfiction-emo-trinityxx]

Ripped Jeans and Greasy Hair (Part Three) - Gerard Way x Reader

Request: Hi, your blog is awensome. Can you do part 3 of Ripped Jeans and Greasy Hair? It's one of my favourite. And maybe this time with more Patrick and Joe and other MCR members? Word count: 2 371 A/N: I want to apply to a semester at another university (if I get into my first choice, I’ll be so fucking happy), and I just wrote the application, and my mum suggested I also tell them I write fanfiction. So now there’s deadass “Writing shortstories for readers online” in that fucking document. Holy shit. Dear person who decides on this matter, don’t ask me irl about this unless you’re the prof who used fanfiction to talk about genres (I’m willing to bet five bucks he’s written fanfic (probably for Buffy) himself). Also: the beginning of this story is weird, but I had it in my head and it made me laugh so… yeah.

“When I told you-“

“When you told me-“

“No, when I told you…”

“Yes?”

“What did I tell you?”

“Exactly! You didn’t tell me shit!”

“Oh fuck!”

You laughed hard at Joe’s reaction, when he realised he had forgotten to check in with you for the birthday party he had started planning for Patrick. He had started organising stuff, but doing it for such a huge party alone was a lot of work, so he had walked up to you at your locker to complain about you not helping. Only that he had not told you anything, and you had assumed the birthday party for Patrick would be a small one, like the last years; just his closest friends, some cake and star Wars.

“Okay, calm down, so what do you have so far,” you offered, while searching through your locker for your math book.

“Um, my neighbour works at this sorta venue thing, and somehow he can give the whole room to us for the entire evening, and he said if he can come to we don’t even have to pay anything, so there’s that-“

“Which venue?” Your eyes widened when Joe told you. That hall was certainly big enough for a party with a hundred people. “Dude, what do you have planned?”

“Trouble in paradise,” a familiar voice mocked, and a moment later an arm, dressed in smooth leather, got wrapped around your shoulder.

“Joe organised The Night Hall for Patrick’s birthday,” you explained, turning your head to give Gerard a quick kiss on the cheek, which made him blush.

You had no idea why, but even after several months of dating and kissing, he still blushed when you surprised him with an affectionate gesture. But then again it was no different the other way around.

“Oh, big party then,” Gerard nodded, a grin spreading over his face, “I’m in!”

“Sure you are,” you laughed, and slammed the locker shut, “the other question is whether Patrick is in.”

“Sure I’m in,” Patrick’s cheerful voice surprised you from behind, “in on what?”

“Lunch, dude,” Joe quickly made up, “I saw there’s potatoes on the menu today, and we thought we don’t want to poison ourselves, so the plan is to go for pizza.”

Patrick nodded enthusiastically, and adjusted his trucker hat.

“If it’s pizza I’m double in,” he announced, making everyone laugh, and together you walked to class.

You had to admit, since you had gotten together with Gerard, a lot of things had changed. Your former group of three had extended, and now that you and your friends also hung out with Gerard, you had gotten to know his brother, and his best friend Ray. The six of you often spent hours talking about movies or playing your favourite records, sometimes you went out to a concert or spent an entire evening cooking a meal with several courses.

Before Gerard had saved you from your bullies that one Friday, you had often spent time with Patrick and Joe, and you had always felt like you were friends. But now, you spent even more time together, which was weird because you had assumed, you would have to split up the time between your friends and your boyfriend. Luckily it turned out that Gerard got along with the two perfectly, and after hanging out with them, Ray, and Mikey, he often came over to your place, or you to his, and you spent the late hours of the evening hanging out. All in all it did not only feel like you had made more friends, but as if you had grown closer to ones you had already had.

It turned out that it was a lot more difficult to help Joe organise Patrick’s party than you had imagined. Because you were spending almost all the time together, you had to find little moments in between, when Patrick was out of the room, to talk about what you still had to discuss. And just in time for his birthday you had finally arranged everything. Joe had invited a few people from outside of school, mostly musicians he and Patrick knew from the local scene, there were some classmates, a couple of friends from Patrick’s old school, and all the people these guests would bring along. Luckily the hall would not be full with all of these people, otherwise catering, which had been your task, would have been hell to organise. This way you had found a bakery that had offered a good price for small backed goods and sandwiches, and Joe had told people to bring drinks themselves.

The most complicated thing was to keep Patrick unsuspecting, until you had him standing in front of the entrance of the hall. The entire day you had pretended to have nothing planned, and you had even started to panic mildly, when Patrick had told you that his parents were planning on going out for dinner with him, but Joe had luckily managed to have them go out before the party started.

It was needless to say that Patrick was slightly overwhelmed by the effort Joe and you had put into the party, but luckily he agreed to go in none the less, something you had been worried about the entire time. You knew Patrick easily got anxious about big events, and especially when he was the centre of attention. But now he seemed happy and faltered as all the guests cheered when he entered the hall. Soon you left the birthday boy’s side, and found Gerard, who was haning out at the buffet (where else?), together with Mikey and Ray.

“So, he actually came,” Gerard joked, wrapping his arm around your waist, as if it was the most natural thing on earth,

“He did,” you laughed, and linked your thumb into his back pocket, “he was actually happy.”

“Told you he would be,” Ray grinned.

“Yeah, yeah,” you giggled, “you were right, we know.”

Ray rolled his eyes playfully at your mocking, and grabbed another sandwich.

“So-,” Mikey looked between you, his brother and Ray, “what’s the plan for the rest of the evening?”

“I dunno,” you shrugged, “what do people do at parties, other than eating all the snacks?”

Underlining your comment you grabbed a breadstick, and started munching on it.

“Dancing, I suppose,” Gerard suggested, and nodded to the group of people who had already started moving to the music in the middle of the big room.

“Let’s be honest here, we all suck at dancing,” the comment came from Joe, who had snuck up from behind, surprising you. He was followed by Patrick and a guy with deep brown eyes, and dark hair.  You recognised him from one of the concerts you had been at with the guys. What was his name again, Pete?

“Then let’s dance all together, so we don’t look so stupid on our own,” Gerard shrugged, stealing the half eaten breadstick from your hand, causing you to gasped in fake shock.

“That’s a sight nobody wants to see,” Patrick laughed, but just like the others he seemed not quite as reluctant as you about the suggestion.

“You just gotta pretend you know what you’re doing,” the guy behind Joe explained, “then nobody will care.”

The group slowly moved into the direction of the improvised dance floor, in the middle of the room. If you were being honest, you had never been good at or a fan of dancing, and it surprised you the others were so keen on it; that was until you saw what they understood under dancing. It was as if all of them had silently agreed that their attempts at trying to be sexy (or whatever people were doing on the dance floor) would end in absolute embarrassment. They all were jumping around to the upbeat music, reminding you of the concerts you went to sometimes.

Gerard grabbed your hand and spun you around a couple of times, until he caught you in his arms. You giggled, feeling a suspicious burning in your cheeks as a blush worked itself onto your face. Even with the upbeat music around you, Gerard swayed slowly to the music, holding you close, not caring about the chaos of your friends jumping around you.

Smiling softly you reached up to his face, and brushed a strand of his black hair out of his eyes, making him smile as well. As if the playlist Joe had created for tonight had known how much you wanted to dance slowly with your boyfriend, the next song that came on was a slower one. You felt how Gerard let go of your waist where he had placed his hand, and instead wrapped it around your back, pulling you into him, his other hand gently holding yours. It never ceased to amaze you how different his hands were to yours; his hands elegant, but calloused, so carefully taking hold of yours, while you felt rather clumsy using your own. If he had ever noticed, he had never mentioned it. Now his warm, dry fingers closed around yours; sometimes moving slightly, brushing over the back of your hand. Your other hand, like a reflex, found its place on the back of his neck. Slowly, playfully, you wrapped strands of his dark hair around your fingers, and you grinned when you remembered how intimidated you had been by him in the beginning, you had been outright scared.

“What?”

You could hear the insecure smile in Gerard’s voice, and looked up from the button with the band logo he was wearing on his shirt.

“Nothing, just…” you took a long look at him.

It was weird. He had come across as so confident and careless the first times you had met him, and even when you had gotten together, you had sometimes wondered where he took all that confidence from. But the better you had gotten to know him, the more you had realised that, just like Pete had said, he was faking it and nobody doubted he was in it for real. It had been a slow realisation that had started just a couple of days after your trip to the beach. It felt like a wall had started to break down, a wall he had already kept thin around you, but the more he started to trust you, the more he fell for you (and you could feel him falling for you more and more each day, just like you fell for him), the more he broke down that wall, revealing the same doubts and insecurities that you did not know how to hide.

You knew he was scared you did not love him. You knew he was worried you would realise one day that you deserved more than the school punk. He did not want you to feel that way, but he was scared of it anyway. You knew because he had told you, just the other week. In the beginning you had been hurt, thinking you were not good enough at expressing your emotions for him, which were as strong as they had never been for anyone, and since it had been a late Saturday night, and you were already talking, you had immediately shared that thought with him. Which in turn had made him worry again. But in the end you had come to the conclusion to just try to stop doubting your own self-worth, and to be honest with each other, and now that you remembered how insecure you had been about him, and he had asked, you decided to share it with him.

“I just remembered how scared I was by you in the beginning,” you confessed, gently brushing over his neck, and weaving your fingers into his hair.

“Scared,” Gerard echoed, a surprised look on his face.

“Yeah, you were pretty intimidating, with your leather jacket, and the ripped jeans, and your black hair,” you giggled, gently tucking on said hair.

“You think ripped jeans are intimidating,” the insecure smile on Gerard’s lips turned into an adoring, yet amused one.

“Nah, just you in general, always getting in trouble, never smiling…”

“I do smile,” Gerard protested.

“You didn’t smile at school,” you corrected, “I’d like to think that changed.”

Gerard furrowed his brows.

“Oh my god, I was like Mikey,” he realised, making you laugh.

Indeed the younger Way seemed less expressive, but when you turned your head, you found him goofing around with Patrick and Pete by the side of the buffet, accompanied by a young boy you knew was from New Jersey, and had just moved here recently.

“Ah, look at him now, he can smile too,” you joked, and nodded to the four boys.

“Seems like it,” Gerard agreed, “I think smiling suits him.”

“Happiness suits everybody,” you reminded him, “oh, and I was really uncomfortable when I found out you knew where I lived.”

“When I brought your book over,” Gerard remembered, “yeah, you looked uncomfortable. And I was so embarrassed when you didn’t know we were neighbours!”

“Trust me, I was probably more embarrassed,” you grinned.

“Oh were you now,” he giggled, and brushed his nose against yours.

You just hummed in response and kissed him, relishing the familiar smell and taste of his soft lips.

“Get a room you too,” Joe shouted. The people around you laughed, but Gerard just let go of your hand, and flipped him off without breaking the kiss, making you smile.

You spent the rest of the evening joking around, and dancing with your friends. Pete introduced the boy from New Jersey as Frank, and all eight of you, Pete, Patrick, Joe, Mikey, Ray, Frank, Gerard and you, made absolute fools of yourselves jumping around to the music, but it was fun and you did not want it any other way. Sometimes all of you were dancing together as a group, Patrick tried to dance a waltz with you to a rock song, which worked surprisingly well, Joe spun you around until you were so dizzy you had to sit down for a couple of minutes, and all the time you knew Gerard was watching you with the same love-struck glimmer in his eyes as you were watching him.

Taglist (if you want to be added or taken off, please let me know):

General: @justawriterinprogress @robinruns @jayloverthe3rd @lookalivefrosty @butterfly-writes @angelevansfalls @rene-royale @500240

MCR: @deadlovers

[oneshot-wxnderland]

Family Day | Damian Wayne

summary: It’s Family Day at Gotham Academy so the fam pulls up to antagonize the Demon Spawn and end up meeting his not-so-secret crush Y/n.

category: fluff

______________

          It was the day Damian had been dreading for a month since the stupid principal had announced it: Family Day. The day where everyone brought their families to Gotham Academy to show them their stupid awards and their stupid teachers and their stupid projects. Needless to say, Damian was not a happy camper.

          Of course he had tried to hide it from his father, but Bruce knows everything. So there they were, pulling up with the whole crew to the prison where Damian spent most of his time. Bruce came because as an upstanding citizen of Gotham it was his duty to attend, and also because he wanted to support his son, no matter how begrudgingly that support was received. And of course the rest of the ass-hats had to come along just to patronize him.

          Damian rolled his eyes at each praise Bruce gave him for all the awards he got and glared murder at all of the sarcastic praises the rest of them felt oh-so inclined to provide. He didn't care about some stupid awards that anyone could get, and as they went from class to class, Damian found it getting harder and harder not to murder his very adoptive brothers.

          Then it was time for the one class that made Damian at least not scowl as deeply as the others: art class. As Damian's entourage entered the room that had color bursting from every inch of it, they were taken aback by all of the paintings, drawings, and even sculptures that were created by their little brother.

          "Wow Damian," Jason said as he leaned his elbow on the shorter boy's head. "None of these portray how psychotic or brooding you are."

          "Shut it, Todd," he retorted, immediately throwing the arm off.

          "Ah, Mr. Wayne, so nice to finally meet you." Both of their heads turned to see the art teacher shaking Bruce's hand. "Damian has done amazingly in my class. He's my sketching star."

          "Hear that Damian? You're a star!"

          "Grayson, I will end you."

          Something caught Tim's attention and he turned to the photographs mounted on the wall. A couple of them featured Damian, except he wasn't the Damian he knew, this Damian was smiling and... happy.

          "Whatcha lookin' at, Timmy?"Jason showed just as much surprise as Tim did. "Dick, get over here."

          "Is that Damian?"

          "No it's his long-lost twin, dipshit."

          Jason looked closer to the name card that was under the photos.

          "Y/n Y/l/n. Who’s that?"

          "Dick, Jason, Tim, come on."

          When lunch time had slowly crawled in, Damian lead them to a secluded spot under a giant oak. It was where he always ate and it had a good view of the rest of the courtyard.

          While Damian was ignoring all of his brothers' joking attempts at conversation, he was subtly watching a certain picnic table where a head of Y/h/c hair he would know anywhere was sitting. He continued not-creepily watching when he saw James Isaac sit down next to her, his eyes narrowed and he gripped his sandwich tighter. James was the school jock, if you could call him that. He was all talk and believed himself to be the greatest gift to this world since protein shakes.

          James sat down next to her a little too close for Damian's comfort, and it was obvious that it was a little too close for her's as well. Y/n scooted the tiniest inch away, the movement too small for anyone else to notice, but Damian always noticed everything about her.

          And that movement was enough to get Damian on his feet.

         "Wait here," he said in a low, bordering-on-dangerous voice. His sudden mood swing surprised them. Now Damian was always seemed angry and sour faced, but it was rare for any of them to see him this angry and sour faced.

          As Damian was walking over to the table, he saw James' cool composer turn to one of embarrassed rage. He couldn't hear what they were saying but he could tell it was not going in James' favor. Then James roughly grabbed Y/n's wrist when she tried to walk away from him.

          “Listen here you-”

          "Should leave now," Damian cut in and they both looked up at him, Y/n smiled in relief and James scowled. 

          "Excuse me?" James said, incredulous, standing up and getting in Damian's face.

          Meanwhile under the oak tree, the rest of the boys were watching on with a variation of emotions. Jason looked on with a bemused smile, Tim was just plain confused, while Dick and Bruce were getting worried about Damian turning violent.

          Damian didn't even have to say anything, the cold-steel look he gave James was enough to scare him off make him leave with a halfhearted, "Whatever."

          "Thank you, Damian," Y/n's relieved voice took Damian out of his revere of staring murder at James' retreating form. He looked down at her eyes (which, completely coincidentally, were now his new favorite color) and sat next to her.

          "Can I see your arm?" He asked and gingerly took her wrist into his hand, checking it over for injuries. "It probably won't bruise, you should be good."

          "Thanks, I just can't stand him."

          "Who can?" Y/n laughed and all the remaining tension melted from his shoulders.

          "Where's your family?" he asked, noticing nobody else with her, and also trying to ignore the blush creeping up his to his cheeks.

          "They couldn’t get off work," She answered, but her attention wasn't on him. "And I think yours is staring at us."

           Damian's head immediately whipped around and he saw the them all look away. Jason even had the nerve to start whistling.

          Turning back to Y/n, he groaned and heard her suppress a laugh.

          "I guess I'd better go introduce you," Damian said, standing up and reaching his hand out for her.

          "I'd like nothing more."

          As they made their way back to the tree, Jason leaned over to Dick and said in a loud whisper, "I think that's Y/n."

[plusultratm]

❛ if all was lost, there’s more i gained - ‘cause it led me back to you. ❜ (from Keigo)

        ❝ Did they send you in to say that? ❞

It was the first question that popped out of her mouth, and honestly, the only question that made sense in that moment.

Rosario had lost everything all over again, not only that, but they were waving her dignity above her head, at this point they were mocking her. It hadn’t been enough for them to push her husband to his very limits, they also had destroyed any possibility for her to go on with her life, and now...

Heroes, cops, the commission, none of them had any integrity whatsoever.

The man in front of her even less.

Rosario had raised her walls back up, higher and thicker than before, and she wasn’t willing to make the same mistake as before; letting him in, letting him fool her, not anymore, not ever again.

       ❝ Are they really so stupid to believe I’ll comply to anything just because it’s you asking me? ❞ She asked, tears already welling in her eyes as she kept her gaze on the metal table in front of her. ❝ Are you? I always knew it was a mistake to trust you... and it seems like you just haven’t had enough, mocking me for it. ❞

With a sigh, she ran her fingers through her hair, thinking of activating her quirk but deciding against it; not because she respected whatever was going on in his head as she did once, but because she didn’t care to know. People could still lie, even with their thoughts, and she wasn’t exposing herself to more of his treachery, not voluntarily.

       ❝ I don’t want their help, I don’t need anyone’s help! I asked for it before and nobody listened, why is it different now? I’ll take life in prison before creating anything for them. ❞

Her voice was shaking as she spoke, it had this grit to it too, breaking before she could finish her sentence. She was aware they would not stop trying, and if she didn’t comply... well. It was needless to say she was scared, but she wouldn’t budge, and she certainly would not let him of all people in on her secrets and her feelings.

It was about time she buried them anyway. Her love, her tenderness, her joy, her womanhood... it all should’ve died when Yuudai did.

This time she learned the lesson right.

—  @hellrisn

[secret-engima]

Nox keeps giving the media meltdowns. How's that, y'know, working out for him? And what's the general reaction around the Citadel crew to the media circus? Also, how do people feel when they realize exactly how /powerful/ Nox is?

Hmmm for the most part, Nox is ... ambivalent to how many times he sends the media into a tizzy. He’s got memories of 2k worth of royalty and scandals, he remembers the invention of media networks and sometimes dreams of the invention of the flipping printing press. There is literally nothing they can say about him that he doesn’t already have memories of somehow. Honestly, it’s .... alternately tiring and hilarious to him. He kinda wishes people would take a chill pill, but on the other hand, since Regis would never force him to deal with the media circus unless Nox willingly agreed to it, he doesn’t particularly care. At least until he wants to- you know- leave the Citadel and go literally anywhere in Insomnia and Then It Becomes A Problem (Nox misses the days he was just a nobody with earrings and baggy clothes. So much). Though, since he knows that nothing he can do or not do will calm them down, he does occasionally indulge in intentionally poking them with a proverbial stick.

By Citadel crew I’m uncertain to if you mean Regis and Co + Chocobros or the long-suffering Citadel press corps, so I will just do both-

-Regis feels So Very Sorry for his eldest. He knows he couldn’t keep Nox a secret forever, but he honestly had ... hoped it wouldn’t get this bad. He’s afraid for a while that the media things will depress Nox or make him afraid to leave the Citadel/angry at being Regis’s son, but Nox just rolls his eyes at everything and ignores the media hounds with catlike ease (by which I mean he spaces out into the distance with a neutral expression and occasionally does the human version of pushing things off other things to distract them).

-Clarus knew this was coming. He knew it was going to get so much worse when Axis’s existence came out (it did). He ... would feel bad about this but this is just- royal/celebrity life. This is a slightly more hysterical version of normal. Honestly it’s the noble society he’s more worried about (he realizes quickly that his fears are unfounded, for a kid who’s been unknown for years he can verbally tear nobles to shreds with the best of them. Clearly a talent inherited from the Izunia side of his heritage).

-Cor hates the media. Always has, always will. No time for it. Not after all the stuff they threw out about him becoming a Crownsguard and then alter their role in cementing his hated Immortal title. Is fully waiting and ready for Nox to get mad enough at the media to condone Cor going out and doing Something Stupid And Maybe Bloody about it. Unfortunately, Nox never does, so Cor has to just sit and seethe and occasionally laugh evilly over Nox’s latest trolling behavior.

-Noctis doesn’t even know about the media storm for   y e a r s. He’s the bby Crown Prince, you really think anyone is gonna let this kid watch the news channels and the gossip talk shows? No sir. Not on Ignis’s watch. Noctis DOES hear about it at school though, with students bugging him about it and even TEACHERS side-eyeing him like they expect something Dramatic to happen. Noctis eventually gets sick of it and punches another student in the face probably. Ignis is scandalized, Regis tries to gently explain that no, Noctis cannot throw someone in dungeon because they said nasty things about Nox and no he is not explaining what those nasty things mean.

-Ignis is ashamed to look back and realize that he once bought into about 80% of the media meltdown over Nox. Now that he knows Nox better, he knows that none of it is remotely true and the world is not going to turn Game of Thrones on him. Now he’s ... very insulted on Nox’s behalf, but understands that it is not his place to intervene (though he does give patented Frosty Looks at any reporters that come sniffing around the Citadel forever after).

-Gladio does not watch conventional TV. He watches action blockbusters that have explosions, documentaries on wildlife/camping/hunting/sword-making and Iris’s favorite show about magical girls and talking, rainbow colored Chocobo companions when she makes the puppy eyes at him. That’s it. Is ... nominally aware of news and social media having fits over Nox but Does Not Care so long as they don’t bother Nox and nobody actually tries anything against Noctis’s big brother.

-Citadel press corps kinda hates Nox’s guts. On one hand, he is a Model Prince because he doesn’t go out and get drunk, doesn’t have wild parties, doesn’t have any actual scandals that they need to cover up or spin positively. On the other ... refuses to do press conferences. Refuses to do interviews. Refuses to do anything to help them mitigate the media meltdowns that his mere existence causes (and the events of the Music Drabble I have yet to write, OH BOY do they hate him for that). Just- hides in the Citadel and only makes appearances when it’s a mandatory ball/gala/thing or when he’s accidentally unleashing another media Meltdown. Agrees to one (1) private interview when he’s 18 and even then it’s ONLY if he can talk to some random, unknown rookie who runs a gossip column. They, by turns, want to strangle him and praise his existence, but at least he isn’t as bad as Regis and Clarus were in their day.

-It- would take a long time for people to really know how powerful Nox is. Like- out in the wilds of Lucis proper? There ARE people who know he’s way stronger than he lets on (the Hunter Corps and their families that he’s saved a bunch of times, plus everybody in Hammerhead who politely pretended Cid wasn’t housing the Nif Chancellor and his LC nephew for two years). The Hunter Corps, out of everyone, have the best idea of just what Nox is capable of, because they’ve ... put together a few things over the years. Like how Nox usually crops up in the area a day or so before a Niflheim base gets shredded/blown up/otherwise Wrecked™ for seemingly no reason. But his Real Power? That ... I’m honestly not sure how that would come out.

-But hypothetically, sure, let’s say something happened that made Nox go Full Fury on some poor hapless Nif soul (or army, probably an army). I’m gonna picture ... a Incident with a Kingsglaive held area. Nox is out there for like an official inspection or something, one of the Very Few media things he ever agrees to, when there’s a full on attack. While the poor Media People who are live streaming this freak out and the glaive get ready for a slaughter, Nox just- real calmly orders the glaive to Stay In the Base and keep an eye on the media people. Calmly walks out the base gate without so much as a by your leave and starts limp-striding his way toward the Impending Invasion of Death, Axis right at his side, just as calm (Axis knows what’s coming after all). Some glaives try to follow him because Obviously only to smack face first into - a Wall. A genuine magic Wall like the one encircling Insomnia.

-The entire Lucian nation plus whatever non-Lucian channels manage to pick this up get a livestream view of Nox raising a mini Wall around the base to keep everyone safe, then casually strolling out toward the Invasion force and just-

-Decimating it.

-About halfway between the invasion force and the base, Nox stops and raises a hand to the sky, a sword appears in his grip, and everyone present can feel magical pressure suddenly build-build-build until the air turns blue (the Wall keeps everyone inside safe from the intensity of the pressure except Axis, who doesn’t need it, he is Nox’s Shield and Nox will never hurt him). The Nifs release their war Behemoths on the field, gunships are coming in for the kill, and then-

-His sword sweeps down and the world shakes under the force of the pure energy wave that rises from his blade, sweeping across the distance between him and the enemy and either breaking, scattering, or straight up disintegrating anything in its path. An imperial dreadnought splits in half and then breaks into dozens upon dozens of pieces, the war-beasts caught in the path of the wave are just- gone. So are the MT units and gunships.

-Ever seen the upgraded armiger attacks from the Royal Version of FFXV? Yeah, picture those, but cranked up to eleven. Or just picture those and then imagine being an ordinary civilian seeing that for the first time. Ghostly blades whirling around Nox’s form, defending him from bullets and debris only to lash out as literal waves of energy or a death laser.

-Needless to say, Nox destroys that invading force single-handedly in a display not unlike the legends of Ragnarok or Armageddon, all while holding a Wall around the base. He then calmly turns, walks back to the base, asks if everyone is okay, and upon getting the all clear-

-Collapses. Straight up flops over into Axis’s arms while on national live television because someone forgot to eat anything today and spent most of the previous night fretting over nightmares or something (the rest of the world assumes he pushed himself way too far with that display, but really he could have done more if he hadn't already been tired/hungry and Axis knows it).

-For once, the media meltdown isn’t punctuated by frenzy but by a very, very fragile, frightened silence.

-It’s been ... a long time since a Lucis Caelum has Truly unleashed their power on the field and Nox is no ordinary LC.

-Clips of Nox’s stunt circulate for months, are analyzed by historians and doctors and talk show hosts for precedents and health risk and just sheer What levels. Social media ranges from cheering Nox on to snidely wondering why LCs aren’t doing that more often to a huge outpouring of concern for the prince who just fought off a literal army and then collapsed like he’d been decked in the head. The Hunter Corp all pool their resources together to get this idiot kid a care package, Cid probably comes over from Hammerhead to yell at him while Cindy bear hugs and cries all over his clothes.

-In Niflheim ... a lot of people are reevaluating their stance on the war. Because if that is what just one Lucis Caelum can do, then what’s going to happen when there are two of-age princes who are not chained down by the Wall?

-A lot of nobles in Lucis are also reevaluating their stances on the illegitimate prince, because UMMMMMM that’s the kind of thing that only happens in blockbuster dramas, and Nox did it in real life. More than that, he knew he could do it, as evidenced by how calm he was when he gave the order for everyone to stay.

-Lots of internet conspiracy/theory people try to figure out just how powerful Nox is and if he’s an anomaly in the bloodline because seriously can all LCs do that????

-A lot of people, for a lot of different reasons, are very, very scared of Nox now. Either because they still believe that GoT is inbound and that just put the kibosh on a lot of their rebellion daydreams or because Nox is already a wild card and now he’s proven that he’s a supremely dangerous wildcard.

-So basically, still a meltdown, but this one much, much quieter and more reverent.

-Assuming I ever do something like this in Nox versa canon, because I’m not sure I will.

[laceymorganwrites]

Where do we go when we go?

Word Count: 3,356

Pairing: Law x reader

Song: Where do we go when we go? - Neck Deep

Warnings: cursing, suicidal themes

A/N: so i went a bit overboard with this… but I think I got a better understanding for Law´s character after writing this, after all those songfics for me are just a way to improve my writing and the understanding of certain characters.

GIF NOT MINE

Pain, pain go away,

Law was always in pain. Whether it was physically or mentally, a part of him always ached. Ached with anger, with misery, damage, ached with the desperate want of release. There was no denying he deserved it, he knew himself too well, maybe he was a bit of a masochist in the sense that he enjoyed it in some twisted way. It was the universe telling him how much of an asshole he was, how many bad things he did, how many innocent people he harmed. And the bad thing was that he wouldn´t stop. He´d rather suck up all the pain and not change his ways. He had to do this alone, as he did with the rest of his life. Solitude was the only way for Law. Come back another day,

But he didn´t want to feel like shit today. Fuck, not today. Not if there were any consequences for his behavior for once, not when there was actually something on the line. That being the first impression he would give to you. And he didn´t want to fuck that up like everything else in his life. Normally he´d say screw it, what did he think what some random stranger thought of him? They´d never understand him anyway, so fuck them. But Robin told him he´d never experience happiness if he just kept pushing people away. How could he say they´d never understand if he didn´t let them? And maybe she was right, which Law didn´t like to admit. If she was right, it wouldn´t be good for his ego. If she was right, everything in his life up until now would´ve been a lie. I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me.

He lived his life out of spite. Quite literally. Spite was the fuel that kept him going. Just the pure knowledge that people out there were outraged by him merely existing, it was just too pleasurable for the sadistic bastard. If others didn´t want him to live and do the things he did, that just spurred him on even more. His whole life was one big risk, one big fuck you to the world. And so far it´s paid him off with solitude. Which was good for him, it meant no people bugging him. Nobody could tell him what to do, he was free. And if the price of freedom was loneliness, he´d endure it. Because loneliness was all he´s ever known, he couldn´t know any better. And who the fuck would care if some pirate scum like him croaked because of his own stupidity, nobody would mourn him. I guess we'll never know, If when we´re gone there's a place to go.

Law thought about death too often, no doubt about it. He had everything planned out in his life, his goals, the solitude, that he´d never make any alliances and that he would never open himself up to another person and fall in love. Well, despite the fact that he somehow managed to break every single one of his stupid rules spoke volumes about the doctor. Maybe that was the reason why he suddenly was scared of dying and what would happen after his death. Before he just winged everything, taking all the risks he could. Yes, he might´ve had some plans, he always did and still does, but that doesn´t mean they are safe. In fact before his alliance with the Strawhats all of them were doomed. All of his plans were risky and ended up with him dying. But none of that mattered to him, why should it? It was his own fate, it didn´t affect anyone and nobody else had a say in his life, it was his decision. Or if we don't see anything at all,

Ever since he joined up with Strawhat, he couldn´t say that he saw his path as clearly anymore. Actually he didn´t see a fucking thing anymore. All the plans he made, all that he stood for, everything that happened in his life up until now, all of it was in vain. Just because of some fucking people who called themselves his friends. He didn´t need friends. And they were lying anyway, nobody could befriend him, Law was too much of an asshole on purpose for that. He was meant to be a loner, not a friend. He wasn´t meant to be protected by people, he wasn´t meant to be cared about. He didn´t want to be protected and cared for. He just wanted to be alone. Needless to say he didn´t believe any of the Strawhats when they proclaimed him their friend. Is that what we´re supposed to call faith?

But after he adjusted to the new circumstance, Law did manage to relax and open up a little. It was the survival of the fittest in the New World, one could only get by by adapting to one´s environment. And that´s just what he did. He had friends now, huh? He got especially close to Robin and Zoro, he felt as if he could be himself around them without being judged. They shared a lot of things, had a lot of things in common. They laughed about the same things and always knew what the other felt and needed in that moment. Law didn´t know what to think of that, it was weird. Why would anyone go out of their way to make friends that are that close to each other? To him getting close to someone meant betraying them and using the information they gave him against them. But with the Strawhats he felt like he could trust them oddly enough. He never trusted anyone in his life, not even himself. Hell, himself in the very least. But who knew, maybe his life wouldn´t be so miserable now that he found friends. Well if that is that, and it all just fades to black,

And then there was you. Law didn´t see you as a friend and he didn´t want you to see him as such. He didn´t want to be your friend. He wanted to be someone special to you, he wanted you to see him the way he saw you, as an angel. He didn´t want you to smile at him as you smiled at all the others, he wanted you to smile at him sweetly, a special smile reserved for him. Every time he saw you, his heart jumped. And every time he almost had a heart attack because that´s what he thought this strange feeling was. But after an analysis of all the other symptoms and a thorough talk with Robin, he finally acknowledged that he was in love. Another thing he swore he´d never be. Love was weakness, it was useless and only hurt. Maybe that´s why he was drawn to you. He wanted you to be his savior, bring out the best in him and then prove him right in betraying him. He wanted to make you love him as he loved you only to prove to himself that it wasn´t possible, nobody would ever love him, it only would be a lie. Love was just a camouflage for betrayal and sadism. That thought made him smirk. And we don't see anything at all, We don't see anything, What are you waiting for?

Maybe love wasn´t so bad after all. Maybe it was just faking to be misunderstood like he was. Maybe love too was pretending to have changed into something better when in reality it was laughing at everyone who believed in the petty lie. Nothing could change Law. Or that´s what he told himself. He knew better of course, but he didn´t want to admit it. Why would he? So everyone knew he was wrong? Hell no. Nevertheless he couldn´t get you out of his head, you disturbed his mind in the most inconvenient moments and he really couldn´t use this right now. Pain, pain go away, Come back another day, I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me. And I can't put my faith in a fallacy, I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me. The world is a funny place,

Law was never a person to crack jokes or laugh at them, jokes were a waste of time, something only desperate people tended to. He amused himself at his and others misery, their pain and agony, his own. He never was a person to be deemed funny, well, he did share the same dark humor with Robin, but overall he wasn´t really a funny person. That´s why you irritated him to no end, you who laughed at the things he said in an uncharacteristic try of humor. You giggled at his bitter comments and then gave him a shy smile, looking at him with all the hope in the world. Every time you smiled, or showed any other sign of affection, Law felt his heart sink into his chest and subconsciously smiled back, or he tried. The closest he ever got to a real smile was his usual sadistic smirk. It kicks you when you're down

And yet he couldn´t talk to you. Why was that? Why was it that whenever there was an opportunity he not only wasted it, but he screwed it up over and over again, making a complete fool out of him. Robin actually got so sick and tired of it that she almost called him out in front of the whole crew. But in a moment of better judgment she sought Law out in private to scold him. She was the one who set this whole date thing up today. Well, she forced Law to have night watch with you, snickering wickedly to herself. She clearly was more sadistic than the doctor could ever hope to be. And knocks you out when you get up again.

So there he was, in the cold of a winter island, standing guard and watching over the ship with you. You were very suspect of this whole ordeal, you just hoped Robin didn´t tell Law about that moment you accidentally let it slip how attractive and funny you thought he was. To tell the truth, you also became quite intrigued with the doctor ever since he joined up with you for the alliance. How could you not? Everyone was curious, it was only natural. And what would one do if someone like Law, a wandering book with seven seals, came along if not try to break every single one of them. But you quickly learned that you shouldn´t ever try to break them. Getting inside his head and trying to get personal information out of him was near impossible. Instead of telling you small, funny anecdotes, people that inspired him in his life, his goals and dreams, he only listed off all the gruesome things he´s done, all of his innocent victims, he went into extreme detail how much pain he has caused. I don't think it's worth suffering through.

Needless to see the rest of the night was quiet and uncomfortable. It left you wishing you never asked Law about himself, it made you wish you never even talked to him or did so much as glance at him. You hated being gloomy over silly things like that, he´d be gone if the whole plan was a success, or if it wasn´t. Maybe it wasn´t necessarily heartache you felt, maybe it was just the sheer disappointment of you trying to be nice to him and actually make an effort in trying to converse with him, yet it was all for naught. And quite honestly you were pissed at that. At least you told yourself it was disappointment instead of heartache, but you´d never admit to having such a stupid thing as a heartache, because that would mean you´d also admit to liking Law. But on the other hand, There's a world full of possibilities

Yes, it was childish. But so was Law´s behavior. As soon as you asked one little question about him, something trivial and unimportant, he closed up again and pushed you away. It was what he always did, something he couldn´t let go no matter how hard he tried. He felt so sorry after the things he said to you, the way he scared you off and yet he never actually apologized to you, he was just too embarrassed. And honestly Law wasn´t one to be good at formulating words. Sure, it was his charm, the way he could go from smug to dork in a matter of seconds, it was a personality trait that really warmed your heart and never failed to make you smile. And a million other people just like you

Then again Law wasn´t the only attractive man on the planet. There were others who exposed the same charming traits of him, but none of the bad ones. But did you really want to meet them? Did that really make them better than him? To you the bad things belonged to Law as much as his good ones. The only thing that really bugged you about him was how much he let himself be guided by his bad side, how much he defined himself over it as if he didn´t have a good one too. Who've all been through what you've been through,

All you wanted to do was to tell him he wasn´t alone. You wanted to figure out what made him the way he was, but he wouldn´t let you, you understood him too well. Everybody had secrets too dark to share, it was normal. So why did you want to rip off the band aid brutally and make Law´s wound bleed again? Maybe you were sadistic just like him. They were singing… Pain, pain go away, Come back another day, I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me. And I can't put my faith in a fallacy, I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me. I saw it all flash and pass by

There went his chance with you, Law thought. He wasn´t surprised at all at how much he fucked up again, it was the only thing he was half decent at. Yet it didn´t fill him with satisfaction like it usually would, instead the void inside of him only grew. When he told Robin about his struggles, she frowned at first before she started giggling. You also ranted about Law to her. Robin gave you the tip to be patient, Law would come around, he didn´t mean what he said and he didn´t know how to voice his affection towards others, let alone figure out he actually held those affections. With bright lights

You thanked her before leaving her with a smile. Patience, huh? You weren´t really a patient person, but you got it, you didn´t want to jump onto Law, getting all personal. It was stupid, the more you thought about it. You would´ve reacted the same way if someone asked you about your deepest, darkest secrets for the first time you talked. Well, maybe not exactly the same way, you´d turn to other measures than tell that person in detail how many people you killed and that their screams haunted you every night and you still didn´t regret it. Perhaps he was a lost cause, but perhaps he was also just a broken man, maybe he was both. Maybe the sadistic asshole stuff was only a facade of it all. But then again, probably not. And right before my eyes was the Exit sign.

Law has been lost so many times in his life, not even metaphorically speaking, he was just shit at orientation and never really knew where he was. So he was more than glad to be on a crew that had a great navigator, it just gave him a sense of security he needed in his life. He never had any sort of security or reassurance, his life was always hanging on a thread, not because of his sickness, well, not entirely because of it anyway. It was more like he kept fucking things up, real bad too. Law has always lived his life with death hanging at his back, death was always present in his life, whether he was awake or not. Sometimes it felt like the sweetest release on earth, sometimes it annoyed him to no end. I saw it all flash and pass by

Today was one of those days. He finally had some sort of false sense of security and happiness, he met people that genuinely cared about him, made friends, fell in love, yet he still felt death´s cold glare at his back, as if it was saying: “You´re next”. But he didn´t want to be. Not this time. For the first time in his life he actually took some care of himself, he watched out for any risks that could harm him or his friends. And asked why I wasted precious time,

It all made sense to him now, the way he lived his life before didn´t count as living, it was mere survival with a pinch or making others suffer and betrayal both of his side and behalf. Now it was different, he could open up to Robin and Zoro, they shared everything with each other, it felt secure. And without them he would´ve never reflected upon his actions and the words he said, the way he said them, the way he meant them and the way you understood them. And most importantly they gave him the guts to actually apologize to you, explain himself, at least a little. But that was a start, it was something. It just passed me by. It just passed me by.

In turn you did something he wasn´t used to, you forgave him. But you also apologized for asking such a personal and intimate question. “It´s fine, I guess that´s how you show that you care… if you do that is” he stumbled over his words again. But how could he not with you being so close to him? He could feel the way you breathed, your nervous ticks, the shy way you looked at him and the slight frown, the hurt in your eyes. “Of course I care… how could I not?” you whispered to prevent your voice from shaking from all the nervousness you experienced right now. We are just passing by. (Just passing by.) Just passing by. Oh, we are just passing by. (Just passing by.) Just passing by.

“Trust me, there are more reasons to not care about me than there are reasons to actually like me” Law bitterly commented and you pouted, making him smirk. It made him want to hug you and hold you close. But the way he knew himself, he´d tease you about it until you grew sick and tired of him and left. “Those are your reasons though, not mine. And frankly speaking, I don´t care about your reasons. I trust my heart and what it tells me” you crossed your arms, you looked like a mother scolding her child. Law´s smirk grew wider with every second he looked at you. “You know hearts can´t speak, right?” he remarked teasingly and watched your face go from disbelief, to disappointment, to the corners of your lips twitching to you bursting out into full on laughter.

And damn, if Law could make you laugh like that, he was doing something right in his pitiful life. A certain pride filled him when he saw you fighting for air and when you looked at him again, you started laughing again. “You´re an idiot” you giggled, finally breathing normally again. “I know” Law smirked awkwardly. Pain, pain go away, Come back another day, I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me. I can't put my faith in a fallacy, I don't wanna wait for that goodbye to see what could've been. And I just wanna get one up on life before it kills me.

[redstarwriting]

For A Reason

Stephen Strange x Platonic!Reader

Request: “Can you do one where the reader lost her dad @ 14, she's now 17, she's been living alone.She was closest with her dad because her mom left them. Stephen Strange runs into her and she peaks his interest, he convinces her to let him take her in. She starts to get attached to him and sees him as a father figure.She then forces herself to turn cold, she doesn't want to loose him like her dad.He notices and confronts her about it. She starts crying and explaining and he comforts her. Lots of fluff😊”

Word Count: 2,037

Genre: Fluff | Platonic

Warnings: Crying, Death, Guns, Sad past

A/N: This one took a while because I had work and a few other things I had to do, but here it is! I love Stephen Strange and honestly I could write about him all the time. I’m so excited for Doctor Strange 2 and it won’t even come out until like next year lol I’m a mess. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this one! Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday so I may or may not post. Enjoy!

───────────────────────────────────

Living alone in New York at seventeen years old wasn’t an easy feat. Lucky for you, you’ve been doing that since you were only fourteen. It was difficult at times considering it was only you, a literal child, squatting in and out of abandoned buildings. However, being a child on the run made you very street smart. You could pick-pocket like nobody’s business and you were surprisingly good at holding your own against people who tried to threaten you. You also learned how to get an all new identity, which was essential for where you’re at now. In reality, you’re seventeen. On paper, you’re nineteen. Your age didn’t really matter, but it threw people off on who you really were. You needed that for… personal reasons. So funny enough, you weren’t known as (Y/N) (L/N) to your landlord or anyone else you meet. Your name now is Serenity Andrews. You definitely prefer your real name, but a fake name was needed.

All your sneaking around is a way for you to make money on the outside of your job, which is a librarian. Your real job is actually where you learned everything you know since you dropped out of school after everything in your life went to shit. Since you helped people rent books, no one batted an eye when you would read books that could only be classified as textbooks. You were actually pretty smart even though you were technically a dropout. Not on paper though. Your “secret identity” graduated from a school in Nevada. Anyways, you don’t go to work for another hour, so you decided to go to Times Square and make some extra money. Unknown to you, there’s a man who can see everything you’re doing.

He observes you as you effortlessly pickpocket people, and needless to say he finds you intriguing. You don’t see him watching you, or even following you to your place of work. You go inside the library, saying hi to the other workers before getting behind the librarian desk and grabbing a random educational book. You quickly become lost in it, and don’t even notice someone coming up to the counter. “Excuse me, miss,” you hear a deep voice say, and it startles you. You look up to see a thirty-six-year-old man holding a book, looking at you expectantly. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” you say, immediately closing your book and grabbing his. You go to scan the barcode but realize there isn’t one. “Are you looking to donate a book to the library today?”

“No.” You look at him with an eyebrow raised. “This isn’t a book that belongs to this library.”

“I know. I think you could learn something from reading it.”

You scoff, opening the book to see it talking about something… different. Something, dare you say, magical. “You a con artist?” You close the book, pushing it across the counter and back to him. “No, but you are, ‘Serenity Andrews.’ I saw what you were doing in Times Square today.” Shit.

“Ah-hah… yeah, well I have no response to that other than please don’t tell the police… please?”

“I won’t tell the police because I see promise in you.” He pushes the book back towards you. “You see promise in me? What does that even mean?”

“Well, (Y/N), I think you’d excel in the mystic arts. I see potential in you.”

“How did you know my real name?”

“I know a lot. If I’ve peaked your interest like you’ve peaked mine, come to the address.” You tilt your head a bit when the book suddenly opens. You jump and look down at it in surprise, but when you look back up, the man isn’t there anymore. “Address? What address is he even talking about?” you mumble to yourself, closing the book and putting it in your bag. When you shove it in, a piece of paper falls out of it and onto the floor. You pick it up. Scrawled on it is an address. “177A Bleecker Street…” you mumble to yourself before shoving the paper in your pocket.

Against your better judgement, you found yourself standing outside of 177A Bleecker Street at six in the afternoon on a Tuesday night. “I’m being ridiculous,” you say to yourself, raising your hand to knock. Before your hand even makes contact with the wood, you’re transported to a new area. You stumble, nearly falling into the very expensive looking objects surrounding you. “Shit!”

“Ah, yes. That’s usually how most people feel after I transport them,” you hear a familiar voice. You look up and see none other than the man who visited you at the library today. Except this time, he was wearing a cape. “Is that a cape? Who the hell are you and what is this place?”

“No, it’s a cloak. I, am Doctor Stephen Strange and you are inside the Sanctum Sanctorum.”

“The Sandman Scrotum? What two words did you just make up?”

“You sound a lot like Tony Stark,” he says, semi glaring at you. “You know Tony Stark?” Your jaw is basically on the floor considering this man knows Iron Man and you steal for a living. “Yes. Sadly. This isn’t a Sandman Scrotum. If you wanted to see a Sandman Scrotum I would have taken you to Spider-Man, he and Sandman have a great relationship. This,” he says, motioning around him with his hands, “is the Sanctum Sanctorum.”

“Yeah, I’m still not sure what that means.”

“This is where I’m going to teach you everything I know. And we begin now.”

From that moment on you were bombarded nonstop with books, spells, and training. Your life on the outside world basically just vanished, and for the first time in what felt like forever, you had a home. You knew about every nook and cranny in the Sanctum, and often time Stephen would find you in an isolated corner, studying up on something. You were unbearable to him at first, constantly making quips and smartass comments, but he grew to appreciate them. He would just respond with his own headassery, and you two would go back and forth for hours. Wong hated it, but he also loved it because of how amusing it was. He once made the comment that you two acted like a daughter and a father because you two were basically glued at the hip. You two had formed a very close bond, and you definitely did look up to him as a father figure. But that scared you.

After about six months, you started becoming distant. You would barely speak to him only talking if you had a question on something. When he would fire a comment at you, you would just shrug it off and act like he never said anything. You would eat your dinner anywhere else than where he was. It was odd. You were acting strange. Eventually, he had enough. He wanted his not really a daughter but kind of a daughter because even though you aren’t his own flesh and blood you act exactly like him and it’s a bit uncanny but pretty awesome because finally someone who can put up with him back. So, while you were curled up in a corner, reading a book as you usually did, you suddenly felt the all too familiar feeling of being teleported. You glance up from your book to see Doctor Strange looking back at you. “Any reason you’re disrupting my reading?”

“You’ve been acting different lately.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Oh, come on (Y/N). Don’t act like I haven’t noticed. You’ve been avoiding me! And it’s not like that time you avoided me because I wouldn’t let you eat a pint of ice cream for dinner which, by the way, is still a stupid idea. Do you have any idea how disgusting you would feel afterwards? I don’t want to get into it right now, back to the situation at hand,” he shakes his head, leaning forward to talk to you better, “It’s been actual avoiding me. You go out of your way to not see me. I noticed. And I want to know why.” You just stare at him, not saying anything. It feels like an hour passes of you two being in a fierce staring battle before he sighs. “I just want to know what’s wrong, (Y/N). I know Wong said it as a joke, but I really do care for you like you’re my daughter.” That pushed you over the edge.

You immediately start crying, and Stephen just looks at you with wide eyes, unsure of what to do.  Lucky for him, his cloak is a huge softy, so it immediately unwraps from his shoulders and goes over to you. It envelops your whole body, frantically trying to wipe your tears away for you. You somewhat giggle, and then Stephen’s voice rings out. “Okay, now you need to tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“…I don’t want to lose you like I lost my dad.” He goes quiet, and you sigh. The tears don’t stop, but you begin telling him your story. You tell him about how your mother left when you were a baby. It was only you and your father for the next multiple years of your life. You and your father were ridiculously close being you two were the only person the other had. Then one day, it all just stopped. You two were living in your two-bedroom apartment. You were busy doing homework in your room when you heard a crash and some yelling. Then you heard a loud bang. You quickly ran and hid in your closet, terrified of the noises you just heard. You only came out when you heard the voices of the criminals who broke into your home fade away. You carefully opened your door, peeking out only to see your dad on the ground. You ran over to him when you saw the bullet wound. You knew it was already too late when you saw him.

“So that’s why I was on the run. I didn’t have any other family and I was scared. I just left. I changed my hair and met some people who could change who I was. I didn’t want the cops to find out that I survived, they thought the robbers kidnapped me. From that day on, I didn’t have anyone. No family at all. And then you came along and ruined my loner dynamic and now I’m scared because if I lose the person I look up to the most again, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to recover,” you sob, and he immediately hugs you. “(Y/N), you’re not going to lose me,” he tells you in a soft voice and you nod, finally giving in. “You being so distant scared me. I thought I did something wrong. It’s funny how you can feel such a strong bond with someone in such a fast time, but it’s like you really are my daughter. When I look at you, I see everything I wanted you to become. It’s actually impressive. I’m just so proud of the person you’ve become, and I know in the future I’ll only be even more proud.”

“While that made me feel better, it makes me feel weird hearing you be all soft. I imagine this is what Cloak would sound like if it could talk,” you say, sniffling. Stephen chuckles, looking at you as you pull away from the cute little embrace you two just had. “I’m sorry for being a dad, but I had to tell you that I was proud of you since I am.”

“Yeah, well next time tell me that I don’t suck as much as you thought I would, that sounds more normal to me.” He laughs, ruffling your hair and you roll your eyes. You had a rough past, and you definitely missed your dad. No matter what happened, nobody could replace him. But Stephen came pretty close. And although you sometimes wonder what your life would be like if you didn’t lose your dad all those years ago, you love your life now. Like Stephen always says. Everything happens for a reason.

[penninstitute]

CASE #0180808-A

Statement of Collin Foster, regarding an incident involving his own near-drowning. Original statement given August 8th, 2018.

I just wanna start this off saying I know how to swim, okay? I'm not some idiot who jumped into a pool in the middle of the night without knowing how to swim or hold my breath at all, I was like, on the swim team for a year and a half. I was a capable swimmer, I just need you to know that.

I've always really enjoyed swimming, ever since I was little. My parents took me to the beach whenever they could, and my family always called me a fish or other stupid little pet names, like dolphin and stuff like that. Basically, I really fucking loved to swim, and I still do really fucking love to swim. It's fun! There's a certain kind of freedom that comes with it, y'know?

When I'm in the water, nothing can stop me. I can go in any direction, at whatever speed I want. All it takes for me to move is for me to kick, even just a little bit. I'm strong in the water, always have been.

Needless to say, when we moved to Monson and I found out my new school had a pool and a swim team, I was pretty fucking pumped. I signed up almost right away, was pretty quick to get involved with the team, and not to brag, but I think I was probably one of the most skilled swimmers on the team. That's probably not hard compared to freshmen, but it felt good at the time.

One thing about this pool, though, was that it had super strict times for use outside of practice. There was a three-hour free swim period on Saturdays and Sundays, and nobody was allowed to use it during the school day. The area was fenced off with a big shitty lock on the gate, and kids were always getting caught trying to sneak into the pool area while they were skipping class or whatever it is they did.

I don't know if other kids just hadn't thought about it, or if it was kept quiet for fear of alerting the school staff, but one May afternoon I finally had the bright idea to break in at night. I'd been trying to figure out a way to get more use out of that pool for weeks, and I finally decided to just sneak out to see if I could get in.

Sneaking out hasn't ever been a problem for me, really, so I made it to the school, obviously. I didn't even bother trying to pick the lock, I just climbed the chain-link fence, and was in. No staff were there to stop me.

I'd gotten in! That was what mattered at the time. It was a pretty standard pool, big and rectangular with diving blocks at one end, buoys separating the lanes, ladders and steps into the water, the strong smell of chlorine--the usual, really. I mean, I used the pool. It was fine, nothing was wrong with the place. I'd been swimming in that pool all year, it was fine. I can't stress enough just how normal my first visit was, there was the anxiety of getting caught, but otherwise it was absolutely fine.

I left after about an hour, and it was my little secret. I kept doing it over the next few months, and once school let out and they opened up the pool to everyone over the summer, I kept going on my nightly visits. Nobody was stopping me, so at that point they either didn't care, or still didn't know.

It wasn't supposed to be a long visit, but I'd had a shitty day. It was July 6th, work sucked, my parents weren't helping--not that they ever do. Regardless, I wanted to swim, and I wanted to swim alone, so I waited until my parents were asleep, grabbed a towel and my phone, and headed out. Drove to the school, snuck in per usual, and… nothing seemed off at the time, but thinking back on it, it was darker than it should've been in the parking lot.

Once I got into the pool, it was so much more evident. The pool lights were dim when I turned them on, and none of the other lights would turn on. I dunno what I attributed it to at the time, faulty wiring or something? I don't know, it was something stupid like that, though.

I mean, I swam. It was perfectly fine for a while, I did laps across the pool to get out all the frustration. I screamed underwater, which was nice. It… was a normal visit, for most of it.

I was just doing laps, and I went deeper than usual when I did my flip-turn, and when I kicked to reach the surface, I… didn't.

I wasn't going deeper, I wasn't just not kicking hard enough, there just wasn't a surface, all of a sudden. There isn't any other way to explain it, there was just nothing but water above me, all of a sudden. It took me a few seconds to realize that. I mean, obviously I panicked. I kept kicking to try to get up to the surface, but the water only got darker around me. I could still see the bottom of the pool, could see the pool lights around me, could see the walls of the pool, even, but there just… wasn't a surface.

The pool got smaller and deeper all at once, somehow. I could see all of the walls, the pool went from being several dozen feet across to only about ten feet across.

I mean. Once I realized what was wrong, I just kind of… floated there for a few seconds. I didn't know what to do. I'm good at holding my breath, because you kind of have to be good at that if you swim a lot, but I knew it'd run out eventually.

I decided to keep trying to find the surface, because there had to be a surface, right? But when I kicked, the only thing that happened was the water grew darker around me, and I think it might've been the kicking that dimmed the lights. I didn't realize that until the lights were completely out, and then I couldn't see anything anymore.

I tried to go to one of the walls, but I had barely started swimming when I knocked my shoulder into one, and my foot into another. It had gotten smaller, somehow. I couldn't reach the floor, and now that I think about it, there may not have been one at all.

It was pitch black, and a little cramped--I only had about 6 feet on each side of the pool.

I think it had been about two minutes when I realized I still wasn't breathing. I couldn't breathe, probably just because my body didn't want to inhale water, but the breath I was holding was lasting so much longer than it should have.

I didn't know what to do. I just curled up and waited, for a while, in the darkness and the cramped space.

It got colder. The water turned freezing after a while. I didn't know if that changed anything, but I was still holding my breath and still waiting.

Something was in there with me.

I don't know what, but I could feel it, after a while. Something was just below me, would always be just below me, in the freezing water, waiting. It was awful and waiting and watching me, and I was out in the open where it could see me. It was right under me, I felt it, something colder than the water and slippery, wrapping itself around my ankles. I screamed, I think. That was what let out my breath.

The moment the air left my lungs, my chest began to burn. Everything hurt, I was just floating there in water that was too heavy and too dark, and something was pulling me down. I don't know how the pressure changed so quickly, but one minute I was just floating there, and the next I was being crushed from all sides by the water itself. I couldn't breathe, there was too much pressure on me to even try to move, I was just being pulled down and down and down and down and

Sorry. It was

I don't know what it was. I mean, scary, obviously. I just don't know how to describe that feeling.

And that thing slithered up my legs, cold and slimy and disgusting, wrapping itself around my chest and arms and throat and it began to constrict like a fucking snake, like I was its next big meal, and I… couldn't do anything. The pressure already hurt, but this hurt more. I think it cracked a rib or two, but I didn't really notice in the moment.

There was water all around me, but there was so much pressure. It was just closing in on all sides, and this creature was only making it worse. I couldn't breathe, could barely move my arms and legs. Turning my head took too much effort. It was just pitch black water closing in and constricting me, pressure and weight I couldn't get rid of. Just darkness, pressing in on all sides.

I couldn't get the creature off of me. I could barely move at all, to be fair, but this thing wouldn't let go, it just kept squeezing.

Eventually, I think it may have been cutting off circulation enough to the point where limbs were starting to lose feeling. I… thought I was gonna die there, I mean. There was no conceivable way out, right? There shouldn't have been a way out of that.

There wasn't any way it was a hallucination. I… there's no way. The pain, and afterwards, I just… it was real. It had to be. I would've died, I was convinced I was going to die, there was no way out of it.

That thing had settled across my body and was still fucking pressing down, but I think I took a breath.

I breathed in the water. It burned in my nose, in my lungs, but it didn't hurt as much as the pressure, I guess. I breathed in, and suddenly my head broke the surface, and I was at the edge of the pool in the middle of the night.

I mean, I got out of the water pretty damn quickly after that. Coughed up water for a solid few minutes, and just sat on the edge of the water, breathing and staring at it. I wanted to disregard the whole thing as a hallucination or dream, but there were… bruises? I don't know what else to describe them as.

Black marks all over my bare skin, covering my chest and back and arms. They didn't come off, and even now they haven't really faded. They kind of have a scale pattern, I think. Like something left its imprint on me, like when you use ink to look at your fingerprint.

I mean, that's it, really. I snuck back home and didn't tell my parents what had happened. I haven't set foot in that pool since. Or any pool, actually. I think I'm done with swimming for a while.

FOLLOW-UP NOTES

- Collin Foster went missing in February, 2019. He is unavailable for a follow-up on this statement, and his parents refuse to speak to Institute staff.

- Pool at Monson High School, Massachusetts, is an indoor pool, not an outdoor pool as described here, though does have restricted hours as described.

- No faculty members were willing to speak to Institute staff.

[lucyreviewcy]

Game of Thrones - S01 E08

In this episode - ESCALATION. 

This episode was hard to follow and also strangely hard to remember. Less than 24 hours after I watched it, I’m clutching at straws trying to recall the events. 

Blonde princess suggested that maybe it would be nice if her husband didn’t rape and kill all the women in the towns he invaded, which caused a fight between him and a character I presume is referred to in the credits as “man in over his head from the moment he opened his mouth”. Needless to say, attacking Carl Drogo (my spelling) is a bad plan, which is clear to the rest of us from his big ponytail, his big muscles and literally everything else about him. I know that they wanted to show him being violent and brutal to one of his own men, but also given his reputation and status within Dothraki society, I really doubt that anyone would just decide to get into it with him after insulting his wife. Maybe this guy was new to being Dothraki and didn’t know the rules? But also, I feel like “Don’t start a fight with Carl” is the biggest rule and is clear from your first glimpse of him. But then we live in a world where people need to be told to stand behind the yellow line on tube platforms so perhaps I have too much faith in humanity. 

Sean Bean is in a dark and nasty cell. Pointy prince is on a pointy throne, aesthetically it’s where he belongs, if not genetically. I’m less of a fan of all the tents and preparing for battle that’s going on, I just prefer castles. Give me more castles, none of this silly tent bullshit, if I wanted to watch muddy people in tents I’d look up old Glastonbury coverage on YouTube. 

Jon Snow really got up my nose in this episode (unlike the scent of the corpses, which got up nobody’s nose and this was a plot point). I have started mentally listing all the things I hate about him every time he comes on screen. 1) he always looks like a kicked puppy, 2) stupid velvet skirt 3) silly leather top 4) constant whining... 

After realising that this show borrows a lot from other pop culture, whether that’s Georgerr’s fault or a property of the adaptation, I further picked up on the fact that Arya is being taught sword fighting by a very thinly disguised Inigo Montoya. I know that we live in third order simulacra and as Fight Club says, everything is a copy of a copy of a copy (what’s that? The sound of Jean Baudrillard rolling in his grave as I attribute his theory to an infamous late-90s Brad Pitt movie?) but sometimes I feel like Georgerr could have done a little bit more to hide the seams of his pop-culture patchwork. 

I feel like Alfie Allen was maybe in this episode, because I remember remarking that in my experience*, his characters are limited to: over privileged son of influential person, camp Nazi. And you know, it says a lot about the world we live in that that’s definitely enough range for him to build a substantial career on... 

*I remarked this to my boyfriend, who cares not a jot for my Game of Thrones rants, but would fight to the death for my right to express them.

[stranded-warriors]

 The druddigon's unconscious body laid before the Fighter, who without a moment to spare wrapped their large hands under the fellow’s shoulders and unceremoniously dragged him behind one of the thousand stacks, where he was dropped to the ground then laid against the wall like some plaything. Immediately Feraligatr padded down the fellow’s clothes, checked pockets, and searched everything shy of somehow turning the poor fellow inside out. A minute or two passed without much, but when Kaz stopped to see if they weren’t pummeling the poor fellow, Feraligatr stood up and handed him something small but heavy.

 This something was a flat stone object, as thing and as broad as it could possibly be without it becoming brittle. On one side was an emblem of two ornate spears crossed over a spherical object, and on the other side were rows of scratchy writing with a series of hieroglyphs in the bottom right. Although a clear amount of work had to be put into carving into such a frail object, the text was borderline illegible. Nobody, not even the best scholars in Kaz's homeland were mad enough to comprehend the text, but the more he stared at how each line had been arranged Kaz was able to make some sense of it.

 “If I'm expected to read this, I can't.” he admitted, “However, what I can do is make a fair guess: believe this here is a piece of identification, it may not have the dragon’s name on it, but I am going to assume it was his. He won’t be needing it anymore.”

 Kaz looked towards his friend, which judging by the long look strewn over their face they hadn't found what they were looking for. It would've been a fair idea to ask what, but provided they went around beating up more innocent dock workers they’ll be sure to stumble onto whatever it is they needed. Then Kaz looked back at himself, then back at Feraligatr, and after a minute of awkwardly shifting in place waiting for Feraligatr to signal they should better get a move on, tossed the stone back to them. He had thought of a plan.

 “One of us is covered in scales, and I am as pale as the moon. Since this direct approach had only painted our – mostly your hands in blood, I have a suggestion if you're so inclined.”

 They nodded.

 “We know there’s a checkpoint just down the way, and if all they are looking for is a piece of identification we might be able to slip past the guards provided we keep our cool.” he looked behind the corner where the Druddigon laid on the floor like a sack of dirt, “I can’t imagine they would let us pass if they saw what you did to that fellow, so we’d better act fast.”

 Feraligatr tapped the stone then pointed at themselves

 “Yes, you’ll be going first. You needn't tell me your much of a talker, I think you've established that fairly well, but whereas I know you’re not a dragon, compared to me you sure look the part. I don’t want them to be asking too many questions, and seeing a psychic type where he has no right to be raises too many on its own.”

 “Unless you have any objections my friend, then lead the way.”

>This plan is stupid

>You could come up with a better plan if you had time and the confidence, but without a weapon in your you lack the latter and can't buy the former.

>It must be the best Kaz can do.

 The fact Feraligatr was just stood there for a while had been a bit worrying, but Kaz breathed a sigh of  relief once they got the move on. The continuous roar of machinery they had come to tune out grew louder and louder as the stepped further away from the walls of cargo, and by time they stepped free from the maze they laid eyes on what was making all that ruckus. Within a clearing toward the gates stands a massive, crane-like machine operated by a dozen pulleys straining and squealing under the might of its deafened operators. Dozens of burly pokemon stood before a large tower, pulling massive ropes which all fed into an over-sized wheel, then all the way out into the docks where a harpoon big enough to catch three waillords was speared into the rock they came in on. On the other side of the dock was another machine operated by another army of mons, their collective strength coming together to slightly nudge the colossal boulder in the right direction. A feat of ingenuity; a testament to Palkia's brute strength.

 A few surveyor, and the flyers who they previously saw offloading the valuables from the rock onto shore and into these crates the former presided over, were the only people paying mind to the two strangers strolling by; however, none of them cared enough to go out of their busy day to bother them. Which was odd, considering the first person they met from here wanting nothing less than to ruin their lives. Perhaps the ones pulling the machines were slave laborers, but they too couldn't care any less  about the adventurers. If these workers weren't a problem, then it was bound to be something else.

-

 Two small structures spaced evenly apart lied at the end of the road. The distance between these two cabins were barely enough to fill two single-file lines, anyone who tried circumventing the check-point would come face first with heavy crystal bars stretching all the way down from the archway above.

 “It seems we’ve come at the worst and best of times, friend.” he tapped his friend’s back and murmured, “If they ask why you’re leaving between shifts, just say you’ve gotten ill. It usually works for me.”

 Feraligatr’s blank stare didn’t inspire much confidence in Kaz’s plan, but they were going to with it – they came this far anyways. Taking a wild guess they began walking towards the right booth, gripping the stone tightly in their claws. Inside it they saw stacks of stone plates, behind which was fraxure who had to be no less than a foot shorter than the water-type. The pokemon held their stubby hand open, and Feraligatr dropped the stone in their hands. In the dim candlelight they put their eyes up against the stone, flipping it over, scanning it for a dozen times, before finally saying something about it.

 Maybe Feraligatr’s blue and red scales were similar to the worker, but nothing about what they wore fit a part of someone who spent their time lugging boxes around. A person doesn’t simply go out to their job wearing full plate mail, a face mask, and a black hood unless they had something to prove. Feraligatr did have something to prove, but it wasn’t for this little runt.

 “It seems like today's going to be a good day.” the guard smiled as he began to fumble behind his desk, “The old geezer finally got what was coming for him!”

 Feraligatr queued their friend over, and Kaz was quietly made his way in line till he stopped shy of the  windowframe. The Fraxure didn’t notice the shuffling until he poked his head up, saw Kaz, sighed and put his head back under his desk. A minute later the dragon rose again, slapping down blank slabs exactly like the one they plucked off the Druddigon.

 “Oh, no.” Kaz interjected, “I'm simply the doctor they had check the body. Should it satisfy you, I'll have you know the old man had become truly unsightly.”

 The Fraxure quietly stowed a slab away.

 “Where's he now?”

 “Back where I had found them. I was told to leave the body the way it was so the just authority can handle it from there. My friend here was the first to find him, and needless to say they’re not feeling too well.” he leaned in like Feraligatr couldn't somehow hear him, “My friend quite hasn't the stomach for this as you and I.”

 Not a second afterwards the voice of Kaz rang inside Feraligatr’s head, “Look as though you hate everything about everything right now.” and Feraligatr’s blank stare warped into the most glower look of disgust imaginable. Their face melted into this horrible, glowering frown, and their teeth sagged out from their gums like furs on a wet, stray dog. Fraxure took a single look at the fighter only to pull away immediately, then slowly put the other slab with the rest of them.

 “I'll process you some other time,” he groaned, “get out of my face before your friend pukes all over my desk.”

 “My thanks. I'm sure the old man left doing what loved best.”

 Out of the all the lies Kaz just said, that last had stung the worst. The horrible feeling he suddenly had gotten in his gut was only made better by the knowledge that he, and his friend had gotten away with his hobbled-together plan.