#LET HER USE HER PSYCHIC POWERS MORE

[idkaguyorsomething]

the writers for classic who went “hmmm, how can we ensure that susan has something to do in this arc we’re writing 🤔” and their solution was to make a planet of psychic aliens that get easily overstimulated and have face blindness that the main characters need to negotiate with.

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

More Shazamily/Marvel Family headcanons

Billy has a deep seated hatred for the Indiana Jones movies, there is no force on earth that can get him to watch any of the movies the whole way through

Normal magic rules don’t really apply to them in practice, they break and bend the rules a lot without realizing it. It’s one of the many perks of being champions and guardians of eternity, magic just goes with them and what they want to do

Have used spells from fantasy media’s to see if they work in real life; They do work but only for them, so each member of the Shazamily has a trump card in the form of random spells from random kids tv shows but they all use wands when they remember to just incase a spell backfires

Darla copied Star vs the forces of evil’s spells, no Fawcett villain likes admitting that they got beat by a Narwal Blast or a Warnicorn Stampede. Uses her wide array of princess and fairy wands she already has

Eugene, as seen in the first Shazam! movie, copy’s mortal combat moves and phrases. Doesn’t use a wand or a stand in for one much but uses a classic magicians wand from a magic kit he got

Billy binge watched every episode of Ben 10 and made a spread sheet of magical attacks shown in the show with Freddy to copy. Both use “Scribo in incendia” to multitask with homework and “Somus” to fall right asleep after patrol. Freddy uses his foam Wonder Woman sword and Billy just has a stick he picked up one day when he was 9 and hasn’t let go of since

Mary has copied some phrases from Sabrina the Teenage witch with varying levels of success, in part due to her not having full confidence in every attempt she makes. Bought one of those fancy wands with a gemstone at the end of them to cast spells

Pedro took a page out of Harry Potter and started using Latin to come up with his own spells. Uses whatever he has on hand as a wand, be it a pencil or the spork he was eating his lunch with

Billy has an older portable movie player he got as a hand me down gift from a foster sibling and a CD booklet with some kids movies in it that he’s held onto, its how he passed his rare instances of downtime when he was still homeless. Liked borrowing movies from local libraries to watch on it, some of the discs he actually owns are Matilda, the Night at the Museum trilogy, the Iron Giant, Tangled, Atlantis: the Lost Empire, and a CD copy of the second season of The Worlds Greatest Animal Detective; Tawky Tawny.

Freddy spends the first few years of his hero career pretending to be able bodied, constantly using his flight as a mobility aid, but decides later on to utilize a Wizards staff formed in a way to double as a crutch for him.

Followed by pidgins relentlessly. If a pidgin can go there they follow the Marvels everywhere. They’re chill, don’t steal their food or land on them, but they follow them everywhere. They all collectively blame Hermes influence as a patron god of messengers since pidgins are messenger birds (and yes it is the fault of his divine influence on them)

Billy got permission from the Wizard and other greek goddesses to have separate blessings for his sisters (Agility of Selene, Strength of Hippolyta, Stamina of Artemis, Flight of Zephyrus, Invulnerability of Aurora, and the Wisdom of Minerva) for the sole reason of keeping the influence and voices of Billy’s patrons out of their heads and away from them. (Because there’s no way in any form of hell he’s cursing Mary or Darla with Zeus to be in their heads)

They can talk to animals with the omnilinguistics the Wisdom of Solomon gives them, if anyone on the mortal plane can understand the language so can they. This has led to people seeing Captain Marvel coo back and forth with pidgins like they’re having a conversation (they’re talking about favorite snacks) and the one time he interrogated a rat through small squeaks to know which way a group of smugglers went.

Billy is an awesome gift giver, every year when the justice league has their annual white elephant on Dec 20th people pray they get their names drawn by him. He got Wally a bunch of shoes that were enchanted to not wear down from his speeding (dress shoes, running shoes, slippers, flip flops, the works), did some dimension hopping and time traveling to get a box full of Kryptonian books for Clark (including a collection of folklore with English translations so he can read a bedtime story to Jon), and a crud ton of sweets from the Funlands for J’onzz (including a giant Choco’s cookie big enough to sleep on.)

Freddy’s YouTube channel has a lot of videos of the Shazamily testing their powers based on comments, it has 2.3 million followers and the ad revenue they all rake in goes to helping out with the expenses at home and buying a lot of games at a 50/50 split

They are literally the only group of child vigilantes that are home in time for curfew/bed consistently, they’re more daytime heroes. The only exception being Billy when he has to go off world or to another dimension for League/Champion business but he always tells the Vasquez’s about them so they can call him in sick from school

Billy worked out an agreement with Harley Quinn so that him and his siblings could have semi-regular therapy appointments (hero/villain work permitting), she works her degree every other Tuesday and in return she gets Superman style flights whenever she wants and access to magical plant stuff for Ivy. Victor and Rosa worried about their kids mental health with all the responsibility and horrors of hero life but had no idea how to start getting them professional support for it so they’re glad Billy was able to find someone already in that life who could help and isn’t likely to endanger their identities.

[whis--ker]

Just started reading IDW Sonic finally oh my god metal virus saga

[cipheramnesia]

The reason I probably shouldn't be allowed to make movies is I have no impulse control and I would immediately make something called Revenge Of The Dead Tranny Hooker. It would be about a trans woman trying to break into acting, but no one wants to hire her for anything except playing a sex worker who gets murdered. Then one day she does an open casting call which runs her through a series of increasingly bizarre line readings, which it turns out are meant to summon an eldritch demon to grant the movie producer god-like powers.

The culmination is supposed to be sex on the casting couch, but she ditches at the last minute, destroying the ritual and splintering the extradimensional entity across California. She unknowingly receives powerful extradimensional blood, while the rest of the fragments seek out the powerful and violent people of the world. Meanwhile the movie producer uses his new powers to transform his PAs into henchcreatures, and sends them after the protag to finish her off. She discovers her new powers in the ensuing fight, which also seem to be gradually altering her body every time she uses them.

The rest of the movie is a steadily escalating game of cat and mouse between trans woman and movie producer. While the former transformers the fragments into powerful psychic weapons like chainsaws and spiked bats, the later uses fragments to make himself bigger and physically stronger. At first the fights are short and brutal, the protag outmatched and outgunned, but she gets more confident to the point of an anarchic battle of against the LAPD led by a demonic police captain, including a scene where she stands on the roof of a speeding police car and rips the driver through the windshield.

Her eventual form is some kind hyper sexual draconic mantid squid rippling with biomechanoid components. In the fight with the producer he thinks he's winning by tearing apart the last of her human flesh, but this just complete her transformation, letting her easily overwhelm him. It's implied from that point forward she plans to conquer the world.

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: black science fiction

As february and black history month nears its end, if you're a reader let's not forget to read and appreciate books by black authors the rest of the year as well! If you're a sci-fi fan like me, perhaps this list can help find some good books to sink your teeth into.

Bleak dystopias, high tech space adventures, alien monsters, alternate dimensions, mash-ups of sci-fi and fantasy - this list features a little bit of everything for genre fiction fans!

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

Something massive and alien crashes into the ocean off the coast of Nigeria. Three people, a marine biologist, a rapper, and a soldier, find themselves at the center of this presence, attempting to shepherd an alien ambassador as chaos spreads in the city. A strange novel that mixes the supernatural with the alien, shifts between many different POVs, and gives a one of a kind look at a possible first contact.

Nubia: The Awakening (Nubia series) by Omar Epps & Clarence A. Hayes

Young adult. Three teens living in the slums of an enviromentally ravaged New York find that something powerful is awakening within them. They’re all children of refugees of Nubia, a utopian African island nation that sank as the climate worsened, and realize now that their parents have been hiding aspects of their heritage from them. But as they come into their own, someone seeks to use their abilities to his own ends, against their own people.

The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown

Novella. After having failed at establishing a new colony, starship Calypso fights to make it back to Earth. Acting captain Jacklyn Albright is already struggling against the threats of interstellar space and impending starvation when the ship throws her a new danger: something is hiding on the ship, picking off her crew one by one in bloody, gruesome ways. A quick, excellent read if you want some good Alien vibes.

Dawn (Xenogenesis trilogy) by Octavia E. Butler*

After a devestating war leaves humanity on the brink of extinction, survivor Lilith finds herself waking up naked and alone in a strange room. She’s been rescued by the Oankali, who have arrived just in time to save the human race. But there’s a price to survival, and it might be humanity itself. Absolutely fucked up I love it I once had to drop the book mid read to stare at the ceiling and exclaim in horror at what was going on. Includes darker examinations of agency and consent, so enter with caution.

Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson*

Utterly unique in world-building, story, and prose, Midnight Robber follows young Tan-Tan and her father, inhabitants of the Carribean-colonized planet of Toussaint. When her father commits a terrible crime, he’s exiled to a parallel version of the same planet, home to strange aliens and other human exiles. Tan-Tan, not wanting to lose her father, follows with him. Trapped on this new planet, he becomes her worst nightmare. Enter this book with caution, as it contains graphic child sexual abuse.

Rosewater (The Wormwood trilogy) by Tade Thompson

In Nigeria lies Rosewater, a city bordering on a strange, alien biodome. Its motives are unknown, but it’s having an undeniable effect on the surrounding life. Kaaro, former criminal and current psychic agent for the government, is one of the people changed by it. When other psychics like him begin getting killed, Kaaro must take it upon himself to find out the truth about the biodome and its intentions.

Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

Young adult. A century ago, an astronomer discovered a possibly Earth-like planet. Now, a team of veteran astronauts and carefully chosen teenagers are preparing to embark on a twenty-three year trip to get there. But space is dangerous, and the team has no one to rely on but each other if - or when - something goes wrong. An introspective slowburn of a story, this focuses more on character work than action.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord

After the planet Sadira is left uninhabitable, its few survivors are forced to move to a new world. On Cygnus Beta, they work to rebuild their society alongside their distant relatives of the planet, while trying to preserve what remains of their culture. Focused less on hard science or action, The Best of All Possible Worlds is more about culture, romance and the ethics and practicalities of telepathy.

Mirage (Mirage duology) by Somaiya Daud

Young adult. Eighteen-year-old Amani lives on an isolated moon under the oppressive occupation of the Valthek empire. When Amani is abducted, she finds herself someplace wholly unexpected: the royal palace. As it turns out, she's nearly identical to the half-Valthek, and widely hated, princess Maram, who is in need of a body double. If Amani ever wants to make it back home or see her people freed from oppression, she will have to play her role as princess perfectly. While sci-fi, this one more has the vibe of a fantasy.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Life on the lower decks of the generation ship HSS Matilda is hard for Aster, an outcast even among outcasts, trying to survive in a system not dissimilar to the old antebellum South. The ship’s leaders have imposed harsh restrictions on their darker skinned people, using them as an oppressed work force as they travel toward their supposed Promised Land. But as Aster finds a link between the death of the ship’s sovereign and the suicide of her own mother, she realizes there may be a way off the ship.

Where It Rains in Color by Denise Crittendon

The planet Swazembi is a utopia of color and beauty, the most beautiful of all its citizens being the Rare Indigo. Lileala was just named Rare Indigo, but her strict yet pampered life gets upended when her beautiful skin is struck by a mysterious sickness, leaving it covered in scars and scabs. Meanwhile, voices start to whisper in Lileala's mind, bringing to the surface a past long forgotten involving her entire society.

Eacaping Exodus (Escaping Exodus duology) by Nicky Drayden

Seske is the heir to the leader of a clan living inside a gigantic, spacefaring beast, of which they frequently need to catch a new one to reside in as their presence slowly kills the beast from the inside. While I found the ending rushed with regards to plot and character, the worldbuilding is very fresh and the overall plot of survival and class struggle an interesting one. It’s also sapphic!

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah*

In a near future America, inmates on death row or with life sentences in private prisons can choose to participate in death matches for entertainment. If they survive long enough - a rare case indeed - they regain their freedom. Among these prisoners are Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker, partners behind the scenes and close to the deadline of a possible release - if only they can survive for long enough. As the game continues to be stacked against them and protests mount outside, two women fight for love, freedom, and their own humanity. Chain-Gang All-Stars is bleak and unflinching as well as genuinely hopeful in its portrayal of a dark but all to real possible future.

Parable of the Sower (Earthseed duology) by Octavia E. Butler*

In a bleak future, Lauren Olamina lives with her family in a gated community, one of few still safe places in a time of chaos. When her community falls, Lauren is forced on the run. As she makes her way toward possible safety, she picks up a following of other refugees, and sows the seeds of a new ideology which may one day be the saviour of mankind. Very bleak and scarily realistic, Parable of the Sower will make you both fear for mankind and regain your hope for humanity.

Binti (Binti trilogy) by Nnedi Okorafor

Young adult novella. Binti is the first of the Himba people to be accepted into the prestigious Oomza University, the finest place of higher learning in all the galaxy. But as she embarks on her interstellar journey, the unthinkable happens: her ship is attacked by the terrifying Meduse, an alien race at war with Oomza University.

War Girls (War Girls duology) by Tochi Onyebuchi

In an enviromentally fraught future, the Nigerian civil war has flared back up, utilizing cybernetics and mechs to enhance its soldiers. Two sisters, by bond if not by blood, are separated and end up on differing sides of the struggle. Brutal and dark, with themes of dehumanization of soldiers through cybernetics that turn them into weapons, and the effect and trauma this has on them.

The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds duology) by Micaiah Johnson

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s a catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying. As such she has a very special job in traveling to these worlds, hoping to keep her position long enough to gain citizenship in the walled-off Wiley City, away from the wastes where she grew up. But her job is dangerous, especially when she gets on the tracks of a secret that threatens the entire multiverse. Really cool worldbuilding and characters, also featuring a sapphic lead!

The Fifth Season (The Broken Eart trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin*

In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We get to follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her missing daughter. While mostly fantasy in genre, this series does have some sci-fi flavor, and is genuinely some of the best books I've ever read, please read them.

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings*

In an alternate version of our present, the witch hunt never ended. Women are constantly watched and expected to marry young so their husbands can keep an eye on them. When she was fourteen, Josephine's mother disappeared, leveling suspicions at both mother and daughter of possible witchcraft. Now, nearly a decade and a half later, Jo, in trying to finally accept her missing mother as dead, decides to follow up on a set of seemingly nonsensical instructions left in her will. Features a bisexual lead!

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

South African-set scifi featuring gods ancient and new, robots finding sentience, dik-diks, and a gay teen with mind control abilities. An ancient goddess seeks to return to her true power no matter how many humans she has to sacrifice to get there. A little bit all over the place but very creative and fresh.

The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson*

Young adult. Young artist June Costa lives in Palmares Tres, a beautiful, matriarchal city relying heavily on tradition, one of which is the Summer King. The most recent Summer King is Enki, a bold boy and fellow artist. With him at her side, June seeks to finally find fame and recognition through her art, breaking through the generational divide of her home. But growing close to Enki is dangerous, because he, like all Summer Kings, is destined to die.

The Blood Trials (The Blood Gifted duology) by N.E. Davenport

After Ikenna's grandfather is assasinated, she is convinced that only a member of the Praetorian guard, elite soldiers, could’ve killed him. Seeking to uncover his killer, Ikenna enrolls in a dangerous trial to join the Praetorians which only a quarter of applicants survive. For Ikenna, the stakes are even higher, as she's hiding forbidden blood magic which could cost her her life. Mix of fantasy and sci-fi. While I didn’t super vibe with this one, I suspect fans of action packed romantasy will enjoy it.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany

1960s classic. Rydra Wong is a space captain, linguist and poet who is set on learning to understand Babel-17, a language which is humanity's only clue at the enemy in an interstaller war. But Babel-17 is more than just a language, and studying it may change Rydra forever.

Pet (Pet duology) by Akwaeke Emezi

Young adult novella. Jam lives in a utopian future that has been freed of monsters and the systems which created and upheld them. But then she meets Pet, a dangerous creature claiming to be hunting a monster still among them, prepared to stop at nothing to find them. While I personally found the word-building in Pet lacking, it deftly handles dark subjects of what makes a human a monster.

Bonus AKA I haven’t read these yet but they seem really cool

Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes

Alternate history in which Africans colonized South America while vikings colonized the North. The vikings sell abducted Celts and Franks as slaves to the South, one of which is eleven-years-old Irish boy Aidan O'Dere, who was just bought by a Southern plantation owner.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

Young adult dystopia. Ellie lives in a future where humanity is under the control of the alien Ilori. All art is forbidden, but Ellie keeps a secret library; when one of her books disappears, she fears discovery and execution. M0Rr1S, born in a lab and raised to be emotionless, finds her library, and though he should deliver her for execution, he finds himself obsessed with human music. Together the two embark on a roadtrip which may save humanity.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Lelah lives in future Botswana, but despite money and fame she finds herself in an unhappy marriage, her body controlled via microchip by her husband. After burying the body of an accidental hit and run, Lelah's life gets worse when the ghost of her victim returns to enact bloody vengeance.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Young adult. Fen de la Guerre, living in a quarantined Gulf Coast left devestated by storms and sickness, is forced on the run with a newborn after her tribe is attacked. Hoping to get the child to safety, Fen seeks to get to the other side of the wall, she teams up with a scientist from the outside the quarantine zone.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

A neo-victorian alternate history, in which a part of Congo was kept safe from colonisation, becoming Everfair, a safe haven for both the people of Congo and former slaves returning from America. Here they must struggle to keep this home safe for them all.

The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Space opera. Enitan just wants to live a quiet life in the aftermath of a failed war of conquest, but when her lover is killed and her sister kidnapped, she's forced to leave her plans behind to save her sister.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The City We Became (Great Cities duology) by N.K. Jemisin, The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull, The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole

[mmani-e]

Hello! After all this effort, behold:

DANGANRONPA DEMIX, THH EDITION!

Dr Demix 2

Finally got the talentswap designs I have for the THH characters one and done with! You can click through the read more section for some fun design insights. I'm intending on uploading a doc containing short lore bits about them eventually.

Kyoko Kirigiri - Ultimate Affluent Progeny

So Kyoko's design was both kinda simple, kinda not, wanted to give her a very fine and regal kinda attitude to her but not arrogant as that's very much Byakuya's thing. Her story is that she loves her dad more than the family business and her grandpa so she abandons detective work and just uses her brain to help her dad out.

Makoto Naegi - Ultimate Novelist

Makoto is a wonderful guy, just great all around. He loves writing children's books and happy stories. This is his main coping mechanism so he doesn't have to process any negative emotions he gets, the rest he can't process… well they go into a murderous psychopath alter.

Aoi Asahina - Ultimate Lucky Student

Shoujo protagonist Aoi. Cute, headstrong, affective, competitive, these are all the traits that make her fight for her friends and clash with Kyoko (and more often than not Byakuya) in the killing game, even when all hope seems lost… she pushes through, unafraid to let tears spill from her eyes for all those lost, but pushing all the same.

Byakuya Togami - Ultimate Detective

This one, I wanna go into more lore territory, cause I kinda memed around his last desc I gave him so here goes:

"A disgraced heir of the Togami household, Byakuya lost the competition that would've secured his riches. Disdainful and bitter, he sought out to get to the bottom of why he lost, uncovering a rabbit hole in the process. By the end, he proved his sibling a cheater, but it didn't matter because by the end as he found the sweet satisfaction of uncovering secrets and crushing liars and cheaters under the weight of their hubris far more satisfying than any inheritance."

Sayaka Maizono - Ultimate Spirit Medium

So Sayaka isn't a clairvoyant at all like Yasuhiro, in fact her entire skillset is completely different, first of all she is like an actual psychic, and I based her design off of the japanese Itako, quite loosely. Very interesting group, look it up, also she'll never use these powers in the killing game because I dunno how to even approach these rituals or what they look like or how to write them while remaining respectful, so she won't do it in a killing game for the express reason of her not having the right tools available and not wanting to disrespect her traditions.

Leon Kuwata - Ultimate Swimmer

I really wanna draw him again, all these characters again tbh, and I wanna show off the patterns on his wetsuit. It's a whole coral reef under there, that anemone and clownfish bit is only one part of a whole reef stretching his midline.

Sakura Ogami - Ultimate Programmer

Sakura has installed chips into her body to help optimize her body processes and also cause why not. As for the muscles, she's an Assembly programmer, the programs she's made can run on calculators she loves it.

Chihiro Fujisaki - Ultimate Martial Artist

Chihiro's design here with the two belts is an explicit nod to his preferred martial art - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, so unlike Sakura in canon who'd be easy to imagine cracking someone's skull in half with a chop, Chihiro's approach is more crawling onto someone and bringing them down to the floor with grappling like an angry halfling monk. As for the belts themselves, on his head is his final junior belt, while around his waist is his current belt, he's not a black belt yet because he's still too young for it.

Celestia Ludenberg - Ultimate Baseball Star

Celestia actually isn't a legend in this AU, Taeko is. Celestia hates that and wants to start a baseball career going international, whatever the hell that means is up to her own definition, but she wants to be remembered forever as Celestia, not Taeko. Also extra sentence, but this is the SINGLE hardest design I've ever had to deal with here, I think in the future I'll be drawing all her little accessories and I have an alt costume for her I have in mind.

Hifumi Yamada - Ultimate Pop Star

So I changed Hifumi's story as I originally outlined in the OG post with him. He was friends with Aoi all his life, pretty much his only friend at all, and ever since he was little he had an obsession with writing songs, because he was obsessed with stuff like anime openings and was content to just keep the songs to himself. It wasn't till Aoi convinced him to share some of his songs that he started his journey to success, but bc he's not traditionally attractive, his first hits were literally just… his voice being played over other more attractive singers and it wasn't until very very recently that he even performed a song of his for the first time.

Toko Fukawa - Ultimate Fanfic Writer

So while Hifumi was clearly a Doujinshi but due to weird translation, ended up as fanfic creator, Touko is straight up a FF then Wattpad then AO3 girl, who would get obsessed with this really shitty, tripe manga that she didn't even like reading. It did however have super hot dudes in it, so she wrote good stories of those characters when she got frustrated with the actual authorial content - which was always.

Yasuhiro Hagakure - Ultimate Gambler

Quite LITERALLY the never stop gambling meme personified into a guy. He can lose 3 mil on slot machines but always comes out fine because it means if he keeps gambling he'll eventually run into his 1/3 and win giga millions, what he needs to pay off his debts. It isn't just with luck though either because his personality and lack of intelligence or understanding of most the rules of the games he plays means he'll never react the way he should when getting a good hand in poker or a bad draw in blackjack, so he wins those games almost always through just… stupidity.

Mukuro Ikusaba - Ultimate Biker

She's number 16 in her gang, and is easily the most loyal enforcer and taskman of the gang. She does anything she's told, to a grim and disciplined degree not typical for hooligan bike gangers, she doesn't really desire a seat as top dog of the gang though, after all she's got school to worry about, and her sister.

Mondo Owada - Ultimate Warlord

So his relationship and Kiyotaka's is gonna be interesting, because I don't want him to be exactly like Mukuro at all, who was just sort of an all-obsessed Yandere. It's more like he's always chafing under Taka, who is less than friendly with him in this AU, really the main way he even lets Taka boss him around is because he pays incredibly well and helps keep his gang members from devolving back into the unstructured, chaotic criminal life, the same that took his brother years ago.

Oh and yeah, he still looks like Guile, as he should.

Sparkling Justice - Ultimate Killer Killer

Yeah it's a reference to Killer Killer, sue me I love the manga. He has Hajirahara's ahoge, and I thought it'd be cute to also give him a mask just like the other Makoto from a Kodaka game series (Raincode.) Also, while Genocide jack stuffs all her scissors in her skirt, Makoto keeps a truth gun with "truth bullets" as his main weapon, the gun he stores inside the big book in the chibi of just Makoto, and the bullets kept on his person as the red buttons all over his body, which he pulls out when he needs to reload.

"Kiyotaka Ishimaru" - Ultimate Fashionista

Unlike Mukuro and Junko, Mondo absolutely cannot hide the fact that he acts nothing like Kiyotaka, though this is surprisingly fine to everyone else, because unlike Junko who plastered herself onto literally everything, Mondo always obfuscated himself from the public spotlight, at most showing only his suits while he hid his face behind something conveniently placed. Which played primarily to his vision of an ultimate fashionista, who was above everyone and catered to the rich and powerful.

Junko Enoshima - Ultimate Moral Compass

This was a fun one, I decided to let her have her red hair because I believe it to be the "natural" look of her hair, while attaching little clips of dyed hair to her buns as a replacement to keep her shape sorta and keep the strawberry blonde somwehere on her. Understand that while she is the "moral compass" she is still pretty deranged, and the only reason she focuses so much on keeping everyone on their best behavior is because it's endlessly entertaining to her to make her fellow moral committee members upset when she blatantly makes a mockery of the rules while still keeping kids on their best behavior to make a point.

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - Ultimate Fashionista and Tyrant, the Iron Hand of Despair

Taka's design I wanted to sort of focus on this sort of, holier-than-thou idea, where I wanted to make him look a lot fancier and upper-class than Junko does in his standard highschool fit compared to him. I wanted him to have an upper-crust sort of look

If you're reading this after reading this all, thanks! You're a wonderful person :) Signing off...

Mani

[ineffable-suffering]

The meaning of "I forgive you"

Alright, hello again, I involuntarily dipped for a bit because real life outside of this lovely Tumblr Good Omens bubble got a little bit stressful, but! I'm back for a quick little post to say that I'm currently reading the script book for Season 1 and seeing this line again, spelled out on paper, just shone some more light on the whole „I forgive you“-scene of Season 2 for me again.

Because really, this first time Az says it to Crowley in front of the bookshop tells us exactly what the second time during the Final Fifteen means.

Aziraphale is not forgiving Crowley for kissing him. Or for using this moment to confess and make things explicit between them.

No, Aziraphale is forgiving Crowley for not trusting and believing (in) him.

Let's shove the Final Fifteen to the side for a second and look at this scene from Season 1 under the cut.

The situation at hand: The World is ending, with utmost certainty. In addition, Crowley is absolutely f*cked and Hell is out to get him. He tries to apologise for their Bandstand fallout and explain the other two things to Az (poorly, but he tries). Because to Crowley, Armageddon is a done deal already. Wherever the actual Antichrist is, he's gonna come into his power and the World will be wiped out for Heaven and Hell to wage their war on. Also, Hastur is coming to kick his demon ass. Time to dip!

And yet, Aziraphale doesn't want to come with him. He is adamant that he will be able to reach the Almighty, talk to Her and turn this around. Because if Aziraphale, Guardian of the Eastern Gate, thinks there's even the slightest, tiniest morsel of a chance that he can turn things around the right way, he will do it. Even if it sounds ridiculous. Even if it's a lost cause to everyone else. Even if all the other angels gang up on him and (literally) beat him up.

Even if Crowley calls him stupid.

Aziraphale decides not to be offended by this.

Because this is what he does. This is what a Guardian does. He stays and protects to ward off the intrusion, until the very last second.

Now listen, I'm the last person to blame Crowley for intrinsically wanting to choose Flight over Fight in this very situation, because Lord knows (literally) what happened to him back when he chose Fight and lost.

But at the same time we have to keep in mind that despite his last name, Aziraphale never Fell. He never made the horrible experience of being chucked away by the one who made you to love Her because you chose to question her ways. And yes, in so many ways this choice of his, to still believe that he can change something by questioning and suggesting (both here and in S2), is utterly maddening and hurtful to Crowley. Because it's a mirror of what Crowley himself did and a reminder of just how big the price he had to pay was. Aziraphale seemingly not realizing or understanding this stings. It does.

And yet.

Yet Aziraphale's choice to not take no for an answer, to not let a punch to the gut derail him from his plan, to not let even the most definitive thing such as Armageddon keep him from fighting back, is the one thing that ends up saving the World.

Because even when it all seems impossible and completely hopeless and bloody Satan himself is erupting from the pits of Hell, ...

... Aziraphale picks up his sword and fights back.

And he wins.

Not without help, of course. But might I remind you of what got Crowley to cooperate and not simply surrender like he'd almost done that second?

You might not see it at first, but tucked in between all the posh hedonism, hidden away underneath that tightly buttoned waistcoat of his, Aziraphale is a fighter. And a good one at that. I mean, for Someone's sake, he got discorporated, beamed himself down back to Earth, found Crowley somehow, possessed a psychic prostitute (love you, Madame Tracy), rode a scooter all the way to Taddfield and fought off Lucifer with sheer willpower (and a bit of emotional coercion).

Aziraphale can fight. Smart and hard. And not only that: He can win, too. And he knows it. Because he believes, truly, firmly and wholly, that he can make things right. It's the only thing he will settle for. This, ladies and gents, this is how he ends up saving the World, together with Crowley, Adam and the rest.

Because he didn't accept no as an answer. He didn't look at the impossible and accept it as such. Even when Crowley thought him to be an idiot for trying and even after his initial attempt at talking to God had failed, Aziraphale still found a way to stop The Big Bad Thing from happening.

Which is exactly what his plan is when he ends up being forced to come back to Heaven by the Metatron. (If you still believe this was a voluntary choice, read here). And which is exactly why he is so hurt and still ends up forgiving Crowley for the fact that Crowley doesn't end up coming with him. Doesn't end up understanding, trusting and believing (in) him, just like all the way back at the end of the World in Season 1.

Aziraphale decides not to be offended by this.

[onyxdoesthingsithink]

Cherik- My rant about Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr's relationship.

X-Men First Class

Charles was the first person to ever believe that Erik could be good. Charles in the movie always believed in Erik, and of course it was Charles being optimistic as a person, but he really did believe in Erik.

Through out the movie they really started to trust eachother, and care. They became close very fast, and lets not forget THIS SCENE:

I think my favorite part of the movie of these two is the ending of them arguing and physically fighting even- but the second Charles got shot he dropped everything and rushed to his side, cradling his body and holding his head on his lap.

He then choked Moira blaming her, but the second Charles says "she didn't do this... You did." Erik stops and practically crumbles.

"I want you on my side."

Was Erik's understanding they're different point of views but doesn't want to leave the only person that's believed in him and his power could be used for good.

X men Days of Future Past:

Literally just arguing husbands in a divorce.

For most of the movie, it takes place in 1973 and we have Charles being a drug addict to deal with... Well, everything. Raven and Eric left him, the others most likely died from experiments (judging by what Raven says in X-Men:Apocalypse) it was just him and Hank.

Then Charles quite literally helps Logan plan a jailbreak for Erik from the Pentagon but you know things happen.

I'm also pretty sure these two literally just accidentally gave each other abandonment issues

But the ending of this movie was similar to first class, with the two, once again, going they're Separate ways after a squabble- which is Erik Trying to kill many US officials to show that mutants should be treated seriously.

This is the main disagreement between Charles and Erik through every movie- Erik always using violence to prove that mutants are superior, but Charles sees mutants and humans as equals. He just wants peace.

Even without using his powers though, Charles always somehow reasons with erik- or in this case reasons with Raven to reason with Erik.

Xmen Apocalypse:

I'll skip straight to the ending of this movie, of when Raven reasons with Erik. She tells him that yes, he lost his wife and daughter- but he hasn't lost everything.

And what does he think of In that scene? Charles. Erik thinks of how Charles believed in him at the very beginning- but notice how they didn't even add anyone else? Not Raven or anything? Just Charles and what he did.

When Apocalypse was threatening to kill Peter he didn't do anything- when Apocalypse was choking Raven out, he didn't stop it. But his breaking point was when he found Charles and was going after him.

"You sure I can't convince you to stay?"

"You're psychic, Charles.you can convince me to do anything."

Yet he walks away and charles respects that decision once again. No matter what, Charles sticks to his moral of, "just because one loses they're way doesn't mean they're lost forever" and he really is proving this over and over with Erik.

Their relationship is so complex yet so interesting. They may not be designated 'lover's but they sure as hell aren't just Friends.

I barely scratched the surface of these mens relationship- only briefing over 3 movies (and hell I could have said a lot more about them) and not even touching the comics or X-Men 97'- But I had fun writing it.

[gallusrostromegalus]

So could it be said that Seiretei is Yamamoto sneaking his unionizing underneath the nobles' noses, if I understand correctly what he pulled, by getting all the psychics signed up to have food and wages and some sort of job security?

That is *EXACTLY* what he's doing.

Well, its the extremely sexy and cunning plan his Wife Tsubaki came up with but fortunately for him she thinks it's equally hot shit when he's a huge fucking problem for the Bourgeoisie on her behalf.

After she leaves him, his plans aren't quite as... subtle, but the willingness to be a huge asshole for the benefit of future generations remains, and what he can't get my subtle manipulation or cunning tactics he's more than willing to achieve with strategic use of extreme violence.

His first few years trying to manage Zaraki are... Difficult. Yamamoto often muses on the old curse of teachers that one should suffer a student just like yourself, as he struggles with another catastrophic asshole who unfortunately has the physical chops and social skills to back his bullshit up. The Giant Bastard's monstrous Reiatsu is it's own problem but unfortunately Zaraki is also in possession of a startlingly cunning mind, a long memory and a fiendish sense of humor. Tsubaki's influence on the lad became clear in the first captain's meeting when Zaraki dog-walked him through naming specific statutes until he had to admit defeat and let him restock the 11th with every freak and monster in the Rukongai.

...a week after The Calamity In Hiroshima though, Yamamoto realizes that A Giant Bastard is *exactly* what he needs.

It's midnight when he arrives at the 11th Division to 'have a little walk' with Zaraki.

It's 1:04 AM when he gets over to the 4th Division where the man actually is.

As the Giant Bastard is redressing (and Unohana is indicating via Very Pointed Eye Contact that there will be Consequences (TM) for this interruption) Yamamoto explains he needs Zaraki to come with him on a trip to "A Place several people who legally I do not know the names of- much less their professions! are gathering in secret. They have tremendous sway in the governing of Soul Society, and somehow they have gotten ahold of a Schematic for The Device. I think it only appropriate that they be reassured that the construction of such a device should not even be considered, as there is More Than Enough Destructive Power between the two of us, isn't there?"

Zaraki peered down at him with the one functioning eyeball (and the malfunctioning one too, if the prickling in Yamamoto's thumbs was anything to go by) for a minute and he worried he might have to try again with smaller words when Zaraki grinned in comprehension.

"I get it now!" He laughed, patting Yamamoto's shoulder and the old man sighed with relief.

"-Gotta say, it was kinda buggin' me, but now I see what Madame Tsubaki saw in ya!" he laughed, and Yamamoto realized several decades too late that Zaraki's former Employer and his own Ex-wife were one in the same.

"C'mon Grandpa, show me whose head needs knocking into the outer districts."

[cavegirlpoems]

Violet Core Approaches

So. My close friend and collaborator Sarah Carapace has been working on Violet Core - a ttrpg about dykey mecha pilots in space - for the past few years, and that work is approaching its fruition. It's about to get kickstarted pretty soon, and I got a preview copy of the game ahead of that. So, preview/review I shall.

Disclaimers: I'm close friends with Sarah, was involved in some of the early playtests, and might end up doing a stretch goal for the game. So, I am of course wildly biased in Sarah's favour. Still, even if I wasn't, I figure this'd be my jam.

TL,DR: This game is really really good, back the kickstarter. For more details, read on.

The Basics:

Violet Core is set in the Nemesis System, an alternate scifi version of the solar system. The game follows the lives of spacers cut off from their home planet, Cerulea, as they face an oncoming disaster as escalating waves of comet-storms hit the system and everything starts to come apart.

Our characters are mech pilots for one of three factions of spacers - The Reach, The Homebound, and The Cosmic Embrace - each with their own perspective on what to do about the looming disaster. It's generally agreed that they need to escape, but where to and how is a source of conflict.

All three factions and their approaches have their merits. Although the Reach are positioned as more heirarchical and organised than the other two, all three are clearly scrappy tenacious punk-ish survivors who've been rejected and exiled to space by the dickhead bourgoisie of their home planet, Cerulea.

Luckily, you get to pilot X-10s, giant personalised mechs powered by a mysterious psycho-active (psychic?) crysteline core. This lets you get up to all the various activities you just pictured when I said that.

Tonally, it's Sarah Carapace through-and-through. Everything is purple and blocky, with CRT monitors and snaking cables and spray-paint. Riot Grrl mashed up with retro scifi mashed up with cosmic weirdness.

On The Humble D4

The game uses the oddity of dice - the humble D4 - as its main dice, with D8s scattered in here and there. It's a choice I really like, giving the game a feel that's a little angular and off-centre. It's a simple choice, but it does a lot to set it apart. I can't sum this up better than Sarah does, so I'll just quote her:

d4s are the most cursed of all dice.

They are awkward to roll.

They are pointy and can/will stab you.

Femininity is pointy, painful and powerful and so are these odd little polyhedrons.

Also, There is no standardised style for d4s. When you roll them, the result is the number displayed upright, either on the top or bottom. It varies from die to die.

Which I think gives you a good sense of the tone of the whole game, y'know?

The game cares about dice as physical objects deeply. Players can use the emotional connections between their characters to donate bonus dice to another character's rolls: the game suggests that when you do, you should pass her your physical dice, and use the motion of how you do it (including potentially how your hand touches hers as you hand them over) as a way of expressing the connections between characters, which is a fucking genius bit of design.

Anyway. Who do you play as?

Some sort of dykey space-gal x-10 pilot. To define who you are, you pick three things: the faction you belong to, your pilot type, and the X-10 you pilot. I'll go over each in quick succession.

Your faction determines your political alliance and likely goals, and the culture you grew up in, and each faction has access to a different set of X-10s. You pick between:

The Reach: the most organised and strict faction, and the oldest. Strict, heirarchical, and high-tech. You play here if you want to have a good The Man to chafe against, or to be that The Man for somebody else. The Reach are working on engineering humanity to be able to survive the coming disaster and thrive in space, and building a vast engine - the Overlock - to enable this.

The Homebound: the most rough-and-ready faction. A large population of working-class gals, and with too few resources to go around. They're working on repairing a giant machine, The Sling, to transport their people to another star system and flee the coming disaster. Unfortunately, The Sling and The Overlock are both adaptations of the same machine...

The Cosmic Embrace: the weirdo faction. The smallest, most mystic, and overall hippy-est. Short on space, people, and resources, but not on idealism and enthusiasm. They're poking the weird shit of the setting, and getting results. A little culty. In the playtest I was in, I played Cosmic Embrace, obviously.

Notably, you can have PCs all be in the same faction, or be split between them. If split, there's lines of conflict, but also room for alliances and subterfuge. PCs can, and might well, switch faction in play.

As well as your faction, you pick your pilot type. There's three broad types of pilots you can be:

Genebuilt, artificially created super-pilots with custom genetics to make them good in space. Divided into two rough types; the Violet Kind (for if you were a successful project, and inhereted mysterious abilities) or the Rat Bitch (for if you... weren't, and mostly just inhereted emotional issues). There's some interesting space to play with the idea of nature vs nurture here, or with the pressure of expectation.

Baseliners, aka normal humans who haven't been genetically engineered or tinkered with. Again, divided into two types; the Shining Star (for if you're keeping up with the best through sheer talent and training) and the Baseline Breaker (for if you're a normal person getting by with determination and adaptability.

And then, lastly, the Returned. People who died - or nearly died - and were brought back. The character creation section only mentions one sort of Rebuilt - the Returned, who have been remade by the power of humans science - but hints that other sorts might exist. And indeed they do, tied to the mysteries of the setting.

I ended up playing a Rat Bitch, who'd seen her best buddy get horribly fucked up in a training exercise and gone awol. It was great fun.

Lastly, your X-10. Each faction has three models of X-10, divided by function: Warriors to be brutal front-line fighters, Rogues to be mobile scout-types, and Witches that do weird shit and fight at range. Out of these, each faction has its own version of each of these archetypes. Some X-10 models are pretty common and mass-produced (like the Ogress, the Reach's warrior-frame), and some are rare or even unique (like the Hag, the homebound's rare and experimental Witch type that can fuck with time and space).

Each X-10 has its own Violet Core, the psychoactive crystal that's at the heart of the mech and gives the game it's name. Thoughts from the violet core filter through to the pilot, and visa versa. If you pilot a Hag for long, you'll start thinking Haggish thoughts, and your own emotions will start to seep into the core. It can get real strange real fast.

Each type of X-10 feels and plays extremely differently, in a way I personally found made your choice of frame a reflection of your pilot's personality. My pilot ended up in a Mermaid - the Cosmic Embrace's version of a Witch frame - that had the ability to shift space around it (her?), and 'swim' out of the normal world into sub-space. Which brings me to...

The Spaces & The Mysteries

As well as the material, mundane world - what Violet Core terms 'top-space' - there are two other spaces that exist.

Sub-space is a serene, empty (is it?) realm that lies below top-space. You can dive into sub-space in the right X-10s, and explore. Time and space are wierd and fluid here. If you dive deeply, you find... things. If you dive too deep, you might not come back the same, or at all. There are mysteries down there. Remember I mentioned there are other types of Returned you might become? Yeah. Remember those Violet Cores that power your X-10s? They're made from something called 'the fingers' found deep down in sub-space. Who's fingers? You see where I'm going with this.

There's also The Violet Realm. This is the psycho-sphere, the realm of dreams and emotions and mystical experiences. The violet core of your X-10 links you to the Violet Realm. You can meditate to experience it, to commune with what's within...

This is a setting with mysteries. There are things to explore, forces and powers beneath the surface. I won't elaborate. Partly because I don't want to spoil the discovery for you, and partly because I don't want to read it all and spoil myself before I can play this again. What I will say is that the bits I did read ahead on give you a lot to explore, and are explained in a way that make how they tie into the wider setting and plot. It's all coming together into something impressive.

Personally, as a player of rpgs (larp and ttrpg) I really enjoy settings which present you with mysteries and mysticism, which let you explore the underlying nature of this universe in ways that are at times rational and at times intuitive or mystical. It's an itch few other ttrpgs have scratched for me. Lacuna and Orpheus were, until now, games that achieved what I wanted; now I get to add a third game to the list in Violet Core.

In case it wasn't clear, this is high praise. This is extremely high praise.

Mechanics

I'm going to assume you're already sold. If you aren't, let me make a statement:

I'm mad I didn't think of these game mechanics.

The core engine is pools of d4s, in a way I believe is drawn from forged in the dark. However, unlike FitD, I really like how VC handles its rolls. Particularly - as I mentioned above - the way players can pull on the connections between PCs to offer each other dice, and the way this affects the game.

The core is pretty simple but has nuance. There are PbtA-style moves - things like Negotiate, or Hurt, or Shield - that trigger when you do a particular thing. You roll, and get a codified result based on the result. When you roll, you get a number of dice depending on how you're going about it. In person, you use your talents; things like Making Out and Using Your Head. In your X-10, you use the X-10's talents, things like Synchronising and Drawing Near. An example: You're piloting a Mermaid, and you see your friend (piloting an Ogress) is about to be struck by spiraling comet shards. To save her, you dive across to pull her out of top-space and into sub-space with you, dipping out of the material world to avoid the hazard. Since pulling somebody into Sub-space with your X-10 is Draw Near, you roll as many d4s as your Draw Near pool, and count how many hits you get. Since you're trying to protect somebody, you take that result and look at the Shield move to see what happens.

It's a simple core that's then built on with more detail, giving it a lot of room for nuance and expression.

Further, there's a neat little system for tracking the emotional connections between PCs and how they escalate over time. As they escalate, you pick statements to describe how you feel, pinning down the nature of the relationship, that will get deeper and more intense the further in you get. And the further in you get, the more potent it is when you hand another player your dice to assist her PC.

In play its such a neat, deep, evocative system that it made me really mad I didn't think of it myself. It's basically perfect.

Sorties, in which our cosmic purple space robots punch each other

Up front. Although your in giant space-mechs with giant space-weapons, combat isn't meant to be lethal and horrid. It's intense, and gritty, and emotional raw, but in the way that a bloody-knuckled fist-fight is, not in the way that a shootout is.

Fights aren't war. They're personal.

There's a lot of dancing metaphors in how the fights are described. You might be sparring or actually seriously going after each other, but either way, a fight is an interplay between two characters at their most intense. That thing where a fight scene serves the same purpose as a musical number? Yeah, that.

So. Each fight between X-10s is a Sortie. A sortie is divided into a series of steps, and at each step you pick an option for how you're fighting;

Lead, to be agressive

Sway, to be fluid and fucky

Follow, to be evasive

Sway hits follow, Follow hits lead, Lead hits sway. Its a rock-paper-scissors cycle. (If you get two Leads, both hit, and if you get two follows or sways, both miss.)

When you hit, you can trigger one of the moves as a result. It can get ugly and painful. It could concievably get vulnerable and emotional.

Critically, you have a limited pool of lead/sway/follow actions (depending on your X-10), that get used up as you use them in steps. IE: if you're piloting a Witch, you can use Sway twice and Lead & Follow once. So, you can count what you're opponent's used up, and predict their moves based on what they've got left. In really long sorties, once you've only got one option left to you, it resets.

A sortie is a sort of dance as you maneuver for the advantageous position, use that to fuck with your oponent, and get your fists bruised.

Damage to your X-10 can bleed through to you. Contact between two X-10s can bleed through to their pilots. Things can get strange, particularly when there's Witch X-10s involved.

I'm gonna quote the book again here:

Not all pilots fight to win. Some pilots fight to hurt.

The Gay Bits

As you might have realised by now, it's a really fucking sapphic game. Not as a focus, but in the way where all our PCs are assumed to be some sort of dykey queer type because that's just the kinda tone we're going for.

To misquote Sarah's fellow aussie: "This is my book motherfucker, they'll walk be lesbians if I tell them to".

Pulling It All Together

Tonally, it's a fucking slam dunk. The world bleeds with a very specific atmosphere, a sort of dykey grungey weirdness that draws on old late-80s to early-90s mecha anime, and Heaven Will Be Mine, and weird scifi.

The writing has a really strong voice. Sarah doesn't write like a typical clinical dispassionate ttrpg text, she writes like Sarah. There's little witicisms, emotional bits, slang. It reads like somebody passionately explaining how to play in person.

There's a lot of snippets of in-character text - chat logs, reports, records, recordings - that give you a sense of the sort of people in this world.

The art is all fucking gorgeous. Mostly Sarah art, with some guest spots.

It is extremely purple, so purple its even in the name.

In conclusion:

Listen I am wildly biased because I've been friends with Sarah for yonks, but even if I wasn't I'd be incredibly enthusiastic about this game because:

a) it seems to have been carefully fine-tuned to hit my tastes.

b) it's really fucking good. Really fucking good.

It's an idiosyncratic personal work that also has a huge cosmic scope to it. It fucks around with the medium of dice-based ttrpgs in interesting ways. It's gorgeously written. It's got a setting that makes me want to dive in and explore it.

You should go back the kickstarter when it goes live, and tell your friends about it, and I am not kidding. If this game isn't a wild success there is something wrong with indie ttrpgs. The kickstarter is here, I believe it's due to go live in a couple of days.

If any bloggers are interested in getting a preview copy of their own, hit me up and I can hit up Sarah and we can sort things out.

[utilitycaster]

Bells Hells Level Up: Level 14

FUCK IT WE'RE DOING IT LIVE (I forgot to prep this well in advance like a press release as I am wont to do). Gonna be short, sweet, and as always if there are any factual errors let me know! If I simply did not list every single possible feat, spell, or other choice, that is because I did not wish to spend my wild and precious life doing that.

Chetney: With a 13th level in Blood Hunter he gets Brand of Tethering, which is GREAT for making people (Ludinus) not be able to leave. He can also use Blood Maledict 3 times per rest now. Looking ahead: I'm assuming he's sticking with Blood Hunter (or Blood Nutter as the case may be); at L14 he gets advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened, and a new crimson rite. He has flame and frozen, and L14 unlocks necrotic, psychic, and thunder options. Their enemies are often immune to psychic but honestly he can just use fire so. Live your best life, Chet.

Laudna: I support waiting to see how the ritual goes! If she levels in Warlock she gets an ASI/Feat (War caster wouldn't hurt; bumping up INT or WIS wouldn't either though my vote, as always, is for INT), another known spell, and continues her quest as Cantrips Georg. If she levels in Sorcerer she also gets another cantrip, as well as another known spell, and I think she should get a 3rd metamagic option but she seems to already have three? Anyway my vote is for Careful Spell. I'll hold off on further speculation until said ritual has completed.

Dorian: Two more spells! Magical secrets, ie, whatever the fuck he wants (true to my name my vote is spending at least one on Counterspell, but go nuts on the other) He also no longer has to burn his inspiration dice on flourishes, though he only gets a d6 rather than his full d10. Looking ahead: He gets 8th level spells of which Mind Blank might be wise given this campaign; he also gets a d12 inspiration die.

Braius is already level 14, thank you Braius.

Fearne: Ok I respect the ASI push but Transport via Plants would be real clutch sometime soon. With that said Dorian or Imogen could take Teleport or they can just hang out with Essek for a while longer. Anyway, as an Arcane Trickster she gets an ASI and another L1 spell; she's been keeping it utility-focused which is smart because her INT score is not high. The ASI move, in my opinion, is bump up INT and CON by one, but she could also benefit from War caster. Looking ahead: As said, take L11 Druid, get 6th level spells, profit.

Imogen: Revelation in Flesh is upon us; I assume it will be electricity themed rather than the traditional Aberrant Mind option which appears to be "cursed axolotl"-themed. This means she can use sorcery points to make herself fly OR swim/breathe water OR see invisible creatures OR squeeze out of tight situations. Looking ahead: 8th level spells next level! Incendiary Cloud seems to be on-brand but Power Word Stun OR Sunburst (miss you Ayden) are both pretty fantastic.

Orym: Fighters get a zillion ASIs, as always; Sentinel might be fun but he could also bump his CON to 16 (if he does this...I must admit I'm warming on the idea of Orym Paladin and wouldn't scoff at a CHA 13 bump either), achieve Chetney-like intellect with an INT bump, or take any number of feats. I am pretty boring with feats honestly so I'm excited to see what Liam picks but I have no good ideas. Looking ahead: At L15, he gets two more maneuvers, which I will definitely look up before they hit L15; he also gets a free superiority die if they roll initiative while he is fully tapped. Fighters: they are unstoppable.

Ashton: It's a path feature! I have no idea what the fuck will be up with that but I'm looking forward to finding out, which, coincidentally, will give us the full picture of Path of Fundamental Chaos! Looking ahead: They get persistent rage at L15, which will make them even harder to knock out, a thing that is already very difficult to do.

[coffeejellou]

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

Romance can also be disastrous - Chapter one

Pairing: Kusuo Saiki x fem! Reader

What to expect: Fluff and Crack/Comedy

Things to know: "Saiki speaking telepathically to people"

"Saiki speaking with his mouth"

"Everyone else speaking"

(Sometimes) Narrator speaking

"Bye mom! Remember I'm going to the park with Kusuo after school so eat dinner without me, alright?" You said to your mom as you waved goodbye to her.

"Bye sweetie! Have a good day! Make sure to tell Ku that I said hello!" And with that you were off, closing your front door and making your way to none other than Kusuo Saiki's house.

Your name was Y/n L/n, a high school student at PK academy. Right now, as stated before, you were going to your best friends house to walk with him to school.

He was a pretty average guy, average grades, good parents, good friends (though he didn't consider them friends, but deep down you knew he did). Pretty 'normal' right? Expect there's one more thing about him that wasn't.

Saiki, was a psychic. He had all sorts of powers and he could do just about anything. Telepathy, psychokinesis, x ray vision, precognition, teleportation, clairvoyance, etc. Honestly it hurt your head sometimes trying to remember how much he could do.

See, you and Saiki have been friends since pre-school, and you didn't know he could do these things until your second year of middle school, where you had caught him using teleportation.

At first, you had just thought your mind was playing tricks on you, but the more you watched him from afar, the more you saw him use his powers.

And after confronting him you had gotten the answer. Saiki was a psychic. He showed you a lot of his powers while you sat on his floor with your jaw practically hitting the floor.

You chuckled slightly as you remembered, it felt like that was yesterday, and ever since then it was like playing hot potato each time you were around him.

You had to be careful on what you thought, or else thinking the wrong thing could lead to embarrassment, humiliation, and awkwardness...

As you approached his house you snapped out of your thoughts, you saw him standing right outside his front gate, waiting for you.

His pink hair made him stick out like a sore thumb, and his pink antennas, well to you anyway.

"Good grief, I'm not a sore thumb, I look fine."

"What happened to hello huh? I thought you were classier than that." You teased as you both started to walk towards your school.

"Jeez, why am I even walking to school with you." He responded in his usual monotone voice. "And can't you speak to me at least, it's been a while since I heard your voice." You gave him a slight glare, and he didn't even look at you in return.

"I speak to you all the time and you hear my voice perfectly." You scoffed and blew a raspberry at him.

"You know what I mean, whatever it'll happen again eventually. I'll just have to keep waiting and be patient!"

"Well you're going to be waiting a long time." And that was that. You groaned and looked away from him. As you continued to walk your mind wandered off again, recalling old childhood memories with Saiki...

"Saikoo!!" You ran up to Saiki in your adorable little kindergarten uniform, you were short and had a couple of scars on your face. But you were also smiling, big and wide.

Little kindergarten Saiki looked over at you as you caught your breath. "Don't call me that.." He replied his monotone voice just like the one he has now. Only more high pitched.

"But I love the name! I came up with it myself remember? Kusuo and Saiki combined! Am I a genius or what?!" You said as you started to giggle.

"I know, you've told me so many times..what do you need anyway?" You looked up at him with a slight smirk and grabbed a small white popsicle from your pocket. It was still in its packaging and it surprisingly hadn't melted.

"Let's play rock paper scissors! If I win I keep my popsicle, if you win I'll give it to you! Deal?" You waved the popsicle in his face and he nodded.

"Best out of three.."

....

Saiki stared at you as you held in your tears, but obviously it didn't work. You were sniffling, wiping boogers and tears that would come out as you tried not to cry.

"Y-You won..!" You managed to croak out as you handed him the popsicle. Saiki looked at it and looked back at you. He felt something, something he never really felt before.

He felt bad.. he had used his telepathy to win, which is what he always did, but he had never played rock paper scissors with you. And he didn't know you would cry from losing.

He took it out of your hands and started to unwrap it. You stayed there, trying to stop yourself from crying. And suddenly you saw the popsicle being shoved in your face.

"Let's share..it was yours after all...." He mumbled out, you saw a dust of pink paint his cheeks, it was definitely not as pink as his hair, but it was pretty close..

You stared at him, you'd be lying if you said you didn't feel your heart race. I mean c'mon, someone sharing something they won fair and square with you? How could you not feel flustered as a little kid.

You gave a big grin, similar to the one you had one before when you had run up to Saiki. "Thanks Saiko!! You're the best friend I could ever have!!"

You gave Saiki a big hug and started to giggle, he stayed still until you let go. He took a taste, then handed it for you to try, then after you, you handed it back. And that's how it went..until a teacher approached you two..

You looked up to see your school, which caused you to stop your memory early. You hadn't noticed but Saiki had on a small smile, as he was reading your mind.

And as you watched the memory play in your head, he also watched, he would never admit it to anyone, but that was probably one of the best days of his life..

"Hey, I didn't ignore you did I? Sorry I got to thinking..!" You said with a worried smile he shook his head.

"No, I was enjoying the peace anyway." You seemed to have forgotten for a moment that Saiki could read your mind. "Good. Oh right! Isn't today the school year opening ceremony?"

"Yeah, pretty sure." You started to grumble nonsense in frustration, "Cmon man! It's gonna be super boringgg!! Oohh!! Can you use your powers to like..I dunno, make it not happen?"

Saiki stopped as he got in front of his locker to change into his school shoes, he looked at you briefly before rolling his eyes.

"Hey! What was that for!" You scoffed and walked to your own small locker, which was only a couple rows away from Saiki's.

When you finished putting on your shoes, you closed your locker and headed straight to class, where the teacher would lead all the students to the gymnasium for the ceremony.

Jeez...how boring!!

★

You stood in the gymnasium with everyone in the school. Everybody was in rows, while the principal talked on the stage into a microphone, you honestly didn't know what he was rambling about.

Your mind was begging for something interesting to think of or for something interesting to happen. As you looked around you saw Saiki in front of you, only about 2 rows away from you.

You then saw somebody come up behind him and realized it was Riki Nendou, he's a guy no one likes but has strangely taken a liking to Saiki.

You knew Saiki didn't like him, not because he always hung around him, but because poor old Saiki couldn't read his thoughts. And everyone has thoughts Saiki can read.

Random people he sees on the street, people who speak different languages, young people, old people, hell, he can even read the minds of animals.

But when it comes to Nendou? Forget it. You had heard him rant about it a couple of times already and just the other day he told you he figured out why he couldn't read his thoughts.

Nendou is a moron, you can't read a mind if there's nothing on it. Which to Saiki, can be a weird experience, maybe even scary.

Out of nowhere, a green haired guy passed out in the middle of the floor, everyone gathered up around him and Nendou screamed.

He rushed over to the passed out guy and started shaking him, punching him, even giving him mouth to mouth.

During all the commotion, you walked over to Saiki. "Hey I think there is a god because he just answered my wish. Wait, you might be God right..? Did you do this for me Kuuu...~?" You teased and bursted out laughing.

You swore you heard Saiki's eyebrows twitch as he glared at you, "Why would I do something like this? I mean sure, maybe to get away from Nendou but he wasn't really bothering me too much."

"Well whatever, all that matters is that something interesting happened! Hopefully they cancel the ceremony because I was practically dying of boredom.." You shrugged your shoulders and Saiki sighed.

"Nendou! What do you think you're doing?! Take him to the nurse!" A teacher yelled out as he saw Nendou giving the green haired boy mouth to mouth.

"Wow, never thought I'd see Nendou kiss someone.." You muttered as Saiki nodded in agreement.

"Huh? What? The nurse? Okay, right!" Nendou yelled as he picked up the boy and wrapped his arms around his shoulder.

"Hey Saiki, L/n, why don't you both go with the two of them? I don't trust Nendou to find it.."

"Damn it.." Saiki hissed into your head, as you sighed in annoyance.

★

As Saiki opened the door to the nurses office, nobody seemed to be in there. No nurse, no students, and no teachers.

"Huh that's weird..is the nurse dead too? Guess I'll have to do mouth to mouth of you myself.." Nendou said as he clung onto the passed out boys shoulder.

"Please don't.." Saiki muttered, he looked sick and you laughed slightly at his expression. You decided to look around for any medicine or something that would help in this situation.

And as you had your back turned to everyone you heard a loud thud. You gasped slightly and looked over to see Nendou on the floor, the green haired guy ran over to the sink, yelling at Nendou.

"I don't need mouth to mouth you stupid idiot!" He started throwing up into the sink, grabbing onto it for dear life.

Well...this was an interesting turn of events..did you know he was faking? You thought to Saiki as you helped Nendou up.

"Obviously. But I couldn't really say anything or else Nendou and this kid would question how I knew.." He responded, using his powers to only speak to you telepathically right now.

"You're better! Well that's nice to see!" Nendou cheered with a small smile on his face. You felt bad for him, all he did was try to help, and this is the thanks he gets?

Though you also understood why the kid was throwing up..I mean..getting kissed by Nendou was definitely bad..

"Course I'm better! I was faking it!" He continued to throw up and started gargling water into his mouth.

"Wasn't worth it though since I got kissed by you!" The boy yelled as he turned to all of you, he looked disgusted and you rolled your eyes.

"Well if it makes you feel better I'm sad too..you were my first kiss.." Nendou said, sounding a little heartbroken as he tried to help the situation.

Oh wow...that's unfortunate isn't it?

"You're only making it worse Nendou..." Saiki added as the boy threw up even more. You wondered how much longer this was going to go on. He's thrown up so many times by now.

"Now everyone's gonna think Nendou and I are in love..." He wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he sat on the floor.

"I absolutely guarantee you no one is thinking that.." Saiki said as you chimed in, "I mean c'mon dude...did you really think there would be no consequences for doing this? If the nurse was here, and she found out nothing was wrong then what?"

The boy looked at you and stayed silent for a moment before glaring at you, "Hey, you better not tell anyone my fainting was fake..I don't care if you're a hot chick"

"Say what now..?" You stared at him with a blank face, now you felt like throwing up. Suddenly you heard something start to shake, you looked over to see the medicine cabinet shaking rapidly.

You let out a small scream and it suddenly stopped just like that. "Woah..this place is totally haunted dude!!" Nendou yelled, walking away backwards, far away from the cabinet.

You looked up at Saiki, who seemed unfazed. Was this your doing? You asked with a raised eyebrow, he didn't answer, due to being interrupted by the gym teacher who barged in.

"I heard it all!" He yelled as he glared at all of you. What, the faking or the ghost? "MATSUZAKI?!" The boy screamed out, he looked extremely scared. Of course he would be though, he had just been caught.

"So your fainting was a con job huh..?" He glared even harder, mostly at the boy who had faked passing out.

It felt like he was betting bigger and bigger towering over all of you. "That's not what happened sir! It's his fault! He forced me to collapse so he could skip out of the principles speech! And my sickness is actually a ruse!"

He suddenly started to fake cry and pointed a finger at Nendou, who bless his heart, was confused as hell. "Nendou is that all true?!" Matsuzaki looked over to him.

"Pinning this on Nendou isn't a half bad idea.." Saiki only was speaking telepathically to you now.

Yeah but I feel bad..he was just trying to help. You thought as you looked up at him.

"Huh? Saiki, L/n, what are you both doing here?" Matsuzaki questioned as he stopped yelling at Nendou for a moment.

"What?" "Oh! We were-" You both weren't even given a chance to explain yourselves before he started to speak again.

"Takahashi! Are they also a part of this?!" Ah, so the boy's name was Takahashi, the name sounded familiar to you, so you wondered if he was in your class and you just never noticed.

"who? Uh..yeah sure.." He stopped fake crying for a moment and you glared at him. Oh that little piece of sh-

"That's it! I want all of you in my office!" He screamed, which is all that he seemed to do. It was honestly starting to give you a migraine, seriously how can his voice not get tired of it?

"Dragging me and Y/n into this is a bad idea pal.." you looked up in surprise when you heard Saiki say that, but you realized quickly that he just accidentally forgot to stop saying things in your head.

He also realized what he had done and looked away.

Hey don't be embarrassed it's fi-

"I'm not embarrassed." He quickly answered and you looked down at the ground. Why can't he just admit things from time to time...jeez...why do I even lik-

"Hold on a sec teach!" Nendou called out, interrupting your thoughts.

"Wait finish that sentence.." Saiki said to you, in return you blushed. Crap! I always forget he can...- Dammit! Stop reading my mind Kusuo!

"His fainting is real...didn't you just hear him say it? Roots sickness.."

"........"

"Holy crap he's dumb! How can anyone mistake ruse for roots?!" You stayed silent in shock... Saiki's right ..how can anyone be so..dumb...?

Roots sickness is a deadly virus that infects the victim through their follicles.

"Oh that one..!" Matsuzaki puts his hand to his chin, thinking about what to do next, you on the other hand, sit down onto the black bench that was tucked in the corner and sigh.

You had a massive headache, you didn't know from what at this point.. Matzuzaki? Nendou? Takahashi? Saiki? It was hard to tell..

"You need help?" You heard Saiki ask you through your head.

No..you're just gonna make the pain go away right now and it'll come back to bite me in the ass tomorrow...I'd rather just deal with it now..

He looked at you and saw how much pain you were in, before he could think about what he was doing, he pet your head softly.

The gesture made your eyes widen with shock and you swore you could feel your face heat up.

The three guys were doing something you didn't really pay attention to, taking Takahashi's temperature you assumed because you heard Nendou say something about that.

Saiki then sat next to you, the closest he ever has actually. Is he trying to kill me..?! You thought without thinking, No! Wait! Stop! You didn't hear that right?! Dammit Kusu-

"Stop your whining, it's giving me a headache, you're loud in your head y'know..." He whispered next to you. Everything in your body stopped, like you were a robot who had been unplugged or something.

"92.8°c" You heard Matzuzaki say as he looked at the thermometer, which caused your little moment to end..wait...did he just say....?

"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE NOW!!!!" He yelled, and loud. Next thing you know, medics came in with a rolling bed and they were taking Takahashi to the hospital in an ambulance.

You looked over at Saiki, who had a flame at his fingertip. "Phycocinises, my ability to manipulate fire." He showed you the thermometer, loud and proud. Which was something he didn't do at all.

"pfft..showoff.." You elbowed him playfully and smiled. "Hey, you melted the tip.." you pointed to it and he did indeed melt it.

"oops..better hide the evidence" He quickly balled it into his hand and set fire to it while making sure to keep it in his palm.

"Woah..." You heard Nendou say as he walked through he door.

"He saw..!" Saiki yelled out to you, both of your faces painted with worry. "You..have a fever too..?!" And just like that, Saiki was also brought to the ambulance, leaving you alone in the nurses office.

You laughed softly to yourself, "It's like bad luck just follows him I guess..."

"Oh hey Saiki, I totally forgot to tell you yesterday, but my mom wanted you to come over to talk to her. She said she wants to talk to you about something important." You told Saiki as you shrugged your shoulders.

Saiki finally looked up at you from his seat, after talking to him for a couple minutes already. "Something important? Are you sure she didn't mean my mom?" He questioned, as you looked down on him and saw his purple eyes.

You blushed as you looked into them, surprisingly you didn't turn into stone yet. "Good grief, stop staring and answer my question..." He pulled up his glasses so you wouldn't see his eyes anymore and you stood up straight as you blushed harder.

"S-Sorry..but no she didn't say your mom, she said you specifically. She said you could come by whenever you had time. It's not urgent..I don't think."

You looked away as you scratched the back of your neck, I need to stop getting flustered by him..at this rate he'll figure it ou-

"Did ya hear? A deadly snake escaped from the local zoo!" Somebody said loudly from behind you.

....why does someone always have to interrupt her when she's thinking about..that? Saiki thought to himself, he'd gotten fed up with people causing you to lose your train of thoughts whenever he was reading your mind. I mean, it's been happening since middle school, and it was getting old.

"Huh? A snake..?" You mumbled to Saiki as you looked over to the group of students. "There's a poisonous snake on the loose?!" The students friends eyes widened as he took in the information.

"Are you boys sure it escaped..this is just the kind of plan they'd come up with..fear not I the jet black wings are never fooled by their evil deception..someone must have set that snake free on purpose.!" You turned around to see none other than Shun Kaidou, who is someone you had met back in elementary school.

For a couple of years in elementary school, you and Saiki had drifted apart, and you had met Kaidou during those years. He was your best friend for a while until you and Saiki reconnected.

But you two still considered each other great friends, hell you are the only who, (only sometimes), played along with his persona.

He was always there to help you, no matter what you needed, he was right by your side.

"Hang on! You know the guy who did this Kaidou?!" One of your classmates yelled in anger as he slammed his hands onto the desk and got up.

"Some wannabe supervillain called the black wings?" Another guy asked in confusion, you snickered slightly, Kaidou's little world was hard to keep up with.

"No I'm jet black wings, the hero! The villains are a secret organization named dark reunion..and this escaped sake thing is the first of their evil plot to sort mankind!"

"Dark reunion?!" Everyone gasped and you cringed. "Are people really buying this?" You muttered to Saiki.

"Who?!...Jeez Never heard of them..." Everyone who was listening walked away in boredom as Kaidou stood there, his hands crossed and a smug smile on his face.

"Hah..once again the fate of the world into our super powered laps..say Saiki?" He walked over to the two of you and continued to smirk.

"Hey Shun! You gonna go save the world from the snake now or what?" You teased, he jumped back in surprise from seeing you and you heard a little squeak come out from him.

"Oh Y/n! Why of course, I just need to find it and I'll kill it in a matter of seconds..!" You rolled your eyes with a smile. "Right, well just be careful, kay?" He stuttered a small "O-Okay..!" Before walking off.

"You're close with Kaidou?" Saiki asked you as you looked at him. "Huh? Yeah why?" You tilted your head slightly in confusion.

"You called him by his first name."

"Ohhh!! Yeah we are, he's my best friend! Second to you of course." You smirked slightly.

"Really? That's surprising. I've never seen you two interact much."

"Yeah we kinda got out of touch when middle school started, but despite that he's still there for me when I need him."

Saiki didn't say anything more and just nodded. He honestly was not expecting that, you two were complete opposites, but he got over the small shock after a couple of minutes.

Kaidou was now saying some speech about what he had named the snake and something about the dark reunion having something to do with it. He was also saying how he was going to stop it, no matter what.

Well that was before somebody interrupted his day dreaming.

"Hey good news they caught the snake!" A classmate of yours entered the room and announced. "Well that's a relief! Where did they find it?" A girl asked him with a smile.

"At the schools front gate..it was just kinda laying on the ground, half dead." You saw Kaidou's face turn into shock.

"Kay but why was it dead?" The girl asked. "Some first graders had been whipping it around.." The guy responded, his face turning into a slight smirk.

"That's one weak ass murder snake.." Saiki said to you and you laughed slightly. "Sounds like we beat dark reunion this time!" Another guy said while snickering.

"Be careful what you say! They're a powerful secret society!" Someone else chimed in. "Who knows what they'll do to you once they sort man kind!"

Everyone in the classroom started laughing hysterically at Kaido, mocking him. He turned his back to everyone headed for the door. "Go ahead and laugh..this is the clam before the storm. D-Dark reunion is coming..! I tried to warn you all..I swear!"

You heard his voice break at the end and you frowned. "He's going to the bathroom to cry.." you sighed and started walking after him. "Where you going?" Saiki asked as he also stood up.

"Going to find Shun, obviously." You muttered before running off in the direction he went. Suddenly Saiki felt something coming, his eyes widened slightly.

"Hold up, I'm coming with."

★

"He's in the bathroom you said?" You looked around you with a worried look as you walked in the hallways, towards the boys bathroom.

"Yeah, but it was probably best he left." Saiki said, you looked up at him in confusion. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well the snake that they were talking about, it's in somebody's sleeve..." Your eyes widened, and you let out a small gasp. "How did it end up in there?!"

You stopped in your tracks and Saiki saw a small hint of fear in your eyes. "No clue." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Wait how do you even know this? I know your psychic and all but-" Before you could finish your sentence, you heard screaming. "Guess they found the snake..hold on, bear with me for a moment."

"Huh?" You then saw Saiki cross his eyes and you couldn't help but snicker. "Good grief..stay quiet and let me see what's going on."

Back in the classroom, everyone was screaming and yelling, most people were even on top of desks, trying to stay far away from the snake.

"What a bunch of dorks!" Nendou suddenly yelled out during all the commotion with a smug smile as he had his feet up on the desk and one of his hands behind his head.

"Nendou when did you get in here?!" Somebody yelled as Nendou laughed. "Your guys' balls still attached?"

"Worry about yours!"

"Mine feel weird.."

"Well obviously they do!...the snakes on your crotch.."

Nendou's head looked like it stopped working and his eyes went blank, his mouth even frothing a bit. "Nendou!!!" Everyone yelled.

"What the hell is going on in there..?!" You asked as you heard people yell Nendou's name. Saiki still had his eyes crossed which you figured was one of his powers that helped him look somewhere else where he wasn't present.

The power of Clairvoyance! By crossing his eyes, Kusuo is able to remotely view distant locations!

Saiki then took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, you quickly looked away at the sudden movement. Every time you see even a hint of his purple eyes you can't control your blush or heartbeat.

"Nendou was making fun of everyone for being scared..until the snake bit his crotch.." You looked back up at him in surprise. "C-Come again...?"

"Don't worry it didn't bite through the fabric.." You sighed in relief before hearing more yelling. "Everybody get down!" You gasped in shock, you'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"K-Kaidou?! That idiot..!" You hissed before running off back to the classroom. "Y/n wai-" Saiki called out, but it was too late you weren't going to listen to him.

As you slammed the door open you saw him, protecting everyone by standing in front of the snake like bait. He stood tall and brave, he even had his arms out. "I'll take care of this snake!"

"Kaidou! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" You knew that no matter how tough he was acting, he was scared inside.

"Alright murder dragon snake, it's time you face me! The jet black wings! Let's go.." He got into a weird pose, acting all cool.

You cringed at the scene, everyone else was debating on fleeing and leaving Kaidou on his own.

The snake suddenly started to move towards a girl, she screamed in horror. But before anything could happen Kaidou got in front of her to protect her. "Take this! Judgement night sun!" He yelled out.

And just like that the snake was electrocuted, "What..?" You mumbled, no way Kaidou had powers. The snake landed on the ground, he was basically charcoal now.

Everyone cheered for Kaidou, at first he looked shocked but then he had on a huge grin. You smiled, you knew that it probably wasn't him who did that, but he still had the guts to protect that girl.

"I see why you wanted to protect him." You heard a voice say, you saw Saiki standing next to you, he smiled slightly. "He's stupid, he might not have real superpowers but he definitely has real courage..don't you agree?"

You smiled at Saiki and he nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

Thus the great snake attack came to an end!

★

"I don't care for this new attitude of yours Kaido." The teacher said to him with a glare. Kaidou was now acting like the king, doing whatever he wanted now.

"You better watch what you say teach, it isn't a pleasant thing to get blasted with the judgement nights of thunder...." He said with a deep voice and a smirk.

"That's it! Go to the principal's office!"

He got more immature!

"I take back everything I said..."

"woah look at her.."

"Wow..."

"Oh my gosh.."

You turned around to see what all the commotion was about, only to see one of your Classmates, Kokomi Teruhashi.

"Oh wow!"

"She's so pretty..!"

You have to admit, Teruhashi is very beautiful, and she was sweet to you too. But you aren't very close. Still you don't hate her. I mean, it's a literal fact that she's pretty, and you weren't afraid or annoyed to admit that.

Hell, if you were a guy you'd probably say 'Oh wow!' too. After a couple of seconds looking at her you turned back to look ahead of you. Right now you were walking back home, after shopping for a couple things for your room and cat.

"Saiki! Hi! I couldn't help but notice you looked sad.." You heard Teruhashi say in a sweet chipper voice. You turned around and saw she was talking to Saiki.

He's here? Why didn't he say anything to me? Probably his alone time or something. Wonder how he'll react to Teruhashi..this should be interesting...

But instead of reacting like any other guy, he bowed respectfully and continued walking. THAT'S IT?! Both you and Teruhashi thought.

No way...I mean I don't know why I'm surprised, it's Saiki after all. But seriously? Not even a hello?

"Saiki! Silly..! You know it's not polite to ignore a girl..!" She poked him, trying to be cute and sweet. But he dodged..

Your jaw dropped slightly, before you started to chuckle. You quickly shut up as you realized some people were staring.

Should I help him? Nah, he's a psychic, he's got it covered. You continued to walk, bags in hand and with a slight smile.

"Saiki! Don't leave me alone!" You saw from the corner of your eye that she tried to catch him in a hug. But again he dodged.

You thought about it for a moment and shrugged your shoulders. Eh, I'm bored. And it's not like I'm doing anything wrong. I'm gonna see how this unfolds..

You saw Teruhashi stay in the same position, ready to hug him, she stood still with her jaw open and wide eyes.

"Oh brother..stop watching and help me out already.." You jumped up a bit as Saiki startled you. Why should I help, you're living every guy's dream y'know? A pretty girl chasing after you? I mean c'mon, look how much attention you're getting... You said sarcastically, teasing him.

"Saiki!!" She called out again, running after him. "Here she comes..the one thing this arrogant girl won't consider is that I'm ignoring her. Thought to be fair, if I was the type of guy she thinks I am I probably react the way she wants me to, Nendou as well. And from what I heard, you too right?"

Yeah obviously, I admire her y'know? But from what you just told me, her thoughts are much different from what she acts.

"You got that right...now get her away from me, she's attracting so much attention to me."

Teruhashi kept trying to touch him, and you didn't really understand why. "Do you mind if I tag along? I promise it'll be fun Saiki!"

Jeez...she's determined...

"To answer your question, she's trying to prove to me that she's real, since she thinks that I think she's an illusion.."

Right...well how can I help? If I talk to you to get you out of this situation, you'll have to talk to her or at least notice her existence.

"Talk to her then. Not me."

Hell no, if I make her mad by distracting her from her goal, you, then she'll be after me for the rest of my life!

"Good grief..wait...is that? Nendou! This is bad...if he acknowledges her, I have no choice but to acknowledge her too..! I'll be checkmated my social convention.."

I think this is the most I've ever heard you talk...

"Sorry, I don't really have time to separate my thoughts and what I want to say out of your head."

Don't be...

"What..?"

Nothing!!

You felt your face heat up and you took deep breaths, trying to keep yourself from thinking about anything embarrassing any further.

"Oh no! Where did Saiki go?! What's going on?!" You heard Teruhashi say to herself. You made eye contact for a second and she quickly walked over to you.

Crap..!!

"L/n..?" She turned over to you and you tensed up. "H-Hey.." You mumbled out, trying your best not to sound nervous. "Do you know where Saiki went?"

"Huh? N-No sorry, I don't think he was here, I would've seen him, he sticks out to me..hehe.." You felt yourself starting to sweat a bit, lying to Teruhashi was like playing with fire.

She suddenly looked down at her hand, her face went red, and her eyes seemed to sparkle more than usual.

"Y-You okay?" You saw put her hand over her chest, where he heart was and your mind went blank.

D-Dont tell me.....that's exactly how I ooked when...

"Am I falling in love with Saiki..?" She whispered very quietly to herself.

H-HUH...?!!!!

★

You sighed in frustration as you approached your house, never in a million years would you have thought that Teruhashi would like Saiki.

"Hey." You screamed and jumped in surprise, you turned around to see the psychic himself.

"Well looks like you're a ladies man aren't you?" You chuckled, assuming he had been reading your thoughts. "Don't remind me..this is such a pain..she's going to be a new problem for me now..."

You rolled your eyes with a smile before opening the gate to your house. "You coming in? If you have time of course.. remember my mom wanted to talk to you?"

"Right but first I.." He looked down at the ground and handed you a small pink paper bag. "What's this?" You asked, but he stayed silent.

You took it from his hands and opened it, it was a small brown cat plush, that looked just like your own cat, coffee jelly.

"Oh my gosh! It looks just like coffee! Where did you get it? And why?" You smiled big and hugged the plush.

"I saw it when I was out, and you technically did help me escape from Teruhashi.."

"Ahh..I see." You nodded as you realized. Saiki hated being in debt to someone, and since you helped him, he wanted to get you something to say thanks.

"Thank you so much Kusuo! I love it!" You smiled and giggled a little, he nodded. "Anyway, I might as well talk to your mom while I'm here..."

★

"Mom! I'm home! And look who I brought!" You called out as you walked in. "Hi sweetie! Who did you bring by?" Your mom walked out from the kitchen and she gasped slightly before smiling as she saw who was with you.

"Kusuo! How are you? How's your mom been?" She asked as she walked towards you two. "I'm fine, and my moms been good, she's been asking how you've been."

"Oh well you tell her I'm doing just fine! And make sure to mention that I'll be waiting on Saturday for our shopping day!"

Saiki nodded, while you put all your shopping bags down. "Where's Coffee? He asleep?" You asked your mom.

"He's out like a light in your room! Why don't you go check on him while I talk to Saiki here?"

"Sure, call me if you need anything!" You waved goodbye and walked up the stairs to your room.

"Saiki dear, sit down, won't you?" He sat down on the dining table as she handed him a coffee jelly and a spoon. "Thank you." He said as he opened it and ate a spoonful.

"How have you been controlling your powers honey? Been staying out of trouble?" He nodded as he continued to smile and eat.

"Good, I'm glad. Now let's get to the point." He tensed up slightly as he heard her tone change into more serious, and she glared at him.

"My daughter, I'm aware you know of her feelings for you? It's not rocket science, you're a psychic and I'm sure she's thought about it before. And I know you've heard her talk to me about you right?"

She crossed her arms and stared dead into his eyes, if he didn't have powers, he'd probably be terrified right now.

"Now let me get one thing straight..if you ever hurt my daughter in any way shape or form, I will not hesitate to harm you, I don't care if you're a psychic..my daughter comes first..okay?"

Oh wow... He thought, he didn't know where all this was coming from, he suddenly didn't really have an appetite for his coffee jelly. All he did was nod again.

"Phew! I'm glad that's all sorted out! You better hurry home now, I'm sure your mother is worried sick!"

She quickly stood up and grabbed Saiki by his arm, rushing him to the door. "Have a nice night sweetie! Be sure to come visit again, Kay? Night!" She closed the door on him as he stood there, dumbfounded for a couple of seconds.

He sighed and started to walk off. Where did all that come from? It was honestly kind of terrifying.

He stopped walking and looked up at your window, where your room is located. He used his clairvoyance to look at you, sleeping peacefully with your cat and the plush he had given you.

Your room was decorated with all sorts of things, but something caught his attention. He hadn't been in your room for a while, so he figured you had just put it up.

There was a newspaper attached to your wall with thumb tacks...it had a picture of you two, you had a big toothy grin on your face and held up a peace sign with your right hand. And with your left you held Saiki's hand as he had no smile on his face whatsoever as he looked into the camera.

The title of the newspaper was called, Rock-Paper-Scissors kids.

He then took off his glasses as he rubbed his eyes, his clairvoyance always made his eyes feel weird after using it. He smiled slightly before teleporting back to his house.

"I'm home.."

Next part -> Romance can also be disastrous - Chapter 2

Summary: Looks like Saiki's popular with the girls as yet again, another girl falls in love with him. Leaving Y/n to bottle up her feelings and shove her jealousy deeper and deeper into her brain. Later on, he practically begs you to come with him to the beach with Nendou, because as he puts it, "It'll be less annoying with you there to get me away from all the other nuisances." And to the top of this whole chapter, Nendou starts acting weird a couple of days later, leaving you and Kaidou's imaginations to run wild.

[circethesinner]

inevitable ⟐ xavier thorpe

pairing: xavier thorpe x reader oneshot (second person pov - she/her pronouns used for reader - occasional use of Y/N)

warning(s) : mild language, best friends to lovers, mutual pining

word count: 6.4k

⭑•⊱✩masterlist✩⊰•⭑

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summary: you and xavier had been best friends since you were 7, and nothing could change that - that is until you start to develop a new power that makes you question everything you think (or rather, what everyone else thinks)

═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══

Normies usually strayed away from adopting outcast kids. They just didn’t know how to appropriately handle their slightly more complex needs.

Unfortunately for your adopted mothers, the realisation that you, their child, possessed psychic abilities hit at around the 5-year mark when they walked into your nursery and discovered that all of your bears were floating around the room, performing beautiful and elaborate ariel tricks. At first, they jumped to the conclusion that they were being haunted. In some ways, they wished that were the case. Ghosts could be exorcised, but a child who could undo a childproof lock (or five) to get into the cabinet where the candy was kept within mere seconds wasn’t easily fixed with a call to the local priest.

So, as soon as they could, they would ship you off to outcast summer camps and school programs. It's not that they didn’t love you; they just didn’t know how to help you manoeuvre your powers. 

Naturally, you resented this for a lot of your childhood. You couldn’t understand why your adopted siblings got all the time with your moms while you were sent away. Fortunately, as you matured, you grew to understand it and accept that what they were doing was for your benefit as much as theirs. Your moms were doing this to help you learn more about your powers from others who shared them, not punish you for having them. 

Of course, understanding and accepting the decisions didn’t exactly make the feeling of abandonment go away, but it was enough to subdue and push it down for some therapist in 20 years to pull out and deal with.

There were some plus sides to being sent away so often, one of which being the best friend you had made on day one of the very first outcast summer camp you had been sent to when you were 7 years old.

You and Xavier Thorpe got along like a log cabin on fire, which is coincidentally what almost got the pair of you kicked out of that summer camp on your first week. 

Xavier was sent away by his father while he was on tour. Touring the world would be far too stressful for a child; at least, that was the excuse that was given whenever anyone questioned where Xavier was.

Both of you being sent to Nevermore Academy was inevitable. Under the promise of not burning it down, together, you had fixed up the old shed so Xavier could use it as an art studio. You had occupied one of the corners where the two of you had set up a desk where you could work on your writing.

Together, you spent most of your free time tucked away like that, talking about anything and everything as you individually let your artistic creativity fill your individual pages. You would only stop talking when you demanded silence so you could focus, which would last about 10 minutes before the two of you got distracted and started talking about something else.

You were about 6 minutes into one of these silent periods when Xavier slowly stepped back from his canvas and inched towards your corner. Engrossed in your work, you didn’t notice he was in front of you until he spoke up.

“You’ve got some paint on your nose,” He pointed out. You closed your laptop instinctively; you had never liked sharing your writing with anyone, not even Xavier. 

You looked up at him in confusion as you hadn’t touched any of the paint scattered around the studio that day. “Really?” You asked, crossing your eyes to try and look at your nose. “Are you sure? I don’t feel-” You were cut off by Xavier swiping his thumb over your nose and smearing some paint on it.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” He laughed, trying to step back as you made a grab for his arm. You just about caught his sleeve and used it as leverage to pull him down and wipe your nose clean with it.

“You are such an ass!” You groaned, trying to hide the laughter that threatened to bubble up. It was the third time that week he’d gotten you with that trick.

“Speaking of ass,” Xavier grabbed his own chair to sit opposite you at your desk.

“I have a great one?” You grinned, trying to use a tissue to wipe the remaining paint residue from your face. “Thank you, I know!” You froze when you could have sworn you had heard Xavier respond with a quiet ‘true’ but shook it off as your mind playing tricks as you hadn’t actually seen his lips move.

“That is not what I was going to say,” Xavier playfully rolled his eyes. “Speaking of ass, have you done Mr Cooper’s homework?”

“Are you suggesting Mr Cooper is an ass, or that he has a great ass? I mean, I’ve never looked myself, but I respect the-” You yelped out as your leg received a kick from under the desk. You pouted dramatically as he shook his head at you, but you cast your mind back to your chemistry class the day before. You hadn’t been paying much attention as it was the final class on a Friday, and you were just excited to sleep past 6am the following day. “Did he assign homework?”

“I’ll take that as a no; you haven’t done it,” Xavier grabbed his rucksack, which you had been using as a footrest. “Though I already knew that because I picked up your sheet when you left it on the desk.” He pulled the worksheet out and waved it in front of your face.

“This is such bullshit!” You groaned as you plucked it from his grip and scanned the questions. “He never assigns homework!”

“I think the words you’re looking for are ‘Thank you, Xavier! You are such a good friend!’” Xavier teased, doing his best impression of you… His best was awful.

“A good friend would have just done the assignment for me,” You sighed dramatically, putting the sheet down on the desk and pushing it back towards him.

“You mean the way I do half of your other assignments for you?” He pointed out. You had mastered one another's handwriting years ago and often took turns in doing one another’s assignments depending on who was better at the subject or who could bribe the other better.

“Yeah, half of them!” You fired back. “That only makes you half of a good friend, an okay friend, if you will!” Your friendship was built on this sort of playful teasing. 

“Well, as an okay friend, do you want to work on this together after dinner?” He asked, checking the time on his phone. “Which started like 5 minutes ago.”

“Shit!” You exclaimed, shooting up from your chair and shoving your laptop in your bag. “Come on! Get your butt in gear, or all the good food will be gone!” You frantically urged, walking around the desk to tug at Xavier’s arm to get him up and going.

“I’m coming!” He laughed back, getting up intentionally slowly. “Just give me a minute or two to pack up all my stuff. Save me a tray!” With a distressed groan that echoed through the shed, you let go of his arm and walked off, mumbling something along the lines of ‘snooze, you lose’ as you went. Xavier laughed and checked the time again one last time before he stuffed his phone back in his pocket, knowing that dinner wouldn’t actually be ready for another hour and preparing for the hellfire that you would rain down on him when you realised he’d tricked you again.

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Studying sucked. That was something you had acknowledged a long time ago. But studying while you had a bad case of hiccups was so much worse. Especially when the hiccups caused your powers to go absolutely wild; with each hiccup, the pen you were holding flew out of your hand and launched itself to a new corner of the room.

At first, Xavier thought it was an elaborate plot to get him to do your work again as revenge for the dinner incident. However, when your pen launched out of your hand and stabbed the door, he realised you weren’t joking around.

With a grunt of frustration, you got up to retrieve the pen once again, mumbling a ‘sorry’ to the door as you pulled it out from the wood.

“What did that poor door ever do to you to deserve such a vicious stabbing?” Xavier joked, trying to lighten up your tense mood.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about the time it smacked me on the ass on the way out!” You gave the door an accusatory glare. “Which it still hasn’t apologised for.”

“How could I forget?” He groaned, recalling the situation in great detail. He’d talked himself into a corner when he’d tried to defend the door by saying that your ass just got in the way and then couldn’t figure out if it would be more offensive to say that your butt was big or backtrack and say that it wasn’t big at all. In the end, he realised he was losing that conversation no matter what he said and just accepted the consequences. “You know, that is the second conversation today that has ended up on your ass.”

You couldn’t contain the laughter at the phrasing, which caused your hiccups to match the energy, and the pen flew from your hand and into the ceiling.

“Oooookay! I think that’s enough pen time for you, or I’m going to be accused of practising archery in my room again,” Xavier laughed nervously as you, still in fits of giggles, stumbled back over to the spare bed in his room that you had basically taken over as your own. It had your favourite blanket draped over it and some of your pillows from home. 

“Your hiccups are just like you,” Xavier pointed out, jumping up to get the pen out of the ceiling before it caused any structural damage. He was tall, so it didn’t take much to reach it.

“Oh yeah?” You asked, your laughter finally starting to calm down. “How's that?”

“Violent and cute,” He shook his head with a smile, but you just froze, unsure if you had heard him right.

“What was that?” You asked.

“Violent,” He repeated, dropping the pen onto his desk.

“No, no,” You shook your head, questioning your own sanity a little. He didn’t have that teasing tone in his voice he usually did. “The second thing.”

“I only said one thing?” He looked at you in confusion. “Are you feeling okay?” As if on queue, you hiccuped again, and a pillow went flying across the room, narrowly avoiding hitting him in the face.

“Never better,” You mumbled, laying back on the bed. You really could have sworn you had heard him say that the hiccups and you, by extension, were cute. It was quieter than he usually spoke, but you could have sworn it in his voice. 

Even though you joked around a lot, he wouldn’t lie to you about saying or not saying something if you asked. So maybe it had just been in your head? It was a weird thing for your head to make up.

“Are you staying here again tonight?” Xavier asked, snapping you out of your spiralling thoughts. “We can watch a movie and finish off those cookies from last night?”

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” You smiled sheepishly, glancing over at the trash can by his desk to see the empty packet still there, evidence of your crime. “But I ate the rest of those cookies while you were asleep last night.” 

“I know. I woke up and saw you at the end of my bed, hunched over like a little gremlin, shoving them into your mouth three at a time. I thought you were a sleep paralysis demon for a good few seconds. I wanted to record it, but you were like a wild animal, and I didn’t want to startle you by grabbing my phone,” A second pillow flew across the room and hit him in the face that time. Unlike the last, this one was intentionally flung at him. Laughing, he paid no mind to it and reached over the side of his bed and pulled something out from underneath. “I bought two packs and hid one from you- wait, are these open?”

“I may or may not have found those ones while you were in the shower,” You got up and flopped down onto his bed next to him, grabbing both of your pillows to lean on. “I didn’t eat them all, though! I won’t lie; I would have, but you came back before I could.” Rolling his eyes, Xavier reached under his pillow and pulled something else out.

“I bought the third pack,” He admitted, placing them down on the bed in between the two of you. “Hey, your hiccups are gone!” You were about to cheer when another hiccup bubbled up out of nowhere, sending the open pack of cookies flying everywhere.

“Well….” You looked around at the crumbs that scattered the once relatively clean room. “Shit.”

═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══

You woke up groggily to your name being called out in a hushed whisper. When you opened your eyes, you realised it was still nighttime. Yawning, you pushed off the sheets you had been sleeping under and made your way over to Xavier’s bed.

It was a routine you knew all too well by that point. Part of you questioned why you even bothered sleeping in the spare bed in the first place. Almost every time you would sleep over in his room, you would fall asleep in the spare bed only to be woken up by Xavier after a couple of hours, usually because he’d had a nightmare. He didn’t ever want to talk about it, and you didn’t ask. He’d tell you about them when they were really bad, but he preferred to sketch them out.

Xavier was holding the covers up, and you crawled under them, bringing your arms to your chest using his arm as a pillow. He brought the covers down again over you both, and you closed your tired eyes once again.

That was how you usually slept in the same bed. You didn’t usually ‘cuddle’ when you slept like this. Your arms and legs always kept to themselves, with the exclusion of Xavier’s left arm, which you usually used as a pillow. However, this time, Xavier brought his spare arm over you and held you close to him. Instinctively, you moved one of your arms to wrap around him in return. It was a wordless sign to say that you were okay with this. You could have sworn you had heard a hum of contentment from him, but you passed it off as the start of a snore. Xavier always fell asleep fast, and his light snoring was comforting.

You chalked the change in behaviour up to a particularly bad dream and decided that you wouldn’t bring it up in the morning. Instead, you would just enjoy the added warmth for the night.

═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══

“Enid, my sweet, your tag is sticking out,” You jogged ahead to catch up with Enid’s impossibly fast walking. “C’mere!” Enid stopped and took a step back so you could tuck the tag of her sweater back in.

“Thank you!” She cheered and held her arm out. “Walk and talk?” With a laugh, you linked arms with Enid and started walking together. “I’m so glad you’re here because I was supposed to be shopping with Yoko, but then Divina showed up, and I was totally third wheeling, so I left them to it.”

“Are they actually dating yet, or are they both too scared to make the first move?” You asked, causing Enid to laugh. 

“They’re still dodging around the question,” She sighed playfully. “Reminds me of you and Xavier.”

“What?” You stopped, pulling Enid to a halt with you.

“I said they’re still dodging around the question,” She repeated.

“No, no,” You shook your head. “The other thing you said!” 

“That was all I said?” Enid looked ask confused as you felt inside. “Are you feeling okay?” Instead of pushing things and questioning them further, you took a deep breath and shook it off. Enid was a terrible liar. You had probably just mistaken the wind for words or something.

“I’m fine. Everything is fine,” You smiled and shrugged. Together, you continued to walk.

“Did you have a fight with Xavier or something?” Enid asked. Glancing at her from the corner of your eye, you shook your head with a frown, wondering how she’d come to that conclusion. “He was pouting at breakfast today, and you’re here without him.” Realisation dawned on you, and you laughed.

“He wasn’t pouting!- No, actually, that’s a lie. He was pouting a little bit, but only because he felt sorry for himself,” You explained. “I mistook him for my alarm clock this morning and tried to hit the snooze button, which in this case happened to be his mouth, and now his lip is a bit swollen. I’m here to get an apology gift and some numbing gel.” You reached into your pocket and pulled out the numbing gel you had just picked up from the pharmacy and a bar of chocolate. You had technically bought 3 bars of chocolate, but you had already given in and eaten 2 of them, and the last one was on thin ice.

“How did he get into your room?” Enid asked. “If I remember correctly, which I know I do, your windows have enchanted locks on because he kept sneaking into your room last term.” 

You snorted as you remembered how many times Xavier’s tall figure had been caught trying to climb through your window. Or, more accurately, how many times he had gotten stuck trying to climb through your window, and you had to call for help to get him unstuck.

“I was in his room,” You explained with a shrug. “He’s got a spare bed, and I love Yoko, but goddamn, does the girl snore like a chainsaw. Plus, she wakes up at 6am every morning and starts playing her ‘meditation’ music. I usually stay with him on the weekends because it's the only decent sleep I get! I swear I’ve told you all of this before?” 

“The Yoko part you have definitely complained about to me on multiple occasions,” Enid confirmed. “But how am I only just learning that you have weekly sleepovers with your ‘best friend’.” She used her free hand to put air quotes around the last two words.

“Why are you saying it like that?” You asked. “He is my best friend? You know I love you, Wednesday, and Thing, but Xavier and I have been ride or die since we were seven. He earnt the best friend title way before I knew any of you.” 

“Just admit you both like one another,” Enid groaned, causing you to stop walking again, halting her.

“What are you on about?” You interrogated. “We like one another as friends.”

“I said nothing!” Enid protested, her face easily portraying the confusion she felt. You were about to protest again, but Enid spoke before she could. “No, Y/N, I literally said nothing! Whatever you think you heard, it wasn’t me! Maybe your mind is telling you what you want it to hear?”

“Absolutely not! I heard you! It was your voice!” Your phone started ringing before the conversation could progress any further. You didn’t have to check the contact before answering it. You had set a personalised ringtone for him. “Xavi, I’m on my way back now, I swear! I have the gel and a-” You stopped yourself before you mentioned the chocolate. Truthfully, you knew it would never even get back to Nevermore. “I have the gel!” You repeated.

“I will start this movie without you and then spoil all of it,” He threatened playfully. 

“Don’t you dare!” You gasped, but he’d already hung up. When you looked back up at Enid, expecting to continue the conversation you had been having, you recognised the look on her face as her signature ‘I’m telling everyone’ smile. “What?”

“Xavi?” She teased. “Really?” “Drop it, and I’ll split the chocolate with you,” You bargained, pulling the sweet snack out of your pocket again and waving it around. Enid simply responded by holding her arm out so you could carry on walking together and her other hand ready to receive her share of chocolate.

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“This show has gone to shit,” You groaned, sinking down into the sheets in disappointment.

“What?” Xavier pulled his head away from the screen to watch your movements instead. “You used to love it. It was all you’d talk about.”

“I did love it!” You agreed with a sigh. “But then they had to add all that forced romance in, and there are like 7 different love triangles that all interlock- it’s a pyramid scheme of love!”

“A pyramid scheme of love?” He laughed at your phrasing. “God, could you imagine the dm’s you’d get from people you’ve only spoken to once who had joined that?”

“Hey, girlboss! Long time no speak!” You put on your best bubbly voice as you spoke, replicating one of your moms’ friends who had been pulled into 8 different pyramid schemes. “Are you tired of settling down the old-fashioned way with one person? I was too! But insert a name of a multi-level marketing scheme here helped me take control of my love life!”

“Please never do that voice again,” Xavier pleaded through laughter.

“I think I gave myself a headache doing that,” You snorted, bringing your hand up to your head. It was a fruitless endeavour as you pulled them away again immediately. “Urgh, my hands are too warm. C’mere, you always have cold hands.” You grabbed one of his hands and held it up to your forehead, leaning against it.

“I always have cold hands?” Despite his verbal confusion, he didn’t protest about you using him as a cold pack. “Is that… a good thing?” 

“On this occasion, yes,” You smiled contently, closing your eyes. “During the colder months, not so much.”

“If we held hands more, it would warm them up,” You almost didn’t catch his words.

“You wanna hold hands more?” You asked, confused. Admittedly, you already held hands probably more than most friends did, but that was because you had a tendency to get lost in crowds. It was hand-holding, or one of those leash backpacks parents used on their kids, but Xavier shut that down as soon as you jokingly suggested it.

“How did you-?” Xavier pulled his hand away from you with a frown. You pouted at the lack of contact and opened your eyes again. He paused to look at you, searching for an answer in your eyes, but he gave up as soon as he’d started and just shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t think I said that out loud.”

“We can hold hands more,” You shrugged, smiling at him. “Come on, let's try and get a couple more episodes of this nauseating shitfest in before I have to go back to my own room.”

Xavier perked up at that, leaning over to press play on the next episode.

“I’m calling it now; there will be an unexpected kiss by the end of this episode,” You sighed, leaning your head on Xavier’s shoulder as your eyes settled back on the screen.

“If we’re placing bets, it’ll be between those two,” He added, pointing at the pairing on the screen. You really could have sworn you had heard him say ‘between us?’ just before the actual words left his lips. But you knew for a fact this time that he hadn’t, as the words slightly overlapped, and, as far as you knew, Xavier wasn’t secretly a talented ventriloquist. Though you supposed if you did know that, it wouldn’t be a secret.

Instead, you brushed it off as your tired mind playing tricks on you. Weird tricks for a weird mind.

═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══

Four more days.

That’s how long it took you to realise what was going on. Or rather, what you thought was going on. You had to test your theory out, and you knew the perfect person to help.

“Enter,” Wednesday’s voice instructed before you even had a chance to knock on her door. Without questioning how she’d know you were there, you opened the door and closed it behind you once you were in Wednesday’s shared room with Enid.

“I need your help testing a theory,” You pleaded, leaning against the door. “I feel like I’m going crazy- and not the good kind.”

“There’s a bad kind?” Wednesday’s tone barely changed, but you knew her well enough to know she was teasing you in her own way. “I’m intrigued; go on.”

“I think I can read minds,” You confessed with a groan. “Not all the time; I think I can only do it if I’m purposely seeking them out or if the thoughts are… loud.”

“I imagine there are some people who have very loud thoughts,” Wednesday glanced over at Enid’s side of the room.

“Exactly!” You nodded. “And I wanted to test with you because I know I won’t just be reading your body language and facial expressions for clues.” 

“What number am I thinking now?” Wednesday asked, turning her head away from you to look at her desk. Closing your eyes, you tried to push for the connection that you had felt when you accidentally used this possible new power on Ajax just a few minutes beforehand. He had been moping around, and you wanted to know why. It turns out he’d stoned himself again and had missed all of his morning classes, and subsequently got in trouble for being ‘careless’. He was banned from visiting Jericho for two weeks.

When you had sympathised with his struggles and offered to buy him some snacks when you next visited Jericho, he’d looked at you like you had grown a second head which had started speaking Latin. He asked how you had known he was banned. After some confusion and back and forth, you made up some lie about overhearing one of the teachers say something about it and excused yourself.

“37,” You announced confidently to Wednesday as soon as you had felt the connection be made and heard your friend’s monotone voice. It seemed fitting that even her internal monologue was as dry as she was when speaking. “Which US state am I thinking of?”

“Trick question,” You answered proudly. “You’re thinking about Poland, which, unless I missed a memo, isn’t a US state.”

“Very good,” Wednesday didn’t seem the slightest bit surprised that you had gotten it right. “Final one, what line from which of Edgar Allan Poe’s works am I thinking of?” She asked.

“But evil things, in robes of sorrow, assailed the monarch's high estate,” You echoed the exact line out loud. “From The Haunted Palace.”

“I think that settles it,” Wednesday confirmed. You opened your eyes to see her turning around to face you again. “Considering I didn’t say a single word out loud throughout that. Not even the questions.” Wednesday’s mouth was pressed firmly closed, though you could still hear her perfectly clearly.

With a small gasp, you intentionally severed the connection and stopped reading her mind.

“Okay, you can think freely again,” You informed Wednesday. “Thank you for helping me test that.” The door you were leaning on was suddenly pulled open, and you only just managed to catch your footing before you had the chance to fall into Enid.

“Y/N!” Enid instinctively held out her arms, just in case you did still fall. “Why are you here? Are you planning a surprise birthday party for me?”

“Enid, your birthday isn’t for another 9 months,” You shook your head with a smile. “Why would we be planning a surprise party now?”

“Because if you do it too close to the time, I would get suspicious when you were sneaking around making arrangements! But if you start now, by the time I’m thinking of it, the party will have been fully planned!” Enid explained cheerily. “I didn’t realise I’d said the party thing out loud? I hope I didn’t ruin the surprise!”

“You didn’t say it out loud,” Wednesday told her. “Y/N can read minds.”

“That’s why you were being weird with Ajax!” Enid immediately pulled out her phone, but you grabbed it out of her hands. “Hey!”

“Please, please, please don’t say anything to anyone yet!” You pleaded. “I need to talk to people first. I need to talk to the teachers. I don’t want people to think I’m going around snooping in on all of their thoughts. That’s not how it works.”

“How exactly does it work?” Enid asked as you wearily handed her back her phone. You didn’t entirely trust Enid not to at least tell Ajax… and then Yoko… and Divina since she would ‘just hear it anyway’ from Yoko… 

“I mean, I don’t know exactly how it works, but from what has happened so far, I need to be talking to someone and wanting to know what they’re thinking. So when I spoke to Ajax earlier, I wanted to know why he was upset, and I guess I accidentally made that brain connection thing happen without realising what it was,” You explained, trying to properly make sense of it yourself and using actual words to describe what happened. “And sometimes people just have one-off loud thoughts that I hear? Some more than others….” Realisation dawned on Enid when she heard the last sentence.

“Well, I’m sorry if my thoughts are too ‘loud’ for you,” She huffed, using air quotes around the word ‘loud’. “I can’t control the volume of my own mind.”

“I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” You apologised. “But I can’t control what I hear either, at least not yet.”

“Has Xavier thought loudly about how in love with you he is yet?” Enid asked.

“Xavier isn’t in love with me….” You protested but trailed off as you recalled some of the things that you had thought you had heard Xavier say over the past week, only to now realise that some of them may have been thoughts.

“Oops, did I think that one too loudly as well?” Enid smiled slyly, pointing at you. “Wednesday, look at her face. I asked if she’d overheard Xavier thinking about how in love with her he is.”

“I gathered that,” Wednesday mumbled, wanting nothing to do with the whole ‘love’ ordeal.

You remembered the other night when you had talked about there being an unexpected kiss, and you thought he’d said ‘between us?’ over the words he actually did say. It had been a few nights, and you couldn’t remember the tone he’d said- or rather, thought it in. Was he confused? Hopeful? You raked through your brain but couldn’t remember any of the details for the life of you.

And the comment about hand-holding? That was just in a friendly way, friendly hand-holding. You had held hands as friends before, multiple times, you were usually the one to initiate it, and it wasn’t like you were in love with him. You weren’t in love with him at all, right?

Right?

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

You were. You absolutely were. Whether intentionally or not, you had never allowed yourself to think about it, always pushed the thoughts and feelings down before anything could become of them. Always pulled the weeds up, leaving the roots, not realising the roots were just growing and growing under the surface until one day, your whole garden was full of weeds. Except instead of weeds, they were possible unrequited feelings towards your best friend that threatened to ruin everything you had built up over the years you had known one another.

“I need to go,” You excused yourself and pushed past Enid to get to the door, ignoring whatever she was saying in the process. It would have been some sing-song ‘I told you so’, but your mind was too cluttered to pay attention.

You had to find Xavier and talk to him as soon as possible. 

It hadn’t taken long to find him. You knew where he’d be. You always knew where he’d be.

You didn’t knock before letting yourself into the shed; you never had to. It was your shared space.

“Y/N! Are you okay?” Xavier looked at you in concern as you sunk against the door as you closed it behind you. “You look-”

“Xavi, I need you to please be quiet and let me talk at you for a bit because I need to say something now before I mess up the words in my head,” You interrupted him before he could finish. With a small nod, he had agreed. His mouth remained shut while you pulled away from the door and paced back and forth. “I’m just going to cut right to the chase here. I have somehow picked up the power to read minds. I hadn’t done it on purpose until like five minutes ago when Wednesday let me test it on her, and then I came straight to you because you have the right to know because you’re my best friend, and we talk all the time, and sometimes I accidentally hear people’s random thoughts because some thoughts are just really loud and some people have a lot of loud thoughts, like Enid, so I just hear them more, and I’m not saying that you have loud thoughts like that, but I think that maybe sometimes you do, which isn’t a bad thing but I wanted you to be aware so-” You had rambled so much that you hadn’t even noticed that Xavier had crossed the room until he had stopped your frantic pacing and held your face in his hands, squishing your cheeks together in what you assumed was a successful attempt and politely shutting you up.

“Deep breaths and calm down, yeah?” He said it so softly that it worked almost instantly. You hadn’t realised quite how fast your heart had been beating and how heavy your breath had become until he’d stopped and helped slow it down. 

You weren’t sure what exactly had caused it, whether it was the fast-talking where one word flew into the next, or the flood of emotions that had hit you, or the fear of how he’d react to it all in the end, or just a mixture of it all. No matter what it was, Xavier had successfully calmed you down.

“Dare I ask which of my thoughts were particularly… loud?” Xavier asked, his hands still cradling your face.

“There were only a few?” You replied uneasily. You thought back, trying to differentiate between everything. It was hard when she didn’t realise what they were when they happened. “There was the… hand holding? I think that was one… and, uh…. you called me violent and… cute?”

“Could be worse!” Xavier breathed a sigh of relief. “Could have accidentally admitted I’m in love with you.” One look at your face was all it took for him to realise what he’d done. You stood there, wide eyes staring at one another, each almost daring the other to make a move.

Xavier broke first.

“That was a loud thought, wasn’t it?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

“It sure was,” You whispered, your hands coming up to take his own away from your face. Dejection crossed his face for a split second but was erased immediately when you just held his hands instead, cradling them against your chest. You broke eye contact, deciding that looking at the ground made talking easier because you didn’t have to worry about analysing every change in his expression to find the answers.

“Was it…. Truthful? Or did you think it jokingly?” You ask hesitantly, worried about the response it would elicit. Truly, you didn’t know if your heart could take it being a joke.

If the lack of response had worried you, when he pulled his hands away it all but shattered you. However, as soon as the pieces of you had been shattered, it was like Xavier scooped them all up again when he reached for your face and pulled you into a kiss.

It wasn’t a soft and gentle kiss. It was clumsy, frantic, and full of emotion and confusion. It wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t have to be, because it was with him.

You returned the kiss as soon as your brain allowed itself to switch back on and be present in the moment. Your arms wrapped around the back of his neck, holding him to you as though you were worried he would change his mind and back away again.

It was over all too soon for your liking, the two of you having no choice but to pull away to gasp in the air again. Xavier’s head ducked down, and he nestled his face into your neck. His breath tickled you as he spoke.

“It scares me how truthful it was,” He admitted, planting a small kiss on your collarbone. “I think I’ve known it for a while, but I didn’t want to risk you not feeling the same way.” He pulled away very suddenly to look at your face again. “Wait, you do feel the same way, right?”

You answered him this time by initiating the kiss yourself. This one was slower, the raw emotions you had both been feeling now having settled as a pleasant buzz in the air as the reality of the situation became clear.

You were two idiot best friends who had been in love with one another for longer than either of you could fathom.

You had always known you’d spend the future together, but now, you could spend your future together.

A/N - so I set out to write what I assumed would be a 2k-ish one-shot... then I think I blacked out and woke up foaming at the mouth 6k words later... if there are any accidental pov/tense changes, please let me know! I wrote this in third person, then decided I wanted it to be second person 5k words in so I went back and edited the whole thing which was a pain in the ass and I had to stop myself from rewriting it a third time in first person

feel free to suggest some more one-shots! I can't promise I'll get to them all, but watching Wednesday has filled me with inspiration and motivation to write! *cough cough* I'd be a sucker for a bianca x reader request *cough cough*

and lemme know if you'd like to be added to a taglist for future wednesday one shots <3

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

Can I request a Xavier Thorpe x reader where Xavier is really affectionate towards reader & Bianca is super jealous. Like they’re all in class and reader sits down next to Xavier and he pulls her chair closer to him & kisses her and plays with her hair throughout the class and Bianca gets jealous so she tries to use her powers to get Xavier to like her again but it doesn’t work because he’s so in love with reader.

Please. Ily

(Girl idk, I just be daydreaming lmao)

I decided to add my own twist to your request as I don’t like it to be too cheesy. I hope you still like it

my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time

—

Textbooks in hands, you walked into Miss Thornhill’s classroom. Your eyes searched for an empty seat, the corner of your mouth lifting when seeing Xavier was sitting alone. His head was down, his gaze focussed on his sketchbook — as always. 

You walked around the table to get to the empty seat. ‘’What are you working on?’’ you asked, putting your things down. 

Xavier looked up for a short second to acknowledge you, then returned his attention to his drawing. ‘’Hey,’’ he greeted. ‘’Just something I saw in a dream. Getting the image on paper helps figuring if it’s linked to being psychic or a regular dream.’’ 

‘’And which one is this one?’’ You peaked at the sketchbook, seeing an old house with a gated fence.

He shrugged, using his finger to blend the pencil marks. ‘’I have not figured it out yet.’’ 

The bell rang, signaling the start of the lesson. Miss Thornhill walked in front of her desk, the heels of her red boots clicking on the tiles, instructing the class to open their textbooks to page 394. 

You grabbed yours and flipped through the pages, but before you could get to the right page, you felt your chair moving as Xavier was smoothly pulling it closer to his. Sitting at the same table wasn’t close enough for his liking. 

The small gesture awakened a pang of jealousy in Bianca, who was sitting at the table right next to yours. Her siren eyes were pointing daggers at you, in her heart still considering Xavier hers although they had broken up. 

After class, you gave Xavier a quick kiss before parting for lunch to meet with Enid and the other girls from Ophelia Hall to talk strategy for the coming Poe cup tournament. The Black Cats were going to win this year!

‘’For the costumes, I was thinking we could—’’

Enid’s words got drowned as you saw Bianca coming up to Xavier, her neck bare. You never thought she would use her powers on him to get him back — it was twisted —, but love makes you do crazy things. You weren’t too worried, though. Xavier was safe from her persuasiveness. You had made sure of it by giving him a necklace with a special stone.

But you were very curious to see the look on Bianca’s face when she’ll realize her powers weren’t working. 

Excusing yourself, you crossed the quad. 

‘’It’s not going to work,’’ you told Bianca, surprising her from behind. ‘’I understand that rejection hurt, but if you have to go as low as forcing someone into love you, maybe you should check your morals.’’ 

‘’I don’t know what you’re talking about...’’ She gave you an innocent look. ‘’Xavier and I were just talking.’’ 

‘’I saw you, Bianca. You were going to hypnotize him. But, as I said, it’s not going to work.’’ 

The siren narrowed her eyebrows, still denying what she tried to do. ‘’Did you spike his breakfast with a love potion?’’ Her eyes flickered to Xavier, trying to turn him against you. ‘’She practices witchcraft, you know that, right?’’

‘’Love potions don’t make people fall in love. It only makes a person infatuated with another,’’ you corrected, shutting her accusation. 

Bianca’s mouth curled into a smirk, not letting go. ‘’You seem to know a lot about the subject. Are you sure you haven’t used one before?’’ 

Having enough of the argument, Xavier tried to break it. ‘’Bianca, that’s enough!’’ he told her, his green eyes more than serious.

—

All and more taglist:  @kenqki  @hawkegfs  @gillybear17   @black-rose-29 @fudge13 @cece05 @laylasbunbunny @gemofthenight @beautyb1ade   @mellabella101 @vxnity713  @bisexualgirlsblog @queenofslytherin889 @thatbxtchesblog @softb-tterfly @ethanlandrycanbreakmyheart  @xyzstar  @graceberman3   @mikeyspinkcup @jackierose902109 @daisydark @laurasdrey @mischieftom @fanatic4niall @peterholland04 @idkwhattonamethisblogs  @lexasaurs634  @notasadgirlipromise @zoeynicolas @thejuleshypothesis @multi-fandom-bi-bitch @lexasaurs634  @notasadgirlipromise @thejuleshypothesis  @katherinejess  @rafesgirlstuff  @lafleshlumpeater @iamluminosity

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[theamberfist]

Feeling Faint | Rosie + Reader Headcannons

Familial! Mom! Rosie + Child Reader Headcannons

Description: You are Rosie's adopted child who tends to faint often. Luckily, your mom and the rest of Cannibal Town are always ready to help.

(Notes: CW Alastor, mentions of cannibalism) (gender neutral reader) (Reader is Rosie's adopted child) Happy Mother's Day!!

Words: 1,057

♡ Rosie is very used to handling your fainting spells and, as such, has also made sure the rest of Cannibal Town is equipped to help you if need be

♡ If you can tell you're about to faint you let her know and she immediately jumps into action; appearing very calm on the outside.

♡ But inside she always panics; she's your mom, after all, and she doesn't want you ever getting hurt!

♡ If there's time, she will pull up the nearest chair (if someone was using it they're easily shoved out of the way) and gently take your shoulders, helping you to take a seat in it

♡ If not, she immediately moves from wherever she had been before to catch you before you fall. She's never once failed to catch you.

♡ There was one time Alastor was visiting and you felt a fainting spell coming on so you warned Rosie about it. She had been across the town square at the time but she was as fast as lightning; making it to you long before you even came close to hitting the floor and catching you in her arms.

♡ Even if you can't tell beforehand that you're going to faint, Rosie still somehow manages to catch you every single time if she's around.

♡ She calls it a mother's intuition but you feel like it's more of a psychic power. Either way, she seems to always be able to tell when you start to feel not quite right or are about to faint, which has saved you from many potential concussions due to falling.

♡ There are times where you'll have a fainting spell when she's not around too, which is why she's made sure everyone in Cannibal Town knows how to help you if that happens.

♡ Usually when you have a fainting spell and Rosie isn't around, someone else nearby will notice it and catch you if need be. If you're able to sit down on your own then they'll still come over to make sure you're alright, get you water when you wake up, elevate your legs (what personally helps me come to), etc.

♡ Once whoever is nearby has made sure you're taken care of, they'll either get Rosie themselves, tell somebody else to do it, or (most often) she'll have already somehow sensed what was going on and come to your aid

♡ No matter what she's doing, Rosie will drop everything the moment she knows her child needs her, and moments like these aren't an exception; no matter how common they may be

♡ Even Susan will help you if you happen to have a fainting spell around her and your mom isn't nearby

♡ There was one time you were taking a walk through the Cannibal Colony and passed by her, only to feel one coming on and immediately get seated near a wall before you passed out. Susan noticed it and came over, standing between you and literally anyone else who dared come close

♡ She had her teeth barred and everything; she even took a chunk out of an unfortunate sinner who'd been trying to come over and check on you

♡ Susan may be an ornery old bitch but Rosie is still her leader and she's not going to let her leader's kid get hurt by anyone

♡ Alastor also knows how to help you if needed; after all, he's in Cannibal Town often to visit your mom. And, as her best friend, he takes your wellbeing very seriously

♡ The first time you fainted when Alastor was around, he immediately assumed someone had somehow harmed you and went full demon mode, only for Rosie to come back into the room and assure him it was alright and that this happened often; you just needed a moment

♡ When you woke up after that, your unofficial-uncle decided he was going to learn how to assist you in those situations and made Rosie teach him everything he was supposed to do in every possible scenario

♡ Now he looks just as calm as her when you have a fainting spell near him; using his shadow to make sure you don't get hurt by anything and to fetch whatever you need as he sits nearby until you wake back up

♡ And when you do, he lets you take your time adjusting to your surroundings again. He knows (because Rosie told him) that these spells are not fun

♡ When you seem to have recovered, he'll usually suggest getting you some food or ice cream (vegetarian food, if you prefer) and try to cheer you up a bit. He also makes sure to inform Rosie of what happened every time it does since he knows how she worries

♡ Speaking of worried, Rosie's calm exterior won't drop until you're passed out. Then, she's barking orders at everyone around her the way she was with the megaphone in episode 7

♡ Any nearby cannibals are immediately running about and getting whatever she needs for you so that you'll be as comfortable as possible when you wake up

♡ When you do wake up, she makes everyone else leave to give you some privacy and time to adjust (except your uncle Alastor if he's present; she knows you're comfortable enough around him)

♡ Internally worries the entire time and hugs you as soon as she sees that you're conscious enough again, telling you how mush she loves you and that you're going to be alright

♡ If you don't feel up for continuing whatever you were doing before, she clears the entire rest of the day for you both- no matter what she had going on- to spend time taking care of and being near you

♡ If you insist on continuing with your day as planned before, she will be watching you like a hawk while also trying to make it not super obvious that she's watching you like a hawk

♡ As your mother she just worries and wants to make sure nothing else happens to you again. Rosie can be very protective but it's all out of love so you put up with her fretting over you even when it's not necessary

♡ And plus, it's nice to have someone like your cannibal-overlord-mom taking care of you after all you've been through, so you suppose having her worry whenever you faint isn't the worst that could happen

[sundrop-writes]

One Moment Per Episode With Dick Grayson

Season One, Episode One: "Titans"

Summary:

You and Dick haven't spoken since the Titans parted ways in San Francisco five years ago.

Even though you used to be as close as two people can be, both of you are doing just fine leading your own separate lives - until your psychic powers cause you to have a vision of the end of the world, and you have to turn to him for help. As much as Dick doesn't want to get involved, you know that him leading The Raven on the path she needs to travel is the only way to stop the terrible fate you saw.

He wants to deny it, and stay as far away from you as possible - but he can't avoid you or the truth that you have told him when he runs into that very Raven you speak of in an interrogation room later that night. He has to face a simple truth he has always known: you're always right.

Dick Grayson x Fem!Powered!Reader. Childhood Friends/Exes to Lovers. Emotional Angst and Bantering/Humor. Set during Season 1, Episode 1.

Word Count: 2,300

DC Titans Masterlist | AO3 Link | Series Masterlist

Detailed warnings and author's notes below the cut.

Warnings: the reader uses she/her pronouns (some people might accuse the reader character in this story of being more of an OC and I am okay with that - I try to make all the reader characters in my other stories as blank and open as possible and every now and then I let myself have a little bit of a treat) - but as usual with my stories, the majority of pronouns used in the fic are you/yours; other than clothing style and a scar that informs her backstory, the reader's looks are not described and are left vague (as far as race, body type, hair colour, etc. - those things are not described); the reader character does have powers - I might make a separate post detailing the reader's entire backstory and power set (or I might just let it be spelled out slowly through the chapters) - but for now, I will tell you that the reader character is psychic and can see glimpses of the future in dream-like visions; the reader and Dick are 'exes' - their relationship was never official (they never explicitly called each other boyfriend/girlfriend), but they used to have sex often (and they both have feelings for each other that they never openly spoke about), and they are childhood friends, so there is a lot of emotional history there; mentions of canon-typical violence; this fic does use Y/N; mentions of the reader being shot during a past undescribed incident; there is references to sex and discussions of sex, but no explicit smut (but there might be some later in the story? idk yet); emotionally constipated Dick Grayson; idk what else ? - pining, emotional angst, using humor to deflect emotional tension, banter. I just really like the vibes of this. there is not a lot of big content warnings for this fic (yet).

A/N: Honestly, I am really excited about this one. I have a lot of ideas for future episodes (especially the episode where Dick loses it emotionally and just gets followed around by a hallucination of Bruce for the entire episode - but that's not until Season 2, oop). Titans is one of my favourite series ever - if you couldn't tell - so getting to examine each episode closer and appreciate each individual episode as a unique piece of art while writing this instead of binging a whole season gives me a whole new appreciation for the show. I hope you guys enjoy these as they come out - especially because I do have an idea of where this fic is going, but I don't know where I want these characters to go in Season 4. (I kind of want to do a secret surprise reveal of two of the characters being related and being siblings, but... idk. Sometimes people don't like that.) But this is definitely a good opportunity to send me ideas of where you want this story to go/how you want it to end up. Anyway - please enjoy!!!

....

Dick needed some fucking air. 

He could barely fucking handle today. He had to compose himself before he lost it and started breaking things. It was all such a shitshow - the department pushing a new partner on him, footage of Robin all over the news, every other half-cocked beat cop making comments about how Robin was just another masked psychopath who wasn’t that different from The Joker. 

Fuck them. 

If they only knew what Gotham was like - if only they had to deal with a department full of asshole’s on the Joker’s payroll. If only they had to watch criminals walk away because they made bail on the decision of a corrupt judge. If only they had to sit behind a desk and listen to a mother’s sobs as she begged for him to find her missing child - knowing how many people elbow to elbow with him would laugh at her tears rather than start looking. 

If they only spent one night tending to civilians while the smell of burning flesh permeated the air, with the Joker’s screaming laugh stuck in their ears because he thought that bombing a low-income housing complex was just that funny. 

Fuck all of them. 

Dick clenched his fist tight - his knuckles aching as he resisted the urge to drive his arm right through the glass at the front of the precinct. He just - he really needed some air. 

Dick walked out the front doors (rather than smashing the glass), and took a deep breath of the cool night air, trying his best to calm down. It was getting late, and things were relatively slow, even for it being a Tuesday. No influx of late-night chaos yet. He had some time to collect himself before- 

“So - Robin’s in Detroit now, huh?” 

That voice. 

Dick felt the sting of familiarity pluck at his spine, and he whipped his head around at lightning speed, looking in the direction of the voice. Surely enough - you were the one standing there. It hadn’t been some kind of auditory hallucination on his part. 

So much for time to calm himself down. 

He was immediately met with a confliction - lust and annoyance bubbling up inside of him. He didn’t want to see you again, he didn’t want you to be here, especially not without warning. But you looked so damn good - it was a distraction from that fact. 

That was always the thing about exes, wasn’t it? 

(If Dick could even call you his ‘ex’ - the two of you had slept together more times than he could count, both metaphorically and literally, but the two of you had never put an official label on the relationship like he had with Dawn or Barbara. He cared for you like a friend, and like a lover in a way that he was never willing to admit - but did that make you his ex? Especially if he never stopped caring about you?) 

That thing about exes being: they always look so fucking good when you see them after a long time of being apart. The universe dangling something in front of you that you’re not allowed to have and technically, should no longer want. 

But oh - Dick found himself wanting so very badly. (And he tried his hardest to hide that fact as he continued to carefully stare you down.) 

Because you looked so good. 

You were wearing something of your usual style - an outfit of many confusing layers that somehow showed off the natural curves of your body and hid you all at the same time. 

A long skirt with a ruffled hemline and bold, colorful pattern. A pair of boots that you had probably gotten from some vintage store that were likely older than both you and Dick, leathery and well worn in. Your jacket was much the same - a supple brown leather with a soft fur lining that made you look very warm and cozy. 

Topped off with a pair of the largest, gaudiest dangling earrings that Dick had ever seen - the kind that would have gotten snagged on one of his nice shirts and gotten the two of you tangled up during one of your hook-ups. A pair of earrings that he would have scolded you for wearing - but he would have delighted in finding them on his bedroom floor after you left because it meant having a piece of you still with him. And it would mean having an excuse to visit you later because he had something of yours to return. 

Those earrings glistened in the light of the street lamps, just as your eyes did while you stared him down with those inquisitive, knowing eyes. Looking at him with that same expression you always wore - the one that seemed to say you knew everything that he never would. It equally fascinated him and infuriated him. 

He hated the fact that you had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, causing his heart to race - had you snuck up on him on purpose? Did you find it funny? 

“Y/N,” Dick said your name curtly, still feeling a slight twinge of shock that you were standing in front of him at all. “What the fuck are you doing here?” 

You let out a dry chuckle, and stepped closer to him, making his whole body stiff. His first instinct was to step backward - to gain more distance from you. But he didn’t want to seem like he was afraid of you - afraid of that closeness. So he forcefully locked his legs and stayed in place as you drifted closer, and you idly conversed back. 

“Oh, Dickie.” You sighed in return, using his childhood nickname. “A warm welcome as always.” 

Dick rolled his eyes at this. Did he really need to bother with manners and formalities? The two of you had known each other for so long, he guessed that you were both well over stuff like that. 

“Do I need a reason to be here? Can’t I just visit an old friend?” You posed, a humorous tone still running through your voice. 

He shoved his hands into his pockets as he took a more defensive stance. He quickly went from shock then to annoyance. 

The two of you were old friends - you had known each other since you were in diapers together. The two of you had grown up together, raised by a unique circus family. And that meant that Dick knew you well enough to know that if you were here, you had a good reason to be. 

(If you had wanted to chase him when he first left Gotham, you likely would have camped out in the trunk of his car, or you would have shown up at his new apartment the day after he moved in. You wouldn’t have waited this long to contact him.) 

“Do us both a favor and cut the bullshit, please.” Dick replied sternly. “Why are you here?” 

“Grumpy.” You sighed, sounding defeated. 

He waited for a moment, and surely enough - you folded, now willing to directly explain your reason for showing up in Detroit so suddenly. 

“I had a vision.” You explained. “A girl. The Raven. A lot of others consider her to be the eater of worlds, but she is the one who is going to save us all, Dick.” 

He let out a harsh puff of air, reaching up and running fingers roughly over his temple. Yup, there it was - the headache had fully set in now. He really didn’t need this. Not tonight. 

He had known about your visions for a long time. When he was younger, he had been shocked to find out that you had inherited your mother’s ‘gift’. He previously had no clue that her set-up as a sideshow fortune teller with Tarot cards and a large crystal ball wasn’t all psychology tricks and half-guesses she put on for tourists - but in fact, it was actually something informed by larger supernatural forces at play. And it was something you could do as well. 

So he was inclined to believe you when you told him about this vague vision, but he also didn’t want to be involved. He had a lot on his plate right now - he didn’t need this. 

“Look, I’m sure that whatever you saw was important, but-” He began. 

You sighed and shook your head harshly at this ‘but’. 

“Why don’t you just take it to New York instead? This kind of thing is way more Donna’s speed, anyway. I’m sure she can help you find this girl, and-” 

“That won’t help.” You told him. “The girl is already on her way here.” 

You spoke the words with such utter certainty, and it sent shivers up Dick’s spine. The calm, tranquil look on your face - the ominous wiseness you held: it reminded Dick so much of your mother. The other-worldly authority she held that had ultimately gotten her killed. It was strangely creepy. 

“Just so you know, I hate it when you say ominous shit like that.” Dick told you, gesturing to your person with stiff offense in his body. “Just because your mother played the creepy voodoo witch for tourists doesn’t mean you have to.” 

“I’m not playing.” You replied, exasperated. 

You knew that Dick could be frightened of your powers at times. He was someone very logic-based - he built his beliefs around facts. So having you follow your visions and your ‘gut feelings’ when they were never concrete, changing on a dime - he hated the uncertainty and chaos that came with it all. But you had learned to trust yourself and your feelings over time, even if he didn’t. 

“And you know, you’re involved in this whether you want to be or not.” You told him, trying to get the conversation back on track. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Robin made his first appearance in months last night.” 

Dick became stiff at this, and quickly glanced around - as though waiting for someone to appear out of nowhere and point an accusing finger at him, screaming out that he was Robin and he had been caught. 

“You can’t help it, Dick Grasyon.” You declared with intense certainty. “You need to save people, you need to feel like you’re making a difference, you-” 

“So what, now you expect me to save the whole fucking world?” Dick snapped back. 

“She does.” You corrected. 

“Who?” He replied - confused and once again annoyed at your mysticism and bold confidence in your visions. 

“The Raven.” You told him. “She needs you. And whether you like it or not, you need her.” 

You shifted your stance then, waiting for him to tell you that you were right - which was how most of your arguments ended. 

But then, as a sick reminder, the lapel of your jacket opened enough for Dick to get a glance at your chest. The neckline of your blouse was wide open, but his eyes weren’t drawn to your cleavage - instead, he became focused on a large scar that you had sitting over your heart. A place where a bullet had ripped through you, leaving you barely alive. 

He still remembered the feeling of your blood warm under his hands while you looked up at him with tears in your eyes, begging him to save you. He remembered sitting at your bedside, believing that you would never wake up again. 

He couldn’t help but to reach up and gently skim his thumb across the roughness of the scarred skin as he glared at it with a stiff jaw. The touch sent shivers through you - it was the first time he had touched you since that last night in Gotham, when you had woken up to an empty bed and absolutely no explanation as to where he had gone. 

Dick felt rage boil inside of him. 

How could you ask him to save the world when he had been responsible for this? 

This - this was why he was no fucking savior. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” He said, choking on the words slightly as he took his hand down, shoving it back into his pocket once again. He had to avoid the temptation of touching you any further. 

If you weren’t safe around him, why would some little girl from your visions be? 

“This isn’t about me.” You scoffed. “Or-” 

‘Or us.’ 

You held back, knowing how dangerous it was to mention the royal Us around flighty Dick Grayson. For a bird without wings, he was absolutely capable of taking off in a quick moment when he wanted to. 

“This is about something so much bigger.” You pressed. “She’ll be here soon.” 

Dick let out another strained sigh at you using such ominous words again. 

“Well, next time you’re gonna come here and be all ominous and creepy, you should at least bring some coffee.” He told you, sarcasm tight on his lips. 

You made a mocking face in return. 

“Well, you could be more polite.” You scoffed. 

Before Dick could recommend that the two of you go and get a coffee in order to truly catch up, someone called out his name, drawing his attention away from you for a moment. 

“Hey, Grayson!” Someone called, sticking their head out the front door. “Prentiss is looking for you!” 

When he turned back, you were gone. He tried not to linger on it too much - how creepy it was. You were silent and quick like a ghost - he thought that your ominous jewelry might jingle like a house cat’s bell. 

But - he would call you later. Hopefully you still had the same number. 

…

Dick walked into the interrogation room, trying to clear his mind of the interaction with you. When he saw a small, scared girl, he thought it best to lighten the mood with a joke. 

“Hi, I’m Detective Grayson.” He said, introducing himself. “I hear you like to play baseball with bricks and cop cars. You wanna tell me what happened?” 

“You’re him.” She said, whimpering and tearful. “You’re the boy from the Circus.” 

At first, Dick thought that everyone was simply being ominous and creepy today. But then he realized:

‘Oh fuck. You were right.’

...

A/N: Please do not ask me when this fic will be updated - this fic does not have a schedule.

While this is technically the first chapter in a 'series', each chapter is meant to be enjoyed on its own. The overarching plot of the series is still that of the original Titans show, and I won't be making any major changes to the canon of the show - I just intend to showcase smaller emotional moments between the reader character and the canon characters. This is something I want to work on casually in the background between working on other things. This fic is not my main focus, and I will not be rushing to update it or complete it.

Comments and reblogs are encouraged, and I am thankful for them - but please keep those comments focused on the actual content of the series (it's plot, the characters, their dynamics, etc.). Please do not spam me asking me to update this or asking me when I will update this - because I am not in a rush to do so. I have a lot of ideas for this series that I am excited about, but I want to work on it slowly and casually because I don't want to lose my enthusiasm for it and I know that rushing will take that enthusiasm away.

If you enjoyed this - great, thanks. But if you expect this to be updated weekly like a factory pumping out stuff on a clearly outlined schedule - then you are in the wrong place. If you are expecting constant updates of this fic and you will be disappointed if it doesn't get updated regularly - you should just block me now and pretend you didn't read it. But if you are a patient person - feel free to read and enjoy my other Titans works while I am working on updates for this (and working on other exciting things), and feel free to send me a message telling me what you thought of this fic or other fics in general.

Also - if you can't get Dick Grayson off your mind - my requests are open.