veryruinscrusade

[spooky4u]

Spooky Month Lore! AGAIN!

Oh yeah, we're doing this again. For those not in the know, last year I did a basic summary of an ARG that was taking place last spooky month. And this year? I'm doing it again! So, strap in folks, because it's more complicated than last time. And like last time, spoilers for Spooky Month 5.

Alright, so at 3:48 on the last Spooky Month, the TV static hid a familiar looking pattern.

Here we go again. Scanning this code brings you to this image.

Now this image is blurry as all hell, so to change that you got to look at the URL and see that it's a '.webp' image. changing the URL so that it ends in '.jpg' gives us a clearer view.

Aright, we got three links to go to and one incomplete imgur link. For now, let's focus on the patient file. Typing that URL in gives us this.

Now, if you look back at the TV image you see 'Patient #__'. So, it seems that the patient is '#RN'. But then what's the deal with '5f6-7s2'? Well, here's the thing. If you google 'RN 5f6 7s2', the first few results show that it's connected to the chemical 'Plutonium' or the abbreviated version 'Pu', giving us our current answer 'Patient #Pu'.

But that isn't the final answer. I'll explain in a bit, but for now let's go back to the tv image and type in the imgur link for the picture frame.

Now as it turns out, SrPelo tweeted out that the font for the image was a bit confusing and led to people not being able to get into the image. He corrected it on twitter, but incase that tweet gets deleted, here is the link.

www.imgur.com/vMTf01K

Amazin. Now when I first saw and messed around with this image, I think I got the wrong message out of it. Changing the light values of this image took out some letters in a peculiar way.

YOU ARE ERY N

Now, I was on the right track, but I thought that this was like, a name reveal for Skid, with his name being Eryn. Maybe that was intentional, but that wasn't the main thing I was supposed to take out of this. Changing the values in a different way gave me this.

As you see, the letters that disappeared: E, V, T, H, I, G. They all had a different color compared to the rest of the text. But even within the disappeared letters, the letter V stands out as being a slightly different color. But where does that take us? Let's go back to the TV image and focus on the picture frame.

"#_lowcase". This implies that we are looking for a number and a lowercase letter. Taking the letters and rearranging them gives us:

'E, I, G, H, T, V". The number 8, and the letter V.

And putting that in the format that the phrase is demanding, we get '8v'. So, the solution to the picture frame imgur is '8v'.

One more link, and it's a YouTube link. punching that in gives us a security cam video.

Security_Camera_VIDEO_131518190503150405 - YouTube

Now if you watch the video, the security light in the bottom right goes bonkers around halfway thru. This is morse code. I'm not going to show you the beeps and bops as I don't have it off the top of my head, but all you need to know is that it translated to something like this.

"B . U P C A S E C . Y "

There was more that it translated to, but it was kind of random compared to what we have here. Assuming that the periods indicate a new letter, turning that phrase into a three-digit input gives us this.

'bCy' And that's what we take away from that video. Back to the TV image!

We are now going to try and construct that imgur link on the red book. Seeing that # sign on the 6th digit gives us a clue that '8v' are the last two digits, as 8 is the only number that can fill that numbered slot. But where does that put 'Pu' and 'bCy'? Well, to figure that out, let's look one more time at the patient file.

See that undercase p at the very beginning of 'pATIENT', a seven letter word? Seven letters... Seven needed imgur digits... That lowercase p not only indicates that 'Pu' goes first, but it also says that the P needs to be lowercase. And that only leaves one place where 'bCy' can go.

Plugging this link in gives us this.

Oh god,

LATIN.

Don't worry, you don't need to translate it, we're only working with individual letters. Though, to be completely honest, I'm not sure how well I'm going to be able to explain this. But I'm going to try my damned hardest!

okay, so...

I circled 9 different looking red symbols. The bottom right one is hard to see, but if you zoom in enough, you'll see. Some symbols have just dots, one of them has just a line, and some of them have dots and a line.

This is a numbering system.

Maya numerals to be exact. Basically, if you have a horizontal line, add 5 to the number of dots that are above it. We have numbers 1 - 9 here. The exact number of digits that are missing from the YouTube URL at the top of the image. So, presumably, if we had each digit that each numeral related to, we could fill in the YouTube URL in the numeral's order! But what does each numeral correspond to? Let's get the easier ones out of the way.

We have 4 numerals that are directly correlated with a digit. 5 is right underneath an uppercase K. 6 is underneath an uppercase V that was edited to make it an uppercase W instead. Same with 9 but lowercase. And 7 is correlated with a lowercase z. So right now, we have this for our YouTube URL.

____62KWz_w

Great start!

...But now what? The rest of the numerals are floating in dead space with no obvious correlation to a specific letter, and it would take forever to try and brute force it. So, what do we do? I now take your attention to the key to this entire puzzle.

A melting candle. Looking into the melting wax, do you see what seems to be drops of red surrounding what appears to be a red circle? Here's what you have to do. By taking a low opacity version of this pic and overlaying it so that each of the remaining numerals sit inside the red circle, we would see that at least one of the drops of red overlays on top of certain letters, correlating a letter to its numeral value. 5 red drops, 5 remaining numerals. Here's what it would look like when it's done.

(Btw, I was in a spooky month ARG discord server when I was trying to figure this out, and it turned out I was the first person to get the URL correctly! This is the image that I shared with the people there. We wouldn't have been able to do it if we weren't all in the same server sharing our different strategies for this puzzle, so shout out to all of them!)

Reconstructing the URL with the values that we got, with the numerals giving us order, gave us this video.

Spooky. Taking that audio and putting through a spectrogram gives you this.

However, if you listen closer to the audio, there is more morse code. Translating that code into words, and thus the final answer to this ARG gives you this.

"DON'T HIDE IN THE DARKNESS JOIN WITHIN MY BRIGHTNESS FOR THE VESSEL HAS ROTTEN YOU WILL BE NOT FORGOTTEN"

And that's the end of the ARG! The last ARG had a result similar to this, with a rhyming passage to finish it off. So, it's safe to assume that at the end of all the Spooky Month ARGs we will have a completed poem through all the rhyming passages.

That'll be cool to figure out, but until next time. Stay spooky!

[sungbeam]

𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 — act I, scene iii

nonidol!hwang intak x f!reader

when summit poster boy hwang intak's car breaks down in the school parking lot, it sets off a chain of events that leads to you, someone he was perhaps always meant to find. the only problem is that the two of you are far from the ideal couple, and your peers are apt to keep that status quo.

▷ genre, chapter warnings. s2f2l, classism and discrimination, forbidden romance au, minimal swearing, angst, humor, kind of gray morals

▷ word count. 3.6k

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a/n: i've realized this has been pretty fast-paced but it's only cuz i wanna get to the good parts 😭💀

SUMMER (RISING JUNIORS).

YN stepped into the cooler, darkened building of the repair shop and immediately reached for her towel sitting on the front desk. As she swiped away the sweat dripping down her face and neck, she guzzled down as much water from her bottle as she could intake at once. It was a hot day out, and usually there were fans set up in the garage area, but the electricity had stopped working three hours ago.

The door flew open, and Jongseob's sopping wet head of hair poked inside. "Hey, lover boy messaged you."

She rolled her eyes. "Stop snooping, Jongseob."

He smiled with a shrug. "Tell that to your notification sound."

"And his name is not lover boy."

For some reason, that made Jongseob's smile grow wider, but before she could question it, he ducked back outside. She knew that if she appeared immediately after him, he and Soul would never let her live it down, so she continued to take her time drinking water and patting herself dry. As usual, it was a relatively slow day at the shop, and her mom had left the three of them there to watch the grass grow. She wasn't supposed to be in any hurry.

When she finally stepped back into the garage, she was greeted by a wave of heat that almost knocked her over. She felt the sweat drip down the side of her face again, despite having cooled down inside just seconds ago. Jongseob's playlist of r&b hits filled the space along with the familiar sounds of metal fixings.

Soul and Jongseob were both at their respective stations, so she made her way over to her own station and picked up her phone. Sure enough, there were messages from Intak sent about five minutes ago.

tak: *sent a picture*

tak: one of my friends just got back from his trip and we're at the roller skating rink in the crossroads 👀👀👀 maybe i'll see u here later??? wink wonk

Yn smiled to herself, but tried to suppress it for the sake of her own ego and pride (and the two others blatantly watching her from their stations). She had changed the contact name from "jae" to "tak" a couple days after first reaching out to him. It had seemed natural to let go of the contact name and bring in something new; it was an attempt at moving along in the grieving process, if you would.

The image Intak had sent was a selfie of him in fuschia-toned lighting, most likely from the neon lights in the Crossro-ller Rink in the Crossroads community halfway up the hill. His black hair was tousled just slightly in an effortless sort of mess, but he wore a plain black T-shirt and a chain collar, his lips pursed at the camera. He didn't show which friend he was with, but it wasn't like she would have paid attention to him anyway.

"Awwwh, Soul look! She's blushing!"

Yn rolled her eyes again and blindly flipped Jongseob the bird over her shoulder. His cackles of delight echoed in the garage, accompanied by Soul's softer laugh.

yn's phone: i have to give it to u, i think ur getting better at this "being smooth" thing

yn's phone: but i have to work, sorry buddy wink wonk

The thought did cross her mind, even for a split second, to ditch the shop and go to the roller skating rink. Intak would never know who she was—just another poor girl crawling up from the gutter to skate around. The thrill of it energized her though, and she set her phone aside to get back to work with just a hint of a skip in her step.

Jongseob peered out from under the car he was tweaking. "You're so whipped; it's insane," he teased with a feigned gag.

When she stuck her tongue out at him, her phone dinged to announce another incoming message. And another. And another—

"Are you gonna get that or should I?" Jongseob gestured to her station table with one oil-stained hand. He grinned at her scowl. "You're so touchy, sheesh. Fine, but if it's important and you miss it…"

Yn grumbled under her breath and stomped back over to her phone. "You're so stupid."

"And you're stupid whipped!" He cackled, then ducked out of view.

tak: r…. r u mocking me or were the winks genuine…..

tak: wait where do u work :0

tak: ur missing out tho yk 😋

tak: *sent a video*

tak: wait wdym u THINK? i AM GOOD AT BEING SMOOTH

The new picture looked like the saved recording from a Snapchat story. It was him and Yoon Keeho skating around the roller rink beneath the combination of a sparkly disco ball and rainbow neon lights. He still looked as good as he did in the picture, and the video gave a top view that was angled downward over the two tall boys' heads. Yn had definitely seen Keeho and his head of dark blue hair around school before. From what she had heard through the grapevine, he had an awful lot of sass and character stored up in him.

yn's phone: that's confidential :l

yn's phone: looks like a lot of fun! haven't been up there in awhile tbh but i'll think about going soon maybe (^^ゞ

yn's phone: whatever helps u sleep at night tak 🤕🤥

The smile on her face slipped as she read her own messages back, though. Her eyes caught onto one phrasing in particular—the words "up there" yelled at her from the screen with about a dozen sirens blaring. She slapped a hand to her forehead. "Fuuuck."

Her friends peered up from their projects, eyes wide with curiosity and concern. "What? What happened?"

"I said to him 'up there' in relation to the roller rink. There's no way he doesn't know I'm from the Hollows—" Her words were cut off by Intak's own replies.

tak: "tak" 🥰😩😗🥺🫂 someone hold me that's so cute

"I guess not," Jongseob said as he peered over her shoulder at the message, Soul leaning over on her other side. "Man, that's disgusting. Even he's fluffy."

Yn scoffed and waved him off. "Oh, shut up you."

yn's phone: ur friend can hold u lmao

tak: u don't wanna hold me? 😔

yn's phone: if u figure out who i am, then sure ;]

tak: game on.

Though there was a part of her that wanted to get to know Intak like she had his brother, she knew there would be consequences. If he found out her social standing, it could lose her Intak, for one. Even though his brother didn't believe in following the foul classism and bullying his peers up on the hill participated in, that didn't mean Intak felt the same way. (Though, she wanted so badly to believe the opposite.)

It wouldn't matter anyway, right? Losing him? If he discriminated against her based on her income and where she lived, then he could screw off.

(It wasn't like she wasn't used to losing people anyway.)

"Oh my god, who is making you blush so hard, dude?"

Intak's head shot up from where it had been buried nose-deep in his and Yn's text chain. He subtly moved his brother's phone screen out of sight as Keeho came to sit down next to him on the leather sectional. The two of them had come back to Keeho's house about an hour ago from the roller skating rink, legs and backs and behinds aching from hours of skating. It had been a breath of fresh air, getting out of the house. As vast as the Hwang estate was, it was never big enough. Intak had always felt suffocated, and perhaps that was partly because his father shared a living space with him.

"Hm?" Intak mentally willed his heart to calm down.

Keeho eyed him strangely, but his smile was teasing. He reached for the remote to unpause the movie on screen. "Are you still purging Jae hyung's phone? You've been pretty occupied with it ever since the last few weeks of school." Keeho tossed a piece of popcorn into his mouth, and Intak cautiously reached for a handful of the buttery treat for himself.

If "purging" meant keeping in contact with one of his older brother's old friends, then yes. Because of Yn, he probably spent more screen time on Jaehyuk's phone than on his own device. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. Just lots of stuff I didn't know about him."

Intak sunk into the couch and tucked the phone away into his pocket, albeit reluctantly. It almost seemed unfair that Yn knew more about him than he did about her, but he was sure there was a good reason for it.

Well… especially if his hunch was correct.

The movie on screen wasn't very interesting, to be completely honest. Intak had seen it about a dozen times before, but it was the movie Keeho had chosen randomly with the Amazon fire stick thing, and he pretty much stuck with it because he didn't know what to watch either.

Intak suddenly cleared his throat. "Can I… ask you a question?"

Keeho glanced over at him. "Of course. What's up?"

"What do you think about the Hollows kids?" He asked slowly, choosing his words carefully. He tried to pose it as neutrally as possible; he had never really gotten a clear stance from any of his friends about what they thought about the people who lived down the hill from them, but generally, they never seemed against the Hollows kids. At least, they never went out of their way to "show them their place." Those were the obnoxious people from their social class whom Intak was pointedly not friends with.

Come to think of it, Intak hadn't gotten a direct answer from his brother either. But then again, Jaehyuk had never been much of a bully sympathizer or bystander.

Keeho raised his eyebrow as if surprised by the question, which wasn't completely unexpected. "Uhhh—I think they're fine. Like the whole community discrimination is a little stupid, but…" He shrugged, "They can bark as long as they don't bite, y'know."

Intak pursed his lips together in a slow nod.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh—uh, no reason." Intak shifted. What did that answer even mean? "Just curious."

His friend bobbed his head. "Okay… well, if they look at me funny, I'll look at them funny, too. I dunno, dude. It's hard to explain, but if I don't have to get involved, then I won't. You know it's complicated."

Intak supposed he could… live with that answer. It wasn't like he fully accepted it either. After all, he didn't even know what his answer would be... Right?

If faced with the opportunity to befriend someone from the Hollows, would he follow his damn heart or succumb to peer pressure?

This felt illegal.

Intak sat behind his desk at home, hair damp from his recent shower, his laptop opened to a new web browser. He was searching for car repair shops in the Hollows region, something that had been poking at his brain since the roller rink. He didn't know if Yn had even realized she had said "up there" in regards to the roller skating rink, and to be honest, it wasn't until the third time he read the message that it finally clicked in his brain. (Sue him, he had the nickname "Tak" stuck in his head like some fool.)

It didn't really make sense that Jae would have gone all the way down to the Hollows to get a luxury, vintage car repaired and maintained, but because Yn and Jae had met over the phone, it was just a little more plausible. There were a few holes in his theory, clearly, but it was all logical. Actually, the more Intak thought about it, the more it made sense.

There were a couple repair shops in the Hollows, but only one of them was family-owned and not a chain. The name was something along the lines of Ln's Auto Repair—simple and to the point.

He was seconds away from whipping out the academy yearbook.

yer a wizard yn!: ayo r u alone rn?

Intak bit his lip in a poor attempt to hide his smile.

jae's phone: oh so u wanna get me alone?

yer a wizard yn!: u said u almost got caught by ur friend AGAIN earlier õ_ó

jae's phone: and she CARES!! 😩🙏

yer a wizard yn!: smh T-T

jae's phone: admit that u deflect my flirting bc ur flustered

yer a wizard yn!: u were flirting????

jae's phone: that's so hurtful.

yer a wizard yn!: plus, i bet u get flustered easier than i do, hwang intak

yer a wizard yn!: i bet ur blushing so hard rn 👀

He instinctively pressed the back of his hand to his cheek—and goddamn, it was hot. He wasn't about to admit that though.

jae's phone: not the government name 🙁

yer a wizard yn!: ahh look who's deflecting now 🤭

jae's phone: … touché

He paused, biting his lip. Hey, btw…|

No, he thought to himself, spamming the backspace button with his thumb. But why not? He was already searching it up—it didn't feel right without asking her first.

jae's phone: okay i don't wanna come off as stalkerish but…|

Before he could finish his text, Yn's own popped up.

yer a wizard yn!: anyways the reason i came to bug u was bc i m bored :l

A small laugh fell from Intak's lips. Omg ur finally reciprocating my feelings?? :')

yer a wizard yn!: bro what feelings 😭😭

jae's phone: ur literally so mean to me 😔 y am i here to suffer huh

yer a wizard yn!: dunno dude it's cuz i'm cool B)

jae's phone: not w that emoji ur not 💀 what r u? 60???

yer a wizard yn!: experience-wise, yes

jae's phone: and humor-wise 🤕���

jae's phone: a little concerning tbh

jae's phone: but ur bored? lol i thought ur usually w ur friends?

He was usually the bored one because his own friends were with their own families and away from this damned place. Intak technically knew a vast sea of people, but it didn't mean he really knew them. He hadn't smiled while talking to someone new like he did with Yn since he first met his three best friends. Crazy how one could feel so alone in an ocean of people.

yer a wizard yn!: they had to go home to help their families w some stuff lol so im just here ig

yer a wizard yn!: my mom's busy w work rn too so i have the house and it's so quiet haha

jae's phone: r u trying to make moves on me rn 👀 insinuating that the house is empty ;))

jae's phone: JKJK IM SORRY IF THAT MADE U UNCOMFORTABLE KSFBJEBFJRJF

yer a wizard yn!: dude do u just flirt w everybody is this a reflex or something 😭😭😭😭

jae's phone: n,,no just u :')

yer a wizard yn!: tak, honey, r u stuttering thru text T-T

Intak leaned back in his desk chair with a soft giggle.

jae's phone: yes my honey bunches of oats 😚 i did stutter

yer a wizard yn!: damn ??? okay 😭 (honey bunches of oats huh 🤨)

jae's phone: do i make u speechless, snookums

jae's phone: or how about sweet lemon drop daisies

jae's phone: lovey dovey partridge in a pear tree?

yer a wizard yn!: HELLOAKDJKS 😭😭

jae's phone: hUH? WHATS THAT? U LIKE THE NAME SNOOKUMS???

jae's phone: i'd change ur contact name to snookums, but i like the hp reference :/

yer a wizard yn!: i don't think i've laughed that hard in awhile tbh 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

yer a wizard yn!: where tf dID U GET ALL THOSE ???

jae's phone: wdym snookums :(( they came from my love for u

He unconsciously raised his hand to his face and felt the scorching hot skin there. Yeah, he was so far gone. Maybe a glass of ice water would do him well.

yer a wizard yn!: okay,,, i think i've calmed down now 🤧🤧

yer a wizard yn!: were u doing anything interesting before i interrupted 🤩🤩

jae's phone: yes yes very important stuff o7 top secret info

yer a wizard yn!: who's the vague one now :// lol jkjk

Intak's eyes moved back to his laptop, of which the screen had faded to black. He moved his fingers over the trackpad to wake the device up and display the page for Ln's Auto Repair again. This felt like—was—an invasion of privacy.

jae's phone: okay uhm… don't be mad

yer a wizard yn!: uhhhh haha that's not very reassuring 😅 what'd u do lol

jae's phone: okok uhm im so sorry but i promise i don't stalk people for fun and i was really curious and i noticed that earlier u said that the roller skating rink was "up" from where u were and i figured u were prob in the hollows, so i looked up the auto repair shops in the hollows… and i think i might have found yours?

jae's phone: ik this was an invasion of privacy, i feel so bad

jae's phone: pls don't be mad

Intak dropped the phone onto his desk with his eyes pinned to the screen, waiting for her answer. He bit his lip, knee bouncing frantically. The dots would appear and disappear, then reappear again.

Finally, he watched Yn's reply come in.

yer a wizard yn!: it's… actually kind of relieving ? in a way

yer a wizard yn!: i actually noticed my mistake earlier too but i figured since u didn't say anything about it, u might not have noticed, but ig i shouldn't have underestimated u haha

yer a wizard yn!: so,,, this is it then?

Panic seized his chest, and he picked up the phone so fast it almost fell right out of his hands.

jae's phone: WOAH WOAH WAIT

jae's phone: hey what's wrong? no this isn't **it**

yer a wizard yn!: well u know im from the gutter now right lol

jae's phone: and?? y should that matter to me

jae's phone: yn i don't care that ur from the hollows like u literally don't care that im from the hill right?? and my brother didn't care either and u had no problem being friends w him too

When she didn't respond for a couple of minutes, Intak felt the furrow in his brows as his thumbs raced over the phone keyboard to type out another message.

jae's phone: call me?

He pressed the button to send the message and left the phone on the desk, waiting for the phone to ring. His knee would not stop bouncing to save his life, and so he turned the phone screen off and busied his hands and eyes by looking through his mess of an email inbox. Every few seconds, his eyes darted to the phone, however, the screen remained dark and still. No answer, no phone call.

Just silence, and the palpitations of his nervous heart.

He screwed up, hadn't he? He had just scared her off—and that in itself messed with his head.

He was about to give up for the night—maybe resort to finding a drink downstairs and curl up with a movie—until the dull vibration of the phone jolted him out of his chair. He fumbled with the slim device, and somehow managed to accept the call.

"Hello?" He answered, almost breathlessly.

Yn's throat cleared on the other side, voice low. "Hey. Sorry it took me a couple minutes to call. I think I was just nervous." Her throat cleared another time and it sounded like it was accompanied by cracking knuckles.

Intak relaxed a little into his seat. "No, no, don't worry about it. I—" I was dying, "—take your time. I get it. I was just worried I scared you off." He laughed a little at the end as if he hadn't just experienced a self-induced heart attack.

"No, don't worry," she rushed to reply. "You didn't scare me off. I think I do a good enough job at that already."

He turned on speaker mode and placed the phone on the desk so he could fidget with his fingers. "Ah… if it makes you feel better, I feel the same way—scared, I mean. And I really did mean what I said… with the not caring about you being from the Hollows."

A beat passed. "Thanks, Intak. That's… really cool of you."

He nodded. "Right, yeah. Just the...the bare minimum," he said quietly with a flippant flick of his wrist. And it was the bare minimum, but in a community like theirs, bare minimum was a high standard when it came to classism and discrimination. "So—we're cool, right? We're cool?"

She hummed. "Yeah, of course."

A smile crawled onto his face and tugged at the corners of his lips. "Good. I'm glad." He leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk with his cheeks leaning on the palms of his hands. "Listen, Yn... you can be comfortable with me, I hope. I—I hope you can feel safe with me like you did with my brother."

His heartbeat thundered in his ears almost as loud as the volume of the call, and his cheeks were aflame beneath his palms. It was a marvel how one person could make him feel this way. Hearing her voice sent a course of tingles down his spine, made his toes curl. It was a feeling not entirely foreign, yet completely new at the same time.

"Thank you," was her soft reply. "I hope so, too."

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permanent taglist: @flwoie @vatterie @seomisaho @hqrana @ja4hyvn @kaaimins @shakalakaboomboo @sodafy @leaz-kpop-life @pxppxrminty @fluorescentloves @mosviqu @haechansbbg @kflixnet @http-gyu @mvvnsseul

[yolowritter]

Volpibug Au Part 4: Mom help, there's a fox girl on my floor!

Hello there everyone, and welcome back to Lilanette Hell! Finally, after three rants longer than my entire attention span, I've returned with the good shit! Also yes, I cackled at the title. You'll see, it makes sense later. Part 3 of the Au is right here for anyone who needs a reminder, and today's rant focuses on the Glaciator episode and the immediate aftermath! This is where the Lilanette really begins! Also, this post is going to be really long, because I've got two whole snippets for you guys!

To give a bit more context, the Au currently has a pretty linear timeline. Begins with Volpina because obviously that's when Lila shows up for the first time, continues into Collector where Lila decides that Adrien is the least annoying person in class and she will get him back, hence teaming up with Marinette to go confront Gabriel about it. Yes, she gleefully reminds Monsieur Mothballs that CPS exists and is only one phone call away. Then the show moves on as normal, with Lila happily staying out of everyone's business and just kinda figuring out how friendships are supposed to work.

Add a few flashbacks to her altered backstory, maybe some nice Trixx pov to sweeten the deal, and suddenly we're at the Sapotis episode! As I mentioned in Part 2, Lila doesn't like Chloe, so she and Marinette kinda put their differences aside for the sake of Adrien having more friends and keeping the Queen B in check. Still, Lila does not like Marinette at this point. She thinks that while having moments of brilliance, the bluenette is erratic, overly emotional and also kinda creepy with her stalking of Adrien. This isn't bashing, just Lila being a bit too blunt. Anyway, they aren't clawing each other's eyes out and that's what matters. Cue Alya inviting them both to sleepover, the Sapotis incident, and then the rest of Part 2 where Volpina (with her fake civilian name starting with "Cer-" as a nod to Cerise) joins the hero team. If you need a reminder, don't worry I'll rant about it again sometime soon. Lila comes and goes during Akuma fights, occasionally showing up to laugh at Chat Noir when he gets yeeted halfway across the cityscape, and usually just sniding at that day's Akuma. She needs to get it out of her system to be able to hold her tongue in school, so it's a good outlet!

But anyway, one day the Glaciator Incident happens, mostly like normal. Lila gets invited to go out with the rest of the group, and actually does her whole innocent act to basically force Marinette to show up...but Adrien doesn't. Lila is less than pleased with this decision, because if you remember she told Marinette off for memorizing Adrien's wiki page and kinda stalking him instead of...oh, talking to the guy! It annoys her a bit too much, so she endeavors to put an end to this crap by making it so Marinette has to interact with Adrien in the context of friendship, and hopefully figures out that stealing phones is Lila's thing, and no, she doesn't allow copycats! Evidently...Marinette ends up having the same interaction with Andre, causing him to be upset, but Lila steps in to save the day by exclaiming that his ice cream is awesome and she really wants to try! Akuma averted...or not, because once she thinks she's out of earshot, Lila mutters about how a grown adult shouldn't get so hung up on teenagers' love lives + a whole bunch of "doesn't he have anything better to do?" Again, not bashing anyone, just Lila being Lila. Cue Glaciator, canon edition!

Volpina does show up for the fight and distracts him while Ladybug and Chat have their little "faking feelings is wrong!" argument, but Lila quickly gets tired of their shit and urges Adrien to just get it over with! Then, she hides behind a chimney to keep watch and they defeat the villain. As Volpina makes her way back down, Ladybug and Chat have a little conversation where he asks her to at least let him talk to her, and then they leave Lila behind to have the rooftop scene with the rose. As Ladybug leaves, Volpina jumps over (yes, she obviously spied on them, she does this a lot) to talk with Chat Noir.

Now...Lila does not do feelings of any kind. Empathy isn't in her dictonary, even if she is slowly learning how to practice it despite that. And here...she actually does have one of those mature moments. Lila's been forced to grow up too quick after her grandma's death with only Trixx for company (see part 1 here for the backstory), so that sobered her up a bit. Half the reason she treats everyone like an idiot is because they're all incredibly immature in her eyes. Anyway, she sits on the railing and Chat exclaims he's not in the mood for jokes tonight. Alarm bells start ringing in Lila's head, because she actually really vibes with their team's other pun enthusiast. She wouldn't call him a friend, but who else can help her drive Ladybug insane if not for the mangy stay? So she decides to talk to him about it, and we get the following snippet! Bet you weren't expecting that!

[...]

Volpina raises her hands in a surrender, giving Chat a toothy grin that shows her fangs. Her tail swishes around the metal railing, but after his frown doesn't go away, she clears her throat and scoots over to him. "Listen...I really don't do feelings. And I'm going to regret this...but do you want to talk about it?" she asks, trying to smooth her voice into something soft instead of the usual teasing tone.

The blonde's surprise is only betrayed by the sudden twitch of his ears, and Lila lazily stretches her arm to at least keep up the pretense of not caring. Give the boy an out if he doesn't want to share, and hope it all works out. Instead, Chat levels her with a suspicious stare. "Why do you even care? Sure, you're on our side..." he makes a wild gesture with his arms, as if physically grasping for the right words.

Lila cuts him off by snapping her claws together, meeting his eyes. "Because if you and the watermelon don't get your shit together, that's more work for me. And I've already fought enough of his kids' cartoon rejects as it is." she tells him in a rare moment of honesty. Not that Volpina doesn't care, it's just that the list of people she's willing to fight over currently extends to maybe five or six, and begrudgingly at that.

Chat's face falls, as if he'd half expected it. For a moment he almost looks like he's going to try and scold her...but he only gives a deep sigh. "It's complicated. I don't expect you to understand." the blonde mutters, ears drooping like someone's doused him with ice-cold water.

"It's either me or your Kwami. Take your pick, I won't sit here all night." Volpina argues in a dismissive tone. When Chat looks away from her, Lila thinks she maybe should have picked her words more carefully. Resisting the urge to leave him be, Volpina reaches out to gently grasp his shoulder with her claws. She levels him a serious look, to say she means it. "Just...start talking, would you?" Lila prods him, and Chat's eyes glint with poorly-disguised surprise. What an idiot...it's not like she'd actually grown attached. That would just be ridiculous.

Nevertheless, he tells her everything. How he'd invited Ladybug on a date and carefully prepared everything in advance, even if she told him it was a maybe. Well, that was much more headway than he'd ever made, so Chat Noir still went on with trying to make the perfect spot. But...she hadn't shown up. Dissapointed, he'd headed over to Marinette, having seen the bluentte on her balcony. Lila carefully files away their prior friendship, as well as the fact that she might have judged the girl a bit too quickly. If one of Paris' heroes has taken such an interest to her...could there be a side to her beyond the exasparating annoyance she's been friends with for so long? Chat goes on to describe the impromtu date between them, and then the conversation with Ladybug that Volpina definately hadn't listened in on. Spying on her teammates during a momet of emotional vulnerability? Her? Never!

Still, a certain detail does stick out to her, but she politely waits until the blonde is done moping. "You...do know she told you there were other plans for tonight, right?" Volpina asks, leaning her face towards him to look into Chat Noir's eyes. Her catty green peers through a dissapointed emerald, and he gives a nod. "Okay...I can't believe I'm going to ask this, but you know that Ladybug wasn't obligated to show up just because you expected her to, right? Everyone is allowed to say no." Lila tells him, trying to keep her tone from turning to an accusation. She'd never gotten the impression that Chat believed himself entitled to the other girl's affections, but it didn't hurt to make sure.

Silence slowly envelops them as he mulls her words over, as if struggling to understand the concept. She straightens up, arching her back across the railing for a stretch as Chat falls deep in thought. "We...we can say no?" he asks dumbly, almost as if he hadn't heard her. Oh. Oh...shit. She knew that innocent gaze from a mile away, having spent so much time glued to Adrien's side. Lila's heart sings with pity, and she takes a deep breath.

"Yes, of course we can." Volpina insists, grabbing onto his shoulder for emphasis. She clicks her claws together, hopping off the railing and standing next to Chat Noir. "Listen to me. Other people's desires only matter if you decide they do. And it goes both ways. Ladybug wasn't obligated to show up today, and you aren't forced to go on patrol if you don't feel like it." Lila tells him seriously, looking the blonde in the eye.

Then, as abruptly as the advice came, she steps back and promptly twirls herself around, playfully hitting his arm with her tail. Chat doesn't say a word, and Volpina takes a cursory glance at the sky. "I gotta run. Try not to get caught out in the rain, would you?" she snips at him before climbing on the railing. Before he's even gathered his bearings, she's disappeared over the skyline, with only the familiar high-pitched titter grazing his ears. Chat Noir unhooks his baton, and quickly jumps away into the night.

[...]

And scene! I figured this specific conversation was important, because Lila's advice really resonates with Adrien here. Also, I'll take any excuse to have Volpina on screen, but it's mostly for the plot. I'm trying to prevent Ladynoir without any fights, so Lila has her work cut out for her if she wants to accidentally rizz up Marinette. Believe me, if you thought the Agrestes were oblivious, they've got nothing on the fox girl who subconsiously doesn't think there's anything about her to love. Never to a point of self-hate, Lila is fairly comfortable with who she is as a person, but just...hasn't ever recieved affection aside from her grandmother. Sure, she's dated a few boys before, but that was only because she was using them for one reason or the other, and the "relationships" lasted only barely a month each, being more uninteresting than the one before. So...you can guess why Lila has never considered it after coming to Paris.

Also, just to be perfectly clear, despite Volpina and Chat Noir having their moments together and even a psuedo-date later on, things are strictly platonic here. Lila doesn't like him that way, and Adrien sees her as the cool friend who's teaching him what freedom actually looks like. His eyes are squarely on Ladybug, and later on Kagami. And after that, Luka. But that's for way later in the timeline. Feel free to ask about it though, I'm happy to yap some more about this Au's Lukadrien! Anyway! Lila is very much gay for Marinette, and Volpina does end up as Ladybug's bi awakening...so there's that! Alright, back to the plot!

The next morning passes by quickly, and Lila decides to join the nightly patrol with Ladybug and Chat, which she almost never does aside from when Volpina is in a mood to jumpspace their brave leader. She does it constantly, and Ladybug can never manage to find her before Lila suddenly appears behind her to say hello. This time however, she decides to spy on them again as they have a conversation, and Chat apologizes to Ladybug, explaining that he got his hopes up and it wasn't her fault. She then says it's okay, they hug, happy ending! But that's not what Lila is here for at all! See, Chat's words about Marinette have been stuck in her head all day now. In fact, Lila even tried being nice to the bluenette at school today (severely weirding her out) just to see if there's a difference to how she acts with her actual friends.

The results were...inconclusive, so she's come up another brilliant plan! After making sure this whole feelings crap was done with, she would just...show up at Marinette's house. As Volpina. Without any prior warning. And then promptly proclaim their friendship! That seems like a great idea! With only the best of intentions! What could possibly go wrong? ...as it turns out, absolutely everything.

Unfortunately this post is getting a bit too long, so I'll save the snippet for next time. I am writing these on the spot you know, it ain't easy. Hopefully a good way to get rid of Writer's Block, but still a challenge. Anyway, I do hope you all enjoed today's rant! Wasn't as unhinged as when I talk about canon, but then again my Aus have a lot less to complain about and a lot more to enjoy! If any of you want to talk about Volpibug feel free to shoot me an ask, I'm more than happy to tell you everything you want to know!

Anyway, I'll see you all next time, but until then, Stay Miraculous everyone!

[xstarlightxstarbrightx]

thoughts on how the Inazuma Archon quest went [3]

OK, ACTUAL QUEST TIME NOW, I'M DOING IT I SWEAR [COLLEGE PREP IS ENDING MY LIFE]

Lumi: alright, we need to find a way to Inazuma. we've been in Liyue for a W H I L E, and i'm tired of waiting for some sign of needing to head out. Paimon: but isn't it like a closed nation? Kaeya: Atsuko's from Inazuma Lumi: Kaeya, ur a genius. Kaeya: I know~ Atsuko trying to DESPERATELY convince them to just give up on Inazuma should've been my first notion that Inazuma was going to make me rip my hair out, but no i figured it was just a story beat and that i wouldn't actually suffer!!!! no. no, it was real. suffering is real.

I also love Kazuha popping in like "you two give off the essence of wind and earth but also stars" and all i can imagine is he looks at Kaeya and goes "oh, the essence of snow and sorrow is here too". Kaeya: and this must be your bard-for-hire? Beidou: uh,,, no. Lumi: still snickering at "the essence of snow and sorrow"

Beidou: so u signing up for the Clash? Lumi: the fuck is the Clash? Beidou: Beidou: sigh and here i thought u came to sign up.

one long explanation later

Beidou: so, ya wanna win a Masterless Vision? Lumi: to be quite honest. no. i do not care. Kaeya: but we could go for a trip to Inazuma, hmmm? Lumi: ??? Beidou: done. Lumi: ... Kaeya: :) Lumi: u just wanna see me in a tournament, don't u Kaeya: what are u talking about, i'm trying to get us to Inazuma.

whenever they go to check out the competition, Lumi and Kaeya are thoroughly unimpressed, but Kaeya spends the whole time with a shit eating grin on his face. like he already figured it'd be an easy sweep b/c c'mon it's Lumi we're talking about here.

his shit eating grin only gets worse when Lumi signs up and everyone freaks out about her name.

Zhuhan: y-you know only people without a Vision can enter.... Lumi: yeah i don't got one of those. he does, but he's not joining in. Kaeya: i'm here for moral support <3 Paimon: SO IS PAIMON

Zhuhan: what other, uh... qualifactions do you have...? Lumi: uh... I'm an Honorary Knight of the Knights of Favonius? Paimon: she also beat up Childe and also helped save Dvalin after beating him up! Kaeya: that is a Fatui Harbinger and an Elemental Dragon, respectively Zhuhan: intense sweating i-i think that's plenty....

Kaeya and Paimon take bets the whole time on how quickly each opponent flops. Turns out they're both gamblers at heart, but inevitably Kaeya won the most Mora out of her (much to Paimon's dismay). ALSO??? I adore how Kazuha's like "I did notice u withholding strength so as to not harm ur opponent", which is so spicy and good and tasty and i will eat Strong Bad Bitch Lumine any day of the week and still hunger for more.

I do find it interesting that Lumine very clearly is unused to not using elements—something I've pondered a bit about, since she technically had some kind of "element" before she began to borrow the elements of Teyvat. I, for one, am obsessed with this theory and have done some fun deep dives into the animation frames of her and Aether using elemental abilities (i mentioned this before). I wanted to mention this thought because I have a personal h/c and kind-of theory about elements and their dangers, especially to people who are not protected by Visions. Because I do believe certain elements are dangerous.

Also I should doubly clarify that when we get to Inazuma the actual bit, things are gonna be a little different I suppose? I won't be following my original way of doing this, b/c I ,,, really couldn't connect (and personally didn't like) the Inazuma Archon quest, so I'm going to be tweaking it and modifying it to my own needs.

Canon is a white board and I'm scribbling all over it, ok.

ALSO, noting the elemental thing; I find it interesting how Kazuha describes Lumine's ability to utilize multiple elements as "the echoes of nature". Like he just hears the sounds of nature coming from her, and how her scent is complex and strange??? I am beyond fascinated by it, and I REALLY,,, REALLY need to dig into that kinda thing (but i already have 17 different rabbit holes i'm falling down PLUS school is starting tmrw)

Anyway, see u in the next one, where we WILL be in Inazuma (AND WE GET TO SEE THOMA, THOMA IS REALLY SILLY B/C KAEYA'S THERE LMAO)

[harmonyckrs]

Day 25 in Twisted Pleasantview: Crystal Vu's Reports (TW: Mentions of suicide)

THE PREVIOUS DAY

NAME: CRYSTAL VU

LIFE STAGE: ADULT

STATUS: DECEASED BUGGED ?????

SPECIAL NOTES: If the real Crystal is dead, then who's this supposed to be?

---

REPORT #293

Today marks the first day of Project Pleasantview. With how easy it was to take over Strangetown and Veronaville, I can only imagine how quickly Pleasantview will fall into my hands.

And I've found a notable weakness, too. My associate apparently originated from Pleasantview, and seems to have a vendetta against some people in town. What better person to exploit than her? I promise her vengeance, and drive the town into chaos right before taking over everyone's minds! It's the perfect plan!

Aktu also told me that Lazlo was trying to starve himself in order to end his life, so I told him to just cast a spell so that he could only die of old age. As annoying as he is about this whole "I don't want to take over the world with you" thing, I do want to keep him around. I haven't really checked on him all that much, but I imagine he probably hates me now.

It's a shame I had to burn that bridge. I was being genuine when I said that I loved him, and that there was nothing more I wanted than to rule the world with him. I don't know if he knows that, though. I wonder if he thinks everything I've told him has been a lie.

I don't want our story to end like this.

REPORT #302

All of us were wrong!

She's far more ruthless than I thought. Mother confronted her about killing Dina, and in response she's killed her! And now she's threatening to kill me if I don't pretend to be Mother, in order to keep control of the fairies!

I don't know how long it'll take before the others realize I'm a clone. I wasn't constructed for a purpose like Nova was! I was designed specifically because Mother was bored and felt like cloning herself! She didn't even teach me how to act!

Who am I supposed to turn to? The fairies would turn against me if I told them the truth, Nova has been seized and reprogrammed to obey only her, and Lazlo seems to have lost his will to live since we left Veronaville. He won't even look at me anymore! Would he even be willing to help if I told him that I was a clone, and that the real Crystal was dead? I don't even think he'd be helpful at all.

Would reaching out to someone from Strangetown work? There's his brothers, but they'd probably kill me too once they learn of what we did to Lazlo. And besides, she's far more powerful than I can ever imagine. I don't know what the aliens did to her, or how she became full of such hatred, but I don't think we're safe.

Taking over the world was a mistake.

B: ...

H: Brandi? Are you alright? You can hear us, right?

B: Yeah, but...where am I? Where's Dustin, Beau and Daisy? Are they okay? What happened to your hair?

H: They're fine. You're in the Dream Realm right now. Your body is currently asleep, alongside your kids...well, Dustin's actually sneaking out with Angela, but I'm sure he'll be fine. As for my hair, I just wanted to try something different. What do you think?

B: It's, um...not bad?

H: ...I'll cut it once I wake up. Anyway, Dr. Vu is going to release her army of servants onto Pleasantview in a couple of hours, so I need you to warn everyone and flee.

B: In a couple of hours?...How do you know about this?

H: I was there for the other takeovers...and before you ask, no, I didn't participate in abducting anyone! My siblings and I were mainly just responsible for keeping an eye on Lazlo.

B: Lazlo...that name sounds familiar, for some reason.

H: Well, he's...oh...

B: Hamza? Are you okay?

H: ...He was my friend! He was the first person who welcomed us to Strangetown, and I DID embarrass myself in front of a waitress that I was trying to impress by spilling chocolate milk on my shirt! And I paid him back by helping Dr. Vu IMPRISON HIM!

B: That sounds really bad...

H: And I just sat back and watched as she reprogrammed Nova into some kind of...killer capture robot! How am I supposed to face him after that?

B: Yeah, that's pretty bad, but...you can still talk to him, right?

H: Well, I can't leave the Dream Realm until my body is fully recharged. But I suppose I can try to apologize once I wake up. I'm not sure if I can convince my siblings, though...and I feel like the damage has already been done.

B: It's worth a shot. You can't change what you did, but you can prevent it from getting worse. Even if he doesn't forgive you, I'm sure he'll appreciate it if you tried.

H: I guess so...thanks, Brandi.

B: Of course. Anything for a fri-

A/Z: HAMZA! WAKE UP, HAMZA! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!

THE NEXT DAY

[themomsandthecity]

DJ VRYWVY on the Noche Buena Traditions She Holds Near and Dear

When Spotify released its end-of-year data for the most streamed artists, songs, and albums this year, one thing was very clear: Latin music held its place at the top of the charts. Bad Bunny, Peso Pluma, Feid, Karol G, Junior H, Shakira, Rosalía, Ana Castela, and Kali Uchis were among the most streamed artists in the world. While major stars dominated the charts, other Latine entertainers like DJ VRYWVY, whose real name is Val Garcia, were at work, uplifting Latin music in venues throughout the nation. For DJ VRYWVY the shift in mainstream attention to Latin music raises feelings of pride. "You know, seeing Karol G, she just did her "Mañana Será Bonito Tour" in Medellín, and everyone is just taking everything back home and it makes me so proud," she says. "They came from there, but they took it everywhere. What are the odds of that? I started thinking to myself, what are the odds of me doing this? I wasn't supposed to be here. I was born in Mexico City." It was in Mexico that her fondness for music came to be. DJ VRYWVY spent hours watching music videos of Britney Spears, Pharrell, and Nelly on MTV. When her family moved to Dallas when she was in second grade, her love of hip-hop grew as she began to listen to mixes on the city's hip-hop stations like 97.9 The Beat. Unbeknownst to her, her mind was already at work fusing the two worlds. Years later, when she began to teach herself how to DJ, her love of hip-hop and Latin music began to mold into one. "I call it VRYBILINGUAL," she says. "Mixing those two worlds together: reggaetón and hip-hop, cumbia and R&B. I take you to those two worlds and mesh them to create a one-of-a-kind experience." It's an experience that led Buchanan's Whisky to feature DJ VRYWVY in their "We Are The Spirit Of The 200%" holiday campaign. The campaign highlights Latine creators such as "Saturday Night Live" cast member Marcello Hernández, Debbie Gonzales, and Daniel Buezo of the clothing brand Kids of Immigrants. "It's celebrating people that are 100 percent American, 100 percent Hispanic. I feel like it's such a thing, especially people like myself who are immigrants that come to this country, and we have such a hard time kind of being like, we're not from here, but we left home, so we're not from there," she says. "I feel like the new term we are taking as 200 percenters is ni de aquí, ni de allá (not from here, nor there)." DJ VRYWVY spoke with POPSUGAR about the importance of celebrating Noche Buena and Christmas, her favorite Mexican Christmas dishes, and setting boundaries with family around the holidays. --- POPSUGAR : We are a few days away from Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve. What are you looking forward to doing with your family to celebrate? DJ VRYWVY: Christmas, like Noche Buena, is my favorite holiday because I feel it's such a big part of our culture. I love how we're able to blend both of the worlds together. We get the food, the tamales, we get our Buchanan's to celebrate. I'm excited about this year because the [Dallas] Cowboys are playing on Dec. 24. You already know we're going to be watching that, so that's the perfect day to show how those two worlds collide. It's like, we're so Mexican, but we're going to be watching the Cowboys game because we love the Cowboys. PS: Around the holidays, especially for us in creative arts professions, family members often ask, "What do you do? Is this a real career?" How do you personally balance your mental health while also having to have conversations? DJ: Over the past few years, it's gotten a lot better. At first, trying to explain to my immigrant parents what I was doing, they didn't get it. I'm like, "Mom, look at this Instagram post that I put out!," and they're like, "Okay, like, I don't get it." This campaign with Buchanan - because Mexicans know Buchanan, that's our drink. When I told my parents, "I'm working with Buchanan," they're like, "What? Like, Buchanan?" They were… https://www.popsugar.com/family/dj-vrywvy-talks-noche-buena-traditions-49323442?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[kennylovers4life]

(We're not going to ask how Y/N's house got to Blim city. We're just going to assume it was put there by Y/N's employers

Also there's the use of the word cunt, so if that's a problem for you, sorry -Owner 1) 

Y/N could barely hold in his excitement as he picked up the gun that was assigned to him. He finally got to kill living things for money instead of for free! 

As he looked at his gun he noticed something... it had eyes, and a mouth.

he wondered if he was using a living being to kill things. Now, that's where Y/N crossed the line, but it was too late to return him. He had already boarded the ship to Blim City. The gun spat on Y/N making him flinch. 

" H-h-hey man whats up-- ar-a-are you like, a bo-o-bo-bounty hunter or something? Oh yeha, My name's Kenny, by the way, and w-wow are you from heaven b-b-b-because you look like an angel, w-which reminds me of t-that dude Tyrael from Diablo, whichh is a reeally fun g-game, oh I haven't p-played it that's right.. b-b-but I bet i-its a fun game!  " Kenny said, with all the stuttering and pauses it took the poor little guy about 10 minutes to get it all out.

Y/N stared at the gun in a mix of concern and confusion. " uh.. so I'm supposed to use you.. to.. kill other people? " Y/N asked. 

" Yup! T-thats the idea, at least. I-I-I've had a guy who used me as a fleshlight before! " Kenny responded. 

Y/N looked away from the gun. Talking to him was really unnerving, he set Kenny onto the table nearby as he waited to arrive... 

***

Kenny and Y/N were finally in Blim City. 

" H-Hey lo-look on that b-billboard! I-Its Gene Zaroothian, H-he u-u-used to be a b-b-bounty hunter too, b-but he's a homeless loser now. M-maybe if we can f-f-find him he'll teach you s-s-s-some stuff ab-bout bounty hunting or something. " Kenny said as you held him up slightly so he could see everything in Blim City. 

You two walked around a bit and eventually found Gene. One of his eyes was greyed out and he was missing his legs. 

" oh, geez man what happened to you? " Y/n asked, concerned about Gene. 

" Oh don't worry, just went blind in my eye and lost my legs. I've been through worse! " Gene replied, sounding very nonchalant about the whole thing he then looked over Y/N's shoulder

" Hey is that your house over there? " Gene asked, pointing to it. 

Y/N turned around 

" Oh! Yeah. Why? " Y/N asked 

" Well.. you're one of those new bounty hunters right? Maybe if you let me be your roommate I'll teach you some stuff about bounty hunting, " Gene explained " And, if you die, I'll get the house. It's a great deal! "  

Y/N though about it. Sure he did just meet Gene but... It wasn't a bad deal. Y/N would get to learn about bounty hunting from one of the most experienced bounty hunters, and if he died the house wouldn't rot away because Gene would be living in it! 

" Hm, alright then, Gene. " Y/N said. 

***

Y/N finished helping getting Gene settled in the house. 

" ...So basically you want me to go get you your sentient knife that you gave away? " Y/N asked 

" Yup! " Gene quickly responded with 

" Alright then.. doesn't sound too bad. So who did you give it to? " Y/N asked again. 

" The Torg family, now go on and get him! " Gene yelled, annoyed at Y/N's questions. 

Y/N ran out, ready to retrieve what was described to him as " a sentient ballsack " by Gene.  

***

Y/N murdered 9-Torg and got Gene's knife, knifey, back. He spoke to Y/N in an Australian accent. 

" Ay mate thanks for helping me back there, so what's sent ya over to take me? " Knifey asked 

" Oh, well uh, Gene asked me to come and get you. " Y/N answered

" ...Gene? Oh I hate that cunt! When we get to wherever he is I want you to stab him in the gut! " Knifey yelled back. 

Y/N's eyes widened in shock, first of all, he said cunt so casually like that? And second of all stab Gene?

Hell yeah! Y/N wanted to stab something, so this made Y/N want to get home faster. 

***

Y/N stabbed Gene in the gut, Gene complained a bit but he was fine after a few seconds. 

" Hey, now that I think about it I kinda liked how that felt. Stab me again! " Gene said 

" Let the post-nut clarity set in, Gene. " Y/N responded flatly. 

Gene rolled his two non-blind eyes and went back to watching the TV he had installed. Y/N had no bounty hunting jobs yet, as they had been given a week to settle in by his employers. 

Y/N went to his room to find that Gene must've turned it into his room, as there was alien technology installed in the room. 

" Hey gene, did you put all this stuff in my room!? " Y/N asked Gene from across the house 

" Oh shit! Was that your room? " Gene asked 

" Yeah, yeah. It was " Y/N said

" Oh well shit. Because I took all that gay stuff down and replaced it with some badass tech to make it mine, " Gene said " I moved it all into that walk in closet though, so I guess you can sleep in there. " 

Y/N gave Gene a look of annoyance but complied. He put Knifey and Kenny on top a box that was in the closet and sat down in front of them 

" So... is living with aliens usually this annoying? " Y/N asked the duo. 

They glanced at each other 

" Yup, and you better get used to it, Y/N. " Kenny answered 

** THis chapter was written by Owner 1. 

[smolbeandrabbles]

Made in the USA - Ralph Anderson x Reader (The Outsider)

GIF CREDIT: X

Author’s Note: So... Whilst I’m not watching for the first few weeks (for reasons you may know!) I am jumping on in and giving you some Ralph Anderson content anyways!

Side Note - all you book readers will know who Samuels is. If you’re not a book reader... I believe Samuels is now... Hayes?* Not that I’m annoyed or anything...

* I don’t know for sure if he’s the same, but I’m assuming Disclaimer: Characters are all Stephen Kings / The Outsider characters/plot not mine / One again set in my little AU. (That means more Renee)

Premise: The temperature has been rising steadily for weeks, and it finally hits breaking point literally  you and Ralph both have cases to work, but given the circumstances you don’t really care. And for once, neither does he...

Words: 4345

Warnings: Fluff / Some banter about affairs and eloping. /this one really does contain book spoilers and therefore I'd imagine show spoilers. 

______ You run around open doors like a gentleman Tell me girl every day you're my everything 'Cause that's the way you like to do it That's the way you like Just a little West Coast, and a bit of sunshine Hair blowing in the wind, losing track of time Just you and I, just you and I You’re always reading my mind like a letter When I'm cold, you're there like a sweater 'Cause that's the way we like to do it That's the way we like And never ever let the world get the best of you Every night we're apart, I'm still next to you 'Cause that's the way I like to do it That's the way I like No matter how far we go, I want the whole world to know I want you bad, and I wont have it any other way No matter what the people say, I know that we'll never break 'Cause our love was made, made in the USA

---

It was hot. A little too hot. Okay, a lot too hot. You were glad you hadn’t had to go straight to a scene. The heat had been building like this for weeks, but at this point you didn’t want to touch anything metal, and tarmac was out of the question. It made trying to get into your car interesting.

And Ralph didn’t really do much other than stand on the porch watching you like you were insane. “Y/N... just... get in the car.” “It’s hot-!” “Yeah...” He shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked up, “I know...” “Well I’m trying not to burn my hand!” He sighed, and sauntered over to the car “Please, it’s not that hot-!” You supposed he could say what he liked, he hadn’t just leant against the car trying to fish the keys out of his pocket and touched it with his forearm, that’d made you snap back with a gasp enough – and no more! Ralph reached out and touched the car like it was nothing- “AGH!”

 It made you jump, “Oh my god-! See!” But then he was just laughing “It’s fine.” He opened it for you, “Now go on. I’ll see you later.” You tipped your head, biting your lips together concerned; “Just be careful okay-!?” “I’ll be fine.” He leant on your car door watching you hop in “Don’t flirt with the DA too much.” You sucked your breath between your teeth; “Oh... babe, no promises!” He eyed you for just a moment “...Just remember who’s in charge here.” “Yes, Detective Anderson. I will.”

 Luckily the innovation, and frankly blessing, that was air conditioning was available both in your car and in the DAs office. And the short walk from one to the other wasn’t enough to get you complaining again. “Lovely weather we’re having!” Samuels grinned, holding his arms out for a hug which you gladly excepted; “Uh. Yeahhhh - if you don’t have to stand out in it working-!” “Oh, please. Working-!? Do you actually do anything or do you just stare at Ralph all day?” You scoffed and jabbed him in the chest with your folder “He’s the one telling me not to flirt with you-!” “Well I suppose It might not help your case, or it might! Want to elope into the hot summer sunshine and never be seen again?” He smirked gently, with just the right tilt of his head. “Well it seems like a lot better idea than working in it-!” “AHA-! I’m telling the detective-!” “Oh yeah, just get me in more trouble-!” He took the folder from you gently “Now, come on... what have you got for me today?”

You both sat in the office discussing the case in great detail. What you had to say, what you shouldn’t say – his route of questioning, the usual sort of thing Samuels called you over here to discuss. To be honest even when he didn’t call you you liked calling in on him. He used to joke that yours weren’t his only cases, but you liked being around him. He gave you as much flirtatious banter as Ralph did but it was just different, in the best way. If you had to put up with both Ralph and Yune regularly sometimes having Samuels in your corner was a Godsend. Of course, it was Yune that had started Ralph off on the flirting thing. Oh god, will you two get a room-!?... Y/N, in front of your partner, really-!? The four of you were really like a house on fire when together, and you enjoyed that… maybe it was an age thing? As a detective you were sure you were supposed to figure that out, but it made sense, Samuels and you were closer than your partner and his friend were.

Your phone buzzing snapped you out of the conversation: “That your detective?” “I’d assume so...” you picked it up, “Yeah.” “You gonna tell him we’re eloping or should I?” “Oh, just make him wait until I don’t come home later...” He tsk’d, with a smile; “You’re a cruel one!” “Why tell him-!? He’ll have his blue lights on and catch up before we leave the city limits! That or tell me good riddance!” That made Samuels throw his head back laughing; “Oh god-! Yeah. That’s Ralph.” You narrowed your eyes and checked the message; ‘How’s our DA?’ ‘Good! How’s the office? x’ ‘Oh! You’re not gonna like this.’ ‘Like what-!?’ ‘Just hurry back! Or don’t. You’ve been there hours what are you doing!?’ ‘Eloping! 😉 x’ You put your phone down with a smirk and received three buzzes in the space of a few seconds – even Samuels looked at it with raised eyebrows; “What did you say-!?” “Oh, nothing much!”

 **

 Satisfied that the case was in order, you drove back to the station gently humming to the radio.  So much so you’d forgotten about the three texts Ralph had sent until you got there: ‘I KNEW IT!’ ‘Don’t bother coming back!’ ‘I’m keeping the kid! You don’t deserve her!’ That only had you laughing more as you pulled into the parking lot. And then you frowned. Every single door to the place was wide open, “Oh dear.” That couldn’t be good. As you shut your engine off Ralph sauntered out of one and learn against the door frame, unimpressed look on his face, and checked his watch (and he wondered where you got it from…): “Oh-! I see you decided to return the case before you eloped-!? How thoughtful!” “Shut up! You think I could deal with a DA the rest of my life?! I get enough with you-!” He folded his arms, and squinted; “That was a rather backhanded compliment!” “You deserve it for that stunt this morning-!” So Ralph got unceremoniously hit with the folder too. You looked to all the open doors, concerned; “What happened here-!?” He held his arm out to present the building to you, “Step inside! And you will find out!” You understood exactly why all the doors were opened the second you walked in and he heat hit you. It was like a sauna. Outside was bad but at least there was a breeze! Ralph clapped you on the back, and his body heat in proximity didn’t help none. “Air cons bust.” You turned to him with a glare “And you called me BACK!?”

 **

 You received a disapproving cough from the other side of the office every time you undid another button on your shirt.

Every single fan that any of you left in the office could find, was on. But you were suffering. It was alright for him; Ralph would work through this no matter what – such was the man that he was. But you were now sweaty and uncomfortable and sticking to your chair; “I can’t work like this—!” You groaned, leaning back in your chair as you received yet another glance, “Any more buttons and you’re gonna be reprimanded.” “You’ve seen me in less-!” “This is a work environment, Detective!” “Ralph—!” You whined placing your arms to your forehead, “This is awful! I should have stayed with Samuels-!” He scoffed “Then why didn’t you!?” You sighed, eyes flicking to him “Because I am hopelessly in love with you.” He stared at you for a minute and the only sound became the buzz of the fans and the wall clock. Before he smiled, and it was a sweet smile. The kind Ralph didn’t give you whilst working. He pointed his pencil at you accusingly; “Don’t make me come over there and kiss you!!!”

 In reality you’d been there less than an hour when Ralph finally threw his pen down, where it clattered across his desk, and stood up. “This is unbearable. Even I can’t work like this!” That was that then, if the usual last man standing was deciding to surrender too. He gave a sigh before he started with purpose towards the door, “I’m sending everyone home!” “Oh?” You folded your arms “Big man on campus today?” If Ralph could send everyone home that meant he was the most senior official in the building. But instead of just answering you he slammed his hands onto your desk with a smirk. Your heart leapt - since when did Ralph ever look at you like that? “Yup, you’re damn right.”

But of course, once he’d gathered everyone in your little space, to tell them to clear out of the office until and engineer swung by and fixed everything, in typical Ralph fashion he martyred himself to stay behind and continue the work. He still wants to be the last man standing, then! And you weren’t having that. “Go. We both have a car, go home. Or go see Samuels again, if you feel you need to be in an office...” “And leave you behind? I don’t think so!” “Why are you so damn stubborn!” Well he shouldn’t have made so many comments about flirting with the DA, or you probably would take him up on heading back there, all your work was currently on that case. “I’m not leaving my partner here alone. And you should know I wouldn’t.” You narrowed your eyes, jumping at the opportunity to give him a taste of his own medicine; “Unless you’re eloping!?” “Oh yeah!” His voice was purely sarcastic and his face deadpan; “with the other lover I clearly have SO much time for-!” You tutted “You’ll break Reneé’s heart!” “If you didn’t break it before hand with your fancy DA-!” You gasped “Uncalled for!” “Necessary!!!” That only made you pout, and Ralph strained “Aw, c-c’mon... That’s unfair...” The embrace he offered you was loose, for obvious reasons, but the sentiment still held as he kissed your forehead; “I love you...”

 *

 You were now just content to suffer in silence - and didn’t look up from your work. You also didn’t look at the clock, and any time you crossed the room it was to look at the case board and then stroll back to your file again. Ralph wasn’t on the case that you were dealing with with Samuels but he liked to help out and offer advice on occasion.

He was dealing with his own right now though, and his silence said as such. But Ralph was always quiet. A good foil to you, you would imagine. Every so often Samuels would ping you questions or updates, but you were glad that it seemed so quiet on such a hot day. “You know,” Ralph eventually mused “isn’t it funny how much quieter you suddenly get when we’re the only ones left here.” You glanced up at him slowly, but instead of retaliating, like you knew he might want you to, you simply smiled.

But, Ralph continued his musings. Folding his current worksheet over. But he knew what your silence meant I will suffer with you. Or for you. “...You know, and I don’t even say this personally, professionally... you might be the greatest partner that I could ever have hoped to have.” That just made you blush, and look back to your work, “...What makes you say that?” “I just know you’re good for me.” He looked to the open door for a moment, twisting his pen between his fingers “...I get to learn a lot from you. I get to teach you a lot of things. We’re as opposite as we are similar. It just... works right? Surprisingly well.” You always did wonder if one of the reasons that your wish to transfer up here was accepted, was because they realised that you needed someone who would settle you down. One of Ralph’s favourite things to tell you was ‘curb your enthusiasm’. To which you would usually wittily reply.

But not today “It does work. But also as more than just a partnership...” you leant on your hand to stare at him “...I guess it’s all equal parts right? I know when you’re my partner, my senior, but also when you’re my lover...” Ralph dropped his gaze back to you, and once again he made your heart skip. “Hm. Important distinctions. It’s as important to think about the fact that I will probably never get a partner like you again. So, whilst I have you here... I should probably give you everything I have to offer in the field.” You narrowed your eyes, suddenly too suspicious of his choice of words; “Where did that come from.” “I’m not daft enough to think you’re not eventually going to get promoted out of here. I think if I prepare myself now... then I might just be ready when it happens.” You stood, one swift movement and shook your head, “That’s it.” “W-What is-!?” You crossed the room with purpose, and he leant back as you rounded his desk and kissed him. It wasn’t harsh, it was still loving and tender but it was still hard. And something he needed right now. You pulled back, and his frown was almost of bewilderment. “There. Happy? You made me get up and kiss you!” He grinned, like he’d won, “Oh yeah, I’m happy.”

**

Work continued with Ralph letting you take short breaks every so often. But the rising heat of the day only made it more unbearable and he had spent the last 15 minutes standing in the open door way staring at the parking lot. “Alright...” He crossed the room, with as much purpose as before and tapped your arm, “Get up. Come on, we can’t stay in here.” “Well- where are you going!?” “There’s one shady spot in the pilot, go sit over there I’ll join you in a minute.” “R-Ralph-!” But all you heard was his hurried footsteps, making you sigh gently. You pocketed your phone and went to stand by the door yourself. He was right, there was one shaded area. You glanced back to wait for him, but when after a few minutes he still didn’t appear, you decided it was better to wait for him where he’d told you to, or else get chided for that too.

 5 minutes later, when you felt a lot better for sitting in the shade with a nice breeze, Ralph sidled across the parking lot with something in his hands. You were trying to find the case file under his arm that would denote that he was still asking you to work outside, but he was suspiciously void of one. When he reached your side and sat down, you realised he was carrying with him your favourite ice cream; “Knew we had some.” You were still looking for his case file, “Stop it. We’re taking a well-earned break - and!-” he tapped the tub with a spoon before handing you one, “I think we earned this too!” “Any reason you picked my favourite?” You could already feel the beginning of a big smile, “Just the first one I placed my hands on. And home made too-!” He tapped the label. Yeah right, it hadn’t taken him a good 15 minutes more to just grab a tub of ice cream and some spoons. But you didn’t say that, instead you sat back on your hands with a tiny smirk; “Is it because you love me?” He sighed gently “Oh... probably...”

You sat together in relative silence, leaving the cases back in the station you created a good amount of your own small talk whilst attempting (and succeeding in) finishing a whole tub of ice cream together. You liked to discuss the shows you were watching that he wasn’t into, but liked hearing second hand accounts of from you – and the book you were currently reading. Just as he liked to tell you about interesting documentaries he’d watched, or all the places he’d been. If he brought up cases – Ralph liked telling you about plainly absurd ones he’d been a part of when he’d just started out. Those always made you laugh so hard that you got stitches, and always made you ultimately glad you’d never been through any of them yourself. Though you had your fair share of stories from your previous jurisdiction that made him cringe when you mentioned them; “Oh god, please no!” Eventually your head found his shoulder, and your arms wound around his. Sure, it was still pretty hot out, but the breeze and the shade were both lending a helping hand. And more than anything you wanted to be this close to him. For a short period he petted your hair gently, and you closed your eyes with a smile. You knew this man well enough to know that the only reason you were out here eating ice-cream and not working hard was you. Ralph had done this for you, to cool you down. You knew he would have suffered in silence all alone all afternoon had you not stayed. So you were grateful that in doing this for your benefit, he was taking a well-deserved break too.

“I’ll pick her up, tonight.” You lifted your head from Ralph’s shoulder at his sudden quiet musing; “You sure?” “Mmm. You stayed. Least I can do.” “…That doesn’t sound suspicious at all.” He chuckled, “I just like seeing her face light up when she leaves school and runs to the gate, is that alright?” “Runs to you. Is what you mean.” “…You gotta understand that too, right?” You ran a hand through his hair, “Aw… You’re just such a softie.” “Eh. I’m getting old.” His grin was bashful, “Naw. You’re getting just perfect.” There was silence for a few minutes more before he gave a tentative look back to the open station doors; “Should we be working on cases right now?” “Not in this heat no.” and you were determined to keep it that way. “...I’m tempted to agree with you...” “But?” You couldn’t believe you suggested he go on with the sentence “But we should be? So let’s go back in?” “No...” Ralph lay his head back on yours, with a gentle smile that you would obviously think he’d ask you to get back to it, “That was it. That’s all I had to say.”

 ***

 Eventually an engineer rolled into the parking lot, and you had to cover your mouth to stop you from cracking up at Ralph’s nonsensical string of What took you so long!?!??! But you only waited until after the engineer had finished. “I say forget about today and let’s go home...” Ralph stacked some files under his arm; “Let’s just make sure everything is locked.” “Mmhm!” You agreed and then trailed him through the station to shut every door and window once again. Glad that the air con was thriving once more.

Then he walked you to your car and opened the door for you again, like a true gentleman, even though he hardly needed to. Before walking over to his own. You knew Ralph though, and those files made their way into his back seat. You sighed, and drove your car around the lot to his, winding your window down; “Hey! Detective!” Ralph laughed and strolled across the lot to you; “Yes?” “Professional advice.” You nodded back to his car, “I’m all ears, Detective.” “If you take all your work home with you, you’re gonna miss out on two very important things...” “I know that.” He crossed his arms and leant on your car, “But I also know - and this is my professional advice - there’s nothing better than talking work through with people who see things a little different to you. Makes me worry less, get a new perspective. Sometimes, I just might need their help.” You sat back with a thoughtful expression: “Huh. I guess sometimes they might need yours too.” “Well, you got it. How about you? Suppose you got a good DA at home that knows his stuff.” You opened your mouth in shock; “Oh my god! I can’t believe-!” “-Here’s some more professional advice…” Ralph leant forward and caught your lips with his, stopping your rebuke to his comment in its tracks. Then you quite forgot what you were saying; “...ice cream.” “...Huh?” “You had, a little bit of ice cream.” He brushed his thumb over your lips and you’ll couldn’t help but part them with a gentle sigh against his soft touch. “Oh.” “- As I was saying. Professional advice, tell that man of yours not to work so hard.” You gave a shrug, and a makes sense face, even though your stare was measured; “If he’s gonna heed my advice I will.” “Mm...” He tipped his head, kissing you once more before straightening “...if you keep reminding him of the important things, one day he just might.” Ralph stepped back and raised his hand in a wave, “See you back at home, Y/N!”

“See you soon-!” You blew him a kiss, and closed your window again as you drove away. You glanced to the case file on the seat next to you, well he wasn’t the only one who was taking things home, you guessed. But at least yours was going to court! And you did have to know what you were saying for ‘your’ DA. *** It was quite some time later that the front door opened to a chime of; “We’re home!!!” You were leant against the counter catching up on today’s news, an all too familiar scene these days. You pushed yourself back from the counter in time for Renee to come racing around the corner and into your arms; “Hey, sweetie, how was school?” “School was good, mommy.” You picked her up, and she was beaming “How was work?” “Hot. Actually. But, Ralph, gentleman that he is, sent us all home.” You heard Ralph laugh from the corridor, “You decided to stay!!” “Cuz I love you!” “I figured!” “You’re back later than usual!” Renee giggled “Ralph took me for Ice cream-!” You gasped “Ice cream!?!” He rounded the corner “Oh. Yeah! It was still pretty ridiculous outside. Thought our little lady deserved some.” You tilted your head curiously to one side; “And you didn’t invite me?!” Although you were only being playful, you knew Ralph likes having father/daughter time with her, and you found it absolutely adorable that he would want to take her for ice-cream after school. Ralph probably wanted to make sure that Renee didn’t miss out as much as anything else. “Well, you weren’t around and you’re supposed to be studying for court.” “Yeah. Okay…” You shook your head at him, amused. “Mommy, you can come next time!” You chuckled, placing her back to the floor, and running your fingers through her hair – “Well, thank you – sweetheart. Who could possibly resist such an invitation?” Ralph shook his head, with a smile “God, come here!” The next thing you knew you were wrapped in his arms and covered in kisses.

*** When the day finally began to cool off, it was already late into the evening. And you were still practicing all your notes, sure, Samuels had yet to get the court date, but he worked quick – and you had to be prepared for this. By the time you’d decided to give up it was already approaching 11:30pm and you knew that, since he’d disappeared from your side, Ralph would be tucked away in his little corner of the house still up doing his own case work.  Time to go remind him that bed was also a thing. He didn’t even look up as he addressed you when you entered the back room fifteen minutes later; “Your case made the papers again! Did you see?” “I did. He’s good at that…” You glanced over the files, but it wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out exactly what they were. Cold Cases. “Oh, he definitely likes ya. That DA. I never get in-!” “If you’re trying to suggest that I only get in the papers because of Samuels...” “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting, Ms.Andersson.” Though he was smiling You indicated to his folders; “The last time you went high profile...” “Yeah. well.” “It’s only 200 words in the corner, Ralph.” “200 words that you and I both noticed.” Well, you supposed he had a point. You eyed the files open in front of him again and tipped your head, eyebrows threading, concerned. You nodded to them; “…Don’t you ever get tired of doing this?” “What?” “…Looking through cold cases like there is something else there.” “No end to the universe.” He muttered, “Huh?” “No end to the universe.” Ralph repeated louder, raising his head slowly. “…What if we missed something because we didn’t even think of that possibility?” “…Ralph…” you placed his mug of cocoa down and slid onto the desk, taking his hand in yours, “Sometimes it’s not going to be monsters. You know that too, right? Stop looking for them just because you’ve dealt with one.” “But what if-” “What if they aren’t? Baby, what if they are just cold cases…?” “You didn’t see what I saw, Y/N… You’d never want to be involved in something like that again if you were. You’d never want something like that to happen…” “Ralph…” you sighed gently, “Whether I was there or not, I still believed you when you told me… Why shouldn’t other monsters exist and be capable of such things.” But you placed your hand over the case files “But, babe, you gotta stop obsessing. Because we both know that won’t solve anything… Also, there’s a bed upstairs that’s missing two bodies… I say we aughta rectify that!” The smile you had raised from him faded just as quick. He sat back, in silence for a good few moments, blue eyes looking between yours for answers he wished you had; “Then let me ask you this…” Ralph paused again, before taking a breath; “Why do you believe me, you never told me that?” “You said it yourself…” you gave a gentle smile, bringing his hands to your lips, “No end to the universe.”

---

Thank you for reading! 😘

@3134045126​ @dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad

[curseofaphrodite]

loverboy, talk of the town

BUCKY BARNES X FEM!READER || angst to fluff

summary; enemies to lovers but you're always mad at him and he's mad at everyone except you 💌 note; lots of swearing, avenger!reader

"Another mission fucked up because of James Buchanan Barnes!" you yelled, storming into Tony's office. Bucky followed, looking way too exhausted.

"I need to talk to whoever told her my full name," he said, plopping down on the leather couch.

"What happened now?" Tony asked, looking up from his computer. You started pacing the room angrily.

"We had a plan. Atleast I thought we did because one second I was in that godforsaken room and then he disappeared."

"I was taking care of the guards," Bucky murmured.

"We were supposed to take care of the fucking guards!" you snapped. "I circled around the institution looking for you. For three fucking hours!"

"Tony!" Scott walked inside the room, frowning at the tense climate. "I mean uhm- Mr. Stark. Tony works too, but I was excited and called you by your first—"

"I'll go," you interrupted.

"No wait, I'll go," Scott said, alarmed. "I didn't know there was a meeting."

"You are not the reason I'm pissed." You sent a pointed glare at Bucky while talking. "I'll just come back later."

"No, no, you aren't dismissed!" Tony said quickly. "Both of you!"

"I apologized," Bucky's eyes held no anger, which made you more frustrated. "I apologized a hundred times over."

Like the evil witch from Snow White, you laughed angrily. Maliciously.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked, looking scared. "You look a bit uhm..."

Crazy.

It was easy to appear crazy in front of Bucky.

He was Bucky Barnes, one of the most intimidating avengers right after Natasha. You fought with him at every turn, but he never yelled, never even glared at you. When the former Winter Soldier was calm one in a conversation, people automatically assumed you were the problem.

Or maybe he just had a soft spot for you. While he snapped at everyone he met and maintained a wall 24/7, he eased around you; which made hating him a lot harder than it needed to be.

"See? He apologized!" Tony said happily. "There, it's all fixed now."

"He apologized when he messed up the mission before this," you hissed. "And the one before it. AND the one before—"

"Alright, he apologizes a lot, we got it." Tony turned to the man in question. "Why can't you be more of a teammate? Do you think I like being threatened by Y/N every day?"

"I'm convinced she does that to everyone," Scott whispered, though no one paid any attention to him.

"I thought we were doing Plan B," Bucky said, strained. "I didn't know she was doing Plan C."

You gasped. "I told you three times that we're doing Plan C."

"You told me three times that we're not doing Plan O so I assumed we were doing B!"

"I SAID THAT WARNING FOR PLAN H!"

"Maybe don't have these many plans next time?" Scott suggested, and you glared him down. He raised his hands in surrender.

"I need to go," Bucky said promptly, getting up from the couch. You watched him disappear in disbelief.

"I was supposed to storm out! Me!" you yelled after him.

"What did you want?" Tony asked Scott before he could interrupt them again.

"Oh, your package is here," he replied with a wink. "I was about to go down to the storage room but I need a key card."

"Key card? What key card?" Tony appeared more confused. "I've never used a key card in my life."

"That's cause you own the whole place," you said, rolling your eyes. "Which explains the trashy interior design too. It's not bad, but it's not good either. Like your other decisions."

Tony sighed. "I see we're still on Bucky?"

"Just stop pairing me up with him, please," you whined, swallowing your pride. If you had to beg, you would. You'd do anything to save your last piece of sanity.

"We need someone to look after Bucky during missions."

"If you need a babysitter, ask someone else."

"Bucky doesn't want anyone else," Tony said, throwing his arms up in frustration. "You think I like seeing the two of you almost kill each other every day? Of course I tried pairing him up with other people. He refused."

You laughed humorlessly. "What do you mean he refused?"

"He said you're his partner, and that partners don't give up," he said, shrugging. "So if you have any problem with it, you should ask him to stop being stubborn."

"Partners? Bullshit."

Tony tilted his head to one side. "I know you're new to the avengers, but here we have each other's backs. All the time. Even if they're being a giant pain in the ass."

"Key card?" Scott asked softly.

"I have one," you said before Tony could snap. You needed to get out of that room anyway.

──────

When Scott switched on the light of the storage room, you saw it as your cue to leave. You saw it, but you ignored it too.

"Do you think I'm too harsh?" you asked, stepping into the bright light. Scott didn't seem to mind the company. That was one of the many things you liked about him. He was a goofy and loyal friend; which made you all the more guilty to not having spent more time with him.

"You're intimidating," he corrected, shrugging casually. "Not harsh though. You are angry on missions, but that's just the missions."

"What do you mean?"

"I used to work at McDonald's a long time ago. Didn't get this much money, but I was safe from monsters." He laughed nervously. "Please don't tell Tony that I said I'd rather work at McDonald's."

"I won't," you smiled, urging him to go on.

"Like I was saying, our missions are literally life or death. I think we're allowed to be angry during them."

You felt yourself relax. Pushing thoughts of Bucky away from your mind, you walked around the room in awe. Only Tony Stark could build a place where even the storage room looked like its own museum. The cupboards were filled with small gadgets, some of them too advanced for you to even try figuring out. The most interesting thing in the room was definitely the one Scott had just taken off a new box.

"What's that?" you asked, coming closer.

It resembled a TV screen, but it had buttons of different colors, as well as a headphone wire attached. It had no keyboard, nor did it look like a video game. Scott made a yelp of excitement.

"I'm probably not supposed to tell you this, but I present to you — the proof of multiverse!" he said, exhilarated. You just blinked. "Seriously? I expected applause at least."

"I don't get it," you shook your head. "How's this connected to multiverse? I thought that was a science myth."

"Science myths are never just myths," he said, tinkering with the wires. "Tony had this personally made with some of the best scientists in the world. He wasn't a fan of having multiple Tony Starks around the universe, but if there was a possibility of it happening, he wanted to be the first one to know."

"C'mon, you think this box is it?"

"Yup, I'm supposed to test-run it and make sure it's not a toy." He pressed a blue button, and the screen lit to life. "With this, I can type in a random universe code and it'll show me what's happening in their world."

"What the hell?" your mouth fell open. "Are you being real right now? Or is it like an elaborate prank 'cause I ate your cupcake last week?"

"Wait, you're the one who ate my custom-baked blueberry cupcake with vanilla frosting?"

You blinked. "Uhm, you were saying about multiverse? Exciting stuff!"

"Right... we're coming back to the cupcake later," he said firmly, turning his attention back to setting up the device. "Okay, it should be live in 3...2..."

The 1 choked on his throat, mainly because the device had started showing moving pictures, something he wasn't expecting at all. Sure, thermal radiation rays or other minorly exciting stuff could have occurred, but it was actually live. The excitement in him made him burn up from within.

"I CAN SEE!" he yelled, not knowing he was loud because of his headphones. "I SEE ME, HOLY FUCK THAT HAIRCUT IS SO FLATTERING. I SEE TONY HAHA I SEE- oh fuck."

He immediately shielded himself in front of the screen, taking off the headphones in an awkwardly quick way.

"What?" you asked, squinting your eyes in suspicion.

"Hmm, nothing," he said, forcing a smile. You scoffed.

"Let me see."

"No—"

"Scott!" your glare was such that he was forced to oblige.

You snatched the headphones from him and placed yourself in front of the screen, astonished at seeing yourself — or at least, a version of yourself.

You, I mean she, looked happy. She was walking across a house comfortably, which you assumed was hers. You immediately understood why Scott was reluctant to show you this. Y/N in that universe had just sat down on the couch, leaning her head against none other than Bucky.

You scowled, too shocked to form any coherent thoughts.

Bucky laughed as she said something.

"I have a high school reunion thing to go to," she then said, sighing. "Do you wanna come by? Could be boring though."

"Nothing is boring if it's with you," Bucky smiled, pressing a kiss against her head. "And guess what, I made strawberry ice cream while you were out."

"My favorite," she smirked, cuddling closer to him. "You're the best."

"Anything for Mrs. Barnes."

"No," you took off your headphones, throwing them at Scott. "No, no, no way in fucking hell. Please tell me this device isn't fucking real. Cause no way in fucking hell am I gonna be married to Bucky."

"I—"

"In any fucking universe! It's against the laws of nature."

"Let me—"

"Ridiculous. Utterly, miserably ridiculous."

"Now you're just repeating words," Scott said, cutting you off. "It's not that of a big deal. So you're married to Bucky in another universe, big deal! It's not even that surprising!"

Your mouth fell open, as if he just accused you of witchcraft.

"Excuse me?"

He immediately wished he hadn't said anything. "Uh—"

"What do you mean it's not that surprising?"

"Well, uhm, friends to lovers is my favorite troupe?" he said uncertainly.

"Bucky and I aren't friends. Archenemies is a better term."

"As much as astonishing this would be, I think he considers you a close friend," Scott explained cautiously. "Why else would he never fight with you? If he thinks you're his enemy, why would he hate that you yell at him?"

"He hates that I yell at him?"

"Wasn't- wasn't that obvious?" his words were lightly accusing. "He flinched when you were screaming in Tony's office."

"Oh."

You felt guilt creep in. Something about hurting Bucky made you wanna regret your life decisions. Now that you thought about it, Bucky didn't have an easy life. Of course he wouldn't want his partner to be angry with him too. Of course you messed up.

Cursing under your breath, you stormed out.

──────

"Knock knock?" you sat down beside Bucky, who was sitting outside the building like he usually does. "I come bearing ice cream."

He instantly smiled at seeing you, or the ice cream. Maybe a bit of both.

"This isn't strawberry," he said, frowning. "You usually buy strawberry, I thought that was your favorite."

You blushed, getting deja vu from the alternate universe. If he noticed it, he didn't say anything.

"I, uh, this flavor's good too," you stammered, forgetting the big speech you were going to say. You decided to wing it. "Listen uhm, I need to apologize."

He looked up from his bowl sharply. "No, I messed up the mission I—"

"I'm always angry at you but you're never angry at me," you interrupted. "I used to think it was some reverse psychology thing to get me more annoyed but, I'm sorry. It's me. I'm the problem."

"No," he shook his head. "I've been working alone for hundreds of years so I know I'm not the most perfect crime-fighting partner. It's okay for you to be transparent with me. I can take it."

"No, you can't."

"No I can't," he agreed just as fast, though his words were accompanied with a laugh. "I don't like you yelling at me. Or being disappointed in me. We'll both work on them, it's okay. But don't apologize again or I'll really get angry."

You bit back a smile. "Alright, what about this? Tomorrow, we can go to those rock climbing places you love. Bonding exercise? Unless you're busy or if it's boring I—"

"Nothing is boring if it's with you," he interrupted, a soft smile in place. "I'll see you then."

When he walked off, you tried to calm your beating heart, but to no avail. Suddenly, you were happy you saw the alternate universe.

You made a mental note to buy Scott his blueberry cupcake later.

──────

inspired by that scene from prodigal son!

──────

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[transias]

NSFW Alphabet: Charlie Dalton

A/N: Alright you sinners, here ya go! NSFW Alphabet with Charlie Dalton, enjoy ! <3

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Charlie is pretty lazy after sex. All he wants to do is cuddle and fall asleep. He will not let go of you, if you want a glass of water he'll whine about how it's "bad luck" to leave him after the deed is done.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Charlie's favorite body part of himself is his hair... Yeah at first there was a debate of whether or not hair is considered a body part but it turns out it is! Charlie also likes his chest, hence why he draws the symbol of virility constantly, he also likes it when his S.O. runs their hands through it.

His favorite body part of their partner's is their neck and collarbone. He can spend hours leaving kisses, hickeys, or love bites on them.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Lord, this man... he is so spontaneous when it comes to where he likes to cum. Sometime he'll cum on his partner's ass, on their chest, on their mouth, he'll just ask if it's okay!

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Charlie lowkey likes being called "daddy." He's not much into the whole daddy kink thing but something about being called that gets him going. His partner called him "daddy" as a joke but little did they know that was an awakening for Charlie.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

I'd say he's sort of experienced. He started reading erotica as a joke but then he started to like it and thanks to it, he gained a bit of knowledge. But when it comes to the moment, he has an idea of what he is supposed to do.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Charlie is very experimental when it comes to positions. But one of his personal favorites is when his partner is riding him, their hands pressed against his chest, his hands on their waist, and when they lean down to kiss him. Another one is when his partner's legs are wrapped around him and he's pressing them against the wall.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

This is Charlie Dalton we're talking about. Surprisingly though, he only makes a few remarks, earning either a small chuckle or a playful smack on his shoulder.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He does take care of it if he sees it's getting longer. He lets it grow but not to the point where it looks like chaos.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

I will admit, Charlie is pretty romantic, especially during foreplay. He loves whispering compliments, gently holding their partner in his arms, and overall just how warm the moment feels to him.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Charlie has definitely jacked off in the shower more than once to their partner. He loves jacking off to the image of their partner under him, moaning out his name and their arms gripping his biceps.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Charlie strikes me as the kinkiest one out of all the poets. His kinks include orgasm denial, overstimulation, with a tiny little sprinkle of begging.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

In Welton, there aren't many places where one can have fun without being heard. So he locks Cameron out of his dorm and you both do it in there. He's made a few jokes about doing it on Cameron's bed and you can't tell whether or not he's being serious or not.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

It's pretty random. Sometimes he gets turned on by their partner simply sitting on their lap, other times when they're bent over to reach something, or even a small kiss on the cheek can get him going, depending on the mood he's in.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Absolutely nothing that includes body fluids (other than cum) or humiliating their partner. He is strictly against that.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

LOVES receiving! He's not against giving, he's pretty good at it, but he's just more into the idea of receiving.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Charlie's more into the fast and sensual side of it. He likes taking it slow sometimes but when he's going fast he'll make sure his partner is alright and nothing is hurting them.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Likes them! They happen a little too often than he likes to admit, sometimes after a meeting in the cave you'll have a small quickie in there.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

100% yes ! Most of the times you're literally so confused like where does he get these ideas from?

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

As many rounds as his partner wants. The longest you guys have gone for is five rounds, Charlie is set on breaking that record soon though.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

He's heard rumours about these so called "vibrators" and had thought about using them on their partner to tease them. Oh yeah, speaking about teasing!

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

The biggest tease ever. I'm not even kidding this man takes pleasure in hearing you whine and get upset at him teasing you.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He likes being loud. So you both hear moans from each other, sometimes groans, and boy does this man have a dirty mouth when it comes to cussing.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Charlie is a bit possesive but he has thought about a threesome. Sharing you with Knox or another one of the boys doesn't seem that bad. One time he was close to asking you about it but he got a bit scared.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Average! Not too big but not too short, it's basically the perfect size.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

He's a teenage boy... and he's also Charlie so his sex drive is higher than the Empire State Building.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

I swear one minute he'll ramble about something then the other one he's fast asleeps. It's pretty funny and adorable.

[lightrises]

"Only in allowing her to pass..." — Hornet, The Radiance, and the means by which Hallownest turned its victims against each other

A quick note: I read Hollow Knight as an anti-colonialist text. As such I'll be touching on topics related to colonialism as it's depicted in the world of the game, and said analysis will reflect both a sympathetic take on The Radiance and a critique of The Pale King that won't pull its punches. If this sounds up your alley, hello and thank you for the read! Let us be sad about these bugs together.

———

So!! A while back I realized something about pre-canon that felt rather... "curious" is one way to put it, I think. To wit: for all the effort and scheming and determination The Pale King poured into trying to get rid of The Radiance, neither of his plans involved directly killing her.

Was that his long game? Well, sure, that seems clear enough. His tack changed from luring the moths away from their god and creator to a more literal form of incarceration once the infection became a factor, but at its core the end goal never really changed—The Pale King very sincerely wished to destroy Radiance via obsolescence. The Seer lends us foreshadowing to confirm as much:

[Image descriptions: Two screenshots from Hollow Knight, showing the Seer and Ghost in the Seer's alcove at the Resting Grounds. Across both screenshots, the Seer tells Ghost the following: "None of us can live forever, and so we ask those who survive to remember us. Hold something in your mind and it lives on with you, but forget it and you seal it away forever. That is the only death that matters." End description.]

(Which, by the way and given the context, talk about an extremely unsubtle allusion to cultural genocide huh!!! Whew.)

In any case, we're left with a whole bunch of machinations which build up to... well, two very roundabout attempts at committing deicide. That's kind of weird, all things considered! Why not just do the deed in one fell swoop and get it over with?

This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the king was devoid of the means to instantly kill another higher being. Maybe his personal sense of scruples stopped him short of signing off on MURDER murder (although, y'know, the aforementioned genocide + eternal imprisonment = still cool and copasectic apparently!). Maybe the long drawn-out cruelty was the point. Maybe the idea of playing fuckign 4D chess with the circumstances was too delicious for him to pass up—that man did love to tinker and stick his claws where they sure as hell didn't belong—or maybe it was a little bit of All The Things. Who knows!!

But interrogating The Pale King's methodology on this count isn't what I'm here for, at least not really. The main reason I raise this question at all is that in her own way, Hornet did too.

"I'd urge you to take that harder path... "

See, going by The Pale King's actions and what The White Lady explicitly says, they both foresaw two outcomes wrt the infection: it can be allowed to spread, or it can be contained. At Teacher's Archives, Quirrel acknowledges the fact that Ghost is expected to do... something about this, but he doesn't elaborate on what HE thinks that's supposed to be apart from the obvious "Gotta bust into Black Egg Temple first". Hornet is the one person who presents to us—to Ghost—what's framed as a third option: confront and destroy the infection at its source.

And she doesn't bring it up like it's just another tactic for Ghost to consider, prim and indifferent to what they would do. She nudges them towards it, actively, up to the point where she throws herself into the fray against Hollow at a juncture that's uniquely dangerous to her and her alone just to make that option feasible.

Even when she's couching it in disclaimers that this is still Ghost's decision to make (and let's be fair, she's extremely not wrong about that lol), no one can pretend Hornet is unbiased. It's obvious in that buttoned-down Hornet kind of way that she is way the hell done with the increasingly tenuous stalemate that's kept Hallownest's desiccated corpse from collapsing in on itself. Personally it's hard for me not to read some Toriel Undertale-esque "My father was too entrenched in his own foolishness to pursue any course of action that would have DEFINITIVELY ended this" shade into her stance here, regardless of whether that's strictly true in canon.

And that bit—Hornet's hopes for an end to Hallownest's stasis, moreover her grim calculation of what needs to be done to get there—that's the bit I find super interesting but likewise tragic and depressing as shit, on multiple levels. In no small part because a) canon itself gestures towards Hornet feeling conflicted about the very plan she's pushing, and moreover b) she has at least two (2) damn good reasons to feel that way.

So, what do I mean by that? Let's look here first:

[Image description: A screenshot from Hollow Knight, of Hornet and Ghost inside the Temple of the Black Egg, standing in front of the unsealed egg itself. Hornet has been struck by the Dream Nail and her dialogue is displayed as follows: "... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?" End description.]

As the curtain is about to drop on things one way or another, Hornet thinks,

... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

Now, looking at that last bit it's easy to go "Oh no, Hornet's worried that Ghost won't survive killing The Radiance!" And I do think that's part of it: Hornet is, categorically, not her father. By endgame it's clear she's not content to view her Void-borne siblings as tools to be used then disposed of. She's also well aware that as a healthy autonomous Vessel amongst the countless dead, Ghost is the only person left alive who has a fighting chance against The Radiance. Knowing someone is the only qualified candidate for the job doesn't make encouraging them to embrace a probable death sentence any less of a bitter pill to swallow, though. And odds are on that this sentiment extends to Hollow too, who IS going to die no matter what happens here. To put it bluntly, it's more than reasonable to conclude that Hornet hates the absolute fuck out of this.

But I don't think that's all there is to it either. Remember what I said earlier about The Pale King's bids for genocide? Well, it's not like the man deigned to limit his efforts to just the moth tribe.

"We do not choose our mothers... "

On top of everything else—an infected Hallownest being all she's ever known, the fact that she only exists because of the infection, the list goes on—Hornet has spent her life wedged into a position that's been uncomfortable and terminally unglamorous at best: she is both a daughter of her father's kingdom and of Deepnest.

Deepnest, which like the moths and many others was here long before the wyrm and his lady wife swanned onto the scene and the God Become Bug laid claim to everything the Light touched plus a considerable amount of change. THAT Deepnest, which has fought claw and thread to retain its sovereignty against same-said settler king, and for which Herrah not only surrendered her life but also agreed to bed her worst enemy, all in hopes of securing a viable future for her people (put a pin in that last part by the way, I'll come back to it soon).

Two Worlds, One Family (Ft. An Indigenous Woman Trying Her Damndest To Work With What She's Got Versus An Imperialist Who Only Signed Up For This Because He Needed The Political Favor THAT Badly, So It's The Height Of Dysfunctional Actually). Fun times!!!!

The baggage this entails for Hornet is gnarly enough without implications made by The White Lady and the pre-canon timeline of events and even Team Cherry's dev notes that the king may well have looked at baby Hornet, gone "YOINK", then ensured she spent the lion's share of her childhood reared within the pearly auspices of his Pale Court*. That would be rather advantageous for Him Specifically after all, the potential to mold a born foe into a future ally and even have her trained in combat under the same tutelage as her doomed sibling. And far be it from him to stop a grown Hornet—his own flesh and blood too!—from making Deepnest her forever home if she so pleased. He totally wouldn't be reneging on his "fair bargain made" by doing this one simple thing until Hornet came of age, not t e c h nic c a l l y.

If that is indeed the case, there's a non-zero chance Hornet's formative years were a hot mess of cultural alienation and being a good deal more privy than most to just how much of a bastard her father could be. There's an equally non-zero chance that at some point she stood or sat within earshot as The Pale King finally, finally dropped all pretense and euphemism to name the Light for precisely what (for who) it was.

See, in conjunction with the question that started this whole dang train of thought I've been asking this one too: Does Hornet know? When she speaks of confronting "the heart of [the] infection" does she know she's talking about not just a literal person but someone very specific? The Radiance, who god though she may be shares skin in the game alongside Hornet as a native woman screwed over by the same settler king, likewise deprived of her kin and saddled with a life gone horrendously pear-shaped?

I'll assume for the sake of exploring the possibility and because I think it's a likely one anyway that yes, Hornet does know. She knows, and despite everything can't help empathizing. She might even look at Radiance and see bits and pieces both reflected and slightly inversed in her own mother: Radiance was forced to the sidelines while her people—her children, the brood she was meant to lead and care for—died out under The Pale King's rule, and it's no stretch to assume she's at least as upset about that as she has been about everything else; Herrah too took drastic measures for her people's sake, trying to head off annihilation by relegating herself to the sidelines in an act that was as much calculated risk as an attempt to find wiggle room and leverage in the face of a nasty proposition.

A calculated risk that, if things continue as they are, might well amount to nothing as the rest of Deepnest gets eaten alive by the infection. It survived The Pale King's advances for so so long, only to fall here. Herrah's sacrifice would be for naught; the other tribes—themselves the king's victims—would keep succumbing to the infection too.

And this is where things fall apart.

"... or the circumstance into which we are born."

Let's be clear: I think Hornet is wise enough to know what's what here, that all the carnage and suffering falls on her father's head for starting this slow-motion trainwreck in the first place. Hallownest wasn't always Hallownest. This domain was Radiance's home first, along with many others. It was the worm-turned-king who rolled up on the scene unsolicited and decided this was a ""'problem""" that had to be """solved""".

But the fact of the matter is that he's gone and The Radiance is here, raging, seemingly inconsolable. Above and beyond being Deepnest's rightful heir, Hornet isn't in a position to countenance more splash damage even if the grief and fury fueling it makes perfect sense. She can understand without ever bringing herself to love Radiance, and she can bend her knee to practicality even if she hates the everloving shit out of it because the fact that it "has" to end this way isn't fair.

This lends itself to one last awful conclusion: that Hornet has probably considered and (rightly or wrongly) discarded the possibility that Radiance can be saved, at least not without dragging more collateral along for the ride. If even her mother and every other enemy to the king seemed to dismiss talking Radiance down as an option way back when... well. Why should Hornet hope for any better after things have escalated so far?

Again, it's practical. A practical net good is what Hornet strives for. And again, it fucking sucks.

For extra tragedy points, this makes Hornet's extended crypticness around Ghost followed by her last minute casting about for a reason to tell them "Wait, don't; not just yet" that she never voices even more of a gut punch. She can't bring herself to burden Ghost with the context that haunts her so, least of all when it might weaken their resolve to go through with what (she thinks) needs doing.

It's the "same song, different verse" which led to the mantis tribe and Deepnest being pitted against each other: Hallownest rigged the game so that two women who could have been powerful allies—who have a mutual vested interest in driving out settler rule—wound up poised as enemies instead. And how awful is that? The king for all his being extremely fucking dead still gets the last laugh, because outside of a miracle the game never manifests Hornet can salvage what her mother started and look forward to a future where Deepnest pulls itself back from the brink if and only if The Radiance dies.

Resolution comes at the price of a completed genocide. Add two more dead siblings to the unconscionable pile thereof, while we're at it. That's what it boils down to whether or not Hornet can bear to articulate it as such, and there's no grace or even a properly bittersweet ending to wring from this clusterfuck. And that is rough.

———

* This has been better explained elsewhere, but a quick rundown: The White Lady tells Ghost that Hornet and Herrah "were permitted little time together." On its surface this can be taken to mean that Hornet was still very young when Herrah was shipped off to Eternal Dreamland—except this doesn't jive with the fact that we meet Hornet as an adult. If the stasis kicked in once the Dreamers went to their rest, which in turn halted the aging process for every living bug in Hallownest, AND before all this Hornet experienced little by the way of quality time with her birth mother... I think you can see where I'm going with this.

To top it off we've got Team Cherry weighing in ominously from their dev notes on Herrah: "As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?" This isn't confirmation by itself of course, but given additional canon details (see above): Can I get a "yikes" in the chat fellas.

[keimisan]

mal's 1k milestone event - lyricals

Navigation - 1k post - best viewed in goth rave theme!

↪ Now playing

Fictional Men peggy lee

it's said that, "music is an explosive expression of humanity, it's something we're all touched by." so, ladies and gentle humans, care for a cup of music therapy?

— a b o u t t h e e v e n t:

there are two types of requesting methods. one is a simple character + genre + lyrics, the other is a format I spiced up a little. requests will be open for the next three days and will end on 23rd September, 9 pm KST. slots are (5/30)

— r e q u e s t!

type out your favorite song lyrics (and the song name too if you'd like) with your preferred genre (fluff/humor/angst etc) and you're done! i shall mention that I don't really prefer angst and can guarantee if I write it you'll be hurt uwu.

example:

can I request mitsuya + fluff with the song lyric, "dancing in the dark, with you between my arms" (song name is perfect- ed sheeran) thank you!

now there's another twist to it, you can participate only if you want to- no pressure, no obligations! I'll determine the character that fits your characteristics the best and write up a drabble (wc<600) with your favorite song lyrics. i might or might not include the exact lyric, according to how usable it is. but i hope to convey the exact vibe the song delivers. so, if you'd like it to be personalized to you then answer the questions below and I'll choose the character that fits you best!

how would you describe yourself? are you timid or are you extravagant? are you a lone wolf or a social butterfly? describe yourself in any way you can!

what would be your first step if you get shipwrecked on an island with your supposed love of life? would you feel embarrassed, or fall into a dilemma, or would you be insanely practical? write down what'd be your initial reaction/action!

your favorite animal! (please prevent from choosing insects, I'm so sorry)

your ideal date!

and last but not least, do you like to get smothered with affection? or would you rather keep it to a limit? or would you simply not care about the amount of affection your partner/friend showers you with? write down your preferences!

if you've answered these questions, doesn't matter how solid or how vague your answer is, how long or short your answer is- the event would transpire with your best match according to your answer; and not your actual favorites (unless you both are fated by the heavens!)

example:

hello! can i request platonic + "don't wanna wake up one day wishing that we'd done more" (mama- jonas blue!) I'm a little shy-ish, and usually don't voluntarily talk to people. an introvert you could say? if i get shipwrecked, I'll probably faint out of hysteria or hyperventilate with panic. whoever's with me is going to have to take the wheel. my favorite animal would be hamsters! they're cute. i think the ideal date for me is a peaceful coffee shop date, i like sweets and i definitely like my friend. well, i'm quite reciprocative with affections and i like to be smothered. though it's also fine if they'd keep it to a limit.

happy requesting everyone! thank you for 1k, love you all! track the event with #mal.1kmilestone

[whitestaghere]

Don't be late - Levi x reader

Hey!! So I had this in my drafts for a while and finally decided I'd continue with it.. Happy reading❤️

Warnings :- none xd.

Y/n's pov

Waking upto the sound of my alarm I groaned; mindlessly patting the air to turn it off. Stretching my arms and legs, with eyes half closed I looked back at my clock. Still trying to adjust to the lighting, my eyes widened when the display cleared up.

7.54 a.m

Screaming I jumped off my bed.

Now.. imagine a human, spinning like a hurricane and circling a room? Yeah that's an actual representation of what I looked right now.

Normally, I'd not wake up this late. But today.. today was different. Let's just say I had a long night talking with my best friend, which ended up with me sleeping in really late and well here I am now. Besides who could reject a call from their best friend am I right?

Dashing out of my house (reader locked the doors, yes she did) I shot down the streets. Thanking the heavens that I was able to run this fast; then again, that also had it's downsides. I managed to avoid running face first into a lamppost but in the midst of dodging that, I ran into something else.

Huh.. not that hard for a lamppost..

Stumbling backwards and losing my balance, I met with the cold ground. I groaned as I thought of how my day could get any worse.

"Tch. Watch we're your going," a male voice spoke.

Standing up slowly I dusted my clothes mumbling a string of apologies, "I'm sorry I was running late an-"

My breath hitched as I locked eyes with the man in front of me; steel gray orbs glaring daggers at me. He was clad in a black suit, jet black hair slightly toussled and he wore a crav- wait-

That's when I noticed how I was a few inches taller than him. It took every ounce of energy within me to hold back my laughter; no height idealogies but with that stoic expression and this height, he looked absolutely adorable.

I was broken out of my thoughts when he scoffed; I had been staring.

I shifted uncomfortably as he continued to keep his piercing gaze on me.

"Are you going to move?" voice laced with annoyance.

I raised an eyebrow at his words, what does he mean? He had all the time and space to-

"You're blocking the door," I turned around and realised that I was indeed blocking his way.

"S-sorry," I mumbled shuffling to the side.

His expression remained stoic as ever even as he got ready to walk away but he stopped abruptly. I watched as he bent down and picked something.

"You dropped this," he turned around holding out a book. I gasped recognising the cover, "oh my- thank you."

"Don't mention it brat," I reached out to take the book from him all the whole giving him a look of disbelief.

"Hey you can't call me that.. and yes I should mention it, because my friend would have thrown a tantrum had I lost her book," suddenly realisation struck me and my eyes nearly fell out their sockets.

WHAT WAS I DOING?! I was wasting time, that's what I was doing!!

So I ran, without a word I turned around and ran, leaving behind a very confused man.

Levi's pov

Next thing I know, she ran.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, but decided to brush it off; only then did I notice the book in my hands.

Tch that brat, how could she be so forgetful?

Sighing I contemplated going after her or hoping that I'd see her sometime later so I could return it. I went with the second seeing that she was already long gone.

*time skip brought to you by the fidget spinnerrrrr*

There I was in the local tea shop sipping on my usual cup of tea.

What I loved about this place was how calming it was, not too crowded, the fresh smell of tea and coffee filling the air, making me feel at ease, but not today. Today was different.

My gaze kept shifting between the book I was reading and the book that belonged to the girl from before.

I had gone with the second option of hoping I'd see her again or that I'd find any details in the book, but to my luck I found nothing of the sort.

How was I supposed to return this thing? I can't just leave it can I?

I sighed running a hand through my hair, "shit."

The sound of the little bell filled through the air signaling either someone's entrance or departure. Not wanting to look I kept my eyes locked on my book.

Suddenly there was a voice, an all too familiar one which broke me out of my own world. I glanced up from my book and caught sight of a very familiar face.

Hanje.

By her side stood two other girls, engaging in a conversation with her. The bell filled the air again, and in came a girl with (h/c) locks.

My eyes widened, was that her?

I hadn't seen her face yet but sure enough it had to be her, she had the same hair length and wore the same attire from before.

Once again I debated with myself, should I just go upto her and give her it? Maybe I should just wait till she sees me..

She turned around and sat a few tables away from me, still she hadn't noticed. Her two friends and Hanje had disappeared off to somewhere.

This is my chance

Y/n's pov

I couldn't help but sigh in frustration, how could I have been so forgetful? He literally held the book in front of me and I left without it.

My mind was mangled with the same image of him holding out the book to me repeating over and over. Then it stopped, it stopped right on his face and I felt the heat rush up to my cheeks.

What was I thinking? I mean he's a complete stranger, who also not to mention, called me a brat, I shouldn't be so flustered. As if on cue, the book came back into my mind and I rolled my eyes at my own forgetfulness.

It was right there.

I kept my gaze locked on the table, too stuck in my own self-pity to notice the person that stood right in front of me. Then there was a book pushed into my line of sight.

Great, now you're hallucinating y/n.

There was a clear of throat and I snapped my head up. Wait I wasn't imagining it-

For the second time that day, I locked eyes with him.

"You forgot this."

I stood up immediately causing the chair to scrape against the floor. The man visibly cringed at the sound and I began to stammer upon my words.

"Y-YOU! My b-book! How? How did you- no no wait- thank you so much!"

Placing the book on the table I turned to him and took his hands in mine, "you're a life saver I tell you!!"

He only stood there in shock; although I wasn't sure if I was seeing things, his cheeks were tinted a faint pink.

"Don't mention it," with that he returned to his stoic expression.

The air around us was beginning to get awkward with none of us moving or saying a word.

Finally deciding to break the silence I cleared my throat, "I-I'm y/n.. what's your name?"

"Levi."

I coughed awkwardly at his blunt reply, the sound of my heart thumping suddenly filling my ears.

"We're back! Y/n-" relief washed over me at the return of my friends but that relief disappeared just as fast as it came.

They stood there eyes wide and mouths agape.

I felt a tug at my hands and that's when I noticed how I still had Levi's hands intertwined with mine. Gasping I slipped my hands out of his and moved away slowly.

"Y/n? You didn't tell us you had a boyfriend.." I widened my eyes at this and waved my hands frantically in their awe struck faces, "what noo!! He-he's just-"

What was I supposed to call him? We just met, so I couldn't call him a friend. At my loss of words my friends smirked mischievously.

Then a loud voice boomed through the shop causing a few heads to turn in our direction, "LEVI?!!!! SHORTY IS THAT REALLY YOU?!"

Hanje knew him?

Levi scoffed at her in response.

"Oh my gosh! Well isn't this a big coincidence, are you really dating little y/n here? Why didn't you tell meeee?!" she poked Levi's cheeks repeatedly.

"Tch, keep it down four eyes and no, we're just friends," Levi grunted swatting her hands away. I choked on my own spit and glanced at him immediately.

He gave me a look and I instantly nodded my head in agreement, "yeah, we're friends.." I tried to bite back the smile that crawled up my face at his words.

My friends shrugged and made their way back to sit down. Meanwhile, Hanje nudged at me curious to know why I hadn't told her I knew Levi.

"Well you see-"

"We met today," Levi cut me off.

Hanje let out a hearty laugh and patted my back, "well isn't that nice! Now y/n, shorty here can be a little bit of a grumpy man sometimes so I must warn you, but overall he's an absolute bab-"

"Oi that's more than enough four eyes," Levi hissed and Hanje laughed in reply.

She moved her glasses to a side to wipe away her fake tears and continued, "but y/n here is an angel, so shorty you better not treat her wrong or I don't think I would even need to come when she unleashes her inner bea-"

"HANJE," I whined tugging at her arm in attempt to stop her. She grinned in response and pinched my cheeks, "well I'm going to go make our orders okay? I'll see you later Shorty!" with that she ran off to the counter.

"Thank you for that Levi," I smiled to which he only replied with a grunt.

"You thanked me enough for today brat."

I rolled my eyes at the nickname, "I told you not to call me that."

"Tch," with that he walked back to his table not sparing a second glance.

Levi's pov

Snap out of it Levi, you've done your job now read in peace.

I stared at my book finding myself reading the same sentence over and over. Glancing up from my book a little I'm met with the not so subtle looks of y/n's friends.

Why were they looking at me like that? I noticed how Hanje had a smug grin on her face and I rolled my eyes.

What was she smiling about?

My gaze shifted towards y/n who was listening intently to one of the girls. Suddenly the room felt too hot to my liking and I reached for my cravat, loosening it a bit. My breathing increased a little as her (e/c) eyes met mine.

She gave me a warm smile to which I felt my gaze automatically begin to soften.

What's wrong with me? Snap out of it Levi.

Soon enough I heard them get up.

Don't look.

But I couldn't help it.

Eyeing them as subtly as possible I realised they were going to leave as they picked their things up. I tore my gaze off and returned back to my book with a sigh.

Y/n's pov

"Say do you like Levi?"

I choked on nothing but air, "Hanje! What? Noo! I just met him and that would just be wierd-"

"Oh so you're saying you'd like him in time?"

"No wait what? I mean I-" I couldn't find the words to reply to her and seeing this she took the opportunity to give me a proud smile.

"Guys, we should leave.." Riley spoke up as she looked out the window.

"What why?" Hanje frowned.

"It's going to rain and it's a little bit of a walk back to y/n's place right?"

I hummed in agreement seeing as the sky was getting gloomy by the second. Everyone got up and gathered their things and headed for the door.

I stood up last and just as I was about to leave I heard a voice call out for me.

"Oi, are you really going to leave it again?" I saw Levi walking upto me.

"Huh? Leave what?"

He pointed at the table and I noticed a book on it, but not the same one. This one belonged to Hange.

"Oh that's Hanje's she must have forgotten it," I reached out for the book and simultaneously, he did the same.

I pulled my hand away as soon as it landed on his, but he swiftly took my hand in his. With the other he rummaged through his pocket and stuffed a piece of paper in my hand.

"What's this?"

"See for yourself."

I unfolded the paper slowly and when I did, I swear my heart skipped a beat. I tried my best to swallow the lump in my throat, and force some words out.

"W-what is this?"

"Tch. What do you think?"

"I-"

"You what?"

"I-yes.."

For the first time that day, I saw the corner of his lips curl into a small smile. It was a smile that lasted only for a few seconds alright, but it was enough to make my heart flutter.

"I'll see you later brat.." he walked past me towards the counter but not before calling out for me once more.

"Oh and y/n?" he looked at me over his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Don't be late," he said with a hint of playfulness in his voice.

I shook my head with a quiet laugh glancing down at the paper in my hands;

Tomorrow noon, here. For tea? - Levi

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Hope you all enjoyed❤️ stay safe and keep smiling..

Ps :- I can't wait for Season 4 part 2!!! 😭❤️ So excited to see all of them again, though we really are in for a lot🥺💕

⚔️Shinzou wo sasageyo⚔️

[cigarettesmokerkaite]

Unexpected surprise

Summary: you and alex are best friends that have been having an affair now your facing the consequences

Warnings: mentions of cheating and pregnancy

Word count/973

☆.........★.........☆........★.........☆.........★

Alex and Taylor have been dating for about nearly two years she was hopelessly devoted to Alex But little does she know Alex had another life with me his best friend

Me and Alex have been having an affair for about 5 months it was like we were our each other's stress relievers Alex did talk about leaving Taylor but never came to it

The was few days I been feeling sick at first I thought it was food poisoning but I realised I was late so I called one of my other close friends (your friends name) and asked if she could come over

About ten minutes later I heard a knock on the door I opened it see y/f/n "come in I have something to tell you" I say she came in and sat on the couch "so what wrong y/n" I explained everything even the affair

"Do you want me to go to the shop and buy you a test" she offered I said yes and she got up and left

After about half an hour she came back with a pregnancy test and ice cream since that always makes me feel better

I went to the bathroom and took the test after I did the test I opened the door and asked ify/f/n could sit with me so I'm not alone

In those 2 minutes of waiting I felt so scared I wasn't ready for kids and I was single and the man who would be the father is with someone else and doesn't think of me and anything more than a friend with benefits my head was going 1000 miles an hour with thoughts of my future if raising a child on my own y/f/n sat beside me holding my hand

"Look y/n what ever happens I'll help you your not alone" she said hugging me

After the two minutes it was time to check the test I got up and grabbed the test I counted to three to prepare myself

"One"

"Two"

"three"

(Positive)

I looked at y/f/n in shock I can't believe I'm pregnant with my best friends baby how was I going to tell him I'm a homeweaker I shouldn't have been stupid and had an affair with Alex

"Your pregnant" y/f/n asked in a calm manner

"Yes how I'm I going to tell Alex" I said worryingly "are you keeping it" she asked

"Of course I'm keeping it" I said without hesitation "you should call Alex and tell him in person" she suggested to me I only nodded

I called Alex waiting on him to pick up

"H-hello Alex" I said as he answered

"Hello y/n love what's wrong miss me already" he said in a cocky tone

"Just can you come over please" I said

"I'll be right over" and I hung the phone up

I looked at y/f/n "when was the last time you were with him" she asked "the other night" I responded "I'll get going before he comes" she said and grabbed her coat and left

About 20 minutes later another knock on the door "come in" I shouted and Alex walked in wearing a white shirt that was unbuttoned at the top and grey tight in suit trousers and his all messy-ish he looked quite sexy but I had to be real with him the now

I was in the living room sitting on the settee with the test beside me hiding it from Alex

He sat down beside me "is everything of love" he asked i sighed and mentally prepared myself for what I'm going to tell him

"Alex I know this thing we have isn't supposed to go any further" I started he looked at me and said "wait y/n are you ending this"

"Just let me finish Alex please" I say

He nodded "and I know your with Taylor and we're best friends and we started this as it was just sex no kissing or anything like that but there something you need to know Alex" i looked at him in the say and I could feel the tears forming in my eyes and the lump in my throat "what do I need to know y/n" he said with worry and sorrow

I turned around to grab the test I gave him the test and told him "I'm pregnant and it's yours" he held the test in his hand looking at it with no expression apart from shock "I'm keeping it Alex if you don't want to know me anymore that's fine but I'm keeping the baby" I said before I knew it I was a crying mess Alex looked at me held me Close to him "I'm not leaving I'm staying with you and the baby I'm not mad am actually happy I been wanting to tell you this for a while now y/n I love you and I'm leaving Taylor to be With you you mean so much more to me than anything else and I want to spend the rest of me life with you" he said and kissed the top of my head I looked at his and kissed him the kiss was passionate yet sweet I pulled away I placed my hand on his cheek "I love you Alex fucking Turner" he smiled and kissed me again and shouted

"IM GOING TO BE A FOOKIN DAD" I giggled and kissed him again

[katnissmellarkkk]

Summary: At the Seventy-Fourth Reaping for The Hunger Games, volunteering is outlawed, thanks to a tribute four years prior. Because of this, when Katniss’ sister Prim’s name is chosen from the bowl, there’s nothing she can do but hope that Peeta Mellark, past victor and now Prim’s mentor, can somehow bring her sister home alive. (Obviously heavy on Everlark.) 

AN: Hi! I don’t really have a big author’s note or anything--at least, I don’t think I do? We’ll see how long this trails on--but this is one of the fics I’ve been working on for a while. It’s multi-chaptered so there’s gonna be a lot more coming in the future, but this first chapter is honestly a little similar to the original book, with some (significant) deviations here and there, but after this first chapter, this story becomes extremely different from canon. I gotta thank, obviously, @rosegardeninwinter​ for a). making me my pretty lil banner and for b). reading the million, unpolished, unedited screenshots of my drafts that I’m sure ya’ll got tired of really quick. And also for encouraging me to write this in the first place. And also, I gotta thank everyone who liked and reblogged the lil story edit I posted months ago for this concept. It really encouraged me to write this concept out. (I’m talking about this edit right here if you forgot or never saw x). Okay, anyways, I’m talking too much but thank you! Also link to this story on AO3 [x].

Chapter One :

I stare out into the sky, introspective, as I wait for familiar footsteps to approach. The footfalls of my hunting partner, my friend even, Gale, still remain absent, despite our longstanding agreement to hunt on Reaping Day, no matter how hot it is, or how scarce the game, or how worried we may be deep inside.

Of course, how could a couple kids from the Seam not worry about Reaping Day? At least a slight bit, deep down?

Reaping Day. The day that decides the almost absolute fate of a lucky—as our assigned escort, straight from the Capitol itself, so proudly proclaims—boy and girl.

We're District Twelve. The smallest and one of the poorest districts in the country of Panem. There's an almost guarantee that whoever gets their name picked from the reaping bowl, even the strongest eighteen-year-old boy in the district, will have an almost sure fate of death. Likely before the number of tributes drops below twenty.

Tributes from our district almost never fare well inside the arena.

Almost never.

We have had a few winners in history, two of which are still around, but a few out of seventy-three games isn't inspiring much hope in anyone today.

The wind breezes against my arms, prickling the hair at the back of my neck, and I'm struck by the memory of being out here, in the forbidden territory of the woods, outside our district limits, when I was just a kid. When my dad was the one hunting and I was just along for the ride. Just along because I wanted to be with him. When I used to blindly trust him and my mother, when I thought he'd live forever, when I was too young to truly grasp the concept of the Hunger Games. When I was too young to truly grasp the concept of the world in which we live.

When I was eleven my every illusion was shattered violently. Almost as violently as the death in which my father must have endured, underground in those mines, as they exploded.

I remember hearing the alarm at school, blaring so cacophonously over the speakers that it shook the schoolrooms themselves. I remember blindly grappling through the scurrying bodies of my classmates, until I found my way to my little sister, Primrose. Her room was completely empty, but she still remained, sitting behind her desk with small folded hands, waiting for my arrival with excessive patience.

I'd always coached her on what we'd do, if there ever should be a mine accident. I made sure she knew the drill, just as I knew it. Like the back of my hand. Like a prayer or a lullaby. I could recite it in my sleep. Because my father had just as sternly instilled it into me.

I wove my way through the chaos of bodies and white-hot panic, towing Prim only inches behind me by the hand, as the kids from town lingered in the hallways, their classic, bright blue eyes large and their voices all quivering, and as the kids from the Seam dutifully made their way to the nearest exits, hoping and praying and begging silently that it wasn't their parent who had been hurt. Hoping the accident hadn't taken what was typically the sole provider in most households, here in the poorest section, in the most impoverished district.

Prim and I must have not hoped hard enough, because we learned almost immediately upon finding our mother, who was now immobilized with grief, her characteristic gentle smile eviscerated and in it's place, a blank stare, void of any life at all, that our every fear from hearing that alarm were coming true.

My mom was supposed to get a job. She was supposed to find a way to provide for us, to take care of her two daughters, who were grieving her husband just as much as she was.

But instead she lay in bed day after day. On the good mornings, maybe if Prim begged and pleaded, she'd move to a chair, in front of the fireplace and stare at the flames with the same vacant expression that had replaced the loving, kind woman who'd raised us.

The money from the government, the minuscule amount of money given to keep us afloat until our mother found work, ran out. The meat our father had hunted, the plants he'd saved, ran out. The food we had the small luxury of sometimes buying—or more times than not, trading for—quickly ran out.

And our mother still did absolutely nothing.

I take a deep breath now and try to force myself to forgive her. Forgive her for not being strong enough to keep going, forgive her for not caring enough about her own children to keep them alive in the face of her grief, forgive her for being so in love that losing my father had almost killed her too.

I know it's what my father would want. And I know it's something I can't let myself do. Because if I let her off the hook, it's like saying it's okay that she almost let Prim wither away to nothing. Forget me. I will never forgive her for almost taking my little sister away from me.

Our mother did absolutely nothing until Prim's ribs were prominent, until my stomach was nearly hallow, until our cheekbones were so blatantly obvious you could count them from down the road.

And all my fears, all my resolve, to keep the three of us together as a family, went out the window. There was nothing left to do, but wait for me and Prim to be taken to the Community Home, with the other orphans or kids from unsafe families. Kids who still remained too thin, who's eyes told stories no ear wanted to hear, who still wore bruises upon their skin like freckles from the sun, who looked nearly worse than the corpses I encountered every winter, while walking from the Seam to town. Those corpses were the unlucky ones who'd actually starved to death, who had sat down to merely rest, because they had no substance to carry them any further, and somehow never got back up.

On that day, at eleven years old, living in the Community Home sounded no worse than living with the immobilized shell that had once been my mother. My resolve to hold out until my birthday, until I could get the tesserae that would feed my family for an entire year, was shattered by the harsh raindrops pelting me from the grey, unforgiving sky.

I vaguely heard the baker's wife, the mean-spirited woman, with her deeply embittered, hostile blue eyes that somehow seemed black, scream at me, calling me names, shooing me from her property.

I'd simply wanted to rummage her trashcan, so desperate for any small morsel to take back to Prim, any motivation to take even another step forward, when I felt her rough and calloused hands shove me away.

I toppled over, my legs already weak and shaky from lack of nutrition and substance. My depleted form laid on the ground, my eyes bleary from exhaustion and the shivering wind and rain.

The witch went back inside the bakery as I scarcely conjured up the will to sit upright. I was beyond done. The fighting to even gain a fraction of my mother's awareness, to get something, anything, to feed myself and my starving sister, to even stand up, became overwhelming and I felt the last bit of my resolve crumble from deep inside.

Let them come and take me and Prim to the Community Home. I don't care any longer. Let them come.

Out of the corner of my eye, a boy exited out the same backdoor the witch had gone through. He was carrying a bag of trash in his hands and my famished mind focused on that first, focused on what could be inside the contents of that bag, on what a baker could potentially be throwing away, before I realized the boy was in my year at school. I knew him, or at least, I knew his face. But he stuck with the other blonde-haired, fair-skinned town kids and I didn't even remember his name in that moment.

In hindsight, that's absolutely hysterical now.

But he evaporated as soon as he'd appeared and I closed my eyes and let the rain drown me, hoping perhaps I could be swallowed up within the downpour itself. Hoping that perhaps I'd never have to face the reality that I was out of options and I had nothing of subsidence to take home.

But then I heard a clatter and a clang and the sound of a scream. It was her, the witch. She was screaming and calling someone names my own mother had never even uttered in my lifetime.

I mentally prepared myself for her to come back outside, to drive me away with a stick or a knife. Or possibly even a hot, scorching prong.

But it wasn't the witch. It was the boy, the one from my year. The one I thought went back inside after taking out the trash, that I believed didn't even notice me before.

He was carrying bread. Two loaves, in fact. The crusts were black and burned and the welt across his face told me, without a doubt, that he was the target of the witch's insults. That he was the victim of whatever clanging noise I heard.

And though I was the one starving to death, I didn't envy him having her for a mother.

I remember vividly, the most crystal clear image I have of this day, the boy checking and making sure the witch's attention had been claimed elsewhere. And then, without even glancing in my direction, he tossed one loaf of bread to my feet. Seconds later, the other followed.

He didn't hesitate to head back inside after that, and I've spent more time in these last four years than I'd more than likely care to admit, wondering what possessed him to commit such an act of kindness. No one was kind for free, I'd learned by that point.

And yet, as I shook myself forcefully out of my stupor, and carried the loaves back to my house at the edge of the Seam, I had no explanation for his simple act. I had no basis to explain why he would help me, when no one else ever had.

The next day, I saw him at school. I passed by him in the hallway, and saw his eye had now blackened, his cheek welted, but somehow he still managed a joyous smile. He didn't notice me then. He was surrounded by his friends. Like always, he was surrounded by a constant crowd.

He is, after all, one of the most charming and sweet people Panem's ever known.

Later that day, when I was about to walk home with Prim, who was excitedly chattering about the leftover bread awaiting us on the kitchen table, the bread I'd brought home the night prior that had filled our stomachs for the first time in months, I caught the boy looking in our direction. My grey Seam eyes met his baby blues for a microsecond, before he looked away. I snapped my gaze downwards too, embarrassed, when I caught sight of a dandelion.

It was that moment that a bell went off in my head. That I saw how I could survive, how Prim could survive. How, through the things my dad had taught me, I could keep me and my sister alive.

After that day, I could never stop associating the boy with the bread, the one who gave me hope, with the dandelion that reminded me I wasn't doomed.

I never stopped associating him with his simple act of kindness, even when he became famous for some much less appreciable acts.

And I never stopped kicking myself for failing to thank him, for saving my life and my family's life, before he was whisked away, to a land far from Twelve, called the Capitol. When he later returned, now a part of a much more elite social class, thanking him for his kindness became even less of a possibility.

A girl from the Seam had no business seeking out a boy from Victor's Village. Even if I did have the guts.

Though he isn't exactly in good company here in Twelve, seeing as the only other person who holds the same title is a drunken, middle-aged man who can barely form a coherent sentence most days and lives like a hermit by his own volition.

My thoughts are interrupted by the quiet—almost as quiet as mine, but not quite—steps of Gale.

"You're late," I state without turning around, pulling the cheese from my pocket. "You're lucky Prim's cheese held up under the sun."

But Gale pulls something even more impressive from behind his back. "This will probably go nice with it," he says and I almost gasp.

Fresh bread is so rare in our district, generally reserved for the Peacekeepers and perhaps a merchant who is having a good day. Here in the Seam, fresh bread from the bakery is as common as new school shoes.

Gale updates me on his day as we split the bread and cheese and have our own version of a small feast. He'd gotten to the woods early, while I had been still at home, and shot a squirrel to which he traded for the bread.

"The baker really went for that?" I ask in disbelief. The baker was a subdued, large man, who resembled all three of his sons quietly strongly, and was one of my dad's best customers. Sometimes I think he still trades with me and Gale out of respect to my dad's memory, but a simple squirrel for a loaf of fresh bread isn't common.

"I think he was feeling generous this morning," Gale suggests a little snidely, his bitterness leaking through. "Besides. It's not like the Mellark's need the money they ask for bread. They could easily skim off their precious son and he'd probably never notice."

Gale has a special affinity for hating anyone and anything associated even minimally with the Capitol. He was lost his father in the same mine explosion I lost mine in. But whereas I don't let myself get too worked up over the inequities between the town and the Seam, and especially between us all and the victors, Gale takes a special pride in fuming over the things he cannot change.

I don't mind listening usually, since neither of us can speak our minds in public or even within our own homes, out of fear small ears will pick up on our words and repeat them elsewhere. But today, I just don't have the energy to be a sounding board.

Instead I take a segue towards a slightly different topic, but one, without a doubt, weighing on both our minds. "Prim has been having nightmares of the reaping," I murmur solemnly. "She's convinced they're going to call her name."

Gale shook his head, his demeanor becoming more subdued now. "Least Prim's name is only in there once, Catnip. Rory had to take tesserae this year."

I nod silently at that admission, knowing what it must have cost him to even allow his little brother to take additional risks of being called. Knowing it meant his family of five must be even more hungry than he leads on.

We don't say much more after that, only lingering in the woods long enough to catch some additional game from what I've already collected, and hurry back to town to trade.

As we walk back to the Seam, having divided up our goods evenly, Gale murmurs suddenly, "I might be able to stomach the idea of Rory's name being in that bowl six times if we were still allowed to volunteer."

I bypass his words the best I can. I don't want to think about what Gale must be going through, making himself sick with worry, not for himself but for a sibling in which he considers himself responsible for. And, as it happens once in a lucky moon, I feel grateful that my tesserae is still sufficient for a family of three, and I don't have to worry about Prim the same way. Her one entry pales in comparison to the thousands that are piled in that bowl.

Still, the silence between us as we walk is deafening and I can't take it any longer as we come closer to my house. "At least then, you'd get to see the Capitol," I say lightly, as a means to brighten his mood, even just a little.

At that, Gale rewards me with a humorless smirk. "Generous of the president, isn't it? To allow us district people to experience the great Capitol firsthand while they slaughter our family."

And it's true. Just a few years ago, it was allowed to volunteer as tribute in the place of whoever's name got chosen, as long as you were the same gender and between twelve and eighteen on Reaping Day.

But four years ago, when a twelve-year-old boy volunteered for his seventeen-year-old brother, an outrage sparked across the entire country. People are never happy, in any district, to see a twelve-year-old be chosen for the games. They're the youngest, the smallest, the most innocent, and never in history had a single one made it past the Final Fifteen in the games.

So when one volunteered, the country wasn't pleased in the slightest. However, like always, the anger was contained by Peacekeepers in a matter of weeks, and promises came pouring out from the Capitol that a change would be made after the games that year to ensure never again would this situation occur.

And it never again could. Because three days after the Seventieth Hunger Games, President Snow announced that all volunteering, from that point forward, was officially banned.

This new law is even more ironic when you realize that the twelve-year-old volunteer from that year became the youngest victor in the entire history of the games.

Still, I suppose the president was feeling generous that day, and he threw in a bonus treat for us in the districts. Now when someone is chosen from the reaping bowl, though their fate is sealed definitively when their name is uttered, they get to choose one family member to take on the train ride to the Capitol with them, to get a special viewing of the games with the mentors and the sponsors and the past victors, to get to experience the wonder that is the mysterious Candy Capitol firsthand.

However, when all is said and done, twenty-three family members must ride the train home alone to their districts, with their loved one in a casket beside them. The thought chills me to the bone and I shiver as me and Gale wish each other good luck. We probably won't see each other again until it's time for the customary dinner we all try to put on with our neighbors to celebrate, even minimally, that we've survived another year unchosen.

Prim is already wearing my first reaping outfit when I enter the house, though it is a bit large on her. She's slimmer than even I was at Twelve, despite her having months on me when I attended my first reaping.

I get ready quickly, if only because I want to spend time with her before we have to go. I protect Prim in every way I can but I'm powerless against the reaping.

Still, she's only entered once and that's as safe as anyone can get from being chosen. It's almost unheard in the Seam to be that safe from the games.

But my sister never did appear like she fit in here anyway. Her golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes resemble the merchants, not the Seam, and her and our mother stick out like sore thumbs next to our neighbors.

Our mom is restless now, busying herself with preparing the food for our small feast tonight and braiding Prim's hair and then mine.

I still haven't fully forgiven her for leaving us when we needed her most, but I also can't imagine how difficult it must be to have to send both your children off to be potentially chosen for an absolute death. And I let her hug me as I guide Prim out the door.

Attendance is mandatory for all in the district, but the ones viable for being chosen and those just watching don't typically enter together.

I guide Prim by hand into town, the walk feeling longer than it did with Gale. Perhaps it's the trembling twelve-year-old I'm towing, or perhaps I'm more afraid than I'm even admitting to myself.

After all, unlike my sister, I have twenty slips with my name splayed across this year. It's not as a bad as someone like Gale, who has forty-four chances of being called. But it's not as safe as the kids from town, who likely only have to worry about a handful of slips with their names.

Its not that they're rich by any standard, but they get by better than those in the Seam. Even if they're hungry, they're not at risk of starving, and no one is going to sign up for tesserae unless there is no alternative.

A year ago, my mother let it slip once over dinner, just out of the blue really, that my father had always sworn no child of his would be in need of tesserae.

I shake my head, as if to physically rid myself of the reminder. I don't want to dwell on what my father would feel if he were here. I don't want to be reminded how different things would be if he hadn't died.

I help Prim sign in and then drop her off, as gently as I can, with the other girls her age. At the last minute, she pulls on my hand, yanking me back to her with surprising force.

"Prim, I have to go stand with the sixteens," I say as she leans up and kisses my cheek.

"I just wanted to say I love you," she whispers softly, her big blue eyes so terrified, and then she steps back into the crowd of twelves surrounding her.

I sigh softly and give her what I hope is a reassuring smile. She truly is the best of our parents. Kind, smart, level-headed. She's funny and resourceful too, even if she can't take hunting animals herself.

She is the only person I'm certain that I love. And just about the only thing that keeps me going most days.

As I make my way to the sixteens, straightening my mother's dress on my hips, I check the clock. Only five minutes before we start. Before our lovely Capitol escort, Effie Trinket, reads off two names in her distinctive, afflicted accent. Before two kids know they're never coming home again.

This place isn't much. But it is all we've ever known, and no one wishes to leave it.

As more people crowd in, I begin to pick up an excited buzz in the girls surrounding me. Already knowing what I'll see, I crane my neck just the same, to peer up at the stage ahead.

Sure enough, I see exactly what I knew I would.

There's four chairs set up on the stage. One for Effie Trinket, because no one from the Capitol could ever bear to stand for more than three minutes at a time and she must have a seat to relax in before she calls out the names and sends two of us—a lucky boy and girl, as she says it—to the slaughter.

One of the other chairs is occupied by Mayor Undersee. A man who looks like he's been beaten down by life too many times as it is and would rather be anywhere but here. His daughter is my age. She sits with me at lunch, since Gale is two grades ahead of me and we rarely see each other at school. We make polite small talk but other than that, I barely know anything about her, and by association, her father.

However, it's neither of them that's stirring up the buzz within the crowd—admittedly, more so with the female portion of the crowd—and it's definitely not Haymitch Abernathy, who's stumbling on stage right at this moment. He managed to win the Fiftieth Hunger Games and I still can't imagine how. He's a paunchy man my mother's age and he's never sober, on the rare time he's even seen in public. Today is no exception, as he flops onto a chair gruffly, and murmurs something unintelligible with his eyes closed.

No, the murmuring, the now batting eyes and coy smiles, the soft vibrato still traveling within the crowd, are all because of the last guest of honor, walking upon the stage right behind his old mentor.

Peeta Mellark.

Winner of the Seventieth Hunger Games. Youngest ever. District Twelve's first and last volunteer. The twelve-year-old that changed the rules for the entire country.

The youngest mass murderer in history of Panem.

And now one of it's most beloved celebrities.

Peeta is smart—brilliantly smart—and he's always been charismatic. Even at twelve, he had the Capitol audience, as well as every single soul watching on television at home, eating out of the palm of his hand.

It doesn't hurt that at sixteen, he's become quite a looker. His blonde curls, his blue eyes, those long lashes and bubblegum pink lips. His fair, perfect skin that has not a blemish in sight. His toned, muscular body and devastatingly genuine smile that no one can help but fall in love with.

He's also the boy who saved my life. The one who committed the simple act of kindness, knowing it would cost him, to help me.

I never thanked him. And now I never can, as I'm sure he has zero memory of me. After everything else that's happened to him since, after the last four years of living as a Capitol darling, as one of the country's most cherished victors, he'd never remember the starving eleven-year-old he threw some burned bread to in a rainstorm.

But I remember him. I don't know if it's what he did for me that day or what he did for his brother only a matter of weeks later, but something about Peeta Mellark crawled under my skin four years ago and ever since, I've never been able to completely shake the feeling I get inside upon seeing him.

I break my gaze away, refusing to stare at the boy, who I will always accredit as the one who saved my life. I venomously refuse to gawk at him, like every other girl in the district.

He rarely comes out of his house when he's home here in Twelve, and I know the overzealous amount of attention he receives just by going to his parents' bakery has to be at least a part of the reason. Unlike Haymitch, who has lost his clout and his appeal with age and with deterioration, Peeta has only gained more and more notoriety as the years pass by.

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in Twelve, outside of a few outliers like Gale perhaps, who'd say a negative word about Peeta Mellark.

Of course, rumors about his random and long stretches spent in the Capitol itself are always floating around, no matter what time of year it is, but they don't affect his public persona or anyone's opinion of him. He is, after all, the most valuable figure Twelve has and perhaps the only thing we can take any pride in.

Effie Trinket steps up to the microphone just as I turn my head away from the stage. "Welcome!" She greets, so vivaciously, so brightly, I can't imagine it even resonates in her head that she's just moments away from announcing two of our impending funerals. "Welcome, everyone! To the reaping for the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games!"

I can't even bear to listen as she prattles on, with too much confidence and dignity for someone dressed in every neon color known to man, speaking in such a peculiar accent, with a thickly painted face that is so blatantly visible to the every eye here today, even in the back row. Doesn't she realize how ridiculous she is to us? Doesn't she realize how wrong it is to preach about the morals and disciplines of the Capitol, in such a prideful voice, when they're the ones about to murder us for entertainment, and in repentance for a long over war that only a few elders can still remember?

As I advert my eyes, my gaze travels once again to the back of the stage, and I'm more than a little surprised to see Peeta Mellark with a similar expression as mine. He, too, is shifting his eyes elsewhere, away from his own escort, looking sick to his stomach.

Of course, it still can't be easy for him, even with his own games four years in the past. He was a literal child when he volunteered and it's fact that he didn't understand what he was getting himself into when he took his brother's place that fateful day. His innocence was stolen as soon as the countdown ended and talk still circulates, even in the Hob, that he wakes up screaming most nights, calling out the names of fallen tributes. Though those words are not given much weight in the Seam, as we all know, people get bored in this tiny district and bored people begin to spew lies whenever encouraged.

Effie continues, in a long overdone mantra, one I could recite in my sleep, the same one she spews every year, that two kids from every district must be chosen to battle to the death in a new and invigorating—one of her favorite words—arena, in order to pay for the blood shed during the rebellion and war, in order to ensure we'll never again even think to rebel.

It would almost be easier to swallow, this whole charade, if the people sent from the strange land of the Capitol would just be honest and blunt with us. If they'd just admit that they see us as lesser than, as animals or beasts of some sort, as less than human beings. It'd be easier if the Capitol spokespeople would just outright say, "we'll take your children, we'll starve your district, we'll ruin your homes, we'll broadcast the deaths of those you love most, all to keep you too powerless to fight. In order to make sure you never are able to stand strong, we have to kick your legs out from under you first."

Instead of being honest though, Effie Trinket is reiterating the Treaty Of Treason, in a tone so serious that it takes all the self-control possible to stop several boys standing in the fourteens from bursting out laughing. Her accent and a serious tone do not mesh well together.

Once she's done though, my heart automatically skips a beat. Because, after four years of standing in this square, I know exactly what's coming. "Ladies first!" Effie announces and I feel a bead of sweat glide down my forehead, both from anxiety and from the overload of heat. Reapings always take place in the start of the hottest month of the year.

Standing in my mother's well-crafted dress, one of the most luxurious pieces of clothing we own, only makes my perspiration worsen, as the dress was clearly made to keep the wearer as warm as possible.

Our district escort makes her way over the bowl containing the names of every girl eligible to be picked in the entire district and I feel myself take in a breath involuntarily.

There's twenty chances she's going to call out my name. Twenty chances I'll be sent to an almost imminent death. Twenty chances Prim will grow into her teen years, and later adulthood, without a sister.

The gut-churning fear I'd repressed all morning, in that moment, overtakes my entire being, curling up like a ball in the pit of my stomach, as I do my best to listen on baited breath, somehow expecting to hear my own name spoken through the raucous microphone for all to hear.

Don't be me, I whisper inside my head, more fearful than I'd ever admit out loud. Don't be me. Please, don't be me.

And, as it turns out, it's not me.

Instead it's the name I never in a million years thought I'd hear. The name I believed to be so safe I didn't even allow myself to worry about her.

"Primrose Everdeen!"

[deadlyweapon10]

Honey

Paring: Mina Ashido x reader

Synopsis: Where Y/n secretly crushes on her fellow classmate, Mina Ashido.

Words: 3.5k

Earthy warm, rich, with a hint of sour components along with heaviness of a cocoa.

The aroma of a simple yet delectable coffee wafted into the nose of the (hair color) as she inhaled its exotic scent. A warm feeling growing in her stomach region as she sipped said drink from her favorite one-of-a-kind mug.

She snuggled into her jacket as she sat outside on the chair that was placed on the deck. With the sun barely rising, the air was perfectly warm and gentle, flowers beginning to bloom and birds chirping, typical for spring weather.

As she sat there with a smile on her face daydreaming away the sound of a door opening brought her back to reality.

"Jeez it's barley 6:30 and you're already up? You're the opposite of Aizawa-sensei I swear, always up while everyone is asleep! Have you even eaten yet?" Said the red-head as he walked into the view line of the coffee-filled (hair color) as a chuckle escaped past her lips. "We've lived in the dorms for a month and a half and every single time you catch me out here it's always the same questions Kiri."

The gentle blow of a breeze passed by as the sound of a busy buzzing bee was faintly heard.

Kirishima smiled. "Do you have any plans for today? I'm trying to see if Bakubro, Sero and Denki are down to go to the arcade. If you're not doing anything then would you like to go with us?" He asked while sitting on the chair next to her. The girl thought for a few seconds before opening her mouth. "I would but I feel like reading today. Besides I'd rather let "the boys" have their fun and do whatever it is that you do."

The sound of an apple being bitten into broke the silence, crispy yet sweet. The second Kirishima swallowed he started talking yet again. "You know, "

"Hm?"

"Mina is also coming. You should take the chance to confess-"

"EH?! I have no idea what you're talking about Kiri! Where did you get that idea that I like her. No wait more importantly how did you find out? Ahhhh I practically just told you I do-" Having out her mug down minutes ago, the girl who was in the middle of freaking out continued talking in a fast speed as images of said female flashed in her mind, making her stumble around with her words.

The poor girl could feel her heart thump in her chest and felt all warm inside. If there's anything that could get her to react in such a way then it was simply by mentioning her crushes name. Oh how easy it was to get her all worked up.

"Woah woah calm down! Forget I said that alright. But seriously hang out with us, you need to get out more often. I mean how is it that you have such good fashion sense yet you never leave your room unless it's for food or classes?" He spoke while rubbing the back of his neck, a smile plastered on his face. The both of them stood up at the same time with him grabbing the apples core in one hand and the girls mug in the other before handing it to her. She nodded.

As they walked into the building, now dubbed as their home, they walked through the lounge past the dining room and into the kitchen. Clearing his voice while walking to the blue sofa he looked back at her, "We're gonna be leaving at around 12 to get lunch and then to the arcade that's in the mall. See ya." "Alrighty! See you in a bit."

•°¯'•• 🎀 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒-𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓅 🎀 ••'¯°•

Having been back in her room for just around two hours gaming on her counsel, she got up and looked at the clock on her pastel (favorite color) wall. 'Mm it's only 9:15. I should go shower now so that I have enough time to dress on my very own existence and to choose an outfit.' That means I have two hours and forty-five minutes, which means at least a good hour and thirty minutes to shower and that leaves me with an hour and fifteen minutes which then means I have a good thirty minutes to think about my life while sitting on the corner of my bed in a robe and forty-five minutes to get ready. Perfect.'

And with that she grabbed her towel, bathrobe, shampoo and conditioner, razor (only if you shave, if not then forget that), body soap, deodorant and comb. Taking a quirk look to see if she has everything, she walked to the bathrooms that she shared with the other girls and instantly began her shower. (If you're african american/any other person I didn't include and you wear a wig then instead of shampoo and conditioner you grabbed a shower cap to protect it. I heard it's not supposed to get wet but correct me if I'm wrong.)

•°¯'••   🎀  𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒-𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓅  🎀   ••'¯°•

After her shower she made sure to brush her hair to untangle it before it went back to being straight/wavy/curly. (If you're like me and you have curly hair then obviously you have to put curl smoothies, protection sprays, etc.) and young-life crisis thinking, she began to look through her closet. Before picking out two different options.

(Option 1)

(Option 2)

After a minute on deciding what to wear, Y/n choose the (1/2) option and quickly slipped on the clothes before putting on her shoes. Glancing at the clock and seeing that she only had ten minutes before they were gonna meet up she grabbing her phone along with earbuds/airpods and closed her bedroom door before soon heading towards the elevator.

Scrolling through her phone she clicked a song and began humming along to the lyrics.

By the time she arrived in the lounge, a new song started playing. Looking up she soon spotted the group and started to walk to them when she realized a certain person was missing. "Hey guys where's MinaAAA!" She shrieked as a pair of slim arms wrapped around her body and a head full of pink hair and yellow beady eyes peaked freon behind her. "Hey silly. I'm right here and ready too rumble!"

'Thump.. Thump.. Thump..'

Y/n's heart started to beat like crazy again once her brain processed what just happened. Before she could even talk someone started talking. "Let's get going you extras. I'm hungry and I don't wanna wait around all day." Ah yes, Bakugou. "On it bro." Denki replied as Mina stepped from behind me and walked up to Sero and striked a conversation with him. Speeding up a bit Y/n walked next to Kirishima just in time for Denki to start cracking jokes.

"Hey L/n why do bees have sticky hair?" He asked as Bakugou and Kirishima were listening. "I don't know, why?"  "B-because they use honeycombs!" He shouted as he busted out laughing while Y/n giggled. "How do you idiots find that funny? Is your humor that broken." Bakugou muttered as he turned his attention to Sero's and Mina's conversation.

Feeling sorta left out from the group due to the fact that she doesn't exactly hang out with them as much (except for Mina and Kirishima), she took out her earbuds/airpods and turned on her music again. This time 'it's not u it's me' by Bea Miller and 6lack started playing.

Smiling to herself she began to sway a bit to the music as they neared the mall. As cliche as it sounds, music was always there to comfort Y/n. No matter what would trouble her, she'd always turn to her favorite playlist. Once they all entered the mall and headed straight to the food court she turned off her music and tuned in the the groups conversation.

"Hey L/n," Sero began as the girl turned her head to gaze at him and hummed quickly to show that she was paying attention. "What are you gonna get to eat?" "The only place I ever go to grab my food. I'm gonna head to (restaurant) to grab my usual." Nodding, he soon turned to Mina and quickly talked. "Mina since you said you wanted to try something new to eat you should totally go with L/n." "Holy cow dude! You're totally right." She said as she pumped her fist in the air and walked towards me. "Let's go L/n, I'm super starving." Grabbing my hand she started dragging me. "H-hey broski you're going the wrong way." She chuckled as the Pinkette stopped in her tracks, said a loud "Oops." And took the girl in the right direction. (Is Pinkette a word? Probably not.)

Once both girls ordered their desired meal and sat down, they began to eat in peace for a good few minutes before Mina's phone rang. Smashing the accept call, she out it on speaker. "Whafs uf-" She managed to say as her mouth was filled with food. "Hey Pinky, tell L/n that me and the guys decided to skip the arcade and headed to Game Stop and grabbed the new Cyberpunk game. We're currently on our way to the fast-food place near the school and then we're heading back to the dorms." A loud Denki said, as we heard grunts and insults from Bakugou from their side of the call.

'Wait wouldn't that mean that Mina and I are now alone... Is this considered a date? Of course not. As if she'd even like you.' She thought as she then asked Mina why they suddenly decided to switch their plans so suddenly without saying a word in the first place until now. Without a word the girl hung up the call and continued eating.

"N/n you know that American movie where the princess and prince turn into a frog for the whole movie and then they fall in love and miss then poof, they're human again?" Mina asked breaking the silence that once stood there. "Hm? Oh yeah! 'Princess and the Frog'. I watched it before. Sucks how African Americans finally got recognition from Disney and instead they get bullshit since the two main characters are frogs for three/fourths of the movie!" The (hair color) shouted angrily as she stabbed her food. Laughing at the girls reply, Mina leaned forward in her seat. "You know that dessert they show in the movie a lot? Beignets? I wanna try one so bad." Both girls sat in silence as they got lost in each other's eyes.

'Thump.. Thump.. Thump..'

Feeling her heart flutter, her gaze shifted back to her food. "How about we buy the ingredients and make it? I made it once for a school fair and everyone seemed to like it. Only if you're down of course!" "Wait for real? Like for real real? Big bet let's hurry up and eat!" And with that the Pink haired girl began scarfing down her food, cho.king a few times.

Once they were both done and cleaned up after themselves, both girls left the area and walked to the supermarket. The duo sparking a conversation about their hobbies and interests, soon made it into the supermarket. Walking down aisle after aisle grabbing ingredients left and right, Mina suddenly grabbed Y/n's hand. "Since it's Saturday me and you should totally have a sleepover in my room. Let's go grab more snacks!" And just like before, she dragged you out of the aisle and into the candy and chips one. 'My poor wallet.' Y/n thought as she silently cried. 'Then again if it means I get to hang out with her more ... Ahh! I need to be more social with her. I mean we do talk a lot but I get so freaking flustered and it messes me up. Then again at least I can talk to females unlike Midoriya. Ha in your face!' Feeling pumped the girl grabbed the snacks that were occupying her friends arms, shoved them in the basket and speed walked to the check out line, payed for everything and with both girls holding two bags in each hand they soon began their journey back to the campus dorms.

•°¯'••   🎀  𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒-𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓅  🎀   ••'¯°•

Entering the dorms, both females headed straight to their rooms and quickly changed. Mina wearing blue shirts with a yellow shirt while Y/n wore (f/c) satin shorts along with its matching tank top.

Both now in the kitchen with aprons on, they took out the items they brought for the beignets and placed it on the counter. 'MISS YOU!' by CORPSE was blaring from Y/n's phone as she bopped her head and hummed along to the lyrics while she added the warm water, sugar and active yeast in a bowl and whisked it while Mina measured the other ingredients, which Y/n soon regrets for the face that a mess of flour was all over the counter.

After mixing the rest of the ingredients in the watery liquid and letting it set on a lined baking sheet, Mina took out the fryer and added oil so that it could be ready for later. "Hey n/n can I play a song?" "Of course silly. I wanted to change the song anyways." Laughing like a maniac, Mina grabbed the phone and quickly typed away before placing the phone back on the counter.

"Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb

In the shape of an "L" on her forehead"

The voice of both Smash Mouth and Mina's rang out in the air as the girl started singing the lyrics. "Heyyy you should sing with me! Come on." She said as she twirled around the kitchen floor. Giggling as she put the bowl filled with the dough in the fridge, she began shouting the lyrics right along with Mina.

"Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow"

Now moving her head to the beat, both girls grabbed each other's hands and began dancing like crazy with not a care to the world, swaying their hips side to side as they sang the next verse with all their heart.

"Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold"

As they continued singing, they began to clean the dishes and put most of the ingredients they wouldn't be using anymore away and took out a pair of tongs, paper towels, powdered sugar and honey from the cabinets. After a good 30 minutes past Mina turned on the fryer, the familiar 'click' of the knob sounding. Taking out the bowl from the fridge, Y/n placed the soft, glutinous dough on the now flour dusted counter and began following it out with the rolling pin until it was a good quarter inch thick and began to slit the doughy flesh making two inch squares just as Mina grabbed a few pieces and dropped it into the hot oil.

As time went by, they were finally finished frying. All they had left was to dust powdered sugar and drizzle honey to it. The second they did so, they took half the batch with them along with a few drinks and the snacks they brought and went to Mina's room. Closing the door on their way in the brightly pink room, they sat down on the bed and hopped on Mina's laptop to watch 'A Slap On Titan'.

"Armin had broken the silence as the video zoomed to the top of the wall, the starry night sky coming into view. "Do you ever with that humans could photosynthesis?"

Eren surprised with the sudden question, instantly replied. "What? No."

"I do... I think it'd be cool to be a plant." The scene then changed to show the Survey Corps coming back from a mission."

Liquid shooting out of her nose, Mina laughed as she grabbed a tissue and wiped her face, watching as Y/n pressed a pillow against her face to muffle her loud laughter. The now chuckling girl took the pillow from her face and noticed Mina's smile that was directed at her direction. Shooting back a toothy grin, she got lost in her eyes yet again.

'Ah jeez she saw me laugh... She looks so cute.'

"You know the beignets were really good." Mina said as she scooted next to her and leaned her fuzzy head on the girls shoulder. "You think so? I hope the others enjoyed the ones we left for them. I'm so happy we got to spend today together! I would have never expected this to happen ya know?" 'Play it cool Y/n. This is no big deal at all, she's probably just a bit exhausted from all the walking and baking we did earlier. Yeah, that's right-'

"You know, I'm the one who told the boys to leave us alone and to head back to the dorms."

That caught her off guard.

"Excuse me?"

Humming to herself, Mina life's her head slightly to look at the (eye color) girl. "Listen silly, I know when it comes to academics I'm not exactly smart, but when it came to you it was easy to figure you out." Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she urged the girl to continue talking. "I know you like me." Y/n's breathing stopped for a second, her heart beating rashly against her chest. How was it possible that the girl she's secretly liked from a distance knew? "Listen I-" She was cut off as a pair of soft pink hands covered her mouth.

"Hold up! Hear me out before you start talking. I sorta found out a few weeks back when I overheard you tell Iida about your feelings. Ever since then I confronted him and I made up this plan for both you and I to hang out alone. Like a date but it's not a date since you wouldn't know? Ahh anyways after I came up with the plan I began noticing how you'd act completely normal around the other girls, but when it came to me you'd barley mutter a word, despite you being super-duper confident." Y/n felt herself breathe again as she stared at the girl, her eyes now filled with curiosity and her head amused at the girls statement. She took the words to heart and found it to be true when she said she'd act differently around her. I mean how could she not when her heart would beat fast, her stomach flutter in nervousness and her brain would completely shut down on her.

"So wait... You like me?" She spoke slowly to make sure her voice wouldn't just randomly give up on her. Now sitting up straight, the pink haired girl nodded as she shyly smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. "I do."

'She likes me..'

The second her brain processed the two words, she locked eyes with her and then shut them down before slowly leaning forward. The feeling of her plump, powdered sugar dusted lips faintly against hers before both girls lips soon meshed into one and began harmonizing as if creating a symphony. It felt passionate and intense, yet delicate and sweet.

Sweet like the honey from the beignets they had moments ago. The floral yet earthy taste now onto her very own lips. Deliciously golden and wild. The strong fragrance drifting slowly to her nose, similar to a white dandelion falling slowly to the ground after being blown by the wind on a vibrant, sun-filled day.

They both soon pulled away, gasping a bit for air. Y/n felt her body get warm as she realized what just happened. "I like you, Mina. A lot. And I'm glad you like me too." She finally confessed. "Finally n/n, I've been dying to hear you say that. Now then let me ask you this, will you be my girlfriend?" Mina asked, her eyes shining as bright as a star in the dark. Y/n leaned forward and kissed the girls nose before speaking. "I'll be happy to be called yours," Both girls soon in each other's arms, held one another until she spoke again.

"Out of all the pretty girls in this world, I'm glad to share this space with you."