#also if anyone ever sees their relatives or friends in these videos i post i am Sorry

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for making a YouTuber feel uncomfortable? 

Here me out please, before you all make assumptions. 

A couple months ago, I(19F) began following a YouTuber that I quickly began to love. I won’t be saying the YouTuber’s name for the sake of protecting their privacy, obviously. I started to watch their videos(which were mainly about a story that she came up with, featuring her ocs) and enjoyed them all, enjoyed the ocs, too. This YouTuber is a relatively unpopular one, but not so unpopular that they’re obscure or completely unheard of, they’re just not one of the big names in the YouTuber community. I made a few amazing friends due to us being in the same fandom and both enjoying this YouTuber’s content. One day, I decided to write a fanfic for this person’s story featuring her ocs. I uploaded the fic to AO3 and made sure to credit the YouTuber with creating these amazing ocs. I then showed it to my few friends, who all loved the fanfic. However, one day I made the mistake of showing the fic to a mutual friend(now an ex-friend but that’s a topic for another discussion) that me and the YT both share, and she sent the fanfic to the YT without my permission. Now before y’all get up in arms, I didn’t mind at all that she had sent it to the YT, in fact, I actually wanted the YT to see. However I really wish that she had asked me first, because I would have been more than happy to show it to them! Unfortunately, a few days after I sent it to her, my other friend(let’s call her M) showed me an announcement the YT made on her Discord, in which she complained about people writing fanfictions of her ocs and “using” them in her stories without her permission. She also stated that she felt like she was losing control of her story when other people wrote fanfics of it, and that whoever wrote the fanfiction “didn’t understand boundaries”(even though she didn’t have this boundary before and also wrote in the announcement that she used to be okay with fanfics of her work, but now no longer is). I deleted the fanfic the moment I saw the post from my friend, but I was a bit disappointed since I never meant to make her feel uncomfortable and only wanted to show my love and appreciation for her story, and possibly get more people to check out her story as well. Still, I deleted the fanfic from AO3. 

Now, here’s where things get interesting. A while later, I joined the YouTuber’s Discord server, where I met many people that I got along quite well with and quickly befriended. I often engaged in conversations with them about the story, and often drew fanart of my favorite character and posted it to the art channel in the server(she’s okay with fanart of her ocs, just not fanfics). Now is probably a good time to mention that while I was in the Discord server(and even before that) I often talked about the story with my friend on Tumblr(not M, these are two separate friends) who did not have Discord but loved the story just as much as I did. We often talked about the story and how much we enjoyed it, and often came up with jokes and headcanons, basic stuff like that, that any fan would do. Anyway, back to the Discord, one of the rules of the server was not to be disrespectful or rude or malicious towards other people, and another was that if you received two warnings about your behavior in the server then you would be quickly banned from the server and no longer allowed to come back. I understood this and tried to conduct myself to the best of my ability. However, one day, I found myself mysteriously unable to access the server, and when I tried to rejoin, I was again unable to. I found out that the reason I couldn’t access the server was because I had been banned due to “disrespectful behavior”, “engaging in arguments”, and making the YouTuber(who ran the server) uncomfortable. I was confused, because I genuinely don’t remember ever engaging in rude behavior with anyone. The few instances(according to them) in which I had been allegedly rude or disrespectful to people were both genuine misunderstandings, and both times I had apologized for them and did not repeat the behavior. I also did not receive any form of warning before being banned, despite one of the rules being that you will receive two warnings before being banned from the server. Still, I apologized for my alleged hostility and asked if I could come back, however the YouTuber said no, and went on to add that not only was I rude to people in the server(which, again, were both genuine misunderstandings), but that she had seen my Tumblr conversations with my friends in which I talked about her story, and said that she was “wildly uncomfortable” with how “obsessive” I was with it as well as my favorite character in the story. This bewildered me to no end because the YouTuber did not have Tumblr and had never once ever mentioned being on or having access to Tumblr, so I did not expect her to see my posts(and even if she did, I did not expect to get banned for them as they do not violate the rules of the server). It made me wonder why she didn’t just talk to me and explain to me that she was uncomfortable with me posting about her work instead of just banning me altogether and not giving me a chance to defend myself. I ended up sadly and reluctantly deleting all of my posts relating to her story, and requesting my friend to do the same. I told M about this scenario, and she was enraged on my behalf, saying that the YouTuber probably was actually upset about my having written a fanfic for her ocs, and said that she didn’t understand me being called obsessive because I acted like a normal fan would(which I agree with). Some of my other friends have sided with me as well and told me that the YouTuber was acting petty, however some of my friends have taken a middle ground. None of them entirely condemned me, but that may just be because they are biased and don’t want to hurt my feelings. The mutual friend/now ex-friend(of course) merely told me to “self-reflect” and move on from the story. Regardless, the YouTuber now has me blocked, not just on Discord, but on Instagram as well, where I also reside. 

Reasons why I think I might be the asshole: I will admit that I have a tendency to really hyperfixate on things and get especially attached to fictional characters that I adore and resonate with, so I can see why that would make them uncomfortable. That being said… 

Reasons why I think I might not be the asshole: I genuinely wasn’t trying to make this wonderful YouTuber feel uncomfortable or be “obsessive” with the story. I merely wanted to show my appreciation for it in a way that I thought was normal for online fans, which included writing a fanfic, drawing fanart, and geeking out about the story with my friends(admittedly publicly). I had no idea that these actions would turn the YouTuber off, and merely wanted to show how much I enjoyed the story. I also was never rude to anyone in the server and apologized whenever a misunderstanding rose up. I never tried to be aggressive with anyone or cursed anybody out or tried to have arguments with people, so I have no idea where that came from. 

So, what say ye, oh wise people of Tumblr? Am I the asshole or not?

What are these acronyms?

[charlewiss]

dare / mick schumacher

pairing: mick schumacher x reader

summary: he has had a crush on you for the longest time. what happens when someone challenges him to do something about it?

word count: 957 words.

warnings: reuploaded cause it wasn't reaching anyone lmao I really liked this one and wanted it to go well :( also, italic parts are supposed to be said in french

even though the challenge was relatively easy to explain (after all, they just had to taste different kitcats and guess the flavours), it was getting progressively harder to keep focus when a certain german boy was looking at you with the most attentive eyes you've ever seen.

you had been working with haas for a few months now, as part of the social media team. your job was to create new fun challenges for the youtube channel that could show the personalities of the drivers while also maintain them entertained during the free time they sporadically had at the race weekends.

but since you came to the first race of the season, you just couldn't keep your eyes away from mick. you knew that it was wrong, so you never dared to say or do anything about it. just keep your safe distance and try to not blush every time his ocean blue eyes stared directly into your caramel brown ones. which, today, was proving to be harder than you expected.

'so, just eat it and say what flavor they are?' kevin asked, already seated in his place while putting away his phone. 'while blindfolded' you replied, handing them both the black piece of cloth. with mick's help, kevin put on the mask. when he had finished, the blonde boy shifted his gaze to you, and raised his eyebrows while signaling at the small piece on his hand. 'can you help me?'

you made your way towards him, and standing behind his back, helped him tie the mask. you tried to ignore how red mick got when you accidentally caressed his hair when you had secured the mask in its place. his demeanor changed almost immediately, but there was no time to ask questions, as the camera started rolling.

it was a couple of hours later, and you were in the little cafeteria that was placed inside the hospitality, working to get the video done to post it the next day. it was getting kinda late so everybody that had finished their tasks for the day was leaving, but you still needed to check the last part of the footage and edit it correctly.

mick was outside with esteban, his best friend at alpine, with whom he did the track walks every race weekend. the two of them approached the door, with the french boy about to leave before nodding at you and asking mick. 'you still haven't asked her out?'. the blonde one could feel his cheeks reddening instantly. 'what are you talking about?'

esteban laughed. he couldn't believe that his best friend thought he was being discreet. 'i don't know, maybe about your crush with the new media girl? you've been throwing puppy love eyes at her since the season started'.

they were used to switch between french and english without a problem, but they didn't notice that kevin was right behind them, and the piece of information reached his ears in the perfect language for him to understand. 'oh, you're talking about y/n?' he said, now making his presence known. mick's eyes widened instantly, and he felt like if looks could kill, his best friend would be dead on the floor. 'he wouldn't dare to tell her anything. hell, i don't think he's even capable of speaking to her' kevin joked, which made esteban laugh. the german boy couldn't believe that they were laughing at his face and his cheeks reddened again, now accompanied with a frown.

'i've talked to her before. I just don't want to bother her when she's busy' he said angrily, while peeping with his eyes inside the hospitality to see you looking at the notebook screen frustrated. it had been hours since you started editing and you were growing tired.

kevin and esteban noticed his lingering stare instantly, and smiled at eachother. 'i dare you to buy her a coffee' said his teammate, and mick's eyes returned to the two guys in front of him. 'i think she would gladly appreciate it' esteban added, and then he left, rather fast, to avoid being punched by his friend. but kevin stayed, and his smirk was only growing with the passing seconds. 'i knew you wouldn't dare'.

'watch me' said mick, and regretted it instantly when he crossed the doors and entered the hospitality. of course, the german wasn't one to be scared of anything, and being the competitive guy that he was, he just couldn't refuse the challenge. but he did it without giving it a second thought, and now was in too deep to go back. would you prefer coffee or tea? what was your order? would you think he was awkward?

so he went with something he was sure you would like: a rather simple vainilla latte and a cookie. of course, he asked for the same for him, and once the order was done, he made a beeline to your table.

'hey, sorry to bother, saw you were working for a while and thought that you may need something to eat' mick said, and even though normally he wasn't a shy guy, you noticed that he was acting quiet and avoiding your stare. 'not bothering at all. thank you! you can sit here if you like'. he nodded and proceeded to sit next to you, sipping his coffee.

you two sat there and talked until the video was finally exported and ready to upload. after watching it again to be sure that it was good to go, and laughing about the different faces that mick did when he didn't like a certain flavour, you scheduled it to be posted at the right time.

it was getting late, so mick offered to take you back to the hotel. after all, you two were staying at the same place, just different floors. while you two were walking side by side to his car, you didn't notice the driver watching you from afar, smiling. 'just took a stupid dare' said kevin laughing to himself.

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #229

Where do you see your ex in 5 years? I am not comfortable answering this for any ex. I don't know these people anymore, and people change. I shouldn't be theorizing about their futures.

Does your last ex have a job? I don't know.

Would you be interested in starting your own business? I want to be a freelance photographer, so...

Do you find guys with facial piercings attractive? I tend to find piercings attractive, but this doesn't guarantee that I'm going to be attracted to a pierced man.

Have you ever gone snorkeling or scuba diving? If yes, what’s the coolest thing you’ve seen? No.

What’s your favorite filling in chocolates? More chocolate, peanut butter, or caramel.

What, in your opinion, is the most disgusting part of the human body? I actually hate how genitals look, either kind.

Do you have slim or chubby fingers? Slim. It's about the only slim thing about me.

Have you done anything lately that you instantly felt was a mistake? Uh, maybe? But not of importance large enough for me to actually remember it.

Pencils: mechanical or traditional? Mechanical for sure.

Are you into anyone right now? Tell me about them? Use this space to say something to them. Well, Girt, obviously. I feel like I talk about him enough for readers to have a general gist of him, he's insanely introverted but loyal as FUCK to people he values, and he's the funniest fucking person I've ever met. He's my best friend in the world and I hope he never doubts how much I value him as not just a boyfriend, but friend.

Do you cook and/or bake? What is your specialty? I don't. It's funny though, I recently got into a chef's YouTube channel and also like another, and I like watching their stuff, even though I'm not interested in cooking or baking myself. I WISH I was.

Have you ever felt trapped in a relationship? A friendship, yes. That's how I felt towards the end of Sara's and my friendship. Like, we'd split apart so many times, I didn't wanna fucking do it again. It never went well.

Are you attracted to any nationality more than others? Nope.

Do feet creep you out? They don't creep me out, I just don't like them and think they're gross.

Do you have a sexual fantasy? What is it? yeah I'm not sharing that stuff lmfao

Do you like the band Satyricon? I've never heard this name in my life.

Is it wicked hard for you to sleep when its hot in your room? I CAN'T sleep if I'm hot. I literally have two fans in my room.

What is your favorite thing to do with your best friend? Chatting/being silly together and playing video games.

Are you easily offended? No. Few things actually offend me.

Have you ever acted as tour guide for friends/relatives from out of town? lol no, this place sucks and there's nothing TO show, there's no need.

Do you feel bored with your life? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am agonizingly bored by my fucking life, I could rant about this for hours, it's unreal how bored I am by the life I exist in.

What's the most weight you've ever gained from a medication? Like, 100 pounds. I wish I was fucking kidding. Thanks, Abilify <3

How old were you the first time you encountered God? The concept of "God" was forced on me from birth (literally, I was baptized), sooooo... I guess you can't truly "encounter" something that you finally understand doesn't exist, though.

Are you married? No.

What was the best date you've ever been on? A double-date to an arcade.

Do you feel free to post how you feel on Facebook? I very rarely post about my personal life because I feel like no one cares and I'm just being annoying. I just share memes n shit.

Which stereotype do you fit the most? Geek and goth at heart, I guess. I don't really dress it though, I'm too lazy and poor for that.

Who were your favorite celebrities as a child? Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin.

Did you go to prom? I went to two: his senior and my senior.

If you could rewind time ten years, would you? No.

What is the last song you played on repeat? fuckin "Diggy Diggy Hole" by Wind Rose lmfao

Do you own a CD player? Not anymore.

Do you think you could handle a job in the medical field? Why or why not? No. It would depress me, more than anything.

Would you rather edit photos on your phone or computer? Computer. I have Lightroom on both devices, but computer is easier and more precise with the mouse.

What is one electronic device you own that you have not used in a long time? Nintendo DS.

When was the last time you wore a dress or a skirt? Not since a Halloween photoshoot I did with my friend.

What is your favorite thing about Instagram? I dunno, really. I just enjoy it. I do feel like I'm less likely to see shit I don't want to, like dumbfuck right-wing shit I didn't ask for on Facebook.

What is the first thing you think of when you see the rainbow emoji? 🌈? the gays stealing the rainbow from god ✌️

Do you prefer to play chess or checkers? Checkers, idk how to play chess.

If you had to go an entire week without using any technology, what do you think you would spend most of your time doing instead? Reading, sleeping, writing, drawing. I'd be miserable, though.

Would you rather travel to Asia or France? Somewhere in Asia.

Did you have a New Year’s kiss? No, we weren't in each other's presence that night. You'd be hard-pressed to find a night I stay up 'til midnight anyway.

Are there any words that you cannot pronounce or that you pronounce incorrectly? I say "breakfast" funny. I put a "t" after the "k" and I can't fix it.

How much older than you was the oldest person you have dated/had a relationship with? Juan was somewhere around five years older than me, give or take a year. It was problematic though because of my age.

Have you recently accomplished anything that you are proud of yourself for? I am very proud of myself for making the conscious decision to really start changing how I think and treat myself. It hasn't been "meh I'll try," I'm DOING it.

Are you still friends with any of your exes? Do you still communicate with any of them at all? Nope, nope.

What is your opinion on people who shop at Sephora for makeup as opposed to buying makeup from the drugstore? I don't give a shit????????????

Is marijuana legal for “recreational use” where you live? Also what is your opinion on the recent legalization of marijuana in certain states? It is not legal, but my psychiatrist shared that it's looking like NC will make it legal in the foreseeable future (Mom shared we really want to try edibles for me). I wish it was legal everywhere.

Do you live on your own or with your parents/a roommate? Do you think you’d like to live alone? I still live with my mother. I NEVER want to live alone, I would be FUCK-ING miserable. My depression and isolatory behaviors would eat me alive.

How often would you say you use Microsoft Word? Never, I use WordPad. You have to pay for Microsoft Word.

After doing your laundry do you leave it in your basket for a couple days, then put it away? Ugh it can stay in the basket for days upon days upon days.

When you do a puzzle do you find all the edges first? Of course, unless I incidentally find a match of interior pieces.

When you’re in the car and you eat something with a wrapper, do you throw the wrapper out of the window? Do this and I wish you death

List 5 things that have happened in the last 7 days. (They can be anything at all, anything that’s happened involving you, or your family, friends, partner.) 1.) I've been playing the remake of Resident Evil 4 2.) My younger sister got a dog 3.) I went to Girt's house 4.) I finished another book in the Warriors series 5.) I drew!!!!

If you found out your ex had a new partner, would you be upset? There is no ex where I would care if they had a new partner.

Have you ever had sex in someone else’s bed/bedroom? I've done sexual things we shouldn't have done in someone else's bedroom.

Have you ever had sex on your bedroom floor? How about your living room floor? Again, just sexual things. But not since I was a teenager, you could NOT lure my fat and achy ass onto the floor anymore lmfao

When you kiss someone, do you like to play with their hair? I do it, so I suppose yes.

Why did you hug the last person you hugged? The kids were leaving.

Do you regret sleeping with anyone? No.

Did anyone comfort you the last time you cried? What was your reason for crying? My mom, yes. I've just been stressed out and dealing with anxiety issues.

What if you had a baby with the last person you kissed? I’d get an abortion, we can't be doing that.

Is there anyone that likes you, other than the person you love/like/are with? I doubt it.

Who is the 9th contact in your phone? Have you ever hugged/kissed that person? That's my little sister, I've certainly hugged her and maybe kissed her cheek when we were younger.

How did you feel when you woke up today? What was the first thing you thought about? I was annoyed, the kids came in being loud and I hadn't slept very well. Pretty sure I cursed lmao.

Do you still tell your parents that you love them? Of course.

Random fact about the person you love/like? He's back in college for business management-type stuff. I always forget the exact name of his major. He's VERY nearly done, he just had to drop out when his dad died.

[eideticmemory]

His team at the meet and greet were his brother Gray, his friend Colin and some bald guy whose name I don’t know that was taking pictures/videos of the fans. I don’t know if there was anyone else on his team. His mom and stepdad were also there but left around 11 PM. They obviously filmed content there and he posted about every other book delivery so it makes no sense to not post about this ever. What was the point to film content then?

some bald guy sjdjsjsjsks 😭 im just thinking if all the other m&gs ran relatively smooth and this one was a bust i can see him not posting any of the content for the sake of publicity/to keep people from commenting abt the mess

[crediblebombthreat]

Tumblr Day 5ish De-Brief

I wanted to post this here so I can look back on it in disgust or curiosity later, not necessarily because I think anyone needs to read it. This is a bit of a long post, by the way. Consider before clicking.

It's very strange coming back here after seeing glimpses of it in the mid 2010s and seeing that it's basically the same. There's less porn and the overall post quality seems to have gone up slightly -- but the fundamental soul of the site is still the same one it was before metrics, engagement, and algorithms started to define what the internet was on a metaphysical (for lack of a better term) level. Ironically, the only other places I know of like this are the boards on 4chan too niche or pretentious to assimilate the flood of low-quality posts from rightoids that are either 16 or 47 years old. Everywhere else on the internet that people spend time on has an invisible coating of unreality over it.

This isn't to say that tumblr is immune -- you have things like Blaze -- but spending real money for notes isn't the point of the site.

If I find something fucked up and weird on YouTube, for example, it's like when an AI lets you win at chess. YouTube's algorithm knows I like weird videos, and this video has been determined by a network of keywords to be weird. The same (or very, very similar) applies to TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit (although the userbase is delusional and denies this -- go figure, they're redditors).

If I see something fucked up and weird on tumblr it's a result of the ever-churning slurry of content organically burping up a post from 2013 because a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend reblogged it a week ago. There is also a possibility that the person posting a sped up .gif of a caterpillar eating a leaf with the caption "ummm sh eis my fukcign sister!!!" payed upwards of $150 for me to see it, which is surreal in its own, different, way.

Because of this (and despite the culture of detachment), everything feels a bit more sincere. Which is definitely sometimes a weakness -- tumblr twee creates some of the most cloying garbage I've ever seen -- but it also sets up situations where (unlike everywhere else on the internet) the news that travels fastest isn't always bad news.

I imagine most users of tumblr are either aware of this or just take it for granted, but for a relative outsider it's a it's a good control on the direction the rest of the internet is going. Or, more accurately, where it is right now. I notice a general feeling of unease and dissatisfaction coming from a lot of people who use the internet for something other than a continuous stream of entertainment. Even dedicated internet trolls mourn for the days when you could dissolve the social fabric of a forum by using "(:" instead of ":)". As opposed to now where every online argument is a different flavor of the same three topics; all soaked in self-important moralism, and often framed through a reductive political lens -- the worst impulses of the 2010s internet concentrated and refined.

This isn't to say that the process of something gaining popularity and losing some of the quirks you appreciated about it, or the slow erosion of a medium is unnatural or anything. It's been happening since the dawn of time. It is, however, strange that it's happening to people in their teens and twenties rather than people in their forties and fifties.

The bad news is: as things reach new heights of profitability in capitalism, they are further alienated from a human element. The good news is: literally everyone is acutely aware of that, even if it's subconscious. It's why we still watch competitive chess between two people and why I believe AI art is nowhere near as catastrophic as one might think (among a few other reasons).

And because of that good news, tumblr will probably stay the correct type of shitty in the long-run. I don't see a world where there exists a corporate entity competent enough to algo-monetize tumblr while still retaining a userbase. And I DEFINITELY don't see a world where that hypothetical corporate entity would willingly buy tumblr.

I have other thoughts about the possible futures of the internet, but that's more applicable to a Substack article rather than a musing tumblr post. Additionally, all outcomes other than "capital snakes its way deeper into the processes of communication and we are helpless but to watch" must take into account that "capital snakes its way deeper into the processes of communication and we are helpless but to watch" is the most likely outcome considering nothing crazy happens.

But hey, something crazy usually happens.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Yesterday I watched this wrestling thing, and it featured Matthew Crosby, and that reminded me of how much I like Matthew Crosby every time I see (or hear) him, which isn’t all that often. That made me decide I should listen to some of his actual comedy, which I’m now going to do, but before I do that, I thought I’d make a list of everything I know about Matthew Crosby:

- Turned up in Catsdown’s dictionary corner a couple of times, was very funny both times. I think I mixed him up with Adam Buxton at first because they both sat in dictionary corner, wore glasses, and discussed something vaguely nerdy.

- I also saw him in an episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats, where I think he said almost nothing.

- Got referenced sometimes on Russell Howard and Jon Richardson’s radio show, and I think he co-hosted the show with Jon sometimes after Russell left, though I haven’t actually heard any of the post-Russell episodes.

- Does a radio show with Ed Gamble, which I also haven’t heard.

- Is wearing a 30 Rock t-shirt in his Wikipedia picture, which immediately makes me like him.

- Co-created and co-wrote Hypothetical. I thought I remembered him appearing on the show at some point, but I just looked it up and he hasn’t.

- Did an episode of Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, in which he talked a lot of shit about Cliff Richard and discussed how he used to be a terrible teacher.

- Used to date Josie Long, so he has to be pretty cool, right? I assume that if Josie Long likes or has ever liked someone, they have to be, at minimum, all right. Like how I don’t know much about Ellis James but I assume he must be cool because Isy Suttie likes him.

- Was referred to by Daniel Kitson, in 2007, as his hipster friend. Given what Kitson himself was like at that time, I cannot imagine how hipster Matthew Crosby must have been to get that title.

- Is in a sketch group called Pappy’s Fun Club that has existed for a long time. They turn up a lot when I watch videos from comedy festivals, even the ones from many years ago. They also have a podcast that I haven’t listened to, but have heard a couple of episodes recently (a regular one and this Christmas special they did) and really, really enjoyed both.

- Did one of those radio show episodes with Daniel Kitson, as part of a series of episodes that Kitson did from 2-6 AM, while at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in 2008, with a different comedian as a guest each time. Crosby spent much of the episode rolling his eyes (or doing the audio equivalent of that) about Kitson’s insistence on playing an entire Lucksmiths album all in one go, and trying to show off for his then-new-ish girlfriend, whom he said was listening from England.

My main thought about that one is that Matthew Crosby came off as the most normal of all the guests on those radio episodes, though that might just be because he was following Steve Hall, who wasn’t so much a human radio presenter as a hundred balls of self-loathing stacked on top of each other under a trench coat. Matthew Crosby managed to come off as relatively normal compared to that.

It’s like – okay, you know how everyone in comedy, very much including the heterosexual men, sort of has a crush on Daniel Kitson? It’s like that Heat Magazine thing that people made a lot of jokes about for a few years, with Jon Richardson and Russell Howard being declared people’s weird crushes. Well Daniel Kitson is everyone’s weird crush, in the sense that it causes everyone to be a bit weird while working with or talking about him, and in each case that comes out in a slightly different way. Steve Hall might be in the top position as the person with the weirdest crush on Daniel Kitson (I’d put Stewart Lee in second place, in case anyone’s wondering, though David O’Doherty has to be in the running), and Matthew Crosby on the more normal end of the spectrum. He was able to spend a night doing radio with Daniel Kitson and be, especially compared to the others, almost a normal person about it. My main takeaway from the episode was “Wow, that was surprisingly normal.”

- Did a really accurate parody of annoying fight hype reporters at The Wrestling event yesterday.

Anyway, I think those are all the things I know about Matthew Crosby, before actually listening to any of his comedy, which I shall do soon.

[gabnonymous]

where have i been?

man... where do i even start?

i thought i'd make this post for the few people who've been wondering as to what i've been doing this past month. i've also been wanting to post on here for a while now.

nonstop studying

it shouldn't come as a surprise for some to know that i take my studies, somewhat seriously, though if i had the choice to pursue my studies or make videos, i'd probably take the latter just because its so much easier for me to do. i kmow studying is better for me in "the long run", but at this point it's been draining too much of my self-esteem... who thought it'd be a great idea to throw 10th grade math problems towards an art student who hasn't touched math in a year?

but no. i've been studying nonstop to take multiple college entrance exams throughout this year. the cool thing about being an asian is that you're required to go to college, or you'll starve on the streets... at least that's what my family's been telling me everytime they see my failing scores in my diagnostic exams... completely disregarding the fact i got an award for being an honor student a week prior.

after taking my first college entrance exam, paired with the fact i haven't gotten proper sleep in a while... my eye started twitching. i might be making it a much bigger deal than it is, especially now that it's stopped twitching for a while now... it still bugs me. doesn't help knowing i've had consistent headaches every time i wake up since then.

don't get me wrong, i'm grateful to have the resources i have for me to have a "good studying environment"... but man, i really wish i could do things differently, because who would've guessed that online classes don't help me in the slightest, and i can't even go against taking those classes because my family paid a shit ton of money for the course. it just feels like i have to take these classes instead of actually gaining something.

dwindling social life

i haven't opened up about this before, since it's still a relatively touchy subject, but i know that if i continue to keep it to myself for long, things aren't gonna get better either way.

following an inner conflict i had with a now-ex close friend after telling an inappropriate joke, followed by a brief emotional meltdown, i decided to voluntarily leave my friend group with the intention to try and grow as a person, alone.

and although i've apologised to everyone, and it's been a month since it happened, i still don't feel even remotely close to feeling comfortable being around the friend group anymore. ever since the incident, i've willingly isolated myself socially from anyone, trying my best to keep to myself and only ever interacting with people when they approach me, which sounds reasonable, but that also means having to spend long periods of time, with my own thoughts, inside of a classroom with people you feel scared to even look at.

i've been through therapy multiple times in my life, and have heard the same kind of advice time and time again from many people, and i have yet to see any significant progress towards my mental wellbeing for near close to a year now at this point. i know these kinds of situations require time... but there just comes a point where you start to wonder when that "time" will come.

i've tried virtually everything i could think of to try and combat my thoughts, with no improvement. it's come to a point where i've been intenting to see a psychologist just to try and get a concrete reason as to why i've been acting this way for this long... am i extremely anxious? am i depressed? or am i just a shitty person to be with?

sadly, if i do see a psychologist, it won't be till next year. so, i'll have to live with these thoughts through the following months.

life

who would've thought that my voice actors also go to school? that was sarcasm, by the way, i think it was pretty obvious.

i'm currently waiting for some of my voice actors to finish up their lines for an upcoming short. i was planning to have said short to be the first video to be uploaded onto the channel after a while... but by the looks of it, it might be the 2nd as i'm closing in on a gaming video i've recently finished recording for.

it sucks, but some things are simply out of my control. i don't like pressuring people to do what i want, so all i can really do, is wait. i just hope people do the same, even though it's been a while now.

conclusion (tldr, sort of)

i'm really sad and busy. school's been kicking my ass twice and i'm working on 3 videos at the same time.

am i happy? probably, i dunno. being stressed beats doing nothing, so, eh.

stay safe, yall.

[digicomm-timecapsule-20009]

Week 7 - Slow Down! Your Clothes aren’t Going Anywhere

Nowadays, it’s pretty common to see terms like “fast” and “slow” fashion thrown around, especially if you’re as chronically online as I am. But despite spending 90% of my time online, it even took me a while to fully understand what fast fashion is, and how slow fashion can help offset some of the harm caused by fast fashion. And thus came this blog post, wherein I’m going to break the whole concept of fast fashion down, explain what it is and what makes it so bad, and finally what we can do to curb it (Psst! That’s where slow fashion comes in!)

So what exactly is fast fashion? Fast fashion is essentially low-priced but stylish clothing that moves quickly from designers to retail stores in order to keep up with the ever changing fashion trends. Oftentimes these clothing items are inspired by styles presented at prestigious events like Fashion Week, or those worn by celebrities. (Hayes 2024) What this does is allow mainstream consumers like you and I to purchase trendy new looks at an affordable price whenever we want. Seems pretty good right? 

Of course there’s a catch, this post wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t. As it turns out, having clothing so readily available at such a low price comes at a massive expense of the environment. One of the biggest current polluters of the world’s clean water supply are the cheap and highly toxic textile dyes used by fast fashion clothing manufacturers. And then there’s the textile waste. Oh boy. 

Fast fashion essentially encourages what is now known as “Throw-away culture”, a phenomenon born from the speed at which trends emerge coupled with the relatively low shelf life fast fashion goods have. (Rauturier 2023)  Anyone who’s bought from Shein knows exactly what I mean. Not only does this foster a constant need for consumers to shop more and more in order to stay on top of trends, it also means that a lot of clothes are simply just thrown away instead of being reused or repurposed. And the result? For Malaysia alone that meant over 432,901 tonnes of textile waste alone. (Harinderan 2023)

Now that we know what fast fashion and its harms are, let’s dive into slow fashion. Essentially the opposite of fast fashion, slow fashion brings about an awareness and approach to fashion with a heavy emphasis on the processes and resources needed to make that particular item of clothing. It also advocates for buying clothing that will last longer, aka quality over quantity, and prioritizes fair treatment for all parties involved along the way. (Hill 2023) 

And the best part about slow fashion? It costs literally nothing to join in! That’s right, you don’t need to buy anything to be a part of this growing movement, in fact you don’t have to buy anything at all! Check out these handy tips on how to make the shift to slow fashion (Vito 2022)

Tip 1: Repair and Take Care

Instead of opening up your laptop and heading straight for your usual online shopping site the next time your shirt has a hole in it, opt for basic sewing and destaining videos in order to get more wear out of your clothes.

You could also extend the lifespan of your clothes by following the care instructions, and yes I’m talking about those weird symbols on the tags that most of us cut off because it’s a sensory nightmare. Scratchiness aside, those little tags can actually do wonders for making your clothes look newer for longer. For example, did you know that you’re only supposed to wash your Levi’s once every 10 years? (Unzipped Staff 2018)

Tip 2: Shop Secondhand

We as Malaysians are extremely lucky, we have thrift stores literally everywhere. From huge chains like Jalan-Jalan Japan, JBR Bundle and 2nd Street, to smaller more curated boutiques like Shimokita Space, to even just exchanging your clothes with your friends and family. The goal is to get more life out of the clothes you already own, be it in your own hands or the hands of someone else.

Tip 3: Think before you Shop

Let’s be real; Do you really need that new dress? Do you just have to cop the latest designer tee? Chances are, no, you really don’t. In many countries across the world somewhere between 50%- 80% of people’s wardrobes are unused. So the next time you feel the itch to shop, check your closet first. Your overfull closet will thank you, and so will the planet. But let’s say you actually do need to shop. What now? With big chains like Shein, HnM and Zara all being serious contributors to the fast fashion industry, where else can you go?

Well for one, thrift shops. Didn’t you read the earlier tip? Another option is to shop and support local creators. Oftentimes, they’re the ones using high quality fabrics with a longer shelf life, easily recyclable materials like single-composition fabrics, or natural fibers like bamboo that biodegrade easily and pose less harm to the environment. Don’t know where to start? I got you covered. Here are some local options here in Malaysia with some seriously cute clothes if I do say so myself.

And there you go! Now you have no reason to claim ignorance the next time someone quizzes you on fast fashion. You also have everything you need to know in order to avoid it and do your part in keeping the environment safe and clean for years to come. Happy shopping!

References

Harinderan, K 2023, Waste Management In Malaysia: Generate Less, Separate More, BusinessToday, viewed 10 June 2024, <https://www.businesstoday.com.my/2023/12/06/waste-management-in-malaysia-generate-less-separate-more/#:~:text=Fabric%20waste%20made%20up%203.1,the%20fabrics%20cause%20water%20pollution.>. 

Hayes, A 2024, Fast Fashion Explained and How It Impacts Retail Manufacturing, Investopedia, viewed 10 June 2024, <https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fast-fashion.asp>. 

Hill, M 2023, What Is Slow Fashion?, GoodOnYou, viewed 10 June 2024, <https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-slow-fashion/>. 

Rauturier, S 2023, What Is Fast Fashion and Why Is It So Bad?, GoodOnYou, viewed 10 June 2024, <https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/>. 

Unzipped Staff, 2018, The Definitive Denim Care Guide, Levi Strauss & Co., viewed 10 June 2024, <https://www.levistrauss.com/2018/04/20/definitive-denim-care-guide/#:~:text=Wash%20Cold.&text=Washing%20with%20cold%20water%20protects,your%20wallet%20and%20the%20environment.>. 

‌Vito, F 2022, Explainer: What Is Slow Fashion and How Can You Join the Movement?, Earth.Org, viewed 10 June 2024, <https://earth.org/what-is-slow-fashion/>. 

[mirrorballwhoistrying]

The month of Mental Health Awareness (08.06.2023)

May is the month of mental health awareness, funny how that was also the month that I was and still am mentally at my lowest. 

Coming back from Vietnam, life didn’t slow down that much. We were preparing to go to KS trip. I don’t know why I can’t behave normal at all around people I’m attracted to. Especially, when that person is not available. What the hell?

It was the trip with the company but V brought her bf. He’s the typical perfect good guy that takes care of everybody. Too bad, I lack the stupid skill to make friends with guys. I felt a sense of emptiness. What was I trying to do exactly? Cause a scene? Tried to make a show to get some attentions from available guys? What was I thinking? Was I trying to prove how good I am just so to “show” I’m a worthy person that got to know to? I don’t know, well the trip ended and I’d never see him again, and why did I make this whole company trip experience about him anyway? The trip was fun and I took some nice photos. Then boom, my mom asked me to go to VN for health check-up the very next week, while I also need to start the first session for M4I. Like Can I get a break? I agreed to go to VN with mom anw. and what the hell? I suddenly got an email about the AFP interview?! Make it make sense! I also had like only 2 days to prepare for the interview!

I drafted the answers. It took me quite awhile. I tried to reach out to alumni. Too bad the time was really short and I couldn’t get much done. The interview didn’t go as well as I expected. The judges looked bored. One of the judges made it clear that they don’t want the interview to be too scripted. Too bad I’m a robot and don’t have much personality. I said I don’t care about AFP anymore. but I still f-cking care! The whole interview kept replaying in my head for awhile!

I also bought a new pair of glasses. It didn’t look too good on me. Another episode of me making rush decision. 

I went to the first session of M4I. It was cool to meet all these amazing people. It’s something I’m going to look forward next few months. Except the crack between our team is showing. The thing is I got to meet and talk to b VV. I was truly inspired how chill he was and how he started his page! He did all his videos on CapCut!

I went to Vietnam without much expectation. I know my energy was really low. I wasn’t energetic at all. I planned to sneak out at night but I was too tired already. I don’t know. I feel like I’m 17 all over again around my relatives. 

The good part was talking to J K and got to hear her stories, struggles and encouragements. She’s the reason why my parents are less worried about my career although they don’t know much. It’s so emotional to hear her stories and struggles. I wish her all the best. 

The days after coming back from VN, my life didn’t get any much better. My mental health was at it’s lowest. I wanted to consult the therapy but it was too expensive.

I forgot to address the elephant in the room. CH stopped messaging me. I should have seen the sign after the first date. He became less and less responsive. Seems like I can’t keep anyone in my life. Why it affected my self-esteem so much? Was the problem about me? Or maybe I should focus on a good version of myself before expecting people to come and stay in my life? Or maybe I should take things less personal and think of more about compatibility. 

I also went to Pride Fest. It was okay. Funny how my senior saw me there and texted me online. Well, I can’t seem to keep any connection going. 

This month is my birthday month and it makes me depressing than ever. On a good side, one of my videos reached 100K views on Tik Tok and I posted my first vlog too. The worst part is my freelance work. I owe Chef N’s work for quite some time now. 

I also spent the first week of June, stressed myself out to complete 2 applications which I think I might not likely get selected at all. It really took a toll on me mentally. 

I feel like this month is like an epilogue. Wait last month I said it was an epilogue too! Well, I feel like it’s a transition phase. I plan to post videos on FB soon, while I haven’t edited the videos. 

Seem like a lot happened this month but doesn’t guarantee much good things. I feel so empty before my birthday. I’m a living death currently. I think I’m going to focus more on freelance work and my page more in the next couple months. 

I just want to be happy! 

[wp100]

I agree with the asparagus and brussel sprouts, but cauliflower? I eat that RAW. It's one of my favourite vegetables

[virtual--hug]

BNHA Imagine - Spiderman

A/N: So... Marvel huh? There was literally nothing specific that inspired this other than me just suddenly feeling like writing this AU. Also, this would have totally been posted yesterday, but I decided I was going to add Sero because what's a Spiderman reference in BNHA without Sero.

Characters: Izuku Midoriya, Hitoshi Shinsou, Hanta Sero, and Shouta Aizawa x GN Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Mentions of harassment in Sero's (reader and other characters get followed by someone) & robbery in Aizawa's.

Summary: Either imagine the MCU or the BNHA universe, but the majority is quirkless so heroes are much more rare. Where, these heroes hear their crush mention or talk about their secret hero identity.

Word Count: 3.5K

Izuku Midoriya

  "Have you heard about that new hero yet?" Midoriya had heard the words more than once in his school. But, it still shocked him to the core when he heard your friend ask you about it.

"Huh? I don't think I have." You replied.

Midoriya attempted to be just slightly more subtle in his eavesdropping. He looked back to the books before him; afterall, he'd been studying just moments before you and your friend entered the library. It wasn't like it was uncommon for the two of you to come to the library; Midoriya was just really bad at not eavesdropping. 

"Seriously!" They exclaimed, "C'mon, look at this!" 

Midoriya did everything in his power to not look back up to see what your friend was showing you. He had a likely guess, though. The green haired boy wasn't inept on social media; he kept close tabs on any public information that was spreading about him. Admittedly, it was relatively isolated right now: local news and posts from people mostly located within this town. In this instance, he'd already seen the video on his own and had been shown it by Uraraka. It was a video of him, (well, the masked hero "Veridian") jumping across the tops of buildings and sliding down a fire escape before promptly looking at the camera after the person behind it yelled. 

"So," Your friend prompted once the video presumably ended, "isn't he hot?" 

Izuku instantly flushed.

"Kind of, but you can't just say that after seeing one video of him." You countered. 

"Well you haven't seen the other videos. Hold on, there's one where he saves a cat, and he's so cute! Let me find it." Your friend began scrolling through her phone while Izuku was absolutely burning in his seat.

"Kind of? What do they mean by kind off? Do they mean I'm hot? No one's ever called me that before!" Izuku repeated mentally. He really hoped he wasn't muttering those words.

"Oh, hey Midoriya. 'Didn't notice you there!" Once your attention was away from your friend's phone, it seemed you finally took notice of your surroundings. Izuku wasn't too far from the two of you, just a table away.

"H-hey (L/N)!" He returned the greeting. He failed miserably to hide the stutter, blush, or the small giddy smile overtaking his face. Midoriya wasn't a completely hopeless romantic, at least. He'd made multiple efforts to talk to you (with varying levels of success), and you sat next to him in one of the several classes you two shared. Although, he wouldn't boast his ability too much; Midoriya and you were acquaintances at most. 

"Look, found it!" You seemed ready to say more, but you were quickly distracted by your friend shoving another video towards you. 

His next words died on his tongue, but he could still feel a tiny smile on his face as he tried to make his brain focus back on his notes before him. Although, his attention was really on you. 

Hitoshi Shinsou 

   "Shinsou loves heroes– actually, he knows a couple heroes!" Kaminari loudly declared while Shinsou paled at the accusation. He regretted this interaction instantly. 

Denki Kaminari was undeniably the school flirt– when they graduated in a year the title will be under his name in the yearbook. Kaminari went to every social event he had access to, talked to anyone who would listen, and was more or less the class clown. And, he was Hitoshi Shinsou's best friend since middle school. The relationship was very obviously odd. Shinsou sort of disappeared in the crowds with his dark clothing and frequent silence, meanwhile Kaminari was visibly bright and could fill a room with just his voice.

Despite their differences, Shinsou wouldn't really have it any other way. Kaminari was a good friend, and, no matter how popular he got, he never skipped out on Shinsou. But, at times like these, the purple haired boy really wished he could go back and just strangle the blonde before they could have even met.

Today, Kaminari had tugged Shinsou from their usual library spot to the much busier high school cafeteria. All the while, he rambled on and on with a mix of some much needed context for Shinsou. 

"So– y'know your crush, right?" Kaminari began.

"I don't have a–" the blonde didn't even let Shinsou speak as he continued, "Well, I just got sat next to one of their friends in Algebra, they're cute by the way. And, they said I could sit with them at lunch. So, as your great best friend who won't let you keep pining for (Y/N) for the rest of high school, I'm bringing you with me!"

"I have homework to do, though." Shinsou tried to avoid the event he was being "invited" to. 

"Nope, now you don't. Did you miss the part where I said you won't be pining anymore?" Kaminari repeated.

"I didn't tell you about this just for you to drag me around school and play matchmaker." The purple haired boy attempted to dissuade the blonde with his cynical comment. 

"Must suck because we're here." As usual, it didn't work, and they were standing at the entryway of the cafeteria

The blonde rather easily found the group, and Shinsou was just as easily ditched by the blonde to sit beside you. He could, maybe, forgive Kaminari for this just a little bit. It was pretty easy to strike up a conversation with you; the two of you shared a couple of classes, afterall. But, that goodwill ended instantly when Shinsou and you were brought back to the conversation of the rest of the table. "Hey, Shinsou, what do you think about heroes?" 

He wasn't quite sure what led up to the conversation, but he answered normally, "They're cool, I guess." 

"Oh come on– Shinsou loves heroes! Actually, he knows a couple heroes!" The only indication of what Kaminari was about to say was a seconds-long, telling stare.

Shinsou had to channel all his willpower in that moment to not get up and drag the blonde out of the cafeteria right at that second. He'd told Kaminari when the blonde found out about him being a hero, "I don't want this to be a public thing, alright. It's for my safety and everyone else that this stays secret." What was he even trying to do by mentioning it? Make himself more popular? He promised in that same conversation he would never do something like that– no matter how awful he is at keeping secrets. 

"What heroes do you know?" Was asked on top of, "Do you really?" 

"He's lying. I've talked to a hero that comes near my apartment, but that's about it." Shinsou countered. He could back that up, right? He'd talked to a couple of older, underground heroes, but he'd have to twist the story just a bit about why they were talking.

"No, you're lying," if looks could kill, Kaminari was six feet under, "He makes equipment and stuff for this new hero!" 

"Who!" The questioning shouts of your friends persisted. 

"Um– Mindjack…" Shinsou didn't know what else to add about him– well, himself. This wasn't what he planned for at all today, and Kaminari will be paying for it.

"Huh– never heard of him." Relief flooded over him at the words of the first response.

"I guess if they're new then there isn't much out about them yet." Another friend spoke. They were technically right, but it was more like Shinsou actively avoided any sort of public attention in the past two years he'd been officially doing hero-work now. 

"No wait, we had a real question to ask first," Someone else said before holding a phone towards Shinsou, "Which hero is hotter?"

Shinsou had to stop his complete deadpan expression at the words just uttered. It was the person sitting next to Kaminari too– no wonder the blonde liked them, that was exactly something he would ask. 

"Uh– the left one, I guess." He answered bluntly. Thankfully, it was enough for everyone else to head back to their conversations even as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

Instantly, his eyes were on Kaminari. He was trying to corral the group, more specifically the one person he had interest in, out the door as soon as possible. Kaminari had been friends with Shinsou for long enough to know the "your days are numbered" look, and he was wisely trying to escape. 

"Hey, um–" Luckily for Kaminari, a voice interrupted his war path towards the blonde.  You, who had been silent most of the previous interaction, finally began talking again.

"Do you actually work with Mindjack?" You asked.

"Yeah, I kinda do. I help– him make equipment and those sorts of things." It felt odd talking about himself in the third person.

"That's so cool!" You exclaimed, "I've been wondering for a while how things like that voice modulator work– oh, and the capture scarf too! Did you, or him, based it off Eraserhead? They seem really similar, but I've never really seen them work." 

The more you talked, the bright red Shinsou's face flushed and his heart raced, "You know who Mindjack is? And Eraserhead?" He voiced his thoughts exactly. Well, more exactly would be the wonders of how you knew about his equipment. Had people managed to take pictures of him? When? 

"Well um– yeah, kind of. There's a lot more interesting communities about the less– mainstream heroes, you could say. Sorry if the questions were weird, though! I get it if it's private information and stuff." You rambled your explanation. 

Heroes had been brought up only a couple of times the two of you talked, but he had no clue you were such a big hero fan. Much less that you knew a lot about underground heroes of all things.

"It's not weird," he quickly corrected, "Um– I have some of the basic designs I could show you tomorrow for the artificial vocal chords, that's what the voice modulator is called. I'm sure Mindjack wouldn't mind if you saw them." 

"Really? That'd be great, thank you so much!" You smiled brightly. Maybe, some of that forgiveness for Kaminari returned…

But only a little. 

"Seriously? I work with heroes?" Shinsou asked Kaminari, who was currently dangling from the ledge of their apartment building with Shinsou's binding cloth as the only thing keeping him from falling the multiple stories. Was it cruel? Yeah. But, would he drop the blonde? Probably not. 

"C'mon, I didn't say you are one! And, it worked didn't it? (Y/N)'s super into heroes, and I saw you two talking after!" Kaminari explained. 

"So you were trying to set me up?" Shinsou spoke evenly. Neither continued rage or a new calm was particularly clear in his voice.

"Does that make it better or worse?" The other timidly asked. 

"Neither!" 

Hanta Sero 

   Sero's rooftop swinging halted as a shout came from somewhere below him. It was a couple people shouting things along the lines of, "Leave us alone" and "Stop following us!" Neither of those phrases were usually a good sign. He scanned the area quickly before making his way over to the group he could see in the distance: it was a group of six huddled together with the perpetrators clearly being three guys following behind.

"C'mon, I didn't mean to scare you away. It was just a joke." One of the guys insisted. 

"No, it wasn't just a joke." One of the people in the group shouted back.

The guy previously speaking stepped forward, "Babe, I really didn't mean it. Just come back to the party and–" 

He was interrupted by someone else, "Just go away. She's not going back–" 

"I didn't ask you!" The guy snapped and shoved whoever had interrupted him to the ground.

"Okay, now seems like a good time to do something." Sero determined. From his previous spot, he jumped to the sidewalk– perfectly landing between whoever this guy was and the other group. Lucky for him (and his dignity) he didn't mess up the landing as he did many times before.

"You alright?" He addressed the person who had been pushed first and– oh shit.  Sero recognized you instantly. You were dressed slightly differently from earlier, but it made sense; you had just been at a party after all. 

"Yeah, we're all going," You had mentioned during lunch, "(Name)'s going with her boyfriend, but I get really bad vibes from him, y'know. So none of us really wanted her to be alone." 

Remembering that information, he easily recognized everyone standing around him now. Your friend group was the five others behind him, and your one friend's boyfriend was standing inches before him. 

"Thanks." You accepted the hand he had reached out to help pull you up. 

"Everything alright here?" Sero turned his attention back towards the upperclassmen before him.

"Yeah, we're fine." The guy responded.

"Um– yeah, I'm pretty sure fine doesn't mean pushing people to the ground," Sero said, "Why don't you go back to your party over there and leave these people alone." 

"This is none of your business, tape boy." He sneered. 

"Cellophane." Sero corrected. 

"Whatever," he scoffed, "just fuck off already." 

He reached a hand up to push Sero, much as he had done to you, only for his fist to be wrapped in a heavy layer of tape. "What?" Seconds later, he was stumbling backwards towards his friends– Sero having kicked him square in the stomach.

"Let's just get out of here, it's not worth it." One of his smarter friends suggested. 

The main guy muttered something before calling out to, presumably, his girlfriend, "You better call me later!" 

Sero had to hold back a laugh as one of your friend behind him whispered, "Don't fucking call him." 

"Asshole," You muttered as you watched the three guys retreat, "Thank you so much. Cellophane, right?" 

"Y-yeah," he stuttered, "No problem! Just get back home safe, got it?" 

God, he sounded like someone's Dad. He was so thankful for the decision to wear a mask and keep his identity secret.

"Sure thing!" You called back with a wave while a couple of other friends added, "Thank you!" 

He easily caught the ledge of the closest roof with his tape and pulled himself back up to return to his previous patrolling route. 

"Then he went like," You demonstrated a kick as well as you could from your seat at the cafeteria, "and he ran away! I can't believe he helped us, though. I don't know what we would have done if that asshole kept following us." 

"Yeah, that is lucky. I'm glad you guys were safe." Sero wasn't the best actor, but he seemed to be pretty good at convincing you that this was his first time hearing of this. 

"Yeah, I'm glad too… oh, and the hero was nice too! Like, he helped me up and everything." You continued talking about the hero.

"Wow, sounds like you have a crush on this hero." Sero teased. 

"Hm– wouldn't be the first time I fell in love with someone after talking once," You replied jokingly, "I'm sure he's cute under his mask, though.. Maybe I should try and get in more danger to get his number?" 

No matter if you were serious or not, a deep blush covered Sero's face. Did that mean you think he's cute? "Y-you could become his uh– archenemy or something, start robbing banks."

Whether you noticed or not, you didn't mention it, "Ooh an enemies to lovers thing, I like it." 

He awkwardly laughed, "Y-yeah…"

He was so bad at this. 

Shouta Aizawa 

   "Welcome in!" You called out as Aizawa slowly pushed the door open to the brightly illuminated Cafe. It was one of the few places that was open so late and served coffee good enough to get Aizawa to power through the night.

"I haven't seen you around in awhile, 'zawa." The wait staff was nice too. Well, you're the only person ever working at such a late hour. Also considering he was often the only person occupying the building at his very specific time, it was inevitable he ended up talking to you a bit.

"Been busy." He took a seat down at the exact spot across from you.

"With…" You prompted him to continue as you poured his usual. It wasn't too complicated of an order: plain, black coffee. 

"Finals week," he sighed deeply, "Lots of grading." 

Aizawa, unfortunately, found himself settled as a highschool teacher. He would really rather be teaching college level courses, but he began his hero work at the same time he got hired for a part-time teacher position. So, now he was just a full time teacher coupled with nightly hero work, and he did not have the time to switch up his routine. 

"I feel you," You nodded in agreement, "Well, as a student more than a teacher." 

You held up a messy notebook from behind the counter to indicate the studying you were doing prior. In the time you two talked, Aizawa learned that you had just recently returned to college after a many year break to finish the degree you dropped. The night job at the Cafe seemed to be your best bet for paying the simpler college expenses. 

"Don't let me distract you, studying is important." The man took a sip of his coffee. 

"Sure thing, sensei." You teased, "But seriously, I needed a break anyway. I've been working on it since my shift started –no one's really come in anyway, probably 'cause of the robberies and stuff." 

"Right, you told me about those. How's everything been lately?" He asked. 

"Fine, apparently there's been some sort of hero hanging around here and scaring guys off. So, maybe business will pick up again." You replied. 

The question was really only a formality. Aizawa was the said "hero" hanging around, and he was, in fact, "scaring away" any possible criminals after you'd informed him of the robberies. 

"They're probably hitting all the stores around. I hope there's at least someone else working with me whenever they come by here." You solemnly said.

"You can't call the police?" Aizawa mildly expected the answer you would give. 

"No, they won't really stick around unless they have some reason to believe it's soon. But, it seems like the group waits a couple before robbing another place. That's why they've just been hitting every store down the block in a row." You explained.

With the renewed resentment he had for the local police force (that same resentment had pushed him to become a hero in the first place), he changed up his patrol area to hang around the Cafe. He wasn't quite sure what the criminal group looked like, but he was successful in scaring off some suspicious groups so far. He kept a close eye on the Cafe too. If he saw anyone go in, Aizawa was on guard until they left. 

Was it a bit over the top? Yeah, Aizawa would admit to that. 

"At least someone is doing something around here." He responded to your explanation.

"Yeah, it's nice to feel a bit safer around here." You smiled.

Aizawa went to take another sip of his coffee –only to notice that he'd finished the cup in the rather short time you two had been talking. Awkwardly, he placed the mug back down after pretending to take a final sip. 

"Want any more?" You seemed to notice while holding up the coffee pot.

"No," his voice held evident disappointment at the denial, "I've had a lot today anyways, just thought I'd stop by."

Yamada had become very serious recently with getting Aizawa to stop drinking as much coffee. "Only 3 cups at most," the blonde English teacher declared, "Otherwise, I'm sending you home and you're sleeping for the day."

It was unfortunate the man was so good at talking to others, especially their boss, to actually make the threat a reality. He'd demonstrated so just last week. 

"Aww, thanks! I enjoy it when you come by, too." You smiled. 

"Oh uh– I've been meaning to ask. Can I get your number– i-if you're alright with that. We've been talking a lot here, so I thought that maybe it'd be nice to see you when I'm not on the clock for once." You nervously added. 

Aizawa paused for a moment in contemplation. He hadn't really given his number out in a long time, much less to someone he found himself interested in, and it was mostly because of his secretive hero career. The moment Yamada got close to him, it was only weeks later the blonde found out about the hero stuff. 

"This is different." He concluded the train of thought before verbally responding, "Sure, here." 

You beamed as you pulled your phone out and put your numbers in each other's phones. "See you around soon, 'zawa." You called out as the dark haired man left after paying. 

A small smile came across his face when he received your first text only moments after he had resumed his perched spot near the Cafe, "good luck getting me to stop bothering you now >:)" 

[miekasa]

any spare levi headcanons tonight????? 😁😁😁😁

Sure, why not, he is the love of my life after all. These are pretty random, and fit in some sort of generalized modern boyfriend au. Hopelessly domestic, as that is the nature of nearly everything I write for Levi, anyway. Also still terribly obsessed with the idea of him with a motorcycle, so there’s that.

He owns at least six black blazers. They’re nearly identical; slight differences in texture and cut, one with lapels, one that’s boldly all leather that you swear you’ve never seen him wear. They’re kind of his go-to staple, other than a sweater.

That being said, he doesn’t exclusively wear all black. His closet leans towards more neutrals, sure, but he’s not allergic to color. You might not catch him wearing neon orange on the average day, but he’s not averse to a nice shade of green, any shade of purple that suits his mood, even a softer pink.

He has towels and rags he sets aside especially for you when he comes over. He always washes them and put them back in place when you leave so that they’re ready to go for next time.

Claims to not have any attachment to the shows/dramas you watch, but he’s totally backseat watching. Halfway into every single series, he starts sitting down when you turn it on, and scoffs at dumb decisions the characters make.

He splurged on one of those frame TVs that look like a painting when they’re idle. It was a good investment in his opinion.

He doesn’t hate Starbucks drinks—there’s worse things out there in terms of quality of tea. What he despises about the establishment is the way they call out names for you to pick up your order. He’s learned that mobile order ahead is the way to go.

Has slippers for around the house, so consequently, you have slippers for walking around his house. He keeps both pairs (and a few extra for friends and guests) tucked neatly beside the door for easy access; yours always go next to his.

Does not understand the purpose of a robe. Buy him one tho and he will suddenly find an excuse to wear it: making breakfast, lounging around watching TV, doing some light cleaning and dusting. It’s comfy, alright, he can admit that much.

The little puppy you got him that he swore he was not going to warm up to now gets the royal treatment. The best doggie goods and treats, top rated shampoos, cutest drying towels, even a miniature couch he constructed just for the pup. They’re best friends, there’s no breaking that bond now.

Speaking of the puppy, affectionately named Captain, Levi can be found walking him every day shortly after work. They have a few different routes, but they always pass by the local vendors/market, who enthusiastically anticipate their appearance every day. Some of the older ladies running stands have even taken to bringing a few treats with them for Captain—after bundling up some goods for Levi, too, of course.

Captain also has a special doggy backpack Levi uses for when he’s on his motorcycle. If you follow anybody on TikTok in his area, you’re bound to see at least one video of the pup while Levi’s out riding. He’s become viral on social media without even knowing it.

(When you show him a video someone posted of him and Captain with well over 100k likes, and a million views, he only rolled his eyes. But remembers that particularly day; remembers the folks had a kid who politely asked to pet the dog, so he let him. He also maybe asks you to send the link to him).

On the subject of the motorcycle, there was a good few weeks he wouldn’t let you on it. Always found an excuse, a smart reply that was punctuated with gentle push on your forehead and calling you too clumsy for it. Later, you found out it’s because he’d ordered you a helmet; didn’t want to risk you riding without one.

He always keeps it in the storage compartment should he make a stop to pick you up while he’s riding; and he usually wears at least two layers to have a spare to wrap you in before you get on.

When he cooks, he always makes sure there’s enough for leftovers and/or to give you some later. He also bakes frequently, and at least once a week, he stops by with some kind of treat for you—“Trying out a new recipe, let me know if you think it’s missing anything.”

On the subject of food, he won’t police what you eat to annoying extent; he knows that not everybody has the time or will to make pasta from scratch like he does. But, he will smack your wrist if you consider ordering fast food when you’re over at this place. Give him 30 minutes and a single pan, he’ll make something much better than whatever you can find on Uber Eats.

Really, though, he doesn’t mean to obnoxious about the homemade food thing, it’s more habit for him. Growing up, he had to learn to be resourceful, so buying fast-food isn’t ever at the forefront of his mind. Cooking for you also turns out to be something somewhat intimate that he enjoys, so just let him.

Once bought an Apple Watch because he liked the look of them, it wasn’t insanely expensive like other high end watches, and it could connect to his other devices, so why not? A week later he returned it, the ping of his notifications were in one too many places for his liking.

You tried to convince him to keep it—“At least for when you’re jogging! It can track your activity and calories!”—but he clicks his teeth. He’ll survive without keeping track of them.

He learned the hard way that jogging with Captain is no good. His legs are too tiny and Levi ended up carrying the puppy the entire time. Captain is more of a walk dog… or ride on the back of his bike dog.

If you changed anything in his phone settings—like the ringtone for you contact, or the sound his keyboard makes—he wouldn’t go back in and try to figure out how to reset it. Unless it was something obnoxious, like adding an autocorrect shortcut to say something lewd.

He doesn’t really listen to music when he’s just walking. When he’s on a run, that’s fine, but he somewhat prefers to just… hear the environment around him when he’s on a stroll or a break from work. The only reason he’d have headphones on in public is to take a phone call, but even then, he’d prefer to wait until he’s somewhere more private.

He likes having you over at his apartment and has contemplated asking you to move in. He doesn’t want to rush anything, though, so he’s content with your sleepovers for now. (Though he really cannot fathom that you call them “sleepovers” like you’re 14. Please).

He speaks to his mother at least once a week, and she always asks about you. Levi tells her that you’re fine, gives her small updates about you, but Kuchel really just wants to know when the wedding is. He pretends to be busy whenever she starts asking and conveniently ends the call.

Occasionally, he’ll stop by and take you out for lunch. Depends on how much time he has during the day for himself, but he always enjoys sharing a meal with you.

Whenever you’re out with your friends drinking, Levi will pick you up. Even if you already told him that you’d Uber home; as soon as you text him that you’re going to leave soon, he’s already on his way.

He makes pretty good cocktails himself. Teases you for running his alcohol supply dry when the truth is he has more of your favorites in his cabinet than his own. He secretly likes the way you flirt with him when you’re tipsy.

You don’t always cuddle on top of each other when you sleep together. You can just lay by each other and that’s enough; but sometimes, you catch Levi turning towards you in his sleep, reaching for your hand. His body seems to search for yours subconsciously, and you swear there’s a hint of a smile on his sleeping face when you put your hand within reach.

Do not try to pay for dinner when you’re out with him. He’ll pull the “I’m going to use the restroom” move and pay the bill behind your back if he needs to. Open your own doors, maybe; pull out your own chairs, sure if you want; but not this.

He flosses very diligently every night. Mostly because he fucking hates the dentist, so if he takes the extra steps and is extra careful with his teeth, he doesn’t have to go as often, right?—Wrong, it’s the one time the roles are reversed, and you and Hange have to wrestle him into the doctor’s office.

On the flip side, if there are any doctors you routinely avoid and/or forget to schedule check ups for, fear not, because Levi will do it for you. He’ll drive you there, too—the only caveat being, that he usually doesn’t tell you where you’re going until you’re almost there. You think he’s doing the mysterious man surprise date thing and then boom, he’s pulling up to the ophthalmologist. Good luck.

He’s purchased a physical, paper copy of the news on every one of your anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions. He keeps them all neatly tucked away in a drawer. Sometimes, he looks back on them—sees what was happening in the world around you on that day. Maybe someday he’ll cut them up and bind them together in a book for you.

He doesn’t like having headphones in when you’re home with him, and preferred if you didn’t either—unless it was for work or school. He welcomes you to use his speakers and play your music aloud; he likes listening to what you listen to. If you look closely, you can catch him humming along or tapping his foot when he really likes a song.

Saves pictures you send him in an album in his camera roll. Occasionally can be found scrolling through them—particularly if you’ve been away on a trip, or he hasn’t gotten the chance to see you because of conflicting schedules.

He takes relatively short showers and doesn’t have a strong preference for the water temperature, so he lets you shower first. Unless you want him to join you, of course.

It’s not hard to tell when Levi wants you. He becomes noticeably more touchy, even if that margin isn’t too wide by anyone else’s standards; and he rarely tries to hide it. It only happens in the privacy of your apartments; but he’ll come on to you—leaning a bit further into conversations, a hand on your knee, a kind of cloudy look in his eyes.

Sometimes he forgoes the attempts at being subtle, just kisses you out the blue, carefully backs you up against the wall, puts his hands on your hips. He can be awfully direct when given the opportunity.

[strawberrymilkgeorge]

Part Two. Jackbox Shenanigans

warnings: swearing word count: 2.6k (not including pictures) behind the screen (irl dream x reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

Y/n flinched awake, startled by the sounds traveling from the kitchen. Once again, the frosty air pricked her skin, trying to convince her to not move, to stay in bed under the warm blankets. Despite the feeling pulling her into her bed, she rubbed her eyes and sat up, grabbing her phone from her nightstand. Texts from Karl flooded her screen and she replied as she took her comforter off her mattress and wrapped it around herself. She pattered to the source of the noise to find her roommate was making food.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Naomi asked, eyes wide with concern as she looked at Y/n. "I dropped a pan."

Y/n, who was observing the world through one squinted eye, shook her head and she sat at the counter in the kitchen. "No, I should be awake anyway."

"You're usually awake much earlier. Late night?"

Y/n nodded. "George streamed and we all talked for a little after."

"Oh, yeah, I watched his stream this morning..." she started, eyes focused on the food in front of her but Y/n still caught the mischievous glint in her roommate's eyes.

"Of course you did," Y/n laughed through a yawn. "That's your lover."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you gave me his number he would be."

"He doesn't give it to many people. I just barely got it and I've been friends with him for a year. I'm pretty sure Karl doesn't even have it."

Naomi groaned, though Y/n knew it was a joke... for the most part. She got another text from Karl, and consulted Naomi for a second opinion.

"Should I post this?" Y/n asked, lazily holding up her phone with a picture on the screen. Naomi squinted as she looked back over her shoulder. "Karl keeps yelling at me too."

"Yeah! That's a cute outfit. Make sure to credit Karl or he'll yell at you for that as well."

"No chance I'm doing that."

.

Incoming FaceTime... karol <3

Y/n hit accept and held the phone up to make a face at Karl. He mimicked the position. "Hello, sir."

"Hello, ma'am."

"What are you doing?" she asked him, walking to the bathroom to brush her teeth, her comforter dragging on the floor behind her as it continued to protect her from the cold.

Karl got distracted and started messing with something out of the camera view. "Um, trying to figure out what to do for my stream tonight. What about you?"

"I'm waiting for you to give me a fit check!" Y/n yelled. Karl quickly looked at the camera and smiled. He set his phone down on his desk and ran backward so his whole body was in frame. He posed awkwardly a few different ways before running back and resuming his position.

"Yes!" Y/n hyped with a mouthful of toothpaste. "Let's go, Karl! Karl with the old man sweater!!"

He giggled. "You're the one that told me to buy it."

"Because it's sick. Doesn't mean it didn't belong to an old man before you."

Karl pouted before his face lit up. "Guess what. I met a girl."

"Oh?" Y/n cooed. "Where? Do you have pictures? Is she cute?"

"She's Jimmy's new cameraman. Camerawoman. I don't have pictures, and yes. She's very cute." His cheeks turned red and Y/n smiled, flipping off the bathroom light and heading to her closet. She threw her comforter back on the bed and tried to pick out an outfit.

"Come on, bud, elaborate. What's her name? Have you asked her out yet?"

"You don’t get to know her name, I don’t want to jinx anything. Plus, you’ll just look ‘Mr Beast crew’ and find out anyway. Also, no, I haven’t. I'm pretty sure she thinks I hate her because I have not said a single word to her. I get so nervous when she's around I freeze up and just like... act weird. And then as soon as she's gone, Chris freaking roasts me so bad."

"Aw, I can teach you how to flirt if you want!"

"Yeah, okay," he scoffed, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"What's with the attitude? I'm great at flirting."

"No, you're not. I watched Gogy's stream last night."

"What does that have anything to do with anything?"

"I heard the way you spoke to Dream."

"What?!"

"You have zero game, Y/n. Absolutely none. Zilch, if you will."

"Yeah, because I wasn't flirting with him?"

"Not successfully, at least."

"Karl, what?" Y/n laughed but she was so confused. "No part of me was trying to flirt with anyone in that stream."

"Oh, come on," Karl groaned. "Don't do this again. Don't pretend to not like a guy and then cry to me when you're wack ass attempts don't win him over."

"Karl," Y/n started, looking directly at him. "I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. I wasn't flirting with him. I do not like him."

"I'm just saying, you talk about him a lot. Like, you always panic when he interacts with your posts because you're scared he's going to DM you right after. And you gush about him a lot."

"I do not gush. I admire the hard work he puts into his videos but I talk the same about him as I do with George and Sapnap. The only difference is I'm friends with them and not Mr. Minecraft. He's intimidating, that doesn't mean I have a crush on him."

Karl stared for a moment, trying to read Y/n's expression to detect any lies. "You'd tell me if you did, right?"

"Karl, I tell you everything. I'd tell you if I murdered your family." They both laughed. "It's impossible to hide anything from you, you're my best friend."

"Okay, sweet, but please don't murder my family, just to be clear."

"I won't. I love your mom too much."

"Well, how was meeting Dream, then? Despite apparently not being in love with him?"

"It was cool. Terrifying because it felt very forced but the four of us hung out on the call after George ended his stream and he was much more relaxed."

"That's true. Aren't we all?"

"Not you! You're the exact same person on and off camera. Just a little ball of giggles."

Karl giggled which made them both laugh more. Suddenly, as if he completely forgot until that moment, Karl sat up quickly and yelled, "What am I going to do for the stream?"

Y/n shrugged. "See if anyone wants to play Jackbox. Chat always loves those and it's relatively easy to throw together last minute. You just need to find people that are free to play."

"Genius. Who should we invite?"

"We?"

"Yeah. It was your idea, you have to play."

"But, I've never played! And I barely know all your friends so I wouldn't get half the inside jokes. I'd be a boring addition."

"Please? They're your friends too! You just talked to Sapnap and George for four hours yesterday and George was the only one playing anything. That's friendship if I've ever seen it."

"But... others.... like literally everyone besides Sap and George...."

"Things like this are how you get to know them better. Besidessss, you're never boring."

"Fine, I'll play."

"YES!" he shouted. "Okay, who should we invite?"

**********

**********

Y/n huffed and scooted her chair closer to her desk. She pulled up Discord and hovered over the voice chat everyone was in. An overwhelming number of voices chaotically spoke over each other as soon as she joined.

"Oh no," she mumbled.

"AYYEE!!" a voice yelled, the green bubble lighting around Quackity's name confirming her suspicions.

"Aye," she said back less enthusiastic. "Hi everyone."

"She's here!" George cheered.

Y/n could hear Sapnap huff. "Finally. Geesh."

"This isn't even your stream, calm down." Y/n's eyes scanned the names on the left to read who else was involved in tonight's games. She had suggested a few people to Karl but wasn't sure about the final list. Besides the boys who had already greeted her were BadBoyHalo and Dream.

"Hello, Bugsy! It's nice to meet you! I'm BadBoyHalo."

Y/n smiled widely at his voice. "Hi, BadBoyHalo! Nice to meet you too."

Her eyes slowly traveled to the last name on the list, which had yet to greet her. She wasn't bitter, but she was curious why he hadn't said anything yet. The boys hyped up him talking about her so much but she had yet to feel that energy from him. She picked at the bottom of her hoodie, eyes darting between the names as they lit up when someone spoke.

"Is Dream still AFK?" Sapnap asked.

"I think so," Bad replied.

Maybe that's the only reason he hadn't said anything. Y/n felt stupid for thinking it had anything to do with her.

"He's probably coding something or something like that," George teased.

"Haha nerdy ass man," Quackity cackled.

"Language."

"Don't you also code shit, George?" Sapnap called out. "You're probably helping him test something after this, huh? As Quackity said, nerdy ass man."

"You know what, Sapnap? I'm not sure I like your attitude all that much."

Y/n smiled. Despite feeling nervous, she was already having fun just listening to everyone talk. The real nerves would kick in when they were live in front of tens of thousands of people and she would have to be funny.

A message popped up in the general chat, notifying everyone that Karl was joining the voice call soon so they shouldn't say anything bad.

"Everyone say something weird," Quackity directed.

Discord dinged and Karl's name joined the list on the side. "AAAHHHH-!" he started yelling over everyone to let them know he was here in case they were saying anything bad. With his luck, they were going to say stuff anyway to mess with him.

"So, yeah, that's how I lost my virginity," Quackity said as if he just finished a story.

"To a prostitute?" Sapnap added quickly. "Wow, I never thought you... oh Karl!"

"Language!" Bad gasped.

"What the..." Karl laughed loudly. "What did I just join?"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry," Quackity apologized, which was hard to make out since he was laughing so hard, surprised at what Sapnap added to his joke.

"Bad, you can't say language about a prostitute," Sapnap defended. "That's really rude of you. Maybe it's a little unconventional but they're just tryna make some money the best way they know how."

George laughed with Quackity as Bad sputtered. "I-I said language about what Quackity said!"

"What, virginity?" Karl asked innocently and Bad yelled again.

"Bad hates people who have had sex!" Y/n called, causing Quackity to laugh loudly.

"Bad! How could you?! That's so messed up!"

"Wait, guys, is everyone here?" Karl asked.

"Dream isn't. We don't know where he went."

Karl groaned and started typing something, presumably yelling at Dream to join.

"Let's goooo! We're popping off!" Quackity started saying, stalling. "We're popping off!" George joined him, becoming absolute fools to keep the chat entertained.

"Okay, he's here!" Karl said. "Everyone's here!"

"I'm here, I'm here, sorry. I was... yeah, sorry," Dream stuttered out.

"Welcome back, Dream!" Bad chirped.

"Hello!" he replied. Unexpectedly, his next greeting was directed at Y/n. "Hi, Bug."

Y/n instantly got shy for no discernable reason. She blamed it on his voice and its ability to manipulate emotions any way he wanted. That and she was getting attention from someone first. "Hi," she squeaked back, hoping the contrast of her icy hands would cool her face enough to focus on the game.

"Bugsy, you are adorable," Bad stated simply.

"Sapnap! What did you just send me?" George asked loudly, and just like that, the attention was off of her and she could breathe again.

"What?" Sapnap feigned innocence.

This was going to be a long game.

"Let's play!" Karl decided. "Should we warm up with some Quippy?"

Y/n focused intensely on her answers, silently hoping the others would find her funny.

"Oh my gosh," she mumbled as everyone else finished writing. "Y'all, I'm about to get Quiplashed so hard. Don't make fun of me."

"I seriously doubt it," Dream said. "You can't possibly be worse than George at this game."

"Shut up, we always-  it's like 3 am my time. I can't, like, think of things 'cause my brain isn't functioning."

"Yeah, that's why," Sapnap teased.

"Surreee," Dream said.

The first round wasn't too bad. Y/n was in 5th place but she got quite a few laughs so she didn't care too much about where she stood. She got a notification from Dream on Twitter as everyone laughed at one of Quackity's answers.

Y/n looked back at her screen and saw the new prompt and answers. She read them quickly as everyone was laughing and with a few seconds left to choose, voted for the one on the left. It was funnier anyway.

She loosened up substantially after another round, and she knew it was mostly because Dream had reached out to her. Something about him comforted her and made her feel safe, which warmed her heart.

"Bugsy! What the hell, that's so messed up. You're so messed up," Quackity yelled, laughing at the answer on the screen. They were playing Survive the Internet and her comment got taken way out of context, just as the game intended.

"Oh my gosh!" Karl cackled loudly. "Bugsy, I didn't know you felt that way. Oh my gosh? They're just kids?? Bugsy out the gang?"

Y/n hid her face in her hands and laughed. "Noooo!! Wait I never knew- I didn't know I was ever in the gang?"

"She really said, 'infant children? slaughter them all'," Sapnap joked.

"You know, I think you'd get along really well with Technoblade," Dream added. "Though his specialty is orphans, as it appears."

"No, no, no, whoever wrote that heading is SO messed up!" Y/n defended, rereading the heading that made her comment look bad. She knew it was a game but all the attention on her was making her embarrassed. "Who would think to put that?"

"Everyone cancel Busgy!" Karl yelled.

"Karl, no! You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"I don't know how I feel about my best friend killing children..."

"Karl!!"

"Nooo," Bad protested softly. "I like Bugsy. Don't cancel her."

"Everyone vote!"

The article with Y/n's name turned out to be Dream's. "Dream! What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled, causing him to wheeze loudly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I wanted point."

The whole night ended up being like that. Y/n had a lot of fun and by the end, she felt a lot more comfortable with all of them. Quackity, Karl, and Sapnap were loud and very high energy while George and Bad were quieter. Dream was half and half, sometimes matching Quackity's volume and sometimes going a while without saying a word. Overall, Y/n had a lot of fun and hoped to let back in the gang in the future.

**********

PREVIOUS • NEXT

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A/N: WOOO PART TWOOO!! Hope you guys enjoyed this part! Also thank you so much for all the love on the first part!! I did not expect it to get as much attention as it did!!!!!

we clearly haven’t got to dream and yn being close yet bc they literally met the day before this but i added a small little dream/yn moment :] pls let me know how you liked this part!!!!!!!!!!!! 

taglist: OPEN (at the time) @hydrate-tion @loraleiix @tinaswagbd @charsdummb @smileyyuta @1ghoste1 @cerberus-hellhound @gaysludge @queestionmark @carnations-red @letsloveimagines @the-fictionwriters-hairdo @boiled-onionrings @a-cryptic @fee-btheweeb @letsloveimagines @erwinss @just-a-stan

[room-archive]

By now, some of you might have heard about the situation in Poland. The following text was posted on FB by a Polish friend of mine following the events of 07. August 2020 in Warsaw. It describes what happened, and the context of what led to the events of yesterday. Please reblog and share this post to spread awareness about the current situation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

For a very long time it has not been easy for me to write and talk about my country. Publicly, for a very long time I haven't. Disagreeing with most of what the current government stands for, that would have become a full-time job. Feeling that one is powerless, one can easily become indifferent and either emigrate abroad or immigrate inside to the bubble of like minded friends, trying to just go on with life regardless, to wait out the storm, to hope for the world to change one day on its own. I am guilty of doing both. But yesterday, I believe that Poland came to its turning point. We went to sleep in a troubled democracy and woke up in an authoritarian country that uses the full force of the state apparatus to oppress and unjustly prosecute members and allies of the LGBT+ community.

No good person can stay indifferent facing these circumstance.

General context:

👉 It all began members of the activist collective "Stop Bzdurom" (eng. Stop the Bullshit) spray-painted and cut the tires of an anti-abortion van. This van was taped with graphic images of dead fetuses and frequently driving through the streets of Warsaw. While the activists spray painted the van, the driver intervened and it came to a light physical quarell with pushing and elbowing. This is the video of this altercation: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1324521857722944&id=137358556439286

👉 On the basis of that, the Public Prosecution (which is under total political control in Poland - the Minister of Justice IS the Attorney General) decided to press charges of violent assault and destruction of property against one of the members of the collective - Margot. Margot identifies as a non-binary person (it will be important later in the story). Under those charges Margot could face up to 7 years in prison.

👉 Some weeks ago, Margot was dragged out of her apartment by police in civil clothing. At that point, police refused to give any information about her whereabouts or charges. It took many hours to establish that she was taken to the prosecution office for interrogation and to provide her with a lawyer. The prosecution filed for two months of arrest, awaiting trial. The court initially denied prosecution's request and released Margot. At that stage, this story could have ended as yet another, relatively harmless episode in our disfunctional democracy - unjust and infuriating of course, but at the end smoothened out by the somewhat independent parts of our judiciary.

👉 In between that and yesterday, the same collective hanged rainbow flags from monuments in Warsaw. One of those was a statue of Jesus. This was follwed by a wave of arrests under the charges of "desecrating monuments and offending religious feelings". The arrested were charged while our prime minister and president were visiting desecrated monuments and placing commemorative flowers.

And then yesterday happened:

👉 The prosecution appealed the court's denial to put Margot under arrest. Another court, for reasons still unclear, reversed the decision and decided to put Margot in jail for two months before any trial. There could not possibly be any reason to make such a decision legitimate. Margot is a special case because Polish arrest and correctional facilities are an extremely dangerous place for a (visibly) queer person like her.

👉 When Margot learned of the decision, she happened to be in the office of the biggest Polish LGBTQ+ NGO - Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (eng. The Campaign Against Homophobia). With the police on the way to arrest her (quite symbolic, isn't it), a few NGO’s asked people to gather in front of the office in a demonstration of solidarity. A few hundred people and plenty of journalists showed up, including multiple members of parliament from left and center opposition parties.

👉Margot decided that if she has to go, she won't just go quietly but as publicly as she can. She walked through the demonstration up to the police officers, offering herself to be taken away. They refused to arrest her. We thought they got scared of the public support and the cameras. It looks like we couldn't have been more wrong.

👉 The spontaneous demonstration moved to a nearby allegedly desecrated monument. There, peacful demonstrators were met by an excessively large police force seperating them from the monuments. And then someone has given an order to make an example out of demonstrators and turn the arrest into a show of power.

👉 First, an unmarked car approached. A bunch of police officers in civil clothing dragged Margot inside. For all that has happened later the crowd remained non-violent.

👉 Then, demonstrators sat down around the car to prevent it from leaving. (see Photo) The police attacked with an unprecedented brutality. Tens of undercover police officers arrived and together with their colleagues in uniforms they begun brutally attacking, beating, suffocating and throwing the demonstrators into police cars driving away with them. All that during broad daylight, in front of TV cameras. Without any shame or hesitation. Multiple photos of police brutality bellow. All questions about the basis of the detention were met with laughter. The protestors were not even called upon to disperse. Just faced with violence for the sake of power - no law, no order. TV cameras have caught police officers giving eachother orders to arrest "three random people from the crowd". Bystanders and people passing by were also arrested.

Yesterday in Warsaw is was enough to be in a wrong place, wrong time. We witnessed a straight up round up.

👉To paint the picture of the excess of the police brutality in more detail, I'll quickly describe one of the detentions. During that whole time, MPs (Member of Parliament) were present at the site. Now, they hold immunity from being arrested, but I don't believe anyone in Poland ever imagined that this immunity would have to be used in such a way. Among the photos below, there is one of a blonde woman, holding her hand on the back of a demonstrator, who's being pushed to the ground by the police. That women is an opposition MP who left yesterday's protests injured by the police and described in detailes what had happened. She saw police officers throwing the protester in the picture to the ground and kneeing her down. Her head was bleeding on the pavement. The MP run torwards them screaming to let go and pushing the police away. She lied down on the protester to guard her with her own body. Only then the police let the MP to put her purse under the bleading head of the protester (seen photo) and take care of the head-wound. The protester was then taken away by the police to an unknown location. That story is just one among many horrifying stories from yesterday.

👉 Later, noone knew where exactly the detained people were taken. We guess that around 50 people were arrested.

50 political prisoners.

Police has been refusing any information. The demonstration has moved under the main police stations and the second wave of random arrests happen (you can see it on the video: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=295720058542451&id=107750507339408).

👉Members of parliament and attorneys have been present at the police stations all night trying to get any information and to provide legal help to the detainees. In order to prevent this contact, police has started to move the arrested people out of Warsaw- a tactic straight up from the harshest repressions of the communist times. On one of the photos below you can see two MPs standing in the way of a police van in the middle of the night to prevent that from happening. People were being dragged out of the police stations to the transport vans. They were shielded on the way to the car by other police vehicles to make identification impossible. Few of them managed to scream out their last name. Attorneys were immediately requesting access to their clients, and were met by police officers bluntly lying that such a person was never there.

👉 To paint the picture in more detail, again, of what was happening on the police stations- below you have a photo of a lady reading a piece of paper standing in a window with bars. That's yet another Polish MP, reading a list of the people being held at that particular station to the desperate families searching for their loved ones.

As for today, we are still unsure about what is going to happen.

We know that the arrested people are being presented with bullshit charges, citing ”the participation in an illegal gathering with an aim of violently assaulting a person or a property". Those charges don't stand on any grounds - not only we have photos and videos - the whole peaceful protest was on live TV.

We know that the Polish Ombudsman and the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture has started visiting the police stations.

We know that the first international institutions have started to speak out. Example is in the photos below. With the gravity of what is happening, I'd urge for more and sooner.

Poland is not living up to any standards of a free country. Poland is below anything, that should ever be accepted within the European Union. The long-standing aspiration of my country to become a part of the "West" has shifted towards countries like Russia in a matter of a night.

I will fight this, my friends will fight this. We will not let this go gently into silent night.

But I am not sure how much more fight we have in us.

I'll end with asking all of you abroad for support. Let people in your countries hear about this. We in Poland may not be enough.

[pies-writes-and-more]

Hey I have a request!! Can you write a scenario with Bokuto, Tsukishima, and Sugawara where reader has a LOT of moles/beauty marks? I have 5 on my face alone, 3 in a line on my neck and more. It makes me insecure because it looks weird. Anyways, thank you sooo much! I absolutely love your writing!!!

Warnings: potential swearing as usual, insecurities about beauty marks/moles

Characters: Bokuto Kōtarō, Sugawara Kōshi, Tsukishima Kei, all with a Gender Neutral Reader (let me know if you find something gendered so I can fix it!)

A/N: thank you for the request darling! Sorry for the long wait!! Hope this is what you had in mind :) Also, all of them are right: you are beautiful!

Haikyū Masterlist

You didn’t understand why Bokuto seemed to only ever kiss your face exactly where you didn’t want him to.

You could stand in the mirror and point out things you didn’t like about yourself but your beauty marks were something you were self conscious about. You used to cover them up with light makeup every now and then but lately you hadn’t had the time or patience for it, so you just avoided looking at them.

But Bokuto, even after months of being together, seemed to somehow feel the opposite. He would press a kiss exactly on the moles on your face and when you were in private, he’d kiss the ones falling down your neck. He seemed so infatuated with them and you could never understand why.

One day he caught you trying to apply makeup again, finally sitting down and trying this new method that could cover up anything according to a makeup artist you’d seen on social media. His eyes wide and you could’ve sworn his hair drooped, “What’re you doing???” He screeched, immediately snatching your makeup from you.

“Bokuto!” You whined, huffing as you paused the YouTube video playing in front of you to pout up at him, “Give it back!”

He shook his head like a four year old, stomping his feet slightly, “Why’re you covering them?” He asked you, hands on his hips now.

There was no point avoiding the topic now. You sighed and glanced at yourself in the mirror, half of them covered and the other half just staring you in the face. “They’re ugly,” you whispered quietly, avoiding his eyes.

“Ugly?” Bokuto scoffed and sat down next to you, hugging his knees to his chest and setting your makeup down. “How could they be ugly?”

You had heard this before. All of your friends and family always went, “No Y/N, you’re perfect!” But it was always so fake. You knew they were just saying it to be nice.

But Bokuto just paused, watching you for a moment and handing you back your makeup. You blinked up at him in surprise, noting his small smile. “If it makes you feel better, go ahead. I want my love to always feel their best. But...” he let out a nervous sort of chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. “I really like them,” he admitted sheepishly.

You knew he was being honest just because of the rosiness that was touching his cheeks. He squirmed in his spot, now avoiding your gaze. “Why?” You asked after a moment.

Bokuto straightened his posture for a moment before carefully choosing his words, “Someone once told me they were places your partner kissed you the most in your past lives. And...” he hesitated, cheeks glowing red now. “And I’d like to think I was with you in every one of our past lives so I want to keep kissing you there so you’ll love me in our next life too!” He blurted out quickly, rocking a little in his seated position.

You just stared at him. Sure you had heard of that little theory too, but you hadn’t ever had someone seriously retell it to you. But hearing it from him... you looked at yourself in your mirror again. It didn’t change how you felt about them. You still weren’t a huge fan. But hearing Bokuto genuinely love them... at least it lessened your insecurity about him hating them.

“I think you’re beautiful, Y/N,” Bokuto continued after a second, smiling at you and scooting closer to you. “If you need this makeup to help you see how beautiful you are, then go ahead! But I think you’re the most perfect human being out there!”

Your eyes teared up slightly, just hearing how sure he was. He smiled at you, pressing a kiss to your cheek before immediately looking through your makeup bag, “Can I try?” He asked excitedly, holding up a mascara tube and lipstick.

“You want to try wearing it or putting it on me?” You laughed, your face no longer feeling hot with embarrassment and shame.

“Both!” Bokuto grinned, begging you to teach him what each product was. He always knew just how to cheer you up, no matter what.

He knew you still disliked your marks, but Bokuto would continue to kiss them every chance he got unless you ever asked him to stop. He still wanted to recognize you in his next life, so even if those weren’t the marks you’d have, maybe he could give you some others you’d like more.

Sugawara’s fingers always traced over the beauty marks on your face, beaming when he pointed out that you two were twins for having moles together. He always had a smile on when he talked about it, always spoke about it so proudly like it was a mark of status or beauty.

But unlike Sugawara, you weren’t all that proud of it and you didn’t just have one. You often just gave him a smile and switched the topic, and though you always loved the feeling of his fingers dancing along your skin, sometimes you’d pull away to do something or distract him with something else if you felt like he was touching your marks too much.

He hadn’t realized it before, but came to the realization that maybe you didn’t like your marks when he caught you editing a picture of the two of you, your fingers magically causing those little spots to just disappear.

“What’re you doing?” Sugawara frowned, hugging you from behind and peering from over your shoulder.

“Just editing that pic of us before I post it!” You told him happily - it was such a nice photo and with a few simple touches, it would be perfect.

Sugawara watched you for a little longer, confirming his suspicions before knocking you on the head with the side of his hand.

“Hey! Suga, what the hell?” You groaned, rubbing the top of your head slightly. “What was that for?”

“Stop erasing my baby!” He shouted at you loudly, making you laugh nervously at just how loud he was being.

“I’m not erasing your baby!” You insisted, shaking your hands in front of you. “Just... my marks.”

Sugawara’s frowned stayed on his face as firm as ever, “They’re a part of you. And I love all of you. I love every single inch of your skin, whether you have a mark or not. I love you because you’re not like a cookie cutter version of a person, you stand out in the most beautiful of ways. I want you to be different, I want you to draw all the attention so I can say that one is mine.”

You smiled a little at his words, hearing the conviction in his voice. But your eyes glanced sadly at the photo, just wishing you didn’t have them.

“Hey,” he spoke softer this time, touching your chin up to look at him, “If you really don’t like them, fine. We all have our insecurities after all. But please don’t tell yourself you’re less beautiful because of them.” His hand slipped your phone from your own, peering at your editing work. “You looked like a completely different person,” he admitted with a sort of sad smile. “Still beautiful. But different. I like the version I have here with me.”

Sugawara’s arms were suddenly wrapped around you in a rib-crushing hug, his voice telling you firmly all the things he loved about you and how much he wanted to scream to the world every single thing that made him crazy about you. Eventually you were practically unable to breathe in his arms as they just got tighter and tighter and the two of you fell on the floor laughing after wrestling for a bit.

The photo is eventually posted unedited like he wanted, and now when you look at it, you feel just a little bit more loved, regardless of your marks.

Tsukishima knew even before you two were going out that you were self conscious of your marks. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with them, to be honest, they made your face that much more attractive, but you hated them so he always pretended like they weren’t there for your sake.

But he had caught you picking at one of them, as if absentmindedly thinking you could tear it off and everything would be okay.

His eyes narrowed as he realized what you were doing, reaching over to swat at your hands, and glaring at you from across the library table where two of you were supposed to be studying.

“If you start bleeding, I’m not taking care of you,” he scolded you, though you knew for a fact that he had started keeping bandaids in his bags for you cause sometimes you were that clumsy.

“Sorry,” you responded sheepishly, folding your hands in front of you in an attempt to stop picking at them. Your eyes focused on the sheet of paper in front of you, but you weren’t able to actually pay attention to anything on it. It was like an itch you couldn’t get rid of, an obnoxious little bump in your otherwise relatively smooth skin. Why did it have to be there?

Tsukishima watched as your eyes stayed still on your homework, obviously not actually reading anything. He sighed and reached over again, poking at your nose, “If you think I’m going to let you destroy your grades and your perfect body, I’ll hit you harder than I have before,” he threatened. He meant to say it gentler, in a somewhat more supportive and comforting way but his words were still as harsh as ever.

You gave him another shy smile, trying not to show just how uncomfortable you were, “They just get annoying sometimes,” you told him after a moment when he didn’t immediately go back to his work. “I feel like if I could tear them all off... maybe I’d look better.”

Tsukishima’s nose scrunched up slightly in annoyance, tilting his head up so his eyes were glaring down at you, “Do you think I’m going to let anyone talk about my partner like that? Idiot, if I heard those words from anyone else I would have your head by now."

You laughed a little, thinking about how Tsukishima got upset if anyone even said something remotely mean about you (”The only one allowed to bully you is me, Y/N, forget anyone else’s opinions. They’re all beneath you anyways”), “I just feel so... spotted with them. I feel like everyone always looks at them and there’s so many of them I can’t even hide them all.”

Tsukishima listened, he really did. He didn’t wave you off like usual and tell you to forget your insecurities because you were definitely the most perfect person out there so you had nothing to be insecure about. He listened and then just sighed, leaning back in his seat slightly and watching you.

“I think you’re magnificent,” he stated quietly, his eyes dashing away from yours as a blush brushed over his cheeks and nose. “I don’t want you picking at them because you’re just going to hurt yourself and I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” He paused for a second and then finally met your eyes. “Yamaguchi used to hate his freckles, but it’s probably the thing that I notice the most about him. They fit him so well in a way that I can’t describe. He wouldn’t be the same without them, he’d just be... someone else. Without your marks, you’d be someone completely different. I’m in love with you and all of you.”

You watched him as Tsukishima actually told you his emotions and spilled his love for you, a smile gracing your lips eventually, “I love you too, Tsukishima,” you mumbled after he finished, playing with your fingers.

“You better. Now come over here and give me a kiss before we start studying again,” Tsukishima smirked a little and you just rolled your eyes. You were going to argue back that he could just lean over the table and kiss you but he refused so you ended up having to go over to him, where he just pulled you on your lap and placed a quick kiss on your lips then on all the marks on your face. “Now go study.”

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[ravennm84]

Serafina

Part 2     Part 3

Based on @unmaskedagain post “Marinette’s Haunted Doll” this is my take on the story and the kind of things Serafina would have done to get even. There’ll be three parts, and will hopefully be posted through the week. Blood, gore, and character death ahead. You have been warned.

She was seven years old when her Grandma Gina’s sister, Ramona, passed away. Marinette couldn’t remember ever meeting her. Her dad said that she was a very private person and didn’t get out much. Since she had never married or had any children, all of her relatives were asked to come over to the house and divide the property before the rest was sold and equally divided. 

While her parents had been in the kitchen, looking over some family cook books, Marinette had wandered around the old house until she came to a small room. It was full of spiderwebs and old toys, which greatly interested her. She spent a long time looking through the boxes and shelves until she found a locked chest in the closet. Remembering the key she had seen in a dresser drawer, she retrieved it to see if it worked. It was hard to turn, but she heard the click and was able to open the lid. Inside was a box with an envelope laying on top of it. Curious she opened the envelope and read the note as best as she could.

“If I’m dead, Serafina killed me.”

Tilting her head in curiosity, Marinette set the letter aside and opened the box. Inside was an old looking porcelain doll. It was covered in spiderwebs, the dress was old and ripped, she was missing a shoe, and the hat looked like it was stained with red paint. 

“Are you Serafina?” She asked the doll before carefully lifting it out of the box. “I don’t think you’re bad, you just look lonely. But don’t worry, I’ll take care of you!” Giving the doll a gentle hug, the little girl got to her feet and left the room and letter behind. Finding her parents, she asked if it was okay to take the doll home so she could take care of her.

Tom remembered seeing that doll when he was a kid and had always thought it was creepy, but if his little girl saw the good in it, he would trust her. And since none of the other relatives wanted anything to do with the doll, it came home with them. 

Once home, the little girl raced up to her room with the doll and immediately got to work. She threw away the old dress, hat, and shoe before cleaning away all the dirt with a washcloth and carefully combing out the knotted hair. Then Marinette got to work on making Serafina a brand new outfit with new shoes and a hat. It took a few days, but she was really happy with what she came up with: a pink Victorian dress with rose and pearl accents, a wide brimmed hat with maroon feathers, and maroon slippers that tied with ribbons around the ankles.

Proud of what she had made, Marinette held the doll up high as she twirled around her room. She had been interested in fashion and clothes for months now, and making the pretty outfit for Serafina was a lot of fun. If anything, it proved to her that fashion design was what she wanted to do.

“I hope you like your new clothes, Serafina. You make the perfect little model, so I hope you don’t mind if I make more clothes for you later on. I promise to only make you clothes that will make you feel pretty.” Giving the doll a kiss, Marinette placed her next to her computer before skipping down stairs for dinner.

~oOo~

Serafina had not been expecting this when the young girl, Marinette, had opened her box. It had been decades since anyone had shown her any kindness. For so many years, she had been passed from person to person, shoved into boxes and hidden from sight or attempted to be sold off. Serafina had had no choice but to punish many of her past owners, and she had not been lax with their punishments. 

But she didn’t feel the need to do that with Marinette, this girl was different. She wasn’t afraid of her. She didn’t scorn her and hide her away where no one could see her. No, this girl was kind and made Serafina feel loved; something she hadn’t felt in nearly a hundred years. Staying with Marinette, she knew that she would be happy. So, no one needed to die here.

And she was.

The porcelain doll smiled quietly on Marinette’s desk as the years passed, and felt more for this girl than she could remember with anyone else. She felt beautiful whenever Marinette used her to experiment with a new outfit before she would make a full sized outfit for herself. She had fun when the girl would sing and dance around the room, sometimes even picking her up so she could dance with her. She felt entertained when she would play movies on her computer, one time watching a movie about a haunted doll like herself; they didn’t watch much before she turned it off, but Serafina thought it was funny. Scratching people and leaving notes wasn’t scary, she had done much scarier things than that.

As Marinette grew into a teen, Serafina felt proud as she grew from a shy girl into a fearless superhero. Her owner had a lot of love and light to give, so it made sense to her that she became Ladybug. She also felt scared for the girl, not wanting to lose her to Hawkmoth, but silently promised her that if she was ever hurt, the people who hurt her would pay her back in blood.

Serafina was also aware of the tiny god that gave Marinette her power, just as Tikki was aware of her. No doubt, the god could sense the darkness that dwelled in her porcelain body, but realized that she cared for the girl and would not harm her. So the little god wisely said nothing, she would hate it if Marinette suddenly feared her.

After all, the three of them were happy and at peace.

Until the day Marinette came storming into her room, complaining about a girl named Lila. From what she could hear, this girl was a liar and was using her friends. Knowing how much her human cared for other people, that didn’t sit well with how it would affect her. Then she didn’t hear anything about the girl for months. But when she was mentioned again, it quickly got worse from there. 

Serafina heard about the threats, the lies, almost being akumatized, her crush Adrien telling her to take the high road, all of it. She watched as one by one, her friends turned against her. Bullying her while accusing her of being a bully until only three of her classmates remained. She knew that the teacher and principal were useless and even accused Marinette of being a problem, especially after the expulsion. Serafina had nearly enacted her revenge that day, but held back when she was reinstated the next day.

Nathaniel, Rose, and Juleka were the only people left that believed her or even bothered to try and help in her class. There was also Kagami and Luka, Juleka’s brother. Serafina would admit, that boy was sharper than most. When he first saw her, his blue eyes studied her intently for a long moment until Marinette spoke up.

“That’s Serafina, she’s been passed down through my family for a long time. She was in really bad condition when I got her and took a lot of work to get her fixed up, but it was worth it. She was my first ever model and I’ve never felt lonely since she’s been around.”

Luka looked back over at the doll and gave her a smile. “I can tell, I’d bet no one gave her the proper love or attention until she came to you. And I think, if she could talk, she would say that you kept her from feeling lonely too, and all she wants is for you to be happy.”

Serafina liked that boy, a lot more than she had liked Adrien when he had come to play video games. The boy genuinely seemed to care for Marinette. And even though he could somehow sense that she was more than just a doll, he didn’t spill her secret. Yes, she approved of this one.

And then, less than a week after she returned to school, came the worst day. They were taking pictures at the school and Marinette had worked so hard on a new dress; it was pale purple cotton with teacup sleeves, a tulip skirt and pink lace at the hem. It was so sweet and looked like she was going to a spring tea party. Then half way through the day, she came into her room crying. Her makeup was smeared, there were bruises and scratch marks on her arms, another bruise on her cheek, her hair was a mess and covered in dark blue paint. The same paint that covered almost half of the dress. Tikki was doing her best to comfort the girl as she showered. Marinette was unable to save her dress and ended up throwing it away before she cried herself to sleep on her bed. 

Serafina was angry, the kind of anger she hadn’t felt since Ramona had attempted to burn her in the fireplace… and that hadn’t gone well for her. Tikki flew over to face her. “I know what you’re thinking and I can’t condone you falling into old habits and killing her entire class. Despite how much they’ve hurt her, it would still break her heart if they all suddenly died.”

The doll actually considered that for a moment before picturing some very specific people. Lila, the liar that was trying to take away/destroy the person she cared about. Alya, the best friend that betrayed her, acted like a hypocrite, and took joy in hurting her. Adrien, the boy that not only broke his promise to help her as a civilian, but continually harassed her as a pseudo-hero. And finally, Hawkmoth, the person that was constantly putting her in danger. Everyone else that had harmed her would be punished, paying back the harm they had done to Marinette in blood, but those four would pay with their lives.

Tikki shook her head. “As angry as I am with Adrien, you can’t kill him. Marinette still has feelings for him and if he dies, she might never get over him. I can’t stop you from punishing them, but please try not to kill them. You know that she has a big heart and it would hurt her to lose any of them, so please keep that in mind.”

Serafina would have argued, but the little god was right. Killing around Marinette would only upset her. So she would do her best to punish them without killing them… although, accidents do happen. 

~oOo~

It was easy enough to sneak herself into Marinette’s bag the next day of school. It was even easier to select her first victims. One of her classmates, Kim, stole her backpack and dumped out all of her stuff, including her. The boy laughed about Marinette bringing a doll to school as he ran up the stairs to keep it away from her. It took little effort to make the boy trip, in full view of everyone that had been watching, and fall backwards down the steps. 

Serafina had landed at the top landing with a perfect view of the boy’s tumble, and it was oh so satisfying. She could see his knee bent in the wrong direction, a bone in his arm protruding from the skin, and blood dripping from the cuts and open wounds. But the sound was even better, all the cracking and popping of bone before he began crying like a little girl, begging for his mom.  Ah, she hadn’t realized how much she had missed those sounds.

When the principal came out to see what was happening, she hid her presence and let the principal trip over her and fall as well. He even landed on Kim, causing more injuries to both of them. She held back a laugh as the grown man wailed and cried until the paramedics arrived. Loading the two into the ambulance while one of the teachers called the Board of Governors. A representative, M. Rupere, quickly came to take over the principal’s duties while he was gone, and was surprised when a bunch of students tried to blame Marinette for the incident.

“And how is it her fault?” He asked the students that surrounded him. “Did you see her push or trip M. Le Chien or M. Damocles down the stairs?

“Marinette brought in a doll and Kim was distracted by it when he was going up the stairs, that’s how he tripped and fell,” Lila told him with tears in her eyes. “Then M. Damocles tripped over the doll and fell down the stairs too. It’s just like how she pushed me down the stairs last week and I hurt my knee. I think she’s actually trying to hurt people.”

The man looked at Lila for a moment before looking to the top of the stairs, but there was no doll there. Then he looked back at Lila with a stern glare. “Young lady, if you had been pushed down the stairs last week, you would have been severely injured just like your friend or M. Damocles. And whether or not it was Mlle. Dupain-Cheng’s doll that caused the incident or not, does not mean that she is at fault for the accident. To the principal’s office, right now. I think we should have a discussion as to why you are trying to blame another student for something she did not do.”

Totally shocked, the girl looked around to her followers for some support, but they were now looking at her with uncertainty. They had just seen two people fall down the stairs and receive severe injuries, so how was Lila walking around just fine without a scratch on her? Huffing in annoyance, Lila stomped her way to the office while the class stared after her, most of them noticing the lack of limp to her walk.

Serafina was pleased with how this was turning out, she had already punished two of the people that had betrayed Marinette and had begun sewing seeds of doubt with the liar. At the moment, she was hiding in the classroom, observing everyone so she could figure out the best way to punish them. She noticed Rose, Juleka, and Nathaniel sitting close to the girl and doing their best to comfort her. She also noticed Nino, a boy she had seen a couple of times over the years, casting looks back at Marinette. 

During the first break, the boy cautiously approached her, clutching his hat in his hands. “Hey dudette, listen… I, um, wanted to say I was sorry,” he said, having a hard time looking her in the eye. “After Kim fell, what that Governor dude said about Lila not being hurt, and the fact that I’ve known you forever. I felt so stupid. You would never push someone down the stairs or cheat or steal from someone like that. And I tried looking up Jagged’s discography to see if there was any mention of a song about Lila, and there was literally nothing. I tried telling Alya, but she didn’t want to listen and-”

Nino was interrupted by Marinette giving him a hug. Serafina smiled at that. The boy had thought for himself and admitted that he was wrong. He apologized and Marinette was willing to offer him forgiveness. She supposed that Nino could also be exempt from punishment, so long as he never betrayed the girl again.

Half way through the second lesson, Lila had returned to the class with two weeks worth of detention and had a meeting scheduled with herself, M. Rupere, and her mother at the end of the week. Serafina decided to let the girl’s empire fall before going in to completely destroy her.

During lunch, when all the students had left. Serafina got to work on punishing Mme. Bustier. She started by slamming the door shut, it made the woman jump and look around the room, but there was no one there. Then the giggling started, causing her to look around the room again. This time, she walked up the steps to see if anyone was hiding in the room, but she was completely alone. When she turned back to her desk, the papers she had been grading were torn to pieces. A bit panicked, Bustier tried to run out of the room, but the door was locked. As she struggled with the door, she heard the scraping of chalk and froze for a moment before looking at the board. Large words were scrawled in block letters: LIAR, ENABLER, MEAN, CRUEL, and the most frightening of all, YOU WILL PAY.

Bustier’s hands were shaking as she erased the words from the board, not understanding what was happening. Only taking a breath when the door opened and her students began to file in. Serafina quietly laughed at the teacher’s fear, she was another person that she would take her time in punishing. Payback for failing to help Marinette. For now, it was time to take out her biggest supporter. 

Again, it was much easier than it should have been to sneak herself in Alya’s backpack and go home with her. When the girl found her she sneered. “The klutz must have put you in my bag by mistake.” Then she smiled cruelly at her. “I think I’ll give you to Etta and Ella to play with before giving you back to Maribrat, maybe tell them that you need a makeover and give them some permanent markers too.”

Turning to take the doll out to her sisters, she stubbed her toe on her desk chair hard enough that she felt a crack and dropped back on her butt while hissing in pain. When she was finally able to think past the pain, she realized that she had dropped the doll and didn't see it on the floor. After wrapping her foot, she looked all over her room but couldn’t find it anywhere.

That night, things got… more than scary. Alya was absolutely terrified.

First, her computer turned on, on its own, and started printing off papers saying “YOU KNOW THE TRUTH”. She turned the computer off, only for it to turn back on after she’d climbed into bed and the browser pulled up past searches; specifically, the searches that proved that Lila had been lying. She had found that out after Lila had disappeared from school for months, but had kept to herself so she wouldn’t lose her credibility on her blog or have to admit to Marinette that she’d been right. Turning it off again, she’d decided to sleep on the couch when her phone suddenly let out a hiss and burst into flames.  

Letting out a shriek, Alya rushed to her door, and had just barely opened it when it slammed shut on her fingers, causing her to scream as she struggled to pull her hand free. She could hear her parents and Nora shouting on the other side of the door, trying to push it open, but it wouldn’t budge. Her head got fuzzy and she suddenly felt cold, she realized that she was going into shock. Her parents’ shouts became garbled background noise and Alya heard the sound of tiny feet running around the room. She tried reaching the light switch so she could see, but it was out of reach.

From the light outside her window, she could barely make out the movement of a small shadow, moving from one part of the room to another. Coming closer and closer to her with every sweep. Alya began tugging harder on the doorknob and her hand. She needed to get out. Something was in the room with her. She could almost feel the darkness creeping closer. It wanted to hurt her!

What happened next, Serafina couldn’t have planned better if she’d tried. Alya jerked back her trapped arm and the doorknob at the same time Nora threw her shoulder into the door as hard as she could. Sending the teenagers flying into her bedside table and her head hitting the corner with an audible *crack*. The doll smiled silently in the corner of the room as the paramedics were called and listened to her parents cries for their horrid daughter to wake up. They called time of death at 2:03am.

~oOo~

It was a bit more of a chore for Serafina to get back to the school, but it was still manageable as her mother had to inform the school of her daughter’s death and pick up her things. The woman had also noticed the information that had been brought up on Alya’s computer and thought that she had been up late chasing a lead. And as the lead had to do with the disturbing behavior of one of her daughter’s classmates, she thought it best to show the acting principal the information before taking her leave. 

Making her way back to the classroom, she saw that the news had spread already. Nino seemed to be hit the hardest, as it was his girlfriend, but he would get over it. Kim was still out of class, and likely would be for a few more days. Tikki saw the doll when she was peeking out of the purse and gave her a disapproving glare, but there was nothing she could do. And in Serafina’s defense, she had only intended on maiming the failed journalist, her death had been an “accident”.

When class let out for lunch, Serafina got back to work tormenting Mme. Bustier. Today, the door slammed and locked shut a few minutes after the last student left. The woman shrieked and was struggling to open the door when the giggling started again. Bustier started screaming for it to “go away” but the giggling continued. Turning back to the door, books began flying at her from all over the room, hitting her chest, back, arms since they were shielding her head.

Then the door opened to show a panicked looking M. Rupere. “I heard screaming, are you alright?” The red haired teacher looked extremely frazzled; her hair was a mess, eyes wide and dilated, and her hands were shaking.

“The books,” she said in a trembling voice. “There was giggling, the door wouldn’t open, and the books attacked me. And this was the second time!”

His eyebrows rose to his hairline as he stared at the woman. “Did you see who was throwing the books at you?”

Bustier shook her head in a frantic manner. “There was no one, the books just started flying at me after the giggling.”

Giving her a slow nod, Rupere gently motioned her to step out of the room ahead of him. “How about you take the rest of the day to recover? Some rest will do you some good.” 

To his relief, Mme. Bustier agreed and collected her purse before leaving the school. Looking around the room, he was confused to see all the books in place on the shelves. Curious, he went to examine her desk and saw essay papers… covered in red ink with large “F’s” on every one of them. Reading the paper on top, all he saw were a few grammar mistakes, nothing that should have resulted in a failing grade. A bit unsettled, Rupere called the Board to schedule a psychological exam for the teacher. Serafina watched the man with satisfaction, at the rate she was going with that terrible teacher, she wouldn’t be around much longer.

Her next victims were Max and Alix during science class. She switched a couple of labels on the tubs on their desk before hiding in the room to enjoy the show. Half-way through class, Max poured a large amount of reactive chemical into the mix while it was warming over a burner, and the glass exploded. The two screamed and cursed in pain as Max tried wiping the liquid away from his face, only succeeding in getting more in his eyes. Alix tried wiping it away with a cloth, not noticing in time that the fabric was also soaked in the chemicals that now covered her entire face.

Serafina was impressed with how quickly Mme. Mendeleiev reacted to the incident. Doaning on gloves in an instant and leading the two students to the chemical wash station. Both students looked to have chemical burns on their faces, arms and necks. She could already see the burns covering a large amount of their exposed skin. While the class was distracted, Serafina switched the labels back so it would appear that the two had not been doing as instructed.

When school let out, the doll hid away in Mylene’s bag and ended up going on a date with the girl and Ivan. They commented on the bad luck their class seemed to be having and wondered out loud at what the cause might have been.

Mylene was hesitant to speak as the two ate their ice cream. “Do you think… maybe it’s karma coming back on our class?”

“Why do you think that?” Ivan asked her, seeming genuinely curious. Deciding that their conversation might lead to something more, Serafina waited and listened.

“It’s just… ever since Kim fell down the stairs, it’s got me thinking. Lila says that Marinette pushed her but the only injury she says she got was a bad knee, and she’s been walking around fine since then. And then she tried blaming Marinette for Kim and M. Damocles, when Kim shouldn’t have been running up the stairs and M. Damocles tripped at the top of the stairs when she was still down in the courtyard.”

“You’re right, now that I think about it. Lila lied to that new principal and she did it really easy.” Ivan nodded slowly, his brow creased as he pulled out his phone. “I wonder if she lied about anything else.” Mylene watched over his shoulder as he looked up the story about saving Jagged Stone’s kitten from an airplane. There was nothing, the only article that came up about a pet was his crocodile, Fang. The story said that he had hatched the reptile himself seventeen years earlier and any other pet wouldn’t be as rock’n’roll as Fang. “I don’t think Jagged ever had a cat, this article says that he’s only had Fang for longer than we’ve been around.”

Mylene pulled out her phone and called Rose, putting the call on speaker when she answered. 

“Hi Mylene, did you hear anything about Max and Alix? Are they going to be okay?” The girl asked as soon as she picked up.

“Ivan and I haven’t heard anything about them yet, but we have a question for you, Rose, and it’s something only you would be able to answer.”

There was a slight pause on the line. “Go ahead.”

“Do you still chat with Prince Ali?”

“Sure I do! We video chat every Saturday and I send him videos of our performances with Kitty Section. Why do you ask?”

“Ivan and I were wondering… Has he ever mentioned Lila to you?”

There was another pause, although they could hear a hushed conversation in the background. “So, you guys figured out the truth about Lila?” When they didn’t respond right away, Rose continued. “I found out a few weeks after Lila says she came back from Achu. I mentioned Lila to Ali and asked him about the charities they had been working on together, but he’d never heard of her. And Ali is only working on charities involving children, nothing with the environment. When Juleka and I tried asking Lila about it, she got really mean and threatened us if we told anyone. I would have been akumatized if Marinette hadn’t been there to calm me down.”

Ivan and Mylene were horrified, not only had Lila been lying to them, but she had threatened Rose, Juleka, and probably Marinette too. “What should we do?”

“First, you should apologize to Marinette for how you’ve been treating her and let her know that you know the truth.” They heard Juleka over the phone. “Lila has been more terrible to her than anyone else and she keeps getting in Lila’s way to protect us and Nathaniel since we know the truth about her.”

“Who all knows?” Ivan asked, feeling a bit sick to his stomach. Sure, he and Mylene hadn’t really hurt her or done anything, but they hadn’t stood up for her either and they were supposed to be her friend.

“Us, Luka, Kagami, Nathaniel figured it out when she said she could introduce him to Stan Lee, Nino figured it out yesterday, and Adrien’s apparently known from the start but didn’t say anything because he doesn’t think her lies are hurting anybody.”

Both of them could hear the acid in Juleka’s voice when she mentioned Adrien, and they couldn’t argue with her. They knew he had led a sheltered life, but how could he claim that ‘lies don’t hurt anybody’ after sitting back and watching Lila and her friends torment and bully Marinette?

Mylene hadn’t even realized that she had asked that question out loud until Rose answered them. “He told us that it was Marinette’s own fault for antagonizing Lila, and ‘If she just took the high road like I told her, then Lila would leave her alone’. It took everything I had not to slap him.”

Coming from Rose, that really was saying something.

Serafina was then taken on a shopping trip to an arts supplies store, a card shop, and a stop at an ATM before going to Marinette’s family’s bakery. She smiled quietly and with great respect to the couple as they apologized to her girl, gave her cards, an entire bolt of soft purple cotton the same color that her ruined dress had been, a new sketchbook, and money to pay her back for some of the things that Marinette had given them over the past year. They even asked her to provide them with proper receipts, and admitted that they knew the amount they had given her wasn’t enough to cover everything. But they promised to pay her back before asking for anything else, as well as pay in advance for any future items or baked goods. 

The little doll would have cried right along with Marinette if she could. These two had proven themselves to her and would avoid punishment, just as Nino had.

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