#content that was made specifically for me

[imaginespazzi]

Part 6: Leaps of Faith

Masterlist - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

I hope that you catch me, cause I'm already falling (you put your arms around me and I'm home)

(In which a writer who can see the end approaching starts building towards that ending)

Pairing: Paige Bueckers X Azzi Fudd

Themes: Angst and Fluff

Words: 8.0K

TW: Swearing, Alludes to Sexual Content

A/N: Good evening my lovelies <3. Happy Sunday and Happy Mothers day! First of all, I wanna thank y'all for being ever so patient with me. I know I've been pretty bad about updating lately and y'all have been so sweet with your asks and I really appreciate it. This fic is very close to its end. I probably could have ended it with this chapter but there's a very specific ending I want to write so this one is more of a self-indulgent filler but I think y'all will like this one. There will be one more chapter and then an epilogue of sorts. Once again, there are most likely logistical inaccuracies. I'm not even gonna lie, the editing on this one is shoddy so there are definitely grammar errors/typos. For now, ignore them and I'll go fix them later. As always, even if we're near the end, feel free let me know what you liked, what you didn't and anything you'd like to see before we get to the end. Have a wonderful week my angels <3

April 2024 

“It’s a little early for ice cream hon,” Azzi jumps at the sound of her mother’s voice, startled eyes following the direction of the noise to find Katie leaning against the kitchen door, with a raised eyebrow. 

“It’s a little early to scare the living bejesus out of me mom,” she says with a hand to her chest. 

If possible, Katie’s eyes roll even further at her daughter’s sarcastic tone as she makes her way over to the kitchen counter. She’s gotten herself a spoon and everything, ready to steal some ice cream for herself, when she notices the flavour. Next to her, Azzi stiffens. 

“You hate mint chocolate chip Az,” Katie says quietly. 

“I couldn’t find the strawberry ice cream,” Azzi defends stubbornly, her face taking on a guarded expression. 

Katie walks over to the freezer, opening it and pointing at the strawberry ice cream, Azzi’s favourite, that’s sitting in plain sight, “it’s right there.”

“Well,” Azzi splutters, “I’m trying something new,”. 

“You hate trying new things.”

“I’ve grown up I guess.”

“Azzi.”

“Mom.”

“Azzi, why are you eating ice cream you hate at 4 in the morning?” Katie finally asks in her best mom voice, sighing when she gets a mumbled response from her daughter, “in words Az, please.”

“Paige likes it,” Azzi admits slowly, and before Katie can say anything, before Azzi can dwell on what she’s said, she launches into a rant, “god knows why. Actually I know why because she’s stupid and weird and likes the dumbest shit. Who the fuck likes mint? Who the fuck likes mint and chocolate together? Gross. This shit is disgusting. It tastes all wrong. Paige is just-,” Azzi throws her hands up in the air, “she just doesn’t understand that some things don’t belong together. They can’t. They’re too different and it just- there’s a fucking balance to things you know? And she just- she doesn’t get that. It’s just- it’s not meant to be.”

“That doesn’t explain why you’re eating it right now,” Katie says carefully. 

“Because I miss her,” the truth bursts out of Azzi like an erupting volcano, burning itself into every crevice of her skin, “because for some fucking reason I don’t hate the taste of mint chocolate chip. Because maybe they do go together and maybe I’ve been the stupid one this whole time.”

Since she’d stepped out of the hotel in Cleveland, all Azzi could think about was going back, saying fuck it to all the useless logic she’d come up with and going back to the only thing in her life that had ever made sense her Paige. But as it often did in that clichéd battle between head and heart, her head had won out. And she’s never questioned why her head wins so much, why she’s always chosen to listen to the practical side of her brain, until now. Until now when the urge to turn back time, to make herself stay in that hotel room, is all that’s consumed her for the last week. 

“Azzi,” Katie wraps her arms around the younger girl, “what happened with you and Paige?”

Azzi hesitates for a second and then everything’s spilling out of her lips, the good, the bad, the inbetween, all of it tumbles out like an uncontrollable waterfall. There’s something freeing about being able to say it all out loud, something freeing about the tears Azzi finally lets roll down her cheeks. She grips the edge of the counter to keep herself from keeling over, starting to feel herself crumble under the heaviness of all these stupid feelings. 

“It shouldn’t be this hard,” Azzi whispers, “we used to be so easy.”

“Oh Az,” Katie rubs a thumb against her daughter’s cheek, “you used to be kids. You’re all grown up now. It’s always harder when you’re older.”

“Well, I don’t like it. I just want to be the way we were again.”

“So why don’t you?” Katie asks like it’s the most simple solution in the world and Azzi shoots her mother an exasperated look. 

“What do you mean? How do we even do that? We can’t be just friends again. We tried. Were you not listening at all?”

“Azzi, sweetheart, you’ve never been just friends.”

“That’s not true,” it’s a futile attempt at arguing against what’s become more of a fact than an opinion in Azzi’s life. It’s a truth she’d let herself acknowledge once and then buried deep within her, scared that once unleashed, it would ruin everything. Except, it turns out, even without it, things had still turned to dust.  

“Do you remember when you came home from Minnesota that first summer with Paige? You were either moping around or you were on call with her. There was no in between. It got better eventually, the moping stopped but the calls? I think you fell asleep on facetime with her almost every night. And you were tired every morning after, you barely had time to eat before school but every time I suggested that maybe you cut back, that was never an option,” Katie smiles fondly, “it’s when I knew.”

Azzi does remember, remembers talking about everything and nothing, remembers laughing and crying, remembers when Paige’s breathing was the only lullaby that could relax her into sleeping. And she remembers battling with that voice in her head, the one convinced there’s something more, silencing it with I’d do this with anyone. But that wasn’t true then and it’s not true now because Paige has never been just anyone, never been just a friend. Because even if Azzi’s never been brave enough to say it out loud, Paige is and has always been everything.

Despite knowing the answer and maybe dreading it just a little bit, Azzi asks it to her mom anyway, “what did you know?”

“That she was your person. You were too young, I couldn’t call it love just yet but I knew Paige was different then, she was yours in a way none of your other friends were. You were different around her,” Katie nudges her daughter, “Azzi you’ve always been just a little bit in love with her and she’s always been just a little bit in love with you too. The two of you have just been a matter of time.”

Azzi closes her eyes, and unlike other people, she doesn’t see darkness or little spots of light, she just sees Paige. Her mother’s words wash over her, like acid in her self-inflicted fight the feelings wounds and yet, the idea of she’s loved me too feels like a band-aid being delicately placed on the scars of her heart. 

“And place,” she whispers, eyes still closed, “we never seem to get time and place right.”

“Why do you need to?”

Another exasperated look is sent Katie’s way at that question, “we live on different sides of the country mom, what do you mean why do we need to?”

“I mean the two of you have barely ever been in the same place. But you made it work, when you had even less, when you felt even less. But you’re adults now. You have other resources now. And I know timing is difficult but- it’s you and Paige. What are you so scared of Azzi?”

Azzi sucks in a deep breath, “what if Paige runs away again?”

“What if you run away again?”

“Excuse me?” 

“Who was the last person to walk away, Azzi?,” Katie sighs when Azzi is adamantly silent, “I know she hurt you by leaving. I know she hurt you by pushing you away. But you did the same thing. You chose UCLA,” Katie holds up a hand when a frustrated Azzi tries to interrupt, “and it was the right decision for you Azzi and she should have supported it. But that doesn’t meant you didn’t hurt her and then you chose Zoe-”

“I didn’t choose Zoe-”

“Yes you did Azzi. Sweetheart you’re my daughter and I will always tell you the complete truth even if it’s not what you wanna hear. And the truth Azzi is that Paige might have hurt you in 101 different ways but that doesn’t mean you didn’t hurt her back in 99 different ways too.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Azzi whispers, “that’s the problem mom. It hurts when she hurts me but it hurts even more when I hurt her. I don’t want that for us but I just- I just don’t know how to stop it without stopping us.”

“You haven’t even tried, baby. Paige held out a hand and you ran away.”

“She left first. How am I supposed to trust that she won’t just do that again," all that’s missing from Azzi’s stubborn whine is a foot stomp.

“Because she came back. It took her a little bit, I know, but she came back and she’s ready to fight, the question is, are you?”

“Why are you defending her?” Azzi splutters, “who’s side are you even on?”

“There are no sides to this sweetheart. The two of you are on the same side. So maybe instead of fighting against her, take that hand, fight with her.”

***

The WNBA draft is a momentous occasion this year. With a hyped draft class like no other, and the promise of even greater ones in the future, there’s a sense of celebratory hope dangling in the air. When the invite had first come in, Azzi had known the same one would be sent to a certain blonde in Connecticut as well. And a part of her had wanted to hide herself away from that possible collision, but every other part of her wanted nothing more than to get just a glimpse of the blonde.

One moment Azzi is surrounded by flashing cameras and the echo of her name on everyone’s lips, the next everything around her is fading away her eyes meet Paige’s on the other end of the WNBA draft orange carpet. It’s nothing new really. Since she’s met her, the blonde has commandeered all of Azzi’s attention whenever she’s nearby. Sometimes it feels like all of her other five senses fade away to give birth to a secret sixth one, one that’s solely dedicated to Paige, one that’s terrifyingly all-consuming. And yet, despite the heaviness of we’ve said too many goodbyes, for the first time in what feels like eternity, Azzi feels like she can finally breathe. 

And then Paige looks away. 

And Azzi’s back to struggling for air. 

It’s selfish of her, she knows, to expect something, not when she’d been the one to leave them stranded on different islands. But Azzi doesn’t seem to think logically when it comes to Paige and even as she tries to turn her focus back to posing for the camera, every inch of her body is dangerously aware of the blonde’s every move, just a mere few feet away from her. Her conversation with her mother is echoing in her head, giving rise to dangerous desires of what if i grabbed your hand and we ran away together. 

Paige is a natural on the orange carpet, all dazzling smiles and twinkling eyes. She glides through it, inching closer and closer to Azzi, but never giving away any sense of discomfort. And if it was anybody else, maybe they’d never catch onto the nerves hidden beneath Paige’s facade of calm, cool and collected. But once upon a time Paige used to be Azzi’s favourite puzzle and she has every part of the blonde committed to memory. It’s in the way Paige’s teeth gnaw at her lips for the briefest of seconds, in the way her right index finger is begging to tap a beat against where her hands rests on hips, in the way she’s blinking just one too many times. 

And then with one more heavy footed step from Paige, the distance between them is barely a couple inches and they let out identical breaths of air, both of them keeping their focus on the cameras in front of them. It’s loud, too loud, and still all Azzi can focus on is the sound of Paige breathing. The air around them is thick with tension. It feels a bit like they’re silhouetted against a sky made of words they’ve left unsaid and clouds of all the bitter mistakes they’ve made are hanging over their heads. And when their pinkies brush together, and a jolt of electricity sends shivers of I miss you more every day again her skin, Azzi questions if she’s ever made the right decision when it comes to Paige. 

“Wait wait wait,” Ari cuts in, as she squeezes herself in between the two of them, “I wanna get in between the two of you.”

A harsh cry of no sits heavily on the top of Azzi’s tongue as the older woman forces a break in whatever little bit of contact she’d had with Paige. She feels a little pathetic, the way every little inch of her skin is craving for that touch back. It had been nothing, a barely there moment and still Azzi thinks, when she goes to bed tonight, if that was all she’d get of Paige, then it’ll be the only thing that’ll feature in her dreams. 

“Alright one with just Paige and Azzi,” Ari directs the media, stepping out of the way and pushing the two younger girls together. And it’s laughable that a little brush of their pinkies had Azzi feeling any type of way because when they’re suddenly pressed together, every inch of Paige’s side fitting into Azzi’s like it belongs, the way the world suddenly bursts with light and colours makes Azzi wonder if every moment without Paige has simply been monochrome. 

It comes to them naturally how to pose together, arms winding around each other’s waist, heads involuntarily leaning against the other’s. And the smiles might be for the cameras but Azzi knows hers is the most real it’s been all night. It might be temporary, she might lose Paige in the chaos, but for now Paige is here and Azzi has learned how to be content with whatever little she can get. 

As the media moves to capture other people, the logical thing to do would be to separate, to let go of each other. But instead they stand there, still completely wrapped around each other, heart rates in sync as they breathe in each other’s presence. And then Paige’s hand falls from the small of Azzi’s back to tangle their fingers together and they let out identical sighs of relief, something so cathartic in the purposefulness of that touch. Everyone is too busy to notice that the two of them have fallen into a whole other world, one where there’s only two of them and every emotion that they’ve only reserved for the other. There’s no words exchanged as Paige guides the two of them out of the spotlight, somehow keeping their hands clasped together in secret, despite the ever growing crowd. And Azzi doesn’t know this building at all, doesn’t have the faintest clue where she’s being led to, but as long as it’s Paige pulling her along, she doesn’t care where, she thinks she’d go anywhere. 

Paige stops abruptly in a secluded corridor, turning to fully face Azzi. And the sincerity in the blonde’s crystalline blue eyes, as they roam every inch of Azzi’s body before coming to fixate on her face, steals the air away from Azzi’s lungs. Paige has gotten better over the years at building walls, but with every new lock she places on her emotions, there’s a key to open them that seems to always find its way to Azzi. In the delicate golden hue, Paige shines brighter than any star ever could and in the dim light Azzi can make out every bit of hurt and love and please can we just have this moment that Paige can’t put into words. 

“Hi,” Azzi whispers softly, hands itching to reach out and caress Paige’s skin. 

“Hi,” Paige says back, even quieter. She stares at Azzi as if she’s memorising every little detail and then her face crumbles. Azzi feels her heart drop at the single tear that trickles down Paige’s cheek as she lets out a broken whimper. And this, this unspoken power they seem to have over each other, the uncanny ability to just hurt each other without any bit of effort, is what scares Azzi the most. It’s too much. They shouldn’t be able to do this. 

“Paige,” Azzi’s fingers twitch but she hesitates, not knowing if it’s the right thing, “fuck- P what’s wrong?”

Paige doesn’t reply, eyes wandering down to where Azzi’s trying to keep her hands still against her sides and when she looks back up, her eyes are bloodshot, “what’s wrong? What’s not wrong Azzi? You won’t even fucking touch me.”

“I didn’t-” Azzi struggles to speak, “I didn’t think you’d want me to.”

“Can you just- fuck- can you just stop overthinking things for once in your life. Of course I want you to touch- you know what nevermind. This was a bad idea. You made yourself clear and I’m just- fuck- I should- I should just go.”

She sounds adamant enough but all it takes, when Paige moves to leave, is the strangled cry that leaves Azzi’s lips. The sound is enough to pull Paige right back in. She takes one look at the tears brimming in Azzi’s eyes. And then she’s pushing Azzi against a wall, hands on either side caging the younger girl between her body and the hard surface behind. She presses their foreheads together and Azzi feels like every part of her might just be a part of Paige too. 

“I miss you. I miss you so fucking much. It’s barely been two weeks and I- fuck- Azzi- I’ve missed you every single second and now you’re here and I still miss you. And it really fucking hurts.”

“I’m sorry,” Azzi whispers, finally letting her hands cup Paige’s cheeks, and it’s worth it for the way Paige seems to completely melt into her touch, “I’m sorry I keep hurting you. I keep thinking I’m doing the right thing but- I don’t know- I feel like I’m always doing the wrong thing when it comes to you. I don’t- I don’t know what to do.”

“Just let me be with you,” Paige’s voice is wrecked with desperation as she presses herself as close to Azzi as possible, “I’ll be your whatever- whatever you give me- whatever you want- I just- I just want you Az- whatever little bit you’re willing to give me- I’ll take it- and if you want me to wait- fuck Azzi- I’d wait forever- you know that right? However long it takes, baby. Just want you- just want us.”

Leaps of faith are scary. Azzi’s never been great at taking them, too cautious, too much of a worrier. She’s more of a step back from the cliff kind of person. If she doesn’t jump, she can’t fall. But here’s the thing, when she was fourteen, Azzi jumped off of her first hypothetical cliff. It had been on a plane, when after avoiding one too many deep questions, Azzi had admitted to a girl she barely knew,that maybe she could like girls. It was the first time she’d ever let herself acknowledge that truth about herself and the girl next to her was a stranger but there was something about her, something that screamed i’ll hold your hand and if you jump it’ll never be alone. And ever since then, that girl, Paige, has always been there. Hands outstretched, ready to jump off any ledge. Because if there’s hard ground underneath, then they’ll learn how to fly together and if there’s water, they’ll figure out how to swim. With Paige there has always been the promise that, whatever it is, they’ll figure it out together. And it’s with that promise in mind, that Azzi takes the leap of faith. 

“Me too,” Azzi whispers, heart beating erratically. 

“What?” Paige searches Azzi’s face, as if waiting for her to take it back. 

“Us. You. You and me. I want that too,” a ghost of a smile begins to creep onto Azzi’s face, and for the first time in god knows how long, she feels feather light, a little bit like she’s floating on a rainbow. 

“You mean it?” Paige asks earnestly, hands moving from the wall to clutch at Azzi’s waist, “don’t play-Azzi- okay- you mean it for real?”

“I do. I want this- I want this so much and I’m still- I’m still really scared and maybe it’ll be a disaster but I- I want to try. With you.”

Azzi used to think she knew all of Paige’s smiles. Her small, not quite fake, but only for cameras and people she didn’t quite know, smiles. Her just for my friends smile that was filled with mirth and childlike joy. Her basketball smile that transformed into a smirk when she got too cocky. Her only for Drew smile, soft and filled with so much adoration and pride. Her Azzi smile, the one only the brown-skinned girl gets to experience, a smile that made Azzi’s her heart swell with love. But the smile that stretches across Paige’s face now, is one Azzi’s never seen before. This one throws Azzi’s entire world of balance, so bright, so big, so full of emotions. If she could, she’d tattoo that smile onto her skin forever. 

“We’re really doing this?” Paige asks, still a little stunned. It wasn’t what Azzi had planned for tonight. She hadn’t really had any plans for what would really happen. But then Paige had walked in and all Azzi could see was forever she was tired of fighting against. 

“We should take it slow okay-” Azzi wraps her arms around the older girl’s neck, keeping their foreheads still against each other’s, “I don’t- I don’t wanna rush into things and fuck it up. I can’t- fuck- I can’t lose y-”

“You won’t,” Paige swears, squeezing at Azzi’s wait, “I won’t let you. We can take it slow. We can take it however you want- I just- we’re doing this?”

“Yeah,” Azzi can’t help the grin that fills up her entire face, “yeah we’re doing this.”

And as they surge forward to claim each other’s lips, and as they meld every inch of themselves into each other, and as they smile and cry into the kiss simultaneously, and as they etch promises into each other skin, and as they let themselves finally fall into each other, for each other, it feels a lot like coming home. 

***

July 2024 

The early morning sunlight casts a dark shadow across Paige’s face, causing the still asleep blonde to scrunch up her face in irritation. Azzi, who’s been awake for nearly half an hour now, can’t help the fond smile that creeps onto her own lips. She shifts herself to block the sun and Paige lets out a content sigh, burrowing herself further into her pillows. And the thing is every moment with Paige is special but there’s something about waking up to her in the morning. Azzi’s always awake first and it gives her ample time to just admire the girl in her arms, blond hair tousled all over her pillow, lips parted slightly open, and one arm always, always, splayed across Azzi’s torso, holding her close. Over the course of time, Azzi’s found out that the second she moves, Paige seems to feel her leave, waking up instantly. 

There had been an adjustment period if Azzi's honest. It had taken her a while to shake that fear of Paige not being there in the morning. The first morning, she’d been scared to open her eyes, even if she could feel Paige’s presence right next to her. That had been one of the few mornings that Paige was fully awake first, hovering above Azzi to wake her up. And when she finally did get the courage to open her eyes, the first thing Azzi had seen was Paige, blue eyes sparkling with unfiltered adoration, a smile filled with promises of every morning just like this. And that had been enough. 

Azzi reaches out to brush a hand through Paige’s soft blond hair, mesmerised by how pretty Paige looks in the morning glow. A lot of Paige belongs to the world now and Azzi’s not opposed to sharing really, because someone so fucking perfect, deserves to be celebrated like that. But there are some parts of Paige that belong to Azzi and Azzi only, some parts Azzi cherishes as being only hers. This is one of them and Azzi takes a snapshot of it, knowing she’ll need it to function in a few months, when she won’t get the real thing. 

“Are you watching Paige sleep?” Azzi almost jumps at the sound of Drew’s voice at the doorway, having been too immersed in Paige to have even heard the door open, “that’s kinda creepy Azzi.”

“Jesus Drew, whatever happened to knocking?”

“I forgot?” Drew grins, before he plops on the bed, the force of it making the whole frame shake a little bit. 

“Drew!” Azzi chides, “you’re gonna wake her up.”

Drew cocks his eyebrows, sparing his sister, who seems unphased by the sudden little bit of chaos around her, still fast asleep, an unimpressive look, “please she can sleep through anything. Besides, it’s already 9. I thought we were gonna do things. I been up for aaaages.”

“She’ll be awake soon,” Azzi smiles, ruffling the younger boy's hair. Drew rolls his eyes and it’s remarkable how much he resembles Paige, not just by face, but the mannerisms too. 

He huffs for a second before his eyes sparkle with an idea, “what if we pour water on her!”

“Drew!” Azzi chastises again, trying not to giggle. 

“Boo,” Drew crosses his arms across his chest, “you used to be so cool Azzi.”

Azzi laughs as she’s reminded of a younger version of herself, scheming with Drew on how to wake Paige up. And it’s not that she’s beyond that really, tucking the water idea for a rainy day, but Paige looks too peaceful this morning and she wants to preserve that look of serenity on the older girl’s face for just a little bit longer. 

“Hey Azzi,” Drew says after a while and Azzi hums in response, “when you and Paige get married, I can still be a groomsman right? Even if there’s no grooms?”

“Wha- where did that come from?” the brunette’s eyes widened at the question, sitting up a little straighter. 

Drew peers up at her with all the innocence of a pre-teen, “you are gonna get married right?”

“I don’t-”

“It’s too early for your yapping Drew,” Azzi’s saved from answering by Paige’s tired voice entering the conversation. She looks over to find Paige’s eyes already on her, a soft smile playing on her lips as she looks up at Azzi. If Drew wasn’t sitting right there, Azzi would lean over and kiss her and let Paige deepen it until they were both satisfied. 

“Oh thank god,” Drew cheers dramatically, “I thought you were gonna sleep forever.”

Paige scoffs, the arm that’s still wrapped around Azzi’s torso tightening its hold, “I wish.”

“Well you’re awake now so get up,” Drew whines, moving from his spot on the end of the bed, to flop on top of Paige’s body instead, “get up, get up, GET UP.”

“Get off,” Paige groans but there’s no real force behind it. Azzi watches with a fond smile, as Paige flips Drew over so that she can tickle him, eliciting rounds of laughter from the younger boy. Something in her heart flutters, her mind going back to Drew’s question. She’s never really been one to think too hard about marriage and children and that domestic suburban life, leaving it up to fate, but now- well, maybe. 

“Okay aight aight enough. Go get ready for breakfast and we’ll be down in a second,” Paige says, ushering Drew off of the bed. 

“You can just tell me you want me to leave so you can kiss Azzi you know?” Drew scrunches up his nose, “you two are gross.”

Paige sends him a stern look and gets a dramatic eye roll in return but as he always does, Drew does as he’s told, mock saluting the two of them and skipping out of the room. 

“He’s right by the way,” Paige says softly, turning back to where Azzi’s leaning against the backboard, “I do want to kiss you.”

Azzi smirks lopsidedly, “what’s stopping you?”

She squeals in surprise when Paige pulls her, the force of it causing both of them to tumble onto the front-end of the bed. Azzi ends up on top of Paige, hands resting around her neck, the blonde’s hands holding her waist in place. 

“Good morning,” Paige grins, clearly proud of herself as she chases Azzi’s lips to pull her into a searing kiss.

“Good morning,” Azzi whispers back, thumb caressing Paige’s left cheek.  

“Just so you know,” Paige pulls away, a determined glint in her eyes, “we’re so getting married one day.”

***

October 2024

Azzi’s mood has been rancid for the last couple of weeks. It’s terrible she knows; it makes her irritating to play with and a nightmare to live with. But even if this had been expected, that she would be on one end of the country and her heart would be on the other side, it doesn’t stop her from constantly being in a state of missing Paige. And it’s different from before, now that there’s a certain surety of of course i’ll see you soon but soon never really feels soon enough. 

“Azzi can you please get the door,” Kiki calls from her room when the doorbell rings. 

“I’m busy,” Azzi grunts back, snuggling further into her pillow with a book she isn’t actually reading, “you go get it.”

“Azzi please, I’m literally in the middle of getting dressed,” Kiki yells exasperatedly. 

If it wasn’t for the fact that she’s pretty sure her teammates are about this close to plotting her murder, and deservedly so, Azzi would sink back onto her bed and let the incessant doorbell noise continue. But she does love her teammates, thinks Kiki probably deserves to change in peace, and it forces her out of bed, grumbling away about annoying visitors. Until she actually gets a look at the visitor. Paige stands on the doorstep, confident as ever, a bouquet of roses and peonies and lilies in her hand. 

“You’re here,” Azzi breathes out, staring in awe. 

“And thank fucking god she is,” Kiki quips from behind her, “maybe we can finally get our old happy Azzi back and not this bitch.”

Paige laughs, “watch how you talk about my girl Rice.”

“You’re here. You’re really here,” Azzi whispers again. 

“I heard you missed me baby,” Paige says, her cocky smirk betrayed by the softness in her voice. And then Azzi is flying into her arms, throwing Paige off balance. 

“So fucking much,” Azzi admits into Paige’s neck, eliciting a giggle from the blonde, “Kiki’s right. I have been a bitch.”

“Just a little bit,” Kiki calls out again but there’s a new fondness in her voice. It’s funny how her team, even the haters, have slowly become Paige fans. They’d been hesitant at first, just like the UConn girls, but now well, it seems the basketball world’s Montagues and Capulets have learned to accept their star players’ relationship. 

“Missed you too Az,” Paige’s tone is vulnerable as they break away, “alright, go get changed, I wanna take you somewhere.”

“Or…,” Azzi presses her lips to Paige’s neck, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses, “we could stay here and do something else.”

Paige shivers under her touch, stepping away to keep some semblance of control “n-no I have plans,” but she can’t help but kiss Azzi’s pout away, “it’ll be worth it, I promise. Besides,” she bites at Azzi’s ear, “there’s always later.”

***

“Your big plans are to bring me to the supermarket,” Azzi cocks an eyebrow as they walk down one of the many aisles, “you turned down sex for this? Should I be offended?”

Paige doesn’t say anything, concentratedly looking at signs, trying to figure out a specific section, before an aha! moment dances over her face, and she pulls Azzi with her, the younger girl going willingly, despite the eye roll. She stops triumphantly in front of the sushi section and Azzi looks at her quizzically. 

“I’m getting you supermarket sushi,” Paige says pointedly, “and then you can get me mac and cheese.”

And if you brought me sushi I’d have brought you your favourite mac and cheese. Oh. The realisation of what Paige is doing trickles around Azzi a little bit like rain after a long summer drought. She thinks back to the bouquet, everything suddenly making sense.

“You’re such a dork Paige Bueckers,” Azzi says softly, tapping the older girl’s nose. 

“Your dork,” Paige grins cheesily, “now hurry up and pick one. I don’t wanna miss the sunset.”

***

Once she catches on it, it doesn’t surprise Azzi to find that Paige has everything planned out perfectly, down to the exact spot in the park- the one by Paige’s recovery airBnB, the one they’d taken countless walks in trying to repair their friendship- where the two of them can be away from everybody else, in their own little bubble. And she has a picnic blanket, that’s a little small but they don’t really want space from each other anyways. They lean against a tree, food set up in front of them, Paige’s laptop, carefully piled on top of a couple of books to be the perfect height, set a little bit further away. 

“So what NBA game are we watching?” Azzi asks with a smile and Paige groans, “what? Was that not part of the plan?”

“Dude come on. It’s the beginning of October. Please tell me you know the NBA season isn’t happening yet,” Paige rubs her temple, only a little endeared by the comment, “are you sure you’re a basketball player?” 

“There are games in October. I swear I’ve seen them before,” Azzi says sceptically. 

“Yeah at the very end of the month, not right now.”

“Well then close enough,” Azzi says indignantly, “I don’t need to know the exact day.”

“Whatever you say baby,” Paige acquiesces with a smirk and it earns her an elbow to the stomach, “what the fuck? That shit’s domestic violence you know?”

“Big words Bueckers, didn’t think you knew them,” Azzi teases, placing a kiss against Paige’s offended expression, before settling herself against the blonde’s side, sighing contentedly when she gets a kiss on her temple in return. They’re cliché enough to put on Love and Basketball, but Azzi doesn’t really end up watching much at all. In between slow kisses, she almost falls asleep a couple of times, the comfort of Paige’s arms like a blanket wrapping her in the warmth of this is my fairytale. 

“THE POLAROID,” Paige’s shout breaks Azzi out of her haze as she feels her body being shaken off, the blonde rummaging through her bag for the camera, “we have to take the polaroid. My wall needs it.”

“Oh yeah a tiny polaroid picture of us inbetween all your Lebron posters, a perfect fit,” Azzi drawls only to be met with a scathing look from Paige. 

“It’s for important things and Lebron is the most important of them all,” Paige explains with complete seriousness, as she finally finds the polaroid camera and shimmies back to Azzi with it in hand. 

The sunset is beautiful. Pink, purple, orange and blue, all blending together to create the perfect picture. But Azzi thinks it’s not nearly as beautiful as the girl in front of her, not nearly as beautiful as the date Paige had planned, not nearly as beautiful as the future she can so clearly see now. Her mind drifts back to the night of the phone call, and she can almost hear Paige’s sobs again, can still hear her own voice breaking. Back then, they had seemed impossible, a butterfly like dream that danced out of their grasp. 

“Hey,” Paige captures her chin with two fingers, “where’d you go?”

Azzi shakes her head, “nowhere. I’m right here. With you. Where I should be.”

“Sappy goof,” Paige snorts but she kisses Azzi like she’ll take those words and hide them in the labyrinth of her mind, protect them there forever. 

Taking the picture is a task, both of them bickering about angles and lights. It’s unnecessary arguing, in true Paige and Azzi fashion really but there’s something so mundanely domestic about it that Azzi finds herself wanting to memorise this moment too. They finally get the frame just right, somewhere in between what they both wanted. Azzi smiles at the camera, her Paige smile, as the blonde in question presses her lips against her cheeks. 

Click. 

And Azzi hopes, that however many years later, when they have a home of their own, amidst all the photos that they’ll take over the next years, this one will be hung somewhere on their wall, a testament to finally realising every dream they’d dared to dream together. 

***

December 2024 

There are pebbles being thrown at her window and Azzi has to stop herself from laughing when she peers down to see Paige, freezing cold in the Virginia December air, staring up at her with a goofy smile. She shakes her head when her phone rings, knowing it’s Paige and answers it with her own foolish grin. 

“What exactly are you doing?” Azzi asks, “come back to bed.”

“You said I was unromantic. I’m trying to be romantic,” Paige’s teeth chatter in the cold, as she balances her phone in one hand, still throwing rocks with the other. 

“I didn’t say that and throwing rocks at my window is supposed to be romantic? You’re going to wake the whole house up.”

“That’s what they do in all the good rom coms. And you said and I quote ‘we’re kind of boring’. You might be boring Azzi Fudd but I most definitely am not.”

It had been a throwaway comment Azzi had made at dinner with some friends from high school. One of her friends had been going on and on about some adventurous trip that she and her boyfriend were going on, and then asked Paige and Azzi if they had any of that planned. To which Azzi had replied that they were a little too busy, considering they were college basketball players still in season, and besides they were “kind of boring” people. She hadn’t meant it in any type of way. Personally, Azzi likes boring. Paige however, seemed to have taken the comment to heart and Azzi had woken up at 2 a.m. to an empty bed and the sound of something being thrown at her window. 

“Okay I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You're really interesting baby and the most romantic person in the world. Now will you please come back to bed,” Azzi concedes, already missing the feeling of being cuddled up in her blankets with Paige’s body heat keeping her nice and toasty. 

“No,” Paige says indignantly, “come down here.”

“Paige, it's freezing. It’s gonna start snowing any minute.”

“Exactly. That’s exciting.”

“Sleep is exciting,” Azzi whines, but she’s already padding around her room looking for a warm sweater, grumbling under her breath about the warm California sun she’s missing. She tiptoes down the staircase, wincing at the one step that creaks just a little too much, before pushing herself out the door. And it’s freezing cold, there’s sleep in her eyes, but it’s all worth it Azzi thinks, it’ll always be worth it, just to experience Paige’s smile. 

“Knew you’d come,” Paige grins cockily, mittened hands pulling Azzi into her.

“Yeah yeah. What are we even doing?”

“Azzi Fudd,” Paige bellows dramatically, “may I have this dance.”

Azzi stares at Paige’s outstretched hand wondering if this is some sort of cry for help, but one look at Paige’s face tells her that the girl in front of her is being absolutely serious. 

“This is your idea of exciting? Dancing in the street while it’s freezing with no music?” Azzi raises an eyebrow, but she takes Paige’s hand. 

“It’s spontaneous,” Paige says the last word with a flourish, as she spins Azzi, “why not dance in the street when it’s freezing with no music?”

And well, that’s a fair point. If anyone were to look out their window that night, they’d probably think the two girls were somewhat crazy. Laughing and giggling and tripping over each other as Paige hums a melody and Azzi occasionally joins in. It’s ridiculous and corny and cliché and perfect. And then the first little bit of snow falls, white drops circling around the two dancing girls, snowflakes catching on their eyelashes. The dim glow of the streetlight is enough to catch identical smiles on the two girl’s faces as they revel in each other. 

“You know some people say if you make a wish during the first snowfall, it’ll come true,” Paige whispers, still waltzing the two of them around, cheek pressed to Azzi’s, “you wanna try?”

And the thing is Azzi doesn’t really believe in all of that, in magic but something about Paige, something about this moment feels magical. It makes a believer out of Azzi. 

“Yeah,” Azzi smiles, “let’s make a wish.”

They stand still, holding hands, eyes closed, both a little breathless, as they make their wishes. And when they open them, if it feels a little bit like maybe their wishes have already been granted, well they’ll share it in a secret smile but never out loud. After all, wishes don’t come true if you speak of them. 

***

April 2025

7 seconds to go in the National Championship and Azzi’s UCLA Bruins are down by two points. It’s her last chance, having already declared for the 2025 WNBA draft, to win a national championship, to bring home their first basketball national championship since the 1978 team that had won the AIAW championship, to win their first NCAA championship ever. It had taken some sheer luck to get to this point if Azzi’s honest. As a two-seed in the Spokane region, they’d benefitted from their one-seed having been eliminated early and then getting to face a Cinderella six-seed in the final four. On the other side of the bracket, UConn, the favourites coming for a repeat, had been stunned by another team, the team that UCLA was now facing. That had caused a bit of a second-hand sting and Azzi’s not really trying to take revenge for Paige, but it'd be a lie to say the get back at them for me babe from earlier this morning isn’t ringing in her head. 

The play is simple, set screens for Azzi, get her open, get her the ball. A two would get them to a tie and three would win it outright. Either will do. It’s a little too reminiscent of last year when Azzi had failed at tying the final 4 game and she can still feel that loss on the tips of her fingers. They break out from their last timeout, breathlessly running to their spots on the floor. The whistle blows, Kiki inbounds the ball and everything is a blur. All Azzi knows is the shot clock is winding down. She runs off of what feels like a million screens. And then she’s open on the wing, for a millisecond. A perfect pass from Kiki makes sure the ball lands straight in Azzi’s hand. And she doesn’t think, doesn’t breathe, doesn’t even notice the defender put up a hand, she shoots the ball. There’s two people on the court that know for sure that ball is going in the minute it leaves Azzi’s fingers, the shooter herself and her biggest fan in the stands, who’s been just a little bit in love with that shooting stroke, since before anything else had even begun. 

With a delicate swish, the ball falls through the net, the buzzer sounds around the arena, the crowd explodes in blue and gold, as the UCLA Bruins win the 2025 national championship. 

Everything stills in Azzi’s brain for a second, her thoughts taking a second to catch up to reality. She’s never really been one to emotion on the court, keeping herself steely guarded through most games, even at the very end. But now, triumph and pride and just utter happiness at finally achieving one of her biggest dreams, comes roaring to the surface, manifesting itself throughout her entire body, as she lets out a scream of joy. Her teammates engulf her and she gets lost in a sea of hugs and tears and bright, decadent smiles. 

As thing start to calm down, there’s really only one thing on Azzi’s mind and Paige’s words echo in her ears, because if I’m gonna end up fucking crying, then I want it to be on your shoulder. And if I’m gonna end up celebrating, I want it to be in your arms. And Azzi thinks maybe Paige had discovered one of the biggest truths of their life with that, the truth that at the end of day, in any moment, big or small, happy or sad, the one person Azzi wants next to her, is her Paige. It’s been that way since she was fourteen, and too young to really understand the meaning of wanting someone forever, and she thinks if she has her way, it’ll be like that for the rest of her life, the rest of their life. 

Paige is beaming in the crowd, standing next to Jon and José, a #35 jersey proudly adorning her torso. She waves when she catches Azzi’s eyes, always her biggest cheerleader. And Azzi throws caution to the wind, fuck it, not caring that there’s still a large crowd or that cameras are likely to follow her every move. She pushes her way into the stands, stopping right in front of the blonde. 

“On a scale of one to ten, how bad would kissing you right now be?” Azzi asks, still a little breathless. 

A myriad of emotions flicker through Paige’s face before settling on a mischievous smirk, “probably pretty bad but you should do it anyways.”

Azzi grins before merging their lips together and everything else fades to the background, until she’s consumed by nothing but Paige. They break apart far quicker than either of them would like and Azzi expects to feel just a little bit of fear at what she’s just done, likely given the media a spectacle they could run a million and one stories about but instead, with her forehead still pressed against Paige’s, she feels nothing but calm. 

“I’m so in love with you,” Azzi whispers and Paige’s eyes widen. They’ve known it for a while now but it’s the first time either of them have said it. 

“Say it again,” Paige demands. 

“I’m so in love with you,” Azzi says again, grinning so hard, she thinks it might become her permanent expression, “like really fucking in love with you.”

“I’m so in love with you,” Paige whispers, pulling Azzi into a bone-crushing hug. 

And this might not be the moment where everything finally comes together. There’s still so much life left to live, so much that they still need to work through, so much they’ve yet to deal with. But for now, Azzi has a national championship and she has the love of her life, the rest will work itself out, or so she hopes.

[haikyu-mp4]

Safehouse

word count; 1497 – gn!reader

Atsumu didn't usually let things bother him for too long. He knew he always did his best in volleyball and he did his best to be a good friend and teammate even though he’s got an ‘unlikeable personality’ as Kiyoomi would phrase it.

But sometimes, it’s just a little too much for him to process, too many missed serves or spikes and petty disagreements, and there was just one place his mind goes to when that happened. His brother.

More specifically, he would go to Onigiri Miya, where Osamu seemed to spend most of his time trying to make the business go ‘round. That’s why he’s storming in this particular Thursday evening, brushing past you with a quick hello before opening the door to the backroom and rushing in.

You stood there, a bit startled with surprise as you chuckled under your breath. Working at Onigiri Miya had so far been your favourite job ever, and that came with seeing Atsumu ever so often.

After about 5 minutes, Atsumu came back out while you were serving an order with your service smile plastered on. As you walked back to the counter, you found the twin looking around for something before his eyes met you. It might have just been a trick of your eye, but it looked like his usually bright eyes were a bit teary. “Hey, Atsumu. Can I help you with anything?” you asked him.

“Have you seen my brother? Looks kinda like me but ugly,” he said with a cheeky smirk, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes like usual. You laughed anyway, shaking your head before grabbing a cloth to clean the counter.

“I think I know who you mean, but he’s out. There was a delivery issue so he decided to go get it himself,” you explained, glancing up at Atsumu from time to time while working. Thursdays weren’t that busy. He was fiddling with his hands now as you put the cloth away after finishing the clean-up like he was struggling with what to do with this new information. Since he didn’t really answer you, you stopped in front of him and tried to meet his eyes. “Is there something wrong, love?”

You were similar to Osamu in many ways, at least Atsumu thought so. With your warmth and kind smile, he harboured some kind of crush on you ever since he met you on your second day working there. “Do you have some… food?” he asked, voice nearly cracking. You patted his shoulder and nodded, walking past him into the kitchen.

“I think I might find some, yeah.” This made him breathe out a short laugh, sitting down on a bar stool so he could be closer to you. “I’ll get your favourite going, I asked Samu about it once,” you said, hands already working while you glanced up at the restaurant to keep an eye on the customers as well.

Atsumu finally smiled again, if only a little. “You asked him?”

“Making food is my love language,” you said, looking down at the food again so he couldn’t see your red cheeks. Atsumu hadn’t felt his chest fill with this kind of warmth since he last visited his mother, and boy did it feel good on that particularly shitty day. He leaned on his hand on the counter, eyes observing you while you made him food. To show him love.

You didn’t start too much conversation, assuming Atsumu would talk to you if he felt like it, but for now, he seemed content watching you work and asking how your day had been. In the end, he seemed a bit lighter by the time you put his food in front of him, but it still didn’t reach his eyes. “Thank you so much, y/n. I really needed this,” he said, mouth already filled with food.

“My pleasure. Professional athletes have bad days too, I guess,” you sighed, hinting that you were there if he wanted to talk.

Atsumu nodded and kept stuffing his mouth, mind going back to his high school team and their banner. “Luckily, there is always tomorrow.”

You laughed more genuinely this time, patting his shoulder as you passed to serve a table who asked to order more. “There is always tomorrow.”

By the time you came back after delivering their new order, Atsumu had finished his onigiri and you could feel his eyes following you again. You raised an eyebrow, taking the plate from in front of him and waiting for whatever lay on the tip of his tongue. “Speaking of tomorrow, how about a date?” he asked, speaking quicker than usual so by the time you registered his words, the plate slipped from your hands and crumbled to the floor in broken pieces. “Shit.”

You shook your head to rid of the fluster, squatting down quickly to pick up the pieces. Your cheeks flushed as Atsumu hurried around the counter to bend down and help you. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why-” you tried to laugh it off, finally about to tell him that yes, you would love to go on a date with him when the wonderful sound of your boss’ voice rang through the kitchen.

“Y/n? Did ‘Tsumu stop by?” And because both of you were called, Atsumu accidentally knocked his head into yours, making him drop all the pieces of porcelain to caress your head. However, you were already off balance so he ended up just pushing you backwards and falling with you, landing unceremoniously on top of you and scraping the pieces of the broken plate along the floor.

“I’m so sorry!” he said, the tone of his dialect even more prominent. And at the perfect moment, Osamu walked in. You were having such a moment, what happened? you thought to yourself, while Atsumu’s head was echoing stupid Samu.

“What the hell is going on here?” your boss asked, making the two of you look at him with surprise as if you didn’t already know he was there.

“This is not what it looks like!” Atsumu yelled, making Osamu look over his shoulder with an apologetic smile at the customers out in the restaurant.

“He knows that, idiot, just get off me,” you laughed, pushing his shoulders to help him up. He scrambled to his feet, finally managing to bend down and pick up the biggest pieces of the broken plate with scattered rice that was now sticking to the floor in some places.

Osamu had already gotten to work, letting the two of you settle yourself and smirking to himself as he imagined how much his brother made a fool of himself. While Atsumu was throwing away the pieces, you quickly got the mop out to clean the floor of rice and smaller pieces, finally getting it all into the dustpan and then the trash. You sighed, using your hand to fan your face, which was red from the quick work and how hot the room suddenly was. Should I turn the air conditioner on lower?

Your boss passed by you with a certain look you couldn’t quite read, but it made you squint at him with suspicion. Then you looked past his shoulder, at sweet, clumsy Atsumu who was back in the high chair with his hands intertwined on the counter in front of him like he never hurt a fly. Okay, maybe you knew why Osamu was looking at you like that even though he was being uncharacteristically silent about it.

While Osamu swiftly moved around to cover his half of work and then some, you took the opportunity to stand in front of his twin again with your hands out in front of you like you were bracing yourself for a surprise impact. “Yes.”

Atsumu stared at you with a blank look, but at least he didn’t look as dejected as he did earlier. Guess you knocked some sense into him with your head. “Yes?” he repeated, a bit lost.

“I’ll work out my schedule with Osamu and you can pick me up tomorrow,” you clarified, picking up one of the business cards that sat by the till, and quickly jotting down your number. “Text me for the address.”

His eyes lit up with that mischievous spark you liked so much that was missing when he came here, standing up from the chair and clutching the little piece of paper as he turned around to the restaurant. “Samu! She needs off tomorrow evening!” he yelled, making you shush him. When did that ever stop Atsumu?

Osamu just turned back to the customer he was standing closest to, seemingly apologising for his brother’s behaviour again while said brother turned back to you like he just solved all your problems. You shook your head with an affectionate smile before going back in the kitchen, waving him off. “Idiot. Now leave before he gets back, unless you’d like our first date to be in the hospital.”

masterlist

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA if I tried to covertly exclude one of my friends from game nights ? 🎮🎧📞

tw: disordered eating, self harm

I've got a discord friend group of about 15 people though only 10 or so are regularly active and game nights often are usually around 6 people but they rotate who participates often. We're all in the 20s and mostly nonbinary / genderqueer / trans one way or another. I'm 25 ftm personally (they them) and the friend this is about in particular is 22mtf (she/they).

Friend is really excited to hit the 1 year marker in her transition and loves sharing how excited she is about her progress - how strangers at her job are gendering her correctly more and more often, how her cup sizes are growing, how much weight she's lost, wardrobe updates, getting to learn girl things from their very supportive mom, etc etc etc. It's all very exciting, I remember hitting my 1 year marker and i'm genuinely really happy for her.

The thing is I struggled with disordered eating in the past. Several others in our friend group have as well and it's something we've talked about both in related and unrelated convos to this issue. Friend keeps an excel spreadsheet with her measurements from bust to hips to weight and will update us frequently whether we've expressed interest in hearing the exact numbers or not. Exact Numbers was one of the things I kept track of and hearing her tracking them (for very different reasons) will often set me off and i'll start taking more and more unhealthy actions, falling back into disordered habits.

Friend has adhd and very poor impulse control. She often joins conversations and talks over people, completely changes conversational topics on a dime, or forgets who is in a call at any moment and brings up someone's triggers. She'll almost always apologize if someone mentions a social mistake she's made, but because the weight/food intake/number watching is so important to them as a way to track their transition it's the one thing that keeps coming back and back and back. I and the others have tried talking in voice calls, mentioning in text chats in the group and even DMing her but because of the topic and this group being the friend group she feels safest in (we were all the first to know and hyped them up on the hrt journey) these are some convos she only gets to have here

and because of the topic, i feel rude or embarrassed when I have to say "hey can we not talk about this right now or i'm gonna have to leave". So on most nights if it comes up I'll just deafen / go afk / just zone out entirely until the conversation has passed. If it doesn't seem like it's going to or they are so in depth that it's genuinely triggering a self harm response i'll fully leave instead so she can keep having her fun and get excited

Game nights are different though

I'm usually the host of game night and so can pick when we play our silly little games. Obviously people can and do still hangout and do things together Not on specific game nights, and we all do, but game nights are my thing. We play party games over discord or multiplayer competition games or lately have been getting into games like content warning and lethal company when there's 4 or sometimes 5 of us (either someone wants to hang out but only watch or we rotate around who plays round by round)

Friend is often working in the evenings and so bc this is an online friend group they don't actually know my work schedule. We usually only have about half the total number of participants be around for game night anyways, so I've been thinking of occasionally lining up game nights for nights when she's mentioned being busy by saying i work the other nights - but only sometimes. I do really like friend. She can be so much fun to hang out with, excitingly competitive and with interesting knowledge to share and generally a good sport no matter the actual game we're playing. But sometimes the worry about the triggering and the trigginering itself are too much. sometimes i just can't handle when she does it and knowing i can't leave and asking her to stop expressing her joy makes me feel like an asshole anyways so i don't want to be around it.

To be clear. I do not think they are an asshole. Friend is genuinely one of my friends. I like her and hanging out with her. they do not trigger me (or any of the others w this same trigger) maliciously. this is solely would I be the asshole.

TLDR: My friends way of tracking her transition sometimes triggers my eating disorder. would I be the asshole for planning game nights that I host and cannot leave / tune out conversations during so that she cannot attend as often in hopes that I am not triggered as often?

[hotdogstandz]

My Lust tale. A story following a group of monsters living in a world in which humans and monsters have always coexisted side by side. Sure, everyone is above ground, but that doesn’t mean everything is easy. In this world, monsters face extreme classism, racism, and just general systemic oppression from the government. This story specifically follows the lives of a suffering but strong community of monsters doing their best to survive in a run-down city with a corrupt system not made for them.

We’ve got the aged-out foster skeleton brothers- drag queen Sans and security/accountant Pax (government name Papyrus) who co-run the hit club, Lust Tales After Dark, located on Snowed In Street.

Directly across from their building is a small rundown cafe run by the lovely Miss Toriel, and occasionally her eldest two children, biological son Asriel (15) and adopted Chara (16). She has another adopted kid, Frisk (7) that the eldest watch frequently as well. Pax and Sans (dubbed Sansy by Frisk) spend most of their off time either with the kids, running rehearsals, or working the food bank that Lust Tales After Dark and Toriels cafe run (along with several other monster owned businesses) for the unfortunate monsters and humans living on the streets in their city.

Chief of police, Asgore is what you could expect. A power hungry, corrupt, and selfish man willing to throw his own family away for the sake of success. I will reveal more about everyone’s dynamic soon enough.

Last bit….and I want you all to REALLY look me in the face and listen to every word I’m about to say.

DO. NOT. SEXUALIZE. ANY. OF THE CHARACTERS. WHO ARE. MINORS.

This is a story meant to raise awareness for real life problems. I am planning on using this series to educate younger people in this fandom about safe sex practices, consent, and the wide variety of sexualities, as well as SA, domestic violence, and STD awareness. As someone who read the original comic as a young teen, it was incredibly damaging and confusing. So, this is meant to be used as a tool. A comfort. Lust and sexuality can be really really scary for some. I hope to make it less scary. More educational and lighthearted.

If your intention is to come on my page and twist my content into what the original LustTale was or draw harmful art that you KNOW could damage someone, get the FUCK off my page. Unkindly.

That’s all :] thx for reading bbys

[deedeeznoots]

Let’s Go to Malaysia, Yeah?

Characters: Nanami Kento, Fem!Reader 

Word count: 2.7k

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Angst 

Content Warnings: It’s smut so MDNI!! Specifically: Slight voyeurism (there’s no people around but you’re both outside), Oral (reader receiving), PiV, Creampie, Use of the word “wife” a lot, angst at the end because I don’t believe in happiness

A/N: I thought about this on a random Thursday night at 1 AM and couldn’t rest until I wrote it into existence. 

Synopsis: You and your husband Kento Nanami go on a beach trip in Malaysia and have some fun in more ways than one~

MINORS ONCE AGAIN PLEASE DO NOT INTERACT.

The sound of chirping birds and ocean waves wake you up from your slumber. Still groggy, you instinctively reach for Nanami, but the bed comes out empty. Rubbing your eyes, your vision lands on the open windows, the sun slightly blinding you from the view. Though it would be nearly impossible to miss completely, the bright yellow sand standing in contrast to the deep blue ocean was a sight to see. Turns out, renting a small house by the beach in Malaysia was an amazing idea, something your husband came up with. Speaking of…where was he?  

Hearing some commotion from outside the bedroom, you put on your robe and leave to follow the source. There, you find your beautiful husband making breakfast in the kitchen. Shirtless, the morning sun reflects off his back as he cuts up fruit. God he looked good, you thought. 

Moving quietly, you swiftly hugged him from behind. He jumps up a little in shock before going “Good morning, darling”.

You giggle at his reaction and simply go “Hi Kento...” and leave small kisses on his back as he continues cutting fruit. Eventually, he drops the knife and turns around, looking you straight in the eyes.

 “…yes?” You question jokingly. He doesn’t say anything, only giving you a small kiss on your lips. You had other plans though, and grabbed a hold at the back of his neck, deepening the kiss. Nanami groans in response, but doesn’t protest, lifting you up and placing you on top of the counter. As he slowly grinds himself between your legs, you joke “it’s so early…”. Your husband simply laughs and says “it’s never too early for my wife…”. As your tongues continue to intertwine, you begin to remove his pants when—

Ding

The toaster. The sound snaps Nanami out of what he was doing and he begins to remember his original plans for the kitchen. Lifting you up again, this time to help bring you back down to the floor, he tells you “Let’s not waste breakfast” with a laugh. 

Somewhat disappointed, you comply anyway as you were a little hungry and Nanami did work hard to prepare it for you two. Sitting on the table, Nanami puts down a plate of toast and syrup with a side of fruit. You weren’t sure if it was because it was made by someone you loved, but it was possibly the most delicious meal you ever had. The bread was perfectly toasted, with the syrup acting in perfect juxtaposition to the crunchy exterior of the toast. The fruit was no joke either, perfectly cut into symmetrical shapes and acting as the perfect side to your meal. God, it was amazing. Your husband was amazing. 

“…Baby are you listening?” Nanami’s voice snaps you out of your daydreams. “Huh…?” You ask, staring at him blankly. Shaking your head, you go “Oh… I’m sorry honey haha I was too focused on this amazing breakfast”, your voice slightly muffled from the food in your mouth. Your husband just laughs and goes “I was just asking if you wanted me to bring anything while we go on our walk”. 

“Oh! Let’s bring the chairs so we can watch the ocean for a bit” you say, excited. Nanami nods and you two continue making small talk over breakfast regarding your plans for the day, enjoying each other’s presence along with the beach view through the large window in the living room. 

“Man, that was a good breakfast! Thank you so much for that… you’re getting really good at making bread by the way” you say as the both of you walk around the beach. “Thank you, anything for my wife” Nanami chuckles, of course. Your husband always told you he’d give you the world, and you believe him. Why wouldn’t you? He shows you every day, and this day was certainly no exception. 

The sand is hot against your feet as you and your partner find a place to set your chairs. Looking around, you point to an empty spot close to the ocean “what about there?” you ask. Nanami just nods and takes your hand to walk you both to the spot. You set both your chairs down as Nanami puts up the umbrella for both of you. He also offers to help you put on your sunscreen. 

“Sure! Let me just go get it” you respond. 

It started out innocent enough. You feel the slight cool of the sunscreen as your husband rubs the cream onto your skin. He started with your arms, being oh so diligent to make sure your skin was fully protected. He started again with your back, once again not missing a single spot. Once he got to your shoulders, however… that was a different story. Something about it felt more…sensual, and both of you felt the change in mood. 

While rubbing the sunscreen on your shoulders, Nanami decided to begin kissing your neck. The warm kisses sent a cold shiver down your spine and you jumped up. “H-h-hey! What are you doing?” you ask, shocked. Your dutiful husband simply hums into your neck and continues kissing your most sensitive spots. Once the initial shock smoothed over, you got more into it. Leaning into his soft kisses and letting out soft moans as he continuously abused your neck. Not too much though, you were in public after all. 

Well…kind of. See, one of the main draws of picking this specific spot to go to was because of how far it was from the public area. There was  likely no people for miles, making it the perfect spot for you and your introverted lover to do all kinds of fun (in lots of different ways, of course). Still, anyone could theoretically walk to this side of the beach with no issue, but why would they? There was clearly nothing to see here. 

Except I guess…a man in between his wife’s legs eating her out like she’s his last meal. “K-Kento! We’re in public!” you yelp out in between (now much louder) moans. “Shhh… it’s okay” he shushes, the vibrations of which are felt on your pussy, causing you to moan louder. “N-ngh, God— don’t stop!” you moan out, which simply makes your lover laugh. Pulling away, with only a string of his saliva working to connect the two of you, he goes “Careful honey, we are in public, remember?”. Frustrated, you grab him by his hair and lightly push him back between your legs. You were careful not to actually hurt him, of course, and you thankfully didn’t receive any complaints from him, as he simply goes back to looking up at you while sucking on your clit, at the corner of your eye, you can see the sunscreen, now carelessly tossed to the side.

Right. This started with sunscreen. What happened with that? 

Right… after finishing lathering your shoulders he began getting to work on your legs. You were still lightheaded from having his lips on your neck, so you didn’t pay much attention while he continued rubbing the lotion on you. At one point though, he suddenly stopped. Confused, you’re about to ask him what’s wrong when he hushes you with a soft kiss. You comply, and are so zoned out that you don’t even notice Nanami beginning to remove the bottom half of the bathing suit you put on. “…May I?” he asks for your permission with his soft voice. Unable to deny him in the state you’re in, you nod. From there, he began kissing down your body. From your shoulders, to your breasts, to your stomach until finally, he made it there. 

Which leads you back to the predicament you’re in now: where you’re a moaning mess as your husband makes out with your pussy. Like always, Nanami is diligent. Making sure to catch all your sweet spots and to pay extra mind to your clit. He worked slowly, but don’t worry, he was definitely getting the job done. “P-p-please…I’m close, I’m so close please Kento please”, you spit out through incoherent moans. Nanami doesn’t say anything, he simply flattens his tongue against your clit as your orgasm continues to build up. When you finally get there after a few seconds of riding Nanami’s tongue, you’re only able to see white for a while. Breathing heavily, your legs begin to tremble as you zone out, staring wide-eyed into space.

Nanami is seemingly unfazed, however, as he simply pulls your swimsuit back up and gives you a chaste kiss on the lips, allowing you to taste a bit of yourself. He holds your hand tight and says “Let’s rest for a bit and then let’s go swim, ok?” He smiles innocently, as if he didn’t just give you the best orgasm of your life just a minute before. Slowly snapping back into reality, you kiss your husband’s hand and go “o-ok…”, still out of breath from what just occurred. Nanami let you take your time to cool down, showering you in affirmations of how beautiful you were and how he was sorry but  simply couldn’t resist you.

Eventually, you’re able to calm down enough to make your way to the ocean. Your legs still wobbly, you’re the perfect target for splashing. The cold water hitting your skin as your lover cruelly splashes water on you “Kentoooo…stop it! Haha!” You laugh as you splash him back, getting his hair wet. Getting serious for a second, he simply mutters “You’ll pay for that, darling”, before swiftly picking you up and spinning you around. Letting out a goofy scream, you go “Baby wait— you’re gonna drop me! Haha!”. To your surprise, he actually does drop you in the water. You were fine with this, as this gave you leverage to grab onto his leg and pull him down with you. Letting out a yelp, he lets out a hearty laugh as he falls into the water with a splash. “I win! Jerk!” you say in between laughs. 

Though, he  simply goes quiet and looks deep in your eyes. He lightly grabs your face and gives you a deep kiss. Pulling away, he whispers a soft “I love you”. Flushed, you’re about to say you love him back when you feel another cold splash against your face right and your husband’s laughter “…but you’re so cute when you’re mad!” He exclaims, standing up. “Hey! No fair! We were supposed to have a sweet moment!” You yell out as you climb up his back, forcing him to give you a piggyback ride. One he complies to, of course. 

After having your fun, the both of you dry yourselves off outside before going back to your small vacation home. “I’m going to catch up on some reading darling, there’s some books I really need to finish”, Nanami tells you as he starts to enter the room. “Alright, I’m just gonna take a shower and then I’ll join you” you respond. He nods as he closes the door behind him. You had other plans, of course.

You were going to join him.  

Though…it wasn’t going to be for reading. You still had to pay him back for his stunt at the beach, after all…

After your short shower, you enter the shared bedroom of you and Nanami. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that you were wearing nothing but a towel. 

“Darling…” your husband looks up, taking off his glasses. “Aren’t you going to put some clothes on?” He asks, but you could feel it in his voice, he was getting riled up. You got him right where you wanted him. 

“Hmmm…I don’t know darling,” you say, teasing him “I think I like things exactly like this”, as you finish your sentence, you drop your towel, showing off your naked body to Nanami. You climb on top of him and sit on his lap. He was hard. Why wouldn’t he be? His gorgeous wife was sitting naked on top of him. He simply smiled as you brought your face closer to his, your lips nearly touching. “While I appreciate the sentiment darling…” Nanami grabs your wrists as he flips you over on the bed “…it seems you forgot who’s in charge here”. He now stood on top of you, his large frame hovering above you as he brought himself closer to kiss you. Finally, your lips touch and the both of you get to work removing all of Nanami’s pesky clothes. You were thankfully already taken care of, so things were much easier. 

Finally fully naked, Nanami lines himself up against you “I’m sorry baby…” he starts, “I know we usually do foreplay first but I need to be inside of you right now”. His dick is in perfect alignment with your pussy, where even through the smallest movement by you, you could have him inside. You’re just as desperate for him as he is for you, so you just nod and go “it’s okay… I’m already wet enough for you, see?” you say as you dip your fingers into your pussy before pulling out, showing Nanami proof of your arousal. He simply exhales a sigh of relief as he begins to enter you. Starting slowly, as to not hurt you, he starts with shallow thrusts until he’s all the way in. 

Finally inside, he picks up the pace, looking you in the eyes the whole time. “God— you’re gorgeous you know?” he says in between thrusts, though you’re too fucked out on his cock to be able to pay much attention. You simply moan as you’re forced to take his dick over and over again. This makes him stop, and he looks at you. Before you can ask him why, he goes “Say it, darling”. “Say wha—“ you are cut off, “Say you’re gorgeous”. 

“That—that’s so embarrassing Kento…” you reply. It did make you feel a bit shy to say affirmations with a dick inside of you, but Nanami didn’t budge, he simply kept looking at you until you said the words. “Okay…I’m gorgeous, the only one for you” you smile, it did feel good to say, but Nanami’s thick cock thrusting in and out of you right after you said it probably helped in that regard. 

You began to feel the pit in your stomach grow, and you knew exactly what it meant “K…Kento… I’m gonna cum…” you moan out. Nanami softly kisses your wrists in response and says “yeah…me too darling, let’s finish together, yeah?”. 

You both do just that, moans and grunts filling the room as you both reach your high. “I love you baby… I love you so much” Nanami moans out as he kisses you through your orgasms. 

After you’ve both calmed down, Nanami pulls out and lays next to you. “Come here, darling~” he coos, pulling you towards him for cuddles. “I meant it you know, when I said you were gorgeous…you should say it to yourself more often” he whispers in your ear. You simply smile and give him a kiss on the cheek “Yeah…I’ll make sure to try. I love you baby…” your eyes meet his, and it’s almost like you can see the whole world through only his eyes. He gives you a deep kiss and as he caresses you to sleep he goes “I love you too, my beautiful wife”. 

You groggily wake up to the walls of your room, a very different sight to the vacation home you were just in. It’s dark, with no windows open, and if you opened them, you likely wouldn’t be greeted to the soft waves of the ocean. What just happened? You think. Was I dreaming?

You instinctively reach for your husband’s side of the bed. It’s empty, of course. Still groggy and with possibly the worst headache of your life, you get up and make your way to the kitchen. 

You make your own breakfast. A sad combination of stale cereal and milk.

It’s the reality of course, but one you’re still unable to accept. In this reality, there is no beach view, there is no cold ocean to splash in, there are no birds to wake you up, and most importantly there is no Nanami. 

What is there though…are two tickets to Malaysia. Looking at them, the dates stand there bold, almost as if to mock you… spelling out the day you’ll forever hate the most. 

NOV. 1ST, 2018

Yeah…that’s right.

You two were never able to make it to that trip, were you?

[hqbaby]

five — right?

tag, ur it! — sakusa ? iwaizumi ? osamu ? 

*ੈ✩‧ love is a losing game your roommate, your ex, or the guy you totally haven’t been seeing—the choice should be simple, right? right?

previous — masterlist — next

word count. 1.1k content. profanity, mentions of previous cheating

“Will you stop that?” Iwaizumi says, glancing up from the paper that he’s been working on for the better half of the afternoon.

You bat your eyelashes at him innocently. “Stop what?”

He glares. “That,” he tells you, pointing at the growing pile of paper balls you’ve been making, crumpling up pages of old notes and unceremoniously dropping them at your feet. “It’s distracting.”

“Tough luck, bud. It’s for school.”

“That excuse is getting old,” he says. He takes one last look at his laptop, sighs, and closes it. He looks at you expectantly. “So what’s up?”

“Why do you think something’s up?”

“Because you’re being outwardly annoying,” Iwaizumi tells you, “Which isn’t particularly strange, but you’ve got this nervous energy around you right now.”

You try to silence the voice in your head that wants to ask him, You notice those kinds of things? Because it’s stupid. Of course your roommate notices when you’re acting weird. He’s subjected to your strangeness every day.

“Have you ever had a really stupid idea?” you ask him instead.

He raises his brow and puts his laptop away, making his way to the couch and plopping into the seat beside you. “What kind of idea?”

“I won’t go into the specifics,” you say. “But it’s just really stupid. Imagine you had a really good thing going for you now and it’s great, you know? But there’s this other thing that is really bad for you that you can’t seem to let go. So you have this idea, drop the really good thing for the bad thing. Which is stupid. But you want to do it.”

“Oh, that’s totally not specific at all.”

You stick your tongue out at him. “I need help here,” you say. “What would you do?”

He considers it for a moment. “How badly do you want the bad thing?”

“Really badly.”

There isn’t a hint of hesitation in your voice and it makes you want to hurl. After everything that’s happened, you’re exactly where you were before. It feels pathetic. Disappointing if nothing else.

And yet you don’t expect the next thing to come out of your roommate’s mouth. Not from Iwaizumi, the wise and kind and gentle and slightly aggressive but overall smart, good guy.

“Then fuck it,” he says, as if he were giving you his blessing. “Go for it. At some point, you can’t keep denying your feelings. They’ll blow up in your face eventually.”

You gape at him. “I can’t believe you just told me to fuck it.”

He grins, all teeth and sunshine. “Fuck it.”

Of course when Iwaizumi told you to fuck it, he had no idea that it meant you were going to show up here. At a coffee shop. Waiting for Osamu, the guy all your friends have told you to clearly stay away from.

When you see him, you notice that he looks a little different. Not much has changed, you’ve only been a part for a few months, but time has its way of making the past seem more distant than it is.

“Hey,” he says as he approaches you. His breath catches when you stand and he sees you, clearly surprised by how much you’ve changed too. “You look… great.”

You offer him a curt nod. Despite just how much you want this, to see him again, there’s something that’s physically holding you back. Reminding you of what Osamu did, what he made you go through.

“Thanks,” you say. “You wanna sit?”

If he’s put off by your slight coldness, he doesn’t show it. He sits in the chair across from yours as you fall back into your seat.

“How have you been?” he asks.

It’s so polite. So unbothered. You hate it.

“Fine,” you tell him. “How’s Maya?”

You see him recoil at the name, his lips twisting into a frown as he curls into himself ever so slightly. It’s stupid just how much you still know him, how you know how to push his buttons in just the right way.

“I don’t know,” he says. “I haven’t seen her since…”

And there it is. The unspeakable. The thing you’ve poked and prodded at. Alluded to in conversations with your friends. Hidden deep in the back of your throat.

“Since you fucked her.”

He shakes his head and leans forward, spreading his hands on the table as he looks you straight in the eye. “I told you,” he says, “It was a mistake.”

“You still did it.”

The truth is sour on your tongue. You’ve had this conversation with him before, hurled your righteous accusations at him as he tried to explain that it wasn’t anything, that it didn’t matter. What a fucking idiot.

“What did you wanna talk about?” you ask. The scales have tilted in your favor. You have the upperhand here. “What do you want from me?”

Osamu’s eyes flicker from remorseful to regretful to penitent. “Give me a chance,” he says. “I fucked up, I know I did. But I can’t keep doing this. I look for you everywhere I go. I stay up at night wondering when you’ll call. But you’re so distant, you avoid me every chance you get.”

You scoff. “Do you blame me for that?”

“No.” He looks down. “But I want you to give me a chance. I know it’s a long shot, but I don’t have much of a choice.”

The stronger, more sensible part of you wants to walk away. Maybe slap him in the face, throw your water at him to make yourself feel better. Anything, as long as you leave. As long as you don’t look back.

But there’s still the part of you that stays. The one that goes to places you know he’ll be just to see if he’s doing fine. That wants to ask his brother how his finals went. That wants to forgive him right then and there, rush back into his arms, make everything alright.

So you compromise with yourself. You say, “Then win me back.”

You can tell that isn’t the answer that he was expecting. As much as you know him, he knows you too. He never expected you to bend, and while you haven’t fully done so just yet, you’ve given him an inch.

He’ll be damned if he doesn’t take a mile.

“Deal,” he says, smiling now. “You won’t regret this.”

You can’t help but chuckle at the bright look on his face. The way he lights up at the prospect of having you again. In the end, you always knew just how much you meant to him. In the end, you always knew just how much he meant to you.

“Oh, I have a feeling I will,” you tell him. “But, well, you know… Fuck it, right?”

notes. i too would be weak for osamu no matter what he's done to me 🙂‍↕️

[evillysilly]

Dombot FTM Francis Mosses shows subtopMale reader how to properly bread him? Reader has never had more than BJ's and handjobs and fingering but Francis wants more than just that,, :3

I've never made a request so i hope this is understandable :3

4 | euphoria.

content warning: nsfw (lewd), porn with no plot, ftm powerbottom francis, service top male reader, mentions of handjobs and blowjobs, fingering, breeding, kind of clothed sex(?), praising, reader's more vocal than francis

a/n: HI!! i've never done a sub reader before but this is like my first ever request so i am NOT gonna just take that request down... also i didn't proof read tjis unlike the others my bad if its sort of ass

ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ ,（；´д｀）ゞ , (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

heaving and panting. that's the only thing you could hear from you and your beloved Francis. you were really worked up, dick throbbing in your trousers, legs slightly shaking while Francis was watching you, feeling your fingers doing the curled finger motion inside his slick heat. yet he wanted more than that, something different, he holds your wrist, stopping you from what you were doing.

you looked at him confused, letting out incoherent words out, but Francis already knew you were gonna question him. "mn.. want you inside me."

hearing those words just made you even harder, but you were nervous, you've never taken it this far before, you and Francis would usually just give each other handjobs and blowjobs. "are.. are you sure? I've never done that before..." you mutter, you could hear how nervous you are with your tone as Francis nods.

"I.. I can help you out, mm?" Francis offers as you shyly nod, pulling your ring and middle finger out from his clit. you were thankful Francis was a patient man, you would do anything just to please him in any way, and that's one of the reasons why Francis loves you so much.

you finally take off your pants, along with your boxers, your erection standing proud and beading with lots of pre-seminal fluid already, you place yourself on top of your lover, your aching shaft slowly sinking inside Francis with both of you letting out a sigh— well, yours was more of a whine.

"you're- nghhn.. you're really.. tight..." you huff out, putting all inches in as Francis grips your shirt, his walls clenching around you, yet relishing the sensation. you couldn't help but let out more moans as you move your hips, this felt so euphoric, the feeling of Francis' tight cunt taking you so well turned you on even more.

"I'm doing well.. ri- right?" you asked, looking at your adorable milkman who was panting and grunting. "mmn- mhm.. such a good boy, doing so well..." he utters, his hands gripping your shoulders as your body shuddered at the praise, your pace increasing from it.

Francis lets out a groan, feeling your dick hitting the specific sensitive area in him. "ugh.. th- there..." you hum in response, thrusting in deeper and focusing in one spot, you were so sensitive as well, you could feel yourself reaching your peak already.

"I'm- I'mmngh- haah- I'm sososo c- close...!" you whine against Francis' neck, panting and whimpering, your speed slowing down, fucking him harder and deeper, hearing Francis let out another groan. "that's it.. cum inside me." he breathlessly orders, you could feel his legs slightly trembling as well, it was almost like he's trying to stabilize himself.

you chanted Francis' name like a prayer, your thrusts getting sloppy to some degree as you thrust inside one last time, letting out a loud moan and cumming inside him, you felt Francis' body quiver, looking down to see his juices mixing with yours, drooling out of his pretty hole.

as you finally pull out, panting and collapsing on top of Francis, he couldn't help but admire how adorable you are, running his fingers through your hair as you hum.

"mmn, ready for another round?"

[storgicdealer]

taking this out of tags RIGHT NOW

tags by @navy-leader

this. makes me go fucking insane. continuing

im still going fucking insane about my last tags

there's NO possible way of victim not seeing something that was streamed on alans channel and respectively streamed in the outernet. its canon that avm original was streamed there. even if it wasnt every episode of avam it is still there. victim lives there and knows what outernet has (and most likely knows about oranges and cg existence. not their powers but existence from at least an avm original episode)

and given that vic learned about chosen and that he was wanted. that victim KNEW about their existence and chased after them. that he had seen something that made him realize that chosen inherently had ties with alan??

one of my thoughts is that only specific stuff is accessible to outernet in canon. maybe not even the whole content of vids. (though the avm original was sixteen minutes and in "the king" it is seen that the video streamed is also sixteen minutes) which could explain how victim only knew a small bit of stuff and didnt just see the a bit of a whole thirty minute willingly and went "well thats all i gotta know about it".

its likely victim accessed chosen(and possibly dark) videos streamed and connected the dots by recognizing alan, similar methods of torturing chosen and the interface of alans pc.

(since its canon victims torture is on youtube and possibly chosens its kinda fucked if they accessed it as well. which perhaps made them even more vengeful)

thought. was showdown something that was streamed or something that was uploaded on youtube? at least the beginning of it?? and victim knew only bits of it???. it could be possible that victim knew about chosen&dark place of living and darks technology. from just bits of information and his company couldve investigated it? but ultimately didnt find chosen nor dark there. and therefore placed a damn bounty on chosen. and they mightve used leftover darks technology there for their own shit. victim knowing about darks tech and possibly small pieces of the showdown could also be explained that he didnt seem to mind the events taken before yellow coded the cursor into the outernet when going through chosens memory. but it does make me think whether victim knew that the cg went back to the pc and therefore didnt place wanted posters of them ??? did he know about darks death and therefore didnt place wanted posters of dark?? wouldnt he try any means to find how to get to alan? is it possible that only the cursor and tscs awakening parts of the showdown video were erased and vic, again, wanted to see more to it (i had a thought that he couldve known what is up with the showdown due to having surveillance technology but im doubting it because chosen and dark lived really secludedly from the city).

but in case the showdown was somewhat seen? by other sticks? and vic couldve known about darks and chosen terror shit from other sticks/a news outlet? oh my god i just realized something

so theres a comic about me wondering how did sticks treat chosens&dark terror in the internet and possibly outernet too. that dark blasted a whole fucking beam in the sky near the stickcity and it wasnt unable to be seen. could victim see that???? could he connect the dots that it was hollowheads power??

the rocket logo. dude. i JUST THOUGHT about it yesterday. and it made so much sense to me

my possible thought was. that victim did escape alanspc through the ip/pc sky. somewhat. in one way or another. and it was the reason why a rocket was picked as the corporations logo.

a rocket is something that is able to literally fly to the sky. to access the higher parts of the world. the ip/sky part of it that had a wormhole to alan in it. the person victim chased after.

and given that rocketcorp specializes on tech. another reason to it besides victims knowledge and ability to use it before and deciding to bring it into the outernet and devote a whole company to it. a rocket is literally something that is made of technology. and since they had to chose a logo that symbolizes tech

victim chose something that represented his goal.

fucking insane about it

i basically treat it as a base for my theories that victim established/reformed a corporation that used internet technologies he himself brought into the outernet (in one way or another). but his company is widely known as a regular tech company that produces all different kinds of it. including domestic stuff like tvs and surveillance cameras and also weapons. but due to technology and digital stuff literally forming the internet and outernet itself they also act as some force in the outernet that upkeeps and protects its citizens. since theyre the only ones with that kind of power

and all these projects that cover many areas of technology that are made by them are used to cover their shady underground shit like. the box and torture and victims true goal (which i believe he could be secret about even to his mercs and colleagues)

and that the point of victim bringing internet technology there. his whole plan of revenge.

it is done in order to protect his kind from something that he experienced. giving them a mean to defend themselves. ESPECIALLY after knowing cursors of users can be manifested in the outernet and damage sticks.

and he is the kind to be ruthless about it if it means creating safety. something he lacked.

(violence and oppression cant be solved with peaceful talks kind of mentality)

im fucking INSANE about this right NOW.

also. another thought

giving the possibility that victim "fell down" from the ip/sky. him providing the internet with basically "divine power" that regular kind of outernet sticks didnt have. him trying to protect outernet sticks from danger and death.

makes the interpretation of victim with angelic/halo symbolism in the fandom so much more sense. and so fucking amazing. oh my god i NEED to make something about this idea.

tom you opened a whole different dimension to my thinking and it fills in the holes ive thought about. im going to be so fucking insane and annoying about this.

pinning this. im

(go to tags here if you want to see my another idea of victim that is so fucking. mind changing to me)

[punkeropercyjackson]

@cassieopeiia said yes when i offered to repost my afro-dominican Jason Todd headcanons so they could finally have some accurate latino Jason content so here!!

Both sets of his grandparents were inmigrants who made sure to teach their kids their culture and Bruce,Talia and Alfred did research so he could still grow up in it after he was adopted so he's not disconnected from his culture like you'd expect

Is darkskinned with a big nose,full lips,green eyes and shoulder length black dreads with one of them being white from The Lazarus Pit.As Robin,he wore his hair short and natural(as in,his classic curls but even thicker)

Speaks spanish often enough that it's a consistent part of his speech patterns but dosen't have an accent since he's so good at both it and english

90s/2000s anime kid but specifically watched the episodes and read the mangas in latino spanish whenever he could(Definitely a merch collector too!!!Nothing weird though,i feel the need to say that,he just loves buying volumes and figures and replicas of weapons and plushies-The last one is a secret though)

Has his pre-reboot Robin characterization but got victim blamed and a bad rep anyway because of antiblackness and xenophobia

Bullying Tim for being a gringo is one of his favorote hobby's

Duke and him compare their similar yet different experiences with blackness and got along even quicker than canon thanks to it

Mentors Damian's team The All New Teen Titans and next to Damian,the member he's closest to is Nell

Takes great care of his hair and will sometimes wear red beads-He actually has a couple sets in different shades!!!

Says his favorite color is red because it represents blood on his country's flag and nobody can tell wether he's joking or not

Sometimes feels guilty for 'being a stereotype' due to the whole being born to poor parents who were also addicts and growing up to be a huge asshole with anger issues and a thirst for violence but rarely lets it get to him because he thinks he's the coolest mf to ever exist(but we all know he's actually a boyloser)

Aave user,with his favorite word from it being 'deadass'

And he makes the obvious 'Concha' jokes too for irony because he's demisexual and aceflux

Loves his country's cuisine-especially flan,it's tied with neapolitan as his favorite dessert!-but his favorite type of latino food is mexican!Tres leches cake and tacos and burritos and mexican hot chocolate and all that make his mouth water like Atlantis

Wears traditional festive clothes for special occasions and if he can't,he'll just refuse to go("I'm not going out in public in that!" "It's literally a tux???" "You call that a tux?It dosen't even have shoulder pads!Don't patronize me,Dickardo.")

Listens to bachata for nostalgia reasons and has some songs memorized but generally a female rappers/death metal bands/punk rock kinda guy

Black and latino memes connoiseur,both the classics and newer ones

Adores dominican folklore and uses it's horror mythos as inspo as Red Hood

Thinks 'showing affection means you aren't tough!' is gringo nonsense so he's pretty open about if he likes someone,be it platonic or romantic

Poc4Poc strictly and has a thing for black women

The only thing him and Kyle can agree on is that latinos are superior

Very autistic,with no masking game now or ever due to the norms he was raised in never giving him the chance to learn to.It got him bullied at school and things didn't get better into adulthood until we got to my Rhato rewrite and he got to make REAL friends i.e Reconnecting with Eddie and my self-insert Summer Kent(i got into DC through watching Utrh and starting to selfship with him),Robin-ing up Duke and vice versa and meeting Rose,Artemis,Kyle,Thad and a bunch of ocs by @moonage-gaydream @theautisticcentre @refrigeratedboombursts @mayameanderings and @insomniac-jay

Punkero Gótico(Goth Punk)who's a straightedge as trauma coping,seeks out latino/black run thrift stores,goes to basement shows and charity events and protests when he has free time and usually just asks around for them so he can know,wears dominican themed corpse makeup and is an agender transmasc who describes his gender as 'Mostly nonbinary but being a guy makes things funny as hell and Not That Kinda Girl by Mcr describes me pretty well')

His love for classical literatiure ofc includes latino authors and he played JuegosJuegos.com tons as a kid

Calls Talia Mamí,Damian 'Duende',Duke 'El Real'(Real=Spanish for Royal but also means the same thing it does in english so it's basically him saying 'You're so fucking real' like the slang)and Summer 'Strawberry Pop'(Jason has a thing for pink-coded black women specifically m'kay?)

His favorite Marvel character and lucky for him his Marvel Variant too is Miles Morales.He thinks it's Hobie Browm though(PLEASE He's so obsessed with his non-existent coolness and relatedly Duke's actual DC Variant is Duke 'El Real' Thomas)

And his books Variant is Percy Jackson.The only real differences are 1.Percy is transfem instead of transmasc and 2.Jason's arc is about him being a self-made tragedy and highkey bad person who works his ass off to redeem himself and only works when he's not getting coddling and Percy's is about how she's never done anything wrong in her entire life yet gets treated like shit anyway and deserves to be treated kindly for once no matter how strong she is

My fancast for him is Aubrey Joseph.Everything i've watched of him-Acting AND as himself-is literally just irl Jason Todd.There's no better fancast for him out there,we've found Red Hood y'all

If you call him any version of 'Papí' and you're not Talia or one of his kids:'Lights Out Bitch!!!!'

Canon bonus':His birthday is on Dominican Restoration day,at my villa we sell mini packets of neapolitan cream with little spoons at our schools,his Lego movie is called 'Family Matters' which is the name of an iconic black sitcom and Leon from Pokemon's VA voiced him in the Wfa dub!!!

[loserdiaz]

I've been listening to the prophecy by taylor and i have thoughts, so bare with me on this one.

some people might look at this thing like a superpower, like something cool to trick people with or scare the shit out of them.

tommy thinks of it more as a curse than anything else. a punishment from above— maybe he's done awful, terrible things in some pasts lives and now he's paying the consequences.

truth is, he doesn't know. he can guess, can try to feel his way through the dark like a lost, blind man, but he's probably never gonna know why he is the way he is, why he can see the things he sees.

it started around the time he was nine, he thinks. when he went to hug her grandma, and suddenly he had this vision— like a short movie playing in his head, of how his grandma would die.

tommy hugged her and then there it was in his mind, he could hear her heartbeat and saw her laying in bed, so calm and at peace in her sleep, when her heart slowly stops.

tommy remembers crying out, screaming, pulling away from her in fear, much to the confusion of everyone in his family. his grandma was okay! she was right there! no one believed him when he told them what he saw, what he felt.

(nana june died that very night, in her sleep. just like tommy predicted.)

tommy realized pretty quickly that this was not something he could share with anyone else. not when he ran into his teacher at the grocery store three weeks later and saw how the woman would die in a tragic car crash in just a couple of weeks. not when he kissed a boy for the very first time when he was sixteen and saw he would die from a freak accident at a football game, of all places— a fatal hit to the head would be the end of a life cut too short.

his life became a swirl of death and fear and loneliness.

he pulled away from everyone. what was the point anyway? if he knew the end of their stories? why get atta hed, get close, when he knew the specific details of their deaths and would have to bare that weight on his shoukders all on his own?

(he made the mistake once of falling in love when he was in college. with matthew— a guy who would die of old age, at ninety-five years old. at home, holding the hand of his husband... that was definitely noy tommy.

it was okay. he figured he could have some fun and enjoy whatever time he could. but it only earned him a broken heart and matthew calling him a freak when tommy explained why he couldn't say i love you to him, why he couldn't truly commit.

he has trusted matthew with his deepest secret, with this curse that tommy has no other choice but to live with it. and it ended up in tears and half the campus thinking he was a psycho.)

since then, tommy vowed to never make that mistake again. to keep his distance with people.

and he's been successful, for the most part. he has some friends, of course, but he doesn't let his relationships get too deep, keeping everyone at arm's length.

it's for the best, really.

and he's... not happy, but content. maybe. comfortable.

until evan buckley comes crashing into his life, figuratively and literally speaking.

the guy is— adorable.

tommy has no other word to describe him.

evan is energetic and enthusiastic, passionate about every single thing he says and does. he's reckless and loud and everything's tommy has soent a lifetime running away from.

when buck touches him for the first time, it sends electricity to every one of his nerves. it's intoxicating and amazing and warm, and tommy never wants it to end.

then, the curse kicks in. a little later than usual— as if mocking tommy, almost. teasing him with a tiny taste of what normal looks like and then reminding him he can never have it, not for real.

the first time buck touches him, it's at chimney's wedding— he's drunk and sweaty, cheeks pink and flushed and a boyish smile plastered on his face. he practically draps himself next to tommy's side, leans all his weight against him as he hums the lyrics of the song plahing in the background out of tune.

it's fun and heavenly for a couple of seconds, until tommy gets the vision.

buck in a month, maybe a month and a half. hanging from the firetruck ladder as the sky falls around him, lightning striking him right in the chest and making his heart stop.

[elizakai]

hi hello rant time feel free to ignore this i’m just going to explode and it’s not the end of the world

the amount of times i’ve seen people go off on someone for stating canon facts about media, and they say “oh that’s not true! where’s the source! grrr! you’re pulling that out of your ass!”

and then immediately be like “i haven’t really read the canon ✌️”

…AND IT SHOWS.

y’all listen. i love canon and fanon interpretations. it’s a playground and it’s free space and don’t let canon puritans ruin the fun.

THAT SAID. CAN WE. NOT. pretend we know the canon of something if it’s blatantly being ignored?

i was just reading a post where this was happening, this specifically happens a lot with dreamtale (WHICH FAIR ITS CONFUSING) but for the love

pls pls pls pls don’t say something is wrong and fake and made up when you don’t know the canon?

JUST READ THE CANON. OR DONT, AND BE OK WITH SAYING YOU DONT K N O W THE CANON

you don’t HAVE to know it but YOU CANT PRETEND TO BE INFORMED THEN

don’t call a story bad that you haven’t read yet, don’t label a character as shallow if you’ve never explored them!

i’m kinda a “know the rules to break the rules” person when it comes to fandom spaces, but i digress, and i re state that if the canon doesn’t interest you that’s fine. ITS FINE. IM FAMILIAR WITH MOST OF THE CANON STORIES (to me knowledge😏😏) AND SOMETIMES I CHOOSE TO MAKE THE CHARACTERS FANONIZED BCS ITS F U N

THATS NORMAL.

but i hope that someday i’ll see more respect for the place original works will always have even amongst all of the fun and PERFECTLY VALID fanon content 😁 like the canon creators making that media is the reason we have the characters, it’s a peeve when people try to “do it better” instead of just “have fun with a new interpretation ” (this happens with character designs and art a lot as well)

hating on fanon content is cringe

being disrespectful to canon content is also cringe

and the MOST CRINGE THING I SEE SO OFTEN

is people who say they only respect the canon, or hate on and shit on fanon content, only to turn around and CLEARLY KNOW NOTHINGGGGG ABOUT THE ACTUAL CANON THEY ARE “SO AWARE OF”

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa*screams so loud and dances seductively*

like yes good sir. mr nightmare sans from dreamtale WAS essentially possessed by a corrupted human man.

yes good sir. this is on more then just a wiki this is actually canon

this is canon. it’s an integral part to their entire story. i will literally write it all out for you if you so desire, but instead your gonna try to ridicule this random person in your comments mentioning it

unless it gets changed in the future that is an example of a canon truth, it’s fine to not know, BUT DONT. PRETEND YOU KNOW.

like i know not everyone has done lore digging but pls i can tell you’ve based your “canon take” off of tht one shitty stolen art dreamtale video we’ve all seen (pls for the love of god if you know what i’m referring to don’t use that as an up to date canon source i’ll cry so hard) just go ahead and say you don’t know the whole canon

jus accept your interpretation will always be fanon ALSO (again which is fine???) unless you KNOW a general amount of knowledge about the canon!?!???!!? it’s not that DEEP EUEUEUEU

again that’s just a minor example of this happening so often everywhereeee😫😫

someone will critique and hate and call a narrative 100% trash and then turn and say it’s “not their thing so they never read it”

OK? THEN DONT TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVENT READ

you can choose to like or dislike smth sure but don’t be so convinced you know something you’ve never looked at. don’t think you can judge an entire book off of the cover just say whether or not you liked the cover

how would you feel if your favorite movie in the world , the one you have so many intense deep feelings and thoughts on, was trashed and hated on by some critic who watched the first five mins???? and then they went off on you abt how ass your take is on this movie you’ve completed and they haven’t given a second thought? they are gonna tell YOU what you aren’t and are allowed to get out of the movie??? HUH???

anyways. seeing that post ate at my guts bcs it was so mean to the other person and outlandishly WILD in so many ways and i’m not specifying who or why bcs that would be immature and dramatic imo

IF YOU READ THIS, 1. WHY, 2. LOOK AWAY FROK YOUR DEVICE FOR A SECOND AND REMEMBER THAT THIS ISUNIMPORTANT and just some rando fandom mutt who’s crying about hate culture and it’s not that deep at the end of the day :)))

drink water and remember it’s ok to not know things and that it’s not bad to ACKNOWLEDGE THAT😭

also don’t let haters talk down to you fandom is for fun and RESPECT that is all GOOD DAY 🫡🩷🩷💞💞✨✨💜💥💜💜💥💥💥💫🙂‍↕️

[sticktopia]

A Mistake (An AvM Oneshot)

This Oneshot is inspired by the Royal event on @tulipsempai’s blog.

“RB.”

“Yes chief?”

“These are for you.” The old stick handed the fighter a manila envelope. RB took it into her hand and tore it open.

“Who’s it from?” She asked as she pulled out some papers.

“Some fan of yours. They seemed desperate for you to have it.” The chief shrugged as he walked away. RB knew she was quite popular, so gaining fan mail was expected. Though she found fan mail to be boring and meaningless. She never really cared about the letters or pictures that these strangers would send. But this one was different.

Royal skimmed the letter half heartedly. She wasn’t exactly processing the contents of the letter until a specific word caught her eye. More specifically, a name; Orchid. Royal stared at the name for a while. She wondered how her ex was doing now. She hadn't seen or heard from her in years. Royal sat up straighter, truly reading the message that had been sent to her. As her eyes read farther and farther, her mind began to race. The rage in her heart built up, causing the gladiator to throw the papers to the floor.

“No!! No this-This isn't!” Royal picked the papers up off the floor once more, looking for a name, an address, anything that would tell her who this sender was. But there was nothing. Royal clenched the letter in her fists, crushing and ripping it apart. Tossing the papers aside once more, Royal stormed out of her room and down to her mentor’s office. As she stomped down the hall, all the other fighters immediately got out of her way. None dared to intervene, afraid of being beaten to a pulp. As Royal reached the office door, she didn't even bother knocking. She simply slammed the door open.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” She demanded, causing the older stick to turn in shock.

“What’s your malfunction now? I thought I taught you better than this!” The chief yelled back. Royal stepped closer to the man, her fists clenched and shaking. Angry tears in her eyes as she barely managed the words out of her mouth.

“Why is someone telling me Orchid has been dead for years now!?” Royal choked out. The chief’s eyes widened as Royal asked her question.

“Who told you that?!” Royal’s fists tightened more. Her anger rising as well.

“You knew. Didn't you?” Royal’s sneer was harsh yet broken as she stared her master in the eye. The chief sighed and turned his back to her.

“You were never supposed to-” The chief cried out as Royal grabbed him and pinned him to the wall.

“WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!?!? WHY COULDN'T I KNOW?!?! WHY DID YOU HIDE THIS FROM ME!?!?!?!” She screamed, tears spilling from her eyes. The chief immediately shoved Royal off of him before pinning her to the floor on her face.

“Because of this! You knowing that useless brat was dead would affect your performance! She was a stupid handicap to you to begin with!” Royal tried to fight back, but her master was too powerful, and her will was too weak.

“She’s not a brat!!! She’s beautiful and kind and she’s helped me so much!!!” Her master scoffed and kicked Royal away.

“She made you soft and weak! Now all my hard work has gone to waste!” The Chief grumbled. Royal shakily stood on her feet.

“Well what about my son huh?! What happened to him?!”

“Who cares?! You shouldn't care about them anymore!!! You weren't made to have a family, to be a parent, to even be married!”

“WHERE IS MY SON?!? WHERE IS ORCHID BURRIED?! WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING AGAINST THEM?!?!”

“They make you weak! Just look at you now! You can barely stand straight! I suggest you leave before you make an even bigger fool of yourself!!!”

“FUCK YOU!!!” Royal ran back to her room, slamming the door shut and trashing the place. She screamed and cried as she punched holes into the walls, tore up her books, and broke her desk. Once Royal had gotten all her rage out, she collapsed. As her body hit the floor, cries of agony ripped through her code. How long had Orchid been dead? How long had Purple been alone for? Hell, where even WAS purple? So many questions, but so little answers. Royal slowly sat up, looking at the havoc that was once her room. She sighed and pulled her knees to her chest. As she stared at the ground in front of her, she noticed the envelope that held the letter revealing everything to her. She grabbed it, looking it over. Then something caught her eye, in small print on the corner was an address, one that Royal did not recognize. A spark of hope ignited as Royal looked at the address. Hopping to her feet, she grabbed her hoodie and threw it on before dashing out the door.

**********

Royal briskly walked down the street, looking down at the envelope in her hand. Her heart raced as she turned the corner. Maybe this was the person who was taking care of her son now! Maybe they would tell her everything she’s missed. Maybe they could show her Orchid’s final resting place. Royal took a breath as he rounded the corner and stood before a warm looking house. Taking a breath, Royal stepped up to the door and knocked. Her heart raced as she heard the footsteps. Her foot tapped as her anxiety spiked. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a black and white stick.

“How can I help you?” They said, standing with one hand on their hip and the other on the door knob. Royal stared slightly. She had so many things to ask, but the words would not dislodge from her throat. The sound of thunder suddenly snapped Royal out of her thoughts. The dual colored stick looked past Royal and looked up at the sky.

“It’s going to rain soon. Why don't you come in?” They offered, stepping aside and opening the door wider. Royal silently entered the home. As she looked around, she noticed how cozy and welcoming it felt. It reminded her of the days when she and Orchid lived in that house just outside the city. She missed those days.

“My name’s Libra. What’s your’s.” Libra asked as they followed Royal to the living room.

“Uh, Royal Blue. But, just call me Royal.” Royal took a seat on the couch, removing her hoodie and blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

“Oh, So you're his other mom.” Royal’s eyes widened as she looked up at Libra.

“You know Purple. Is he here?! Did you adopt him after Orchid…” Royal was unable to finish her sentence. Libra sighed as they sat in the arm chair.

“I know the kid. But I didn't adopt him, I'm sorry.” Royal slightly deflated a bit after hearing that, but her questions still needed to be answered.

“So how do you know him? How did you know Orchid p-pa….” The words got stuck in Royal’s throat, her body physically refused to believe that Orchid was dead. Libra sighed as they crossed one leg over the other.

“I work at the cemetery where your wife is buried. Purp comes to visit every other Sunday.” Royal nodded as Libra told her this information.

“So, why did you tell me? Heck, how did you know that I was his other parent?”

“Purple told me. They’re a good kid and nice company. As to why I told you, Purple said that he sent you many letters when Orchid was sick and dying, but you never wrote back to him. I never believed that someone could be that heartless, so I figured that whoever was in charge of your mail didn't want you receiving mail from your kid. That’s why I sent in a message instead of Purple.” Royal’s brain tried to keep up with everything Libra told her. But it made the hurricane of emotions in her heart swirl faster.

“H-he really was hiding everything from me…” Royal breathed, shock and anger showing on her face. Libra sat up straighter, leaning forward.

“Hey.” Royal blinked back into reality, facing Libra once more.

“Do you want to go see Orchid?” Royal sat still. Go see Orchid? After running away so many years ago? Sure she wouldn't really be talking to Orchid face to face. But the thought still gave Royal anxiety.

“You don't have to if you don't want to. It was-”

“I want to go see Orchid.” Royal’s voice suddenly spoke. Libra stared at the gladiator for a second. They studied her, examining the look on her face. With a nod, Libra stood from his seat.

“Come then.” Libra walked to the door and put their coat on. Royal quickly stood and followed the stick out the door.

**********

As Royal and Libra reached the cemetery, Royal’s heart began to race. Her mind still debating whether or not Libra was lying to her about everything. But they also knew too much for this to all be a fluke. She suddenly bumped into Libra, stumbling back slightly. Before she could apologize, Libra spoke.

“Here she is.” Royal’s body froze up. Was this really where Orchid’s final resting place was? Was this truly where Royal finally had to face her fears?

“I’ll give you a moment.” Libra said as they walked away. Royal followed their figure for a minute before looking down at the headstone in front of her. The first thing she noticed was the potted pixel flower. It swayed in the wind, absorbing the small droplets of rain that landed on it’s leaves and petals. Royal’s eyes slowly trailed up, reading over the name engraved in the stone. As she did, her heart stopped.

Here lies Orchid Grace Kelsey

Loving mother and friend.

19xx - 20xx

Royal felt like she was suffocating as she read the name. She collapsed to her knees, never taking her eyes off the grave. Royal’s brain raced a million miles a second, while her heart seemed to stop beating. Royal’s lungs screamed for air as her vision blurred. It was no joke. Orchid was dead. She had been for the past three years. Royal desperately tried to get air in her lungs, but no matter what she did, she could not move, she could not breathe, she could not look away from the stone. Royal suddenly felt arms around her. Looking to her right, she saw Libra had hugged her. Tears began to spill from Royal’s eyes, she wrapped her arms around Libra as well, finding comfort in their arms, much like she did in Orchid’s so many years ago. A feeling she never realized how much she missed.

“Sh-she’s gone… She’s really gone…” Royal barely managed out.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Libra whispered, holding Royal tightly. Royal shook and sobbed in their arms. This pain in her chest was so new to her. She had no idea what to do with it. She desperately wanted it to go away. She wanted the whole world to go away. Shoving Libra off, Royal stood and ran off. She couldn't stand it anymore. She needed to leave, she had to go. This whole day was a mistake.

[glitcheslikeslego]

Show Me Your Moves! (Chapter 17)

AO3 STORY

Chapter 17 : Eerie Impulse

Eerie Impulse is a non-damaging move that lowers the opponent's Special Attack stat by 2 stages.

You sat in the back of the group, staring nervously at the blank staring “Mayor” that smiled ominously.

You knew exactly what was going to happen as soon as you entered Pigsy’s restaurant. Seeing the makeshift stage with a podium, you asked what the occasion was, and when Pigsy told you that the Mayor was coming to thank MK for all he’s done, you felt your heart stop.

It’s beginning…

So now, here you are, arms crossed and legs bouncing as the Mayor made his way through his speech, obviously trying to restrain himself from going absolutely feral about the Lady Bone Demon.

The name sent a feeling of dread into your heart, and you swore that the Mayor was specifically smirking at you in particular, with that same weird interest the Spider Queen gave you.

“Thank you for this amazing turnout!” The Mayor declared to the small group, and while everyone was content and excited for MK, you were still waiting for everything to go wrong.

Everything went on as normal, with Mei and MK being excited as the Mayor handed him the key to the city and explained how it could be used to open anything, like an imprisoned mystic power source.

You watched the Mayor warily as he shot you one last intrigued look before disappearing.

MK and Mei hyped over the creepy looking key, with the skull symbol and the strange prongs that could change to fit into any lock. You went to warn them about the dangers of such a funky looking key, but they were out the door before you could even take a breath to speak. 

You took a deep breath and knocked your head into the table, startling Tang, who looked at you worriedly. “Are you okay?”

You laid motionless for a bit before slowly raising your head up to face him. You looked worried. “That key thing looks like bad news.” You exclaimed. 

Tang thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, that skull looked quite foreboding.”

“You have no idea…” you muttered, making the human look at you in confusion. Instead of elaborating further, you got up and left, deciding to head to work instead of taking the half-day off Sandy kindly gave you. 

You need to get your mind off of what’s to happen next. 

•

•

•

Turns out, it went just as bad in canon, if not worse. 

How did it get worse?

After your shift, you decide to turn on the tv to watch the news as you are to see if anything of interest happened, and well… It was interesting to say the least. 

Red Son destroyed MK’s apartment and he and Mei end up in a chase with MK following after them, just for PIF to show up and duke it out for the key…

…destroying more of the city in the process. 

Last time there was minimal damage, but this time, the big fight where PIF and Red Son won looked like a tornado had hit it, and that kind of fits with how many whirlwinds PIF kept conjuring up. 

And as if you weren’t tired enough, there was a knock at the door. You groaned and put your food down then opened the door…

It was MK and Mei. 

Because OF COURSE it was…

The two immediately hugged you and began babbling about how the key went missing and that the bull family has it now and who knows what sort of villainy they’ll get up to with it.

You just facepalm. 

Today was just not your day…

“Listen.” You started, making the two quiet down. “We can deal with this another day. Whatever the bull family throws at us with whatever they’re using that key for, you guys can stop them, like you always do.”

Of course, this managed to calm them down immensely, and you sensed that they missed the undertone of foresight you had just given them. 

Because they will stop her. 

You shouldn’t be so worried. 

Why are you so worried, mortal?

~~~

<PREV ~ NEXT>

[cutemothman]

[starcatching]

seonghwa + specs 👓

[lazylittledragon]

i'm going to scream i got accused of being a transmisogynist by someone on twitter because of this specific part of my t4t steddie art