#funny how a rant if you want to call it that can be boiled down to the true thought once it's all out

[allisonreader]

In writing that last post and all of my tags, now I want to continue to expand upon some of those thoughts and it might get into rambling on, but we'll see.

I definitely feel desperate for validation about my writing. But while saying that, I also don't want it to be all rainbows and butterflies "oh this is wonderful" it needs to have a little more substance than that. I want to hear what works and doesn't work, while not going into something overly negatively critical. A fine line to balance for sure.

I know personally that I'm more of a cheerleader type reader/hyper. Analysis of writing is not my thing. I will enjoy whatever it is for what it is unless something really takes me out of it. (Like reading a Titanic fic that supposedly takes place either still in the 1910's or 20's and Rose wearing a dress with a zipper before they were in common use. Or someone who clearly has no historical knowledge and thinking that they can use the term supermarket and iPod in the 30's and not realize that most people would have had ice boxes more than refrigerators at that point. I mean I know it's fic, but I personally couldn't finish either of those two stories.)

Anyways I lost the point I was making there.

Back to more my writing/comments. The thing is, I'm typically pretty lazy about commenting on stories myself. Most of the time when I'm reading I just want to read, unless something grabs me enough that I have to shout about it into the void or author. So I fully understand why people don't comment. Sometimes it just doesn't grab you enough to say anything about it. (Which is where I feel like most of my writing fits.) Or there's simply no energy to say anything about it and then even if you intend to say something later, you might forget about such. Sometimes it's just not to your taste so you feel like it's better to say nothing at all. (Which is still definitely better that telling someone that you should entirely rewrite what you have wrote because "it doesn't fit into canon and it should fit with canon", even when that wasn't your goal in the first place. {Clearly this still gets my goat, being told to rewrite my own story that I wasn't using outside influences to write from. Aka a book in relation to a movie that I've never read and will probably never read. And basing what I wrote just off of what is know from the movie for a speculative piece.} Still bothers me clearly. Don't tell people how to write their own stories when your ideas are not what the author intended. You didn't have to read if it wasn't meeting your expectations.)

But even with things like that, there's that desire to be told that you might be onto something. Especially when it is something that you put so much effort into. I do find it a bit easier to comment on something when I've built up a bit of a connection with someone. (So if you don't I suck at leaving comments on your writing, that just might be why. It just might be that I feel like we've conversed enough that I'm more comfortable about doing so.)

Well I had been thinking that I was jumping from one thought to the next without logic, but as I read through what I had written again, I realized that it is a little more on track than I had been thinking it had been while in the process of writing it. I do still feel like I have more to say, but I don't know if it will be any more concise than I have been above. Around and round in circles I go to try and ferret out what I actually mean or even want sometimes.

From that I will go into how as much as I deeply desire some sort of discussion about my writing, I feel weird/wrong to actively push for someone; anyone to give any sort of reaction to my writing. I mean I don't particularly care for how some people ask for reviews and comments on their fics. Those ones that sound kind of demanding or even desperately pleading make me personally less likely to write any sort of response. Even though I know why and where the sentiment is coming from. I've also had people try to barter with me, that for every comment I leave on their writing, they'd trade one on my own writing. I noped right out of that. I'd much rather someone leave a comment because they genuinely wanted to, than because they're bartering for their own stories to be commented on. So again I have a very complicated relationship with wanting comments on my own writing because of this.

It's different again if someone is looking to be a willing participant in giving a commentary and thoughts on writing too, but I definitely don't have as much experience with that. Though eventually one day I will look for people who are invested in doing a deeper dive into my writing, but I don't think I'm there yet.

[lottiembae]

𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔; shauna shipman x fem!reader

Summary: in which shauna believes y/n forget her birthday.

Warnings: fluff, short.

Note: English is not my first language.

Shauna sighed for the second time in a row, her eyes following her go out of the same room.

"What is getting you so annoyed?" Natalie Scatorccio asks with a smirk.

"Nothing." Shauna grumbles, saving her clothes in her gym bag, putting it on her shoulder.

"I think I have an idea..." Lottie comments behind Shauna, in her locker.

Shauna turns to glare at her, seeing how the brunette doesn't bother for it and smirk, winking at Natalie when she laughs.

"You two are like kids." The Shipman girl interjects, ignoring them when they start to call for her.

"Birthday girl, wait for me!" Jackie's voice sounded muffled when Shauna went out of the changing room. However the brunette stopped a few centimeters waiting for her friend, her brown eyes scanning the empty halls. But her jaw clenched when spotted Y/N with balloons in a hand, laughing to something Jeff Sadecki told her while they walked by the parking lot. Shauna's blood boiled by this. "We can go." Shauna jumps a little when Jackie approaches next to her.

Thankfully Jackie didn't notice anything about her mood and started to rant about her birthday party that Saturday. Shauna told her a few times that she is good without celebrating it with a party, only with them is enough for her, but Jackie is excited by it and Shauna doesn't have the heart to ruin her wishes.

She dropped Jackie in her house and went to hers, biting her bottom lip the moment she saw the car parked in front of her house. Shauna parked her car in the garage, closing the door with a loud slam and doing the same when she grabbed her gym bag, her doe eyes fuming with fury.

"You are here! Your mother needed to go out, so we had the house for ourselves." Y/N comments with a cheeky smile, coming out from the kitchen.

The only answer she obtained was a huff by Shauna while she dropped her gym bag and sat down on the couch, putting a leg in the table in front of her while she crossed her arms around her chest.

Y/N frowns confused. She let the dish cloth in the kitchen and walked towards the couch, remaining next to it and studying Shauna. "Are you okay?"

Shauna rolls her eyes, giving Y/N a funny look. "I don't know, Y/N. I'm fine?" She asks rhetorically, her brown eyes now on Y/N.

"Okay... What happened?" Y/N press, knowing when Shauna is in that mood, she needed to press the brunette until she finally tell her the problem. It would cost a lot of questions by Y/N and lot of dodge by her part.

Surprisingly, this time Shauna told her what happened. "I saw you with Jeff earlier, laughing and with balloons," she explains, making emphasis with both hands, shrinking her eyes. "what the hell do you want balloons for? And it's my birthday too. Thank you for remembering it, girlfriend." Shauna scoffed, rolling her eyes and advertising them to the fireplace.

Shauna felt very hurt at this point. The day is passing, and Y/N didn't say anything about it. Everyone she knew wished her happy birthday, in some occasions with Y/N being present, but nothing.

The other girl softened her features, guilty on her eyes. She knew that Shauna would be mad at her for pretending that she didn't remember her birthday, but Y/N has an excuse for it.

"Go to your bedroom." It's all Y/N says, remaining on her spot.

Shauna looks at her with incredulous eyes. "Really? It's all you said?" Shauna muttered, but with a frustrated sigh stand up when Y/N insist. She goes upstairs, walking to her bedroom and opening the door. Her breath stuck in her lungs, not believing what she was seeing. It's... cliché? Nevertheless, she loves it. Y/N remembers her birthday after all.

"Happy birthday big baby." Y/N whispered on her ear, wrapping her arms around her waist from behind and leaning her head on her shoulder.

The balloons she saw before are in her bedroom, the number 19 showing next to it. Led lights decorate part of the wall where her bed is, and a perfectly wrapped gift with a blue dark paper reposing on the bed.

"It's not like I have in my mind... It's very tasteless, but I tried." Y/N comments, putting herself next to her and shrugging her shoulders while she scanned what she planned.

However Shauna loves it, she has the right that it's tasteless, but the details are what it counts. She turns to gaze at her with the most love written on her eyes, lacing her fingers with hers and her cheeks warm. "I love it." She murmurs, leaning towards her and kissing her cheek.

"Go to open your gift." Y/N suggest, balancing their hands softly.

Shauna walked towards her bed still with their hands intertwined and letting go only when she grabbed the gift, sitting on the bed and giving Y/N a shy smile. She carefully unwrapped it, gasping astonished when saw what it was.

"Y/N... This is amazing. I c-can't accept it." Shauna stammered, grabbing carefully the object inside of it.

"Don't be silly. I know you want it for a long time, you deserve it, Shaunie." Y/N bent down and kiss her exposed forearm, since Shauna still are on her training clothes.

"This is too much...," The brunette was so surprised that she didn't reprimand her for calling like that. "It's expensive, I can't." She stubbornly said, putting it back into the box and pushing it to Y/N.

"Shauna Shipman, I order you to accept this camera. It's a gift, take it." Y/N pushed the box to their hands again.

Shauna put the box next to her carefully, turning her gaze back to Y/N she grabbed her collar with a hand and press their lips together, for the first time that day.

"Thank you." Shauna muttered on her mouth, pushing Y/N towards hers to make her sit down on her lap, her other hand on cheek. "We can take advantage of the fact that we are alone..." The brunette gives her a chaste kiss and trailed kisses from her chin to her neck, biting her pulse point and passing her tongue later when heard Y/N hissed by it.

"I made a c-cake." Y/N breath out, her nails pounding on her shoulders.

Shauna raised her head, smashing their lips in a hungry kiss. Her tongue meets hers, making her slip a grunt. "We," kiss. "can," kiss. "eat it," a long kiss. "eat later." She pinned Y/N on her bed and putting herself between her legs, her mouth coming back to her neck and giving wet kisses there.

"S-Shauna..." Y/N calls her in vain, knowing she can't stop her. And didn't she want to stop.

•••

"SHAUNA! WE ARE IN HOME." Her mother called.

The yellowjacket pulled on the shirt she was wearing before, brushing her messy hair while she looks Y/N give her a told you look.

"COMING." Shauna said back, going to the window to ventilate her bedroom. "See you now?" She whispered when her girlfriend approached her at the door.

"Like every night." Y/N hummed, grabbing her backpack and pecking her lips, smiling when Shauna held her waist in a firm grip, but the kiss is sweet.

Shauna bit her lip when they broke the kiss, admiring Y/N and then, intertwining their hands they got out of the bedroom and stepping downstairs, letting out their hands intertwined before her mother could catch them.

"See you tomorrow, Shaunie. And happy birthday." Y/N teases her when Shauna opened the door for her. She giggled when her girlfriend gave her a pointed look. "Bye, Mrs Shipman!" She calls, waving with a hand when Shauna's mother says goodbye to her.

Shauna rolled her eyes and closed the door with a smile. She went to the kitchen to take some water before she went to take a shower. Opening the fridge, the same smile comes back to her face when she thinks about Y/N. The cake Y/N made makes her let out a quiet laugh, clearly influenced by her friend Van for the choice, however she loves it and make a mental note to take a piece of cake after dinner.

[ms-unfortunate24]

Is that all you got? (Keegan P. Russ X Reader) Pt. 1?

Prompt: Keegan isn’t very talkative nor is he known, he’s a ghost literally.. He has his eyes on someone specific that he’s sure doesn’t notice him but what if they do? (The reader is Kick’s partner)

Warnings: Slight Angst and cursing

Reader Inserts: Y/N= Your name, Y/L= Your last name, Y/CN= your code name, Y/H= your hair, Y/HC= your hair color, E/C= Eye color, H/S= Hair Style, N/N= Nickname.

A/N: So I'm just bored messing around, if anyone actually likes this please send in requests, and if you wanna be mutuals just add me and ask, I wanted to give the reader like a lot of options but by the time I was writing that all down I couldn’t remember anything else💀 BTW first fic everrrr

08:45, THE OFFICE

You were sitting in Elias’s office, he was going on a rant about the last mission he had and how things could've gone south. Kick looked at you rolling his eyes as you giggled, “Right I'm so boring, Y/CN do you know why you were called in here?” Elias then asked with a bit of annoyance in his tone. “No, I do not know why maybe because of the privates?” you then questioned with a little sarcasm just to get his blood boiling a bit. “I called you and Kick in because I'm separating you two” your expression stayed at a frown as you furrowed your eyebrows, turning to your current Partner you then realized he had nearly the same expression. “What's this all about?” he questioned, you can feel a worry start to build up in Kick’s body and you couldn't help but wonder how this would affect you. “Look, I feel like maybe separating you two can build stronger relationships with others.” Elias sighed out before he continued, “So.” he began as he tossed you a file, “Keegan P. Russ?” you questioned, “Open it” and you did, while opening the file a small gasp escaped from your lips, “but why him?” You looked up he shook his head, “Dismissed Y/CN” he looked over to Kick and tossed him the file. When you shut the door behind yourself, file still in hands you heard Kick interrupt your clouded thoughts with a loud “NOOOOOOOO”.

22:02, THE MEETING

Cleaning your gun and refilling your utility belt you felt a presence. Of course, you didn’t hear it come in but you noticed it about 2 minutes ago, “How long have you been here?” You questioned with a dark tone, back still facing the unknown intruder. There was silence, after 5 long seconds, you turned around to see dead silver-like blue eyes that almost put you in a trance first gaze. Still keeping stature you asked again but firmly this time, “How long have you been here, SGT. Russ?” this time you had caught his attention as his tall frame loomed towards you. “How long do you think?” his monotone voice echoed, his words being laced with slight venom which was supposed to intimidate you. Hearing footsteps outside marching in sync and random voices all around the empty room with just you two, you decided to back up just a bit so things didn’t look wrong. “2 minutes” you then mumbled to him before the doors were busted open. The walker brothers Logan and Hesh were also following behind Merrick. You knew the Walker brothers well so a small playful smirk rose on your lips when they noticed you in the room. “Keegan and Y/CN? A little suspicious if you ask me” Hesh teased, “Naughty” Logan then tagged on, the two brothers laughed as you rolled your eyes. "Aha, really funny Tweedledum and Tweedledee" you sneered at the two, you turned to your side to realize your silent newly assigned partner had disappeared. A shocked look in your eyes showed as you realized he was in the farthest corner from you. Logan walked up to you taking the dirty cleaning rag out of your hand, "He does that a lot, be careful" He winked.

NEXT DAY, 06:30 AM

It was early, not too early to spar with Hesh as Logan kept score. A loud grunt was let out of Hesh's mouth, "That's all you got? I can go all day Hesh" You grinned trying to assert dominance with Hesh, in reality, you were getting tired out yourself. He tried to pounce on you as you jumped back, trying to land on your feet gave him enough time to throw himself back at you again. Barely dodging his reckless attack you were both interrupted by a certain tall man, you were distracted by his chest, a black tank top covering it, and the tactical pants that he was wearing... Of course, he had his mask on still, you were so distracted that you barely noticed that you were pinned to the ground, "Ha! tap out Y/CN!" Hesh cheered, snapping back into reality "Fuck that hurts" You squirmed under Hesh, tapping the floor three times with your dominant hand. Hesh helped you back up as you guys headed toward Logan. "Y/CN 5 and Hesh 3" Logan read out the score as Hesh complained saying that Logan was picking favorites, you were too distracted by Keegan, he was putting the hand wraps on as he looked in need of a good spar, you slowly gulped and walked up to him. "Hey. Wanna spar?" you didn't want to ask that, it was the last thing you wanted to do... You had no idea what he was capable of and here you are asking if he wanted to spar with you- "Let's go then" His low voice sent shivers down your spine, and playing it off you hurried to the sparring ring. Hesh counted you two off, the second he hit one you hopped backward to distance yourself a bit from Keegan. The way he moved was quick and silent, you wouldn't expect it from a guy who's 6'1 but there he is looming over you again, you backed up into a wall as he struck his fist next to you, "You seem distracted Y/CN," He commented grabbing you by the shoulders and tossing you back into the ring, "shit" is all you could muster up as you got up and grounded yourself. "Hey, Keegan be a little more gentle with them!" Logan said more concerned about this whole sparring offer you gave Keegan. "I got it.." you mumbled charging at Keegan, charging a kick to his core he backed up from the impact. Now groaning and pissed Keegan's moves have gotten quicker. He still hasn't directly struck you but instead picked you up and forced you into the ground, wrapping his hands around your wrists and putting his weight on your hips. His bleak void-like eyes put you in a trance, your body started to heat up, your heart was racing, and you couldn't help but squirm under him in a pathetic attempt to get out of his grasp. His hands tightened their grip and he moved his head closer to yours, the void pulling you in deeper. Your lips slightly departed, and finally, words slipped out, not your words, his. "Get your head in the fucking game if you want to even be seen near me.” That was all you could think about while in your office at the base, a silent knock slightly startled you because you couldn’t hear any footsteps. “Come in,” you said brushing that feeling off and skimming through an email you were supposed to respond to a few days before. A familiar man appeared at the doorstep and a smile crept up on your face, “Kick? I thought you were out on a mission?” the masked man took his baseball cap off as he sighed. “Well Y/N, we finished a lot earlier than predicted, I mean I had this whole plan and this new program I developed on this chip, and- well let's just say my new partners are a little too quick for me” a bit of sadness filled his voice, “Partners? As in Scarecrow stuck you with two people?” you questioned looking at the man through his visors, “Yeah the two walker meatheads” he sighed, throwing himself onto a chair in front of your desk and taking his visors off. You couldn't help but to have giggled at the realization that you're not the only one struggling with the new adjustment. He chuckled out of reaction and then stopped, “So how's Sgt. Russ?” “He’s quiet just like the tales. He's also a dick” you said rolling your eyes as Kick bursted out laughing at the remark. “You got a lotta of work Y/CN”

[harventheblorbo]

Hey😁

Can you do a fanfic where the Captains have a transgender member on their squad and their being ridiculed at an event and the Captains reactions to it.

Black Clover Captains haveing a Transgender S/O on their squad and seeing them being ridiculed for it at a event➵

Containing;.. Yami, Nozel, Fuegoleon, Julius and Gender neutral transgender S/O

___ is gender neutral and human

Warning;.. Transphobia, slight swearing

Authors Note; i didn't know if you were referring to Bleach Captains or Black Clover Captains so I just went with Black Clover 💀 if you ment bleach I'll redo this

I also didn't know if you wanted romanticly or platonic so I just also chose one. I also went with head cannons because you really didn't specify so I'm very sorry if this isnt want you wanted at all!

Yami ➵

When he learned/heard that you were being ridiculed for who you are, he was extremely livid. He didn't and never will understand transphobes and how their minds work and how they just want to make fun of people being who they are and just wanting peace.

His approach is far from calm. He may even be kicked out of the event due to it. Even if it is a anniversary of the kingdom. He will cuss them out and basically just want to beat the living shit out of them.

He will have a personal talk with Julius and the captain leader of the jack-asses squad to get them kicked out and how they shouldn't be a knight what so ever

If that doesn't work, he will basically torture them until you ask him to stop or he gets in trouble for it. He will send little mean letters that are just stupid stuff to laugh at for you.

He will also cling onto you like a bat for the rest of the event, ranting about how much of a jerk they are

Nozel➥

It takes a long time for him to realize what's actually going on. But when he does realize, he feels bad a bit and deicide to take it the more calmer way. As, being more rude and mean would lead to even more bad energy and just crash the party

He asks you if you asked them to stop, and when you say yes, he goes up to them and asks for a chat with them in private. He trys his best in his passive aggressive tone to stop calling His S/O rude names and stop making jokes that aren't really funny

If it STILL doesn't work, he will talk to the captain and tell them the events and what happened and how you felt about it, with your permission of course.

If the prick is in his squad, he will give them a harsh warning, that if they do it again, they will face harsher punishment and they will be removed from the Sliver eagles permanently

Fuegoleon ➥

When he hears this outlandish blabber, he is mad about it. He thinks that making fun of someone or just even putting down someone is what makes a fool, a fool. So, he thinks it's wrong

When he sees extactly how uncomfortable you are, it only adds on how mad he is. He stomps his way over to the prick, and harshly scolds them on how wrong it is and how they should be ashamed of how they are acting

He goes over to the captain leader and Julius and reports the disrespectful behavior. He trys his best to calm down, but for a knight to do that type of behavior, it baffles him.

If they are in his squad, he will put them on some limitations (such as no going on missions or cleaning). It honestly gives him a headache that he learned that they were apart of HIS squad.

Julius ➵

When He learns about it, he is so confused. He thought that being transgender was just normal for some people and thought that it was normalized, but it boiled his blood when he learned that was apart of his kingdom

He will have a respectful talk to them about how it's wrong and how you shouldnt be rude to people just for being comfortable in their own skin. As much as he knows the discrimination that goes on in the kingdom, he trys his best to fix this by basically sending a message of transphobia and how wrong it is for a human being

He will then cling onto you and basically comfort you on how they are just being jerks and not to listen to them.

[wallflowerimagines]

YOU WRITE FOR BIOSHOCK??? PLS CAN WE GET DATE HEADCANONS FOR DIANE MCCLINTOCK I CAN TREAT HER SO MUCH BETTER THAN RYAN

GOOD!!!! YOU HAVE MY BLESSING!!!!

Warnings: 18+ suggestive implications, borderline cheating? I mean it's implied cucking of Andrew Ryan as he simultaneously gets dumped over the phone because I think it's funny 🤷

Diane McClintock First Date Headcannons

First things first: Andrew Ryan is a sonofabitch

Unfortunately, he is the exact type of sonofabitch that could prey on someone like Diane McClintock.

Diane has been raised a certain way that primed her for this Trainwreck of a relationship. Women are to be seen and not heard, and to be loved is the same thing as being taken care of. Andrew Ryan, despite his emotional distance, did take care of her.

The Bastard Founder of Rapture kept her at his beck and call for physical needs, and occasionally called her so that he could rant about his problems, but their relationship was never equal. Ryan wouldn't have wanted that, but the real tragedy is that Diane didn't think she needed it.

After all, Ryan was a visionary. A great man! He was fascinating, passionate and driven, and let Diane of all people witness his thought process and listen to him. When he wasn't thinking about Rapture, he might even take her out to dinner, at at that dinner give her a full set of diamond jewelry -- tennis bracelet included, of course! -- just because it would make her eyes sparkle. Wasn't that respect? Wasn't that love?

And he was so stressed all the time, so worried about the success and the future of Rapture... All Diane had to do was be supportive. She felt silly asking for more.

(No matter how empty she felt.)

So when you come along and actually engage with her intellectually? Oh, Diane is already halfway in love with you.

She's a smart cookie, and you actually acknowledge that. When you first met her, she was busy drinking her sorrows away at some high society party. And instead of using a sleazy pick up line, or offering to get her drunker, you recognize her as Ryan's partner and start to engage with her ABOUT RAPTURE.

Not just planning and infrastructure, but the philosophy behind the city. Did she come to the city for it's libertarian ideals? What are her thoughts on objectivism? Did she think it was even reasonable to build a city under the sea?

She can't remember the last time someone engaged with her so authentically. And you're not mindlessly agreeing with every point she makes either! You actually argue with Diane if you disagree with anything she says.

AND YOU LET HER DISAGREE WITH YOU. Diane is floored. She can't remember a time when she hasn't been pressured to agree with whomever she's speaking with, even simple acquaintances. (Again FUCK ANDREW RYAN)

The more you speak with her, the more you're drawn in, and the feeling is very much mutual. You ask for her opinion on everything, and you actually take her thoughts into account.

Your motivations are your own but they all boiled down to a simple truth--Diane is a gorgeous woman and you wanted to engage with her. She was fascinating, an everyman's intellectual (meant in the most flattering way possible). She's the sort of star worth approaching.

Diane can easily pick up on your genuine interest. The best part is that not only do you see HER as a whole person, but you're also great to talk to. You're funny! Interesting! Engaging! ....And very, very cute.

By the end of the night, you've burrowed into her brain. Diane is determined to see you again.

Despite the looming specter of Andrew Ryan hovering over you both, she asks you to dinner. Not a Date but... A "Talk".

A talk is innocent enough! Why not?

Your "Talk" is quite simple: a few days later, in a small booth at the back of a mid-tier restaurant where the two of you have enough privacy to speak about whatever crosses your mind.

However, when you show up, Diane is already there... Absolutely Dressed. To. Kill.

Something makes her want to really impress you, and not JUST with what she has to say. So when she tugs you down into the booth and starts chatting with you excitedly, she's also trying to get your every aspect of your focus.

Diane knows how to look her best, what angles of light flatter her features the most, and just the right movements that draw attention to just the right places.

When you look down, she crosses and uncrosses her legs, the slit of her dress separating in the most tantalizing way. She draws your attention to her lips, tilts her head to expose the column of her throat, gestures her fingers in such a way that forces your gaze to follow her neckline and keep going...

And as intellectual as you are, and as much as you might have been drawn in by her opinions... it's, uh, REALLY hard to be immune to that kind of attention.

(To a woman who wants to be heard just as much as she wants to be wanted, your flustered gaze and distracted rambling is everything she hoped it would be ❤️)

At the end of the night, Diane's heartbeat is loud enough that she can hear it in her ears. She's not a love at first sight kind of gal, but she is a big believer in The Spark of Chemistry going on between you both.

It's already a better start than any relationship she's ever had before.

It's not that hard for her to convince you to head back to her penthouse for a nightcap, and from there the conversation continues, toeing the line into addressing the palpable tension between you.

With you beside her on her settee, Diane talks to you honestly about her present and future, about giving up a life of comfort, about how Andrew defined freedom and how trapped she felt within that narrative... and she wonders at the stab of pain in her chest at the understanding smile on your face as you get up and offer to leave.

Diane pulls you back down into a searing kiss that has you borderline delirious. Her choice is obvious. You are NOT complaining. 💖

...And then her private phone rings. The exclusive line. Ryan.

Unhooking the phone, Diane puts a finger to her lips with a grin, and you match her mischief immediately, moving your attention elsewhere.

You're pressing kisses into her neck, marking up her skin with teeth and tongue and moving down, down, down as Diane breathlessly twirls the phone cord in her free hand.

"Andrew? What a coincidence, I was just about to ring you," She lets out a giggling sigh as your hand slides up her thigh, bunching her dress just above her waist, "We need to talk..."

[theproblemcallednight]

sending you akutagawa and/or bram for character ask game

hii soda!!!

k imma do both cuz im bored :D

ok it got rlly long so it’s under the cut:

akutagawa:

first impressions- tbh i thought he was a weird ass bitch who needed cough drops bc his lil villain cough was making no one but the butterflies scared. like his ability was rlly cool but i didn’t really get him at first. also his name took me ages to pronounce 😭😭

impression now- genuinely one of my fav characters!!! he’s such a guy y’know. a goofy little guy. but i do rlly like his backstory and how he persevered and fought through ever and still was a morally bad person. like i luv seeing characters i adore suffer to hell and back and then finally find some sort of broken peace with themselves. aku allowing himself to value his own wants and needs after fighting atsushi and seeing him grow as a character is just perfect. 10/10 i luv him my blorbo forever <3

favourite moment- anything in wan tbh. i know i just went on a heartfelt rant abt aku but. wan aku is the true star let’s be honest. i mean look at him. just stare into those soulless eyes.

idea for a story- uhhhhh i not very creative gimme a sec… i think him finding himself with a pet would be cool. yknow like he gets attached to some stray cat and then ends up taking it in. and i feel like it would force himself to see that he can be a good person and there is beauty in life. the cat may or may not resemble a certain someone

unpopular opinion- ummm idk rlly? i guess i hc him somewhere or the aro/ace spectrum but i dunno if that’s an u popular opinion

favorite relationship- right so obvi sskk bc i am unoriginal and one with the masses. but. i luv it when chuuya and aku have like a father son relationship. or even when gin and him get to just hang out and chill. i just luv the idea of aku constantly chasing dazais approval and chuuya being like “bitch i fucking raised you the mf left after a year”

fav headcannon- hmmmm prob the hc tha he can’t cook? like he can’t boil water even. i just find it funny that it’s like the one thingy dazai passed down to him. father son duo that can blow up your kitchen in five seconds.

bram:

first impressions- i was so exited when i saw the name bram stoker omg. i haven’t actually read dracula but i’ve heard enough to abt it that ik brams ability would be sick. and god i thought it was so cool. and also the fact that bram was just a shish kebab was sending me and i immediately loved him

impression now- still absolutely in live with him and his character. he’s just like the biggest mood in all of bsd. and his and aya’s relationship is so freaking cute i luv them sm

favourite moment- either when he says he’ll be aya’s knight at the end, or when aya’s like bram what do we do about the apocalypse he’s like “sleep in a hole for a couple centuries.” i would love to sleep in a hole for 200 years every time i had a problem. it would be great.

idea for a story- i think it would be rlly interesting if it was a college and no abilities au and him and mary shelly and adam were besties. like it would be great. they would be the besties fr

unpopular opinion- uh i dunno… i kind of think that he shouldn’t have gotten his body back? at least not when he did? like don’t get me wrong he slayed and saved aya and stuff. but i feel like tbh ere was so much to use with his shish kebab state. i don’t know i think it was underutilized

favourite relationship- oh def bramcraft or lovestoker or whatever it’s called now. bram and lovecraft are ancient yuri and i will die on that hill. they can be eldritch monsters together. and be ancient together. that being said i like kunikifa and bram more platonically. like they become friends through joint custody of aya. and it’s one big happy family

favourite headcannon- oh i don’t know where i saw this but i luv the idea of him using like a cane or mobility aids. for balance probably, but i think it would be so cool for bram to have a cane. he’d look badass with it. best part is he can bonk ppl with it :D

well that got long. but it was rlly fun!!! ty for the ask soda!!!

[dangan-kagura]

Why I Don't Like Ibuki Mioda

Let me just point out that this isn’t a rant, this is just my opinion, so you can read it if you’re up for it. I know I’ve probably shared stuff like this in the past, but now I’m trying to share every bit of detail I can think of so that it could make things clearer, and I took the liberty of including images and links as sources (it was hard to find good quality images, so some of these are video links, not to mention I could only use 30 images, and I do hope that certain images came out okay, if not, please say so). But if you like Ibuki, go right ahead, you don’t have to agree with me. Also, I should point out that there might be spoilers.

To Begin With

When I first met Ibuki, my first thoughts were, “She looks like a scene girl.” I didn’t seem that interested in her because, even though she's called the Ultimate Musician/Ultimate Light Music Club Member, somehow I had a different idea as to what kind of music Ibuki was into and the purpose behind her character just from looking at her fashion sense. When I found out that Ibuki wants to be a death metal musician, not only did I try to deny it, but I knew immediately that I wouldn’t like this character. But it wasn’t her concert that led me to realize this, I was suspicious about her taste in music ever since I met her.

In the first class trial, Ibuki said “*Splat shank stab*” and I knew from her tone of voice that it sounded like a screaming vocal. That led me to think that Ibuki also probably plays metalcore/screamo, and boy was I disgusted with that thought, the title for Ultimate Musician going to someone who plays extremely aggressive metal subgenres was not cool and not funny. I knew then that Ibuki would automatically be my least favorite character in the series if she’s into that kind of music. When I tried to listen to what her music sounds like, not only was I feeling anxious and uncomfortable, but my blood was boiling. During my first playthrough of SDR2, when I got to the part where she performs her concert, I skipped it obviously because I knew I wouldn't like it and just had to put the game down for a few days until I got over it. At the time, I wanted to believe that Ibuki Mioda sucks and is the worst Danganronpa character.

Why Does This Bother Me?

For over a decade, I’ve been disgusted from having to see how popular metalcore/screamo (call it whatever you want) have become, to the point where not only are mainstream rock stations now playing this kind of music, but popular culture is making references to their subculture. An example is the fictional "Horns on a Rabbit" band from the Nickelodeon series, The Loud House, which is a kids cartoon by the way. Let me just say that I enjoy listening to rock, punk, metal, and alternative, but I have my limits and particular tastes. I don’t listen to metal songs involving death growls and screaming vocals because I believe that music like that is mediocre and talentless. But what really upsets me is seeing how popular this kind of music became during the 2010s, and for every modern rock music playlist I’ve seen, literally the top songs are metalcore/screamo songs. It was so ridiculous, it was enough to make me argue, “Why would you put that band as track #1!?”

Here’s an example of a playlist. In 2015, there was a special rock music edition to the NOW That’s What I Call Music series. It consisted of some of the top rock songs of the mid 2010s, and would you know it, track #1 on the album was “Throne” by Bring Me the Horizon. Why on Earth would a band like that be number 1 on the album!? In fact, in comparison, this album also included “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon, but that song was listed in the last quarter of the album. You’d think that a song like that would be a better choice for track #1 due to how popular it was back in 2015, so there is no way in Hell you can convince me that a band like Bring Me the Horizon would outsell Walk the Moon. But Walk the Moon is just one example of a band that could’ve been track #1. The album also included “On Top of the World” by Imagine Dragons, and again, you’d think that a song like that would’ve been a good choice for track #1, but apparently not.

Feeling provoked about this, I wanted to see if any metalcore/screamo songs were included as being labeled as the worst kind of music. But unfortunately, for every “worst songs ever” lists I’ve read online, none of the songs included are songs of those genres, instead they consisted of top-charting pop and other rock songs. These articles are just some examples.

Wikipedia article for list of music considered the worst

Rolling Stone’s 10 Worst Songs of the 1980s

Rolling Stone’s Worst Songs of the Nineties

NME’s 32 of the Very Worst UK Number One Songs of All Time

Metacritic's Top 50 Worst Reviewed Artists

Buzzfeed’s These Are 30 of the Worst Songs Ever Written

Out of the songs from the last article, I found it upsetting that The Offspring and Fun were among the list all because this critic hated their genres and trends without giving it much detail. In case you didn't clink on the link, these images were taken from the article (they aren't links to Youtube).

What gives this person the right to say that hipster indie bands like Fun and 90s punk bands like The Offspring sound like crap but screamo bands like Bring Me the Horizon don’t!? That makes no fucking sense at all!

Not only that, but I found it hard to believe that there was nothing highly controversial surrouding the genre's popularity. I think at one point, I tried to compare screamo's popularity to the controversy about Marilyn Manson's music inspiring the Columbine massacre. Let me just say that those were false accusations and I'm on the side saying that Manson had nothing to do with Columbine, but I'll get to the point. When I thought about it, for all the mass shootings and school shootings that happened in the 2010s, not once did anyone point fingers at any screamo band for inspiring them. Of course, such a controversy would only be my excuse to flame these bands, because like I mentioned, they would just be false accusations to criticize the genre. And just to be clear, I would actually prefer Mairlyn Manson's music over screamo any day.

Getting Back to Ibuki

The fact that I hate metal songs involving death growls and screaming vocals is preventing me from liking Ibuki and that’s unfortunate, because not only is she a fan favorite, the fandom calls her a cinnamon roll, but I think otherwise. You know how Miu and Teruteru make sexiest remarks? I assumed Ibuki was doing something similar, in which every sentence she says has some sort of death metal reference. An example are times where she would bite Hajime and say something like, "I'mma take a bite outta you!"

Artwork found on Danbooru, artist is renshu usadayo.

I assumed Ibuki was referencing human cannibalism which is a topic used in death metal lyrics. That gave me the impression that Ibuki’s comic relief was more like dark humor and the purpose behind her character was to make the player uncomfortable. Another example: “I’ve thought up a new song! The title is “I’m Gonna Dismember You for Doubting Me!”

Dismemberment is another topic in death metal lyrics. Another example: "We could totally dress this place up with some splattered organs."

Doesn't that sound bloody or gory to anyone? Can you still call Ibuki a cinnamon roll? Did what Ibuki just say make anyone uncomfortable? Don't you think it's similar to the gory stuff Genocide Jack said?

Dissection is another topic in death metal lyrics. Last example (V3 spoilers): "Do you got the guts to make such a heartless choice?" When Ibuki used the word "guts" don't you think it sounded like a reference to something gory? And yes, I know that it was just Tsumugi cosplaying as her, but it still bothers me. How would Ibuki's quotes be any different from Miu’s aggressive fanservice quotes like, “If you’re gonna fuck me in front of everyone, at least buy me dinner first!”

I’m aware that Ibuki didn’t like Miu in UTDP or even Teruteru, but this is what I thought at the time, and I’m aware that Kodaka wrote Miu to be hated even though the fandom loves her.

I Wanted Her to Die Before Chapter 3

Even though Hajime said all his pain melted away when he was with Ibuki (see here) I never felt that way about her and I felt nothing but relief for her death. Ibuki’s behavior was just really annoying, like how she invaded Hajime’s cottage to wake him up, and certain sprites made me feel uncomfortable, namely the one where her nose extends like Pinocchio.

I'm willing to tolerate this sprite if she had an event scene with Kokichi or Celestia. It would work like this, Ibuki would say something idiotic using that sprite, but Kokichi and Celestia act unimpressed and see right through her. Would that imply that Ibuki is lying when she makes that pose?

Aside from that sprite, there's also that one where she’s waving and her tongue is sticking out.

I get that other characters like Kazuichi have similar sprites, but this one with Ibuki bothers me because she's bound to say something that'll upset me.

And then there's that one where it looks like she’s screaming.

Because I was suspicious about what kind of music she plays, I wanted nothing to do with her. When I tried to get her free time events, I was feeling anxious because I was scared to wonder if her next move would be to make some reference to her taste in music, and I didn’t want to have any triggers because I hate that kind of music. I even thought that Ibuki's cottage had posters of all these unfamiliar death metal bands with that font style of theirs, but I'm glad that there weren't.

I’ve never met anyone in the fandom who’s admitted that they don’t like Ibuki because of her music, instead they say they love her for her positivity, humor, fashion, sexuality, her acceptance to who she is, and help during the class trials. For someone who acts so positive, it doesn’t feel right for her to sing songs about extremely dark, negative topics. I’ve been told that that was the whole point, the game starts off thinking that Ibuki is always sweet and nice, until you find out that she enjoys listening to extremely aggressive metal subgenres, but that just wasn’t funny to me. How would that be any different from Kirumi starting off as a hard-working maid until you find out that she's the prime minister? Even though that was upsetting for me, I still love Kirumi and think she deserves better, but in Ibuki's case, learning about her taste in music only makes me want to not like her. It would’ve been funnier if Ibuki played gangsta rap, but she’s never made any hip-hop references. But I guess her taste in music would explain her loud personality, and her hyper energy is probably due to all that coffee she drinks.

Free Time Events

Her free time events weren’t even inspiring, it was more like she was forcing Hajime to start a death metal band and Hajime couldn’t do anything about it. In some of her free time events, like when she was showing Hajime how to play drums, it felt like Ibuki was saying stupid things that would make Gonta and Yasuhiro look like geniuses (Gonta's case) and I’m a fan of both of those characters and even thought Hiro’s free time events were funnier.

Ibuki once said she was trying to find an eight-leafed clover, don’t you think that would’ve been either funnier or ridiculous if Hiro said that? Would it be any different from Hiro's interest in things like OOPArts, aliens and conspiracy theories?

In fact, some of Ibuki’s weird antics felt on par with Angie’s weird antics (see here) whether it's her obsession with Atua or blood sacrifices, and I’m not an Angie fan. But that’s the thing about Danganronpa characters, they’re supposed to do weird things.

Regretfully knowing what kind of music Ibuki is into, even her normal conversations felt dark to me. Her last free time event where she says that her dream is to play music with people who trust her felt dark because, to me, it was more like she said she wants to play death metal with her friends even though they all feel uncomfortable around her when she plays that kind of music. Even Ibuki’s advice about finding who you are was no help to me, because I thought back to her music and thought that she was telling Hajime that joining her metal band was what she wanted him to do. In other words, I assumed Ibuki was using Hajime and that she didn’t actually care about him. I’m aware that the purpose behind her free time events was for her to try and cheer Hajime up and help him find his talent, but it just wasn’t serious enough for me.

Her Relationship With Hiyoko

Out of everyone in the series, Hiyoko is the only one who actually likes Ibuki’s music and I’ve got a good idea as to why. Call it a headcanon or theory, but I think the reason Hiyoko likes Ibuki’s music is because she wants to imagine her bullies killed in whatever kind of dark situations are used in Ibuki’s music. It’s hinted that Hiyoko was also a victim of bullying just like Mikan (see here) and thanks to Ibuki’s music, Hiyoko probably wants to imagine her bullies getting killed in the most fucked up ways like the following: Rape, torture, dismemberment, decapitation, dissection, cannibalism, all of which are topics used in death metal lyrics.

Hiyoko is basically one of those kids who wants to kill her bullies to get revenge for bullying her, and in Mikan’s case, Hiyoko was someone who was bullied and ended up turning into the bully. Why else would Hiyoko like squishing ants? Because she wants to imagine them as her bullies. Why else would Mikan murder Hiyoko? Becasue Hiyoko always bullied her and Ultimate Despair Mikan wanted revenge (that, and Hiyoko was a witness to Mikan killing Ibuki). And it's not just her bullies, Hiyoko probably also imagines Mikan getting fucked up in whatever kind of dark songs Ibuki sings.

Was what Hiyoko just said about watching a gory horror movie similar to what Ibuki said about using splattered organs for her concerts? Compared to how the fandom loves Ibuki, the fandom hates Hiyoko, obviously because she acts like a spoiled brat and is always bullying Mikan. But no one says anything about not liking Hiyoko because of the fact that she’s a fan of Ibuki’s music. If you're someone who loves Ibuki's music, you're no different from Hiyoko even if you hate her.

She Acts Like an Oni

The only thing about Ibuki that I admit I thought was a little interesting was the idea that Ibuki acts and looks like an oni. I realized this when I was comparing her to the oni characters in Touhou, namely Suika Ibuki. In a way, Mioda does kinda behave similar to Suika (see here) Suika’s childish behavior could be similar to how playful Mioda can be, and the horns Mioda has in her hairstyle are supposed to be oni horns (I’m saying her last name to avoid confusion).

Artwork of Suika is from the Touhou Wiki.

And since it’s confirmed that Suika is based on the oni king, Shuten-douji, that led me to believe that Mioda is also trying to be like Shuten-douji. “Ibuki” would refer to Mount Ibuki where Shuten-douji was born, and out of the gifts you can give to her, Mioda loves Lust Setsugekka which is sake, and Shuten-douji was an alcoholic (even though the game says it’s alcohol free but it still gets you drunk).

Even the outfit Ultimate Despair Ibuki wore reminds me of something Shuten-douji would wear (or at least like how Shuten-douji is portrayed in the Fate series) making me think that Ultimate Despair Ibuki acted like a real oni.

Sprite edit found on Reddit.

Artwork of Fate's Shuten-douji is from the Type-Moon Wiki. It's not really identical, but the outfit Ultimate Despair Ibuki wore just looks like something from Japanese culture.

But the fact that Ibuki acts like an oni can still relate to her interest in heavy metal music and here’s what I mean. Remember the times Ibuki tried to bite Hajime? In Japanese mythology and folklore, oni are monstrous youkai that have devil horns and eat people (see here). The occult is the most common theme for heavy metal music, and as I mentioned before, cannibalism is a topic used in death metal lyrics (see here). And remember that I pointed out that Shuten-douji was an alcoholic and there are rock and metal bands that have songs about alcoholism (although I've read that extreme metal subgenres don't use this topic). So Shuten-douji would be like Ibuki's version of Satan, like Shuten-douji and other oni, Satan is often portrayed as a monstrous being with devil horns (see here). The reason Ibuki is dressed like an oni could be because she’s into metal bands that like to dress up as monsters, but I’m not talking about bands like Slipknot, Hollywood Undead, or that guy from Limp Bizkit, I’m talking about all of the unfamiliar and underground death metal bands no one has ever heard of. And as a Remnant of Despair, Ibuki probably used death metal lyrics to hypnotize people into committing violent acts, not just terrorism, but especially cannibalism.

Moreover, there are other oni characters from Touhou such as Yuugi Hoshiguma who is described as being an underground youkai and resides in the Old Hell. Don't you think that's similar to how Satan resides in Hell? And in the Touhou manga, Wild and Horned Hermit (spoilers if you haven't read that manga) Ibaraki-douji's Arm threatened to eat Reimu Hakurei (see here). Don't you think that's similar to how Ibuki wanted to bite Hajime? Think about it, what would chapter 4 of SDR2 be like if Ibuki was trapped in the funhouse starving to death? She would obviously resort to eating everyone.

Aside from the oni characters, there’s also Hecatia Lapislazuli. Even though she’s not an oni, she is described as a Goddess of Hell, and Touhou series creator ZUN confirmed that her design is based on the death metal subculture (see here) and the Touhou fandom even calls her “Hot-Topic-chan” because her Welcome ❤ Hell shirt looks like something from Hot Topic.

Doesn’t that feel similar to Mioda’s fashion sense? And Hot Topic sells plenty of metalcore/screamo shit, so Mioda is like a fusion of Suika and Hecatia. I know that the Danganronpa fandom says Ibuki’s outfit is punk, but compared to Leon, I’ve never seen Ibuki make any reference to punk rock music, it all just feels like metal to me. I’m aware that metalcore/screamo are both inspired after hardcore punk, but that’s not enough to convince me that Ibuki is into the same kind of bands Leon is into.

According to this character analysis video by Weeby Newz, the reason Ibuki left her band is because she refused to play traditional pop music and was instead interested in playing metal, the aggressive kind at that. Let me compare that to something about Yuugi Hoshiguma (see here). It's stated that she and other kinds of oni and youkai refused to follow the rules of Gensokyo and decided to move to the Old Hell in the Underworld and became underground youkai. Don’t you think that’s similar to Ibuki’s rebellious behavior when she left her band to play underground death metal instead of mainstream pop? Would Ibuki's case be similar to how, in religions like Christianity, Satan was a fallen angel who fell from Heaven and now resides in Hell because he wanted to be independent from God? (see here) I know that Ibuki's case might be more similar to the rebellious punk behavior Leon and Kazuichi had in their free time events (Kazuichi's case) but like I said, I’ve never seen Ibuki play punk.

Her Connection With K-ON

I’m aware that K-ON had some inspiration for Ibuki’s character, it turns out that the kanji in Ibuki’s name contains different kanji from the four main characters of K-ON (see here) and her cottage even has the same guitar Yui Hirasawa has.

This led me to think that another purpose behind Ibuki’s character was that she’s supposed to be a K-ON parody that makes references to the death metal subculture. Danganronpa literally took the character names from K-ON and transformed them into a Shuten-douji reference. Cool, but still a little dark.

On a personal note, my birthday is November 30th which is only a few days apart from Ibuki's birthday which is November 27th, and I'm aware that she has the same birthday as Yui Hirasawa who was my favorite character from K-ON. Compared to how cute Yui is, I just can't picture Ibuki as a cinnamon roll or even as a best waifu because of her music.

Theory About Her Music

Here's a theory, her metal sounds bad because that kind of music is not part of her talent. Ibuki wants to be a rock/metal musician, but because her talent name is Ultimate Light Music Club Member, it implies that pop music is the only kind of music Ibuki is good at and if she tried other genres such as rock or metal, her music is gonna sound bad. Think about it, can you imagine Sayaka playing metal even though she's called the Ultimate Pop Sensation? Her music would sound really bad if that ever happened. Ibuki is secretly in denial of her talent name and wants to be a different kind of musician instead of being the person she was back in middle school believing that that's not who she is. She even wrote a song for her old band and it was a best seller, if that song was really that popular, Ibuki is most likely better at playing pop music but refuses to admit it.

Strangely enough, Ibuki doesn’t even care if her rock music is bad, because she somehow believes that that’s who she is. She wants to believe that she’s a rockstar or a metalhead, not a popstar. But her rock music is so bad, she tried all kinds of subgenres but took it too far and went for extreme metal subgenres, and that still didn’t make a difference for her. So what does Ibuki do about it? Lie to herself and everyone else saying her rock music is great, but it actually stinks. Why else would her nose extend like Pinocchio? Because she's lying.

But unfortunately, if her rock or metal is really that good, this theory would just be my excuse for not liking her music. Also, her character development ended with Mikan killing her, so now I’m stuck with the thought that the whole purpose of Ibuki’s character was for her to be a K-ON parody involving death metal, and to me, everything she says feels like dark humor. She's a joke, and that's all she'll ever be.

What Could've Been Done to Make Her Better?

It would’ve been great if the game focused more on her backstory and came with a reason why Ibuki took interest in that kind of music instead of saying she left her old band due to creative differences, and apart from my theory, I do have to agree with that theory Weeby Newz had in her character analysis video. But from what I’ve read (see here) when Ibuki was a kid, she got hit in the head by three coconuts and almost died, and that led me to come up with a joke that that was the origin of Ibuki’s stupidity, Ibuki gets hit in the head with three coconuts and suddenly she believes that the Ultimate Light Music Club Member should instead play death metal.

That analysis video by Weeby Newz said that Ibuki was a positive influence to both the other characters and the player, but I disagree, Ibuki has not once made me laugh or made me feel happy, everything she said and done made me feel uncomfortable. Even if I try to compare her to other kinds of anime or cartoon characters who act funny or stupid just to make people laugh, it won't make any difference because of her music. If it were up to me, I could headcanon Ibuki as a fan of my favorite hard rock bands, or headcanon her as a fan of hard rock and metal bands with female lead singers, such as Halestorm, Otep, and Kittie. But because she’s only made like one reference to a band that doesn’t play death metal (her fourth free time event referencess the bridge to “Freak on a Leash” by the nu metal band Korn which I admit I thought was interesting) this can never become canon.

In fact, I find it unfortunate that fans don't seem to headcanon Ibuki as a fan of kawaii metal, which yes, is a fusion of metal and j-pop idol music. Ibuki used to be in a light music club, so if she wanted to change genres from pop to metal, then kawaii metal would be a better choice for her.

In Conclusion

Overall, my opinion about Ibuki isn’t negative, it’s mixed. I like her for her punk fashion which does make her slightly attractive, whether it's her normal outfit, her despair arc outfit, her 10th anniversary dress, or her swimsuit in USC, all of which I thought were a little cool. I also slightly like the idea of her oni appearance being similar to that of Shuten-douji, so long as I think of the oni characters from Touhou (i.e. Suika, Yuugi, Kasen) or even how Shuten-douji is portrayed in the Fate series or any other series that involves Japanese mythology.

The downside is that I hate her taste in music all because I don’t want to acknowledge how popular it became during the 2010s. Every time I try to play Danganronpa involving Ibuki or read someone's opinion about how much they love her, I’m always feeling anxious because I know that whatever comes out of Ibuki’s mouth is something related to death metal or any similar subgenre, and that just feels like a red flag for me and it makes me want to not like her. But I’m also upset because Ibuki is apparently one of the most overrated fan favorite characters in the series, which puts me in the minority for not liking her, and I'm also upset because some of my favorite characters like Kirumi and Mahiru are treated as underrated. I cried when Mahiru died and thought that it was unfair that Ibuki got to live longer than her.

I do apologize for how long this is and also for using so many images. I hope that I included everything that I wanted to include, otherwise I would have to update this with new info or edit something. Feel free to like or reblog this and share your opinions, I’d appreciate it.

[allthefujoshiunite]

Hi, first of all this is my first ask to you (sorry if it sounds weird, cause I'm nervous while writing this).... I'm your fan (have followed your twitter and tumblr) and really love your reviews and recs, thanks to you I know which BL manga/manhwa to read next and because of you they also become few of my favorite BL manga/manhwa/manhua....

Can i ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua) romances better than western MLM romances?

Before I found your blog, I already love anime and manga but have never tried watching or reading BL, and then I found danmei novel and fell in love with them.....after that, I start reading BL manga and still continue.....Funny thing is, since I was younger I love reading novels (especially romance het western) and suddenly I lost interest....But after found MLM romamce I start love reading again...

Sorry for this long ask and rant of myself, feel free if you want to ignore it....just want to let you know, that most of the BL manga that I read until now are thanks to you.....I can't thank you enough.....Thanks for your hard work on your blog...

Okay, this is going to get long and at times, personal so... idk maybe you'd like to get a cup of hot bevarage of your choice? Buckle up!

First of all, I hope you don't apologize for sending asks in the future because I don't get them often anyway, and respond when I have time. Plus, I find great joy in answering them, and your words have made me incredibly happy. I intend to write a lengthy post about it one day but I write with the hopes that other people read them, my blog is not my personal diary. And over the years, I came to detest the so-called-advice "Just do it for yourself!". 

To be honest, I've been feeling frustrated and lost about my blog & my social media accounts, especially Twitter, for a while now. I love the small circle of mutuals I have and am grateful for them. Because, when you boil it down, I'm not entitled to their time, attention, likes/RTs/RBs, in short, their support. Just because they have been, let's say, liking my tweets at one point doesn't mean they now have an obligation to fulfill. This is the reason why I've never voiced my frustrations on Twitter, the least I'd want is to seem like I'm accusing others of something they aren't obligated to do. Still, it doesn't change the fact that there's been a sharp decline in my engagement there and I feel invisible. Or ignored. But at the same time, my blog post tweets still get 2-3 likes and I can't help but feel I'm ungrateful towards them.

In the end, there's no way of pinpointing what's "wrong". Is it the way I write my posts? Is it the content in them? Is it the Twitter algorithm? According to the view count, my tweets are seen, so am I being ignored now? I have no idea. I've been considering leaving the platform for a while now, the only reason I haven't done so is because the short tweeting format is something I really like and it suits me. But with the way things are, I'll just leave it as an update account as my Tumblr once was. Tl;dr, long asks where people talk about themselves, the questions they have in mind, and what they think about the stuff I write (positive or negative, as long as there's courtesy), that exchange is the reason I write. No need to apologize for doing something that I've been wanting others to do. : )

And if my posts had contributed to helping you find something you enjoy, no matter how small, I couldn't be happier.

As for your questions, I hope you don't mind me answering them in a separate post. Because 1. my answer will be long, and 2. I'd like it to stay as a post itself instead of being buried under my personal social media rant. It'll be better if someone wants to RB it in the future as well.

Once again, thank you so much for sending me this lovely message, it made my night! See you around ~

[adventuresinclientservice]

This sounds like a(nother) LinkedIn rant, but it’s really about The Bear.

(no, not that Bear; the television show)

I joined LinkedIn in 2005, but in all the years I’ve been a member, I amazingly never actually asked why the company exists or what its purpose is, so I went looking for them.

On LinkedIn’s “About” page, the company’s stated vision is to,

“Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.” 

Its mission is to,

“connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.” 

Sounds reasonable, so why am I continually carpet-bombed with unsolicited pitch-after-pitch-after-pitch, each written by someone completely ignorant of  how to make an overture?  The clueless who assault me with this garbage think it proper; I might be a voice of one, but I think it a perversion of the very spirit in which LinkedIn was founded.

Enough with (yet another of) my rantings; it isn’t the subject of this post, which is about a way (among several) that I actually find the site helpful:  connecting me with people around the globe who have discovered, read, and chosen to comment on The Art of Client Service.

One such example happened last week:  I encountered a post by Adam Bell, a self-described “Scottish Ad-man/Sustainable Development Advocate/ Client Services Director at Yatter,” who posted a photo of the book, accompanied by a narrative that invokes the Hulu streaming television series The Bear.

I love The Bear; my enthusiasm is such that last month I wrote about a particular episode of the show, “Honeydew.”  I promptly replied to Adam, referring to yet another episode, “Forks,” where I cite a riveting scene between the character Ritchie (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and chef-owner Terry (the indisputably brilliant Olivia Coleman).

Adam and I went back and forth with our conversation -- you can follow our exchange in the screenshots – prompting me to recall the final episode of Season two, called (duh) “The Bear.”   I observe to Adam,

“the final episode reminds me all too well of an advertising agency, right before a major pitch, with its insanity, urgency. anger, errors, terrors, and rampant, serendipitous, creativity.”

It is chaos, pure chaos, on the friends-and-family opening night of the restaurant.  Time is compressed.  Staff is anxious.  Diners are impatient.  Anger within the team runs boiling hot.  If this weren’t enough, in a wickedly mordant, darkly funny moment, the protagonist and chef Carmy Berzatto gets locked in the walk-in freezer.

And yet, throughout the crazy incoherence and non-stop lunacy you see moments of brilliance.  Sacrifice.  Selflessness. Solutions to seemingly intractable, seemingly unsolvable issues.  And yes, achievement.

I’ve never served in the military, but I’ve read how soldiers don’t necessarily fight for a cause.  They fight for each other.

I’ve never played organized team sports – my athletic endeavors, such as they were, were confined to pick-up street ball – but I’ve read how players don’t necessarily compete for management, or even for the fans.  They push one another and compete for each other.

I’ve never played in a band, but I see how musicians squabble their way to music that works, playing for the audience sure, but mostly playing for each other.

What I have done is pitch new business, so I know agency people don’t necessarily go to the wall to prevail over competitors, or even to deliver for the clients.  They step up for their colleagues, who they don’t want to let down.  

When someone asks me what The Bear is about, I usually reply with something like:

“It’s about a restaurant, but in truth, it’s really about family, about always having someone’s back, never giving up or giving in, even when things are at their grimmest.”

I might be practicing revisionist history here, but I like to think the best moments I recall from my years at Digitas or Ammirati & Puris were like that.

And that, friends and readers, is why I am proud to work in advertising.

[snowdeong]

I really wish I knew how to stfu but this midzy infighting pisses me off so much lmao I need to rant about it

The thing that really grinds my gears is that people act as if two things can't be true at once. It's true that Ryujin can be the most popular member and have shit promotion from div 2. It's true that you can like either Yeji or Chaer's dancing more or less while it being true that they're both amazing and worthy of the main dancer position. Why tf are we acting as if this is such a complex thing to fucking understand? It's always "oh this person must be an A solo stan or B akgae for saying this" and then BHS get mad or satangs or ot5s or everyone gets mad and it becomes this weird hogpog of shady tweets to defend your fave meanwhile the girls are best friends and would literally be so embarrassed to hear their fans are acting like stupid fucking babies about shit that we should be united on.

We should want better promo for every single girl. When one girl gets an opportunity we should celebrate it. It doesn't have to become oppression olympics or make us horny to discredit all the work these girls do to get these opportunities wtf? If someone is complaining about shit promo let them complain cause it's fucking true lmao div2 ain't shit and we have seen that they ain't shit time and time again. If people are praising someone let them praise them wtf? If someone has a schedule then let's work as a fanbase to promote it not start shit about who promotes best and who's a solo stan or whatever stupid shit it's just wasting time and being unnecessarily negative when we could be focusing our energy on supporting our girlies who REALLY need it because their company is actively fucking sabotaging them at every turn omigod.

That's not even to say don't get angry at bullshit cause ofc you're going to get angry when people refuse to see where you're coming from and tell you you're not allowed to complain because of this or praise someone cause of that. Like I've complained a lot about the weird shit people say about Yeji whenever something good happens for her and how so called midzys seem allergic to at the very least not speaking badly on her achievements. Idk if I've talked about it on here but I really fucking hate when people act as if Ryujin being popular is a good reason why she shouldn't be promoted even though she's in a fucking entertainment company whose job is literally to promote her tf. I also hate that Yuna barely gets schedules despite being a genuine it girl, I hate when people boil Chaer down to just being that funny member that spaces out and it pisses me off so fucking much when people speak on Lia and refuse to acknowledge how talented she is. BUT I think there's ways to address these kinds of things without being inflammatory and causing goddamn civil wars every two days?? Fr it's getting to the point where midzy twt is just "Okay which group of stans is fighting who today?" can't we just be normal fucking adults with a single ounce of maturity 😭

Just let Satangs complain when they feel like they need to and let BHS be happy without having to fight of swarms of weirdos with a hate boner for Yeji omg. I mostly focused on ryeji cause those are my biases but this applies to all the issues that other sub stan groups have in relation to their fave girls? If we all just coexist then we won't have to fight because no one will feel like the only way to prove their point is to be a shady dumbass.

And all this when they don't even have solos now imagine when they get solos 😒😒😒 meanwhile the girls are literally out here calling each other family don't you feel a LITTLE ashamed for being a goblin person on the internet for "the sake of your fave" while attacking their friends like GROW UP. Kpop is not so serious that we need to start saying awful shit about people to defend other people

[keijislove]

Dance the Night Away: Peter Parker X Reader

A/N: This ain’t following any particular timeline – let’s just say... idk, after Far from Home, maybe?

WARNING: use of the ‘P’ word (Flash being Flash)

Peter walked down the hallway amidst the chatter, trying to reach his locker as the crowd grew thicker and thicker, making it impossible for him to even see properly. Which was until a hand seized his wrist and pulled him through, letting go of him as he smashed into the storage compartment with force enough to make his brains rattle.

“Oops, sorry,” you said with a sheepish smile.

Peter had turned to thank whoever it was, but, catching sight of you, he groaned. Not that he didn’t like you – you and Peter had been best friends since you were eight years old. Recently, however, a banner had been put up by the senior girls announcing that prom would be taking place the following Saturday. And with only about five days left, you had taken to pestering Peter into going, hoping that if you’d fling the question unexpectedly, Peter would get scared into answering. You had, however, no luck so far.

“Y/N, I know what you’re going to say,” Peter warningly began, “And I don’t wanna hear it.”

“But I wanna say it,” you said, “And that I shall. Peter, come on! It’s a crucial life experience! I mean, you’re studying all the time these days, and I get it, you have a clear view of your future, and I’m happy for you. But pleeeaaaaaaase, just do it for me? It’s one night, Peter, come on! One night where you have to let go and just have fun! After that, we can go back to making circuit boards together like we used to, but just this once? C’mon, don’t tell me you’re turning me down.”

As you took a deep breath after this whole rant and Peter took one look at your sincere smile, he sighed.

“... Fine,” he mumbled.

Your eyes grew wide. Surely you’d misheard?

“What?” you asked, “Louder, please?”

“Fine!” Peter bellowed loudly so that a dozen heads turned in your direction and people began snickering.

Not caring in the least, you flashed a wide smile before engulfing Peter into a huge hug, speaking, “Thank you so much! It’ll be the best experience of your life, Peter!”

“Yes, that means better than your spiderman stuff,” you whispered in an undertone as Peter said a disbelieving, “Come on!”

Needless to say, you had finally convinced Peter to go to prom. Now came the hard part. Truth was, you had liked Peter since you were both, what, fourteen? Convincing Peter to go to prom was a task for the strong, but asking him to be your date? No way would he feel the same. Peter had never ever hinted, that your relationship could be more. In fact, he felt rather frantic to prove it couldn’t be more – something that convinced you that you did not belong together and that, someday, you would have to get over this silly little crush. Still, seeing Peter go to prom with any girl who made him happy was enough for you.

“Right, now that we’re going,” you said the following morning, when he’d found you standing next to his locker, waiting for him to arrive.

Peter sighed, “Mm hmm?”

“We need dates,” you ignored his disinterest.

“Do you have one?” asked Peter.

“It.... it’s complicated,” you muttered.

Peter crossed his arms, “Listening.”

You shot him a glare before sighing and telling him, “There’s... there’s this boy I like. I was really hoping he would ask me to homecoming back then, and I turned down anybody who asked me just to chase that blind belief. Guess what? He didn’t ask me. And I know he won’t now, but I don’t know... something inside me still hopes he would.”

“So, you’re scared to say yes to anyone in case he asked you but scared to say no to everyone in case he doesn’t ask you?” Peter clarified, causing you to laugh.

“Sounds about right.” you muttered, “But hey, enough about me, what about you? We need a date for you. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Not really,” Peter shrugged.

“Okay....” you said slowly, “Well, I’ll just list off people you would be happy with as they come to my mind... maybe you can ask one of them.”

“Fire away.”

“Okay... well, there’s Emma Jones from my biology class,” you began, “And she’s really nice.”

“Not my type.”

“Oh,” you frowned, “Okay... Alyssa from P.E?”

“The one who said spiderman sucks? No thanks.”

“Zoe from English?”

“Nope.”

“Ava from chemistry lab?”

“Meh.”

“... MJ?” you asked in defeat as Peter incredulously looked at you (A/N: sorry MJ, I love you <3).

“Okay, fine,” you snapped, “I’m done helping. Let me know if you find someone?”

Peter gave another nod as the two of you made your way to class.

------

You were panicking. Two days were all that were left, and so far, you had turned down countless boys including Flash Gordon who had swore and made rude hand gestures at you as a way to handle rejection. You didn’t know what was wrong – why was this impossible hope of Peter asking you still clouding your possibilities of a relationship?

Peter knew nothing of this – yet he annoyed you. If he was too blind to notice that you were madly in love with him, why did the very sight of his face make your brain go empty?

Now with one day left and nobody to ask you, you slumped moodily throughout the day, not talking and sitting silently at lunchtime, stabbing your potatoes pretending that it was your feelings for Peter.

“Okay you’re freaking me out now,” Peter said as the two of you were walking home and you still hadn’t opened your mouth.

“No date – again. God, this is just like homecoming,” you groaned.

Peter looked surprised.

“I thought a lot of guys asked you?”

“They did!” you moaned, “It’s just – that guy, I don’t know why he has this effect on me. It’s like – we weren’t meant to be together or maybe I wasn’t meant to go out with anyone ever.”

“Hey, that’s not true,” said Peter with something new in his expression. Behind the terribly unconvincing ‘concerned best friend’ mask, you saw a flicker of something... smugness? No, you were dreaming. You hadn’t eaten all day – this was probably a side-effect.

“You know what, I’m gonna grab a sandwich at Delmar’s,” you muttered, “I haven’t eaten since morning. Do you want to come?”

“Sorry, I promised May I’d come home,” he sheepishly said, “She wanted me to go get an outfit with her.”

“Oh,” you snickered, “Good luck with that. See you tomorrow!”

“See you.”

And with a heavy heart, you walked away from your only chance of having the person you cared about most as your date to prom.

--------

“Oh god, what was I thinking?” you muttered, staring the reflection of you in a(n) F/C dress with your hair styled <inert preferred style here>.

“This is stupid!” you said to no one in particular, before taking a deep breath and walking to the apartment across from yours and knocking on the door.

The door opened to reveal Peter.

“Oh, good you’re here, this will take just a second, May wants to –” he stopped abruptly, staring at you with eyes round as saucers.

“Um,” you began, he still kept staring.

“Earth to Peter, you still in there?” you snapped your fingers in front of his face as he blinked and turned a delicate shade of red.

“You – you look nice,” he managed to choke out.

“Thanks...?” you said, walking inside and taking a seat on the couch.

“Okay, um, M-may will take us there in her c-car, she’ll be h-here any moment, let’s just w-wait.”

“Pete, you having a stroke or something?” you asked in concern.

“No, I’m fine.” (A/N: he’s not 😉)

As if she had sensed Peter’s need to be rescued, Aunt May came walking into the room. She stopped at the sight of her nephew staring slightly at you, who was examining a coffee mug on the table. Smiling to herself, she cleared her throat.

Both of you jumped in surprise.

“We’re ready to go,” May stated, as the two of you got to your feet, following her to the car.

----------

“This was a mistake, wasn’t it?” you asked, looking at the doors of your school gym which were closed ominously.

“Why?” asked Peter in surprise, “I thought you wanted to go?”

“I do,” you admitted, “But – we don’t have dates, it’ll look so... lame.”

Peter scoffed, “Y/N, do you really need the dimwits that attend this school to justify how many cool points you have?”

“Not exactly,” you said in surprise, feeling slightly better.

“Yeah, come on, let’s just do it. Together, okay?” asked Peter as you nodded.

You both took nervous, deep breaths before pushing the doors open to reveal the commotion inside.

--------

You two were walking across the gym, interestedly examining the decorations ang pulling faces at the couples which were making out, till you bumped into something hard.

“OOF!” you groaned, falling to the floor.

“You okay?” Peter asked hurriedly, pulling you to your feet. As you both turned to look who it was, you were surprised to see Flash standing there with his mouth hanging open.

“No way,” he said, gaping, “HEY EVERYONE, LOOK! IT’S DATELESS L/N AND PENIS PARKER!”

You groaned as a million heads turned your way and slowly, the laughter broke out, jeers of the obscene names Flash had called you now echoing off the walls.

“Haha, real funny, Flash,” Peter said sarcastically, but once he saw your near-tears expression, he seized your wrist and pulled you out of the gym into the open.

“Come on,” he pacifyingly said, “Don’t cry over him, Y/N! He’s not worth it.”

“This is homecoming all over again,” you groaned, struggling to contain your tears, “School dances were never meant for me. Let’s just – let’s just go home and finish making that model spaceship we were working on.”

“Sounds like a worthwhile night to me,” Peter shrugged, tossing a brave smile your way, “You don’t need prom to be happy, you know. Let’s go.”

And so the two of you walked home, talking amongst yourselves, being the best friends you’d been since eight.

Best friends.

The sound of that word made your blood boil hot. How naïve were you? This was absolutely perfect – a million guys on the planet and you chose to fall for one who would never see you the same way.

As your apartment building came closer, Peter cleared his throat and spoke, “Wait in the living room with May for ten minutes. I have a surprise for you.”

“Seriously?” you asked, taken aback.

“Yeah, why not?”

“What is it?” you asked curiously.

Peter cocked an eyebrow.

“Kinda missing the point of a surprise if I told you what it was.”

“Makes sense,” you agreed, “Okay, but make it quick. I’m dying of curiosity.”

“You’ll live for another ten minutes,” Peter assured you.

Your curiosity was now bubbling to the surface like boiling water threatening to spill. You thought of what Peter could possibly have to surprise you, and you stopped to sit on a couch in the living room next to Peter’s aunt.

After exhausting every possibility (each as unlikely as the next), Peter finally dragged you ti the door of his room.

“... I’ve seen your room before, you know,” you laughed slightly.

“That’s not the surprise,” Peter playfully rolled his eyes, “Okay, close your eyes.”

“Jesus, Peter,” you snorted as his hands placed themselves over your eyes, “You are such a drama queen.”

“Open them... now!”

And you opened your eyes to see that the usual clutter surrounding Peter’s room had been cleared away, leaving some space for god-knows-what in the middle of it.

“Wow, you finally cleaned your room!” you exclaimed, “That is a surprise.”

“That’s still not the surprise!” Peter whined, “C’mere.”

He grabbed your hand and pulled you close as your brain clouded with confusion. What the heck was going on?

Peter threw his phone aside as a light waltz began playing through the air. Peter placed one hand on your waist and the other one to grab yours as your confusion cleared away.

“You said you wanted to go to prom,” Peter stated as you two swayed on the spot, moving slightly to the music, “You didn’t say where. Now we’re away from judgy eyes, we can be weird.”

“Seriously, Peter?” you giggled at his dorkiness, “I never knew you were so cute.”

The words had slipped from your mouth before you had time to think them through. You were praying he didn’t hear you, but a hitch in his breath made your heart drop.

“You – you think I’m cute?” Peter asked, blushing furiously.

“Well,” you sighed, there was no backing out of this, “... Yeah, I do.”

You looked down, refusing to meet his eyes.

“And the guy you wanted to get asked by...?” Peter didn’t need to finish his question; he knew you understood.

“Yes,” you whispered, tears brimming at the corner of your eyes once more.

You sucked in a deep breath and looked up, “Look, Peter, I know you don’t feel the same and it’s honestly okay –”

“Shut up,” Peter mumbled, his lips brushing over yours. Your lips brushed together a few times as the both of you melted into the addicting sensation, not aware of the surroundings, not caring in the least. To Peter, all that mattered in that moment, was you.

You two pulled apart after a while, both blushing like crazy with no idea what to do next. It was you who spoke first, shyly.

“I – I think it’s a good thing we’re alone right now. That would be an embarrassing yearbook photo.”

[thatpoppinat]

When The World Knows (Pt 1)

    pt 2

    It's been a while since Marinette has had time to herself. Thankfully, this isn't due to her responsibilities as Ladybug. 

      In fact, Hawkmoth seemed to be losing whatever motivation he once had for terrorizing Paris, and akumas were becoming scarce. This could have also meant that he was planning something big, but if Marinette was being 100% honest with you, Hawkmoth was becoming the least of her concerns.

    Was her growing fame something she should be concerned about? She couldn’t tell you.    

_____________

     It all started on accident, if you were to ask Marinette. She had just went to visit her uncle Jagged while he was making music for an upcoming show that was being produced. After spending some time with him, he eventually introduced her to Hugo Morris, the director of "Autodale; a noir-esque dystopian show that is ‘the next being thing’”. 

      Hugo had apparently aided in the release of multiple blockbuster and popular shows. Marinette had no doubt that this one would be well received by the public, just by seeing the detailed sets being created all around her.

    Almost jokingly, Jagged had encouraged Marinette to audition for the lead role as Aubrey; the Exceptional Girl. After all; Marinette matched the director's description of her very well, apparently.    

     She was given the script, and she auditioned. She didn't expect to get the role.  

      And somehow - miraculously - she did. Two days after her audition, she received a callback.  

       Marinette, after receiving the email, promptly had a seizure. She didn't think she was that good. But apparently, the producer saw something in her.      

    When she came in the week after to meet the rest of the cast, Marinette could only think about how big the production was, or worry if whether or not she was gonna screw something up with her world renowned clumsiness. She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng after all.

     Speaking of her being her, the thought of being on the big screen made her head spin. In the past, she always thought that if she were to ever work in a film production, she would have been on the design team. Designing clothes was her dream after all.

  But she guessed the saying was true: "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." She was brought back in, she met the rest of the cast, and they were given scripts to read over and have decently memorized by the end of the month.       

     To only add to the workload, Marinette was still a school student. She hadn't even told her classmates about this.

… Her classmates, the people who didn't even bother to question if Lila was telling the truth; who didn't even care if Marinette's feelings were hurt; the people who didn't even hesitate to isolate her and bully her 'for Lila's sake', even after all she had done for them. And Adrien, who knew what they were doing to her, but chose to keep him mouth shut.    

     It was safe to say, that after all they'd done, they were merely classmates. Forced acquaintances, if you will.

    After a few seconds of thought, Marinette decided not to tell them. She didn't want them to ruin this for her.

     She'd have to tell Principal Damocles and Mrs. Bustier, however. If this production was as big as the cast was saying it was, she'd clearly be missing a lot of class.

   And, after months of working with fellow actors, memorizing scripts, helping make props, doing schoolwork online, and keeping her nosy classmates from finding out, she could safely say that was the case.

_________________

    Speaking of classmates.

     When she was needed for the production of "Autodale" , Marinette rarely ever saw them. Being the lead role in a long production show would  mess up your schedule one way or another. When she did go into that class, it was filled with people constantly going up to her new, lonely seat in the back and asking were she had been.

    Instead of answering them, she simply shrugged and told them it wasn't their business. This got on their nerves to no end. At one point, Lila was spreading rumors and lies about how she saw Marinette hanging out with some older men (Marinette had to practically nail herself to the seat as she heard Lila "whisper" it to her loyal followers).

   But Mrs. Bustier quickly shot that down and told the class that she knew where she "disappeared to", that it was a safe environment, and that per request of Marinette and her parents, the class wasn't allowed to know. Mrs. Bustier then scolded Lila about telling people things that could lead to trouble, with no proof anyway.        

     Lila then recovered by spilling crocodile tears and saying that she was only trying to help her dear friend Mari.

  Well, at least Ms. Bustier wasn’t a wallflower anymore.

   It was then classmates started to question Lila, not completely doubting her, though. Which made Marinette want to pull her hair out.

   Marinette didn't end up doing that. After all, she had something to look forward too!

    A sneak peek of Autodale was being broadcasted  during an award show after school.  Marinette couldn't wait! Marinette and the rest of the cast had gotten to see it early, and they were impressed with the craftsmanship.

_________

   The next day, Autodale was all anyone would talk about at school.

   And of course, Lila had to be apart of it.

   "It took them a long time to make the animation that phenomenal. The team poured their hearts and souls into this project. Oh, Hugo is such a good director. He's really nice in real life, too! But, I think that may just be because he has a huge crush on me. 

   “Oh! yeah, I know the secret main actress. She's just secretive and only wants to reveal herself to the public after the episodes are released on Netflix. We're basically besties- sorry Alya! Aww! Of course Alya, I can try to get you an interview with her after the show is released. She might be busy, being the lead role in an anticipated TV and all, but I'll try my best! No problem!"

   Oh the irony. She would've laughed.

   But she was focused with what she said prior to claiming their supposed  "friendship".

    Did Lila know that Morris was a forty year old man and that she had just basically accused him of being a pedophile. That detail probably didn't matter to her. Lila probably would have said it anyway.

    Marinette clenched her fists. Lila could spread all of the lies she wanted (she decided it wasn't worth it after seeing how gullible and unyielding her classmates were), but the fact that she was basically claiming how one of her father figures, with a wife whom he was deeply in love with, was a cheating, flirty pedophile  made her blood boil.

   It must've shown on her face. In a split second, Lila faces her, hiding a small smirk, then loudly proclaimed to her her:

  "Aww! There's no need to be jealous Marinette! I might be able to get her to meet you! But, from what I've told her about you, I don't think she'll want to." Lila shook her head, as if she was pitying her. The class threw sneers her way. 

    Adrien winced, but, once again, did nothing, then looked away.

  Marinette took a deep breath.

 "No, no. That's fine," she smiled.

  Then, with a stroke of luck, she was saved by the bell.

   Thank the Gods for lunch period, she thought.

___________

  She headed to the locker room. Once they were alone, Tikki emerged from her hiding spot.

 "Are you okay?" Tikki frowned.

 "Yeah, I'll be fine,"  Marinette insisted. "I just feel like talking to Carlos."

  Carlos was one of the many actors and actresses she met on the set. Carlos played Macro, Aubrey's main love interest. He was funny, understanding, and would listen to her rants of frustration. All in all, they had a great relationship with each other.

  Not a romantic one, mind you.

   Carlos was gay.

   She dialed his number, and he almost immediately responded. She put him on speaker.

  "Hey Marshmallow!" Carlos exclaimed

   "Hello, rainbow fish."

  "Let me guess. Lila?" he questioned.

   She sighed, "Yeah. You know me too well."

  "So, what she do this time?"

"She essentially called Hugo a pedophile."

"...What?" He practically hissed.

  "Yep. Said she knew the old man and claimed he had a crush on her."

"That lying two-faced fox." he sneered.

  "She also said she knew the secret lead, that they were practically besties, and then straight up looked at me and proclaimed to everyone that the lead didn't like me."

“Wow. And they actually believed her?

  "They always have been. And Adrien did nothing, again." Tikki handed her one of her cookies. She was missing lunch time.

"Seriously, that Agreste boy needs to grow a pair! I'm starting to think he just doesn't care."

Marinette said nothing. She could practically hear him rubbing his temples.

  "*sigh* Don't worry Marinette. With the pilot episode being released next Tuesday, they'll learn the truth and regret treating you like trash. Everyone will finally know that Lila has been spewing bullshit since she arrived."

  "I really hope so. I'm not sure how long I can take this."

  "Girl, I'm telling you! Transfer schools! It's obvious that they're the type to suck up to influential people. Once they find out you're the secret lead, and MDC, they're gonna clam up to you so fast for clout it's not even funny."

   THAT was another thing she hardly told anyone. A couple of weeks ago, she opened a commission website called MDCDesigns.

   To help her out - and because they believed her clothes were to die for - , Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale began to wear her designs more often. It wasn't long until the Style Queen herself read a review, and for the first time in a long time, she wasn't tearing a brand to shreds.

   In fact, she actually seemed to like her designs.

  "They have potential, I'll admit. Certainly about average. Marvelous designs. " Style Queen said in her review. "If they keep this up, they'll certainly have a spot in the industry." She turned to the cameras. "Also, if you're watching this MDC, know that if we ever meet, I'd like a cream colored faux fur scarf."

  Her website practically crashed due to the insane amount of commissions she had received that night. Ever since then, people have been dying to know who this mysterious designer was. She wondered if opening the shop was a good decision: not because of her career, mind you, but her health.

   Regardless, she was planning to reveal herself after the pilot episode was aired on HBO (not Netflix Lila. If your gonna lie about something, at least research it beforehand)in an interview -with proof, as many people have claimed to be MDC since then.

   She sat there in thought, when she was done thinking she responded.

  "That... that sounds like a good idea. Well, the Earth doesn't revolve around me! How is your trip going yo-"

   Suddenly, she heard footsteps and a door being slammed closed.

   She froze.

    "What was that??!"

   She’d had Carlos on speaker the entire time.

   Someone had been watching her.

    And the person must've heard everything they said.

_____________________

Hi!

So, this is my first project, and I’m not sure I wanna continue writing it. If you wanna adopt it, I don’t mind. Positive criticism is welcome! Reblog if you want idc rn.

Also, seriously, Check out the series "Autodale” created by Dead Sound on youtube. It can be a little dark, but I think most people can handle it! It’s amazing!

This is also kinda based off of the tumblr fanfic “After The Week Off”. Huge thanks to  princesslenaakaladykittuna for the link.

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Anyways, have a nice day!

[colorseeingchick]

Cheer you up, Calm you down (Iwa, Suna, Kuroo)

Life is full of ups and downs! And the downs can come in all forms. But no matter what it is and how you seek to be comforted, these boys will have your back. 

A/N: This is part 1 of a longer series I have planned. All the boys are given different Y/Ns with different personalities and different scenarios. But that’ll become more clear in the next parts, I think. But regardless, I hope you enjoy part 1! 

Warnings: Language. These are all meant to be ambiguous as to whether they are romantic or platonic. Interpret as you wish!

Iwaizumi Hajime: with a rambling Y/N

When you got the phone call, your heart dropped. He was… with another girl? 

You shouldn’t have cared. You shouldn’t have. You guys weren’t dating or anything. But at the same time, you two had been talking for months. And he went out of his way to tell you that he was going to be ‘with the boys.’ So why did he lie? What game was he tryna play? 

You weren’t ready to process the sadness, so instead you decide to break down the anger boiling in your stomach. Which is why you had been fuming over the phone for hours to Iwaizumi.

“Hello?” 

“He’s a two timing pig.” 

“Who?”

As you explain everything over and speak out your heart, Iwa listens. You noted when the other side of the line went silent, but continued to ramble into the phone. 

“Are you driving?” You ask him as you hear a breeze coming from Iwa’s side. 

“Just an open window,” he dismisses. You didn’t have too much time to question it. Your answer came when you heard a knock at the door. 

“What? What are you… doing here?” pulling your phone down from your face, you let confusion enter your trashed puddle of emotions (mainly dominated by frustration).

“Surprise. It’s been an hour and you’re still mad. And I can’t listen to you forever.” Iwaizumi leans against the doorframe, arms crossing in front of him. “So let’s go.” You saw his shiny motorcycle parked close to the curb of your driveway, teasing you with the notion of a joyride. 

“Are you serious?” 

“Yeah, anything to get you over this shit. Let’s go.” 

As you follow Iwa out, you adjust your weight on the bike, pulling closer to him as he revs the bike. “Don’t squeeze me. Just hold onto my waist, okay?”

Feeling the wind scratch your cheeks and pull tears from your eyes, a smile shines bright on your face. The frustration and anger that constricted your chest had been completely ripped away, the floating feeling in your belly causing bubbly joy to replace it as Iwaizumi guns it on the straight road ahead. 

“Better?” Iwaizumi asks you as he tugs his helmet off, parked back on your driveway. You rest your head against his back, hands wrapped around his stomach, a smile plastered on your face. 

“Yeah.” 

“Good. Don’t waste your energy being pissed about that mother fucker. Not worth it.”

You scoff, smile unfaltering. “You’re right. I’ll just use that energy to bother you instead.” He sighs. But you just know he’s smiling. 

“Looking forward to it.” 

Suna Rintarou: with a Y/N on a rampage

Pacing your basement hallway, you were absolutely ready to tear a new one to the next unfortunate soul that walked in. 

You’d just gotten back from a very long, complicated, messy meeting with a bunch of your teammates and coaches. A teammate who had hated you for seemingly no reason had just spent the last 3 hours trying to accuse you of something you never did. But for those 3 hours you were shocked to find that you had to actually defend you. Of course they realized you were innocent by the end, but they all just let that happen. No one defended you. Not even your ‘friends.’ You were livid, deep in a ‘I hate the world and want to watch it burn’ mood. Hence why you wanted to tear apart whoever was unfortunate enough to cross paths with you. 

You were not ready for that person to be Suna Rintarou. 

“Suna what the heck are you doing here? Did you see my texts?”

“Y/N-”

“I swear if you didn’t read them I’m gonna be so mad. I literally cannot believe this is even happening right now.” Your voice shakes as you stew in your own anger. 

“Y/N…”

“I’ve never been angrier in my whole life I swear, this is unreal, absolutely unreal. Absolutely unacceptable. I literally cannot believe that they’re all absolute-”

You’re cut off when Suna grabs your hand, squeezing it abruptly. 

“What the-” 

He turns your palm up and places a rectangular item (that he’d been storing in his hoodie’s pocket)  into your grasp. After he pulls away, you take a moment to inspect the item. 

“The hell is this…” You blink-

And process. 

“Why did you give me a snicker’s bar?”

“Because you’re not you when you’re hungry,” Suna deadpans. 

“...”

“...”

“That’s so not funny, Suna.”

“Then why’re you smiling.”

Unfortunately, he’d got you there. You were no less angry, but the flow of anger had been interrupted by a new flow of amusement. 

“Suna I’m being fucking serious right now, I can’t-”

You’re stopped this time by the rough jolt of your body forward as Suna roughly pulls your hoodie over your head, and then squeezes you in a hug. 

“It’s shitty, I know. But everything is a lil less shitty with chocolate. Deep breath, eat, and then you can rant to me. I’m caught up on the texts.”

“...thank you.”

“No problem. But break a piece of the snickers off for me, will ya?”

“Aw hell nah this is my chocolate now!”

“Never buying you chocolate again.”

Kuroo Tetsurou: with a Y/N who just needs to get it out

“I’m literally gonna murder him.”

“Ya know, you should really stop staying stuff like that- cuz if he mysteriously dies and they take you to court, I’ll be the one who has to testify that you threatened murder. And I don’t really want that.”

“I know I know- you know I wouldn’t  actually do anything but UGH!” You pound the ground against you in a fit of rage while Kuroo watches you, laying down on the hill you both had retreated to. 

“I cannot believe him. It’s absolutely insane that he just keeps getting away with this shit and nobody does ANYTHING about it! And then they have the audacity to make me out to be the bad guy?! It’s so freakin’ bogus.” 

“They still haven’t done anything about it huh.”

“And they won’t. Surprise surprise. Everyone sucks at holding people accountable once it's their ‘favorite student’ that has all the flaws. I’m so over all of this.” 

Kuroo perches upwards at the sound of your voice cracking, keying in on how frustrated and emotionally exhausted you truly were. 

“What do you want to do about it?”

“I don’t know. All I want right now is for my chest to stop hurting. This is so frustrating.” You try your best to keep it together in front of him, but he knew better. He knew much better. 

“C’mere.” Kuroo wraps his arms around you, burying your face into his chest. “Scream.”

“Huh?” He had to know how odd of a request that was. 

“Bury your face in my chest and just like, scream. Yell. Cry. Whatever you want. You’ll feel better. Get it out.”

“...mm…” 

And so you did. You muffled your screams into Kuroo’s shirt, your throat going raw, your tears falling down, and his firm hold unwavering. As you pull away slowly, he gives you a firm shoulder pat before checking up again. “Better?” 

“Yeah. Better.”

Notes: 

Iwa’s is based off my best guy friend who’s a motorcyclist. I fully headcanon Iwa having a bike he HAS THE VIBES. 

If you don’t get Suna’s comment please watch this video: here

Kuroo’s situation is not based off a personal one but, the ‘casually threatening murder’ is very much like me. And it makes all my pre-law friends very worried sometimes. 

These are all SO SHORT I kinda hate it but expect the next parts to be...much longer lol I suck at concision. 

[ultraintrovertedgryffindor]

WPP - Kenny (We’re The Millers)

This has been sitting in my drafts for months and I was struggling to finish it, but, a bright light ascended from the heavens, in the form of an angel, and that angel’s name is @gladerscake

Big thanks to them for helping me out and finishing this imagine. Go follow them and give all the love and support you can muster!

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Being in the witness protection program was...interesting.

It definitely was not what you were expecting, but then again, you didn’t know helping out a person you cared about would get you involved in a murder, yet here you are.

You had to leave everything behind, not that you had that much of a life to begin with, but it was comfortable. Now, everything was different. New home in a new state, even a new last name. Thankfully, you got to keep your first name, you were grateful for that at least.

You were surprised to find the most annoying thing was the neighbourhood that the program placed you in. It’s like it was made for Mormons or something, your neighbours were too nice, at least the house to the right of yours. You didn’t really know who lived in the house to the left, working from home had the benefit of never going outside and the only reason you knew who lived to your right was cause those neighbours were the type of people to introduce themselves.

Yuck.

But still, you couldn’t help but be a little curious.

You did know, however, that they had only recently moved in since the one morning truck woke up before your alarm rang that morning. You were grouchy the rest of the day, thus you’ve been slightly petty towards your “new” neighbours since then. You definitely needed to work on your attitude...one day.

After being inside your house for more than a week, you decided you wanted some vitamin D, which you rarely ever did so you must’ve been seriously deprived.

You walked out of the door leading to the backyard with a book in hand, frowning when you saw how overgrown the grass was from your laziness. You told yourself you’d do it later, and by later you meant you would mow your yard when you started to hate yourself enough to the point where you felt too guilty leaving it alone.

You huffed as you sat in one of your lawn chairs that you bought when you moved in, lying to yourself that you were going to spend more time outside when you knew you wouldn’t. A first for everything, you supposed.

A few chapters in, you heard a door open and shut in your neighbour’s backyard, but you thought nothing of it, almost too entranced in your book.

You smiled to yourself when you started to hear 1990s R&B playing softly, not your cup of tea but you enjoyed it occasionally. Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls had just started playing when you heard the neighbour’s back door slammed. “Dude, turn that shit off! You’ve been playing that song constantly and I’m actually getting sick of it. God.” You heard an angsty female voice.

Oh no...you lived next a family.

“Hey!”

You flinched, noticing a blonde girl was talking you. “Uh, hey?” You slowly closed your book, reluctantly walking over to the fence separating the backyards when the girl motioned you over.

“Haven’t seen you around before, just move in?” She asked, smirking slightly, looking you up and down.

You mocked her smirk, not liking the almost condescending look she was giving you. “No, been here for awhile. That’s how I know you’ve only just moved in a few weeks ago.”

The girl’s smirk only grew. “What’s your name?”

“Y/N. Yours?”

“Casey, and that loser is Kenny.” She pointed to the table behind her, seeing a blonde boy sitting somewhat dejectedly in one of the chairs fiddling with a small CD player. “Hey, TLC, get over here!” The boy looked to Casey with a panicked expression, visibly looking like he wasn’t sure if the girl meant it or not. She rolled her eyes, “Come on, dude!”

The boy nodded, frantically walking away to join Casey at the fence. “Hey.” He stuttered, blushing when he noticed your eyes on him.

Casey rolled her eyes yet again. “Yeah, this is Kenny.”

Kenny waved quite adorably, giving you a tight lipped smile. “Did you just move in?”

“No, I-”

“We’ve already had this talk, she’s been here longer than we have.” Casey interrupted, making your blood boil a little bit, her attitude almost worse than yours.

Kenny frowned slightly, but covered it up with a smile. “Oh.”

“Yep. We’ve already become besties.” You said sarcastically, grinning widely, making Kenny genuinely smile a little.

“Kids!” A middle aged man with a stupid haircut, to you anyway, walked over with hesitant look on his face. “Who’s this?”

“Y/N, your neighbour that’s lived here longer than you have. Saved you the trouble of telling him yourself, Casey.” You sneered.

“Oh. Well, I’m David and we’re the Millers! My wife, Sarah, is at the market right now, but I’m sure she’d be glad to meet you sometime.” He smiled widely, making you uncomfortable.

“Uh, dad, chill out. You’re gonna scare away the only girl I find suitable to be friends with in this shit neighbourhood.” Casey whispered harshly.

You didn’t really want to be friends with Casey, you never really got along with girls. Clearly, reading outside was a bad choice...

“Ha ha, if you sass me one more time today, you will be grounded young lady.” David forced another smile.

“Uh, Dad...”

“Shut up, Kenny.”

You quickly realized where the Kenny kid was in the family food chain. It was a shame, the dude was pretty easy on the eyes and seemed nice from what you’ve seen. “Look, I’m just gonna go. Nice meeting you fine folks...” You waved awkwardly, turning around and practically speed walking inside your house.

Well, that was fun...never going outside ever again.

The overall encounter put you in a sour mood, so when the doorbell rang you prayed to god that it wasn’t the yearly check in with law enforcement cause you’d probably get yourself in trouble with that attitude of yours.

You were mildly shocked to see that awkward Kenny guy outside your door, his eyes trained on his feet before you opened the door. “Kenny Miller, right?”

“Uh...yeah, Miller. Uh, I just want to apologize for my, uh, family’s behavior. They don’t have the best of manners, but they’re good people, I swear!” He ranted at such a quick pace that it almost flew right over your head. “So, yeah, sorry.”

You chuckled at his nervousness. “You don’t have to be sorry, especially on the behalf of your family. They don’t seem like the type to appreciate it anyway.”

His eyes widened, holding up his hands and shaking his head. “No, no, no, it’s not like that! They, uh, appreciate me.” You kept your mouth shut, giving him a sympathetic look with a soft smile. He sighed. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

“To me, it is. I’ve been in that situation before, so it’s not that hard to notice.”

“Oh...well, they can be nice sometimes I guess.”

“I hope so. Well, it was nice to meet you, Kenny.” You stuck your hand out, smiling when he hesitated but shook your outstretched hand gently.

A week later, you and Kenny actually became friends despite the two of you being almost complete opposites. He was able to poke through your cynical exterior, which was extremely rare for someone to do. He made you laugh, smile, and actually enjoy life when you were with him. You didn’t like it at first, but his adorkable personality won you over.

Kenny was more than overjoyed, he finally had a friend, not one out of pity anyway. The first time you two had hung out, he came “home” with a huge grin on his face. Of course, Casey had to tease him about it all the time.

“I still don’t understand how she can be friends with that loser and not me!” Casey ranted. “It doesn’t make sense!”

“Casey, stop calling Kenny a loser, please.” Sarah sighed, tapping away on her keyboard.

As soon as Sarah said that, Kenny walked through the door with another grin on his face. “Hey, Ma!”

“You don’t have to call me that here, hon.” Sarah voiced, shutting her laptop and walking out of the kitchen, but she smiled to herself.

“Pop your cherry yet?” Casey smirked evilly.

Kenny immediately blushed. “I told you, we’re just friends...”

She rolled her eyes. “You obviously want to be more than just friends with her. You should just ask her out and get it over with.”

“But...Melissa...”

Casey huffed loudly. “Dude, I already told you, she’s probably moved on by now. She was a total babe, she can and probably has done way better than you.”

“Hey...” Kenny frowned, to which Casey just shrugged, her eyes training back to her phone. He sighed as he sat down across from his “sister.” “I do like her...but I don’t know how to bring it up. I’m awful at talking to girls about...that kind of stuff.”

Casey snorted. “Yeah, no kidding.” But she dropped her amused smirk when she saw Kenny glaring. “Sorry, sorry.” She sassed. “I mean, it did work out with the ginger to be fair, but we have to stay in this shithole until further notice. But I really do think you should shoot your shot with what’s her name.”

Kenny rolled his eyes. “Y/N.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just-”

“That girl is bad news.” David suddenly voiced, walking into the kitchen.

“What do you mean by that?” Casey asked.

“Uh, hello? Pay attention to your surroundings instead of that stupid phone of yours to see that we are in witness protection. We can’t trust any of these creepy neighbours.”

“Uh, I think you’re a tad bit paranoid, father dearest.”

“Y/N’s really cool though!” Kenny expressed.

David rolled his eyes. “But we don’t really know her, we don’t know if she’s a snitch or something.”

Casey laughed. “Wow, you really are paranoid, dude.”

“Ha ha, very funny, just go to your room and listen to your Metallicas and AC/DCs.”

Casey’s face contorted into a disgusted scowl. “I don’t listen to that garbage.”

“Shut up.” David simply replied, making Casey stand up and storm out of the room and up the stairs. “Look, Ken, I get you like this girl, but you need to be careful. Don’t say things you shouldn’t and all that. You have a tendency to not know when to shut your mouth. So, don’t do that, kay?”

Kenny nodded curtly, avoiding David’s eyes as he felt his face heat up in slight anger. He knew he had some...issues with keeping his mouth shut about things that should be kept a secret, but he grew up, right? He’s not as naïve as he was before they went to Mexico, but his “family” still treated him like he was five. Plus, he knew you weren’t the type to be a snitch.

While Kenny was dealing with feeling underappreciated, you were having your own set of issues to handle. Today was the day for a check up with law enforcement to make sure you were on your best behavior. You always were, but it still made you anxious to no end. And you prayed that Kenny wouldn’t rush in to your house like he got into the habit of doing when you were interrogated.

Of course, that didn’t happen. 

“For fuck’s sake...” You muttered under your breath when you saw Kenny’s shocked and scared face when he saw you sitting with a couple local police officers.

On your end, it just looked like he was scared of police officers. But Kenny’s mind immediately went haywire, thinking that you called them over to investigate them even though the police were already informed of “the Millers” situation. 

“Kenny, now’s not a good time.” You sighed.

“No, no, it’s okay.” The police officer in front of you said. “We’re done here anyway.” He walked out of your house with his partner, leaving you and Kenny in an awkward silence.

“What was that all about?” Kenny asked, not being able to control the bitter tone in his voice. “Did you think we’re that bad or something?”

“Kenny, I-”

“We’ve been doing really well here!” Kenny interrupted. “No problems with anybody, been on our best behavior.”

“Kenny.”

“I don’t wanna go to jail. I can’t go to jail. We’ve only been here for a couple months.”

“Kenny, stop!” You finally yelled, losing your temper. “They were here to check up on me, for fuck’s sake.”

Kenny’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but still had a slight expression of panic. “Here for you? B-But-”

“I’m in witness protection, you dweeb, same as you.”

“Oh...Wait, how did you know I’m in witness protection?”

“Your family,” You finger quoted, “looks nothing like you. All of you don’t look anything alike. How paranoid and secretive that David is, it wasn’t too hard to put things together. You rambling off like an absolute moron a minute ago just reaffirmed my theory.”

Kenny frowned. “Dang, I thought I had worked on that.”

You smiled slightly. “It’s alright, Ken. I’m no snitch, and I’m not very judgmental about someone’s past. What did you even do though? You’re definitely not the type to break the law.” You chuckled.

“Oh, well, we kinda smuggled some drugs across the Mexican border.” He stuttered.

“Holy shit, dude! That’s sick! What was it? Was it coke?” You grinned, eager to learn.

Kenny blinked at your excitement, but obliged to all your questions, sitting down next to you. “No, it was marijuana.”

Your face slightly dropped in excitement. “Oh. I really think weed should be legal. It’s stupid, it’s not even a hard drug.”

“Well, we’re lucky we even made it out alive. But what did you go through to get yourself here?”

Now, you definitely didn’t judge past crimes of others, if they’ve atoned for it and changed that is, but you had no idea if Kenny would judge you. You actually found yourself not wanting him to look at you in a different light, and you’ve never felt that way before. 

Kenny seemed perfectly sweet, almost too sweet to judge anyone, but on the other hand...the stuff that had landed you in the program was definitely heavier than some weed smuggling. 

Maybe it would be too much for him. Maybe it would be best to just make something up, something less horrible, something he wouldn’t be too shocked by.  As tempting as that route felt, the idea of lying to him weirdly didn’t sit well with you, though. 

Kenny was quick to notice the lengthy pause that followed his question, as well as the way your shoulders tensed and your eyes averted to the parquet floor. Oh no. Had he pried into something too personal? Was he an idiot for asking?

“Oh, um...you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to!” Kenny hurried to assure you, slight panic beginning to etch his bluish-green eyes, his fists clenching and unclenching involuntarily. “I was just curious, is all! I’m sorry if it’s too persona-“ 

“It’s okay!” To his surprise, you pulled on a tight-lipped smile, giving him a look as nonchalant as you could manage at the moment. “Really, you don’t have to apologize for asking. Plus, you already told me about your thing, so...” You trailed off, softly, wondering how to proceed. 

As much as you resented the thought of Kenny seeing you differently, you decided even that unpleasant outcome would still be better than lying to him. You’d rather not. You liked Kenny. Despite not having spent a tremendous amount of time together, you could tell he was a genuinely good person, and you definitely enjoyed his company. Not to mention, it would be a blatant lie if you said you weren’t at all attracted to him. 

Casey may have spent most of their interactions calling him a “loser” in some form or another, but you couldn’t be farther away from agreeing with her. A part of you was positively annoyed with the way she treated him. Then again, taste is subjective. It wasn’t Casey’s fault if she didn’t have a good sense of it. 

With a deep intake of air, you nervously flipped a loose strand of hair over your shoulder, still avoiding direct eye-contact with Kenny. “I, uh...It’s a rough one, really. And kind of a long story. I wouldn’t wanna dump something like that on you, if you’d rather not hear it” 

He tentatively pursed his plump lips, but nonetheless nodded for you to keep going. “I’m sure I can handle it! Whatever it is, I’m not gonna judge you, Y/N. I promise!” 

Promise, huh? Guess you were going to have to see about that. 

Trying to ignore the rapidly increasing pace of your heart and slight tremble in your fingers, you began your story. 

You didn’t want to go into too much detail, for the fear of oversharing, but you did tell him as much as you felt you could. About how you used to have a friend...a pretty close friend, who you cared about a great deal, who had always been kind and generous, alas, a bit of a troublemaker.

About how she had fallen in with the wrong crowd, something you admittedly failed to see coming. How that crowd turned out to be a notoriously vicious gang that had it out for some other poor girl, who had apparently slept with one of the gang leaders’ boyfriend without realizing it. 

How that gang, your friend included, lured her onto a rooftop to “fuck with her” and “teach her a lesson.” Only that night, they went too far and ended up pushing her off. The girl died instantly, and due to the heaping pile of evidence, it wasn’t a particularly long investigation. Almost everyone involved were arrested shortly after, and you, having been brought in as one of the witnesses, had a choice whether you wanted to testify against your friend or not. 

At first you weren’t sure if you wanted to do that and make matters worse for her. However, after some much-needed reflection and consideration, you decided it would be the right thing to do. Someone had died, and your friend played a part in it. You couldn’t turn a blind eye to something that big simply because you two were close. 

Your friend was put away, along with several other gang members. Still, quite a few of them were still out there, and they definitely seemed like the type to hold serious grudges. You were no longer safe at your former home, and now...well, there you where. 

Kenny listened intently all the while, not once daring to interrupt, not even to ask a question. By the way your breathing had hitched and your lips had stuttered at certain parts, he could tell how hard that must’ve been for you to go through in the first place, and how unsettling it was for you to revisit those moments in order to share your story with him. 

You didn’t notice, but as you were nearing the end, Kenny had inched to sit closer to you, his large hand carefully landing on your shoulder with a soft but warm-hearted squeeze. He had briefly hesitated in making that move, but the need to offer you comfort and reassurance overpowered his nervousness. His only hope was that you wouldn’t flinch at his touch, and so he felt a huge wave of relief wash over him when you did no such thing. 

“So...that’s about it. Sorry, I know it’s a fucking bummer story, compared to your weed smuggling adventure.” You attempted a chuckle, only it came out as more of a sad scoff. 

Your heart was still pounding and you were still reluctant to look up at him. Although, as you finally noticed Kenny’s warm hand gently squeezing your shoulder, you felt a soothing brush of comfort spread through your limbs, and you couldn’t deny how nice it felt. 

“Whoa...that’s...I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” Kenny frowned, unsure of what the right thing to say could be. 

“It’s okay, really. I’ve had some time to process it and move on. Well...not completely, but I’d say I’m doing much better now.” 

Kenny went silent for a minute, clearly still digesting the information, and the worries you had about him looking at you differently came back in full force. You opened your mouth to ask him about it, but he beat you by a millisecond, speaking first. “Why...why were you so nervous about telling me?” 

So he had noticed. Figures. The art of the poker face wasn’t something you’d ever truly mastered. It sometimes annoyed you how easy your anxious state was to spot, but there wasn’t much you could do about that. 

“I don’t know, I...I guess I didn’t want you to see me as a snitch or judge me-“

“Judge you?” Kenny interrupted, sounding confused about the mere insinuation. “For what, not sticking up for your friend when she had got herself involved in a murder?” 

“I mean, she was still my friend, so...” 

“So what? That doesn’t change the fact that she got in the middle of something so horrible, that could’ve been avoided, if she had paid more attention to who she hung around.” 

You couldn’t say you had expected that. It was almost weird hearing Kenny talk that way, but you were definitely relieved to hear where he so firmly stood in regards to the whole “judging you” idea. 

You bit your bottom lip in agitation as a thought you had been wrestling with for a while creeped its way into your mind again. “Sometimes I feel like maybe I could’ve done something...could’ve checked up on her more or somehow stopped her from hanging out with them...maybe I could’ve kept her from having anything to do with it.” Your voice grew quieter, sounding barely above a whisper as guilt flashed through your eyes, your muscles tensing, uneasily, at the thought. Kenny was immediately closer, his arm wrapping around you, as if trying to shelter you from your own thoughts. 

“Come on, don’t do that to yourself, Y/N. You can’t control the actions of others, not even your friends. Least of all your friends, probably.” 

You allowed a small smile to touch the corner of your lips as you instinctively leaned into Kenny, his closeness calming you, his soft reassurances shushing the self-deprecating thoughts he could sense looming over you. 

“Yeah, you’re right, I guess. I just try not to think about it often, it really sucks diving into that stuff.” 

“Of course it sucks. I just hope you know that none of it was even a little bit your fault. From what I can tell after spending some time with you...you’re a really good person, Y/N.” 

You looked up at him, noting the way your faces were only a few inches apart by that point. The close proximity brought a rosy tinge to your cheeks. “You think so?” 

“I do! Why wouldn’t I? You’re smart, you’re funny when you want to be, you’re great to be around, and heck, you’re one of the very few people I know who doesn’t make me feel like I’m constantly doing something wrong.” 

Hearing that made you simultaneously happy and sad. With the way Kenny’s “family” treated him almost around the clock, it was no wonder he felt that way. You wished he didn’t have to. You believed someone as wonderful as him deserved so much better. If only he had at least one person close to him who would tell him how much better he was than most guys out there, how anyone should be lucky to call him a friend... or maybe more than just a friend. 

In that moment, you found yourself thinking what it would be like if you were that person. You imagined it would feel the same way it always did when you were around Kenny, only better. In all honesty, you couldn’t find a single reason not to try. What harm was there in trying? Oh, that’s right...something could go badly wrong, and then whatever friendship you had with him would be in shambles.

That’s what the pessimistic side of you thought about it. But the other side, the more hopeful and affectionate side, had other ideas. 

Even though you and Kenny were brought into the witness protection program by very different circumstances, you were still in it together. You didn’t have to hide your true identities or your past, at least not from each other. That had to count for something, right? 

While you were taking a second to collect your thoughts, Kenny was facing some inner turmoil of his own. With the newfound closeness of the two of you, his cheeks were positively crimson, his pulse quickening, heart thumping against his rib cage. Any doubts he’d had about whether or not he wanted to ask you out had vanished - he absolutely wanted to do that. But how? When? Would now be a good time? He wasn’t sure. Yet, he was very aware of the fact that if he were to lean in just a little bit closer, he could just kiss you right then and there... 

Kenny briefly remembered David’s “count to three” method, but for some reason it didn’t feel right to use. Not with you, not like that. All he wanted was to just go with the feeling, and that feeling was beckoning him to your lips. 

Oh, screw it. If you were to push him away, so be it. He would probably die a little inside and never attempt to do anything like that ever again, but at least he would know your immediate answer. 

“Kenny...?” 

Your soft questioning voice reached his ears as his gaze trailed over your delicate face, taking in every feature, and with a soft but resolute breath, he leaned in. 

Your eyes went wide when Kenny’s lips landed on yours. You froze for a second, not knowing what to do. Luckily, your instantly skipping heart gave you the hint you needed to flutter your eyes closed and melt into it. 

He kissed you so gently, so carefully, but not like he was afraid of scaring you away. More like he wanted you feel completely safe and give you every chance to stop it the second you wanted to. 

You didn’t. 

Instead, you wrapped an arm around his neck, your fingertips brushing the ends of his short sandy hair, your lips moving seamlessly and warmly against his own.

Kenny couldn’t believe you were actually kissing him back, but damn, he was thrilled that you were. He felt the affection in him surge as the softness of your lips put his mind in a haze. His hand timidly slid down to your waist, bringing you closer to him, and you willingly went, deepening the kiss as you did. 

After a few blissful moments you finally broke away from his lips, your noses nearly brushing each other as you looked up at him through glimmering eyes. “I was almost convinced I would have to do that myself...” 

Kenny breathed a soft chuckle, not taking his gaze off of yours. “To be honest, so was I...” 

You grinned at his burning cheeks, releasing a light chuckle of your own before reconnecting your lips for another kiss, swallowing the muted grunt that rumbled from Kenny’s throat. 

Things were going to get better now. For both of you, you were sure of it. Kenny was finally going to have someone who would show him what it’s like to be truly wanted and appreciated, and you were going to have someone who wouldn’t dream of hurting you and who you knew would always do his best to understand you, give you everything he could give. 

Maybe this whole witness protection program thing wouldn’t be such a tedious affair, after all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks again for helping me @gladerscake​ , you’re the sweetest ❤

[troubatrain]

adore you - m. tkachuk

a/n: when i asked for fics to bring back i had a few people ask me for this one - i have the biggest soft spot for this fic because it was the first one that ever got a decent amount of notes on my old blog so I hope you guys love it a second time :)

Matthew Tkachuk was the bane of your existence. He was egotistical, a little dumb and flat out annoying. But, no matter what you did you could never get rid of him. You were forced to spend time with him because your best friend, Hannah, was dating his teammate, Noah. You actually liked Noah, he was kind and extremely good to Hannah. You couldn’t understand how he put up with Matthew and you honestly had a second thought about your friendship when he explained to you that they’d played together on US teams when they were younger too. 

Matthew had been a nightmare since the first night you met, when Hannah went on and on about how she thinks you guys should meet because you’d be perfect together. As usual, you told her you weren’t looking for anything right now, because you were just too busy for it. But, you went along anyway and Hannah introduced the two of you. You’d never met a more annoying human being in your life, who was so sure you were going to sleep with him that night that you ended up chewing him out in the middle of the bar. When you’d finally finished ranting, he just went on about how cute you looked when you were mad at him and you felt your blood boil. That was two months ago, and in those two months he’d spent every waking moment of his day trying to bother you about something.

Which would explain why, as you were home catching up on some work, there was a knock on the door of your apartment and you already knew who it was. You’d opened the door and like you’d received once a week for almost a month, there was someone delivering a bouquet of flowers for Mrs. Tkachuk. You’d signed for them, not bothering to explain to yet another random delivery man that you were not in fact married and tossed them immediately in your garbage. Snapping a picture and sending it to Matthew like you’d done every other time.

Glad you signed that contract, because you’re going to go broke sending me flowers.

You’re worth every penny wifey ;)

You rolled your eyes at the nickname, annoyed with how often this went on. You called Hannah who’d been the cause of all of this in the first place, and waited for her to pick up the phone.

“Hey Y/N what’s up?” Hannah asks.

“If Matthew sends me another bouquet of flowers you can tell Noah he’s going to have one less teammate,” You practically growl into the phone, hearing Noah’s laugh in the background.

“Give Chucky a chance Y/N, the kid wants to marry you,” Noah says, taking the phone from his girlfriend’s hand.

“He’s a nightmare Noah,” You say, sighing into the phone.

“He ADORES you,” Noah explains, “He literally never stops asking about you, speaking of, are you coming to Sean’s party with us tonight?”

“Will you keep Matthew away from me?” You ask, deciding that’s the only way you’d want to even go.

“Yes, I will try and keep Chucky away from you,” Noah promises and you reluctantly agree to go to the party, earning a cheer from Hannah through the phone.

--

When you get to the party, it’s in full swing. The room is filled with people you knew and didn’t and you were honestly shocked Sean knew this many people. You were thankful though, because you knew it would be extremely easy for you to avoid Matthew all night. 

You were doing great with your initial plan of avoiding Matthew. You were having a good time, dancing and drinking with your friends. You definitely were drunk but so was everyone else at the party. You’d escaped to go to the bathroom, walking down the hallway to one of the bathrooms in Sean’s large home. You stopped in front of his wedding photos, looking at the pictures from his nuptials that happened the summer before. 

“When we get married it’ll be even better than Sean’s,” You hear behind you and instantly knew was standing behind you, “Think about it you can plan one of those pinterest weddings, we’ll get hitched, I’ll take us on a sick honeymoon and we can hang our wedding photos in some big old house together.”

“You’re insufferable,” You say, turning around to face the pest behind you, but when you turned your heel caught the edge of the rug you were standing under and you stumbled, falling directly into Matthew in front of you.

“And you’re drunk,” Matthew says, holding you up so you don’t hit the floor.

“I’m fine,” You say, your words slurring together more than you’d intended, you push yourself away from Matthew to stand up yourself.

“No you’re not, I saw you, you had like 4 shots with Hannah,” Matthew says, knowing just how much you’d had to drink.

“How do you even know that, stalker,” You say back, crossing your arms across your chest.

“I was keeping an eye on you, there’s a lot of people here, and you’re absolutely oblivious,” Matthew says and just as he was saying something genuinely kind, he had to ruin it.

You shook your head at his comment, “You’re honestly the worst.”

“I know, can I get you home now?” Matthew says, holding up his keys.

“I can get home myself,” You say, stumbling over your own feet when you try and move down the hallway.

“Y/N please let me just get you home safe, no funny business I swear,” Matthew promises, wrapping his arm around your waist to keep you still.

You push his arm off of you, “You’ve never done anything funny in your life, and fine.”

Matthew smiles at the insult, “Thank you, c’mon wifey we gotta get you home.”

He grabs your hand and laces his fingers with yours, pulling you out of the house and down the street to where his car was parked. He opens the door of the black Audi, letting you slide in. Hopping into the driver’s seat, he starts the car to head to your apartment.

“You drive a less douchier car than I thought,” You say, taking in the views of Calgary as you drove through the city.

“I think that was almost a compliment,” Matthew says, laughing.

“Your taste in music is terrible though,” You say, pointing to the top 40 story that was playing on the radio.

“There it is,” Matthew says, pulling in front of your building, turning his car off.

“I can get up to my place myself,” You say, opening the door to get out of the car.

Matthew sighs, “Please Y/N.”

“Whatever,” You mutter, not in the mood for an argument. You both ride up the elevator to your floor in silence, walking down the hallway to your apartment.

“Thank you by the way,” You say, opening the door to your apartment.

“Anytime,” Matthew says, heading back down the hallway, “By the way, I meant it, I’m marrying you one day.”

You shake your head and shut the door, heading to get ready for bed.

--

The next week Matthew and yourself had gone back to your normal bickering. You didn’t think much into the weird conversation you’d had in Sean’s house, unsure of why Matthew was so concerned with getting you home safe. It bothers you for a small amount of time, until you heard him compliment your ass from across Noah’s kitchen and you knew things had gone back to normal. With the All Star break over and Matthew flying back to Calgary you knew your small vacation from his pestering would be over.

But, you were packing to head to Edmonton with Hannah to go see your parents. The two of you were both from Edmonton, moving to Calgary to go to college together. While Hannah's hockey loyalty switched over to the Flames the day Noah asked her to be his girlfriend, you were still a big Oilers fan, only cheering for the Flames because of your friends with Noah and his teammates. But, after the game right before the break, in which Matthew couldn’t stop being a rat and running his mouth in the media, you were almost excited to go to the game. Looking forward to watching him get roughed around a little bit. You pack the Kassian jersey you’d bought recently, knowing you’d be going to the game with Hannah and looking forward to pissing Matthew off beyond belief. 

--

You’d spent the first couple of days in Edmonton, catching up with your family and friends that lived there. You were excited to have had the couple of days home, spending time with your parents and reaping the benefits of having your mom take care of you for a few days. 

You were standing in your childhood bedroom, packing up some stuff to bring back with you on your drive back to Calgary the next morning. You finished packing and slipped on your outfit for the game, putting on the Kassian jersey you’d packed. You hear Hannah beep her horn outside of your parents house, and you head out the door to see her.

“You didn’t actually buy that,” Hannah shakes her head in disbelief, thinking you were kidding when you’d told her about the jersey a couple of weeks prior.

“If Matthew gets to spend every waking moment of his life irritating me, I’m going to do the same back,” You shrug, “Plus we’re in Edmonton, it’s fine.”

Hannah sighs, “I wish I understood you guys.”

The rest of the car ride is spent catching up on how you’d both spent the last few days. Arriving at the arena, you both head in, sitting at the seats Noah had gotten for the both of you. You were right against the ice, on the Flames side of course, watching them skate for pregame warm ups. You see Noah spot you, shaking his head at your choice in jersey. You see him skate over to Matthew and point in your direction, the curly haired menace turning his attention over to you. His nostrils flare out, and he skates directly into the boards in front you, knocking your beer on the ledge to the ground.

“I cannot stand you,” You say, annoyed you’d have to go get another drink.

“Look at what you’re fucking wearing,” You hear him say before skating away, spending the rest of warm ups away from you.

“He’s mad Y/N,” You hear Hannah say, pointing to Matthew across the ice.

“Good,” You say, sipping on the beer you had to go get after Matthew knocked the first one over.

The game was off to a hot start, and hits were flying in true Battle of Alberta fashion. The entire crowd was waiting to see if Matthew would finally drop his gloves with Kassian after the media circus that ensued after their last meeting. When he finally does, you feel Hannah grab your arm, taking your attention away from your phone and you look up watching Matthew square up against Kassian. You watch him throw punch after punch, finally knocking him to the ground, Matthew looking over at you as he skates over to the box.

The rest of the game was intense, ending in a 3-4 shootout win for the Flames. You head to the locker rooms, waiting outside for Noah. The team starts to roll out one by one, looking exhausted from the hit heavy game they just played.

“You’re not actually wearing that right now,” You hear Johnny say, laughing as he comes up to you, “You must have put Chucky’s mind in a blender.”

“I’m sure he’ll recover,” You say, spotting Matthew leaving the locker room, making a beeline over to you.

“Sorry I had to give your boy a beating tonight,” He says, still a little mad at you.

“Yeah I just love him, the whole team actually,” You say, trying to rile him up.

He glares at you, before leaning down and whispering in your ear, “Nineteen’s a better number for you don’t you think?”

You ignore the chill that climbs up your spine when he places his hand on the small of your back, “Over my dead body.”

Matthew shakes his head and walks down the hallway to head back to the team’s hotel, not letting you know that seeing you in that Oilers jersey made his skin crawl.

--

When you arrive back in Calgary, you’d gotten four texts from Matthew, asking you if you’ve gotten back to your apartment yet. When you finally do, there’s a box at the door, a large red bow on top. Your gut says it’s from Matthew, and your suspicions were confirmed when you opened the box and revealed a Flames jersey, the number nineteen glaring at you. You pick up the card and nearly gag at the writing

Looks better than orange and blue babe - Matty

You think about tossing the jersey in the trash like you’d done with every bouquet of flowers he sent you, but you something wouldn’t let you. You leave the box on the island in your kitchen, deciding you’ll do something about it later. You set down the box and look at your phone, checking your texts to see Hannah had texted you to see if you were going to meet her out after Noah’s game tonight. You debate it internally for a moment, but decide to go out.

--

Later that night, you arrive at the bar and instantly spot the large group of hockey players standing in the corner. You walk over and immediately hear the sound of Matthew’s laugh, giggling at some stupid joke he probably told. You catch up with everyone and head over to the bar to grab a drink. While you’re waiting to get the bartender’s attention, you feel a hand on the small of your back and turn around to see Matthew standing behind you.

“You look incredible tonight,” Matthew whispers in your ear, flagging down the bartender with ease.

“I can’t believe you followed me over here,” You say, turning your back to him.

“I can’t believe you don’t want to be with me,” Matthew says, “We’d make such cute babies.”

Matthew drones on about how if you guys had kids, they’d probably have his hair but he wants them to have your smile. It would be cute if you didn’t know he was doing it to get under your skin. Your eyes scan the bar, seeing a group of girls pointing to Matthew and whispering, probably about the Flames resident pest being out at the bar. 

“Don’t you have a fan club to entertain,” You say, nodding your head towards the girls.

“I could talk to you all night and I’d still take one of those girls home,” Matthew smirks back at you and while you’d usually feel your blood boil at the comment, you felt something different. A pang of jealousy washes over you at the thought of Matthew giving his attention to someone who wasn’t you. You’d had it for so long, and something in your gut said you didn’t want anyone else to have his attention the way you did. You look at him for a moment, taking his blue eyes and crooked smile, and relishing in the way his hand on your back feels.

You sigh, “You could just take me home.”

You see Matthew choke on his beer, “I can - I - what?”

You giggle at his reaction, his usually cocky demeanor diminishing as you finally decide he can have what he wants, “You can take me home,” you repeat again, running your fingertips along his arm.

“You’re fucking with me,” Matthew says in disbelief.

“I’m not, but you have to promise me something,” You say and he nods, prompting you to finish your statement, “I can still plan the wedding.”

Matthew laughs at the reminder of what he told you at Sean’s party, “You can have whatever you want babe.”

You grab his hand and lace his fingers with yours, leading him out of the bar and into his car. Matthew knew that once he finally got you, he wasn’t going to let you go.

[fandomfindings]

Pick Up

Pairings: (Kuroo Tetsurou x Fem!Reader)

Word Count: 2.0K

Warning(s): Cursing, Audacity

Summary: The first time you pick up your daughter from daycare leads to a misunderstanding between you and the staff.

A/N: (DN) = Daughter's Name

----------

"Can we go get ice cream when you pick me up, daddy?" Your daughter asked, kicking her little legs against the booster seat that kept her small body in place in the car.

Kuroo chuckled. Of course, the child was already looking forward to a sweet treat after school. "You're going to have to ask mommy princess; she's picking you up today."

"Mommy's picking me up?" (DN) perked up at the thought, removing her gaze from the window and to the back of her father's head.

"Mhm," Kuroo mumbled lightly. "I have to go on another business trip, so mommy's bringing you to daycare and back home all week," your husband explained thoroughly.

"Yes!" (DN) exclaimed, obviously excited for the change of events. Kuroo was usually the one to take her to and from school, for it fit better with his work schedule than your own.

"You're not going to miss me?" asked Kuroo, feigning hurt, as he looked between his daughter in the car's rear-view mirror and the road.

"I'll miss you, daddy, but mommy never picked me up from school before! I want her to meet all my friends and teachers, and she can see where we play," Your daughter began to ramble about all the things she was excited to show you, all the way until the two had reached her daycare.

Kuroo helped the child from her booster seat and then the car, taking her small hand into his significantly larger one.

"Alright, sweetheart. I'll call you for bed, okay," Your husband said once inside the building, down on one knee to be eye level with his child.

"Okay, daddy. Bye, I love you," (DN) said, grabbing her father's face with her small hands and placing a kiss on his forehead, an action she picked up from exchanges between you and your husband.

Kuroo smiled, reciprocating the action, his big hands taking up almost all of her face. "I love you too, kiddo."

As a worker took the girl to her class, Kuroo called out to her one last time, "Be good!"

"Yes, sir!" your daughter yelled back, turning around to wave her father goodbye.

Kuroo stood, ridding his suit of any dirt that may have stuck to him while he was on his knee. He was about to leave when someone spoke up to catch his attention.

"You're very good with her," said one of the workers. Kuroo often saw her when dropping off or picking up your daughter. They made small talk now and then, but he couldn't even remember the poor lady's name.

"I would hope so," Kuroo chuckled awkwardly, not sure how to respond to the supposed compliment.

The worker laughed back, almost too much in Kuroo's opinion considering the remark wasn't very funny.

"Yeah, I respect you for taking such good care of her, especially since," The woman began but was interrupted by the ringing of Kuroo's phone, a unique ringtone he had in place just for you.

As soon as he heard the tone, Kuroo didn't hear the rest of what the employee had to say. Unbeknownst to him, it was about him being a single father, which wasn't true by any means.

"Yeah, babe?" Kuroo answered, turning to leave the building, completely forgetting the previous conversation, too excited about hearing your voice.

"Bye, Mr.Kuroo!" shouted the lady, trying one last desperate attempt to get his attention.

He gave a simple wave of his hand back before leaving the building entirely.

"Who was that?" You questioned, hearing the voice even through the phone.

"One of the workers at (DN)'s school," Kuroo explained, uninterested. "How are you this morning, my love?" he asked, changing the subject to something he was actually interested in, you.

"Babe, let me tell you!" You exclaimed, getting ready to rant about your morning thus far, causing Kuroo to chuckle.

The rest of your day went off without too many more hiccups. You met Kuroo for lunch just before he left for his business trip. There you gave final goodbyes to your dismay, but you knew you would see him soon.

After work, you headed to your daughter's daycare, excited to see her cute little face again. Once there, you parked and headed inside to a front desk as Kuroo instructed.

"Hi, how are you?" asked an employee as soon as you reached the desk.

"I'm alright, and you?"

"I'm well. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, I'm here to pick up (DN)," You stated using the sign-out sheet Kuroo had also instructed you to do.

"Kuroo (DN)?" The worker clarified, verifying your name after you completed the sheet.

"That's her," you smiled at the mention of her name.

"Of course, I'll get her right away."

"Thank you," you said politely to the retreating employee. As you waited, you pulled out your phone, seeing a picture from Kuroo looking bored in a meeting. Grinning to yourself, you replied with some words of encouragement.

"Are you her nanny?" asked a sudden voice. You looked up to see it was the other worker who was at the desk. You hadn't paid much attention to her since she didn't address you when you first arrived.

"I'm sorry?"

The woman asked again, "Are you (DN)'s nanny?"

"Ha no, I'm her mother," You replied, thinking it was funny that she thought so. Looking back to your phone, you were about to send a joking text to Kuroo about being the 'nanny', not finding a reason to continue the conversation.

Unfortunately for you, the woman continued it anyway, "You're her mother?" questioned the worker skeptically.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Am I sure I'm her mother?" You asked, voice rising in volume slightly, almost appalled she would ask such a thing. The employee nodded, not daring to ask you again. "I'm pretty sure, considering I've raised her since she was born. Would you like to see her birth certificate?" You challenged.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm going to have to call Mr.Kuroo just to verify," said the woman picking up the phone before you could even say anything.

"Mr.Kuroo? You mean my husband."

"Your husband?"

"Yes, my husband. (DN)'s father," You simplified, hoping the words would sink into her seemingly thick skull.

"Yes, hello?" Kuroo answered the phone, confused. He had (DN)'s school saved in his phone, but they never called him before.

"Hi, Mr.Kurro, I'm sorry to bother you. I know you're a busy man," the woman said apologetically, her tone and demeanor changing as soon as Kuroo answered the phone. She even had the gall to twirl the phone cord like a lovesick teenager. It made your blood boil. "I just wanted to let you know there is a woman here claiming to be (DN)'s mother."

"That's my wife," Kuroo answered easily, knowing you were heading to the daycare straight after work. "Is there a problem?"

The worker was a bit stunned, her view of the man changing instantly, she didn't know he was married, how embarrassing. "No sir, not at all," She replied, stuttering out a bit towards the beginning.

"Good. Please refer any further calls or concerns to my wife, please," Kuroo said before immediately hanging up the phone, needing to get back to his meeting.

"Yes, sir," the employee responded despite the lack of your husband on the call.

The woman looked up to you, mouth slightly ajar as if she was about to say something, but nothing passed her lips. Before she could say anything, hopefully, apologize for her behavior (DN) made her appearance.

"Mommy!" exclaimed your daughter's voice as soon as she saw you. Leaving the grasp of the other, more likable employee, she ran towards you, wrapping her small arms around both your legs.

"Hi, sweetheart!" You exclaimed, matching the child's energy, sinking to her level to wrap her in your arms. "How was your day?" You questioned, taking the time to glare at the lady who dared to question your role in your daughter's life.

"It was great! I went outside with my friends, and we read that book that you and daddy read me at bedtime." said the girl. "I even got to point at the pictures for the rest of the class."

"That sounds lovely, baby." You said, standing up and taking your daughter's hand. "Why don't you tell me the rest on the way home?"

"Can we stop for ice cream?"

"Did you get a green sticker today?" You asked, walking towards the exit of the building.

"I got gold!" Your daughter corrected the pride evident in her voice.

"Whoa, a gold! I think that calls for extra toppings."

"Yes!"

In a sickly sweet tone, you turned back to the unkind worker and said, "You have a good day."

You spent the rest of your day spending time with your daughter. After getting ice cream, you two went to the park for a bit and then home to get her cleaned up and ready for dinner. You cooked a meal both of you enjoyed to cheer you up and keep (DN)'s spirits high, though that was rarely a problem.

At bedtime, Kuroo called as promised and listened to your daughter rave about her day. You two read her to sleep, per usual.

Now it was just you and your husband, and now you were ready to talk about the altercation at the daycare. You had filled your husband in a bit via text, but it was nothing like a good old rant.

"It was fucking ridiculous! She's my daughter!" You yelled, pacing the large room you and Kuroo shared."I shouldn't have to explain myself to her. Who does she think she is?"

"I know, darling I think she was just trying to make sure you weren't trying to abduct a child," Kuroo tried to reason to calm you down.

"Bullshit. The other worker verified me. I'm on the emergency contacts list. They have my picture!" You explained, listing off the reasons why what the worker did was disrespectful and honestly unprofessional.

"Do you know what I think it is?" You rhetorically asked.

"What's that, love?"

"I think she likes you. She was obviously flirting during that call earlier."

Kuroo, genuinely not knowing this information asked, "Was she?"

"Yes! Blatantly so. She wasn't even trying to hide it, and I was right in front of her. Me! Your wife!" You shouted, trying to piece together what the woman was thinking, but it was honestly giving you a slight headache. "Did she not see the ring on my finger? The ring on your finger? The audacity of that bit-"

"Alright, alright, hey, calm down."

"Uh, it's just so upsetting," You said, mood going from anger to dejected. "Am I not in (DN)'s life enough? Do I need to do more?"

Kuroo sat up in his chair, staring at the phone as if he could see you. He should've video called you instead. "Hey, don't talk like that; you do plenty," Kuroo said firmly. "I just so happen to be the one who drops her off and picks her up. That's just how our schedules work. We're both busy, love."

"I know. You're right," You agreed, not being able to deny how busy you two are. "Maybe I should start doing drop off or pick up," You suggested. "I'm her mother, and they need to know that."

"I'm sure they do by now," Kuroo teased. "We'll talk more about this when I get home, okay."

You groaned, realizing he wouldn't be home until the end of the week."Can't you come home now?" I need you after such a rough day."

"I wish I could. I do," Kuroo said sadly. He really did wish he could be there for you right now. He'd prefer being in bed with you over some hotel room any day. "You know I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Yeah, I know."

You two sat in silence for a bit, both of you too tired to carry out much of a conversation. However, just the knowledge that both of you were on the phone was enough.

After a while, Kuroo spoke up."Go get you some beauty sleep," he said, knowing you would need the rest. "I'll call you in the morning."

"Fine," You sighed. "I love you."

"I love you too."

----------

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this imagine as much as I enjoyed writing it. This was so much longer than I originally intended but I won’t complain because I love how it turned out in the end. And honestly there’s no such thing as too much Kuroo. Feel free to let me know what you guys think!

Lots of Love <3