#if we did have the bros i will say i have many ideas for Clay's behavior with em in this au

[toon-tales]

Thanks for @blorbopostingtime for this idea!

FERAL BRANCH!

LET OUR BOY UNLEASH HIS INNER MONSTERS!

Anyway, I suck at writing angst so you can TOTALLY feel free to add or say anything about this. I accept and appreciate criticism

Enjoyyy!

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, an apology isn't going to fix everything…" Branch muttered, taking a step back.

"We know, but-"

"But what?" the youngest stammered, anger slowly replacing his initial fear. "But what?!"

"Branch, calm down-"

"Calm down? Calm down?!" he yelled, not caring if it was Floyd he had interrupted this time. "Do you even have any idea what I've been through?!"

Clay took a deep breath, trying to speak in a gentler tone than his brothers, if that was even possible. "We know we messed up, but we're here now, and we want to make things better."

Branch scoffed. "Now? Now when what? Now when I've managed to battle my own demons? Now when I've found happiness? When I've moved on from Grandma's death? Where were you during all that?"

They froze, racking their brains for a logical justification.

But there was none.

Seeing no response, he went on. "Where were you when I was having a panic attack every single day, blaming myself for Grandma's death?! Where were you, when I was living alone in the wilderness, huh?!" He stomped his foot in frustration, his hands unknowingly clenching and unclenching in fists. "Do you even know what it feels like to be rejected by your OWN people, just because you're different, because you're sad?! Instead of them actually helping you?!"

Poppy hesitated, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to move towards her boyfriend, to hug him, to comfort him, but something inside her screamed at her to stop. He needed this moment to let it out, and they needed to hear it.

He glared at them with tears in his eyes, feeling a surge of resentment and betrayal. "You abandoned me! You left me alone and I was only a freaking five-year old baby! And now you come back, acting like nothing happened, like you care about me?!" he shouted.

"Branch, we're sorry, we're so sorry-" Clay said, his voice cracking.

"Sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it!" Branch snapped. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you? How many days have I woke up hoping against hope that you were back?!"

They took a step back, unsure of what to do or say, if there was even something to be said. They messed up, big time.

Floyd's eyes were starting to water, and he managed to mutter, "Branch, we don't want forgiveness, we just want to talk about it-" before his brother stopped him with his sarcastic tone.

"Oh, that's so great, let's talk about why we abandoned our baby brother and never came back, even though we promised, didn't we, Floyd?" he spat. "Was I even on your mind? Because if I was, I'm sure this whole talk wouldn't be happening right now!"

"That's not true, Branch, that's not true!" Floyd protested. "We love you, we've always loved you!"

"Then why did you leave me?" Branch asked, his voice breaking. "Why did you leave me when we could've talked it out? When we could've been a family?!"

They lowered their heads, unable to answer. They had their reasons, but they knew they were not good enough. They had made a mistake, a terrible mistake. And now, it was their turn to handle its consequences.

"Branch, please, listen to us-" Floyd tried again, reaching out his hand.

However, his brother flinched and slapped his hand away, shaking his head. "Don't touch me!"

"Alright, no touching, no touching!" the red-haired troll retreated, holding his hands up. "Just listen to us, please."

"Alright." Branch took a deep breath, letting it out as a frustrated sigh as he pretended to zip his lips. He gave them a sarcastic smile, silently allowing them to stand up for themselves.

Bruce began, seeing no attempt from the others. "We messed up, okay? We know we did. But we love you, we love you so much."

"Yeah, bro, and nothing will change that," John added, his voice shaking slightly as he expected another interruption. But to his surprise, their youngest brother stayed silent.

"We just want a second chance," Floyd chimed, "And we promise, this time, we'll do better."

But Branch had stopped listening long ago. What was the point? He'll trust them, get attached, then bam, they'll leave again. Same old story. Even Floyd, the one who's never broken a promise in his life, broke one promise - his and Branch's promise, and Branch didn't know if he'll ever be able to forget this one.

Everything hurt. His head hurt, his chest tightened, and his limbs were starting to shake. He closed his eyes, trying to pull himself together, but the dull troll was greeted with the room swirling around him in a dizzying manner as soon as he opened his eyes, and his brothers' intertwined voices weren't helping, if anything, they were adding to his headache. He put a hand on his forehead, desperately trying to regain his balance, but the more anyone talked, the more the room swirled. All he wanted was some quiet.

Which was the opposite of what he got when he collapsed to his knees in a heap.

"Branch! Are you okay?"

His girlfriend, as always, he thought, was the first to be by his side, and he felt her hand gently lifting his chin, locking their gazes.

"You okay?"

He nodded, deciding it'd be better if he didn't try to get up in his current state.

"Do you want water, anything?"

He shook his head, and instantly regretted the small gesture as the dizziness that was starting to subside persisted.

"Sure?" He felt her hand squeezing his, as if trying to convey as little reassurance as she could provide at the moment.

He blinked, just now realizing that his brothers were surrounding him, each putting a hand on either his shoulders or back. He took a deep breath, finally managing to his voice, and without thinking, he choked a weak, "Leave…"

"But-"

"Leave!" Branch yelled. He stood up abruptly, and quickly reached out for the nearest piece of furniture to steady himself. Great, now the room was spinning again.

"Branch, you're not okay, at least lie down-"

Branch cut off the pink troll, softer than he did with his brothers as he slurred, "Fine… fine…" His head was pounding, but he didn't care. He turned to the remaining audience with a feeble wave of his hand. "Get out…"

But their bodies wouldn't listen.

"GET OUT!"

They gasped, unconsciously taking steps back but not fully comprehending their youngest brother's words.

Till they hardly dodged the shreds of his wooden table.

"Get out! Leave me alone!"

At this point, Branch was crashing anything that came his way as he paced back and forth, moans and screams escaping his lips and palms pulling at his hair, taking out dark hairs on their way back.

"Leave! Now!" he shouted, not even looking up to face his brothers. "What part of NOW don't you understand?!"

They tried to move, but they couldn't. What happened to the baby of the family?

"Get out of my bunker! Now! Or I'll show you CRAZY!" He screamed, flipping his entire bookshelf and maniacally tearing at his books, a sight that left Clay in a trance-like state.

Poppy was the first one to recover, eyes darting between the shattered furniture and the blood on her boyfriend's hands.

When she said she wanted him to let it out, this was not what she meant, not at all.

Slightly panicking, the Queen took her sister's hand and quickly led her to the elevator, before doing the same with Branch's brothers. Each was holding another one's hand in an attempt to drag him along, though Poppy was already on that mission.

And in a blink, they were gone.

He was alone.

—------------

He was alone.

So why wasn't he calming down? Why was he still screaming?

The bunker, once tidy and organized, was now messy and dusty, debris crumbling down the walls and onto the ground. Why was he doing this? Branch didn't know for sure, all he knew was that his hands were itching.

He wanted to crash something.

He needed to crash something.

He wanted to let it out, but on what, when he's destroyed his own home?

The troll felt a surge of rage as he smashed his belongings. He had spent years building this bunker, treating it like home, like his safe place. But now it felt like a prison. He was alone, just like he had always been, so why did it hurt this time? They didn't really think that after leaving him for over two decades, and then come back, that he would want to join their party with open arms, did they? He didn't need them. He didn't need any of them.

He stormed in and out different rooms through his bunker, looking for something else to break.

But there was nothing. He'd crashed everything.

And that's when he collapsed to the floor, his chest heaving.

[bobbydagen24]

some little story ideas I thought up about Chef coming back in the next movie inspired by this other persons post.

so yeah I liked this other person's idea for a 4th film a lot so I thought up some extra details for a possible story where Branch is taken by Chef who gets revealed to still be alive.

I do really like this idea as the older Brothers coming together to save him from his greatest fear would be a satisfying story arc.

as the movie could maybe open with Poppy Peppy and Viva as well as all of Bro zone all just playing happy families getting along with each other and adjusting to the whole thing pretty easily.

meanwhile Branch Despite putting on a fake smile and hiding how he feels is still just feeling uneasy about the whole thing he could kinda be on a constant nervous edge where he's so afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing and causing tension that may cause them to fight and thus leave him again.

that he's pretty much a nervous wreck around his Brothers desperately trying to make sure everything is perfect all the time and never asking them for help or letting them know about any negative feelings he has from time to time Regarding them and also Grandma.

and he overall just doesn't feel like he has a family he can rely on anymore than he did During all those years that he had no family for.

in short he just still doesn't exactly trust them nor feel comfortable around them as their still somewhat strangers to him who he mostly knows from the past as being unreliable and quick to flee when the going gets tough.

which maybe causes some sorta argument where during an event JD gets frustrated with how he and the others can clearly tell he's been hiding something from them due to how weird and off he acts.

and he's tired of waiting for him to open up on his own and like I said this causes a big argument between Branch and JD Floyd and Clay try to calm things down but to no Avail.

Bruce steps in and agrees with JD tho he's less aggressive about it and more just calm and concerned.

but ultimately stuff is said on both ends ending with Branch finally letting out his true feelings and screaming at them about how they didn't care enough to stick around they didn't care enough to come back and they didn't care even when he was upset over them wanting to leave him again.

so why should he believe that they care now? and Branch runs away into the Forrest which could be when he's captured by Chef.

I'd think her motive is wanting revenge not just on all of Pop Village but also on Bergen Town given they Banished her twice but she somehow needs the magic that a Troll produces to achieve her plan hence why she takes Branch when he wonders off on his own.

maybe she does something similar to Velvet and Veneer where she drains the Troll magic out of him but this time she's using it to power a device that she's going to use to topple all of Bergen town and its people.

and then Pop Village just out of spite.

and it'd be just be nice as a emotional plot to have Bro zone rescuing Branch from their Grandma's killer maybe we even get some parallels where during the climax Chef in a last ditch effort out of spite goes to try and kill Branch only for one of the older Bros either JD or Bruce.

to push him out of the way sacrificing themselves in a scene mirroring when their Grandma was taken when Branch was a kid tho I'd have it just be a fake out death and they get saved soon afterwards.

but point is the sentiment is the same where they were willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

and early on in the film it'd be good to finally have Branch acknowledge that he is aware it was Chef from that fateful day and he angrily comments on it only for her to callously not Remember who or what he's talking about stating that she killed so many Trolls that his Grandma wasn't at all special and she doesn't even remember the day he's talking about.

obviously Hurting and angering Branch given that day pretty much shaped who he became afterwards for his whole life.

and maybe in another scene Branch states to Chef that knows that Poppy will come to save him but when he thinks about his brothers he just thinks back to how easily they've all broken up in the past at the first sign of trouble and he sadly thinks to himself that they likely wouldn't bother coming to save him.

and this leads to Bro zone actually stepping up and Risking their lives to save him from the source of his greatest Trauma aka their Grandmother's killer thus by the end actually showing Branch that he really can trust his family to be there for him this time.

and just Chef getting to face off with Bro zone would be neat since ya know she killed their Grandma and Honestly I've always found it weird from a writing perspective how her being the one who killed Branch's Grandmother was never actually acknowledged at any point in the first movie the only reason we the audience know is a super brief glimpse we see of her During Branch's flashback scene.

so even getting to see Branch himself have a proper face off with Chef over his Grandma would be nice since they never actually Directly interacted in the first film except for the scene where she tried to force feed him to Gristle Jr poor guy.

so yeah what do you think about the idea? the person behind the post did also say that the idea could still maybe work without the whole Chef being Revealed to be alive angle and it instead just being a new villain who kidnaps Branch.

but I feel the first idea where she is the main villain again would add a nice sense of personal stakes to the story for the main characters involved given it wraps up a nice little part of the Bro zone family's History.

sure we saw her get eaten at the end of the first film but that can easily be Retconned where she somehow survived and was able to escape from the creatures mouth.

plus it'd be satisfying to see The Brothers all work together to defeat her in the final battle and this time her Defeat could be Ironic for a whole different reason where due to some magic nonsense in the end Chef gets shrunken down to the point she's now smaller than the Trolls by a lot.

she's made so small that she's as Helpless as her past Troll victims were.

and she isn't actually capable of hurting them anymore we see her angrily charge at Branch and start swinging away and he's scared at first only for him to then awkwardly Realise she isn't actually Hurting him.

Despite her best efforts and he just kinda flicks her away

not to mention it'd be fun seeing Branch and his Bros just playfully toss her back and fourth like some sorta ball kids play with.

really showing how none of them are afraid of her anymore not even Branch which would be very satisfying imo.

and after some mocking by Bro zone towards Chef they pick her up and toss her in a tiny cage where she's most likely kept in prison either at Bergen town or at one of the other Trolls Tribes since they most likely wouldn't want to keep her at Pop Village.

anyway I just love this persons idea I think Chef coming back would work great as an emotional plot device to Develop Bro zone's Relationship with Branch Further.

and it could expand on all of the Bros's Relationship with their Grandma a little further as well which would be nice.

what do you think?

[angelsndragons]

fjord’s feelings for caduceus changed in episodes 98-99

by which i mean, fjord finally realized how special and important he is to caduceus, which in turn set the tone of their relationship for the rest of the campaign. buckle up, this is a long one.

not when fjord threw away his sword and went to caduceus instead of jester. or when caduceus presented him with the star razor. or after the citadel fight when caduceus gave him his holy symbol. i think things changed for fjord in episode 98-99, when caduceus saved his life and removed the orb.

this is going to require some context.

because here’s the thing: fjord’s always looking for the price, waiting for the catch or other shoe to drop. people caring for him because of him with no strings attached is unprecedented. vandren and the world taught fjord that love is conditional, that only if you hide what others would find ugly and make yourself useful to them will they deign to give you a scrap of affection. i don’t think vandren did this maliciously, mind you, it was just part of his worldview and fjord’s life up to and beyond that point supported it. we can see that right up to the end of the show, where fjord is terrified that vandren didn’t remember him or that he didn’t mean nearly as much to the man as vandren did to him.

so we have fjord, who learned to don masks and hide his truest self, including his best and worst aspects. while fjord made the nein into a coherent group, into a force, a crew, a family, even, he still waited for that other shoe to drop. waited for the day that they would reject him because he was no longer useful or because he pushed them too far. you can see this waiting all over the early campaign; he’s not looking for an excuse like caleb to cut and run but he anticipates nearly all the moments that almost fractured the nein, in spite of that low wisdom score. while jester carried the guilt of not being able to save molly, fjord carried the guilt of not protecting the group in that crucial moment. travis confirmed on talks that fjord’s biggest fear when he lost his powers the first time was that he would no longer be useful and be kicked out of the group. 

that’s why fjord damn near broke down at the end of 72. the nein, no questions asked, with their standard level of snark, accepted that he was going to be a liability and kept him around anyway. armed him anyway. declared that he was no liability and that they would help him along until he could help himself and them again. this unconditional acceptance caught fjord completely off guard. it always does, really. because caduceus had said for months, an out of game half a year, that he was looking to reforge the sword as a gift for fjord. he said this to fjord’s face. he did not change course when he learned that the sword was a legendary blade forged by acolytes of the wildmother and moonweaver. the blade was still meant for fjord, even if fjord was still chained to uk’otoa. fjord extends his love and protection to the nein but is still not convinced the reverse is true. he was starting to believe it but he wasn’t quite there yet.

caduceus has a high enough wisdom to understand that’s fjord’s hang up even if he doesn’t quite understand the reasoning behind it. that’s why he pulls fjord aside in ep 75 and tells him that he doesn’t have to choose the wildmother, that there are other gods and other ideas out there looking for a champion. fjord, who at this point considers wildmom his only option (travis says she’s the only one who’s shown the slightest interest in fjord and that’s why he’s gunning for her), is befuddled by caduceus and this whole talk, so much so the pair end up talking past each other for the next several episodes.

after fjord officially becomes a paladin, things between him and caduceus become fairly...unsettled compared to their previous interactions. they talk past each other more, they aren’t in sync enough to double team those social interactions they were just starting to get good at. things are just weird for a while. to me, that’s fjord waiting for the catch, waiting for caduceus to call in some favor or something like it. and he keeps getting confused when caduceus doesn’t. so he tries once or twice to follow in caduceus’ footsteps and do as he would instead. and it just makes things weirder. these two don’t have a moment together that doesn’t leave one of them confused or unsatisfied until ep 87, when caduceus gives fjord the holy symbol and inadvertently kicks off the next phase of their relationship. because here, caduceus tries to put them back on equal footing and fjord recognizes it. caduceus rejects framing their relationship as mentor/student and tells fjord he doesn’t need caduceus to give him answers. fjord is “well on his way.”

by defining what they aren’t, mentor/student, our two boys inadvertently ask the question, “so what are we?” honestly, it’s a question that the entire group grapples with in the 90s as they reintegrate yasha, as veth struggles with the question of changing back and whether she can stay with the nein, as beau tries to sacrifice herself for veth, as jester learns some uncomfortable truths about the traveler, as caduceus finds his family again. fjord and caduceus can easily define what they aren’t - not mentor/student, not brothers or cousins- but what they actually are stumps both of them.

their relationship doesn't look like any of their relationships with the others: beau is fjord's bro and first mate, caleb is fjord's complicated mirror and admiree, jester his crush and first person he learned to be vulnerable with, veth his antagonistic sibling. on caduceus' side, caleb is the one he looks to for a fellow project nerd and clear, unvarnished goals, beau and jester are the sisters caduceus misses, yasha the quiet beloved barbarian he understands better than the rest, and veth a mess he wants to help but can't. but fjord and caduceus' relationship is highly undefined at this point. notably undefined, beyond their newly shared connection to melora. at the dinner with essek, we get the stone bomb. and travis and fjord panic. like no, seriously, they spend the next four episodes low key panicking over this revelation. this ties back to fjord waiting for those other shoes to drop but it’s also more than that.

when it comes to destiny, fjord has always been the answer, the self made man, to both caduceus and caleb’s questions about destiny. he makes choices about who he is, who he wants to be, and takes actions towards those goals. he is one of those rare people who can wear many different masks, take on many different roles, while still maintaining his sense of self and becoming a fuller version of who he is. when I say fjord is the answer to destiny, what i mean is that he is what ioun said way back in c1 about Fate: mortals make choices and through those choices, destiny is fulfilled. he is the answer to caduceus' own growth from passive instrument waiting for someone to play him to active communicator in this conversation between gods and mortals. in this sense, fjord is what caduceus learns to be (this is exactly why caduceus rejects a mentor role; he has as much to learn from fjord as vice versa).

so for this coincidence to pop up, this idea that maybe fjord only had the illusion of choice to extend his service to the wildmother, that maybe somehow he was manipulated again, that there was some grand destiny pushing things and fjord had no say in it, yeah, i can see why fjord was low-key terrified. so is this what fjord and caduceus are: just some predestined grand fairy tale partnership neither of them have that much say in? episode 96 resoundingly rejects that label too. for one thing, none of the stones or clays treat fjord's last name as anything amazing or spectacular. for another, this string of episodes gives us caduceus at his most human. the terror of not knowing what happened to his family, the uncertainty of his homecoming, the relief of saving his family and home, the irritation at the way the chaos crew treats the temple, the playful attitude caduceus cultivates after, it's all on display. caduceus drops much of his placid exterior and willingly allows the nein to see sheer depth of emotion he has.

which leads me back to episode 98-99. uk’otoa’s agents come for fjord. and caduceus is pissed. travis and ashley both said on talks that they hadn’t really seen taliesin that pissed, that it was like someone had threatened an actual loved one of his. fjord dies. and comes back to an exhausted, still pissed off firbolg who is five seconds away from snapping archmage vess derogna’s head off for interrupting his prayer of healing. taliesin doesn’t even begin to relax until they start interrogating the dead fish people the next day. once caduceus confirms the ball is still in fjord, notably caduceus and caleb were the two who remembered, fjord starts asking for a way to remove it. he asks caduceus to start a commune with wildmom in tandem with jester’s commune with the traveler. caleb tells fjord that caduceus fought “very hard for you while you were down, i don’t know if he’s up to it.” having heard that, caduceus still tries, with his first divine intervention attempt of the campaign. and when jester figures out that greater restoration will work, caduceus pushes through his exhaustion, takes charge, and goes through a truly terrifying greater restoration with fjord to remove the ball. convulsing, seizing, shuddering, collapsing, etc.

in those moments, and in the quiet after when fjord confirms that he still has his powers, it finally hits him that yes, people can protect, fight, and love him for who he is alone. there is no chain or other shoe waiting to be dropped here. the wildmother is no uk’otoa, to punish or take power at a whim. caduceus will fight with everything he has and then some for fjord because he loves him (not for nothing does fjord only realizes the depths of jester’s feelings when she uses heal on him). who are caduceus and fjord to each other? they are people who will fight for one another and the others as far as they can. fjord says over and over again that he wants to protect the nein and look out for them because he cares for them. he demonstrates it over and over again as well. caduceus says basically the same thing; he wants everyone safe and happily on their way and will stay until they are. he demonstrates this all the time as well. this is, i think, the first time that he demonstrates his dedication so unequivocally, free of the artifice of duty, fully committed through love. fjord recognizes this in caduceus and caduceus does in fjord.

i say this is a turning point because, while they don’t really have another super in depth conversation alone together, these two start clocking each other and openly help and look out for each other. there’s an ease and intimacy to the relationship after this. fjord watching caduceus swim near vokodo’s lair, fjord being ready to hand over his armor to caduceus when it looks like his won’t be ready, fjord, caduceus, and beau plotting behind jester’s back to keep her safe from the traveler, the absolute offense fjord takes to eadwulf after he spoke to caduceus like that, fjord levels up in paladin after caduceus tells him he’s proud to know him, all the way to the end of the show when fjord shelters the clerics and tells them to finish lucien, we get little moments like these from both of them. hell, caduceus is the first person in the campaign to tell fjord directly that he loves him.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 305: Worst Intervention Ever

Previously on BnHA: Shinomori, whose name took me an entire week to memorize, was all, “nice to meet you Deku, I’m ten feet tall, do you want to know how I died?” and without waiting for an answer explained that he kicked it from old age at forty thanks to good ol’ OFA. Deku was all “wait a minute, then how come All Might, who’s fifty-five and is definitely dyeing his gray hair, is still alive?” First and Shino were all, “we really have no fucking clue but we think it’s cuz he’s quirkless, JUST LIKE YOU!” So basically, since quirkless people don’t exactly grow on trees these days, Deku is probably going to be the last user of OFA. The chapter ended with Nana being all, “psst, Deku, about my grandson. Uh, can you kill him?” which is sure to lead to a very interesting conversation this week.

Today on BnHA: Nana And The Gang are all “so, Deku, how can we put this delicately. The thing is, we’re pretty sure that AFO really fucked my grandson up, so on the off chance you can’t save him, how would you feel about, you know... [throat slitting gesture].” Deku is all “idk you guys, I kinda feel like he’s really just a traumatized child at heart and he’s in a lot of pain and stuff and so I should try to help him.” The Vestiges are all “BUT WHAT IF YOU CAN’T” and Deku is all “BUT I WANT TO TRY, DAMMIT” and the Vestiges are all “well when you put it that way, we, uh, were just testing you, so congrats, you passed!” The chapter ends with First being all, “ANYWAY SO WHY DON’T YOU TWO SHY BOYS STANDING OVER THERE IN THE SHADOWS COME SAY HELLO” before we CUT AWAY FOR ANOTHER WEEK, goddammit.

seriously, Nana

just... have you met Deku?? look, if you really want Tomura dead, just sic him on the U.A. first years and tell Shouto and Honenuki that it’s a training exercise

oh my god lmao

we’re too far away to see Nana’s face here so I will just assume that she turned and is staring DIRECTLY INTO THE CAMERA for this one line lmao. “I just wanted to clarify in case anyone felt inclined to take my dialogue out of context and spend an entire week complaining about it”

oh my god?! are you all purposely trying to make me sad??

someone stop me before I launch into an impromptu rant about all my Tomura feels. WHY IS NOBODY STOPPING ME. oh my god but yes, exactly. he’s just in pain all the time. this is exactly why I think Tomura has such high redemption potential even though so far he seems to lack so many of the redemption arc essentials such as feeling remorse, wanting to change, and taking responsibility for his actions. the reason why I’m willing to overlook all that in his case is because Tomura has essentially had zero agency his entire life. AFO molded him into a killer by making sure he was in constant mental agony, and making it so that the only thing that even slightly relieved that agony was killing peeps. like, please don’t think I’m making excuses for him or anything, but if you take a child and manipulate their existence to make it virtually impossible for that child to grow up as anything other than a killer, and basically never give him the chance to be anything else, then no shit he’s gonna be a killer?? he’s basically never had the choice not to be. it’s never been an option for him. anyways I feel like I am EXPLAINING MYSELF SO BADLY but nonetheless I am prepared to die on this hill

anyway so now Nana is all “that’s a rhetorical question btw because Our Hearts And Minds Are One so we can feel everything you feel bro.” so yeah, that’s interesting

now Banjou is getting started on the “let’s try and talk Deku out of wanting to save Tomura because it’s insane” part of their OFA Mystical Space Void Reunion agenda

look, Banjou, I feel you, I really do. you guys don’t think it’s realistic that Deku can defeat Tomura without killing him. so if it’s a choice between killing Tomura vs letting Deku and everyone else in the entire world die, then duh, you think Deku should kill him. I get it! and if this were a real life mass murderer I’d totally agree with you. but the problem is that this isn’t real life, this is a sympathetic shounen villain with a tragic past who might as well have FUTURE REDEMPTION ARC RECEIPIENT stamped on his forehead at this point

so First is all “look, there’s absolutely no doubt my brother has fucked this kid up good and proper by now”, which, again, fair

though, that’s kind of exactly my point though. everything that Tomura is, everything he’s done, he’s done because of AFO. AFO has so effectively shaped his personality and his worldview by this point that it’s all but impossible to penetrate that. he’s AFO’s puppet. but the problem is that rather than treating him like a victim, you all are treating him like a casualty. like he’s already a lost cause. but good luck trying to convince Deku of that

WHOA WHAT, RANDOM SUPER-IMPORTANT AND BIZARRELY UNRELATED EXPOSITION DROPPED IN JUST LIKE THAT??

way to still not reveal Sixth’s name, btw. THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW, DAMMIT. but also so this confirms something we basically already knew already, which is that not even AFO can steal OFA. it literally can’t be taken away by anyone unless the owner wills it. SO SUCK ON THAT AFO YOU EGG

(ETA: so I have no idea why this was omitted from this translation, but apparently the Sixth’s name was revealed as “En”, which is obviously not his full name but at least it’s something. also he most likely has a fire or smoke-related quirk based on the kanji used, 煙.)

so Banjou is saying that Deku’s “lack of an iron will” could be a disadvantage against AFO. hahaha what?? Midoriya “I’ll break all of my bones without blinking an eye just to protect someone” Izuku lacks an iron will? do tell

he says this is going to be a test of Deku’s determination. well yeah, no shit. but just not in the way you guys think

OH HELLO AGAIN

darker hair again here! but I don’t trust the contrast in these scans at all after last week. his coveralls are way darker than they looked before too, and you can clearly see he’s standing in the shadows now

(ETA: yep, once again the raw shows that his hair is considerably lighter than what’s shown in these scans here. although there’s no mistaking now that his hair is consistently being colored in this slightly darker shade, and it’s not just the lighting.)

anyways lol First was saying something about how AFO can’t steal OFA, and they’ve spent all this time cultivating it as the ultimate weapon against AFO, and blah blah blah. go on then, keep lecturing

NANA GODDAMMIT NONE OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT

girl what?? you did everything in your power to protect your family, and AFO, fucked up man that he is, targeted them anyway. there is one person and one person only to blame for what’s happened to Tomura, and that potato-faced asshole needs a good kick in the balls

NANA GODDAMMIT DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE

SO HELP ME GOD!! I WILL GIVE YOU THE BIGGEST HUG YOU’VE EVER HAD!! THAT IS A THREAT

so now Nana is all “I’m just going to call my grandson a Thing to ensure that fandom has only the freshest, grass-fed no-hormones-added discourse this week”

I don’t even need to drop into the tags to know exactly which specific people are going to respond to this, and what kind of posts they are going to write lmao. everyone’s all caught up in the “that thing”, and meanwhile I’m over here completely hung up on this “nay” that’s appeared out of NOWHERE you guys. look at that. she really said “NAY”

Nana, my love, my dearest, I feel you girl I really do. but he’s not an unforgivable manifestation of pure evil, Deku is exactly right actually, he’s a boy in pain. you guys need to stop questioning Deku’s shounen protagonist instincts here and just let him work his sparkly magic. “let’s try and convince Midoriya Fucking Izuku that he can’t save someone” is a plan that is NEVER going to turn out well you guys

“DEKU GODDAMMIT WHAT IF WE CAN’T SAVE HIM” lmao it’s like an intervention

“DAMMIT DEKU JUST ADMIT YOU HAVE A SAVING PEOPLE PROBLEM!”

RED ALERT IT’S ANOTHER CLOSE-UP OF THE BACK OF MISTER TWO BON CLAY’S HEAD OMG

(ETA: I was too distracted with freaking out about Two and Three to really appreciate how ridiculously handsome First looks in this panel. but on my second readthrough it stood out so much that I had to go back and add an extra bullet point just to talk about how hot he is. look at him. wtf.)

THAT IS DEFINITELY AN UNDERCUT. THE PLOT THICKENSSSS. also those are fucking exhaust vents on Mister Three’s neck. MISTER THREE COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE RELATED TO THE IIDAS, PLEASE TELL ME YOUR SECRETS I’M DYING OVER HERE

so now Deku is launching into what will undoubtedly be a “saving people problems require SAVING PEOPLE SOLUTIONS” heroic counter-speech!

I mean, they can already feel the “lol nah I’m gonna try and save him” feelings running through him lol. ~OuR hEaRtS aNd MiNdS aRe CoNnEcTeD~ and all that. this is just a formality, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love a good shounen protag speech

oh wait hold up, do you mean to tell me that the whole “hearts and minds are connected” thing I was just mocking just a paragraph ago actually allowed Deku to feel what Tomura was feeling?? like literally feel it??

YET AGAIN these Tomura feels are pounding on my front door you guys?? they just will not quit?? people my house is already full of feels, does it look like I need you to sell me any more of them?? -- what do you mean, they’re free??

AW YISS THAT’S IT DEKU. THAT’S SOME GOOD SPEECH RIGHT THERE

I appreciate the contrast here between the Douchebag Triumvirate of Overhaul, Muscular, and Stain versus the Misguided Twosome of Gentle and La Brava. never let it be said that Deku doesn’t know the difference between a redeemable villain and an unredeemable one

OH NO -- OH MY GOD

someone please help me I need directions to the OFA Spooky Galactic Nebula Realm in this fictional Japanese manga land. it’s not on google maps. I need to give these two babies a big hug and wrap them up in a blanket and treat them to some McDonalds Happy Meals please help

other things: (1) ENDEAVOR CHILLING OUT IN DEKU’S “PEOPLE I HOLD DEAR” PANEL LMAO NEON DISCOURSE EXTRAVAGANZA, (2) “ONE FOR ALL IS A POWER TO SAVE, NOT TO KILL” I’M ABOUT TO CRY DEKU I LOVE YOU SO MUCH HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO FEEL ALL THIS LOVE, (3) [SLAMS HANDS ON TABLE] THERE’S YOUR MOTHERFUCKING IRON WILL!!!!!!!! -- I’m sorry, please don’t call security, I’ll be good

I just randomly remembered that Deku is still saying all of this in his muffled “FMMPHHMMPHMM” voice and I’m somehow cracking up lol. so actually it’s a very good thing Their Hearts And Minds Are Connected, otherwise they’d no doubt be all, “...what?”

(ETA: so I completely missed this on account of it literally not being visible in the scan at all, but in the raw you can clearly see Baby Kacchan and Baby Shouto fanboying over All Might in two of these panels, and excuse me, ma’am??

thank you very much Deku for including them in your montage, particularly since you’ve never seen Baby Shouto before lol. amazingly accurate image you managed to conjure up, all things considered.)

SDKFJLSKHG -- AS IF ON CUE???

HE’S SO ADORABLE HELP?? Trippy Space All Might looks like he’s about to cry, and First is all “don’t crack a smile... you have to be Firm and Serious here... dammit, don’t smile” omg

anyways! YOU GO DEKU. “MY QUIRK MY RULES, BITCHES” damn, son

KLJLKKHLG TRIPPY SPACE ALL MIGHT LITERALLY ACTUALLY IS CRYING ALL MIGHT HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

“I JUST... [CLENCHES FIST] REALLY LOVE SAVING PEOPLE” FUCKING HELL LMAO THIS IS THE WORST INTERVENTION OF ALL TIME

Deku is literally all “sure, maybe I’ll have to kill him, but have you guys also considered, MAYBE NOT??” it’s no use Nana he’s too powerful

LMAO FIRST

“like I’ve been saying this whole time, you should definitely try saving Shigaraki Tomura.” “but, uh... First, didn’t you just -- ” “shut up”

(ETA: clearly it’s not just his brother who inherited those smooth-talking genes.)

so now Deku has turned back into a sixteen year old and his clothes have gone missing again. just OFA things

dskljdlsklgk

yes... sure... “testing” you...

HEY

FIRST OF ALL, DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI YOU MADE NANA CRY. even if I’m pretty sure they’re actually tears of happiness/relief. and SECOND OF ALL, “TELL MY BOYFRIEND I SAID HI” DJSKDLKJJL ANYWAY MAYBE GRAN, NANA, AND MR. SHIMURA WERE IN A THROUPLE

[SCREAMS]

WHY WOULD YOU END IT THERE?? WHY WOULD YOU END IT THERE!!!!!

(ETA: and two-to-one odds that we cut away to some other scene once they finally start to turn around next week. I’M CALLING IT NOW. giving myself a week to brace myself for the rage.)

fucking hell. well if anyone needs me I will be adding Horikoshi fucking Kouhei to the list of irredeemable villains, peace

[adelior]

Name: Unconditionally

Author: R. Adelio

Genre: Romance, Minecraft, Comedy, Fluff

Main Lead: Technoblade, Dreamwastaken, DreamXD

Female Lead: Reader

Chapter: 3

Special Addition: Tchnomaid, Blob Dream, Accidental Marriage To Technoblade

Letters: 8,087

Tag: Territorial Behavior, Delusional Behavior From Wilbur, Wilbur Slowly Tipping Away Into Madness, Fluff, Possessiveness, Deep Kisses, Blob Dream

<- ->

Wilbur stood up, his fists clenching. You noticed the odd behavior coming from the brunette, it was unusual for him to look so stressed, and on top of that bothered. "Wil, what's wrong? You can't just lie to me if something is happening" You caught the way his fists tightened. "Don't worry, it's nothing."

He gave you a reassuring smile, turning to the door and leaving you behind with a questionable expression on his face. Wilbur looked pissed, but what could it possibly be that made him this distressed.

° ° °

"M-Mm.." You whimpered, eyes closed as the being kept exploring your mouth with its tongue. His eyes narrowed, enjoying the way your body reacted so naturally to his. "So obedient even in your slumber." The blonde complimented but stopped in his tracks when he sees a man in the corner of his eye.

XD quickly became defensive, hiding your unconscious body under his cloak. "What the.." Wilbur's eyes widened, teeth pulled back into a snarl. "LET HER GO-" The God chuckled, softly patting your head from above his cloak. "A mere human, ordering me to submit what is mine? How ridiculous." He said as he looked down, admiring your kissable lips.

"I'll fucking kill you if you don't let her go."

° ° °

Even thinking back to what he saw gave him the shivers. A God, specifically DreamXD being infatuated with a human? And not just any human, but it just had to be you, someone who he sees as more than just a friend. "Fuck." He cursed under his breath as soon as he exited your room. Once he was far away he punched the nearest wall. "DAMNIT."

"Wilbur..-?" Tommy's voice softened, he was about to call out to him but decided that maybe it wasn't a good idea. "What do you want Tommy?!" Wilbur screamed, stepping back once he realized that he had raised his voice. "Sorry, I'm just.. Stressed from all of this" He chuckled, stroking his bangs back with a sigh.

"That's.. fine? But enough from that man, what are we gonna do about the problem? We can't fucking contact Techno or Phil without actually going to where they are"

"Tommy, I'm well aware that it'll take days for us to get there but it's alright. As long as we resolve this problem we shouldn't complain about it."

"What about [Name]? Will we bring her along?" The kid asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. Soot knew how much Tommy wanted you to experience the world, more than anybody else. "We aren't bringing her, neither are we bringing anybody else. It'll just be us two."

"WHAT? Bro, I'm gonna fucking starve out there. Not to mention it's gonna be cold as fuck in that damn tundra." He complained, childishly stomping his feet on the ground. "Tommy, it's for the sake of everyone, for us. Now, will you join me or not?"

Tommy pondered but eventually gave in with a grumble. "Fine, we better stop by at Tubbo's place when we're heading out"

"Deal."

° ° °

"If you need anything just let me know," Niki said in a soft voice, pressing her hand against your neck, checking if you have a fever. "Niki- I'm not sick so it's okay!" Despite your words, she still looked somewhat puzzled. As if she couldn't connect something but was restricted to tell you. "Well, alright! I'll be at my cottage so just ping me whenever"

"Alright" You responded. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind" She smiled, turning to exit your room. "Is she doing okay?" Tubbo asked in a worried tone, earning a nod from the passing female. "Thank god.." Sighing, he walked in once Niki left the room. The goat hybrid came closer to where you sat on your bed, his hands behind his back.

"Tubbo?"

"Yeahhhhhh?" He dragged his words along, smiling happily as if he's waiting for you to ask what he was hiding, it made you laugh. "Haha, what's in your hand?"

"Oh, this?!" Tubbo happily revealed the flower crown, one that he crafted himself. It took a few hours, but he was able to pick out your favorite flowers on his way back during their exposition. "Wait... Is that for me-" He nodded, gently placing the flower crown on your head. "It suits you! I hope you like it"

"Like it? I LOVE IT TUBBO! Thank you! When did you even have time to make this?" You asked, earning a confident 'hah' from the boy. "I was able to pick out a few of your favorite flowers on our way back. I saw them so I asked Wilbur if I was allowed to bring them home"

Too sweet, you thought. Tubbo was a child who always looked at you with stars in his eyes. It was as if you were one of the many thousands of pulsars that adorned the limitless sky, something that he always admired. "Look I even made one for me, so now we match," He said as he showed his own, one that was decorated in yellow, black, and white flowers.

"How does it look?" Tubbo asked with a sheepish smile. "It looks amazing" You returned the same expression, causing the boy to laugh in satisfaction. "Fuck yeah!"

"Tubboooooooo" Fundy said as he peeked from the door, waving at both you and the male. "We gotta go out now, didn't you say you wanted bees for your bee farm?"

"OH YEAH!"

"Bee farm-" You stared at the brunette with a baffled look on your face. "Oh sorry I didn't tell you, but I'm planning to make a bee farm! I love bees"

Smiling, you waved both of them off. It was always nice to hear Tubbo express his liking for bees. You couldn't blame him for liking them, after all, they were cute when they didn't viciously attack you. "Man now I feel fucking old" You muttered, falling back onto your pillows. "Not to mention, everyone has something to do apart from me"

'Damn that just makes me seem like a freeloader' You thought in your head, smirking at how stupid it was. "Wait I could help farm the Nether Warts-" With that, you quickly changed your clothes and head towards the Nether Portal room. 'I could at least do this. And if I get caught I could just say that I'm preparing ingredients for future potions that I'll be brewing.'

You praised yourself, patting your hand against your right shoulder with a smug smile. 'I'm so smart'

Minutes passed, and you've been working away with growing the Nether Wart farm that's been installed beside the Portal. You managed to harvest at least a stack or two before you became tired. It was more tiring than you expected, but you didn't care. Being able to move around was better than sitting in a singular spot.

"Farming Nether Wart sure is tiring huh?" A male voice asked. "It sure is, takes a lot more strength to pull them out compared to normal crops." You replied, groaning. "That may be true but did you know you could easily harvest them if you heated the roots with lava?"

"Oh, rea- WHAT THE FUCK" You realized how familiar the voice was once your brain started to regain energy after all the moving. "You scared the shit out of me Clay-"

"My bad~" He smirked, pushing himself off of the Nether Portal that was.. lit again..? But how, how did the portal appear again? "Since when did that portal reopen?" You questioned, walking past the male who was outstretching his arms, expecting a hug. "How the hell is this..-"

"Rude, I didn't even get a hello how are you hug?" You glared back at him, nodding to the portal that you were curious about, silently telling him to explain himself. "I wanted to see you again, so I thought I should light it."

"Light it? Are you saying you were the one to destroy that portal in the first pla-"

[SLAM]

You stiffened in your spot, back pressing against the wall as you feel Clay's staggered breaths fan over your face. "You know... You should be grateful I came all the way here just to see you, on top of that with an.." He stumbled forward, body leaning over yours as he continued to breathe heavily.

"Hey, are you oka- CLAY YOU'RE BLEEDING-"

"It's fine." The man breathed out, lips dangerously close to your neck. "What do you mean it's fine?! Let me heal you with potions are you insane?!"

"Just.." His voice softened, body slowly getting smaller and smaller. "Let me rest.."

[POOF]

'Huh' You stood there confused, a gust of wind blowing in your direction. He was gone, and what was left was a white blob that happily pressed its cheeks against your neck. "What the- FU-"

<- ->

ec: @quacobs (instagram)

[mde1011]

when i got into the dsmp i started a note and wrote down any quotes or moments i thought were funny, and im bored at 3 am so enjoy some of them

how is being arrested real? just walk away!!!”

⁃ “once an american always an american. go...go protests masks...or something”

⁃ “...yEAH BUT DID YOU HAVE WAP” “what’s...whats wap?” “...WORSHIP AND PRAYER”

⁃ “HOW DO YOU LIKE POLITICS MOTHERFUCKER”

⁃ “i’m naked” “...no you’re not” “i can be...”

⁃ “uhhhh i’m in a high stress situation....i deal with these poorly”

⁃ “i should go first i’m naked”

⁃ “yEAHHHH WE KILLED AN OLD MAN WITH HEART PROBLEMS”

⁃ “what are you going to do?” “i...have no idea i think i’m gonna start out by punching a tree”

⁃ “tOmmy...did i just hear you say shit ass looking mofo?”

⁃ “i aM gOinG to gEt nAkeD to iNtiMidAtE HiM”

- “...i want freedom !” “you want BALLS.”

⁃ “...down the line. yeah that’s where we discover the art of cannibalism” “oh it’s an art?” “it’s an art”

⁃ “oh there’s some logs here. wonder what they’re saying to me. uh huh. uh huh. oh yeah that’s very racist” “tommy you gotta burn those logs.” “burn ‘em before they spread their racism to other logs”

⁃ “are you pooing?” “*whisper* i’m charging up-““ “he’s ejaculating on the tent.” “he’s WHAT?”

⁃ “he’s sPEEDING. LOOK HOW FAST HES GOING” “i’ve taken so many drugs. someone tell badboyhalo”

⁃ “we should make a pact. and that pact is, uh, we make a book...and in that book...we declare that saying ‘muffin’ is a, is a slur”

⁃ “i was thinking what if one day your bladder just,,,,stopped working.....AGGGFFFFF i was tHINKING ABOUT THAT THE OTHER DAY IVE GOT TO PREPARE IVE GOT YO PREPARE thisiswhydiapersaintthatbad”

⁃ <sapnap> i think i was ordered to um

<tommyinnit> boobed

<sapnap> kill you

<tommyinnit> boobs

<sapnap> if this happens

<tommyinnit> think about boobs man

<sapnap> tsk tsk tommy

<tommyinnit> iM DISGRUNTLED

⁃ “why is this deadman so good at making drugs”

⁃ “i just learnt that a girl hero is called a heroine and it freaked me out”

⁃ “memento memento me-“ “that’s actually the worst word i know so you can’t keep saying that” “oh, really.....? have you ever heard the term ‘racist’?”

⁃ “the person who invented the phrase ‘be yourself’ hadn’t met you!”

⁃ “you seem like the type of guy whose dad would throw him overboard as a joke but he would just drown”

⁃ “shout out to dream for twerking!”

⁃ “let’s talk......let’s talk about sex” “wonderful. what do you think about sex, lazarbeam?” “i ain’t saying SHIT in front of a sixteen year old”

⁃ “what the- i think i’m seeing things” “....tommy i told you not to drink the sea water” “well i DID drink the sea water because it TOLD ME TO”

⁃ “it’s like the movie when that guy gets stranded on an island and has sex with a coconut” “whAT?? dream- dream, you vastly misinterpreted this” “it one hundred percent does”

⁃ “oh mastICATE.....isn’t that when a fish turns inside out?”

⁃ “what are some bad words YOU know, clay?” “i don’t-“ “what about ‘terrorist’?”

⁃ “my mind has to be on the same frequency as jesus when he walked on water”

⁃ “you wanna know why i was late?” “no i really do-“ “i was having a MASSIVE poo. really just a HUGE poo”

⁃ “jUST CUZ YOU TALK ABOUT POO ONCE AND THEN YOU SEE A BIG GREEN BASTARD AMD YOUR LIFE IS FLASHING BEFORE YOUR EYES AND THEN YOU CANT REMEMBER- YOU CANT REMEMBER IF IT WAS YESTERDAY OR TOMORROW YOU HURT THAT WOMAN”

⁃ “i love america. mmmmm patriotism

⁃ “LIFE IS NOT A HAPPY SONG KERMIT THE FROG”

⁃ “please stop taking the cock”

⁃ “two four six eight who do we appreciate? not the government let’s gooooooo”

⁃ “oooo look at the dogs😍” “wHAAAAAT. WHAT. THERES ACTUALLY LIKE. A MILLION DOGS HERE. WHAT THE HELL.”

⁃ “yeahhhhh bitch i stab- i don’t stab women-“ “woooooooah tommy you stab women?” “heyyyy sapnap”

⁃ “do you know what happens whne you reach the top of the ladder? there’s only one place to go.” “.....side to side😨” “down.” “...i really thought you were gonna say side to side🥺”

⁃ “one last time.” “just like in hamilton😓”

⁃ “you don’t know how many times i’ve mistaken trees for hot women”

⁃ “ i don’t feel better i just destroyed penis”

⁃ “i’ve never seen a snail with bad morals”

⁃ “awwwwwwww😢 i’m doin’ drugs🤧 just like the good ol’ days😓” “.....define the ‘good old days’” “back when i did drugs”

⁃ “have you ever fought a baby? i have and it was trivially easy to defeat, phil.”

⁃ “the only other i egg i know about was the one i learnt about in school....not allowed to say which one....”

⁃ “did you know one of my new years resolutions is to be more like 2010 justin bieber?”

⁃ “apparently cats don’t lay eggs”

⁃ “thinking about trees- if i saw a tree with a beard mmmmmm...holy shit id hit it”

⁃ “we’re in hell dude. science doesn’t matter here”

⁃ “i cant die i cant die i’m GOD”

⁃ “hey pig your letter is the same as pussy, hmm?”

⁃ “are we cool are we COOL guys? CRYSTAL COOL like CRYSTAL METH”

⁃ “he- he’s crying because - because i killed his mother isn’t that right? mother dearest mother deadest mother gonest”

⁃ “bro ive been drinking since i was six and let me tell you...it’s not good to be drinking that young. led to some poor life decisions when i was 8” “what did you do” “i cant say” “...who did you hurt” “....only myself”

⁃ “je suis” “ay i know what that mean you prick” “what does it mean” “it means you’re racist dickhead”

⁃ “i’d never poo in the presence of a women- which is why i’m scared to get a girlfriend i think i’d just explode”

⁃ “biff tannen is one of my idols”

⁃ “black widow died and i thought ‘wow it should’ve been the man’ because he’s a man”

⁃ “there’s a character called captain america and i think he’s stupid”

⁃ “i’m a GOOD LAD i’ve got GOOD MORALS and if i’ve DONE SOMETHING WRONG it WASNT MY FAULT I JUST GOT A LITTLE EXCITED”

⁃ “sam....what’s the longest you’ve ever wiped your arse? for me it’s 48 minutes”

⁃ “why are you standing in the shitter?” “....that’s a SINK” “uhhh welllll” “hAVE YOU SHAT IN THE SINK?????”

⁃ “you’re like a living ghost” “...i think that’s called a human, tubbo”

⁃ “maybe i accidentally kill ranboo and we just never see him again *laughs* ay? and then i go ‘april foooools!!!’ and then i kill their child. i kill him”

⁃ “you built a penis” “it’s a PENIS OF SAFETY”

⁃ “i saw the penis of safety and i pressed mouse button four my friend”

⁃ “the penis on the other side of the river is larger” “ive heard that before....”

⁃ “you’ve turned the penis into a wall” “a wall of safety is better than a penis of safety” “i think the penis was better”

⁃ “if you wanna make a penis i know where we can make a penis and i know how big we can make it”

⁃ “i don’t conceptualize death but i think i just saw it!”

⁃ “yeah i- yeah i know i’m- my first impression on eret was making him read a shrek fan fiction so- i’m not one for first impressions”

⁃ “i-i’m scared for him- i’m scared OF him. yknow the first thing he did when he saw me was imMEDIATELY strip down then jump off then immediately die?”

⁃ “where are you?” “getting stabbed, one second”

⁃ “you’ve seen the joker?” “yea-“ “i resonate a lot with that man” “...oH. oh. that’s- that’s not-“

⁃ “he bURNT DOWN MY HOUSE” “out of LOVE”

⁃ “ohhhh my god stop making me play with the neighbor kid” “o-okay if you don’t go play with him i’m kicking you out of the house-“ “wHAT THE FUCK???”

⁃ “there’s a STRIP CLUB” “oh yeah for wood!” “are you into strippers?” “i mean all it does is make the wood look different so....yeah it doesn’t really do much”

⁃ “no no we have categories, we have the poo-saster- you might have to take a shower after-“ “no, no i’m gonna stop you right there”

⁃ “as i was saying you can have a 1-to-3 wiper, that’s an A-tier poo, my friend”

⁃ “i want you to eat your sock”

⁃ “you know i’m a child- i’m a minor” “sO AM I DICKHEAD”

⁃ “everyone is calling you dresus” “yeah i am”

⁃ “ayyyy ayyyy los DROGAS LOS DROGAS” “no no big q- she’s thirteen- how does this happen with every 13 year old girl you meet?”

⁃ “my poo has muscles like i do”

⁃ “i cant hear the words among us without crying they’ll say there are aliens among us and in the back youll just hear me *choking noises*”

⁃ “tubbo...tubbo is like...tubbo is like mary” “.....did you just call me the Virgin Mary?”

⁃ “i’m just saying, have you ever seen me and jesus in the same room?”

⁃ “do you smoke sam” “all the time”

⁃ “i thought you were talking about the- the speeeeed drug”

⁃ “have you ever sold drugs to kids sam?” “......no”

⁃ “we can’t let the girlboss rule because she will gatekeepe my feelings” “that would not be good”

⁃ “THEY DIDNT INVITE ME TO KILL ME???? NOW I HAVE FOMO”

⁃ “you have obviously taken part in scientology-“ “i have not-“ “you’ve donated to tom cruises cult shit”

⁃ “....am i worse than david dobrik?” “are- are we worse than david dobrik?” “oh- oh god”

⁃ “he has broke one of the rules of the hit best seller ‘the bible’- this kind of looks like a cock”

⁃ “well i’ve moved now, KING”

⁃ “what is an angsty teen and am i one? because when i USED to hang out with my friends they use the word angst a lot”

⁃ “yeah yeah yeah i bench”

⁃ “sam i think i’m angsty i think i’m an angsty tik tok teen looking for a community to help me out”

⁃ “i don’t think you’ve followed the train of logic all the way-“ “there’s a TRAIN INVOLVED????????”

⁃ “i’m like the orange fucker from that animated rom com”

⁃ “i’m under the influence of big cock”

⁃ “it’s meeee big cock man”

⁃ “i cant look away” “sam please use your twitter alt for this” “he’s horny on maaaainnnnn” “and what’s wrong with that?” “.......”

⁃ “you’re a FUCKING IDIOT” “IM NOT A FUCKING IDIOT, BIG COCK”

⁃ “i’m gonna call you ‘cockity’ big cock” “sHUT THE FUCK UP SHUT THE FUCK UP-“

⁃ “STOP LOOKING AT IT” “ITS SO VIBRANT”

⁃ “at least this guy doesn’t have a cock-“ “itS NOT A COCK” “horny on main jesus-“

⁃ “is that a cock” “SHUT THE FUCK UP”

⁃ “.....i wanna see the inside of it again do a split”

⁃ “okay sam-“ “tommy that guy wants your cock-“ “no- no he doesn’t sam”

⁃ “sam, sam and i need you to hear this....dont. act. up.” “i don’t act up-“ “you were acting up-“ “i-“ “you were caught in 8k.” “but- but we both agree it’s not a tie-“

⁃ “please don’t tell me to kill cockity i am overwhelmed”

⁃ “why is there an anus in my tie?”

⁃ “what are the legal implications of this?” “...i mean besides hell you’re good”

⁃ “whatre the legal implications?” “i mean usually that’s a no-no but today, today it’s fine” “yeahhh lets go murder his family”

⁃ “i’d be an antivax landlord”

⁃ “jesus never does drugs” “well- well you turned water into wine king and wine is alcohol”

⁃ “can you put on pants i can’t- i cant stop looking at it- sorry tommy i know you said-“ “yeah sam i know you tried-“

⁃ “you know i fuck with satan”

⁃ “i’m sorry jesus lucifer is just such a good man-“ “oh you- hold me BACK FROM THIS FUCKER HOLD ME BACK ILL SEND HIM TO HELL YOU LIKE HELL-“

⁃ “are you jesus or just a man who grew a beard and put on a suit?”

⁃ “even the guy with his cock out is telling you to stop-“ “oh jesus, and i mean jesus-“ “shUT THE FUCK UP MAN”

⁃ “the best best way to slander him is to stop his offspring; we need to kick him the balls.....no? not a good....? alright us four each take a ball-“

⁃ “......why did jesus give him four scrotums man🙁🙁”

[omnitf]

Soulless

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Credit for this image goes to @dissolving-time. Follow this link to see the original post.

If you like this and my other stories, please consider supporting me on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/omnitf

Thank you, and enjoy the story! :D

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I used to be different than the man you see today. They say the industry changes you, and I suppose they’re right, whoever they are. I’ve been a model for ... I don’t even know how many years now. Like I said, things used to be different.

It was just one photo shoot. I didn’t expect to be such a hit. It was a million in a million in a million chance. Audition, smile to the cameras, wear the gear, sell the product, get paid in royalties. It was a straightforward business arrangement. Folks say they like to have models with a lot of heart and soul. Now that I think about it, that’s what the company said when they hired me.

My agent got the call, and then he called me. He barely kept himself from shouting as he told me the details. Daemonique was and still is one of the premier modeling brands out there. It costs a bundle and a half to even have them consider lending you their talent. Runways, photo ops, fashion articles, the works. If they looked at you, if they chose you, then you were in. You were set for life.

I was floored. Naturally, I said yes. I signed the contract and joined my fellow models in the spotlight, and my agent was offered a hefty sum for snatching me. He still lives very well, from what I understand. Daemonique poached him from his firm, something about being a, “devil of a recruiter.” We still talk sometimes, but usually it’s just when he offers me my new assignment. Sometimes, he brings new talent with him to meet me. People worship me, idolize me.

That used to impress me. Now I feel ... indifferent, I suppose. It’s ... difficult to describe. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the attention, more that ... I suppose I slide into whatever they want me to be. That’s my purpose as a model.

I remember when I was introduced to my hero in the modeling community, Nathan Bolaterro. My smile was radiant, my handshake firm and only slightly exaggerated. His smile was reserved, his bearing shifting to accommodate me.

“There are many models here,” he told me, “with many masks, many faces. It’s ... difficult to keep track of what brought you here sometimes, the ‘you’ that you put into your shoots. Make sure that you don’t lose track of it. That’s the best advice I can give you.” He looked almost sadly at a playbill with a beaming teenager wrapping either arm around another two other teens’ shoulders on stage. There were four of them, identically dressed in the traditional garb of the barber shop quartet from The Music Man. I could just barely see the resemblance between the middle left boy and the man that stood before me now.

One of the many agents that runs this place strode through the door then. “Nate, it’s time for your sports segment.”

The model swallowed heavily, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as a result. “Coming,” he said in a low-pitched tone. His gaze darted back toward that photo almost desperately. Then he turned his back and followed his handler out. I followed them into the hall, since it would be rude to remain in his dressing room.

“Do well on this one, and you’ll be a shoe-in for Soulless.” The agent grinned and thumped Nathan on the back. My breath caught at the mention of that great fashion line. Only the best of the best of the best in the agency could make it into that exalted circle.

I was confused when I saw, not a joyful smile, but a frown of unease cross over the model’s face.

The next time I saw him, he was getting out of a session for some sports magazine spread or some other campaign. His body was huge, his voice deep and dull. The familiar brand name Soulless stretched down one meaty thigh in big capital letters over the compression pants and widely across his left pectoral as he scratched the material of his compression shirt with his free hand. “You talking to me, bro?” He didn’t seem to recognize me. His eyes were glassy and unfocused. They seemed almost dead as he stared at me through the open visor of a football helmet. The angular shape of the opening gave his head an almost block-like appearance. The rich hair that had once been so carefully styled was little more than sculpted stubble now. His pupils vibrated, like they didn’t know whether to dilate or contract. Or ... maybe they were trying to, but couldn’t? “The name’s Jock....”

I still remember how freaked out I was after that encounter. My agent had to explain it to me, about Nathan’s “methods.” A lot of the models follow it, apparently. I guess ... I guess I do, too, now that I stop to think about it. There’s a sort of role that we’re asked to fill for each of our shoots. Whatever we model, the photographer wants us to fit certain ... characters, tropes, if you will. These tropes have names, and we don them as easily as we do makeup or an outfit for the cameras. Jock, Brat, Badboy, Greaser, Guido, Father, Hipster, Businessman, and so on.

It’s ... easy to forget your name when you’re in this community. You become almost numb to it. You have to, if you want to survive the media storms that follow you around. Let go of the power that name has over you, and you can usually ignore most of the reporters or rabid fans trying to get your attention. It’s a trick you learn fast in the business, once you make it big. And all Daemonique models make it big. Sometimes, when I have to sign a waiver or some other legal document, I pause and stare at the line, and I have to grope in the dark to try to find the name I cast away. Sometimes, it’s suggested that I just sign with an X, like a lot of the other models do, but I don’t want to yet. I still want to be able to keep that power of the name with me. If I stop using it there, it’ll be harder to ... to ... what? I’m not sure. Remember? Pull back? Be myself?

What even is “myself” anymore? I’m ... I’m not sure.

I’ve taken to carrying the photo that brought me to Daemonique’s attention with me. I find it ... grounding to stare at. Almost comforting, really. I talk to it sometimes, greet it with my name, almost like it’s another person. I guess ... in a way, it is. It’s sort of like a lifeline to me, a connection to the me that was before all the lights and the cameras and the flashes and masks I’ve had to don for the sake of the shoot, the product, the image that Daemonique wants me to fit.

I feel less and less like a person and more and more like some ... glorified prop, a life-sized doll that my handlers change, dress, shift, and adapt to their whims. And the scary part is, ... I’m okay with that. I ... almost relish slipping into those characters and roles now, because they fill that emptiness that I return to when I take them off. The face I see in the mirror of my dressing room is so ... alien to me now. It’s nothing like the face I see when I look at this photo. And that emptiness is reinforced whenever I get in line with the other models for our weekly assessments. There’s no real talking, just standing, waiting, moving in time as the camera shutter clicks, snaps, clacks. The model turns, the process repeats, until all the sides are captured. Then we move forward, and the next one follows. The young bloods toward the back of the line whisper and talk among themselves. I used to do that, too, to be that. Now, ... now it feels so ... unnecessary. I stand among my peers, where quiet is the norm and blank the ideal. A canvas waiting to be painted. A whiteboard waiting to be drawn up, then cleared.

...

A walking, talking mannequin.

Is that all I am now?

Is that all my purpose is?

Is this ... really what I want?

...

Does it really even matter anymore?

I feel so strange, so stripped, so ... empty, even as I stand on that line now, waiting for that photo set. I pull out my photo for comfort. That tiny spark is only so much against the yawning void that’s eaten away inside of me. A wry smile curves my lips, one of the first sincere ones I’ve had in who knows how long.

Did you know that some cultures believed that to capture yourself in a photo was to capture a piece of your soul? By that logic, every human who’s ever consumed media or pictures is a demon, or at least part demon. They consume those fragments, those pieces. And the models and actors and actresses let them. And they fill up with other things and ideas, just like I do when I’m in a shoot. They’re just as empty, just as desperate for fulfillment, a role, even a piece, a taste of the soul they used to be.

I barely even recognize the feel of the textured mat when I step in front of the camera. I stare into the lens, still holding the photo. The shutter clacks. The light flashes. My shadow is thrown up in sharp relief behind me on the backdrop. I blink. For a moment, I could almost swear that I see sharpened teeth bared in a hungry, anticipatory grin. Clack goes the shutter. Flash goes the light. Around I turn. I feel no sense of fear or worry at the sight of the horns. I feel ... nothing. I turn again and watch my shadow flash in front of me, then fade into the nothingness of the backdrop. Just a 2-D silhouette. No substance, no form, just here and gone in a flash of light and the click of a shutter.

I feel no anxiety at the sound of clopping hooves echoing in my ears as I turn again. I’m just going through the motions, following the formula. They want a blank slate. They want the empty. They want a foundation they can build and mold like clay in their hands. Malleable. Easy to shape and control. No complaints. No thoughts or discomforts. Just ... being. Just existing.

...

Empty.

I look down at my photo. There is no more thrill at it. No spark. No joy. No connection. Whatever power it held has been stripped by the camera. It is a person I do not know, a blank face in a crowd. I see no light in those eyes, no life, no ... soul, to use the company term. I see only a picture, a pointless picture.

Flash. Clatter. Flutter. Smack. The photo is no longer in my hand as I turn to face the camera again. The creature before me leers behind the camera as one final shutter goes off, one last flash. He licks his lips as his tail lashes behind him.

I turn and march as the other models before me on the line have done. Another paper is shoved at me. I do not bother with the name this time. An X will suffice.

My agent is there next to me suddenly. The soles of his shoes clunk with a rhythmic clopping, almost like hooves. He adjusts the waistband of his pants uncomfortably, then rubs at the nubs that I see growing from his forehead. He seems to be sweating for some reason. I’m not sure why as he breaths heavily. I can just see the hints of longer pointed canines protruding from his lips. He raises his phone and snaps a picture of me. I don’t blink.

“I think he’s ready, Sir.”

This time, I do blink. When I open my eyes, there is a bigger agent hovering over his shoulder. This one is like the photographer. The air smells of aftershave with a hint of sulfur as he leans down to peer into my eyes. I don’t care. I stare into an abyss like my own. This one has lights, but it it is different than mine was. It is not so much an absence of substance as a consumer of it. For the briefest of moments, I feel what could almost be considered a suction, a vacuous force seeking to draw something out of me, only there’s nothing to take. Nothing moves, nothing comes, because whatever that vacuum consumes is not there.

The grin that spreads across that face is savage and predatory. “Well done.” He lays a heavy clawed hand on my agent’s shoulder.

My agent shudders as his eyes flicker briefly and corrugated black horns slowly begin to emerge from the nubs. He licks his lips, and as he does so, flashes of his sharpening teeth appear in my gaze. He swallows and gulps, and as the pressure from what I can only assume is his supervisor increases, he hunches forward precariously on the balls of his feet as the beginnings of a tail bursts out behind him, having broken free of the confines of the seat of his pants.

“Th-thank you, Sir,” he repeats breathlessly as he stands up again. His cheeks are flushed from the sudden changes that have overtaken his body.

“Keep it up, and you’ll fit right in in no time.”

“Y-yes, Sir.” He smiles almost timidly, but there’s a hint of bite to it as his sharper teeth peek over the edges of his lips.

They motion for me to follow, and I do so without question.

“What will he, uh, it, become, Sir?”

The supervisor grins as we approach a large black door with red gilded lettering on its front in an angular archaic font that reads, SOULLESS. “Whatever we want it to be.”

The door opens, and I step forward, ready to take on whatever role my owners require. I am ready to be filled. I am blank.

“Welcome to Soulless, slate.”

My response is as numb and empty as I feel. “Thank you, Sir.”

I am nothing more than a dummy shuffled from caricature to caricature. That is my purpose and my role. When my work is complete, I am wiped clean, a blank slate again, to be molded and shaped as my handlers please. This is the fate of the soulless, and the soulless do not care.

I am Jock. I am Bear. I am Thug. I am Guido. I am Officer. I am Soldier. I am Father. I am Son. I am King. I am Peasant. I am Extra. I am everything and nothing. I am one of a legion of slates waiting to be wiped clean or filled according to our handlers’ whims.

We are legion.

We are the empty.

We are Soulless.

[katiea03]

❣︎Moving In With The Haikyuu Guys❣︎

❣︎Warnings❣︎: None other then a tiny bit of spice 🤏🏽

❣︎Genre❣︎: Fluff

❣︎Featuring❣︎: Tanaka,Nishinoya,Akaashi,Kenma, and Ushijima

❣︎A/N❣︎: I really like this idea a lottttttt. I decoded to add a random drabble for when you guys are moved in too. It’d be pretty cool if you gusy sent request so send awayyyyyy. Anywhoo Enjoy :)

Tanaka:

Moving in with this man will be just as chaotic as him.

You guys had spent a long time looking at apartments because you guys wanted to be sure it was perfect.

So when you guys finally get the keys, Tanaka will be carrying you bridal style through the door and speeds around the place.

“RYU PUT ME DOWN!”

“Can’t babe, we gotta practice for later!”

He continues to speed around the apartment finally stopping in the kitchen.

He places you on the counter and looks at you with the widest smile

“This is it baby, just you and me.”

He gives you the sweetest kiss before throwing off his shirt off

“Let’s do this!”

If it was up to him, he wouldn’t of had you lift anything but you insisted on helping

But that doesn’t mean he’s gonna let you lift anything too heavy.

By the end of the day, you guys have successfully moved in all the boxes and the very few pieces of furniture you guys did own.

But you guys forgot to buy food… so ordering in it is.

I could easily imagine the two of you pigging out on Chinese food on the floor as you imagine how you two are gonna decorate the place.

You both were exhausted so after sharing a quick shower, you both passed out on the mattress the two of you had set up on the floor.

Tanaka held you extra tight that night, knowing every night would be as amazing as this one.

Random Scenario

You were enjoying a little alone time just scrolling through your phone while you waited for Tanaka to come home from the corner store. All you wanted was a bag of chips, so you were starting to get concerned seeing as he still wasn’t back yet. You knew something was wrong. You hear the door slam and you sit up.“What did you do Ryu?”

He comes from the hallway with a cage.

“Okay babe hear me out!”

“What is that?!” You stand up and walk up to him

“It’s a hamster.” You stare down at the cage with the tiny dwarf hamster as its little beady eyes blinked up at you. Shit its cute.

“I got the cage and food and everything she needs.”

Your lips turned into a pout “It’s a she?”

“Yup!” Dammit! You’re supposed to be mad.

“How much did all this cost?” You almost don’t wanna know.

“Don’t worry about it.” Tanaka places the cage on the counter and reaches into a plastic bag.

“Oh- and I got your chips.”

You were probably gonna strangle him… but he’ll live.

Nishinoya:

Moving in with Noya… is an experience and a half

And probably the most unorganized if we’re being honest.

This man didn’t label any of his boxes and kinda just threw everything together.

He also has a lot of stuff.

He’s traveled a lot so he has a bunch of knick knacks.

You guys walk into your small but homey apartment and he sighs

He looks back and forth between the kitchen and living area.

“Man the sex is gonna be GREAT!” You smack his chest hard.

“We have neighbors!”

“Oh yea!”

Will your neighbors hate you guys, probably.

Noya has music blasting as you move in all your stuff and it isn’t until after dark you guys get everything.

You close and lock the front door and wipe your forehead.

Noya walks into the middle of the living room and starts taking off his shirt

“Yu what are you doing?”

He continues to remove his clothes until he is stripped down to his boxers

“We have to set some rules in this house! Rule number one, no clothes allowed!”

He goes to remove the last piece of clothing but you run and stop him.

“STOP We don't have curtains!”

Does the night end with you guys “breaking in” the new apartment

Yes, yes it does 😉

Random Scenario

Living with Nishinoya taught you a lot. And you guys definitely learned a lot about each other. One thing is that he loves spa days. You guys have made it a tradition to have a relaxing day together full of face masks and long soaks in the tub every Sunday. He loves it when you tie his hair up with a scrunchie as you paint his face with clay masks. He surprised you one Sunday with matching bathrobes with your initials on it. You excitedly changed into it and followed the same ritual as always. You guys had gotten new bath bombs and best believe the man was excited. He always lets you get in first and he slides in behind you. You place the bath bomb in and lean against him as you close your eyes. He rubs his hands up and down your body as he lays soft kisses on your shoulders.

“You know I love you right.” He softly kisses the nape of your neck.

“Mmhmm I know. I love you too” You turn and caress his cheek.

“I could fall asleep like this.”

“Me too.” You get comfortable laying against his chest and try your best not to drift off in his arms.

Akaashi:

Akaashi would be the most organized when it comes to moving. Everything is placed away neatly in boxes and of course labeled (With his label maker of course).

He would never use garbage bags to pack stuff

He would have everything separated based on category.

For sure the thing that would take the longest would be his books.

This man has a mini library I swear

So best believe it would probably take a day to organize his books the way he likes.

“Oh my god why are these books so heavy.”

“Cause they are all hardcover”

He takes the boxes from you and you quickly realize that a lot of his stuff is his books

Of course you guys are lacking furniture for a while but that’s partially because you guys have a hard time deciding what pieces you should get.

Akaashi needed an office for sure with his job.

You would surprise him with a really nice bookcase, cause there is no way his old one would work here.

Random Scenario

Akaashi is a really hard worker, and though he is not exactly where he wants to be in his career, he still gives it his all. It is a pretty demanding job, so there have been many sleepless nights for him. He usually falls asleep a lot at his desk. Tonight was another one of those nights. You wake up in the middle of the night to see his side of the bed untouched. You sleepily climb out of bed and walk straight to his office. You slowly creek open the door.

“Keiji, are you awake?” You get no response. You walk further into the room to see him slumped over his desk with his glasses hanging off his face. You push the strands of hair away from his face and gently shake him awake. His eyes flutter open and he quickly shoots up in his chair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep here.” He rubs the sleep from his eyes and sits up cracking his back.

“It’s okay, just come to bed. Your work will be here in the morning,” You take his hand and walk back to the room with him. He quickly slides back into bed and forces himself to keep his eyes open until you’re in bed with him. As soon as you are under the covers he knocks out. You softly brush your hand over his face before falling back asleep yourself.

Kenma:

Kenma isn’t exactly the easiest person to move in with. Not because of anything bad, but because this man just hates the essence of moving.

Packing up all your stuff to move it and to take it all out again

It really sucks

And it honestly kind of stresses him out.

Especially with his gaming setup. He was sure to pack all his equipment as best he could.

And during the moving process he didn’t have the time to stream so that kinda bothered him too.

But because of all the stress, he is that much more grateful when you guys have finished moving in.

With your help, he managed to put a temporary set up with his chair so he could finally stream again.

When it comes to decorating, he doesn’t really care. If you like it, he likes it.

Probably would ban Kuroo from coming over.

“Kozu, Kuroo is asking to hang out.”

“Tell him no”. He continues to focus on his game.

“Why not? You haven’t seen him in a while.”

“And I would like to keep it that way.”

You wrap your arms over his shoulder and kiss his cheek.

“Well I already invited him for dinner.”

You knew he secretly wanted to see him, he just had a weird way of showing it

And in the end, you three had a great night together.

Random Scenario

You are about to throw the switch at the television as Kenma won another round of Super Smash Bros. He sits back on the couch with a smug grin on his face and you kick him lightly.

“Again! I’m gonna beat you at least once!” You sit at the end of the couch leaning forward as you start the round for the twentieth time tonight.

“ You know, it gets kinda boring winning all the time.” He yawns.

“Oh shut up, I’m gonna win this time!”

“If you say so.”

You are practically slamming your hands against the buttons and it is doing nothing in your favor.

Kenma laughs out loud as your health bar goes down quickly. You quickly retaliate with the same kick over and over, blocking him into a corner. You scream as you get a lead on him and slowly take down his health.

“Stop using the same moves.” Kenma sits forward a bit annoyed as it is actually working.

“Don’t be salty now”

It becomes an intense match but you ultimately lose. You throw yourself over Kenma’s lap as you wrap your arms around his neck.

“It’s not fair!” You whine out as he lays his hands comfortably on your waist.

“You tried your best” He teased as you leaned in to give him a quick kiss. You lean back with a pout and get off his lap.

“What?” He stands up and reaches for you but you go running down the hall.

“You want a kiss, you’re gonna have to catch me!” Kenma questions whether or not he should take part in your juvenile game but it doesn’t take much convincing as runs after you.

Ushijima:

Moving in with Ushy Gushyyyyyyyyy😩 (I’m sorrry)

Moving in with Ushijima is surprisingly pretty easy

But the one condition was that you had to get house plants

And a lot of them!

But that’s okay, cause they are all your plant babies

(He names them all)

You guys also needed a balcony, it didn’t have to be a big one, but enough to have some plants outside as well as at least 2 chairs.

The apartment was perfect for you both. Plenty of space for both you and him along with all your babies.

Moving all your stuff was really easy and Ushijima didn’t let you lift a finger.

“Toshi can I please do something! There are so many boxes.”

“I told you sweetheart I got it.”

You crossed your arms as you pouted.

But you gotta say, for doing all the moving by himself, he got it done really quick.

And it was a nice view if you know what I mean 😏

Man rolled up his sleeves and mmmmhmmm

Anywhoooooo

The plants were last and you both took your time placing them around the house.

Did you have any furniture

No

But you have plants so you’ll be fine

Random Scenario

Your mornings started way earlier ever since you moved in. Him being an early riser stuck with you too. You climb out of bed wearing a big T-shirt of his and find Ushijima sitting shirtless with two cups of hot tea on the balcony. You open the sliding door and he turns around.

“Good morning darling.” You lean over and kiss his forehead.

“Morning Toshi.” You sit in your respective seat and he passes you the hot mug,

The sun is slowly rising as you both peacefully sip your tea. You lay your legs over his lap and his calloused hands run up and down your bare legs.

“Have you already watered the plants?”

“Yea, right before you got up.”

You mumble a response and continue looking out towards the sunrise. You listened as he softly went over his plans for the day; he was going to be super busy with practice. But that didn’t matter. In this moment it was just you and him and all your plant babies.

[a-square-minus-one]

Honey 7

It’s been a while. I won’t lie and say that I didn’t have severe writer’s block. Still don’t like how this turned out. But it’s something. 

 “I’ve brought reinforcements,” Terra says, throwing her hands in the air enthusiastically. Raven breezes past her and places her bag of crystals and herbs onto the table.

“To our exposed tower,” Raven drones, emptying her bag one crystal at a time. Garfield bites at a hangnail on his thumb.

“Uh...you’re welcome,” Terra says, head tilting to the side and hands falling limply at her sides. Raven glances at Terra briefly, then returns her attention back to the stones. It’s silent for a few moments. Garfield sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. Terra and Raven toed the line between friends and enemies constantly. They cared about each other deeply but also knew exactly what to say to push each other’s buttons. There was no telling how they’d interact with each other at any given time.

  “Thank you Terra,” he says, placing a hand on his girlfriend’s back. She shoots him a loose, irritated smile. 

“You don’t need to thank me,” Terra says, directing her words at the sorceress across from her. Raven’s head is turned down.

“Thank you for thinking of us Terra. I just don’t know if this is an instance where there is strength in numbers or whether adding members to our team multiplies our vulnerabilities.”

Garfield places his hands on Terra’s tight shoulders, feeling the air around everyone rising in temperature. 

“Mmhhhm, I get it,” Terra says, sucking her lips into her mouth in a way that suggests she did not, in fact, ‘get it.’ “Guess I was just worried when Garfield called me in the middle of the night to tell me that your little boyfriend turned him into a literal fish out of water.”

“Okay!” Garfield says, clapping his hands at the same time Raven’s head snaps up at Terra. “Terra and Aqualad are here. Nothing we can do about that now.”

“Right,” Raven says, keeping eye contact with Terra for a few beats. She puckers her lips, and looks blankly at the wall behind them. “Truthfully, both of your powers will be very useful to us.”

“How so?” Terra asks. Garfield tries not to make his relief visible when he notes that a lot of the edge in both of their voices has been softened.

“I’ll explain but first-” Raven says, waving her hands until there is a circle of white gemstones around the group. “Demons can’t pass a barrier of quartz.”  

“Right,” Terra says, rocking on her heels and eyeing the little rocks skeptically. “So how can we help.”

“Incantations don’t really have a shelf life. They are immediate solutions to immediate problems. Spells and curses work best when they are bound to something tangible. Either a person or something earthen. It’s the reason why voodoo dolls are usually made of clay. And the reason for these,” Raven says, gesturing to the multi colored crystals in front of them. “And water-”

“Is a purifying element,” Aqualad finishes for Raven, playing with a chunk of amethyst. He looks around at the team’s expectant faces. “Ever watch the Wizards of Oz? Water melts the witch.”

“Such a marvelous movie!” Starfire exclaims at the same time Garfield blurts-

“Raven takes showers though.”

He immediately buries his forehead into Terra’s hair. Not the best time to sound like I think about Raven showering. He thinks to himself, clenching his eyes tight. He feels his back muscles tighten when he hears Garth chuckle.

“The Wizard of Oz is an exaggeration of the actual truth,” Garth says.

“Being?” Nightwing asks. Aqualad looks at Raven to see if she wants to explain. Raven shrugs.

“You were very eager to explain a few moments ago,” she says, eyebrow arched. Garth chuckles, running a hand through his jet black locks. “Water is considered pure. Dark magic and dark energy travels through it at a much slower rate. It’s why people use water in baptisms and exorcisms. It’s meant to cleanse.”

“Is there anything this guy doesn’t know about?” Garfield mumbles under his breath into Terra’s hair. 

“I’m not great at art history,” Aqualad says. Garfield makes a point to look at Garth’s face when he rolls his eyes.

“So our plan is to have Aqualad throw buckets of water on your brothers?” Garfield asks.

“Our plan-” Raven narrows her eyes at Changeling. “Is to trap my three eldest brothers in crystal cages and detach their spirits from their corporeal forms.” 

“That sounds-” Cyborg starts, scratching at his head. 

“Like murder,” Nightwing finishes. Starfire cringes, placing her fingers on her lips. She looks to Nightwing, then to Raven.

“It’s not,” Raven says, sighing when Nightwing doesn’t immediately relax. “It’s not. My brothers are higher order demons. Their spirits cannot be destroyed.”

Nightwing crosses his arms over his chest. 

“Really Nightwing, do you honestly think we are capable of removing sin from the world?” Raven asks. One of her eyes twitches. 

Raven looks around to her teammates who say nothing. “The answer is a very very clear ‘no.’ My brothers need to exist.”

“The world needs balance,” Aqualad says. Raven nods at him. 

“Something it will not have if my father is released. Which is why we need to separate my brothers’ spirits from their bodies and trap them in clay figurines. This will make it nearly impossible for them to communicate their plans with each other. It will solve our problems for at least another decade.”

“And their bodies?” Nightwing asks. Raven feels her skin prickle at the sharp accusation.

“Are just that,” she replies smoothly. “Bodies. Their bodies only serve as conduits for their immortal spirits. Trigon will eventually find another human woman to manipulate and seduce and my brothers will have a new conduit.”  

“We need to think of another way,” Nightwing bristles, pounding his fist into his hand.  Raven looks at his fist in his hand.

“There is no other way.”

“We can’t just murd-”

“This is not murde-”

“Then why does your plan end with six lifeless bodies. Your brothers have human mothers. They are human.”

“No Nightwing...there is absolutely nothing human about my brothers. If you knew what they were capable of, you would know that. With certainty.” 

“Trigon made them the same way he made you.”

The words shouldn’t have had as much force as they did but Garfield finds himself taking a step back. He can hear everyone’s breath catch in their throat at the same time. Garfield notices Raven’s shoulders shift, almost as if she’s accommodating the weight of the words Nightwing just said. Besides that, she is frozen in place.  She does not look up. She does not acknowledge what was said. Nightwing’s frowning, his fingers twitching against his thighs. It looks like he’s torn between wanting to say something and wanting to stand firm. He doesn’t get the chance to make the decision because Raven turns around, her cloak swirling around her ankles. She starts moving towards the common room doors.

Then suddenly she yelps in a way that makes Garfield’s ears ring. One second she’s surrounded by shocking white light and the next she’s being propelled backwards, forcefully and quickly, into the sofa. Garfield can hear the impact as her back hits the wooden structure underneath the cushions. He winces. He and Starfire are by her side immediately. Nightwing runs in front of her, bo staff gripped tightly in his hand. His eyes are sharp as he looks around the common room for the intruder.

“My brothers aren’t here,” Raven says, wincing a little as Starfire helps her to sit up. Nightwing turns around, eyebrows crinkled. Raven sighs. 

“Star could you-” Raven pauses. Garfield looks down as her throat moves when she swallows deeply and silently. “Could you move one of those crystals?”

And understanding falls over Garfield like an itchy sweater.

“Demons can’t pass through a ring of quartz,” Raven mumbles, looking down. Garfield feels fingers tighten around his heart as Nightwing’s last words are validated. Trigon made them the same way he made you. He wonders how many therapy sessions he himself would need to work through that idea. Aqualad moves to the quartz quickly and tosses the gem across the room.

“You’ll have to-” Raven clears her throat, and she hasn’t looked back up again. “You’ll have to put it back when I leave.”

“Listen Raven-” Nightwing starts.

“I’ll be back,” Raven says, rushing to the roof. Garfield presses his lips firmly together and runs a hand through his hair. No one moves for a couple minutes.

“So...what do we do now?” Terra asks. Garfield rubs the back of his neck. The whole team looks to Nightwing. His face and body are a mix of hard angles as he looks to the doors Raven left out of. His lips a straight line. His shoulders at perfect right angles with his neck. His jaw, somehow even more chiseled. Still Garfield can see traces of regret behind his statuesque frame. Realizing they wouldn’t be getting anything useful from him, Starfire, Cyborg and Changeling look between each other.

“You’re up grass stain,” Cyborg says, drumming his mechanical fingers against his chest. Garfield gapes at him.

“Up for what?”

“You gotta bring her back down,” Cyborg says, as if it’s that simple. Garfield places both hands on his head.

“Bro, what if she’s meditating?”

“Her brothers can attack at any time. We have to prioritize this,” Cyborg says, arms crossed over his chest. Garfield looks towards Terra who has started up a conversation with Aqualad since Raven’s departure. He leans towards his friend.

“Do you really think I am the best person to talk to her about this right now?” Garfield whispers, his voice coming out like little hisses between his tight lips. Cyborg waves him off.

“Her brother was obviously trying to throw you two off your game earlier,” Cyborg shrugs. Garfield crosses his arms across his chest and resists stomping his foot.

“Seriously? Why does everyone keep saying it’s obvious? What am I? Chopped liver.” 

“Of course not friend,” Starfire says, rubbing her hand back and forth over his shoulder. 

“You know you’re the only one who can talk to her when she’s on that roof.”

“That’s not true!” Garfield exclaims. Cyborg presses his lips together and tilts his head from left and right as if contemplating that sentence.

“Okay, we could all probably  reach out to her but you’re usually the only one ballsy enough to do it. She’ll be expecting you.” 

“Well it’s not gonna be me this time,” Garfield says, fingers digging into his elbows. It was awkward enough in the elevator. 

Garfield stares at Cyborg. 

And Cyborg stares at Garfield.

And Starfire stands to the side looking between both of them.

And five minutes later Garfield finds himself on the roof of the tower, the door closing softly behind him. 

Garfield curses and silently prays he’s not interrupting time she needs for herself. Raven’s knees are clutched to her chest, the soft wind is blowing strands of her hair backwards. He’s pondering how to approach her when a strand of her hair catches the light. All together her hair is such a dark purple that it’s almost black but when the strands are separated it’s a plum color. It’s the same color of the plums his mom used to bring him in Africa. They were always so fat and juicy. Garfield licks his lips.

“Are you going to stand there all day?” Raven asks, not bothering to look back at him.

“Was trying to avoid getting thrown off the roof,” Garfield says, placing his hands in his pockets and leaning against the door. Raven finally looks back, and the light is hitting her in a way that tints half her face golden. 

“Haven’t thrown you off the roof, or anywhere for that matter, in years.”

“That’s-” Not true, he wants to say but then he thinks about it. She hasn’t used her powers on him in a while.

“Fair enough,” he says, and walks towards her. He tilts his chin to the spot next to her. “Mind if I sit?”

“It’s not my roof,” Raven shrugs. Garfield presses his lips together tightly but sits down next to her anyways. He mirrors her position, bringing his knees to his chest. He looks out at the glittering water.

“You think my plan is murder?” Raven asks. 

“Don’t think you’re capable of murder,” Garfield says, watching a bird jump around at the shore line. They let the sound of the waves crash over their conversation for a few moments.

“But I’m not comfortable with your plan,” he says and turns his head to look her in the eyes. “And I’m not sure the rest of the team is either.” 

Raven’s lips remain frustratingly straight. Garfield doesn’t break eye contact.

“There’s not another option.” Garfield shakes his head.

“There’s always another option.”

A particular hard wave crashes against the shore. Raven looks away to look at it.

“They won’t hesitate to kill any of you if given the option,” Raven says in a low voice. Garfield watches as she brushes a strand of hair away from her face then looks away again. 

“It’s usually a hazard of the job,” Garfield says, leaning his back against the roof and looking up at the clouds above their heads. Raven looks back at him from her seated position the sunlight behind her is making the edges of her hair glow.

“If your lives are in danger I’m going through with it regardless of what Nightwing, or anyone, thinks.”

Garfield sticks his palm underneath his head and juts his bottom lip out in thought.

“You know Nightwing didn’t mean to insult you.”

“Doesn’t mean I wasn’t.”

Garfield hums. 

“I’m sorry,” he says.

“You don’t have to apologize for Nightwing.”

 “Well yeah but I meant for making things uncomfortable in the elevator and for being so crude.”

“My brother made them uncomfortable,” Raven says, getting up from her seat.

“So you admit it was uncomfortable?” Garfield asks, grinning. He shields his eyes with his hand so he can get a better look at her face. She gives him a deadpan expression, then juts her chin towards the entrance to the Tower.

“Let’s get back inside.” 

Garfield walks in front of Raven once they get off the elevator to the common room and quickly removes the stone just as she’s about to cross the barrier.

“Okay, let’s say my plan is murder. Let’s say that that is something that you think I am capable of-” Raven begins. Garfield cringes. Cyborg shoots him a look.

“Hey! I got her back downstairs,” Garfield says, hands up in front of him.

“Raven-” Nightwing says through a sigh. She puts a hand up.

“Let’s say my brothers, who have stood behind every person who has done any sickening thing in this world, are like me. Let’s say these men who have raped, murdered, robbed, are anything like me-”

“Your brothers are nothing like you. I misspoke-”’

Raven puts her hand up again. “What is your plan?”

“We keep them in a similar room to the one we kept you in on your sixteenth birthday.” 

Raven purses her lips. “I don’t know what you are expecting from this experiment but I would be remiss not to remind you that my brothers’ entire identities are tied to how many people they can make fall from grace,” Raven pauses, then sighs. “But I admire your infallible, perhaps misplaced, hope that there is something good even in the depths of Hell...maybe I’m too close to the situation to see properly. I am not too proud to admit that.” 

She shakes her head. “I trust your gut Nightwing. It hasn’t led us astray yet. If you think that we can do this some other way. If you are convinced-” Raven hesitates, biting her lip. She looks Nightwing in the eyes. “I have followed you blindly to the ends of the Earth before.”

Nightwing lets those words settle on his shoulders. “I didn’t mean to say that you are anything like your brothers. But maybe-” Nightwing pauses. He places a hand on Raven’s shoulders. “Maybe they are, even if only a little bit, like you. Anyone who has the potential to be like you should be given the chance.”

“So be it,” Raven says, bowing her head, and moves to the table fingering her crystals.  

“You’ll all have to wear these. It will protect you from demonic influence.”

“I think we are forgetting one dragon sized problem,” Cyborg says.

“I’ll worry about Malchior,” Raven says. Garfield clears his throat.

“Actually Rae-” he begins. Raven looks up at him and he messes with the collar of his uniform. “I think I can help with Malchior.”

“Unless you’ve been hiding your knowledge of archaic magic-” Garfield rolls his eyes. 

“I think I can turn into a dragon,” he interrupts. She stutters and he has to stop himself from grinning.

“You can- I- what?” 

“Why haven’t you told me this baby?” Terra asks. Garfield shrugs.

“It’s new. I thought I could only turn myself into animals but apparently mythological creatures are not off the table.”

“How did you find this out friend?” Starfire asks, eyes wide and shiny. Garfield blushes and plays with the hairs at the nape of his neck.

“I may have turned into a unicorn.” Cyborg snorts.  Raven has to resist smiling when Garfield’s cheeks tint brown with a blush.

“Why would you-” Terra begins but things start to connect for Raven.

“Jordan,” Raven says in a low voice. Garfield peaks up at her through his lashes. “She loves unicorns.” 

Garfield nods, keeping eye contact with Raven. For once it doesn’t make the air around them too thick to breathe. 

“Well. I’ll have to be at your side at all times. Malchior will not resist an opportunity to change your form again. These crystals will protect you from my brothers but not Malchior’s magic. Aqualad can only be in so many places and he can only provide a temporary barrier. I’m going to have to shield your mind.” 

“Woah. I don’t think that’s safe,” Terra says, standing in front of Garfield with her hands up as if forming a protective barrier around him. “What happens if you get knocked out?”

Raven bites her lip, contemplating this. Garfield moves in front of Terra, his back to Raven.

“Even if I’m not fighting with Malchior directly, I’ll be in the same field. It’s better I’m close to Raven so I have the added protection of the mental shield.” 

“How about you sit this one out?” Terra asks, hesitantly, in a voice so low that Raven was sure Terra already knew the answer would be ‘no’ before she even asked the question. Garfield, in typical Garfield fashion, does not get defensive. He chuckles and grips his girlfriend’s shoulders lightly.

“Can superheroes do that now?” he directs the question to her but then swirls around to his teammates. “Cause let me tell you, there are about a million battles with Plasmus that I would’ve sat out.” 

Terra sighs. 

“We’ll make sure Aqualad is by us too. That way if I get knocked out, he can put up a barrier quickly and Garfield can escape somewhere.” 

“I want to be by you too,” Terra says and Nightwing immediately shakes his head.

“We’ll need at least four of us to fight the six brothers.”

“Four brothers,” Raven corrects.

“Four?” Starfire asks. “But there are seven sins?”

“My brothers weren’t all born in the same year. Currently sloth is an infant and Greed is around 2.”

“What?” Cyborg asks. Raven shrugs.

“Many women get a feeling about how evil my father is before he can impregnate them. Gluttony is only eight years old but I still wouldn’t underestimate him.”

“So Envy, Wrath and Lust are the only fully grown adults?” 

Raven nods. 

“So-”

Red lights swallow up the common room. Raven curses, quickly using her powers to string fragments of crystals around her teammates' necks. 

“We don’t have time. Remember, the goal is to get them in crystal cages.”

[alex-fucking-dempsey]

SPOILERS FOR 13 REASONS WHY SEASON 4 EPISODE 1: WINTER BREAK

i was high almost the whole time this is a reaction ig sjsjsjs

Clay is narratating baby boy

Who tf died?

I called it monty fucking lived I FUCKING *flips tables*

So winston shut the fuck up if alex fucking goes to jail 🔪🔪🔪

Monty is horrfying omfg also the way hes talking abt the racial system

period tell him clay

aYO WHAT THE FUCK CLAY??? Is monty alive???

Clay looks so good shut the fuck up everyone

Dylan Minette pls sir get in guts

Clay is going insane lowkey scared

I miss Ryan Shaver n Scott Reed, end post

CLAY PUT THE GLASS AWAY MF

clay is too pretty im-

i hope tyler is okay ;-;

They are dating iM IM SORRY????

i just realize wtf is sheri? Where has been😭

clay lowkey reminds of tony

Tyler :(

tyler and clays friendship>>>

"ass shoes" - jess

Shes MOVING????

"Clay-cray" "clazy" the way i wanna marry Jessica

The way im high as hell the monty illusions i hate em

Alex dad >>>>

The only cop i stan

quick break: black lives matter.

okay Tony serve the looks

Where has justin been

ZACH MY BOY I LITERALLY LOVE HIM

PLEASE SIR LET ME LOVE YOU

ohhhhh justin was OHHHH

Okay but im zach showing up eveeywhere high as hell

justin n clay >>>>

Matt >>>>

jess n justin >>>

god i love this show sm sm

WE BITCH WHO IS WE

tony = tylers mom

Zach n alex stay a million feet apart for no reason

wAIT THIS DUDE

did he replace scott where is scott fuck u

US??? BITCH YOUR NEW GO AWAY WHO IS US

cookies: stan

alex is so nervous

oMG TYLER N NEW GUY HAVE VEEN CHILLING

I love zachs vibes

AGAIN WHO TF IS WE ANI SHUT UP

oh new guys name is charlie sisjsj

oH MY

justin what ;-;

you know what you tell her honey :(

I feel you lowkey jess :(

mERRY CHIRSTMASSSSSS

oh no ;-;

iF ALEX IS BEIBG LINKED BACK TO THW MURDER BY THIS STUPID COP IMA MD RIOT

alex looks so good rn sir pls

everyone: alex dont say anything

alex: SO FUCK YOU-

why does bill looknso diifferent

winston: mourning over his bf :(

winston needs to stoo being weird

Justin n clay getting new phones so sweet

Clay looks so good in that pic ;-;

why does everyone look so goddamn goos in the season wtf

hEY QUICK MF QUESTION DOES CLAY FUCKING DIE 🔪

ani n jess would make good friends with Sheri :(

I am one of the few who does like ani ngl

Justin serves looks sir pls

i swear i lean toward women but yall 😭the men in this mf show

Clay quit being awkward

I want ani and jess to live together

she best see her mom every weekend

sHE SAID: HER CURFEW IS 5 MF 🔪

does ani not like clay????

Yall jess best not be starting a forest fire

I forgot ani and bryce were fucking

ani is thicc lowkey

Yall i have work im upset

Is that the same whisper sound from assassins creed

WTF JESS SEEING BRYCE SCARED ME JESUS

ayo what the fuck?

yes jessica you fucking tell him

wtf is metal detector gonna do bro

I hate boland anyways

wINSTON QUIT LOOKING SO MF SUS

Estella is so pretty

Who is she Jess??

What???

Im confused

Zach >>>>

zach breathes and im all "wow so hot"

is no one going to college???

wINSTON GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM TYLER 🔪🔪🔪🔪

you getting cut if you are mean to my boy

thank god for ani

Fuck winston this lil mf gives me the heebegeebes

justins going to college imnso proud

oh shit winston is fine tho

also wtf do you mean it can kill you ima mess this mf up

wHY DID JESS GO BACK WITH- ANI PLEASE SHUT UP

okay ani pls dont call clay out (she wants a knife to her face)

poor clay has to pretend hes okay for everyone else

Im tired of seeing monty beibg a creep

Ani: *whispers* clay no wait-

LEAVE ESTELLA ALONE PERIOD

fuck off yall bitches

yEAH CHARLIE YOU TELL HER

who the fuck ONG

RHATS MONTYS SISTER WTF

monty n hannah n bryce: haunts ppl

CLAY GO RUN UP ON THOSE MFS

yall mfs really wanna box HURT CLAY-

OMG CLAY IS SO HOT PUNCH THAT MF

ani n clay: know who killed bryce

Also ani: THEY DONT WANNA BELIEVE HE KILLED BRYCE

im sorry???

tell ani clay :(

wINSTON DONT FUCKING TOUCH TYLER I WILL WHOOP UR MF ASS 🔪🔪🔪🔪

zACH N ALEX ZACH N ALEX EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP

alex: worried abt alex

zach quit being mean to ur bf

zach is being so inconsiderate eat ass bro

HES GONNA TAKE ALEX OUT OKAY NVM I LOVE HIM

:( they still wont take them back annoying

justin dont-

Snitches get stitches end up in ditches qnd get no bitches bro you know the code

okay clay dont get all pissy bro

that was a weird transition

EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP IM LITERALLY I HAVE TEARS IN MY EYES ITS SCOTT OH MY GOD MY BOY

i had no idea he was a senior why didnt they say that

oh ny god this explains the absence of ryan then ig but i miss scott more than anything ong

This confirms clays in love with scott i dont make the rules

LOOK AT HOW SWEET SCOTT IS BEING ONG EVERYONE I LOVE HIM FUCK

clays jeans >>>

i was expecting hannah tbh not ani

omg no clay :( u cant save everyone- it would have been more powerful coming from hannah lowkey disapointed

clay is finally getting help, proud

Clay looks so fine omg im sorry but he looks great

everyone in this seasn is looking so fine wtf

Winston is so pretty :(

he rlly liked monty my heart lowkey is broken

wHAT THE FUCK ZACH

the WAY ZAHC JUST SAVED ALEXS LIFE

WHAT THE FUCK

IM SO CONFUSED

HE JUST KISSED HIM

ZACH SHUT THE FUCK UP

no :(

Im going to sob

I have a feeling theyll kiss again and itll be on zachs volition

The anxiety i havfor alex

Also lowkey zach kissed back

the fucks i give ima write so many fics istg yall

brb ima go get high rq

they are gonna trace it all back to clay im so nervous

tyler best keep his mouth shut

Clay is so funny sjsjsjs hes so scarcastic like okay emo edge lord

season 2 is still superior i stand by that statement

[justjessame]

Avery Emerson Clay: Hook, Line, and ... Have Y'all Ever Been Bait?!

My new schedule began the next morning, tempered only by waking up in Jake’s arms, and followed by a lengthy shower that was definitely Jake’s way of negotiating for me to behave in the way my dad and brother expected me to. Trust me, if Jake was willing to wake me up this way every damn day, I’d be more than willing to go along with Daddy and Clay’s stupid script with less bitching than my tiny body would put out naturally.

If you’d ever seen Jake Jensen fully naked and covered in bubbles, which you won’t because I’d beat you bloody, you’d understand my compulsion to go with the flow.

While being put into a more malleable state, I wasn’t completely devoid of my own personality. I pulled a few choices for attire for my first day as bait. Since I’d be jogging, then running errands to the office, and - God help us all, shopping, I would need a few wardrobe changes.

“Do you really think that is a good idea?” Jake was barely containing his laughter, and I didn’t really want him to. I was pulling on my first costume, the athletic look, and I knew exactly what he was talking about.

I turned to face him and made sure I was wearing the most exaggerated perky look I could force my face into. “Now, Jake, isn’t the point to make Maxi-poo grab my tiny ass?” The shirt was tight and bedazzled with the word “SNACK” across my tits, it was a joke clearly, something my mom had grabbed on one of her and Dad’s many trips. Something NO ONE ever expected me to actually wear in public. “I have another one in here that says ‘JUICY’, if you think that’s better?” I bit my tongue and he shook his head laughing before coming close enough to kiss me.

“You’re incredible, Avery,” I was on tiptoes to keep contact, but Jake was helpful and cupped my ass through the very tight shorts I’d paired the stupid shirt with and lifted me so I could wrap myself around him. “I’m sure your dad and Clay are going to pop a blood vessel between them, but I think you’re fucking amazing.”

With that in mind, I grabbed my earbuds, my cell phone, and headed off for my extra dose of jogging that I fucking hated. Dad stared at my outfit, but refrained from offering any feedback while Clay lamented the narrow choices that it gave for hiding the tracking device and bug to keep me company.

“So I get to keep Jake inside me all day?” I caught Jake’s eye and grinned at how red and purple he could get in public. “Maybe next time lead with that when selling the op to me.”

“Ave,” Clay was tucking the earwig into my earbud, making them one, “maybe try to keep Jake alive by NOT making him a target for Dad’s fucking rage?” His voice was quiet enough that I was fairly certain Dad couldn’t hear him. “You like him, right?”

I sighed, “yeah, I do.” Which sucked, because pissing Dad off was pretty fucking fun, but getting Jake maimed would suck far worse. “Alright, so I jog down the hill and around the park and then back up the bike path,” I thought the best way to fix shit was to pretend I didn’t say anything bad at all. “If I have to do it more days than usual, I don’t see the point in diverting from the same course.”

“Right,” Dad offered, grabbing my water bottle from the fridge and handing it to me. “While you jog, keep the music to a lower level than eardrum bursting, that way not only Jake can hear you, alright?”

I nodded and he walked me out. Dad stayed with me in the driveway while I stretched, talking me through the finer points of some of the self defense shit that I hadn’t touched in awhile. “But I can’t incapacitate him, right?” I groaned, touching my toes. “The point is to get Max to take me.”

“Take you, but not hurt you, Avery.” Dad stepped closer to me. “Make sure he knows you're a Clay, princess.” With a kiss to my forehead and a pat on my back I was off on my run.

Nothing happened during my jog, or my shopping trip. Aside from mind numbing boredom. I hated to shop. Unless it was for my pets or for a purpose. Mindless shopping because I could? Boring. Glancing at the files I had on the passenger seat of my car, I felt another sigh build. Last errand on my list for day one of my ‘routine’, Guardian Incorporated.

“You’re doing great, sweetheart,” Dad’s voice cut in, as I moved through traffic. Throughout the day, Dad, Clay, and Jake had given me mini pep talks. They weren’t as helpful as they hoped to be, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t tell them that. “One more stop and then you can come home.”

“Yep,” I agreed, pulling into the garage after being nodded through the security gate. “One more chore then fetch and yoga.”

Soft chuckles broke through my earbud and I smiled. “Never thought I’d hear you sound happy about the yoga, princess.” The chuckles belonged to all three men in my life, but the comment was fully Daddy.

“Yeah, well don’t hold me to it for long.” I muttered. Grabbing the files and my employee badge, I beeped my car locked and headed for the bank of elevators in the employee garage.

The first couple of days were simple and non-eventful. I jogged. I shopped. I did errands to GI. We added stops and errands that made sense.

Rose was back at work. She didn’t say a word about the missing practice dummy or about my new schedule, which says a lot about how long she’d been with our family.

Jake had moved into my room, there seemed to be NO point in keeping up some stupid pretense in having his things in a separate room, and forcing Rose to keep it in the same state as a room that actually had a person staying in it.

It was a regular day, at least my NEW regular. Wake up wrapped up in the warmth that was Jake Jensen, get a hot shower to make my day a little easier to face, then dress for a jog that I’d rather not fucking deal with - with an earbud in my head with music and three men giving me their version of motivational advice.

Once I was miserable from the exertion, I’d come home for a less pleasant shower, redress in my next costume change, this time for mindless shopping and whatever bullshit “look at me” errands the men in my family devised for Max to find me doing. A bundle of “files” for good measure next to me in the car, and away I’d go, my earwig in place.

Jake, Daddy, and Clay would take turns to tell me how good I was doing or tell me how fabulous I was in all ways shapes and forms. I’d maneuver through traffic and I’d work through the stores and the shiny happy people that I was supposed to enjoy dealing with on the daily. Spoiler: I wasn’t enjoying dealing with these people on the daily.

Off to GI, where I’d be waved through the gate, onto the employee garage, into the employee elevators and up through the floors. Dropping a file here, there and everywhere until I was back in my car and home. Except, today, I made a different choice.

“What if I don’t park in the garage?” I had to ask out loud, the earwig wasn’t a mindreader, thank fucking God. No one answered, so I went on with my idea. “If I go in through the main entrance, maybe Max will see me. I mean it’s not like he has the same access as I do.” Fucking lightbulb moment.

“Try it,” Clay, the voice of reason, or at this point fucking try anything. “Give it a shot, Ave.”

“I plan on it, bro.” I was pulling up to the curb, hoping that I had the necessary shit for the parking meter. “Let’s hope I don’t get a fucking ticket, OK?”

The light chuckles told me they were tense, but hopeful. Could family members and your boyfriend really be hopeful for your possible kidnapping? Yes, I figured. Yes, they could. I grabbed the files and some change from the cupholder and clipped my badge onto the top folder. Here goes nothing.

I was waiting at the first bank of elevators, holding the files and doing the mental math for how long the meter would give me before I’d have a ticket to pay, when I felt it. The tingle that tells you someone is paying attention to you. Close attention.

The mantra started in my head. “Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look.” The worst thing I could do was look, right? I mean if Max was actually here, looking would be the tale tell sign that I KNEW.

The elevator dinged open and I stepped onto it, alone. And as the doors were about to slide shut, a voice called out asking for me to hold it. I just managed, and the person who stepped inside was so benign that I doubted highly that it was the Max that my brother was looking for. This man? This linen suited, perfectly coifed, somehow pansy-assed looking man was a black ops burning psycho? REALLY?

“Do you mind pressing 3 for me?” He asked and I shook my head and tapped the button. “Thank you, Miss?”

“You’re welcome.” I stepped to the right, putting a bit more space between us and focusing on the files in my hand.

“That’s not very friendly,” I didn’t answer, but he didn’t really need me to. “I’d think that the daughter of Guardian Incorporated’s founder would want to put on a more welcoming demeanor for a prospective client.”

I looked up to see him staring down at me with a hint of a smirk on his lips. “I’d expect a prospective client to know that the daughter of the founder is in disgrace right now, so pandering to prospective clients isn’t high on her to-do list.”

“Touche, Miss Clay.” He gave a small tilt of his head, point to me. “I guess I missed that tidbit. Whatever could such a striking young woman do to fall into ‘disgrace’ was it?”

I moved slightly closer to him and tilted my head closer too. “I tasered an employee's balls when he muttered ‘nepotism’ at me a time too many.” A shrug of my shoulder and I moved back to my original position. “Now I work from home, unless I’m forced to bring paperwork in that can’t be faxed or digitally sent.”

He was grinning at me with real amusement now. “Pity, I’m sure you add more than just beauty to the workplace, Miss Clay.”

My floor dinged and I exited the elevator. “It was nice to meet you, Mister -”

“Oh, I think we’ll meet again real soon, Miss Clay.” He was fixing his cuffs and I noted that one hand was wearing a leather glove. “Very soon.”

“I can’t be completely sure,” I muttered once the elevator doors were shut and it started to move to the next floor. “But I’m pretty confident that Max and I just shared an elevator.”

[ruthlessnessisyourdesire-archive]

Anonymous said: 

What are some blogs that you consider part of your rp family?

> Aww anon this is a really cool question. Well I have a particular group of people that are pretty much my always follow. I know people do those follower forever but I haven’t done any before. I get overwhelmed as it is with the amount of people who follow me but some blogs that I will never not be following are: 

@coffee-and-guns​ @theyearningtofly​ Uh hello. Have you seen the babes Lotus and Asuka? Feli has some dolls right here and I stan them to death. They don’t get the interaction or attention they deserve and I will fight until they do. Lotus is 60′s pre-tumblr babe. I’m talking OTP from the onset. He literally will destroy the city of Detroit for her. He will go to hell and back for her. It’s amazing how much this ship has taken over my life but our crazy amount of verses and aus is very telling. We have a ton of plot. Lotixty reigns supreme. And Asuka is my Connor’s waifu as well as Callum’s wife. Best babe.  @diivinerose​ Daniela is not just one beautiful muse. She is so diverse in her three verses that she is pretty much a multi. Curly is my chaos doll but also a shy bean with such great ideas. Our aus are another wild treasure trove. Each verse has something favorite in it. Each rendition I love and DD60 considers Main D his true love. Mad D is the other half of the toxicity known as Corla with my boy Corvus. The ship of Main D and Connor was a surprise in the beginning. I didn’t expect it but I’m glad it happened. Cause I just love her clinical coolness against this supposed cool machine who has more emotion than he should now as a deviant. Best Babe.  @stayhuman-genevieve​ @leaderawakened​ @pathdiverted​ Gen is amazing. Markus is tops. 52 is a babe. OK but also Amanda, Louis, Anarchy the list goes on. All of these muses are amazing and it’s just such a privilege to write with such a wonderfully developed original in Genevieve. She is 60′s weak spot. The ruthless one gave up Cyberlife for Gen. That takes some doing. But they have a ton of shit they went through including a terrorist takeover by that aforementioned Anarchy. We have such great plot ideas and I can’t get enough of them. Main Connor and Markus for my gal too. Main Markus all around. I love him damn it. Genevieve is also my Connor’s waifu. DD60 on the other hand.... just don’t let him alone with Corrupted Gen. OTP status right here. Best Babe. 

@dcwnxism​ @soulxism​​ @lethalxarsenal​ @wintcrcoded​ @resentfuldrcgon​ OK but here the list goes on as well. All of these muses canon and original are just amazing. Iron is the queen of angst. Hands down the best at making me cry. One of these days I’m gonna get her back for all the pain. lol Not only is Nines (now known as Cassius) my canon RK900 but my 60′s exclusive 900 bro. That took some doing let me say. Aiden is 60′s soulmate. Sixden is a ship I never expected but it snuck up on me. I love him. I love Lexi so much. She needs more attention. The one Gavin my Connor will put up with.... as an enemy of course. Oh and WuXian? Caleb loves him already. They will shine bright. Best Babe. 

@creatorofclay​

Did somebody ask for the only Kamski of my life? Well look no further than Kam/Ash/Clay right here not only making me appreciate Elijah but turning me to liking him as a character. I didn’t think much of him when I played the game. But let me tell you waifu right here writes him with such humanity (even when he’s being an ass) that gives such a new perspective. 60 is still on that creator nonsense but it’s in the demon au where he gets to shine with his affection or rather verbal brawls effectively with Elijah. My exclusive Kamski. Don’t @ me. Best Babe. 

@rk800isalive​ @imabittercoffee​

Waifu spotted! My platonic soulmate right here. Eme is someone who gave me a wonderful springboard for Sixty to get his hate on with Connor. That hate took a turn I never expected early on. These two wound up getting over their altercation at the tower. They wound up becoming siblings. The only Connor that 60 considers a brother in his main verse. Let me say the work up for this was some good old work. We wrote so many things with them and still do. I adore their human au. Let’s not forget Sierra. I love this bitch. She’s such a contrast to Caleb but man I’m digging it. Also she is the unofficial goth wife of Corvus but you’ll never hear it from him. Or...will you? thinksmirk Best Babe.

@et-liliium​ @musesdivine​

My baby Cherry has wonderful original dolls and I still miss them. BUT I’m super excited to see Lily on her own blog and my babe slowly getting back into the fandom. Sixty is looking to corrupt that sweet flower but it’s Connor that is absolutely in awe of her. He is in love. Let’s not forget Lily being the good to Corvus’ bad. We got some good shit planned for them. She’s the android Suzanne pretty much ;) Seriously check out these wonderful female muses. They are amazing and deserve all the love in the world. Best Babe.

@robobiitch​

Let me throw some love on Moe right here. Yall wanna see full on enemies with Sixty? Look no further but man we have some good ass plot with assassin au with a little dose of angst. Lust already hates/loves his brother-in-law in the other demon verse. The shenanigans are bound for some good shit. A wonderful Connor and that’s the bottom line cause ruthless sixty said so. Literally such a fun and cool person. I love plotting and just hanging. Best Babe. 

@anderson-residence​

Have you seen these muses? I love every single one and Alley always has something in my inbox that either makes me laugh or worry. lol Sending YK to Corvus is probably not the best idea but I love it. I love chatting about aus, plots and everything in between. Each muse is one I enjoy seeing and I really want to interact more with all of them. Sixty just wants to push Hank’s buttons and probably wants to kill Connor but.... lol Best Babe.

@rxseguided​ @repliicantceo​

A literal bab right here. Jesse, Eli and Elliot are all originals that bring so much more to the plate. If you haven’t seen Jesse in action what are you doing? The evil bitch’s daughter herself? Well then sign me up. Cupcake is a doll and her muses are chef kiss. Got it? Good. Lust loves his angel mom but DD is also in love. ;) Elliot is legit one of Corvus’ official cronies. That’s an honor in the worst way possible. Gotta love that human sk verse with Corvesse. Best Babe.

@triptocained​ @syntheticisolation​

Let me tell you all a story about a fed drenched in heavy rain..... No this isn’t a pun. I swear but Norman is literally a highlight and I’m looking forward to that enemies shit with Sixty. Bringing Jayden into the DBH universe is the best damn thing to happen. Danny brings him to life perfectly. I haven’t seen anybody else do this much justice. Norman is yours alone and deserves all the attention. Also let’s not forget Richard. Look I love this knife happy bastard. 60 still wants to show off Monica but he can wait as long as it takes. Always a pleasure to see on my dash. I’m in love. Best Babe. 

@fearlessandchaotic​

Original babes need more love and Hana his no different. Ely has such development and constant shenanigans I love to see on my dash. It’s always wonderful to see but also Sixty is over the moon for Hana. He hates to admit it but the best thing was coming back to his fiery fox. These two have such chemistry with their ruthless selves they’d sit around and poke fun at people instead of working on a case. Seriously go give the female muses their due love damn it.  Best Babe. 

@vexeddetective​

Vex is a precious babe that I adore the hell out of. Sixvin is here fam. Sixty likes to push Gavin’s buttons. We all know how that shit goes down. I will legit protec this babe. Not Gavin tho. He can fight his own battles and most likely end up wrestling with Sixty. That might end up messy good. Also Lucifer.... whenever he pops up my gal Jade is just: well he’s tall and scary. She probably secretly has a soft spot for him. We’ll have to find out. Please go follow for these two muses. You know you want to bishes. Best Babe. 

@swat-cptn-allen​ @det-gavin-reed​

My canon Allen right here. There is no one else who puts this much love into this muse. Webby is a literal precious bean. Sixty loves and hates Joseph. DD is definitely sof for him. Let that sof boy show his dom ;) I love the way Allen is given more development and his own unique persona from the little we see in game. I never imagined liking this character that much but Webby certainly has made me a fan of him. Please go give my canon Allen some love! Best Babe. 

@ambitiouslyruthless​ @fragmented-personage​

Goov is a babe. I have followed them for a while now and Vius was always a unique bab to see on my dash. Sixty still wants to pounce on him. Results may vary into ruthless territory BUT let him love on this original muse. He deserves more attention and love. Let him be that bastard to Gavin. Such a unique portrayal of Gavin that is totally one of my faves to see. I’m excited for the werewolf/vamp thread. Also can’t wait to see what happens with them in their main verses. Best Babe. 

@thirum-stained​

Always a delight on my dash and one of the earliest people to give my blog here a chance. Luna is a doll who has so many amazing muses and not just in the DBH fandom. Vanessa is Sixty’s waifu. She snuck up on him by surprise. He never imagined to fall in love but he sure did here. I adore all of the muses you tackle. I want to interact more with all of them. They’re forever follows on my dash for a reason. Best Babe. 

@theveryfirst​

This is my one and only Chloe. My literal canon babe. No one else compares and Heather is an all around sweetheart with amazing ideas. The plotting is always something I look forward to as well as just being able to chat. One of the earliest to follow me and still going strong on that forever follow list. Sixty adores Chloe. He feels for her more than he’d ever realize. Until he does. Corvus is still waiting to gets his hands on this angelic android. Best Babe.

> There are so many of you who follow that are so talented. It’s near impossible to give love to you all but there are some new babes who just followed that I’m looking forward to writing with. <3

[lovemesomesurveys]

Have you ever drank ale?: Yes. Blech. I was never a fan of any type of beer. Do you know how to use Braille?: Nope. Do you know anyone named Dale?: Ha, for some reason I’m reminded of this kid in my kindergarten class named Dale who always got in trouble.  Do you like the name Gale?: Ehh. Have you ever been to jail?: Nope.

Have you ever eaten kale?: No. It doesn’t sound appealing to me. Are you female or male?: Female. Do you bite your nails?: I’m always picking at them and use nail clippers as well.  Is your skin pale?: Yes. Have you ever seen a Quail (the bird)?: Yeah. When you use stairs, do you usually hold the rail?: I can’t take the stairs. Have you ever eaten a snail?: Nooooo. Do you like walking on nature trails?: Nah. They’re usually not very accessible for one, but also I’m just not a nature-y kind of gal. Have you ever worn a veil?: Nope. Have you ever been stung by a bee?: No, thankfully. Do you know any Tai Chi?: No. Do you know anyone with the name/nickname Dee?: No. Are the best things in life really free?: There’s a lot of things that are. Do you like the show "Glee"?: I never got into it. Has anyone ever kicked you in the knee?: No. Do you know anyone named Lee?: Nope. Have you taken any other surveys made by me?: I don't know who you are. What movie has the characters 'The Knights who say "Ni"'?: I don't know. Right now, do you have to pee?: Nope. What's a movie you'd like to see?: I was looking forward to seeing A Quiet Place 2 and the new Candyman. I’m hoping they get released early to rent at home. Have you ever planted a tree?: Nope. Have you ever made anything with clay?: No. Has today been a good day?: It’s only 4 in the morning. We’ll see how it goes. Do you like the band The Fray?: Yeah. Are you wearing anything that's gray?: Yeah, gray leggings.  Have you ever fed a horse hay?: I think so when I was a kid. Do you like the name Jay?: Sure. I have an uncle named Jay. Are you more likely to text "Okay", "OK" or just "K"?: I always type “Okay.”  Is your birthday in May?: Nope. Do you ever pray?: Yes, but not as often as I should. :/ Do you know anyone named Ray?: Yes. Do you know anyone named Trey?: No. Do you often pass the blame?: I’m quick to blame myself. Have you ever called a woman a "dame"?: No. Would you rather have fortune or fame?: Fortune. What is your favorite video game?: Mario Bros anything just about. Do you remember the actor Corey Haim?: Yeah. What is something you think is lame? (This survey, perhaps? haha): Me. What's your name?: Stephanie. In your pocket, do you have a dime?: I don’t have pockets on any of my leggings, which is all I wear. I never used pockets anyway. Do you like the taste of lime?: I like lime juice or lime flavored things, but I don’t eat actual limes. Have you ever seen a mime (in real life)?: No. Do you think it's stupid that I'm making my questions rhyme?: I didn’t notice, ha. When did you last check the time?: A bit ago. Have you ever gone to a bar?: Yeah. Do you have a car?: Nope. I don’t drive. Have you traveled very far?: The farthest was from California to Georgia.  Do you keep spare change in a jar?: No. Would you like to go to Mars?: No. Just the idea of outer space terrifies me. Have you ever wished on a shooting star?: I’ve never seen one. Have you ever drank beer?: Yeah. Even though I really didn’t care for it. What is your dream career?: I don’t have one. Have you ever seen a deer (in real life)?: Yes. What is your biggest fear?: Death, disease, bugs, clusters. <<< Those are a few of mine as well. A couple more are never getting better/getting worse and never doing anything with my life and just wasting away. These past few years have been exactly that... Have you ever seen the show "Top Gear"?: Nope. Right now, what can you hear?: An ASMR video, my fan, and myself typing. What is your age?: 30. Have you ever kept a pet in a cage?: We used a crate for my doggo when she was a puppy at night and if we had to leave. We never left her in there for a long time. Have you ever used a tire gauge?: Nope. Have you ever performed on stage?: Yeah, for choir and band concerts. What's your hourly wage? (If you have a job.): I don’t have a job.  Have you ever seen a bear (in real life)?: At a zoo. Are you currently sitting in a chair?: Nope, I’m on my bed. Have you ever played Truth or Dare?: Yes. Do you like to go to the fair?: Nah. Although, fair food is delicious. What color is your hair?: I dye it red, but naturally it’s dark brown. When did you last eat a pear?: Uhhh. I think I tried it when I was a kid before.  Do you like your steak cooked rare?: I don’t like steak at all. Do you often curse/swear?: No. What is your favorite kind of shoe to wear?: Adidas. Are you wearing anything that's blue?: Nope. Have you ever played the game Clue?: Yeah, many times. I also recently played a Golden Girls version haha. When did you last have the flu?: Last year. Have you ever eaten glue?: Ew, no. I liked doing the thing where you let it dry on your hands and then peel it off, though. Are you a Jew?: No. Have you ever looked at a cow and said moo?: lol I probably have when driving past them. Do you tend to buy clothes used or new?: I just buy new clothes. Do you like Pepe Le Pew?: Nah. If you have Netflix, how many items are in your queue?: I don’t have anything in my queue. Do you ever make your own stew?: No. Are all your answers to these questions true?: Yes. I have no reason to lie. Have you ever been to the zoo?: Yes.

[nneefa]

fic: linda

fandom: xiaolin showdown

characters: raimundo/kimiko, clay, omi, the tohomikos

summary: if raimundo hadn't known kimiko better, he'd think she was fishing for a compliment, given that omi and clay had just sung her praises. as it was, he did know her better, especially if the glint in her blue eyes was anything to go by, and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

notes: ooh, boy. let's see where to start: 1) "linda" means "beautiful" in portuguese; 2) the park our teen kiddos are at is "Shinjuku Gyoen." i highly recommend y'all google it. it's very beautiful; 3) kimiko's yukata is based off this image; 4) this is like headcanons gone wild, but most importantly, credit goes to @sunbirddtellsstories for "Tomoko." i can only hope i portrayed her the way she was intended to be. 5) dedicated to the anon that asked me for raikim. i hope to the heavens that i portrayed the characters accurately.

[[MORE]]

❀

Raimundo barely had time to brace himself as the chilly spring air cut past the defenses of his layered clothing, right down to his bones.

He fought the urge to shiver as he sunk lower and lower into his coat, pulling his skull cap further over his ears before burrowing his hands into the safety of his coat pockets. He watched Clay shake like a pair of maracas on the ground, Omi pressed close to his side, like a squirrel clinging to a tree, in an effort to provide him warmth. He almost wanted to join them, anything to get rid of the goosebumps settling on his skin, but there was hardly any room on the blanket they sat on, with Clay's massive body taking up more than half the space, and somebody had to keep an eye out for Mr. Tohomiko for when he came back. The elderly man had insisted on getting them all hot drinks while they waited for the girls to show.

If only Kimiko were here; she could heat things up in an instant.

Speaking of Kimiko… leave it to her to take a long time, especially when this whole thing was her idea. Okay, maybe it wasn't her idea exactly - more like her sister's - but still. Japan was ridiculously cold. Where he's from, anything below sweltering was foreign, and even if he did spend the better part of three years training in the mountains of China, that didn't mean he was used to it.

Raimundo breathed a deep breath, watching it fade in the frigid air, and turned his gaze away from his friends to survey the park they were in.

Tokyo really was a beautiful city, especially in the spring. The only things he'd seen since their last visit were skyscrapers, shops, and shrines, and while those were nice and all, they paled in comparison to the city's blooming cherry blossom trees.

Sakura, Mr. Tohomiko had called them, stretched as far as the eye could see, the pink and white flowers breathtakingly beautiful against the bright blue sky, like something straight from a painting. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people, families and couples and loners alike, scattered across the large expanse of the park with blankets and baskets and cameras, some seated in the sun having picnics, some relaxed beneath the shade of the trees on the petal-laden ground.

There were women, children, and even some men dressed in elaborately designed kimono for the occasion, though the bulk of them wore regular, civilian clothes, and he wondered briefly if Kimiko would be wearing hers. (He quickly banished the thought). Raimundo was pretty sure he saw at least three ponds on their walk across the park, two different sections of landscape with their own sets of flora and fauna, a pavilion located across a bridge, and from their spot beneath a Sakura tree he could even see a tower in the distance.

If it weren't for the fact that he was waiting for the others, he definitely would've gone exploring by now. What did Kimiko call this festival again? Hanabi? Hanami? Hababi? Whatever! It was nothing like he'd ever seen, and he was thankful the Tohomikos were kind enough to let them join their family outing.

Though I'd truly be thankful if they hurried up, he thought to himself as another gust of wind blew through the park. Any longer out here and I'll be a human popsicle.

Just as he was about to ask Clay and Omi to make room for him, he saw Mr. Tohomiko slip through a gap in the crowd, carrying two cup holders full of piping hot drinks. Raimundo immediately moved after him, his hands already on the drinks before the man could react. "Here, let me help you with that."

Toshiro blinked at him, surprised, but then he smiled before relinquinshing his hold on the items. "You have my gratitude, Pedrosa-san. By the way, I hope I didn't take too long. Japan's spring can be a little unforgiving at times."

"Nah, it's okay," Raimundo replied with a smile of his own, following him to where Clay and Omi were seated. "Though I'm not sure if I can say the same for our pal Clay."

"Forgive me, Bailey-san," Toshiro apologized with a slight bow of his head and a sympathetic smile once they'd reached them. "I wasn't expecting to encounter so many Goo Zombie fans in one place."

"That's quite alright, sir," said Clay, nodding his head in thanks when he handed him a drink from the tray. "If anythin', I should be the one apologizin'. Had I known you'd be swarmed, I'd gone with you."

"With your station, you must get attacked a lot," Omi said, making a grab for one of the teas. "I can't imagine what it's like to be a famous person in such a big city."

"You certainly like to try," Raimundo teased, grinning when the young boy shot him a glare over the rim of his cup.

The Dragon of Water blew into his tea before taking a sip, sparing Toshiro an earnest look. Genuinely, he added, "If you'd like, Mr. Tohomiko, we can accompany you until we return to the temple. We'll make sure no harm befalls Kimiko's papa."

Toshiro let out a hearty laugh, his smile as kind and warm as ever. "What kind young men you are! But there's no need to worry over an old man like me. Kimiko and Tomoko help me plenty already."

"Now that you mention them," Clay trailed off, curling his knees to his chest with a swig of his coffee, "what d'ya reckon's keepin' 'em?"

Toshiro fished into his coat pocket for his cell phone in order to check the time, his brows knitted in confusion. "I'm not sure," he answered. "It has been quite some time since we were scheduled to meet. Perhaps, I should call them."

"Knowing Kimiko, she probably lost track of time doing her nails again, right, Omi?" Raimundo joked, elbowing him with a wink after placing the trays on the blanket. "It wouldn't be the first time, now would it?"

"Nor the last," the younger monk agreed, recalling the time where their friend forgot the Ancient Scroll of the Shen Gong Wu over her panda faces.

"What d'ya think it is this time?" Raimundo asked with a grin, pilfering a cup of hot cocoa from the tray before opting to lean against the tree. "Giraffes or smiley faces?"

Omi shook his head. "She did smiley faces last week." Then he smiled and said, "My butt's on teddy bears."

"Uh, that's 'bet's,' bro," Raimundo corrected him with a raised brow. "I think she'll settle for something simple this time, like french tip."

"My wager's on flowers," Clay added, gesturing to the pink petals on the ground with his cup. "It'd certainly fit the theme of this here's festival."

As the boys continued to ponder over Kimiko's possible nail designs, Toshiro watching the exchange with a hint of amusement, none of them noticed the girls making their way through the crowd, towards their group. Not until one of them called out to Mr. Tohomiko.

"Papa!" Tomoko exclaimed, earning everyone's attention.

She looked completely out of breath as she came to a stop in front of her father, though that did nothing to stop her from smiling, and she hugged him just before launching into an explanation in Japanese. Apparently, her fans had swarmed her on the way here too, and wouldn't let her leave until she'd signed every single autograph and taken every single group photo there was to offer. It was thanks to the efforts of Kimiko that they even made it at all.

Raimundo heard a series of footsteps from behind father and daughter, followed by a chain of frustrated grunts, and knew it was Kimiko and her friend Keiko. Clay and Omi stood up, eager to finally see their teammate after what felt like hours in the cold, dusting cherry blossoms off of their clothes in the process. The Shoku leader smirked into his cup before closing his eyes and taking a swig of his cocoa, relishing in the sweetness just as Kimiko came into view.

"Geez, Kim. It took you long enough," he teased after swallowing his drink. "D'you have any idea how long we've been waiting for y-" But the faux complaint died on his lips when he finally opened his eyes and saw her, and in that moment only one word came to mind.

"What," Kimiko shot back with a raised brow, a smirk dancing across on her face. "Cat got your tongue? Say something!"

If Raimundo had thought Tokyo was beautiful in the spring before, then that was nothing compared to how Kimiko looked now. While a tiny, fleeting part of him had hoped she was wearing a kimono, he hadn't really expected her to go the whole nine, considering how much she'd loathed them in the past, but then again, it wouldn't really be Kimiko if she wasn't constantly proving him wrong.

She stood out like a flower all on her own in her black kimono, a dark swirl in a sea of color. Small pink and white petals adorned the top half of it, much like the cherry blossoms surrounding them, including the sleeves, though the closer it got to the bottom, they varied in size and shape until it was bursting with color, and holding it all together was a bright, gold sash and red string. Of course, her outfit wouldn't be complete if she didn't have a purse to match. Her hair was fashioned with both the Tangled Web Comb and Changing Chopsticks in an elaborately braided bun, her face framed by the loose, black curls that managed to escape her updo.

Had it been him three years ago, he'd have acted like an idiot and teased her on the spot, anything to downplay his attraction. But now, at 16-years-old, Raimundo found himself, not for the first time, speechless. She was- Kimiko was-

"Beautiful!" Omi had blurted at the top of his lungs.

Raimundo hadn't realized he'd been gawking at her like some kinda dopey, cross-eyed schoolboy until the small monk was no longer at his side, but fluttering about Kimiko with all the tenacity of a 13-year-old boy in love. Quickly, he averted his gaze to Keiko, whom he acknowledged with a nod of his head, as heat settled in his ears and cheeks, and for once since he'd arrived in Japan, he found himself grateful for the cold. He didn't trust his voice and he was pretty sure he looked like a tomato right now.

"Look at you! Well, aren't you 'bout as pretty as a magnolia in May?" Clay remarked, tipping his hat up with a finger to get a better view of their friend.

Omi nodded his head with a flourish as he admired her apperance from head to toe. "You look very pretty, Kimiko. You've even managed to incorporate the Changing Chopsticks into your wardrobe this time!"

Kimiko's cheeks darkened, though she beamed at their compliments, and she touched the aforementioned Shen Gong Wu with her free hand. "You like? At first I wasn't going to add them, but it went too well with my outfit to pass up. Plus, you never know when it'll come in handy."

"And look!" Omi cooed excitedly, taking her hand and holding it up like he'd just uncovered a new Shen Gong Wu. "She even styled her nails after France, just like you said Raimundo."

Quietly, she looked to Rai, who hadn't said a single word since she'd first arrived and raised a brow at him, her cocky smirk ever-present. "Well, Rai? What do you think?"

If Raimundo hadn't known Kimiko better, he'd think she was fishing for a compliment, given that Omi and Clay had just sung her praises. As it was, he did know her better, especially if the glint in her blue eyes was anything to go by, and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She'd purposely put him on the spot. (Granted, Omi did it first; he'd have to have a little talk with him about this later). He was vaguely aware that the guys were staring at him, anticipating his next words, but thankfully Tomoko had latched onto her sister's arm before Raimundo could loosen the knot on his tongue and speak.

He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when the older Tohomiko girl had pulled her, and by extension Keiko, towards Toshiro for a group photo, with Omi as their photographer. Clay put a hand on Raimundo's shoulder as the group huddled together, a soft, yet knowing smile overtaking the cowboy's lips.

"That pretty, huh?" Clay asked, dropping his hand when Rai looked at him.

Though his hot cocoa was long gone, Raimundo felt a warmth settle in his stomach as turned back to face the group, just in time to see a genuine smile break out over Kimiko's face. For the first time ever, he found himself admitting a very obvious truth: Kimiko was beautiful.

"Yeah."

Clay blinked, taken aback by his best friend's gentle admission, but it didn't last very long and soon he found himself smiling too.

[jessi-novel-idea]

The Family Business: Chapter Four - First Love

Description: Jax Teller’s sister makes an unexpected return, will she be able to settle back into the life or will it all be too much?

Warnings: language, drinking, the beginnings of smut

Word Count: 3,400

The sound of my ringtone woke me from a deep sleep. Dammit Jax, why the hell was he calling me so early it had to be 2 am there in Charming. I was sitting in my dorm room trying to listen to Jax but he was talking way too fast.

"Jax, slow down I can't understand you," I said over the phone

"Sorry Jen, but Op has been arrested."

"Arrested? What for? I’m coming home."

"No, you ain’t, mom will kill both of us if you show up at home. He was pulling a job and Kyle was supposed to be his getaway but he heard sirens coming and he panicked leaving Op there."

"How bad is it though? How long will Op go to jail? Where is he now?" I asked.

"5 to 10 years is what I heard but that could change, he is at the jail now" he responded

"I am going to kill Kyle the next time I see him, he better be voted out.  You better see to that Jax, please make sure he is gone from the club.... Is Op where I can talk to him?"

"No, they have already locked him up, the hearing is later today, I will let you know how that goes."

"Ok, tell Op I love him and I am sorry I couldn't be there for him," I choked out as I began to cry.

Even though I wasn't a patched in member of SAMCRO I was often the getaway driver because I was the best driver in the club, well the best driver on four wheels. No one expected me to be involved until one-time Kyle and me were heading to deliver some guns to the Niners when Unser pulled us over.

 See, Unser was a friend of the club, unless I was involved, then he was like a grandfather looking after his favorite granddaughter. He always told Clay not to involve me because I had a bright future and being around SAMCRO would ruin that.

When Unser saw Kyle in the car with me he arrested both of us and let me off with a warning and Kyle had to spend 90 days in county. Kyle never forgave me for that, he always thought it was revenge for him cheating on me and that I planned the whole thing, but I had already got revenge for that. I really despise Kyle I think he has slept with every crow eater associated with SAMCRO and then some. He is a scumbag and he will probably get a black eye that next time I see him.

KNOCK.... KNOCK...KNOCK three loud knocks at my door woke me from that weird ass dream. I hadn't thought about Kyle in a long time. I would rather not remember that douche bag.

"Jenna...please open the door" I heard from the other side of it as I wrapped my robe around me.

"Jesus, I am coming! Do you know it is 6 in the morning..." I said opening the door to reveal Juice holding a bouquet of flowers and a brown bag.

"Yes, I do I can tell time. Good morning, beautiful" Juice said with a grin handing me the flowers.

"Good morning, what are you doing here Juice?"

"I came to have breakfast with you and see how your first night in your apartment went." He said following me into the kitchen and putting the brown bag on the counter. "I brought bagels, I figured you didn't have anything to eat, this way you can have food before work."

"Juice that is so sweet, thank you," I said giving him a hug.

"Anything for you" he said handing me a bagel. "Oh and um Jen can I ask you something," he said blushing.

"Yeah"

"Can I make you dinner tonight? Like um.... as in a um.... date" he said rubbing the back of his neck, I don't think I have ever seen him this nervous.

"I don’t know Juice, I am not really ready to date at the moment, but dinner does sound nice. I will be home around 6:30"

"Ok, I will take what I can get, want to come to my place?" He said finishing his bagel.

"Sure, I will be there as soon as I can, but right now I need to shower and get ready for work, thanks for the bagels and flowers." I said at the sound of my alarm going off.

With a hug and a kiss on the cheek, Juice was gone and I headed to my bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

When I got to work, Danny said I looked nice and wished me a good day. The people in my office gave me questionable looks as I walked to my desk in the back. I know it was them wondering how I knew a biker and why I was so friendly with him yesterday. Though it doesn’t take a genius to realize my last name of Teller is the same as the VP of the club.

One lady, Carol, I think, asked "why mess around with a boy like that, you are just asking for trouble, how do you know him anyway?"

"He is a friend of my brothers and an old friend of mine" I answered putting my stuff on my desk.

"Your brother? What is your last name again?"

"Teller, Jax is my brother, the VP. Clay Morrow is my step dad, the president and Gemma is my mom. Any more questions?"

"You are related to that gang, does Wes know?" she asked

"Yes, I do, now get back to work Carol." Wes said, walking up behind me. Then he walked away giving me a smile.

“And just to correct you Carol, they are a motorcycle club, not a gang. Just a bunch of guys obsessed with Harley’s”

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, I have a little less than half the cases left to read over, hopefully I will be done by the end of the week so I can start doing some real work.

When I pulled out of the parking lot I took my hair down and ran my hair through it. A few minutes later I pulled into the apartment complex where Juice lives, when my phone rang.

"Dammit," it was Jax

"Hey bro, what's up" I asked getting out of my car.

"I need you to come to the clubhouse"

"What? No, I can't I have plans with Juice," I said walking up the stairs

"He is the reason I need you to get your ass to the clubhouse now." Now I am starting to panic

"What the hell do you mean, is he okay? I am on my way" I said running down the stairs, trying not to fall on my face and hanging up on Jax.

I am surprised I didn't get pulled over for speeding as I made my way to TM. There was an abnormal amount of people there when I got there and I thought that was odd. Something bad must have happened. My heart dropped thinking the worst had happened to Juice.

I got out of my car and slammed the door as I ran to the clubhouse where I was greeted my Chibs at the door.

"Hey lass, I need you to know we did everything we could to prevent this." He said giving me a hug.

"Prevent what, is he okay? Why are there so many people here?" I said pushing around him to the door when I pushed the door open the lights flipped on and everyone jumped out yelling surprise. That's when I saw Juice with the biggest smile in the world standing beside Jax and Opie.

I walked over and smacked Jax on the chest, "What the hell? I thought he was dead."

"What is all this for?" I said turning toward Juice as he wrapped me in his arms.

"It is your house warming party!"

"Oh wow, thanks everyone." I said raising my voice looking around.

As I made my way around the party thanking everyone I began thinking about how much I had missed while I was off in college. New faces of the club gathered around me as I took a swig from my beer, seeing Opie walk back into the clubhouse.

"Hey Jen, enjoying your party?" He asked giving me a hug

"Yeah it's great," I said rather flatly.

"You don't sound like you are enjoying it?"

"It's just I feel like I have missed so much that has been going on here the past couple of years, new members, old members, prospects and crow eaters. Things are just different than they were when I left."

"A lot has happened in 7 years Jen, but it is nothing that you won't get right back in the swing of soon. You are close to most members and that means a lot," he said sitting down on the barstool beside me ordering another round from Half-Sack.

"Thanks Op, I feel like nothing has changed when I am with you and I feel like I can tell you anything, even after all this time."

"You know you can...” he said with a smile

“Hey Jen...." Donna said walking up and congratulating me on getting my own place interrupting Op from continuing. She then excused them and I was left alone at the bar, until Gemma walked up behind me.

"Hey baby girl," she said putting her arm around me.

"Hey mom thanks for this." I said motioning around to the party.

"No problem, it was Juice's idea, that boy loves you, ya know"

"Yeah I know, I love him too, but certainly not in the way he loves me."

"If only he could see that…Oh I almost forgot, we are doing the fundraiser for the kids on Saturday and I was hoping you can come help out at our booth?"

"Sure, that would be great, I will invite some of my co-workers too. Maybe they can remove the sticks from their asses long enough to do something good." I said with a smirk.

"Great, sure you want them to see you around the club? That isn't usually good for lawyers around Charming."

"They have already met Op, that went well. And they know my last name, not much is secret in Charming" I said sarcastically.

"It is what it is sweetheart."

"I agree" I said giving her a hug.

As the party begin to die down I was sitting at the bar drinking beer number, I have no idea when I glanced at phone to see what time it was, 2:30 am. Oh lord I have to be up in 4 hours for work. I wasn't even paying attention to the time, I was just having a good time. I drank the last of my beer and said goodbye to Jax, Tig, Chibs, Opie and Gemma. I then found Juice to say goodbye...

"Bye Juice, thanks for the party," I slurred giving him a hug.

"You aren't driving tonight, Jen" he said taking her keys

"I have to home, I got to work tomorrow, today." I said losing my balance a little.

"Well, then I will get the prospect to drive you home." He said motioning for Half-sack to come over. It is a rule that anytime there is a large party for the club the prospects are not allowed to drink in case someone needs a ride or anything.

"Hey, Half-Sack can you please take Jen home?"

"Yeah no problem." He said with a smile and taking my keys from him and heading for the door.

I said my final goodbyes to Juice when he surprised me by grabbing my face and pulling me in for a passionate kiss; way more passionate than ever before and when I pulled away I was speechless, but not in the rom-com way.

On the ride to my apartment I must have passed out and I am pretty sure that Half-Sack had to carry me up the stairs and put me to bed. I shouldn’t have drunk so much, but what is done is done. I will get the side effects of this decision when I wake up.

When I woke up later in the morning to the sound of my alarm it felt like someone was taking a sledgehammer to my head. Wow, I drank way too much last night, what the hell was I thinking.

When I finally could get the energy to sit up I noticed someone sleeping on my couch. I reached for the gun in my side table, but then I vaguely remembered Half-Sack bring me home. Well, I remember getting in the car with him but that was the last thing. I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him and he jumped up ready to kill, I tried to laugh but that hurt way too bad.

Half-Sack just laughed as he got up and told me he was going to run to the bakery to get me a bagel for breakfast while I got ready for the day.

An hour later I was on my way to work, certainly not looking forward to seeing my coworkers, but when I finally got to work and made my way inside Danny stopped me.

"Jenna, are you feeling okay, you look like death," he said doing his daily inspection of my bags.

"My family decided to throw me a house warming party last night, obviously not thinking about the fact I had to work this morning," I said taking my bags and smiling

"Well have a great day Jenna!"

"Thanks, you too"

I made my way to my desk without having to talk to anyone, thank God I don't know if I could have been nice this morning.

The rest of the day was spent reading through the files. I ended up only having one more box when I left Thursday, which meant I could definitely finish by tomorrow at noon. The one thing I loved about lawyers is Friday's were sacred around Charming, the courts would close at noon and that's when I got to leave.

Friday when I got home from work I noticed I had three missed messages from Opie.

Op:Hey Jen, can I come over tonight I need someone to talk to.

OP:Jen, I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable the other night but please respond.

Op: Jen?

Me: Of course, you can come over...is everything okay?

Op:I will explain when I get there, it has been a long day already and I could really use a friend.

Me: I am always here for you

Op: I will be there in 20

Me:Ok, be safe Op

15 minutes later there was a knock at my door...

"Come In!" I yelled from the kitchen knowing it was probably Op, hopefully it is Op.

"Hey Jen, you know you probably shouldn't just let people in.." Op said with a laugh

"Well I knew it was you and my hands were full with a box" I said picking up another one and sitting it on the kitchen counter to unpack. I had almost unpacked everything in the kitchen; this was my last box for this room.

"Need any help?"

"Yes actually, there is a couple of bookcases for my TV and other things and I haven't got around to putting them together, would you mind?"

"Not at all" he said taking off his cut, hanging it on the back of the bar stool and rolling up his sleeves, something was off but I couldn't put my finger on it. He said he needed to talk but it seems like he needs the distraction, so I left him to it.  

An hour later I decided to take a break when I noticed that Opie was done with the bookcases. I walked to the fridge and grabbed two beers, handing one to Op and opened one for myself. He took the beer and sat down beside me on the couch.

"Well, at least we are making some progress," I said looking around the apartment

"Yep" he said and took another long sip of his beer

"Opie, what's wrong? You said you needed to talk and then when you got here you seemed off?"

"It's Donna, she is freaking out over me getting back in with the club, but we need the money and I can't stay away. Once in the club always in the club, you know that and Clay is riding my ass."

"Op, I can talk to Jax and get him to get Clay to lay off if you wan..."

"No, that is the last thing I need, Clay giving me a break," he said interrupting me and his face turned sour. Now I am really worried

"Ok, I am sorry I offered"

"Jenna, it isn't like that, Clay just wants to make sure I am all in since the Kyle thing, no distractions."

"Please, do not mention him in this house, I despise him and hate him deeply for what he did to you"

"Jen, what he did to YOU wasn't fair and what he did to me is inexcusable and that is why they excommunicated him. He is gone, he can't even see his kid tomorrow at the fundraiser because it is a ‘Sons’ event," he said taking a hold of my hand and giving it a light squeeze

I hated Kyle more than anyone could imagine and him leaving Opie was the icing on the cake. Me and Opie talked about Donna and the kids and EVERYTHING that went on that made him happy or mad. Two and a half hours later and a 12 pack in I was starting to get hungry so Opie ordered a pizza. We ate and talked some more and watched a little TV when Opie got a call.

"Donna, I am not coming home until you calm down, I can't take you bitchin' at me for every little thing I do." He was silent but I could hear yelling coming from the other side. "I am fine I just need some space, I will be home in a day or two. Give the kids a kiss for me"

" Sorry about that," he said ending the phone call

"It's ok, but you shouldn't be so hard on her, she is still trying to get used to you being back." I said sliding over to where my leg touched his and leaning in as he put his arm around me as I rested my head on his chest.

"I know, but it isn't just me being back, she has also noticed I have been a little....um.... distracted lately" he said moving his arm from around me

I stood up and went to the kitchen to put my plate away, "distracted?"

"Yeah distracted," I heard as I felt a hand on my shoulder turning me around.

"You are the biggest distraction, all the feelings I had before you left for school came rushing back when I saw you. Jen you are the girl I think about all the time, I can't get you out of my head and even now standing here in athletic shorts and a t-shirt, I have never been so attracted to you," he said in a low voice as he stepped closer to me pinning me to the wall.

"Opie...what about Donn...." I said being cut off by Opie kissing me with more force then he ever has and more passion then I ever have been kissed.

"Let. Me. Worry. About. Her." he said in between kisses trailing down my neck. "I need this"

Opie put his hands under my thighs and lifting me up to where I could wrap my legs around his waist as he walked to my bed and laid me down hovering over me. He kissed down my neck as his hands went up my shirt and grazed my breasts. The desperation radiating off him as he quickly rid me of my shorts and shirt. He stood up pulling his shirt over his head taking his beanie with is. I reached up pulled him back down not wanting to miss a second of his warmth. His fingers started to work their way down my stomach to the elastic of my panties. His actions started to become more rushed when I felt him press into my thigh.

My hands went to his belt and just as I got ready to push his pants down...KNOCK … KNOCK … KNOCK ... dammit...

[bittysvalentines]

Geese and The Soft Morning Sun

From: @beercheesecasserole

To: @disneyinnocent-blog

relationship: Lardo x Camilla Nonbinary character Fluff tw for moderate amounts of drinking, like a slight bit of racism, and fools getting rekt and pong.

~~~ Larissa sat in her new dorm room, fiddling around on her computer.

A blonde head popped in from the door. "Larissa," said her new roommate, Candy, seriously. "Have you seen my dunko doll?"

Larissa looked at the tall girl dumbly.

"What in the goddamn hell are you talking about."

Candy moved fully into the room, standing by Larissa's bed.

"My dunko doll! You know? Dunko dolls? Have you not heard of dunko dolls?"

"No?"

Candy's eyes lit up.

"They're like little figurines of your favorite characters! They're soooo cute, mine’s a princess Biona from Shrecc. It's my favorite movie."

Larissa knew if she listened to more of this she would have a pounding headache in under an hour. Not that her roommate was annoying. She was just very high-pitched.

With a sigh she pushed her computer off of her lap and slid off her bed.

"I haven't seen it. I'm going down to the cafeteria, I'll be back in a few."

"Okay!" Candy said enthusiastically. "By the way, they're serving Chinese there, I'm sure it's not what you're used to at home but I think it's so nice that they're serving something so cultural! You should give it a try!"

Lardo sighed again. She wasn't sure if Candy was just dumb or didn't remember when she had asked 'so... what are you' a month ago. Larissa had never been anything less than Vietnamese-American her entire life. Well, served her right for submitting her roommate papers a day before deadline.

Larissa screamed internally and muttered a quick thanks before escaping down the hall. She would get out of this room if it killed her.

~~~

Larissa looked at the Samwell Sports pamphlet in her hands. Aven from her Ceramics II class had given it to her. Aven had said they managed for Men's Rugby and talked about how they managed to get a room in the team house this year.

"There's not like, a ton of rooms?" they said, chair leaned back and clay covered hands emphasizing wildly. "But it's the BONDS you make. I feel like a part of the team. And I don't even have to play or anything. The guys are great, love em to bits, it's just like SUPER messy all the time. Best house on campus though."

Larissa thought about that. She didn't mind mess. She wouldn't work in 3D media if she did.

~~~

"Ey Lardooooo!" A huge blonde man yelled over the haus crowd in an obnoxious Boston accent. "Be pong partners with me"

Lardo looked over from where she was chatting with Billy about neorealism and its role in the movement of art nouveau and squinted.

"Holster, my dude, respect, but you couldn't hit the flat side of a barn," she said cheerfully. "Hard pass brah."

The blonde giant put on his best puppy-dog eyes while also pushing through the drunk, loud waves of people between them. Lardo likened him to a cute bulldozer. Kinda a good concept, she thought, filing it away for later. Being around jocks all the time surprisingly gave her some great ideas. Lardo wondered for a moment if this had bedazzling potential.

Adam reached her just as soon as the thumping bass of the last song died and just before the new one began.

"Come onnnn," he said with a light in his eyes. "We don't even have to be partners. Ransy wants to play too so you could take his partner and I'll be his! Win win!" He emphasized his argument with a hand motion that seemed to say 'ey? ey?'.

Lardo rolled her eyes.

"Alright. Depends on who it is though."

~~~ Camilla came to the SMH end-of-midterms kegster with Jack but he let her know pretty early that he wasn't going to be around for most of it. Which like, she got. The noise and people could get to be too much for her sometimes too. But as she looked over the crowd tonight she felt tipsy in just the right way to want to get a little rowdy. Then Justin started talking about pong and her plans were set. She wanted to toast some fools.

"Rans!" She called to him as she moved closer "I'm in. Who're we up against?"

Justin pointed wildly over to the living room where a bunch of younger students were moving around to a pulsing beat.

"Holtzy just went to go grab Lardo" he said, grinning "oh man Camilla you gotta witness her back shot, its holy"

Camilla squinted over across the hall into the dim room and saw Holster dragging a small person with a sleek head of black hair behind him.

"Hells yes." she said, turning back to Ransom. "I'll play with whoever, I don't care."

Holster came up behind them and started talking loudly over Camilla's shoulder to the two.

"She's in but only on the condition she doesnt play with me. I'm too rank." he said, dramatically wrinkling his nose. "Cam, you game?"

"Sure" Camilla said enthusiastically, turning to see her new partner.

Holy shit, Camilla thought, face erupting in flame.

~~~

Lardo looked at – no, beheld – the tall honey blonde jock giantess before her. If height wasn't enough to fuck her up, her arms, good god, they looked like she could crack walnuts with them.  

Realising she was probably giving this crop-topped stranger a pretty thorough undressing, Lardo took a step back and extended a hand.

"Larissa. Call me Lardo. Sup."

The literal Amazon of woman took her hand and shook it firmly.

"I’m Camilla," she said, smiling, cheeks delicately blushed in a way that set off her sweetly quirked lips. "Are you ready for some pong?"

Whats pong, Larissa thought, staring at her lips.

"Oh... Yeah this is going to be s'wasome," Lardo said, quickly regaining her senses.

There was no way she could lose this for them, Larissa thought resolutely. She needed to impress this literal goddess.

~~~

Ransom almost seemed to be crying.

"It was so beautiful... But I feel so devastated? So many emotions man," He slurred as he leaned on the broad shoulder of his blonde wingman. They both looked worse for wear after having drunk nearly every drink so far in what was shaping up to be a increasingly unbelievable pong game.

Camilla lined up her next-to-last shot at the remaining cup and grinned wickedly at the two boys. "Better get ready. This one’s going in. I call it."

There was no way she could miss this one. The tiny Asian girl beside her had sunk nearly every shot that night. If Camilla hadn't been buzzed, she would have knelt at her feet and declared her the pong god. Or maybe she still would. The night was still young.

"You got this," Lardo said encouragingly beside her, placing a hand on the small of her back. "One last cup."

And Camilla did have it.

Or she had, until Lardo's warm hand had rested on her so gently.

Her ball bounced weakly off Adam's chest and onto the table.

"Ohhhh," Holster said, a light in his eyes. "We aren't done yet, Ransy. You gotta rally for me. Get your second wind bro! Brothers for brothers! This is our shot!"

Lardo snorted. "You still have FIVE cups left. We have one. No way."

Holster lined up his shot and said in a fake hurt voice, "We'll see about that" and the shot landed squarely in their middle cup.

Ransom and Holster both shouted, whooping it up and drunkenly performing a sloppy, involved, handshake.

"Psh. Alright," Lardo said cockily to the two boys. "Ball's in my court."

The two boys quieted down as Lardo squinted at the table before them

Lardo shot Camilla a confident grin before grabbing their sunk cup. "Watch this."

It was a moment that Adam would wax poetic about for the next three years. It was the moment Camilla fell into something with this short, loud, wild girl.

Everyone watched as Lardo grabbed the tiny white ball from the cup and raised the beer to her lips. Camilla could see the sweat running in lines down her olive tanned arm in the heated room. She followed its trail to the crook of her elbow where it glistened before dripping down. Lardo tipped the cup back and chugged the entire thing in one go. Tossing the cup behind her, she stepped away from the table, raised the pong ball, cocked her elbow, and spun around.

Over her shoulder, the ball sailed through the air.

It was like watching liquid honey for Camilla, but she turned to stare openly at Lardo instead.

She couldn't believe it.

She didn't even see when the ball landed squarely in the last cup and everyone watching erupted into screams.

Ransom and Holster at the other end were losing their minds. Absolutely just yelling at the top of their lungs and staring at each other with ecstatic looks.

Then Lardo walked over, grabbed the cup, drank it too and released the loudest, longest, rankest burp into both of their faces.

Both of the boys looked stunned.

Then Ransom solemnly grabbed her hand and did a complicated shake.

"Respect" the man choked out, full of emotion, pulling her into the bro-y-est of hugs.

Holster looked like he was crying now.

Camilla could make out "... j'st so happy..." Before he bawled and joined the group hug.

Well. Camilla thought. Who knew. Hockey players are big AND emotional.

~~~

A little while later when the party dies down a bit Camilla and Larissa find themselves outside on the porch.

It feels so easy to talk together. Maybe it's the tub juice, or the high from the most immaculate pong game in history, but Lardo knows there is nothing that could ruin the night now. She already has had the time of her life. Everything else is just frosting on the metaphysical cake.

Camilla shifts on the warm wooden stairs and moves her arms back to prop herself up on them. Her soft yellow curls tumble back over her shoulders with the movement and she stretches her legs out in front of her.

"So what exactly is a girl like you doing in a house of jocks?" she asks, mouth quirking again. "Not that you don't seem the type, you're just so... well-read."

Lardo laughs, and also stretches her legs out in front of her, positively bathing in the soft, warm, late night air.

"It all started with my roommate actually," she says, chuckling at the memory. "I really needed to get out of the house, you know? And Samwell men's hockey needed a trainee manager and I had those nights free. It felt like fate, kinda."

Lardo lets herself swim in Camilla's soft brown eyes for a second. "Like it was meant to be," she finished.

Camilla just looks back at her. And keeps looking back at her.

Finally she speaks into the moment, all shining eyes, all bright smile.

"Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

And all of inevitable, they kiss.

Lardo pushes herself closer to the taller woman and slides her gently back to against the railing before deepening the kiss.

As the two break away to breathe for a second, Camilla moves her hand up to cup Lardo's face. "Huh..." she murmurs faintly before Larissa moves in again.

It’s deeper this time, and Larissa lifts her hand up to curl in Camilla's golden, perfect locks. There's something in her that just wants to mess them up a bit. Let people know she's been there. Leave a little mark.

Camilla groans and arches her head back as Larissa tugs on the mass of curls she has threaded through her fingers.

Lardo takes this as a sign to immediately start attacking the blonde's neck and pulse point, leaving quarter sized bruises like a string of pearls down the column of pale skin.

Camilla groans again.

"People will –" she sighs into a particularly hard nip of Lardo's teeth. "People are going to see"

"Let them," Larissa gravels out, kissing back up the bruises to recapture her mouth.

And they stay like that for god knows how long.

A loud pop from the back yard and a series of whoops and yips finally breaks apart the pair and a second later a firework blooms across the sky above the house.

Lardo and Camilla watch it fade out, both panting slightly, before Camilla turns back and rests her forehead gently against Lardo's.

"I just," she murmurs, looking at Lardo's bruised lips. "Have never met anyone like you"

Lardo smiles and traces the curve of her jaw with her thumb. "I'm pretty unique."

"This might be taking it too fast," Camilla says, switching her heated gaze from Lardo's mouth to her eyes. "But I live not too far away from here. A couple of blocks. We could walk if you... ?" She quirks up the side of her mouth again, eyes dancing, leaving the sentence in an open question.

Lardo stares at her in something like adoration for a second before kissing her hard and deep one last time.

"Fuck yeah," she whispers onto the thoroughly abused lips, nipping softly with her teeth. "I’m definitely down."

And no one sees them leave the party. If anyone sees them on the sidewalk they don't care enough to comment. No one sees them pushed up against Camilla’s front door before making it inside.

Only the Samwell geese and a few other bleary Wellies see Lardo walking home the next morning, grin the size of a lighthouse and a certain string of digits in her phone.

And if Larissa Duan, on top of the world, decides to fist pump like in breakfast club? Well, she's sure no one sees that either.

Just the geese and the soft morning sun.

Written by @beercheesecasserole for @disneyinnocent-blog for the 2019 Bitty's Valentine's.