#my brain has officially fried

[shirajellyfish]

It’s a pillow!

It’s a pet!

It’s a pillow pet!

[marinaimsure]

im so eepy but i cant eep cuz i'll go out in an hour or two aaaand i wanna write but i cant. but i'll try

[webslingingslasher]

Not to be annoying but I rlly hope u write some kind of blurb for the jealous frat!Peter when someone flirts w reader after they are officially boyfriend girlfriend bc u wanna assess what kind of relationship they'll have after all the emotional trauma and angstttttt (idk if u got my first ask though)

*cleaning out my inbox*

kisses scattered across your face woke you up, hair tickled your nose, and you showed you were awake by lightly pushing on peter’s shoulder. it's just too early.

'can't snooze me, trouble. you're the one that told me to wake you up.' another round of kisses, your wake up call isn't that terrible. 'c'mon, up and at 'em. you've got a midterm to study for, leslie's waiting for you.'

his reasoning doesn't make you move any quicker, it was on leslie for choosing saturday morning as peak study time. you weren't even able to hang at the party last night, instead you hunkered down in peter's room and lightly woke when he crawled into bed around one to tug you into his side.

'it's so early.' peter pouts against your cheek, 'you'll survive. you've been putting in overtime this week. i swear that you've hung out with leslie everyday.' it's true, and like peter said before your first study session 'you'll feel your brain grow, super proud of you.' there's no question you'll ace the midterm.

'promise me you'll let me sleep in tomorrow?' a flurry of kisses, you savor them, you know it's the last attack of the day. 'you got it.'

---

peter thought you could use a little pick me up, so, he gladly walked into the library doors with your favorite fast food. it might've been slightly selfish, because he knows he just won himself some brownie points.

it took him a minute, but he found you. back in the study section, lightly kicking your feet under the table. you were nodding your head while chewing on the end of your pen, peter's heart picked up; he couldn't wait to see the look on your face.

you laugh, he smiles. peter moves around a bookcase and comes to a sudden stop. sitting right next to you, was a guy. he had your total attention, no other sign of people around you, peter couldn't even try to pretend it had turned into a last minute group session.

peter finds it hard to swallow, it's not that you're not allowed to hang out with guys, it's the fact that you lied about it. was there ever a leslie, or was it code for this guy the whole time?

the answer will be in your reaction, and he's about to catch you. you don't see him coming, your eyes flash to the bag on the table then to the hand setting it down. you almost burst at the seams, a surprise visit and your favorite food.

'peter!' you wince at your tone, a nasty look from the table next to you gets a silent apology. 'what are you doing here?' you're already digging through the bag, you miss the inspection he's doing on your study partner. you also miss the way he's avoiding peter's eyes.

'just wanted to say hi,' you chew on a fry and hold your mouth closed while you pucker, a chaste kiss. 'hi.' you swallow and tap on the arm next to you, peter follows the motion closely. 'have you met peter yet?'

'uh, no.' he scoots closer to the table, you shrug and look up at peter. he has his focus on leslie, it seems more intimidating than friendly. when your study buddy looks to you for help, peter loses it.

'trouble? wanna come talk to me for a minute?' you frown, your fries are at the perfect temperature. 'but, you-' the look in peter's eyes tells you he isn't playing, a sense of urgency has you scooting your chair back.

the second you're ducked behind a shelf, it spits out. 'who the fuck is that?' peter's tone has you drawing your head back, it's sudden and aggressive. 'who, leslie?' he laughs, 'nice try, who is he?'

it feels accusatory, you take a slight step back. 'that's leslie, peter.' he snorts, 'and you left out the fact he's a guy?' the reason for his sudden change makes you feel dirty, you don't like how he's directing his words.

'i didn't feel like it had to be spesified.' peter nods sarcastically, 'so i tell you i'm hanging out with... jordan, and i've been around them for hours a day, for the entire week then you find out it's a chick and you wouldn't mind? not even a little bit?'

'it depends on what you're doing with her.' a dry laugh, 'you knew exactly what the fuck you were doing with that name shit. don't stand here and tell me i'm the idiot.'

he's making you feel sad, you don't understand how peter could think of you like that. 'i don't understand why you're so upset.' peter tugs at his snapback, scratching at his curls, he replaces it.

'because you're my fucking girlfriend.'

your arms cross, 'so i can no longer hang out with any other guy?' maybe you were being a little difficult, but he's the one that implied you were cheating, or at the very least capable of it.

'jesus christ, that's what you jump to? no, honey-' the name sounded sour, '-it's the fact that you knew i'd think he was a girl and you didn't try to change that.'

'i don't see why it matters.' peter feels like he's talking in circles and he really wants to break from the conversation because he can feel his frustration building, he's about to start saying things he'll regret.

'it doesn't!' you pull on his arm with wide eyes, your head spins to look around. peter brings himself to a whisper shout, 'it doesn't fucking matter, but it starts to matter when you lie to me.'

'don't make it seem like i'm cheating on you.' you tried to ease him down, like the two had nothing in common. it was the wrong choice of words, a fire blazed in peter's eyes. you stepped back when peter pointed a finger at you, for once, he's making you feel really small.

'you're the one who brought up cheating. go back to your fucking friend, i'm done.'

you try to grab onto his wrist, but peter shakes you off like you're nothing. 'peter,' he has no interest in what you have to say, you can't follow him, he's too quick. 'peter!'

when he's out of sight you look down at the ground and sigh. peter was right, you knew what you were doing by alluding to the fact leslie was a girl. and peter doesn't care when you hang out with other guys, but because you left that part out, you've been lying by omission and it makes everything seem worse than it is.

you just don't know what he meant by 'i'm done,' and you really hope it just pertains to the conversation. either way, you shuffle back to your table with a tail between your legs and hope to god peter would let you apologize.

---

gentle knocks at the frat door, you were scared that if you gave peter a heads up, he'd bolt.

'uh oh, you're in trouble.' ethan has a smug look, it tells you that he's been preparing for you to show up. 'how much?' you need to know your chances before you can think of your plea bargain.

ethan wavers, 'he was... upset.' you hold your face between your hands as you slide in, mumbling out a 'fuck,' before building confidence to move up the stairs.

you lightly tap on your boyfriend's door, when there's no response you slowly twist the door knob. peter's lying on his bed, ankles crossed while a book covers his face.

'peter?' the door clicks shut. you timidly step forward, 'petey?' nothing from him, just a slight adjustment and he's back to reading. 'did we break up?'

the book drops, you're looking right at him. 'no, we didn't break up.' you can breathe a little bit better even if he went back to glaring at words, the main anxiety was flushed. 'okay, good.' you reach the end of his bed, rubbing at his shin you try to soften him up.

'i love you.' peter has a very unimpressed glance when you capture his total attention by taking a seat, pushing into his thighs. 'i don't know why i didn't tell you leslie was a guy, i mean, i honestly forgot but when you started saying she... i didn't correct you.' your fingers twiddle with the band of his watch, 'and i don't know why, i guess i wasn't thinking about it like that. but yeah, i'd feel a bit cheated if you did the same to me.'

'you keep saying cheat.'

cheating is almost number one in things you should never do to your partner, but for some reason, it really hits something in peter. just saying the word, out of context, has him pulling from your touch.

'peter, c'mon, stop it. you know what i mean. i'd never, ever cheat on you. i love you too much. i was on the spot and i thought you were implying i was cheating, and i was trying to say i wasn't cheating but then i think you took that as a guilty conscious coming forward and admitting i was cheat-'

'please stop saying cheating. please.'

you hold your mouth shut, a sheepish look crosses over your face. 'sorry.' it comes out as a mumble, it's an uncomfortable silence. you don't really know what to say, or do. you smash repetitive clicks on the side button of peter's watch, when you take a peek, he's watching your hands.

you're really trying, but you need to wash away any idea of it from his head. 'it's just that i never want you to think i'm cheating-' you're shocked into silence when peter rips his arm from you.

'fucking quit it with the cheating, trouble.' you open and close your mouth like a guppy, nothing sounds right. 'i know you don't like it, but i just need you to know that me hiding that leslie was a guy didn't mean i was trying to-'

'say cheat one more time, i fucking dare you.'

you stay silent. 'i don't know how to fix it, peter. i'm sorry i lied, and i’m sorry i keep saying the 'c' word.' you jump at peter's stage claps, you never knew how sarcastic a noise could sound.

'there we go! that was hard, huh?' it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you frown at him. 'you don't need to be so condescending.' peter snorts, 'and you don't need to be lying about girls who are guys that wanna fuck you.'

you freeze on the spot, pushing the words out like they'll make you puke if you think too hard about them. 'leslie doesn't want to fuck me.' peter nudges your back with his knee, 'you're cute.'

you shake your head, 'i mean it. he knows you're my boyfriend, i talk about you all the time.'

'that's so cute, you're so cute.' you push his arm, 'i mean it, peter! i promise he wants nothing to do with me, he even told me he likes someone else.'

peter plays along for the sake of it, 'oh, yeah? he does? let me guess... it's someone you know.' you light up, 'yes! he wouldn't tell me if we were friends, but he said i know her!'

'right, right. and she's super pretty, right? maybe a little outgoing?' it's impressing how well peter knows this. 'yes-' peter keeps going, 'maybe intimidating because she'd never notice him? and how she might not be into a guy like him?'

peter's ticked every single box; your eyebrows furrow, a supercut of every moment you've had with your study partner runs through your mind. you see where you've been dumb on hints, and how you very much are... the girl you know.

'and that might be because she...' you fill in the blanks with shame, 'has a boyfriend.' it's muttered in a deep tone, pitch mocking peter's next words.

a brew of frustration, not on peter, but on men in general. you can't even study without being hunted? and why the fuck does peter know the game so well?

'this is bullshit! what the fuck is your problem?' you stand and glare down at peter, demanding him to answer on behalf of the world's male population. peter holds a hand on his chest, 'what the fuck is my problem? i don't know, what did i do?'

'you!' you point at him, again, a placeholder for all feminine rage. 'you fucking- you're a... you're a man and you suck and why am i constantly fucking sexualized? all i wanted-' you suck in for air, you don't know why you feel a lump in your throat, is this something really worth crying over? yes.

'all i wanted was a friend.' no tears, you're full of anger again. who does that to a person? 'and the whole time i'm being baited? i just wanted to pass my fucking class, peter! i wanted to do it without your help and the second i don't have a fucking man tied to my hip, i'm being plotted against?'

'trouble,' peter's heart hurts and you can hear it.

'no! it's so unfair, and it's unfair that you'll never understand it. it's unfair that i have to live my entire life afraid of what's behind my shoulder. it's unfair that i can't be left alone. even when i make it clear i already have the person i want. it's just-'

you sink next to peter, he sits up to hug you. 'unfair. it's really, really unfair and i'm sorry i can't relate or understand. i'm sorry you thought you had a friend, i'm sorry you feel like you can't relax, and i'm sorry i rubbed it in your face.'

he did rub it in your face.

'you have plenty of guy friends with good intentions that would do anything to keep you out of harm's way. that includes calling out other guys that may not have them, but i could've been nicer. i'm sorry i'm just a man sometimes. i'll work on it, i promise.'

you melt into his touch, peter is very much just a man sometimes. but he's your man and always good at calling himself out when he needs it. 'is that why you thought i cheated on you?'

'the next time you say cheat, you owe me twenty bucks.' you ignore the quip, 'is it?'

peter scoffs as he rubs your back. 'i didn't think you were cheating, trouble. i was upset that my girlfriend was lying about who she was hanging out with.' a slew of kisses to your hairline follow.

'and maybe a little jealous.' you laugh, there's nothing for him to be jealous over, but he's super serious and pulls away to cup your face so you're looking right at him. 

'because you're my baby, and i need it to stay that way.'

[doctorbunny]

More serious summary of the livestream

Unfortunately I can't provide a full translation because the entire time I was watching in autistic excitement like 😊🥰🤩 whilst my brain melted out my ears and didn't pick up on a lot

Luckily, I have a feeling someone will get around to translating this stream eventually since they finally had the BGM on a lower volume so everyone was audible the whole time Without further ado:

We started with introductions seating order is Yamanaka, Yurina (Es' VA), Minami (Amane's VA), Ryouta (Kazui's VA) and DECO (who dyed his hair blonde) They each have one of the 4th anniversary acrylic stands in front of them The actors have their characters but Yamanaka has Haruka and DECO has Muu

Yamanaka admitted to being a Haruka oshi/fan

Then Minami talks about being a Fuuta fan (she calls him cool) and she's handed the Fuuta stand and she pushes the Fuuta and Amane stand next to each other (and jokes about their height difference then imitates Fuuta going zenbu zenbu zenbu!)

But then Yurina sticks her Es stand in between them to separate them

And then they move the Amane stand next to the Kazui one and everyone coos

Before moving Amane and Fuuta back together in front of Minami Then they basically just lift all of the stands up on to the table and continue on

They discuss their thoughts on the trial

Looking at who got voted inno and guilty Minami is happy Amane got inno but has no idea how Mikoto wasn't guilty They note that the audience wasn't very happy with Kotoko for beating up the other prisoners Then they give some thoughts on the MVs from Daisuki to Deep cover They get most excited talking about Cat and Purge March Kazui says that he was able to put the right emotions into Cat because he recorded the voice drama first Yurina and Minami actually caused the microphone to peak with their excited shrieks at one point (ow)

They answer some audience submitted questions One question was answered along the lines of "Be prepared" One was submitted in English and they tried to but couldn't read it Then they got a question (in Japanese) from someone from 韓国/South Korea [side note: I feel like the south korean milgram fandom has gotten more prominent recently, its always been there but it feels bigger than ever and that's pretty cool]

After audience questions they made a few announcements Some things we already knew, the gratte cafe crossover, the Kotoko line stickers, Earbuds are still on sale (and they're making badges and stuff based on the earbud promo art) the 4th anniversary art/acrylici stands literally in front of them Then some new things: Minigram LINE stamps (everyone was especially pleased for the Kazui XP stamp) There's going to be a part 2 to the Karaoke collab (no details yet other than its coming)

They also announce this year's perk for annual members [the pain of being an annual member but living outside of Japan so you can't get these 😭] Blank lamenated cards of the prisoner's interrogations and a whiteboard pen so you can write your own interro questions and answers They bring out the cards for Kazui and Amane and do some examples

"Do you like cake?" "I don't eat it."

"What did you have for lunch today?" "Gyudon." [a beef and rice dish]

Then Minami just writes "Toilet paper" in katakana and everyone laughs (Then she writes Toilet paper rap/lap/wrap and I'm not sure what she means)

Most exciting is script books for the Hallucenation liveshow (scripts of the voice dramas and songs) The live show uses condensed versions of the voice dramas but this is the first time we'll have official transcripts of key moments to help check translations with

Then they start saying that T2 was hellish, but T3 is going to go beyond hell: They're going to send everyone to Super Hell And at this point my brain fries and overloads on eeby deeby memes as they all go back and forth talking about Super Hell

They all start doing their outros/saying goodbye

Yurina talks about upcoming challenges we have as guards meanwhile Yamanaka ominously holds the Haruka stand up in frame

Then that's basically it, not much going on because a lot of stuff (like Hallucenation, the plushes, earbuds) came out right before the 4th anniversary

[gabessquishytum]

OMG Gabe that art gave me a brain worm!!!

SEX PROFESSOR HOB

Okay, so, he also used to be a history professor, but since he quit that, he's picked up a... somewhat strange hobby. Okay, officially, he tutors students who struggle in History and English. But he's mostly known for having a thing for younger people and he fucks almost all of his students at least once, giving them the time of their life, teaching them a whole lot of new skills, and leaving them wondering if they'll ever have a partner as good as Hob or they are ruined forever.

Just an older guy Hob picking up students. No coercion needed, he's not a creep, they are all interested. Only a few people seek him out for his teaching skills, the rest are there for his sex skills.

Fkajjsjdjjejd do you get me? I'm this idea fried my last Braincell.

- 🚒 (send emergency services pls)

So obviously this ask came in over a month ago but I KNOW 🚒 anon was talking about this art in particular ("twink gets emotional and cries after creampie" is truly one of the sentences of all time btw). And I too have no braincells left!

I love the idea that Hob has almost made it into a career at this point. Yeah he technically advertises his services as a tutor for history and english lit, but 1) his reputation is absolutely more for his sex than his teaching and 2) even the students who don't know about the sex thing initially soon end up falling for him. Some people have their doubts initially - Hob is older, he's not quite model material despite his gorgeous looks, he's kind of a nerd... but there's just something about him. The young people who come to him for homework help soon end up tripping into Hob’s arms and allowing him to ravish them. Who's the say those excellent orgasms don't also benefit the students exam results!

I particularly like the idea of uptight, overachieving student Dream coming to Hob for history tutoring (he wants to score full marks in his next test, he's a perfectionist). He has no idea what he's about to walk into! Before he knows it, he's staring at Hob’s lips, blushing over the older man's obvious flirting, dressing more provocatively in order to try and catch Hob’s attention...... his history test is the last thing on his mind.

Hob quickly grows attached to skinny, anxious, highly strung Dream. He never gets bored of the noises his sweet boy makes, how he FINALLY lets go of all his worries and spreads his legs. Hob might just have to keep this one all to himself - he can't bear the idea of someone else making Dream cry and cum! Plus, Hob has so much more to teach him...

[callsign-rogueone]

falling, floating, flying - d.a.

Dain Aetos x marked!reader (Love!) words: 2.2k 🏷: here is the official start of Dain and Love's story!! no book spoilers yet (this occurs pre-Fourth Wing! reader and Dain's first year.) no pronouns used in this chapter but future ones will be she/her afab reader. mentions of fear of heights, falling from heights and jumping from heights, Dain being Dain and flipping out on reader (for a good reason lowkey). yes, I am legally required to traumatize everyone when they get their signet. copy-pasted physics jargon from wikipedia. this series is going to be my attempt at a slowburn... we'll see how that goes. as usual, 5 points extra credit if you can spot another girlfriend in here! chapter two is ready, and slated for Fri/Sat. maybe earlier. I'm not good at resisting peer pressure 🤭

This flight training would be a lot more enjoyable if you weren’t positioned next to Amber Mavis the entire time. Her orange daggertail is just as irritating as she is, and equally self-centered; Claidh keeps forcing anyone and everyone out of his way, regardless of where they’re supposed to be in the formation, and Cosa isn’t having it. You aren’t, either — neither of you will be bullied, especially not by someone in your own wing.

Claidh flicks his tail out completely unnecessarily, and Cosa has to swerve to avoid being hit with it. The sudden movement has you tilting in your seat, and she tries to correct for it by turning in the opposite direction, but it doesn’t work. 

You scramble to hold on to her, but your nails don’t make a dent in her scales — you slide right off of her back. You shriek, the sound swallowed up by the air as you drop straight down like a rock, cold wind whipping your hair out of its braids and into your eyes, stinging your cheeks. 

“Reach out!” Cosa shouts, diving down to try to catch you. “Reach for the bond!”

You shut your eyes tightly, grabbing onto the little red string connecting you to Cosa and pulling as hard as you can. A feeling you’ve never felt before spreads through your body like wildfire, a rushing wave of pure power.

For a split second the world around you stills completely; like that feeling you get when you’re about to fall asleep, and you feel like you’re going to plummet through the mattress, only to jolt back awake — but you’re not in your bed, you’re suspended in midair, still a hundred feet above the ground. And then you’re falling again, but not as fast — you’re… floating? You drift through the air like an autumn leaf, landing in a heap on the forest floor.

You groan, rolling onto your back and looking up through the treetops at the blue sky above you. You’re exhausted and a little sore, though nothing feels broken, and you clearly aren’t dead. Count your blessings, or whatever — but what the fuck just happened?

Cosa must realize you’re still alive, because her panic decreases substantially, leaving you with your own emotions, none of which you can name. You feel like you’ve just taken a dip in the Arctile ocean, frozen and numb, your brain wanting to shut down.

“Callwell!” someone shouts through the trees.

“Over here,” you manage, the words coming out hoarse and quiet.

There’s a rustle of branches and the sound of hurried footsteps before you see Dain jogging toward you. He breathes a sigh of relief seeing you in one piece, sitting upright.

He kneels down beside you, examining you for injury, but not finding anything glaringly wrong. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I… I wasn’t hurt,” you answer distantly, still looking out into the forest.

“But are you okay?” he asks, more gently. It’s clear that you’re still rattled — you’re trembling, arms wrapped around yourself in an attempt to self-soothe, that usual happy, joking personality nowhere to be seen.

“I don’t know,” you whisper. “Is that stupid?”

“No,” he answers. “It’s not stupid.”

You finally start to cry, swiping at your eyes with the sleeve of your jacket, but the cold leather doesn’t absorb anything, it just pushes the salty tears around your cheek. “I’m sorry,” you rasp, suddenly embarrassed, worried he’ll think you’re weak for sitting here sniffling like a child that skinned their knee. 

“Don’t apologize,” he says softly. “That was terrifying.”

It takes a moment for you to focus your vision enough to look at him. You can’t tell what has you more stunned— those pretty brown eyes gazing down at you with such softness, or the fact that he’s treating you so carefully, that he’s put aside the rivalry and bickering to make sure you’re okay. 

You clear your throat delicately, standing. “We should get back up there. They’re probably wondering where we are.”

He looks like he wants to say something else, but he nods, rising to his feet and motioning for you to follow him back from whence he came. The walk out of the forest is quiet, only the sounds of your footsteps on the layers of fallen pine needles and twigs snapping under your boots.

“Thank you, Dain,” you say softly, once your tears have dried.

He blinks for a moment, realizing this is the first time he’s heard you use his given name— not Aetos, but Dain. He likes hearing it from you more than he should.

“Of course,” he replies, holding back a tree branch so you can squeeze through the narrow path by his side. “That’s what squadmates are for.”

The comment makes your heart sink — he’s not here because he’s truly your friend, or because he genuinely cares if you were injured or dead, but out of obligation to that damned codex, and the goal of winning Squad Battle this year to impress dear old dad. But then again, he’d definitely broken at least two rules by leaving the formation and coming down here to find you, so maybe he cares more than you think.

You finally make it out of the woods and into a clearing where you see Cosa and Cath sitting side by side, waiting for you. You make a tiny nod of acknowledgment to Cath, a silent gesture of thanks for letting his rider land to come find you.

“I apologize, graceful one. You handled that as well as anyone could.”

You give her a half-hearted response, scaling her leg to get back in the saddle. Muscle memory takes over for the rest of the class, with Cosa doing most of the work and keeping her distance from Claidh. You’re just glad to be back on the ground, solid rock beneath your boots. 

Cath lands beside her, Dain climbing down his leg easily and taking a step toward you, but someone else gets there first; Bodhi.

He nearly crushes you in a hug. “We all thought you were dead,” he breathes, holding you tightly. “That must have been a thousand feet… how did you survive that?”

You manage a smile, hugging him back. “I’m very much alive,” you promise. “I think my signet came in at the exact right time — it did something to cushion my fall.”

A few more of your friends have realized you’d made it through, running over to check on you and pull you into warm embraces, grateful you’re okay.

“That must have been terrifying,” your friend empathizes. 

“Oh, yeah. I was totally freaked, but…” You look over your shoulder, but Dain is already gone.

————————————————————————

“What’s today’s not-required reading?” Bodhi asks as he settles into the seat next to you.

“Advanced Physics of Flight,” you answer, your eyes flicking back and forth over the lines of text. “I borrowed it from Xay, but he needs it back after lunch, so I have to read fast. I’m halfway done, but it’s getting complicated.”

“You’re going to read that entire thing by noon?” Dain asks, raising an eyebrow. “No way.” 

“Yes way,” Bodhi answers for you. He slides the book away from you, flipping back a good thirty pages and handing it to Dain. “Read the first sentence aloud.”

Dain looks confused, but complies. “Understanding the motion of air around an object (often called a flow field) enables the calculation of forces and moments acting on the object.” 

It takes you a second to jump in, reciting the following sentences. “In many aerodynamics problems, the forces of interest are the fundamental forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. Of these, lift and drag are aerodynamic forces, i.e. forces due to air flow over a solid body. Calculation of these quantities is often founded upon the assumption that the flow field behaves as a continuum. Continuum flow fields are characterized by properties such as flow velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, which may be functions of position and time. These properties may be directly or indirectly measured in aerodynamics experiments or calculated starting with the equations for conservation of mass, momentum, and energy in air flows. Density, flow velocity, and an additional property, viscosity, are used to classify flow fields,” you finish. “Can I have that back now?”

He hands it back to you, visibly confused. “How did you…”

“I’ve been able to do this since I was a kid. I’m just reading from the picture of the page in my mind,” you explain, already working on committing the next page to memory. 

“Huh?”

“I’ve learned not to question it,” Bodhi says. “But basically, she doesn’t forget anything, ever.”

“Not true,” you counter. “I can only do it with written words, not anything else. And I have to do it intentionally, or it won’t work.”

“That’s cool, but why are you memorizing a textbook you won’t need until next year?” Sawyer asks.

“I’m trying to figure out how to make Cosa and I more aerodynamic with my wind-wielding, and what all I can do with it, since Carr is absolutely zero help.”

“Understatement of the century,” your friend scoffs. “He hasn’t spoken to me once in the last two weeks. He only cares about the signets he finds interesting, and everyone else can just go fuck off and die, or figure it out on their own.”

The conversation comes to a halt as Professor Devera enters the classroom, beginning her presentation. You close the physics book, taking out a pen and paper for notes — time to see what lies they’ve come up with for you today.

————————————————————————

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cosa asks.

“Yes,” you answer, tightening the strap of your goggles and checking that all of your weapons are secure.

“See you on the ground, then.”

You loosen your grip on her slowly, willing yourself to take deep breaths as you feel the control slipping away, the wind taking over. You’re falling, falling… and then you’re floating again, your body relaxing into the air as it rushes up to meet you, cushioning your fall.

You land gracefully on both feet with a small gust of wind, several beautifully-colored autumn leaves swirling around you. You giggle in delight, stirring them up with your finger and watching them flutter around your feet.

“Perfectly done,” Cosa praises, landing behind you. 

Dain blinks at you, lips parted in shock. “What…”

You give him a bright smile, removing your goggles and letting them hang around your neck. “I’m fine. It doesn’t scare me anymore — I’ve been practicing.”

Something shifts in the air. “Practicing?” he echoes, incredulous. “What did you do, jump off the parapet?”

You don’t deny it. 

His jaw drops. “Are you out of your mind?”

Your smile fades immediately. You cross your arms over your chest, glaring at him. “How else was I supposed to get over my fear of heights?”

“By doing literally anything else other than jumping off a hundred-foot-tall bridge over a river with giant rocks at the bottom? You could have died!”

“Clearly I didn’t,” you huff, the wind blowing a little stronger now, sending the fallen leaves skittering across the flight field. “I didn’t get a single scratch either time.”

“Either? You did it twice?”

“I had to make sure the first time wasn’t a fluke. I would have done it three times, if there weren’t so many stairs to get up there.”

He closes his eyes and takes a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation — if he doesn’t take a moment to steady himself, he’s going to say something he regrets. 

You continue to defend yourself. “If something like that happens again, I need to be able to handle it. And they aren’t teaching us shit besides keep your seat and don’t fall, so I took matters into my own hands.”

He sighs. You have a point, even if your methods were incredibly dangerous. “I’m glad you conquered your fear. Just please don’t do that again?” he asks quietly. “Not unless you absolutely have to?”

You’re taken aback by the hurt in his voice, the same look in his eyes you’d seen when he’d found you in the forest earlier this week. You’re hit with a wave of guilt as you realize that you’d scared him, that his anger is really just fear — fear of losing you, the closest thing he has to a friend in this school, even if you butt heads sometimes.

“Okay,” you agree quietly. “Not unless I absolutely have to.”

He’ll take that. “Thank you.”

“Are you coming to dinner, or what?” your friend calls across the field, impatient.

“In a second!” you shout back. You look back at Cosa, patting her leg. “See you tomorrow, Co.”

“Until tomorrow,” she replies. “I’m proud of you. Now run along.”

You beam at the praise, thanking her before jogging off toward your friends.

Dain stands there for a moment, watching as the leaves flutter to the ground, laying still. They’d been something beautiful when you’d played with them, laughing as they danced around you on the breeze you’d stirred up, but now they’re just dead leaves, crunching under his boots as he walks across the flight field back toward the school building.

[universesweetheart]

Negotiation (Dazai x Reader)

Pushing the chubby Dazai agenda, he's so cute! Look at his little belly, im gonna cry it's so cute!! Missing him terribly.

In which we bribe him with affection and feed him

Read my other dazai oneshots here, here & here This has been in my draft for soo long, but I got a job and forgot about it. Happy late Diwali!

Bye now - Mars ♡

Out of everything you saw yourself doing this year, dating an overdramatic enigmatic manchild who whines like a baby was not one of them.

How did you get here? You started officially dating Dazai a few months ago, you two were exclusive. Before that you probably fooled around for a year, flirting here and there, and going on dates, random hook ups but somewhere along the way, you fell for each other. Hard.

It did have a trial and error period and you did have to set some firm boundaries, because as much as fooling around with him was fun, you craved the security of knowing this wasn’t some meaningless fling to him.

Fast forward to being exclusive with Dazai, he’s an amazing partner. His genius brain is quick to pick up on even the smallest changes and he reads you like an open book. He’s affectionate and he always finds money, granted never his own, to spend on you. He’s great in bed and he’s sweet with words. The list goes on. He’s almost perfect.

However, he’s not the best at opening up, he can talk your ear off without revealing a single thing about his mind. His heart. He also tends to neglect himself very much, at first you thought it was just temporary work stress but even when he’s away from work he does it.

At first you noticed how he only puts in efforts when you’re around, and the longer your relationship went on, the less effort he made. The biggest issue you have is how he so carelessly skips meals. It makes you angry but after some thoughts and rants to your cat, you’ve decided to bribe him.

You wanted to be subtle about it but honestly, he probably already picked up on it. You’re convinced he just allows you to do what you want.

You started off small and your plan was to gradually build him up to regular meals.

The first time you did it, it was as simple as feeding him a bite from your snack. A simple yogurt bowl with fruits and a “Mm, try this, it’s good” and stuffing his mouth with a spoonful of yogurt and berries.

That became a regular habit you did, giving him small bites of your snacks whether that be protein bars, cookies, chocolates. This then transferred into your meals, purposefully adding more to your plate so you can whine about not finishing it and offering the rest to him so he can.

That didn’t last long, he quickly caught on your little act and urge you to feed it to your cat instead.

Then the brilliant idea of bribing him with kisses and affection to eat came about. It started with an argument and then you two not speaking for two days. Angry as you were, you decided to deny him of your hugs and you two slept with you backs to each other, you slept at least. Dazai stayed up and drank his feelings. The second night he didn’t even come home, God knows where he were.

The third day you two resolved your little conflict and with some probing, sweet words, kissing and negotiation you got Dazai to eat at least one full meal a day.

You both agreed on that. Baby steps, one meal a day, it’s better than drinking alcohol and eating tinned crab almost every day.

Right now, you were both on the couch, you on his lap with his arms lazily slung around you. You had a small bowl of rice and stir-fried vegetables along with some eggs.

You held the chopsticks up to his lips and looks at him in his eyes, “Please” you looked down at his lips, “For me” you watched as he hesitantly opened his mouth and took the food and chewed and swallowed.

Placing a kiss on his forehead you praised him for his first bite.

Then you repeated that until the bowl of food was almost finished, feeding him, kissing him, praising him.

After he managed to finish, you placed the bowl down and caress his cheeks, “You did so good, m’proud” you mumbled and kisses him. Your hands cupped his face, lips brushing against his cheeks, the tip of his nose, the crease of his brows, his temple, his jawline. Just anywhere your lips found, you placed sweet kisses.

He smiled and you felt like you’d melt away and fall off the couch if it weren’t for his arms around you. “Thank you, Bella” He mumbles quietly, and you can’t help but capture his lips in another sweet kiss. You feel his hands squeeze your waist, pulling you closer to him as he desperately returns your kiss.

He pulls away from you, his brows furrowed, and he belched and it catches you off guard. Dazai looks at you, awaiting your reaction and when he saw your smile and heard a little giggle, it triggered his own smile.

“I really am proud of you, Osamu”

[siphoklansan]

Ladies, gentlemen and nonbinary folks- Genderbend! Siphok🕺✨

⚠️SMALL CHAPTER TWO TWISTED WONDERLAND SPOILERS. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED⚠️

ft. Floyd Leech, Vil Shoenheit (tiny bit in the first frame), Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Grim & Siphok

last pic is a response for @baileygirl2001 ‘s reblog to this post💓🫶

This is what happens what BOOM…YOU GET HIT BY A BOMB OF INSPIRATION‼️ i have no idea what made me suddenly draw him tbh (wrong- it’s because a moot says she loves gb siphok so here I am😞) BUT ANYWAY I PLAN TO DRAW SIPHOK IN BEANFEST ATTIE TOO BUTTTTT I got lazy :,(( still wanna draw him holding a bean-rifle though but my brain has officially fried </3 gonna go answer some asks and draw some more-

[xiao-come-home]

Can't stop thinking about Neuvillette not liking christmas at first and you finally warming him up to it & realizing whats important :(

A/N: next day update lmao as soon as i posted it i saw official Christmas fontaine art skull emoji there might be some mistakes bc i was very focused on writing the original idea i had in my mind. i really hope it makes sense in the end bc at this point i kinda fried my brain. merry Christmas!

Christmas time is surely a time that is treasured by many people. For Neuvillette though? A time when people pass him by so many times and greet him so much, that the judge has a hard time keeping track of how many heard him saying them back.

Green, red, blue, orange - the bright colors used to give the poor, young dragon a headache, when he first appeared on this world. The jarring sound of bells rang in his head many hours later, in the dead of night. Furina’s Christmas-loving attitude certainly made it more challenging, as „the Christmas spirit,” like she always called it, had to be present every year.

The young dragon yelped slightly when his hair got tangled in some Christmas ornament; Neuvillette can’t say how much time has passed until he finally got that damned thing out of his long hair. Once stepping past the familiar door of his home, the judge plopped on his bed heavily, letting out a defeated sigh. The moonlight from the tall window kissed his face gently, making him stare at the mountains far, far away.

„Just what is this holiday about?” Little did Neuvillette know, but this question was about to remain unanswered for a very long time.

Years, if not centuries have passed, having now the chief of justice has fully accustomed to the human tradition. He passes shop windows and stalls decorated with colorful Christmas lights, and now they don’t seem that hurtful to his eyes. „It is simply a human tradition,” is what occupied his mind every year during the gift-giving period.

Neuvillette sat by his desk, his orchid eyes concentrated on the paper in front of him; the pen in his hand danced between his index and middle finger.

Christmas lights - check. Ornaments - check. Christmas carols that lady Furina loves singing - check. Christmas gifts - check. Sweet pastries for lady Furina (decorated accordingly to the holiday) - check. Additional clothing provided for the patrolling melusines - check.

For Neuvillette, this is what holidays were for a long time. Nothing changed, nothing appeared new or grew old. And for some reason, despite everything staying the same, gave people the same amount of joy every year.

Neuvillette expected it to go the same way as before. Well, mostly - because now, he’s spending his holidays with you, therefore making the tradition a little bit easier to understand. The smell of the finest Fontaine dishes was the most distinctive for his nose whenever he entered his home, the blinking lights could be seen from the other side of the street. He knew you wanted to decorate the house like you always used to, but this year kept you extraordinarily busy compared to the last one, so Neuvillette offered his help with the matter; your joy was more than convincing, giving the dragon’s heart a lovely squeeze in his chest.

He didn’t know that he owned so many ornaments until that day. He examined various pieces with caution, the way they glittered in different angles, and truly experienced how much of it stayed on his hands later on instead. He more than often paid attention to you rather than decorating, noting to himself that your eyes shine even more vividly than any other plastic sprinkled with glitter. He discovered how much your smile grew even more heavenly whenever you found a good spot for your wooden reindeer.

It would be a lie if Neuvillette said he didn’t enjoy preparing for this year’s upcoming celebration.

Now that he was the one ruling the nation of Fontaine, it was going to be his first Christmas without Furina and Focalors’ active presence.

And the day has finally come.

The fireplace kept crackling gently, hugging you two with comforting warmth. Neuvillette watches you rummage through your gifts, smiling to himself when you gasp blissfully, exclaiming that none of it was necessary, but it’s clear you’re enjoying it more than he ever could... except it's a lie.

Your eyes are absolutely mesmerizing with the shining lights around the room. Green, red, blue, orange - every color accents something else, that he yearns to watch over and over again. The bells that hung on most of his doors ring every time you move, causing his head to turn to the direction the sound came from - it means you’re nearby. Although he got better at avoiding his hair getting tangled in wintery trinkets, nowadays a laugh can be heard, before your hands swiftly take it out and place it on a table nearby. An unwise thought appeared in his mind, to clutter his hair with some other accessories, if it meant to hear you laugh once again. Instead, his hand travelled to one of his gifts - a thematically accurate hair clips - that held his hair nicely and allowed him to come home with fewer unwanted bibelots.

Earlier that day, Neuvillette’s eyes softened at the sight of melusines’ fluffy clothes embracing their tiny bodies. Some of them waved their gloved hands at the Chief of Justice during his walk to provide Furina with her favorite cakes, some of them scolded him for not wearing a scarf, while offering their woolen hats - to which Neuvillette politely declined. He kept thinking of Furina possibly overdoing her sweet tooth - so made a mental note to remind her to eat sensibly and not to open her gifts right after he leaves.

It takes him a while to truly realize in what state he’s in.

He did not need to have any list this year, no - it seemed to come naturally.

And it no longer felt like a chore.

„What’s got you smiling so much, hmm?” Your playful tone is evident in your voice, and the feeling of your elbow nudging his side is present right after. Neuvillette embraces you tightly, placing a sweet kiss on your forehead, and lets out a relieving sigh.

„I suppose this is what the holidays are truly about. Merry Christmas, ma chérie.”

As simple as it sounds, the kindness and small things matter more than anything when you have someone’s best interest at heart.

[bawmbo]

Mr. Mems OFFICIAL reference

OKAY!!!!!!!!!! HERE HE IS, OFFICIAL REFERENCES !!!!!!!!! it's a little bit cluttered, they have a *lot* of information on them and i'm really bad with words so i've been struggling to find a way to simplify it a little bit

if there are any questions on them i'd be more than happy to answer !!!! wwoo wooo wooo. my brain is so fried at the moment

i realize, even in the first reference, the text is kind of hard to look at for me, though i have pretty sensitive eyes to colors and high contrast, so i will write (for more reasons than just that abshf) down what the text says there (i also noticed grammar errors. i am so sorry. scrambled egg brain)

for the sake of organization, i am going to put some texts that may be far from each other on the page next to each other MEMORY (original AU, "SE" / lost media AU) (names unknown) (current AU, "Nightwatch AU") ("Dr. / Mr. Mem(s)") - they/he/it pronouns, agender and demiaroace - frustrated easily, strong moral compass, even if questionable - heavily suppressive and has an impressive polker (poker*) face - takes his jobs seriously (mainly, lead Search and Rescue team & trauma therapist / assistant under Dr. Psych) - nostalgia and liminal spaces are important themes - HATES echo flowers. soft spot for kids (at reference) - grumpy old cat, blunt, can be a prick, and occasionally taunting (but working on these behaviors with psych) - forget me nots always carried - around 5'3. at the little creature display, it says "stoner" and "frequents grillby's for fries only" (at reference) arrow pointing towards the star labeling "their soul." next to it, explaining that the star is hot and boils liquid magic to make the mist. memory often puts essential oils in his skull. the star floats over their face and can move. do NOT remove from face (at crutch) optional, mild case of hEDS + unspecified other chronic illnesses (at hand) wedding ring (one half of the omega timeline's (OT's) WORST gay couples (affectionate)) (at leg) has shoes. does not wear them to spite psych. ((but if drawn with them), they are very chunky shoes) NOTE (abilities) (roughly) [SAVE] star (and) soul - memory cannot reset other files :) - this star (/soul) works as a PC (think REALLY old PC) - memory's base file is corrupted - memory gathers code and stories it temporarily in one of two other free slots. if the code matches, then it will go into FILE1 (his file) to try to fix their own corrupted codes. (on the other side of the star it then states, "they have to see another character to "code borrow") - with this / these codes, memory relives others lives from their point of view for a brief moment * (this is simplified) - after the code is gathered, memory can a. project their past (like a movie) on the mist that they produce b. use this code for other tricks, like "UPLOAD." (not elaborated on yet) - does NOT have bones, uses a knife or flare gun instead - information bracket [ FILE1 / SAVE1 (memory's), SAVE2 and SAVE3 (are for others). too much (of anything) at once can overheat the star (the consequences of this include crashing, which is uncommon, or melting). needs water for safe mass mist production. - the star can play doom. if mems allows someone to, they may also code in other forms of media to be played on the mist / from the star, an example being Call of Duty by Psych

[olderthannetfic]

re: that anon discussing how they dislike the term "neurospicy."

I have mixed feelings about the term "neurospicy," honestly. I like using it because often times it's easier than saying "I'm autistic, anxious, deal with seasonal despression, have intrusive thoughts, and trauma from growing up poor and having shelter and food insecurities." I know what's going in this head of mine, but it's hard to clock what causes which behavior or feeling or issue sometimes.

So, sometimes I say "I'm spicy" or "my brain is spicy." It's like saying "my brain is soup" or "fried" when I'm buzzed or exhausted. It's also a useful term for people, like me five years ago, who haven't figured out what exactly is going on with their neurotype.

I understand that that a lot of the more intense dislike or hatred for the term "neurospicy" comes from the kind of meme-ification and the wide use of it on TikTok and the like, but it originated in the autistic community and it's primarily used by people who fall somewhere on the very wide spectrum of neurodivergence. It's not just used for autism anymore. My friend who has a psychotic disorder and DID says they're "neurospicy" all the time.

I think it's more about lessening the day-to-day stigmatization that can come with the official, sometimes very clinical language around neurodivergency. I don't want to tell every person I talk to about my "odd" behaviors that it's because I'm autistic, or because I have trauma. I don't want to argue with people about how my brain works. I don't want people to tell me "no, you're not; you wouldn't be [insert activity/feeling/behavior] if you were that thing." It's frustrating and it's annoying and it's hurtful when I need to be around that person after the fact.

I think it's like any kind of label. If someone doesn't want to be called neurospicy, then don't call them that. If you don't want to be called something, tell the people in your life and be firm about it. It's a boundary and it's worth respecting. But language generally has layers to its usage and meaning, so for most things that begin as inoffensive terms within a community, for that community, I think it's important to keep some nuance in the discussion of it.

--

[ssuperficialspacecadett]

Crutches and Crushes

Chapter Three of the Through the Scope series | Chapter Four

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 4.9K

TW: Unhealthy relationship and mentions of cocaine

Chapter Overview: You run into Frankie while you are out shopping.

Notes: Hey everyone ! I love that I'm still going to say no set posting schedule even though I have been consistent in my posting schedule. I just don't want to give a day and then miss it and blah blah blah. ANYWAY I'm absolutely beside myself that people wanted to be on the tag list for this series (i could cry) so thank you to the people that are investing time into this just like me (: my asks are always open if you want to chat about this series in particular or literally anything else !! happy reading <3

*no use of y/n & female presenting reader*

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

With a whole week of work at Brass Knuckles now officially under your belt, your dad wanted to celebrate. He called you and asked if you would come and eat lunch with him on Sunday afternoon. You knew that this meant you would be the one selected to go pick up and pay for lunch at some restaurant, but it was the fact that he remembered in the first place. Your dad was the kind of man that remembered globally recognized celebratory events: Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Thanksgiving. However, he struggled a bit with remembering ones that hit closer to home: your birthday, his own wedding anniversary, and any school function you had. You knew that he never did this with any malice or bad intentions, that wasn’t in his nature, but that didn’t ever numb the pain when it inevitably happened. 

“Did you really have to get me a salad?” 

You already knew that he was going to ask this. “Yes, I did.”

“Well could you have at least ordered me one that is topped with fried chicken and not this skinless bitch chicken.”

“Fried meats are one of the main foods that you have to avoid because of your diabetes,” You narrow your eyes at him. “So eat your ‘bitch chicken’ and be happy.”

“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry, Sweet Pea. Thank you for bringing the food and for putting up with me.” 

“Of course, dad, but speaking of putting up with you…how has your physical therapy been going with Miss. Maggie?”

“I have my good days and my bad days. I actually managed to hold myself up on the uhh…what’s that thing called again? The one that has those horizontal poles on either side of me?”

“The parallel bars?”

“Yeah!” He snaps his fingers together. “I managed to hold myself up on the parallel bars, but I used all my strength focusing on not falling over which meant that I didn’t have much left in me when it came time to try taking a step.”

“I’m still really proud of you! Doing everything that you’re doing isn’t easy. All that anyone can ask is that you take it day by day and to try your best.”

“When did you grow up and get so smart?” His voice sounds airy. 

“When you blinked.”

“Is that so? Okay, smarty pants, what’s the first thing that I’m going to do when I can walk on my own again?”

You lean back in your seat and ponder his question. It wouldn’t have anything to do with playing cards, since he has that poker tournament every Sunday evening. It wouldn’t be going on a date, although you suspect he might have a little thing for Miss. Maggie. As you rack your brain for the answer a car fires up its engine in the retirement home parking lot. Got it.

“The first thing that you’re going to do when you can walk on your own is go to a car show. Then after you’re done, you’ll probably go get the greasiest burger you can get your hands on just to spite me.” 

“Fuckin’ hell. You got me all figured out.” 

“How about this? We go to the car show together, but skip the burgers.”

“Or we go to the car show together, skip the burgers, and get a basket of fries instead?”

You know when you're in the middle of a losing argument. A frustrated sigh comes from you as you nod your head at his counter-proposal. 

“Deal, dad.” 

***

You should have known this was a bad idea. You should have turned your car around the moment you saw how packed the parking lot was. Days like today were the reason why online shopping and curbside delivery were invented. Unfortunately for you, you had no better way to spend the afternoon of your day off than braving the hectic crowds of IKEA. Your desperate need for items inside the store outweighed your hesitation to go inside. You have only just grabbed a basket when your phone starts ringing.

“Thank fucking god you called, Robbie. I just got into IKEA and I need someone to talk to so I don’t get completely overwhelmed here.” 

You spend the next 45 minutes wandering in and out of different furniture sections while filling Robbie in about your new job and friends. You tell her about Benny and how he has become your closest friend so far down here. She audibly gags when you mention Brunson and how he acted when you first met him. Although you reassure her that Benny stepped in and shut him down, she still has a few choice words that you hope the family standing next to you can’t hear through the phone. 

By the time you finally bring up Will, Pope, and Frankie your basket is quite full. You found all the kitchenware you needed: pots and pans, cups, plates, bowls, utensils, etc. Then for your room you got a nightstand, a dresser drawer, a lamp, decorative throw pillows, and a full length mirror to hang on your closet door. You wrote down the item numbers for some of the items that are too big to cart around, kitchen table and chairs and a couch, so you could order them on a later date. 

“So, Santiago is Pope, Will is Ironhead, Frankie is Catfish, and Benny is…just Benny?” 

“It’s weird, I know.” You laugh. “They’re all really sweet, but Frankie is by far the most attractive one in the group.” 

“What did I fucking say?! I knew that you would have better luck finding a boyfriend in Florida than back home!”

“He’s not my boyfriend! I just think he’s cute, damn!”

“Tell me about him! I need a good mental image.”

“He’s a few inches taller than me, maybe 5’11? His hair curls at the end and is this beautiful brown which matches his eyes. Broad, and I mean broad, shoulders.” Robbie squeals on the other end of the phone. “Big nose and probably 10-15 years older than me?”

“I told you that you like ‘em older.”

You playfully roll your eyes at her comment as you walk into the section of the store that carries the bed frames.

“But I think you would really like Will. He’s tall, ruggedly handsome, has a sexy southern accent, and seems really smart.”

She’s quiet on the other end of the phone while you explain more about him to her. You love Robbie, but the men that she has dated in the past couldn’t match her on any level. She needed a partner that could challenge her intellectually and push her out of her comfort zone. Will is the kind of man that could do that for her. 

“Basically, what I’m trying to tell you is that you should date men that are actually men.”

“Well, it looks like I’ll have some homework to do when I come down next month for spring break.”

“Just give him a chance, that’s all I’m asking. Hey, I should probably go. I’ve already been here way longer than I intended and if I keep talking to you there's no telling when I’ll finish.” 

The two of you make plans to talk later and you hang up the phone. Now to find a bed frame and get the fuck out of here. You survey the room to see if anything catches your eye and something does. The only issue is that it's not a piece of furniture. Familiar curls peek out from underneath a black cap. He’s facing away from you which allows you to read the lettering on the back of his shirt.

B.K.B.G Sponsor of the Month

Tire Town Auto Body Repair Shop

When you first met Frankie, Benny had accidentally cut it short. You have been embarrassingly hung up on the fact that you didn’t get to talk to him the way you had with the other two men that evening. Now the universe has allowed you a second chance by placing him just a few feet away. You find yourself stuck in between feeling excitement and apprehension to approach him. Would he think you were weird if you came up and talked to him? Would he see you as Benny’s little receptionist and nothing more? These questions and countless more plague your mind as your feet guide you over to him. 

“Uhh…Frankie?”

He turns around and looks down at you with those enchanting eyes. The wrinkles that form around them when he smiles softly at you echo the photo you saw of him. The front of his shirt has ‘B.K.B.G Friday Fight Night’ written in a large font across his chest. 

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

You shily gesture to your very full basket. “Turns out that one of the many consequences of moving quickly is having to buy all new furniture because you didn’t have time to bring the stuff you already owned.”

“Oh God, I’m sorry,” he chuckles and scratches the nape of his neck. “That was a stupid question.” 

“No, no it wasn’t! At least I have a job now so I can pay for it all.”

“How is that going by the way? You just finished your first week, right?” 

You try to convince yourself that him remembering how long you had already been working at Brass Knuckles for wasn’t a big deal. He had come into the gym on Monday and since today is Sunday, a logical person could conclude that you had completed your first week. Try as you might, you couldn’t stop the balloon-like swelling you felt in your heart. 

“I did! It was pretty good, honestly. I feel like I’ve got the hang of everything I’m in charge of. Speaking of Brass Knuckles, I like your shirt.”

He looks down at the shirt he probably didn’t think twice about throwing on this morning. 

“You don’t have one of the fight night shirts yet? I think this is the one my job sponsored.” You laugh as he tries to look over his shoulder to read the back of the shirt.

“No, I haven’t been to the fights yet. You work at Tire Town Auto Body Shop?”

“For the time being.” His eyes drift away while he says. You can tell that there is more to the story than he is letting on.

“Well it’s comforting to know that you work there,” His gaze falls back on you. “I have the worst luck with cars so it’s only a matter of time before I’ll need to find a shop.”

“I hope nothing goes wrong with your car, but if it does, just bring it over to me and I’ll take care of everything for you. Wait, wait…did you say that you haven’t been to the fights?”

“In my defense I have only known about them for a week! Benny is the only one I know there, but he is either preparing the fighters or organizing the event as a whole. I would feel out of place if I went by myself.”

“Well now you know me and Will and Pope. Come with us.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah,” he rests his hand on the edge of your cart. “It’s actually a pretty fun time. I would love it if you went with me- me and the guys.” You watch his fingers pick anxiously at a piece of tape on the end of one of your boxes.

“Sounds like a plan to me, Frankie.” 

Upon hearing you agree to go with him the corners of his lips curl into a smile. It’s so infectious that you find yourself beaming in the middle of the bustling store as well. His shyness makes you yearn to know what makes him tick. Makes you want to know how to coax that coveted smile out of him. Because maybe doing that will help you smile more as well. 

It looks like he is opening his mouth to say something when he’s cut off by the blaring of his ringtone. He easily takes the device out of his pocket, but falters when he sees the name that's displayed on the screen. His once relaxed demeanor has now been replaced by something tense and foreign to you. 

“I’ve uhh I’ve gotta take this. I’m so sorry.” He hits the answer button and places the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“No worries,” You whisper to him. “I’m sure I’ll see you later.” 

You watch as he nods and starts to walk deeper into the store. Before he gets out of your ear shot you hear him say the name ‘Rochelle’. Leave it to you to be into a man that already has another woman first in line.

***

“Why do we always have to come to this dump? They don’t have any good drinks and the music sucks.”

Frankie sits across from Rochelle at a random table in The Barrel. He knew better than to let her sit at the guy's designated table. He didn’t want her to corrode them the way she had done with him. 

“Why do you want to get back together, Rochelle? We never made each other happy. Our whole relationship was a coked out blur.” 

“But you liked it.” She places her hand on his. It was cold and wet since she had been using it to hold her beer bottle. 

“I’m not the same man I was before, Rochelle. I can’t do shit like that anymore. I don’t want to do shit like that anymore.” He forces himself to look her in the eyes. “You know what it cost me.”

She meets his plea with a scoff and brings her drink to her overlined lips. She never seemed interested in conversations where she wasn’t leading or the center of attention. 

“You were fun. I was fun. We were fun. So what if we needed a little bump every now and then to get there?” Her fingers curl tighter around his hand. “I miss you, Frankie.”

He missed having someone ride shotgun. He missed having someone there when he needed to vent about the shitty day that he had at work. He missed having a warm body to sleep next to at night. He missed having someone to care for. He just didn’t know if he missed her. She gave him a distraction when he needed it in the past, but could she give him the support he needs now? The support he would inevitably need in the future?

“The only way I would consider revisiting ‘us’ is if it's just us. No more coke.”

He can see the annoyance in her eyes as he lays out his boundaries on the table. She slowly retracts her hand from his and coils it back around her glass. 

“Fine.” Her tone is flat.

“I’m not kidding. I want a fresh start. If we are going to try again I want to do it right.”

“Then let's start with that woman’s voice I heard on the other end of your phone today. Who was that?”

“Are you serio- I ran into Benny’s new hire while I was out shopping for stuff for my place. She’s new to the area and doesn’t have a lot of friends here yet. It was just a friendly conversation, Rochelle.”

"Well,” Her voice is syrupy sweet. “You don’t need to be her friend because you’re already mine.”

He really wanted to believe her when she said that. He really wanted to believe that she cared for him enough to change and grow as a person. He really wanted to ignore the sound of the water calling his name the longer he sat with her. 

***

By Wednesday, you felt completely at ease working in the gym. You recognized and chatted with regulars, became quite the sales woman for both memberships and Friday tickets, and were able to kick the washing machine into submission without Benny’s help. Your desk was also coming along nicely too. You had posted notes in your favorite color, a photo you and Robbie took together in a photobooth shoved into the top right corner of your computer, multi colored pens, and even a small filing basket so you could better organize your paperwork. Your new found confidence in the job gave you the push you needed to officially pitch the idea of gym wide air fresheners to Benny.

“I don’t want this place smellin’ like a fruity little spa.” 

“You do know that they make dozens, if not hundreds, of different kinds of scents right?”

“People come here to workout, not pretend that they are on a tropical vacation.” 

“People can’t workout if the smell suffocates them.” You retort.

“It’s not even that bad!”

“You’ve gone nose blind, Benny! Please know that I say this out of the kindness of my heart, but it is fucking rancid in here.” 

“Now you’re just bein’ mean.” 

“Listen, what if I buy some, only the most manly smelling ones of course, and let you test them out? It’s a win-win because you won’t have to charge them on the company card and if you hate them I can just return them all.”

“Alright, but you promise that I will get the final say?” 

“You’re the boss, Benny. Oh, what should we eat today?”

The two of you have been eating lunch together during the week. There is a good window of time right after the gym’s lunch rush and before the after work rush. You even made sure to block off at least an hour in Benny’s schedule around that time so he could have a much needed break. 

“Have you tried that burger place up the street? Goddamn, they’re so good.” 

“Burgers it is then. Text me your order so I know what to get you.”

What? Just because your dad has to be on a strict diet doesn’t mean that you have to be on one.

***

Benny had wheeled his rolly chair all the way from his back office and crammed it behind your desk. Both of you sit snugly with your feast of burgers and fries littered in front of you. The silence is only broken up by the occasional ‘can you pass the ketchup?’ or ‘are there extra napkins in the bag?’. When you have eaten half of your burger you decide to set it down and bring up what’s been on your mind. You know you can’t just come out and ask it so you opt to bring it up gradually. 

“I saw Frankie the other day while I was out and he suggested I come to the fights this Friday.”

“I’ve been askin’ you to come since you got here!” His mouth is still full from the last bite he took. 

“Gross, Benny!” You swat him in the shoulder. “I know you have been asking, but you’re busy helping organize things! You’re the only one I know here.”

You can’t tell if he chooses to keep his mouth shut because you’re right or because you just reprimanded him.

“Frankie said I could go with him and the other guys. Plus I have no social life and it's starting to feel like the walls of my apartment are closing in on me.”

“Regardless of who convinced you to go, I’m happy you’re comin’! You’re gonna have a blast! Fish and the guys throw down pretty hard at these things too so you’ll be in good company.” 

“Yeah I think I will be too.” You have to shove a fry in your mouth to hide the smile you can feel making its way across your lips. Only once you have finished chewing, you don’t want to be a hypocrite, do you bring up what you really have been wanting too. “Can I ask a question? It might not be my place though.”

The man across from you motions, burger in hand, for you to continue. You take a deep breath and rip the band-aid off.

“Well, Frankie and I’s conversation was actually cut short when he got a phone call. I wouldn’t have said anything except- except he looked so tense when he got it? I don’t know, maybe I’m imagining things.”

“No you’re definitely not imaginin’ things. I don’t want to get into Frankie’s business because that's his own shit to talk about, but long story short, a woman is tryin’ to come back into his life that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

You pick your burger back up and take a bite as he carries on with his story. 

“The guys and I all found ways to cope with comin’ back to reality after dealin’ with the worst of the worst in and out of the service. Mine was openin’ this place, Will’s was helpin’ other vet’s, Pope’s was bein’ a military consultant, and Frankie’s was…well Frankie’s was Rochelle.”

“Rochelle.” You wanted to feel how her name felt on your tongue. “I heard him say that name when he was walking away.”

“Damnit, Fish.”

***

“So, remind me again why we are here?”

Frankie pulls into Brass Knuckles’ parking lot with Pope in his passenger seat. He knew he should have done this without him. If anyone was going to sniff out that he had a small thing for you it was going to be Pope.

“Benny left some clothes at my place last week and since we were in the neighborhood I figured I would just drop them off.” 

“As opposed to giving them to him on Friday? Which is only two days from now, might I add.” He looks in the backseat and grabs the small cardboard box. “I think he would have made it until then without a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.”

“Shut up and get out of my truck, man.” 

Frankie takes the box of clothes out of Pope’s hands when they both round the bed of the truck and start walking towards the door. He can see you entranced by something on your computer screen through the windows. 

“I also invited her to come to the fights with us this week.” Frankie flicks his chin in your direction when Pope looks at him. 

“You already have her number? Damn, Fish. I thought I worked quickly.”

“No, man,” He groans. “We ran into each other while I was at IKEA on Sunday. I just thought it would be fun, you know? It’s not like that, Pope.” 

“Fish, you were a bad liar when we served together and you’re a bad liar now.” He turns to look at Frankie. “Come on, you think she’s cute don’t you?”

“She’s just cool.” He should have never brought Pope.

“Whatever you say.” 

The chime of the door bell pulls you from your emails. You’re shocked, but not unhappy, when you look up and see the two of them coming through the door.

“Hey guys. I didn’t know y’all were coming by today.”

“I would have texted you, love, but I haven’t got your number.” Pope flashes his signature beaming grin in your direction. 

“Well you never asked, love.” You tease. 

“We wanted to drop some things off for Benny.” Frankie says as he comes up and places a cardboard box gingerly on your desk.

“Who's ‘we’?” Pope gabs. 

Your attention stays on Frankie as you speak. “Oh, sure! He’s in the back office doing…actually I'm not really sure what he does back there.”

When Frankie doesn’t immediately move, Pope reaches over and slides the box towards himself. 

“Hey, what are you-?”

“Let me take this for you, Fish. Why don’t you stay here and get her number for me? Strictly for scientific purposes of course.” You can see a playful look in his eyes when he turns back to his clearly panicking friend. 

“Wait, no it’s-”

“It’s no big deal, exactly.” Pope whisks the box off your desk and starts walking into the gym, but not before tossing you a wink. 

It suddenly feels a little harder to breathe when it’s just the two of you up front. You want to compliment the soft, yellow jacket he is wearing, but no words come. The only thing you can selfishly focus on right now is your heart and how it's beating so hard in your chest that he can probably hear it. 

“It’s nice to see you again.” You think you can hear his voice shutter a bit.

“It’s nice to see you again too, Frankie. Still alright for me to come with everyone on Friday? I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re not imposing!” The words tumble out of his mouth. “You’re not imposing. I invited you, remember?” His tone settles.

“Thanks again for that by the way.” 

A silence falls between the two of you. You both must have been racking your brains for something to say because you speak at the same time.

“Did you-?”

“Were you able-?”

Comfortable laughter blossoms and it dawns on you that he might be just as nervous to talk to you as you were to talk to him. 

“No, no you go first!” You choke out while trying to catch your breath. 

“Did you end up getting anything else after I left the other day?” 

“I actually did; thanks for asking! I found a bed frame I liked. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to put it together though.” 

Frankie has never been more grateful for the front desk than in this exact moment. Images of your naked, writhing body cuffed to a bed frame flood his mind. God, he could do anything he wanted to you. He would take it slow at first, not wanting to leave any part of your body undiscovered by his tongue. Then, only when you were begging him, would he give you what you wanted. 

“Frankie?”

“I-I’m sorry what did you say?”

“I asked if you were able to find anything? You didn’t have a basket when I saw you.”

“No, I didn’t. The thing I wanted was just out of reach-stock! The thing I wanted was just out of stock.” He corrects.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” You pray your voice doesn’t give away the curiosity you have about his little slip up. “Here. Let me give you something to make up for it.” 

You take out a pen from its holder and move your stack of sticky notes in front of you. His eyes capture your every move. You write out your number slowly on the small piece of paper as you revel in the knowledge that you have his undivided attention. When you’re finished you sign it with your name and a tiny heart and pray that you haven’t misread this situation. 

“I know Pope was the one that asked for this, but I want you to hold on to it.” 

Your cheeks burn as you hand him your proverbial olive branch. When he takes it from you and reads what you had written he laughs quietly to himself. 

“You know, so you can text me about this Friday.”

“Not for scientific purposes?” He mimics his friend's earlier statement.

“Unlucky for Pope, I was never really that into the sciences.”

“Lucky for me then.” 

He folds up your note and carefully places it into his front shirt pocket. His timing couldn't have been better because Benny and Pope emerge from behind the brick wall as soon as he’s done. 

“I hear that you managed to convince our girl here to come with y’all to the fights, Fish! Good on you!” He comes up and claps his friend on the back. “I’m not at all jealous that you did it when I couldn’t.”

“Benny.” you chide.

“Why don’t you make it up to Benny and come to the bar with us?”

“One step at a time, Pope. One step at a time. I do have something for you though.”

He comes over to you as you start writing your number out again. Out of the corner of your eye you see him give Frankie and Benny and thumbs up. Oh you poor, sweet, incorrect bastard. You nonchalantly pass it to him and hope Frankie see’s that there is no heart drawn on this time. 

“Your reward for being such a big helper today by returning Benny’s clothes. If you text me in the middle of the night and wake me up I swear to God I’ll kill you.” 

“What bliss that would be.” 

“Hey! Unless y’all are gonna workout y’all better get a move on. Just because we are friends doesn’t mean y’all can take up valuable lobby space in my gym.” 

“We’re going, we’re going.” For a man that is getting ushered out of a building, Frankie sure looks happy. 

“Bye, guys!”

They both wave and say ‘bye’ to you and Benny as they open the door and head into the parking lot. Benny heads back to his office before they reach their truck, but you keep watching. As Frankie’s hand curls around his truck door, he looks back at you, and pats over his shirt pocket. Then he disappears inside and drives off with Pope. 

Frankie could feel the note he placed in his pocket burning a hole through his chest the whole ride back to Pope’s place. It made it hard to carry on a simple conversation with him because that fiery sensation was all he could focus on. It was the type of heat that seeped into his very bones and made him feel as if he was glowing from the inside out. He knew you had unknowingly seared yourself onto his heart and that feeling scared him.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

{tag list: @pimosworld @c-justhere @javicstories @saltybutteredtoast @hoeslingz @avastrasposts @bitchwitch1981 @smol-beb @cutesyscreenname }

[quills-of-freedom]

Spooky Season 🎃🍂

& Little announcements.

It is now officially the best time of year.

I am happy, content and excited for the season <3

Also I am back from the shadow Realm. Hello, Hi. Nice to see you again.

Also I am now adding One Punch Man to my writing lists. I don't know why I didn't before to be honest, it is a fave of mine.

But right now I am thirsty as f for this mofo....

Jesus Wept... just look at him...

TAKING REQUESTS FOR HALLOWEEN THEMED / SPOOKY THEMED HEADCANNONS

So, without further ado...

Halloween Festival:

Attack on Titan - One Punch man.

Warnings ⚠️ A little bit of smut. Mixture of cannon and modern au throughout.

Added local translations for things too... you'll see what I mean.

It's Halloween night; the moon is full and the leaves are as crisp as the air is cold. The Halloween fair is here in town and luckily, it's also date night 🌙 ✨️

Eren

Haunted house? Lame.

Good luck getting this grump excited for fake cardboard ghouls and goblins. But... gotta hand it to him, it makes you happy so he'll happily oblige.

Casually sipping his pumpkin spice latte with one hand. He gets the iced one because only Eren is edgey enough to drink ice when it's below zero. (Celsius you monsters) while he wraps his free arm around you.

Doesn't blink an eye during the scripted prologue. Rolls his eyes when one of the actors tries to spook him and single him out.

Allows you to hide into his chest if you're that way inclined. He'll scoff at you to stop being so dumb.

"You've slaughtered fifteen meter beasts but you're scared of a sheet?"

But never the less he's just glad he's getting to spend some alone time with you.

There's a room where it's total darkness and there's little flaps in the walls where actors reach out to grab you - his eyes narrow when he hears your peircing screech. He doesn't flinch.

But his protective instincts are still there - although he knows there's no real danger he knows you feel vulnerable so he's still there as your protector.

"C'mere..." Pulls you into a smooch when you're out the other side.

Reiner

Reiners been just as excited for this as you have. Not only does he adore spending time with you, but he's also a fellow lover of this time of year.

Buys all of the things. Fried snacks, candy apples (we call them toffee apples, even though they're not toffee. Weird, I know.) Churros, Cotton candy (candy floss). And shares them all with you. You'll never ever go hungry when on a date with Reiner Braun.

Then he sees it. The holy grail of festivals. The ferris wheel.

Just something about the lights and being so high alone moves something within him. He feels free up in the sky, looking at the gorgeous view. Not to mention the privacy he has with you.

Romantic view of the fireworks from atop the giant wheel is the cherry on top of yet another perfect date with Reiner. His warmth radiates from him as he holds you close and kisses you, the gorgeous colours exploding around you. But of course, that's how it always feels for Reiner when he kisses you.

Levi

Crowds of people, unsanitary food, loud music? Levi is not a fan of places like this. But, much like Eren, will put up with it for you. You'll just have to make it up to him later...

Wins all of the games. Even the ones that are evidently fixed. The game master is puzzled as he hands you a giant stuffed animal; he was sure he'd glued that pin down...

Levi brings his own food, as well as dead ass laying down a handkerchief upon the wooden picnic bench before placing down his boxed lunch.

He'll hold your hand through the crowd when it gets a bit hectic.

Enjoys looking at the bonfire. Not a fan of the smoke though. And it always seems to blow in his direction. He's fuming.

The pent up tension and stress from the whole evening really comes out later as he fucks you more firmly than usual. Nothing against you, of course, but he releases his tensions through his dick and my god was that a lot of strain on his brain.

Saitama

Depending on what mood he's in, he'll love it or hate it. If he's in a good mood he'll enjoy it a lot more. If he can't be arsed then maybe not so much.

Obliterates the games. Like, breaking them. He pisses off the stall owners beyond belief. To the point of just handing him toys as he approaches. He keeps at least one, you can have the rest.

He'll go on rides with you but the whole time he's like:

Thinks the haunted house is dumb but still enjoys it. Laughs at you getting freaked out.

"Hey, y/n." He'll joke, pointing to the Hall of Mirrors. "The scariest room yet."

He'll enjoy the pumpkin carving... until he starts to struggle with it and gets annoyed.

Garou

Garous interest in the festival is literally only you. He wants to fuck you and keep his person happy. He couldn't really give a shit where it was. Saying that, he's a very "in the moment" person and will make the best of the situation.

Wins all the games. Will start a fight if he spots one that's fixed. Ain't no one conning you. Or him.

Laughs like a maniac in the haunted house; because he's scaring them.

Constantly touching you. Guiding you through crowds, squeezing in a sneaky ass grab, wraps his arms around you from behind and buries his face into the crook of your neck.

Fingers you in a hidden corner of either the maze or haunted house. You drive him insane.

Buys all the food but dislikes most of it after trying them.

He's a softie deep down with a soft spot for kids, so when he knocked out the con artist of the game stall, gave out all the toys to the surrounding children. They all cheered him like he was a hero.

"Know how good 'm gonna fuck you later?" He'll sneer into your ear at the most random times. He's always like this on dates.

Enjoys the pumpkin carving and weirdly good at it too.

[findafight]

I’m a sucker for Steve learning about the party’s interests, do you have any thoughts about the kinds of things he’d do for each party member? (E.g. he has the ability to recognize tony hawk, despite his inconspicuousness, because of max’s skateboarding)

Actually now I'm obsessed with the idea that Steve is one of the few people who are not personal friends with him who is able to identify Tony Hawk without a skateboard. Like. Steve is an athlete and respects athleticism, and gives credit where it is due. (He does NOT allow making fun of Olympic athletes, even the weird sports, just because some people don't appreciate how hard you work for it.) So he's like "wow that Tony guy sure is talented. He is so high in the air. Good for him." And never forgets his face. At some point someone shares one of those "didn't recognize actual skate legend Tony Hawk " stories except it ends with "and then the guy in pastels standing beside Eddie Munson slapped his (Eddie's) chest and went "hey!! That's Tony Hawk!! Let's see if we can get an autograph for Max!" And I realized I had been making awkward small talk about cocktail weenies with sports legend Tony Hawk while working up the courage to ask Eddie Munson for an autograph."

He also tries to learn how to Ollie but he's actually really nervous and wears all the protective gear possible and is only able to go forward. (This is from my personal experience being post concussive and not a good skater. It's scary! My brain meat is delicate!) But Max tells him it's okay and talks about the skatepark in California and some of her old friends from there, and he tries to teach her how to make fried rice.(one of the only actual meals that isn't breakfast food he can cook really well completely from scratch) She gets him to do her hair with El because Steve is the only other person who understands that for El hair is a means of control, and that taking care of it is something important to that feeling.

He and El do jigsaw puzzles together and listen to folk music I think. El would appreciate having the option to talk or not, and likes listening to Steve talk too. Also I like jock El so he gets her overly invested in the Cubs like tells her all the lore and she's obsessed with the goat and she joins a softball team. When she first yells at an umpire for a bad call Steve almost cries of pride. Like. Finally. He's not the only one who Gets It.

Lucas and him bond over basketball yes. But Lucas doesn't yell at refs, and Steve gets why but thinks it's very fun when people yell at officials. Also I think they watch clouds together after practicing. Just nice peaceful, laying on warm blacktop and staring at the sky. Maybe El joins them and Lucas and El can bond this way too. Steve and his little jock siblings. (Why does no one consider max a jock for skateboarding? I guess it wasn't really seen as a sport for a long time...hm..)

Steve also bought a flat of new coke before they stopped selling it and keeps it for Lucas on movie nights or whatever and everybody always yells and groans because where is getting that!! It was discontinued!! Also they watch anime together. Erica and Robin join.

I can see him getting into some video games with Dustin and Mike and Lucas. Only the two or more player ones though he doesn't like playing alone. Like. Okay this whole post has anachronisms but please imagine him playing Lego Star Wars (complete saga) with Dustin. The chaos. The yelling.

He's absolutely a pinball guy. They go to the arcade and everyone does their thing but then end up cheering Steve on as he goes for idk star trek pinball glory. Without even tilting it! Idk what to tell you but Steve def loves pinball.

Also before his dad cut him off or after he gets some kind of inheritance he does a very financially secure impulse buy: he purchases an arcade game. Full size. I am partial to Asteroids because that's what my dad impulse bought in the 80's and had it in our basement growing up but let's keep this going he has a themed pinball machine. Icon.

He 100% reaches Dustin to drive. Mrs. Henderson asked him because Steve just looked sad when she mentioned teaching him and she was like well...we could BOTH teach him :) (because she has mentally adopted him. She told him to call her Ma and he does and Robin is like Steve. That's your mum now. And Steve's like no... Everybody calls her that. And she saysnSteve. Only Dustin. Her actual literal son. Calls her that. Guess what that makes YOU.)

Steve and whole party Lego Building Buddies? Mayhaps?

I wish tamagotchis were out in the 80's because Steve would be so diligent a Tama babysitter Erica would sell his services to her friends if they needed it lmao. He'd get all squinty and concentrated you know he'd highscore jump rope but not get the shapes game (me too buddy). Alas. Not to be.

Instead he listens to her talk about her elementary and middle school drama while looking for four leaf clovers. He also has watched MLP with her and may have teared up a little. Also, of course, she is his one true Game Master. Sorry Eddie

Mike is harder...maybe they bond over making snarky comments about people in movies, and then talk about how actually is car racing a sport? And it'd be sort of awkward because Mike has Nancy as an older sibling (even if they don't get along) and he's holding on to animosity that's pointless now. Plus Dustin and Lucas both seem to see Steve as a big brother and friend figure, but like. It's a bit weird for Mike. But still, Mike knows if he bikes to Steve's at two am he'll be hauled in and forced to sit down and asked if he wants a hug and hot chocolate.

Same with will, except Will has Jonathan (El does to but it's different) so at first they're sorta🧍🧍 staring at each other. Steve has to be like sooooo wanna. Tell me about Wizards? Or something? Cool...rocks? And Will would realize that this guy's just, y'know. A guy. Probably similar to Mike except he's not begrudging about it.

I guess a lot of Steve and the party is him listening to them and letting them actually be silly and kids, making snarky comments about the highschool dramas happening, and encouraging them to try different things (he did!) And figure out what they like outside of what they think the rest of the party likes.

[the-robot-bracket]

Five Pebbles propaganda:

"He's like 2 cm tall and also the size of a city. He was 'born' sopping wet in a can all alone and is angry at everything always and forever. He has made big mistakes and feels desperately guilty for them and tries his hardest to make up for them. He is a tiny little bug shouting at the world. Just look at his little antennae."

"Five Pebbles is a bio-mechanical supercomputer so large he literally has a metropolis built on top of him but he is also a little ~2ft. nerd who's into poetry and angrily rants to animals. He has a million absent parents. He nearly killed his sister and is sad about it for the rest of time. A rat kills him. This is the ideal character. #FIVEPEBBLESSWEEP"

"Hes a little pink guy, hes also a massive biomechanical superstructure. he wanted to kill himself so bad but only ended up giving himself turbo robot cancer and killing his older sister in the process (who i will also submit in a bit) Hes sooo silly i want to hit him with a brick. If you do that tho he just fries your brain instantly. love him"

"Oh he's such a cringe fail pathetic man, chugged so much water in an attempt to kill himself, instead kills his sister (kinda) and gives himself robo cancer. He'd listen to mcr and watch those cringey emo warrior cat amvs everyday if he could"

"He canonically has a rip-off Pepsi brand based on him, and he also has official art of him as a cat boy."

"Silly little goober, basically a God but also a tiny tiny little buddy."

"Imagine youre busy doing the hardest math ever when a feral cat scampers into your house, bites a chunk out of you, and scatters all your work everywhere. Then imagine that your reaction is to give this feral cat the gift of understanding speech and bless it with ultimate enlightenment so that it may escape samsara. This exact situation happened to Mr Fruity Pebbles about 4 times"

"I'm sure you've heard plenty about how pathetic this massive-yet-tiny supercomputer boy is so I'll just list off some semi-obscure facts that make him even more of my miserable wet cat

- He gets a surprise roommate of an explosive rat on a genocide mission and proceeds to talk to them like they're a person. He acts like they're the most annoying thing in the world but he also gets excited when they bring him something cool, or is clearly trying not to break down in front of them if they bring him chat logs with his friends and/or sister (that he killed)

- He is, both physically and mentally, being eaten from the inside by the consequences of his actions, due to the robot turbocancer and his own inescapable regret

- He seems to project onto nearly every rat that stumbles into his room, assuming they want to die just as much as he does

- The devs once commissioned multiple artworks of him in a catboy outfit I want this twink obliterated and I will fulfill those wishes as the rat who kills him."

"Failed so hard at killing himself, he killed himself. Looks like a lollipop in a dress. I make a habit of dumping stray kittens into his house so I guess a nomination counts as child support."

"Idk he tries to kill himself and fails so miserably it's kinda funny. Also he sucks god bless america"

"He's a wet cat."

[oh-hell-help-me]

OKAY! I admit that YouTube has been addicting with the plethora of reptile videos!

It started with research for certain details of cute reptile facts (you know why). I came upon the concept of weird reptile pets and then ended up 'aw'ing over an Emotional Support Alligator an old man has bonded with him in Cheetos and chicken legs. It's so wholesome!

And then I was searching the depths of the chocolate and alligator debate.

Like, there is a long-standing argument of whether or not alligators can consume chocolate safely, and the debate is topsy turvy with cases of other alligators/crocodiles who have lived off chocolate-containing foods and SURVIVED, but that tells me nothing about immediate or long-term effects!

Like, I know they literally can eat anything from how I've seen some go after car tires (don't ask), but this whole thing has been setting off my brain for possibilities in how this applies to Bowser (and Koopas in general).

They're reptile-ish turtle-dragon-things that seem to have some gator-croc features. SO-

Let's talk about dietary restrictions, and how that can translate to the split of palates between Bowser and Luigi!

Canonically, Bowser is omnivorous, with the same tastes as humans if the cookies, meat, and other various foodstuffs seen in-game and official art are to be believed.

But otherwise? There isn't any info that would dispute the need to eat rocks like a chicken to grind food in a special organ (for Bowser to have an excuse for why he eats otherwise questionable objects in "Bowser's Inside Story"). I would LOVE to see Luigi be utterly flummoxed by the sight of Bowser taking bites out of boulders or casually shoveling in gravel!

There isn't a direct dispute for Bowser to not also include insects to that diet, like a lot of small lizards do! People also eat insects (usually crickets, spiders, and the rare scorpions), but I assume that either Luigi would be too squeamish to watch any Koopa eat it, or maybe make the effort to accept it (like, using Cricket Flour for baking)!

There is no fact that goes against Bowser actually liking raw/scrambled eggs instead of fried eggs, which he explicitly states to hate in "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door"! Heck, it could be like Movie!Mario's thing with mushrooms, but in a way where Luigi will thoughtfully accommodate him for family-cooked meals!

Anyone could also fit in some restrictions for Luigi! Like, for sickfic/angst reasons, maybe an allergy that shows up when he does his best to eat 'normally' at first but has it backfire (as things do for him)! And Bowser could encourage him (yell at him with love) to ask for alternative food because gosh dang it Luigi you are now bedridden-!

Anyone could also give the Koopa's a high metabolism, so calorie-packed meals are the norm and the constant craving of a lot of food can add to some kitchen bonding with high-calorie meals! And the fact that some Italian dishes (i.e. not all) are considered calorie dense can be a thing to add to the roster of meals that don't overload the Koopa palette!

Just- a lot of things to do with food! In a fluffy way!