#sorry the quality is weird. i scanned this with my phone and edited it in a hurry

[insertdisc5]

what

[quibbs126]

So I’ve been drawing these

I brought a sketch pad with me, and we had gone out for lunch, but my iPad was out of battery, so I decided to just draw Cookie Run characters

I just realized I forgot to color Pistachio’s head things. I think that was because I wasn’t sure what color the triangles should be

Also note, I haven’t drawn traditional in about a year. So it doesn’t look as good as my normal stuff (I am unable to edit my sketch lines like I am on Procreate)

I will say, in terms of coloring, Purple Yam and Cinnamon easily came out the worst. I brought my 72 Prismacolors set, but I didn’t have the right colors for those two, so yeah. But Purple Yam is definitely the worst, Cinnamon just came out kind of weird

I have a 132 pack somewhere in my room, but I didn’t bring them. Maybe they would have looked better with those ones

I originally had a white gel pen, but I couldn’t find it, so no highlights. Sorry. I doubt I can get another one while here, but if I can, you know

I wasn’t really trying to do anything with the characters, I was just drawing the characters. I drew Pistachio because we were at an ASDA and I saw a picture of green ice cream, so I thought it was pistachio flavored, which made me think of drawing Pistachio. Then I drew White Choco because she goes with Pistachio. Then I drew Purple Yam because my grandad liked his design (I have pictures of a lot of the characters on my phone). Today I drew Cinnamon because why not

Then I drew Milk with long hair, because I think he would look good with it. If anyone makes him a future design, they should give him long hair, I’m sure he’d look good with it (and maybe you could say it’s in reference to Dark Choco when he met him)

But yeah, just thought I’d show these

Hmm, maybe I should do a scan of this instead of just a not very good quality picture. Maybe later

[that-crazy-five-foot-two-chick]

Summary: Winry sat in the optimal place to study in the school cafe for the entire fall semester. Then spring came, and suddenly some self-entitled twit who dressed like off-brand Gerard Way decided it was his territory. He was so not going to get off easy.

Rating: T

Word Count: 1.8k words of coffee shop/college AU with a side of enemies to almost-lovers

A/N: It's finals week, I posted this on Ao3 at almost 5am, and if the rest of the sentence didn't make it obvious, I'm writing from unfortunate experience. Not beta-ed or proofread, although I happened to see one thing to fix when I woke up this morning. Feel my raw power. Rawr.

It wasn't that big a deal.

It kind of really was, though.

Every Thursday morning during the fall semester, Winry sat in the same spot at the same school coffee shop. It was the spot sent by the entire patron pantheon of cram papers. Maybe one person didn't need an entire booth, but it was in the corner, and the tops of the bench seats had opaque plastic barriers that just so happened to be perfect for minimizing excess visual chaos. For the most part, there weren't loud conversations, and the jazz music that came through the speakers helped her tune out people ordering coffee. Add to that the fact that she could use campus flex dollars and not her own bank account that was begging for mercy, and it was the perfect spot to get papers done.

But apparently not this spring.

As soon as Winry walked in, she noticed him in the corner. Some emo wannabe guy on his computer. Probably on Reddit complaining about how women didn't appreciate the amazing pics he sent them on Tinder. Or at least, it was a fair guess based on the sour look on his face. Why did this guy of all people have to steal the holy grail spot? Ugh. She was still gonna get her coffee, darn it.

"You know the deal, Sciezska. Medium roast with a shot of espresso and vanilla creamer."

"On it! You paying in flex?"

"Yeah." She scanned her student ID and lowered her voice. "Who's off-brand Gerard Way in the corner?"

"Who's Ger—"

"The punk kid."

"Ohhh. I can try to get his number for you, if you want."

"No, he looks like a total tool! And not the kind I like dealing with!"

"Which means you think he's hot. I didn't think you were into that type, but you're not wrong."

"For the last time, no, Sciezska! He took my spot! And I'm trying very, very hard to keep this to a stage whisper, but if you keep trying to set me up with some random creep, I won't be able to!"

A distinctly male voice grumbled, "I'm not a creep."

"Keep telling that to the girls on Tinder. I'm sure they'll understand eventually."

"Yeah, and I'll bet if you look at your 'Live, Laugh, Love' sign a little more, you'll understand it eventually." He mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that, Mr. Nice Guy?"

"Lay off, it's eight in the morning. I said the only reason I even have a Tinder account is because my roommate stole my phone while I was going to the bathroom."

"Well, if you didn't want it, why didn't you delete it?"

"Eh, I figured if I really got sick of being single one day, it'd already be there."

"Never would have guessed you were single," Winry said dryly.

"Come on, it's way too early to be rubbing that kind of crap in. Who says I'm not fine with being single anyway?"

Sciezska timidly spoke up. "Medium roast with espresso and vanilla creamer?"

Winry thanked her as red jacket boy continued. "'Edward Elric, Bachelor.' Almost sounds as good as 'Edward Elric, Bachelor of Science.'"

"B.S. degree. Sounds about right."

"About time you stopped acting like I'm an idiot!"

Winry snorted. "That's not what I meant."

"Hey!"

"And with that, I'm going to go find some other spot to write my paper."

Edward, as his name apparently was, scoffed and mumbled something that sounded like "good riddance". Maybe the librarians wouldn't get on her case too much for bringing in coffee.

-----

A week later, Winry walked into the cafe, assuming the circumstances of the previous week were an anomaly. They were not.

"Medium roast with a shot of espresso and vanilla creamer," she grumbled and sulked in the direction of the corner seat.

"Hey, don't start with me again, blondie. I've had a whopping four hours of sleep and I can't promise you'll like what comes out of my mouth."

"We're at a coffee shop. Get some coffee. I can't help it if you're too hung over to be polite."

"Now look, genius. I did not stay up until 4 A.M. working on a stupid chem paper for that sadistic pyromaniac excuse for a professor just for some random chick to accuse me of being hung over."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And for your information, coffee doesn't really help me wake up. It just helps me focus on homework." He lifted up his empty cup and gave it a shake.

"That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard."

"ADHD is a weird thing, and yet, here I am."

"Huh, interesting."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pick up where I left off with the same stupid ten page paper I started last night."

"Oh right. Sure," Winry stammered. "Listen, I'm really sorry I just assumed things about you. It was wrong of me, and I'd like to make it up to you, if that's okay."

Edward eyed her suspiciously. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well...I could look over your paper once you're done writing it? I've got a paper of my own to write while I'm waiting, and I can sit right across the table here so you don't have to come get me. I won't try to talk to you or anything. Neither of us need that kind of distraction."

"Alright, alright. Get your coffee and sit down. The girl at the counter's been up there waiting for a good minute or two while you've been at confessional over here."

"Wait, she has?" Winry's eyes widened, and Edward laughed at her expense. He was kind of attractive when he wasn't scowling...wait what? She pouted and got up to retrieve her coffee. When Winry returned, she plopped down on the bench opposite Edward and opened her laptop. Peeking out from behind it, she added, "By the way, I'm Winry. I figured you ought to at least know the name of the person who's proofreading your paper."

"Well, Winry, you're the one who volunteered." The corners of his mouth twitched upward. The two worked on their assignments in silence, occasionally speaking up when necessary.

-----

Edward was in the corner again the next week as well.

"Hey, Edward! Mind if I join you for homework again?"

"Normally, I'd say no, but you didn't bother me too much last week, so you might as well." He turned away slightly.

"Great! Have you gotten your coffee yet? I didn't see a cup, and you got something the last two times."

"Eh, I haven't been here long. If you're going up and getting yours, would you mind ordering a caramel macchiato for me?" He asked, sliding his ID across the table.

"Yeah, no problem. I'll be back in a sec."

She returned and slipped his ID back before pulling out her computer. "Do you have anything for me to look over this time?"

"Not this week. But if you have anything you need looked over, I can do that, too."

"Actually, I do, if you wouldn't mind."

"Winry, I just volunteered. Just send the paper to my school email. Mine's 'elricedwa'," he instructed as he proceeded to spell it.

"Medium roast and a caramel macchiato?" Sciezska called out.

"Coming!" Winry replied and turned to Edward. "I just sent it, so you should be able to start while I'm getting our stuff." Eyes glued to his laptop, Edward gave a thumbs up.

Once she returned with their drinks, Winry sat down and wordlessly set Edward's drink next to him.

"Thanks," he muttered distantly. His lips mirrored the words he was reading. Though his lips weren't plump by any stretch of the imagination, they were shapely. His steely concentration made the air leave Winry's lungs. To top it all off, the first rays of sunlight came through the window just right, hitting Edward's hair in a way that made it positively glow.

What was she thinking? Those were only the sorts of things people thought when they had a crush. She'd only had two positive interactions with him, including this one. ...well, maybe it was a crush. She could certainly do worse than someone with a questionable fashion sense. After all, he worked hard, and he got good grades, if the quality of his writing was any indication. Okay, fine. He was also drop dead gorgeous, if you could see past his clothing choices. Yeah, she had a crush.

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"...no."

"Figures. I finished reading your paper. It's not bad, I just left a few suggestions for sentence structure. Now I am going to enjoy my caramel macchiato." He took off the lid and breathed in the steam with his eyes closed, nearly drooping into the cup in content. When he opened his eyes slowly, Winry was awestruck by the similarity between the color of his eyes and his drink.

"What?" Edward furrowed his eyebrows.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything. At all. Nope."

"Okay." He shrugged. She reopened the document and went through his suggested edits. Gnawing her lip in concentration, she leaned forward a bit to settle in and tackle the editing.

"...hey, uh, Winry?" Edward gulped. "Are you going to drink your coffee?"

"Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot. Thanks, Edward!" she smiled.

"No–no problem. And you can call me Ed, you know. Most people do. Except for that excuse for a professor that calls me pipsqueak. Can you believe he's my advisor? I mean, come on, I'm a grown man. I'm not that short."

Winry made a poor attempt at containing her laughter. "Okay then, Ed. Prove it. Stand up."

"Fine." He slid out of the booth and stood. Winry followed suit and appraised their respective heights.

"Well, I'd hardly call you tall, but you're at least taller than me by a few inches, for whatever that's worth."

Edward grinned as if he had won some sort of prize. "Time for shorties to sit down now!"

"Watch it now. You're not too far from that label yourself, mister."

They both returned to their positions in the booth and worked steadily for the next hour. At the end of that time, Winry closed her laptop. "Ed, are you okay? You seem distracted."

"ADHD. I'm always distracted," he dismissed.

"No, like, are you sick or something? You did get more than four hours of sleep this time, right?"

"No comment." Ed's mouth twitched. He mumbled barely loud enough to hear, "Wouldn't have mattered anyway."

"Are you sure? If you're not feeling well, I can drive you over to the health center."

"N-no. That's not it." He exhaled, then slid a napkin across the table. His hands trembled slightly. "Anyway, here's my number. In case you need me to look over a paper. Or whatever. I've got a class soon."

Winry blushed, but tucked the napkin in her laptop. "Thanks, Ed. See you next week?"

"Yeah. Next week."

-----

Winry: This goes with your major, right?

Edward: Blocked

[prose-for-hire]

Btvs Headcanons:

Hc: You work in a store they frequent, meet them that way, and feelings develop. How each character would show you that they care about you/ask you on a date after getting to know them. 

Edited to include Oz. [Jenny Calendar hc is separate here ]

Warning: one small mention of sex. and in one hc the store is a butchers

I thought this would be fun, maybe a little different than my usual. You can request some people that aren’t on here if you like. Or a different job or scenario where you would meet them.💜

Spike:

- you work at a 24 hour store, he comes in at weird times of the night

- You catch Spike stealing and take pity on him, letting it slide (he looks a bit gaunt, maybe he’s not eating properly)

- There’s no cameras the place you work is crappy so you maintain eye contact and just nod at him, allowing him to take whatever it is he’s concealed under his leather duster

- He’d start to come in and either blatantly steal so you would catch him and talk to him or buy lots of stuff he didn’t need with money he had ‘borrowed’ from one of the scoobies

- He talks a lot and appears to be trying to impress you, it makes you smile

- But also he’s very attentive to you and asks you things about yourself, wanting to learn everything he can

- He starts waiting for you, watching through the glass, going through whole packs of cigarettes making sure you’re okay and no customers are being nasty

- He will come in and threaten to drain them dry if they say one more horrible thing to you, it’s happened twice

- He follows you home before eventually offering to walk with you

- He’ll probably bottle all of his feelings up for a long time, professing his love in a very heartfelt speech and crashing his lips to yours before actually asking you on a date

Angel:

(I’m so sorry if you don’t eat meat)

- You work at the butchers and Angel used to come in all the time really early before the sun rose

- You were embarrassed such an attractive man saw you in your overalls smelling of raw meat

- Too embarrassed to ask yourself why he wanted so much animal blood

- You soon had his regular order ready and waiting for him, he always seemed to be in a rush. This meant there was a little time for you to talk because he already had his order

- You instigated, asking him lots of questions with you getting one word answers (you think he’s not interested and stop)

- But he’s just trying to keep his distance, he knows what happens when he gets too involved. Things seem to go wrong

- He eventually bumps into you after work one evening, not able to stay away completely

- You work long hours so he’s trying to make sure you’re getting home okay by hanging back in the shadows

- Eventually starts to offer to walk you and you happily agree, chatting nonstop about the delivery or what you were taught that day about slicing into something

- He enjoys just hearing you talk, not able to help smiling at the way you animatedly recount your day to him, eventually one day he’ll offer for you to visit his place making a date out of it

Xander:

- you probably work with him, one of the many jobs he took on after high school

- you both work at a pizza place, he delivers you make the orders

- he acts really weird around you at first, dropping things and stumbling over his words when he speaks to you

- he cracks some childish jokes but you laugh along with him, finding him sweet

- he grins wide when you start to joke back, pulling funny faces behind the manager’s back when it’s turned

- He’ll be thinking of asking you on a date for a really long time, probably since he first met you

- He’s nervous and he doesn’t want you laughing in his face, he probably doesn’t think he has a shot with someone as great as you

- But he just rushes out and says it one night when you’re both grabbing your jackets to leave

- You smile, scan his face to check he’s joking, then nod and say you’d love to

- You go to the Bronze, have a contest to see who can catch the most peanuts in your mouth (if you’re allergic, it’s some other competition, maybe who can finish their drink the fastest)

- He might let you win and then just lean straight in and kiss you when you celebrate

Buffy:

- Buffy comes into the late night store you work at for gum or snacks (something she can carry while she patrols) she recognises you as her regular cashier after a few months.

- I feel like she has a lot on her plate, forgive her for not noticing you straight away

- She’s probs trying to get over someone atm or struggling to trust after her last relationship

- You’re extra friendly with her and she realises after talking it over with Willow that you were actually flirting

- Realises the brief interaction she gets with you makes her feel happy. Real happy and she doesn’t have to be responsible for anyone but herself when she’s chatting away with you

- Starts to ask you questions about yourself enjoying your company. Every time without fail she asks when you get off work, she’s concerned you’re always walking home in the dark

- starts to loop back past your store when she’s on patrol, pretending she was still in the area when you got off

- offering to walk you home a lot, accidentally dropping a pile of weapons once and having to pretend she was doing a woodworking class

- she eventually asks you on a date, encouraged by her friends to make the first move, and you’ll go to the Bronze, dancing and laughing the whole time

Faith:

- you work at the convenience store near the Mayor’s office

- She comes in on her way back to her crappy motel

- she feels a bit conflicted about sneaking around behind Buffy’s back but your bright smile to greet her almost makes her forget

- you caught her eye pretty much the first time she saw you waiting by the register

- she usually asks for some smokes and started to offer to share one with you on your break

- if you smoke, you say yes, if you don’t you say you’ll still come outside with her on your break to keep her company

- you’ll mostly talk with her chipping in at first and then she finds out how good it is to vent to someone

- your break’s over but you tell her you don’t want her to be on her own struggling through her thoughts

- you ask if she can wait, but she doesn’t really do waiting around

- she does give you the address to the motel she’s staying at though and she’ll smoke every hour until she sees you walking

- this is your first date, the one you count as your first date anyway

- you spend the whole night talking, sometimes even laughing. You make her feel like a person, not just a Slayer

Cordy:

- you work at the mall. Specifically a boutique or somewhere Cordy regularly visits

- she’s kind to you but a bit abrupt if you start talking about anything that isn’t a sale

- her dad no longer has any money and she’s a struggling actress after hs and you overhear her phone conversation about how hard everything is

- she wants this pretty dress that you know she’d look beautiful in

- you offer her your employee discount, telling her to keep it quiet

- after that, she specifically requests you and after her fifth visit realises she has been coming and looking forward to seeing you more than the dresses

- this means she’s in deep

- she won’t beat around the bush, she’ll ask you if you won’t ask her

- “Bronze. 8pm” with a little wink, hauling her shopping bags with her before leaving

- You have a great time and you meet up again she does little fashion shows for you before you go out, liking your eye for fashion and asks you to help her choose outfits for your dates

- She’ll want to go public places for dates to show off your relationship

Giles:

- Book store (obviously)

- You’re the most knowledgeable about his particular interest (cough, demons, cough) and he is attracted straight away to your apparent intelligence

- You already know about demons and everything, having studied it extensively as well as running into a vampire late one night and managing to get away unscathed

- He marvelled at this and you tell it so casually, explaining that you just did what the books told you and put it in practice

- He’s lonely really, always hanging around people a lot younger that don’t take him as seriously as he takes himself, but you do

- You think he’s fun to be around, he probably doesn’t wait too long, asking you for a drink the first or second time he meets you.

- He knows life’s too short, especially in Sunnydale

- You appreciate his dry humour and the way he isn’t just bookish, he has a lot of really great qualities

- You haven’t seen him as Ripper, but you know it’s there. He’s open with you and he’ll tell you about his past. He believes in trust

- You go on a lot of dates after that first drink, you even get introduced to the Scoobies and become a kind of parent figure too

Riley Finn:

- you bag his groceries at the supermarket.

- He’s always polite, makes you feel like a human being not just somebody serving him

- Always chats about the weather or something generic that won’t compromise his job, but he likes talking to you

- He occasionally makes a comment to make you smile because seeing your real smile, not the one you put on for customers, is so much sweeter

- He’ll probably come in regularly, same time, same day every week for his shopping now (bc you’re there)

- Bumps into you accidentally while you’re stocking a shelf and helps you pick everything up, smiling at the way you get a little flustered, insisting it was his fault not yours

- He’ll probably ask you if you’ve ever heard of the Bronze, which of course you have because that’s the only half-decent place in town

- Says he’d really like to see you there, like maybe tonight, so you go and have a really great time

- He says he doesn’t want to wait to see you again, but he’s very respectful will probably give you his number so that you can call him first and you don’t feel pressured into a second date or anything

Willow:

- You work at a magic shop

- you help her find the ingredients to a spell she’s been itching to try and give her little tips

- She really likes that you know lots about magic and what ingredient you could swap out for a better result

- You’ll grow close, she’ll pop in and tell you how well/badly the latest spells went

- She’ll tell stories in her characteristic way and you’ll smile at how cute she is and her fun vocabulary you’ll find yourself picking up

- You’ll offer to meet her and help her out with some spells

- She’ll bounce off the walls in excitement

- Probably spend the whole day making sure her dorm room is ‘just right’ for you to see and that she’s made sure about ten times that Buffy is definitely going to be out

- You’ll do the spell, it’ll be a big success because working together shows you that you have this amazing connection

- Then you’ll be talking and sharing loads for hours

- She’ll take you to the Bronze if it’s not too late, if it’s too late she’ll ask what you’re doing at the weekend and invite you then

Tara:

- Also at a magic shop. Probably specifically the Magic Box, after Giles takes it on

- You’re a Scooby and Tara’s moved to Sunnydale for college. She wanted to check out the magic box straight away

- You catch each other’s eye and she looks a little shy

- Starts to stutter when you make conversation, but you’re patient with her, giving her time to finish her words that have become jumbled in your presence.

- She asks for help with finding something only when she absolutely has to, but you’re always kind with her when she does and she smiles so bright when she finds what she’s looking for, scrunching her mouth to the side a little when she looks back at you

- You start to recommend places in Sunnydale for her to check out, trying to gauge if she would be into you or not. You eventually offer to take her and show her around and she nods excitedly

- You both have a really great time and she makes you feel special. She talks a lot more now she’s comfortable with you

- you suggest you could try some magic together, only if she wanted

- She does, you meet up a lot and you date and magically create a cat to own together

- You both have a long, happy life together 

Anya:

- You work in the magic box with her. I feel like you both didn’t get on at first

- you didn’t understand her and she felt misunderstood, making her snappy and blunt with you

- eventually, you started to understand she needed a bit of time and you explained yourself more. Why you were doing things, being patient with her and fully giving her everything you could to help her understand the reasoning

- she really appreciated it, nobody ever did this for her without some level of teasing

- she explains about being an ex-vengeance demon. You can’t say you’re shocked (you live in Sunnydale and work in the magic box)

- you were patient with her and she quickly asked if you could start having sex trying to plan out your relationship

- you told her you would rather get to know her first, especially considering you worked together (leading to a chat about workplace relationships going wrong, which leads to an anecdote about her knowing this because of her vengeance days)

- but the feelings were undeniable and you started dating very quickly

- she’ll probably start dropping hints about marriage or the equivalent very soon too

Oz

- you work at a record store.

- He comes in pretty regularly, but he doesn’t really say much

- Not until you notice a record he’s holding and start to gush about it

- Your manager told you to talk to customers and encourage them to buy more, but this wasn’t that. And he could tell

- He loved your enthusiasm and he wanted to get to know you

- You caught his eye probably one of the first times he saw you working behind the counter, humming to a song which happened to be one of his favourites

- He just knew then that he wanted to date you

- whispering, “who are they?” but to himself because he always come into the store alone (he wants the experience, just him and the music… and maybe a glance or two at you)

-  He might bring some fliers in one day, asking if the store will put them up, advertising Dingoes’ latest gig

- He’ll say you could come, if you want, with a characteristic shrug

- And you’ll obviously say yes and he likes how excitable you are, you contrast with his chill vibe

-  And you go and have a great time

- then you talk after, telling him how cool his band is

- You’ll hit it off, finding his phrasing and humour endearing. He’ll gift you a guitar pick from your first sort of date. He’s a romantic

- You’ll mostly come to wherever he’s playing and have a date after

-  he’s very sweet, very caring. Always offers to take you somewhere else for a date but you insist on supporting him and getting a drink after

- won’t be much of a talker, but you will always feel loved by him 

[ootori-sibs]

Kyoya's second shot

Episode three: Return of the bully

"What are you doing here?"

"I'd like to request Tamaki."

The twins paused, sharing a glance before looking at the girl once more. "You're blacklisted, remember?"

"No I'm not." She crossed her arms, looked like he'd have to step in.

Kyoya was at the twins side almost instantly, book in hand. "She was blacklisted last year yes, but this year she's done no wrong. You remember Tamaki's philosophy don't you?" He glances down at the twins, watching them frown and shrug, wandering around.

"The boss is weird, we don't trust her." They left to return to their post, disagreeing but conceding.

Kyoya looks down at Seika, his gaze crueller then she could ever manage. "Just tell him your banishment has expired, he'd be happy to welcome you back."

"Using Tamaki's philosophies against him?" She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a manipulative little homo~."

"Our agreement shall not be spoken of here, keep to yourself, princess." Kyoya gives a fake bow, gesturing towards Tamaki's table. "Have fun."

She approached Tamaki's table, Kyoya sighed and went to sit down, staring at the numbers on the screen. He glanced around for a moment before taking out his phone.

Shadow king: Eclair, have you spoken to that woman yet?

Woman: No, I've been busy. I don't see why I should talk to her when you're not even dating Rene yet.

Child: Who?

Woman: You'd know him as Tamaki.

Child: ah

Shadow king: It won't take that long, and convincing that dreadful woman will.

Woman: Ugh, at least get some progress done before you start hounding me you bitch.

Bitchboy: Speaking of which, my article is ready to print.

Shadow king: Send me a PDF.

An email arrived in Kyoya's inbox, with a link to a pdf file. He opened it, scanning down the page with a critical eye, opening a seperate application in order to edit it. No basic spell check, at least this fool knew how to spell and use grammar. But Kyoya did need to edit out most parts that painted gays in a bad light, making the story focus more on Haruhi and Renge and less on the fact that they're both women. He even attached an image of the duo holding hands, knowing full well that holding hands can often be platonic, but the girls at this school are basic, and will do anything to believe a scandal. He sent an email back, with the new link, and sent a message to the chat.

Shadow king: Post it.

At lunch, Haruhi complained that her new phone had none of her photos, she was sad to have lost all those memories. Kyoya had to sympathise with her there, he'd sort of assumed she used the cloud. Then her complaints changed when she realised her lunch box was missing from her bag- it had been stolen. As expected, Tamaki instantly rushed to her side, promising to buy her lunch for today, and she agreed, apologising as they left the club room. Huh. Tamaki didn't ask Kyoya to join today…

But it was ok, he was alone now. He made his way to Tamaki's bag, it contained two cards, Tamaki's own money, and the club's budget. Kyoya had the details memorised of course, that wasn't why he needed it. He quickly snuck over, and slipped the card into Haruhi's wallet, next to her own. He smiled cruelly, ready to play his part. He'd spent all night thinking about what he would actually do in that situation, so he's more than prepared for his starring role. Of course he'd prefer to not have the starring role, but he is the one who's in charge of finances, he has to react like he actually would.

He sits back down at the table, he needs a reason to ask for the card… he looks on his laptop, finding a little cafe in town that sold custom food platters, entirely customizable… oh, Tamaki did suggest a commoner food theme, maybe a customized platter for each host would be a good idea, and he and Tamaki could even go in person. Oh it was all coming together now! Kyoya had wanted to try some new makeup things, he'd mostly been doing the same face every day, it wasn't exactly catching any eyes by the second week. He should do something special for their day out.

Kyoya was practically bouncing in his chair, clicking his pen as fast as possible when he heard the door quick, scrambling to look busy, and normal. The other hosts entered the room, getting to their seats and doing the usual finishing touches to their appearances before the door opened. Kyoya watches Tamaki comb his hair carefully, his hair almost sparkling in the light. He called over to the king, "Tamaki! Get over here, I want to show you something."

Tamaki hurried over, leaning over Kyoya's shoulder. "What is it mon ami?" He looked at the screen, then glancing to Kyoya. Kyoya smiles softly, switching his window to the website of the little commoner store he'd found.

"Remember when you mentioned that commoner food theme? We could get customised platters for each host?" He suggested the idea, looking at Tamaki closely for his reaction. Tamaki's face lit up, clearly finding the idea a good one.

"Ooh that's perfect! Weldone Kyoya!" He pats Kyoya on the head gently, condescending but oh did it make Kyoya feel actually proud. Funny how that works. "We can all go! A club day out!" Ah. Kyoya's moment of joy evaporated at the king's words, he definitely didn't want that… but Tamaki seemed to notice how Kyoya defeated, looking at him in slight worry. "Is something wrong?"

"Well…" he started, sighing when he realised how stupid it sounded, "I'm sorry Tamaki, I was under the impression we would go alone, it does seem like a more behind the scenes type action as opposed to something we want everyone there for." He wasn't sure exactly what he was saying, he just definitely didn't want to spend time with all the hosts outside of school, that would almost definitely overwhelm him.

Luckily, Tamaki seemed to understand, he smiled, nodding. "Oh of course! It's been so long since I've spent some good quality time with my bestest friend in the entire world." He chuckles and hugs Kyoya, pressing his cheek against Kyoya's face. Said shadow king's face was heating up, feeling a pit drop at the word friend, but feeling still proud to be Tamaki's favourite person, he can ignore Haruhi's existence for a second for bliss.

"If we're going in person," Kyoya began, knowing exactly what his lines were, "you should probably get the club credit card out of wherever you've hidden it." He looked up at Tamaki, watching the recognition spark on the king's face.

"Oh! It's just in my bag, I never take it out." He hurried over, searching through his bag, Kyoya's phone had vibrated so he checked it.

Bitchboy: We're having trouble with the printer, it should be fixed by tomorrow?

Shadow king: Alright, post it tomorrow then.

He looked back over at Tamaki, smiling when he saw the colour drain from the monarch's face. "It's gone!" This caused all the other hosts to look over at him, he looked around at all of them in turn. "The club's card! The one with access to all the club funds! It's gone missing!"

Time for Kyoya's starring roll, his eyes widened, and he spun around in his seat as fast as he could. "What do you mean it's missing? How idiotic to you have to be to loose the club's money!?" His words, or at least the way he'd said them, seemed to spark panic in the other hosts, if Kyoya was worried then surely they should be too.

"Where did you last have it??"

"Doesn't Kyo-chan handle the money?"

"Did you check again?"

Words from the hosts echoed around the room, everyone was sent into a bit of a tizzy. Only shutting up when Mori speaks, quietly, but speaking nonetheless. "Calm down, check your bags and pockets, it may have been dropped and picked up by someone else." Oh, he was a voice of reason, when he managed to find that voice. Kyoya might be head over heels for Tamaki but he can't help but admit that that voice makes him a little weak at the knees.

The hosts do as he tells them to, searching through bags and pockets, Kyoya does so only to keep suspicion away from himself. He was listening for it, he knew it was coming, "oh…" and there it was. He glanced over, to see Haruhi holding the little card, and looking extremely confused. Kyoya got to his feet and was by her side in an instant, plucking the card from her fingers, face contorting into a look of disgust, one he'd cleverly practiced all night.

"So you're a thief now too?" His voice was cruel, and if any of the hosts weren't looking before, they were now. Haruhi looked up at her, eyes widening by the second. "I know you live in squalor but please, don't take us for fools."

"Wh- what?? Senpai, you know I wouldn't do that! I'm not a thief!" Clear panic on her face as she glanced around, realising that Kyoya's word ranked above her own. Kyoya knew this too, but he also knew the other hosts adored Haruhi completely, so time to take a better tone.

His voice sunk into sounding hurt, he was in charge of the money of course, but he was still a friend. "Haruhi please, you don't have to lie to us. You know if you needed money, you could have asked Tamaki, he'd be more than willing- as would most of the others." He glanced to the side, the others were nodding, Tamaki looked hurt as he rushed to her side.

"Are you ok Haruhi?? Is anyone threatening you into paying them money? If you're having troubles we can help you! We would always help you!!" He clasped her hands in his own, eye full of sadness and pity.

"Senpai… I really don't know how the card got into my bag I promise, I wouldn't steal from you guys…" She looked slightly annoyed, but it was clear there was panic behind her eyes. Kyoya was about to say something more, put another nail in her coffin- when the twins spoke up.

"Maybe it was princess Ayanokoji, she loves to bully Haruhi." They spoke in unison, frowning, hands tilted just a little. They weren't wrong, they just didn't quite get it, they were close though, and that scared Kyoya.

"Oh yes," Tamaki stood up, his pondering clear, "she recently told me her blacklisting had expired…" He looked at Kyoya, with eyes that unwittingly make the shadow king's hands shake, "was that something we wrote into the rulebook?"

Kyoya swallowed dryly, nodding once. "Yes," he gestured vaguely, "you said something about redemption and growth whilst we were discussing the club back in the planning stage, so I wrote it into the rules. I'm surprised you don't remember." Yes, that was a good idea, put the spotlight on Tamaki, what kind of a king doesn't remember his own rules.

The twins spoke again, "there's a rulebook?" They frowned at Kyoya, ugh, idiots.

"I gave everyone a copy when you first joined, the big binded file? With the colour coded ribbon?" It was true that he had given everyone a rulebook, and he was quite insulted they couldn't remember, he'd spent a whole week on those.

"Oooh," Hikaru began, a look of recognition on both faces as Kaoru finished, "yeah we threw that out." Kyoya was incredibly angry at that, but simply turned to go and sit down, clicking his pen in a more negative manner, he couldn't lose his temper, he couldn't lose his cool. Not right now.

14:25 - the card was found in Haruhi's wallet, the twins saved her. They don't care one bit for any effort I had put into the rule book, it seems my efforts are an expectation for them.

"That wasn't a very nice thing for you to do, Kyoya had worked hard on those rulebooks. I watched him bind those folders himself, there was glue everywhere!" He could hear Tamaki scold the twins for him, feeling a little better for all Tamaki cared.

"I never got a rulebook when I joined senpai?" Haruhi spoke, clearly sounding slightly shaken.

"Oh!" Tamaki exclaimed, clicking his fingers, he didn't even need to say anything else, Kyoya knew what to do.

"...I'll send you a pdf." He said flatly, going through his google drive, he was going to have to make an edit or two…

Halfway through the session, a sound was heard. Kyoya glanced over to see Tamaki coughing and spluttering, from what little he heard, it seemed Haruhi had put salt in his coffee, or rather Seika had switched the sugar for salt, he knew this was true by her smirk as she watched Tamaki scold Haruhi for being so out of it today. To Kyoya's surprise, Haruhi actually sounded stressed out when she responded. When the session ended she didn't stay behind to help clear up, she just grabbed her bag and hurried off to class.

Tamaki sighed, "I'm worried about her… she's so out of it, I wonder if she's feeling alright."

"She got caught stealing," Kyoya began, not meeting the king's eyes, "only got saved by the twins, got scolded for screwing up something as simple as coffee and didn't even bother to help clear up? Sounds to me like she's trying to spite you for something."

Tamaki paused, looking at Kyoya in clear interest, Kyoya refused to let Tamaki peer behind the curtain like he had so often done. "Are you mad at her? Do you really think that?" Oh great, he'd done it. Once again, Kyoya was angry at this man being able to see straight through him.

"Well, she did try and steal our hard earned funds, you can forgive me for being on edge." It wasn't a question, he wasn't asking to be forgiven, and Tamaki knew that. But Tamaki didn't care, he just sighed. Kyoya didn't stop, "it seems to be like there's something else on her mind, something opposing you." He didn't want to mention Renge, cause he feared that might lead Tamaki to realise he had something to do with the upcoming news.

Tamaki frowned, looking genuinely worried, "she has been distant lately…" Oh, and there was the sound of Kyoya's heart breaking, as much as this was his goal, he hated seeing his love in pain. He sighed, putting his laptop down, throwing his own pain away.

"Hey, I'm sure it's fine Tamaki, even if she is hurting you, you are so far above her, it's only natural she'd seek to lash out." He smiles softly, taking Tamaki's hand in his own. "You've got nothing to fear."

"So… you're saying she's lashing out because she feels inferior?" Tamaki tilted his head slightly, looking confused, Kyoya sighed, sure, that was close enough, he nodded. Tamaki frowned, "oh… she shouldn't, I should think of something to cheer her up. Perhaps I'll take her on a date this weekend!"

"Not before our day out?" Kyoya frowned, hating the outcome of this situation, becoming confused when Tamaki chuckled.

"Oh of course not Kyoya, don't worry." The king smiled, reaching up and ruffling Kyoya's hair. "I missed spending time with you, even if you can be a little demanding at times."

Kyoya had to chuckle at that, feeling reassured that Tamaki was still going to prioritize him. "You're one to talk, remember when we first met?" He didn't even need to elaborate to have Tamaki laughing, knowing full of what Kyoya had referred to.

There wasn't a hosting session at the end of the day, there'd been too many accidents that Tamaki had decided to hold an impromptu meeting. Haruhi was late, so where the twins but that was irrelevant. Kyoya frowned as she walked in, crossing her arms. "A thief and a truant? Are you planning on playing the delinquent this year?"

"Shut the hell up Kyoya!" Hikaru snapped at him, causing Kyoya to all but squeak in alarm, he hadn't been expecting resistance. "She's being bullied if you hadn't noticed, and your stupid comments aren't fucking helping!" Kyoya glanced around the table, it seemed he'd gone a little far, but no one cared about what he'd said, in fact he was being completely ignored in favour of their precious Haruhi being bullied.

"You're being bullied??" Tamaki stood, looking so very worried. "What happened?"

Haruhi didn't say anything in response, choosing only to sigh. It was Kaoru who spoke up, "someone spray painted on the window outside the classroom, essentially calling her a gay whore."

"Oh ouch." Wait shit, did he say that outloud? The other hosts were looking at him, at least they'd stopped ignoring him?

"Yeah…" Kaoru began, letting Hikaru finish, "we stayed with her to talk to the teacher."

Haruhi went to sit down, burying her face in her hands. "I just want to go home and take a nap…" God, Kyoya hadn't expected to feel for her, but Ayanokoji had gone way too far, this was disgusting.

Shadow king: WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU??

A GAY WH*RE? DID YOU REALLY FUCKING CALL HER A GAY WH*RE?

Child: cranky cause you're also a gay whore aren't you?

Shadow king: You're like 13 shut the fuck up.

Woman#2: You told me to make her life hell, that's what I did.

"It's ok Haruhi, you can leave if you want…" Tamaki started, frowning, eyes full of sadness. But he paused, looking down at Kyoya, "who are you texting?" Uh oh.

Kyoya spoke plainly, not letting the other's see his eyes behind his glasses. "I'm putting Seika Ayanokoji back onto the blacklist, at least until she proves it wasn't her." He pauses, noticing how Tamaki appears to approve. "I will also have a talk with her about why she was removed from the blacklist, and how she can get back off of it."

"Hm, good idea Kyoya." Tamaki nods in approval before turning back to Haruhi and going to hold her, she lets him for once, but doesn't reciprocate.

Shadow king: I've put you back on the blacklist for the time being, the hosts are on to you.

Woman#2: But our agreement???

Shadow king: Is only valid if you're actually useful.

So try being useful.

Everything but the graffiti was alright.

And don't forget the school has cameras.

Woman#2: Don't be such a baby.

Shadow king: Don't be so insolent.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. Tamaki glanced at him, clearly on edge, and Kyoya decides this silence is too unbearable to stand. "Well, I think this meeting has been enlightening. But I'm sure we're all tired, so, Tamaki?" He didn't have the power to dismiss the hosts, but he had the power to ask Tamaki to do so.

And who was Tamaki to refuse him? The king nodded, sighing and curling a lock of Haruhi's hair in his fingers. "Of course, you're all dismissed, you may leave if you wish."

Most of the hosts got up and left, mumbling condolences to Haruhi as they did so. Kyoya began slowly packing his stuff away, he could feel Haruhi's eyes were on him. He didn't feel shame, only pity. He stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He glanced down at Haruhi, "I hope you have a better day tomorrow," he spoke curtly, almost mocking her in a roundabout way, but genuinely meaning that, the news story won't affect her nearly as much as the graffiti, and at least she'd get a reprieve.

Shadow king: Before I forget, don't go after her tomorrow, the article will be enough.

Woman#2: So much for making her life hell, you coward.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 262: A Fierce Bad Rabbit

Previously on BnHA: The hospital raid squad, which had two jobs consisting of (1) not letting Ujiko get away, and (2) not letting any of the Noumu break free to go ravage the countryside, impressively failed at both of these tasks (or so I assume) in a remarkably short amount of time. The EndeavorZawaMicLock squad were all occupied with having a very destructive fight in the hospital lobby, leaving my girl Miruko, Goddess of Courage and First of Her Name, to do pretty much all the heavy lifting, which, fine!! Except that Ujiko remembered that he had a bunch of High End Noumus just floating there waiting to be activated, and he was all “!!” and fucking activated them, and like five of them went after Miruko all at once and smashed her into a bunch of machinery and glass tubes, which frankly should have killed her but it didn’t because she’s a fucking boss. But now it’s just her (and Crust, who might do something too, but for now JURY’S STILL OUT) against all these guys while Ujiko speeds off to grab Tomura and abscond. So basically everything that could go wrong has already gone wrong so UH. OKAY.

Today on BnHA: Miruko kicks ass. Then she checks her watch and sees that there’s still time for her to kick more ass, so she does. Then there is still time, because this chapter is all about her kicking ass! So she kicks even more ass!! It’s great!! I have no complaints!! She decapitates a man with her thighs!! That’s a thing that really happens!! Also she loses an arm but WHO HASN’T LOST AND/OR BROKEN THEIR ARMS IN THIS SERIES, REALLY. Everyone is doing it. Somehow she manages to make it look cool because Miruko. Miruko can strangle a man with a cordless phone. She can kill two stones with one bird. Miruko makes onions cry. Death once had a near-Miruko experience. Mirukoooooooo. Anyway the chapter ends with Skeptic warning everyone at The Ol’ Villain Hotel that the heroes are coming, so basically WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE, this manga is back with a vengeance.

guys I’m gonna try to do this recap fast because I’m seeing Heroes Rising tonight at 7:30! and I’m so excited! and for those that asked, yes I do plan on doing some kind of write-up about it, though it’ll all be from memory after the fact so we’ll see how that goes. but !! I’ve waited 84 years for this ahhhhh but anyway so in the meantime let’s see what new and creative ways our heroes are finding to screw this up even more

(ETA: I did it but this thing isn’t edited for shit lol. after I get back I’ll give it a more thorough readthrough so sorry if I missed any really obvious errors! also there are probably way more exclamation points than usual which may or may not be a plus or minus.)

look at this helpful announcement

High End Noumu approaching, everyone. you have been warned. just in case you somehow failed to notice?? IT’S RIGHT THERE Y’ALL LOOK OUT

lmao FINALLY

MORE HEROES. YOU ALL CERTAINLY TOOK YOUR FUCKING TIME, but hey welcome to the party. and none of that “I don’t see how that’s a party” sassy shit either. you all know what I’m talking about so get out there and have fun

so they’re standing there all “it’s a talking Noumu!” and YEAH. that’s what I’ve been fucking trying to tell you. thank god someone finally fucking said it out loud so that hopefully the EZML squad can finally take notice of this as well. like guys. bigger fish?! get to frying!!

so now Crust is all “there are more of them ahead, Miruko’s in danger!” which, again, thanks for finally letting everyone else in on this formerly exclusive scoop there pal. ‘preciate it

I... really do not understand Crust’s quirk at all. I’m just gonna own up to it

what is this. what does “zuga” mean fx-wise. why did those scale things on his arms get so big. what are they made of. what’s happening

oh it turns out that if you scroll and read more instead of pausing for ages to ask dumb questions, the thing you were asking about might actually be explained in great detail in the very next panel

but what are they made out of though. and why “Crust”?? ah well I suppose that’s a question for someone who actually cares more than I do

by the way the quality of this scan is actually really good so far, I gotta say. we’re only two pages in, true, but they either cleaned this up really nicely, or this was a much higher-quality scan than usual. either way I am appreciative!

lol this poor Noumu is shook

what did I name you two weeks ago, again? Rusty?? anyways he’s doing his best you guys. gambare my dude, though actually you do need to die, so that’s too bad though

Crust is all “you pitiful living corpse!” with tears in his eyes because he’s dramatic! but jokes aside I do appreciate that he has compassion for these monsters who are all still basically innocent victims at the end of the day

does anyone else actually hear that funny-sounding anime narrator guy in your head nowadays when you read panels like this lol

I can hear the voice so clearly and it’s great

only ten times the strength of a normal human, guys. that’s actually not that bad. I’m only half joking lol. because obviously your average hero is going to be much stronger than a so-called “normal” person too, yes? and I’m pretty sure Miruko has the strength of like 30 humans but I may be overestimating her just slightly but am I though

oh lol I apparently did not learn my lesson about doing commentary before I’m done reading hahaha

so High Ends are on a different tier of their own above even the “high” tier. well that’s just. yeah that sounds more like the “we’re still fucked” update that I was expecting

oh wait, seriously??

are you telling me that all of the High Ends were actually cultivated from villains? so maybe not completely innocent, then? is this Horikoshi’s way of trying to make us feel marginally better about the fact that the heroes are shortly henceforth going to have to exterminate these guys with great prejudice? I mean they’re still basically slaves to Ujiko’s programming now though so that sucks

also I missed this earlier but the narration here basically just confirmed that Noumu are all made from corpses. which I kind of suspected, but the still-very-much-alive Tomura would then be a glaring contradiction to that, no? or is that why he’s so special. anyway I do appreciate that we’re getting a lot of much-awaited answers in this Noumu arc, but some of this is also just raising more questions. gotta be patient I guess

speaking of Tomura, Ujiko’s back in the Tomura room, so. I assume some absconding is soon to occur

oh shit!! so there’s another panel explaining that “artificial transplant of quirks” requires surgery and then three months of stabilization time following that. sooooo I’m pretty sure this mofo just confirmed that he gave Tomura some shiny additional new quirks, so that’s nice! that’s real fucking great! I know we were all eyeing Tomura skeptically and thinking to ourselves “this is almost just right, but needs more death”

wait, what?

“I was already dead anyway” meaning that he knows there’s no way out for him? and so he doesn’t have a secret way out of the lab?? ??? can that really be true?? our intrepid heroes actually did their job right and the villains had no contingency plan?? oh my god I am so terrified of letting my guard down lmao I still refuse to believe this at all

and is that Tomura who’s at 70% stabilization? that would seem to fit with the timeline we were given. holy shit is he unboxing him early fsdfkjalsdk are we about to go from “fucked” to “exorbitantly fucked”

and why am I strangely excited about it sob!!

HAHAHAHA OH GOD

so this is how liberty dies. with a beep

also fuck you all, now it’s at 71%?! couldn’t leave it at a nice even number for us, could you? you just had to throw that extra percent in there at the last moment to fuck with us all

anyway did you all catch how fucking ripped he was there though? like boiiii whaaaaat. clearly his abs are already at 100%

OH MY GOD

DOES NOTHING FUCKING FAZE THIS BEAUTIFUL, RULE-BREAKING MOTH

HAHAHA

RIGHT??

HOLY FUCKING MOLY

friendly reminder that Dabi was all good and ready to throw down with both Endeavor and Hawks (who were admittedly weakened by that point) that one time a while back, but then Miruko showed up and he was all “lol nope I think the fuck not” and warped out of there. Dabi, whose quirk is so powerful that its only apparent downside is the fact that it roasts him alive as well. that Dabi took one look at Miruko and decided he likes having his spine intact and fucking vamoosed, because that is the smart fucking thing to do when this girl shows up smiling at you the way that she is smiling at these Noumu now

anyway. fucking Ujiko knew he needed at least five High Ends to even stand a chance of slowing her down, is all I’m saying. y’all better respect the FUCK out of Miruko, everyone. it’s the law

anyway. so. quirk: bunny. can smash rl gud

someone needs to ask Horikoshi the fuck kind of rabbits he has been hanging out with. applied that “and more!” part pretty fucking liberally huh. WHO DID YOU SAY TRIX WERE FOR AGAIN, CHILDREN??

NOBODY THROWS MIRUKO IN THE BRIAR PATCH AND GETS AWAY WITH IT

fffwhatttttttttt

that would be our good buddy Max Rebo. so that’s definitely not an elephant trunk-like thing then. we may need a new name for you

on a side note, I never thought we’d meet another character who looks more like Katsuki than Mitsuki does, and yet every damn week Miruko is proving me wrong. goddamn she is great

lmao wait maybe that wasn’t Max at all, but Jester. because this is clearly Max over here

so Girl!Noumu is a water bender, Jester can do... something weird with his hair, and Max can do anything an elephant can do if that elephant was also powered by steam. nice

HAHAHA BUT MIRUKO IS ALL “KICK!!!”

HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK!!!

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT. I WOULD READ AN ENTIRE MANGA OF JUST THIS LMAO THIS IS TOO MUCH ADRENALINE I CAN’T

JESTER’S WEIRD SPIKY ROCK HAIR IS SLICING HER ARM AND SHE’S ALL “THAT HURTS YOU JERK!!!!” AND GETTING READY TO FREAKING PILEDRIVE HIM I CAN’T, THOUGH!?

SDKFJLDKSJFLKJ

HER FATHER PEPPY TAUGHT HER THAT. BARREL ROLL ALL OVER THESE BITCHES!!

WHAT THE FUCK

FUCKING QUIRKS!!!! THOUGH!!!! WILLLLLLLLLD

SDKFJLAS;DHK OH MY GOD OH SHIT

real talk this is the scariest fucking quirk I’ve ever seen I was like what the fuck looking at her arm and then I saw him doing the twisty hand gesture and just. fuck. YOU’RE NOT CRIMSON RIOT AT ALL YOU’RE SOME PSYCHO TELEKINETIC BITCH AND I FUCKING HATE YOU!!

NO!!!!!

fuck fuck fuck. I’M SURE HER ARM’S GOING TO BE JUST FINE AND DANDY AFTER THIS GUYS, DON’T WORRY. THIS MANGA HAS SUCH A SERENE AND TRANQUIL HISTORY WITH ARMS. ISN’T THAT RIGHT DEKU

though on the plus side, if she does lose that arm we can count on her to somehow instantly become like 50x more attractive, which I’m pretty sure might cause the very fabric of the universe to unravel but it would be worth it

(ETA: SHE DID AND IT WAS!!)

MADAME PRESIDENT!! MY QUEEN

OH HELL YERRRRRR

fucking hell guys I’m running out of exclamation points and excited things to say here. AND SHE JUST KEEPS GOING! LIKE HER MOM THE ENERGIZER BUNNY BEFORE HER

I’M SORRY UJIKO DID YOU THINK FIVE HIGH ENDS WAS ENOUGH?! MAYBE NEXT TIME WE MAKE IT TEN, HOW ABOUT THAT. FUCK OFF

lmao holy shit I can’t stop laughingggg

well Crimson, at least you get to die happy. is she literally going to crush his face between her thighs. is this entire chapter just one big prank on me. if Miruko was the protagonist would this series have ended in the first chapter. trick question, the answer is it never would have started to begin with because she would have killed All for One years ago!! how much would it cost to hire Miruko to come kick away all of my problems for me

hello good afternoon everyone this is a real panel that really happened in this manga

I don’t even know what to say about anything anymore

sob she’s all “YEAH RIGHT” and SNAPPING HIS FUCKING NECK WITH A FUCKING TRIANGLE CHOKE, THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING, FUCKING LOOK!! AT!! THIS!!!

we’re not even gonna make it to 300 chapters. Horikoshi held off for as long as he could, but eventually Miruko couldn’t be contained any longer and he had to unleash her and she instantly went and reckt every last fucking bad guy out there until there was nothing left. who are the kids even going to fight. nobody that’s who. go back to school kids

SON OF A BITCH WHAT IS HAPPENING

THIS IS THE MOST VIOLENT THING I HAVE EVER FUCKING SEEN AND YET SOMEHOW I SWEAR I CAN HEAR ANGELS SINGING. RESPLENDENT

SOBBING!!!!

“S’POSE I SHOULD GET THIS ANNOYING THING CHECKED OUT BEFORE I BLEED TO DEATH OR SOME BULLSHIT.” WHAT AN INCONVENIENCE. JUST A FUCKING FLESH WOUND. NOBODY USES ARMS THESE DAYS ANYWAY

“IF THE ONLY WAY TO STOP YOU IS BY CRUSHING YOUR HEADS THIS WILL BE WAY EASIER THAN HOLDING BACK ON A NORMAL VILLAIN.” SOB THIS IS MIRUKO’S WORLD AND WE’RE ALL JUST BEGRUDGINGLY ALLOWED TO EXIST IN IT. MY BARONESS

DID YOU JUST TOURNIQUET YOUR DISMEMBERED FUCKING LIMB WITH YOUR OWN FUCKING HAIR ONE-HANDED FFCKCK KCKCLK JUST MIRUKO THINGS

Miruko also saw Horikoshi getting ready to end the chapter after 17 pages and was like “EXCUSE YOU THERE” and he backed off because he actually likes having a fucking head thank you very much

LMAO AND NOW OF ALL TIMES WE’RE CUTTING BACK TO THE OL’ VILLAIN RESORT. SIGH

Skeptic seems to have finally cottoned on to them being in some kind of trouble. huh

how does he know it was Jin who screwed up?? did he realize that Hawks betrayed them oh shit!?!

OOP HE’S SOUNDING THE ALARM

AND THE CHAPTER IS ENDING. BUT I’M NOT DONE SCREAMING. AHHHHHH well anyways I’m off to watch my children kick lots of ass on the big screen. assuming I can get this posted in time with zero editing whatsoever lol I’ve got like... an hour. WE SHALL SEE!

(ETA: we did it lol just barely! this whole thing is probably a giant mess but oh well! Mirukoooooo)

[kittykatz009]

Mocha Choco Latte: A KiriBaku fanfic

My first MHA fic, and it’s going to be a multi-chapter KiriBaku one! A special thank you to my lovely wives @wingsonghalo and @ittybittytoostormy, and my dear friend @musics-lifes-record. This insanity wouldn't have been possible without your constant encouragement. A special thank you to Wing for helping me with edits <3 I love you lots, babe Title: Mocha Choco Latte Pairing: Kirishima/Bakugou (with background Izuku/Ochacco) Rating: T, mostly for language  Wordcount for chatper 1: 3,039 Summary: Katsuki hadn't anticipated spending his senior year of University working at a cafe, but who was he to complain when it paid the bills? Besides, what could be the worst thing that could happen? Also available on: AO3

Chapter 1: Caramel Mocha Frappuccino 

If there was one thing that Bakugou Katsuki despised, it was people. Specifically, idiotic people. Like the ones who came in with a stupidly complex order that he had to repeat back twice to make sure he got each and every instruction right. Or the ones who would watch him make their drink, and the moment he would finish it, they would mention that they needed a milk alternative because god forbid they say something when ordering, or when they saw him grab the container of milk. And don’t even get him started on having to take their food orders; that was a new level of idiocy he hadn’t believed could be possible. Whoever said the customer is always right should be kicked in the face. He swore that this cafe was a beacon for idiots, and here he was, front and center, having to cater to their every whim.

“Kacchan, you’re scaring the customers again,” Midoriya Izuku commented as he approached the register to clock in.

“Can it, nerd. It’s not my fault that some people can’t get their order right the first time they order it,” he grouched, throwing a glare at the woman at the end of the counter who was typing away at her phone, her foot tapping impatiently as she waited for him to give her her drink.

“Still, you can try to be nicer to the customers. You are the cashier, after all.”

“And whose fault is that? I was perfectly happy being the cook until you fumbled because you were geeking out and spilled hot coffee all over the CEO of Nighteye Records.”

“Oh come on. I’ve apologized for that enough. You know I didn’t mean to! I just can’t help getting excited when I meet celebrities,” he complained as he shrugged on his apron.

“You’re lucky he didn’t try to get you fired, dumbass,” he scoffed, eyes rolling. He grabbed the cup from the steamer, the extra hot almond milk frothing, and quickly poured it into the to-go cup, mixing it in with the mocha syrup and the three decaf espresso shots, before popping a lid on the cup because heaven forbid he make the mistake of adding the whipped cream.

“Here,” he said, placing the drink on the edge of the counter aggressively. The woman huffed, throwing her phone in her purse before she scooped the cup up.

“About time. And would it kill you to be a little more appreciative of your customers? After all, you were the one who messed up my order in the first place. I can just take my business elsewhere, you know?” The challenging smirk she wore as she took a sip of her drink made Katsuki’s blood boil.

“Alright, listen here you b-”

“We are so sorry about the mistake! Please, have this cookie on the house!” Izuku interjected quickly, forcing himself between the seething Katsuki and the lady, thrusting a pastry bag in her direction.

“Well, at least ONE of you has manners. Thank you.” She snatched the bag out of his hand and stomped out of the store. Katsuki was fuming; how DARE she treat him like he was the idiot when she was the one who couldn’t get off her phone for more than five seconds to order her damn drink with the proper milk? He hoped she enjoyed the word “KAREN” scrawled across her cup. He turned toward Izuku, eyes narrowing.

“Quit it, Deku. I had that under control.” Izuku gulped, taking a step back from Katsuki, throwing his hands up in front of him in defense.

“You were about to call her a bitch, Kacchan. I had to do something. Sato’s told you if he gets any more complaints about you being rude to the customers, he’ll have to fire you.” Katsuki sighed, shoulders sagging as he realized just how right his friend was. He couldn’t afford to get himself fired, not with rent coming up soon. He was sure that Deku would help him out if that did happen, but damnit, his pride wouldn’t allow freaking Deku of all people to be the one to help him out of a bind like that, even if he was his roommate.

“Whatever. Anyway, Batteries for Brains dipped early, so I’m glad you showed up. Wasn’t looking forward to trying to run both the line and the register on my own. He should be lucky that all the orders so far have been for drinks and pastries, otherwise I’d have to kill him.”

“Kaminari’s a good guy. He probably had a very valid reason for leaving early,” Izuku said, heading toward the kitchen.

“Hopefully to tutoring. That guy’s math is atrocious,” he griped, counting the drawer down for shift change. “Oh yeah, pastry girl asked about you,” he called over his shoulder, smirking as he heard Deku run into the door frame, a muffled swear falling from him.

“U-Uraraka? What did she have to say?” he asked nervously, rubbing the red spot on his forehead.

“Wanted to know what you were up to this weekend. Told her to ask you herself.”

“Kacchan! That’s so rude!” Izuku whined, grabbing the pickup order ticket that printed off, scanning over it before grabbing one of the to-go cups to scrawl the instructions on it.

“What? I gave her your number, you moron. I’m not that heartless.” He finished counting down the drawer, noting that that idiot Kaminari short changed him, and took the cup from Izuku, whose face was as red as one of Sato’s cherry danishes.

“W-why would you do that?” he stammered, grabbing the next ticket and moving to the pastry case.

“Because clearly you’re not going to be the one to make the first move. You’ve been pining over her like an idiot since we first started here. I still can’t believe she caught you when you tripped on that drink that you spilled. You could barely stutter out the words ‘thank you’; do you really think I expect you to be able to ask her out?”

“I guess you’re right,” he sighed. “Thanks for having my back, Kacchan.”

“It’s whatever. You owe me one,” Katsuki grunted out as he sprayed the whipped cream on top of the drink before fitting the lid on it snugly. He placed the finished drink next to the pastry bag on the pick up rack and went for the next order. “Here, this one needs actual food. Get out of my space, loser.” Izuku took the ticket with a smile and went to the small kitchen, humming as he got to work.

Time passed idly, customers trickling in—some passing through for pick up, others dining in—and Bakugou was counting down the minutes until he was off. The dinner rush had come and gone, leaving the two to focus on the pre-closing procedures in between orders. Which left Katsuki with time to let his mind wander.

Working in a cafe wasn’t how he anticipated his senior year of university going, but it paid the bills. The place had a nice homey quality to it—the mismatched chairs and tables scattered about the dining area paired with various paintings and prints from local artists really made the ambiance. There was a small section by the register that displayed various knick knacks made in the community that were for sale, though Katsuki hated dealing with those purchases since there was a lot of paperwork involved to make sure that the right artist got their money. The real money maker of the cafe laid in the pastry case, though. Sato’s confections were famous throughout Akihabara; many locals supported the young business man who had a heart of gold and sweets to match. And Sato wasn’t a bad guy to work for. Quite the opposite, in fact; he paid his employees well and was very flexible with their schedules since most of them attended University of Akihabara, which is how Katsuki got roped into the evening shift. Not that he was complaining about that—it was generally a quiet time and he didn’t have to deal with as many stupid customers. Overall, it wasn’t a bad gig.

Katsuki had just finished breaking down the decaf espresso machine (good riddance—it was an abomination to mankind) when the bell at the front door jingled, announcing the arrival of a new customer. He took a deep breath to prepare himself for this onslaught of stupidity. The last patron had argued with him until they were both red in the face about the cafe having diet whipped cream, even though he assured him that the cafe never had any to begin with. Eventually, he was able to convince him that the drink was perfectly delicious without a topping, and sent him on his merry way, all the while wishing he could punt kick that pint-sized asshole across the room.

He exhaled and made his way to the register, finally looking up and blinking in surprise as he took in the appearance of the customer waiting on him. This guy looked ridiculous—his obnoxiously bright red hair was spiked up and Katsuki was sure that this guy was trying to emulate either a hedgehog or a porcupine. His choice of clothing, or lack thereof, was as disastrous as his hair. His chest was fully exposed and the only sort of covering his upper half had was some sort of weird cropped red and black jacket. Black pants tucked themselves into hideous muddy-red boots, but what really took the cake was not the weird open-mouth face mask that he wore; instead, it was the piss-poor attempt at red chaps that were held together by a gaudy-looking R-shaped belt buckle. He looked like he walked right off the page of some sort of shitty manga that he was sure Deku would read. It wasn’t like they didn’t get cosplayers in the cafe, because they did all the time, but this was surely the most bizarre one he had seen. The guy smiled at him, and Katsuki had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. Stupid, over-friendly cosplayers.

“Welcome to Sugar Rush. What do you want?” he asked gruffly, ignoring the softly chastising “Kacchan” coming from the kitchen. He couldn’t help it—he had had his fill of idiots for the day and his feet were fucking sore.

“Uhh,” the redhead eloquently replied, craning his neck to look at the menu. Clearly this guy was more brawn than brains, in Katsuki’s most humble opinion. Miraculously, he kept himself from tapping his fingers against the countertop in annoyance while the other scanned over the hand-written list of drinks, his eyes finally lighting up in delight as he settled on one.

“I would like one of the caramel mocha frappuccinos please!” he said with a smile and Katsuki noted that the guy even had put in false teeth; the ones grinning back at him were sharp and dangerous looking.

“Size?”

“Um, large?” he replied, though to Katsuki, it seemed like he was uncertain.

“Is this for here or to go?” Katsuki was praying that the guy said to go because if he had to wipe down the lobby one more time before they closed, he was sure he was going to lose his mind.

“To go, unfortunately,” the cosplayer laughed, handing his card over as Katsuki gave him the total. “Oh yeah, don’t you need to ask my name?” he asked, putting the card away along with his receipt.

“Nah, I’ve got it. Just go to the end of the counter,” he replied, scribbling on the cup then turning to get the ingredients, effectively cutting off any conversation. He swore he heard the cosplayer mutter something that sounded suspiciously like “of course you do ” under his breath, but Katsuki refused to ask. As he stood up, milk in hand, he was met with disapproving green eyes peering at him from over the kitchen window.

“Not a word, Deku. And I swear to god, if you come out here, I’ll kill you,” he threatened while measuring out the milk. Izuku sighed, shaking his head and disappeared from Katsuki’s line of sight, which he much preferred right now. He poured the milk in the blender, added the pumps of mocha and caramel syrup, and tossed the ice in before popping the top on the machine and turning it on. Katsuki caught himself checking out the cosplayer out of the corner of his eye while he waited for the drink to be blended perfectly. The guy was sort of cute, he mused. Kind of in that endearing puppy dog sort of way as he hummed along to the shitty pop music that was playing on the speakers while he scrolled his phone. It was ridiculous, however, that he would even be thinking about how attractive the guy was—he was sure that he would never see him again. That, and he was nothing more than a customer; Katsuki had no business daydreaming about how nice it would be to feel those arms wrap around him, crushing him to that stupidly beautiful chest that was on display for all to see. Nope, not at all. It was hopeless. Just a fleeting crush that would never come to fruition.

A crash from the kitchen followed by an exclamation of “oh holy shit ” snapped him out of his delusional thoughts, and he huffed out an angry sigh. Leave it to Deku to break something once again. He emptied the contents of the blender into the to-go cup, adding a swirl of whipped cream to the top before securing the lid to the cup with a soft pop. He felt a smirk start pulling at his lips as he turned around.

“Large caramel mocha frappuccino for a ‘Shitty Hair,’” he called out, causing the cosplayer to look up from his screen, blinking in bewilderment as he looked between Katsuki and the drink that was on the counter. The reaction was priceless, if Katsuki could admit that to himself, and it was totally worth the look on the cosplayer’s face and the shrill “Kacchan ” yelled at him. What Katsuki wasn’t expecting, however, was the cosplayer to start laughing, a deep rumbling sound that sent shivers running through him. God, why was this guy’s laugh even attractive? It wasn’t fair.

“Oh shit, that was great!” the cosplayer replied once he was finally able to catch his breath, wiping tears out of his eyes while reaching for the cup. “I haven’t laughed that hard in ages. Have a great day, man!” he exclaimed, placing some coins on the counter as a tip before grabbing a straw and leaving the cafe. Katsuki was baffled at the guy’s reaction—most people didn’t thank him for insulting them. He shook his head, pocketing the yen, and turned to see a heaving Izuku with his hands on his knees like he had just ran a marathon frantically looking between him and the now closing door.

“Kacchan! You can’t call people names like that! Do you even know who that was?” he cried.

“Uh, just some shitty cosplayer, duh?” Katsuki rolled his eyes at Izuku’s theatrics, grabbing the blender and heading to the sink to rinse it out.

“A cosplayer?? No! That was Kirishima Eijirou, Kacchan!” Izuku replied and Katsuki dropped the blender in the sink, whipping around to face him.

“Kirishima Eijirou, as in the fucking actor?” Katsuki could feel a ball of dread curling up in his stomach. He was hoping that Deku was wrong, but that nerd knew celebrities like the back of his hand. The exasperated look he got in return was more than enough to confirm his worst fears.

“Yes that Kirishima Eijirou, Kacchan. Oh my god, I can’t believe you called him Shitty Hair. What were you thinking?” he asked, pulling at his hair.  

“In my defense, I thought he was just some shitty cosplayer! What the hell was that get up, anyway? God, it was awful.”  

“Oh my god, you’re kidding me, right? He’s currently filming for the live-screen adaptation of the Red Riot comics. This has been a highly anticipated movie from director Toyomitsu Taishiro that’s been in the works for the past four years. All Might productions picked it up and they finally just got the casting settled last year and were able to move forward with the filming process. And, he’s the main character. Oh my god, my best friend just called the actor for one of my favorite comic book heroes Shitty Hair. Oh my god, what if he gets the cafe shut down? What will we do about rent money? I’m sure mom could help me out, but still…” he trailed and Katsuki had to take a deep breath.

“Calm down, you dork. I highly doubt he’s going to get the cafe shut down. Hell, he seemed to have a good laugh over what I said. Besides, if he was upset with anyone, it would be me, not you. So don’t overwork your brain over there with things that won’t happen.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Izuku exhaled, visibly calming. “I still can’t believe you did that, though.”

“Are you ever going to shut up about it?” Katsuki groaned, going back to cleaning the blender out.

“Only when you decide to stop holding you being a barista over my head because of the Nighteye incident,” he laughed, walking out to the lobby to lock the door and turn the ‘open’ sign over to ‘closed.’

“Fair enough. Now, let’s get this shit done quick. My bed is calling my name.” They continued with their closing procedures, and as Katsuki was counting down the drawer for the night, his thoughts were haunting him. He just happened to have the shittiest luck, he determined. Not only was he crushing on a customer, but the customer was an actor. An actor who he happened to insult. Holy fuck. Great job, Katsuki. Way to fucking go. As they finished closing and were leaving the shop, he decided that it didn’t matter. This would just live to be an embarrassing tale that he would make sure he and Deku took to their graves. It’s not like he would ever see the guy again, after all.

Thanks for making it to the end of chapter one of my very first BNHA fic! Hope it was to your enjoyment. Please feel free to leave a review and let me know how I did! Chapter 2 should be coming soon <3

[murumokirby360]

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My Nyko Type Pad for PS4 (recorded video) - Part 3 [2/20/2020]

Here’s my part 3 of my DualShock 4 (V2) accessory I’ve bought from Datablitz (game store) - the Nyko Type Pad QWERTY wireless keyboard (for PS4 DualShock 4) ⌨️🎮.

Alright, it is time to test out my QWERTY wireless keyboard (with my DualShock 4 attached of course) connecting through PS4 pro and see how it performs, so I recorded a video via my Honor 8C 📱 and hope you watch and observe (please). 

BTW: #1: I skipped the part when the PS4 console tries to scan the Bluetooth pair until the name pops up for about 4 seconds and no I did not edited, I just simply paused from my smartphone. #2: I took me 30 - 40 minutes to make this right during recording, one of which It failed to connect and the other was restarting the console, so don’t asked...

My Experience: •Now as you watched my video, I switched on my wireless qwerty keyboard before I did my DS4. The speaker of the qwerty wireless was (kinda) like from the mp3 player speaker drive only more quality than the cheaper one. Suffice it to say the speaker from the qwerty keyboard was decent in my opinion, at least I could jack in with my speaker but it will be a bulky to handle when I go to the other room (specifically to the kitchen and bathroom).

• The connecting the console with my qwerty keyboard was a bit cumbersome. When I pressing the sync button from my qwerty keyboard for a long wait ( ,the blue lit blink shows up; ) It did not show the name ‘Nyko Type Pad’ from the Bluetooth pairing list. Unless I press it again for 3 seconds and let go before it finally pops up. Yes I know seems weird to me and hope I could never redo (I think). After I typed in the number code it is now connected, so now I could finally to used to type in and also the mini directional stick. As I go back to the main menu the directional stick really works functional; up,down, left, right and pressing the center stick like R3 and L3 buttons from DS4 ( although you can’t see me pressing it so sorry, my phone sometimes wasn’t focus on the bright ^^; ) . I entered their own browser and typing in using rubber keypads and it response well; only gonna pressing hard due to that material used, again I was thought and prefer the solid keypads but I guess this is fine - I’m getting used to pressing rubber keypads. I’ll try not to hit the letters with my finger nails or else it’ll be faded, making it unreadable and pound to be mistake letter(s).

•And uh it can also remove my qwerty keyboard from my DualShock 4 controller but that’s gonna be saved for another part coming soon.

BTW: #3: I even try the glow in the dark rubber keypads but it did not advertise. It’s sorta work but it just doesn’t in full glow and that’s a shame, all well... #4: And as for the build in battery like a power bank through DS4 it didn’t delivered as promised, but when I read instructions carefully I was wrong so that feature was excluded. It only shows that ‘can charge both Dualshock 4 and the qwerty keyboard attached simultaneously using the included micro usb cable through PS4 console’; I’m not sure it’ll suited to charge via usb charger port but I decided not to do (for no reason). #5: As I mentioned the Bluetooth connectivity from Type Pad qwerty keyboard, it can also be connect/pair from other devices like android, iOS / Apple devices (not sure if it works) and PC / laptop. I tried to scan both my Laptop and my Android smartphones and it pops up the name, but I decided not to try and I’m gonna used it for PS4 because it doesn’t have a keyboard for PS4, so yeah.

Well that’s all for now, just in case you missed my two parts then I’ve already linked from the previous down below. ↓😉

Previous: • Part 1 [Feb 4, 2020] • Part 2 [Feb 17, 2020]

[sincerely-us-imagines]

“So, was that just awkward eye contact, or were we checking each other out?”(connor murphy x reader)

requested by anonymous as “45 from the hilarious writing prompts with connor and larrys boss’s daughter? Please.”

Okay so! this is like,, hella long and i’ve been working on it on and off all day so i really hope this is okay!! i’m really unhappy with how it ended but i just? didn’t know how to wrap it up so this is it for now \(o~o)/

also i didn’t proof/edit this so i apologize for any errors.

also i’ll probably go through all my imagines some time soon and rename them and set up a masterlist?

warnings: some no-no words but i think thats it?

You sighed and looked around the crowded room, swirling your drink around in it’s clear plastic cup. You don’t know why your dad made you come to these stupid things. It made him look good, you supposed. A big-shot CEO of one of the biggest law firms in the state, who was undeniably powerful but also a family man who just loved to spend quality time with his daughter. Every time there was one of these big work parties he dragged you along. You had to admit, you did like getting all dolled up, putting on a fancy dress and doing your hair. But as always, as soon as he was done parading you around and introducing you to everyone, making sure they knew how much he just adored his little girl, he parked you by the table of food provided by whoever was catering and left to schmooze with other important business men.

The events were always held in an event room of some fancy hotel in the city that had potpourri in all of the marble tiled bathrooms and chocolates on the pillows of all of the plush, king sized beds. You shifted your weight from foot to foot, wishing you’d worn more comfortable shoes. Your eyes searched the room, looking to see where your father might have made off to. Scanning the back corner, you locked eyes with someone leaning against the wall. A boy about your age. A very cute boy about your age. He maintained eye contact for about twenty seconds before glancing away in a faux nonchalant manner. Figuring, what the hell, it’s not like you had anything else to do, you politely maneuvered yourself across the room to where the mysterious cute boy had been.

The first thing you noticed when he came into view was his clothing. He wore a black button down shirt, jeans tucked into thick black boots, and a blue striped tie that didn’t match. You approached him with a smile a little more real than the one you gave your father’s colleagues.

“Hi,” you offered. He stood up straight and you noticed just how tall he was. The boots added an extra couple of inches, too.

“Hi,” he mimicked your greeting, looking a bit uneasy.

“So,” your voice took a light tone, “Was that just awkward eye contact, or were we checking each other out?” He laughed then, and it was a nice sound.

“My answer depends on yours.”

You sipped your drink with a smile and a hum.

“So, what are you doing here, anyway?” he asked.

“My dad, um, works for the firm.” It wasn’t really a lie. You didn’t know why, but you didn’t really want him knowing you were the boss’s daughter.

“Mine too.”

“I’ve never seen you at any of these things before.”

“Yeah,” the boy looked away, “I’ve never been, but my mom and sister are off on this “girl’s trip” thing and my dad, uh, he didn’t want to leave me home alone.” he tugged anxiously at his sleeve.

“Oh.” was all you said.

“Um, I’m (y/n) by the way.” you said after a small stretch of silence.

“Connor.”

“Listen, do you maybe wanna get out of here?”

Connor looked up at you with surprise.

“It’s just, I’m not too keen on standing in a cramped room full of old men when I actually have a choice.”

His mouth stretched into a small lopsided grin and he nodded.

The garden behind the hotel was beautiful, with tall hedges and dozens- hundreds, maybe- of flowers blooming in every color possisble. A cobblestone path wound through the space, leading up to a gazebo draped in fairy lights. It was like something from a movie. It was surprisingly quiet, the sounds of the city seeming distant. You sat on the bench in the gazebo and Connor followed suit. He watched as you unbuckled the straps of your shoes and slipped them off, sighing with relief once your feet were free. He looked amused and you suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

“Sorry, is that weird? They’re just really uncomfortable and I couldn’t take them off inside and–”

“It’s fine,” he cut you off with a slight laugh.

“I, um, I like your boots.” you told him, while on the subject of shoes.

“Oh,” he looked down at the worn leather, “You do?” he seemed genuinely surprised.

“Yeah,” you nodded, “They look really, like, badass.”

He laughed again, that same wonderful sound. When he smiled his eyes got kinda squinty and his nose scrunched up a little. It was absolutely adorable.

You watched him, head tilted slightly to the side, and you noticed something.

“Oh my gosh!” you sat up on your knees on the bench and leaned in closer, examining your discovery. “That is so cool!”

Connor looked completely confused and the slightest bit scared by your sudden outburst.

“What?” His eyes were a little wide, giving you a better view.

“One of your eyes is two different colors! That’s so neat!” you were genuinely excited about this for some reason.

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he laughed, a bit nervously, “It’s called heterochromia.”

You nodded, thinking maybe you’d heard of that somewhere before.

“It’s really pretty,” you said a little softer.

“Oh, I um– thank you.”

You stared at each other for a while, before his eyes flicked for a split second from your eyes to your lips.

“It was the second thing.” He said suddenly.

“What?”

“You asked if it was awkward eye contact or… It was the second thing.”

You smiled wider than you think you ever had before and giggled. You goddamn giggled. like a little girl. You were jarred from your schoolgirl antics when you heard your phone ring.

You dug it out of the pocket of your dress (it was your favorite dress, solely for that reason), fumbling only slightly.

“Ugh, sorry.” you told Connor quickly before answering.

“Hi Daddy,” Connor watched as you stood and began pacing, the way you always do on the phone. “Yes. No, I’m outside. Yes, outside. In the garden. No, I’m not by myself. What? His name is Connor. I- what? I don’t know his last name. Oh my gosh, Daddy, stop. He’s not a stranger. Just because I don’t– Dad- ugh, just wait.” You turned to face Connor and were met with an amused expression.

“What’s your last name?” you asked him, pulling the phone away from your face slightly.

“Murphy.”

“Murphy,” you repeated to your father. “Are you happy now? Connor Murphy, that’s who I’m with. Now can you– what? Who’s Larry? I don’t know, Daddy, I didn’t ask him for his entire family tree before taking a walk. You are being so– ugh!”

“Is your dad’s name Larry?” you asked Connor, pulling the phone away in the same manner as before. He nodded.

“Yes, he’s Larry’s kid. Can I please– Jesus, Dad! No, it’s not like that.” Connor noticed your face turning pink. You tried not to look at him. “Okay. Okay. Yes. I– Yes, I promise. Yeah, okay. Okay. Ugh. I love you too. I will.” You hung up, wishing it was still 2007 and you could flip your phone closed angrily. Instead you just tapped lightly on the glass screen.

“Ugh, dads.” you rolled your eyes, sitting back down beside Connor, a little closer than before.

“Are you in trouble or?”

“No, no.” you waved his question away, “He’s just so… It’s like he doesn’t trust me.” You picked at the paint on the bench.

“I get that.” Connor nodded.

“It’s not fair. I’m practically an adult! I could– I could almost legally buy cigarettes!”

Connor laughed at you, but not really at you, and you felt your shoulders relax a little. And then you were laughing too.

You wandered around the garden, your shoes in your left hand and your right arm looped through Connor’s, just talking. You liked him. A lot. It was so easy to just be yourself around him. You told him your father was the CEO and he didn’t even care that you hadn’t mentioned it at first. He was so understanding about everything.

The night came to a close despite your wishing that it never would. Connor and you wandered back into the event room, still arm in arm, while your father shook hands and closed business deals. You met Connor’s dad, who was nice enough to you but lacked warmth. He seemed genuinely pleased that Connor had made a friend, though.

You swapped phone numbers and awkward goodbyes in front of your fathers. Connor wished you could be alone so he could kiss your cheek and tell you how much he enjoyed spending the night with you, and how it was the first time he genuinely smiled or laughed in a long time, and that he thought you were beautiful and out of this world and ask you what made you even want to come up to him in the first place because look at you and look at him and could he take you out sometime? But he didn’t. He gave a small, shy wave and watched you leave with your father.

“Dad?” you asked on the ride home.

“Hm?”

“What building does Mr. Murphy work in?”

Your father looked at you out of the side of his eye.

“His office is the next town over.”

You hummed thoughtfully.

“You know,” your father said slowly, “We’ll be hosting a dinner party at the house in a few weeks to celebrate the new contracts we landed tonight. I could ask Larry if Connor would like to come, if you’d l-”

“Oh my gosh! Would you?” you jerked upright in your seat, startling your father.

“I-I mean, yes, that’d be really nice.” You composed yourself.

“I’ll call Larry on Monday, though,” his eyes traveled briefly from the road to your thumbs rapidly tapping at your phone screen before snapping right back, “It seems it won’t come as a surprise to Connor.”

You couldn’t help but feel giddy just thinking about the next time you got to see him. You missed him already.

[bearpillowmonster]

Spider-Man PS4 Review

 I just finished the game so here's my official review. I've been taking some notes throughout playing it so don't think I didn't have time to think it over or anything. This will be a long post so bear with me. (NON SPOILERS)

I started by wondering if I should get this game, E3 looked hype from the trailers but it never stood up front the crowd, losts of speculation from me. A few months ago I watched a video where these guys got to play it early just to share game mechanics (I think it was GameSpot or something) I know what they meant in a lot of things they were talking about now. Now here's the kicker, there's DLC. I hate DLC, never get it despite a lot of it looking cool, however I saw Black Cat as one of the DLC. I have a soft spot when it comes to Black Cat, I just have to check it out when she's involved...leading me to not only buy the game but the deluxe edition as well.

Let me start from the intro of the game. It is actually very visual oriented and easter egg filled. It explains the story of Spider-Man, where we are, and the timeline in less of a minute without saying a word. A spider drops down from the window (Pete getting powers) There's a pic of Uncle Ben and May and Peter then one of Mary Jane and Harry (they've met, been friends, graduated) Next picture has only Peter and May (Ben's death). There's a notebook with concepts for a web shooter (throwback to the 2002 movie sketches) A magazine with Norman Osborn that's labeled "Secrets" with some green nerf darts (Green Goblin is the secret (hence green darts) so not yet introduced) There's a wall of newspaper clippings with some of the villains on them (The big ones that have already been fought in this timeline) Next is a series of post-it notes but the most visible says "RENT DUE". (Peter owns his own place and is struggling) Now that's what I call an intro (it gets more epic right after but i wont spoil)

One complaint I see is the graphics. "They aren't as good as we saw at E3" or something along those lines. BOI this game has great graphics for starters and second How noticeable is the texture on a wall or a puddle compared to the actual character models? This game has a perfect excuse for toning down some ever so slightly. It runs better. It's an open world game and there's maybe one small loading screen and then this bad boy of a town is all yours, If these cutscenes were prerendered (a select few are but for the most part) then it would seem weird going from that to a loading screen. THERE ARE NO LOADING SCREENS AFTER CUTSCENES! It's straight into the action. Seamless. Having the graphics of both cutscene and gameplay match each other just enhances the experience for me so good on them! Also you can look in most windows and actually see stuff in there like computers or if the light is on or chairs/tables etc. That's next level! There are tips on the few loading screens you have (such as if you start a side mission, which I'll get to here in a minute) and they go by so fast you can just barely read the tip, it's that quick for me.

Next complaint I don't see much at all anymore but saw when this game was announced was the voice cast. Yuri Lowenthal wasn't the first pick for a lot of Spidey fans but he does an excellent job in this game like I mean they all do but you can really tell that the cast went all out for this game, it's great. Yuri even shares a name with one of the characters so yay. Also he voices older Ben from Ben 10. Even though it would be cool to have different voice actors for different suits such as Tom Holland for the Homecoming suit, Yuri does a nice job. Jameson is in this and he hosts a podcast that plays sometimes while you're swinging, that's a good modern take on him but nobody will ever beat JK Simmons just saying.

The Spiderman juggernaut that was Spiderman 2 (preferably the GC version for me) was a big game to stack against, nothing has beat it until this game in my opinion. Spiderman 2 I could get lost in just doing side missions, I would literally spend my time saving people hanging from roofs, getting mugged and car chases and still be satisfied with that game, it was that good! (also I wasn't too good at knowing what to do in games as a kid so eh) The swinging, the jumping, all felt natural and fun. This game can perhaps even beat that even with nostalgia, the web swinging is the best we've seen, it applies parkour and acrobatics and gravity and momentum to define what I say is the word to describe this game "F-L-O-W". Everything has a flow and it feels good for it to flow. It does a good job of trying to keep what everyone liked with SP2...even a few character chase sequences, which I've always hated and still do but it's still nostalgic and would probably be missed if it wasn't in there. Wallrunning is a lot simpler and easier, web shooting is a lot more fun and gives you control, lots of different variety, lots of different unlockables. Also you can actually unlock that super jump like in SP2 and I love it! You don't get stuck nearly as often, if you're swinging, you don't lose momentum if you run into stairs or a building, he goes straight into wall run mode or just swings around it, feels so good. There's actually a throwback to the Spiderman 2 train sequence where he mentions "That worked last time" when trying to use his webs to stop a train.

I made sure to give a fair amount of effort to do as much as I can in this game. I did all the landmark missions, backpacks, black cat stakeouts, collected most of the suits, unlocked every skill, tried different play styles with webbing and such. (I can actually recognize how someone's play style is different than mine when I watch because I've played it so much) You don't like the white spider suit? Well you can unlock others and play as those instead, you barely have to use the white spider suit but doesn't go without saying each suit interchangeable quirks but not making any more powerful than another. Use the environment to your advantage, there's some stealth involved here but you don't have to use it, it's actually pretty fun. You can throw trash cans and concrete mix and shock people with stuff. You can crawl in vents.

Side missions and side stuff. Are they fun? I'd be lying if I said every single one was great but there are a lot of really good ones, some even bring in certain characters that I shuttered when I saw. Backpacks were awesome because it's always a mystery where they'll be as well as what's in them, plus it unlocks a certain suit. Black Cat missions, obviously I love, get a suit out of that too. Landmarks are kinda fun, I didn't think I'd like it much but I just did it and was like "Wow that's actually a really cool shot" it makes me feel like a photographer (Have yet to try Photo mode though). But here's something cool. If you go to a side mission, it will take you out of your current situation so you don't waste time or get distracted by certain elements and puts you in a separate but same version New York and if you're in a phone call with someone and you go to do a side quest during it, Peter will say something like "Sorry about that, continue" and it will either pick up where you left off in the call or rewind a little bit so you remember. Here's something I didn't think I would see though. Minigames. Yeah...so apparently you can scan an element for it's components and you have to match the lines and then there's one for the neural interface which has you making a path from one side to another, and it's not the best but whatever, it does what it does.

The story is on par. If it were separated into a movie, it might actually work, it's of that quality. The characters are great as well, each being unique to this story without breaking their comic origin too much. Spidey actually got me to laugh quite a few times with his quips. I want to go in depth with the characters because I really like how some of them are handled but I don't want to spoil who all is in this game. The AI is pretty good, I like that it tells you if an enemy can see you and can highlight where all the enemies are by pressing R3. I even had the final boss dodging some of my attacks, I had nothing but respect for that though, no salt.

Now this game is among the greats but that goes without saying there are some aspects that could be improved upon. People complained about Quick Time Events when this was revealed and I didn't blame them but now I do because I see a few scenes that look like "Aww I wanna play that" because it was probably a scene meant for QTE but they took it out because of fan backlash (QTE is still in there but not a lot fyi). At the end Peter is faced with some decisions and that's what Spider-Man is about, we even see it at the end of the first Spider-Man movie and done masterfully. This one is done really well but I almost wish we could've played that, and made the decision for ourselves just to see what the outcome would be then go and play it again to do the other route. The problem with that is this isn't a "Mary Jane will remember that Telltale/Detroit" kind of game so putting that in right at the end would feel a bit cheap. Just like the Marvel movies, there's a post credits scene so stay tuned for that. Overall a really good game, highly recommend it and await the the DLC/sequel?. I'm over 80% done with the game after finishing the story so I might as well just 100% it and complete all side missions and stuff.

[westallenfun]

The First Christmas

Westallen Secret Santa gift from @babyish14 for @sophisticatedloserchick

The First Christmas

Note: Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy this fic. I attempted to implement all the elements you wanted to see. I may do a second version of this when I have time. Although, I do have an unrated version I’ll post on my ao3 in a few days (I’ll message it to you) ;D.  Anyone is free to read it then! Special thanks to @pornnotcorn, @starplanes, @autistic-alien, @lintastic, and @mathxjunkii for your winter and snow expertise! Thank you to @inksmudge for the edit!

To: @sophisticatedloserchick

From: @babyish14

The sun shone brightly through the window as Barry watched the slumbering form next to him. He had awoken earlier and sped through his shower to return and watch her sleep.

The light partially cast itself on his wife’s face and illuminated the curls of her hair that had slipped through her wrap.  His wife.  It was something he had dreamed about for years and there were days he couldn’t believe it was their reality. He continued to watch her as she cuddled into the warmth of the blankets and his body. The light growl from his stomach broke his gaze and prompted him to cook breakfast on this Christmas morning. He rose from the bed and his feet lightly tapped across the chilled floor to the kitchenette their cabin provided.

It was the smell of sizzling bacon that woke Iris West-Allen from her well earned slumber. She was surprised, but glad when Barry had them pack and brought them up to this winter retreat as an early Christmas gift. After all the drama of recent weeks, it felt great to get decent amounts of sleep and non-interrupted quality time as a married couple. They planned to spend a few days here and return home on Christmas day.

“Morning, Barry.”

“Morning, Sweetheart. I hope you’re ready for this gourmet breakfast.”

Iris laughed. “From the way it smells, I’m definitely ready.”

As Barry finished cooking their breakfast, Iris began looking through the notifications on her phone.

Dad: Merry Christmas, Baby Girl! See you soon! Love you!

Cecile: Merry Christmas, Iris! I’m excited about your gift lol. Till this afternoon!

Linda: A foot massage after my jogs is what I need! Thank you for the massager! Wishing you and Barry a great first Christmas!

Wally: Can you folks get here so I can open my gifts?

She laughed at the last message. If there’s anything they had in common, it was their impatience for Christmas gifts.

Iris (to Dad): Merry Christmas, Dad! We’ll finish up breakfast and be on our way. Love you! <3

Iris (to Cecile): Merry Christmas to you too Cecile! I’m excited too lol. See you soon!

Iris (to Linda): You’re welcome, girl! And thank you! Have a great Christmas! Can’t wait to see you for New Year’s eve!

Iris (to Wally): Well, Merry Christmas to you too lol. Tell Dad to let you open one gift.

As she placed her phone back on the nightstand, she noticed the flashing red light on the in-room phone. It’s probably just about check-out. She let the message play as she removed the wrap and fingered through her curls.

Good Morning! As expected, we received snow last night and ended up getting about a foot! Due to this, we have been informed that the roads are inaccessible, and cars are to remain off the roads until the plows come in the morning. If you planned on leaving today, your reservation has been automatically extended until tomorrow. The office and dining hall will remain open. Remain safe and contact us if you have any questions. Have a Merry Christmas!

“Well I guess we won’t be heading home,” Barry said as he brought a tray of food over to the bed.

Iris broke off a piece of the French toast. “No, unless we want to leave the car behind,” she stated with a bit of a mischievous look in her eyes.

Barry climbed into the bed, laughing at what she was implying he do. “I don’t fancy super speeding in this much snow in the bitter cold.” He reached for the remote and turned on the TV. “I highly doubt you would enjoy it either.”

Iris giggled. “Nope. I’m good, right here under the blankets…with you.” Barry drew himself closer, kissing her now powdered lips. He licked his own taking in the sweet taste of her mouth. “That’s some good French toast.”

“Uh hm.” Iris pressed her lips back upon his before breaking apart to place a forkful of French toast into his mouth.

They continued to sit there together, eating and feeding each other, while the television played in the background.

Once finished, Iris reached over to the side for her phone. “We should call Dad and let him know what’s going on.” Barry nodded, gulping down the last of the juice in the glass. He picked up the tray and moved it onto the counter.

The familiar ring of FaceTime is heard before Cecile’s face popped onto the screen. “Hi Iris. Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Cecile! How are you?”

“I’m great. Your dad is in the kitchen working on dinner. You and Barry heading home?” “Not quite.” Joe came lumbering into the screen. “Not quite? You two done got cozy up there?” Barry laughed. “A bit, Joe. We apparently are snowed-in.” Cecile twisted her lips into a sad expression. “Aww. How long are you guys there for?” “At least until tomorrow morning,” Iris responded. “At least you have each other. Going to miss you two.” “I’m going to miss you too, Dad. We’ve never had a Christmas apart.” Joe gave her a sad smile. Barry looked at the screen, scanning the room for a missing voice. “Where’s Wally?” “He went outside. Wanted to enjoy the snow a bit after he terrorized me about opening a gift.” Joe said, his eyebrows raised at Iris. She laughed. “Sorry about that. You know how excited Christmas makes us.” Joe amusingly shook his head. “Oh, I know. Want me to go and get him?” Iris shook her head no. “It’s fine. Just tell him we say hi.” Cecile smiled. “We will. And we’ll hold off on some gifts until you get here.” Barry laughed. “Sounds like a plan.” Joe spoke. “We’ll let him, and the rest of the team know what’s going on. Love you both.” “Love you,” Barry and Iris said simultaneously. “Bye. Talk to you soon.” “Enjoy your first Christmas,” Cecile responded before ending the call. “We will,” Iris said with a smile as the screen faded to black. Barry looked towards Iris. “That was nice.” He paused rubbing a hand across the back of her head. “Are you sure you’re ok with a Christmas away from your dad?” “Yeah, I am. It’s weird, but I’ve got you.” Barry smiled, and she stretched her arms over her shoulder. “I think I’m going to go and get a shower.” “I’ll clean up while you’re in there.” She nodded and headed to the bathroom closing the door behind.

The speedster set to work in the kitchen cleaning all the pots and dishes they had used this morning and last night.

If you’re still looking for a gift…

It was this blurb from the news that reminded Barry he didn’t have a gift for Iris. The likelihood that she had a gift for him was slim, considering their gifts should have been at home, but ever since they were kids, he always had a gift for her.

He began looking through his backpack in search of something he could turn into a gift. It was spotted in an empty notebook he had yet to use for notes.

Stealing a quick glance at the bathroom door to ensure it was still closed, Barry began to create his gift. He swiftly flipped through the pages, writing and sketching, careful to detail even while using his speed. The shower nozzle turned off as he finished lightly drawing on the notebook’s cover.

Barry flashed to the backpack hiding the notebook in the last zipper. When she set foot out of the bathroom, he sat on the edge of the bed, flipping through the channels on the TV.

“I was thinking we could lay in bed and watch some Christmas movies. This Christmas is on.”

She climbed into bed, wrapping her arms around Barry’s neck. “I’m always here for a little Loretta Devine.”

He laughed. “I know.”

“And don’t forget Idris Elba.”

Barry turned towards her in mock offense. It was Iris’s turn to laugh. “Hey, I love you.”

“I love you too.” He climbed further back into bed, pulling her back with him.

For the next few hours they laid together, watching movies, occasionally being interrupted by a message from a friend or loved one.

It was as they watched Ralphie come down the stairs in a pink bunny outfit, the TV lost power along with the lights in the room.

Iris exhaled. “And now we have no power.”

Barry nodded and ran a hand down her head, entrancing himself with her locks.

“I left some candles in the car. There’s also a flashlight or two.”

Her husband climbed out of bed. “I’ll go and get them.”

As strange as it was being away from their family and friends, Iris had to admit it was nice spending their first Christmas as husband and wife alone. It might have seemed inconvenient, but being snowed-in may have been a blessing in disguise.

Iris followed Barry to the door, putting on her coat and boots. Barry took her scarf off the chair, wrapped it around her neck, and placed a kiss on her cheek.

Before he could put on his own, she took it from his hand, and repeated the same actions he had done moments ago. As the warmth from the kiss spread throughout his body, Barry headed out the door to the car.

Iris followed behind, grabbed her gloves off the table, and watched Barry vibrate the snow off the car. While he grabbed the things left in the trunk, Iris found the portable chargers and placed them within the cabin.

“Barry?” She had yet to see him come in, but the bag of candles and lights were inside the cabin. As she walked back out the door to look for him, she felt snow hit the back of her head.

The reporter whipped around her head to find Barry smiling mischievously with another snowball in his hand.

“Nooo!” she yelled out playfully, attempting to avoid the next one as it hit the side of her face.

“Move faster!” he yelled out.

“No fair,” Iris yelled back to the speedster using his power to his advantage. She quickly attempted to gather a few snowballs of her own.

For the next several minutes, the couple engaged in a snowball fight as if they were young kids. After being outnumbered by Barry several times, Iris finally found him giggling behind some bushes. She approached from behind, threw the snowball and tackled him to the ground before he could form another.

He rolled himself on top of her and connected his lip with hers. The kiss lasted several seconds before both of their eyes flickered open. Iris pushed Barry off her and moved her hands in an up and down motion in the snow.

Barry kneeled in the snow, watching her build the snow angel, all the while thinking about how true of angel she was herself.

He eventually laid down and started moving his arms in the snow, making an angel of his own when a growl came from his stomach.

“That’s what you get for using your speed to attack me.” Iris sat up, dusting some snow away from her hair.

Barry stood, offering a hand to Iris. “I’ll head to the dining hall and you can head in to get warm.”

She took his hand. “Get a little of everything.”

“Yes, ma’am.” They kissed before Barry trudged out into the snow.

Iris knocked off her boots before heading inside. Momentarily forgetting about the power, she nearly tripped in the darkness.

The team leader fished around in her pocket for her phone using its flashlight to light the candles and the fireplace.

She peels off her wet clothes and changes into a pair of leggings and one of Barry’s shirts. When he was stuck in the speed force, it was the one thing that kept her close to him. The scent of him could always bring her comfort.

Six months ago, she couldn’t have imagined they would be here. It might have also been the reason she went a little overboard with gifts. Gifts. All their gifts were at home.

Barry wouldn’t mind until they got home, but she decided to show him a few of his gifts on her phone. Iris headed over to the nightstand to grab her phone, when she noticed the blank notepad and a pen.

The creative wheels of her head started turning and she quickly laid blankets on the floor next to the fireplace.

Iris looked back at the door to ensure that Barry had yet to return and set to work on her gift idea.

Barry returned to a room only lit by the warmth and light of the fireplace. Blankets were carefully strewn across the floor and the air had the mixed smell of spruce and cinnamon. Iris sat near the fireplace running her fingers through her hair to help dry it from the snow.

He came and sat the basket of food down on the blankets.

“I thought we could have a picnic.”

Barry smiled. “Sounds great.” He reached inside the basket and pulled out a bottle of wine. “I bought it at the front desk as a finishing touch to our day.”

“Thanks, Baby. I’ll grab the glasses.” As she fished them out of the cabinet, Barry spied the notepad on the floor. He held it up for her to see.

“What’s this?”

She blushed, returning with the glasses and setting them on the ground. “I know we didn’t have any gifts, so I made you a little something.”

He started to flip through it and read them aloud. “A voucher for a back massage and foot rub.” He flipped to the next one. “A voucher for your favorite Grandma Esther meal-it’s the chicken one.”

Iris laughed. “I know.” Barry continued flipping through the pages and she continued. “It’s a Love Voucher Book. Redeem them as you like.”

“Can I combine these?”

Iris placed a hand over her mouth, her body shaking from laughter. “Yes, Dear. They are.”

Barry laughed along with her. “Thank you. I actually made you something as well.”

He sped over and retrieved it from his backpack. “It’s a Passport to Love. We’ve talked about traveling and I figured this is a way we could check them off.”

“This is wonderful, Barry. Thank you.” She flipped through them as he poured each of them a glass of wine.

“A passport for a date in Paris. Now, this is one I’m looking forward to.”

Barry smiled. “Anything to make you happy.”

They clinked their glasses in a toast. Barry spoke, brushing a hand across his love’s cheek. “To our first Christmas.” Iris blushed at his touch and smiled. “Our first Christmas.”

[juggieheadcoopers-blog]

The Girl From the Journal (Pt 2)

Part 1

Surprise! I finished the second part to my soulmate AU! Sorry it took 62 years to finish. Enjoy!

A/N: In this AU, Riverdale is a much bigger city than it is in canon, so the Riverdale Register is much bigger as well. Also, shoutout to @birdlovesafish for giving me the idea for Betty’s nickname that Polly’s kids call her. Thanks, lovely!

–

Betty Cooper stumbled through the revolving glass doors of the tallest building in town, the Riverdale Register. Betty took a look around the recently renovated lobby, her eyes widening in awe at the pristine marble flooring and state of the art computers on every desk from the receptionist’s right in front of her, to the reporters’ in the back room. 

“May I help you?” The man standing behind the reception area asked in a nasally voice, his nose turning up to the tall ceiling at the sight of Betty and her too-tight ponytail and wrinkled baby blue skirt clumsily sliding her way across the recently mopped wet floor. 

“Yes! I’m looking for a Mr. Jones,” she explained once she had made her way safely over to him, holding onto the counter tightly with one hand and smoothing down her blouse with the other. “Um, he left something of his at my sister’s cafe this morning and I’m here to return it.” 

“Do you have a name?” the man wanted to know, glancing down at his computer briefly to check something before flicking his eyes back up in her direction impatiently. 

“Uh, I do. But whatever name you give him won’t mean anything to him,” Betty informed him, her words coming out rushed and jumbled as she scrambled to explain herself. “He doesn’t actually know me - I mean apparently he writes about me, but he’s never met me. Well technically he met me this morning, but it was only briefly and I don’t think he really even looked me in the eye or-”

“Rambling crazy lady with a journal,” the man spat, cutting her off and eyeing her with a look of annoyance as he picked up the phone on the counter to punch in a number. “That’ll be enough of a description for him, thanks.” 

“Rude,” Betty muttered under her breath, backing away from the desk and rubbing her arms up and down uncomfortably as she waited for the receptionist to make his phone call. 

“He’ll be down in a moment,” he told her. “Try not to touch anything while you’re waiting. In fact, try not to even look at anything breakable until Mr. Jones arrives.” 

“Well okay then,” Betty mumbled, making her way over to the wall on the opposite side of the reception area where she found row after row of noteworthy articles from past news editions, framed and polished for the entire office to read. 

Betty scanned the wall, taking in title after title until one particularly lengthy column that sat at the very end, nearest to the staircase, caught her eye. It was written by the very man of whose journal she was lugging around in her purse, and as curiosity got the better of her, she began reading until she was completely immersed in his words, just as she had been when she was reading his journal. 

 “Wow, he’s good,” she breathed, staring at the article in awe, feeling completely captivated by this stranger’s thoughts on the boycott at the local theater a few months back. 

“I hated that article.” 

A voice coming from behind Betty startled her into shuffling backwards, nearly knocking a ceramic vase off the shelf hanging on the back wall. She turned to find the man she had seen at the cafe that morning descending the stairs, the beanie he was wearing earlier now absent from his head, leaving him with a thick head of dark hair that Betty thought suited his features very nicely. 

“I sat outside that theater for sixteen hours waiting to talk to some C-list celebrity who supposedly organized the entire event and who, turns out, had no idea what he was even boycotting,” Jughead explained as he took the few steps to stand beside her, his eyes focused on the wall in front of them. 

“Well apparently it was good enough to make the wall,” Betty pointed out, turning on her heel to gesture to the framed articles laid out before them. “Looks like you have a lot of wall-worthy articles.”

“Yeah,” Jughead muttered, his expression distant as he finally turned to meet her gaze. “So what’s this I hear about a crazy lady and a journal?”

“Right! First of all, not crazy,” Betty began, turning back to glare at the smug receptionist with as much disdain as she could muster. “Well, I mean I might be crazy. I lied to you. I’m not here to give you back your journal - well I am, but I think that we should talk about it first - not in a weird way or anything. I just think that-”

“I’m hoping that there’s a ‘second of all’ amidst all that… whatever that was,” Jughead teased, quirking an amused eyebrow in her direction as he gestured back towards the receptionist polishing the counter with his coat sleeve. “Because I’m really starting to see what Matthew was saying about your tendency to ramble in long strides now.” 

“Second of all,” Betty said with mock-annoyance, stepping forward to shove the leather-bound book into his chest. “Here’s your journal.” 

Jughead took the journal from Betty, their fingers brushing ever-so-slightly and lingering atop the front cover for just a split second. To anyone watching from the outside looking in, it would have looked like an accidental encounter - nothing more than a meaningless touch from two strangers. But they felt it in their fingertips - that electricity that clued them into the idea that maybe this was more than a coincidence. Maybe this was fate. 

“Uh,” Jughead blinked as Betty quickly drew her hand away from the journal, shaking his head as a way to snap himself out of his trance. “Thanks for returning it. I rarely go anywhere without this thing, so it would have been a tragedy of monumental proportions if I had lost it.” 

“No problem,” Betty smiled shyly, backing away from Jughead and crossing the room to fiddle with the vase she had almost knocked over that was sitting on one of the shelves hanging on the back wall. “It’s really beautiful by the way. The journal itself I mean, not the writing. Not that I’ve read you’re writing - other than the article on the wallI mean! But I’m sure that if I did read it, it would be beautiful too I just-”

“You definitely read it,” Jughead concluded, smirking knowingly at the flustered look creeping onto the pinks of her cheeks as he resisted the urge to burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

“Yeah, I really did,” Betty admitted, biting her bottom lip nervously as she turned back to meet his gaze with a look of guilt plastered on her face. 

“So if that’s what you wanted to talk about,” he muttered, taking a few steps along the shiny marble floor to meet her in front of the shelves with a smug grin. “Don’t let me stop you.” 

“The girl you write about in the journal,” Betty began, the cautious tone to her voice causing Jughead’s eyes to shimmer slightly with amusement. “Is she real?”

“I’ve been writing about her since I was sixteen,” Jughead explained, his eyes flicking down to scan the picked-at leather on the book he still was clutching in his hands. “But I’ve been dreaming about her long before that. I can picture her in my mind, but I never actually see her face. It’s mostly just lines and faint hues of color but what stands out - what makes her real to me - is her presence. So poignant and vibrant and beautiful. But to answer your question, no she’s not a real person. I’ve never met her. I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t think a woman like her could ever really exist.” 

“I mean she could,” Betty said slowly, her brows drawing together in annoyance at the skeptical tone to his voice. “There are people all over the world with those qualities. You could have passed her in the street and not have even known it. In fact, she could be in this very building right now and you could be missing the opportunity to tell her and show her everything you’ve written in that journal.” 

“I don’t think so,” Jughead said confidently, although there was a faint line at the corners of his lips that gave the impression that he didn’t truly believe the words he was saying. “Like I said, I’ve been writing and creating her character with my own words for so long - I would have known if I had crossed her path.” 

“I just think you’re too quick to assume that your mystery journal woman is just a fantasy,” Betty shot back, her hands moving to her hips as she hurried to follow him as he made his way towards the elevators. “In fact, I find it pretty presumptuous of you to assume that you’re talented enough to create such a dynamically strong person with just your words alone.” 

“Is it now?” 

“Yes,” Betty spat, her arms flying into the air dramatically as she resisted the urge to rub the smug grin off his face with the elbow of her rose-colored cardigan. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a room full of energetically frustrated third graders to teach so - you’ve got your journal back. Goodbye, Mr. Jones. I hope you and the girl from the journal have a wonderful life together on pen and paper.” 

With the swing of her slicked back ponytail, Betty spun around to march away from the man in the expensive-looking suit and fancy briefcase, her small hands pulled into tight fists as she tried to control her breathing. 

“Ms. Cooper?” 

“What?” Betty quickly turned around to meet his amused gaze with a look of fuming aggravation, her sensible loafers skidding to a stop so suddenly that she was sure that they would leave a scuff on the pristine floor. 

“The exit is that way,” Jughead pointed in the opposite direction, his smirk still evident on his lips as he tried his best to hide the amusement that was bursting through every pore. 

“I knew that,” Betty muttered, pulling on the hem of her white blouse and stomping her way to the front of the newsroom’s main entrance. 

As he watched her shuffle her way out of the building, throwing a menacing glare in the rude receptionist’s direction before pushing through the glass doors and stepping out onto the bustling streets of Downtown Riverdale, Jughead couldn’t help but smile faintly to himself as he clutched the worn leather journal in his fist. Bringing it up to rest in front of his chest, he flipped it to the very last page, grateful that Betty had only thought to read the first few entries. 

Her golden hair may have resembled that of an angel’s glowing halo, immaculate and knowing not of anger or malice, but the fire in her eyes as she flicked her chin up and away from his playful gaze revealed the secret that she had kept locked away in the confines of the very darkest parts of her. She was more than just a kindhearted school teacher from the very heart of suburbia - she was a rebellious warrior that wouldn’t stand for mistreatment or judgments of any kind. The boy knew, as he followed her swinging ponytail and swaying hips out of the towering glass building, that he was going to have a tangling mess of a time attempting to exist in the same world as her. But it was going to be a thrilling whirlwind of a time trying.

Jughead closed the journal, tucking it beneath his arm as he turned on his heel to head back in the direction of the elevators. 

“Exactly what I thought she’d be like,” he whispered to himself once the doors had opened, leaning forward to press the button that would send him to the fourth floor. Thinking back to the day he had written that entry over a week ago, he was still completely in awe with the accuracy of his words and how they had matched the real-life encounter precisely. As the doors closed, Jughead wondered what he was going to write next, and if it would ever measure up to the feeling he got when he was in the same room with the real Betty Cooper. 

–

“He’s unbelievable, Pol,” Betty mumbled into her bowl of ice cream, adjusting her position on the stool and glancing up to meet her sister’s gaze. “I swear I’ve never seen someone so pompously in love with his own writing before, it was insane.” 

“From what you’ve told me, it sounds like he just confirmed that the girl he was writing about in his journal wasn’t a real person,” Polly admitted, bending down to pick up a clean spoon from underneath the counter and helping herself to Betty’s sundae. “And it sounds like your anger stems from the fact that he wasn’t actually writing about you.”

“So not true,” Betty denied the accusation through a mouthful of vanilla ice cream and rainbow sprinkles, pushing the bowl across the counter and frowning. “This sundae doesn’t have enough chocolate syrup.” 

“What’s the matter, Betty?” Polly quirked an amused eyebrow at her sister. “The ice cream not bitter enough for you?”

“I am not bitter,” Betty gasped, narrowing her eyes at her sister as she reached forward to swipe at her arm with the back of her hand. 

“You might wanna tell our class that, Bebby,” Betty’s niece, Jenny, hopped onto the stool next to her, reaching across the counter to pick up the spoon that she had just abandoned and shoveling a scoop of sundae into her mouth. Betty smiled faintly at the nickname that Jenny and her twin brother JJ had given her when they were two and couldn’t say their t’s correctly, secretly grateful that it had stuck so that she could revel in the fond memories she had of them when they were babies every time they said her name. “Our morning work today was to create a short story around a character based on someone we know in real life and to ‘not assume that our characters are the end all be all of literary genius that the world was lacking until we picked up a pen and put it to paper.’“ 

“Elizabeth Cooper,” Polly’s mouth dropped open as she pulled the bowl of ice cream away from her daughter, eliciting a disapproving pout to form on her lips as she leaned back in her stool. “You’re telling me that I’m sending my kids to school to be taught by some sourpuss teacher who can’t separate her personal life from her job?”

“It wasn’t my finest teaching moment,” Betty admitted, turning in her seat to place a hand on either side of Jenny’s smooth cheeks. “But that was privileged niece-auntie information, little miss. You’re making me consider asking Principal McCoy if I can have your brother in my class instead of you.” 

“You wish you had the better twin,” JJ told her as he sauntered his way over to his family from the back of the room. “But we can’t all be that lucky.” 

“JJ, go back to the loser’s section of the cafe where you belong,” Jenny teased her brother, her long red hair nearly smacking him in the face as she swiveled her stool around to face him. “Girl talk doesn’t involve boys who can’t remember to shower everyday like a normal human being.” 

“At least I don’t have bad breath,” JJ shot back, warranting Jenny to stick her tongue out at him in protest and for JJ to tug on the bottom of her ponytail. 

“Enough you two,” Polly intervened, nodding to the storage room with a flick of her chin. “Go get your stuff, your Dad is going to be here any minute to pick you up and Aunt Bebby and I aren’t finished with our conversation.” 

“I think you should just talk to him,” Jenny told Betty as she hopped off the stool, placing a small hand on her cotton-covered shoulder and shrugging. “Grandma Alice says that boys who play hard to get are really just hiding something that they’re too afraid to show the rest of the world.” 

Betty pulled her niece into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head before pulling back to smile down at her with a dumbfounded look on her face. “Are you sure you’re only nine?” 

“I have a complex insight into the perils and tribulations of the world for a kid my age,” Jenny shrugged, pushing off on the edge of the counter and turning to join her brother at the other end of the cafe. 

Both sisters turned to look at the pint-sized beauty with wide eyes, her fair skin and flaming red hair resembling her father’s own twin sister more and more each day. “Get out of here, you little rugrat,” Polly ushered her daughter to the back of the room and leaned across the counter to meet Betty’s gaze. “She’s right you know. If you’re so sure that his journal was written about you, I think you should tell him that. He might think you’re insane and suggest I send you to a mental institution in the end. But it’s worth a shot, you know?” 

“I don’t know, Polly,” Betty mumbled uncertainly. “What if I don’t measure up to the girl in the journal? He already said that he doesn’t think she could exist. How could I live up to those kinds of standards?” 

“You don’t have to live up to any standards,” Polly reminded her, coming around the counter to place a hand on either side of Betty’s shoulders. “You’re my sister and if he doesn’t like you for exactly who you are, regardless of what he wrote in that silly journal of his, then he’s not worth your time. In fact, send him to me and I’ll teach him a thing or two about messing with my little sister.” 

“Thanks, Pol,” Betty gave her sister a grateful smile, squeezing her arm reassuringly as she fiddled with a chipped piece of wood on the countertop with her other hand. 

“You really believe that you have a connection to him?” Polly asked, reaching up on her tiptoes to retrieve the chocolate syrup from the top shelf and setting it on the surface in front of Betty. “You really think you guys could have been writing about each other for all those years even though you’ve never met until this morning?”

“I feel it,” Betty said confidently, lifting the syrup container and squeezing the sugary liquid onto the semi-melted ice cream until the frozen treat was completely coated in chocolate. “I know that sounds crazy and I know it doesn’t make sense, but I think that we were writing about each other’s lives so that we could eventually find each other and-”

“And what?” 

“I don’t know yet,” Betty admitted. “But I guess I’ll find out when I talk to him.” 

The ‘ding’ coming from front of the cafe caused Polly’s head to snap up, watching with wide eyes as the customer who had just walked through the door turned the corner to head to his usual booth. “Well you might want to figure it out soon,” Polly told her, pointing to the raven-haired man sliding into his seat in front of her. “Because he just walked into the cafe.” 

Betty followed her gaze to find Jughead Jones pulling that same leather-bound journal out of his messenger bag, placing it delicately on the counter as he reached for the menu resting on the table beside him. 

“Wish me luck,” Betty mumbled to her sister, jumping off the stool and straightening out her slightly-wrinkled blouse with a quick tug of her hand. 

“Luck,” Polly told her, giving her a lopsided smile as she watched her sister march her way over to the boy sitting in the booth. 

Betty took a deep breath and navigated her way through the dining area, nearly knocking over a petite waitress carrying a tray full of coffees and tripping over a slightly-too-pulled-out chair before stepping in front of the booth with a look of determination. 

“Elizabeth Cooper,” Jughead greeted her without looking up from the menu to meet her gaze with that same amused grin. “Come to snoop through my journal and call me names again or did we think up a new tactic this time around?”

“Wipe that smirk off your face,” Betty demanded, willing herself to stay focused and to not get swept up by the way his hair fell elegantly over his eyes or how his lips did a deliciously attractive twitching motion when he was restraining himself from smiling up at her. “We need to talk.”

“What could we possibly have to talk about?” Jughead asked innocently, his hand resting on the journal sitting on the table next to him, causing Betty to narrow her eyes at him suspiciously. 

"I think the girl that you’ve been writing about is real,” Betty admitted, her heart pounding wildly in her chest as she mustered up the courage to say what she had been feeling since she had found the journal earlier that morning. “And I think that I’m her.”

Jughead’s head lifted slightly to meet her eyes for the first time since she had walked over to his booth. “Have a seat, Betty,” he said calmly, his expression remaining neutral as he gestured to the other side of the booth with one hand. “I guess we have more to talk about than I thought.”