#there truly is no telling what’s going to happen the rest of this tournament

[astro-nautic]

More Assorted Octonauts Headcanons!

Tweak was the one who added boots to the Octonauts uniform because she just happened to own a ton of boots from living in the marshy everglades

The Octonauts crew formed a band once! Their music never got off the ground but it did happen

Inkling doesn't actually have a bed in the octopod because he refuses to sleep on anything but his chair

Before the Vegimals perfected their cooking skills they made some truly terrible food but Shellington still ate everything they made like the supportive dad he is

Almost the entire crew has slipped up once or twice and called Barnicals dad by accident

Whenever Dashi and Tweak go on missions together they call it a Girls Night Out. Doesn't matter what time of day it is or if any boys or others come with them it's still a Girls Night Out

Peso has terrible luck in board games

Paani is lactose intolerant but refuses to acknowledge it and still eats dairy

Every once in awhile Shellington gets fed up with the rest of the crews lack of animal knowledge and just tells them to figure it out themselves

When Peso first joined the crew he thought Kwazii had an eyepatch for medical reasons and got really confused when it wasn't on his medical records and when it occasionally would switch eyes

Barnicals wears contacts

Natquik can't swim, nobody but Barnicals, Bianca and Tracker know about this

Kwazii sometimes purrs when he's happy/comfy

Barnicals adds milk and sugar to his hot chocolate like you would to a coffee

Every Friday the crew has a movie night

Tweak owns so many Lego sets

Tweak once hosted a Mario Kart tournament with all the octonauts and agents and somehow Shellington won it

The garden pod doesn't only have fruit and veggies growing but also a lot of flowers just because why not

Koshi used to listen to true crime podcasts but Dashi made her stop

Peso, dispite being the medic, gets sick the most often out of anyone of the crew

Tracker lost his hat once and he could not function until he found it again

[rowdyhughesy]

Hiding your relationship with Luke when you’ve been friends forever and Ellen finds out (like let’s say around wjc time) as well as everyone else and they’re just like finally ??

World juniors - L.Hughes

“ We know each other from the time when we were kids, and it took me so long to admit that I want to spend my whole life with you. “

- anon

It didn’t start like those big love stories you read about. They weren’t best friends since diapers, with the whole will they? Won’t they? Thing. They hadn’t known since they were kids that they would fall in love, maybe get married and have kids. None of them woke up one day and just realised that they had feelings for the other. It was gradual, they had been in the same friend group since middle school. Always hanging out with the rest of their friends, close but not that close.

Then college came and they had both committed to Michigan, the group splitting up during the summer. Everyone moving to new places and dorm rooms until they were the only two left. It became a safety for them knowing that they at least had each other. That someone was still there.

Sitting next to each other in class became study dates, who then turned into coffee dates that turned into hanging out on the weekends, going to every hockey game at yost, sleeping in the same bed, joining his FaceTime calls with his parents and after almost a year of constantly hanging out Luke asked her out. It was a yes without any hesitation.

They hadn’t audibly said that they were going to keep their relationship a secret, it just happened. No one asked so they just didn’t say anything. For those who knew them nothing had changed. They did everything they had done before, just that now it included kissing and other things in the comfort of their dorm rooms.

Ellen Weinberg-Hughes was over the moon when Luke first started hanging out with Y/N without everyone else. She knew her son and she knew that he had a crush on her when he didn’t even know about it himself. It was the way he smiled when she said something, the way he talked about what they’d done the day before when she called him. Her mothers instinct telling her that they would happen. She truly hoped that Luke would get the girl.

She just didn’t know that it had already happened.

When Luke was picked out to join team USA for world juniors, Y/N had never been more proud. Her boyfriend, her Luke. Was going to play in WJC. Then he got the C and she cried her eyes out on FaceTime as he told her. She knew he was an amazing hockey player, an amazing person and it made her happy that everyone else could see it too.

So sitting there in the stands with Jim and Ellen the girl was buzzing with excitement and a little bit of anxiety. Luke had been so busy with preparing for the tournament and practice that she had barely had any chance to talk to him, but she was here. Decked out in a USA sweatshirt that Luke gave her before he left and a umich hat to show the other Michigan boys that she supported them.

“I’m starting to believe you’re more nervous than Luke about this game.” The voice of Jim snaps the girl out of her anxiety induced staring. Turning her head towards him she masters up a nervous smile. “I just want it to be a good game for him ya know? This is such a big moment and I don’t want him to be disappointed in himself afterwards.” Ellen stays silent, taking in the nervous fumbling of Y/N’s hands, the wide eyes and how she’s bouncing her leg up and down. She really cares about him she thinks. “If it doesn’t go well we’ll be there for him. All of us, he knows he’s not alone.“ Ellen wraps one arm around her shoulders giving her a side hug.

The game ends with a win for the US, Y/N is certain she almost screamed the loudest out of the whole building when the final buzzer sounded. She wanted to cry but forced the tears back as she hugged the Hughes parents.

As they’re walking to the dressing rooms she has to talk herself down from running, excited to congratulate her boy on their first win. Instead she settles for speed walking. A big smile on her lips that make her cheeks ache but she doesn’t care because she’s just so damn happy.

When she sees Luke standing at the end of the hall talking with Duker and Rutger, still dressed in his hockey gear all rational thoughts in her brain disappears. Taking off running Luke sees the motion in the corner of his eye, turning his body towards her. Arms spread out waiting.

She doesn’t care that he’s sweaty and probably smells as she wraps her arms and legs around his body, hugging him tightly. Luke stumbles back from the impact but doesn’t hesitate as he places one arm under her butt and the other around her waist to steady her in his grip. “You were great out there, I’m so proud of you baby.” She whispers in his ear making goosebumps rise on his skin. “Thank you for being here. I needed it I was so nervous.”

Y/N lifts her head from its spot against Luke’s neck. Forgetting all about the fact that his parents and the others are in the same vicinity of the couple. The outside world just fade away when she’s with him. Leaning forward she presses a long kiss on his lips, tears starting to stream down her face from how proud and happy she is.

It’s not until someone clears their throat that the two pull away. Four sets of eyes are staring at them. Dylan and Rutger both standing there with dropped jaws, Jim is just shifting his eyes between his son and the girl in his arms while Ellen looks at them with a big smile.

Luke places his girlfriend back on her feet, both of them wearing matching blushing red faces and guilty expressions. Before they can react the two hockey players starts spitting questions at them about how,when,where,what. But they fall silent as Ellen coughs, the four kids shifting their attention to her. “We can pester them with questions later. I just wanna say that I’m happy you got the girl Luke, she’s perfect for you.”

Luke looks down at his girlfriend with an adoring smile. She’s everything he could ever want and he can’t help but think that yeah he would gladly spend the rest of his life with her by his side if she let him.

“Thanks mom and yeah she’s absolutely perfect.”

[msnihilist]

Loose outline for how I would rewrite "Duped" for my Bwevin AU:

Same set-up. Forever Knights attacking, Julie's tournament, Ben's movie.

Ben is late to the match because he was fighting the Knights and Julie is upset, but understanding. She says that she's glad Ben wasn't hurt, but is still a little disappointed.

Gwen picks up on this and tells Ben that he can make it up to her by being there for the rest of the tournament. Ben argues, saying that the Forever Knights are more important. Kevin mentions the movie, and Ben hedges that he can probably catch it while they're waiting for Julie to play again...

Gwen disagrees, saying the movie can wait. (Ben is all, "uh, no it can't, it's a screening of the original Japanese with subtitles! It's only in theaters for two days and I already missed it yesterday, I never get to see these movies in theaters!") Kevin suggests that he and Gwen take care of the Knights while Ben stays to support Julie. Ben also dislikes this, because he won't be able to protect the two of them if something happens. (Kevin doesn't think this is an issue, because the Knights barely register as a threat.)

Ben decides to try to be in two places at once. He goes into the bathroom and uses the Echo Echo trick to split himself into three — Selfish Ben, Sensitive Ben, and Smart Ben. Smart Ben picks up on the personality differences between the three of them, and sends Selfish Ben to the movies, himself to the Knights, and assigns Sensitive Ben to watch Julie's match.

Sensitive Ben immediately coaxes Gwen into staying with him, waxing poetic about how they hardly ever see each other when they're not fighting anymore and he truly wants nothing more than to hold her hand underneath the seats and watch their good friend play tennis. Gwen is flustered, and agrees.

Smart Ben tells Kevin that the two of them will be plenty against the Knights, and they're off.

The conflict this time around is Gwen trying desperately to keep Sensitive Ben from exposing their relationship (he won't stop staring at her while Julie is playing, for one), meanwhile Smart Ben begins to aggravate Kevin, who thinks that Ben is making fun of him by acting all high and mighty. Their fight ends up getting emotional and exposing some of Kevin's insecurities regarding his position on the team, and concludes with Kevin and Ben having a soft moment together. And maybe Selfish Ben starts a fight at the movie theater because someone pisses him off.

Kevin and Ben's fight with the Knights ends up crashing through the tennis stadium. (Selfish Ben got kicked out of the theater and sees the explosion, so he decides to graciously go help.) All three plots come together.

At the end of it, Julie is grateful for what Ben tried to do, and tells him (fondly) that he's an idiot. Gwen and Kevin (equally fondly) agree with her. Ben promises that the next time he wants to be stupid, he'll make sure they're all on the same page.

Fin :)

[rosalind-hawkins]

Mastershipping Musings ft. Pegasus

Pegasus is obviously a point of contention between Duke and Kaiba.

Pegasus and Kaiba still have to be business partners after Duelist Kingdom in anime canon, and that's the primary canon I follow because I'm still working on the manga. (side-note: Pegasus probably makes Kaiba pay through the nose for BEWD royalty rights, don't ya think?) Anytime they encounter each other, in business meetings and gaming conventions and tournaments, they have to play (mostly) polite in front of the cameras, but Kaiba can't stand him. That said, he's built his entire company based on Duel Monsters, so he has no choice but to put up with him. I imagine that Kaiba keeps Mokuba away from Pegasus as much as possible, to the point of making sure they're never ever in the same room together and trying to just never mention Pegasus to Mokuba if he can help it. Mokuba doesn't act outwardly traumatized after DK, but he's not taking any risks and not putting his brother in harm's way. Pegasus is a dangerous man, and Kaiba learned that lesson the hard way.

{Long post, rest under cut}

Duke idolized Pegasus as an artist and creator, and was basically the sole inspiration for Dungeon Dice Monsters. Once he finds out about what Pegasus did to the Kaibros in Duelist Kingdom, he's going to feel so conflicted. I think the internet's been around for long enough that we've all had a creator that we liked get outed for something awful they've done (I feel like it's happened a lot) and then we have that uncomfortable feeling afterwards of "but their art/content is so good" "but I shouldn't support them" "but you can separate the art from the artist" "but not when consuming the art is giving them money." Duke is gonna have a whole crisis about it when he finds out. When.

I don't think Kaiba feels a need to explain to Duke what Pegasus did, as he really doesn't come up too often as a topic of conversation between them, but also because he doesn't want to deal with the memory of it.

This gets a little bit into something that's fun for me: the different histories that Duke and Ryou have with Kaiba. Ryou experienced Duelist Kingdom (complete with the Kaiba bros getting their souls stolen by Pegasus) and Duke knows nothing about that. There's no reason for anybody in the friend group to tell Duke about what Pegasus did to Kaiba, or that Pegasus even had a Millennium Item (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that never even comes up around Duke in season four). Ryou has no reason to talk to him about Pegasus because Ryou never thinks about Pegasus. Just forgets about the dude most of the time. And it also slips his mind that Duke doesn't know about that.

On the flip side, Ryou knows nothing about the Noah Kaiba virtual world adventure (I imagine Duke calls it the Battle City Bonus Round) because he was in the Shadow Realm, so he doesn't know about the KaibaCorp missiles that still exist btw (that's something important from that arc that I think it's easy to forget about, but yeah, Kaiba still owns all the weapons that KC had when he took over) and he didn't meet Noah or Gozaburo or find out how screwed up the Kaiba family is from that. He gets told or finds out later that Seto and Mokuba are adopted, but that's about it.

It's also entirely possible that at some point these three—Pegasus, Duke, and Kaiba—will sit down to a business meeting together because of the deals between their three companies. Just imagine Duke going into this meeting with no idea of the personal history between Pegasus and the Kaibas, all he knows is the professional stuff between their companies, and he assumes that they're on friendly terms with each other. Boy oh boy, is he in for a surprise (yes, this is a scene that I have planned for Power of Three). Duke goes in clueless with his boyfriend and the artist he adores, and then they're both going for the jugular, and he's just in shock. One of the few things that can leave Duke truly speechless, but he's got words for Kaiba after the meeting, you can count on that!

Power of Three snippet/preview below, because this scene won't be getting published for a looooong time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You were so much cuter when we first met," Pegasus sighed. "Fifteen and full of hope, and so terribly naïve."

"You've always been an opportunist,” Kaiba scoffed. “I wasn't nearly as naïve as you thought I was."

"You were naïve enough, dear boy. After all, you trusted me."

"At least you admit that you're untrustworthy."

Pegasus smiled.

Again, Duke was at a loss.

"Have you seen the pictures of when we first met?" Pegasus asked Duke, his smile smooth and charming. "He was downright adorable."

The way he stressed that last word made Seto's skin crawl.

"I'm not sure that's relevant to the topic of royalties," was Duke's tactful response. Seto had told him to keep the conversation on-topic; he’d thought Seto meant for him not to get distracted, not to keep the other two on track.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm not the one luring children to my private island in international waters,” Kaiba sneered, and Duke couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen him look so angry.

"Children are delightful, and they have such vivid imaginations." Pegasus laughed, his relaxed posture a sharp contrast to Kaiba's tension. "I can only imagine what Mokuba invented about his visit with me that makes you so resentful."

"You call that a visit?"

"Of course it was a visit. He even had his own little room." Pegasus's single brown eye twinkled. "And so did you, for that matter."

Kaiba stood sharply, glaring down at Pegasus, who simply leaned back in his chair and met his gaze. Duke held his breath, too confused to know what to say at this point. The silence stretched out, the clock on the wall audibly ticking down every second that passed.

"You're a damn lucky man that I can't cut ties with you," Seto finally said, releasing the fists that had been clenched at his sides.

"I'm a damn clever man for making things that way."

The air felt heavy in Duke's lungs and on his shoulders as he looked between the man he loved and the man he idolized.

"As long as you're damned, I'm content." Kaiba carefully sat back down.

"You're never content, but that's alright. I like you that way." Pegasus leaned forward again. "Back to the contracts?"

"Yes."

[thewarinourstarwars]

A Little Bit Rusty

Pairing: Scaramouche x Layla

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Summary: Layla meets the resident eccentric, Hat Guy for a shared night class. In spite of everything, they hit it off.

“Is this seat taken?” 

Layla turned her head to see an Inazuman youth with a rather large hat pointing to the open seat next to her at the lecture bench. 

“Oh, no, I don’t think anyone sits there.” Layla paused. She’d seen him before, where had she seen him? It had been some time ago, before her thesis update, and that project in hydromancy class, sometime around—oh, right!  

In the time it took for her to search through the syrupy swamp-waters of her sleep-deprived mind, he had taken the opportunity to sit down and pull out a stack of books and notebooks. 

“You’re Hat Guy, aren’t you?” Layla definitely recognized him now. He had a rather distinctive little silhouette, come to think of it. “We competed in the tournament a while back. You represented Vahumana.”

“You remembered. Congratulations,” he responded flatly. “Isn’t Professor Faruzan supposed to be teaching this class?”

“Yeah, but I’m guessing she’s running late.” Layla sighed. “I agreed to take this class because she’s having it count for nearly three times the linguistics credits.”

“Is that important?” Hat Guy raised an eyebrow. 

“It would clear the rest of my language requirements for graduation.” Layla looked to her little leather-bound agenda, with all of the course times blocked out and deadlines looming overhead like a dagger over her bed. “I’m here on a scholarship, but scholarships can run out. I’ve already been here for three years—I want to be done in another three.”

“And taking this class would help?” 

“Yes, I’d then be able to focus on just my Rtawahist courses.” That would be much easier. “Then maybe I would actually have the time to sleep—really sleep—and not feel tired after.”

Hat Guy blinked, looking surprised. “D-Does that happen often?”

“Oh yes, all the time.” Layla nodded. “I don’t think I’ve had a good night’s sleep since coming to the Akademiya. But who has?”

“Uh, right.” Hat Guy still looked off-guard. “You might want to get that checked out, actually.”

“I know, I know, but I don’t know where I’d pencil in meeting with a Healer.” Layla winced and looked at her agenda. 

She rarely wrote home, partially because she knew that her father would tell her the exact same thing, and it would worry her family. Her family, who had made so many sacrifices to send her here. The last thing they needed was to find out that she wasn’t taking care of herself, that she couldn’t handle it, that she wasn’t nearly the shining star they’d thought of her back in the village. 

“What about you?” She asked, desperate to change the subject. 

“What about me?” He was flipping his pen with a surprising amount of grace, considering how little attention he was truly giving it. 

“Well, why are you taking this class?” She prompted. “You’re a new student, so you still have a lot of general education requirements to go. Most of the students here aren’t that interested in Professor Farzan’s work, unless they’re from Kshahrewar.”

“Oh, that.” A strange, almost dreamlike expression passed over his face. “I heard about the Professor’s time in the desert. I heard she was trapped there for a hundred years.”

“Poor Madam Faruzan.” Layla shook her head empathetically. “Although I heard she didn’t need to sleep or eat during the time she was trapped in the tomb.”

She paused, glancing at the moonlit sky filtering in through the windows near the lecturers’ side. “I wonder if I’d finally be able to finish all of my schoolwork if I had a hundred years without food or sleep.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Hat Guy slumped back in his seat. “What, are you just procrastinating or something?”

“No, no, I try to break down my projects and start as soon as possible,” Layla explained. She then sighed and sank into her folded arms on the desk. “I don’t know, maybe I’m just not good enough to be here.”

“Well, why don’t you just leave?” 

Layla peeked out from her arms. His voice was as sharp as the sword she kept for her own protection under her bed in her dorm. Yet there was something about how he wasn’t placating or reassuring her that intrigued her. 

Why don’t I leave?

“Because I’d be letting everyone down.” She thought of her parents, of her first schoolroom teacher, of the elders in her village. “So many people believed in me and made so many sacrifices for me to come here and I can’t just let them down.”

“Heh.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked forward. “You can’t let yourself be chained down by the weight of others’ expectations. The only way to find your destiny is to break away from the one others’ make for you and make it for yourself.”

Layla considered this for a moment. “Is that why you’re here, then? Did your family expect you to come here?”

Hat Guy laughed dryly again. “No. I’m here to pay back a debt. That’s all.”

“A debt?” Layla tilted her head. “But an education is expensive, I don’t understand how—“

Hat Guy cut her off. “Not that kind of debt. I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this, anyway.”

He leaned forward. “Still no sign of Professor Faruzan. I wonder what’s got her running late. It’s starting to look unprofessional. What a joke.”

“I thought you were only taking this class for Professor Faruzan?” Talking to the enigmatic Hat Guy was nothing like Layla would have thought. He was like a puzzle box her mother had given her for her fourth birthday, with an ever-shifting lock that was almost impossible to solve. Well, at first. After several sleepless nights, she’d managed to solve it, much to the wonder and surprise of her family. 

She wanted to solve Hat Guy like that too, she decided. 

“I am.” His indigo eyes clouded over. “I want to see how she does it.”

“Does what?”

“A long life.” There was something heavy in his words that Layla didn’t entirely understand. But it conveyed something beneath the sharp edges and apathetic attitude. 

A beating heart. 

A bleeding heart. 

Right on cue, Madam Faruzan strode through the door, carrying an arm-full of scrolls.

“Sorry everyone, one of the youngsters in Krshahrewar stopped me to ask about one of their mechanism designs and they had some examples from a new ruin they excavated near the Temple of Silence. . . “ Madam Faruzan dumped the scrolls on her desk. “Just give me a second to get settled, and then we’ll get started.”

Layla looked to Hat Guy. “Well, it was nice talking to you. I hope I get to again soon sometime.”

“You really mean that.” He sounded impressed, unnerved, and in disbelief all at the same time. “This class meets three times a week. We’ll both be sick of each other by the end of the semester.”

“Probably,” Layla agreed. “But we could also study together.”

“Yeah. Uh, sure.” He looked down to his notebook, and Layla was certain she caught a glimpse of a smile.

[rei-ismyname]

HEIR OF APOCALYPSE #4 - A WET FART TO END A TURD OF A MINI

So... This was a waste of time at best. I'm not going to bother with any literary analysis because I don't feel like putting more thought into it than the author, so I'm just going to dunk on it. Spoilers below the cut.

If you read my previous entries, you'll recall I reasoned that Mr Sinister would be part of the climax. He was in opposition to everyone else in the mini and had more page space than any two other characters put together. A Chekhov's Gunman, if you will. NOPE. Doesn't even appear. Emma asks where he is and Warren says he fucked off. WHAT WAS THE FUCKING POINT THEN? I didn't want any more of him, but I wanted a story that's internally coherent. He was already a nonsense addition to the cast, and his presence just makes it a mini full of shit jokes and OOC responses to him murdering everyone's friends. He choked everything else out. Readers already have Sinister fatigue from Krakoa, where he was a crucial character - here he's just infuriatingly needless like a child licking all the cupcakes. The child is Steve Foxe, the saliva is Sinister, and the cupcakes are character work and a plot. Would've been nice, but get fucked I guess. Let's check in with the rest of the contestants.

I've read this sequence four times and I still don't know what is happening here. Meant to what, Doug? You can communicate with a fucking rock but can't tell us what's going on? You deserve to get turned into a golden idiot. I take it back, nobody deserves that.

O.....okayyyy. He doesn't pick Cable. This is gibberish. This is the end of Cable's time in the book. Lucky him. I said I wouldn't do any literary analysis but ARGGGHH. This is all information both parties, AND the reader, know. No new context, just taking up page space.

Sup, Forge? You remember how you were going to solve global homelessness and starvation? You'd built this whole system and were excited. You already knew it would work but I'm going to tell you anyway. (Can Apocalypse see the future? Wtf?) Shame it needs Krakoan biotech.

You're just the best. What this world truly needs. Except... You made a bad thing once so you can fuck yourself buddy. Bit rich coming from Apocalypse, no? 'Deserve' is moronic coming from a social Darwinist. He doesn't get picked either.

Alas, Tumblr only allows 10 images per post. Danielle Moonstar will not be featured bc I don't want to explain it then dunk on it. Just trust me when I say it sucks. She doesn't get picked and she's quite fine with that. Maybe Big Blue learnt nothing from his ridiculous Egyptian traps and decided to make one of his four living children heir? Five if you count his clone, Evan, who is just the sweetest kid ever.

I wonder if he's still calling himself Genesis. That'd be funny cos that's Apocalypse's wife's name. We never did see Evan on Krakoa, what's up with that? It would have been the perfect opportunity for what Age of X-Man bungled - interrogating the reason for his existence, destiny, fate, etc. Would he rethink his position on Nature/Nurture upon seeing Apocalypse behave responsibly and selflessly? Many of the other clones had their personhood affirmed - why not he? These are all very good questions that I'll come back to one day, but I'm honestly just trying to build some tension where STEVE didn't. It should be obvious who 'won' using the process of elimination.

Dougie! You're a good kid. Maybe even the best. We know this already. He picks him btw. He picks Douglas Ramsay. Cypher is the Heir of Apocalypse. Does it matter that he survived the Pyramid obstacle course through luck? Or are we meant to assume he 'solved' whatever dumbshit puzzle it was? It's quite clear Big Blue chose who he wanted to and the Tournament somehow helped that process. Doug ends up in Egypt whereas everyone else is on Arakko. Seems like it should be the other way round but whatever. How did Apocalypse get there? The transporter I guess. This really could have been a one shot.

Were you here for more than a panel of Emma Frost, Laura, Rictor (who actually wants to be here and has a relationship with Apocalypse) or Warren? Too bad, fuck you. Were you here for ANY Exodus, Armageddon Girl, Monet, Gorgon, or even Sunfire who teased a way more interesting story in issue 1? Double fuck you. You get nothing. All people I care about more than Sinister and his dumb jokes. May as well have done a Deadpool movie tie in LIKE EVERY OTHER FUCKING COMIC THIS WEEK. Okay I'm getting distracted - Doug wins the nebulous position of Heir and a ... Transformation. Drumroll please.

Woo! Bei and Warlock sightings! It's nice that they're supportive and they're the first good thing in this book. The second is that Arakko isn't blown up or moved to another dimension or whatever. We might see it again, hopefully in better hands than this kick in the balls. Anyway, let's see what Doug looks like post-transformation and wrap this shit up. Hopefully he doesn't look like an idiot.

HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHA. Oh my god he looks ridiculous. His face and body language look like mine the first time I saw him. 'Fucking really, dude? This doesn't feel like a reward.' Gold, short, Apocalypse - That's what Doug looks like now. Big Blue can alter his own body at the molecular level and he chose Mini Me from Austin Powers 2. Ororo grew up in Cairo, maybe she can call his dumb ass out for cultural appropriation? He looks like a Halloween outfit or a bad cosplayer that doesn't know he's white. White boy dreadlocks given human form.

Is he fine with being renamed as well? Revelation is another word for Apocalypse, the greek translation AFAIK. It was mentioned a lot in Immortal X-Men and Excalibur. C-3PO here could tell him that too. It makes zero sense.

I can't see how this is close to a good thing for Doug, sorry, REVELATION. Apocalypse is kinda world famous as a genocidal lunatic. He may have worn a suit to the Davos economic forum and dropped awesome one liners but it's easy to forget that was a setup. They had 20~ dudes with psi-blockers, body armour and assault rifles to kill them. Unless he included some massive physical upgrades and defenses Doug is in great danger. I hope he got to Egypt by other means bc his days of commercial flight are over. Forget flight, going to the shops to buy food will terrify everyone he sees and he'll probably get murked by a SWAT team. Fuck this is dumb.

OUTRO/SLIGHTLY MORE SERIOUSLY

Okay, it's happened, I've accepted it. Heir of Apocalypse was hot garbage and Doug looks like a fool. What now? Doug has inherited the job of 'shepherding mutantkind' with his words. I know Warren is not listening to him lol. Why would anyone else? Big Blue built up *some* goodwill during Krakoa but blew it at the end. Look how many of the contestants showed up to keep an eye on him. Most of them. Nobody trusts this MF and looking like a gold version of him can only hurt his efforts. A good writer can make anything work, but those kind of pitches getting accepted are rare.

Sigh. What seems more likely to me is some dipshit making Doug a villain. I really hope not, because let's face it, Apocalypse's motivations were always nonsensical. He's like the Phoenix - totally iconic but becomes harder to take seriously each time it's used. Hickman and Gillen, respectively, are exceptions to that and part of their success was retconning the idiotic shit that had been overused and then recontextualising the concept from the ground up. One could argue that Doug as Heir of Apocalypse is doing just that, but if that happens that writer has a lot of work to do.

I'd LOVE for him to get his own book examining exactly how one fills that role with Doug's skills, powers, experience, and worldview. Truly, I would, but the Marvel formula is built on punching and Doug doesn't do that. He's just said he's not going to do that. The easy/obvious path to take is to have Doug go craaaazy (ugh) or be changed into Violence Man from whatever Apocalypse did to him, which would be a waste of time. It'd just be Apocalypse 2: The Goldening. Sadly it's probably most likely.

Until then, I guess Revelation is a gold idiot that's probably not appearing in any books. I'd love for him to show up to the bar Anole works at in NYX or something but let's be serious here. This wasn't even good bad, 'twas just an incoherent disappointment.

[stephiethewephie]

Piper’s Relationship With Each Character: Part 2

Alright, Now it's time for Svanaclaw and Octavinelle! Part 1, Part 3, Part 4

Leona:

'LION MAN! MAN WITH FLUFFY LION EARS AND FLUFFY LION TAIL!' Pretty much what went through Piper's mind when she first saw him after stepping on his tail. While initially intimidated by him, after figuring him out, she became more confident in her ability to tame this lion.

Thank goodness Leona would never put his hands on a lady, but he acknowledges the bravery she has to face him and respects her for it. She's also one of the only people to show appreciation for Leona's efforts. She likes to make flower crowns for him and calls him, "your highness," when she is with him. Even when he keeps telling her to stop (he doesn't want her to stop).

Ruggie:

Not really that much to say about him. She thinks he's a very good acquaintance. She knows he can be chill sometimes. When he's not causing any trouble that is. She helps him with his chores whenever she isn't busy, which he greatly appreciates. Especially after all that happened with Leona at the tournament. She wants him to rest his arm. She also likes give him treats when he's done some good work!

Jack:

How is there a boy at this school that is EVEN FLUFFIER?! I swear whenever he's around, Piper has to fight the urge to pet him and say "Who's a good boy?" Anyways, both of them are pretty good friends.

She really appreciates all of the help that Jack has given her over Books 2 and 3. She tried to pay him back, but he hasn't offered anything. She just settled with giving him a few cactuses which she had to actually go to a dessert to get since she is broke.

Even if he doesn't admit it, he does care for her and sees her as an older sister. All in all, yes indeed a good boy to Piper.

Azul:

If only they haven't met when the boys were being idiots. And of course, it's in her nature to help out anyone she can. Even at her expense. When they first met, Azul thought she was so gullible and dumb the way she automatically agreed to the deal. So it definitely surprised him when she was able to be both kind enough to help her friends at all cost, but also was able to outsmart HIM! To him, it was impossible! But, she was able to do it! He can't lie and say he doesn't envy her for it. She even showed kindness to him multiple times even after everything. WHAT?!

She's pretty much the only one Azul can be truly honest too besides the twins. Not just because she is now able to tell when he is not being truthful, but she's pretty much the first person that he knows will not use it against him, at least he hopes.

Jade:

Also someone who she was intimidated by at first. Who wouldn't be? He and his twin are the size of the trees in the woods! And the way he speaks and acts is a bit unnerving! Doesn't mean she doesn't find him fascinating. Especially once she found out he was a merman. Being able to climb aboard him and ride his back certainly was a fun and interesting experience.

Her fascination for him grew once she found out about his mountain lovers club, which she of course joined. She put her guard down whenever she and him were in the mountains. Some would say that's an incredibly stupid and dangerous move, but she's pretty much too invested with her and Jade's adventures to care.

Two people who originally fought for custody rights soon became two nature nerds geeking out on their discoveries. Both happy to find someone who shares in their interest. They made MANY terrariums together! Jade ended up becoming one of Piper's closets friends. Much to the shock and concern of everyone around her.

Floyd:

THIS ONE ON THE OTHER HAND! While personal space is pretty much out of both of the tweels' vocabulary, Floyd is very much the one that crosses the line more often than naught. He finds every possible way to overstimulate her. Surprise hugs, getting too close, becoming loud all of a sudden. It's come to the point where even when she hears, "SHRIMPY!!!," she freezes up like a deer in headlights. Which, of course, Floyd finds hilarious.

One day, however, Piper became so overstimulated that she had a panic attack and broke down on the floor. This caused Floyd to not find her reactions amusing anymore (and maybe he felt a little guilty, who knows) and pretty much stopped his antics all together. He's... slowly learning how to respect her boundaries, and she appreciates that. She now thinks he’s a pretty chill guy. She doesn't mind the cute nickname, "shrimpy,” and thinks it’s pretty cute.

[strandnreyes]

hi jen! gonna extend nice ask day into today bc i was so busy yesterday i didn't get to send any! i wanted to first tell you how much i adored your basketball au, i finally had the chance to read it a few weeks ago, and it truly blew me away. your characterization was stunning and it was such a good story, i loved it. i was wondering if you wouldn't mind talking about your writing process? what the planning looked like, how writing it went, that sort of thing. i love hearing writers talk about things like that

thank you so much! <3

I’m not sure what happened with this fic but it’s my longest fic by far and I flew through it in a couple of months while season 4 was airing and while being a student… someone study me during that time and tell me what happened.

I was debating between this or an Olympics track au because those are two sports where I know how to write them from an athlete’s pov, but I had no idea how the inner workings of the Olympics works and I’m very familiar with what it’s like to be a college student. So college basketball won

I had this idea for about half a year before I started writing it (I had done a prompt fill in this universe when i was thinking it would be NBA not NCAA). the first thing I did when I actually got serious about writing it was map out the entire season from the game schedule angle. I made dates of all the big tournaments/playoffs/etc. and then worked the non-basketball parts in around that.

I knew that TK was on a redemption arc and that he was going to get hurt again, putting him on the path to finding what he really loves. And I knew TK wanted the NBA and Carlos did not and that would cause problems for them. The rest came together as I outlined. One of my favorite parts of writing is the aha! moments when a details clicks. For this story that was the ‘what if TK and Carlos not only had a professional history, but a personal history?’ and ‘what if TK was on shaky ground with Owen in this universe?’ moments

Writing this during March madness was so fun and I made a bracket for the first time in years. Had absolutely zero interest in longhorns basketball before this, but then ended up having them winning it all (rip)

[tailsrevane]

2022 in review, part 2: movie first watches

as you can probably tell from the fact that the vast majority of my top first watches were actually from this year, 2022 was an incredible year for movies. with that in mind, here’s my top 10 first watches.

1. kiki’s delivery service (1989)

okay, i know i said this was a great year for movies, and it was. but unfortunately for every other movie i saw this year, this 33-year-old stone cold classic was actually the first one i saw this year? saying that it set an impossible standard for the rest of the year is a bit of an understatement, considering that i recently did a long-ass movie tournament to officially crown it my favorite movie of all time.

for me, this is the ultimate realization of what a ghibli movie can be (and considering how incredible they all are, that’s saying something), and it also happens to have some obvious factors that make it appeal to me specifically (it’s witchy, there’s an adorable kitty, there’s an incredibly sensitive portrayal of what living with depression is like, etc etc). just a truly incredible movie.

2. glass onion: a knives out mystery (2022)

if rian johnson & daniel craig could just make another one of these things every few years until the heat death of the universe that would be pretty great. because i’m never going to get tired of them. i ran back to a movie theater again as soon as possible to see this again, which is just kind of a thing i don’t usually really do anymore?

3. the batman (2022)

this is the first batman movie that has really felt like a detective movie, gotham has never been seedier, but i think the real killer app here is that this one just blatantly has the best filmmaking any batman movie has ever had.

4. prey (2022)

hot take alert but this is the only truly good predator movie. and it’s not just good, it’s incredible. this one caught me completely by surprise.

5. everything everywhere all at once (2022)

one of my favorite performers turns in a career-best performance in an emotionally arresting, visually stunning, timely, and staggeringly smart titan of a movie.

this movie asks questions that i never really expected a movie to ask, and it doesn’t just ask them, it does its level best to answer them, or at least explore them in an honest, vulnerable way. this is a fearless movie.

i kind of feel like an idiot for not having this as my top movie that came out in 2022… and keep in mind it’s actually in the number 4 spot? we were unbelievably spoiled this year, y’all. movies are back.

6. nope (2022)

jordan peele is an institution unto himself. i know he came in to filmmaking with a ton of experience working on parodies for key & peele, and people super underrate how useful that can be for crossing over into serious filmmaking, but it’s still incredible to me that he hit the ground running as a staggeringly-good filmmaker and just hasn’t let up once.

7. avatar: the way of water (2022)

i’m not super sure where this one is gonna end up on this list when all is said & done, it feels like it needs at least a rewatch or two before i really have a full grasp of it, but this feels right for now. regardless of where i end up landing on it, it is refreshing to see this kind of blockbuster movie in an era where most tentpole movies are all commercials for the next one or for disney plus or whatever the fuck.

8. turning red (2022)

yeah so this is my favorite pixar movie ever and it isn’t particularly close. i’m still salty that disney forced pixar to take all the explicit queerness out of it, but even what was left made me feel more seen than anything they’ve ever produced.

9. sonic the hedgehog 2 (2022)

yeah okay i can’t argue that this is an artistic masterpiece like a lot of the others on this list, nor is it a movie without pretty obvious warts (just like 90% of the human stuff, basically). but look, i have some pretty exacting standards for how i want these characters and their relationships portrayed, and this movie shocked me by meeting & exceeding those expectations with flying colors.

i’m not going to try to force myself to be objective about the movie’s many & rather obvious flaws, because that’s just frankly not how i authentically experience movies anymore. i got exactly what i wanted to get out of this movie, and i consider that a minor miracle.

10. luca (2021)

there is so fucking much thematic gayness in this, just fucking make them gay, gods.

apparently they weren’t even originally going to be though, the thing that disney censored was their friend being a lesbian, but like are you shitting me how do you write these characters this way and not intend them to be gay? they are so gay, fucking hell.

nevertheless this is a beautiful movie. i hate disney as a company but there are clearly just so many smart & talented people working under their umbrella. the post-lasseter pixar era is looking pretty promising so far.

[thatsatricky1]

So the person is someone who has been mentioned before🤔 I wonder who that could be? But you know what I’m not gonna go back and try and figure it out and instead let it be a shock when it’s revealed😌

I’ve never dropped a bottle when dying my hair but me and my mom once let purple hair dye sit in my hair for too long so instead of the like dark purple that looks similar to burgundy red I ended up with almost black hair😖

Ahhhh the tournament… it went well but me and my colleague who was closing the cafe had to work overtime 1 hour because of how much the others left for us to take care of😭 (it took me 3 hours to get through the mountain of dishes they left us🥲) and I had yesterday off so while I’m tired it’s okay! Plus I only got like 7 more days before I have my last day at this job! They haven’t treated me all that well and imo royally screwed me over a few months back (it’s a whole story and sounds unbelievable when I tell people the whole truth of what happened🫠🥲)

But I’m kinda excited to quit and while I’m still job hunting I get to take some jobs as an extra on film sets and apply for more acting jobs! (I don’t got a bachelor degree in drama and an acting background from school for nothing!) so I’m taking this as an opportunity to get more experience in that field that I really wanna work in while searching for a full time job so I can move out❣️

Hope everything has been going well for you with school and work and life in general? - 🌻 anon

Sounds like a good idea, you won’t have to wait long for the next chapter.

Oh now 😫 A lot of people think it’ll help make the colour sit in better but it either doesn’t change anything, fry your hair or it goes darker.

What! That’s so unfair of them to leave you and the other staff to clean up like that. I’m sorry they did that to you hun. It good that you got to have a little rest yesterday and I’m glad you choose to look after yourself by leaving the job soon.

That’s so exciting! I’m glad you’ll be getting to do something you truly like. I’m glad you’re taking this path and working in something you enjoy and studied for. Just keep going and im sure in no time you’ll have a great job opportunity coming your way and enough income to move out 🩷

Life is going alright for me, I’m resting well during my two weeks off work. I’ve been continuing with my hobbies that I haven’t time for recently so that’s nice and also studying for my finals that are this year.

[bchanslvr]

"DISTRACTION" (HP)

notes: mostly fluff, mature themes (nipple play) context: harry being comforted by your tits before the first task. PART 2 (to be coming soon)

harry was tensed, it was the night before his first task in the tournament and he was practically shaking with anticipation. he desperately looked around for you, where were you when he needed you?

he was sitting in the gryffindor common room looking for his girlfriend. you two met in third year and you soon became close friends after finding out you both shared some common interests.

then again in fourth year when everyone turned their back on harry you stayed with him, that finally broke it to him that he liked you and that you liked him as more than just harry potter.

he was in a daydream thinking of the moment he fell in love with you 5 months ago when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. and when he turned his head he was seeing you coming down from the girls dorm.

oh there you are!, he thought relived.

he got up as quick as he could and bolted to your side. you let out an undignified squeak when he crushed you against the wall as his warm body covered you.

eventually he loosened up and looked at you.

"what's wrong my love?" you asked. his head resting on your shoulder and his hands around your waist.

"i don't know. nervousness, anxiety, fear? maybe all three"

you sighed knowing where this was gonna go, holding him tighter.

"come on love, let's sit on the couch", you said.

hand in hand as you walked to the mini-couch right next to the fireplace.

you knew harry needed you in the next few moments so you took the liberty to sit first and then guide harry half on your lap and half on the couch.

as soon as he was settled in he tucked his head in the crook of your neck, holding your sweater in his clenched fists as he tried to breathe through the negative feelings.

"harry ml look at me."

he hesitated but eventually gave in to stare into your eyes as he waited for you to speak.

"i know what's bothering you but i want you to tell me how you're feeling and how i can help you. is that okay? can you do that f'me?"

once you began dating, you realized just how fucked up harry was from the things that had happened to him. so because of that you've basically became his personally therapist whenever he needed so you knew exactly how to deal with situations like right now.

you gave him some time to think about his answer and added along any comments you thought were needed in-between his story.

to summarize what you'd learned, you'd say that he was not trusting his abilities to get through the first task.

harry had always had a low self-esteem, and you tried everything you could to always make sure he was praised for anything that was needed to be.

but at the end of the day he always seemed to cave back into his little hut of despair and loneliness.

it truly was a sad sight.

and at times like this words don't fully comprehend in his head. so actions were what he needed.

you kissed his forehead as a gentle question for further actions. he replied by tugging on your sweater.

you were both fourteen year old teenagers on hormones. though you hadn't done much more than heavy make-out sessions with some clothes off and expriements.

even with such little information about both your sexual preferences you knew harry was neither a full dom nor a full sub. it was an in-between that depended on his emotions and the situation.

but right now you knew that he needed to be coddled in every way.

and as of recently he'd been having a phase for your tits. trying to touch, or squeeze, or even suck on them at any chance you got.

so taking that into mind and a privacy charm around the area. you lifted your sweater up as well as his mood as you saw the light in his eyes grow.

"y/n.. i- you don't have to.." he said, but he really was an open-book and you could tell the desire radiating from his body.

"oh but i want to. and you'll do whatever i say won't you darling?"

"uh- i- .. yes. i would"

"then be a good boy and help yourself won't you?"

he got the hint after that instantly. he unclipped your bra and immediately fondled the two round blobs of flesh before him.

your were warm and soft and so wonderful. harry nearly melted into the couch when he put your right nipple into your mouth.

swirling it in his mouth and nibbling on it. at first it was ticklish and you were squirming in his grip but eventually it turned almost relaxing.

he'd alternate between them giving each a quick kiss and suck. he was like a kid to candy and you couldn't help smile to yoruself as you ran your hands through his curls.

"harry" you called out gently.

he gave you a mhm as a response.

"as much as i love you sucking on m'tits, we still need to talk"

he whined like a baby, and paused his actions to mumble a "but we can do it laterr, i promise i'm better now"

you chuckled, of course he was better now. you kissed the top of his hair, and muttered "fine but you better not fall asleep and panic later because you think you didn't prepare enough because we could'a been doing that instead of what you're doing now"

he didn't bother replying because you were going to be right anyways, so he just hummed softly as he rested his head on your chest sucking slowly now as comfort and sleep washed over him.

a harry half asleep on your tits, and a fire warming you up in the midst of the upcoming winter. your life was perfect.

[milkytheholy1]

Hypno Sweethearts

A/N: Cole x FReader, based on the first episodes with a few little changes.

Ultimate masterlist. Cole masterlist.

_______________________________________________

The ninja had just "taken care of" Lloyd Garmadon, although not truly listening to their sensei's advice. The group had arrived back at the monastery rambling about some legend they had found, they were all squabbling back and forth.

"So then we all agree. The prophecy states that one of us will become the Green Ninja and the issue will not rest until it is decided." Jay stated, opening the huge wooden gates to their home. 

"May I suggest a tournament? Last ninja standing is the best." Zane reasoned, but Kai was quick to butt in, "And will be declared the Green Ninja! I love it!" The others could only groan in response.

Nya had left the comfort of the indoors and stepped onto the cobbled ground of the training compound. She appeared to be talking to someone on the phone, laughing until completely swept off her feet by the equipment. She frowned while in the air, landing on her feet and saying she'd only be a minute to whoever was on the other end of the call.

And like lighting, she traversed the course, as if she was a ninja herself. She was getting pretty good at it too, becoming a lot faster than when the guys first started. Though all good things come to an end and she was once again thrown off the course and crumbled to the ground. Her phone bounced onto her head, a small "Ugh" leaving her lips as the device slid onto her lap.

"Hey, Nya. Closer to beating your brother's speed record?" Jay awkwardly laughed, cheeks going rosy. Nya rubbed her bruised head, sighing in defeat, "I'm getting there. Heard what happened in town, just a false alarm?" she asked. Nya picked her phone back up, seeing the call had, in fact, ended by an accidental miss-press, "Shoot." she huffed out under her breath.

"Yeah. Uh, but we're gonna need the space. Sorry, sis." Kai rubbed the back of his head, the less she knew about the green ninja prophecy the better. Cole moved to the supply closest, picking out some armour and throwing it at Jay, "Two matches. Then the winners of each face off for the title. Armours for our own protection. It's time to see what these babies can do." 

"Hey, Nya, wanna stay and watch me mop the floor with them?" Kai smirked, cocky as always. Nya could only roll her eyes, he'll never change, "No, thanks. I think I'll just visit (Y/N) in Jamanakai Village. Knock yourselves out."

"Woah, woah, woah." Cole quickly ran to Nya before she could leave, his cheeks red "You're visiting (Y/N)?" Nya couldn't help the small chuckle that fell from her lips, "Yeah, want me to tell her about your schoolboy crush?" she teased.

Cole cringed, "I don't have a crush on her, it's just- we don't see her that often is all." he tried to lie, but it was never his strong suit. Nya nodded her head slowly, totally believing him...Not.

Ever since Nya had introduced her lifelong friend to the ninja, Cole was smitten. (Y/N) hadn't visited the monastery many times, but when the occasion arose and she was here, Cole was always at a loss for words. It was clear to everyone, even Wu, that the Earth ninja had a thing for the Jamanakai girl. 

"Ju-Just tell her I- WE...tell her we said hi." Cole stumbled over his words, face dark with embarrassment. Nya held back her laughter but agreed to his terms, she really needed to get the pair together already and end this. With that being said, Nya left the boys to train while she took the daunting walk down to Jamanakai Village.

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"Ah, isn't this nice? Everything is so peaceful and this tea tastes amazing, it's like if happiness was a drink." Nya moaned out, placing the teacup closer to her lips. You let out a gentle giggle, leaning further back in the cafe's chair, "The monastery hectic around this kinda time?" you mused.

Nya groaned, slipping the tea back onto its saucer, "You have no idea, the guys are fighting about this green ninja thing."

"Green ninja?" you questioned, sipping your own cup. Nya nodded, "It's one of Sensei Wu's prophecies that one of the ninjas will be all-powerful, or something like that."

"So they think it's one of them and are fighting to see who's the best?" you covered your mouth to hide the laugh. Nya almost broke too, shaking her head in disbelief, "Yep." Both girls busted out in laughter, having spent most of the afternoon teasing the other and gossiping.

"Thanks for the tour, by the way. I don't get to come here often and it was nice to see a friendly face too."

You blushed at her compliment, waving it off as though it was nothing "Please, after all the tours you've given me of the monastery, it was only fair. Besides, you need a local to show you all the good spots." you winked holding up your cup.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, and screams from the village's centre interrupted any more conversations. Nya placed down her cup with a little more force than she intended to, "What now?" she huffed out. 

Lloyd was strolling down the empty streets with a wheelbarrow of candy, "Take the candy! Take it all!" he all but laughed, cackling as his army of snakes plucked sweets from every child in town. You and Nya both ran for cover, she was dealing with the situation a lot better than you.

"Were those snakes?" you panicked, Nya nodded beside you "Hypnobrai to be precise."

"Oh, great." you hyperventilated, Nya peeked out from behind the alley you hid in, watching in awe as the villagers were hypnotised by Slithraa.

"This makes no sense, General. Raiding an entire town for sweets?" Skales rebutted, shaking his head. Slithraa growled, banging his staff against the ground, "You will do as I command because I hold the staff!"

"That guy looks like a barrel of fun," you mused, using comedy as a way to cope. Nya rubbed her chin in thought, "I thought the serpentine were enclosed underground, what are they doing here?" 

"Er, Nya? Why don't you ask that guy?" you pointed to the snake over her shoulder, Nya was quick to jump out the way and shield her eyes. However, you weren't so lucky. Nya fled once she realised you were now under the Hypnobrai's command, but she couldn't shake the guilt she felt.

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Back at the Monastery, the ninja were finally practising with their weapons while Wu sat meditating. Visions of serpents and screaming awoke him as he rushed to the ninja.

"The Serpentine are back! Everyone in Jamanakai Village is in danger!" he startled the others, the ninja throwing their weapons into the air out of shock. Cole moved to his master first, patting him along the back as he tried to soothe him, "Calm down, Sensei. We were just there. It was some kid who says he-"

"The spirit smoke does not lie! An ancient evil has been released!" Wu continued to yell, urging the ninja to the gates. Kai shared a look with Jay and Cole, "Nya's there right now."

"Nya?" Jay mumbled, Cole's eyes widened, "And (Y/N) too, c'mon, let's get moving!" they rushed to their dragons, not wasting time and setting off to Jamankai Village.

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"I'm never coming down from this sugar ride! Woo-hoo!" Lloyd cheered, holding an abundance of candy in his arms. The hypnotised villagers stood behind him, mindless and unable to move without a command.

"Sorry to bust your buzz, little Garmadon." Cole mused, masked pulled over his face. The ninja line up in front of the little lord, weapons in a harsh grip, "But it's already past your bedtime." Jay smirked, the mask crinkling around his lips.

"Get them!" Lloyd yelled out, Slithraa shook his staff, commanding his army of snakes, "Seize them!"

"The Serpentine? They're real?" Kai backed away from the crowds, eyes wide and mouth agape; even if not visible. As more snakes fought the ninjas, the General sought to use the hypnotised town against them.

"It's not just them we have to worry about, the whole village has been hypnotised," Cole murmured, unsure if it was morally right to kick and punch hypnotised people. It's not like it was their fault to begin with. Jay didn't seem to quite think this through, already swinging his electric nunchucks in the air.

"No! Our weapons are too unstable, we can do more harm than good." Zane quickly put a stop to whatever issue Jay was sure to cause, he signalled for the others to put their weapons away too.

"I guess that leaves us with run!" Jay screamed out, taking lead and running to the nearest alley for cover. By coincidence, it just so happened to be the same alley Nya was hiding in. Jay ran into her on accident, but upon realising who it was, began to stutter and stumble over his words "Huh, N-Nya. Y-you're, um, okay."

"Barely. They've hypnotized everyone in town, including (Y/N)." she dipped her head, still feeling the twang of guilt in her heart.

"Mind control? How is this possible?" Jay questioned. 

"When you hear them rattle their tails, don't look them in the eyes. That's how they get you." Nya rambled, recalling what she had witnessed happen to you and the other village folk. Jay paced back and forth, shaking his head and waving his arms as he panicked, "Well, what are we supposed to do? We can't use our weapons, and now we gotta fight with our eyes closed? Ha, perfect."

"The snake with the staff is the General. He's the one in charge. If we can get the staff from him, it holds the anti-venom. If we get that, we can save everyone." Nya continued. Cole had remained quiet throughout the whole spiel, his mind too focused on a certain mind-controlled girl. But Nya said there was an anti-venom, right? You would be fine, Cole just needed to get that venom and you'd be saved.

"Look, guys. Forget about the whole Green Ninja thing. Let's make Sensei proud. The four of us, we're a team." Kai's small speech brought Cole back into reality, he gripped his weapon a little tighter, "Now you're talking."

The guys started walking back into the action, but Jay stopped and turned to Nya with a weak smile, "Oh, and Nya? You can be our honorary member."

"Gee, thanks." she smiled, but sarcasm dripped through every word.

As the ninja fought, it became apparent they were deemed to win, but Lloyd had other ideas. He pointed over to your docile figure, you weren't fighting anyone, just stood to the side awaiting a command.

"That one over there, they're friends with the ninja! Make her fight them!"

"As you command," the General shook his staff and rattled his tail, sending you into battle; but first he had to find you an opponent. He scanned the fight, watching all the ninjas in action, "Eenie, meenie, miney, mo." he hummed, eyes stopping on the Earth ninja.

You launched at the Earth ninja, pushing him against a wall while distracted by another threat. He groaned, rubbing his head and getting up before he saw you, "Alright pal, you got a lucky hit, but I won't let it happen aga-" he stopped speaking.

There you were, panting slightly and eyes glowing red. Your fists were clenched together and your teeth were slightly bared, yet, Cole still thought you looked beautiful. He shook his head, this was no time to get lost in thought; he had to save you.

"(Y/N)? Oh boy, am I glad to see you. Don't worry we'll cure you soon." he tried to be civil, but that ended up with him being punched in the mouth. Cole stumbled back, "Okay, another lucky hit. But I let you have that one." he was getting revved up, but he still didn't want to hurt you. 

You launched at him again, this time he was able to dodge the attack. You swung your arms frantically, tiring yourself out rather quickly. Cole kept dodging, afraid one punch would make you hate him forever; even if you did start the fight.

"C'mon, (Y/N), this isn't you! Snap out of it!" he yelled, ducking another punch. You continued to stalk him around the village, landing a punch every now and again. Enough was enough, especially when you grabbed a bike chain and swung it around, red eyes trained on him.

You threw the chain at Cole, it had wrapped around his hand and with a smirk, he taunted you "Sorry, sweetheart, but you've just messed up." He tugged the chain to him, pulling you along by force. Once you were trapped in his arms, he used his spinjitzu and wrapped your body in the chain. 

You growled at him, shaking to move, "Sorry, (Y/N)." Cole bent down in front of you, pulling his mask up so you could see his face, "I promise I'll fix this, then just maybe...I'll ask you on that date." Cole pulled his mask back down and took off back into the fight, now more than ever, he was greatly determined to get that cure.

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"RETREAT!" Lloyd cried out, grabbing as much candy as he possibly could and making a mad dash for the exit, the Serpentine not too far behind him. Cole was able to stop Slithraa before he could get too far, kicking the staff from his grasp and glaring at the serpent "Go ahead, give me another reason."

Cole moved forward, grabbing the staff, but Skales tussled against him, making his eyes wide, "Look into my eyes, I control you." he hissed out. Cole's body began to wobble, his eyes going red as his vision began to spin, "You control..."

"Cole!" Nya cried out, kicking Skales in the head, breaking the control they once shared. Skales ran with the others, rubbing his head in the process. Nya pointed to the staff, "You have the anti-venom!"

Cole had to do a double-take before it clicked, "By golly, you're right."

"Quick, the fountain!" Nya shouted, cautious as the villagers started surrounding the group once more. (Y/N) had been set free by her fellow villagers and was looking for a round two against the black ninja. 

Sadly, that wouldn't be happening anytime soon as Cole had already shoved the staff into the water fountain, the anti-venom spreading along all the small streams of Jamanakai Village. Before you knew it, your vision came back and your body began to sway. But before you could fall to the harsh, concrete stones somebody caught you.

Warmth invaded your senses, blinking your eyes open you vaguely saw a black mask. Cole held you as you came back to the real world, waiting for you to grow steady before allowing you to stand by yourself; though, he did keep an arm around you just in case.

"Cole?" you mumbled, rubbing your eyes. He nodded his head, pulling the mask off completely, "Yeah, it's me." he beamed. You didn't say anything for a second, just stood there thinking. 

"(Y/-" Cole was once again cut off when your arms crushed him against you. Your body was so warm against his and all he could do was close his arms around you as you buried your face into his neck, "Thank you," you whispered.

When you pulled away, both of your faces were steaming red, "Are we interrupting anything?" Kai teased, you swear Kai and Nya were specifically put on this planet to tease the ever-living hell out of you and Cole.

"We're sorry, Sensei. If we dealt with Lloyd before he became a problem, none of this would've been necessary." Kai spoke, but you weren't paying attention, everyone's voices were drowning out. All you could focus on was Cole, mask-free and hair blowing in the gentle breeze. You continued to stare at the side of his face, enamoured by him.

"What? Something on my face?" he whispered to you, eyes still on the group. You squeaked, blushing now you had been caught. When you didn't speak, he cast a glance at you, seeing your cheeks coloured in a beautiful shade of pink. He smirked, growing cocky when he had no right to.

"C'mon, you've gotta tell me if there's something there. After all, I did save you from mind-control, I think it's only fair." he jibed. Your blush deepened, but all signs were pointing to your next actions, "Actually, you do have something on your face."

"Wha-really?" his bravado faded immediately, hands moving to clear his cheeks and that's when you chuckled. Leaning up, you planted a light, chaste kiss against his cheek. His entire skin lit up like a Christmas tree, "There, I think I got it." you mused, but your palms were incredibly sweaty.

"T-thanks," he stuttered out, you both turned back to face the group; who were all unaware of what had transpired, too busy with their conversation. Yet, you and Cole both smiled, oblivious that the other was grinning brightly.

[jade-likethegemstone]

I Can Keep A Secret Sweetheart Pt.2 (Carli Lloyd x Reader)

A/N: Warning. This fic does touch on miscarriage and difficulty falling pregnant.

Part One

“God, why didn’t I do this sooner?” Carli asks as she snuggles further into your arms.

The past couple of weeks of her being able to experience everything about the world cup with you and the twins was better than she could’ve expected. It made her regret not having you join her in all her other major tournaments.

The fun she had with the twins on her days off and the smiles on their faces when they watched her play made Carli feel so good that she doesn’t understand how she survived so long without having her family with her at major tournaments.

Just being able to sink into your arms after a gruelling day is heaven. Just like now, cuddled up next to you while the kids are sleeping, Carli feels a peace that she’s never truly felt before a big match.

“You tell me Carls.” you answer, with a soft smirk as Carli burrows further into your embrace.

You absolutely love it when Carli just melts into your embrace, showing her vulnerability but trusting you enough to just hold her and be her rock. She’s always responded better to physical touch.

“You’re definitely coming with to the Olympics. I don’t think I’ll survive without your cuddles.” Carli says, her voice slightly muffled by your neck. You just hum, a big smile on your face as you card your fingers through her hair. Carli groans softly at the feel of your fingers against her scalp, your nails scratching lightly against her skin.

“God, I love you.” Carli practically moans into your neck.

“I know you love god, but what about me?” you ask, a teasing smile on your face that only grows when Carli lifts her head to look up at you with narrowed eyes.

“You know what I mean.” she grumbles, before returning to her spot in your neck. You just smile before placing a soft kiss against her forehead.

After a few moments of silence Carli shifts in your arms until her head is resting on your chest instead of between your neck.

“What’s up?” you ask. You were sure that Carli would be asleep by now, so seeing her shift in your arms definitely meant she was thinking about something serious.

“I was thinking that maybe we should try again.” Carli says so softly you almost miss what she says.

“Try?” you ask. You know what she’s talking about, but you want her to tell you herself so she can get it off her chest.

“For another baby.” Carli says softly, shifting so she can look at you.

“I know it’s been a tough two years with the IVF not working and I know we decided that’s we’d stop after we got those results two months ago, but I just can’t stop thinking about it. We don’t have to, it’s up to you, you know that, especially after everything that’s happened. I just want you to think about it. We’ve always dreamed of having the three and I want to try one last time.” Carli explains. She knows what she’s asking from you is a lot, especially after everything you’ve been through.

It was a nightmare going through fertility treatment after fertility treatment during the past two years. The nightmare only got worse when the one time, after the first year of negative tests, the test finally came back positive only for you to be rushed to hospital almost three months later because you miscarried.

That was the worst time for the both of you and it almost broke you. Carli didn’t want to try again after that. She didn’t think she could handle having to go through that again and she honestly didn’t think you would be able to go through it again either. You however, wanted to try again, one last time. The miscarriage was terrible and it hurt so so much, but you wanted to have another baby and you were willing to try for a miracle.

So after speaking to the doctor and going through therapy, both you and Carli decided to try one more time, and that was when the last negative result came back. At least that’s what Carli thought.

“Also, the twins are so big now and I miss having a little baby in the house.” Carli adds.

“You miss sleepless nights, fresh diaper changes and constant crying?” you ask, with a hint of sarcasm, trying to deflect just little bit from answering Carli’s question and risk spoiling your surprise.

“I know it’s weird, but I really do miss it. I also miss seeing you pregnant, you’re absolutely sexy when you’re pregnant.” Carli says, her lips curving into a smirk as she presses a kiss against your stomach.

“I looked like a bloated whale when I was pregnant.” you say, rolling your eyes playfully at Carli’s comment.

“A sexy bloated whale.” Carli says and you immediately let out a full bellied laugh.

“You’re ridiculous. You know that right?”

“I’m ridiculously in love with you.” Carli replies, moving up so she’s hovering over you.

“I’m ridiculously in love with you too.” you reply, bringing your hands up to cup her cheeks before leaning up and pressing your lips against hers.

“After tomorrow, I’ll make an appointment with the doctor.” you whisper against Carli’s lips, not missing the beaming smile that forms on her face. If everything goes to plan, you’re sure Carli will want that doctor’s appointment to happen sooner than it should be scheduled for.

“We could start trying now.” Carli says, pressing her lips against the underside of your jaw.

“As much as I would love that, the kids are in the bed next to us.” you say, trying to pry Carli’s lips from your neck, where she’s nibbling on a spot she knows drives you crazy.

“We’ll be quiet, they won’t even know.”

“We both know you suck at being quiet, and I am not risking scarring our children for the rest of their lives.” you say, trying to sound stern and not at all turned on.

You feel Carli sag against you as she lets out a deep sigh and removes her lips from your neck.

“Fine. I’ll wait.” she grumbles as she settles next to you, her head resting on your chest.

“But tomorrow you’re mine. I’ll find someone, anyone, to babysit.” Carli says with determination.

“Ok baby.” you say, running your fingers through her hair, knowing that she probably will find a babysitter for the kids, especially after she hears the good news.

˳˳˳˳

“Mommy won!!!” Leah screams out as the rest of the families around you, the fans and the team start celebrating after the final whistle was blown signalling the end of the final match against the Netherlands.

“Yes she did.” you say with a proud smile as you watch Carli slowly make her way over to where you’re standing.

While talking about the World Cup, both of you decided that you wouldn’t go to extra efforts to hide your relationship. Your interactions throughout the tournament were always organic and authentic, with Carli coming over after every match to greet you and the twins, her focus being more on the twins than you, which you didn’t mind.

Surprisingly, no one really caught on to the fact that the two of you are together and that could probably be because Carli was never one for PDA in really big crowds, especially after years of keeping your relationship a secret, so you did just look like friends and that’s exactly what people thought. They just thought you were one of her best friends and that the twins were your kids.

“Momma, can we give mommy her surprise?” Leah asks eagerly.

Throughout the past two months or so you had been keeping another secret from Carli, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her. After the conversation the two of you had last night, you know that you chose the perfect time to tell her.

You told the twins earlier in the day, after Carli left with the team for warmups, and they’re practically bursting at the seams to tell her the good news.

In all honesty, you don’t even know how you were able to keep it a secret for so long. All you know is that you wanted to be absolutely sure before giving Carli false hope again. It killed the both of you when you thought your miracle had come, only for it to turn into one of the worst nightmares you’d ever experienced. Now however, you’re pretty sure that everything is going to work out and that your dream is finally going to come true.

You dig in your bag until you find the specific photograph that is going to change both you and Carli’s lives.

“Remember, you need to give it to mommy after she gets here, ok?” you say, making sure the twins remember what you planned out.

It’s not long before Carli is standing on a chair and leaning over the railing, a bright smile on her face as Leah and Leo give her big congratulatory kisses on her cheek.

“Mommy win!!” Leah squeals excitedly as Carli presses a kiss against her cheek.

“Yeah kiddo, and if we wait just a little longer then maybe you can touch the trophy.” Carli says, laughing at the excited squeals coming from both four-year-olds.

You nudge the two slightly, so they don’t forget the small job you gave them.

“Mommy, look.” Leo and Leah say together, shoving the small square photograph into Carli’s hands.

“What’s this?” Carli asks, looking up at you with furrowed eyebrows, before finally looking down at the image in her hands.

“Oh my god.” Carli breathes out, bringing her hand to her mouth in disbelief as tears prickle the corners of her eyes.

“Is this what I think it is?” Carli asks in disbelief as she looks at the sonogram in her hands, a blue circle indicating where the embryo is.

“Yeah.” you say with a soft smile, tears already gathering in your eyes.

“But, the doctor… you said we’re going to book an appointment to try again… I don’t understand.” Carli stutters in complete shock and confusion. It was just last night when the two of you were talking about trying again and booking another appointment with the fertility specialist.

“The last test was a false negative and we definitely are going to need to book an appointment so you can hear their heartbeat.” you say with a bright smile on your face.

You went to the doctor after suffering from a bout of nausea while Carli was at training camp with the team. It turned out that you were suffering from morning sickness and the previous test you took was a false negative.

Instead of telling Carli immediately, you wanted to wait until you passed the first trimester which would be during the World Cup, and after she told you she wanted to bring you and the twins with her, you decided that you would do it right after she won.

Carli wastes no time pulling herself over the railing before wrapping her arms around you and pulling you into a searing kiss, not caring about who’s around you and possibly forgetting that this is the first time she’s ever kissed you in front of thousands, possibly millions, of people and in front of all the cameras.

“I love you.” Carli whispers against your lips before claiming them with her own again, ignoring her cheering teammates, the fans around you and the cameras that have panned over to the both of you.

“WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!” Carli screams out, the ultrasound picture clear in her raised hand.

You didn’t think her teammates could cheer any louder, until they heard Carli announce your pregnancy to the world and you heard loud shouts from her teammates, especially those next to you in the family section.

“We’re going to have a baby.” Carli says with a bright smile, relishing in all the joy surrounding her.

Forget the World Cup, her true prize is that little baby growing in your belly. She could care less about the awards right now. The fact that you’re pregnant with a healthy baby is worth more than any award or championship she’s ever won.

“We’re going to have a baby.” you confirm, a bright smile on your face as Carli pulls you in for another kiss.

[miateawrites]

Lloyd and Kai have a chat

Summary: After Kai's brief corruption during the tournament of elements, there are many things left unsaid between two brothers.

Warnings: mentions of panic/panic attacks, abandonment, don't worry there's a happy end, emotions are confusing but they'll get through it

(added the keep reading feature because this story is 1.7k words and I didn't want to flood anyone's feed LMAO)

The floor of Nya’s headquarters wasn’t the most comfortable resting spot, but Lloyd supposed it would have to do. The sweltering heat of Ninjago’s summer made going outside near impossible, and the feeling of the cool metal floor on his skin grounded him.

Lloyd had always hated the summer. It was during the summer that the other boys from Darkley’s would head home for break, save him and a few others. The very nature of the season pointed to how truly and unfathomably alone he was. It was a hot summer's night that his childhood was ripped away from him, walking into the humid air with a body that didn’t feel like his own, and a young mind spinning with questions. The heat of the summer reminded him of the first time he got to see his dad in years, as his life was in peril in the depths of a volcano that threatened to swallow him whole.

Someone had saved him from that place—someone who had replaced the burning sensation in his lungs with warmth and safety. Someone who made campfires a place of bonding and fun and not of horrors and fright. That same someone, he now realized, was making his way over to him on the cool, metal floor.

Lloyd could feel his chest tighten and his face get hot. He hated this feeling. A feeling so unlike what he used to feel when he was with his brother. Instead of warmth and fun, he could now feel panic rising in his chest, a tell-tale sign of the lies he had been feeding to Kai for the past few months.

After the battle with the false-anacondrai warriors, the first thing Lloyd did was scream so loudly that every elemental master in the cavern below stood still. He didn’t speak to anyone for a few days, and Kai’s conscience weighed on him heavily. When Kai had approached him, Lloyd cut him off before he could get a word out. 

“It’s okay,” he had said, an almost real smile adorning his face, his eyes crinkling at the edges, “you didn’t mean it, I forgive you. It’s okay.”

All the fight had left Kai’s body, and in a moment of defeat, he simply nodded at the boy and walked away. He ignored the way Lloyd’s eyes would dart across the room when they were alone together, the way the once clingy younger brother he knew now recoiled at the very hint of his touch. He tried to bring it up a few more times after that but was always met with the same response:

“It’s okay.”

Those were the words that started to fall off of Lloyd’s lips this blistering summer night, but he didn’t get to finish what he wanted to say. As Kai sat down next to him, a very rare occurrence took place. At least, rare ever since the finale of the tournament of elements. Kai made eye contact with him, and like that Lloyd felt the words dry up on his tongue. He swallowed harshly and returned his eyes to stare at the ceiling.

“There is no excuse for what I said that night.” Kai started. Already Lloyd could feel fiery tears welling in his eyes, and he turned his head yet again to turn away from where Kai sat. He couldn’t tell why he was crying. He had rationalized in his head over and over again what had happened that day. Was he sad? Angry? Confused? Confused seemed like the most appropriate word for right then.

Kai took in a heavy breath, recognizing the shift in Lloyd’s behavior. For a second he contemplated leaving. That had been a thought that crossed his mind a lot, recently. He could see the way Lloyd would falter in his training the moment he entered a room, the unease that would settle the moment he opened his mouth. But he sat there, determined now more than ever to let Lloyd know the truth. And after that was done, Lloyd could decide his fate for him.

“You need to know,” his voice shook, and he took a hasty breath in, “that there is not a single day that goes by where I am not amazed by everything you have become. I am so proud of you, and I need you to know that.”

Lloyd didn’t respond. Kai wasn’t sure if would’ve preferred him to say anything anyways. He continued.

“Whenever I try to bring it up you keep on saying that you know I didn’t mean it, that you forgive me because you know I would never think like that, but that isn’t true.”

That seemed to grab Lloyd’s attention. He turned over to face Kai, a look of puzzlement on his face. He sat up, his eyes no longer wandering. Instead, they were focused directly on Kai.

“Kai, you can’t be so hard on yourself. Chen’s staff…that power would’ve had the same effect on any one of us. You can’t blame yourself for that.”

Kai smiled softly at the boy, shaking his head. Part of the reason was that it was the first time he had said more than five words to him at once. The other part was because he so desperately wanted that to be true.

“When I was growing up, I felt so powerless that I spent every day trying to pretend that I wasn’t,” Kai continued, “I picked fights with kids who I knew I couldn’t beat and I spent every night trying to console Nya over something that I didn’t even fully understand myself.”

“Wanting to feel safe doesn’t make you evil.”

“I wish that was the only thing I wanted.”

Lloyd felt a bead of sweat slip down his forehead. All of a sudden the room had begun to feel very hot. Inside he could feel every part of him screaming to fight or run. But a smaller, quieter side of him told him to stay. That despite his feelings, he was safe here.

So he stayed.

“When me and the guys found out about the prophecy of the green ninja, we all wanted it to be one of us. The guys were naturally competitive, but I…I was obsessive. I spent every day trying to prove that I was strong enough to deserve that title, and when I found out that that title wasn’t going to be mine, I was so unnaturally at peace with it that it scared me a little.” Kai laughed then. It was a bitter, regret-filled laugh. When Lloyd looked over there were tears slipping down his face.

“I have never looked back since that day. Every day I have wanted nothing more than to protect you, being the green ninja means nothing to me now but it's just,” he stood up then, running his hands through his hair, “I’ll be damned if I don’t still feel like that scared, defenseless little kid that I was when my parents disappeared.”

Kai had always told Lloyd that he saw a lot of himself in him, but at this moment Lloyd saw all of himself reflected in Kai. A scared, angry little kid. Angry at the world, but mostly angry at himself. A kid with the weight of the world rested on his shoulders and told to run a mile and then do it over and over again. Lloyd no longer felt panic or the hot feeling of shame filling his chest, instead, he felt compassion so overwhelming that for a moment it completely immobilized him.

“All of this to say,” Kai continued, “I am so so sorry, and you don’t have any obligation to forgive me. But I just needed you to know that I care about you so much, and there is nothing you could ever do to change that.”

Lloyd stared at Kai for a moment, an unreadable expression painted across his face. When he said nothing for ten seconds, and then fifteen, and then an entire minute, Kai turned away to go. 

“Wait.”

He turned back around, ready to face whatever Lloyd had to throw at him. His hope was that he would scream and yell until his lungs gave out. Get everything out there instead of bottling it up like he so often did. He hoped that he still felt safe enough around him to do that.

“I can’t say that I wasn’t angry about what you said to me, this isn’t the first time someone I care about has let power turn themselves against me.”

Kai felt shame settle in the pit of his stomach. He had already thought of that, and he knew it was something Lloyd had been thinking as well. Power had divided his family for years, and after finally piecing it back together, a mad dash for power had torn it apart again - in more ways than one. 

“But I also can’t say that I haven’t been where you are as well. When I found out I was the green ninja, I hated all the responsibility that was put on me. But once I unlocked my true potential, I had this intense urge to have more power. I’ve never been strong, but when I realized how much I craved to be stronger, I have never felt more like my father.”

Kai wanted to tell him he was nothing like his father, but that wasn’t entirely true. Garmadon without the whole Evil Running Through His Veins thing was kind and wise, and always strived to help others and improve himself. And in that way, Lloyd was just like his father. So, Kai decided to keep his mouth shut.

“When I lost my golden power to the overlord I felt so afraid. I felt worthless and helpless, I didn’t feel like I was even useful anymore. But the thing that made me feel safer and the thing that made me feel stronger was my brothers,” now Lloyd was standing too, fully facing Kai his face distorted with a look of pain and admiration, “and right now I just - I really need my brother, Kai.”

In the moments that followed Kai could ignore the feeling of guilt when Lloyd melted into his arms and didn’t flinch when he spoke and promised that he would look out for him. Lloyd could push the panic down because for now, he felt the warmth and safety that he had felt so long ago in the midst of chaos and flames.

There was still so much to be said, so much to be apologized for and so much to heal. But here, in the safety of a brother's arms, two young ninjas found peace.

HHHH this is my first serious writing post so please lmk what you think!! :) I just started rewatching Ninjago and season four is one of my favorites so I hope my interpretation of the post-season events and Kai and Lloyd's dynamic is okay

[iwadori]

Getting hurt in argument PT 1 (Iwaizumi, Tsukishima)

hi!! so can i request a hurt to comfort with iwaizumi, tsukishima and any character that you want ? i saw you had reblogged a prompt list so you could us 18 for inspiration! @sheiscalling

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Word count: 2.1K

Genre: angst,fluff

masterlist

Tsukishima:

You and Tsukishima just moved in with each other a few days ago

Sharing a house has kind of put you at odds

As getting used to each others habits takes a while to get used too

You just hope that after a while things will go back to usual

Tsukishima has been conveniently busy since you guys moved in together, claiming he has to practice more since the Sendai Frogs have a supposed upcoming tournament. 

So he’s left you to your own devices unpacking boxes, picking out and buying furniture whilst working from home. Today’s task is choosing the wallpaper, which you wanted to ask Tsukishima’s opinion on (since he’s always been judgmental of certain colours, patterns and prints.)

Y/N: Hey Tsukki! You coming to *insert store that sells wallpapers here* today… it closes at 5pm??

Kei: Yhh practices finishes at 1 so I’ll probably run some errands get changed and meet you there for 3

Y/N: Okay! See you then <3

You were ecstatic, Tsukishima is finally going to do something for your new place and on the plus you get to spend time together. Maybe you’ll get to go to that new desert place across the road from your house.

2:45PM

You decide to get there a tad bit early so you can have a few options picked out (as you know how detailed and picky Kei can be.) As you picked out paints and swatches you noticed how time went by…

3:14PM

Surprised that Kei isn’t here right on the dot (since he despises lateness and on many occasion have reprimanded you when you’ve been just a tiny bit late) but just assume he’s stuck in traffic or something.

3:32

You’re still standing outside waiting, getting a tiny bit embarrassed of the looks of the passer-by strangers as if they could tell you’re desperately waiting for someone. You checked your phone, expecting a message from Kei explaining his lateness or saying he’lll be there soon.

4:00

He’s now an hour late, with no contact at all which got you frustrated as you really hoped that he would do at least one thing for you today. So you decided to go and choose what YOU want since it seems that Kei doesn’t seem to really care.

5:15

After nearly emptying the store with all your choices and additional furniture picks you finally make it back home with still NO word from Kei. You are completely over it! But he is now the least of your worries, now your current agenda is unpacking plates and cutlery (so you and Tsuki actually have something to eat of off and that’s if he ever joins you for dinner)

You’re washing and polish plates as you hear your front door open and shut with a slight slam. “Ugh practice was draining today” he said, tired 

You did not acknowledge his presence at all, you were beyond agitated that he made plans with you and then didn’t show up AND THEN didn’t even make sure the first thing he did was apologise. “Babe, whats for dinner” He asked entering the living room.

AN: Btw you have like a open kitchen type of thing so you can see the kitchen and the living room in the same room if that makes sense ://

You still ignored him, washing your plates annoyance slowly but surely building up inside of you the more he spoke “Y/N, did you hear me i asked what was fo-” Tsukishima stopped his words as he saw all the stuff you’ve bought for the house and before realising that he blew off your plans together he says,

“Y/N.. what the fuck is this shit”

That made you take a pause, and freeze ‘That is all he’s worried about’ you think. As you’re still ignoring him and he’s wondering why you decided to buy all this ‘crap’ (in his words not yours) he picks up one of the wallpaper designs and brings it to you.

“Y/N you really think we’re putting this shit on the walls..?” He asked 

You still ignore him, scrubbing harder and harder on the same plate you’ve been washing since he’s got here ( you definitely know it’s clean by now but who cares )”Y/N, are you listening to me” He then grabs your shoulders turning him to face you “Why the fuck would you buy this??” 

By now you were raged, “Is that ALL you care about!” You shout “You don’t care how I’ve been slaving away getting this place, our NEW place ready for us to live in but you don’t care you’re so self obsessed that all you’ve been doing is going to practice and complaining!”

He was about to speak before you stopped him again “Oh and by the way if you’ve got a problem with my choices for our walls then maybe YOU should’ve been at the store at the time we agreed upon! You dick.” after saying this his lips part in surprise, as he now remembers the promise he made you. 

You turn your body back to the sink, tears filling your eyes as you go back to ferociously scrubbing the plate again. 

“Y/N I’m sorry I-” He starts

“Oh shut the fuck up Tsukishima” You say a bit to agressively slamming your hands (and the plate) down on the counter, cutting your hand in the process 

“Shit” You say as blood starts to seep through your hand well there goes the clean plate you get a towel and hold it against your hand stopping the blood for a short while and you bend down to start picking up the plate remains as Tsukishima just stands there not really knowing what to say or do.

“Y/N i’m sorry about EVERYTHING” he says bending down to your level as you still pick up the plate remains. “What can I do to make this all better?”

“Just fuck off Tsuki” You say bitterly not looking him in the eyes

“I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay” he says grabbing your wrist softly to stop you from further injury “Just come sit down so i can atleast bandage your hands”

You finally look up at him, tears still in your eyes but you silently agree getting up and letting him lead you to the couch. He bandages you up, not saying a word as your sniffles and whimpers fill the quiteness in the room.

“Y/N. I am really truly sorry I-” He says

“Why don’t you care anymore?” You interrupt tears now streaming down your face “I know i can be overbearing at times, but I just wanted you to be excited about moving in with me as I was about you. Do you not want to live with me anymore” you cried

“I’m sorry i’ve been so busy it’s just practice and tournaments and … I was kind of nervous about moving in with you I just love you so much and I don’t want to mess anything up” he said “And I’m sorry about not coming to the store I just got tired up with practice and I’m just really sorry Y/N”

He goes over to the things you’ve bought and picks up one of the paint colours you chose (your favourite option) “This is beatiful Y/N you have such a great taste and I like anything that you like to be honest.”

He stares at you for a response as he noticed your tears have stopped running, which is a good sign. “I just want you to be more involved and show that you care about me about us “ you say

“I will and I do.. I always do” He said pulling you into a hug 

“I love you Kei” You say into his chest 

“I love you too” 

You spend the rest of your night unpacking plates, putting up wallpaper, painting walls and putting up furniture ending up on the couch with two slices of strawberry shortcake from the bakery across the street watching an episode of *insert your favourite TV show here* in your new place which you can finally call a home.

Iwaizumi:

You and Iwaizumi have been dating since highschool

You’ve had a past with anger issues but that was all sorted before you met Iwa

You’re very hard working and sometimes overworking but you have Iwa to always make sure you’re not too hard on yourself

You play volleyball just like your boyfriend, being the captain of your team is your pride and joy but sometimes you are way too hard on yourself trying to reach perfection. 

You’re in the gym way past normal hours setting to yourself against the wall with sweat dripping down your forehead breathing slightly more than usual

‘5 more minutes’ you think to yourself knowing damn well it’s going to be more than 5 minutes but you just have to perfect your form then you can stop.

You stop for a small water break and also to check your phone seeing 5+ messages from your lovely boyfriend Hajime

Haji: Y/N how was your day 

Haji: What do you want for dinner

Haji: I think we should get chinese

Haji: Y/N… you alive

Haji: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeffhpeE/

Haji: I just ran into *Insert Best friends name* and she told me you were last seen at practice I hope you’re not in the gym Y/N

Haji: I’m coming to the gym… you better not be there

By the time you start going back to set against the wall you look up to see a semi mad Hajime at the doors of the gym..

“Y/N.. I thought you said you wasn’t going to keep overworking yourself this term” He said slowly approaching you 

“Just” set “Gotta” set “Fix” set “My” set “Form” 

“Your set is fine babe, it’s perfect … you’re perfect” he says reaching out to touch you

“Well I guess perfect isn’t good enough then” you mumble

“Y/N that’s not what I meant” He responds touching your shoulder

Out of reflex, your hand flicks to his face your nail (which are amazingly sharp and long) catches him on his cheek causing a petite cut to now appear and small amounts of blood to come out of it. You both are frozen shocked at what just happened, you never meant to touch him like that at all. 

You quickly rush to your stuff leaving your volleyball in the gym running out the doors. How could you be so horrible, hitting your boyfriend in the face after doing so much work getting over all your anger issues. ‘Hes going to hate you now’ you think.

You stop at a bench trying to clear your head, crying softly to yourself worrying now about your relationship with Haji and where it stands now. Without you noticing, Iwaizumi sits down next to you, waiting for you to compose your self before speaking.

“I know you didn’t mean it Y/N” he said pulling you under his arm 

“Iwa, I’m so so sorry I didn’t mean to stay late in the gym it’s just that we have a competition next week and last time we lost because of me and I just … wanted it all to be perfect “ You said sniffling you look up at him and see the cut on his face that you caused making you even more upset “I am really sorry, I understand that you probably want to break up with me for hurting you which is completely valid”

You don’t want him to confirm your suspicions of him breaking up with you, so you abruptly stand up getting reading to move onwards again before he grabs your wrist “you’re not leaving till I know you’re okay” he says

which makes you laugh a bit “It’s crazy that I’m the one that messed up, yet you’re worrying about me”

“Well that’s my job Y/N, I always worry about you when you’re overworking yourself and being hard on yourself it’s not good” he said “accidents happen, I know you didn’t intend on me getting hurt and I know you’re going to do great in the upcoming game babe dont worry”

A week later, all was forgotten Iwa’s cheek healed quickly and he never blamed you for it all and reminded you that it wasn’t your fault whenever it seemed you felt bad about it.

You’re now playing your volleyball game Iwa in the stands cheering you on as loud as he could and of course you were doing your best because in Hajime’s words you are perfect.

AN:Thank you so much for my first request I hope you like it. I’m not really a fan of the Iwa one but the tsuki one i like the way it went even though I was meant to add a third character but got too tired. But thank for the request keep them coming!! 

[outsideratheart]

My Gold and My Girl (Julie Johnston x reader)

You had made it to the final, only one thing stood between you and a gold medal, that thing was Japan.

When you got dressed this morning you did it with pride and happiness. You looked in the mirror one last time before leaving the village.

“Interesting jersey choice” Stewie said as you made your way onto the bus.

“I want her to know that I am proud of her” you said looking down at your team USA soccer jersey. 

Your were wearing a zip hoodie but decided that you would take it off as you enter the arena.

Julie’s Olympics didn’t end the way she wanted and you knew that she was taking the loss hard. She still had a bronze medal but when you have you heart set on gold nothing compares. When she texted you to say she was going home you were disappointed but you understood.

You saw the cameramen as you pulled up to the arena. As planned you took your hoodie off to make sure that the Johnston on your back was visible. There was no going back after today, Julie wore your jersey to the bronze medal game and the media was quick to report a new friendship saying that it was nice of her to buy one of your jerseys but you knew that they wouldn’t be saying the same after seeing you in hers.

You got changed and did your warm ups just like you did before every game, despite the stakes you didn’t treat this one any differently.

This team was your family and it soon came to you that this will probably be the last time that you would all play together. Rumours were beginning to circle about Sue and Diana’s retirement but you weren’t ready to think about that. The two women have played a big part in your career, they helped you become the player you are today as well as the person you are.

Before you knew it, it was time to get ready for the game. You are Breanna did your pre match ritual just like you did back in Seattle and then your were ready.

It was game time. Time to focus.

The first quarter went by in the blink of an eye. 

“Y/N keep it up on the offence and keep riding 88, she is getting tired” Dawn told you and you nodded whilst downing a bottle of water.

You were the type of player that set the pace of the game. The majority of your career you almost always played the entire first quarter so by the end of you were sweaty and out of breath.

You start the second quarter on the bench put soon got put in. You were laser focused, as if the people off the court didn’t exist. You kept passing to Stewie who kept scoring. You knew where to to position yourself for the rebound. There was something about this game, it was going perfectly.

Half time came and you were all in the locker room going over what had happened in the first half.

You sit in your locker and look at your team, proud of them and of the game you had played so far.

“You ok?” Brittany asked as she passed you a towel.

“Yeah, just taking it in you know” she nodded her head before going to her own locker.

You rest your arms on your legs and put the towel over your head. You knew that a gold medal was almost yours but you still had to stay centred. 

“Y/N’ you hear Diana saying your name.

“Yeah” you take the towel off and look at your teammate.

“You with us?” She asks and you nod your head.

“Do you mind if I say something?” you ask Dawn.

You watch her shake her head as you make your way to middle of the room.

“I know the game isn’t over yet but I want to tell you all how much of an honour it has been playing with you. You guys are like family to me and I thank god every time I get on that court with you. I don’t know what the future holds” you pause looking at Sue and Diana “So I just want to say thank you and lets go get us a gold medal” 

You can’t help put smile as your teammates start clapping and cheering.

When you are walking out to the court you feel two hand grabs you.

“You trying to make us cry in there” Diana asks you.

“I just wanted you to know what it means to me to play with you both”

“Well we still have another half of basketball to play. You ready?” Sue says and you nod your head.

“I love you guys” 

“We love you too” They both say at the same time.

The second half of the game you made a point to have fun, truly enjoy your time on the court and before you knew it the final whistle is blown.

You make sure to congratulate Japan on an excellent tournament before celebrating with your team.

You jump on Stewie’s back

“That’s two” You shout 

“Yeah, it is!” She shouts just as loud back.

You get down and watch your teammates celebrate before getting called over to do media.

Once you are done you hear someone say your name and you turn around to a staff member handing you your phone, time to celebrate with the fans and the rest of the country.

You feel your phone vibrating and smile when you see your girlfriends picture pop up.

“Hi Baby” 

“Congratulations! You did it, you are a gold medal winner!” 

You really wish that you could celebrate with her.

“You could have more of a smile on your face” This confuses you as you look around but don’t see a camera on you.

“I am smiling” You lie

You see Brittany coming up to you and you tell Julie that you have to go but will call her later.

“Sorry to interrupt but we have to go get changed” she tells you and you follow her into the locker room.

After getting changed you go back to the court an line up between Stewie and Jewel.

“Come stand between us” Diana says.

You feel yourself getting emotional as you knew what this mean’t.

You all walked out onto the court so the medals can be handed out.

Diana puts yours around your neck and then you put Diana’s around hers. This was a moment that you would never forget.

Everyone begins to take pictures and you take a selfie with your medal and send it to Julie.

“I know you love to celebrate with us but I think there is someone here that really wants to see you” Dawn says.

You look at her confused, what is she talking about. Dawn puts her arm around your shoulder and points to the crowd.

There in the stands was Julie and Megan.

You walk over to her not wanting to bring to much attention to the two of you.

“Surprise!” She says

“How are you guys even here?” You ask.

Megan holds up her press pass and Julie does the same.

“So you guys are members of the press now.

“Something like that” The pink haired woman says.

“I am so proud of you Y/N, you were so good. I really wanted to scream your name but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise” Julie tells you.

“I am so happy your are here” You walk closer to her and look around for cameras.

You watch as Megan and sue kiss wishing you could do the same to your girlfriend.

“Come here” Julie says as she hold her hands out and you take them.

“I really want to kiss you” You tell her.

“I’m not stopping you” she says and that’s all you need to hear.

You reach up as she grabs your face bringing you closer, your lips touch. You are not sure how long you are like that but you feel sue elbow you in your side.

“Cameras” she says barely a whisper.

You begin to pull away.

“I don’t care” Julie says giving you a hug and kissing your forehead “It is time for the world to know you are all mine”

You hand your phone to sue.

“Will you please take a photo? Like she said, time to let the world know”

Sue takes a photo of you and Julie and you post it on your instagram with the captain ‘My gold and my girl”