#they call it master’s defender because he can literally stand behind it and he’ll be fine

[thetwilightroadtonightfall]

he’s really not beating the shorty allegations

[morgana-ren]

if you'd be so inclined my dear, what are your thoughts on how Tomura's character has developed over the series' timeline? -☼

So, I think Horikoshi did an excellent job at character development- especially considering that he's a villain (not the focal point of the series) and he really didn't have to do that. He easily could have kept Tomura an impudent little man-child, but he didn't, and I truly appreciate that.

So, in season one, we get his debut as USJ, and it became quickly apparent that he was... disorganized. Intelligent and dangerous, clearly, but not quite there yet. He essentially threw money at a pack of sell-sword villains, had a basic plan for how he wanted things to go, and relied on his Nomu to do the majority of his work for him. He didn't even consider variables and other things he couldn't have foreseen- he took Master at his word and just went for it.

He makes a multitude of mistakes during this attack, and it's part of why he fails so hard. Underestimates the kids simply because they're young, not factoring in that these are to be the nations top heroes. Even young, each one is sporting a power that puts them at the top of the class and above the rest of the nation. He basically goes "Fuck it, just scatter them and have these no-name villains kill them. No way that could go wrong." not considering that these children have been learning from the best of the best and are clearly already intelligent of their own accord.

He doesn't take into account that these heroes actually care for these kids and that feeling responsible for them works in their favor as opposed to being a detriment. They fight harder and take more abuse to keep them protected (Aizawa getting absolutely demolished but still persisting to defend the children even as he bleeds to death with a broken body.)

The intel wasn't wrong, per se, but he took it at face value, not even bothering to consider that All Might would push far past his limit to keep these kids safe. For someone as obsessed with felling All Might, he certainly didn't really know a thing about him. His genuine goodness and character would not allow him to fail when their lives were on the line. And then there's the matter of Midoriya, and while Tomura had no way of knowing that he's inherited All Might's power, he should have been able to account for wild cards like that from valiant children dedicated to heroism.

More under the cut because I’m just rambling.

I think this defeat humbles him. For most of his life, things have gone his way because of who is backing him and because he is extremely dangerous with a powerful quirk- this teaches him that raw strength and basic strategy won't be enough.

He watches Stain take the country by storm, and he can't understand it. Doesn't get what the big deal is- he believes he and Stain are mostly cut from the same cloth because of their penchant for violence and murdering heroes, totally blind to the convictions behind Stain's actions. He's incapable of thinking outside of his own view points, and it cripples him. These are his first few steps outside of his own comfort zone and where he begins to grow.

He's forced to consider not what he wants, but why. He resists this every step of the way, but ultimately realizes that paying off little bastard villains to work in his name isn't enough. He needs players under his command that will fight for more than money- and sell swords are loyal to nothing but that. He needs to find a conviction (even as he ends up stealing the mask of one and using it as a facade at first) that others can relate to and be passionate about.

So he does.

He steals Stain's ideology for his own and uses it to recruit some of his top members- even if he is a right little bastard about it at first. While he throws a tizzy fit because they aren't "perfect" (his standards are very high despite the fact that he's arguably not a very effective leader) but eventually ends up utilizing them regardless.

It's around here that he starts sharpening his instincts and learns what it is to be a true leader. He learns he cannot casually throw around his pawns because ultimately, he cannot win this war by himself. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' and while he isn't as enchanted with Stain's entire gimmick as his comrades are, he still wields it effectively.

He's still learning, however, as we learn when he takes Bakugo. Had he gone to the effort to get to know a single thing about him, he would have learned very quickly that trying to recruit him would come up completely pointless. He just saw untamed anger and unrestrained violence bordering on unhinged and thought "Ah yes, he's powerful and very much like me- he'll do nicely" and put together a whole plan to kidnap him. I think the vanguard's success in capturing him shows Tomura just how useful it is to have clever little birds under your command, and that sticks with him.

Losing his Master, like AFO says, forces him to become his own man. He loses the cushy abode he'd had for most of his life, loses many of the benefits afforded to him by being AFO's protege. He and his ragtag team of villains live in squalor, almost entirely destitute, and are forced to survive- but they stay loyal, and that means something to him. I think it’s around here where he actually begins to care about them. 

We see how he reacts to Magne’s death. I don’t think for one second he aided in destroying Overhaul simply because he was a threat. If that was the case, he would have stopped once he was arrested. He risks everything to get vengeance. Cuts his limbs off and renders him completely helpless as payment for what he did to Compress and to avenge Magne’s wrongful death. 

Over the course of everything, he’s become more patient, more cunning, more dangerous. He’s learning quickly from his mistakes, how to command his ranks in a respectful, effective way, and how to keep them safe. He learns their strengths and weaknesses, and while he’s still a bit thorny, it’s very apparent he does care for them. He’s on his own now, and knows he needs greater power, greater numbers to achieve his goals. He is ruthlessly ambitious, willing to endure ungodly amounts of pain to meet his ends. 

So now we have this season (which I haven’t actually watched, as I’m just waiting for disappointment because I fucking know Bones won’t do him justice) and he’s seeking out both Gigantomachia, a former ally, and the PLF. Both things that could be of great value to him. His leadership skills and ability to command will be put to the test, but so will his endurance, his willpower, and everything else. This is the beginning of him as a truly devastating threat. 

He’s growing into the villain I think he deserves to be. He’s facing down the very bones that comprise him and learning why he is the way he is. What his convictions really are and how far he’s willing to go to achieve his goals. HIs past, his life as he knows it, what needs to be done to put a pretty little ribbon on everything. He is, in a way, shedding like a snake- ridding himself of weaknesses, growing into his strengths, and evolving into a more capable predator. 

If you ask me, realistically, I think Shigaraki would actually win. When it’s all said and done, I think his arc is far more compelling than any of the heroes or their children. I think he has more drive, more wit, more raw power and more reasons to keep fighting. A lot of the kids, while cute and the main characters, are quite hollow. But over the course of all these seasons, we get to watch Tomura’s metamorphosis and his evolution into a purer, undiluted evil. He transforms into something truly sinister- a literal manifestation of all of the flaws and pitfalls of society and hero culture as it exists. He is undeniable proof of the toxicity and that the way things are cannot be allowed to stand, and the fact that so many people resonate with him and follow him loyally should be the ultimate clue-in. 

I think if the heroes weren’t blinded, they would look at Shigaraki and his league and consider it. Wonder if, just for a moment, there was something there that they should pay attention to. A cry that they should hear rather than be willing deaf to. But they don’t. 

Gran Torino is a prime example of this. So are all the other so called ‘heroes’. Calling him evil. Underestimating him. Considering him someone who just woke up one day and decided ‘I don’t like this so I’m going to kill a lot of people’. You’d think that they’d recognize that a drive like his does not come from nothing. If they sat down, shut the fuck up and listened for ten seconds, maybe they wouldn’t be dying by the dozens. 

I’m not saying that they should allow him to continue to trample the world and kill at will. But what I am saying is that part of how they’re fighting him and how they’re viewing this in terms of black and white and good versus evil is exactly the fucking problem, and it’s that kind of bullshit that birthed the villain we know as Tomura Shigaraki to begin with. 

[samwrights]

Don’t Touch Her [hc]

OOOH OOH I LIKE THIS ONE! Thank you for the request anon! Who’s ready for some not so low-key possessive babes? 😈

Kuroo;

This dork is far from subtle and we all know it.

He’s also super corny when he wants to be, especially when you come to watch him at a match that he’s invited you to.

Every time he serves, he throws a wink your way or he’ll pucker his lips a little.

No, you aren’t dating yet, but he swears that if they make it to nationals, he’s coming back to confess to you before he graduates.

That’s still ways away, but he has invited you to nearly every practice, practice game, training camp, etc because he just wants to know that you support him even if you aren’t dating.

“Kinda stupid, if you ask me.” Yaku says bluntly, regarding a time that Kuroo was practically gloating about that you promised you would be present for the up coming training camp. “Why not just date already?”

“Gotta keep my head in the game, Yakult.”

“Was it in the game before you met her?” 💀 everybody reading Kuroo to filth.

The training camp comes up—everybody from the Fukurodani academy group + Karasuno is there ofc.

Considering Nekoma doesn’t have a manager, and Kuroo asked you to be there, you act as a temp manager, grabbing water bottles and towels for them when needed.

You really didn’t mind, you liked Kuroo as much as he liked you.

So you’re out filling water bottles and stuff when some dude from Shinzen approaches you.

Homie just starts talking to you, asking how he’s never seen someone as beautiful as you around before. “Uh, I’m just here to help out...”

“Can I have your number?”

“No, I’m good.” You turn away from where you’re standing before trying to carry the bottles back when Kuroo pops his head out to see what’s taking you so long.

His hazel eyes go red when he sees someone from another school tailing a little too close to you.

“Hey, babe, need help carrying those?” His voice comes out like grinding metal as he locks eyes with the Shinzen player and while he is smiling and holding his arms open to you for refuge, you don’t miss the absolutely threat lacing his words.

“If you don’t mind.” However, your voice is sweet and calm and enough to tear him away from the death glare he was giving to the other player.

Kuroo grabs the caddy with the bottles easily with one arm, his free hand dropping to wrap around your shoulder firmly.

“Do I need to keep you locked up or something?” He asks jokingly, looking down at you. There’s a humorous lilt in his voice though the underlying threat is present.

“No?”

“But I can’t have anyone looking at my girl when I can’t come and rescue her.”

“Maybe you should actually ask me out first.”

“Nah, we’re skipping all that; you’re mine.”

Iwaizumi;

Continuation from Pining After You 😈

Even after the two of you openly admitted to your feelings, Iwaizumi hasn’t made the move yet.

Sure, you’ve gone on a couple dates and you’re still showing up to all the games and practices, but he’s too chickenshit to actually ask you to be his girlfriend.

Everyone at Seijoh knows that you’re his.

The problem is when you’re spectating, you’re a sitting duck. Sitting alone in the bleachers, laughing at the antics of your best friends are staring at Iwa with little hearts in your eyes.

What other schools see is a cute girl sitting all by herself with no one to defend you.

Not that you needed defending—being friends with the meme team allowed you to develop a thick skin.

The first time it ever happened was during the inter high qualifiers, right when Karasuno entered the gym for their match after you’d already wished your mans and your besties good luck.

Tanaka and Noya hone in on you, wondering when Aoba Johsai got a hot manager. Even though you’re literally not but they’re convinced.

They try cornering you, asking questions about when you became the manager after the match, even though they loss. They attribute their win to your presence.

“I’m not the manager—“

“Really? Then what’s the most beautiful girl in Aoba Johsai doing at a volleyball tournament?”

Really, it should have been obvious because why else would you be there if you weren’t the manager?

Iwaizumi walks out to see you cornered by the two second years, though despite your position, you look relatively calm. Still, his blood is boiling seeing them surrounding you.

“Babe.” Is all he says—his voice strained and heavy and hot. At the use of the pet name, you smile brightly, a sight that Noya and Tanaka would be fawning over if they weren’t fearing over the steam billowing off of Iwaizumi’s hair.

He says nothing else before storming over to you and unceremoniously tucking his arms just under your bottom and throwing you over his shoulder.

Remember how he wanted to pick you up? He got to pick you up.

“Sorry boys, I’m taken!” You call out, waving to the Karasuno second years, even though you’re suspended upside down.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He sighs out when he finally puts you down, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

Akaashi;

This poor boy don’t know how to act when you show up to his games.

He’s liked you for as long as he can remember, but it never dawns on him that you come to watch him because you like him too.

Shit everyone in the goddamn prefecture knows about the two of you.

So leave it to the master instigator of Tokyo and his idiot best friend to try to fINALLY get you two together. Dammit Kuroo and Bokuto.

You’re out at the game, hanging with a couple friends and trying to be inconspicuous while you’re there to watch Akaashi. It’s Nekoma vs. Fukurodani.

When Nekoma arrives at the gym, Kuroo locks eyes with Bokuto, to which the latter captain gestures to an unknowing you. These conniving little fucks.

So Kuroo approaches you and confirms your identity—how or why he knew you was unknown. But Akaashi sees the two of you taking, sees the way that Kuroo is pulling all the stops.

He sees the way Kuroo is making you smile and laugh and the setter sees nothing but green. Akaashi’s trying to focus on anything else but the way Kuroo points to you when he spikes. You may have a huge crush on Akaashi, but you can’t help but feel flustered at the open flirting.

Akaashi doesn’t even realize that Bokuto hasn’t gone into emo mode once, not even when they lose the first set. If anyone’s in emo mode, it’s Akaashi.

He can’t think straight when all he sees and hears is the way you and Kuroo are interacting so informally, so familiar.

After losing the second set as well, Akaashi’s had enough, storming out of the gym without even thanking Nekoma for the game.

Without a second thought, you go after him, leaving behind your friends and both teams, never seeing the high five that Kuroo and Bokuto share knowing their plan worked.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the gym kissing Kuroo goodbye?”

“Who?” The irony is not lost on him when you chirp like an owl. “Akaashi...that dude? Kuroo? He told me him and Bokuto were planning on forcing you to talk to me cause you have a crush on me.”

Ohfuck.

“Which of course I went along with. I like you too.” Ohfuckohfuckohfuck, his heart is about to explode. Unsure of what to do next, he just kinda stands there, prompting you to take the initiative and wrap your arms around his neck, your noses barely touching. “I like you.” You repeat.

“Thank god, I was ready to punch him.” Akaashi’s voice is a mix between breathless and needy before his hands settled at your waist, bringing you the slightest bit closer to finally touch his lips to yours.

“That’s kinda hot.” You admit when you finally pull away.

“Nobody gets to flirt with my girl.”

Wanna see a specific character? Or a different head cannon? Want to see a whole story?

Send in requests!

While you’re here, if you guys like my writing please check out a new mini-series I started! Link is right here

[bitchiha]

Ok I know these characters are not the main ones but can I request some relationship hcs for Genma, Ibiki and Omoi? You can totally exclude some of them if you don’t want to write for them 🙈

A/N: Girl!! Thank you for this!! I honestly never thought about writing for these characters before, which is kinda weird bc I love all of them?? Anyways, without further ado..

✎ Relationship Headcanons!

Genma Shiranui

Ugh this man gives me tingles LNDJSJS He’s gives me immaculate vibes and he looks so cool all the time, but... you are the one thing that can really rattle this mans cool confident exterior down to the bone.

I think he has a baddie type. Like you know what you want, confidence, just bad bitch energy to the max!! Uhm also I feel like he digs long legs and girls who are taller than him. If you’re a baddie who’s tall and confident he’s floored. But even if you are short, it doesn’t matter as long as you can wipe the floor with him LMFAOOO. He likes Instagram baddies I’m sorry it’s true.

He strikes me as a smirky / flirty type of boyfriend. Like he’ll really fluster you up and have this cocky smirk the whole time he’s doing it. But you know how you can get payback that works every. single. time? If you take that toothpick out of his mouth and slip it into yours and walk away. He’ll stand there with his jaw to the floor like mhm, Yah, she just did that.

I feel like he also goes batshit crazy for nicknames, like he will call you any sort of pet name ever. Princess, babe, baby, (baby girl irks the fuck out of me so I’m not putting it here w/out saying that), honey, love, cutie, darling. But he likes it if you just call him the classic names like babe or baby, he does have this thing for being called darling though. Like if hes being a little shit and refuses to get the tv remote for you just plead and add the word “darling” To the end of the sentence and boom! Your wish is his command.

For cuddling I see him as more of a switch. Like he can be the big spoon some days and wrap you up in his arms and legs, but then he can also be the little spoon, really loves when you’ve got your leg around his waist or if youre playing with his hair.

He loves neck kisses, like he loves them. He really likes giving them, hes the type of person to purposely give you hickeys in noticeable places just to watch you struggle to cover them up. However, he loves receiving neck kisses too. Make sure to leave him a hickey for payback.

Another thing about Genma is that he’s super funny, like he can make you laugh until your ribs get tough. So he’s good at cheering you up and helping you loosen up in tough situations. Like he can lighten the mood instantly. This is great because if you two are ever arguing or if you’re in a bad mood he can just say a few jokes and get you laughing in no time.

He’s also the type to show off his relationship. Like if you aren’t a ninja, he will show you off to all his ninja friends and brag about you whenever an opportunity presents itself. If you are a ninja though, you would make the most badass duo on missions and he will flaunt it to his comrades almost obnoxiously. Ebisu gets annoyed the most.

So yah, he likes showing you off but don’t forget to show him off too! Like really show him off to your friends and get him all confident about himself. Feed his ego bc he will repay you for it later ;)

With all that being said, it’s safe to say he also digs pda. Like he doesn’t mind kissing, hand holding, wrapping an arm around you, just being affectionate overall. I mean he won’t be too crazy like he won’t shove his tongue down your throat or anything, but like a quick kiss never killed anyone.

Ibiki

I think one of the best and worst parts about dating Ibiki is that he can literally read you like a book. So he knows when youre feeling upset or uncomfortable or literally anything. It’s good because he can get you to open up about something that’s bothering you and be able to help you. It’s bad because he can end up pestering the shit out of you until he finds out what’s wrong.

Anyways, he’ll be a good gift giver, like he picks up on the way you look at a certain dress in a shopfront window, or how your gaze lingered a second longer than normal on a bracelet a passerby was wearing. Then boom, the next day you’ve got it.

I know he’s a tough guy, but look at the gif! LOOK AT IT!! He has that soft spot. Also remember that episode when we met his brother? I seen a glimmer of that soft spot! He will be gentle and caring with you 100% like I see him giving you sweet kisses when you’re at home together, playing with your hair, things like that, but only when you’re alone.

He can also be a tough love kind of guy sometimes as well. If you aren’t a ninja he will want to have you learn basic techniques for defending yourself. He may even teach you some ninja basics and a jutsu or two, just so you can protect yourself when he’s away on missions. If you’re a ninja he will teach you more complex jutsus.

In public he prefers to keep the relationship discreet because I mean, he has enemies. He’s not gonna want them to go after you in order to get to him. So at the most, he’ll put a hand on your back when you’re in public. But like I said, when you’re alone together he’s super affectionate.

He’s probably not like the best big spoon in terms of cuddling though, like I think he may accidentally crush you. And anyways I see him liking you being the one laying on him or draping a leg over him instead of the other way around.

His favourite types of kisses to give you are kisses on the top of your head and forehead kisses. Like before he leaves on some very important mission, he’ll give you a kiss on the top of your head. In the mornings when you two wake up he’ll give you a kiss on your forehead.

If you want to melt this guy though, you should give him kisses on his scars. Especially the ones on his face. He also likes when you trace your fingers over them. It makes him feel comforted and he’ll probably fall asleep while you do so.

Ibiki can be a hype man, but in a different sort of way. Like he won’t be cheering you on the loudest, but he’ll be the one who gives you the best advice behind the scenes. Like if you’re going on a difficult mission, he’ll tell you how smart and strong you are and how much of an excellent ninja you’ve become. Then he’ll slide some advice in on strategies with the information you told him.

I think he’s the best at helping you wind down after a mission, but he’s not there to do it very often because he’s busy a lot. When does though, he greets you at the door, runs you a bath and makes you something to eat. Then you can lay in bed or on the couch together and you can tell him all about the mission. Also if you return the favour when he comes back from missions, he will melt again.

Supportive and helpful bf, 10/10

Omoi

You love him, you really do but sometimes his over analyzing situations problem really gets on your nerves. Like he can be like “you wore a light sweater instead of a heavier one, does that mean you don’t want to stay out that long?” And ur like: bruh I just wore this sweater because it looked cuter.

He can also be more negative in situations (he’s cautious so he wants to always factor in the worst worst worst case scenarios) so it would be amazing if you could balance him out without getting hot headed with him. Like giving him some positive things to think about instead of focussing all on the bad will get him to be more reasonable, but only if youre the one to say it.

Will also 10/10 force you to listen to Bee’s rapping with him. If he’s forced to stay and suffer through front row seats of his masters horrible rapping, you best believe he’s making you suffer too. It’s a relationship afterall, so that means he’s gonna constantly drag you into things that are kinda crazy.

He gets lost in his thoughts a lot so you sometimes gotta keep him on track. Like you may have been talking about what you should eat for dinner, but he ends up talking about agriculture, so you have to cut in and make the decision yourself.

All his wild imaginative thoughts get you curious so when you’re just hanging out on a lazy day. You’ll set him on a ramble and he could just talk and talk and talk and you’ll nod your head until your sleeping quietly on his shoulder. He won’t notice until he asks you if you agree or something and you don’t reply. He would have been offended if you weren’t so cute.

Also, you wanna know what gets him going? So, sorta like what I said about Genma, If you just take that lollipop right out of his mouth and put it in yours... he’s gone, you’ve just sent him into another dimension and you probably can’t bring him back, it’s also a good way to get him to stop talking.

Man, Omoi just likes kissing. Like he doesn’t care what kind of kiss as long as its a kiss. He likes giving quick kisses on your lips and also on your cheek and likes when you do the same for him.

I think he likes being the big spoon when you’re cuddling but he doesn’t mind either way. Like if you wanna attach yourself to him one day then he will let you. He likes to talk while you’re cuddling too and probably ends up with his forehead resting in the crook of your neck. That’s like his go to spot.

He has a very good imagination so the two of you are always going on cool dates. Some of them turn out amazing, others result in you two running for your life. It’s never a dull date, though!

This also means he can get you the oddest gifts. Like sometimes he can really hit the mark with some really cool necklace or gadget, and other times your like: why did you think I would need a slug statue? Or like he’ll get you some obscure poster and it won’t even match your rooms colour theme. It’s okay though, it’s the thought that counts and even then, the gifts are still cool. I mean you can put the slug statue on your balcony, it’ll look nice there.

He doesn’t mind pda, I think he’d be really affectionate tbh. He loves slinging an arm around your waist or shoulders, or giving you a quick kiss. Like Genma, he doesn’t mind showing off his s/o. Like yes! All the villagers can admire this badass duo.

It may kill him, but he would ask Karui for relationship advice. She would probably just mess with him for the most part. That being said, Karui and you will get along 1000%. Lowkey likes you more than Omoi.

He needs to know you can take care of yourself in the event of an enemy attack, so he lowkey might surprise you with a sneak attack at random times, just to make sure you’re prepared. Like you could be watching tv at home and he just sneaks up on you and is like “boom! This is an enemy attack? Whatcha gonna do?” At first you would get scared, now you just sigh and walk away.

“What? So you’re just gonna walk away from the enemy? That’s not how this stuff works!”

[catnaples]

KARASUNO + AMONG US

MASTERLIST

I’ve been seeing some posts like this and they greatly inspired to make this lmao. I hope ya likey!

Daichi

♥ Always mains black or orange and likes to wear the cowboy hat. He’s really bad at being the imposter, because he always accidentally leaves his mic unmuted. One time he did kill someone though and mentioned it while unmuted, but still got away with it because Sugawara was also an imposter and covered for him. He completes his tasks really fast when he’s a crewmate, which sometimes makes him sus because then he’s just following others to make sure they finish their tasks too.

Sugawara

♥ Sugawara always mains yellow or white, and he’ll either wear the leaf or the balloon. He also paid to have a little mini-me follow him, which gives him an incentive to not die. He’s the master of Karasuno’s imposters, right next to Tsukishima, when it comes to lying his way out of any situation. One time he didn’t even have to kill anyone, everyone simply trusted him when he called each player out one by one. He accused Noya and Noya fckin believed him lmao. Whenever he’s the crewmate he likes to speed through his tasks so that he can camp out in security to watch the camera’s, but he never gets called sus because he’s so good at convincing people he’s innocent.

Asahi

♥ Asahi likes to main Orange or Brown and he likes to wear the mini crewmate hat. He had a pet dog for the first few games but when he died and the puppy got scared he had to remove it because it made him cry. He’s really bad at being the imposter cause he feels bad whenever he kills a friend. He’ll straight up expose himself after self-reporting because he feels bad. As a crewmate he’s alright, no one ever accuses him because they know he’s just not cut out to be an imposter. Noya will always follow him when he’s the crewmate because it’s the fastest way to catch an imposter (they come straight for Asahi). He’s pretty slow with the swipe card task, but can complete the rest of his tasks fine

Nishinoya

♥ Nishinoya likes to main Black or Red, and he usually wears the pompadour hat. He’s an excellent imposter, not because he’s good at convincing people he’s innocent, but because he’s good at popping in and out of places quickly before anyone else can see him after he kills someone. When he’s the imposter he won’t kill Asahi, but he’ll def try to spook him during the game. He’s not a very good crewmate because he takes so long to do his tasks and ends up looking suspicious whenever he gets stuck trying to complete one of them. If you accuse him he’ll stalk you until he catches you slipping, and then he’ll get you voted out. Tanaka always has his back with this too lmao.

Tanaka

♥ Tanaka always mains Red or Purple. He’ll either wear the pompadour to match Noya, or the Ninja Mask. He’s like Noya when it comes to being an imposter, but he’s a little less careful. He’ll never slice up Kiyoko or Yachi, even if they catch him doing something sus and he knows he’s about to get caught. This is why Kiyoko casually stalks him if she suspects something. He’s an alright crewmate, he’s faster with his tasks than Nishinoya, but he’s still kind of slow. He’ll go afk without telling anyone and then get voted off because he was just standing over a vent while he was arguing with Saeko.

Kageyama

♥ He always mains Dark Blue or Green and never wears a hat cause he thinks they’re unnecessary. He’s a really bad imposter, and will literally kill in front of a crowd of people and then sit there silently while everyone votes him off. He always goes for Hinata first, no matter what. As a crewmate, he always presses the button to accuse Hinata as soon as the button becomes available lmao. He doesn’t really do his tasks, he just follows everyone around and waits for someone to slip up. Tsukishima always comes straight for him, and a few times Kageyama got so mad that he unmuted himself to yell at him (which promptly exposed Tsuki and got him eliminated)

Hinata

♥ He likes to main Orange or Lime, and always wears the toilet paper hat because of his pre-game bathroom habit. Whenever he’s the imposter, he’ll kill Kageyama or Tsukishima first no matter what, as long as they’re near him. He loves utilizing the vents, and is surprisingly good at not getting caught whenever he uses them. As the crewmate, he speeds through his tasks and then follows Suga around (until Imposter Suga kills him). He also likes to hang out in unsuspecting corners to catch anyone in the act whenever they think the room is empty

Tsukishima

♥ Tsukishima likes to main Yellow or Red, and sometimes wears the hockey mask (we don’t know why). He’ll never kill Yamaguchi when he’s the imposter, and if anyone accuses Yams during the first meeting, Tsukishima will skillfully kill them and then blame it on the other person who was accused. He’s like Suga when it comes to being really slick and smart, so he’s a hard imposter to catch. He likes to go straight for Kageyama all of the time, to the point where anytime Kageyama dies first, Tsuki is the prime suspect. He times his tasks out perfectly when he’s the crewmate, because he doesn’t want to seem suspicious at all. He’s like Hinata in the sense that he’ll also hide away in hard to see spots and watch for any imposter-behavior. 

Yamaguchi

♥ Yamaguchi likes to main Dark Green or sometimes even Pink if he’s feeling saucy enough. He always wears the little alien hat and sometimes has a dog pet (if he’s up for the heartbreak of leaving it behind when he dies). He never tries to kill Tsukishima anymore because one time he did it and Tsukishima spent the next three hours getting him killed. He’s not too good at being the imposter because he gets too nervous to kill. He’ll generally be glued to Tsukishima’s side until he feels absolutely 100% safe making a kill, but his kill count is very low. He’s a great crewmate, he’s always able to finish his tasks in record time, and is able to recite them when asked. He also is always glued to Tsukishima or Yachi’s side whenever he’s done with tasks.

Kiyoko

♥ Kiyoko likes to main Purple or Cyan, and is usually wearing either the crown hat or sometimes even the snow crewmate hat. She’s a really good imposter because she knows how to sneak around the map without ever looking suspicious. She can time out each fake task to seem like she’s really doing it. She always has Yachi’s back, regardless of whether or not Yachi is a co-imposter. Whenever she’s the crewmate, she’s alongside Yachi trying to complete all tasks while also keeping an eye out for any imposters. She’ll always report the body for Yachi because she doesn’t want Yachi to get flustered and then accused. 

Yachi

♥ Yachi likes to main Yellow or Pink, and she’s usually wearing the flowerpot hat (but sometimes will wear the cherry). She’s a pretty bad imposter, and will instantly feel bad if she kills. The one time she killed Daichi and then self-reported, and as soon as the mics came on all you could hear was her loud sobbing as she profusely apologized to him. She never kills Kiyoko or Yamaguchi whenever she does actually kill tho. She usually sticks with both of them whenever she’s doing her tasks as a crewmate, and will let others report the body for her because she gets flustered trying to defend herself. 

[k-k-keroppi]

t ya’ll i was watching dr who speeches cause i needed a good cry, and i have a take (may or may not be hot idk). If every companion was immortal, they would all turn into the master, i think. 

under the cut, cause its a long boi

Like, the doctor and the master were best buddies, they did everything together, and even to the master, who obviously is also part of the species with the stars in their hands, the doctor could show the master so much more that the master could ever see on their own. So the master formed such an incredible bond to the doctor, and vice versa, but then the doctor left. They grew morals one day and left the master alone (except more complicated ik). And we’ve seen what happened to the doctor when they travel alone, with the whole time lord victorious, the laws of time are mine, i could be so much more thing.

And we’ve also seen what happens to the companions that he leaves behind, the ones that survive. Rose built a whole fucking time machine to drag herself along a dimension to get back to him, amy and rory give up everything so many times to travel with him, once you’re with the doctor its obviously so difficult to do anything else, because they’re so wonderful. 

The master is simultaneously the doctor and the companion in this situation. He has the same power as the doctor, and he uses it to chase the doctor across the fucking universe because they miss them.  The doctor made other friends to fill the hole left when each one leaves, the hole that was created the first time they left someone (the master), but the master never did. The master never traveled with anyone the way the doctor did, they never made another connection like they one they had with the doctor, and it drove them mad. 

they decided that if they can’t have their old relationship back, then an antagonistic relationship would have to do, fueled by the raging anger of being abandoned by the most important person in their lives. So the master hurts people and starts wars and burns planets just to see the doctor again because the doctor left them, the doctor left them alone and now if they have to hurt then everyone else has to hurt too. ‘time lord victorious’. 

but then with missy, the master changes a bit, and she’s sick of the stupid game they have to play, that she invented, she just wants the doctor back. Like with the cybermen in heaven sent (i think) she does all of that, all the death and war and corruption just to force the doctor to see that she isn’t his enemy, she isn’t different to him. she just desperately wants him back, and she’s not interested in the good or the bad of it anymore. And when he takes the bracelet, and tells her thank you, they have a conversation and there’s no malice in her voice, there isn’t any smugness. her aim was never to corrupt the doctor, she didn’t want to hurt him, she just wanted him to see her, properly. that they’re still compatible.

and then on the cyberfarm thing with not-saxon-john-simm, when the doctor does his speech asking her to stand with him there are tears in her eyes, because she desperately wants to. and she was going to! she shot her own previous regeneration just to make sure that she could stand with him with no consequences, they were both finally ready to abandon the stupid rules they had made up, and then she got shot for it. 

I can’t remember where, but i saw a post that said that the latest master’s anger was the anger of someone who  had been hurt by their own kindness, and i agree with that. I think that Missy finally wanted to be good, not because she believed in it, but because it would make the doctor happy, and that attempt to bridge the gap got her shot, and she lost the chance to be with him again. 

and then he regenerated, and he was not better, he was not good, he was so so angry, because if this is what kindness gets him what’s the fucking point, if kindness hurts this much why should i bother, who’s gonna make me!

so he goes back to being a dick, but even while he’s being a dick he’s still desperately missing the doctor, you can see it because he texts her! what villain who hates the hero decides to text their enemy like their best friends?! I can only imagine how conflicting it must have been for the master to text the doctor, to have a relationship with her again. It must have proved to him that the doctor could love him, that character wise it was in both of them to care about each other, but it was the outside that was the problem. the electromagnetic field of reputation that pushed them further apart while their hearts pulled them together (sorry for the prose). And you can see that he loves her, even without the destruction, even without all of that shit, (a good quote for that is the one on the Eiffel tower ‘when does this stop for you?’ ‘why would it stop, how else would i get your attention?’) because of one thing he does. all the other timelords dress in their traditional dress, the doctor doesn’t look like any of the other time lords except the master. Because the master, despite consistently mocking and ridiculing humans, repeatedly calling them the doctor’s ‘pets’, dresses like humans anyway, just like the doctor does. so either he does that to show the tiniest slither of kinship, even when their fighting his clothes scream ‘look look look, we’re the same’, or he does it because he’s jealous that the doctor spends so much time defending earth, she loves humans even though they hurt each other, even though they’re cruel and mean and spiteful, just like him, so he dresses like them too, because he’s jealous of the affection she gives them. even when they’re not on earth he dresses like that.

i saw another post that said with dhawan!master he was having an identity crisis for the first time, and i agree with that too. I think that missy’s kindness and readiness to join the doctor, as well as the relationship he had with her as o had shaken him, and proved that that the doctor could love him if he was just kinder, and he alternated soft and hard throughout the series. it was like he didn’t know what he was supposed to be, he couldn’t figure out the right answer, he was stuck between his anger and his loneliness. After so long of it simmering away, his need for the doctor has finally bubbled over, and he doesn’t know how to cope with it, because enemies isn’t enough anymore.  

Another thing i think was that I think the master is afraid of the doctor being better than him. they were always equals on Gallifrey, outcasts together, messing things up and bunking off school, always wrong but wrong together. but when the doctor left, all scared of fighting and afraid of killing when the master didn’t have concerns like that, i think it planted the seed that the doctor was better, the doctor was too good for he master. and over time that festered into anger and abandonment and insecurity and everything else, but with everything the master did to hurt the doctor, every planet he destroyed, it was just one more way to prove that the doctor was better. and so he was in so deep into this hero villain dynamic that he never wanted, but he can’t stop now, he cant stop running and making the doctor chase him, because if he stops then he’ll have to face what he’s done and there isn’t a way out, so he has to keep going. if he admits that he was wrong, he would have to ask the doctor for forgiveness and i don’t think the thought of being told, to his face, that the doctor can never forgive him, is one that sits lightly with the master. 

anyway, the point of that paragraph is that’s why he destroyed Gallifrey. he found out that the one person he made a real connection to, the most important person in his life, the person he has destroyed worlds just to see, wasn’t that same as him. It was conclusive, scientific proof that the doctor was actually, literally better than him. It was black and white proof of all the fears he’s had since the doctor left him, because before that point he could have been making it up. but then he saw that and it was all true, that doctor left him because t=he could never be as good. and not only does it ruin any hope of a relationship, it ruins the memories of their old one as well, because a friendship like that among equals an incredible connection, but a friendship like that with such a gaping hierarchy means pity. 

and not only did they ruin the relationship of both the past and the future, but they hurt her. Despite everything, the master loves the doctor, and its up to you whether you think that means romantically or wholly, but he loves her despite everything he’s done, and now he’s found out that they hurt her, they lied to her, exploited her, used her, and he wants them to hurt for it. He’s still so furious, and not even necessarily at her, but she is the only person he has who has ever really cared about how he feels. and now he doesn’t know if that was out of pity or love, and he’s angry at, for, and around her all at once, and he just needs the doctor back but he can’t get to her. he’s being pulled in about eighty different directions, as is the doctor, and he simultaneously wants to hurt her, look after her, ask for her help, protect her, forgive her, fight her, he’s so confused. 

Idk, I’m not saying the master is a good person, and I’m not saying the doctor is either, and I’m not saying that the doctor needs to forgive him, I’m just saying that i don’t think either of them really want to hurt each other, and somewhere down the line they both got confused and took wrong turns and couldn’t figure out how to get back to each other. And the doctor’s response was to keep walking her path and hope to find him again, and the masters response was the bulldoze the walls in between them. and, carrying on this metaphor, when the doctor felt bad for the walls he had destroyed and tried to rebuild them, the master took that completely the wrong way and his abandonment consumed him. kinda like Spinel.  

[okay-j-hannah]

Case of the Giggles

Smosh : Fic

Shayne x Reader

Word Count: 2047

Warnings: Just... holy heck - I think this boy is just too pure for his own good ❤ I think any girl would be lucky to have him

Request: This is just from my own head 😊

A/N: Shayne has this ridiculous habit to incessantly laugh and joke around you, everyone knowing it’s obviously because he likes you entirely too much

“How is a cinnamon roll sweet and spicy?” (Y/N) muttered, scrolling on her phone. “It’s a dessert.”

“Why don’t you order it and find out,” Keith grumbled, slouching into the couch and leaning into her. “Or better yet, just get a hot chocolate.”

(Y/N) continued to look through the Starbucks menu on her phone, “Noah, which sounds better: A pumpkin spice latte or a cinnamon roll Frappuccino blend?”

“I think ice sounds better,” he responded from the adjacent seat, “It’s so hot in here.”

“That’s not the LA autumn spirit I was asking for!” she retorted, throwing a pillow in his direction.

Keith hummed under his breath, “Laugh alert in 5, 4, 3, 2…”

“Hey guys!” Shayne appeared with the biggest grin on his face, “What are we doing?”

(Y/N) gave Keith a sideways glance before responding, “We’re thinking about getting Starbucks before the production meeting.”

A small laugh escaped Shayne, him awkwardly putting his hands on his hips, “That’s – that’s so funny. I was thinking about doing that too!”

You could almost feel Noah staring at Keith to ensure he didn’t roll his eyes, “We can get your order if you like.”

“We’ve been discussing festive drinks,” (Y/N) continued, watching Shayne continue with his ear-to-ear grin. “But Noah thinks it’s too hot for any of…”

“Because LA is still so hot in the fall…” Shayne finished quickly, jutting out his hand to make a point, a giggle in his chest. “I don’t blame him. You’re already sweating from the sun and then you go to get a sip of a refreshing drink and then burn your tongue and like WOAH – AH that’s hot! You know?”

(Y/N) subtly pursed her lips to refrain from giving him a weird look, “Yeah, I get it. I just love autumn from back home. Sweaters and leaves and books and pumpkins – I love pumpkin.”

“Then just get the pumpkin spice l…” Keith began only to be cut short by the man bouncing on his heels.

“Oh, I highly recommend the pumpkin spice latte! 10/10 would recommend,” he waved his arms around to emphasize his words, ending in another boisterous laugh. “But – uh, whatever you guys are getting just get me a small one. Please. A-And I’ll be in the Games room… thanks.”

(Y/N) watched him leave with a little snicker, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand him.”

The way he grinned almost looked like it was uncomfortable, like it was forced. But he’d been smiling like that just about as long as (Y/N) had known him – she supposed that was just how it always looked.

“Yeah, I don’t think you ever will,” Noah sighed, messing with his curly hair. “But sometimes…”

“I wish he would stop!” Keith retaliated, pulling at his jacket, “The guy can’t make a move to save his life.”

Noah leaned forward, giving Keith a piercing stare, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Shayne’s behavior.”

(Y/N) looked between the two friends, eyebrows slowly raising at the reaction Keith was having.

“Oh, no – nu uh… I can’t defend him like that anymore. Five months ago? Sure – but this has gone on long eno…”

“That’s not for you to decide,” Noah stated, subtly tilting his head towards (Y/N). “He’ll talk about it when he’s ready.”

(Y/N) shook her head, holding up her hands, “Okay, why am I so far out of this loop?”

“Shayne just needs to buck up before you move on,” Keith stated, earning a kick to the foot by Noah.

“Are you… are you saying that Shayne only acts like that around me?”

Noah sighed again, biting the inside of his cheek, “Um… maybe – but it’s nothing to worry about. It’s not that he doesn’t like you.”

“It’s because he really likes you,” Keith mumbled, pulling his knees up to protect them from getting smacked.

“Are you kidding?” (Y/N) stated, finding a new serious edge to her voice. “Please tell me you’re not kidding.”

Both boys sat straighter and looked at her with speculating eyes, each taking their time in assessing her reaction before speaking.

“Do you like him too?”

“Seriously?” she laughed, “I thought I was being obvious. The only reason I didn’t do anything was because Shayne always acted like that. I assumed he wasn’t looking for anything.”

“Girl, you need to go talk to him right now,” Keith immediately stated, pushing her off the furniture, “Go before I have to listen to his rambling again.”

~~~

“Shayne, can I talk to you?”

He instantly jumped, bumping into Courtney who he was talking to, “(Y/N)! Wh-whatcha doin’?” His face lifted into that painful looking smile, his hands beginning to mess with his pockets, no doubt to keep them from shaking.

She could see Courtney giving him a sympathetic look from behind.

“I just wanted to ask you something – I’ve been hearing things and wanted to know if…” she reached out to maybe pull him aside for more privacy, but right upon contact with her hand he practically ran away, jumping into action.

“HEYO! Look at that, my phone’s ringing,” he pulled out his cellphone to show an unknown caller ID on the screen. He began backing away, making strained expressions and shrugging his shoulders, “I should probably take this, don’t want to leave people hanging. Get it? They’re hanging cause I’d have hung up on th… AWOO!”

He skid to the next hallway with his face growing ever more pink. (Y/N) stood there, one hand still in midair from where Shayne had backed away.

Courtney crossed her arms, “Please tell me you know what’s going on.”

“Does Shayne honestly have that big of a crush on me?”

“Thank God!” Courtney sighed, letting her whole body relax before sucking in a deep breath to begin a fresh pot of spilt tea, “We were literally just talking about you before you showed up. He was saying how stupid his hot drinks bit was earlier.”

“So he really only acts that crazy around me?” she questioned, “I thought Keith was making things up.”

Courtney started a round of guttural laughs, slight stress in her eyes, “You don’t even know the half of it, babe. It’s almost like his greatest fear is you finding out and rejecting him so he just masks all his flirting in loud jokes and obnoxious laughter. His new favorite topic is how stupid he acts around you and how much he wishes he could stop. And he’s basically got the whole office on contract to not say anything because heaven forbid that you…”

“I really need to talk to him,” she began, backing away and looking towards where he ran.

“He really is a sweet guy, (Y/N),” Courtney stated, falling into a more sincere tone. “He’s just afraid of messing up – that you won’t like what you’ll see. Just give him a chance, please.”

(Y/N) gave her a quick glance, and although she knew Courtney was being genuine, she could see the slight strain that was on the brink of becoming begging for her to get Shayne to stop his incessant behavior.

“Who said I was considering not giving him a chance?” she responded, seeing her friend break into a grin, shooting both hands into the air.

“WOO, budDY! I gotta call Damien so he’s prepared.”

(Y/N) giggled, setting off at a quick pace down the adjacent hallway, looking into rooms and meetings for this boy that couldn’t master the art of hiding. There was a new urgency in her step as she peered into more doors, desperate to put an end to Shayne’s anxiety. It must be so exhausting acting like that every time he saw her.  

He was just too nice for his own good.

And finally, she spotted him sitting in the break room, leaning into a table with his head in his hands. She was cautious when she advanced him, whispering.

“Shayne?”

It was like he was trained to the sound of her voice. He immediately tried to stand, knocking his chair, and himself, over in the process.

“(Y/N), hey,” he started laughing, something that now resounded as fake in her ears. He was scrambling to fix his chair, running fingers through his hair, “I didn’t think you… I thought that I – woah, wowie, yessirie.”

He was cracking, trying to keep his funny composure. But she could see how red his face was, how tense his shoulders were at her presence. He was now avoiding looking at her but continued to plaster that smile on his face.

“Shayne, I need to ask you something before you decide to run off again,” she stated calmly, not daring to advance him for fear of scaring him. “Do you like me?”

He whipped his sparkling blue eyes to hers, arms snapping into a crossed position, “Wh-what? Why would you think that? I mean… don’t take that the wrong way, I just – ah…” he started his nervous giggling, subtly swaying side to side. “I think any guy would be lucky to have a girl – WOMAN like you.”

He held a hand up to catch himself, continuing as his voice grew faster and louder, “A woman like you. You’re smart, funny, pretty and cute and beautiful. Uh…” he put fingers to his temples, “Those all mean the same thing – the point is I don’t actu…”

“That’s too bad,” (Y/N) stated, keeping her eyes warmly on his nervous face, “Cause I really like you.”

Shayne immediately shut his mouth, silencing the rambling, “Hm?” It was the first time (Y/N) had ever seen him with a serious expression.

“This is where you give me a sincere smile and ask me on a date,” she couldn’t help the warm feeling seeping into her insides at the look on his face. It was the most still it had ever been, still enough that she could see the real emotion in his gaze.

“You’re not kidding?” his voice was heavy, so different from what she was used to.

“I thought the hot drinks bit was cute,” she stated, letting her lips curve into a smile, “I think the way you try so hard is cute.”

If possible, his face got even more red as he took a deep breath, “This is really embarrassing.”

“The only thing that’s embarrassing is this ketchup stain on my shirt – right when the guy I like is about to ask me on a date.”

It was the first time she had ever seen him fall into a real, genuine smile.

“You don’t care that I’ve been acting like an idiot this whole time?” he sighed, fidgeting with his fingers. “Pretty attractive, right?”

“Oh, you’ve never been more handsome then when you fell out of that chair.” They both shared a laugh before she continued, “Let’s honestly do a date, nothing forced and nothing fake.” She gave him a pointed look that made him grimace.

“Gave you a little taste of my ‘date-Shayne-persona,’ it’s not my favorite either.”

“Then give me you, Shayne. The real you,” she grinned, “And if you start rambling or close off again just be warned I’m probably going to hold your hand and steal your food until you stop.”

There was a split second of silence between them, smiles on both their faces, but you could see the love and appreciation swelling in Shayne.

“I’ll have you know I am very fond of my fries,” he stated, walking to her side as she gestured to leave the room. “And the hand will come off if they are stolen.”

They traveled down the hallway, light conversation appearing, “Yeah, but I’ll be too quick and snatch a few and then accidentally burn my tongue and like WOAH – AH that’s hot! You know?”

He nudged his elbow into her, laughing sincerely, clapping his hands together, “Sounds even funnier coming from you.”

“That’s because I am, in fact, funnier than you,” she nudged him back, rounding a corner towards the production meeting.

Shayne hummed quizzically, “That was funny too! What a good joke.”

They shared more laughs, unbeknownst to them a hoard of Smosh members were spying on them as they passed. Keith clapping hands with Noah while Courtney pushed Damien out of the way to get a better look.

“It’s a miracle.”

They all snickered, Keith beginning a very snazzy victory dance behind them.

~~~

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[goodwriterwithbadhabits]

March 27th

Master List

~~

“And the sky, it's this amazing shade of blue, and all the clouds change color during sunrise and sunset.” Jae gushed, waving his hands in the air as he spoke. “I can’t wait for you to meet him, Brian, Younghyun, he’s literally the coolest dude ever.” You laughed along with your best friend, truly happy for him, but your heart still clenched at his words. You weren’t even sure what the color blue looked like. 

In your world, everything was shades of black and white, no other colors. This was a common occurrence, everyone was born seeing the world in black and white, only gaining the ability to see in a full spectrum once you encounter your soulmate. For most people your age, their soulmates had been found ages ago. Jae was an exception, at 27 he should have met his soulmate ages ago, but that had only happened over the weekend when he encountered Brian, Kang Younghyun, at a bar and upon bumping into him, found out beer was yellow. You wanted to be happy for your friend, and you were, but part of you still aches when he talked about his boyfriend. 

“He’s a songwriter, you know Park Sungjin? The cool guitarist a year above me?” You nodded blankly at Jae’s words, staring out the café window as you sip your drink. “He’s in a band with him and a couple other kids from here.” Jae gestures to the campus around you. “A keyboardist and a drummer. They’re playing at Club Xion next Saturday, you should come with me.”

“Are you playing?” You ask, opting not to answer his question. 

“Yeah,” His face erupts into a grin. “I’m heading over to Brian’s tomorrow for some practice, you should roll up, meet everyone, bring me lunch.” Your friend’s words bring you back into the present and you can only shake your head at them, not the least bit shocked at his audacity.

“So that’s the real reason huh? To bring you food?” You laugh, rolling your eyes slightly. 

“And because I think you should meet my new friends.” He reasoned, sighing at your grimace. “Come on, you and I have been besties since we were in diapers, it’s only right that you met my soulmate and judge them to the best of your abilities.” You chuckle at his remark, sipping your drink again. “Please?” He whines and you finally cave, sighing and looking away from him. 

“You owe me.” You huff, slumping slightly in your seat, and as you expected Jae is leaning over the table to shake you vigorously in excitement.

“Oh my god I love you, I’ll buy you dinner for a week, or that giant shark plushie we saw at the store the other day. Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you, promise.” He cheers. 

“This better be worth it Jaehyung Park, or I’m going to tie weights to your ankles and throw you in the Han.”

“It will be I swear, Brian tells me they’re awesome. You’re the best, I love you so much.” 

“I know, calm down.” You finally push him away, picking up your drink once more and gazing back out the window. “This had better be worth it.” 

~~

“So, he’s really your soulmate.” Wonpil sighed dreamily, elbow resting on his keyboard. “That’s so cool. Was it romantic?” Younghyun chuckles, shaking his head as he tunes his bass. 

“Oh not remotely. We bumped into each other at Xion, he dropped his beer on me and we both started seeing colors instantly.” 

“What color did you see first?” Seungjin asked, eyes still trained on his guitar.

“Yellow.” Younghyun grins and Dowoon has to physically stop himself from gagging. Colors, of course, they were talking about colors. Dowoon was sick of hearing about colors, it’s all any of the boys wanted to talk about, Sungjin had found his soulmate back in middle school, Wonpil found his during the gap year he took in college, and now Younghyun had found his. 

This was bullshit in Dowoon’s opinion.

“What’s with the sour face kid?” Jae’s voice filled the room, jolting Dowoon from his thoughts. 

“We’ve got a sour little brother, cause he’s the only one who hasn’t found his soulmate.” Wonpil teased, earning a drumstick thrown at him. “Ha, now I have your drumstick, what are you gonna do about it?” Wonpil jokes, and in retaliation, Dowoon picks up another drumstick. 

“Alright that’s enough,” Younghyun interjects, “Hi babe,” He greets his partner with a kiss that has Dowoon rolling his eyes. “Everyone, this is Jae, Jae you already know Sungjin, and this is Kim Wonpil, a genius with the keyboard and synth,” Wonpil flashes the older man one of his charming smiles and a peace sign. “And this is our baby brother, Dowoon, an excellent drummer and the best boy.” Dowoon only offers the older man a wave of a drumstick. “He’ll warm up to you.”

“It’s nice to meet you two, I hope you guys don’t mind, but my friend is bringing food later, for everyone.” 

“You conned someone into buying food for a bunch of strangers?” Sungjin asked. 

“Why are you complaining?” Wonpil inquired, glancing over at Dowoon to find him trying to balance a drumstick on his upper lip.

“I didn’t con her, she’s my best friend, she’d do anything for me.” Jae defended, setting down his guitar bag. The sound of a drumstick clattering to the floor alerted everyone that he had failed in his balancing attempts. “So, did we want to start practice?” 

It’s almost two hours before the group breaks for a breather. Dowoon has almost successfully gotten his frustrations out via his drums, and now that he’s worked up a sweat, he’s hungry as fuck. 

“Hey, Jae hyung, when is your friend going to be here?” Sungjin whines, flicking his pic at the oldest man. 

“Soon, she said she was just down the street a few minutes ago,” Jae tells the group, just as a knock echoes on the door. “And there she is, the love of my life.” Jae cries, throwing open the door. Dowoon wasn’t paying attention at first but the moment the door was opened his eyes landed on the person standing there. You were rolling your eyes at your tall friend, holding bags of food in each hand. 

“I’m only your bestie cause I bring you food.” You scoff, to which Jae feigns hurt. 

“Not true, you’re my bestie cause I’m the only one who puts up with your crap.” He jokes and you gasp in shock. 

“Someone come take this food, I gotta beat this punk’s ass.” You hold up both bags and Sungjin and Wonpil immediately surge towards you to take them. Dowoon remains hidden behind the drums, not wanting to get too close to you, meeting Jae was enough for one day. Once the food was out of your hands, you kicked your leg up and would have nailed Jae in the face if he hadn’t blocked it. It was actually really cool watching you fight Jae, and while neither of you actually managed to hit each other, the two-minute brawl was flashy, to say the least. That was until Jae knocked you over and you almost toppled onto Dowoon’s drums. 

The man had never moved so fast in his life when he saw your figure stagger towards his instrument. One moment he was sitting playing with his sticks, the next the clattering of wood resounded on the floor and he was grabbing you by the shoulders to keep you upright. His fingers barely brushed the skin under your sleeve, but it was enough to send sparks across his whole body. In the instant your skin touched, the crimson of his drums lit up his vision, a similar red to the stripes on your bag. 

You all played it off pretty well for the time you were with them, sitting as far away from Dowoon as possible as you ate with the boys. Neither of you spoke about the colors and didn’t speak at all about your soulmates. It isn’t until you’re leaving that someone finally asks.

“Hey, Y/n, have you met your soulmate?” Brian finally blurts. You paused at the doorway, and it became obvious that Jae was growing uncomfortable. At that moment, you decided that yes, it was time to be a pain in the ass.

“Hey maybe we shouldn’t-” Jae started, trying to play it off. 

“I’m not sure.” You began, shouldering your bag, and turning back to the group slightly. Your gaze raked over the boys before landing on the youngest. Your smile broadened before you shifted your gaze to his drum set. “Maybe.” You mused, chuckling as Jae practically began to vibrate. “Either way, I like your drums.” All the eyes landed on the drums, except for Dowoon, who continued to stare at you. With a wink and another small laugh you properly left the room, calling out: “Red suits you.” 

[foxyseok-blog]

Codename

genre: smut

pairing: hoseok x reader

words: 6.2k

warnings: spanking, dom/sub undertones, choking

summary:  “From the moment I stepped inside the fancy building I knew this job would be different. I was sent to steal a ring from an empty apartment and ended up with the owner himself demanding an explanation from me. Hoseok is far from being just another target and I had to learn it the hard way.”

From the moment I stepped inside the fancy building I knew this job would be different. As I climbed the stairs, getting tired after the third floor, I felt uneasy and like something just wasn't right. My black boots matched the whole black outfit I always wore to these kinds of jobs; it was sticking to my frame, not even one millimeter of fabric more than necessary. Someone could say I was an agent or a government spy, but I ain't such thing. My job's description way less heroic than that. Well, to be honest, there's nothing heroic on being a thief but that's where life got me so that's where I stand now.

Literally. I stand in front of the door with an opening kit – as my boss calls it – in my hands. I get on my knees to look better at the door handle, opening it after barely one minute. All these years of robbing made me good at it and, even though I shouldn't be, I'm proud of it.

The apartment is silent, as I predicted, the owner doesn't live in here since it's just another property with his name on it. Imagine having so much money you need to buy patrimony to hide it, now that's the life this guy lives, apparently. I don't know much about him but I look at the picture frames hanging on the light colored walls, a young man with a fluffy looking dog stares back at me.

Damn, he is really beautiful. It should be forbidden to look like this while having so much money.

I shake my head and try not to let anything get in my mind anymore. I need to focus on finding the ring my boss so desperately wants. The living room is big, just like the kitchen and, apparently, all the rooms. They all have furniture inside that indicates someone could live in here very comfortably.

But he doesn't, does he?

I stop breathing as I hear the sounds around me, there's nothing but the calming rain hitting the windows. My boss wouldn't just send me to a house with people inside, he's not that dumb, I guess.

I go to the master bedroom still without turning on a single lamp, can't afford to let anyone outside know I'm in here. I rummage through his absurdly big closet – there are so many coats and hoodies, shoes that costs hundreds of dollars, pieces of clothing that could probably buy me a car. I wonder if I should just put them all in this bag, a very expensive one I notice, and leave without the ring.

But no, my boss would kill me. He's been talking about it the whole week. This guy bought it from a person my boss was hunting down, now I need to rob it from him as we can't kill him, don't know why exactly.

Now that I think of it, I'm happy to know I won't put an end to such a beautiful existence like him. His eyes were glowing even in a picture, his soft features smiling at the lenses with a dog in his arms.

I finally open a drawer of all his jewelries and holy shit, he's got a lot of them. I take my phone out, finding the picture of the ring I need to get, and start looking for it.

After twenty minutes, I give up on the drawer and start searching the whole room. I'm getting desperate, I can't go back empty-handed. All the information we got is that the ring would be here, in this apartment, in his room, in his drawer.

Why isn't it then?

My trained ears pick up a sound it shouldn't be hearing; the front door is opening. I remember the short amount of time it took me to come from the door to the room and realize I have no time to hide outside of this master bedroom. I end up squeezing myself in the middle of two coats inside the closet.

It's not the first time something like this happens to me, to be honest. There's so much you can predict of someone's steps and, sometimes, I make mistakes. I don't let myself think too much about it now, I have to plan how to leave this place without letting him see me because if he does, I'll have to bruise up his pretty face.

I let the closet door slightly open so I can see what he's doing but it's completely yanked open by him. My heart finally starts to beat fast, even knowing I could just punch him and run I still get that adrenaline running inside my veins. But he doesn't see me. The way I'm completely squeezed between two of his dark coats blend my existence and his eyes never meet my frame.

My eyes, though, see him very well. His face is so much more than what that picture could portrait. He's so much hotter, a jawline that could cut, a pointy nose sculpted by the most talented artist, sharp eyes with that hint of a mysterious glow, heart shaped lips with a soft pale pink color to it. His black hair parted to the side to reveal a bit of forehead shines with the soft light of his room. He takes off his long reddish brown coat and I see the dainty body underneath it. It's all proportioned, long legs and small waist, his chest filling the white button up so prettily. He hangs the coat in the closet, still completely unaware of my shaking existence, and leaves without closing the door again.

I see him unbuttoning the wrists of his dress shirt and pulling it up his arms, my eyes are completely lost in the veins of his forearms when I notice the rings on his fingers. A total of three just in one hand and voilá! There is the precious little thing I need to rob.

In his fucking hands!

My whole escaping plan is instantly deleted from my mind as I see I can still save this whole operation. He can't sleep with rings on, who's the idiot that does that anyways? I pray that it isn't him. And as my brain starts to work on another way to get out after actually getting the ring, he starts to open the first two buttons of the dress shirt, revealing the soft golden skin of his chest.

- Any particular reason you're in my closet right now, little one? – his sharp eyes meet mine for the first time.

If my mind hadn't gone completely numb, I'd bathe myself in his honey like voice, deep, calm but firm, demanding.

But I was trained for this, my instincts are stronger than my hormones, I jump out of my hiding spot and try to get to the door before he can get me, trusting my legs to be as fast as they have always been.

Once again, there's so much I can predict. I didn't even think this guy would be faster than me. My legs are long enough so I can always get myself out of this type of situation but oh he's faster.

As my clothes are strategically sticking to my whole body, he grabs me by my ponytail, yanking me backwards until my back painfully hits the floor. When I look up, I see him smirking at me, I get hot all over wanting to punch the faint smile out of his stupidly handsome face.

Did I really say I didn't want to bruise him? Well, can't remember any of that right now.

I rise to my feet getting in position to smash my fist on his nose and bring him down. When I launch forward, he stops all my moves easily. During the ridiculously small amount of time I fail to punch him, my mind realizes that I'm fucked. He's much more than I actually seized up and thought he would to be. I obviously saw he's taller and a bit broader than me but I'm always stronger and faster than my opponents, my boss never gives me a target I can't handle.

But this fight wasn't supposed to be happening; he wasn't supposed to be here.

He grabs my arm twisting it to my back and shoves my chest onto the nearest wall, snatching my other free hand and locking it behind me. I could easily stop such movement – I swear I know how to defend myself properly – but he did it so fast and efficiently that my mind processed everything too late.

- I asked you a question, didn't I? – his breath is on my ear, I feel his whole body encaging me on the wall.

I don't say anything, that's how we're supposed to be when we encounter with our opponents: no talking so they won't have anything against us.

- You're the quiet type. I see. – he's containing the anger inside this velvety voice.

I feel the pressure of his hold loosen a bit and start to think he'll let me go, but he shoves me harder against the wall, the pain in my breasts making it almost impossible for me to breathe.

- But I think I can make you talk.

He pulls me back and starts walking towards his closet, I try to get free but his grip on me is strong enough to bruise even though he holds with only one hand now. I walk backwards hearing when he grabs something inside the closet. A soft sound of clicking and the cold feeling of metal around my wrists let me know he got them handcuffed.

I'm fucked.

- Here's how it's gonna be. – he says as he pushes my shoulders down and I forcibly kneel on the floor. – You'll tell me why you're in my apartment and if it's a reasonable explanation I'll set you free.

He locks the bedroom door putting the key inside the front pocket of his black slacks. God, why did I end up here? This guy came straight out of my wettest dream and probably wants to send me to jail, or kill me.

He crouches in front of me, I can feel the delicious sweet perfume he wears, masculine but soft. His sharp eyes gaze at me, curious and angry at the same time.

- W-what's your name? – the first words I say are choked out, maybe because I shouldn't be engaging a conversation with him.

He gets up, a lazy smile showing up on his features, and slowly disappears behind me.

- My name? – I feel the tug of my hair being pulled harshly, he takes off my scrunchy and lets my locks free as I look up to see his face staring down at me. – You broke into my house and you think you have the right to know my name?

I'm so stupid. I'm being manhandled by the guy I should be stealing from and my whole body seems to sing every time he touches me.

- But I'll give it to you so you'll have something to scream for later. – his hand softens its grip on my hair. – Hoseok.

I let my mind savour this new information, finally giving the handsome face a name just as pretty. And the more I think about it, more I feel like I've heard it before, maybe during conversations of my boss with some of our clients that I probably shouldn't be hearing but I let the curiosity get the best of me.

I hear the sound of a slap before feeling the pain across my right cheek.

- Focus on me. – I look up to see Hoseok staring back at me angrily. – Or is there anything else more interesting in here?

Did he just slap me on the face? How am I letting a man do this to me so easily?

I fight against the handcuffs, eyeing the door once again, thinking of a way to get the hell out of here, just to feel another slap, way more painful, across my left cheek. The cold feeling of his rings still lingers on my bruised skin.

- You're not leaving until I say so. – he tells me.

- Fuck off. – I mutter under my breath, different feelings running through my body; excitement, fear, arousal, anger.

- If you're gonna be disrespectful I prefer when you're with that dirty mouth shut.

- You slapped me and I'm the disrespectful one? – I yell back at him.

He's so calm, standing with one hand in his pocket, looking at me fiercely.

- I'm teaching you manners, little thief.

Oh. So either he knows I'm here to rob him or it's a shot in the dark. But, to be honest, if you see someone with an all black outfit inside your closet it's only suitable to call them thief. If he knows what I'm here for why didn't he call the police?

- You're late for that. – I reply looking straight into his dark eyes. – I'm too old to be taught anything.

- You're not that old, Shadowcat.

My eyes widen in shock. Hoseok knows my codename. Only my boss and the people I work with know about it. It was given to me as I entered this underground world. Since I always have black clothes on and move like a shadow behind my opponents, coming in and out without being seen, they say I'm a shadow that can move like a cat. The realization that I might be in a situation much worse than I previously thought is finally sinking into my bones.

- What? You think I don't know who you are or who you work for? – he crouches down in front of me again, keeping eye level with me. – You'd be dead if I didn't know you.

- Why did you ask then? Why are you keeping me in here like this?

- I didn't ask your name, now did I? I wanna know what you're here for. Certainly not to kill me, Yuyi wouldn't send someone so weak for that.

My boss's real name is something not even I can say out loud, he goes by the codename of Key and that's how we all call him.

- So I assume you're here to steal something. – he reaches forward and sticks his hand inside the only pocket in my pants, taking out the opening doors kit and my phone.

Hoseok looks at the kit, probably knowing what it is already, and lets it fall to the floor along with my phone in a silent thud. His hands travel around my waist, back on my ass where he found the kit, down to my thighs, squeezing and searching for hidden pockets. But my outfit leaves nothing to imagination, there's nothing that could be successfully hidden in it and, because of that, I can feel the heat coming from his palms making me hot.

- And you didn't find it. – he breathes out next to my face and, for the first time, I don't see only anger in his eyes.

There's lust mixed with hate in them.

- I'm not weak. – I respond to his earlier statement since it's the only thing my mind could hold on to when he's so close.

- Yeah? – he chuckled darkly. – Bet you wanna punch me right now but your weak little hands couldn't handle me.

- Asshole. – my heart starts beating fast but for a completely different reason.

Hoseok's hand closes around my throat, squeezing it enough for me to be uncomfortable but not enough for me to stop breathing.

- If you act like a bad girl you'll be treated like one. – he tightens his grip on me. – Why the fuck are you here, brat?

- Y-you know I'm a thief. – I say weakly with the short amount of oxygen entering my lungs.

- I'm not dumb, I wanna know what you need to steal. – his words make me frown a bit, Hoseok says as if I didn't have a choice but to rob him.

I stay quiet, my eyes focusing on the mole on his top lip, his long lashes flutter when he blinks his eyes. Fuck, he's the prettiest man I've seen.

- Aren't you ashamed of looking at me like this? – Hoseok says with a disgusted tone but his eyes give away that he's as affected as me, his pupils completely blown out.

- No. – I say licking my dry lips, knowing damn well I'm throwing away any precaution and plans I thought I had.

Since the very first moment I laid eyes on him, I should have known this operation was lost. He looks like and does all the things I didn't even know I liked.

Hoseok's hand leaves my throat and he closes his fist in my hair but this time around he doesn't pull it to growl at me, he brings my face close to his and smashes his lips on mine.

Finally. One of his hands remains tugging at the roots of my hair while the other rests on my waist. I feel his tongue licking the seam of my lips, asking for entrance. I don't comply and he bites my bottom lip harshly. I whine feeling the metallic taste of blood and open my eyes to see Hoseok smirking at me. He's still so close, our noses touching.

- Open up for me. – he whispers in my mouth, his hands coming to grab my chin.

- Make me.

I see a flicker of anger flashing in his eyes before he manhandles me out of the floor and throws me on his huge black bed. I can't even balance myself on my elbows because of the handcuffs but I see him grabbing my kit and phone from the floor and placing it on the top of a white desk before coming back to me. Hoseok's body towers above mine, his dark hair falling prettily around his face.

- Since you wanna make this harder I'll give it to you hard. – he says before nipping at my jawline.

His hot tongue meets the pulsating poing of my neck, sucking it deliciously and making the skin sensitive.

- You really broke into my house... – he growls on my neck. – ...wearing this tight little thing you call outfit.

His hands slide down my thighs, tugging at the fabric of my pants and opening my legs so he can slam his hips down on my core. I gasp out a strained moan and he takes the opportunity to finally glide his tongue on mine, exploring my mouth, licking my teeth and nipping my lips so expertly that my knees would buckle if I was standing.

My whole body is electrified and we're still fully clothed. I can feel the ends of his soft hair touching my face and I wanna run my fingers through it so badly, my arms restrained behind me are a hurtful reminder that I can't.

- Open the handcuffs. – I mumble inside his mouth. – I wanna touch you.

- Don't trust you yet, little thief. You'll have to earn that. – he rolls his hips on me before I can reply anything, my mind getting lost in the feeling of his bulge smashed against my core.

- Fuck. – I moan out loud, trying hard not to close my eyes so I can see every expression he makes.

- You have such a filthy mouth. – Hoseok bites my lip again, licking the bruise right after, making me squirm under him. – But I have a better use to it.

He gets off of me and I instantly make a complaining noise that is picked up by him.

- Shut up and get on the floor again. – Hoseok commands.

He doesn't help me out of the bed, instead he watches me struggle rolling on my side to get up with a defying smirk on his face.

- Can't you be a fucking gentleman for once? – I say as I stand in front of him, his taller figure looking a bit scary to me now.

- You're not deserving of that, you filthy thing. – he shoves me down again, making my knees hit the carpeted floor. – But I'll give you a chance to show me you can be a good girl. Understood?

- Yes. – I reply submissively, without even thinking twice, because I just can't ignore the constant throbbing between my legs.

- Yes what? – he caresses my hair giving me the chance to make up for the little mistake.

- Yes, sir.

- That's what I thought. – his long fingers open the zipper but he doesn't pull down his pants.

I see the black boxers underneath it before he grabs his dick and pulls it out. I'm not gonna lie, I don't find this part of the male anatomy to be very charming. But oh my God how I love this specific one. It has a soft golden color like his skin, it's pretty, long, thick and a vein going from the bottom to the tip catches my attention. I feel saliva pooling inside my mouth.

- Get to it, you have drool on your chin already. – his words may be degrading but his voice is not even a bit near that, the lust and need in it making him sound a bit weaker.

I stick my tongue out to lick his tip testing the waters, Hoseok makes a restrained noise instantly grabbing my hair and forcing me to take more of him. I try my best not to choke but he hits the back of my throat so easily, I clench my thighs to try and ease the growing need of relief.

Giving blowjobs is not usually an activity I enjoy but Hoseok makes it so good that I probably moan on his dick more than he does. His voice gets deeper, grunting when I swirl my tongue around his tip, he throws his head back closing his eyes exposing the delicious looking neck. I have saliva dripping down my chin like the Nicaragua Falls, since I can't use my hands, but I don't even care. All I do is watch his expressions; the furrowed brows, the hooded eyes looking at me, the plump lips caught in his teeth. I feel like I could come untouched just by watching Hoseok like this.

- Fuck. – he grunts pulling his dick covered in spit away from me. – Seems like you're a talented little thief after all.

- Please. – I beg without even knowing what for, I just feel my core screaming for attention, my panties sticking to it.

His hands, that were tugging painfully at my roots, now pet my hair softly while a lazy smile spreads on his face.

- Yeah, baby. You deserve a reward. – he pulls me up and holds my waist, carefully walking me backwards. – I'll give you what you need.

His words obviously have a double meaning behind but I pay no mind to it as I'm finally gonna get my end of this deal. The back of my legs hit the bed and I sit on it, watching Hoseok put his dick back in the black boxers, leaving the zipper open.

- What are you doing? – my voice is raspier with all the times his tip hit my throat way too deep.

- Didn't you want me to be a gentleman? – he looks down at me before placing one knee between my thighs, his body leaning close until my back hits the mattress. – I have to stretch you open first so I can fuck you properly later.

A strong shiver runs down my whole body when I hear his words being whispered in my ears, his sharp teeth nip on my earlobe before Hoseok looks at my face again. My pupils are blown out, hairs sprawled around the sheets, bruised lips parted so I can breathe better, completely lost in my own hormones. He seems satisfied with that, though.

- You look so hot like this, all needy and fucked out. – his fingertips gently slide between my breasts, going down to my bellybutton.

He tugs at my blouse and lifts it up revealing a simple black bra underneath it. His long fingers pull down the fabric covering my breasts, a knowing smirk showing up when he sees my hard nipples responding to him without even being touched.

Hoseok keeps his eyes locked with mine when he lowers his head and captures a nipple in his mouth. I throw my head back letting my ragged breath come out. The feeling of his hot tongue around my nipple is enough to make me wanna scream. When he's satisfied with the first one, he goes to the other one, giving the same unrelenting attention, sucking, licking and bitting.

- J-just fuck me already. – I whimper, my arms getting more and more uncomfortable just like the need between my legs.

He lets my nipple go with an obscene "pop" and gives it a little lick that makes my eyes roll behind my back. As if he's not hot enough, he's also a tease in bed.

- I barely started, ungrateful thing. – the hand that was holding me still by my hips starts a slow trip from my stomach to the elastic band of my pants.

- Please. – I say softly trying to clench my legs together, completely forgetting the way his thigh is keeping them apart.

He catches the movement and chuckles with amusement.

- So impatient. – Hoseok says but finally starts to drag down my pants along with my panties.

My boots are yanked off and thrown out somewhere in the room just like my pants. When he comes back to tower above me I feel exposed, he's fully dressed while I'm undressed to his sharp eyes. He doesn't pay attention to my sudden reddened cheeks, just snakes one arm under me, lifting me by my waist and plopping me down, my head hitting his soft pillow.

Fucking hell, Hoseok's eyes are so absurdly hot, they travel around my body devouring me inch by inch slowly.

- Good thing I installed hidden movement sensors and cameras in this apartment. – his hand is on my stomach, caressing it gently. – Imagine the surprise I had seeing your pretty ass on the screen of my phone when you were looking for something on the floor of my room.

Cameras? Who the fuck installs cameras inside their own bedroom? Besides, that's something my boss should have known way before me coming in here. How did this job turned out to be so wrong?

Two harsh slaps on both of my thighs get me out of my thoughts really fast.

- Focus on me. – Hoseok growls, he opens my legs delivering more painfull slaps while he kneels between them.

- Hoseok! – I yelp opening them to try to get rid of the punishing hands.

He runs his palms on the insides of my opened thighs, making me quiver with desire as his eyes are focused on my exposed and glistened core.

- I prefer you like this; red, needy and panting my name. – he says darkly, lifting his eye to my face. – Aren't you ashamed of how disgustingly wet you are when I barely touched you?

- You've been manhandling me around since the very first minute though. – I whisper back.

- Didn't know someone could get aroused by being mistreated. – he mocks me but his blown out pupils and the tent inside his pants tell me otherwise. – What a slut.

He delivers two hard slaps on my thighs again, I scream loudly at the pain but he just glides his hands up, keeping me opened and exposed to his eyes. At this point I know I'm dripping down on the sheets.

- You're making such a mess. – his fingertips finally slide softly on my lower lips, I feel my whole body tense in anticipation.

Hoseok buries his face on my neck, licking the skin before pulling it between his teeth, and looks at my face again.

- Keep your eyes open or I'll punish you again. – he says as I feel two of his fingers being pushed inside of me.

I'm so wet that they slide right in, the feeling of his rings against my lower lips makes me release a soft moan when he's knuckles deep. Hoseok starts pumping his fingers in and out immediately, scissoring them inside me, literally stretching my walls the best he can. To keep my eyes open reveals to be a very hard task when he's fingering me so good.

- Keep looking at me, baby. – his other hand brushes the hairs sticking to my forehead, a sweat that I wasn't even aware of dripping down my temples.

His thumb finds my clit and I arch my back, my hands grip the sheets wishing they could grip on his hair.

- You have a tight little pussy, don't you? – he says in a husky voice.

I can't help but to close my eyes feeling my walls clenching around his skillful fingers. Hoseok slowly slides them out, opening my folds and gliding them up and down, missing my clit on purpose. He plunges the same two fingers into me again, making me cry out loud with the teasing, just to repeat the same process again, spreading my wetness all over. By the fourth time I'm begging for him to fuck me with tears running down my face.

- Look at you, falling apart when I have only two fingers inside you. – his voice diminishes me.

Hoseok slides his fingers out of my walls, bringing them to his mouth, and I see the ring I should rob covered in my own juices. He licks one of them, keeping his eyes locked on me, then offers me the middle finger with the fucking ring on. I open my mouth letting him do whatever he wants, feeling myself on my tongue. When Hoseok is satisfied, he lets me eye his beautiful skin being revealed while his hands work on the buttons of the white dress shirt still covering his chest. His faint abs make me wanna lick every line of it.

- But I'll take mercy on you. – he suddenly grabs my waist and flips me over, forcing me to get on my knees while my face is pressed down against the pillow.

- Please. – I beg for what it seems to be the millionth time tonight.

Hoseok opens my lower lips again, tapping my clit two times, making me squirm in desire.

- I want your little clit to get slapped every time I fuck into you, baby.

I moan so loud that any neighbor sleeping at this time will probably wake up. His words are so filthy, they send me into a frenzy and he isn't even touching me.

When I think I can't wait anymore, the painful throbbing between my legs becoming unbearable, I feel the tip of his member pushing inside me. Hoseok doesn't even let my walls adjust around his girthy length, his hips pound me incessantly since the beginning. He could have spent hours fingering me and I still wouldn't be ready to take him like this, the stretch is an addicting mix of pain and pleasure. I bite the pillow trying to muffle the ridiculously loud moans that form in my throat but Hoseok's hands start spanking my ass.

- Don't keep your sounds in unless you want me to force them out. – he growls at me.

- I'm sorry. – I manage to choke out.

- Sorry what? – his palms come down again even harder and I know I won't be able to sit tomorrow.

- I'm sorry, sir! – I cry out loud.

His pace never falters, just gets more and more punishing, his balls slap on my exposed clit every time, making me lift my chest a bit and look down on my body. I see him pounding in and out of me, a little droplet of a mix of our wetness slides through my folds and drips on the sheets. The scene is so overwhelmingly pleasurable that I'm instantly ready to combust.

- I'm so c-close. – I mutter under my breath.

- You're not allowed to cum yet. – even when making so much effort to practically rearrange my insides with his cock, he still has a controlled voice.

- No, sir, p-please. I-

My voice gets lost in the middle of a sentence when my hair gets pulled back. Hoseok brings me flush against his chest, my palms opening to feel the tensed skin of his abs. This angle makes him hit my sweet spot directly and he knows it, because he starts hammering that place unmercifully. I feel my orgasm so close that it's almost painful.

- I said no. Learn to hold that shit in, slut. – he whispers darkly in my ear.

My walls instantly clench around him with the way he talks to me, making it so much harder for him to move. I hear a soft moan leaving his mouth.

- Of course you'd like being called slut. I should have had my fingers in you when I slapped your face, I bet you'd clench on them too. – he slips one of his hands down my stomach while the other one keeps me in place by my hips. – Cum.

With that command, he slaps my pussy. And that's when I lose it. My whole body spams, he lets go of my hips and I fall on the pillow, his hips are still moving, not as hard as before, fucking me through my first orgasm.

- Fuck, you take me so good, baby girl.

The new petname makes me smile faintly against the pillow. My clenching walls are probably making him feel so good he forgot the harsh façade for a while.

- Come here, I wanna look at your face. – he slides out of me and when I start moving to get on my back he holds me still. – Wait a bit, little thief.

I feel the handcuffs being tugged and then I'm finally free. I bring my hands down, supporting my weight and looking at the red marks around my wrists.

- You won your freedom for now. Do anything stupid and I'll tie your four limbs to the bed. – he says unmercifully before twisting me, putting me on my back again.

Hoseok helps me to get out of my blouse, his hands not wasting any time in feeling my whole body again like I was fully dressed until now.

This time around I make sure to drag my fingertips on his abs. He looks at the scene under him, my legs opened and thighs all glistened, hands savouring the feeling of his soft skin.

- Fuck. – Hoseok curses making me look up at him.

The ends of his hair are wet with sweat, it's still parted letting me see the forehead, his hooded eyes are ready to eat me whole, lips red with our bruising kisses. He's still wearing the pants that hang low on his hips with the visible V line going down to his dick.

Hoseok is the hottest guy I've ever laid eyes on.

And he fucks me all over again. But slowly, with languid strokes that make my toes curl, dragging every inch of his length inside of me, making me feel full. I drag my hands on his soft hair, pulling at it, bringing his lips to mine, drag my nails down his strong back, leaving red marks. I feel his teeth doing the same with my neck, marking me so I'll see him when I look at the mirror again.

But I'd see him on me even without the marks. The feeling of his skin on mine is too remarkable to ever forget, the drag of his girthy length inside me too fucking good to let it go.

He seems to notice my mind is away and delivers a punishing thrust in me that makes my eyes widen.

- What did I say about not focusing on me? – he whispers on my lips.

Before I can even think of anything else, he's sneaking a hand between us to play with my swollen bud, making sure I'm feeling the maximum pleasure that he can give.

After what it feels like the third time I'm cumming, he finally slips out of my heat and lies down besides me. Our laboured breathing mixing with the constant sound of the rain outside.

- You can have this. – Hoseok finally speaks, taking off the ring on his middle finger and placing it on my belly.

- How did you know? – I frown looking at the beautiful ring closely.

- I saw it on your phone

My phone? The only time he had alone with it was in those small seconds when he got it from the floor and placed on his desk. Hoseok is way more skilled than I thought and now I wonder who exactly I just fucked for the past hour.

- Listen to me, Shadowcat. – Hoseok gets up on his elbow, cupping my face with one of his elegant hands. – Take it to Yuyi.

For the first time I don't see lust or hate in his eyes, he looks at me fondly, making my heart ache for affection.

- And come back to me if you wanna change the life you live.

[gldngrl7]

Binge Watch: Unbelievable (Part 1)

Wow. Okay. Where to begin....

I’ll just start with the spoilers and background.

The first episode is very difficult to watch and should come with a trigger warning. After that it feels a little more like a female-led “Mindhunter” where they’re actually hunting a serial rapist, hoping to catch him before he strikes again.

In episode 1 we meet Marie Adler, a teenage girl in the system who’s part of a program called Rise Up. It’s sort of a halfway house for fosters who are making efforts to transition out of the system. They are given a lot of independence, but must meet requirements such as holding a job, keeping their nose clean (legally) and what appears to be group counseling (unclear).

One night, while she’s asleep she awakes to find a masked man in her room who ties her up and rapes her, takes pictures of her naked and tied up, tells her if she says anything he’ll post them on the internet, and then disappears into the night. What follows is a violation of a different sort.

First, she’s asked to relive the experience for the patrol officer who arrives on scene and then again for the (male) detective. At the hospital, while enduring her rape kit examination, she’s asked to repeat the story a third time. Later at the police station Det. Parker asks her to go over it again and then again. Meanwhile, the police are able to collect little or no physical evidence on her body or at the scene.

Long story short, the detectives decide she must be lying (in part because her former foster mom mentions that something felt “off” and because Marie has a history of attention-seeking behavior) then proceed to bully her into recanting her story. I’m going to note here that Det Pruitt is played by Bill Fagerbakke, a former football player who stands 6’6” tall and probably weighs close to 240/260. His detective uses his physical prowess against Marie (who’s 5’3” and maybe 100 lbs soaking wet) like she’s a hardened criminal that needs to be subdued, at one point literally cowing her into a corner. All the while, completely oblivious to the clear signals of trauma she’s emitting, or that he’s just adding more trauma to the pile.

He threatens her by telling her she can be arrested for false reporting and lose her place in Rise Up, so of course she submits to his overwhelming physical presence and allows that maybe she dreamed it. This isn’t good enough, he rages, so she writes a statement that says she lied about the rape. Case Closed.

Except later, when the press finds out and it hits the news, her peers and friend’s desert her and turn her life into a living hell. And then, to add insult to injury, the police follow through on charging her with false reporting (something they usually only do when the defendent falsely accuses a specific person — not true in this case). Marie is forced to stand up in court and lie about lying...about lying. All the while trying to convince herself that none of it happened.

Three years later, in Golden, Colorado, Det. Karen Duvall is called to the scene of an assault where the victim, Amber, was force to dress up, raped for hours, had her pictures taken, and then made to shower afterwards. As the investigation begins, at every turn, Karen offers Amber back a little bit of the agency taken from her.

“Would it be okay if we sat in my car?”

“You don’t have to explain to me why you haven’t called a friend.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

“You’re going to be examined at the hospital, but would it be okay if I tried to collect DNA evidence from your face right now?”

It is in scathing counterpoint to Marie’s experience, illustrating perhaps the difference between a rape investigated by a woman and a rape investigated by men who are all too quick to assume the victim has ulterior motives. Or who are too quick to give up in the face of what will obviously be a time-consuming and exhaustive investigation so they seize on the first out offered to them.

Later, through happy accident (Karen’s husband is a police officer for another nearby district) Karen learns that there’s a similar rape in Westminster and meets with Grace Rasmussen to discuss the similarities of their cases. After finding another victim, they conclude that there’s a serial working the area and he’s smart. Smart enough to leave no physical evidence behind. He uses a condom, he makes them shower, he takes the bedding with him when he leaves, and each time he gets away unseen and he never hits more the once in the same jurisdiction, increasing the chances that no one will notice the pattern. He counts on the fact that cops are too lazy to fill out the details in ViCAP for rape cases with the same gusto that they muster for homicides.

The legwork and the minutiae Duvall and Rasmussen have to wade through to bring the cases to a close is truly staggering. But once they merge their investigations together they don’t hesitate to bring every resource to bear. They meet with the FBI, Karen even goes to Kansas to investagate an earlier series of rapes that could be their guy, and they even refuse to rule out the possibility that the perpetrator might be a cop. It’s in Kansas where Karen learns about the Rape Forensics textbook, written by cops but sold on the dark web to help rapists master their craft. It’s disturbing and essentially calls into question everything that made her think it might be one of their own committing these crimes.

I don’t want to spoil the outcome, but suffice it to say when they find the rapist’s trophies and the pictures, they find among them photos of Marie Adler. There’s an intensely satisfying scene where Grace emails Det. Parker the disturbing photos, thereby proving to him that he’s a shitty detective who shouldn’t wear a badge. Of course, he tries to make amends to Marie, but it’s too little, too late...and insulting to boot. He thinks that by reimbursing her the $500 for her court costs she can be mollified. And once upon a time she would have been, but this is the last straw and she’s fed up with taking what scraps she’s given and forcing herself to be glad it isn’t worse. For the first time in her life, he decides to demand more.

The story ends with the rapist pleading guilty to avoid the trial and “spare the women the pain of testifying”. The women (minus Marie) are allowed victim impact statements and never once does he look them in the eye. The judge throws the book at him, sentencing him to 300+ years in prison. But it doesn’t heal the damage he’s done. It doesn’t magically return their faith, their trust, or their innocence.

I’ll leave this here and save my other thoughts and comments for part two

[tgunn64]

Favorite Villains - Sunshine (Kinnikuman)

Pro wrestling is a rabbit hole I’ve long been tempted but terrified to fall into. It’s the perfect blend of theatricality and sheer force and violence tied into compelling narrative and sportsmanship. That said the sheer size and potential to just consume my life has kept me from diving in. Though a big fandom that’s sated me in that regard is Kinnikuman--which combines the dynamics of wrestling with Shonen battles for the fate of the planet, a lovely combination that birthed a whole slew of memorable characters, including the towering Sunshine. In a universe where world order and power is settled in the ring by superpowered wrestlers called Chojin, there are multiple factions representing different ideals and goals. Arguably the primary antagonists for the primary chunk of the franchise are the Akuma Knights, evil wrestlers working for the devil (in armored wrestler form) himself. Among them was Sunshine, a Peruvian golem made of sand with a major chip on his shoulder (being made of sand will do that to you). When we first get to know Sunshine he’s primarily one of the Akuma Shogun’s mooks, but absolutely a deadly one.

Being made of sand might be one of the top three most behooving qualities a wrestler could have--have you ever GRABBED SAND? Try putting a pile of sentient sand that can control his solid and fluid spectrum nature at will into a sleeper hold, and it wasn’t easy for rookie Justice Chojin, Geronimo, to handle. Sunshine is bombastic and quickly stands out with his brightly colored appearance and shape shifting attacks. His booming voice in both the Japanese and English dubs leave a huge impact, and despite starting off as a minion for all intents and purposes, this all weaved together to give him enough of a following to cultivate Sunshine having a bigger role as the story proceeded. Though Sunshine was eventually beaten by Geronimo’s sound based Apache Yell attack, that was far from the last we’d see him. After the fall of Akuma Shogun and the scattering of the Akuma Knights, things seem, for all means, peaceful, just the right time for a Tag Team Wrestling Tournament in the name of sheer sport. Or at least that seemed to be the case until we get a surprise entrant from the once second of the Akuma Chojin and Prince of Darkness, Ashuraman, who has brought along Sunshine to be his tag team partner. Although the pair largely play the role of fake out villains to pave the way for the new villain faction, the Perfect Chojin, they still help shake things up and speak to the themes of the arc. The Perfect Chojin value power above all, to the point they would kill one of their own if they failed, and to illustrate just how far this they’ll take this ideal, Ashuraman and Sunshine die at the hands of the Perfect defending each other. Even the wrestlers who call one another literal DEVILS have camaraderie and a bond. This speaks volumes considering Sunshine managed to kill Kinnikuman’s master in an earlier skirmish, and watching him be insulted for his value of friendship in Ashuraman is still pretty damn heartwrenching.

Although we know that everyone slain by the Perfect Chojin got brought back to life by this arc’s particular macguffin--this is the last we see of Sunshine until Kinnikuman’s sequel series Kinnikuman Nisei, which focuses on the sons of the heroes and villains of the original series and the new generation of wrestlers. A new theat arises in the form of the dMp, an organization of evil wrestlers that has very little seeming aim. They seem to be idealists and impressioned outcasts, giving off the vibe of neo-bad guys with little conviction but devotion to a place they’re accepted, complete with matching black t-shirts. The faction seems largely composed of wrestlers with perceived, but distant grudges against the old heroes, you have to wonder who assembled such a group, and we eventually learn it’s none other than Sunshine, now well into his sixties and still nursing a grudge against Kinnikuman. Although I think Nisei has a fair share of issues, the dMp, a parody of the WWE’s NWO team, is one of the best parts of it, an homage to wrestling’s construct of heels and upstarts with a diverse and rich member population. You’d think Sunshine formed the dMp out of pure spite over his losses to the heroes years ago, but when Kid Muscle hears out his side of the story, quite a bit actually bubbles to the surface. See, over Kinnikuman’s long history, at least one villain in each arc becomes his friend, to the point that most of his closest allies have tried to kill him at least once--Robin Mask, Warsman, Ramenman, Buffaloman, Neptuneman, and even Ashuraman, Sunshine’s once tag partner and the King of the Underworld, found his heart changed by his experiences in opposition to the heroes of the Muscle League. Sunshine’s heart of sand remained adamant in his place as a bad guy, and you don’t think of how rough he’s had it watching his friends switch sides and join the forces of good until you hear him explain how painful it was for him to endure. As his brothers in evil either died, fled, or reformed, Sunshine stewed in anger and solitude, the sun chipping away at his finely tuned sand body until he opened the dMp training camp, devoted to making new, hardened villains out of impressionable young wrestlers. It’s genuinely hard not to feel sorry for Sunshine as he explains his woes, which don’t end when even his dMp star pupil, Checkmate, decides he’d rather be a good guy.

In real life, wrestlers are divided into faces and heels, the fighters who are rooted for and booed--and Sunshine is the epitome of someone stuck in the role of the villain while others ascended and left him behind. Kinnikuman weaves the narratives of fighting adventure and pro wrestling to a point that they’re practically impossible to untangle, and just like how some wrestlers in real life don’t always get the chance to be promoted to an adored hero, the same is true for Sunshine. And while good and evil is more of a choice for a Chojin than a wrestler in a contractual narrative, I love the parallel of how Sunshine feels mistreated just because he remains with his roots. He proclaims that bad guys are harder working and have more conviction than the likes that joined the Muscle League, and yet “we villains can’t get a date to save our miserable lives!”--Sunshine remains a villain out of spite, envy, and a stubborn disposition, but I can’t imagine there aren’t real life heel wrestlers waiting for their big break to stop being branded and boo’d as a villain, just like Sunshine does. Broken and defeated, Sunshine gets a spoonful of turntables when the other dMp executives decide to kick him out for not being able to keep a leash on Checkmate or destroy the Muscle League. Sunshine realizes here that being a bad guy really doesn’t win, and with a secret remote bomb he keeps, destroys the dMp headquarters and the execs inside. It took a taste of genuine betrayal for Sunshine to realize the error of his ways, and decides he’ll find more genuine allies elsewhere. He never officially joins the good guys--but I think it’s such an interesting arc when he learns first hand that bad guy work is exactly that. In a universe of sympathetic bad guys who learn lessons and reform, Sunshine stands out by growing but never putting an end to his title as a bad guy. We need heels and villains to keep things interesting, and Sunshine is a reminder not to take them for granted. The perfect bully who would gladly kick sand in your face at the beach (and he doesn’t even need a beach to do that!), Sunshine is a villain who climbed the latter of the Akuma Chojin and became one of Kinnikuman’s most important foes.

[ofthomasyorks]

reclaiming the narrative

The day of his trial was upon them and Thomas was exhausted. He wasn’t drained, his usual form of exhausted, and his body was feeling fine. But sitting in the cell, staring at the wall, or laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, nothing was happening to motivate him to get up. This may well be the end for him. Usually that knowledge was good enough to get him through the day, but it had never been true quite so literally before. If Dwight didn’t pull off an absolute miracle to get him out of prison, he would be stuck there until long after the revolution he helped set up would either fail or succeed. This was not how it was meant to be at all. 

  The suit felt uncomfortable more than ever. He wasn’t in any way used to the clothes provided for him by the prison, but the suit made him into someone he had never been: the image of a person that the Council needed him to be. The kid that had lost everything and grew up into a successful man with a great job, a great fiancée and a great house had been a myth before it was even true. Thomas rather thought the Council knew it, too. But governing had never been about the truth, knowledge he had abused time and time again, and it showed again in this particular situation. Thomas York dating a nineteen year old boy didn’t fit the image and Gavin Rosett disliked him enough to do something about it.   He was going over the list of witnesses in his head when the guard in front of his cell announced that his lawyer had arrived. Thomas got up slowly and headed for the door, where he was handcuffed yet again. Where did they think he was going? The guard lead him towards the offices, where Jeffrey was waiting for him. He frowned at the other, but didn’t say a word until they were outside the prison building and  crossing the street to the building of justice. “Did Dwight give up?” Thomas questioned. “You’re not qualified to defend me and you’re meant to identify yourself as Dwight. How did you even get this far?”   Jeffrey smirked a little. “No one is clever enough to be able to tell us apart. I just took his ID card. And you don’t have to worry about Dwight. He went past the hospital before coming there and asked me to get you out early. We’ll switch our ID cards back in the hall.”    This was typical Jeffrey and Dwight behavior. They did it when they were younger and had to attend a class or do a test that the other was better at. These days when Jeffrey had a formal occasion to attend at the Council  and didn’t have the right mindset or when Dwight was supposed to show up at a course case that he couldn’t sit through, they switched. They may be twins, but they weren’t identical. Someone who had seen them every week for years, like Thomas, knew who he had in front of him with one look. The others didn’t look right, or didn’t realize what they were looking at.      Thomas shook his head, but opted not to comment. “What was he doing in the hospital?” “Making sweet, sweet love to his wife,” Jeffrey said melodramatically, causing Thomas to side-eye him. “I’m not even kidding, mostly. They haven’t seen each other in days. But he’s probably making sure the trauma department is prepared.”   “Why?” Thomas asked.  “Screw you, Thomas,” was Jeffrey’s instant reaction, as though he had seen Thomas’ question coming. “You and I both know why. You and I also know he won’t be around much once you’re there and he’ll feel bad for it, so he’s already trying to make up for it.”   Thomas considered that for a couple of seconds as they walked up the stairs of the justice building. The guards were still walking a safe few feet behind them. “He doesn’t have to feel guilty,” Thomas said. “If he gets me out I’ll owe him big time. You seem very sure that he will, though. What makes you so sure?”   “I never doubt Dwight,” Jeffrey said. “He’s the clever one of the family.” He seemed to think about that statement briefly as he opened the door to let Thomas in first. “He has a plan. A plan that’ll work. The witness list is perfect and will see to it. We discussed it with everyone and they all know what to say.”   Jeffrey, Kaya, Brooke, Drake and Steffen. It still made zero sense to Thomas.

 Once they arrived in the entrance hall, most people that Thomas expected were already there. He greeted Lucy and Kaya before turning to Noa and Drake. Drake surprisingly approached cautiously and proceeded to put his arms around him, a hug that Thomas accepted hesitantly with a look in Noa’s direction, who seemed to try her best to smile at him.   “Are you okay?” Noa asked once Drake let go off him.   Thomas nodded. “I’m fine,” he declared, ignoring the way that Drake and Noa exchanged a glance. “How has everything at home been? Did Drake burn down the house yet?”   “That’s not funny,” Drake said as he glared at Thomas momentarily. “You have to be home. I can’t be in that house by myself. And not with Brooke and Steffen, either. It’s weird.”   “Well, whether I’ll be home or not isn’t really up to me any more,” Thomas said matter-of-fact.   From the corner of his eye, he saw Dwight and Steffen arrive alongside Brooke. He watched the three of them for a couple of seconds before he averted his gaze.   “I don’t think you’re supposed to be staring at your victim,” Jeffrey commented.   Thomas turned to look at his best friend. “My what now?”  Jeffrey moved in his direction to stand behind him. “Your victim. That’s how they see Steffen. You used your authority and your position of power to get him in your bed.” He laid his hands on Thomas’ shoulders with the intention to massage some of the tension out, but all he got from only the first motion was Thomas tensing up further and puling away immediately. Jeffrey glared at him. Thomas glared back. The words I knew it! and Don’t say a word about this were almost floating in the air before both of them averted their gazes abruptly.    “You don’t have to worry,” Jeffrey said as he moved, more carefully this time around, to stand next to Thomas and laid a hand on his arm. “We’re going to reclaim the narrative. You’ll see.” Thomas had no idea what that meant. Jeffrey had no intention of explaining it to him. “I’m gonna swap my ID card with Dwight again. I’ll be right back.”

jeffrey.

  It took no time at all, once the charges were read, for Dwight to start his so-called master plan. Thomas wished his lawyer’s brother would stop referring to it as such, because it would look really dumb if said master plan failed. Because it was a fast-tracked court case, the defense got to select a number of witnesses that the plaintiff would be using too. The evidence would be provided by both parties, because the evidence that Thomas was arrested for would have to be used and more evidence could be added. It was an improvisation case, another term that Jeffrey used, and that was in their favor. 

  The first witness to be called to the stand was Jeffrey. After stating his name and age and swearing that he wouldn’t lie (with a smirk that made Thomas sure that he would), he sat down and immediately slumped, as though incredibly relaxed on that chair.  

  “Mister Peterson,” Dwight started, and had both Thomas and Jeffrey immediately grinning over the way he addressed his brother like the two little children they could behave like, “tell us a little about your friendship with mister York.”   Right on cue, the Council’s lawyer had something to say. “How is this relevant? This court is about the question whether or not Thomas York abused Steffen West. Why don’t we skip right ahead to the boy so we can get this over with?”

  “We will do no such thing,” Dwight replied sharply, only to redirect himself towards the judge. “My aim is to establish how my client is in day-to-day life to give you a clear idea of him as a person. Once you understand his pattern of behavior, it’ll be much easier to make a well-informed choice about whether or not he is guilty. It is therefore very relevant that I ask multiple people with different roles in his life about him.”   “I’ll allow it,” the judge conceded, who was apparently looking forward to the long sit.    Thomas thought he was starting to get it. This was what Jeffrey meant with reclaiming the narrative. The judge thought of him a certain way because that was what he had been told by Gavin Rosett, the Council and no doubt the papers, since they would be all over this kind of trial. The only reason they weren’t in the justice building or the courtroom was because they weren’t allowed to be there. Nor did they need to, though. Surely someone working for the Council would be happy to leak some information to the press.    “So, my friendship with Thomas,” Jeffrey repeated, only to sit up straight, smirk and stretch, the three telltale signs of Jeffrey ready to start an entire monologue. “Thomas York is my best friend. I know at least three other people that would say the same thing and it’s true. Thomas is a best friend to all of us. Of course I can only speak for myself, and I love this man. I love poking fun at him. I love occasionally slightly humiliating him. But what I love way more than that is going running with him, as we do weekly. I love spending my evenings with him, whether that’s in the cafe or at one of our houses. He makes discussing work fun and that’s not fun with anyone.”   “So what you’re saying is that Thomas is a very good friend of yours,” Dwight interrupted. Jeffrey could surely have gone on for another ten minutes when uninterrupted. “What is he like in day-to-day life?”  Jeffrey studied Thomas for a couple of seconds, clearly considering it. “Thomas is the calm in a crisis and the logic in chaos. Thomas is the sarcastic comment when the situation desperately needs one. He’s clever and he’s sensitive. He’s the most loyal friend imaginable.”   “When have the two of you met?” Dwight queried.   Jeffrey pulled a face at that, probably at the strangeness of it all. He was talking to Dwight, no doubt as he was told to, but he was telling stories where Dwight had been by his side for. Dwight knew all this, but he couldn’t be questioning himself. “We met through our sister Kaya, the next witness,” he said. “He was eighteen and we hit it off immediately. We spend those formative years together when the world is wide and scary and all there for you to figure out. We helped him paint his house and raise his younger brother, and he helped us pick our houses, do our taxes and plan our weddings. He’s the best. He’s the reason why we both insisted to have two best men at our weddings. Dwight, you had Thomas and me. And I had Thomas and you.”   “What would you say that the relationship between Steffen and Thomas is like?” Dwight asked. “You see him every week, you said, and you’ve been close to him for years. Surely you discuss stuff like this together.”   “We sure do,” Jeffrey said with a grin that made Thomas afraid of what he was going to disclose next. “All the time. We have no secrets. And that’s why I know all about Steffen West and Thomas’ feelings for him. Thomas is badly in love with that man. I’d never seen him like that before. He was between being afraid of screwing up Drake’s friendship with Steffen and not wanting to break the law. Their love was stronger than that.”  As the plaintiff took over and started asking Jeffrey questions, Thomas tuned out. Jeffrey had a way with words. This wasn’t the one he was worried about.

kaya.

This wasn’t the one he was worried about, either.   She sauntered over to the front of the courtroom and mentioned her name and age matter-of-fact, only to swear she would tell the truth with the same grin on her face that Jeffrey was sporting earlier. Definitely related, those two. She sat down, her elbows on the small table in front of her that was meant to put down evidence on in case there was any, and glared at the Council’s judge for a couple of seconds before averting her gaze and smiling up at Dwight.     “Miss Peterson,” Dwight addressed her, smiling back. “When did you first meet Thomas?”  At school. That was an easy one and that wasn’t at all relevant. Thomas himself was about to protest about relevance (he didn’t think he was allowed to do that) when Kaya spoke to reply to the question.   “I first met Thomas when I was thirteen and when I was fourteen. It was the first day of school. I was with the girls and he was the odd kid at the back of the class,” Kaya said, a smile still on her face. “But I really met Thomas when I showed up at the hospital when he hadn’t shown up at school for over a week.”   Oh no. Oh, no. “Dwight,” Thomas hissed under his breath, “steer her away.”   “Shut up,” Dwight said after turning in his direction, not at all bothering to lower his voice. “Sit down and sit through this.”   What else was he going to do if his lawyer and the current witness decided to be cooperative? He couldn’t exactly walk out of the courtroom.   “My apologies,” Dwight said. “Miss Peterson, you were saying?”   “The hospital was what I was saying,” she said. “The weird kid from the back of the class had been gone for over a week, so I went on an investigation. Our class mentor redirected me to his foster parents, who in turn send me to the hospital with the tentative hope of Thomas talking to someone for a chance. When I arrived at the third floor I thought they were making fun of me. For those of you that don’t know, the left wing of the third floor is the psychiatric wing. But he was there. Room number nine, sitting on the bed reading a magazine.”   “What happened once you walked into that room?” Dwight asked.   “He wanted me to go away,” Kaya said with a light chuckle. “Said he didn’t want my pity or curiosity. That was fair, considering we hardly spoke three words before that day. But it wasn’t either one of those things, so I kept insisting until I got him to give me his phone number. I came back the next day with books to read and I kept showing up. Gradually he started to trust me and open up, but it took him a few weeks to tell me what he was in the hospital for. He was so miserable that he tried to kill himself. I realized that I would have missed out on meeting this incredible boy if that were the case and that just wouldn’t do. Of course, I couldn’t have guessed how important to me he would become, but I was convinced he was too special for me to give up on, so I never have and I never regretted it.”   “What happened after Thomas came back to school?” Dwight queried.   “I immediately introduced him to my brothers and my cousin,” Kaya said. “And they loved him almost immediately for his matter-of-fact ways and his quirky and sarcastic sense of humor. I sat with him in all our shared classes and we had the most fun. All I regret is not approaching him years earlier. When he quit high school after sixth year I was mad at him for a while because who else was going to make me laugh and remind me of my homework? He was the best thing about high school by a long shot. Other than meeting my wife, probably.” Probably?   “How would you describe Thomas?” Dwight asked. “In the way you know him, what description fits him best?”   Kaya smiled slowly. “He’s the best person in any room, always,” she said. “He’s thoughtful and sensitive, two traits that I miss in men often and therefore love in him. He’s always there when I need him. He’s the kindest and the smartest person I know. If I were straight, this wouldn’t be a court case because I’d have married him in a heartbeat and he wouldn’t have had the chance to fall in love with someone else.” Taking a breath, she added: “He’d never do what the plaintiff claims he did. There’s just no way. Thomas is a difficult man. He feels too much and doesn’t always know what to do with it. I’ve always imagined that his mind is a dark place that he doesn’t want to involve us in, but he manages admirably. He loves harder and is kinder because of it.”   The plaintiff tried to make Kaya say that because Thomas’ head was a dark place he would do things against the law and that they would protect him, but there was no cracking Kaya. Instead, she was very persistent in denying every claim going in that direction and had the audacity to laugh when they insinuated maybe she didn’t know him well enough to know that side of him. It made him grin a little himself, despite of everything. Kaya knew him and he knew Kaya, through and through. 

brooke.

This was the one he was worried about.   Not because he didn’t think Brooke wouldn’t be honest. Maybe that was part of the problem. No, Brooke was the kind of girl that was easy to persuade and make her change her mind. If anyone was the weak link in this line-up of witnesses, it was Brooke. Everyone could see that she was nervous as she approached the judge and smiled weakly. Her voice was trembling when she stated her name and her age and swore to tell the truth. When Thomas looked behind him into the crowd, he saw Anthony Reyes sit there. When the other met his gaze, Thomas looked back to Brooke resolutely. He yet had to figure out how this fell in Dwight’s master plan, because usually an ex-fiancée wouldn’t have anything good to say.    “Miss West,” Dwight spoke, approaching her so he could look at her directly. “How did you meet Thomas? What was your first impression of him?”  Brooke looked aside at him and smiled a little. “I knew of Thomas, at first. I think everybody does. He was the overly successful financial director of the hotel. He was living the dream according to many, with that job at his age. There were always pieces in the paper about how great the hotel was doing under his leadership and what other projects he could be taking on. But then he taught a guest seminar at our school. I didn’t take the class, but my best friend May did. According to her he was gorgeous and dreamy and I wanted to see, so I approached him and we talked for a minute. May was right.”   Gorgeous and dreamy? He had spoken to Brooke before the engagement? He wasn’t sure what he was more shocked by.   “You got engaged to Thomas through the Council,” Dwight said. “As you can find in evidence D, if you must. Engagement papers with their signatures. Similarly, evidence E, divorce papers with their signatures. Can you tell me something about that relationship?”   “Of course,” Brooke said, who seemed to relax a little. “When I turned twenty, I decided to sign up for the match program. It seemed logical to me, because it’s better to find someone who is well-suited to me based on our character traits than to count on falling in love with a guy that I wanted to spend my entire life with.” She glanced behind Thomas at Anthony. Thomas had to suppress the urge to make a sarcastic comment about that. “And it was Thomas,” Brooke continued. “Thomas was my perfect match. He was perfect to me, at first. He had a great job, a house, he always asked how I was doing and put in a lot of effort.”   “He was perfect at first, you said,” Dwight picked up. “What changed?”   “I learned to see him for the person that he was, instead of the picture that was painted by his file and the facade that he tried to hold up,” Brooke replied with a little smile. “What he really was, was a guy that was trying really hard to make his relationship work but struggling to do so. I loved that guy more than I ever could with that perfect picture. Thomas isn’t perfect. He’s flawed. But his biggest flaw is - ” She paused to look at him, her lips pressed together. Thomas looked back at her and wondered what she was seeing.    “He doesn’t love himself,” Brooke said as though she had just decided that. “That’s his biggest flaw.”   “What do you mean?” Dwight said, who had clearly lost her as well.    “I mean -” Brooke paused again and Thomas could see the insecurity sinking back in, but she pushed through. “It’s not that he needs validation. He rarely asks for it. But he beats himself up inside. He broods. He has trouble sleeping because he overthinks so much that he can’t shut down. He doubts himself constantly and seems to convince himself that he’s not worth whatever is happening in his life, whether that’s his friends, his brother or me. Right now he’s probably thinking he’s not worth all the effort of this trial.”   Well that was painful. Was is that obvious that even Brooke saw it?   “Miss West, the plaintiff is going to want to ask you about your sex life with mister York, so I’m going to beat them to it,” Dwight said calmly. Was that really necessary? Apparently. “Could you tell me about your sex life with him?”    “I could, but there’s nothing to tell,” Brooke said with a light shrug of his shoulders. “We agreed to wait until marriage to sleep together, so we had some time to get to know each other first. We both wanted to form that emotional bond that a couple should have before being intimate. He was always very insistent on being careful. He always knocked before walking into the bedroom when I was there and never walked into the bathroom when I was in the shower. Of course we did some things - we made out, shared baths, did some stuff  over the clothes - but that’s it.”  And just like that, Brooke took whatever the plaintiff could have asked of her about their sex life and spun it in a way that it was worthless for them to work with. When Dwight turned back around to Thomas with the words ‘no further questions’ he had a grin on his face that Thomas recognized as the smirk he had on his face when he was winning.    The plaintiff didn’t agree, though. “Miss West. Why did you divorce mister York?” Did they seriously think that was how they were going to find dirt? Well, they were wrong.   “Thomas and I mutually agreed on the divorce after I admitted that I -” Both Thomas and Dwight were shaking their heads at her, because she couldn’t tell the truth in this instance. Even if it may be good for Thomas’ case, Thomas really didn’t want his ex-fiancée going to jail over telling the truth during his court case. She should not be admitting she cheated on him. Thankfully, she caught on. “That I was in love with someone else,” she finished her sentence. “I broke his heart. I’m still sorry about that. He deserved better.”   “And two days later he was sitting in a hot tub with your little brother? Evidence A, the security footage picture of the hotel’s penthouse.” Of course they had those.   “Objection, that’s not a question,” Dwight remarked, still sharp.    “I’ll rephrase,” the Council’s lawyer said. “Were you aware that Thomas and your little brother were spending time together intimately?”   Brooke had been ready for that question, as it turned out. “Yes,” she said. “He told me that he had been in love with Steffen and that Steffen had been in love with him before he turned twenty-three and the engagement was agreed on. He distanced himself from Steffen. All that time I’ve thought that they just couldn’t stand each other, but in reality they were faced with the person they loved every day with the knowledge they couldn’t be with them. When I confessed to being in love with someone else and he told me about Steffen, it was only logical to me that he would return to being with Steffen, just as I was with the person I was in love with.”   “Do you believe they’re in love, miss West?”   “Yes,” Brooke said without blinking. “I know my little brother and I know my ex-fiancé. If Steffen has set his sights on what he wants, he’s not afraid to go after it. As it turns out, what he wanted was Thomas. So the moment the divorce was finalized, that was exactly what he did. He went after what he wanted.”

drake.

  Drake looked so uncomfortable in the suit - one of Thomas’ suits, he realized when he looked again - that it made Thomas have to smother a grin. Drake caught it and glared at him. “I’m Drake York, I’m twenty, and I swear I’ll tell the truth,” he said before falling down on the chair for the witness and sighing deeply.   “Drake, arguably you’re the person here that knows Thomas best,” Dwight said as he got up from his chair and walked towards the witness stand. “You’re his brother. You grew up with him. Can you tell me a little about your childhood together?”   “Sure,” Drake said. This was going to be painful, Thomas expected, and not in the social form of being slightly humiliated by the truth. This was the harsh version of painful, where the story was just unbearable to tell. “Thomas was the only constant in my childhood. Our parents died when we were eleven and eight. We went through three foster families since. I don’t remember all that much of the first two, to be honest. All I knew was that I was always clinging to Thomas and he was always there. When I didn’t want to come out of my room, he would get to me. When I didn’t want to eat, he would convince me. When I didn’t want to go to school, he would tell me why I had to. The families tried to do what Thomas did, but never could.”    Dwight wanted to ask another question, but Drake beat him to speaking. “Can I continue? Can I just talk about Thomas for a while? Because this court case is bullshit. I know Thomas. The idea that he would do anything to hurt another human like that is hilarious, never mind Steffen.”   Thomas had to suppress his laughter. Behind him, Kaya and Jeffrey weren’t bothering to do the same.   “Sure,” Dwight said. “Say what you feel needs to be said.”   “Thomas put up with all my crap,” Drake declared. “He raised me. No matter what the three foster families may tell you otherwise, I know it was Thomas and he knows it too. He taught me how to treat others, how to cook, he helped me with my homework and even sat me down for the sex talk, which I suspect was horrible for the both of us. He proceeded to take me to the stores to buy condoms and made me promise to never touch someone unless they explicitly gave me content to do so. I’ve seen him with Gianna and with Steffen. He’s careful. He’s romantic. He’s how I wish I could be. I’m sorry for being a lousy boyfriend, Noa.”   Thomas didn’t think he could listen to this. Drake was all over the place because of how terrified he was of the prospect of losing Thomas and was oversharing because of it. Dwight shouldn’t have let him talk because he was going to let something slip he shouldn’t.    Thankfully, Dwight caught up on that as well. “Drake, you’re also friends with Steffen, correct?”   “Best friends,” Drake said. “For years now.”   “So arguably you’re closest to both people this lawsuit is about,” Dwight said. “One of them is your best friend. The other is your brother. Did you know about their relationship?”   “Yes,” Drake said. “Eventually, a couple of months into when they were dating, I figured it out. I wasn’t very nice about it, at first. I thought it would just be heartbreak, which it was. I was right about that. I also thought it wasn’t worth it, but I was wrong about that. What they have is real, otherwise they would never have handled themselves the way they have. They have been pining after each other but not even getting near each other ever since January. They knew what their relationship had been was too good to screw that up with making mistakes after it was done. I was happy for them when they got back together. They belong together. And it’s great for me to have my best friend and brother dating each other, of course.”   Dwight glanced aside at the Council’s lawyer momentarily. “Do you believe that Thomas could have abused Steffen in any way?”   “No,” Drake said, loud and clear. “The thought wouldn’t even enter Thomas’ head.”

[kurainburdened]

👫 ft. saizo KJNHM

bHey guess what you asked for saizo but youre getting like everyone

Knock of Sasuke Saizo

Lol I like to bully him,

His is funny because it’s so completely one sided right now, if only slowly pulling results. But lets see what I can do with the local tsundere ninja, as the company liked to call him

Maya and Saizo are two complete opposite souls pulled together by circumstance. Maya is overbearing, fun loving and silly. Shes finally out in the real world and poor Saizo has to pull on reigns to keep her from doing anything too crazy. That’s already a big job for most people but for someone like him? Well it’s easy to see how their relationship got to how it is.

But Mayas genuineness does indeed begin to wear him down. She goes out of his way for him. After all, job or not, he’s still risking his life for her and she wants to do what she can for him even when he’s being a huge meanie! The more he tells her it’s impossible for htem to be friends the more of a challenge she takes it as. And she wont stop until theyre best buddies!

I like to imagine a scene where someone is trying to kill saizo who can barely move from the fight and Maya stands in between them. The person cant kill the kurain master because shes useful so they at least try to fight her enough to deter her but she keeps getting back up.And shes getting in really bad shape, she can barely stand but she still pulls herself in front of saizo. Like yes she’s weak, yes she doesnt know the firs tthing about fighting but she will NOT let anything happen to him if she can still move. Of course in the last second the cavalry comes. and Saizo probs gives her a thorough scolding.  

Now for some fun hcs!

Maya ends up trying to learn how to defend herself and to his surprise she actually has an aptitude for the sword. Something no one saw coming and something only a trained ninja could even recognize. She’s not so good with her feet so it’s kind of hard to tell for most people. She also has good instincts and after quite a bit of time, He actually gets her to be pretty good! The two can gave some good fights, tho of course Saizo still dwarfs her but Maya has fun fighitng him. YOU CAN BET that once she starts getting some level of good she’d try sneak attacking him. It wields some painful results at first, but after  bit he becomes able to send her presence specifically so she doesn’t get as hurt. The first time she genuinely is able to sneak up on him she’s so proud of herself. That is, if that happens. But it’d be cool if it did.

Sakuhito

So I hc that Maya ends up finding out about sakuhito the same way it goes in the prologue. Though it takes longer after meeting them for her to revea that. She kind of plays around with sakuhito for a bit. She’ll muses loudly like ‘huh thats funny thats different from what you told me before. Thats sooo strange. Whats going on here,’ she sees him sweat and desperately try to cover it up for a bit  before kind of letting him off the hook and shrugging like ‘ah well must be my imagination. anyway!’ and changes the subject quickly. One day shes finally like ‘so who are you? cause its definitely not the emperorer’

She gets what it’s like to be in big positions of power so she plays with him a lot. Tries to get him to loosen up. This mostly takes the form of her playing little harmless pranks on him. Something to make him smile. As well as give her a good laugh. You can bet she sets up a banana peel in front of him. It’s all in good harm and nothing harmful and nothing that would put his position in danger

When theyre alone Maya teaches him fun kid things. She excitedly recounts all sorts of fun tales she’s heard, complete with reenacments that sometimes gets herself hurt during the action scenes, sometimes sakuhito. She doesnt care. Maya is probably alot more daring around him than anyone should be allowed to be in front of the emperor but it always works to her favor. All she wants is to get his mind off all the big heavy stuff he has to deal with in the outside world. When theyre together in her room, she wants him to just feel like sakuhito.

I feel like this might result in him feeling the need to distance himself because she ends up being able to tear his mask off a lot easier than she should be able to. And he has a job to do. He cant let anyone know of his presence but maya is absolutely RELENTLESS.

Maya and Sakuhito are very similar in that they have theyre fun childish sides but this never means that they are people who shirks their responsibilities. Which I think is a big comfort for Maya because I like to imagine in the presence of other people they’ll be all stiff. Maya and Sakuhito bow deeply to each other and are like ‘It’s an honor to meet you Emperorer Kuze’ ‘Yes as with you oh powerful Kurain Master’ and they’ll glance up and theres this small smile and glimmer in they’re eye and they share a giggle before coming back up. Them talking to each other politely feels more like a game of pretend, compared with others when they’re playing their assigned roles.

Now time for fun hcs!

I like to imagine if they’re stuck in a gathering of important figures, Maya and Sakuhito will find themselves together and they’ll look like they’re having important conversations, and sometimes they are but others Maya’s just cracking jokes with him in a hushed tones. Sometimes Sakuhito has to start into a coughing fit to hide a laugh.

Of course Maya doesn’t do this all the time. She has a good sense of responsibility and time and place, but there’s also something fun about sharing in these secret conversations. It’s a feeling akin to passing notes in the middle of class with a close friend.

These two have conversations thats just two people of similar personalities and backgrounds who can connect and understan each other in this way that not a lot of other people can They have a lot of fun and when they’re together they can just be themselves. And it’s a bit of a relief from their usual lives. They give each other a place where they can be themselves.

I like to think that they’re kind of like each others safe havens. Like theyre home when they’re with each other.

These two get so good at reading each other so if something happens in a room, they literally just have to make eye contact and immediately theres this understanding. They can make hand signals that no one else understands but them.

Ohh Maya gets kidnapped and she sends a letter thats supposed to make sure no one suspects anything but later when Kuze is relaying this to Sakuhito Maya says something odd that makes Sakuhito raise an eyebrow. Like it’s something small that no else would think twice about but he just KNOWS and he takes a look at the letter and it makes mention of a story character who gets kidnapped, And its one of the stories she had told him about and hes immediately like. MAYAS BEEN KIDNAPPED. and everyone else is like. isnt that a jump? but he just KNOWS. he can tell from just these small things that somethings wrong and theres something in his gut that just makes him so sure of this

oh man i want modern au for all your muses i just tried imagining modern sakuhito but idk how thatd even translate

Munenori

I feel like she tends to do the same for munenori that she does for Sakuhito but rather than it being a concentrated effort at first, with like a purpose she just can kind of naturally be herself. I think that has to do with the fact that Munenori isn’t pushing himself like sakuhito is to keep up the mask of someone that is just the opposite of himself.Her relationship is something more relaxed where she just is herself and munenori appreciates it

I feel like this relationship is very mutual in that, Maya really loves and respects him. She respects how dignified he is. How he holds himself as a leader and how he leads. She’s fascinated by him because he doesn’t treat her like others do and he seems to genuinely enjoy her presence rather than just putting up with her. There’s this natural pull she feels where she wants to learn more about him. In turn munenori appreciates how shes never let the power she has get to her head, rather it’s not in her to ever let her power control her like it has others. She’s so genuine and has this aura of fun about her but also never shirks her own responsibilities. I also feel like he’ll be one of the first to realize her tactical abilities and that she’s much smarter than she or anyone will give her credit her. Like this relationship is built on a lot of mutual respect.

When these two are together I like to imagine it’s more like two like minded people with differing energies that come to converge when they’re together. It’s a friendship that on the outside looks so strange but for these two it’s so natural. They’re like minded enough to enjoy one anothers presence but different enough for them to be able to learn and grow from being together. The ways they differ allow for them to have these interesting conversations. While they don’t agree on everything they can usually walk away from disagreements feeling like they learned something. I guess if I had to describe it, you wouldn’t ever imagine it but their brains are kind of on the same wavelength. Like they can just enjoy each others presence and grow from each other, but when things get bad, something happens with the war, they stand on equal footing and can help support each other. Give insight that the other lacks

Roberto

Her relationship with Roberto is interesting because he meets her on much different circumstances than she does with the other two. Maya is trying to really embrace her responsibility and in doing so leave parts of herself behind. It’s not like she’s all business all the time but there’s not as much room to be herself. That’s why Roberto is someone she really connects with. He brings out this side of her that’s shes trying to lock away and just the mere presence of him is making that impossible for her.

These two are people with similar energies who feed into each other. When they’re together it can be explosive chaos because there are ZERO brakes. Interestingly enough it’s usually maya with the reservations. Because she’s here to work. She’s here to study. Yes she has fun, yes she can be silly, but she can’t be her usual rule breaker self when she’s here. She wants to be respectful to the kingdom that allowed her to study under their royalty. So she can’t exactly go around burning the place down.

That’s why Roberto is kind of like her kryptonite. He so naturally and effortlessly pulls her entire personality out where she likes it or not. That’s kind of good but kind of bad. He encourages those impulses that usually most people would tell her no. It’s good in that Maya has more room to breathe, but sometimes he encourages her to do things she shouldn’t. But I think because he’s encouraging this side of her that everyone tells her is bad, she feels more like she can trust him. Like she can entrust this side of herself to him.

Now for some fun hcs

Maya and Roberto get so good at avoiding guards it’s like a game of hide and seek. They end up becoming really acquaintd with all the nooks and crannies of the palace. They end up exploring the castle more thoroughly and even find hidden passageways and they explore a lot together. Like they have all these cool adventures.

[fountainpenguin]

Foils: Antagonists In FOP

I hope you all enjoyed “This Is a Box” last Tuesday. I know I said I was going to do a worldbuilding post this week, but since “This Is a Box” is so long, I decided to do a post that wasn’t going to make you take in too much new information. Thus, this week we’re discussing character personalities and fanfic writing tips. 

Specifically, our topic today is foils, and how I write seven FOP antagonists as distinct characters despite their shared interest in villainy.

WHAT IS A FOIL?

Foil: In literature, a foil is "a character who contrasts with another character to highlight particular qualities of the other character.”

Anti-Fairies are intended, literally, to be foils to their counterparts. Foop is nitpicky and proud, whereas Poof is laid-back and modest. Cosmo is clueless and doesn’t like taking responsibility, whereas Anti-Cosmo is intelligent and wants his name smeared across everything he does. Wanda takes charge with organized efficiency, whereas Anti-Wanda is reckless and deferent. And so on.

But foils don’t have to be Fairy and Anti-Fairy counterparts. Any two characters can be foils if you develop them that way. Cosmo and Wanda are foils for each other, with Wanda being the responsible motherly type and Cosmo being the childish playful type. Dinkleberg is a foil for Timmy’s Dad, as Dinkleberg is ridiculously considerate and generous, while Timmy’s Dad tends to be jealous, selfish, and judgmental.

WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT FOILS AS A WRITER?

Designing characters to be foils is a simple way to flesh them out and draw a reader into the story. Foils can complicate relationships in interesting ways between friends who hold some opposing views, or even between a hero and villain who hold some similar views.

Foils are typically used to balance a protagonist with their main antagonist. But how do we balance antagonists with other antagonists?

VICKY

The key to writing Vicky is remembering her motivation. This is where “Certifiable Super Sitter” fell short. Vicky’s motivation throughout the series has always been greed. She craves money. She’s in the babysitting gig to get paid, meaning that she would never want parents to stop hiring her. “Certifiable Super Sitter” was inconsistent with this motivation, because Vicky acted openly evil in front of Timmy’s Dad and had no concern that he would stop hiring her or tell her to go home.

In addition to earning money, Vicky also enjoys bossing the kids she babysits around. This too has a purpose. She forces them to do chores she brought from her own house, or other tasks that their parents had left her to do that night. Obviously, this too has a purpose. Vicky avoids doing dishes or cleaning toilets by blackmailing or threatening to hurt the children she babysits. The chore gets done with little to no effort on her part, and she still gets paid. Although blackmail can be effective, Vicky gets a thrill out of scaring children, and tends to rely on physical, cartoon-y violence whenever possible.

However, Vicky’s work isn’t done. She must also convince the parents that she is worth hiring again, and prevent the children from convincing their parents that she’s horrible. Blackmail is sometimes used, but often, Vicky will break or damage something and blame it on the kid she babysits. She plays the victim who tried and failed to stop this child, and who, weeping, blames herself in front of the parents. The parents trust her more, and their children less.

So, Vicky’s greatest weakness as a villain is that she is constantly maintaining a “secret identity” from parents in Dimmsdale. She must play the part of a sweet and caring babysitter in front of them, and also make them believe she’s sweet and caring even after she’s left and parents speak with their children. Vicky is different from most other antagonists in FOP because she can’t be openly cruel in front of most of the town.

Vicky has another piece to her character that the other antagonists don’t: Her hate/love relationship with the alien Mark. The two break-up and make-up throughout the series, with Vicky loving his human form but struggling to accept his alien one. Even after seeing his alien form in “King Chang”, she sent him chocolates for Valentine’s Day as seen in “Invasion of the Dads”, and took him back sometime before “Fairly Odd Pet”, before breaking up with him again that episode after “having a fight with him”.

So another trait of Vicky’s that sets her apart from the other antagonists is her age. Vicky is a teenage girl dealing with teenage girl problems when she isn’t busy babysitting. She struggles with her sometimes-boyfriend, she busily attends high school, and she occasionally tries to find other jobs (Such as interning at the hospital, or working at the Cake ‘N’ Bacon diner). 

Additionally, Vicky has a little sister, Tootie, who is an excellent foil for Vicky- while Vicky hates Timmy, Tootie is in love with him. Whenever those two and Timmy are together, they instantly clash.

CROCKER

Vicky is a teenager constantly working to keep her “true identity” from adults in Dimmsdale. Denzel Crocker has no such concerns. From early on in the series, other characters label him crazy- including his ex-girlfriend and current boss, Geraldine Waxelplax.

This is a problem for Crocker! People don’t take him seriously, and laugh at him both behind his back and to his face. He despises the “crazy” label, but instead of trying to convince the town that he’s “gone straight” and no longer believes in fairies, Crocker throws his all into proving that fairies exist. Crocker is both full of wrath at the thought of being considered crazy, and full of greed in his desire to gain control of fairy magic. Of course, what he most wants to do with fairy magic isn’t to live a life of luxury, but to seek revenge on all those who ever wronged him in the slightest. Crocker finds it impossible to befriend anyone who openly believes he’s crazy.

In contrast with Vicky, Crocker delivers far more emotional pain to Timmy than physical pain. As Timmy’s fifth grade teacher, Crocker controls a huge chunk of power over Timmy, from his grades to his social life. Crocker’s end goal, of course, is to prove to the world that Timmy has fairies. He does so by publicly humiliating Timmy whenever he can, trying to coax him to use magic to defend himself or poof away, after which Crocker intends to capture Timmy’s fairies and prove to everyone that fairies are real.

Crocker is the complete opposite of Vicky in that regard. While Vicky wants to keep part of her life secret and always wants to get Timmy alone so she can torment him, Crocker always wants to keep Timmy in public so that if Timmy does call on his fairies for aid, he’ll risk exposing them to the world.

Besides being thought of as crazy, another aspect of Crocker’s character sets him apart from the other antagonists. Despite his old age, he is unmarried and still lives with his mother. The two constantly clash because his mother is desperate for him to marry and move out, and Crocker dislikes being babied and bossed around. However, Crocker’s dating pool is limited, as the town believes he’s crazy. Even if his craziness doesn’t stand in the way, his age and looks make dating a struggle.

Some of the other villains in FOP don’t intend to target Timmy specifically. However, Crocker has a perfectly legitimate reason for doing so: Timmy Turner is in his class. Timmy does harass Crocker on occasion too, by publicly embarrassing him (Such as by switching the video Cosmo took of Cosmo and Wanda and tried to upload online with a video of Crocker wearing a dress in “Information Stupor Highway”). Crocker, despising it when people think he’s crazy, suspects Timmy’s hand in many of the bad things that happen to him, and the cycle continues.

Crocker is different from some of the other antagonists in the show because, mostly, he doesn’t really want Timmy dead. Occasionally his wrath will get the better of him and he’ll want to strike out at everyone who’s ever laughed at him, but both Crocker and Timmy would prefer to publicly humiliate each other instead of physically hurting each other whenever possible.

NORM

Norm is one of those characters who isn’t here to make friends. With anyone. Ever. In basically his whole life. The only time he’s interested in winning someone over is if he approaches them to flirt. If you don’t match the qualification of “pretty genie lady”, the odds for winning Norm’s cooperation without a side order of sarcastic remarks are not in your favor.

Norm is an extremely forthcoming person. That alone sets him apart from all the other antagonists on this list besides Crocker and Anti-Cosmo. Perhaps being bottled up for the majority of his life has left the genie with a craving for conversation. Norm has a tendency to blurt things out even when his conversation partner doesn’t have the context about why he’s so angry about a certain person or event. He’ll happily explain himself to anyone who takes the time to talk with him, frequently revealing his plans in the process. I suppose when you’re a genie with oodles of cosmic power at your fingertips, you can get away with saying whatever you want. 

And it’s a good thing that Norm does have power at his back, because his big mouth would get him into a lot of trouble otherwise. Norm’s cockiness is always his downfall. Being a powerful genie, Norm typically expects things to work out for him. If he thinks the two of you are on the same side working towards the same goal, such as seeking revenge on Timmy Turner, then he’ll contribute everything to the table that he possibly can: Including revealing that a genie’s master actually can wish for more than three wishes.

While Norm may be proud and snarky, he actually does have some inkling of respect for authority. Not only did he jump through all the hoops to participate in Fairy Idol for the chance to become a fairy godparent, but he even put up with Jorgen stapling wings to his back and didn’t try to seek revenge on him for doing so. Norm likes to needle people out of curiosity to see if he can make them snap, but he doesn’t like direct confrontation.

Another sign of Norm’s cockiness is how touchy-taunty he tends to get. Put him in a room with another person, and he’ll inevitably poke them in the nose, rub his hand in their hair, or otherwise push and pull them around. However, he doesn’t appreciate being touched (or hugged) much in return. His displeasure is clear by the irritated faces he makes, but he doesn’t shove people off or snap at them. He’ll taunt and tease, yes, but again, direct confrontation isn’t his thing. This reluctant acceptance to let himself be touched and pushed around against his will is a surprising trait for a villain, and a very interesting one to explore.

Norm’s main goal in life, obviously, is to gain freedom from his lamp- a goal which he can’t achieve unless he is wished from his lamp by his master, or manages to exploit one of a few loopholes like the kind we saw in the show. Norm has no interest in taking over the world, blowing up the planet, or even in getting rich. The thing is, Norm isn’t outside his lamp nearly as often as he’d like to be. Once he gained freedom in “Fairy Idol”, he was delighted to explore the world, attend baseball games, and be waited on hand and foot. Things that involve other people, but with little effort and conversation on his end (Besides, of course, having dinner with someone who caught his eye).

Despite his utter lack of subtlety and his tendency to reveal what he’s thinking to everyone around, Norm is a very practical person overall. He’s used to time ticking out on him. He likes things to get done. He’ll go along with anything you want as long as he thinks it’s going somewhere, but he hates feeling used or ignored. One other thing that sets Norm apart from many of the other FOP villains is his reluctance to talk about his feelings. He’ll blab his evil plans, perhaps, and call you snappy nicknames every second of the day, but when it comes to actual emotions, he tends to keep his mouth shut or explain things through the use of logic instead.

REMY

Remy is an excellent foil for Timmy from the get-go. While both crave the attention of their parents, Timmy interacts with his much more frequently. Remy is barely allowed two minutes to speak directly with his parents. The original script for “Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary” even shows a deleted scene where he pleaded for them to stay and talk with him longer, and his mom softened and decided that they could deduct the extra time from tomorrow’s daily two minutes. Naturally, Remy envies Timmy for having two parents AND two godparents who all care about him.

Unlike Timmy, however, Remy is shown to be a very obedient child. Timmy often finds his parents dumb, or their rules strict, and uses Cosmo and Wanda to leave the house or gain access to anything his parents don’t want him to have. Timmy always tries to protest when he thinks his parents are being unfair, especially where Vicky and Crocker are concerned.

But Remy isn’t brave enough to stand up to his parents. In his desperation to win their affection, he is wholly compliant. He’ll do anything they say - stay out of their way, stay quiet, attend military school - and is even delighted to be called by the wrong name (Liam) due to the fact that he received a pat on the head from his father in the process. I think the fact that the scene of him whining to his parents was cut from the final episode emphasizes this aspect of his character completely. 

One thing is for sure: Remy would never use magic to hurt or even slightly inconvenience his parents. He just can’t bring himself to do it, or perhaps feels that he can’t change their minds no matter how hard he tries with magic, and that the only way to win their love is to do exactly what they say and hope it will all pay off in the future. The thing about Remy is, he tends to rely on others to rescue him rather than fighting to help himself. Instead of trying to pull himself from his downward spiral and fight for his needs, Remy would rather lash out at those who have what he doesn’t.

I haven’t written Remy much yet, but whenever I do, I try to emphasize the passive qualities of his character. Another example from the original script of “Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary” that was cut from the final version is the scene during the magical duel where Remy pulls out his phone to call for advice on which amazing creature he should turn into. In the script, his phone couldn’t get signal in Fairy World. Instead of trying to come up with something on his own, Remy stood there helplessly, panicking, placing all his faith in Juandissimo’s ability to save the day (Juandissimo, of course, turned Remy into a tortoise). 

Overall, Remy is a lonely, quiet child who tends to let things happen to him. He uses Juandissimo’s magic to escape reality and venture into comic books, and generally stays out of his parents’ ways. Unlike Timmy, Remy tends to think through the consequences of his actions, and tries to find more reasonable, easier, less risky ways to get what he wants (For example, he first tried to pay Timmy to wish Cosmo and Wanda away, instead of immediately calling magical duel in “Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary”.) 

Remy has control over very few things in his life- Juandissimo and money being the most obvious two. When Timmy and Remy first met, Remy was determined to rent the entire movie theater out for himself- no matter how much pressure the other kids put him under. Remy may not be able to stand up to his parents, but when backed with Juandissimo and money, he is determined to get what he wants from people he doesn’t believe have the power to stop him.

ANTI-COSMO

Anti-Cosmo’s biggest foils are, of course, Jorgen and H.P., as they all hold prominent positions as leaders in the magical world, and even Jorgen has aggressive, threatening, not-wholly-good traits. Anti-Wanda acts as a foil for Anti-Cosmo too, since her reckless carelessness tends to interfere with many of his plans.

H.P. and Anti-Cosmo, though, are both villains who lead their respective races. Since I am currently writing a backstory ‘fic for each of them (Origin of the Pixies and Frayed Knots), and the two frequently overlap, it’s very important to me to make them distinct from one another. To do this, I always strive to emphasize certain opposing key aspects in their personalities- Logic vs. Creativity being the most obvious.

H.P. is a highly-controlling neat-freak. When I write him, I try to emphasize his OCD tendencies, such as his need to rewrite notes on a new paper instead of crossing things out, or rearranging flowers by color in the grocery store.

So to contrast H.P., I went against the idea of Anti-Cosmo that I usually see portrayed in fanfiction- Instead of making Anti-Cosmo neat and tidy, I made his work areas messy. To top it off, I gave him scruffy hair that he can’t seem to style no matter how much he tries. He constantly flits from one idea to another, coming up with ideas and throwing them into action with the blind confidence that they’ll work, instead of taking the time to carefully plot things out. He prefers to improvise, rather than proceeding in an orderly fashion like H.P.

This also works, because messiness is a trait my Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda share, so her habit of being cluttered doesn’t frustrate him as much as it could. Instead of being a point that drives them apart, it’s an area where they understand each other.

Another way I try to emphasize Anti-Cosmo’s creativity is by making him a lover of the arts. When I walk him past statues, paintings, or through gardens in my writing, I let him pause and admire whatever it is he’s looking at. I also gave him the ability to draw, which happens to contrast with Cosmo’s ability to build. In my short story “Yellow Flower Number 9”, Anti-Cosmo happily supported anti-fairy children at the craft fair, even though the quality of what they were selling was subpar. Most antagonists, especially H.P., would never do that.

Of course, Anti-Cosmo is also based on the British aristocrat stereotype. He’s polite, proper, loves his tea, and probably loves to read. When he speaks, his sentences are very long and boastful- not to mention, full of pompous vocabulary. Anti-Cosmo tends to act smugly and expects to be respected, even if he’s dangling from the Big Wand in Fairy World by his underwear. However, despite his expectation of being respected, Anti-Cosmo tends to make terrible decisions- such as trying to steal brownies from the von Strangle bakery in plain sight, rather than sneaking in to steal them later. Or buying them.

HEAD PIXIE

The other major trait pair between H.P. and Anti-Cosmo that I try to emphasize in my works is Justice vs. Mercy. H.P. makes his rules clear to his pixies and punishes anyone who breaks them. He believes that hard work should be rewarded, and will promote or demote the workers of Pixies Inc. regardless of whether doing so will cause their coworkers to resent them. Anti-Cosmo, however, is willing to forgive, teach, and nudge in the right direction without delivering much more than a scolding or light slap on the wrist. Anti-Cosmo is far more willing to trust those he doesn’t like and forgive those who have wronged him in the past than grudge-holding H.P. is.

H.P. is a curious character whose personality in-show seems to contradict everything you would expect of him. Despite his age, wealth, and business attire, the Head Pixie is a very casual man who tosses phrases like “Later, dude”, “Blah blah blah”, and “Go me, go me, it’s my birthday” into conversation. One deleted scene from “Oddlympics” even shows him fist-bumping. His sentences are short, a bit choppy, and frequently begin with conjunctions. Obviously, his speech pattern alone sets him apart from Anti-Cosmo.

The key to writing H.P. is confidence. And lots of it. Every time H.P. is on screen, you’ll know it. He always wants everyone’s attention on him, and tries to take charge in all situations. When he is expected to defer to someone, such as Anti-Cosmo while in Anti-Cosmo’s own home, he can’t seem to resist the urge to undermine whoever holds power over him- even if that person is his own ally. For example, when Anti-Cosmo wanted to name the baby they’d kidnapped Fauntleroy, H.P. made a point of arguing with him in front of Timmy and the gang, whereas a more tactful character (such as Anti-Cosmo) might have waited until they were away from witnesses before expressing distaste.

H.P. is a proud soul with very little shame. He acts as though he can get away with doing whatever he wants and make people look bad if he feels like it, and expects to not face serious consequences for doing so. Cocky H.P. believes he deserves respect and that he should always be in charge. Nothing drives him crazier than losing control of a situation. If he isn’t in control, he’ll gain it in whatever way he can- typically by sassing whomever holds power over him.

Another interesting aspect to H.P.’s character is, of course, that he is a businessman. And not only is he a businessman, but the pixies represent the neutral gray between the Fairy and Anti-Fairy races. H.P. is a character who holds no qualms about playing on both sides of the street. If it benefits him most to do things the legal, lawful way, then he will jump through all the hoops and fill out all the paperwork to do so. But if it benefits him to play the role of a villain and simply take what he wants (such as a fairy baby), then he’ll go about things in a more underhanded way.

H.P. has a very logical way of looking at the world, and isn’t usually conflicted when faced with multiple options. Vicky won’t torment a child in front of a parent. Crocker may hesitate to act if he feels he’ll be publicly humiliated. Remy is reluctant to stand up to adults he can’t win over with money. Anti-Cosmo’s temper flares when he feels he’s been insulted. Foop, when trying to be underhanded, might let something slip but will stammer and correct himself to hide his true goals. H.P., however, tends to be straightforward, blunt, and doesn’t try to disguise what he wants. You generally know what H.P. wants from you, and if you don’t yet, he’ll let you know very soon.

FOOP

Foop seems to take much more after Anti-Cosmo than he takes after Anti-Wanda, so when my writing gives me the chance to bring both Anti-Cosmo and Foop into the same scene, I try to emphasize the differences between them. Again, I try to play off Anti-Cosmo’s creativity and charity by playing up Foop’s logical outlook on life, along with his childish perceptions and his selfishness. If bringing Anti-Cosmo into a scene isn’t an option, then Foop ranting about ways his father annoys him can also do the trick.

The show doesn’t make the differences between Foop and Anti-Cosmo very obvious, but if you study them closely, you can get a feel for the ways they differ. “Fairly Odd Baby” makes it clear that Anti-Cosmo is much more interested in flaunting how smart he is than he’s interested in actually getting away with what he was trying to do.

For example, in “Fairly Odd Baby” alone, Anti-Cosmo took the time to reveal that he and H.P. were actually the ones disguised as Jorgen, taunted those who came to rescue Poof while they were caged, and explained his evil plan to H.P.- all instead of just going ahead with his plan. Foop is way more goal-oriented. Rather than monologue and threaten, he’d rather blast you and be done with it. If he’s in disguise, don’t expect him to reveal himself.

I do believe Foop’s strengths lie in being a planner. In “Playdate of Doom”, he went to great lengths to urge Jorgen to bring a block of ice to his jail cell. Foop used this ice to both cover his escape hole and make it look like he was still in his cell, despite the fact that he could have escaped earlier at any time. You can bet that Anti-Cosmo wouldn’t bother to hide his escape hole, and would instead leave it there to make his disappearance obvious as soon as possible. In his debut episode, “Anti-Poof”, Foop even appears distressed when Poof flew away without playing in the Sandbox of Sorrow he’d designed. It had a Shovel of Sadness and a Pail of Pain and everything!

It’s reasonable to conclude, then, that Foop values success more than brains. This is in line with the annoyance he seems to feel towards his father, as he doesn’t believe Anti-Cosmo could truly be smart if he doesn’t accomplish the things he sets out to do. Oddly, Anti-Cosmo and Foop are the only antagonists for whom jail time seems to be a serious consequence for their actions. In writing Foop, I try to emphasize this. His biggest concern isn’t that people will think he’s crazy. His biggest concern is being caught and punished.

One of Foop’s characteristics that affects what he does is, again, his age. Foop may be an evil genius in his own right, but he’s still a small child. He likes stuffed animals and wants to make friends at school. He’s scared of Vicky and sees Crocker as a weird old man who happens to share a few interests with him. Foop may see himself as a lone wolf who can take care of himself, but you can always expect him to get distracted with sweets or have his feelings hurt if someone criticizes something he’s worked hard on.

I’ve written Foop not only as a child in my works, but occasionally as a very young teenager. I see Foop growing up with an interest in science, to contrast Poof’s interest in sports. Even as he grows, I try to portray him as a smart but rebellious boy who is constantly torn between trying to impress his father, and trying to annoy him. He craves approval and awards, but constantly struggles against his desire to lash out when someone sets him off. Even as an adult, I think, Foop will always have a stubborn streak of childishness in his heart.

TO THE TEST

Here are seven snippets I wrote just now, with each of the characters above facing off with Timmy. Using what you know about the different characters, their motivations, and how they differ, can you tell who said each one?

“What? Still got a wad of industrial-strength floss stuffed in your ear or something? It’s a perfectly dreary day, and you’re sitting around in here? Come on, get out, smell the thunderstorm, huh?”

“Are you still here? Oh, please. What do you want? You have your reward. Our agreement has terminated. Yes, so you distracted the ruffians long enough to prevent them from getting away- So what? I’m the one who called the police to come and arrest them! And look which one of us isn’t sporting bruises in every color of the rainbow. Yes, very well done, you!”

“I hope you’re kidding. You know, I really don’t see how I could have made myself any clearer. Then again, I never bothered learning how to speak Simpleton. This plan was foolproof. I even wrote it out for you. You were supposed to unleash the giant spiders when I said ‘Two’. Two! Which I swear must also be the level of your intelligence on a scale from 1 to 10!”

“Ha! I’d like to see you try and take it, punk. And if one word gets out, I’ll grind you into mulch so foul, not even the worms will dig you up again.”

“What will it be, Turner? Escape now and reveal your secret to the world, or stand there and watch the girl of your dreams email that humiliating photo to everyone you’ve ever known?”

“Ah-buh-buh! I wouldn’t lay a single fingernail on that button if I were you. After all, you wouldn’t like it if I happened to accidentally tip that platform you’re standing on straight into the lava below, now would you? No, I didn’t really expect you would.”

“It really is that easy. Take back your bug, walk out that door, and we won’t have a problem. Or don’t. Then we might. That’s your choice.”

[lambent-loser]

He’s Pretty In Pink

Chapter 1

A reddie Pretty in Pink AU where Richie works in a record store and meets the cutest little rich kid he’s ever laid eyes on.

Word Count: 2064 

The familiar scent of petrichor lingers in the autumn air. The simple smell the morning rain has left on the surrounding damp sidewalks is enough to cause a smile to tug at the corners of the brunette’s lips. Richie Tozier is a man of simple pleasures. All his life he’s grown up without much, so he learned quickly to enjoy the small things in life. This makes him a pretty optimistic person by comparison to most others at 18. So even as the moisture from the weather seeps through the canvas of his hand-me-down converse high-tops, he smiles to himself, enamored by the way the rain can wash away the scent of the city, even if only for a few hours. It’s pleasant.

           He nods his head to the rhythm of the music coming from the cassette in his Walkman. Richie bought the device with his very first paycheck and he has yet to regret the purchase. He uses it daily to play the music he buys at a discount from the record shop he works at after school. The place is called High-Voltage Records, which Richie deemed a ‘bitchin’’ name the day he found out they were hiring. He’s been working there for four years now and he genuinely enjoys the job.

           Richie walks into the empty store and dances his way to the backroom without a care in the world. There he comes face to face with his absolute best friend. Richie met Beverly Marsh his first day on the job. He later found out the girl had been hired only a month or so prior to himself. One thing everyone needs to understand about Beverly is that she is beyond beautiful. She isn’t pretty in a conventional way. No, she’s confident with a glare that could stop your breath in your throat. Her hair holds almost as much fire as her gaze and her freckle spattered cheeks hold a softness that reminds Richie of early summer mornings before the heat becomes unbearable.  When he first saw her that day four years ago, Richie was convinced he’d found his soulmate. Now, of course, they laugh about it.

           “’Ello, Ms. Marsh. Top o’ the mornin’ to ya,” he greets in an obnoxious British accent as he removes his headphones. Richie believes he is a master of accents and impressions, but Beverly seems to think otherwise. He doesn’t get it and he will never stop calling himself comedy gold.

           Beverly rolls her eyes and finishes pinning on her nametag that has been decorated with various stickers.

“Okay. For one, Rich, it’s literally three in the afternoon and also… your accent is bad,” she insists for at least the fiftieth time that week.

           Richie attaches his own nametag to his patched-up jean jacket and adjusts his glasses.

“Oh, c’mon, Bev. Don’t be so mean to me,” he pouts with a grin.

They both head onto the main floor and Beverly turns on the blue and red neon light that displays to the public that the shop is open while Richie unlocks the door. The lanky boy sifts through the stash of music behind the counter and chuckles before picking out Duran Duran’s Rio album. It’s fairly new but both he and Bev have most of the songs memorized since it’s so popular. The ginger rolls her eyes at his album choice, but when “Hungry Like The Wolf” begins to play through the old speakers even she starts to sing along.

She and Richie have developed some kind of awfully choreographed dance to several songs including this one, so they confidently dance around the vacant store to the tune as they sing out of key. This is how days usually are at the shop: filled with smiles, laughter, and bad dancing. Sometimes Richie will even let Bev paint his nails or do his makeup while they talk about cute boys AND girls when business is slow. That’s another thing the two found out they have in common.

Despite their conversations, neither Beverly nor Richie have been very successful in their pursuit of love. Both are rather quirky and don’t really fit in anywhere. While life at the record store is good, this means that social life at school is challenging for them both. The only reason either of them is even able to attend the preparatory school is because an equal education initiative was passed five years ago that required a percentage of the student body to come from families with incomes below the poverty line. At Harrison Prep, these students became known as, for the most part, freaks.

Richie is good at dealing with things like that. He’s good at smiling through the insults and coming up with clever comebacks. Sure, he dresses weird and cracks a sinful amount of jokes, but he doesn’t see how that makes him ‘freakish’. If being a freak means being confident and having a good time, then he doesn’t mind the insult. He feels a lot happier than all the other students at school look.

Beverly is not as confident as Richie. In the moment she is witty and sassy and is able to defend herself just fine, but it’s in the days following that the words get to her. Sometimes Richie catches her crying in the backroom and he rushes to the convenience store across the street to pick her up a pint of ice cream. It’s a good thing they have each other because both hate to be alone. So much so that they made a pact that if neither were married by thirty-five they would get married for tax purposes.

School the next day is bad. Beverly is sick so Richie is alone. It’s absolutely boring and Richie can hardly stand it, but he makes it through the day. As he steps out of the school to begin his trek to High-Voltage, he’s stopped by an especially nasty brute named Henry Bowers. He really doesn’t get how he can be called a freak while this kid wanders around.

“Where do you think you’re going, freak?”

Richie saw it coming, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.

“To my job, because unlike you, my daddy doesn’t buy me anything I want.”

Sometimes Richie’s trash mouth gets him into trouble. The beefy boy throws Richie into the brick wall of the school and pins him there.

“What did you just say to me, faggot?!” he spits.

Richie rolls his eyes.

“Does that ugly ass mullet of yours fucking muffle sound? I said you’re a Daddy’s boy, Bowers!” he retorts.

Lots of trouble.

Henry punches him in the stomach and Richie is down. He continues his assault until he grows bored with Richie’s lack of retaliation. He spits on him before stalking away. The brunette groans in disgust and sits up, wincing at the sharp pains emanating from several places on his body.

After gathering himself, he heads to the record store. He still must cover his shift after all, even with Bev sick. Business is slow, so he uses it as an opportunity to clean up in the grimy bathroom that he has grown quite fond of. The crack in the mirror and the scent of a cheap air freshener have somehow managed to become comforting to the shaggy-haired boy. Even after cleaning up, Richie is left with a nasty looking black eye and a shallow gash on his right cheek.

He returns to the counter and takes a seat, resting his feet beside the cash register. He grabs a comic book and flips to the page he left off on, adjusting his glasses every once in a while when they slide down his nose. Richie isn’t sure how much has passed when he hears the bell on the door chime, announcing the arrival of a customer.

Richie lowers his comic book just enough to peer over the top and nearly chokes on the air in his lungs. There, browsing the rows of vinyl records is the cutest fucking boy he’s ever seen. He’s got this neatly styled brown hair and these chocolate eyes that Richie thinks he might get lost staring onto. He’ll have to get a closer look, but he’s pretty sure the short boy has light freckles dusting his flushed cheeks. It must be chilly outside for his cheeks to be so red. Suddenly Richie is very self-conscious about the temperature of the store. It’s warm enough for him, right? He shakes the silly worry from his head and musters the courage to stand. Richie is naturally confident, but something about this boy makes his stomach churn with the same kind of anxiety you get right before your first kiss.  

Richie pushes his glasses up on his nose and makes his way over to where the stranger is browsing.

“Can I help you find anything?” he queries. This is his job after all. Nothing weird about that.

           Eddie glances at the store clerk. He takes notice of his ripped-up clothes, dirty shoes, and messy curls. For a moment, Richie thinks the boy is checking him out and he gets very excited before he notices the slight wrinkle in his nose. So that’s how it’s going to be. It’s only now that Richie pays any mind to what the boy is wearing. He’s dressed in short, ironed shorts and a pastel pink crewneck with a yellow collared shirt poking out of the collar. He looks cute in it all, but it’s clear he’s another one of the wealthier kids.

Eddie narrows his eyes at the scrappy clerk and shakes his head.

“No. I think I’ve got it. Thanks,” he mutters. His voice is dry and laced with a sassy bite. Richie rather likes the sound.

Richie may be too confident at times, but that also leads to persistence. He’s no quitter. He flips through some records and after a moment he selects one from a milk crate. He taps the small boy on the shoulder and in response he whips around, glaring daggers at Richie for scaring him.

“Hey, don’t get your panties in a twist, princess. I just have a music suggestion,” he offers, handing him the record.

Eddie takes it with a persistent frown.

“I told you I didn’t need help, and my name is Eddie. Don’t call me princess!” he demands with his hands on his hips.

Richie just likes him more and more…or at least he likes getting under his skin. Richie just shrugs.

“Well, Eddie Spaghetti, I just thought you might like that one. It’s one of my favorites,” he explains with a warm smile.

Eddie groans in response to the horrid nickname and turns away from Richie to keep looking, completely ignoring the glasses-clad boy. Richie returns to the register and watches the boy curiously. Honestly, Eddie seems horribly lost surrounded by all the music and it’s almost as if he’s clutching onto the album Richie suggested for dear life. After nearly five more minutes of aimlessly wandering the shop, Eddie finally approaches the register, setting Richie’s suggestion on the counter to be purchased.

“So, you decided to trust me after all, didn’t you, Eds?” he teases with a smirk. He leans down across the counter and gets really close to the short boy. “I promise you won’t regret it,” he purrs, pulling away to punch in the price.

Eddie huffs.

“It better be good if I’m paying seven dollars for it,” he grumbles, his face flushed.

Richie peers at him and then back at the register.

“I’ll give you the cutie discount. Five dollars please.”

Eddie’s cheeks are burning as he digs through his fanny pack and hands Richie a five-dollar bill. Before the taller boy can even put the record in a bag, Eddie snatches it off the counter and dashes out of the store, mumbling a barely audible ‘thanks’ on the way.

Richie watches him through the window and a breathes a soft sigh.

Eddie.

Beverly may be like a warm summer morning, but Eddie is like the hot midday. He’s running without shoes on and racing to eat popsicles before they melt into your hand and he’s the sun kissing your skin until the heat is burned into your very being. Eddie Kaspbrak is nothing like Richie Tozier has ever experienced before.

He has a feeling he’s going to be seeing a lot more of him.

Tag List: @delaina123  

[preservationandruin]

The Tower

Here it is. The big one. The one we’ve all been waiting for. Sadeas and Dalinar’s joint-plateau assault on the Tower. 

BRING IT. Alliances, betrayal, freedom, the truth--or part of it--about Jasnah, the truth--or part of it--about Voidbringers, a strange arrival, and the end of the book. 

Dalinar is so hopeful this might be the turning point of the war, and in all honesty it could have been, had Sadeas not been an asshole. 

The Tower is really strange in many ways for the Shattered Plains--covered with rock formations. Is it where the teleportation to Urithiru happens in the next book? I can’t remember. It definitely seems like it might be. 

Anyway, Dalinar is still hopeful and it’s still crushing if you know what’s going to happen. I remember when I first read this, I had an idea Sadeas was going to pull something, but the moment he told his army to pull back still astonished me with the casual cruelty of it. 

And Dalinar does offer a quick prayer for the bridgemen, which is nice of him. All these moments with Dalinar looking at Kaladin or Kaladin looking at Dalinar are very interesting here, and pave the way for the ending in a great way as well as stitching the plots together. Also, we’ve started flipping perspectives more often--a sure sign you’re getting to the end of a Sanderson book. 

Also, while Dalinar is crossing, Sadeas is keeping his men in the area with the bridgemen. Interesting. Dalinar and Adolin have begun their attack. Gloryspren are spreading around Dalinar. They’re winning. He’s so optimistic, feeling as though he’s truly living. And then the thrill gets cut off again as he realizes he’s facing a young parshendi boy. or girl. Dalinar assumes a boy, but Alethi tend to assume men do all the fighting. 

And then a second Parshendi army arrives. And then Sadeas’ army pulls back, not alerting them, not doing anything. And taking the bridges. 

back to Kaladin. He Notices that Sadeas is retreating, is confused, and then sees that Dalinar’s group has been stranded. Kaladin: “This was treachery on a grand scale, terrible enough that it made Amaram’s betrayal of Kaladin seem trivial.” Kaladin is even close enough to see Sadeas just turn away from the battlefield with a note that he always said Dalinar’s honor would get him killed one day. 

seriously FUCK THAT GUY

Adolin is taking this time to, while fighting, unload a massive and well-earned “I told you so” on Dalinar. Dalinar even knows Sadeas well enough to know the lies that Sadeas will tell when they get back to camp. Dalinar is just staring at Sadeas like I saved your fucking life, you piece of shit. 

Dalinar is too good of a person. Tactically speaking, he should have left Sadeas to die, although of course that would be hardly better than what Sadeas is doing at this moment. (Still better; it wouldn’t be planned treachery.) 

And Adolin finally takes a moment to cut off Dalinar’s self-incrimination to say it’s not his fault, because what would hve have done differently? Become like Sadeas? That’s not the answer. And Dalinar lets this settle him--comes to terms with the fact that his guilt was, essentially, selfish. He’s no longer uncertain. 

Jesus, we are all so lucky that Kaladin has honor. 

Dalinar gets his “today is not that day” moment: “It is time for us to fight. And we do so not because we seek the glory of men, but because the other options are worse. We follow the Codes not because they bring gain, but because we loathe the people we would otherwise become. We stand here on this battlefield alone because of who we are. Death is the end of all men! What is the measure of him once he is gone? The wealth he accumulated and left for his heirs to squabble over? The glory he obtained, only to be passed on to those who slew him? The lofty positions he held through happenstance? No. We fight here because we understand. The end is the same. It is the path that separates men. When we taste that end, we will do so with our heads held high, eyes to the sun.” (note: one could say, it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination.) 

“I am not ashamed of what i have become! Other men may debase themselves to destroy me. Let them have their glory. For I will retain mine!”  I feel that this speech would be more effective with “FUCK YOU, SADEAS” at the end, but it’s pretty great. 

Bridge Four is on the retreat. They’re slower. “The sheer awful audacity of what Sadeas had done twisted at Kaladin’s insides. He thought what had been done to him had been horrible. But here, Sadeas callously condemned thousands of men, lighteyes and dark. Supposed allies. That betrayal seemed to weigh as heavily on Kaladin as the bridge itself.” 

Rock even makes the point that it’s their shame as well--they were following orders, but everyone and their mother knows that’s not a reason. It never has been, it’s just the justification of cowards who didn’t do anything when people were morally repugnant. 

Kaladin also notices that this is the perfect time for them to escape, but decides he’s going to stay behind. 

And then he sees Syl, the size of a human, looking back at where Dalinar’s army is, with the expression of a child watching a brutal murder. And Kaladin realizes that they have a bridge. They have a bridge. 

And Kaladin doesn’t want to put his neck out for a brightlord again. Not after last time. But...Dalinar always fights at the front. And he remembers Lirin’s words: Someone has to start caring. And Dalinar came to help Kaladin’s men when he didn’t have to.  Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination. Helping Dalinar is what’s right. 

And all of Bridge Four agrees to go with them.  Kaladin yells “BRIDGE UP” and the others cheer. “With a shout, he led his men in a charge back toward that abandoned blue banner.” 

I love this series’ take on honor, by the way. You don’t need to forgive your enemies. You just have to do the right thing in spite of them. I can get behind that. 

Dalinar and Adolin are getting beaten. Dalinar doesn’t have the thrill, and is glad for that. And then Dalinar, looking toward Sadeas’ army...”Blood of my fathers, what is that?

That is, apparently, the only other person on the Shattered Plains with a sense of fucking honor. Kaladin saved so many lives with the decision to go back. 

“This is my choice, he thought as the Parshendi archers formed up. It’s not some angry god watching me, not some spren playing tricks, not some twist of fate. 

It’s me. I chose to follow Tien. I chose to charge the Shardbearer and save Amaram. I chose to escape the slave pits. And now, I choose to try to rescue these men, though I know I will probably fail.” 

Along with Dalinar’s speech, this is one of the most motivational and inspiring parts of the books. Someone’s gotta choose to do what’s right. And Kaladin also draws like 50000 arrows all into his shield and fucking explodes it. The Parshendi of course noticed the EXPLOSION OF LIGHT as ALL OF THE ARROWS WENT TO ONE SHIELD and call him “Neshua Kadal” --possibly a term for Radiant. Or Windrunner. In any case, they fucking ran. 

Kaladin is pulled to the side while the others carry the bridge, but it’s not enough. He has a flashback to Tien’s death--to the horrible “Turn a liability into an advantage whenever you can” when the advantage is using children as meat shields. 

And Lopen had brought a single spear onto the battlefield. And the fact that Parshendi wear stormlight-infused beads as jewelry--well, that turns out not to be a great idea. 

And he speaks the second ideal-- “I will protect those who cannot protect themselves.” 

Kaladin fucking explodes with energy, tossing the Parshendi around with stormlight, and then he starts actually fighting. 

Teft notes that stormlight doesn’t increase skill-Kaladin is a master of the spear all on his own. He’s just had his abilities amped up to ludicrous levels, making him a one-man army. Fortunately, Teft notes they’ve gotta start fighting to stop the Parshendi from getting the bridge--and also to get Kaladin an unbroken spear, because he’s doing all of this with a broken one. 

Dalinar also notes that the bridgemen are fighting, which dumbfounds him. Welcome to life around Kaladin Stormblessed, Dalinar--literally anyone is a threat because he trains everyone he knows with a spear. “It was the most amazing, most glorious thing Dalinar had ever seen.” 

Dalinar immediately sends Adolin to give them support with the Cobalt Guard. 

AND ESHONAI APPEARS FUCK YEAH. Although Dalinar thinks she’s a dude. Dal, no. 

Kaladin issuing battlefield promotions to lighteyes, but frankly are you going to argue with the person who basically singlehanded defended your one escape? Yeah thought not. 

Also, we get the first time Kaladin runs in to help Adolin fight a superior force. Kaladin yells at Adolin to leave, gets asked who he is, and replies with “I’m the man who saved your life.”  And then he starts ordering Adolin along, along with promising that he’ll go in for Dalinar, which he does. Adolin agrees, because he almost can’t walk anymore. 

So Kaladin goes in for Dalinar, along--actually--with Gallant the horse, who refused to leave Dalinar behind. And Dalinar, for a moment, thinks that Sadeas came to save him. 

Nope, it’s Kaladin. Dalinar actually sees him glowing, and Kaladin--fortunately--knows how to fight a Shardbearer, and thus gets Eshonai seriously hurt--and the others realize he’s gotta be a Surgebinder and start freaking out. Dalinar assumes that he imagined Kaladin glowing. Also, Dalinar was going to try to kill Eshonai, but Kaladin makes the eloquent and pissed-off point that Dalinar’s army won’t leave without him, Kaladin’s crew won’t leave without Dalinar’s army, and Dalinar needs to get on his fucking horse and go.

Dalinar also notices that the bridge crew are coordinated and disciplined, and has to go over and talk to them. Also, he notices Kaladin is trained in field medicine.  Dalinar’s like “why did sadeas send you back” and Bridge Four is like lmao he didn’t

Also, Dalinar promises to repay Kaladin if Kaladin and crew return with him, and Kaladin--cautiously--accepts. 

Meanwhile, Navani is pissed. 

She notices that Sadeas’ force really doesn’t look like one that just suffered a disaster (because, spoiler, they fucking didn’t) 

Level of Navani’s irritation and stress: “What would sadeas do if she just started screaming?” 

Honestly, that would be great. Also, Renarin has arrived, and is terrified. Sadeas offers his condolences at the loss of Dalinar, Renarin gasps, and Navani is furious. She just says “You will explain” and fucking stares down Sadeas. It makes him nervous, as well it should. Someone brings a chair, Navani refuses it, and Renarin--who’s having a panic attack, understandably, takes it and Sadeas, being an ableist asshole, starts Judging Him. 

Saying it right now, Sadeas couldn’t have managed half of the things Renarin has at this point in the story. He’s a weak asshole. Navani realizes that Sadeas had all of the bridges. And demands a large brush. And in blood-colored ink, starts painting on the ground, and paints a prayer for Dalinar. A giant glyph saying Justice in the center of Sadeas’ area, set on fire. 

Navani is the best. 

And then a runner delivers the news to Sadeas that whoops, the army is coming back. 

Hey, Sadeas, turns out having no honor got you exactly jack shit. 

Dalinar tries to send the bridgemen--who are wounded--back to his camp, but if Dalinar is confronting Sadeas, Kaladin is staying with him. And the other bridgemen don’t want to leave Kaladin.  And Dalinar is also positive that the discipline of the bridgemen is entirely because of Kaladin and completely not because of Sadeas. 

And then they see Renarin and Navani waiting for them. Renarin is actually outwardly joyful and we get Dalinar hugging Renarin--god bless, this is too pure--and Renarin grabbing Adolin and pounding on his shardplate. God, i love the Kholin Family. 

And then Dalinar and Navani get to embrace, which is heartwarming for them and supremely awkward for Adolin and Renarin who are like uh Uh UH DAD WHY ARE YOU HUGGING OUR AUNT LIKE THAT UM DAD UHHHH

And then we basically get a bit of a confession from Dalinar that he doesn’t give a shit what other people think anymore. And then they look over and see that Adolin and Renarin are Very Uncomfortable. 

Dalinar: Someone had burned a giant “thath” glyph into the courtyard, and Sadeas stood at its center. 

I know the framing here is a little melodramatic but it totally works so I’ll let it slide. Also Sadeas is literally treading on Justice. 

Sadeas is playing this off as “oHHH IM SO GLAD YOURE OKAY MY OLD FRIEND” which is such rank festering bullshit. 

And Sadeas admits that in the end, he just wanted Dalinar gone. And Dalinar tells Sadeas that Sadeas as good as admitted Dalinar was still a threat. 

And Dalinar’s like “yeah these bridgemen are mine.” And Sadeas refuses, at which Dalinar offers a ludicrous sum of money, and Sadeas refuses out of pettiness. And note: Dalinar’s army is also willing to fight to protect the bridgemen who saved them. Dalinar flat up says “Do not press me on this, Sadeas.” 

And Dalinar summons his shardblade. And drives it right into the center of the “Justice” glyph. And he exchanges the blade for all of Sadeas’ bridgemen.

Kaladin, understandably, is like, wHAT THE FUCK, and we get a great exchange:  “What is a man’s life worth?” Dalinar asked softly.  “The slavemasters say one is worth about two emerald broams,” Kaladin said,frowning.  “And what do you say?”  “A life is priceless,” he said immediately, quoting his father.   Dalinar smiled, wrinkle lines extending from the corners of his eyes. “Coincidentally, that is the exact value of a Shardblade. So today, you and your men sacrificed to buy me twenty-six hundred priceless lives. And all I had to repay you with was a single priceless sword. I call that a bargain.” 

And then Dalinar goes to find Elhokar. And beats the snot out of him, and gets him to admit he cut his horse’s girth himself. And then Elhokar is like “...are you going to try to kill me?” 

“Storms, no! I love you like a son, boy.”  Elhokar rubbed his chest. “You....have very odd paternal instincts” 

And then at the end of it all Dalinar is just like “oh by the way I’m dating your mom.” 

(as an aside, please look at this, the comic which has ruined and also made amazing this scene for me: http://dalinarkholin.tumblr.com/post/130292538016/i-just)

And we enter part five, with a Shallan POV, as she puts some things together--Jasnah ate the bread but wasn’t poisoned, Jasnah didn’t notice the jam was bad--and realizes that Jasnah had to be still soulcasting. Without a caster. So she goes to find Jasnah. And flat-out says that both Soulcasters were fake. 

And she also shows Jasnah the picture of the Shadesmar that she drew, and manages to actually leave Jasnah Kholin without words. And Jasnah tries to call a bluff--saying that Shallan is delusional from stress, and Shallan is like, okay, let me prove it, and calls to the cryptics again. The truth she tells is that she’s a murderer who killed her father. 

Jasnah has to soulcast a raft and save her, but it proves Shallan’s point. 

And so Jasnah decides to take her on as a ward in earnest. 

We move over to Szeth, who has been sent to “kill” Taravangian. And so we get that Taravangian is behind several things in this, and we also see his hospital--the one where he kills people to get death rattles. 

And he adds Dalinar’s name to the list. 

Of course, it’s not going to be that easy. I have mixed feelings about the Diagram in general--I’m pretty certain that while it’s the most certain way to save the world, it isn’t the most moral, and that’s where the conflict is. It’s where conflict lines have already been drawn up--do you sacrifice the moral for the pragmatic? Amaram does, although he also has an inflated sense of his own worth. Taravangian does. Dalinar and Kaladin don’t. 

Anyway, Jasnah is now telling Shallan some about soulcasting. She apparently assumed that Shallan was like her, an Elsecaller, but realized that didn’t fit Shallan’s personality at all. And we get the revelation that Parshmen are what remain of the Voidbringers. 

Back to Kaladin; we get that Syl trusts Dalinar, but hates his shardblade. Also, Dalinar made sure Bridge Four got medics before the lighteyed officers, which is remarkable. And also apparently Adolin is still bitter about Kaladin telling him what to do, although he recognizes it was what was smartest. And Dalinar offers Kaladin the position as his bodyguard, with the rest of Bridge Four. 

And Kaladin requests exactly the things he would need for the job, which Dalinar notices. And so Kaladin officially gets the title of “Captain” so Captain Kaladin Stormblessed is ready to go. 

And he gets a Kholin Coat. Dalinar’s own, hand-me-down, with khokh and linil sewn in carefully, and Dalinar explains that he considers the people who wear his colors his family. 

Also, it totally fits Kaladin’s blue color theme. 

And Bridge Four has stew night, because of course they have Stew Night, they’re bridge four. Lopen also thinks being able to glow will get Kaladin girls. Sigzil immediately wants to empirically test Kaladin’s powers. 

Rock suggests throwing Kaladin off a small cliff to help him get a feel for his powers. Kaladin is unamused. And Kaladin recognizes that he’s finally managed to save people. 

It’s a good moment. 

Shallan and Jasnah are going to set out in a ship for the Shattered Plains, to get to the heart of the Voidbringers. She also says that the Ghostbloods are after similar secrets to her, and their overlapping diamond pattern is the same used by the people who interrogated Shallan’s brothers. Shallan admits to Jasnah that her father might have been part of the group. 

Back to Dalinar--and Navani, who is there. It’s a highstorm again. Navani’s also a little pissed at Dalinar for what he did to Elhokar, understandably. 

And Dalinar finally gets face-to-face (Sort of) with Tanavast, we get confirmation that Cultivation can see the future, and Dalinar realizes that Tanavast could never hear him. And Tanavast admits that he is dead. 

And then we enter the epilogue, starting with Wit talking to himself, continuing with his declaration that timing is what’s most valued by people, and ending with Taln showing up, saying he’s failed. 

And then the book ends.