#tried to use it and like. god. you need so many cubes to do stuff. can't make it any other shape it has to be cubes.

[zecoritheweirdone]

i was bored, so i made them into cubes

[gofancyninjaworld]

Meta for the Ninja Arc (so far)

I thought about reviewing the chapters 195-202 (fan numbering), but summarising the action was annoying me, so let's just skip to the good stuff! This arc has been a grower: what it lacks in up-front showiness it makes up for in depth once you take the time to reread and think about it. I'm just going to pick up on a few things.

Recontextualisation

I have been thinking a lot about how much what we make of the information we receive depends on what we already understand [1]. I've written a bit about ONE's use of salience within the story. This arc though, I'm going to talk about recontextualisation and how important it is to be able to look back and understand events and even people anew in the light of new information.

This has been a huge thing for Flashy Flash. Many years ago, he and Sonic sneaked into a forbidden section of their village and saw many strange things that made no sense to them at the time. It's only very recently, after hearing about the enemy that is 'God' and Blast's efforts to counter him (chapter 173) that things started to make sense to him.

It's only after seeing Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, not as monsters, but as the former security guards who had trounced them for trespassing that 'where' he'd seen the cube before came back to Flashy Flash, as did the significance of the sights they'd seen. And then it all started to fall into place, reinforced by his going back to the Village to find it destroyed in what he had now come to recognise as Blast's signature attack pattern.

Of course, Flashy Flash has terminal Main Character Syndrome, so he's tried to organise things so that he's the one who takes down Empty Void and reaps the accolades. It's kinda backfired but we'll come back to that in a bit.

There's another bit of recontextualisation that is not so explicit but I think is just as important. It's clear that the Tenninto were no match for Flash and that he could have killed them any time. It's also been established that Flash has never hesitated to kill anyone who came after him. It's been his policy after all. So what gives in his sudden rush to mercy?

As the chapters have gone on, it's become clear that Flashy Flash has come to see the Tenninto as fellow victims of Evil Void's dehumanising process intended to turn them into potential vessels for 'God'. Something else that Flashy Flash is probably responding to is that rehabilitating Village members was once Sonic's dream, and there's a part of him that would love nothing more than to help make it happen. Of course, if you point that out to him he'll tell you to stop being stupid.

It's amazing but Flash is outraged at the way he and his fellow victims are seen as things to be used, abused, and discarded as Void pleases, and he's looking to get justice for all of them.

Ah yes, Sonic. It's been clear that Sonic has been a much better friend to Flash than he has to Sonic, and yet, yet it would seem that Sonic is the one person he cares most deeply about: anything bad happening to Sonic would devastate him. He just has a funny way of showing it.

An irresistible vision. To think that in his heart, this is what Flashy Flash most wants.

We hope he comes to do better.

Insight

Let's talk about Sonic now. For many years now I have been hoping that something would happen to shock Sonic out of his futile rounds of attacking Saitama, being beaten by Saitama, training maniacally, attacking Saitama... his world has become very small and circular, like a round circle.

I had fantasised about maybe Genos grabbing him mid-attack and stuffing him into a narratively-convenient bin without so much as breaking stride. Something so outrageous that he could no longer ignore the need for him to change. The webcomic has sidestepped solving this problem by gifting Sonic some magic scrolls and a sword and just not having him cross paths with Saitama again. The manga is tackling the problem head-on.

Something I have loved, loved, loved about ONE is that he hasn't hesitated to give characters what they've earned. There's been enough morons bellyaching about the two not being neck-and-neck in skill like they were in the webcomic. Sonic's not weak in the manga -- Flashy Flash has experienced more battles and has had to struggle and learn more and so he's been able to progress to the point that he's left his friend in the dust.

Translation: The Back Of A Friend I Once Stood Shoulder-to-Shoulder With. There'd have been a lot less bellyaching if the translators had translated this bit.

That's the shock Sonic needed to open his eyes to the stupidity of his actions. More than that shock, seeing what Flashy Flash has been able to achieve has given Sonic the inspiration to strive for, achieve, and surpass what Flash has accomplished. His fire is back in a good way.

More than that though, the disrespectful way in which Sonic was offered more monster cells rather than a more interesting vision peaks to two things, external and internal.

Externally, it speaks to the way that we tend to think that people are only what they first show us while we understand ourselves to be complex creatures with many competing moods and wishes. Empty Void had heard that Sonic had once reached for a monster cell and assumed that he knew the sort of guy Sonic was: someone whose inferiority complex was such that he'd reach for any offer of power. But of course, that's not Sonic. Sonic has been the stubbornest person ever, who has been able to keep his sense of self despite the Village's best efforts. He reached for a monster cell because even the strongest person can despair, at least for a while.

Internally, man, the bleakness of Sonic's life is such that he doesn't have anyone to offer him a nice fresh monster cell and the monster cells must perforce cook themselves to offer themselves to him... he looks to no one and believes in none. That's painful to see.

When we think of how close he and Flash used to be, the bitterness of his mocking the prisoners for depending on each other grows sharper every time we learn a bit more about him. I don't know if he'll ever forgive Flash for betraying him.

Yes, there's a betrayal right on screen now: that of Blast by Empty Void. Blast thought they were in the business of putting God out of business but Void was using him to obtain cubes so as to raise an apostle of God.

Longer Blast: I'm not mad. I'm just very, very, very disappointed.

That said, I'm not going to let Blast off the hook entirely. He has some explaining to do!

Complicity

Blast has a lot of explaining to do. Sure, he's been refreshingly honest about what he's been doing with monster experiments, and his link to 'That Man'.

I have a feeling that Flash has been too quick to absolve Blast of blame.

We know that Blast and Empty Void went back at least 20 years. And yeah, we can just about buy that he didn't know his partner was fixing to betray him. However, given that we know that the Village takes young boys and that there were at least 43 graduating classes before Flashy Flash escaped years ago, that means that the Village had been a thing for at least 50 years. How long has Blast known about Empty Void's activities? Did he turn a blind eye to it? Or was it not a problem until it bit him in the ass? [2] What else is Blast permitting that shouldn't be?

We need answers.

I am very invested in seeing how this arc ends and what else it'll lead to.

Asides

[1] A very neat non-fictional example: this man escaping from his pursuers by lying down and thus changing their understanding of him to 'homeless guy'.

[2] A part of me notes that Blast falling out with Empty Void and beating the shit out of him coincides neatly with the time Blast's son was born. Maybe shit became a bit too real for him to ignore.

[heckthis-heckallofthis]

CAWF Tumblr simulator

🦠 Neutro-2145 Follow

B Cell hasn't worked in a while, the bacteria tastes bland…

(56 Notes)

❤️ IM1235 Follow

The neutrophils are so cool when they're saving the body! I should get them a gift to show my gratitude!

❤️ IM1235

Ok I just saw them rip out the insides of an infected cell, I don't think I can sleep tonight.

#oh my god #do they do that all the time???

(45 notes)

🧸 Dendri217 Follow

I don't think sewing lactic acid bacteria nearly everyday is good for my mental health, but it sure is fun! I need to go outside more I think

#lactic acid bacteria #my beloved #maybe I have too many of them #but you can never have too many lactic acid bacteria

(11 notes)

🎆 RegT59 Follow

As much as I love Helper T as a friend I wish he'd stop buying random things with our budget. He didn't even solve the Rubik's cube he bought last time, now he's buying those metal wire puzzles.

🎆 RegT59

He offered to get me something and I bought a conch shell just because it looked interesting. His bad habits are rubbing off on me.

#sigh #i should just stick to solitaire #our office is getting so cluttered

(64 notes)

⚪ Neutro-3033 Follow

The amount of people that don't know not all neutrophils enjoy eating bacteria or infected cells is wild. Have you tried to eat some?? It's terrible. Some of us only eat it because it's part of the job.

#i swear #its so annoying #at least the RBCS bring us stuff other than bacteria #i really wouldn't mind something less sweet

(82 notes)

✖️ Cross-TCell reblogged

🐦‍⬛ King-Killer

How do I tell my subordinates that I don't actually hate them and that I'm just strict and they need to stop being so sloppy? Believe me guys I like having you around please invite me to something I'm begging you

🐦‍⬛ King-Killer

That was a moment of weakness ignore that (please invite me please please please ple

🐦‍⬛ King-Killer

WHICH ONE OF YOU REBLOGGED THIS?? NOW ALL MY SUBORDINATES ARE CONSTANTLY BRINGING ME WITH THEM FOR LUNCH????

#its okay squad leader #we honestly just thought you'd be too busy to bother with us #so glad you actually do like us #the boys love you too

(19 notes)

🍸 Microfold108 Follow

What even is the point of living? If not just for the sake of a higher being we don't even know? Are they good? Are they bad? Maybe they're the nicest person in the world, maybe they're a serial killer who has murdered countless of their kind. Do they know we work only for them? Do they know how many of us love them?

🍸 Microfold108

Nevermind Dendritic cell came over with a lot of friends and he said they all enjoyed me so maybe there is more to life than that.

#i need to find an actual interest #maybe then I'll stop being so negative about everything

(4 notes)

🟩 HelperT31 Follow

Apparently you can just buy a house??? On Sellular?? I'm going to prank Reg T with this. It's going to be so funny, imagine I pull out a whole house right in front of the office, she'd go insane.

#nobody reblog this I can't let reg t see this #itll ruin the surprise

(1,129 notes)

🗡️ NatKiller095 Follow

Non-immune cells are literally so scary, how do you socialize everyday without getting tired or stressed out??? What do you MEAN you think us murdering cells is scarier?? At least I don't have to go around the ENTIRE body just to hand over a box of gases to someone I barely know!

✨ Eosin-9024 Follow

I agree!! How else would you relieve stress if you can't straight up explode? I would rather die than have to deal with that everyday, I'm so glad parasitic infections are rarer than bacterial and viral infections.

#non immune cells #im sorry for exploding your houses all the time but you guys genuinely terrify me

(34 notes)

🪩 B265 Follow

I love working on the skin! So many beautiful women up here! Way better than working for that insane idiot boss in the alimentary tract

#talking about helper T cell #he sucks so bad #wont let me live my life for just 5 minutes #i do really miss reg t tho #she was way better than helper T

(8 notes)

🪄 Mast92 Follow

The reason why Cellor-sun was so adamant about saving her friends despite risking her life to do so was because if she didn't she risked the Natchlor absorbing her powers and in turn causing the destruction of the whole vessel. Yes she loves her friends but she needed to take the risk, it was a big part of the plot, how do people not see that the first time they watched??

Also I hate how they forcefully gave Cellor-sun a love interest. Soma was an interesting character as Cellor-sun's new companion but they didn't have to force the love interest trope on him. I feel like the trope was so one dimensional, like two different people wrote him. The Cellor-sun I know would never instantly fall in love with someone like that! Their arc was literally 20 minutes long!!! She has high standards and yet just happened to meet someone who has all those exact standards??? Where do you find a cell that happens to be into all your interests, mesh well with your friends, and don't mind that you are a magical girl constantly risking your life for the sake of the vessel?? Soma would've been fine if he was just a friend of Cellor, he could've been her love interest, just stretch it out realistically. He has interesting powers that interact well with the rest of the cast, I really just wish his arc with Cellor would've been written better. Whoever wrote that needs to post a public apology right now.

#cellor-sun against the univessel #cellor-sun #soma-san catu #i could've written it better for real #catu

(424 notes)

[sobredunia]

tell me about Fez, please, im looking through your blog and like, i am intrigued

please click read more for an unskippable cutscene

ALRIGHT SO.

FEZ is an indie game created by a (now hated on the internet) guy called Phil Fish. If you wanna find out why he's hated do your own research this isn't about him it's about his videogame

It came out on april 13th of 2012 (yes. homestuck day. i know), and it sold over a million copies by the end of 2013. I've tried finding how many copies have been sold up to this day in total but didn't find anything, but the general gist is that it was pretty much an instant hit, and people absolutely loved it, working together to solve its intricate puzzles even to this day. Yes, there are mysteries hidden in here that an entire community of dedicated fans still hasn't found the solution to 11 years later

(tiny warning here, do not play this game if you have motion sickness or are severely affected by rapidly changing images, there are whole areas that are a doozy to play through. Please stay safe!)

Gameplay

Fez has a singular core mechanic that remains unchanging throughout the entire course of the game, and that is the ability to change perspectives

this is what the game looks like, a 2d pixelated landscape with tons of beautiful colors

but.

this is what the game also looks like

that's right, baby, this shit's actually in 3d

you use this change of perspective nonstop throughout your adventure, to cross gaps like demonstrated in the gif, or to simply access places you couldn't in that current perspective. There are other tiny mechanics that get added, like invisible platforms, crates and buttons, bombs, timed platforms that disappear... they add a bit of flavor, but the main mechanic is always there

There's also a really big emphasis on puzzles towards the latter half of the game, but I'll get more into it later

Story motivations

Your name is Gomez, you are a tiny little guy living in a cozy 2d village that you have never ever left. One day, an old man named Geezer sends you a letter asking you to climb to the top of the village. There, a giant fucking cube appears outta nowhere, teleports you to a satanic ritual, then to the vaccum of space, speaks to you in a strange language you cannot understand, and gives you a free hat. Oh and also he explodes or something

After you're given the hat, the fez, you discover that the world is actually in 3d, and you can now change perspectives. You unlock the core mechanic

After that, you wake up in your room with the fez still on your head, and a being in 4d called Dot is sent from who knows where to tell you that the cube that gave you the hat is called Hexahedron, is actually technically kinda god, and you fucking killed him. Now, your mission is to pick up its 64 pieces and reconstruct him

You see all those tiny golden cubes? You have to collect 8 of them to make a bigger cube, and you need to collect 32 of those

Now hold on, I hear you ask, didn't you just say that you need to collect 64 pieces? Why are you changing your mind and saying 32?

Because, my dear friend, there is another type of cube that you have to also collect

These are called anticubes. Y'know, "a negative for every positive" type of stuff. You have to also collect 32 of those

The main difference between an anticube and a normal cube is that they aren't broken into 8 pieces, when you find one it'll be whole. You can also sometimes encounter full golden cubes btw, but they're rarer than its normal tiny pieces that you collect. Another main difference is that these cubes are much, much harder to find, and I'll go into detail in the next section

There's also this one hub area, with four doors that will only open once you have enough cubes (anticubes also count)

Once you open the door with 16 cubes, you'll enter this one town filled with people that aren't quite like you. In there there's yet another door that will open when you get 32 cubes, so get to gathering motherfucker, you got a long way ahead of you

Puzzles (anticube edition)

When you collect that first anti cube, there is no going back. The floodgates have opened and you are now too deep in. You know too much. You must see this to the very end, for better and especially for the worse

The puzzles in fez are actually surprisingly varied when it comes to difficulty and accessibility. Most likely, the first anticube you'll find will be in this one room. You'll scan the qr code and do the instructions it says, and then the horror of your new life will begin

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, because BOY OH BOY are anticubes convoluted to find in some cases

Sometimes you'll get them by solving relatively easy puzzles, like this one

others will require a bit more thinking, like this one

and then we have the hardest ones where you'll have to learn how to read words, numbers, and commands in the FEZ language

and these arent even the hardest bullshit puzzles the game will pull at you. it gets worse. it gets so much worse

Game ending

Surprisingly enough, you can get a game ending with just 32 cubes. In fact, it is literally impossible to get the 64 cube ending without the 32 cube one unless you have outside help, you know the answer to all puzzles, or you somehow get extremely lucky in a very specific number of rooms

Behind the 32 cube door there's a giant gate that, and I shit you not, teleports you into fucking space

Aliens are canon in the fez lore and they look like squids

Once you reach the top of the alien temple fucking thing, you enter an eye(?) and there you meet the shell of god, the Hexahedron. Since you haven't gathered all 64 cubes, it fails to reconstruct, and it breaks down. This part is pretty dangerous for people with epilepsy, by the way, as there's rapidly changing black and white colors. The 64 cube ending is a bit easier in the eyes, but yeah, just a heads up

In the 32 cube ending, you get sent back home, and you see how the town gets more and more pixelated. Then you see a weird sequence that's like those videos of people really zooming in into things and you see the particles and microscopic stuff?? idk. and then you see Gomez playing the drums :D

After that, you wake up in your room, still with your Fez, and the same sequence at the start of the game plays out. You go to the top of the village, Geezer summons a giant fucking cube, you meet god, but instead of getting another fez, you get cool glasses, that allow you to finally solve a batch of puzzles you couldn't see before and you can finally gather the last anticubes

In the 64 cube ending, the Hexahedron reforms correctly, and instead of zooming in, it zooms out. You see that your world is a tiny cube next to many tiny cubes, and then those tiny cubes form a 4d entity that looks just like Dot, and then those many Dots next to eachother zoom out until they're nothing but static, and then it looks like a tv is turned off, and then the credits roll

They're both very strange endings, and definitely not what a lot of players expected or wanted, but what can you do

Puzzles (hell edition)

NOW.

You thought that was the end?

You thought you could simply walk away scot free?

You thought that this game had no more last "fuck you"s up in its arse?

You thought fucking wrong

Because you know that something's not right

Because you're in too deep

You've played this far. You've scrolled this far.

You have to see how this ends

You have to tie up the last loose ends

You see this? This is the game's map. It actually has a really clever design! Not only are the icons for the areas cubes, but you can also change perspectives like how you do in-game! Pretty cool, right? There are also some small indicators you can see on the bottom left. They mark if you've left any cubes, bits, treasures, or locked doors. They also mark any secrets you might have left! And they turn golden once you've found everything there is in that room, including secrets

If you were normal (let's imagine that for a bit, okay?) and you got the 64 cube ending, that's it, right? You've gathered every cube, you've gathered every map (you need them to get all cubes), you've gotten every key and opened every locked door, that should be it, right? You have everything the game asked you to have, so the whole map should be golden, right?

...right?

No! :D you fucking fool, you poor summer child

In fact, there are three rooms left. Three rooms left with a secret symbol next to them, and one other special room

First, we'll talk about the special room

Once you gather 64 cubes, you'll be able to open a door hidden on an unsuspecting island and access this one special room

kinda weird, right? It has a tileset that appears nowhere else in the game, same with its background. There's also a strange transparent heart over it? Strange

Now, the three ungolden rooms

First, the observatory, the room with the easiest puzzle, at least in comparison with the other two

Second, you have whatever the fuck this is. In order to solve this one, you HAVE to know the Fez language, no ifs or buts. Not only that, but there's a high chance that you were reading the language the wrong way, so in order to have the remote chance to solve this mf you'll have to git gud and realise the error of your ways

And last, but definitely not least

The most infamous room in the entire game aside from maybe the heart room previously shown

This cunt

These three are the hardest challenges the game has to offer, no exaggeration. And also, the first two rooms can be solved at any point of your adventure, but for the third one you HAVE to have completed the 32 cube ending, no workarounds

Now, how to solve them?

If you go to the observatory at night, you'll notice two red blinking stars in the corner. They're speaking in binary code, with one being 1 and the other being 0. Then, that binary has to be translated into a buncha diff languages to be decoded, and once you're done you'll be left with a set of commands that you'll enter in the observatory to get a special red cube that not even Dot, the motherfucker in 4 dimensions that knows things beyond our comprehension, knows what it is

For the second room in fez language, you'll need to answer a question with the cubes provided to you. It's a weird thing where you have to mix this word with the name of the company who made the game, I don't know man. Once you've answered you'll get the second red cube

And now, the third room

Commonly denominated the black monolith room

Why is there no black monolith?

Because you have to make it appear

First, you have to get this burnt map

Behind it, there's a string of code that translates into commands

You need to get into the room, and use the special ability given to you in the 32 cube ending: first perspective mode

You'll have to stand in the tiny square inside this infinity symbol thing that doesn't have a line in it (basically, not the one the screenshot is looking at lol), and then you'll have to do the commands

Once you do it, the black monolith will appear

Okay, you did it

You put the code correctly

Now what?

This isn't a collectable. This isn't a red cube. This doesn't do anything. What is this? How do I solve this puzzle

You wanna know the answer?

Who fucking knows

No one knows the answer to this. No one knows how to solve this. The community solved this a week after launch by bruteforcing it. I shit you not they made a bot that spewed random fez inputs and people just tried them until they got the correct solution

No one knows how it's meant to be solved. To this day, people still go on the r/fez subreddit to give their theories on what the intended solution was meant to be

They have tried everything

The position of the candles, the boiler room, some other random ass rooms that look remotely similar to the black monolith room, a random shower room, it somehow being on a book in the game that's just filled with haikus??, some bullshittery mobius strip mental gymnastics, the other half of the code being in an abandoned airport in Arizona...

...whatever the fuck this is...

by far the most known theory was the release date theory

but that got disproven by one of the devs a few years ago

but anyways, we've already gone through insanity for long enough, it's time to be normal now

Once you've gathered all of the red pieces, they will appear in the heart room

that's it

we're done

.

..

...

....almost

there's a secret code

one that was actually intended to be datamined for once lmao

If you look at certain artifacts in the menu and you rotate them a certain way in a certain order, the heart will vanish and the screen will turn white

you'll be sent back to the menu, and if you load that save file and go back into the temple...

there will be nothing waiting for you there

that, my friend, is the true end of Fez

You wanted to know too much, you wanted to learn everything, to the point of wanting to tear open a creation that took blood, sweat, tears, and five years to complete. And now there is nothing. You ignored the game's boundaries of only wanting to let you know this much, and now the game is empty, the love is gone, and there is nothing left for you here

You can leave now, I hope you're satisfied

[the-time-lord-oracle]

The Doctor, Amy and Shareen visit the Delerium Archive, from The Time of Angels:

15 minutes later, the Doctor was striding through a museum modelled on a medieval church while a very bored Amy and an indifferent Shareen trailing behind. The Doctor was a like kid in a sweet shop as he pointed to exhibits and gave his opinion on them. "Wrong!" he fired off. "Wrong! Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums!"

"Yeah, great." Amy spoke up, having had enough of this. "Can we go to a planet now? Big space ship, Churchill's bunker...? You promised me a planet next."

"Amy, this isn't any old asteroid." the Doctor argued. "It's the Delerium Archive; final resting place of the Headless Monks and the biggest museum ever."

"You've got a time machine, what d'ye need a museum for?" Amy asked irritably.

"Hey, look on the bright side." Shareen ventured. "If the Peacock Doctor were here, he'd be giving us boring 100mph lectures on every single thing here. God, that man loved the sound of his own voice!" she snorted. "Used to drive me round the bend."

"Wrong!" the Doctor said, pointing to another artefact. "Very wrong! Ooh, one of mine!" he grinned, recognising one artefact from a previous adventure several regenerations ago. "Also one of mine."

"Oh, I see. It's how you keep score." Amy commented.

"What a show-off!" Shareen snorted. It seemed that this new incarnation of the Doctor was just as vain as his predecessor.

The Doctor wasn't paying any attention to the two women now; his eye had been caught by a glass case containing a rusty old metal cube with rune-like carvings engraved into it. "Interesting." he murmured.

"Oh, great, an old box." Amy huffed.

"It's from one of the old starliners." the Doctor told her. "A Home Box."

"And what's that when it's at home?" Shareen asked, not particularly interested.

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes." the Doctor explained. "Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home with all the data."

"So?" Amy asked huffily.

"The writing," the Doctor told her, pointing to the etchings in the Home Box, "the graffiti- Old High Galifreyan, the lost language of the Time Lords."

"So if that's Time Lord language, what's all that spirograph stuff you've got scribbled all over the TARDIS?" Shareen asked.

"That's Circular Galifreyan." the Doctor replied. "This is Old High Galifreyan. There were days," he sighed in reminiscence, "there were many days, those words could burn stars and rise up empires, and topple Gods."

"Now don't start all that Time Lords are gods bullsh*t, Dickie-Bow." Shareen rolled her eyes. "Remember what they tried to do at Christmas?"

"Well, I'm hardly likely to forget with you reminding me so nicely." the Doctor said flatly.

Amy cleared her throat, drawing the other two time travellers back to the original topic. "What does it say?" she asked the Doctor, pointing to the Home Box.

"Hello, sweetie." the Doctor answered, looking somewhat unhappy.

Shareen's eyes widened as she recognised those words. "Hey, that's..." she began, but was interrupted by the Doctor taking out a long, copper toy-like object with a green light at the end; his new sonic screwdriver. "What're you doing now, Dickie-Bow?" she asked him, knowing that it was likely not going to be good.

"Liberating it." the Doctor answered, and used his sonic screwdriver to unlock the display case containing the Home Box. Immediately, alarms started blaring. Undeterred, the Doctor scooped up the Home Box and tucked it under his arm. "Run!" he ordered the two women, and they had no choice but to leg it back to the TARDIS.

[twistedmusings]

Doing Anything for Heat

“Do you always refer to yourself in third person when writing these up?” 

“Legalities, Prefect, although I do not expect you to know anything about that.” 

Guess who can’t write as much anymore because she got a nasty bite at work! So yes, I was working on requests so diligently and then bam--this happens. 

As an apology for my late ass writings, please take this mini scenario for the Octavinelle Trio! Azul’s SSR card got translated and I just...god I love these boys so much q wq  Reader: [G/N]  Warnings: Casual flirting, possessive thoughts from all the boys and just MC striking up a contract with Azul and taking a very creative approach towards it~ 

“[Y/N]!!!!” Grimm pulls at your arm as you sit down across from Azul, the man holding out a contract to you as he tilts his head with a smile. ��What will it be, Prefect?” 

Your hands sweat as you rub them on your legs. “Hehe~ Little Shrimp looks so scared~” 

The contract is placed in front of you slowly, Azul taking care of minding his manners as you lean back and go over the simple specifications. Made simpler, of course, since Azul had ‘such’ a kind heart. 

What a con artist. 

Winter was hitting Night Raven College hard but was hitting Ramshackle even harder. 

How many blankets had you bought from Sam’s shop? Ten? Twenty? You honestly didn’t know but you and Grimm were close to freezing some night and you had just about enough of living in an ice cube for a dorm. 

You were acting out of desperation. 

And, ever the businessman, Azul had stretched out his hand for your unfortunate soul. 

“Bring sixty customers during our lunch rush tomorrow and Azul Ashengrotto will personally see that a heater is installed in Ramshackle the same day.” 

You put the contract down and look him in the eye. “Do you always refer to yourself in third person when writing these up?” 

“Legalities, Prefect, although I do not expect you to know anything about that.” 

Great, more insults towards your intelligence. 

Sixty customers. If you were to break that down it would be ten from each dorm not counting Octavinelle. You could rope Ace and Deuce to come, guilt trip Jack for not helping you with that assignment due last night, kindly ask Epel to make his way over here and maybe if you promised Sebek that you would listen to him rant about his dorm leader he would reluctantly agree. 

But that wouldn’t be near enough. 

Azul clicks his tongue while Jade speaks up, “We will have to take that answer today, [Y/N]-san. If not, I guess maybe we could let you take some blankets from Octavinelle--” 

“Fine! Fine.” you sign your name on the dotted line and hand the contract back to Azul, the other grinning as he handed it towards his right-hand man. “How wonderful! I’ll be waiting with baited breath to see what you bring us tomorrow~” 

You give Azul the fakest smile you can muster, waving goodbye to the twins as you make your way out of the lounge with Grimm by your side. “Fgnaaa~! We are screwed! [Y/N] how could you! We are going to be stuck waiting tables for ETERNITY now!” 

“Not if we bring them what they asked for.” you bite your bottom lip as you look at the Monstro Lounge, your eyes falling on the small stage. 

Oh right. Some students played here. Well, students deemed worthy enough to play. You remember the Music Club trying to do a gig here but failing miserably the moment Lilia opened his mouth. Despite the failure, it did bring some people in to get Azul over the red. 

A floorshow. 

That’s right! A floorshow! 

“Grimm!” you grab the cat and bring him close as he freaks out. 

“What--what!” 

“I got it!” you hold him out in front of you, “We are going to have to let go of our pride a bit and this experience might humble us but...we will have heat!’ 

“[Y/N] you are scaring me--” 

Grimm barely gets to say what he wants as he is dragged back into your arms, your feet running as fast as you can into Mr.S’s shop for the stuff that you will need.

--------

“Ah! Little Shrimp!” 

Jade looks up from the numbers he was crunching, smiling as he sees you approaching the table. You wave at Floyd and nod politely towards Jade, sitting down and tapping your fingers against the bar. 

“You are here rather late, [Y/N]-san. We have two hours until closing time.” 

“I’m just…putting my plan into action. Azul said he wanted sixty by tomorrow, after all.” Floyd grins as he finishes cleaning up the remaining glasses. 

“Eh? You are doing something tonight, little Shrimp?” 

“...yes.” 

He leans close, smiling wider as he sees a certain change in your appearance. The Monstro Lounge was always dark in order to provide a more atmospheric mood at night but with the little light he had to work with he could clearly see traces of makeup all over your face. “Little Shrimp looks so shiny...just like a pearl.” You pull away as he tries to get closer, putting your hand out to stop him and turn your attention towards Jade. “Right. Do you have a backroom next to the stage? I just need to get some things ready--” 

“Go into the kitchen, farthest door to the back. There should be a door that leads you towards the back of the stage.” “Do you guys have a light booth--” “Next to the stage.” Jade’s eyes shine, interested in what you are about to pull off, “Do you need our help--” 

“Nope that is alright I can take care of this myself thank you.” 

Both twins watch you trot towards the kitchen, Grimm following close behind and about three ghosts ‘matching’ his step. 

“...Floyd.” 

“Yes?” 

“Call Azul. I think he’ll be interested to see what is going on.”

--------

“For heat. For heat. For heat!” 

You were doing this because of your situation. The situation was desperate so you had to take desperate measures. 

Grimm clears his throat as you finish fixing his bowtie, the transparent fabric looking beautiful with the stitched shells all over it. 

“Are the ghosts ready?” you ask. 

“Just waiting for the curtains to close.” 

The crowd goes quiet as you press a few buttons and close them, hushing the late night crowd as you step onto the stage. You try to step softly so that the click of your heels won’t be heard while Grimm opens up the rather large shell in the middle of the stage. This was usually used as a promotional device, customers taking pictures inside it to promote their visits to the lounge. It had a soft cushiony seat inside and could fit a whole student. 

You give a thumbs up to your other roommates, the ghosts smiling as their instruments manifested in front of them. 

Spectral instruments really came in handy in these situations. “Breathe...Breathe…” you sit down inside the shell and pull your legs up with you, fixing the train of your dress and touching the small shell tiara on your head. It was fashioned after King Triton after all, maybe Azul would get the reference?

Or rather, you hoped Azul wasn’t watching at all. “Okay...close it, Grimm.” He nods and brings the top of the shell down slowly, trapping you both inside as he gave the cue to start up the lights. This was all for a heater...and maybe some tuna. 

-----

-At first he wanted to laugh as he saw the curtain slowly being drawn back, when was the last time they used this stage? Student players just weren’t ‘in’ as much anymore and he had to keep up with the trends. What were you planning to do with this? 

-Yet his mouth clicked shut as the lights landed right on the shell, the music starting as your voice rang out softly from inside. 

-He barely paid attention to the band as the shell slowly opened, Grimm flying out elegantly as he opened it while your frame was slowly being revealed to him as every student’s jaw almost hit the floor. 

-Azul clutched his cane as he watched you cradle your legs close to yourself, the lyrics completely blowing past him as you stretch yourself out to show off the outfit you had on. It seemed to shine like a pearl under the lights, your chest being accentuated by how snug it fit against your frame. 

-He licked his lips when his eyes landed on your undecorated neck. It was as if you were begging for it to be decorated with bites. Surely he could make a nice necklace for you. 

-Dammit he should have sat closer, students were actually getting up from their booths and moving to any tables that were closer to the stage as you start getting up, the train of fabric in your outfit resembling the top of a shell as it brushes across the ground as you make your way to the floor. 

-He bites his bottom lip as he sees you making your way around the tables, your voice soft and melodic as the students watch the performance flabbergasted. You are letting your fingers glide against the tables, winking at some of the more bold students who put out their hands so they could touch yours.

-If you were to look at his face you would see no trace of emotion but inside his head he was screaming at you to pass by his table already don’t you know anything about customer service? 

-You finally make eye contact with the table he was sitting at, Azul feeling a shiver go up his spine at how your flirtatious eyes suddenly turned nervous. Nobody else had gotten that look.

-Again, he needed to see you looking at him like that again. 

 -So this is what you were planning. How interesting~ 

-He watched from behind Azul, taking off his coat and laying it on the back of the plush booth as he took in your form. Where had you gotten such a cute outfit, he wondered. The color made you shine like the rarest pearl and every time the light hit you just right he could see the glitter in your eyelids as you started to approach their table. 

-You made eye contact with him, clearly trying to keep up the act of ‘mysterious’ floor show guest but failing as his eyes took you in the closer you got. 

-The students groan when they see you sit right next to Azul, pressing close to him as he dares to put an arm around your waist and squeeze. Oh he could bet Azul was happy with how jealous all the students looked. 

-Jade couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him when you took Azul’s hat and shoved it in his face before pulling away as quickly as possible. 

-He follows your movements as you walk behind him, the sudden hand on his back making him hum in thought as the idea of pinning you right to the back of the booth so you would sing only to him suddenly seeming like the only thing to do in this situation. 

-You really had no idea what you could awaken in him if you kept playing around. 

-His eyes meet yours as you start walking away but his hand catches your wrist as he tugs you back to him--!

-But Jade, ever the unpredictable man, only presses his lips to your hand before letting you go.

-You were doing a floor show for the customers after all. Didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be talking to you later~ 

-Floyd had moved himself to the table closest to the stage, tie undone and smile wider than anyone had ever seen as he watched you pay attention to almost every table. The table he was sitting at had been filled with students who deemed themselves rather lucky to get so close only for them to scram when they saw who was approaching it.  

-He waves at you when you finally make eye contact with him, licking his lips and smiling as he sees your reluctance to get near him. 

-Which he didn’t mind, the fact that you were so wary of him made you all the more adorable. 

-You try your best to be as flirty as you had before, merely touching his hand as he holds it out to you but for Floyd that is not enough. The moment your fingers pressed against his palm, he snatched your wrist and brought you to his lap, students gasping as his hands landed on your sides. 

-Oh the material was so soft! He ran his fingers up and down as you press hand to his chest while you sang the last few notes of the song. 

-Floyd couldn’t help the little giggle as he saw the embarrassment on your face, your hand clearly pushing on his chest but his hands clearly weren’t letting you go. What were you going to do, little Shrimp? 

-His eyes widen at your sudden improvisation, your hands taking his and pressing them to your face so he could cup your cheeks. Instinctively he pulled you closer as the song suddenly stopped---

”Floyd-senpai, I have to go.” 

-The whisper is only for him to hear as you catch him off guard with that soft look and pull away, you holding out the last note of the song as if you had planned to be caught by him all along. 

-He clicks his tongue and leans back, eyes watching you go back up the stage and sitting inside the shell as you pull your legs closer to you before blowing a kiss to the now applauding crowd as Grimm closed the shell. 

-Surely the kiss had been for him, right? If it had been for any of these other bottom feeders...well no matter. Even if it hadn’t been for him, Floyd would make sure to squeeze you real tight the moment you got off stage. 

-----

You lay down on the cushion as you put your arms over your eyes, groaning as you tried to get your thoughts together. 

If this worked out the way you thought it would, word of mouth would get around and you would bring around sixty customers so that they could partake in what they had missed tonight. 

Has it cost you your dignity? Yes. 

Was the outfit embarrassing? Yes. 

Did you have to flirt with all three Octavinelle members so they would see that you were serious about finally going to sleep without shivering? Yes and yes. 

At least it was over. 

“Yo Grimm. Can you open this? I want to change!” 

Your hands tap the top of the shell, sighing in relief as it slowly opened. 

Only for you to yelp as hands pin you down to the cushion, a very familiar face grinning down at you as Floyd laughs merrily. 

“Ahaha~! Nee, that kiss was for me, right Little Shrimpy? You blew that my way, right?” 

Jade sighs and steps behind his brother, pulling him up by the collar so that you could get your bearings. 

“It was at the customers, Floyd. I believe [Y/N]-san wanted this to be spoken about tomorrow, correct?” 

You nod as he lets go of Floyd and holds out his hand for you to take. 

“What an interesting plan...right Azul?” 

The Octavinelle dorm leader isn’t really looking at you, he is still staring at everything that you had on taking it as much as he could before your voice brought him back. “So...how did I do?” 

Azul blinks before smiling as he steps close and holds out his arm for you to take. 

“I have yet to see the terms of the contract be met but...we can discuss how you did in my office. Mind telling me how you came up with this plan? ” 

“Y--Yeah! Sure!” 

You take Azul’s arm and speak about your thought process, not noticing the grins on the eel’s faces as they hold themselves back until they reach Azul’s office. 

How nice, it would be the first time you would be staying over at Octavinelle, even if you didn’t know it yet.  

[nagipops]

hii I love your blogs sooo much you're really talented (I just needed to say it sorry) so straight to the point, I already made 2 requests to you and I really enjoyed your writing so I would like to make another again. As I'm clueless about what to request I'll just ask for random hcs for konoha 11, idk if it's too much but if so then you can do with Neji (I love him so much), Kakashi and Naruto. Thank you in advance and sorry anything ^^

RANDOM KONOHA 11 HEADCANONS!

FEATURING: naruto, sakura, shikamaru, ino, choji, neji, rock lee, tenten, kiba, hinata, and shino

WARNINGS: mentions alcohol, drugs, food, bugs, and the tiniest nsfw mention if you get the joke. hehe

A/N: AHHHH ANONN this seriously made my day, im so so glad you enjoy my work!! 💖

NARUTO

you know how we all have “the chair”, where we throw all of our dirty clothes onto?

yeah, imagine that, but from the seat to the fricking ceiling

its just a GINORMOUS MOUND of clothes, you wonder how he even goes through that many clothes so quickly???

definitely shoves it under his bed whenever guests come over (somehow)

holds chopsticks really weirdly. but it works.

asked tenten to put his hair into space buns to mimic his sexy jutsu and went around flirting with the village

jiraiya was so proud of him T-T

comes up with the WORST pickup lines

they’re so bad, its almost charming. almost

has gone AWOL multiple times, disappearing from everywhere, just everywhere

it scared you a little, so you searched the entire village for him

you finally found him sitting on the ledge of a cliff, gazing out at the vast sea

concerned and panicked, you cried out to ask him what was wrong

he turned to you with a crestfallen, devastated look on his face and said,

“i bought shrimp ramen instead of chicken ramen.”

you’ve never searched for him after his disappearance ever again.

SAKURA

100% makes origami shurikens and chucks them at you

they are deathly precise and deathly sharp. seriously, how are these not illegal weapons yet???

writes threatening motivational notes to herself on the mirror

“u got this!” “make sure to smack naruto today!” “ino sucks!”

her backpack would always be way too high up on her back. idk why but. it would

does her hair all nice and pretty before she goes out but once she arrives to her destination SHE KEEP. TAKING. IT OUT. and redoing it over and over and over again

like it’s impossible to make eye contact with her because she’s holding a bobby pin between her teeth while braiding her hair

her guilty pleasure would be hostess treats

ding dongs are her favorite. don’t ask me how i know, i just know.

eats the yellow starbursts just to spite naruto and all her haters

loves small lap dogs, she think’s they’re so cute and cuddly

but she especially loves chihuahuas

they’re so feisty and naruto HATES them, so of course she had to go and get one for herself

dresses the poor dog up in little bonnets and jackets and ties its tiny fuzzy hairs into pigtails

she and the chihuahua are not that much unlike <3

SHIKAMARU

this man is a god at shogi but he absolutely SUCKSSSS at cup pong.

is this an ick? idk. but he is absolute trash at this game.

it gets even worse when he’s got a couple drinks in him

tries to calculate the velocity and acceleration and angle and shit but his shot is always a good two feet off BYE 😭

just mutters an “aw, shit” before awaiting his turn again

hates checkers, loves chess

“checkers is for WUSSIES” - shikamaru nara

i said this in another post, but he is Very Good at whistling

like that’s his hidden talent

can copy any tune with the perfect pitch and rhythm

speaking of, he can do really cool tricks with his tongue

like making a four leaf clover, touching the bridge of his nose with it, flipping it upside down, you name it

he has slanted, scrawled handwriting, to the point where it’s almost illegible

wbk he cheats in school SO OFTEN. but he never gets caught. he’s not stupid, he just couldn’t care less about his classes.

thinks weed and e-cigs are stupid, cigarettes are where it’s at

you just can’t replicate the feeling of taking a drag from a cig after a long, tiring day

plus he looks hella cool while doing it B)

INO

teaches the boyz™️ how to braid their hair

like they all gather in a circle around this feisty fashionista and fail attempt to braid their hair

sakura was just fuming in the sidelines

“OI, INO-PIG, THAT’S A DUTCH BRAID, NOT A FRENCH BRAID!!”

yeah, ino 🙄

the only one that can actually do it is neji because a) this man is talented af and b) he’s got the long hairrr

ino probably envies his thick, sleek hair because hE’S a bOy

also asks everyone for their blood type and zodiac signs and tells them if they’re compatible with her or not

and definitely judges you for your sign 😣

“oh, you’re a gemini? hmm, what a shame...”

makes bouquets for her favorite people and kin assigns everyone a flower

only assigns the pretty nice ones to the people she likes (sorry sakura, you’re out of luck)

one of her favorite hobbies is crafting! she’s really good with details and small things so she loves making those miniature dollhouses and stuff

also really good at watercoloring. especially painting flowers and landscapes

also i feel like she would be really good at playing any instrument because of her skilled hands

can play a badass flute solo. period.

CHOJI

would honestly rather die than get anywhere NEAR an asparagus

he just thinks they’re so gross and bitter and NOT SALTY

he always eats his yakiniku a little bit undercooked because he’s way too impatient to wait for it to cook fully. who do you think he is??

whenever he cloud gazes with shikamaru, when asked what he thinks a cloud looks like, he just says some sort of food

“oi, choji, what does that one look like to you?”

“a... yakiniku grill... with... pineapple rings on it! ooh, and a wagyu steak right there!”

he thinks pringles are an abomination to society. where’s the crisp? where’s the grease? where’s the saltiness?!!!

asks ino to teach him how to do his hair all fancy and the two of them devote an entire day learning different hairstyles

it’s his new favorite thing to do now :D

he really likes crayons!!!!

like he’ll write with them, draw with them, color with them, do everything with them

he’s even tried to eat them. he said they tasted good.

definitely had the 128 crayon pack WITH THE BUILT-IN SHARPENER, and everyone thought he was the coolest kid in town

he ate it UP, he even scored some bbq dates with the ladies

i also feel like he loves basketball, and he has a MEAN slam dunk

like his vertical isn’t that high, but the man can REACH

he loves when people laugh at him when he challenges them to a 1v1 and then proceeds to absolutely destroy them <3

NEJI

he seems like a cucumber kind of guy.

just cucumber

like i feel like he puts it in everything; soba, salads, sandwiches, his face, yeah

it’s mellow and cool, just like him!

speaking of, i feel like he lives for spa days and facials

it just lets him be alone in his little cucumber scented world for an hour or two and he gets damn clear skin from it as well

seriously he has PERFECT skin. flawless. not a single blemish. his cheeks feel like baby butts they’re so smooth.

i feel like he’d be a god at solving rubik’s cubes, don’t ask me why

like if anyone scrambled theirs on accident they would just take it to neji and he’d solve it in the blink of an eye

CAT PERSON!!! loves the little meow meows

who are we kidding, neji basically is a cat; agile, aloof, does silly things without trying to, very cute

he just feels akin to the little fuzzballs and he thinks petting cats are extremely therapeutic. good for the soul

he is a golf man. he would take his juniors golfing and everyone thinks he’s uncool. cmon neji let them go to the skate park at least T-T

also very good at karaoke, definitely surprised everyone once he got a few drinks in him since he started serenading you

LIGHTWEIGHT!!! do not get more than one shot of alcohol in him. he will go berserk.

i also feel like he’d really love photography; not taking pictures of people, but of nature

he loves taking a quiet stroll through a pretty forest and snapping pictures of all the unique flora and fauna

it’s so serene ︶ ‿ ︶

ROCK LEE

100% milly rocks everywhere

gai got in on it too once he asked what lee was doing

“is that what all the youthful cool kids do these days!”

they also dab together. a lot

DO NOT BE SEEN WITH THESE TWO!!! you are not associated with them.

definitely is the one breakdancing in the middle of the dance circle at a high school party

he’s mad skilled at it too

headspins and windmills galore

challenged naruto to a dance-off and completely OBLITERATED him

lee then asked if naruto wanted a rematch, this time with one hand tied behind lee’s back

naruto obliged, and he STILL lost

RIP naruto and his fangirls, they all scrambled to lee afterwards T-T

i feel like his favorite subject is science

not the boring physics equations and laws and theories but the fun EXPERIMENTS

definitely has singed all of his hair off one time and he went to gai blubbering to help him grow back his precious hair

but he loves experimenting with different combinations and chemicals to get different reactions each time

created a potent love potion and carried it around with him all day one day

and it was actually working

girls were flocking to him left and right, staring at his lips and his face

he was so abashed at the sudden attention

heck, it even worked on sakura

“oi, lee-san!”

“hehe, yes, sakura-san?”

her eyes shifted downwards to his lips and his heart thumped harder

“hey... lee-san?”

“what is it?”

“you have something on your lip. we’ve been trying to tell you all day but you just winked and blew kisses at us.”

legend has it lee has still not recovered to this day.

TENTEN

has THE prettiest handwriting. and she can write SUPER fast

it’s like a superpower

like she transcribed five pages of a report in less than two minutes with perfect handwriting

naruto is so jealous.

she is also super good at origami! those diligent, accurate hands aren’t just for throwing things

taught sakura how to make shurikens but does NOT endorse any violent uses of them

she can replicate all of her weapons with paper and they can actually function, it’s so cool

made paper kunai knives one day and the wholeee village wanted to get their hands on them

i feel like she’d listen to mitski. idk i just get those vibes

LOVES BIG DOGS!! especially fluffy wuffy samoyeds

like man’s best friend?? no, GIRL’S BEST FRIEND!!

hugs and cuddles and squishes all the big dogs

she thinks small dogs are spawns of satan

sakura and her have definitely quarreled over this

but at the end of the day, all dogs are adorable fur babies, so she lets it slide :,)

KIBA

kiba always looks SO GOOD in photos you take of him, candid or not

like you could just whip out a camera and snap a photo of him at any given moment and he would look perfect

you framed a picture of him yelling at akamaru for peeing inside the house

it’s pure artwork

i feel like he tries to swagger around with his hands shoved in his pockets but it fails MISERABLY and the girls are wondering if he broke his leg or something 😭

kiba just walk normally. for the love of god please just walk normally.

he tries to slump back in his chair really low but one time he slouched way too low so he slipped off of his chair and onto the ground LMFAOOOO

he just wallowed there... in shame...

also.. he LOVES when the girls put makeup on him!!

he tries to act like he hates it. but it secretly gives him so much confidence

not to mention the girls hyping him up are a huge ego boost

okay the inside of his jacket hood is the warmest. thing. EVER!!!

seriously, no wonder this dude is so happy-go-lucky all the time, he’s living in literal heaven 24/7

it’s like you’re sleeping on a cloud inside a warm, cozy bed during a cold winter morning

10/10 would recommend letting him give you his sweatshirt when you’re chillin with a hair tie ❤️

HINATA

always smells like lavender soap. always

also has the cutest pencil pouches with little puppy faces and kawaii things

oH and she has those mini yoobi highlighters, she thinks they’re so cute (and functional!)

everyone flocks to her to try them out and marvel at the cute tiny highlighters

and they try to steal them from her but she doesn’t even stop them because she’s too timid to 😭

naruto goes BALLISTIC over them

she lets him have all of them <3

tennis girl!!! tennis girl.

all of her opponents always underestimate her because she’s so timid and shy and quiet

but she has a KILLER serve

and then she takes her opponents to the slaughterhouse with a complete shutout ;)

she’s really athletic believe it or not, she can beat most of the boys in a mile run and she has incredible endurance

i feel like she really loves velvet scrunchies

she just thinks they’re so pretty and they keep her hair soft so they’re cute and functional

also takes the PRETTIEST notes!!

color codes, dividers, headers, you name it, it’s all super readable too its insane

everyone asks her for her notes, not to study but just to appreciate the pure artwork that it is ^w^

SHINO

shino is SO easy to prank

“how do you catch an eyemaster?” *cue naruto and kiba snickering*

“eyemaster bait. that is because—”

even when everyone’s laughing their asses off, he still continues to explain his answer since he does NOT GET THE JOKE

tried his hand at writing haikus

here’s his best one so far:

“Bugs are amazing. That is because they are bugs. Bugs are very nice.” - Shino Aburame

VERY proud of it, since it took him weeks to perfect

praise it, pls

had one of those ant farms and bug-catching kits as a kid

and he would fill the kit TO THE BRIM. LIKE IT WAS HEAVY BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY BUGS.

he loves the little chitters of the different bugs

he had jars of different bugs all lined up on a wall shelf in his room

collects silkworms off of trees and sticks them into his pockets (no i definitely did not do this as a kid...)

HELP I FEEL LIKE he would record a timelapse of his ant farm growing and upload it to youtube with a movie maker title screen that says

“my ants”

if you enjoyed this post, likes and reblogs are much appreciated :) feel free to request here, and make sure to read the rules first! have a lovely day everyone <3

[thesacredtwink]

I see your last post on Groose and was thinking, and I'll be honest the way I always have looked at Groose is that he's got a +5 to intelligence and a -2 for wisdom.

Like, he's really, really smart. As you mentioned he made it to the graduating class and built the Groosenator. But then... he also uses the Groosenator to launch Link into a tree.

He smart, but not clever if that makes sense. Very straightforward guy.

He's able to build a catapult from scratch without a blueprint, but he's also the guy in Skyloft most likely to try eating an orange the way you eat apples.

I love him for that, personally. He's doing his best. (Sometimes his best involves flinging the first King of Hyrule into a tree, but hey, it got Link where he needed to go! That plan worked!)

-Attllhak

Oh yeah XD that’s an excellent way of putting it. GOD me too. I love high int low, wis characters.

Intelegence says: this door wont open! We must find a solution.

Wisdom says: have you tried pushing the door instead of pulling?

And because Groose only has the intelligence half, he ends up kicking a push door expecting it to be locked and falls on his face.

He’s a complex man, but not a complicated one. He’s very predictable in a lot of ways. None of his plans, not even the Groosenator, are ooc for him. Like? He saw a giant monster and came to the conclusion that they needed a bigger weapon. It was simple, to the point, and the only reason it feels so strange in game is because- here we are playing LoZ, a fantasy game, and this character built a catapult. Like, as Link we interact with so many extraordinary things! Kikwis! Goddess cubes!! Sword Spirits!! Dark nether worlds!!

But like, Groose doesn’t have access to magic stuff. So a catapult it is! He is ABSOLUTLY the person who eats oranges like an apple while everyone watches on in mild shock and horror. its that high int low wis thing.

[astranva]

Mustache Dare

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Absolutely none if you can handle how Harry looks with the stache, or a little strong language (F word).

Category: Fluff!

Summary: Y/N loves a good challenge, French toast is involved and so is Harry’s facial hair.

Or

The one where Harry and Y/N are too competitive over French toast and Y/N shaves Harry’s facial hair…except for one place.

Harry and Y/N’s relationship was one their friends enjoyed to watch and be present around. The couple could go from babying everyone around them, to being the lives of every party, to being the couple who’d take care of you when you’re all messed up, to being a couple who were just simply entertaining to watch.

They had met some years ago through mutual friends and instantly hit it off, Harry later swearing up and down that “the chemistry was unreal” whenever he talked about his girlfriend with anyone, telling them that he knew from the moment he met her that they were in it for a ride – together.

She supported him through everything; the One Direction hiatus, family deaths, road to being a solo artist, his experimenting with everything, and all his music and thoughts. Y/N was the whole package for him; a girlfriend, a best friend and his number one fan.

Don’t get them wrong, Harry supported her through thick and thin, too. He supported her during her confusion, the insecurity, the doubting moments, and even every single time she questioned if she chose the right major. He could be in Japan and be one call away from taking the earliest flight back home if she even implied that she wanted him back there.

But the couple didn’t only kiss and lull each other into peaceful sleep at night, they loved a good banter and challenge, too.

Y/N was used to giving her all to win or to at least face a dignified loss ever since she was a child. She had far too many photographs of her engaging in mind-tickling challenges ever since she was 3, and Harry’s personal favorite – which he keeps in his wallet – is a picture of an 8-year-old Y/N sitting in front of a chess board with her gandpa, eyes squinted in concentration and finger on the corner of her mouth.

Harry admired that they both had the same characteristic. He loved how competitive they both were and loved, even more, how they always turned that into fun banter which always made them laugh the hardest.

Harry had been leaving his facial hair grow, and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like it when Y/N would mindlessly poke at it or run her knuckles gently down his cheeks and chin.

“Remember when you couldn’t grow that out?” She said one night, a small smug smile on her face that told him that she was sleepy after a tiring day with work.

He had her seated on the kitchen stool as he made her instant noodles, which she was waiting for to cool. He rolled his eyes with a smile, approaching her to wrap his arms around her waist, “Took me far too long, huh?”

She smiled wider, “Can’t even remember. It’s like I forgot all about that time because of how much I’m getting used to this.” She said as she patted his cheeks.

That night, she ate her noodles and had to stop herself from choking on the soup from laughing at some of the weirdest jokes Harry was reading her off of the internet.

The following morning was when it happened. It was finally the weekend and they both slept in before waking up at 3PM to a dark room – Harry was an angel and had shut the blinds the previous night because he knew they needed to sleep in – and the chirping of birds.

“Can we stay here for the rest of the day?” Y/N asked, cheek pressed against Harry’s chest, not finding it in her to open her eyes for long the moment Harry’s fingers started playing with her hair.

Harry chuckled softly, “We can, but we’re going to need to eat.”

She hummed against his chest, “How do we feel about French toast?”

“I can make that.”

Y/N pulled back, raising an eyebrow at him, “You burn them, baby.”

And while butterflies erupted in Harry’s stomach at the pet name he loved when it fell from his girlfriend’s lips, he still chose to feign shock and look back at her. “I never do.”

She sat up with a jolt as she laughed, “That’s a lie and you know it. You always burn the toasts.”

“I make them extra crunchy!” Harry reasoned, opening his arms, “I never burn them.”

“Bullshit,” she smirked, “How about you prove it?”

He knew where this was going, already feeling the excitement bubble inside him at the slight appearance of his girlfriend’s competitive side. “And then what?”

She thought for a few seconds before pointing at him, “If you don’t burn them, and I mean they’re 100% edible with no big black spots, you get to do whatever you want with me, and vice versa.”

“Like, I can have you work out with me?” Harry edged, watching her cringe before giving him a reluctant nod, “Deal.” Harry sat up, ruffling up his hair as he stared at her, “Get ready to lose.”

Y/N laughed sarcastically as she followed him, linking arms with him as they both walked out their bedroom, “In your dreams, Styles.”

They reached their kitchen and Harry decided to hold her and prop her on the counter, smiling cheekily at her before puckering his lips and pressing them against hers, “for good luck” he said.

Harry liked being in the kitchen, but he loved it when she was around, propped up on the counter with her hands beneath her thighs, swaying softly and gently side to side while humming a song that she had been listening to all damn week.

She was a dream, even when she teased him about losing.

So, he cracked the eggs, added the ingredients, switched the stove on for the pan that had a cube of better ready to melt in, and dipped the toast in the mixture before adding the toast in the pan.

When Y/N said Harry was used to burning toast – especially French toast and she had no idea why – she knew what she was saying, and for proof, the high heat he had set acted as one.

He walked towards her, putting his hands on her knees before spreading her legs, opening the drawer she kept hidden and taking a spatula out before stepping closer to her after closing the drawer. “Think I’ll dress you up for a week.”

She leaned down to have her face closer to his, a smile on her face that made Harry weak in the knees, “You think you’ll win?”

He stood his ground, wrapping his arms around her waist before tilting his head slightly to the side, “You think I won’t?”

Y/N pursed her lips as to stifle her laughter before limply putting her arms around his shoulder, “Harry,” she began before pecking his lips, “The toast is burning.”

Harry’s eyes widened, turning around frantically and groaning loudly at the smoking toast as he quickly turned off the stove before flipping the two toasts – the two charcoal black toasts.

With a bashful smile and a scrunched nose, he slowly turned to look at his girlfriend who had her hands clasped over her mouth to quiet the giggles. She jumped off the counter and walked towards him, eyes a little tearful from how hard she was containing in her laughter and looked at the toast, “Baby, I can’t believe I’m saying this but,” she looked up at him, few giggles escaping as he looked down at her with a fake aggravated face and both arms crossed across his chest, “You’re toast.”

And it was as if she cracked the funniest joke and it was the last straw, she leaned back as she burst out laughing.

“oh, fuck off!” Harry laughed, wrapping both arms around her and playfully and gently biting her cheek as she squealed.

Accepting defeat, Harry and Y/N agreed on eating cereal before Y/N surprised him with what task she chose for him.

She was excited for what she chose for him, trying to visualize it but failing to do so without laughing and imagining Billy Hargrove from Stranger Things.

“Harry Edward Styles, are you intentionally being slow?” She squinted her eyes at him, taking notice of how she finished her breakfast nearly 15 minutes ago but Harry was yet to finish, only milk remaining in his bowl which he slowly sipped on with his spoon.

The childlike smile told him that she was correct, which made her gasp and laugh, “You!”

He laughed along before setting his bowl aside and raising his hands up, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You can’t blame me; you have the worst dares!”

“Oh, you have no idea.” She rubbed her hands together jokingly, “Come on, get up. Let’s get to it.”

“We have to wash the bo-“

“After we’re done.” She held his hand and dragged him off the couch and up to their room.

“Baby, is that all you wanted? You wanted to-Awe, baby, you know you can just ask.” He teased, knowing that even though he can only see her back, that she was rolling her eyes at him.

What had him confused was when she dragged him to the bathroom, put down the toilet seat before telling him to sit.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“Hush, Styles. You agreed on anything.” Was all she said with a smirk before walking back to their room and going back to him with her panda designed eyepatch, putting it on him.

“Oh God, what did I agree on?” He rhetorically asked, hearing her rummage through stuff.

But then he heard it. The buzzing sound of his shaver.

“Don’t move, yeah? We don’t want a cut.” She said with giggles.

“What the- Y/N!” He laughed, feeling her step between his legs.

Through giggles and careful work, she worked on shaving his beard.

It wasn’t the first time she shaved or trimmed his facial hair, or even just hair. Y/N loved shaving Harry’s facial hair for him and ever since the pandemic, he trusted her enough to learn how to trim his hair and had given him slight hair trimming.

Harry felt it. She went everywhere with the shaver but not his mustache but he tried to deny that she was done working, that was until she turned off the shaver and took off the eyepatch that covered his eyes so that he could see her face; staring at him in pure amusement and pride, as if she was staring at her best work of art.

She brought her fingers together and up to her lips, blowing a chef’s kiss, “Handsome.”

Harry held her waist, standing up and walking around her to stand in front of the mirror. There he stood, with only a mustache on his upper lips and unruly hair. He brought his face closer to the mirror, running his hand over his facial hairless chin and jaw, then over the mustache before turning to look at his girlfriend. “Do I turn you on like that?”

“Why yes, partner!” She exclaimed in a southern accent, wrapping her arms around his waist from the back and laughing against his back.

“I swear, if I wasn’t so fucking in love with you, woman.”

 1,093,214 likes

yninstagram: I regret doing this because now this lunatic has been telling me he “mustache me a question” but he’ll “shave it for later”🤦‍♀️

[maxinaptak]

(AoT/SNK) Reluctant Hero: Levi X Abused!Reader

You looked around nervously and pulled your sweater sleeve down farther as you walked into the school building. You didn’t want anyone to see the new bruises on your arms, let alone on your neck. You hoped the turtleneck sweater would hide them. You knew the sweater looked suspicious since it was late spring, borderline early summer, and the temperatures called for lighter clothing, but you really had no choice. You tugged the neck up higher and scurried off to your locker, hoping everyone would ignore you like they normally did.

“Hey ________, what’s with the sweater,” your best friend Max asked, scaring you near shitless, “Isn’t it a little warm?”

“Ah…,” you muttered, panicking slightly, trying to come up with an excuse, “I’m not warm at all! You know me, I’m a fucking ice cube, I’m cold all the time!”

You cringed internally, knowing it sounded like a terrible excuse, but you prayed to whatever god there was out there that she bought it. You breathed a silent sigh of relief when she laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right.” She said, smiling.

You grabbed your books and shoved them into your backpack. You slung it over your shoulder and winced in pain as it hit a particularly nasty bruise on your back.

Max looked at you concerned and asked, “Hey, are you ok?”

You quickly nodded your head and said, “Yeah, I’m fine! I just hurt my back last night trying to move my couch.”

“Why were you moving your couch?” She asked, confused.

You racked your brain for any lie possible and quickly spewed, “I was trying to clean under it.”

She seemed to buy it and you breathed another quiet sigh of relief. You finally bid your friend goodbye and hurried to your first hour class, pre-calculus. You immediately sat in your seat and took your book and notebook out, getting prepared for class. Class began and you wrote down everything your teacher did exactly as she did, but you still didn’t understand it. When you finished the notes, she began to hand back your last test. You got nervous, knowing that you didn’t do very well. When she placed it on your desk, it was upside down, and she gave you a sad look. She continued on down the rows and you sighed, flipping the test over, groaning quietly at the red “f” at the top. Next to it, also written in red letters, was a note that said, ‘See me at the end of class please – Mrs. Palmer’. You sighed again and looked up, only to have your (e/c) eyes lock with steely grey irises.

‘Shit!’ You thought, blushing lightly and looking away from him.

His name was Levi Ackerman, a fellow senior at Shiganshina High, and he was a student aid for Mrs. Palmer first hour. You’d known Levi since you were in fourth grade when he had moved from France to Shiganshina. You were never friends, but he had been in both your fourth and fifth grade classes and several classes after that in middle and high school. You’d learned a little bit about the boy by watching him from afar, but you had never talked to him more than just a passing encounter during class about an assignment. You’d heard from other people that he was a very unpleasant person, but from the few brief encounters you had with him he didn’t seem that bad.

“Alright, that’s all for today,” Mrs. Palmer said, snapping you out of your thoughts, “Either review your test or start on your homework.”

You chewed your lip as you rose from your seat, beginning to walk towards Mrs. Palmer’s desk. You eventually came to a stop before her desk and played with the end of your sweater, dreading what she was going to say.

“________, do you know that you’re failing?” She asked quietly so that only you could hear her.

You swallowed and nodded almost guiltily.

“Why is that?” She continued.

“I just don’t understand the stuff…,” you muttered, looking down, “I write down the notes exactly how you write them, but I just don’t understand how to do it….”

She frowned and said, “That’s what I thought. Would it help if you had a tutor?”

You thought for a moment and nodded. Your teacher nodded as well and motioned someone behind you over. When that someone stopped beside her, you looked at them and resisted the urge to gasp. It was Levi.

“From now on I’m going to have Levi tutor you,” she said, gesturing to the short male with her hand, “He’s amazingly good at math and he’s tutored many students before so I’m sure he can help you.”

You nodded and looked at him shyly.

“Do you have a lunch or a free hour?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“Um, both, actually…,” you said, voice shaky, “I have lunch fourth hour and IA eighth hour.”

“Alright,” he sighed, nodding, “I’ve got lunch fourth hour and I student aid for Mrs. Palmer again eighth hour for pre-calc so were meeting both those times, got it?”

You quickly nodded.

“I’ll find you at lunch, so just sit where you normally do.” He said, picking his bag up from the floor.

You nodded again. The bell rang and he nodded at you before walking past you and leaving the room. You quickly gathered your things and made your way to your AP psychology class. You took your seat next to your best friend and stared off into space.

“Hey,” Max said, snapping her fingers in front of your face, startling you, “Earth to ________! What’s up with you today?”

“Well, I wasn’t feeling the greatest this morning, but then last hour I found out that I’m going to be getting tutored twice a day by Levi Ackerman.” You said, shaking your head.

“Wait, you’re getting tutored by Mr. Forever-Pissed-Off-With-A-Stick-Up-His-Ass?!” Max asked, surprised.

“Oh come on,” you said, rolling your eyes, “He’s not that bad.”

“You’ve never seen him mad then.” Max said, shuddering.

You shook your head and tried to pay attention to your psych teacher.

You grabbed you lunch and sat down at your normal table, across from Max.

“Why are you over there?” She asked.

“Cause I’ve gotta get tutored.” You answered, pulling your book and notebook out, getting ready for number hell.

A minute later, a book and a tray were placed beside yours and a body settled onto the bench next to you.

“Alright brat, you ready for this?” Levi asked, cracking his knuckles.

You flinched at the sound and began to shake.

“U-uh, excuse me…!” You said, jumping up and running from the table, heading towards the bathroom.

Levi watched ________ run off with confused grey eyes. The girl looked terrified. He turned his perplexed orbs to her best friend, hoping she could shed some light on the situation.

“Is she alright?” He asked.

Max sighed and said, “She does that sometimes. She’ll randomly cringe and suddenly run off, most times to the bathroom. I feel like it’s got something to do with hearing or seeing something but I can’t figure it out.”

The girl looked worried about her friend and Levi wanted to figured it out as well. He wondered if it was something he had done or said. He frowned and looked in the direction that ________ had run off and saw that she was coming back.

You quickly pulled yourself together and left the bathroom. You headed back to the table, an embarrassed blush coming to your cheeks as you saw Levi looking at you.

“Sorry,” You said quietly, pulling on your sleeves, “I get these little nauseous spells and I tend to run away when they happen… you know, just in case….”

You hoped the lie sounded believable, because if they didn’t buy it you were in big trouble. Luckily they both nodded and Levi dove right into the tutoring lesson. Mrs. Palmer had given him all the things that you’d need to go over and he luckily started at the beginning. You didn’t get to go through much, but what you did get through you finally understood.

“Alright, so eighth hour, just go to Mrs. Palmer’s room and we’ll pick up where we left off, alright?” Levi said, packing his things up.

You nodded and did the same, shoving you book in your bag. You slung it over your shoulder and flinched again as it came in contact with the same bruise from that morning. What you didn’t know was that it didn’t go unnoticed by both Levi and Max, who shared a worried look.

Eighth hour you headed to Mrs. Palmer’s room, your pre-calc book in hand. It was an odd feeling but you accepted it. When you reached the room, you were relieved to see that Levi was already there.

“Back here,” he said, leading you to a table in the back of the room, “We’ll be going over things back here while she teaches and she’ll probably drop in and check up on us at some point knowing her.”

You giggled slightly, knowing he was right. You sat down and began studying again. Levi really was a good tutor because you were picking the material up really fast now. Soon the bell rang, signaling that you were released from prison. You both let out a breath and began to slowly pack up your stuff.

“Thank you for tutoring me…,” you said softly, causing Levi to pause in his movements, “I know Mrs. Palmer probably asked you to do it, but still, it’s really helping me already so… thanks….”

“Actually,” he said, beginning to put his stuff away again, “I offered to do it.”

“What?!” You said, looking at him in surprise.

“She was grading tests and she started talking about how she was sad about a student not doing well and she started ranting to me, as she often does, and after she was finished, I offered to tutor you.” He said, looking at you.

You blushed lightly and looked back down at your stuff, shoving the last thing in your bag.

“Well, thank you….” You said.

He nodded and you both stood. You excited the classroom and parted ways with a quick goodbye. You stopped by your locker to drop off a few things before leaving the school. You groaned loudly when you reached the door and saw the light sprinkle turn into a downpour. You sighed and were about to accept your fate when a voice sounded from behind you.

“Are you walking home ________?”

You turned around with a start and saw Levi standing there, backpack over one shoulder, umbrella in one hand, and car keys in the other.

You looked back out the door for a second before returning your gaze to the male and answering.

“I have to,” you said, your shoulders slumping slightly, “I don’t have a car….”

He frowned and shook his head.

“I’m not letting you walk home in this kind of weather,” he said, walking up to you, “I may be an asshole, but I'm not that much of an asshole.”

You opened your mouth to argue but a clap of thunder sounded, cutting you off. You flinched at the loud sound and began to shake. You nodded your head, agreeing to letting him drive you home. He walked to the doors, you right behind him, and opened one. He opened the umbrella and stepped outside. He grabbed your backpack and pulled you out and under the umbrella with him, keeping his arm around your shoulders. He led you through the parking lot to his truck and unlocked the doors. He opened the passenger side door and helped you into the truck before closing the door and getting in himself. He tossed the wet umbrella into the backseat and started the truck.

“Where do you live?” He asked.

You swallowed hard and told him where you lived. He looked at you with a strange look in his eyes but began driving anyway. You looked down at your hands shyly. You didn’t want him to know you lived in the really nice neighborhood. When he pulled up to your house, you blushed more. It was really big.

“Um…,” you muttered, looking at him shyly, “Thanks for driving me home Levi….”

“Yeah, anytime.” He said, a strange look in his eyes.

You grabbed your bag and quickly jumped out of the truck, running into your house. You watched through the window as he pulled away and sighed. You trudged up the stairs to your room. You entered the barely furnished room and set your bag down on the floor. You locked your door and sat on your bed, bringing your knees to your chest. You reached over to your bedside table and picked up the framed picture that was set there. You looked at it and felt tears roll down your face. It was a picture of your family from when you were little. Your mother was holding you and your two older brothers were standing beside her, hugging you two, their heads on her shoulders. Your father wasn’t in the picture since he was the one who took it, but it was all for the best since you hated the man. You hated him because he didn’t even want you. He had never wanted you. He’d only wanted sons. The only reason you were born was because your mother wanted you. She loved you with all her heart and you shared the same adoration. But then she was taken from you when you were six. She had been hit crossing the street while she was out shopping one day and died before the paramedics even arrived.

“I miss you mom….” You whispered, letting more tears flow.

Your phone rang and you sniffled, wiping your eyes. You grabbed your (f/c) phone and looked at the caller ID. You saw that it was your older brother Mason and smiled slightly.

“Hi Mason.” You said, voice still shaky.

“________,” he said, sounding concerned, “What’s wrong? You sound off.”

“Nothing. I'm fine, really. I was just looking at the picture of me, you, Joshua, and mom and got a little sad, that’s all.” You said, smiling to yourself.

“Ok, well as long as that’s all that it is. Don’t be afraid to tell me if there is something though. Cause I’ll cut a bitch, and you know it.” He said.

You giggled and said, “Yeah, I know.”

He chuckled and said, “So how’ve you been little one?”

“Holding on.”

“School kicking your ass?”

“Yeah….” You trailed off a bit.

Your brother laughed and asked a few more questions before ending the call. It was hard having twin older brothers who were ten years older than you. You had a great relationship with them but they didn’t know what was happening with your father.

“________!”

Speaking of your father….

You flinched at the yell you heard and knew you’d be getting a few new bruises.

It’d been two weeks since Levi started tutoring you and since you got a few pretty new bruises on your back, arms, and neck from him. It was beginning to get too warm for long sleeve sweaters, so you were wearing a tank top under and light hoodie, trying to hide as much of the bruising as possible. Levi also started driving you home every day, insisting that you shouldn’t have to walk if he could drive you. When you got into the truck, you dropped your phone, so you leaned over to grab it. You weren’t careful when you leaned though, and Levi got an eyeful of bruising on your neck and chest.

“Shit ________,” he said, staring at you, wide eyed, “What happened to you?!”

You looked at him confused before realizing what had happened. You blushed and pulled you hoodie around you tighter, trying to cover the bruising. You began to shake, fear coursing through your veins at what was to come.

“________, did someone hurt you?” Levi asked softly, startling you.

You’d never heard Levi use that tone of voice before. It almost sounded like he was talking to a frightened small animal. Which, in some respects, was what he was doing, but still. You swallowed hard and stared at him, (e/c) locked with steel. You contemplated telling him or not. No one knew what was going on, not even Max.

“________...,” Levi’s soft voice brought your full attention back to him, “Please, tell me what’s going on….”

You broke. Tears began to form in your eyes and chocked sobs began to escape your throat against your will. Levi quickly, but gently, pulled you against him and let you sob into his chest. After some time had passed, you finally calmed down enough to speak.

“My father….” You whispered, voice hoarse.

“What?!” Levi uttered, shocked.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and rested your head against his chest before elaborating.

“My father has been abusing me since I was six,” you said, sniffling, “It wasn’t as bad when I was little because my brothers were still at home so he couldn’t really do much, but then they went to college when I was eight. That’s when it started to get bad.”

“Why would he do this to you?” Levi asked.

You smiled bitter sweetly and said, “He never wanted me. He only wanted sons, but my mother wanted me. But she died when I was six, so I lost my only real protection. Then when my brothers left, I was left completely defenseless.”

Levi was quiet and you looked up at him. His jaw was clenched and he looked angry.

“Levi…?” You said quietly, putting your hand on his chest.

He looked down at you and said, “When would your dad be home?”

You were confused but answered him anyway.

“He won’t be home until later… why?” You said.

“Because you’re going to go grab a bag of your stuff, and then you’re coming to live with me,” he said, his arms tightening around you, “No arguments. I'm not going to let that bastard hurt you anymore.”

You stared at him with wide (e/c) irises and he suddenly began to blur. You burred your face in his chest and began to cry again.

“I’ll keep you safe,” he whispered into your (h/c) hair, “I promise….”

“Thank you…!” You cried, nuzzling into his chest.

You sat there for a little while longer before heading to your house. You threw what little belongings you had into a bag and left with Levi. He drove you to his apartment and he settled you into the spare room he had.

“Why do you live alone?” You asked, looking at him as you sat on the couch.

“My parents decided that they wanted to go back to France, but I didn’t want to leave,” he said, bring one knee up to his chest, “I was already eighteen at the time so they decided to get me an apartment so I could finish out high school and figure out what I want to do with my life.”

You looked at him and thought he looked a bit sad. You smiled faintly and leaned your head on his shoulder. He rested his on top of yours and you just sat there in a comfortable silence until you both decided it was time to turn in for the night.

“If you need me for what ever reason, just come in,” he said, leaning on the doorframe to his room, “Chances are, I might still be awake. I don’t sleep very well most nights so it won’t be any trouble.”

You nodded and smiled at him before going into your own room. You changed into your pajamas and crawled into bed. You closed your eyes and were able to fall asleep fairly quickly.

Your eyes shot open and you sat up in bad, your breathing ragged. You took a shaky deep breath and closed your eyes, only to gasp and quickly open them. All you saw was his face when you closed your eyes. You took another deep breath before getting out of bed and heading across the hall. You quietly opened the door and slipped inside, closing it behind you as quietly as possible.

“________?” Levi asked, sitting up slightly.

It looked like he had been awake, so you didn’t feel that bad about coming to him. You walked over to his bed and sat on the edge. He sat up all the way and put a hand on your shoulder. As soon as he did, you lunged at him and buried you face in his neck, your body shaking from the fear.

“Nightmare?” He asked softly, stroking your slightly messy hair.

You nodded and shifted slightly, trying to get comfortable. He pulled you down to lay beside him and cuddled your shaking body against his, trying to take your fear away. No matter what he did however, your body wouldn’t stop trembling. So he gently took your chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilted your face upwards to face him.

“I told you that I would protect you didn’t I?” He whispered, slowly leaning closer.

When you didn’t pull away, he closed the distance between your lips and kissed you. You kissed him back after the initial shock wore off. He pulled back after a few seconds and rested his forehead against yours.

“That felt good….” He muttered, a breathy chuckle leaving his lips, tickling yours.

“Yeah….” You breathed your agreement.

“Be my girl?” He asked quietly.

You smiled and kissed him again.

“I don’t think it’s even a question….” You said, kissing him again.

He chuckled and nipped your lip, kissing you deeper this time. He was defiantly not letting anything or anyone hurt you now.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Joshua ____(l/n)____?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“I’ll explain in a minute. First let me get your brother on the line as well.”

“Hello?”

“Mason ____(l/n)____?”

“Yes?”

“Ok, good. Now that I have you both, my name is Levi Ackerman. I'm your sister’s boyfriend. We recently got together, she hasn’t been hiding it from you. But that’s beside the point. The reason I called you both is because I need your help. ________ is currently living with me because your father has been abusing her. I have pictures of the bruises he left even.”

“He what?!”

“That bastard! I knew something was wrong when I’d call and she’d be crying!”

“Like I said, I need your help. I know it’s short notice, but if you could make it out here within the next few days, I want to get him where he belongs.”

“I’ll be on the next flight there.”

“I’m in the car in an hour.”

“See you soon.”

You heard a knock on the door and got up to answer it.

“Joshua, Mason?!” You exclaimed, extremely confused.

They both enveloped you in a hug together, confusing you even further.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, hugging them back.

“I called them.” Levi said from behind you.

“What?” You were now completely confused.

“We’re putting that basted where he belongs,” Mason said, clearly upset, “Why did you never tell us?!”

Your eyes widened and you turned to Levi.

“You told them?!” You asked.

He nodded and said, “I need their help to put him where he belongs to make sure you’re truly safe.”

You sighed and sat down on the couch. You listened to them plan and scheme about how to get your father arrested. You rolled your eyes and finally spoke up.

“How about we just go file a report with the police,” you said, looking at them, “We’ve got plenty of pictures of the bruises and I’ve got some scars I can show them.”

They looked at each other and seemed to agree. So they took you down to the station and you did just that. And they arrested your father. You wouldn’t have to deal with him for a very, very long time.

It’s been a few months since all the excitement of getting your father arrested. You and Levi graduated along with your friends. And speaking of your friends, you and Levi set up Max and one of Levi’s friends Mike, so they were having their own summer adventure. But as for you and Levi, you were traveling around Europe together for the summer. And in the fall, you’d both be starting at a university in France.

“Oi, brat, why are you staring out the window?” Levi asked, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You looked at him and smiled. You went over to him and startled his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Because I had some stuff on my mind,” you said, kissing his neck, “But, I think I know something else that’s on my mind now.”

Levi smirked and flipped you over so he was hovering over you.

“Great idea.” He said, nipping at your neck, trailing his tongue lower.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and smiled.

“I love you ________....” Levi murmured against your chest, placing a kiss to your heart.

“I love you too Levi….”

[musicallisto]

Hi! Could you pls do a Harry Potter ship for me? Preferably from next gen era? I’m a heterosexual girl.

I’m a bookish Ravenpuff and have always been on the top of my class. However, I’m definitely an overachiever and along with my studies, I always have sports practice and I’d definitely be one of the best on the quidditch team. I also play guitar. I’m rather short and it can easily upset me when someone points it out but I’m sure to make a snide remark back at them. I absolutely love art and drawing and sketching is my favorite past times. I adore kidssss and would definitely date someon and joke around that I’m dating them only for spending more time with their younger sibling(s). I can get easily flustered but love teasing and flirting around someone I like. I would usually never admit my feelings cuz I’m too stubborn but we’d argue and compete and I’d add some flirting just to show that I enjoy the person’s company and to hint that I want something more. I also am very much obsessed with one direction and Taylor Swift and boybands and no boyfriend of mine would be loved more than I love 1d and Tay tho. I can also do the splits and love learning the most random things like juggling 🤹‍♀️ and solving Rubik’s cubes (so far I know how to solve six). Also I don’t swear unless I’m extreme angry and am overall just a smart, innocent and naive girl lol.

Ahh can’t wait to see what you come up with!

hi steph! here’s your vanilla milkshake, i hope you like it! also, you sound like a lot of fun in person, lol. i’m exactly the same way when it comes to being flustered/teasing around someone i like, but then everything that comes out of my mouth sounds like i’m flirting except that’s just,,, how i talk normally lmfao. anyway, this is not the topic. the topic today is your relationship with the formidable james sirius potter...

It’s a good thing that you love spending time with kids so much, because the Potter family is one close-knit entity, and you will spend quite some time hanging out with Albus and Lily when you’re visiting James.

(He’s relatively annoyed by it the first time he invites you to spend the holiday break at his place. He doesn’t need his lame little brother and obnoxious little sister embarrassing him in front of this girl he likes.)

(Bear with him, he’s probably like a fourteen-year-old boy in this scenario.)

But it’s quite the opposite, actually; you gape in awe at how supportive and loving the whole Potter family is. It’s probably a little bit of the Weasley in them.

And the younger siblings are a lot of fun, so you oftentimes tease James and tell him that his lame little brother and obnoxious little sister are actually much cooler than he is.

He’s terrified that you might actually mean it, though. How could you? How could they?? He’s cool and he’s got swagger (he has used the word swagger at some point he is gen z), this is a criminal offense.

No, really, it’s so much fun teasing James Sirius Potter.

Mostly because he’s a prankster himself - following a long line of mischief evidenced by his namesakes -, so he’s always down for stirring up some stuff with you...

... but you’ve got him so wrapped around your finger that he takes every little thing you tell him so personally, but not in the actually offended way, more like, “shut up Albus is not cooler than me” “yes he is” “NO HE ISN’T” way. And it’s so funny to see him get all up in arms about something as trivial as that.

He should have the genes to understand that the harder he tries to protest, the longer you will continue with the teasing, because it’s one of the funniest things in the world, but hey. For all their “effortless charm” and “dashing good looks” (his words not yours), both his dad and grandpa went completely dumb whenever a pretty girl approached them, so you can’t really blame him.

On another note, he’s totally enraptured by how smart you are.

It’s not enough that you’re top of the class in almost every single subject - you’re also good at Muggle stuff too? Come on, that’s unfair. No wizard in the history of ever had the patience to try their hand at Rubik’s cubes.

And he’s guilty of it, too - he tried to solve one to impress you one day, he really did, and got as far as completing an entire side... until he got lazy and frustrated and magically finished it with a flick of his wand.

(He could have lied and told you he did it all with his brain, but Albus was in the common room when that happened, and would never let him hear the end of it.)

(At least you laughed when Albus told the epic story of his complete failure. Maybe you were onto something when you said he was cooler than him.)

Also, SO MUCH QUIDDITCH RIVALRY!

James is a jock and that’s a straight-up fact. He has a legacy to uphold, you know? (or so he tries to justify. but he does love team sports and the speed and thrill of the chase.)

but when there’s a Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff and Gryffindor match? oh, boy, are the stakes high.

There’s no actual tension between the two of you before the game or on the field, but. so. many. snide. remarks.

All’s fair in love and war - and all’s fair in Quidditch to destabilize your opponent. Throw them off their game. Maybe even their broom.

And you’re both masters at finding the little comment that will help you secure the win.

“Ha! How does it feel to lose again?”

“Oh my god, Harry Styles is so dreamy. Don’t you think?”

“Wait, what-”

The Snitch flies past him.

Right between your fingers?

“Pfft. You’re not even a challenge.”

Curse you and all your wits and boybands.

Oh, but next time you will get what’s coming, and that’s a promise.

800 follower sleepover CLOSED!

[toorumochi]

KaruShuu OTP Questions

Ah- I created ehhh 4?? I suppose KaruShuu head-canons posts today but do I regret it? Absolutely not, I loved it. So here you go, have another one, don't be shy, read it.

Also, please keep in mind that these head-canons are completely made up by me in a way of that it's just how I would see it sksksk also here, KaruShuu would be probably adults?? Also married??

Anyways, enjoy~ 🌸

Who is the most affectionate? Sinceee they got married, I'm sure the longer into the relationship, the more they have opened up to each other? Karma would be the type to wake up first in the morning and kiss Shuu good morning, but since Shuu is an early bird, he would wake up before Karma and make breakfast for him. Thats how he shows affection ❤️🧡

Most common argument? Sad to think that they NeEd to argue 🙄💅 but oh well- I thinkkk they would argue over super silly things. For example what to watch (If you have read my previous head canons, you will know what I mean by 'Shrek Marathons'):

"Let's watch something"

"Sure, what do you have in mind?''

Karma would just grin over to Shuu and Shuus eyes would widen, "Hell no"

"Absolutely ye-"

"Karma don't you dAR-"

They ended up watching (again for the 12 time this week) Shrek.

Who apologizes first? Karma apologies fly out of his mouth faster than they stop arguing. Karma would rather apologize than not let them talk for the next few hours.

Favorite (non-sexual) activity to do together? They enjoy getting massage! Ifff KaruShuu was too lazy to go out to get a professional massage for a few hours, they would do it to each other. (It usually ends with them making out later on but I'll delete that part)

Who is most likely to carry the other? Karma would carry Shuu ❤️😩 Ugh bridal style to embarrass him 💀💅

Nicknames?

For Karma, by Shuu: Tamponhead (I used this one in my fanfic and I will forever love it), Moron, Karma. Tbh, I don't think neither like these pet-names or nicknames since that think they are 'cringy'.

Tho, Karma has quite a few: Shuu (Main, he doesn't use 'Gakushuu' but when he does, Shuu melts lol), Pumpkin, Orange, pumpkin pie, Strawberry shortcake (bc he loves strawberries so why not call Shuu one 😌🤚🏻), Sugar cube (Idk I think it's cute, tho I don't know if that's even a nickname- 💀💀)

Also a note: They would definitely not use 'baby', 'babe', 'honey' bc- noooo 😩💀

Who proposes? Karma 💅

Who sings along with the radio? Karma would sing along but he is horrible at singing and Shuu makes him KNOW it by him singing and Karma shuts up but finds it hilarious at the same time.

Who worries most? Both do, depending on the situation. Shuu would be worried about stuff like paying taxes or things like that, meanwhile Karma is worried for Shuus health, if he is eating enough as well as getting enough sleep every night. Shuu is a hardworking bee after all ✨

Who always wants to take selfies with the other? Karma wants to, for example they are traveling somewhere for vacation and Karma wants to take as many pics as possible with his husband so he can later on put them into an album ❤️😩 (KaruShuu as a married couple >>>>)

Who likes to playfully tease the other? Ohhh~ Karma teases Shuu all the time, but there are times where Shuu would feel playful so he would tease back

Who has the weirdest taste in their music? Karma I'm begging you- his music taste changes every week and road trips are a disaster for Shuu

Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant? Karma remembers because Shuu is always ordering the same things since he is minimalistic lol but Karma is a living chaos when it comes to food so Shuu can't remember it all.

Who is embarrassed to take their clothes off in front of the other? Lmao no matter for how long they are already together, no matter if they are married, no matter how many times they had done it, Shuu would be the one to be embarrassed about it every time.

Who tops? ...Okay so here, personally as someone who writes Fanfics, Karma tops. Always. I just- I just can't imagine Shuu as a top?? my friends gave me some really valid reasons for Shuu to be a top but I just can't see it 😩

Who initiates kisses? Both I guess? But mostly Karma

Who reaches for the other's hand first? Oooo here an example! If they are driving in the car, and Karmas hand is free, Shuu usually reaches for it but as soon as Karma needs it to drive, he has to let go. Or if they are in the cinema - Shuu would definitely hold onto Karmas hand the whole time - as comfort, since they usually watch Horror movies together so yea 😌

Who kisses hardest? Who is most ticklish? Both is Karma, but when it comes to tickling, even tho Karma is more ticklish, he is also stronger than Shuu so he can easily pin him down and tickle him, just for the sake to see Shuu giggle which kills him bc God damnit isn't he adorable?

Who brings an animal they found home? Lol depends on the animal. I would say Karma is a cat person and Shuu is a dog person b u t Shuu is allergic to cats so they can't have cats. But I think if Karma would be the one to bring an animal home, it would be a dog.

Who holds the umbrella for the other when it's raining? Karma's shoe laces often get untangled, so when Karma bends to tie them, Shuu stands over him with an umbrella to keep the rain from pouring on him.

Who tries to playfully embarrass the other in public? Karma 😭

Who kills the scary bugs? Oh lemme tell you about this one:

Shuu HATES bugs, since he always had the feeling of his father having a bunch of centipedes around himself whenever he acted manipulative and so on so he hates them. So one time when Shuu was taking a shower, and Karma was in the kitchen, Shuu suddenly screeched so Karma went to check on him. He walked onto a Shuu, covering himself with a towel and looking absolutely T E R R I F I E D at the ceiling, stuttering. Karma was hella confused so he looked up and oop here we go, a spider. Karma obv took the spider off the ceiling to free it, but first he had to tease and scare his husband a little by walking towards the shower stall, "Shuu look~ He wants to be friends with you~", the way Shuu screamed at this made almost all of the windows in the apartment break.

Who asks the weird questions at random in the middle of the night? Karma does that on a daily basis, but when Shuu is a little bit drunk, he would ask weird questions to which Karma never has an answer but he jokes around.

Who hogs the blankets? Karma hogs them and Shuu ends up having a cold the next morning 😭

Who wakes up first? Shuu is an early bird, but Karma wakes up first for work.

Who wants to stay in bed just a bit longer? On weekends, they both stay in bed a bit longer to cuddle ❤️💕

Who always makes coffee for the other each morning? Karma makes coffee for Shuu before he leaves for work 🥰

Who cries during certain films or when reading sad books? Lmao Karma cries during Shrek every time the scene comes up where Shrek had an argument with Donkey 😔

Who gets scared during horror films? Shuu 😩😩 He would (as said before) take Karmas hand for comfort

Who tells their friends/family about the relationship first? Lmao none since GakuHOE is well, a hoe so they won't trust him b u t I have the feeling of Karmas mom being actually super supportive?? But they wouldn't tell her, she would just get the hint and then when she receives the wedding invite she goes "oh-".

What do their friends/family think of the relationship? Rio was shipping this since the beginning of middle school aight, she loves it and she even threw a party for them. #IstanRioNakamura

Who is more likely to ask the other to dance with them? Karma would ask Shuu to dance obv but Shuu would go along 😩💕

Who cooks best? Karma! And Shuu loves his cooking! :D

Who wears the other's jacket? Shuu is the one to wear long coats, and Karma those thicc jackets. Shuu usually gets super cold even with the coat on, so Karma gives Shuu his jacket on top of the coat lol.

Who uses cheesy pickup lines? Karma- anywhere. Have an example:

"Hey Shuu, could you feel the shirt?", he asked Shuu while they went shopping and Karma wAsN't sure about his T-Shirt choice so Shuu was running his fingers slightly over Karmas chest with the shirt still on and thinking about the material, then Karma went: "Know what it's made of?", and Shuu looked at him and was about to answer him, but Karma was quicker and continued, "Boyfriend material", ObViOuSlY with a grin and Shuu was a gay blushing mess 💅 but then Shuu went along, "What do you mean boyfriend? I can only see Husband material", and tuRNED AWAYYYYY~

Who whispers inappropriate things in the other's ear during inappropriate times? AAAA I T H I N K I've written sum like this before- So two things that happened:

KaruShuu were invited to a funereal or sum and pls the church was quiet and stuff but obv Karma had to joke around and he leaned over to Shuus ear and whispered a joke into his ear which made our stubborn Shuu giggle and the church was this close👌 to throw them out lmao

Shuu was at work, and Karma likes to call him randomly, but oh well Shuu picks up and Karma starts to tease him over the phone maybe something very sexual stuff (knowing Karma he would) and Shuu just- he is sitting at his desk and his workers are giving him looks about why is he blushing so much.

Who makes the other laugh most? Karmas jokes always make Shuu laugh, sometimes even cry since they are hilarious.

Who would have to bail the other out of jail? Oh my God- Shuu would have to bail Karma out of jail maybe during college years, but I think Karma would mature a bit more as an adult

What would be their theme song? YOOO- A WHOLE PLAYLIST WOULD BE NEEDED-

Who would sing their child back to sleep? OOO!! Karma would be the type to read stories, but Shuu would sing them to sleep :D

What do they do when they're away from each other? I can imagine that they both have those business trips from time to time, so when they are apart, they FaceTime each other every evening to check on each other. Yes indeed they must stay at fancy hotels for their business trips and they are being served food, but they still check that the other one is eating and sleeping well. Oh and good morning and goodnight texts™️🥰

A headcanon about them that stabs your feels? Oh- oH GOD- That maybe they tend to act very distant at first in their relationships?? Or more cold? For example Shuu, he would not really know nor show much affection to Karma and Karma at first thinking that Shuu doesn't love him at all (which isn't true bc Shuu loves him deeply) but then he after some time figures it out when Shuu opens up to him more.

A headcanon that mends the previous one? That they both after some time spend together, have the opportunities to open up to each other, know each other better as well as find out each others weaknesses and strengths which makes their relationship stronger. I absolutely love them ❤️😩

[damnusillygoose]

Series- Fairy tail

Pairing- Jerza

title-Resolve

Summary- with newfound optimism, erza and jellal, resolve the knitted tension in their relationship

fanfiction net- https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13961569/1/Resolve

AO3- https://archiveofourown.org/works/34085569

Erza clutched the contents of her purchase closer to her chest as she made a hasty retreat across the boulevard, heading straight towards the residence of a person she wanted to visit. It had started drizzling a while ago and the group of people gallivanting in front her quickly split apart in order to find a shelter to rest. She ran towards the end of the street, nearing her place of destination.

Gasping lightly, she opened the doorknob and set the slightly damp contents near the door. She took off her boots and stepped into the hall.

‘Erza? Is that you?’, she heard a faint voice coming from the kitchen.

She walked past the living room, following the sweet husky that lured her in.

‘Yes, Jellal. Its me.’, brushing down her skirt, she examined her clothes and made a mental note to take a quick shower.

‘Did you find the stuff you were looking for?’, Jellal enquired he stirred the contents of the pot for their dinner.

‘I did. I will store it in my Requip space after it gets dry. It started drizzling on my way back’

‘Really? Do you want a warm towel to dry yourself?’, he left the stove at sim and walked closer to take a good look at her.

‘No, its fine. Can I take a shower though?’

‘Sure. Our dinner will be ready by then.’

She murmured a low thank you and smiled at him flirtatiously before making her way to the bathroom.

It was somewhat cruel, she pondered as the water droplets trail down her body. Fate had a cruel way of keeping them apart from each other. Before it was his self-resolve and now it was her priorities that she had to fulfil. She thought they would finally get some time together after the Aldoron episode but their misadventure to Elentir ended up absorbing their entire time. And before she knew, they had to prepare to leave for the 100 years quest.  

She remembered briefly telling him of her Endeavours that her team undertook to follow unwaveringly. Of course, she wasn’t bound to disclose the details but she felt as if she was tricking him into something he didn’t sign up for. After all, she wasn’t sure when she would return from their 100 years quest. What will she tell him? How long will he wait? When would the mission ultimately end? 2 years? 5? 7? She didn’t know the answer herself.

Her heart started hammering uncontrollably as she recalled the night when he finally took her into warm arms, enveloping her into a hug that she yearned and dreamed for years, whispering in her ears that he was free to love people, which implied that he had forgiven himself and was trying to take a step towards resolving the knitted tension between them. That he was ready to face his feelings for her. That he was ready to show his affection for her openly, unrestrained by any underlying guilt, that he was ready to hold her hand and walk towards the future, their future, together.

Realising how much time she wasted being anxious in her thoughts, she quickly grabbed a towel, and changed into some casual wear. After informing Jellal of her intentions, he decided to invite her for dinner, at the inn he was staying, as a last attempt to spend some time together before her ultimate departure tomorrow.

She made her way to the kitchen where he was busy eviscerating the contents of the pot into their plates.

‘Already done? I wanted to help you.’

‘that’s okay. You’ve got lots of stuff to do tomorrow’, he smiled as he finished pouring their food, laying them in an elegant fashion on the table. She helped him in bringing some cutlery before settling down and digging into their food.

Their dinner was short and they made a quick small talk throughout it. He was talking more animatedly as compared to before, she noted. His features were relaxed, he was no more rigid or talking in a concise manner. They had a habit of bringing missions and current affairs in the magic world , into their conversations; to keep themselves updated with the happenings all around them. From a third persons perspective it would seem as if they only discuss work related matters but in actual reality, Erza realised that she could talk to him about literally anything.

She doesn’t really have to pretend in front of him. That was established a long time ago. They were each other’s saviour. They knew each other more than anyone else did. It amazed her somehow, how well they resonated with each other despite not spending much time like normal couples did.

Couple? Were they one?

The status of their relationship was still obscure but she felt they were getting somewhere. If not smoothly, but slowly and steadily they were progressing towards a definite answer. She felt even more confident after their little-date? Rendezvous? - she could call it a little rendezvous to be on the safe side.

She scurried the last remains of her food before settling her spoon besides her plate. She took the napkin kept before and wiped her mouth gently.

‘Did you like it?’ Jellal asked her curiously, as he slowly reached across the table and took hold of her hand.

‘I did. But it was a little spicy for my taste. But I enjoyed it!’, she responded vividly from her seat to make her intentions clear. She couldn’t help but notice, his display of affections was getting evidently frequent.

They had walked around the town during the day, catching up with each other after they had their little rendezvous, and the entire time they were together, Jellal didn’t let go of her hand even once. It felt nice to walk besides him, holding hands, blushing and chatting spiritedly. He would seldom squeeze her hand and pull her a little closer to whisper something in her ears. Was this for real?

‘Well would you fancy some wine?’, Erza snapped herself out of her daydream upon hearing his question.

‘Yes, of course!’

‘Sweet, let me bring the bottle’

She helped him pick up the dirty utensils. After washing and cleaning the dishes, they settled themselves on the couch in a cosy manner. They brought over the glasses and the bottle and lit up the fire place as the cold fumes had started to invade the room from outside.

‘It sure is getting cold, I wonder if the trains would get delayed if it were to start snowing’, she remarked as she rubbed her palms together.

‘Here’, Jellal handed her a glass of red wine, ‘ It will warm you up’

She accepted the glass and took a sip from it- relishing in that delicacy.

‘Have you ever tried a Gin, Jellal?’, he shook his head, ‘No I haven’t, I did see it on display when I went to buy the wine’.

‘It’s a flavoured vodka made from berries and has a nice citrusy touch to it. Add it to a coke with some lemon and ice cubes and you are good to go.’

‘How about we try it together next time we have meet for dinner or lunch?’

Next time. And when will that be?

Erza heaved a distressing sigh making it awfully palpable to Jellal that something was definitely perturbing her. He kept his glass on the table and gently nudged her.

‘I know something is eating you up. What is it?’, he caressed his fingertips against her cheek.

Erza crossed her legs, and hesitantly looked up to meet his eyes, ‘I can’t help but think how selfish it is of me to suggest you joining fairy tail while I go off on a long mission for gods knows how long. I don’t know when will I return. What will you do till then? You can’t wait for me indefinitely. I don’t know what to think. I feel happy spending time with you but when I think about my pending mission, I feel like I am deceiving you’

‘Alright, you don’t need to hammer yourself down by overthinking this issue excessively’, he swung his arm around her shoulders protectively. Erza sighed before leaning into his embrace naturally, snuzzling her head against his shoulder.

‘Personally, I don’t think you are deceiving me’

‘But I don’t know when will I return!’

‘I know, but you will return someday, right? I don’t know the details of your mission but I am aware that its rather dangerous and long. I…. I don’t mind waiting for you Erza.’

‘What if it takes 10 years for us to complete this mission?’

‘Then I’ll wait 10 years for your return. And no, I don’t think it will take this long to you guys. You are fairy tail’s strongest team after all. And I believe in your ability.’

Feeling some vitality return back to her fingers, Erza gently tugged his free hand, caressing his palm with her thumbs.

‘And it’s not like we would have no contact at all’, he continued to enliven her gloom,’ we have our lacrima phones with which we can talk every day and now with the recent upgradation we can video call each other as well. We just have to development techniques with which we can sustain our contact until you return.’

‘You really are positive about this.’, she looked up and finally smiled, nudging her nose with his cheek. The contact brought shivers down their spines despite the room being adequately warm with the fire lit.

‘I am finally living my life for first time in 29 years, Erza’, he whispered tenderly into her hair, ‘I can’t help not be positive. I have never felt like this before. My brain is gushing with ideas. I had a lot of time to contemplate about myself. There are so many things I want to experience. But first of all, I have to meet up with Meredy and inform her of the proposition you kept before me. I will let you know what our decision will be.’

Erza felt her heart burst with joy when she heard him talking about his future in such an invigorated manner, ‘There is no hurry’.

‘I know but that’s not the only reason I am meeting with her. We detected another suspicious activity near south of Hargeon. We are going to inspect that for a while’.

‘What about the rest of crime sorciere?’

‘A lot of them are busying doing their own stuff. I did inform them about our plan to meet for this mission but it’s their decision to take forth my invitation. I am not going to force my way of life on anyone’

‘I guess everyone has their own version and perception of freedom. Do you miss working with them?’

‘Well, they certainly were a difficult bunch to integrate, initially, but we all corroborated into a small family, I think’, Jellal smiled genuinely as he reminisced their time when they all travelled together in search of their goals and purpose. It did take them some time to get comfortable with each other but when they did, their search for purpose didn’t seem as hopeless as before. They lifted each other in times of despair. They all grew to forgive and love each other.

‘I am so happy for you, Jellal. I am happy to see you so full of life’, Erza lifted her head from his shoulder and took his face in her hands, with tears threatening to fall out, she took a deep breath and kissed his cheek tenderly.

‘Come here’, he could feel his breath quicken as he tugged her legs and urged her to sit on his lap. Erza, hesitant at first, hooked her left thigh over his lap and seated herself comfortably upon them. Her thighs rubbed against his as she noted how strong and muscular, they were.

‘I want to weave a future where I continue to grow as a person, Erza. And I want you beside me. In every step of life, I want to hold your hand and cross every dismay we encounter. And for that, I am willing to wait as long as I have to. So don’t worry about that. I’ll be here when you come back-till then, I will continue to work towards myself and my goal.’

That right there, was the little boy whom she fell in love with in the tower, who dared to challenge life and thrive against every single odd who mocked his resolve. Erza finally let those tears fall and flung her arms around his neck, crying helplessly. Jellal tighten his grip around waist and let his tears fall as well.

‘I love you, Erza. You are the love of my life.’

Erza leaned back to take a good look at his face, which was stained with tears, just like hers. They let out an untimely chuckle, their noses barely touching each other.

‘You are the only man in my heart, Jellal, I love you too’

Their breaths heaved fervently as they neared towards each other. His thumb caressed her cheek that dared to run lower, down to her throat. Their yearning for each other, the desire to hold each other unrestrained, countless nights-days they spent missing and worrying about their beloved’s health- encapsulated itself into a raging storm that invigorated with each breath they took, their sighs synchronised as they closed their eyes and let their lips clash. The entire downpour of emotions came gushing out as if enraptured in a dam. They let their lips meet, then again and then again. The tempestuous storm that reigned supreme came down debilitating into a tranquil walk taken in a warm sunny meadow.

Their arms tightened around each other, refusing to let go. They kissed again, and then again. They emitted a heavy breath and they could swear to God, they didn’t feel this serene before.

‘I love you’, they chanting this phrase for God knows how many times while kissing each other again and again. Resting their foreheads against each other, eyes half-lid from a drug called passion, their lips moved forward for a long and final smooch before going limp each other.

She held him with her arms around his neck, and she held him tight, revitalised with a newfound vivacity and perseverance.

They cuddled in his bed afterwards. He changed into a pair of shorts, shirtless. Erza changed into a pair of shorts and a thin black camisole, not wearing a bra, as she intentionally rubbed herself against his chest, tempting him further.

She flung her left leg over his torso, conquering him successfully. Jellal, flushed red from her actions, held her securely from her waist-kissing her fizzled hair occasionally. He took advantage of his position and didn’t miss an opportunity to play with hair, her hair that he revered so vehemently. He loved her and he wasn’t afraid to say it out loud.

‘It’s overwhelming’

‘What?’, she asked.

‘My feelings for you. I think they will break free and flood the entire town I am afraid. Am I making sense?’ Erza let out a snort as she nuzzled into his neck. Trailing her tongue from his ear to his pulse, she moistened that spot before sucking it and enticing a moan out of his throat.

‘I want to melt into you. Do I make sense?’, she pecked his cheek, awaiting a response from him.

‘You do’-he gasped for air- ‘and you don’t but ignoring the hyperbole, I know exactly what you are talking about. Because I feel the same’. He gave her a cheeky grin and claimed her lips in a passionate smooch. He pulled her on top of him and ran his hands up from her waist, under her camisole, touching every inch of her back, not missing a single spot, reaching the spot where he thought he would find her bra strap-only to find none. That confirmed his doubts when he felt her soft breasts press against him. She leaned down and captured his lips in another enamouring kiss.

‘Erza.’

‘hmm?’

‘Are we a thing now?’

‘a thing?’

‘I mean what is the status of our relationship? It’s kind of vague. Are we dating?’, Jellal put forth courageously, embattled with his own heartbeat drumming against this chest.

She bit her lip nervously and hid her face in his neck timidly, ‘Maybe, I guess.’

Jellal grabbed her waist and aroused from his laying position into a sitting one, taking support of the headrest behind him, he leaned back and took her face in his hands.

‘Erza’

She met his eyes and blushed, ‘Yes’

‘Will you be my girlfriend?’

Her face broke into a huge smile, the most charming smile he ever witnessed in his lifetime.

‘Yes!’, she squealed, brightly, and enraptured his lips into another alluring kiss that he seemed keen on returning.

‘I am going to miss you. I am going to miss you a lot Erza.’

‘Have you packed everything?’, Jellal asked her pensively, going through a list of necessities that she might need on her rough travels.

‘Yes’

‘The package from yesterday evening?’

‘Yes, everything is done’, Erza answered as she bends down to tie her boots.’ When do you leave for Hargeon?’

‘My train is at 5. I still have time to pack. I don’t have much stuff anyways’

‘I see. Keep me updated with the towns you visit.’

‘I will. You keep me updated with your travels as well.’

‘Of course. So, call me whenever to get time. If I don’t pick up, leave a message. And before I forget, keep sending me pictures of yourself!’, Erza chuckled as he kissed her forehead lovingly.

‘I will, my love. Only if you promise to send me pictures of yourself, maybe a little sexy if you have a chance’, he whispered the last part slowly sending shivers down her spine.

She snorted mischievously and shook her head.

‘I love you’, she declared sincerely.

‘I love you too. Take care of yourself.’ He took her face in his hands, cherishing the feel of her skin against his, and pulling her in for a final kiss. Long and imbued of love they harboured for each other.

[kidmetsu-no-yaiba]

What They Do When You’re Having A ‘Split’ And Become Angry  

This includes: Tsukishima, Kuroo, Bokuto, Kita, Suga, Ennoshita, Ushijima

This is just how I perceive them as what they would do for a best friend/romantic partner that experiences BPD anger in a similar way as I do. Also I'm off my stabilizers haha..ha.

Also none of these are meant to be mean about the characters I literally chose my faves for this.

Uh TW for bpd I guess?

Gender Neutral reader bay bee

Tsukishima (Not the trigger):

Doesn’t even recognize it at first, thinks its just a normal bad day from work

After, like, 30 minutes of you just sitting there and glaring at your phone without talking or even changing your expression he starts to get a clue.

Goes about his normal chores that upset you, but he plays your “Calming” playlist out loud on his phone just loud enough for you to hear

If he’s exhausted every chore and you still haven’t talked, he purposefully looks for funny or interesting news articles about stuff you like and reads the headlines out to you to get you to look at him or talk

Once you start at least looking at him, hopefully talking too, begins trying to coax out what triggered you

Ignores if you make any outright mean or just passive aggressive comments towards him instead of answering but will get aggressive in return

If he manages to get What Happened out of you he immediately calls you an idiot. Regardless of what it is. Is a mean comforter.

“Getting mad over your best friend talking on the phone too long while you’re hanging out isn’t an excuse to be mean”

“You’re stupid if you think it’s your fault that your friends aren’t paying attention to you, not everything is about you.”

It hurts but, it works even if sometimes it feels like he’s going a Bit Too Far

Will watch comforting videos or shows with you if it calms you down but that's about it. Very big on “You’re an adult and I’m not your psychiatrist, figure it out yourself.”

Kuroo (Is the trigger):

Instantly recognizes the Shut Down while teasing you, when you stop responding, your face is blank except for your down turned eyes.

‘Oh I’ve Fucked Up™’ is his immediate thought

“Y/N you know I didn’t mean that right? We were just playing, I’m sorry!” “Don’t you have a proposal to finish.”

Immediate shoulder drop. Is also upset now but decides to wait a little bit before trying to calm you.

After 30min or so of you hiding under your blanket he decides it’s time to try and pull you out of your head.

Cooks your most aromatic favorite food so the smell wafts into your room

Blasts your comfort playlist on a speaker and loudly sings along to it

When you still don’t come out when the food is done, sits outside the door saying “oh FUCK this shit is BUSSIN’” comically loud, overexaggerates your favorite things about it outloud.

When you eventually give in, just to get some food, he corners you with his body

“What about what I said upset you?” As a genuine question, not a mean one

After you explain, he lets you eat and offers a sincere apology when you finish

Offers to draw a bath with your favorite scent if it’ll help you. It does.

Bokuto (Is the trigger):

You came home and Bokuto had the tv up high while watching tiktoks and listening to music. After a moment the tea kettle went off. Before turning it off he realized you had walked in and bounded over to you. There were Too Many Noises.

He tried to talk over the noise but realized your eyes were boring into his and you had The Look

Also a ‘Oh I’ve Fucked Up™’

Rushes to take the kettle off the heat and turn off his phone before checking on you only to see you’ve already gone in and shut the bedroom door. You didn’t even take your shoes off..

Big pouty, sulky fool. Mopes around for a bit after turning off all the noise in the house.

Eventually looks for other things that upset you and finds that the house is, kind of a mess actually. Decides to clean as quietly as possible.

Does all of your least favorite chores first incase you re-emerge from the bedroom too soon

When everything seems to be done he opens your door and finds you tucked into bed and scrolling on your phone, very quiet music playing from it.

It was only 5pm but he took off his street clothes and climbed into bed as well. 

Absolutely gets up behind you and grabs you around your waist and snuggles in without saying anything even though he wants to

When you finally feel comfortable you look over your shoulder to see Bokutos already fallen asleep. Idiot. 

You order takeout for when he wakes up because, even though he tried his hardest to be quiet, you could hear him washing the dishes and didn’t want to ruin the work he did for you

Kita (Not the trigger):

Very straightforward the second he realizes you are Not Good

"Y/N if you tell me what's wrong it'll end quicker" 

When you don't even look at him he still continues talking "We both know you hate when you're like this. It'll make you feel better if you just talk to me even if you don't want to."

Is fairly stern when talking to you at the beginning. Not mean but just very much like 'this is going to get done whether or not you cooperate.'

If you don't cooperate then he begins to ignore you until you snap and eventually scream and air out everything that's wrong and what triggered you. 

Goes through everything you said with you and gives you an objective perspective although it basically boils down to "I know you can't help it but your ego is hurting you. Not Everything Is About You."

Once your conversation on that is over he asks if you want him to watch tiktok or listen to music or something with you

 Suga (Is the trigger):

He hadn’t meant to ignore you all day. He’d woken up before you and been so busy at work all day he didn’t get a chance to text. It was the club he advised’s meeting day and it was dragging on longer than usual, he hadn’t texted anyone all day to be fair

When he finally comes home he’s confused as to why you’re tucked in on the couch

“Hey Y/N you tired? Sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk today there was a lot of bureaucratic shit going on and then the club president decided we were all going to stay until the end of the activity. Kids am I right?” He laughs and smiles towards you but you continue to ignore him

After some physical encouragement, poking and whatnot, it dawned on him that you are Probably Going Through It

Jesus Christ

Immediately decides he is not having it and moves your legs off the couch so he can sit next you

“Y/N I looovvveeee youuuuu~~~” He says as he pulls you to him by the shoulders “I love you I love you I love youuu” 

Just babbles honestly, goes on and on about how he didn’t mean to ignore you and how he was honestly busy but he’s here now

And like yeah, he is here now so eventually you level out and let yourself be coddled for a bit longer

Makes pinky promises that he promises to text you when he’s busy or going to be running late

Also runs you a nice bath just in case

Ennoshita (Not the trigger):

Knows what's going on because he’s been watching you stare at the tv for about 20 minutes but, the tv is off. 

Is objective with his words like Kita but with more emotional appeal

“Y/N I know you’re in the middle of something but when you’re ready, I’ll be ready to listen to you,”

If, after a while, you don’t make any effort to talk to him he tries to point you in a better direction than staring at walls and moping around

“You don’t have to talk to me but I found a tiktok I think you’d enjoy” or “You know you haven’t tried that new nail polish you bought a bit ago” 

Is okay with just letting you figure it out on your own so you can apply the stuff you’ve worked on with your psychiatrist but will feel a little guilty if he doesn’t say anything at all

Will do anything that you need to get done but aren’t because of your episode like dishes or tidying your room

Ushijima (Not the trigger):

First of all, calls your episodes “tantrums”

Literally has no clue when you’re in an episode unless you tell him, he is not very bright

If you do tell him that you’re having issues he defaults to trying to use physical affection against whatever it is that you’re feeling

May or may not make you angrier by doing that

Although he wasn’t the original trigger, him being so dense might override it tbh

Like you love him but oh my god oh my god oh my god how have you survived this long 

Eventually decides “I do not know how to deal with this” and just leaves. He goes to the store and gets the shopping done for the next 2 weeks and gets some cool looking snacks. 

Thinks ‘well I’m already out, I might as well get the car washed’ after, turns into ‘Oh Y/N needed to get their new prescription too..’ ‘I think I remember a discussion about their package getting stuck at the post office..’

Literally accidentally does every single errand that needed to be done for the next month because he didn’t want to go home and upset you more

When he finally comes back home with 50lbs worth of shit from errands you’re like ????? because how did he know that you were stressed about all the house stuff that needed to be done????? 

It’s not an instant mood changer but you definitely go from seemingly uncontrollable rage to ‘Okay I was being a bit much’ but as you watch him prep veggies before storing them away the way you usually do it, you level out

He is unaware you’ve levelled out so he tries to remember the coping skills you said you talked about with your psychiatrist and you are deeply confused when he asks you to open your palm and places an ice cube in it

When you realize what’s going on you laugh and tell him you’re okay and apologize for how you were being earlier and explain what triggered you

He gives you the cool looking snacks

[abzzz3]

No Soul to Love - Part One

Part one of a multipart fic requested by @leniram1890 , I hope this does your vision justice

Summary: The soul is a powerful thing. It has the ability to heal people when harnessed, but also has a will of it’s own when you find a soulmate. Your soul has been ripped from you for the very purpose of healing others, and now you’re just trying to have as normal of a life as possible. That’s when tall, dark and handsome showed up, flipping everything onto it’s head and forcing you to hope for more than this life you’ve been damned to.

Pairing: Loki x Reader 

Tags: @leniram1890 @kcd15​

Warnings: None that I can think of/remember

Word Count: 1,593

Notes: This is the first I’ve written in a while so please be gentle, however constructive criticism is welcome.

_____________________________________________________

“Milk or sugar?”

You snapped out of the thoughts running through your head and looked at the man sitting across from you, pouring a cup of coffee for each of you.

“No”

He tutts, “Now, now. No need to be so rude”

You scoffed, shaking your head. He couldn’t be serious, could he? Of course he’s serious though, he’s been nothing but serious since the day you met him. All his jokes, his laughing, his lying was all part of his plan. None of it was ever real.

“Why did you do it?” You asked, barely above a whisper, as he gave you a cruel smirk

“I’ve told you this before” Was his answer

“No you haven’t. You’ve told me it was because you liked me, but that’s not an answer. Tell me why you did it.” You replied, trying to sound sure of yourself and calm, but below the surface you were begging the man in front of you to give you some answers.

He poured some milk and three sugar cubes into his coffee, stirring it and taking a long sip of it before putting it back down on the table in front of me.

“Because your need to help others is perfect for my need to help others. Your soul is so full of it that it will work far better than many I have used before.”

You weren’t looking at him as he spoke, instead you were looking at the ring on his finger, which was golden with a black stone as large as a marble in it and when you caught it in the right light you could see a rainbow of colours dance around inside. Those colours were your soul, along with the souls of who knows how many others, well a part of my soul. The rest of it was somewhere hidden where you would never find it, the ring just allowed him to access your soul any time he wanted, because apparently no matter how far your soul is separated to the rest of it, it will always try to become whole again. You’ve imagined yourself prying and ripping that stone from his fingers so many times and smashing it on the ground to finally be free again. It will never happen though. Your soul is his to use up until there is nothing left and you die. ‘Some healer’ you thought, scoffing at his apparent profession.

“Don’t even think about it, you know what happened last time you tried it” He warned, wiggling his fingers so the colours flashed in the sunlight and across your face

Your hand went involuntarily to your shoulder, where you still had phantom pains from when he tore your soul along the edge last time you tried to pry that ring off him. You hadn’t been able to move your shoulder for a week without crying out in pain.

“Can I please go? I have to get to work soon” You asked, still watching his hand

“Yes, but we’ll be back here again tomorrow morning, remember”

You nodded and grabbed your bag, leaving him and your untouched coffee behind you and headed to work.

His name was Adam, he was a work friend of your late husband, George, who was invited round for dinner one night, which is how you first met him. Months went by and all three of you got along really well, until slowly you began to get tired more often and felt like you were losing yourself and losing interest in all your favourite activities. George was amazing throughout it all, taking you to and from appointments with the doctor and your psychologist, he even surprised you one day when you came home from work late with dinner cooked, fresh peonies on the table and candles lit. You looked at him that night and for the first time in a while felt some warmth in your chest, which was pure love towards the man standing in front of you. But, the next morning he was dead. Doctors said he died of heart failure, but his heart was perfectly healthy until that point, so you couldn’t understand how it could have happened.

That was when Adam rocked up on your doorstep, telling you everything. How he was a healer, and used certain methods that those on Earth cannot use, in order to help people get better. How he took your soul from you one night, after finding out enough about you to decide your soul was perfect. That was when he also told you why your late husband had died. Apparently for anyone who’s soul is caught and they are in love at the same time, the soul is harder to mould and be used by the healer. So, he makes it his duty to kill anyone who is one of his trapped souls’ soulmate.

You had to wipe a tear from your cheek as you walked into the front door of the bookshop you worked at. It may have been 6 months ago but it still hurt like it was yesterday.

“Morning y/n!” Tessa called from one of the far walls as she stocked some shelves with books we had just gotten in.

“Morning Tessa, how was Jamie’s recital last night?” You asked

“Amazing, that little boy is just like his father”

You could hear the smile on her face, just by the way her voice carried across the room. It made you happy to see her so happy because you knew of all people she deserved it. You popped your name badge on, put your bag in the staff room and went and turned the open sign around on the front door, ready for the influx of customers today. You worked in an independent bookshop which stocked best sellers, classics, rare books, and anything else in between for every interest and age. The owners were Mr and Mrs Bates, who have retired from working instore and now manage mostly from home, except for the one day a week they come in to check up on us. They were old and Mrs Bates has just had a hip replacement so you didn’t blame them for not being more present.

The door had opened many times already today, and the bell had rung each time to the point where it was now background noise to you. You were currently in the New Age section, reshuffling the books into order by author’s surname when a shadow appeared behind you.

“Excuse me ma’am, I’m wanting some recommendations for some new books” A cool, smooth voice said from behind you

You turned around, an arm full of books, and saw none other than Loki standing in front of you, and a little close for comfort as well. You were gobsmacked, unable to let any words out as you tried to put together some semblance of a sentence to say to him.

“I-, ah, well. . . yes, I-I think I can-” You stumbled out, tripping over every word that left your mouth

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to enslave you all” He joked, a smirk just visible on his lips

Loki of Asgard, the God who tried to conquer Earth, was making a joke. Of course that was years ago that he tried to do that, and it has since come to light that he was under some kind of control at the time, you just never thought you would be in the same 10 mile radius to him, let alone in the same room.

“Oh, sorry” you snapped out of it “Of course I can help, what kind of stuff do you like to read?”

“Well, I used to read great tales of heroics and quests back in Asgard. Along with more educational material than you could imagine. Do you have anything like that?” He asked

“I can find something in the classics section that you might like. Similar to your stories of heroics and quests, how does that sound?”

“Lead the way” He said, stretching out his arm in a way of beckoning you forward and towards the centre of the room where you would presumably head to the classics section from

You glanced at him as you walked past him, getting a smell of whatever cologne he used. It was a mix of spices with a woody base and something so sophisticated that it would make any woman weak in the knees because it was so alluring. It was the kind of thing you would imagine a good looking businessman would wear in your favourite trashy romance book. Ignoring the scent, even if you just wanted to get another lung full of it, you lead him across the room and towards one of the back corners where the classic literature was.

Wracking your brain for something that was like what he was describing you instantly thought of Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’, which you grabbed off the shelf, and Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’, which you kind of just had a feeling he would enjoy, before turning around to face Loki. You showed him both books, giving a brief synopsis of each and asked his thoughts on them.

“Both sound intriguing. I’ll get both and come back once I have read them and let you know my thoughts.” He confirmed, not giving you any chance to respond before he headed towards the counter to purchase them and was gone out the front door without much more than a polite smile and head bob/mini bow in your direction.

[immortalonus]

Where You Belong: Chapter One.

So in case you guys were wondering where I vanished off to, the answer is mostly work. This chapter also took way, way more brain power than I really intended, so I didn't really have the energy to post much else.

I could probably edit this more, but I swear if I spend one more hour editing this I will go insane, so here it is, chapter one of my first multi-chapter fic in, *checks calendar,* four years!?

Jeez, time really does fly, doesn't it?

Read on AO3

If I were Where I Would be, Then I Would be Where I Am not. But where I am, There I must be. And where I would be, I cannot.

-American Folk Poem.

________________________________________________________

As soon as Valerie had flown out of sight of Plasmius’ portal, she made a point to dump everything he had given her for the trip.

First, the communication devices. She had no desire to talk to anyone, much less the creepy, lying, traitorous ghost-thing masquerading as Vlad Masters. She gave the DALVco edition headset her best fast ball, taking no small satisfaction in watching it break piece by piece as it clattered against the frames of one floating door after another before finally vanishing into the mists below.

If Plasmius wanted to talk to her, he could crawl out of his portal and find her himself. Which he wasn’t going to do, because he had a cover to maintain. After all, what kind of delicate, elderly gentleman would throw himself into a dimension of rarified death? Not Mister Masters, oh no.

Especially not when he had a willing pawn to do it for him.

The more surreptitious listening devices went next. Fat, disgusting, bloated insects they were, bugs in function as much as form.And they were everywhere.

She found them wedged between her armor joints, the soles of her boots, in the crevices of her guns, and, after putting her systems through an intensive self-diagnostic, her hair.

When had he touched her hair?

She made a point to crush them all. Either plucking off the parasites directly, or, in the case of those lodged beneath her suit, pulling them into her storage unit and spitting them back out again into the open atmosphere where they could be destroyed.

She removed everything else Plasmius had given her immediately after: Several days worth of food, a large pop up tent, a sleeping bag, a map, several spare weapons, a well thumbed biography on Vince Lombardi and more spewed out of her storage units like a sickness, purged in gouts down to the waiting abyss.

Any thing he'd handled, all his supplies, every “present” he'd ever bestowed, she made a point to dump them all.

But God, when had he touched her hair?

Once she was finished, it felt almost like a victory. With no material proof of her obligations, it was easy to imagine she was already free.

She would finish this mission on her own. No outside aid, no puppet-masters, no regrets.

------------------------------------------

/Sorrysorry-soverysorry!/

“Shut up!”Valerie had regrets.

/sorrysorrysorry/

So many regrets.

“I said shut up, you stupid bug!”

She emphasized her point by kicking the target of her ire right in the soft parts of its creepy, eye studded thorax.

This was stupid, she was stupid, but more than anything, she was pissed.

Valerie took a few steps closer to her target, gait slightly uneven for the lack of both her usual boots. While she wasn't going to die anytime soon, as the black leather that fit snug as skin across her body, the true barrier against the toxic atmosphere of the Zone, remained fully intact, it didn't stop her from being mad about it.

The bug, which had finally stopped gibbering in that vile, hissing tongue that had become more and more common the deeper she ventured into the pea-soup hellscape otherwise known as the ghost zone, took the opportunity to cower against the calciferous outgrowth that had halted its pitiful attempt at flight from Valerie's relentless pursuit.

She had hunted ghosts stronger and faster than this every day back in Amity, and could not help the faint sensation of disgust that came over her at the sight of a figure so unexpectedly pathetic. Did she appear so weak that this creature, along with the half a dozen or so of its less successful, but no less kleptomaniacally inclined ilk see fit to prey upon her? Did she seem so low indeed, that even the meanest, most beggarly of the Zone's inhabitants should see her as some object to pilfer and mock?

It was the work of a moment to summon her laser cubes, pulling them from the pocket dimension from which they resided to slide noiselessly over to the insect lying prone before her. With a thought, they flew forward, two each to press down on the thing's chitinous skull, heightening the artificial glow of her suit as she did for that extra sense of intimidation.

It was an ability she'd never had the need for back on earth, only to find herself putting it to use with unhappy frequency not a day after she'd set off on her journey.

Everything in the realm of the dead glowed, and the capacity to put off and manipulate one's own aura was a hallmark of the creatures that 'lived' within it. Those that didn't stood out strangely, casting shadows upon themselves and the world in a way that made them an obvious anomaly in the otherwise antumbral reaches of the Zone.

While Valerie didn't enjoy wasting her resources on glowing like she was her very own spook, she also hated wasting time, which advertising her humanity to every ghost that glanced her way very much did; a lesson that she'd learned after fending off an entire assault squad of ghost police, who had chased her for ages while screaming about her criminal possession of so many 'real world objects' within their territory.

That it also made sure any enemies never anticipated her ability to phase through objects came in handy from time to time as well, such as when a would-be thief, for example, tried to duck into a thicket in an effort to snarl its pursuer.

As expected, the bug shuddered in response to the cold touch of the barrel against its skin, curling into itself as it looked up into the dark panel of her faceplate.

Valerie leaned down, pinning it between herself, her guns, and the stony trunk of what, on this particular island, seemed to serve as some kind of tree.

/Alright, Manbug, one more time./ Her voice crackled and popped through her translators, adding even more intimidation to a tone already modulated down to something lower and crueler than her natural snarl. /Where. Did you. Put. My Stuff. /

The insect whimpered a little harder, oozing something suspiciously close to snot from the hole above its writhing mouthparts. It remained otherwise silent, however, as it shook.

Valerie pulled back her leg and kicked it again.

The imitation flesh buckled beneath her toes, causing the creature to squeal, a nonverbal expression of pain peaking just beyond her range of hearing as it flickered invisible, writhing in a hopeless gambit to escape the weapons still clamped against its head.

Funny how ghosts kept so many features they really shouldn't need anymore. Like joints, for example. Was it a subconscious matter, or some kind of deliberate choice, Just one more means to mock the living, their very forms a cruel parody of everything they once had been?

She silenced the voice which whispered how she should know by now, that it wasn't that easy. There were more important things to focus on.

/P-please./

The bug focused its myriad gaze on the huntress' visor, all six limbs twisted over themselves, wrapped tight over its oozing midsection.

/In error, Milor- Milord. Your place, held, not neutral. Shall honor, please. /

It was leaking from the eyes too, now, viscous fluid pouring from its dozens of eyes, wetting it bodily, puddling down onto the dark purple earth, adding to the halo of scattered goods and tchotchkes that had spilled out from the overstuffed bags that it had clung to for dear life even as they toppled, overbalanced from a too-fast turn, dragging the creature headfirst into ruin.

/Mer- mercy./

This wasn't fair. This miserable thing, begging in the dirt like it hadn't gotten anything more than what it deserved.

Valerie grimaced, rubbing the heel of her palm against her faceplate. Phantom's visage, not long past, looked up to her from the depths of her memory, face just as desperate, just as indisputably, distressingly genuine as when she'd first seen it.

“Valerie, You don't want to do this.”

“Like I have a choice, spook.” She muttered.

She took a deep breath, sucking in the same recycled exhalation she'd been breathing for nearly a week now, and took a moment to actually think her situation through.

She wasn't lost. She had no idea where she was, but she wasn't lost: That would imply a level of helplessness she could not bring herself to admit. What little food and water she had brought with her had been eaten a while back, reducing her to scavenge among the portal droppage scattered through those areas not patrolled by mad policemen, hoping she could find something sufficiently sealed against ectoplasmic encroachment to remain edible.

She reconsidered her captive, still trembling on the ground. A ghost zone native, utterly at her mercy, and, by the looks of things, a serial hoarder of goods.

/You want mercy? Fine. But you do what I say, exactly as I say it, M'kay?/

While the guns pinning its head in place were something of an obstacle, the bug did manage a spasmodic sort of jerking motion, forebody pushed back and forth with desperate, eager haste.

/(Enthusiasm,) (enthusiasm,) assent! Lord, generous, gratitude, respect./

“Good, now-”She held out one hand, palm expectant.

/Give 'em back./

It responded slowly, still slobbering at the maw, all eyes fixed on the huntress as it unwound its uppermost limbs, which reached up towards those tattered bundles still clustered fungiform over its heaving thorax, rifling between twine-like bindings for what seemed an age.

Patience had never been a skill of Valerie's, and she found herself torn between wanting the moment to last forever and wishing go faster instead, tightening her mental grip over her laser cubes, fingering the internal triggers in anticipation of some sudden, traitorous motion on the part of her captive.

Ghosts were deceptive, dangerous creatures, except, of course, when they weren't.

Without any ability to tell the difference, she could do nothing but pace at the bars of her patience, waiting for the moment to act.

Finally, a claw submerged itself into one of the parcels, pulling out one boot, and, just beside it, a single leather fold.

This was it. Valerie snatched the wallet from its pincers. The boot was replaceable, her construct engines could make another now, if she wanted to waste the resources for it, but her wallet-She flipped open the small leather parcel, noted immediately that the contents were not any state remotely akin to how she had left them.

/Milord?/

The bug was still subtly trying to wriggle its way out from under her guns. Her systems noted, then deleted, increased energy expenditure from her laser cubes as they were forced to adjust to its motions.

Useless data. A ghost of so low a caliber could never hope to escape so easily.

Debit card-broken, bent until the plastic whitened from an excess of pressure; Dollar bills balled together and crammed into a single pocket, still damp with a kind of ectoplasm that looked disquietingly similar to the slobber still dripping from the mouthparts of the bug before her; Plastic wrappers, spare coins, a concert flyer for a band she'd always wanted to see.

/Ah, Milord? Pardon, Excuse?/

All of it. This vile, twisted excuse for an insect had messed with all of it. It had played with her most important cards and documents like they were toys, then shoved them back in with utter disregard for any sense of their value once it was done.

/Goods, returned, trust?/

Dread crept into her heart as she reached into the backmost pocket of her billfold, the place where she kept the picture of her.

/more goods? Information? Information on goods? Release, please?/

It was shoved in the very bottom of the wallet, balled into the crease where the two halves of leather were joined into one. She pulled it out, fingers shaking only slightly as they smoothed it back into a more flattened form.

The Red Huntress had no face, and never had Valerie been more grateful for that absence than in that moment, when she beheld the true extent of the damage done to Polaroid before her.

Soft white creases were everywhere, shattering the image into isolated fragments of its former self. It had been torn, too, at the edges, a grip too hard, twisting too far, integrity compromised as a result.

The worst of the damage by far, however, were a series of punctures, scattered at random through the center of the photograph, small to medium perforations forming little absences where there had once been trees and grass, where there had been a woman's face. A hole sat primly above her dark neck, arched back into nothing, a yawning gap where once there had been laughter.

The Huntress turned her blank visage back to her captive, who froze in the act of trying to pry her weapons out of position. Cowardly, but expected. Trusting a ghost was a fools game she had no intent on playing.

/Ah, haha, (nervous) (nervous,) (respect.)/ The target pulled its claws back up against itself, fiddling with the tips as it looked up to her absent regard.

/...Milord?/

The Red Huntress had no face, could betray no emotion, could reveal none of the cold black welter that rushed up through the depths of her breast and pressed against her throat. An impassive machine, possessed of a will stripped free of feeling.

No sliver of her intent showed through, no shudder passed from her shaking fingers to her gauntleted hands, not even the psychic senses of a ghost could hope to detect the lava that boiled up from her guts, pressing against her skin in an sheet of living fire even as the pits of her stomach chilled to ice.

The bug was still looking up at her, eyes all expectant, when she commanded her one of her guns to fire.

A bright streak of energy shot through the top of its head, hard pink flash cutting through a wave of green.

It squealed, jerked all six limbs towards the missing portion of its skull in a hopeless effort to stop the thick chunks of ectoplasm from slopping down the side of its face. Valerie brought her foot down at the same moment, crushing its forelimbs down into the dust. Forelimbs tipped with little claws, just large enough to fit the holes in a certain photograph.

/Why!? Ancients, why, why!?/

Why?

“Why the hell not?” she snarled, “Ain't that how it works here?”

If a different ghost wanted to rob her blind every time she tried to sleep, they could. If Valerie wanted to chase down the one that finally succeeded, she could. There were no laws here, there were no rules, there weren't even morals. There was nothing to stop anyone from doing anything, so why should she be the one to hold herself back?

She lifted her foot off its claws, then swung it once again into its thorax, only just crusted over from where she had kicked it before.

It squealed, just like she imagined another ghost would, red eyes wide and frightened, vampiric teeth shattered against her fist, choking as she wrapped her fingers around his blue, blue, skin.

He deserved this, it deserved this, she was in the right. She had been tricked, mislead, mistaken maybe, but she wasn't wrong, she was in the right.

And if there was some dark curl of satisfaction there, a self righteous flame alighted just where she'd been coldest in that moment of hate, then that was proof, wasn't it? Of just how right she was.

She bent down to her target, which had started drooling all over again, ground speckled green and wet as it heaved against itself. It was disgusting enough that she would have shot it in the mouth instead of the head, but she still needed information, which meant it still needed to talk.

It's upper set of antenna had survived the cranial blast, making for an easy handhold as she yanked its drooping head up to face her once again. At the same time, she sent her guns down to its chest, where its energy levels peaked their highest.

Ghosts, much like the cockroaches they resembled, could survive well enough without a head, but none, not one could ever hope to make it without their precious ghostly core.

“Listen up spook.” She hissed. /Here's how this is gonna work. You lie, I shoot. You run, I shoot. Got it?/Its head twitched up and down, the smallest possible motion of assent.

/Good./

This was what it took, when it came to ghosts. Cooperation proceeded pain, loyalty from the threat of it, and mercy not at all.

/We'll start with the questions./

She allowed her guns to charge power, deadly, scintillating hum filling the air with the sound of her malintent.

/I like what I hear, maybe I let you keep talking./

Author's note: If Sam is more pride than wrath, then Val is more wrath than pride, IMO. I've done my best to write her accordingly