#ugh i feel like i just said a bunch of useless shit to you...

[kelin-is-writing]

Hi! I wanted to ask two thing If thats okay.

First is : I have a story about Dabi and reader but Im stuck. They were childhood friends, he had the 'I will marry you when we grow up' talks and promised to always keep an eye on reader. Then he dissapeared and then...Im stuck. Pls how could they meet again? (H would reveal that he is Touya much later) I know he would stalk reader but...The first and second time they would actually meet?

And the second is : Should it be like having a relationship (and smut) after the reveal? Or before that and he would tease about reader not loving her childhood crush Touya since she is with Dabi and THEN reveal that he is indeed Touya?

Thanks If you find any time for my ask ❤️

Oh my–! Help–! it's totally okay asking! You know, i feel so honored to see someone asking me for advice like– SDJKSJDKSJDKSDJSKJDKSDJKSJDKSJDSJNXSMJDKSJDSKJDSKDJK it's actually making me want to cry, because no one has ever asked me advices for such things. ANYWAYS!

Let’s start with one question that’s been on my mind since i started reading the first question: is your story settled into the Bnha universe or a Quirkless!au? I ask because I’ve seen lots of AUs playing with the Touya hiding his real identity through Dabi in quirkless!aus too! (like i'm doing with a long fic of mine) Which is why i'll try to give you an answer that can be used for both things.

I think that Dabi and Reader should meet up in a crucial moment of their lives where both of them never expects to meet again after one of the two disappears, i think that from a literature point of view this method can help carve/influence a character's course throught out the story to forge their development for me.

The setting is up to you, depending on what you have in mind for your story, the setting of their meeting can vary. They could be meeting on the streets like they could be meeting in a bar or another place, it's really up to the plot you've decided for when they meet again.

If there's the possibility I think yes, Dabi would keep watching over Reader if she's truly important to him even after all the year they haven't seen each others. So once again, depending on your settings this trope can be used in a story.

As for the second question, you know what? I think it can work both ways, because seeing you accept Dabi makes him think that Touya didn’t have importance in your life when maybe unbeknownst of him you’ve always loved him since he was Touya. This can work both before AND after he tells you about his real identity. Dabi’s character to me (others can have whatever headcanons they want about him) is someone who in his life needs many things, two of which are reassurance and stability, especially because as Touya he didn’t get none of these, his father’s selfish and toxic ambitions, needs, goals and attitude messed up with this kid’s mental health the most because I think Dabi is one of the characters who inside of him has the biggest amount of love in the serie and he’s someone that would’ve been as good of an influence to the Todoroki's as much as Shouto is doing, if only he had close to him someone who actually supported and encouraged him as what he wanted to be: an Hero (he doesn’t need near him someone like Midoriya though, nor like any of the other hypocrits around him or his father for that matter). But with the way the Hero society is right now, someone emotional like Dabi (yes, he is the emotional type) would’ve never followed it blindly either way. This man is where he is now because he had too much love inside of him that went unseen and ignored by the peoples who he wanted to give it to, a love that he repressed to the point he became numb to anything except the “hate” for the one person who messed him up that way after gaslighting him.

So whether is before or after he reveals his identity to the Reader, once you understand his character as both Touya and Dabi, you’ll be able to write it the right way.

But if you want a suggestion from me, I think I would go with that... be it SFW or NSFW, a sincere and genuine Reader is the best choice for a character like Dabi.

One thing is for sure, he would feel bitter and sad about the distance created with the Reader (based on how close they were before he became Dabi, you can assert how much hurt he is by it) and question her reasons for reaching out to him and what her goals are, he has trust issues so of course he wouldn’t let her close if she isn’t 100% sincere with him.

You gotta keep this in mind in the case your story is a long slow-burn with angst (like the one I’m writing because I like pain lmfao) and you don’t plan to have smut in it anytime soon, after building trust you gotta slowly put into the characters tension that steadly grows until one of the twos can’t go on anymore without breaking the friends barrier.

If it’s a One-Shot I think that reunion/angsty love making and talk after it would be a good way to settle the unresolved things Dabi and Reader got going on.

This got super long and I sound super annoying, as addition I also suck at giving advices so I’m sorry, you’re genuinely troubled but I’m actually someone hopeless unfortunately 😭

Hope this messy essay was of help though 💀💜

[slayfics]

Katsuki gets caught being sweet to you.

You started to finally catch your breath being at the top of the hiking trail Katsuki had dragged you out too.

"Alright there, it's just us up here so tell me already. What the hell has been going on?"

"That's why you brought me out here?" You asked.

"Just tell me already, stop being so damn stubborn." He pried you impatiently.

"I told you I'm fine Bakugo, just busy like everyone else." You replied.

"Don't give me that shit. Do you think I'm stupid? The other extras are too dense to notice but I can see how exhausted you've been this whole week. So just tell me- what's going on," He said.

"You didn't need to drag me out here on a hike in freezing weather to do this, you know," You said, slightly irritated at Katsuki continuing to push you.

"Ugh- will you stop stalling and talk already," He yelled, causing you to let out an annoyed sigh. Katsuki put his hands in his pockets and looked out at the view, his demeanor softening slightly. "You can talk to me, you know," he added, his voice lower and kinder than before.

You stayed looking at the view for a few more moments trying to figure out how to unpack everything that had been stressing you out. It wasn't like some big thing, but a summation of a bunch of little things that were beginning to become too challenging to manage.

A cold breeze blew by causing you to shiver. You wondered why Katsuki had insisted on bringing you up this mountain to talk to you. He could have pestered you in your dorm where it was warm.

Katsuki stole glances at you occasionally then focused back on the view not wanting to intimidate you too much from his glare. Hiking always helped him to clear his mind and gather his thoughts when they seemed too loud. He thought maybe it would help you too, and being away from all your classmates might make it easier for you to talk to him. At the very least it made it easier for Katsuki to be more vulnerable with you. He found it too daunting to express himself fully with all the attention of his classmates around. It was much easier being only in your company.

You took a deep breath, "I guess- it's just been hard to balance everything recently," You finally spoke, breaking the silence. Katsuki made it easy to open up to, as he had no problem sitting in silence for long extended periods. Others in your life felt the need to fill that silence with useless chatter which always prevented you from sitting in your emotions and being able to formulate them into words.

You took in another breath feeling a lump in your throat form. You hadn't wanted to talk to anyone about what was going on for fear of opening up the flood of emotions and not being able to stop. Now here it was. You didn't want to cry on this fucking hill.

Katsuki patiently waited while you gathered your thoughts.

"It's just been so much and I've been barely keeping up. It's- been getting to me recently. I've been forgetting things I shouldn't. Being unusually upset at things that aren't that big of a deal- and I just- it's dumb." You cut yourself off afraid to say anymore.

"It's not dumb. Don't hold that shit in, it's not healthy," He said encouraging you to keep talking.

You sighed, "I just... know that it could be way worse, and I've been through way worse so- I feel so irritated at myself. What I'm going through now isn't something I can't handle. I know that. So why do I feel so fucking exhausted with everything," You replied wiping a stray tear from your cheek.

"Hmm," Katsuki grunted, processing what you said. "You know, it's ok to be tired, and- to not be perfect. You can't just deny yourself from feeling overwhelmed because it could be worse. If you're exhausted now then those feelings are real- and it's ok to have them," He spoke.

You looked down at the view watching the distant cars pass, "Thanks," You managed to say taking another deep breath.

"You shouldn't wait to handle them until they explode either. Trust me, I know what that's like," He said, causing you to let out a small giggle. "You're too damn hard on yourself you know that?"

You let out a full laugh, "Oh that's pretty good coming from you. You're the pro at having too high expectations for yourself," you laughed.

You and Katsuki were wrapped up in your conversation causing you not to notice approaching classmates in the distance. Mina and Eijiro had also decided to come up the hill after class and spotted both of you in the distance.

"That looks like we shouldn't interrupt," Eijiro said.

"Yeah," Mina agreed. "But maybe... we could get a little closer to make sure everything is ok?" She said, pulling Eijiro into the bushes to spy on you and Katsuki. Eijiro was highly against the plan but was unable to protest for fear of you two hearing.

"Yeah I know I have high expectations for myself... that's why I know what it fucking looks like when you're being too hard on yourself. So- tonight I'm coming to your dorm and, I'm making sure you get to bed at a reasonable fucking time."

Mina's eyes widened as she looked at Eijiro, "Coming to their dorm?!" She whispered, and Eijrio covered her mouth, silencing her.

"You mean Grandpa time at 9 p.m.?"

"Shut up! 9 p.m. is late as hell! You damn idiots just don't know how to have a good sleep schedule! Look I'm making sure you get some sleep and tomorrow I'm taking you out. So- figure out where you want to eat, I don't care where. And I'm not letting you say no you need a break," Katsuki replied.

"You don't have to do that Bakugo."

"Of course, I don't have to but, I want to. So just shut up and let me take care of you ok. You better not be afraid to order enough food this time either! I'm buying so- just get whatever you want, alright?"

"Ok ok," You laughed, feeling your mood brighten.

"Next time, just tell me when you're having a bad day or something. Stop making me drag it out of you. I- worry about you, you know? Now let's go back to the dorms. I see you shivering," He said, beginning to walk back down the hill.

Mina squirmed again under Eijiro's hand, keeping her silent. Her eyes said it all. She was in disbelief at Katsuki's words.

"Here," Katsuki said, holding his hand out and offering it to you. "I'll warm your hand with my quirk," he said.

You grabbed his hand interlacing your fingers with his.

"Don't dare say anything about how sweaty my hands are!" He barked.

You giggled, "How many times do I have to tell you I don't care Bakugo. It's part of your quirk, and your quirk is amazing you shouldn't be self-conscious about it. Besides, I'm always happy to hold your hand," You said as you two walked down the mountain.

"Tch whatever," Katsuki grumbled looking away from you as a small tint grew on his cheeks.

Finally, when you and Katsuki were far enough down the hill, Eijiro released Mina.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!?" Mina exclaimed.

"Shh shhh," Eijiro pleaded.

"WHAT- He wants to take care of them?!? OH MY GOD! They are totally dating right?! That's what he said he's taking them out to eat! And he's sneaking into their dorm! Wait wait- when they held hands it sounded like that had before! AND AND BAKUGO WAS TOTALLY BLUSHING! NO WAY!" Mina said looking like she might pass out from all this information.

"Ashido relax, we shouldn't have heard any of that!" Eijiro replied.

"Yeah but but-" Mina exclaimed, her head spinning. "Who knew Baklugo could actually be so sweet! I can't wait to tell Jiro-" She said, pulling out her phone.

"NO!" Eijiro said, grabbing her phone from her. "Uh- sorry, I didn't mean to be so harsh but- you can't tell anyone what we heard ok?" Eijiro said.

"WHAT?! I just heard Bakugo being the sweetest boyfriend ever and you expect me not to say anything about that?!"

"YES!" Eijiro yelled. "Look they both like their privacy and there is a reason they were all the way up here talking, Ashido. I think we should keep this a secret and let them do things at their own pace ok?" He said, handing Mina back her phone.

"UGH-" She exclaimed letting out a big sigh. "I guess you're right... but wow who would have thought Bakugo could be a decent person much less a good boyfriend." She said.

Eijiro just shrugged at her words, "I don't know he's not a bad guy like you all make him out to be you know."

"Wait! You totally already knew didn't you!" Mina said, slapping Eijiro's shoulder.

"Hey! I mean- Bakugo is my best friend you know, so yeah I did..." He answered truthfully.

"You suck! Keeping secrets like that from me!" Mina said playfully, waving a finger at him.

"I'm sorry, but it's their business you know?" He said.

"Yeah I understand, guess we should go back to the dorms too now," Mina suggested.

"Yeah it is pretty cold up here, let's go." He agreed as they both started to walk down the hill. "I don't have Bakugo's quirk or anything but- if you're cold you can hold my hand too if you want," Eijiro suggested.

Mina's face tinted a darker pink as she reached out and grabbed Eijiro's hand.

Tags: @unofficialmuilover @maddietries

Picture taken from @everypanelofkatsuki, thank you for all your hard work! Go check them out if you haven’t!

[deadqueerboys]

Mlm incelbur smut please <3

Dinner - Wilbur Soot x Male! Reader

It's a bit confusing, but here it is!!

Guys, I beg you, when you do a request please but informations like: Sub or dom reader, male, gn or female reader and etc.. it's important!!

Anyway, here it is!!!

A sigh. That's the first thing that can be heard from the front door. After this, loud noises from what can only be Wilbur running up and down on the stairs. Wilbur isn't exactly the perfect.. "roommate", he's always simping around, talking about girls and guys in a possessive way and always making sure nobody else was around yo the way he does. But, sometimes, he can be slightly useful, like today..

"WAIT A MINUTE!" He screams from the room, going downstairs and meeting you in the front door. "Hello my handsome!" Will is not the type who gives you time to think, he just do what he wants, not different from it, he kisses your cheek and puts his tie around your head, covering your eyes.

"Ugh! Wilbur, let me go!" Even being useless, you try to fight, but his grip on your shoulders gets even tighter as guides you to the kitchen. He keeps walking, his creepy giggle can be clearly heard in your ears as close as he is.

Suddenly, you both stop. You wonder what kind of weird thing he might have done now. You pray for it to be just one more awkward dinner together.

"Here it is~" Wilbur takes the tie off, putting it around his own neck again, smiling widely at you. It's just the dinner table.. covered with flowers, candles, and a bunch of other romantic stuff. Plus, the amount of money he kept in the month, he knows that's a way of getting your attention for his intoxicating flirt.

You roll your eyes, trying to smile at him in the same harmony, which is impossible. Instead of fighting, you just sit in the chair, letting he act like a dumb gentleman as he puts the food in the table and gives you a huge glass of wine.

The dinner goes, he talks shit about some of your friends and partners but that's just the usual Wilbur, when he becomes more flirtious and pervert is where it can be noticed his nature and the reason why people call him an incel. It gets you tired. The alcohol and the dizzy feeling of talking with him finally hit you like a slap, so without consulting him, you get up and try to walk away.

"Hey, our talk didn't end up yet.." Wilbur smirks, his voice sharp and devilish, an obvious menace for your attempt of getting away from him. He's quick, placing his another hand on your hips and bringing you close. "Didn't you enjoy it? Come on, I made what you like, I gave you money, flowers and those special candles with vanilla smell. Pleasee!" He begs like a child, pouting at you when he comes closer.. closer enough for you to feel his bulge touching your thigh.

"Just a little bit?" Without denying or giving him assure, you ask. It's visible the happiness in his eyes as he nods desperately. Ignoring his aggressive demands, you hold his hand and interlock your fingers with his, walking to the living room and undoing your belt before his hand reach to stop you with a slap. "Hey! What the-"

"That's my function! You know that." He frowns and get on his knees, his cock getting even more hard with the thought of making you feel good. Wilbur has always been like that. He's pathetic. He wants you to feel good, to be a good whore for you just so he can hear you say to all of your friends that you fucked the stupid and silly boy that accepted living with you and pay your bills for free.

The freaking incel undoes your belt slowly, trying everything to see you getting hard under his hands. It's almost insane how much he wants it. You pet his hair and grab it too, remembering everything Wilbur said he likes while you guys fuck or even just make out. You put his face close to the growing length on your boxers, watching he lick it without hesitation.

"Huh, that's.." You stop for a moment, you could degrade him.. you could call him your slut and make him feel even better or just.. maybe just.. "That's it. Good boy." Your grip release and he looks at you more upset and angry than never.

"Are you serious?" He gets up, looking you dead in the eyes. God, he's big. Is always nice to remember that, the imagine of his cock being big even while soft sends a shiver of pleasure through your body. Was it what you wanted this whole time..? Besides degradating him, he could.. he could fuck you. He throws you on the couch, slapping your face. "It's so easy. How can't you do one simple thing?! That's unbelievable.." He keeps complaining, which is.. well, cute.

You spread your legs apart, intertwining them around his waist.

"Will." You giggle. It must be the first time in a long while he doesn't hear it because his reaction was just widen his eyes and pay attention to your voice like a lost dog. "Couldn't we change the roles?" You smile, obviously drunk.

He doesn't even think his next moves. They are fast and sloppy. He takes off his pants and picks you up, griding his length against yours. Wilbur knows he can't give you the doubt benefit, so he has to be quick and make you enjoy it, or else it will never happen again.

"Mhm, fuck we.. fuck you.." Will smirks, moaning when his hands reach to your boxers and he starts to stroke your cock. You lay your head back, panting with pleasure. As much as Wilbur know you, he knows how to be fast and make you cum even faster. His hands work like magic, he slap his hips on yours when your arms are tightly around his neck, bringing him even closer if that is possible. He keeps stroking you, knowing all your damn preferences.

When you show signs of cumming, he puts your boxers down and also his. He lays you down on the couch again, being gentle at this time. He puts himself in the middle of your thighs, making your hole his little prize. A tight prize he has been reaching for a long time, it's disgusting how he gets inside you without lube or protection, burning your body inside as he forces his dick inside you.

Complaining, you slap his face, which only makes him go faster, causing the pain to grow even more. He doesn't want you to keep complaining that much like a little bitch, so he makes sure to pleasure you too, moving his hips together with his hand and coming closer to give you a passionate kiss. Or was it just lust..? It doesn't matter, it felt good.

He feels overwhelmed, leaking his pre-cum inside you. It feels weirdly warm, but at least now he can move properly. Wilbur looks insane at this point, a big mess over you like a predator, and he doesn't even seem to want to get out.

"Babe, do you mind if i-" He gulps, swallowing his saliva with his pathetic moans. "If I cum inside?"

The pleasure reaches you enough, shaking your head in an extensive 'no' so he can keep going. "Please, do anything.. but do not stop.."

Wilbur goes even deeper inside you, with your permission, he cums, surprisingly, it doesn't even seem like it. You just feel a wet and warm thing inside you, but he keeps going like if nothing happened. He moans one more time, now feeling control and power over your dumb fucked figured. He takes his hand out of your cock and grab your neck, choking you with those thick long fingers. Your air goes away, making it hard to breathe as he mischievously giggles.

"What a good slut.." Wilbur moans when he comes closer to your hear, putting a lot of his weight on your body. He slaps your face with his other hand, and with the mix of sensations, you cum. Your cock feels dry and painful, contradicting your tight hole that now is wet and filled with a pleasure that isn't yours. He smirks with the sight of your cum on your own stomach, getting out of you only to look superior and dominant. "Make sure to clean this mess." He throws a towel at you, putting his boxers back on.

[thenixkat]

Go, Ted! Handpicked to help defend the multiverse. Also chosen to represent the Earth 4 heroes in this crossover event

Again, Ted is strong as hell. Holding up a whole grown man's full weight with one arm

Isn't that the fucker that was fighting dr fate in the Rebirth Blue Beetle run? also 45,000 years b4 the present… a bit overestimating how long humans have been around

superhero mentality I swear. Just cause you got attacked after being invited/forced to go somewhere doesn't mean it was a trap/set up on the part of the inviter

also, the only things that actually hurt the shadow demons have been shown to be the Scarab, the Green Lantern's light, and the lights in the Monitor's ship turned up to full brightness

ok yeah, that Atlantean is the same character but… he's an antagonist in the rebirth Blue Beetle story for… reasons. And looking at his wiki he was not a fucking villain until post-crisis stuff

also fucking superheroes assuming the Monitor lied to them b/c things are going to shit and not dude had a plan but it isn't working like he thought it would

mfers really be jumping to conclusions and wanting to fight someone about it

local asshole villain Dr Polaris really said 'fuck yeah! let's kill some Nazis!'

while Ted would also like to kill some Nazis, he's focused on the mission they got sent there for. Also, the Ted being a mama's boy thing has come up twice this far in this crossover. That is entirely fucking new, Ted never mentioned his mom in his og comics

so man got brought over to the DC universe and they made him more flirty and a momma's boy

of course, I do have to question why in this fight the shadow demons get zapped from just touching Beetle while in the first encounter that didn't happen

of course, it hurts like hell just to get touched by the shadow demons

the Monitor is disappointed that the Beetle doesn't work as effectively against the demons as he thought the Scarab would so he sends the fucker home, really?

Also, I guess Jaime would be plowing through these demons like tissue paper then if he were in this

also, Ted having the Scarab in the first place is another retcon but it's a very minor change, he's still a tech hero since it doesn't actively give him powers

but the passive protection from demons is fascinating

cause like from Khaji Da's narration at the end of the Reach arc it did bond to Ted too, it was just too damaged to do shit for him

of course, we need superheroes to fight so now Ted thinks that he'd been kidnapped and fed lies

hey someone aware that this fighting and these thoughts feel forced

the Anti-Monitor boosted Psycho Pirate's powers and is making him influence people on the 3 remaining Earths to fling themselves into the antimatter waves and fight the heroes that try to stop them

heheh Ted really the cosmic representative of Earth 4. He's literally just... a guy but apparently he was that popular

Khaji Da listening to this in Ted's pocket: The Oans have no equals… what are we chopped liver?

I'm just picturing the Reach and their kin on the other side of the known universe seeing shit go down and just going 'ugh, we're gonna loose so many days of productivity over this' and just phase shifting into the Bleed and watching the Oans and lanterns get their shit rocked

again I'm just imagining the Reach watching all this fuck shit going on and going, that is not my problem

will finish reading the issues with Ted in them remaining for this crossover later. It's given me a bunch of thoughts

also, just the Spectre is fucking useless, yer telling me it goes after fuckers who've escaped the vengeance of man and there's a whole league of supervillains just sitting there unsmote

Superheroes said you are not allowed to retire from being a superhero even if we know that you are actively dying every time you use yer powers

the cosmic treadmill can do shit but none of the magic users that's wild. Fucking run fast enough and you can travel across dimensions

Wild that we can time travel to save the universe when the plot calls for it. That we can create a massive time paradox to save the universe when the plot calls for it. But Booster Gold can't be allowed to use time travel to save his best friend Ted Kord from getting shot.

combining the forces of many heroes and villains fuckers are going back in time and across the universe to 'defeat' (read kill, everyone is ok with killing this time) the ANtiMonitor.

Also, imagine DC Comics buying you out so they can have yer characters and then kill off all but one of yer characters in a crossover event.

Also, why did observing the Big Bang lead to the creation of the antimatter universe in the first place or open a second antimatter gate when someone did it again?

The superheroes without powers applicable to fighting cosmic beings really just here for moral support, huh?

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

Scars That Heal || Eddie Kaspbrak x Reader Series

• Ch. 12: Changes •

A/N: The missing gaps in time are on purpose since they will be in book 2 as flashbacks, which will include references to events you have not read yet. All fluff and shenanigans this chapter to make up for last, I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: brief mention of nausea and gore towards the very end, but otherwise, tooth-rotting fluff!

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧

𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧' 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡

              - David Bowie, Changes

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

- 𝗠𝗜𝗗 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 -

    "I still can't believe you went after Bowers," Richie scoffs.

    As he steps off his porch and onto his lawn he looks over at his best friend and takes another gander at the bruises and welts littering her skin. Her lip was still busted and despite his and his mother's efforts to clean her bottom lip of blood, it must have started bleeding again sometime during the night as more had crusted over.

    "Yeah, well," she shrugs. "It felt good,"

    "Yeah," he snorts. "It looks like it,"

    "You know what I mean," She elbowed him and he nodded with a little laugh.

    "What d'ya want to do? I mean, we could keep standing around here like a bunch of idiots, but-" he shrugs, hands falling into his pockets, and Y/n smiles.

    "I dunno," she shrugs. A wince falls over her face, a painful-looking one at that. "But I don't think I'm gonna be welcome back at the Capitol Theatre any time soon."

    Richie nodded, a ghostly look falling over his face at all that had transpired in the past twenty-four hours alone. He still couldn't believe she had done that. He still couldn't believe a lot of things but her being in his corner after what she had found out seemed a little harder to believe right now. Especially after the junkyard... But - Jesus, that was already a week and a half ago, it felt like only hours.

    He could hear her words from the park the other day in his ears and he suddenly felt the urge to pay her back. He smiled his charming crooked smile and hoped for the best.

    "You still craving fries?"

    "Always," she answered, a look of suspicion written in her features. "Why?"

    Y/n didn't know why she kept asking these questions when she knew the answer. She didn't at all like the look growing in his eyes or the stupid feeling of guilt growing in her stomach.

    "Cause I'm prepared to make a deal with ya toots,"

     "Oh, yeah?"

    "Sure am," he says, patting his hand over his left pocket. "I'd been saving up for a long weekend at the arcade but that's a bust. And I just got a raise on my allowance ━ that's again, toots. Allowance. It's the money you get when you do stuff for people, you might never have heard of it--"

    "Is there a point here, Rich? Cause if so, you better get to it faster,"

    "Point is, I'm packing and I'm also craving milkshakes. So how's about I treat you to the biggest pile of fries your staved ass has ever seen--"

    Y/n shoots him a knowing look, ready to detest when he holds out a finger.

    "If," he continues. "you take me there."

    "Take you there?"

    "Take me there," he nodded. "By piggyback."

    Y/n gave thought to this, all while hiding behind an unimpressed look. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starving.

    Richie shrugged. "Hey, you're the one always saying you don't want to feel like charity. Well, this ain't charity, this is work with a reward. Take it or leave it,"

    Her unimpressed look grows stronger in an attempt to buy her time. But it's useless, her stomach answers for her with a long growl and a smile sneaks up on her.

    She steps forward, crouching down a bit for him to jump on her back. "Alright, let's get this over with."

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

    "You know, I was really worried about carrying you, but dude, you weigh like nothing. You're a fucking bean pole," Y/n says.

    She comes to a slow before straightened her back letting him slide off her back and onto the ground. The two of them had arrived at the nearest diner in the town square where they now stood.

    "Well, not to brag or anything, but," he fluffs his collar. "I took a massive shit before we left,"

    "Ugh!" a shocked and uncomfortable laugh breaks loose from Y/n and she sticks out her tongue in disgust. "Regretting this already."

    She threw open the doors and the two found themselves inside one of Derry's lesser diners.

    It smelled like sausage and coffee beans, and it had a vibrant red and black theme. There were maybe nine or ten people there, little kids included and they could hear the jukebox blasting a David Bowie song. Y/n had a hard time enjoying it with the combination of a full bladder and an empty stomach so she turns to Richie and nudges him with her elbow.

    "I'm gonna run to the restroom. Get us a booth?"

    "Do your thing," Y/n nods and disappears around the corner. As his eyes follow her, they land on the corner in question she had disappeared around where there sat the jukebox.

    He wanders over, eyeing the machine as Changes reaches a crescendo. A mischievous smile blooms as the lights from the window illuminated his face.

    "Three plays for a dollar, huh?"

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

    When Y/n returned from the restroom, she had expected to find Richie lounging in a booth somewhere, feet up and bugging the employees. She did not expect to turn the corner and nearly collide with the boy as he stood at the Jukebox and feeding all his money into it.

    "Dude! I carried you here, you owe me fries!"

    "And you shall get them my liege," answered Richie in a Shakespearean tone. "But first!" He dropped the act and looked away from the Jukebox for the first time, wearing an almost evil grin. "A social experiment,"

    Y/n's brow furrowed as she watched Richie punch in the same Tom Jones song over and over and over. It was then she caught on to what he was doing. She held out a hand as her eyes watched the Jukebox.

    "Hey, hey, hey, wait," she said, stopping Richie in his tracks.

    He looked up at her with a pout. "Relax, toots. I saved just enough for their biggest basket of fries, you'll get them." Then Richie saw the look on her face. He could practically see the gears turning.

    "No, not that. It's just..." she said, eyes never leaving the list of songs. "Before you put in more, you should throw in one It's Not Unusual,"

    And that's when the afternoon went from good to great.

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

    By now, the duo had ordered and waited. They now sat tucked into a corner booth with a great view of the street corner and the passers-by of Derry. Changes had long since ended, and the remaining songs in the queue had trickled out. Richie memorized the song queue and was silently counting down until the big moment as he sat across from his battered-up best friend.

    Her busted lip poked out in a bored pout, her chin propped up on her palm as she balanced her head on the table while looking out at the graying town landscape. It always escaped her how Derry could possibly look so gloomy on even the hottest, brightest days of summer. Until recently that is, the truth all too clear to her and her friends now.

    The thought of the Losers scattered all over this hellhole only added to the gloom. They should all be here, together. Pointlessly debating which condiment goes best with fries, not fighting over... Over what they had fought over.

    Y/n's eyes finally broke away from the manhole at the center of the little intersection outside and wandered over to Richie. He had stolen the salt and pepper shakers from a few empty (and not so empty) tables and was currently doing his best to construct a salt and pepper shaker tower. His tongue was sticking out from between his curled lips and his glasses were sliding to the end of his nose at the angle he looking. The tower was nearly three shakers high and Y/n could hear him muttering, 'where's Haystack when you need him?' under his breath.

    The gloom Y/n had been thinking so intently on was suddenly ebbed away at the sight, and the corners of her lips hooked into a small smile.

    At least she had her favorite Trashmouth.

    "If you keep undressing me with your eyes, I'm gonna catch a cold," said Richie, never once looking up from his tower.

    Y/n snorts. "You're unbearable,"

    Richie shrugs defensively. "Hey, you're the one who said we're stuck with each other," he clicks his tongue and winks. "No going back on that kind of deal,"

    "Oh, I meant what I said," Y/n releases her chin and folds both arms on the table. She hated getting all serious again, but she just needed to be sure. Her voice softens, trying to catch Richie's eye. "All of it, okay?"

    Richie's hand around the salt shaker stops, and he pries his eyes off the tower and to his best friend. Despite her intentions and promises, everything that transpired the day before -- good and bad -- flooded over him and made him tense.

    She suddenly offered him her pinky and a small smile.

    "Stuck forever?"

    Richie rolls his eyes. He didn't quite know who to blame, maybe just the losers in general, but he was going all soft and lame.

    "Like my ass and a toilet seat, toots,"

    He locked his pinky with hers and the deal was sealed forever.

    Y/n leaned back on her side of the booth and took a large swig of the complimentary water as her eyes returned to the streets. The chatter of the diner had died down a little. There weren't as many people since they got there, but they were still filtering in and out. But when Y/n had a hard time shaking off the images she had of her best friend in the state he had been, she deems it safe enough to lean forward and lowered her voice.

    "You know," she began picking at her napkin, making slow and tiny tears here and there. "I--" she sighs, not knowing how or where to begin. "I wouldn't blame you."

    Richie, having abandoned his shaker tower, frowns.

"I wouldn't blame you if maybe, it was -- or is hard to be..." she shakes her head again and rubs her forehead trying to find the words. "I wouldn't blame you if it was hard to be around me and Eddie," She blurts.

    "I'm gonna stop you right there," Richie says. "We're not gonna do that, okay? You have exceeded your sappy meter and you're gonna need to wait about 48 hours for it to charge up again. I think we've both had enough, right?"

    Y/n swallowed her words. She swallowed any promise she was holding out to him that their feelings for Eddie wouldn't change anything. That she wouldn't ever want to stand in their way, however true it was. And instead, she made a new one.

    "Let's just agree, whatever happens, happens. Let that be whatever it needs to be. Even if that means neither of us gets to see that adorable, asthmatic pipsqueak ever again. Deal?"

    Y/n fought the bittersweet smile threatening to appear. She could see it now. Richie knew what he needed to know about himself now, and that was already a lot for him to handle. She could see in his eyes he wasn't ready for the possibility of whatever was his feelings for Eddie Kaspbrak.

    Y/n's stomach turns to knots when the thought crosses her mind, but that only confirms to her it was time.

    She looks around the diner, looking for prying eyes and she still finds none. She leans in, voice lowered as she fiddles with her napkin again. "I'm uh--," she clears her throat. "I've never told anyone this, but..."

    She lets out a sharp breath. "Well, let's just say Eddie isn't the first Loser I've ever had feelings for,"

    Richie shakes his head, making a "what am I supposed to do with that?" face at her sudden shyness. She only gives him a solid stare until it finally clicks.

    Richie collapses against the seatback with a gaping, triumphant look.

    "No. Fucking. Way," Richie slaps his hands on the table and leans forward, and an ugly excited laugh comes barreling out of his chest. "You big homo!"

    "Would you fucking shut up?!" Y/n hisses, reaching over and shoving him back against his seat by his forehead. She looks around the diner and determines no one had heard that. Maybe except one guy in his forties, but that was most likely about him knowing they did something to the jukebox. He was sat with his young kids, looking tired and all too suspicious of their laughter at the jukebox. Finally, she laughs a little. "Beep, beep you moron."

    "You telling me you and Little Orphan Annie...?"

    "I'm saying," Y/n sighs, shrugging her shoulders. "I meant it when I said you're not alone, alright?"

    The look in Richie's eyes hardly changes.

    "No!" She answers. "No, nothing's happened but..." Y/n shook her head. "I had feelings for a really long time, up until about two years ago."

    "Wowza," Richie sighs, leaning back into his seat and plopping one hand on the table. He sighs. "We sure know how to pick em,"

    "Yeah, you could say that," Y/n laughs.

    In fact, that's all she could say. A million things ran through her head, things she wanted to say to Richie but couldn't. Cause when she looked in Richie's eyes at that moment she -- they both -- knew everything unsaid could remain that way. With one look they knew. They knew that they could both count on each other, have each other's back. And that included Eddie too. They knew that no matter who held Eddie's heart, they could both agree that Eddie's happiness -- and each other's -- was most important.

    The sound of brass instruments invaded the atmosphere, pulling the duo's eyes to the jukebox across the diner. Their faces lit up in matching grins, both of them nearly forgetting the psychological horror they had just unleashed upon the diner.

    "What's new pussycat? Woah, wo~ah,"

    And thus began the best meal they ever had.

- 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 -

    Y/n relished at the demanding burst of cool air that bombarded her sweaty skin as she stepped inside Keene's pharmacy. The grip on the money she had scraped together tucked tightly in her right palm grew tighter when the shopkeeper's bell announced her arrival. Her eyes fell to her injured leg, and by now her feet have already begun their journey forward towards the first aid supplies. The last of the bandages secured around her leg, and she winced at the faded and stained cloth that was in dire need of a change.

    Her eyes pick up from the ground when she hears a choked gasp only to find the boy that had been occupying her thoughts standing before her.

    "Y/n," His voice is meek and heavy with sadness, and you can hear the absence of breath in his lungs that she always seemed to create.

    Despite the staggering stampede of emotions she felt, she found herself releasing a chuckle. "Hey, shrimp."

    The name itself would have been strong enough to send hooks into the corner of his lips, tugging them into a half-smile had it not been for the sight before him; she was a wreck. Looked as if she had been put through an actual wringer and his heart stops for a moment, in fear. At that moment he is grateful he has his inhaler, Y/n had a talent for taking his breath away but he never would have dreamed of it happening this way. Already his mind is going at twice its speed, a mad swarm of thoughts that dizzy his head, and as quickly as he can he tries to pluck one - just one - thing to say to her. When he finally speaks, he is thankful that his voice has returned to him.

    "How's your leg?"

    He doesn't have to ask, the first thing he saw - the very feature that tipped him off about her - was the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around her left calf. He couldn't imagine why it would still be bleeding, much less this profusely given how long ago it had been. Perhaps it had opened back up. And Eddie felt it best not to address the new set of scrapes and bandages that were scattered across her arms and legs, though each one filled him with worry. But her eye... it was completely swollen, and several shades darker than a usual bruise.

    She grew rather sick looking at the question and instantly he was filled with dread. Had It gotten to her again? Was it something new entirely? Either way, he felt a great deal of guilt he hadn't been there, and more than anything he wanted her safe. Maybe, if it wasn't too crazy, be the one to look out for her. To protect her.

    "I just," she swallows thickly, eyes darting around to avoid his eye line.

    Eddie tilts his head, encouraging her to continue. She looks as if she's about to unload a great deal off of her chest, but after a moment she shakes her head.

    "Nothing," she lies. "Just need new bandages."

    Eddie's horrified expression does not waver, but only intensifies, zeroing in on her. He just simply can't ignore the state she's in. And while every instinct inside him screams to jump in and help, he knows that's not his call nor his place. But he had to ask, he had to know.

    "Are you okay?" He blurts suddenly. He mentally slapped himself. Of course she wasn't. "What happened...? You're leg? You're eye? Are you in trouble at home? Was it...?"

    She grows tense, and Eddie scolds himself once more when he sees her walls rebuilding themselves. He hated his stupid word vomit sometimes.

    "No, Eddie!" she says tiredly, sighing at her slight outburst. "I'm..." she sighs again, staring at the floor, looking almost... calculated.

    Finally, she picks her head back up, her expression flat, but her tone a bit softer. "Just Bowers. The usual."

    Eddie couldn't help but feel like she was lying. And that hurt him. But he understood. If she had pressed him about things at home he probably would have done the same. Eddie sighed deeply as well.

    He missed the way things were.

    He missed Y/n.

    He missed the feeling he got around her, the storm of butterflies and mind-numbing fits of laughter they'd bring out in one another. He missed the way his skin would tingle like every blood cell was on fire when their skin accidentally brushed together. Eddie missed the way he'd lose himself in thoughts about her like he was now.

    Eddie didn't realize it until that last thought crossed his mind, but this was the first time in weeks he felt something other than anxiety and fear. And maybe he was crazy, but when he looked in Y/n's eyes now he thought he saw it too -

    "I'm sorry, Eddie," she says, breaking him from his daydream, sending him falling back down to earth. "But I really need to take care of this."

    He glances down at her leg, the bandage still soaked with blood and he feels fear squeeze his chest again. She was leaving. And that meant he had to, as well. He would have to say goodbye and go back home to his mother. He could hear her haunted cries, whining at him and wailing. What took you so long, Eddie? Don't you know what you're doing to my heart?

    Eddie goes rigid at the thought when he realizes; the last time he saw Y/n... Those horrible things his mother had said to her and he... Jesus, what she must think.

    "Y-Y/n," he sputters desperately as she begins to limp around him. She had gotten no answer for once again he had gotten lost in his thoughts. But he couldn't have it end like this. He just couldn't. "Y/n, I'm sorry."

    She stops in her tracks and looks back at him, thoughtfully. A sad smile graces her face.

    "I know, shrimp,"

    Her eyes hold a thousand words, a million things she wants to say to him as he wants to say to her. But they die out, and she turns away.

    "Y/n!"

    He couldn't let her go, he just couldn't. Then why was this so difficult? He always had a mouthful to say, but around Y/n L/n, Eddie was always speechless.

    "I wanna..." he gulps, a pleading, sincere look in his eyes. "I wanna see you again." He admits.

    Y/n smiles sadly. Like she doesn't want to let him go either. But still, she gives him a pleading look after gesturing to her leg.

    "Eddie, I gotta take care of this,"

     His head sunk to the floor and he nodded, embarrassed. Of course, what the hell was he thinking? She didn't need him coming in and messing things -

    Her sudden sigh broke his thoughts. "Meet me outside in five? I could use some help,"

     A nervous smile broke out, stretching and hurting his cheeks and Eddie nodded when he met her eye. He was out the door without another word, back in the alley where he had first bandaged her up all those months ago.

    His mind raced with possibility and more unanswered questions. What would he do, what would he say? What had happened to her, and could he have been there to stop it? His face still burned with embarrassment when he thought of the things he let his mother say to her, how livid he was with himself.

    It was all he could do not to bounce off the walls from the jitters. The crates from the last alley visit, or at least some like it, remained and so Eddie eagerly took a seat. His knee bounced up and down at unnatural speeds as his mind raced, his eyes wandering the alley as the wind swept in a familiar summer breeze against his cheeks.

    "I really need to focus right now," he orders, his hands making delicate work of the bandage over the new kid's stomach.

    "You need to focus?" Richie snorts over his shoulder, causing Eddie's cheeks to burn.

    "Yeah, can you go get me something?"

    "Jesus! What do you need?"

    "Go get my bifocals. I hid 'em in my second fanny pack."

    Y/n leaned forward, balanced on her knees with a crooked smile that would with Eddie for days. "You have a second fanny pack?"

    The burning in his cheeks grew, and Stan joined in. "Yeah, why do you have two?"

    Eddie didn't dare meet anyone's eye, let alone Richie or Y/n's.

    "I need to focus right now and it's a long story. I don't want to get into it."

    Besides! He was telling the truth! He needed to focus. Who knows what kind of shit has gotten into this kid's system by now?

    Eddie had nearly finished with the new kid's bandages when he heard the jingle of the store bell.

    "Yep. Thanks." Came the hardened voice of Y/n backing out and towards the alley with a pressed and forced smile before turning for the alley and away from whoever she had been talking to. Eddie was the only one to have caught the small whispered words under her breath from the silence of the alley. "-for nothing, I guess..."

    Eddie shot up from his seat, subconsciously straightening out his shirt.

    "Everything okay? What was that all about?" He asked as Y/n finally joined him. Eddie sputtered, mentally kicking himself for prying. "I mean, you don't have to tell me or anything, it's just you seemed frustrated. You know what never mind, you probably want to get your leg fixed up, right?"

   Eddie stopped again, shifting on his feet when he realized Y/n must be waiting to talk. "Sorry," he mumbled. And to his great surprise, she smiled.

    "Don't be. I've missed your word vomit," she joked.

    Eddie could feel the corners of his lips twitching up in a smile, and something happened to him he hadn't felt in a long time; flutters invaded his chest, making the air he breathed feel lighter and his stomach was doing flips. And he would have fallen harder had he known Y/n's stomach was doing flips right along with him, and a burning sensation lighting up her neck and ears.

    "Well, here-" Eddie said, snapping out of his daze, no longer able to stand by and ignore the gash in her leg. He supposed it really was like old times. He stepped aside, gesturing for the crates and taking the bag of supplies Y/n had handed over.

    "For real though," Eddie began, eyeing her nervously as he unzipped his fanny bag and begun fishing inside for hand wipes. "What happened, Y/n?"

    Her smile fell, and her eyes dropped to her lap where her fingers fiddled together. To Eddie, it felt like a long time before she finally answered.

    "A lot's happened since Niebolt, I'll leave it at that,"

    Eddie nodded, and stepped forward, lowering himself to his knees before her injured leg, and began unwrapping the first of the supplies from her grocery bag. "It feels like years ago,"

    "Yeah, it does," Y/n croaks.

    There's another small silence and Eddie feels a tug in his chest when her eyes linger over him. He only spares a moment to meet her eyes back before taking a deep breath and holding it. With a wince, he unraveled the cloth and quickly discarded it. He tried not to linger on the injury; the edges of her claw-like scars remained, but it looked as if they had been messily pried back open.

    Like deja vu, Eddie found himself battling to keep his lunch in his stomach, but the overall worry in his system for one of his best friends triumphed over it this time around. He dismissed the urge to gag and instead darted his eyes to Y/n in between his work.

    "So..." he asked, realizing he didn't really know where to start. "how have you been? Other than, you know," he laughed nervously.

    To his relief, Y/n smiled.

    "It's hard not being around the losers. I only ever see Richie anymore. Even Bev and I haven't really spoken since the fight, which has been really hard. We've been in each other's lives for so long,"

    As Eddie finishes cleaning the wound, his heart sinks a little at her words. True, he missed Beverly very much. But he also knew all too well what Y/n spoke of, and judging by the look in her eye as she softens at him, she knows it too. She gives him a gentle nudge with her foot.

    "He misses you too," she says, growing another small smile. "Won't shut up about you, in fact. Which is saying something... Guess I'm one to talk, though," she adds, watching him nervously out of the corner of her eye, and Eddie's heart skipped another beat.

    "What about you, shrimp? Dare I ask?" She says with a smile.

    Eddie, Y/n noticed, had been unusually quiet. By now, on any other occasion, he would have talked laps around her by now but something was keeping him. Maybe he just feels a bit out of step, she thinks, as she did. It had been far too long since things had been normal for either of them. But something told her he was now particularly quiet perhaps because he wasn't all that eager to share how things had been for him since the losers split. She couldn't imagine things had been well at home with his mother given everything that had transpired.

    So she didn't pry. She changes the subject, hoping to get his mind off of whatever might be bothering him. Her mind returns to his previous questions, and she bites the bullet.

    "Quitting my job." She says finally, stunning Eddie enough to pull his attention away for a split second. "You wondered what I was doing there. And aside from restocking, I was um... I was quitting my job."

    "You got a job at Keene's Pharmacy? When?" Eddie asked, reaching for a strip of gauze.

    Y/n seemed to think about it for a minute, counting the days in her head before shrugging. Leaning forward, she holds the gauze in places Eddie begins applying the bandages. "I guess a little over two weeks after Niebolt. I did little things around the store, this and that really,"

    "How come I never saw you?" Eddie asked, and Y/n shrugged.

    "He had me running errands most of the time," and she smiled a little. "But sometimes I'd stick around a little longer. I'd offer to sweep or restock the shelves or something. It's stupid, I know, but... I don't know, I guess I was hoping to see some admittedly cute... shrimpy little dude come walking in to refill his inhaler. Is that stupid?"

    Eddie paused, unable to hide the smile or the raging blush taking over his face. Y/n smiled to herself when she saw it, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't feeling a little bit of it too. Finally, Eddie spoke. Or at least, he tried to. His voice came out hoarse and he cleared his throat, quickly shaking his head as he secured the bandages in place and began disinfecting his hands.

    "No. No, that's not stupid at all. I mean, I don't know if I'd say shrimpy, necessarily, maybe a little skinny but-"

    Y/n laughed, smiling hard at the boy she hadn't stopped thinking about for weeks. Like Eddie, she hadn't realized just how much she had missed him until now. But, she hoped, maybe she could change that.

    Eddie trailed off, his ears burning at her laugh but a smile on his face all the same. At this moment, everything was perfect. Or seemingly so, at least. And then...

    "Thanks, Doctor K,"

     He smiled, a sinking feeling in his chest knowing what was coming next as she hoisted herself back on her feet. "Yeah, of course."

    A silence falls over the two, a silence they know won't last.

    "I guess I should get going," Y/n says finally, gesturing down the alleyway. "I'm meeting up with Richie later, he's swinging by my place." And for a moment, she looks hopeful and Eddie already knows what she's going to ask. "You're welcome to come. We both really miss you,"

    Yet again, Eddie Kaspbrak finds himself with a million thoughts racing in his head, but no words on his tongue. What could he say that wouldn't hurt her? What could he say that wouldn't essentially admit he was still a coward who couldn't stand up to his own mother? What could he say?

    But evidently, he doesn't have to. Y/n can see it in his eyes, and any trace of hope deflates with her. She nods sadly, eyes now on the ground and her freshly bandaged leg. "I get it, Eddie. It's fine. You don't have to say anything."

    "Y/n..." He didn't know what felt worse; knowing he let her down, or the sound of her using his real name.

    "Really, it's okay,"

    But it wasn't okay. And Eddie knew that. Today he had been given a second chance with Y/n, and already he had fucked it up. Or so he thought...

    A smile returned to her face just before she left; it wasn't nearly as bright as it had been moments ago, but it was as real as any other he had seen all summer. And then she spoke. She spoke the three words over her shoulder as she disappeared out of view that returned a familiar spark to his chest.

    "I'll call you."

    There was hope yet.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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[captnjacksparrow]

geez, speaking of Sakura from the anime and Sakura from the manga, I had a friend that was her fan and when I listed all the things I disliked about pinky she said "that's the anime, the anime makes her bad, you should read the manga, that's what's canon", so I did, and it was WORSE. I mean, that scene where she prepared some energetic food for Naruto when he was training his chakra? non existent, she didn't even peek to see if Naruto was doing ok, she was just shown crying in her room for her Sasuke-kun. And when she helped Naruto to eat because his arm was hurt? She only did it thinking of her sasuke-kun, for the effort Naruto was making to bring him back. Ugh, I dispissed her even more, she was more useless and a worse friend than I thought.

I get why some people don't want to relay on anime, it's not the same as american series that have a creator but several writers, and it's inconsistent most of the time (like, I get Naruto is a good person, but to repeat the same shit he declares only for Sasuke to that bunch of filler dudes has always bothered me, and how they add scenes of Sakura being a sligthly better person). They even change or manipulate canon scenes! like Konohamaru's sexy no jutsu (let's call it like that) when he was doing a demonstration for Naruto: in the manga K made two girls, one was a sexy with-sharp-factions brunette and the other was blonde and looked more round and daring, it looked like fem versions of Naruto and Sasuke, and Naruto was like "YOU ARE A GENIUS" (which is something relevant because he wasn't impressed with a previous girl K showed him) and Sakura got angry, then he made the "Sasuke and Sai naked" one and Sakura was screaming and nosebleeding like a pervert (Not even Naruto did that lol) and I think Naruto hit Konohamaru for it if I remember correctly. Btw, it wasn't like that in the anime, there the girls look very different and the "Sasuke and Sai naked" jutsu wasn't there, so they deleted a subconscius narusasu moment, the wink to the reverse sexy jutsu, and Sakura being an hipocrite pervert.

But I get your point too, there are moments that match very well for the scenes and the characters, so I think both are valid.

PREACH !!!!! PREACH !!!!!

This is it!!!! This is what I meant.....

Anon, I feel like you are peeking into my laptop now, because all those scenes you've mentioned in the first paragraph, I am writing it as a lengthy post titled 'WHY I HATE SAKURA?'... which will be posted soon. LOLLL... Jokes apart...

So, you understand my stance, right???

The Anime was trying their best to paint some good stuffs on Sakura. When I found that those food pills scene were not in the Manga, I was like, 'Damn!!! what a crass and useless B****'.

And that Konohamaru Jutsu.... LOLLL. It was hilarious and again it shows Sakura in the bad light plus some very suggestive scenes which the Anime possibly cannot adopt.

That's why I was okay with certain extra scenes they put into the Canon Episodes. Whether it exaggerates SS or NH, I really don't care. I consider their scenes as canon as well.

For Example, in the Gaiden Arc,

Kishi drew Sasuke with a miserable expression when seeing Sarada. In the Anime, they made Sasuke to smile towards Sarada.

Kishi drew Sasuke to be more worried when Naruto got stabbed. The Anime toned down his expression into a neutral one.

Now you can see the Anime favouring SS, when in reality, something interesting also happened.

In the Manga, Sasuke atleast looks like he was concerned about Sakura, when he was trying to help her out.

In the anime, He just stood at an arm's distance and asked her 'You can heal yourself, right?' . LOLLLL

ROFLL.

Another thing is,

This scene... Which SS shippers love to celebrate. You may even find those guys hanging this panel in their home.

This is after Sasuke rejects Sakura's pathetic display of horniness. SS people thinks Sasuke was teasing her. Sasuke likes to tease Sakura always.... like it was their thing Ahemmm. I feel like Sasuke is looking normal in this panel.

You know what Anime did??

You can see the Manga made a huge panel showing his face (That's the biggest panel in that whole page). The Anime didn't even focus his face. It's more like a blink or miss kind of a scene and he wasn't laughing for sure.

So, The anime gives you some stuffs and removes some stuffs... You can take both and say canon just like me. It's actually fun, when you look at that way.

What we all can try to do is to keep Kishimoto's work as the first choice and the extra anime scenes as the valid second choice. Anything that treads past this territory, like Full-On Filler Episodes, Light Novels are bogus.

[callmecallmecrazy]

Preppy 1

*****

Warning!  This is not my usual fare.  Back in college I got very into preppy clothing and wrote a few short stories that I never shared anywhere.  Figure I might as well post them for posterity.  Enjoy this 2007/8 flashback!

*****

Two athletic men hauled Shawn into a dark room with a gurney table, and strapped his arms and legs down.

 "What the fuck?" Shawn shouted, his shaggy hair covering his eyes.  His muscular body struggled uselessly against the leather restraints holding down his body.  "Who the hell are you fuckers?"

This caused the two men to stop suddenly.

"My goodness, how rude of me," one spoke.  He was a tall man.  He was wearing Sahara Sperry topsiders, pleated khakis, and a hunter green sweater. Peaking out from under the sweater was a blue and yellow striped oxford shirt.  The collar was buttoned tightly around his neck, which was adorned with a simple yellow tie.  His hair was cut in a short buzzcut.

 He offered his hand out in the gesture of greeting and smiled at the man he had strapped down. "My name is Cody Bellford, please call me Skip.  And this," he said as he pulled the other man towards him in a sort of man hug, "is Ace."  The shorter man smiled.  He too was dressed in pleated khakis, but was wearing a light blue polo with a popped collar. His hair was longer than Skip's, cut into a crisp flattop.  Both men had athletic, strong bodies that were highlighted by their attire, but still looking very dressy.

 "What the hell is going on?" Shawn screamed.

"Ugh, so barbaric," Ace sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll get you cleaned up."

"Cleaned up?" Shawn asked.

"Yes," Skip began to explain.  "Cleaned up.  Groomed. Presentable.  Your appearance and mouth reflect poorly on yourself and the school.  Wouldn't you be happier if you were groomed and proper?"

"Fuck you!" Shawn retorted.  The two preppy men just smiled to each other and began their work.

 Ace walked up to Shawn's chest and proceeded to rip the oversized t-shirt off his chest, exposing Shawn's voluptuous pecs covered in fur.  At the same time, Skip had proceeded to cut the sweat pants off of Shawn's legs.  In few more simple motions, Shawn was lying nearly naked on the table, only his privates covered by a pair of striped boxers.  His strong legs were lurching against the confines of the straps, and the veins in his arms and neck were bulging from his constant resistance. Shawn finally glanced upwards to realize that a full size mirror hung over him.

 "You have a good physique, Shawn.  You should take better care of yourself," Skip said.

"What?"

"This hair is disgusting.  You would look so much better if you were more streamlined."

"Shit, shaving body hair is for fags!"  Shawn was still struggling against the restraints but it was useless.  He was exhausted, and the reflections of the two groomed, calm men standing over him confused him.  Here he was, stressing and fighting, and they were calm and collected. In charge.

"Lots of men shave their body hair," Ace explained.  "It works for some, but you would look better trimmed." Skip handed Ace an electric trimmer, which he turned on and waved delicately in front of Shawn's face. Shawn looked in terror as Ace took the blade over his chest and began to strike down the forest of hair growing across. He could only look forward and watch as his reflection was slowly denuded across the chest and abs.  Skip made eye contact in the mirror and smiled brightly at the terrified man.

 Next, Ace continued his swarthy path on the legs, reducing the long hairs to fine fibers, highlighting the deep cuts along his quads and calves.  Beyond his range of vision, Skip had been stirring a pot of hot wax, and now sat down next to Shawn.  He took one of Shawn's hands and applied the wax on the hair covering his fingers. With a quick rip, and a tired yelp from Shawn, one finger was clean of unsightly hair.  Skip continued the process across all five digits and the back of the hand, then proceeded to do the other hand.  Ace had moved on to the arm that Skip had finished and removed all the hair from Shawn's wrist to his shoulder.  Skip went down to Shawn's feet and quickly ripped the hair off of his feet and toes.

 "Goodness, Shawn," Ace smiled at Shawn in the mirror.  "You look so much better now."

"Yes, I think so too. You should keep this look." Shawn stared at the two smiling men in the mirror, finding himself drawn into their bright smiles and amber eyes. He wanted to look away, but his face was held in place.  He tried to close his eyes, but he was constantly drawn back into the soothing haze of their white teeth and tan skin.  His skin did look good.  His skin had a natural tan and without the hair it seemed that his muscles were bigger, more cut, more defined. Maybe it wasn't, no, he hated it.  Shaving body hair was stupid.  But kind of sexy...

 "Now, about these," Skip said as he cut the boxer shorts from Shawn's body.  Shawn was shocked into silence as Ace roughly gripped his package.

"Don't worry," Ace said, again smiling.  "I'm not a pervert.  I just want you to be the best you can be."  And with those words, he once again turned on the electric trimmer and carefully reduced his pubic hair to a short stubble.  A few more quick strokes near the inner thigh, and both preppy boys stepped back and addressed Shawn in the mirror.

 "You look swell, Shawn," Ace said.  "This clean look really suits you."

"Yes, I agree," Skip said.  "I think everything we're doing you should maintain.  Weekly should be enough for you to look presentable everywhere. It's important to be groomed and presentable at all times.  You don't want to meet the wrong person looking poorly."

"Wrong... person?" Shawn stammered, he was nearly overwhelmed by the whole situation and found himself increasingly groggy and incoherent.

"Yes, there are the right people and the wrong people," Ace explained.  "If you meet a bank president, you don't want to look like a grunge band member.  You want to look like you know a Brooks Brothers inside and out.  That's how you get ahead."

"Oh, but... I ... umm.... shit," Shawn said, exerting a tiny bit of resistance in an attempt to move his head to the side.

"And don't swear, Shawn," Skip said.  "You sound unprofessional and uneducated.  Looking your best means acting your best."

"Umm, okay."

"Don't stutter or stammer.  Speak clearly and decisively.  A man."

"Okay."  Ace and Skip smiled to each other, and for just a single moment, Shawn smiled himself.

 "You are coming along very well, Shawn.  Just a tad more and I think you'll be a new man."

"Yes, I agree. Shawn just needs a few touch-ups and he will be an ideal gentleman."  Skip stepped out of view for just a second and then reappeared. Into the mirror, he held up a pair of classic y-front briefs.  He pulled on them slightly to emphasize the item.

 "These, are the ideal underwear for a conservative, preppy man.  That's what we want you to become.  That's what you want to be Shawn.  All of this is just so you can be a gentleman."  Shawn's eyes bulged as he saw the old-fashioned underwear. Ace undid the straps on his legs, but Shawn found himself too exhausted to move.  The boys gently lifted up his legs and slip down the tight, white briefs. They traced up his thighs and gently began to engulf his crotch and butt.  With a sharp elastic snap, he felt the band settle against his waist.  He had resisted looking, but curiously he peered at his image.  He looked amazing.  The briefs looked so presentable and manly.  He felt powerful and in control.  Once again, Shawn found himself smiling pleasantly.

 "Feeling a tad preppy?" Ace teased.  "Don't worry, only one thing left."

"Your hair," Skip said.  "It's so rough and wild.  Not the image one wants to send."  Shawn had nothing left inside himself to resist.  He merely nodded as well as the straps would let him.  The table holding up his head receded, and Shawn saw Ace holding his neck up while Skip brought over a pair of clippers.  They sprang to life with a low growl.  Skip wasted no time in reducing the sides of his head to nothing.  The shaggy haircut was being quickly reduced.  He ran the clippers over the sides of his head, leaving a white wall of flesh behind in its wake.  That finished, he proceeded to comb the hair back and began hacking it off.  Large chunks of brown hair fell to the floor as Shawn was shorn.  Finally, with about an inch left, Skip wet the hair and brushed it all up.  Using a small trimmer, he proceeded to flatten out his hair, until the top was a level plain identical to Ace's square hair.

 "You need something drastically different," Ace explained.  "Such a dramatic change proves how intent you are on improving yourself."  Skip just nodded as he continued to even out the top of the hair.  Shawn was nearing his breaking point, as he watched his long, mangled hair replaced with a corporate hairstyle of precision and execution. Skip applied some strange wax to the hair forcing it to stand up straight.

 "After some practice," Skip began, "your hair will hold itself up.  But the wax is still good measure."  Shawn found himself nodding as the knowledge of how to maintain his new hairstyle sunk into his freshly exposed head.  Skip pulled the head piece out from the table, and Ace let Shawn's head rest on the table.  The two prepsters stood back and admired their work.

 "You look like a decent guy now.  No more grunge or nasty college boy."

"No, you look like the prefect preppy."

"You are going places. Meeting the right people."

"I'm sure you'll get a great job and make lots of money."

"You've already met us. And there is a bunch of men back at the house excited to meet you."

"Of course, you should join the fraternity.  Men like us need to stick together."

"Don't you like this Shawn.  Being preppy. You look so much better."

"You're a born-again preppy.  We prefer you like this.  And all the brothers want you like this.  You want to be like this, don't you?"

 Staring at himself in the overhead mirror, Shawn was shocked at how much he liked his reflection. Formerly shaggy hair now stood straight up over his head, looking stiff as a board.  Whitewalls on the sides, his ears seemed to stick out a little - something else he found surprisingly appealing.  His tan, muscular body was shown to all its glory, his former resistance giving his body a sheen from sweat and muscle tension.  Without his body hair, he looked bigger, stronger, and cleaner.  He had always thought that shaving body hair was nelly and silly, but he looked much better now.  And then the briefs.  Tight, white briefs with a full cut covered his nether regions.  He had always worn boxers.  But there was something alluring about the underwear, with its clean-cut lines. Almost unconsciously, Shawn found his face slowly being filled with a charming, pleasant smile.  His dazzling white teeth began to cover more of his face as the empty grin consumed him.  Brown eyes lit up with a sort of cordial ambiance.  

 He liked it.  He really did.  Shawn was suddenly overwhelmed with a dire urgency. Something he had never felt before welling up inside of him.  He wanted to be like the preppy boys.  To be like this.  Attractive and fit and well liked and happy.  To be successful and entitled and self-assured.  And surrounded by men his equal.  Men as fit and clean and productive.  To be engulfed in their manly etiquette and mannerisms.  Better yet, be a part of group of such men.  To be part of a fraternity.

 All at once, Shawn's sudden pleasant nature began to override the rest of his personality.  So what if he wanted to dress, act, be one of the preppy boys?  If anything, being a preppy boy would be good for him.  He would get in with the right people, wear the right clothes, be the right kind of man. The kind of man Shawn would never have been on his own.  And he'd be happy.  It sounded pretty great to Shawn, who continued to sink into a cheerful bliss.

 At this point, Skip and Ace proceeded to undo the straps holding Shawn down.  He allowed the two well-dressed boys to help him off the table and he thanked them politely.  Manners were always important after all, but too much thanks sounded sarcastic or desperate - neither of which were admirable qualities in a man.  Ace gave Shawn a gentle pat on the back and a bright smile.

 "Feeling better?"

"Yessir, thank you both very much," Shawn replied.

"Of course," Skip replied eloquently.  "Here, you might want to get dressed."  

 The boys handed Shawn a pair of khaki Dockers’.  He slipped the pants up his muscular legs and pulled them high over his briefs.  The khakis sat a little higher than his normal baggy pants had, and Shawn liked it.  It was a much classier fit.  As he zipped up the fly and buttoned the top, he noticed the pants were pleated.  Actually, it was a double pleat, he was pleased to note. For some reason, he had always hated pleated pants.  He didn't know why.  Clearly, they were a much smarter look on a man.  More formal.  Next, the two fraternity boys gave Shawn a light blue oxford shirt, complete with a little polo player on the left breast.  They helped him tuck the shirt gently into his pants as he began to button the shirt up. He stopped before the very top, but Ace flipped up Shawn's collar and proceeded to button it to the very top. His neck was a little too thick for the buttoned collar, but he realized it would force him to carry his chin high, with pride and confidence.  Yes, a high collar was definitely better for his posture.

 "A proper man doesn't wear a button-down shirt without a tie of some sort," Skip said coyly as he approached Shawn, a line of fabric resting in his hands.  Shawn couldn't see what was happening as Skip proceeded to tie a tie on his neck.  At the same time, he felt Ace fumbling with the cuffs of his shirt.

 Skip stepped back and admired his handiwork and once again presented that gorgeous white smile to Shawn, who was pleased to return the cordial charm of the other man.  Ace was working away at his hips, looping a brown leather belt through the hoops of his Dockers.  Skip held up a pair of blue dress socks with a purple and yellow argyle pattern on them.  Shawn smiled and lifted up one leg, and then the other, feeling the stretch of the fabric engulf his feet.  When he set each foot down, a pair of penny loafers had been set in the way, forcing his foot to slide elegantly into the leather classics.

 "Just a tad preppier," Ace said as he pulled up the final item.  A sweater vest, with a black, grey, and white argyle pattern on it. Shawn could see thin yellow and blue lines running between the diamonds.  He lost his vision as the sweater was pulled over his hair and rested on his broad shoulders.  Rough hands began adjusting the sweater across his body.  It was a bit of tight fit given the size of his pecs and shoulders. The belt was adjusted, the tie straighten, the hair fluffed.  Meanwhile, Skip had pulled over a full-size mirror.  When Ace stepped away from Shawn, taking his place next to Skip, Shawn could finally see his new visage.

 He was a preppy boy. Pleated khakis over an oxford shirt and sweater vest.  It hadn't been a traditional tie that was put around his neck, but rather a purple and yellow bowtie.  Classic cufflinks had been used on the cuffs of his shirt.  Combined with the brown loafers and belt, he was the spitting image of a preppy boy.

 Spitting image?  Shawn thought to himself.  How inappropriate.  More like the classic construct of a prepster.

 "I think Tad is preppy now," Ace said as he looked over the new prep's outfit.

"Think you are a Tad now?" Skip said as he slipped his hand on the recently madeover man's shoulder.

"Skip, Ace, thank you both very much.  I would be pleased if you called me Tad.  Shawn is so uncouth."

"We understand, Tad," Ace said. "Neither of our names befit our preppiness.  Hence, we have preppy nicknames."

"Well, Tad, I think that it's time you went upstairs and met the rest of the men.  You are in the fraternity now, correct?"

"I would be honored to be a brother. Rush begins today?"

"Oh, you're not going to need to rush.  In fact, we would like you to greet the rushees."

"Absolutely!" Tad exclaimed.  "I am honored to represent our brothers and our fraternity."

"Great, let's get you settled in."  The three brothers walk upstairs into the house, to introduce Tad to his new life.

 Later that day, as the rushees came into the house, the brother meeted and greeted all the potential men.  Among them, was a preppy man with a flattop and a purple and yellow bowtie.  He was wearing pleated khakis and a sweater vest. And his nametag had 'TAD' written in bold letters.  It crossed his chest in the same place the little polo player did.  Aside from the nametag, he was nearly indistinguishable form the other brothers.  And in the next week, a few more good men would find themselves proud brothers of the fraternity and brothers in preppiness.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

The birthday ask sent me. Cause imagine hawk just being distracted/irritable the whole day cause deep down he thinking about the gift he got demetri months in advance under his bed and debating giving it to him. He doesn't end up doing it in person but he leaves it in Demetris room for him to find

Hey Anon I’m SOBBING

He definitely got Demetri something months in advance!!! Like imagine Hawk pre-ordering some special edition signed copy of a comic book Dem really wanted, and being SO psyched to give it to him that Hawk can barely keep quiet about it, and has to bite his lip to keep from saying anything whenever that particular comic book series comes up in conversation. Even after Eli becomes Hawk, he still can’t help but look forward to giving Demetri some of his favorite “nerd shit.” (I imagine said gift was ordered back when Hawk was in the early days of his mohawk, possibly right before he got it). And then the mall incident happens, and Moon’s party happens, and the school fight happens, and before Hawk knows it, it’s Demetri’s birthday. And just...UGH, he remembers when he was SO hyped about giving Demetri this, but now...he can’t really, can he? And whatever, he doesn’t give a shit about that fucking loser nerd or anything anyways, and he should probably set that comic book on fire or something.

But for some reason he just...can’t bring himself to do it??? Or get rid of it at all??? Despite it being totally useless to him now and just another piece of nerd trash from the life he’s trying to leave behind??? He just can’t help but remember how absolutely ECSTATIC he had felt when it first arrived in the mail, and how he could barely keep his mouth shut about it for WEEKS on end. It’s so odd that something that was once so incredibly important to him now just makes him angry to look at...and Hawk HATES that. He hates that he can’t bring himself to destroy something that made the past self that he hates so excited. But nonetheless, no matter what he does, something always stops him when he tries to just throw the comic book away. He always finds himself changing his mind about it at the last possible second. And EVERY TIME, he absolutely berates himself for it.

When Demetri comes home from the Miyagi-Do party, he lays down in bed to find something hard and flat under his pillow. He pulls it out to realize it’s a brand-new comic book, not even out of the plastic wrap--the newest in a series he’s been rambling about to Eli for over a year. Or at least...he did when he and Eli still talked. It has a small note taped to it saying “Got this for you a while ago. Didn’t want this dumb nerd shit cluttering up my room anymore. If you tell anyone about this, you’re dead fucking meat.” There’s also a small thumb drive taped to the back, which Demetri warily sets aside--knowing how things have been with Eli lately, he doesn’t completely trust there isn’t just something awful on it.

Demetri stays up all night reading the entire comic book, getting so engrossed that he totally forgets about the raging karate war and Eli now hanging out with a bunch of psychopaths for a while. Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, he feels out of it enough to have little to no reservations about checking out the suspicious thumb drive.

All it contains is a document full of binary code. When translated, it just says “You still matter to me.”

Demetri fucking cries.

[idiopath-fic-smile]

hey hi I've been trying to write something, anything, and what came out is like 3k of an extremely stupid supervillain/superhero story that I’d been kicking around in some form like over ten years ago. it doesn’t map onto any kind of an AU so I guess it’s original fiction? enjoy?

Cityton Chronicles, part 1

The problem with carrying out an evil scheme, thought Edmund, was the scheme part.

Anyone could nurse a sinister thought or two; it wasn't that hard to shake one's fist at the sky and murmur, “You'll pay for this. With God as my witness, oh, you will pay” and then maybe cackle a little. That much was child's play. (Literal child's play; he had witnessed more than a few dire pronouncements from his classmates at Hawthorne Grimmsbury's Academy for Ominous Boys, especially when recess was threatened.)

Actually going through with a plan was a whole different story. There were logistics to manage. There were people to manipulate, details to babysit, hypotheticals to anticipate. The nitty-gritty, as it were.

Edmund was not destined for the nitty-gritty.

Although, wasn't that what useless people always said? “I'm more of a big-picture person.” Maybe he was useless. Maybe that was the issue. Maybe Edmund Malarkey, heir to Malarkey Industries, was simply not cut out for masterminding.

Case in point, he had a terrible feeling he was about to make a complete hash of the Ritual.

The parameters were clear enough: full moon—check. Chalk for pentagrams—check. One hundred lit candles—check. (Some were scented; the store hadn't had enough plain tapers in stock, but the text of the Ritual had been written well before the notion of pumpkin spice was a cozy twinkle in some godless marketer's eye, and so Edmund figured this would probably not disqualify him.) Thirteen hooded figures, all in black...

This was where things got dicey.

The first sign of the trouble to come was when Carl showed up in navy fucking blue.

Edmund pinched at the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly, breath crystalline in the late November air. The invitations had been so specific.

“It looked pretty dark online,” Carl offered as the wind whipped at them atop the roof of the Cityton Natural History Museum.

“Pretty dark? Pretty dark? Did it look like the blackest black?” said Edmund. “Did it look like Anish Kapur's most haunting nightmare? Did it look like a raven's wing in shadow at the stroke of midnight, Carl?” Carl stuck out his chin. “It's almost black.”

“Yes, and bananas and humans share about sixty percent of their DNA, we're almost cousins,” Edmund told him, dangerously quiet, “but fortunately for you, I'm not going to peel you and eat you in a fruit salad, you buffoonish optimist.”

Edmund should never have relied upon his father's former henchpeople. They were loyal to his father; they looked upon him with bemused tolerance. He should've just gone ahead and recruited all of the necessary twelve people from Craigslist. He'd held off due to a suspicion that anyone he found on the internet would assume the Ritual was fundamentally a weird sex thing, but at least a bunch of kinksters would have probably taken the rules seriously.

He sighed. “Carl, there's a bodega down on the corner. Go buy two black trash bags and make yourself a garbage-robe.” Carl frowned. “Is there time?”

Edmund checked his phone. Eleven fifty-three. “Hurry. And save the receipt.”

Another gust of wind kicked up. Edmund shivered. He'd been smart enough to request a fabric swatch ahead of time from the Etsy store where he'd custom-ordered his own set of hooded black robes. He hadn't stopped to consider how warm—or not—a single layer of said fabric would feel well into autumn, completely unshielded by the elements. Theoretically, he could've crammed a coat under the robes, like a child wearing a Halloween costume in an unseasonably cold October, but no, he hadn't wanted to look bulky.

He checked the candles again, for want of anything better to do.

“Boss,” said a hesitant voice behind him.

“What is it, Stephanie,” said Edmund.

Stephanie had clearly repurposed her teenager's old Hermione costume as her robes, but she had bothered to remove the Hogwarts branding, which was something, at least. Beyond the fact that Edmund didn't feel like giving a repellent transphobe any extra attention, there might have been copyright issues.

“Is that thing about bananas really true?”

“Yeah,” said Edmund. He had read it many years ago, in a book titled 2002 MORE WACKY FACTS TO BLOW YOUR MIND AND AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS, which didn't seem especially pertinent. He did a quick headcount. Even without Carl, they only numbered eleven. “Where's Donna?”

“You should call her,” said Stephanie. “Donna never answers her texts.”

Edmund had been halfway through tapping out a text. Ugh, Boomers. Calling was for emergencies only; everyone knew that. Unfortunately, this qualified. He gritted his teeth and dialed.

Donna answered on the fourth ring. “What?” She sounded groggy.

“Did you,” said Edmund, still through gritted teeth, “forget what night the Ritual was?”

“Oh shit,” mumbled Donna. “Are you sure? I thought it was at noon tomorrow. Carl told me twelve o'clock.”

“At night,” said Edmund. “Twelve o'clock at night, this is a dark incantation to a primordial god, it does not overlap with daytime television.”

Just then, Edmund's phone beeped with another call. “Can you hold, Donna,” he hissed.

“Hey boss,” said Carl, “the bodega only has white or green trash bags, what's my next step?”

“HOLD,” Edmund shouted, switching calls again. “Donna, can you grab an extremely dark-colored robe and be here immediately?”

“Like a bathrobe?” said Donna, sounding lost.

Of course Carl had not bothered to relay the dress code. Of course he hadn't even managed to hand her the painstakingly crafted invitation. Edmund had used the nicest card stock available to him, not that it mattered.

“Uh, boss?” Leroy called over the roar of the wind. Edmund flexed his stiffening fingers.

“One second, Donna,” said Edmund.

“How much longer is this gonna be?” said Leroy. “Because I was gonna catch the late show tonight—”

“Watch it on YouTube the next day like a normal person!” Edmund snapped. “Donna—”

“I can be there by 12:40,” said Donna through the tinny phone speaker. “There's some errands I wanna run first.”

“It's the middle of the night, what errands!” said Edmund. “Donna, hold—” He switched back to Carl. “Listen, are you sure there aren't any black trash bags?”

“White or green only,” Carl affirmed. “Some of them are scented, do you think that would make a difference?”

“Boss,” said Frank from the other side of the roof, “we lost the chalk?”

“Hold on, Carl,” said Edmund. “What?”

“It was here a second ago!” “Did you secure the chalk against the wind?”

“What?” said Frank.

“The chalk, it's cylindrical!” Edmund managed to shout. “Did you do anything so it wouldn't just roll straight off the roof?”

Somewhere above the din of wind came the sound of a half dozen pieces of sidewalk chalk landing on the street five stories below and shattering.

Edmund buried his (cold) face in his (frozen) hands.

“Uh boss,” said Stephanie. “It's 12:01.”

Edmund sighed. The primordial god K'h'gg'ragel might have allowed for some creative interpretations on Ritual-adjacent matters, but everyone knew K'h'gg'ragel was a stickler for punctuality.

“Alright,” said Edmund, pitching his voice to carry. “Pack it in, we'll try again next full moon.”

“Phew,” said Leroy, who was wearing a thick downy jacket over his robes, and a hat with earflaps, and mittens. “It's cold out.”

“I FOUND A BLUE ONE!” Carl shouted from the speaker. “IS THAT ANY BETTER?”

Edmund turned his phone off.

Lighting and strategically placing one hundred candles had been something of an undertaking. Blowing them all out alone and stuffing them back into a series of duffel bags was somehow worse. Edmund was about half-done when he heard a distinct whirring buzz. He looked up.

It was Dragonfly. Of course it was Dragonfly, heading right for him.

Great. Edmund's first-ever showdown was going to be a one-on-one against a superhero armed with a jetpack, one hell of a punch, and electrified darts. Edmund was going to get flattened, and all before he even got the chance to point out that the darts and for that matter the punching didn't fit with the overall insect theme. 

“Hey man,” said Dragonfly, dropping effortlessly down to the roof of the museum. “I saw the lights from the sky, thought I'd investigate.”

They weren't fighting yet. Why weren't they fighting? Edmund's whole body fizzed with adrenaline. Also, cold. Either way, he was shaking a little, and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“And what, strike another heroic blow against the terror that is a bunch of sweater-themed Yankee Candles?” said Edmund.

Dragonfly shrugged. His costume included a bottle-green moto jacket and gloves. It looked warm, in a way that made Edmund feel even colder. “Sweater candles? What, like burning wool?” he said.

Privately, Edmund had wondered about that too. This, he decided obscurely, was another strike against Dragonfly.

“Maybe burning wool smells phenomenal,” said Edmund instead, rocking forward. “There's no way you could possibly know, unless you're here to tell me you've lit a sheep on fire, which seems well outside your whole—” he waved his hands vaguely “—moral compass.”

“Word travels fast,” said Dragonfly gravely. “I am foursquare against sheep-burning. Always have been.”

Edmund squared his shoulders. “So, are we doing this, or what?”

From behind his signature oversized goggles, Dragonfly's brow seemed to furrow slightly. “Doing what?”

“Fighting,” said Edmund. He had to grind his teeth together to keep them from chattering.

“Ah,” said Dragonfly after a pause. “Oh. Um. Okay. Here's the thing?” He steepled his fingers. “You seem unarmed. You're not hurting anyone. You're also not committing any crimes.” Edmund opened his mouth to protest, and Dragonfly continued, “Or, okay, you're trespassing on the museum, I guess, technically, but it's not like you're even trying to sneak into an exhibit without paying.”

“I am here,” said Edmund firmly, “to perform a terrible and arcane Ritual which will summon—”

“Yeah?” said Dragonfly. “Where's your followers? Where's your summoning chalk? It's well past midnight and the only sign of any occult activity I can see is the candles, but for all I know, you were just up here trying to have a little me-time, which, like, on some level I get, you know?”

“So,” said Edmund blankly, “what now?” He had given up on trying to tense his jaw. His upper and lower teeth clacked rhythmically against each other.

“I give you a stern verbal warning about what's probably a minor fire hazard and recommend that you enjoy the museum from the inside, during business hours, with a ticket,” said Dragonfly. “I hear they have a great exhibit on prehistoric mammals. In the meantime, get somewhere warm, okay? Your lips are turning blue.” “Fuck off,” Edmund more or less managed to say through his shivers.

Dragonfly spread his hands, placating. “Fair enough.” He began to walk away. At the edge of the roof, he hesitated. “Uh, do you have a way down?”

“Obviously,” said Edmund.

“Yeah,” said Dragonfly. “Uh, okay.” They regarded each other. “What is it?” said Dragonfly after a few seconds.

Edmund froze. Or well, he was already half-frozen. Edmund stopped moving, was the point.

Apparently interpreting Edmund's silence as helplessness, Dragonfly offered dubiously, “I could carry you down?”

“How,” said Edmund, flat. It was the wrong thing to say, in that it wasn't 'No,' or 'Fuck off' again, something sensible like that, but damn it, he was freezing, and if he gave up the way he'd gotten everyone onto the roof, then this whole fucking evening was going to be a wash. He had tried so hard. It wasn't fair.

Dragonfly took a step closer. “Fireman or bridal?”

Edmund tried and failed to parse this three separate times in his cold-fuzzed brain. “Is that a meme?” he settled on finally.

“Do you,” said Dragonfly, “have a preference on how I carry you.”

“We haven't even established that you're going to,” Edmund said. Clackity clackity clack went his traitorous teeth.

Dragonfly sighed. “I can't leave you up here,” he said. “One, if I let you keep hanging out on the roof of the history museum, then technically I'm kinda aiding and abetting your whole trespassing situation. Two, it is really fucking chilly up here, and if you freeze to death, then that's on me. Which is also not, like, great for my conscience.”

“So I don't have a choice,” Edmund spat.

“You totally have a choice,” said Dragonfly. He tilted his head to the side. “Hell, you could do me a solid and just exit using whatever secret method you entered with, but I have a feeling mum's the word on that particular angle.”

This Dragonfly character was smarter than he looked. Of course, he was a grown man who fought crime dressed as a giant insect. The bar was not particularly high.

“Mum's the word?” Edmund echoed. “What are you, ninety?”

“I'm an old fucking soul, dude,” said Dragonfly. “Point being, you don't trust me not to watch you leave the roof. Which is hurtful, frankly. I'm not sure I trust you not to stay up here out of pure stubbornness. If I give you a quick boost down, then it's problem solved and we can both go about our nights. Crime-fighting for me, and for you hopefully a pile of blankets and whatever warm food rich people eat. Mashed potatoes? With...caviar?”

This clearly did not merit a response. Dragonfly knew who Edmund was, apparently. Most people did.

“What if you drop me?” said Edmund.

Dragonfly laughed. He had a nice laugh. It was yet another point against him, somehow. “Don't you think that might go against my whole—” he gestured with both hands “moral compass?”

Edmund recognized his own words being used against him. On the other hand, the thought of a hot meal and, moreover, central heating beckoned.

“I don't care,” Edmund said at last.

“What?” said Dragonfly.

“Bridal or fireman's carry,” said Edmund. “I don't care.”

Dragonfly nodded sagely. “Let's get this over with, then,” he said. “Hey, d’you want help with your candles?”

Did he? He didn't want to want help with his candles, but that was another question. On the other hand, if Edmund accepted Dragonfly's aid, it would shave off valuable minutes of this excruciating headache. The backs of Edmund's knees were cold. It was absurd.

“Fine,” said Edmund.

“Huh,” said Dragonfly several minutes later. “This one's rain-scented, and this one's Ocean Spray, and yet they smell nothing alike.”

Dragonfly had without fail commented on every single scented candle in the bunch. Edmund looked up from his umpteenth taper candle, momentarily distracted from the knifelike chill.

“Rain and ocean are two completely different things,” said Edmund. “The surrounding environment, the vibe, the salt content.”

“The vibe, I grant you,” said Dragonfly. “But salt, really? Have you ever smelled salt before?”

“The ocean has a smell,” Edmund insisted. His family had summered on the coast every year before—well. Before last year. He mostly remembered the sea as having a whiff of fish about it, which didn't sound promising for a candle, but it was the principle of the thing.

Dragonfly shrugged. “You've got me there,” he said. “Never been.” Cityton was only about an hour's drive from the beach. Edmund wasn't sure he knew anyone who had never visited at least once, for a long weekend at least. Of course, it wasn't like Edmund knew Dragonfly. He didn't even know what Dragonfly's eyes looked like.

Edmund blew out another few tapers.

“This one's just called Singing Carols,” Dragonfly announced. “Guess what it smells like, I dare you.”

And so on.

In the end, Dragonfly carried Edmund off the roof of the Natural History Museum scooped under the armpits, the way you might hold a cat if you were engaging in some light cat-related horseplay. The mechanical dragonfly wings were well-made, Edmund could admit that much; Dragonfly didn't seem to have any issue bearing Edmund's weight or the combined weight of the candles, and their feet gently touched the ground after only a few seconds. It was already slightly warmer—or at least slightly less freezing—on street-level.

Dragonfly let go and stepped back immediately. This close, Edmund could see that his lips were pretty badly chapped. It made sense that someone who donated all their time to—again—flitting around town trying to right every minuscule so-called wrong while dressed like a bug wouldn't be experienced enough with self-care to be acquainted with a good lip balm, but the thought made Edmund weirdly a little sad.

His sense of deeply ingrained politeness warred against the equally powerful urge to be a real bastard about the whole thing. In the end, politeness won out, by the very skin of its mannerly little teeth.

“Thank you for not dropping me to my almost certain death,” Edmund gritted out with extreme reluctance. He stared over Dragonfly's shoulder as he said it.

Nevertheless, for some awful reason, for just that moment, it felt a little like the end of a date.

“Right,” said Dragonfly. “Right. Well then. Happy trails.” He seemed to consider this. “Or you know, if doing crimes is what makes you happy, then for the sake of Cityton, let's say, mediocre trails. Do you wanna borrow my gloves?”

“Why,” said Edmund flatly.

Even though the goggles completely obscured much of the upper half of Dragonfly's face, Edmund had the distinct sense that a disbelieving stare was being leveled at him.

“For your hands? You know, the traditional office of gloves?”

As the scion of Malarkey Industries, Edmund was long accustomed to being hated for who he was. Hated, feared, not-too-secretly envied. And lately: mocked, dismissed, his family name transmuted into a juicy, low-hanging punchline for lazy late night writers.

He wasn't sure he'd ever been pitied before. It did not sit well.

“I'll warm my hands on the fires of hell while I plot your demise, you miserable fool,” growled Edmund.

“Yikes,” said Dragonfly easily. “Well, I'm off.” And with that, he took to the sky.

Edmund curled his fingers into the sleeves of his stupid, summer-weight summoner's robes and started back towards what remained of his home.

[multific]

Bullies

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Requested by: lespaceboi

Words: 1062

Request: Hey, could i request a Draco Malfoy and Slytherin!reader who is really shy and introverted. She’s considerably shorter than Draco so whenever he teases her in front of others, she’s all blushy. But when others tease her, he goes into possessive boyfriend mode and is always ready to defend her. Once someone teases her in the great hall and Draco is ready to throw hands but she gets him to calm down by kissing him and it's the first time they kissed in front of others and everyone’s shocked. Thanks a ton!!

 Draco Malfoy, the prince of house Slytherin, your boyfriend.

Although you never really understood why he asked you to date him in the first place, you didn’t complain.

To others Draco was someone scary, a bully or a brat. To you, he was your prince. His behavior changed drastically whenever he was with you. He went from spoiled to loving in a matter of seconds. Gregory and Vincent noticed this, but they were too afraid to speak up about it, they knew Draco and they didn’t want to anger him. And the two henchman liked you very much. Although you were shy and reserved, you always acted the nicest towards them, you often baked cookies for them, and you laughed at their jokes, and that immediately made them like you. They respected and looked out for you.

You and Draco often went on dates of course, but your favourites were the ones where there was only the two of you at a quiet place. During those times, both of you could open up to one another. You weren’t afraid to speak up and he could talk about whatever he wanted.

Others often teased you about your introverted and shy nature, but Draco was always there for you to defend and protect you, you were his princess.

You noticed that ever since you were dating Draco people treated you differently. There were one group who were too afraid to even look your way, there was another who didn’t care and teased you about it, then there was one that was jealous.

Since Draco came from such a family, girls in the school thought they were worthy to be his partner rather than you. So they often made comments about you, you lost your friends due to their hate and abuse. But of course, you never mentioned this to Draco. You loved him too much and didn’t want him to worry.

You never stood up for yourself, you figured giving attention to bullies will only encourage them, but that didn’t mean that Draco wouldn’t.

One day, you were reading in the hall, minding your own business, your fingers were paying unconsciously with your necklace, the necklace you received from your boyfriend as a gift. It has a simple medal, but you loved it so much.

“Hello Pig.” you heard someone say. You looked up and saw your biggest bully right in front of you with her whole crew around her. “What have you got there?” she asked pointing at your necklace. You quickly put the jewel under your shirt.

“Nothing,” you said as stood up to leave but one of the boys stood in front of you.

“How rude of you, Pig. She asked a question.”

You didn’t answer him, usually when you stayed silent for a few minutes, they would all leave, but not this time. A girl grabbed your book and threw it on the floor.

“Pick it up Pig.” but you didn’t. And so the guy in front of you grabbed your shirt.

“Just because you happened to make Malfoy feel sorry enough for you to start dating you it doesn’t mean you are not a worthless little bitch.”

His words didn’t hurt. You knew it wasn’t the truth.

“HEY!” you heard a voice to your left as all of you and the people around you looked at his way.

Draco was walking up to you very quickly, anger written all over his face. Sure, sometimes he wasn’t the bravest, but when if came to you, he would do literally anything to save or help you.

“Get your dirty hands off of my Y/N, you asshole!” the guy did let you go in a second, and you moved quickly to stand and stop Draco. You placed your hands on his chest. He was ready to fight. Although the adrenaline in your system didn’t allow you to hear his words, you knew you needed to stop him or he will get in trouble.

“Draco.” you called out but he didn’t hear you, too busy yelling at your bullies. “Draco.” you tried again, but it didn’t work.

“You useless pieces of shits. Don’t you have anything better to do than to bother people. You worthless lowlife bunch. Just you wait until m-“ Draco couldn’t finish with his rage as you pulled him down by the collar and placed your lips to his.

Everyone was staring at you, they did not expect you to kiss him, he often did, but not you. You always got red and shied away.

“Draco, it’s okay.” you said as you pulled back from his lips.

“Don’t you have anything better to do?!” he looked at the crowd around you, grabbed your book from the floor and your hand as he walked away with you.

The two of you soon arrived to a silent and empty hallway.

“Why did you tell me that they were bullying you?”

“I don’t care. Their words don’t affect me.”

“I still don’t like it.” he said as he pulled you close and hugged you to his chest. “Did you really just kissed me in front of the half school?” he asked with a smirk on his face.

“Ugh.” you let out a groan. “Please don’t mention it. It’s embarrassing.”

Your face was red but you didn’t pull away. You felt thankful that Draco helped you with your bullies, but you also felt a bit relieved that you were able to stop him so he wouldn’t get in trouble.

And if that meant that each time you will have to kiss him in public, you would do it.

And Draco would never complain.

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[ambivalent-anarchy]

You've Got Moves (Part 2)

Masterlist

Part 1

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x reader

Warning: None

A/N: Better late than never, right?😂😂 (wow 2 fics in one week that's crazyyy) Also I put one of my favorite comedy tiktoks in the dialogue soooooo oops? Also Harry and Ned are wingmen who share one brain cell and I like it that way

I might make one more part to this but idk

---------------------------------------

It took 7 months for Peter to ask you out.

It took the time for MJ and Asher to become a couple, homecoming to go by, MJ and Asher to break up, winter formal, midterm exams, MJ and Asher to get back together, and Christmas to go before Peter Parker gathered the guts to even consider thinking about asking you out.

Scared wasn't even the word for it.

Harry Osborn, the new transfer student, laughed at how nervous Peter was at lunch. "Asking girls out is easy, Peter. I do it all the time!"

"You say it like it's the simplest thing on earth," Peter dreaded, to which Harry shrugged.

"Because it is! You just ask. How is it that I've only been at this school for 2 months and I've had more chicks than both you and Ned combined?"

"Hooking up is not a hobby of mine. That's why," Peter retorted with a pitifully unintimidating glare.

Harry shrugged with his shit-eating grin. "It's not my fault the girls and gays can't resist these lips."

Ned chimed in as he threw a french fry into his mouth. "Peter, this isn't like Liz last year. You and [Y/N] are already really close, dude. I'm sure you can just ask her. Who knows? She might say yes!"

"But what if she says no?," Peter groaned. "Then I'll just be one of those people she avoids and barely talks to out of awkwardness." He shifted in his seat nervously. "I don't want that."

"But if you don't say anything then you'll always regret it," Ned pointed out.

Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "Peter, pull out your phone."

Peter raised his eyebrows in confusion, but followed Harry's instructions.

"Go to her in messages and say 'hey let's get dinner'." He smiled. "See? Simple."

Peter opened your messages in his phone and stared at your profile picture.

'You can do this, Peter. You can do this.'

He bit his lip. "Okay but should I say, 'let's get dinner' or 'do you want to get dinner'?" Seeing Harry's impatient face, he explained himself. "I just feel like those two sentences have completely different vibes, y'know?"

Harry glared at him. "Are you really about to have us telling you what to tell your crush like a bunch of girls?"

Peter didn't know how to answer that question seriously. "Uh...yes?"

Harry pondered the question for a small bit before simply shrugging and answering. "Hmm, go with 'let's get dinner', so you'll sound all confident and assertive."

"Okay."

Before Peter could press send without thinking twice, Ned stopped him. "Well, actually now you sound a little aggressive, man."

"Really?," Peter asked with a wince, immediately erasing the message.

"Yeah, I mean the last thing you wanna be like is the guy that's all like 'let's get dinner' like you're some kind of caveman."

Peter groaned. "Oh no, definitely not."

Ned ate another fry. "You want to ask her to dinner, not tell her to dinner."

"I'll go with 'do you want to get dinner' then," Peter said with a nod.

That one didn't sit well with Harry. "No Pete. Cuz now you sound like a pussy."

Peter slammed his phone onto the lunch table. "This stuff is tough!"

Ned turned towards Harry. "No but listen. The last thing Peter wants to do is come off as the overly masculine type that's all like 'let's get dinner cuz I'm the breadwinner, bitch', y'know?"

Harry shook his head. "Yeah but women also love assertiveness. You have to know what you want."

Peter stared at the table, desperately wanting the conversation to be over. Why would he even go to these two for relationship advice? Harry was the king of hookups and Ned's relationships never lasted longer than a few weeks. What was he thinking? For a guy with a 4.5 GPA, he sure did feel stupid.

"I got it!," Ned exclaimed. "Okay. Text her this. 'Dinner would be something that I would enjoy taking you on, but only if YOU were also interested in attending the meal'." He held his hands up for praise.

Harry nodded. "Mhm. Perfect balance. And the more words the better."

Peter just stared back at them, wondering where he'd gone wrong in life. "...no.... I'm not gonna send her that."

Harry shrugged. "Welp,' he sighed. "I guess some people just don't want to be helped."

So close to slamming his head into the table in front of him, Peter felt a tsunami of relief hit when he saw Asher walk into the cafeteria.

Asher was your best friend. If anyone knew the proper way you'd want to be asked out, it'd be him.

The second Asher noticed Peter looking at him, he made his way over. "Hey Peter. What's up?," he asked as he found an empty seat.

Harry spoke up before Peter had the chance. "Hey Ash. Pick one. 'Let's get dinner' or 'do you want to get dinner'."

Asher thought for a second. "Depends on the girl," he said before taking a bite into his apple. "-but 'do you want to get dinner' is nicer. Why?"

Harry slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it!"

"Yes!," Ned cheered.

Asher looked around the table. "Okay, by why?"

Harry and Ned went quiet and looked to Peter, who was staring anywhere to avoid eye contact. He began to mumble pitifully."I....I-i wanna.. I wanna-"

Harry and Ned spoke up, already tired of the conversation not getting anywhere. "He wants to ask-"

"-I wanna ask [Y/N] out!," he blurted, feeling his cheeks start to burn when Asher's smirk turned into a wide grin.

"Well it's about time!," he exclaimed. "She's been crazy about you since you met."

"Really? She has?," Peter asked. That wasn't even in the realm of possibility in his mind.

Asher nodded. "She's always going off to me about how-" he mocked your higher pitched voice. "I've been dropping him hints since, like, foreverrrr!"

"Seriously?! She has?"

Ned laughed. "Well Peter. She has been calling you cute since the day she met you..."

"But I just always thought it was the friendly kind of cute, y'know?," he rambled. "Not the boyfriend type cute!"

"How many girls are out here calling you cute for you to make that assumption, dude?," Harry asked.

Asher sighed. "So this is what it's like to have low confidence." He shook his head and gave Peter a disappointed look. "I can't say I like witnessing this, Pete."

"Just-" Peter groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. "Just tell me what will work, okay? I need to ask her out perfectly."

Asher tilted his head in confusion. "She's a simple girl. You just have to straight up ask her out. What's the confusion there?"

"That's what I said!," Harry yelled.

"You know he's got to make it difficult for himself for no reason," Ned pointed out.

"Okay can we all talk about how terrible I am at this after you help me?," Peter begged.

"...yeah."

"Sure."

"Ugh, fine."

Peter sighed. "Alright. So?"

"What are you going for?," Asher asked. "Like a gift or something?"

"I just want whatever's the absolute best way to ask her out."

Asher pinched the bridge of his nose. If he was gonna set you up with your crush, he wanted it to happen right.

"Okay," he said, staring Peter in the eyes with a new sort of intensity. "Think about your best moments with her. Now pick something special from all those moments and voila! You'll have it!"

Peter nodded and stared at the ground as he thought for a while about everything he'd done with you since the beginning of school. You were truly the most extraordinary, most confident girl he'd ever met.

Every time he'd thought you couldn't get more perfect, you'd just show him another side of you that was better than the rest. He always stayed endlessly impressed and most of all, he felt as if he didn't have to try too hard with you. He could be himself and mess up as many times as he could manage and you still stuck around, showing him that there needn't be any worries.

And your style? Fuck, you could make anything work for him. You were the only one who could get him out of his comfort zone and in front of a camera, for something as frivolous as a TikTok. But he'd always do it, and even find the fun in it, because it made you happy.

"Remember how we freaked out that first time when she called you cute, Pete?," Ned said. "She said that you were cute and that you only had to put it use!"

Harry laughed. "This girl is literally giving you the instructions, Peter. Take them."

"Hmm." Peter looked up with a smile and snapped his fingers. "I got it."

-

You tossed popcorn into your mouth and snuggled yourself further into the blanket. "Ash, how can you even say that? 'It' is a horror movie!"

"Yeah, technically," he retorted. "But there's literally not a single part of the movie that's scary. It's more of a drama than anything else."

"You realize the clown phobia rate skyrocketed when the movie came out right?"

Asher scoffed. "Uh, your point? It's not my fault some pussies couldn't sit through it. Still a drama. The story definitely played with your emotions more than your fears."

"Whateverrrr," you laughed. "I can't deal with you."

"Pennywise literally got up and did this," he said before breaking out into Pennywise's dance. He laughed as he kicked his legs out. "What kind of horror movie has this crap in it?" He stopped when he felt the full force of you throwing a pillow on his face. "Ugh!"

"Sit down and get under the covers, idiot," you hissed. "I wanna keep watching these HORROR films."

"Whateverrrr," he drawled out, mocking you. He sighed and plopped down next to you, grabbing a handful of popcorn after.

When school was getting suffocating, marathoning horror movies with Asher were a must. He had an endless repertoire and all the time in the world for his best friend.

Halfway through 'It: Chapter 2' though, the movie was the least of your focus and instead was TikTok.

What could you say? The app was addictive.

It was a big, entertaining, completely useless collage of everything every no-name had to offer, from stupid debates to cringey POV's to fun dance routines.

You tried to hook every friend you could on it. Asher, of course, already knew about it since it first came out and he, of course, had thousands of followers because most of what he posted was random thirsts traps whenever he was feeling hot, which was always. And thirsts traps are always in high demand for the people on TikTok.

You tried to hook MJ on it, but she'd already decided that she didn't like it before even giving it a chance. Even the messy, political side didn't reel her in.

Of course then there was Peter, who didn't know was TikTok even was before he met you. You made it your sole mission to get him hooked, but you'd since given up on that. It was a lost cause. The only time he probably ever saw TikTok nowadays was when he was doing dances with you before gym started. He let you put the app on his phone but he never used it. You wouldn't even put it past him to have deleted it, but it was whatever. TikTok had started his friendship with you, so needless to say, it'd done an amazing job in your life.

Plus your followers were always asking about him. All of the "omg couple goalssss" and "you guys look so cute together" served as massive confidence boosters. A girl can dream, right?

You shifted over a bit when you felt Ash getting closer and closer to you.

When he moved over again, you scooted away, only for him to get closer again. "Ash, what is your deal?"

"Easy there," he chuckled, backing up a little. "I'm looking at the phone, not you."

"You've been all up in my phone all day, what's up?"

"I can't tell you," he shrugged, a sly smirk stretching across his face. "But," he pointed to your tiny screen. "Some idiot is taking wayyyy too long to shoot his shot."

"Shoot his shot?" You gasped. "Who?"

"I'm not at liberty to say," he said with a smirk.

"Nooooo," you whined. "If someone has a crush on me you gotta spill! C'mon, please?"

He laughed and repeated himself. "I'm sorry, but I am not at liberty to say!"

"Bullshit! Who is it? C'mon! C'monnnnnn!"

He shrugged and this time you knew that he was dead set on not giving up the mystery guy.

"Ugh," you pouted. "Fine. Let's just finish the stupid movie."

-

"Kids next door, battle stations!!!!"

And now it was sometime after midnight. The popcorn was all gone. The movie was done and now you were watching old cartoons so that the horror movie wouldn't be the last thing on your mind before bed.

Looking over, you saw that Asher didn't need any cartoons like you did. He was already passed out, snoring as loud as ever.

Grumbling in boredom, you stared at the wall, trying to connect the tiny dots in the designs. It was like something was officially keeping you from being able to fall asleep.

*Ding!*

At the sound of your phone receiving a text, you sat up curiously. Who was texting you at this hour?

You smiled when you saw that it was Peter.

Pete: hey y/n

You were about to send him a quick,"why are you up this late" text, but he kept typing.

Pete: pls dont judge me too hard for this

With that completely vague warning, you furrowed your eyebrows, concerned.

Y/n: whats up r u okay

He sent you a link next, which confused you, but not as much as when you actually pressed it.

It led you to TikTok, and the video was waiting to be pressed to start. Peter was standing in the middle of the screen with one of his typical corny sweatshirts on. The caption at the top read: "For [Y/N] Only". Smiling already, you quickly pressed play.

You slapped your hand over your mouth. "Oh my God."

"So he finally got the guts, huh?," Asher mumbled, having woken up from the loud music on your phone but was still half-asleep.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you?," you asked. You turned down your phone.

"Don't worry about me, you just got a boyfriend," he chuckled, moving to lay down so he could get to sleep again. "Text him back for god's sake."

~~~

Y/n: its been almost a whole year and youre still so cute when you make those

Pete: haha thanks

Pete: uh

Pete: i really like you y/n

Pete: do u think you'd wanna go out with me or get dinner sometime?

~~~

"He asked me out," you gasped. "Ash, he asked me out!"

Asher rolled over and groaned. "I thought that was already established? Jesus, you two couldn't possibly be moving any slower."

You rolled your eyes. "Fuck you."

"Nah, you're with Peter now," he laughed. "You're gonna have to fuck him instead!" That comment earned him another pillow to the face.

You looked back at the messages and sent a tiny cute one. You smirked at the new idea of what was about to happen and turned it off before going to sleep.

~~~

Y/n: kiss me at school tomorrow and find out

~~~

Didn't do a third edit cuz I got lazy but I'm pretty happy with the turnout anyway. Thanks for reading!

Tagging: @allegra-writes, @allegra-soleil, @yumings, @hey-its-grey, @spideyyeet, @sunkissedspidey, @tommyunderoos, @chaoticpete, @snarky--starky, @sovereignparker, @thesherlockianavenger, @bubblebucky, @kelieah, @eridanuswave, @ithoughtthiswastwitterbutfr, @kidney9-9, @gwenvrse

[secondhoekage]

Ignore this long rant I’m high as shit but I... can’t take the hero commission oR HONESTLY THE HEROES THEMSELVES, seriously anymore

They’re BRAINLESS they all share one (1) brain cell and it belonged to Crust. THESE GUYS had MONTHS to strategize this attack and what did they do? They fucked it up. They want me to believe this was planned and not written on a chalk board the night before? Sent out to all heroes the next morning at 8am in a CHAIN EMAIL?

Unpopular opinion(?): they sent the worst possible, ill-suited heroes to each location for this PLF raid and I’m mad at them for it and I’m mad at Hori for making me be mad at it even tho he had to do it beCauSe oF pLot but I’m mad.

The MLA’s plans to take on The League of Villains? Spotless. Chef’s kiss. The detail. The one-on-one counters they planned out. Accounting for each enemy’s quirk. Yeah there were like 6 of them to account for but?? Heroes, yall had enough info and enough time to think of ways to go about this raid and I’m supposed to believe that you did, BUT DID YOU REALLY? MONTHS TO PLAN, and saw one electric Sir Crocodile rip-off and immediately threw Kaminari on his ass. Good move. Kinda. But the rest of the PLF? Heroes just gonna make shit up as they go I guess?? 

To make myself feel better here’s a long ass useless rant on what could’ve damn happened and which heroes should’ve gone where and to make this an epic ass rumble. ugh. Even just doing some of these things would’ve made this arc (imo) feel more... convincing and delicious

under the cut tho bc damn this is too long

In this essay I will—

Edgeshot??? EDGESHOT??    EDGESHOT?? i’M GOING TO GO OFF. 

I swear to shit Edgeshot could’ve soloed the hospital but they had him at the PLF mansion for Some Reason like... like they didn’t make him run up on the League’s bar instead of the Nomu factory bc they knew he would take care of shit immediately. Make it make sense. If he was at the hospital eye just—Nomu in the way?? Doctor running off? Say less. Electric slide all the way in there Shinya. DID NO ONE SEE HOW EASILY HE HANDLED KUROGIRI? Did everyone just forget this man can pull a K.O in .3 seconds flat? Heroes didn’t think it might be a good idea to have him there, ready to give Shigaraki the paper cut of his life the second he woke up (if he even did bc my mans likely could’ve prevented the ‘doctor getting away>high-end awaken>rush to get shiggy out of the tank>shiggy wakes up’ chain of events)? Didn’t think to send him instead of this guy X Less just sitting there with That Look on his face? 

I get they needed heroes like Edgeshot at the mansion to take out a handful of enemies in one go but COME ON NOW. There were more than enough long-range AOE heroes there. And even if you don’t wanna believe he could solo then STILL, EDGESHOT DUOING WITH MIRUKO, ANYBODY? If anyone was gonna keep up with her happy ass zooming into the lab it could’ve been him. We were robbed of an Edgeshot/Miruko teamup and I’m not okay. Could’ve had a sexy ass panel of the hospital-team hyping up Miruko and Edgeshot as they dashed to Ujiko’s lab, two fast as shit bad bitches, zooming through these Nomu, absolutely obliterating them at lightning speed, watching each other’s backs too, PROBABLY SAVING MIRUKO FROM BECOMING THE PRE-DEATH ORGAN DONOR THAT SHE IS NOW. I know it was hot watching Miruko take on these high-ends but I’d have rather Edgeshot share the spotlight if it meant Miruko was in one piece rn. Hori played her

Anyways the literal dumb bitch energy that went into not sending Edgeshot to the hospital is sending me. Could’ve at least let him just be on the team and on standby while Shigaraki was waking up. With those sharp as shit reflexes of his we’ve seen? Shigaraki would’ve been out like a fucking light the second Edgeshot saw him sit up. X-Less you had a nice thicc upper lip that lip was too shaded for you to die, but F in the chat bitch. Useless plot fodder I’m sorry X-Less. There isn’t a hero there right now (besides Aizawa but like... idk, plot is nerfing him) that could’ve incapacitated Shiggy so quickly and prevented the mess they’re in now like my guy Edgeshot could’ve. Feels like a cop out

In conclusion: Edgeshot sweety I’m sorry they did this. I’m sorry you were nerfed. I’m sorry they didn’t let you deliver Kamino Pizza to this hospital. I’m sorry they ignored you and now everyone’s gonna die bc they didn’t they respect your Ninpo rights

CEMENTOSS??? y’all sent him to fuck up the mansion FOR WHAT??? If I were the hero commission and thought :

“Dang we need to completely ass blast this huge PLF resort to make room for our heroes to run in... but it would also be good if we had someone to do that at the hospital too just in case things get tricky and we need to pave a quick way to Ujiko’s secret hideout... but I’m single-celled and can’t weigh my options logically so ok. Cementoss, to the mansion.”

...................... Ok but can I in interest you in PIXIE BOB? I get the mansion is huge but going by the shit we’ve seen her do?? I’m not about to underestimate ol’ girl. I know she could’ve fucked that place up if they let her, switched her out for Cementoss, who could’ve made THE EASIEST route for the hospital team to get into the secret lab, trapped Ujiko, also trapped a couple nomu/high-ends in cement while he was at it, rearranged some tunnels for optimal tactical movement, probably could’ve done a decent-fucking-job at slowing the onslaught of Decay too if it got to that point (AND IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BC THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS RANT IS TO INSIST THAT A BETTER SELECTION OF HEROES WOULDN’T HAVE RESULTED IN SHIGGY’S CURRENT THANOS SNAP ORdEAL)

I know Pixie’s mostly on rescue operations and that’s what she’s doing at the hospital/surrounding city but WHY?? EVEN IF THEY REALLY NEEDED CEMENTOSS AT THE MANSION—WHY NOT HAVE PIXIE BOB DOING SOMETHING IN THE ACTUAL HOSPITAL BATTLE? JUST A LITTLE? The hospital is built on uh.. oh yeah... EARTH? And considering in the Forest Training arc she was using her quirk from a remote location (to make that Earth golem, or whatever) she wouldn’t even HAVE to be IN Ujiko’s lab to be useful

Can y’all PLEASE put at least ONE of your terraforming heroes at the place where y’all REALLY need them?? And not after-the-fact like y’all just did with Pixie Bob? Because clearly she didn’t do shit this last chapter trying to stop Decay. I’m sorry girl. You may be dead. Terrible.

I would have legitimately sent Snipe to get Ujiko before I sent Miruko and that’s that on that. Where is he even? He was there during the briefing but he’s gone? MIA? Idk. No way Ujiko is getting away from those bullets. Target locked: Ujiko’s hand. Fire. High-end Nomu remote goes bye bye. Then another bullet in the leg. No need to worry about him escaping and waking up high-ends/Shiggy when he doesn’t have kneecaps. Problem solved. No way it would’ve taken that long to break Shiggy’s tank either with a few well-placed pew pews zigging around some Nomu (not that we really wanna break him outta his tank bc look what happened). Snipe’s 6/5 technique stat deserves better!!!!!

Gang Orca did not go off and give a bunch of kids brain damage during the License arc to be so thoroughly ignored here. He’s clearly about to get his shit rocked by some gauged-out ex-Hot Topic employee in the next few chapters and ugh you’re TOO GOOD FOR THAT ORCA. COULD’VE BEEN OF USE AT THE HOSPITAL. PARALYZING SONIC WAVES? WE’LL TAKE IT. Who knows if any of the high-end Nomu would’ve been affected by paralysis but the small fry? Probably. Shiggy’s little twink ass? I would bet on it. Not that it would really stop him from using Decay but still

At the risk of sounding like someone I know who endorses child labor (the hero commission) here me out: CAN I GET A UHHH JUZO HONENUKI??? AGAIN YEAH good that he was at the mansion to do some long-range AOE action but if y’all are gonna force kids to join in on this war anyways, put your strongest and most useful ones at the place you need them. Shit it would’ve been real nice if Honenuki was there to trap some Nomu—uncertain if it would work against the high-ends that show some pretty flexible quirks but who knows—and even at the risk of reaching, maybe in some universe where Shiggy and Honenuki face off, it would be interesting to see Decay against Softening, since Decay’s one big weakness is that it can only work on solid objects sooOooOo? Idk. Would’ve been a cool match up but I hate that the kids are fighting anyways so we’re gonna ignore this Juzo rant. Just know it would’ve been cool

And as for the mess that’s going to be this fucking mansion soon... .. We’re just gonna ignore a whole ass Geten, big destructive power, big fucking threat, and not gonna throw Endeavor’s ass in there? Makes sense. They’re leaving it to Shoto I guess. They said time for you to fucking shine kid. Get in there. I mean really trading Endeavor for Edgeshot would’ve been top tier strategy but...

I MEAN THEY?? Made up a whole ass plan to counter ONE greasy-looking PLF guy by throwing Kaminari in there, but they couldn’t make up a plan to counter Geten? Are they just?? Pulling names out of a hat to see who gets to fight who? Did they spin a bottle to see who it landed on? Did Mt. Lady pull the short stick? I swear on shit when Geten starts going feral soon I’m not gonna feel sorry about it. Unless heroes got a plan and someone’s gonna make a sexy ass top 10 anime entrances to counter his ice then I’m disappointed. We went ape shit over Kaminari countering one of the commanders but are we not gonna get anymore ‘I’m your perfect counter and I’m here to stop you’ moments? No? I’M PISSED. 

I would have also settled for my kween Nejire being there to blast away some ice because who tf else is gonna do it? But eh. 

Dabi will also be trouble depending on what he decides to do. He only has about 3 good ideas a month and he’s used them all up by now so he’s in dumb slut territory as we speak. But you’d think that a villain as widely recognized as Dabi with such a destructive quirk would urge the heroes to have some plan to take him on but?? So far I don’t really see anyone quick to take on the role. Not that it’d be that hard bc he’s dangerous but also dangerously dumb. Where is Inasa. Maybe he can just blast the flames back in Dabi’s face. I love him but at this point he deserves to have some of his rights taken away

Don’t even get me start on Gigantomachia. I get the heroes had little choice except to attack before Shiggy was full-power but just?? NOT having a plan in case by some little chance Gigantomachia DID wake up? You stupid bastards. You absolute fools. I guess there’s not much you CAN do but FUCK y’all just gonna let him SIT THERE? No counter measures? No ‘Let’s execute this incredibly thorough and thought-out plan we’ve spent months formulating to restrain Gigantomachia in case he does end up waking up, because better safe than sorry’? When he tramples like 50 students I bet that shit gonna hurt

I hate it all. I was really happy about seeing Shiggy go off 272 bc he’s a king but after rereading from like, 258 I feel... weird. Maybe this will be resolved with more chapters but. eh. Now that I’ve thought of this, I can’t go back. I miss the brain power that was behind the MLA fight

[creativeskullcreations]

Outside chapter 19: Infiltration

And that puts everyone inside. Up next the others wake up, to varying reactions at their situations. Wonder who actually made it to Riley for "orientation"...

"So why am I here again?" Sammy asked as Stacy drove, following Lisa's van. Will was in behind her in his car, and Mason was riding with Lisa.

"Your weed. And also because I'll stop blackmailing you if you do this with us." Stacy told him.

"I still don't see why you can't ask someone else to do this." He grumbled. "This is why you need friends."

"Thanks, Sammy." She said, only half sarcastically as they all pulled into the parking lot. "That means a lot coming from the friendless stoner."

"Hey! I have friends!" He protested as they climbed out of the car. "Lots of friends!"

"And I have a boyfriend. You can't even get a one-night-stand, you useless virgin." She mocked. Sammy fumed, turning to said boyfriend.

"Will, your girlfriend's insulting my virginity!" He complained. Will just sighed and started pulling things out of the the trunk.

"Well stop being a virgin, then." Will told him bluntly. Stacy burst out laughing while her cousin turned red in the face.  Lisa popped her head out from the van at the commotion.

"Oooh! Are we taking Sammy's virginity tonight too?" She asked cheerily, and Sammy gagged, even as he handed over his bag of joints. The blonde started pulling them out of the bag, passing them to everyone except Stacy. The one armed woman instead climbed into the van and locked the doors while the other four lit the joints and started smoking.

Stacy watched, safe inside the van, as the others climbed through the tiny window leading into the studio. 'This is a bad idea.' She swallowed dryly, pulling her knees up to her chest and staring, unblinking, out the windshield. 'A really bad idea.' She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath-

-----

Will led the group in, needing to keep a tight grip on Sammy's arm to keep him from wandering. The poor guy had smoked way more than the others in an attempt to get high faster, but just ended up being higher than everyone else. Will, on the other hand, had only smoked a little, so he could be more alert if needed. So far, however, it just seemed like one long hallway with some posters.

Until they reached the lobby, anyways. Old VHS tapes littered the floor and shelves, and there was a brightly painted puppet stage ahead of them. Will took notice of the suited Puppet "on" the stage and the bored looking masked man sitting behind it. With a brief hesitation, he pulled Sammy over to it Lisa and Mason following behind them. All four were startled when red curtains slammed down, completely surrounding them and blocking any kind of escape.

"Well hello there, what a large gathering!" The old man looking Puppet suddenly sprang to life. Everyone jumped again, turning to face him. "What brings all of you to this strange scene?"

Nobody got a chance to answer, as he jut kept on talking. "Now, I can tell you're starstruck, and of course you should be! Because I am none other than Mortimer Handee!"

At the back of the group, somebody clapped. Will wasn't sure who he wanted to punch more, the clapper behind him or the Puppet in front of him. "Ah, is that a fan I hear? Come right up to the front, my dear!"

Lisa stepped forward, an almost giddy smile on her face that Will wasn't sure was because of the weed, or good acting. "I used to watch your show all the time when I was a kid!" She blurted out cheerfully. "It is an honor to finally meet you!"

"Holy shit she's talking to a Puppet. Will. Will! She's talking to a puppet!" Sammy "whispered", shaking Will's shoulder. Will just sighed tiredly.

'I don't think I'm high enough for this.' He watched as Lisa excitedly chattered at Mortimer, who listened politely as she explained her favorite episode. Sammy was still shaking him and whispering, while poor Mason was so out of it he was just staring into space with wide, unblinking eyes. 'Or maybe everyone else is too high for this.'

"Well this is all very interesting, I must agree. But I need to get back to my work you see." Between the humans and Puppet, and pedestal with five small wooden stands rose from the floor. Four of them held small puppets the same size as Scout, though with different colors and hair styles. "So why don't you each take your very own Handeeman Handpuppet to your name? Doesn't matter which you choose, they're all the same."

"Oooh, this one's cute!" Lisa snatched up the one with yellow skin and orange hair, fitting it on her hand. Mason did the same with the orange and green one, leaving two for him and Sammy.

Will looked at his options. The one in the middle looked a bit roughed up, and had a drooping, almost sad face where the others had more neutral ones. It made him wonder just what had happened to her, and with as much gentleness as he could he picked her up and pulled her on. Sammy did the same with the blue-skinned redhead.

Mortimer watched this all silently, until everyone had put on a puppet. "You know," he started, "there's a reason Handeemen Puppets are so lifelike and true." His voice dropped in volume, and Will could almost swear he felt the Puppet on his hand twitch in response. "When you wear them, they really wear you."

The area around them went dark as he recited a spell of some sort, practically screaming it. Will's friends dropped to the floor one by one, twitching and jerking around. Will himself did his best to resist, but soon his vision darkened, and he was out before he even hit the floor.

A few seconds later Mortimer finished his spell, and the Handpuppets opened their eyes. Slowly and carefully, they pulled themselves and their new Hosts up off the floor. "The spell went well with no complications." He informed them coolly once they were all standing. "Report to Riley right away for orientation."

Not trusting themselves to speak, the Handpuppets just nodded and hurried from the room with their Hosts. The second they were sure they were out of earshot, Bonzai almost cheered.

"I can't believe how lucky we got!" He half-shouted, only to be shushed by two of his sisters. "What a bunch of idiots!"

"Bonzai quiet! Not while Mortimer's still near!" Stitch scolded, covering his mouth. "At least rhyme while there's still a possibility he could hear!"

"Fine, I'll make the stupid rhymes." He grumbled, pulling away and crossing his arms. Forcing the Host to walk was harder than he'd thought it would be, the legs moving stiffly and the arm kept threatening to droop down and drop him to the floor. Bonzai hated to admit it, but he'd be happy once the stitches were in. He only hoped he didn't have a Host with lupus, like Scout had gotten once.

'Scout...' The thought made him pause, briefly, letting his sisters go on ahead. According to Daisy, Scout had actually been rescued, but they hadn't been allowed to see her yet. 'If I ever find the Host that stole her, I'll kill it myself!' He punched his palm, then looked up to see his sisters had gone on without him.

This was bad, as this was his first ever Host, and he honestly didn't know where to go for orientation. True, he could always go back and ask Mortimer, but that way led to death if the others were to be believed. So he did the only thing he could do and continued to haphazardly trudge along, hoping he found where he was meant to go soon.

Walking down the dark halls in silence was almost creepy for a Puppet that hated silence. So he hummed, quietly so as not to attract the attention of the Socks. But it was boring and he still couldn't find where he needed to go.

"Ugh, how'd this even happen, anyways?!" He leaned his Host against the wall awkwardly. "C'mon guys, where'd ya go?" He sighed, feeling the urge to swear. He resisted it, knowing what could happen if someone heard. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps and straightened up. Hopefully it was someone who could help him.

And it seemed to be, at first, Stitch walking her Host to go find him. He very nearly cheered, until he noticed that the hand she'd been on was hanging at the Host's side, and she wasn't on the other one. Instead the hand was wrapped around her torso, pressing her against the Host's chest. The eyes on the Host were wide open and focused, too. As it approached him, and he wondered if he should run for help, it raised a finger to it's lips and quietly shushed him.

"We have to be very quiet, okay?" It told him as it grabbed his Host's arm. He noticed Stitch had been tied up, some sort of string wrapped all around her, and something shoved in her mouth as a gag. She stared at him with wide, frightened eyes, silently begging him to run. "If you make a noise I'll tie you up too, until Mason wakes up. And if you try to run, you won't get far before that happens."

Bonzai felt it tug on his Host's arm, and obediently followed as it led him back down the hallway. He felt terrified and pissed off, but knowing his younger sister was in danger kept him from acting. There was no telling what this Host could do to either of them, and if it was right about his Host waking up...

He really hoped they came across the others before that happened.

-----

She woke with a start, jolting upright in the driver's seat of the van. Beside her was a wide array of guns. 'Will's guns.' She realized, which meant Will was probably nearby. 'Or,' she took note of the familiar brick building out the window, 'they went inside.'

She practically kicked the door open, wobbling away from it all on unsteady legs. She only got a few feet before she collapsed. Pushing herself up on shaky arms, she choked out a sob.

'I don't want to be here I don't want to go back in there no no no no' A few more sobs, tears running down her cheeks into the dirt. She watched them fall, sniffling and wiping her face with her sleeve. She sat up, looking between the Studio and the road to her eternal freedom.

She could leave, she realized as she shakily stood up. It would be easy, and nobody would blame her. Nobody would even know. She didn't even have to go home, she could make a new life far away from here. Find new friends, maybe even somebody like Will and start a family.

But then the others would still be trapped. Possibly forever.

And then there's what Mortimer was planning...

With a hard, dry swallow, she stood up and went back over to the van, reaching in and grabbing a pistol. She checked that it was loaded, then shoved some more clips into her pockets. Grabbing the keys just in case, she closed the van up and made her way to the open window. It took some effort(she still wasn't used to weak arms and having legs), but eventually she managed to pull herself inside.

Peering through the open door, she only saw a long hall with posters from the show. Taking a deep breath and clutching the pistol, Scout stepped through and began her search.

-----

Stacy stared at the lid of the puppet box, glowering at it like that would help her. She had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but knew nothing beyond that. She had no clue where she was in the Studio, or how the plan was progressing, or anything.

She sighed, quietly. 'Not like I can really blame her for this. I'd have done the same.'

She listened, but could hear nothing beyond the box. And she was still tied up, so she couldn't open the lid herself. So she just laid there quietly, wondering. At least until she heard heavy footsteps and low voices speaking in rhyme.

'Hurry up Will!' She thought as she struggled against her bindings again. She had no clue what they were planning, but the longer they spoke, the less she wanted to find out. When the lid of the box started to open she closed her eyes and went limp, feigning unconsciousness.

She just hoped that would be enough to stave off whatever they wanted to do to her.

[ltpolari]

honestly i'm so pissed rn. i know how useless is to care about/argue with people who are ignorant or uninformed, but i feel like this is valid getting upset about? i saw a whole bunch of people from the GP, most of whom have at least heard about "THE 1d" and "THE hs" talking about him, and i know all the stunts and narratives they're fed with is all they know and they don't question anything, and i knew the perception they had of him and HOW WRONG that perception was, i see antis and het harries believing that on the daily, and it annoys me but i just ignore it at this point. the thing is they were saying that we "should stop pretending harry is bi or whatever and defend him when he acts like he is something other than straight, because he's clearly just playing" and "so many queer artist have said what they had to say (co) when they got in a situation that 'required' them to speak up and say they belonged to the community, and so they were allowed to do/say things, since they weren't straight. and harry just doesn't", (also other people were discussing fine line colors, song lyrics, things he said in interviews and the MP thing), and the cut-the-bullshit, down-there-you-know-i'm-right tint it had just disgusted me too much, a lot of this people are part of the community, and although 'artists don't have to tell you how they identify to make art' they don't like him cos "he's been playing his 'i may or may not be...' card for too long probably in hope of attention" and "being vague for the publicity" like they were speaking FACTS and they don't really know nor care that much about him (i tried to explain better, but everything was said in like 3 screenshots and 5 sentences per person) but they find it's annoying to see so many people standing up for a guy like that. and that just UGH! i also know you can't just thrust the "well karen he CAN'T cos he's been closeted and in a relationship with his band-mate for 10 years" argument with no context cos obviously it will sound fucking crazy to someone who has no knowledge in any of this, i'm sure as hell i didn't even think any of this shit was possible before joining the fandom, so i don't expect anyone to be any different. just being reminded that there's people who live and breathe and in the back of their little minds they have this awful concept of a wonderful man just hurts. this man who is gay and is being closeted, this man who is hopelessly in love with another man and has been told he can't say it to the world. this man who is, after all, human, and is not perfect, but still is an absolute sweetheart of a boy (!!) and they're so wrong about him </3 i'm sorry i'm not pmsing idk why i got so worked up about something that's became normal here.

[clearlyshyobservation]

Family (Oumota)

Hehe i made this a long time ago but why not share it :)

Kokichi whined at the sound of children jumping and screaming, could a man get his precious beauty sleep? He looked at his partner Kaito Momota, luminary of the stars, reflecting on how they got together, seeing how vastly different they are, plus how much they despised each other.

"Ugh, I'm bored.... " a child Kokichi proclaimed. He laid in the wet grass and looked up at the vast sky, before seeing something weird in the tree above him. 'What is that?' he thought. Then as he looked at it more he could see a figure become of it.

A lean, small kid was on the branches holding on for dear life. His eyes were shut closed, and he was holding a spaceship toy.

"Whoa there kid!," Kokichi exclaimed, seeing as he needed to save himself from not being crushed. The bushes around the tree were not cushiony, but thorn-like and sharp, "you're gonna get us both hurt, and if I were you I rather not be stabbed by a bunch of thorns. But... if you like it that way, I'll leave you to it."

"No! No, no, no! Don't leave! Oh shit! Maki's gonna kill me!"

"Who's Maki? Is she your...girlfriend? Nishishi!" The kid's face flushed red from Kokichi's comment.

"I don't have time for this!" The kid exclaimed.

"Then I, don't have time for, this." Kokichi looked up and smirked at the kid's despair, ready to walk away.

"No, no, I don't mean that! My name's Kaito, please help me before Maki comes!" Kokichi laughed and looked up to the tree.

"Sure, but one thing."

"What."

"What's up with your hair?"

"Shut up. It’s gel." He rolled his eyes. 

As Kokichi started to climb the tree he felt a branch below him break, and that branch was his leeway for getting down safely. 'Shit.'

"Um so you see..." he looked up a Kaito, "we're kinda actually stuck on this tree." He awkwardly laughed and pulled himself up.

"Fuck!" Kaito cried out. At the same time, light footsteps could be heard up to the tree, and a big sigh as well when they halted.

"Kaito, what's wrong with you." A young girl's voice called out.

"Oh, shit." He deadpanned. Kokichi looked down. The girl was tall, and her hair was long and in pigtails. She had this deadly look in her eyes that told him that he was in trouble. Kokichi scooted over closer to Kaito and held onto his waist, trying to place blame solely on Kaito and, because the tree was high in the sky.

"Who's the rat?" She smirked before picking up a stick and throwing it at the tree tauntingly. 'Is she really going to just watch? This is torture!' he whined in his head. She sat down and watched Kokichi, weary of him. "Do you know this boy, Kaito? Your mom told me not to let you roam off with strangers."

"Of course I know him. Yeah. Haha." Kokichi almost faced palmed. Damn this guy is bad at lying. He decided using his master manipulation skills would work. He sniffled lightly, waiting for the fake tears to come. He let out a cry and held his head in his hand, shaking.

"He-he tra-trapped me up here! He s-said he was gonna be-beat me up and that I was- wahh!" He put his head in his hand, fake crying to Maki, with a smirk hidden.

"What! No! Whatever he's saying isn't true!" Kaito pleaded.

"Kaito, we're going home. Now. " Maki said, her face growing serious.

Kaito gulped and was helped down. Kokichi watched them walk away, hearing indistinct talking. He sat on the tree and smiled. He looked forward to seeing him, plus making fun of him. 'I guess it's time I go home." He looked at the darkening smile, smiling. That boy was cute though, he wanted to see him again.

'Now how do I get off this tree?' 

Up ahead Kaito was begging Maki not to tell on him. 

" Maki, please, he was lying!" She twirled around to make eye contact, a giant smile on her lips.

"I know." she smirked, "I just wanted to scare you."

"I hate you." He pouted, his arms crossed. 

"Me too."

--

Kokichi smiled thinking about this, and then remembered their first kiss.

It had been a long time since they first met, but they were still rough around the edges and quite mean. Though all in all, they just pranked each other. That night they got into a nasty argument, about the stupidest thing, Maki. 

'She'll never like you anyway, hmph!' He grumbled, mentally. He felt his heart ache a bit at the thought of that. Can't Kaito see that? That he's feeling different about him now that they're older? He sighed.

He and Kaito were on that same tree, done arguing about stupid things. They faced away from each other, heated from the argument. Kokichi looked at the night sky, and tapped Kaito's hand, pointing to the stars. He wanted to end the argument, the moment. He directed the attention to something Kaito loved, which clearly, wasn't him. 

"One day, I am going to be there, you know, in space." Kaito pointed to the moon.

Kokichi nodded. He knew Kaito wanted to go to space, and that he like calling himself, "Luminary of the stars" but he never went in detail about it. He thought it was funny, how cute Kaito acted. As much as he was mean to him, he admired his confidence. He wished he was more like that. 

"You see those stars, there all suns, small suns, but still suns." He said, looking at Kokichi and pointing to a group of stars." Kokichi for once, stayed silent, listening to him drone on about space and stars. His eyes drooped, finding this comfortable, tiring even. 

"Even if they're small, they're still there," He smiled, and laughed cheekily, "Almost like you." Kokichi le out a playful huff.

Kaito sighed, feeling a single raindrop fall on his head. The dark sky cascading down on them reminded him of why he wanted to do what he does.

"I hope, that we don't make our planet worse." He looked down sadly, "If we ever do need to inhabit another planet, only the best of the best go." Fear laced his tone. Obviously, he wanted to go if this did happen, Kokichi knew that. He also knew Kaito doubted his own abilities. 

Kokichi wanted to cheer him up, but he knew that wasn't what he did. He mostly angered whoever he talked to. He couldn't help but think of how useless a friend he was. He gulped softly, a feeling of love.

'Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try.' 

Kokichi placed his hand on Kaito's face, pushing his face towards him gently, and pressed their lips together. "If it helps, I think you're the best of the best." He grinned cockily. 

Kaito's face flushed red. He didn't say anything. Kokichi leaned forward and did it again since nothing was holding him back anyways. Kaito slid his hand on Kokichi's and lightly, kissed back.

"Oh shit," Maki exclaimed. They both jumped and Kokichi looked down at her, remembering how a few years ago earlier she found them stuck in a tree,

Kokichi looked at the sleeping Kaito, remembering how embarrassed he was. He laughed at it softly. 

"You're awake?" He heard a whisper.

Kokichi leaned down and kissed his head. "Yeah, what about it?"

"I just wanted to say, I love you."

Kokichi smiled, "I know, I love you too," Kokichi cuddled into Kaito before whispering, "but can you get the kids ready today, pwease, wiff a cherry on top!"

"Fine, but you are making breakfast. "

"Okie doki!"

[fizzingwizard]

Busy weekend so I saw the ep late! Still gonna do a write up.

Episode 14 was a blast. Literally and figuratively xD

This is more or less what I expected from team Taichi/Koushirou/Mimi! It was amusing and cool at the same time. So that was good to see after such little focus on the children themselves in episode 12!

Although it was a Koushirou ep... I sure capped a lot of Togemon moments.

Bahahaha.

More under the cut!

It's another sandwich episode, with the meat of the story coming between slices of silliness thanks to Yamato and Jou. I am in STITCHES. Garrulous Jou getting on Yamato's last nerve is exactly the way I want them to be characterized xD It brings back fond memories of that one Digimon restaurant ep in 99 Adventure.

Gabumon: You’re being rude.

Yamato: Do you want to talk to him?

Gabumon: ... No...

Jou talks to Yamato. Yamato ignores. Jou continues talking to Yamato. Yamato realizes... he doesn’t need to answer... he just needs to exist. Jou’s the type who will happily have a conversation with a brick wall, it’s his stress relief

Jou compares his partner to a hammock.

Ikkakumon responds with sick burn.

Like seriously, both portions of this group were about the others managing Jou. Or, most of the others managing Jou, while Yamato ignores him completely bahahahahahahaha

Meanwhile, on the other route, Koushirou’s tablet is on the fritz again. Very inconvenient, but fortunately they’ve got the ever practical Taichi around.

Taichi casually flips his digivice in one hand while recommending that they be careful to stay together in case the interference prevents them from communicating electronically. He’s smart. He’s chill. Koushirou is SO UNCOMFORTABLE

They find some crystals that are like fun house mirrors and then they’re attacked by Unknown Digimon. Koushirou becomes Even More Uncomfortable when he can’t analyze them. At which point...

... Tentomon swoops in “THAT’S KUWAGAMON!!!” He seems really happy to get to serve his old role of Guy Who Knows Shit. I would love a rivalry between Tentomon and Koushirou’s computer, trying to see who can come up with information faster :P A rivalry Koushirou won’t even notice for a while

Tentomon: Hello, I’m right here, your partner, a wealth of knowledge of the world that I you know LIVE IN...

Kabuterimon sounds like your yakuza grandpa more than ever this ep. Sakurai Takahiro is having the time of his life I swear.

For that matter... so is Yamada Kinoko x’D I’ve never seen this attack from Togemon before

The Kuwagamon have a leader... Ohkuwamon, who is just Kuwagamon but larger and in grayscale.

Taichi comes up with a brilliant plan of action.

Aaaand Mimi reinterprets it for the laypeople bahahahaha

Strategist Taichi is my favorite Taichi, but Mimi Having None Of It and keeping him in line is fantastic. Mimi has a bunch of great moments this ep too

Predictably, they get blown up and separated in the process of running away...

Communication’s pretty much out too. Koushirou becomes more and more agitated and feels useless without being able to use his computer to think of a plan.

MY HEART

Taichi and Mimi reunite pretty fast, and Mimi can’t help voicing her loathing for Kuwagamon. Which alerts the bugs to their location. Taichi is annoyed. Mimi is sorry but not really

ugh I love these two

Like I said, Kabuterimon is the MVP this ep... never tiring, always encouraging, and hilarious. I’d like to shake Sakurai’s hand for this episode alone

Since his tablet’s useless, Koushirou decides to use it as a shield. X’D He’s one step away from Sailor Mercury here...

Koushirou: My computer is my god and I’ve been forsaken!!!!

Kabuterimon can’t take any more of his partner undervaluing his worth. “You do have something invaluable...”

“... oh, and your knowledge! I mean, your whole self! Because a person’s worth does not come from how useful they are to others of course!”

For all that self-doubt, Koushirou sure does snap out of it quick once Kabuterimon points out that he’s not a mindless zombie without his computer. Digimon are personal therapists, this is not news

I think I capped this because it just amuses me how different this pair are from each other and how it totally works anyway. If Kabuterimon were transformed into a human, he’d be an old, sinewy, kung fu master type, probably covered in scars, and always found slurping ramen and cracking terrible jokes at random school kids. He has the ability to instill Koushirou with confidence. I mean, if that sort of guy showed up telling YOU you’re super smart and awesome, you’d feel pretty good about yourself too am I right???

Shocker of shockers, Koushirou using his head results in AtlurKabuterimon, who is very shiny. Even shinier than WereGarurumon

Togemon just zips by

I find it amusing that Koushirou’s big play is pretty much the same as his plan in Digimon Tri: Soushitsu. A little different but same basic concept. I’m also disappointed in myself for not anticipating it when these mirror things showed up at the start of the ep.

I heart Mimi

Togemon: GRRHRHRHRHRHRHRHGGGG

What even is Yamada Kinoko... she’s having way too much fun... I might become a Koumi fan simply to have Tentomon and Palmon be hilarious together all the time

Koushirou: LIGHT ME UP BABY I AM ON FIRE

AtlurKabuterimon’s super attack is definitely compensating for something >_>

He finally takes out Ohkuwamon and the day is saved. Koushirou and Tentomon give each other a high five and it is adorabibble.

The producers of this show are totally aware that we fans are keeping track of how many times Taichi says this about Koushirou. They are so doing it on purpose.

back in the other group...

Jou didn’t shut up till he fell asleep.

I have no doubts in my mind that Yamato spent the whole time facing this way, away from the group, and never so much as said “hmm” in response to anything Jou said. Holy crap.

THEN YAMATO FINALLY GETS ON IKKAKUMON I”M FGHJHRUGJKFGFC;FDF”DFG

ugh this is my new favorite episode bahahahaha

Next week we get Zudomon and it looks like the team continues to be split in two a little bit longer. Psyched for Jou ep! I need soooo much more Yamato barely tolerating Jou... omg. I didn’t even know I was starving for this but I am

Then we get a new ending and it’s fabulous! I love the lyrics and the music and the art. But most of all...

... we gets a Takeru!! This is a sign I swear. We’ll be seeing Takeru very soon. My theory is that they’re going to find Patamon locked up at the site of the Holy Digimon because Devimon knows he’ll be instrumental in his defeat. Ahh I can’t wait to see how this plays out.

I give this ep 8/10!!