#we were 16/17/18 year old KIDS who just wanted validation

[dixiedingo]

I wanna talk about this because it's a real problem effecting mostly southern states, but I don't know where to start for empiracle data to make this for a video so I'll just talk here.

Tw: CSA

A lot of you might've noticed that the further south you go down, the lower the age of consent.

That's cause when your life expectancy was lower, it was normal to want a "young wife" because then she can just pop out 10 little Jimmies so you'd have at least like 5 that'll make it to 18. Maybe 3.

But! I think we've grown past that and actually there's a lot of southern culture surrounding our weird age of consent that no one talks about. I'm going to talk about some of my experiences.

The age of consent in my state, South Carolina, is 16. And as a kid, heard all the time about 16 year olds with college-aged boyfriends, and the adults around me made it sound like, "oh its just an act of rebellion."

It was not abnormal to hear about a 16 or 17 year old at school dating someone from the college campuses. We have laws protecting relationships like this called Romeo and Juliet laws, where as long as they met when they were both minors they're allowed to date. But this can have serious consequences as you'd imagine (it had to be between 14-18 I think, a la Romeo and Juliet .-.)

Me, personally, at 16, I thought because I was the age of consent I can date. So I would talk to older men for validation and unfortunately they took advantage of that. But I didn't tell anyone because again, I didn't think anything would happen. The age of consent is 16, I consented, therefore I'm silly.

The WORST case that happened to a friend was right before we graduated, she knocked up by her 35 year old boyfriend. She left to go live with him after giving birth and walking across the stage.

There are so many kids around here who are 16 who live in states where the age of consent is as low as 14 and 15 and they think they can just flirt with adults now. If you're reading this and you happen to be one of those kids:

No the fuck you can't.

You will hurt yourself. Do not flirt with adults. I don't care what the age of consent is in your state. Online, it's 18, and for good reason. Your brain is not developed enough to handle those consequences.

What snapped me out of it and made me realize I was being abused was when I was 17. I met someone on here who was 22 and we had a relationship that was short of romantic. We'd sext and talk about stuff like that, but he also would comfort me when I was getting verbally abused. He told me he loved me. Then he ghosted me for years because he became a teachers aid and realized how close in age his students were with me.

Looking back, I'm angry I can't remember his blog name or anything because I would call that man out so fucking fast. Alex, if you're reading this somehow, you're a pig, and I hope someone finds out what kind of person you really are <3

But this post wasn't about me and my trauma. It's about a wider, more bigger problem: systemic grooming is real and there are kids who are CONVINCED because they are the age of consent that gives them the right to act like an adult before they're ready.

[yourdogwalkerhasanonlyfans]

pt. 1

i was born outside of Houston, TX in 1991. there’s not too much to mention about my early childhood. i have a sibling. my parents are still married. probably just basic childhood stuff. but real quick i will mention that i actually don’t have many concrete memories from my childhood & i’m currently working on recovering memories in therapy.

my family moved from Houston to southeastern Pennsylvania in 2000. i went to public school. i was involved in a lot of activities: girl scouts, dance classes, gymnastics, band, chorus, theater. in middle school i was on the morning “radio” show (it was basically your standard morning announcements with some current news & weather information sprinkled in). throughout middle school & the beginning of high school i mostly associated with the “smart” kids. i was in advanced classes & got decent grades without trying very hard. in high school i stopped doing a lot of those extracurricular activities and focused on mostly just playing tennis. i took lessons outside of school as well. looking back on it my parents definitely did everything they could to set me up for success, encouraging me to put in as much effort as i could. i wasn’t the best tennis player on the team but i wasn’t the worst either; over my life i have learned the art of mediocrity, doing just enough to be deemed “successful” but not striving for any sort of excellence, which now as an adult who goes to therapy i understand that my actions were largely driven by fear of failure, so i artfully designed my life to not have many opportunities to fail too hard. 

as most people of my generation, i was expected to go away to college. i come from a Penn State Family, so i was mostly expected to go there. i applied to a few other colleges as well as Penn State, & was accepted to all that i applied to. towards the beginning of my senior year of high school i declared i would go to Penn State, sent in my deposit, and tried to maintain my grades. 

backing up a tiny bit in the timeline here .. when i was about 16 years old i started to experience a lot of emotional issues, which we all know is super common (puberty is a fucking bitch). i started fighting with my parents, rebelling, sneaking out of the house at night (sometimes taking the car my dad got me), drinking alcohol, smoking pot & cigarettes, taking pills, sneaking boys INTO my parent’s house, having sex, lying, cheating, stealing, skipping school, the list goes on and on. i had a job at an ice cream shop, i’d had this job since i was 14 or 15 years old. i would lie to my parents about working and i’d go hang out with people who i wasn’t supposed to associate with. my parents responded to my undesirable actions by first making me go to therapy and take psych meds. they tried taking things away, mostly any freedom that i had. i wasn’t allowed to do anything outside of school and work, which pushed me to just lie and sneak around even more. by the time i was 17 years old i was deeply disturbed psychologically & rebelled harder. i’d try to run away from home a few times, always reluctantly going back home. 

that changed when i turned 18 in December of my senior year. i had started to date an older guy when i was 17. i kept the relationship a secret from my parents for the better part of a year.   they found out that i had been spending time with a “man” who they felt was inappropriate, and tried to keep me from him (Danny). so pretty much as soon as i turned 18 i tried to run away from home. my mother tried to use her body to block me from leaving the house with my duffel bag. i called the police and told them i was being held against my will. cops came to my parents house and told my mother that since i was an adult, she could not legally make me stay there. i felt validated & like my point had been proved. i didn’t leave that time, but i knew that once i wanted to leave i could and my mother couldn’t do anything about it. 

one day in January my father dropped me off at my therapy appointment. i went inside the vestibule of the office building, watched my dad drive away, and walked back out the doors towards Danny’s house. he had just recently moved in with some friends in a neighborhood literally right next to the office where i was supposed to have therapy. i hid out at his house for a few days, only turning my phone on once a day to text my parents a simple “hi” so that they couldn’t report me missing. i didn’t go to school for probably a week. i don’t remember the exact details of some of the events that followed (hello trauma brain) but i guess at some point either i was able to go back to my parents house to get some clothes or my parents may have even packed a bag for me, i don’t know. i think maybe what happened is my best & only friend at the time (Melanie) asked if i wanted to come stay with her & her parents for a while, so that i could get back to going to school & my parents could at least have that peace of mind, that i was staying with another family instead of “shacking up” with my older, bad boyfriend. my parents probably let me & Melanie come by to get some of my stuff. well i gave it a try for maybe a few weeks but it didn’t stick. living with Melanie’s family just felt as stifling and restrictive as living at my own parents house, so i left again. back to Danny’s, i went. me & Melanie had a bit of a falling out after that happened. me & Melanie tried to patch up our friendship but that was derailed when we got in trouble with the police for underaged drinking over spring break.

there are a lot of details about living with Danny that i would like to get into later, but to move this story along a bit, we can just hit the key facts & events. i deferred my acceptance to Penn State. i graduated high school despite missing most of the second half of the year. the only reason i graduated with a diploma and didn’t have to go for my GED is because i had a few teachers & guidance counselors who went to bat for me and made sure i did the minimum necessary to graduate. i even walked at my graduation ceremony, which is actually a painfully funny story that i will tell another time. i started going to the local community college in the fall.        

my life as being in a cohabitating relationship with Danny came to an end in January 2011, after dating for about two years. the break up was extremely difficult for me. i was 19 years old at this point & had aged a lot in those two years. i moved away from Danny and that area of PA. i moved up to northeastern PA to live with extended family. i got a job at a deli, decided i wanted to go to college for nutrition, went to a another community college to get my GPA up, then transferred to a small university that i had a good nutrition program. i moved from my family’s house into a dorm. i remember feeling like an imposter .. like no one understood me or could relate to what i had gone through during those previous few years. it felt very backwards for me to go from having my own apartment, to living with family, to then living in an on-campus dorm. it just all felt very surreal and strange. like i was living someone else’s life.

but i adjusted, as humans tend to do. i did my best at that small university for about 2 years. i got a lot of my general education classes done, but once we got into the more advanced science and math courses i started to struggle and decided i didn’t want to do nutrition anymore because “i didn’t like science as much as i thought i did” aka i actually had to study and put forth effort and i wasn’t interested in that. so i figured i’d try my shot at a business degree. i left that small university to attend the local Penn State branch campus. i wanted to stay in that area because i had actually developed quite a nice community. i was very involved with attending yoga classes, i had good relationships with my extended family, and i had a group of friends. i lived in various houses and apartments with friends, worked as a bartender and at a head shop, as well as selling weed. i even found a therapist who i connected with.

before graduating from college in 2015 i had dreamed of moving to Colorado. i set up job interviews and traveled there over spring break. i got some job offers, but my father also offered me a job at his company and convinced me that it was the best choice to move home for a little bit, save some money, and not live in a small apartment with roommates who i don’t know in a place i don’t know. he made a compelling argument, so i took his offer and moved home to work for my dad after graduating. 

as you probably guessed, living at home with my parents didn’t last very long. i was used to certain freedoms and it just wasn’t working out for me to be under the thumbs of my parents. so despite not having any money saved, in fall of 2015 i found an apartment close to my dad’s business’s office. i now lived alone, in a town i knew nothing about. 

lets take another moment here and back it up. towards the end of my time living in NEPA and going to college, i had developed a bit of a pill addiction. i was introduced to the Wonderful World of Xanax. as with most addictions, it started off slow, turning into daily use. i had stooped as low as stealing pills from family members, etc. all the addict things. when i moved back down to SEPA after graduating, i didn’t have connections like i did while in college and i knew i couldn’t just steal pills from people to support my habit, so i went to a carefully chosen prescribing doctor who i knew wouldn’t think twice about prescribing me whatever i wanted. so i told the doctor that i had bad anxiety, and i had tried Xanax and it worked for me, so he prescribed me Klonopin, which is a drug in the same class as Xanax, known as benzodiazepines, or benzos. i was now an active addict who had a legal and consistent way to acquire my drug of choice. score.

i wasn’t just taking benzos, though. i was prescribed a concoction of medications: anti anxiety meds, antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers. i was also drinking alcohol and smoking weed. and i had an eating disorder. so, needlesstosay, i was not thriving. i was barely surviving. i was chronically sick with strep throat or other illnesses.      

to be continued ..

(i'll pick things up with how i had a threesome then one month later overdosed & wound up in a psych hospital)

[xo-alie-xo]

PORTWELL LONG GAME OR RINA SLOWBURN.

You can only choose one poison.🍷

Listen up my Wildcats.🐱

We all ship each character with happiness. No matter how much you love to hate them, a majority of us simply adores the characters and want the best for them. Then comes relationships and it's okay to ship our favorites.⛴

I'm a diehard Rina shipper and I know in my heart that they are series endgame. The set up, the natural chemistry, their mutual understanding, the surprises and angst literally put me on chokehold. So I'm 100% a Rina shipper till the end. I'm here for the slowburn and their development rather than one shots. They are worth the pain. 😭❤

Let me start with Ricky Bowen now.

Ricky shouldn't to be with Gina because he's hurting her mentality. He's not insensitive on purpose. Like when he tried to stop Big Red from telling her his message to Nina because he KNOWS it'll hurt her.

If you think, that Ricky didn't understand clearly when Gina confessed, think again. He shushed her. Kept their thing a secret from everyone. He knows he feels some type of way and she feels something too. But this boy is so used to safeguarding his childhood norms and has very little adaptability. Hence, he pretended to ignore everything between them because his home stability was falling apart and he clinged on to Nina, his constant childhood love.

He's a traumatised 16-17 year old boy that needs to heal and grow. This episode was heartbreaking because he had to accept that he had to let Nina go because their once upon a time fairytale had become toxic.

People change. I'm not the same person I was when I was 16 lmao. Being together as childhood lovers means growing together and accepting each other's growth. Which Ricky couldn't. He clutched to the idea of Nini. Even his love confession. It was sooo sweet but all he did was focus on their history.

This boy needs time to heal and maybe seek professional therapy. It would be so DAMN HISTORIC if Disney decides to take psychological issues seriously and show how he's dealing with his anxiety, pills and psychotherapy. He needs to breathe before he can be with any girl for that matter. He's hurting and isn't trying to hurt anyone on purpose. Including Gina.

Him asking her for advice on Nini was a dumb, insensitive move. But he's trying to find a way to build some supportive friendship that they shared in early season one.

As for now, this boy needs to get his own grip on life and heal.

As for our Queen Gina

In Gina's confession, she focuses on their future. She basically said, "I wouldn't quit on a possible future of us being together despite obstacles. Because I never quit. But moving away isn't in my control." Ricky deep down knows this, encouraged her to say it, teary eyed, despite right after getting back together with Nini. Gina is his future. She went to his new house. And I also have this feeling that when she was given a chance to stay, she stayed partly because of Ricky. She left a chance to be with her mom because she prioritised their relationship. Because she never quits. 💪🏼

But she came back and found out Ricky has gotten back together with Nini.😭 What she doesn't know is Ricky got together with Nina before her confession, and after Gina kept dodging his messages. She's hurt and questions why she returned because she isn't particularly close to anyone. Hence, she was so silent at the after party. She thinks it'll be fine, "she'll live", and finds other reasons to find permanence. Her arc this season has been settling down in East High, despite the pain of losing and being 'betrayed' by Ricky, she finds other reasons to stay. 🏡

This kind of contrasts her with Nina. Nina left her dream school and came to Salt Lake because she missed her established home, and not just because of Ricky. Nina returned and was loved and embraced by Ricky Bowen.💕 Gina came back to a semi new place called Salt Lake because of her promise of a future to Ricky. But she got stabbed and she bled. 💔🗡

Think about her situation. She feels confused, alone, heartbroken, out of place and seperated from her mom. She's broken and hurting too. And she doesn't need more from Ricky's accidental or intentional 'sick burns'. That's the one line where he was such a jerk and I can't defend him here. 😠

Here comes the Caswells.

Her second family. A place of healthy stability. A home that accepted her. Ashlyn, her roomie and her confidante. EJ, the misunderstood boy who saw her value and bought her plane ticket.

Let's get to EJ.

At first, I wasn't too keen on seeing Portwell's development. But then that video chat where they talk about the possibility of her staying and him convincing her. Had me sold for a solid brother-sister relationship. Few episodes later, when Gina's pain seemed to be oblivious to everyone, he was the only one who asked her how she was, and saw her glow. The comfort she must've felt.

Not that she needs a man's validation, but she must be feeling like a second choice and feeling a little insecure because of Ricky. But EJ lifts her up and I genuinely saw her smile. This boy has her back whenever. The man she can lean on and truly sees how special she is. She no longer feels alone now that she has his entire fam and other friends. She genuinely feels a place of belonging and happiness when she's the apple of his eye. Notice how happy she is? How happy this boy is? She's going through her own issues and she has found ground with EJ.

I was very doubtful when they started hinting at a romantic direction. Because EJ would be used as plot device again for a girl to get to Ricky.😤 This man doesn't deserve to be second best to anyone, just like Gina.😑 That's why I'm still hesitant on shipping them at least temporarily. EJ needs to be something even more special to Gina. They need to show each other how special and treasured they are to each other despite feeling like rejects. They are each other's source of comfort.

I'm sure they can keep EJ at East High for the next season. Whether it's the drama club, or the AV club or going to a local college. So he will be there for Gina. I don't know how they can work out a relationship with much distance as Rini's fell out when she moved away. So, if EJ leaves again, it'll again shake up Gina. Her being worried whether he'll date college girls, second thoughts, etc. I don't want them to go through that. And if they do move on to romantic Portwell, make sure it's not plot device for Rina. So you can either have Portwell endgame or Rina Endgame.

Basically I want Gina to be treated so right that she understands she doesn't need Ricky. And when he does ask her out, and he makes her feel like a second choice or a rebound, she says NO. Because EJ has helped regain her self assurance. Eventually I want Gina to confide in EJ about her and Ricky. EJ is jealous but also angry about how Ricky has been hurting her. And becomes damn protective of his 'babe'. Ricky gets jealous of their relationship, restarting Ricky and EJ's old rivalry. But this time, it's not because Gina is his girlfriend, but because she's EJ's best friend who he has a crush on and wants what's best for her.

If it's meant to be Rina endgame

EJ- RICKY, YOU IDIOT! You have no clue how to treat her right. You don't put her first. You mislead her. Get the hell away from her! She's too powerful and beautiful, she doesn't deserve your scraps. I know how she feels for you. I wish I were you. I would treat her like a queen. I don't mind even waiting years till she's ready. She deserves that. You're so lucky you have even a small chance that I may never have. So get your act together, prove you're worth it to win her over. All I want is for her to be happy. Even if it's with someone else. And maybe then I'll stop threatening you to stay away from her.😠

Ricky- .....I don't know what I'm more scared of. Change, or losing the girl I fell for or YOU. Okay, losing her but you're a close second.😬

If it's Portwell endgame.

Ricky- I messed up. Make sure you don't mess up with her. You'll regret it forever.

EJ- I'd rather get hit by thousand basketballs than ever hurt her. I'll be her plus one and her best friend until she's ready to be with me. I know she's ready now too. But I want her to know I'm willing to wait till she graduates before we make it official. I'm in it for the long game.

As for their age gap. I'm 100% sure Portwell won't kiss this season. If they do, it'll be next when Sofia turns 18. They are professional actors who are cast because they are the perfect fit for the role and are expected to carry out the storyline. But I suppose fearing some outbursts, they might delay Sofia kissing anyone till next season. It's so weird because Olivia was maybe 17 when Matt was 21-22 when they kissed in season one. But no one had a problem with that. But for this, they do. Remember, they are professional actors. They are acting! Sometimes, actors are over 10 years apart (but above 18) and act as romantic partners.

As for their characters, they are only two years apart. That's hardly any difference once you're over the age of 18. Age of consent is 16. But adults above 18 are only allowed to have sex with adults above 18. So, age isn't a problem here because EJ is a gentleman and is genuinely interested in her and isn't trying to get in her pants. So age isn't the issue when it comes to dating. It's the maturity. Gina is very mature and gives very sound advice. But I can see EJ being patient enough till she turns 18 just to kiss her because he loves her. 😚

As for the Ashlyn remark, "You look like a kid to me rn". He was JOKING.😂 Don't take things out of context. I tell my cousin sister that all the time. But she's three years younger than me and a grown adult. I don't see her as a kid but it's just a cousin teasing her younger cousin that's she's a little immature. I'm Matt's age and I'm very mature for my age and since I was a teenager, I always matched up with boys a little older than me. Now that I'm in my early 20s, I've dated boys even close to 30. So age is just a number.

EJ dating Gina and giving her quick kisses is fine. But to have a strong sexual element in their relationship (including making out), he'll have to wait till she's 18+. And I'm sure for that he'll wait till she's ready even past her early 20s. Age is really just a number and we can't help who we fall in love with. Trust me, I've been there.😂 So I can see EJ feeling conflicted about his feelings that are clear at this point.

They might not be a perfect fit, but they make each other sooo happy. They deserve a lot more than a short lived fling.😟 They are either endgame or Rina is. You can't have both as a Rina unless you're an EJ hater who wants him to exist as plot device. Nope! He's sooo much more precious than that.

But Jack on the other hand....I'm okay if he's the one to make Ricky or EJ jealous. Because he's just been introduced and it's okay if a character is used, but only once, for someone else to realize their feelings. 💁🏽‍♀️

In short.

Ricky needs help and needs to be on his own. No girlfriends allowed.🙅🏽‍♀️🚫

Needs to give both Gina and Nina space for them to grow on their own too.🌳

Ricky needs to understand the core of his problems and become more adaptable via therapy. Maybe the psychologist will point out his unresolved feelings for Gina, or he will conclude it himself. And in comes Ricky-pining-for-Gina season three.

Ricky needs to fully get over Nina before he moves on to anyone. Same for Gina if Portwell were to happen. No one deserves to be second choice.

Gina isn't Ricky's cushion. She's a living person with strong feelings for him and shouldn't be subjected to share his pain. She already struggles with her own issues.

Ricky needs to stay single till he wins back Gina and prove he's worth it. He needs to show even if another girl wants him, he'll never quit on Gina ever again. Even if he has to watch her be with someone else. *cough parallels*.

It's either romantic Rina then Portwell endgame OR Portwell flirty besties but Rina endgame. You and I can choose only one because my boy EJ shouldn't be used as plot device for a girl to leave for Ricky ever again.

Portwell's age difference can be practically solved and isn't much of an issue unless they get hot and heavy before Gina turns 18 which is impossible considering this is Disney. 🤣🤣

Jack and Gina will be plot device material and purely so sentimental to us OG Andi Mack fans. More than any ship, this is what I'm looking for. Sort of an Andi Mack crack ship for season 3a. It's gonna be soooo funny. 😍😂

I respect everyone's ship. I see what you're seeing. And I'm not going to invalidate your ship. But unless it's done right, I won't jump from the Rina ship. I liked Rini. I like Portwell. I like AU Juffy crackship haha.😂 But as for me, I'm still holding on to Rina slowburn.

Preparing myself for the pain. 😭🔥

(But if I had to pair two characters without Disney getting in the way, it would be Gini. The power duo. Undeniable chemistry. They can be written so well because of their layered relationship and contrasting personalities.🤩 The classic rivals to friends to lovers. But that's a talk for another day lmao.)

Thanks for reading my opinion, Wildcat!🐱❤

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 13/?

Word Count: 3.2k

Author’s Note: Part 13? The unlucky part??? I’m evil

Y/N - Your name, A/N - Any name ( your best friend’s name).

I don’t know when this will be posted because time is dumb! But I do think I’ll have something prepared for Jason’s birthday<3

Hope you’re all well!

Warnings: Swearing, Eludes to sex, Mentions of injuries, Mentions of underage drug use (Do Not Condone), Mentions of sexual assault, Eludes to trauma, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

The next morning, Jason and Y/N would wake up in the same bed. Y/N would get up and stumble her way into his ensuite, trying not to wake him as he was still injured. It had been 4 days since his injury, and he was hoping that the next day he’d get his stitches removed. She would grab the clothes she wore the day before and walk into the ensuite.

She would fumble with her makeup a bit, realizing it had run slightly from the night before. Before just realizing it would be a lot easier if she took it all off. She wasn’t wearing heavy makeup, but it was just enough to hide what she thought were imperfections.

She wasn’t wearing anything, so she just threw on all of her other clothes and threw her hair up.

When she exited the ensuite, he was still sleeping in the bed, but his clothes were strewn across the room. She paused her thoughts to clean up his clothes and put them in his laundry basket.

She touched her nose to test if it was still warm and painful, which brought all the pain to the forefront, and it was still warm to the touch, she knew it was inflamed from the head-butting incident and looking in the mirror.

She didn’t think it would hurt this much, and she winced at the pain.

Jason would start groaning in his sleep, she assumed it was because they didn’t close the blackout curtains before they had their fun the night before. So she went to go close them when he went and grabbed her thigh, she laughed quietly.

“Good morning, Jason,” she said as she closed the curtains before  leaning down to see his face, and what was obvious bedhead.

“Hi,” he whispered before pulling her back into his bed.

She laughed, “Sorry, baby. I had to get up and get dressed.”

“Lame,” he whispered and curled into her.

“Jay, you’re naked,” she said.

“Thank you Sherlock Holmes.”

“Oh shut it, you should get dressed,” she suggested.

“Yeah, I should,” he said as he left the bed, crawling over her and going to his dresser, thank God he didn’t have any IVs and blood bags anymore, so he could walk without having to drag those around anymore.

She didn’t stare at him, because he nose started pounding and she whimpered.

“You alright, Y/N?” Jason asked her.

“Yeah sorry, my nose is killing me.”

“Well that’s what happens when you head-butt someone.”

She laughed, “I’m sorry okay, I panicked.”

“That part’s obvious.”

“You could pretend to care that I’m hurt, Jay,” she joked.

He laughed as he put on his boxers and his pants, “I could, but I also think you were being reckless, I worry,” he searched for a shirt, “I worry that us being together is putting you in danger,” he said as he found a shirt.

“Well, I like the danger, if there is any.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s a danger,” he put on his shirt and fumbled with his hair, “It’s obviously because you’re attached to Bruce, you heard that man ‘I wonder what Bruce will give me for you’ he knew we had money. You need your car back.”

“I can’t afford the fees,” she sighed.

“Bruce can pay them, you know.”

“God no, I would feel so bad, I’ll just take the subway or something.”

He sighed and went back to her, cupping her face, “Please let my dad pay the fees, it’s dangerous out there,” he leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, “I can’t stand that you got hurt linked to your shenanigans with me,” he kissed her.

“I guess it’s me being protective,” he said, “But I think it’s a reasonable thing to be concerned about, Y/N.”

“I’ll figure it out, I swear.”

“You figuring this out involved you head-butting your attacker, I get it was quick thinking, but my god woman, that was dangerous,” he said.

��You literally got stabbed protecting your best friend,” she argued.

“Okay, good point, but I’m prettier than you so I win,” he joked.

“What kind of fucking logic is that you bastard!” she joked.

“The kind of star-crossed lovers or something, I don’t know, I don’t write, you do.”

“I’ll sell our story to Warner Brothers, we’ll make millions off of us.”

“Two lovers, harassed by the press in the media, spend most of their time hiding and protecting themselves from the disgusting eyes of the media and the man who attacked one of them,” he said in a news broadcaster voice, “Amazing, isn’t it?” he joked.

“The kind of story Artemis said Dick would eat up.”

“Oh, he would. Man’s a sucker for a romantic story.”

“Well, maybe he can sell his and Barbara’s romantic story to the Warner Brothers, he’d probably make millions too, if it’s worth anything.”

“Well, they’ve known each other for years, and when they finally started dating, myself, Steph, Cass, Tim and Damien all celebrated to an extent, we all saw it coming from all those years of them knowing each other,” he paused, “They actually fought a lot when they were younger before they dated, it would be normal to hear Dick and Barbs going at it about how they hated each other.”

“That’s such a meet-cute stone-cold-woman meets goofy guy story that I hate it.”

He laughed, “They’re so gooey, it’s so cute that I want to vomit.”

“That’s valid. We should be cuter so that they want to vomit.”

“I like your thinking, Y/N.”

“You always do, I have good ideas, Jason.”

“Only sometimes.”

She laughed. It was true, someone with always good ideas wouldn’t have head-butted her attacker, but it’s not like she carried knives or guns around to defend herself. She was considering getting a conceal-carry permit, just because she truly was shaken up by the event.

But a little trauma makes for good stories, and her story with Jason was just starting.

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

Dick decided he’d drive her to her class that day, she didn’t think it mattered that much, her attack, but she realized that a lot of them didn’t want to see her hurt, even if they barely knew her.

She figured it was a kindness that they all possessed. She heard stories of the Waynes paying off waitress’/waiters’ student debts. She heard stories of the Waynes being polite to their ‘lower’ counterparts of the world. She knew they wer kind people, so she wasn’t shocked when Dick insisted he drive her to her class.

“So, Y/N, what are your intentions with my brother?” Dick joked.

“Oh no, not this, I haven’t prepared my answerers for this exam,” she retorted.

“No, its a pop quiz, you have no chance to prepare.”

“Fuck. Can I drop out of this class?”

“How would you even accomplish that?”

“Tuck and roll out of the car, probably,” she joked.

“You ever done that before?”

“Nope, you?”

“Did it on a dare, Jase dared me.”

“And he calls me reckless,” she laughed.

“Well, we were still in high school at the time, we’re supposed to be reckless,” Dick said.

“You ever met a college kid? We’re supposed to be reckless too.”

“He’ll get over it in time, Y/N. I promise. He just needs time to accept that you’re going to be as reckless and opinionated as he is, no one really refuses each other like you two do, and I’m sure you don’t mean it to be like that.”

“I think you’re reading too far into it, Dick, we make compromises.”

“Then why is your car still an issue? Bruce can cover the cost no questions asked.”

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Maybe it’s something to think about.”

“Are you always this brotherly? I need to know what I’m getting into here.”

He laughed, “You really do keep out of the press, don’t you?”

She took that as a yes, he is that brotherly and would continue to be. She didn’t mind, she never had a brother growing up so this would take some time to get used to, but she did not mind at all. She just figured she’d have to keep her partying ways even further down in the depths of her secrets.

They didn’t need to know what she did and what was done to her, she even ignored those problems herself. If they came out, then so be it, but if she could keep them hidden, she would.

“What were you like back in high school?” Dick asked, trying to fill the silence.

“Probably not the type of person that your dad would want Jason to be with,” she admitted.

“Care to elaborate?”

“Honestly? I don’t want to talk about it. You’d probably have to get me hammered to talk to you about it.”

“Well, maybe one day you’ll go to a gala. And after you’re wasted, I’ll ask you about it.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

“I’m sure you will, Dick. I’m sure you will.”

“Well, we’re here,” he said, “You have my number right?” 

“I do, I do.”

“Good, call me if you need me to come get you and take you home, or to the Manor. Either or, no questions asked,” he laughed, “I expect the same when you have your car back, to be fair.”

“Consider it a deal, thanks Dick.”

“Anytime, really.”

She closed the door and waved him off, but when he pulled out of the lot, the press was at Y/N’s ass. She ran though, she ran far to get out of there.

Class was the usual. She wrote her normal psychology notes, sitting in her class, concentrating as she scribbled down the notes that she struggled to read.

When she was done and getting read to call Dick to come get her, her old friends from Metropolis showed up at her school.

“Hey! Y/N!” Christopher yelled when he saw her leave her class.

“Oh my god?” she said before running to hug him, “What the fuck are you doing here, dude?” she questioned, before looking at the rest of the car and seeing Justine, Kaitlin and Thomas, “What the fuck are all  of you doing here?”

“C’mon party girl, we’re taking you to your pale, you get dressed, and we’re going out,” Justine urged Y/N to join them, “Just like old times, man.”

“Yeah! We haven’t partied in weeks since you got your scholarship! We know you’re busy and trying to discipline yourself, but we can go party every once in a while, girl!” Kaitlin added.

“You know we miss you too,” Thomas finished.

“Alright, I need no more convincing, let’s get going,” she said as she hopped into the car and they went going to her house. She thought on the drive there, What if I fall back into old habits, and I’m doing so well, what if I fall off?

She couldn’t have more thoughts because before she knew it, she was in her house sending Jason a quick text,

Hey baby, I can’t come over tonight. Old friends came by.

Oh. I hope you have fun, I’ll probably be with my brothers. how did you even get home?

They drove me. I promise I’ll be over tomorrow and you’ll have me all day and night long, though.

That. That is exciting.

It should be.

She got dressed.

And she sent Jason a photo of what she was wearing (like the picture above) just to get him going. Before running out of her place and hopping back into the car.

“You always dress to impress, don’t you?” Thomas asked.

“I dress like I know what I’m doing,” Y/N joked.

“Never change, Y/N, never change,” Justine joked back.

------------------------ 

She walked into the club she frequented back when she was in high school, but the Gotham one. She had a fake ID, and she used it well and was in the club before the rest of her group knew it.

Justine would grab her hand and take her to the bar, Fuck, she thought, Here we go. And they ordered drinks. 

The rest of the night was a blur of people, drinks and her friends.

She knew she overdid it from the minute she woke up, in her bed, feeling around for her phone in her messed up and torn up sheets. Het body was covered in bruises, she noticed between harsh blinks from the pouding headache she was nursing. She remembered why she didn’t party as hard anymore. She didn’t even know how she got home that night. She found her phone and turned it on, 8:00am it read. She checked her messages, adn there was Jason, at 7:00am he said;

Are you awake yet? 

To which, she replied: I am, why?

How drunk were you last night?

I think blackout. I don’t remember much. 

I can tell.

Tell me I didn’t do anything stupid.

You did something stupid.

What did I do?

You called me at 3am and told me you loved me, followed by saying you threw up at one of your friends. I don’t even know how you got home.

Well that’s not that bad.

You told me about your past.

Oh.

When were you going to tell me you’re a recovering alcoholic?

I don’t know.

Come here. Come over. We need to discuss this.

Alright, alright. I’ll be there soon.

Dick will come get you in an hour, actually. Don’t leave the house without him.

I won’t.

She got up and looked at the mirror at herself. She was covered in bruises, her makeup was smudged, her eyes looked sunken in and her hair was a mess. She sighed, knowing she fucked up, and wiped off her makeup and got in the shower. She quickly showered and put on a turtleneck and a pair of jeans.

It was to hide the bruises from Jason. She assumed someone had physically assaulted her, possibly sexually. She only had that thought once before she pushed it very far down and swallowed it. She went to go make coffee, but her head was racing at the ideas of last night and what she said.

She was fucked up and she did fuck up. She knew she shouldn’t have drank. but she did. And she knew Jason was either really pissed or really sympathetic. She was scared at how much she might have discussed when Dick honked his horn and she left the house.

In the car, Dick tried to break the silence, “You should have told someone, anyone. We’re all really good at listening, Y/N.”

She wiped away a few tears that were pooling.

“You didn’t need to hide from us, Y/N.”

“I do.”

“No, Y/N, you don’t. Jason’s probably more mad that you didn’t tell him over you actually being a recovering alcoholic. You called him last night and let it all spill out. Everyone knows, you don't need to hide anymore.”

“Of course I did,” she said, swallowing more tears and her voice breaking.

She wanted her past as an alcoholic to die when she moved out of the city, because she didn’t want everyone to know how broken she was, fighting with addiction. A lot of her anxieties and treatments of people make sense with her past addictions, but that doesn’t mean she liked them.

She hated that girl, the wild party child who almost drank herself to death, her body was just recovering fully from her escapades when she went out clubbing. She knew this was going to be an issue, but she didn’t know how to fix it.

He looked over at her and caught eye at one of her bruises that was peaking over her turtleneck. He tried to not stare, but she noticed.

“Don’t ask about it, Dick. I don’t know what happened.”

“I think you two will get through this.”

“I hope we do, but realistically,” she paused.

“Don’t think like that.”

They pulled into the driveway and the minute Dick unlocked her door, she was out of there, speed walking to the door and then to Jason’s room.

She opened the door to find him reading a book, she would have smiled at this, had she not been certain that they were about to fight.

“Jason?”

“Oh. You’re here.”

“Yeah, I just-” 

He cut her off and got up from his bed, looking ever-so disappointed in her as he walked to the door of his room. She expected the fight to take place in the hall, so she tried to step back when he grabbed her forearm with one of his hands and yanked her into his room. She assumed maybe, just maybe his room was soundproof so his family wouldn't have to hear the yelling. He closed the door once she was in and stared at her.

She gulped, expecting him to let loose on the argument now about her drinking and her confessing she was a recovering alcoholic, but instead, he pulled her into a hug, which she yelped at.

“Jason?” she said, shocked.

“Shh,” he broke from the hug and cupped her face, “It’s okay, really.”

“But I hid it from you...”

“You know, we’ve only known each other two weeks or something, right? I get you hiding it, I just wish it didn’t come out like that,” he laughed and kissed her quickly, “Besides-” he noticed the bruise on her neck, “What’s that?” he asked, grabbing her hand and clutching it.

“There’s...”

“There’s more?” he asked.

“What, I mean, uh... uh... no?” she stuttered.

“Take your shirt off.”

“Jason...”

“Or tell me the truth.”

“Baby-”

“So there’s more, who hurt you? Did you fall?” he asked, getting a little bit heated, really squeezing her hand.

“I don’t know.”

He cupped her face, “That’s okay,” he leant his forehead against hers, “It’s okay, I promise, I do. I just really don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I don’t try to,” she said.

“Seems like trouble likes to follow you,” he said.

“Well, you found your way to me so I’d have to agree,” she joked.

“Ha ha. How’s your nose?” he said as he broke contact with her to go sit on his bed, she followed.

“It still hurts, but I can’t tell if that’s from last night or from my shenanigans with the attacker.”

“It could honestly be a combination of both, depending on what happened to you, have you asked your friends for the full story yet?”

“No. I’ve been scared to.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“I’m going to. Right now.”

“I support your decision on that,” he said as he turned on the TV in his room, but then Y/N paused.

“Y/N?”

“Reports are in of a group of friends, who all got arrested last night, for bodily harm of a man who attempted to rape their friend, Police say., the suspects in the attack are Christopher Green, Justine Wong, Kaitlin Benoit and Thomas Harthrew. More to be coming soon.”

“Thank god that girl had those friends.”

She turned to Jason, “So,” she paused, “I’m glad you think that, because, those are my friends.”

[petri808]

Bakudeku vampire-esque fic. Canon divergent. Lots of angst, will have smut with biting kink, and a happy ending 😌

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

The blonde sat up in bed reaching out and screaming for Midoriya. But the moment his mind snapped back to reality his arm dropped along with his head; it was the same damn nightmare that’s plagued him since the incident. His body was covered in a sheen of sweat and his heart raced. Fucking nightmare or memory. What sucked is even he wasn’t certain which one it was. Bakugou ran his fingers though his damp hair and groaned. It couldn’t keep going like this, not night after night for a month enduring this struggle with no one to talk to about it. He couldn’t take being here at UA while his friend was out there missing, and only the authorities searched for him. Those inept, useless… Who else knew Midoriya better than himself?! Frankly, a part of him wanted to find the nerd and if he was alive beat his ass to a pulp for making them worry. “Deku is alive…” Bakugou breathed out a reminder. He knew deep down in his soul that his oldest friend was alive somewhere and they just needed to bring him back home.

“Fuck this!” He threw his blanket off and stormed out of the room, heading towards Aizawa’s office. With or without permission, no one was gonna stop him!

“Just let him go,” Aizawa placed a hand on All Might’s shoulder as they watched Bakugou blast away into the sky. If the symbol of peace looked tired before, now he looked simply broken. First his rising successor disappeared and now Bakugou wanted to leave too. For a good reason sure, but he was still worried. Those kids were like his sons and no father would want to see their children end up like this. Aizawa understood this all too well, for despite rarely showing it, his students were like his kids too.

All Might hung his head, “I know…. He wants to find his friend. But it’s been a month with no real sign of Midoriya. And after what happened— I can still sense him, but it’s faint and the connection is strange. What if something’s gone wrong…”

“Don’t you think it. Young Midoriya is tough, I’m sure there is a valid reason for his disappearance. Just be happy the Principal is being understanding and will allow them to graduate when they return.”

“The final semester of their high school career and this had to happen.” All Might squeezed his fists tighter. “I should have killed AFO when I had the chance.”

“Have faith in Bakugou, Toshinori….” ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this,’ Aizawa sighed in his head. “We can trust in him.”

All Might placed a hand over the one Aizawa had on his shoulder, giving it a pat, “I do.” But it wasn’t about trust that had him glum. It was guilt. He knew that despite their rivalry, there was a bond between those boys, and one he did his best to foster over the years. So, if there was anyone that he felt could find Midoriya, it was Bakugou. No, what he hated in himself was the fact they were in this position because he hadn’t been strong enough.

But Aizawa was right. No one blamed him and it wouldn’t help anyone for him to be self-defeatist. He was still a symbol of peace, and more than ever the public, nay the students needed his light. All Might exhaled, he couldn’t thank his old friend enough for helping to convince the principal in letting Bakugou leave on this mission of sorts, even as finals were looming. Hadn’t these kids proved their worth enough to earn their degree? They already had their licenses and they were pivotal in stopping the worst villain in quirk history. All Might stood up, “we should gather the other kids and inform them…”

The room was as silent as a grave after Aizawa and All Might finished informing the rest of Class 1-A of what was going on. It wasn’t very surprising. These kids were close, rather like a small family unit than just friends who have been through so many ups and downs in the last three years it was hard not to be devoted to one another. It had taken a lot of coping for them just to get through Midoriya’s disappearance, and yet here they sat stoic at being told another was leaving. Almost like they saw it coming. And frankly as All Might looked around to all their faces, that was exactly what he read. The girls, tears welling up in their eyes, flushed faces on the verge of letting go. The guys, fists clenched, and jaws locked. Even he could feel the moisture ready to cloud his vision. He missed his defacto son, but these kids… were sad, angry, hurt and needed their support, but they were trying so hard to stay strong.

What do you say in times like this?

“I’m sure…” Aizawa finally spoke up to address the pain, “that some if not all of you would love to rush out there to search for Midoriya. Please remember that the authorities are doing their best to locate him, and your classmate Bakugou has volunteered to assist with the principal’s permission. If there is anything you may cling to in this time, is faith in your friend to find Midoriya.”

More silence ensued, blanketing the room with a new wave of energy. A few gave into silent sobs, while others hung their heads in thought. It was a heavy fog of pressure, like what one may sense before a thunderstorm because it was true that most of them knew it was coming. For the past month, Bakugou paced like a tiger in a cage. The man couldn’t focus on studies and would rip into anyone that even dared to breathe Midoriya’s name in his presence. Something had to give. But they were also frustrated by all the uncertainty. Yes, they were just students, but this was their friends, and they were tired of being treated like children.

Kirishima slammed his fist onto the table. The sudden and loud sound echoing in the still room, causing a few to jump. “I know Bakugou will find him! But at least tell us what the hell happened back there! Why won’t anyone tell us…” his voice petered out as angry tears gathered along the corners of hardening skin threatening to explode. He was angry at Bakugou for not saying a word to him before leaving and frustrated that his friend wouldn’t tell him what he’d seen. None of them had witnessed those final moments, except the hothead. But he was just as frustrated with the adults over the secrecy.

Aizawa sighed and crossed his arms. “We really do not know Kirishima. By the time I arrived All for One was dead on the ground and Bakugou was barely conscious next to him mumbling Midoriya’s name. He remembered them fighting All for One, but once he was knocked unconscious, doesn’t know what happened until we found him. He thinks he remembers seeing a flash of light hit Midoriya at the same time All for One received the final blow, but we do not know what that could be.”

“Right now, I’m sure both of them would want you to let the authorities deal with this and focus on finishing the school year,” All Might chimed in, hoping to redirect their thoughts. “As difficult as it may be, to quit now when you are almost finished would be a shame, and a stain on what they also worked so hard to achieve.”

There were a few minutes of silence as the students pondered their teachers’ words.

“So, do it for them?” Todoroki finally broke the silence and questioned the teachers.

All Might mustered a half smile, “you could say that.”

Iida stood up. “Yes! We will graduate as heroes for them!”

“Let’s make them proud!” Added in Kaminari. He turned to a sulking Kirishima and slapped him on the back. “Dude, Bakugou would kill us if we don’t pass, so let’s not let that happen.”

The young man sighed, but his friend was right. “He so would.”

“That’s the spirit!” All Might pumped his fist in the air with pride at their positive turn around. The rest of the students now join in, standing or stating their intentions to not let the boys down.

“Now that, that’s all settled, let finish today’s lesson.” Groans ricochet around the room at Aizawa killing the mood again. “Yeah, yeah, just get your textbooks out…”

[lokislittlesigyn]

// loki spoilers

This is basically a huge infodump on my thoughts about the first episode, because I doubt y’all want to sift through my trauma-ridden ramblings. I’ll make another post for the rest. This is just everything not related to the IW stuff/my reaction to that. It’s general thoughts, theories, musings.

1. When Loki gets first taken into the TVA. Is that Peggy Carter in the background? Others have suggested it might be. What would that mean??? Will we see the TVA fix the mess the Russos made with Steve/Peggy (not likely) or is it just a lookalike? Who knows..

2. A skrull at the main intake desk! Idk not super relevant just interesting!

3. I’m kind of glad they changed the... uncomfortable scene... with the robot burning his clothes off. He gets more time to react to seeing the machine itself, and he seems more shocked (”Now.. H-hang on just a minute.”) than angry (”Now hang on just a minute!”) i still feel.. horrible for him, i’m glad nobody Saw him and that the machine didn’t grab the clothes off, but still. Ehhh.. uncomfortable.

He is beautiful though, don’t get me wrong - I’d just prefer a shirtless Loki scene where he wants to be shirtless? let him do what he wants with his body?? he’s probably felt so out of control of his body, from being jotun to falling through space that any invasion of privacy like that hits extra deep...

That being said, I recognize the utility of the scene for the narrative - his lack of control, his literally being stripped of what he was before.

4. WHO IS THE MAN WITH THE CAT. What is his name. I love that he has a mug with his cat on it. But I want to know more. Who is he?

4.1 WHY DIDNT YOU LET LOKI PET THE CAT Please,,, I am begging you,,, let loki pet the cat and have something react kindly to him and purr all happily at his scratching behind their ears plea s e

5. The info sheet. Now this is just a little nitpicky tidbit, but in a previous promo they listed Loki’s height as 6′4 ft and weight as 525 lbs. This is taken directly from the comics if I’m not mistaken. However, in the actual show he’s listed as  6′2 (Tom’s height and Loki’s presumed height) but I don’t remember if his weight is the same. Is Loki 6′2? 6′4? please let me know i want to know how smol i am in comparison

6. His little aggressive shaking of the ticket at the guard makes me giggle each time.

7. The fact the turnstile hits so low on him reminds me,, I am short compared to him. Those things hit my stomach/waist. That one hit his legs. I am once again asking Loki to pick me up.

8. The cartoon with Miss Minutes introducing the TVA is wonderful, I love the art style especially. But it raises questions about Variants... I guess Variants can just, pop out of nowhere? Any action could be the wrong one? And then once you commit the wrong action you either get returned or pruned? Yikes??? And THIS ties into another thing later!

9. The trial scene. I have a hunch - a feeling, a suspicion. That one of three things may be true.

A. The Time-Keepers never actually existed. They’re fabricated, and now whoever runs the TVA is actually using the excuse of “The Time-Keepers decree it so!!!” to carry out whatever They think is right. The fact we haven’t seen the Time-Keepers makes me.. suspicious...

B. The Time-Keepers existed, but they have since passed on, however that may have happened. Now someone is doing the same as above, using the excuse of the Time-Keepers apparent dictations to run things.

C. The Time-Keepers do exist, and do run the timeline/TVA, but maybe they’re not infallible? Maybe the TVA info video is lying or incomplete in some way? Idk I just feel like, something about the TVA and how they run things has to be wrong. It has to? Something is off. Again, this will tie into another thought later...

I have no idea if any of these are actually true! But Loki’s questions of “Who’s in charge here? What do they do? What do you do?” punctuated by laughter leads me to believe he’s suspecting something too, or perhaps just trying to figure this mess out.

10. Seiðr/Magic. We see in this scene, Loki’s magic (”powers”) don’t work in the TVA. (and a quick side note, did he have to Flex like that? do you have to make me see Loki’s bare arms Flex like that? be still my heart. anyway please get that collar off of him and let him rest for five minutes) This makes me wonder.. Why isn’t Loki in his Jotun form? His pale skin and blue eyes are decided by magic, are they not? I suppose this is 2012, so perhaps Odin’s magic is keeping Loki looking like that. But if magic doesn’t work in the TVA, why would his spell reach so far? Clearly Loki’s magic isn’t what’s doing it. How is Loki not appearing as a Jotun? Is his Jotun form repressed - is pale skin his default now, rather than something hidden by magic? I need answers!

11. he sounds so scared about being “reset” please dont hurt him,,

12. cALLING LOKI A PUSSYCAT? (lokitty confirmed) I think Mobius was goading him (Mobius strikes me.. As extremely clever. He’s trying to push Loki’s buttons to see who he’s dealing with. At least, I hope so. Because if he really meant that “You were born to cause pain and suffering and death... All so that others can achieve the best versions of themselves.” and that line about killing Frigga??? No no no he is not guilty. He had no way of knowing what would happen. It wasn’t right to send Algrim up to Asgard (i think algrim wouldve found the way up anyway) but there was no intent to hurt Frigga. I really hope you’re trying to goad him, Mobius, because if you believe that I trust you much less. anyway i digress) but wow is he pushing Loki’s buttons a lot. I can’t... Blame him entirely, I understand he’s trying to make sure Loki’s on his side, maybe I’m just too soft for Loki idk. But some of that was very cruel to say. /:

12.1 AND ANOTHER THING ABOUT MOBIUS. That scene with the girl in the church?? Did that little girl kill the men? Is that young Sylvie? Or is she using an illusion to make herself look young and innocent? What’s going on!!!!

13. LOKI SNATCHING THE LITTLE TIME-TWISTER DEVICE AND STOWING IT IN HIS POCKET.... POCKET....... sorry sometimes i get so caught up about loki that i just say random words in between little noises and squeals,,, i am a silly thing

14. CASEY. CASEY??? That whole exchange is funny. Poor Loki, just trying to intimidate this guy so he can escape but - Casey doesn’t know what a fish is. to be fair.... thor doesn’t seem to know what a raccoon is... right?

15. That bit with the infinity stones is kind of funny until you realize

A. Natasha died for a paperweight

B. Tony died from paperweights

C. Loki was tortured for paperweights

D. Oh, and Gamora died for a paperweight too. And Vision. Need I go on?

Then it becomes less of exclusively “haha funny” and now it’s a mix of funny and pain and gosh, is that a good way to sum up being a Marvel/Loki fan sometimes...

16. Loki gazing at the timeline all “Is this the most powerful thing in the universe?” or something, i’m sorry i don’t remember exactly... made me think of a meme and i shall make it presently.

17. I love that Loki got to see examples of how his family loves him but the fact he’s all “I can’t go back.” really just breaks me. It’s like he can finally see they love him after all of this mess, and now he doesn’t have the chance. Please, please let him be happy. Give him some relief. This is the Loki that just came off finding out about being Jotun, falling from the Bifrost, encountering Thanos, attacking Earth, facing defeat, and now he’s being thrashed around in this wild place and has just found out he inadvertently caused Frigga’s death (he did not kill her: his actions, by mistake, lead to her murder, let me be very clear) AND Odin will die AND all the rest... And he wants to be with them.

18. Loki’s reaction to Thor suggesting the hug makes me soft. Please I want to hug this little mischief man so so so bad-

19. Skipping over the iw parts! That’s for another post because this one will be grossly long anyway.

20. “I don’t enjoy hurting people.” and “It's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. A desperate play for control.” was all so, so validating. I’ve been trying to argue on Loki’s behalf for almost a solid decade. Seeing the show recognize that Loki’s not all just violence and hurting for “fun”, that he’s not unhinged and bloodthirsty.. Is so nice. It’s just so, so comforting. and it gives me hope for future episodes that they won’t go the route of “oh haha loki bullied and mistreated and stabbed thor for years!!! :)” loki cries during basically every fight with Thor and you want me to believe he stabs Thor for fun? absolutely not.

21. Theory.. Just another hunch.. So we know a fugitive variant, aka Loki, is running amok. Refer back to 8 and 9.C. What if the Time-Keepers never actually fixed the timeline into a single timeline? What if there are other timelines, and these different Loki variants have hopped over to the current one? Or, maybe the Time-Keepers did fix the timeline into a single one, and these Lokis are remnants from that huge time-war at the beginning? Time runs differently in relative spaces, they may have Just Left that war from their perspective!

I say Lokis and not Loki because we’re pretty sure there’s Female/Lady Loki, Old Man/King Loki, and possibly Young/Kid Loki. That’s at least three. From the peeks of Asgard and NYC we’ve seen from the trailers, I think we’re also getting an Asgardian King!Loki and Midgardian King/Vote!Loki. (unless our dearest variant is hopping into timelines and situating into them, but I doubt Mobius would let that happen..?) That’s five.

To further support this, keep in mind, I believe recently six (i think 6 regular and 6 rare...) different funko pops were announced for the series? I’m not sure if they’re in addition to the Loki and Mobius already released. If they are, there’s enough room for each Loki and maybe a TVA agent. One of the pops is supposed to have a buddy/companion I think? Maybe they’re making the cat guy into one, or maybe there’s something else (Throg, anyone?).

22. That is totally Lady Loki/Sylvie at the end by the way. Has to be. But why does she want the reset devices? Why did she snatch that TVA Hunter? Again, WHAT’S GOING ON

ANYWAY this was a very long post if you made it this far, I commend you.

[class1akids]

hi, just wanted to say I appreciate your addition to that post about "problematic" fancontent. you shouldn't have had to share personal, traumatic experiences to prove a (very valid) point but the ideas you posted there rlly are things that present fandom culture should learn about.

Thank you for fully reading and understanding what I was trying to say. 

Thanks also to all the people who came to reassure me that a celebrity crush is not problematic. While I appreciate the support, this wasn’t really my point - I know that there is absolutely nothing problematic with it. 

What bothered me were that people insinuating / questioning whether I shipped Hawks x Shouto (1) felt entitled to ask me with an accusatory tone (2) suggested that if I were shipping it, I became suddenly a disgusting, problematic fan. 

And even though I don’t ship it, it really annoyed me for two reasons: (1) since I never actively promoted the ship, I feel like nobody should be questioned like that about what they may or may not like in their private thoughts; (2) it really bothers me that people are trying to assimilate young adult / late teen relationships (which may or may not be sexual) with sexual abuse of young children or call people who think about it pedophiles. 

I’m not denying that teen-adult relationships can be very problematic, nor am I denying that adults always have a responsibility towards minors. But I can’t help feeling that some distinctions should be made.

Teens in many countries can work, drink, drive cars, create social media accounts, have unsupervised access to the internet, have their own phones, go out with their friends with no parents present - and all these activities carry risks they need to learn to mitigate (because there will always be predators). It is true that the US classifies all sexual behavior with someone under-18 as CSA, but internationally the age of consent is lower. In many countries (including most European countries), 16 being the line rather and having close-age gap exemptions. So “underage” is not an absolute concept, it has a cultural framing (I grew up with 16 being the age of consent with an adult and 14 with another minor, so for me that’s normal). 

And yes, whether fans write about it or not, often teens do engage in sexual behavior, with peers or sometimes somewhat older people. “Problematic” fan-fiction didn’t create this - biology did. I had close friends who had affairs with college-age boys when they were in their teens, and were actively pursuing those relationships feeling like same-age boys were too immature. Their experience in a relationship like that is vastly different from my experience of being assaulted as a 9-year old.  Young children (under 14, but especially under 12) do not have this kind of autonomy and freedom, nor the tools to protect themselves.

Fandom police tries to create a false equivalence between these experiences, and on top of it, tries to pin the trauma of the 9-year old child on people who write about sex between let’s say a 17-year and 20-year old on a fan site tagged for Explicit content and Underage so people who don’t want to read it can really easily avoid it. They are not the same. 

And sure, internet strangers can be dangerous (though I’d expect the real predators to be more low-profile than artists promoting their works), and we need to teach safety to kids to spot them and avoid them, but abusers are more likely to be people we know. More than 8 out of 10 children who are sexually abused know their abuser. They are family members or friends often very young themselves, neighbours or babysitters, coaches or teachers or priests - many hold responsible positions in society, which is why it is so difficult for the kids to stand up for themselves in such a situation.

Also, just in general, you can’t protect CSA-victims by harassing fanfic writers and artists creating “problematic content”. How do you even decide what is “problematic”?

What if the author was one of the people who had sex as 16-year old with someone who was 19? If they wrote a memoir of their own experience, would it count as “child pornography”?  Obviously not. What if they didn’t feel like using their own name and decided to project that experience on two fictional characters, so they could stay anonymous? Does the content become problematic suddenly? What if it’s a fix-it for their real life experience? Or a friend’s experience? Who is getting harmed here? 

I mean I don’t even pretend to know the answer to these questions, but I feel like we should be able to talk about them without jumping to conclusions.  

Harassing those writers and artists, trying to shut down people’s imagination doesn’t solve the problem of child sexual abuse. It just contributes to another very widespread problem instead: cyberbullying. 

And I’m sure many people who send call-out asks to suspected “problem fans” or participate in calling them out or cancelling them believe that they are doing something good to protect children from sexual abuse. 

But as a CSA-survivor, I can tell you, harassing fandom creators, sending them anon death threats, telling them to kill themselves over their shipping preferences will not help child or teenage victims. But it may hurt a real person in a very real way. 

I have a couple of suggestions that are more helpful than fandom policing and discourse to the people who really feel passionate about solving these problems:

- Spread science and facts about the interaction of fiction and reality, rather than falsehoods. Here is an excellent essay citing good research. Here is another fascinating post. The point is, rather than try to police fiction, it’s more effective to actually learn to distinguish fiction from reality, to be able to access fiction critically and to teach kids media literacy

-  Reblog good content about teaching young children not only of “stranger danger” but of consent and body autonomy and asserting boundaries towards people they know and when interacting with kids, model these behaviours (things I wish my parents taught me)

- lobby for schools to have proper child protection policy and age-appropriate, real-science based sex education and good information about safe sex to people who don’t get this information from their families or schools  

- spread information about age-appropriate internet safety both for kids and teenagers, including how to spot grooming intent from adults, how to engage in online discussions safely

- spread and reblog information about basic self-defence and minimizing risks when out and about. 

- spread information about government services, hotlines and charities that help victims of CSA or if you feel ambitious volunteer and raise funds. 

I think these are more helpful and respectful to CSA-victims than the raging discourse happening in their name. I don’t think you can ever solve any problem by violent scapegoating and shutting down the conversation.

[dropintomanga]

The Evergreen Shonen Story

A short while ago, there were some online conversations about the popularity of shonen stories. Almost all of them are based around the experiences of youth and some adult fans wanted action-oriented stories based around their life experiences as adults. Reading stories centered on teens and kids as the main characters isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, I’ll admit that. But sometimes, I think shonen stories are somewhat of a reflection on what adults have been telling kids for years and how some/most of their advice has failed youth.

Life begins in the womb. We come out to a world of many possibilities. As children, we’re immune to bias until adults decide to tell us about the many differences of various people out there. Some adults may not care and have trouble dealing with their own pain, They may resort to substances like drugs and alcohol to cope. Under the influence of drugs or alcohol, these adults may start to abuse children and/or neglect them entirely.

There’s a term that relates to the overwhelming negative experiences of children growing up. It’s called ACE - “adverse childhood experiences.” Examples of such experiences include physical/sexual abuse, parent separation, physical/emotional neglect, and living with an adult with substance addiction. I look at a bunch of shonen flashback stories and many of the traumatic ones revolve around physical and emotional neglect.

Why is this important to acknowledge? Because some adults do a bad job in raising their children or guiding kids to become responsible individuals. We’ve seen examples of bad parenting in anime and manga. There’s also the fact that adults have been full of dreams themselves when they were kids, but have been fed advice on how the “real world” works. They’ve been told that they can’t make their dreams come true and/or they need to behave a certain way to get by. It’s a vicious cycle. A colleague of mine told me that when she sees young people with vision and a desire to smash the status quo end up being a part of the status quo themselves, she wondered if that’s due to those individuals seeing how hard it is and how long it takes to generate the change they want to see.

One of my favorite shonen characters in recent memory is Satoro Gojo of Jujutsu Kaisen. He was a student of Jujutsu High and ends up becoming a teacher there. Gojo is considered to be a prodigy, but he remains humble. He’s also willing to speak up to authority as he has gotten into disputes with upper school management over the fates of cursed students (particularly Yuji Itadori and Yuta Okkutsu) whose potential have yet to be realized. Gojo has once said that he needs to remind himself not to be a bitter old adult as he ages.

A good number of shonen stories drive the point that adults shouldn’t be bitter old ones. Or maybe more importantly, don’t be dismissive about teen experiences. I listened to a podcast a while back about loneliness and how much it affects mental health. There was a discussion point about adults ignoring teens that feel lonely with regards to dating. Here’s a quote from that discussion.

“The number one way that we do this (being dismissive of loneliness) in America is every single 30-year-old up completely dismisses the loneliness that a teenager feels about not having a significant other. Because once we hit 30, we realize that your 16 year old significant other is nonsense. It’s just nonsense. You’re gonna be in love so much in your life. You’re gonna love everybody. You’re going to date a million people. It’s gonna be fine. You’re going to realize how insignificant this relationship is. 

The key word there is you’re gonna realize it. It’s a future thing for them. So when every 30, 40, 50, 60 year old looks at the 16, 17, 18 year old and says, oh, you just broke up with your boyfriend? Yeah, who cares? That’s a meaningless relationship. I don’t care. That exacerbates the loneliness. It exacerbates the disconnected feeling because it really, really, really, really matters to them.”

I honestly think adults being dismissive towards teens’ current experiences is one reason why shonen stories still resonate with many. We’ve all been through those times where adults just shut us down because ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Yes, there comes a point where we have to move forward. But a good amount of emotional pain stems from adolescence and it lingers. Most mental disorders begin to happen around those years. Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to give back in ways that stop the cycle. I do think mangaka are trying their best to give back the way they know how. 

Yet I think the biggest reason for the enduring popularity of shonen stories is friendship. We all know the Shonen Jump tropes - friendship, hard work and victory. All three are important, but friends are what really keeps us alive. The harsh truths are that hard work doesn’t always get you where you want to go and victories do come at the cost of important relationships. Over the years, I noticed that in my neck of the woods, friendship is frowned upon. When you’re ranking important relationships in life, first is your mother, then maybe your father, then your romantic partner, followed by your children. Friends are last. There was a nice read I found that listed a good amount of studies on the importance of friends (especially for those who are LGBTQ+ and faced stigma from immediate family). 

We don’t live on an island, contrary to what neoliberalism says. Families aren’t enough. Friends are what keeps us alive and helps build our sense of identity. 

Maybe the fans who want more mature/adult-centered stories with shonen action just want to see more nuanced stories about friendships in adult settings. Friendships are so hard to make and maintain as adults. There’s some glimmers of hope for those kinds of stories - in video games. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a great example of an adult hero in a genre dominated by young protagonists, the Japanese RPG. The story is about a 42-year old ex-yakuza who gets exiled into a unfamiliar city and manages to make something of himself with the help of new friends he made there. It was refreshing because the whole cast were adults who were unemployed and/or stigmatized due to underworld ties. They managed to save Japan from a vicious political alliance with action elements that felt shonen at heart.

I’m all for more adult-centered mainstream shonen stories because seinen material can be a bit too blunt for some tastes, but there’s a lot of focus on the mindset of youth lately than in decades past since there’s concern on how they will manage in a world that continues to disappoint them.

I love shonen because I honestly don’t feel like I’m an adult due to my depression. My development felt stunted. I feel that I have more in common with 20+-year olds than people my age. I want to be around people who are youthful at heart. I wonder about those who still enjoy shonen past the target demographic - what still draws them to it? Is it due to them embracing their inner child more likely than most people? Or do they just like to follow simple action stories that have a lot of heart (something that some people don’t have)?

Looking at shonen’s enduring mainstream status does make me think about the the feedback loops between adults and teenagers. I’ll end this by talking about an incident that happened a couple years ago where a somewhat prominent Anitwitter figure (I am NOT going to mention their name here, but you may know who I’m referring to), who made a lot of friends with people in the anime/manga industry, was outed be a sexual predator who went after young naive anime fans at fan conventions. One of the reactions from someone that was once close with them was how can older anime fans better connect with younger anime fans when needed. I know from personal experience, I sigh on seeing the behavior of teens at conventions at times. But I learned that by saying things like “Kids are so dramatic,” “Boys will be boys,” “She’s being emotional.” gets harmful in a hurry where proper context is warranted. Maybe they are being so-and-so, but it doesn’t hurt to ask and give validation to their concerns. Teens are the lifeblood of anime conventions right now.

Shonen is a gateway introduction for youth on how to process pain in a way that helps themselves and other people with the help of said people. It’s an escape from the distress and trauma of reality. That reality, which has situations like the incident I mentioned, is controlled by adults who don’t always have it together, can’t admit their flaws, and sadly take it out on the world. That’s why shonen is still so powerful today despite all the criticism the genre gets. And that’s the evergreen truth.

[deantransgressions2]

13x04 the big empty

23 transgressions. sigh.

#1: he was momentarily giving sam the silent treatment for no valid reason considering sam did nothing wrong.

time tag: 2:05

#2: name calling. and just being rude for no fucking reason

sam: “what you, uh, working on?”

dean: “dead guy in madison. police say it was a home invasion, but neighbor claims that she saw the vic’s dead wife leave the crime scene.”

sam: “let’s check it out.”

dean: “what, you ready to ditch damien? what do you wanna do? leave him in a ring of holy oil with some netflix and a frozen pizza?”

time tag: 2:09

#3: more name calling

dean: “uh, hell, no. what, “adventures in babysitting” the antichrist? no, thank you”

time tag: 2:25

#4: dean gave up on mary. AND kept trying to convince sam that lucifer killed mary even though SAM actually knows lucifer and dean does not. 

dean: “yeah, it is, actually. you wanna know why? because as long as he’s here, he’s not out there doing god knows what. so what, does this mean that your plan for bringing mom back isn’t working? ‘cause i’ll say it again....mom’s dead, sam. lucifer ripped out her freakin’ heart. now, the sooner you can wrap your head around that, the sooner we can all move on.”

time tag: 2:40

#5: an infant should not have to put effort into convincing a full grown man to not murder him. sam should not have to protect an infant from his abusive brother

jack: “dean can’t even look at me. he wants to kill me.” sam: “i won’t let that happen. listen, if there’s one thing that dean respects, it’s effort. so come along. help us out. let’s go be the good guys.”

time tag: 6:02

#6: jack attempted to open his car door to join sam and dean. dean forcefully slammed it back in his face and told him to stay put. 

time tag: 7:15

#7: he verbally assaulted an infant for not following instructions.....

dean: “hey! i told you to wait in the car. what the hell are you doing?” jack: “i’m trying to help out.” dean: “how is this helping out?”

time tag: 7:53

#8: made fun of jack for trying to help out

time tag: 8:08

#9: ordered jack to dig up the grave so he didn’t have to. sam said what we were all thinking:

dean: “all right, well, you said you wanted to help, so, uh… dig.”

sam: “dean, what’s up with all the orders? you’re starting to sound like dad.”

dean: “that a bad thing?”

sam: “i’m just saying his...his drill sergeant act worked with you… but it didn’t work with me. and that’s not the way we’re gonna get through to jack.”

dean: “look, you wanted the kid here, he’s here. all right? but I’m not gonna hold his hand and tuck him in at night. pass. i’m not gonna be his mother, and neither are you. and the kid can dig, so i’ll give him that.”

time tag: 8:49

#10: ordered jack to get food for all of them. sam told dean that he was treating jack like an “intern” and he wasn’t wrong!

time tag: 12:20

#11: not really a funny joke. like he’s a 40 year old man maybe he should grow up and stop talking shit about therapist and.....go fucking see one himself.

dean: “hmm. shrinks. snake oil for the mind.”

sam: “or how healthy people deal.”

dean: “yeah? all right, let’s see how good old, uh, gloria was dealing. here you go. “and now that i’ve achieved catharsis, i can truly see the program works.” the program? come on, i mean, she’s one kool-aid away from jonestown.”

time tag: 12:42

#12: the blatant verbal abuse...trivializing everything jack does or says...who the fuck seriously stans canon dean. if u do get help.

time tag: 13:19

#13: he had onions on his hotdog. so not only is he a child abuser, he ALSO smells like onions. makes everything he does this episode so much worse if that’s even possible

time tag: 13:38

#14: any form of ordering or demanding aggressively is a form of verbal abuse. name calling is also a form of abuse. here are two instances, both within the same scene:

receptionist: “oh, i’m sorry. you caught us right at the end of our day. maybe tomorrow.”

dean: “no, today’s good. like right now.”

and 

dean: “listen, mr. spock, you speak when i tell you to speak, okay?”

jack: “yes.”

dean: “good.”

time tag: 14:32

#15: dean was curt towards the therapist, who he just met and had treated him with nothing but kindness. 

time tag: 15:31

#16: insinuated that journaling is for girls/women. 

mia: “dean? you journal?”

dean: “ever since i was a little girl.”

time tag: 16:00

#17: insinuated that actually sam is the one that needs help, not him. denial and projection. you hate to see it. 

time tag: 16:32

#18: gaslighting, name calling, undermining, and diverting the conversation to find issues with sam instead of himself.

dean: “all right, this is a safe place, right, doc? okay. my brother’s delusional…”

sam: “dean.”

dean: “you said you wanted to give this a shot, right? here we go. he won’t even admit that mom’s dead. won’t even admit it.”

sam: “stop.”

dean: “because if he admits it, then it’s real. if it’s real, then he has to deal with it, and he can’t handle that.”

time tag: 16:42

#19: sigh. 

mia: “you just upset your brother so much, he had to leave the room. and jack? look at him. he’s terrified of you.”

dean: “nah. no, we’re simpatico. right, kid?”

jack: “we’re simpatico.” mia: “convincing.”

time tag: 19:02

#20: jack is trying to get through to dean and convince him that he can be useful. jack just wants dean to like him. and with abusers, being liked/respected and being viewed as an object can be a fine line. 

time tag: 25:50

#21: dean conditioning jack to seek validation from him. 

jack: “hey.” dean: “hey. you did good today, jack.”

time tag: 39:35

#22: “acting like a dick” is a massive fucking understatement. also, dean now only sees the value of jack’s life because he finally deems him useful. but, sam saw value in jack’s life simply because jack was a child and deserved a life. cas saw value in jack’s life before he was even born. sam and cas are the only two valid people in jack’s life 

dean: “listen, man, back at, uh, mia’s, i was out of line. i’m sorry for being a… a dick lately.”

sam: “thanks.” dean: “and maybe you’re right, about the kid. i mean, he tries. i’ll give him that. and he tapped his powers, saved our ass, so that’s a win.”

time tag: 39:56

#23: dean was verbally abusing his brother for doing something he actually wanted him to do (believing mary was alive)... hmm. 

time tag: 40:45

[pixelwisp-archive]

i want more orimakki 😩 !!! pls answer these q's i rly wanna know 🥺

Flora I love you so MUCH oh my god thank you for feeding me TT-TT (also I'm ABSOLUTELY SENDING THIS BACK FOR YOU AND OSAMU I WANNA KNOWWWW)

I’m gonna answer these Interview style because it sounds fun to do and because I can😌

This ended up taking me SO long because, per usual, I got way too carried away lmao I'm so sorry

Makki is blue and I'm orange! (Interviewer is red lmao)

1. Who loves flower crowns more?

“Ori, for sure”

“I’m bad at making them though, so I make Hiro make them for me” 

Makki looks at her like😒 and she laughs - he bites back a smile.

2. Who is the one who likes to cuddle?

"Hiro, for sure - I get a little weird about physical affection"

"She hates me"

"That's not true bub, you're just so hot"

"Thanks babe, I think you're pretty cute too"

Ori rolls her eyes and elbows him. "Next question"

3. Who has awful taste in music?

*simultaneously* "Hiro" "Me"

4. Who is the meme lover?

"I run a relatively popular account on instagram"

"I wake up every day to at least 30 new memes that he's spammed my phone with"

5. How did their second date go?

Ori starts laughing as Makki groans.

"He tried to take me to a park for a picnic-"

"Listen it would have been romantic but there was this fucking-"

"raccoon coming to grab our food-"

"and of course Ori is a dumbass ("HEY") and was ready to pet the literal wild animal ("he was so cute :(") so I tried to like shoo it away but-"

"It bit him and we ended up just sharing a cheese stick in the hospital"

"It was a disaster, to say the least"

"It's still one of my favorite dates, though"

"You just like seeing me in pain"

Ori laughs. "Not True!"

6. How many children do they want/have?

"17"

"absolutely not"

"we've talked about having two, maybe three"

"with a couple years in between. Gotta make sure they bully each other. It's important for character growth"

"We'll be sure to bully the oldest so they're not a weirdo like their mom"

Ori nods in agreement.

7. Who hides the weapons?

"I have a knife collection, does that count? I keep them in a display case on the wall"

8. Who is the better dancer?

Makki laughs. "Oh, me for sure"

"YOU?"

"Have you seen your dancing babe?"

"Have you seen YOUR dancing? What the hell is this?" *imitates this god awful windmill move*

"...okay, valid. We're both bad."

9. Do/Did they have a theme wedding?

"We're not married, marriage is for chumps."

Makki sighs. "We're not married *yet*."

"Gross, tryna tie me down stinky?"

"Been trying for years, bub"

Ori blushes, and looks away to hide her smile.

"...maybe"

Makki grins and leans in. "What?"

"I said maybe. I just-"

"I know, baby. Maybe is all I need."

10. What do their parents think of them dating?

"My parents are in love with Ori."

"My parents love him too!"

"Even your dads?"

"Yeah, my dads love you"

"Your step dad doesn't seem to like me much"

Ori furrows her brows. "which one?"

"I'm sorry, did you say 'which one?'"

"Oh, sorry. I have three dads. My mom, my dad, and then their husbands"

"I don't know, your mom's husband doesn't seem like he's warmed up to me"

"It took him years to even warm up to me. He shared his pot roast recipe with you, remember? that was his seal of approval"

Ori giggles while Makki looks at her suspiciously but eventually mumbles "if you say so"

11. Are they a super sappy couple?

"She clowns the shit out of me whenever I try"

Ori laughs. "I'm sorry I just don't know how to act when I'm embarrassed"

"I'm trying to woo you, not embarrass you, you jackass"

"*woo* me?!" Ori cackles

"I don't know why I even try"

(She goes up to him later, and takes his face in her hands, her demeanor more serious than before

"Hey, bub. You know I don't mean *you* embarrass me right? I just get awkward about affection"

He sighs and nuzzles into her palm

"I know you didn't, it's ok. I just love you too much sometimes, and its hard to reel it in"

"I love you too. So so much"

"I am gonna ask you to marry me someday. You know that?"

"I know, and my simp ass is gonna say yes. How gross is that"

Makki rolls his eyes, a smile on his face

"So gross")

12. How did they get together?

"We danced around each other for like 2 years"

"it was painful"

"Iwaizumi finally beat the confidence into me enough to kiss her"

"I don't know that you ever actually asked me out"

"Really? Oh, well then, wanna date?"

"Nah, you're a little weird"

"Damn ok, guess I'll call Mattsun" Ori laughs

13. Who asked the other to get married?

*more gagging noises while Makki sighs*

"It'll be me, clearly"

14. Who stays up too late and makes stupid jokes?

"Hiro. 100%"

"Hey, you stay up late too!"

"I know, but my jokes are always funny"

"rude"

15. Who is the nerd?

"Oh my god it's Ori"

"Hey, I converted you, fellow nerd. plus, you have a knife collection - if that's not nerd shit idk what is"

"touché"

16. Who knows the most obscure facts?

"Hiro"

"Did you know that penguins have knees?"

"I do now"

17. Who makes the other a flower crown?

"Hiro! His fingers are better suited for the weaving, I have weirdly small hands"

"Hey, I like your hands"

"Awh, babe<3"

18. Who likes to read?

"I do! If I'm not reading a physical book I'm always reading something on my phone!"

19. Who bothers the other person while the other person reads?

Makki grins, pointing to himself while Ori shoots him a playful glare

20. Who tutors the other?

"Hiro is actually wicked smart. He an invaluable study buddy"

"Ori is the definition of a bimbo"

"Nah I'm the shebo, I'm not hot enough to make bimbo status"

"Excuse me? Consensus says you are both very hot AND definitely belonging in the bimbo category"

"Consensus? What consensus"

Makki smiles, a little too innocently. "Group Chat"

"Oh my god"

21. Do they have similar taste in movies?

"Ori enjoys literally everything so it's really easy to find common ground"

"We change it up a lot, but we're usually end up with either a horror movie or we binge an anime"

22. How do their personalities compliment each other?

"We're both fucking weirdos"

"Yeah, and Hiro's calm complements my loud - he grounds me when I need it"

"goes both ways - I get loud too. Feelings are loud sometimes and that's ok"

Ori snorts. "Ok, dr.phil"

23. How do they tell everyone that they are going to be having a kid/adopting a child soon?

"Is like, texting them an option?"

"We'll take em' out for breadsticks or something"

"Oh lets have them open up like a lil onesie, our moms would die"

Ori laughs "What's it gonna say on it"

"'You're both grandmas now. Congrats, you old bitches'"

Ori wheezes, folding in on herself in her seat

"That's so fucking stupid, we are absolutely doing that"

24. Who has better fashion sense?

"Look at us. Look at how we're dressed"

"There are holes in my shirt"

"and that's his nice shirt"

"In my defense, it had holes when I bought it"

"So holes are fashionable now?"

"Apparently"

"Hobo chic"

25. Who will punch someone out if they are rude to their partner?

"Ori is a doormat-"

"RUDE"

"-Lemme finish babe - until it comes to her people. If someone's rude to me she is ready to throw hands in seconds flat"

"damn straight...would you fight for me?"

"Of course. you think I wouldn't?"

"Just making sure<3"

26. What songs do they sing together in the vehicle?

"EVERYTHING"

27. What other couple would your otp get along with?

Ori perks up "Flora and Osamu!!! I love the both of them so much, they're so cute together too"

"They're great people, plus Osamu gives us free food and honestly, what else do you need in a friend"

Ori slaps Makki's shoulder "Stop acting like you only like Osamu for his cooking"

"I'm only kidding!"

28. Who likes to prank the other?

"Ori does this thing where she'll do something nice for me and then go "get pranked!" when I notice"

"I do indeed do that"

"I am not kind. Sometimes I'll just, buy an air horn. And press it. while she's asleep."

Ori glares at Makki

"he does indeed do that"

29. Who is the one who loves to take pictures?

"I do"

"He's alwaysss taking pictures, but I hate getting my picture taken and he's super respectful of that"

"...yeah"

(Later, when Ori's stepped out for a minute

"I do take pics of her. She doesn't know it but I do"

Makki starts to show off an album full of candids of Ori

Makki sighs, a soft smile on his face "She's so pretty"

"Don't tell her about this please, she'll murder me")

30. How would they react if they found out they were soul mates?

"Oof"

"That's what you'd say? Oof?"

"It's an oof for you. stuck? with me? forever?"

"you doofus, there's no one else I'd rather have"

"you little fucker, you're gonna make me cry"

makki laughs and squeezes her hand "love you stinky"

Ori sniffles "Yeah I love you too I guess"

31. Where would they live?

"right now we live in an apartment in Osaka-"

"but eventually we wanna by a house. We're thinking of going back home to Miyagi"

"We miss the small town atmosphere"

32. What type of dragon would they own, if they could have one?

"oh my god, a little shoulder dragon would be so cute"

"ok but imagine how much money we'd save with something we could ride to work"

"shit, you're so right"

33. If they were both vampires, what type of vampires would they be?

"There are types of vampires?" looks to Makki, Makki shrugs

"Is dying an option?"

34. What would they dress up as, for Halloween?

"we do themed couple ones but like, not sexy ones"

"yeah, like for instance our friends went as a fireman and his girl was a dalmation, and we were-"

"bob ross and his panting!"

"...she was bob ross"

"this year I'm trying to get him to dress as mothman so I can dress up as a lamp"

35. Can they name each other’s favourite food?

"Ori loves chicken to the point where it's almost concerning"

"Hiro likes cream puffs"

"No no, they're Profiteroles"

"they're the same thing babe"

"but profiteroles sound so much fancier"

36. Do they have pet names for one another?

"The usual"

"Babe, baby-"

"stinky, fuckass-"

"bubs-"

"doofus, dumbass, nerd"

"nothing crazy"

37. How do they cheer each other up?

"I swear to god he's a psychic - he always knows exactly what I need. Sometimes I need space, sometimes I just need a hug, other times he'll have a whole self care night in prepared for me when I get home"

"Ori always knows what to do. She's not a snuggler but she will let me hold her for hours if it meant making me feel better. Honestly most of the time she holds me because - well, boobs"

"Takahiro!"

Makki laughs and jerks away as she pinches his side

38. Do they show a lot of PDA?

"I think we're not too bad. We hold hands, I'll give her the occasional kiss. She lets me wrap my arm around her sometimes"

"These questions are making me feel like a bad girlfriend. Let? :("

"hush, you're the best. You think I'd stick around if you were a bad girlfriend? Do you know how obsessed with you I am? The boys clown me for never shutting up about you even after all this time"

*Ori buries her face in her hands to hide the blush* "Oh my god you're so lame"

"That's her way of saying she loves me too :)"

39. How old were they when they got together?

"I was 22, Ori was 20"

"holy shit, almost four years?"

"Yep"

"wow"

40. Who is the one that would bring the puppy home?

"Me!"

"She's done it before. She named her Ripley"

41. Can they do yoga couple’s poses?

both start cackling "Absolutely not. We can try but it would be a disaster"

42. What is their song?

"Oh its-"

Castaways from the Backyardigans starts playing from Makki's phone as he grins.

"-our song is not Castaways, Hiro"

"It could be. We could decide it is right now"

"We are not making our song Castaways"

"oh c'moooonnnnn, it's a bop!"

Ori laughs "Its-"

"Your song by Elton John. It was playing when we kissed for the first time"

Ori covers her smile with her hand, her eyes soft as she looks at Makki

43. What does their room look like?

"A mess right now, Ori had to find an outfit for today so there are clothes everywhere"

Ori grins sheepishly

44. Who would be the one to kill zombies while the other keeps them grounded?

"Hiro would probably do the killing, I would be moral support"

"I dunno babe, I think if you snapped you could totally become a badass"

"You think so?"

"Hell yeah, I've seen you get mad at Mattsun enough times to know you can get scary as hell when you wanna"

45. Who makes the other breakfast in bed?

"we've done it for each other, it depends on the day to be honest"

46. Who loves kids more?

"Ori"

"But the kids LOVE Hiro so much its crazy, and he's so good with them"

"I like kids well enough but they're so rude and for what"

"I find their lack of filter funny!"

"If you ever feel your ego is too big, just talk to a seven year old. They'll drag to hell and back with no hesitation"

47. Do either of them have a crazy ex?

"I dunno. Do you?"

"No. Do you?"

"Nope"

"Cool"

48. What are their favourite colours?

"Hiro's is this very specific red color"

"Ori doesn't have one, it changes all the time"

"this is true"

49. Who likes to cook?

"Oh I love cooking!"

"She does majority of the cooking but we sometimes cook together"

"he is utter chaos in the kitchen but we always have a good time, even if he make my blood pressure go through the roof"

50. Who is the forgetful one?

"Hey Ori, what'd you have for breakfast this morning."

"I- um. An Iced Coffee?"

"Final answer?"

"....yes"

"Bzzzt. Wrong. You had cereal :)"

51. Does either of them know how to fight?

"I don't mean to brag, but I've taken Tai chi lessons"

"Babe, you signed up for those lessons after we binged Avatar, and you only went to four of those classes before quitting because it was too hard"

"Those four lessons taught me enough to kick someone's ass for you though"

Ori laughs "I'm sure they did"

52. What do they do for Valentines Day?

"We have this tradition of going to the store and each of us take turns blindly picking out snacks, pajamas, and either a movie/video game/or craft project and we stay in and have a little pamper day"

"we also absolutely RAID the store next day when the candy is half off"

53. Who swears more?

"We both swear a lot to be honest"

"Oh my god we're so bad"

54. Who has the better comebacks?

"Hiro, 100%"

"Ori is quick too though"

"But you go right for the jugular"

"I'm not mean to you though"

"Oh no! I just mean with others, like Oikawa - you drag that man within an inch of his life"

Makki laughs "Oh ok yeah that's fair"

55. Who would start a fight with another parent at a bake sale?

"Me. Like I said, Ori is a doormat. She is so afraid of confrontation someone could literally spit on her and she'd apologize to them"

"It sounds so bad when you put it like that"

56. Who reads buzzfeed?

"Hiro says he does them ironically, but I'll be reading something on my phone and he'll start asking me obscure questions, and then I realize he's trying to get me to build a smoothie so he can find out with 'Desperate Houswife' I am"

"She got Gabrielle"

"Which isn't even accurate, I'm totally more of a Susan"

"You have some of Gabrielle's spice, though"

"What did you get?"

"Me? oh, I got Lynette"

"kinda accurate, actually"

57. Who is the hopeless romantic?

"I am, she makes fun of me but I know she loves it"

"I do, honestly"

58. Do either of them know how to do a handstand?

"I do!"

59. Who can rap better?

"oh god, neither of us"

"speak for yourself"

"go on babe, rap for them"

"...well I can't right now"

"exactly"

60. Do either of them want to go sky diving?

"I'd be down"

"I love the idea of it but oof, I'm too chicken shit"

61. What do they usually text about?

Makki pulls out his phone

"'hey babe, we're out of eggs' - that was Ori"

"'dog' - with a pic attached of said dog, that was from me"

"11/10, 'I hope he knows what a good boy he is', that was Ori's response"

"Then Ori ranted to me about Uraraka's character development"

"the wasted potential is appalling"

"absolutely it is. 3 hours later, from me - 'I forgot eggs'"

62. Who is the dramatic one?

"me, for sure"

"She's self aware though so its not so bad"

63. Is either one confrontational?

"Not really? We both avoid confrontation whenever possible. If something needs to be said though, I don't really have any reservations about it"

64. What is their favourite cuddle position?

"Me as the big spoon, I much prefer holding him I think, its less hot that way"

"Plus, boobs :3"

Ori groans as Makki laughs "I hate you"

65. Who are their favourite musical artist(s)?”

"Ooooh thats a toughie, we listen to so much"

66. What are their parenting styles?

"I tend to be the bad guy"

"That's not true!"

"Why do you think kids like you better? I'm the one who makes them eat veggies for a snack and you bribe them with ice cream"

"I promise we'll share the bad guy role when we have our own"

Ori narrows her eyes at Makki, sticking her tongue out at him "we better"

67. Who would be the more laid back one?

"Hiro, I get wound like a fucking top sometimes"

"You stress easily, but its ok, when you're stressed you get mean and its kinda hot"

"I'm glad my breakdowns are sexy to you"

Makki laughs "You know that's not what I meant"

68. Who listens to more vulgar music?

"Ehh, neither of us really"

"not our jam"

69. Do either of them have secrets even the other doesn’t know?

"...do you?"

"....no"

"That was suspish"

"I'm sorry did you just say 'suspish'?"

"don't change the subject! what are you hiding?"

"Nothing!! I swear"

"Pinky?"

"Pinky"

(later, while Ori's out of the studio, he shows a picture of the ring to the camera.

"So, yeah. There is one secret. I'm really bad at lying though so let's not put me on the spot like that anymore please" The man looks d a m p with sweat lmao)

70. Who is their go to couple for a double date?

"FLOSAMU, 100%. We're overdue too, I miss them!"

71. Do they tip the waiter/waitress on their date?

"Generously"

"If you don't tip you're a jackass"

72. How do they work out a fight?

"Communication is key. We often give each other the silent treatment but it usually is just to clear our heads so we can come back to talk it out"

"He's so mature when it comes to our relationship. The way he takes charge when I'm flailing and don't know what to do or how to proceed is so sexy" Ori starts fanning herself as if to emphasis her point, a teasing grin plastered on her face

73. Who brings home an illegal pet?

"Hiro will bring anything home if it's injured. It could be a snake and if he's worried its hurt I will come home to it in the bath"

"you gotta save the animals, babe"

"Most people would call a wildlife facility though, not take them to their tiny city apartment"

74. What side of the bed do each of them sleep on?

"I sleep on the left! I don't think either of us are particularly picky about it though"

"We usually wake up sprawled anyway with no clear sign of where we were before"

75. What is their favorite photo of them two together?

"There's a picture someone took of us dancing at a wedding. Ori is mid laugh in that photo and she's just - shit, she's so pretty."

"Hiro what the fuck why are you so sappy today"

"I dunno - I just think you're neat"

Ori's lips tremble a tiny bit. She sniffles. "It's my favorite photo too."

76. Who takes longer in the bathroom?

"Oh my god-"

"Okay-"

"SHE TAKES FOREVER"

"OKAY, LISTEN-"

"SHE ONLY GOES ON TIKTOK WHEN SHE GOES TO THE BATHROOM"

"I JUST GO THROUGH MY NOTIFICATIONS"

"SHE IS NEVER - STOP HITTING ME - SHE IS NEVER QUICKER THAN 30 MINUTES"

"YOU ARE SO DRAMATIC"

"DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON SHOWERS"

77. Who has more songs on their ipod?

"Hiro, I kinda keep to the stuff I know, while he's constantly adding new music"

78. What movie did they first see together?

"Uhhh I think it was-"

"It was Princess Mononoke, you were appalled when I said I hadn't seen it yet"

"Honestly I still am. How do you go through 20 years of your life without having seen Princess Mononoke?" Ori shrugs

79. What do they like to see each other in?

"nothing"

"not sure what I expected, really"

"I mean was there really any other answer?"

80. Who makes jokes during inappropriate times?

"Oh god. Both of us. We are so terrible"

"Sometimes Ori will nudge me if I'm being especially bad but she is usually the one egging me on because there is nothing cuter than her trying to hold in a laugh"

81. At what age do they discuss the possibility of children?

"We started talking about it a few months ago"

"It wouldn't be any time soon either, its just discussing the topic so we know where each of us stand"

"Yeah, there's still a lot for us to figure out"

"Like, you know, finances and getting married and stuff"

Ori bites her lip "...yeah, and stuff."

82. What do they love about each other the most?

"It's probably a cop out to say everything"

"please, you don't love everything, I'm a mess"

"but you're MY mess" Ori smiles and kicks him playfully

"This is going to sound super cheesy, but I just love his heart? He's loves so loudly and so wholly. With everyone and everything around him. He's just such a good person and it's insane to think he somehow chose to be with me, a human dumpster"

"You were so romantic until you called yourself a dumpster"

"It was getting too soft, I gotta keep my bruh girl reputation"

"You're such a dork"

83. Who is the one that sees the big picture, while the other focus’s on the small details?

"I think we're both kind of big picture people"

"No, babe, you are obsessive over minute details"

"No I'm not!"

"Everything takes you twice as long because you are constantly quadruple checking if its ok"

"..."

"and you get so stressed when you're given a project or a problem that's even the tiniest bit vague"

"well, I-"

"And don't even get me started on when you're cleaning, you always take forever because you go through every single item you've ever owned even if you know you're gonna toss or keep it"

"Okay, I feel really attacked right now" Makki laughs

84. What would they write on their partner’s social media’s for their anniversary?

"I usually go with a tried and true mixture of sappy and funny. I post a couple photo of us that I like or just a standalone of him and I give a cute little snippet talking about how lucky I am"

"Every year I just go on a rant about how much I love her. I'm always overwhelmed on anniversaries so I keyboard smash my way through the post."

85. Who is bad at math?

"Me, I don't understand any of it. Hiro is actually pretty good at it though"

86. Who googles everything?

"I've caught her trying to google where her glasses are"

"OKAY to be FAIR I was googling to see what the most likely places would be, it was just to give me ideas"

"And where were they?"

"*sigh* in the fridge"

"why?"

"because I was on autopilot and I assumed it was the butter"

87. Who does stuff on impulse?

"Oh, me. Ori does sometimes but she always regrets whatever she impulse did"

"its normally shopping and then I'm sad because I'm broke again"

88. How do they comfort each other when they are helpless to do anything about the situation?

"honestly? We learned this the hard way, but...just being there, letting them know they can lean on you when they need to. Being a pillar and giving them the space and comfort to let them tell you what they need and how you can help. Communication is so important in a relationship"

"You said you learned that the hard way? What do you mean by that?"

Ori and Makki share a look

"It's a long story. Another time, maybe"

89. What is an inside joke they have?

They both immediately start laughing

"Are you also thinking-"

"Yes! What about-"

"*incoherent wheezing*"

"well there's the-"

"or the-"

"oh my god remember-"

all the sentences go unfinished, laughter dissolving any chance of you ever figuring any of them out.

90. Who makes the other smile with almost no effort at all?

"I think its mutual, sometimes we will literally just look at each other and we'll smile without even realizing it."

"We're so gross"

"Ugh, I know." But they smile at each other

91. What is their favourite holiday?

"New years! Christmas is always nice but its stressful with gift giving. New years is always stress free and a good time, plus Ori loves visiting the shrines the next day"

"It's so peaceful, and seeing everyone pay their respects fills me with an overwhelming appreciation for humanity."

92. Who is the one that is calm and collected while the other is angry and destructive?

Ori pouts.

"I'm the angry one. I know I am. I'm a menace"

"You're not a menace babe, you just feel a little more than others"

"Are you like high right now or something? What has got you so wise and therapist-y"

"Love." Makki wiggles his eyebrows as she scoffs, her soft giggles betraying the eye roll

93. What is their favourite board game to play?

"Clue!"

94. Who accidentally sets something on fire?

"Okay, it's me, it's happened more than once too"

"She doesn't know the first thing about safety in the kitchen"

"I want to argue so bad but I just know I can't" she sighs

95. Who has the car ready while the other is robbing the store?

"I'm robbing. Ori would get distracted"

"valid"

96. What artist/group did they go to for their first concert?

"Mother Mother"

"It was INSANE"

97. Who sleep talks?

"Hiro does" Ori starts giggling, pulls up the sleep app on her phone

"Wanna listen?"

98. Who is the more social one?

"Oh, me, definitely. She is more talkative but Ori rarely initiated conversation with new people or if she's in a new environment at all"

99. What are their karaoke songs?

"I have to be absolutely trashed before we even attempts Karaoke but we do a duet and its either Bohemian Rhapsody or one of our cheesy love songs"

100. Who would get up on stage and make a fool of themselves just to make the other laugh?

"Hiro!! He does it all the time and I love him for it"

"Awh, love you too babe"

"And that's a wrap!"

Makki looks at Ori, grabbing her hand and instinctively intertwining their hands together. "Ready to go, stinky?"

Ori smiles, bringing their entangled hands up to lips as she presses a soft kiss to his skin.

"Ready."

[evabellasworld]

Storm of the Republic

Chapter 20

AO3 Link | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

——————————————————————————————

Summary:  When Tup murdered General Tiplar during a battle, Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex dispatched Ahsoka, Fives, and Yara to solve the mystery that was plaguing the Clone Army. Meanwhile, Senator Padme Amidala contacted Commander Fox, Commander Tori, Riyo Chuchi, and Dipper to help her continue investigating the death of Palpatine, suspecting that Dooku was behind the evil plot. But when Dooku send an ISB agent to stop them, the team had to race against time to search for the truth, which could alter the course of the galaxy.

————————————————————————————

Walking out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, Fox saw Riyo sitting on their queen-sized bed, her eyes fixated on her book. He knows how much of an avid reader his partner was, and seeing her reconnect with her old hobby made him joyful. “Enjoying your book, dear?” he asked as he closed the bathroom door behind him. “What is it about?”

“It’s about a little girl who was lost in the woods,” Riyo answered him, her eyes shifted towards him. “I never read this before, and so far, I’m enjoying the storyline and the protagonist’s journey.”

“That sounds like a delightful story to read,” he replied as he wiped himself with the towel and put on his pants that Riyo packed for him, before taking a peek of their curtains to view the city from a bird's-eye view. “You know, it’s just surreal coming back here. I never thought I would visit Coruscant again, after what happened months ago.”

She hummed in agreement as she bookmarked the page and closed her book. “Yeah, everything changed. I could barely recognise this place anymore.”

“I understand the feeling, but we have to manage somehow. Not everything in life is rainbows and sunshines. If there’s a blackout, we should always light up the candles.”

“I’m aware of that, but I feel guilty. I swore to the Chairman of Pantora to represent on behalf of my people in the Senate and instead, I ran off like a coward.”

“Hey now, Ri,” he leaned beside her, squeezing her thighs. “You had little a choice back then. It’s not your fault. Besides, you were doing you best for your people.”

“I know, Fox,” she cleared her throat with a heavy heart. “I appreciate your consoles, and I’m grateful that you stood beside me, but it feels wrong that I’m doing better while my people are suffering. From what I heard about Pantora, food is scarce and people are dying from cholera and starvation. I wish I could help them with their troubles.”

Fox placed his hands on her back and gave her a soothing massage, much to her pleasure. “Sometimes, we can’t always help everyone, no matter how much you want to. We will feel powerless in something that is beyond our control and there’s nothing we can’t do, except pray to the moon goddess Loona.”

Riyo laughed to herself. “Since when do you pray? You don’t seem to be the religious kind, no offence though.”

“None taken, Ri,” he laughed along. “I don’t believe in Loona, but it doesn’t hurt to ask for good luck from the Universe. Like what Tori and Dipper said, speak of the devil, and he will come for you.”

“If I could recall from my school days, that proverb means you mention someone’s name in a joking manner, and that someone appears out of nowhere.”

“Well, Lira and Eva told me that the devil represents bad luck, so they think the proverb has a double meaning.”

Riyo lifted her shoulders and tilted her head upwards before nodding at his statement. “You make a fair point, actually. I wonder how smart Lira and Eva were to come up with a meaning like that?”

“Maybe they were born smart. I mean, there’s no way that the Republic would assign two children to lead the entire battalion, unless they had a valid reason to do so.”

“Yeah,” she leaned her head against her pillow. “I hope our kids won’t have to go through that in the future. I could barely tie my shoes at ten, let alone lead an entire army to war. I would die within two seconds.”

Fox smiled as she brought up about having kids in the future, something he had been thinking for a while. He laid next to her and put his arms around her torso, giving a kiss on her bare neck, making her giggle. “Speaking of kids, when do you want to have one?”

“Are you serious?” Riyo turned to face him, caressing his face. “We’re fighting a war right now. There is no way I’m raising our daughter in this kind of world.”

“I don’t mean now. I meant like in the future, when everything is done and the galaxy is finally at peace.”

“Well then, I would very much like to have children after we celebrate our victory. We could even have three kids, and we’re raising them on Pantora. My parents could watch over them whenever we’re busy.”

“Three children is good enough, Ri, though I want my first child to be a girl, like Frieda.”

“Let me guess, you want to pamper her all you want?” she crossed her hands, to which Fox replied by bobbing his head. “So what if it’s a boy instead? Then what?”

“Then I would also treat him the same as well,” he answered. “I’ll also pamper him with all my love for him as well.”

“That’s sweet of you,” Riyo said as she closed the gap between them and brushed her lips against his.

Fox could only murmur and close his eyes as he savoured the taste of her honey lips and embraced her with passion in his veins. His fingers tangled in her violet hair as his body touched against her warm bathrobe and her hands tracing on his back.

As Riyo buckled her legs around his waist, they continued to lock lips with each other. After having some privacy for themselves, Fox could finally let out his repressed passion towards his partner. He could finally show off their relationship with each other after hiding it for two years.

Even if the galaxy is crashing down into the void, their love for each other will never change. Riyo enjoyed her every intimate moment with Fox all night long, but her eyelids feel heavy. “Hey Fox,” Riyo pulled herself from Fox, staring into his deep brown eyes. “I feel tired. Should we hit the sack instead?”

“Of course, dear,” he nodded, giving her a peck on her forehead and wrapped himself in their thick blanket. “Goodnight, my Violeta.”

Riyo blew out the candles by their bedside as she cozies up next to him, glancing at the window. Without the city lights, she could never enjoy the view from the window like she used to. A city without lights is like a planet without the sun. It’s only a matter of time before it becomes lifeless for people to thrive like before.

“I miss the old Coruscant,” she expressed her sullenness. “Back then, we didn’t have to live in complete darkness. Now, we had to rely on candles for our source of light.”

“I miss Thorn,” Fox replied, his eyes still closed. “He was the only one who knew me better than anyone else. Now, it feels odd to not hear his cringey jokes whenever I’m enjoying my coffee.”

“Thorn is a great man, and I’m sorry that you never got to say goodbye to him. It’s hard losing someone you’re close with.”

“Right, we should go to sleep, Ri. We have an important mission tomorrow.”

[preathfics]

PreathFics Madness: Sweet 16

Welcome to the second full round of the PreathFics Madness, co-sponsored by @hardtchill​.

We had 249 votes in the round of 32.

Congratulations to those fics that advanced. There were some REALLY close matchups (we’re talking 3 vote differences). We’re now down to two matchups in each division. 

Don’t forget:

We’re looking for your nominations for the best fics in a variety of categories. We will eventually use these to inform a bracket-like competition of things like Angst, Fluff, and One-shots.

Nominate Here

Thanks to @hardtchill​ for managing this. To avoid conflict of interest, @hardtchill has asked that you please do not nominate anything by AO3 user DODO24.

The Bracket:

A reminder that this bracket is all of the PreathFics that received 900 or more kudos on AO3 (as of April 7, 2020). We need you to vote for your favorites in each round. The fic with the most votes in each matchup advances to the next round. I will not be posting the margins of victory, but @hardtchill​ also has access to the results and can independently verify their validity.

Sweet 16:

The Sweet 16 is now open for voting. You will vote on 8 pairs of fics. We’re giving everyone three days to vote again. Please please please DO NOT vote more than once and DO skip any pairs of fics that you haven’t read. I’m including links to all of the fics below each division bracket image, should you want to read before voting!

This round will end after 72 hours (8pm GMT/4pm EDT/1pm PDT on April 17/ 4am ChinaST April 18).

Next round will be the Elite 8, and you will vote on 4 pairs of fics to determine who advances out of their division and to the final four! 

Sweet 16: VOTE HERE

Here is the bracket:

Division 1:

under pink skies (248782 words) by wnnbh12

Chapters: 30/30 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press Summary:

Tobin likes her life. She's made a name for herself playing professional soccer, she's got an endless list of girls' numbers in her phone, she's got the life she's always wanted.

But sometimes things change.

And sometimes change is a good thing.

---

electric love (23296 words) by blake0tyler Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press, Alex Morgan/Kelley O'Hara

Characters: Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Lindsey Horan, Morgan Brian, Crystal Dunn, Mallory Pugh, Emily Sonnett, Julie Johnston, Rose Lavelle

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, chaotic alex morgan, everyone is oblivious

Summary:

As a best friend, Alex knows — she just knows — that there are really only three things that Tobin genuinely cares about: black coffee early in the morning, playing soccer, and kissing girls at parties when she’s slightly too tipsy.

Alex also knows that dating pretty transfer students from Stanford does not fit into that category anywhere.

She knows.

Okay, she’s fairly sure, at least.

//

Christen & Tobin at college.

(& Alex’s perspective on the whole thing).

---

Feeling This (180329 words) by 5oclocksomewhere

Chapters: 32/32 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Julie Johnston, Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Alyssa Naeher, Lauren Cheney, Amy Rodriguez

Summary:

Christen is excited to start her freshman year at UNC, rooming with three of her teammates. A last minute transfer changes everything.

---

Wild and Young (44193 words) by Hidge Chapters: 19/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press, Tobin Heath/Alex Morgan Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara, Allie Long, Julie Johnston, Crystal Dunn, Original Male Character(s)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Love Triangles, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Confused Tobin, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Fluff and Humor, high school parties

Summary:

It turned out that Tobin Heath was totally into that whole good girl thing.

Tobin thought that Alex Morgan was the only girl that she could ever want, and then she got to know Christen Press.

--- Division 2:

---

Lonesome Dreams (286745 words) by whatname0523 Chapters: 36/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Mana Shim, Kelley O'Hara, Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco, Julie Johnston, Zach Ertz

Summary:

I lie under starlit sky And the seasons change in the blink of an eye I watch as the planets turn And the old stars die and the young stars burn But I don't really know this place, And it's lonesome here in the wide-open space Can it be as real as it seems? Maybe this time I won't wake from the dream

---

I was struggling to figure out how lightning works (then it struck me) (128582 words) by alittlestitious Chapters: 25/25 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, Kelley O'Hara, Julie Johnston, Original Child Character(s) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Single Parents, Family, Kid Fic

Series: Part 1 of

Struck

Summary:

"Hey Al, I accidentally kidnapped some kids," Tobin rushes out when her best friend picks up the phone, without so much as a hello.

Tobin possibly makes the best biggest mistake of her life.

AU

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Mixed Messages (110746 words) by elm27 Chapters: 28/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara

Summary:

Christen transfers across country to attend UNC, following in the footsteps of her friend Kelley O'Hara. Once she's there it is one series of events after the other, mostly surrounding her new roommate, Tobin.

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Love on the Weekend (152214 words) by whatname0523 Chapters: 19/19 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Allie Long, Lindsey Horan, Emily Sonnett

Series: Part 2 of

Roman Holiday

Summary:

I gotta leave ya, it's gonna hurt me My clothes are dirty and my friends are getting worried

 Tobin and Christen fell for each other in Italy. Can they make a long distance relationship work now that they're home?

--- Division 3:

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Gold Love (172649 words) by Holom Chapters: 18/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Mallory Pugh

Summary:

“Christen? It…it is you, right?” Tobin sounded a bit unsure now.

Christen wanted to say something but she felt like she’d forgotten how to speak - like she was 15 again meeting Tobin for the first time. Her eye had caught the light reflecting off something on Tobin’s finger and she was certain she was going to pass out.

Right there, right where she saw Tobin put it on 12 years ago, was Christen’s ring.

“You know I waited for you. I waited for you until that loud u-17 coach threatened to make me run laps for the whole camp. I was so sure you were going to walk into the changing room, Christen. Where did you go?"

---

on a scale (from one to ten) (200591 words) by softanticipation Chapters: 28/28 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara/Christen Press Characters: Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux, Tobin Heath

Series: Part 1 of

on a scale (from one to ten)

Summary:

After a summer apart, everything changes between Christen Press and her childhood best friend, Kelley O'Hara. All Christen wants to do it figure it out, but she's got a handful of other things that keep distracting her: thinking about grad school, being forced to make new friends, and - most importantly - trying to get along with Kelley's newest teammate, who seems to be out to make Christen's life a living hell.

---

pillowtalk (36823 words) by softanticipation Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Christen Press, Tobin Heath

Series: Part 1 of

pillowtalk

Summary:

Tobin's hurting. Christen's always there.

*

“It’s okay,” Christen soothes, moving her hand to come up and tangle in the base of Tobin’s hair. “We don’t have to do this now.”

“But I want to,” Tobin says, jaw setting even as her eyes fill with glittering tears. “I want to do this now.”

---

Afterglow (163024 words) by quincindentaldreams Chapters: 17/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Amy Rodriguez, Megan Rapinoe, Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Cody Press, Meghan Klingenberg, Becky Sauerbrunn

Additional Tags: Parenthood, Soldier!Tobin, Mom!Christen, Breaking Up & Making Up, G!pTobin

Summary:

"Her father, however, with the back doors closed from all the commotion and the front porch windows open, had recognized it instantly. His hand stopped from where it had been flipping the next pancake, ears tuned in to the outside to make sure he was hearing things correctly, then the sound of that old truck door shutting sounded throughout the house.

Christen angled her head backwards as the back door was opened, watching her father peak his head out quickly and wipe his hands on a hand towel. Every hair on her body stood up, as if lightening was about to strike through the blue sky above her head.

“There’s someone at the door for you, baby.”

--- Division 4:

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Worth a Thousand Words (69624 words) by Heath17_KO5 Chapters: 18/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Kelley O'Hara, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Ashlyn Harris, Emily Sonnett, Lauren Holiday, Ali Krieger

Additional Tags: background kellex, the whole uswnt - Freeform, Photographer AU, possible background soran, Don’t copy to another site

Summary:

Photographer Tobin has been hired to do the (tastefully nude) photography for a USWNT calendar, the proceeds of which will be used to benefit charity. She expected a busy day. She expected the long hours. She expected the nervousness of the women. She did not expect Christen Press.

---

Girl Crush (198389 words) by Urbanrebel6 Chapters: 28/28 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alyssa Naeher, Kelley O'Hara, Sydney Leroux, Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University

Summary:

Christen has a girl crush

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we'll take the world by storm (it isn't that hard) (30866 words) by bestthreemonths Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Summary:

Navigating life, love, and adulthood in Los Angeles is hard enough for the average 26-year-old, but most 26-year-olds don't have several million subscribers hanging onto their every word like Christen Press does.

aka the youtuber AU

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Make Me Like You (40428 words) by LittleHeiHei Chapters: 15/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara, Allie Long, and the rest of the USWNT, Ashlyn Harris, Jill Ellis

Additional Tags: Hate to Love, Sharing a Bed, Secret Relationship, Eventual Smut, I'm as clueless as you are about where this is going, Fluff, They're both rude asf, Enemies to Lovers

Summary:

They’ve hated each other since they met in the 2009 NCAA final. Christen thinks Tobin is cocky and insensitive. Tobin thinks Christen is uptight and far too serious. Fast forward 6 years and the two women find themselves sharing a room during the 2015 World Cup. This could get interesting…

[pseudophan]

can you tell us the summary of your love of your lives case? I don’t wanna watch the video I don’t have the patience to watch it

it's such a complicated case but in short(ish):

1993 in west memphis arkansas, three eight year old boys go missing and are later found murdered in the woods. the community is freaking the fuck out and because it's 1993 small town arkansas and satanic panic is sweeping the nation people go ITS SATANISM IT WAS A SATANIC RITUAL and the police keep interviewing this 18 year old named damien echols because he was into witchcraft and listened to metallica and wore all black (genuine points brought up in court like this is what the entire case is built on). im skipping some details here cause its all oh so convoluted but basically they eventually interrogate a 17 year old named jessie miskelley jr who confesses to the crime and implicates damien and damien's best friend jason baldwin (16, looks about 11). so then ofc they all get arrested

issue is: jessie is a minor with a reported iq of 72 and they interrogated him non stop for 12 hours with no parent or attorney present (his dad agreed to let them speak to him but they didnt tell him it was an interrogation) and less than an hour of it was recorded. jessie claims the cops coerced him into his confession and even on the 40 something minutes of interrogation we do have available to listen to you can hear the cops just continuously leading him on like theyll ask when this happened and he says a time and they go no the kids were in school then it was later wasnt it and he's like yeah it was [later time] and theyre like no it was around 8 wasnt it? and hes like yeah yeah it was then and it goes on like that foreverrrrr

ok im getting into too much detail here im sorry theres so much more anyway anyway TRIALS HAPPEN and its all a whole bunch of bullshit and hbo recorded it all for hit documentary paradise lost (watch it) and hhhooooooly shit!

theres way too much to talk about w the trial but besides everyone being fucking cracked and damien being a smartass and the judge looking bored out of his goddamn mind throughout the whole thing (FUCK that judge) one notable part that didnt come out until later is that during jury selection this one guy was hell bent on getting on the jury cause he wanted them convicted and not only was he let on the jury he became the jury foreman which goes against like every law cause juries are supposed to go into court with no preconceived notions of what happened. also jessie had a separate trial cause he wouldnt testify against jason and damien which means his "confession" wasnt admissible in their trial and the jury werent allowed to consider it, but the jury actively discussed the confession while making their decision (jury members have said they did + it was written on their goddamn whiteboard) which. h

ANYWAYYY so jessie and jason get life in prison without the possibility of parole and damien gets sentenced to death. damien is 19 at this point with a newborn baby. jason isnt even 18.

so then they go away and the documentary paradise lost comes out and everyone collectively loses their goddamn fucking minds cause how the fuck did this happen they didnt even have a single piece of actual evidence except a piece of hair that MAY match damien but also its the early 90s and they dont actually have a fucking clue

years go by, everythings happening so much, their appeals get shot down one by one cause its the same fucking judge and ofc hes not gonna admit any fault. the public suspect john mark byers (rest in peace he died like a month ago in a traffic accident, btw he also didnt do it but thats also a lot to go into. interesting guy, definitely inbred, violent tendencies but not a murderer) one of the kids' stepdads (technically adoptive dad cause he legally adopted the kid after he married his mum but hes generally referred to as his stepdad) of having done it cause hes fucking massive and is quite possibly the most colourful character ive seen in my life like that guy had no idea what was going on ever and he was hell bent on the teens having done it and wanted to kill them all UNTIL! until. 2007, they test the dna in the case and SHOCKINGLY turns out none of the west memphis 3's dna is anywhere to be found, the shit they had that could be damien's turns out to not even remotely match him in the slightest and suddenly theyre there like. well. now theres nothing. and yet theyre still in prison cause everyone who got them convicted is like NO THEY DID IT :) but the public outrage is so much by this point and finally they get to take it to the supreme court who take one look at it and are literally like ??? what the fuck happened here give them a new trial what the literal hell (theres a video of it their faces are literally so funny they all look like they absolutely cannot believe this required their help) so in 2011 they finally have the opportunity to retrial with a new judge but SUDDENLY the state of arkansas go um actually we are gonna offer you an alford plea which basically means they legally plead guilty to the charges while still saying they didnt do it and then they get let out but the state wont have to admit fault or reopen the case cause in their eyes these three are still guilty but theyre gonna let them out anyway cause that makes a whole lot of sense i guess. lol basically the state realised there was a real chance they could get exonerated in which case they were gonna get sued to hell and back and went FUCK give them a deal

now jason didnt want to take the deal he wanted to wait for the new trial and risk getting found guilty again cause he said this isnt justice for the kids cause the real killer or killers are still free and its not justice for us cause we have to plead guilty to save the asses of the system that failed us all BUT all three of them have to agree for it to be valid and damien's execution date, which he's already narrowly avoided on several occasions like its already been postponed multiple times, is once again coming up and if the new trial somehow goes wrong and hes sent back to death row he's gonna be killed so jason decided fuck all of that and agreed to the plea exclusively to save damien which ok ride or die king

i havent gone into who really did it cause once again there is SO much but the majority of people think it was terry hobbs (the stepdad of another one of the victims) including the kid's mother whos now his ex wife who he abused to no end. theres a Lot to this theory and while theres no concrete evidence cause they did a shittyass job with everything theres already more dna linking him to the scene than the teens. god i really wanna go into everything that points to terry being at least somehow involved but this has already gotten so out of hand

anyway follow damienechols on instagram all he does is post about witchcraft and cats. also watch the hbo paradise lost trilogy and west of memphis. and if u want even more details listen to the three true crime garage episodes on the case. also theres books. theres so much. i have so much more to say. someone stop me

[onisiondrama]

(Note 1: I’m not repeating stories he’s told before and just putting them in parenthesis. I have a lot more videos to go until I’m caught up so that would save me a lot of time. If he gives details I never heard from him before, I will type those. Note 2: This is just a summary of Onision / James’ video plus screen shots from his video. I’m not accusing anyone or defending anyone. These are James’ accusations.)

“Onision's Dad: Randy Daniel (Pathological Liar & Child Abuser)” Speaks, December 19, 2020 - SUMMARY PART 1

- James shows the Newsweek article where his father was interviewed. He points out the author / interviewer, Steven Asarch, no longer works for Newsweek (James says he was fired, but idk if he was fired or let go). He says Steven has no integrity and his research is bare minimum. He reads his tweets to Steven and says Steven never replied. He points out Steven replied to someone with 8 followers, but not to himself who has 258k followers. James says Steven is openly defending the statements of a pedophile, his father. - James says he warned everyone about Shane and he was publicly lynched, but he was right. He plays a clip from his old debate with Lucidia about Shane. He says the woman openly defended Shane calling a 6 year old girl’s Instagram as “sexy.” He says you people are crazy and you’ll defend anything he’s against, even if they are pedophiles. - He starts reading from the article. (His dad has a Samoan daughter story.) The article says she is Deborah (Randy’s wife)’s oldest stepdaughter. He says if she’s the oldest, his father either had her before he got with his mom or when he was with his mom, so Randy allegedly cheated on his mom. - He points out the article says “an FBI investigation may have started.” He says if the FBI looked into it remotely, they would see there was no grooming and he was actually sexually extorted by and 18 1/2 year old. He plays clips from this video. [Link is to my summary with screen shots.] - The article says he uses copyright claims about any videos mentioning him. James says that’s not true. You can talk about him all you want, he can’t claim videos where people just talk about him. [As opposed to people who show his clips under Fair Use. 🙄] He shows an email to show what Youtube sends him if they don’t agree with his copyright claim:

- He says anyone who says he falsely copyright claimed them are full of crap because Youtube filters that stuff and reject you if it’s not valid. [That’s a ridiculous argument. Youtube can’t manually review ever single copyright claim they get. That’s impossible. This is only for the false copyright claims they caught.] He says he proved Steven literally just slandered him. He says he already notified Newsweek the article is slanderous and they haven’t taken it down. He has ground to sue Newsweek if he wanted to. - The article says James’ drama eclipsed his own drama and his content blurs the lines between reality and James’ fiction. He says this guy is calling him a liar. [James admits to making fake drama videos all the time. Like the fake meltdown videos, the fake abuse video he made with Shiloh, the fake expose video with Cyr, the fake “I Betrayed My Wife Part x” videos, etc.] - The article says Chris Hansen interviewed 5 women who came forward. He says there were 3, but he never met the other two. He plays more clips from the video I already mentioned. He says none of them were children. - He reads some quotes Randy said about him. He lists things Randy was accused of:

- He says his father violated a child. He says when he asked the person who was violated about it, they changed the subject. That’s how traumatized they were. He says that’s how actual victims act. He says she was 7 at the time and his mom put her in therapy. He says he’s not sure why his mother didn’t go to the police.

- He reads a quote from Deborah where she says James bullies and harasses people who speak out against him. He says you have to defend yourself from slander.

- He says he has no fascination with “young girls” in response to another quote from Deborah. He says he has an 18+ only forum and Discord. He avoids young girls. He says Deborah is married to a pedophile. He says he hasn’t seen Deborah and Randy in 16 years and he hasn’t lived with them since he was 15. He says 2 60-year-olds are crapping on a 15-year-old. - He reacts more to the details of Randy’s relationships with his mom and their kids. He says Randy used to shame him and his sister if they didn’t say “I love you too” back to him over the phone. - James says a family member of his cried in-front of him talking about how they were violated by Randy when James’ mom was sleeping. He says Randy shoved his hand and penetrated the woman. He says the woman had no reason to lie, but Randy is getting clout.

- He says Deborah spanked him like a creep. He says she would lift her hand and set / pat it on his bottom while counting. He says she was groping him on the butt. - He reads Randy wanted to give up. He says Deborah just admitted his father wanted to give up on his three children. He says these people are so dumb. - He says the only thing his father did was send him a request to talk to him on LinkedIn after he stopped talking to Randy. - James says here’s where we get to the big lie. The article says James lived with them when he was 17. James’ big reveal is that he was 15 when he lived with them. He says his dad says he was 17 to make himself look less like a child abuser. He shows his college course transcripts to prove it. He took college courses at a college in Washington state while in high school after he lived with his Father. He shows google maps of his high school and college to prove they were in Washington state. He shows the route he would rollerblade from his high school to his college. He points out the church where behind it he lost his virginity when he was 14. He says his father is a pathological liar and his wife is basically a Lannister. - He says he would play the Nine In Nail song “god is dead and no one cars” to mess with their Christian values. He would go to church with them and was cool about that. (Julia story) - He reads a quote that says he threatened to burn down their house a couple of times. He says their house was really nice and beautiful. He always loved their house. If he could visit the house and not them, that would be preferable. He asks why he would burn down a beautiful house. He says he asked someone he knew for 9 years (probably Kai) if they ever remember him threatening to burn anything down and they said no. - He says he once went to his neighbor because his neighbor was starting crap and filming him. James told his neighbor if something happened to a neighbor, you would want your neighbors to help, like if a house burned down. The neighbor asked if he was threatening to burn his house down. James said no, he meant if your house was damaged and had nowhere to stay, you would want your neighbors to be there for you. He says the neighbor said, “oh, ok.” He says threatening to burn people’s houses down is a crime, but neighbors need to know they need to be there to support each other. He said his neighbor was trying to hurt him, so he told them to knock on his door if they have a problem. Don’t send videos to idiots online. [The neighbor worked for the Fish & Wildlife department for the county and reported James to the county when he saw his using heavy machinery on protected land. People online got the video because it was publicly available on the county website.] James says he was doing yardwork too close to the water and he removed plants that made his kids cry. He swears on his own life he never threatened to burn down a house. - He says he never yelled and called Randy and Deborah names. He only called Deborah an “F-ing B” before Randy started choking him because she prevented him from being with his girlfriend that weekend. He says you know how teenage boys can be about not being able to be with their girlfriend. - He says Randy called the police on him because he didn’t want to eat dinner with them, not because he was yelling and cursing like they said in the article. He says you can probably look up the police report. He gives the location and says it was late 2001. He says he had a smirk on his face when the police showed up because he thought it was so ridiculous. Randy says it was escalating and he was afraid there would be a physical altercation. James says he had just beaten Randy down so bad he looked like a whopped dog. He says Randy looked like he was constantly afraid of him.

[fmasecretsanta2020]

Interest Check Questions Answered!

Mods Tas, Waddi, and Flour have reviewed your interest check responses, adjusted our rules and schedule, and are ready to respond to all your questions about the event.  To begin, we’ve pulled quite a few questions from your interest check responses and are publicly answering them below the cut.

Want to learn more about out the 2020 FMA Secret Santa?  Check out our FAQ, rules and schedule.

Have a questions about this event?  Don’t be shy!  We’d love to respond.  Send us a tumblr ask!

‘Tis almost the season!  Sign-ups open on Monday, October 19, 2020!

I’m new in all of this, so I’d like to know what’s the purpose of the check-in dates. What do we have to do in those?

The first check-in is just to make sure that you are still interested in participating and are ok with your assignment. We understand that real life can get in the way sometimes. We ask that people let us know as soon as possible if they think they need to pull out. The second check-in is to ask when the gift will be posted. The reason for this is that last year we had several dropouts who confirmed they were going to make a gift at check-ins but did not post a gift. The second check-in will allow us to assign to pinch-hitter sooner.

-Mod Waddi

Maybe the second check-in is too close to the posting time? If a pinch-hitter is needed.

Thanks for your thoughts, anon.  The second check-in is a little late, and we will adjust our schedule to give you five days between the second check-in and the posting period.  However, we are keeping it at a later date for a pretty good reason.

Unfortunately, we assigned most of our pinch-hitters at the end of the posting period last year.  We had several dropouts who confirmed with us at our midpoint check-ins but did not post a gift.  To avoid that this year, we’re having two check-ins, and at the second check-in, we will ask you when you plan to post.  We understand that some people need less time than others to complete a gift, but everyone should have started and have an ETA for completion five days before the posting period.  A late second check-in might help us make sure everyone receives a gift on time!

-Mod Flour

Could you perhapse have multiple days for assignments incase someone has a personal issue with someone they are supposed to make content for and can let you know?

We certainly understand where you’re coming from with this suggestion.  Unfortunately, since we give people 72 hours to respond to each moderator contact (and we will be asking our participants to confirm that they accept their assignment), separate assignment days would have to take place over (possibly) weeks—6 days at least for 2 assignments, 9 days for 3 assignments, 12 days for 4 assignments, etc.—if we waited for each wave of participants to accept before moving on to the next.  We feel that this approach would significantly cut into the creation period.  Additionally, the sign-up application will provide a space where you can list people that you do not want to receive a gift from or make a gift for.  We encourage everyone to be honest on their application, and if someone is uncomfortable with the person they are assigned, contact a moderator sooner rather than later.

-Mod Flour

what about art styles that don't really do clean lineart but do include colors/complexity/etc, or multiple sketchier drawings/comic strip type things?

Thank you for this feedback. As writers, we appreciate you pointing this out. We will do our best to take this into account.

-Mod Waddi

A minimum of 8 gifs could be a lot if it's an edited gifset. I can see it being okay for a slightly colour-changed gifset with a filter over it, but for more creative gifs it can be way too much.

Thank you for this helpful feedback!  This is exactly the kind of thing we want to hear.  Admittedly, all three moderators are writers.  We do our best to make good rules, but sometimes we don’t take all the variables into account.  We’ll lower the minimum from 8 to 4.

-Mod Flour

I tend to write a lot when I get excited; would it be a problem if I write more than 1k?

Not a problem at all! We totally understand this excitement and allow our Secret Santas to produce at or above the required minimum for their specific type of gift. When creating these gifts, please take into consideration your assigned person’s likes and dislikes.

Two things to keep in mind:

1) Please consider the number of days for creation (a maximum of 47 days). Assignments will go out on November 15, with two check-ins occurring on December 1 and December 15. All gifts must be 100% complete before posting between December 21, 2020 and January 1, 2021.

2) If you decide to produce your gift above the required minimum, please do not expect your Secret Santa to do the same. As long as they meet the minimum requirement, it is considered a complete gift.

-Mod Tas

I think they're mostly fine, although, would ships that have them meet when one is a minor and the other an adult, but they're currently both adults be allowed? I understand that this exchange is a way to build bridges in the fandom, but I'm not sure if that's going to work if one of the most popular ships is completely excluded.

Yes, as long as you portray both characters as adults when including romantic or sexual content in your gift, you are free to ship whoever you’d like to (besides incest) no matter when they met.  Our rules prohibit major/minor sexual or romantic relationships—minor meaning 17 years old and under and major meaning 18 years old or older.  As long as you’re not including sexual or romantic tones that take place when one character is a minor within your otherwise adult/adult ship gift, we’re good.  Keep it all non-sexual and non-romantic until both characters are adults.

(As an aside, some people may remember that this exchange had an additional exception for major/minor shipping for small age gap relationships last year; however, no one took advantage of that exception, and it complicated the rules quite a bit.  Therefore, we decided to draw a hard line and leave it at that.  There’s no judgment there; we’re just trying to craft rules that work for most people.)

Please also keep in mind that we also allow alternate universes and canon-divergent situations in this exchange.  A hallmark of fandom is being free to imagine!  We feel it would be almost impossible (and unfair to the differing, though equally valid points of view in the FMA fandom) to set ages for every character and then to enforce such a restrictive rule.

-Mod Flour

I think the exchange should allow M and E works, and to create/receive them you have to be 18+—but in order to not pressure minors to self-identity, have the question of whether they're over 18 be optional. (So it's basically, "If you're interested in NSFW and meet the age requirement, check this box.") And unless I misread the definition of pedophilia, it seems to exclude kid/kid relationships. Which I don't personally enjoy, but I know some people like kidfic or "through the years" fics, which are pretty harmless IMO as long as they're not physical/sexual.

We hear you anon.  My fellow moderators and I have had many conversations about the rating of this event.  We think it’s best to stick to a blanket PG-13 rating.  However, there is a footnote that you might be interested in:

This Fullmetal Alchemist Secret Santa Gift Exchange takes no stance regarding “Mature” or “Explicit” content added to the original Secret Santa offering. Please post additional content separately from the Secret Santa offering (separate reblog, post, or additional chapter). Such additions or continuations are at the discretion of the gift giver.

The second part of your comment requires a more in-depth analysis.  While there are some restrictions, kid/kid ships are not completely excluded.  We exclude sexual interest, sexual attraction, or sexual relationships between any character and another character who is 13 years old or younger.  We don’t have many shipping exclusions for characters who are 14-17 years old as long as they are shipped to other 14-17 year old characters.

Specifically, our rules prohibit pedophilia (which we define as a sexual interest, sexual attraction, or sexual relationship by any character to a character who is 13 years old or younger) and major/minor sexual or romantic relationships.  While we regret that the pedophilia definition is overbroad, in that it can define someone under 16 years old as a pedophile, subdividing the rules further would make them even more complicated.  To grasp the intent of both the pedophilia rule and the major/minor exclusion as it affects kidfics, look to our wording, particularly the part where we say sexual interest, sexual attraction, or sexual relationship.  

To wit, sexual can be defined as, “relating to the instincts, physiological processes, and activities connected with physical attraction or intimate physical contact between individuals.” For example, if an 8 year old and a 9 year old hold hands and walk down the street having thoughts about how special they are to each other, we would not consider this sexual.  If that same 8 year old and 9 year old hold hands and think about wanting to act intimately while jaunting down the street, we would consider that sexual.  Innocent physical contact alone wouldn’t break the rule; it’s a character’s intent that matters most here.

Therefore, a participant can make a through-the-years work with a prepubescent setting included so long as any kid/kid shipping is not sexual in nature.  To the extent that these rules may appear to allow romantic relationships between minors of all ages, all I have to say is that it wouldn’t be PG-13 to have a 9 year old with a romantic, albeit non-sexual, interest in a 16 year old (or vice versa).  I haven’t run across a a lot of media with older minors being romantically linked to younger minors in the fandom, so I’m hopeful that we don’t need to be too worried.

Oh my, that was long.  I hope that helps explain our rules a little better.

-Mod Flour

Just a question: out of curiosity, will this event be having a discord server or some other way for the members to talk to each other?

There will be no discord server for this event. Several reasons include:

1) Secret Santa identities should remain anonymous until posting dates. No participant should be able to figure out who their Secret Santa is,

2) we want to avoid conversations which may allude to a participant’s specific gift,

3) after a long consideration, the moderators have decided that this year’s event will be conducted via Tumblr platform only. All participants will need to have a Tumblr account in order to be contacted via the chat.

-Mod Tas

there are a lot of options for the type of gift that can be created-- can the person being gifted ask to have a specific gift (ex: art only)? thank you

Yes, the person being gifted can request for a specific gift. However, the sign up form will also ask for a backup gift type that the participant is willing to receive. The mods, to the best of our abilities, will match up a participant with a Secret Santa who will be able to produce said gift.

Assignments will go out on or after November 15, 2020. Should you have any concerns with the person assigned to you--their gift requests or otherwise, please contact one of the mods as soon as possible.

-Mod Tas

Will there be an option (if ships are allowed) to opt out of ships of adult/minor characters over the age of 13?

The sign up form will ask your likes and dislikes (i.e. favorite pairing or preferred genre), including what kind of gifts you are not and are willing to receive. If you prefer to opt out of a specific type of pairing, please note it during sign up.

Based on the rules of FMA Secret Santa 2020, “Media containing, suggesting, or portraying incest,* pedophilia**, or minor/major sexual or romantic relationships*** is prohibited.” The age of majority is defined as 18 years old.

Adult & minor relationships, which are non-sexual, non-romantic, and bear no indication that it would become such, are allowed. We are also allowing alternative universes, which may include characters depicted as younger or older than their canonical age. If a fanfic or a fanart depicts canonically minor characters as adults, they will need to explicitly state this.

-Mod Tas

If you are looking for other moderators to help facilitate, I'd be interested in filling out an application.

Oh, thank you!  This is a really kind offer. We decided earlier this year not to run formal moderator applications, and we are unsure if we need any other moderators at this time.  However, we may review this.  If you’re interested in helping out, just message @waddiwasiwitch or @flourchildwrites on tumblr, and we’ll go from there.

-Mod Flour

I haven't participated in this before so I don't know if tvis is already a thing, but I think that during sign ups you should have the chance to write a list of topics, characters, and ships that you would rather not do for the exchange, because there's a difference between respecting ships from a distance and having to draw your notp.

Yes, an option for specifying likes and dislikes will be available in the sign up form. This is the case for both what gift you will create and receive. We will be matching people whose interests align, and we will take likes and dislikes into account. The more information provided in the form, the easier our job will be.

-Mod Waddi

Manga edits/colorings okay?

Yes, that's a wonderful gift!  In fact, we're going to add manga edits/colorings to the category of gifts available by a recipient’s request or suggestion just to keep the idea at the forefront.  If a participant requests a manga edit/coloring or if they say they are flexible on their application and you indicate you'd like to make one on your application, we'll do our best to send you their way during matching!

-Mod Flour

Are sculptures ok with this?

That is a very interesting question. As this gift exchange is entirely digital and doesn't involve physical gifts, we are unsure what that would look like. Us mods were talking about it, and we were wondering if it would be possible to show us an example of what a gift like that would look like. Please get in touch with either myself @waddiwasiwitch or mod @flourchildwrites by Tumblr message. We would need to know more to answer your question. When a gift is unusual, it means we need participants who will be open to such a gift too.

-Mod Waddi

[batgirl-87]

Hey! I love your last ask, the questions are really well thought and I'm curious about 12, 16, 17, 18 and 19 👀if you want 💜

Thank you so much for asking! Sorry it took me so long to answer! Life happens -_-

From this ask

12. What was MC’s reaction learning Bill and Charlie’s little sister went missing her First year? 

Physically restraining her and holding her back from storming into Hogwarts and causing a RIOT! She will find poor Ginny probably trapped in some damn Vault again! CURSE THESE VAULTS - oh wait a minute....

But wait, why didn’t every single Weasley, all the older protective brothers storm into Hogwarts to find their little sister? Did they not find out until later?! Did Percy, Fred, George, and Ron just neglect to inform Bill and Charlie that Ginny was missing until found? Prove they could handle it? Or did Bill and Charlie believe in the rest of their siblings that they could handle it and trust them...Nah, big brothers would storm in and find her. They’d be damned if they just sat around and waited for her to be found!

Assuming they all did not learn until afterwards, still would have to hold her back from storming into Hogwarts, most likely to no avail. Some going off on Ron and the rest of the brothers - Why are they only finding out about this now?! Yes, they handled it and got her back BUT STILL kind of a BIG thing to hide from your family! And then of course storming into Dumbledore’s office and going off yet again to which he is probably very used to at this point. A FIRST YEAR GOES MISSING AND WTF DO YOU DO?! THIS IS THE VAULTS AND BEATRICE ALL OVER AGAIN! WATCH YOURSELF OLD MAN! Going to shave that damn beard off, tie it into a noose and - Yeah, she’s not going to be very happy.

And of course once she gets all her anger out, she’ll ask Ginny if she’s okay and check with how she’s doing. And if they did find out while she was missing and Bill and Charlie somehow decided to allow their brothers to handle it and get Keira to calm tf down and not go storming back to Hogwarts (idk how tbh =p) she would be caring and comforting towards them, ask them how they’re doing, if they need anything, if there’s anything she can do, what they’ve heard - and also just do little things to reduce any stress she can. Look she cooked or got them food! And cleaned! Let’s go look at the baby dragons! You’re hair is looking fabulous today - I mean, it always looks good, but today extra bouncy.

16. What was MC’s reaction to Tonks getting married and having a child?

I’m sorry, she’s marrying who now? Remus? Like...Keira’s Uncle Remus? Secret Werewolf Remus? Her anam cara Remus?! HER COUSIN AND UNCLE WTF - well obviously they’re not related BUT STILL THEY’RE HER FAMILY!

She’s going to need a moment.

SHE’S PREGNANT?! THEY - She’s going to need several moments...Clearly this is a lot for her to process on many different levels. She may have malfunctioned for a moment.

But once she processes things - also the fact that imagining Tonks married and a mom, like that’s so grown up and mature and it’s a little difficult to wrap her head around Tonks as a wife and mother instead of the rebellious punk prankster with colorful hair - alright, she’s going to make an awesome mom, that’s not the point. The point is, again, it just seems like such a grown up thing and Keira doesn’t even see herself really as a grown up =p She still see her and Tonks as teenage cousins getting into shenanigans, even as technically adults, rebelling against the system a bit and stirring some things up in their careers. Getting married and having a kid - wow.... are they getting old? Existential crisis time!

BUT then! They both deserve to be happy. If anyone deserves to be happy it’s Remus Lupin. And they make each other happy. And she fully accepts him and loves him as he is, Werewolf and all. Of course she would, she’s not a judgemental person! They’re happy and in love and that’s all Keira wants for them, to be happy and loved. And once she gets over the weirdness they’re adorable... and then it get’s a little weird again... but still cute...but weird... Hugging is fine, a little peck but so help her if a kiss lasts too long SHE CAN’T! Got to go, cannot see this, do not want to see this - HER EYES! =p

OH! And if you think they’re sneaking off to get married without her there HAHAHAHA THEY ARE SORELY MISTAKEN! If you don’t think Keira and Jacob (and Sirius because no I can’t let him die I JUST CAN’T) don’t come strutting in with Back in Black playing in the background to be the best man and woman/maid and man of honor - whatever - right before they take their vows, confused as to how they found out and found them then you are wrong. So very wrong! One might even officiate, who knows! Getting married without them HA! Nice try. 

17. What are MC’s opinions on the Golden Trio and the happenings at Hogwarts after they left?

Ron - Aww little Ronny! Look at him growing up, he’s getting so big now! She remembers when he was little! 

There’s a lot of affectionate teasing and reminiscing of embarrassing childhood stories that Keira feels maybe his friends need to hear =p A lot of messing with his hair and forcing him into tight hugs that again may embarrass him. Honestly, he views her as his older sister. He pretty much grew up with her or hearing about her from Bill, Charlie, even Percy and the Twins. She would come to visit and she’s very close with his two eldest brothers, even working with Bill, and every time she’s around him she treats him like her little brother. She’s been a big part of his life for most of what he can remember. He grew up hearing stories about her adventures at Hogwarts with his brothers so he should have been better prepared honestly for everything he had to deal with when he attended.

I’m sure he tried to brag even about her. “Yeah, my brother Bill is a Curse Breaker and his partner is Keira Black - yeah, the one who dealt with all the cursed vaults here - allegedly...” “My brother Charlie works with dragons but he could have gone on to play Quidditch professionally. Actually, his girlfriend - fiance? Unofficial wife? - played in the World Cup. And won. She could have played professionally too.” *insert Oliver Wood fangirling over Charlie and Keira’s Quidditch skills and how skilled their children would be!* “My big brothers and their friends would sneak into the Forbidden Forest all the time.” - but he doesn’t want to do that necessarily =p

But then after all his bragging when she’d actually appear and he’d get all embarrassed and wouldn’t want his friends to meet her because she just embarrassed him =p Sure Bill and Charlie partook in this as well. Likes to brag about his cool older siblings but no one actually meet them because they’ll embarrass them. Also they’re all giant dorks. Bill and Charlie smashing tables into each other when they’re supposed to be setting up for the wedding? All of them obsessed with their hair in some way. 

“Bill, remember that time you were obsessed with Emily Tyler and you had to ask ME to ask her out for you because you were too afraid!” - Some brave Curse-Breaker he is. 

“Well, remember when you dunked yourself into the courtyard fountain in the middle of the day? Then you were stuck with soaking clothes for the rest of classes that day. Everybody thought you were mad. Definitely looked mad.”

But she and Charlie were definitely the first people Ron thought of to help get Norbert safely out of Hogwarts, specifically her to get Norbert to Charlie if he couldn’t make it himself.

“Remember when you came into the Prefect’s bathroom and dove into my bath and Charlie walked in - he was so upset!” - Which would then lead to a series of embarrassing stories of Charlie because he foolishly thought being quiet and not sharing stories back and forth as Keira and Bill were would somehow save him from this but nope. Ron can’t have his friends hearing all these stories about them after bragging about them to his friends! Humiliating.

Hermione - She should be in Ravenclaw. She’s so smart and her hair is amazing. She should be the chosen one. Are we sure she’s really not? Thank Merlin for her because without her Ron and Harry would be doomed! I think there’s mutual respect between the girls.

Harry - Ohhhhh the special chosen one... Isn’t he so great and amazing -_-

Oh is there some bitterness and animosity from Keira towards Harry. She went through so much hell at school, broke all these curses to save people only to get punished and reprimanded by teachers and other adults, and had nasty rumours spread about her around school from the students, called cursed herself - no one appreciated all she did for them and that school! All the sacrifices and people she lost!

But Harry freakin’ Potter here basically gets a parade everywhere he goes and can do no wrong - HONESTLY. He caught the Golden Snitch in his mouth and won the game - she literally won the World Cup. Guess who got more praise and admiration. Dumbledore clearly favoring Harry when Keira feels he was not really on her side or supported her much. 

Now, she gets it, he didn’t ask for this - but she didn’t ask for her role either that was thrust upon her but at least he gets love for his while she was shunned. 

It’s an interesting dynamic where she can definitely empathize with his situation, having this responsibility thrust on him he didn’t ask for and constantly fighting of his and his friend’s lives, not wanting to put his friend’s at risk, being so confused about wtf is going on - she’s been there, she gets it. And when Ron requests her to give Harry some advice and help him out because he needs it and she’s the only one really who understands she agrees - mainly for Ron and his little puppy dog eyes - he’s adorable, how could she say no?! And she listens to Harry and validates him, because yeah, his feelings are totally valid and true, and tries to offer some advice based on her experiences and they sort of bond, and it’s not like she wants him to die or anything bad to happen to this kid! She’s not a horrible person! But she still has this resentment towards him, or at least the praise and adoration he gets, which again really isn’t his fault but... She also has a hard time being sympathetic to all the danger he’s experiencing because she dealt with so much so it’s like - yeah, yours isn’t really that bad =p You think your life is so hard? Psh, classic teenager.

So she offers her advice and to be someone to talk to for Harry if he needs it per Ron’s request and they sort of bond and she may even offer some help with things such as sneaking into the Forbidden Forest.

BUT THEN 

Sirius breaks out of Azkaban and it’s all Harry, Harry, Harry. HARRY?! HARRY FREAKING POTTER AGAIN?! Oh, Harry is his godson and he looks like James and reminds him of his friends he misses and he just wants to make sure he’s safe with everything he’s dealing with, sure his life is hard - oh what a supportive fucking person for Harry - WHAT ABOUT HER, HELLO?! She’s actually related to you! Sir! And she went through hell herself at Hogwarts. Didn’t go right to see her - okay she was probably in Egypt or Romania when he did BUT NOT THE POINT - straight to Harry because he’s the most important person in the world apparently! (I have an AU sort of story I really need to finish where Sirius actually breaks out during Keira’s 6th year I believe...no wait maybe 7th but even still clearly Sirius loves Harry and they have a special connection/bond and yeah Keira can get jealous).

Oh Keira may have hated Harry for awhile. And yeah, she gets it, Sirius has been through hell in prison, Harry is the only link to James and Lily who he loved and misses terribly, and those people he lives with are awful and Sirius would provide him a much better home that Harry deserves because no one deserves abuse - but Sirius is her family! Blood family! And she went through hell about being a scandalous member of the House of Black and admired Sirius honestly so much and then she finally gets to see him and he’s obsessed with Harry! She might just kill Harry herself. You’re welcome, Voldy! Jealous Aunty Bella? She’s that bitch that killed Harry =p 

She wouldn’t actively try to kill him but there were moment at the top of the stairs where she thought of giving him a little nudge and claiming he tripped and fell down them. 

Thank Merlin for Remus who always managed to be there for Harry and Keira and not show any sort of favoritism because he loves them and cares about them both. And is also a helpful voice of reason to Sirius who honestly doesn’t seem to get it =p Because Sirius is happy to see her and Jacob too, don’t get him wrong! And he’s proud of how she handled everything and what she’s done in her life, but feels like she did all that without him, like she doesn’t need him but Harry still does. And really, he broke out not because of Harry but because of Peter. If he broke out for Harry he would have done it years ago, not when Harry was a teenager, right?

I’m sure Remus sort of mediates a little sit down between Keira and Sirius because as members of the House of Black he knows very well they can be dramatic =p And he’ll get them to sit down and talk and be real and resolve this nonsense because they’re family and they love each other. And honestly they are so similar - SO similar - that Remus can get frustrated and be like ‘you two are acting exactly alike - like stubborn petty arses’ essentially to which they would both definitely respond about how they have nice arses =p

No worries about that, Sirius and Keira quickly bond, they are similar, and have a close relationship. But this is about Harry and Keira. And their relationship goes from bitterness to sort of a mentor to raging resentment to - omg, are we...family? Like...technically...sort of... And then this raging resentment turns into more like sibling rivalry/teasing... Like Keira is much harsher with her comments and ‘teasing’ towards Harry than any of the Weasley’s who she also views as family, as does Harry, but also forms this protective ‘I can mess with him and be mean to him but you can’t!’ She can say mean things, even beat up on him a little bit, but if anyone else tries it she’ll end them. He’s her punching bag =p 

She likes Harry, and they bond through their life experiences. She just has some resentment to work through. But then they actually form a sort of sibling-like bond. Where she then teases Harry and Ron mercilessly although still nicer to Ron and they may try to stand up for themselves but honestly they’re both pretty afraid of her and they know she loves them and will do anything to protect them. She just takes a long time to warm up to Harry. But they get there eventually. 

The Trio and their shenanigans - They should hang out with people from other houses not just a bunch of Gryffindors. Why are they being so cliquey and House-ist? =p

Part of her is also a little proud of their shenanigans but then part of her is like “oh a troll? Cute. Life size moving chess pieces? Psh, cursed ice knight. Spiders?! Still?! At first terrifying but now seriously annoying - he’s still causing drama?! Honestly, call an exterminator. A BASILISK?! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME I WANT A BASILISK! I get a dragon that - okay, the dragon is super cool too, don’t get me wrong BUT A BASILISK! UGH SO JEALOUS! Oh you had a lesson on Boggarts? Yeah I had to deal with a whole army of them as part of a curse... Also had someone trying to kill me so... Yep, DADA Professor. Well she tried to use one of my friends so... Oh they just tried to kill you themselves? Didn’t use your friend so you couldn’t trust them and then kill one of your friends? Yeah, Cedric is incredibly sad and unjust but he wasn’t your best friend!” So a little... unimpressed...

“Yeah, Rita is a real piece of....work...”

“Dolores Umbridge?! Oh wow... I’m...I’m so sorry...that’s awful. That’s worse than anything I had to face.”

18. Did MC ever return to Hogwarts for some reason?

Prior to the 1994 World Cup game I like to think they honored the previous winning team in a little pre-game ceremony so Keira was there for that obviously (although not technically at Hogwarts) and then attended the dragon challenge of the TriWizard Tournament because Charlie was clearly going to be a part of that and she does want to see him as much as possible with them working in different countries plus Bill was going as well and she can’t really work without her partner - they’re a package deal! 

Did she make an appearance as an OG member of Weird Sisters for at least one song at the Yule Ball also that year? Perhaps. And she looked awesome =p 

Oh! And she definitely visited like the first day of Remus’ new job as DADA Professor - she was so proud! And maybe also to make sure he was getting Wolfsbane and all of that was good and taken care of. And then when he gets fired OH does she flip some tables and desks - Storms into Dumbeldore’s office, flip that desk, storm down to Snape’s Potions classroom, flip some of those tables and goes tf off! She is so pissed!

And then she’s obviously there for the Department of Ministry battle where she saves Sirius because nope, sorry, cannot have Sirius die like that. I have a whole post ranting about this =p And then the Battle of Hogwarts because again she’s not letting Remus and Tonks and Fred die. CAN’T DO IT I’M SORRY CANNOT! She came to fight and she came to win.

*(I swear I wrote out a whole post about how I cannot acknowledge Sirius’ death or Tonks and Remus because of how unfair it is to Remus in particular whose life was so hard and how he deserves to be happy but I cannot find it! I looked and looked and I’ll keep looking but I’m sorry!)

19. Did MC attend Fred and George’s Grand Opening of Weasley’s Wizards Wheeze? What was their reaction to the twin’s epic exit of Hogwarts?

Keira has never been more proud of anyone before ever. That exit was... the most beautiful thing... awe inspiring, amazing, incredible... Literally brought a tear to her eye. SO PROUD! Slow clap proud =p

Of course she made sure to be there at their opening, she’s very supportive of them and wants to make sure they know that! She probably made Charlie and Bill go to - not that their whole family probably weren’t already going and supportive but Keira was just making sure they showed their support. She didn’t care about what work they had - the baby dragon will hatch without you just fine! Let’s go! Allons-y! You telling me Tonks and Tulip weren’t also there?! They probably could keep that place afloat alone by themselves even though they’re not in school anymore - maybe just for the nostalgia. I’m sure a few other members of the Cursed Vaults Gang came to the opening to show their support as well, even if Keira made them =p 

Sorry this took so long to answer! Thanks for being patient! 💜