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#also them sitting like that in the last panel is not weird for siblings. my older sister and I sit like that when we watch TV together
doctorsiren · 6 months
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In the Split Phoenix au, do Feenie and Nick split inside the courtroom, or out of it? What were everyones reaction if it was inside?
Also are you cool with people writing fanfics based on your aus? You've probably answered this question before, but I want to make sure
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Bro got split once he got disbarred 💀 so it was in his office, but Maya was there, so that’s why it’s just Maya’s reaction here
And yeah!! I’m super open to the idea of people writing fics based on my AUs! I’d love to see what others would do with these different ideas I have and it’s always fun to see!
Transcript under the cut since Tumblr decimates quality
Page 1 -
Letter: “ur fired lol - Bar Association”
Bottom Phoenix: Ough
Top right: Oh man! I have a splitting headache! *laugh track*
Page 2-
Nick: FEENIE?!
Feenie: NICKY!!
Feenie: YIPPEE!
Page 3-
Maya: Nick? Are you okay?
Nick: I can explain
Feenie: MAYA!!
Maya: THERE’S TWO OF YOU?!?
Page 4-
Feenie: Hihi Maya!
Feenie: I’m Feenie!
Maya: Then who are you?
Nick: I’m Nick
Nick: I guess Phoenix’s psyche couldn’t handle getting disbarred and split
Page 5-
Maya: Wait you got disbarred?
Feenie: mhm
Feenie: WAHHHH
Maya: Feenie!
Feenie: WAHHHH!!!
Page 6-
Feenie: Thankie Maya. ILY you’re a lot like Mia
Maya: (best compliment she’s ever gotten)
Maya: Do you want a hug too, Nick?
Nick: No
Maya: Too bad!
Nick: Oh come on-
Page 7-
Maya: TWO BROTHERS!!
Page 8-
(Steel Samurai noises)
Maya: See! Look!
Feenie: WOAH!!
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majorproblems77 · 3 months
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ITS LU UPDATE TIME!!!
AND IT IS ALL ABOUT SKY AND IM SO EXCITED :DDDDD
You know what that means! It means a long post by me! :D
Cant wait to be excited about my blorbo for like 30 minutes, so sit get some popcorn and like some earplugs cause i will try to contain my screaming but I've been waiting for more Sky stuff and I'm so excited!!!!
For point, and because I keep forgetting, all the panels I'll be talking about belong to JoJo and @linkeduniverse
Let's do this!
Alright lets get this out of the way first, I love some parallels right, So as per usual, if I need a panel from anything prior I'll let you know where it's from!
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So what do you think he asked him.
Hey sir! Have you seen a guy with a big flag on his back going way to fast come through there?
Man is just like, oh yeah he went that way past the forge that your other weird fellows were at earlier.
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He run, Then he hero stop. Power pose activated, target acquired. Then he run some more
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Run my blorbo run!
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Genuinely interested in what exactly this is, Is it a map? Is it a list of places? Is it a paper with time shift shenanigans in it?
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I'm not versed in the postman, Is this normal, or did he do this cause he heard Sky and wanted him to think he was waiting?
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This face has be dead. (/pos) I love him so much my dear blorbo its been too long since we saw you last.
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Putting this together for 1 reason
Postman is a dick, Sky was so close, That can't be more than 10 or so metres at most. Poor man ran across Town out of town to catch up to you for you to go sprinting off into the woods, and my man is full on Olympic sprinting to deliver this mail geesus.
Also, the compulsory return of the king 🧍, Sky is the king of this pose and will not be beaten. Although Legend comes pretty close.
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God the expressions in this update are top tier, Sky is just so expressive. Right now, Man is thinking why he does this to himself.
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I'm fucking cackling, this art is amazing and Jojo's sister did an amazing job. Like I feel like I can hear this picture with that teasing tone that my siblings would use on me when we were younger. God I love it.
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So even though Sky is looking towards Legend here, so I'm totally under the impression that Legend said Wahhhh, and Hyrule said I cant run. As Hyrule was with wars When they got split up initally. Poor Sky, man has become the butt of jokes. Im glad Four is giving them a look, He doesn't look impressed. Its okay Sky, you've got a friend in Four behind you. :D
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War's is the real MVP of this arc in my opinion, Man has been in charge of the ragtag chain while Time has been out of action looking over Twilight. He's at the end of his tether.
Part of me wonders if this is going to impact his fighting going forward? Maybe he'll slip up because he's so stressed. He knows not all of them are knighted. These heroes he is with are NOT soldiers and he can't treat them as such.
And this sentence. Don't Interrupt! sounds like he is scolding rowdy recruits, rather than fellow heroes.
Which if you think about it, Sky is giving essentially a scouting report here, He scouted ahead and has returned to speak about his findings. War's is a captain, in his era he's a commanding officer. He's taken reports of this kind before.
Having a panel with Time, Wild and Twilight in Gives me more life than i think i give it credit for. (I am in the crowd that there's a family connection between these three.)
It's also nice to see Wild, like genuinely smiling.
Moving on
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Hero pose again! :D
I love this man
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These panels are very important to me so give me a moment while I explain.
Sky probably has her words engrained in his mind. You can see the questioning look, and thinking. "Is this going to work?"
That eternal dream That he's talking about, he knows her power is faded, but he's going to try anyway. I just didn't think he would use it to track what I can only assume is the postman.
It's really nice to have Sky's relationship with the master sword put on display. It means a lot to me and has brought me great Joy through this update.
He cares about her. And even if she can't talk to him anymore. He still trusts her to lead him true.
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And this panel breaks my heart! Something inside of him probably really hoped Fi would speak to him or give him more of an indication. Sky looks so sad.
I just wanna hug him, and tell him it'll be alright. He's probably thinking about turning around at this point. Maybe he's thinking about how some members of the chain perceive Fi.
A soulless weapon.
(Or maybe im thinking too much into this)
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The way his faith is restored!
Fi did lead him! She did! She's still there somewhere, and his shock! Oh my boy. My sweet blorbo,
And having used like super zoom on that last panel, MY BOY IS SMILING! :D
RUN BLORBO RUN I BELIEVE IN YOU!
(Also appreciation for the full body shot's we've got of Sky from this update, I love it so much I love him so much.)
Did I go hunting for the references, Yes I Did.
I think the following area is the area where they pull Twilight too, rather than the battle field and he then moved on from here to get to the battle field.
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From sunset pt4
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The pillar behind Sky has the only slant I can think of. It looks to be the same angle, but that could just be me.
If it is that location, it might be closer to that battlefield than we originally (Or at least I originally) assumed.
(If you've got any other places let me know!)
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God i love him
Blorbo beloved! Is about as shocked as i am with the whole Mailman thing.
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The confidence of this man is unreal. He's ready, he's moving he's going. He's going and ain't going to stop.
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Me absolutely yelling at how this portal looks, it so ANGRY, But we know the Shadow is pissed right now. And if the shadow is making these portals and he's angry. I think the chain might be in for a surprise as they move on to the next location.
Which if I have to be honest. I think is going to be Skyloft. I think we are moving into a Sky arch, having had a Twilight Arc. (I also really want to see Skyloft in this universe, and there's an opportunity here. We've had more master sword things. We've had Sky content. who knows where Jojo will take this next, but I'm excited either way.)
Finally back to the chain! :D
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The gremlins return :D
Wind's little 3:< face as he's thinking is giving the energy of an upcoming detective arch, He is thinking and he is thinking HARD okay.
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Poor Sky. Man has been running around doing all the hard work while the rest of them just enjoy themselves. Hyrule especially is kinda like 'Ohhh... our bad...'
It's actually a kinda guilty look, maybe he feels a little bad about the teasing from earlier?
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Now i gotta mention the potion thing, cause its just so damn funny not too. Sky my blorbo slow down you are gonna choke on the stamina potion.
But.
I want to focus on War's here.
And Wild too.
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These two. These two are important.
Wild has gone from happy and chill vibes to Oh shit real quick.
After everything he put into the Shadow, while the shadow was injured and watched as the thing exploded. It just decided to come back or something. And Wild, here I imagine is thinking, "How was that not enough..."
Now Wars.
War's is Stood not looking at anything, In fact, I think he's looking past Time. The last thing he said was a two word scolding but apart from that he's been awfully quiet. Now he looks like he's thinking. He's closed off, protective.
The only time I can see where he does this is when he's in what I'm going to call, 'Captain mode.' So, When he's flicked something in his head that tells him he has to be a knight.
He dosent do it often, in fact from what I can see he does it 4 other times.
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In order
Devine dark reflections pt 8 - when he's talking about knighthood with Sky and Hyrule
Sunset pt11 - When talking about Wild, and the fact that he's left
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Sunset pt13 - When speaking to Twilight about pulling his own weight
Dawn pt 2 - when Twilight is talking about the team they are.
And now here in Dawn 7 - Where they are discussing the fact that an enemy they fought escaped or survived.
All conversations I would assume a captain would have to have with his men at one point or another. I wonder what He's thinking here. It's got me thinking.
Woah, So this took me longer than I thought. I am on the 4-hour mark now. Lmaoooo
Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for listening to me ramble for like 20 minutes.
And just remember
Sky is the sweet bestest blorbo beloved and I love him. :D
Thanks for coming to my tedtalk.
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heyclickadee · 10 months
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A quick (it was going to be quick, but this turned out to be a lie) “Tech Lives” thought:
This is something I already covered in this post, but the placement of and the way Tech’s sacrifice works in the structure of “The Summit” and “Plan 99” is really weird if it’s intended as a genuine character death. Basically, tl;dr for the original post: it functions as a plot point/catalyst to get the rest of the episode moving, not as a send off/death for a major character, which is a large part of why it doesn’t read as a character death at all to more casual viewers (and why I kind of suspect the writers/showrunners didn’t intend it to be read that way).
I just finished summarizing “Truth and Consequences” and “The Crossing,” to my (still long-suffering) little brother, and they way those two episodes work together has kind of hammered home the point about Tech’s sacrifice not functioning in episode as a character death even more for me. Echo leaves—just leaves! He doesn’t even die, and he says it’s not forever and that he’s coming back—at the end of “Truth and Consequences,” and then that’s followed up with an entire episode about the other characters dealing with his absence. We get a character departure and then a whole episode about the aftermath of that loss. And that’s important, not just for the characters, but also for the audience, especially if you keep in mind that as dark as The Bad Batch gets, the target audience is kids around Omega’s age—ten to thirteen(1).
And, if we look at Rebels(2), which is the closest of the animated shows to The Bad Batch in terms of the kind of story it’s telling, it’s pretty consistent with the way that show handled the send off of a character the protagonist saw as a parent/older sibling. Kanan dies at the end of “Jedi Knight,” and then the follow up episode—“Dume”—is just about everyone else coming to terms with their grief.
Tech’s “death,” though? Six-minutes, forty-odd seconds into a twenty-something minute episode PACKED with other big plot points, leaving the other characters in shock and giving all of them—especially Omega—about ten seconds to sit with that shock before things keep happening, and then another thirty or so seconds later on to acknowledge their grief and shock again before the plot comes at them all like a freight train through the crystal palace. They’re not allowed to process it, and because they’re not, neither are we.
Which is all the more striking because there was absolutely a way to give Tech a definitive death and give the characters (and us) time to deal with it. Make “The Summit” three minutes longer. Maybe even two. Cut out the rigamarole with Tech running back to the cable car, the cable car getting shot, and Tech dangling at the end of the line. Have him call “Plan 99” choose to stay behind at the control panel because that’s the only way to get the cable car moving again. Have him send a signal to the car sends it hurtling away while the others are screaming at him to stop and get back on board and Echo is trying to get it to stop but can’t, because Tech’s overridden the signal. Show Tech getting shot down by one of the stormtroopers or a v-wing if you have to as he’s holding his place at the panel. You can keep Omega yelling at everyone to go back, keep Wrecker telling Tech not to do it, keep Tech’s last line as is. End “The Summit” with the cable car crash and then begin the next episode with the sequence of the rest of the batch running for the Marauder as Omega drifts in an out of consciousness.
Doing this, killing Tech off in a slightly different way at the end of “The Summit” rather than a quarter of the way through “Plan 99,” would have kept Tech sacrificing himself, but would have also (potentially) shown us a body and given the other characters (and the audience) time to process his death in the next episode before the other plot points started happening. It would have read as a definitive character death. Instead, the writers/showrunners decided to have Tech “die” in an incredibly non-definitive way in a situation that directly parallels what happened in “Faster” and allows for the appearance of that ice-vulture/survivor imagery we already saw with Crosshair, and which leaves everyone with no body AND absolutely no time to process it as a death.
So, anyway, Tech’s extremely alive.
1. I know people get kind of defensive when people say that The Bad Batch is a kids’ show, but I think that’s because we tend to use “kids’ show” as a pejorative. I’m not. When I say that The Bad Batch is for kids first and foremost, I don’t mean that it’s simple or bad or not worthwhile—I mean it as a point of high praise. It’s a kids show that goes some heavy places and refuses to speak down to kids, which is great. Kids ought to have good tv, too, and it ought to come in a variety of flavors.
2: I know we tend to like to compare The Bad Batch to The Clone Wars, but Rebels really is the closest parallel. Rebels was another linear story with a limited focus on one group of characters and definite start and end points. The Clone Wars was a sweeping anthology series both produced and aired in a non-chronological order, and which, as far as I can tell, was basically designed to go on ad infinitum until it either got cancelled (which is what happened) or they ran out of ideas, at which point they would do the Revenge of the Sith overlap stuff (what they did once they were allowed to bring it back and finish it off).
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heloflor · 3 years
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So, given that I didn’t have much time to work on fics recently because school, I’ve decided to relieve some stress by making a random representation of how I imagine Cavendish and Dakota’s house in their time-period looks like. And since I have no plans to ever describe it in detail in a fic, here it is ! Though, given how bad I am with designs, showing the house is mostly an excuse to infodump on domestic headcanons.
Regarding the last names, I didn’t make a typo for Cav. I like to imagine the two getting married way before the events of the show, with Cav taking “Dakota” as a last name, mostly because he got several siblings in-law on the Dakota side who adopted him on the spot.
And about the representation of the house : yeah it looks like shit. Since I can’t draw, I’ve decided to do something rather quick using MSPaint but yeah, not the best thing in the world. Though, if I get back to playing the Sims 3 at some point and end up making a Dwampyverse savefile, I’ll most likely try to recreate that house and could share a few pics.
I also went with a rectangular house with one floor instead of some futuristic-looking thing, mostly because I have no imagination when it comes to design. Though, you could still use the excuse that they want something more “old-timey” given their job or that they don’t have all the money of the world so they chose a simple house for the small cost. But yeah, by the end of the day, the choice is mostly because I can’t design shit.
But still one thing in my defense : looking at episodes that take place in the future like “Missing Milo” or “First Impressions”, it seems that most buildings are square-y with the roof being the weirdly-shaped part, with B.O.T.T. being one of the few exceptions. And looking at “A Christmas Peril”, the buildings are definitely more wacky but it’s 20 years later so…
I could also mention that I’m a bit unsatisfied with how empty the living-room and the bedroom ended up being but I’m drawing a total blank when trying to come up with the kind of stuff Vinnie and Balth would have that are linked to their interests. Though, maybe the excuse of them not being often at the house works ? Idk. Let’s just say I have ideas for the “basic” stuff, aka what you find in basically every single middle-class house, but draw a complete blank for anything that’s decorative. Still posting a map of the house tho because I don’t really consider it a work in progress if I simply have no idea and may never do. I’m very bad at design so bear with me on that one ! It’s not only about the house, it’s also about the fluffy headcanons !
So here’s under the cut some random info about the look of the rooms and furniture + a bunch of headcanons regarding Vinnie and Balth’s lives in this house. For each part of the house, you first have the info about how it looks first and then the headcanons.
Those headcanons are made with the idea that Vinnie and Balth are married (duh) but also, for a few, that Vinnie has three siblings + a few in-laws that he has a good relationship with.
(very long post ahead)
General :
- They bought the house in 2162, 2 years after getting married.
- It’s in the suburbs, or at least what the future version of the suburbs would look like. In other words, the presence of a backyard is debatable.
- There could be a garage for their time vehicle, so that they don’t have to go to headquarters every single day. And if not an actual garage, there’s at least some space to put it. In both cases, it would be near the bedroom’s side of the house.
- While the walls outside would have that futuristic “metallic” look, the walls inside would be a bit warmer. At the very least, the inside isn’t “future metallic white”, especially with Vinnie having photophobia.
- The intensity of the lights in every room can be adjusted. That way, Vinnie can put the dimmest light and navigate the house without his glasses. This is mostly useful for showering and midnight snacks.
- When they went house-hunting, Balth was the one who insisted that they needed a place with those kinds of lights. This is also the same kind of lights that Vinnie had in his now-former apartment.
- You know how near the end of the episode “First Impressions” you have Balth going into Mr. Block’s office ? Well, the way the door opens in that moment is how the door opens for every room of the house, perhaps excluding the main entrance (I like the idea of their front door being an “old” one, aka the “normal” doors we have today).
- Every room would have a spot that can create “tactile panels”, like some holographic tablet that can be used to change the settings of the house, for example changing the lights or the internet or even lock the doors and blinds.
- In 2175, when they were forced to leave the future, Vinnie stole a device from B.O.T.T. that made him able to create some kind of forcefield around the house that only he and Balth can remove. So, even if they’re not there anymore, the house still is theirs and can’t be sold to anyone else. And before you ask why B.O.T.T. didn’t simply send agents to bring the duo back and force them to open the shield : the forcefield works with hand-scan detection and Vinnie convinced Balth to use their left hands, the hands with the wedding rings. So if time-agents come knocking, they could try convincing the agents to let them use the bathroom first and they could wash their hands and use the soap to remove the rings. That way, the scan wouldn’t work and the agents would have no way of knowing why.
    Living room :
- There’s more furniture than showed here like souvenirs from previous missions or some random stuff that belongs to them. I just don’t have enough imagination. : /
- Likewise, the corridor has a few pictures or posters, like pictures that Vinnie didn’t have the space to put in his memory room but still wanted to display. Also, I want to say that Vinnie would display pictures of his family (sibling, in-laws and nephews) but I’ll see him more as having an album for family pictures, or a framed picture on his nightstand.
- There could definitely be a carpet or two. They would either be modern ones to fit the fact that they’re from the future or vintage stuff found in some of their missions. One of the carpets would be under the coffee table. Another would be in the big-ass space between the living-room and the kitchen, or in the corridor.
- The style is a mix between old and new stuff, with also a few things related to their interests. Like, for example, the couch could have an animal pattern or something (AND BY THAT I DON’T MEAN REAL ANIMAL FUR).
- Speaking of the couch, after looking up “futuristic couch” on the internet, they would absolutely have one of those gigantic couches that have like a bed attached to them due to how big they are. Btw I have no idea which company came up with this design and I couldn’t care less. It’s just that the design looks cool and would fit a futuristic house.
- The side table is a floating square, given how we see in “A Christmas Peril” that tables in the future don’t have feet anymore (that’s one way to protect your toes).
- The floor lamp is more futuristic. It’s like a white orb attached to a lamp foot.
- The TV is attached to the wall. The remote is some kind of holographic tablet, kind of like the house settings thingy.
  - This is where Balth would spend most of his mornings and evenings when they stay home. He’d just be sitting with a cup of tea, most of the time also a book, with the sun illuminating the room, just feeling comfortable and peaceful. The side table/cube was bought specifically for Balth’s tea. He would also use the lamp while reading in the late evening, either for the peace of having little to no light and solely focusing on the book or as a way for Vinnie to be in the room with the lights at the lowest setting. And speaking of Vinnie, he would sometimes join his husband on the couch, lying down with his head resting on Balth’s legs (cue Vinnie falling asleep, leading to a frustrated Balth who needs to pee but doesn’t want to wake him up).
- Since there’s a mini-table for when Balth drinks tea, the table right in front of the couch is mostly used for Vinnie to rest his legs on.
- And speaking of fluffy headcanons : movie nights. From time to time, aka minimum once a month, probably more, the couple would be in their pajamas cuddling on the couch while watching a movie, with Dennis resting in Balth’s arms.
For the movie choices, Balth would choose science-fiction, especially if there are any Professor-Time-themed movies, but also historical fiction (for some reason I tend to see Balth as having a liking for history ? I think it’s because of the way he dresses + his small rant about pirates in “Game Night” ? Idk honestly. It’s mostly a random headcanon that’s here for some weird reason). As for Vinnie, it’s mostly animal documentaries (Balth falls asleep halfway through but Vinnie doesn’t notice until after it’s over) or animated/family movies (the future equivalent of D*sney, S*ny pitcures, P*xar etc. Which are movies Balth would enjoy as well). For some weird reason I’ll also see the two of them being into mystery movies (crime-solving movies basically).
And if they sometimes decide to watch other genres, I could see Balth having a liking for some romance movies, because for some reason I like the idea of Balth being sappy. Besides, the guy is passionate when it comes to proving himself at his jobs and takes them pretty seriously in order to reach his objective. And given how he can be insecure and sometimes feels like a ball of anxiety, who’s to say he isn’t passionate when it comes to love too ? And no, I don’t mean passionate as in “making out all the time”, I mean passionate as in taking relationships seriously and making it work while also wishing to make sure his partner knows that he’s loved, even if Balth isn’t really the best at expressing his affection all the time.
On a different note, to get back to other genres : Vinnie would probably like horror movies. Because if cuddling in front of a sappy movie is great, having your husband show his love and trust for you by clinging to your arm out of fear is even better, nevermind the fact that you’re as terrified as he is.
    Kitchen :
- It’s one of those kitchens with two walls of cupboards/cabinets, both on the ground and elevated. One of the cabinets is used entirely for snacks. Because Vinnie.
- The wall separating the kitchen and the living room “has a hole in it”. It’s like you have a small wall with cupboards, a hole, and a wall connected to the ceiling with a few cabinets. Basically, you look up “kitchen cupboards” and imagine that the space in-between is a hole instead of the wall (why is it so hard to explain something so simple ?).
- This would be the most futuristic-looking room of their house. Looking up at references, they’re that Pinterest post showing a room with white cabinets with round corners and what seems to be slide doors. This is pretty much how I’ll see their kitchen, except bigger, with a different wall color and with one wall not being here (see above).
- The table is floating because of course it does. The chairs don’t tho. Also the chairs are as futuristic as the rest of the room. And looking up the internet again, the chairs are shaped like chairs.
  - So I put a stove but tbh I’m not sure how much these two would cook, given how in the show they’re always seen eating out (granted they don’t have a kitchen in their ‘apartment’ in Milo’s time). And given how most things seem automatized in the future, let’s just assume that the house can do most of the cooking itself with like a robot (aka plot-convenience technology) but still needs the necessary furniture and ingredients for the recipes. Also, if there’s an issue with their cooking system, they’ll probably know a few recipes and can feed themselves (Vinnie’s oldest brother Enzie would definitely teach his younger siblings a few recipes, at least enough to survive on their own. And he would be more than happy to teach his brother in-law as well).
- I put 4 chairs at the table but honestly I could see them keep 2 at all times and put the others in the storage room, especially the times they get very busy with their job for a few weeks and don’t have the time for social life.
- At some point, Balth probably tried to convince Vinnie to have better food habits and tried to put his snacks on the higher shelves. Not only did it not work because chairs exist but also it led to Vinnie getting frustrated. So Balth dropped it. Though, he would still try to talk Vinnie into working out to stay rather healthy.
    Memories room :
- Vinnie’s personal space. He basically saw the third biggest room of the house and went “mine now” and Balth had no issue letting him have it (hard to say no when Vinnie’s eyes shine like that).
- He already had a memory room in his old apartment.
- Basically, Vinnie brings back souvenirs from his missions, along with pictures he took, and put them on display. For more information, I made a post about it a while ago, so check it out if you want info on it.
And side note : I learned more about ADHD and autism later on and found out that the correct word for Vinnie’s passion for animals is a special interest, not a hyperfixation. The main difference between the two terms is how long your interest last. The reason I used “hyperfixation” in my post is because 1. I didn’t know that “special interest” was a term that existed and 2. people with ADHD kept talking about having hyperfixations and most people see Vinnie as having ADHD. So yeah, my bad for using the wrong term. And while I won’t change the current text from my post, especially with someone in the notes correcting me (I don’t want them to look like an idiot), I’ll definitely add a few words at the end of the post about it.
 - This is where Vinnie spends most of his time when at home, trying to keep the room in the best condition.
- There’s a window in the room but Vinnie condemned it in case some of his souvenirs were sensitive to the sunlight.
- The room is made entirely of shelves, with like four-five rows on the same wall. The shelves are either integrated into the walls or they’re floating because future. In any cases, there’s nothing around the shelves, it’s just shelves with stuff on it.
- When you enter the room, one of the rows of shelves next to you has all the animal-related stuff he gathered before starting a relationship with Balth. The rest of the room can have a few animal-themed objects but the pictures tend to be more linked to him and Balth.
- Likewise, when you enter the room, on the shelf you’re immediately facing, there’s a miniature recreation of their wedding altar with their wedding picture in its center. The miniature is made out of the future equivalent of papier-mâché and the altar is themed around time-travel with objects from all kinds of time-periods and cultures. And for those who might ask regarding the picture : Vinnie has a black suit and carries the bouquet while Balth has a white suit. Both have a hat that’s basically Balth’s usual hat (with the Professor-Time goggles, because themed wedding) but colored like their respective suit.
    Balthazar’s office :
- The room has quite a few libraries but this is mostly decorations. Basically, this room is more of an 1800th century study than anything, especially a rich/royal study. Yeah, for some reason I see Balth as having an office that’s just “rich 1800th century” aesthetic. I think it’s from the headcanon of him being a runaway prince 🤔.
- So yeah. The bookcases are vintage, the piano is your usual black piano, the armchairs are vintage and tbh Balth almost never uses them because he’d rather read in the living room, and the desk is vintage, though the stuff on the desk is futuristic. Balth is up to date with the technology he’s using to work, he just likes the older aesthetic for the rest.
- On his desk, despite literally living with the guy, Balth has a framed picture of Vinnie (again, I want the stubborn gay disaster to be sappy from time to time, with his love language being small touches and attention to details like for example being able to quickly see the kinds of foods Vinnie like the most so that when he’s in a bad mood, Balth can get him that specific food to make it better ; or learning Vinnie’s body language to know when he’s upset or bothered by something).
  - Balth mostly spends his time here to make the reports on their missions or work some administration stuff when needed. When he isn’t at his desk, he’s there to play the piano.
And yes, I throw out the window that line from “Backwards to School Night” that indicates Vinnie doesn’t know about Balth playing piano but tbh I ignore or question quite a few things from this episode such as : the line indicating that Vinnie and Balth don’t live together in their time-period since Balth doesn’t know Vinnie’s weekend habits ; the line about how the ray thing age you down to 90% your current age and yet baby Vinnie seems younger than the parents despite his adult self seeming older; the fact that Melissa read a book 16 times in the span of 6 minutes ; the fact that it’s called a “age regressor ray” and not a “age regressor ray-inator” (seriously, I am the only one always expecting Vinnie to say “inator” and being disappointed when he doesn’t ?).
- The couple absolutely sing songs together with Balth playing the piano. Or at least Vinnie would sing a song in the middle of the living-room and have Balth be annoyed by it, only for Vinnie to hear Balth play the same song on the piano later and join him.
    Bathroom :
- Not much to say here. It’s a bathroom. It’s futuristic-looking. The mirror is a cabinet. The tub is round. The bin comes in and out of the wall. The clothes drier also irons the clothes. The toilet is glued to the wall. The walls are dark gray or dark blue or at least a darker color so that Vinnie doesn’t have to dim the lights to the lowest level when he’s showering. There are also several little lights along with a main one so that Vinnie can light the small ones instead of getting a headache due to the brighter light. During lazy/slow days, Balth would take baths instead of showers (and Vinnie would want to join him to make out). Balth may or may not sing in the shower (Vinnie definitely does). That’s pretty much it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
    Guest/Storage room :
- Only used as a guest room when one or several members of the Dakota family are visiting the states and end up in the Tri-State-Area. So for 90% of the time, the room is used as storage.
- Bed’s not that big and very “squary”. Might or might not be floating.
- It’s mostly random junk that they don’t know where to put and don’t want to get rid of, like some stuff they got from their missions but that Vinnie doesn’t want in his room or some old things they want to give at a garage sale or that one Professor-Time body-pillow that Balth refuses to let go of while Vinnie just wants to trash the thing. The body-pillow being in the storage room in a junkpile was their compromise on the issue. Also, whenever someone might stay in the room, Balth makes sure there’s no way they will find the body-pillow (his sister in-law Bettie would never let him live it down).
- Not much to say here either aside from that.
    Master bedroom (the room in which the proportions are way bigger than the rest of the house because I have no idea what I’m doing) :
- I described the room quickly in my fic “nightmares” but yeah basically the room has several posters and pictures related to their interests, along with a bookshelf full of animal encyclopedias, time-travel facts, history books, Professor-Time fantasy books etc. There are also albums, whether it be family pictures or album of the two of them.
- Like for the living-room, there can definitely be more than what I described/pictured here. I’m just really bad at imagining the kind of stuff people would have in their bedrooms related to their interests. And speaking of which : at some point, there was the aquarium that Vinnie mentions in “Time Out”.
- Unlike the other rooms in which the windows have roller blinds (apparently that’s the english word for it ?), this one has curtains on top of it because Balth likes to open the window in the morning but he doesn’t want Vinnie to hurt his eyes. So with curtains, he can open them enough to light the room but not enough for the light to reach Vinnie’s face.
- The bed is pretty classic for a futuristic bed but with round edges and these two idiots definitely go crazy with the sheets design (animals, food, Professor-Time, past time-periods, stuff like that). Also, the bed is “open”. By that I mean that, if you look at futuristic designs, there tends to be some roof thing above the bed and linked to it. They wouldn’t have that.
- The nightstands are floating cubes.
- “Dennis’ chair” is just some random old wooden chair where Dennis stays most of the time. Balth almost never takes him during his missions and Dennis is a comfort object that Balth mostly talks to when sitting on the bed, movie nights aside. So the bear stays in the bedroom.
- The bookshelf would also be made of wood.
- The wardrobe is futuristic, with doors that can open by themselves with sensory detection. Also, unlike what that poor “drawing” shows, the wardrobe is “taller” than it is “larger”.
- The armchair is an egg chair.
  - They sleep
- They spoon
- Balth is the big spoon because 1. he’s taller and 2. he grew up sleeping while embracing a teddy bear and old habits die hard.
- When Balth goes to sleep or wakes up, he can’t help but play with Vinnie’s hair and give the small man a few kisses, feeling satisfaction in seeing his husband smile or try to pull away while laughing.
- Vinnie sleeps on the side closest to the window while Balth sleeps on the side nearest to Dennis.
- Balth’s nightstand has an alarm clock that’s basically just a holographic square with numbers on it, while Vinnie has an album or some random animal trinket. Vinnie’s alarm clock is not feeling Balth’s warmth against him. But if Vinnie has to use an actual alarm, the sound would either be some old-fashioned song or an animal noise (is this starting to get too much insistence on the “animal-loving” side of him ?)
- While Balth likes to read in the living-room, Vinnies likes it better to chill in the bedroom when reading. Also, during weekends and vacation days, Balth would sometimes read in bed before sleeping (yeah for some reason I really like the idea of Balth being a reader. I think it has to do with him being old or british ??? Weird brain is weird. And besides, if Balth reads, it would most likely be science fiction related to Professor Time). Vinnie uses this time as an excuse to cuddle.
- They have themed pajamas. Balth mostly has Professor-Time stuff (clocks, Heinz or Perry’s faces etc) while Vinnie has mostly animal-themed or food-themed pajamas.
- Vinnie sometimes sleeps naked in the summer. Balth is still trying to figure out how he feels about that.
- Random headcanon regarding Dennis : while he belongs to Balth who keeps him close when in doubt in order to vent or when he wants to get comfortable somewhere, I actually like to believe that, between the two, Vinnie is the one who talks the most to Dennis, mostly because Vinnie would just enter the bedroom and casually greet the bear, or he and Balth would have a dumb argument and Vinnie would playfully tell Dennis “Can you believe that guy ?” while pointing at Balth. Just, Vinnie being Vinnie and having random one-sided conversations with the bear.
And a little cute thing : while Vinnie really just talked to Dennis because why not, seeing the guy like the teddy bear so much would actually make Balth feel better about himself. I like to believe that grown-up men having plushies would still be seen as a ridiculous thing by most people (because toxic masculinity) and Balth got the habit of hiding Dennis when he was still trying to find the right guy for him. So seeing Vinnie have no issue whatsoever with the teddy bear and even liking him would definitely help Balth’s confidence, along with warming his heart.
- And since this post is all about headcanons : two things about phones and these two being sappy that have nothing to do with houses.
1. One day, Balth left his phone on a table and Vinnie decided to take a selfie with it because why not. After seeing that, Balth acted frustrated but ended up putting the pic as his phone background. Ever since, Balth’s phone background is a picture of Vinnie. The most recent one is from “We’re Going to the Zoo” with a picture of Vinnie holding squirrels in his arms while a third one is coming out of his pistachios-filled pants. The pic on the phone is a closeup, only showing Vinnie’s head and upper body. And for those who like angst, I’ll let you imagine how he must have felt having this as his phone background during the rogue arc.
2. Vinnie’s (numeric) phone password is 2703, aka march 27, the date of his wedding anniversary. The day is put first and the month second because Europe. Also, during busy weeks, this would be a good way for Vinnie to remember the anniversary.
(fun fact : I was trying to come up with scenarios for fics when I ended up thinking about Vinnie’s password and that number came to mind. So I just went “guess that’s their wedding date now”)
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the-acid-pear · 3 years
Text
Scarface was too fucking boring, didn't make it past chapter 3, but that's good, because that means Baki-Dou time 😍
Time to read the fourth book in this series! Excited to see Musashi <3
Chapter 1
COLORS
Baki please stop flexing
A FELLA SAYING THE SAME I SAID WHEN YUJIRO PULLED HIS SOB STORY, FR GO TRY SOMETHING ELSE! What happened with that whole "i don't care about fighting" eh Baki?!
Chapter 2
HOHO ALI JR???
ah no :/
HOLY FUCK is this quality bad!
He wants to taste defeat i see
TOKUGAWA PLEASE STOP SMOKING
Oh they removed the... Egg in the back of the neck, nice
God this guy's tits so fat 🥵
FINALLYYY HOW LONG SINCE WE SAW A FIGHT IN THE ARENA? A PROPER FIGHT I MEAN
Chapter 3
He doesn't even know 🐍
DON'T BRING THAT FELLA HERE RETSU KICKED HIS ASS IN TIME. RECORD
Oh i saw fanart of this scene
Baki, it's your fault that you are bored, you fucking teen
This shit boring ME
Chapter 4
Oh, goroukou is a title
I like how the prime minister is becoming a recurrent character
I thought he said babe for a sec-
That little "oh~" is a bit sus, are the old men... No, it can't be 😳😳😳
I'm fucking choking fuck
GOD ALMOST READ THAT AS JOHN CENA 😭
"yes <3"
These ppl never learn
Chapter 5
What a way to go, a la gamzee /j
This dude so weird lmao
FAHDGAHDH king
Dude he has huge round eyes tf you talking bout?
IGDUFSUEASEUURSS he's such a freakkk 😭😭😭
This is the most wtf thing Baki has pulled, remember when this was about fighters fighting? I don't know enough about science for this shit either man
Okay so their hug wasn't Tokugawa being touchy like he is, this guy is even worse, se juntaron el hambre y las ganas de comer HSHAFSFG
Chapter 6
Baki's dead
Katsumi about to kill get killed by my grandpa i see
ALSO KATSUMI OG HAIR WOOO
Katsumi bro don't be so happy over nearly killing him-
I love seeing him get better tho
Uwaadgsgsjdga 😍😳🤤 twisting my hair irl,,, 🥴
Finally Motobe remembered he was a character here 😐
FSGSHDAHDA KOSHO PLS
I LOVE that they got dark lips again
IM SORRY GOUKI HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT EVERYONE?! LTDKFsjyrd 😭
Jack's scar looks cool ngl
Retsu living the good life lmao
AND HOW DO YOU KNOW, GRANDPA?
Hana just doesn't care, smartest Baki character lmao
Idk what they talking bout but good for em <3
Cum basement
Chapter 7
SHOW US MUSASHI'S COCK
Obsessed he thought his heart was failing 😭
Dude you can just hear the heart beat of your friends/opponents just like that? 🤨
Notice Gaia in the top left 🥴
WHY CAN HE RECOGNIZE EACH OF THEIR HEARTBEATS AAHSGA
Thick 🥵
Unironically built different
Chronic back pain if you ask me, that's how I stand to relieve my agony
Did. Did you just call him a femb-
STOP SHOWING ME PANELS FROM VAGAMOND
I love John sm lmao
Mr Musashi has 2 (3?) dads
Chapter 8
HAIRY LEGS 🥴
Those things look like boobs
Bet you would know eh SHAFADB
They jerked off the mummy?
Reminds me of eye surgery
AFjshAFDGAJAHAF
Mf came out the tube ripped af 😭
Chapter 9
Everyone is so feminine lately good ol Kureha fell behind 😭
I like his bandana tho it's cute
OH HE TOO? AND HE'S NOT EVEN THAT STRONG
Fat tits 🥴
Eheojeudkshs 😖😳👉👈
JACK STOP YOU ARE BIG ENOUGH ALREADY
HOLY FUCK
You know like i understand Baki, he is at the highest he can be rn, NO ONE can defeat him, but the rest? Like c'mon y'all just beat each other up or something
Ah, the miracle of birth 😍
Chapter 10
I love how all these two do is hang out together in bars, boybosses
TF IS UP WITH THAT ICE? AHDHS
I love what they have
Hana thinking of getting his 4 limbs broken again i see
WOOO!! Nice cock Mr Musashi 😳
HANAYAMA PLEASE 😐
Chapter 11
I love those freaks
I just now I'm seeing the little scars on his cheeks from the fight with Spec ☺️
I love the fact that Musashi has hair in his legs BUT not his arms like ??? Okay king
Heated scientist moment
HOHO POGGERS 👀
Chapter 12
UTSURAARSDFAFA sibling goals
GIRLBOSS 😍
URAURUSYRSAESGA IN LOVE???
Holy shit she's amazing
Chapter 13
And his ass is very thick too 😳
Those fucking sunglasses, obsessed
Debatable, he got struck by lightning :/
HE WAXES HIS HAIR? OMFG OBSESSED
WHY IS HE WEARING THAT LMAO 😭
Nooo they censored the cock again 😔😔😔
DO IT QWEEN 💅
STOP SAYING SHE'S GONNA FUCK THE CLONE
"I'm exciteddddd" "ok."
Chapter 14
You just hate seeing a girlboss win
She truly is amaizing
Also i just realized spirits have been showing up since the first book so this isn't so crazy lol
MF HOW IS THAT GONNA HELP 😭😭😭
THE LITTLE BUBBLES AND SPARKLES... I BET HE DID 🥺
Chapter 15
WHY ARE HIS TITS SO ROUND AND FAT GODDAMN IT,,, 😳😖
Glad seeing some things never change
He looks so much like Jun
IGSITSURAURZES EPICCC
Someone question if Yujiro knew how too write obsessed,,,
Chapter 16
Goddamn it you got even older in the past 3 or so chapters bro
Mouth to mouth soul transference
OHHH
HIS EYEBROWS FELL HOW IGDUTSITDIYDIGD
Some mf got turned on by this HELP 😭
Chapter 17
I love how Yujiro and Hana are still getting ready to throw hands while this happens lol
Okay yeah that was super disrespectful honestly, guy is having a chat :/
HAHAGSJAHA obsessed
God i thought it was Hana the one grabbing some random lady for a second AFDJSJSSJS
He cute af ngl
POOR GUY MUST BE SO CONFUSED OMFG,,,
Fsr I'm surprised he can talk, like it should be obvious but in all the fanart i saw he never said a word, also, he's so damn respectful 😍
Chapter 18
Idk he was never that clever /hj
Hehehe blood
I love how John can only sit that way
The size of his balls lmao
Coward won't even fight with his dick out smh :/
God he mad cute-
Chapter 19
I MISS THE DEATH ROW FELLAS FUCKKK
Hm i think this random tiny bald man is not Tokugawa but someone that looks awfully similar to him
YEAH NO SHIT I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM, HE MUST BE SO DAMN OVERWHELMED
Apparently there was a cameo, i don't know enough about anime to know or care
Chapter 20
He's tripping balls
Tokugawa should have gone a bit slower with this poor guy, this is like a lot to process at once <:/
Nvm he's doing better than me
Oydirsusefs look at himmm
WAIT A FUCKING SECOND OMFG DIDN'T DOPPO FIGHT THIS GUY?!
SOMEONE ELSE RECOGNIZED HIM HE ISSS
Chapter 21
OHDIRAYEASURRSUURS HE DOESN'T KNOWWW FFS
Musashi be like °_°
LOOK AT THAT SMILE LMAO
He's just chilling, mentally killing this dude
Murder baby
Chapter 21
The way his eyes are drawn is so cool
YRAURSUFSIDTGA
And he jokes too! Wow I'm in love 😍
(nsfw) CAN YOU HANDLE DICK LIKE THAT TOO? 😍
WOW
I TAKE BACK THAT QUESTION
I remember a show where you would bring your own knives and swords and go thru a bunch of test, Musashi should have been one of them
Mf truly is like :]
I love how he didn't buy it
I can't wait for him to fight Yujiro 😍
Chapter 23
He truly is 😌
ATFJAIDQYSF OBSESSED
He was happy this time at least, 5 times he lost already btw
Tokugawa truly in unhateable lmao
Chapter 24
IM SORRY, HIS LEG???
Oh I forgot Musashi does that
JAGSKSGSKSGS HIS FUCKING FACE I CAN'T 😭
I miss when translators would add notes i don't want to google shit myself :/
"I'm hard as rock" /j
Chapter 25
Look how happy he issss
MUSASHI POG MUSASHI POG-
I love how Tokugawa can't believe he got it first try and it's trying to lie now sjdakdyv
This mf is actually making me insane what the actual fuck i don't know what he has but he's gonna make me act up 😳
Mf be shadow boxing too dammit /j
Baki please
Chapter 26
OLD MAN JUST WANTS A PUBLIC TO SEE THIS LMAO
Look at the size of Baki's eyes holy fuck lmao
He's gonna yeet him!
OH NOOOO
FIRST HIS DAD NOW MUSASHI, THIS GUY CANT CATCH A BREAK LMAO
Chapter 27
How little time passed? They have barely moved
Yeah you did it last book too Baki
King shit
Chapter 28
AKSGSKGSJSGS KING
I love how he only now realized
Okay no he has a point
I love how he just calls him boy
Look at that smug face
I trust Musashi but at the same time he, really should be walking around this new world alone. Now, if i were to accompany him... 🥴/j
Baki please
Chapter 29
I love how soft the artstyle suddenly got, like if done big a big brush
Yujiro you just insulted every single anime character in history
Baby Baki's just like "Ok."
I like how Yujiro looks here
AUGHHJF HE'S SO BABY 🥺
HOHO badass
Chapter 30
He died 😔
Idiot hasn't even beat he 0.5 reaction seconds lmao 🤣
HOHOOOOO?!? 👁️👁️
"my curiosity exceed my fear!!" I RESPECT THIS MAN SO MUCH??
Chapter 31
AMAIZING HONESTLY
Fighter to fighter communication
SHIT LOOK AT THE STATE OF THAT HAND
He's just gone now LMAO
I honestly don't mind Baki being weak against this, he never fought against a two handed swordman, this is new territory
Chapter 32
Oh his really tripping balls now this is why he shouldn't be alone
NVM HE'S STILL DOING BETTER THAN ME ON A DAILY BASIS, I HAVE A LOT TO LEARN FROM THIS MAN
I just now realized he's barefoot
Nice ass king
The policemen are quite nice
He's very cooperative but i can't blame the cops either
Chapter 33
Yeah no shit that must be so insane
IF YOU HADN'T DROPPED OFF SCHOOL THEN...
That's kinda funny but idk man he's right i think
He's just like :3
I love how he isn't picking up a fight out of malice but rather just instinct like, he can't understand shit that is going on
YOU ARE SO RIGHT BAKI IT ISN'T BORING FOR ME EITHER
Chapter 34
Don't you fucking dare shave him Itagaki
It's funny how it took 2 books and a half for Baki to start being a protagonist
Holy fuck did Baki add height or is Miyamoto that big?
Wow how perfect i ran out of space just now!! Having fun with this book ngl :]
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alatismeni-theitsa · 3 years
Text
16 anti LO anon opinions
All under the cut
(1) Fastpassers are also probably mad bc when smythe post fastpass title on twitter(which was heathers musical song ripoff) everyone was so hyped up and excided, they thought this gonna be about "Underqold badass queen Persephone " or something with her trail or something big with her, but no, they got Minthe flashback that didnt change anything in the story
(2) Fastpassers are annoyed bc this episode was flashback of Minthe. Two previous fastpasses got pretty big(and stupid) revals(leto is bad guy,apollo and artemis may be zeus child and last but not least Cronus awakening) so they were hopping for something more not a filler wpisode that changes nothing in to the story bc there were wpisodes that make Minthe more "symphatetic" than this one.
(3) Am i the only one a bit concerned that a Minthe episode made LO fans demand their money back but apparently episodes and a planned redemption over Apollo, who R*PED the main character, was met with fans sympathizing with him and feeling bad for judging him "too soon"?  They can accept a sexual assaulter having mommy issues to excuse his bad actions, but a boring filter episode about Minthe, who we know will be killed by the end anyway, gets outrage? That doesn't sit well with me.
(4) oh my god the LO fans hated the minthe fast pass so much they actually made LO's rating start to go down 😭 most of us here dont even like the comic but none of us would purposely review bomb it over a boring episode over a character we didnt like, thats so entitled!
(5) Adding on to the recent fastpass, it was extremely boring. I get that you can't please everyone but the fact that Minthe is having a backstory now just feels like filler.
This is the main issue I have with Rachel's story, she has so many characters but chooses to develop them at the worst times. If we got this backstory earlier in season 2, this would make sense. However, the fp before this one ended on a cliffhanger. You'd think it'd continue but no, we just get Minthe backstory.
I'd rather see an Apollo backstory, he's an active villain and would be interesting to see his motive.
Minthe doesn't have a compelling motive other than jealousy.
(6) I can't be the only one who thinks the new hairstyle updates for characters like Apollo or Eros look weird right? Eros literally looks like an adult version of one of his siblings Storge (who has curly permed hair and was holding a hamster)
(7) That Lo eros panel ... oof. Wheres his hairline going? He had a damn 7 head. Also at least for awhile the men had a different face from the women, but I guess they’re also women now, facial features wise?
(8) On a side note: why the fuck is Eros so ugly in this episode😭
(9) SMYTHE DOES NOT ONLY HAVE A DD/LG KINK, SHE A L S O HAS A PREGNANCY KINK!!! WHY ELSE HADES WAS SO *SMIRKY* ABOUT THE WHOLE FERTILITY GODDESS THING BACK WHEN HE AND PERSEPHONE WERE AT THE BEACH???? i swear to Allah this shit gets even more and more disgusting.
(10) This is something i see so much but LO especially but why do all of them have boring ancient clothes? It's always white or tan sheets or maybe black if it's someone in the Underworld. I'm going more off ancient images but shouldn't the gods especially have more grand and detailed clothing options? i get it's probably harder to design based off colorful skin tones but it's not impossible. it just seems so much of the comic design feels very flat, so if the story can't hold up then the art should.
(11)  The main problem I had before with lore olympus was its cliffhanger syndrome. Like, why do some many chapters leave on a cliffhanger and for no reason at all? Like when Hera got hit and nothing happened. When I was experiencing the episodes coming out in real time, it drove me mad.
It's gotten better recently but that's probably because the three recent episodes (fastpass) felt more like filler.
That's the main reason why I feel like the plot is being dragged out. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for cute character moments and creators getting money but, LO is slowly becoming less and less interesting. I literally skipped around in most of the fasspasses because it really wasn't interesting. The only thing memorable about all of the fp episodes is the beginning and end, the middle is just kinda there.
(12) Ampelus (psyche)'s eyes used to be golden/yellow but now its coloured purple lmao
(13) Wtf is happening in lore olympus?! Now they want to bring cronus back and do another war?!? Are they crazy nothing like this didnt happen in mythology and obviously not bc of persephone(in comic her pink tree in underwold will give crounus power and life). It supposed to be romance not whatever fuck this is now.
(14) I feel like if I was at Henson Co. or Webtoons with a tv deal on the line, I would make Smythe to hand writing duties to a pro or take a hiatus seriously plan everything out, because all these new plots are distracting from what people signed up for, which is to see HxP get together and the myth. It seems like filter seeing as any TV adaption wouldn't cover most of it anyway, so why even include it? If RS wants it over sooner than later, this isn't how you do it, she's just procrastinating now.
(15) I find Demeter in LO just confusing. If she’s so overbearing and controlling, why would she ever allow Persephone out of their domain to live with Artemis in the city? Even the most liberally easy going parents don’t let their naive children out into the world like that with people they barely know, yet the supposed helicopter parent does. Why not literally literally lock her up? Especially when Persephone can’t control her powers and is desperate to hide that she killed a village of people? Demeter knows she’s a danger to others yet let her out anyway? That doesn’t sounding overbearing to me. It sounds like she’s right to want to hide her away. Persephone is a bigger threat to everyone else than they are to her. More so, actual controlling parents do give their children phones to keep easy tabs on them, yet LO Demeter doesn’t? She could constantly call Persephone or check up on her without physically needing to be there, yet they don’t do that. What modern parent would let their child leave home without a way to contact them? If anything, she’s extremely loose on parenting her and lets Persephone do/have whatever she wants. The controlling helicopter parent premise too is undercut by the fact LO Demeter ends up being right in wanting to hide her daughter away because within a month of leaving home Persephone is drugged, kidnapped, threatened by several people, r*ped, blackmailed, is close to dropping out of school, attacked by shades, and had a mental/emotional breakdown, many of those things being linked to her future “caring” husband. I just don’t buy it. Demeter ends up looking correct by anyone who isn’t blinded by the rose colored glasses of HxP.
(16) If I'll ever bother to read LO I'll do so only to see how horrible exactly it is.
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amaya-chwan · 4 years
Text
Takeaways from Therapy Game: Restart Chapter 09
HELLO FRIENDS! And we’re back at it again with chapter 9 featuring our favourite dorks, Shizuma and Minato! ❤️💛🎉
Sensei was kind enough to post the first page of this chapter on her Twitter!  🥰😍😘
Tumblr media
“I thought you understood, but men who fail to keep their promises deserve punishment, okay?!”  --- The text next to Minato.
That’s just 🔥🔥����🥰😍🔥🔥🔥
Let’s get right into the takeaways, shall we? It’s a shorter chapter this month, but it is very focused on Shizuma’s residency journey while juggling his house hunting schedule with Minato, and with that, a lot of dialogue. There was also a lot of technical terminology I had to keep looking up ;A;
In this chapter:
Minato is an angry, scowly boy when Shizuma doesn’t keep his promises!😭
Poor Shizuma, he’s torn between keeping his promises and his work. 😭 😭 But I’m proud of you, Shizuma! 👏👏
Minato, my son, I am glad you are getting the simple happiness you deserve! Your patience really is a virtue! 🥰😍❤️
Onodera... really lacks person skills. Is she a recluse? Or someone with poor social skills? I hope we find out?? And she honestly... is so stoic. I cannot read her at all. 😅😅
SHIZUMA, I CAN FEEL YOUR DEDICATION TO AND LOVE FOR ANIMALS THROUGH THE PAGES! You are so very capable of being a vet and I’m glad you are getting the experience you wanted and needed to succeed! ❤️🐶🐱🐹❤️
Also, your k*nky thoughts during work really bit you in the butt, didn’t it, Shizuma? 🤣
Shizuma’s smile makes everyone weak. 🥰
And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! As always, I promise there is a surprise (or two) at the end!  😉✨
Our chapter begins with a grumpy Minato sitting in a cafe. The shop attendants peg him as a celebrity of sorts because of his good looks, even though his face is hella scary to them.
We find out that Minato is annoyed and upset because his and Shizuma’s house hunting date (set for Shizuma’s next day off) is cut short since Shizuma is observing an operation in the morning on that day. In a flashback, he tells Minato that he should be able to make it in time for their afternoon appointment.
In that same flashback, Minato recounts his plans to Shizuma of going to a hotel and having a quickie with Shizuma to alleviate his pent up frustrations before heading to their appointment. He then continues to vent his pent-up frustations on Shizuma, saying “Will you take responsibility if my desires reach their limit and explode during our private house tour?”
Shizuma is caught in a bind and really wants his surgery to finish sooner, to which Minato responds by saying Shizuma isn’t the only person who can do this surgery. Nevertheless, Shizuma knows this is an invaluable opportunity for him, and promises Minato that he will make it in time for their 2PM private tour. Minato, still looking a little annoyed, tells Shizuma that he’ll be waiting in the cafe in front of the real estate agency and to meet him there. He warns Shizuma that if he is even a minute late, he’s will go home and never house hunt with him again. Shizuma then promises that he’ll be there!
The flashback ends, and we realise that today is the day of their house tour. Minato is caught up in some “Super Narrow-Minded Time” and worries if he’s going to be all alone with a girl, only then to remember Shizuma openly confessing to his colleagues that he’s dating Minato and that there’s no need to worry.
Minato looks over at the real estate agency and, in deep thought, reflects on how he never thought he’d be living with someone and, despite it being a weird feeling to him, he didn’t think he’d be able to have such an ordinary, simple “happiness”. He smirks to himself and says that he should be nice to Shizuma when he gets to the cafe.*
The scene changes to Shizuma, who will be our main focus for the rest of the chapter. He is observing Onodera in surgery along with her brother. They go through what happened with their patient (i.e. the dog belongs to Onodera’s brother’s daughter. The doggo ingested skewers and it appears to have gotten stuck in the dog’s throat/stomach). While talking about the suggestions from the neighbouring clinics on how to treat the dog--trying to get the dog to vomit and if that doesn’t work, they’ll have to do invasive surgery--Shizuma, having encountered her brother before, didn’t know they were related at all since they have different surnames.
Her brother goes on and vouches for his sister’s amazing skills as a vet, cutely calling her by her name “Akira”, to which she clicks her tongue at him. They have some short sibling bickering afterwards, and Onodera then reveals to Shizuma that he’s mainly there to keep her brother in check (i.e. babysit) and not so much hands-on experience.
With Onodera’s brother being a chatterbox, Shizuma is unable to ask critical questions during the procedure and wonders why he is even there at all.
We then see Onodera extract all the contents stuck in the dog’s throat (?) without having to do invasive surgery. Her brother is overjoyed, but she is appalled that the dog ate so much trash and hair. She then tells her brother that she won’t be helping next time unless they take better care of their dog and their house (so the dog doesn’t eat so much dirt and trash). Onodera then tells Shizuma, who she again calls Iijima-sensei and not Ikushima-sensei, to clean up.
Fast forward a bit and Shizuma is happily looking after the dogs being treated at the hospital/staying overnight. There is a thunderous roar and two dogs approach Shizuma to be hugged, to which he obliges. Knowing he has a lot of time to spare and will make it to the appointment, he thinks back to Minato and wonders if he is afraid of lightning. He then thinks of some naughty NSFW thoughts, imagining an X-rated scene in which Minato is scared of thunder and lightning and that affects their love-making session (in a good way 😉).
Another thunderous roar is heard, much louder than the first, and the dogs are so scared, they wet themselves... and pee on Shizuma’s scrubs and pants. (Also, we find out Minato isn’t afraid of T&L).
Going to the locker room to change, Shizuma is being nuzzled by the dogs, who appear to be very apologetic to him. He awkwardly smiles while thinking that the dogs peeing on him was punishment for his NSFW thoughts at work. While changing into his pants (but not scrubs), Onodera walks in and sees him in his boxers. Very flustered, he tells Onodera she’s walked into the wrong room. She then takes Shizuma to get his clothes washed, all the while the awkwardness in the room continues.
Breaking the silence, Onodera applauds Shizuma for his work in the OR, thinking he’d be more annoyed by her. He then tells her that it’s all thanks to the teachings from Hayami-san and everyone else at the clinic and from Onodera during the operation earlier that day. Onodera comments that he’s getting along with everyone in the clinic, to which Shizuma responds with how things were off to a rocky start at first, the nurses were scary and hostile, but now they can talk and are even going out for flower viewing together.
Onodera reveals she wasn’t invited to that and hasn’t heard of it until now, and Shizuma just sits there feeling bad. He then invites her to join them next time for a drink together. But she just says all his efforts in befriending everyone at the clinic would go to waste if he does that.
Before Shizuma can react, an elderly-ish woman and her daughter hurrily enter the clinic with their sick dog. They are Nakajou-sensei’s patients, but it is her day off today, so Onodera asks what she can do for them while telling Shizuma he can go home. The dog has been in labour for a couple of hours and the last puppy hasn’t come out. Onodera berates them for not bringing their dog in sooner.
The women are taken aback, with the elderly one clapping back at Onodera, expressing her worries and inexperience in a situation like this. Onodera, with her lack of people skills, essentially tells her to be quiet, saying a C-section is the only option for them--a natural birth isn’t possible at this point anymore since the dog has been in prolonged labour and is exhausted.
The elderly woman, angered at Onodera’s stoicism and bluntness, says she will go to another hospital if Nakajou-sensei can’t come in. Before anything escalates any further, Shizuma comes into the room with the patient records and diffuses the situation. With his very personable approach to the women, he speaks to them calmly and introduces himself as he was with Nakajou-sensei during their last consult. He pets their dog, named Hana-chan and praises her efforts**, while also calming down the women, telling them he understands their worries while sharing his own dog’s birthing struggles, trying to build that rapport with them.
He explains that given their dog’s current state, it would be wise for them to reconsider taking her to another hospital and keeping Hana-chan here, vouching for Onodera’s skills and assessment as a well-experienced vet. He asks them to believe in Onodera. The elderly woman thinks about it, and then tells Shizuma she will leave her dog in their hands ONLY if Shizuma stays with Hana-chan the whole time.
Shizuma, knowing that he might miss his private house tour and anger Minato, is resolved to helping his patient and says he will definitely stay to help.
And that’s it for this chapter! It’s a bit of a long read again and we get a slightly suspenseful cliffhanger here... will Shizuma make it or not? Will Hand-chan safely deliver the last puppy in her litter? Will Minato see Shizuma soon? I guess we’ll find out in the next chapter! 🥰
Since Minato and Shizuma don’t really have a lot of panels together, please enjoy two little snippets from this chapter~ ❤️💛
(*) Minato, thinking in the cafe
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(**) Shizuma with his patient, Hana-chan
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THANK YOU AGAIN FOR READING! 💜 📢  As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢
The next chapter will appear in next month’s Dear+ (the December issue) out in November and the cover page will feature our adorakble pair! ❤️💛
🎉⚠️🎉 ALSO in next month’s issue, there will be a Therapy Game Mini Drama CD 🎉⚠️🎉 Sensei is treating us a lot this year!
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If you wish to order the magazine, I’ll be more than happy to let you know where I purchase mine, so please feel free to message me/comment here and I’ll let you know! 😁
As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜
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shypansexualcrystal · 4 years
Note
Could I request some bayverse autobots visiting s/o at work as a surprise to take them out on a little mid-day date?
Bayverse Optimus and Bumblebee Visiting their S/O at work
Optimus Prime:Working at a popular bar was relatively easy for the most part if you don’t count the drunkards and men and women that grope you that is. I’ve been working in the bar since I was young since it was a family-run bar that was to be expected. However, when I first started when I was 14 to get some pocket money I was behind the till mostly or helping out in the kitchen. As I grew so did my role in the bar, now here I am working either behind the bar making drinks or serving people their drinks and meals. Today was especially busy due to the bars anniversary, all the regulars came in to celebrate — which was most of the locals — while some tourists and people who just so happened to read the sign that advertised how we had nearly half-price on most drinks visited now and again. To describe it as hectic would be an understatement.All-day I was either rushing about serving people, behind the bar or helping out in the kitchen, everyone was all over the place. I had skipped all my breaks to help keep on top of everything, by the end of my shift was exhausted and I wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep for hours. Since I stayed behind until closing time as I finally bid the rest of the remaining workers a farewell and walked out into the fresh air the sky was pitch black. Sighing while looking at the sky, a cloud of condensation escaping my lungs as I did so, I wrapped my coat around me tighter and began the walk home in the dark and cold winter night.I was only a few steps away from my workplace when a loud horn sounded behind me, jumping I spun on my heel to glare at whoever it was that honked at me, as I did so I recognised the person as non-other than my Significant other, Optimus Prime. Instantly my glare changed to a bright smile He pulled up next to me and opened his cab door to allow me to climb in. “Hey Optimus, you scared me.” I giggled a little as he shut his door and began to drive down the streets.“Sorry, my bad. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He apologised I settled into the seat and was almost lulled into a peaceful sleep, Optimus drove around town while we had a nice conversation. I snuggled more into his seat while yawning. “Do you want me to drive you back home? I can see how tired you are by your one-word answers.” His voice was soft and soothing.I sat up and tried to look more alert, “No it’s fine, I’m awake.” I spoke with enthusiasm in my tone however the little yawn that followed betrayed me. I smiled straight after, however. Optimus didn’t reply, rather instead he decided to sigh.Finally, after a little more driving he came to a halt, too busy trying to stay awake I didn’t bother taking in my surroundings, I soon realized that I had shut my eyes sometime during the ride which prompted me to snap them open. Taking in the scenery I found that we had arrived at the top of a hill overlooking to the small town I lived in, the stars lit up the sky while the moon coated everything in a pale soft light.I smiled knowing he had taken us out to our little hideaway. We spent quite a while there just ranting about work and letting all our worries out. We took turns to listen to each other ranting before we finally had to end our sacred alone time due to Optimus being called back to base we both sighed and smiled at one another before heading back to base.It was nice to relax with him for that little while before going to sleep and then make my way to work once more in the afternoon the next day.BumblebeeIt’s been that was just a normal day at work, rushing about trying to make sure everything is organised and in the right place, working on my work while also trying to organise other peoples work that was sent to be to clean up and finalise the work being sent. I worked at a studio that specialized in 2D and 3D animation. I was the head of Storyboarding for a few shows the studio works on due to directors knowing me personally and liking my work. While it was hectic and I was either trying to find panels that had been lost or had been mixed up, which happen often and needed to be put back into order before being sent off to be animated. However, I adored this job and loved the work and it paid well which was a massive plus. I sighed after finishing the work I needed to complete for today. I packed up my things and headed towards the staffroom to gather the empty food containers that I used to bring in treats like homemade cookies and muffins I got from the leftovers from the party my family had last night. I baked the cookies and maybe made a little too many so I brought the leftovers for my coworkers to enjoy.Gathering my containers, I noticed I had two left, Smiling I went to my director’s office and offered him them, he took one while thanking me for thinking of him and I left his office with a smile on my face after having a little chat with him over both work and personal issues. Waiting for me outside was certain yellow Camaro I was all too familiar with. My cousin Sam got out and greeted me with a hug. “(Y/n)! Long time no see!” He cheered while grabbing my shoulders to pull me into a hug.I shrugged him off, we’ve been super close since we were toddlers and constantly teased each other, yet were both protective over each other because of our close bond, like a sibling kinda love, “you saw me just a few hours ago, how could you have missed me so much already?” I teased while sliding into the Camaro while Sam did the same, “Hey, Bee hows it going?” Bee responded through the radio in a flirty way, I rolled my eyes, typical Bumblebee.“Hey, Bee what have I told you about flirting with my cousin?” I just barely concealed a giggle.“Why, do you feel left out?” I pouted at him in mock sadness while bee sped off down the street.“No! I just feel uncomfortable hearing you two being all lovie dovie with each other after finding out what you two have been doing together, especially while you were in my garage the other night.” Sam pulled a face. Confused I tried to think of what we’d done that Sam knew about. “I wanted to talk to Bumblebee one night and heard you two together instead.”Suddenly realisation dawned on me, “Oh, OH! Ew Sam! What did you think we were doing?” I hit Sam a few times, Bee seemed to chuckle but did nothing besides that. Sam tried to stammer out his excuses but was just digging himself deeper in the hole he created himself. “Bee and I were having a movie night when he thought it’d be a good idea to start a tickle fight! Seriously, Sam?” I pulled a face and looked away from him and out the window.“Hey! Does taking our relationship further really disgust you that much?” Bee whined through his radio, I gave him a pointed look begging him that we not have this conversation while my cousin was in the car with us.“Not now, Bee.” I simply replied with a smirk lingering on my lips, meanwhile Sam just got more weirded out from our conversation, “Sam just drop it.”“You’re going to sleep with my car! I can’t just drop it - not like I’m saying you can’t sleep with him-it’s just-OK I need to stop thinking about this so much-how would it even work anyway-you know what? I don’t want to know-wait Bee you can ha-”“Okay! That’s enough! Conversation over!"My face felt like it was on fire, "Way to make things awkward Sam.” I giggled a little. The rest of the car ride was filled with the normal conversations we had after a few seconds of awkward silence.Finally, after dropping Sam off at his house, Bee took us to my garage which was big enough for him to transform and not have to hunch over as to not hit his head. I flopped onto the couch that was down there and sighed since this place was where I do any personal work while working at home it became a place where Bee and I hung out often due to the nice and easy atmosphere.“So.” Bee tried to start a conversation, I raised an eyebrow while looking over at him, I hummed to let him know that he had my attention, I rested my arm over my eyes while Bee continued to look at me and sitting on the floor beside me. “Do you want to take our relationship further?” He asked through his radio, doing his best to sound gentle.My heart leapt out my chest at the question, I removed my arm from my face and propped myself up on my elbows, the emotion in his eyes told me everything. He was curious but also tried his best to remain eye contact. “Bee,” I whispered his name tenderly.At my lack of reply, he deflated and looked away from me “nevermind” I sat up fully and called his name to get his attention again.“Hey, I never said no. It’s just, I’ve never gone that far with anyone before.” My voice got less confident and more secretive. “I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever been with before so if I were to go that far with anyone I would love for it to be with you.” I shyly caught his eye and give a timid smile.“I didn’t know. Sorry.” Bee apologised, I told him it was fine while climbing to be level with his face. Catching his optics once more I gave a warm and sincere smile before kissing his cheek tenderly. Bee let out a happy and soft whir while leaning into my touch. “I love you,” Bee whispered with his own very quiet and rough voice that he saved for tender moments like these since it was a struggle for him.“I love you more.”“I don’t think that’s possible.” Bee carefully moved me so I was cuddled into him while we got comfortable.
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mhdiaries · 4 years
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13 Wishes Twyla Diary
The Sixth of September
When you spend your unlife living in the shadows you get used to seeing things that are missed and missing things that are seen. Lately though, I feel like I’m missing more than I’m seeing, like today, for instance. There is a little garden cemetery not far from Monster High where I like to go and contemplate the simple joys of monsterhood. It has a little fountain with a park bench and a simply ginormous creeping willow tree. It’s like a giant umbrella that casts the most amazing shadows. Most of the time I am the only monster there except on Wednesday when a group of troll ladies show up to play bridge. Anyway, I was sitting in my usual spot today with my back to the tree facing away from the fountain. I heard footsteps and voices approaching. I thought it was probably some monsters coming to pay their ghast respects and I didn’t want to disturb them, so I just sat still. If I am in the shadows and I do not move or open my eyes I cannot be seen. As the footsteps got closer I recognized the voices - it was Lagoona and Gil. They were arguing about something and they stopped right next to the fountain. Now I could have just stepped from the shadow I was in to a shadow somewhere else, but I didn’t. I stayed because I’m a bad monster. I am not going to write down what they said though, because if some other monster ever reads this it’d be like betraying a trust. But I was sad the rest of the day over what I heard. They are both so sweet and make such a great couple that I had no idea they were facing such outside pressure on their relationship. I guess I was looking but not seeing. I really wish they could get this problem resolved, but some things can’t be wished away, only worked through. Eventually Gil left, but Lagoona stayed a little bit longer. She sat for a while, and I could hear her crying. I guess at that point I wanted so much to just run over and hug her, but I couldn’t. I know, I know, I’m a terrible monster, but I didn’t know what to do. That’s not true, I mean the terrible monster part is, but I should have just gone over and given her a hug...epic fail. I waited a bit after Lagoona left and then I left too.
The Tenth of September
Being able to jump from one shadow to another without having to step into the light means that I can avoid talking to other monsters if I don’t want. It’s not that I don’t like other monsters, but I feel kind of awkward sometimes, like maybe I’ll say or do something wrong and embarrass myself. I remember I’d been at MH for a while but I hadn’t really made any friends. Not because the other students hadn’t been nice to me, they were, I just always sort of disappeared before I let them get too close. I remember the day that I got cornered, literally. I was sitting by myself in the very back corner of the creepateria at a table underneath a burned out light that was casting a nice big shadow. I was just eating my lunch and watching when Howleen started walking my way. I sat still knowing that she wouldn’t be able to see me but I didn’t want to leave either cause I was hungry. So she came over and sat right down across from me. She sniffed a couple times and said, “PB&J?” “Eww cam seef me?” I answered with a mouth full of sandwich. “Nah, but I can smell you.” “Nobway!” “Of course I can, I’m a werewolf, and the nose knows. You smell like dust and strawscarry jam.” I started to excuse myself, but Howleen asked me not to, “I really don’t feel like eating lunch by myself - would you mind hanging out?” So I didn’t disappear, I stayed and I made a friend for unlife plus I didn’t embarrass myself even once. #WinWin
 The First of October
Usually Dustin meets me at the door when I get home from school, but he wasn’t waiting for me today. I called for him but he didn’t come. I checked all his usual hiding places: under the bed, behind the doors, in all the corners, but he was nowhere to be found. I started to get worried. I even went outside to look, although he hasn’t been out on his own since the day a big wind flew him into the blackscary brambles. I went back inside and was just about to start making lost posters to hand out around the neighborhood when I heard thump scratch - thump scratch - thump scratch. I looked up and there was Dustin, covered in glitter, double stick tape and beads. He had taken a nap in my craft box, and the end from a roll of necklace wire had wrapped around his foot while the spool had gotten stuck in the box. I would have taken a picture with my iCoffin, but he just looked so pitiful. It took me two hours to get him all cleaned up. I’ll have to save dryer lint for a week to patch all the bare places.
The Fifteenth of October
I went to Howleen’s house for a sleep over. It was cool getting to know her family. I mean I’d seen Clawd and Clawdeen around school, but this was the first time I really officially met them. I wish now I hadn’t waited so long because I feel like I missed out on some good times being so shy. I also got to meet another one of Howleen’s sisters. Her name is Clawdia and she’s going to college in Londoom. She actually wasn’t “there” so we talked to her online with video chat. She is studying to be a writer. She’s really funny and she had everybody in the house cracking up about what it’s like living in Londoom. Clawdeen left and went to fang out with Draculara and Frankie at Frankie’s house, so Howleen and I stayed up late talking. We’ve got like tons in common, we like the same TV shows, the same music - Catty Noir ‘natch, the same kind of styles and we even think the same boys are cute. The one thing that we don’t see eye to eye on is the need to be popular. I don’t care if I am and Howleen feels like is she isn’t she’ll disappear in the shadows of her older siblings. I told her that living in the shadows wasn’t all that bad, but she was totally focused on being in the spotlight. Eventually though she got out of her funk, and we spent the rest of the night watching movies. We had a scary cool time, and I can’t remember when I have ever laughed so hard. When Howleen fell asleep I snuck out and grabbed a late nightmare snack. I got back before morning and woke up to the smell of banana scary pancakes and bacon coming from the Wolf’s kitchen. So much fun and so happy to have a friend! Maybe I’ll try and spend a little more time out of the shadows from now on...maybe.
The Twenty-fifth of October
Most monsters stay away from normies as much as they can, my family not so much. We have what my dad calls a “symbiotic relationship” with normies, only they don’t know it. They think the Boogeyman hangs out under beds and in their closets to scare them, but that’s not it at all. We are “dream eaters” -- well, nightmare eaters, actually. We hide in the shadows and watch for them; then when we see one we pounce! It’s why our eyes glow in the dark so we can see the dreams. Of course we can’t see what’s in the dreams, we recognize them by color. Yellow for happiness, red for action, blue for flying, green for fantasy and lots of in between colors and shades that mix different kind of dreams together. Nightmares are the color of storm clouds, all grey-black and menacing. I only wish my dreams could be pounced on, too, but it doesn’t work that way for us. I dreamed a dream last night that I was on a frightly lit stage in front of the whole school. I was supposed to give a speech and I forgot the topic, so I just stood there looking for a shadow to hide, but there weren’t any. Then every monster started laughing at me. I turned to run and tripped off the stage, which was suddenly at the top of a very tall tower and I was falling an falling and falling. Then I was back on the stage again, and every monster in the audience was giving me a standing ovation. I looked behind me, and there were a panel of judges holding up scorecards.
9.5   9.5   10.0   9.5   4.0
So I started arguing with the judge who gave me the 4.0 and she told me that I flapped my arms too much as I was falling. Then I woke up. I told my dad about it, and he said it was probably just something I ate. Dads are so weird. 
The Twenty-eighth of October
Howleen is not enjoying her popularity as much as she thought she would, and there are shadows in places where they should not be. I am worried, and no monster seems to be listening to me. I must find a monster that will.
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makeste · 4 years
Text
BnHA Chapter 258: Have You Thanked Your Twice Today
Previously on BnHA: All Might gave Deku a book with all of the previous OFA successors’ names, quirks, and career stats. Kacchan barely glanced at the book and was all “nah, boring” and JUST LIKE THAT he decided we’re not gonna get any new info, which I don’t think is very fair or considerate Kacchan but whatever!! Anyway though, All Might did reveal that Nana could fly and so Deku is going to learn to fly, so that’s fucking awesome, and then Kacchan and Deku had a moment of being bratty siblings together which I framed and put on my wall, so that was also very enjoyable. Back at the 1-A dorms we learned that Todoroki can’t cook, and the kids had a New Year’s party and talked about how they’re gonna be second years soon and how everything is just SO GREAT AND GOOD AND LIFE IS GOOD, and elsewhere All Might sat outside the teacher’s dorms and had a gorgeous fucking conversation with Aizawa that gave me all the feels. The chapter then ended with a THREE MONTH TIMESKIP to late March when apparently everything is about to go to shit. So yeah. Quite a lot to process there.
Today on BnHA: Hawks spends basically the entire chapter very slowly explaining to us that he became best friends with Twice, and it paid off dividends on account of Twice deciding that Hawks is definitely trustworthy and he should definitely tell him exactly where Tomura is off hiding in the mountains of Kyoto, because that’s the kind of extremely sensitive strategic intel that real best friends don’t keep from one another! Can you guys believe Hawks spent all that time trying to cozy up to fucking Dabi of all people when this whole time Twice was right fucking there. I bet you Twice would never have asked him to kill Best Jeanist and tote around his remains in a knapsack. Anyway so the chapter ends with the heroes launching what I assume is a surprise attack in where I assume is Kyoto, which probably explains that whole “on that day the heroes vanished” bit from the previous chapter. So let’s all wish them good luck, especially because THEY BROUGHT THE FUCKING KIDS WITH THEM GODDAMMIT. Oh my babies. Please be safe.
so I think I’m gonna go back to the Friday schedule since it just works better for me. just gotta remember to take the translations with a grain of salt, but all in all the quality last week wasn’t too bad, and overall the pros outweigh the cons
(ETA: the quality actually went down a lot this time honestly, but Friday still > Sunday in terms of me having the time to read this, so it is what it is.)
well this is interesting!
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“in the absence of Endeavor” ? ??? the what now??? “oh yeah did we forget to mention, he’s gone now. we did some focus groups and made a few tweaks based on what the fans said they wanted.” well shit. let this be a warning to you all. it can happen JUST LIKE THAT
um. but I mean, that’s all well and good but uhhhh. [nervous glance toward Ujiko, Tomura, the 100k army, and the 11 noumus] ...
but maybe he’s just absent for the cover though. (ETA: yeah this makes a lot more sense after reading the last page of this chapter lol.) anyway so here we have everyone flying, as all good heroes do, including Deku who doesn’t really need that floating quirk after all I suppose, since he can jump real good. BUT IT’S STILL NICE FOR HIM TO HAVE IT SO SHHH
also the flower!Kacchan eyes are becoming more and more frequent lately. Horikoshi is really having a lot of fun with that
and now we’re going back roughly two months ago! which is still the future as far as I’m concerned! so this is really weird to have a “flashback” that basically still takes place after where we last left off. but whatever
“a week after the ‘hospital’ tip” well thank you, that certainly does help. so Twice is jogging in and beckoning to his best bud Hawks so Hawks is like “?” and walking over
(ETA: this has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but I just wanted to say that it’s very possible this flashback is actually taking place on Shouto’s birthday -- January 11th -- given the timing, so happy birthday Shouto! you are getting so big!)
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lol see this is one of those times where the whole ‘translation of a translation’ thing doesn’t really work sob. even with context I’m not quite sure wtf Twice is actually asking, but at any rate this at least does give us an idea of how the rest of the League is spending their time now that they’ve completed their whole villain corporate merger
so Spinner and Compress, who actually have a few brain cells to rub together between the two of them, are already deeply involved in running things, and meanwhile Giran, Dabi, and Toga don’t really give a shit and so are content to sit back and wait until their services are actually needed. incidentally I like to think Giran spends a good chunk of his free time just tormenting ReDestro in a bunch of really small and petty ways. like making him get his coffee, and having him call and cancel his cable subscription and stuff. it’s just nice
guys I have no idea wtf is going on in these four panels honestly
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well you heard him. that’s the situation. nobody trusts Twice (or was he talking about Hawks?), and meanwhile he has to go poo. not exactly where I thought this chapter would be picking up after that fun little cliffhanger last week, but just goes to show this series truly is a magical Kinder Egg and you never know what you’re gonna get!
so Hawks is explaining for my benefit that Twice was apparently doing an impression of some guy named “Sanctum” who is the oldest member of the MLA
holy shit it took Hawks a whole month to figure out all of the Pliff members? I’m just gonna pass then. thankfully I’m not a spy and I don’t have the fate of the free world depending on me memorizing the organizational chart of a bunch of really boring people whom I really do not give the slightest fuck about. anyway godspeed Hawks
oh no
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son of a bitch. we’re in for another long fucking arc aren’t we lmao. well all right then let’s go ahead and do the rundown
Black 1: Fuhrer King Bradley
Black 2: Flying Ace
Black 3: Mother Ginger
Violet 1: Super Mario and Just A Bald Man
Violet 2: Predator and Best Sweaterist
Violet 3: Vizard and Gang Badger
in conclusion, Horikoshi will never stop making Alien/Predator references, and I’m also seeing some strong FMA and Bleach influence here as well. hell, the Mario guy even reminds me of some of the fishman characters from One Piece. so basically we’re all over the place here
other observations: “the new world movement”, huh? are they moving on from PLF at long last? I’ll take Newm over Pliff any day tbh
and so they have a tactical force and a raid force. now that’s interesting as fuck, because who exactly are they planning to raid? now that’s a nice disturbing question to ponder
lastly, the black and violet color schemes are very interesting and I wonder if there’s any significance there that’s going over my head lol. for now I just think it sounds cool regardless
-- MOTHERFUCKER THERE’S A WHOLE NOTHER PAGE OF THIS SHIT FUCK ME I FUCKING QUIT
goddammit. fine
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Carmine 1: Lefty Hair and Gerudo Princess
Carmine 2: Slidin’ Go Away and R2-D2
and I can’t see Carmine 3, oh well. meanwhile on the other side we’ve got:
Cleveland 1: Praying Mantis and Righty Hair
Cleveland 2: Jawa and Just Happy To Be Here
and last but not least, Cleveland 3: Badger’s Revenge
what I have learned from this is that I don’t really know what a badger looks like and so any remotely rodent-looking animal person with stripes on their face is going to be slapped with that label because I don’t have time to research what would be a more appropriate animal nickname unless we want to be here until next week. anyway
haha Hawks what the fuck
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well that sure is encouraging. so how exactly are the heroes supposed to get the drop on them then? basically we’re fucked, is what you’re saying. well we all been knew so whatever
so Hawks is monologuing to himself about how he was able to nice his way into learning all of the army’s members without getting caught, and in the process he observed how all of the members are all “FUCK THE SYSTEM”, which they definitely have a point about but are also definitely going about the wrong way holy shit
so now he’s feeding some good rabble-rousing lines to Twice who is eating them up
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yeah, because Twice famously loves ReDestro lol, oh wait
so Twice is all “I don’t wanna say something that’s not from the heart” because he is PURE and not a Sneaky Sam like SOME PEOPLE! but he understands Hawks’s point that he basically just has to butter them up and tell them what they want to hear, and now he’s running off with a hearty thanks
fffffson of a --
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like, you all can see the breakdown in logic that occurred here, right? “some heroes are corrupt” -- absolutely! “kill all heroes” -- wait, what
like obviously there are some real world parallels here. but I very much get the feeling that the PLF/NWM’s movement is fueled less by sentiments of “our law enforcement system is trigger-happy, racist, void of empathy, and think they’re above the law” and more by the notion of “our self-proclaimed superiority gives us the right to do whatever we want and trumps other people’s right to be safe and free, particularly if those people are unfortunate enough to not have quirks.” like, there are a lot of other nuances we could get into here, but that’s basically the gist of it, so yeah. these guys are not to be sympathized with here
and now there’s a big double page spread basically confirming that what these guys really want is blood and anarchy
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and the really interesting thing here to me is that we can see Tomura standing at the front of the pack in that bottom right panel. but on the very next panel, with the close-up of Hawks looking as serious as we’ve ever seen him, he basically says that the endgame of all this, the ultimate outcome that this is all meant to bring into place, is one thing and one thing only
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yep. well fuck
anyway I have no idea why he’s thanking Twice, but I’m gonna go ahead and guess he unknowingly did something which might give the heroes the potential glimmer of hope which they desperately need. so I will go ahead and thank you too, Twice. you’re a good guy buddy
oh wow there’s a whole page of more meta about Twice! -- and OH SHITTTTTTT
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LKDsjflkjsdlfklskgjlskjlfkjsdlfk oh my fkfdjflk how did this never occur to me, just. FSDKLFLSIFKjk
hahaha. :’) holy fucking shit. they have to take him out. they can’t win otherwise. the heroes are already screwed enough as it is with just one Tomura and eleven high ends to contend with; if Twice is able to use his quirk to multiply that exponentially, we can basically kiss the world goodbye. fuck
but Hawks came to realize that Twice is actually a good guy though as echoed above! which, yeah, and can you imagine if he wasn’t, though? shiiit
oh my god they are so cute
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listen, I won’t lie, I’m reading this for my 1-A children first and foremost, so there’s a part of me that’s like “HOW MANY MORE PAGES ARE WE GOING TO GET OF THIS JESUS CHRIST.” but there’s no denying that Jin is a good turnip and his unexpected friendship with Hawks -- which I am happy to report is now confirmed to be genuine! because Hawks really does like him! -- is a delight to witness
OH MY GOD TWICE LMAO
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“HERE, LET ME JUST DRAW YOU A MAP! (⌒∇⌒。)ANYTHING FOR YOU, BEST FRIEND”
holy fucking shit Twice. did you just save all our asses you beautiful bastard
so between this, and the “hospital” clue, that could be enough to track him down, couldn’t it? no wonder Hawks was so pumped after getting that call. what are the odds this chapter ends with the start of a hero-led raid on a hospital in Kyoto. oh shit oh shit oh shit
lolol oh fuck me
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I swear to god Horikoshi if you end this bromance by having Hawks kill Twice for the sake of the greater good, I’ll. ... well I sure as hell won’t like that. please do not
AND JUST LIKE THAT WE’RE BACK TO SPRINGTIME OH MY GOD
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what a time to enter the first fucking grade Dai-kun. godspeed little man. I love the little detail that he’s holding an Endeavor plush while looking at the All Might statue. drawing strength from both heroes. aww
and then of course we have this fucking march of heroes which I can only hope is them heading to that hospital! no wonder they all vanished. they all ran off to Kyoto to try and put a stop to the villains’ plans before it’s too late
but I don’t see any of the kiddos there, though? don’t tell me the villains are gonna try something while the adults are away and leave the kids to deal with it all on their own
oh shit no!!! hold up!!
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DON’T TELL ME THEY REALLY DID BRING THE KIDS WITH THEM ON THE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS “TIME TO GET OUR ASSES HANDED TO US BY NOUMURAKI TOMURA” MISSION NOOO MY BABIESSS
oh thank god
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at least they don’t have the child soldiers on the front fucking lines, fucking christ
AHHHHHHHHH
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SAY A PRAYER FOR KATSUKI’S WINTER COSTUME, EVERYONE. BE AT PEACE, SLEEVES OF GONDOR. FAREWELL BEST JEANIST TRIBUTE COLLAR
is this T chest thing on Shouto’s costume new? I can’t imagine that serves any sort of practical function whatsoever; he was probably just tired of looking boring
BUT!!!! those gloves, though!!?! now those are definitely new and I fucking love them. again I can’t really see them having much of a practical application given his quirk, but there is nothing wrong with upgrading oneself just to look sharp! boy wanted a facelift so he went out and got one
that’s some nice Anime Protagonist Wind they’ve got going on there in the mountains of Kyoto. real epic shit
1-B is there too!! and also Hadou, I think, unless that’s Pony? so that’s fucking awesome. we will certainly need all hands on deck
so that’s it for the chapter! not much happened, but we got a lot of Twice appreciation and learned that the heroes still have a few tricks up their sleeves! can’t wait to see how this will all go disastrously wrong. if you ask me, it’s probably when they decided that the best way to launch a surprise attack was to have fifty Endeavor-led guys gather all together and march up Main Street. but far be it from me to tell the heroes how to do their job I guess. best of luck not dying everyone
189 notes · View notes
andimack-crack · 3 years
Text
A christ-mack story: Andi Mack
Read part one here
Read part two here
Read part three here
Read part four here
Part five: Locked in for Christmas part 2
[Word count 1682]
"it's about to get really cold in here and no cell service either it's like everything's cut off"
"I...I think the doors locked"
Andi's POV
"Locked we can't be" Buffy shoved past pulling on the handel it was no use.
"How is this happening?" Cyrus stressed
"Bowie's new security system is broken it must of locked us in" I said realising
"Well where's the control panel we can unlock it" Buffy said
"Its broken Bowie has the instruction manule at home we don't know how" I protested
"So where stuck in here on Christmas eve with no electricity" Jonah's breathing became erratic
"Jonah there no need to panic" Cyrus reassured
"There's every need to panic who knows how long we'll be here for before anyone comes to find us" Jonah panicked
"Relax I'll call my parents" I said whipping out my phone only for my face to drop
"Its on 2%" I confessed
"My phone broke last week" Jonah said
"Luckily my phone is working" Buffy said happily but she then looked confused
"No bars" she informed
"Let me try" Cyrus tapped his phone "I don't have bars either"
"Cell service is cut off as well" Jonah said
"We're gonna die in here" Cyrus said dramatically flopping on the couch
"No we're not our parents will realise were missing and come looking for us" I said
"But we never told them where were going just that we'd be back before 6 so they wouldn't disturb us" Buffy said
"Okay Jonah now you can panic" I huffed. I checked my watch
Time: 6:00pm
Looks like we'll be here for a while.
*******
T.J's POV
"Have you seen Buffy?" Marty said.
I was walking home from work when Marty quickly ran up next to me.
"No not today" I responded
"Oh she's not answering my calls but it's probably a good thing" he said
"Why you avoiding her?"
"No but I haven't got her a good Christmas gift" he complained
"Dude come on its Christmas eve I know you leave things to the last minute but this is a new low" I scoffed
"No I wanted to go online and book something for us to do together but nothing good or affordable" he said
"Dude it's Buffy take her go-karting or something"
"I want it to be romantic or festive I can take her go-karting anytime" he was right to be fair
"What are you doing for Cyrus?"
"Nothing I got him a gift for Hanukkah he said not to worry about anything else"
"Seriously I would've at least got him like a card" that grabbed my attention
"You think I should've?"
"Its up to you man but maybe Cyrus feels left out that he doesn't get to celebrate like everyone else" he said raising his eyebrows
"Shit I didn't think about that your on we can help eachother" I patted his back
Meanwhile...
Andi's POV
Time: 7:00pm
"I'm hungry" Cyrus whined
"Cy-guy I love you and all but you have the stomach of a baby deer" Jonah said
"I have dinner around this time I can't help it" he said crossing his arms
"Well there's no food plus we didn't eat that long ago are you seriously that hungry? Maybe it's just boredom" Buffy said
"Yes I'm that hungry" Cyrus simply said crossing his arms
"It doesn't matter sooner or later we're gonna need food Jonah your in here half the time is there anything we can eat?" I asked hopefully
"Bowie put in a vending machine" he pointed to the back of the room.
We all piled in front of it eyeing the bottles of water the bags of chips and chocolates and sweets but I groaned we needed coins we only had dollars
"We can't put dollars in" I frowned
"Bowie keeps a key to get into the machine somewhere under the till" Jonah said he went behind the counter and started looking I gasped in disbelief
"Jonah the till" I pointed out
"What about it?" He said not looking up
"The till has coins inside of it" Buffy said
"That's stealing" Cyrus interjected
"I thought you were hungry" I stated 
"Guys now's not the time to be at each others throats" Buffy said standing between us
"Buffys right" Jonah said opening up a bag of chips.
we all looked at him in disbelief again we saw the open vending machine door and charged at it nabbing all the contents.
"Oh yeah I got it open." Jonah smiled
******
Marty's POV
"How about you take her... surfing"
"T.J it's winter and the beach isn't for miles... Maybe you could take Cyrus to a petting zoo" I suggested
"He has a fear of flamingos I don't think it would sit to well with him" he protested
"Dang this harder without Jonahs third braincell" I admitted
"Times getting on anyways I think I better get home before Amber sneaks into my room looking for her present" Tj said checking his phone.
"Alright... still no word from the others" I said also looking at my phone
Weird.
*******
Andi's POV
Time: 9:45pm
Buffy was looking over at some guitars me and Cyrus were laying on the sofa at opposite ends Jonah was excessively cleaning the floor with a rag and lemon scented floor cleaner he had found we were all in silence accept for the sound of Jonah drilling a hole in the floor.
"Jonah why just why?" I said frustrated
"I clean when I'm stressed this is calming for me" he went back to scrubbing.
"Please don't argue" Cyrus said
"It's freezing in here now" Buffy said rubbing her arms up and down.
"Look guys we need to stop complaining it's Christmas eve" Cyrus dug into a box pulling out several candles and some matches "Andi help me light these"
He placed the candles around the room close to us Jonah and Buffy came over to huddle close with us Cyrus took a guitar from the wall handing it to Jonah
"Come on its Christmas we barley get to be together like this no drama no technology let's enjoy it and try to make it festive play us something Jonah" Cyrus encouraged
"Well okay then" he shrugged picking up the guitar.
He started to strum the cords I instantly recognised them closing my eyes and humming along
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now
Jonah's voice and the candles made a really warm calming atmosphere so much so I let my eyes stay closed for a little longer as I drifted off
Time: 11:46pm
I was jolted awake by the sound of rattling at the door. My face lit up thinking someone had arrived finally I saw Buffy, Cyrus and Jonah fast  asleep I got closer to the door seeing a hooded figure grunting trying to pull the door I realised it wasn't someone rescuing us it was someone breaking in. I shook my friends awake quickly
"What now Andi" Buffy groaned
"S-someone's breaking in" I said panicked
"Are you sure?" Cyrus said slowly coming too.
"Yes"
"Oh my god u-um behind the counter" Jonah ordered we all hid
"What do we do?" Buffy quivered in fear
"We um we-" I started
"Set up and elaborate number of traps that will hurt them and one of us can run and get the cops and we need to trick them with a recording of an old movie" we all slowly looked to Jonah
"Are you serious" Cyrus whispered shouted
"Worked in home alone" Jonah shrugged we all shook our heads
"Okay we distract them by yelling and make a break for it" I said
"Okay are we ready?" Cyrus said shakily.
We didn't have time to answer the door opened and we all jumped up screaming and shouting the figure took his hood down to reveal Bowie and Bex trailing behind him we all stopped seeing who it is
"Mom...dad?"
"Yeah why are you shouting?" Bowie said a little intimidated
"We thought you were breaking in" Cyrus said ashamed
"Well these two came and told us you were all in here" Marty and Tj appeared from behind Bex Buffy and Cyrus rushed forward to be engulfed in hugs
"We were walking home and saw the four of you laying asleep we went to Andi's apartment" Marty muffled from Buffy's embrace
"We owe you guys one" Jonah said suddenly Marty and Tj rushed to hug Jonah as they held him in a three person spoon
"Thank god we missed our third brain cell" Marty laughed I turned to my parents
"Did you two make up?" I asked hopeful
"Yes we did sorry for worrying you" Bex apologised
"Its okay I'm glad your happy" I said relieved
"Actually your mom and I have some news" Bowie said putting an arm around Bex
"We're having a baby" she smiled
A-a b-baby? I'm getting a sibling?!" I said joyfully
"Yep I found out a few days ago" Bex beamed with happiness
"Congratulations" Cyrus declared happily
"I'm here to give you pointers on being a sibling if you need it" Tj said pointing finger guns
I took a glance at my watch
Time: 00:01pm
"Guys it's passed midnight" I announced
"Merry Christmas Andiman" Jonah said giving me a side hug.
Merry Christmas.
6 notes · View notes
imaginethathaikyuu · 5 years
Note
as a fellow akaashi whore, may i request s/o being the manager nd dating him in secret or something?? idk just fluff i just love him
sooo…. when you requested this you probably expected a short little scenario, but… uh… take a look at that word count yikeslook, idk what happened but this scenario has taken over my life for a week now. and here are the results. (oh, and, spoiler alert: his s/o isn’t the team’s manager… uh… oops? also, akaashi whores UNITE) 
most importantly: round of applause for my beta reader, editor in chief, very good friend who has way too high of a tolerance for my bullshit and dumb ideas, @heichou-in-my-head, better known as pip. i don’t know how you do it, but holy shit is this honeybun grateful for you pippy. sorry my trouble with tenses gave you a hard time with this one, but what else do you expect from me? (seriously, thank you for all you do for me! ^_^) 
without further ado….. word count: 7883fem reader
-
“This is Akaashi.”
Back when your parents told you they’d be hiring a new gardener, you’d expected someone just as old as your last one. It appeared they’d managed to find a college student who was the same age as you instead.
“You can call me Keiji, if you want to.”
And it was weird - your parents quickly accepted the boy into your family. You recall feeling as though they expected the two of you to develop a relationship resembling something like siblings.
But after two months of him working for your family, you’d done nothing but embarrass yourself in front of him.
Even the other morning, you’d walked into the kitchen wearing what you’d slept in - a t-shirt and your underwear - toothbrush in mouth, bedhead out in full force, just about to grab a bottle of water from the fridge when you noticed: the boy was standing at the sink washing his hands, eyeing you with vague amusement. You remember gratefully noting that he didn’t glance down to your lower half.
How polite.
The snicker he gave you wasn’t very polite, though.
“Good morning,” he said, “sleeping beauty.”
You pulled your toothbrush from your mouth with a scoff.
“It’s not that late,” you mumbled, grabbing the bottle and beating a hasty retreat to your room.
Akaashi ended up doing more than just gardening work; observing his competence and willingness to do just about any task they could come up with, your parents immediately decided the entire house needed some work done. And there was no job Akaashi couldn’t do! He built shelves, painted walls, repaired fences - you’d even seen him under the hood of your dad’s car. He added these uncomplainingly to his main tasks of mowing the lawn, tending to the flower beds and bushes, weeding and re-potting, and occasionally working on the garden furniture. It was a wonder he had any time for school.
You stare at him now; he’d just knocked on your door, pulling you out of a deep Youtube video hole, and greeted you with, “I’m supposed to take down your curtains.”
“…what?” You glance back at your window confusedly.
“Your curtains - I’m supposed to take them down. And put these new ones up.”
“Oh.” You’d assumed your dad would change your curtains, but at this point it’s a given he’d get Akaashi to do it. “Uh… sure, okay.”
You settle back into your bed while he brings a step stool and a few tools in. The silence as he works is awkward, even tense, and it doesn’t seem like Akaashi’s going to break it - you decide you’ll have to do it.
“So, do you only own dark blue t-shirts?”
“Do you own pants?”
Damn. You’d hoped all those times you’d walked around in just your underwear had gone unnoticed by him.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” you shoot back, trying to mask your embarrassment. “You know, I used to be able to roam freely before my parents adopted you.”
He snorts. “Adopted?”
You sit up to get a better look at him. “What, you don’t feel like they’ve adopted you?”
“Considering I go home at the end of the day, no.”
“That’s the next step, Keiji - we have a spare room!”
He chuckles, instantly lightening the tense atmosphere. You realise this is the first time you’ve seen him smile genuinely and not just out of politeness - the old curtains are now down and the golden sunlight shines on his face, enhancing his features softly. For some reason you can’t take your eyes off him.
“I don’t think my own parents would appreciate me getting a new family.”
“I guess that’s true,” you laugh. “What do you have left to do today?”
His tongue sticks out just a bit as he focuses on twisting a screw into the wall. “Mow the lawn.”
“Perfect excuse to make lemonade then, don’t you think?”
Akaashi takes a step back to judge his work. The curtains are up, they’re even, and they look nice.
“Cliche,” he says, looking over to you. “But I agree.”
The summer sun is hot. Much hotter than you remember it being last year. And the best place to get away from that heat? Your air conditioned bedroom, obviously.
Your mom isn’t inclined to agree, though.
“Why don’t you get out of bed?”
“Mom…”
“Y/N, you’ve had two weeks of summer break and you’ve spent the whole time cooped up in this room. Your father is worried sick!”
You groan again. “I’m relaxing!”
“Well, you need to get some sun,” your mother continues. “Akaashi is outside painting the fence. I told him you’d be joining him. Get going!”
She leaves your bedroom with a huff, and you force yourself to roll out of bed. You put on appropriate clothes for painting and head to the backyard.
Akaashi’s wearing his trademarked blue t-shirt, paint supplies on a tarp next to him.
“Nice to see you out of that cave,” he says without looking at you.
You roll your eyes in response, crossing your arms and waiting for him to give you instructions.
“You actually want to help?”
“I don’t think I have a choice,” you reply, turning around to see your mother watching you from inside the house. You wave at her dramatically, and she waves back before walking away from the window.
He kneels down to prepare the paint. “I’ve already cleaned it and applied a primer,” he tells you. “So we can start painting now.”
You’re not sure what primer is for, but the quicker you finish painting, the quicker you can get out of this heat - you’re not going to bother asking.
He hands you a large brush and a tin can of white paint, and then walks away.
“Is that it?”
He laughs. “It isn’t rocket science! Just start painting!”
As it turns out, Akaashi had way too much faith in you. You’ve only finished painting about a third of the fence when he stands next to you, having already finished the other two thirds.
“Someone likes to take their time,” he says, painting the last panel.
“You’re just too fast!”
“You didn’t have to be so meticulous.” He takes the paint brush and can from you. “But thanks for the help.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before we started?”
“I didn’t think I had to.”
“Hey, it looks good!”
Both of you turn around to find your mother judging the paint job.
“How did she do, Keiji? Be honest!”
The boy looks over at you with a smile. “She didn’t do half bad. It was nice having company.”
“She’ll have to help out more often.”
After that, your parents jump at any chance to have you help Akaashi with his work. Without giving you payment, of course.
“You could learn a lot from the boy,” your dad says later on. “You need to learn how to do some hard work.”
“I think we managed to hire a trustworthy boy,” your mother chimes in.
“He can teach you about taking care of yourself. At least until you find a man like him to do it all. Someone with deeper pockets, hopefully.”
For some reason you’re really not a fan of the tone of voice your father uses, but at the same time you don’t really know what he means by it. Rather than being offended for Akaashi’s sake, you continue the conversation.
“Can’t I just hire someone like you guys?”
After a moment of thought, your mom speaks up. “Of course that’s an option! Maybe Keiji will even be around to work for you.”
You nod, not really knowing how to reply. You couldn’t genuinely see Akaashi working for you - but maybe working the whole summer with him wouldn’t be so bad, if it meant getting to know him better.
A knock on the front door pulls you out of the movie you were watching. When you answer, you find a familiar face.
“Is your dad home?”
You shake your head. “No, he’s having a late night at work. Won’t be back until early in the morning.”
“What about your mom?”
“On a trip,” you reply, bringing Akaashi inside.
“Well, do you have any idea why your dad called me here, then?”
“Oh, probably for me, sorry.”
His brows furrow, and the smile you sent him only confuses him more.
“My bathtub’s drain was clogged, but I told him I’d figure it out myself. I guess he didn’t trust my plumbing skills.”
“Did you fix it?”
“I…tried!”
He sighs. “Which bathroom?”
“The one in my room…”
You have no idea how he plans to fix the clog with no tools, but you don’t stop him as he makes his way to the bathroom. You sit at the kitchen table and wait for him to come back.
It takes much less time than you expected, and he’s drying his hands with a towel when he walks into the kitchen.
“Did you fix it?!”
He nods, wiping his brow. “Maybe I should’ve used that as a teachable moment for you.”
“No thanks. I never want to look at a drain again - I tried looking up instructions, but nothing would work. I tried for at least thirty minutes!”
“It isn’t that hard,” he replies under his breath. He sits across the table from you. “What are you doing home anyway? Don’t you have friends to keep you company? You know, instead of your gardener.”
“Are you implying I told my dad to invite you here on purpose?”
“A clogged drain isn’t that dire, but your dad definitely made it out to be.”
“Whatever,” you scoff. “I was going to make dinner, and since you’re here, you can help.”
“I’m a gardener, not a chef.”
You stand and begin pulling ingredients out of the fridge. “That’s what recipes are for - I won’t let you mess anything up, don’t worry.”
“Fine - don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Thirty minutes later the entire kitchen was filled with smoke.
“How did you burn rice?!”
“I don’t know - all I did was pour it into the pot!”
“With or without water?”
“…shit.”
Akaashi was hopeful that when fall came around, it’d mean less work. He was very mistaken. You’d even told him, “knowing my dad, he’ll find something for you to do.”
And the man did. For a month, Akaashi had to rake leaves once a week - which included cleaning the gutters - and when he wasn’t doing that, he was cleaning old tools that had been in your garage for years.
The first day he does the raking you watch him through the living room window in agony, waiting for him to get a big pile collected.
And as soon as he turns his back…
Your giggles were the only warning he had before he saw leaves go flying.
“My dad told me to help, so I thought I’d give you more work!”
“Y/N,” he says with a groan, but your laughter forces him to laugh with you. “That took half an hour!”
“I’ll rake them again! Help me up.”
He grabs your hand - only to be pulled down into the remaining leaf pile beside you, making you laugh even harder when he groans.
“Isn’t it fun?”
“I haven’t done this since I was a kid,” he says. But you notice that as he stands up and pulls you with him, he doesn’t deny it. “Once I jumped in a pile of leaves my dad was raking, and he was so pissed,” he admits with a laugh, looking happy at the memory.
“Did you have to rake them up after that, like I have to?”
He answers by handing you a rake. “I had to rake them for the rest of the season. For everyone in our neighborhood.”
“God, that must’ve sucked.”
“It paid well,” he replies. “I was able to buy my parents Christmas gifts that year because of it.”
“That’s sweet, Keiji.”
“Enough ass kissing, get to work.”
He walks away while you scoff, leaving you alone to rake up the mess you made - but you both have smiles on your faces.
As winter approached, Akaashi was spending even more of his time with you when he was meant to be working. You’d call him into your room for his opinion on an outfit or make him stay an hour longer so he could have lunch with you; you even often texted each other. Your friendship flourished, and the two of you felt more than comfortable around each other now - a stark comparison to nearly six months ago.
He was at your home every Monday and some Thursdays ready to work, without fail. They quickly became your favorite days of the week.
This Monday the wind was roaring outside as you curled up on the couch, fireplace ablaze to keep you warm. You were sure Akaashi wouldn’t come today - the last time you looked outside everything was covered in snow, even parts of the road - so when the doorbell rings it makes you jump a little.
You open the door, knowing Akaashi would be on the other side. “You’re late!” you say before hurrying back to your spot on the couch.
He pulls his beanie off, letting his messy hair free. “I know - the snow was getting bad. Had to shovel my driveway.”
“Tardiness is unacceptable, Akaashi.”
He scoffs at you. “Tardiness is next to godliness -”
“That’s timeliness.”
Your dad walks into the room from the kitchen, interrupting your conversation. “Akaashi, what’re you doing here?”
“Wasn’t I supposed to work on something in the attic today, or… something?”
He takes off his scarf as he speaks, and you stare at his rosy cheeks. His skin must’ve been flushed from the cold - you think he looks absolutely precious.
He catches you staring at him, but you didn’t look away. Before you probably would’ve been embarrassed to be caught eyeing the boy, but now you were looking forward to him teasing you for it.
“Well, yeah, but have you seen the weather? I didn’t think you’d bother showing up.”
Of course he’d seen the weather - but he also hadn’t seen you in a week. And for some reason, he missed you - so he made a point to get to work today.
“I appreciate the work. Especially since the holidays are coming up.”
“Alright…” your dad says with an understanding sigh. “Come on, then.”
You assume your dad leads him to the attic. Before walking away, Akaashi pulls his hoodie off, giving you a good view of his toned stomach when his shirt raises up. And instead of hanging it on the coat rack, he throws it at you with a smirk.
“Hey!”
“It’s to keep you warm!” he laughs before quickly catching up with his boss.
You don’t see him again until you’re having dinner. Your mother invites him to stay and eat, and when he sits across from you, you make sure to give his leg a playful kick.
“Shouldn’t you write Keiji up for being late today, bossman?”
“I had an excuse,” the boy argues.
“But you were a good four hours late.”
Keiji finally kicks your leg back, rolling his eyes.
“At least I showed up at all,” he replies. He looks down at his watch and half-gasps at the time. “I should get home, though - thank you for the meal.”
He stands up and your mother follows him. “Are you sure the roads are safe?” Nobody responds as she walks over to a window, seeing nothing but thick snow falling from the evening sky. “The road’s completely covered! I don’t want you driving in this weather. You should stay here for the night.”
“Keiji, we get to have a sleepover,” you tease.
“I couldn’t impose -”
“I insist,” your mom says. “You can sleep in the living room. Help him feel at home, Y/N.”
“Sure,” you reply. You would’ve given a sassier reply just to tease Akaashi even more, but you were busy wondering about his worried expression.
“Maybe the snow will lighten up soon,” he says.
“I doubt it,” your father says to him. The man stands and puts a hand on Akaashi’s shoulder. “Just stay here until the morning, don’t bother risking the drive. Y/N, don’t pester him too much.”
“I’ll try.”
After wishing you goodnight, your parents head off to their bedroom for bed.
“Do you want me to get the futon out for you?”
“If you don’t mind,” Akaashi says as he pulls out his cell phone. With a sigh, he continues. “My brother is going to be pissed.”
“You have a brother?” you ask, making your way to the closet where the futon and blankets are stored.
“Yeah, he’s 7.”
You had known Akaashi for what felt like a long time, and you thought you knew him well. But even after all this time, and after learning so much about him, you knew almost nothing about his home life.
Wanting to know more, you ask, “what’s his name?”
You turn your head to find him with his phone pressed to his ear.
“Hey, can you put Koichi on? Yeah, thanks.”
You turn back and focus on setting up his futon in the middle of the living room, but you can’t help overhearing his phone call since he’s only standing in the doorway.
“Hey, kid. I know I was supposed to be home before it got dark, but… no, playing in the snow is going to have to wait until tomorrow… I know I promised, but I have to stay here - no, the roads aren’t safe to drive…”
You find yourself feeling very curious about what Akaashi’s brother is like, what their relationship is like; you just want to sit and talk to him about his life and family, learning everything about him. But you’re sure he’d feel uncomfortable with that. It’d probably feel more like an interrogation to him.
It does seem unfair though. He knew virtually everything about you and your family. Would you have to become his handyman in order to learn more about him?
“Hey, you didn’t have to do all that for me.”
You look up and see he’s now back in the living room with you, phone call completed. You were already done setting up his futon as well as spreading out the bedspread.
“It’s fine!” you say. “I’ll get you an extra blanket, too.”
“Thanks, Y/N.”
“No problem, Keiji.”
You get the blanket for him and decide to turn in early, heading back up to your room with a cheerful ‘good night’.
When you wake up, the first thing you think is how cold you are. It’s unbearable; you curl your limbs into your body, pull your blanket up to your chin, but it’s no use. It feels like the blanket is only making you colder.
You open your eyes to check the time; you expect to see the sun shining through your window, but it’s still dark out. You click your phone on and are surprised to find that it’s only 1 am - and also that your phone isn’t charging, even though it’s plugged in.
You switch your bedside lamp on: nothing.
“Huh.”
The snow must have knocked the power out. That would explain your room’s temperature.
There’s no way you can fall asleep in your cold bedroom, so using your phone as a flashlight, you make your way to the living room, with thoughts of the fireplace and a certain boy and the warmth both of them can offer.
You’re excited to see Akaashi already has a fire burning in the fireplace, and he’s sat up in the futon, the hood of his hoodie pulled up over his head.
“Keiji,” you whisper before sitting next to him. “I need warmth!”
“You’re in the right place, then.”
You sit down next to him in front of the fireplace, sitting much closer to him than you first intended.
“You’re shivering,” he says with a laugh, pushing his hood down. “Are you really that cold?”
You nod, pulling your knees up to your chest and hugging them close.
“Here,” Akaashi says, pulling his hoodie off and handing it to you. “It’s warm.”
“Won’t you be cold?” you ask, pulling the sweatshirt on. You immediately feel warmer, and the scent of Akaashi’s cologne quickly takes over your senses.
He shakes his head. “Not if I’m under a blanket,” he says as he scoots up, getting under the two large blankets. “Do you want to lay down with me?”
Instead of answering, you just crawl over to him. He holds the blanket up for you, inviting you under, and you gratefully accept.
“Do you feel better?” Akaashi asks after you get comfortable.
“I’m so warm,” you say, almost in disbelief. You open your eyes and give him a wide, content smile. “Are you warm?”
He nods. You’re sharing a pillow; his face is quite close to yours. But not uncomfortably close. You like laying next to him like this.
“…are you still worried about your brother?”
“A little,” he says with an awkward laugh. “He wanted to play in the snow together.”
“He’ll be okay, I’m sure,” you say before yawning. “I didn’t know you even had a brother. Does he look like you?”
Akaashi smiles. “Basically identical.”
“I’d love to meet him.”
Your eyes are closed now, and you can feel yourself falling asleep, but you try to hold it back.
“I’d like that,” Akaashi replies, and his voice is much quieter than it was before.
He closes his eyes too, but he’s nowhere near falling asleep. He isn’t even tired. How could he manage to fall asleep while you’re laying right next to him?
So he opens his eyes again, and lets himself look at you. The fire lights up the room with an orange glow, gently cascading on your face. And he’s gone; his heart is beating fast, he’s smiling for no reason, his entire body feels warm - and he’s sure it isn’t because of the fire.
He wants you to wake up. He wants you to look at him like he’s looking at you. He wants to keep talking to you, to tell you everything about himself.
But at the same time, he loves how peaceful you look. He never thought he’d get the chance to see you sleeping - and he kind of feels like a creep for watching you, but he figures that just this once, it’s okay. After all, you did crawl into bed beside him.
You snuggle into the pillow and your hair falls into your face, and Akaashi takes a chance and brushes it away. His touch is soft, he’s sure, but when he pulls his hand away your eyes slowly open.
“Are you cold?”
He shakes his head, but you scoot closer to him anyway.
“I can keep you warm,” you say softly, wrapping your arm around his waist and pressing your face against the top of his chest. “I haven’t cuddled in so long…”
“Me neither,” he replies. He’s trying to relax, because he’s sure you can feel how tense he is.
“Then we should cuddle more often.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm.”
He swears he’s going to pass out, because he’s holding his breath and his heart is beating so fast and his mind is racing.
He’s not sure if this is appropriate - in fact, he knows it isn’t. He feels dizzy just thinking about what your father - his boss - would say if he knew the two of you were here in each other’s arms.
But maybe that doesn’t matter for now, and maybe he could get away with doing this just once.
So he relaxes and he breathes and he closes his eyes, but he doesn’t fall asleep for a while - he has to keep an eye on the fireplace, anyway. He lays there with your body pressed against his, your arms wrapped around him, for what’s probably hours. And he’s never felt more comfortable.
Even though it wasn’t his intention, cuddling together turns out to be more than a one-time thing.
For the rest of the winter you made a habit of inviting him to your room, always to keep you warm. And he never really had any complaints until the day you expressed that you want to do more with him.
It was overwhelming. So much so that after you had that conversation with him, he had to avoid you. It was hard to avoid someone who lived in the house he worked in, though, so his attempts were unsuccessful.
One day he’s in the kitchen washing his hands when you come into the room and pull him out into the hall.
“What’s up?” he asks as you lead him around the corner, holding his hand behind you. “I’m not done working -”
You stop and turn to him, leaning against the wall behind you. You pull him closer and take a deep breath, remembering the conversation the two of you had a few days ago, when you expressed your feelings and told him how badly you wanted to be closer to him - and when he told you he feels the same way.
“You already know.”
He tries his best to hold back his reaction. He knows what you mean. But still, he shakes his head.
“I want you to… kiss me.”
He’s avoiding eye contact with you now, and you squeeze his hand. He doesn’t squeeze back.
“What?”
“Don’t you want to?” you ask. He doesn’t reply. “Keiji…”
For the first time that evening, he looks at you in the eye. “Don’t… say my name like that.”
“Why not?”
Blue eyes bore into yours. You know he’s trying hard to keep that exasperated look on his face. You’re trying hard to swallow the lump forming in your throat. Had he lied when he said he wanted you too?
“Keiji… you said you want to.”
His eyes close, his hand squeezes yours tight.
“I can’t,” he says, shaking his head. “If your parents found out -”
“No one has to know.”
“They’ll know,” he replies.
“One kiss,” you say, looking at his lips. The curiosity was eating away at you now. “It’s harmless.”
Akaashi knows that isn’t true. And if you genuinely believe that then his feelings are already hurt. Because this isn’t harmless - especially if it really is just one kiss.
You’d spent the last few months being forbidden fucking fruit - one taste wouldn’t be enough for him. He knows that. You should too.
So he shakes his head again, letting out a breath that sounds like a groan, and he keeps his eyes squeezed shut so he doesn’t have to look at your tantalizing lips again.
“I… I can’t.”
Being rejected isn’t something you expected to happen. So you look down to your feet. You drop Akaashi’s hand. After getting used to your touch, he misses the feeling already.
“Okay…” you reply. It’s hard to speak to him now, knowing that he didn’t mean what he said before, and you’re embarrassed.
You know your next words will sound pathetic, but you can’t hold them back. “If you… change your mind, you know where to find me, I guess.”
And then you walk away, knowing both of you would regret your actions that day.
After that, the two of you were back to square one. You remember feeling as if the last few months hadn’t even happened - you stopped talking, you stopped cuddling, you even stopped looking at each other.
It was hard for both of you. Akaashi was convinced that after he rejected you, you started purposefully walking around the house scantily clad even more than before. It’d been two weeks since then, and it was driving him fucking crazy.
He could deal with it, though.
That day, however - that day was the last straw.
He’d walked into your house - at this point, your parents had told him to just let himself in. And the sight he walked in on was something he’d never get out of his head.
You were on the couch…and you weren’t alone. You were lying with someone else on top of you, your lips attached to his. To make it worse, it was a guy Akaashi was sure he recognized from his high school volleyball days.
It was like walking in on a car crash. His heart sank into his stomach, it felt like he was going to throw up, he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to pull his hair out, he wanted to yell, to cry. But all he could think to do was run out. He forgot about the job he was meant to be doing today.
And then he sat alone in his car for awhile.
He hoped you got what you wanted - because he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to walk into that house again.
“Long time no see,” you mumble when you walk into the kitchen. You see him stiffen at the sound of your voice.
Akaashi had taken a two week “vacation”, according to your dad, but you knew the real reason he’d stayed away.
“Wonder why,” he replies, his sarcastic tone matching yours. He definitely wasn’t happy to be speaking to you.
“Yeah,” you say. “I wonder.”
Akaashi can’t take it anymore. Not only is your tone absolutely unbearable, but the way you’d been treating him - even before he caught you with another guy - was nothing but disrespectful.
“Do you get off on hurting my feelings or something?”
“What -”
“You know what you’re doing. Don’t act innocent.”
He turns to look at you, clearly feeling confident. You don’t feel the same.
“I didn’t mean for you to walk in…”
“We both know that’s bullshit -”
“No it isn’t.”
After a beat of silence, Akaashi asks a question that he’s been dying to ask for two weeks now. “What, is he your boyfriend or something?”
“No.”
The truth is you did hate yourself for being caught like that, if only because you were sorry it hurt Akaashi to see it.
“You don’t want to kiss me. But he did. So I kissed him.”
That had been a bad choice - you knew it the moment you invited the boy over. It wasn’t helpful to anyone, particularly the guy whom you had no feelings for.
“And I don’t understand why you’re so upset when you never wanted me in the first place -”
“I wanted to kiss you!”
“Then why didn’t you?!” You know you shouldn’t raise your voice, but Akaashi doesn’t seem fazed by it.
“Because I could lose my job! And I wouldn’t be able to stop myself - it wouldn’t just be one kiss, but you don’t - you don’t understand that!”
You take a while to reply. Akaashi takes that chance to look away from you, to run a hand through his hair, to realize what the fuck he just said.
“What if I don’t want you to stop?”
“Don’t say that.”
“I still want to kiss you, Keiji!” you say loudly, glad your parents are at work. “Even after you rejected me - and you can do it again! I don’t care!”
Then kiss me - he’s so close to saying it. But he can’t open his mouth.
“I’m going to my room. Go do your work -”
“Wait -”
You stop in your tracks and wait for him to continue.
“If I lose my job for this -”
“You won’t.”
He walks closer to you, ignoring what you said. “If I lose my job for this, you’re buying my brother’s birthday presents.”
“You aren’t going to get fired, unless you’re a bad kisser and I make my dad fire you so I never have to see you again.”
He rolls his eyes. “Do you want me to kiss you or not?”
You don’t bother replying, because Akaashi puts his hands on each side of your face. He pulls you close, but he goes slow, as if he’s working up the courage to do it.
“Is this your first kiss?”
“Shut up.”
And then he kisses you - it’s sweet and soft and gentle, and while you expected all of those things, fireworks don’t fly like you thought they would. You don’t feel sparks of electricity across your whole body. Maybe it’s because it’s not rushed, or because it isn’t spontaneous.
But the way his hands are holding your face feel perfect. His thumb grazes your skin carefully, and his hands are gentle despite being rough and worn from countless hours of hard work.
It doesn’t last very long; he pulls away before you can even move your lips much. And when you open your eyes, his are still closed - and he’s smiling so wide.
You know kissing is supposed to lead to more, in fact you assumed you’d be taking each other’s clothes off by now, but all you really want to do is cuddle with him for a while.
“When will you be done working?”
“I don’t know, why?”
“Because I want to take a nap.”
“We can take a nap,” he laughs.
“And I want to kiss you more.”
He nods. “I’ll kiss you more. As much as you want.”
You think back on the period that followed with great affection, the blessed honeymoon phase. As spring approached and the weather started to get warmer, your relationship with Akaashi blossomed along with the wild daffodils in your backyard. Even though he was nervous about your parents finding out, requesting that you keep your relationship status a secret so he wouldn’t risk losing his job, you both felt very happy with how things were going. You were comfortable with him, and he absolutely adored you.
When you informed him of your love of spring flowers he demanded you help plant some in the flowerbeds. He told you he’d plant whatever you wanted, even taking you to a flower shop so you could pick them out.
You decided on red marigolds. Akaashi planted the seeds with tender care, and you made sure to water them on the days he wasn’t working.
The two of you bonded over waiting for the flowers to bloom - you were impatient, and Akaashi was worried they wouldn’t grow.
But they did - the two of you were over the moon when they sprouted, you remember fondly, sitting on the edge of the porch with him, both looking at the flowerbed.
“I’m so excited for them to bloom,” you say.
“Me too.”
You turn your head and look at Akaashi. He gives you a small smile, and you feel your heart speed up just looking at him. He’s so cute that it hurts, but you can’t even look away from him.
But you have to; you look around, making sure no one just so happens to be looking, and then you quickly steal a kiss from him.
“What was that for?” he asks.
You shrug. “You just look cute, that’s all.”
Akaashi looks around in the same way you had, before kissing you again quickly.
“Right back at you,” he replies, before letting his hand rest on yours.
You lean your head against his shoulder and smile wide as he presses a kiss to the top of your head. You flip your hand over so you could lock your fingers together.
Akaashi feels something he’d never felt before, not with anyone else or even with you, until right now. He’s so comforted by you; this moment is cozy and relaxed and tranquil and every other word like that he can think of. He wants to be with you, right there, for as long as he can.
He squeezes your hand. He wants more of this - more of you.
“Y/N,” he says quietly, and you pull back to look up at him.
He smiles again before ducking down to kiss you one more time. This one lasts longer, he kisses you hard and makes the most out of the short time before he has to pull away.
He doesn’t want to pull away at all, but he’s glad he did - because the door behind you opens right then.
“Keiji, I’m glad I caught you before you left -”
Your mom is none the wiser, or at least it seems so. Akaashi pulls away from you quickly, praying she didn’t see anything.
“We’re having a little neighborhood get-together tomorrow here at noon, and I thought it’d be fun for you to come!”
He nods, looking back at her. “Sure, I’ll be there.”
“Great! Oh and Y/N, the neighbor’s son is home for spring break and we’ve invited him too. You’ll have to wear something nice.”
You nod in response and Akaashi stands. “Well, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I better get going.”
With that he walks to his car, and you stand to face your mom.
“What were you two doing?” she asks.
You shrug. “Just talking.”
“He’s a nice boy,” she says with a knowing smile. “But, you know, the Kindaichi’s son has been away at university at Cornell. You know, your father’s old alma mater. And he’s on the road to joining your father’s company.”
“That’s nice,” you hum, trying your best to avoid the conversation altogether.
“I’m just saying, that’s the kind of man your father and I want for you. So we think you should give Yutaro a chance, okay?”
You simply nod along as she speaks, trying not to blow your cover and expose your and Akaashi’s relationship. This appears to be good enough for her as she retreats back inside soon after, leaving you to ponder.
You aren’t thinking about your future or what kind of man you want for yourself right now. At this point, the only thing you know is that you want to date Akaashi - even if your parents don’t approve. Their opinion of Akaashi isn’t really clear to you, but what you do know is that in some way, they judge his home life.
He doesn’t share much of it with you, but you know his life isn’t easy. He doesn’t have much, and everything he does have is the product of hard work. He definitely isn’t away at a prestigious school and there would be no well-paying suit-and-tie job waiting for him in a few years, either, no handy contacts to help slide him into a junior partner position at a family friend’s company.
But do those facts make him less desirable than someone with more money in their pockets?
You know your parents have good intentions, they mean well, they only ever wanted the best for you. But to you, the best has never meant smart or rich - the best always meant down to earth, caring, personable, supportive and encouraging. Akaashi is all of that plus more.
Even so, you know you have to put on a show for your parents’ sake - or rather, for Akaashi’s sake.
And the next day, that’s exactly what you do.
You aren’t able to talk to Akaashi much at the party because your parents are too busy basically trying to sell you to the Kindaichi’s, but after about an hour or so you’re able to get away from them. You grab Akaashi and make a break for it, trying your best not to get spotted.
You bring Akaashi around to the front porch and sit in the same places you sat the day before.
“This is the worst,” you say, covering your face with both hands.
“At least you look nice.”
You sigh. “Mom forced me to wear this dress. Apparently red is Cornell’s school color or something.”
“He really goes to Cornell?”
“Yeah. And it definitely shows in his bland as fuck personality.”
Akaashi nods. “Are you considering…”
“What do you mean?” You look over at him. “Not in a million years. I don’t care how much money he has.”
“Your parents seem to like him, though.”
“Well, we both know who I like. And he doesn’t go to Cornell. And I’m going to tell them that.”
“You’re what?”
“Y/N - there you are, I’ve been looking all over. Aren’t you going to tell Yutaro goodbye?”
You turn and look at your dad. “Do I have to?”
“You need to make a good first impression -”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”
When your dad reluctantly walks away, Akaashi grabs your arm.
“You can’t tell them -”
“Why not? You’re great at what you do, if they fire you then you can get a job almost anywhere else - and if they don’t approve, I don’t care.”
“Y/N -”
“Keiji, I want to take us more seriously.”
Akaashi closes his eyes and shakes his head. And you don’t want to stress him out with this - you know he already has a lot going on.
But if he doesn’t want to tell them now, will he ever? Will he choose to keep your relationship a secret forever? And will you always have to settle for it?
You don’t know - nor do you really have the time to think about it right now.
“Okay. Sorry. I won’t tell them anything.”
With that, you get up and go back to the backyard where your parents are waiting expectantly. Akaashi isn’t far behind you.
He’d been feeling awkward the entire party. And having to watch you, dressed up nicely for another guy, faking interest and forcing smiles - it just makes him feel shit, especially because if he could just get over his fears of judgement then you wouldn’t have to deal with this stupid charade.
But he also has to admit to an even more powerful emotion: he’s jealous. He realizes that he wants to be the guy your parents are rooting for, he wants to be the one they believe could take care of their daughter, he wants to be the one you dress up for. But he doesn’t even know if his community college had school colors. And he does know that your parents would never accept him as a match for their daughter.
But he’ll be damned if he’s gonna lose you to some goofy-looking guy whose most interesting characteristic is that they go to a prestigious school - and just watching the boy awkwardly trying to touch your shoulder pisses him off. Can’t he see you shying away?
‘Cornell’ tries again; Akaashi sees you flinch.
That does it.
“It’d be a nice day for a drive, don’t you think?” he hears as he approaches you both.
“…yeah, sure,” you reply, brushing your hair behind your ear. You aren’t even making eye contact with the guy - Ivy League apparently isn’t smart enough to take the hint.
Once he’s close enough, Akaashi puts his hand on the small of your back. “Hey, Y/N.”
You send him a grateful look for the interruption, but the guy in front of you only looks annoyed.
“Excuse me - who are you? I don’t think we were introduced.”
The guy’s fake politeness only added fuel to the fire.
“Akaashi.”
“You can call me Kindaichi - or Yutaro.”
He holds his hand out, and Akaashi doesn’t shake it.
“Look, no offense, but I don’t think my girlfriend is all that interested. Try not being so oblivious.”
With that, he takes your hand and leads you away over to the empty patio.
“Were you jealous, Keiji?”
“Shut up.”
“Just admit it!” you laugh.
He rolls his eyes and refuses to admit anything - even though he knows you’re right.
You tug on his hand; he turns and looks at you slowly. You see the exhilaration mixed with anxiety in his eyes. It matches what you feel in your heart.
“That’s the first person we’ve told about our relationship, by the way.”
Later that night, Akaashi texts you and tells you he’s done keeping things secret - he’s ready to be more serious about the relationship, too. You agree to tell your parents the next morning.
Akaashi proceeds to demand that you call him when you’re finished with the conversation; when you do finally call him, he spends at least two minutes anxiously asking questions - you can’t get a word in.
“…are they disappointed? Do they want you to date someone better? With more money? Shit - do I even still have a job?”
“Do you want an answer, or do you just want to keep asking questions?”
His answer is a sigh, and there’s a long silence before you tell him how things went.
“…you know they already knew?”
“They… what?”
“We didn’t do a good job at hiding things, apparently,” you laugh. “And they both talked it over last night, and they agree you’re probably better for me than anyone else.”
“You mean I was worried for nothing?”
“Yeah, babe. Oh, also, dad says you have a lot of yard work to do Thursday, so you should get here early.”
“Sure.”
“Wait - get here extra early, and we can have breakfast together.”
He snorts. “By early, you mean noon, right? I know you like getting your sleep -”
“Shut up!”
That Thursday, you wait impatiently for your boyfriend to arrive - you stand at the door to keep a look-out for him. When you see his car pull into your driveway, you quickly run outside.
“Keiji, they bloomed!”
“The flowers we planted?”
“Yeah, come on, you have to see them!”
You pull him around the house to the flowerbeds, where dozens of red and orange marigolds are freshly bloomed.
“You were worried about them for nothing,” you say. “Growing flowers is easy.”
“We all know I worry too much, you don’t have to bring it up anymore.”
His words make both of you laugh, and you stand there together looking at the flowers for a while.
“Aren’t they pretty?”
“They are,” he replies. Standing behind you, he wraps his arms around you, resting his chin on your shoulder so he can still see the flowers.
“What should we plant next year?”
“Hm… something bigger. A bush, maybe?”
You nod in agreement before leading him back inside to have breakfast - your parents will be joining you, after which he’ll get on with his chores for the day. He’s surprised at how comfortable he feels around your parents, how nothing feels different. He was worried for nothing - he’d have to remember to stop worrying so much.
But next year, when the two of you plant rose bushes, he can’t stop worrying about whether they’d bloom or not - they took a while, much longer than the marigolds. But all that worrying was worth it for the day he came over to find you sat on the porch, holding a red rose.
“I think all your worrying helps them grow.”
With a sigh and a roll of his eyes he replies, “I think you’re right. For once, anyways.”
He decides marigolds are easier, though. And that’s what you’d go with from now on. 
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gideongrace · 5 years
Text
heartbroken and human
//This is a scene from my fic "as certain dark things are to be loved" and I love it so much I wanted to also put it here. But! BIG WARNING LABEL - this scene involves Neil and Max and Billy and Max seeing Neil hit Billy for the first time so, ABUSE AHEAD. It also involves siblings figuring their shit out, but you know. Be warned and all that.//
It's dark out by the time Max and Billy get home and again, Max has a bad feeling. She looks over at Billy and she knows he feels it too. It's like there's something in the air, something sharp and spiky, foul and acrid. 
Something dangerous.
Billy turns the headlights off, then cuts the engine and for a moment they both just sit there in the silence and the darkness, not speaking, not moving, barely even breathing. 
This is big, what they've done, it's big and now there are gonna be consequences.
The porch lights turn on and Max gets hit with a wave of nausea so violent it makes her dizzy. 
"Let's get this over with," Billy says as he steps out of the car. He's got this wary, resigned look on his face that Max realizes she's seen before. This time she feels bad for him for it and that… feeling bad for Billy? That's definitely going to take some getting used to.
They walk inside and there's Neil and her Mom, waiting for them right by the door, like guard dogs. They don't even get to taking their shoes off before Neil is screaming, "Where the hell have you been? What the hell did you do?" at Billy. 
Billy shakes his head and averts his eyes and doesn't say anything. It's the second time Max has ever seen him speechless and it freaks her out, seing him defanged like this. 
Neil charges forward and shoves Billy up against the door with a bang and Billy lets him. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Neil snarls, hands gripping so tight to Billy's shirt it has to hurt. 
Billy slowly raises his eyes to meet Neil's and for this obedience, Neil slaps him. "What the hell did you do? Do you have any idea how worried we were? We've been out all night looking for the both of you! We almost called the police to report Max as missing!" 
Max hears her Mom sob loudly; she imagines there are probably tears flowing down her face unchecked but she can't take her eyes off Neil and Billy. 
"I'm sorry, Sir," Billy says quietly. He has to fight to keep his eyes on Neil and Neil slams him against the door again. Billy's head hits the glass panel in the middle of the door almost hard enough to break it, the sound is near deafening and for the first time, Max looks over at her mother and wonders why she isn't doing anything to stop this, but Susan is just standing there, wringing her hands and bawling like a child.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Neil roars. "I've tried so hard to make you into a man worth knowing but then you go and you pull a stunt like this and you make it clearer to me than ever that you're never going to be deserving of my respect, of anyone's respect. You're just a waste of time and you'll only ever be a waste of time!" He drops one hand from Billy's shirt, drawing it back almost in slow motion and Max knows Billy sees it coming but he doesn't even flinch, he doesn't even flinch and that, that is what finally has Max shouting, "It was for me!" 
Neil's fist re-directs last second, going from aiming for Billy's face to his collarbone, landing with a crack sounding so solid it leaves Max imagining deep, dark purple bruises and has her flinching and fighting not to throw up. And Billy? Billy just takes the hit, his only reaction to the pain being that he swallows roughly and dips his head for half a second. 
That's it, half a second and he's back to looking straight at Neil.
"It was for me!" Max shouts again. "He's covering for me! Me and Jane took the bus to her new house and didn't have enough money to get tickets back. Billy came and got us."
The lie flows more smoothly off her tongue than anything else ever has but Neil doesn't quite look like he believes it, looks pissed he's lost an excuse to punch his own son some more. Max's Mom hiccup-sobs and for the first time instead of making Max want to comfort her, it twists something in her gut, makes her angry. 
Neil's face twists and he looks from Billy to Max and back to Billy. "Is this true?" he asks Billy, a fist still gripping tightly to Billy's shirt, still pressing him up against the door.
Without so much as looking at Max or even blinking, Billy says, "It is." 
Neil drops his hand from Billy and turns to Max and as he does it's like a light switch is flipped, the expression on his face going from one of pure rage to one of soft understanding so, so fast it makes Max's skin crawl. 
"Max," Neil sighs gently. "If you wanted to go, you should have just asked us. We would have taken you." 
Max shrugs and does her best to look repentant like a normal kid getting a normal lecture from her normal parents and not like she's just had her whole worldview violently shattered. "I didn't know if you'd let me and I wanted to see it before she left," she says. 
"And it's better to ask forgiveness than permission, right?" Neil says, smiling. There are even tears shining softly in his eyes, like he's a normal parent and this is a normal lecture and it makes Max want to scream. It makes her want to find Steve's old nail bat and threaten Neil with it. 
Instead she nods and says, "Yeah. I'm sorry," all the while knowing that this is going to be added to the rotation of her nightmares and that she's going to be spending a lot of time picturing hitting Neil with that nail bat and anything else she can imagine from here on out.
"Well, next time ask, okay?" Neil says softly, so softly and Max can't believe she ever bought into any of his crap. Like she knew he and Billy didn't have a good relationship, she wasn't dumb, she'd noticed, but this is the first time it's been like this, this is the first time Neil's hit Billy in front of her, this is the first time he's done that and then done this, turned and looked at her like he loves her, like he's a concerned parent, like he's a normal person right after saying such mean and awful things to his own kid. 
Because Billy, she realizes, is like her, is still just a kid, no matter how much older he looks or what kind of car he drives. He's still just a kid. Tears spring to her eyes at the thought and Neil rushes forward to hug her, clearly thinking she's crying for entirely different reasons and it makes her feel like she's never going to be clean ever again, no matter how many showers or baths she takes.
"We were so worried about you," Neil says as he strokes her hair. Max looks up at Billy and sees the rage building up inside of him, she can see it in his eyes and in the stiff way he's holding himself.
"You terrified us half to death!" Susan wails, rushing forward to get in on the hug. After a moment she holds her arm out to Billy to include him but it's clearly an afterthought. 
Billy doesn't move a muscle, just stays right where he is, feet planted like he's bracing for another hit. But no other hits come. Instead, Neil just ruffles Max's hair, ends the hug and drags her Mom off to their bedroom. 
Max waits until she hears their door click closed and their tv turn on before she looks over at Billy. He looks like he's halfway between rage and tears and one hundred percent looks like he's going to shatter, either way. 
There are so many questions she wants to ask, so much she wants to say, so much she wants to do, starting with stealing his car keys, shoving him into the car and driving him to the hospital to get his collarbone looked at but…
She can't. She knows she can't. She knows that just because she has a better understanding of the way things are now doesn't mean he does. Just because he hasn't forced her away after what just happened, that doesn't actually mean anything.
It might actually be a bad thing, honestly, with the way he's staring blankly ahead like he is. So she does the one thing she's actually brave enough to do and grabs him by the hand and drags him outside. 
He lets her and it makes something inside her twitch; Billy is not supposed to be this quiet, not ever. He's all rage, all fire, all…
Isn't he?
She can feel tears starting to well up again and if Billy notices, he doesn't say anything. She puts it off like she's just cold, even shivers and rubs at her nose like it's running - because it is - and even stomps her feet a couple of times to add to the act. 
They stand there in the not-quite silence for a few minutes, the laugh track from whatever show Neil and Susan are watching echoing through the walls and making Max actually shiver. Because how can they…
How can they just…
Settle in and watch a sitcom like nothing happened? How can they…
The tears start encroaching again and this time, finally, Billy notices.
"Don't," he says, voice all sharp and weirdly brittle. "Don't be crying over me. It's weird."
She sniffles and decides fuck it, if she's gonna cry, she's gonna cry and yeah, it's over him and his stupid fucking boyfriend and this stupid fucking day and their shitty fucking parents and her shattered fucking worldview. 
"Fuck," she curses. She wipes at her nose openly. "I…" She doesn't know what to say. 
"That about covers it," Billy says. He pulls out another cigarette and this time the flame from the lighter as he flicks it on illuminates his face rather than casting it in shadow; it's oddly fitting for the day they've had and it makes her skin itch with the need to ask, to know more, to see if maybe she can get more illuminated than just his face, makes her want to see all of him lit up like that. 
She wants to ask about Neil so badly and someday she will but for now the scariest thing she can think of is for Billy to get that blank stare on his face again and for him to stop talking, so she goes with something else. Something she hopes is easier. Something good.
 "It's not just-" She swallows. 
"You really miss Steve, don't you?" 
Billy looks over at her, face unreadable in a way that has nothing to do with the dim lighting on the porch and for a moment Max thinks he might just up and walk away without answering. 
"Don't tell anyone," he says, finally, words coming out as sharp as knives, like he thinks she's trying to attack him. Which, considering everything both tonight and in general, makes sense.
"I won't," she says, solemn but loud. 
It takes a long moment, long enough for Max to start holding her breath before he says, "Okay."
"Do you…" Max whispers, watching as he blows out a long plume of smoke. "Do you love him?"
He turns to her and again he looks so heartbroken and human and sad it breaks her heart. This time it breaks her heart. "I drove all the way to Nashville and gave a crazy man all of my money on the word of a fourteen year old girl that it would bring him back. What do you think?"
She nods and shoves her hands in her pockets. "I think I hope this works." 
He nods and they stay out on the porch together until they're both shaking with the cold and have no choice but to head back inside. 
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riveires · 4 years
Text
precursor
@toauz / @twentysixdegrees
BOM
( / she paces, antsy. the good(?) kind, fingers not exactly shaking, the rest of her body prepared to feel a high that’s to come ) first of all, you’ll know not to call it the roarin’ 50s. ( / not that a bruise would be left on rhys’ arm if she were to hit him for even thinking it. she glances at lifeboat, then at margot next, rhys last. clasps her hands together as she finally stands still in front of said time machine, tilting her head, letting out a sigh ) we’re not getting on this until i stop feeling this rush all by myself.
RHYS
[ > he leans against one of the steel pillars keeping their little hideaway from collapsing on itself, arms crossed. machinery isn't unfamiliar to him. in fact, he'd been introduced to many a contraption in the military that he had learned the mechanics of, but this one...there's something he inherently distrusts about it all, even if connor-freaking-mason says it will timetravel them. ] weren't the 20s the decade that roared? [ > pushing off, he walks closer, standing a bit behind bom, still. a good soldier trusts his higher ups, so - ] well, chief - wanna tell me something that's taboo to do in the 50s, so i don't commit a faux pas? [ > to his right, margot. ] you good, captain?
MARGOT
( / the key—or "goober" as she affectionately calls it—is deep inside her hoodie pockets—a card chip about as thin as a nail, but with enough processing power to put the highest OS on the market to bust. a little too wired to be on the blueprint for the next line of PCs, so why not just leave it on the backburner for the next best thing? ) ( / somehow next best thing is code for a state of the art time machine, but it's connor. it's 0-100 a mile a minute whenever he's involved. getting Bookworm Babe and Army Adonis up in here is just another way to push the limit. ) yeah. real peachy. ( / even if her semi-pinched expression might say otherwise—blame it on the "what the hell" thought that loops through her head for the umpteenth time ) ( / pushes herself off the beat-up sofa to stand next to bom as well, give the Lifeboat a once-over ) we'll have it easier than Bill and Ted if that'll help with the nerves. trip-wise.
RHYS
[ > the side of his lip pulls down and out, and he watches both of their backs carefully. always been terrible at faces, which is why he pays close attention to their mannerisms, instead. ] [ > not that he's been given all that long to get to know them...agent christopher moved fast, connor mason moved faster, and he's not sure that he's ever seen anyone with as much anxious energy as margot. ] i don't understand that reference. [ > or someone vibrating such terribly contained excitement as bom. ] the excitement is endearing. hell, i’d be feeling the same way if i were in your shoes. [ > but he's not. the only shoes he's in are his own, and though he doesn't think he'll need to fight tooth or nail in 1950s hollywood, his first mistake would be to completely let down his guard. ] now is there a special way to climb into this thing or should i just run, jump, and hope for the best? 
BOM 
( / nudges margot’s shoulder gently with the push of her palm, pointing her finger at her soon after. i got that reference, she mouths, nerves simultaneously eased just thinking of the comparison point indeed. ) 
how curt. ( / has her head turned back towards lifeboat, smiling tightlipped, choosing not to look back at him right away in case he really is being sarcastic after all. she spares margot a glance once more, sneaking another one that lasts a little longer in the same breath. ) also, i’m sure whatever “bad” flies now will definitely fly like it’s nothing there. ( / purses her lips in thought, squinting at the sight of the door ) get ready to be mistaken as siblings, spoken down to like we don’t speak the damn language, all that jazz.
MARGOT
( / a flash of exasperation across her features, half thank you and half can you believe this guy? ) ( / really, it's not that serious, but that's between her and bom ) ( / out loud and with a dismissive wave: ) no need. ( / delivers the side of the lifeboat a good kick, which triggers the stairs to fold out. something that should be automatic, but that's just one last minute discovery bug in the design to work through once they return. priorities. ) ( / she does the honors of climbing into the lifeboat first, goober in hand to slide it in as you would with coins into a slot machine and jackpot: baby blinks to life, lights and circuitry flickering on as they should. it's always easier to breathe when you're in your element. ) speaking of jazz, there's never a bad time for some mood music. ( / kidding! unless...? ) 
BOM
( / if overthinking is as much of rhys’ thing as it is her own, they’re definitely in for a ride. she follows suit, taking him as a ladies first type of guy. something about him... ) ( / when she’s inside with margot, the time and space between just the two of them alone brief, bom is quiet enough for him to not hear from outside. ) do you think he knows jack about that, too?
MARGOT
( / she matches her in volume ) we'll find out. ( / if not now then eventually, what with the way this "mission" has them buckled up for a ride and a half. nothing like shared history to bring people together—literally ) ( / grins and it's a full show of teeth ) but that's what you're here for if he doesn't, doc. ( / fingers dance over the dashboard, thinking to take the opportunity by the horns before he gets on board ) i'm down for taking bets if you are.
BOM
( / the hairs on the back of her neck rise when she catches glimpse of margot’s smile, eyes shifting literally anywhere else for a second before flitting over to “check on” rhys ) depends on what your idea of one is. ( / for this round anyway )
RHYS
[ > he sees the professor and their pilot climb into the lifeboat out of his peripherals. he gives agent christopher a small, relaxed salute. it's really just the hand motion, and his commander would roll over in his grave if he saw, but it's been a few since his time in the service anyways. but also - fuck him ] i may be older the both of you, but my hearing isn't that bad. [ > he sits on the little space between in and out, half of his body slung in and the other half needing a second longer. ] 'course i know jazz - played in jazz band in high school. saxophone. [ > ant then, he slings his body in, watching as the door closes behind him. ] [ > there's a look of wonder of his face but he doesn't care. eyes passing over everything on the inside, he whistles a tone, somewhere between an f and a g. ] never would i have thought i'd be here, with you two. [ > an honest smile, directed at the two he's sharing a space with. it feels weird - but this isn't an alpha-male, guard your emotions-type of shit. his therapist had helped him work through a lot of that, so he's trying to be mindful, and not fall back into that. baby steps. ] just a retired soldier getting called back into some type of service, for something i know nothing about. i'll be relying on you both quite a bit, but know that you can rely on me for anything. [ > camaraderie is a slow build of shared experiences, earned trust, and developed loyalty - but it always starts somewhere. ] i'll always do my best for you both, i promise.
MARGOT
only by what, two years? ( / well color her surprised. guess what they say about first impressions are true, after all. sweet, and a band kid to boot? huh! ) still, my mistake. ( / margot's eyes slide over to bom anyway in unspoken mischief. maybe this deal's off the table, but for next time, count her in. ) ( / the machine hums electric beneath her hands, steady like a pulse, yet it feels like she's standing on the edge of a cliff ) ( / freefall has never felt so new, so real. ) and likewise.  ( / her attention turns to the screen ) can't promise much other than a smooth ride to and fro, but it's a decent start. (  / back to the other two. ) y'all ready for this thing? 
BOM
( / is "too sweet" a thing? something tells bom rhys will never get there, this equal parts comforting and cause for curiosity more than concern. margot's a treat in another way, probably has been as cool as she is since the second grade. with all three of them on board for dixieland alone, the uneasy feeling in her stomach lessens just a bit. ) ( / she hopes she can promise even half of what the other two have the offer in her own way, holding on for the ride, as snug as can be. her turf's moments away. ) if you are. 
RHYS
as much as i'll ever be [ > he's impressed by the confidence in which margot navigates through the immensely complicated looking control panel, and he feels a little more relaxed by it in response. ] [ > a process keeps him sane, it keeps him focused. so when he feels like his soul is getting tugged out through his navel and shoved back into his head through his eyeballs, rhys tries to center himself by running through the facts of their mission: rittenhouse - big bad. more surveillance and scouting than actual engagement, but it never hurts to be prepared - ] [ > now, he just wants someone to confirm: holy shit, did they actually just time travel? ]  that is the strangest sensation i have ever experienced in my life.
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daysswithyou · 5 years
Text
Fallen Chapter 11: Is this...?
Tumblr media
previous / next
Characters: DAY6 Young K x OC (Rachel)
Genre: angst, fake dating, high school romance, fluff, romance
-----
And so, you do.
You become a regular visitor at the team’s training sessions and gradually, you’ve grown to love the team. You start to care for them like your younger siblings; and you have a particular soft spot for Dowoon because he takes Biology classes with you. All it took for you was a week to be able to match their names to their faces, positions and class levels. Now, after a month, you’re around the team so much that you’re able to match personal belongings to the person; you know whose shoes belong to whom, and whose gym bag belonged to whom. Very soon, you started helping captain Sungjin with his duties – both of you hollering at members after training sessions to bring home their basketball shoes and dirty jerseys. It was a clear indication that you were perhaps spending too much time with the boys, but that didn’t stop you from continuing to show up for trainings, sometimes with food in hand for the entire team. Brian watches all of this with pride from the side line, smiling when he saw how the boys readily accepted you into their tribe, treating you with respect like they would with their biological older sister.
Today, Brian is witness to another defining milestone of your journey in joining the team when Coach Nickhun walks up to talk to you, a sure sign that Coach was also beginning to accept you as part of this big family. Brian’s chest swells with happiness at the sight, letting out a small puff of laughter because his body can no longer physically contain his delight at the sight in front of him. Eyes never leaving your beautiful face, Brian carries on watching your interaction with Coach Nickhun, his smile growing wider by the second. He was completely oblivious to Sungjin’s presence beside him, until the older male decides to make himself known.
“Kang, you really like her, don’t you?”
“Of course I do, she’s my fake – ”
Brian pauses midsentence, unable to continue the rest of the sentence. Was he… really about to call you his fake girlfriend? It felt so wrong to label you as his fake girlfriend when it’s been so long since you’ve been acting like one. Ever since basketball finals, you have been genuine with him and the team, lending them support in any way that you can.
The star player turned to look at his captain, confusion written all over his face. Meanwhile, Sungjin directs a pointed gaze at Brain, almost as if he expected this outcome to his question.
“Not in that way Kang. I meant liking her as a woman, as a partner. It feels weird labelling her as a fake girlfriend, doesn’t it?”
For a split second, Brian stares at his captain with a dumbfounded look on his face, not wanting to believe the truth behind Sungjin’s words. He kicked the thought out of his head the moment it dawned upon him, not wanting to let himself immerse too much in this notion.
“Ay hyung~ what nonsense are you sprouting! I don’t see her that way, and I’m sure she does not too.”
Sungjin scoffs at his teammate, in disbelief of Brian’s stubbornness.
“Deny it all you want Kang, but your heart will eventually tell you to the truth.”
Sungjin runs off the moment he finishes the last word, going back on court where he is needed more. This gives Brian time to turn his attention back to you, whom was still talking to Coach Nickhun.
Do I… really like her… in that way? No, it’s rididculous. How can I be in love with her? There is no feelings involved in this, it’s all purely business.
Yet, the nagging feeling scratching away at his chest will not leave him alone, making him more uncomfortable by the second. Thankfully, he’s distracted by you waving him over. Jogging over leisurely, you pull Brian down to sit beside you when he’s within arm’s reach, your kneecaps now pressed against one another. You don’t give Brian a chance to greet you when you interject with your question, talking at quickly at full speed,
“I’ve got an idea, listen and tell me if it’s good. I was talking to Coach Nickhun just now, and he mentioned that he wanted to reward the entire team for winning the championships again, but he was getting sick of just bringing all of you out for a meal at some fancy restaurant. So, I suggested holding a party at my aunt’s café. We can close the place for the night just for the team; there’ll be homecooked food, you can stay as long as you want because no one is going to chase you out during closing. But then again, I’m not sure if this is a good idea, or if the celebration comes too late after your victory. Also, is it too corny or – ”
Brian’s face lights up with each proposition you make, grateful that you even thought of offering up your personal space and time to do something for the boys to appreciate their efforts. Without thinking, he slips his hands into yours, holding on tight before giving your hand a squeeze, affirming your efforts.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea. I’m sure the boys will enjoy it very much.”
Still holding on your hand, he turns back to face the court before hollering at them.
“YA KIDS! YOUR NOONA HERE WANTS TO HOLD A PARTY AT HER PLACE TO CELEBRATE OUR CHAMPIONSHIP WIN! IS EVERYONE GAME?”
The boys take some time to process his words that were shouted over the large expanse of the court and surprisingly, Jae, whom is seated right at the opposite end, asks the most important question.
“IS THERE FOOD?”
You throw your head back in laughter as Brian opens his mouth, ready to reply. But this time round, you beat him to it, completing his sentence for him like a couple would.
“THERE WILL BE! I’LL COOK!”
The entire team erupts in cheers when they hear your answer, all agreeing without the slightest bit of hesitation. Brain watches the happy scene unfold before his eyes, already counting down towards the weekend.
This is going to be a good time.
Both of you continue to watch the team as they huddled together to discuss about their plan for the weekend now that the party is happening. Everything was going well – except that you two weren’t the only witnesses to this event.
---
The weekend rolls around fairly quickly in between school tests and assignments, and the team was all in high spirits when they made their way over to your café, grateful for the celebration and small time granted to them to unwind for the week. Brian, in particular, was excited to see you again, after his last text to you roughly three hours ago. (The conversation ended because you had to busy yourself in the kitchen, making food enough to feed a hungry group of boys.)
The food prepared was all laid out on the table the moment the team came in, your aunt welcoming them on your behalf. You pop your head out to say a small greeting to the team and coach before heading back into the kitchen to prepare dessert, knowing that the boys will be in good hands with Esther and Jae around.
True enough, the duo got the party started at full force, switching between karaoke and games effortlessly in between food breaks. You glance out from time to time, observing the party outside through the small glass panel on the kitchen door. Focusing on swirling the chocolate again, you only looked up when you heard the sound of the kitchen door swing open, loud pop sounds filling the quiet space for a moment before the door swings shut again, muffling the sounds from outside.
Brian Kang makes his way over to you, standing to watch you with his hips against the counter.
“Younghyun, what are you doing here? You should be outside enjoying the party; I think Esther and Jae are doing a great job hosting the party.”
“Is there anything I can help with? I feel bad leaving to do everything alone.”
“Your sling might be off, but you’re still recovering. It’s not a good idea to have you do anything.”
“Oh come on! I can play basketball now, surely I can help with cooking.”
You contemplate for a short while, wanting to reject Brian’s offer to help. However, it looks like he won’t leave until he gets his hands dirty – so you eventually concede.
“Well, I could use an extra pair of hands, but do you know how to cook?”
You raise your eyebrows at him as a challenge, doubting that he would have the time to experiment with cooking in between school and intense training sessions. But as always, Brian Kang is full of surprises.
“Of course, what do you need me to do?”
“Oh~ alright then you can help me prepare the whipped frosting by first beating the eggs. Just the egg white though, no egg yolks.”
“Gotcha.”
Quickly washing his hands, you watch as he walks around the kitchen like a natural, finding all the utensils he needed with ease.
Both of you fall into an easy conversation as you worked on the dessert together, and you watch as he eats well whilst preparing the food, stealing a chocolate chip or two from your open bag whenever he walked past you. You chuckle at the sight, glad that he is eating so well.
“You know, Mum and Dad would have loved to meet you.”
“Why?”
“You love food as much as they do. They would have fed you well if they saw you here today.”
“Really? Speaking of which, I haven’t seen your parents yet. Are they out of town today?”
Your hands stilled upon hearing the mention of your parents, panic flashing through your eyes momentarily. You swallow nervously, hoping that Brian would not have caught on. Steadying your voice, you said your next words slowly,
“Yea, they’re out of town today.”
Wanting to turn the conversation away from this dangerous topic, you glanced around for anything that you could possibly talk about, before you spotted the scene outside and deciding that it would be something safe to talk about.
“This is really nice; it’s been so long since my aunt and I had so much fun.”
“What do you mean?”
You shake your head at his response, not expecting him to question you about your current situation; you were hoping that he would have responded by confirming your statement, seeing as he’s also one of those that didn’t get much time to himself in between student duties and basketball trainings. But now that he’s got the ball rolling, you didn’t find the need to lie to him about your current situation.
“Oh, the usual. Bills to pay, and we’re hardly keeping up with the rent. We almost got evicted and if someone wants to buy over this place, we’re doomed. We’re barely keeping this place alive but…”
You trail off, wondering if you should add in the last part to complete what you wanted to say.
“But…?”
“But we keep going. We keep trying our best.”
You turn to meet his eyes that were already trained on you this entire time, flashing him a smile. It was one that said – It’s ok. I’m ok. You don’t have to be so worried for me if you are.
Brian’s heart clenches at your words, wondering about how tough it must have been for you to hold on, and how much more about yourself that you’re holding in but not revealing. Your eyes seem to harbour more unspoken stories, but he will not pry until you’re ready to tell him. But he does wish that he has the ability to take your burdens as his own; he wants to do something – anything – to help lessen the weight on your shoulders.
Yet when you show him that pretty smile of yours, his heart lightens a little, and he’s able to find the strength within him to mirror your smile, knowing that you’re still hanging on just fine with your unwavering conviction and spirit. He finds one more reason to love you more than he did just the day before – even though he was still blissfully unaware of the fact that this was love that he was feeling.
You’re the first to break away from the sweet moment both of you shared, suddenly remembering the ravenous group of people outside that you’re supposed to serve.
“Let’s go feed them dessert now, they’re probably still hungry despite polishing off the main course.”
You’re the first to push through the heavy doors, the sight of you with a tray full of chocolate cake in your hands a very welcomed sight. The team thanks you with cheers and hoots of appreciation, relieving you of your tray-carrying duties fairly quickly, before decimating the cake and devouring it in seconds. Brian watches this entire scene from his spot behind you, fighting back a small smile when he sees how much you’ve managed to gain the approval of everyone – even usually strict Coach Nickhun is looking upon this heart-warming sight with happiness.
From the corner window, a black figure watches the sickeningly sweet moment unfold, eagerly waiting for the time to come – to rip this happiness to shreds.
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cyberstarlope · 5 years
Text
The Marvels of Modern Technology
Summary: With not much else to do, Acronix offers to help Borg around his apartment and discovers a particularly fascinating aspect of one of the many household machines
I hardly ever bust out fanfiction like it but take more of my rarepair bs :P
With not much to do, Acronix had offered to help Borg around the house while the inventor worked away at his multiple projects. Grateful for the extra set of hands, Borg welcomed the help and in a matter of a week, Acronix had gotten the hang of the new devices that came with the era. As he was with every new technological advance, Acronix was fascinated by the new machines and marveled at how quickly they got things done.
He’d gotten used to almost all the new household tech, but today he would get to use the last two. Borg had asked him if he could strip the bed and wash the sheets while he was at work, scrambling between scooping up his laptop and apologizing for making Acronix do such menial tasks. The time twin waved him off, ushering the man out the door and insisting he didn’t mind one bit, which he really didn’t.
Acronix had never been fond of cleaning when he was younger but now he found it oddly relaxing, taking his mind off the events centered around Time Blades and Vermillion Warriors and siblings lost to space time. Plus, Borg had taken him in despite their history and had allowed him to stay in a separate suite so Acronix felt it was the least he could do.
Removing the sheets and comforter from the mattress, he scooped them up and made his way to the laundry room, dodging some left out tools and parts. Borg was usually very particular about putting his projects away but the man had been distracted and preoccupied as of late. Acronix didn’t mind but he did wish he could see more of the inventor.
Shaking his head to clear the thought, the time elemental loaded the sheets into the washer, poured in the weird liquid he’d been left and started the machine, going through the instructions Borg had given him. Acronix had always been good at remembering things to a T which made useful getting acquainted with the technology of the day.
Leaving the machine to do its job, Acronix wandered back to the living room, setting a reminder on his phone to switch the sheets over to the dryer and load the comforter. Settling down on the sofa, Acronix flipped through the channels and let his mind meld into the flashing of overdone commercials and cheesy newscaster cheer.
Between the weather report and the sports update, Acronix dutifully tossed the comforter into the washer and put the soggy sheets into the dryer, easily figuring out the settings and happy to have successfully used every new age device in the apartment. He set another alarm and sunk back into blissful television indulgence.
Engrossed in a fictional police chase, the jingle of the alarm pulled the time twin back from his reverie and guided him back to the laundry room to gather the sheets. Just as its name implied, the dryer had sopped all the moisture out of the sheets, but came with an unforeseen, though not unpleasant, consequence. In mild surprise, Acronix realized that the sheets were warm. It made sense once he thought about it, but the concept was new and the man found himself lightly enamored the fresh smell and the warmth emanating from the clean fabric.
Almost sadly, he carried the sheets back to the bedroom and neatly made the bed and put the pillows back in their cases before heading back to the laundry room to switch the comforter over the dryer when a thought popped into his head. If the thin sheets alone were that warm, how warm would the thicker comforter be? With the giddiness of a child in a candy store, Acronix pressed the start button once again and waited impatiently for the magic to finish.
Elsewhere in the tower, Borg glanced wearily at the clock. It was only two in the afternoon, but already his brain hurt and his thoughts were drifting away from his work. He found himself worrying about the man living in the apartment quarters of the building. Wondering idly if Acronix would mind popping out for a late lunch, the inventor swept his eyes over his current projects, summarizing the progress.
Updates to the BorgWatch were being implicated to make it more consumer friendly and less… evil-doer friendly. Despite his focus on his consumer base in general, better communicators for the ninja were also being made. Borg had to admit, he worried more than usual with Pixal out on the battlefield. Though he knew she was smart and built to take more than a hit, he supposed he’d grown parental over the android and wanted to make sure she and all her friends remained as safe as possible. Then there was his last project, which had been placed last in priority due to the fact that Borg was more often than not to put others before himself.
On the workbench lay a pair of unfinished bionic legs. The idea had actually been Acronix’s, who had noted that it might be a good back up plan in case anyone tried to pull the same stunt he and his brother had. Borg had mulled over the thought several times and decided that a preventive measure from future kidnappings wasn't a bad idea.
Leaving his work for the day, the inventor rolled himself to the elevator and slid his keycard through the panel in order to access the apartments. The sector consisted of two floors, each with several living quarters for himself and in case of guests. While he’d given Acronix access to his own apartment, the time twin had insisted on helping out in some aspect and thus had spent as much time in Borg’s home as his own. The door was unlocked, signaling that Acronix hadn’t yet left. Wheeling himself in and closing the door behind him, Borg called out to the other man but received no reply. Becoming slightly worried, he made his way past the kitchen to the living room and witnessed possibly the sweetest and yet most absurd sight.
Sitting on the sofa, wrapped in a freshly washed and dried comforter, was Acronix. The TV was still playing, and it appeared that the time elemental had been lured into sleep via the warmth of the fabric draped ridiculously around him and the croon of old 80’s tunes. Clapping a hand over his mouth to silence the laugh that nearly jumped out of him, Borg quietly made his way over to the couch, debating internally on whether he should wake the sleeping man or not. Chewing on his lip, he slowly reached out his hand and swept a lock of raven hair out of Acronix’s face.
It was hard to believe this man had once nearly controlled the world, the inventor thought idly to himself. As peaceful as the other looked, Borg realized that it was likely Acronix hadn’t eaten anything yet. The time loop had significantly messed with Acronix’s internal clock, and as a result, both sleep and eating habits had slipped precariously out of the time twin’s grasp.
Shaking the man gently, Borg softly cooed Acronix’s name a few times before the bundle before him stirred. Still half asleep, Acronix turned slowly towards Borg, who was still grinning with mirth. A drowsy smile crept its way onto the elemental’s face; that lazy turned-at-the-edges smile Borg had come to rather like. Speech slurred from sleep, the words out of Acronix’s mouth sent Borg hollowing with laughter in his wheelchair:
“You said none of this technology ran on magic.”
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