#feel free to debate each point or suggest others!

[angelmatthew]

₊˚.༄ gingerbread - seok matthew

yes i'm aware we're in march but i finally finished writing this so i'm posting it anyways !! i'm so delusional for this man it's becoming an actual problem i fear.

my inbox is empty so feel free to request !

↬matthew x gn!reader (reader is kind of implied to have long hair) ↬1688words ↬(self indulgent) fluff, oneshot, gyuvin cameo ↬tw: none just not proofread lol

christmas means the world to matthew. he's the force behind turning your shared apartment into a festive retreat, decorating every space and making sure you explore every christmas market around. for him, the holiday excitement is almost on par with his birthday. the fact that you both get to experience this special season together in your newly shared home adds an extra layer of significance to him. his excitement is infectious, and you find yourself enjoying the holiday season more than you did already.

as he stood in the store facing rows of gingerbread house kits, matthew couldn't make a decision without consulting you. he grabbed his phone and facetimed you, holding up different options for you to choose. as your boyfriend deliberated with you, gyuvin's voice joined the debate.

"oh my god please get the huge one!" he pleaded through the screen. you assumed he was referring to the sizable box at the bottom of the shelf, resembling more of a gingerbread mansion than a mere house. matthew's face lit up with his trademark open-bracket smile, both edges of his lips curving upward in response to gyuvin's suggestion.

"gyuvin, are you going to help out?" you teased, prompting laughter from both ends as matthew continued to examine the oversized gingerbread mansion kit - this was very serious to him.

"am i invited to your date?"

matthew playfully rolls his eyes at his antics, and so do you.

"nope, and we're sticking with the smaller kit, right, matt?" you playfully threatened your boyfriend, although there was a hint of truth into the teasing tone.

he reluctantly gave in, much to his best friend's disappointment. a few minutes later, your boyfriend is back home, arms filled with grocery bags and a huge shopping bag. you can easily figure out what happened after you hung up—matthew greeted you with a peck, his expression carrying a hint of guilt.

"did you go for the mansion?!" you exclaim, disbelief written all over your face as you gaze at your boyfriend. he responds with a sheepish smile, getting the box out of the bag, he starts unpacking the kit.

"yeah, i got a little carried away at the store, and gyuvin ended up talking me into picking this one," he confessed, his eyes locked onto the box, a touch of uncertainty on his face as he gauged your reaction to see if you were upset. of course, you weren't. your concern was more about whether it would live up to matthew's expectations.

"well, it does look cute!" you reassure, pointing at the small plastic christmas trees that accompany the kit. "i just hope we've got enough frosting to make it look as nice as it does on the box," you add, casting a thoughtful eye over the ingredients and decorations you neatly laid out on the table.

"i'll grab our aprons," matthew declares with determination, clapping his hands in excitement. he's referring to the matching sanrio aprons you purchased earlier that month – he opted for the cinamoroll one, and you for my melody.

as he heads towards the kitchen to fetch the aprons, you put on your shared christmas playlist and continue unpacking the kit. matthew returns, aprons in hand. without a word, he steps closer and lends a hand as you put yours on, and you do the same for him.

"can't get over how adorable these aprons are," matthew gushes as he admires you.

it's a shared quirk between you two – an irresistible impulse to snag anything cute, regardless of practicality, and especially if it means matching with each other. while your apartment is pretty organized and neat, it’s also full of little trinkets.

“we definitely need the pompompurin one too,"

matthew nods in agreement, all the while studying the instructions on the back of the box while you open the numbered bags with the different parts of the house.

with christmas songs softly playing in the background, you dive into the task at hand, the concentration evident on both your faces. as you work, matthew quietly sings along, his voice weaving a comforting melody that never fails to bring a smile to your face.

the ambient lighting from the elaborately adorned tree and flickering fireplace casts a warm glow, enveloping the room in a relaxing ambiance. when you get to the challenging stage of assembling the gingerbread structure with frosting, you start getting worried.

"i have no idea how to start building even after reading the instructions," he confesses, holding what's supposed to be the front of the building, uncertainty etched across his features.

you survey the gingerbread pieces and the frosting, treating it like a puzzle yet to be solved. with a reassuring smile, you join your boyfriend, taking a moment to strategize the best approach.

"well, let's start with the base. we can add on one corner and then assemble the sides step by step," you suggest, matthew is careful as he sets the base while you prep the frosting.

you're in the midst of carefully slathering frosting on the sides, taking your sweet time, but your hair keeps getting in the way. matthew catches on and, without missing a beat, grabs a hair tie from his wrist – he always has one handy for you. you feel a gentle touch as he gathers your hair and skillfully ties it back. a small, grateful smile creeps onto your face.

“thanks, angel," you express, grateful for the simplicity of his gesture. he grins at the pet name. he loves how pet names flow so easily out of your lips.

with your hair tied back, you dive back into the frosting mission. once you finish, matthew steps in, holding the panels in place while you apply frosting to bind them together.

"you're so good at this," matthew confesses, admiring your work as you skillfully spread the frosting without a smudge in sight.

"you sound surprised," you retort, shooting a glance at your boyfriend. it’s just too easy to tease him.

“maybe just a little impressed," he chuckles, nudging you as the gingerbread structure starts taking shape. “i was counting on you to make this look good, to be honest,” he adds, you roll your eyes, faking annoyance.

"well yeah, i figured i was gonna do all the hard work by myself,"

matthew does that little head tilt he does whenever you tease him, his lips forming a mix between a pout and a smile, earning another laugh from you.

"hey, i'm helping!"

you give him an intentionally reticent nod to tease him further. he acts offended, and before you can even realize what's happening, he takes the icing bag you put aside and smears a little bit of icing on your nose. you blink in surprise as the cool touch of icing graces your nose. matthew looks immensely pleased with his impromptu move, little giggles bubbling in his throat - you don’t think you could ever get tired of that airy laugh of his.

“oh, i see how it is… since you’re so skilled with the icing, i’ll let you take care of the rest, sound good?” you pretend to get up to leave. you just love entertaining the banter, especially when your boyfriend’s response is that adorable pout of his and puffed-up cheeks. the temptation to kiss him is strong, but the joy of teasing him prevails.

“you’re so mean?!” he responds in the most dramatic tone ever, holding your arm to stop you.

“i’ll call a truce if i get to decorate your face too,” you suggest innocently, a mischievous glint in your eyes. the blonde raises an eyebrow in curiosity as you scoop a dollop of whipped cream with your index finger. leaning in, your faces just inches apart, you delicately smear the cream on his nose and cheeks, your touch slow and deliberate, as if crafting a delicate masterpiece. you draw two little hearts on his cheeks, you smile to yourself while matthew tries to supress his quiet giggles to keep up the sulking act. he can't believe that such a gentle and simple touch can still turn him into putty in your hands - literally giggling and kicking his feet internally.

"oops," you feign innocence as your fingers graze the corner of his lips, spreading a bit of cream there too. "i guess i'll have to clean this up," you whisper before closing the distance between you two.

without much time for matthew to process the boldness of your move, you swiftly taste the sweetness on his soft lips. his muscular arm instinctively wraps around your waist, pulling you closer in an instant while your lips lead a perfect dance. The room is filled with the delightful sounds of giggles and the subtle rustle of clothes as your arms find their place, encircling his neck.

his fingers find the hem of your top and play with it – one of his many endearing habits. whether cuddling or engaged in more intimate moments, he can’t resist fidgeting with your clothes, hair, or tracing patterns on your skin with his fingertips.

matthew knew too exactly how to turn you into putty in his hands.

the care and gentleness with which he holds you is intoxicating and mirrors his approach to everything – from making you pancakes adorned with a smiley face of cream and berries, to the way he makes sure to always leave a little note on your mirror each morning or how he indulges in all of your interests and gets heavily invested in them.

you can feel him smiling against your lips before he breaks the kiss, his eyes filled with fondness as he gazes at your face. a light blush graces his cheeks and the tips of his ears, yet he wears a smug smile on his lips. how does he manage to be so adorable and flirty at the same time? it's a question that lingers in your mind, even after all this time dating. even though you show your affection to him every single day through small gestures, you're somehow still convinced he has no clue about the profound effect he has on you, how he has you swooning over the simplest things he does.

suddenly, all the boldness from earlier evaporates, and your cheeks heat up and you could swear that the warmth from the crackling fire is engulfing you. without thinking, you bury your face in the blonde's neck, seeking refuge in the warmth of his embrace.

“if you wanted to kiss me so bad you could’ve just said that from the get-go,” he teased, his voice light and playful. he can’t resist squeezing you gently in his arms at the sight of your cheek pressed on his shoulder.

you peek out from your cozy hiding spot, shooting him a mock glare. “don’t play with me right now, i’ll really leave you alone to build the whole thing,” you try to sound indignant but fail miserably, your heart eyes and sheepish smile clearly betraying you.

he chuckles while his fingers trace lazy circles on your back before planting a kiss on your temple. “you wouldn’t, you love me too much,” you respond by slightly hitting his chest.

"okay, maybe just a tiny bit too much," you admit with a playful eye-roll, “now get to work before i change my mind”

#ꔫ˚｡angel ˚｡ꔫ writes #kim gyuvin #gyuvin x reader #fluff #zb1 #zb1 drabbbles #zb1 imagines #zb1 x reader #zerobaseone #zb1 fluff #fluffmas #christmas #kpop imagines #kpop drabbles

[robotnik-mun]

Once again, it is time for that rare moment where I talk about Deltarune instead of Sonic stuff. And today, I've decided to talk about one of the many mysteries of the setting.

Namely... what did Asgore DO?

One of the constants kept over from Undertale in Deltarune was the sad reality that Asgore is still divorced from Toriel, and their post-divorce relationship is... less than ideal, with Asgore desperately trying to get back into Toriel's good graces and Toriel being none-too-thrilled about it. And its pretty clear that whatever happened in the divorce, it's taken a pretty bad toll on Asgore. It's implied he doesn't have visitation rights, and no longer lives in the same house as Tori, instead living in his flower shop. And his present state of living is just... almost too depressing for words.

So yeah, things are not looking great for ol' Asgore. But that does beg the question- what happened THIS time? Recall that in Undertale, Toriel's hostility to Asgore was predicated on both him murdering six children as well as basically getting everyone's hopes up for who-knows-how-long rather than taking one soul and going straight to business after escaping the Underground. How justified she is is going to be the subject of endless debate, now and forever, but at the core of things in Undertale its pretty clear that this hostility comes from some VERY grim circumstances.

Given the more comparatively mundane nature of Hometown and the Light World, its pretty clear that whatever circumstances led to Toriel and Asgore divorcing couldn't be anywhere near as horrible as what happened in Undertale. There's no fantastic circumstance here- Monsters live on the surface as humans do (that we know of), and while Asgore is not exactly held in high regard by Hometown these days, he none the less leads a free, if somewhat depressing life.

So again, what happened here? Why is it that Asgore is still divorced?

As it stands, with everything else, we only got two chapters to go by, and as such we need to work with a LOT of contextual clues to try and piece together even a vague idea of how things reached this point.

And believe it or not, one the key bits of insight we have? Is none other than Rudy Holiday.

Rudy is established as having been friends with Toriel and Asgore in college, and is all but stated to have been Asgore's best man at their wedding, and even in the present is still close to the both of them even though they are no longer together. Out of all the people we talk to in Hometown, Rudy is the one with the most positive stuff to say about Asgore, and Asgore recipricates this by visiting Rudy in the hospital daily, with new flowers for each visit. And while we don't witness it for ourselves, it is revealed that Toriel ALSO visits Rudy and is implicitly close to him as well, with Rudy even suspecting that Kris' visit was done at Toriel's prompting (and sadly probably WOULD be if we weren't using them as a meat-puppet).

This might not seem like such a big deal, but I feel it reveals something very crucial about what might have happened, if only in the abstract. It tells me that whatever happened? While it was serious enough to prompt the divorce and cause Toriel to no longer love Asgore, it WASN'T bad enough that Rudy doesn't think ill of Asgore, or enough to cause Toriel to no longer wish to associate with Asgore or Rudy with her. He bears no malice to anyone in the Dreemurr family, and this is an important detail, because it would seem extremely improbable that things between the three of them would be this hunky-dory if Asgore really did do something legitimately terrible.

Which, admittedly, isn't impossible... but it does feel unlikely, under the circumstances we presently see.

Given the way Dark Worlds reflect something of Lightners, some have suggested that maybe the Card Kingdom just as easily reflects something of Kris as it does Susie. While King mirrors Susie's earlier statements, one cannot help but notice that King is an enormous, pseudo-mammalian king with a hefty build, almost like a warped mirror of Asgore. And that comparison becomes all the more concerning when you consider how, as we go on, its revealed that Kris was once a very mischievous little kid... one can imagine that, perhaps, Kris was very much like Lancer, once upon a time. And if that's the case, then maybe it’s not a coincidence that King threatened both Lancer AND Kris directly.

It's a tempting thought... and oh, the warped implications it would carry, given that in Chapter Two its revealed that King wasn't going to go through with his threat and actually CARES about Lancer, despite earlier evidence to the contrary? Now THAT would imply some ugly-ass things about Kris' thoughts and feelings about their father. Or Susie's, if you believe the Card Kingdom is primarily 'meant' for her. It does make an eerie amount of sense, does it not?

Only... not quite. It’s tempting to think Asgore might have done something to Kris in a moment of weakness, but honestly? I really, really doubt it. Because let's face it, if Asgore had hurt or done something out line with Kris? It's incredibly doubtful that Toriel would ever allow Kris to get anywhere NEAR Asgore, and Rudy likewise would probably have little to do with Asgore over something like that. Oh, sure, friends will stick with friends, but that feels like something not even Rudy could overlook. And then there's the whole 'Eggs-Husband' incident...

... God that was painful. Like, kudos to Toby Fox, I don't think I've EVER felt that kind of secondhand embarrassment from a piece of media ever. It really was just a masterpiece of utter and complete failure. Still, it's important in helping to frame where everyone stands in this divorce, because while Toriel does try to get away from Asgore as fast as possible after his disastrous attempt at punnery (and who could blame her?), she none the less is willing to hear him out when he wants to talk about Asriel's return (possibly about the divorce itself).

It's important to note that, again, context is key here. Earlier in Chapter 1 its established that Asgore keeps sending Toriel flowers, which inevitably wind up in the trash, and likewise she rebuffs his deeply ill-conceived attempt to re-connect with her at Sans' store. But from what we see so far, it may not necessarily be that Toriel hates Asgore, so much that he refuses to get a clue about where they stand and persists in these self-sabotaging attempts to curry her favor. While the problem might be rooted in whatever happened in the past, it’s pretty clear that a BIG part of that is due to Asgore's present behavior. How do we know this? Because she still hears him out when he ISN'T trying to get into her good graces.

I feel that if Asgore had done something to Kris, or done something REALLY bad? Then he wouldn't even get that much. As it stands we don't know enough to say for sure, and all we can do is look at how people act and try and come up with some idea of things, but I'm willing to bet that while Asgore made some kind of serious misstep? He didn't do something unforgivable... just something severe enough that it would justify Toriel leaving him, with his refusal to let go simply making things that much worse over time given that its clear Tori CAN be civil with him. He just makes it difficult due to his overbearing and embarassing behavior... again, we can only infer things, but I do feel like a large part of Toriel's hostility stems from Asgore's inability to back off more than anything else, even the events that caused the divorce.

I can of course, be wrong, about all of this. We have only two chapters and nothing else to go by. But there is one last piece of this puzzle that I think offers an even better insight into why things happened as they happened- the reveal that Asgore used to be the chief of Homedown's police department, and that he was made to step down under unknown circumstances, hence why Undyne, a rookie, is now Hometown's police chief. We don't know what happened yet, but whatever did happen? Kris doesn't like to read about it, keeping Us from seeing what happened. It could be because they don't want us prying into their family's business just in general, but there's also a really good chance that it may be simple guilt that keeps them from reading the rest of that article.

And from here, we can paint a pretty compelling picture of what may have happened. As we know, Dess Holiday, Rudy's oldest daughter and Asriel's childhood best friend, went missing under mysterious circumstances. Dess' mother is mayor of Hometown, and its strongly hinted that whatever happened, DEss is now trapped somewhere in the Dark World (or worse), and other hints seem to indicate that Kris might in fact be aware of this, and its hinted that this event may have occurred near the mysterious bunker in the forest that Kris is explicitly afraid of. More interestingly, schoolmates Snowy and Monster Kid seem to be aware of this fact as well, which brings some interesting implications of itself.

Either way, with these details we can imagine a very probable chain of events for how things went down- Kris and Dess did something or the other at the Bunker, which led to Dess possibly being whisked away to the Dark World. Asgore, as police chief, is tasked with finding Dess. His inability to find Dess leads to him being fired by her mother, the mayor, and this would probably lead to the personal troubles at home that would lead to him eventually being divorced from Toriel and living on his own. This seems to be the general consensus among fan-interpretations, and  honestly? It seems pretty probable that this, or something like this, is how the divorce went down... and maybe why Kris is the way Kris is, in the present.

There is however an interesting little wrinkle in this formula, though out of everything I mentioned, this one is possibly the longest shot. Earlier in the game when we explore Asgore's store, we find a very terse note from his landlord telling him point blank that he has a month to pay the rent, even suggesting he start selling the flowers rather than giving them away. All that we know about this landlord is that their first initial is "C". So, where does the long shot come in? There is a possibility that "C" is none other than Mayor Holiday, Rudy's wife and Dess' mother, and previously Asgore's boss. What evidence do we have to suggest this? Mayor Holiday is described as being very good at her job while also not being great with people, and is evidently very driven and intimidating, so much so that Noelle is actively afraid of her. The way the note is written is not very formal, nor is it very sociable either... and there are more than a few Christmas related terms that start with "C". A lot of the fandom seems to have settled on "Carol".

Again, this could be a long shot, one built entirely by conjecture. But if this "C" is indeed mayor holiday? That's where the wrinkle comes in. Because if Mayor Holiday is willing to give Asgore a business and overlook past failures to pay the rent, then it may be that his leaving the force wasn't JUST because of his failing to find Dess... or rather, if Mayor Holiday had any part of it, it actually wasn't out of personal anger at him failing to find her daughter. If "C" is Mayor Holiday, then in this context it means that whatever (probably negative) feelings she has towards Asgore, they're not enough to stop her from trying to help him get back on his feet. You might argue that if she IS involved in his flower shop venture it might be more due to Rudy than her, but then if Rudy has this much sway over her, she wouldn't have fired Asgore for not being able to find Dess.

Granted, there's always the 'Dying Wish' factor, though we don't know how long Rudy's been sick...

But still- firing someone for a personal reason would be a VERY bad breach of ethics, and from what we've seen (or haven't) of the mayor so far is that whatever her personality flaws, she isn't actually corrupt or anything. Hometown is so peaceful and orderly that the police force isn't really regarded as necessary! Quite the accomplishment... and firing Asgore for personally failing her would be the kind of conflict of interest that could jeopardize those accomplishments, understandable as it might be in this instance.

So, what would this imply for Asgore and his leaving the force? I believe that while Dess vanishing was the catalyst for everything, it wasn't the direct cause of Asgore losing everything. I imagine that failing to find Dess for an undetermined amount of time weighed heavily on Asgore, given that this is his best friend's daughter, a daughter who is the best friend of Asriel at that.

My hypothesis, as such? Is that Asgore's failing to find Dess slowly ate away at him, and that this caused things at home to get tense, before his eventual desperation led him to do something he shouldn't have, thus leading to him being removed from the force, and leading to further troubles at home, culminating in him saying or doing SOMETHING that led Toriel to divorce him.

I don't have any authority to definitively suggest what it might have been. But I DO feel confident that if Dess' disappearance had anything to do with Asgore's dismissal from the force? It wasn't as simple as the mayor being angry with him and removing him due to that anger, but because of something Asgore himself did in reaction to his own failure at finding Dess, and that this in turn led to whatever would happen to cause his divorce from Toriel. I believe this, because while Asgore has fallen on very hard times, the worst of what he's going through is due to his own poor choices that we can see, and however pitiful his current state, he isn't alienated/exiled from the people in his life. And if he had done something REALLY bad? I don't think that would be the case.

Of course, I can be wrong. Heck, I probably am. We only got two games to go by, and as such virtually everything I say is ultimately just conjecture, some a bit more supported by game text, and some less. But whatever the reality is? I'm VERY confident that Asgore didn't do anything evil... but it was still enough to cost him everything. Given the themes going on in the light world, it'd make sense that rather than anything big or dramatic, the truth just turned out to be something simple, unglamorous, and quietly sad.

Just like in real life, a lot of the time.

#Deltarune #Asgore Dreemurr #Dess Holiday #Kris Dreemurr #Mayor Holiday #Rudy Holiday #Toriel

[reeddotcom]

[TCSM] Johnny x Reader

➢ Cellar Door summary: just like in the game, you've woken up in the sawyer household and need to escape with your friends. it's your job to escape, though you may or may not have gotten some help along the way. (gender neutral, self-insert)

warnings: blood, minor violence, suggested gore (but honestly nothing 2 cray oops) a/n: this is just the first part and my first time writing fanfic/posting anything on tumblr so pls be nice oop ⸻

Darkness. Silence. How you got here was unknown but you were also just waking up, feeling blanketed by an exhausted haze as senses slowly crept back in.

Tired eyes eventually flickered open to reveal an unfamiliar room encased around you; shades of ocher becoming a wooden door, muddy walls, nobody else in sight. Was this a cellar? Some type of basement? Every blink dissipated visual blur just a bit more until you were able to realize the world was upside-down and, peering towards what should have been the ceiling, the terrain underneath looked less than comfortable to land on. Wait, what was holding you up then? Your hands were free, but as more time passed and differing senses were starting to slowly make their way back to your psyche, your feet felt more restricted than what was normal. Eyes travel downwards, chin tucked to chest—stretching, arching to see that there's a frayed rope tying them together that's attached to the ceiling. What the fuck was going on?

With your heartbeat in your ears and a sudden urgency to feel freedom again, there's a short stretch of writhing and exerted effort that's needed in order to squeeze one or two digits underneath the rope; loosening it from your skin and ultimately getting it undone within a timely manner. That came with an unpleasant drop though that'd knock the air from your lungs, making it rather difficult to catch a full take of breath that didn't feel warm, much like your cheeks that were still attempting to settle with all of the blood that had rushed towards them. There's a coolness to the dirt that makes it worth relaxing in while your body begins to fire off signals of all the pain points that heightened across bruised legs, brandished arms; marks that couldn't even make it within your peripheral.

Something was clearly wrong but… you were also here for a reason.

To find Maria Flores, yeah. Ana's sister. Wait, where was Ana? A sudden scream in the distance provides the answer that you most likely weren't looking for while simultaneously providing the drive needed to finally stand up and move; eager to find a way out of wherever the fuck it is you've been locked in. Palms to ash, then wrapping around a dirtied door handle—was that blood?—you make your way out of the room and in the opposite direction of what sounded like a chainsaw in the distance that drowned out cries of agony from what could only be assumed as your friend. Julie, Connie and Sonny were also here too, right? And Leland, you couldn't forget about Leland. He was the one that came up with this whole idea. Whether or not it was for Ana or for his own hatred for the local police department and their lack of support in this case was debatable.

There's so much to process with each step taken and crying was completely understandable in a situation like this. Left to right, right to left, the walls were narrow and severely lacked any indication of direction. Everything looked the same. It was like an underground tunnel of nightmares where bones hung from the ceiling, some left in piles on the ground, if not shoved in the walls. The further you went, shimmying through tight spaces that were just narrow enough for you to squeeze through, there'd be a gruesome discovery of the bodies the bones once belonged to; their blood being strained into bins from hand-made contraptions, like tree saps. Who does something like this? Some people found things like this interesting while others found it nauseating. Either way, you were unable to make eye-contact with anything but what lied straight ahead, illuminated by questionable light sources that were intermittently placed along the walls. Darkness was a theme more often than not.

It concealed you if there was ever a moment you needed to take a breather, hide in a corner, attempt to gather scattering thoughts. Perhaps there was enough bravery to come up with a strategic plan. There was still no sign of any of your friends but that awful chainsaw still echoed in the distance, far, far away so that was a sign that things weren't all that bad. The potential for circumstances to be worse were always there but fate had different plans for you on this day. Something or someone​ was one step ahead of where you currently stood, having opened a door that was heavy in structure; fenced on the right side, allowing for transparency of the stairs that lead upwards of this hellhole. An opened padlock lay in the dust as your feet pass by it, carrying your body up the stairs in whatever way felt right. Sneaking, rushing, taking two stairs at a time—it was an open exit that appeared completely safe from the angle you were coming from. A red wall with skulls of various animals stared back at you but there weren't any shadows or other general sounds to alert you to the fact there was potentially anyone around, just the sound of a television in the distance. You'd just go the opposite way, right?

Breaching the top of the steps, it became quickly apparent that it didn't matter which way you went or how cautious you were when climbing the stairs; escaping from the sudden grasp of a dirty, gloved hand over your mouth and a knife aimed towards your throat was something that nobody could've seen coming. What's strange though is that… it feels defensive? The movements were performed so quickly, as if this person was expecting you, moving both of your bodies out of potential danger that rounded the corner just as you were dragged around another; back pressed to a heaving chest behind you.

"Useless… fucking Johnny," Mumbled a disgruntled, deeper voice that travelled down the stairs you had just emerged from, "Can't even fucking lock the doors…"

Johnny? Who was Johnny, and who was holding you right now? It's not as if you're at the liberty to ask any questions but the temptation is there, brimming over with each moment that passes as you're held as a helpless hostage. Suddenly, a coarsen voice whispers in your ear.

"Any sudden movements and I'll slit your throat."

It's said with a certainty that makes it sound like this man owns those words. He's repeated them a thousand times before and you're no different, "I'm going to let you go and you're going to quietly make your way upstairs. Left, around the corner, up the stairs…" It was a circle from where you came from so the instructions aren't that difficult to remember. Following them was a different story, "When you get up there, it's two doors on the right. Any other way and you're good as dead, you understand?" There's a part of you that doesn't quite know if this was a threat or an aid; someone providing false hope in a situation that already felt dire. Soothing rolls of an accent are tempting to abide to though, at least for a fleeting moment.

Loosening the rather vigorous hold this person had on you, it offers enough room to nod if you felt so compelled as to offer an answer, if not provide him with a muffled groan or no answer at all. Regardless, he lets you go with the departing gift of the dirt, debris and the taste of unkempt fabric on your lips, pushing your body over towards the left as this darker-haired man rounds the corner on the right. He's built, defined arms exposed by a muscle shirt that was potentially covered in blood but he left in such a quick haste that you weren't able to stick around and check. The shorter mullet was the last thing you had seen beyond muscles and worn-out jeans, so it's with that information and the sound of his accent that you can assume this was his home—his family house maybe? You were still in Texas, that was for sure.

Time was of the essence though and as you begin to follow through with the way you were pushed, there's the quick realization that on the other side of the wall separating you from the staircase, there's also a front door within the vicinity. It's a brief taste of freedom, fooling the senses into thinking you'd smell fresh air again before the sight of a padlock over several other fastening devices catches your eye. Even if you were the world's best locksmith, something like that would take far longer than what this stranger was giving you; his voice ringing in from the other side of the household.

"She went through the back! I saw her out in the field! Go 'get, I'll handle Grandpa."

Whoever he was talking to was quick to voice their displeasure in the matter, exuding a fuss that sounded rather personally charged, "You don't tell me what to do, Johnny!" She insisted, but… her footsteps, followed by the sudden slam of a door said otherwise. Why was this guy lying for you? You had a name for him now at least. Johnny. How sick was it if this guy was isolating you, leading everyone away from the apparent prize that was your death just so he could have it all to himself. Or was he actually trying to help you? Surely, there was kindness to be found in a place that smelled of nickel and soured food; the walls rotting worse than mystery meat that leaked and stained a nearby table you'd almost bump into. Especially if it were coming from the guy who had just held a knife to your neck and threatened to kill you?

But he didn't. And here we are.

Finally ascending the stairs, coming out of the shroud of darkness that was the main floor of the house and heading towards the top floor, everything appeared to have been brighter than anywhere you had seen since waking up. The contrast of white, fluorescent lighting against the flowered wallpaper on your right also serves as an indication that there was no sunlight coming through the few windows that weren't fully covered by curtains. How long had you been here? It was daytime when you came in, as remembered by the way Leland shielded his eyes from the sun with his hands, complaining about a lack of sunglasses as Ana said anything but I told you so.​ She had a habit of being the most level-headed one in the group. You? You were always a little bit… unique. Everyone had a different dynamic with you, one that solidified some friendships with certain individuals more than others but as a group, everyone got along. It's why you all came here together, and it's why you were determined to live long enough to leave and see them all again after this was all over.

Such a motivational thought was enough to blur the movements between climbing the stairs and following the instructions that were given to you to survive. Second on the right, second on the right…

Your eyes travel side to side despite what words travel through your mind, feet carrying forward. On the right was one door, then a hall—a turning point that was potentially the right way, but there were also two doors on the left. Did he mix them up? Did you remember it wrong? Was this all a trap? It sure felt like it but there's no way to definitively say so until there's something to prove otherwise. Unfortunately for you though, there wasn't much of a chance to find out before the smell of husk hits you before the warm pressure of a body against yours; the cool touch of a knife to your throat tingling all the right senses once again.

"You're kind of cute. Listening to someone with a weapon and all."

He's teasing you. Still speaking quietly, as if there's a reason to hide the fact that you two are together in this house of horrors, but there's an obvious amusement in the situation you two are in, "Now why would you trust somebody in a place like this?" The question does make you think, even if it feels like static against the back of your eyes or prickling at the front. Johnny didn't have a preference for those who cried, no matter how good it looked on them, "After what happened to your friend? Maria, was it?"

Whichever way the question made you feel, there isn't much of a chance to flounder in those thoughts as Johnny lowers the knife; taking your hand in his within the same harsh movements he uses to drag you off towards where you may or may not have considered going before, the right.​ It was still technically the second door, the first one around the corner with no differing features from the other entries you had seen across the way or even on the other side of the hall. However, if you really felt the need to compare, Johnny wasn't going to wait around; reaching past you in order to rip the door open and shove both of you through to the other side. The only gentle thing about this entire interaction was how cautiously he had closed the entry afterwards, turning his back towards you in order to press a gloved palm against the structure; latching it closed with a golden clink.

That was the only exit from you can see. A quick glance around the room would've made it pretty clear that this was a bedroom, hosting a single bed—flowery blankets, hospital-like railing, unmade—a vanity and other arbitrary surroundings that were potentially less interesting than the man behind you. Whether or not this was his room wasn't the first question in mind, although it swirls around the other varying pathways you've been given the time to mull over. Two hands pushing against your shoulder blades are what tune you out of those same thoughts, shoving your body into the bed that forces you to fold over it rather than be disturbed. Nailed to the floor was your best guess.

"Now… how do we feel about another lesson?"

Johnny's voice finally matched the higher volume of what were louder, hefty footsteps, most likely caused by steel-toed boots adorned to the man's feet. You were able to consider the footwear as the serial killer special based off of what knowledge you had but that was perhaps the most innocent thought of yours as this man slowly approached you.

With nowhere left to turn, there was the option of either facing the next development or ignoring it. And were you going to keep Johnny waiting?

Part 1.

#texas chainsaw massacre #texas chainsaw game #tcsm #leatherface #johnny sawyer #fanfic #oneshot #writing #texas chainsaw massacre johnny #johnny sawyer fanfic

[avengersfantasies]

The Captain's Daughter - 3

Summary: You and Bucky start to get comfortable around each other.

What to expect: sass, fluff(?), beginning of some smut ;)

Series masterlist here

Taglist: @frickin-bats @pattiemac1 @justsebstan @winterslove1917 @crist1216 @lady-loki-barnes-djarin @kandis-mom  @vonalyn  @mavrellover91  @natashasilverfox  @gojoismysensei @itsafamilyshow  @casa-boiardi @ilovetaquitosmmmm

You awoke a few hours after falling asleep in Bucky’s arms. You hated to admit it, but it was the best sleep you had gotten in years. For once, you felt safe. It felt like you could close your eyes and be okay. You were careful not to wake him when you crawled out of the small bed – going a few feet away to your bag and taking out your wireless router and laptop. You typed up an email for Steve.

Dad,

Phone was ruined during a storm. Still have my laptop and comms, though. I will make my way into the nearest town when day breaks and use the card to buy a phone. I know you’ve probably been trying to reach me, so I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay. Bucky’s been watching out for me. I’ll contact you when I can.

I love you so much, dad.

You sent the email and breathed a sigh of relief. You hated when he worried about you, and he did often. Not knowing where you were, which was something that gave you massive anxiety, you looked up your coordinates and wrote them down. According to your GPS, you were somewhere in central Russia. There was a small town called Bryansk Oblast a few miles away from where you and Bucky were hunkered down. Part of you wanted to venture out and explore the small town, but you knew deep down that doing so would cause some sort of rift between you and the only other person you could tolerate. As if he could hear your inner debate, Bucky’s eyes opened and greeted you sleepily.

            “Morning, darling,” he said, his voice thick with sleep.

            “Hey,” you smiled over at him softly. “We should get ready.”

Bucky sat up and stretched. “Ready? For what?”

“We need to go on a supply run,” you told him – fishing through your backpack to find a change of clothes. However, you soon realized your clothes had been soaked and smelled of dirt and sweat. “Seriously?” you groaned, throwing them to the ground.

“What do we need?” Bucky asked, looking in his bag and taking out some canned fruit before passing you one.

“Food,” you began to list as you opened the can, “clothes, a shower, phone.”

Bucky chuckled. “And how do you suggest we get those things?”

You took a card out of your backpack and held it up to him. “No limit, untraceable,” you told him. “My dad had to jump through a lot of hoops to get me this.”

Bucky pointed at the card with his fork. “If you have that, why aren’t you living a life of luxury?”

You chuckled incredulously. “That’d draw HYDRA’s attention in no time,” you answered with your mouth full of fruit. “I’m kinda on the run here.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask…why are you running?”

You sighed and rested your head against the wall you sat against. “I escaped from their little lab,” you told him. “They captured me and my mom, killed her, and I ran.” Your voice was numb – the pain being something you grew used to.

Bucky nodded in understanding. “And why not go to your dad?”

You shook your head and looked down. “Last thing I want is to bring those monsters to him and everyone else,” you confessed. “It’s easier just to run.”

The soldier went quiet momentarily – thinking of what to say next. “He can’t want this kind of life for you.”

“He doesn’t,” you confirmed – giving Bucky a soft smile. “It’s what I’m used to, though…the nomadic lifestyle, I guess you could call it. That’s probably why he tricked us into finding each other.” Bucky hummed and ate another bite of fruit. “Speaking of,” you continued curiously, “why were you in that church?”

Bucky chuckled. “You’re not the only one used to the nomadic life.”

“Even though I’m running…I feel free, ya know? Like I can be anywhere I wanna be.”

“You need somewhere to call your home, though,” Bucky argued gently. “You need to have someplace where you feel safe.”

You nodded and looked around the bunker. “I feel safe here.”

“This place is a shithole,” Bucky chuckled – finishing his can of fruit.

“So, let’s make it not a shithole,” you suggested. “There’s a town called Bryansk Oblast a few miles from here…I’m sure there’s stores or something.”

You both put your empty cans in a plastic bag and put it in the corner of the room. “So what?” Bucky smiled. “Are you saying you want to make this shithole a home with me?”

“Those are your words,” you told him. “I just think that if we’re gonna be here for however long, we could make it a bit cozier.” You grabbed a notebook and pen out of your bag and started to make a list. Bucky, on the other hand, went to look around the bunker – wanting to get an idea of just how small or large it was.

“Holy shit!” he called out – causing you to jump to your feet and run towards him.

“Bucky?” your voice echoed down the hallway. At the end of it, you saw a light turn on and Bucky standing in the doorway. “What’s wrong? Is there someone in here? We cleared it out!”

He didn’t respond, instead, he just walked into the room ahead of him. “There’s a whole fucking kitchen,” he told you.

“What the fuck?” you asked in shock – hurrying to the open room. It had been dark when the two of you cleared the place out, and you were only looking for other people, so neither of you realized that there was a full kitchen. “Holy shit.” You walked over to the wall and tested the stove. “Doesn’t work,” you said in a disappointed tone.

“We can fix it,” Bucky excitedly suggested. “Maybe this can be our little home.”

Growing curiouser by the second, you decided to open the next door. There, you found a bathroom attached to a small bedroom. “Hey, look,” you called out. “There’s a separate bedroom and a bathroom.” You tested the faucet to see if it worked. “That doesn’t work.”

Bucky looked in the rooms. “Well, now you don’t have to share the bed with an old,” he reminded you.

Hearing him say that caused an ache to your heart. Did he want you to sleep separately?

“Yeah,” you chuckled. “Looks like I can have my own bed.” You looked down. For once, your mask of not caring was falling, and Bucky saw the real you behind it.

“If that’s what you want, that is,” he added on quietly.

You flashed him a flat smile. “Yeah, of course,” you chuckled. “Sleeping in the same bed as an old man was definitely not fun.”

He smiled softly and shook his head at you. “Let’s make that list.”

You and Bucky spent the majority of the day getting any and all necessities for the bunker and for yourselves. While Bucky worked on fixing the refrigerator and stove, you put the cans and boxes of food away and cleaned up the surfaces.

            “So, I had my dad look into this place, and apparently it’s actually abandoned,” you informed Bucky. “SHIELD put it under a pseudonym for us.”

            Bucky smiled to himself. “So, it is like a little home.”

“You could say that,” you chuckled.

“And that’d make us…” Bucky trailed off.

“Uh, roommates?” you quickly suggested.

“Sounds like a plan,” Bucky exhaled as he put the tools down and tested the stove. “Fuck yes!” he exclaimed when the burners turned on and started to heat up. “Next is the fridge and then the water.”

You took a beer out of the 24 pack you’d bought and offered him one. He took it and opened it – tapping his bottle against yours. “Cheers,” you said before taking a sip at the same time. Taking a few minutes to rest, the two of you sat on the run-down sofa.

“Need to get some new furniture,” Bucky stated as he looked around the room.

You nodded. “I’ll send some ideas to my dad and have him send them over.” Bucky nodded and stared off in the direction of the other side of the room. He was obviously thinking. “You good?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed, still staring off into the room. “Do you know if Loki is still with them?”

“Last I heard he was,” you answered. “Why?”

Bucky finally looked over at you with a quizzical look. “Think he’d put a concealment spell on this place?”

You shrugged. “We could ask,” you replied. It was honestly a great idea.

            A few hours went by, and Bucky had managed to fix the water and electricity. This meant you could get a shower for the first time in over a week. You didn’t want to leave the comfort of the warm water, but you knew you had to save some for Bucky. It was the least you could to. After all, he was the one who fixed everything up, yet he insisted you took the first shower. When you got out and changed into a brand new pair of sweatpants and a tank top, you felt cleaner than you’d ever felt. You brushed your teeth before leaving the bathroom and went to find Bucky.

            “Hey, I’m out!” you called out to the soldier. “Saved you plenty of hot water.”

Bucky walked around the corner at the same time you did, and you were surprised to see his shirt off. The look of the beautifully built man surprised you, but when he spoke, you were broken out of the trance.

            “Sorry, sweetheart,” he apologized. “Didn’t mean to bump into ya.”

Maybe I want you to “bump into” me, you thought to yourself. “It’s fine,” you chuckled nervously before heading to the kitchen. “I’m gonna make some hamburgers. Want one?”

“Sure,” he smiled. “I’d love one.”

I’d love for you to join me in the shower, too, he added in his head.

You scurried away, hoping that he hadn’t noticed the bright red blush appearing on your face and neck.

            Bucky got into the shower and relaxed as the hot water rained down on him. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall in front of him. On his mind, however, was you.

            She’s so beautiful, he thought to himself. What am I talking about? She’s Steve’s daughter!” He tried to talk himself out of not finding you attractive, but it was impossible. He couldn’t help but replay your expression when he bumped into you. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think you were starting to find yourself attracted to him as well. He imagined your body against his, and his hand made his way down to his hard cock.

            You were sitting in the small living area eating your hamburger. You had left all the condiments and buns out for Bucky to make his own, so when he came out of the shower, he headed towards everything. Once he put his burger together, he came over and sat next to you.

            “Pretty good, if I do say so myself,” you chuckled.

            Bucky took a bite and hummed in agreement. “Fucking delicious,” he quietly complimented. Unable to keep his thoughts to himself any longer, Bucky decided he’d try and make a move. “Bet it’s not the only delicious thing you have.”

You chuckled softly and decided to flirt back. You slightly spread your legs and watched his reaction. “Bet you’d love to find out, huh?” Bucky bit his bottom lip – trying as hard as he could to turn his thoughts into words. However, he looked over at you and smirked instead. You took his inability to speak as a sign that he was getting turned on. “Bet you’d love a taste,” you continued to tease. You moved closer and let your lips ghost just outside of his ear. “I bet you’d taste even better,” you whispered.

Bucky turned to look at you. He wanted so badly to grab you, pull you into his lap, and kiss you as hard as he could, but you read his movements, and you decided that this little game wasn’t over. You winked at him and got up from the couch – making sure to sway your hips as you took your empty plate and soda can to the kitchen to clean and throw away. What you didn’t realize, however, was the super soldier lurking behind you. Before you could turn around or even notice he was there, his hands were on your hips, and his lips were gently planting kisses on the side of your neck – his breath causing goosebumps to spread all over your body.

“I’ll give you a taste if you give me a taste, baby girl.”

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfiction #james bucky barnes #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #the winter soldier #the winter soldier fanfiction #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #sergeant james buchanan barnes #sergeant james barnes #bucky fanfic #bucky x you #bucky x reader #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes x reader #winter soldier #james buchanan bucky barnes

[moon-fics]

heey, I hope you are having a good week! could you please write a fratboy!tom holland based on daylight (ts!) where he met her and discovered that love is much more beautiful and happy than he ever imagined it to be 🥹🫶

Ugh! Ok bear with me because I'm awful at Frat fics 😭 and I'm watching Grey's Anatomy so this is gonna be awful! This is gonna be short but I hope you enjoy it!

Even from outside the house, you can hear the music clearly and there are drunk students wandering the lawn. Your best friend has her arms wrapped around yours, keeping you close like you always do. She somehow always convinces you to join her for the same party every week for the sole purpose of seeing her crush. 

It's juvenile but you get free alcohol so why not indulge her. The moment you enter the fraternity house you're hit with the smell of booze and sweat, which thankfully you got used to. The first time you entered this house you had to keep walking outside for fresh air.

"Oh my god, there he is!" She yells in your ear, loud enough to be barely heard over the blasting music. She discreetly points at the blond boy she's been gushing about since she first saw him. "Isn't he so adorable?" She giggles and you take a long look at the boy and still can't see what she does. You'd try and reason with her about him, but they genuinely seem to like each other.

"Well, you know where to find me," You unhook your arm from hers, allowing her to practically levitate to him. Just like every week you slip past the swaying bodies and enter the kitchen. The drinks are already laid out on the island counter which is way too fancy for the fart house. 

As you pour yourself a drink in a plastic purple cup you notice a group of boys have also entered the kitchen. They seem to be having an intense conversation, debating something you're not interested in enough to listen to. You scoop ice out of a cheap cooler, standing up straight a little too fast.

You slam into one of the boys, spilling ice and a bit of your drink on your shirt. You take a second to examine your shirt, it's not going to stain but it's an inconvenience for now.

"Hey, watch where you're going, asshole!" You snap, spinning on your heel to face whoever you hit. Sure, you're being rude by instantly reacting badly, but you just want to drink and wait until your best friend is done dancing around her crush.

The moment you turn your eyes lock with a boy who is holding an annoyed look, suddenly feeling embarrassed for being so harsh. As you stare at him you notice a shift in his eyes and his face relaxes. As if looking at you has somehow changed his mind about you. You clear your throat and now your shirt is unbearable to have on with alcohol-soaked cloth sticking to your stomach.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking!" He instantly replies, his hands in front of him in a surrendering gesture. His eyes land on the spillage that is still spreading and is now noticeable. "That does not look comfortable," He chuckles, running a hand through his gelled hair.

"Oh, no it feels really nice," You snark, pulling the shirt forward just enough to peel it off your damp skin. If you hadn't promised your friend you'd stay the entire night you would have gone home already. You know you should be nicer to him, it wasn't his fault. "Sorry for snapping at you," You sigh, glancing back up at him.

"I get it, it's a stuffy house and there's people everywhere. If I weren't obligated to be here I'd probably be anywhere else," He grins and now you can't help but find him handsome. His eyes wrinkle and shine in the dim lights. "I could grab you a new shirt, but it'll probably be a bit big," He suggests and a new shirt sounds perfect. 

That's how you end up in his room, sitting on his bed that is surprisingly made. His room has a few posters taped to the wall, one of them being Spider-man. You expected everyone at a fraternity to have pinups and messy rooms, instead, his is organized and well thought out.

On his way up to his room, you learn his name is Tom and he's an open book. You could ask a million questions and he'd probably have a billion answers for you. It soothes your nerves that he's being sweet and not once has made a move.

"So, why did you join a frat?" You ask, leaning to the left to see him through the closet door. He's holding up two shirts on hangers as if he can't decide which ones to give you. Either one would work for tonight and you'd return it the next week. "Not to judge you based off of thirty minutes, but you don't seem like the type," 

He looks up from the shirts, his lips parted in surprise. It's a simple question, it's not like you're asking him something deeply personal. Yet, his expression makes you wonder if anyone has ever bothered to ask him anything that isn't skin deep.

"Ah, uhm my friend Harrison persuaded me to join with him," He answers quickly, putting one of the shirts back on his rack. He exits his closet, removing a grey long-sleeve shirt from the hanger. "Is this good?" He asks nervously. 

You don't even take a second look at it before reaching for it, "Anything is better than smelling like alcohol," You joke, standing up from his bed. You gesture for him to turn around and he does so without protesting. He even goes as far as covering his eyes with one hand. "From what you said earlier, you don't enjoy the parties?"

Tom shakes his head, "It's always too crowded and I don't really know anyone. I try my best to socialize but after a while you kind of get sick of the loud music and constant flirting," He laughs but it's short-lived, it makes you feel bad for him. You understand the feeling of wanting to just be alone but ending up back at the party.

"I only come each week because my friend has a huge crush on this blond guy," You remove your shirt, wiping off some of the droplets of liquid off your skin. You swiftly straighten out his shirt and pull it over your head. It's a little heavy for how warm it is inside the room but it's comfortable enough to ignore. "You can turn around now," 

He hesitates for a second but drops his hand and shifts to face you. There's an awkward silence between the two of you which only grows longer. After maybe two minutes of you both looking anywhere but at each other he finally pipes up.

"Since we're both sort of obligated to show up at the party maybe we could hang out with each other," He squeaks out and quickly coughs to adjust his voice. "We could be friends," He suggests. You honestly don't even need to think about it, he's kind and how can you reject someone like him?

"Friends it is," You smile, your heart pounding at a newfound situation.

--

"No, seriously how can you be passing every other class except your history class?" You burst out laughing, staring at his grades for the semester. You really shouldn't be making fun of him, he worked hard and you helped him study for hours. Yet, you find yourself sitting on his bed covering your mouth while you giggle.

"Oh, I'm sorry are my grades making you upset?" He looks at his computer over your shoulder, his arms wrapped around your waist. His touch makes your chest bloom with warmth, forcing you to think back to the night you met him. You were so quick to judge him and now you can't help but be with him every second of the day. 

"No, you're right I passed all my classes," You cackle, leaning your head back onto his shoulder. "I mean, if you had told me four months ago that I'd end up dating a guy who knows barely any history I think I'd avoid the cooler," You tease, kissing his cheek to make up for it. 

"If you did that I'd probably find another way to spill your drink," He mumbles, lifting your chin with his fingers. He plants a long kiss on your lips, enjoying how soft they are. He pulls away barely an inch before continuing to talk, "I've never met someone who truly makes college a better experience," 

"That's so corny," You snort but your heart is doing backflips. You'd never admit it out loud but you're grateful your best friend constantly dragged you to each and every party if it meant meeting him.

#tom holland x reader #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #tom holland blurb #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x fem #tom holland fanfiction #Frat!tom

[captain19cb97]

ahh your fics are so cute i'm melting i love them sm! could i maybe request a super fluffy jungkook x reader fic where the reader is super shy about their laugh and always tries to hide it from him, but one day he tickles them or something and goes all heart eyed and lovey because he thinks their laugh is adorable and he doesn't want them to hide it anymore. i'm sorry if that's too long kwjdjsfjjwjd feel free to ignore it if it doesn't spark your imagination! <3

My gosh! Hii!! 👋🏻

Thank you so much! I love that you guys are enjoying them so much, it means a lot to me that you are.

Thank you for sending this, and don't apologize! The more you guys tell me about what you want, the better I can write something for you 🙃 Anyway, I hope you like it!

Requests are open!

-Em

Shy :: JJK

Pairing: Jungkook x Gn!Reader (It does read more as Fem!Reader, but there's no defining pronouns so I leave it up to you on how you want to read it.)

Word Count: 2523

Genre: Fluff with a sprinkling of suggestive 👀

Warnings: Cursing. Shouldn't be anything else, but as always, please tell me if you find something and I'll fix it.

I hope you enjoy it!! 💜

You’d been sitting on your couch, a drama that you’d seen probably a thousand times playing on your tv, while you were content to let the night just waste away, alone. You’d have a long week, and honestly, it had been pretty shitty- your boss had yelled at you a couple days in a row about something that wasn’t your fault, you spilled your coffee this morning on your way to work and ended up being late because you had to come back home to change- needless to say, you were happy to have the next few days off.

As you were debating ordering something to eat, you heard someone knocking on your door and immediately felt yourself frown. You hadn’t been expecting anyone to come over, and they would’ve texted or called you anyway.

Who just shows up, unannounced at someone’s place anymore? You thought as you crossed the floor to your front door.

You checked the display for your camera and saw Jungkook standing on the other side, a bag in one hand and something else in the other. You felt the butterflies begin in your stomach as you unlocked the door, pulling it open slowly.

Jungkook, who you only knew thanks to Jimin- your older brother, also happened to be your not-something-something, at the moment. You guys were floating between the lines of are they or aren’t they all the time, and frankly, the rest of the guys were sick of it at this point. It was obvious that you both really liked each other, and Jimin was doing everything in his power to just get you two together.

Mostly just so he would finally not have to listen to you or Jungkook complain to him about wanting to be with each other, but never doing anything about it because you both were worried Jimin wasn’t okay with it.

Jungkook’s face lit up the second you’d pulled the door open and you looked up at him with that shy smile he found so adorable. “Hi.”

“Hi, Kookie, what are you doing here?” You asked softly, as you noticed he was holding flowers in his other hand.

He smiled softly, “Oh, w-well, Jimin-Hyung told me you’d had a bad few days, so I thought maybe we could hang out for a bit and maybe watch a movie or two?” He held the flowers to you, “I thought you’d like these, and I figured you hadn’t eaten yet, so I brought food, too.”

You let out a small noise, taking the flowers from him, “They’re beautiful, thank you.” You stepped aside, letting him come in finally. “Let me put these in some water, you can go into the living room though, if you want.”

He nodded, watching you go into the kitchen as he took his shoes off, before he headed for the couch. “Sorry for not texting you or anything,” He called out, loud enough for you to hear him, “I thought a surprise would be nice though, especially after having such a bad week.”

You entered the living room, dropping onto the floor next to him as he kept pulling the food out of the bag, setting everything onto the table, and grinned, “It’s okay. You know I don’t mind you coming over.”

“Even unannounced?” He smirked knowingly down at you.

You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth for a second as you rolled your eyes, before shyly admitting, “Only if it’s you.”

Jungkook chuckled at the sight of your reddening cheeks as he slid some of the food towards you. He’d stopped at one of your favorite places just to pick up your favorite things because Jimin had told him about how your week had gone. He was a little upset that you hadn’t mentioned anything about it, any of the times you two had talked this week, but he also knew you probably only told Jimin because he’s your brother and he’d pushed about it.

“Thank you, for this. It was really sweet of you.” You said softly, a couple minutes later as you guys were eating.

He shrugged one shoulder and smiled down at you, “I think you’re really sweet.” He said back, watching you look away from him like you always did when he’d flirt with you like that.

You shook your head at him but didn’t say anything back, so you guys fell back into a comfortable silence as the rest of your drama episode played.

Once it was over, you both started cleaning up the mess from the food and were standing in your kitchen, a few minutes later, when you let out a big sigh, and Jungkook looked over at you.

“Heavy sigh, everything okay?”

You nodded, shooting him a shy smile, “Better now, yeah.”

“It wasn’t before?” He asked softly, matching the way you were standing, and leaned against the counter opposite you.

You shook your head a little bit, “This week kinda sucked, actually. Thank you for coming over with food and flowers. It’s exactly how I’d rather end a shitty week.” You smiled again, “And I meant it before, it was really sweet of you.”

He slowly pushing off the counter to stand directly in front of you, smiling as he caged you in, his hands on both side of you as he leaned on the counter behind you now. “And I meant what I said, I think you’re really sweet. And I’d do it again, in a heartbeat.”

You could feel the heat radiating off his body as he leaned towards you just a little bit more, his eyes roaming your face for a moment before you swore, they landed on your lips.

The guys thought otherwise, but even with all the back and forth that you and Jungkook had been doing these last few months, you’ve never kissed. Hugged a bunch, sure- you guys cuddled a lot, held hands sometimes, too, but you still haven’t kissed each other, even though there have been plenty of times that you could’ve.

You both just stood there for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes as the tension built, you could feel the heat rising on your chest as you resisted the urge to look away from his piercing brown eyes.

“Kookie?” You whispered, slowly reaching out and just barely taking hold of the hem of his shirt.

“Hmm?”

You could feel your heart racing as you gently rested one hand on his side, “Kiss me?”

He chuckled lowly, “Are you asking, or telling me, baby?”

Oh, that was new.

“What’s going to make you do it faster?” You challenged him softly, tilting your head to the side slightly as you grinned.

His tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip as he pushed air out his nose, “Say it again and find out.”

“Kiss m- “

You didn’t even get the words out, before he was crashing his lips to yours, one of his hands coming up to cradle the back of your head as the other landed on your side and pulled you towards him.

You gripped the sides of his shirt in your hands as you moved your lips in time with his, letting him lead the kiss, holding your head as he deepened it, and pulled you closer still.

You could feel his heart racing under your palm as you slid your hands up his chest, intent on wrapping your arms around his neck, until you felt his hand on your side, featherlight as he went to slide it around to your back.

You broke away from the kiss and couldn’t stop the giggle that tore out of you as you tried to jump away from him.

“That tickled.” You admitted, seeing the confused look in his eyes.

You learned pretty quickly, those were the wrong words to say, because you found yourself running away from him in the next moment.

“Come on! I have to know every spot you’re ticklish in, now!” He laughed, chasing you into the living room.

You screamed, trying to hold in the bubbling laugh as you moved to dodge him.

You had always been a little self-conscious about your laugh, so you tended to cover it up when you laughed at something around the boys. Jimin knew, but he didn’t know just how self-conscious you really were about it.

When you were in school, you’d been picked on a lot and it was just something else they used to make fun of you about, so you’d grown up, hiding it as much as you could. You’d giggle, and scoff in place of actually laughing, and if you couldn’t help but to really laugh at something- usually Hobi’s jokes- you would physically cover your whole mouth, to muffle your laugh.

You were always worried that if Jungkook heard it, he’d find it annoying or stupid or even ugly and wouldn’t like you anymore. You didn’t know, however, that Jungkook always hated watching you cover your laugh. He didn’t know why you did it, and he didn’t know how to get you to stop, because you’d avoid the conversation whenever it came up.

But you didn’t have much time to really think about it, because Jungkook’s tattooed arm was firmly around your waist as he pulled you down to the couch, caging you beneath him as his finger danced along your sides, and all you could do was laugh, yell and do your best to stop him.

“Kookie! K-Kookie, please!” You laughed, trying to pry his fingers from you, all the while, hearing him laugh with you. You struggled against him, laughing loudly as you desperately tried to plead with him to stop tickling you. “Jungkook, please! It hurts.”

He stopped, staring down at you as you panted, trying to catch your breath finally. You slowly peered up at him, your breath hitching in your throat once you caught his eyes on yours.

“What?” You whispered, your eyes darting between his.

“Your laugh.”

You stilled. Here it comes. “W-what about it?” You asked, already dreading hearing his answer. So much so, that you had to look away from him, hiding your face slightly behind your hands.

You heard him sigh softly, before his peeled your hands away from your face with one hand, and cupped your jaw in his other, turning your head so you were looking up at him again.

His eyes softened, “You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hear it.” He whispered back, gently running his thumb along your jaw, “It’s beautiful.”

Your brow furrowed slightly as you stared up at him in disbelief, “You-you don’t hate it?” He quickly shook his head, “Even though it’s loud, and annoying?”

He chuckled softly and shook his head again, “It’s not loud enough because I never get to hear it, and it’s you- it could never be annoying.” He told you, his hand still on your cheek as he smiled. “You don’t have to hide it. In fact, I wish you wouldn’t because I want to hear it.”

Your cheeks slowly bloomed with color as you leaned into his touch, “You do?”

He nodded, leaning down towards you slightly. “Very much, yeah.”

You couldn’t stop the smile that pulled at your lips as you met him half-way, “You’re not lying to me?”

He pulled back a little bit and pouted at you, “You really think I’d do that to you?” He whined; a joking tone laced in his words that made you giggle as you shook your head.

“I was just making sure.” You argued, still grinning widely at him as you giggled softly.

He scoffed playfully, sliding his hand from your cheek down to your neck before he slid it to the back of your head. He gently tugged your face up towards his with a wicked grin, “You have so little faith in me. Because of that, you’re getting tickled again.” He said quickly, before he was attacking your sides again.

You had no time to brace yourself, and you couldn’t hope to hold back the laughter he was pulling from you as you struggled beneath him once again.

“Okay, okay! I get it! I’m sorry, I won’t doubt you!” You yelled in between the laughter.

He stopped sooner than you thought he would, only to quickly lean down and connect his lips to yours in a short, but sweet kiss, smiling as he pulled away and looked down at you. “I could get used to this.”

“What?”

He smirked, a glimmer in his eyes, “You like this, beneath me and out of breath.”

You glared up at him and shoved his shoulder, “Really?!”

His shoulders shook as he let out a loud laugh, and you watched his nose scrunch up cutely before he looked back down at you. “I meant from laughing, you perv.”

You gaped, laughing slightly, “Shut up, no you didn’t! You said it like that on purpose.”

He gave you a devilish smile, leaning towards you again, “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. You’ll never know.”

You rolled your eyes, “I know you though.” You told him, pressing your lips to his for another chaste kiss before you relaxed into the couch below him, “I could get used to this, though.”

“And what would that be?”

“Kissing you.”

This time, you watched the color blooming on his cheeks as he chuckled nervously above you, looking away for a moment, “Me too. I’d been waiting a long time for that, too.”

 The rest of the night was spent, caged between Jungkook and the couch, while he tickled you to hear you laugh, and then letting him kiss you right after. And he loved every second of it, finally hearing you laugh- really laugh, every time his fingers made contact with your sides.

When he was getting ready to leave that night, both of you on opposite sides of your open door as you both dragged out the already long goodbye, he grinned softly down at you. “Promise me, that you’re not going to hide your laugh anymore.”

“Around you?”

He shook his head, “Around any of us. I’m serious, I want to hear it all the time.”

You sighed softly, and nodded slowly, “It’ll take a while, but I’ll try not to anymore.”

He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close with a grin, “Good. Because if you hide it from me anymore, I will cry, knowing how beautiful it really is now.”

“You’ll cry?” You questioned, quirking an eyebrow.

He nodded, bumping your nose with his softly, “Absolutely. And I’ll just tickle you to hear it, if I have to.”

You giggled, “What a threat, Kookie.”

He smirked and squeezed your sides, making you jump and shoot him a look, “Fuck around and find out, baby.”

Well, you fucked around, and you found out, the next time you guys were together- finally as a couple, too- and you were happy to know, that none of the guys found your laugh annoying, or loud, or ugly, and they were all happy to finally hear you actually laughing, almost as much as Jungkook was.

#jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #jungkook x you #jungkook fluff #bts imagines #bts x reader #bts drabble #bts fluff #jungkook x reader #jungkook fic

[crusherthedoctor]

Get a Load of Traits - PART 1: Sonic the Hedgehog

Way back during my Tumblr infancy, I made a series by the mouthful of What Makes For A Good Incarnation, in which I listed the main noteworthy traits that I consider integral for crafting, at the very worst, a still above-average portrayal of the character in question. By "series", I meant I did exactly three of them, then forgot all about it. In the words of Moneybags, I seemed to have temporarily forgotten.

In the years since however, I've went back and forth on going back and redoing them - as well as providing entries for those who didn't get one the first time around - because shall we say, a few recent portrayals have caused me to believe they're in need of some additional points or further elaboration. So now here I am to actually do it.

For the DX: Director's Cut, and for the sake of not dragging them out too much, I've decided to keep it all thematically consistent by sticking with 9 main points per character, in terms of what I personally consider the highest priorities for each of them. These will usually not be listed in any particular order of importance or relevance unless stated otherwise, and while there may be other major traits that might not get mentioned (in which case, feel free to bring them up yourself if you see fit), this keeps things simple and focuses on the points that have the most flexibility with how much of the character they encapsulate.

It should also be noted that these posts will be made with the game portrayals in mind, because the games mark the core of the franchise, and as such, they objectively contain the purest essence of the cast. Adaptations generally like to play by their own rules, some more gratuitously and inexcusably than others, and this will inevitably crop up with certain entries. All that being said however, I'll attempt to stay focused rather than devolve into another rant about this adaptation or that adaptation, only directly referring to them if I feel it's necessary for the point being made.

So without further ado, for today's installment, we're jumping right into the main Crush 40 enthusiast himself: Sonic.

Since Sonic was one of the characters covered in the past, much of this will be retreading old ground. If you know me well though, I'm sure you'll be able to tell which of it is new or expanded upon.

He's meant to be fun.

"Psst, the mandates don't exist."

We'll start with one so easy to get that you'd have to be purposefully contemptuous of the franchise and the character to suggest otherwise: Sonic is a fun character. He's all about having fun. He looks at virtually everything, no matter how precarious, as a thrill ride first and foremost. He is perpetually filled with a carefree love for all that life has to offer, has never been shy about it, and is known to enjoy fighting the baddies as well. Nothing keeps him down.

It's a large factor into why the franchise itself commonly boasts a sense of energy and wonder. If you don't acknowledge this aspect of Sonic's character... what are you even doing here? Why are you writing for him? What character are you seeing?

But he also knows when it's time to get serious.

Oh look, Super Sonic when it still had milk left in it.

Sonic's knack for making snarky quips of debatable quality can lead some into thinking he's incapable of taking anything seriously at all. This is how we get writers who seek to humble him for it... but unfortunately for them, they're not breaking any new ground: Sonic does get down to business when the situation calls for it, and even when he's joking around with whatever villain he's currently facing, he's always got his wits sharp, never going out of his way to be sloppy. And no, this isn't limited to the one-off villains and Godzilla-type Pokemon we know and begrudgingly tolerate: he more than acknowledges the very serious threat and crimes of the deceptively jovial Eggman's actions as well.

After all, do we not recall some of the near-death situations that Eggman has found himself in upon defeat, and how Sonic usually shows no concern over whether he survives or not? Do we not recall Sonic interrogating Zor over what happened to Tails? Do we not recall what he did to the Erazor Djinn when he refused to YouTube Apologise for abusing his former lover?

Sonic takes a lot of things quite seriously. More than he tends to let on. He just also likes to have fun at the same time.

He does not loathe technology.

"You're telling me this board was made with... SCIENCE...?"

Yes, Sonic is the nature foil to Eggman's scientific scheming. It's been a constant with the franchise since its inception, all the way to modern entries like Colours. But if Sonic hated technology itself, he wouldn't be best friends with a tinkerer. Nor would he own a plane.

The series as a whole has always been sensible about the matter compared to other green aesop-spewing media of the 90's. Rather than demonize technology outright, it understood the strengths it had, and how it could be used for nature's benefit rather than its detriment. Sonic CD visualized this wonderfully, as the Good Futures were fond of showing them side-by-side, in perfect harmony, with no cost to the land's health and beauty.

So with Sonic, he doesn't oppose technology. He opposes Eggman, whose methods involve technology. If you want Sonic to preach about the evils of tech as he drops a mahogany log in the woods and scrambles for a leaf to wipe his ass with, just go on DeviantART. Or watch SatAM.

He has selfish needs, but he's not a selfish person.

"Shit, I forgot the third paragraph of my principle monologue."

Sonic knows what he wants, and that something is his freedom. He's not going to be anchored down, he's not going to live a mundane life, and he's going to adventure and explore the world and beyond for as long as he can. This goes both ways: it's further reason why he confronts oppressive sorts like Eggman, but on the other hand, it can be hard to keep up with him at times, and since Amy has a clear vision on how she would want their future lives to be like as a couple, it's no wonder Sonic hasn't shown much serious interest in his friend in that particular way.

Don't get the wrong idea though; this doesn't mean Sonic is a selfish person full stop. In part thanks to several adaptations, a common misconception with the Blue Blur is mistaking him for a pure egotist through and through, who only cares about his adrenaline-fueled ecstasy and nothing else. Cause y'know, he's firm about his needs, and he has a cocky side, therefore he's full of himself, right?

Well no, not at all: his opposition to big bad villains would surely be enough on its own to confirm that he cares about everyone else's freedom too, so long as said people aren't doing anything malicious themselves. Yes, he fights villains because it's fun to him, but he also has a genuine hatred for injustice. He doesn't think like a typical superhero, where he fights evil and saves lives because he feels he has an obligation to do so, he does it simply because he wants to. How is that not selfless?

But it's even more than that: he's proven himself to be humble in spite of his cockiness, right down to dismissing any and all formal terms for himself when others use them. Half the time he tells the people he's saved to not sweat it, and the other half, he's already bolted before they can even thank him. Sonic largely doesn't care about the fame and attention that comes with being a repeated world saviour, and in more intimate situations, he's full of compassion there too. Hell, even in Black Knight, despite initially intending to slice Merlina in half in a furious response to her betrayal, he was later willing to show empathy to her defeated self, recognizing that she was an extremist, but not like the other villains he had faced.

Also, he doesn't have a history of treating his friends and accomplices like garbage. He might not see them all that often due to his globe trotting ways ("Long time no see!"), but he clearly values each of them. Even the ones he pokes light fun at on occasion, like Knuckles and Shadow.

He's impulsive, but intelligent.

Remember when Eggman had a conch? Starline didn't.

Like any character, Sonic does indeed have faults. Sonic is a guy who, when he sets out to do something, he'll do it, no questions asked. If Sonic thinks he knows the solution to sorting everything out, then that's all there is to it. This has worked in his favor more often than not, but it can also just as easily lead to mishaps, like the moment pictured above from Lost World. His cockiness has also been taken advantage of on several occasions, like in SA2 and Unleashed. Both of those were by Eggman, by the way. Just wanted to throw that out there.

However, Sonic is not an idiot. Just because he's a speedster doesn't mean he can't think straight, and his moments of recklessness are often born out of not knowing the full story rather than blindly charging in after already knowing better. If he makes a mistake, he'll acknowledge it and attempt to rectify it as soon as possible, and if he thinks someone else has good advice, then he'll be willing to hear them out, especially if it's coming from his life-long buddy, Tails.

To put it generously, Sonic's intelligence is prone to be heavily downplayed in certain adaptations, most notably in SatAM and Prime. This is usually done for the sake of forcing him to learn a lesson that a character like him doesn't really need to learn, or to prop up another character as the brains behind his operation. Or because Hurr Hurr Vroom Vroom Character Dumb. In reality though, Sonic is actually very intelligent: certainly not a super-genius like Tails or Eggman, but he's quick to pick up on details, and experience has taught him how to optimize his speed and acrobatics effectively and gracefully, while making it look completely effortless. He's also emotionally intelligent, being able to read a room with little issue, and when placed in a new situation, it doesn't take long for him to adapt.

So Sonic is a very bright person who just so happens to occasionally make impulsive decisions, for better or for worse. This does not translate to him being a Funny Penis Man. That's a vast simplification that tends to come from people who take the archetype that describes him at face value.

He only cares about how others perceive him when it's based on deception.

"Surrounded by evil knights and a girl I've never met before... better inhale the worst cuisine they've ever seen with my goatse mouth."

To paraphrase the hedgehog himself, he doesn't mind having to play the bad guy if it's necessary to do what he thinks is right. This doesn't apply in a meta sense - WE know he's doing the right thing - but what it means is that in-universe, he understands that some people might think he's the villain due to their perspective on the situation. And he accepts that, because he doesn't care about how his true blue self is perceived by strangers one way or the other. He doesn't expect or demand the rest of the world to live by his own personal beliefs unlike some iterations, but since they're his own, he holds no shame in sticking with them personally. He can only be who he truly is, and if some people have a problem with that, then he'll just have to take it smoothly with a Winston break.

But, as proven with Shadow inadvertently framing him in SA2, he does care when it involves Shit That Isn't True. Because if you're going to judge him, it better be for stuff he's actually done, and for who he actually is. Sonic doesn't care about attention, but he does evidently care about his identity.

The real super power of teamwork.

"Because... we're Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric!"

Sonic Heroes is a game that frequently gets referenced in side-material, which is an impressive feat considering it condemned itself by dressing Metal Sonic like a wanker. Yet for some curious reason, despite all the Heroes referencing, writers have trouble remembering the entire theme of the game, because their idea of Sonic needing to learn the benefits of teamwork and friendship is... lol...? Lmao...? Dare I even say... rofl...?

Sonic is the last person on the goddamn planet who needs to learn this, and you'd know that even if you weren't familiar with Heroes. Other games have shown time and time again that he appreciates the contributions of his allies, and gives them the appropriate kudos with no shred of reluctance, all without placing himself above them in the process. And while he may not be quick to ask for help, he's usually willing to accept it when it's offered to him. Like in '06, in which he casually allowed Trunks the Hedgehog to help out despite his attempting to kill him when they last met.

Sonic knows the super power of teamwork just fine. It's in his business card. Him of all people needing to learn this aesop is a non-development, a cheap way to make it seem like the writers are doing something ~deep~ with him. Giving back something he should have had to begin with is not character development.

His thing about emotions.

"A tall girl. My weakness."

Despite his outward demeanour, Sonic has a lot of introversion deep down, what with showing himself a contemplative side on a regular basis, and most of his dialogue being fairly straight and to-the-point. As it happens, this extends to how he manages his emotions, aside from his alleged temper. Sonic is obviously not stoic, but you're not likely to see him break down in hysterics, or publicly show tears at all unless it's in private.

Some writers and artists - or should I say, certain writers and artists - consider this an abominable sin that must be rectified. They'll get it into their heads that Sonic shows no emotion at all, but never fear boys and girls, they'll fix that pronto. They'll give him the emotions that SEGA couldn't. And what do you know, the end results end up looking absolutely ridiculous, and simply not in-line with who and what our hero is. Fact of the matter is, not everyone wears their emotions on their sleeve, and not breaking out the waterworks is not the same as being an unfeeling machine altogether. As it applies to real life, it applies as well to fictional characters. Because they're not all going to be the same.

His introversion doesn't just relate to himself though. It also seeps into his visible discomfort in dealing with the complex emotions of others, especially those who can't shake themselves off as easily as he can. Notice how, during moments where someone else is upset by something he can't easily fix - such as Tails lamenting Emerl's demise, or Shahra grieving over Majin Ganondorf despite him being a terminal shithead - he often finds himself at a loss, needing a moment or two to think of what he should say or do to console them.

It's possible that, with his canonical tendency to not be all that open about whatever might be troubling him, under the belief of not wanting to make his problem their problem by extension, he might not consider himself the most well-equipped for someone else's anguish. Or maybe that's just a Game Theory. Either way, whatever awkwardness there may be on his part, he always does his best regardless, as he would for any other situation.

...unless it involves one-sided sadness. Then he's not as sympathetic.

He's an ideal.

"Fuck sake, another argument over voice actors."

Sonic is a static character. Deliberately so. He is also not meant to be a relatable character, at least not in the sense of what Twitter members who have never played a Sonic game in their life consider relatable, which is basically making the character exactly the same as them, beat for beat, including the mismatched haircut, announcing their pronouns every three sentences, and the compulsive thirst to speak to the manager.

Needless to say, this doesn't work with the fastest thing alive. Everything about Sonic - his refusal to give up, his refusal to let distress overwhelm him, his freedom to go where the wind takes him - all of it, and more, serves to make him an inspiration. And guess what? Characters are allowed to be that. Inspirational characters are just as important as relatable ones, because by seeing what they can accomplish, we can strive to become our best selves. Why would you want to take that away?

Every character, the good ones anyway, have a defined purpose. Sonic has his. Other characters in the series might be considered relatable, but that's not where Sonic himself lies. It's better to leave that occupation for others, such as those who were inspired in-universe by Sonic himself, like Tails and Amy.

------

If you understand all of these points, and if you can take to them, then I believe you should have what it takes to write a good, or even great, portrayal of Say Yes to the Dress the Hedgehog. No portrayal is going to be one-and-one with that of another, there'll always be subtle distinctions depending on the writer, but you'll be fine as long as he's not a holier-than-thou dipshit who speaks more words than The Great Gatsby.

#Get a Load of Traits #Opinion #Sonic the Hedgehog

[agent-cakeshroom]

Trolls Universe TMNT

There's at least 4 of you out there interested in my thoughts on tmnt being in the Trolls universe. SO HERE IS THOUGHTS

To start with, their species! I figured it would be similar to trolls with there being different subspecies of turtle-people(no idea on name yet). Maybe not all the turtles that exist, but some popular ones. We gotta have the obvious: Alligator Snapping Turtle, Softshell Turtle, Red-eared Slider, and Ornate Box Turtle. I'm debating on whether the turtles all live together, or in smaller groups based on their real life habitats.

Generally, they'd be about a head taller than your average troll. However, turtles like the Alligator Snapping Turtle are twice the size of a normal turtle. When designing any of them, I try to keep in mind they have sharper edges. More square vs Trolls who are more round. They only have three fingers, much like in the TMNT cartoons, although if we include Sea Turtles maybe they'd have webbed fingers?? They all have TAILS!

They're born from eggs of course, but it's more of a community thing than with Trolls. The eggs are kept safe in a pond dug specifically to house the eggs, and there's a rotation of turtles on protection duty. Parents will come and bond with their egg by simply holding them in the water, talking to them, and just being close.

Now onto TMNT specific thoughts! I wanna keep the species to the ones from ROTTMNT since they make sense. Raph is an Alligator Snapping turtle. His skin is tougher than his brothers', his shell is thicker with large spikes, and all of his teeth are sharp. His tail is nearly as long as a troll is tall, and he can control it about as much as a cat. With his size and sharp edges, Raph is incredibly careful and gentle around others. To the point his brothers are entirely unafraid and will climb all over him like a jungle gym. Mostly Mikey. Speaking of, Mikey is an Ornate Box Turtle with yellow spots across his skin, maybe like large freckles? And yellow stripes on his carapace. He's definitely the roundest of the bunch, but still more square than a troll. He's about the size of an average troll, being the runt. Leo is a red-eared slider of course, but unlike the ROTTMNT design the red stripes run under his eyes almost like eyeliner and then down back towards where ears would be. And he has two light yellow stripes on each arm from shoulder to wrist, as well as one on each side of his face from under his chin to his collar bone. Donnie, as a soft shell, is more lanky than his 'twin' but has similar stripes down his arms. However, rather than light yellow they're a dark brown, and he has a faint yellow spot on the outer corner of each eye.

The brothers aren't going to wear masks, but they'll all have an article of clothing with their colors instead. Raph has a large bandana neckerchief/scarf that he likes to hide his face in when he's embarrassed, along with dark red wraps on his wrists and ankles. Mikey wears a bright orange short sleeve cropped hoodie, and he has brightly colored stickers across the front of his plastron. He's also got burnt orange leg warmers, and a few brightly colored bracelets. Donnie has a sort of battle shell, still bright purple, but with a lot less features. He also has his goggles, a tool belt, and dark purple leather gloves. Leo I'm unsure about, so if anyone has some ideas lemme know lol. Been sat here for 20 minutes trying to parse out his design. I'm trying to avoid giving them pants because the shells, almost rethinking Mikey's top too, but I keep wanting to give Leo stirrup socks of some kind.

Ok, I'm getting sleepy so I'll stop here. Feel free to share thoughts, suggestions, criticisms, etc.

#trolls #dreamworks trolls #tmnt #rottmnt #trolls au #rottmnt au

[k-evans-reads]

In Living Color

Chapter 18

Summary: When Natalie Marton, lead character designer for Buzz Lightyear, meets the voice of Buzz, Chris Evans, the sparks are undeniable. But when their work pushes them away from each other, both physically and emotionally, will the sheer differences between their worlds be enough to force them apart?

Pairing: Chris Evans x Pixar Animator OFC Natalie Marton

Word Count: 2,618

By: @k-evans-writes and @ourfinest-hour

We do NOT give permission for our works to be reuploaded, translated, or reposted on any other site. Our work is our own.

Warnings: None.

Previous | Main Masterlist | In Living Color Masterlist

January 7th, 2022 

‘Can you call me when you have time? I need to talk to you.’ 

Chris’ brows furrowed as he saw Nat’s notification pop up on his laptop, leaving him with little to go off of as the simple message disappeared just as quickly as it’d appeared. He frowned as he thought over the message, hands itching to at least text her back, but before he could, Mark joined the Zoom call, his smiling face doing little to distract Chris as they prepped for the quick call with the others involved with the project. 

Nat’s text lingered in his mind throughout the whole call, never leaving the forefront of his focus even as they planned out the next several months’ worth of interviews for the website.  He’d only been back in Boston for a few days, having gone back to Los Angeles for a few days with their whole group after skiing in Washington over the last chunk of the holiday. Chris had planned on staying in Los Angeles a bit longer, but he had quickly found out that Nat’s suggestion had proved to be a good one when he realized just how busy she was with two projects overlapping at once. 

What had been a manageable schedule for her in the summer and fall, allowing them to spend nearly every evening and weekend together interruption-free, had been spun on its head. Nat was in her office from early in the morning to late at night, barely pulling her attention off of work long enough to text Chris that she was too swamped to come over for dinner or make game night, and what little time they got with each other during the week was then reduced to only a quick kiss before bed, if he was lucky. Her point was true, that him being there would only stress her out more and force her to sacrifice something to make his presence worthwhile, and so with that in mind, he packed himself and Dodger back up and took a flight home the previous day. 

But now with that ominous text looming in his mind, he couldn’t help but let his anxiety spiral, wondering what it could possibly mean. He hoped that it was just Nat feeling stressed and needing to process it or her asking when he was coming back to Los Angeles, but he knew deep down that it was something else otherwise she wouldn’t have asked to have this conversation over the phone versus just texting him about it as it popped in her brain…. Especially in the middle of her hectic work day. The minute his meeting was over and his laptop closed, he sat there for a long moment, debating on whether it was better to put off whatever bad news this would be until later or if he should just get it over with. 

After a nervous few minutes, he grabbed his phone and clicked on her name, his leg anxiously bouncing as he sat at the table waiting for her to pick up before he directly asked, “Hey, what’s up?” 

“Is this a good time? Like do you have a few minutes?” She asked Chris, her voice a bit distracted as she moved around on the other end of the call. 

“Yeah I just finished my meeting,” he assured her, his brows furrowed as he listened and heard a door shut on her end. “What’s going on, Nat?” 

She hesitated, quiet for a moment before she began, “I just um, I wanted to talk about Palm Springs…” 

Chris stared up at the ceiling above him, eyes moving over the smooth white paint on it. He had a sinking feeling inside of him, one that had settled in his stomach nearly an hour and a half ago when she’d texted him. “...You can’t go, can you?” He asked her, voice low and soft. 

“I technically can but I just don’t see how I’m going to be able to,” Nat confessed, apologetic as Chris’ lips downturned and he listened to her explanation. “That week is the official last week of Lightyear and then I also have meetings with the higher ups for Inside Out so it’s going to be really busy already let alone with me taking off on Wednesday afternoon to go to Palm Springs.” 

Although Chris knew where this was headed from the first moment she mentioned Palm Springs, it didn’t take away the sting of disappointment. He had been looking forward to the little getaway with Nat, just the two of them, before he was launched into thousands of miles separating them as he went from filming to press and then more filming for the rest of the year. It'd been planned from the moment he'd gotten his filming schedule for the early part of the year and had seen that the first week started on Valentine's Day. He and Nat were looking forward to hiding away from the world to celebrate the holiday early together, just before work pulled them apart. That was going to be their last bit of quality time together, not a thing in the world distracting them before he had to leave and now it was taken away. 

The line was quiet for a moment before Nat’s tentative voice asked, “Chris? Are you upset?” 

“No, of course not,” he rushed to reassure her. He was dismayed of course by the change in plans, and upset that they wouldn’t get that time just to themselves, but he knew Nat was needed in Los Angeles… maybe a little too much. “I mean, sure I’m disappointed but I understand.” 

“This is just crazy right now with both projects overlapping,” she admitted to him, and he could hear her on the other end of the line as she began typing at her computer, a chiming notification sounding to alert her to a new email. 

“Nat, if I’m bein’ honest, I’m a little worried about you,” Chris began delicately. He knew she’d been working almost non-stop since Monday, only leaving to eat whatever cold leftovers Chris had packaged away for her from what was supposed to be a shared dinner, then to fall into bed and repeat the cycle the following day. And if he was being honest, he wasn’t even sure she’d done any of that the previous night while he and Dodger flew home. He had no way to know if she’d eaten, or gotten a solid night’s sleep, or if she’d drank enough water and wasn’t surviving off of over-caffeinated cups of cold brew. It wasn’t sustainable, and his concern was evident as he asked, “Are you doing alright with all of this?” 

“I’m fine,” she brushed off the concern, her voice sounding distant as she continued typing. Chris pushed Dodger’s wet nose off of his lap as he listened to Nat dismissively explain, “It’s just until mid February, and then things will be better.” 

But his frown grew deeper as he listened to her, not seeing an end to this workload. She was moving from one project to the next, one with a lot more moving parts than this, including the initial stages. “Are you going to be able to make it until then, though? That’s a long time,” he tried to tell her. 

“I can handle it, I know how to do my job,” she defensively shut him down, her words sending alarm signals to Chris’ brain. He knew that. He knew she was amazing at what she did, but she was to a fault. And all of this career-driven stress and running on empty was the exact opposite of what she’d shared as her goal the previous month, wanting to give herself more time outside of the Disney Campus to dedicate to self-care, to fill her bucket by creating more outside of work. But now she was barely even stepping foot outside of her own office, let alone having time to develop her own creative passions and delve more into her own personal wants. 

“I know you do… that didn’t come out the way I wanted it to,” Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair. His eyes watched Dodger as the dog looked out the window at the large yard and the sunset before he made his way over to his bed and laid down. Chris’ voice was quiet as he admitted to her, “I’m just concerned about these long hours.” 

“It sucks, but it’s temporary so I can do it,” Nat stubbornly insisted. She sighed deeply before he heard her computer chime with another email’s arrival. “It’s been a big deal for me to be the lead character designer for Buzz and now for Inside Out so I don’t want to throw that away in this final stretch.” 

“I get that, I just love you and I get worried about you, ya know,” Chris shrugged, feeling helpless all the way out in Massachusetts as she ran herself ragged back in California. 

“I know you do and it means a lot to me,” she assured him, her voice sounding much more honest than it had only moments ago. She sighed, hesitating before she murmured, “I’m just sorry about Palm Springs.” 

“It’s okay Nattie, don’t stress about it,” Chris reassured her. He knew she felt awful, canceling the trip that’d been her birthday present from him, but he knew she had to look out for herself. Having that pressure of the trip looming over her and not wanting to have anything to do for work that weekend likely would’ve hurt her more had she not canceled, and he had to be a little proud of her for recognizing that much. But he was disappointed, and he could admit that much. “Maybe we could do something, a little weekend trip or something like that one weekend coming up when you aren’t as busy.” 

He could almost see the sad smile on her face as she quietly admitted, “I’d love to but I’m just not sure when that would be.” 

“Okay… well just let me know,” he whispered, struggling to know just what to think at all of this. He missed her, he missed her more than anything each time they were separated, but right now… he was confused. He was worried. And he wasn’t sure how to help her, especially when she had all-but bitten his head off for a small sign of concern. “I really want to spend some time with you.” 

“I know, I want to be with you too. Maybe you could come out in the middle of the month, I might not have to work as late in the evenings then,” she suggested, just as her typing resumed. 

He nodded to himself, making a mental note to look at what he had scheduled then. “I’ll plan on that then,” he assured her. 

“Okay, hey I’m sorry but I really need to go. I have so much work I need to get done,” she whispered, her voice back to sounding distant as she kept working. 

“Alright,” he whispered, biting his lower lip as he listened to her. 

“Chris?” She asked, almost at the very last moment. “...I really love you.” 

He smiled at those words, feeling some confidence and hope again. “I love you too Nattie. So fuckin’ much,” he promised her. 

And Chris knew how painfully true that was. He loved her more than anything which is why moments apart made this so much harder. His brain kept jumping back and forth between feeling the frustration at Nattie prioritizing her work over having time for their relationship and then feeling hypocritical with his own job taking him away for sometimes months on end. Chris really had been looking forward to that long weekend away and at first thought maybe his frustration was more at that than anything, but once he had gotten up move over to the couch where he could scratch Dodger more easily, he started sorting through his thoughts a bit more and realized that wasn’t it at all. At the heart of his frustration was concern for his Nattie. 

All that was happening just felt… off. 

After her art show she had talked about wanting to pursue more of her own creative passions, not having her whole creative career being created for Pixar. But now here she was nearly giving up her whole life for her job and although he knew that it was true what she said, that it was temporary, part of him wondered if it really was. He had come to see how conflicted Nat could feel when it came to her career. She was so different from her family, not being the cerebral career women her sisters were working in healthcare and tech. Nat was creative and sensitive, with so much passion and emotion in everything she did. He knew how much her single father had given up to send her to art school and how hard Nat had worked at Pixar to move her way up and when he even thought about it, he was so fucking proud of her. But there was something about this that just didn’t feel sustainable or even quite right for Nat. 

He remembered being in those meetings last year and just falling in love with the way Nat spoke about things being visually communicated in Lightyear and how good she was at figuring out how to convey emotion and stories through art. She was practically gushing with passion every time she spoke about an aspect of her job and although he knew that she still loved it, most things recently had been more about what she felt she needed to do for her job or about the path she felt pressured for her career to go. 

Chris felt like there was a piece of his exuberant and uninhibited artist that was falling into the corporate part of her job and although he knew from being in a creative industry himself that some of those things went hand in hand, he didn’t want to see her throw all of it away. She’d shared with him before how for so long she felt like there were so many things wrong with her personality from wearing every emotion on her sleeve to not wanting success in the normal sense that society viewed it, but here she was devoting herself completely to her job and taking on more than he thought any one person would be able to handle. He knew Nat felt like she had something to prove, in his observation more to herself than anyone, that she could make art a worthwhile endeavor and wanted to prove she could handle all of this, not realizing that it didn’t make a difference to anyone if she couldn’t. 

He knew Nat was determined to a fault, that she’d never put anything before her commitments and promises to others, but he was hopeful he could open her eyes a bit more. She’d seemed to have a realization in December, and despite slipping back into the grind of her career, he knew that deep down, they’d get through this. He’d already been a bit worried about how much of a toll this year could take on them, between his schedules with three projects and two press tours and Nat’s busy calendar at Disney, and that this trip was supposed to give them both some time to connect and be together before that all started. But despite losing that weekend together, he himself was determined, not to solve all of Nat’s problems overnight, but to brainstorm on how to help her and most of all, support her through every step of the way. 

A/N: We'll be back next week with a new chapter!

#in living color #chris evans fanfic #original female character #chris evans fanfiction #chris e #chris evans ff #chris evans story #chris evans x smut #chris evans x female reader #chris evans x oc #chris evans x original female character #chris evans x ofc #chris evans x y/n #original character #chris evans x original character #ofc #real person fanfiction #real life chris evans #real person fiction #rpf #pixar au #female reader #chris evans smut #chris evans fluff #chris evans imagine #imagine #chris evans angst

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT

VOCALOID RECOMMENDATIONS MASTER POST

I've been collecting all your vocaloid recommendations in one place, so everyone can take a listen!

And if like me you knew nothing about vocaloid before that nuclear discourse, maybe you'll find a hidden gem you wouldn't have found otherwise! <3

Submitted anonymously

Thought I'd add to the Vocaloid discourse by pointing out that several "irl" bands actually started out by using vocaloids. You can find a few who talk about it in the Hatsune Miku live concerts (super cool use of holo developed for those too!). That's really the crux of what sets vocaloid apart from much of the machine discourse; it's CREATED oppourtunities for small musicians instead of taking it away. Specifically by not just supplying a synthetic voice program to work with, but by tying a star identity to each voicebank that makes people more willing to explore obscure artist music. It also distincts the works made by the vb's from the artists who were paid to voice them, so you can't make them say things that sounds like you're putting bad takes in the original artist's mouth. Everyone knows and understands it's a fake version for the purpose of artistic creativity, not an attempt to steal the voice of the original singer.

Anyway since we're doing Vocaloid recommends now:

Giga - BRING IT ON (Inferiority superiority) ft. Kagamine Rin & Len

"Hop! Step! Instant Death! A Happiness Dance Death-Trap" and "The Path to Eternal Happiness...I Found It" both by Utata-P

Entomologists, Appetite of a people pleaser and Rotary Dial by GHOST

VIRAL ft. Meika Hime and Melancolia ft. GUMI by QueenPb

(note - Melancolia contains flashing images right from the start)

And last but not least, my personal Vocaloid feels song, TELL YOUR WORLD by kz, who sums up some of the beauty of the Vocaloid fandom pretty well

Submitted anonymously

Ok, I know the blog was kinda overflown of vocaloid discurse asks. So instead of discussing I brought RECOMMENDATIONS❗

Because, like, Defoko is pretty known in the Utau world, but she may be one of the worst examples of "human-like voice".

So to bring some counter examples of voicebanks that do not have much of a robotic vibe, I have here:

Some utuaus

【Namine Ritsu】-ERROR 2018ver.【UTAU Cover】

【Sukone Tei】Love Me, Love Me, Love Me (Music box ver.) 【UTAUカバー】

Some not so known vocaloids

[Aoki Lapis] Circus Monster [VOCALOID]

[Mayu] VOCALOID 3 ~Kodoku no Bannin~ Guard of Loneliness

【Galaco】 The Beast. 【Vocaloid3 Cover】

【MEIKA Mikoto】 Cantarella 【カバー】

And some slow songs, that require whisper-like tuning <3

【24 VOCALOIDS CHORUS】 Hirari, Hirari ひらり、ひらり 【HD】

Kamui Gakupo A Doll's Voice

Submitted by @indigo-flightly-falls

Oh!!!

If we're doing vocaloid recs, I'm here to suggest A Crow's Trial!

Vane - A Crow's Trial (ft. Dex & Gumi Eng.)【Vocaloid Original】

it's one of my favorites and has some Vibes. It's a bit hard to understand the story but the last verse lives in my head rent free :D

Submitted anonymously

speaking about the vocaloid debate- they haven't submitted the playlist yet, but if they listened to English songs using Japanese/Chinese/other voicebanks then it'll inherently sound a little off. different languages and different voicebanks have different pronunciations needed for speech, and are thus recorded for the voicebank. use a Japanese voicebank for an English song and you won't get the right words pronounced right, or you'll get an accent, etc etc.

also some vocaloids only have one or two voicebanks and that's it. Big Al only has one (i might be wrong on that, but i know his is for V2 software), whereas Hatsune Miku has every single voicebank made over the years (V1-V5) and has versions made to sing in Japanese, Chinese, and English. she has so, so much more variety than other vocaloids and can be more fluent and clear compared to lesser known vocaloids.

and since we're sharing favorite vocaloid songs to convert the submitter, here's two of mine because i have too many favorites to share:

Carnivore - OrgansDotOrg

this one has Big Al as supporting vocals and it absolutely slaps, also OrgansDotOrg is my-all time favorite artist pleaseee go support them!!!

Seraphim on the Ring - Mitchie M

seriously, if you're looking for realistic vocaloid vocals then go listen to Mitchie-M!! Katio and Len just speaking in this one sound just like real people

Fools are attracted to anomaly - Utsu-P

vocaloid is not all pop and 'kawaii', vocaloid metal is some of my favorite to listen to

some other producers i also like:

tart

Ferry

Riproducer

PinocchioP

Kikuo

SweetSoSweet

KakyuuKei

KaitsukoP

Submitted by @ssilly--ssadass

utau is underrated. not a hot take just my segway into giving you utau covers [also covers cuz nobody gives anybody but teto good originals. pick up the slack people. also sidenote no teto. cuz i was priortizing other utaus only to realize i added too many songs and couldnt fit a teto one in. sorryn't]

Aishite (covered by Defoko)

GHOST RULE (covered by Defoko)

Bug (covered by Chanchopin V1 and Giga Lacan)

Darling (covered by I think Darling- I dont know this utau and am going off the description being like "lmao Darling utau covers Darling maretu heehoo")

Corpse Dance (covered by Defoko)

ECHO (covered by Defoko)

(note - ECHO contains flashing images)

Submitted anonymously

really funny hearing the take about how vocaloids/voice synths can't have singing styles when there's multiple voice synths explicitly modelled after particular styles. prima (opera), sachiko (enka), and maiko hakaine (screamo metal) are just the ones i can list off the top of my head. and even if a voice synth isn't modelled after a singing style, they can still be tuned that way!

anyway, for song recommendations! gothic and loneliness is breathtaking (it's also a nightmare in project diva lol)

Gothic and Loneliness [Kagamine Rin] - Narushima Takashi

Submitted anonymously

oh wait can we still send in vocaloid recommendations? if so…

• koisuru beam by kyaami/cillia : this song is so cute and rin’s tuning here is some of the best i’ve heard

•jitterbug by hachiya nanashi - goes hard as hell and i adore the mv the song has

•lost and found by sasakure.uk - i only recently heard of it (idk how i only just found it) and it’s mesmerising i love it

uhh i can’t think of anymore right now but uhh i hope that if u hear these u will like them

<3 <3 <3

#not a poll #hot take master post #vocaloid drama #vocaloid discourse #vocaloid #vocaloid recommendations

[jugaflugg]

The Shigaraki Problem*

A [long] essay on how Shigaraki could be saved.

I've had a lot of trouble reconciling various moral and practical issues in the desirable outcome for many of the "Villains" in My Hero Academia. Even the internal debate on labelling them Villains is a point of contention for me. I think being reflective on the issues that are represented in art can be good for personal development; to be challenged is to grow.

I mean, in this essay, to put real-world practicality aside and focus on the circumstances of the text. That is to say that the outcomes are not necessarily in-line with what I expect of real-world establishments, since the situations are markedly different. For example, I would personally advocate for prison abolition in an ideal world, but the constraints of the immediate situation in the story don't particularly enable this, in my opinion.

In any case, the issue can mostly be reduced to certain criteria requiring fulfilment, and the fact that they may seem contradictory to each other:

1. The Villains wish to be free and able to do as they please. 2. [Some] members of Hero society wish to "save" the Villains. 3. The criminal justice system wishes to incarcerate and/or punish the Villains. 4. Society, at large, must be safe for all to live in.

For now, let's use Mr. Compress as an example. At present, he is imprisoned for his criminal activity. He wishes to be free and, presumably, be with his friends (or found family, if you like). Any reform that is possible for him would rely on educating him on why his acts were harmful and empowering him to live a full life. Imprisonment, of course, impinges on that. However, for someone who has committed violent acts, how can one be sure that they will not commit violent acts again?

Therein lies the problem.

Shigaraki's case is similar: he wishes to be free and, at present, to kill practically everyone. Even if he could be convinced that this is not morally right, his dangerous history and capabilities make him a continued threat - at least, that is how incarceration of him would be justified in-universe.

So, how do we save Shigaraki? I have a few theories on what may happen next.

Theory One: It's All AFO's Fault

Shigaraki, at this stage in the story, must be aware of the control AFO had over his life. The resentment that he has expressed towards his former mentor, the man he even considered a father-figure at one point, has grown in recent chapters. With AFO's demise, there is little revenge Shigaraki can seek on him, except to destroy the legacy he intended to leave.

Many have suggested that AFO's role in Shigaraki's radicalisation took place earlier than we were led to believe: AFO gave Shigaraki his Decay quirk. This would, of course, suggest that he manipulated the young Tenko into believing that his quirk was intended for destruction, to meet his wish to destroy. Should this idea be shattered, perhaps Shigaraki may re-examine how he came to be as he is. Whilst I don't advocate self-destruction, any remorse Shigaraki may feel as a result of such a revelation might lead him down that path.

Theory Two: It's All AFO's Fault, Again

Much like the previous theory, this relies on the idea that AFO's involvement in Tenko's trauma runs deeper than depicted. In this theory, the idea of AFO giving him the Decay quirk is optional. However, what happened afterwards was all AFO.

Consider, for a moment, Camie's quirk, which allows her to create illusions. If AFO has any similar ability, or multiple similar abilities, he may have been able to convince Tenko of his abandonment whilst, in reality, he may have been able to seek help. The people who ignored Tenko on the street may have been illusions, may have been brainwashed. Radicalising a young child to that extent could be the product of meticulous planning, far more insidious and, most importantly, originating from AFO.

Self-destruction is not the only response to this, of course. Shigaraki may decide to give in, entirely. Perhaps he will give up his quirk and surrender to the current authorities. Or...

Theory Three: Merge

Perhaps all of the above is true. Perhaps none of it is. But here's the thing: Shigaraki doesn't necessarily want to die, and he doesn't necessarily want to spend the rest of his days in a jail cell. So here's what I'm thinking: he needs to abandon the corporeal realm.

That sounds dramatic, I know, but think about it like this: he doesn't want to live in that world, so what if he instead chose to live within the vestige realm?

Imagine AFO and OFA merge and Shigaraki ends up inside of OFA, forever, as a vestige. If the vestiges from OFA can end up inside of his copy of AFO, surely the opposite may be possible, too? I suppose it would mean he'd would be permanently inside of Izuku's mind, but perhaps one could think of it as paralleling Red Skull on Vormir in Avengers: Infinity War. If OFA ever moved beyond Izuku, Shigaraki would be the warden of the power.

Theories aside, the finale of this entire piece will be interesting to see. Any outcome that is both morally sound and beneficial to all characters is of interest to me, since I have struggled to put the pieces together in a way that satisfy the aforementioned criteria. I am left to wonder what it is that Izuku will do, or say, to end this. I can only hope that it will satisfy the curiosity of its many readers.

*I feel I must state, explicitly, that Shigaraki himself isn't the problem; I am looking for a solution to his situation. I suppose it's comparable to describing a complex equation as a "mathematical problem".

#my hero academia #deku #izuku midoriya #tenko shimura #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki #theory #analysis #all for one #one for all #how will this amazing tale end?

[gaysindistress]

Soldat - two

summary: After finally settling down in Louisiana with Sam, Bucky thinks he’s finally free. Unbeknownst to him, there’s an organization who’s mission is take out all enhanced individuals and he’s their next target

pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader (code name is Elv)

warnings: cursing, Bucky’s smartass, angst, guns, violence,

word count: 3.2k

Part 1 | master list

translations: they all come from google so if they’re wrong, please let me know!

Hvilen kommer når ondskapen er borte: Rest will come when evil is gone

dejevler: devils

Jeg snakker ikke med djevler. - I don’t speak with devils.

forbedret - enchanced

disclaimer: credits to original creator/poster of image/gif. found on google/Pinterest

“She really said that?” Selje mumbles under her breath as she heaves up the enclosed metal ladder. 

“Yes! She’s going to try and take over so we need to make our move before the third day,” Bregne whisper yells as she climbs behind her. Elv is the last one up the ladder, not having said anything just yet. 

“What about,” Selje stops short to shove the hatch to the roof open, “tonight?” 

“Tonight? It’s too soon.” 

The women climb out of the ladder and onto the roof across from the dock that the target is said to frequent. 

“Is it though? Fjell is out scouting the house. We’re here exactly when the target is said to be here. It’s the perfect time,” Elv states as she takes out a pair of binoculars to survey the dock, searching for a specific boat. 

Selje looks over at Bregne with expecting eyes, “She makes a good point. We have the equipment to do it now.”

Tucking a strand of white hair behind her ear, she takes a few moments to think about their suggestion as they all begin their assessment. Elv spots the boat quickly, pointing the others into its direction. A tall, dark man, one they recognize as Sam Wilson, is onboard working and talking to an unseen person. 

“Wilson is here. The target should be here ,” she points out as she keeps searching for the flash of metal. 

“No, we can't do it now. We’re too exposed.” 

“I have eyes,” Elv says, her teammates immediately finding the target as well, “Now would be the best time. It would be a surprise and no one knows we’re here.” 

“We’re too exposed. No.” 

Elv rolls her eyes as she kneels down to pull out the file Kommandør Eik gave them. She flips it open to the picture of the target to compare to the man they spotted. She holds it up for the others, “Not an exact match but I think it’s him.” 

Selje’s thin tanned fingers pluck the photo away to examine it better. The wind whips the curled end of her braid down her back as she and Bregne debate if it is in fact a match. Reaching an agreement she hands the photo back and pulls the pistol from her side. 

“All I’m saying is that I could take the shot now.” 

“Elv will take the shot.” 

The mentioned woman turns slightly in her knee, rocks crunching as she does so, “We’re too far. We need to get closer and if you are thinking about doing it now, we need to have the target secluded. I saw children, it’s too risky.” 

“Damn it, fine. We get closer but if anyone gets an uneasy feeling, it’s off. We get out, understood?” 

Elv and Selje nod as they put their packs on again and head to the hatch. 

As they reach the bottom of the ladder, Bregne offers a few words of wisdom, “we split up but don’t lose sight of each other. Put in your ear pieces.” 

Doing as they’re told, the trio retrieve their ear pieces and place them. Bregne takes a sharp breath and gives a curt nod to the women before setting out. Selje takes Elv’s hand and gives it a tight squeeze as she heads off in a different direction. The last woman closes her eyes as the warm Louisiana sun hits her face. The sun is never this warm or inviting at the Voktere compound. Granted it’s in a cold country but there’s something different to this sun. She wishes that she could bask in the light for ages but Selje’s voice in her ear breaks her trance. 

“Target is on the move. Leaving the boat with Wilson.” 

Opening her eyes, she finds the two men a few yards away from her laughing together as they step off the boat. She can hear the deep resonating sound of his laugh of the noise of the dock. It stirs something in her but she ignores it as she steps back into the shadows of the warehouse. 

“Bregne, block off their path to the right. Selje, herd them back to the warehouse. It’s our best option,” Elv orders the women as she drops her pack and checks herself for weapons; two pistols with silencers at her side, knives in her boots and waistband, and brass knuckles in her pocket. 

They confirm her orders, giving her updates as the two men get closer and closer to her. 

“Incoming. Five seconds until they’re passing you.” 

She draws one gun and tucks against the wall as she hears the men’s voices growing louder and louder. 

“I don’t know man, I think the kids are starting to like me better.” 

“No no that’s not fair! You’re a walking jungle gym with your arm!” 

“Selje push.” 

A sudden collision disrupts the conversation as the two men stumble into the warehouse with Selje pretending to apologize for falling into them. 

“Hey it’s okay,” the target flashes a stunning smile at her. 

Sam smiles as well, asking if she is okay. Selje shoots a look over their shoulders to Elv as she assures them she’s fine. Elv levels her gun at him as she steps out of the shadows and Bregne quickly whips into the door and shuts it. 

The men share a confused look seeing the two before them. 

“Uh Buck do you know these women?” 

“No, you?”

“Nope.” 

“Hvilen kommer når ondskapen er borte,” Elv states as she pulls the trigger. In a flash of metal and sunlight, Bucky stops the bullet from hitting Sam and rips the gun from her hand. The other two launch themselves at Sam who is quick to defend himself. 

Elv reaches to grab her second gun however Bucky grabs her arm, twisting it to a painful angle and drops her to her knees. She yanks the blades in her waistband out and slashes his tigh. He releases an angry yell and drops her arm, allowing her to scramble to her feet and successfully grab her gun. When he looks back up, it’s leveled with his face even though Elv is heaving from the frustration of being bested so quickly. Sam, on the other hand, has managed to knock Bregne to the ground and is attempting to do the same to Selje. 

“Who are you?” His steel blue eyes are harsh as they stare into her, the hatred she feels for him matched in his eyes. 

“You are a djevler, an abomination,” she spits at him. 

“Bucky I need your help here,” Sam yells out as he lands a particularly hard blow to Selje, sending her to the ground. Her soft cry causes a moment's distraction in Elv and Bucky takes the opportunity to break off the silencer, rendering the weapon useless.

“I’m a little busy here,” he grunts as he shoves her back. Stumbling back, she removes the other knives and runs at him. He kicks her squarely in the chest, sending her flying back again. Satisfied that she’s down for at least a few seconds, he turns and yanks Selje back from Sam. His metal arm whirls as he throws her to the ground, hand over her throat as he kneels on her chest to keep her pinned. 

“Who are you?” he asks again as she struggles under him, fingers clawing and legs kicking. 

“Djevel,” she hisses as he presses harder. 

“I don’t know what that means. Just tell me who you are?” 

Bregne tries to tackle him off of Selje but Sam has her on the ground in the same position. 

“Fjell,” she gasps out to Elv who is trying to recover her breathing a few hundred feet away, “Call Fjell.” 

Coughing, she clicks on the ear piece to send a signal out to the secondary team. 

“Hold up, who the hell are you guys?” Bucky  yells out again, hoping someone will tell him what’s going on. 

His only response is Selje spitting at him which earns her a punch hard enough to knock her out. Her struggling stills and he gets off of her to move into Elv as she crawls backwards to get away. 

As he stalks towards her, she can see Sam knock out Bregne and walk towards her as well. Her weapons are scattered across the room, none within reach which is somber thought for the Voktere woman as the men corner her. 

Bucky leans down to grab her by the foot and yanks her towards him. 

“I’m going to ask only one time; who are you and who is Fjell?” 

“More are coming,” she mutters, feeling the metal hand tighten its grip on her ankle and nearly crushes it. 

“How many?” 

“Five.” 

“Get up,” he orders as he lets go of her ankle and stands. 

When she doesn’t move, he roughly grabs her arm and hauls her up. She braces herself for a hit when he moves his hand up to her face but it never comes and instead feels him pull her earpiece out to crush it. 

“You’re taking her?” Sam questions as they walk out of the warehouse. 

“Yeah I would like to know why people are trying to kill us.” 

Sam looks over Elv and takes in her dirty state, clothes covered in dirt and braid coming undone. He notices the tattoo that is peaking out from under her sleeve and makes a note to ask about that when they’re in a safer place. 

Until then the men focus on getting the hell out before the other five show up. 

Elv isn't quite sure where she is. It doesn’t look like any of the properties in the file and she was blindfolded for the drive. What she does know is that she’s tied to a chair with the two men who kidnapped her standing in front of her, talking to each other. 

“They kept saying Djevel, do you know what that means?” Sam asks Bucky. 

“No but I’m guessing it’s not a good thing,” Bucky sees her shift in her chair out of the corner of his eye and turns to face her, “What does Djevel mean?” 

“Devil,” she spits out again as she struggles against her restraints. 

“What language?” 

She stops for a second, “Jeg snakker ikke med djevler.” 

I don’t speak with devils. 

“That's helpful,” Sam scoffs from beside Bucky. 

“You ask her.” 

“Me?” 

“No, I was talking to the other person here. Of course I’m talking to you. Ask her.” 

Sam side eyes Bucky for his comment, “What language?” 

Her eyes shift between the two men, “Untie me and I’ll let you.” 

“You’re funny. No, I'm not doing that. Tell me what language you’re speaking and what you said when you attacked us.” 

“Untie me and I’ll tell you,” she repeats, starting hard and only at Sam. 

“Answer my questions first and I’ll think about it.” 

She leans back into her chair, attempting to appear unbothered and comfortable. The Vokete are to never speak to their targets or reveal any information about themselves and she’s already broken the speaking rule so she’s resorted to the silent treatment until she can figure out a better plan. Her earpiece is gone so there's no way for her team of Fjell’s to track her. The only weapons she has now are the ones tucked into her boots but with her arms tied to the chair, she can’t exactly reach them. The strange stir from earlier makes an appearance again as she looks over Bucky. She’s given the chance to take in every detail she can without it causing a distraction, easily passed off as her sizing him up. She notices the way he holds himself, strong and soldier-like, and how he’s always on alert. His body is tense and ready to act any movement unlike how he was on the dock earlier. Before his laugh took over his body, relaxing any stress he might have felt. He was at ease and happy even before but now his eyes are dark, blue irises storming with the anger and frustration he feels towards her. Now she can see the stubble that had grown during his freedom and how he wears a cropped haircut, not long enough to be the Winter Soldier again but Bucky through and through. Having seen a picture of him from every possible decade, he is considerably more handsome now, freedom and happiness doing wonders for him. A piece of her deep down hurts to know that she caused another human such strife and anguish but the Voktere in her drowns that thought as quickly as it arose. 

“Who is Fjell?” Sam asks, breaking her staring trance. 

“No answers until I’m free.” 

“We’re not going to get anywhere with her. Let’s go,” Bucky says, hand on Sam’s bicep to guide him out of the room. Her eyes widen at the suggestion and she struggles again at the idea that they’re going to just leave her there. They see her struggling but don’t mention it as they start out of the room. They make it out of the door and shut it before she lets out a defeated sigh. 

Sam pops his head back in the door, “ready to talk?” 

“Only to you. I won’t speak to the dejevel.” 

Nodding he steps back and Bucky leans against the doorframe, arms crossed over his t-shirt clad chest. The leather of his jacket stretches over his arms, accentuating the muscles that lay below. 

“Who is Fjell?” 

“She’s the captain of the second team, five of them as I said earlier.” 

“Who are you?” 

“Me or us?” 

“What? Who are you and who were the girls before?” 

“I can’t tell you my name or theirs.” 

“Why not?” He rolls his eyes as he crosses his arms to match Bucky’s stance. 

“We’re not allowed to.” 

“Okay then what organization are you a part of?” 

“I can’t tell you that either.” 

“Then what can you tell me?” 

She shakes her head to throw the hair that’s come loose from her braid, “We were sent on a mission to terminate the Winter Soldier. The second team will have found the others by now so if you want to survive, I suggest you let me go and run.” 

“Who sent you?” Bucky’s impatience got the best of him as he spoke up from behind Sam. 

“Jeg snakker ikke med djevler,” she repeats. 

I will not speak with devils.

“Who sent you?” Sam is the one to pose the question. 

“I don’t know. It was anonymous.” 

“So you’re telling us that you’re a part of some organization that was hired to kill the Winter Soldier but you don’t know who it was, can’t say anything about your organization, and you all speak some uncommon language. Let me know if I missed anything.”

“Like I said, the other team will be on their way here so if you,” she narrows her eyes at Sam, “want to survive, you need to leave. There is no hope for the dejevel.”

Sam rotates ever so slightly to look at the other man, “What if I told you he isn’t the winter soldier anymore?”

Wrinkling her nose at the mention of the Winter Soldier, she considers the idea for a moment, “It wouldn’t matter. Our intel says he is forbedret so the directive is still the same; termination.”

“What does that mean,” Sam takes a second to try and recreate the word she just said, stumbling over it as he does so, “forbedret?”

“Enhanced.”

“What does your intel say about me?” Bucky’s voice is smaller than before, almost as if it’s unsteady and if he spoke any louder, it would break. 

“It contains many things; your service with the 107th Infantry Regiment, Hydra, the Winter Soldier. The only important thing that it says is that you are forbedret and djevler are not safe for this world,” she utters with loathing and malice from her position in the chair, “Mr. Wilson I suggest you leave. Time is not on your side and while our mission does not allow for the killing of humans, we will if they get in the way.”

The words slice deep into Bucky, sending him mentally to the ground at the idea that there are people who want him dead because of the serum that he didn’t even want. All of his years working to reverse the damage that he felt he caused during his time as the Winter Soldier means nothing to this woman or the people she works for. No matter how hard he works to relieve himself of that burden, there will be people sent after him. No matter how free he thinks he is, he will never truly be free. 

Sam is saying his name over and over again and he has to shake his head to come back to reality, “What’s the plan? I don’t think we should leave her but we can’t take her.”

Pushing off of the frame, his boots make loud stomps as he strides towards the woman. He drops his hands on top of her bound wrists to lean towards her, forcing her to be flush with the chair. There is no escaping his dispassionate gaze as he’s merely inches from her now. 

“I broke your tracker back in the warehouse,” he tells her, “They would’ve been here by now if they were coming.”

The physical disgust is written across her face as he invades her space, “I have more than one tracker.”

“No you don’t. If you think you know me so well, you’d know I can tell when you’re lying. I can hear your heartbeat and your breathing pattern.”

She doesn’t say a word, eyes fleeting darting down to his plump lips and then back up to his eyes. The action isn’t lost on him, creating a smirk as he maintains the close distance between them. 

“Where are your other weapons?”

“My boots.”

He kneels down in front of her, taking a knife out of her boot to slice the ropes around her ankles and removing the remaining knives. Tossing them aside, he goes to cut the ropes around her wrist, pausing before he does it to say, “When I cut you loose, I better not feel a knife against my throat.”

Mumbling ‘no promises’ under her breath, she gingerly brings her hands up to her chest after he cuts the ropes but doesn't move from his position on the ground in front of her. She rubs the raw skin of her wrist, slightly pushing the fabric of her sleeve up to reveal the tattoo Sam had spotted earlier. The bottom of the famed two wolves peaks from under her sleeve and his eyes zero on it. The metal hand grips her wrist and tugs it forward as the flesh hand pulls up her sleeve to show the full tattoo: the heads of two wolves facing away from each other with the sun and moon in their mouths. 

“You’re Voktere,” he states as he leers at the tattoo. 

Elv tries to yank her arm from his grip but the metal hand is far stronger than she is. 

“How do you know who we are?”

“You’re not the first team sent after me,” he says as he drops her arm and stands, “but you will be the last. Up. We’re going to your compound.”

#bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #soldat bucky barnes #marvel imagine #marvel #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fic

[enderwalking]

Third Life, but scored like MCC

So I saw a post forever ago assigning point values to how players placed in the Life Series in an attempt to determine who is the "best" player, and I was like, okay, but what if we more solidly quantified this? Gave points for kills, gave weight to how long players keep their lives, etc etc. And well, because I love nothing more than making useless spreadsheets, I decided to do this.

Thus, here are the Official (as determined by literally only me) rankings for Third Life.

I based the points loosely on how Survival Games are scored in MCC. Details below the cut.

Players are awarded points each time someone dies and they survive: 5 points if they survive on green, 4 for yellow, and 3 for red. Staying green for longer thus awards more points than staying red for the same amount of time. In cases where players did not participate in a session (i.e. BDubs in session 6, BigB and Joel in session 7), they don't get the survival points for deaths that occurred during that session, since they technically weren't around to outlive people during that time.

Each kill is also awarded 30 points. For my purposes, unintentional deaths that could be directly attributed to a player (i.e. Grian's creeper prank, as well as deaths to Tango's minigame) still counted towards that player's kill points.

Lastly, you get bonus points based on your final placement: survival bonuses from 1st to 14th go 200 points, 180, 165, 150, 135 120, 105, 95, 85, 75, 65, 55, 45, and 35. Placing first obviously gives you the greatest edge, and placing in the top 50% also gives you a greater bonus.

Some notes:

Scar's placement was the most clearly impacted by the weighted survival points; before factoring in kills and the final placement bonus, he would have come in 8th.

BigB missed out on a potential 45 points if he had survived through session 7, which would have let him pull ahead of Tango. While BDubs only missed out on a potential 6 points from session 6, it also would have been enough to give him the edge over Impulse. Joel did miss out on a potential 27 points from session 7 as well, but it would not have affected his placement.

I debated the most on how much to value kills; I didn't want to award them too many points, since I wanted survival to be given the most weight, but I felt they should definitely count for something. I settled on 30 because anything below that would put Scar above Martyn. While Mr. Goodtimes is my special little guy, Martyn did stay green much longer and got one more kill than Scar did, and I wanted the score balancing to reflect that.

Will I do this for the other seasons? Well, yeah, probably. That said, while I can probably apply the same point system to Double Life with some minor tweaks, I would probably have to come up with an entirely different method for scoring Last Life, considering the /givelife mechanic and the different number of starting lives. If anyone has any questions or suggestions please feel free to hit up my inbox about it!

And here's a link to the actual spreadsheet if anyone cares to see it.

#lei talks hermitraffic #third life #life series #trafficblr #EVERYONE LOOK AT MY SPREADSHEET!!! #grian #inthelittlewood #goodtimeswithscar

[viola-ophelia]

Announcement: TURNsgiving Week 2022! 🍁🦃🍂

Hey TURN fandom! I, Cat aka @viola-ophelia​, am running a TURN Week in the last week of November, starting on Thanksgiving day (Thursday, November 24th)! This will hopefully be a fun chance for you to get some creative inspiration and to share what you create - fics, art, meta, graphics, anything! - with the fandom! :) 

Dates: Thursday, November 24th to Wednesday, November 30th, 2022 

How it works: There will be a fun, thought-provoking theme for each day of TURNsgiving! (I will post individually about each theme very soon in more detail, and again a week beforehand as a reminder about the deadline!) The themes can be interpreted any way you want, and all types of creative output are welcomed. :) When you post what you’ve created to Tumblr, please use the tag #turnsgiving2022 so I (and others) can see it and share it! 

Themes: 

Day 1 (Thursday, November 24) - TURNsgiving Day! Get inspired by the season and create something autumn or holiday-themed... bonus points if it’s as chaotic as the infamous Townsend family Thanksgiving! 

Day 2 (Friday, November 25) - Favorites! Share something about your favorite character, ship, episode, season, and/or theme. 

Day 3 (Saturday, November 26) - Loyalists vs Patriots! Share your thoughts and/or create something about the age-old debate! 

Day 4 (Sunday, November 27) - “What If?” Share something about a character, ship, or part of history that you wish had been in TURN, but wasn’t! Or get inspired by how history might have played out differently if something (big or small) was changed in the TURN canon. 

Day 5 (Monday, November 28) - Rewrite History! Share your favorite AU, and/or if you have a TURN or American Revolution OC, share them with us! 

Day 6 (Tuesday, November 29) - Hot Takes! Let’s have a (friendly) debate! Is there something that you wish TURN had showed differently? What would you have changed about the show if you were a writer? Are there any popular opinions within the fandom (or among historians) that you disagree with?

Day 7 (Wednesday, November 30) - Memes! This fandom needs more crack content - I want to see your best TURN memes!! 

^ This is me convincing everyone to rally for this and put out some great content. Just kidding lol, it’s totally optional, but I do hope for at least a bit of participation! I’m definitely planning on doing at least a couple of the days myself. 

Anyway... mark your calendars for the week of the 24th, and if you have any questions, suggestions, concerns etc., feel free to @ me or DM me at viola-ophelia! And remember, the hashtag is #turnsgiving2022! 

#turnsgiving2022 #turn #turn: washington's spies #turn washington's spies #amc turn #turn amc #american revolution #history #hamilton #amrev #culper ring #ahh guys i'm excited!!

[argentaur]

Prompt: Apparate

“Speak of the devil and he shall appear.”

If only things worked that way, if only reality bent to wishes. Then Remus wouldn’t be here now lying in the dirt in some forest.

He remembered sixth year and apparition lessons, eager students that couldn’t wait to gain their licenses and have free rein over their movements. Sirius, as per usual, had been more interested in the technicalities of the magic.

“Well, how else would it work! We are able to apparate into non-magical locations, so the destination cannot depend on magic. There is no magical absolute coordinate system for magical transportation!” Sirius was getting bored, Remus thought, so he was getting argumentative. Maybe it had something to do with the way James was indulging him and Peter was nodding along, listening to his words. Sirius wasn’t often wrong when it came to deconstructing magical theory, and understanding the little parts had often proven useful in their ‘extracurriculars’.

From further away he could see Lily turning to their group, face pulled into a frown. Whether she was frowning at Sirius’ raised voice or at his claim, he couldn’t tell.

Remus turned again on the spot and felt a small pushing sensation. He promptly stumbled over his feet feeling like a gust had knocked him over. That didn’t feel quite right. This wasn’t how he usually experienced side-along with his father and the way he was suddenly in Sirius’ space wasn’t what he had intended.

“Whoa,” Sirius exhaled while wrapping his arm around Remus’ waist to steady him. They blinked at each other a few times before turning away bashfully. Remus could acknowledge that they were at a point in their relationship where things like this shouldn’t rattle him, and yet he felt a little embarrassed with how he had fallen into Sirius’ arms.

“Having trouble here, Moony?” Sirius teased but by the way he hadn’t let go yet told him he wasn’t too bothered. Remus grunted in reply before disentangling himself and frowning in thought. “That wasn’t apparition.”

“But you were over there, and then suddenly over here.”

“No… I mean, that didn’t feel like,” Remus trailed off, thinking of the right words to explain, “it was different. Usually, it feels more like being strangled but that was like getting hit with a Bludger over the head.”

Immediately, he saw his friends’ eyes widen in shock and James opened his mouth to say something but there was only a high-pitched, “huh?” Sirius let out a short laugh, saying, “God, Moony, why do you always have to put things so morbidly?” He only raised an eyebrow in return.

He really didn’t like the feeling of apparition. It had become more tolerable with practice, but there was something about it that didn’t sit right with his body, the same way a lasting itch made him incredibly irritable and the same way he didn’t quite enjoy roller coasters.

“No, but if it doesn’t feel right to you,” Sirius let the sentence trail off as though waiting for him to fill in the rest. There was clearly a suggestion in the words but Remus couldn’t figure it out.

“Why don’t I side-along you and you get a better feel for apparition!”

Clearly, Sirius was over his little debate and was now focusing on Remus. He seemed very excited. Still, “I don’t think you’re supposed to side-along others until you have your license,” he reasoned, although part of him did feel tempted to go along with this madness.

Sirius was giving him puppy eyes, but they softened into something more steady and reassuring. Truthfully, they all knew he’d enjoyed some more advanced teachings arranged by his parents before he had left, and seeing as he was one of the earlier birthdays in their year his parents had hoped to get him an early exam date. Sirius hadn’t seen a reason to turn down the opportunity.

“Really, I’ve got the apparition down but maybe I need some practice taking others with me,” he wheedled him, and Remus did in fact trust him, not only because his heart was soft but because Sirius had always taken quickly to new instructions, and he did apparate flawlessly into the hoops before he’d gotten distracted with boredom and started his little rant on intent and destination. Remus rolled his eyes like it was a hardship to concede, but it really wasn’t.

“Well,” he held out his hand, “take me along.”

Sirius broke into a bright smile, took his hand and pulled him closer even though proximity wasn’t a necessity. Remus wasn’t about to complain. The sensation of side-along apparition didn’t magically become pleasant in the company of Sirius, but he felt better. He was content to hold Sirius’ hand and his mouth was twitching to curve into a smile, when from across the room a stern voice bellowed,

“Mister Black!”

Sirius broke into laughter and tugged on the hand still held in his own as though readying them to run off together, but he simply spun them in place and they popped again a few spaces over. He repeated this a few times, and from looking closely at his face Remus could tell Sirius was anything but flippant, his brows were furrowed in concentration and Remus allowed himself a secret smile at Sirius’ everything. They had reappeared in front of James and Peter and Sirius let him go with a lingering touch while turning to their fuming teacher with a placating smile.

Of course, they had gained their apparition licenses by now, and still, Remus sometimes missed being taken along by Sirius. It had become a habit for a while for Sirius to apparate them home when Remus was too weak from the moon.

It was too bad that his mission with the packs had sent him far away and he hadn’t spoken with his friends in a while. His latest attempt at talks hadn’t gone well at all and he had needed to flee in a hurry because the pack had turned hostile, and then the full moon had caught up to him out in the middle of nowhere with no company when he had expected to spend it with said pack.

Even if I tried to apparate to Sirius’ place right now, I might just get a wand in my face, Remus thought querulously. He wasn’t up for apparition anyway, but it hurt him that he had missed Sirius’ birthday and now he had spent the full moon alone. He was feeling desolate.

I wish Sirius was here.

Remus wasn’t the only one who despised apparition, for as enthusiastic he had been in their lessons, Sirius had never apparated when he hadn’t needed it. Sirius appreciated his freedom and autonomy and he’d rather walk on foot somewhere or take to the sky with a broom, and more recently his enchanted motorbike.

The thought brought a grin to his face, yes, Sirius really preferred doing things his way, and what a marvel it was, his magic, the bike, he had a way of accomplishing things.

Still, if Sirius would just apparate instead of taking the scenic route, maybe then he wouldn’t be perpetually late.

CRACK.

Ah, speak of the devil.

@wolfstarmicrofic (1200 words)

#wolfstar #wolfstar microfic #should i mention sirius turned 22?

[tofueggnoodles]

Saiyuki Reload Blast Drama CD 1 – Track 4: Free Talk

Summary: The voice actors talk about sports – ones they’re currently doing and those they’d like to try. Only, some of their definitions of sports are pretty open to debate 😛.

Note: As @soto-translates pointed out, free talks aren't scripted, so the voice actors often interrupt each other, talk over one another, and mumble. Some lines are just beyond my listening capabilities and my, to borrow a nifty term from @ratty000, dollar-store Japanese. I’m pretty sure I did not get everything right, so any correction or suggestion will be much appreciated.

--------

Hoshi: We’ve just finished recording the first volume of Saiyuki Reload Blast Drama CD. Thank you for your hard work.

Hirata and the others: Thank you for your hard work.

Hoshi: Now that we’ve been able to wrap up the recording in this nostalgic mood, it’s now time for the cast talk. But first, this is Hoshi Souichirou, who plays Saiyuki’s Son Goku. Pappi! Thank you for listening to us.

Hirata (mumbling): What’s he getting hyped up about?

Hoshi: Next, over to you, Seki-san.

Seki: This is Seki Toshihiko, who plays Genjo Sanzo. Pappi!

Hoshi: All right, next, Hirata-san, please.

Hirata: What are you laughing about? Yes, yes, this is Hirata Hiroaki, who plays Gojyo. Pappi!

Hoshi: Pappi! Next, Ishida-san, please.

Ishida: Yes. Well, this is Ishida Akira, who plays Pappi.

Hoshi: The one who plays Pappi, is it? Or should it be Papkai? Papkai?

Ishida: Pappi. It’s Pappi. Next–

Hoshi: All right. Thank you, Ishida-san. Let’s get on to the Saiyuki specialty – the cast talk. It’s been quite a while since we’re gathered together like this, isn’t it?

Ishida: Seems so....

Hoshi: We just recorded the type of interesting CD Dramas that Hira-san likes, didn’t we? How did you find them, Hira-san?

Hirata: They sure were interesting.

Hoshi: Were they? You sounded tired though.

Hirata: Say, it’s been a long time since we’ve last convened at the conclusion of a recording.

Hoshi: Isn’t it? Feels like you’d like to do more of it, doesn’t it?

Hirata: Yeah, the way I feel about the Urasai sections.

Hoshi: You were an active member in those.

Hirata: But, I’d like to attempt more of those. You know, until the lines start ring in my ears. Lines like, “stop messing around” or “I’m tired”.... But, he was in serious trouble, wasn’t he? The pappi guy.

Hoshi: Trouble? Pappi?

Hirata: Not you.

Ishida: Eh? Ah, you mean the Pappi I played.

Hoshi: Ah, yes, the Pappi Ishida played. This time–

Hirata: He was in serious trouble.

Hoshi: Yes, he was. After the long speech he gave, it turned out into an awful ending for him.

Hirata: An awful one. You hate it, don’t you?

Ishida: Yes, I hate it.

Hoshi: You hate it?

Hirata: You must be seething.

Seki: But, this is Pappi-san’s fate.

Ishida: Indeed, it is.

Hoshi: Pappi’s drowning his sorrows....

Ishida: And he was the one who explained their situation in the first place. [In track 1: At the gym, Hakkai explained why the Ikkou, especially Sanzo and Gojyo, needed to use the gym but turned out to be the least fit of them all according to an age meter.] I think everyone’s who’s listened to the CD Drama could imagine his frustration. That’s Hakkai all right. I mean, Papkai.

Hoshi: All right. Moving on, since this talk is also supposed to revolved around a particular theme.

Hirata: There’s a theme?

Hoshi: Yes. We’re just done with the part about our thoughts on the recording. So, let’s move on to the theme. Which is related to the audio drama we’ve recorded [Track 1: At the gym]: sports you’ve recently done and sports you’d like to try – do you have any of those? Let’s take turns to talk about it. Seki-san, would you have something to say about this topic?

Seki: Me? Quite recently, I did some ‘life bowling.’ I pushed myself and perform some hiphop music. It’s not something one typically does at the age of fifty-five, I think.

Hirata: Would you perform a bit for the listeners? (made some hiphop sounds) That’s awesome, Sanzo-sama!

Seki: This is the limit.

Hirata: It’s really a big deal.

Hoshi: You should really show us.

Ishida: It’s your real nature coming out.

Seki: Well, let’s put that aside and talk about the sports I’d like to try. There’s this sport I want to try the most – have you guys seen this program called Honyaguchi Hiroishi on TV? The guy in it ran, jumped over a railroad crossing and walked on the wall.

Hirata: Ah, the Velcro Guy.

Seki: I want to do that sport.

Hirata: It looks fun.

Seki: When I looked it up, I found out it’s called “wall-crashing.”

Hirata: It even has a proper name.

Seki: I thought, that was not really sport, but it turned out that it’s indeed listed as a type of sport.

Hirata: Is there something like an international competition for it?

Seki: Yes, but there’s also a rental service available for it.

Hirata and Hoshi: Rental service?

Ishida: Isn’t that something that’s impossible outside of that TV program?

Seki: It seems possible to do it outside of the program, as evidenced by the existence of the rental service.

Hoshi: So it’s doable.

Seki: Yes. The cost for a day’s rent of the equipment is seventy-five thousand and six-hundred yen.

Hirata: I have a question!

Seki: Yes, please go ahead.

Hirata: For our wrap party, let’s–

Hoshi: It might be doable!

Seki: Sounds fun!

Ishida: What are you trying to do?

Hirata: Hey, you at the back–

Hoshi: It sounds fun though.

Seki: Hold on for a second, Hira-chan. It’s written here, though – the rental costs seventy-five thousand and six-hundred yen for a day for one person and covers one course.

Hirata (referring to the staff member he called out to): Ah, they got away.

Hoshi: Oh boy, that’s all for this amount of money? This is–

Seki: It’s a sport that’s gained popularity in a short time. There’s a note about an electric fan being included in the price as well.

Ishida: What is it for?

Seki: I have no idea, though.

Ishida: For cooling down after sweating?

Hoshi: Maybe they’re being generous?

Hirata: To spur you onward, maybe?

Seki: Maybe it’s like what Ishida-san said – you’ll run easier with the wind [from the fan] blowing on you.

Hirata: With lots of newspapers flying in your wake....

Seki: Ah, like what Hira-chan said, blasting against the frontier.

Hirata: It’s decided then. We’ll do it [wall-crashing] for the wrap party.

Ishida: What sort of a wrap party is that supposed to be?

(They talk over each other, mostly repeating the same thing.)

Hoshi: All right.

Ishida: Everyone’s fired up.

Hoshi: I’m really curious about this sport. At any rate, that’s the sport Seki-san wants to try. All right, moving on. Hirata-san, please.

Hirata: Me? What would you like me to do?

Hoshi: Tell us about a sport you’ve been doing recently or a sport you’re interested in trying.

Hirata: A sport I’ve been doing recently, right? I bet it’s something you guys aren’t up to.

Hoshi and Ishida: What is it?

Hirata: Tossing and turning in bed.

Hoshi: Eh?! Is that sport?

Hirata: I think it is!

Hoshi: Tossing and turning is sport?

Ishida: I think it’s the first time I’ve heard tossing and turning being described as a sport. I guess it could be considered a sport for someone leading a bedridden life. Are you all right?

Hirata (emits a few mock coughs): It’s tough, you know.

Ishida: Ah, is it?

Hoshi: Is tossing and turning tough?

Hirata: Yes, it is. The other morning, while I was tossing and turning, I got this cramp in my leg.

Hoshi: Ah, that’s happened to me too.

Hirata: The pain woke me up immediately.

Hoshi: I see.

Hirata: It started with just a little spasm but it went cramping on for a while after that. I opened my eyes and said to myself, “Oh shit, I did it this time.” ** I didn’t think I would get such a cramp.

Ishida: Did you make it to the toilet in time?

Hirata: I barely made it somehow.

Seki: They say tossing and turning really makes a big difference to the quality of sleep. If you’re not able to toss and turn properly, you won’t get get the best out of your sleep.

Hirata: Understood. I’ll aim for the black belt.

Ishida: In tossing and turning?

Seki: Who will award such a thing?

Hirata: I’ll aim for rank eight.

Seki: It’s an amazing “sleeping technique,” isn’t it? [A pun: newaza (寝技) is made of the kanji for sleep and technique, but the term itself means pinning technique in wrestling or martial arts.]

Hirata: Tossing and turning in your sleep, rank eight!

Hoshi: Does that mean the sport you’d like to try is also tossing and turning in your sleep?

Hirata: I guess it can still count as that, even though I’ve already tried it. And there’s also the sport Seki-san was talking about.

Hoshi: That one, right? Fine, understood.

Hirata: For the wrap party. Yes, when is it? When is the wrap party?

Hoshi: Hira-san is the most fired up about this, isn’t he?

Hirata: Let’s do it, let’s do it. I’ll be the one in red, wearing the red, uh–

Hoshi: What will you be wearing that’s red?

Ishida: You want to dash about in a red boiler suit.

Hirata: Yeah, I want to appear in that.

Hoshi: You’re really filled with motivation.

Hirata: The boiler suit comes with Velcro fasteners, doesn’t it?

Seki (chuckling): Does it?

Hoshi: That’s about it from Hira-san. Well, how about you, Ishida-san?

Ishida: You guys seem to be into one or other type of sports, don’t you? I don’t exercise at all, you know.

Hoshi: Indeed you don’t, as far as we know.

Ishida: Since I’ve not been doing any sort of sports regularly at all up to now, I’ve been thinking I should do them. For instance, I should try running. Or going to the gym, like the scenario in the CD Drama.

Hirata: Indeed.

Seki: Even if it’s not the balance ball.

Hirata: If the four of us were to measure our bodies’ actual ages in real life, perhaps Akira would turn out to be the–

Ishida: Ah, but I’d be fine with forty-six. Yes, please let me be the age my character is supposed to be. [Forty-six is Hakkai’s biological age according to the age meter in track 1: At the gym. In 2017, Ishida Akira (born November 2, 1967) would be fifty.]

Hirata: No, no, no.

Hoshi: In reality–

Hirata: We’re talking about real-life measurements.

(Ishida laughs.)

Seki: Ah, have you heard? The sound director Takakuwa got his biological age measured and it turned out to be really young.

Hoshi: I saw it.

Ishida and Hirata: What was it?

Hoshi: Believe it or not, it was twenty-eight years.

Seki: Amazing. [According to myanimelist.net, Takakuwa Hajime was also born in 1967.]

Hirata: Is it his body age? Or skin age?

Ishida: How much on earth did he pay to get such a young age?

Hoshi: It was his body age.

Seki: If that’s really the case, it’s amazing.

Hoshi: I did take a good look at the printout of his result.

Seki: But Akira-kun, you own a bicycle, don’t you? With a bicycle, you could try doing stuff like–

Ishida: Something like trick riding?

Hoshi: Seki-san, it’s dangerous to suggest things like that to him.

Seki: Is it? But, it should be fine in places like public parks.

Ishida: It’s probably not allowed to ride a bicycle in public parks.

Hoshi: It’s dangerous with children around.

Seki: It’s not allowed, is it?

Ishida: But, a long time ago, when I was appearing in a play, I got my hands on a balance ball on the off-chance that we might be using it on stage.

Seki: So you own a balance ball!

Ishida: Indeed, I should’ve used it since it’s in my possession, but it’s already covered in dust.

Hoshi: Ah!

Seki: Ha.

Ishida: The only thing I do with it is to keep it inflated, with the optimistic idea that I’d be using it one day.

Hoshi: I see. You’re just keeping it in place.

Seki: Talking about keeping it inflated, it’s important to maintain the symmetry.

Ishida: Well, isn’t it basically just a balloon?

Seki: Hira-chan, should we have him bring it to the wrap party?

Hirata: A balloon?

Hoshi: That too?

Hirata: You could come as a cross-dresser, run and jump up and down onto the balance ball–

Ishida: So you mean I should use the balance ball like a trampoline.

Hoshi: It could be fun.

Ishida: I guess one could really use it that way.

Hoshi: But normally, couldn’t you sit on it?

Ishida: Indeed I could.

Seki: I saw on TV that it’s possible to train your muscles just by sitting on a balance ball.

Hoshi: It is, isn’t it?

Ishida: It’d be great if one could. **

Seki: What color is it? Is it red?

Ishida: It’s silver.

Hirata: If it were green, I might feel like using it.

Ishida: Ah, what a pity I didn’t get the green one.

Hoshi: What a pity.

Seki: Let’s paint it green.

Hirata: We can use it for a watermelon splitting game then.

Ishida: I’m sure everyone will be okay with that at the wrap party.... having the ball smashed to pieces at their feet.

Hirata: What about the monkey?

Hoshi: It’s my turn, isn’t it? As for me, I’m not doing any sports at the moment. Well, Ishida-san, you know this, don’t you? I keep thinking about this: You don’t look like someone who runs regularly, yet you don’t get fat at all.

Ishida: About that – if I were to take of my clothes, it’d be a dreadful sight.

Hoshi: Come on! That’s not something you can hide [under your clothing].

Hirata: Me too!

Hoshi: Really? You can’t hide that [being fat].

Ishida: That’s because I’m deceiving you using an outfit-coordinating trick.

Hoshi: No, no, you’re not.

Ishida: It’s a trick set I bought via mail order.

Hoshi: You're just having me on. Alright, moving on–

Seki: Hold on, Hoshi-kun. The main topic is just beginning. We can spend the next ten minutes on it.

Hoshi: We don’t need a main topic. Wait, main topic? Well, for now, I’d like to try running.

Hirata: Are you running [regularly already]?

Hoshi: I want to try it.

Hirata: Then don’t. [He’s trolling poor Hoshi-san again....]

Seki: Hey, Hoshi-kun, which club did you belong to during high school?

Hoshi: High school? Quite a number of clubs, actually: court tennis, natural science, lounge tennis... that’s it.

Hirata: Why did you join the lounge tennis club when you were already in the court tennis club?

Hoshi: Well, I was in the lounge tennis club in middle school. When I went to high school, I got the impression that court tennis was more suited to high-schoolers. It was tough, though.

Hirata: Did you quit court tennis and return to lounge tennis?

Hoshi: Yes, I did.

Seki: Basically, the sport you’re into is tennis.

Hoshi: It was. All I do these days are juggling with tennis balls. I belong to the go-home club.

Hirata: Go-home club.

Hoshi: Yes, in the end, it’s go-home club for me.

Seki: But if you were to stand at a court now, would you still be able to deal the opponent a powerful smash?

Hoshi: I was probably never able to do that in the first place.

Seki: Why don’t you try doing it for the Saiyuki wrap party?

Hoshi (laughing): Why do you and Hirata-san ask for everything at the wrap party?

Hirata: You could jump onto the balance ball, then leap onto the wall and walk on it, before hitting the smash.

Seki: After that, we can let Hira-chan fulfill his wish [of wearing the boiler suit].

Hoshi: Wish?

Hirata: My wish is the last event of the wrap party? Saving the toughest item for last, are we?

Hoshi: I see. Well then, let’s go with that.

Ishida: Are you fine with that?

Hoshi: Well, one would really sweat it out if one were to perform that thing Seki-san was talking about.

Others: What?

Ishida: The sport in which you jump onto the wall and walk on it.

Seki: It’s called “wall-crashing.”

Hoshi: Wall-crashing? Yes, in the end, it turns out to be the sport to try.

Hirata: For whom?

Hoshi: All of us.

Hirata: Not really.

Hoshi: Yes. And we’ll be riding the balance ball while doing it.

Seki: And tossing and turning as well. Hoshi-kun, how about you? Will you be playing tennis at the same time?

Hoshi: Tennis, yes.

Hirata: Will you?

Hoshi: I won’t.

Hirata: Will you or will you not? Which is it?

Hoshi: I’ll stick to wall-crashing. I think I’d like to give it a try. Okay, everyone, that’s it. I guess at our age, we might as well take this opportunity to exercise, right?

Seki: What the heck! In the end, this is the take-home message you wanted to deliver!

Hoshi: Make sure you do your exercises, okay?

Ishida: Be a good boy and listen to him, everyone.

Hoshi: Let’s try to lower our body age as much as we can.

Hirata: Understood.

Seki: Okay.

Hoshi: All right! As for Saiyuki, the journey ahead won’t be continuing for long. I hope for your support in the next installment. Well, that’s it for the cast talk in the first volume. See you again in the second volume! Until then, goodbye!

Ishida and Seki: Goodbye!

Hirata: Bye-bye!

--------

Translation of the Drama CD track referred to during their conversation:

(Round brackets): actions and sound effects. [Square brackets]: translator’s notes and clarifications. Double asterisks **: Stuff I am really not sure of.

#saiyuki #saiyuki drama cd #translation #seki toshihiko #hirata hiroaki #ishida akira #hoshi souichirou