#i have yet to start on any art projects ugh

[sab-teraa]

Tye Talks: A Diary Entry

(22/02/24 || 22:58 pm)

Good evening friends, I hope you are all well and having a lovely Thursday! Just one more day till the weekend! Yay <3

Inspired by the lovely @the-winds-of-destiny-xxx , I've decided to start blogging about my day. Hopefully, I will be able to stay up to date lol.

Work

Ugh, I've been up since 5am prepping myself to deliver my second lecture of the semester. It went well, kinda. The students were super interactive which is great. Application + practicality > regurgitating information. They did super well. Also, we have a new HoD, and while I really liked our previous heads, the new HoD is a breath of fresh air and I really enjoy their approach towards education.

My full-time job is actually soooo … atm. My colleague has resigned which is all cool and I wish her the best.

But, there’s a trend I’ve noticed recently within our organization … and I hope it does not present any problems in the future. Tbh, I think it has presented a problem before … but idk. Anyway, constructive criticism goes a long long way … only if you’re keen and willing to learn …. which this person defo is NOT.

Enough about my colleagues, the CEO presented me with an opportunity but I'm lowkey nervous .. bc I prefer being a private + somewhat anonymous person lol, but I obviously said yes. Let's see how it goes, anything can happen and this whole project might fall through. Especially in this economy.

All in all, I really love my job and the career path I’ve taken. I hope it does not backfire on me later on in life.

Uni

Gosh. Uni is the bane of my existence atm. Tho, i did make a bit of progress on my thesis today. I know exactly what I need to do, but I just don't have the motivation to it. But, I think I've finally got myself together .. so let's see what happens.

Also, I'm so grateful for my thesis supervisor <3 she is so understanding and supportive.

Health

Is this tmi? Maybe? Apologies if so?

But, my nose and throat have been KILLING me recently? Idk if it’s bc of the fan or what … but yup. Thank god for cloves! They’ve helped wayyyy more than anything else I’ve tried lol. Also, my pms is really starting to hit 😭😭 I’ve been in soooo much pain since I got back home.

My mentally, I’m doing okay … there’s obvs moments in the day where I’m like shit?? I’m an adult adult?? Yet my life feels so stagnant 😂 but then I try to keep it moving and not think so much about what I want … and I try to focus on what I do have…. bc I’ve done my best.

Fun and mundane

I finally got to go to my first gym class of the week - I really needed that! The housewives from my class invited me for smoothies afterwards … and they are so fun! Are they my mums age mates? Yes 😂😂 but I loved hanging out with them .. they truly live in their own bubble .. I wanna be exactly like them when I’m older lol.

Oh Oh! And I finally finished the second season of Al Rawabi School for Girls ... flip, it truly broke my heart. What an amazing show.

I really wanted to start the new season of Real Housewives of Durban … but the new Showmax app is truly YUCK! I have the ick 🫠🫠 but, I love the show waaaaay too much, so I’d probs get over it soon lol.

Other than gym and catching up on tv, I made a delicious lasagna for dinner. I'm convinced that my homemade meat sauce and cheese sauce remains undefeated, or maybe that's just me being cocky lol. If I had more space, I would have defo attempted to make the pasta too.

I'm super excited for this weekend bc my friends and I are going to this art and music event and getting food afterwards. I also really wanna buy that duvet set I saw online ... since I'm no longer purchasing an apartment (recession boo boo boo 🍅🍅🍅), I may as well just re-do my current apartment lol. It already looks great, but I've been putting off getting a new duvet set bc I presumed I was gonna buy a bigger bed lol... so I've just been rotating between the two sets I have ... and damn they've seen better days lol.

Relationships

After all he has been through, my brother finally has some great things happening. I am so proud of him. I know he will achieve everything he aspires to <3 This has also done wonders for his self-confidence, he truly needed this, and I hope ... I really hope that it stays on this positive track.

Positive family news aside, idk if anyone saw the post about my uncle? But god damn I'm annoyed af. (Side note: He is my mums cousin btw; but my entire family is close). Anyway, my uncle called my mum to rant … and according to my mum he was sooooo proud of what he said to his wife??? I’m just disgusted. Idk how. His wife could forgive him for this. I’m so glad my mum put him in his place ✋🏽✋🏽✋🏽

I know its not about me and I have no right to speak on other people's relationships, but I hate seeing people put their all into a relationship and even go against their own family to be with someone ... only for their partner to treat them like this. His wife deserves soooooo much better and its sooo heartbreaking that she has to go through. My heart truly breaks for her. I pray everything works out for her.

Conclusion

Anywho … if you made it this far! Thank you for reading my ramblings <3 wishing you a lovely day! Stay safe babes 😘

#tye talks #tbh I don’t think people would read this. #it’s more for me lol

[mugmegan]

Ugh I think I have like 3 or so little wip projects right now? I was halfway finished with the "Shinso the Kidnapped Child" sketches, I made yet another grown up Ladybug hanging out with her mom thing but included her father too this time (the one with her father isnt finished), also started trying to animate again which is going well actually but which one am I supposed to finish first? I intend to finish and post all of them (since I am more than halfway done with all of them) but I dont usually have more than 1 tiny fanart thing I work on seriously. My wips usually arent "I will totally definitely post this" kinda serious, so I wasnt worried about having multiple wips before. Oh wait I also have a little original art again. Which is also almost finished. I could work on any one of them and easily finish it but which one????

#my art #just trying to gather my head and thoughts cause I realized I was working on multiple things at the same time and started to forget the thin #gs I started working on first

[imperatorrrrr]

Talk Hockey To Me

I was tagged by @stereax and @mikathemad :)

Tell me about:

1. The thing that got you hooked on hockey:

Okay, this is a little embarrassing. In the fifth grade around the year 1999, I liked a boy and that boy liked hockey, so in an effort to have shared interests with said boy, I checked out the New Jersey Devils and the rest is basically history. The boy is absolutely long gone, hahaha, but the Devils are here to fucking stay. I got into them right before their two Cup wins and in the era of Scott Stevens, Patrik Elias, John Madden and the love of my child life, Brian Rafalski. I've been a Devils fans for like over twenty years now. I'd say in the past decade I've started to check out other teams (Pens, Canucks, Avs, Stars), but I'm a one team girl at heart.

2. Your first ever fandom friend

So in the Devils Tumblr fandom, I'd say @jonassiegenthighler I think I just finally came off anon in their inbox and it began.

3. The jersey you would most like to own

Okay, so I already have a pretty decent collection of jerseys, but I think I'd like a Nico Pride Jersey, but I know I'll never get one 'cause the bids for the star players are always way more than I budget for myself or if the Devils ever do a specialty South Asian Heritage Jersey I'd take literally any player's (except Smith's). But let's be honest, I need a Sid jersey for fucking sure. I also don't have the Jersey Jersey yet, so I need to get that.

4. YOUR player (you only get ONE so choose wisely)

Eassssssy. It's Nico Hischier.

5. A pairing that deserves more fic

@stereax stole my answer. Its NicoJesp, for sure. I say this all the time. Before Nico put his arms around Jack on center ice, before Siegs was cooking for Nico and they were cohabiting, it was Nico and Jesp. They've been through coaches, through GMs, through players coming and going. It's them.

6. Your favorite on-ice moment

Oh, this one is a hard fucking question.

Ugh, this is actually so fucking hard, what the fuck.

Okay, I'm picking this: after the shutout win against the Avs back in late October last season right near the beginning of the thirteen game heater when Nico looks out into the crowd and scream's LET'S GO.

THEN

link someone else's art/fic/etc that you love & think everyone should check out

I will pick four.

@kmercer's art. like come the fuck on, you've got to be kidding me with this

2. @stereax's Kingdom Poetry Series about each of the 2022-2023 Devils

3. @jonasiegenthaler's art always hits the damn mark, always.

4. My favorite NicoJack fic of all time. Seriously, all time.

kiss me on the mouth (set me free) by coastalhighway

AND

link something you made & are proud of & want people to see

Soz, I don't have anything. I haven't written fic in a decade and I have no artistic skill whatsoever, but one day I'll write fic again and when I do I'll share it with the masses.

tagging: @jonasiegenthaler @dawson-mercer and @jakejuentzel

#Text #how do I even tag this? #I don't think I have a tag for when I've been tagged in something #huh! oh well #uh this is mostly about the #New Jersey Devils #so I'll tag them!

[mysticboombox]

Hey Mystics!

Ugh, so much has happened in these past few weeks since I’ve last updated. 

But here are a couple of things that are happening now and in the future before school starts back up again:

I’m currently working on drawing on some OC’s. I’ve finished a drawing but am yet to make a “quick” origin story before I post it. I’m also surprising @raphsweapondealer with a drawing of her OC Abby in dragon form, so stay tuned for those!

And speaking of drawings, I am wanting to understand how commissions work for me and future clients. So that it is stress free on both sides, I will make a post with five slots for free commissions and that has a practice contract so there is little to no confusion. I will mainly draw dragons but would be open to learning to draw or work on projects non-dragon related. I may do this a few times before I eventually will ask to be paid for the work. I’ll let everyone know when that time comes. If anyone is interested, feel free to comment or wait for the next post with the slots.

I’m open to advice as well because of 👆🏼 So if any artists who do any commissions have any advice, I’m open to listening. 

I am also needing to update my tag list so if you would like to be removed, your username has changed, or you would like to be added, feel free to comment!

Friendly reminder, if you are not 18+, I ask that you please unfollow me until you turn 18, even if you are legally an adult in your state/country. It’s for both your safety and mine as well. 

Finally, I am working on people’s asks. When will those be posted, I cannot say. I know I’m working on the oldest ones first before I can take on any more. I’m also working on some personal fics as well so keep that in mind. I appreciate your patience tenfold💙❤️💜🧡💚

I hope everyone is staying hydrated and doing their best to stay cool. I am excited to share more drawings/works with everyone and I hope everyone takes care💙❤️💜🧡💚 

Peace ✌️ 

~Mystic

Tags: @turtle-babe83​ @thelaundrybitch​ @leosgirl82​ @foreignbrunette​ @aurora-the-kunoichi​ @post-apocalyptic-daydream​ @yumefuusen​ @raphslovemuffin80​ @tmnt22​ @raphsweapondealer​ @bay-did-nothing-wrong​ @ladyofparchments​ @roxosupreme​ @felliebrock​ @angelcatlowyn​ @lady-maria-the-wolf225​ @nittleboo​ @tmntspidergirl​ @pheradream15​ @chicchanmooshy​ @raisin-shell​ @doctorelleth​ @infuriatedleprechaun​ @rheawritesforfun @fluffytriceratops @digitl-art-monstr @letdarknessconsumeyourworld @sewerninno @taffybear @sunnyandmoonysimper @sketch-and-write-lover @memes-in-a-half-shell @mistyroselove and anyone else that is interested!

#Personal #mysticboombox #MyLittleMystics

[bassds]

Star Lovers Ꝏ: How we got here, and where we’re going  Welcome, all; BassDS here after a long time lurking around in the Undernets of tumblr and Twitter, mulling and contemplating several things I want to do that luckily I’ve gotten the ball rolling on, but it’s now time to focus on the one thing that has been neglected during these past few years, and to give those who don’t know a crash course into what led to the creation of this project:

Star Lovers Ꝏ.

Time for a history lesson. AND pretty much an autopsy, because oh boy, I’m gonna tell you how stupid I was in some of these design choices that took place during the original installments.

The one thing I was notoriously known for in the latter part of the 2000s was my set of stories based within the Mega Man Star Force sub-series of the Mega Man franchise, that being my original creation, Star Lovers, which centered around a small budding romance between the main hero of the games, Geo Stelar; the titular Mega Man in this case, and the heroine/side accomplice Sonia Strumm, also known as Harp Note, who essentially served as the Roll.EXE of Star Force.

So, before we progress any further, I do have a SMALL confession to make.

At one point, for a small and VERY short time, I shipped Geo with the other female character in the series, Luna Platz; but hear me out here; this was a time when it took time to get games released over here between Japan and North American, so info on these games and the story was limited, as you had to wait for people to slowly translate info. On a whim, I saw some art of them and thought they looked cute; that was all.

THEN enters Sonia, and soon more of the game’s story is translated and we get to know more about her, coming to find out she’s dealing with the loss of her mother, just as Geo has spent the previous 3 years lamenting the loss of his father in space; they have relatable backstories with each other that helps them to understand the other, and in the end, Geo and Sonia form a Brotherband; with this being their first for each other, and Geo’s first main interaction with anyone since his father’s supposed death. It really showed just how DEEP the character development in this game was.

With this, my eyes were open to the truth; Geo and Sonia were the shipping successors in this sequel series just as the original Mega Man Battle Network games constantly nudged romantic feelings for Lan Hikari and Mayl Sakurai in the previous series, and it seemed they were bent as hell on repeating that again, and I punched my ticket along for the ride.

With this, a few days after I had beaten the first Star Force game, I wanted to write a small continuation; my own thing, to tide myself and many others over until Star Force 2 released the next year.

This led to the creation of the original Star Lovers story.

And looking back now, UGH, it was so cringe.

I DID NOT know how to write a story properly; sentence structure, paragraphs, all that stuff; for all intents and purposes, I was a goddamn noob at it, despite having done some other failed previous ventures with other series of fiction.

Yet, despite it hardly being coherently legible and having the story that just honestly felt all over the place just to enact a confession from both characters...it proved popular. Today it still stands as one of my most viewed stories on Fanfiction.net; nothing else I’ve done even comes close, apart from a story I did featuring them that wasn’t even a part of Star Lovers at all; but people liked it, and looking back at it, to this day I’m still mystified as to how it even got to that point.

A year later, and Star Force 2 comes out, so naturally it was time to create a sequel story to act as a bridge for the impending release of Star Force 3.

And this is when things REALLY started going off the rails.

The story of Star Lovers 2 took the postgame from Star Force 2 and I turned it into my own thing...though in hindsight there were MANY choices I regret so damn much…

Geo and Sonia having alternate counterparts that went by their Japanese names, calling Rogue, Solo’s EM wave form who was introduced in Star Force 2 by his Japanese name Burai, because I thought it sounded cooler...and this was around the time I found Super Sentai, and delving into Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, that had a character named Burai, but the most CRINGEIEST thing I could do...was be influenced by another series I still enjoy to this day; Digimon, and implement a character that had an EM Wave Parter who was a reformatted Omnimon...and I… Sometimes I really hate my younger, inexperienced and impressionable self for stupid stuff like this; incorporating something that had absolutely zero business being a part of it…

It’s not the first time I’ve hated my past self for stupid shit either. Sold my entire Pokemon Gen 3 collection because I was scared using an Action Replay corrupted the cart’s code and could be detected by Nintendo and I’d get banned even if I started a new game, and LOOK how much those things go for nowadays...I still need to rebuy them, and it’s going to kill my wallet.

Anyway, let’s get back on track, shall we?

This is where the first seeds for Star Lovers Ꝏ were planted, a story originally titled Star Lovers R; a short lived idea that was meant to be a more...proper rewrite of the original story, but that got quickly abandoned by the release of Star Force 3, and in turn, Star Lovers 3: Crimson Advent.

Now, in hindsight, my writing had gotten a bit better at this point; I can say I was improving, for what it was, Star Lovers 3 was a story that didn’t really deviate from the norms of the Star Force games; the plot was a bit decent, characters were okay. It was fine. Just fine.

At this point, the last sort of presence Star Force had in general was a small crossover in Mega Man Battle Network: Operation Star Force, which involved Geo going back through time to save Sonia by a newly created Net Navi called ClockMan, and winding up right in the middle of the original Battle Network; which is all OSS was: a small Battle Network 1 update.

And it never left Japan.

After the release of the Classic Series entry, Mega Man 10...Mega Man as a whole just went into a LONG hibernation; Star Force in total sold less than Battle Network in general, and as we know now that we didn’t back in 2011, there WAS a Star Force 4 in pre-development, but was ultimately canceled upon the low sales numbers of Star Force and the dismal amount OSS sold.

Not knowing if a Star Force 4 would happen or not, it was time to take things into my own hands and give a definitive end to my story and Star Force in general.

The results were Star Lovers: Black Hole Crisis, and Star Lovers 4.

And ONCE AGAIN, the faults that plagued Star Lovers 2 came back in full force, as by this time, I was HEAVILY immersed with Kingdom Hearts, so much so that for the villains of both stories, I unapologetically based them off Organization XIII; a faction of traitors ala Chain of Memories in Black Hole Crisis, the main villain using the common X in his name except twice, because you know, for good measure; don’t want to make it TOO apparent, and you know what, let’s throw in Geo and Sonia’s time traveling son to help his parents defeat this evil and save his future from being ruined.

Now gee...where have we seen THAT before? What a mystery…

The end of Star Lovers 4 served as an end on two fronts; the first being the end to the original story I had written and expanded upon 3 years prior, and a personal end on my side of things as I was finishing high school, and it was time to start adulting.

But during the last couple months of high school, the idea to redo my original story, and now possibly the others re-emerged in the form of the Star Lovers Final Mix series…

See that? That’s the Kingdom Hearts influence trying to rear itself into my works again.

Needless to say, that idea didn’t last long, as a more, ambitious idea soon came about: I wanted to tell a coherent and exciting story that made sense, that took place in the reality of the series it was based on, while also taking my own creative liberties to flesh out the story.

This led to the creation of Shooting Star Lovers; the precursor to what would eventually evolve into Star Lovers Ꝏ.

Between 2011 and 2013, some decent progress was made on Shooting Star Lovers; but it met an unfortunate end due to a multitude of things. The first was, seeing as I was out of high school; I was working now, so that meant most of my free time was gone, seeing as how I mostly wrote the stories while at certain periods during the school day.

The second was an unfortunate one. In early 2013, my grandmother who I was living with was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and was given only six months left to live. Needless to say, it was hard to want to do anything productive watching her go through that before finally passing that following November. From there, I just lost interest, wanted to do different things to get over, which led to me attempting many times to become a Youtuber focusing in Let’s Plays, which lasted a while, until I burned myself out and stopped.

But the idea of reinvigorating Star Lovers as a completely new story; one that I wanted to serve as a true end to Star Force since the series was presumably dead by this point; that seed was still in my head, so while Shooting Star Lovers got too close to the sun and like Icarus, lost its wings; it’s failure set the stage for what would soon become Star Lovers Ꝏ.

I wanted to plan every detail out, make sure I followed the canonicity of Star Force; use them to my advantage to craft the story I felt those that were still waiting around for something at all from me deserved.

Part 1: Beginnings was the first act to a planned total of five overarching and interconnected stories in my plans, and was published in July 2020, right when the world was deep in the COVID-19 pandemic.

It would receive two more updates in 2021 before being put on the backburner once again, as I wanted to focus on other aims, mainly attempted to amass the equipment I would need to attempt being a streamer; but Star Lovers Ꝏ was only merely resting, though I had no idea when I would get back to it; but the roadmap of the story was still laid out within my mind. I KNEW what I wanted to do with it, I just got sidetracked by other ventures.

Then, a realization hit in early 2022, when I abruptly lost my mother, and I’ll admit, it did have me depressed for a good long while. It made me mull over the choices I had made in life to that point, and it made one thing vitally clear to me.

I don’t know when my time is coming. It could happen tomorrow, or even 15 years from now; it can happen on a whim just like that.

But I know that if that was every to happen, I would not be able to rest in peace knowing something I worked so hard to formula in my mind, what I considered to be my magnum opus that no one else would know about; I REFUSED the notion of letting Star Lovers Ꝏ be incomplete.

And now, that brings me to today, and I’m glad to say that after a year, Star Lovers Ꝏ IS back in production, with a new chapter just having been recently release, and another on the way.

No one wants to leave the world with unfinished business...and I’ll be damned if I fall into that same category.

So for all those who enjoyed my works before, seen the false starts I had attempted, those who share the same love for this ship between Geo and Sonia as I do, one way or another, it WILL see a conclusive end, and it will be on my terms as my best work of art.

Unless something happens to me, in which case I really am fucked.

But those of you that I have piqued your interest or reinvigorated your excitement for this project; join me, and let’s see this through to the end. To Star Lovers Ꝏ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13635841/1/Star-Lovers-%EA%9D%8E-Part-1-Beginnings

#megaman star force #ryuusei no rockman #Geo Stelar #Sonia Strumm #Mega Man #Harp Note #Subaru Hoshikawa #Misora Hibiki

[milo-is-rambling]

I really want to paint something big. I think it would do something. Make me feel something. I want a big canvas project. Like a canvas the same height as me. That would be so expensive but I want it. I don’t even have paper that big I only have regular printer paper and maybe 11 x 17 (printer department flashbacks) ughhhhhhh. What time does five below open. Maybe. No. Ugh fucking stupid baby car (in my head I’m like a sim I’m stomping outside and kicking over the trash can) I hate the baby car. Maybe I could suck it up. If I can go early. It won’t be crazy hot (lying) but I could go to five below and get at least a bigger sketch pad (I know I have so many notebooks and sketchbooks and smaller canvases I’m not using rn that are fine but I want the happy buying things chemicals) I am so tired right now and I took a very large bong rip and now I’m just stream of consciousness typing and it’s ugh yeah my brain is tired and I want to be happy and do something I can pretend is productive but I don’t have any real ideas for art stuff. Well I did have an idea last night for a cardboard thing. Hmmm. And I haven’t done magazine collage in a while I could do that. Hmmmmm. I feel like if i don’t do something productive soon I’m going to explode (taking meds is working. Also three weeks back on meds as of yesterday) maybe I’ll move around my flags and posters today…… hmmm. However my mom did come into my room the other day (hanging out with funk) and randomly look at my wall (she doesn’t normally sit at my desk to look closely at that wall) and she was just like wow there’s a lot of thumbtacks in that wall. So I do feel like maybe moving posters and stuff is not the move. However. I also feel like I desperately need to get out of the patterns I’m stuck in so I want to change my environment instead of myself bc I’m avoiding changing myself always for reasons I’m not even sure of. Lie. Putting in effort scares me. Knowing i could put work into being a person and still crumble again and lose it all is terrifying and it feels like every time something goes well something else comes crashing down and I can never have everything going well at once. That’s why. But that’s also an excuse to not change my shitty behavior bc it’s hard and I’m lazy. But is that the mean voice in my head or is that the truth. Am I lazy or have I been depressed for so long I don’t know how to be happy. I was thinking about natural selection yesterday while I was swimming. (Water motif) (I laughed when I thought it so I had to add it) anyways. Natural selection. I was just thinking like. My brain is fucked. If you put my brain into any other body in any other place in any other situation they would still be depressed. I have a chemical imbalance like it’s just fucked to begin with. So then you have to be like okay so if I don’t go on meds. I can’t do anything. I’m literally like. I just rot away and do nothing when I’m depressed. But when I was like 11/12 the depression hit hard as fuck and I don’t remember when I got put on meds the first time but I think I was 14 or 15. Well. Wait. I did take a liquid dose of an antipsychotic when I was 13 because I couldn’t take pills (still hate taking pills). I forgot about that until just this moment. That was a ROUGH time in my life. And I just. Fully forgot about it. Okay. Ignoring that it’s been like six years since I first started seeing a therapist oh my god seven years since ***** i don’t even want to have a tag for him lol ignoring it !!!! Ignoring it !!!! Ignoring it !!! Not thinking about it !!! 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 ignoring it. Okay. I forgot what my point was. I think my point was I should’ve been dead years ago if meds didn’t exist and yet I still have this cycle of taking them taking them then not taking them and now I’m on a taking them cycle but like what is wrong with me !!! Oh yeah the chemical imbalance and then add some traumatic shit too !! Ughhhh!!!! BRAINS ARE SO LOUD. I want to sleep.

#adhd high sleepless mental health ramble enjoy

[zhnnveuxpasdrmir]

with the netflix thing -

isn't there still even one person thinking "hey: how come netflix knows where I'm watching from??? I didn't okay that"

the whole concept; I pay them, they turn on the Eye and watch me,

? it breaks down right there. I don't like a browser or google to know where I am. Why would I? netflix isn't old enough to have any gravitas in my mind; they're not allowed to track me, is my decision. Viacom wouldn't have been welcome to either. Netflix is a sleazy alleycat in comparison to like CBS. I wouldn't let CBS track me.

???

wtf, seriously.

it goes further - it makes me dislike artists that work for them. I know! that's terrible! and yet

I've started narrowing my eyes at artists that get work on any of the big channels anymore. there isn't enough value there to explain the capitulation, or justify the evil, like: why go work for netflix or hbo when their pattern of ripping everybody off is well established? if you were getting paid a certain amount to advertise colonial capitalism, I wouldn't "forgive" you but I'd understand. Netflix? doesn't pay like that

if it's just the prestige of having a big project - again: netflix? really? McStreamalds? it's an empty promise

add on the complexity & number of egos that demand homage on the way to one of those deals. Ugh! after all that wangling I have to imagine art has really suffered, along the way (just guessing; my cult's leader doesn't allow netflix in the tri-sun dome)

qbittorrent

[dzpenumbra]

1/19/23

Cat's fussy tonight. She's getting a bit spoiled with me running the faucet for her so she can drink it. She was very spoiled with that for a long time, and I learned the hard way that leaving a faucet slowly running 24/7 is... not great for a faucet. But she just really seems to like it. I've had a project in the back of my mind for both of us for a while now, I just don't know how I'm going to pull it off. First thought was, "I need to get her a fountain," which of course branches into, "I need to make her a fountain," which goes to, "I need to make us a fountain." And then I go... "wait, I could make like... an actual running stream. Like a natural stream of running water with a pump on it... built into a table. Like a mini zen garden kinda thing, built into a big deep table, with an actual river running through it, maybe even a waterfall for her to drink from." And then it goes to, "holy shit, I can even make the whole thing from completely natural materials, and have like... living moss growing in it, real plants. Not just stone and sand, but like... soil and plants."

I get so excited when I can see these projects so vividly! And I really will commit to finishing a project like that. I just... immediately consider my current list of projects, which is... 11 long? And that's just the repeatable ones, there are more on the one-off list. And it just... feels like other projects should get center stage. Like getting furniture for my house. Like making the two necklaces I've been putting off for like... weeks. Like making music. Like designing the new mahogany coat hanger rack. The list keeps going. And I just... ugh, I just wish I had company, honestly. An extra set of hands to pull a few all-nighters, listen to some great music and crank out like 5 of these awesome projects.

I thought streaming was going to be this. And I'll tell you exactly why it isn't. It may not be what you think. Take a look at what I'm looking for up above - company to listen to music and either make art with me or keep me company while I do it. And guess why that doesn't work. Hmm... I wonder.

Let me get this "pseudo-political" rant out of the way, because it very clearly has been crippling me for a while, and drove me down a very dark path to try to avoid it. I, as a creator, do not want any fucking trouble. I just want to make my things, and share my ideas, and if you don't like them, you can change the channel. It's not that hard. But there has been a steady push to whitewash and family-friendly-ize all streaming platforms over the past... well, majority of a decade now. It was not always like this. And I guarantee what happened is that cable TV started dying, so people who used to work for cable TV came over to streaming platforms, YT and the like, and... just made cable 2.0. Who needs an FCC when you have a totalitarian stranglehold over what TV shows stay on the air and what don't. It's a different organism, yet we're still playing by TV's rules. It feels archaic, and it leaves me... creatively anxious. I see it a lot.

How does this affect me, as a broadcaster? The same as my writing. If I swear, which I do frequently, and some bitchy Karen parent in the Bible belt or something reports me for "obscenity", I lose my ability to stream. Not just lose my ability to make money, my channel gets shut down. I lose my ability to maintain an audience, to gain viewers, to grow. If I don't move to a different platform, I can lose momentum entirely. I saw it happen to a somewhat-known comedian I used to Twitch mod for. He got banned for having the word "nipples" in his username. For over a month. He had to go to a personal connection that knew someone at Twitch to get his username manually switched to his actual name, just to be able to stream again. And that did a number on him. Point being, even if you're making a joke, even if you're just speaking your casual language... if you're a smaller (not a Partner, I guess) streamer, you're kinda just shit out of luck if an automated system guns you down. And that anxiety hangs over all our heads every day. Try being creative when, if your joke doesn't land, a robot bans you from that comedy club and every support line is automated. You're just... done. Because one cranky Karen decided she needed to take out her lack of supervising her child on you.

Now, I can even push past that, because I don't really swear that much honestly, and my humor is really not that crude at all, not like it used to be. What gets me now... is music. It's the ass-backwards system the record labels decided to put into place, on their endless automated crusade to remove music from the internet. How ironic is that? The industry devoted to spreading music is now pretty much the exclusive source of music censorship and removal. They are systematically rooting out the spread of music globally, every day. They fucking automated the process too, so they can't even claim they're providing jobs for people here. They are just a vacuum sucking up culture and mulching it, so they can force listeners onto music streaming platforms, where they have a stranglehold on the market.

Now here's a thought I had earlier that I think could solve that whole thing, if they actually gave a fuck about like... music. And personal choice. And all the free fucking exposure they're denying their artists. So... they clearly have bots that can identify songs very quickly, like the whole Shazaam model, right? So... why the fuck are these companies not working directly with streaming sites, and adding in a plugin to the site's functionality where it has a whole "Now Playing" thing provided by the streaming platform, in tandem with the real-time song recognition bots that the record companies have clearly dumped their ill-gotten gains into. So when the streamer is playing a song, any fucking song, a little thing pops up that says "Now Playing" and the name of the artist, and the name of the song. And when you click on that, it brings you directly to a place where you can buy the album, support the artist, see show listings, etc. I'm coming back from my tangent, I swear, buckle up, we're swinging it back around. Why the fuck wouldn't they invest in that?! That way, streamers are - automatically, and without the need for compensation - promoting music that they love, sharing it with a potentially new audience. It's free fucking publicity. And then, the streamers don't have to look over their goddamn shoulders for LawyerBot3000 swooping in and trying to demonetize their videos, automatically mute their VoDs and risk getting their channel struck. And... here it is, I'm connecting the dots... then streamers don't have to do 6 hour art streams listening to generic copyright free elevator music.

No one should be subjected to that, that's like a form of corporal punishment. Not streamers (who are unpaid employees, but I'm not gonna get into that). Not the audience (who are paying customers... well... some of them). No one. No one should be required to play "state-approved music". That's like... fascist shit. It's fucked up. But the people with the big pockets and aggressive lawyers won. And that's the world we live in. So... that's the primary reason why I dread going back to streaming. Because if I stream my art and listen to good music, which is all I want to do... I risk getting my channel shut down. As though listening to Mars Volta, making beaded necklaces and talking to my audience is... illegal. As though it's... stealing from someone? As though it is an act that is worthy of punishment. Worthy of revoking the "privilege of a workspace", the "privilege of access to an audience". This has always struck me as... "shoot first, ask questions never", draconian, fearful, shortsighted and, most of all, not even remotely in the interest of preserving creative expression.

So... I don't know what to do now. It's deeply upsetting. Because I've really tried for a long time to do marathon streams with either no music (nearly impossible) or generic music (I literally start falling asleep and have to end stream). It just doesn't work. And all I want to do is like... put on good music, make my art, and share with people the music that I love. That was where my creative spark was born. In the living rooms of friends of mine, drawing in my sketchbook and sharing music. "I show you Atreyu, you show me Radiohead." "I show you Method Man, you show me Gojira." And later, in the studios in college, plugging the iPod into speakers, putting on a pot of coffee and painting while lying down on the floor with an endless playlist all night. Tool, Mars Volta, Tides of Man, Coheed and Cambria, The Syncope Threshold, Circa Survive, Between the Buried and Me, the list just goes on and on. I introduced so many bands to friends of mine that way, and vice versa. That's how I found The Sound of Animals Fighting, Bring Me the Horizon, Parkway Drive, SiKTh, After the Burial (one of my favorite bands of all time), the Dear Hunter, etc. etc. And now, when I watch streams - which is like... the only social interaction I have... the only music they play is the same generic copyright free muzak I listen to when I go to sleep. Or nothing at all.

It kills the exchange of music. Which is sad. Why? Money. So yeah, that blows.

I don't want to sit on this all night, I've been going for a while here, I had a big point I wanted to cover.

I dug into all that because of the whole... social thing. Social anxiety has been plaguing me for a while... and I explored that in therapy today. And it's really jostling how... quick your... ugh, I'm struggling for words... control? Need to control things? To make them perfect? In gaming, we call it min-maxing. The need to optimize, to make things the best they can be. Minimum loss, maximum gain. It's crazy how quickly and stealthily that can sneak up. And it embarrasses me sometimes, because I'm always priding myself in my spontaneity and improvisation. Well, that might be the spontaneity of... Past Me, at this point. Winters are notoriously rough for me, and being in moments of recovering from acute trauma (seems like that's the majority of the time the past few years...) as well. They do tend to make depression skyrocket. Then I get into anxious mode. And anxiety's job is to... protect, right? To keep safe? It's an alarm system to keep me notified of threats around me.

And how do I respond to that alarm system? Well, the healthy way would be... not to ignore the smoke alarm... not to assume the entire house is burning down... but to pop your head in and check, gather information. So when I'm getting into social anxiety, I'm noticing that the majority of it is kinda... bookended on either side of the interaction. Kinda like stagefright has been for me - I get super anxious before I get on stage, and I kick myself about how I "could've done better" after. But during, it's really not a huge issue. Which I think is really a blessing, it has not always been that way. But once I find the Flow, it gets really easy. Because like... I'm weird, right? So how can I fuck up "weird"? XD

Welp, min-max brain has a few things to say about that. And that's the anxiety component. "How can I maximize my odds of meeting someone who isn't a complete sociopath?", "How can I make my next social interaction easier for me, considering I've been 'out of the game' for a while?", "How can I get help from others to 'hold my hand'?" That's all preemptive, predictive shit - that's Future. That's like... neurotic scrying. <crystal ball mystic voice> "I seeee the fuuuuture, I see that I will meet someone who will be suuuuper controooolling and when I try to set healthy boundaries by asking for what I want/need politely and saying no when they cross a line they will attaaaack meeeee." </crystal ball mystic voice> And my manifestation of that thought is... "how can I prevent this certainty?" "What plan can I come up with now, to give me a safety net, or at least armor, for when this undoubtedly happens."

Now... I get why I do this. This is a very recurring trauma, it happens all the time. And it's something I really do need to work on. But like... this way of addressing it... by sitting on the bench and trying to come up with the perfect plan or something? It clearly doesn't work. And it inflates the fuck out of my anxiety. It builds up the anticipation. And what I really feel like I need to do instead, is learn how to properly recognize it in the moment when it's happening... (which it will, just probably not as often as my anxiety thinks) and I'm pretty sure I can... and then... excuse myself. Just go, "oh shit, I something came up, I gotta go." It's not a lie. What came up is "I'm not safe right now" and telling that person why I'm not safe? That puts me in danger, it provokes the bear. So... I need to remember that I always have that option in my pocket, and if the other person is really committed to reflecting on their actions and addressing that moment, I can make myself available to provide my perspective so they can work on their own shit. But I am really bad at walking away. So yeah, that's my running plan for the preemptive anxiety.

The other half, as mentioned above, is after. "Wow, I just talked to that person for like 20 minutes, I have no idea what their name is because I never remember that, and I never introduced myself, and they just left... and we didn't exchange info... and... now they're gone. Forever. Okay... Great job, champ." Like... my first week here, actually I think it was my first or second night here. I met a man in the hallways that was like... under 10 years older than me, somewhere in my age range-ish. I was like... bee-lining back to my apartment with my chinese food delivery and he was walking around the building with his two kids. And I like... passed them. And he saw the back of my hoodie - it was a Born of Osiris hoodie that I like... never wear - and he commented on it and told me he went on tour with them doing sound design. I engaged genuinely, and we connected for like 30 seconds and it was nice. And we exchanged names, and he's on the floor above me. And then we said "see you around, I guess" and I haven't seen him since. And that was like... the past 5 connections I've made were really similar. And I'm guessing it's because I haven't been on Facebook since 2016 and connecting with people on social media is just... not a habit of mine? But you know what? Shame on them! They should be more experienced with this shit! That shouldn't fall entirely on my shoulders!

See, my brain tends to go... okay, I'm gonna correct myself... my depression brain tends to go, "wow, dude, you didn't give them your Instagram handle? How are they gonna get in touch? Carrier pigeon? They don't even know what unit you're in!" The paddle immediately comes out. And the intention is self-improvement, the intention is education/learning, but the methodology is brutish. And that, my friends, that is the big fucking lesson of the day. Well, one of two. We'll start with this one. Self-compassion. Being kind and gentle to yourself, through your methods of self-improvement. Teaching your inner critic - "how could you do that?", "what were you thinking?", "you should know better" - to sound less like an outraged driver stuck in rush hour traffic... and more like - "I should try this next time", "I forgot to mention my name, I'll try to remember that next time". Like... learning from an experience rather than trying to 'teach yourself a lesson'.

I have been getting so much better lately at having my kind, gentle inner-voice come out first after things go wrong. Like "wow, I just talked to this dude in the hallway, and it was perfectly natural, that's awesome!" And the road-rager comes in second, "you forgot to say what unit you were in. How are you going to follow up on this? How did you forget that? Missed opportunity, way to blow it." No matter how good a mood I'm in, no matter how well I'm doing mental health wise, that motherfucker lives in my head every moment of every day. And I need to negotiate with him. And, begrudgingly, counter-intuitively, I need to be kind and understanding towards him. Because he's me. He's just my Depression Me. He means well. He has very keen observational skills. He's very passionately defensive. But he, like anxiety (outside of emergencies) is a passenger and consultant, not a driver. If that makes sense. He doesn't call the shots. And maintaining that hierarchy of inner-voices, and practicing that regularly, like every day... that's what's trained my congratulatory, kind, compassionate, gentle voice to come out first. I will say, it's practice that is well worth doing.

I said there were two lessons of the day. The first was addressing the narrative we use in reflecting on events, self-compassion, a focus on learning and growth rather than outrage, frustration, all that shit. The second lesson... has more to do with the temporal aspect.

See, anxiety is very fixated on Future. The 'what ifs' is what my old bandmate and I used to call anxiety. My therapist today called them the "should's" and that's a very interesting addition. Either way, temporally, it's all fixated on the future. It's attempted precognition, predictive thinking. "I saw this in the Past, and I think it's going to happen in the Future, so I should do something about it." Depression is a very different kind of beast. It doesn't really serve a practical purpose other than to just shit on you. Anxiety is very protective, depression is just like a fucking giant ball-and-chain. And depression, it seems to me, but maybe it just conveniently fits into my narrative right now... is pretty Past based. Fixated on what happened, or didn't happen, and... that's it... and "you should feel bad for that." No plan, no lesson, no growth. Just "you tripped, you're clumsy, dumbass." That's all. Real life-of-the-party, that one. So what are we missing here? Hmm?

Now. We're missing Present Mind. And this is the muscle that I am flexing right this very moment. Hi. I am Present Mind. I don't plan what I say, I don't think back to what I was going to say, I just say what I think and it comes out and that's just what it is. It's a stream of thoughts and feelings connected together and put as accurately as possible onto paper... if my damn fingers can keep up with it. I've been practicing stream-of-consciousness writing since age... 16? Something close to that? So... around 20 years. Nearly all of my music lyrics and poetry were written in pen on paper without thinking (or just thinking only about rhyme schemes and letting the words just fall into place) and without crossing out words. My primary form of musical expression is improvisation. And lately, I've been out of practice. Again, this is pretty much my only Flow practice, short of yoga, which has been great.

I need more of it. I need to break through that wall again. I feel so deeply compelled to seek that liberation. To free myself from this need to have things be the right way. To just... start. And just see where it goes. To get the water pump, and get the table, and get rocks, and just... see where it goes. Fuck a schematic. Wing it. Just... google waterproofing a bit first! You know... Like... we can improvise and be liberated and all that, but like... let's not flood the downstairs neighbors. XD

The neuron connection my therapist helped remind me of, with the Now... it brought something to my head instantly. "BE HERE NOW". It was written over and over around a circle on the cover of a book by Ram Dass that an very odd alcoholic tattooed stripper chick with large fake breasts who went by the alias "Doll Parts" gifted to me. I swear to god, you can't make this shit up. And, in hindsight, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess this woman wasn't really using this book the way it was intended... because she was trying to seduce me while she had a young daughter and was living with someone she was dating... so... yeah... the second I found out about that dude I was in the wind. But she bought me this book first. And it is basically Ram Dass's illustrated story of his spiritual awakening, and it has a lot of stuff in the end that's like... practices and rituals and stuff. Super useful if you're into that kinda stuff. I plan on referencing it soon to find a meditative practice that I can actually integrate into my life consistently. And I just always felt like that phrase "be here now" is just... everything you need to know. The who? "you". what? "be." where? "here." when? "now." I guess all that leaves is how? And if you don't know how to just be right here, right now? Oh boy. Yep. Don't know what to say to that. But the reminder is one that wakes me up very quickly, one that speaks to me. One that I understand at a very deep level. When I see "be here now", I get it. It makes as much sense to me as "you are safe". It's like... permission to come back or something, in the way that "you are safe" is like permission to relax, it's really hard to describe.

So, I spent a big chunk of the night making art. Taking a piece of cardboard that I had left over, as I always tend to have, and making a decorative piece to hang on a wall somewhere in my house. It says in big gold letters with black outlining, "BE HERE NOW". And I'm going to just fill the damn thing with some improvised color designs. I think greens and yellows, I have never really had green play a big role in my life or works outside of camo pants, and I feel like it will pair with the gold pretty well. We'll see how it turns out.

I need to go to bed. I just really wanted to share my insights from today because I feel like they could be helpful to others. And to give myself plenty of room to expand and concretize that exploration.

#diary #journal #online journal #stream of consciousness #stream of thoughts

[rinovarka]

for atfauomo I want to make informitave posts....but comics too. like, if it was a series, it would be sporadic and each episode like 5 min. no real cohesive direct story, like there is but there are too many characters, mostly goofy fluff but hints of angst. so, I should make comics.

things I want to make comics abt:

1)party bus long jaul full of minicons in a loney bath, driving away from a ranover Starscream

2) starscream skyfire a n g s t

3)social anxiety birb laserbeak learning how to talk and speak up for verself

4)titans

5)astrotrain being an earth train advocate, busting bad conductors like gordon ramsay

6)overlord shenanigans

7)freezon and bitstream gossip news

8) (not tf) a shitpost abt IAU and the definition of a planet

...all that among everything else I want to do aaaaa

#personal post #i have yet to start on any art projects ugh #i will eventually do the rapture effect and dragons egg stuff but aaaaa

[hnychn]

𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄

pairing: poly! bakusquad x gn! reader

summary: why settle for one lover when you could have five? 

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 🐝: ugh i love the idea of all five of these assholes in one relationship !! it just makes my heart 😫. lmk what you thought of it, i appreciate any constructive criticism that'll help me improve 🤍 i'm also working on a shoto work next so!! PS. this ended up being a lot longer than i thought, so i'll be making it into diferent parts!

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 || 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 || 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞

ur their baby

sorry

don't make the rules 🤷🏻‍♀️

so first and foremost, how you became a part of their relationship.

surprisingly, it was bakugo who brought up the idea to the others 😳

you're not in 1a, but you are in the support class. you make them gadgets 😌

and bakugo met you when the last student who was supposed to be responsible for his costume design and other shit refused to work with bakugo anymore

that was the sixth guy to quit

so you offered to pick up his work 😌

otherwise the storyline wouldn't continue

so bakugo goes to you after school and is like, "listen here you fucking extra-"

and that's as far as he got before you interrupted him and was like:

"no yOU listen you hot-headed cyndaquil! the only reason you should be talking to me is if you want to submit a request for your costume. other than that, don't look at me. don't speak to me. don't even breathe near me. GOT IT?!"

and he was just. . .😳 damn

highkey thought your yelling was hot

so the weeks pass and surprisingly he listens to you and doesn't speak to you outside of making requests for his costume or giving feedback

and your relationship with him is relatively stable

you're not friends but you can live together without ripping each other apart

there's a term for it but i forget what it is

he starts coming by more often because there's a kink in one of your gadgets

so you ask him to stay after school to test it out and figure out what the problem is

you end up talking

and you realise he's not as much of an asshole as you thought he was

and your relationship turns into more of a "friendship" but not if that makes sense?

like, "ok so i don't hate you, but i still hate you."

does that make sense? i how it does

anyways,

the two of you start saying hi in the halls or nodding at each other

bakugo's babies see this and are like ??

yOU MADE A FREND??

yes. yes he did 😌

so kirishima and mina try and convince him to introduce them to you

"why would i introduce you to that dumbass? they're nothing special."

he doesn't mean it, he's just flustered.

so kirishima, mina, kaminari, and sero start looking out for you in the halls

and they start picking up on your routine

without knowing they basically know your schedule

it's bakugo who points it out when kirishima said it was time to go

🦈 "oh! it's time to go guys!"

💥 "why? lunch isn't even over yet"

⚡️ "y/n usually goes to that vending machine by their art class during this time"

💥 ". . . how do you fuckers know that?"

and they're all silent like. . . how do they know that?

that's when it hits then that without them knowing, you slipped your way into their heart

because here they were,

right next to the vending machine where you always go 20 minutes before lunch ended to get a small snack

and when you get there and see bakugo surrounded by a bunch of people looking at you with starry eyed

". . . hi?"

mina lunges at you and asks how the hell you tamed bakugo

"easy, i beat his ass."

"NO YOU DIDN'T YOU FUCKER!"

and you just snort at his reaction and put some coins into the vending machine

"why do you think your gauntlet backfired yesterday, dumbass?"

and he blanks like. . .wait. . . wAIT A MINUTE

"THAT WAS YOU?!"

you nod, "wish i was there to see it though."

and you pout

fUCKING.

POUT.

and they all just feel their heart go doki doki

so the bell rings for class to start and you say goodbye to them and kaminari promises to show you the video he took of bakugo's gauntlet backfiring tmr at lunch

and while they're walking to class, none of them are talking

which is very unusual

but they all know their thoughts are only of you

it's kind of like an unspoken agreement that they're all falling for you

they have a hard time paying attention in class that day.

OK NEXT DAY!!

so you rush over to the bakusquad and practically throw yourself at kaminari

because you wanna see that video

you don't notice he's a blushing mess and the others are staring a bit bitterly because

:I i want that

so he shows you the video and you start laughing so hard

and it's so contagious and soon they're all laughing

except bakugo because he refuses to laugh at himself

but they suddenly hear someone calling your name

and you all look over and see some guy who's also from general studies

they see you roll your eyes and mutter, "fucking hell" under your breath

so it's safe to assume you don't like this guy.

"hey l/n."

"hey tanaka. . ."

the boy shoves his hands in his pockets, "so about that date saturday-"

you might have slapped the bakusquad in the face with a fish because holy-

they never considered you were seeing anyone and now they're kinda heartbroken because oop-

caught feelings too quick 🙊

but you grind your teeth, "it's not a date tanaka. the teacher paired us up for a project because he knows you're so incapable of doing anything on your own you have to be watched like a child."

anD WHOO BOY THEY WERE NOT EXPECTING THAT

kaminari snorts a bit before slapping a hand over his mouth

mina grabs kirishima's arm and burries her face into his jacket to stifle her laughs

kirishima and sero and just staring at each other with wide eyes and slowly growing smiles like "bro did they just say that?" "dude i think they did!"

and bakugo. . .

he's staring at you with the proudest look in his eyes and a smirk because yeah, that's his baby

wait what.

now the boy is a bit embarrassed that you said that in front of some of the school's top heroes

so he sputters a bit before walking away with a red face

💥 "damn i didn't know you had that in you, spit fire."

you stare at him a bit with a small blush at the nickname

and you sputter out a thanks before making an excuse to leave (something about banana milk)

and they all stare at each other

⚡️ ". . .did they . ."

🦈 "was that a-"

🍊 "holy fuck that was-"

💥 "-adorable."

mina is took shocked to say anything

during this time, you bang to realise your feelings for the group as well

but you thought you were being selfish for wanting all five of them

so you kind of avoid them for the next few days in hopes of your feelings going away

you change up your schedule

and when you see them or one of then in the halls you turn around and go another direction

they were a bit confused as to what they did

but kirisima assured them that you were probably just working out your feelings and they should respect that

so they did

and they pretended it didn't hurt when you suddenly dart the other way when you see one of them

they gave you your space

and they thought you would come to them when you had everything worked out

until bakugo cane storming into the dorms one day

he was obviously pissed, but his eyes were also a bit glossy

so they all dragged him to kirishima's room since it was closest and asked him was was wrong

💥 "that dumbass quit from making my items."

and they were all kind of shocked

like wtf ??

uhm, for why?

you had assured bakugo that you wouldn't be another one of those losers who resigned because of his eccentric personality

and yet here we are

they spend the rest of the night in kirishima' room comforting bakugo

because he really took it the hardest

like sure the others liked you too,

but bakugo spent the most time with you

and developed a deeper relationship with you than the others

so the next day,

kirishima wants to talk to you

so he goes to the support room and bumps into hatsume as she was walking out

he asks her if you're in

"oh, yeah they are, I'll go get them for you."

this is a lot longer than i thought it would be uhhh oops

so you come out, not knowing it was kirishima asking for you because hatsume was vague

only telling you, "someone wants to talk to you"

like ok specifics??

anyways

you're like. . . oop heyyy. . .

because you knew what he was there for

the two of you don’t say anything for a bit

you’re just staring at your shoes and he’s looking at you with a small frown on his face 

lowkey he’s kinda disappointed in you

so he finally speaks first

“you quit.” 

it’s not a question, or something you were expecting 

but you nod 

there’s another silence 

“why?” 

you fiddle with your fingers for a bit. 

now this was a question you were expecting, though, you didn’t want to answer 

kirishima is a patient boy though, and waits for you to gather the courage to tell him 

he’s not leaving without an answer

“i just-” you begin, “i. . .” 

kirishima is still waiting patiently for your answer 

“i don’t want to be selfish.” 

now he surprised. wdym selfish. please explain.

“it’s just- you all already have such an established relationship and i don’t want to interrupt that. you guys have a schedule. adding myself into the mix would only mess all of that up, and no matter how strong my feelings are for all of you, i could never mess up your relationship like that. it would be so selfish of me to put my feelings before all of yours, so i thought the only way to get rid of these feeling as to distance myself from all of you...” 

“starting with bakugo...” kirishima whispered after your rambling came to an end. 

you nodded 

kiri was at a stand still for a bit 

and it was silent once again in the hall

kiri knew his lovers had feelings for you too, and would have no problem adding you into the relationship, 

but he also knew he couldn’t fore you into anything 

he was about to reassure you that you wouldn’t be interrupting anything and that they would love to have you in the relationship 

but then you were tackled 

to the ground 

by kaminari 

and smacked your head against the floor

really hard

like, you passed out 

ahaha. . .

when you wake up, your head feels like it’s going to split open

and the loud voices aren’t helping 

so you let out a groan, “shut the fuck up...” 

and everything goes silent. 

until someone SCREAMS AGAIN

“YOU’RE AWAKE!” 

it’s kaminari 

bless his soul

poor baby is a bit slow 

so you groan out again and clutch your head

bakugo slaps the back of kaminari’s head

“shut the fuck up, dunce face!” 

he whisper shouts

mina hands you some pain killers recovery girl said you give you when you woke up, and sero hands you a glass of water 

they’re all watching you as you take the pills 

it’s silent for a bit 

and it’s making you anxious, so you fiddle with the empty glass for a bit before bakugo snatches it from you, 

“dumbass...” he muttered as he refilled it and handed it back to you

sero rubs the back of his head, “so...” 

mina pulls at the hem of her sweater, “we heard everything you said to kirishima.” 

kaminari sits next to you on the bed and whispers, “sorry for tackling you. i just got a bit emotional...” 

I'm so sorry this is getting so long 😭😭 i'm trying to wrap this up so if it gets a bit jumbled, my bad

so they all reassyre you you're more than welcome into their relationship and wouldn't be interfering with anything

so you agree

and they're all so happy 🥳🥳

and while everyone is celebrating

(quietly because your head still feels like shit)

bakugo comes up to you

"you better start making my items again, dumbass. those other dipshits in your class don't know what they're doing."

bakugo only said that because they weren't you but he'd never outright say that to you

OK ITS OVER OH MY

IT GOT SO LONG IM SO SORRY LMAO

#imagines #mha #bakugo imagine #mha imagines #bakugo katsuki #bakugo katuski x reader #angst #mha headcanons #headcanons #mina x reader #kirishima x reader #kaminari x reader #sero x reader #mha poly #poly bakusquad #bakugo x reader

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

I would love to see Harry jealous because his wife give a man ( Kindergarten teacher ) a compliment that he deals really well with Stevie.

this got kind of long oops, hope you like it :)

it's kind of cute

warnings: none

word count: 2k

“Time to go, Stevie!” You called, adjusting your coat in the mirror by the door. “Come get your shoes!”

You heard her feet pattering on the hall floor before Harry yelled, jumping out at her and scooping her up. She screamed in delight, laughing as he hoisted her onto his shoulders.

“Look at me!” She yelled, holding her arms out to her sides. “I’m so tall!”

“You are,” you laughed. “Is my tall girl ready to go?”

“I think our tall girl needs some shoes first,” Harry said, lifting her down. “The pink ones or the yellow ones?”

She thought intently before picking up the yellow shoes. She beamed when she got them on the right feet on the first try.

“Good job!” Harry said, reaching down to high-five her. Shoes were a tricky thing to learn. There had been a lot of struggling, but she was finally getting the hang of it.

She smiled, jumping up from the floor. Harry held her coat, helping her slip her arms into the sleeves.

“Let’s go! Come on, mom,” She said, bouncing on her feet. “Go faster!”

“Yeah, mum, hurry up,” Harry said jokingly. You shot him a look, opening the door so Stevie could run to the car.

Harry put his arm around your shoulders as you walked towards the car.

“She’s getting so big,” he commented. “Why can’t she just stay our little baby?”

“Very unfortunate,” you sighed. You made sure Stevie was settled before getting in and buckling your own seatbelt. Harry got in the driver’s seat, starting the car.

“I’m in the mood for some Moana,” he said, handing you his phone before he pulled out of the driveway. “What do you think, Stevie?”

“Moana!” She yelled, eyes lighting up.

You shared a smile with Harry as she began belting out the lyrics.

“I wonder where she got her singing voice?”

“No idea,” he laughed.

-----

He pulled into the school parking lot, stopping the music to grandly announce, “We’re here!”

Stevie gasped in excitement, already fidgeting with her seatbelt. Harry opened her door for her, holding her hand so she could jump down. You took her other hand, swinging her arms between you as you walked toward the school.

“Alright, Stevie, where are we going?” You asked, even though you knew where her classroom was.

“Yeah, we don’t know where it is, you have to help us!” Harry said excitedly. “Lead the way, princess!”

Stevie let go of your hands as she marched down the hall.

“Look at her, so grown up,” he said sadly, taking your now empty hand in his.

“I know, she’s practically an adult. Oh, she’s going to be in middle school soon, and then high school, and then college, and then she’ll be gone,” you said, getting emotional already.

“Wait, wait, we can’t get ahead of ourselves yet, this is a kindergarten parent-teacher conference, we have a few years.”

“Right, you’re right,” you smiled.

“Here it is!” Stevie announced, pointing at the door, which was decorated to look like a box of crayons.

“Oh, how cute!” You said, noting that each crayon was labeled with a student’s name. “Stevie, you’re the yellow one! It matches your shoes!”

“I know!” She said excitedly. “That’s why I wore them!”

“Very smart, Stevie. Very fashionable,” Harry said, ruffling her hair.

He opened the door, allowed both of you to walk in ahead of him.

“Hello! Hi Stevie, it’s good to see you!” Her teacher said, waving you over to his desk.

“Hi Mr. Jeffery!” She said, running over to him. “Is it here?”

“Of course it is! It’s right over there on the drying rack, if you want to show your mom and dad,” he said, pointing across the room.

She ran in the direction he pointed. When she came back, she was carrying a painting of a butterfly.

“Did you make that?” Harry asked, crouching down to inspect her artwork. “Wow, this is amazing, love! We’ll put this on the fridge so everyone can see it,” he promised, smiling.

“Yes, Stevie loves our art projects, don’t you?” Mr. Jeffery asked, smiling when she nodded enthusiastically.

“I have to talk to your mom and dad for a few minutes, Stevie. What would you like to do while we talk?”

“Color!” She said, shoving the butterfly painting into Harry’s arms.

“Alright, do you remember where the crayons are?”

“Yes I do!” She ran over to the art section, busying herself immediately.

“Yes, she’s very into art,” You said, smiling as you and Harry settled into the chairs behind Mr. Jeffery’s desk.

“I’ve noticed! She’s taken a particular interest in painting. Does she do a lot of that at home?”

“Oh, yes,” Harry laughed. “Y/N isn’t so happy with that, though, she’s ruined quite a few shirts.”

“We try to steer her towards more... dry activities,” you said, smiling.

“Well, that’s understandable,” Mr. Jeffery laughed, clicking around on his computer. “So, today I just want to talk about her progress. As you probably know, she does extremely well in several areas. She can do some sight reading, which is not something we see very often at this age. She is also doing very well with her numbers, colors, and shapes.”

Harry beamed as Mr. Jeffery laid out how well Stevie was doing. Of course, he already knew she was the most amazing child in the world, but it was nice to have outside validation.

“That’s great, we tried to expose her to as much reading as we could, we really wanted her to be prepared,” you said.

“You did an excellent job,” he smiled, looking at you.

Harry didn’t like this, even though he knew it was this man’s job to reassure and praise parents. He just didn’t like the way he looked at you. He was smiling a little too much.

“Yes, we did,” Harry said, leaning a little closer to you. He looked at the teacher with a face that was just a little less than friendly.

Mr. Jeffery cleared his throat, turning back to his computer.

“As for her social skills, she is also doing very well there. Aside from the normal kindergarten spats, she has no issues getting along with the other children. She communicates very well with the other teachers and myself. We really don’t have any problems,” he smiled again, this time making sure not to look at you for too long.

“Looks like we did a good job,” you beamed, nudging Harry. His intimidating face dropped and he smiled as he took your hand.

“Look at us go,” he said, looking across the room to where Stevie was still coloring.

“You’re very good with her,” you said, following his gaze. “I know she can be a handful sometimes,” you laughed, turning slightly to Mr. Jeffery.

Harry’s jaw tightened when he saw your face. He knew you were smiling from looking at Stevie, but he still didn’t like how happy Mr. Jeffery looked. He squeezed your hand a little tighter, causing you to shoot him a confused look. He kept his eyes fixed on Stevie, willing himself to stay calm. Y/N hasn’t done anything wrong, he reminded himself.

“No, she’s usually very well behaved,” he said, flipping through his notes. “Again, we’ve had very few problems.”

“I’m glad to hear,” you said, running your other hand up and down Harry’s forearm.

“Well, that’s all I have for you today, unless you have any other questions?” He asked, looking you and Harry. You looked at him, both shaking your heads at the same time.

“I think we’re good,” you said, turning back to him with a smile.

“Alright, well it was good to see you today,” Mr. Jeffery said, standing to shake hands with you. Harry watched intently, not blinking until the man pulled away from you. When he reached for him, Harry made sure to squeeze a little tighter than necessary. Not too hard. Just enough to make him nervous.

“If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact me,” he said, smiling tightly.

“Yes, we’ll do that,” Harry said, not breaking eye contact. Finally, Mr. Jeffery stepped away to get Stevie. Harry moved his arm to rest over your shoulders again, smiling at Stevie when she skipped over.

“Did you make us a pretty drawing?” He asked, removing his arm to bend down. “Absolutely gorgeous,” he beamed. “Another one for the fridge, I think!”

Stevie giggled, taking your hand as she turned to wave at her teacher.

“Bye Mr. Jeffery! See you later,” she said, completely unaware of how tense Harry was behind her.

Harry placed his hand on your back, shepherding you both out of the room. Once the door was closed, you stepped away to look at him.

“Are you alright?” You asked, concerned at how tight his face was. “You’re not acting like yourself.”

Harry shook his head, flicking his eyes towards Stevie, trying to communicate not now.

You frowned, but silently agreed, taking his hand as you walked down the hall.

Harry was quiet the entire ride home. He didn’t sing along to the Disney music, even when Stevie yelled out “everybody!” before the big chorus. This was concerning. He usually sang even when Stevie didn’t want him to, and he could normally never resist her cheering him on. Something was definitely wrong, but you could tell he didn’t want to talk about it right now.

It couldn’t be that bad, though, because he was still holding your hand like he had been since you left Mr. Jeffery’s room. He had only let go of you when you had to get in the car.

Once you got home, Stevie ran off to her room, yelling something about “a tea party with Mr. Snuffles!”

“Harry?” You asked gently, approaching your husband. His back was facing you and his hands were braced against the counter. “Harry, really, what happened? Did I do something?”

“No,” he turned around quickly. “No, I’m sorry,” he said, reaching for you. You wrapped your arms around him, listening to his deep breathing as he held you.

“Ok, then what’s the problem? You looked so mad when we were talking to Mr. Jeffery,” you said. “What?” You asked again when felt him tense up at your words.

“Nothing, it’s just- it’s stupid,” he said, shaking his head.

“Harry, nothing that upsets you this much is stupid.”

“It’s just- ugh,” he groaned, dropping his head to rest in the crook of your neck. “I just hated how he looked at you.”

“You- what?” You said, pulling back. He looked at you, embarrassed.

“I told you it’s stupid,” he said, blushing. “I just didn’t like how you were talking to him, saying how good he was with Stevie, and how happy he looked. I don’t know, it’s dumb,” he mumbled, looking at the floor.

“Hey, come on,” you said, taking his hands in yours. “I don’t think it’s dumb.”

“No?” He asked, looking at you again.

“No, it’s not,” you said, smiling. “It’s kind of cute.”

“It’s not cute,” he said grumpily. “I feel like a child.”

“You’re not a child,” you promised, standing on your tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “Maybe a little immature, but-“

“You’re so mean!” He exclaimed, laughing. “I’m so nice to you, and you repay me how? By hurting my feelings.”

“I’m sorry,” you smiled, kissing his cheek again.

“I’ll forgive you,” he said, pulling back to look at you. “But only if you give me a kiss.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

#Harry Styles #harry styles/reader #harry styles/you #harry styles/reader fanfiction #harry styles/you fanfiction #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you fanfiction #harry styles x reader fanfiction #stevie #stevie fics #one direction #one direction fanfiction #dad!harry

[deviliciousdev]

MBTI✨The Three NT Amigos 🤓😏😎

random convo over lunch🧂🌮🍹🌤🌆

intp (the logician)

x

entj (the commander)

couple

ft. entp (the debater) best friend

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

[midday on a patio at a bar & grill]

[intp and entp standing at a high table, while entj is in the bathroom]

entp: so did you ever answer enfp, about being a guest on their podcast?

intp: not yet i told them i have to check my schedule.

entp: you don't keep schedules any further then like 4 days in advance, if that.

intp: i know, i'm just avoiding answering them.

entp: oh, then just lie and say you have to work, or better yet just blame entj.

intp: you want me to make my significant other, the love of this/MY life, the bad guy, by lying, just to get out of helping a friend with their passion project??

entp: yeah, why do you have some moral dilemma about that??

intp: no, i'm just trying to get the order correct.

entp: oh yeah, just tell enfp, hey so entj doesn't like your podcast, and thinks you're tacky, so i'm gonna avoid any unnecessary situations. [eats a large chip with salsa on it, crunches loudly]

intp: wait so what's the lie?

entp: AHAHA

intp: [chuckles as they take a sip of their mojito] 😄

[entj comes back from the bathroom]

intp: [pushes up sunglasses] hey get this enfp wants me to be on their podcast next week.

entj: ugh god, that crap fest of incoherent ramblings of the deranged mind. 🤮

intp: [snaps and and points at entj, with a huge closed mouth smile looking at entp] 😎 👉

entj: [takes big gulp of margarita] i seriously don't understand how someone can make a show so eccentric and chaotic yet so mediocre at the same time.

intp & entp: [both chuckling]😄😆

entp: i actually like it. makes no sense, kinda offensive, but like to no one in specific. if we were in New York, it'd be considered retrospective preformance art. 🤷‍♂️/🤷‍♀️

entj: ughhhh, exactly. awful. i went to college in New York, ok. and if i hear [in a nasally voice] "what is art" one more time i will commit murder.

intp: [dying laughing so hard it's silent] 😂💀💀

entj: [chugs, finishing margarita]🍹| it's like, for fucksake WE KNOW WHAT ART IS. 🙄 it's paintings/photography of naked women, sailboats, and city scapes. [licks off salt rim and bites lime slice] 👅🍈

intp: [still dying laughing silently, shakes head and mouths, what the fuck, at entp] 💀🤣

entp: wow. [huffs in humor]

entj: [checks phone 📱 ] oh god damn it, i have to go, my boss wants me on a zoom meeting with him and some reps from our Tokyo office.

intp: oh ok, don't worry about lunch, it's on me.

entj: oh i already paid, i put our tab on my amex black card.

entp: [chokes on their old fashion] 🥃😵 you have a fuckin' black card?? you're not even 30 yet, wtf??

entj: [winks, and grabs their stuff off table] 😉

intp: [to entj] [sarcastically] awww schucks, my sugar baby character trait has been fulfilled. ☺️

entj: [gives intp a kiss on the cheek and starts to leave] 💋

intp: [whispers to entp] check it out i'm gonna embarrass entj. [loudly] HEY [calls entj by their last name] [entj turns around with a smirk and confused eyebrows] AFTER SCHOOL! BEHIND THE BLEACHERS! BE THERE OR BE SQUARE, NERD!

entj: [squints eyes in confusion with a wide smile] are you threatening me to fight you, or inviting me to a make out sesh 🧐

intp: [looks from side to side for moment]👀 ... yes.👉

entj: for sure 😏 [makes a quick kiss sound and leaves]😘

entp: what just happened.

intp: idk, did i win??

entp: well lunch is free and i'm pretty sure you're gonna have sex later... sooo... yes?

intp: sweet.

#mbti #16 personalities #based on true events #mbti memes #mbti humor #mbti friendships #mbti couples #intp x entp best friends #intp x entj couple #intp x entj #entp x entj #entj #entp #intp #intj #enfj #enfp #infj #infp #estj #estp #istp #istj #esfj #esfp #isfj #isfp #mbti convos #intuitives #thinkers

[keichanz]

Mistake

kay so i really don't care if some of this doesn't make sense because this is the first thing i've written in a while that i don't absolutely hate. well this version at least. ending up scraping the first draft because it just seemed wrong and went in a different direction. im glad i did cause im happy with it.

anyway i realize that this may not get much feedback because i took a different approach to it, aka the entire pov is from an OC but i can't bring myself to care too much because i wrote this purely for myself. got inspired, started writing, and i actually liked the content i was writing. end of.

btw the oc doesn't refer to inuyasha as a half-demon because he's unaware he is one and i was too lazy to delve into those waters anyhow.

also for the sake of this oneshot pls dont look too closely at the ranks of diplomat and ambassador. i was too lazy to put much research regarding positions of power so just...go with it.

inspired by @stillunderyourbed​'s art that can be found here.

It was…quaint. Smaller than what he'd expected. The housing structures looked subpar, there didn't appear to be any wooden walkways, and he could detect the distinct odor or fish in the air with hints of manure. There even seemed to be a perpetual dust cloud hovering at about waist high, thickening from the numerous carts, wagons, horses, and villagers kicking up dirt as they went about their daily lives. Already he felt like there was a layer of dust caked on the inside of his lungs and he wasn't even inside yet.

All in all, it was your typical countryside village, home to simple folk that made a living off of fishing, farming, and trade. The diplomat sneered in disgust. For being the rumored home of the creature strong enough to destroy the despicable Naraku, the village was…less than impressive. And to say that he was underwhelmed would be a vast understatement.

Shifting atop his mount, a chestnut gelding that had been his faithful companion for the last four years, Takeji frowned as he surveyed the sight before him. It was early afternoon, so men were out working in the fields, women were chatting amongst themselves as they laundered clothing at the river, and children were running about, playing and laughing while dogs barked at their heels. He could see the great red torii gate and the stone staircase that led to the shrine and he could hardly refrain from rolling his eyes.

The village was obviously poor, possibly even teetering on the edge of poverty, and instead of feeding themselves for a good long while, they decided to construct that monstrosity. He would never understand the minds of simple common folk. Daft. All of them.

Barely keeping himself from scowling, Takeji reluctantly climbed off his mount and forced himself to move forward into the pathetic excuse for a village. Already he knew he would have to burn his expensive attire; there would be no getting the dust and stench out of it after his ghastly visit. A visit he had not wanted to make, but being a highly revered and prestigious diplomat, it was his duty to travel to far off lands in hopes of establishing a profitable relationship that would ultimately benefit his homeland.

Although, looking around and fighting against the urge to retch at both the nauseating stench and the mere sight of all the unwashed villagers milling around, Takeji wondered not for the first time why he even bothered to accept this task. True, it was said the slayer of Naraku did hail from here, but surely having his homeland associated with this hovel would garner nothing but loss. So why had he agreed to come?

Oh, yes, he mused, grimacing as he stepped over a large manure pile right in the middle of the road. Because apparently, being all chummy with the nation's hero will allow us to have him at our beck and call, because who doesn't want a powerful demon capable of slaying the most evil demon in all of existence as an intimidating presence during negotiations, and let's not forget he alone would be equal to about one hundred soldiers in battle.

Rolling his eyes, Takeji tied his mount to a hitching post, withdrew his satchel with all the necessary paperwork, and set about finding this Inuyasha fellow. He'd been told the demon wore scarlet robes, carried a sword at his hip, and had white hair so no doubt he would stick out like a sore thumb amongst the droll browns and grays of the common folk, which suited him just fine. The sooner he was done, the sooner he could leave because there was no way he was staying even a second more in this village than he had to. Even if the next inn was hours away, he'd make the journey; the inn here was probably as unclean and riddled with bed bugs or something. Ugh. How vile.

Shrugging the satchel over his shoulder, Takeji bit back a groan, sighed, and hadn't even made it a single step before the sound of screaming froze him in his tracks. He gasped and immediately started looking for the danger, body tense, preparing to hop back onto his steed lightning fast and make a hasty getaway.

But as he looked around with wide eyes and a frantically beating heart, Takeji couldn't help but notice that he was the only one that appeared to have heard the sound of terror. The villagers were just continuing to go about their day, calm as you please, either severely deaf or completely uncaring. Takeji was beginning to wonder if he was perhaps hearing things when it happened again, a high-pitched sound that he realized with dread belonged to a child.

Takeji gaped. A child was in danger and nobody cared?! What kind of village was this?! Another shriek pierced the air, and Takeji made a decision. Very well; if these imbeciles weren't going to do anything about it, then he himself would see to the danger. While by no means a swordsman or warrior, he did have some weapons training he could fall back on for this precise reason. Traveling alone was dangerous, and you never knew what you would encounter.

Resolved, the diplomat set his jaw, unsheathed the dagger at his waist, and darted toward the direction the screams were coming from. He meandered between houses, hoped over lazing dogs, dodged startled villagers in his path, and he came into a small clearing by the forest's edge. The sight that greeted him was…not what he expected.

Coming up short, Takeji watched with a befuddled frown as one child chased around two other, slightly older looking children. One might think they were playing a game of sorts, and the diplomat started to believe that was indeed the case…until the one doing the chasing, clad in red, suddenly jumped high into the air, over the heads of the other two children, and landed before them with hands raised.

Hands, Takeji noticed with growing dread and disgust, tipped with claws on each finger and he quickly realized what exactly was happening. That wicked little demon brat, that creature was toying with those helpless children! It was keeping them trapped, preventing them from running away by leaping over their heads and blocking their route of escape! They screamed, the demon child laughed, and so potent was his fury, so enraged was he for the fact that the villagers apparently did not care about what was happening right beneath their noses, Takeji failed to notice the wide smiles on all three of the young one's faces. The blood pounding in his ears prevented him from hearing the gleeful giggles as the two human kids scrambled away from the one clad in red, and without another thought, Takeji moved.

"Run, children!" Takeji ordered as he hurled himself into the clearing, dagger raised as he charged toward the demon brat with a baleful glare. "I will take care of his filthy animal!"

All three children froze in place, eyes wide as Takeji inserted himself between the two human children - twin girls, he idly noted - and the demon spawn that dared raised its claws toward them. The brat stared up at him with big brown eyes and it - she - actually looked confused. Takeji scowled. He would not fall for such a ploy.

"I will not allow you to harm them," he spat and pointed his dagger at her. The child blinked at him and then looked behind him at the two girls who still had not taken the chance to flee. In shock, perhaps? Stunned? No matter; they were safe, so long as he stood between them and the threat.

The demon child made a face and started to walk around him, completely disregarding the weapon trained on her, but Takeji shifted and stopped her once more. He heard the two behind him whispering as the spawn looked up at him once again, this time frowning at him with narrowed eyes. And was that a growl he heard? He snorted. Was she actually trying to appear threatening? Pathetic.

Scowling, Takeji lifted a foot, placed it on her stomach, and shoved. The demon gasped as she stumbled back and then landed on her behind with a small grunt. He heard a gasp from behind him, urgent whispering, and then hurried scrambling. A glance over his shoulder told him they'd finally gotten wise and ran away. He nodded. Good. Now he could deal with this vermin without innocent eyes to bear witness.

But as he stared down at the pathetic sight before him, Takeji wondered maybe if such measures would even be necessary. The beast was still lying where she had fallen and was staring up at him with wide eyes brimming with…wait. What? Were those tears? Oh, you have got to be joking.

Rolling his eyes, the diplomat scoffed at the pathetic play for mercy and careless waved his dagger at her. The child actually flinched and followed the blade with her gaze, wariness clear in her eyes. Well. It appeared her self-preservation instincts have finally kicked in.

"Cease your theatrics," Takeji drawled, unimpressed. "They do not fool me. Now lucky for you, demon spawn, the pathetic sight you project has made me decide to spare your life. Your tainted blood is not worthy enough to soil my blade, so I will say this only one and you would do well to heed this warning, beast."

Hardening his stare and curling his lip into a sneer, Takeji spat, "Leave this place at once and do not return. There is no place for the likes of you, an abomination that preys on helpless children. Now get out of my sight, afore I kill you on principle. Your vile presence disgusts me."

The child grunted and Takeji watched, stone faced, as she got to her feet. Then to his surprise the little demon balled her hands into fists at her sides and glared at him, but the effect was ruined by the tears he could clearly see brimming her eyes. He cocked a brow, unmoved. She sniffled once, twice, and then to his utter surprise and bafflement, her face suddenly crumbled, her lower lip trembled, and she promptly burst into loud tears before spinning on her heel and running away.

"P-Papaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Takeji frowned. Papa? Were the brat's kin nearby, then? Body tense and weapon raised, he waited, prepared to either fight or flee - because he wasn't a fool and knew when he was in over his head - but when no demons came bursting out of the tree line, Takeji slowly relaxed.

Bewildered and more than a little annoyed at the whole debacle - what a waste of time! - the diplomat scoffed in derision as he turned to watch the little demon brat scurry away. And then right at that exact moment, a figure donned in red dropped to the ground seemingly out of nowhere and Takeji felt a wave of relief sweep through him. Finally! This had to be his demon quarry.

Nodding, Takeji stepped forward and opened his mouth to call out a greeting—

And then froze in his tracks as the greeting abruptly died on his tongue. Because the little demon girl, the one he'd just pointed his weapon at and shoved to the ground, ran straight to the figure robed in red and Takeji could do naught but watch with a growing sense of horrified dread as the older demon knelt down to take the child into his arms.

All color promptly drained from his face and Takeji suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He glanced behind the pair and he was somehow not at all surprised to find the twin girls from earlier glaring at them and holding onto the skirts of their mother with a monk garbed in violet robes beside her. They too were staring at him in a not so friendly manner, but upon returning his gaze to the two demons, Takeji numbly thought that if looks could kill, he would surely be dead by now.

Because the demon robed in red - which was now unmistakably the child's father and none other than Inuyasha, the demon he'd come here for - was glaring absolute murder at him and it was obvious that he was. Not. Pleased.

Takeji swallowed and unconsciously backed up a step. With one small hand fisting her father's robes, the child had the other pointing an accusatory finger at him as she no doubt recited to him their earlier…ah, exchange. Inuyasha said nothing in response, but he didn't need to. The deep, nearly subsonic growl that erupted from his mouth, complete with fully bared fangs in a truly fearsome snarl, told him very clearly of his thoughts on his daughter's mistreatment by him.

Which, if Takeji had to guess, were not very Takeji-friendly. At all.

Somehow managing to fight against the urge to flee, Takeji swallowed hard as Inuyasha pushed to his feet and stalked toward him with that same murderous look on his face. Something told him, perhaps some deeply rooted self-preservation instinct, that if he even tried to run right then, it would not end well for him. So he remained where he was and tried valiantly to control the trembling in his body as he slowly, very slowly, tucked his dagger back from whence it came.

Inuyasha stopped in front of him and Takeji cleared his throat before attempting a placating smile, but it looked more like a grimace than anything. "Ah…I assume you are…In—"

One second Takeji was staring into the scowling features of one pissed off dog demon. The next there was a bright flash of light and then he was staring at the business end of a very large and very sharp sword. With the tip just a hair's breadth away from his nose, Takeji gasped sharply and stumbled back a step out of instinct.

Sweet merciful heavens! How—?

"Usually I'd ask who the fuck you are," the demon growled, his eyes twin slits of baleful gold. "But honestly, I can't really bring myself to care enough to know the name of the asshole who threatened my daughter when she was doing nothing but playing with her friends."

Takeji blanched for the second time and he could actually feel himself breaking out in a cold sweat. He fucked up. Oh dear god he'd fucked up so bad—

"There's—there's been a misunderstanding," Takeji tried in a voice higher than usual, raising his hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture as he eyed the very sharp point of that blade. "I—I admit I've made a grave mistake—"

"Shut the fuck up and tell me why I shouldn't gut you where you stand," Inuyasha hissed, lips feeling back off his fangs in another fierce snarl. With his ears pinned back and those golden eyes glaring absolute death at him, the demon made quite the menacing picture. Takeji had the brief, if a bit ludicrous thought, that perhaps the demon Naraku perished from the sheer animosity that was coming off of the silver-haired demon in waves.

Swallowing once, twice, Takeji realized that he only had his quick wit to get him out of his certain predicament. So bracing himself, he opened his mouth—

"He's from the continent, Inuyasha. You can't hurt him."

Startled hazel eyes swung toward the source of the voice but amber eyes stayed locked on their target, the only acknowledgment of the voice a flick of an ear.

The owner of the voice the human diplomat could only presume was the child's mother, as the child in question was standing behind her legs and was actually smirking at him. He frowned.

"You're from Shenshi," the woman remarked and Takeji swung his gaze back to her. "Right?"

Though her expression wasn't openly friendly, it wasn't exactly unfriendly either, however the human diplomat still felt he needed to tread carefully. Because while her face didn't betray anything, her stare was hard and her mouth had tightened into a thin, flat line. She had one hand on her daughter's head while the other clutched a longbow, and belatedly he realized she had a quiver of arrows slung across her back. He barely held in a flinch as he realized this was one of the demon's companions that had assisted in slaying Naraku, possibly the young woman in which Inuyasha held a more meaningful relationship.

A much more meaningful relationship, if the child currently glaring daggers at him was anything to go by since she was more or less living proof of it.

Wonderful. So he'd gone and threatened the only child of two of the most powerful beings in Japan. Clearly he'd stepped over the wrong grave and pissed somebody off.

Clearing his throat and aiming a strained smile toward the woman who was still awaiting his reply, Takeji nodded once. "Ah, y-yes, my lady. I'm—"

"The diplomat Ambassador Sharaku sent to convince Inuyasha to join his ranks so he'd have the support and protection of 'The Great Slayer of Naraku.'" The woman raised a delicate brow at him. "How am I doing so far?"

Takeji had the good grace to look a mite sheepish. "Ah…well—"

"You can't kill him, Inuyasha," she repeated and Takeji thought she sounded disappointed. "If he goes missing, the ambassador will send his troops to find out what happened or if he returns injured, it could be taken as an insult and you can imagine what would happen after that. You would risk mine or Moroha's life like that, and you know it."

Inuyasha growled but said nothing to refute her words, so Takeji assumed he agreed.

"He threatened her, Kagome," the demon spat, inching the blade closer to his throat and Takeji flinched. "Called her a fucking animal, shoved her down, and waved a goddamn dagger in her face! You can't honestly expect me to let that—"

"Papa," the child - Moroha - suddenly said, successfully stalling her father's angry tirade. A quick glance revealed the girl, still sticking close to her mother, was staring at the older demon with big brown eyes, bright with the threat of tears as she worried her bottom lip. And evidently the sight was enough to calm the raging storm of Inuyasha's fury because he grimaced, released a low growl, and then Takeji watched in stunned amazement as the massive sword suddenly transformed into a rusty katana before it was sheathed at his hip.

With a weapon no longer at his throat, Takeji could breathe a little easier and he released a breath he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding. But then he sucked it right back in when Inuyasha suddenly stepped in close and got in his face, a low, threatening growl leaking past rightly clenched teeth bared in another snarl. Golden eyes bore into his own, filled with a lethal warning that had the human male's back straightening and his blood to run cold in his veins.

"You listen carefully, asshole," Inuyasha hissed, glaring so heatedly it was a wonder Takeji didn't burst into flame. "Don't you dare think that my wife's words have any sort of sway over my decision to spare your pathetic life. I'm not scared of your weakling ambassador and I sure as hell ain't scared of his little human army. No, the only reason that I let you live is because I don't want my daughter, the one you foolishly threatened when she had done nothing wrong, to see me sully my hands with your disgusting blood when I reduce you to nothing more than a bloody smear on the ground."

Takeji paled and swallowed thickly. That particular image was…not pleasant.

Inuyasha watched the color drain from his face. Satisfied, he sneered before saying in a growl filled with sinister promise, "Now get the fuck outta my village and if you ever touch my daughter again, I'll gut you so fast you won't even have time to fucking scream."

Then with that, Inuyasha leveled him with one last dark scowl before spinning on his heel and stalking away, a clear dismissal. Neither mother nor daughter even spared the frozen human male a glance as Inuyasha paused to pick his daughter up into his arms before striding away, his wife close to one side and his friends on the other.

From over his shoulder, Takeji could only watch in a mixture of shock and befuddlement as the little demon girl named Moroha smirked and then stuck her tongue out at him, safe and sound in her father's arms.

Left standing in a state of numb bewilderment, Takeji blinked, looked down at himself, and had the passing thought that it was a very good thing he'd decided to wear brown trousers that day.

#mistake #inuyasha fanfiction #inuyasha #inukag #moroha #oneshot #keizfanfiction #papayasha to the rescuuuuue #i deliberately did not tag anybody in this and no i will not say why #and yes i did use sharaku because it sounds like naraku #listen dont fuck with his wife or kid #you will die #if you dont understand that last sentence #tough shit im not explaining it lmao

[cosmicpines]

code july day 1 - future

au where jeremie's anti-xana program didn't work, taking place half a year after.

“Do’ya think we should start future-proofing our whole situation?” Odd was the first one to speak out loud in at least a half an hour, his voice echoing around the computer lab.

It was late. Not just “it’s a school night, we should turn off the Playstation” late, but “sunrise is in an hour” late. Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita were crowded on the couch – a fairly new addition to the lab that William and Odd had dragged over a mile to the factory after finding it on the street, a several-hour long affair that left them both sore for a week – blearily staring at chunky school-loaned laptop screens with piles of overdue library books on the floor in front of them. Odd and William were across the room, hunched over an oversized posterboard, surrounded by an accoutrement of Odd’s art supplies and printed out sheets of paper. What was keeping them up was potentially world-ending, but not in the usual way; instead of an evil AI, it was a history project due at 10 AM.

It wasn’t entirely their fault they didn’t start earlier – saving the world was a full-time job, afterall – but it’s not like they could give an excuse to Mr. Fumet that he would have believed. As the clock ticked over to 4, the prospect of having to pull the trigger on a return trip to finish loomed over them. They had already done it once, blearily uploading PowerPoint slides to the supercomputer to save them, giving Yumi an apologetic phone call in the morning. She was used to the disorienting resets at this point, having done them for half a year after graduating and moving across the country, but they usually texted ahead of time to warn her. She was sympathetic over the phone – she always was – but she was definitely irritated about having to retake an exam. They didn’t want to put her through that again and, besides, they couldn’t exactly keep the poster board from getting erased to time.

“Future-proofing the fact half of us might fail history?” Ulrich grumbled in response from across the room, leaning against the armrest of the couch. His eyes were glazed over in a stupor as he clicked idly around on the screen.

“Ulrich, are you done with your slides yet?” Aelita spat at him, now that the silent spell was broken, “I want to start stitching them together.”

“Uh… no.” Ulrich glanced at her, subtly turning his screen away from her piercing gaze, “Gimme ten more minutes? I’m almost there.”

Aelita clicked her tongue, probably remembering the last promise of the slides “in ten minutes.” She turned to her left and nudged Jeremie, “How about you – oh my god, Jeremie, can you focus?”

“Huh?” He looked up, and guiltly alt-tabbed back to a blank PowerPoint slide. “Sorry, I was just… I had a breakthrough about the bug in the Skid and I was…” He trailed off under her glare, “Sorry.”

Aelita clutched the side of her head, groaning. “Is it too late to go back to living on Lyoko where I don’t have to care about World War I and don’t need sleep?”

“Me too, thanks.” William muttered at Odd’s side, aggressively erasing a sentence on the poster, “Being XANA’s slave was less painful than this.”

He let out a bitter laugh, then raised his head, half smirk fading at the frozen-in-terror looks on his friend’s faces, “Sorry. Too soon?”

Odd, as he so often did, interrupted the awkward silence before people could make it worse, “Future-proofing us, is what I meant. Thanks for asking!” Nobody humored him as the typing across the room started back up and William started writing again, “Look, I’m just saying; we’re not getting any younger.” He brandished a red marker, filling in bubble letters on the top of the poster, “Yumi graduated. We’ve only got a semester left at Kadic –,”

“Could just all repeat a year like I did.” William grimaced. “And might again.”

Ulrich snorted, “Odd and I are probably on track for that.”

“Cheers,” William said, raising his pencil like a glass, without looking up, “Join the failure club.”

“BUT,” Odd interrupted, “Assuming we don’t! Because this presentation is going to be incredible,” That one earned a snort from everyone in the room (which was fair), “We’ll need someone who can do our jobs if we have to leave the good fight. Lyoko Warriors, the Next Generation! Kadic’s Next Top Lyoko Warriors!” He chuckled at himself, standing up, “We should put an ad in the paper: ‘Want a challenging, world-altering job? Come down to the abandoned factory!’” He hummed to himself, tapping his chin, “Our criteria would have to be strict. Can you imagine getting someone like, I dunno, Johnny? So, Johnny. Please, tell me: what’s your greatest fear? Giant crabs, you say? Why yes, that’s both oddly specific and also a dealbreaker. Next!”

Odd looked up, laughing, waiting for his friends to join in – Ulrich telling him he was being dumb, Aelita offering some other students and joking with him about their interviews, William making a snide remark about how he didn’t get an interview, a silent, but appreciative smirk from Jeremie – but got nothing. Jeremie’s head was buried in his laptop, and Aelita was – Aelita was glaring at him?

“What?” He asked her, but she said nothing, just raised an eyebrow in a you know what’s wrong look. Odd clearly didn’t, and turned to Ulrich for a clue, but Ulrich wasn’t giving him anything; he was just back to sulking, staring at his laptop. Odd ran through what he said again in his head, trying to find the offending phrase, when William punched him in the leg. “Hey –,” Odd started, ready to give a snappy retort, before seeing William was urgently tapping at the poster, where he’d just written something. Odd crouched down to read it.

you’re upsetting jeremie.

Odd glanced back at Einstein across the room, whose face was impassive, just typing away. Looking closer, though, he could see Jeremie had all the appearances of someone trying valiantly to pretend they weren’t upset – hunched shoulders, scrunched up face, not a single glance away from the screen. Aelita had stopped glaring to put a hand on Jeremie’s shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

Ugh. Odd sighed, wondering if he would have to apologize for just trying to lighten the mood. How was anything he said upsetting to Jeremie? He reached over for a pencil to respond to William, scribbling down on the poster.

Can’t he take a joke?

idk. Guess he thinks you’re blaming him.

Blaming him?? For what???? bro when did I even say anything like that??

you didn’t. don’t bro me bro. not my fault

Odd underlined his first bro, giving William a smile. William rolled his eyes before rubbing out their conversation with an eraser. Odd turned back to his coloring job and took a breath, surprised to see it come in shaky. It’s not your fault he’s upset, he thought to himself, pulling the cap off his marker. It’s fine. He leaned over to finish his coloring before noticing his hands were shaking. He clenched them, angrily. It wasn’t his fault Jeremie was upset. He was fine. Not his fault if Jeremie wanted to over-react. He’ll get over it and… where were the scissors?

He dug around their supplies for them, then, picking up a pile of pictures of historic figures, streaked from the bad library printer, took a pair of trembling scissors to extracting them. They were nearly done. One more section and they’d be done. One more and they could go to bed and Jeremie would get over whatever he was upset about and it was fine and it would all go away and it was fine it wasn’t his fault and –

“I’m working as hard as I can,” Odd felt a bit in his stomach open up as Jeremie spoke in a quiet, bitter voice. Odd stared pointedly down at the poster, blinking rapidly to try and assuage the pressure building behind his eyes, “I know we screwed up by not finishing before Yumi graduated, okay? I’m just… It’s a lot to figure out and I’m trying?! Is that not enough for – No. No, I know it’s not enough – I know I’m keeping us from having a normal life and it’s my fault William had to repeat a year and… and I –,” Jeremie’s breath caught, and Odd finally dared to turn his eyes to him, seeing his friend aggressively rubbing his eyes under his glasses, “I – I don’t mean to – look! It’s hard, alright?! It’s hard and I – I’m just so tired all the time and I’m sorry that we’re still awake for this too and that I –,” His voice finally broke as he started crying in earnest, his fist coming down on the side of the couch. Odd wanted to turn back to his work and brush it off, but the guilt clenching his stomach wasn’t letting go.

Hesitantly, Aelita put her hand on his shoulder again, “Jeremie…” but he shook it off again, turning away from her. She persisted. “It’s not your fault. We know you’re working –,”

“And it’s not enough! I’ve been working at this for years and I just I can’t come up with anything to defeat XANA –,”

“You had a lot of other things you needed to do first.”

He didn’t mean to, Odd was sure, but Ulrich’s eyes flickered to William for just a moment, and William’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh, are we doing this now?” William grumbled, dropping his pencil. “Jeremie, you’re fine. Look, I’m sorry. Again. You don’t think I don’t regret every moment that I didn’t listen like a fucking idiot –” Jeremie, despite being wracked with tears, winced at the swear, earning a brief hint of a smile from Odd, “ – and got myself captured? Who then was a thorn in your asses for months? No. I get it. You’d probably be rid of XANA already if it wasn’t for me; you’ve made that crystal clear.”

“That’s not what I –,” Aelita glared at him, “You of all people should understand that I would never blame you for being trapped on Lyoko.”

“It’s not you that is. It’s him.” He jerked his thumb at Ulrich, who glared back at him.

“I’m not,” Ulrich muttered, “Cut it out.”

“Oh yeah? What did that look mean then, huh?”

“I didn’t –,”

“You blame me, and we all know it. You’re just butt-hurt over Yumi still, even though you had plenty of chances –,”

“Okay, that’s it.” Ulrich sat up straighter, “Maybe you’re still using Yumi as a scapegoat in all our arguments, but I’m done with that. Maybe I was an ass to you before because of her, but I don’t blame you for XANA, William. I never have. I was over it before you even joined,” He scowled at the ground, Jeremie’s crying filling the brief silence. “It was probably my fault you got captured in the first place. I wasn’t there because I had to talk to my stupid Dad and it was my job to tell Odd and I didn’t make sure – hell, even before that! Who was it that couldn’t protect Aelita back when XANA escaped from the supercomputer in the first place? If she hadn’t been alone, the Scyphozoa wouldn’t have gotten her, and XANA wouldn’t have escaped, and we would have been done.”

“Come on,” Aelita crossed her arms, turning away from Jeremie to the boy on her other side, “You’re being ridiculous. Half of that isn’t your fault.”

Odd wanted to chime in that it was Sam’s fault she didn’t listen to Ulrich, but his voice was still missing in action, his throat tight and unresponsive.

“I should have been able to protect myself,” Aelita continued, “It wasn’t your responsibility –,”

Jeremie laughed suddenly, hurt and bitter, “Protect yourself how? You couldn’t protect yourself because I was dragging my feet on giving you a proper weapon –,”

“We’ve talked about this!” She said, “We agreed it was more worth your time to work on an antivirus!”

“For a virus that didn’t exist! If I had just double checked –,”

“Double checked what? The faulty data you were being fed? There was nothing you could have done! If you want to blame anyone, blame me. Maybe it – maybe helping me made sense at first, when things were able to be stopped at a moment’s notice. But then even when you got me to Earth it wasn’t over, and things got worse, things got more dangerous – when we realized XANA could escape? That we couldn’t just turn it off with a switch? That – that should have been it.” Her voice dropped as she took a shaky breath, “You should have just let me turn the supercomputer off.”

“You were ALWAYS worth the risk, Aelita!” Odd finally snapped, terror shooting through his heart at the broken look on her face, the implications of her words, “You… you matter to us more than anything! Look, I’m sorry for bringing this all up, alright? I thought we could just joke around about running Lyoko Warrior interviews! I didn’t mean to get everyone upset. And speaking of! Jeez! All of you are such downers on yourselves! There’s like, a billion different things that could have happened!” He held out a hand, ticking them off, “Maybe William might not have gotten captured and instead XANA got Yumi or anyone else! Maybe, I dunno, Ulrich saved Aelita temporarily but then XANA tossed him in the digital sea! Maybe Jeremie could have noticed that Aelita didn’t have a virus sooner, and XANA just made a move sooner! Maybe – maybe – maybe if you had just let Kiwi be virtualized normally and not fuse with me he would have been a great Lyoko Warrior and would have bit the Scyphozoa and killed XANA! We don’t know, alright? I’m just trying to say that – ugh, forget it! Sorry! Jeez!”

Odd rubbed at his eyes, surrendering to the frustrated and exhausted stream of tears that leaked out of them. All of them, all of this – he kept trying to play superhero, to pretend that everything was going to be alright like in the movies, but in his heart he had to admit that this was starting to feel futile. Aelita’s virus, XANA’s escape from the supercomputer, William’s capture, Jeremie’s first botched attempt at his anti-XANA program, Franz Hopper’s sacrifice, Yumi’s graduation, their failure to stop space station from falling, Jeremie’s second anti-XANA program getting stolen by the AI, and now the looming threat of their own graduation… he wanted to be joking about needing to interview new Lyoko Warriors, really, but if graduation took them away from the factory… away from each other…

A hand landed on his shoulder, he realized he didn’t need to know who it was to press his own on top of it, to squeeze it and feel loved, as more hands, more friends, found their way to his other shoulder, to his back.

“I’m sorry, Jeremie,” he said, “And everyone else. I didn’t mean to –,”

“Don’t,” came a muttered reply from Jeremie, “We’re all acting tired and stupid. I shouldn’t have yelled. I knew you didn’t mean it.”

Odd let out an exhausted laugh, rubbing his eyes of the last of the tears, looking up and seeing his friends around him, “How late is it?”

“Too late,” Ulrich replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket, “We’ve got… three hours until classes start.”

A collective groan broke the spell over the room. Odd looked under his feet to the almost-finished-poster. Silently, all of them returned to their working positions. Odd kneeled down to finish gluing down the last of the faces to the poster. As the lull of busy work started taking over his mind, William nudged him.

“Sorry, I, uh…” William looked uncharacteristically bewildered, “This must have happened while I was – did you say Kiwi fused with you?”

#i am well aware that it is long past day one LOL #we'll see what else i get to #my intent going into this was to write exactly what odd wanted to joke about but then i realized that was kinda fucked up #codejuly #codejuly21 #code lyoko #i swear ill write fluff next i promise #mary blabs

[cellsshapedlikestars]

Robot Jon! ☺️

(ok, I've been off tumblr for a few days, but I went on early this morning and had an ask with a bunch of prompts because I said I'd be taking a break from my Bachelor fic - which is true, if not for another 3 chapters yet. I haven't answered that ask because I'll lose it and therefore the prompts, but it reminded me that I still had two prompts left from when I asked for them back in... December? I'm the worst. Anyway, I re-looked at those prompts, saw this one, and then couldn't stop thinking about it. So I'm coming out of my vague tumblr hiatus to write this.)

Thank you, as always, for the prompt!

.

Sansa has never liked amusement parks.

The sun that always burned her, no matter how diligent mom was about reapplying sunscreen; the fried food that always made her sick; the crowds and the noise and having to walk everywhere. But the worst part was the rides – oh, she didn't mind some of them, like the Ferris wheel or the teacups; she could even handle the swing ride. The problem was that the rest of her family wanted to go on the horrible rides – roller coasters, haunted houses, swinging ships; the ones that go fast and drop you from a million feet in the air. And since it was hard enough wrangling the amount of children in their group to begin with, it was impossiblefor one adult to split off with Sansa, who alone wanted to ride the gentler ones.

And so, it's sort of ironic that she works at an amusement park now.

She may not have a taste for most of the rides in the park, but she is good at designing them – not the actual rides, but the aesthetics of them. It's her (and her team's) job to come in after the engineers and the builders and take a bare-bones ride and turn it into an experience. She loves her job – she loves watching children exit one of her rides with glowing faces and excitement in their eyes.

Today, she also gets to do one of her favorite aspects of the job, which is costume design. The animatronic models have already been installed, and when she enters the new Dance of Dragons ride, she can already see the scene taking shape in her mind. The concept art has already been drawn up, it's already being advertised – a medieval world that everyone knows is meant to capitalize on the stunning success of the Aemon the Dragonknight series (which her employer does not own the rights to, much to their dismay). But concept art is one thing – reality is another, and it's not until the ride is complete that she can start to truly see it come together in her mind.

“Oh good, you're here,” Margaery Tyrell sighs dramatically as she comes to meet Sansa's team. Margaery is in charge of Marketing and PR for this ride and Sansa knows it's a big responsibility, so she's been even more high maintenance than usual. Margaery walks her through the ride that Sansa has seen so many times in drawings.

“This is our Aemon,” Margaery slaps a hand against the shoulder of one of the animatronic models. “Although we can't call him Aemon. Copyright and all that.”

Sansa looks at the robot and she's struck for a moment how lifelike he is. A lot of the animatronics aren't this detailed, though she guesses this one is because of how close to the ride it is.

“He's handsome, right?” Margaery flashes her a grin and there's something in her eyes that Sansa can't quite place. (Well, she can, it's mischief, Sansa just can't tell why it's there.)

“I guess, in the way that cartoons can be handsome,” Sansa laughs and takes another look at the model – the somber grey eyes, dark curly hair, and an equally dark beard. “You even gave him abs,” she points down at the robot's chest which does, indeed, have a very detailed set of abs. “Am I supposed to leave him shirtless?”

“Oh, no, obviously we want realism, like we talked about,” Margaery waves her hand dismissively. “We just couldn't help ourselves when we put in the order.” Sansa shoots her a confused look, which only gets a delighted laugh out of Margaery. “I'm guessing you don't recognize him?”

“Recognize who?”

Margaery gestures at the animatronic. “Jon!” At Sansa's blank stare, Margaery rolls her eyes. “Jon Snow?”

The name sounds familiar and it takes her a second to place it. “The engineer?”

“Duh! Seven hells, don't tell me you've never actually seen him?”

Sansa shakes her head – she usually comes in well after the engineers have done their part.

“Mormont let him take the lead on this project and he's so... ugh,” Margaery makes a noise that's half frustration, half delight. “So serious all the time. But somehow likable? It's infuriating, really. And no one should be that attractive for a nerd.”

“So... does he know you made him into a robot?”

“He does not,” Margaery grins. “We're all just dying for him to come in for an inspection and see it. In fact,” she pulls out her phone and checks the time, “if you wait around for a bit, you'll get to see it happen.”

Sansa shakes her head and they continue on through the set, Sansa writing down notes in her trusty notebook that she always carries with her. Lists of costumes, set pieces. She'll need to bring in Asha later to discuss the lighting options (right now the dark ride is lit with spotlights, giving the whole place a surreal atmosphere).

Margaery eventually leaves her to it and Sansa loses herself in going over the set inch by inch with Gilly and Mya following along with her. She's so lost in thought that Mya has to shake her arm to bring her back to reality, and they turn to see a group of what has to be engineers standing in the main Great Hall set.

“Oh come on, Jon,” Margaery is giggling as a man who must be Jon stands, staring at the animatronic. He's scowling at it, hands tight around the pile of binders in his arms that are... well, ok, Sansa can understand now why Margaery made the robot so well muscled.

Sansa edges closer to the scene, and she can see that his fellow engineers are laughing – one of them is red-faced from trying to hold it in while another is actively wiping tears from his eyes.

“It's already made,” Margaery says in response to whatever Jon had grumbled to her. “Replacing it would be an irresponsible waste of funds. Oh! And here's the team that will be styling you... I mean, styling not-Aemon because that's copyright infringement.”

Jon looks up and the scowl drops from his face.

“This is Sansa, Mya and Gilly are over there.”

“Hi,” Sansa greets and Jon shifts his binders into one arm and then holds out his hand for her to shake (she can feel her face heating up and she hopes the dark hides it). “I promise to try and do you justice.” She regrets her words immediately, especially when she sees a slow grin spread over Margaery's face. “Though it doesn't totally look like you,” she continues on to try and backtrack. “It... doesn't have glasses?”

She wants to sink into the floor in embarrassment, but the gods are not that kind. At least she doesn't spout out how much she likes his glasses. Maybe Margaery is right – no one who clearly cares so little about their appearance should be this attractive. His beard needs a trim, his outfit is painfully unstylish, his hair is pulled back into a bun. All of it should add up to something she hates, but she just... doesn't.

(And honestly, Margaery's description of nerd isn't so far off the mark, but Sansa finds this isn't a detriment – in fact, she might be more attracted to him because of the glasses and the multitude of thick binders organized with labels and tabs that he's got tucked under his arm.)

“I'd also hope real Jon isn't built like a Ken doll,” one of the other engineers barks out a laugh and points at the animatronic, which, yes, does not have any reproductive anatomy.

“Gods,” she hears Jon whisper, and the hand that he had used to shake hers comes up and covers his eyes. “This is a nightmare.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” Margaery sighs and pats him on the shoulder. “Now, why don't you take Sansa around and make sure she's really taken care of, hmm?” At the words, Sansa feels her face heat even further and Jon drops his hand from his eyes and glares at Margaery. “I just mean,” Margaery grins, not even trying to pretend the innuendo wasn't on purpose, “it might help the design if she has a good understanding of the mechanics. I know there's some new things on this ride we haven't had before, you could show her.”

Jon opens his mouth, but doesn't get a chance to speak, because Margaery barrels on. “Sam, Grenn, you can chat with Gilly and Mya while that's happening. And I... well, I'll just be over here, minding my own business.”

With that, Margaery walks away and the other two engineers – Sam and Grenn, she guesses – head over to where the rest of her team stands, watching from afar.

“You don't have to,” Sansa starts, but Jon quickly turns from glaring at Margaery's back to her and his face settles into something less... scowly.

“I don't mind,” he says quickly and maybe it's the low lighting in here, but she thinks the tips of his ears are red.

“Perfect,” she gives him her best smile, which seems to throw him even more off balance and... and she thinks she could get used to throwing Jon Snow off balance.

#ask #jonsa #jonsa fic #prompt fic #i don't know how amusement park ride design works #just go with it #don't ask questions

[pinkhairedlily]

Chapter 8 - Student Council President Sakura

SCPS AO3 | PREVIOUS CHAPTER

“Oh, hello there Sakura.”

She almost lost her balance when she saw her next customers. Standing beside Kakashi with her arm entangled in his was a brunette, a spitting image of Dr. Aki Nohara, a giveaway that this was her sister. Sakura’s surroundings dimmed out of focus, and her hearing became muffled as if she was submerged underwater.

“Couldn’t mistake that green eyes for anyone,” Kakashi continued. “I’ll have a caramel butterscotch with extra whipped cream – make it super heavy – and Rin –“

“That’s supposed to be my order, you dummy,” the woman replied beside him. He chuckled in fascination and tightened his hold on her arm. “Besides, you don’t like sweets.”

“You’re still on a specialized diet so allow me to eat and drink whatever you want while you stick with – “ Kakashi glanced at Sakura, and she immediately mustered a tight-lipped smile. “One iced americano in your smallest size please. Thanks, Sakura.”

She took in a deep breath, suddenly aware that she wasn’t able to acknowledge her teacher and his companion, but so many things have been running through her head – like how did he know it was her? Why was he with Rin? Did he propose already? She hasn’t even confessed yet.

Somehow, in the dragging silence in her ears, she heard Sasuke cleared his throat. That was enough to break her from the spell, and she put on her bravest mask. “Hi Kakashi-sensei. Nice of you to drop by! I’ll have your order ready in a jiffy.”

Kakashi turned around and waved lazily at Sasuke. “One of my students is here too. Are you on a red eye advance study?”

“Can’t sleep so might as well have caffeine.”

“You’re too young to have this energy.”

Rin jokingly slapped Kakashi on the arm. “You talk as if you’re old already.”

“But aren’t I?” The pair slowly drifted away to find a table, but Sakura noticed the flash of recognition when Rin took a long good look at Sasuke, but her friend stared at them like he was throwing sharp draggers.

“He looks happy,” Sakura noted as she fixed their drinks.

“I want your favorite coffee,” Sasuke quipped out of nowhere.

“There’s a thing called palpitations. It’s caramel macchiato.”

“Might do me some good while I wait for you to finish your shift.”

Sakura sighed, feeling the tiredness come upon her all of a sudden so she relented. “Just take it to-go. I want to get out of here.”

She quickly asked permission from the manager, saying she felt sick and fatigued, and with her clocking overtime in the past few weeks, her request was immediately approved without deductions. The mixed winter and spring air hit her lungs as soon as she stepped outside. Sasuke waited for her across the street, a gesture that implied she could go to him or separate ways right now. As she vied for time to decide, she took one last look through the window.

It was a foreign sight. She has never seen Kakashi’s attention torn apart from his books. Even if he was talking, there would be an open page on his side, stealing glances on passages when the conversations got boring, yet there he was, fully attuned to whatever Rin was saying with no book around him…like she was his favorite book and he enjoyed reading every letter of her.

And Sakura realized she could never be the story he would even want to pick up.

She felt the tears coming so she started her pace on the same road. Across from her, Sasuke got the signal and went the other way.

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

The last term of their second year came like a bazooka. Sakura threw herself on her pet project as a sort of coping mechanism. The announcement was done during the general assembly which did not generate the intended buzz or reaction. After all, it was a tricky topic to handle and many facets of which were still stigmatized when talked openly in public. Naruto, ever the people magnet, broke the agitated atmosphere in the auditorium with a slow clap and was soon joined by many others.

The council created a Google form which allowed students to anonymously register, and they get assigned a schedule on the day their contracted psychiatrist comes to visit. All they had to do was provide their designated client number. The council further complemented this with short programs that serve as mental health breaks for the student body. Sometimes, this would be as light as a block screening of a coming-of-age film or heavy like a conference with faculty and teachers and questions and concerns are remotely flashed.

Then came Valentines’ Day, and the council organized this some kind of literary showcase that presented the opportunity to mingle woes of personal sadness and griefs with confessions that would have been left unsaid. Naruto and Sasuke both helped in constructing the makeshift stage in the middle of the soccer field that would be used later that afternoon.

“Cookie points for my crush,” Naruto grinned as he hammered away. “Thanks for picking the poem I will be reciting tonight, grumpy. Didn’t know you were into literature.” He jokingly elbowed the raven-haired beside him, and he got a death glare in return.

“Do it properly. Look at that nail sticking out like your porcupine hair,” Sasuke grumbled. “And yes, I’m not as uncultured as you are.”

“But I still don’t understand it though.”

“Ugh, just use the internet to search its meaning, idiot.”

“Meanie!”

A fellow runner peeked into their work area and knocked on wood. “Hey Uchiha. Some girl is looking for you.” Her face expressed grimace, having done this for more than five times already within the span of an hour. If it wasn’t Sasuke, it was one of Naruto’s fan girls or boys.

Sasuke went to her and fumbled around for cash in his pocket. “Next time someone looks for us, tell them we went home for the day. Here’s money for your date later. If you have anyway.”

“Whatever grumpy.” The runner replied, still half-angry, half-frustrated, but she took the money all the same and told the girls that ‘They told me to tell you they went home for the day so shoo shoo.’

Naruto laughed at Sasuke’s successful attempt at bribery. “Look at that rich money. I wonder whether Sakura will give us chocolates.”

“Have you seen their office?” Sasuke flipped open the curtains that will be hang as backdrop. “Their desk is filled with chocolates from her admirers – platonically, romantically, whatever. Some people from other schools dropped by too. You got serious competition.”

Naruto chuckled nervously. “As if I do not know that already. Haven’t you told me before- she likes everyone and everyone likes her.”

Not really true at all now, Sasuke thought to himself. But ignorance is bliss, Naruto.

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

The three sat on the grass beside the stage, having full view of the student body listening to the reciters. Throughout the program, Sakura went through each package given to her, visibly stressed with evident signs of sleepless nights under her eyes.

“Before I forget, happy Valentine’s day you two. My council-mates told me you didn’t get any chocolates,” Sakura gave each of them a pouch of small chocolate bars. Sasuke didn’t have to guess if it was store-bought or homemade based on the cuts on her fingers.

“Sakura, stop eating. I almost gagged at the seventh chocolate,” Naruto complained. He tried to get the basket of sweets from her, but she just moved it away from his reach.

“Everything tastes bitter,” she muttered under her breath. “I need sugar. My energy can’t keep up with the countless interviews. I understand that the school board liked the exposure, but the burden falls on me. At least have a teacher back me up?”

“Heard Kakashi-sensei volunteered to accompany you in interviews?” Sasuke was too late in shutting Naruto up, but the most that question got out of Sakura was an eyebrow raise.

“I need more sweets.” She proceeded to jam the rest of the Hershey’s kisses in her mouth.

“Okay, we have a submission from Uzumaki Naruto,” the announcer said. “Shout out to our rookie MVP!” A round of applause. “And who might be the recipient of this poem? We heard through the grapevine that he hid from his admirers all day. I know several people are waiting to confess to him!”

Sasuke instructed him earlier to send the poem anonymously and address it to Sakura, but the dumbass blonde mistakenly exchanged it. He rubbed his forehead in annoyance, but he can’t bring it up right now.

“Just read the poem!” Naruto shouted on the side, clearly embarrassed now. Sakura looked up at him, genuinely curious now, and her sticky chocolate-filled mouth was on the edge of firing him questions.

“Sasuke and I sent in poems! Just to support your program, nothing really too deep into it ehe.” Naruto glanced at Sasuke with slightly widened eyes. “Right, Sasuke?”

“Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare,” the person started.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

Sakura slapped Naruto on the arm. “Didn’t know you read Shakespeare! What a romantic!”

“Isn’t it a tragedy?” Sasuke remarked, a look of disgust in his face when Sakura mindlessly offered him a toblerone. “No sweets for me.”

Sakura guffawed at Sasuke’s remark, and her laughing was a rare sight recently. She was in too deep in her student council functions that they barely see her. And when they did, she’d be a little bit closer to fatigue.

“What’s funny? Who’s Shakespeare? Let me in on the joke!”

“Let’s call on Kakashi-sensei, our very own student council advisor and youngest teacher in the university. He’ll be reciting a poem by Pablo Neruda. A man of culture, we see,” the emcee announced.

Sakura stopped laughing as soon as she heard his name. If Sasuke could glean into her thoughts, she’s probably making up excuses to escape right now.

Kakashi stood in the middle of the stage, holding an open book. “Let me just ramble on here for a bit. Neruda is a Chilean poet and a politician, but just as much as he is a revolutionary, he is a romantic and a worshipper of ideals and ordinary things. He often compared his muses to earth and nature – basic providers of our existence. It’s interesting to see. Now, this poem is what I would have wanted to say to someone who is fundamentally part of my existence, but she won’t listen to me.” Kakashi smiled even more at the onset of outburst of giggles from the students. “So you’re gonna be the audience whether you want it or not.”

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.

Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.

Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day

I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,

your hands the color of a savage harvest,

hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,

I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,

the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,

I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,

hunting for you, for your hot heart,

like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

A thundering applause followed Kakashi’s poem and random shouts of, “Drop her name sensei!” “Good luck to your love life!” “Happy for you, sensei!”

As the lights went out on the stage, Sakura fished another pouch from her vest pocket, and Sasuke knew at once that it was Kakashi’s. She popped a bar into her mouth, staring blankly ahead.

“God, it’s so bitter.” Her lips started to quiver, and she started to cry.

Naruto threw a worried glance at Sasuke, but his expression must have given something away because the blonde didn’t prod, and he looked as if all the puzzles fell into place.

Sasuke just didn’t expect to be confronted about it as soon as the program finished. He was carrying blocks of wood to the shed when Naruto dropped the question – a question he already knew the answer to.

“You like Sakura.”

Sasuke inhaled sharply and halted his steps. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He stacked the wood against each other and turned to face the blonde. “Besides, shouldn’t you be worrying about exams?”

“What exams? We’re exempted from it,” Naruto bristled.

Sasuke smirked. “No, you’re not. You didn’t qualify for finals.”

“Oh shit.”

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

“What do we get in return?” Sakura asked as she munched on her bento box. Shouts of the practicing dragonboat team filtered through their space.

“But last time you volunteered!” Naruto said.

“We’re friends so my services don’t come free anymore,” she chided back.

Naruto glared at Sasuke. “If she’s not gonna do it, you’re gonna do it.”

Sasuke nonchalantly shook his head as he skimmed through Naruto’s notes. “What she said.” They weren’t notes per se, but doodles of Sasuke and Sakura and interestingly, projections of different batting stances. “I’m also not gonna forgive you with the duck butt hair.”

“But you have a duck butt hair!” Naruto crossed his arms and huffed menacingly. “Ramen?”

“Same old, same old.” Sakura finished her lunch and started to sip her cranberry juice. “Give us something new.”

“Ramen and…..karaoke?”

Sakura brightened up at the prospect. “Deal.”

“At least add snacks to your place,” Sasuke interjected. “And not just ramen. Put some nuts or fruits in your fridge.”

Naruto grumbled but raised two thumbs up in defeat. “Deal.”

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

Sasuke has thin patience when it came to teaching Naruto, Sakura observed. She didn’t know how these two managed to do the supplementary math lessons when she wasn’t a part of their group yet. She didn’t mind teaching, but Naruto’s short attention span was a devil of its own. He would be attentive to her for 15 minutes and then drowse off so Sasuke and her agreed on non-negotiables.

“No ramen break for you if you don’t finish this set of problems,” Sakura told him.

“You’re demon spawns,” Naruto cried out in defiance.

“If you don’t get a passing score on this sample test, no kani toppings for you.” Sasuke raised the stakes.

“Demon spawns,” Naruto repeated.

“You won’t call us demon spawns if you see your name on the list of passers.” Sakura started the stopwatch on her phone. “Now go.”

This took her mind off things, from Kakashi’s public confession to the blank career form hidden within the pages of her history textbook. It was a good distraction until the penultimate exams day. Naruto came in with a bandana on his forehead with FIGHTING written in the middle of it. Sasuke, as usual, breezed through it, already finished by the thirty-minute mark.

And she? Well, she liked exams. The time limit and the pressure allowed her the reprieve to shut the rest of the world out so she relished answering each number until the bell rang. It was a moment where she can focus fully on the paper in front of her, the sound of her pen scribbling, and her mind working full force to cull out the answers in her memory. Her utmost concentration on questions suspended her own questions on her feelings for a teacher, on her parents’ divorce, on her future.

When the school plastered the results on the bulletin board, she couldn’t help but release a satisfied chuckle. She turned to Sasuke who was surprisingly stoic about the results. “First place! The bonus point really helped.”

“Why should I bother with a teacher’s middle name for the bonus question?” Sasuke grumbled back. “Congrats. Stop rubbing it in my face already.”

Naruto was too busy pointing his name on the board and bragging about it to the student body, most especially the freshies. When he found them on the back of the crowd, he rushed to them and placed his arms around their shoulders “Drinks on me!!!!!”

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

“He really shouted drinks on me in the middle of the school, sauntered in here like he’s loaded, and ordered two pitchers of iced tea.” Sakura kept bringing this up since they entered the karaoke room ten minutes ago.

Naruto was preoccupied with inputting song numbers on the machine to respond to Sakura’s banters. “Technically, they’re still drinks!”

Sasuke was on the phone with the kitchen, and from what she could hear, he was ordering almost everything on the menu. When he sat down on the adjacent couch, Sakura leaned forward to him. “Are you gonna finish all of that?”

He jutted his index finger to Naruto. “No, but he will.”

The first notes of Michael Jackson’s Thriller wafted through the room, and the blonde made a quick impression of the artist’s famed moonwalk.

“Why are you opening with that?” Sakura cried out in amusement. “It’s not even Halloween!” Sasuke watched Naruto try to dance with a straight face, but she thought he was itching to face palm the whole time.

Naruto kept beckoning Sakura to join him in the middle of the room, but she was busy laughing at him and taking videos. “I’ll send these to Haru as a pick-me-up. I think this is the best remedy.”

Next was Sakura’s pick – Heaven is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle. She couldn’t contain her laughter in between verses when the two boys finally heard that she was tone deaf. Naruto joined her with the other mic, trying to drown out the off-key notes. By the bridge, Sasuke stood up with them, a glass of juice in his hand, and mouthed the words.

“You know this song!” Sakura said excitedly.

“I don’t live under a rock!” He yelled back amid the loud music.

“OOOH BABY DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT’S WORTH OOH HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH. THEY SAY IN HEAVEN, LOVE COMES FIRST. OOH HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH!”

“Okay who’s next?” she asked when the next number flashed on the screen. Sasuke silently took the mic from her and faced the monitor with a hand in his pants’ pocket.

Naruto gripped the mic harder when the song started. “I’ll be your second voice, grumpy!”

She immediately went to the front and started recording. “One for the road.”

“No videos, Haruno,” Sasuke warned.

“Come on, it’s my remembrance,” she whined. He wasn’t able to clap back when the lines started to move.

“Turn around…” Naruto sang.

“Every now and then, I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming ‘round,” Sasuke’s baritone voice filled the room like an empty coliseum.

“The fuck. You can sing?” Sakura gasped out loud. “How can you have that voice and not sing - like you know, every day?!”’

Sasuke gestured her to stop as he belted, stoic-faced, through the chorus with Naruto singing like a slaughtered pig in the background. Sakura stopped recording and joined them for the rest of the song.

Two hours and three pitchers of orange juice later, they finally settled on the couch and munched on Naruto’s leftovers of fries, buttered chicken, nachos, and calamari. On the karaoke monitor was David Bowie singing Heroes.

“Can’t believe we’re already seniors two months from now.” He stared at the ceiling, his eyes following the tag game of disco lights. “Elections of officers will be tomorrow which means Captain Haru will be formerly stepping down.”

Sasuke reached out and shook his hand. “Good luck next captain.”

Naruto immediately pulled out from his grasp. “What do you mean next captain?”

Sakura chuckled and patted his back as assurance. “Everyone knows it’ll be you. Have you seen how your teammates look at you when you’re discussing strategies?”

In the dimness of the room, she saw the flush on Naruto’s cheeks, and she found it amusing how he cannot take compliments.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. “Well, everything is possible, right? That said, I still haven’t filled out my college form, but I’m really set on getting an athletic scholarship and eventually be part of the national team! How about you grumpy? Changed your mind yet?”

“About what?” Sakura glanced at the silent raven-haired guy beside her. To be able to see this much of him was a nice privilege.

“I’m moving away after high school.” Sasuke fiddled with his half-empty glass, his eyes trained on the slushing juice. “I already sent applications to some universities in Europe.”

“We also have good medicine programs here. I don’t get why you have to move away so far. I’m so bad with converting time zones.”

Sasuke scrunched his nose in annoyance. “Are you dumb? The schools you listed are also out of this district.”

She seemed to be moving farther and farther from their exchange. Like an outsider peeking in, she understood the frailty of the moments in front of her, and by the time the next two months set in, the stopwatch would have started running its last lap. The bonds she has made so serendipitously were in danger of being cut off by dreams. She breathed in, engulfing the noise and scent of this room, panning every color and shape assembled like supercut in her head, praying that someday if she would lose herself, she’d come back here right at this frozen memory and relive the wonderful indecisiveness of adolescence and the chance to say I don’t know without repercussions.

“Sakura to earth?” Naruto’s voice.

“Idiot. It’s earth to Sakura.” Sasuke’s voice.

She blinked fast, returning to the moment that wasn’t finished playing out yet. She quickly brushed her hands on her eyes as if something got into her eyes, hoping they don’t see the small droplets of tears that have formed. “Oh uh, I have a list of prospects, but I’m not quite sure what to take.” The form was still blank actually.

“That’s a usual problem of anyone who’s too good at everything,” Sasuke replied.

“Are you complimenting me?” I wish I was.

“Should I take it back?” He proceeded to gulp down the remnants of his glass.

The monitor suddenly turned off, indicating their time has run out. “Hey guys, for our last term, let’s make the most out of it, all right?” Naruto asked. “I’m so happy we became friends.”

“No hugging please,” Sasuke said, but it was too late. Naruto’s arms were too strong to pull away from so the two allowed him a few seconds of skinship.

Naruto’s words struck a chord in Sakura; it was a resolve she tried to form and disfigure for several months now. Before they could stand up to fix their things, Sakura blurted it out loud before her courage took the best of her.

“For our last term.” She flexed her fingers and curled them up against her palm, placing weight on her lap as she ground her fists onto it. “For our last term, I’m gonna confess to Kakashi.”

AO3 LINK | NEXT CHAPTER | CHAPTER 9

#SCPS #student council president sakura #sasusaku #uchiha sasuke #haruno sakura #uzumaki naruto #hatake kakashi #kakasaku #narusaku #anime fanfic #fanfic #sasusaku fanfic