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classic80sand90smovieloves2 · 4 years

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If you want out just say it

(Not my gif)(requested via message)

(Ace Merrill x reader)(warning: cursing, angst-with a happy ending, not the greatest portrayal of what a relationship should be like but this is Ace we’re talking about)

You should have never dated that asshole. You should have never looked at his stupidly handsome face or into those beautiful eyes. Should have never even entertained the idea of being with him; him a liar and a cheat and a going nowhere nobody that wasn’t worth a sliver of your time. You shouldn’t have done a lot of things with him; you shouldn’t have ended up in his bed, shouldn't have kissed him, told him you loved him when he couldn’t even say it back.

You should have listened to all of the warnings. You’d gotten your fair share. Your parents, your friends, hell even the Chambers kid that hung around him; you should have believed them when they told you he was no good, that he would use you and kick you to the curb. How could you have been so stupid?There had been so many warning signs and yet you ignored them all because you loved him. God, the thought made you want to puke, you were truly pathetic. Well not anymore, not after today.

So here you were, walking and blinking away the tears that blurred your vision and threatened to ruin your makeup. You couldn’t have that, you couldn’t let everyone see that they had been right, let him see that you still cared. You’d rather die than admit that you’d been wrong all along, that you’d been stupid and careless; that you were just another girl that that dirt bag had tricked and used.

Oh, Ace Merrill was an asshole and worst of all he didn’t know when to just give up. That was one of the most infuriating parts of all this, the fact that he was still trying to pull you back in. You could hear him trailing behind you even after you’d ignored him, refusing to speak as you stormed away from him. He was still trying to apologize, giving you those pitiful half assed lines that only a man like him could pull out after messing up so bad.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that.” He muttered and the overwhelming urge to punch him right in his lying teeth came across you.

“Yeah? Well here we are.” You replied bitterly.

“Oh, come on, like I really mean’t it? Listen, I would have never gotten them off my back if I’d told them some sappy shit.” Excuses, excuses. It always had to be someone else’s fault, or it was his reputation, his ego, that little voice in his head that gets high off being in control. You’d hated it, you always had, how he couldn’t just own up to what he’d done.

“So I’m supposed to forgive you because it was all just a front for your gang? The gang that you are supposed to be leading?” He said nothing, your blood boiled. “You’re a coward Ace, always have been, always will. I should have never wasted my time on a piece of garbage like you.”

“Don’t you fucking talk to me like that sweetheart.” You stopped walking and turned towards him.

“I’ll talk to you however I fucking want,” you hissed. “It’s over Ace. I’m done with you.”

With that you turned around and continued walking to the small house you shared. You flung open the door and headed to the bedroom to pack your things.

*****

You’d stumbled across the boys on accident while they were sitting in one of the towns back alley parking lots. One of them noticed you and decided to ask Ace about you; who knew why. You weren’t sure whether he thought Ace would have said something relatively nice for him or if he knew what he was going to say was nasty. You could never trust the boys in his gang, you never knew who wanted to hurt you or not.

“So Ace... what’s with this y/n chick?” One of the cobra boys had asked eyeing you from where you stood a little ways away from the back of Ace. Just in the range of hearing.

“What about her?” Ace had replied taking a swig from his beer.

“Well what is she to you?” Eyeball had asked this time although you weren’t sure if he had seen you or not. You were almost sure he hadn’t. He worshiped Ace, he never would have purposefully and so boldly messed something up for him.

“A good fuck. That’s what she is.” Ace chuckled and you could feel your cheeks flush in both embarrassment and anger.

“Come on Ace, you must like her. I mean you live with her?” Eyeball once again spoke up.

“She lives with me, so what? She’s a good lay and I can have her any time I want with her staying at my place. Why are you guys on my ass about this?” He furrowed his brows before he finally turned upon hearing your rough footsteps knocking across the pavement as you stormed off.

*****

You heard the door open and Ace’s footsteps as he walked to the doorway of your bedroom. Out of the corner of your eye you could see him lean against the frame seemingly unfazed by both your previous outburst and your current actions.

“Babe what the fuck are you doing?” He muttered as he lit a cigarette.

“Don’t call me that,” you said moving to grab your makeup from the bathroom. “I’m packing my stuff, I’m leaving.”

“Oh come on,” He scoffed, following behind you and standing in the doorway of the bathroom. “I told you it was just talk with the boys. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Don’t care. Everyone told me all this shit about you Ace. And they were right. They were so right. You’re a womanizing asshole that only cares about getting his rocks off. If you wanted out you should have just said it, you should have just owned up and told me what you wanted from the start,” You turned and looked at him seeing the glare on his face as you walked towards him. “Now move.”

“How fucking dare you.” He growled, you just rolled your eyes and pushed past him moving to your bags. He followed behind you, yelling out after you as you continued packing all of your things.

“They don’t know shit about me! How are you gonna act like you don’t know that I love you. Just cause I don’t fucking say it? That doesn’t mean shit. I don’t want out, I’ve never wanted out. My boys don’t need to know about you and me or how I feel about you; that’s between you and me. But don’t for a second think that I don’t care about you.” He growled, moving next to you as you stuffed your things into your bag. Every time you put something in he took it out until you looked at him with tears of frustration and hurt in your eyes.

“Come on babe” he spoke quietly, his hand gently gripping your arm and turning you so that you were fully facing him.

“You’re pathetic.” you growled, voice raw with emotion as you pushed past him and walked out the door. You weren’t going to fall for his lies anymore.

*****

It’d been a week since you’d spoken to or even seen Ace. You were staying at your friends place, too embarrassed and scared to return to your parents house after everything that had happened which led you to stay with your now ex boyfriend; if you could call him that, in the first place. You were sure that Ace was looking for you, several of your friends had called or came to see you telling you about how he had called them or stopped them on the street. Thankfully, even after you’d borderline ditched them for half a year they still cared about you and didn’t spill anything to the intimidating individual.

You’d managed to retrieve most of your belongings. You’d had time to learn when he’d be home and when he wouldn't so you could avoid him easily now. You were finally just about ready to move on with your life even if you were still hurt. ‘Time heals all wounds’ your friends assured you and all you could do now was wait it out and see if they were right.

All you knew for sure was that it was time to get out into the world again. If you saw him so be it. You couldn’t avoid him forever, at some point you’d have to face him again. And who knew, you could step your foot out of the door at any given moment and still have a chance of not seeing him. The point was that you had to start living your life again. That was the only way for things to get better.

That’s why you were sat at a booth in some smokey downtown bar/restaurant with your friend, picking at french fries and talking aimlessly about nothing in particular. You felt good, you felt normal; you felt like your old self again. But it seemed that a lot of old things were going to resurface because as you looked up at your friend you heard the bell at the door chime and who else would walk in but Ace Fucking Merrill.

You quickly ducked your face down, trying your best to hide your features behind your hand as you stared down at your plate. You were suddenly very glad your friend had convinced you to take the booth in the far corner of the place, out of sight of most of your fellow patrons. You swallowed thickly and tried to calm yourself as you saw him walk with some of his friends into the back of the bar. They picked up pool sticks as one of them headed to the bar and ordered a round of drinks.

Once it was safe you whispered to your friend about the predicament that you were in. The courage that you had previously had in your hypothetical scenarios was now gone and all you wanted to do was slip silently past him without being seen. You knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, luck obviously wasn’t on your side today and Ace wasn’t one to not notice things especially when it involved pretty girls. And how right you were....

As you removed your hand from your face you glanced over and saw Ace looking straight at you as he leaned across the pool table. You quickly looked away and towards your friend, telling her that you wanted to leave now. She nodded understandingly and started to grab her things, signaling the waiter for your check. Too bad he wasn’t fast enough.

“Y/n...” You glanced up at the blonde standing beside your table; you didn’t respond.

“You haven’t taken any of my calls.” He said lowly, watching you as he moved the pool stick he held around in his hand. It was weird seeing him like this. He seemed different, shy in a way, uncharacteristically unsure of himself. You still didn’t respond.

He glanced back at his friends who tried to appear as though they weren’t watching the three of you curiously. Then he turned back to you, licking his lips before he spoke. “Can we talk?”

The waiter finally came with your check and your friend quickly handed him the money you owed. Eyeing you uncomfortably, waiting for your next move. “Sorry Ace but we’re just leaving.” you muttered.

“I see that,” He said, pausing before he spoke again, waiting for the waiter to walk away from the table. “but I need to have a word with you.”

“Ace, she really doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Amanda,” he responded rudely. “I really wasn’t talking to you.”

“Well I’m the only one you’ll be talking to for a while in regards to her since she-”

“Amanda,” You interrupted, trying your best to give her a reassuring glance before sighing and turning back to the blonde. “Ace I can’t talk right now....”

“Then when?” He immediately asked, less like a question and more like a demand.

“...I don’t know when, I just-” You struggled to think of something to say, cursing yourself for even feeling the need to provide him with any answer.

“Then just come with me for a little while and we can talk.”

“Ace...” You borderline pleaded, wanting nothing more than to just get out of there.

“Come on y/n. One conversation.” He pressed and finally you sighed, looking at your friend with a defeated look before agreeing. You slid out of the booth, walking past him and out the door. You hoped that this would get rid of him once and for all.

You leaned against the concrete wall of the building, blowing an exasperated breath out of your mouth as you waited for the blonde to emerge. The bell chimed and you didn’t bother looking at him as he moved to stand in front of you.

“So what.” You said, taking a page from his book and making it sound like a subtle demand of information rather than a question. You’d thought you’d made yourself perfectly clear, you didn’t want to see him again let alone talk to him. But you weren’t sure if it was all because you were upset with him or if a part of you knew that he could worm his way into your life again just as easily as he did the first time.

He nodded his head towards the sidewalk and started walking down it. You debated staying right where you were but you figured it was probably best to just get this done now. Once you were a little ways away from the restaurant he finally spoke up, perhaps deciding it was finally safe to say what he was going to say next without fear of anyone important hearing.

“I love you, alright? Is that what you want to hear?” He said, eyes darting from side to side as he kept his gaze forward.

“No Ace that really isn’t.” You muttered, picking at your nails as you kept pace with him.

“Yeah? Well it’s true,” He insisted. “I love you more than anything in this fucking world and I can’t live with you walking out on me. It’s killing me to not have you around. I can’t stand it.”

“You should have thought of that-” He interrupted you.

“Yes, I should of thought of that but I’m a fucking idiot. What else can I say?” He paused before he sighed. “You know I’m sorry. I’ve never felt worse about something in my entire life. If I could take it back I would.”

“But you can’t.” You said stubbornly but you felt your resolve melting already and your eagerness to be with him again frustrated you.

“No I can’t,” He agreed. “But I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right. I need you baby. You know that.”

“The house if too empty without you.” He gave you a small solemn smile as you remained silent.

“Where you staying right now?” He asked and you decided that that was the safest thing out of his words to respond to.

“A friends.” You spoke quietly, still guarded; still not wanting to admit you missed him and that you wanted him back.

“I saw you got your stuff out of the house.” He commented.

“Yeah.” You replied unsure of what you should say.

“Y/n please. Just one more chance, that’s all I’m asking. Let me show you just how much you mean to me. Nothing like this will ever happen again and if it does then I’ll let you go without any problems. You’ll be free to live your life without me. But please baby, just give it another shot. Give me another shot.” He pleaded, stopping and taking you by the hands making you look up at him. His eyes looked glassy. It was the first time you’d ever seen him look close to tears.

“If anything like this happens again I’m never coming back.” You promised and his lips quirked into a pleased smile as he sniffled.

“If anything like this happens again It’s your god given right to blow my head off.” He laughed, voice raw sounding and emotional like his heart was stuck in his throat.

“See, there’s that smile, that pretty little smile.” He pulled you into a tight hug, resting his chin on the top of your head, his hands rubbing up and down your back.

He pulled away and kissed your cheek before speaking. “You know I love you right?”

“Now I do.” You laughed softly.

“Well don’t you ever forget that alright?” He asked, eyes searching yours.

“I wont.” You assured him and let him tilt your chin up, kissing your lips uncharacteristically soft.

Sure, Ace Merrill was an asshole. He knew that and embraced it but he loved you more than anyone ever had and he’d be damned if he ever let a woman like you go. A woman that loved and put up with an asshole like him. You were the one good thing in his life and he wasn’t going to let you leave anytime soon.

#ace merrill #ace merrill imagine #stand by me #stand by me imagine #ace merill x reader #stand by me x reader #80s movie imagine #80s movie imagines #i

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thatringboy · 4 years

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The Way A Soul Lives - TWST

To write some Diasomnia angst has been a goal of mine for a while and seeing the new official book and the Diasomnia boys made me want to finish

I’ve only ever written angst a few times, so this was a nice practice. I hope I didn’t go too OOC here, but I think I’m good. I tried a new writing style here that I’m not that confident in, so feedback is very much appreciated!

Warnings: Magic, self inserted theories about Faes, fight scenes, blood, death and the angst associated with that

Word count: 1,615 (a new record I think!)

Sebek enjoyed the night shift. There was always something invigorating about walking around the Draconia castle when only dim torches and moonlight lit his path. A hand on his sword hilt, he quietly marched up and down halls, sometimes stopping in the Royal Library to glance at a book, and always passed by the rooms of the royal family.

However, his blood turned to ice when the Fae noticed a haphazardly opened window and mud tracked on the floor near it. He turned on his heels and ran back towards the room of his fellow guard, taking into account that the muddy footprints were not those of a humanoid.

~~~

Yuu sat down on the blanket and a frown tugged at their lips. “So why did you drag me all the way out here? It’s freezing!”

Cater laughed and pulled his coat on tighter. “Because there’s a Meteor shower tonight and there’s gonna be some fireworks to celebrate the end of Spring Break! Don’t worry, the others will be here soon and we can take some pics for Magicam.”

Principal Crowley had allowed Yuu Prefect to leave Night Raven College for the week of Spring Break and the magic-less human somehow got dragged to the mountains of Pyroxene where the snow had not yet melted. Yuu spent the week posing for cameras with Cater and Vil and learned how to snowboard thanks to Jack’s tutelage. Grim enjoyed the attention he was receiving during the trip and showed his gratitude by becoming a makeshift hot water bottle inside of Yuu’s thick coat.

Two figures approached the clearing. The shorter one talked with their hands in an annoyed voice. “All I’m saying is that you and the potato could really become a modeling duo! You two have the natural talent and certainly the looks.”

The taller figure grunted and sat down next to Yuu. “Not in a million years will you find me modeling sports clothing. Oh, hey Prefect.”

“Hey Jack.” Yuu sighed and looked up at the stars that were starting to appear. The constellations in Twisted Wonderland were different from those on Earth and they seemed to draw large coherent pictures across the sky. Vil sat down on his own blanket and opened his mouth to argue with Jack some more, but Cater closed his mouth.

“The show’s about to start!”

~~~

Sebek knocked on Silver’s door as quietly as he could. He could hear his fellow guard get out of bed and step to the door. Silver opened the door partially and opened his mouth to protest the rude awakening, but Sebek covered it before the human could make a sound.

“There’s an intruder.” Sebek whispered. “I can take the South stairwell to the young lord’s room if you take the West and go get Master Lilia.”

Silver nodded and grabbed his pen. The two men silently went in their directions, Silver to the west and Sebek to the south, and stepped into hidden passages. Sebek broke into a full sprint and exited the passage to see that Malleus’ door was open. A feeling of dread set into his stomach as he tip-toed near the door. What he saw sent a shiver of terror down his spine.

Standing over the sleeping figure of Malleus was a creature made of flickering and ever-changing shadows. From within itself, it produced an awful looking hand with claws the size of kitchen knives. Sebek moved without thinking and drew his sword as he ran to the side of the bed. He swung his sword in a graceful arc and removed the clawed appendage from the monster. It reeled back and shrieked horrifically, making Sebek cover his ears and making Malleus bolt awake.

The dragon Fae assessed the situation and dove out of bed for his staff, but the monster put itself between the two. The amputated limb shook violently in the air before it seemed to regrow itself. Sebek lunged with his sword and put himself in front of Malleus. “Go! Silver and Master Lilia are on their way! Get to the panic room!”

Malleus nodded and ran from the room. Sebek returned his focus on the monster. He had trained for this very scenario for a good portion of his life and he certainly wasn’t going to back down now.

~~~

The night grew colder, but the fireworks were worth it. Yuu clutched onto Grim’s warmth while Cater and Vil shared a blanket and watched the colorful lights explode in the air. Jack, having a naturally high body temperature, didn’t understand the discomfort of his companions, but thankfully didn’t tease them about it. He was sure that if he brought it up, his tail might receive a wicked pinch.

Cater had his phone up taking as many pictures as he could of the show while Vil had only taken a single selfie. Yuu sat in awe of the entire situation and was suddenly very grateful that the Principle had permitted this vacation.

Ew, was Yuu Prefect grateful for the actions of Crowley? The thought disgusted them and made them shiver more than the cold. Grim looked up at them “How cold are you, you weak human!”

Yuu frowned and hugged Grim tighter. “Very.”

Jack leaned forward from where he was sitting. “Here comes the finale! You’re in for a treat, you two.”

Grim and Yuu looked up to see a firework explode above them. A shower of gold sparks rained down as a second firework went off, sending red and blue streams everywhere.

“Truly beautiful.” Vil whispered. He got his phone out and snapped another picture. Yuu assumed that he would be sending it to Rook. Cater laughed and pointed to another firework that was about to explode. It went off and a brilliant lime green glow filled the night sky. Yuu agreed with Vil - the sight was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

When the lights faded, Yuu noticed that the stars were all out, blanketing the sky with billions of small lights. Jack laid down on his back and looked up at the sky. “What do you know, the Draconia Constellation can be seen this early in the year. That’s usually a Summer Constellation.”

Yuu looked up and sure enough, a large portion of the stars formed a dragon in the air. “Draconia, like Malleus’ family?”

Cater sat back as well, taking the shared blanket with him to the distress of Vil. “That’s the one. The longest Fae line in the world.”

Grim looked up. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Vil raised his eyebrows. “I keep forgetting that you are not of this world. Let me explain this for you.”

~~~

Sebek could counter the physical attacks of the monster, but he hadn’t expected it to start hurling fireballs at him. He hissed and kicked himself a little bit whenever a fireball set something of Malleus’ ablaze, but he forced himself to keep his head in the fight.

Where is that lazy Silver? He should be here by now!

The monster jumped up and landed on the bed. Sebek pulled out his pen and fired a bolt of magic, but the mass of shadows absorbed the spell and made that horrible screech again. He grimaced and swung again, ducking under another fireball and was surprised that his sword made contact with something solid, but bounced off.

This creature, it’s changing to match my attacks! Come on, Sebek, think!

He grit his teeth and rolled across the bed, diving behind it to use as cover. If he kept the monster focused on him, it wouldn’t make a break for the door.

The door...

Sebek peaked his head up and noticed that the monster was loading another fireball. He ducked to avoid being hit and made a mad dash for the exit, throwing a rather large textbook that probably held ancient spells passed down from the Fairy Queen herself. Sebek hated to see such literature shredded before his eyes, but he decided that in the moment this would be acceptable behavior.

The monster recovered faster than he had anticipated. It’s claw lashed out as Sebek almost crossed the threshold and knocked him aside. His head hit the side of Malleus’ wardrobe and he felt a stinging pain in his right eye, but other than that was uninjured and got back on his feet. It slashed out again, but Sebek narrowly avoided the sharp talons. His energy was drained and even if he could raise his pen, he would possibly overblot from casting a single spell. He could run for the door again and risk impalement or stay in the corner and be burnt alive. Sebek’s mind, despite the chaos around him and his time running out, started to think of his friends at Night Raven College.

What would they do in his situation? Deuce and Jack would rush in head first, Ace would attempt to create a distraction, Grim would just made more fire and Yuu Prefect probably wouldn’t have even gotten themselves into this mess. Not to mention Epel would probably do any of those things based off of his slightly unpredictable personality. There was little doubt that Epel would also charge the monster, but there was no way of knowing for sure.

Sebek tuned back into reality as a fireball narrowly missed his face. The stinging in his eye and blood trickling down from his scalp made it hard to focus, but his adrenaline was still pumping. He was still standing. He was still fighting.

“Sebek!”

Someone called from the door. The guard - and the monster - turned to see a horrified Silver standing there, his pen clutched tightly. Sebek’s heart froze. He wanted to tell Silver to run, but Sebek’s voice became caught in his chest. The creature of shadows began to prepare another fireball, but Sebek’s body reacted quicker. He dropped his sword and tackled the monster. The two clashed until Sebek managed to force it out of Malleus’ window, but the monster held tight and Sebek felt gravity pull him down to the courtyard below.

~~~

“While most stars outside of constellations are celestial spheres of noble gases and other elements, the stars in constellations are actually souls.” Vil sat back on his hands and looked up at the dragon shaped image in the sky.

Cater sat back up, letting Vil snatch back the blanket. “Oh yeah! My mom explained this to me! Every time a fairy dies, they join their family constellation in the stars!”

“Unlike mortal souls that go to the Isles of Lamentation when we pass,” Vil continued. “The Fae’s immortal spirits are placed in the heavens to dance for all of eternity, or so the legend goes. Some stories say that the Fae came to Twisted Wonderland from the stars and so to the stars they return, but I for one just believe that this is a beautiful story.”

Yuu thought for a second. “So then what about shooting stars?”

Jack put his hands behind his head and got comfortable on the ground. “Nope, those are just regular comets or asteroids or whatever you call them.”

“Fascinating.” Yuu whispered. “Where I come from, stars are just flaming balls of gas in space. I shouldn’t be surprised that magic goes as far as constellations, but I am.”

Grim cleared his throat. “Wait, what about wishing stars?”

Vil put a hand to his chin to think. “You know, I’m not entirely sure. It could be that the magic of the fallen fairies could be the ones granting the wishes, but I don’t believe anyone is sure.”

“One of the universe’s many mysteries.” Cater’s voice dropped to be almost inaudible.

Yuu looked back up at the Draconia Line constellation. “There’s a hole in the dragon’s heart except for that one bright star, is that one Maleficent?”

Jack nodded, which was hard because he was on the ground. “The area around her is probably being reserved for her immediate family, so one day in a thousand years, Malleus and Lilia will join her and maybe even Sebek if he wasn’t too stubborn to die.”

Yuu laughed. “Yeah, that’s Sebek.”

~~~

Everything hurt.

Sebek was sure his arms and several ribs were broken, but other than that he landed from the seventh floor quite successfully. He attempted to sit up, but his body ached too much.

The shadow monster laid prone on the stone next to him. Sebek hoped it was finally dead. His inhuman vision let him see Silver and Lilia looking out the window he had tumbled from. Lilia vanished and reappeared next to Sebek, looking down at him with a sad face.

“Forgive my tardiness, young man.” Lilia knelt down next to Sebek and began to mutter a healing spell. A wave of warmth rushed over Sebek as the spell took hold over his body and he felt very tired.

“What is that thing?” Sebek looked at the monster. Lilia glanced back at it and shrugged. “I suppose a demon created to take the life of our young prince. You did well holding up against it for so long, I’m sure there’ll be a medal waiting for you when you wake up that you can show to all your companions at school.”

Sebek liked that idea. He imagined wearing a new medal proudly for a week to boast about to his friends.

“Oh Jack what did you do over the break?”

“I was just snowboarding at home.”

“Well I single-handedly fought off a demon and saved the young lord’s life!”

If it didn’t take so much energy, Sebek would have smiled from the thought.

Lilia finished his spell and offered a hand for Sebek to stand. It took effort, but the taller Fae got to his feet and leaned against his mentor. They began to walk away from the body of the monster, but out of the corner of his ever vigilant eyes, Sebek swore he saw it move.

Time seemed to slow down for Sebek. He shoved Lilia to the ground, earning an angry protest from the older Fae, and turned to face the monster as its claws sunk into his chest, tearing away his armor like it was paper.

The healing spell must have dulled his senses because Sebek didn’t feel any pain from the attack. Instead, he just looked up at the night sky and the Draconia Line constellation looked back down at him. The monster retracted its claw and Sebek slumped to the ground. He wasn’t aware of the pool of blood that was forming around his knees and he wasn’t aware of the blood curdling scream that came from Lilia’s lips, nor was he aware of the beam of magic that ripped the monster in two.

No, all Sebek was aware of were the beautiful stars inviting him to dance with them.

~~~

Yuu could see the stars from their bedroom in Jack’s house. After packing up for the night, Yuu, Grim and Jack said their goodbyes and returned to the log cabin. They had packed their things for their return to school in the morning, but while the cat-like monster slumbered peacefully on the bed they shared, Yuu found themself staring at the stars again.

They also found themself feeling a pit of dread well up in their stomach. It was cold like a clawed hand reaching up and tearing them apart from the inside. There was no reason that Yuu could think of to have this feeling, but it made them wonder if returning to Night Raven College would yield another overblotting upperclassman.

Yuu pushed the window open and a cool breeze ruffled their hair. They looked up at the dragon constellation and squinted before their eyes widened in confusion.

Yuu didn’t know how or why, but the bright star in the heart of the dragon was now joined by a smaller star that shone just as bright.

#this took me so long to write #i'm not that sure about the ending #but i like how the two scenes meshed together #TWST #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland writing #Sebek Zigvolt #Lilia Vanrouge #twisted wonderland Silver #Malleus Draconia #Cater Diamond #Jack Howl #vil schoenheit #Twisted Wonderland Yuu Prefect #Yuu Prefect #twisted wonderland Grim #ThatRingBoy Blue #ThatRingBoy Writing

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taishirosmantitties · 3 years

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Not This Time.

Kageyama x reader

A little angst, pop switches sometimes cause I made this within fifteen minutes of thinking about it- Annnnnnnddddddddd Yeah, enjoy.

It’s almost inevitable, you are never going to jump as high as Hinata. You’re never going to hit the ball over the net half as hard as Asahi. You’ll never reach the ball right before it’s aimed at the ground like Nishinoya. You’re never going to set at all, no one has taken the time to teach you. But this time, in this game against Aoba Josai... You knew by the time you arrived to play that this game would be different. In a good way? You’d finally be off the bench. But of course that was only because Hinata got sick for the first half of the game. That’s fine, he’s allowed to feel nervous. But you? No, the bad part was that you had to take his decoy position.

Daichi of course, being the captain as he is, he tries his best with what little time he has between classes and such. Sugawara himself told you that hey, it’s gonna be alright. It isn’t, because today Kageyama is not going to hold back from you. You don’t even know how to play as a decoy.

“Alright, line up. Y/N.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t mess this up.”

Kind words from a harsh man. Nishinoya stands beside you, sending reassuring glances with sweat already collecting on his forehead. As much as he partnered with the Ace of the team, he wanted you and everyone else to rely on him too. It spreads some sort of hope when the team trusts each other and delivers. But today... Nishinoya stopped his advances when Daichi shook his head. It wasn’t his idea to put Y/N in as the decoy, but with them being the same speed at least, they’ll make a difference. At last you get to play though, right? At least you get to trip some people, although you aren’t believable.

“Y/N. I’m serious.”

Kageyama closes in to the end line, everyone else taking their positions. You want to take your position, his hand on your shoulder doesn’t let you. Unfortunately, this man has an effect on you. In reality, he isn’t going to go easy on you, but you already knew that.

“If we lose today... I want you to know that I don’t think it’s worth the trouble of-”

“Just give me a chance, what is so wrong with playing with me? It’s your fault if I don’t hit your sets, and it’s your fault alone that you haven’t bothered to practice with me. So suck it up and let’s go.”

“Expect a serve from me.”

“Expect me to miss you fu-”

The whistle. Y/N bends their legs slightly, clasping their clammy hands together in an act of hope, if not courage. They don’t want to lose, they don’t want to fail the team. They don’t want to be benched. But it’s only a matter of time before Hinata comes back, the star player.

“Thank you!”

“Let’s go! You good Y/N?”

Looking at the shorty now, Nishinoya gave them a sideways glance, a reassuring smile that screamed ‘rely on me’. They will, they will. Of course you’d watched them when they wouldn’t teach you, you knew what to do but you just aren’t fast enough. Aren’t tall enough. Giving him a thumbs up, the ball is in the air. Move, dammit! Move!

‘Oh god. It’s in the air, stop stop stop I’m not ready! Dammit Hinata come on!’

It was aimed straight at you. With a loud yelp, it’s inertia changes, your face bouncing back and giving almost ten percent whiplash. Some cheers, a couple hollers, your back bounces on the floor twice before coming to a stop. Who the hell hits that hard?

“Y/N! Y/N Are you alright?!”

You sit up anyways, you can’t breathe through your nose- why can’t you breathe through your-

“they’re nose is gushing dude-”

“shut up!”

Of course. It’s bleeding. You raise your hand, and you push them away. You weren’t fragile, you just took a volleyball to the face and your vision isn’t even blurry. Taking Nishinoya’s hand instead of Kageyama’s, you did not miss the nasty look he sent your way. But hey, while all of that was happening, Asahi was keeping the ball in the air. Good for you. Play is still on.

“Set it to m-” Your voice stops, you were ready but... The ball was already hopping off of the setters hands, but it wasn’t sailing towards you. It was supposed to go towards you, everyone was running towards Asahi. Right, but that isn’t how this play was supposed to go, it’s not-

It was wrong. He chose wrong, Daichi knew. His face dropped and he clasped a hand over his mouth. That set, it could cost them the game. Nishinoya fumed, and Sugawara was ready to interfere.

The ball did not make it past the other teams blockers. And Kageyama wasn’t looking at you. He was looking at the other team, feeding their cocky attitudes.

“That ball was supposed to go to me.”

Finally, you speak. But he doesn’t listen, walking back to his position and readying himself with his nimble arms. You try again, walking towards him.

“Kageya-”

He turns towards you, eyes half lidded with- was it anger or disappointment?

“You couldn’t have hit my set even if you tried.”

Is that really what hurt the most? Or was it that the rest of the game, not once did you touch the ball after you took it to the face...? When hinata finally joined back in, he replaced you. You were benched next to Sugawara, who placed his hand on your sunken shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Was all he had to say. It didn’t matter if the king of the court was your boyfriend, he would rather play volleyball than spend your birthday with you. Of course it wasn’t for another month, but still...

“I’m going home.”

“W-what? The games not over- it’s just-”

“Did you not see what just happened? I can’t play on a team that doesn’t want to work with me.”

He didn’t say another word, he couldn’t explain how much he wanted her there int he first place. being as second year student, Nishinoya and Daichi both made it their prime goal to make her a specialist. But with Kageyama’s attitude with her exploiting their plans, he had to let her leave. And so, Y/N went straight home and turned their phone off to binge watch some Netflix to feel better about Kageyama not trusting her with the ball.

“That was a dick move, Kageyama!” Nishinoya stormed towards the king, shoveling him backwards with his little self. Caught off guard, Tobio pushes him back, grinding his teeth in frustration.

“First of all, they wouldn’t have hit it! Not Like Hinata could’ve-” He’s shoved again, this time by his captain. Daichi doesn’t utter a word, a look of disappointment on his face. Kageyama had seen it the first day of practice when him and Hinata had tried to join the club but... It was different.

“S-Second of all I-”

“Stop, dude. they left cause of you, they could’ve resigned in the time it took for you to realize that. Idiot...”

His eyes dart all around to look for you, but Tanaka was right. you were no where to be seen. So he left too, he went home and he called you precisely twice before appearing on their doorstep to apologize. Knocking on the door in a rhythmic pattern, you heard it with deaf ears. Opening the door ajar, he quietly snuck his foot inbetweent eh door and the wall in case you slammed it shut on him.

“Get out of here.”

“just let me talk, ok?”

reluctantly, you didn’t move a muscle, eyes red and puffy and your bottom lip trembling. He didn’t make much time for you, and this is the first time in months that he’d actually set out to find you himself. IT was nice, the attention was nice.

“I just... I trust you. I do, I promise. But you wouldn’t have made that play.”

“Seriously? You trust me but you don’t want to let me touch the ball? What, do I have bad luck or something? Jesus, Tobio.”

“No! No. I’m sorry ok?! Obviously that play was to go to you and I made the mistake of not trusting you. You looked os ready for it, I saw the same look on hinata’s face and he missed it to. I was worried, dammit.”

He clamped his eyes shut, fists balled and his shoulders raised.

“I didn’t want to embarrass you, I know you hate that. And I know that if you would’ve made it... It would’ve gone to your head, you know most things do.”

The truth. It almost stung. You open the door a few more inches, and he lets himself breath.

“Forgive me, Y/N. I’m sorry, can I come in? I wanna make it up to you.”

“I... I’ll think about it. Let’s... Let’s watch a movie. I just want to relax.”

“What ever you want, I got it. Thank you.”

“Shut up. I’m still angry at you.”

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu #hq #kageyama #hinata #volleyball #idk lol #haiku #owo

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bewaretheidesofmarchyall · 4 years

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Soulmate Shenanigans Five: The Order Of The Shenanigans

Hey! Guess who has returned?

Me!

Just the March doing her prompt writing thing, as seen on previous episodes :)

Parts one, two, three, and four here!

Prompt #5

Any intense emotions your soulmate feels you will also experience

Warnings for kidnapping mention and gifted kid “potential” mention

Okay. Not going to lie, I kind of tweaked the concept, but I like how it turned out. The idea of the sides having sides in human AUs has been in my brain, and now it’s in yours!

World Building

At first, the symptoms of having a soulmate was seen as symptoms of witchcraft

It was a reasonable assumption to make, as seeing into someone’s head and emotions wasn’t really a thing that humans did.

However, as the population grew and communication across the globe became a thing, the instances of people finding their soulmates grew as well, and not everyone could be a witch (or, if they were, being a witch was simply being human).

It took a while for the culture around soulmates to shift, but shift it did, and people eventually figured out “Oh, that person is my soulmate, not my eternal enemy that I need to destroy via my demonic powers, which I totally have”

But people’s minds are kind of a lot, and it’s hard to process it all.

So, in modern day, people have learned to separate the pieces of their soulmate’s personality that they get bombarded with into different pieces, or sides

The sides are Logic, Morality/Emotions, Creativity (with there sometimes being a divide between dark and light), Self-Preservation, and Anxiety.

Characters

Roman: Roman is looking forward to meeting his soulmate so much!

Just...later.

When he’s a famous writer and people know about him and he’s evened out his insecurities and he deserves them!

Being perfect for them is going to take work, but most people meet their soulmates over 30, so he’s got at least fifteen years to prepare.

Until then, he was working on his fantasy story and dreaming of the day he’d get published or get the lead in a school play.

The writing club had been his idea, so you could say that everything that happens in the story was his fault. He’d just wanted to be around people who liked the same things he liked!

Roman’s Sides, ranked in order of how much control they have:

Note: Names are hard. Aaaagh.

Magnus, his creativity, romance, passion, etcetera. Magnus is really the one who calls the shots around here. He’s just as goofy of a fifteen year old (if not more) as Roman, but he has the unenviable position of running a mind palace and being the ego of someone who hates himself.

This guy just wants to listen to Hamilton, but noooo, he had to have an evil reflection of himself and self-worth issues.

The Count, his self-preservation and pretty much Roman’s inner Roxie Hart/Velma Kelly. Randomly suggests poisoning their mortal enemies a lot (note: they don’t have mortal enemies).

The most like canon Janus out of any of the self preservations, except instead of “we live in a society” it’s more “fuck it, we’re going to be *famous*!”

The other sides will pay him to stop saying, “that’s showbiz”

The Medic, his morality and emotions. Sort of has a medieval healer thing going on (which means herbs in a satchel, not plague doctor mask).

A lovely person on his own, but when he and The Guard team up, it’s ✨Guilt time!✨

He has the question of “Am I a terrible person?” on his hands, so...good luck to him. He’s trying to hold the five of them into a cohesive unit, but it’s hard!

The Guard, his fears and anxious thoughts. He has a shield and a spear, and is kind of dressed like a (dark and stormy) knight.

No one particularly likes him, but it’s his job to recognize The Shadow, so they all need him.

He hangs around on the outskirts of the mindscape, ever vigilant.

The Alchemist, his logic. No one listens to the voice of reason in this house. Al isn’t really a fan of this, and being Roman’s logic, he thinks that if he can find a way to prove himself it’ll turn out okay.

The Shadow, everything Magnus discarded. You could call him dark creativity, but he’s a lot more.

They used to call him Rex, when they were kids.

Patton: Patton isn’t thrilled with having to move to a new school, but he’s keeping a positive attitude

The new town is creepy and making friends is harder than he thought, and he just wants to right a sappy love story about ghosts without feeling sad.

But if he keeps his chin up, he knows it’ll all be fine!

And hey, maybe he’ll find people who like him in this writing club thing!

Patton’s Sides, ranked in order of how much control they have:

Patrick, his morality and emotions. Patrick feels all of the loneliness and desperation that Patton feels daily, but pretends he doesn’t feel it, since he has to be there for them!

Them meaning his family, meaning the rest of Patton’s mind, as well as Patton, since he’s kind of an older brother/role model to the guy.

Covering the full scope of human emotions isn’t great when the other half of your job is enforcing the sense of right and wrong (and the general consensus in Patton’s head is showing negative emotions = burden = wrong).

None of them can cook, but that won’t stop him from trying!

The Canary, his fears and anxious thoughts. Constantly popping up to remind everyone that they’re failing. It’s kind of his job.

Stress plays the piano when things get to be too much.

The Gardener, his creativity, romance, and passion. Conjures flowers a lot. Projects wishes for a soulmate into the sappy ghost love story, which he’s mostly in charge of writing.

Hasn’t split yet, but that’s mostly because nearly all of Patton’s negative impulses that would be considered “dark creativity” already come from The Miser.

Dr. Picani, his logical side. Knows everything about cartoons, and tries to be professional, but a complete sweetheart.

Secretly knows his name is Emile, but is waiting for the best moment to tell everyone.

The Miser, his self-preservation and deceitful side. No one’s a fan of him. Patrick is kind of his mortal nemesis (in the sense that Patrick claimed the title and he just kind of went along with it?)

Everyone else in the Pattonsphere refuses to curse, but he says many a “fuck” with ease

Trying to protect The Gardener from splitting by taking responsibility for most of the things a dark creativity would do.

Virgil: Virgil just didn’t want to join the yearbook committee.

It was irrational, maybe, to have a deep rooted hatred of the yearbook committee.

They were just trying to categorize things, design pages-it wasn’t malicious!

And yet, being in that classroom and seeing Amelia’s dead eyes and smile near rang every alarm bell in his system, so he needed a way out this year.

His parents weren’t going to let him not choose an activity, so he flipped a coin and ended up in some writing club.

He came into the club determined to fake some pretentious poetry about death. Just because they say the club’s about expression or whatever doesn’t mean that they can know anything about his comics.

Virgil’s Sides, ranked in order of how much control they have:

Dante, his fears and anxious thoughts. Dante has too many eyes. Dante is lowkey a cryptid, but he’s sadly a cryptid in charge of life decisions.

There’s no way to dance around it. Dante’s a spider-human hybrid.

Dante would prefer they never be perceived by anyone for anything. He does not want to be seen, he does not want to be heard, he does not want to be perceived. Period.

But he’s a very conspicuous spider-human hybrid.

The Competent One, The One Who Can Actually Do Math, Steve, whatever you want to call him, he’s Virgil’s logical side.

His theories are just....

See that image? That kind of sums up his characterization.

Parker, his creativity, romance, and heroic side. He’s the one who got them obsessed with comic books, and is trying to write his own. If people don’t like the comics, he’ll probably just start screaming and never stop

He gets the purple eyeshadow!

Remy, his self-preservation. He mainly just wants Virgil to just...rest

Nap. Sleep. Take a self-care day. This is Remy’s goal.

Also to continue to have the most style out of anyone in the Virgilsphere

Remy has a talent for never being anywhere at the right time, and then popping up at the worst moments, caffeine in hand.

Tam, his morality and emotions. The most into the emo phase out of any of them, since he feels all angst!

Sometimes just hovers and screams. Everyone’s pretty used to this.

Logan: Logan was trying to ignore the things he’d seen

Logan was a scientific guy. He knew that magic wasn’t real, that the fae were just stories.

So, clearly, the nightmarish things he’d seen that night were just that: nightmares. Just nightmares caused by stress over his academic struggles.

That was the immediate problem at hand: academic struggles. Logan was always the top of his class his whole life, and words like “gifted” were thrown around. Lately, however, things have been harder to keep up with and pay attention to, and it’s a bit of a mess.

Logan joined the writing club because he thought it might help him with English class, and he did like speculative fiction.

But, more importantly, he joined it because he thought it would be a simple task he could easily ace, so he wouldn’t have to keep being told that he wasn’t trying.

Logan’s Sides, ranked in order of how much control they have:

Mimir, his logical side. Mimir is pushing himself to take care of all academic matters and keep Logan afloat.

Mimir is over his head, but doesn’t really have anyone to talk to (or so he thinks), so he’s just putting Warby Parkers over his panic and faking cold distance to make everyone think he’s doing okay.

Alastor, his moral side. Half of his job is repressing Logan’s emotions, which isn’t a great thing to be doing, but he think he’s doing it for a good reason.

Kinda strict and blaming Mimir for everything going wrong. He does care about the others, he’s just bad at showing it.

Cassandros, his fears and anxious thoughts.

This dude-

He’s basically just [puts feet on coffee table] “Hey, did you know everyone hates us?? I made a PowerPoint that proves it!”

He’ll get character development, though.

The Chessmaster, his overdramatic self-preservation.

Tries to be clever, walks into walls.

The Detective, his creative and fanciful side. He wants to swashbuckle, but instead he’s restrained to geometry.

But now he has a project in the writing club! He has something to do!

And The Mad Scientist is trying to ruin it!

The Mad Scientist, Logan’s dark creativity.

They never used to care about the creative side one way or another. There was no need to make a dark side when it was already looked down upon.

Now, however, there are things in Logan’s mind that he’s trying not to think about, and so the Mad Scientist has joined the fray.

The Actual Plot

This is going to be an actual fic that I write. So, I’m not going to fill out the entire plot here.

I can, however say a few of the plot lines

Plot One: Everyone’s sides are in a state of constant screaming and must learn to communicate.

They also need to let their main guys figure out they have soulmates, because they’re all repressing that information for their own reasons.

Plot Two: LAMP in a writing club, falling in love and being disturbed by first drafts!

Plot Three: The fae are kidnapping people.

And everyone needs to get them to Stop.

I guess you could call this a trailer??

I JUST REALLY LIKE THIS IDEA

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where-s-all-blue · 4 years

Text

More University Headcanons!

Straw Hat Pirates Edition

Luffy

He's studying to become a photographer because he looked up to Roger, who himself was a professional photographer during the time he was alive.

Another reason for this is the fact that photographers get to see a lot of things their life, sometimes even danger, it's like an adventure.

Like most of his friends, he resides in Gold dorm and has done his fair share of stealing furniture for it.

He keeps a diary which he decorates with cute stickers and Polaroids.

He has a good eye, which helps him with setting the camera in just right way to get the perfect shot.

He's one of the louder residents which often makes people who need the silence to concentrate, like Law, go absolutely bonkers.

He's banned from the kitchen.

He keeps dragging people into the dorm.

Somehow? You just can't hate him.

Zoro

Decided to study social work when he realised how unfair the world could be.

Is also in the kendo club which he joined upon learning that the person who is seen as the best is its captain, he intends to best him.

Currently he supports one hundred and fifty-one wins and one loss.

The only loss was against Mihawk.

He's naturally good when it comes to dealing with people, but he truly shines when he's around kids.

He's often helping around the dorm by moving large objects in/out.

He was the one to clear the large area which later on came to support the workout area and the garden.

He often takes strolls on the woods located behind the dorm, he's easily the scariest being there.

His sense of direction is so bad that he was given his own device which tells him his location and how to get to the place he wants to go to. This device was made by Eustass and Usopp with Law telling them to turn it into a wrist watch which also measures Zoro's vitals so he can monitor his own health and sport related achievements. The data of his vital signs is transferred into his phone.

Usopp

He majors in engineering and thrives when it comes to inventions, his secondary is English literature.

He writes plays and stories on his spare time, some of them are pitched to the theatre club and art majors.

He's good at crafting and thus is often seen working on something for the dorm like name signs that all match the personalities of the residents.

He was the one who thought of turning the street sign poles into a fence around the dorm's garden.

He's also in charge of modifying the stolen property to ensure that nobody realises where they originally came from.

He was the one who turned that one car into a bed after he moved it inside in pieces. The car bed is in a room called "Silence Room" which was made to have no sounds get in or out of it. He and Killer designed the interior of it to help those who have hyper senses and are more proun to headaches (or just can't stand being around people too long). It's also used as a guest room from time to time.

He works the best with people who are smart like Sanji, Law and Eustass, he also gets very well along Chopper, the therapy dog that goes around the campus.

He's free spirited goof ball with very wide interests who gets along with almost everybody.

Being the jokester of the lot is his attempt to have people think of him as a good guy to be around with and to see that he's not just brain.

He struggles with seeing his own self worth and is very proun to feeling melancholic due to his high Intel making him realise things that he'd rather not know of. He has a low self-esteem because of being dismissed as a child due to his dreams and goals being too ahead of his time.

Sanji

Culinary arts and management major.

He was raised in a foster home, more specifically by the owner of the Baratier restaurant Zeff who he considers to be his dad more than his biological father.

He was kicked out of the Vinsmoke estate by his father Judge due to his wish to be a chef instead of becoming a lawyer or a doctor or a politician.

Technically he's still eligible of inheriting the throne of Germa Kingdom even if he was exiled.

He's still expected to marry a high class member of the society and thus Judge keeps messaging him about his choices, fully believing that Sanji will one day see his way and abandon his dream of being a chef in favour of the kingdom.

He even has a fiancé, Charlotte Pudding, though he never agreed to the scheme that was orchestrated by Vinsmoke Judge and Charlotte Linlin. Pudding also isn't too happy about the situation.

His foster father is the actual lecturer in charge of the culinary studies, but as he was in an accident and thus hospitalised, Charlotte Linlin is subbing him much to Sanji's demise.

He's one of the few people who who can cook in the dorm and he takes notice of other people's likes, dislikes and allergies.

Sanji's kindness is often noticed by others.

Nami

She's a architecture major, her second interest being banking.

When she moved into the dorm, she quickly noticed that the students who renovated it had no idea how things worked, so she had them redo few things. The dorm is now a lot easier to keep warm during the winter.

She was the one to pitch the idea of the Silent Room upon noticing how Law was struggling because of how loud the dorm had become as a result of the new first years moving in.

She works part time as a waitress at Baratier and she is known for her ability to negotiate the costs a lot lower that they usually would be.

She's a bit of a kleptomaniac, result of her growing up on a poor and unsafe area dictated by gangs.

She's also a honours student, who's part of the special program which basically ensures that she has enough money to buy her school items and food.

She often chats with the local witch coven to obtain more information, she also likes to hangout with Killer and Usopp.

Her best friend Vivi Nefertari is currently in an exchange program.

Chopper

A golden retriever akita mix.

He was originally Sabo's therapy dog, nowadays he's more or less the therapy dog of anyone who needs him. He still sticks by Sabo for the most of the time.

He's broken into the classrooms during lectures to deliver forgotten items to Sabo so often that he has his own attendance record and he's almost considered to be a student at this point.

His job includes going to the local pharmacy every Friday to pick up a specifically constructed herbal infusion packet and bring it to the Lair.

He's highly intelligent dog who was capable of deducing which herbs were part of the herbal infusion treatment and then retrieve the plants based on their scent.

He picked these herbs and spices from the garden of Gold Dorm.

His bestfriend is Bepo, a samoyed owned by Law, who also happens to be the only other dog on the campus.

Robin

Social Work major, secondary studies in history.

She chose her line of studies due to wanting to prevent other kids being forced to go through the same kind of neglect and abuse as she did.

She's fluent in multiple languages and writes her notes in one of the dead languages, which she self taught herself to read.

She prefers to keep her information confidential and she enjoys the confusion some of her antics cause.

She takes part in the weekly movie night and enjoys them greatly.

Franky

Robotics major.

The only member of the group who doesn't live in a dorm. Nobody knows if he even sleeps or eats, but if you need him, you can always find him form the workshop.

You need to drag him out forcibly to have him even leave the room.

Thanks to Luffy, he now visits the Gold dorm few times a week to hangout, but the second he sees something that gives him an idea, he bolts out back to the workshop.

100% workaholic, 0% sleep, 120% Cola.

Brook

Actual university cryptid.

Is literally dead and walking around.

Formerly a music major.

Nobody knows how long he's been there and frankly nobody cares, his flamboyant style is a mood and his cravings for food and drinks is something we all relate to.

He knows every nook and cranny of the campus.

He's been there so long that nobody even questions it and he even gets invited to university parties and to hang out.

The only time someone freaked out was when the group went to a fast food restaurant and forgot that the outside world isn't aware of him. He tipped the waiter generously with something that looked like an old coin. It was probably worth more than the whole restaurant.

If you talk to him, there's 80% chance of you triggering his natural response to anything which is singing and dancing.

He's literally a walking musical.

He's one of the few who has heard Katakuri's doughnut song and lived to tell the tale. Except that he's dead already yohohoho.

He's very likely to console you if you're not feeling okay.

When it comes to the modern technology and stuff, he's a bit confused, but has the right spirit.

Jinbe

The current captain of the karate club.

Nobody knows what he majors in nor from which dorm he's from.

When Shirahoshi from Atlantis (=Fishman Island) started her studies in the University, he was quick to form a protection team to her and her brothers from the members of the karate club.

He might be the instructor of the club? Apparently he's one of the strongest.

I woke up one morning and he was eating soba noodles in the kitchen, why and how is he in our dorm. Is he even a student here?!

Oh my god he's now fighting against Ace, I swear to god sport majors are so dramatic.

It was a tie. How am I supposed to feel about this.

They both are now emptying our fridge, someone please get them out.

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lowkeyaesthvtic · 5 years

Text

On The Road

Pairing: poly!Sea Three (Uma x Harry x Gil)

Summary: A modern!AU entailing a sneak peek of what a road trip with the Sea Three would be like

Word Count: 1,819

Warnings: Like one swear word and that’s it

It was an item on their bucket list since they were little kids: take a road trip across America. None of them knew at the time that they’d be crossing that item off the list together, but they were incredibly glad they were. Uma longed to see all of the beaches. She frequently visited the tiny shore on the outskirts of her hometown, but she hadn’t seen anything near the palm trees and white sands and crashing waves she dreamed of. There’s so much to do at a beach. She could lay in a chair and relax, falling asleep with the warm rays beaming down on her bronzed skin. In the more popular cities, she could take a quick stroll across a boardwalk for an ice cream cone or a local outworldly fair snack of some kind. If she was feeling extremely playful, she could wade around in the ocean with her two favorite boys because she knew there was no way they’d stay still with such a large, wet and blue playground out in front of them.

Harry was pumped to see the big cities. They didn’t necessarily live in the middle of nowhere, but you’d have to drive hours to see any kind of skyscraper clump. He’s always been so enamored with the idea of something being big. He had heard of beautiful brick buildings with modernized furniture and movie theaters larger than a football field. Harry especially longed to visit the largest mall in America, located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Does he need an entirely new wardrobe? Not necessarily. But is he going to get one anyway? Absolutely. Thoughts of the night life zoomed through his brain. All three of them were 18, there were likely multiple night clubs that they could get into. A booming, music filled environment with colorful lights and a crowd more accepting of their relationship and his extravagant personality than many of the people in their grassy suburbia.

Gil was excited about many parts of the trip, but it would be the little things that would make him the happiest. From the wacky tourist attractions they would visit along the way to the local family owned restaurants they would stop at for the occasional meal, Gil realized that the smallest parts of the trip would make the biggest memories for him. Not to mention that there was something interesting to him about sleeping on and comparing multiple hotel beds.

As Harry placed the last of their things into Gil’s hand-me-down SUV, he felt Uma’s small arms hug around his waist in excitement. “I can’t believe we’re finally doing this. Gil and I have been working doubles at the Wingstop for at least two years.” Harry closed the trunk and quietly chuckled as he turned to face his girlfriend. They had been working quite a bit for this. They knew it would be expensive, and they definitely knew that their parents weren’t going to help much. So, for the past two and a half years, the three of them had been doing everything they could to earn some money for their trip. Harry was not only playing more gigs with his ‘band of pirates,’ but he finally persuaded his boss at the local boxing gym to make some extra cash teaching self defense. Gil had a hard time keeping a job, his lack of awareness usually making him late. But after Uma put in a good word for him at her mom’s burger and wing joint, he did everything he could to look like a good employee. Uma started working so many doubles that she rarely had time for anything other than school and work. It put a bit of a damper on their relationship, especially since Harry didn’t see Gil and Uma outside of school and his occasional visits to the Wingstop. But at the end of the day, they knew that all of this hard work would pay off in two months worth of time with each other.

“Well, it’s happening. All of our work is finally paying off, duckling,” Harry replied, gently pushing one of Uma’s ombred braids away from her face and behind her ear. Harry went to kiss Uma’s lips when the two of them were interrupted by a boyish, excited shout coming from Gil as he ran towards Harry and Uma with open arms and a lion plushie in his hand.

“Road trip! Road trip!” Gil chanted, beaming with joy as he held Harry and Uma in a warm hug. “We gotta get this thing started! If we don’t leave now, we’ll be getting into Dallas really late and then Uma over here will be a sleepy, grumpy mess.” Gil chuckled as he wrapped an arm around Uma and leaned in to give her a quick kiss on her head.

“The only reason you’re not as sleepy as the rest of us is because you’re knocked out in the backseat before we even leave town.” This was the longest trip the three had ever taken, but it definitely wasn’t their first. One specific trip was when the three of them were in their freshman year of high school and they had to travel 6 hours by school bus for a state theatre competition. Despite the rockiness of the bus and the screaming high schoolers, Gil was knocked out before thirty minutes could pass. Not only that, but he stayed asleep the whole ride. “Speaking of which,” Uma spoke as she went to open the door to the driver’s seat. “You’re driving first.”

Gil groaned childishly and gave Uma his signature ‘puppy-eyed’ look. “Why?”

Harry walked to Gil and wrapped an arm around him. “Uma’s made a little bet. You drive two straight hours with no caffeine and no pulling over for a nap, and Uma and I each owe you $5.”

“And if I don’t?” Gil cocked his head to the side in subtle confusion.

“You owe each of us $5. Either way, someone’s getting money out of this. What do you say?” Uma quickly shifted her glance to Harry. The two had made a little bet themselves. Uma believed that Gil would never give up the chance to sleep for something as small as $5. Harry knew that Gil had a strong competitive streak in him from sports and other activities they shared with each other. Whoever was wrong had to sit in the back seat all by themselves for as long as Gil was able to drive.

“You know what? I’ll do it. You guys are gonna be so broke by the time this trip is over.” Gil chuckled, confident that he would win this tiny little bet. Harry smirked and looked to Uma as if to say ‘I told you so,’ and watched as she slowly opened the door to the backseat.

“Alright, boys, let’s get this show on the road.” She mumbled, partially disappointed that she had lost her little game. But truthfully, she was more excited than anything to spend two months alone with the best boyfriends in the world.

The trip started off as right as rain. Traffic in their town was relatively light, and they crossed the state line within 45 minutes. Harry, being in the passenger seat, had the privilege of picking the music. Hard electric guitar and strong lyrics about being ‘original losers’ and ‘underrated youth’ blared through the car, making it easy for Gil to stay awake. But, just as quickly as Uma was able to find a comfortable spot to rest her eyes amongst the luggage she shared the backseat with, Harry’s hardcore modern punk died down to slow Nirvana grunge that was easy for him to chill to. As suburbian highways turned to blank, near stranded roads, Gil needed something to keep him awake and aware. “Hey...Harry, are you awake?” Gil asked, his eyes darting from left to right in an effort to prevent zoning out on the road.

“Uh, yeah?” Harry looked up from his phone and over to Gil. Harry could tell that his boyfriend was doing anything to keep himself awake. A part of him was conflicted. He could either pretend to nod off and leave Gil to lose the bet, or he could keep Gil company out of fear of what would happen if he were to fall asleep at the wheel. Thankfully for the three, he chose the latter. “How long do you think you’ve been driving?” Harry asked, using his words to keep Gil awake.

“Honestly, I don’t know. The GPS said the drive was going to take 6 and a half hours. So I told myself that once it hit 4 and a half hours, I could start looking for a gas station to pull over and switch spots, you know?” Harry nodded his head, but he became nearly bug-eyed when he saw the GPS said they would arrive in 7 hours. No...no this couldn’t have been right. They’ve been in the car for at least an hour and a half.

“Gil, sunshine, can I see your phone for a moment?” When Gil nods his head, Harry grabs the phone from the magnet nearly plugged into the AC vent in Gil’s car. He rolled his eyes as he realized what was wrong: Gil had either missed an exit or taken a wrong turn, extending their already long road trip. “Jesus fucking Christ…Gil, take the next exit and find a gas station.”

“Wait, why? We’re perfectly fine on gas.”

“Because you clearly don’t know how to follow a GPS. I’ll wake Uma.” Harry turned his body and slightly climbed over his passenger seat to lightly tap Uma on her leg, causing her to slowly stir awake and sit up.

“Are we here?”

“Hate to wake you, darling, but you’re riding shotgun. I’m gonna drive.” When Uma responded with a confused expression, Harry grabbed Gil’s phone from the magnet and showed it to Uma. She was just a confused and similarly shocked as he had been when he first saw that Gil had gone the wrong way.

“Jesus, Gil, tell me you didn’t do this to get out of your bet.” Uma flatly asked as Gil pulled into a nearby gas station and began to unbuckle his seatbelt.

“I didn’t even realize that I had done something wrong until Harry said I did.” Gil innocently shrugged his shoulders and switched to the back seat, an area that had been warmed from Uma’s sleeping body. Harry got into the driver’s seat and began to drive.

Gil smiled as he snuggled into a nearby pillow tucked into the backseat. Did he fake getting lost to get some shut-eye? Maybe. Was he going to end up owing Uma and Harry money for this? Possibly. But the only thing that mattered was that he was getting to spend two straight months travelling the country with his sleepy girlfriend and his flourishing, overdramatically Scottish boyfriend.

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jjunishi · 4 years

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Choice

Kakegurui au (since I haven't seen any)

Prompt: In a school run entirely by gambling ability, Katsuki Bakugou is the self-proclaimed king and everyone who challenges him is unlikely to meet a very good outcome.

Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x fem. reader

Rating: idEk what this is but there’s implied sexy things (characters are aged up)

Words: 3,234

Part two? Would anyone want that tho??

It was one of the largest come-ups that Japan has ever seen. Incredible how an unknown family name suddenly became one of the best known and perhaps even infamous names seemingly overnight. The media painted the family out to be one of mystery but with an evident stench of new money, cold hard cash. Overnight, they had one of the largest net worth’s that Japan has ever seen, it was borderline terrifying the power they had. Consequentially, when the only child of the family was enrolled into Hyakkaou Private Academy, it was hardly to the surprise of anyone.

She was the ever so gentle daughter, greatly treasured as the only heir that would inherit the empire. Just as she brushed by the gates of the school, people instantly knew who she was, whether it was for the fame or the controversy. The girl wore a soft smile, beautiful as the rest of her, it was enough to brush off the look she had in her eyes. She fed off of the power and knew how it all worked. Manipulation and people skills were her specialties and the idea of being underestimated only excited her.

Katsuki Bakugou was the self-declared leader of the school, he was the show-man of that entire shit show of a school. Of course, the student council president was the official power of the school but Bakugou had much greater power and influence over the student body than the president ever did. Evidently having such a powerful body among the civil students without being a member of the council was unheard of and so a high position on the council was offered to him but was almost instantly refused. Bakugou thought it was a tacky attempt to control him, caging him in and preventing him from growing any bigger- for the council to control him with their own rules. The idea made Bakugou sick as he thrived in the anarchy that he was otherwise creating, he fed off of the chaos, unpredictability, and the overall fragile state of the system because wasn’t that the exact mirror of a good gamble? Bakugou wanted the fear, he liked the way he was looked at whenever he entered the room, he liked being the obeyed master of his many house pets, he liked knowing that he was truly on top. Most importantly, however, he hated anyone who dared to challenge him- Afterall, nobody was of worth to him.

“You’re the heir of that rich family, aren’t you?”

“You’re so pretty!”

“I love the way you do your hair-“

“Want to get desserts later-“

The questions flooded y/n just as she was introduced. She only countered with a soft smile, trying her best to keep up with each question, trying her best to be nice to everyone even though her reputation was already long solidified in that school.

She knew exactly what being in the school entailed and how the system worked- why else would she choose this school over others? Her family loved the thrill and the gene was clearly passed down to her.

“The fuck do you think you are”

The room instantly went silent as a deep aura filled the room and the classroom door was slammed shut. Again, Bakugou’s house pets were as obedient as always.

The girl looked up with questioning innocence as the sea of bodies that once crowded her was suddenly split due just to the voice of the male. Her eyes gleamed as he had clearly caught her attention. So this was the leader- well, more so the rebel. She only sent him an innocent look as she was sure to quickly introduce herself, yet, she didn’t even do so much as stand up to bow to him. Rude, but she knew it would be a bomb to his ego. Bakugou was annoyed by such petty behaviour but he couldn’t lie to himself and say he wasn’t entertained. As a scowl spread over his face, he hissed and grabbed the closest chair to him, flipping it around and setting it down to sit in front of her and backwards on the chair with his hands gripping it. He bit the inside of his cheek as he mustered the best grin he could. Why scare her away this early? She would clearly make a nice little house pet for him, probably a good footrest.

“Listen here, big eyes- “

Weird nickname.

“-I’m sure you already know how this school works. I see you even had a chance to gamble with that dumb Deku, hm?” Bakugou said in the nicest tone he could. It came out as a grumble instead.

“Oh yes! Izuku was quite the opponent, I had a good gamble!”

Good gamble? She wrung him dry of 20 million yen in just three sets.

Having knowledge of this, Bakugou wasn’t certain whether he should go ahead and shamelessly taunt Izuku for his losses or feel annoyance in the innocent way the girl infront of him was speaking. Was she in no way intimidated by him? Was she underestimating him?

“Close the blinds.” He growled out to the students wearing the tags that were crowded behind him, all instantly obeying with the notion of what would be happening next. The room was black under some dim lights came on, lighting up just the table infront of them.

“Oh, I see! You want to play a game, hm? You could have just said!” Her voice was sweet enough to cause a cavity, playing it all up simply because she knew the effect it had on him, observing from the little time she has known him that he really was a ticking bomb, it only took time and she was going to use it for her advantage.

“Shut up, you idiot, call it for what it is. A fucking gamble.” He spoke with his tone gradually increasing in volume. He flipped his chair around to face her. After all, having the back of the seat against his chest would imply a form of cheating when it came to card games and Bakugou got his ego fed the most by games won with an even gamble.

“Choice poker. Every heard of it, dumbass?” His eyebrows furrowed together tightly in a scowl as a new deck of cards was placed onto the shared desk. Of course, he would pick his favourite game to gamble on.

“I assume it’s like poker…but with a choice” She teased him, propping her elbows onto the desk and placing her chin on her hands. Bakugou had to keep from lashing out then and there- because after all, what did he have to worry about? No way was a little extra going to beat him in a gamble that he pulled all of his house pets in with, it was only a matter of patients before he could laugh in her face and claim the victory (and cash) that he has grown so addicted to.

“Choice poker? I don’t think I’ve ever played; do you care to explain the rules?” She spoke in a soft voice as she tilted her head to the side in curiosity, a soft expression on her face, not even betting on an unfamiliar game seemed to scare her. But of course, she knew the game, she was just using this as a spare chance to analyse him, since the order and tone he describes the rules would stress what he views to be most and least important. What rules a player deems more crucial can definitely reflect the approach they would most likely be taking.

Bakugou let out a tsk of air, annoyed but what more would he expect.

“Fine. Listen well since I’ll only say it once, try and get it through that thick skull of yours.”

He pointed to a member of the crowd of people, “He’ll play the role of the dealer-“. Bakugou was cut off by the female in front of him.

“But that can hardly be fair, a biased dealer isn’t it?”

She earned a smirk and a scoff.

“Of course, I wouldn’t stoop so low as to have such an obvious cheat”

He was an honest player but bluffing and causing uncertainty in his opponent was his best and only cheat.

A voice spoke from the corner of the room, “I will deal”.

It was Shouto Todoroki. He wasn’t a house pet, nor was he interested in gambling his money away, he just respected an artful gamble between two opponents, careful to avoid cheats. He was a dealer that was trusted by the student council and so the rate of turning down Todoroki’s request to deal were very low if an unbiased gamble was that of the objective.

“Perfect, half and half will deal, is that to your shitty standards?” Bakugou leaned forward in his seat with a testing expression. The response he received from her was a satisfied smile and quick nod, “Yes indeed! I know he is a diligent dealer”.

That was among one of the many things she knew.

With a huff and the roll of his eyes, Bakugou proceeded to explain the rules.

Todoroki shuffled the cards.

“It has the same basic rules as common poker, five of a kind are the strongest hand and high card are the weakest hand. The joker is obviously incorporated and is strongest in place of the ace, we play with all 52 cards. But what makes this game interesting isn’t that the strongest hand doesn’t necessarily indicate the winner. The lower hand can win depending on the choosing of the highest better. So, it’s all a game of choice…and how much money you can bet. Oh and you can only exchange your cards once.”

Interesting that he mentioned this last. Rules usually lay this out first but Bakugou is indeed searching for chaos and chance, it’s a game that perfectly mirrored him as an individual. Y/n was sure not to let this bit of information slip.

“Seeing as you robbed Deku of 20 million- I don’t blame you, that idiot wouldn’t know better even if it hit him in the face- and you have that sweet new money, I’m sure you wouldn’t care if we started with 1 million yen chips?” His scarlet eyes gleamed as he twisted a chip in between his fingers.

“Sound’s brilliant! I’ll request 100 million’s worth!”, she chimed in shamelessly.

If Bakugou wasn’t certain in his skills and the fortunes he acquired from his house pets, he would have been irritated. Now he just knew that she really was worthy of becoming his footrest.

A loud laugh fell from his lips,

“I like the way you play, big eyes!”

Still a weird fucking nickname.

“I’ll mirror your 100 million yen”, he wasn’t worried about it, it was pocket change.

The chips were placed on the table and Todoroki has commenced with distributing the cards.

“I’ll bet just 10 million. I’m a gentleman after all.” Bakugou pushed the ten chips forward as he knew y/n would raise by at least 1 million yen, he gave her a smaller risk. It was her first round after all.

She did exactly as he expected and placed down the million. “Does that mean I can choose?”

“Sure does, dumbass”

She made the choice of betting on a stronger hand.

As the two placed their cards down, it was clear that both had bad hands.

However, y/n was gifted with an ace and so she won the set.

“Impressive, lady luck is on your side today”, Bakugou teased. He knew she would win the hand, he scarified it to see if she had a few tells he could pick up on, whether her face contorted in a certain way depending on the hand she was given. No tells. This was an annoyance to him but he viewed it as a mild inconvenience for a greater win.

Todoroki dealt the second hand and Bakugou was quick to exchange a set of queens.

“Wow, that’s quite the bold move, Katsuki, are you going for a weak hand?”

Now her tone was different. It wasn’t sweet, it was now a venom on her tongue. What made Bakugou cringe was his name coming off of her lips. He never introduced himself and now it became evident that she knew more than he thought she did.

She was done playing games.

“Or are you perhaps making me think you are? What are you hiding there? I bet it’s a pair of kings…maybe the joker, you seemed to like that card quite a bit” she set her cards down on the table as she pushed in all of her chips.

“Raise 1 million yen!”

Why was she betting like this on a hand she potentially figured out? Why wasn’t she going all in? Bakugou was actually starting to fell uncertainty because he was unable to understand her nor her motives. She knew his move, but she also knew he could easily out bet her even if she did have the upper hand from having one the last hand.

“Raise 70 million.” Bakugou was becoming jaded with his hand, all he could do is out bet her in that moment. But that also appeared to be what she was trying to make him do…unless she certainly either had a set of twos or knew that he didn’t really have the joker. She was bluffing.

“I guess I’ll have to call, I’m not ready to go all in yet”, she spoke with such a slickness in her voice, it was eerie, but it got Bakugou going even more than he already was.

“I bet on a stronger hand’, that seemed to be the best choice for him at that very moment, she did spend more time focusing on the likelihood that he would bet on a weaker hand after all.

“Please show your hands”, said Todoroki as he motioned to the desk on which they were playing.

Of course, Babkugou was right. He won the hand easily with the pair of fours.

But his heart still raced. She had a terrible hand dealt to her; she was doomed to lose either way so why would she try to out bet him knowing that both of her predicted outcomes out have led to her downfall.

“I guess this hand goes to you! Well played, Katsuki!”

He scowled at the name that left her lips. How dare she talk to him with such informality, he was clearly on a higher rank than she as and he was also winning their gamble.

But this wasn’t an attempt to annoy him nor was she trying to be rude, she was hinting at the fact that she already had him figured out and all it took was the play of two hands.

She had full control over the outcome of the game, having completely taken it from Bakugou. In her eyes, this was an absolute win because they weren’t playing for the heaps of cash they were betting on, but dominance and their own pride.

The final hand was commenced, cards were shuffled and distributed. Without even looking at her hand, she pushed fourth all of the remaining chips she had.

“I raise 40 million yen”, her voice was a lot darker than the sweet voice he heard addressing him at the time of his very arrival into the room. Her voice was as sweet as candy, but it wasn’t real cherry, just a chemical imitation but nonetheless addictive.

“You Idiot!”, he cried out a laugh, “you’re either one bold bitch or just completely insane!”

Bakugou pushed all of his chips in as well. He had the choice since there was nothing left to bet.

This was finally when y/n decided to look at her cards. Her expression was indifferent from the rest. Babkugou was at a complete loss. Although he had the advantage in choosing the winning hand, his option wasn’t any easier now. He had a straight flush of high cards, the odds were entirely in his favour and all he had to do was choose a strong hand.

“what’s wrong, Katsuki…you have a clear decision infront of you…”

She was suddenly standing up from her seat and slowly dragging her fingers over the desk, a few chips knocked from their nearly stacked towers.

She circled until she stood behind him. Her breath was hot against the back of his neck as her plush chest pressed between his shoulder blades.

“What’s wrong…aren’t you going to bet on the strong hand? That seems to be your preferred winning. With a strong hand isn’t it? That’s your style…twisting up your opponent and making them think that the cards dictate your choice- but you love the control…you love to be on top and mysterious, while having all of these ‘extras’ figured out from front to back…So, why are you hesitating now?”

Bakugou’s throat was dry. She had him completely figured out.

“You seem a little hot under the collar, darling…is everything alright?” she whispered against his ear, her fingers travelling along his shoulders before she gently unbuttoned the top button of his shirt…then the second…stopped after doing the third.

He was entertained, after all, she was one of the only opponents to make him feel this way and to come so close.

But the win was his.

So why was he in doubt?

“Come on… show me my fate…am I yours to play with? Or are you mine?”

“Stronger fucking hand!”, his rage and hotheadedness spilled over in that moment as he tossed his cards onto the table. It was a perfect hand, he had the joker too.

The girl behind him kept her calm and slowly revealed her cards only to him.

She had a shitty hand again. But if he chose to choose a weak hand, she would have lost without doubt.

“I guess that’s it”, that was the last thing she whispered to him before she slid back into her seat.

“You fucking house pet!”, he cried out, his eyes a blood red as a wide grin spread across his face. Now he was the one standing. “Unless you can pay up, where’s my 200 million?”

It was no question that she had the money, she just wanted to lie, entertain herself and use the rules of the school to her own advantage. Not a surprise, since this type of manipulation was how her family rose to the top so quickly. She was the heir all in all and he was a pawn in her game.

But he was also one in his.

Unknown to the both of them, a mutual relationship of advantages and pleasure was birthed in that room at the cost of those 200 million yen.

“I don’t have it-“

This threw Bakugou in a fit of laugher. It was a lot better winning out of uncertainty, this was the type of gamble he came to be addicted to.

“What will you do? Tie me up? Walk me on a leash like a good kitten? Strip poker maybe? We could even play Russian roulette!”

She was mocking him but little did she knew that his true ideas went above and beyond.

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out…What happens to you is up to me to decide… You’re mine now, kitten….and it only cost me a game of choice.”

Okay so this was my first lil dabble thing, I have plans to continue it but it all depends on the feedback! Please leave a comment on what you liked and what wasn’t that great, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

I own none of the right to the characters or plots mentioned.

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faresramettas · 5 years

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prima di sorridere un po’ (eng trans, repost)

i decided to take my translation of this italian fic of mine off ao3 because i never really liked the idea of translating it in the first place, and when i see it between my works it doesn’t make me happy. i’m sorry! i definitely have a love/hate relationship with this fic and its translation, however i don’t want it to be completely gone because it’s over 3k too and it took time and effort, so i’ll be posting it here.

a couple of notes before reading: this is set in june next year, when marti is about to take maturità. maturità is the exam italian students take at the end of the 5 years of high school. notte prima degli esami (the night before exams) is a song about maturità and peak italian culture. there’s even a movie about it. the night before exams is supposed to be a big deal.

read below!

Martino was screwed. The day before maturità, when all he wanted to do was drown his sorrows in liters of beer, the truth was that he was behind on his history program, he hadn’t even touched his literature book and if he had to translate another text from Greek he’d throw up on the dictionary. His days were split between study groups, Eva and the girls for history and philosophy, Giovanni, Elia and Luchino for maths, only to go back home and keep revising, head bent over his desk or lying on his bed surrounded by books. Martino was good at school, he’d finished his essay a month ago, he had nothing to worry about, his mom kept telling him to reassure him. But anxiety was the issue, that fear of disappointing his and other people’s expectations that twisted his stomach and wouldn’t make him sleep. On top of that, he hadn’t seen Niccolò in almost a week. Martino had been the one to reluctantly force this distance, after the umpteenth study afternoon turned make-out session, turned fucking on his bed. “I can help you study, you know.” “You know perfectly well that when we’re together we never end up doing shit,” Marti had replied, running his fingers through Nico’s sweaty curls sticking to his forehead. “Case in point.” “But we barely see each other,” Nico had whined, rolling to lie on top of him. Marti had chuckled and wrapped his arms around his waist. It was almost the end of June and Rome was already too hot. Nico, naked and glued to him from chest to ankles, definitely wasn’t helping him fight the heat but Marti would have never complained. “I know, Ni. Just for a few days. I need to focus on terza prova. Then you can help me prepare for the oral exam.” “Okay,” Nico had sighed, a slow smirk making its way on his face. “Nerd.” “Fuck off. In case you forgot, you have exams, too,” Marti had teased him. Nico had rolled his eyes and mocked him. Marti had pinched his sides in retaliation and flipped their position in one swift move, earning himself a surprised gasp from Nico, who’d looked at him and pulled him down by his hair for a kiss. Schopenhauer can wait, Marti had thought. He missed Nico. They talked on the phone every day but it wasn’t the same. He was right, they’d been seeing each other less since he’d started university. It was an inevitable change that they’d made up for in advance, spending the previous summer always glued to each other. But they’d adapted to it, more or less, at least until January. Nico hadn’t been able to take all the exams he'd planned on his first winter session because his head had had other plans. Martino had been by his side every day, from the moment Anna had called him on Wednesday to tell him Niccolò hadn’t shown up to his first exam and was refusing to get out of bed. He had rushed to his house after school and all he’d needed was one good look at him to understand how bad it was and that Nico wouldn’t say a word. So he’d just laid down next to him, hugged him and stroked his hair, whispering in his ear that he was there, that he’d have to go home tonight because he hadn’t warned his mom but tomorrow he’d be back and sleep with him. The next day he’d brought a duffel bag with a change of clothes and his toothbrush at school and had asked his mom if he could sleep over at Niccolò’s for a couple of days, that had eventually turned into four. Finally, on the third day, Nico had gotten everything that was torturing him out, an avalanche of self-pitying and distorted opinions on his worth that Martino wanted to pull like weeds. “I should have never enrolled in uni. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing there. I don’t even know if I like sociology. I’m just wasting my time and flushing my parents’ money down the toilet. As if I wasn’t causing them enough problems already. I can’t do anything, I’m just a burden to everyone I know.” Marti had let him vent because he’d learned it was the best thing to do, even when listening to those words filled him with anguish. Marti’s heart broke every time Nico’s head didn’t allow him to see just how wonderful he was. In those moments, Marti wished he could lend Nico his eyes so he could see himself through them. “And you, Marti? I don’t even know where you find the patience to bother with me. You don’t deserve to have a noose around your neck at eighte—” He had interrupted him, then. He’d taken Nico’s face in his hands and looked him straight in the eyes, and one by one he’d tore down every single unfounded word that had come out of his mouth until Nico had stopped crying and had given him a small smile full of gratitude. Marti had spent the next two days on a mission to make him feel better. Cuddling him, taking a bath together, changing his sheets, making Nico eat and smile in front of his parents too, following the minute by minute motto that had become a pillar of their lives, a philosophy they’d both embraced outside of their relationship too. Three weeks later, they had celebrated Nico acing his first exam. Nico hadn’t had episodes as bad as that one in months and Martino hoped that the summer session wouldn’t bring a relapse. Although Nico still talked about his doubts on his choice of university every once in a while, he’d managed to settle in and make some friends. He still preferred the company of Martino and his friends, though, who scolded him all the time, because instead of helping them sneak into university parties full of hot girls, he was still spending his Friday nights drinking Peccio’s artisanal beer with them and listening to Giovanni’s relationship woes. Two years after their breakup and despite the short Argentina chapter, Giovanni still hadn't gotten over Eva and had decided he would try one last time before the end of their exams. Nico had been offended by their comments. He knew he was welcome. Martino had met his new acquaintances and, as nice as they were, his friends were better. Giovanni, Elia and Luchino had complained, yesterday, about Niccolò’s absence, because he’d always helped them study in the previous weeks and most importantly, as a survivor of the worst maturità in history, he had helped them not panic. “The last days are crucial, bro. Nico could’ve helped us,” Luchino had said. “Well, I can’t focus when he’s around. If you miss him so much, you can always text him, okay?” Martino had snapped. “Okay, calm down,” Elia had commented. Marti had swallowed and apologized. “Sorry, bro. I’m freaking out.” Gio had squeezed his shoulder and stared at him with that searching look he always had when he understood that something was wrong. Martino had sighed and complained about the derivatives exercises he couldn’t solve to change the topic, asking Elia for help. Because, yes, Elia was the best at maths out of all of them, although no one would have guessed. They had started seeing each other less and less sometime around April. Because Marti’s study load had tripled in an attempt to raise his grades in the last months of school and write his final essay in advance, so as not to worry about it in June. Because Nico, maybe suddenly nostalgic of Radio Osvaldo, had joined the university radio as a volunteer and had started giving piano lessons to earn some money, something that would give him a sense of independence. Those weekends spent in bed that used to be their routine were almost a miracle now. They barely managed to see each other twice a week, and never for two days in a row. It was hard, but Marti knew that it wasn’t forever. He cheered himself up thinking that soon they’d have entire weeks of sweet nothing and that they’d take a trip to Berlin together to celebrate Martino’s maturità on the first week of August. Niccolò wouldn’t stop talking about it, how he couldn’t wait to be there, to see the East Side Gallery and the Museum Island, to go to bars, to have Martino alone to himself in a hotel room for five days, and Martino had started counting down the days in his head, because Niccolò was Olympic champion of contagious enthusiasm. But today was the day before maturità and Martino was screwed. Because of all the stress and anxiety, he had slept six hours in total over three nights and he was on edge. Maybe that’s why when Niccolò showed up at his front door unannounced in the late afternoon, he didn’t react the way he would have expected too. “Ni, what are you doing here?” “I missed you,” Niccolò said, kissing him on the lips and making his way into the living room. “Don’t you want to spend the night before exams with me?” he added, chuckling. “Yes,” Martino replied, hesitating. He immediately recognized the signs of Niccolò’s impulsive behavior in his jerky head movements and the way his hands were shaking, and he furrowed his brows, worried. “But I have to study.” “For what? It’s just an essay.” “For everything else…” Martino mumbled. There was a small part of him that was almost flattered that Niccolò couldn't resist more than six days before knocking on his door, but something about his teasing was ticking him off. Maybe Niccolò got it from the tone of his voice and he stepped closer, resting a gentle hand on his neck and searching his eyes. “Aren’t you happy to see me?” “Of course, I am,” Marti smiled at him, trying to relax. “I can leave if you want, huh,” Niccolò said, raising his brows and tilting his head. Marti shook his head. “Stay. But I really have to study. At least another couple of hours. Then we can do whatever you want.” He didn’t want to kick Niccolò out but he hoped he’d been clear: no distractions allowed. “Okay, okay. Don’t worry,” Niccolò said, taking his hand and leading them to Martino’s room. “How are you? What are you studying?” “Greek. I wanna die.” “Shut up and be grateful you didn’t have last year’s fucking latin-greek combo,” Niccolò said, throwing himself on Martino’s bed while Martino resumed his place at his desk. He smiled, remembering the desperation on the fifth-year boys’ faces when the new seconda prova with both languages was announced. The worst maturità in history. And luckily, the only one. Marti picked up his copies of old translations, scribbled with pencil on the margins and heavily underlined. He wasn’t bad at it, obviously Latin was easier than Greek, but he couldn’t wait to abandon these shitty dead languages, like Giovanni always called them. Niccolò managed to stay put on his bed for about 10 minutes before he came behind Martino and bent down to hug his shoulders. Martino had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes. He didn’t know why having Niccolò around was bothering him. He didn’t like feeling like this. It’d never happened before, and Martino knew it was his problem. “Ni,” he warned him. “Marti,” Nico replied, sing-songy. That unpleasant feeling twisting Marti’s stomach just kept building up. “I’m in deep shit, Ni. I mean it.” “Just spend ten minutes with me, what difference does it make? You barely said hi to me,” he said, with a sweet whiny voice. Martino was sure he was pouting too. “Can you wait until I finish this? Please, please, please," he begged too, looking up. If Nico could pout, he could use his puppy eyes. “Okay, okay,” Nico sighed, “got it. I’ll be good. I won’t move.” He lied on the bed again, pretending to be very still like a robot. Marti smiled at him, mumbling an apologetic “thank you” and turning in his chair to stick his nose back in the dictionary. “Don’t you have to study too? Why didn’t you bring your books?” Marti commented offhandedly. Niccolò sighed. “Fuck, Marti, you sound like my mom.” “Why? What did I say?” “You think I don’t know when I’m supposed to study or not?” Martino was taken aback by Nico’s snappy reply. And that was it, that pushed him over the edge. If there was anything that Martino had learned in the year and a half with Niccolò, it was that his patience went way over the limits he’d always thought he had. Being with him had brought out a better version of himself, a Martino who knew how to listen, how to think before he spoke, who always put Nico before himself, and this selflessness had never felt like an obligation, Martino had never felt forced to do it. The bitterness, pettiness and smallness that he had held before Nico only resurfaced after conversations with his dad or in moments of psychological and physical weakness caused by stress and insomnia, two things he hadn’t learned how to cope with yet. They made him lash out, even with his mom when she didn’t deserve it, and apparently, even with the boy he loved more than anything in the world. There were days when Martino couldn't handle his own emotions, let alone Niccolò’s unpredictable ones, and the pedestal he sometimes felt he was on crumbled. This is how Martino was feeling today: small, petty, irascible, and Niccolò had come here thinking it would make him happy, but instead he’d become the catalyst of all the anxiety and nervousness Martino had accumulated over the last few weeks. “I was just saying. Chill.” He realized how much he sounded like an asshole as soon as the words left his mouth and he regretted them immediately. A few moments of awful silence passed and then Nico stood from the bed. “Okay, I get it. I’m leaving.” Marti shot up from his chair to grab his wrist. “Ni…” “I don’t wanna be here if I’m just a pain in the ass,” he said, looking everywhere but at Marti’s face, avoiding his gaze. “You’re not a pain in the ass. I’m sorry. I’m stressed, you know I can’t handle it,” he tried to apologize. “It’s not your fault.” “Sorry if I thought you’d be happy to see me. Call me after the written exams, or the oral. Or whenever the fuck you want,” Nico said, his voice low and full of bitterness. He turned towards the door and Marti pulled him back. “Stop it, please.” “We never see each other anyway,” Niccolò mumbled, finally tugging his arm out of Marti’s grip. “And that's my fucking fault, Ni?”, he snapped. He swallowed harshly. He’d raised his voice with Niccolò. He never thought he could be so stupid. Neither of them had ever yelled at the other, in a year and a half. They’d had hard moments, moments of tension, disagreements, but they’d never had a real fight. And why had he yelled at him? Because he was in a bad mood? I'm a piece of shit, he thought. “It's no one's fault if I have to study and you’re busy with uni,” Marti said, lowering his voice and his gaze. His head was pulsing and he rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger. Niccolò, standing three feet between him and the door, bit his trembling lower lip and said nothing. His hands were clenched by his sides. Martino sighed and continued. “Of course I miss you, and it pisses me off that we don’t see each other often… but I just needed you to do me this favor, today.” “I see,” Niccolò nodded. “And I’m so useless and needy that I couldn’t even do this one thing?” Marti closed his eyes and sighed, again. “I never said that, why do you have to do this? Ni, please,” he stepped closer to touch his face but Nico moved away like his palm was scalding. Marti looked at him and lowered his arm, waiting for him to talk. Nico kept biting his lip and nervously bouncing his leg. “You know uni isn't going well. That my parents are badgering me about it. You know it. There’s no need for you to always remind me about it too,” Niccolò said, finally looking at him. His shoulders were shaking, and his green eyes were full of hurt. All the hurt Martino had caused. “If you hate seeing me, just say it.” I don’t understand why you hate spending time with me so much, his mom had told him, so long ago that Martino didn’t even remember when. He only remembered it was before he made up with Nico, before the terrace, because Martino had become such a different person ever since things had started working out with him that he would have never expected to hear almost the same exact words coming from his boyfriend. They hit him like a ton of bricks and Marti physically felt the fight drain out of him. Every cell In his body abandoned the fight and, this time, he thought carefully before he spoke, while Niccolò looked at him like he was waiting for the next blow. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I swear. When I’m like this… I act out, I can't stand myself. I can’t explain how sorry I am, Ni,” he whispered. “I just wanted to spend some time with you.” “I know. It’s not your fault. I’m just an asshole.” There’s always a turning point in an argument, when according to the words you choose the fight can go on or die out. Marti had given Niccolò the chance to choose an out. He hoped he would take it. “Hm. Yeah, a little bit.” Marti smiled at him, grateful, and closed the distance between them to hug him tight. He hugged him for minutes and Nico held him back, hiding his face in his shoulder. Marti kissed him and whispered apologies on his lips that Nico returned with a soft smile. “You know what we’re gonna do? We’re gonna close the books, jump in bed and--” “You don’t have to fuck up your study session because of me. Go on. But let me help,” Nico interrupted him. He took Martino’s notebooks and dictionary and put them on the floor, in the little corner under the window with the pillows and carpet, where they loved to spend hours cuddled up under a blanket next to the radiator in winter. He sat down and looked up at Marti, patting the floor next to him like you would do to invite a shy cat. “You sure?” Marti asked, sitting down by Nico’s side and hugging his knees to his chest. Niccolò nodded. Marti thought about it and then grabbed his notebooks, photocopies and dictionary and threw them by the foot of his bed, ignoring Niccolò’s amused protests. “No, fuck it. I want to be with you. Talk to me. How are you?” Nico smiled at him. He leaned his head against the wall and turned to look him in the eyes. “I miss you,” he whispered, fragile, shaken by a fight that had had no reason to exist, that should have never happened. Marti felt the raw honesty of those words hit him in the chest. “I miss you, too.” They kissed, and Marti kept muttering apologies until Nico forced him to stop, fondly exasperated. They talked while Marti’s hands played with Nico’s, twirled his curls, stroked his cheeks. They talked, but for the most part they just held each other, because sometimes silence healed better than words. The vibration of Marti’s phone startled him. It was a voice message from Gio. “Oi, Marti, we’re all meeting up at Baretto later. The girls are coming too. It’s the night before exams and you’re coming, don’t even bother with an excuse. And bring Nico cause we all miss him. Okay, bro?” Marti laughed and looked at Nico with a complicit smile. “Feel up to spending your night surrounded by a bunch of high-schoolers singing Venditti?” Niccolò laughed too, that whole-body laugh, chin lowered and eyes crinkling. That laugh that Martino had fallen in love with on that mid-October day on Nico's couch. Then Nico looked up and scooted closer to give him a kiss. “I’d be offended if I missed it.”

#skam italia #martino rametta #niccolò fares #nicotino #rames #fic #text

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next-gen-ninja-official · 5 years

Text

Season 1: Next Gen Ninja Episode 1: Green and Pink

It was the last class of the school day, yet for one boy, it couldn't go by quickly enough. At least watching the dragons flying through the clouds could keep him busy. He was sketching the soaring reptile when he was disturbed by a crumpled paper ball bounced off the hood of his black jacket. When he turned to see who did it, a kid sneered and pointed to the teacher.

"Lucas Garmadon-Taylors," she spoke up, gaining the blond boy's attention, "What have I told you about wearing that hood? Plus you should know the dress code by now, any unnatural colored hair dye is not permitted as it can cause a distraction. Last time I checked, being the son of a ninja doesn't suddenly get rid of a green area of hair, which is clearly visible in the front."

With a sigh, Lucas pulled down his hood and mumbled, "It's called a fringe.. Plus the counselor said I could as it comforts me.." This was the one thing he disliked about his math class, his teacher practically lived and died for the rules, no matter how absurd. Since when was hair distracting?

"What did you say?" Ms. Ming asked the young student, "Perhaps you can speak up? Unless of course you have nothing worth mentioning."

The boy was silent, not wishing to speak up. This caused the other kids to chuckle. To them, this was the funniest thing they have ever seen, the son of the Green Ninja can't even stand up for himself? The image itself was comedic for them, but seeing it in real life was hilarious.

"That's what I thought," the teacher stated, "Now everyone, please pay attention as we multiply these decimals." Lucas sighed as Ms. Ming returned to the board. He knew the answer already, he often found himself practicing math and coding in his free time. Sometimes, it felt as if writing programs and drawing were his only escapes from reality. Not that it lasts long for him, there's always something going on. Including now.

"Hey, Lucas, what's this?" a voice came from in front of him.

Lucas snapped his gaze to the notebook in front of his face, "Hey, give that back!" He tried to take it back. Imagine what those other kids would do to his drawings! He had to get it back!

"Some son of a ninja you are," the other boy teased, "Can't even see when someone sneaks up on you. Man, what's in here anyway?" The other boy started flipping through the pages.

"That's personal!" Lucas hissed, crawling over his desk to grab his notebook, "Give it back!"

The other boy kept pulling Lucas' notebook away and smirked at him, "You're the Green Ninja's son, shouldn't you be able to get it on your own?"

"My mom's a ninja too, you know!" Lucas grunted in frustration.

"Wow, so even more of a reason for you not to suck so much," the boy then tore out a page of his notebook, "Hey, look at this drawing! What is this, a diseased dragon?"

"Earth Dragons are known for growing crystals on their scales!" Lucas countered, "It's because deep in the caves they live in, minerals drip down onto their scales, building up into rock formations and crystals!"

"Lucas, Atticus!" Ms. Ming called them, "What is so important that you two disturb the rest of the class to discuss?!" She crossed her arms, ready to dish a punishment seemingly at the crack of a whip.

"He stole my journal," Lucas mumbled, sitting in his seat and looking away.

"Lucas, speak up please," Ms. Ming instructed before Atticus jumped in.

"I'm sorry Ms. Ming, but Lucas was climbing over his desk and bothering me!" Atticus turned to point at Lucas, "Can't you do something?"

The teacher sighed, yet again another distraction by the one kid who was different than the others. What will she ever do with him? "Lucas, head to the counselor please."

With a sigh of routine, Lucas gathered his things and left the classroom.

*****

Lucas looked to the poster on the wall, waiting as his mother hurried to the school. 'Hang in there,' it said. 'Story of my life,' Lucas thought as he sighed. Out of all the kids in the class, why was he the one everyone makes fun of?

That’s when the door opened, the familiar face of his beloved mother seeming to overwhelm him into running at full force to hug her. She actually understood how he felt.. whenever he explained this stuff.. the things that happened at school, the misunderstandings.. she made him feel like maybe he wasn’t so stupid or weird.. and that he wasn’t a bad kid as he knew the teachers thought.

In turn, the woman knelt down and sighed, hugging him gently. “Oh hun.." she muttered as she rubbed his back. “What happened now..?” She asked hesitantly as she looked at the counselor and took her seat.

"Well Mrs. Taylors," the counselor began, "It appears the kids in his class were making fun of him again. And as we know by this point, Ms. Ming didn't consider his side of the story as according to Lucas, he was outspoken and assumed to be causing a disturbance. All of which happened due to his notebook being stolen by the kid who made fun of him today. To be honest, I'm getting worried for him. He is incredibly smart, but seems to be pushed around by the others."

This caused a sigh the pass the woman’s lips. “I’ve been thinking the same thing," she really liked the counselor, she always listened to Lucas and gave him space to talk. “But..ah just don’t really know what to do about it." To be honest, Lucas’ mother hated that maths teacher. Sometimes he’d overhear her and his dad talking about it. She was the master of sound, after all. She didn’t mean for him to hear!

But he would. And he’d hear that the teacher should keep said bullies in line, because if a child didn’t feel safe in the classroom, then even if they’re teaching, they’re not doing their jobs.

Yet, just like his father, Lucas was stubborn. He kept going to school anyway. Lucas knew there was value in knowledge. So as long as he wasn't seriously hurt, he was fine right? Well, that's what he thought anyway.

"Well," the counselor sighed, "I would like for him to build some self-confidence first of all. It would make him less of a target. Second, I have a feeling they're jealous of him. Kids can be mean to those that they believe are on a higher level than them." The counselor then turned to Lucas, "Even if they didn't ask for it."

She then sighed and looked back to Ace, "In a way, I think it's why Lucas keeps telling me that he doesn't want anything to do with being a ninja. He doesn't want to be bullied for it."

His mother sighed once more. She knew he didn’t want to be a ninja, and she hated the thought of pushing her child towards a life he didn’t want. But it was out of her hands. It was his destiny. If he didn’t become the next Green Ninja, then many would perish. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.. but she never thought those few would be her own children. For a moment, she stayed silent, staring at the floor, looking almost guilty. “Yeah..” was all she was able to mutter.

After an uncomfortable moment of silence, she looked up. “That is.. in itself a.. very complex issue.. neither of us really know what ta do about that..” this time she was referring to her husband, the one in their family that was best known, Lloyd Garmadon.

"Well," the counselor sat in thought for a bit, "His destiny is in the claws of the Golden Dragon alone. With that being said, knowing the incident where he blacked out and set a desk on fire, I believe the Golden Dragon already made its choice. For him to be a ninja as well as its next champion. But I'll tell you what, if we work on his self-confidence, perhaps we can meet again and discuss his future?"

"Well.. that’s the thing.. ah know very well how much bullying can affect a child.. and I think.. if he stays in a place where he’s guaranteed ta get bullied.. there’s nothing we can do that’ll raise it.. but that it’ll just keep falling.. so.. I do have an idea. But it’s quite a big change," she then looked at Lucas to give him a reassuring glance, knowing he was scared of change.

"What is it?" Lucas mumbled, barely above a whisper. It was times like this that unnerved him, for how was he supposed to know what to expect next?

"Please, continue," the counselor nodded, willing to hear the idea.

"Well.. ah thought, if it’s agreeable to you, that having Lucas take a few days off school may help. It’ll allow his self confidence ta raise, at least back to where it was, and along with his schoolwork which we can get Luna to collect, he can focus on his training. Since learning the particular style of fighting, is also a form of meditation which helps a person's spiritual being," she smiled a little, “so it should, in theory, help his self confidence grow quite a lot." She then looked back at the counselor when she’d finished talking, a little nervous about what she may say. Lucas did get his shyness from her after all.

"Then Dad's going to be hyper about teaching me," Lucas mumbled, knowing how excited his dad was about the chance to teach Lucas everything he knew.

"You know, perhaps that's what he needs," the counselor smiled, "Who knows, maybe this was the Golden Dragon's plan all along? After all, life works in mysterious ways and he may just find his place in the world."

"Then tomorrow will be the first day of training," she smiled at him, “In his safe home." She then looked at the counselor. “But, could we get his journal back?”

"Ah, yes!" the counselor opened a drawer, taking out the journal, "I managed to tape the torn out page back in and might I say that is the most amazing depiction of an Earth Dragon I have seen. He is quite talented!"

Lucas carefully took the journal back and held it close. "Thanks," he mumbled. If there was one thing he wasn't a fan of, it was socializing outside of his family. If only Luna had the same lunch as him.

"Well, like mother like son," she playfully smirked at him.

*****

The ring of a bell echoed through the halls as the school day came to an end, the sound very quickly replaced with the laughing of many children, relieved they could finally relax. The school doors opened by a teacher keeping a watchful eye over the students, an eye that was almost immediately drawn to the gigantic green dragon that was wedged in between a row of cars and confused parents. The teachers here were all used to seeing said dragon, but it still shocked them every time. Metaphorically, that is. Through the course of the school day, you forget to expect it.

Every time, kids would just stand and stare at it, all except one child. Who instead, beamed at the sight of it. For teachers here had to let the children go once they recognized the parents, for the children’s safety. And what was more recognizable than this?

"Alright Luna, you can go," the teacher sighed in annoyance. That thing always riled the kids up! When they got riled up, they didn’t listen! He just wished the principal would just say it straight instead of sucking up to Lloyd just because he was a ninja.

This caused the child to jump up and down excitedly before running over to the dragon, and its rider. “DADDYYYY!!” No matter how many times he picked her up, she always seemed ecstatic to see him!

"Hey kiddo," her dad smiled at her as the Energy Dragon took this moment to nuzzle the little human, purring to its heart's content, "Get up here." With that, the dragon gave Luna an affectionate lick and purr before picking her up with its tail and setting her on its back. "So, how was school?" her dad asked as the dragon began to lift itself into the air.

“W-wait! We can’t leave without Lucas!” She looked at him in alarm.

"Oh right, you didn't hear," Lloyd shook his head for second, "Sorry, I was anxious to see you and the faces of all those people when I came in with a dragon. Anyway, Lucas came home early after another bullying issue. I mean, he didn't burn a desk this time, but he was given a two day break off school. Which brings me to the exciting part! Starting tomorrow, you and Lucas are ninja-in-training!" With this the dragon gave a yip, 'YAY!' While Lloyd may not have understood what it said, the young Master of Sound could.

"R-really..? I hope he’s ok..he’s not too upset is he..?”

"He's ok," her father smiled, trying to calm not only her but himself, "He's up in his room coding again. Ace let him have the rest of the day off. His energy powers don't seem to have kicked in yet, surprisingly, but he'll get there. I'm just glad he hasn't hurt anyone yet. It takes practice to control the element of Energy after all. What about you? Are you doing alright?"

She nodded in response. “Yeah, I’m ok! OH AND I GOT AN AWARD TODAY!” She beamed excitedly. “I GOT THE “MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD!! IT'S IN MY BACKPACK!” Her happy voice echoed through the sky as they flew, the young Master of Sound still learning to control her own powers.

"Nice job!" Lloyd then ruffled her hair affectionately, "You're probably just as talented as your mom if not more so! So did any of your friends get anything?" The dragon below them, unbeknownst to the one who summoned it, gave the child a congratulatory roar.

"One of them got a ribbon, I think," she smiled.

*****

After a short flight home, the two walked through the door, lighting up the house with sounds of laughter. Luna loved to talk, especially to her family. And listen. Which meant she was great in social situations. Which was one of the reasons she and her older brother were so great together! When Lucas got overwhelmed as he so often did, Luna would step in and do the talking, and draw the attention away from him!

After Lloyd shut the door behind him, he felt that something was.. off, and began carefully looking around for a few minutes before shaking his head. Walking into the house more, he called out to his family, "Ace! Lucas! We're home!" As if on cue, the smiling face of his wife greeted Lloyd, and smiled happily at the both of them.

"HI MOMMY!!” Luna beamed, running in for a hug, almost making Ace stumble. “Hi..” she chuckled through a wheeze, knowing that her daughter was just that excited about life in general? It.. it was a great feeling! Her daughter was genuinely happy, and as a mother, nothing could make Ace happier.

"Luna, as much as your mother is an amazing woman," Lloyd began with a playful smirk, amused by the scene before him, "I still think she needs to breathe."

"Oh!” The young girl quickly released the small woman from her grip, chuckling. She did feel a little bad, but was equally amused by the face her mother was making, “Sorry Mommy!”

Lloyd walked over to Ace, kissing her on the cheek before speaking with concern, "Are you alright, Ace? I know she didn't mean to hurt you."

"Y-yeah," she chuckled, blushing slightly.

"Well if you’re ok, can I go see Lucas? Or does he need some time alone?”

This caused the adult to smile at her daughter, “Aaw, you’re so thoughtful! You can go see him! I bet he’s missed ya!”

"YAY!!” And with that, the excitable young brunette rushed off upstairs like a pink blur.

Her brother was back at it again, coding books open, computer on, and code across the screen. He may not have truly developed his powers yet, but stuck to the principle of always having a special bracelet made of Benchstone on his arm. For he knew from his dad's stories how he might make electronics explode, and with the odd state of his Golden Power, he didn't want to take any chances. He was currently clacking away at the keyboard without a care in the world, in fact he was so focused in his code he didn't hear his sister walk in.

To not be heard, is something that Luna had never experienced before. She was so loud that people she didn’t WANT to hear her, had. So, she slowly walked closer, trying her best not to make him jump. “L..Lucas..?”

Startled, Lucas turned around in his swivel chair to see Luna, "Oh, hey Luna. Do you need something? Also how was your day at school? Make any new friends?" Her brother did his best to protect her and make sure she was happy. In a way, he was like his dad when it came to protecting family, but he was much more skittish about it. Yet, no one could say he didn't try to be the best brother he could.

"Uh-huh!! I won an award and then everyone wanted to be friends with me!!...but..” the smile then seemed to fall from her face. “What happened to you..?”

Lucas sighed, "It's fine. I'm alright. No one got hurt or anything, so it's ok. I'll live through it." This again, was another similarity to his father, neither wanted others to worry about them unless they felt that the problem was truly serious. Their definitions of serious may be vastly different but that was to be expected.

She sighed, frowning at her brother. “Ok..if you’re sure..”

****

"So basically,” Ace explained to Lloyd, recapping her meeting with the counselor,as she got to her new point on how to help Lucas further, "We have ta find some way for him to make friends. It’s hard when you’re shy, but, like chickenpox, if ya don’t get it out of the way when you’re young, it can ruin your adult life."

"Well," Lloyd thought for a moment, "he might have luck with people similar to him. You know, bond over a common interest. Kinda like how all the kids at the boarding school I went to were pretty much an army, they all had a shared thing going on. Mind you, that no way implies how I feel about it now, but the point still stands."

In response, his wife nodded, “Like Luna's choir friends. Or Jay's Fallr followers," the husband and wife both exchanged a glance, before chuckling, remembering the days on the bounty when they’d have to spend all day trying to find the perfect hiding place, as not to be seen kissing, or risk that kiss ending up all over the Internet thanks to one very particular, very blue ninja.

"You know, I think Jay accidentally started a Fallr cult at this point because he still regularly posts and still has a good number of followers," Lloyd then shook his head, "That's besides the point, but yeah, we just need to find others like Lucas. People he can understand. But, who?"

"Well..speaking of Jay, what about Zack and Lilly? I mean, they should be starting their training soon too!” Her eyes widened with excitement as the idea hit her, just picturing Lucas and Luna making friends with the children of Jay and Nya, their close friends who were also excellent parents! There would be no bullying, and they’d get to see their friends again! Plus, they hadn’t seen Zack and Lilly since they were tiny! To imagine what they’d look like now! It actually made Ace let out a tiny squeal of excitement!

Lloyd chuckled a bit at the squeal, "You're still adorable. But doesn't everyone have kids that are going to be trained soon? I mean, how is my uncle going to handle all those kids? I mean, he could barely deal with all of us as it was."

"Well,we could help! Pass on what we know!” She grinned. “Maybe we could train together! Like carpooling, but for ninja!!” It was at that moment that she started bouncing like her daughter would. Lots of people thought that Luna got her energy from Lloyd, but those people didn’t know Ace. When excited about something, she could be very passionate.

Lloyd chuckled at her excitement, "One of these days, I swear you'll reach my levels of energy with all your excitement. Also, you don't know ninja carpool until you've been in the Raider with all the other ninja, arguing over legroom. But we should at least warn my uncle."

"Ok! I’ll get the phone!” The pink ninja yelled, before dashing off and creating her own pink blur. Off to begin their new lives. Their lives as senseis, and their children's new lives as ninja.

Little did they know outside, an almost infamously nefarious snake dwelled outside their window, invisible to the naked eye. With a chuckle, he knew what he had to do. He must stop Ninjago from having any more ninja and he knew exactly how to do it.

#ninjago #next gen ninja #ninjago fanfic #ninjago fanfiction #ninjago au #ninjago au fanfic #ninjago au fanfiction

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its-a-writer-thing · 7 years

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How to Make Your Villain Domestic but Still Evil

It’s the oxymoron that attracts us. Billowing black cape, terrifying worldviews, a willingness to make the streets run red with blood – and you know what would be hilarious? Them trying and failing to make morning pancakes. You know what would really hit us in the feels? Watching them show tenderness around a special someone.

Having a villain with a domestic side is lassoing a black hole, and it’s a tantalizing thing to watch. However, anyone who’s indulged in these daydreams with their own villains has probably encountered one very specific issue: it makes them less evil. They lose their edge.

For example, look at Crowley from CW’s Supernatural. This was a guy to be feared at one point; arriving out of nowhere at unexpected times, always playing both sides of the conflict, and you could be certain he would skin anyone necessary to get what he wanted – usually without getting a single drop of blood on his impeccable suit.

Flash forward to recent seasons, and we’ve seen Crowley cry and whimper more times than Dean has died –which is saying something. At first, it was fascinating to discover this powerful character actually had a tender side; and now, when Crowley makes a threat, we’re about as afraid as when any low-level demon makes one. This is because his evil was too compromised. He let himself go.

How can we avoid this mistake with our villains? The answer isn’t making them crush puppies and hate butterflies at every turn; it’s in balancing their core scariness with their softer side – giving them complexity, giving us a bit of “aww,” and making their eventual whiplash back into ‘terrifying’ all the more wonderful.

For this, we’re going to use Epic of Lilith by Ivars Ozols as an example. This book centers on arguably the original female villain – Lilith, the first woman of the Garden of Eden, who got on the “good guys’” bad side by refusing to submit to someone who was clearly her equal. There won’t be any spoilers below, but if you give the book a read (it’s an easy page turner), the points will be driven home stronger.

Plus it’s a book with a great female villain who isn’t objectified (don’t let the cover fool you, seriously) and prose that isn’t full of sexual over- or undertones. Talk about a win, eh?

Here we go.

They Don’t Sacrifice

Pairing the villain with a more paragon character is certainly an enticing match, with an ‘opposites attract’ vibe that will breed plenty of dramatic conflict. However, sacrificing is seen as a very moral thing to do – and villains, as a general principle, have a strong degree of selfishness. They may suffer for their cause, they may accept loses to achieve their goals, but putting their mission at risk for their romantic partner is giving away power. That’s not selfish – that’s sacrifice.

It’s important to understand what your villain’s goal is – be it creating better monsters, as it is with Lilith, taking over the world, or crushing a certain someone. Now this goal must be unshakable under any circumstances.

For example, Lilith is determined to create better and more powerful creatures – something even the Guardian Angels couldn’t fathom or defeat. When she found a special someone, her goal didn’t change. She didn’t give up her experiments or her wanderlust search for advancing her cause. Instead, she convinced her love interest of her worldview, making them crave it like she did – albeit for different reasons. She let them carry out their domestic dreams, and joined them only when she had finished advancing her goals for the day. When faced with choosing between domesticity and her ultimate mission – she didn’t sacrifice.

Making morning pancakes in a cute apron is fine – but if morning pancakes meant giving up their plans, they’d ditch the apron first and unquestioningly.

They Have Equals, but Always a Backup Plan

Being a powerful villain doesn’t mean being all-powerful. Crowley still relied on the Winchesters at times to see his plans come to fruition, and Lilith still valued her monsters as children in need of protection – especially the final edition, which were unexpectedly crafted from the failings of the ‘good guys.’ Lilith also valued her love interest, enough to teach them how to be a powerful reckoning in their own right (and a seriously kickass partner for her).

But most importantly, when push comes to shove, if these equals ever decided to turn the inch they were given into a mile – the villains wouldn’t be subjugated. Crowley always had a backup plan in place which would take the overconfident heroes off guard if they tried to turn the tables. And Lilith, while certainly rocked by betrayal, didn’t hesitate to use the weaknesses she’d learned about her allies during the time of peace to put herself back in the power seat when war came.

They Don’t Lose Their Good Sense

Being insensibly twitterpated is half the fun of love, and creating strong friendships requires making yourself a little uncharacteristically vulnerable. Unless you’re a villain. What makes terrifying villains terrifying is often their ability to stay ahead of the curve – to always have an ace up their sleeve. They didn’t reach their level of power by not keeping their wits about them, and while they may relax this prowess around someone special, they shouldn’t abandoned it as much as, say – a hero would.

For example, there was a point where Lilith softened around the edges and wasn’t met with treachery as a result. Yet when a similar opportunity for her and her own came knocking, a hero might have assumed it would work out in the same way as before. As a villain, Lilith knew better. Anticipating ‘the worst’ and slowly reaping the benefits of ‘the best’ with a healthy dose of caution – and from the safety of her power seat – is what brought her to where she is.

So when betrayal came knocking, the wits that had earned her power were already fired up. In fact, they’d never been powered down.

They Still Do Evil Things

Having your evil-incarnate character stop to buy Girl Scout cookies is the kind of “aww” and “haha” trope we’re all here for. However, it’s important that they never lose their true nature. It’s easy to let them delve into the paragon side of morality a little too far – and forget that they may set the entire stand ablaze if the cookies are overpriced.

A character that starts with disemboweling a friend who outright ticks them off is the same kind of character who should glance at a knife, then their love interest, then the knife when they get into a heated argument. That’s their nature. It may seem like a step too far – and you may hear your imaginary future readers starting a riot – but it is true to their character. They always bring a bit of that ‘villainness’ to their domesticity.

Such as with Lilith. She has a rather strong habit of seeding derision among her enemies, often as subtle and underhandedly as possible. When an ally starts showing behavior that she doesn’t approve of, it’s not the ‘fair’ and ‘nice’ high ground she takes; it’s an insidious angle, attempting to convince them they can’t trust anyone but her. It doesn’t matter how much they mean to her; it’s her nature to undo the foundations of those who square off against her.

They Break From Their Nature, But Not for Long

Villains can and should be sympathetic in some regards – depending on the style of villain you’re crafting. So this is where you can bend the above guidelines a little, so long as a saving grace is included. Your villain temporarily sacrifices a strategic position that way they can protect their love interest. Your villain puts themselves in a vulnerable place because they don’t want to harm their allies. Your villain goes ahead and pays the highway-robbery price for Girl Scout cookies.

But this break from their nature doesn’t last long – and they come back even more terrifying. This provides the reader with a tenderhearted moment of “aww” but then firmly reminds them who they – and all the characters – are dealing with. Lilith, when encountering one particular instance of betrayal, had the option of annihilating the one who had turned on her. However, she didn’t. She let them go. Against her nature, she showed mercy to someone who outright did not deserve it.

But it was only a chapter or two before she crafted and then executed a plan that would place everyone in incredible danger. Her betrayers were not the intended victims, but they would certainly be affected. Undoubtedly, it’s worse for everyone than if she exacted her precise vengeance.

So have your villains help the good guys save their grandma from a bad nursing home. Then have them burn the entire place down, everyone still inside – because, hey, it’s better than making all those remaining deal with poor care.

Domesticating a villain is exciting, gives them complexity, and if you play it right, certainly delivers a few laughs. But it’s a dangerously fine line – with a strong risk of making them into a boring sap. The key is to make them a villain first and domestic second – since, after all, it was the original we came for to begin with.

To see it done well in action (or just to enjoy a good read), check out Ivar Ozols’ debut self-published novel, Epic of Lilith. Featuring a strong female character, a strong female villain, and an interesting Sci-Fi/time travel take on biblical mythos, it’s a book worth reading. Plus, it’s great to support your self-published comrades!

Happy writing.

#villains #character development #how to make villains domestic #making villains domestic but evil #epic of lilith #self published #self publishing #antagonist #iawt

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sending-the-message · 6 years

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Case #5- The Dance Club of the Damned Part 10 by JacobMielke

(This is Part 10 of Case #5- The Dance Club of the Damned. Part 9 can be read here. )

“This is a stupid idea,” Moxxy complained, for the fifth time since we started out. “They want him dead. If he’s alive he won’t be there.”

The three of us were on our way to Red Delights in Hannah’s car. Moxxy and I had previously decided against going to the club for exactly the reason she kept repeating: Maximilien and his monsters wanted Jacob dead. There’s no way he could be there. But in the absence of other leads, Hannah insisted on us going there, if for no other reason than to confirm whether or not they killed Jacob.

“Moxxy, you’ve voiced your objections already. They have been noted and processed and no further input is necessary on your part. I’ve asked you repeatedly to stop beating that horse in as polite a manner as I’m going to. Now I’m going to be a bitch about it. If you don’t shut your stupid cunt mouth, I swear to the Horned God I’ll curse you so you’ll shit tapeworms every day for the rest of your life. Also, you have a stupid name.”

Moxxy lunged forward and I pulled her back, partly because we needed to figure out a way to work civilly together but mostly because I didn’t want to die in a fiery car crash. If we weren’t on the highway though, I might have let her go. I was itching to see Hannah’s teeth smashed in myself.

“Hey! Can we all just save it for Max? He’s the bad guy, remember?”

Hannah chuckled from the front seat and my patience twitched. I closed my eyes and remembered how satisfying it was to break her nose earlier that day. Of course, she healed the damn thing already but even so, it was still worth it.

Moxxy crossed her arms and stared out the window, livid. “What the hell did Jacob ever see in you?”

“Oh, don’t put your boy up on some self-righteous pedestal like that. He’s more like me than he is you. Emily, you’re a psychic. You know what I’m talking about.”

I hated to admit it, but there was some truth to that. Jacob had always had a darkness in his aura that most people didn’t. He rarely showed it, but every once in awhile something would anger him enough and the look on his face would frighten me. It wasn’t like other people’s rage; he didn’t snarl or scream or tense up. No, his muscles would slacken and his expression would be neutral. But his eyes, they shone with the desire to do awful things. And ever since he started Mielke Investigations, that darkness had only gotten stronger.

But that didn’t mean he was anything like Hannah. Jacob was a loyal friend with a kind heart. So what if he had personal demons to struggle with? Who doesn’t?

“And besides,” Hannah continued, “you’re the last person who should be criticising his taste in women. He told me all about your little tryst with Max. Fun, isn’t it? Sleeping with monsters?”

Moxxy’s face burned red. “That was for information! I was honeypotting him!”

“Sure thing, sweetheart. But I bet he made your honey go drip drip, didn’t he?”

“Will you both just shut up?” I was sick to death of hearing them snipe at each other. “You keep this up and Max won’t have to kill us.”

After driving for another ten minutes, we came upon Red Delights. Moxxy parked the car four blocks away to avoid detection and we approached on foot. The club was closed this early in the day but Hannah assured us that wouldn’t be a problem. If they wouldn’t let us in, she’d make us a way in. As it turned out, that wasn’t necessary. One of Max’s white-haired goons was waiting for us outside the club. Moxxy grabbed my arm.

“Hey, I recognize her. She’s the bartender from the night Jacob and I went to the VIP lounge.”

“And she’s the bitch who attacked me,” Hannah growled. We approached her and Hannah’s tone became mocking. “You again? Weird, I remember you had way less face the last time I saw you.”

I looked close at the bartender’s face and saw a mass of scarring under her left eye, extending down to her jawbone. It wasn’t easy to see with her complexion because the scar tissue was the same shade of white as the rest of her skin.

The bartender glared at Hannah. “You put up a pretty good fight. I almost wasn’t able to grow back the flesh you burned off. Max would have had to recycle me. Next time won’t be so easy, now that I know what to expect.”

“Honey, you haven’t seen nothing yet. Let’s go inside and finish this right now.”

“Tempting, but no. Not yet. Max wants to talk to you first.” She looked at Moxxy and I. “All of you.”

She opened the door to the club and bade us in. Around a dozen or so people like her were waiting inside, watching us with stone expressions as we climbed the stairs to Martin’s lounge. A bouncer at the top of the stairs let us in and there was Martin himself. I’d only seen him from a distance the night Donnie and I broke into his safe and now that I was up close and personal, I could read his aura. It was darker than the average human’s, the kind of aura I would expect from a serial killer. And underneath it there was something else, something I’d never experienced before. It made me think of green flames. I looked at some of the white-haired people and saw that all of them had this alien energy.

“Miss Moxxy, how lovely to see you again. Miss Emily, this is our first meeting but I enjoyed watching you the night you and your friend stole my property.” Max smiled and I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t anything attractive in that smile and his stance. I hated myself a little for noticing it. “And you must be the witch. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Wish I could say the same of you, pal. You know why we’re here?”

Max shrugged. “The Elder tells me to expect guests, so I expect guests.”

I stepped forward and raised my chin. He was over a foot taller than me, but I wasn’t going to let him mistake my shortness for weakness. “We haven’t heard from Jacob in three days. I want him back. If you know where he is, and you tell us, I swear we’ll back off. It’ll be like we never met you at all.”

“A generous offer, to be sure, but a pointless one. I don’t know where Mr. Jacob is.”

“Bullshit,” Moxxy scoffed. “I know you’ve been keeping tabs on us. Your people followed Jacob to my apartment and they tracked down Hannah too and she’s not even as involved as the rest of the group. You either know where Jacob is or you have a good idea.”

Max threw his hands up in mock surrender. “You can believe what you want, of course, but it doesn’t change the truth. I don’t know where he is. After his visit, we turned him loose.”

I felt cold sinking into my stomach. “What visit?”

“Oh, I had my kids bring him by the other day. Don’t worry, we didn’t kill him! The Elder wanted to see him personally, and afterwards… well, I think Mr. Jacob was a changed man. We let him go, as per The Elder’s will. We haven’t been watching him, why would we? He serves now and he’s free to serve however he pleases.”

“You brainwashed him?”

“The Elder showed him what he needed to see. I didn’t do anything to him, unless you count saving his life. He had a nasty wound on his arm when he came in. If I hadn’t intervened, he would have succumbed to blood loss or infection. And before you hurl further accusations at me, neither I nor any of my children caused the wound. Mr. Jacob keeps dangerous company.”

It dawned on me what he was implying and I turned to stare at Hannah. She met my gaze with iron resolve. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t have any idea what he’s talking about. Jacob was fine when I last saw him.”

It wasn’t worth pursuing at the moment. We still needed Hannah. I turned back to Max. “Fine, we believe you. We’re going to go find him, and then we’re out of your life forever.”

“Is that what you think?” Max’s smile turned hungry. “You think I’m going to let you walk out of here? After all the trouble you’ve caused me? Oh, no. The Elder merely told us to expect you. What we do with that information is entirely up to me and I say we clean house. My business has been chaos since you and Mr. Jacob started investigating my club. I long for a return to simpler times.”

The white-haired people in the club began to move. Some of them took up positions behind us, others to the side. Two of them flanked Max on either side. We were being surrounded. The bartender had her attention fixed on Hannah.

“Miss Moxxy,” Max continued. “You will be the last to die. I will have you in my bed again before the end.”

“Like Hell you will.”

Moxxy pulled on her brass knuckles and Hannah’s eyes began to glow orange. They were gearing up for a fight, one we couldn’t win without an ace in the hole. Luckily, I had just the thing. The white-haired people started to move forward and I pulled my ace from my pocket and prepared to pull the pin. Everyone froze and Max’s eyes widened.

“How very resourceful of you, Miss Emily. I’m impressed. Where on Earth does one get a hand grenade these days?”

“Donnie gave it to me before he lost his mind. I’m sure your kids here could survive if it went off right now but what about you, Max? You got any freaky regenerative powers? I’m willing to test it if you are.”

Max waved a hand and his minions backed off. He gestured for the door and smiled. “You die here and now or elsewhere and later. It makes no difference in the end. Go on, you can leave.”

We formed a circle, with Hannah and Moxxy covering me from behind, and backed out of the room. No one tried to stop us from leaving and when we reached the stairs (which were a bitch to descend in our defensive positions) the white-haired people waiting for us outside the lounge actually retreated until the club was empty. I was forced to put the grenade away when we were outside but none of us dropped our guard until we crossed the several blocks to Hannah’s car.

“Fuck!” Moxxy exclaimed. “That was out last lead! Where the hell are we going to look for Jacob next? He could be anywhere. He could have left the state by now.”

Hannah was thoughtful as she drove. “That guy who attacked me at my place, he’s ex-military, right? “

“Yeah.”

“Is he good at tracking people?”

“Oh, yes.”

She smiled. “Well, let’s hope he’s still alive because I think I’ve got a plan, girls.”

(Case #5 will continue in an update. Mielke Investigations is ongoing. )

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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