#Battling my friend with rolled-up newspapers

[wnderkoo]

WATCH | JJK

୨୧ see what you want to see, but all i see is him right now

this is a part of my drabble series, read more here!

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

You're late.

For once in your college career, you're late.

Blame your friends for dragging you out on a school night and not letting you go home until almost midnight- it took two iced mochas to pump you with enough energy to make it pass your door.

Entering the classroom, you let out a sigh when the professor doesn't berate you in front of the entire class. Instead, he looks at you with passive indifference, silently beckoning you to find a seat.

The Visual Arts course required a more practical classroom rather than an auditorium, organised with high tables that sat two people- it had the messy kind of aesthetic you would expect in a K-Drama.

When you look to your usual table, you cry a little inside seeing blocks of clay and newspaper scattered on top of it. Though, given how late you were, you felt that it had been deserved.

Scanning the classroom, you're mortified to find that the only spare seat in the class is next to him.

Tattoos, piercings, the hint of muscles beneath his shirt- Jeon Jungkook is everything you should stay away from.

You had walked in on your first day, surprised to say the least when you saw him at a table. He was the last person you expected to take an arts course but Jungkook had surprised you, becoming one of the top students in the class with his unique art style which blew you away every time.

As if feeling you glaring into the side of his head, he lifts his eyes, meeting yours almost immediately. He gives you a smile that hits you right in the stomach- damn him.

You hear the professor cough awkwardly, signalling to you that you need to find a seat.

Reluctantly, you make your way to his table and sit down beside Jungkook, avoiding his curious gaze as you try to listen in to the rest of the lesson.

Today was theory, and since you'd done the pre-reading, there wasn't much to be missed.

Maybe it's your lack of sleep, or the certain distraction beside you, but you can't seem to find it in you to pay attention to the words of your professor.

No matter how straight you sit up and act like the principles of clay are the most interesting topic on the planet, your mind wanders off.

When you hear a chuckle from beside you, your head snaps towards Jungkook.

"What?" you ask in a whisper, not trying to get called on to answer a question for talking, knowing you wouldn't have the first clue to the answer.

"You're on the edge of your seat," he comments, grinning down at you like it's hilarious.

"If you sit anymore forward, you'll fall right off."

Rolling your eyes, you take in his own posture. Jungook was leaning back in his chair, looking more relaxed than you've been in your entire life. Yet, something told you he was still paying attention.

You knew he did well in school, no matter how shocking it was that the boy who partied and slacked off in class got straight As.

"C'mon babe, you can relax."

Your head snaps back to the front of the room, hoping Jungkook can only see the back of your head and not the heat creeping onto your cheeks.

It's five minutes later, with your professor still rambling on, that his words really win you over.

Scooting back, you let yourself relax into your seat.

From beside you, Jungkook gives you a smug smile.

"Better right?"

"Mhm."

Sitting beside Jungkook wasn't as bad as you had thought it would be. He didn't even flirt with you that much, although he did call you 'babe' a few times, each time bringing the same heat to rise on your cheeks.

He had even offered you his notes to help answer the questions from today's theory work.

The second part of the lesson was always practical, and today you were experimenting with sculpting. Discarding your chairs, you roll up your sleeves and get straight down to business.

While you're fighting hard not to break a sweat as you battle the stiff clay, Jungkook hardly blinks as he start kneading the clay and moulding it into shapes.

After some huffing and puffing, you suddenly feel his eyes on you.

"Need some help?" he asks.

"Nope. Doing. Just. Fine."

His laugh is the first thing you hear before you feel his presence unnervingly close to you.

You almost gasp when he slips one hand beneath each of yours, lacing your fingers together.

"There's your problem, your hands aren't warm enough. The clay won't be mouldable."

Throughout much of high-school and even some of college, guys overly mansplained things to you as if you couldn't comprehend them, but Jungkook's tone didn't belittle you or make you feel stupid. He was just telling you what you needed to know.

He squeezes your hands in his for a moment before pulling his hand away. He beckons toward the clay, urging you to try moulding it now, and unsurprisingly the clay is much easier to shape in just a few seconds.

You silently wonder why Jungkook didn't just warm the clay up for you, but you were thankful that he didn't try to peg you as the damsel in distress.

Before you know it, an hour and a half has passed and your clay elephant and Jungkook's mushroom are standing proudly on the desk.

The hallway is crowded as you make your way to your next class, the chatter almost too loud for you to hear your name being called. Looking over your shoulder, you see none other than Jungkook jogging to catch up to you.

"Hey."

"Hey?"

You almost look around wondering if he was calling someone with the same name as you, but you can't mistake the boyish grin he looks at you with.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" he asks, hooking an arm around your shoulders to usher you to keep walking.

You quickly realise that if you'd stay still just a moment longer, one of the football throwing jocks would have bulldozed right over you.

"Probably just reading class material, why?"

Your confusion must be funny since Jungkook laughs softly.

"Let's get dinner together," he suggests, making your eyes bulge out of your head.

Did Jeon Jungkook really just ask you to dinner?

"You want to go to dinner with me?" you ask, looking up at him.

"I mean yeah, that's why I asked..." his hand comes up to scratch the back of his head, and you realise it's the first time you've ever seen Jungkook look so timid.

Jeon Jungkook. Campus heart-crusher Jeon Jungkook. Has a new girl on his arm every party Jeon Jungkook.

Before you can voice your hesitation, someone calls Jungkook's name from across the hall, tearing both your attention and Jungkook's to a certain brown haired man.

You recognise Kim Taehyung's face through the crowd, waving at you and flashing you his box smile.

"Yo Kook! You still getting the beer for the party tonight?"

While the two communicate through loud shouts, you take the mention of a party as your cue to leave. Jungkook was probably only asking you to dinner because he had nothing better to do. He probably just forgot about the party he was clearly needed at.

You push past the doors and start down the footpath towards the other cluster of buildings across campus when Jungkook is once again calling your name.

"Sorry about that," he says with his boyish smile, falling into step beside you.

"So tonight? Dinner?"

His adamancy about this dinner is throwing you off, especially when you hadn't even interacted with Jungkook enough for him to be practically begging.

"Don't you need to get beer for the party?" you ask.

"I can get that done by 6:30 and still be in time to pick you up at 7," he replies smoothly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"You don't want to go to the party?"

You can't even mask your surprise, looking up at him to see if he's playing a joke on you.

"I'm sure you'd enjoy that way more than dinner with me," you laugh.

"Nah."

One word, so casually, so confident. You actually believe him.

"Okay, fine. Dinner tonight."

Jungkook all but leaps into the air with a fist up, his elation enough to make a passer-by believe he'd just won the lottery.

You finally reach the English department for your next class, but you stop before the door and turn to face Jungkook.

You stare at him fully, trying to grasp what he was playing at. Unable to read him, you sigh and start walking to the door and with one final look over your shoulder, your words are half a demand and a wish.

"Remember, 7 PM. Don't be late!"

He's late.

You'd felt bad earlier for letting his reputation and rumours make you question his intentions, but now he was just living up to them.

You'd spent an hour getting ready, and were horrified to find yourself smiling more than once as you imagined how the night would turn out. You couldn't help it, you were excited.

Every minute is a laugh in your face as you wait on the couch. Maybe he had found someone at the party worth staying for.

You felt stupid for believing you really could be different.

You're just about to give up and wallow in bed while cursing men when your doorbell rings.

You have half a mind to ignore him but you also can't help but be curious to see how he tries to save himself.

The door opens to a guilty looking Jungkook, whose eyes light up just seeing you, as if he had expected you to never talk to him again.

Arms crossed over your chest, you take him in.

His hair is a little disheveled like he run his hand through it one too many times on the drive over here. Wearing a simple white Nike t-shirt and black cargo pants, he was making it a lot harder to stay upset.

It also didn't help that he smelled so fucking good.

"Baby-"

You cut him off, pinning with a look that says 'try again'. He winces at your coldness, though he knows its deserved.

"Yn."

"You're late."

"I know, and I'm so fucking sorry. You don't know how fast I drove to get here," he says, looking genuinely distraught.

A part of you feels petty for not wanting to hear him out. Your pride was wounded and maybe it would be better to stay home.

"It's fine, you can just go back to the party."

You're about to close the door in his face when he steps into the doorway, a hurt expression on his face.

"Please, give me another chance. I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you," he practically begs, looking and sounding close to falling to his knees.

"Fuck, I even got you flowers because I didn't want you to be upset."

You had realised earlier that you never told Jungkook where you lived. You're not sure exactly how he managed to get your number, you think from one of your friends who share a course with him, but he had messaged you earlier and gotten it.

You'd made sure to tell him not to get you flowers (you felt pretentious assuming he would in the first place) because flowers were for dates and this definitely wasn't a date.

Except when he pulls out the bouquet, you almost just forget everything. He could have half assed it and bought supermarket owned flowers, but he went all out. You're not sure where he managed to get such a beautiful arrangement on short notice, but the longer you look at them, the less upset you feel.

"You think you can win me over with flowers?" you chide, except even Jungkook can tell your resolve is crumbling.

"Is it working?" he asks with a smile when he notices your expression is more lighthearted.

"Yes."

You're glad Jungkook took you to eat somewhere casual enough that you didn't feel like you couldn't talk, but fancy enough that you weren't just eating fast food. A good middle ground served for the conversation that came easy between you while you waited for your food to come.

Jungkook explains why he was late, which you assure him he is forgiven for, and he tells you that he'll still spend however long it takes to make it up to you.

After dinner you split the bill because it still definitely isn't a date, much to Jungkook's dismay.

You spend the rest of the night walking along the boardwalk, seeming to never run out of things to talk about.

You steal a photo of Jungkook being scammed into playing a carnival game. You also capture the moment he turns around, grinning at you after he managed to knock down all of the pins.

He snaps a photo of you holding the massive teddy bear that almost takes up half of the frame.

He tells you to keep it as an early birthday present because this definitely isn't a date, even though he says it as he winks at you.

When the end of the night draws near, Jungkook asks if you want to go on the ferris where which you immediately say yes to.

He leaves the teddy bear by the operator and you're too eager to get on that you miss the $10 he slips to the guy to make the wheel stop when you're at the top.

Jungkook gets in beside you, resting his arm along the back of your seat because it's 'more comfortable'.

The wheel starts moving, and your eyes dart every which way trying to capture all the sights as you rise higher and higher.

You point out buildings in the distance and Jungkook smiles

When you reach the top you almost burst out laughing when the ride comes to a stop.

Turning to Jungkook, you roll your eyes at his cheesy smile. You're aware your smile is just as big.

"Of course you did," you tease, even as you find yourself moving just a margin closer.

"What can I say? I'm a romantic," he says playfully.

You can't lie and say you had expected any of this to happen tonight. Some parts were cliche, sure, but some parts were also just so genuine, so Jungkook.

People can see what they want to see and say what they want to say about him, but in this moment all you see is Jungkook.

Jungkook who won you a giant teddy bear even after being scammed $15 for it. Jungkook who paid for your icecream even though this isn't a date. Jungkook who paid the operator of the ferris wheel to stop when you were at the top.

Maybe it's the kind of cliche where the smart girl does fall for the bad boy. He'll drive you home, walk you to your front step and kiss you goodnight.

Maybe it's the kind of cliche where you want him to.

"This still isn't a date."

The words are said as a joke but Jungkook doesn't have time to laugh before you're pressing your lips to his.

His hand immediately cups your cheek, holding you close as he reciprocates.

And boy does he reciprocate.

His lips are soft against yours and when you sigh softly Jungkook slides his tongue into your mouth.

It's the kind of kiss that takes your breath away and leaves you both panting afterwards. Jungkook smiles at you, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand from when the kiss had turned heated and sloppy.

"Definitely not a date."

wow look at me uploading again HAHAH please let me know if you're enjoying these drabbles! feedback and comments are always welcome :)

🏷️: @moonstar127 @royallyjjk

#bts #jungkook #jungkook fluff #jeon jungkook #bts fic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook angst #bts fanfic #bts smut #jungkook fic #jungkook crack #jungkook oneshot #bts jungkook #jeon jungguk #jungkook smut #jungkook fanfiction #jungkook x you #jk #bts jk #bts jeongkook #jungkook imagine #bts fics #btsimagine #bts x reader #bts fanfiction #bts oneshot #bts ff #jeon jk #jk bts

[tarjapearce]

you got me thinking how delicious ranchero Miguel is ((and he is 🐺)) going back again to him literally training without a shirt…showing the aftermath of your night’s intimacy on his skin and I mean scratch marks on both his arms and back….👁️👁️

Tell me he won’t show that off to tease you 😭

Oh he would. 👀

He would wake up at crisp five am, his room although in the barn, would be properly conditioned with everything he needed. The least your parents could do was to give him a proper place since his job in the farm the first few weeks convinced them enough to stay.

Miguel slicked his hair back, removing the front bangs from his face as he looked in the mirror. He smirked at the scratches on his arms, his torso, and when he turned around, he saw some more littering the top of his back.

The sudden memory of him being buried womb-deep in you, made the hairs on his arms to rise. They were his battle scars, and of course would flaunt them off. He took a shower, got ready and got himself to work.

------

The blazing sun of mid day, made him remove his shirt. Sweat rolled down his back, the ripples of his muscle contracting and expanding as he shoveled Agustín food in his container.

The horse took a bit of work to manage, almost throwing him out the saddle at first, but slowly, Miguel earned his trust. It was the only time your father had actually acted out of his stuck up and despective persona to congratulate him. He had gotten Agustín as a gift from another farmer. Your father was a well known man in the community.

Miguel then moved to groom him. Soft bristle brushes, a bit of oils for the horse hair, multiple vitamin caplets and of course a new pair of shoes for Agustín front legs. He had taken a like to the horse, even had developed a distinct call just for him.

Another helper under his tutoring approached him with fresh hay for Luis, your horse, he couldn't help but notice the marks on his skin.

"Had a good night, boss?"

He chuckled and prepare the colt's bottle of milk.

"Este chamaco..." (This kid...) he'd mumble.

"I mean, if the Mrs. saw you like that she'd be horrified."

"Cuando no." (As usual) He tittered at the thought, that just evolved into an idea.

"Get Joaquín more hay, if he still refuses to eat, tell the upper boss." He threw Agustín's saddle over his shoulder and prepared him for another training session.

By this hour you and your mother would be awake and enjoying a bit of a brunch in the porch. After grooming and treating Agustín, he put the saddle on him, and rode him to stretch his legs. To his not surprise your mother was there, rambling about how some of your friends looked like they had already had intercourses.

The word made you giggle and you just earned another swat with her rolled newspaper.

He adored your laugh, before your mother could shoo him away, he tipped his hat and made a blow kissing gesture your way. You couldn't help but beam bashfully at him. The scratches of your previous night made your legs to cross in instinct. His torso bounced softly with every gallop Agustín did.

"How shameless. Parading his... unholy doings before us."

"It's awfully hot, mom. Might as well swimm a bit on the pool."

"Still, we have rules in this house, (Name)." She huffed and you rolled your eyes.

"I don't know how your father can allow him do such... things under our home! What would people say if they saw a tramp walking out from the bsrn! Oh Jesus Lord forbids it. We would be the talk of town. He should take in consideration your father's job as a head of the church."

------

After a few hours of hearing your mother's rambling and she taking her usual evening stroll with her friends, you'd sneak out in the barn, and hug him from behind.

"You made my mom flustered and angry" You giggled as he spun you around and kissed you deeply.

"Was she pissed?"

"Oh very. Called you inmoral." He smirked and bit your bottom lip, your hands raked on his head, putting his hat on your head.

"Then, I love to do inmoral things to you, chula." You giggled as he made you straddle his lap, kissing you deeper.

"That makes us two"

"Is she out?" You nodded and smirked with a teasing grind.

"Wanna do unholy things in the meantime?" He whispered in your ear with a tempting smile. Of course you'd do. Always.

#miguel o'hara #t writes✨ #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara x reader #atsv miguel #Miguel Ranchero

[aziraphales-library]

The requests for Christmas fics have started to come in... far, far too late. Remember folks, it takes us months to answer asks and then they're in the queue for a while before publishing.

Luckily this blog is a resource, not simply an ask blog. We already have a #christmas tag you can check for fics we've recommended before!

As a little bonus, here are a few new fics from this year...

City Of Blinding Lights by ShadesOfDeviant (G)

“Well, I sometimes—that is to say—I often considered an early evening walk round the area to see the lights quite the romantic endeavour. Arm in arm under the glow of the fairy lights, I even have a route planned out for should I ever get the chance to go.” “Should you ever get the chance?” Crowley snorts in a way that would be unattractive to almost anyone other than Aziraphale before he folds his newspaper in half and then half again, and casually tosses it onto the coffee table beside him. “You need to be a bit more subtle when you’re aiming for a temptation angel.” He adds with a quick wink before he rolls up onto his feet. AKA: Aziraphale has always wanted to go on a romantic evening walk round London to see all the Christmas lights. Now free of Heaven & Hell and able to openly express his feelings for Crowley, Aziraphale can't think of a better time to implement a plan nearly 40 years in the making.

A Dream Is A Soft Place To Land (may we all be so lucky) by randomramblingsofme (T)

Crowley feels as if the universe won't let him get his feet back under him. He has no plan, is juggling two jobs, coping with chronic pain from an old injury, expertly (so he thinks) hiding a raging crush on the bookseller across the street, and he is currently covered in tree sap. But things could be worse. For example, he could forget all about the Whickber Street Christmas party being hosted by said crush until five minutes beforehand. Oh shit. --- Modern AU, Barista Crowley/Bookseller Aziraphale

Eggnog and Effervescence by RepQueen15 (T)

Crowley turned so as to be able to watch the rest of the movie, and his ear pressed against Aziraphale’s thigh. He felt the angel tremble a little, as though this weren’t just some small service to him either, though that was nothing short of ridicule. Or perhaps…? No. This was just Aziraphale being his perfect, soft self. Though maybe, just maybe, Crowley wasn’t the only one who needed a little more physical contact in his life. *** Crowley and Aziraphale spend a quiet Christmas Eve putting up fairy lights, getting tipsy on eggnog, watching ridiculous Christmas movies and... cuddling.

Here’s a Hand (My Dearest Friend) by perilit (T)

Wherein Crowley allows himself to be comforted in the days leading up to the Christmas holiday, and repays with some comforting of his own.

I’m Dreaming of a Light (and Dark) Christmas by cheeseplants (T)

Aziraphale had begun plotting his revenge a few days after the encounter with the man he had begun to refer to as the demon in his head. Not that he was a vengeful person. He was a good and righteous person who believed it was important to bring light into people's lives. Lights, in fact. Several of them. _______ Two shopkeepers with very different ideas about Christmas battle it out on Whickber Street to create the most extravagant Christmas lights in London. But when the lights go out, they start to find they may have more in common than they first thought. An enemies to lovers human-AU Christmas decorations feud!

If the Fates Allow by catherineland (T)

Crowley makes a shocking discovery: Aziraphale claims to hate Christmas. Crowley’s new mission is to show his angel what he’s been missing.

- Mod D

#good omens #ineffable husbands #christmas #fluff #domestic fluff #human au #mod d

[swamiiyasssss]

Make-up Sex w/ Vox Pt. 1

A/N: AHH TYSM all for the love on my previous Vox post. I still can't get enough of this man . I need to rearrange his wiring system. Enjoy this angsty/smutty drabble with our TV munchkin. Also...Small reference to THAT Margot Robbie & Di'caprio sex scene in Wolf of Wall Street.;)

NSFW BELOW

Arguments can get pretty nasty between the both of you. He’s loud, and you’ll be damned if you aren’t louder.

Although….you’d be lying if you said you didn’t get turned on by him angry and raging like that. You had a hunch he was like that too lol

Still, this recent argument, something about Alastor being ”touchy-feely” with you at a gala, ( ugh, you should let Vox just fuck him, he’s EVERYWHERE in your relationship ) made you mad. Like, really mad at him. This was certainly a first. You’ve been annoyed, teased, but never real deal pissed at the TV demon....

You’ve been aware of his insecurities, he’s a soft soul like that, but to outright insinuate you’re cheating on him?? With his nemesis of all people???? Someone slap this idiot.

You two stopped talking for the following days after the argument. A lot of side sneers, comments and eye-rolls. Certainly, a lot of pent-up energy, with nowhere to be released.

“Pass me the salt, please?” You gritt out the ‘please’, a real effort to begin peace negotiations. 

He grimaces. “Like you’re gonna pass yourself around to Him?” His eyes don’t leave the newspaper. 

“Fuck you,” Tears swell, your appetite is lost, and the day ruined. 

So this was the game he was playing? Fine, You’ll play it alright. 

You stumble back to your shared bedroom. You don’t notice him standing up, trying to apologise. He took it too far. He knew he’s been wrong, but he shares your stubborn streak. Still, he won’t loose the one anchor in his life; you. 

Too late. You’re out for blood.

 You’re gonna punish this man in the most delicious way possible, give him a taste of his own medicine. 

You manned your battle-armour, a sultry, deep purple lingerie, covering your figure with intricate lush lace patterns. And your thighs, the same one’s he literally melted for, were donned in sheer stockings. A pretty present ready to be burst opened. You were gonna make him go haywire.    

You braided your hair, wore your favourite jewellery, a necklace wit a diamond ‘V’ pendant on, a gift HE gave, and headed out to the door, ready for a ‘night out with the girls’, or so he thought.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His eyes are locked on your body, on your waist. Everywhere. Jaw dropped.

You clicked your tongue. "Friend's invited me to the club. I’ll be out late.” You made sure to sway your hips oh-so-slightly as you turned around to get your bag. “Don’t wait up for me.”

He barked a laugh. Electricity rippled around him. You smiled. This was too easy. “Wait up for you? Baby, what makes you think I’m letting you leave looking like that?” He starts coming closer.

You stand your ground. “Like what?” You bat your eyelashes; his knees almost buckle.

The hallway light dances on the curve of your waist. He teleports to you, just enough to cage you in against the wall. He claws the concrete next to your head. Blood rushes to your clit. Its ecstasy.

“Don’t fucking play with me, cute stuff.”

"You started this shit." You spit, grabbing him by his collar. His eyes flare into a neon red.

He trips on himself, almost falling on to you, and you watch his lips almost touching yours. "...You're finishing it too."

Something primal kickstarts in his wiring. HE THROWS you over his shoulder; you squeal, and teleports you both to the couch in the middle of the living room.

The leather bounces under your weight as he pushes you down. He's unbuckling his belt, taking off his clothes, muttering curses under his breathe.

"Fuck-- Aren't you just a peice of work."

" You planned this, didn't you? Slut."

"I'm gonna fuck this attitude out of you, beautiful."

You just sat there. Admiring him. Pitiying him. He wasn't ready for what you were about to say. You almost backed out, but Hell, this was too good.

As he was struggling with his buckle, you extended a leg, your high-heeled platforms already on. Your foot stops his palms on his beltline. He snarls. He looks up at you, glaring. "What are you doing."

You shake your head "I'm mad at you, Vox." With a heavy sigh, you drop the bomb. " When I'm mad, this TV demon isn't gonna touch me for a very, very long time."

His face is priceless.

It's not his fault you look so damn gorgeous in the lace, with his initial moving up and down on the curve of your chest. You're breathing hard; he's breathing harder. He needs to be in you, say sorry and be sorry in his own special way.

"And from now on, " You spread your legs farther, and you swear you can see his heart dropping in his chest. "It's nothing but short, short skirts around the house."

You curl your tongue. "Honey."

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

Pt. 2 coming soon !

#vox x you #vox x reader #vox hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel vox #hazbin vox #hazbin hotel x you #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin #hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #helluva boss #swami writes! #fanfiction #fanfic

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home Arc 2 Part 12

Happy WIP Wednesday!

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.3k

-----

The cookies had just been set out and Maddie was holding up the Ghostkateers sign.

Jack grinned as he declared, “The first official after school meeting of the Amity Park Ghostkateers is now in session!”

Danny and Jazz entered just as Jack was making his proclamation. Tim exchanged a look with Conner and nodded. They were taking the out. Being around a group of overshadowed teens was not on the cards for tonight.

Jack used a rolled up newspaper to knight Dash the official “Ghostkateer Number One.”

Dash turned to smile viciously at Danny who’s eyes widened before flying to Tim.

Tim gestured to his waist where a blaster sat.

“Come join us, sweetie,” said Maddie

“Um. I just came by to get Tim and everyone. We’re going to Tucker’s to get Conner’s phone fixed up. It’s not working right.”

“But what about the ghosts!” protested Maddie.

Tim coughed. “Um, you gave me the blaster. I’m pretty comfortable with it. I’m sure I can keep us safe enough as we go to Tucker’s house. And Conner’s brother is probably worried about him. We were supposed to catch up with him by now.”

Maddie bit her lip. “Text us when you arrive, dear.”

“I will, Mom,” agreed Danny. “I just need to go upstairs and grab a few things before we head out.” He made his way to the steps. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Come on Danny, at least join us in singing our Ghostkateer Battle Song before you go!”

Danny froze on the steps. Tim buried his face in his hands. He’d been there as they wrote it and it was bad. Like, bad bad.

Jack proudly began. “G-H-O!”

Maddie continued, “Oh? You’ve seen a ghost!”

Then back to Jack. “S-T-K-A!”

Maddie’s turn. “Eh? You’ve seen a Canadian ghost?”

Then together. “A-T-double-E.”

Dash and his friends joined in to sing, “R!” All of them paused for a second before adding, “S!”

Tim glanced up to see what Danny was thinking. His mouth was open. Their gazes met and Danny shook his head before running the rest of the way up the stairs.

Jazz’s jaw was clenched tight as she looked at her parents and scoffed before following Danny upstairs.

Tim smiled at Jack and Maddie. “I’m afraid we won’t be staying for the full meeting. Thanks for everything you’ve already taught us, though. It’s been super informative.”

“I’ll go grab our bags,” said Conner.

“I’ll help!” added Bart. And the two were up the stairs before Cassie and Tim could come up with an excuse to join them.

“Oh, what a shame you won’t be joining us!” lamented Maddie.

“You won’t get any of my Snuggie-poo’s cookies if you leave,” added Jack.

Cassie smiled tightly. “I’m so sorry we’re cutting out like this. But we’ll use what you’ve taught us to keep Danny safe as we go to Tucker’s. Promise.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” said Maddie.

“We are,” said Tim.

Jack nodded. “Keep an eye on our boy! He’s terrified of ghosts. Don’t know where we went wrong with him.”

“We will, Jack,” promised Cassie. Tim could hear the anger hiding in her voice and was glad he didn’t have to add anything.

Jack and Maddie turned to the other students who were staying and Danny, Conner, and Bart were back within the minute. All five of them were out the door seconds later.

“What’s going on, Danny?” asked Tim once they were relatively alone on the street.

“More ghosts have come through. I’m not sure how. But they’re staying invisible or overshadowing people. And there’s so many of them I can’t get an accurate idea of where any of them actually are!”

“Dash and his friends were overshadowed,” said Tim.

Danny scoffed. “Of course they were. My parents wouldn’t recognize a ghost if it lived in their house.”

“Speaking of their house,” said Conner, “they gave us a more thorough tour of the lab.”

Danny groaned. “Of course they did. Look, whatever you saw, it’s not as bad as you’re thinking. Most of their stuff doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. I have to fix them up before I can use them.”

“The blasters seem to,” commented Bart.

“Look, it’s fine. Just drop it. Tim’s already read me the riot act a dozen times.”

Tim bumped Danny’s shoulder. “It’ll be thirteen after tonight, Danny. Please come back to Gotham with me?”

Danny waved his arm in a large arc in front of him. “You’ve seen what it’s like here! I can’t just leave!”

“Then we’re creating an extraction plan,” decided Tim. “Tonight. If something goes wrong, I want to have a plan in place.”

“You and your plans. Fine, fine. Whatever. Let’s just pick up Tucker and head to Sam’s. Her place is bigger.”

Tim sighed. He hadn’t wanted to upset Danny. He bumped their shoulders again. “Hey, I saw an article a few days ago about a new rocket that was being developed? But I didn’t have time to dig into it. Do you know anything?”

Danny’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, I know all about it. It is so cool!” Ten minutes later when they arrived at Tucker, Danny was still talking about how the rocket had been developed. The topic of space travel lasted through their quick stop for dinner and snacks on the way to Sam’s.

Though the others didn’t stay as invested in the topic. Bart and Tucker began comparing video games. And Cassie and Conner brought up the rear and Tim couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Before Tim knew it, they were at Sam’s house.

Conner let out a low whistle. “She is rich.”

The house was extremely impressive. Not as large as Wayne manor, but still a mansion. Sam was waiting for them on the front steps.

“Hey guys, come on. We’ll have to deal with my parents, but I should be able to shake them pretty quickly. Tim, I’m afraid I had to drop your foster-father’s name to get my parents to agree to this last minute sleepover. The language of the rich and powerful is the only one they respect.”

Tim waved his hand in the air. “Don’t worry about it. I grew up the same way. I know all the games people like that love to play.”

“It’s the worst.” Sam scowled as she stomped her way up the stairs and into her house.

The instant Tim laid eyes on Jeremy and Pam Manson, he slipped into his gala persona and fixed on the bland smile that came with it. “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Manson. My apologies for imposing on your hospitality so last minute. Thank you so much for agreeing to host us for the night.”

For once, his team decided to follow his lead and give their own demure thanks without causing chaos. Looked like all of them were willing to do just about anything to avoid going back to Fenton Works.

Still, Tim couldn’t help but notice how Pam’s eyes lingered on Bart’s hair and Conner’s jacket and Cassie’s bare midriff. His smile got a little bit sharper.

“Of course you’re welcome to stay here,” said Jeremy reaching out to shake Tim’s hand. He didn’t shake anyone else’s.

“We’re just happy that Sammy is finally making some better friends,” added Pam with a sharp glance at Danny. “She’s such a pretty girl, isn’t she? Such a shame she hides it all by dressing is such depressing colors all the time!”

“Aaand that’s enough,” said Sam. “We’ll be in my room. I’ll also be taking up the guest room across from mine and to the left of mine. Don’t bother us.”

Jeremy couldn’t help but add, “Be sure to mention us to your dad, Timothy. It’s been ages since we’ve last been able to meet at a gala!”

“Yes, sir,” said Tim. Not that he’d be following through. Assholes. Danny pushed him up a wide staircase that framed the entranceway to get to the second floor.

-----

Next

I did not make up that Ghostkateers Battle Song. Came right from the episode. Who all knows what's going on by now? I feel I've made it pretty obvious! (Though this is yet another night the show didn't cover. I forgot how many time skips these episodes have! Most seem to take place over several days.)

I no longer use tag lists for this fic, but please check out my Subscription Post if you want notifications for updates.

#dpxdc #dead tired #sleepover at sam's! #no one wants to spend another minute with the fentons #or overshadowed teen bullies

[ladykailitha]

All My Roads Lead Back to You Part 1

Hello, my beautiful readers! I should be working on “If I Rescue You, Will You Rescue Me, Too?” and that was the intent yesterday I swear. But I wanted to sit down and flesh out the first part of my “Eddie and Steve reconnect after years apart because their kids are in a rock band together AU”. Only I went from 680 words to 6020 words over the course of the day.

So um...yeah. I’m still working on “Rescue” but since I have so much of this ready, you’re going to get this for the next couple of days.

Just a couple of things, you can find the original idea for this on my Master List, but I don’t recommend reading it before this, because it makes the story a little less fun. The other thing is that in case it wasn’t clear enough the first part are all newspaper headlines.

Enjoy!

***

Corroded Coffin Signs Three Record Deal with Relapse Records: American Tour to Start Soon

-July 15th, 1986

Business Moguls Clint and Rebecca Harrington Announce the Engagement of Their Only Son Steven to Socialite Addison Reed

-June 1st, 1987

Corroded Coffin to Launch First World Tour After Huge Success of Their First Album Underdark in December

-Sept. 23rd, 1987

Steven Harrington’s Nuptials to Addison Reed to Take Place in New York on Jan. 1st 1988

-Sept. 24th, 1987

Steven and Addison Harrington Announce the Upcoming Birth of Their First Child

-Feb. 23rd, 1988

Has Corroded Coffin Frontman Eddie Munson Found Love in London? Metal Star Eddie Munson Seen About Town with British Actor Jay Sanchez

-March 29th, 1988

Steven Harrington, Son of Business Mogul, Clint Harrington to Start Tech Company with Genius High Schooler, Dustin Henderson; Says Focus Will Be On Audio Devices

-May 9th, 1988

Tragedy Strikes in Austria! The Tour Bus Carrying the band Corroded Coffin Rolled Over Late Friday Night. Most of the Band Only Sustained Minor Injuries, but Bassist, Brian Martin was Thrown From the Bus and it Rolled on Top of Him, Killing Him Instantly

-Sept 11th, 1988

Funeral For Corroded Coffin Bassist, Brian Martin Was Held Yesterday in Their Hometown of Hawkins, IN. Frontman Eddie Munson Was Surrounded By Friends and Family

Picture: Eddie at grave site, clinging to boyfriend, Jay Sanchez. Wayne stands on his other side. The other two Corroded Coffin members stand behind them. The entire Party is there. Jonathan and Argyle, too. All but Steve.

-Sept 17th, 1988

Steven and Addison Harrington Announce the Birth of Their Daughter, Edith Barbara Harrington

-Sept 23rd, 1988

Eddie Munson and Partner Jay Sanchez Announce They Will Have a Child Together Through Surrogacy: Right Wing Groups Up in Arms!

- Nov 8th, 1988

S&D, the Tech Company Launched by Steven Harrington and Dustin Henderson Last Year Has Hit a Snag. Henderson Says the Technology is There, Investors Not Convinced

-March 19th, 1989

Steven Harrington and Wife Addison Battle It Out in Court, The Former Socialite Claims All Their Money Should Be Split Evenly, Including the Trust Fund Steve Received From Grandparents Upon Their Marriage; Judge Disagrees

-May 30th, 1989

Eddie Munson Back in the Studio. Producing This Time. Former Lead Singer and Frontman for Corroded Coffin is Back at It Producing What is Being Heralded as Metal’s Next Great Album...

-June 13th, 1989

Divorce Final! Steven Harrington and Addison Reed Split! Harrington Gets it All, Including Custody of Nine Month Old Daughter, Edith

-June 30th, 1989

Eddie Munson and Partner Jay Sanchez Announce Birth of their Son, Born Though Surrogacy; Mother and Son’s Name Has Been Withheld for Privacy Reasons

-July 14th, 1989

Tech Company S&D Reached Record Profits This Year; CEO Steve Harrington’s Ex Wife Back in Court for Bigger Cut of the Pie

-Sept. 7th, 1992

Eddie Munson, Beast of the Metal Scene Back in the Studio Again as Metal Bands Clamor to Have His Name on Their Record

-Jan. 19th, 1994

S&D CEO Comes Out as HOH (Hard of Hearing) and Bisexual in the Same Press Conference, Signing and Speaking His Speech

-Aug. 13th, 1995

Jay Sanchez, British Actor and Partner to Eddie Munson, Famed Metal Producer Has Passed Away Over the Weekend Due to Cancer. Family Asks the Public to Respect Their Wishes and Allow Them Their Privacy as They Grieve

-Oct 25th, 1999

Funeral For British Actor, Jay Sanchez Held in His Native Hampshire. Fans Flock to Mourn His Loss

-Oct 31st, 1999

Audio Tech Giant S&D Announced a Line of Headphones That Can Block Out Most Noises

Nov. 22nd, 2003

Grammy Award Winning Producer, Eddie Munson to Retire Amid Rumors of Troubled Son in Legal Woes

-March 27th, 2006

*

Steve was a man of few regrets in his life. He had a job he enjoyed, a daughter he loved more than life, and close friends he could count on. One of his biggest regrets, though? Losing track of Eddie after Corroded Coffin’s bassist Brian Martin died in a tour bus rollover in Europe on their first world tour.  

He knew that Robin and Dustin and probably some of the rest of the Party still kept in contact with Eddie, but after Steve was forced to miss Brian’s funeral...he wasn’t sure Eddie wanted him to contact him. So despite Dustin’s greatest efforts their lives remained separate.

“Hey, Dad!” Edith called from the kitchen.

Steve sighed into the bedroom mirror. He patted his hair down to hide the hearing aid. “Coming!”

He trotted out, grabbing his keys and wallet as he did so. His daughter was sitting at the counter happily munching on her cereal. Steve grinned when he saw her. She looked nothing like her mother, a fact Addison loathed. Edith had brown eyes and light brown hair with freckles, just like Steve.

“We finally have a new guitarist,” she said happily when she saw him. “But because we can’t have it at Lauren’s anymore...”

Steve sighed. “You want to use my garage as your studio?”

Edith grinned. “Pleaseee...”

Steve closed his eyes and opened them slowly to see her giving him the biggest pair of puppy dog eyes.

“All right,” he said. She started squealing and jumping for joy. “Only one day a week and if I have a migraine...”

She sighed, “We’ll keep it down.”

Steve ruffled her hair.

“Ugh...” she moaned. “It’s a good thing I don’t spend hours on my hair like you otherwise, I’d be really upset.”

Steve laughed. “Uncle Dusty keeps telling me it’s a miracle it hasn’t all fallen out yet.”

Edith smiled softly at him, before reaching up and gently tucking a lock of hair behind his left ear. “You’re the face of S&D, Dad. It’s not a crime to show off the goods.”

He ducked his head and blushed. “I know I wouldn’t be where I am without it but it chafes, you know.”

“You’re the father a seventeen year old girl,” Edith said with a wink, “I think you’re allowed to have a hearing aid.”

Steve sighed, too. “It just makes me feel older than I am.”

Edith shrugged. “You’re already old, so what’s a few more years difference?”

Steve raised his eyebrow and she squealed as he lunged for her. He kept up swimming and had taken up running. Edith on the other hand? She loathed sports. She claimed on more than one occasion that if anyone saw her running, they best start running too, because there was something chasing her.

A joke that didn’t go well with her dad or any of his friends for some reason she wasn’t privy to.

So she was an easy catch and he tickled her.

“No!” Edith huffed. “I’m too old for tickles!”

Steve stopped and cocked his head at her. “I still tickle Aunt Robin so...invalid argument.” And went back to tickling her.

Once she was gasping for breath, Steve let her up. “Now, Miss Thing, it’s time to get you to school.”

“Ugh...” she said, going to grab her backpack. “I hate school. Why can’t I just drop out?”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Because last time I checked, I didn’t raise a quitter. And you only have a couple months left of this year and all of next.”

“I hate being a September baby,” she huffed dramatically. “I’m older than most of my class.”

He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “You can blame your mom for that one.”

Edith smiled gratefully up at her dad. “It’s nice to have a scapegoat for all one’s ills in life.”

Steve laughed. “Thank god, for Addison Reed.”

*

Edith had to admit that there were certain parts of school that she enjoyed. She loved history and art. She didn’t know if she got that from her mom, as she had seen her mother all of three times in her memory. The first nine months of her life didn’t count.

Addison Reed had showed up when she was three when S&D had finally made it big and wanted more money from Dad. Again when she turned eight and Addison had taken her out for ice cream to try and charm Edith into giving up information on Dad so she could wheedle even more money out of him. The final time and the time that upset Dad the most was when Addison turned up when Edith was twelve to try and convince her to move in with her, so she could live off the child support.

That was when Dad got a restraining order against her, and moved them to Indiana from California. Edith missed the warm sunny days and the beaches, but she knew why Dad had done it. If moving back to Indiana was the only thing that would keep the leech away, Edith would have suggested it herself.

The other parts of school she liked were her friends. Mandy Lawrence and Kenny Grant. They had been a quartet, but Lauren decided she was too cool for them at the beginning of the year and stopped talking to them.

It was whatever.

She had art today which was a blessing because math was a killer and it always made her depressed. There was another reason she liked art class. Because that’s where she met this boy.

No, no not like that. Edith Barbara Harrington was a lesbian thank you very much. No, for all the kid’s fluffy brown hair, dimples and doe-eyes, she was interested in his ability to absolutely shred on guitar. His dad was some famous producer or some shit.

She walked up to him and fist bumped him. “H-man!”

“Miss Thing!” he greeted back. “Talked to my dad, but he said no go. He’s got too many valuable instruments he doesn’t want us touching.”

Edith grinned. “Well you’re in luck because my dad said yes.”

“Hell yeah!”

“So after school, k?” she said and he nodded. “I’ll text you the address.”

“Awesome!”

Their teacher called out for them to sit down and they did so with a grumble.

Edith couldn’t wait for after school.

***

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Epilogue

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#My writing #stranger things #steddie #reconnecting years later AU #ladykailtiha writes

[twirlyeyebrows]

Heyaa! Not sure if u'll take this request right away. I've been thinking about scenarios for Ace, Mihawk, Luffy, and Kid reacting to their s/o execution announcement. And how they'll treat them after the rescue. Some angst with a fluffy ending~~🤭

hi omg i saw this in my inbox and whipped some scenarios up asap.. this is such a good prompt tytyty <3 also i've been meaning to write mihawk and this was perfect 🙏😫 hope you enjoy !! :)

✶ Ace, Luffy, Kid, & Mihawk React to Your Execution Sentence ✶

♡ Content Warnings: heavy mentions of death/murder ahead

♡ GN reader

♡ Word Count: 2.4k

Everything seemed fine. He hadn't seen you in a few days but that was normal, you guys were pirates after all. He glanced at the News Coo and held out a palm, clutching the newspaper when it fell down to him. He read the header.

“(Y/N) SENTENCED TO EXECUTION”

He threw the paper down and…

♡ Ace ♡

Immediately began thinking of ways to get you out of the situation.

His head was all over the place, running back and forth from idea to idea, trying desperately to grasp onto one that made sense. He ignored the tears that rolled down his cheeks, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if his emotions were the thing that got in the way of you coming back to him.

He furiously grabbed the nearest transponder snail and called every friend he'd made during his journey out at sea. He was going to ask each one of them for their help, nothing to him could ever be direr, and if he had to create an army just to save you, then he was going to, dammit.

Naturally, your crew, the Whitebeard Pirates, were all instantly on board with the rescue plan. They couldn't simply leave one of their siblings behind, and Pops wasn't in the market to lose one of his children. They changed course and set out to you without a second to spare.

Ace would be lying if he said he didn't blame himself. He should've been more careful with you and should've kept an eye out for you more often. You were free-spirited and wild, a lot like him. He always worried about you but you were strong and able to get yourself out of many sticky situations so he often let you wander for days at a time without stressing. This, however… was different. This was worldwide. This was everyone against you. He couldn't stop the feeling of guilt from eating away at every cell in his body. He didn't care what happened to him, he didn't care what he was going to have to risk and sacrifice to keep you safe, all he could do was think about you. He swore that if.. no, not if… when he got you back, he would be a better boyfriend. The kind of boyfriend that wouldn't let something like this happen to you. The kind of boyfriend you deserve.

Through many trials and tribulations and help from friends around the world, he was finally able to snag you away from the marines where you were being held captive. It was an all-out prison break that required utmost stealth and precision- thank god Ace had a crew to back him up or he wouldn't have been able to do it. With each obstacle they faced, he pursued on. No matter how torturous, dangerous, or downright stupid it was. The fire that bubbled in his stomach kept him from worrying about anything else but your well-being.

When you two were finally reunited, he scooped you up and held you tighter than he ever had before.

“Holy shit, (Y/n)! You're safe, Jesus Christ, you're safe!”

Tears smeared against your skin as he cried into you, gripping you with his fingertips as if you were going to slip away from him again.

You tried to calm him down. You said words of thanks while also calling him an idiot for rescuing you. He could've gotten hurt… or worse… he was lucky he made it here and was able to achieve his goal at the same time. But what else did you expect from Fire-Fist Ace himself?

Of course, a battle ensued afterward, fighting your way through marines and bounty hunters alike, just to get you safely on the Whitebeard ship once more.

The entire crew made fun of you for somehow being the first one to get a proper execution announcement. They lightheartedly congratulated you, saying things like “(Y/n) is finally a real pirate!” and “It should've been me!” The only one who sat out on the fun was Ace.

It was clear that your capture had affected him a lot, even more than it had affected you and you were the one who was supposed to die. You spent a lot of time with him after that, more than you already had.

He clung to you like a lost puppy. He rarely let you out of his sight and no matter how low-stakes the battle, he always jumped in front of you.

He had to fall asleep with you in his arms or he'd stay awake all night. If you weren't in the bed next to him when he woke up, he'd sprint around until he found you. You felt awful for making Ace so dependent on your safety, but he said over and over again that he liked it like this. He loved to watch over you. Loved to make sure you were safe. There was nothing he enjoyed more than seeing your smiling face walking over to him or hearing your laugh from the room over.

The event had left scars on both of you but ultimately brought you both closer together.

♡ Luffy ♡

Didn’t panic for one second.

He's saved his friends a million times before, this was no different. Not only did he have confidence in himself, but he also had incredible amounts of confidence in you too. If anything, he was proud of you for getting an execution sentence worthy of a King of the Pirates.

He had zero hesitation when he decided to rescue you. It didn't matter where the Straw Hats were right now, what mattered was you and getting you back. He'd sacrifice part of his journey to becoming king in a heartbeat to help you out of this. And of course, all your friends agreed.

The real problems started when it didn't go as smoothly as they wished. Being the Straw Hat Pirates, everyone knows who you guys are. It felt impossible to get around the fleets upon fleets of marines that guarded you. Luffy's emotions shone through as each battle took away time from seeing you again.

“GET OUT OF MY WAY, I HAVE TO SAVE (Y/N)!” He screamed to each enemy at the top of his lungs.

He started to lose composure. His crewmates watched him get angrier with each punch, with each soldier he knocked out. By the time he found you, he had become someone completely different, mindlessly tearing through the crowd to get back what means the most to him. It was horrifying to witness.

But the second he slingshot his arms out and grabbed you from feet away, his normal goofy self came back. He was smiling ear to ear, giggling the cute “Shishishi”s you love so much. You hugged him back and squished his rubber cheeks, leaving a small and grateful kiss on each one after they returned to their normal state.

“I knew you'd come for me! Thank you!” You said in admiration and love. You had been scared, but not for your own life, you were scared for everyone who stood in Luffy’s way.

He had come for you, just as you knew he would. Your heart was full to the brim. You could hear the beat of it drumming against your chest as he did too.

He wasn't mad at you for slipping past him, he wasn't belittling you on how you couldn't fight back, he was just there to help when you needed it. Classic Luffy.

“Of course! Why wouldn't I?” He grinned and put a hand on your head, ruffling your hair before kissing you on the forehead.

The other Straw Hats watched in awe as the hellish version of Luffy washed away as he embraced you. It was a friendly reminder never to cross him, or more importantly, you.

Luffy turned to the crew. “Alright! We got (Y/n), now let's go eat!” He yelled as he threw you in the air and caught you on his shoulders.

He carried you by piggyback all the way back to the ship. You tried to ignore the sea of passed-out marines below you.

♡ Kid ♡

Shrugged his shoulders while giving a loud sigh.

“I knew this would happen sooner or later, (Y/n) just can't stay out of trouble. I love it.” Kid chuckled, being impressed with your achievement. Your hunger for battle only made him more attracted to you, and this took the cake. Getting an execution sentence was a big deal and he'd make sure to tell you when you eventually came back. He wasn't worried about you, you were more than capable of holding your own.

It only got concerning when it had been a week since the paper was released. He thought that you would've been back by now. He tried not to let his emotions show, he knew he'd get pestered by the rest of the crew if he showed any concern over you, even if he was your boyfriend.

He sat restlessly in his bed, paced around the ship, and even began pulling out strands of fiery red hair in worriedness. He hated that he got like this, nothing had ever made him feel this nervous before. He didn't like not having you by his side, making snide comments and shoving him around. He was fed up on anger and anxiety. Who cared what other people thought? He was going to come save your ass.

The feat was not an easy one, but he got the job done. He went alone. He didn't want anyone else to get the satisfaction of being the one to bring you home. If you needed to be saved, he was going to be your knight (though he'd never tell you that).

He killed everyone in sight without a second thought. He didn't care about morality. He didn't care about keeping a clean slate. He had come to get you back and he'd succeed however was necessary.

By the time he got to you, the entire area was soaked with blood. The bodies were sprawled across the ground in heinous configurations. Scraps of metal were scattered through the battlefield. You didn't care. This was a normal occurrence for your hot-headed boyfriend.

You ignored the pungent smell of iron and scoffed at Kid as he walked up to you and tore off the chains that shackled you.

“Took you long enough.” You spat at him sarcastically.

“I thought you'd be able to get yourself out, you're lucky I came for you at all.” He growled back to you, but with far less malice than usual.

You knew he wouldn't say it, but he was glad to have you back. You could see it in his eyes, his posture, his voice. The way he threw you over his shoulder with care and the way he kissed your lips softly instead of passionately. He was relieved you were safe, he didn't need to say it for you to know.

Once you were back on the ship, he didn't even brag about his accomplishment. He told everyone that you'd come back on your own and he had nothing to do with it. You couldn't believe your ears. He'd covered for you in a time of weakness and embarrassment. He leaned against the wall and smiled smugly at you as you were praised by the other members of your crew for escaping the authorities by yourself.

You stood in awe as you felt yourself falling for him all over again.

♡ Mihawk ♡

Rolled his eyes.

“How immature.” He said, stepping out of his chair at the head of the table. “You could've at least been more careful, (Y/n).” He said to no one.

Despite his belittlement, he wasn't just going to leave you to fend for yourself. He was a gentleman at heart who deeply cared for you. Plus, life was lonely when you weren't by his side. You brightened up the dull island he lived on. The bleak parts of his daily activities became full of light when he did them with you. He wasn't going to let the one good thing he had be taken away from him. But he was going to be slightly peeved, regardless.

He was a very scheduled man. He knew what each day entailed to a tee. You had thrown a wrench into his normality and he was admittedly a bit irked. Though he secretly enjoyed the rush it gave him. Not many things scared Dracule Mihawk anymore, he'd seen and fought it all, but this was new.

As he prepared to leave, he felt a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time- fear. Genuine fear of the unknown. Unsure if he'd be able to reach you fast enough. Not knowing how many obstacles would stand in his way. It was thrilling but he couldn't fathom the idea of losing you.

He hoisted his famous black blade on his back and set off, leaving the dreary mansion behind to take back his light.

The problem wasn't the rescue itself, it was getting there. A trip from the island to you was a difficult one. Yes, he was a warlord, but that didn't stop people from coming after him. Weaklings wanting to test their power, citizens that were angry at the government, and bounty hunters all came after him in monstrous huddles. He defeated each one with ease, growing annoyed at how they wouldn't stop coming.

Eventually, he reached you. He had no problem getting past the marines, what were they going to do? Strip him of his title? Walking up those cold steps to where you were in cuffs was a breeze, but he would've fought every single one of them if he had had to.

When he laid his sharp eyes on you, he melted. His heart hurt seeing you so exhausted and damaged, shackled like a rowdy dog. He was angry. Angry that anyone had the nerve to treat you like that.

The handcuffs were no harder to snap than a twig. He carried you bridal style all the way to the small boat he had arrived on. He made sure to give each soldier a menacing glare on his way out as if to say “If you try to take (Y/n) again, you're all dead.”

When you got back to the mansion, he treated you like royalty. Your dismissive and pessimistic boyfriend became someone else. He tended to your every need, spoon-fed you your medicine, and wouldn't let you out of his field of vision until he was positive you were fully recovered.

You couldn't help but poke fun at him.

“Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?” You joked to him after he brought you your third cup of tea one afternoon. His cheekbones were highlighted with a rosy hue and he scowled at you.

He knew he was acting different, being overly tentative when you didn't need it, but he couldn't help it. That day had changed him. It made him remember that he could still get scared. That you were something he could lose.

He swore to never let something like that happen again. Anyone that wanted to kill you had to go through him first, and they’d need all the luck in the world to even get a chance.

#one piece scenario #one piece headcanons #one piece x reader #one piece x you #one piece x y/n #portgas d ace headcanons #luffy headcanons #eustass kid headcanons #mihawk headcanons #portgas d ace x reader #luffy x reader #eustass kid x reader #mihawk x reader #twirlyeyebrows

[ashestoroses018]

Four Puffs (1/2)

Originally posted in 2017.

mikeygc3000 (mikeygc3000.tumblr.com) said: Could you write one where you’re Dustin’s older sister and all the kids can tell that you and Steve are in love but are in denial so they set up a blind date by tricking you and Steve and you both end up together in the end???? And lots of fluff!???? (P.s I just found your blog and I’m in love with it)

“Dustin, where the Hell is my hair spray? Did you steal it to do your hair again?” You shout through the house.

“Language, F/N!” your dad yells at you. It’s not often that he’s home, considering he travels for work, and when he is home, you have to fight the urge to roll your eyes every time he opens his mouth.

“Dad. He keeps stealing my hairspray and using, like, all of it. And the little shithead never asks first!”

“F/N! One more outburst like that, and you won’t be going out tonight!” Your dad looks over his newspaper at you, an eyebrow raised.

“Sorry, Dad. Do you know where Dustin is, by any chance?”

“Dusty’s over at Will’s house.”

“You couldn’t have told me that before I started yelling for him?”

Your dad folds the newspaper on his lap. “I didn’t have the chance, missy. Just call Joyce. I’m sure she can get him on the phone for you.”

Your battle against the eye rolls is futile, this time. Instead of even gracing your father with a response, you just grab your keys and a scrunchie, tossing your unruly hair up lackadaisically while holding your keys in your teeth.

“Be back before dinner, F/N! Your mom’s cooking meatloaf!” your dad calls behind you.

“’Kay, Dad!” You slam the door behind you, jogging to your beat up ’68 VW Beetle.

She is your baby, but shit if she hasn’t seen better days. Your seats are stained, and the engine makes this weird sound, if you drive Becky the Beetle for more than about twenty minutes at a time. One of these days, she’s going to crap out on you, and fuck if that day doesn’t terrify you. Who bikes to school at eighteen years old?

It takes you roughly three minutes of driving to arrive at the Byers’ residence, and you thank every god you can think of when you see your baby brother’s bike outside on the lawn, thrown there while he was obviously in a rush. What you don’t expect is to see Steve Harrington’s brown BMW in the driveway.

However, when you see that Joyce’s and Jonathan’s cars are both gone, it makes more sense. He must be playing babysitter for the thirteen year olds again. With a sigh, you go up to the door and knock, knowing that you’re about to embarrass the hell out of yourself in front of Steve, considering you’re in exercise clothes – leggings, leg warmers, and a ratty sweatshirt. All over your petty need for hairspray.

You raise your brow when it’s your brother who opens the door. “Oh shit.”

“Hey, Dustin. Wanna let me in?” Your tone of voice brooks no argument.

“I can explain, F/N, I swear.”

“What can you explain, Dustin?”

“I didn’t realize I still had your hairspray in my bag, and you have the Farrah Fawcett spray, and you know they discontinued it, and I really like your hairspray, because it’s better than Aquanet, and – “

You follow your brother through the Byers’ residence. In the living room, his friends are sitting around a table, playing Dunces and Diapers, or whatever the hell the stupid game is called. In the corner, a bottle of Coke in his hand, sits Steve Harrington, whose eyes meet yours as soon as you walk in the room.

“Well, Dusty?” you ask, your voice suddenly saccharine sweet. Your brother gives you an incredulous look at your impromptu change in demeanor. “Where’s my hair spray?”

“I can’t believe you needed it so bad that you actually came all the way out here,” your brother mutters under his breath as he digs through his backpack. “interrupting our game and shit.”

After a moment, he hands you the bottle of Fabergé Organics hair spray, which you immediately notice is nearly empty. “What the hell, Dustin? You used all of it! Do you know how hard this shit is to find?”

He looks down at his feet, biting his lip. “I’m sorry, F/N.”

“I had a date tonight, but I guess I’ll have to cancel. Aquanet sucks.”

“You, uh, you had a date, F/N?” Steve suddenly speaks up, and you glance over at him.

“Yeah, it wasn’t anything crazy, but Billy Hargrove seems like a nice enough guy.”

The redheaded girl, Max, gags audibly. “Billy is a shitstain of a human being. What are you talking about?”

“He really is, F/N. You shouldn’t go out with him. Did you know he beat up Steve?” Your brother is nodding emphatically with Max, his eyes wide.

You raise an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, he was defending Lucas! Billy’s a terrible person, F/N. You should cancel that date and just hang out with us tonight.”

“Fine, Dustin. I’ll take your word for it, this time. Hey, Will, where’s your phone?”

The Byers boy points you towards a wall handset, and you connect with the operator quickly, asking for the Hargrove residence.

“Hello?” A woman, whom you presume to be Billy’s stepmom and  Max’s mom, answers the phone.

“Is this Billy Hargrove’s house?”

“Yes, it is. One second. Billy!”

A moment later, Billy’s on the line, and though you’re not particularly interested in the boy – aside from his obvious physical appeal – your heart skips a beat at how charming he can be. “Hargrove residence, Billy speaking.”

“Hey Billy, it’s F/N Henderson.”

“Oh, hey, babe. What’s up? I’m still picking you up at 8 to see Ladyhawke, right?”

“Actually, no. A bit of a family emergency came up. Sorry, Billy.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what?”

“Yeah, sorry. Our, uh…cat went missing again. My mom loves that kitten, so Dustin and I have to look for her.”

“Just tell her that you’re looking with me, F/N.”

“I really can’t do that to my mom, Billy.”

Steve comes up to you, hearing the tension in your voice. You okay? he mouths towards you. You just nod, your mouth pursed.

“Fine. Forget about rescheduling, though. I can get a more attractive whore at Hawkins High.”

“Excuse me? What the fuck did you just call me, Hargrove?”

“A whore. Everyone knows you’re fucking Harrington.”

You glance over at Steve, embarrassed that he’s going to witness what you’re about to say. “I am not fucking Steve Harrington, asshole. And you’re right. We’re not rescheduling. Get bent, shitbag.”

You slam the handset back onto the hook, actually shaking through the force of your anger. “Dustin, come on, we’re going home.”

“Wait, what? But I don’t need to be home until dinner.”

You give your brother a Look. “Please, let’s just go.”

“Let him stay, F/N. Why don’t you stay, too?” Steve asks, in a placating voice.

You bite your lip. “I need to be alone for a bit. I was hoping my brother would be there for me, but I fucking guess not. I’m going home Dustin. Dad says to be home by dinner.”

There’s a fierce migraine brewing in the left side of your head right now, and you just want to take a bath and ignore the world. Careful not to slam Joyce’s front door, you jog to your car, however your beloved Becky the Beetle won’t start. You turn your key in the ignition seven or eight times before slamming your forehead onto your steering wheel. This cannot be happening to you right now.

Giving up, you walk back into the Byers’ living room, much to the shock of everyone there. Steve is the first one to break the silence. “Change your mind then, Henderson?”

You sigh. “My car’s not starting, so I’m stuck here. Maybe you guys can help me push start it?”

“Can we do it after our game, F/N?” your brother asks.

Once again, you sigh. “Yeah, I guess. I’ll just go…sit with Steve, I guess. Enjoy or whatever.”

You collapse on the Byers couch next to Steve, who glances over at you. “You can’t tell anyone this,” he whispers.

“What?”

“I…have a few spare bottles of the Farrah Fawcett spray. Is that what you use?”

Your eyes widen. “Wait, really?”

He smirks gently at your excitement. “Yeah, I do. I can bring a bottle over to your house tomorrow, so you have it for school on Monday.”

“Oh my gosh, Steve, you’re the best!” You lean over and give him a hug, forgetting, for a moment, that you’re not looking your best.

He blushes slightly, his smirk turning into a shy smile. “Glad to help, F/N.”

#reader #reader insert #reader-insert #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington/reader #steve harringtonxreader #steve harrington x you #steve harringtonxyou #steve harrington/you #stranger things #x reader #x you #xreader #xyou

[nicobicobee]

Mephistopheles x GN! Reader

Part two

Warnings: Some suggestive content, sassy as hell MC, MC is implied to be shorter than Mephisto, Mephisto is an asshole

A/N: my asks are open for requests! I don’t do anything past suggestive as that is all I’m comfortable with! As of rn it’s just obey me!

“And MC will be paired with…” the teacher glanced down at the sheet of paper on their desk, “Mephistopheles.”

Several of the demons in the room groaned, grumbling about how they wanted to be paired with you and why does that pretentious asshole get to be paired with you.

Mephisto seemed unbothered, however. If anything, he was irritated.

The project was a simple one for seductive speechcraft. You had to learn what their partner likes, figure out what makes them weak in the knees…

And use those weaknesses to your advantage.

It was less of an assignment and more of a competition.

As everyone dispersed to join their partners, you and Mephisto both stayed in your seats, gazing at each other from across the room. Neither made any move to stand.

This was a battle of will.

And you were not going to lose.

Finally, Mephisto rolled his eyes and stood from his seat. He made his way over to you with a graceful stride that made you want to punch him in the face and sat himself down in the seat next to you.

“I would rather have been paired with another demon,” he retorted, venom lacing his tone, “At least then I could have had somewhat of a challenge.”

“And I would have rather been paired with Lucifer,” you spat back with just as much venom, “At least then I could have a somewhat decent conversation.”

A growl rumbled from Mephisto’s chest and your head turned so fast you swore your neck cracked.

“Did you just growl?!” you asked incredulously, “Down, boy!”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m a dog!” Mephisto snapped.

“Don’t growl like a dog and I won’t! Do you want to get this stupid assignment done or not?” The bell rang and you started tossing things in your bag with entirely too much force, but you were too angry to care.

“Meet me in the newspaper club room after school.” Mephistopheles stood and exited the classroom before you could say anything further.

You silently cursed your teacher for pairing you with that pretentious asshole as you exited the room, weaving your way through the crowd of demons to get to your next class.

—

The day flew by entirely too fast for your liking, and soon enough you were standing in front of the RAD newspaper club’s room. The very last place you’d like to be.

Granted, you were a little later than intended due to Lucifer holding you up for a moment to talk to you after you had told him you would be home late, and one of your succubi friends stopping you with and invite to go drinking with her and some others that you had to turn down.

Finally, you pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“You’re late,” Mephisto stated, his voice coming from a room off from the main area that you assumed was his office.

“Probably because I don’t want to be here.” You took a bite out of the candy bar that Beel had given you, holding the chocolate bar between your teeth as you threw the wrapper in a nearby trashcan.

“I’d like to get this over with sooner rather than later.” His voice was closer, and when you turned around Mephisto stood in front of you.

He tilted your head up with a gloved finger, a cocky grin spreading across his lips at the way your eyes widened.

Green eyes scanned your face, searching for anything that would give away that you were enjoying this. Once the surprise had worn off and you composed yourself again, you simply stared up at him as though you were challenging him.

Mephisto was not one to turn down a challenge.

He leaned down so that his lips were nearly touching your ear, “Would you like to make this easier for me, or would you perhaps like to do things the hard way?”

His voice sent a shudder down your spine and you took a full step back, glaring at him. Your face was warm, but you blamed that on the anger. There’s no way this guy flustered you.

No way in hell.

You took a step forward so that you were closer to Mephisto and grabbed his ridiculously fancy tie, yanking him down to your level, “Maybe you need to learn that not all humans are susceptible to your silver tongue.”

Your main intention was to express your discontent, enraged by the mere thought that he assumed you would be that easy to charm. To your delight, Mephisto’s cheeks turned a dark shade of pink and he averted his eyes. You grinned mischievously and let go of his tie, blinking up at him innocently.

What you didn’t expect, however, was how Mephisto lingered. His eyes trailed to your lips. He was so entranced, as if a spell had been put on him that made him so infatuated with you that he couldn’t help but fall to your charm. That charm of yours that had stolen the hearts of 9 demons, an angel, and the most powerful human sorcerer.

Just as Mephisto leaned forward, you turned your head so that he missed, instead kissing the corner of your mouth.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that, pretty boy.” You grinned, poking his chest and lightly pushing him back.

Mephisto scoffed, straightening up and fixing his tie, “Don’t think you’ve won this game, human.” he said the word like it tasted bad in his mouth.

“You’re the one who was staring like a lovesick puppy, Mephisto.” You reached up and flicked the strand of hair that fell in his face.

“It was an act, of course. This is just an assignment— you are just an assignment.” Mephisto crossed his arms and looked down at you.

“Whatever you say, loser. I still figured more out about you than you did me.” You turned and picked your bag back up, walking towards the exit of the newspaper club room.

“Where are you going? We’re not finished!”

“I’m going home. ‘m sick of dealing with you,” you shrugged, pushing the doors open and walking out.

Maybe one day you’d decide you’re done with this strange game he’s trying to play with you. Today was not that day.

#obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me mephistopheles #obey me mephisto x reader #obey me Mephistopheles x reader

[leggerefiore]

A silly idea I wanted to share with you:

Yandere!Larry doing really petty and passive aggressive things to try and keep you, but he immediately gives up when you put up any resistance.

Taking your car keys or phone to stop you from communicating with the outside world, only to bluntly hand them over when you find out he took them. Locking the door whenever you’re in a room together, but making no effort to stop you when you unlock it and leave. Scaring away friends and suitors but apologizing to them the second you give him the side-eye.

Honestly it’s not even yandere at that point, just possessiveness. Lightly bonk him with a rolled up newspaper when he starts acting up, and you’ll be fine.

it is funny though. inspired me to write a bit of them out.

cw: possessive behaviour, essentially yandere,

pairing: Larry x Reader

You glared at Larry as you blocked the door to leave your shared apartment. He was already dressed for the day, suit done up properly and briefcase in hand. His eyes were tired as he gazed you over. Everything seemed normal this morning. A lazy breakfast and quick goodbye, until you tried to find your phone.

It should have been on the night stand.

It was not.

You had your suspicions about Larry's recent behaviour. He had been acting oddly. Well, odd as a man like him could act. Selling himself as an exceptional everyman with an unfortunate talent for battling, that seemed to be snuffed flame. Meeting you and starting a relationship, he had been quite insistent on marriage out of the blue. You might have assumed he had wanted it for some kind of tax break, but he just seemed too pushy about it.

“Larry, give me my phone,” you crossed your arms across your chest, “I don't know what this is, but I know you have it.” You watched his bored expression shift slightly. His nose scrunched up, and his eyes became harsh. Larry placed his briefcase on the table and popped it open. Inside laid your phone. You wanted to snap at him.

“Here,” he held it out to you. You took it. With that, you moved out of his way and let him leave the apartment. What had got into him? He had never seemed like the type to indulge in these kinds of behaviours. Shaking your head, you unlocked your phone.

You needed to get out of here for a while before you went insane.

~~

Finding out he took your keys, too, led you to his office. You failed to consider the fact he had a private office. A plan to raise enough of a scene to embarrass him as dead on impact when the secretary pointed you out to his office. Opening the door, you saw him busily working on his computer, eyes bored but fingers quick. He barely gave a glance to you.

He knew why you were here.

“Larry,” you near hissed when you placed your hand on his desk, “Why?” A sigh came from him as the endless clacking of keys came to a halt. He stood up from hid desk abruptly. Easily, Larry strode to the door and locked it. You swallowed. What the hell was up with him? You rubbed your temples. “My keys, Larry, why did you take them?”

He was silent as he moved back to his desk and opened a drawer. A clanging sound echoed in the eerily silent office as he tossed them to you. You caught them and stared at him carefully. His chair squeaked as he sat in it. Soon, the clacking sound of keys consumed the open air again, and his eyes were glued to his screen. You left with no resistance or even a word from Larry.

Confusion wrecked your mind.

~~

“... So this is where you were,” Larry's voice was unmistakable as you stiffened in your chair.

You spent the day out of the apartment and decided to head out for a drink when the sun had begun to drift into Medali's surrounding distant hills. It had been pleasant, honestly. You ordered something plain at the bar and hung around vacantly as you stared at your phone. Your feelings were complex from Larry's strange actions. Closing your eyes, you tried to contemplate just why he would do anything he did. Was it a joke? He was too deadpan to tell.

You let out another sigh as a stranger took a seat beside you. A side glance told you his bland features, putting even your boyfriend to shame. He tilted his head. “Are you alright? You seem down,” the guy questioned you curiously. It was probably a bad idea to indulge him, but you really needed to bounce your ideas off someone.

“I'm… I'm not sure how I feel about my relationship right now,” you mumbled out and ran your finger around the rim of the glass your drink was in, “He's acting strangely, and I'm upset but don't know how to bring it up.” How could you? Larry, why did you take my phone? Oh, just because. The discussion would likely bring out information you really did not want to hear.

“That so? Want to just get away from him?” The guy tried an attempt at flirting, but before you could get out a response, a familiar voice came out from beside you.

Larry had taken a seat beside you, having blended in as a businessman who just got out of the office and failing to catch the attention of your conversation partner. You craned your neck to see him. His eyes were harsh as he gazed at the poor guy. He tensed nervously and politely gave a goodbye before rushing off to another part of the bar.

“You weren't at home,” Larry commented, “I knew you were upset, but I didn't think you wouldn't be at home.”

“You took my phone and keys,” you turned to him harshly. He nodded silently. The thought obviously did not bother him as much as it did you.

“I love you,” he said plainly, “I want to get married.”

You froze. What was wrong with him? His eyes seemed empty. You took a breath.

“I'm… going to stay at a friend's tonight. We can talk more later. I'm not in the mood right now,” you tried to stand, but his hand caught yours before you went. He held no intimidation. He was not a powerful man, not physically or in status. You still felt afraid.

“Alright,” he nodded, “Let's meet up during my lunch break tomorrow.”

You swallowed. The tightness of his hand was a solid thing.

“Okay.”

You parted from him.

#larry x reader #yandere larry x reader #yandere pokemon x reader #yandere pokemon larry x reader #yandere x reader #pokemon x reader #yandere #yanstuff

[karimwillia]

Our Little Secret 🤫

“See baby you're my little secret If you don't tell, I won't tell And that's how we gotta keep it”

Warnings: Teen Content AU

“Sooooo what about him!” Viv points at one of the guys from the school newspaper. “Mmmm no I’m good he is not my type. Besides his name is Peter I think there is no way I’m going out with a Peter.” Viv rolls her eyes and scoffs. “MJ you are too picky there is no way you are going solo to homecoming for Senior Year!” Viv continues to scan the room until.

Eww she’s back?” Viv looks toward the cafeteria doors. “Who are you talking about Viv?” MJ follows her line of sight seeing Shuri Ukadu for the first time in months. “Ooop what a difference time makes. She looks good.” MJ looks down at the last girl in the group. Ri was not paying her any mind.

“No she does not. Are you blind? She’s still that ugly weirdo from freshman year.” Viv gives a disgusted growl. “Viv grow up…” MJ was cut off by Riri sighing.

“Why are you two even talking? I have a headache. It’s childish that you are people watching for dates anyway.” Rihanna Williams finally has had enough of her friends bickering. Pulling her head up from the table she is stunned. MJ was not lying, Shuri looked better than good. “Mmm ok” Ri tries her best to keep a neutral expression as she watches Shuri’s movements from the cheer table.

“See MJ Ri agrees.” Viv whines trying to prove her point. “Shut up Viv no she does not you just mad cause that’s Bae and you’re not.” Riri tunes them out, in all honestly Viv is being petty because of Ri and Shuri’s “friendship”. It’s been months since Shuri, who everyone calls AZ but only Rihanna knows why, has been seen on campus.

Despite that fact the pair spoke almost everyday in some form. Laying eyes on her, that was…different. Ri continued to watch her carefully.

“Shuri it is so good to have you back. I can only imagine how hard it’s been after losing your brother. I want to let you know your school community is here for you.” Shuri and the principal walk the corridor to the cafeteria. “Thank you Mr. Dunn my family and I have had to do so much to get to this point. Everything happened so fast. We miss him, but his final wish was I finish my senior year here.”

During Junior year AZ found her older brother T’Challa in the restroom throwing up. After rushing him to the hospital they found stage 5 cancer in his stomach. The battle was short but fought hard. He passed peacefully once his cancer became untreatable. He was laid to rest in their home land of Wakanda about 6 months ago. Shuri and Romanda stayed home to grieve. In that time life has changed dramatically for the Udaku family and Ri for that matter.

Walking through the door of the cafeteria she spots her homeboys Miles and Xavier. “Now Shuri we know your love of art and science are…” “Mr Dunn thank you again I will meet up with some friends now if that is ok.” Shuri cuts her principle off, wanting desperately to just see her boys. “Oh…ok well enjoy your lunch.” With a pat to the shoulder Mr Dunn walks off.

Greeting her boys she could not believe she was back. “Yo AZ! Wassup.” Miles greets her first with a hug. “AZ when did you touchdown?” Xavi shoots her a question as she settles down to chat. That’s when it happens she turns and their gazes lock. It takes her breath away.

There she was Rihanna Williams looking amazing. AZ has to play cool but she continues to glance over. How is it possible for Ri to look that different in 6 months? Or is it just her missing Ri?

Dapping up Xavi attempting to act normal she will deal with saying hello to Ri later. “AZ what is up yo! How have you been? How was it back home? The food, the places, the girls give us the rundown.” Xavi’s expression was priceless.

“Home was just what I needed. The food was bussin, the places were all exciting and you know I can’t answer that last one, Xavi.” Miles pops Xavi in the arm. “Right Brodie you know AZ’s girl is here.” He points behind him with his thumb at the cheer table. With a laugh Shuri calms the table.“Both of you need to chill. I loved home but it was time to get back. This is my year.”

Shuri and Riri’s eyes have met several times across the room and each time it’s like time stops. Soon a text comes in on her phone.

*buzz*The Princess❣️✨:Come Here.

“AZ we gone have a ball this year it’s senior homecom…” Xavi was talking so fast when Shuri tapped his shoulder he almost dropped his words. “Yo I am ready for it all but, I have to check y’all later.” Confused, Xavi looks at her defeated, but Miles was hip. “Alright AZ we see you. We all know Dr. Clement is ready to catch up with you.” Shuri shoots Miles a thanks and she heads for the door.

Shuri glances back one last time and Rihanna is already at the far end doors. Swiftly making an exit she text’s back.

*text*The Kween 🖤⚡️:Be there in 5.

Swiftly she heads for the older unused part of the building. Shuri grins ear to ear.

Their relationship is complicated to say the least. Rihanna Robin Williams head cheerleader and everyone’s sweetheart is not only popular but smart. Genius level smart that she tends to hide it. She only shows some of her talent to keep her grades up but not to it’s full so she keeps popularity. A shallow reality of high school. Freshman year was so great for her she made the cheer squad and gained so many “friends”. But one in particular stood out. What she didn’t bank on was falling in love with that one who stood out.

Shuri Azari Udaku the social outkast genius who if it was not high school she would be considered cool. She was a transfer from Africa, Wakanda to be more specific. As a freshman she was teased relentlessly. It was for her looks mostly but when the school sweetheart came into her life nothing else mattered. They bonded right away. The only thing is she never anticipated falling in love with her. She also never thought it would have to be a secretive relationship.

Opening the door to the dark art room no longer being used, Shuri drops her bag on the floor and locks the door behind her.

“Azari, this is a pleasant surprise. When was I going to be told you are back?”

“It was late Robin and you know it’s not like I can just call you up, after 10pm it’s a rule. Plus you sleep so light I didn’t want to wake you.”

Riri rolls her eyes at the silly rule. This town is a little “conservative” , to put it mildly. Ri’s step Pops plays right into the hype to a degree.

“You look good.” Riri moves closer, racking her eyes over the taller’s appearance up close. Her hair was now cut to a low fade, ears are pierced with studs and cuffs of gold. She has a gold grill on her bottom teeth. She’s in a blazer with slim cut trousers. It’s the school uniform with a flare.

“You look better.” Ri has her hair braided in a shorter style with two buns on the end. She has on a fitted uniform that follows her curves just enough. Her ears are pierced with small heart hoops and one cuff of gold. Her makeup is a natural beat that brings out her eyes in a way that they sparkle.

Shuri wraps her in a close hug with both hands around the small of her back. She is held there as they talk.

“Did you miss me or are frontin’ with one of your fans again?”

“I would never they are too needy. What about you was I missed?”

“So the Princess was able to avoid questions about her love life for 6 months. I’m impressed.”

“Gary just guessed I was focusing on studies. I told him losing a classmate was hard for me.”

“You and my brother were close so I am thankful that worked. Also I was away to grieve no one came to mind but you. So yes you were more than missed.

Ri places her hand on Shuri’s face.

“I wore white the day you told me to.” With a kiss to the inside of her palm Ri closed her eyes.

“Thank you nkosazana. That means a lot to me and Mother.” The girls have craved this intimate touch for months.

“How is she doing AZ?”

Riri rarely calls Shuri by the nickname she helped to spread during their Sophomore year. It was a part of Ri’s plan to stop the teasing. It worked but the root of the name comes from Azari. So Ri normally calls her by her full middle name not AZ. Shuri peaks her eyes at her before she speaks.

“Mother is doing better than expected. But I’ll be glad to tell her that you are doing ok. It will ease her mind. With her being home she wonders about you.”

Shuri’s family is forever grateful to Riri for befriending Shuri and for making their girl so happy. In fact it was T’Challa who pointed out that the relationship between Ri and AZ may grow to be more to his Mother. During the early times the girls genuinely didn’t know what was in store for them.

When it inevitably turned from friends, to best friends, to lovebirds they embraced the girls with open arms. They had boundaries but Riri would spend almost all her free time at Shuri’s over the years. This made her relationship with Romanda strong. As far as Ri was concerned Romanda is her Mother more so then her own.

Riri and Shuri have moved to the old couch that is stored in the art room. Comfortably lounging in Shuri’s lap the two continue to catch up. “Send her my love. Let her know I miss her. Also thank her for all the recipes. My sister loves her stewed chicken and plantain.” Riri laces her fingers in Shuri’s smiling small reminiscing about times she would be over to the Udaku home cooking and laughing. They would even cuddle family style to watch movies. The memory warms her heart.

“Is she the only one you have love for?” Riri turns over to face Shuri laying on her chest. Snapping her out of her thoughts.

“What kind of statement is that to make?” AZ is smirking as she lowers her hands to Riri’s behind. Ri’s blood is runner hotter under the familiar touch.

“I mean it has been months since you’ve said it. We all know I need reassurance. One can get bored in that time.” Ri leans placing kisses to Shuri’s neck causing her pulse to quicken under Ri’s lips. Ri also bites there ever so softly to not leave a mark. The taller girl hums out a moan.

“Don’t you ever question me on that again. Azari. I love you more than you even know.” With a smile Shuri felt proud having gotten the reaction she wanted. She bends her neck some to steal a kiss on the waiting lips below her. Riri smiles as their lips are pressed against one another. Thinking of how to make this moment last, Ri mumbles.

“Come to my place tonight. I sleep much better with you there.” Moving a few inches away to speak more clearly, Shuri is confused. “Umntwana I never will question you on loving me, but may I pose this question. How do you suggest that happens? Your parents would not prefer me to be at their home.”

The reality is that’s true. Sneaking around is a necessary evil. Not only is the school uptight about “same sex” relationships. Rihanna’s parents have this thing about her image. So while they claim they are not homophobic, they think Shuri may not be the right “type” to hang with too long. Someone may get the “wrong impression.” This is why over the months they could only speak on the phone seldomly and their text conversations had to be neutral. They have some encrypted apps but it was too much of a hassle.

It is honestly backwards how her parents think. They had no problems until Shuri cut her hair. That was close to a year ago when T’Challa first got sick. AZ wanted to wear an undercut with a curly top similar to that of her brother. This started them making small comments here and there which Riri resented. She would stand up for Shuri. So they took certain privileges away because of her “attitude.” No phone calls after 10pm with anyone. No house guests unless it was a group and the most outrageous one is no going to dances with another girl. Not even a friend date. That rule came after she went with AZ to Junior homecoming and the rumor was all a buzz.

Little did Riri know her parents had a “conversation” with Romanda around that same time about keeping Shuri away from Rihanna. They didn’t want folks to think that Riri is gay. If only they knew they had been girlfriends close to 8 months by that point.

Riri pouts knowing Shuri will do whatever she wants because of it. “Not that house, the new one.” With a chuckle Shuri nods “You mean my place with my Oomakazi.” Ri smirks, “Yep.” She grins, kissing Shuri again but a little deeper. Sitting up she straddles AZ wanting to be closer and runs her fingers over the low cut. AZ has a firm grip on Ri’s body; her strong hands seem to be all over the place at once. After kissing until the need of air is required they pull back.

“Anywhere I am is yours too is what you’re saying?” AZ says smoothly. “Duh Baby. With you is the only place that feels like home.” Opening her eyes, Shuri looks at the sincerity in Riri’s face. She means it. “We just need a story for your folks.” Shuri smiles small soaking in the image of the girl in front of her. “I’ll make MJ cover me. She knows how miserable I have been without you.” “Ok well I have your location, leave your car there I can pick you up and I’ll drop you back in the am.”

Lunch is now over but they both don’t have any afternoon classes so they stay cuddled on the couch for an hour longer.

*text* Big Ri ❣️:MJ do me a favor and come to art.

*text* Mich the Donn❄️: 🤔 Art huh? I’ll be there in 10min.

*text* Big Ri❣️:😇 thank you.

In less than 10 min MJ knocks before she reaches for the key above the door. Letting herself in she locks it back and walks to the couch. Plopping down on the other end she is not phased by the couple cuddled up.

“Well aren’t you two just as sweet. Wassup AZ?” MJ greets the pair in a nonchalant manner. “MJ it’s good to see you and nothing much just here with your best friend.” MJ has a faint smile when looking at them. “Yea the Princess missed you, something awful. Been moody and all.” They poke fun at Riri’s expense but it’s true.

Ri was a mess those first few weeks. Crying non stop, never wanting to come out of her room. She had to put up a front for her parents so she would go to cheer and school “happy.” But everyday was hard. Ri’s Aunt Sharon even got concerned. She would text Riri everyday checking on her. Even pulled her out of school for “lunch breaks” and made the principal vow to not tell.

MJ was also right by her side at school and over the summer. She helped her navigate everything. Ri’s parents would not have taken kindly to what was really wrong. So more hiding had to happen.

MJ is cool with AZ so they would talk during that time. AZ wanted updates on how Riri REALLY was. Eventually Ri would just be honest with AZ but it took a few times of being called out.

“How many days is she staying at my place this time?” MJ finds humor in being aware of what is going on. “That is up to the Princess. But the normal I’ll get her tonight and drop her in the am.” Ri rolls her eyes as they talk like she is not even there. “You two love this don’t you? I am in the room you know.” This causes them to erupt into laughter. Riri is now pouting again. AZ kisses the poked out lip.

“Mm siyaxolisa Baby. But me and MJ could not help it.” MJ interjects “Right I’m sorry girl that’s just how our convos would sound. So old habits.” MJ grinned playfully. Ri kept a straight face.

“Ok ok I know that face. Question? Did you two sell your app yet?” The subject change was drastic but it made sense. The only people in the school who are this close to the couple are MJ, Miles and sometimes Xavi. They are true friends and think it’s so dope these two love each other and relate the way they do. They help them keep things low.

The last convo MJ had with them was about an app idea they were coding together. It is a new AI code that could be placed on different communication devices. Functions of the AI include but are not limited to monitoring the users vitals, being able to do advanced commands per request and actively learn the users habits. Back home in Shuri’s country they use these bracelets instead of cellphones called kimoyo beads. They programmed the AI into the bracelet and the test was a success.

When she went home Shuri held a meeting with the government’s design group and pitched the idea. The group immediately accepted the concept and allowed both Rihanna and Shuri to stay on as consultants for all upgrades to the AI. The contract is worth Millions.

“In a way, my government has retained the AI code to be used on all communication devices and Kimoyo Beads.” Shuri answers. “Wait so you mean that thing now has y’all’s app on it.” MJ points to Shuri's set of beads on her wrist. Riri shakes her head yes and commands Griot to wake up. “Griot please play on speaker AZ’s top played song of the week.” “At once Princess.” Cupid by 112 starts playing in the room. It’s kind of their song. “Y’all are sick.” MJ quips. “Griot please pause music.” “At once AZ.”

“That’s amazing I can’t believe you pulled it off the super genesises.” Looking at the time on her beads AZ got up. Riri whined as she was moved off of AZ’s lap. “Thanks MJ but it’s dismissal soon. I am going to cut out to not make it obvious. Go home and pack. I'll see you later on.” AZ is cupping Ri’s face and kisses her pouting lips one more time. Making it to the exit.

Ri throws her body over and lays on MJ’s leg. “Friend you are down bad. You are going to have to marry her soon as you turn 18.” Ri blushes and laughs at the statement but sometimes the thought crosses her mind. To be honest all kinds of thoughts cross her mind of what the future holds for them.

“That’s 6 months away MJ and this sneaking is getting old. It was fun at first but I don’t know. I want to have her walk me to first period and all the corny high school sweetheart stuff. Is that too much to ask.” Ri holds her hands on her face. MJ listens to her friend rant. “It’s only too much to ask for HERE. Otherwise no it’s not I’m sorry friend.” MJ holds her head.

“This place is so trash. Everyone is the same narrow minded hippocrates. The adults and the students. Like did you see Viv today? She was pissing me off. What is her issue?” MJ instantly gets mad.

“Same I get that she likes you and all but today was too much.” Riri looks then sits up frustrated. She laughs right after.

“MJ you are a fool. That girl does not like me like that, at least I hope not. She’s not my type and she’s way too “it girlish” . She has one more time to say something about my Baby or I’m putting her in her place.”

“Woah woah don’t hurt nobody killa. You know I’m just talking mess. But she does have an odd obsession like she wants to be you or something.” MJ looks at Riri with a pointed look. “Idk I just need her to know how overprotective I am of that one.” MJ hops up and pulls Ri up next. “Most people know how overprotective you are. Just keep doing what you've been doing. Keep the enemy closest.” MJ throws her arm over Riri’s shoulders and walks them out the art room.

The bell is ringing as they head out of the school. Almost like bad magic Viv is close behind them. “Oh my god! Where were you guys? The weirdo came into free gym and you all left me hanging.” Ri and MJ both roll their eyes at the dramatic tone.

Viv is an interesting person. She and Riri have been frenemies for years. So naturally that makes her loathe Shuri because of how close they are and she was one of the many who took the teasing too far. Ri literally lets her be around to keep an eye on her but today she’s working her patience.

Ri narrows her eyes and tenses up. As they continue to walk. “She came in looking more like a little boy than normal. So cocky like she’s not the same nerd from freshman year.” It was almost like Viv could not help herself. “Viv need I remind you to stop talking down on AZ. She just lost her brother and you are just being a shitty child about her being back at school.” MJ joins in on the read.

“It’s almost like you are obsessed with the girl. The way you are watching her and just trying to convince us how bad she is. Something is not right with that.” Viv looks as if she is going to throw up. “I am not being a child!” A smug smile plays on Riri’s face. Viv deserves this. “Well then what do you call the insulting and petty comments for no reason. It’s not like she has done anything to you. So what is the problem you have with her Viviannn?” Viv scoffs and storms off. She didn’t want to admit out loud her issue.

High-fiving the girls are now by the cars and Riri gives MJ a ride to her house. As she is driving, Shuri gives her a call. “Hey Baby you’re on speaker.” Riri is such a sucker her smile is almost permanent now that Shuri is back.

“Ok that's fine. Yo MJ. I just need to know why my wifey’s skin always glows in the sun.” “That’s because of the melanin and Daddy is home so there is that.”

Riri feels a rush, this is what she wants. To love her girlfriend out loud for whoever to hear and see. Within reason of course but the sneaking around is old and tired. “Do you two have any manners?” Miles’ voice boomed on the car phone speaker. Pulling Ri out of her bliss.

“No we do not Miles we can’t help how we show love.” AZ is feeling the same way. She hides only because of the threat by Riri’s parents. Romanda informed her of their “meeting” almost as soon as it happened. But if it were up to her AZ she would shout how much she loves Ri everyday. Shuri loves public displays of affection. Her family is that way. Hugs, kisses, gestures, gifts, holding hands she wants it all. But she finds balance in knowing Riri will not be cut off from her family. While they are not super supportive they are her blood.

“Right brother you know I have been away for months I got to make sure wifey is taken care of in every way.” Shuri smirks devilish as the words ooze from her mouth. They have some talking to do about some MAJOR things considering she will be 18 in 6 months but for now they just want to flirt over the phone. “Ugh you know what I was gone ask could I come chill tonight but I may pass.” MJ huffs playing sick at the couple’s antics. “I was gone say the same MJ but I feel you.” Miles seconds the motion.

“You two hush.” Ri is laughing and so is Shuri. “Daddy, what do you think?” “They can come, my Aunts will be glad to see you all. As a matter of fact. Griot.” “Yes AZ?” “Please add Okoye to this call.” “At once AZ”

The line chimes as they wait on her answer. Okoye is Shuri’s Aunt but is like her oldest sister. Romanda raised Okoye as if she was her own child rather than as a sibling, so their family bond has always been so unique. When word about T’Challa got to Okoye she was in Chicago in less than 24 hours. She dotes on Shuri like no other because of her being so smart and being teased. She is just committed to her family. When it came time for Shuri to make the choice to return to Baxter, Okoye proposed that she be Shuri’s guardian. Romanda agreed with no hesitation.

“Shuriiiii what is it now Usisi.” Okoye's warm tone fills the speakers. “Sista you love me don’t just assume I want something.” Everyone stays quiet but snicker at AZ poking fun at Okoye. “You are correct but I know who you are. Also hello Rihanna it has been too long.” Okoye clocks Ri on the phone.

“Hey Auntie” Riri shouts once her cover is blown. “Ri I hope this means you are coming by the house tonight. We can have your favorite.” Okoye knows Riri well and she smiles being able to hear her voice. The Williams family are one of Okoye’s many enemies. She does not understand how one can place a child as bright and beautiful as Ri in a situation like they have. She has to be miserable all because they don’t see loving another woman as “right”.

Okoye combats that by being in her corner 100% and spoils her a bit. “Ayeee! Yes Auntie I will see you soon. And thank you. I’m thankful someone loves me.” “Yes we will have to catch up nkosazana. You know I love you the most.” AZ huffs. “Ahhh no no we are not doing this tonight. My Princess knows I love her and Auntie I know you love her more but please do not throw it in my face.” The conversation is cut short when Riri pulls up to her family house.

“I will speak with you all soon thanks for the cheer advice.” Sandra Rihanna’s Mother comes to the car as the line hangs up. With a sickeningly pleasant smile like the Stepford wives her Mother greets her. “Daughter, how was your day? Michelle, it's so wonderful to see you.” Ri steps out of her car with MJ not far behind and they enter into the kitchen.

“It was nice Mom. I got a surprise visit from a coach today. She seemed very interested in me joining their team at Brown.” MJ says hi and just listens. This was not a lie but it was not the highlight of her day. “Brown is a good option! But Harvard is our place isn’t it?” Ri shines a coy smile. She honestly could go anywhere, which she wants to go to Howard an HBCU. “Harvard is on the table but I just want to keep my options open. You know that Mother. Is Gary home?” Moving into the home some more, all three ladies are in sync. “He is at a church meeting. He won't be home until the morning. It is a lock in.”

That is perfect. Gary can’t veto her going to “MJ’s”. Ri is now holding a water bottle and MJ is silently observing. “Oh that’s so nice. So I have a question to ask, can I go to MJ’s for the long weekend? The Brown coach wanted to see some clean highlight footage. Since it’s Friday of fall break, I would love to be able to go over there and get some polished footage.” Riri’s poker face was solid. This weekend could NOT be derailed. Her Mother gives a calculated look. “Michelle who will be with you all?” MJ perks up. She didn’t want to have to talk at all. Riri’s Mom gives her the heebie geebies. “My Mom and Brother will be home. He is home from college so he will be in his room the full time.”

Sandra’s ears perk up. She has pushed the idea of MJ’s brother and Riri for about 2 years now. This was going to be a great motivator. Riri was so happy she pinched MJ excitedly. “Oooh ok so Micheal is home?” Ri played things up knowing full well even if he was home Mike is going to be with his girlfriend. Adding a mischievous smile her actual thoughts are of AZ. “Well yes you may go Rihanna and stay all fall break. Don’t worry about your Father, I will make sure he does not get bent out of shape. This is for your future.”

Grinning, Ri hugs her Mom “EEEE thank you thank you. I will be working on the footage most of the week so I’ll show you when I’m home. You are the best.” Riri’s Mom beams. “And tell Mike I said hello.” The comment goes unanswered as the girls sprint upstairs to pack. They lock the door and turn on music to cover the sounds of their conversation. “Michelle Jordan Jones! You genius, adding your brother into the mix. That was the icing on the cake. How did you think of that?” MJ laughed. “Honestly he is home I just told the truth but I did know she loves the idea of y’all making babies. I don’t think I have seen parents more obsessed with having their teenage daughter pregnant than yours.” Riri is looking in the closet for an array of things. She mostly wants to have nice clothes so they can go on dates. She will steal any and everything to lounge in from Shuri. She loves to wear her clothes. Her parents have no idea who they belong to so it’s the one win she has.

“MJ honestly if they could do that or have me marry a guy tomorrow they would so that I don’t “give the wrong impression.” It’s very sad to see how far she will go. I want to bet you something.” MJ looks up as she hears Ri. She takes a glance at the little black dress she has in her hand. “What’s the bet? Side note what is this dress it’s 2ins.” A smirk plays on the short one's face. “I bet she gives me condoms. 20 bucks. And shhh don’t worry about it it goes with this.” Holding up a matching Savage Fenty set. “Oooh girl ok then what are you trying to do? Have you and AZ ever?” A flush comes across her face. “No she wants to wait. We get close and she just holds back. I’m ok with it but sometimes, I have take that cold shower.” MJ smiles and shakes her head. “AZ is a good one yo like it’s no pressure huh? Or are you trying to be a demon?” This make them both giggle

*text* The Kween 🖤⚡️:Two things. One it’s been 2 hours I miss you come on home already!❣️Two Auntie says y’all are doing a spa night tomorrow so bring your robe. (Also bring that other thing I like 😏)

A text comes in from AZ before Ri can answer. Riri stares at her phone. This is new. The convos have to stay tame on the phone because of random checks.

*text* The Princess❣️✨:Hold your horses Please. I’m going to have all your faves. 😈 We’ll be there in 45 mins.

“Ok I definitely can’t be single the rest of this school year.” MJ huffs. “My bad girl, she texted and look at this. I don’t want to be a demon because it would be both our first times but she tests me. I think she wants it to be as special as it can be. So we decided on my 18th.” Once she packs the last thing Riri flops on the bed. MJ looks at her form above. “That sounds so romantic Yo. It’s on brand for who AZ actually is. The soft sweetheart that sings you to sleep on recordings.” Ri breathes out recalling all the sweet gestures she gets from AZ in seacret. AZ also never compromises on being thoughtful. Like the recording of Ri's favorite lullabies/soft songs which help her sleep at night. Or the hand crafted jewelry that AZ makes for her which she wears everyday like her ear cuff and necklace.

“MJ, all of it is great but I wish it could be seen. Like do you know how annoying it is to have boys drooling over me and I can’t even say I’m dating anyone let alone say I have a girlfriend.” Ri is a little saddened now. “Ri you have to just have hold on a little longer. You will be 18 soon and you can do a full photoshoot with Shuri and post it in the school if you want. Now let’s go. I'm trying to have stew chicken and sweet plantain please.” They cut the music and get up to go

*text* The Princess❣️✨:New location from Kimoyo Necklace.

Shuri opens her text alert. It's a bit primitive but for now until the official launch of Griot in 6 months this will have to due. She is going to upgrade Riri to a full set of beads and update her necklace. “Miles let’s go get the girls.”

Miles looks up from the big screen in the small sitting area of AZ’s new room. The house she and Okoye are in is a mansion so they both have master suites. When they came in she cleaned and cleaned the room to be spotless. She changed the bedding to a black and purple cotton silk blend and she went to the target to get all her Love’s fave toiletries, snacks and some random matching pjs. Shuri is a gift giver and likes displays of affection. So their relationship is torture. It burns her to not be able to shower Riri with everything her heart desires even if it's just holding hands as they walk to class. Rihanna never asks for much, but the hiding kills them both. But Shuri CAN NOT allow her to be disowned by her family not before 18. 6 months and counting.

“AZ! Yo where do you drift off too? I said what is your deal for homecoming you riding solo as normal?” Shuri frowned; she knew that Ri would HAVE to have some chucklehead date in order to even leave the house. She may just do like last year and pay a dude off to dress completely mismatched from Ri and take photos. Then hand her off at the school. “I don’t know man it’s in a few weeks I am more set on the end of the year stuff you know.” Miles nods. “I hate that our school is so lame I bet they would not even trip so much if it was not for close minded parents.” Shuri tilted the wheel some to make a turn focused on her GPS. “Man I don’t know but I want to get Riri to 18 and we can do what we want.” AZ points a finger gun in the direction of the sky.

“I hear you man I do cause y’all never even you know have you.” AZ looks over for a brief second as she stops at a rare red light. “Nope not yet I hold back cause I want it to be more special then fumbling around at home. Idk what I envision but it’s not that.” The sincerity in her voice is so sweet. “You are a good one Azari.” They pull up to MJ’s but Shuri screeches to a stop. “Don’t call me that Yo!” Miles laughs as he is hit. “Yo yo I wanted to see if I could pronounce it sheesh. Stop.” Just as they stop horse playing Riri and Michelle come out of the house. Mike, her brother, is with them.

Hopping out of her Lexus truck AZ hugs her Baby with a small kiss to her cheek and then takes her bag. Dapping up Mike they all exchange some hellos. Mike was always a good dude. He was in the class with T’Challa so he looked out for them all as a big bro. “AZ can’t believe they let you back through customs.” With a grin. “You know what, I almost didn’t make it. They flagged me for having too much phone activity from your girl.” The joke made Mike chuckle. Looking down at Riri who is tucked under Shuri’s left arm, Mike clocks her look. “Naw that can’t be true cause if it was you’d be dead.” Tipping his head to Ri AZ kisses her face whispering in her ear. “You never got to worry she white not my thing.” Riri does not stop her and just soaks in the kisses.

“Get a room you two sheesh.” MJ walks past to get in the car. AZ says goodbye to Mike with a promise to link up. Miles hops in the back because the seat literally has Princess embroidered on the headrest in Xhosa. So her seat is secure. They lace their fingers together as the drive commences. “Ok so my Mom knows I’m out and won’t be back she likes you AZ so we good.” AZ nods glancing in the rear view. “Cool at least someone likes me. One is a start.”

Ri is stoic but thinking. Her family being against anything LGBTQ is a huge hurdle for her but young love makes you feel invincible. She could care less if they approved what was the worst they would do. Kick her out? Disown her? That’s all things she does not care about if she can be with Shuri. “Baby Sharon likes you, she thinks you are adorable.” AZ takes Ri’s hand and kisses the back. “I know she likes me and she is so wonderful to you. I know I will meet her soon yes?” “That you do.” The short drive is over and all 4 young people pile out of the car. Like magnets AZ and Ri are holding hands as she walks her into the house.

“The new place is huge Baby what in the world!” AZ smiles. “Yea it’s a lot of square feet to fill. But me and Auntie won’t be here alone. Her besties Ayo and Aneka are coming to stay with us for a while after the hard launch of Griot. Mother will remain home with Nakia. Of course you can be here whenever, however long you want.” Riri loves the sound of that she blushes looking into Shuri’s eyes. Wrapping her arms around the taller girl loosely. “So when I move here in 6 months the invitation is still open?” AZ looks at her and raises her eyebrows. “A closet is already clear for you my Love.” Ri smiles as AZ falls back onto the couch in the living room joining Miles and MJ.

“Ri your Mother and Father would die if you did that.” “Let them I would no longer be in need of them. I will have my own money and a place to be. The countdown is on.” Okoye comes into the room with snacks smiling. “Still so brave, I like it. How are you Princes?” Riri jumps up to hug Okoye, pulling her into a very warm embrace. Riri feels so much love. This is truly her family. “Ahhh I have missed you, the only person I want to see now is Mother.” “Well when you have your passport you will be able to come to Wakanda with us to see her. You will love Wakanda, the landscape and technology will blow your mind. You may even find your wedding destination.” Okoye winks and smiles, letting Riri go and heads back to the kitchen.

This is the second wedding/marriage hint today, if it happens a third time there may be a need for a discussion. Ri sits back down cuddling into AZ’s lap. She wants to stay like this forever. “Princess, you coming to Wakanda will be at the top of our list of things to do. I think Mother would hold you hostage for the first 3 whole days.” Laughter erupts from everyone. “AZ could we come along?” Miles chimes in. “After the launch of our company we could set something up which would allow you and MJ access to travel vias. Wakanda is very strict about who is allowed into the country. Borders were completely closed for all foreign travel until about 15 years ago.” MJ looks and listens with intent. “Our culture is to be very reserved and guarded. Wakanda is a very advanced nation with great resources. Our country never wants for any of them to be exploited.” Okoye adds the reasons for the country's precautions.

“Azari, so how do I have a visa already?” AZ smiles. “Mother petitioned on your behalf for a research visa two years ago. It was granted and now that you are a partner on the Griot you will be able to have full citizenship.” AZ says with pride, Ri blushes in response. “Wait a minute! So the Princess is not only the head cheerleader and super genius she is going to be Wakandan too!? Miles chimed in jokenly. The night went on well and AZ took MJ and Miles home just before 10pm. Ri was alone in the bathroom when her girlfriend returned.

“Baby is that you?” Ri calls out with a smile as she tied her hair up with the silk scarf Shuri left for her in the mirror. “Yes my love I see you found all your items. I got all your favorites.” AZ hugs Ri from behind, kissing her on the neck. Their height difference is so adorable. “I am going to need them because I am staying all week.” AZ’s face lights up, picking Ri up to kiss her on the lips. “You are kidding! How did you get a full week away from the house?” Ri is loving the attention. She answers with a smile. “Well MJ mentioned her brother was home and Mom offered for me to stay the entire week. I jumped at the suggestion. You have no idea how much I have missed you.” Kissing Shuri again Rihanna made the kiss longer with more passion. AZ walked with Riri in her arms to the bed and laid her down as they kept kissing. AZ moved to bite gently at her loved neck being careful to not leave any crazy marks. Ri moans out as she grips onto AZ not wanting to let her go. *kiss* “Ndiyakuthanda nkosazana. ugqibelele” *kiss* The two made out for sometime before AZ needed to take a shower. “Baby you are taking so long.” Shouting from the other room AZ laughed. “Yes but I need to smell good.” Coming out of the bathroom in the matching pjs AZ got into bed on her side and Ri instantly cuddles up into her arms.

“Can I tell you something? I don’t mind your smell unshowered, even a little sweat is fine.” Laughing both girls can’t believe Ri just admitted that. “That is true love sheesh. How did I get so lucky?” Ri traces invisible lines on AZ’s chest as they cuddle. “To be honest I’m the lucky one Azari. I have you and a second family who love me for me not some image. You all are my real life.” AZ was quite a moment Ri sometimes knew exactly how to take her breath away. (It was all the time.) Placing her hand on Ri’s cheek AZ looked her in her eyes and smiled. “This is the life we will live forever with love and freedom. I promise you that Rihanna Robin.” They kiss and soon drift to sleep. Both had not had a peaceful sleep in so long because they needed each other.

@somethingcleaverandwhitty @mal-urameshi @pantherheart @shurixriri @shuriris-stuff

#shuri x riri #shuriri #fanfic #fanfiction #riri x shuri #riri williams #shuri udaku #Spotify

[sweet-citrus-candy]

airport crush ft. lev haiba

summary: at the airport you spot a cute silver haired boy and you absolutely must get his number! but as you walk run away you realize you forgot to ask for it :(

warnings: none! but i do sometimes add little comments in parentheses- i can’t help it lmao (also this is during high school era!)

this is another silly little fic based off a dream i had (in my dream the lady at the gate’s desk had a vision of the plane crashing but it never did thankfully)

———————————————————————

*beep beep*

“eurgh what’s that sound? it’s so loud and annoying,” you think to yourself groggily.

fumbling your hand around with your eyes still closed, you find the source of the irritating noise. instead of opening your eyes to press one of the buttons on the phone screen, you silence the alarm by clicking the power button.

turning onto your side and adjusting the blanket, you sigh and then mutter to no one in particular, “five more minutes.”

you doze off once more until,

*beep beep*

you wake up again, but this time you begrudgingly sit up even though the comfortable bed calls to you and urges you to stay asleep.

“man, how do morning people exist??”

as you sit there wondering why in the world you would choose to get up at 8 in the morning, you realize that you have a flight today. wait a minute… you have a flight to catch?! at 8 am?! no wait- the flight is at 12 pm, so you have plenty of time. your heart calms down; no need to panic (too late for that lmao)! although getting ready 4 hours early seems ridiculous, you want to make sure there’s no chance of you missing the plane (which is some sort of phenomenon that seems to overtake dads- someone should do a study on this behavior…).

opening your phone, you read through your notifications and double check that the person dropping you off at the airport and the other person picking you up are still available. rolling out of bed and putting on cozy slippers, you trudge over to the bathroom to do your morning routine. washing your face helps you wake up, and you feel more ready for the day’s events.

when you walk back into your room, you put on the outfit you decided to wear to the airport. sweatpants and a t-shirt will be comfortable to wear during a long flight, and you make sure to have a sweatshirt as well in case the person next to you decides to blast their ac. perhaps it isn’t the most fashionable, but it doesn’t really matter as many other people also dress for comfort on long trips.

grabbing your phone, you head downstairs to the kitchen to eat breakfast. when you finish, you double check to make sure you have your ticket and passport, and that your suitcase is entirely packed. the few items that aren’t packed yet, like your toothbrush, will go into your carry-on.

your friend drives you to the airport and hugs you goodbye with promises to keep in touch until you see each other again.

inside the airport, you check in with the airline and go through security. now you have a little over two hours to explore before having to board the plane. as you ride the moving walkway, you wonder where you should go to pass the time. in the distance you see an array of stores, ranging from selling souvenirs to books and magazines. you don’t feel the need to buy any souvenirs yet, but you still want to look around. there are a lot of fun trinkets to look at and play with, and it’s always a fun game to see if any of the keychains have your name on them.

as you look at the variety of magnets to consider adding to your collection, you notice something bright red out of the corner of your eye. you turn your head, curious as to what caught your attention. the thing in question turns out to be a jacket. a sports jacket to be more specific. the back reads “nekoma”.

you wonder whether or not you have seen that name before. after pondering for a good minute, you remember seeing a section in the newspaper mentioning the school. something about a “garbage war”. or was it a “trash fight”? “dumpster battle” maybe?

sneaking another glance at the person wearing the red jacket, your jaw drops. he’s so tall! and his legs seem to go on for miles! “he must be an olympian or something” you think, amazed by his height.

you turn to look back at the magnets after admiring his tall figure when you do a double take. how did you not notice his hair the first two times you stared at him? it’s a beautiful silver color, making you wonder how you could have missed a detail like that. not a lot of people have entirely silver hair at a young age.

your staring must have made the person feel like they are being watched, because the next moment he looks up and tries to figure out who was looking at him with such intensity.

you don’t react quickly enough, resulting in your eyes meeting. you can feel your face heat up instantly, but the person only smiles and waves. not only that, he starts walking in your direction?!

“hi, my name is lev! were you looking at me?”

“uh yeah haha,” you say a bit nervously because you got caught, “i’m y/n.”

your breath is taken away as you notice his mesmerizing emerald green eyes and sharp facial features. “damn is he a model or an olympian? or both?” you mutter to yourself.

lev heard you and laughed; “neither actually! i do play volleyball at school though! i’m a first year!”

“WHAT? FIRST YEAR? NO WAY!” you exclaim. more calmly you add on, “i’m also a first year”.

“so what school do you go to? i go to nekoma high in tokyo!” lev says excitedly.

“oh, i go to ________ (any of the other schools besides nekoma),” you respond.

“no way! their volleyball team is really good! i’ll make sure to beat them though as soon as i’m nekoma’s ace!”

“woah you must be pretty good then! the only times i played volleyball was in gym class hahah. must be more fun to be on an actual team, right?”

“sure is! i’m what they call an outside hitter, or a spiker. a lot of people prefer to be called outside hitters, but i don’t mind either one. they both sound cool!”

“oh wow that position is really admirable! i would love to see it in person sometime!”

“you should definitely come to one of my games! we have one coming up pretty soon actually. i’ll send you the details as soon as i get them. here’s my numb-”

“LEV! are you in here?! come on we’ve got to go now or we’ll miss the plane!” someone calls out from the entrance of the souvenir store.

“oh shoot, that’s right! nice meeting you, but i’ve got to go! bye!” he waves smiling.

“have a safe flight!” you respond cheerfully.

remembering that you also have a flight soon, you pull out your phone to check the time. oh no, they’re going to start boarding soon! as you exit the store and run towards the gate, you realize that you didn’t get a chance to exchange numbers with lev.

there wasn’t anytime to worry about that though, since they had begun boarding the passengers. the best solution you could come up with at the moment was to just keep an eye out for any upcoming matches via the internet.

you reach the gate which luckily wasn’t too far away, and pull out your ticket and passport.

“will group c please board the plane. group c. thank you,” comes a voice on the announcement intercom.

this is your group. group a is for priority flyers such as first class whilst group b is for business class. groups c and past are for economy.

you give your ticket to the person scanning them and show them your passport. they confirm your registration and tell you to have a safe flight.

you take a seat near the back of the plane and turn your phone on airplane mode. you rummage around your carry-on looking for a book before placing your bag on the ground under your seat. you decide you’re going to read and listen to music for a bit before putting on a movie to entertain yourself during the long flight.

the flight attendants begin to make their mandatory safety announcement, so you close your book and place it beside you on the empty seat.

as they’re nearing the end of the buckle demonstration, your line of sight is interrupted by a silver blob in the seat a few rows ahead of you. you blink a few times. it’s still there. you lean forward a little to try and see what it is. wait… why does it look familiar? lev? no it couldn’t be. could it? you decide to wait until the light indicating seat belts must be worn turns off before investigating.

when you’re allowed to get up, you start moving towards the silvery blob, pretending to go to the bathroom. you can’t see the person’s face well from the angle you’re at, so you tap the person’s shoulder.

“excuse me, but-“

“oh sorry am i-“

“it’s you!” both of you say at the same time.

you didn’t recognize lev at first because he had changed out of his sports jacket and into a cozy sweatshirt.

“i can’t believe you’re on my plane! it’s like fate since we didn’t get a chance to share numbers,” he says beaming.

“yeah! i’m really surp-“

“hey kiddos, sorry to interrupt but you’re hogging the aisle,” says a sweet old man.

“oh i’m so sorry! i didn’t notice!” you respond hastily, “come sit next to me lev.”

“won’t we get in trouble for switching seats?” he asks while getting up (no hesitation whatsoever- head empty. he’s ready to do whatever you say).

“not on this airline. don’t worry i’ve flown with them before and they allow it.”

“can i have the aisle seat? it’ll be easier for me to get up if i need to go to the bathroom or something.”

“yeah sure. i don’t mind at all,” you say.

you place your book back into your bag and sit in the previously empty seat.

“thanks for keeping my seat warm,” he teases.

“anything for you, your majesty,” you joke back.

you continue talking to lev and cracking jokes for a good hour or so. honestly, you’re not sure how much time has passed, and you don’t really care. the two of you eventually put on a movie, and although you don’t usually fall asleep during them, you start to feel your eyes close. it was a busy day today, and you’re exhausted.

“can i lean my head on your arm?” you ask.

“hm can i hold your hand if i let you?”

“mm yeah,” you say as your face heats up.

you’re glad that you decided to browse the souvenir shop before boarding the plane. meeting lev was definitely worth waking up incredibly early.

#lev haiba #haiba lev #haikyuu lev #hq lev #lev x reader #lev haiba x reader #haikyuu!! #haikyu fluff #haikyu x reader #lev fluff #airport #haikyu drabble #haikyu oneshots #hq x y/n #hq headcanons #hq x reader #hq

[terrestrialnoob]

“I bet we can get a reservation at The Orchard,” Kim suggested.

Ron nodded, “Yeah, I guess it has been a while since we went to, like, a really nice place.”

“So, as long as nothing world ending happens between now and Saturday-”

Just as Km said it, her locker beeped and as she opened it, the computer she kept in it flickered on showing Wade in his usual place, looking slightly nervous. Wade being nervous was never a good thing.

“Hey Wade, what’s the sitch?”

“Hey Kim,” Wade said, but his voice wavered a little as he asked, “I was wondering if I could get a favor from Ron.”

“Not me?” Kim asked immediately.

“Ron’s more the style I’m looking for.”

“Ron’s style?” Kim asked incredulously, but Ron put his hand on her shoulder.

“I get it Wade, whatever you need, I got it covered.”

“Thanks.” Wade’s image on Kim’s locker computer switched to a photo from Wade’s last family reunion, all the kids of five aunts and uncles and six more older cousins in one shot. A red circle blinked into existence at the edge of the photo, around Wade and a slightly older kid standing next to him with his hand on Wade’s shoulder wearing a red beret and thick black rimmed glasses. “This is my cousin, Tucker. He and his friends are coming to visit Middleton this weekend for the science convention.”

“Wait, cousin Tucker? The Cousin Tucker?” Ron nearly shoving Kim out of the way of the locker to get a better look at the photo.

Kim rolled her eyes then asked, “Is he a big deal?”

“Uh, cheah,” Ron said, letting Kim back in front of the locker, “He helped Wade design your battle suit!”

“That’s the one,” Wade said, “He gave me the idea to make it, and he has a lot of experience working on high-powered combat jumpsuits. Really, he did most of the designing part of it; I just did all the hard work of actually making it.”

“Really? High-powered combat jumpsuits is something someone can have a lot of experience with?” Kim asked, but it did make sense. She had been a bit surprised that Wade had come up with the battle suit; he’s a gadget guy, not a suit guy. And there wasn't a shortage of teenage geniuses in the world.

“Yeah, he's awesome, and his friends?” Wade said, and an image came onto the screen of a teenage girl with dyed black hair. She wore a black tank top with a purple bat in the center of the chest and unattached long bell sleeves along with a black and green plaid miniskirt over torn black tights. Her knee high boots had thick blocky souls that made her at least four inches taller and were covered in straps and metal. In the photo, she was leaning on a wall pointing at a horror movie poster next to her. “This is Sam Manson, she was the top, the number one, Doomed player in the world, and right now, she’s top ten in the sequel, Eternal Torment, and money’s on her to break top five within the month.”

“Eternal Torment!” Ron shouted, getting strange looks from others in the hall, but he didn’t care, “The online video game that’s so hard 50% of all players rage quite before finishing it?”

“That’s a myth, it’s closer to 32% and lowering with the new patches, but yes, that’s the one.”

“Woah,” Ron basically had heart eyes as he stared at the goth gamer girl, and Kim wasn’t jealous. She wasn’t.

“What about this guy?” Kim asked, other photos of Wade’s cousin and his friends had come up, usually with three people, Tucker, Sam, and the one Kim was pointing at now. He had naturally black hair and bright blue eyes, and while Tucker's and Sam’s outfits changed in every image, he seemed to wear the same torn jeans, NASA t-shirt, and red hoodie in everything he was in. Though, there were a few of him that had a kind of grainy distortion over them, kind of made him look like he had pointed ears, or shark teeth, or glowing eyes.

“That’s Danny Fenton, and he’s cool but kinda… strange,” Wade pulled up some newspaper articles where Dr.’s Fenton cause havoc in a small town in Iowa, professional ghost hunters whose inventions go awry and destroy buildings; and Danny himself seemed to have a public feud with the Mayor of his town and there was a magazine article about how he discovered that the Amity Park Zoo’s purple-back gorilla was female. “Yeah, he’s a bit all over the place and hard to get a read on. But, he does like space and rocket science. And, Tucker said that Danny's family is the one that makes a lot of high-powered combat jumpsuits. Apparently, Dr.'s Fenton only wear high-powered combat jumpsuits.”

Ron nodded along, then asked, “This is all fascinating Wade, but why are you telling us all this?”

“Well,” Wade rubbed his neck nervously, “When Tucker said he was visiting and going to the convention, I kinda said that I was also planning on going with my friends… My IRL friends. I wanted him to think I was cool, and he knows I have a hard time making offline friends, but I didn’t want him to think I was a loser. So…”

“So you need a living breathing friend to go with! Sure thing, buddy. I’m free- oh, no, wait,” Ron pointed between him and Kim, “we were just talking about going on a nice date this weekend.”

Kim waved her hand dismissively, “It’s fine, we can stop somewhere for dinner after the convention.”

“We?”

Kim nodded and looked at Wade in her locker, “My dad’s a rocket scientist, I bet at least Danny will think I’m cool, and I bet Sam will like having another girl there to talk to.”

“She does tend to get along with everyone,” Ron said, “Except for Bonnie… and Drakken, but they’re both supervillains, so I don’t think that’s a point against her.”

Wade smiled, “Thanks Kim. I’ll send you guys info on the convention and where to meet.”

“Ten-four, Wade, we’ll see you there.” Kim said and closed her locker as Wade logged off.

“You really think this’ll be fun?” Ron asked, “Or are you just being nice for Wade?”

“No, I like hanging out with Wade, and you know,” Kim shrugged awkwardly, “What are the chances of there being a mad scientist bent on world domination at the convention?”

“With our luck? 100%” Ron said, with all seriousness before breaking into chuckles. “Now, school’s out and mission’s not till the weekend, that means it’s Bueno Nacho time!”

#danny phantom #kim possible #fanfic #crossover #dp x kp crossover #this is it #this is all I got #I got nothing else for the crossover #please take this and run where ever you want to with it

[seat-safety-switch]

The less said about the glorious battle between the spectral form of A.J. Foyt and the somehow-animate form of Dan Gurney the better. You can read all about it in the major newspapers if you want, although the journalists didn’t really get the essence of the story. What’s important is that I got a brand new Honda Accord out of the whole deal. Well, not brand new. It’s like... ten, fifteen years old. It’s 2002 still, right?

Of course, I had forgotten the pact. I thought I had been so clever, having fulfilled my obligations to the multiple-time Indy 500 winner to defeat his All American Racing nemesis (this, somehow, despite the fact they had never raced against each other – go figure) and then slip out the back door, towards  the docks using my newfound ability to read basic road signs, and then onto a roll-on-roll-off ferry to go home the slow way. After that, it was a simple two months at sea, making friends with all the stevedores. Most of them weren’t named Steve, but all of them got really pissed by the fifth or sixth week when I wouldn’t stop making that joke, even the ones who initially started out pretending they didn’t speak English to avoid me at the Maersk mess hall.

As soon as we docked, I was gunning the understressed F-motor, telling it about all the cool turbochargers and turbocharger accessories I was going to bolt to its carapace in order to reach its true form as a highway abuser. Unfortunately, the chassis didn’t agree with me. Anyone here could have told you what was going to happen next. Without the annual deposits of leaking oil and poorly-applied road tar, the Accord’s virginal unibody metal had not become accustomed to the atmospheric road salt of my land of origin. I didn’t even make it to the end of the docking ramp before I was sitting on the ground, holding a windshield and the least-ferrous parts of the steering wheel in my lap.

Well, be that as it may, it was still an incredible adventure as an illegal occupant and full-time street racer at the behest of the shade of a famous geriatric racer who I had never met. I learned a lot about myself, and I also got a chance to try that new flavour of Chip Star at the parking area. They almost got it to taste like potato now, if you can believe that.

As I began the long, but familiar, process of hitch-hiking the thousands of kilometres home from the coast, I couldn’t help but wonder what ol’ A.J. Foyt was up to now. Probably going much faster than me, hurtling through the stars in pursuit of the ultimate speed. That’s when I heard a joyous little toot toot and turned to see a Suzuki Super Carry kei van barely turtling up the hill towards me. It had been sitting on the boat behind me the whole time.

The drivers’ window rolled down. “Get in, asshole,” barked Jacques Villeneuve. Home at last.

[sprintingowl]

Batman Miniatures Game (2015)

So, a friend was thinning his ttrpg collection and sent some my way, which means I'm going to be reviewing a few rpgs that I probably wouldn't have picked up normally.

This is good, though! It means I'm getting a broader diet of media than "this looked weird and gloomy and I was unable to stop my own reflex to acquire it."

Anyway, the Batman Miniatures Game is still being maintained by Knight Models (at least as of my writing in 2024,) and is a skirmish game that emphasizes parkour and worker (token) placement.

You play as various factions from the broader Gotham metropolitan area and engage in objective-driven battles in a world of perpetual darkness (canonically, all combats in this game are considered to take place at night.)

There's a lot of elements in BMG you'd expect from an older wargame. Rolls to hit, rolls to damage, multiple wounds per model, etc. But initiative is handled by going back and forth activating models until everyone runs out of action tokens. And action tokens are the stars of the game.

At the start of each round, before any actions are taken, players assign tokens on each character's sheet. These tokens are assigned to different categories of actions, like movement, attack, block, and special. During your turn, when you activate a model, you choose which of its action types to take and spend tokens from that type to act. Token placement is public knowledge after it's been done, so there's an interesting meta here where you can see the enemy's bruiser with a bunch of movement tokens on it and know that it's going to rush you down when it activates. Damage also removes tokens, so you can theoretically preempt said bruiser by just opening up on it with a shooter.

The game being objective-oriented feels a bit necessary, because models become less capable as they take damage. Damage is in two flavors, stun and injury, and characters can get nonlethally KO'd if they're dropped with stun. They can also wake back up from KO, and it takes extra actions to cuff them or finish them.

So you can kind of get stuck in a spiral of your characters getting less capable as they take damage, and that means you'll generally be taking fewer activations in later rounds than earlier ones, but this isn't bad gameplay because the more actions your opponent is spending on gunning down your models, the less they're dedicating to the objective.

To further support objective-based play, Batman Miniatures has non-complex but relatively detailed rules for climbing fences, jumping gaps, wading through sewage, etc. Plus, close quarters attacks can grab and push, and cover and sightlines matter a lot for ranged engagements.

This is a game that wants detailed three-dimensional environments and shantytown style terrain, and will lose a lot of its complexity if it's just played on a flat board. Knight Models, which produces the game, also sells a lot of associated models and elements---although they're fully supportive of you making your models and terrain yourself.

And that's Batman Miniatures at a glance, but I want to take a moment to talk about the layout of the book itself because it's... it's something.

Despite being fully endorsed by DC and being an official production, this thing looks more like a high effort fan project than almost any high effort fan project I've seen--and that's not a negative. There are splash pages and pull quotes drawn from the comics, the Arkham games (rendered in engine!), and the Heath Ledger movie. No two page spread looks quite like any other two page spread. There's a page that's layed out as a newspaper and it's done that way *perfectly*, feeling like a windblow scrap picked up off the streets of gotham.

The layout designer popped off, even if the actual visual contents are kind of weird at times. You'll get a full two page spread of procedural rules for what to do if the Joker kicks you in the nuts, and then the next page is just straight up a cover from Long Halloween with "Live. Laugh. Love. -Frank Miller's Batman" in stylized red HAHAHA font over it.

Also, adding to the weirdness, the whole back half of the book is just photographs of models you can buy from Knight Models and then a semi-comprehensive guide to modern batman chronology (circa 2015).

Overall, I don't think I vibe with Batman Miniatures as much as with other modern skirmish games (such as Rangers Of Shadowdeep) or other superhero rpgs (such as the old Marvel Universe,) but I'd be amiss to say that I don't think there's something here. The token placement is rad, and the movement system is clever and streamlined. If you're a ttrpg designer looking to study an action economy, or you need a reason to paint some dark deco terrain pieces, or you're just a batman fan, there's probably something here for you.

#ttrpg #ttrpg homebrew #ttrpgs #ttrpg design #indie ttrpgs #rpg #indie ttrpg #tabletop #dnd #rpgs #batman #skirmish game #wargames

[terapsina]

Question of the hour. Can someone figure out what my shipping type is through ten of my all time favorite OTPs?

I ask because I can't.

1. Swan Queen.

Enemies to Friends to Lovers. Angst. The Evil Queen and the Savior. Divorced Moms Feeling. Co-parenting their kid plus town. Battle Couple. Obsessed With Each Other's Happy Ending.

---

2. Elejah.

Tragically Opposite Sides. Mirrors of Each Other. Loyalty. Family. Betrayal. Humanity. Mutual Respect. Regret. Cruelty. Inherent Understanding of What Makes The Other Tick. Full of Weirdly Reciprocated Awe. Casually Dropping 'Always and Forever' in Basically a Love Letter.

---

3. Pardison.

Utterly Fluffy. Sweet. Friends to Lovers. The Hacker and the Thief. Each Other's Safe Space. Good Communication. Rock-solid Foundation. Completely Without Problematic Aspects and Yet Extremely Interesting.

---

4. Hizzie.

Enemies to Friends to Enemies to Friends to Lovers. Squabbling Like an Old Married Couple. Bitches Against The World. But Also Very Soft. Actually Kinda Obsessed With Each Other. Would Kill For Each Other. Would Also Occasionally Want to Murder Each Other. Right Person, Wrong Time. More Romantic Than They Think They Are. Multiple Jealousy Scenes.

---

5. Bellarke.

The Sloooooowest of Burns. The Head and The Heart. Everyone Including Their Friends, Their Families, Their Antagonists and Their Separate Love Interests Sees It. Completely In Love With Each Other. Being Apart Breaks Them. Each Other's Weak Spot. Also Each Other's Strength. Absolute Idiots. Not Actually Unrequited.

---

6. Graylora.

My Newest Babes. The Prince Turned Mage and the Destined Empress. Initially Unrequited. Friends to Future Lovers. Inspire Hope in Each Other. Find Strength Through The Other's Faith. Awkward Turtleducks. Seeking Purpose and Fearing Destiny. Torn Apart and Longing To Reunite. Tragic "Death" Scene and Savage Vengeful Reaction.

---

7. Clizzy.

Tactile Agony. No But Seriously So Much Touching. Meet-cute Head Bump. Constant Overt Flirting. BFFs to lovers. Falling For Her Brother's Girlfriend. More Chemistry Than The Canon Wants to Allow. Delicious Vibes Of Undercurrent Longing. Just Kiss You Fools.

---

8. Spuffy.

Enemies to Reluctant Allies to Squabbling Children to Nearly Frenemies to Almost Friends to Doomed Lovers to Actual Friends to Lovers. They're a Comedy. They're a Tragedy. They Don't Work and Yet They Do. They're a Rollercoaster of Pain. They Can Be Alone Together. They Trusted Each Other Even Back Before They Liked Each Other. They've Seen The Best and The Worst Of Each Other. No Other Ship Has Hurt Me As Much as This One. The Slayer and The Vampire Who Got His Soul For Her.

---

9. Kahlan/Cara.

The Mother Confessor and The Mord Sith. Reluctant Allies to Enemies to Friends to Lovers. The Confessor Who Chose to Spare Her Sister's Killer. And The Trained Killer Who Couldn't Make Herself Kill The Confessor Even To Save Her. Even Though She Has Magic Resurrection Powers. TWICE. Sexual Tension Oozing Through The Screen. Kahlan Wouldn't Be Able to Confess Cara Either, Fight Me.

---

10. Green Queens.

Two Sociopathic Queens In Love. Would Totally Enslave The Galaxy If Their Families Didn't Hit Them Over The Heads With Rolled Up Newspapers and Say 'NO! BAD QUEENS! No family dinners for you'. Would Do Cold Blooded Slaughter For Each Other. Kinda Have Actually. Sharing Immortality Because What's The Point of Living Forever if They're Not Together.

---

So that's it. Ten of my favorite ships. Do they have a common element? I don't know, I'VE certainly never been able to identify one.

#swan queen #elejah #pardison #hizzie #bellarke #graylora #clizzy #spuffy #kahlan x cara #kendry x aneela #green queens #shipping #otp: the only magic strong enough #otp: i remember reading that in a letter once #otp: pretzels #otp: we're in this 'til the bitter end #otp: the head and the heart #otp: desire really is the most exquisite agony #otp: with a body like yours everything's your color #otp: because she believes in me #otp: stop pretending my life means as much as yours #otp: you're my tether #actually wrote this whole thing because i was bored and felt like cruising through all the pretty pretty edits #terapsina rambles #terapsina's shipping rambles