#and maybe it’s just being an adult this time instead of a 13 year old but yeah. I think I do get it now

[insignificant457]

The scene was powerful in the book, but there was just something about watching reaper collect the bodies of the dead tributes in the arena. The way he removes the weapons from their hands, lays them out nicely, giving them the smallest bit of dignity in death. The contrast to the capitol gasping in shock as he pulls down the flag, not in rebellion, but in mourning. The way mourning in the hunger games IS an act of rebellion. “How are you going to punish me now?” The feed then immediately cutting to the news of the death of one capitol boy, whose death will be avenged upon those who had nothing to do with it. Only certain deaths are allowed to mean anything. God. Suzanne Collins knows what she’s doing.

#the hunger games #ballad of songbirds and snakes #it feels like Suzanne realized that so many people missed the point of the original story so she stripped it of all its polish #and shoved it all in our faces like ‘do you get it now?’ #and maybe it’s just being an adult this time instead of a 13 year old but yeah. I think I do get it now

[bro-atz]

freesia [flower garden — wooyoung]

inspired by: stranger than friends — webtoon

in which: all wooyoung wants is someone to love him.

pair: college student!wooyoung/gn!reader

word count: 1.6k

content: fluff, childish and immature (but trustworthy) wooyoung, a lot of drunk wooyoung, mentions of alcohol and drinking, a lot of swearing

rating: PG/PG-13 | safe for work!

flower garden masterlist

"I'm so over this! I hate love!"

"Jung Wooyoung, I swear to God—"

"No, Kang Yeosang, you don't understand! I am tired! I am tired of being alone! I'm tired of seeing the four of you dating and having the time of your lives while me? Wither poor fucking Wooyoung," a very drunk Wooyoung exclaimed at the top of his lungs.

"I think you're going to have a hard time because of, well, this," San pointed out— he thought he was being helpful, but he most certainly was not.

"Shut the fuck up, Choi San," the drunken boy mumbled before taking a giant swig from the shared vodka bottle sitting in the middle of the group.

"Sure, because none of us wanted more vodka," Yunho grimaced.

Wooyoung shot the boy a stink eye before falling to the ground. He was fine— he was just being dramatic and falling to the ground like a damsel in distress. The boys knew this routine of his at this point, and instead of console him like the had done countless times in the past, they just ignored him.

"Seriously, Wooyoung. I didn't find my significant other by acting like this," Mingi said with a gentle sigh. "You gotta change this attitude of yours."

"What attitude?"

"This one! This childish and immature ass of yours!" Yeosang blew up; he was honestly extremely tired of hearing Wooyoung sing the same fucking song over and over again for however long they had been friends.

"What, so I should act like fucking Mr. Prim-and-Proper over here? Or like Mr. Humble-Gentleman over there? I'm not a fucking flower boy," Wooyoung frowned as he pointed to Yunho and San respectively.

"No, you don't have to change who you are, but you could maybe try not acting like a spoiled brat and more like a grown adult," Yunho explained.

"But I'm not a grown adult. I'm a college student. We all are college students. You guys need to act your age."

Then, Wooyoung launched into one of his long rants, making the other four boys officially give up for the night. Talking to a drunk Wooyoung was like talking to an annoying, drunk wall. They just let him burn himself out and continued drinking peacefully amongst each other the second Wooyoung passed out for the night.

The next morning, Wooyoung woke up with the most insane hangover— he had never had a hangover before, so he was honestly shocked and scared.

"I'm gettin' too old for this crud," he started that morning as he plopped himself in the barstool near the kitchen.

"Shut the fuck up. You're a college student," Yunho, who was the first one up that morning, retorted while making his morning coffee. "But you could ease up on the alcohol."

"Gee, you think?"

"Anyway," Yunho side-stepped Wooyoung's heavy sarcasm. "Do you remember anything from last night?"

"Of course I do," Wooyoung said without a hint of sarcasm this time around. "I always remember. I may be drunk, but I'm still mentally there."

"Right. Well, consider it. If you seriously want to be in a relationship, then not acting like a kid may help. People like more mature and serious guys."

"As if you know dating culture so well," Wooyoung scoffed.

"Mmm, considering I've been dating my significant other for five years, I'd say that I know how dating and relationships work by now. More than you for sure."

Wooyoung glared at the tall boy as he smiled smugly at him before heading out of the kitchen to start his day. Checking the time, Wooyoung grumbled to himself as he got himself ready for class. As much as he would love to skip the class he had, it was a lab, and he didn't want to screw over his lab partner. He might've been childish and immature, but you could always trust him to be there at least.

And thankfully for him and his blinding headache, this lab was a darkfield microscopy, which meant that the entire lab was going to be dark. Right before class, he popped a couple of painkillers and stepped into the room to see that they were assigned new lab partners. At first, Wooyoung was resentful because his lab partner was the literal best in dealing with him and his shenanigans, but the second Wooyoung saw who his partner was, he was thanking all the immortal entities in the universe.

He thought it could've been his drunk mind, but you were the most stunning person he had ever met. You were gorgeous with your hair tucked back, and even with the lab goggles on, you had the most beautiful eyes that Wooyoung could spot from miles away. Every single thing you did was so elegant and so graceful, and even though all you were doing was dropping blood onto the slide, it was the most magical thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

What he loved even more was that you would play into his antics. The lab was pretty quiet, so Wooyoung would whisper random jokes here and there to you, and you would respond with the most beautiful chuckle that made his heart swoon over and over and over again. Wooyoung was smitten, obsessed, and dare he say it—

"I'm in love!" Wooyoung cheered at the top of his lungs.

It was boys night again, and this time, Wooyoung was drunk, but he was happy.

"You're weirding me out, lowkey," San watched Wooyoung with wary eyes as he twirled around the dorm.

"San, you don't understand," Wooyoung sighed blissfully. "My lab partner is just... God, my lab partner is perfect. Also! Also, their name!"

He repeated your name, the syllables rolling off his tongue smoothly, your name leaving his lips like a knife cutting through warm butter. And for the rest of the night, that's all he could do. He just kept saying the name of the person he was completely in love with, pissing off his friends in a new way.

Alas, the lab had to end, and Wooyoung feared that you would never speak to him again. You had shared a microscope for a solid two weeks, but neither of you thought to ask to exchange phone numbers. Wooyoung wanted to, don't get him wrong, but every time he thought about doing it, he would chicken out because his heart would be racing at a million miles an hour, and he didn't want you to reject him or for him to have a heart attack just because he was going to ask someone out.

"You just need to ask. It's so simple," Mingi tried helping Wooyoung before he had to go to class.

"Wow, it's as if I didn't consider doing that. Thanks," Wooyoung, using his signature sarcasm, replied.

"Just rip the bandaid off, dude. I don't know what else to tell you. If they reject you, then you just move on. If not, then hooray, your efforts paid off."

"Also, you usually have no shame screaming at the top of your lungs while we're out in public drinking, so why are you finding it so hard to ask someone out?" Yeosang asked.

"Are you saying I should drink then ask them out?"

"No!" both boys chorused at the same time.

"Fucking— Just be yourself, Wooyoung," Yeosang said with a deep sigh. "Just give them a fucking flower and tell them you like them with a dumb joke that you usually make."

"But, I thought you told me I should change? That I should be more mature because people don't like childish, immature guys."

"Don't make me punch you. Get the fuck out, go to class, and for the love of God, just ask."

With Yeosang's words in mind, Wooyoung did exactly that. He was confident and outgoing, so asking you out shouldn't have been as big of a task as he was making it. So, he summoned up all of the courage within him, and he vowed to himself to do it that day.

"Wait! Wait," Wooyoung stopped you after class one day. "I... I want to ask you something."

"What's up?"

"So... Oh my fucking God, I don't know how to say this," Wooyoung muttered to himself, unaware that you could hear him. "Why the fuck is it so hard for me to tell you I like you?"

"I like you too, Wooyoung," you helped him out.

"Oh fuck, you heard that?" Wooyoung covered his mouth, his face turning bright red. "I'm going to jump out the window I'm so embarrassed!"

"Oh my God, Wooyoung! I said I like you too! You don't need to do that!" you couldn't help but laugh when Wooyoung actually turned to look for the nearest window to fling himself out of.

"W-Wait... You like me too?"

"Yeah, I do," you shot him the cutest smile that made him clutch his chest and nearly fall over. "I just didn't want to say anything because... Well, I was unsure because you seem to be like this around everyone, and—"

"No! I'm glad that... That you like me too... And I was wondering..." Wooyoung started mumbling again, his nerves taking over once more despite knowing that his feelings were mutual.

"Here's my phone. Give me your number," you stepped in again, making him wonder if you were reading his mind or if he was talking loud enough under his breath or if you were his freaking soulmate.

Wooyoung's fingers trembled as he typed in his phone number and handed your phone back to you.

"I'll text you," you said, that beautiful smile of yours only getting bigger, your face only getting more sparkly. "Maybe you'll find better words over text."

God, Wooyoung was ready to fall over when you giggled and waved good bye to him, the lovestruck boy motionless in the classroom as he watched the actual love of his life glide out of the room.

"I'm so in love! I love love!"

flower garden masterlist

flower garden taglist: @eyeryis @sinnarols @k-hotchoisan @khjoongie98

networks: @atzhouse @cromernet @cultofdionysusnet @newworldnet @wonderlandnet

#codn: spring 24 #atzhouse #cromernet #cultofdionysusnet #newworldnet #wonderlandnet #ateez #jung wooyoung #wooyoung fluff #wooyoung x reader #wooyoung x gn!reader #ateez wooyoung #jung wooyoung ateez #wooyoung ateez #jung wooyoung fluff #broatz #flower garden series #flower garden ateez #Spotify

[tairona-is-taken]

So I rewatched The Phantom Menace for the first time since 1999 ...

The last (and only) time I saw it before this was in theaters when I was 13. Some random thoughts upon rewatching it as an adult:

I am laughing so hard that Qui-Gon drags bb!Anakin into the middle of the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo. Of course, I remembered that Anakin blows up the droid control ship at the end, but I had completely forgotten that it was because nobody stops to think that maybe it's not a good idea to take a 9-year-old into the middle of a brutal occupation. Like, even though the Jedi didn't want to train him, couldn't Anakin have hung out in the Jedi creche until Qui-Gon was done with the Naboo mission? Or once Qui-Gon and friends get to Naboo, couldn't Anakin have hidden out with some non-combatant Gungans at their sacred place?

Apparently no, because instead Qui-Gon brings him on the dangerous mission to capture the Trade Federation Viceroy. And at one point, Anakin is literally charging with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Padme straight into enemy blasterfire! Just ... amazing.

The Palpatine-Padme dynamic in TPM is delicious. The subplot of Palpatine manipulating Padme into starting the proceedings that make him Chancellor is one of my favorites in the movie. It also adds such an interesting layer of complexity to Padme's character that she's this bold, competent queen in TPM--but she's also Palpatine's pawn.

Good to see that the whole people-sucking-at-communication-in-the-prequels thing starts here. When Obi-Wan tells Qui-Gon that he thinks Anakin is dangerous, he is totally within hearing range of Anakin!

And Obi-Wan apparently got this from Qui-Gon, because when Qui-Gon is dying, he doesn't say a single nice thing about Obi-Wan or about their relationship. No "I'm so proud of you" or "I'll always be with you" or any other heartfelt death scene sentiments. Nope, it's just, "Train the boy." I guess you could argue that Qui-Gon isn't thinking straight because of the whole being fatally stabbed thing, but still. Ouch!

Jake Lloyd is adorable as bb!Anakin. I liked Lloyd's performance as a 13-year-old and I still like it as an adult! I really don't know why people hated him so much when this movie came out. I spent the whole movie wanting to give bb!Anakin the biggest hug. There is a lot that can be criticized about TPM, but Lloyd's acting isn't one of them for me.

#the phantom menace #star wars #star wars prequels #qui-gon jinn #anakin skywalker #padme amidala #obi-wan kenobi #palpatine #tairona talks #tairona watches star wars #long post

[mixelation]

more on reborn au au (au squared) obito. technically includes plasticity spoilers?

okay so my goal in plasticity is NOT to "redeem" anyone or have anyone change their personal goals. so obito reincarnates and he still wants his moon's eye plan but also he is a little baby. i think i'll let both him and itachi keep their magic eyeballs but they don't have enough chakra to actually DO much with them until they're older (i guess like 12-13 bc that's when itachi was an ANBU captain, but it seems like neither of them should be able to be casually spamming mangekyou until they're adults)

however i think obito is uuuuuh easily distracted. like he can make a convoluted plan and carry it out-- he IS an uchiha thank you very much-- but also he's going to get sidetracked by just doing random shit for the lulz. this is why in canon he spends months harassing deidara for no reason. so he determines he must put his evil plans on hold for an indeterminate amount of time and WAIT A SECOND he hang out with rin now!!!!

i think he'd actually be very frustrated with trying to maintain a friendship with rin? like he put her on the HIGHEST pedestal but at the end of the day, she's a normal young girl. she's sweet to him but she's not as interesting as he remembers and she's a kid so she makes mistakes and also, obito is kind of insane and all of his peers Sense This about him. so he likes checking on her and doing short social activities with her, but he's not having hours long heart-to-hearts with her anymore. they're not as close. also if anything happens to rin obito will kill everyone in konoha and then himself

obito is kind of like "whatever, i'll be a genius this time around, that looked fucking fantastic for kakashi" so he attempts to be A Genius but it turns out if you're better than everyone else your age, adults expect you to..... do things?? obito is his own boss he doesn't just DO things smh. so he sets up this weird dynamic where he get lauded by his family but his family is also like uuuuh why aren't you graduating early??? BUT BECAUSE RIN IS THERE AND HE NEEDS TO LOOK AT HER

also, incredibly annoyingly, kakashi can still beat him sometimes because kakashi is a weird genetic freak. instead of just continually kicking his ass obito has just put more pressure on him to get stronger. horrible

konoha gives obito to minato and is like: there is something deeply unhinged about this kid but he had a sharingan at 8 so. do something with that. and unfortunately minato trying very earnestly to mentor obito is sort of endearing, and obito didn't realize the first time around how many strings minato pulled to get rin into medic-nin training and keep them off the frontlines as much as possible and obito..... will let him live this time, maybe.

at some point obito catches wind that danzo is sniffing around kakashi and so he breaks into danzo's home and is like "aaaaw how cute, but kakashi is mine. keep it up and i will kill you <3" and scares the living shit out of danzo. (minato is SUSPICIOUS obito Did Something but this does mean MINATO no longer has to do anything, so he doesn't ask questions)

the minute obito thinks he can use kamui more than once without giving himself chakra exhaustion, he starts poking around internationally. there's no real goal except MAYBE find and kill zetsu and madara, he's just Doing Shit. and in Doing Shit he runs into the Ame Trio and realizes there's more than one reincarnate?

obito: oh.... oh my god

obito: (kamuis directly into three year old itachi's bedroom) HELLO????

itachi: (OH FUCK????)

so i think the obito-itachi relationship is obito realizes he has a sounding board for all the various random shit he's been doing and whining about how his friendship with rin is weird, and also what if he claims kakashi by nonconsensually implanting one of his eyes??? no no, you're right, it's better if obito has two eyes to make up for not being half hashirama cells.

also his presence makes itachi 10x more feral

itachi: if you decide to kill everyone again, you have to give sasuke to me, unharmed. if you don't i will ruin your entire. i will kill you as painfully as i can. this is non-negotiable

obito: whoa whoa whoa little coz!!!

obito: i'd only kill the old people :)

itachi: aaaaah

obito isn't really interested in uchiha massacre 2.0 though. he doesn't care if itachi murders danzo, and he'll eat popcorn while watching but he doesn't offer help. he convinces itachi to swap eyeballs with him for the EMS, but itachi really wants SASUKE to inherit his eyeballs once he's old enough so Obito might have to swap? again? with sasuke?? fine, whatever. this new version of team 7 all think he's bonkers and sometimes walk on extreme eggshells around him, but they're NICE to him and he's not going to fuck that up. minato will ask kakashi and rin to babysit once he has his brat kid, never obito, but obito doesn't really care because it means he has more time to go harass other akatsuki members

and then kakashi is taken hostage (UNFORGIVABLE) and it turns out. there was someone ELSE he could have been bothering this whole time!!!

obito: tori PLEASE join konoha it will be SO FUNNY

obito: anyway excuse me i'm burning down kusa <3 here hold kakashi for me. omg, DEIDARA'S here too??? *_*

someone commenting on obito watching itachi and tori gay chicken (straight chicken?) each other so hard they end up married so i've been debating how his presence affects this dynamic. i think he obviously makes it worse. because he cottons onto itachi's Girl Problems the second they start and he keeps trapping him in social situations and giving him "dating advice." so itachi is even MORE desperate to get a stable girlfriend to get his entire stupid family yo leave him alone

itachi: i'm dating tori. i haven't told her yet

obito: this is

obito, tearing up: the greatest gift you could have given me

also obito supports book club SO HARD and comes to every meeting

#reborn au #reborn au au: it's gotten sillier

[mhsdatgo]

What fire and blood version do you read? https://pin.it/5zmnMIik4 this? Alicent and otto start claiming that viserys should name Aegon heir the moment he was born, that's why otto was litterally sent away. And alicent instead of creating a good relationship with rhaenyra cause yk she was an adult and rhaenyra a child, she make every effort to be sure to create dislike between the family. She start spreading gossip about rhaenyra’s sexuality, her first three sons claiming that their eggs would have not hatch and sequentially that viserys egg was a sign of bad omen (like girl none of your children eggs hatch shut your mouth), impressing her sons about them being the rightful heir over rhaenyra's sons, infact the book point out how aegon aemond and daeron were bullying rhaenyra's sons. If there was a damage alicent increased of 1000%. You would like to have a relationship with a woman that spread venom on all your family all the time? Alicent create all of this, rhaenyra had welcomed her when she marry Viserys. She made sure to create animosity only to end up like "rhaenyra will hurt my children!!!! " maybe if she didn't torment her she wouldn't have doubted? And that is really funny you to claim that alicent fight for her children as if rhaenyra wouldn't spare all of them only to aemond killing luke and aegon celebrate it. Please listen to yourself and re read the book, the only one who were in danger were rhaenyra and her children at the hands of alicent and her. The green were litterally write to be the villain stop pretending alicent was acting due to her good heart nor the care for her children. And stop pretending she was a victim of viserys's since she was marry to a men only 10 years older that adore her and cover her with gifs, litterally the only thing he denied her was taking a five years old eye and name Aegon heir, how could she lived with such abuse??

She was in a better situation that most of the ladies of Westeros, rhaenyra was married at 16, same rhaenys with a man of 37, haelena at 13. Also, ask Robert Baratheon or most of the men in Westeros what would they have done if their wife had disrespected them all the time like alicent did with viserys, and you will understand how privileged alicent's situation was.

"And Alicent instead of creating a good relationship with her because yk she was an adult and Rhaenyra a child, she make every effort to be sure to create dislike between the family."

Girl.

GIRLIE.

FAIR MAIDEN.

WHAAAAAAAT a horrible stepmother. LOOK at her, trying in every possible way to break the family she was made to wed inside, look at her disobeying to her KING!!! What a bitch move!

Instead, look at the way our beautiful perfect QWEEN Rhaenyra proved herself to be loving and compassionate towards her brothers, TOTALLY not showing just how much of a threat she was to their lives ❤️:

Note: sharply questioned means TORTURED. I'm tired of people saying it's not.

Breaking news: people have eyes. People had been whispering about these children's legitimacy since Jace was born. Alicent simply believed it as well, probably out of scorn not gonna lie, wasn't afraid to say it out loud and just happened to be someone with a lot of influence. Moreover I don't think it's ever been mentioned if Alicent's children ever HAD eggs put inside their cradles, it wouldn't be the first time. Neither Daemon nor Viserys had their dragons as hatched eggs in the cradle.

Seriously, we have the court, the whole Queen's party, the kids looking awfully similar to Harwin Strong (and leave Rhaenys out of this, she has black hair and purple eyes and the boys have brown hair and brown eyes) and you still believe all the speculations over Rhaenyra is to blame entirely on... Alicent?

Yes, all six of the children ended up hating each other, and yes, we have a quote entirely about the way their mothers' hate for each other was passed on to them, the key word is that it was both.

Again, blaming ONLY Alicent for what kids and preteens probably repeat from the elder people they hear it from. If saying that "Jace, Luke and Joff stole Aegon and Aemond and Daeron's birthright" and pushing a three year old down sounds like bullying to you then you don't know what bullying is. And honestly, (not saying they are necessarily right) who could blame them for thinking this way? They were the first trueborn sons in the history of that dynasty that were passed on in favour of a woman that basically had the word "treasonous" painted on her forehead, all because of favouritism.

No, Rhaenyra wouldn't spare them. She wouldn't have a choice, no matter if she wanted to or not. To a lot of lords, Rhaenyra's claim had been rid of any kind of ground the moment Aegon and his brothers were born. Viserys of course did nothing but make it worse, by never reaffirming Rhaenyra as the heir during a ceremony like the one we see in S1 or anything public, and never even changing the laws of succession.

If your reference for this is the statement she made after becoming a Queen, namely:

Then sorry, but after the way she treated them, spoke of them, threatened to do to them, then sorry but I don't believe she wouldn't do anything when most of the lords who had sworn loyalty to her were dead and their sons weren't bound by that oath like Jason Lannister. They were threats, serious threats, and needed to be put down.

And even if Rhae actually cared for them, y'know what? It would change nothing.

"The Greens were written as the villains" you're just proving my point. You didn't understand the whole point of the Dance of the Dragons. There isn't good or bad, there's a family that destroys itself over their own safety and a fucking throne.

Oh yes, I guess Viserys hoping to shut Alicent up (when she was making valid complains that excuse of a man did nothing but ignore) by giving her gifts surely means he adored her, wow. Best marriage ever. But hey, at least she wasn't beaten up, handed over as a child or groomed! How lucky Alicent is! And she still complains?

Greedy Alicent! No way to behave! Should've been slapped across the face like any other man would've rightfully done!

Seriously, calling Alicent "privileged" because her husband reportedly "only" ignored her all the time and saying Viserys adored her because he gave her gifts is... Wow. If you want to see a man who ACTUALLY adored his wife, go see Aegon V and Betha Blackwood.

#hotd #f&b #pro alicent hightower #anti rhaenyra targaryen #pro team green #anti team black #anon #anon ask #anti viserys i targaryen

[heartingw]

If I lose everything in the fire (I'm sending all my love to you) - Ellie Williams

punk!ellie x volleyballplayer!reader

Warning: pure fluff; weed (mentioned); pining; Jesse being a good friend; Dina mentioned; reader's physical characteristics never mentioned.

Words: 1.3k

a/n: no traumatized Ellie here. I might write something else with punk!ellie because I like it very much

★

Now, Ellie knew hating on athletes was very much cliche of her, but she could feel the stares in her back every time she went to the volleyball court to hand Jesse something (usually food Dina made for him).

Jesse was in the college volleyball team, playing as the setter and the boys' court being extremely close to the girls' court forced Ellie to face a lot of fucking tall girls with ponytails and tight as hell shorts. And Ellie, being the social eremite she was, walked all the way to Jesse with a scowl in her face. She hated when people stared at her and that what basically all the girls in the volleyball team liked doing for some fucking reason.

Yeah, she wasn't like them. Sure, she was a girl, just like them, but she had a full sleeve tattoo, piercings all around, played guitar in her free time not as a joke, smoked weed most of the time and dyed the under half of her head instead of looking for a therapist. And she'd rather die than using that fucking tight shorts.

"Here you are," Jesse greeted her with his usual smile. His teammates gave her a small wave before going back to practice. Ellie wondered how slapping balls was anyhow enjoyable. "Dina told me you were coming. I waited since you hate coming here."

"How nice of you." She scoffed. "Why don't you guys fucking move in together so you won't need a delivery boy all the time?"

"Because U-Haul is a you thing and we're poor college students."

She was ready to taunt him back when Jesse's eyes left her for something in her back. Ellie swore she could feel her bones freeze when she saw you.

So, maybe Ellie didn't hate all the athletic people in the world. There was Jesse, one of the best friends since high school. And there was you. You were the exception. With your fucking pretty face and smile. You fucking soft voice and eyes looking at her. She could remember perfectly the day you talked to her for the first time. Dina begged her to go to a frat party last year and she somehow agreed - it took thirty minutes before she realized she couldn't take it anymore and got up to leave. One of Ellie's biggest problems was that when she was stressed, she had to smoke - guess what a party full of drunk young adults does to you.

"You know, I've always wondered how it tasted, but I don't wanna compromise my performance in the court."

Ellie remember almost screaming when you spoke to her in a oddly polite way. Who says shit like that in a random Saturday night after a frat party? And why didn't she hear you getting closer to her.

She also remembered you dressed up and a very cute way with your pretty legs on display and unsure smile.

It wasn't a friendship. You greeted each other with a small wave or an "hey" in the campus; You have casual conversations when Ellie has to wait for Jesse when he's in a meeting with his team and asked her to wait. She knows your favorite color, your favorite food and movie. She knows you get anxious before every match, but pretends you aren't so you won't scare the youngest ones. She knows you're a libero and you loved playing volleyball since 13 years old.

And she knows you feel uncomfortable with your shorts because a lot of boys in college makes weird 'compliments' about it. Those fuckers.

But it wasn't a friendship. She didn't have your number, for example.

"I'm sorry to bother," your voice sounded embarrassed, "we wondered if you or the manager had a spare key of the storage room. Captain forgot hers at home and we need to get the balls for training."

Jesse nodded, "give me a minute, I think our coach has one."

When Jesse left, you got closer to her. You, with your uniform and easy smile. Ellie could feel her heart beating hard inside her body and her hands began to sweat. She gave a small smile nonetheless.

"Hey there, Williams. Being a delivery girl again?"

"Yeah, you know how it is," Ellie tried to sound non-challenge. "When your two best friend date, you get caught in the middle."

Jesus fucking Christ, your laugh was so beautiful. The way she could see your neck when you threw your head back and your shoulders moved. Ellie couldn't just not look. She wondered if you'd throw your head back like this if she kisses that pretty neck of yours.

Bad Ellie.

"Well, you're not wrong." You said and then shrugged. "Do you mind if I asked you a question?"

"Go on."

"The piercings in your mouth," your eyes were glued in her lips. "Doesn't it bother you sometimes?"

Ellie smiled and wet her lips automatically. You weren't the first person to ask her that. Her snake bites were one of her favorite piercings and it never caused her any trouble. The healing process sucks, of course, but when it's completely healed she felt very confident in her appearance. "Nah, they're good."

"Not even when you're kissing someone?" You lowered your voice a little and your eyes were now focused in hers.

Ellie's mouth opened slightly with shock and the air came out of her lungs as if she was trying to say something and failing. Her brain was malfunctioning, making her eyes blink nonstop. Her fucking lips got dry at the question. Why were you asking that? Just curiosity? What was she supposed to answer?

"I've never kissed anyone with piercings like yours," you got a little closer. "do you mind if I touch it?"

Again, what was she supposed to say? No? If you were anyone else, she'd immediately put you in your place. People just don't go around asking to fucking touch other people's lips or piercings. But you were you. You were the pretty volleyball players who was curious about weed, who didn't like drinking and who made Ellie's heart go boom.

"Y-yeah, I guess." She hated how stupid she sounded.

Soft hands touched her face and delicate thumbs caressed her bottom lip. You were careful with your touch, playing softly with her piercing while staring at it as of it was something incredible. Ellie couldn't help but imagine you pulling her face and kissing her piercings, then slowly moving to mold your lips to hers. Your tongue caressing hers. Would you feel bothered with the tiny steel against you?

"Coach asked you to give it back when you're done!" Jesse's voice came like a lightening hitting Ellie's body. She took a step back and saw you lowering your hands slowly and smiling as if nothing had happened.

"Our hero," you took the keys and turned to leave. Before reaching the doors you looked at Ellie. "You didn't answer my question! Jesse, can you give Ellie my number? I'm really curious." And then, you were gone.

Ellie was paralyzed. You wanted her to have your number. Your hands on her. Your fingers on her lips. You.

"I had more faith in you, now I owe Dina 50 bucks." Jesse's face held a bored expression.

"What the fuck?"

"I bet you were going to make the first move, Williams. You're all tattoos, piercings and black clothes, I believed in you." He said dramatically.

"Are you fucking kidding me, pretty boy? You bet on us? I don't even know if she's fucking gay!"

"Alright, my turn," Jesse crossed his arms. "Are you kidding me? Every single soul on the volleyball court knows she likes you. Why do you think everybody keep tabs on you two? Girl basically asked for a test drive kiss from you right now."

"You fucking saw that?"

"Me and the whole male volleyball team. Coach said he knows you're not an athlete, but you should grow some balls."

#ellie williams x reader #ellie williams x you #ellie x reader #ellie x you #ellie williams #tlou x reader #tlou x you #my writing #idk how to write but i enjoy trying #anyway

[razzle-zazzle]

Would you be willing to like, info dump about your Troll pupating headcanon that appeared in your Between AU? Just elaborate on how it works and such?

YES. Putting this under a cut because it's moderately long

Okay okay so. I don't know why but trolls are like. Little bugs to me. So I want to give them a few small bug traits, make them little creatures.

And pupation seemed like the most fun way to do that. A pupa is an insect's life stage where they undergo metamorphosis between larval and adult forms. In real life, most pupation involves larval structures breaking down while adult structures like wings develop—in that case of caterpillars, the bug sees itself liquified during the process (while still retaining memories of pre-pupation! neat!).

Of course, in canon, we see baby and child trolls all the time, and they're not that different from the main characters. So troll pupation isn't as drastic as it is for most real-life insects in my headcanon; rather, it might be better described as spedrun puberty.

So. The headcanon itself. At about 12 or 13 years of age, a trolling will start to experience a surge in appetite and drop in metabolism. I'm not entirely decided yet on whether the cocoon is something that they build up over time from spun/shed hairs, or if it's something more instantaneous formed directly from their hair—though I'm leaning more towards the latter.

The troll spends most of their pupation asleep. Body structures don't need to break down to the extent seen in real-life insects, so while some semi-drastic changes do happen (genitals develop and become accessible, though they won't be fully functional for a few years yet; hair lengthens and becomes stronger + able to shift color and length; new adult teeth, fur, and claws grow in), the troll remains pretty much intact the entire way through the process.

When they emerge, the troll isn't actually a full adult yet; though most of the major changes have been ticked off, it still takes a few years of regular growth before they can be considered fully mature.

A big thing about pupations is that trolls are adaptable. And I headcanon Pop Trolls to be one of the most adaptable genres (since pop is literally defined as "whatever's popular," though the genre itself has a few defining features), though all trolls pupate regardless of genre. So trolls that are under a lot of stress or caught in unusual conditions may find themselves emerging from their pupations with new features outside of what's normally expected. These adaptations aren't super drastic—for example, a Pop Troll raised by Techno Trolls wouldn't emerge with the exact same structure as a Techno Troll; rather, they'd get webbed paws and bigger lung capacity (maybe bioluminescence if they're lucky) at the most. Lost limbs can occasionally be regrown during pupation if the injury was recent enough, and most scars will fade during pupation.

So why does Branch pupate at fifteen in my headcanons? Simple: he's gray. The lack of color is more than just a signifier of his disposition; it has direct physiological consequences with regards to Branch's growth rate and metabolism. His troll endocrine system released the necessary hormones to induce pupation late as a result. Hormones being what they are, it's possible for a fully-colored troll to have a delayed or even early pupation, but such deviation tends to be rare.

In the Between AU, Branch loses his tail at roughly thirteen years old. When he pupates about two years later, his body adapts to the whole "living with creatures twenty times his size" situation, and instead of regrowing his tail his hips and legs shifted to accommodate the new balance.

tl;dr my troll growth headcanons are a mix of mammalian (human) style puberty and buglike metamorphosis; trolls speedrun their puberty in a hair cocoon

#ask zaz #dreamworks trolls #and since both were brought up: #branch trolls #between au #this hc is more of a ''i think this is super neat and it serves all of my aus so i'm using it in all of them'' #than ''i think this would be canon'' bc. yeah no i don't think dreamworks would go for this lmao #but it's fun!! #another option is that trolls could go through multiple pupations but then it'd feel like hs trolls so. single pupation for the big major c #anges. and then they grow normally after that #so yeah. trollings don't have genitalia in my hcs. like bugs

[leministfesbian]

Buck Angel interviews Briana, a 22-year old trans woman who started transitioning at age 13: 'I've had my entire face and body changed. My bottom surgery completely failed. There is no recovering it. Every surgeon I've talked to refuses to fix it, because it would probably kill me. And now I'm trying to figure out what I should do with my life, because it just hit me that this mission that I was put on is not real.'

'I had feelings of gender dysphoria when I was 6 or 7. I remember that vididly and that never changed. [...] I grew up in an environment where a lot of people around me did not like gay men. Being a feminine boy was very negative and I developed the idea really young that being gay was bad and I thought that becoming a heterosexual woman was better. Just me saying I was feminine, that I didn't feel like other boys... the doctors were like that means you are a girl. I'm 22 years old and now I'm thinking about who was I even supposed to be? I don't know.'

'I am happy with presenting as female but I miss my old genitals. I needed more time to figure things out. But I already had the idea from my interactions with the therapist and doctors that it is better to go through a full medical transtition and be heterosexually the other gender than being abnormal in that gender and gay. I did not like the idea of being gay. I was like let me have every plastic surgery and just be a girl instead.'

'Now I have to figure out how to live a life like this. I don't have sexual feelings or function at all. It has made being an adult really confusing. I'm also thinking about kids. They asked me if I wanted to have kids at 14, but of course I said no. I'm now completely sterile. At only 22 all the ideas about who I am are starting to contradict the way I felt as a kid.'

'I needed more time to figure out what is the right way to transition. Thank god I like presenting as female, but at 22 I'm still realizing that maybe I didn't need this. I don't know.'

#transgender healthcare #transgender #gender critical #radblr #buck angel #homophobia #gender dysphoria #gender ideology #the interview is very long so i picked out some intersting points that i want to save on my blog #Youtube

[umbrellacam]

Oooh, Tim + villains = unhappy Dick for the ask game?? 👀👀👀

hgkldjsfd okay, that one is mostly a collection of notes at this point about Nightwing having an unhappy front-row seat to various villains being Too Friendly with Robin!Tim, or hearing about it secondhand, and getting increasingly annoyed/protective about it.

Specifically inspired by reading Robin (Vol. 1) A Hero Reborn and just. Gawking incredulously at the weird, possessive way Shiva was constantly touching Tim. Like omg lady please, we get it, he’s an interesting toy you want to put your claws into, please let the 13-year-old boy have some PERSONAL SPACE 😭

But also by that instance of Ed Nygma going “NIGHTWING. Hated him since he wore PIXIE BOOTS. And ROBIN. Him I don’t hate. Okay kid, actually.”

And by the Gotham Knights issue where Tim manages to negotiate with Ivy, and she calls him ‘little sapling’ and tells him that in some ways he’s more of an adult than Batman, lol.

This draft snippet is re: Shiva, set sometime during Prodigal, I think.

“She sure is a piece of work,” Dick muttered. He absently rotated the arm she’d twisted damn near out of its socket at their first meeting. For the high trespass of walking toward her like some kind of dope, no less. He’d had good reason for being off his game, but that was no excuse for acting the part of a greenhorn - especially in front of the actual greenhorn Robin. “But hey, Bruce managed to pull the wool over her eyes.” Well enough to fool all three of them...but setting that aside. “And you got away from her unscathed, right?” Tim’s mouth twisted. “Yeah, because she didn’t take me seriously. Half the time she was more interested in petting me like some kind of cat.” Dick's head cocked. That wasn’t something the kid had mentioned before. And his tone… The few times he’d talked about Shiva, the mixed undercurrents of apprehension and anger had never been far beneath the surface of Tim’s voice. Now was no different. Dick swiveled the big chair around fully and made an exaggerated show of running his eyes over Tim, masking the real consideration behind the look. Tim’s brow was furrowed and - he wasn’t even looking at Dick, staring down at his shoes instead. One hand was rubbing his opposite shoulder, as if he was working out a knot. Or…chasing away the memory of another touch? The sting of Dick’s own anger was as hot and abrupt as it was patently useless. He wrestled it down. Locked it in a box. For a future meeting, maybe. “Weeeell, you are pretty small,” he said, aiming for light - and nailing it with the ease of long practice under far more strenuous conditions. “And fluffy. I can see how the mistake could be made. Have you thought about laying off the hair gel?” “Hardy-har-har, you’re hilarious,” Tim said flatly, but when he glanced up - ha - there was a little upward tug at the corner of his mouth.

#silverwhittlingknife #<333 thanks for the ask!! #ask game #WIP ask game #Dick and Tim #Dick Grayson #Tim Drake #batfam #dcu #Cam posts #Cam writes

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Always By Your Side ~ Jack Hanma x Reader

Just a little fic in which Y/N’s and Jack’s relationship is depicted from their childhood in Canada, when there were around 13 years old, all the way to the Escaped Convicts saga. Enjoy~

“Jack, I’d like you to stay over after the class is finished. I need to have a conversation with you.” The maths teacher called out to the tallest boy of the class who had failed to do his homework for two weeks in a row. He didn’t vocalize his answer with words, instead, he merely grunted and nodded.

“Uhhh, Jack’s in trouble, Jack’s in trouble~♪” some of the boys were chanting and giggling, yet despite how annoyed he was, Jack didn’t bother to retaliate in any way. “Enough, you guys. Or do you want to get detention for disrupting the class?” with a stern look from the teacher, the obnoxious boys shut up. “Y/N, you too, stay after class.” Though there was no reason for the little girl in the far back, for she was the definition of a teacher’s pet… More or less.

The class went by at an exorbitantly slow pace, and whilst the blond had no care in the world, the little girl was nervous to the point of almost zoning out. When the bell finally rung and announced the end of the math’s torture class, all the children stormed out happily, ready for recess. The last two remaining slowly got out of their desks and went in front of the teacher and see why they were summoned.

“Jack… I’m really concerned about your grades. I know you’re a smart boy, but you never put in the effort. Your other teachers are complaining about the lack of interest in your education. I don’t want to have to call your mum, but if you continue like this, you won’t be able to graduate school and get into highschool. It would be a shame if a bright young man like you would lose important opportunities for the future, just because of his lack of care.” The teacher spoke in a gentle voice, yet the boy wasn’t sketching any emotions. “I don’t care about having an education. I got into school because it was mum’s wish for me to socialize and get an idea about what people are like. I’m not interested in having an intellectual career. My only interest is in getting stronger.” The boy that was towering at a ridiculous 1.80m, and for a boy who was barely 12 years old, he sure was intimidating. “Jack… Your body can’t take it. You are ill. You will never make a career from sports. Please be realistic.” The teacher sighed and harshened her voice. “… Miss… Please don’t say such things. If it’s his dream, you shouldn’t demoralize him. There have been many cases of people working so hard that they beat all odds. Maybe Jack can be one of them.” The mousy little girl that looked like a little flower next to an old, imposing oak tree, spoke in a voice that although barely audible, it made the blond look at her for the first time since he started school. “You’re a child, what would you know? It’s important to be realistic, otherwise you’ll end up like one of those delusional adults who end up homeless. You’re no different. Just because you have high grades, doesn’t mean you’ll ever become a doctor. Look at you. You can’t even look people in the eye, and people don’t even hear you when you speak. Not to mention, your socializing and communication skills are awful and none of your classmates like you. Being a medic requires all of these skills.” The teacher reprimanded the girl whose head was hung. Jack didn’t like it. Who the hell did the teacher think she is, scolding them like that, for no reason? “… I don’t need your opinion on my future. So… Would you please tell us exactly why you called us here? We have to go to our next class.” Jack was impressed by the little girl who although had a submissive posture and expression, she still held her ground and spoke up. “Ah. I see. You’ve got connections, so you know you’ll get in the system, regardless of how awful you are. No wonder… With each generation, the medical system gets ruined further. Alas.” Looking down, Jack could see the way her nails were digging into her arm’s flesh – If you saw how she was biting her lip, you’d think she was shaken up. But Jack knew better. Jack knew Y/N was desperately trying to keep her volcanic impulses out of control, in fear of getting in trouble. If she could, she would rip the teacher apart – And frankly, so would he. “Get to the point already.” The blond’s voice pressured the teacher into speaking. “Y/N, I want you to be Jack’s tutor for the next two years and make sure he does his homework and gets his grades up enough so he can graduate. Understood?” the bitch teacher gave the girl a stern, harsh look. “If he agrees, I have no reason to refuse.” She muttered, looking away. “I don’t need a tutor, and I don’t need to listen to you either.” With that, Jack turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. To think his time would be wasted with non-sense like that. Though he wasn’t expecting it, Y/N rushed out after him, and although it wasn’t easy keeping up with his speed-walking pace, she managed to get next to him en-route to the next class. She didn’t speak a word, until they reached the door of the Physics class. “Hey… Jack?” he looked down at her, and saw how much she was struggling to keep her eyes from constantly shifting away from him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d have though she was just afraid of him – But it was the same with everyone else. “I believe in you. I’m sure you can do anything you set your mind to. So… Don’t give up… Okay?” his eyes widened, watching that beautiful shy smile of hers as she encouraged him. “…Thanks.” He offered a side-smirk and a huff of amusement, before opening the door for her, and getting into the next class.

 Although he outright refused the teacher’s offer for tutoring, he didn’t refuse Y/N’s help. Though he didn’t want to bother with school, he didn’t want to disappoint his mum either, though his main goal remained the same – Avenge his mum by defeating the devil himself, his own father, the one who abused and tortured Diane Neil all those years ago. He wanted revenge for himself, and for his mum, most of all. But for that, he needed to get stronger. So much stronger. Infinitely stronger. That was the only focus in his life and it won’t change until he’s achieved this goal of his.

Since then, Jack moved his seat next to the girl, and would go over to a café for short study sessions, for the sole reason that he didn’t want to bring anyone over to his house and disturb his mum, who was still mildly disturbed by her trauma, and going to a girl’s home would be disrespectful to her and her parents, so a common, neutral ground was the best choice.

Much to his surprise, he didn’t mind these sessions. Although he saw them as a waste of time – Precious time that could be spent at the gym, refining his muscles and getting stronger, this was the least he could do to ease some of his mum’s pain. That’s all he needed to do – Finish school. He didn’t have to bother with highschool or anything like that, though soon, he knew he’d have to leave for Japan and start a new life.

Though he didn’t mind this time spent with her, it certainly was weird for him – He wasn’t used to being into a relaxing, calming environment, with a calm and quiet person who makes him feel so at ease and comfortable. He was drinking water, while she was drinking some sugary coffee, which in itself, was a weird thing for a kid like her. He was eating an overly exaggerated amount of food, while she’d barely eat a piece of cake or a tart – In fact, he’d feel so weird that he’d try to convince the girl to take some meat from his plate. Of course, he’d pay for everything, because not only it was him who needed the help, but he was already eating and drinking plenty compared to her, it was barely significant. Whenever he was working out, he was listening to the loudest, most aggressive music, while Y/N seemed peaceful listening to this café music. Also… He was always frowning, but she had the cutest kitten smile he’s ever seen – Though it wasn’t easy seeing it, because she was always looking down timidly and her visage was hidden behind that silky curtain of pretty hair.

Hold up… Why was he using so many compliments when thinking about her? Was this what his mother once described a ‘crush’? Ridiculous. This is preposterous. This can’t happen. He barely has any time to bother with the boring school shit, let alone with a crush. That’s the most awful outcome possible.

In truth, once he’s got the hang of the latest classes, he was going to tell the girl that they can’t meet up anymore. He really didn’t want to let his mind slip away from his ultimate goal… But he couldn’t. Not when he found out how bad her bullying was. Why has she never told him before? He could have easily beaten them up, or at least, intimidated them enough to leave her the hell alone. Seeing her on the ground, taking the beating and mocking from all those surrounding her made his blood boil… And if that wasn’t enough, the girl struggled to get up, and formed fists from her hands and tackled one of the boys. She mounted him as if she was some expert grappler and she pummeled his face bloody with her strikes – Until she got snatched off and dragged away, slammed into a locker. She had her guard up, just like you see fighters shielding their face from the impact, but she was far too fragile to last long. But Jack was surprised once again by an uppercut to the bully’s jaw, that sent him away. “WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO YOU?! I DON’T DESERVE ANY OF THIS SHIT – FUCK OFF ALREADY!” she looked absolutely feral, and if she had the strength, Jack was sure she’d have clawed and mauled them into ribbons like a mountain lion… But she was a baby ocelot at best.

The circle of bullies kept taunting and insulting her – He couldn’t stand it any longer – Though impressed by her power of standing up for herself and even retaliating and going against her no-violence rule, not only was she outnumbered, she was overpowered too. He stepped in from out of the shadows and picked the bully pinning her to the locker and effortlessly throwing him to the ground with a simple bitch slap. No matter how the bullies wanted to verbally make fun of him, the truth still stood – He was stronger than anyone there, in spite of even his illnesses and health.

But fate made things only go downhill for the two of them – It was as if they weren’t meant to have fortune or happiness -  A teacher came over and was easily bewitched by the bullies who claimed Y/N went crazy and started beating them up for no reason… But they didn’t have the guts to mention Jack, who could easily stomp them dead. She got detention for two weeks and a ruthless scolding, and no matter how much she tries to explain that it was her who got bullied, she shut up. “Of course, always take their side. You must really enjoy all the booze you get from their parents’ distillery, don’t you? You’re corrupt and unjust, and you never care about any idiot like me who gets bullied by those jerks. I hope you drown in whiskey.” Her voice was cracking with anger, something he never thought he’d witness, and he was reminded of the times he caught his mum crying whenever she thought she was alone. He was appalled by the situation.

Not watching the girl stomp away from the hallway, he waited until the bunch of giggling bouffons left so he could rough up the teacher, threatening him so that he wouldn’t do anything that stupid ever again. To hell with the rest of the classes, he was going to skip and look for the girl whose hood was up as to not draw attention to her bloody face. It would look like some kind of domestic abuse if anyone saw her, and it was enough that her parents would be devastated if they found out she was being picked on at school… So better find a way to hide it.

“Y/N. Wait up.” The familiar voice of Jack, one of the very few people who was ever nice with her, made her stop in her tracks. “Come over.” Though she didn’t move at first for a while, with a bit more pushing, she stepped next to the boy that was comically taller. He guided her to a nearby fountain and made her sit on the edge, while he knelt by her side and took out the tissue pack that his mother always sneaked in his bag. Taking off her hood, he wet the tissue, and with a hand on her face to keep it steady, he cleared away the blood. Surprisingly, her face wasn’t as busted as he thought it would be, based on the blood – Just a busted lip and some nose blood, but other than that, it seemed to have been the bullies’ blood.

Maybe it was from shame or embarrassment, but Y/N said absolutely nothing, and only looked down or kept her eyes shut. If she tried to make some eye contact before, now, she wasn’t even bothering. What could he say that would make her feel better?

“You did good.” He muttered, one he took her hands to wipe them off those jerks’ blood. The knuckles were bloody and forming bruises were beginning to be shown. “It was pathetic.” She sneered lightly. “It was absolutely pathetic. It’s always been. I can’t even stand up for myself. Nobody ever listens to me. How stupid.” Jack did everything in his power not to get angry – He could understand perfectly what she was saying. Yes, she may be small and frail, but he was ill and skinny – Or, at least skinny for his own standards. What was the difference anyway? The outcome was the same. They weren’t capable of achieving what they wanted because of their body. “I will protect you.” He found himself blurting out without even realizing – Once they both processed the weight of those words, their cheeks got flushed and they looked away. “Your presence alone was enough today… But you won’t always be by my side, Jack. What if I will be a target again at highschool? I… I really don’t get what I’m doing so wrong that I’m so unlikeable… But I don’t like fighting. I don’t like fighting… I like watching… That’s how I was able to get some hits today… But this… This is not me. I feel… Weird… Why do I have to protect myself? Because people are dumb and they don’t like me? Screw that. It’s their fault, not mine.” She explained herself – And she was right. What if he’s not there, but she needs him? His own mum was a US soldier, and she still couldn’t protect herself – Why would Y/N be any different? “Come with me to the gym. You’ll be able to defend yourself if you need to.” This statement made the girl look up at him in horror. “M-Me? At the gym? What in the world would I be doing there? That’s not a place for someone like me. Look at me. Besides… Even if I go, I won’t have the time to study, and I need extra time to find out ways to stay ahead so I’ll be able to explain and help you with the studies. There’s only so many hours in a day.” She muttered, scratching the back of her neck. “I made time for the useless study-sessions so I can pass school next year. You can take two hours out of your time to workout.” Insecure, awkward, nervous, anxious, afraid, embarrassed and many other negative emotions were easily displayed on her face. He knew it wasn’t easy, stepping up and trying to get stronger, when your body was created weak and frail, giving you an unfair advantage, but at some point, you gotta get stronger not only physically, but mentally and emotionally too. Being resilient is the first step to getting better. “…You really think I can do it?” she managed to ask, seeking for the littlest bit of hope. “Let’s fight together to get better.” Getting up, Jack extended his hand towards her – And after a deep breath, the girl put her little hand over his, and he helped her step up, not letting go.

Maybe by helping her, he’ll be helping himself, who knew? Jack thought to himself as he watched how awkward the girl looked standing in front of the boxing of him, in a tank top and a pair of large pants – She looked so out of place, it was hilarious. Still, she tried her best, as much as she could. She had no strength, no energy, no stamina, and not even a quarter into the workout, she was already dead on the ground. It looked comical to Jack, but for someone like her, with noodle limbs and the height of a smurf, she lasted more than expected.

Although, everyone was a smurf compared to him.

For over a year, Y/N went almost daily to the gym and did the same routine until she was able to complete it fully – Though she never told Jack, he knew that she must have tried to do some stamina training at home too. Every time she came over, even if she didn’t actually have the time to actually work, she brought over food and water, making sure the boy doesn’t overwork himself and forget to take care of his health. She already saw him taking a shit ton of pills… Without the right amount of nutrition, his body was going to break sooner than expected.

“Will you really be okay, Jack? I’m pretty sure I counted at least 30 pills just now. Is your health really in such a bad shape that you need all of them?” she was sitting criss-cross on his back as he was doing push ups. “They are drugs.” He admitted, his exercise flow remaining unchanged. “Drugs…? Are you doping, Jack?” he grunted in confirmation. “Oh, Jack, that will destroy your health even more. You won’t last long if you keep taking them.” The worry in her voice was obvious. “It’s fine. I just need to get strong enough to defeat my father. Everything else doesn’t matter.” It was such a depressing thought that Y/N fell quiet for a while. “What about your mum? If you die, she’ll be very upset.” She tried to reason with him. “She wants my father to defeated just as much as I do.” Jack explained calmly. “I’m moving to Japan once I graduate.” “Is this really the only dream you have for your future, Jack? You train hard, you defeat your father, and then… That’s it? The world ends at that point?” she asked once again. “Don’t you want to… I don’t know… Travel? Or…Pick up a hobby… Go scuba-diving? Learn…Embroidery? I don’t know- Anything.” She kept trying, but it only made the man chuckle underneath her. “Embroidery, Y/N? Do I look like someone capable of… Embroidery? I can’t even pronounce that thing, let alone, do it.” Now that she thought about it, the whole image of Jack embroidery was hilarious. “Okay, okay – It was the first thing that came into my mind.” She admitted, and after a few seconds of thinking, she spoke again. “I believe you can do it, Jack. If anyone can, it will be you. I… I don’t know what kind of… Big-ass hulk monster thingy your father is… But I believe that you will be able to do it. I’ve never seen a stronger, more diligent and ambitious person in my life. You’re really inspiring. I hope I will be able to get the motivation that you have some day.” Her confession made the boy smile, but said nothing. But then, Y/N heard him chuckling all of a sudden, surprising her. “This inspirational bullshit could kill me any day, and you’re supporting my doping. You want to become a doctor, but you encourage me to go further with my training. That’s funny. You’re a walking contradiction. Why are you supporting my suicidal dream?” he asked, curious of her answer. When she didn’t answer for the longest time, he thought she was way in over her head to even answer, and it was just an encouragement – However, as soon as a reply was heard, he stopped his exercising abruptly. “It may be suicidal, but… A dream is still a dream. If someone told me that I should give up on my dream because of… Whatever reason… I would get pissed off too… So who am I to tell you to change your ambition, when you’re working harder than anyone to achieve it?” the abrupt stop in the pace made Y/N lose balance and fall backwards from his back, her legs awkwardly placed over him. “Want to come over to Japan with me? If my guess is right, we’ll get to see a ton of underground fights.” He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling anymore, but after hearing someone being so supportive with him, after all the self-hatred, all the overworking, all the killing pills that he’s had to go through… It was a welcome breath of fresh air. “It just so happens that I have an aunt who lives in Tokyo and I usually spend my holidays at her villa. She has no children, it’s just her, her husband and her dogs, but they’re mostly away on business trips and she desperately needs someone to look after the house while they’re gone. I’m sure she’s gonna love one or… Two… People… Staying there… Permanently.” The girl coughed, quickly getting up and looking away. “Sounds like a plan to me.” He let out a content exhale before telling the girl to go back to her reading on his back so he could continue his workout.

Thought it all, Y/N was there by his side. When he punched the sandbag for 12 hours straight without eating, hydrating, resting or even going to the restroom. When he lifted weights until his body collapsed altogether and he looked like a tall mummy.

Once the two moved out of Canada and settled in Japan, he was approached by some weirdo scientist ho wanted to experiment on him with some dangerous yet efficient steroid concoction that was meant to make his body keep up with his over-training, to the point that the doctor began reticent, thinking that it would kill him in days. But it didn’t. Jack was alive, and well, and he killed a polar bear with his own two bare hands… Just like his father.

Though Jack was now stronger than ever, his once clear mind was fogged with desperation, thirst and hunger for power, to the point that he gave that poor animal an agonizing death. Y/N could barely recognize him anymore… This Jack was a complete different person. He may have grown in age and size, but his mind regressed to something that could see only violence and nothing more. He was apathetic and had no more emotion on that stone hard, frozen face of his that once had such a charming smile.

They were about 20 now, and while Y/N finished highschool and was already well into her University years, and yet, nothing changed about Jack, with the exception that each time she saw him, he seemed bulkier and stronger, but at the same time, colder and more stoic. He was barely speaking to her anymore, and even the basic greetings or ‘thanks for the meal’ were left forgotten. It was painful seeing him succumb like that. He really wasn’t the Jack that she used to know… No, that was wrong. He WAS Jack, but he was locked deep inside his own heart, and he needed an urgent wake up slap.

Jack, on the other hand, was well aware of his change, but he couldn’t afford to back down or give up, not now, when things were going so well. It’s been over 5 years since they got into Japan, since he started doping with that magic potion from the scientist, since he was able to experience true strength. He was grateful to Y/N for never giving up on him. He knew he was hurting he with his awful behaviour, and that his mother would be completely disappointed by the way he changed, but he promised to himself that once he wins this next tournament, and gets his chance to fight and defeat the dreadful Ogre, he was going to apologise and change. That is, if he doesn’t die in the process.

“I’m entering a tournament. It’s tonight. My little brother and my father will be there.” It was the first time in over 3 years since he’s gone to Y/N and spoke directly to her. An actual conversation. “That’s wonderful! Your dream is finally coming true, I’m so happy for you!” despite treating her so terribly, she still held that sweet, supporting smile of hers. “Are you coming?” his question made her smile even wider and sweeter, he thought. It was making his heart hurt. “I said I was going to stay by your side and support you with every step that you take. Tonight is no different. Tonight, of all nights, is as important as every other night or day that you’re working so hard towards your goal. So – Let’s get ready. I know a really nice BBQ place nearby. A good lunch should prove to be great luck, right?” a nod of his head was enough to make the girl chipper and she rushed to her room to get ready for the tournament. She may have given up on actually working out properly and remained with some light stamina training every once in a while to keep herself, and especially her back and joints in check, but she was going to hype Jack up as much as possible.

Thankfully, he thought, she hadn’t seen the little smile that he had on his face while she was gone out of the room. Whilst getting ready, Jack, too, dressed and gave himself an internal pep talk, before returning to the living room and waiting for Y/N. As soon as she got there, she was vibing. She was happier than he’s ever seen her… No, maybe just as happy as when she got accepted in her Uni. Still, she was as happy as she was beautiful. He doesn’t always realise how much she’s grown over the years… Or how long they’ve known each other. It’s been Almost 10 years since they’ve become friends. She was absolutely glowing.

“Lookin’ great as always, Jack! Let’s go.” No matter how much he wanted to compliment her… He couldn’t. He was so unstable that he couldn’t even remember what he was like before all the doping mess. It was a shame. She deserved better… But this was the only thing he could offer her.

During lunch, he ate a copious amount of meat, and it was all as delicious as he was told, yet remained as silent as ever. He knew Y/N was trying very hard to come up with different conversation topics, and whatever gossip and rumour she heard from University, but he only answered in grunts and shakes of his head. He knew she was trying to get his mind away from the anxiety, nervousness and anticipation of having the dream of defeating his number one enemy finally become reality, but that was the only thing his head was focused on. Complete annihilation.

Underneath the Tokyo dome, the greatest underground arena in Japan was hosting the Maximum Tournament, and everyone wanted to defeat Baki, the contending champion, who so happened to be Jack’s little brother. The whole place was huge, the stadium was filled with all kinds of people, but the rooms around were occupied by all sorts of fighters, tall or short, buff or not, old or young – Each with their own special techniques… Or not.

Jack wasn’t a sociable person, so he didn’t want to stay crowded with all the other plebs, so him an Y/N went to a room with a TV, so they could watch the competition away from all the others. Some fighters were great, while others were below even mediocre, it was pathetic. And now, it was finally time for Jack’s match. “Give ‘em hell, Jack!” Y/N walked with him all the way to the wooden fence arena that circled the fighting area, a place where only the fighter’s friends are allowed.

Under the alias of Jack Hammer, the blond Japanese-Canadian fighter went in the arena and got ready for his fight against Sergio Silva, a Brazilian grappler… That he defeated in a single uppercut to his jaw. Ridiculous. He didn’t stand a chance. But that wasn’t the highlight of the match – Instead, the crazy Ogre enters the arena and has a talk with Jack. Yujiro got so excited that he was ready to start a duel with his son right then and there, but Baki appears out of nowhere and kick’s Jack’s face, claiming he has no right to fight his father… Poor kid… Yujiro sent him flying away with a bitchslap, and after a whisper from Jack, he claimed that the blond had every right to fight him as well.

“Congrats, Jack, that was awesome! Though… Your opponent was underwhelming. I guess that’s first rounds for you, huh?” the girl chuckled, patting his back with pride as they went back to the room they claimed. “So… That was Yujiro, huh? What a creep.” “Yes. Once I win the tournament, I will fight him and get my revenge.” He nodded his head, relaxing on the folding chair and watching the TV. “Show him who’s the real deal, Jack!” though she was chuckling and being so innocent, Jack knew she had no idea the amount of sheer power, nor the suffocating aura that his father held. And neither should she know. He didn’t want to worry her more. “I will.” And thus, time passed, and Jack’s second match was ready to begin. This time, it was some Japanese master of some Kempo branch… But all of his fast moves were rendered completely useless against Jack’s raw power… Though, nobody knew the truth behind how Jack was able to draw blood from his enemy.

He was biting his opponents… Before he defeated this guy with an uppercut, just like with the other guy. It seems that’s his favoured finishing move. Great move, it looks very effective. The third round against Alexander Gallen who looked like a wrestler, went almost as smoothly, and with the same finisher move, but Jack was getting a bit more brutal, biting off two of his opponent’s fingers, and hitting him with a powerful nukite to the heart… And the only blood on Jack’s body was the blood spit on his face by Alexander.

“Oh, you. You have blood all over your face, silly. And it’s not even yours.” Y/N grinned as she pulled him back to their room and taking out her handkerchief, he cleaned his face. “Doesn’t this bring back some memories?” she chuckled tenderly as she caressed his face. “It’s been a few years.” He nodded, the corners of his mouth going upwards. “How fast time flies, huh… This tournament too. You beat those guys up so quickly and effortlessly that I didn’t even realise when time flew like that. You’ve really come so far. You’re amazing, Jack. You always were.” Though he never told her, he always appreciated how supportive and genuine she always was with him, when all he ever did for her was give her a hug and congratulate her when she got accepted for University. He must really look like the biggest jerk, just like Yujiro was. He really hated himself for that. Just two more rounds, and the decisive fight. That’s it. “Thanks. Y/N.” he nodded at her solemnly.

Sooner than expected, his fight in the semifinals against the old Aikido master was ready to commence, and Jack showed off by destroying a coconut with his teeth, while the old man used water to shoot into his lacrimal canal and make him feel as if he was drowning. Though this moment of vulnerability lasted a little, Jack was easily able to get up and by away Shibukawa’s achille’s tendon and cheek, and forearm, and by the end of the fight, he even easily used the master’s own technique against him, knocking him out in grand style.

It was absolutely fantastic how he seemed to have received no amount of damage over all. He was an absolute, undefeatable beast. When the finals were ready to take place, Y/N helped him put on the coat on which his real name was inscripted with Japanese symbols, making the shocking reality of his heritage known to everyone. The two brothers shake hands before the fight, and even smile at each other, promising to do their best and respect each other. So Jack was still pure and could smile… Y/N was really happy seeing this exchange.

“U-Uhm… Excuse me… Are you Jack’s girlfriend?” a sweet, soft voice asked, from behind Y/N. Looking behind, a girl with long, braided chestnut hair, innocent, worried bambi eyes, wearing a school uniform was standing sheepishly, looking down at her shoes. “Well… I think so. We’ve known each other since we were 13. I guess I’ll ask him when he’s done with the tournament.” Y/N chuckled, very easy-going. “Are you Baki’s girlfriend?” she asked right back, and as soon as she heard the question, the girl’s face got red with embarrassment and remained quiet. “You must be really worried about him, huh? I understand. It’s not easy watching your loved ones get beaten to death.” Y/N nodded in understanding. “My dad… Died like this. I really… Really… Don’t want Baki to die…Not like this… Not now…It’s awful… I don’t get it. Why are they fighting? What do they gain by winning some stupid tournament? What if they get incapacitated for life and they can’t fight again? What then?” the girl, who introduced herself as Kozue, was clinging desperately onto the wooden fence. “I know… I get you. But… That’s their dream. This senseless fighting that we’ll never understand. If we love them, we just have to accept the reality and the threats around… Whatever this is. And we have to support them in any way we can. And if they get hurt, we have to suck it up and take care of them, and raise their morale up.” The two were having the best finale out there – It was, by far, the most intense fight from the entire tournament. Both Hanma children were overpowered. They were inflicting heavy damage onto each other – But somehow, Baki’s strikes made Jack’s body start to deform because of all the drugs he took previously, and he started shrieking and vomiting in agony, all over the arena, and yet, he had no intention of giving up that fight. “Oh my… That’s awful, that’s awful! He must be in so much pain!” though, as soon as Kozue gasped, the blond was able to use that mutated body to beat Baki up, until he was put into a guillotine hold and eventually lost consciousness. “Oh Jack…” Y/N sighed, seeing all his teeth shattering from gritting so painfully, trying to keep awake… But it didn’t work. His limbs fell limb, and so did he, to the ground. However, once Tokugawa came with the winner belt, Baki wasn’t able to stand up straight…

So Jack took him by the wrist and helped him up, declaring him the champion of the tournament. He was smiling so proudly of his little brother, that it made Y/N’s heart swell. He really was the same, sweet Jack that she knew and loved so much.

“Congratulations, Kozue. Go and be with Baki, he needs you.” She smiled at the little girl as if she was her elder sister, before leaving to meet up with Jack. Once she noticed him, she stepped right in front of him and looked up, a small, loving, proud smile painted that beautiful face of her. “You were fantastic, Jack. You never cease to surprise me. You’re better than even Superman or whatever other superheroes from comics that we know of.” “I lost.” He wanted to slam his head on the nearest wall, until his brains exploded all over the place. “So what? You can only get up from here. Come on, give me a hug.” Extending her arms towards him… But he stepped by her, and went onwards. “I don’t deserve it.” He was in a dark place. Not only was he supposed to be fighting his father if he won against Baki… He lost both matches by default. “Please don’t say that, Jack. Of course you deserve it. Don’t run away.” Though the girl pleaded, Jack continued to walk… Until he met up with his father. He held a disappointed, twisted look on his face.

“I’m ready to fight.” A toothless, powerless, skinny Jack declares, making Y/N look at his with disdain. He didn’t even wait for a reply from the red haired man, for he lunged in for an attack… Only for Yujiro to counterattack with a brutal bite and a strike that rendered his son barely conscious. Lucky him, Y/N rushed and caught the man in her arms and held onto him dearly, his head on her lap. “Keh. Only an idiot loses twice in a day.” Yujiro sneered, walking away. “Fuck off, will you, you big, old oaf?” Y/N scoffed, not even bothering to look at the angry man who turned around and looked at the girl with a wicked expression. “Are you that worthless guy’s girlfriend?” he asked, surprising her. “Yeah. What’s it to you?” she looked hilarious, a small, defenseless girl, protecting a monster of a man. “Then get him stronger. He’s doping, his blood is impure. He’s a weakling. Do whatever you can to get him stronger. You’re a woman, do your job.” And he left. What a frick. Y/N really wanted to sock him in that nose and see him bleed. Stupid Ogre. “I never asked you out.” A weak voice called out – Jack was awake. “It’s not too late.” Though he could barely keep his eyes open, her voice was honey to his ears. “I look awful and don’t even have teeth anymore.” A laugh was heard, before he felt a kiss on his forehead. “I considered you asking me out back then, when you asked me to come to Japan with you. If I’m wrong, correct me.” She teased the man, who found the strength to smile in content. He finally felt more at ease, and realized his completely fucked up mind wasn’t helping him getting stronger. “You’re not wrong.”

 As Y/N struggled to get Jack to stand up, a red haired man, a fighter, who was also a doctor and seemingly on friendly terms with Jack, came to his aid and promised he’ll get him better in no time. No wonder he was called the Miracle Doctor, he was above and beyond any physician out there. But this was great and exactly what Jack needed. Not that dumbass scientist who wanted Jack to become Yujiro Jr. but a friend, specialized in the human body, who would rationally and carefully get him better and help him get stronger.

And Y/N gained a new friend too!

Though awkward, Jack would go out with the two of them to restaurants and share pleasant conversations. Kureha really was an amazing influence on Jack, humanizing him, and Y/N couldn’t be happier. Though, the blond wasn’t above forcing his friend to perform an extremely risky surgery to lengthen his limbs. But he was the great Jack Hanma, and nobody was able to stop him once he’s put his mind to it, so the doctor was forced to perform the surgery while Y/N could only watch and help him out with whatever she could. She was, after all, rather knowledgeable herself.

In the end, he got his limbs lengthened in 8 places, and through this, he gained 20 whole centimeters – It was absolutely insane. He must be now the tallest man alive, without a doubt. Not only that, but since he started going back at the gym, resuming his previous Herculean training, he’s gained all his muscles back, and even more. Much, much  more than before. He looked like a beast with his muscles pumped up. He looked absolutely unrecognizable.

But he looked happy. He held the strength that he always wished to achieve. He was an absolute Panzer tank. For a long time, Jack had no contenders, and he mainly spent all his time eating an even bigger amount of protein-based food, and training… And even a bit of sleeping. And though they still haven’t even kissed, Jack’s relationship with Y/N was as comfortable and happy as it always was, even going on dates. Nobody even dared look at Y/N whenever she was walking around, holding dearly onto his huge hand, or being held to his side… That is, until the Death Row prisoners came to Tokyo, and whilst Jack wasn’t involved at first – Ultimately, he had to act.

While Jack was doing his pre-sleeping workout in the basement of Y/N’s aunts house (house that was mostly theirs, even now), Y/N was in their shared bedroom, watching a movie and eating some popcorn. They were supposed to be watching it together, and it was already half-way through, so she decided to call him. However, as soon as she dialed, in the blink of an eye, she found herself standing in the middle of the room, with a blond stranger sporting a thick Russian accent was keeping her mouth shut. Those blue eyes held a killer glint in them – She’s been around Jack for so long, she was very used to seeing people like this guy… Though none ever approached her.

“Keep quiet for a while. Do you understand?” The man spoke in a low voice. “If you scream, I’ll kill you. You know I can make that happen. A mere flick of my wrist and your neck won’t ever be the same.” He meant business. He was really scary… Not scarier than Jack, but considering how his huge hands were all over her head, she knew he could do just as he promised. “Quietly close your eyes if you understand.” She did as instructed, and he slowly let go of her. “Good girl.” “You’re one of those escaped convicts, aren’t you? I’ve never met you, but I know you could easily kill me if you wanted to.” Y/N spoke, keeping her voice steady and low. Hopefully, Jack’s number actually got dialed, and he would realise that something was going on. “You’re after Jack, aren’t you? Trying a hostage sneak attack, to keep him vulnerable because you know you can’t win against him with your power alone. How pathetic.” With an annoyed tsk, the blond slapped her face, making her fall to the ground. “You speak too much, woman. Even more and I will kill you. I really want to see that oaf’s reaction once he sees your broken neck and my hand wrapped around it.” His words were as sinister as his aura… But she’s seen Yujiro Hanma before, and this wimp had nothing on him. “I believe Jack will save me before you even get the chance to approach me.” She stood up defiantly, wiping the blood from her mouth with her arm. “You want to bet on that, then?” though the man was smirking, to his surprise, so was the girl. “I was always good at gambling.” With a small chuckle, she took a step back and inhaled. “JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!” she cried out his name, watching the split second in which the enemy tried to lunge at her – But as expected, her gamble paid off, and Jack was already there, and gave the Russian a huge punch to his face, making his nose bleed rivers as he pulled Y/N into a protective embrace. “I told you I was good at gambling, didn’t I, you weak-ass Rasputin wannabe.” She scoffed, tightening her grip on Jack’s tank top. “Ha. So you really did come. I came after you because I heard you were that little guy’s weak spot, and since he’s the strongest, I wanted to provoke him. “Y/N. Stay behind me. I promise I won’t break the TV this time.” With a cocky, confident smirk on his face, Jack kicked at Sikorsky’s knee as Y/N chuckled, getting behind him. The enemy was on the ground, kneeling. “You’re so weak, you have to retort to cheap tricks like threatening my girlfriend, and you think you can go challenge my brother. How stupid. Get back in line, runt.” Jack picked him up by the front of his cardigan and brought him roughly into a headbutt to the face. Though Sikorsky tried to retaliate, the Gargantuan easily threw him out of the window… From the second floor. “Huh. He really was pathetic.” The girl chuckled, straightening the messy nightgown she was wearing. “Stupid idiot. Y/N, stay here. I’ll go finish the job. I’ll come watch the movie once I’m done.” With a sweet smile on her face, the girl gave him a double thumbs up and watched as her boyfriend jumped out of the large windows. Good thing they were really big, otherwise, she has no idea how he could fit.

But as soon as she turned around to go to bed, she got knocked out, and when she next opened her eyes, she was tied up on the ground in what looked to be a suite at the top floor of a very tall skyscraper. That wasn’t a problem. She had complete confidence Jack would save her, though, this is a rather unfortunate. Especially because, uh… She was wearing only her undergarments. How awkward.

“I’m firmly convinced you’re actually some kind of gross pervert, otherwise I can’t possibly decipher why did you have to undress me.” She scoffed, watching Sikorsky’s wide back as he sat on the couch - though as soon as she leaned to the side, she saw The Ogre sitting opposite of him, a wicked grin on his face as the blond was provoking him. “Oh. Great. Well, have fun, you two.” She muttered awkwardly, getting in a comfortable position and leaning back on the wall as she watched their interaction and listened to their… Conversation, if one could even call it that.

The Russian tried to kick Yujiro, using the table to cause momentum, but his boot was easily caught in between the red head’s arm and forearm. Though he tried to hit again, a tall, buff man wearing a rather ugly purple shirt came out of nowhere and picked the enemy up by his wrist, as if he was a naughty child. Who the hell was he? He seemed to be Hanma’s frienemy or something. The man, ‘The Unchained’, threw Sikorsky towards the glass wall that offered a beautiful landscape of skyscrapers, but before he could touch the windows, he stopped. In that instant, the door was bust open and not only Jack, but Baki and Katsumi were there too. Y/N coughed awkwardly. “Anyone’s got a jacket?” she chuckled in embarrassment. Though Jack said nothing, his eyes flashed with anger. He took off his shirt and kneeling by her side, tearing apart the ropes binding her, he put the blouse over her head, completely covering her. “Are you hurt?” he asked, cupping her face and making her look up at him. Though embarrassed, she wasn’t as shy as when she was really young, and could hold better eye contact with him. “No, I’m okay, he didn’t even look at me. I just don’t get what he gained out of undressing me. Or why he thought using me as bait would help in any way, considering he easily got those two here to fight him. He said he didn’t even care about you and Baki, as long as he could fight Yujiro. A whole lot of stupid, for nothing.” She rolled her eyes, making Jack relax and let out a breath of amusement. She was as fine as always, alright. As snarky and sarcastic as never before. “Do you want to go home?” he wanted to smash him to pieces, but at the same time, he didn’t want to make her suffer more than she did – So he asked her to choose. “Yeah, I wanna go home… After I see what a Russian pancake looks like.” She grinned, motioning for him to help her up. “Sounds like a plan.” With a cocky smirk, Jack watched as his girlfriend walked past all those strong fighters and went in front of the Russian, sporting a wicked grin. “Didn’t I tell you before, Rasputin? I always win in gambling. Now – All of you, extras – It’s Jack’s job to get rid of this pest, so… Step aside, will you? It may be a pretty big suite, but you’re all big enough to make this place feel cramped.” This incorrigible, cheeky spunk made Yujiro laugh loudly, and even congratulated Jack for finding a fine woman for himself. “I’LL KILL YOU, YOU LITTLE SHLYUKHA!” nobody needed a translation to know what he called her. Instead, they watched as, with perfect coordination, Y/N ducked to the ground just as Sikorsky was about to grab her, allowing Jack to jump over her and kick Sikorsky in the face with his boot, sending him through the glass wall. “Wicked.” Y/N hit a high five with her boyfriend, though just as she said that, the weirdo jumped back inside the suite. “Dude, get a hint and die already, will you?” “I’m unkillable, zayka.” Thus, the Russian, after explaining how he climbed up the building, threw a bunch of glass shards at Jack – But they didn’t phase him in the least. Instead, just as Sikorsky jumped, trying to do a double kick, Jack grabbed him by the ankle and threw him harder outside. “Let’s see if Russians know how to fly.” Jack let out an amused grunt, and ignoring everyone else in the building, he picked Y/N up bridal style and got out, getting her back home. “You know… I never realized how great a quality your shirts are. Very comfy and soft.” She chuckled as she was carefully placed on the bed. He didn’t want to let go of her until he knew for sure they were out of the danger zone. He let be her in danger again. He failed her again, just as he did when they were children, or further on, when he neglected her for all those years. “Keep it if you want. I have many like this one.” He spoke, kneeling down by the bed and holding her small, delicate hands. “Ha, thanks, Jack. Guess I’ve got the perfect dress to sleep in, now.” She was glowing, as always. So positive, so beautiful – She always knew how to keep the mood cheerful and light-hearted… It was the compliment needed for the somber atmosphere he was emanating all the time, though he always appreciated how she kept him in check, level-headed and present. Human. She kept him human, just like Kureha did. She was an angel. “Y/N. I failed you, again. Will you forgive me?” he watched as the girl’s eyes widened, as she straightened up, turning to face him. “Are you crazy, Jack? Forgive you? Failed? What in the world are you talking about?” she breathed out, putting those soft hands over his rough face. “You haven’t failed me. You never did. You are the best man I’ve ever met in my life. Never think otherwise.” Saying that, she hugged his neck, getting him close to her body. “When you’re hurting, or upset, it upsets me too. I just want you to be happy, you know? You’ve come so far since we were kids… Maybe you can’t see your  progress as anything fantastic, but I watched you grow and get better and better… And you’re amazing. So… Never doubt yourself again, please.” Her words made him close his eyes and smile, yet he didn’t hug her back. Instead, he carefully unwrapped her arms around him, and intertwined their fingers together, leaning in close to her face. “I want to kiss you, but not until I’ve got my revenge on that idiot who dared put you in danger. Tonight I’ll gift you his defeat. Down at the underground arena.” He promised, making the girl’s eyes widen and her cheeks redden, before she started chuckling. “How romantic, you~!” she grinned, waving at him as he left the room to catch that Russian bitch.

Around evening, he found that jerk, showering in some basement. He was all naked – What a coincidence. He was going to beat him to death while naked, just like how he dared touch and even undress his girlfriend. The audacity of this fuckass was through the roof, but Jack made sure to completely destroy him. Once he had him knocked out, he threw him in a box and brought him to Tokugawa’s underground arena. Though, out of respect for the viewers, the old man had the Russian dressed with something to cover himself. As soon as he woke up, Sikorsky woke up in the middle of the sand arena, and found himself facing Jack – Jack who was wearing his fighting boxers alone, revealing that Colossal build of his.

Y/N, too, was sitting on top of the wooden fence, watching the show offered by her boyfriend. “Good news. In this match, you can’t lose from breaking the rules.” Jack was smirking and taunting his enemy. Sikorsky, mad to the point of driven insanity, let out a loud war cry and yelled “DAVAY!” , making Jack smile wider. The opponent rushed and threw some punches, slicing Jack’s forearms. How weak. Next, he threw a barrage of kicks, elbows and knees, but none did any damage to him – He merely took them for the show. Sikorsky’s overconfidence will be the death of him, especially after Jack easily picked him up and threw him into the opposite end of the wooden fence, breaking it.

Though the Russian picked up a nail from it, and was then forced to pick up a wooden, sharp cane from a member of the audience after being kicked in the gut, flying in the stadium where the participants were watching – He tried to use the weapon like a lance, digging it deep into Jack’s stomach – Or so he thought. Jack’s abs were so hard that possibly not even a real spear could no pierce them. With much ease, he karate chopped the wood away and mocked the Russian. His next trick was to throw that nail at him, but Jack simply caught it between his teeth, before he started chewing at him, making a small ball of metal before spitting it at his feet.

“I don’t know your name, and frankly, you’re not worth remembering. Whether you live through tonight or not, I couldn’t care less. But if there’s one thing I’ll let you remember…” menacing, Jack got in front of Sikorsky and grabbed his hands, applying so much pressure that the man cried out, having his bones shattered. “You have no right to touch Y/N. You have no right to endanger Y/N.” and with one last move, Jack kicked the Russian so hard between his legs, that he was weeping on the ground. “Y/N doesn’t like whiny pussies like you.” And he turned around, marching right at the smiling girl, and cupping her face, he pulled her into a deep kiss – Passionate enough to show how much he loves her, and how he appreciated her all these years, yet soft enough that he wouldn’t be to forceful on someone frail and small like her. “Very romantic, Jack, I’m blushing.” She mused, pulling him into another kiss, much more playful and light-hearted. “And this is just phase one. Phase two starts now. Enjoy the show, Y/N. It’s all for you.” Leaning back on the wooden fence, Jack put his arm around her, putting her to his side and planting a kiss on the top of her head, as the two watched Gaia step inside and destroy Sikorsky’s mind completely and irreversibly. “Truly, this day was the best gift I could have ever gotten.”

#baki #baki x reader #baki imagine #grappler baki #grappler baki x reader #grappler baki imagine #new grappler baki #new grappler baki x reader #new grappler baki imagine #baki hanma #baki hanma x reader #baki hanma imagine #baki son of ogre #baki son of ogre x reader #baki son of ogre imagine #jack hanma #jack hanma x reader #jack hanma imagine #yujiro hanma #kureha shinogi

[lpsotd]

Another anon who read the tags on your last post here! I've felt the need to write something myself since your situation feels so similar to mine when I was younger and maybe my experiences will help you in some way. Feel free to not respond to this if it's uncomfortable, it's totally okay! :)

I also didn't have a supportive family when it came to my interests, still kind of don't. I'm 22 (soon to be 23) and my family members are still looking at me funny regarding my hobbies, just like they did when I was 14-15. It was weird for them to see a child… liking toys and shows made for kids I guess?? They've also said that I was mature for my age, but let me tell you this is INCREDIBLY coercive. ''Since we've called you mature, you wouldn't want to betray us and do something childish now, would you?'' - guys. Just because YOU'VE called me mature doesn't mean that it's true. Maybe I am mature but EMOTIONALLY or got good grades at school. But it doesn't necessarily mean that I will abandon anything that brings me comfort and joy for the sake of a byname that won't mean anything to me. Ever. I think that being mature also means accepting what is dear to you and not being ashamed of that. Being mature is being responsible for your own well being - which you do by enjoying your hobbies! By surrounding yourself with things that will make you get through life a bit easier. Throwing everything out, or denying ever liking said thing is the childish thing to me here.

It's good to read that you want to embrace who you are! After all - we only have one life to live. Why waste it on pleasing everyone around instead of ourselves? ESPECIALLY if it's a hobby that does NO HARM to anyone (well maybe except your wallet). Don't ever let go of what you love, unless YOU decide it's time to move on. I still keep my LPS collection after all those years, after being told countless of times to ''sell them, because you will save some good money'' or just to give them away. What if (stay with me here) I WILL decide what to do with MY property?

And regarding those people who've belittled you for your interests - I am still recovering from the same thing that happened almost a decade ago at school. But I've learned that not everyone behaves like those mean bullies - maybe some people are genuinely interested in what I have to say? Maybe we can bond over this? Maybe I can get a new friend who will accept my ''weird'' hobbies? And thanks to that mindset I've tried opening to more and more people, only to find out that those bullies were the MINORITY and usually people are glad to hear they're not alone in their hobbies or pleasant memories. It made me feel so much less anxious about myself, I can't recommend trying to open up enough!! Sorry if this ask got long, I had plenty of thoughts in my brain it seems, haha. Anyway, OP you're not alone in your struggles and if you have any worries feel free to say so! Stay awesome <3

~lots of love from anon

i think it's kinda insane that adults expect children to immediately grow out of the things they like in favor of more "mature" interests and media. like, why can't that 13 year old watch my little pony? would you prefer it if they were watching that or something like euphoria? 😭 why is it so bad and weird when children are acting like children and want to engage with media that was literally created for them. that's something i don't think i'll ever understand

i'm happy to now be surrounded by people who care about me and indulge in my interests, and i hope you are able to have that too anon !!

#🍭.asks

[sodapopsolstice]

Homestuck^2 sucked because none of the trolls actually aged like they were supposed to. Like the humans aged (even though they're MEANT to be immortal and dont give me they're mentally 40+ JOHN NO LONGER FITS IN HIS GOD TIER SUIT HE HAS AGED) but we don't ever see the natural development of the trolls.

Vriska, Aradia and Sollux I can kinda give leeway since they've went through timelines and dreambubbles and double death and half death and yada yada those 3 are kinda fucked up timeline wise so I kinda see why they never aged.

But Terezi, Karkat and Gamzee? No fucking excuse.

Kanaya is a grey area however cause you know she's "Kanaya The Vampire Fashion Queen" but like no credible sources I can find SAY anything about age when it comes to rainbow drinkers and I can't find out if The Dolorosa was actually a rainbow drinker so we don't have a naturally lived rainbow drinker example so I'm just gonna have to assume Kanaya ages like a regular troll.

However, the other 3 have no right to not be ageing. For example, I'm gonna pull up a image of Commander Vantas here:

It's hard to tell with Cmdr. Vantas because THE ONLY TIME WE SEE HIS FACE IS IN HERO MODE OR IN A LIGHTING AND SITTING DOWN anyways. But with what we are given with Cmdr. Vantas he DOES in fact give signs he has aged, not as much as he should of, by this point he should have gotten a good bit taller than the humans and have completely red eyes, but it's better than THIS

what the fuck. Meat Karkat SHOWS NO SIGNS OF AGING AT ALL HE LOOKS THE EXACT SAME AS HE DID WHEN HE WAS 13 WHEN HE IS 20 AT BARE MINIMUM and you may think im overreacting, cause obviously its just his symbolic sprite he doesn't ACTUALLY look like that

You buffoon, you oaf take at look at this. HE ISN'T AGING IN THE SLIGHTEST IN MEAT.

Other than artstyle and change of clothes he looks the fucking same, at this point in HS^2 he should be looking like The Signless but he doesn't even look older than Kankri. But maybe Karkat is a bad example maybe the poor guy has a case of eternal babyface and he's just cursed to look 13 forever.

Let's take a look at Gamzee instead.

There's so little images I could find off sight of Gamzee in hs^2 and I did NOT want to be on that buggy ass website for long so this is the best you're getting. As expected, Gamzee ALSO has a case of chronic babyface and it's especially egregious as he's the descendant of THE GRAND HIGHBLOOD.

Tbh this is actually kinda a good image since we can semi eye measure Vrissy and Gamzee. Of which Gamzee seems imo taller than Vrissy, not in massive hulking beast like GHB but like and adult man to a 15 year old, which would be normal and expected IF HE WASN'T AGAIN THE DESCENDANT OF THE GRAND HIGHBLOOD.

That guy is literally known in fandom for 2 things, being pissed off and being huge, again Gamzee follows the trend of not having the adult troll characteristics of dark grey skin and whilst his horns are red due to being hero mode and we can't see his eyes i think we can assume he probably doesn't have some nice lavender lookers on him.

And there is a reason why I've spent the last 1 or 2 hour complaining about obtuse homestuck lore and it's simple it shows a lack of care.

It shows that Homestuck^2 on the surface is a mediocre at best adaptation of Homestuck but as soon as the thin surface layer is scrapped away, it shows a hollow project, it shows a project that generally proves itself to be a homestuck thing but it doesn't show passion, I could probably right now find you any HS fan and ask them what makes adult trolls different to young trolls and they could probably easily tell me how and why. So why couldn't a whole team of people attempt at the very least, a version like that?

Its little things like the trolls not aging/aging like humans to the damn table to the lack of acknowledgement for already accepted and semi canonised reps of queer culture in favour for rep that punches down to the outright ridiculous swivels in personality that's prove to me at least that HSE and HS^2 were dead on arrival.

#long post #rant #homestuck #homestuck^2 #homestuck 2 #homestuck epilogues

[cryinginthefkncorner]

Look, i know I’m about to kick a wasps nest, but I need to say it.

I don’t really care for fandom shipping discourse, I don’t take Sides religiously as both have good points, and ultimately I’m just anti-censorship…

…but that doesn’t mean I think the pro side is all right and the anti side is all wrong

Both sides harass the shit out of each other, both sides extremists are bad and need to go touch grass

But y’all also need nuance in these discussions your having

Because let me tell you, as someone who was groomed by multiple predators (one would go on to abuse me Irl for 7 years of my life btw, starting when I was a tween) because of fandom, the pro side of the debate has made it quite clear that they don’t actually care to understand the ramifications of the type of abuse I went through, or to actually listen to survivors of CSA who’s abuse occurred through fandom.

The pro side will be quick to point fingers at adults of kids in fandom, but the adults in charge of me were told by therapists I was seeing at the time that I was “being a normal tween” for believing I wanted to be in a relationship with an adult at 13/14. That I was “over dramatic and should be responsible for what happened” at the hands of this adult when I disclosed the first time about the abuse. I also got in trouble for the evidence of the grooming that was found by my parents, instead of them realizing I was being targeted by a creep.

Part of this was because I was a lonely, bullied, and ostracized kid.

It’s almost like sexual predators bank on adults failing to act and blaming young girls for the abuse. It’s almost like they’re right when they tell young girls that no one will believe them when they disclose. The pro side proves this too by how they justify their romanticization by pointing fingers at parents “not parenting kids” as if they can never do anything wrong, or miss the signs.

My parents missed the signs because they assumed a teenager (who was 17-18 when he started abusing 13 year old me) could not be a pedophile. They were happy their daughter “had finally found someone to talk to” because my own peers hated me and bullied me every chance they got at that age. To the point where I was actively suicidal for years.

All of this grooming happened because I dared to interact with the MLP fandom at 13. And trust me that fandom was filled with pedos at the peak of its popularity. Like I said multiple full grown men groomed and RPG’d in a sexual way with me, even after I disclosed my age. Because I dared to like pastel colored pony’s and I wrote some (PG-13) fanfic, and drew some fanart.

And trust me, I saw the romanticization of my own abuse in that fandom, and seeing it being defended still is disconcerting.

Like, an actual survivor saying “hey, please don’t portray the abuse that ruined my fucking life as a good thing please” shouldn’t make y’all so fucking mad. But it does. And it’s fucking weird.

I’m not going to name call or anything, won’t even tell you what you can or can’t post but just know I’m one of those people where if you are posting that crap and I stumble upon it, or are vocally defending your right to romanticize it, that I’m silently judging you.

And I’m just going to block you if you try to defend it on this post.

I’d say that if you want to avoid drama maybe just get a fucking sensitivity reader if your discussing CSA, and aren’t trying to romanticize it. But apparently sensitivity readers are just “enforcing censorship” or whatever so I know I’m just talking to the equivalent of a brick wall.

Before you bring up not reading this stuff- I don’t, I’m just kinda sick of a real problem in fandom being dismissed and victims being blamed for their abuse

Before you bring up Lolita as a “gotcha” defense- I have reading comprehension abilities, evidenced by how I have a minor in creative writing (which btw involves a metric fuck-ton of reading and discerning meaning and intentions of the author from those readings) Lolita was not defending predators, it’s meaning was twisted by people who want to defend grooming and csa, and since I can tell the difference between condemnation and romanticization, I’m sure a lot of people who share my opinions also can as well. Not everyone with “anti” opinions is uneducated like you think they are, some of us are just expressing why we have limits and why we find certain portrayal distasteful. If you think I’m still wrong i reccomend going back and reading the prologue in Lolita that you obviously skipped.

Before you say I’m advocating for censorship- I’m not, I’m just saying you don’t get to shout at abuse victims who were affected through fandom to shut up. Write insensitive portrayals of traumatizing shit, and then get upset when someone tells you your portrayal is making the traumatizing shit look like it’s a-okay. If you post something on this vein be prepared for someone to say that what you wrote is portraying harmful stereotypes (ie that CSA isn’t harmful if an often repeated myth, it’s akin to saying rape victims were “asking for it” because they were drunk).

Also I’ve never harassed anyone about this in my life, in fact the people who defend romanticization of my abuse are usually just blocked on site, because I just don’t want to deal with the shit-stirring that occurs.

And finally for those who think this is me being against harm reduction- I’m not against harm reduction, maybe these thing are harm reduction for awhile, but eventually, just like alcohol or painkillers, these little fanfic stories aren’t going to be enough for would-be predators forever. They will build up a tolerance where imagination and text isn’t enough anymore, and that’s when they start to actually do the real illegal shit.

If you have reading comprehension you’ll realize I’m am not saying fiction=reality, but to spell it out more clearly, the fiction isn’t making them offend, the inability for the fiction to be enough to get them off is what leads them to offend. It’s like someone who can’t get oxy turning to heroin out of desperation.

When the harm reduction doesn’t work anymore, is it really reducing harm, especially when the stuff they now turn to is the illegal stuff they were supposedly trying to “avoid” in the first place.

Anyway, that’s my thoughts on this shit, I’m tired of seeing it debated or people with the same trauma being told to shut up because the truth is inconvenient. I needed to just get it out.

Anyone who openly defends this crap in the notes or reblogs will be blocked.

#rant post #personal #anti proship #anti radqueer #anti prat #anti map #tw csa mention #tw rap3 #tw rape mention #tw grooming

[things-keeping-me-up-at-night]

I just finished QuintonReviews video on Dan Schneider (go watch it, seriously: as always, he is very thorough and nuanced in his analysis and I think his way of deep-diving is something that deserves more support).

There is on thing I want to note that I have also commented on the video: his take on the character of Spencer possibly serving as stand-in for Dan Schneider in iCarly (which makes a lot more sense of you watched the video) makes me feel a little more justified in misremembering Spencer and Sam as dating on the show before rewatching it.

Let me explain: funnily enough, I also started rewatching the show a few months before the first part of QuintonReviews’ series came out. I had very blurry memories of the show; I did remember some parts, including the whole Sam and Freddie dating, breaking up, him dating Carly at some point thing, but my head had also put some correct memories together the wrong way.

I mean, sure, there was an episode where Sam moved into the Shays’ apartment and left her underwear lying around the apartment, but for some reason, I thought she was living there for a long time, at least a season, if not the rest of the show.

My brain also merged the ‘Heatwave’ episode and the Coconut Cream Cake episode into one; one of the most clear memories that I had of the show was the moment where Sam climbs into the fridge, except I thought that a) it was because she was eating the last piece of cake and she was trying to hide it, b) she was living in the apartment and c) she was not wearing short pants, but was in fact walking around the apartment in her underwear because that was what I remembered the whole ‘underwear issue’ to be.

Needless to say, remembering the show that way, I was very intrigued to rewatch it because, being a lot older now, I realised that my memories were either false or, if they were even halfway true, this had to have been incredibly edgy for a kids show and I needed to see if it was truly as wild as I remembered. Back to the Sam and Spencer thing: for some reason, I thought that, after Sam and Freddie broke up, not only were Freddie and Carly the main ship for the rest of the show, Sam instead ended up with Spencer, who I didn’t remember was supposed to be in his late twenties to early thirties at that point. Despite not having a specific memory of any romantic interaction between the two, I was convinced that these two dated at least at some point during the show’s run, which, in the context of the kind of show I remembered, didn’t even seem that far out there.

When I began my rewatch though, I quickly realised just how big the age difference between Spencer and the kids was, so I began questioning that memory because surely, it must have been false…but I had been so convinced of it that I thought that, maybe, just maybe, it was true? I mean, the show went on for six seasons, so the kids could have been 18 by the end…and Sam was living with them, maybe her and Carly were of age at that point? And don’t some shows do a time jump? Anyway, I had watched enough other shows about teens to know that these kinds of things have happened on TV…all in all, I wish I could’ve been sure, but I just wasn’t.

So I sat down and watched all six seasons- going into it with the expectation that through some weird development, then-26 year-old Spencer would end up dating then-13 to 14-year old Sam.

And can I just say one thing? It is wild, going into the show that way, how much actually ended up pointing to my assumption being correct. I now know that there used to be an actual (albeit small) shipping community for those two, but like…I really can’t blame my young person’s memory because that ‘ship’ is even canonically addressed and, as seen through an adult’s eyes, the way Spencer interacts with the kids is certainly unusual. I’m not saying the character was up to anything sinister by any means, but I do get why I processed what I was watching in a way that would have allowed for such a relationship to happen: apart from the whole ‘Sam has a crush on Spencer thing’, there were so many instances of what could easily be read (or is explicitly meant as) adults flirting with/being interested in dating minors and vice versa or even just hanging out with them in ways that seem a lot weirder the older you get. Going back to the Sam and Spencer example: one of the reasons why, despite logically knowing a show on a children’s network would not have featured a character who is established as an adult and a character who is established as a very young teenager dating, I was not fully convinced that that wasn’t going to happen for an alarming amount of time watching the show, was that they did hang out one-on-one in a way that I just didn’t know any teenage girl would with the significantly older brother of their friend in real life. Of course, Freddie and Gibby also had many plots alone with Spencer, but at least based on the people I know, innocent same-sex friendships between teenagers and adults are a little more common (though I’m not saying the ones on the show weren’t weird at times either). And while it is uncomfortable to think about their interactions that way, if you’re watching the show through the lens that I did, there is very little to distinguish the dynamic between this adult character and this character who is a minor from dynamics between characters who did end up dating on iCarly or similar shows.

And maybe I’m just weird, but I do think the nature of the relationships between adults and minors that is established in these shows is to blame for my false memory. In rewatching, I expected to immediately disregard that memory as false after remembering the ages of the characters, but up until the very end, even when it was very much confirmed to me that it was a false memory, the show failed to fully convince me that it wasn’t possible for an underage main character and an adult main character to end up together in its universe, which is very telling and (I think) fits the video series’ conclusion perfectly, though that of course puts a lot more factors into consideration.

I doubt anyone, never mind Quinton himself, is going to read all that, but I just wanted to share this since it has been on my mind for years at this point- all in all, my personal experience with rewatching iCarly was good, but very, very weird for this exact reason.

The strangest part was that, in my rewatch, I almost…wanted it to happen? Not because I genuinely thought it would be a good thing, more because I became so invested in figuring out if I was gaslighting myself or if there had really been such truly unhinged children’s programming just a few years back. And again, there was a disturbing amount of things in the show (at least kind of) backing my feeling up. The only comfort I have is knowing that I’m not the craziest Sam/Spencer theorist to have ever graced the internet: in trying to figure out why I remembered their relationship the way I did, I dove deeper into the whole ‘Spam ship’ (yes, that was a thing) than probably anyone ever should…long story short, if anyone reading this wants to go on a really wild ride check out this blog post:

(Please note that I did not put that last paragraph or the link in my YouTube comment, but I felt like if there was any place to share this internet relic I found, it would be Tumblr.)

#icarly #quinton reviews #has anyone else had these weird wrong memories of TV shows etc.? #nickelodeon

[lostsneeze]

Some Blue Forum Thoughts

TLRDR: It's only going to get worse so keep being sweet to each other everyone, here and discord are gonna be all we have

While not the most active member, I was on the forum for a pretty long time, long enough to notice some of the ways it's changed that I've been thinking might have subtly eroded the culture it fosters. Way back in the day, the Sneezing In Media subforum was used mostly to hunt down clips of shows or movies on youtube and share alerts of when particular episodes were going to come on TV in various regions. Y'know, so you could set your VCR to record them, a thing people used to do.

Nowadays though, movie/show media is a lot easier to find. So instead it's a lot of questions about if clips of particular celebrity individuals sneezing at all exist, and shares of youtubers, streamers, clips off tiktok, etc. That's not surprising, the media landscape has changed a lot since like 20 years ago. But it's...kinda weird, right? Streamers aren't really like movie actors or show characters, celebrity-wise. And most people on TikTok are just, like, regular people.

Hey you know how we have a persistent problem in this community from creepy folks behaving with a deranged sense of entitlement towards the videos and wavs other people make, obsessively collecting them, and even harassing creators for more in perpetuity?

Somewhat of an aside, but if you've seen my age in bio you might've noticed I was talking about 20 years ago on the forum and thought to yourselves "hey wait a minute, wouldn't that have made you a..." YES! Minors used to just be allowed on the forum! Maybe most people know this but until relatively few years ago there was a "youth" subforum where only minors were allowed, and all explicitly 18+ stuff like talkin' about sex and drugs was relegated to the "adult" board. Anything else was just open to whoever. Minors could "interact" as is said here.

And that was an upgrade, btw. Those segregating boards didn't always exist, for much of the forum's lifespan you could just...be 13 years old. And post observations, like about your classmates, in the general board. And click on art topics with full frontal nudity (honor system not to!). And get DM'd by middle-aged adults. Pretty bad!

The point of that digression is to say that the staff, even though it's different people by now I'm sure, has a tradition of moving slowly on even fairly glaring community issues. If something's not technically immediately a problem for anyone, it's probably something they don't feel is their place to do something about, as long as they're taking care of the few "bad apples" or whatever.

Do you feel like it might be a problem, though? Does having an entire subforum dedicated to collating voyeuristic cam footage of strangers seem like it might be...bad? Like the kind of thing that normalizes, facilitates, even encourages specifically one of the worst types of people this community produces? I do, personally! I think it would be hard to prove the exact effect it has, and there's always going to be creepos, but it demonstrates a cultural attitude that I think is a bad omen. The kind of place that just lets that slide without examination or regulation, probably ends up letting a lot else slide too.

So just as I said in the tldr, let's all continue to be mindful about keeping this place a different kind of place than that!

[comfort-writing]

Crayons and Cassettes

Chapter 6: Party at Harrington’s

You are a kindergarten teacher. Eddie’s daughter, Sage, is in your class. Eddie helps you relax after a couple grueling months.

warnings: smoking and drinking. mental health- anxiety- is depicted. this fic will be 18+ in later chapters- minors DNI!! no use of y/n. (please let me know if I missed anything)

a/n: I feel much better about this chapter. btw I totally wanted to get it out last night but I fell asleep after work oops. let me know in the comments or my asks if you want to be added to the tag list! requests are open!

word count: 2.9k

Chapter 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10 || 11 || 12 || 13 || 14 (coming soon!)

Once school was back in full swing, you were busy, to put it lightly. Spring semester was always filled with setting up IEP and 504 recommendations for your students to be analyzed for in the first grade, as well as trying to have every student achieve mastery of all of the state standards. You had to make sure all of your students could write their name without mistakes, tie their shoes, know numbers one through fifty and the alphabet, knew a lot of sight words, and most, if not all, should be able to read basic books.

You were working hard to try and make sure that all of your students achieved. But that didn’t come without sacrifice. You and Eddie still called, but the calls were usually less than twenty minutes, as you needed to grade assignments and lesson plan for the days ahead. You still saw him at pickup line, but instead of those days where you were stressed being few and far between, they were growing more frequent.

You could tell he was getting worried about you. He’d even said it on your last phone call.

“Are you doing okay? You seem really stressed lately.” He cautioned, sounding genuinely concerned.

“Oh, I’m fine. The spring semester is always like this. I’m just not used to having such a large class size is all. They said that next year won’t be so bad. Apparently everyone decided to have babies at the same time that you did.” You joked, trying to downplay your anxiety.

“Is there anything I can do to help you out?”

“I’m not sure… just- being able to talk sometimes is nice. Allows me decompress a little. But if I think of anything else, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Okay..” He said warily, still not quite sure about where your head was really at.

You didn’t want to burden him with anything. You’d always had pretty bad anxiety, but you had learned to manage it pretty well on your own over the years. However, when life got stressful, it was more difficult to deal with, especially due to the fact that you didn’t have much time for yourself.

He’d invited you out to a little get together with his friends the other night. You said you weren’t sure, mainly because you felt like you had a pile of work that needed to get done and taking one night off might put you back. But he mentioned that you didn’t have to stay if you didn’t want to. He just wanted you to meet his friends- it was a casual hang out, nothing serious. You hesitantly agreed, thinking that maybe this might help you chill out a little bit.

It was tonight. Eddie said he’d drive you, which you appreciated, as despite you living in Hawkins since the summer, you still didn’t know your way around town outside of the main roads. You were standing in your closet, trying to decide what to wear.

Casual. Cute. Nothing too sexy or serious. Just- regular clothes. You should have something like that, right? You dug through your closet. It didn’t help that the majority of your wardrobe consisted of colorful dresses you wore to your kindergarten class. Honestly, dressing for five year olds was easier than dressing for adults, in your opinion. You decided on a pair of jeans and a light, comfortable sweater. It was nearing March, so it wasn’t snowing anymore, but it was still cold out. You put on your everyday makeup that you wore to school and tied back your hair, pulling out a few strands to frame your face. Earrings, bracelets, watch. Easy. Cute, comfortable, casual. You grabbed a pair of white sneakers and threw them on. Just as you were finishing tying your left shoelace, you heard a knock at the front door.

You answered the door, “Hey, Eds, come on in. I just have to grab my purse.” You said, letting him into the entryway.

“You look nice.” He smiled genuinely.

You were in a bit of a rush, the anxiety still having a hold on you, “Ah- thanks.” You said quickly, rushing to the living room to grab your bag. You walked back to Eddie, eyes looking a little worried, “Ready to go?” You asked, almost walking past him to head out the door.

He stopped you, placing both hands on your shoulders, “Hey.. Take a breath. Relax.” He said, taking a deep breath, eyeing you to follow suit. You did, relaxing your shoulders a bit. “This is supposed to be fun. You deserve a break. You’ve been wearing yourself out. One night off isn’t going to cause your kids to fail.” He reassured you.

You took another deep breath, “I know… I know. It’s just been a bit much is all. I want my students to succeed.”

“And they will.” He insisted. “But they can’t do that without your help. And how can you really help them if you’re so stressed all the time? You have to take care of yourself in order to take care of them.”

You sighed, “Yeah.. you’re right.” His words were reassuring enough for now.

“Okay. Let’s go have fun, yeah? And remember, if it’s too much, we can just leave. There’s no pressure for you to stay. I’ll drive you home and you can work or relax.” He said, squeezing your shoulders gently before letting go. You nodded, and he opened the front door for you, locking it behind you guys before walking you to his van.

Before you had the chance to open your own door, Eddie jogged over and opened it for you, taking a grandiose bow. You laughed, for what felt like the first time in at least a week. Ever the gentleman. He walked over to the drivers side after shutting your door, and the two of you pulled off to drive to Steve’s.

The moment you arrived at the cute little corner lot house, Eddie jumped out and opened the car door for you, taking your hand and helping you out of the car. He gave it a quick squeeze before letting it go.

You guys walked up to the door, and Eddie just waltzed right on through the door. You felt bad just walking into a strangers house, so you stood in the doorway for a moment. “Sup Harrington, you big lug.” Eddie laughed, wrapping an arm around Steve’s shoulder and bending him to ruffle his hair. Steve laughed and shoved him off, then noticed you in the doorway.

“Hey, come on in, don’t be shy.” He smiled warmly.

You stepped further into the entry way and shut the door behind you. Steve walked over to you and stuck his hand out, shaking yours politely, “Steve. Nice to meet you.” You told him your name and once you’d been introduced, Steve and Eddie walked you to the living room to meet the rest of the group. Everyone seemed warm and welcoming enough.

The younger bunch were back for spring break, so everyone had a lot to catch up on. You mainly listened to the conversation, just taking everything in. You sat at the end of the sofa, with Robin next to you and Eddie squatted on the arm rest. You’d been chatting with her, finding out the two of you had a lot in common.

“You want a drink?” Robin offered, getting up to go grab one for herself.

“Uh, sure. What do you have?” You asked.

She reached her hand out, you took it, and she helped you off of the couch, “We’ve got a lot, and I’m not even sure what all there is.” She chuckled as you followed her to the kitchen. She swung open the fridge like she lived there and reached in the back, grabbing a beer before leaning on the freezer and allowing you to scan the contents. You grabbed some premade cocktail in a can before shutting the door.

“So.. you and Eddie, huh?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows at you.

You couldn’t fight the red tint that flooded your cheeks, “Ah- well.. not really?” You said, shrugging your shoulders.

Robin frowned and cracked open her beer, taking a swig, “What’s the holdup? He’s like, toootally into you. And if I could bet on it, I’d put down money and say that you’re into him.”

You sighed, “That’s already been established.”

She gave you a confused look, “So.. why aren’t you two a thing?”

“My job. Unfortunately, it’s like, illegal for me to date a parent. Plus, in this town, it’s not like we can be secretive about it- gossip runs rampant.”

“Ah- yeah, I guess that makes sense. Don’t worry., my lips are sealed”

“Thanks. But it still kinda sucks though.” You chuckled, bumping her shoulder

“I feel that. When I was in college, my girlfriend and I had to be like, mega-cautious around everyone. I know it’s not the same, but I know what it’s like to have to hide how ya feel.” She reassured.

“Thanks Robin.” You smiled, taking a sip of your drink.

She nodded and the two of you walked back to the couch, finding Eddie laid out where the two of you previously sat. Robin groaned and shoved him, trying to get him to move off of the couch. He rolled off, hitting the ground with a thud, and you and Robin quickly scrambled over him and into your seats, giggling. Eddie laughed and pointed an accusatory finger, “I knew I shouldn’t have introduced the two of you.”

You and Robin shared a knowing look and laughed, watching as he got up off of the ground and moved to sit on the armrest once again, leaning against the back of the couch and resting his arm on the cushion above your shoulder.

After a while of sitting and listening to his buddies laugh and tell old stories, with you chiming in at certain points, Eddie leaned down to whisper in your ear, “I’m gonna go out back for a smoke. Want to come with?” He asked.

You nodded and followed him through the house and onto the back patio. You sighed into the cold March air, seeing your own breath. He took a cigarette and a lighter out of his jacket pocket. He offered you one, to which you politely declined, before lighting it and taking a drag.

“You having a good time?” He asked, leaning over the patio’s railing and looking into the backyard.

You matched his position, “Yeah. Your friends are really nice.” You smiled.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. You deserve to.” He told you, leaning over and bumping your shoulder with his own.

You hummed and looked up, seeing the starry sky. It made you feel small, but not in a bad way.

“Just think, only two more months and you’re home free.” He mused.

You giggled, “You mean we’re home free.”

He smiled, “Well yeah, but I was mainly talking about you. You’ve been so stressed lately with all the hard work you’ve been doing.” He paused, looking over to you, “I’ve been worried about you. I mean, I haven’t known you that long, but I can tell that all of it has had an effect on you.”

You sighed, turning around to face the house. You placed your hands on your face and dragged them down, “I know.” You grumbled, your voice muffled by your hands. You let them fall and rested your elbows on the railing, leaning back. “I just feel like I haven’t had a moment to breathe since January. Spring semester is normally stressful, but it’s usually not this bad.”

Eddie nodded, taking another drag of his cigarette, letting you continue.

“I just- anxiety is a bitch, you know?”

Eddie laughed at that, coughing through it as the smoke spilled from his lungs. “Boy do I know it.” He said, once he’d gained his bearings. “But like I said, only two more months. You’re almost there. And really, I know I’ve already said this, but if you need any help with anything, you let me know, okay?”

You nodded and leaned your head on his shoulder, “Thank you, Eddie.” You whispered. He smiled and kissed the top of your head before laying his own on top of yours. The two of you stayed like that for a few minutes, enjoying each others silent company as Eddie finished his cigarette, making sure to blow the smoke away from you.

He snubbed out the end of his smoke in the little ashtray on the railing before looking down at you, “Ready to go back in?” He asked quietly.

“Do we have to? This is so nice.” You pleaded.

“You’re shivering. You’re going to freeze to death.”

“Ugh, fine. If we have to.” You groaned dramatically.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around you, rubbing your arms quickly to warm you up, “Come on, cutie.” He said, walking you back inside.

You laughed as you two walked back into the house, feeling yourself begin to defrost as you walked back to the living room together. You plopped back down next to Robin and she gave you a silent wink, to which you rolled your eyes and smiled.

Around ten, everyone was heading out, so you and Eddie followed suit. You said goodbye to everyone, you and Robin exchanging numbers, and Steve giving you a big bear hug. Eddie walked you out to his van, opening the door for you before climbing in himself. The two of you drove home, laughing and recalling funny things that people had said that night, listening to the radio on a low volume.

Once he pulled up to your house, he walked you to your door. “Hey, thank you for tonight. I had fun.” You smiled, leaning against your door frame.

“Me too. I’m glad you came along.” He had one hand in his jacket pocket as he used his thumb to fiddle with the rings on his other hand.

You looked up at him. He looked so handsome in the moonlight. You looked around for a moment, taking in that nobody was on the street and the neighbors’ lights were off.

“Are they planning anything like this again soon?” You asked.

“Not that I know of, but I’ll let you know when we do.”

You nodded, taking a step closer to him. “Really.. thank you.” You said sincerely as you wrapped your arms around him in a hug. He was a little surprised, but he hugged you back, wrapping one arm around your waist and using the other to rub your back.

To an outsider, the hug may have look like it lasted too long, but neither of you cared. You just enjoyed each others warmth and physical contact in that moment. You could have been there forever and neither of you would have noticed.

You pulled away slightly, looking up at him. He smiled softly down at you. You glanced around one last time before looking back up at him. You could have cut the tension with a knife.

After a moment, Eddie bent down and whispered in your ear, “You’re making it very hard not to kiss you right now.”

You squeezed him closer, taking a steady breath before whispering back, “I never said you couldn’t.”

He pulled back and looked around like you had already done, making sure nobody was around. Your porch light was off, so nobody could really see you guys anyways. He looked back at you for confirmation that this was okay. You nodded.

He didn’t waste another moment before leaning down and capturing your lips in his own, moving one hand to hold your cheek as he did so. His lips were warm and soft and he tasted faintly of cigarettes, but you didn’t mind. You felt like you were surrounded by him: his lips, his hair, his tall and lean figure. He smelled like smoke and some sort of warm and spicy cologne.

He kissed you gently, not looking for anything more than this. You melted into it, your arms wrapping around his shoulders lazily. Neither of you knew how long it lasted, it could have been a second or it could have been an eternity. But when he pulled back, the both of you feeling a little breathless, it felt too soon.

The two of you shared a look before smiling at each other. He leaned down and kissed your temple sweetly before he pulled away, your arms falling to your sides and feeling empty. “I’ll see you tomorrow at pickup?” He whispered.

You nodded dumbly, and watched him step off of your front porch. “Good night, beautiful.” He said with a wink, heading back to his car. You wanted to say good night as well, but you felt as though your voice would betray you in that moment, so you silently unlocked your door and walked inside your house, locking it behind you.

You leaned against your front door, taking a moment to let it all sink in.

Man, you felt like a teenager again.

Tag list: @mcueveryday @bebe0701 @emma77645 @edsforehead @manda-panda-monium @nina211544

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