#<- PREV YEAH !!! SO FUCKING TRUE !!!
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also 30s movies are dumb as shit and i think people should see that. sorry
#like yeah. everything i said in prev is true. but also humans are so fucking silly#just because something happened 90 years ago doesnt make it uppity and bougie#its just silly AND old#film
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If you prefer the newer seasons of ninjago over the older seasons (pilot-s5/s7) we are fundamentally different people
#kind of a neutral statement#s8 and s9 get excused to an extend but i will not for forgive them for garma/don#s6 and s7 aren't that amazing to me but they get a pass bc at least they feel like they're about the same characters as the prev seasons#and similair with 8 and 9 except yeah..... this is where it starts......#s11+ means little to me in regards to characters. sure they have some cool stuff and the stories are neat (i love s12 SOO much for example)#but. yeah it's what i call the cardboard treatment because most characters especially when they're not the focus feel like -#- cardboard cutout versions of themselves#guys isn't zane so funny because he's a robot hahaha! what a source of comedy that is so in character! /s#and i'm not gonna say that i hate the new seasons cause that's not true#i bawled my fucking eyes out at s15#but it's. kind of a different show to me and the characters often feel off.#also some recurring things that i'm sooooo annoyed at sigh ugh ugh ugh#also they start this thing around s6 where for some reason the police is involved??#and the explorer's club pls fucking DIE#it's fine if you like the chicken also man but holy crap this is just NOT for me at all#the older seasons were many times more charming and if you disagree then - well we simply have differenzt tastes#which is fine#but my god it's something i do need to point out#i didn't actually mean to ramble so much but yeah.........#one of my favorite examples is the reduction of jay's and zane's characters to goofy guy and robot smart guy#the taking jay's inventing skills is the most insane thing they have done to date and they openly admit this this is literally a thing#they really only cared about tropes and archetypes at this point even though this is simply NOT where ninjago shines#i feel like someone might unfollow mr for this but you literally don't have to#it's all fine! just feel like saying this every now and then because ninjago is one of the shows that have been THE most special in my life#forgot the / for ninja/go oh wel l sorry#the reasons i like this show lie in the early seasons and not the later ones
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it can simultaneously be true that (a) someone's conduct has been hypocritical, reprehensible, and the opposite of accountable, AND that (b) it nonetheless still behooves us to have standards for the methods/agents by which we think it's acceptable for that conduct to be exposed to the general public
i'm increasingly getting the impression that some of you would be perfectly fine with warrantless searches, blackmail, etc, as long as those practices targeted people you thought were sufficiently cringe and turned up behavior you were having enough fun gossiping about
#nobody fucking has principles around here#(that's not true‚ some of you do and i appreciate the fuck out of you‚ but. for hyperbolic values of 'nobody.')#i'm not remotely perfect at having principles myself but i do at least think it's important#not least because if you don't defend the rights of the people you think are cringe and even unethical#you BECOME the people the mainstream defines as cringe and even unethical#anyway yeah this one IS about what you think it's about and it's EXTREMELY not a hill i wanted to die on bc i was NOT a fan#shit WAS bad AND we shouldn't know about it AND i've seen SO much transphobia in the way people have been talking about it#anyway. fully expect that some of you will roll your eyes at me or think i must not really condemn the conduct in question#but really i just think we shouldn't be getting quite so gleefully into bed with (as i understand it) k*wif*rms??#in conclusion prev post was queued a long time ago but it sure is topical
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teamwork (makes the dream work...?) pt. 2
summary: miles is not exactly a productive work partner
wc: ~800
A/N: not much plot movement here, but a tiny bit of exposition sort of. Miles will calm down in the following chapters...maybe 🥴
prev. next
"Oh Miles? He's in some of my AP classes. Honor student," Your friend's voice filtered through your phone speakers while on the FaceTime call. She popped a potato chip in her mouth as she sat in bed and sniffled, at home with a nasty cold.
"I've heard his name before. I think his dad died, that true?"
"Yeah, a couple years ago. Say he used to be really sweet, and now he don't talk no more."
"That's sad," you remark. "Maybe that's why I'm only seeing him now."
"You actually saw him in class?!?"
Your friend's face was the picture of disbelief, eyes wide as saucers as if this was a rare event.
"Yeah, he's my partner for the week cuz you decided to go and get yo ass sick!" you explained, dramatically jabbing a finger at your phone screen.
"It's not my fault that kid from AP Chem sneezed on me, damn!"
"He's really smart, but his attitude fucking sucks. He draws good, though," you think out loud.
“It’s just a week, sis, give it four more days, you’ll be fine.”
“You’d better hope so, for your sake.”
-
The following afternoon saw you asking around, trying to piece together a picture of this kid that everyone simultaneously knew and didn’t know. By the time lunchtime ended and Ms. Jones’ calculus class rolled around, you had heard the following:
‘Almost flunked out of school…on purpose’.
‘Did graffiti on the school walls once.’
‘Freakishly quiet’.
‘Secretly joined a gang’.
That last bit made your stomach turn a little as you approached your new temporary seat. Sure enough, Miles was already slouched at his desk, twirling that same pen between his fingers like a drumstick. You didn’t bother to say ‘hi’ this time. He didn’t bother to look up, either.
Miles didn’t say a word during the lecture portion of class, not even to answer questions. Would explain why you’d hardly noticed him until this week.
As the heavy-set math teacher scanned the classroom, she frequently craned her neck and made brief eye contact with Miles, but never cold-called him.
Her skin was a chestnut shade, and she kept her dark hair pinned back in a tight, slick bun. The way she pressed her lips together as she moved on suggested that they’d been through this before, and she'd be sorely disappointed.
When her lecture ended, Miles suddenly stood to his full height.
You weren’t able to tell by the way he sat, but the boy was quite lanky. Even with his awkwardly-broad shoulders slumped, he likely was a half a head taller than you. Ms. Jones stopped her slow pacing around the classroom and sighed.
“Miles, sweetie, what did I say yesterday?”
Miles looked up at the ceiling and sighed in exasperation before plopping back down into his chair. He raised his hand as if it pained him to do so.
“Yes, Mr. Morales?”
“May I please use the restroom?”
A few snickers could be heard erupting around the classroom, and the woman rolled her eyes. An innocent smile was plastered over Miles’ face, revealing two deep dimples in his cheeks. If the smile had actually reached his eyes, you would’ve thought he was cute.
“Go ahead,” Jones relented.
The boy dropped the smile and noisily pushed his chair aside; As he shot back up from his seat and strolled past your desk towards the door, Jones narrowed her eyes at him.
“Hold it. Sir, where are your glasses?”
Miles stopped in his tracks, groaning loudly.
“Oh my god, I don’t need glasses to go potty, Ms. Jones. I can aim, I promise.”
“Make sure you put them on as soon as you get back, your mother told me to remind you. Go,” Jones said, waving her hand dismissively.
“Uh-huh, thank you, ma’am!” The boy was already in the hallway, letting the door slam behind him.
Today's partner work was just a packet of long equations to simplify, so you were only mildly irritated that Miles never seemed to return from his impromptu bathroom trip until the last fifteen minutes of class.
You looked up as he sauntered over to his desk, hands in his pockets.
“Where were you? Class is almost over,” you demanded.
Miles ignored you and sat down, picking up his pen to work at a long string of equations at lightning speed.
Suddenly, you reached over and snapped your fingers in front of him. The boy looked up with his lips curled into a grimace.
"What's good witchu? You got through the work, didn't you?" Miles hissed in a low whisper to avoid catching Ms. Jones' attention.
You frowned deeply. "And what if I didn't? I'd be struggling while you were off running around the damn school-"
"I needed time to myself," he interrupted. "To think."
" 'Think' about what?"
"Personal shit," Miles resumed his problem-solving. "Any more questions, officer?"
The school bell rang, pulling from you a sigh of relief that you wouldn't have to see him again for another 24 hours.
#miles morales#earth 42 miles morales#earth 42 miles morales x reader#miles morales x reader#spiderman across the spiderverse#moralesanhour
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3: fate is fickle ; gojo satoru
pairing gojo satoru x fem!reader
summary when satoru breaks off your engagement, you understand and accept it. but when he marries someone else, you don't understand because he didn't want to be tied down.
content warnings drinking, reader being referenced to as a party animal, nanami being soooo fine lol, mention of drugs but nobody does it, mention of death, gojo being meannnnnn and weird
word count 3.1k
a/n thank you SOO much for the support i luv u guys <33 interaction is always appreciated i love talking to u guys also first part is set in the past j in case there is any confusion
send requests ↞ prev next ↠ to be added to taglist
When Gojo Hana, Satoru’s first wife, had come up to him after going to the bathroom for only a short of three minutes with a baffled expression, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
Her lithe fingers curled themselves around his biceps as she found home between his thighs. Satoru’s mind was fuzzy, especially after three drinks and four shots, and that merely intensified the feel of her skin against his. It was her expression that he wasn’t sure if he was imagining to be tenfold more worried than it truly was, which pulled his lips into a straight line before he asked, “You okay?”
“Satoru,” she started, a small crack in her voice and Satoru leaned back against the chipped wood of the high table. “You know L/N Y/N, right?”
It was funny, and Satoru realized it was funny because he let out a small, nervous chuckle as his wife dropped your name, that all it took was a mention of your name to get his muscles to tighten like he was going to war. He had gone through every single opportunity for Hana to find out about you—not your existence, because there was hardly anybody within his circle that didn’t know of you—and come out of it unscathed (translation: Hana remained unaware). This couldn’t be any different, though she’d never outright mentioned you before.
He remembered when Hana sat across the quartz tabletop, writing down name after name in delicate cursive, and asked about the L/N family. He’d stiffened, but only momentarily, before he said something along the lines of of course, father would have it no other way. And that, for the time being, was true because there was no way his father wouldn’t want your family to be there after so many years of working together. Satoru wanted to ask Hana, at that moment, if she was sending out invitations addressed to family but he held off until later to make it not seem suspicious. She’d said, ‘Of course not! I want them to be personal and meaningful.’ Satoru felt as though he was ready to change her mind, but how could he argue with something as sweet-intentioned as that?
“My father worked with hers,” he replied, pushing away memories. “Why?” he asked hesitantly.
There was no suspicion on her face, just curiosity, and Satoru hated himself at that moment.
“I think I saw her in the bathroom?” It felt as if all his senses perked up and heightened at her words. Fuck. “She was with another girl. I don’t know her name—brown hair, brown eyes, and… about this tall?” Her hands raised up to demonstrate how tall Reina was. He knew exactly who his wife was talking about because if you were out, Reina was with you. He’d always joked how both of you came in a package, and even Suguru only informed one of you about a party and when the other asked him if they were invited, he always said you both always come together.
It had been ages since Satoru saw either of you, but it was hard to forget how Reina always fought for you when you were his girl. And he was glad you still had her because she wouldn’t leave you abruptly, figuratively packing up all the pieces she left in your life in an instant like he did.
“I wouldn’t know,” he coolly said.
Hana’s lips curled into a small frown. “Her friend said something about how all I know is Y/N’s dad and yours work together.”
“Well, not anymore but yeah.” He feigned indifference, though every nerve of his body felt as if it was on fire. He noticed how her frown only deepened, and he asked, “Were they mean to you or something?”
Hana, sweet, precious fucking Hana, instantly shook her head before she paused and looked down at his chest, as if cowering away from his gaze. “Kind of? I don’t know, maybe she was offended that I only knew her because of your dad?” When she realized she was implying you were being righteous, she took her hands from his arms and raised them in surrender. “I mean, I don’t think she’s, like… a bitch or anything! I might’ve heard them wrong.”
Satoru tried to stop himself, he truly did. But he had to ask. “They still here?”
When she nodded and subtly pointed to the table you sat at with Reina, he couldn’t stop his neck from immediately turning in your direction, a haze of confusion and animosity behind his eyes. Not because you were being rude to his wife, but because he had to be in your presence after months. With his wife. It was truly a miracle that Hana hadn’t noticed the entire emotional turmoil behind his eyes as soon as your name was brought up, which is why he turned to meet her eyes once again and said, “She won’t bother you again, love.”
“You look especially happy today,” Reina commented as her body slithered into the passenger seat of your car.
She was right, you did look happy and you felt it, too. After the conversation with your mother—the unmangling of a burden of emotions between mother and daughter—you felt as though a weight had finally been lifted off your shoulders. The small conversation with Satoru felt like a faraway memory, one which your mind didn’t feel the need to unpack and decode anytime soon because, as Reina had said, he was a taken man. He had a girl at home, and that scratched away any possibility of you and him ever being anything, even friends, because you were engaged to him at one point.
Did that fact hurt? To a whole different level, but you weren’t going to let it tear you down like it had over and over again in the past few months.
“I’m just happy to be invited to the biggest club opening of the year in Kawasaki,” you replied, giggling as you began driving to the location. This was a date you marked on your calendar months ago in big bold letters that said ‘PARTY CLUB LEVITATE.’ It was mere seconds after you opened the dark papered invitation with gold embossed lettering inviting you to a new club, Levitate’s opening. You had dressed yourself in leather pants that hugged your skin perfectly and a shimmering silver halterneck top that covered everything it needed to and just that.
You and Reina glossed over the fact that both of you would be drinking, which meant neither of you would be in condition to drive back. And, even though there were a few people from your circle who would be there, too, it was a hard guess to assume who wouldn’t be drinking.
That was a bridge to cross later because as you stepped through the large gates, flashing your pearly whites as you said your name to the security guards, you were overtaken by the instinct to let go completely loose. Within a blur of moments, you’d downed five shots and you were nursing a glass of—what the bartender said was—a fucking expensive glass of hennessy.
Once you deemed yourself buzzed enough to go onto the dance floor and find Reina, your hips began moving off their own accord. You loved letting go. The music reverberated off the newly-done walls, a sheen of excitement running through the air as everybody had large smiles plastered on their faces. You and Reina’s arms were on each other's shoulders as you both let the heavy thrumming take over.
At one point of the night, many drinks and dances later, you were sitting comfortably on the high chair in front of three bartenders who made small talk and recommended drinks. They recommended the ‘sinner’s delight’ to you which was a combination of fuck-knows-what, and you had to admit it was delicious. Reina was still on the dance floor, taken with a man that had been giving her googly-eyes all night, and you were merely trying to catch your breath.
“Hey, stranger.” You heard someone say as the bottom of the chair next to yours scraped against the floor, indicating they were sitting next to you. You, your mind hazy, turned to your side and were stunned to meet a pair of familiar dark eyes.
“Geto…” you trailed off, and he shook his head as a small smile overtook his lips.
“I’m out of here if you want, trust me. If you—y’know, don’t wanna talk.”
It was your turn to shake your head, and you did it with vigor. “No, no. Stay. I’ve actually been meaning to get in touch with you.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. You were planning on getting in touch with Geto, you just weren’t thinking about it to the point you’d actually go through with it. “It’s just been crazy hectic recently.”
There was a sad smile on his lips, and you could imagine he was probably thinking that by recently, you had to mean just about a year which clearly meant you were lying. You were lying, but you also felt you had every right to since you and Geto became friends through Satoru, and Geto was always going to choose Satoru if he had to. In fact, he did choose Satoru because from all the posts you saw on Instagram, they were still as thick as thieves.
“What have you been up to?”
Your mind was blanking, it was a combination of the alcohol and reconnecting with your past, but you tried to go through your timeline since the last time you truly talked to Geto. “I’ve been looking to start a company—or something, I’m not really sure—and my father was helping until… Well, yeah. Right now, though, I’m just helping my mother out with papa’s company and getting stuff in order. Reina and I are actually doing this thing where we read twelve books a month, too, so—” You cut yourself off, realising you were rambling and you felt your cheeks warm up when you noticed Geto was hanging onto each of your words. “I don’t know. Anyways, how about you?”
“I’m sorry. About your dad. I know I wasn’t there for you but—”
You raised your palm, attempting to stop him because you didn’t wanna get too deep into the topic of your father. “No, I know. You called, texted, sent letters, Geto. You don’t have to apologize.” He looked forlorn, and your fingers instinctively reached up to place themselves on top of his own to reassure him. “Trust me.”
Geto took that with as much stride as he could, and attempted to make normal conversation with you. He told you about his art gallery which you knew was picking up since the last time you met him. He asked you for your opinion on some pieces he was looking at, and you tried to give him your best advice. And even though you knew he hadn’t meant to scroll through his camera roll of paintings and accidentally scroll past an image of Satoru and Hana, your lips still curled into a frown because it reminded you he was friends with not just him, but Hana, too. Hana was Geto’s friend the same way you were his, through Satoru. Geto masked his mistake by immediately giving you a backstory of one of the artists, and it did get you interested, but not too distracted from your new realization.
“Suguru! You made it.” Your head snapped up and you thanked every God above for the intrusion of the new voice. Geto locked his phone and looked up at the same time as you at the blond man whose eyes were crinkled up showing the tiniest hints of a smile. “And you.” His gaze shifted, landing on your figure that was leaning against the table. “Glad to see you made it too.”
You remained silent, unsure of how to respond to a stranger as charming as him.
“Of course, I did, Nanami,” Suguru said, rolling his eyes lightheartedly.
A lightbulb flickered in your mind and you were instantly on your feet. “Oh, god. I’m L/N Y/N, thank you so much for the invite. The opening is great.” You were standing across the owner of Levitate, and you couldn’t help but drink every feature of his in. He was tall, and if you got any closer to him, you were sure his figure would cast a shadow over you instantly.
He laughed. “I’m Nanami Kento.” He bowed slightly, and his hand reached out for yours and his fingers gently lifted it up before he grazed his lips over your skin. “The pleasure’s all mine, of course.”
Geto shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and you realized it was probably because neither you nor Nanami were pulling away from the other. You cleared your throat, mustering up an awkward smile as you slid back onto your seat. Your eyes still remained on him, and his remained on you and you found yourself slightly burning warm under his gaze.
“I gotta go, duty calls,” Geto said over the silence though the music was still going on. He flashed his phone screen that displayed an incoming call from his assistant before he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you into a side hug. It wasn’t much—not the bone-crushing huge the two of you used to share—but it bloomed a sense of familiarity within you, and you could sense Geto felt the same too because he smiled slightly. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”
You nodded, overcome with a sense of joy that only occurs after you reunite with somebody that has done you no wrong.
Nanami bids him goodbye, too, before he slides into the seat Geto was occupying.
“Are you liking the place so far?” he asked, hands gesturing to the surroundings. “I wasn’t sure if I should invite the area’s biggest party animal because you’ve seen many of these kinds of places. But I can at least expect an honest review from you, right?”
You gulped at how he referred to you as a ‘party animal’ and you knew that people had begun seeing you that way over the past few months, too. You weren’t sure if it sat right with you, but you didn’t have anything particular against it.
“Hmm,” you hummed, trailing a finger over the wood of the table, feigning serious thinking. “I think you could change…” You paused, noticing how his brow went up at your words in curiosity. “Everything. It’s trash.”
He narrows his eyes before he lets out a laugh, and you follow along. His hand lightly covers your knee as the two of you laugh a little too obnoxiously over a joke that was hardly funny, but you blame the ‘sinner’s delight.’
“I thought I’d have to close this place down, no joke,” he said, still between bits of laughter.
You smiled. “Hey, don’t do that. This is my new weekend spot, I’d hate to have it taken away.”
His eyes turned warm and he tilted his head at your comment. “Yeah?”
You nodded, ignoring the feeling of his hand against your knee. “Yeah, to the point you’ll have a drink named after me.”
He blew out a breath as he called the bartender over and whispered something into his ear.
“What was that? You order drugs or somethin’?”
“Oh yeah, the code is strawberry and pickles if you want some.”
“I’m glad to know this place has options, then.”
“No, but I just ordered you a drink you’d like.” When you pointed at your half-full glass of ‘sinner’s delight,’ he shook his head and said, “This one’s not on the menu. Just for you.”
Gojo Satoru always hated meetings.
He hated having to prepare what he would say, and hated even more whenever the conversation didn’t go the way he’d prepared. It wasn’t good that he saw meeting his father as a meeting, but that was what it was. An extremely rage-filled meeting that he was never prepared for because he had no idea what his father would say.
“Listen, Satoru.” Oh, Satoru was listening, alright. “Mrs. L/N isn’t backing down. I fear she’s taking selling the company off the table.”
“Probably because you told her you didn’t want to buy it and just have it.” Satoru knew his words held bite to them, but that was the only way his father would realize that he can’t merely get whatever he wants. And also because he couldn’t stand talking about your family at all as the memory of the last time they had dinner was still fresh in his memory.
“I said I wasn’t paying the money she asked for, not that I wasn’t paying at all.”
“Father,” he said, letting out a strained breath. “You have to ask, not demand. And I’m not talking about this anymore—it’s not my problem and I’m not getting involved in it.
When Satoru walked out of the office, he realized that he was being harsher on his dad than he ever was. Hana seemed to realize the same, because she froze up when he opened the door and caught her standing a few feet away, probably having heard the entire short conversation.
He brushed past her, giving her a small smile, towards their shared bedroom but she followed while saying, “Satoru, darling, are you okay?” She followed him to the bed where he laid down, fingers rubbing at his eyes as he tried to alleviate some of the tension away. “Talk to me, Satoru. Are you upset with your father?”
Of course. Of course he was upset with his father because when was he not?
“Hana, please—”
“No, Satoru.” She cut him off and he could barely inhale at her tone. Rarely had she sounded so curt with him, and everytime she did, he wasn’t sure how to pull her out of it except for leaving her alone. He hadn’t been able to figure out the specifics, despite it being many months since they’ve been married. “You’ve been acting off for the past week, and it started after dinner at the L/N’s. Did something happen?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”You. It was you who he couldn’t get out of his mind. He couldn’t forget how you’d once and for all, completely solidified that you and him were over. He couldn’t forget that he could’ve tried harder. He couldn’t forget that he could’ve explained everything. He could see that you were still seeking closure, and he knew he should give it to you but he couldn’t have. Not unless he wanted you to fall down the path of having to heal all over again. Because of him.
#gojo x reader#angst#jjk#jujutsu kaisen#gojo angst#gojo satoru#gojo satoru angst#gojo satoru x reader#gojo x you#gojo satoru x you#jjk angst#jujutsu kaisen angst
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─ 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 - 𝐜.𝐟 : 𝐈𝐈𝐈
Summary: Now that your life has turned upside down, are you still willing to put your siblings' feelings first? Or would you rather fight for your feelings and do what makes you happy regardless of the consequences that might result in the future?
Prev ; Next || Conrad Fisher x fem!reader || My blog
Warnings: S2 SPOILERS! swearing, fluff (lmk if i missed anything!)
SEQUEL TO BEFORE EVERYTHING HAPPENED.
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Steven’s Pov
“Conrad? man?” I called out for him — walking towards him, he was there standing near the shore with his phone in his hands.
“I’m okay, Steven” Conrad replied — his back still turned to me, shaking his head. “What’s happening man?” I asked, walking closer to him — genuinely concerned after seeing him stand up so abruptly earlier.
“Panic attack. I-I’m okay, i’m okay now” Conrad replied shaking his hand — like it was normal for him to have this kind of incident, like it happened to him before. “Okay, do-do you want to tell me what got you worked up or should we just pretend this didn’t happen?” I asked him — walking closer.
“I-I got into stanford” he turned around — his face filled with worry. My face started to lighten up “What? Are you serious?” I smiled.
“Yeah man, my mom has this fantasy about me finding myself in the west coast” He said, his voice filled with panic. My brows furrowed “Okay but Connie, this is a good thing. You’ve been dreaming about it, about getting into stanford”
“Well but it doesn’t make sense anymore you know. I-It… It’s just things are starting to get better with Jere and he’s going to Finch in the fall which is close to Brown so.” Conrad looked at me. I went and grabbed his shoulder gently “But.. but you don’t need to choose right this second okay? Just talk to him.”
He shook his head no “He doesn’t even know about it, he doesn’t know that I applied. Just please don’t tell him.” I just nodded then walked beside him patting his back — respecting his decision.
The things he would do for his brother, it was always him who puts his family above anything. It was his dream — to get into Stanford, it was also his mom’s dream, he wanted to go, it was a great opportunity but he can’t, he chose not to so fuck it I guess.
“Let’s go?” I asked — walking beside him. He looked at me and nodded before stopping, pulling his phone out “Oh and Steve” I turned around and stopped walking too.
“She’s coming” Conrad said — smiling gently, his eyes lighting up, handing me his phone. My brows furrowed — confused with who he was talking about. Who “she”? is, i looked at his phone then it all clicked, the only one who was missing.
“My sister?” I whispered — looking at my sister’s text that says ‘I’m coming tomorrow’. I looked at Conrad — he had a big smile on his face. He looks so happy, this means its true.
We’re finally complete. She’s finally here, my sister is finally here. God I could cry because of how happy I am. It’s been so long, i’m finally seeing her — we’re finally seeing her.
“Holy shit” I whispered under my breathe before going up to Conrad to hug him. Conrad chuckled “I’m glad she’s coming, we’re finally complete, Steve.” he pulled away and smiled.
“Omg let’s go, we need to fix her room!” I said giddily — jumping up and down before pulling Conrad with me towards the house.
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THE NEXT DAY
Conrad’s Pov
Today was the day — Y/N was coming. She finally answered. It was just me and Steven who knows, we didn’t tell the rest because we thought that it would be a good surprise. It wasn't just me and Jeremiah who didn't see her for so long, it was also her siblings.
There was her car, she's finally here - with us. I saw her hop out of her car, with a bag in her hand. I walked towards here - smiling gently. The moment she saw me, she smiled so big and walked towards me "Hi" she said, her voice so gentle.
God how I missed her. She was still so beautiful, so stunning. The one I have been waiting for. I reached out for her hand, she held mine back.
I smiled — looking at her in the eyes. "Hey there" she looked down, giggling softly. I missed that sound. God I missed everything about her, I missed my bestfriend.
I went and grabbed the bag from her hand and guided her inside the house to surprise everyone else. As we went inside the house, we saw Belly going down the stairs — as soon as she saw Y/N, she ran to her and hugged her. Steven came in to the view yelling Y/N’s name before joining his sisters.
"Oh you guys, I missed you so much. I am so so sorry for shutting you guys out, I just needed time for myself." Y/N said to her siblings. I can see that she loves them truly, she just didn't want to hurt them, that's all.
Jeremiah walked inside the living room, Taylor behind him — smiling as they saw Belly and Y/N hugging.
Belly pulled away — tears in her eyes, she shook her head no "No, I am so so sorry for getting mad at you. You were struggling too and I was too insensitive about it. I just.. it just looked like you were so strong so I guess I kind of got jealous about that but I understand, we understand so don't say sorry" she said before pulling Y/N again for a hug.
"Oh my cinderbelly. Stop crying! it's open house, we need to stop Aunt Julia." Y/N said giggling pulling away from both of them. She walked toward Jeremiah and hugged him before going to Taylor — hugging her too.
I went and walked beside her and guided her upstairs to her room. That was much better, her being here. Her going here, us being complete. This just made me want to fight for this house more, this just made me not want to give up.
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Y/n's Pov
It was definitely good to be back. As soon as I saw Conrad's text, I just had to go here and fight with them. I had to be there beside them.
There will always be a special place in my heart for this house, since it was also special to Susannah. We considered it our home and we will always consider it our home. It is our safe place, forever and always.
As I got done unpacking my stuff, I went down to the kitchen to get some food to eat — until I saw Aunt Julia with Skye. As I was about to go back upstairs, I heard Skye say "Oh, hey, Y/N. I see you're here too" they smiled at me.
I turned around and smiled back at them "Yeah, I just got here earlier" I nodded before walking towards the island “Also are those muffins?” I asked. Skye nodded offering me one but Aunt Julia cut me off.
“Oh those are for the open house” she paused “Morning” smiling gently. I nodded, I looked at the door seeing Jeremiah and Conrad walk in it. They just got done swimming.
“Hey, Jeremiah… Conrad” Skye said, both Conrad and Jeremiah just smiled. “Uhm how are you guys doing now, you know.. since your mom?” Skye asked the boys — their voice filled with worry.
Conrad looked at Jeremiah before answering “Rough” Jeremiah said then Conrad replied “Rougher now that our aunt is stealing our house” he looked — his eyes filled with no emotions.
Aunt Julia turned around — leaning on the table “I am not stealing anything, Conrad. Like it or not, I get to choose what happens and I chose to put it in the market” Aunt Julia said smiling at us sarcastically “You know, you guys should hit the road now, to avoid traffic” I looked at Conrad, waiting for his answer.
Conrad shook his head no “Sorry but we’re not leaving. We’re staying for the open house” he said before walking beside me. Aunt Julia shook her head no “Oh no no, I cant have teenagers laying around here during open house. You guys need to go somewhere else.”
“Just let us stay” I said — trying to convince Aunt Julia, she shook her head “I’m sorry, I don’t have time for this.” she said before walking away.
I just looked at Conrad — he smiled at me gently before guiding me towards the living room.
TIME SKIP
As I went down the stairs, I heard the doorbell ring. I went and walked towards the door to open it. There was a lady with folders in her hand “Hi, what can I do for you?” I asked. “Hello, I’m the realtor. I’m looking for Julia” she said — smiling.
“Oh for the open house?” she nodded — I paused trying to come up with an explanation. "So uhm, the open house has been cancelled. Our apologies, it is totally last minute." I smiled gently. She furrowed her brows, “Sorry but who are you?” she asked, genuinely confused with who I was.
Conrad went beside me — I felt him put an arm around my shoulder “She’s my girlfriend, and she’s right. The house is not for sale” In my confusion, I looked at him, unable to understand why he had called me his "girlfriend", completely forgetting that he was probably doing this just to give us some time “Conrad right? I’m so sorry about your mom” the lady said. Conrad was about to answer when we heard Aunt Julia yell
“Ignore them! the open house will still happen. There’s just a problem with the ac, but it’s not too big of a deal,” she said, walking between us.
The lady's brows furrowed “That is not a small problem Julia, it’s supposed to hit 95 today!” the lady said — Aunt Julia smiled before walking towards her and guiding her outside of the door. When Conrad closed the door, I heard him say, "Hey, I'm so sorry I called you that, I-" I went and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's fine, Connie. It's totally cool, don't worry about it." I said walking towards him — putting an arm around his waist while his arm is around my shoulder. He nodded smiling at me —smiling because it didn’t bother me, smiling because he heard that word again, the word ‘Connie’.
It felt good to call Conrad 'Connie' again. Being back like this felt so good, so unreal - normal and happy, but the word 'girlfriend' sounded much greater especially coming from him. I would say, it did give me butterflies.
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hi everyone!! sorry if it took me so long to update — i was just to tired and i kinda didnt know what to write next but here it is !! i’m sorry if theres mistakes here and there but i hope everyone likes it !!
lmk if you guys want to get tagged :)) lots of love !!
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A New Kind of Love: Chapter III
Genre: Non-Idol college au, slight enemies to lovers (more like they annoy e/o at the start), friends with benefits, smut, angst, romance, drama
Pairing: Minho x F!Reader
Warnings: Drinking, Cigarette Smoking, Mention of Weed, Nonconsensual touching, Cussing, Spanking, Rough Sex, Physical Violence (Minho punches a guy), Degradation, Reader is a bit of a brat. Let me know if I forgot anything! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.
Word Count: 5,377
Summary: You didn't grow up with great examples of love. Your parents were always at each other's throats. As a result, you have struggled with expressing your true feelings and can come off cold or defensive. After your boyfriend of 2 years cheats on you during freshman year with your childhood best friend, you decide to swear off love for good. Now in your second year of college, you move into the basement apartment of a house full of college boys. Inevitably crossing paths with one of them, Minho quickly gets under your skin in more ways than one. Despite your differences, you can't stay away from him.
A/N: Apologies for the lengthy chapter. I am also realizing that I have written a lot of parties into this story haha, but it's college. Side note/fun fact: I based the campus and house off of Penn State and where I used to live. Feedback/thoughts are always welcome!
Chapter III: Those Are Mine Now
Prev | Next
Fall semester was coming to a close and the first snow had fallen on campus. You loved the smell of snow and the sound it made when it crunched under your boots. It rarely ever snowed back home. A few weeks had gone by since your library encounter with Minho and as much as you tried, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. His touch, his tongue, they were haunting your dreams both day and night. As you replay the moment in your head, you miss Yuqi and Momo walking up to your table at the usual meet up spot. Yuqi sits down across from you and exchanges a look with Momo as they notice your spaced out state.
“Ground control to Major Tom?” Yuqi waves at you to get your attention.
“It appears we've lost connection,” the two girls mimic speaking into an intercom. You banish Minho from your head and smile at them.
“Sorry.”
“Damn, where did you go?” Momo, your other best friend, slides into the booth next to you wrapping an arm around your shoulder.
“Nowhere…” you shrug your shoulders. After placing your orders, the girls turn their attention to you.
“So are you going to Max’s party this weekend?” You look between Momo and Yuqi blinking.
“I guess she hasn’t heard,” Momo says. “Max is throwing a party at the Theta Chi house Saturday night to celebrate the end of finals. You have to come!”
“Jisung is going so he’s bringing his roommates with him,” Yuqi adds.
“Wow I guess you two are really hitting it off.” You mindlessly flip through the sugar packets for something to add to your tea.
Yuqi bites the tip of her thumb and scrunches her nose. “Yes.” She starts to giggle.
“Ew, okay.” You stick your finger down your throat, jokingly.
“Stop, I really like him!” She covers her face shyly.
“They’re all over each other, it’s gross.” Momo rolls her eyes in gest.
Yuqi scoffs. “Whatever, you just can't stand how cute we are.”
“That is accurate.” You laugh at Momo’s comment before changing the topic.
“So you said Jisung and his roommates will be there?”
Yuqi is scrolling through her phone mindlessly. “Yeah.” You pick at your napkin trying to act nonchalant.
“All of them or just-”
Yuqi lets out a frustrated sigh. “If you’re trying to ask if Minho will be there then just say so.” She places her hands on her hips and gives you a pointed look. The waiter walks over interrupting to drop off your food.
Momo takes hold of her plate and turns to you, “Minho? Who is that?”
“No one. He’s no one.”
“No one doesn’t fuck someone in a library, Y/n.” Yuqi raises an eyebrow, casually taking a sip of her coffee.
Momo’s eyes go wide as she shouts, “ What?!” You look around at the other restaurant patrons and try to shoosh the girls. Yuqi lets out a cackle. “What the hell, Y/n. Spill!” Momo drops her hand from your shoulder and nudges you for an explanation.
“Sorry, it’s nothing really. We just kinda hooked up a few weeks ago.”
“Minho went down on her in the stacks.” Yuqi says with a mouthful of food.
“In the stacks?” Momo lets out a whistle. “Yeah, sure sounds like nothing.” They both laugh and you kick them under the table.
“Ouch!” They cry out in unison.
Yuqi rubs her calf, still laughing. “And to answer your question. Yes, he will be there.”
“I didn’t ask.” You take a sip of your tea and shrug. Yuqi kicks you under the table now, but you don’t react.
“What are we going to do with her?” Yuqi sighs.
Momo looks at you coyly, “I can think of a few things.” She winks at you.
“Okay, now it’s my turn to be grossed out,” Yuqi feigns disgust as she looks at her meal. “And in front of my salad.”
“Speaking of tossed salad.” You choke on your drink and start laughing along with Momo. Yuqi throws her fork down. “I just lost my appetite.” She raises her finger in the air, “Check, please!”
-
On your way to the arts building to take your last final of the semester, you see Minho talking to a very pretty girl. Shoot. You had definitely been avoiding him at home and on campus recently, but curiosity gets the better of you. Quickly ducking behind some students, you settle behind a tree to get a better look. Minho stands leaning against a wall of a neighboring building. He’s dressed in utility pants, crewneck, and a beanie. He looks good. Too good. What a dick, you think. He’s laughing with her and they seem to be close. You feel an unfamiliar pang in your chest at the sight of them together. Minho looks in your direction and you flee into a crowd, sprinting to your final.
Minho chats with his dance partner, Mel. They break out into laughter as they recall something funny their dance instructor said earlier during their final. They have known each other since the start of Freshman year and while they weren’t best friends, there was still a closeness between them as dance partners. Minho was blown away by her skill the first time he watched her dance and knew he had to make her his partner after that. Mel has really helped him grow as a dancer and maybe had an influence on his patience too. While going over their plans for Christmas break, Minho feels the back of his neck tingle and senses eyes on him. He turns to look for the source and thinks he spies you, but you’re gone before he can confirm it’s you. He looks back to Mel to continue their chat when Mel’s girlfriend, Leah, joins them.
“Hey, you two.” Leah plants a kiss on Mel’s cheek. Minho greets her with a nod.
Leah looks at Minho and pats his arm. “You going to Max’s party this weekend?”
“Yeah, Jisung is making us go.”
“Making?” Mel questions.
“A girl he’s sweet on will be there so all the guys are going as moral support.” He shrugs.
“Sweet on? Are you from the past, old man?” Leah tries to poke Minho in the rib teasingly, but he immediately flinches, avoiding her. She turns to Mel, “We should get going, love.” Mel nods and gives Minho a wave.
“See you this weekend!”
He watches them leave admiring the two of them as they walk hand in hand. Minho catches himself imagining the two of you similarly walking around campus and gives himself a slap.
“Stop that!” he chastises himself and leaves for his next class.
-
Momo, Yuqi, and you stand at the base of the stairs of the Theta Chi house and look up. There are colorful lights blinking in the window and you can hear the base of whatever song is blasting. Yuqi pulls you both into her side and you ascend the steps. As soon as you open the door you're greeted by a flood of people dancing and chatting. Yuqi helps guide you through the crowd for a meeting point she had pre-planned with Jisung. Jisung and Felix spot all of you and Jisung jumps in the air to capture your attention. Yuqi sees him and shrieks excitedly. Still holding onto your arm, she starts running in the direction of the boys. You quickly grab Momo’s hand as you are pulled through the sea of people. Jisung pulls Yuqi into a hug and places a peck on her cheek. They stare into each other’s eyes fondly as they say hi to each other. It makes your chest tighten a little.
“Oh my god. They really are whipped for each other,” you whisper into Momo’s ear. She laughs and nods back.
“Hey, Y/n!” Jisung pulls you into a hug next, followed by Felix. Felix lingers a little and you notice he is staring at something past you. Minho watches the four of you from across the room and meets Felix’s eyes. Felix releases you.
“Hi Felix," you smile at him.
“It’s good to see you again,” he says, giving your arms a gentle squeeze.
You look at Jisung. “Hey, neighbor.”
“I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve seen you,” Jisung says. You laugh uncomfortably and Yuqi turns away to hide her knowing giggle.
“Just been busy I guess.” You turn to Momo, bringing her forward. “This is our friend, Momo, by the way.”
“Momo! We finally meet!” Jisung grabs her and gives her an unexpected tight hug. Yuqi’s face lightens up with the biggest smile. Momo looks at the two of you with a shocked face and laughs. Jisung releases her and Felix takes her hand as they exchange hellos. After Felix offers to grab beers for everyone, the four of you settle into a corner and comfortably chat. Felix eventually returns with drinks and joins in on the conversation.
You take a few sips, nodding your head to whatever Jisung is saying while you casually scan the room for someone. For him. Right on cue, the crowd parts and directly across the room in front of you, stands Minho. You notice his hand holding a red cup and find yourself staring at his fingers, then your eyes drift up to his arm admiring the tattoo covering most of his forearm. You make a mental note to get a better look at it later. Minho feels your gaze and looks in your direction. He thinks you’re staring at him at first, but then follows your eyes to his arm. He tilts his head and a grin spreads across his face. He takes a sip of his drink purposely pulling you from your thoughts. Your eyes meet. A warm sensation trickles through your body. Minho turns his attention back to someone. It’s her. The pretty girl from before. Did he come here with her? And who the heck is she? Are they sleeping together? You want to ask Jisung or Felix who Minho is talking to, but worry you’ll only get more questions back from them. Minho puts his hand on the girl’s shoulder and you feel an emotion akin to jealousy ignite within you. Momo notices you looking distracted so she nudges you.
You face her and arch a brow. “What?”
Momo leans into your ear. “Let’s dance.”
Felix asks to accompany the two of you and the three of you walk out to the makeshift dance floor in the living room. Minho watches you curiously, but remains chatting with Mel. Felix and Momo sandwich you between them while you jump around dancing and shouting the lyrics of the song playing. You try to forget about Minho and his pretty friend and get lost in the music. A girl you recognize from one of your art history classes taps on Felix’s shoulder and asks him to dance. He looks at you and Momo for permission, but you both wave him away.
“Go, have fun, babe!” He leaves the two of you to dance together. Momo gets distracted by someone behind her and chats them up so you now dance alone. Minho catches your eye again and you see him with another girl. You turn around growing further annoyed. Why isn’t he coming to say hi? Minho looks at the back of you wondering what game you're playing. He turns to Mel’s girlfriend, Leah, and excuses himself for a moment. He starts to make his way onto the dance floor when another guy steps in instead. He’s unsure what’s said, but he assumes he is asking to dance with you. You wrap your arms around the guy and start moving together. Minho feels anger boil under his skin, but decides to go find his roommates before he does something dumb.
Momo finally returns her attention back to you and gives your new dance partner a get lost look. “My turn,” she shouts as she grabs hold of your waist possessively. You thank your dance partner and turn around to face Momo. The two of you dance in the middle of the makeshift dance floor while taking more swigs of beer. She takes hold of you pulling you in closely. You both get into the rhythm and her warm body feels good against yours. You wrap an arm around her neck gently grinding into her. She takes that as a signal and brings you in for a kiss. It wasn’t the first time you had messed around with Momo. The two of you usually end up making out at some point whenever you attend parties together. Momo slides a hand down and gives your ass a squeeze. You slap her jokingly, but she doesn’t relent. Instead, she slides her tongue further into your mouth and you can feel her moan. Excitement rushes through you.
Minho finds Jisung and Yuqi in the backyard. They have been joined by a few of his other roommates, Hyunjin and Changbin. Jisung’s hand is wrapped around Yuqi’s back, holding her closely to his side. Minho hasn’t seen Jisung look this happy in a long time and it makes him swell with joy. He bumps beer bottles with the boys, greeting each other.
Yuqi leans into Minho’s side. “Have you seen Y/n?”
“She’s on the dance floor with your other friend.”
“Momo?” she asks. Minho nods and looks back in the direction of the dance floor.
“They’re somewhere over-” he cuts himself off when he spots the two of you making out. Yuqi and Jisung follow his gaze curiously. Yuqi sees the two of you embracing each other and rolls her eyes. Jisung stands with his mouth open like a fish and Yuqi smacks his chest. He laughs, but nervously looks to Minho for his reaction.
“I guess it’s that time of night then,” Yuqi says jokingly. “They’re like that sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Jisung says surprised. “Aren’t they friends?”
“Yeah, of course, and it’s just two drunken friends having fun. Don’t read too much into it.” She says that more for Minho’s benefit, but notices his fist balled at his side.
“There’s nothing between them. It doesn’t mean anything, I promise.” She places a hand on his forearm to reassure him. Minho looks at Yuqi and gives her a quick smile that doesn’t meet his eyes. He takes the last sip of his beer and walks away. Changbin notices Minho leaving abruptly.
“Where is Hyung going?” He asks Jisung.
“Probably to get another drink,” he lies. Minho hadn’t really told anyone about the nature of his relationship with you, but Jisung and Felix knew something was happening.
If you were being honest with yourself, you knew there was a chance Minho would see the two of you together. You didn’t know where he was, but you could feel him near. Were you doing this for attention? Maybe. Did you know why? Your buzzed state convinced yourself no. Momo weaves her fingers into your hair, pushing you closer together. Her kisses were becoming more desperate. You try to enjoy the sweet taste of your silly friend’s tongue in your mouth while you both sway to the upbeat music together, but Minho’s potentially disappointed face keeps interrupting your thoughts. You decide it is time to stop. You disconnect your lips and Momo whines when you try to step away. She pulls you back and nuzzles into your neck, licking your sensitive spots. She was definitely tipsy and the two of you often got touchy feely, sometimes more in the privacy of your apartment, but things were getting borderline public indecency now.
“Babe, we should stop,” you reluctantly push her away.
“Fine.” she says exasperated. “I’m gonna go grab another drink.” You could tell she was disappointed so you call after her.
“I love you!”
“Yeah, yeah.” She waves you off.
Alone in the crowd you look around for Minho, but accidentally bump into someone else. You face the person you assailed and see a gorgeous dimpled man smiling back at you.
“Y/n?” It takes you a moment to connect the dots.
“Oh! Chris?”
“Yeah!” The two of you had recently seen each other in passing, but hadn’t spoken much. You look down to inspect him.
“I’m so sorry, did I hurt you?”
“Nah, nah you're good.” The two of you start to casually dance together and chat when Momo finally returns with a new drink in hand. She looks to Chris then you.
“Is this the famous Minho?” Your eyes widen in mortification. Chris coughs and laughs, which makes you wonder if Minho told Chris about what had happened between you. You brush it off and recover your composure.
“Uh, no, this is-”
“I’m Chris,” he puts a hand out and Momo takes it. “I’m one of Y/n’s neighbors.”
“Oh, how fun.” She looks at you and smiles while waggling her brows. Still holding hands, you notice the two are definitely attracted to each other so you use this as an opportunity to escape.
“Alright, well, why don’t you two chat. It looks like I am in need of a refill now.”
“Later!” Momo waves without breaking eye contact with Chris. Pushing through the crowd of drunk college students, you look back and see Momo wrap her arms around Chris’s neck as they start to dance. Good. You love Momo, but you sometimes worry that if the two of you keep things going too long, feelings might get skewed and you don't want to risk losing her friendship…even if it was a lot of fun.
The kitchen is surprisingly sparse of people and you take a moment to soak in the quiet. You pour some punch into a solo cup and lean against the counter to sip. Minho knocks on the wall to announce his presence.
“Hey.” He stands with his hands in his pockets. He’s wearing black jeans with a white v-neck tee and jean jacket. You can feel your heart start to race so you look into your cup for a distraction.
“Hey,” you say casually. He takes a step into the kitchen and hovers. Minho can tell you’re trying to avoid him. Unable to take these games he finally speaks.
“Look, we need to talk.”
Before he can say what he wants to say, Kyle enters the kitchen and greets you, completely unaware of Minho’s presence..
“We meet again, sweetheart.”
A slight panic sets in as your two hookups stand in the same room together. You can feel your cheeks warm from embarrassment. “Hi, Kyle,” you say awkwardly.
“I was hoping we’d run into each other.” Minho feels anger climb up his spine as he sees Kyle swoop you into an embrace. He walks out of the kitchen in defeat. You peer over Kyle’s shoulder and watch him leave. The pang in your heart returns. Kyle releases you and pins you to the counter.
“I’ve missed you.” You look away from the empty space where Minho stood then meet Kyle’s eyes. You cock your head to the side amused. “Sure, you have.”
He leans in and whispers. “I’m serious. I miss the way you feel, baby.” You’re annoyed at his words turning you on. Are you really this horny or just tipsy? You chastise yourself.
“Why don’t we take this upstairs, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know, Kyle.” You attempt to deny him.
“Are we really going to do this same dance every time?” He takes hold of your hand and heads for the second floor. Minho watches as the two of you disappear up the stairs and decides he’s had enough.
The two of you walk into the hallway where a few other couples had escaped to for some privacy. Kyle pushes you against the wall and kisses your neck. You place a hand on the back of his head as you feel your body give in to his caresses. He starts to pull you towards a bedroom, but the pang in your heart gets even louder. This isn’t right. You place your hands on Kyle’s shoulder and push him off of you.
“I don’t think we should, Kyle.”
“Come on, baby. Just a quickie.”
You roll your eyes and laugh as he starts to kiss your cheek. You push him away again.
“I’m being serious, Kyle. I don’t want to do this.” He ignores you and tries to guide you into an open bedroom, but he’s interrupted when he’s ripped from your arms.
“Get off her.” Minho yanks Kyle off of you pushing him into the other wall.
“Who the fuck are you?” Kyle shouts.
“Minho, what the hell are you doing?” Kyle interrupts you and lunges at Minho. Minho anticipates the move and decks him, knocking him down to the ground.
You look down at Kyle in horror. “Minho, what the actual fuck?” Minho doesn’t hear you and instead throws you over his shoulder. Kyle attempts to stand, but Minho whips around with you in tow and threatens him to “stay down.” Kyle slumps back on the ground. Minho’s punch dazed him a little. He holds his hands up in surrender.
“Fine, she’s all yours.”
“Gee, thanks, Kyle,” you say sarcastically as you and Minho walk down the stairs. You try to wriggle out of his grasp, but this just makes him grip onto your exposed thighs harder. He takes you outside to the front of the house and cautiously places you on the ground. You see him hover closely, anticipating your escape, but you just cross your arms and scoff.
“What? Do you think I’m going to run away?” The two of you stare each other down before he takes hold of your elbow.
“We’re going home.” It’s not a question, but a demand.
You pull your arm from his grasp. “You’re not my dad, Minho! You can’t tell me what to do.”
He laughs at how childish you sound. He gets in your face and you have to lean back so your noses don’t brush. You forgot how good it felt to have him this close. Minho thinks the same, but he tries to remain focused. His voice lowers and he repeats himself, “We are going home.” A shiver runs through you at the shift in his tone. You bite your lip as you feel warmth shoot through your middle. Minho grabs your hand and you don’t fight him this time.
Finally in front of the house, he releases your hand and you walk past him, but he reaches back out for you and grasps your wrist before you can get too far. You swing back at the force and face him. Minho is looking to the ground when he speaks. He looks calmer now, a little unsure.
“Were you really going to sleep with that guy?”
You shrug, “Probably not.” He shoots air out his nose and shakes his head. He lets you go and leaves.
“Where are you going?” you shout.
“To bed?” He looks at you incredulously.
“You’re such an asshole.”
He stops in his tracks, turning to face you.
“I’m the asshole? Me?” He cannot believe how bratty you are being. He also hates how turned on he is.
“Yes.” You stick your tongue out at him. That’s it, he says to himself. His eyes darken and he takes long strides back to you. He grabs hold of your forearm and pulls you into the alleyway beside your shared house. He cages you against the cold brick wall and all you can do is stare at him in bewilderment at his sudden actions.
“What the fuck are you doing, Y/n?” he growls. His anger sends a pleasant sensation through your body again.
“What?” you ask. Doe eyes on full display. He laughs and releases a hand from the wall to run through his hair. The smell of his shampoo invades your senses and you have to keep yourself from purring. Minho looks back at you, all amusement gone from his face. Goosebumps visibly spread across your skin.
“So were you just going to fuck everyone at the party until you got my attention?” Your mouth drops in surprise. He wasn’t…wrong, but you also weren’t expecting him to call you out. You look down at your shoes and shift on your feet. Minho grabs hold of your chin and forces you to look at him.
“You’ve got my attention now, princess. Are you happy?” You don’t answer. “What, no retort? You’re usually so opinionated.”
You try to look away again, but Minho keeps you in place.
“And what about you? You’re not so innocent.” Your voice shakes as you try to cling to a shred of your dignity.
“Me?” he asks.
“You were flirting with a few girls yourself!”
He takes a moment to think of who you could be talking about and realizes you mean Mel and Leah. It dawns on him in that moment that it was you he caught watching him on campus earlier in the week. He blinks a few times. “Is that why you were so misbehaved tonight? You were jealous?” You don’t know how to answer him. His eyes drop from yours to your lips. He gently moves his thumb over your bottom lip before slowly sliding it into your mouth. He watches you intently as you accept his digit and start sucking. You swirl your tongue around his finger, but he stops you when he pushes down on your tongue forcing your mouth open. He leans in and swipes his tongue across your own and you moan. He licks your mouth again before forcing your lips together. His hand drops from your chin and slides down to your waist. He takes in your lips fully. Minho’s other hand grips the back of your head pushing you further into your kiss. Your tongues wrestle for dominance, teeth clashing.
You grip the hair on the back of his head and tug, making him moan at the painful sensation. His moan vibrates through your mouth and down your spine. Minho takes his free hand and gently climbs your thigh and up to your waist. Goosebumps spread across your body from the touch of his hand. You have been craving this for weeks. He finds the band of your thong and snaps it against your hip. You both smile against each other’s lips as he pushes his tongue back into your mouth. He then traces the top of your panty line before slipping the tips of his fingers underneath the fabric. His fingers are cold in contrast to your warmth. He separates from your kiss and looks into your eyes for permission.
“Please,” you whisper. Still holding your gaze he slides his fingers down and through your folds. He collects your wetness and pulls out to admire his slick digits. You purr at the sight. He sticks his fingers in front of you. You take hold of his hand and push them fully into your mouth, tasting yourself. Minho swallows hard. There is only hunger in his eyes.
He grabs hold of your neck and crashes back into your lips so he can taste your arousal on his tongue. Minho’s hand returns to your panties and begins to trace circles around your clit.
“More,” you whisper into his mouth.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to demand, princess.”
“Please, Minho.”
“Better.” He pushes two fingers inside of you and begins to aggressively finger fuck you until you hear your wetness. You missed this feeling. He pants into your mouth as moans spill from your lips.
“You like the way my fingers feel inside you, baby?”
“Yes, Min, yes!”
“I fucking missed you, Y/n. Did you think of me?” He curls his fingers inside you and you cry out.
“Every day!”
You feel yourself about to come. “I’m so close, Min.” Minho removes his fingers from you leaving you empty. Your eyes fly open at the loss.
“Turn around.” You acquiesce and face the wall. “Hands on the wall.” You place your palms on the cold brick while Minho rustles through his pockets. He pulls out a condom and tears the packet with his teeth.
“Hurry up, Minho.” He gently slaps your ass and you yelp.
“Patience, princess.” Minho slides the condom on and lifts the skirt of your dress. He gently rubs the skin of your cheek where he tapped you and gives it one more slap, this time harder. He pulls your thong down your legs and spits letting the string of saliva slowly fall onto you. He uses a finger to spread his spit through your folds, not that you need the extra lubrication.
“Minho, if you don’t stick your dick in me I am going to-” Minho tugs your hair pulling your ear to his lips.
“Never thought I’d see the day when you would be begging for my cock.” He slaps your pussy.
“God, I hate you,” you choke out. Minho just chuckles.
“Liar,” he whispers. Losing patience himself, he aligns his tip with your entrance and pushes in allowing your body a moment to adjust. After he bottoms out he pauses taking in the feeling.
“Fuck, Y/n, you feel amazing.” You can’t help, but preen. You’ve thought of nothing else than this moment.
“Minho, move!” you demand.
“Such a fucking brat.” He feels you clench on him. “Of course you’d like that, slut.” You clench again and he lets out a strangled moan at the sensation. He finally rolls into you and fireworks flash before your eyes. With absolutely no regard for your surroundings, Minho slams into you repeatedly. His hands grip your hips so hard, you’re certain he’ll leave bruises. You look forward to checking the damage in the morning. The heat begins to climb up your body as your orgasm approaches.
“Min” thrust “ho” thrust “I’m gonna” thrust “come ahhh!” He grabs hold of your mouth to muffle your screams as you cream on his cock. He looks down where the two of you are connected and groans seeing your come trickle down his dick and your legs. He continues to ride you through your orgasm before he finally grunts and releases. Remaining inside of you, he leans into your back and removes the hold on your mouth, gently sliding it down to your back and around to hold your breast. You place your hand on his as he gently massages you. You feel his warm breath on your back. The two of you remain holding each other against the wall until your breathing calms. After your high dissipates you pull away from him and turn around to push Minho off of you. He pulls off the condom, ties it off, and throws it into a bush. While he’s pulling his pants back up, you bend down to grab your thong.
“Leave them.”
“What?” You look at him confused.
“Those are mine now.”
You snort. “You’re kidding me, right?” He holds out his hand and motions for them. You throw them at his face, but he thwarts your efforts and quickly catches them, placing them in his pocket. You tug your dress down, feeling completely bare to the elements, and walk away.
“Good night, Minho.”
“So she does have manners.” Minho smiles expectantly.
“Crawl into a hole,” you say with a sickeningly sweet smile on your face.
“Sweet dreams, princess,” he blows you an air kiss. You bat his flying air kiss away dramatically. Minho just sighs and follows closely behind you to the front of the house.
“By the way, the girl you saw me with earlier is my dance partner, Mel.” You face him surprised at the sudden confession. He continues. “And the other girl is her girlfriend, Leah.”
“And I care because?” Feigning disinterest, you look at your nails. Minho says nothing back so you turn on your heel and leave. Minho shakes his head and laughs to himself.
Silently, the two of you head for your separate doors. He pauses at his entryway and waits for the sound of your door shutting. Once he hears your door close he goes inside the house wearing a smile he hasn’t been able to wipe away since meeting you.
MASTERLIST
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Tag List: @linocz @queenmea604
xx
#Stray Kids#Lee Know#lee know smut#lee know x reader#stray kids x reader#lee know x y/n#skz lee know#skz#skz x reader#stray kids smut#Lee Minho#minho x reader#weareapackofstrays#Han Jisung#skz smut#lee know fanfic#stray kids fanfic#smut#lee minho stray kids#Lee Minho smut#lee minho fanfic#Spotify
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Chapter Twelve of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is up!!! It's the moment you've all waited for-- the reveal. :000 They boys discover some things about themselves (things they once knew) and visit an unfamiliar place (a place that was once familiar.) Read it on ao3 or below the cut!
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The group’s shocked silence lasted for two, maybe three seconds before it quickly morphed into chaos.
“That’s him! That’s the goat!” Mikey shrieked, pointing wildly. “That’s the goat who has Dad!”
“Leo! Call 911!” Raph commanded. Leo scoffed loudly.
“No way! I wanna kick this guy’s ass. Make Donnie do it.”
“What?! No fair! I’ve called 911 the last six times! It’s someone else’s turn!”
“You have not! I called 911 last time!” April protested.
“That one doesn’t count!”
“Well someone’s gotta--”
“Enough!” Goatman snarled, absolutely bristling, waving his arm sharply. The air around them suddenly felt colder and stiller, and Leo shuddered, gritting his teeth as his posture stiffened. “I am not here to listen to your silly arguments. I am here to bring you home, so you can finally fulfill your purpose.”
Leo gave a short snort of laughter. “Hm, yeah, tempting, but our Daddy actually taught us not to go with creepy sheep strangers, even if they offer us free candy, soooo…”
“What?! Candy? No! I’m talking about your purpose! The reason you were created-- to eliminate the human threat! Come with me, and I can unlock your full potential!”
“How many divine purposes have we got again? ‘Cause I’m starting to lose track,” Mikey complained. Leo rolled his eyes.
“Eliminate the human threat? Yeah, uh, maybe you haven't been paying attention, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’re literally humans.”
The yokai paused for a moment. His face twisted, and he hunched his shoulders back before he gave a forced laugh. “Humans?” He echoed. “Humans?! Surely you aren’t fooled by those silly trinkets! You can’t possibly, actually believe…”
“Oh my god. This guy is, like, for real crazy,” April observed, raising her brows.
“No, you are fools!” He hissed in return. “Humans?! These ridiculous forms are completely fabricated! These are not your true selves! You are experiments! You are soldiers! You’re mutated turtles-- my greatest creations! The creations of Baron Draxum!”
“Baron Draxum? Okay, well, we’ll deal with him when he gets here… Oh… Oh-ho-ho wait! You’re doing that, like, sinister talking-about-yourself-in-third person thing, aren’t you! Oh my god, that’s rich!” Leo snorted.
“Hey! Only Raph can use the third-person!”
“I’m sorry, did he say turtles?” Mikey questioned.
“Oh my fucking god…” Leo laughed, clutching his stomach. “Turtles? I’m sorry, we’re mutant turtles?”
“This guy can’t be serious,” Raph muttered.
“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure we would have noticed by now if we were reptiles,” Donnie scoffed, one hand on his hip. “Let alone subjects of some kind of biochemical experiments. Which I am intimately familiar with, by the way. Do you have any idea how many community gardens I’ve been banned from?”
“This can’t…” The yokai shook his head, a hand on his brow. “How could you be tricked by such simple magic? I will show you if I have to.”
“Oh, I’d love to see that,” Donnie muttered.
“Come with me--”
“You are out of your damn mind if you think we’re goin’ anywhere with you!” Raph cut in.
“Maybe if you prove that turtle hypothesis thing you have going on, we can discuss it from there,” Donnie laughed, one brow quirked, sounding caught somewhere between exasperated and amused. Honestly, this whole thing was a little bit fucking hilarious. It was also fucking horrible and scary because their dad was missing and a magic criminal had them cornered in an alley, but like. Seriously. Mutant turtles? You can’t make this stuff up, dude.
Draxum sighed very deeply, scowling at their group.
“Very well,” he said, and he snapped his fingers.
Things became unfunny very, very quickly.
If the air had become cold earlier, now it became startlingly hot, just for a moment, the alley rising up at least five degrees, and Leo heard this choked, startled gasp that he immediately recognized as his twin brother. At the same time, a blinding, almost familiar flash of white light overtook the alley, and Leo hissed, flinching away.
When he looked back, he was horrified to find that where his brother had been standing just a moment ago there was instead some sort of green, scaled creature, their eyes slitted and their skin leathery and bumped, and he thought, what the hell happened to my brother? And after a moment of silence, all of them staring in dazed shock, the reptile flailed, floundered, held its own hands up to its face as if to examine them, and promptly began screaming.
And Leo recognized his own brother's screams, so instead he was thinking: what the hell happened to my brother?!
“What did you do?!” Leo shrieked. Behind him, Mikey screamed, too, and he could hear April spluttering out an impressive string of curse words. He just barely resisted the urge to race over to Donnie’s side, to check if he was okay, (he’s not okay, he knows he’s not okay,) to try to help him, to fix it, because he couldn’t just turn his back on the enemy in front of them-- couldn’t ignore the very obvious threat.
“I simply removed the cloaking enchantment as he requested,” Draxum responded calmly. He even looked amused, almost, the very corners of his lips turning up.
“You what!? What the hell are you-- fix it!!! Turn him back!!!” Leo demanded, his voice rising with the very edges of panic, his pulse climbing ever-steadily higher the longer he listened to his siblings scream.
The other sighed deeply, tilting their head to the side. “Do you still not understand? Fine, then. I’ll show you as well.”
Snap.
Leo wouldn’t describe the experience as painful, but it really wasn’t pleasant, either. He swore he could feel his skin being stripped away and reforming; it was like his skeleton itself was being rearranged, his entire body becoming fluid for just a split second before solidifying again in new places, new patterns, new spaces. An unfamiliar weight pulled at his shoulders, forcing his spine to bend, and his hands and feet fell in a way that now felt unnatural to him. His skin seemed to lay over his muscles differently now.
He was vaguely aware of Mikey screaming somewhere behind him a second time, echoing Donatello’s continued wails.
“Guys?” April bit out, her voice high and frightened.
What the hell happened to him?
“What-- what did you do?” Leo repeated himself, his eyes wide, straining, because his vision was ever-so-slightly different than it had been a few seconds ago and he didn’t know how to adjust. He swore to god he was frozen in place. He wasn’t sure when he had ended up on his knees, but he was shaking so hard, he supposed he wasn’t surprised.
What the fuck happened to his body?
“Now are you convinced?” The yokai pressed. “Now, we will be going to my lab whether you want to or not. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. I would highly recommend the easy way,” he hummed, giving a sharp sweep of his arms. Wind tugged at his back and Leo had just barely the presence of mind to glance behind him, his eyes widening in horror to see this huge expanse of black opening up behind him.
Mikey-- (Mikey? They were small, they were wearing Mikey’s clothes, it must be Mikey--) yelped loudly, the inky cloud yanking him from his feet. April jumped, attempting to grab her baby brother, though she only succeeded in falling into him-- both of them swallowed up into the portal. Raph gave a strangled howl of protest, diving right after them, and Donnie was sucked up as well, disappearing from Leo’s sight. His heart thudded wildly in his ears. He could feel the magick yanking at him, trying to pull him in as well.
But Leo had always been the fastest.
Every shred of him was screaming to follow, to chase after his family, to go with his sister and brothers, but he tensed his muscles, his stance widening and holding firm as he set his sights back on the yokai towering before him. A tiny voice in his head whispered in his ears that following wouldn’t help--
No, he had to move forward. This guy was the one hurting them.
Get him.
Leo wasn’t sure if he had leapt forward or if he simply was there. Everything was moving too quickly for even him to follow, the blinding white of panic and rage eating hungrily at the edges of his vision, threatening to overtake him. Either way, he lunged, a cry of protective fury wringing itself from his chest.
"Stay away from my brothers," he snarled, his own throat staggering painfully with the force with which he screamed out his warning, his hands flying forward to grab the yokai by his throat, slamming into him at full speed. He felt the alien velvet fuzz of Draxum’s skin beneath the tear of his fingernails (claws) even as the pair of them were flung from their feet. Gravity was stolen from them both, the portal behind them reaching out to consume them.
Everything went black. For just a second, tumbling through nothingness, floating through the sizzling rush of magick itself, Leo couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything, all he could feel was the body of the yokai against him, struggling against his grip, attempting to throw him away.
And then this bright, searing lavender light came singing through the world. It didn’t reflect or bounce; nothing was lit up by it. Leo still could not see himself, could not even find the outline of his own hands or fingers. But this brilliant, complex pattern of the palest, gentlest pastel purple lit up bright before him, swirling and twisting in foreign shapes, and Leo just barely recognized that the ribbon of runes they formed echoed the shape of the yokai he had just grabbed.
The body he was clinging to went limp.
The next second, the wind was knocked out of him as they made impact with stone, light coming streaming back into his universe. Leo found himself landing in a heap in their new location, the portal disappearing behind them. Oddly, however, the crash landing didn’t hurt near as much as he would have expected it to.
“Leo!” He heard Raph cry. Leo groaned, still dazed, looking around blearily. Where the hell were they? He glanced over at the yokai who he had yanked through the portal with them, only to find them in an awkward slump just a few paces away, completely limp and seemingly unconscious.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Raph demanded, moving quickly to his side. Mikey was already all bundled up in his arms, shaking like a leaf and absolutely clinging to him for dear life like he was going to fall apart if he let go. And Leo couldn’t even blame him if he did. Mikey had always been the smallest of them, and Raph always the biggest, but Leo thought dimly that the size difference between them now was fucking bananas.
Jesus christ. Raph was fucking huge. And… spiky. Was he a goddamn dinosaur? What the fuck.
“I-- yeah-- I-- I think the goatman got knocked out--” He stammered, still reeling slightly, trying to collect himself, to gather himself, adrenaline still rushing through his veins like it was a racetrack.
Somewhere in the background, Donnie fucking screamed, and Leo immediately forgot about everything else, his head whipping around.
“Donnie!” He cried, on his feet in a second, rushing over to his brother’s side. He had no idea where they were, not having yet taken stock of the location. He was only dimly aware that they were someplace cold and dark, with stone and concrete above, below, and around them. Donnie had pressed himself up against one of the walls, his entire body rigid and his head bent forward, his arms fluttering wildly beside his head in such a way that Leo recognized he was fighting not to hit himself. Good job, Dee. The screaming continued, but every wail that wrenched its way out of Donnie’s mouth was short and grinding, repeating itself over and over like an alarm. It was fucking terrifying. Not for him, but for Donnie, because he could tell that they were completely, totally not in control. Just panicking.
“Hey. Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m right here, Don. It’s alright. It’s okay, you’re safe, I’m right here, hermano,” he tried to soothe, forcing his voice down, calm, steady. He knew better than to touch Donnie, but he would reach over just long enough to tap a button on the side of his headphones that he knew would flip the device into white noise mode. Donnie jerked slightly in response, and the screaming stopped, at least, but he didn’t relax. His arms still fluttered and flapped anxiously, and he shifted just enough to begin rocking back and forth, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth so hard that Leo was afraid he was going to hurt himself. His chest absolutely shook with the panicked, shuddering breaths he was taking, hyperventilating so hard that his entire body trembled in response.
“Come on, Donnie, it’s alright. It’s okay. We’re safe, Mikey and Raph and April are safe, we’re gonna be okay, but you’ve gotta breathe, dude. Can you try it with me? Like this? We’ve gotta calm down a little bit--” Leo pressed on because this was not his first rodeo. He wasn’t quite as adept at handling these things as their dad was, and at this point, Donnie was pretty good at avoiding meltdowns and panic attacks, armed with tools and tricks and years of therapy, but sometimes they were unavoidable and Leo had always known how to calm them down, always been able to step up and help, the same way Donnie could for him--
But Donnie wasn’t calming down. Donnie wouldn’t even look up at him. Rather, Donnie scrunched up harder, curled his lips, and fucking hissed at him.
And, okay, look, it wasn’t the first time Donnie had hissed at them. Donnie used to love to hiss at people when they were little kids, though nowadays he was more likely to express annoyance with declarations such as “groan” or “scoff” or “eye-roll.” But he didn’t hiss like this.
He sounded fucking feral. Even more than that, he sounded fucking terrified. He looked like a goddamn cornered animal, his eyes blown out and huge, the scaly skin that now made up his form stretched tight over shivering muscles and his lips drawn back over sharp, pointed teeth. And Leo looked down at his own clawed, three-fingered hand and came to a horrible realization.
He couldn’t help because Donnie couldn’t recognize him. They were panicking because they were in this crazy, fucked up body that wasn’t theirs, and Leo was in a fucked up body that wasn’t his, and looking at him was just a reminder of everything wrong. He was just scaring them more. His being here was just making things worse, and Leo’s throat tied itself in a knot, swelling up as the backs of his eyes pinched with the thought.
“April,” he called, his voice cracking slightly as he desperately turned to look for his sister. She wasn’t far off, watching from a short distance with obvious worry, and she blinked in surprise at the sound of her name.
“Help me.”
---
If Leo was being completely honest, he hadn’t even realized that Donnie wasn’t still nearby. The two of them typically stuck together like glue whenever they were at school. Leo would usually lead the way, and Donnie would trail after, with Leo doing most of the talking and socializing for both of them. And once Donnie got sick of whatever they were doing, he would simply drag Leo off to sit and read or work on some project or puzzle for a while, and Leo would oblige and keep him company. Donnie was always close by, and Leo wasn’t even aware that this wasn’t currently the case, too absorbed in his latest arts and crafts project, until he heard a telltale, high-pitched whine from across the room.
He was on his feet in seconds, abandoning the activity and his classmates to scuttle off in search of his twin brother. Luckily, he wasn’t too hard to find. Both because he was pretty loud, and also because their substitute teacher was crouched down next to him. She was nice enough, Leo thought, but not quite as cool as Miss Mitchelle was, and he wasn’t sure if Donnie liked her at all. It definitely didn’t seem like he liked her too much right now with how he was all balled up, and Leo wasted no time at all in planting himself physically between the two.
Donnie immediately gravitated towards his brother and Leo moved a bit closer in turn, giving Miss Substitute (he didn’t remember her name,) a very displeased look.
“He doesn’t like whatever you’re doing,” he declared firmly.
Miss Substitute’s expression twitched and faltered for a moment before it settled back into something patient and pleasant, though Leo still didn’t quite trust it. “Leo,” she said, “I was just trying to talk with your brother--”
“I can talk to him,” Leo assured immediately, not bothering to listen to the remainder of her sentence because he couldn’t imagine it would be all that important or interesting. He turned to face Donnie instead. “It’s okay. I can always understand him, ‘cause we have a secret twin language. We made it up. Only we can speak it,” he declared proudly, crouching down to lean in towards his brother, his arms wrapped around his knees.
Donnie was still whining a bit, curled up into a ball and shoved halfway inside of a cubby, his arms crossed protectively over his head as he rocked. And yeah, he was obviously upset, though Leo wasn’t completely sure why yet. As such, he got to work, conversing with his twin in the previously mentioned secret twin language.
… And.
Okay.
So.
They didn’t actually have a secret twin language.
But it was close enough! It wasn’t a language, per se, ‘cause it didn’t have words, just noises and chirps and trills and squeaks and babbles. But he still always got the gist of what Donnie was saying, and Donnie would get the gist of what he was saying, too, so it worked. Sooner or later, he could pretty much always get an understanding of what Donnie was meaning based on the inflection or tone of his noises, as well as calm the other down enough so that Leo could coax a couple of signs out of him, so Leo figured it was close enough to language.
Plus, the ‘language’ itself always seemed to kind of settle Donnie down when he was upset like this. Once Leo started humming and squeaking at him, Donnie gradually started to answer with his own chirps and clicks, and, little by little, Leo watched their twin’s body untense and unwind. Leo grinned, moving to sit properly by him, and Donnie moved closer, edging just a bit out of his hiding spot so he could shove himself up against Leo’s side instead, resting his head against his shoulder and settling in there, an indignant scowl still on his face.
Leo grinned, puffing out his chest a bit as he shot Miss Substitute a look. See? He told her so. He and Donnie always understood each other, no matter what, and he could always fix it when Donnie wasn’t feeling good! He was basically the best brother in the entire world. Confident that he understood the problem, he turned back to face Miss Substitute.
“He said you’re not doing the schedule right, and we’re supposed to do math right now,” he announced, crossing his arms over his chest. And he hadn’t even noticed, but Donnie was right, they did usually do math lessons during this part of the day-- not arts and crafts. “And also, he doesn’t like the paper fish we’re doing ‘cause the glue feels bad. So we gotta find something else to do,” he insisted. “‘Cause otherwise Donnie and I aren’t playing.”
Donnie nodded a tiny bit from behind him, and Leo beamed with pride. Understanding Donnie and calming him down wasn’t even that hard. He didn’t get why adults besides Dad had such a hard time with it sometimes. You really just had to listen to him.
---
It took a while for April to calm Donnie back down, (or at least get him as calm as they possibly could be in such circumstances,) but she managed after a bit, his panicked breaths eventually dying down into something a bit more even and steady. Thank god. Mikey thought dimly to himself that he had never seen Donnie freak out so bad, but... he supposed he couldn't really blame him.
He frowned a bit, looking down at his own, unfamiliar hands, and he curled up a bit more, his tail tucking in (oh my god, he had a tail,) as he clung to Raph's plastron (oh my god, Raph had a plastron.) And though it still held comfort, the fold of his biggest brother's arms, bundled up close and held there, this place that he had known his whole life... it suddenly felt foreign, too. Everything was hard and jagged and cold. And even worse-- it was unfamiliar.
He kept staring at his own hands because he couldn't stop himself, and it made his stomach wobble. He wondered bleakly what his own face looked like because he had no idea. He wouldn't even recognize himself in the mirror.
Now that Donnie had finally settled a bit, though he was still curled up and pressed just against April's side, just barely not touching but still squeezed up small against her, Leo finally got up to his feet-- only to immediately lose his balance, falling over onto his back with a loud clunk.
"Leo!" Raph's eyes widened, his muscles immediately bunching up, ready to jump up and go grab his brother. Mikey could tell that he was just barely resisting the urge to scoop up all three of them and bundle them up in his arms and just hang onto them for a while. He had been sitting here long enough for Mikey to notice how fast his heart was beating. Mikey’s was keeping pace. Leo kind of flailed for a second before he managed to redirect the momentum to roll over onto his side, getting himself back onto his hands and knees. A wry, strangled laugh forced its way out of him.
"Alright. Well. Pro tip: center of gravity is weird now," he remarked dryly, his voice strained. "But the good news is falling doesn't even hurt anymore! So that’s great!"
It didn't get a laugh out of anyone. After a moment of hesitation, Mikey slowly wriggled his way from Raph's grip, making his way over to Leo's side. He didn't dare try to walk after watching Leo's attempt, noting that it seemed to be more difficult now without the rush of adrenaline to aid them, so he instead stayed in a crouch, sort of half-hopping-half-crawling over. Raph followed shortly after in a similar manner.
"Can I see?" He questioned softly, and when Leo didn't deny him, he leaned over slightly, moving his hoodie (which was now a very awkward fit,) out of the way enough so that he could examine the edges of his brother's new shell.
(Oh my god. His brother's shell. What kind of a sentence was that? What kind of weird, fucked up make-believe world were they suddenly in? Leo was his brother. He didn't have a shell. He had cool brown skin. He had bouncy blonde curls that Mikey had helped him bleach and dye a red streak in. He had vitiligo 'stripes' over his eyes. He had a bad habit of cycling through boyfriends and insomnia and a shockingly large vocabulary... but he didn't have a shell. He didn't have scales or stripes or claws or a tail.)
He looked anyway, running the tips of his fingers over the top of it, following the curve. He couldn't quite tell if he was feeling the texture of the shell, or just the texture of his own fingers, which were different than they had been; covered in scales, the skin thicker and rougher than it had been before. Bending his joints felt odd, and he couldn't help himself from doing it over and over, as if that might help him get used to it faster.
Every part of his brother’s shell was this cool, ocean blue, just edging on teal in some places, and Mikey thought to himself that, in the very least, it matched his life color perfectly.
He swallowed hard and resisted the tears that were building up in his eyes. He didn’t want to cry right now. He didn’t even know what he was crying about. Because he was scared? Because he was overwhelmed? He wasn’t very good at not crying, but he forced it down, his hands trembling a bit with the effort of it.
"Does it look the same as mine?" He heard himself asking, his eyes flickering over to meet Leo's (which were now not something he recognized, looking more animal than person, though they still retained the same, familiar almond shape. The color, however, he realized, was slightly different. Leo's eyes were brown. All of their eyes were brown, so dark that they were almost black, but now, instead, Leo's eyes were mismatched; one of them dark blue, like water in a cove, like the sea at night, and the other dark red, like ink with blood, like black cherries.)
"I dunno," Leo laughed, though his voice was still shaking. "I don't know what mine looks like."
"They're... kinda the same…" Raph observed from nearby, leaning over slightly to examine them both. His voice sounded kind of hollow, like he wasn’t really there. Sort of far-off. "I mean. The parts I can see. Mikey, yours is more... orangey. And bumpier," he said. "And yours is spotty. Leo's is kinda... stripey."
"Yours is huge," Leo observed with a chuckle, glancing over at their biggest brother, who was always the tallest and largest by a wide margin, but now absolutely dwarfed the rest of them. "And... spiky. You're all spiky. And… and fucking huge, dude. You look like you have fucking paws. And your mouth is all..." He laughed again, scrubbing anxiously at his face with his hands. "You look like a fucking snapping turtle."
Mikey paused a bit at that, glancing over at the other.
Donnie must have said or signed something that the rest of them didn’t catch, because April spoke up next, clearly addressing him. "Uhm, no, yours is... uh. It's kind of flat? And..." There was a pause. "Oh, oh my god, it's, like, squishy!" She squealed, everyone else in the room jumping in response, before she tamped down the noise, biting her lip and getting a handle on her reaction. "Sorry! Sorry, I just. I just wasn't expecting that texture, that's all! It doesn't... feel like what I thought a shell would feel like, I guess."
"Are we different kinds of... turtles?" Mikey questioned, tilting his head to the side. He wanted to laugh at himself when he said turtles. I mean, seriously, turtles? Of all the creatures in the world, turtles? Why were they turtles?
"I guess we must be," Leo sighed, resting his chin on his knee. "We obviously look different."
Mikey frowned, and he thought that his lips might be trembling if he had proper lips anymore, but he wasn't sure if he did or if they could tremble or what that would feel like if they did. Okay, fine. Now there were a few tears.
"Does that mean we're not brothers?"
A beat of silence followed.
"We're not," Donnie said, and quite frankly, Mikey was surprised to hear him speaking. Small miracles? Kinda…?
"Yeah, we are. Don't be crazy," Raph immediately refuted, his brows (er... brows? Place where brows once were?) furrowing together, and Mikey was desperately relieved to see that the space in between still wrinkled into a crease the same way they always did. "Of course we're brothers."
"Evidently, we're not even the same species," Donnie hissed out bitterly, drawing himself up even closer, even smaller, into a little ball. "It's literally impossible."
"Come on, Dee--"
"We're not even human!" Donnie snapped, hunching up his shoulders. "We're not even people!"
"Hey, look, come on you guys," April tried to soothe, holding up her hands as if to calm the group. "It doesn't matter if you're turtles! It doesn't matter to me. I love you guys no matter what--"
"Oh, wow, what a comfort!" Donnie scoffed, and April bristled.
"Okay, look, I am trying to be helpful! I know that this fucking sucks but you do not need to take out your nasty attitude on me!"
Leo suddenly laughed-- loudly, painfully-- tilting his head back and letting his shoulders slump so he could stare up at the ceiling. "Oh my god. Jesus christ. We're not people," he bit out in between his barely restrained hysterics, squeezing his eyes shut. "We're freaks, dude!"
"Leo, c'mon."
"We're not even people!!!" He repeated. "Fuck. We never even had a chance, and we didn't even know it!... Oh my god, we’re such morons!!! Hahaha-- welp! This is it! Pack it in, boys, it’s all over!"
"Leo, chill. What are you even talkin’ about?"
"Did you know I was gonna go on T?" He questioned, turning around sharply, suddenly, to face Raph. "Me and Dad were talking about it. For, like, a while now. And I was gonna start T, finally. Do you know how much I wanted to do that? Do you know how long I've been waiting to get to do that?"
Raph frowned. "Leo... This doesn't mean--"
"How the fuck is that going to work now!?" He interrupted. "How is anything gonna work now? We're fucking! REPTILES! Raph!!!"
"I KNOW THAT!" Now Raph was yelling, too, and Mikey flinched a bit, hiccuping softly as he drew himself down, retreating slightly, halfway into his shell (oh my god, he can do that now?) "You think you're the only one who was lookin' forward to stuff? I was--" He cut himself off, breathing in deep and then letting it out slow, his jaw tensed.
"Look. I know this... sucks. But it's not gonna help to just throw in the towel right now and mourn shit that we don't even know is gone yet, alright? We'll... figure it out," he said. "We don’t even know what’s goin’ on, so let’s just… let's just try to figure it out first. Okay?"
Leo frowned. He looked down and to the side, tightening his hands into fists, but he didn't have any rebuttal. After a moment, he took a deep breath, pulling himself up to his feet for a second time. He tottered for a moment, his arms windmilling until he found his balance and this time he stayed on his feet. He looked around the room for a moment before his eyes fell on the limp form of Baron Draxum, still crumpled in a heap some odd paces away.
"What do we do with that guy?"
All of their eyes snapped over, as though they had all just remembered that he was there in the first place.
"Did you knock him out, dude?!" Raph questioned, his eyes widening slightly.
"No! I mean. I don't think so. Not exactly," Leo said. "It's, like-- he grabbed me and some sort of mystic-magic-whatever thing happened. He lit up with a bunch of symbols and he just... went down. I dunno what happened."
"Well," Raph said, sighing deeply before he pulled himself to his feet as well, doing a similar rock and wobble to Leo before he figured out the new balance he had to strike, correcting his own footing. His long tail swung back and forth behind him, assumedly on instinct, to help. "We dunno how long he's gonna stay down, so we oughta find a way out of here and put some distance between us and him ASAP. We already know where Dad is, anyway."
"Maybe we can figure out where we are," Donnie mumbled bleakly, pulling himself to his feet as well. He seemed to struggle much less than his brothers did, and Mikey noted that his back rounded less than theirs. April got up as well, sticking close to his side, but perhaps hovering a bit less now.
Mikey watched as his family rose up, one by one, finding their feet again. And something in his chest unwound and loosened again. A breath he hadn't realized he had been holding came tumbling out of him.
He didn't know his own face anymore. And he didn't recognize his brothers when he looked at them.
But they were still them. Already, Mikey was completely sure of it. And the change, while still terrifying, felt just a tiny bit less devastating.
He hadn’t lost them yet.
Bracing himself for the coming challenge, he rose up to his feet as well. The unfamiliar weight on his back was more than he had expected and attempted to drag him down, and he stumbled slightly, nearly toppling over onto his back the same way Leo had the first time-- but Raph grabbed his wrist before he could, pulling him forward and correcting him, and Mikey was relieved to find his center of gravity once more. Usually, he would complain about his big brother stepping in, preferring to do things on his own rather than being 'babied' by his older family members, but...
Right now, it was actually okay.
"Okay. Let's do this."
(They took about three steps before Raph yelped and tripped over his own tail.)
---
Though they had tied up the so-called "Baron Draxum" with whatever rope and other scrap they could find in this place, (the longer they were here, the more Donnie began to suspect it was a lab of some kind,) none of them were very confident that it would be able to hold him for very long, if at all, and so they all got to work trying to figure out an exit. But to call this place 'maze-like' was a bit of an understatement.
"This is the worst landmark ever," April hissed in frustration as they turned a corner, only to once again be met with a hog-tied yokai, face-down on the concrete. "We keep going in circles!"
"Okay, look," Donnie sighed. "I know we don't want to linger here any more than we have to, but let's look around a bit and see if there's anything useful lying around to get us out of here. Clearly just walking out isn't getting us anywhere."
There was a chorus of grunts and mumbles of agreement from the rest of his family, and the group slowly fanned out, beginning their search. It was dark here, wherever they were. The ground beneath his feet was cold, with him and his brothers having already ditched and stowed their sneakers and boots after realizing how awkward and painful it was to walk in them with their new wide, two-toed feet.
The space was wide and almost circular, with various tunnels branching off at different levels, all leading away to who-knew-where. Several desks and tables were scattered about the space, each surface covered in everything from charts to pipettes to oddly-shaped jars filled with oddly-colored substances. Donnie just barely resisted the urge to sit down and start working, or to begin snatching and pocketing things as he found them. Instead, he took a liberal amount of photographs of everything they found on his phone.
His impulse control could only get him so far, however, and his eyes narrowed as they fell across a small, purpley-pink gem that lay on the desk, suspended within a small glass case. This certainly looked interesting... Geology wasn't really a passion of his, but something about this just seemed... intriguing. He couldn't quite place it...
Surely no one would miss this, right? It was small! It would be silly not to take it, quite frankly, and he slipped it into his pocket as quietly as he could when he was sure no one else was looking.
Now, if only he could find some blueprints of the tunnels... But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?
"So," Mikey said after a minute or so of them searching, and Donnie sighed internally. Of course, they couldn't expect him to stay quiet for that long. "If Raph is a snapping turtle, and me and Leo are turtle-turtles, then what kind of a turtle is Donnie?"
Donnie rolled his eyes, scowling. "Okay, well, first of all, do we really have to discuss this?" He hissed, immediately bristling. "I’d highly prefer we not address the proverbial elephant in the room, thank you! Second of all, 'turtle-turtle' is not a species."
"Yeah, but, like, we have turtle shells!" Mikey explained. "But April said yours is squishy. So what does that make you?"
Donnie sighed deeply. Talking about this made his skin itch.
"A softshell turtle, I suppose."
"A softshell?" Leo questioned, raising a brow. "That's a thing?"
"Yes."
"How do you know that off the top of your head?" Raph questioned.
"Some of us actually paid attention during biology classes," he responded dryly. And having a near-photographic memory did, admittedly, help as well…
"Whoa!" Mikey absolutely beamed. "That's so cool! Now we just gotta figure out what kind of turtles me and Leo are!"
"Well, I'd look it up if we had any service. And also if it was even close to being an appropriate time for us to waste our efforts on something like that," Donnie said with a roll of his eyes. He knew that Mikey was just distracting himself, finding a silver lining so he didn’t break down, but Donnie didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to think about how much of their entire lives was completely fabricated, about how--
He snorted, suddenly doubling over with laughter.
"What?" April questioned, raising a brow.
"I just-- I just realized!" Donnie laughed. "Our... our moms must be turtles! Fucking turtles!"
There was a beat of silence as this sunk in before Raph gave a similar reaction. "Damn! I guess you're right, huh?"
"Do you have any idea how much time I wasted in therapy talking about this?" Donnie squeaked out through giggles. "I spent so much time with Mossy talking about our mom and how she didn't want us or whatever the fuck and about the stuff she did to Dad and how I couldn't remember her, and she-- she was never even real! None of that ever even happened! She was just a fucking turtle, wasn't she!? We don’t even have a real mom!"
"Whoa! Mind... blown. I didn't even think about that..." Mikey gaped, his eyes wide. "This whole time I just assumed that our mom was probably the hotel lady..."
"Yeah, me too," Leo agreed.
Donnie blinked.
"You what?"
"Well, you know, that woman that Dad was datin’ right before he disappeared," Raph said. "And she runs the Grand Nexus Hotel, right? All the articles I ever read always mentioned her."
Donnie's eyes twitched. "You thought she was our mother?" He questioned.
"Well, that's who Dad was datin’ last! And for a long time, too. It'd make sense, wouldn't it?" Raph defended.
"Yeah. You didn't think that?" Leo said.
"NO! Why would I think that?!" Donnie was laughing again.
Leo huffed in offense, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, do you know something we don't?"
"Apparently!" Donnie exclaimed. "Guys, you've seen pictures of her, right?!"
"Well, yeah?" Mikey tilted his head to the side.
"She's pale as fuck!"
"So?"
"And our Dad is Japanese!"
"And? Donnie, what's your point?"
"We're black!"
"... Ooooohhhhh," all three of his brothers said, nearly in unison, after Donnie's argument finally sunk in.
"Oh my god," Donnie laughed, covering his face with his hands, scrubbing tears from his eyes. "You're all so fucking dumb..."
"I guess our mom would have had to be black. I mean. We got the Japanese half from Dad, but... I never really thought about where the other half came from..." Raph admitted, his mouth still slightly agape like he was still rolling the thought about in his head.
"Wait a minute," April said, her hands on her hips. "I mean, yeah, all that makes sense, but if you guys have secretly been turtles this whole time, then why are you black?"
"Dude, are all turtles black?" Mikey questioned, his eyes widening.
"I cannot discuss this any further. I'll get a migraine and furthermore cease to function, as I am, and I cannot stress this enough, just barely suppressing the gravity of this whole situation right now," Donnie sighed, gesturing to himself as he turned back to the desk in front of him. "Did anyone find anything yet?"
"Not yet," April sighed, shuffling through some papers. "What even is all this junk?"
"I'm not sure. Some sort of research, it seems like..." Donnie mused, sort of thumbing through a book as he spoke, reading key phrases and chunks of text as quickly as he could and making mental notes so he could refer back to it later. He was more than happy to have something else to focus on, though this would admittedly be a lot easier with human hands. "But I'm still not sure where--"
Shhhh shhhh.
Donnie paused mid-sentence, his brows furrowed. He hadn't noticed that sound before now. He tilted his head a bit to the side, turning in its direction, trying to zero in.
"... Donnie?"
"What's that noise?" He questioned aloud, though his voice was barely above a whisper.
Shhhh shhhhh.
He knew that noise. He recognized it. Where had he heard it before?
Shhhh shhhhh.
... Water, he realized with a start. The noise was running water. Of course. How had he never realized this before?...
That's what he was hearing. That's what he had heard.
"Dee? You good?"
"Guys," he said, turning just enough to glance over in their direction. His face suddenly felt like glass. It was odd. "I think... I think we're in the sewer," he said. "... And I think we've been here before...?"
Before anyone could say anything further, a new noise filled up the space.
Skrrrtttccchhhhh.
---
"What was that?!" Mikey shrieked, immediately leaping behind his biggest brother to hide. Leo and Donnie were instantly gravitating to each other as well, falling into stance on instinct as they stood back to back, each covering the other.
"It sounds like something scratching," April said thoughtfully, and true to her word, the same skritching noise clawed its way through the air a moment later, echoing slightly against the walls. "I think it's coming from over here!"
"April!" Raph hissed off a protest as she took off, heading in the direction of the sound. "We don't know what that is!"
"We will if we go look!" She chirped in reply. I mean, come on, what was the benefit of hiding over here instead of investigating? Weren't they curious either way? Besides, they were stuck here regardless-- maybe they'd find something helpful.
The noise continued as April searched, peering around corners and down tunnels, until, finally, she found her prize. Tucked inside one of the off-shoot tunnels, one of the many dead-ends that seemed to surround this space, was a proverbial treasure trove. A variety of odds and ends filled the space; various amulets and scrolls and chests and even weapons were leaned up against the wall or stacked up on the ground. In fact, a lot of weapons were in here. Was this some kind of a weird armory? Or a trophy room? What kind of sewer has a trophy room?
But most interestingly, she found the source of the noise. Inside a small, dimly lit orb, looking as though it were made of some sort of glass, or perhaps even light, was one of the oddest creatures April had ever seen, clawing sadly at the surface of its prison. It had ears like a chihuahua, pointed and too big for its head, with tufts of fur poofing out from inside, but huge eyes like some kind of a cat. Pointed tusks stuck from its mouth like a boar, but soft, downy yellow-and-blue fur covered its entire, squirrel-like body, complete with a fluffy, wriggly tail.
"AW, you guyyssss!" She called out. "Come look! It's cute!"
"April!" The guys were right behind her, with Raph leading the charge. "You can't just run off like-- jumpin' jack flash! What the heck is that thing?!"
"I dunno!" April said with a shrug, immediately making her way into the room, scooping up the orb so she could examine it, looking for a way to open it up. The little critter inside pattered about excitedly, its claws clicking against the smooth surface. "Help me figure out how to get him outta here."
"Are you sure about that?" Leo questioned. "No offense, but we have nooo idea what that thing is! Maybe it's, I dunno, locked up for a reason?"
"What? C'mon, guys, we've gotta help!" Mikey protested, turning on them with big, pleading eyes. Nice, April thought, with Mikey on her side she had basically already won. Suck it, middle children. "Plus, he was locked up by Draxum. So he can't be bad!"
"Yeah! Ever heard ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend?’" April added in.
"I'm not convinced," Donnie said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I mean, has anyone else noticed that pretty much everything else in this room is a weapon of some kind? Isn't that maybe a bit telling?"
"Aw, come on, Dee. Look at this face!" April insisted, holding up the orb to the others. The creature, to their credit, played their part, pulling an absolutely pitiful face which Mikey immediately echoed, turning to his brothers with watery eyes.
Checkmate.
"Okay, okay, fine. Look, there's gotta be something in here that can help us bust him out..." Leo muttered, beginning to pick his way through the contents of the room with Raph, Donnie, and Mikey following suit shortly after.
"Here, what about these?" Leo said after a moment, turning to face them with a pair of twin katanas in hand. "Think I could slice that bad boy open with these guys?"
April scoffed, clutching the orb close to her chest. "Uhm, and this guy in half, maybe!" She protested. "Can we try something a little less deadly, please?"
"Aw, come on! These are cool," Leo protested, grinning as he twirled them in his hands with a metallic shwing.
"You just like them because you always win at any swordsmanship event at tournaments," Donnie remarked dryly, grabbing a long wooden staff to hold in his hands, testing the weight of it. "... That being said, should we maybe grab some of these just in case?"
"Whaddya mean?" Raph glanced over at the other.
"Well, we haven't even made it to the Hidden City yet, and we've already been attacked once," Donnie reasoned, placing a hand on his hip and frowning. "So it wouldn't exactly be a bad idea to have some weapons on hand in case of an emergency." He spun the bo staff in his hands appraisingly a few times. "I mean, obviously this is a bit underwhelming, but I'm sure I could make some improvements once we got back home..."
"Sounds like a good plan to me! Look at all the stuff they’ve got!” Mikey cheered, immediately diving in, beginning to sort through all the various options they had in the room. He chuckled darkly, swinging a pair of nun-chucks in his hands. “These’ll do…”
“Yo, guys!” Raph called, waving to get his brothers’ attention before pointing to the very far corner of the room. “If we’re gonna take stuff, why don’t we take the glowy ones?”
There was, in fact, a weapons rack filled with floating, vaguely glowing weapons, tucked away in the shadows, which only made the glow all that much more tempting. They were simply begging to be taken.
Mikey and Leo, almost in unison, gasped, their faces absolutely lighting up as they raced over to join Raph. “Ooh, dibs on the sword!” Leo cheered, immediately snatching up the odachi and repeatedly striking poses.
“Hot soup! Check me out!” Mikey snatched up a bright orange kusari-fundo, absolutely beaming ear-to-ear. Raph was nearly drooling as he laid his claim on a pair of tonfas, beaming as he gave a few experimental swings.
“They’re perfect! No one’ll mess with us now!”
“What about you, Donnie?” April questioned, tilting her head back to glance at the remaining brother. “Don’t you want a glowy weapon?”
“And add yet another unknown, uncontrolled variable to our current situation? I’m good,” Donnie scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I’ve trained with a regular, wooden bo staff. I’ll fight with a wooden bo staff, thank you very much. You all have fun with your likely-radioactive weaponry,” he said, waving them off.
“Here, April, I got something for you, too,” Mikey chirped excitedly, scampering over to present his find to her. “Ta-da!!! Baseball bat!”
It wasn’t a baseball bat-- it was a club. But close enough! April gasped in delight. “It’s perfect!” She enthused, immediately snatching it up, rolling it around in her hands and tapping it against the side of her shoe a few times. Ooh, and the weight was perfect, too. “And I think it can help us get little guy out of this ball thingie, too! Leo, come hold it still for me!”
"Aw man, why do I gotta hold it?" Leo muttered in complaint but did as he was told regardless, kneeling down to hold the orb steady, taking care in the placement of his hands to minimize the chances of broken fingers.
"Alright," April said, backing up a bit, her tongue sticking out from between her lips with focus. "This won't hurt a bit..."
She swung the club back, taking care to temper her strength, and brought it down on the little ball prison with a satisfying crunch.
"Did it work?" Mikey gasped, his eyes wide as he leaned over. The orb was not shattered nor laying in pieces; but the side of it had caved in considerably, a spiderweb of cracks blossoming from it, and a second later, it simply dissolved as if it had never been there in the first place. The creature that had previously been trapped inside cracked one eye open, having squeezed itself into the very back of its cage, flinching at the oncoming impact, gave an absolute trill of excitement, darting about in celebration.
"There we go!" April said, grinning wide, her hands planted on her hips. "See, told ya I'd get you outta there! That's better, right?"
The little yellow beast threw itself into her lap, wriggling with joy and nuzzling at her with an enthusiastic wag of its tail. "Okay, okay! You're welcome!" April laughed, giggling as she allowed the creature to clamber about in her arms, allowing it time to bounce about before it finally began to settle again.
"Any chance you know how to get out of here, little guy?"
---
Raph looked up from his phone and his tea at the sound of mail plopping down on the table, glancing over to examine the letters his father had just tossed over in his direction.
"For you," Dad remarked, sorting through the remaining mail from the day.
"For me?" Raph echoed, his brows rising up. "Who the heck is sending me mail?" Curiosity took hold immediately, and he abandoned the wrestling video he had been watching previously in favor of tearing open the letters on the table.
He was surprised to find college brochures inside. His father, however, did not seem all that surprised at all, even adding a couple more to the pile.
"It seems you are in high demand," Dad teased, smiling the tiniest bit. "I have received a few emails as well from recruiters recently."
Raph paused for a moment, rolling this idea about in his brain, trying to figure out what it meant and what it tasted like before he forced a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
"Guess they haven't seen my grades yet," he joked weakly. Dad hummed softly, pulling up a chair so he could sit down next to his eldest son.
"Nonsense," he scoffed. "Your grades are fine, Raphael. You've simply tricked yourself into thinking they're not by comparing yourself to others," he added, giving the other a knowing look. "And besides that, this is hardly the only thing that matters. I have told you many times that grades aren't everything. My grades in high school were terrible!" He remarked with a laugh. "And your career in sports is very impressive."
"I guess," Raph said, wrinkling his nose up a bit as he leaned over the table. Easy for him to say. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea of colleges being interested in him when his three younger brothers were right here in the same damn house! Had they really meant to send these to Hamato Raphael?
Dad's hand moved to rub little circles into his back, and he nudged his son's teacup a bit. Raph agreeably took a sip, allowing the warm liquid to trickle down through his chest.
"I know you have not always enjoyed schoolwork, Raphael," Dad finally spoke again. "But you are not stupid. You may very well have the most common sense of any of my children!" He chuckled. "And you have many talents besides that. You are a remarkable athlete, and I know I do not have to drag you over to the trophy wall to prove this to you, but I will if I have to. You are only sixteen and you are already the captain of multiple sports teams... not just anyone could handle that! It is difficult to lead a team. But you have always handled this with grace. And teaching children! That is a talent in and of itself. That is no easy task. Trust me, I know," he said, smiling slightly. "But you are doing so well with your new job. And I am very proud of you."
Raphael glanced over at his father, for just a moment, hesitating like he wanted to say something, but then biting it back.
"You don't have to go to college if you don't want to," Dad added. "If you decide that is not the path for you, that is fine. I won't be upset or disappointed. I did not go to college, either! But I would hate for you to not even consider it just because you don't think you're good enough for it," he pressed. "I know you've always said you intend to pursue a career in sports of some kind, but this is very much an avenue to achieve that if you'd like. Many professional athletes get their start through college sports, you know. And I can already name half a dozen universities off the top of my head who would be thrilled to have you on their team in a couple of years!"
He sighed softly.
"But you do not have to decide right now, my son. There is still plenty of time for you to consider all of your options."
Raph glanced over at his father, shifting a bit in his seat, before looking to the side.
"Uh. I dunno, Pops. I mean. I'm not good at tests and all that junk. I mean. College football could be good 'n all, but, uh..."
He hesitated a second, sort of scratching the side of his jaw, hesitating a bit. "I dunno. Maybe I could... I mean. We could look at it, at least. I was kind of wonderin’ about, uh. I dunno… Just, lately, I was thinkin' about... studyin' early childhood education, maybe?..."
[ next ]
#sorrywhatnowau#sorrywhatnowau fic#rottmnt#rottmnt fanfic#rise of the tmnt#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rottmnt au#rottmnt human au#tmnt
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On my knees 🧎🏽♀️Begging🤲🏻 for more shounya fics😼
ur on ur knees n so is he!! cw hybrids, gn reader w a pussy, oral, and prev est relationships <33 also set pre eri izuku n shinsou !!
“Ohhhh fuck~”
Your breathy sighs and low moans almost echo through the rooms, your toes curling as your body soaks in the feelings being wrought out of you by the feeling of Shouta’s mouth between your legs.
A desperate fiend when it came to oral, Shouta was a greedy creature. Whenever the opportunity arose for him to have a taste of what lay between your legs, he metaphorically ( and sometimes physically ) lunged for it — like today. After a long day of you being at work, he’d been impatient for you to arrive home, and he’d been very annoyed when you’d swept past him with nothing but a grunted, “C’mon.” He’d been tempted to ignore the word, to ignore you like he hadn’t in almost a year, but begrudgingly he’d followed with his thick tail swishing angrily behind him only to be surprised by the sight of you sitting on the bed with your legs spread and your cunt bare to him.
“Make me cum, kitty,” you’d said tiredly, and he’d leapt at the opportunity. He’d taken his place between your legs, his formerly pinned-back ears pushed forward and his tail moving back-and-forth behind for an entirely different reason as he’d pressed as closely to you as possible before licking a wide stripe up the length of your slit from your taint to your clit.
That had been an hour ago, and here you still were with your cat hybrid on his knees and feasting on the slit between your legs, slobbering all over your cunt as he lapped at it like a man possessed with his thick arms hooked around your thighs as you lay back with an arm cast over your eyes, your now revealed chest heaving as you felt your fourth orgasm approaching. You’d discarded your shirt a little more than half an hour ago when things started feeling far too hot, and the sight of your bare chest had spurred on new excitement from your partner.
“More,” he slurs into your dripping cunt, “More. Mine. Mine.”
“Fuuuuuck yeah, it’s yours,” you moan, your free hand burying itself in his hair as your hips start instinctively rutting up into his face. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck — c’mon, m’gonna cum-!”
Nipping and sucking and licking and biting just the way he knows you like, Shouta moans into your sensitive pussy as a new small gush of wetness fills his mouth as you creep closer to the edge.
Mine, he thinks greedily, his pupils blown and eyes darker than usual as he attempts to bury himself in the taste of you, Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.
His ears flick ever so slightly as the pitch of your gasps and moans shift above him, and he makes sure to keep at the pace and pressure that had gotten you here as they slowly reach a peak amd you start calling out for him, sitting up a little and clutching his face to your slick cunt. He doesn’t mind at all, more than pleased by the fact that his face is so buried in it that all he can taste and smell is you. It’s like a dream come true — his dream, anyway.
“Cumming, cumming, cumming — oh God, Sho’, please!” you wail, your entire body trembling with small convulsions as you cum again. He smiles into you, absolutely desperate for what was once again gushing from your hole and into his waiting mouth. He doesn’t stop tasting you, almost a mindless drone as the motions overtake his mind and he melts into them, and it’s only when you try to push him away while speaking that he wakes up from it.
“Shouta, I need to order dinner for us,” you finally say weakly, and he whines a little and shakes his head ‘no’.
“Wanna — Wanna be good,” he grunts into your hole, lapping at it slowly and relishing the way your thighs twitch around his head. “More. Want more. I can be good-!”
“Let me order dinner then,” you retort, unable to hide the way your thighs jump from oversensitivity as he keeps curling his rough tongue around your engorged clit, and he shakes his head in denial again.
“I have dinner,” he replies snarkily, “Right here in front of me,” before attempting to dive back into you.
You laugh softly, placing your toes and the ball of your foot against his bare chest and pushing him away just enough that he sits back on his feet. “Down boy,” you murmur, and he whines lightly. You just ignore it, sitting up and reaching for your cell-phone then tapping in your passcode as he huffs at you.
“I think American food sounds nice tonight,” you hum to yourself, and Shouta feels his mouth begin to water. You glance up at him, a playful glint in your eye that he doesn’t understand for a moment, then say, “Oh, you don’t want anything, right?”
“Huh?!”
“I mean, since you have dinner here and all,” you tease, and he groans out a growl that has you laughing. “Okay, okay — I know the drill, no getting between you and food.”
#shou_nya.♡#shouta aizawa x reader#tw hybrids#aizawa shouta x reader#boku no hero academia x reader#bnha x reader#mha x reader#my hero academia x reader
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you know you never stood a chance - chapter six
you know you never stood a chance series
six: hold me like a grudge
series masterlist | prev chapter | next chapter
qz!Joel Miller x f!reader
Words: 2.6k
Summary: After a tense situation, you reunite with Ellie and Joel.
Warnings: dub-con due to power imbalance, free use, sex as payment, vaginal sex, cum eating, Joel is mean/bad with feelings, this is not canon compliant, no use of y/n, degradation, canon-typical violence and danger, description of injury, spanking, pussy spanking, rough oral (m receiving)
also on ao3
dividers by @saradika-graphics
When the grass outside rustles underfoot, you flinch. You’ve been there for a while, long enough that the adrenaline started to seep out and leave you shaking in its wake.
The only reason you don’t shoot when you see a shadow is that Ellie takes the risk of speaking first.
“Hey, is that you?”
It’s so quiet, so careful. A sick part of you wants to stay silent, to hope they leave. But you’re forced to reckon with Joel’s evaluation of you: you’d never survive out here on your own. Probably wouldn’t even make it back to Boston, and then what? Get shot by FEDRA trying to get back in?
“Ellie?” you whisper back.
“Hey, Joel!” Ellie starts to yell, stopping when you shush her loudly from the garage.
You move, stepping closer to the frame where you can see her before moving into the light. She throws her arms around you, and you freeze, holding the gun pointed to the grass, too afraid to move.
“I know he’s an asshole, but don’t do that again,” she scolds, brow furrowed.
You’re thrown off guard but feel a rush of affection for the girl. “Sorry,” you say.
Joel comes out of the house from the back door and glowers at the two of you. “Inside,” he barks.
You follow behind Ellie as she rolls her eyes and prattles on about a large stick and what he should do with it.
He shuts the door behind you, clearly having scoped out the whole house before Ellie found you. He turns to her. “Upstairs.”
“What?”
“Upstairs, now,” he snarls.
She goes to protest but catches your eye.
“Please,” you say. You don’t want her to witness whatever he’s about to say to you.
When she’s gone, he rounds on you. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
You stare at the floor, lips twisted as you fight the urge to lash out.
He lifts your chin with his hand. “Huh? You listening to me?” He huffs out a laugh. “Clearly not, or we wouldn’t be here right now. We got one fuckin’ rule, do you remember?”
When you still don’t answer, he shakes your chin a little, jostling your jaw and drawing your glare to him.
“Well?” he says.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Do as I’m fuckin’ told,” you mimic his drawl, poorly.
This wasn’t your first time out. After that night, when he fought with Tess, he dragged you with them on a supply run. It was fairly standard shit. Before you left the QZ, he had armed you—for appearances only, he reiterated, don’t touch those unless you’re gonna be ready to use them—and then told you the rule.
And you listened. Same shit, different place. He said drop, you’d drop. He said run, you’d run. Mostly, you just kept a nice resting bitch face in place so their contacts wouldn’t know you were an easy target.
“What am I gonna do with you, huh?” he says, still holding your face in place. He tugs the revolver from your other hand, not that you resist, and shoves it in his waistband.
“Just leave me here.”
“Shut up.”
“You asked me a question.”
“Yeah, and I expected a real answer, not a stupid one.”
You move to kneel, but he grabs you.
“Not a bad idea, sweetheart, but you gotta watch that ankle.”
The thought gives him pause, and you watch apprehensively as he considers things.
“We’re staying here today. You’re gonna rest that fuckin’ ankle, and we’ll get back on the road in the morning.”
Ellie is thrilled to discover you’ll be taking the day off in a place with real beds. She finds some old sudoku books and pencils and hangs out in “her” room.
True to his word, Joel makes you stay in bed all day. Your foot is propped up on a stack of pillows. You sulk, but he brings you a couple of books to choose from, a bottle of water, and some cold soup, just like getting sick back in the old days.
Actually, it’s a little too much like the old days. It makes you want to run. Instead, you let the historical nonfiction novels lull you in and out of a hazy sleep.
He comes to get you after nightfall. Ellie’s sound asleep, and he brings you into the room he had staked claim to.
“You ready to say sorry?”
“I’m sorry, Joel,” you mumble.
“What were you thinking?” He asks again. He’s softened since this morning, to your great relief.
“I’m tired of being your burden.”
“Is this ‘cause I don’t get to fuck you?”
“No. I mean, sort of. It’s bad enough that I can’t pay you out here. But then to be a risk, to create more trouble than just being a mouth to feed…”
He’s quiet for a minute. “Lay down on your back. Head over here,” he gestures to the end of the mattress.
The abrupt change is exhausting, but you do as you’re told. Once you’re lying there, head draped off the edge of the bed, he reaches down and takes his cock out. He has to bend his knees a little, being just tall enough over average to not quite fit together, but he slides into your mouth.
It’s so easy this way for him to press right into your throat.
You try to pour out your excess emotions, the residual fear, the relief, everything by finding purpose through his dick, but he pulls out when you try to get a hold of him.
“Not this time, sweetheart. You want me to take what ya owe me? Fine. I’m gonna use your throat as a fuckin cocksleeve.”
The words shouldn’t please you, but they do. The catharsis of the relief, the elation at being useful, and his touch all send you trembling.
“You better not cum,” he warns. “Not until I’m fillin’ ya up.”
You want to argue that he’s already filling you up, but a) he’s absolutely not in the mood, and b) well, he’s filling you up, so you can’t really speak.
Instead, you do the only thing you really can do. You lay there and take it. He lets you curl your hands around his thighs, holding on so you don’t go scooting up the mattress during the more aggressive thrusts. It lets you stabilize your head and tilt to an angle that grants just a little more air.
It’s rough in a way he hasn’t been before, which is saying something, but it’s also transcendental. Maybe you’re being dramatic, but you’re in the fucking clouds. You’ve never felt so light, so peaceful.
He pulls out abruptly, fingers squeezing the base of his cock as he pants. It’s still so close to you, so you use his legs to push upward and try to get it back in your mouth.
He swats at your cunt. “Quit it.”
You moan, the pain turning quickly into a tingle that spreads across your lips and clit. It worked, though, and you back off, now dangling half off the bed, only supported by your palms against the thick trunks of his thighs.
He scoops you up, an arm under each of yours, and pushes you back up on the mattress. “Hands ‘n knees,” he says.
You’re still feeling a little weird, so when you’ve gotten into position, you drag a pillow over and nuzzle your face down into it, arms threaded under it to hold it against you.
“You’re all cockdumb now, huh?” His hand traces over your lower back. You moan, a quiet, rumbly thing, and press back toward him.
He smacks your ass. “Hold still, pretty girl. Let me open you up.”
You don’t do more than drool and moan as he works his fingers into you, stretching you to ease his passage. His other hand stays on your lower back like a brand, an anchor. When he pulls his fingers out, he licks them clean before guiding his cock to where you’re dripping and aching for him.
He pushes in slowly, and you arch your back under his broad palm. He pushes you back down against the bed, hand settling between your shoulder blades and another wrapped in your hair.
“Stupid girl,” he grumbles. “Foolish little brat.”
Tears well up. It’s so much. Everywhere he touches you is past ignition, already licked clean by his flame, ash smoldering in the wake.
“Quiet,” he hisses, and you realize the soft little sounds permeating your dream were your moans and gasps. You bite your lip hard, face screwing up at the pain, but it works.
He doesn’t like that, though. He lets go of your hair and sighs, pulling out just to roll you onto your back before plunging back in and picking up the pace to take you apart. He pushes his thumb into your mouth, groaning as your teeth sink into the dry and calloused flesh, tethering you to the earth.
The sound of his hips slapping against you should be a bigger concern, but that would mean stopping or slowing down, and he doesn’t see that as an option. Instead, he watches as your blank eyes blink up at him, wet and wide, and your lips wrapped around his thumb.
“Christ. You really just need your holes filled, and suddenly, ya know how to be good. Fuckin’ slut.”
“Your fault,” you choke out, the words slammed out of you by his aggressive pounding. “Wasn’t—b-before.”
You wish you hadn’t said anything when he laughs again, dark and pleased with himself.
“Yeah, you’re right. Only a fuckin’ whore for me now, huh?”
Finally, finally, he touches you when he’s getting close, tugging the thumb from your mouth to rub the wet pad of it against your clit.
“You ready, sweetheart? Gonna cum on my cock, make me feel good?”
You whimper, nodding. “Yes, Joel, please.”
He works you to it until you break down, clenching around him so tight. He has to make himself pull out, his sex-addled brain screaming for him to bury himself deep in you. Instead, he covers your stomach.
You’re shaking through the aftershocks of your orgasm, and he rubs at your clit until you give him another one. It’s easy, you fall right apart, and then you’re practically limp, breasts heaving with the effort to breathe steadily.
He swipes a finger through his mess and brings it up to your mouth. You suck it clean, and he does it again until he’s fed you most of it. You take it each time, sucking and licking his finger, and watching him with wide eyes.
“You’re so fuckin’ sweet like this. Why can’t you just listen this good all the time?” It’s said softly, fondly, but it cuts you deep. He stands up, stretches, and leaves the room without another word.
You start to cry, burying your face in the pillow and holding your breath so he doesn’t hear. You’ve gotten good at this, over the decades, of choking down your weakness and swallowing it whole, letting it rip you up inside rather than out, so by the time he’s come back in the room, you’ve quieted.
You rub away any lingering tears with sleepy fists and a yawn.
“You think you can sleep with your ankle propped up?” he says when he crosses the room.
You nod, one fist still over your left eye, which won’t stop stinging, and sling your legs over the side of the bed, sitting up.
He catches your shoulder. “You’re stayin’ right here. Lay down, and I’ll set it up.”
Slowly, you settle back onto the bed. He must really not want you to walk on it if he’s going to trade rooms. Maybe the injury was worse than you thought.
The rest of his cum has dried, leaving a tacky residue on your stomach. He doesn’t wipe it clean, though; he never does anymore. Not worth wasting the water over, you think.
That’s what he tells himself, too.
The gentle hands you remember from so long ago have returned, delicately arranging pillows under your leg. You twist your top half to thank him, only to find him pulling back the blanket to slide into bed beside you.
It’s fully dark, now, when he presses a kiss into your hair and settles on his back beside you. Even through both of your shirts, you can feel the warmth of him where your back presses to him. He doesn’t hold you, but the closeness is enough to let you drift off to sleep.
The sun breaks through the bedroom windows before the birdsong wakes you. Joel is already awake when you roll over. This time, he does sneak his arm beneath you, pulling you to his chest.
You can’t breathe, too afraid the movement will fully wake him up. He’s never, not once, given you this much of him. You idly wish he hadn’t, because how were you supposed to live without it now?
“This is a nice quilt,” he says, shattering the silence before you work yourself into a panic. “Shame we gotta leave it here.”
“You get the stuff, and I’ll make you one when we get back.” Your voice is muffled in his shirt, too tense to pull away and properly look at him.
“Didn’t know you could sew.”
“I’m a woman of many talents, Miller. Sucking cock, basic sewing, annoying the hell outta you…” Aw, fuck. End of list. Oh well.
He chuckles, and you hate the way you can never tell if he’s laughing at your joke or laughing at you.
You fall back into quiet again, and when you think he might have dozed back off, you relax a little, letting your head find a home in the hollow where his arm meets his chest. “I’m sorry,” you whisper to his t-shirt.
“I know, sweetheart. Look, when we get home, if you want to leave, I won’t stop ya. But not out here. Not like this.”
“M’not leaving. I got a quilt to make, remember?”
He leans down and kisses the top of your head, resting that way for a moment with you drawn close.
Of course, the peace doesn’t last. Ellie bursts through the door, boundless energy as always, sending your already-racing heart into overdrive.
“—room is empty; what did you say to her? Couldn’t you just have been nice?”
Joel waits, staring at her blankly. You, however, have buried your face in his side. You’re both fully dressed, and there’s no evidence of anything, but you know she’s not stupid.
“Oh, ew, god, come on! What the fuck is wrong with you?” She’s backing out, pulling the door behind her, but her disgust carries down the hall.
Joel tilts your chin up with a curled finger. “At least we know she didn’t hear any of the other times I fucked ya.”
Your cheeks are on fire, and you can’t look him in the eye.
“It’s not like she walked in on us,” he teases.
“She’s never going to talk to us again,” you groan.
“She’ll get over it. If not, you can give her the talk.”
“Oh no. No, you can handle that.”
“Let’s let the Fireflies handle that,” he decides, scrubbing at his beard with one hand. He gets up, groaning. “Should make it to Bill’s today, even if we go slow.”
“Joel—”
“I know you’re not about to argue with me, right?”
Your mouth twists into a scowl, but you soften when you look up at him. The sun through the window is bathing him in yellow, and his brown eyes trip up your heart like they always do.
“No,” you say with a sigh. “I’ll follow you.”
He stops you before you leave the room, two fingers under your chin. “When we get to Bill’s, I’ll help you add another thing to that skillset of yours.”
“What?”
He hands you back the revolver you had stolen from the garage skeleton. “I’ll teach ya how to shoot.”
next chapter
*title from "Hold Me Like a Grudge" by Fall Out Boy
#joel miller x reader#joel miller x you#joel miller x oc#joel miller x female oc#joel miller x f!reader#the last of us fic#joel miller smut#joel miller fic#you know you never stood a chance series
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141 & Rabbit Headcanons [IKYLHT]
Series Masterlist | Prev: Personnel Files | Next: Chapter One
Please Note: This is my attempt at a spoiler-free introduction to the characters and their dynamics. This is meant to be read before the first chapter, and thus must be vague at points. THIS DOES CONTAIN SOME MW3 SPOILERS
-
141 + Rabbit Dynamics:
Soap:
Rabbit's ride or die right here, twin flame type of energy
First person she actually enjoyed the company of at the UK base while on assignment alongside the rest of the Demon Dogs
Subsequently the first to worm his way into her heart- sinks his hooks into her side and refuses to leave (not to worry, you'd have to pry her off of him, anyways)
Runs into her coming out of the mess hall, sees 'Highwater' stitched into her uniform and realizes this was the soldier Sparks had told him about
Oh yeah, that month long prank war with Shane 'Shitbag' Sparks (yes, she'd come up with that one herself) that the rest of the Demon Dogs decided to join in on? He made sure to tell Soap, because why not recruit the demolitions expert in his task of torturing his sister-in-arms?
Soap immediately decides on implementing her rename. 'Oh, you already have a callsign that half the base refers to you by? One that acknowledges your military expertise and the nine grueling years you've dedicated to the service? That's weird, cuz your name is Rabbit now and that's that' type mentality
She knew the reference immediately, hands twitching with the urge to unsheathe her spare knife because there was only one person that'd broadcast the story
Goddammit, Sparks, I will shiv you
"Excuse me? Where'd you hear that from, Sergeant?"
"A good friend never tells. I could always think of calling you somethin' worse?"
"Call me something worse and I'll have you written up for disrespecting a superior officer"
"Understood, Rabbit" said with a fucking grin
Despite being the one to rename her, literally never uses her callsign once he declares them best friends
Calls her Bunny or Bun, which surprisingly did help his efforts in gaining her [platonic] love and affection
Spent damn near every waking moment with her, which unsurprisingly did help his efforts in gaining her [romantic] love and affection
Sparring? Let me wrap your hands
Going out? Here, I'll zip your coat
Smoking? C'mon Bun, tell me what's bothering you, I can help
It was the little, everyday acts of love kindness from Soap that had her hooked on the feeling of being in his presence
So you can imagine how devastating it'd felt for the both of them when the special unit had been called back to the states
Even with promises to call and text and facetime, the feeling of his heart sinking to his stomach made him realize there were feelings he harbored towards Rabbit that went beyond the typical bond between soldiers
But orders are orders, and he'd been sure to give her a chaste kiss on the cheek before ushering her up the ramp and onto the heli waiting to rip her away from him
Not that either admitted it to the other at the time, but they'd both been teased to no end about their 'special friendship' by the rest of their units, cheeks warming yet refusing to deny the accusations
Like true friends, though, they did kept their promise
If it wasn't hours of texting it was calls, only skipping days when on mission but always sure to inform the other of their departure beforehand
It was hard most days. Seeing the other come back from days or even weeks of no-contact with new cuts and bruises
It was especially hard, though, after Verdansk
Soap had beaten himself up pretty hard after the whole ordeal with Makarov- the guilt of not being able to save those people in the airport, the shame of losing his cool in front of his superiors, the regret of not just avenging those people by shooting the man and facing the consequences later- he'd talked through his entire range of emotions with her despite the distance
Then, because the universe always yearned for cruelty, she got the assignment
Covert operation
Ciudad Victoria
Two days, wheels up at 0400
Now her home base had been Pendleton since basic, and if there's one thing the San Diego base requires, it's soldiers willing to cross the border and sweat their asses off for hours on end scouting some target for shit pay and no reward
She'd done it before, six months turned into twelve turned into eighteen until eventually she'd been volunteering to go, years under her belt and quickly moving up the ranks, Mexico now a second home in her mind. Anything to get away from that place
But Victoria? That was a city she'd only seen on mission reports, only heard of by way of interrogation
But orders are orders, and he'd been sure to tell her he'd miss her before ushering her to dump her phone in her locker and get onto the heli waiting to rip her away from him again
Soap didn't get a call for quite a while after that
His first contact, actually, hadn't even been Rabbit
It was Sparks
Locker pried open with permission from Griggs (not that he waited even a second to be granted it), he'd charged her phone and called the one person he thought deserved to know
"MacTavish? It's Sparks. Highwater, she's... she's MIA. Entire task force was found slaughtered. An ambush, I think. We don't- we're not entirely sure yet. Griggs can't get a straight answer. The whole things fucked, we can't- the area's got it's own governing body. They haven't... they've searched but they haven't found a body. We're not calling it until they do. I'm sorry, kid."
Two months
Two months Soap cried until his lungs spasmed
Two months Soap cried until his head ached and eyes burned
Two months Soap cried to his mother about the woman he loved
Two months until he got the call that damn near restarted his heart
"Soap? Soap, we found her. We have her, she's being taken to medical. We found her, kid."
Johnny's not sure he remembers a time he'd cried harder. He'd like to say it was when Sparks had first called him, but even then, he held onto some hope she'd made it out 'like you always do'
That'd been their promise to each other, and he vividly recalls telling Price that as he sobbed over the man's shoulder in relief
She'd been put on medical leave, forced to wave goodbye to her family as they flew off to Urzikstan without her
It was at that point- hearing her cry over the phone about how useless she'd felt being left behind, how she'd failed the only family that had ever truly cared about her- that he realized a trip to the states was in dire need
Entered the U.S. friends, exited the U.S. partners
Johnny's a man that focuses on the positives
He doesn't talk about those two months. Not to his therapist, not to his ma, not to Price
He focuses on the fact that his torment is over, he focuses on the woman laying her head on his shoulder and tapping her boot against his on the shaky helicarrier
Because that's all that matters to him. The little moments between missions where they can focus on something other than saving the world for a moment
It's a type of love, a type of dynamic the man had never experienced before
'Intimate' is the best word to describe it
Will 'accidentally' detonate an old grenade taken into the training grounds to 'see if it still worked', just to see the other's eyes light up in a sort of pyromaniac excitement
Will also take up an entire couch quietly lounging, arms wrapped around each other under a shared blanket because 'it's a low energy type of day'
It's all or nothing- completely feral, unhinged 'I'll request the jailcell across from you' behavior or soft, domestic bliss
No words need be exchanged for that energy to shift- just a subtle glance and soft smile, a type of telepathy easily mastered after four years of being together
And Johnny wouldn't have it any other way
Ghost:
Initially doesn't even want to address her by Rabbit
He couldn't take the callsign seriously, especially after realizing this was the woman Soap had been babbling about in Verdansk
He knew more about her personal life than he did her military career, and he'd read her file back to front twice. Well, what hadn't been redacted, anyways
Decides he'll stick to Gun, as requested, but only when necessary. Better than Rabbit, at least
But after Soap's little confession while her comms are down in Las Almas? Now Gun just won't do. Decides to stick with Darling until he's figured out a better one. Knows she won't mind, anyways
Calls her Lovie a small handful of times, blink and you'll miss it, and it's only in a NSFW context ;) soft!dom Ghost supremacy
Settles on Tapeti once the dust settles and he knows he's wormed his way into her heart the same way Soap had
They're close in a way he can't say about anyone else
Does he love his team? Of course
Would he lay his life down for any one of them the second the opportunity presented itself? Also yes
But there's something about shared trauma that bonds the soul
Neither talk about it much
It's honestly easier to use Soap as the go-between on a lot of things
She's already told him, already bared her soul for him to see in that deserted apartment, and Simon's grateful Johnny omits certain heart wrenching details when he runs his hands over her scarred back, runs his hands over the raised tattoos that cover the remnants of Victoria
He doesn't yearn to know the specifics, most days he's not sure he wants to know at all
He'd made peace with his demons a long time ago, had to in order to survive, but he knew it wouldn't be so easy forgiving what'd been done to her
It wasn't hard to infer, anyway
They have a calendar, a pocket sized one with a little magnet attached that hangs on their fridge
It was Ghost's idea, after one of those days when the shakes were debilitating and she couldn't keep her food down
He'd set the container of soup from the deli across their flat on the counter, pulling Soap away from her curled up side and showing him the dollar store purchase
He didn't explain, just scribbled out a few dates and passed the calendar over
So Johnny took the pen and started scratching out days
He didn't explain all of them, only murmured the easy ones like 'her mother's birthday' or 'her comrades death date' or 'Victoria'
There's a deeper understanding there, between the three of them, and if there's one thing Simon can attest to while stomping out the butt of his cigarette onto Grave's false tombstone, it's his appreciation for the man's betrayal in Las Almas that lead him into the couple's outstretched arms
Gaz:
Best boy, here
The baby of the group, a few years younger than Rabbit who shares a birthyear with Soap
Uses that to his advantage
Calls her Officer Hopps on more than one occasion, not afraid to more commonly shorten it down to just 'Hopps'
Always in a playful loving manner, not that it matters when Rabbit's glare quickly follows
Also thinks it's funny to call her 'Gunnery Hopps' when in the presence of other soldiers, tries to play it off as a genuine tongue slip despite his wide grin proving otherwise
Again, uses his baby privilege to his advantage, whipping out the puppy eyes and small kisses that has Rabbit's glare melting into a soft smile
Typically sticks with Love- partially because he's a true Birmingham boy and the term of endearment comes naturally to him- mainly because it keeps her wound around his finger
Starts a fight by betting Price 20 quid he could cut a chunk out of Soap's mohawk? He's running to hide behind her, basking in her warmth and sticking a tongue out at Johnny over her shoulder
Smug as all hell, knows he's been deemed the favorite and is sure to remind the other men of it constantly
He'll tell them it's 'just because she loves me more, mate' but they all know the real reason
It's his calm, level-headed personality and natural ability to lead that endears him to her so easily
She never questions his judgement because what he lacks in years he makes up for in everything else by tenfold
And he looks up to Rabbit immensely- he may not initially know the finer details of her military experience, just general war stories Sparks and the rest of the Demon Dogs had told him in Urzikstan when she'd been out on medical leave, but he does know what being a 0251 MOS entails, knows he'll never come across a better Gunnery Sergeant even if he retires at 80
Aims to become a GySgt after seeing her serve as their unit's operations chief, working with superior officers on training, operations, and tactical advising
Asks a million questions and- though he'd never admit it- keeps a log of their answers in his notes app. He's just organized like that
She noticed anyways, what with his trusting nature and big heart (he gladly passed over his phone passcode within the first week of them being official), and it was actually that notes app list of all the little throw away tidbits about her role on the team that led her to write his letter of recommendation
That’s just the dynamic they have, they bring out the best in each other in every way, even when they don’t think it’s possible given the circumstances
He's only two years younger, and yet he feels so lacking in experience when they're thrown into red-stained chairs with threadbare bags over their heads
"You been tortured before, Gaz?"
"No."
"That's good. Let's keep it that way. Stay quiet and keep your eyes forward."
He remembers blanching at her nonchalant tone, the way she talked as if she'd done this a hundred times before.
She has, he realizes, and he feels a sort of naive embarrassment wash over him when he really thinks about it
Interrogation and Debrief Specialist, he thought, you don't earn that title by just sitting and reading about it
He didn't have much time to sit and process that thought before the men were reentering the dark room
He's unable to fathom how she'd kept her breathing so calm, refrained from letting out a single yell or grunt or sniffle until the men had slammed the metal door on their exit
It was hard for him, returning to base after what had transpired
It didn't sit right with him- the fact that he'd allowed himself to sit there and let the woman he'd been falling in love with be beaten within an inch of her life
But she'd comforted him, face swollen and leg wrapped, knocking her boot into his with a smile
He'd knocked his boot back into hers, and decided from there on out she'd know exactly how much she meant to him
Price:
The only member of the 141 to actually refer to her by her callsign. Captain's professionalism and all that.
Throws it out the window the second he deems necessary- which is quite often- resorts to Sweetheart
He knows more about her than anyone else, Johnny the only exception, and that isn't something he takes lightly
He'd read the reports. The redacted ones. He knew what happened after Victoria, he'd been the one to okay her transfer, to accept doing a favor for the Demon Dogs after their good work in Urzikstan and promising he'd 'keep an eye on her'
He understands the vulnerability in that fact, and is sure to do everything in his power to prove to her he's someone she can trust, even after she's told him time and time again he's done more than enough to prove his loyalty
Fortunately, years of hearing about each other via Soap and the Demon Dogs proved useful once they'd finally met at the top of that wall guarding Alejandro's base, easily falling into a sort of mutual understanding of each other
It helped that he was a natural patriarch, the glue holding the team together, ensuring they worked as a well oiled machine both on and off base
Soap vouched for Price and that was all the convincing Rabbit needed. So when Price vouched for Ghost and Gaz? It felt instinctual to trust the men wholeheartedly
Scary as it was initially, Price just knew. Simple as that, he knew what the team needed and exactly how to go about it, and she trusted that
He was arguably the most experienced in navigating trauma, and that definitely lent a hand to the comfortability of the team
He’s perfected the art of understanding each of the members of the task force and it’s something Rabbit didn’t realize she yearned for until she had it
He’s become the physical embodiment of her safe space in a way she never thought was possible. She breathes easier when he’s in eyesight, the tension drops from her shoulders when he’s near
Despite being one who only rarely accepted physical affection from anyone other than Soap, Rabbit named Price 'Seat of the Year', and that's meant quite literally
Cuddles are mandatory team bonding. He doesn't make the rules (yes he does)
Arguably the most giving partner on the face of the planet
Is happy to lean back in his chair and cut off the blood supply to his legs if it means Rabbit is soothed by the way his hands run over her arms and scratch at her scalp, perched on his lap and quickly drifting off to sleep as he presses light kisses onto the junction between her neck and shoulder
His brain is constantly alerting his body of his need to protect and provide. It'd still happen even if he'd never approved her transfer, that's just the kind of man he is, but he wouldn't have been nearly as emboldened without her there
Gaz yawns in the midst of completing a mission report? He's already tossing the man over his shoulder and forcing him to rest for once
Soap lets out the quietest sigh of pain when that one muscle in his shoulder starts twinging again? He's already pushing the man to sit and rounding the couch to dig his strong hands into the stubborn muscle
Ghost's stomach lets out singular growl? Guess that stack of paperwork can be finished tomorrow, it's now his personal mission to ensure the man has eaten a nutritious meal that checks off every micro and macro nutrient possibly needed to ensure health and prosperity in that beefy body
Perfectly content to love and love and love for absolutely nothing in return besides seeing his team happy and healthy
Unbeknownst to him, he very quickly charms his way into her heart with his thick thighs caring nature, dilf energy warm smiles, and ofc the boonie hat
-
General Character Headcanons:
Rabbit:
-As mentioned in the Personnel Files, Rabbit is a Gunnery Sergeant and a 0251 MOS [Interrogator/Debrief Specialist]
-Gunnery Sergeant is her rank- serving as her unit's operations chief, working with superior officers on training, operations, and tactical advising
-0251 is her job code [MOS]. 0251 specifically means being an Interrogator/Debriefer in the US Marine Corps. This job involves collecting information/intelligence from human sources by means of interrogation, debriefing, and screening. Typical duties are the screening and interrogation of enemy POWs, line crossers, refugees, and other displaced persons, exploiting foreign language documents, and participating in noncombatant evacuation operations
-A common requirement for this job is being at the very least bilingual, and it's canon here that Rabbit speaks Spanish alongside English. With that said, many apologies to those reading this that speak Spanish because I'm using translation websites (yes I disappoint my Mexican grandparents every day)
-Rabbit is a Demon Dog, but was not in Urzikstan due to medical leave. She has direct permission from the US Marine Corps, SAS, and Price to be stationed in the UK base 'on loan' as a Demon Dog since they are part of the Coalition, led by the CIA's best Station Chief Kate Laswell :D
-Again, as shown in the Personnel Files, Rabbit does not have many character descriptors listed. I'm trying my best to make her as inclusive as I possibly can while still flushing out her character. I don't like the self-insert '[h/c] [e/c]' format, so I just avoid it all together
-Rabbit is an only child
-Also it's not really about Rabbit per say but in my story Griggs is a Captain. He leads the Demon Dogs and therefore holds a higher rank that Rabbit. It makes sense to me in this story that he'd be of similar age and rank as Price
Soap:
-I’ve seen a few people say based on his accent Soap is likely from Glasgow but unfortunately I’ve only been to Edinburgh so we’re using our creative liberty here and saying that's where he's from plz and thank u <3
-Johnny is the baby of the family with 3 older sisters. His poor mother was pregnant for damn near four years straight
-He's close with his entire family, but especially his mother and youngest sister
-Also I'm not killing him in this story. I wrote a good portion of it pre-MW3 and that campaign sucked so I'm ignoring it :)
Ghost:
-Simon is from Manchester. Yeah yeah yeah ik there’s a whole thing ab his accent and yada ya but my first London pub-watch rugby game was Leeds vs Wigan, so we’re sticking with canon here
-Wigan is in Greater Manchester so I like the headcanon that Ghost’s father was a ManUnited football fan so teen!Simon said ‘oh fuck that’ and instead chose to take the 45 minute train to go watch rugby in another city
-I'm basing a lot of his character off of both the comics and game, however there is one thing to note. In the comics, 'Sparks' is one of the soldiers that assists in getting Simon's family killed. This is not the same Sparks I refer to in this story. Shane Sparks is a Demon Dog, and I'm writing in his character for specific plot devices. He'll likely be completely OC since I just grabbed his basic profile off the character wiki.
Gaz:
-Haven’t heard any confirmation on where Gaz is from but my love Elliot Knight is from Birmingham so ding ding ding, we have a winner
-Only child, the absolute pride and joy of his parent's life. He's a total mama's boy and it was largely her good morals and outlook on life that steered him in the direction of wanting to better the world
Price:
-Liverpool. Again, I’m not sure if there’s confirmation as to where Price is from but my love ( yes I can have two >:| ) Barry Sloane is from Livahpewl soooooo
-Semi-sad headcanon for Price here. Idk why but I feel a strong pull to the idea that his parents have passed, despite him only being 36 in my story, putting them somewhere in their 60's
-On a happier note, I also like the idea that John is an older brother, so we're going with that
-
<3
#cod modern warfare#cod mw2#cod mw3#johnny mactavish#johnny soap mactavish#john soap mactavish#johnny mactavish x reader#soap x gaz x reader#ghost x reader x soap#soap x reader#call of duty modern warfare 3#john price x reader#captain john price x reader#john price#captain price x reader#soap cod#captain price#simon riley#simon riley x reader#simon ghost riley#ghost x reader#ghost cod#price cod#gaz x reader#gaz garrick x reader#kyle gaz garrick#kyle garrick x reader#kyle garrick#gaz cod#poly!141 x reader
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Transcript under the cut:
Iris: You’re the one who made a big fuss about not being able to get a hold of me. You wanted to talk, so I’m here.
Asher: I figured you’d be pissed at me after the other night.
Iris: I was, at first.
Asher: Not anymore?
Iris: No, not anymore.
Asher: Good. What’s gonna happen to him?
Iris: [shrugs] He was still on probation, so I don’t know… He has a hearing scheduled next week, but I doubt it’ll go well.
Asher: Are you doing okay?
Iris: Yeah, I don’t know. I’m fine.
Asher: If I ask you something, will you tell me the truth?
Iris: Sure.
Asher: Why was James there that night? He wasn’t scheduled that day, and it was too late to see Spencer anyway.
Iris: I don’t know. Just to talk or hang out, probably.
Asher: Were you seeing him again?
Iris: [hesitates] Yes.
Asher: Did he hurt you?
Iris: No.
Asher: You said you’d tell the truth.
Iris: What makes you think I’m not?
Asher: Dawn told me about the bruises on your wrist.
Iris: She what? That bitch doesn’t know what she’s talking about! She needs to keep her nose out of my fucking business!
Asher: HEY! If you’re gonna act like that, you can leave.
Iris: [scoffs] She’s just pissed because I said a home birth was higher risk than a hospital.
Asher: Why would you do that?
Iris: Because it’s true. Look it up, the odds of the baby dying are higher—
Asher: Oh my god, Iris. Did you say that to her?
Iris: What? She didn’t tell you?
Asher: No. Surprise surprise, she didn’t call me to talk shit about you. She was just concerned.
Iris: Oh. Look, I wasn’t trying to be mean. I was just saying, there are things she should probably consider. I don’t know what the big deal is.
Asher: You don’t know what the big deal is? I swear, Iris, you are the least self-aware person I’ve ever known.
Iris: [rolls her eyes] Whatever.
Asher: Fucking Christ. First of all, I can tell that your attitude was more judgmental than anything else, so don’t act like you were looking out for her. Second, it’s not your place to be second-guessing her decisions when you haven’t even bothered to get to know her. And third, you never know what people have been through, so you should really learn to have a little more tact.
Iris: I really think you’re overreacting. It wasn’t that big of a deal, and I have enough shit to deal with. I don’t need you lecturing me about fucking tact.
Asher: I’m overreacting?
Iris: Yeah.
Asher: Did you know they lost their first baby?
Iris: I—No. How was I supposed to know that?
Asher: Exactly. You don’t even know her. You just make assumptions and run your mouth without ever thinking about how it might affect someone else.
Iris: Okay. I’m sorry.
Asher: I’m not the one you owe an apology to.
Iris: …
Asher: [sighs] I think you should leave.
Iris: Wha—Ash.
Asher: I love you, but I can’t talk to you right now. Just go.
Iris: Fine.
Atlas: Ash! Guess what!
Atlas: Hey.
Atlas: Are you okay?
Asher: Not really.
Atlas: Do you want to talk about it?
Asher: Maybe later. I kinda just want to lay here for a while.
Atlas: Okay.
Asher: Can I ask you for a favor?
Atlas: Sure, anything you need.
Asher: Will you go pick up Jasper for me tomorrow?
Atlas: Yeah. Yeah, I can do that.
Asher: Thanks. What were you hollering about when you came in?
Atlas: Oh, Dawn is in labor.
Asher: No way! That’s exciting! Do they need anything?
Atlas: Nothing right now. Phoenix said he’d keep us updated and let us know when we can come over. But, for now, we don’t have to do anything.
Atlas: We can stay right here.
#ts4#ts4 simblr#ts4 story#sims 4#sims 4 storytelling#sims 4 challenge#starsignchallenge#starsignlegacychallenge#gen1 aries#aries pt3#asher goode#iris goode#atlas stephens
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Inazuma Rewrite Act 3
Please start reading from part one before reading this. It will make no sense otherwise.
Act 3 pays off for Acts 1 and 2, and I made some major changes in them, such as change to reasons of vision hunt\Raiden motivations, Ayaka arc, entire resistance storyline, Transience setup, Yoimiya arc setup, so without reading them first, this part will not make sense.
In this installment:
Transcience pay off
Yoimiya arc
Kazuha conflict
Raiden confrontation
Kujou Sara arc
and more
All disclaimers from part one also apply, I’m not gonna copy paste them.
Yae Miko \ Raiden Preparation Training
ok, let’s start with the fact that current “raiden fight training” sucks. Like I get what they’re going for, and training episode idea is very anime, but like. Running in circles around a trashcan that hits you with boss moves is not fun. it is, in fact, super annoying.
i want to keep the training angle, but make it more... spiritual. and thematic.
so, yae miko is like blah blah, you need to prepare to face Raiden, and I will train you, as the person who knows her the best.
Paimon is like wow, you’re gonna teach us to fight??
Yae Miko is like haha you’re so stupid, no, of course not. Your goal is to change raiden’s mind. For that, you need to know and understand her and where she’s coming from.
We will know you’re ready, when you can pass the Sacred Sakura trial
she leads traveler to the sacred sakura. there are like stone plates with symbols at the base, you know, the puzzle ones.
Yae goes like, do you know what Transience means? Transience is the dream of the nation of thunder. We find the greatest joys in mortal life in fleeting dreams, for is life itself not like the shadow of the thunder? Pursue your dreams into the clouds if you wish, and enjoy the unexpected silence of the dim lamp-lit nights.
traveler and paimon is like yeah wait, we saw smth like that in inazuma shrines and ruins
yae is like great, then show me the symbol of Transience. traveler looks at the puzzle stones, but there weren’t really anything like this in the prev locations which mentioned transience
player can fiddle with puzzle stones, but whatever combination they try, it doesn’t work
after a couple of tries, yae is like okay, it seems you still have much to learn! lets go, i’ll teach you
you go through the inazuma city with her, but seemingly only do bullshit. like, eating ramen, shopping, doing some light novels bs, and like traveler is paying for everything. not too long, like just few minutes, with a couple phrases per activity and fading to black, kinda montage of more and more exasperated and confused traveler and paimon until they’re like wait what the fuck is this. how is supposed to teach us anything??
yae does her signature bullshit smirks like hehe you’re too close-minded, you clearly haven’t understood ~Transience~, so buy me more stuff
paimon does her Angry Stomp, you know the one, like ugh! you’re just fucking with us to get us to pay for stuff, we’re done!
yae narrows her eyes menacingly with a smile like haha is this how u wanna talk to me you little flying shit, paimon hides behind traveler like oops sorry i didn’t say that, but then like, resistance messenger runs up to the traveler and traveler and paimon use this us an excuse to fuck off
Kazuha conflict\ Reveal of the true reasons for Raiden Gokaden fall
turns out messenger is from Kazuha. we meet up with him. he’s in the city despite being fugitive bc he’s heard some maniac is killing ppl, searching for the last scion of the Isshin school bloodline
listen, i love kazuha and i overall like his story quest, but it ends up being more character development for the cursed sword, not kazuha. and like i get it, it’s hard to write conflict for Kazuha bc he’s already escaped samsara, he’s the sole receiver of all therapy in genshin, he rolls 20 on every Wisdom roll, etc etc.
but that doesn’t mean we can’t explore his character more in depth and give him a conflict, even if his beliefs do not change as the result, but just better articulated.
We’re keeping the quest mostly same, as I said, I like it fine, it’s still about kazuha going on a therapy tour with the cursed sword, but with like. actual stakes
because in canon, when the sword says like oh, together we will have power to defeat raiden, its obviously not really a temptation for kazuha. bc like. the war is already over! kazuha has already won! AND he personally blocked legendary ublockable move that his friend dreamed of doing. why would he go back and fight raiden again?? it makes no sense
so it ends up being just like. kazuha psychoanalyzing cursed sword the entire time. which cool and all, but i want to play quest about kazuha and not the sword??
but, if it happens DURING the war, it’s much more impactful. this is not just revenge, there are lives on the line and no way to fight raiden. so when the sword is like I will give you power to stand up to raiden, then its not only in memory of his friend, but to protect the resistance. It is now a believable choice that can give Kazuha a pause, because situation is dire and they need every advantage they can get
this is also to rhyme with the Delusions motif, the “my own strength is not enough, so I must turn to the corrupted source of power for which i know i will pay”
of course, in the end kazuha decides to not give in to the cursed sword, bc he sees through its facade that the sword is actually weakening and falling apart, but also because he is narrative foil to both scara (scara believes in doing anything to gain power to pursue his obsession, even at great pain to himself, this is why he’s tied with delusions, and then in sumeru quest gets into dotorre’s torture mecha) AND raiden, which i think fandom largely misses.
both Kazuha and Ei had friends and loving, supporting family, but were kinda sheltered and isolated from people. Ei because she was Makoto’s shadow and didn’t really interact with public, and Kazuha because he was an heir of a falling noble house and he was feeling trapped and focused on trying to live up to his own expectations and anxieties (this btw was beautifully dramatized in his domain in prev summer’s golden archipelago)
both of them were quiet and kinda introverted, Ei allowing her sister take a central stage and Kazuha admitting that ppl with grand aspirations always captivated him, which obv references his friend. then, they lost everything in one fell swoop.
Ei lost her friends in the cataclysm and then, her sister. Kazuha’s family died, and later he had to flee his estate, becoming fugitive and then his friend was killed in a duel with Raiden. they both had their small-ish isolated worlds and lost them violently
and Raiden tried to catch the shards of her falling world and keep them in place, cover them in stasis, as if it could restore what was broken. She saw eternity as the lack of change and decided to never change herself. She closed off from the world, literally destroyed her physical body and isolated her mind in a little locked world, focused solely on “preserving” herself.
in contrast, Kazuha opened up to the world. He didn’t try to stop the winds of change, he followed them. One of this themes is being a part of the world, “One with wind and clouds”, “One with the nature”, “Life has just begun and maybe, the whole world can be my home,” this is why his kit heavily features element absorption and his character stories emphasize how he’s sharp, notices little details in surroundings, even has sharp sense of smell.
He reached out to people instead of isolating himself, and so he found new friends, he saw the endless beauty in the bigger world even after his own cozy snowglobe was shattered.
His theme is not only about being open to the world, but also bringing different elements together, and he’s the one who brings people in inazuma arc together. He brings traveler to Thoma, then through him Gorou reaches Beidou and the mercs, etc. this is why he is the one who blocks raiden.
he is her foil precisely because he can let go and doesn’t let his grief blind him, he will fight her because she needs to be stopped, but not because he wants to take revenge or fore her to suffer. He is the breaker of cycles of pain, not perpetuator
so kazuha refuses, like in original, sword deteriorates more and more, and in the end, becomes weak, but regains memories about his creator in exile in snezhnaya.
but, with the added twist to the scene where kazuha sees memories of the sword. In our version, Shogun instituted vision hunt decree because vision holding blade smith collaborated with fatui and led to the fall of Raiden Gokaden, 5 sword art schools.
But now we learn that Kazuha’s ancestor who made this cursed sword, was this very vision-holding blade smith, and he never betrayed Inazuma, instead, he was slandered by Fatui and it was all Scara’s plan on his misguided revenge against Raiden Gokaden.
as in canon, Kazuha reforges the sword with the last shreds of its power. It does not hold its previous cursed strength anymore, but it is a last sword made in lost technique of Kazuha’s family tradition and he swears to restore it, just as he does in canon
Vision Loss exploration\ Yoimiya was always relevant
after this, paimon and traveler are like ugh, we don’t want to go back to yae, we don’t know the answer to symbol of transience puzzle and she will just mock us more. Lets go see how Yoimiya is doing instead!
ok so, I want to address what I see as a problem in how genshin handled vision loss. like obviously, vision loss stands for trauma. and “wow after their vision was taken, they turned into a completely different person” works as initial impression, bc often when someone you know changes drastically, it can feel this way
where this narrative fails is that it never explores further, bc all characters we meet with vision loss are random NPCs we see for 15 minutes, so it ends up being shallow “this guy was very kind and selfless before, but after losing vision he completely ignores ppl he helped with “new number who dis” response”, which like???
framing ppl who are already going through inner turmoil and struggle as like, complete strangers who are not themselves anymore and also completely lose positive qualities tied to their visions, is so tactless and wrong. It’s still the same person, no matter how drastically changed, and they need support, not demonization like “inherently incapable of caring about people after losing vision”.
this is why i think its better to focus on one character players know and care about instead of several NPCs no one gives a fuck about
so we go visit Yoi and meet her with her dad during discussion. it’s festival time and their family always made fireworks for it, they have several orders now too. But, due to Yoi being caught as part of resistance, her family was blacklisted and they can’t get necessary supplies to create fireworks, specifically like special chemical powder.
so now, Yoi needs to go to all the clients and tell them there will be no fireworks for them for this festival.
Yoi’s dad is very supportive and doesn’t blame Yoi, but she still feels its her fault. She’s not a firecracker she was before, now quieter and harsher, and it does feel like she’s someone new, who traveler and paimon do not know.
we go to the clients to inform them with Yoi, and while doing so learn what fireworks meant for each of them. for some, it was friendship, how now matter how different their lives were, they would get together and celebrate with fireworks. for old couple, its ritual to celebrate their marriage and so on.
they are all sad, but understanding, and supportive and concerned about Yoi. she puts on brave face, but its obvious for the traveler that its hard for her to pretend to be fine.
on the way back, they have a convo about how its tacking a toll on Yoi, and how she feels bad, but also hopeless, and it also feels like something as joyous and frivolous as fireworks is meaningless in the middle of the war and vision hunt
we get back and find Yoi’s dad talking to customers. Its a refugee family, they explain that they live on another island, but once in a few years would visit Narukami for the festival and buy fireworks. They were forced to go to Narukami right now bc of the war, but since they are here already, they want at least something good to come out of it. And they have a cute little girl who is too young and never before saw fireworks and she’s sooooo excited, and the whole time they were running from their home they were consoling her by saying they go to Narukami to see the festival and the fireworks
Yoi’s dad starts defeatedly explaining that unfortunately they cannot make fireworks right now, but Yoi interrupts him, and for a moment she’s her old self, bright and joyful, she reassures the little girl that its okay, they will have fireworks for sure, and these will be the prettiest fireworks ever!
family leaves, excited, and Yoi drops the facade. she wasn’t “cured” in a moment, but she is determined
traveler and paimon are like - oh but how will we get fireworks??
Yoi is like “tenryo commission has this confiscated powder in their warehouse and we are raiding it, bc this little girl is getting her family fireworks if its the last fucking thing i do”
bc she realized, viscerally, that actually, fireworks will be more meaningful now BECAUSE of the dark and uncertain times, not despite of them, and whether its someone childhood OR last years of life, time is fleeting and impossible to get back, so giving people joy and hope is more important than ever
she’s not “healed”, she’s not back to her old self yet, but we see that there’s still spark in her and hope for recovery, even if she struggles, and deep down she is still same kind and caring Yoi we’ve met at the start
we do the warehouse domain, fight, do puzzles, get powder, Yoi and her dad make fireworks, we watch basically same cutscene as of the end of Yoi’s first quest now, with ppl looking up at the sky and seeing fireworks and Yoi and traveler watching from the hill.
at which point i want to mention that like, despite some part of fandom calling canon Yoi irrelevant, she always supported inazuma themes, which i will illustrate by using the dialogue from the quest verbatim and showing how i don’t even need to rewrite it to make it fit
Yoimiya: It was by chance that I happened to be born into the Naganohara family, so it was by chance that I ended up learning this craft from my pops.
Yoimiya: It's also by chance that I've met so many people, learned so many things, and discovered that people associate watching fireworks with the things that are most precious to them.
Yoimiya: Fireworks that disappear in a flash of light are probably the furthest thing away from the eternity that our Shogun desires.
Yoimiya: But people's feelings don't just disappear, and it's those feelings that give fireworks their purpose. If nobody wanted to watch fireworks, then they wouldn't exist.
Traveler: That's another kind of eternity.
boom! Yoimiya was always a representation of transience philosophy, hoyo just didn’t dramatize it properly and without transience explored during main quest, she felt like she doesn’t belong, while she was an actual Inazuma spiritual end game goal all along.
Makoto Reveal
anyway. traveler, pauses, repeats themselves. “Another kind of eternity... Eternity in fleeting things, because people’s dreams give them meaning...”
they get up and run to yae, looking determined, confused paimon following behind
“i know the answer,“ traveler tells to yae and she smirks, leads them to the puzzle stones near Sakura
“So, show me the symbol of transience“
but instead of fiddling with the stones, traveler gestures at the sakura petals, gliding on the wind and people watching theim
“This is the eternity in transience“
yae chuckles in delight “oh, finally, i thought you’ll never get it. How could be fleeting dreams be captured in stone puzzles?”
paimon is like ooooh is this why you led us around eating ramen and shopping? you were not just fucking around on our money, you wanted to make us think about enjoying momentary fleeting things?
yae gives her signature facetious response like oh of course how could you think i was scamming, how ungrateful of you etc etc, but its clear that she both actually was trying to give a hint AND enjoyed scamming them for free stuff
then she gets quieter, says pensively “but it seems the company of your friends was better help with figuring it out... She always did say that we immortals cannot understand beauty of transience the way humans do...”
paimon and traveler are like “She???”
thats when the cutscene revealing that there were two shoguns and that raiden’s sister died at the cataclysm plays. nothing much to add here, i think the existing cutscene works well, but because in canon it’s played AFTER raiden’s defeated, it feels a bit weird, like post-factum excuse.
like raiden goes oh well ok, i’ll get rid of vision hunt decree, by the way i had a twin sister who died, like?? i think pacing-wise its better to learn why raiden is Like That before “punch her until she changes her mind” fight than after she had already changed her mind
so, paimon is like ooooh, so this is why it seemed that raiden changed so much! she didn’t change, we just saw the ideas of the first shogun
yae is like yes, ei’s grief for her sister and differences in their views is important for you to understand for when you will try to change her mind in her hikikomori mind palace
Storming the palace\ Signora interlude
then yae does the ok lets get Kojou Sara quests, which I don’t really feel like changing, bc like. it does its job fine enough. we need to establish that tenryou commission was corrupted and working with fatui AND that kujou sara will go against her only family for justice
the ayato infiltrating like 5 rebellion guys with gorou and kazuha to take the palace is kinda dumb logistically, but tbh this is not game of thrones. genshin works mostly on anime logic where things happen bc its cool and fitting for the character\narrative beats. making actually realistic attack plan i feel like would be too long, complex and derail from the storyline, so i’d say lets keep it roughly same
What I’m gonna change is Signora cameo. And by change I mean remove it completely. I spent a lot of time trying to make her death work, but it just doesn’t. She has nothing to do with Inazuma story or themes, shows up for 2 seconds and dies immediately. This is a shitshow, like, we’d need to derail whole archon quest to insert her and it still wouldn’t be good.
if Signora has to be dead for like, the strategic plot reasons, here is my version of how it should go down
ok but we need an opportunity for raiden to do her one hit boob kill move, and how are we gonna do this if we remove Signora?
easy, sara confronts her tenryuo adoptive dad in front of raiden. like, rn she runs to him, he has a speech about how he basically doesn’t care about raiden herself, but really only worships the Boob Nuke. he gets defeated and then sara runs off to raiden and gets knocked out off-screen, like??? this is so awkward. what the fuck is the point
instead, sara is like right now is the time when Tenryuo chief is reporting to raiden, we need to tell her he’s lying to her!
we follow sara to the palace and confront tenryuo dude in front of raiden. he’s like you have no proof u insolent girl and this is after everything i’ve done for u!
sara challenges him to a duel before the throne and raiden agrees.
we fight the dude and defeat him. he launches into basically same unhinged speech, but now raiden is here to hear it.
She realizes that even those who she considered the most loyal of her servants worship not her, but her power, because she removed herself from inazuma and all people know of her is to fear the Boob Nuke. this is a important step in her development that we will explore a bit later
then she annihilates him which i think is much more thematically relevant bc he died from the same blade he worshipped
then, raiden is like well, i’ve dealt with a traitor, but don’t think that it gets YOU off the hook, a criminal is a criminal and I’ll destroy you
then we duel, bc like. her using boob sword at the start of battle is thematically wrong. its a finisher, a kill move. in the first duel she used it at the end. she needs to charge her burst first, you know
so, we go to the plane of euthemiya and fight. it basically goes the same, first traveler has elements disabled, then wishes of inazuma people awaken and empower them.
raiden is shaken, but not convinced. bc this is the Gives a Fuck raiden, it’s not that she didn’t know her people had ambitions, tho she could underestimate them, its that she thought these ambitions can only lead them to ruin and she, as an arbiter of eternity who sacrificed her body to lock her mind in a sword and evade “corruption“, is the one who knows best.
she rallies up and counter-attacks. similar scene as in the first duel happens, she throws traveler to the real world and follows, readying the kill move
and thats when kazuha blocks her
i think in canon this isn’t given appropriate weight for raiden. bc like. that was her legendary UNBLOCKABLE strike. she one-shot gods and monsters with it. this was her personal proof of perfection, she knows she might not be a philosopher and leader like her sister, but she is The best warrior. like if you want to change her mind, you have to fight her in a duel, her mastery of sword is how she justifies that she’s right to herself
and now a mortal blocked her most perfect move
and not just any mortal! She recognizes the style of the blade he wields. Isshin blade, even though Isshin art died as Raiden Gokaden schools fell
she asks him how did he get this blade and he tells her the truth he learned from the cursed sword
her people never betrayed her. instead, she was mislead by the fatui and pushed her own subjects into running away to the enemies because they didn’t believe she would listen and be merciful to them
the worst thing is that she knows they were right. she would not have been merciful.
and now she watches the bitter irony of how her eternity crumbles.
tenryuo commission, who she thought of her most loyal and closest servants, upholding laws and traditions, in truth were corrupted from the inside, tradition nothing but a hollow form, a fake shape kept just to appease her, with no true soul or meaning, lusting only after power
but the last scion of the clan she though betrayed her, an exile and criminal, a vagabond and pirate, is the one who embodied isshin art she thought lost wholeheartedly, the one who preserved the last true blade of his school. the one who blocked her strike that she thought of as the truest.
and with the vision of a man she had once already defeated in a duel
with all of that, with countless visions rallying up to support an outlander against their own god, with the proof that even killing rebels would be useless because ambitions of the dead will be picked up and reignited again by the living, with proof of the corruption rotting in her government, she cannot see herself in the right anymore
this is why she lifts the vision hunt decree
Raiden’s First Story Quest
I think there’s general agreement in fandom, even among raiden fans, that her first story quest is one of the worst in game. its so boring and pointless. you go on a date with raiden and then she fights some nerd in a duel. who gives a fuck.
it also takes for granted that all players even WANT to hang out with raiden, which like, at this point she was only a giant dick to everyone around and not everyone is a boob worshipper. for people who already disliked her, being forced to babysit her around and take her photos only feels more annoying and antagonizing
Again, our main change in characterization for raiden is that she actually gives a fuck. like, in canon her country is on the brink of complete collapse after civil war and fatui schemes, 2 out of 3 commissions are barely functional, her robot-sona is malfunctioning the storm, and she not only does not give a fuck, but traveler has to jump through hoops to get to her. and she just goes on a date, trying sweets and light novels. like. guuuuurl. come on, get a grip for 5 fucking minutes and do your damn job. we had to randomly stumble into tenryuo nerd being bullied for her to take ANY part in inazuma’s politics
so, logical thing to do for Raiden Who Gives a Fuck is to go out and try to sort out mess she’s now learnt her country was turned into.
like, she summons traveler and goes hey, i know we’re not exactly on bestest terms, but I need to root out corruption and fatui’s shit specifically, and i don’t trust my government officials right now, so i need your help in being a guide bc i haven’t left the room in 500 years.
kujou sara is also there since raiden deemed her trustworthy bc sara was the one who exposed tenryuo corruption to her
i got an ask about how canonically Kanjou commission was in a vulnerable state due to commerce falling with sakoku decree, and so they could be an easy first foothold for fatui to get themselves into the country, and i think raiden quest would be a good place to explore it, while she’s investigation corruption.
i’m not gonna write the whole plot, it doesn’t really matter, the main points is that raiden sees isolation actually doesn’t protect her ppl, but harms them, that when ppl are not allowed to do smth that they want, they will turn to illegal and much more harmful ways instead, for which delusions are an allegory.
raiden can still do fluffy stuff like trying mango milkshakes or whatever, but while going from one commission to another instead of just wandering around on a date
tenruyo nerd can also be there if hoyo wants to include him for some reason. they can even have same useless duel with raiden at the end that makes her appoint him head of commission
Kujou Sara
as I said, Sara is also there, going with raiden on investigation, showing her competence, until its clear that she’s the sole hinge on which entire tenryuo commission depends.
raiden praises her for her loyalty, and Sara, incredibly earnest and grateful, explains her backstory, how she was a kid falling to her death from a mountain while enemies were storming it, and how she received vision during the fall and thus survived, so she now not only owes her life to raiden, but can’t imagine better cause to serve, as clearly, raiden is omnipotent and all knowing and caring enough to save an insignificant tengu child like her
raiden frowns. she does not grant visions herself, in fact, she is not even aware when electro visions are granted - this is canon btw, it’s from raiden’s own voicelines.
tenryuo nerd sees that raiden is about to speak up, and even though he obv doesn’t know vision secrets, he realizes from her expression alone that she’s about to contradict sara’s story
he interrupts her, apologizes profusely, but takes her aside and begs her to not say to sara anything that can shake her loyalty, because again, this commission is going to crumble without her. These are temoulteous times and they need sara the most, raiden can tell her whatever she wants after inazuma is stabilized
but the thing is that being truly honorable is supposed to be raiden’s redeeming grace. she might be stubborn and inflexible, ruthless and inept, but she is straightforward and honorable, she cannot accept loyalty given on false premises, and we need to show that in action
raiden tells sara bluntly that she did not give her a vision, that she was not aware that sara was in risk of death at all
sara is shaken. her world crumbles before her. this is not just bc of her own vision and life that she thought she owed, but in fact, did not. no, much more it’s about vision hunt decree. its about all the people she was sent after, talked to them and their crying families for hours, telling them that this is for their own good, that shogun knows better, sara herself is an example, is a proof. it’s about all the people she didn’t convince and had to take their visions by force, comforting herself in the knowledge that she personally might not understand shogun’s plan, but what she knows is that is infallible.
and now it turns out it’s not true at all.
this, she cannot take. she asks raiden to free her from service. and bc again, raiden is honorable, even knowing the damage it will do, she lets sara go.
after that, she shows up in events and side quests, showing her on a journey to find herself.
we see her in yae miko’s story quest, protecting ppl from the guy who was possessed by the oni spirit, and later, watching yokai spirits dance in the skies and yearning
we see her in an event with a ghost umbrella, being strict and cross with yokai kids for causing so much ruckus, but secretly fond and protective of them, and playing off her funny rivalry with itto
we see her in itto’s quest, in a part where traveler asks ppl about itto’s character, and she’s being fair, says that he might be an idiot and hooligan, but he would never harm or kidnap innocent ppl
we see her in irodori festival, organizing the community, bc she knows how to do it and she’s good at it and *someone* has to (and bc she cares about ppl without any order telling her to)
then, she’s in kokomi quest, bc kokomi asks her to be present at negotiations, bc she’s the only one from tenryuo in whose honor kokomi can really trust. sara tells her that she has no official standing anymore, but kokomi asks her to be there anyway. later, when dishonesty from tenryuo side is revealed and sara helps to stop the ppl who are trying to sabotage negotiations, kokomi asks sara to vouch for what happened in report to raiden, so that this is not blamed on watatsumi and fair deal can be cut
sara says again that raiden has no reason to listen to her and take the worse deal just on her word. and yet, after a couple of days, report comes back. raiden listens to sara’s word and does not force watatsumi to accept the bad conditions. we can see this affecting sara, her being conflicted
sara\kokomi shippers, ur welcome btw
then, raiden’s second story quest. it starts as of now. we accept commission to deal with abyss wolves spawning, go to the mountain of sacred sakura. but instead of just meeting raiden, we first see kujou sara.
she’s there to protect people because this is who she is, this is the ambition that summoned her vision to begin with, and no lies and manipulations can change that.
like at the beginning of her story, she’s on the mountain, protecting her home from the enemies
like at the beginning, she falls and survives the fall, but she’s too injured and about to be killed by the wolves
but this time, inazuma’s archon has not locked herself in a room.
raiden appears, destroying the wolves and saving sara. this time, she is not just an idea based on false belief of a child. she is there in flesh to finally take action that sara believed she was doing so many years ago.
as in canon, raiden says that she will fight the monsters alone, bc its her duty to protect inazuma.
and this is when sara pledges her allegiance to raiden again.
raiden tells her that her saving sara’s life does not mean that sara now owes that life to her, as raiden’s duty is to protect all of her people
but this is not why sara wants to follow her now. finally, she sees real raiden and not childish illusion of an omnipotent goddess who always knows better. but real raiden is honest, honorable, and despite being strongheaded and often misguided, someone who cares deeply for her ppl and is driven by the same goal to protect as sara
sara tells this to her, asserting that she will not serve her out of obligation or with blind loyalty like before, that she will now think critically and question and tell raiden if she believes she;s wrong, but she will believe in her nonetheless as long as raiden cares about inazuma over herself
raiden says that then they will share an eternity in service of inazuma people, as they should
as sara is injured, raiden sends her to organize evacuation instead of fighting, and quest goes on as in canon
sara\raiden shippers, ur welcome btw
Ancient Sakura Blooms Again
I don’t want to change much else about raiden’s second quest, bc its already pretty fucking good and manages to speedrun raiden’s character development in 45 minutes.
instead, all of my rewrite is meant to be a setup to establish both raiden’s conflict and makoto’s personality and philosophy beforehand, instead of getting infodump from old man ghost in 1.5 scenes
this way, raiden coming to accept the eternity as transience is natural progression instead of speedrun and makoto’s appearance has bigger impact, since she was haunting the narrative from the start and we came to know about her gradually
also, irodori festival can go pretty much the same. scara being behind raiden gokaden fall is now more significant, bc for our version it was inazuma’s inciting incident, and now just like. random lore bit.
also, both raiden and yae miko show up in comedic cameos during festival, but after they learn it was scara, there is a brief serious scene as raiden realizes that while she was blaming fatui for corrupting inazuma, it was only possible bc she neglected her own creation, which is a metaphor for inazuma’s isolation as a whole. she doesn’t explain that ofc, just looks striken
“i thought i’m giving him peace...“
“i’ve told you we should’ve destroyed that puppet“, yae miko spits out (she did canonically wanted to off scara after raiden decided he’s not fit for gnosis bc he cried)
ofc, we won’t give proper backstory before sumeru, but it would be a nice tease that will get deeper meaning once we do know, and also illustrate that both raiden’s solipsistic abandonment and yae miko burning bridges instead of dealing with ppl is not great governing strategies
also, irodori has additional ayaka storyline about how she got involved in all this investigation stuff as a distraction to get away from the house bc ayato asked her to wear family jewels for the festival finale and she sold them in act 2, but she’s too afraid to tell it to ayato
finally, after learning of kazuha’s family keeping secrets from each other that hurt them in the long run, she finally gets brave enough to tell ayato what she did
he stops her mid-sentence and tells her to go check the chests
she’s confused, but obeys. she runs back holding the jewelry, being like oh my god what?? how is that back?? did u buy it back??? did u know the entire time???
of course he knew the entire time. he’s proud of her. he only wished she trusted him enough to ask for his help directly.
you didn’t use the commission funds for this, right? ayaka hesitates for a second and ayato laugh.
of course not. why would he need to steal from commission when there are so many fatui assassins to loot
oh, i always knew you wouldn’t. wait what....
ayato’s quest i’d rewrite completely. he’s still manipulate mansplain manslut, but in better political machinations then sabotaging a wedding of npcs and giving hannibal lector speeches to random goons
we’ve scorched out inazuma’s corruption in raiden first quest, now is the time to restructure and modernize commissions which were gutted by said corruption, for which raiden assembles yae, sara, traveler and ayato, who is the head of only commission that did not sell out to fatui
ayato and yae miko are incredibly petty cunts to each other in a very smiley passive aggressive manner, but they team up to come up with devious machinations for the greater good
sara is there not only for military expert role, but also to speak up for the common ppl which she is finally closer to, and to ground the schemers
raiden sometimes thoughtfully says “why don’t we duel them to death?“ as solution to many problems, and when everyone yells no, shrugs
overall, its kinda rough going and obvious that there are a lot of problems ahead, but also clear that inazuma did change and grew, raiden is no longer a solipsistic tyrant and she has a diverse council she listens to and actively engages with her country’s problems
btw, in ayato vs yae miko schemes off he gets to win and be smug bc its his birthday story quest
Yoimiya’s second story quest
Yoi’s second quest is already v good and obv has a lot of soul in it, i wouldn’t change too much, except for the premise
bc this quest is the reason i decided to make vision loss plotline at all. bc this quest is already perfectly written to be culmination of that plot line, and frankly, gets a lot of ??? without it
like, it starts bc yoi just randomly decides to go on vacation to wish on falling stars. like ok i guess. and she’s like i didnt really care but the whole village really got into it and want me to see it, so i’m doing it for them. like?? why would they be invested in random vacation like that?? mb ok they just love yoi
but then traveler goes to nahida and she’s like sorry, meteor showers happen like once in 200 years. but traveler and paimon are very insistent that they have have to do it for you, they can’t disappoint her. when like. its a random vacation! and yoi is not a type of person to be like ugh i didn’t get to see falling stars, my trip is RUINED
but no, they beg nahida to help like its big deal, and nahida agrees to involve aranara, despite no adult being able to see aranara is a big deal in lore. and then they have a whole conversation about is it ethical to trick yoi into believing this meteor shower is real if it’s just a dream, even if she’ll learn truth later, when like.... it’s a vacation????? she’s just there to have fun???? why are you all so serious
basically, beginning of this quest makes little sense, bc it has no actual stakes until girl in a wheelchair shows up, but narrative treats it very seriously when like “yoi has fun on vacation“ is the only stated goal for the start
BUT, if taken as part of vision loss story, everything snaps into place.
after vision hunt ended, visions were returned to their owners. but not all of them reignited on the spot, and Yoimiya is one of the people whose vision did not activate
and is it any surprise? after all she’s seen in a war, all she’s been through, how could she go back to believing that the world is a good and happy place, in the inherent wonder and joy of it?
her vision stayed grey and silent in her hands. she feels bad and guilty that she can’t be happy go lucky as before, when her father and all of the villagers care so much about her
they nudge her to go on a trip to see the falling stars, inspiration for fireworks, in hopes it will remind her of why she loved them so much before
this is the stakes, this is why inazuma ppl care, why traveler cares enough to ask nahida and why nahida would be moved to break tradition and let yoi interact with aranara, why they have this long convo about if it’s right to trick yoi. bc f it’s about reigniting her belief in world’s miracles, then yeah, it makes a lot more sense to worry about truth of it
not only this, but the disabled girl turns from just random npc to a mirror parallel to yoi. both of them were harshly and suddenly hurt by the world, both lost will to live. and the kicker is that yoi is going along bc she feels bad and bc her family and friends are worrying about her, but she only *really* get into this when she meets this girl
because this is what she was always about, not just happy go lucky girl, but a gold koi, a light of happiness and luck talisman for other people, especially for kids. for this girl, she will believe is the wishing stars
of course, her vision reignites when in aranara dreamland she takes girl’s hand and jumps onto the falling stars to fly across the sky. because it’s not about how the world is cruel. its about how good we can be to each other. what if it’s just a shared dream? We find the greatest joys in mortal life in fleeting dreams, for is life itself not like the shadow of the thunder? Pursue your dreams into the clouds if you wish
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nine
꧁꧂
"rindou, this is damon! damon, this is my ex boyfriend rindou and his new girlfriend." emi beamed, holding damon's arm. on the contrast, damon wasn't even focused on her, as he kept eye contact with me.
"one, her name is y/n. you know that, don't play fucking dumb. what is this, since when do y'all inow each other?" rindou directly pressed her.
"that's none of your business." she winked at him.
"yo y/n/n. how are you?" damon asked me.
"don't talk to me before i light this bitch up. you two think this shit is cute. emirson, you know he's my ex. what're you gaining." i said, addressing both of them.
"wow, you're so feisty. not much has changed there." he smiled at me.
"you know, not everything is about you. kay?" emi rolled her eyes at me. "let's sit!"
"yeah so. no. i'm going to the bathroom." i said, starting to walk away. i kissed rindou's cheek, to spite the two bozos that were in front of me. his face turned red and he gave me a light smile. we had never done that before.
"so, rindou. how'd you and y/n/n meet?" damon asked? "she doesn't go out much, she's quite a homebody."
"one of my homeboys is good friends with her and she asked me to go out to hang. i was feeling her and i asked her to be my girl." he said. none of it was true. well, minus the part he said he was feeling her but no one needed to know that yet.
“she’s a great girl, i don’t blame you.” damon smirked. “i can’t tell you how many times she’s been there for me.”
“yeah, sucks you cheated on her though.” rindou shrugged. damon glared at him, his tongue poking his cheek in irritation.
“so rinrin-“
“rindou.” he quickly corrected emi. she rolled her eyes before continuing her sentence.
“when’d you get with her? could’ve sworn you weren’t the biggest fan.”
“yeah well that was beginning i got to know her. that’s none of your concern anyway.” he shrugged her off. before anything else was said, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and when he looked up, his face lit up.
“so y’all called us here? what do you want?” i asked. “because if it was just to make this an awkward situation well you’ve succeeded.”
“i wanted to sit down with you two to make amends.” emi said. “i’m sorry for the way i spoke to you.”
“apology not accepted.” rindou said before i could say anything. “you threatened to kill her.”
“you did what?” damon asked her, clearly unaware of that. “emi?”
“look, i apologize for that too.” emi said, looking at me dead in my eyes before looking over at damon, “see baby, i apologized.”
i rolled my eyes before looking at rindou, “can we go? i wanna get started in building our furniture. and we have a date later tonight.” i said, making shit up in the spot. “i gotta get ready.”
“yeah princess, come one.” he said standing before grabbing my hand to help me up. “listen emirsen, i don’t accept your apology. you threatened my girl and that’s my whole world so nah you got it. don’t contact us.” he looked over to damon, “and you. man i gots nothing but disrespect for you. cheating on her is one thing but consistently tormenting her is another. i’ll beat’cho motherfuckin ass if you keep playing.” he said, sticking his middle finger up at them. i looked around and some people were recording us.
he intertwined our hands and walked us out.
and i could feel the butterflies.
꧁꧂
serendipity : a very good coincidence, often leading to something really awesome
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#x black reader#goldentoshi#black reader anime#haitani ran x reader#haitani rindou x reader#ran haitani x reader#goldentoshi tr#tokyo rev smut#tokyorev fluff#tokyo revengers x black reader#tokyo revengers x reader
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Chapter 11: 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖘𝖆𝖑 𝐼𝐼𝐼 (1/4)
Ryan and Atticus reconvene after a long night...
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transcript:
RYAN: HE TRIED TO FUCKING KILL YOU?
ATTICUS: I was never in any true danger, my love. I must say, it was an expertly crafted test–
RYAN: Which he failed! We’re firing him. No – we’re KILLING him.
ATTICUS: Let’s not be hasty. His ruthlessness might be useful to us in the future if anti-vampire sentiments continue to rise. Additionally, Camilla was closer to poisoning you with garlic than Wesley ever was to successfully causing me any harm with some made up potion. And we did just set a precedent of rewarding resourcefulness over carelessness…
RYAN: That’s different. I don’t think Camilla should go home.
ATTICUS: Oh? Was she particularly successful at Ardor?
RYAN: I mean…no. But…
ATTICUS: But?
RYAN: I dunno. We had a good conversation, and I guess I just…like her vibe?
ATTICUS: [stifles a laugh] Is that so? You “like her vibe?”
RYAN: Yeah..???
ATTICUS: Please do indulge me with more details on your night with Miss Moretti. I adore seeing you so positively smitten.
RYAN: What?! I am not–
ATTICUS: Would that you could still blush.
RYAN: You know what? I change my mind, send her home.
ATTICUS: Under no circumstances; watching you squirm is much too amusing. Shall I write her a courtship letter and sign it with your name, my sweet pet?
RYAN: Grow up. Let’s go kill Wesley.
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(青春) —
ੈ♡˳·˖✶ — GOJO x FEM READER
There is before-Getou and after-Getou. In both spaces, Gojo exists.
wc — 3.1k
tags — the gradual but inexorable realization that your youth is lost to you, possessive Gojo, so hard to write Gojo and Getou together without making it a little ménage a trois, eldest daughter coded reader trying to pick up the pieces Getou left behind, missing your childhood innocence that can never return, blurry lines, unreliable adults, mild Getou x reader, title from The Belladonna of Sadness by Sally Wen Mao
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The road to Jujutsu High is littered with the fallen cherry blossoms. Gojo kicks at the large snow banks of pink flowers, letting them land in drifts marking your progression across campus. He complains incessantly of the pollen, the bees, and whatever else he finds it in his heart to complain about. Petals rain from the sky over your head.
Spring arrives with the new students on campus. You’re the first, because Gojo insisted on arriving early. He wants to assert his superiority over his classmates by knowing the layout of the land before they can, though you’re sure possessing the Six Eyes would’ve worked just as well in that capacity. Lady Gojo, as always, does not challenge her son. He leaves the day he says he will.
Before you go, she takes you aside. There is an almost saintly quality to her beauty, as if something about her is not of this world. Her white hair sweeps over her shoulder, tracing the delicate curve of her neck.
Her son is undeniably of her blood. They share the same pale coloring, as if a photograph had been bleached to a true negative. Only a woman like her could have given birth to a son like him.
When she places her hands over yours, it’s hard not to pull back, feeling unworthy. Even having known Lady Gojo for most of your life, it’s often difficult to shake the overwhelming feeling of respect you have for her. She asks you to look after him in her stead.
There’s only one answer you can give.
“Good girl,” she says, pressing her lips to your brow like a blessing. This close, you can smell the camellia oil in her silky hair. Loose strands brush against your face, and then she pulls back.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. Another student is there when you arrive.
“What the fuck,” Gojo says. “It’s a week before the semester starts. Why is he here?”
“You’re here,” you pointedly remind him.
He blows you off. “That’s different.”
Getou Suguru got special permission from Principal Yaga to join Jujutsu High two weeks early. As the only student from a non-sorcerer family, Yaga wanted to help him get acclimated before class started. Gojo seethes in rage, especially when Getou tries to help you move your things into your new dorm in the other building.
“Hands off,” he slaps Getou’s hands away from your suitcase. “She’s mine.”
“You can’t own a person,” Getou says, mildly annoyed.
He’s trying to play nice, feeling out the intricacies of completely new faces in a new setting. You wish you could tell him he doesn’t need to bother. Gojo will always be Gojo, no matter where he is.
He’s only mildly more bearable the next day, as the final student arrives just on the cusp of being late.
“A reverse cursed technique user?” Gojo’s practically shivering with excitement. “Cool! I wanna do that!”
Yaga smacks his desk with his ruler for attention. “And you will, if you can manage to pay attention during class.”
You’re surprised you’re even using the classrooms at all. They might be useful for theory, but in truth, everyone knew Jujutsu was best learned through experience. It really wasn’t learned at all, but earned through being on the field.
Yaga doesn’t seem to think so.
“Boring,” Gojo interrupts halfway through his lecture. “I learned all of this already with my tutors when I was eight! When do we get to the good stuff?”
Getou scoffs. “Not all of us have tutors, asshole.”
“Yeah?” Gojo says. He pushes his sunglasses up so they rest on his head.
Yaga takes a quick survey of the classroom. You already know what he’s going to do before he does it.
“Getou, move to the seat next to you. And you,” he points at you. “Sit in his seat, please.”
“We don’t need-“ Getou starts.
“I don’t care,” he says. “Do it. Now.”
You’re almost impressed as you take your new seat. Part of dealing with Gojo is knowing when to pick your battles. It seems Yaga has already picked up on that.
“Hey,” Gojo says, grinning at you. “Knew you couldn’t resist me.”
Shoko, who has been quiet up until now, makes a soft gagging noise from the other side of Getou. On the very first day of class, the relationships between the four of you have already been solidified.
Despite their rocky start, Getou and Gojo seek each other out like they’ve been magnetized to each other. They play terribly off each other, goading the other on.
“Bet you I can take out more cursed users-“
“Bet you I can take down the curse faster-“
Gojo has never had a challenge like him in all of his fifteen years of life. For all their bickering, they take to each other quickly. A little too quickly. They’re attached at the hip before long, which means Getou’s also attached to you.
“Psst,” Gojo hisses. His breath is fogging up the window you just cleaned. “Open up! Hurry!”
You check the clock. It’s past curfew, and the sun has long since set. His hair glows radiantly against the backdrop of the dark sky. Weak to him as always, you push the window open.
“What are you doing?”
He’s already clambering in without an invitation, knowing you won’t refuse him. The consequences of growing up together means you can speak a language that doesn’t need words, a poetic way of saying Gojo is used to being spoiled by you.
“What are you waiting for?” He throws over his shoulder, his leg straddling the windowsill and his torso halfway inside your room. For a second, you’re worried he’ll be stuck. He hit a growth spurt last year and hasn’t stopped since. “Are you coming or not?”
“You didn’t say we were going to her room,” Getou attempts to and fails at hiding the blush on his face. “We can’t be in a girl’s room!”
“Don’t be a prude,” Gojo shoots back.
Getou hesitates, looking at you. You extend your hand to pull him through. He takes it.
Gojo makes himself comfortable as always, ransacking the little box of snacks you keep above the mini fridge. Getou smacks his hands away, trying to discipline him. It’s no use. Gojo’s manners are something his mother despairs at.
Finally satisfied with his pick, Gojo sprawls out on the floor, every single inch taking up as much space as possible. With no room left for Getou, you pat the bed to offer him a seat next to you.
“Where’s Shoko?” You frown. “You invited her, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Gojo waves you off. “I knew you’d be pissed if I didn’t. She said she doesn’t want to hang out. Probably asleep by now.”
He looks up at the two of you through his eyelashes, his eyes half shut. There’s something charmingly open about his expression right now, sweet and boyish. The lamplight casts dancing shadows across his face, making the moment feel ephemeral, though it’s just another night that Gojo has snuck into your room.
He has a way of making all time spent with him feel significant, seared into your memory like it’ll be taken out of its treasure chest and lovingly pored over later. Perhaps it will. He’s an important man - these moments may be like family heirlooms in the future, the good old days when grandma was best friends with the Legendary Gojo Satoru. Maybe your grandchildren will beg you for stories of him. You’ll tell them about how he was talented, brave, and above all, reckless.
He’s beholden to no authority, and beyond willing to prove it. It’s a thorn in the elders’ sides.
“The elders are pressuring Yaga to ask me to take a special grade mission,” he says.
Getou jolts. “That’s confidential.”
Gojo rolls his eyes at him. “Come on, everyone knew I was going to tell her. Do you want me to?”
The last part is directed at you. Carefully, you turn the question over in your head. Gojo is offering you the choice, letting you balance and discard lives. Right now, the elders only have one special grade, Tsukumo Yuki, and she’s fond of going rogue after missions. Maybe it’s just a special grade thing, to be a loose cannon. It would be helpful to have another special grade willing to step up, but-
“Tell him no. You’re just a first-year,” you say.
“I want to go. I’m good enough.”
“Please don’t.”
“Will you give me a reward if I don’t?”
Getou interrupts the beginning of your answer. “It’s fine, I’ll go with him. It’ll be okay if it’s the both of us.”
“You’re a first-year, too. Don’t go, Gojo. I’ll give you anything you want. I’ll talk to Yaga for you.”
As if his name summons him, there’s a loud thump on the door.
“Hey!” Yaga has a bad habit of knocking so hard it startles you. “Are those men’s voices I hear? No boys in the girls’ dorms!”
You freeze. You hate lying because you’re horrible at it. Gojo mouths at you furiously, ‘Just lie! Make something up!’
“No,” you say, too shakily. It’s so obvious. “Just watching TV!”
“Hmph,” Yaga grumbles, but his footsteps fade away.
Years later, you’ll realize that Yaga could’ve checked the boys’ rooms if he was really suspicious and wanted to separate you three. Your heart squeezes, as it always does in the future, thinking of these quieter times. It was nice to be so young and untouchable.
Yaga’s visit kills all future conversation, and Gojo is yawning, anyway. You know you can convince him to listen to you, so you let it go. Getou wakes both of you up the next morning. It’s a particularly brutal day to practice - Tsukumo’s back, which means she wants to have a personal hand in training the “baby special grades,” as she calls them.
You’re waiting for Gojo to finish his private training session on the porch when Getou joins you. He’s drinking green tea out of a reusable bottle. In his other hand, he has a can of soda for you. It’s so cold it sweats condensation even in the barely there warmth of spring.
“Thanks,” you take it gratefully.
“Done already?”
“Waiting for Gojo.”
“Why are you so obsessed with him anyways?” He regrets his words immediately after he says it. “Is that rude? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be.”
You take another gulp of the drink so you can think about his question. It’s so cold your teeth hurt. “I promised his mother I would take care of him.”
“But you’re the same age as him. And not as- You’re-“
“Not as strong as he is,” you supply, without anger.
“I didn’t want to say it.”
“There are different types of strength,” you say, brushing off your clothes as you stand up. Both Gojo and Getou are growing like bean sprouts. The shoulder of his jacket stretches dangerously taut, one of the threads fraying. You reach out and snap it off for him.
“Besides, this is just how it’s always been. Gojo needs a little extra spoiling, and I’ve always been happy to provide it.”
“And if I need spoiling too?” He says, half-joking.
You reach up to pat his head, causing him to freeze. “Sure. I can spare you some.”
“What are you two doing?” Gojo’s voice is like a whip as he strides towards you.
You pull your hand back instantly and hide it behind your back. For some reason, you feel like you’ve been caught doing something wrong.
“There was something in my hair,” Getou says smoothly.
Gojo pulls him towards him by the cuffs of his sleeves. He pats Getou’s hair down himself, as if for confirmation. “Huh. Guess she got all of it. You guys hungry? I’m starved! Let’s get dinner.”
“Wait for Shoko,” you reprimand him. “She’s still in training.”
“But I’m so hungry!”
“It’s just 5 minutes. Come sit by me,” you say.
He whines and moans about it, but he does come to you, laying his head on your lap. The weight of him is soothing and familiar, the heat of him felt through the thin fabric of your skirt. You press a teasing finger to his cheek and feel the whistle of air as he snaps his teeth at you playfully.
“You too, Getou,” you say. “We can all wait together.”
“She’s taking so long,” Gojo complains. You pat him absentmindedly on the head to shush him.
“You’ll be grateful when she’s healing your dumb ass,” Getou tells him.
“Me?” Gojo scoffs. “As if I’m ever going to need healing.”
Your first year passes uneventfully, as slow and syrupy as the jam Gojo eats by the spoonful for breakfast. Gojo still sneaks over occasionally for sleepovers, bringing Getou or Shoko or both. Sometimes you all sneak out together to town.
You continue learning theory and refining your technique. Shoko lies about her age and receives a deferred medical school offer. Gojo and Getou are strong enough to go on missions already, taking everything up to grade 1.
Even during these halcyon days, as if you know what’s coming, your heart is filled with longing. You miss the moment even as you’re living in it, wishing that your first year at Jujutsu Tech would never end. It’s nice to be so peaceful. Though you’re all training to become sorcerers, it doesn’t feel real yet. You cling to each day as summer starts to approach, robbing you of what little is left of your first year.
Spring comes and goes, leaving you with nothing but wistfulness. You can’t help feeling that these are the days you will miss when you graduate, these moments you can never experience again.
It’s bittersweet, the joy of having something for the first time. If you could, you would give yourself temporary amnesia so you could meet every moment anew.
Instead, the uncompromising march of time remains indifferent to your silent prayers. The second day of your second year, Getou asks you to meet him behind the main campus.
“Let’s take a walk through the woods,” he says.
“That’s how good girls get murdered,” you joke, though you follow him anyway.
“You think I would hurt you?”
You gasp, tripping over a root you didn’t expect. He turns around and lunges for you just as you trip backwards, trying to catch you before you can fall. He grabs your shoulders right when you grin and reveal that you were just fine the whole time.
“No,” you say, only cheered on by his exasperation. “I don’t think you would.”
He makes an annoyed sound, and you realize for the first time exactly how close he is to you. He notices simultaneously. Suddenly the awareness that the two of you are just inches apart dawns on both of you. His breath hitches. His kiss tastes like the green tea he drinks to get rid of the aftertaste of curses.
You touch your fingertips to your lips wonderingly as he pulls back. His face is dark with an emotion you can’t identify, something that you don’t think you can call love. He shivers when you press those same fingertips to his lips, your touch burning him through.
You draw back instantly, aware you’ve crossed a line.
“Oh, Getou.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” For this boy from the villages, the strongest but still not Gojo, pity is unbearable. He doles it out to others like a benevolent saint. To receive it feels wrong.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be. I know. It’s Gojo, isn’t it?”
“Not like that,” you try, though you know you’ll never be able to explain the complicated relationship between you and Gojo. Some day he’ll get married. Perhaps he’ll leave you behind, or perhaps you’ll have to explain to some poor girl why there’s an automatic third in her relationship. You just come with the territory, a package deal. 2-for-1 is always just a way to sell a sucker something they don’t want.
“I know,” Getou says. “Do you ever think of doing anything for yourself?”
That’s an interesting question. You thought about it all the time when you were younger and resentful of babysitting, but you’ve long since grown used to your role, like a tree pruned into the right shape.
“Not really.”
Getou’s words are said thoughtlessly, just the musings of a boy who wants to understand why. They take root in your heart and become something else. The leash slackens, little by little.
Spring of second-year is much like first-year. For all you worried, little has changed.
There’s only one major difference.
Gojo and Getou take their first special-grade mission.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
You’re annoyed, and surprised by exactly how annoyed you really are. For everyone else’s bad temper with Gojo, you have the patience of a saint when it comes to him. It helps that he gives you more than he gives anyone else, too, except times like these.
He looks askance. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”
Gojo goes. You can’t stop him. You don’t have the right to when he’s more than capable of it. He’s the strongest, after all. Technically, he should’ve been doing field work long before. He’s the most valuable asset the sorcerers have.
Once you’ve uncaged him, Gojo rampages. He comes back within a day, predictably victorious, brutally so. This only solidifies his understanding of himself as the god of this cursed world. He can’t help but push himself even more, trying to find the seemingly limitless boundary of his power.
When he’s given the Star Plasma Vessel mission, he doesn’t turn it down. Getou follows him.
Everyone seems to be walking their own paths. As Gojo and Getou keep exploring the limits of their own strength on missions, Shoko spends her days in the morgue. Eventually, you too find something to pass your time.
Yaga recruits you as an assistant. Most days, this means paperwork and making tea, though occasionally it gives you glimpses into the bureaucracy of the Jujutsu world. Shoko thinks it’s boring, banning you from talking about it on your lunch dates. You don’t mind - you’d hate being idle more.
Though it’s normally unexciting in Yaga’s office, you notice the mood immediately when you walk in. Yaga’s leaning back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, almost like he’s trying to stop a nosebleed. He looks like he’s about to cry. You’ve never seen your principal like this, and it alarms you.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Gojo says. “I fixed it.”
Turning around, you see his hair first. Gojo’s bone white hair, so like his mother’s, is matted with dark red blood. It drips into his eye and leaves rust colored stains across his cheek, the collar of his shirt, and his jacket. His eyes are manic.
You should’ve gone with them.
(夏) —
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