#or know how to make cool shit without all of these fancy tools.
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My love, would you be willing to write penny fluff? I just need some of that fluffy cuddle shit yknow or him being clingy. Anything that involves him acting soft and sweet.
On it Pretty Boy ❤️
Derry was peaceful… a little too peaceful. It had just turned summer and all the kids were out of school. Some went to the arcade, some played down at the pool. But the older kids had summer jobs. And you were no exception, working down at the local pool as a lifeguard.
Now the gig wasn’t all that bad, of course there were screaming children, but drowning was rare. Children respected you, so they didn’t dare step into the deep end without approval. You sat in your watchtower making sure everything was up to par. And if it got too hot, you could always just jump in to cool off. Plus you didn’t mind seeing all the older kids in their bathing suit.
Women would wave and give little giggles as you walked by. Men would gawk, but look away when you met their eyes. It was highly amusing. But you weren’t interested in them. Except for this one boy who started to show up everyday since last week. You hadn’t seen him around school, he looked maybe a few years older than you. He was tall, lanky, but well built. Hair you could run your hands through, and a smile that was to die for.
But those eyes, those eyes were what held your attention. Those big puppy dog eyes he’d give you, and only you. Once you even swore you saw them change colours. As time went on he’d stay later and later, until he was the last one leaving the pool in the evening.
“Hey!
You shouted after him as he got out of the pool, you’re eyes trailing his stomach. He turned to you, an confused look on his face.
“What’s your name?”
“Penny.” He stated simply.
Penny, what an odd name for a boy. But you had to admit, you liked the way it sounded. You introduced yourself, asking him how long he’d been swimming for. When he explained he’d never swam before this week you were shocked. He was so good.
As you parted ways you made a bold decision.
“See you tomorrow?” You asked over your shoulder.
An open invitation. You were dangling the hook right in his face, seeing if he’d bit. You weren’t even sure if he was interested in you, or if you were his type. But when you got a nod, your heart raced.
“Tomorrow.”
But when he didn’t show, you found yourself feeling lost without him. You’d been so excited to get to see him, talk to him more. But he was a no show, stood you up. As the last kids left the pool you signed, cleaning up the left over tools and heading for the showers. You let the warm water run over your body as you scrubbed the chlorine from you skin. You jumped when you head a chuckle.
“You look good!” A voice complimented.
You frantically rubbed the soap out of your eyes and turned to the intruder. Even with your eyes still blurry, you could make out his eyes anywhere.
“Penny?” You asked.
He chuckled once more.
“Sorry I was late today, had to take care of some… stuff. And by the time I got in the pool was closed.”
“So you just walking in on me showering… naked?” You raised a brow.
You didn’t attempt to cover yourself, instead choosing to cross your arms over your chest for emphasis. You weren’t ashamed of your body, and he seemed to like looking at it. So why hide it? It was than you noticed his strange appeal. He was wearing a suit. And holding… flowers? He noticed you looking at them and handed them to you.
“I heard human-people give flowers as apologies. Is that wrong?”
It was your turn to laugh now. How odd. He scrunched his brows at your laughter. Penny wasn’t used to people laughing around him.
“Dude, you’re gonna ruin your fancy suit. And no, it’s not wrong. A little weird but not wrong.”
You turned off the tap and went to grab a towel, wrapping it around yourself.
“Weird?”
“Normally this apology is for more… intimate relationships. Like dating, or parents. Not strangers. But I like them, they’re pretty.”
“You are not a stranger. I know your name, you know mine.” He stated flatly.
“There much more to get to know about a person Penny. Like how most people prefer privacy when they shower.”
“Bodies are natural.”
“Yes, yes they are. You’re strange you know that?”
“Strange?”
“Good strange. Fun strange. I like it. Thanks again for the flowers. But we should get out of here, if I don’t lock up soon I’ll get in trouble.”
“Trouble?”
“My boss will be mad and punish me if I don’t follow the rules. Technically I’ve already broken one. No one is allowed in the pool area after hours.”
You gestured to the man beside you. You got dressed as Penny refused to break eye contact. It was awkward but not uncomfortable.
“Then I will eat this boss.” He said, this time his tone a little more happy.
You paused in your tracks, contemplating if you heard him right. You turned to look at him.
“You’re really funny!” You complemented.
He made you smile and you liked that.
“It was not a joke human. Nobody should punish you.”
“You call me human like you’re not one. Don’t tell me, you’re a vampire- no wait you swim in the sun. A were wolf, not likely. An alien, that’s it, you’re an alien aren’t you! Trying to get in my head to learn how to pretend to be human.” You joked.
You’d both continued walking, locking the door behind you. Penny frowned.
“I am not an alien. And I’m not trying to get into your head. You’re different.”
“Good different?” You asked.
He nodded.
“Most people run. Even in this form.”
“Form? I don’t see why anyone would be intimidated by a well dressed man in a suit.”
“Not my clothes human. My skin.”
You figured this was part of his act. A weird roleplay thing he did. Like an impromptu improv session to gage your reaction. So you played along.
“Hmm. And this different skin? Is it scary.”
“It can be. I can be anything you want.” He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“So you’re a shapeshifter?”
Another nod. Seems like he was committed to this strange conversion topic.
“So what’s a shapeshifter like you doing in a town like Derry?”
You kicked at the rocks at your feet.
“Derry is oblivious. They don’t protect their youth. People go missing.”
Now you grew slightly uncomfortable. Maybe he was a serial killer, and you shouldn’t be talking to him. But he was the most interesting thing to come your way all summer. And you had to admit, he was quite easy on the eyes.
“Hmm, like the kids at the begging of the summer? I do admit, the police should be doing more about that. I heard they haven’t found any bodies yet.”
Penny looked at you strange. You weren’t scared, you weren’t suspicious. Of course his original plan upon seeing you was to lure you away and eat you. You weren’t a child anymore, but you’d still taste good. But now he couldn’t bring himself to do it. You were different than his usual prey. So he kept walking behind you, following blindly where ever you went.
“I doubt they will.” He stated simply.
As the summer went on, more kids went missing. A curfew was placed on the town, and the pool suffered for it. But you at least got it go home early. And everyday Penny would meet you by the gate and walk you home. It was nice, simple. You two didn’t need to define the relationship because you were both comfortable. The first time you’d kissed Penny on the cheek, you swore he actually turned red. And his eyes turned that vibrant orange again. Must have been a trick of the light.
He’d learned to do it back. But sometimes it would be random. He’d kiss you on the cheek mid sentence. He liked to play with your hair, SOAD it was soft. He also really enjoyed your hands, they were always well manicured, sometimes even covered in a thick layer of black or red polish. Penny liked the red, it reminded him of blood.
One time you’d gotten into a fist fight on his behalf. Of course Penny didn’t mind the kids calling him a freak, if they knew what he really looked like, they’d be scared shitless. But when he saw you pounce, he was stuck to you like glue from that point. He kissed the bruises on your first. A thin trail of blood feel from your busted lip. Penny was gonna wipe it away with his thumb, but his brain took over.
Without a second thought, Penny pulled you forward into a kiss. It took you a moment to realise what was happening before you kissed back. But you felt a sharp sting at your bottom lip suddenly. Penny bit you. You pulled away for air.
“What was that?” You chuckled.
“Sorry, couldn’t help myself.”
He grinned, wiping a dribble of blood from his mouth.
“So you are a vampire.” You joked.
He rolled his eyes.
“Trust me Doll, I’m muscu scarier than those vampires in your books.”
It was your turn to roll your eyes.
“I’m sure you are P.”
You pulled him back in for another kiss, missing the way his lips made yours tingle. You didn’t mind much if he nibbled at the sensitive flesh of your bloody lip. Pennywise was quickly growing addicted. To your scent, your taste… everything about you. He wanted to devour you, but in a completely different way. But he was trying to portray a gentleman. It was fun pretending to be human. He learned it made the scares that much better, it made the humans feel betrayed and like they were going crazy.
At least this was he didn’t have to hide in a stinky sewer all way. He could blend in to society when he wasn’t killing. One night you’d invited him in, the two of you cuddling and watching an old horror movie together. He never knew such mundane things could be so fun. But he grew hungry as he sat there, and that was something he couldn’t ignore.
“I have to go.” He said suddenly.
You frowned, pausing the movie and lifting your head off his lap.
“Are you alright? You look pale.” Your asked worried.
“I’m fine Doll. I’m just tried. I should really get going, it’s late.”
“Alright” you relented, pulling him in for a hug. “Get home safe.”
Penny was quick to leave, he didn’t want to, but he didn’t want to hurt you. But you grew suspicious. You threw on some old converse and a dark hoodie and left the house. You followed behind him, careful not to give yourself away. You wondered if he was going to meet someone. And when you’d see him standing next to a member of the Bowers gang, your heart sank.
Why would he like you, when he could have Victor Criss. The schools pretty boy. As you were about to turn and go home to sulk, you heard a scream. You saw Penny turn into a giant clown like creature, his stature looming over the boy. You knew you should run, but you wanted a better look. You moved closer and watched as he backed the boy up into a wall. Victor plead for his life but it was no use. You watched as Pennywise devoured the boy.
You knew you should be scared, terrified, disgusted. But this was Penny, you’re Penny. In fact, you were only mad that he hid this side of himself from you. Of course you knew he wasn’t human, but he’d never straight up confessed to you. His head suddenly snapped to you and you locked eyes.
“Y/N?” His voice sounded demonicz
He walked toward you slowly, expecting you to flinch back. When you didn’t, he titled his head confused. You pointed to your own lip and giggled.
“You’ve got a little Victor right here.” You said.
Pennywise was stunned.
“I am Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and you aren’t scared of me?”
“If you wanted me dead Penny, I’d be dead. The kids started going missing the minuet you showed up. I figured you’d tell me eventually.”
“You do not care?”
You beckoned him forward, pulling him down by his collar and kissing him on the cheek. You wiped the little bit of blood from the corner of his lip, then left him a kiss.
“Besides, you look hot like this.”
You walked away, leaving the man stunned. How he got so lucky as to find you, he’ll never know. But one thing is for certain, he’s never letting you go!
An: Doll is a gender neutral pet name and you can’t tell me otherwise. Everyone can be a doll. You’re all dolls! Hope you enjoyed Ty, I tried my best❤️
#Pennywise#Penny#human Pennywise#pennywise the dancing clown#pennywise x reader#ty ty <3#slasher#slasher boys#slasher boyfriend#slasher x you
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69 for stras and aeon :-)
man. thisll be a long one.
Stras first cause itll be a little shorter
aelwyd cannot be trusted. she's self serving and will sell out anyone if it gives her any sort of edge, no matter how small. he's pretty sure she can be trusted to hate bela but he does not trust her with literally anything else. everytime he's given her a chance to prove herself trustworthy she's immediately betrayed it
blank is so fucking naive and so easily manipulated its embarrassing. theyll listen to literally anything anyone says and that makes them so easy to use as a tool for ulterior purposes, and as such, cannot be trusted. also theyre obviously getting used like a goddamn puppet by probably vecna. whatevers going on, theyre not in total control, and as such is even MORE of a threat
chini is a threat fullstop. bela's in her fuckign BRAIN. absolutely cannot be trusted. he'll try to help kairii break her out of it but. man. whatever happens happens. if that means working with her, if that means getting rid of her. stras knows things will most likely break bad
kairii is... interesting. stras did not really think much of them except as a good fighter, but now that he's getting to know them, hes realizng theyre WAY more similar than he thought, and is kind of vibing?? they both know what theyre about. stras is beginning to think. there might be someone here who actually understands him
ira is. as she's always been. a nice, comfortable enigma. she's nice and helpful and he has no fucking clue what's up with her. he doesn't know where she will fall when the chips are down, but knows she helped him get the truth from that shadow thing in the last battle. he's hoping they can reach a consensus but. she's a mystery to him
Aeon time.
Thyme is... odd. theres really no other way to put it. aeon just categorically does not understand thyme at all. they dont understand thyme's priorities, thyme's motivations, why thyme cares so much about making things fancy, about being the one to win people over... thyme is. weird. theyre also not helpful with literally anything
sylvas!!!! bugboy. uhm. whats happening with you <3. aeon is confused by sylvas but in a different way than thyme because aeon does not know or understand what academics are and why sylvas cares about it. aeon wants to be supportive but is. confused. and also maybe theyre a teeny tiny bit a little jealous that they can get along with uo so well when aeon feels like they barely know how to interact with uo on a good day despite caring about them so much. the social anxiety swag
ymira is fun! she's really interesting and cool to talk and hang out with and is a nice cook. but also. aeon doesnt really. know how to talk to her. they feel like everytime theyve tried, its petered out and theyve just. completely failed to talk to her. plus when aeon asked her advice and she couldnt help at all they just. felt so dissappointed and they dont want to blame ymira for that. its not her fault. but there's a bit of bitterness that the one person he thought would understand. didnt
aine is some kind of creature of some sort. another one that aeon. doesnt really know how to interact with. but also aeon feels some solace in that. aine the most feels like someone aeon could sit in a room in silence with for hours and not feel like the silence is awkward or uncomfortable. which aeon just. really appreciates? aeon sort of likes not knowing much about aine because it means he can maintain this sort of. communal silence without worrying about personal shit interrupting
uo is aeon's first friend, and as i alluded earlier, aeon has no idea how to interact with them and feels very very embarrassed by it. they should know! they were in a similar environment, they have similar builds and fighting styles, theyve got similar interests... but aeon just. does not know how to talk to uo and it feels like uo says things that are important and necessary but aeon doesnt understand them at all. so. aeon feels. awkward. they care about uo a lot and appreciate them greatly. but it sucks not knowing how to talk to them. also there's some lingering issues with getting such a stark reminder of Woods Time but he's. mostly over it
echo goldaline. man. what a card. aeon has such a myriad of feelings about echo that he has no fucking clue what to do about. theyve been trying to like. sort and dissect their thoughts but everything keeps happening always and forever. so they never get a chance to just. think. and put their feelings into words. so its just a mess of confusion and bitterness and affection that cannot build into something concrete. they think theyre friends with echo. they dont want anything else. but beyond that. they dont know
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Why are you bothering with learning a language?
I’m literally asking. This isn’t rhetorical. I think that knowing why you’re doing it is extremely important for choosing how to continue learning, how far to learn, how intensely to study...everything.
The purpose of language is to communicate and understand. You speak to express your thoughts. You listen to understand the thoughts of others. That’s the basic point of language.
Are you learning language to understand foreign media? Well why? If this media you’re trying to consume gets translated, you don’t really need to learn the language you can just watch the translated versions subtitled or redubbed. Even for untranslated works if its like a book or other written media you could brute force it with a dictionary and still come out ok, you dont really need to learn the language that fully for that.
Do you want to sing along to your favorite songs? Well realistically for this all you actually need to learn is how to imitate the sounds they make. Learning the language will probably less of an affect here than singing lessons realistically.
Are you planning on taking a trip to a foreign country where this language is the primary one? Well, these days google translate and other resources are so powerful that for basic things like asking for directions or ordering food, you could do that with 0 knowledge of the target language. Not to mention almost every country at a popular enough touristy area that you’re probably going to be at, everyone speaks SOME english. You realistically dont need to learn an entire language. If you’re self conscious about it you could learn a few key phrases and be perfectly fine.
Are you learning this language to talk to more people? Well how do you define “talking to people”. How in depth are you going? Do you want to know about someones hopes dreams fears doubts aspirations and other fancy nouns like that? Or do you want to be able to have small talk about the weather. Similar to the above point, so many people learn english that realistically, their english is going to be about as good if not better than what you learn for their target language, so the kind of conversations you can have now with them will be the same kind of conversations you could have after.
These kinds of questions seem dismissive because honestly I do think that its good to learn a foreign language but realistically you really dont have to learn one at all to live your life. Asking these kinds of questions early can help you learn exactly how far you should take your studies and what exactly your own personal bench marks of success are. My goals with japanese are to be able to understand media without subtitles or translations for my own personal enjoyment, and because i’ve always thought being able to speak more than one language is cool as shit. Also I like a challenge sometimes and learning a language is hard. These are not deep reasons at all, but they’re mine.
By looking at your reasonings, even if they’re shallow they will help you chart a course. Since my MAIN goal is to be able to understand stuff, speaking is borderline useless to me. If all i wanted to do was watch anime, i could cut even that aspect in half by completely ignoring kanji and just not learning how to read at all. If you want to speak you can learn a bunch of key common phrases and memorize common responses as soon as possible and make sure to key in to nailing your pronunciation. Language is at the end of the day a tool that has 2 key uses like I said at the start. Knowing what you want to use this tool for is key for self learners.
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Twine Sugarcube 101
AKA, all you need to make a Twine game (I swear to god)
I’ve seen a lot of people go “Twine is too complicated for me :(” and give up before they’ve even started. And that makes me sad, partly because they’re giving up on a really cool hobby, and also because that’s false! It’s absolutely not too complicated for you!
I think the problem is that people look up Twine, see the documentation, and go “There’s way too much there! I can’t learn all that!” Well guess what- you shouldn’t learn all that, at least not yet. As a beginner you can skip pretty much all of this:
(Ignore <<linkappend>> too, forgot to crop that one out)
That’s a lot more manageable, right? Below the cut, I’ll let you know how to use all those remaining important things to make your story! Warning- it’s quite long! You might want to read it in sections! And while I’ll try to keep it entertaining, it’s also a coding tutorial, so... y’know. Might not be the most exciting read if you aren’t trying to learn Twine.
Welcome to below the cut!
First off, make sure your story format is set to Sugarcube 2. On the right side of the home screen (with all your stories), click format and choose the one labeled “Sugarcube 2.x.x” then open a new story with the green button! Here’s what you’ll see and what it all means:
Passages are all like individual web pages that you navigate between to play the game. When they’re linked together they’ll be shown like this:
Anything you write in a passage will just be shown on screen as plain text, no code required! But if you want to make anything more than just one passage with a bunch of text, you’ll have to link passages together with...
Links!
A link is composed of two parts- the text you see on screen, and the name of the passage you’re attaching it to. These are enclosed in [[double square brackets]], with a vertical bar | or a little arrow -> between them. If you want to show the passage name instead of alternative text, you can just put the passage name in square brackets alone! So this in the editor:
[[Visible text|Passage name]]
[[Visible text->Passage name]]
[[Passage name]]
Will look like this in the story:
Visible text
Visible text
Passage name
And all of them will lead to the passage labeled “Passage name.” You don’t even need to create the passage- when Twine sees that you’ve linked to a passage that doesn’t exist, it’ll add that passage for you.
That’s all you need to know! Technically, all you need to do to make a Twine story is add those fancy links between passages. If you add your awesome writing skills, that story will be super cool!
...but you want to do some fancy shit, right? Well let me introduce you to the next step up in complexity,
Variables!
“Variable” is a fun, code-y way to say “a bit of information that can change.” You could say they... vary.
Variables are useful for keeping track of information. If the player chooses to be blonde instead of a redhead, you might want to bring that up again- but you probably don’t want to write an entirely separate story based on that choice, right? So instead you save that information as a variable.
In Twine, variables are written as words with a $ in front of them. So my hair colour variable might be “$hairColour.” If you just write the variable out without any code, Twine will print the information you put into the variable. So if $hairColour is set to “blonde,” this...
She had $hairColour hair.
Will become...
She had blonde hair.
The value in a variable can be a boolean (ie. true or false), a number, or a string (like “blonde” or “any other string of characters”). They can also be fancy stuff like arrays, but we won’t be touching on that.
You can use variables to keep track of a lot of things! For instance...
How much money the player has
Whether a player has a key
What the player’s name is
I keep mentioning the value of a variable or “setting” it, but how do you do that? Well, one way is to add it to a link. If you want a link to set hair colour to blonde, for instance, you could write [[Blonde|Next passage][$hairColour to “blonde”]]. Clicking on that link would forward the player to “Next passage” and set the value of $hairColour to “blonde.”
There is a better way of doing it, however, but we’ll need to talk about...
Macros!
A macro is a snippet of code that runs when you put a special code word inside these <<spiky boys>>. You can write your own macros with JavaScript if you’re smart, find them on the internet if you’re even more smart, or just use the ones that come built in with Sugarcube.
The ones we’ll be talking about, and the ones that are the most important for most Twine games, are <<set>>, <<if>>, and <<link>>.
<<set>>
The <<set>> macro allows you to, you guessed it, assign a value to a variable. For instance, if you want to set $hairColour to blonde... well, that’s all you need to do! It’s just:
<<set $hairColour to “blonde”>>
It’s important to remember with the <<set>> macro that strings (collections of different characters) require quotation marks around them to show the code that it isn’t a number or a true/false value. If you put quotes around a number and try to do math with that variable, you’ll get a big ol’ error message.
If you’re using numbers, you can also use JavaScript operators in place of “to.” Each one will perform a calculation on the variable if that variable is a number, and then replace the variable with the result. If you want to add $5 to the player’s $money, you could use this:
<<set $money += 5>>
The “+=“ will add the number on the right to the variable on the left. “-=“ will do the same for subtraction, “*=“ for multiplication, and “/=“ for division. Easy enough, just don’t forget the = sign after the usual symbol!
By default, the <<set>> macro will be executed as soon as the page it’s on loads. Sometimes that’s useful, but sometimes you would rather the player click a link that sets a variable- like if they choose a hair colour. You might also want the same link to set multiple variables, like subtracting money and giving them an item when they use a shop. How do we do that?
<<link>>
The <<link>> macro is also pretty simple. All it does is create a link, and when that link it pressed it executes whatever is inside of it. Here we’ll be using it with <<set>>, but you can use it with all kinds of different macros and even nest some of them to do really complicated stuff!
As an example, we want the player to click “buy key,” give the player the key, and subtract $5 from their money. Here’s how we do it:
<<link “Buy key”>>
<<set $key to true>>
<<set $money -= 5>>
<</link>>
The text the player will click is in quotation marks, and after all of the macros we need to execute we have to close off the code by adding <</link>>. Easy, right?
But other than printing them on the screen, what can you actually use those variables for? Well, for that we’ll be using...
<<if>>
The <<if>> macro is my favourite, hands down, because it’s an easy way of accomplishing hard stuff. Simply put, <<if>> will check if the thing you asked about is true, and if it is, it will do whatever you put inside of it.
Here’s a simple example:
<<if $key is true>>
[[Use the key|Progress]]
<</if>>
Whatever is inside the <<if>> macro will be executed if the “if” statement is true. In this case, the link “Use the key” will be printed on the screen only if the player has the key. This also applies to code- if you put a <<set>> macro inside, that macro would only set a variable if the player has the key.
Now here’s a more complicated example, to show everything the <<if>> macro is capable of. Here we also want to check if they’ve already opened the door, and display alternate text if they have no key and the door is locked.
<<if $key is true>>
[[Use the key|Progress]]
<<elseif $doorOpen is true>>
[[Walk through|Progress]]
<<else>>
You need to find a key.
<</if>>
I’ll break it down line by line to tell you what each thing does.
<<if $key is true>>
This line is the only necessary one- it checks whether $key has been set to true. You can check for any value that a variable can be, like a number, true/false, or a string. You can also check for other things with this macro- for instance, “isnot” will check that the variable isn’t equal to the value on the right. “gt” or “lt” will check if the variable is greater/lesser than the value on the right, and “gte” or “lte” will check if it is greater than or equal to the value.
<<elseif $doorOpen is true>>
This line allows us to check for something else within the same <<if>> macro. Once the game has checked the original <<if>> and found that it is false, it will move on to checking each <<elseif>> until it finds one that is true. You can have as many <<elseif>>s as you need, and they can check the same variable or different variables, but only the first true one will be executed! And, of course, you can’t use <<elseif>> on its own- it’s stuck to the <<if>> macro!
<<else>>
This line is the last resort- if the original <<if>> and any <<elseif>>s have all been false, the game will execute whatever is after <<else>>. Because of this, there can only be one <<else>> line within any <<if>> macro! If you don’t have an <<else>>, nothing at all will be executed, so whether you include one depends on the situation.
<</if>>
This closes off the <<if>> macro. Nothing special, but very important! Put it after the last piece of code or bit of text you want the macro to control.
Phew. That’s it! That’s all I wanted to show you!
Now, HOMEWORK!
Okay, not homework, just practice. Here are some things you can try building to practice all these tools and get comfortable with how they work!
A store system with different items for different amounts of money
A character creation screen, followed by a description of your character (with variables!)
A puzzle that requires you to choose the right answer to proceed
If you have any trouble, need to ask any questions, or if something in this tutorial wasn’t clear to you, please let me know- you can DM me or send me an ask anytime and I’m happy to answer any Twine questions you have. I hope this was of use to you, and have fun making games <3
#told you i was making a tutorial!#not crosshollow#tutorial#game dev#twine game#twine#interactive fiction#gamedev
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Wilbur’s Hair Salon (The Ashes of Yourself Blurb)
The Ashes of Yourself Masterlist
Spotify Playlist (collaborative)
Warnings: getting overwhelmed, swearing
Word count: 2,958
(A/N): this is a lil longer than I expected it to be (longer than the actual chapter I released today oop). Anyways, this could be read without having to read my Ashes of Yourself series, all you have to know is that Philza and Technoblade are absent a lot leaving Wilbur to raise Tommy and the reader and the reader is a blaze hybrid
You frowned at yourself in the mirror, running your hands through your long hair in distaste, the flames tickling your hands. The shears on the bathroom counter sat there taunting you, daring you to take them and cut off all of your hair. The broken water faucet in the sink dripped endlessly, reminding you of what happened when it first started dripping. The small charcoal spot on the back of your hand reminded you of how painful touching water was.
You hated every aspect of your hair; the way it tickled your neck, the way it kept getting in your face, how people kept mistaking you for a girl, it was just so frustrating. You absolutely hated how fast your hair grew, one day you cut it close to your scalp and a week later it’s already at your shoulders! Your hair was the bane of your existence at the moment.
You tried countless hairstyles ranging from buns to fancy updos, all of them proved to be useless in the end when you lost control of your emotions and the hair ties and bobby pins burnt to a crisp. You knew from experience that cutting your hair was useless, and so was shoving it all under a beanie you stole from Wilbur, so you gave up and let it grow out. That was a month ago and your hair now reached your lower back.
Your frustration was growing by the second. The flames on your head flickered wildly and smoke plumed from the strands. You knew that in order to cut your hair you had to relax so that it was tangible, you knew that, but you just couldn’t relax.
You snatched the shears off from the counter with one hand and gathered all of your hair in your other. The shears were positioned around your hair and without hesitation, you snapped the shears closed. Like you were expecting, the shears only swished through the flames and left them untouched. In a fit of frustration, you repeatedly closed the shears around your hair. The sharp edges did nothing to the length.
You only paused when you felt something drip onto your forehead. In confusion, you looked at the mirror only to see the previously ivory white iron replaced with glowing oranges and reds. Bits were dripping off from the tool and onto your face. The flames thrashed in your grip, desperate to be unleashed and burn everything in this room to mere ashes.
Molten tears pricked your eyes as you glared at the hair in your hand, frustrated blaze-like growls rumbling the back of your throat. You knew that if you let this fester any longer, the house would catch on fire (again). You closed your eyes and took deep breaths in an attempt to steady yourself.
It worked slightly for a few moments, the flames now calmly flickering and your hands at their normal temperature, however you could still feel the irritation gnawing on the deepest corners of your mind.
You put down the cooled down and misshapen shears on the bathroom counter, wiped off the liquid iron from your forehead, and ripped open the door in search for the brother closest to you in age: Tommy.
He wasn’t that hard to find; all you had to do was follow the music to his room. Without knocking, you opened his door and stared at him. He sat up on his bed and looked at you in offence, “oi, what the fuck?! What if I was changing or something? You-”
“Wanna commit arson?”
He paused and launched himself off from his bed, “I’m down for some arson, but what’s the occasion?”
You led him down the stairs and towards the door, “ I’m mad at everything right now and I don’t want to burn down the house.”
Just as you both were about to leave the house, someone clearing their throat sounded behind you. Your hand froze over the doorknob and you swore to yourself under your breath. Wilbur grabbed both of your shoulders and spun you both around. He was in his pajamas, rage peeking through his sleep clouded eyes.
“Where do you two think you’re going at this time of night?” Despite only being nineteen years old, he has already perfected the angry dad voice.
“(Y/n) and I were just going out for a walk, big man. No need to get your panties in a twist.”
Wilbur’s eyes narrowed, “no you two weren’t. You were gonna go burn some shit again weren’t you?”
“What does it matter to you where we go? Where we go is none of your business.” You ripped your shoulder out of his grasp and glared at him. You could feel your hair starting to flicker in anger.
He matched your glare with as much, if not more, intensity, “Dad put me in charge, so it’s actually all of my business to know where you’re going at midnight.”
“Just leave us the fuck alone, Wilbur. You have no idea how much I need this.”
“Listen Wilbur,” Tommy said warily after feeling the heat radiating off from your body, “(y/n) just needs to get their mind off from things. I wasn’t gonna actually let them commit arson again.”
This made Wilbur pause. Normally Tommy would back you up in arguments but now the oldest could feel the slight urgency in the blond’s voice. He looked back at you and saw that you were quite literally about to combust. He could hear the small blaze noises that you were making as pitch black irises and pale yellow sclera glared at him. Small plumes of smoke were rising from your figure and dissipating into the air the second it met with the ceiling.
Wilbur then sighed and grabbed his coat, a sword, and, to your surprise, two pairs of flint and steel. “C’mon then,” he gestured to the front door, “let’s go. But only trees this time, got it?” Despite his exasperation and exhaustion with basically raising two preteens that thrived off from arson, he smiled slightly when he saw both of them perk up. They were his youngest siblings and he wanted nothing more than to see them happy.
After finding a lone tree and clearing it of any potential animals and mobs, the siblings lit it on fire. The feeling of finally releasing some pent up anger and frustration was slightly relieving. Though some of your frustration remained, you felt a little more at ease.
Wilbur led both you and Tommy away from the burning tree and sat down on top of a grassy hill, lighting torches to prevent any mobs from sneaking up on you three. The siblings sat in comfortable silence as they watched the flickering flames cut through the darkness of the night. Tommy’s and Wilbur’s faces were lit up in a dull orange hue.
Eventually, you leaned your head on Wilbur’s shoulder tiredly and yawned loudly. The brunet chuckled to himself and moved to wrap his arms around both of his siblings, pulling them close to his side. You sighed in content and nuzzled your face closer to his side. The blaze of the tree had died down to mere embers and charcoal remains.
“...Why don’t we go inside before we all fall asleep out here.” Wilbur nudged both of you gently and helped you stand up.
“I don’t need help, arsehole,” Tommy protested, but did nothing to stop Wilbur from helping him up. “I,” he cut himself off with a large yawn. You, seeing this, yawned yourself.
“Sure,” Wilbur chuckled and put a steadying hand on yours and Tommy’s shoulders, steering you back towards the house. The siblings walked back into the house where, instead of letting you both go to your separate rooms, Wilbur plopped you both onto the couch and sat between the both of you. He once again wrapped his arms around your shoulders and pulled you both close to his body.
“The fuck are you doing, Wil?” Tommy protested, weakly trying to push himself away from his older brother.
Wilbur tightened his grip and slumped down onto the couch, making himself comfortable. “This calls for sibling cuddle time. It’s been a while since we’ve done this anyway.”
“There’s a reason why we haven’t done this in a while,” Tommy complained, “we’re too old for this shit.”
“So you want to-” Wilbur’s snarky remark was interrupted by a soft snore coming from his side. He and Tommy stopped arguing and looked over to (y/n). The blaze hybrid’s lips were slightly parted as they snored peacefully, unconsciously nuzzling into Wilbur’s old t-shirt and moving to wrap an arm across Wilbur’s midsection. Their hand landed on Tommy’s long sleeve shirt and gripped it lightly.
“What the fuck, (y/n).”
“Tommy I swear to the gods if you wake them up I will make you do all of the chores for a week.”
Tommy grumbled to himself before he reluctantly leaned his head against Wilbur’s side and putting his hand over (y/n)’s, “fine, but I’m only staying because I don’t want to do your fucking chores again.”
“Mhm, now go to sleep, Toms, it’s getting late.”
Tommy fell silent and let himself drift off to sleep. Soon enough, Wilbur himself drifted off to sleep, pulling his siblings closer to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you woke up, you were alone on the couch. Sunlight was streaming through the opened curtains and blinded your sensitive eyes. The scent of eggs and toast wafted throughout the house.
You stretched and made your way to the kitchen. There, Wilbur was standing at the stove flipping eggs and Tommy was sitting at the table with his head burrowed into the crook of his elbow.
“It’s about time you woke up, I was starting to get worried that you’d sleep until noon,” Wilbur said before he placed plates at the table. He reached over to lightly smack the back of Tommy’s head, “no sleeping at the table.”
The blond grumbled to himself before pushing himself up onto an elbow and scooping food into his mouth. Wilbur’s eyes narrowed at his elbow on the table before he sighed to himself and ate his own portion of breakfast.
“So, what’s going on with you? It’s been a while since you wanted to burn something down like that,” Tommy asked you after waking up a little bit more. Wilbur looked over at you in question.
You sighed and poked at your food, “it’s really stupid.”
“If it was enough for you to almost completely melt the shears, it isn’t stupid, (y/n). What’d I say about talking about your emotions?” Wilbur softly chided you.
“‘Don’t call your emotions stupid’,” you droned out before taking a bite of your breakfast, “but this time it really is stupid, Wilby. You both will laugh at me anyways, so just drop it.”
“We’d never laugh at you,” Wilbur frowned, “and whatever you’re feeling certainly isn’t stupid. Tell us, we’re all ears.”
You looked up from your plate and saw that they both were looking at you with judgemental free stares. Though his eyes were previously clouded with sleep, Tommy now looked alert and diverted his full attention to you while Wilbur gave you an encouraging smile.
“...Fine, it’s just… I couldn’t cut my hair last night and it’s just been so overwhelming to constantly deal with. You both know how fast it grows.” You ran a hand over the top of your hair and huffed in frustration.
“That’s it?” Tommy asked you before Wilbur kicked his shin from under the table. “What Tommy meant to say,” he shot a pointed look at the twelve year old, “is that feeling overwhelmed, no matter what it’s about, is completely normal. We all get overwhelmed sometimes. I’ll tell you what,” he cleared his throat and stood up from his place at the table, “I’ll be right back.” As he passed Tommy’s place, he leaned down close to his ear, “apologize before I get back.”
You winced at Wilbur’s scathing tone and watched as he walked out of the room in long strides.
“Sorry,” you and Tommy told each other at the same time. Both of you looked at each other in slight shock, “what-” you cut yourself off as you realized that you both said the same thing again.
You both eyed each other warily from across the table, watching the other’s mouths closely. You took a deep breath and looked at him seriously, “sorry Toms. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
“Wha- I’m the one that’s supposed to say sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one that’s an arsehole that doesn’t think before he speaks, so I’m sorry.” He narrowed his eyes at you, daring you to say another word. As you opened your mouth to object, he sharply said, “ah! No apologizing when you didn’t do anything wrong.”
You snapped your mouth closed and sighed, propping yourself up onto your elbow. “...You know that I’ll always forgive you no matter what you do, right Tommy?”
“Of course, and I’ll always defend you as well. Even if you end up murdering someone, I’ll help you hide the body. It’s just what older brothers are supposed to do.”
“So,” you grinned at him, “you’re down for murder now?”
“Nobody’s murdering anybody.” Wilbur’s voice made the both of you jump. When you both whipped your heads over to the doorway, you saw Wilbur leaning against the doorframe and watching you two with a fond smile. He pushed himself off from the doorframe and placed a wrapped box in front of you.
“I was waiting until your birthday,” he sat down next to you, “but now is as good a time as ever to give this to you.”
After a while of hesitance, you ripped the wrapping paper off from the box and peered inside of it. There, a glimmering pair of shears and leather gloves were laying on the bottom of the box. “Woah, are these enchanted?” You looked up at Wilbur with awe filled eyes.
He looked at you with a wide smile and nodded eagerly, “yes! Both are enchanted with fire protection so you can cut your hair easier!”
“That is so poggers! Wanna cut your hair now?!” Tommy was leaning across the table and looking into the box with wide, excited eyes. You snatched the gloves out of the box and handed them to him, “yes! Do you wanna cut my hair?!”
He grabbed the gloves and put them on hastily, jumping out of his chair and darting towards the door. You grabbed the shears and attempted to follow him before Wilbur stopped you with a hand on your shoulder, looking slightly alarmed, “he is not cutting your hair.”
“Well, why not?”
“He isn’t cutting your hair and that’s final. Give me the shears and we can safely cut it in the bathroom.” He held his hand out and gave you a smile, “I know you’re excited, but I just don’t want anyone losing a finger under my watch. That’d be really hard to explain to Dad.”
You sighed and put the shears into his hand. He led you towards the bathroom and you followed him closely, “I miss Dad, do you know when he’s coming home?”
“I don’t know, little inferno. Just- just don’t think about him and he’ll be home before you know it.” His tone had a hidden sharp edge to it as he put a hand on your opposite shoulder and lightly squeezed it. “I know it’s hard without him, but we’ll always have each other. Just you, me, and Tommy. We don’t need them as long as we have each other.”
“Are you two coming or not?!” Tommy poked his head out from the bathroom, staring at you both with slight annoyance. “We are and you are not cutting their hair.”
“Well,” Tommy scoffed and wiggled his fingers, the light bouncing off from the oversized gloves perfectly, “who has the gloves?”
You and Wilbur stepped into the bathroom with him guiding you to sit on the closed toilet seat and leaning your head over the sink. Wilbur raised his eyebrows and wiggled the shears in his hand, “who has the shears and the ability to ground you for a few weeks?”
Tommy huffed and took off the gloves, giving them to Wilbur who slipped them onto his hands. Wilbur grinned cheekily, “that’s what I thought.” He gathered your hair into one hand and looked at you in question, “ready?”
You grinned back at him, “as ready as I’ll ever be.”
The shears sliced through your hair with ease and you watched as the fire dissipated into the air. Tommy watched as it floated up in the air and smiled to himself as it disappeared before hitting the ceiling.
After your haircut, you sat up and looked at yourself in the mirror. It was like Wilbur had read your mind, your hair was exactly how you wanted it. When you looked back at him, he was looking at you with a tender smile. Just as you were about to thank him, Tommy spoke up in a casual tone.
“So Wilbur,” he asked, “would you help us hide a body if one of us accidentally murdered someone?”
“...Tommy, (y/n), is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Is that a yes or a no?” You asked him after giving Tommy a quick mischievous smile.
Wilbur slipped the gloves off and tapped his chin in thought. “...I would, that’s what older brothers are for. Hiding bodies for their younger siblings,” he chuckled to himself before he stopped himself and looked at you both slightly nervously, “seriously though, is there something you both aren’t telling me?”
General taglist (comment if you want to be added):
@crybabyjabby @izzybobizzy13 @goldenstarofthunderclan @bunnyz-pxstel @averytiredfanfictionwriter @dcml04 @sparkling-gayyyy @bbigbbrainn @thaticecreambish @kiinokochii @satansphatass @bxkubitch @bxmentchildxx @roxy3457 @montygator17 @feverish-dove @the-fictionwriters-hairdo @jichuuchaeng @404rynnotfound @luluwinchester @laura--444 @the-cult-classic-bitch @youngstarfishdinosaur @nottheotheruser @ohworm-writes @localwolfanon @realitycanbeajerk @v10dw4lk3r @esylwen @seraphsema @boiled-onionrings @smolgreenybeany @louistommosnesquickmilk @galaxios @ryxjxnnx @autumnpleaves @ravennightingaleandavatempus @0ton1n @self-righteous-dumbass @a-simp-for-block-people @fortunatelylazystranger @m1lkmandan @mirios-sunflower @ahmya-4 @shinipii @noyasblush @auroraskyfall @cryptocry @hee-hee-haw
Gender neutral reader taglist (comment if you want to be added):
@totem-awooga @parkeepingparker @whatislifebutlemons
SBI taglist (comment if you want to be added):
@afifaj
Series taglist (comment if you want to be added):
@appetiteofapeoplepleaser @misfortunatem00n @hee-hee-haw @bi-narystars @akikko-yataro @snapple311 @jo171718 @alex--awesome--22 @cinnamonmochi @waterstrawberry @jefferyepsteindidntkillhimself @imamusicalnerd @fo-love @sylum @theshitinmytrunk @rinzyx05 @wasteofspacze @bands-are-amazingly-addicting @im-a-depressed-gay @charlotte-is-missing @s-n1428 @lifestylesleep @dame-sunflowers @bongwaterflavoredgatorade @aestheticpkmntrainer @emma-the-duck17 @pek0ra @wreny24 @willow404 @shiningsunrises @vanhakirja @dont-hug-me-im-a-fander @soulless42 @giavanna @ijustshatbricks @depressed-focker @a-mistake-tbh @jaciahbabes @s0urbear @exorcisms-with-elmo @perseus-666 @aikochan4859 @cutiebear45 @softie7563 @whatislifebutlemons @nagitokinnieissad @angelicaschuyler-church @poggers-froggers @kiritokunuwu @ayuoudro @rubberduckyqueen @demure--daisy @mythicalamphitrite @spiralingtoinsanity @ugabuugaa @bananaaddictmilkshake @supahumbreon @starstruckeds @kakamiissad @trix-cake @beginnerwitchgrimoire @theseventhreincarnation @ilyimagines @jax-cote @binas-idea-vault @marceline1212 @bloodgoddessoftherealm @plaguedoctorsnake @akaza-ryu @vizi0n @asterlie @imapotatoandimconfused @none-the-wiser @yoongi-holland @keiarma @humm1ngj @marvelous-maximofffs @imasimpfortechno @kusuinko @queenthorin1 @artichoke-me-please @queenthorin1
#wilbur soot x reader#tommyinnit x reader#dream smp x reader#mcyt x reader#the ashes of yourself#the ashes of yourself blurb#blurb#tw: swearing
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I chose theme songs that would represent relationships with Black Butler characters
Sebastian: Ludo - Love me Dead
"You're a parasitic, psycho, filthy creature Finger-bangin' my heart"
Indeed. Yana said it herself, Sebastian is Trash! Garbage spritzed fancy with cologne. But what do you expect? He's a demon after all. Sebastian can't love you. He keeps you around for his OWN pleasure. Whatever that may be. ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯ You know this relationship is nothing short of cancerous, but you can't help it. Maybe it's how he holds you. Or maybe it's because he's a NO GOOD, DIRTY DEVIL THAT EXPLOITS YOUR FEELINGS!! Like Beast. He will "love" you dead.
Undertaker: Shayfer James - Carve a Smile
"For every tear you shed I'd carve a smile Into my skin.
Evident by his relationship with the Phantomhive family, Undertaker can be overwhelming with how he shows his love. Disrupting the natural order of death it's self, sinking a cruise ship full of innocent people, butt-fucking hell's spawn with a giant farmer's tool. Imagine being the reason for his brash actions.... Carving one's skin is nothing compared to what Undertaker has done and will do for you.
Grelle: Marilyn Manson - KILL4ME
"You won't be kissing me unless you kill for me"
Ooo la la~ How romantic! Grelle is a pretty little psycho. (that's another good song) Unless you are a super hot guy, you won't be getting her attention without some drastic measures. Measures like...becoming a murderous lunatic. Feel free to look to Madam Red for inspiration. You're gonna need a bold amount of stamina to keep up. Grelle is a bombshell of a woman! Wanna get into her crosshairs? Then get ready to boil in a fiery frenzy of boodlust....and just lust in general.
Ronald: Arctic Monkeys - She Looks Like Fun
"There's no limit to the length of the dickheads we can be"
And they called it puppy love. OH SHIT! Wrong song! But it's true. Ronald isn't interested in anything too serious. He not looking for a life-long partner. Just someone to share a cheeseburger with. And have a nice rendezvous out on the town. Cause a little bit of trouble. Maybe play tag with the police. Make out in a jail cell. Just a night full of thrills, mischief, and fun!
William: Panic! At the disco - Always
"Oh, the castle's under siege But the sign outside says, Leave me alone"
Oh Will... Are you sure you aren't a construction worker? Cause you be building a lot of walls between yourself and others. On the outside he's cool, calm, and collected. But deep inside there's a ton of doubts, fears, and insecurities. Luckily, he has you to fall back on. Someone to cry with. Someone to laugh with. Someone who'll be by his side. Always.
#black butler#kuroshitsuji#sebastian michaelis#undertaker#grell sutcliff#ronald knox#william spears#headcanon
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5e Sona, the Maven of the Strings build (League of Legends)
(Artwork by Shilin Huang. Made for Riot Games.)
(Shit meme by yours truly.)
Revealing my Champion Mastery just to say that I play a lot of Sona. Don’t flame me for playing Seraphine and Yuumi I swear to god, and I have no idea why Teemo is in my top 10 highest mastery champs ngl.
Anyways you have no idea how happy I am as a Sona main that my girl is now top tier. I came to League of Legends from Overwatch (yes really) and I used to main Lucio in OW along with some of the more “techy” characters like Symmetra and Torbjorn. (Came to OW from TF2 where I mained Engineer and Medic.) Sona was a natural fit for me as a champion who was both easy to play and very similar to Lucio. It also helps that I joined the Rift during the single most engaging meta to ever grace this game. I was kinda too shit to play Janna but the Ardent Censer meta is also why I have such a high mastery on Lulu tbh.
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But enough about my history with League: Sona! Honestly when I think of an archetypical support Sona pops into my head a lot sooner than Soraka: a champion based on empowering their teammates in as many ways as possible with heals, shields, movement speed, and CC to hold the enemy team down. I’ve always loved playing her because she feels like much more of a macro oriented character than other supports, with team-wide support as opposed to keeping one person alive like Soraka or Yuumi or focusing on CC like Morgana and Nami.
I’m going to build most if not all the champions eventually but man I am happy to tackle Sona now. She’s always been on my mind as my main but it was pretty difficult to think of how to make her. I think this build is good enough though!
Wow that was much longer of an intro than I’m used to. You can really tell which champions I’m excited for lol.
GOALS
Everything in harmony - Sona boosts everyone on her team with her songs as they fill the air.
Triple time! - Sona’s ability to boost her whole team into a good position is always beneficial.
Crescendo! - Fun fact: Sona’s ultimate is canonically extremely painful as she forces you to contort your limbs against your will. Why is Sona needlessly macabre? Well remember that Riot also wrote Volibear as an Eldritch old god.
RACE
Sona is Human but if you want to be cool you can make her a Kalashtar for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage on Wisdom saves. Regardless we’re going to be making what’s known as a dollar store Kalashtar with Variant Human. Increase your Charisma by 1 as well as your Constitution because we kinda don’t need much else. You also get proficiency in one skill of your choice which will of course be Performance, and a language which you can pick as you fancy: you won’t be speaking it anyways lmfao.
That’s because “Only you can hear me summoner; what masterpiece shall we play today?” Grab the Telepathic feat to complete this dollar store Kalashtar package. Increase your Charisma score by 1 and get a 60 foot telepathy to speak while being mute. You also learn the Detect Thoughts spell and can cast it once without using a spell slot. "Did he want... four autographs? I don't understand."
ABILITY SCORES
15; CHARISMA - Charisma is tied to performance and all the other stuff a Demacian noblewoman is expected to be good at.
14; DEXTERITY - Something something medium armor; even if you wear a dress there’s no reason you can’t have some padding beneath it!
13; STRENGTH - Hey this isn’t something something medium armor!
12; CONSTITUTION - Sona may be squishy in League but I value not dying more than good skill checks honestly.
10; WISDOM - Speaking of not dying: Wisdom saves are more common, and Insight is more useful than most Intelligence skills.
8; INTELLIGENCE - We had to dump something so unfortunately Intelligence gets the short end of the stick. You may have studied under the illustrious Buvelle family but most of those lessons were music classes.
If you want a better stat array going 13 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 10 / 14 with Point Buy is perfectly viable, and if your DM is cool enough to let you multiclass without Strength then you’re more than welcome to dump it.
BACKGROUND
There’s two obvious backgrounds that fit Sona: the first is Entertainer for proficiency with Acrobatics and a skill of your choice (since we already took Performance lol.) You also get proficiency with Disguise Kits and your Etwahl! (That’s what Sona’s instrument is called btw.) Your background feature By Popular Demand allows you to play any stage once. "Some, just the once.” You can perform in exchange for a place to stay, and when you do so the local people will remember your wonderful performance!
But making an Entertainer Bard is kinda cliché, no? If you want to lean into Sona’s Demacian heritage go for the Noble background. This gives you proficiency with Persuasion and History as well as a gaming set of your choice: unfortunately Tellstones isn’t an option (unless your DM decides otherwise!) so a Dragonchess Set will do well enough. Oh and you get another language that you won’t speak: fun! Your Position of Privilege makes it easy for you to arrange meetings with other important people, and the commonfolk will be kind and cordial with you.
(Screenshot from the Tellstones: King’s Gambit trailer by Riot Games.)
I personally opted to go for Noble when making this build, but if you want to choose Entertainer go right ahead! Backgrounds don’t affect too much overall and it’s up to you (and your DM) to make your own Sona!
(Artwork from League of Legends Wild Rift. Made for Riot Games. RIOT PLEASE UPDATE MUSE SONA ON PC I’M BEGGING YOU!)
THE BUILD
LEVEL 1 - BARD 1
I mean what else did you expect? Bards get proficiency in three musical instruments of their choice: a Lyre is the closest you’ll get to Sona’s Etwahl, though a Dulcimer is also pretty close. I’d also recommend grabbing a Lute since most magical instruments come in Lute variety.
You also get proficiency in 3 skills of your choice like Perception to watch wards, Insight to watch people, and Athletics for a bit of Tenacity to break out of grapples. (As well as potentially grab some people yourself! Although Acrobatics is also perfectly fine for escaping grapples.)
As a Bard you can boost your ADC with Bardic Inspiration, letting them add a d6 to attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. You have a number of these equal to your Charisma modifier and they come back after a Long Rest.
But of course the main reason to play a Bard is to do Demacian-banned Spellcasting! You learn two cantrips from the Bard list like Vicious Mockery for some diminuendo, making it harder for the enemy to hurt your allies while also cutting them down to size. (I don’t know if your DM will let you slap your Etwahl angrily and then point at them judgingly, but you may have to break your vow of silence every now and then.) You can also learn Prestidigitation for all sorts of general magic stuff that you really shouldn’t do in front of anyone important.
You of course also learn 4 Bard spells like Cure Wounds and Healing Word for the atypical healing spells, Dissonant Whispers for some Hymn of Valor damage, and Detect Magic which you’ll likely be expected to cast as the designated support. *Sigh* Always gotta buy wards.
LEVEL 2 - BARD 2
Second level Bards could be called a Jack of All Trades, as you get to add half your proficiency bonus to any skill you aren’t proficient in. This means even if your ability scores are bad the skills you don’t have proficiency in are still good enough! You also get Song of Rest, letting your allies recover an extra d6 of health during Short Rests. And if you have Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Magical Inspiration will let your allies add their Bardic Inspiration to the damage or healing of a spell they cast!
And finally you can learn another spell: against as the designated support you’re expected to take Identify.
LEVEL 3 - BARD 3
Third level Bards get Expertise in two skills: Performance is an obvious must and Persuasion would probably be good as well.
But more importantly you get to choose your Bardic College and if you want to both shield your allies and speed them up look no further than the College of Glamour! That’s because Mantle of Inspiration grants 5 temporary hitpoints to a number of creatures within 60 feet of you equal to your Charisma modifier (which can include yourself by the way!) Additionally those creatures can move up to their movement speed as a reaction without provoking opportunity attacks, making this a great tool to reposition an ally who’s caught in a dangerous position!
You’re also capable of creating an Enthralling Performance: if you perform for at least 1 minute, you can attempt to inspire wonder in your audience. At the end of the performance you can choose a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you who watched and listened to all of it, up to a maximum equal to your Charisma modifier. Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by you.
While charmed in this way, the target idolizes you, and speaks glowingly of you to anyone who talks to them. They also hinder anyone who opposes you, although they avoid violence unless it was already inclined to fight for you. This effect ends on a target after 1 hour unless they take any damage, you attack it, or it witnesses you attacking or damaging any of its allies. If a target succeeds on its saving throw the target has no hint that you tried to charm it, and you can use this ability once per Short or Long Rest.
Finally you can learn second level spells like Hold Person, for a one-man version of your ultimate.
LEVEL 4 - BARD 4
Ah the first of many Ability Score Improvements. You may have noticed our deliberately uneven Charisma modifier: that’s because I’m going to be taking the Fey Touched feat for +1 to your Charisma, the Misty Step spell (for Flash, of course), and the Gift of Alacrity spell from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount for a Song of Celerity! Accelerated movement? I concur.
You can also learn another spell as well as another cantrip! For your cantrip take Mage Hand for help warding those hard-to-reach areas, and for your spell take Lesser Restoration, because yeah it’s also your job to buy Mikael’s. *Sigh.*
LEVEL 5 - BARD 5
5th level Bards get a Font of Inspiration that lets their Bardic Inspiration come back after a Short Rest as well as a Long Rest. That’s good because your Bardic Inspiration increases to a d8, which also boosts your Mantle of Inspiration to grant 8 temporary hitpoints!
You can also learn another spell like Hypnotic Pattern: while it won’t do any damage and your allies can’t hit the dancing enemies it’ll still be the best recreation of your ultimate for now.
(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa. Made for Riot Games.)
LEVEL 6 - PALADIN 1
I hope you weren’t expecting this to be a pure Bard build, because then I’d just be building Seraphine again! Grab your something something Medium Armor as well as a shield (well technically you need both hands free to play a musical instrument) it’s Paladin time, master of auras!
Paladins get a Lay on Hands pool equal to 5 times their Paladin level for some more healing. You can touch a creature to give them any amount of health from your Lay on Hands, or use 5 hitpoints from your Lay on Hands pool to neutralize a poison or disease affecting them. You also get Divine Sense to locate any Celestial, Fiend, or Undead as long as they’re within 60 feet of you and not behind total cover. Don’t worry it gets a lot more exciting later.
LEVEL 7 - PALADIN 2
Second level Paladins can choose their Fighting Style and you’re still more of a mage than a warrior, so Blessed Warrior will give you two cantrips from the Cleric list that use your Charisma! Guidance is an obvious must for a support and Toll the Dead is a great option if you want to go full AP.
Should you have options for attacks to target enemies who have high Wisdom? Yeah probably: Sacred Flame might be a good choice.
Of course cantrips also imply more Spellcasting! You can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down) which is currently a freaking lot of spells. Let’s just go down the list, shall we?
Bless is great to buff your team and make them harder, better, faster, and stronger.
Command is a mostly harmless Enchantment spell that will force your foes to do as you, well, command. I’d argue “dance” is a reasonable Command.
Protection from Evil and Good is never bad to have in your back pocket in case you’re fighting either Kayle or Fiddlesticks.
And Shield of Faith will let you boost your ADC’s survivability with Ardent Censer!
I know you can prepare more spells but there isn’t much I want from first level of Paladin. I am contractually obligated to mention that you can also turn your spell slots into a Divine Smite if you hit an enemy with a melee weapon, but you aren’t really going to be using weapons in this build. That’s right boys hop aboard the caster Paladin train!
LEVEL 8 - PALADIN 3
Third level Paladins get to choose their Sacred Oath and Oath of the Watchers may seem weird but it’s really good at defending your allies. That’s because you get two different Channel Divinity options: Abjure the Extraplanar works similarly to the Cleric’s Turn Undead feature except it affects Aberrations, Celestials, Elementals, Fey, and Fiends.
Watcher’s Will meanwhile lets you choose a number of creatures you can see within 30 feet of you, up to your Charisma modifier. For 1 minute, you and the chosen creatures have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. This means that in a party of 6 this ability can give your whole party advantage on all mental saves, which is huge for keeping everyone alive against nasty casters! See? Demacia can use your magic!
Speaking of magic you get Alarm and Detect Magic as Oath spells. (Might want to swap Detect Magic from your Bard list with Mass Healing Word ty Tasha’s.) You can also use Harness Divine Power to regain a spell slot equal to half your proficiency bonus a number of times per Long Rest. And you get Divine Health, because you don’t take a sick day to stop complaining about Seraphine.
LEVEL 9 - PALADIN 4
4th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement: cap off that Charisma for maximum AP scaling!
(Artwork by Kelly Aleshire & Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)
LEVEL 10 - PALADIN 5
5th level Paladins can finally prepare second level spells! As a Watchers Paladin you get access to Moonbeam as well as See Invisibility, both of which are very good for dealing with incoming gankers.
You can also prepare spells like Aid to boost your allies’ HP, Prayer of Healing (ty Tasha’s) for some out-of-combat healing, and Warding Bond for a Knight’s Vow.
Oh and you get an Extra Attack, which sure would matter if you were actually using weapons.
LEVEL 11 - PALADIN 6
6th level reasons get the main reason Sona’s a Paladin: Aura of Protection! All your saving throws are increased by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier, which is a full +5 currently! But what’s special about this ability is that it also applies to your allies within 10 feet of you, letting you give out auras a plenty to keep your allies safe!
You can also prepare another spell but again: not much I really want. So we’re going to be waiting a little while longer once again.
LEVEL 12 - PALADIN 7
7th level Watchers Paladins get Aura of the Sentinel, or as I like to call it: Song of Celerity. When you or any creature of your choice within 10 feet of you roll for initiative, they gain a bonus to initiative equal to your proficiency bonus. While this may make positioning a little difficult (everyone’s going to have to huddle around you) this ability guarantees that you can speed up all your important allies to make sure they get their powerful abilities off!
LEVEL 13 - PALADIN 8
8th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement or a Feat. You may have noticed your uneven Constitution score: grab good ol’ Resilient Constitution for a boost to your health and even more insurance on your Concentration checks. With your Paladin aura and proficiency you’d have a +12 total to your Constitution checks currently, meaning that if you take 24 damage or less you won’t even have to roll for Concentration!
LEVEL 14 - PALADIN 9
You are probably the only Paladin who cares about spells, so it’s nice that you get 3rd level spells now! Watchers Paladins get two very strong third level spells: Nondetection will help you deward and keep your allies safe from enemies that may try to sneak a peak at you, but Counterspell is the true best choice to stop danger from befalling your allies. What’s very good about Counterspell is that as a Bard you get to add Jack of All Trades to the skill check, meaning it’s far easier for you to deny an incomming spell than any other spellcaster! “Mages have enough problems without you.”
Of course you can prepare some more spells like Aura of Vitality for Aria of Perseverance, and Revivify for an ADC’s Guardian Angel. But having access to spells like Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Crusader’s Mantle, and even Daylight on the Paladin spell list are all extremely useful to be able to prepare. Remember that you are doing yourself a disservice by not taking time to think about what the best spells to prepare would be for your current quest. "Every note is important."
(Artwork by Kelly Aleshire & Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)
LEVEL 15 - BARD 6
Now that we’ve got all our auras it’s time to go back to Bard for Mantle of Majesty! As a bonus action, you cast Command without expending a spell slot as you take on an appearance of unearthly beauty for 1 minute. During that minute you can cast Command as a bonus action on each of your turns without expending a spell slot. Additionally any creature charmed by you automatically fails its saving throw against the command you cast with this feature. You do have to concentrate on this feature (like a spell), and once you use it you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
You can also learn another spell but there isn’t much I want from the third level of Bard, really. Oh and you get Countercharm which is awful and I hate it, but since you didn’t take a 10th level in Paladin I suppose you have to use it. Spend an action to give allies advantage on their saving throws against charms and fears, I guess.
LEVEL 16 - BARD 7
7th level Bard; 4th level spells. Freedom of Movement will let you help either yourself or an ally with Mikael’s Crucible, and Dimension Door is great to get into lane fast, or back to base fast!
LEVEL 17 - BARD 8
8th level Bards get another Ability Score Improvement, and if you don’t like the look of something something Medium Armor then the Eldritch Adept feat might be able to help. Take the Mask of Many Faces invocation to be able to cast Disguise Self at will to change your skins as you please.
Could you have taken this earlier? Absolutely. Are there better invocations? Yeah probably, but by level 17 you can make some of your own choices. Build your own Sona: this is merely a guide and you can make your own choices.
Speaking of own choices: take whichever spell you want at this level. There’s plenty of great ones for a 4th level Bard and I can’t recommend anything in particular to you. Every musician has their own style, and it’s up to you to find your own!
(Artwork by Yan Li. Made for Riot Games.)
LEVEL 18 - BARD 9
9th level Bards get to pretend that increasing Song of Rest from a d6 to a d8 by total level 18 is helpful.
You do get access to 5th level spells like Mass Cure Wounds, which is like Mass Healing Word but better! "Harmoniously."
LEVEL 19 - BARD 10
10th level Bards get Expertise in two more skills: Perception is an obvious must to watch over your wards but beyond that? Honestly pick your poison with whatever skill you want since by level 19 you can make your own choices. (Though my personal choice would be Athletics to hopefully give some more safety against grapples.)
But of course the main boon of reaching level 10 in Bard is the Magical Secrets! ...I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you again: there honestly aren’t any spells in particular I want as Magical Secrets. Sure I could recommend spells like Haste or whatever but are they really going to be that great by total level 20? To be honest even the spells on the Bard list like Animate Objects, Greater Restoration, Hold Monster, Rary's Telepathic Bond, Scrying, and Synaptic Static are very good (although I’d sooner replace some of your old spells with them.)
Again I know this is supposed to be a “guide” but most people won’t hit level 19 anyways, so I don’t think it’s that bad for me to recommend you take your own steps to make your own Sona. Hell, build some AP if you want! I know I would!
LEVEL 20 - BARD 11
Our final level is the 11th level of Bard and I’ll be honest: it’s just to add Otto's Irresistible Dance to your spell list. It can only affect one person but it’s still your ultimate by total level 20.
Oh and you were supposed to get a cantrip last level. Uhhhhh I dunno take Mending lol.
FINAL BUILD
PROS
The rhythm connects us all - You have dozens of spells to keep your team alive and active during a fight, not to mention that all your Paladin auras and abilities really help them give 110%. It’s worth mentioning that Gift of Alacrity combined with Aura of the Sentinel is a d8 + 6 to an Initiative roll, which will almost always guarantee that whoever you want to go first will be going first!
A true masterpiece should celebrate living - Despite your somewhat weird level split you maxed out the only stat which matters for you: Charisma. And woah holy shit turns out Paladins are really good with maxed out Charisma! +5 to all saves means even your lowest save is a +4, and the saves your proficient in vary between +13 for Dexterity and Constitution (both very common!) and a whopping +16 save on Charisma!
Curtains up; I'm ready - Jack of All Trades also does quite nicely to help your middling skills. Even though I dumped most of your mental skills you’re still proficient enough that you won’t be completely helpless when caught off guard. And when you’re in the zone with Persuasion or Performance you are easily the best girl around!
CONS
Don't make me get off stage - It was my intention to recreate Sona’s positional gameplay with this build but it does present some gameplay issues when trying to maximize your effectiveness. Where do you position yourself as a character who’s still primarily a squishy caster despite your good saving throws and AC? Can you give everyone in your party support, or are they too spread out to get value out of your 10 foot range auras?
Quiet, please! - You have a damn good concentration check, but what do you concentrate on? Not only do you have a ton of spells but they all scale very good with levels and you have spell slots that go far higher than your maximum level spell. It can be hard to choose what to do with those 7th and 8th level slots.
The world is cruel... Until that changes, I'll never stop playing - One of many “meta” problems with this build was my choice to focus almost entirely on support. Sure Toll the Dead is a great damaging cantrip but your only two damaging spells are Moonbeam and Dissonant Whispers. Again: you don’t have to follow my build point-for-point and while you’ll be flamed in League for building Sona full AP I don’t think your friends will mind if you take some damaging spells.
But if you can’t tell it was really hard for me to come up with those downsides. With the exception of the positional requirements a Bardadin is a very strong build and Sona is a very strong support. Boost your teammates with your own amazing power and make sure everyone’s alive and jamming! Your power may have been forgotten over the years but no one’s ever upset to have a great support at their side. And remember: Seraphine may be in K/DA but you’re in Pentakill, and you have your own label! No one can replace DJ Sona!
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#dnd#dnd 5e#dnd build#dnd guide#League of Legends#League of Legends Sona#Sona#Seraphine didn't replace her#shut the fuck up#dnd bard#dnd paladin#music#Youtube
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Prepping for a Ritual
So since I am doing these things as we speak I thought I would go through some ritual things that I find useful, for anyone that feels overwhelmed or unprepared for ritual work. I know tumblr and tiktok have pushed a lot of easy jar spells on us, but there really is something more to a ritual setting, even a simple one. And as it goes without saying, this is my personal idea of a guide and everyone is entitled to their own opinion and practice.
Get your supplies ready the day before the ritual. ESPECIALLY if you are going outside/somewhere outside your home. Collect all the things you will need and put them together. This will give you a day to remember all the things you forgot before it's time, instead of in the middle of your ritual
Choose what you are going to wear the day before, too. Some people take aesthetic very seriously but others dont. Either way, give some thought to what you are wearing. Is that crystal necklace good for what you are doing? Are those pants comfortable enough to sit for 30 minutes in? Comfortability is just as important as presentation for ritual, so dont wear that corset that hurts you after 15 minutes. You will need to focus on more important things.
Foot wear is also super underrated. Are you hiking 10 minutes into the forest to find a ritual spot? Wear boots. Are you in your house and want to go barefoot? Make absolutely sure you are not going to step on a ritual tool and make yourself bleed, or curse to some gods about the existence of legos in the middle of your ritual
Make some stuff for a cleansing/power bath. I usually assemble ingredients and things day before, then go to bed, and do a quick ritual bath before the actual ritual. Steep a hair rinse or charm a fancy body wash before hand so you dont have to focus on that spell, too.
Do a tarot reading/your preferred divination, before bed the day before you do a ritual. It can be quick or extensive, it doesnt matter. But it can be good to get some guidance before you are gearing up for a spell or ritual, and have some time to think about it before you are minutes away from it.
Prepare food and water, once again especially if you are going outside. Rituals can take a lot out of you depending on what you are doing, and food and drink are very easy and quick ways to help ground yourself if you are shaky or need help coming back to a relaxed state. If you are struggling, boiling pasta or microwaving stuff is the last thing on your mind, or maybe even your ability. So have some fruit snacks or granola bars or cookies or something-- easy to take and easy to eat-- with you. Trust me, this is more important than a lot of people realize. It's a good after-ritual practice and one you should be ready for
Think about your intent and purpose. Set aside some time day-before to do this, maybe 30 min to 1 hr I would say. Maybe make an entry in your BOS if you are the journaling type. This serves 2 functions: one is to charge your intent before the spell. It will give you more oomph and precision in your spell casting, or more prepared behavior if you are speaking to gods. Think about what you want to ask them, what you want them to know, how much respect you should give them, or what they may ask of you. What are you willing to do for them, and what are you not?
The second function is that it gives you time to back out of something. Not all spells are meant to be cast, and especially not if you are in a high emotion before it. Give yourself a day to prepare, an hour to think over, why am I doing this? SHOULD I be doing this even? There is nothing wrong with changing your mind. Doing things impulsively in magic isn't typically beneficial to the caster most of the time. Think through potential consequences, too. How could it back fire? How could it go right but in the wrong way? Is there a better way to get what you want? Can you add a caveat, or a time limit on the spell? Are you using parts of a closed practice and not really thought about it before now?
If you are doing spell work in the out-of-your-house-space-land, even if it is just like, in your appartment parking lot, the park down the street or even your own backyard, make sure someone somewhere knows about it. I know not everyone is out of the broom closet, but even if you just have to tell your friends you are stargazing or something, make sure SOMEONE knows and has a check in time for you. There are creeps and terrible people everywhere, and not to spook anybody, but doing magic can often attract animals or any assortment of beings who want to watch/investigate you. I have been given a heart attack by a baby antelope at dawn before. I have also been given a heart attack by a forest spirit asking wtf I was doing there. I know it doesnt exactly feel witchy to have your cellphone crammed in your waistband, but trust me, better safe than sorry. Be it humans or otherwise, doing magic in the dark in total secret is just not realistic to your safety. Take someone with you and have them wait in the car or around the corner if you can. Once again, make sure someone, somewhere, has a set time to call or come get you in, incase you get kidnapped or fae-napped. Your wellbeing is a much higher priority than any magic spell.
Also familiarize yourself with nearby wildlife. Even if you are in the city, check out what raccoon eyes look like in flashlight, or maybe if your suburb is prone to stray cats or dogs. Check out a rabies registry as well, so you know what kind of risk you are looking at around such animals. Rabid animals are actually more prone to being unafraid of human contact and will readily let a person touch them. Do NOT interact with wild animals. No, they are not a sign or a gift from your god. Most animals are curious about magic in general, but that doesnt make them not wild. Do not interact. If you are in a less populated space, you should also check out what kind of wild life is native to your area and how dangerous they are. Deer will startle themselves into you like getting hit by a BMW and bears and cougars can be active day or night, as well as Bobcats, snakes, or coyotes. Check out your local wildlife center for advice on how to handle what lives in your area
(Last outdoors advice, I promise) also check out what kind of myths and legends existed on the land you are on, ESPECIALLY if you live in north america. Knowing who's land you are on should be important to your practice anyway, and knowing what kind of creatures may be out there may save you some distress later. Indigenous cultures should be respected, and their tales can tell you what's around your area. And I dont care where the hell you live, if you hear whistling in the darkness/forests, it is one of several things coming to get you and none of them are good. Get gone and DONT whistle back. Or at all. No whistling guys. Bad.
For indoor rituals, make sure you wont be disturbed. Much like meditation, rituals are very dependent on focus and intent. Interruptions can mess with your outcome.
More indoor advice, checkout your lighting and ventilation well before you do your ritual. For instance, my altar is in a walk in closet-- there is no way in hell I am burning 4 candles and an incense in that room. I would have to do it in my living room or bedroom where there are windows, or find a way to eliminate the candles. Is the room dark enough to fit your ritual? Is it light enough that you can read your notes? (also make notes/write up a copy of the spell, it helps so much) Make sure you have enough light to see what you are doing properly.
I am a big advocate of "do not over cleanse your life, stop over cleansing" however, if that is something you do a lot of, make sure all your tools and whatnot are cleansed and prepared day before. You can shave a 2hr ritual down to 30 min if you get all of your prep work done day before, which is nice. And it once again gives you time to say "shit I forgot that one thing I need to cleanse" an hour later and still not interrupt your ritual because it is day before.
If you are an of-legal-age type person and doing some drug/alcohol part of your magic, make double sure you have food, water, and a buddy system. You may not need a designated driver if you aren't going out of your house, but you still need a designated sober person to make sure you dont like, astral travel out of your body and get replaced with a pod person, or get hurt trying to cast a circle with a ritual knife while high. Know your limits well before you use them in ritual and, I cannot emphasize this enough, have a friend to keep you under scrutiny incase something goes wrong and you need help.
If you are having the OTHER kind of must-be-of-age type of ritual, be sure your partner is well informed. Maybe have a dress rehearsal so you are both on the same page about mechanics and consent. Speed run through the general timing and motions, and talk about what each of you expect to get out of the ritual. Is it for bonding? Or are you using the energy to try to charge something? Is it for fertility? Are you both good to have ritualized sex (I know that seems like an obvious question, but you would be surprised by how many partners clam up about sexual things to try to not disappoint their partner). If you are a witch and your partner is not, be sure they know what to expect, and that they 100% want to do it even though it's not necessarily their practice and not just to be a people pleaser. If you havent done anything like this before either, tell them that, too. Honestly is 100% required here
And lastly, keep your cool. It's easy to get over excited or over anxious about this kind of thing, but honestly with a little prep time you have a high change of doing awesome. And even if you dont? That's okay too. Everyone makes mistakes, we all learn from those mistakes, and every single experience you acquire will level you up until you are the best at being you. Do what feels right, trust your gut, do some reading, and keep calm and witchy on.
#witchblr#ritual#ritual work#spell#spell work#witch tips#ritual prep#witch advice#chaos witch#eclectic paganism#wicca#diety work#diety ritual#witchcraft#chaos witchcraft#solitary witch#solitary witchcraft
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Between the Walls, Chapter 2: Salutations and Explanations (Dream SMP fic)
... Although, I should probably tag this as more of a Sleepy Bois Inc thing given the content...
Anyways, onto chapter 2!
Word count: 5356
Summary: At it was at this moment that Tommy knew, he fucked up.
“Let me tell you one thing, you pig bitch-”
There was a tiny child in his walls.
“And I bet your mum ain’t all that-”
A tiny child who was yelling at him, insulting him.
“So, you better listen up! Motherfucker-”
Techno was almost impressed.
He wondered if the kid was aware of how absolutely not intimidating he sounded at the moment. His voice cracked and broke occasionally as he cursed, he was visibly trembling in what Techno assumed to be fear, and he looked like he was moments away from crying with those wide eyes and that terrified look on his face.
The kid reminded him of a cornered animal, terrified and lashing out to try and protect itself. He was doing the same thing, trying to scare the hybrid off with harsh words and false bravado.
Techno quietly thought about how young he must be. It was a good thing Phil was nowhere nearby since nothing would have saved both him and the kid from the ensuing lecture and interrogation period. Questions about where the kid was from, who he was, what he was doing here…
Questions he should probably be asking before the kid broke down crying. He had a feeling it would happen eventually when all that adrenaline wore off and the reality of the situation fully sunk in, so the currently shrinking window of opportunity was the best chance he had for finding out what he needed to know.
“And do you know what the fuck a breath mint is?”
… But first he had to shut this kid up.
“You got anything to say? Huh? Or are you just gonna-HEY!”
The tirade was cut off when, without warning, Techno reached out and pinched the back of his shirt, using that to lift him up in the air and out of the shelter that had been provided by the wall.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” The kid squawked as he struggled and squirmed in an attempt to escape Techno’s grip. The hybrid rolled his eyes as he continued looking the tiny being over, occasionally turning him so he could inspect the rest of him. The only thing of note he found was the belt the kid wore that had various tools hooked onto it.
Nothing that really posed a threat to him, but it was still good to take note of it.
“Trying to find the off button.”
“The-OFF BUTTON?! EXCUSE YOU, YOU BITCH-”
“Damn, doesn’t seem to be one.” He noted in that same, monotone voice. Of course, this ended up enraging the kid further, his shouts and curses growing louder.
His wild, frantic eyes growing wider.
Well, now was as good as time as any to start asking some questions before he ended up pushing the kid too far. He swore he could hear that tiny heart pounding away in the kid’s chest, and the hybrid realized it was entirely possible for the tiny being to pass out on him, or worse, have a heart attack from the stress.
Double time on that interrogation, then.
Techno changed his grip, wrapping his fingers around the kid and getting bit in the process-
This child was absolutely feral. He’d probably need a rabies shot by the end of the day.
Eventually, and with some careful maneuvering to make sure didn’t drop the struggling figure, Techno was able to place him down on the top of the small shelf located near the entrance of his house. It was right in front of a window, too, and he saw the way the kid’s eyes flickered between him and the possible escape route.
Nope.
Not a chance.
The hand placed between the kid and his freedom earned him a scowl and being flipped off once again, though he was quickly getting used to this brash and foolish behavior. In a way, it reminded Techno how he had acted when he was much younger. How cocky and overconfident he had been before the world brutally showed him where his place was.
Now, his confidence was backed by years worth of training. By the lives he had ended and the blood he had spilt.
It made him smile at the memories, oddly enough. Naturally, the kid immediately took his smiling to be about something far more sinister, and he started shouting once more.
“What the fuck do you got planned, huh? Got some creepy shit planned? You… you gonna need a bone saw or some crap like that for me-”
“Oh please, all I’d need is a decent nutcracker.” Techno scoffed, completely oblivious to the look of horror that passed over the kid’s face before it was quickly replaced by that false bravado.
“Can’t believe you’d threaten me like that-”
“Not what I was talking about!” The hybrid quickly interrupted, visibly shuddering and in turn making the kid let out a loud laugh.
Just how in the hell was something that small so loud anyways? Weren’t there rules about that sort of thing, mass being proportionate to how loud something could be. There was a reason why he had hated hanging out with kids when he was younger.
… Except for Wilbur, he had always been the exception.
Not wanting to take an agonizing trip down memory lane back to when his family had been whole and alive, Techno decided it was time to start asking the questions he wanted answers to, beginning with the most important one of course.
“And why are you in my house, anyways?”
“Your house?” The kid scoffed and crossed his arms. “It’s mine! I called dibs!”
“Heh?” Techno found himself at a genuine loss here as he tried to comprehend the logic behind that statement. “You can’t claim-I built this place.”
“Doesn’t mean you called dibs, bruv, and you did a shit job of buildin’ it, too. It could use more decorations that aren’t you! And music!”
The hybrid let out a frustrated groan while dragging a hand over his face. Why had one of the most annoying, obnoxious, and loud people he had ever met decide that his base was the perfect place to invade. Why had this kid picked him instead of somewhere else, like L’Manberg.
… Actually, that was another good question to ask-
“So, when are you gonna clean up this pigsty?” The kid asked, completely derailing Techno’s train of thought.
“I fear for your brain cells if all you can come up with are pig jokes and saying fuck over and over again.”
“... Fuck you-”
“And my concerns are proven to be valid.”
“My brain works perfectly fine! It’s just yours isn’t big enough to get it!” He snapped back.
“Suuuuure, pipsqueak, whatever you say.” Techno sarcastically drawled. It seemed as though either the aloof expression on his face or the nickname he had granted the boy only enraged him further, as he watched the kid start stomping the ground as he continued shouting.
He was witnessing a literal tantrum.
“I’m not a pipsqueak! You’re the one who's freakishly tall!”
“Like I couldn’t tell with you calling me big man every five seconds, and I’ll just keep calling you that since you seem to like it so much.”
“Then just call me Tommy! It’s not that hard!” The now named Tommy exclaimed, and it was only when a smile appeared on Techno’s face that he realized he might have messed up.
“Uh… I mean-”
“So, that’s your name.” Techno interrupted, grin growing as he leaned forward and rested his chin on a closed fist. He was enjoying messing with this kid. It was almost as fun as terrorizing Quackity. “Got any other important info you wanna share? Credit card number?”
“No! No, no way!” Tommy let out a nervous giggle and took a step back. “C’mon, man, let’s see some manners! I told you my name, so you should tell me yours-”
“Technoblade.”
“... What?”
“Or Techno for short.” The hybrid continued, not caring about the stunned and confused look on the kid’s face. He was used to people looking at him weird, especially when they heard his name. “No pig-pun name here.”
“... You were so close to having a cool name.” Tommy bluntly said. “You’ve got half a cool name. Now Blade, that’s intimidating! Big man Blade-”
“Never call me that.”
“Alright TechnoBitch-”
“Your insults are getting worse by the second, I fear you’re undergoing cellular brain death.”
“Are you making up fancy words to sound all smart now? Cellular?” Tommy scowled. “What’s next? You gonna start talking about other made up stuff, like leprechauns, or dolphins?”
“... Dolphins are real-”
“That’s just what the dolphin believers want you to think! The… the dolphevers!”
Techno threw his head and started laughing, the noise surprisingly loud. It made Tommy jump as he winced at the volume. Discomfort ran through him, and he started to slowly realize how dangerous the situation he was in might be.
He had always been warned to stay away from humans, and while this guy didn’t look all that human, he was sure the same warning applied. He could be trapped, hurt, tormented…
Why, why had he decided to stick around instead of just running off, or trying to barter for his freedom? He had always lived his life on the edge, flirting with danger instead of women. The thrills and excitement of interacting with a human could have driven him to do this.
Or perhaps it was that quiet voice within him that begged him to interact with Techno, to reach out and be social and finally interact with someone after all the days he spent alone.
A voice that kept insisting that things would be alright, that he would be okay.
A voice that could result in his demise if he listened to it.
He would never see Tubbo again...
His mind made up, Tommy slowly backed away from the hybrid, one hand raised while the other behind his back towards the belt that Techno had noticed earlier. “Well, this has been fun and all but I’ve got to head out and you’ve got some cleaning to do, roomie.”
Techno’s eyes narrowed as his bout of laughter finished, aware that he had something planned that would probably cause some problems, but before he could act on his suspicions, Tommy made his move.
And chucked a fist full of sand in the pigman’s face.
Immediately, Techno let out a shout and recoiled, lifting his hands up to his eyes in an attempt to scrub the gritty substance out of them. Tommy took his chance and pulled out his grappling hook, attached it to the side of the shelf, and quickly slid down the rope. In his haste, as well as the movements caused by the hybrid’s thrashing, the grappling hook came loose, and he dropped the rest of the way to the floor.
Tommy landed, cringing as agony raced up his legs, and did his best to ignore it as he shot off towards the space under the shelf, knowing he would be hidden from sight and have a better chance at escaping.
He had to escape since he doubted his captor would be that nice to him again.
Meanwhile, Techno was currently battling every urge he felt to lash out and kill the kid. His mind and soul screamed for blood, for death and revenge for the humiliation and pain he had been put through. It took all of his willpower to stop himself from grabbing his trident and slamming it into the floor in an attempt to find, and kill, Tommy.
The main source of his restraint came from a voice that sounded a bit too much like Phil’s calmly whispering that there were other ways to do things, that he did not have to resort to violence.
This was then converted to make him pay, but not with death. Death is a release, not a punishment.
His eyes burned.
He let out a pained hiss and blindly reached towards the nearby brewing station, managing to get the bottle of water he had placed in it for potion brewing. He uncorked the top, looked up to the ceiling, cracked his eyes open, and quickly flushed them out to get rid of the sand.
All in all, only a couple seconds had passed since the sand had been thrown and Tommy had escaped. He could not have gotten far, but the more time the hybrid wasted sitting here, the further the kid would get.
Techno tossed the bottle to the side and quickly crouched down, still aching eyes scanning the wall as he tried to figure out where Tommy had gone. He spotted a flash of blond ducking behind part of the wooden shelf, and he quickly moved the wooden panel that covered the bottom part of the shelf. It was like a box of sorts and that could be used as storage space, but he had never put anything there and just left it closed.
So, naturally he had not at all been expecting to lift the panel up and find a tiny hole in the wooden floor, the perfect size for Tommy to fit through. His mind ground to a halt as he processed what he was seeing.
THERE WAS A HOLE UNDER THE SHELF?!
WHEN HAD THIS HAPPENED?!
Okay, okay, now was not the time to get caught up on. The kid was under the floorboards, possibly heading towards the basement. He rushed over to the ladder, slid down it, and jumped onto the stone flooring. He looked up at the ceiling, not seeing any obvious sign as to where the kid must have gone and decided that using another one of his senses might pay off.
Techno shut his eyes, ears twitching, and listened carefully. Listened for that one, signature noise that would tell him where Tommy was.
The sound of someone running over wood.
There!
On instinct, he swung the axe towards the sound, the blade chopping into the ceiling and exposing the hidden passage that had been carved into, and the boy who had been sprinting through it.
Now, this was where things took a bit of an interesting turn.
You see, despite the fact that Tommy had spent his life in a borrower settlement, he was quite experienced in building structures and had frequently challenged Tubbo to speed bridging contests. The adults always hated whenever he did that, claiming that the flimsy structures would alert humans to their hidden home, but Tommy had always ignored them and kept building.
… Until they resorted to hitting him. Then he stopped, but the skills he had developed over the years stayed with him, so the second he started falling he also started building. He had managed to place a couple blocks down as he fell and grabbed onto the little outcropping he had made. He was vaguely aware of Techno moving below him but was far more focused on trying to pull himself back up into the remains of his tunnel.
Can’t fall, gotta stay up! Have to run!
Unfortunately, his hand slipped off the planks, splinters sinking into his skin as he started to fall. Falling, and-
Landing on the top of Techno’s head. Surrounded by the crown the hybrid always wore and with no escape in sight, he decided to cling to the strangely soft, pink hair below him. It smelled… weirdly nice. There was a hint of a herbal scent he could not place, but it didn’t smell super flowery or anything like that.
“You’re pretty fruity, aren’t you big man?” Tommy impulsively asked, and he felt Techno freeze below him as the hybrid realized what the sudden, impossibly light weight belonged to. Seeing an opportunity to get another jab in, he immediately went for it with little regard to how precarious the situation was. “Lookin’ all… all flamboyant with your fancy dye!”
“I doubt you know what that word means, and it’s not dye.” Techno dryly retorted, tilting his head upwards so he could try and glare at the kid.
Seeing that nothing bad had happened, the hybrid had not tried to crush him, nor had he been grabbed and flung towards the nearest wall, Tommy decided to take a risk and started speaking once more.
“.... Hehe, guess things are fine then, big man-” He nervously laughed before he was cut off by Techno picking him up once again. The kid immediately started thrashing, squirming, and cursing as he tried to break free.
The hybrid rolled his eyes at the unnecessary dramatics and made his way over to the collections of chests on the other side of the room. A quick search resulted in him easily finding the item he was looking for.
A bottle.
He caught a glimpse of Tommy glancing between him and the bottle, his face shifting between pure rage and fear, but before he could object to what Techno was planning on doing, the cork in the bottle was removed and Tommy found himself being trapped inside.
“LEMME OUT YOU PRICK!” He shouted as he slammed his fists into the glass wall, wincing as his hands started aching.
Techno just chuckled and put the cork back in, preventing the kid from escaping and making it much harder to hear his shouting. A blessing in disguise, really. “Think of this as karma for the sand from earlier.”
Seeing no way to get out, Tommy flipped the hybrid off and slowly slid down the side of the bottle until he was resting on the ground. His arms crossed, knees were tucked to his chest, and he looked down so his face was hidden from sight. At least his silent moping made it easier for Techno to think.
What to do next…
He had the kid who had been borrowing through his house like some oversized termite, and he knew the kid’s name. There was still so much information he was missing that he wanted to know. What the kid was, if there were any more of him nearby-
An infestation was the last thing he needed.
… Perhaps the librarian back in the village would know something about this tiny kid. He knew that the somewhat eccentric villager had a large collection of books about all sorts of topics, so there was a chance he might have some kind of information he could dig up.
It was worth a shot.
He mentally debated on whether it would be worth it to bring Tommy with him, and ultimately decided he would in case he needed to show him off to the librarian, or one of the other villagers who might know about him. Without bothering to warn the kid, he quickly scooped the bottle up and fastened it to his belt.
He faintly heard the sounds of someone shouting and cursing, and decided to ignore it as he left the house. Techno hummed to himself as he made his way over to the nearby village, not bothering to waste any ender pearls since he still lacked a consistent source of them. No villagers were able to trade them, so his only option was relentlessly hunting down Endermen until a pearl was dropped.
Annoying, but necessary for now.
Speaking of annoying, he spared a glance down at the bottle on his hip that contained the furious Tommy, taking note of how the kid was smacking the glass walls and trying to find a way out. The red hue that had taken over his face also made it clear that he was still screaming.
He let out an exasperated sigh and picked the bottle up off his belt, lifting it up so it would be easier to talk to the kid. Now that he was up close, the hybrid could easily see the look of frustration on the kid’s face, as well as how red his eyes were.
It looked like Tommy had been crying.
“Calm down. I’m not gonna kill you.” Techno grumbled. “And stop screaming before you lose your voice.”
“You’re a bitch!” Tommy spat, not at all paying attention to what he was saying. “Fuckin’ dragging me out to who knows where, planning on doing who knows what-”
“I’m not going to sell you.” The hybrid interrupted, lifting a brow as he watched pure shock cross Tommy’s face. “... You really thought I was gonna sell you-”
“Well yeah!” Tommy sputtered as he flailed his arms. “The fuck else would you be doing?!”
“Interrogating people.”
“The fuck-”
Those were the only words Tommy was able to get out as the bottle was clipped back onto Techno’s belt. He shifted his arms a bit so his cape hid more of his body, and in turn the bottle, from sight. When that was finished, he strode into the village.
Children ran to and fro, some pausing to wave at him or whisper among themselves. He ignored them, as he always did, and continued on towards his destination. He also steered clear of any of the villagers he normally traded with, not wanting to get caught up in some unwanted conversation. He kept walking, picking up the pace whenever he heard someone get a bit too close to him until he reached the library.
It was far from your traditional library, much more of a home with a massive collection of books available for people to read. Techno didn’t bother to knock on the door, opting to instead open it and walk inside. A somewhat large, sparsely decorated room with simple shelves greeted him.
A moment later, the sound of rustling in one of the small side rooms filled the air and the familiar face of the local librarian popped out of it. He resembled your typical villager, though the spark of curiosity made his eyes glint and shine. He was obviously curious as to why Techno had shown up, but before he could ask the hybrid spoke.
“So, what do you know about tiny people?”
“I’m afraid you’ll need to be a bit more specific than that.” The librarian cheerfully replied, not at all phased by the seemingly random question. “Are there any particular features you can describe? Do you have an example?”
Immediately, Techno’s hand moved to his side, ready to grab the bottle and use Tommy as his example. However, just as he was about to snag the bottle-
He froze.
Dread coiled in his heart, an uncomfortable sensation that he had not felt for many years. He grit his teeth as he struggled to sort out exactly what he was feeling, what his instincts were trying to tell him.
Tommy’s wide eyes, tears still lingering in the corners-
Was… was this guilt?
There was no way he was feeling guilt! It couldn’t be. He had felt no guilt when threatening the kid earlier, didn’t really care all that much about him. So, why did the thought of showing him to someone feel…
Wrong.
He was unable to come up with an answer, feeling frustrated with himself. It was a stupid emotion, a weakness, but at the same time his instincts, those same feelings, had gotten him out of dangerous situations in the past. He’d be an idiot if he didn’t keep listening.
So, he dropped his hand and opted to explain instead. “Short, couple inches tall. Uses tools like grappling hooks to get around. Lives-”
“In houses?” The librarian finished, that sparkle in his eyes growing brighter. Looking a bit thrown off, Techno nodded.
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“You have perfectly described a borrower!”
“... A borrower?”
“Yes! Humanoid beings who are only a few inches tall! Generally, they tend to live in already inhabited homes, or with other borrowers in hidden settlements! They’re signs of good fortune.” The librarian explained as he scanned the shelves, looking for a specific book. “It is said that there is a powerful connection between borrowers and humans, their companionship offers a kind of peace and feeling of completion that we cannot hope to feel on our own-”
“I’m assuming that doesn’t apply to hybrids as well.” Techno interrupted, brow raised in a combination of curiosity and disbelief.
Borrowers… so that’s what Tommy was. And the kid had chosen to live with him? Why? And what had he been doing in a frozen wasteland before that? Was there one of those settlements nearby, or was there some other factor that had driven the borrower into staying with him.
So many questions, and so few answers.
To his surprise, the librarian quickly shook his head. “Your assumption is incorrect, Blood God. On the contrary, borrowers and hybrids have been known to share settlements in the past, working together and helping one another out-aha!”
A book was pulled out of the shelves, cover worn and title nearly illegible. After the book was given a quick once over, it was presented to Techno. He immediately took it, held it up in the dim lighting, and read the title aloud.
“A Historical Investigation into Borrower Society…?”
“Indeed! That should be a good starting point for your research on borrowers, and I can search for other texts if you wish to read them.”
“... That would be helpful, thanks.” Techno nodded while adding the book to his bag. He then pulled a couple emeralds out of it and looked at the librarian. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing at all! It warms my heart to see someone else taking an interest in borrowers,” The librarian exclaimed while clapping his hands. “And for my library to be blessed with the presence of one.”
Ah, Tommy.
He must have either spotted the bottle the borrower was in, or one of the other villagers must have and then passed the information along to him. Either way, the hybrid felt…
Annoyed.
His eyes narrowed and he unconsciously shifted so the side of his body the Tommy was on was further away from the librarian. He also flared his cape out, so the borrower was completely hidden from sight.
He was unaware of how Tommy had pressed himself against the side of the bottle upon realizing he had been seen. Unaware of how the borrower had tried to take shelter in his presence despite the rough start to their meeting.
Unaware of the wide, confused eyes that stared up at him, trying to comprehend that his captor was protecting him.
The librarian, seeing the change in Techno’s mood, quickly backed up and lifted up his hands. “Fret not, Blood God, I would do no harm to your charge.”
… Charge?
Before he could question what the librarian meant, the robbed man quickly ducked into some side room and started rummaging around in it.
“The next time you visit, I shall have something to give you! I promise!”
Had… had he just been given the signal to leave? Techno stood around awkwardly for a couple more moments as he waited to see whether the librarian would make another appearance. When he did not, the hybrid decided it was time to go.
Social interactions had always been a critical weakness of his. For how intimidating and threatening he could be, that mask would dissolve in an instant if he started floundering while talking to someone.
Wilbur had always teased him about it…
The walk back to his house was, thankfully, silent and allowed him the perfect opportunity to think about what he had learned in the village. Tommy was a borrower, a tiny being that lived in houses and stole for a living. He had no real magic or other noteworthy skills, aside from the advantages brought to him by size. He could be sneaky.
However, he still had to think about what to do with the borrower. Let him stay, or kick him out.
Soon enough, the hybrid found himself making his way up the stairs to the front of his house, letting out a relieved sigh once the door shut behind him. His shoulders loosened, the tension he had been carrying since he first entered the village fading in an instant.
He hated talking to people, so much.
Techno glanced at the nearby table and then looked down at the bottle on his hip. He promptly lifted it up, met Tommy’s eyes, and spoke.
“If I let you out and you don’t behave, I’m gonna fill the bottle with water and stick you back in it. Got it?”
Tommy shuddered and quickly nodded.
Stupid, he was so stupid for getting himself into this situation, and now he had no idea what Techno was going to do with him! Of course, he could always try to escape again, but he doubted he would get far, and if he got caught…
Nope. He was just going to sit, wait, and try to be as quiet as possible.
Upon seeing that Tommy was listening and actually keeping his mouth shut, Techno uncorked the bottle and tilted it towards the table so the borrower could easily slide out. Once he was settled on the table, the hybrid walked over to the other side of the room and started thinking.
Thinking about what his options were and what he should do.
Was it worth it to keep Tommy around? To have to deal with an annoying presence constantly in the place he had created as his retirement home. Would the aggravation be worth it? What would he get out of it, anyways?
They’re signs of good fortune.
Borrowers and hybrids have been known to share settlements in the past, working together and helping one another.
…That librarian had a point.
It would be useful to him to keep Tommy around, or kill him, even if the kid didn’t give him any good luck. He definitely couldn’t let the borrower leave, lest someone from L’Manberg snag him and get him to spill everything he knew about Techno, and if he kept the borrower around there was always the potential to use him in the future.
To have a tiny spy on his side could be quite the valuable tactical advantage, especially for when L’Manberg came after him.
He doubted Quackity would stay down for long.
So, with a plan properly in mind, he directed his attention back towards the borrower who was, thankfully, still sitting on the table. It looked like the kid had been zoning out until he heard the sounds of Techno’s approaching footsteps. He got back to his feet and glared at the man staring down at him.
Was… was he trying to be intimidating?
Techno let out an amused snort, ignoring the resulting remark about him really being a pig, and started explaining his deal.
“Alright, tiny-”
“TOMMY!”
“ Tiny.” Techno insisted, and to his surprise Tommy actually shut up.
It was probably due to the fact that he wasn’t really in any kind of position to argue or make demands. His life was on the line and he knew. All he could was hope the human would show him some mercy and not chuck him out into the freezing cold.
Whatever it was, it worked in Techno’s favour.
“So, here’s the plan. I’ll let you stay here, give you food and shelter, but you have to give me something in exchange.”
The deal was simple, with the benefits to Tommy being obvious. Something that he hoped would distract the kid and prevent him from questioning what Techno got out of their agreement.
Or what he would get, that is.
“What the fuck do you mean, big man?! Give you something in exchange?! I don’t have anything to exchange!”
“Well, since you said you don’t have anything to exchange,” The hybrid began, taking another step forward so he was closer to the table, already witnessing the real purpose behind his plan coming to fruition.
Tommy paled and took a step back as Techno loomed above him, shadow engulfing his tiny frame as that scheming smile crossed his face. Okay, it was clearly an awful decision to agree to his idea. Abort, abort-
“You’ll just have to work for it, then.”
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Techno's character arc for this fic is literally him going from exploiting one orphan to two XD
#my story#fanfiction#dream smp#dream smp fic#borrower au#dsmp tommy#dsmp techno#borrower!tommy#sleepy bois inc#sleepy bois inc fic
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nine days // bakugo katsuki
author’s note: here is the sequel to paubaya! it can be read as a stand alone fic, but it’ll feel better once you read the first one.
please enjoy ♡ please leave a like or comment if you enjoyed it,, it’ll mean alot aaaaa. also, beware. this is pretty long!
ʙᴀᴋᴜɢᴏ ᴋᴀᴛsᴜᴋɪ
nine days. (angst!fic) part 1
sᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: It took eight, just eight days to fall in love with you; and as dense as Bakugo was, it’ll take him a lifetime (or two) to admit it.
i.
The idea of love has always been a difficult subject to comprehend.
And to a young boy at the tender age of four, whose typical acts of love revolved on beating the crap out of anyone who dared to mess with him (or his friends, though he’d rather not call them that), the subject was more troublesome to speak out loud.
Which was quite contrary to the Bakugo household persona that radiated pure noise throughout the whole course of the day, a feat their neighbor would love to refute if they were able to.
(how a detached and sound proof home such as theirs could release that much clamor, they hardly knew.)
However as loud as the Bakugos were, it’s a no-brainer to realize how quiet they became in regard to their own feelings. The eccentric family breathed the words “show don’t tell” like a mantra; the essence of touch being the utmost way of showing affection—something Bakugo Katsuki never truly understood until one Saturday afternoon.
Bakugo loved his quirk. His favorite part? Not one single part, but a bunch load of favorites.
Blasting shit into smithereens.
Screams of wow! and cool! from his followers.
(”the imaginary people in his head, who continually shower him with praise.” not that he’d admit it.)
The sizzle of sweat on his fingers.
…And exactly everything else that buffed up his currently fragile ego.
The worst part?
The smell of burnt cloth that followed his usual fits of excitement.
The lukewarm water plummeting from the ceiling sprinklers.
…Most especially the whack that vibrated through his skull when his mother found out his only son almost managed to burn down the whole kitchen.
He took it personally, very personally. What happened? An accident! The All Might segment thrilled him to the point of attempting a somersault, one that he succeeded in doing! Was it his fault a measly floor couldn’t handle his greatness? Yet, how does his crappy mom reward him for this feat— a full throttle to the head.
“Katsuki,” his father muttered, rousing him from his thoughts. The scent of antiseptic lingered in the air, forcing him to scrunch his nose in disgust. Was he so weak to need a dab of a stupid medical solution to—
“You could have gotten hurt. Don’t be stubborn.” He sighed. “Your mom was very worried.”
Bakugo grunted. ‘A pissy way of showing it!’ He’d retaliate, but the downcast glint in his father’s eyes stopped him. He was clearly worried for his son’s wellbeing.
“...Could’ve said so.” He sputtered out. (unwillingly, of course.)
“Sometimes you have to look past words to truly understand how someone is feeling, Katsuki.” A small grin perched on Masaru’s face. “People love differently. You just need to spot how.”
ii.
“I like you! Can we please start seeing each other?”
“Hah? Who the fuck are you?”
One tear, two tears, three tears. With that, the girl ran, and down the middle school staircase she went.
Bakugo hardly understood why he was invited to the rooftop in the first place. No. He knew a confession would take place, that was obvious. All thanks to his fellow female classmates who couldn’t stop gossiping about it. One more ‘oh God! she’s going to confess to Bakugo-san later!’ and he’d burst, literally.
No. He couldn’t grasp the whole idea of confessing your love to a stranger. Bakugo knew nothing of the teary-eyed student, except she was a crybaby. Besides, it irritated him to the point of seething. Why confess your love only to run out halfway when things go sour?
It wasted his time. Time he could have spent training, studying, doing something important.
Don’t misunderstand. Bakugo was not a cruel person, he never was. Just one with below par conversational skills. He wanted to know the reasons, not disregard her feelings. He wanted to understand the why’s and what’s of the equation; the basis of what directed her feelings onto him.
But, he would never accept her proposition, even if she managed to spur out a million reasons. Bakugo never saw himself in a position to love someone, it was too troublesome. Hell, he never understood the whole idea of love itself.
He scoffed. If he had found himself fancying a person, it would be one akin to himself.
Someone strong.
Someone who spoke their mind.
Someone who could handle him.
Someone who—
Whack! A shoe smacked him out of his dazed stupor. Apparently, the friends of so-called stranger who shuffled off the rooftop in a crying heap told what transpired. The whole girl squad fashioned themselves into a line meant to reprimand his actions.
“You could have softened the blow, you know!” One of them hissed. “In a way that wouldn’t hurt her feelings!”
“Yeah. You’re pretty selfish, Bakugo-san. You could have at least tried to hang out before deciding!” Another chided.
The act ignited his anger, leaving him an irked mess.
Soften the blow? What did they expect him to do? Listen to the confession wholeheartedly, seemingly interested in actually dating the other party? Hell no. Why would he do so? It would only make the rejection hurt more. No matter how you put it a rejection is still a rejection; and a rejection will hurt.
Selfish? He had done the girl a huge favor. More or less she would finally move on and treat the event as a lesson; focus on someone who had the time for affection.
Was it his fault for not feeling the same way? Fuck no. He owed them nothing.
“Don’t wanna. Too much of a hassle.” Bakugo sneered.
And, oh boy were women scary. Nothing was more terrifying than a group of women who managed to suppress Hell’s fury and rage into their whole being. Hypocrites. Speaking of softening blows when one hit from any single one of them could break bones.
God. He hated their quirks.
(scratch that. he hated the sound of his mother’s cackling the most. ‘now what did i tell you about pissing off girls!’ she scolded.)
iii.
Bakugo was a lot of things: perceptive, intelligent, strong— Hell he could list down a thousand adjectives if he wanted to. But, he was never the observant one.
Sheer power? He was fucking amazing.
Keen leadership? Bakugo is your guy!
Socializing skills? …Working on it. But, God yeah!
As perceptive as he was, his ego took a bit of a hit the moment he crashed into her. And as much as he would like to boast it was her fault in the first place, with the stacks of books that perched on her forearms, he knew better than to daze off in the middle of a crowded hallway.
The books shook in momentum, and in return one hand steadied the massive collection. The blonde Pikachu outwardly reached out preventing the crash, a feat Kaminari would evidently use as a bragging tool later on.
“Ah, sorry about that! Spiky over here’s in a daze after the math quiz,” Kaminari snickered.
“Says the cheater who got caught on question one.” Bakugo retorted with an eyeroll to match.
The other person in question huffed out a breathy laugh, the books shook once again in reaction, forcing her to side step to balance them out. “That’s fine. Sorry for blocking the way too.” The stranger reassured.
By then, Bakugo’s stomach growled. God was he hungry. He casually followed the flow of people toward the lunch area. A few steps later his blonde companion tapped him on the shoulder, almost frantically.
“I-I’mma help carry the books to—” Kaminari whipped his head back and forth at him and the other person walking the opposite direction. “So... yeah! Go without me!”
Bakugo grunted. A non-verbal consent which easily meant “go, I don’t care”, or more likely “bye. i’m fucking hungry”. He couldn’t understand why Kaminari would go that far for someone he barely knew, especially when their whole body was covered by the stacks of books. Suspicious if you asked him.
The boy was simply unpredictable and troublesome. Nah. He had no time to think about the electrical cord, he wanted to eat. Once he arrived at the dining hall, the other three constituents of his group sat on their usual hangout place. Thankfully (he won’t admit it) the eccentric red head ordered his regular lunch for him, allowing Bakugo to immediately slide into the table.
“Bahkuwgo! Whersh Kahmiyari?” Pinky blurted, her mouth filled with food.
His eyebrows furrowed. Where was Pikachu? “Shithead’s busy.”
Bakugo returned to the matter at hand, his aching stomach, and began chewing. Obviously, the angry porcupine had no time to gossip about the who, what, where, and when’s, hello? Stomach first. His ears on the other hand had no shut-off button, prompting him to listen in the conversation rather irately.
“I told him to study! Three nights ago! And what happens? He decides to write down the whole syllabus into his hands!”
Sero sighed. “Mina. He’s helpless and will never learn—”
“Didn’t you copy off him too?” Kirishima chortled. “I saw you look over his answers!”
The black haired boy feigned shock. “Are you assuming I cheated? I thought we were friends!” Seconds of thought later, his eyes widened in real shock. “If you saw me looking... it means you looked too!”
“Bro. I wouldn’t cheat. It’s against my honor—”
“Oh my God! All three of you are idiots.” Mina gushed.
“Says the girl who left the whole back page em-empty.” Sero snickered, his palm jabbing his chest to dislodge the food stuck in his throat.
Kirishima gasped. “There’s a back page? The—”
“Hey! How do you know? You’re seated at the third row! So you’ve really been chea—”
The thwack of a lunch tray interrupted the conversation, an achievement only possible by the fourth idiot of the group. The lightning bolt returned from the alleged errand in a sputtering mess; like he would be when overloaded by his quirk, almost but not quite.
“Denki! What took you so long? I bet Aizawa-sensei decided to talk some sense into you!” Mina teased, tilting her head in confusion when the blonde suddenly dazed off.
Bakugo smacked the Kaminari on the forehead, rather lightly. “...Idiot’s broken.”
“No... I met an angel...” The chargebolt mumbled.
“Here we go again.” Sero shook his head in response. “Who is it this time?”
“Shush! She’s here!” He hissed. “Bakugo bumped into her earlier. She had these big books—”
“Bro! That’s no way to talk to a girl—”
“No! Not that! Real books! So, they were heavy and... Yeah. I helped her carry them to Recovery Girl— and yeah!”
“You’re not making any sense.” Sero advised.
“Shut up! She might hear us!” Kaminari gawked. “...She’s so pretty...”
Four sets of eyes travelled towards the person the Pikachu was ogling at, a silent agreement among all five of them to be as unsuspecting as possible. Evidently, she was a simple normal high school girl whose smile seemed to radiate glee likely from her co-classmates who sat with her.
Bakugo surveyed her face, and then onto her gestures and actions. A Goddess? Huh. The girl seemed pretty normal to him, no one special. Kaminari unmistakably gushed over another woman, like he usually did for no reason at all.
“Where’s she from?” Bakugo asked, rather boredly.
“Ah, yeah! I don’t know.” The lover-boy continued ogling. “...She’s not from the Hero department for sure.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
iv.
Bakugo hated many things; failing tests (he’s too smart to fail), winning without actual merit, God he despises losing even more, Deku (he doesn’t actually, too prideful to oppose it though), nagging— He hates Aizawa’s nagging the most.
It must have something to do with the nonchalant tone, more like dead and spiritless if you asked him, the all knowing attitude, the deep timbre of ‘Bakugo. Fix that up. If I find out you’ve been bleeding all over the floor. Good luck.’, the threatening staring contest thereafter, and the resolution: him walking furiously to the nurses’ office.
He groaned. It was a tiny scratch. Maybe a bruise, or two. The gash on his temple stung, not just physically. The reason why he was cut in the first place was all because of shitty Pikachu blabbing about his fucking angel. If he said “You’re just jeaaaalous” one more time, he would explode.
Bakugo warned him. Multiple times. Kirishima could vouch it. But, no. Bolty decided to repeat the phrase manifold of times, leading him to screech a “shut the fuck up!”, causing Pinky to scream, in succession scared Shitty Hair forcing him to activate his quirk—
Fuck that. In short, it was all thanks to the living and breathing phone charger.
Bakugo gripped the clinic door and slammed it open. The quicker he found Recovery Girl the quicker he returned to class and beat the shit out of Pikachu. Yeah. He’d do that, but instead he found her.
For fucks sake. The indirect reason why he was in this state.
He marched toward the desk, dragging his feet in a somewhat stomping manner. The way she blankly stared irritated him more. Was she just going to stare? Bakugo rolled his eyes. Did she think he was pathetic to come in for a slight scratch?
He had no choice. Not his fucking choice.
“What the fuck are you looking at?”
Finally. The girl roused from her state of daze and stood up. Now all he needed to do was ask— nah, he’d wait for the head nurse himself.
The other person in the room darted her eyes to him and a clock on the wall almost quizzically, as if she was contemplating what to do. With that, she spun around and faced him.
“She’s not here. Bear with it for a sec, let me get something to help.” She mumbled.
Oh? The girl wasn’t a bystander after all. She reached for a small kit inside a cabinet in the wall. Her hands then beckoned to a chair and it was his cue to sit down.
This gave him ample time to observe the woman who’s been driving him nuts. Through the oddball Kaminari of course.
First of all, she was no goddess. Looked more like an enraged chipmunk on Christmas morning. Her cheeks puffed up in concentration, dabbing antiseptic on his temple. How Kaminari fell for her, he had no idea. Not surprising though, he’d fall for the whole female populace if he had the time for it.
Second, why the fuck would he be jealous! What was there to be jealous about? Pikachu should be the envious one. The girl he fawned for happened to be the same woman in charge of cleaning his wounds. No. Not wounds. Scratches. Stupid scratches. Her eyes glazed in utter focus at the task of hand, this beat Kaminari’s “watching habits” any day.
Hell, he was a tad excited. Using this incident as a tool to finally make the idiot shut up. The imminent power he’d have over the crappy blonde. He would bring it up on every occasion possible, well— not every one. Bakugo did have mercy for the goofball. So, maybe five times a week. Almost enough to make up for all the weeks of his bantering.
Third, he thought, wouldn’t it be better if he introduced you to Kaminari instead? Yeah, he barely knew you. Even so, it was worth a shot. Maybe referring you to the Pikachu would be better in the long run. Maybe, the experience could humble him. Bakugo shook his head. No. Even if he managed to coerce you into meeting Bolty, there was no guarantee you’d actually like him.
Then there was the impending heartbreak and sobbing and whining and complaining. Nevermind. He’d go through so much shit for a tiny bit of satisfaction. Scratch that.
Anyway, what was so great about you? You weren’t from the hero course. Obviously. Bakugo knew most of the students from that department. Although he couldn’t remember names, faces seemed to pop up in his mind. You didn’t have an awesome quirk. Hell, if you did, he recalled no one who looked like you from the sports festival. Business department? He assumed people like them don’t intern for the clinic. General department then?
Bakugo growled. Why was he trying to understand you? You were nothing to him. A simple stranger who crossed paths with first time, and highly for the last time once the whole ordeal was over. God. He’ll kill Kaminari for this.
At that instant, Bakugo felt repetitive pressure on head. It took him a few seconds to realize she patted him. Like a kid!? Fuck no. His ego couldn’t take her treating him as a child. A small vein popped on his forehead and when he was about to berate her for her actions, apparently she spoke first.
“Good boy, you can leave now.” With. A. Matching. Grin.
Fuck no. This was worse. You didn’t treat him as a child, he was a pet to you! A pet? Why a pet!? He wanted to wipe that dumb smile off your face. You were exactly more annoying than Pikachu ever was!
Her cheeks flooded pink from the small laugh she released. Bakugo’s eyes hovered over to yours and one though popped up: cute.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
Imaginary steam evaporated from the top of his head. Cute? Cute! Gross. The woman in front of him wasn’t cute. She was fucking annoying. He bet his mind spelled u.g.l.y wrong. The scratch on his head fucked up his intellect.
Bakugo immediately stood up, pointing an accusing finger at her. “What’dya call me, ugly!?”
v.
Anyone who thought Bakugo was the type of person to run away from a fight would be met with the indignant monster himself, threatening the offender with fury akin to the devil.
It’ll take a million years before Bakugo willingly scampered off the battlefield without dealing a punch (or two).
However it would take longer for him to admit he was running away from you. No. He wasn’t ‘running’ per se, he was observing the situation. The whole clinic event left him irked and in a sense, intrigued.
Now that he thought about it, anyone who met his “angry” side were prone to either a. running; b. crying; c. anger; and d. all of the above; and in rare cases: e. laughing. He assumed anyone who laughed at him after his usual feats of anger were the real creepy ones— or idiots reincarnate.
The moment he knew of her existence, he found himself noticing her more and more. He remembered specs of her daily routine from mere perception, something he hated he did, yet couldn’t stop.
She hated tomatoes, he gathered from a passing conversation on the way to the lunch room.
She hated snakes even more. Something to do with a childhood fear that forced her to go to the hospital.
She loved reading, he presumed with all the books she had on the top of the desk in the library.
As much as it irritated him to realize she took up a part of his thoughts (a big part, really), it pisses him off further when she spotted him looking at her as well. That led her to offer him a smile, sometimes a nose scrunch, other days furrowed eyebrows in confusion, but most of the time you never noticed the blonde hero student glancing at your direction.
Well, that’s fine with him. More time to speculate the shitty woman who managed to take up his time.
She took the courage to approach him one day. Bakugo knew she headed to his table in the library. So what does he do the moment her eyes met his in an attempt to introduce herself? Run. He fucking runs.
An accomplishment that only happened when the world split into two.
Yet, here were are on Day Four: Bakugo Ignores Gen. Girl to Restore His Self-Esteem. Part one of the “he was caught looking multiple times and almost confronted” franchise. This happened for quite a while, pretty easy actually. Both of your schedules never met, the only times he caught a whip of your existence were in the library (your humble abode) and the clinic (your humble abode part two).
Obviously, he avoided both places like the plague.
His plan worked for a while.
(for the first five days, honestly.)
Bakugo’s broke his streak one lunch afternoon. He caught her eye the exact moment she looked at his, inciting a silent battle of leering. She grinned set out to stir his anger and he glared right back. The fight lasted for minutes neither parties admitting defeat, earning the attention of his fellow lunchmates.
“Bakugo? Could you teach me this later?” Mina pleaded. “If I fail one more quiz I’d be dumber than Denki!”
“Hey! I studied this time. I bet I might get a higher score than Midoriya this time!” Kaminari disagreed, flicking the girl’s forehead.
“Finish eating already. We might be late again...” Sero sighed. “God. Aizawa-sensei gives me the chills...”
The red head of the group noticed Bakugo’s full tray and focused glare first. Kirishima lightly tapped the blonde, earning a grunt in response. Kirishima’s eyes then followed his line of sight to see the girl Kaminari has been talking about nonstop, and stop he did weeks ago.
“Ah. You know her, Bakugo?” Kirishima whispered. “You might... with that staring contest going on between you.”
“No. I don’t.” Bakugo scowled, in concentration.
Sero, who was in close proximity, heard the short discussion and pulled the other blonde by the ear. “Yo, Denki. Isn’t that Goddess #18?”
“Ah!” Denki immediately covered his ears. “Stop! Can’t handle it! Don’t even mention her anymore— Bakugo ruined the whole experience! Remember Goddess #20? Yes. I’mma stick with her.”
“Woah... Bakugo that’s one intense stare you have. Don’t tell me... you’re dating her!” Mina gushed. “Denki you never stood a chance!” She laughed.
“Who would like that— ugly!” Bakugo chided.
“No wonder you hated it. You were reaaaally jealous, huh?” The Pikachu sang. “It’s fine with me. You have my permission.”
Bakugo fumed. “I don’t need your permission to do anything!”
Kirishima blinked. “Oh, you were serious, bro? You do like her?”
“You’re all fucking annoying! Shut the fuck up!”
Sero grinned, a wide cheshire smile. “You know what this means? Time to meet the princess who stunned the angry dragon.” He stood up.
Mina understood the signal and followed suit. “Watch Bakugo for us, Kiri! We’re going to— Denki. You’re coming too.” She pulled the latter by the arm, dragging him unwillingly.
“I don’t wanna!” Kaminari cried.
“Hurry up. She could have pretty friends—”
“Ah? Let’s go.” The blonde picked up his weight and dashed.
The remaining two students sat in silence. Bakugo groaned in frustration. He’s going to kill all four of them. Maybe a slower death for Spiky Hair since he called their attention in the first place. Bakugo smacked his head on the table.
For fucks sake. Out of all the times they had to notice, why now? God. He hated his friends.
Kirishima patted his back, gently. He did not want to enrage the irritated Bakugo even further. “There’s no harm in meeting someone new, right? Think of it as a — fun experience.”
Fun, alright. Bakugo was going to have fun beating his friends up.
(says the angry pomeranian who heeded, and plomped down on the seat next to the stranger— not so unfamiliar anymore, almost happily. well, in his own way.)
vi.
You and Bakugo were polar opposites; the duo that clashed every second possible.
Believe it or not, the slightest of jabs ignited an argument so intense that calling the fire department would be justifiable.
(alright. this may sound over dramatic. but, hey. it came from kaminari himself. dramatics beget drama.)
One argument in particular stood out among the rest. It started little, truly. A small squabble, really.
Bakugo preferred sweets, she hated them.
He liked mathematics, she detested the subject.
He thrived with attention, she favored staying in the sidelines.
He loved the winter, she wished for summer.
And one phrase led to another, one plain phrase led to an even more painful prick, and in conclusion—
“You’re quirkless. Stop complaining.”
happened.
Bakugo never meant for the remark to hurt your feelings. It was a smooth attempt to disguise his embarrassment; you begged to hold his hand. Utterances of ‘we’re friends!’ and ‘don’t be shy!’ irked him. How the fuck was it possible to stay calm when the simplest brush of your hand against his, sent him into a frenzy?
Safety. He rebutted. It was for your safety. As much as he’d like to hold your hand with his—
(he’d die before admitting it, though.)
that quirk of his, stopped him. Sweat triggered his quirk. The very instance of the substance forming in his hands could cause an explosion. He doubted you’d be thankful spending Christmas in a hospital, your parents resorting to call a lawsuit.
Was warmth a suitable reason to lose an arm? Hell no. Bakugo knew you hated winter, and all sorts of cold weather. Yet, he’s not stupid enough to risk your safety for something so... immaterial.
Her words of ‘you’re selfish, Bakugo!’ prickled his skin. It was an innocent jab, he knew it was a joke. Still, if you haven’t understood the way his quirk worked. He thought it would be better for you to learn the hard way.
And bingo. Bakugo said it.
“You’re quirkless. Stop complaining.”
Little did he know those words impacted his companion harsher than he initially thought.
A small forced laugh came from your lips, compelling you to step sideward. An attempt to move yourself farther from him. “We should hurry up. I don’t think they’d like cold pizza.”
Bakugo nodded, unconsciously watching your every move. He understood the topic of your quirklessness was taboo. A sort of innermost disappointment, and the focus of childhood bullying. He should have phrased it in a better way... a small part of him thought maybe, you wouldn’t get hurt, a way to attest your friendship.
He grunted. His mom would kill him if she found out it was his fault. And knowing the woman’s personality, he preferred not being chewed out in front of his schoolmates. With a sigh, Bakugo unshuffled his muffler and wrapped it around his female buddy.
“Next time, wear something thicker. I won’t always be here to save your ass.”
Her eyes blinked in succession. Her eyebrows furrowed after. Roughly, comprehending his actions.
She beamed. “Oh? Is little Bakugo apologizing?” Her fingers twisted the pizza box, forcing it onto his hands. “Then carry this ‘oh holy’ one. I might forgive you then.”
“Fine. Crappy woman.” Bakugo grumbled, tugging her forward by pulling his muffler. “Hurry. I’m hungry.”
By 5:30 P.M., the pizza deliverers (Bakugo and her, the idiots who lost at rock, paper, scissors) arrived at the Bakugo household with the food. The appearance of the two prompted cheers and yells from Mina, Kaminari, and Sero who huddled on the couch.
“What took you so long? Imagine listening to Denki sing the karaoke for hours!” Mina whined.
Sero jested. “Next time, we forget inviting him. This early Christmas celebration can carry itself without his presence.”
“Get the fucking pizza yourself then! Stupid crowds hogging the whole pizza place...” Bakugo threw the box at the group, instantaneously, marching towards Kirishima.
“Bakugo! B-Becareful!” Kaminari worried. “If it’s destroyed... you... get a new one!”
Heh. Like the expensive meal couldn’t handle a bit of force. Bakugo stomped towards the redhead and took a soda from the table nearest to him.
Kirishima rose his eyebrows. “So. Had fun?” He elicited an all-knowing grin. “I think you did.”
“Shut up!” Bakugo hissed, eyes wandering to the bundle of people on the couch.
“You know, you’re too obvious.” He laughed. “Well, except for one of us. That one has no idea.”
“I don’t fucking know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t? Or you’re pretending not to?”
“Ugly’s a friend!”
Kirishima hummed. “Alright, bro. I won’t pressure you into talking about it.”
A loud pop interrupted their conversation. Kaminari opened a fizzed up can of cola, the drink sprouted into Mina’s face. “I’m going to kill—”
“But, If you want something to happen though. You have to learn to speak up, Bakugo.”
vii.
“Come on, Bakugo! Just this once, please!” Mina begged. “It’ll be great for everyone! Don’t you feel sorry for Denki... He’s been cramming for days!”
“That’s what the gets for playing the whole weekend.”
“Please! I promise we’ll make it up to you!”
“No. Too much of a hassle.”
“C’mon... Princess, help?” The pink haired student gestured to the other girl in the group.
You sighed.��“Mina, he doesn’t want to do it.”
“See, ugly agrees!”
“...Oh, wait. On the other hand, Bakugo’s too busy to teach. Mina, try asking Midoriya to help.” Her eyes met his in a stare off. “He’s got the time, especially when he’s so busy himself.”
She knew using his rival’s name as a bargaining chip kindled his anger. It was his fault for calling her such an offensive nickname in the first place.
“Might let Pikachu teach you math too. You’re dumber at it than he is.”
“Oh? I should let him. He’s better at teaching than you are!”
Mina glanced back and forth between the two parties. A silent ‘oh boy, this will not end well.’ featured on her face. Pinky shook her head, and placed a hand on Bakugo’s shoulder.
“It’s fine! Stop arguing, really.” Mina murmured.
“No. She started it.”
“Don’t be a child, Bakugo! …Oh, you scared?” Ugly taunted. “I might beat your score in math.”
“Hah? You, the flunk? Fine. I’ll teach the shitty subject.” Bakugo grinned. “Any score lower than mine means you owe me one.”
And she gulped, anxiously.
This became the humble beginnings of how Bakugo became the professor of the study group, ultimately leading to her doom. He was excited. Oh, what shit he’d make her do in retaliation.
He agreed on the following terms: library after classes, subjects will be appointed beforehand, anyone skipping must be told in advance... and fifty other rules so on and so forth.
And on the third week of the so-called cramming agenda, four of his classmates decided not to attend, leaving him and ugly as the remaining participants. The whole point of the activity was to teach the idiots, if they don’t show up why was he here?
Bakugo scanned through the math test he gave his companion. First, she was no idiot. There were hardly any errors, if there was, he presumed it was her faulty writing and adding. Solutions were well done, the logic was there. The problem? Yes. The idiot forgot her calculator.
He clicked his tongue. The assumption was apparent, the whole back page had scribbles of numbers, divides, and all the shit. Why the hell did she not have a calculator? Forgetful one she was.
And second, why the fuck was she dozing off? Sure, mathematics was a boring subject. Sure, he was a boring teacher. Sure, he was teaching them to pass the subject. They should all be grateful for his fucking effort.
The hues of the sunset danced on her skin, the reds and oranges bounced on her hair radiating a wave of light. Her head perched on her crossed arms on the table, the head leaning slightly right. He saw the dark pigments below her eyes.
Must have been studying hard, huh? Bakugo knew the girl was on a scholarship. It’s been discussed millions of times. He realized the pressure must have gotten to her, especially being one of the only quirkless students in the school. Seemingly, all she had to offer was her bright intellect.
(not all. she was way better than most of the students in the whole department! bakugo punched anyone who thought otherwise.)
“...Do you like someone?” She muttered.
What? In a split second, he focused his eyes on the girl in front of him. She stayed in the same sleepy position as earlier, convincing him she might have been talking in her sleep. Shaking his head, he returned back to the papers in his hands.
Minutes later a sudden tap on the table prompted him to look at his companion. Her eyes gazed at him with such intensity, his stomach jumped. Somersaults, loops, rollercoasters. God. This only happened after a punch to the gut in battle. The woman was supposed to be asleep! What the fuck was she doing awake.
Oh. So, she did ask the question. Was he supposed to answer? Silence is an answer. Knowing the girl, any answer he’d give sired more questions. God. He wanted to leave. What was the shittiest answer he could give her. Yeah.
“...Shut up, extra.”
Perfect. Now back to the question at hand. What kind of fucked up person willingly confesses ‘You. Stupid. I like you.’ without proof the other party felt the same? It was simply a formula to fail.
Hold.
The.
Fuck.
Up.
Did he really think he liked her? No. Brain thought wrong. Brain really thought fucking wrong. Just because he hated it when she focused on people who weren’t him doesn’t mean he likes her. Just because he’d break someone’s face for talking shit about her doesn’t mean he cares like that. Just because every retort she said in retribution turned him on doesn’t mean he wanted to kiss her.
Fuck. He wanted to kiss her.
Kiss her badly.
He wanted to grab her by the collar and just kiss her.
God. He hated it.
The girl abruptly reached for his collar, pulling him towards her. “Who is it?” She whispered.
Oh fuck. The cogs in his brain twisted and turned. Did he say it out loud? Did he fucking say that out loud? What the fuck was he doing? Who is it? What the fuck were you talking about?
Who is it? Who was who? He hated cryptic messages. His eyes searched for meaning on your features. A person? Who?
Ah. You asked who he liked.
Great. What was he supposed to say? It’s you, ugly! Wake up! He’d burn in hell before speaking up.
One name popped up. Miruko’s agency. Rumi. The woman he was interning for. Like crap she’d find out about it.
“Rumi, her name’s Rumi.”
viii.
12:00 P.M.
bakugo: i’m hungry
bakugo: bring ur snacks
12:50 P.M.
bakugo: u not gonna eat huh?
bakugo: suit urself brat
3:00 P.M.
bakugo: think u gonna win the bet now aren’t ya
bakugo: keep ignoring me maggot
bakugo: fine
5:00 P.M.
bakugo: spiky hair said to come
bakugo: he has shitty fish crackers for food
bakugo: the fuck??????
bakugo: you ignore me and answer his calls?????
Bakugo was not an avid texter. Most of his messages consisted of ‘ok’, ‘nice’, ‘no’, curses, other single word messages, sometimes barely a reply at all. The sheer amount of effort he put into texting you proved otherwise. Yet...
Read. Read. Read.
All of his messages sent to you were on read. What he fuck was going on? For five days, she’s been missing in action. He tried everything.
Inviting the woman to lunch. Ignored.
Reminding her of the cram session. Bailed.
Snacks! You loved snacks! Ignored again.
Bakugo was this close to shoving you up against the wall and forcing the shit out of you. What did he do so wrong? Oh, was it the kiss thing? Did he say it out loud? Your face showed no clear answer at the time. Your deadpan expression irritated him.
What if he wanted to kiss you? Was that shit so bad?
That had to be it.
You weren’t ignoring Spiky hair, Pikachu, Duct Tape, and Pinky— then it had something to do with him.
He grunted. Swiping the contacts on his phone, he hovered over the one named ‘Ugly’ and tapped it. Bakugo disabled the block function.
If you weren’t talking to him, fine, he won’t fucking talk to you.
(yes. he was that petty.)
Streams of notifications buzzed. All of them coming from you.
Ugly: 6 P.M.
Ugly: Outside 3-A.
Ugly: Don’t be late.
Ugly: stupid.
Fucking finally. The woman finally decided to text back.
A meeting place? For what?
The exams were over. A celebration party then. No. Why was the location at 3A then? Oh. The bet. She wanted to compare answers for the shitty bet.
Bakugo flicked his phone on. 6:25 P.M.
Amazing. He was fucking late.
The distance from the faculty room and the third year homerooms were near. It took him no time at all to stomp all the way to the designated meeting spot. Why you couldn’t have texted the shit down, he hadn’t understood.
Bakugo sported a look of annoyance the moment he found you. Shitty woman.
“You finally decide to text me back, shithead.” He cursed.
The girl fashioned an amused expression. “Hm. You missed me?”
Of, course he did. How crappy of you to fill his thoughts of only you, annoy him ‘til worlds end, only for him to be forgotten and ignored. Like a thrown away puppy on the sidewalk.
“Who would miss you, ugly.” He fumed.
Yeah. That’s what you get for pretending he didn’t exist. You can’t leave him begging for your attention, that was something shitty fan girls did. And she stood there feigning ignorance of the whole ordeal. He bet she never even noticed he blocked her.
She erupted in giggles, clutching her stomach as the stronghold. “I’m sorry. The exams were really difficult.”
You bet they were terrible. They had the same general education syllabus, except for major hero subjects and courses. The outright tears Pikachu shed after the math exam proved its difficulty. Bakugo bet she cried after the exam as well.
Might figure out the task he would make her do. Something embarrassing? No. He wasn’t that cruel. A weird prank? What prank though—
“I missed you too, Katsuki.” She consoled.
Of, course you did. Who wouldn’t miss him? The dweeb better be thankful he blessed the his friendship onto her.
(though, he’d like a little bit more than that.)
Hah! Bakugo could force her to buy him a new muffler. The one he had disappeared (into her closet) and wanted a new one.
Katsuki.
Katsuki. Katsuki.
Fuck. She called him by his first name. And he only noticed it— now? Gears and cogs twirled within his consciousness. What did it mean? What did that mean? God. He hated it. Was that your way of showing your love? Did that love mean affection as relationship or love as friendship?
Fuck. He couldn’t tell.
Yet, he knew one thing.
He wanted to kiss you so bad.
The snickers and giggles from the people outside the room stopped him though. His shithead friends managed to ruin it, yet again.
Heh. Maybe next time.
Love has always been a difficult subject to comprehend, and for Bakugo whose typical acts of love revolved around teasing, and riling you up, the subject was more troublesome to speak out loud.
However, you were worth the trouble.
Now, you just needed to spot how.
#bakugo katsuki#bakugo x reader#bakugo katsuki x reader#boku no hero bakugou#bnha bakugo#bnha x reader#katsuki x reader#bakugo x you#bnha fanfiction#boku no hero imagines#boku no hero scenarios
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Ok I’m gonna do my one good deed for 2021, since god knows I haven’t done any of those or frankly much of any evil ones either, and write up how to make pie crust so you can overcome your unnecessary, conditioned fear
If I was hip like the youth I guess I would have made this a tiktok or something
Ok so you have two allies that really keep this from being a pain in the ass
Cold (sword not required)
Pastry gets flakes from little chunks of butter melting in the oven in situ in the middle of the dough. Thus the defining challenge of making pastry is to keep butter from melting before it gets to the oven, so basically as cold as you can get it at any point in the process is best. Keep the room cool (doesn’t have to be freezing), put all your ingredients in cold, put it in the fridge in between steps, if you’re stressed, if you left your filling on the stove, if your mom calls (if you already started rolling out it ghost your mom)
This boy
This is a pastry blender. Yes you do need a tool for this. You can cut butter with two knives (I actually have no idea how this works) or with your fingers, but like...don’t. I’ve done the fingers thing because I used to make pie a lot more often and get asked for it on like, vacations and shit, and like I’ve done it a zillion times so I can make okay pie crust with my hands but we’re not cavemen, a pastry blender is like six bucks and also honestly the cheap pastry blenders are much nicer than they were ten years ago for some reason
So, your ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
Some salt, because you’re not a whacko who forgets to put salt in everything while she’s holding the salt
A stick and a half of butter (3/4 cup) right from the fridge. This is for a two-crust pie bc that’s all I ever make but it scales proportionally if you only want one
Shortening diversion: You can use crisco for this if you want it vegan, or cheap. It makes a really flaky crust, but without as much flavor, and it behaves like slightly warm butter at basically any temperature. You can use lard if you’re a 20 year old in rural Vermont who likes to use a hand crank egg beater for meringues because it feels all salt of the earth. Or if you just have lard easily available, I haven’t used it in years but it does make tasty crust.
Then you get your pastry blender and just slam it into the butter. Yes this is a fancy pastry blender, I got it in college for like twenty bucks and thought I was being extravagant only to use it for literally at least a hundred pies so sure that’s worth it. Also the cheap pastry blenders then were shitty wire, I know I was literally walking barefoot through snow to get to school in college but I didn’t know I was doing it with pie crust
You’re just going to keep cutting the butter with it until it makes chunks and then cut those chunks into chunks. The ones in this pic are still quite a bit too big. Recipes will tell you to make them “pea sized” which is a good aim but you’ve got some wiggle room. You don’t want them big enough that they’re floating around in a bowl of mostly flour and water dough like matzah balls in soup, and you don’t want them small enough that they start to smear into the flour and make a smooth dough. You want subtle chunks. Ftr this takes like two or three minutes
Stick it under the faucet and mix in cold tap water a little at a time. If you have ice water in the fridge that’s probably better. No I don’t actually have any idea how much water this would be if you were measuring bc honestly it kind of varies. I just keep adding some and mixing it a little until there’s not a bunch of flour detritus at the bottom of the bowl. If you put in too much and it’s sticky just put a little more flour in. You should be able to see the chunks of butter if you look for them but on a macro level it should stay together as a dough
If you’re a good planner, which I occasionally am when it doesn’t involve salt, apparently, you will have done this before making your filling so you can stick it in the FRIDGE for a while and let your butter go back to being cold. If your room is warm and you’re not in a huge hurry do this anyway for half an hour or so
Preheat the oven before you even look at any of the rest of this. I’m gonna assume you have the concept of rolling it out and filling it, also because I can’t take pictures of that because there’s dough on my hands. I split it into two equal halves and make the bottom crust larger (to cover the sides of the dish) and thinner. Bake at 450 for half an hour, turn it down to 350 and bake another half hour
Yes it’s ugly, that’s because I won’t need to impress anyone with how it looks once they taste it. I can’t tell you how to put a lil flower cutout on top or do a lattice because all that shit takes TIME and time is MELTED BUTTER. If you can do it and still keep it reasonably flaky though that’s pretty based.
There are other ways to do this you might see, some people use a food processor which I personally don’t get, some people like to add sugar, some people swear by vodka to keep it flaky. I don’t use any of that just because I’ve always been able to get a great crust with two ingredients and tap water (two ingredients because I apparently forget the salt) so I’ve never bothered to try any complicated shit, but it all seems valid from what I know. Unless they want you to mix in the butter any, in which case shun them
If you’re like “Julia what the fuck you said this was ‘ez’ and then made a thousand word post about it” keep in mind I described each moment of a five or ten minute process in gruesome detail and it probably took you longer to read this post than it will to make the crust. If you want to @ me that I’m wrong and I’ve committed some kind of baking crime, that’s boring, don’t bother. If you want to @ me that I explained something really badly and you don’t know what I meant, please do, I’m always at the ready to combat our national phobia of literally the easiest recipe I’ve ever baked
I’m eating the pie in this pic now and it’s fucking incredible, to the victor go the spoils
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Heaven Bent part 4
Daryl Dixon x female reader
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
A/n: Hope y'all enjoy this next part :) Thank you, everyone, who has left comments or shown support, really helps keep me motivated to write! Other than a few specific scenes, I’m not quite sure where this fic is going or for how long. Thank you @ewokiee for helping me when I was stuck, seems to have happened a lot.
Summary: The reader finds Sophia lost in the woods, too bad neither of them have any sense of direction.
You were laying out on the grass, in front of the prison, enjoying the feeling of the sun on your skin. Turning your head, you could see a couple of walkers banging on the fence, but there wasn’t any urgency. Closing your eyes and sighing, you continued soaking in the warmth of the sun’s rays.
After months of traveling and living on the road, it seemed like finding a new home, a new safe haven was a dream of a dream.
Seeing so many houses and towns abandoned made the world seem like a shell of itself. It was almost like living in an episode of the Twilight Zone.
Every day you would come across something that reminded you of how things used to be, such as while rummaging for supplies in an empty home, you’d end up finding a forgotten family photo album or family portrait, and deep down you longed for that safer, easier life.
Then there were the walkers, a never-ending threat, a fear that everyone had to live with, and that worry whenever entering a new building if you turned a corner or opened a door that it could be your last.
Who would’ve believed that you’d find such comfort and peace behind a fence or behind bars?
“Hey,” a voice said as their body plopped down beside you.
“Hi buttercup,” you smiled, keeping your eyes shut.
Sophia stretched her arms above her head, looking around. “You know what this place needs,” she mused. “Flowers.”
You nodded your head, “Ah yes, big yellow sunflowers would be nice.”
“Those are pretty,” she commented.
“And useful,” you added. You could feel her giving you a skeptical look, you smiled wider. “We can roast and eat the seeds, and there are some medical uses too.”
“Are there other flowers that are helpful?”
“There are,” You said sitting up. “And lots of other plants that can be helpful too. I’ll keep an eye out for seeds next time I’m on a run. Would you like to be my helper?”
“Yes! We’ll start our own flower garden!” She said eagerly.
“Yep, I think that’s exactly what this place needs,” you murmured to yourself. You stood up and started scanning the area, trying to decide where the garden should go. “We should probably ask Rick first.”
There was a nice spot over by the east side of the prison, plenty of sunshine in the mornings and in the evening it would be nicely shaded. Water was scarce, but if you could figure out a way to collect rainwater that would help.
You turned around and looked back at Sophia, “Race you to the prison.” With that you took off running, laughing as Sophia called you a cheater.
Still giggling, you found Rick and some of the others inside the prison.
“Hey Rick,” you greeted, rocking on the balls of your feet with your hands clasped behind your back.
“Need something?” He asked, turning his attention to you.
“I was thinking of starting a small garden, over around there,” you explained, vaguely gesturing with your head. “Wanted to make sure it was alright with you first.”
“We’re going to plant flowers,” Sophia butted in.
Rick smiled and shrugged, “Don’t see why not.”
Sophia squealed beside you and you laughed, “Still have to find seeds and whatnot,” you told her. “But we can start tomorrow morning by getting the soil ready.”
…
You wiped the sweat from your brow and leaned against your shovel. The garden was starting to come along, you hadn’t found many things to plant yet, but it was better than nothing.
“So, what did you do before all this?” Glenn asked, walking over and admiring the work you had done so far.
You shrugged, “a little of this and a little of that.”
“Oh come on, that’s worse than Daryl’s answer!” Glenn complained. “Anytime anyone has asked, he always replies with its none of your goddamn business.”
You smiled, you could easily picture Daryl scowling at the question. “Well that’s probably because it is God’s business,” you joked.
Glenn laughed lightly, “still can’t believe he lets you get away with all that angel talk. It’s probably because the two of you are sleeping together.”
Your fell face at the comment, but just as you were about to question him, Hershel approached.
He was getting quick on those crutches. He smiled at the beginnings of your little project. “It’s looking good so far,” he chuckled.
You rubbed the back of your head, “I guess so. Nothing compared to your farm of course.”
…
Daryl was doing maintenance on his bow when Sophia quietly shuffled into the room.
“Mr. Dixon,” she started, standing by the door. Even after everything, Sophia was still shy around most everyone with the exception of her mother, you, and Carl.
“What is it?” He asked, focused on what he was doing.
“We’re going to be starting a flower garden, y/n and I,” she explained, smiling brightly.
Daryl nodded, still working.
She fidgeted with her necklace for a moment, moving the pendant side to side.
“Y/n was hoping to plant some sunflowers, and I was just thinking if you come across any kind of seeds you could bring them back with you, y’know? We’re hoping to plant all sorts of flowers.” She rattled off.
Daryl sighed, looking over at Sophia, who was looking at him hopefully, “Alright, if I see any I’ll bring them back.”
“Thank you!” She shrieked, giving him a quick hug.
He clenched his jaw for a moment, mulling things over, “what flowers did you say she wanted?”
“Sunflowers!” Sophia shouted as she skipped out of the room.
…
Daryl pulled up to the gates, he had left for a solo supply run just as the sun was rising. He had scoured a few abandoned homes, killed a couple of walkers, nothing too eventful or worthwhile.
You sat your tools aside, and dusted yourself off, heading over and meeting Daryl by the gate.
“Did you have any luck?” You asked.
“Not really,” he said, getting off of his motorcycle. Opening his pack he pulled out a shoebox that had probably seen better days.
“Shoes?” You questioned, lifting your brow.
He shook his head and thrust the dirty worn box into your hands. “Here,” he muttered before heading inside.
Curious, you opened the lid, finding that it was filled with seed packets inside. You bit your lip and sat on the ground. Carefully, you started going through the packets, setting aside the most useful ones.
You were bubbling with excitement over the find, if you could manage to gather enough water and get some extra help, you could have a pretty nice crop going besides just a little flower garden.
You paused, noticing underneath the top layer of packets, was a sunflower, the stem had been cut by a serrated knife leaving it rough and jagged, it was also missing a few petals, but still, it was a beautiful sight.
Looking back at the prison, you wondered if there was something you could do for Daryl in return. Most people wouldn’t have bothered even looking in this box, figuring it was probably just junk. Plus, you couldn’t even put into words how you felt over the flower.
You clutched the flower tightly, you had been meaning to do something for him for months now, even before this new surprise. You narrowed your eyes, what the hell would he even like?
...
“Guess who finally picked the lock to the warden’s office,” you sang, joining Daryl on the watchtower.
Daryl looked up at you, blinking in surprise over the dried blood on your shirt, “what the hell happened to you?”
You looked down at the stain, “Oh yeah, that, there was a walker inside, but I took care of it.”
Daryl shook his head, “you’re gonna get yourself killed doing stupid shit like that.”
“Sorry,” you sighed, feeling bad for making him worry. “But look at what I found.” You held up the fancy bottle of scotch and smiled. “Thought we could share it.”
Daryl rolled his eyes but scooted over for you to sit next to him.
You opened the bottle and took the first drink before handing it to him. Closing your eyes, you listened to the crickets and Daryl breathing. It was a cool and peaceful night, perfect for relaxing and loosening up a bit.
“Thank you for the seeds and the flower,” you said, breaking the silence.
He didn’t reply, simply taking another swig from the bottle, and staring out into the distance.
He wasn’t quite sure what motivated him to do it. The box of seeds was one thing, but searching for a Goddamn sunflower just so he could bring you one was another.
Daryl could practically hear Merle in his head taunting him, telling him he’d gone soft for some bitch. His hands balled into fists involuntarily, the thought of a Merle referring to you as a bitch pissed him off.
‘What’s a matter with you boy?’ Imaginary Merle asked. ‘Never thought l’d see my kid brother wrapped around some woman’s finger.’
Daryl leaned back, clenching his jaw, all this was unfamiliar territory, all these things he felt, the way he thought about you. Maybe he was going soft… scowling he drank more, hoping to put an end to the voice going on and on in the back of his mind.
You took the bottle from him, taking a big drink and sighing as a wave of nostalgia washed over you, “I remember getting my heart broken on a night like this, damn bastard.”
Daryl peeked over at you. You rarely cursed and you rarely seemed anything other than sweet and happy. But the bitterness and hurt in your voice were evident.
You examined the bottle in your hands, a quarter of it already gone. “I was dumb, so fucking dumb. I left home without a second thought and followed the man I loved across the country. I don’t know what I expected… marriage and babies, I guess, but instead what I ended up with was an immature manipulative dick.”
“I packed up what little I had, and left that small crappy apartment in the middle of the night... I couldn’t go back home, so I hitched a ride going as far as the driver would take me,” you wrapped your arms around yourself. “Since then my entire life could fit in one suitcase.”
Tossing your head back you took another big gulp, and wiped your mouth with the back of your hand.
You could easily recall that night you left, standing on the street corner feeling like a lost soul in the dark. No one to turn to, nowhere to go, it was scary but there was also a certain freedom to it. You were on your own, nothing tying you down or holding you up.
“You been on your own since then?” Daryl asked.
“Mostly,” you shrugged. “I’ve been fortunate though, met some decent people on my travels… and some interesting ones.”
You passed the bottle back to him,“I heard from the others about what happened with your brother,” you started. “Sounds like you and him have been through a lot together.”
He nodded, “Merle’s tougher than nails, none of these walkers would ever get the jump on him. He’s out there somewhere.”
“The two of you have that in common then,” You smiled. “From what I’ve gathered, it sounded like the two of you were inseparable, always having each other’s backs and whatnot.”
Daryl frowned. “Not all the time,” he corrected you.
Merle had been the first one to leave, having left Daryl behind without a second thought. This time around, Daryl didn’t have a choice, at least not in the same way.
“But I guess we’re even now,” he murmured.
“It must’ve been hard not going after him,” you commented. “But I know we’re all grateful that you stuck around. We need you.”
Daryl sighed, he didn’t regret his choice, he was needed here. But he still felt like he’d owed it to Merle to find him. They were family, blood, Merle was all he had in this world.
Taking another sip, your eyes wandered over to the beginnings of your garden.
“Y’know the best thing about my childhood home were the sunflowers that grew outside of my window,” You laughed dryly wiping a few stray tears. “Guess I’m just hoping this could be home for all of us.”
Daryl nodded, “If we’re smart, and if we’re careful, it can be.”
Resting your head on your hand, you admired Daryl, he was a handsome man, there was no doubt about that, but it was his arms and hands that stood out to you the most. There were many mornings you wished you could wake up in those arms.
You glanced at his face, your angel seemed to have a lot on his mind. You had hoped when you found the bottle of scotch it would’ve helped him relax a little.
But by now, you had enough to drink that you were feeling that buzz of confidence.
“Angel,” you whispered leaning forward, your eyes closed, and your hand reaching out to cup his face.
Immediately, Daryl placed his hands on your shoulders, stopping you from getting any closer.
There was a part of him that wanted this to happen, to pull you close and run his fingers through your hair, but there was also fear. He had never really been one for relationships, he didn’t have much experience with romance either. Not to mention, it seemed wrong to want to kiss a drunk woman.
You opened your eyes slowly, looking at Daryl full of confusion. Immediately backing away when you saw his face.
“Sorry, sorry,” you stood up, keeping your eyes downcast, unable to look at him. Your face felt like it was on fire. “I-I should go,” you mumbled, stumbling as you took a few steps forward.
“Wait,” Daryl spoke up, grabbing your arm. “You’ll break your damn neck trying to climb down drunk.”
You kept your head down but nodded trying desperately to hold back tears. You were feeling absolutely overwhelmed by your emotions, and your inebriated state making it harder to control them.
“I’ll climb down first,” he explained, that way if you lost your footing and slipped and he could try to catch you.
Once you made it to the ground, you were still so flustered that you quickly wished him a good night before brushing past him and heading towards the prison.
Daryl watched as you briskly walked away, eventually climbing back up to the watchtower once you were inside. He grabbed the bottle of scotch taking one more drink before replacing the lid. He hoped he hadn’t just fucked things up.
Tag list: @twdeadfanfic @xaestheticalien @x-roscpctals-x @amaroho @theonlyone-meeeee @mysterious-398 @marss-anonymous @thecaptainsgingersnap
#daryl dixon#daryl dixon x reader#daryl dixon fanfiction#daryl dixon fanfic#daryl dixon imagine#reader insert#Female reader#twd#twd fanfic#the walking dead#the walking dead fanfic
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“Link’s Bad Horsemanship”
XD This is half critique of the development of... er, pretty much all of the Legend of Zelda series featuring horse-riding, and half a goof. It's very very apparent that people working in Nintendo on various horse-riding animations, the riding game mechanics, and how the horses get used or behave in-game in general... are either blatantly bad equestrians, or not equestrians at all, and are getting their visual references and information from such sources as cheesy old Western movies (which featured outright horse abuse very often, usually in ways that were and remain kind of normalized) and the jockey club, which makes money off of callously abusive horse-keeping practices. So it's either ignorance out of thinking they're doing it right, or ignorance outright! And, since the majority of people have never worked with horses at all or know their physical limitations or history of abusive practices--generally people playing the games will not at all notice how hilariously bad some of the horsemanship turns out in the games. XD
But, having researched horses and proper horsemanship, and knowing what constitutes animal abuse... WOW does this series have a lot of Fridge Horror for an equestrian.
By far, Majora's Mask is the most outright abusive in its treatment of horse, and probably completely by accident, simply by having Link ride Epona when she's a developing filly, which is absolutely going to either ruin her spine and halve her lifespan, or cause her to have fucked-up knees and much more easily slip and break her legs. You never ride a horse under a minimum of 2.5 years old for these reasons, and never ride a horse if you weight any more than 20% of their body weight (or under 20% including the combined weight of your saddle and tack). MM, when I was researching how the horsemanship is shown in each game, was the only game that made me reflexively gasp and cringe at how bad it was! I mean, I know MM is supposed to be darker, but GEEZ, maybe accidentally including the fact that Link is slowly and unknowingly killing his horse isn't the way, guys. <_<;
Breath of the Wild actually comes in second place, purely for it's accidentally horrible "horse-taming" mechanic (which is definitely NOT how you actually tame a wild horse, it's how you intimidate and exhaust one into submission and give it mental trauma and also possibly get yourself killed). Also the fact that, because of increased graphical fidelity, there is now no question that Hyrule ubiquitously uses the nastiness that is the bit in riding, which are tools designed specifically to cause at least discomfort inside a horse's mouth to make them obey (and most types also coerce the horse through pain, and when too much pressure is applied have a very high risk of actually damaging a horse's teeth and gums, and even panicking a horse out of pain and fear and causing them to throw you, trip, or even over-rear and flip themselves over). Thankfully, they have done away with the idea that you smack a horse to get it to go faster for the most part minus the implication of a crop being used in the icons measuring the horse's stamina (though there's still the stupid whipping the reins thing in Link's animation, which is still a tooth-dryer when you realize the pressure of those reins are connected to the metal stuck in his steed's mouth... that's got to be awful for the horse when that leather slaps around wildly). Also, a more minor thing, most of the decorative tack for the horses, especially Epona's fancy breastpiece thing, are, uh, apparently not padded and have thin straps and big metal buckles up on her sensitive hide... That's going to chafe in about ten minutes of riding. There is a reason girth straps and saddles have saddlepads and girth padding secured under them!
Twilight Princess is eh... it's not great. It's the only game besides BoTW with bits, and the only one which shows Ganondorf doing bad horsemanship things (which appears to have been done in total ignorance for the purposes of making the scene look "cool", which always turns out making the scene hilariously bad for anyone watching who knows horse body language). Most of the bad parts of TP are more implications than outright confirmed mechanics or just obvious. There's the implication that spurs are used on the horses in the speeding-up mechanic (spurs are yet another rather questionable equestrian tool. They are sharp things attacked to the rider's heels which jab the horse's sensitive flank. They absolutely have the potential to wound horses, even when used "lightly". Some types of spurs look damn psychotic, but they're all pretty harsh things to push or hit an animal with). There's still the issue of lacking padding under most of the tack. There's also the very alarming implication that Link overworks or mistreats Epona by pushing her hard to do dangerous things, as shown in dialogue with Ilia if you show up and Epona has taken any damage. It's... iffy, but it's not as bad and the aforementioned two.
Overall, Ocarina of Time actually has the best horsemanship. It's still not perfect--and it's mostly down to how Link is shown interacting with Epona when he's grown. XD Oops. Now, the good point of equestrianism shown in OoT is that Epona and Link (and Malon's) relationship is shown to be founded on trust. It's a little gamified due to the whole "magic song" thing, but the fact that the horse wants to be near you because the horse chose to and likes you is so significant when all the other games either show you already having a captive Epona or having you physically force horses to tolerate you before any actual "bonding" (i.e. lovebombing with treats) happens (ick). Also, this is the game which shows Link doing a bunch of things wrong but yet shows Ganondorf being actually very skilled and not forceful when it comes to horsemanship. XD Another oops. You wouldn't believe how many minutes were wasted rewinding that cutscene to confirm that yes, Ganon is managing his reins properly with soft hands, yes, Ganon is able to compensate for surprise rearing without harming his horse and helping rebalance the horse instead, yes, Ganon is using extensive padding and protective gear for his horse and riding expertly enough that he's preserving the horse's back health... and Link is not.
XD It's like... in trying to make him all tall and scary, and Link all plucky and active, they accidentally made the "bad guy" do big good and the "good guy" do big doofus. >u<; And now, there is horse abuse present in-universe, but it's presented as such. I won't have any issue with that because it's on the part of Ingo, and it's supposed to make you know it's bad. Ingo uses a crop to whip the horse he rides in races, which, I mean, I shouldn't have to tell anyone that taking a stick with a leather strap on it and whacking a captive animal with it to make it do something is baaaaad. My only problem of OoT is regarding hitting horses being normalized, and this lies with Link.. because for some dumb reason, whoever animated Link riding Epona decided that whenever he makes Epona speed up, he should look like he's open-hand slapping Epona on the haunch, or at least threatening to hit her. This is equally as bad as what Ingo's doing. You don't hit horses, and you don't threaten to hit them to make them too scared to defy you. They feel pain (horses actually have thinner skin and about three to four times the nerve endings in the skin as humans!). It's wrong, and from a pragmatic perspective you don't do it anyway. Eventually even the calmest, most timid horse will reach a breaking point, and enough abuse will cause them to either flip you off and run you over from fear, or just outright bite and kick the shit out of you in self-defense. It's big no.
So here's Ganondorf, apparently Best Equestrian in the Series, just... giving Link the gears about his horsemanship skills. Throwing all the shade in the land of Hyrule. XD Poor Link--he's mostly just ignorant and gotten used to the wrong things (and who knows, maybe he did just ape on Ingo and learn wrongly) and he's just... havin' a hard time relearning how to ride. At least Epona likes him enough that she'll let him start to know better. At least in OoT, he hasn't got as far to go!
#zelda critical#legend of zelda#ocarina of time#link#epona#ganondorf#horsemanship#bad horsemanship#bad equestrian#oops#nintendo did poor research or no research#let's rag on it#comic#digital media#poor link come on you can do better#long post#game critique#tw animal abuse mention
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@bed-of-briars @the-road-from-calvary
So here’s some info on how thinblood alchemy works. Kitty, I know you asked me about it so hopefully this clears things up. Antonia, I hope this has use for you, and I may be able to plague you with more history questions soon.
What is thinblood alchemy?
Good fucking question. Professionally, I’d say it’s the combination of high resonances with vampiric vitae and proper catalyzing substances to replicate vampiric disciplines or new powers completely. Among friends, I say it’s walking around my haven, tits out, ingesting random household items to see what happens.
How long has thinblood alchemy been a thing?
I’ve been trying to pinpoint how long thinblood alchemy has been around and I haven’t been able to find many sources giving concrete answers. It's like they want us eradicated so our notes and research were destroyed with us. The easy answer is thinblood alchemy started booming in the late 20th century with the drug scene. Which is true. With widespread access to technology, information, and the invention of online stores- acquiring the necessary gear is easy.
However, thinblood alchemy has been around a lot longer. I have been fortunate enough with my thinblood safehouse project to be allowed to see old notebooks passed down from alchemists- some dating from the 1980s and one delicate diary from 1947. I’m not at all surprised when the alchemists who possess these relics feel tremendous responsibility to preserve them. But there are even rarer and older documents. The alchemy notes from the dark ages work for our formulas- if you can translate their coded notes. So in truth, thinblood alchemy has been around since the creation of clan Tremere- or even earlier.
So how does it work?
Thinblood alchemy is not like other disciplines you may have seen or used. Lots of kindred of the 13th generation or lower are embraced and immediately possess control of their disciplines. Most alchemists wouldn’t describe their craft as something that came naturally to them- it took weeks, months, or even years to experiment and find what works. Additionally, this is not a practice for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. To get the necessary ingredients requires some unsavory acts- it is a fact as true as the beast within us.
Across the board, you need vitae. Doesn’t always have to be yours but it is awfully convenient to use what you’ve got inside. Cool you got blood, and it's yours because it’s in your possession. Now what? You need something to put it in. But it can’t be just anything. Much like a tremere needs very specific tools to do some rituals, thinblood alchemists need an alchemical cauldron or furnace. There are currently three possible ways to procure such a furnace which have developed into the three distillation methods.
The first is my preferred method. The fancy latin some of us use is Athanor Corporis, meaning furnace body. I utilize my own stomach as my alchemical cauldron. After eating or drinking the necessary ingredients, I can will the blood to ignite the furnace. Most of the time it just kinda feels like a heat radiating beneath my ribcage. On occasion it has felt as bad as taking rapid fire bullets to my gut and then pouring vinegar onto the holes...but it's rare. The benefit of this method is it allows me to keep the power or discipline in my system for extended periods of time- sometimes even as long as a month. I also can travel a lot of the ingredients on my person, swallow them, and then hunt down the right resonance. It's a very versatile method that lends itself well to being discreet. The downside is, this is a one power at a time method. If I consume a new formula, it replaces the original power. Which is a bummer and why proper planning is important. Additionally, not every thinblood has the gullet to do this. I can speak from very personal experience that I have eaten and swallowed some terrible tasting things. There are some that even I found myself vomiting back up and then immediately racked with hunger. Those that use this method have given some extreme criticism that they had to train themselves to keep stuff down or chase it with so much vitae that they nearly bond themselves.
The second method I find morally uncomfortable and I refuse to try it. This one’s called calcinato. Instead of using your own body- which you know can’t die from drinking bleach because it's already dead, you use human vessels. You can emotionally manipulate them to match the resonance you need. You can also use drugs. You can also use sex. Then you feed them with the proper ingredients and your own vitae, and their entire body activates the formula. The alchemist can then drink a number of doses from that vessel until their resonance changes or there’s no blood left. There are a few benefits to this method. I have a sharp nose which allows me to smell resonances. I imagine that if I lacked this innate ability, finding and tapping resonances would be far more difficult or left to chance. This ensures you are getting a specific resonance every time. Additionally, the time it takes to drink from that vessel can be faster than I can swallow new ingredients and will the blood to brew. I’d possibly be hungrier, they could be full. Lastly, a thinblood that uses this method is possibly in the enviable position of possessing a herd. If they are, they could easily have multiple brews in many people- making them more prepared than I could be with pockets full of magnets. The downsides to this method are numerous- besides my personal grievances. The first is that this method quickly lends itself to masquerade breaches. Taking a bite from your vessel in the open is not a possibility if you care to play the masquerade game. Secondly, if you are separated from your vessel, what do you do? If the alchemist is someone who coerced or drugged their victims into doing this, what happens when they escape? And if they do possess a herd, what happens when your stock is depleted? Agh, it makes my stomach turn just referring to people like that ew. The second issue is the same as the first method- one power per body.
The third method is more common but harder to distill. This method closely mirrors actual alchemy from the dark ages, where all the ingredients are poured into the athanor and distilled inside. The furnace needs to be able to conduct heat. You can use a kiln, a metalworking furnace, or modern inventions like an electric pressure cooker or as its nickname “cooking” suggests, get a meth cooker. Some asshole dubbed it fixatio once trying to give it a better street name. But since Breaking Bad aired, that name is never going to stick. Once distilled, the resulting formula can be bagged or bottled for future use. This method has the most benefits- but also the most disadvantages. It’s that reason I prefer the first method, but I have dabbled into this one to expand my knowledge. The first benefit is that the alchemy is portable. You don’t have to hunt or lead a vessel around. You can hold a lot of different formulas inside jackets, backpacks, pockets, or my favorite i’ve ever seen- a ren faire waterskin. You can be prepared for lots of encounters, but it still takes time to imbibe the entire dose. The other benefit is its lucrative possibilities. Selling these means money in pockets. And money lets you go buy more weird shit for more alchemy. It’s also excellent for quick favors. The downsides are you have to be cautious of who you’re selling to. A lot of alchemists who use this are also drug dealers and plenty of final deaths have occured from people selling on someone else’s turf. Additionally, each brewed formula is unique to their alchemist. In intelligent hands cough TREMERE (or even an alchemist armed with Tremere secrets) it can be traced back to you… or worse. Travelling around with blood bags, vials, or a waterskin can be tricky too. You have to take care that you don’t burst or break any of these creations. Oh you fell? Better hide that pool of blood spilling out from your sweatshirt pocket. On top of that, most of these aren’t shelf stable. And even if they are kept cold- some still can’t make it more than a few days before it spoils. Like the two methods before, it is a one power at a time rule. Once consumed, you gotta use whatever you drank immediately or it will fade. Lastly, the reason this is more difficult is because it requires more powerful ingredients and a stationary lab. Substitutions don’t tend to work- you gotta have the best you can get. Which gets difficult when high level preparations demand rarer and rarer ingredients.
Each alchemist is going to have their own research methods, however most of us are resorting to trial and error. However, we unanimously agree that you need to brush up on modern chemistry and learn how to hunt for specific resonances. I’ve come to learn that my sharp nose is a trait not just present in thinbloods and by some older kindred it has been dubbed “bloodhound.” I have been fortunate that I don’t need to rely on wit and observation to figure out what resonance my potential victim has. I smell it. However, those without this ability have to learn to pinpoint emotional responses and their corresponding resonance. Put simply, there are five possible resonances: Melancholic, Phlegmatic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Absent. Melancholic resonances tend to be associated with relaxation and calmness but also sadness and fear. Easy targets are stoners, funeral goers, and horror movie newbies. To me, this has an overwhelming sour smell and tart taste. Phlegmatic is content and happiness, but can also be feeling in control. This one can be one of the hardest to pinpoint, since happy feelings blend so effectively with choleric and sanguine resonances. Phlegmatic resonances have a salty smell to them. Choleric is rage and anger, but it also can be passionate and driven. Choleric resonances are typically spicy flavors, and are some of the easiest to recognize. It’s hard to mistake true anger for anything else. Sanguine is also joy and happiness, but also includes how horny someone is. Sanguine resonances are easy to find in flirtatious club goers and generally have a sugar sweet aroma. Lastly, there are those who are completely uncaring and have no resonance. This apathy is extremely difficult to pinpoint- even with my nose as it has the smell of nothing. The only distinguishable thing is that it has an overpowering bitter taste.
Regardless of whether or not a thinblood is an alchemist, they can take advantage of these resonances to grant themselves temporary power. Most kindred need the resonance to be exceptionally potent to gain these benefits. However, thinbloods are hypersensitive to even fleeting resonances. Most of us have pieced the puzzle together that biting into a club goer equals a bit of presence for the next couple hours. But for alchemists, especially those brewing outside the body, hunting and preserving these resonances is essential for alchemy. Most resonances flicker away within fifteen minutes out of a body, so you have to act fast to get it into the formula and start brewing.
Once the proper resonance is obtained and mixed with ingredients in the furnace, it’s pretty obvious of whether or not it worked. If it works, you have the discipline or new power until the brew is used up. If it fails, at best nothing happens. At worst, I’ve had some rough stomach aches if brewed internally. I’ve also had some mild explosions or acid seep through objects. Failure can be devastating. But it’s just a fact of the practice.
So if it's a practice, why can only thinbloods do this?
I don’t know. I don’t think lower gen kindred can learn this. Looking at how disciplines can be gained for older vampires doesn’t seem to match how thinblood alchemy works. It much more closely resembles the paths that Tremere apprentices can choose to learn- but even they couldn’t pick up these tricks. My adoptive sire, a Tremere, tried to mimic our findings and found she could not will the blood like I or my coterie mates could. Perhaps this was part of her clan’s history and curse. However, I’ve not had other clans ever try. To most, the thought of consuming anything but blood churns their undead stomach. Some of you can’t even ingest bagged blood. The ability to eat is a rare trait in older kindred but fairly common for thinbloods. Perhaps this is why it works for us.
Additionally, thinblood alchemy allows us to replicate disciplines but also create new powers entirely. These powers may be unusable to the other clans. And I don’t mean that in the secretive way that Necromancy or Levinbolt is. Your blood is too strong and therefore isn’t affected by the slight changes in resonance and mere drops of vitae in a brew. But to a hungry thinblood, three drops of vitae, some fridge magnets, and choleric blood means we have telekinesis.
I’m young. And if I keep playing my cards right and brewing my alchemy correctly, I’ll still be here in 40 years and hopefully can refute this entire thing with the years of knowledge I possess. But I hope this answers some questions to how alchemy works, and leaves you with plenty more for us to bargain favors for answers.
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miu and byakuya as siblings
i feel like because they’re so different, they would fight a lot
but they would still love each other in a weird kind of way - mod kokichi
- a rich miu togami ?
- oh, wow, everyone knows how this is going to work out
- her inventions are widely known as some of the most genius inventions out there
- she does not take part in the family business of the togami corporation at all
- she decided from a young age while playing with hammers and tools that being a businesswoman was not for her
- although sometimes, to help her grow her inventions grow and get some businesses to partner with her
- she does have to wear a suit and look fancy to display all of her inventions to the businesses and people she needs to get on her team
- which is always a spectacle, and completely different than what she normally looks like
- she'd have her hair straightened and pulled into a ponytail, and wear a black or white suit
- no matter how many times people tell her to button her dress shirt, at least three buttons will stay unbuttoned on the shirt
- that's something that will never change about her no matter how much money she has
- she and her brother do not get along very well
- but, being branched off and yet still very much attached to the togami corporation, they make rather good business partners
- byakuya is the brains behind her business operations
- she typically doesn't go to a meeting to explain her inventions without her brother there with her to fight some of the business people
- it's the way they work together, and they do it pretty well
- he's got a harsh, subtle way of tearing his opponents down
- while she's abrasive and just plows through those who try to make her settle for less than what she knows she or her inventions are worth
- they get along pretty well when miu is working on her inventions
- when she's focused, he rather admires his younger family member
- it's pretty cool how they work together to get shit done
#danganronpa#danganronpa trigger happy havoc#danganronpa v3 killing harmony#miu iruma#byakuya togami#danganronpa byakuya#danganronpa miu#danganronpa imagines#imagines#mod kokichi
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Loneliness
”It’s not so bad not being in a league that suits me.”
It was a personal mantra that she told herself every day, even if it did kind of hurt. Citrus was born as both a Rose and an Arc, two powerful family bloodlines that were well renowned on Remnant by now, thanks to the defeat of Salem. However, Citrus’ elder siblings Garnet and Blossom, have been shown to be marginally stronger and almost gifted...or actually gifted. Garnet had inherited a portion of Ruby’s Spring Maiden magic on top of Jaune’s hefty Aura with the addition of a strong Semblance, while Blossom was a Silver Eyed Warrior, the greatest of all destined to slay Grimm and be the heroes of humanity. While Citrus was...just normal.
Yep, no insane powers, no off-the-wall weapon that has multiple transformations, no fancy Semblance (other than the ability to talk to animals), she was a normal girl who wanted to be a Huntress, like everyone her generation. However she felt an odd lonesome feeling inside her, when her brother and sister went off to Signal for the first time, Citrus was alone at home with her aunt Yang, grandpa Qrow, uncle Tai, and aunt Raven. If that wasn’t enough her Semblance let her speak to the family dog Zwei and the five wolves Ruby adopted, Drei, Vier, Funf, Sechs, and Null. And yet...she still had this emptiness in her heart. Well unlucky for her it was about to intensify that feeling tenfold as she was about to head to Signal tomorrow, the day after her siblings and cousin graduate. Right now it was well into the evening, the sun setting on the horizon, rays of light beaming down on the Rose-Arc & Xiao Long-Branwen residence, Citrus leaning against the railing, teetering her weighted collapsible scythe, Soulful Reave, back and forth, her emerald green eyes staring off into space, tangerine curled hair catching the wind.
Jaune: Someone’s a little broody.
Citrus: Hmm?! Oh, hi dad!
Jaune: Is Qrow’s mysterious edginess rubbing off on you or am I just reading too much into this?
Citrus: Pffft, nooo dad, I’m fine, thank you. Just...thinking, deep contemplation about the future.....
Jaune: Excited you’re going to Signal tomorrow?
Citrus: Heheheee, not really...?
Jaune: Why not?
Citrus: *stops teetering her scythe* Dad, do you think I’m...special?
Jaune: The “daddy loves his special girl” kind of special or...
Citrus: The special that’s meant for amazing things, I don’t feel like I am.
Jaune: Woah woah woah, what brought this on?!
Citrus: Nothing, I’m...*sigh* Dad, compared to Garnet and Blossom, I’m so bland! I have nothing truly remarkable about m-* her shoulders are held as she faces her father*
Jaune: Citrus, tell me what’s going on, is everything okay?
Citrus: I don’t think so...have you ever had the feeling of overwhelming loneliness and that you’re far behind people close to you?
Jaune: More than you could fathom, sweetheart. But that was a long time ago, and with a little bit of time, and the love from those people around me, it eventually went away. Why, is it the fact that your brother and sister are way ahead of you getting to you?
Citrus: *tears form in her eyes* Y-yeah, a lot...
Jaune: Oh, sweety. *he brings his small daughter into a huge hug* Believe me when I say that feeling is completely normal, your mother and I had this lonely, by-our-selves spell when we first went to Beacon.
Citrus: I just feel so out of place. I hear about all these kids who were raised by amazing Huntsmen, their amazing transforming weapons, and their powerful Semblances, then there’s me. Swinging around a simple scythe and talking to animals, no Maiden or S.E.W. powers...
Jaune: Citrus, look at me. *his gaze is met by the distraught, teary-eyed face of his daughter* All these feelings, all these issues you’re feeling right now are completely normal for a thirteen year old to experience! Think it like, you’re still going through your “character arc,” which always starts just as you turn thirteen. You’ll get to that important “climax” of your story some day.
Citrus: *sniff* R-really...?
Jaune: I know so. Now let’s go inside, dinner’s almost ready!
Citrus: I’ll head in a second, gotta go put Soulful Reave back in in the shed.
Such an action to her weapon would make her brother, proverbially, lose his mind, but she took good care of her scythe, occasionally but primarily leaving it in the room she shared with her siblings, like they do with their weapons. Tomorrow would be the first step into this “character arc” of hers, and she would tackle it however she could!
-The next day-
Strolling down the halls of Signal wasn’t so bad, she was old enough to be by herself while her parents weren’t too far off. Ruby had gone with the many other parents of new students to a little meeting, confirming their classes and whatnot, meanwhile Citrus wandered around Signal, her orange cloak flowing as she strolled along, seeing big metal lockers to hold plenty of supplies, classrooms, a library, and the cafeteria. What she didn’t expect to come across was a large crowd of kids clamoring around a board with a myriad of papers on it. Among this crowd the youngest Rose-Arc saw the red-patched blonde hair of her sister.
Citrus: Blossom? *she called over the talkative graduates*
Blossom: Hey baby sis! You here on your intro tour? *the blonde side-stepped through the moderate sea of teens, a few of which turned heads to the younger teen*
Citrus: Yep, mom just went with the other parents to that meeting! What are you doing over here with everyone?
Blossom: Seeing who got their academic success title.
Citrus: You’re what?
“An awesome title for how well you did in your classes!” chimed a female student.
Citrus: Oh, cool!
Blossom: Wanna guess what I got?
Citrus: I...don’t know what they are.
Blossom: Oh, well come look.
Taking a closer look at the board, Citrus saw this hefty list of names that made her head spin. So many names, numbers, scores, classes.
Citrus: This makes my brain hurt...
Blossom: Same here, and could you help me find my name, I’ve been helping everyone here find their’s for a while n-
Citrus: You got Salutatorian, Garnet got Valedictorian, and Lea’s below both of you!
Blossom: I’M WHAT?!
The students: THEY’RE WHAT!?
“I’m what now???” came a familiar voice behind the girls and the crowd. They turned to find Garnet himself, in the midst of eating a roll of cookie dough from the cafeteria. Without thinking the students swarmed him, barging questions left and right; “How are you so smart,” or “Please teach me your ways,” and “You’re amazing Garnet!”
Garnet: Woah, slow down guys, I’m not that great honest! I just studied and practiced like anyone else would.
“But you got Valedictorian, dude!!!” exclaimed a male student with very punk-rock hair.
“That’s an achievement in and off itself!” cheered a preppy looking girl.
“You’re a freaking prodigy, bro!!!!” cried a sporty, muscular lad.
Garnet: Alright, listen up everyone, I’m gonna give you some life advice you all need to hear. Trying to be like me is impossible, and I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m a prodigy. Yes I have powers of a Maiden inherited from my mother, yes I have a massive amount of Aura and strong Semblance to boot, yes I also have multiple weapons and am highly skilled in using all of them. However that doesn’t place me above the rest of you, nor should it make you all downplay yourselves! You all have your strengths and weaknesses, but you shouldn’t strive to become like me, because I’m not perfect. Imitation is the cheapest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay in greatness. Don’t strive to be me, strive be a better you, because their can only be one of us in the world! And if you do find someone like you later in life...*claps hands* Then I got nothing. *awkwardly smiles*
His audience applauded, but mostly laughed at the perplexing finish to his speech. His sisters had their own reactions, Blossom shaking her head and smiling in a way that conveyed a “The fact I’m related to you is astonishing” feel, Citrus on the other hand was captivated. “Strive to be a better you,” this phrase alone struck many chords in her, to the point that the lonely feeling of hers dissipated somewhat...
“Ohhh yawn-a-fuckin’-rama! That was the cheesiest shit I’ve ever heard, One Armed Arc!”
The students instinctively winced at the sound of the boastful and snarky voice. Collectively looking to the source, a tall girl with long burnt-orange hair and indigo eyes, clad in gray armor with a gold trim, a jet black waist cloth on the tool belt around her. Strapped to her back in a sheath was a morning star mace, the signature and feared weapon wielded by Signal Academy’s tyrant.
Blossom: Carly Winchester...
Citrus: ...
Garnet: And why are you here?
Carly: No reason, except I just heard a one-armed loser spouting some bullshit and being humble. Face it, you could be running this school! And yet you choose to be weak, lumping yourselves with these peons who could get their asses reamed by you.
Blossom: Garnet isn’t weak!
Carly: Aww look, little Ms. Self-loathing wants to act all big and tough! Why don’t you can it and go cry on the roof like you always do.
Citrus: *grits teeth and clenches her fists*
Garnet: What I do doesn’t make me weak Carly, I-
Carly: OH FUCKING SPARE ME! Hearing your high and mighty “holier-than-thou” bullshit makes me sick, you have the powers of a damn GOD and look where you are!
Citrus: ...hat’s it to y... *mumbles*
Carly: Hmm what’s that Shorty, got some shit to say? If you don’t then butt the fuck out, the adults are tal-
Citrus: WHAT’S IT TO YOU!? All you ever do is hurt and scare people, that’s not power, that’s being a jerk!
Carly: You-!
Citrus, standing in front of Carly now: My big brother is more of a Hunter and leader than you could ever hope to be! All you are is a bully, a coward, and an absolute BITCH!!!
Everyone present gasped, Garnet and Blossom were shocked into silence. Calling Carly a bitch was something else entirely, but hearing it from Citrus, someone who had never sworn in her life?! Surely they must’ve been dreaming, right??? Obviously they weren’t, for Carly had looked around incredulous, thinking she had heard the orangenette right.
Carly: The fuck did you just say to me you little shit...?!
Citrus: You heard me, you’re nothing but a BI-!
Carly: SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!
The warrior girl screamed in tandem with swinging her mace directly down onto the smaller girl. The motion happened at such a speed, all that was seen was a shiny, gray blur kicking up dust and debris when it landed.
Garnet/Blossom: CITRUS!!!
The youngest Rose-Arc braced for the impact beforehand...but it never came. Instead when she opened her eyes, she was in a dust cloud, embraced by her cousin, Lea Xiao Long-Schnee, her giant gauntlets blocking the crushing blow.
Lea: Might I ask why the hell you are attacking my cousin, Carly? *she said in a low tone, pushing the warrior girl back a good few feet*
Carly: Mind telling me why your brat isn’t on her child leash?!
Lea: *eyes turning lilac, blue fire adorning her hair* I think Citrus is going to be the least of your worries right now...
Citrus stepped back, knowing full well what was coming next. Garnet walked past her but not before looking at his baby sister.
Garnet: Might wanna go get mom and the principal, this courtyards about to become a war zone. *he winked*
Carly targeted him first, her mace colliding with the boy’s head and sending him staggering. He regained his footing, readying his own gauntlets as Lea pounced on Carly, throwing her into one of the support columns in the courtyard, Garnet running up and landing jab after jab upon Carly. Blossom held Citrus’ hand as they ran off to find their mother before the situation got worse, as they ran they heard the unmistakable sound of the Maiden powers flaring from their brother and cousin.
Blossom: We’ll leave it to them to kick Carly’s butt.
Citrus: ...
Blossom: You okay?
Citrus: Yeah yeah, just thinking.
Blossom: You narrowly avoiding getting brained by an amazon brute???
Citrus: Well...besides that, but what Garnet said earlier.
Blossom: Oh that.
Citrus: It stuck with me, and...and I think it should solve all my problems.
Blossom: ...if you say so!
Seems her father was right, today was when her character arc would begin, and now she would walk through it with her head held high!
#rwby#ruby rose#jaune arc#rwby lancaster#garnet rose-arc#blossom rose-arc#citrus rose-arc#voila! my final lancaster kid has received her story!#hope you guys enjoy the absolute jerk that is carly winchester#don't know if I'll make her a recurring oc since I don't have anyone I ship with cardin lol
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