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Energybound

binding energy definition: in physics and chemistry, binding energy is the smallest amount of energy required to remove a particle from a system of particles or to disassemble a system of particles into individual parts.

In which Lloyd becomes Energy to save the world. As the Green Savior, he was always prophesied to die for it. The scrolls never mentioned anything about his friends.

💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨

The sun is just peaking over the horizon of the ocean when Lloyd makes his choice.

A restless night had passed, with the city drowning and Kalmaar sweeping through flooding to find the Ninja. With Jay’s condition worsening and Nya not leaving his side. With Benthomaar wracked with guilt over what his adopted brother had done and Kai, Cole, Zane, and P.I.X.A.L anxious to do something. 

Lloyd had eavesdropped on Nya and Bentho talking about the Nyad, how she had merged with the sea and defeated Wojira. He knows what she is about to do. 

He’s just doing it first. 

Lloyd cracks open his eye from where he is pretending to be asleep, and slowly stands up. All of his friends are passed out from the emotional toll of the day— even Nya, who was fitfully sleeping besides Jay. 

He moves quietly to not alert any of his friends and wake them up. Silently, he makes his way to the door, before looking back at his friends one last time. Jay was laying on the couch, gasping and wheezing in raspy intervals. Nya is next to him, shifting uncomfortably. 

Bentho leans up against a filing cabinet next to the couch, arms crossed and head hanging. He was separated from the rest of his friends, and Lloyd wishes to see the day where Bentho is comfortable enough to lay next to them instead of dealing with everything himself. 

Kai, Cole, Zane, P.I.X.A.L, and Master Wu are all passed out on the other side of the room, unconscious to the world and the thoughts swirling around Lloyd’s head. 

Lloyd wishes they had more time. A few spare months of recuperating and relaxation isn’t enough between the life-threatening missions his team frequently goes on. He wants to stay with his friends.

He bites his tongue, the pain distracting him from his thoughts as he opens the door and then closes it, making his way to the roof.

💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨

Lloyd dangled his feet off the edge of the dock, eyes trained on the gleaming horizon. An unsettled feeling was shifting in his gut, and a single question rolled around in his mind. 

Footsteps sounded towards him, and Lloyd turned to see his mother and uncle walking towards him.

“Lloyd, are you okay?” Misako asked. 

Lloyd stood up, not taking his gaze away from the sinking sun. “I was just thinking… I know Ronin’s monster was a fake, but I guess I was wondering if Wojira is really still out there… somewhere.” 

“If she is, may she sleep for another thousand years.” Wu prayed.

And at the bottom of the sea, the storm slept.

💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨

Lloyd walks towards the edge of the building, peering down at the dark water. It is black and bottomless, and Lloyd feels a surge of doubt before he shoves it away.

Lloyd may not be the Master of Water, but he is the Master of Energy. And as far as he knew, energy was everywhere. Nyad may have become one with the Sea, but she lost herself to the ocean and disappeared for thousands of years. 

Lloyd couldn’t let that happen to Nya. 

Lloyd was the Green Ninja, the savior of Ninjago. He was always destined to sacrifice himself for it, but nobody mentioned anything about his friends. Everything he had gone through— the Overlord and his father, Morro’s possession and Harumi— it all led up to this moment. 

This is for his friends. Everything he had done was for his friends— every harsh blow from battle and hair ruffle in the morning. They had taken him in when he was a kid and gave him a home and a family. They had raised him, trained him, loved him even when he was being nothing but a bratty child who gave them problems.  

Lloyd turns and stares back at the door where his family was sleeping, unaware. 

Kai’s fiery courage, Nya’s fierce determination, Cole’s easy kindness, Jay’s bright intelligence, Zane’s gentle empathy, P.I.X.A.L’s snarking camaraderie, Benthomaar’s hesitant friendship, Wu’s aging wisdom, Misako’s sense of adventure. 

His family. 

Lloyd turns away, blinking back the sudden tears as green power lights his hands and he starts spinning.

💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨

“Bentho, how did Nyad defeat Wojira? In the story you told me?”

“… she became one with the sea.”

“But how exactly?”

“She opened herself up to the full power of the ocean. She merged with it.”

“…”

“Do not think of such things! Nyad may have defeated Wojira but she lost herself. What she did cannot be undone. She vanished.”

“…”

💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨

Lloyd opens his eyes, feeling light shining from the inside out as his green power spreads. Energy floods his body, feeling light and fleeting as Lloyd reaches down to the core of his power— and lets it loose. 

Lloyd thinks of Cole and his Spinjitzu Burst, deep in the depths of Shintaro’s mountains. Unparalleled power had exploded from the earth and wrapped his brother in his element. 

Lloyd can feel it happening too— but it's different. Green power is rushing around him, light blinding his vision, the particles on his skin transforming into pure energy. 

Then— 

BOOM!

A sonic sound wave explodes throughout the sky. The light tapers off.  Lloyd opens his new eyes and looks down at his body. Green energy swirls around in the shape of his old body.

He feels light, powerful, new— Lloyd is filled with boundless energy, free to travel wherever he likes and too fleeting to ever catch. 

Lloyd realizes he’s flying and spins around, laughing. The door to the rooftop suddenly slams open, and his family pours out— Kai and Wu in the lead as they stop and stare at their brother and nephew. 

“Lloyd!” Kai calls. Jay and Nya join them, the former leaning on his girlfriend heavily as he stares at his little brother disbelievingly. 

Lloyd frowns at how weak Jay looks. That can’t do— Jay will need to be at full strength when they beat Wojira. He flys down, ignoring the flinch of surprise from the others and presses a hand to Jay’s chest. 

Green energy lights up, and suddenly Jay is able to breathe easier— like his lungs weren’t even damaged at all. Nya stares at Lloyd, looking pained for some reason.

Lloyd pulls away as Wojira roars her challenge, his power picking up in anticipation. 

“Lloyd, wait!” Wu calls— but it's too late. With another BOOM! Lloyd takes off, flying at the speed of sound to confront Wojira once and for all. 

It is time to finish what his grandfather couldn’t.

💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨

Nobody notices the crystal spider on the wall, violet eyes recording everything. 

Clink… clink… clink… 

The spider scurries back to its master. 

💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨🐉 💚✨ “Spider’s in the house,

Sleep, sleep

Spider bit the mouse, 

Sleep deep

Don’t wake up or else 

You’ll find a spider in your m—”

The song breaks off, and the dark figure turns from the computer to see a crystal spider making its way towards her. 

She kneels down, dark cape fluttering and kabuki mask flipped up as the mechanical spider crawls into her hand. She strokes it gently. “Did you find everything I need?” She asks. 

The spider’s eye flashes, and then a holographic video is playing in the crystalized room. The bright screen contrasts the dark room, the purple and pink hues drowned out by the light images playing. 

The Herald purses her lips, fingers tightening on the spider she is gripping unconsciously as the video finishes. 

“I see,” Harumi says. She turns and stares at the giant crystal protruding in the middle of the Oni Temple. “This changes things.” 

“Time to make some alterations to the previous plan.”

Skybound

skybound definition: confined to the sky.

In which Jay becomes Lightning to save his friends. And Nya says “I love you.”

☁️💙⚡️💙☁️⚡️💙☁️⚡️💙☁️

Finally, the battle against Wojira was over. 

After all the wild waves and the howling wind and the crackling lightning, the Sea Serpent that had lurked in the depths of the ocean for thousands of years was destroyed. 

The Storm Amulet had been broken, and Wojira had screamed and writhed as lightning encased it before she exploded, the power from the ancient beast sending shockwaves throughout the city. 

Then, there is silence. The raging storms stills at the death of their master, and the waves of the sea resided, the flooding slowly draining away until the ocean is back where it’s meant to be. There is a calm, a tranquility that is found right after a hurricane where the peace slowly drips by until the damage is to be realized. 

The Ninja stand still with bated breath, waiting for the last member of the team to appear. 

There is a clap of thunder, a crack of lightning, then— 

The Master of Lightning descends from the clouds and joins them on the rooftop.

“JAY!”

He turns around to be greeted by the cheers of his friends as they rush towards him. 

“Way to go!”

“Yeah!” 

“I knew you could do it!” 

“Jay!” Nya is the first to reach him, her eyes shining as she beams at him. “You did it!”

She throws her arms around him, expecting him to hug her back. 

She doesn’t expect electricity. 

Her hairs stand on end, the thrumming of static pulsing through her body. It suddenly feels as if she is walking in the Sea of Sands, under miles and miles of power lines and consciously aware of the high voltage of electricity passing above her head at the speed of light. Jay’s body feels wild and chaotic, like lightning stored in a glass bottle. 

She pulls away with a gasp of shock, static clinging to hair and clothes. Sparks of lightning travel up Jay’s arm, and he looks at it curiously. Nya backs away, unnerved by the uninhibited show of power Jay displays.  

“Heh, that’s going to take some getting used to. But we’ll figure out a way to change you back, don’t worry.” Cole chuckles. “Just don’t short-circuit the TV when we play video games, okay?”

Jay seems to ignore the comment, tipping his head questioningly. “Back?”

“To normal. You know, the old you,” Cole explains. 

Jay looks even more confused. “Normal?” 

“What’s wrong?” Nya asks hesitantly. “Are you okay?” 

The clouds suddenly part from where they hang in the gloomy sky, golden light pouring over the rooftops. The lightning designs on Jay’s body glow brighter in response. 

Jay stares, transfixed with the sky. 

“Do you hear it?” He asks in wonder. 

“Hear what?” Nya asks. 

“The clouds  … they’re so loud  … so powerful  …” he smiles. 

“It calls to him,” Benthomaar whispers. 

Lightning suddenly begins to spark off Jay, and everyone but Nya flinches back to avoid getting shocked. Nya watches with horrified awe as Jay almost seems to dissolve right in front of her, only to be stitched back together with strands of electricity. 

“Sorry. It’s difficult for me to maintain this shape.” Jay says. 

Nya suddenly feels like she’s been kicked in the stomach as dread starts to flood her heart, pool into every limb and sink into her bones. “What do you mean shape? That’s— That’s what you are,” she says. 

“What I was. Yes.” Jay smiles fondly, and suddenly Nya can’t breathe. 

Was.

Was, like Jay wasn’t there, wasn’t real, that he was gone— like he wasn’t just there in front of her when he kissed her on the cheek when she was fading in and out of unconsciousness after Kalmaar’s attack. 

Jay couldn’t— 

Jay couldn’t be—

“I have to go now,” And— And Jay is pulling away now, he never pulled away— turning his back to her as he walks towards the edge of the building. “I will remember you.” 

“Remember?” Cole repeats. “What are you talking about? You’re not going anywhere.”

Jay doesn’t stop walking towards the edge of the roof, and Nya forces herself to move. Her legs feel like lead has been poured into them, it's so hard to move without stumbling, but she forces herself to chase after Jay. 

“Jay! Stop, wait, listen!” Nya’s whole body is trembling, and a blinding panic is building up in her chest. “Something is wrong with you. You have to concentrate, you have to focus, you have to— turn back!” 

Jay hasn’t turned around or faltered in his steps while Nya is talking, and with a sudden burst of energy, Nya surges forward and grabs his wrist. 

Lightning surges from his hand, and Nya jerks back. The shock left her hand stinging, and the message is all too clear. 

Jay was Lightning. He was electricity, twisted and woven in the shape of her Yang. Jay had become his element, had become Lightning itself, to save her. And now he was  … 

“No,” Nya’s voice breaks. “Don’t leave me.” Everyone is caught off guard at the vulnerable, desperate, trembling tone Nya takes. 

She’s never sounded like that before. Nya has always been the strong one; she’s always been the one to power through the traumatic events that happened to them, been the one to tell them to never give up and that there was always a solution. 

But now— now Jay is leaving her, and he’s never coming back, and she’s realizing that there is no way to fix this. She can’t do anything, she can only just sit and watch as the love of her life disappears, and know that there isn’t a perfect way to solve this. 

Jay stops, shocked at the sound of her voice. He turns around to see his Yin. Her shoulders are curled in on herself, and she’s staring at him, eyes swimming with tears. 

His eyes soften and he walks towards her, gently brushing a hand over her cheek and wiping away a tear. Nya can’t help but lean into the touch, sensing the undercurrent of lightning running through his arm. 

This doesn’t feel like a concession. 

This feels like a goodbye. 

Nya’s lips tremble as she feels Jay’s hands drop to her’s, holding them. He doesn’t shock her, but she can feel his power fluctuate, thrumming against her skin, always moving. 

He pulls away, and her heart breaks. Her hand still tingles from the electricity of Jay’s hand, and Nya isn’t ready. 

He walks towards the edge of the roof and stands on it, the lightning marks etched in his body brightening in the sun. Jay lingers on the precipice between the sky and them, looking over his friends with a soft smile. 

Nya steps forward, a single tear falling down her cheek. “Jay  … I love you.” She says. 

She’s never said those words aloud before. Ever. She wasn’t good with the words, not after so long where it’s been her and Kai against the world. Jay knows that, and he understands. He says the words “I love you” freely, and knows she responds with every bright smile and held hand. 

This time  … 

Jay doesn’t respond to her. 

He smiles, glowing eyes filled with love as he turns away from his friends. 

No  … 

He’s leaving. 

No, no no  … 

“Jay!” 

Nya stumbles forward, desperate to catch him, to stop him, to tell him to come back  … but she’s too late. 

There is a blinding flash, a crack of thunder, and when Nya opens her eyes again Jay has vanished. She looks to the sky and sees a shining light, the clouds swirling around like they’re welcoming an old friend. 

Nya watches as the light beams through the gloomy clouds, and in the next moment, there is an earth-shattering boom as Jay disappears across the sky, taking the storm with him.

Electricity still lingers in the air, the atmosphere holding its breath like the eerie moment of anticipation between lightning and thunder. The buzzing sound doesn’t leave Nya’s ears as she stares at the sky, searching for any traces of Jay with a gaping hole in her chest. 

She’s vaguely aware of the others joining her, Kai placing a hand on her shoulder and Wu comforting Cole. 

It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. 

Jay is gone.

☁️💙⚡️💙☁️⚡️💙☁️⚡️💙☁️

“What now?” Kai asks, watching his little brother, Lloyd, continue scrubbing windows dully. 

“Give him time.” Cole says, staring at Lloyd sadly. “Maybe we’ll have better luck with Nya.”

Kai winces. It’s been a year since he’s been in contact with his sister, Nya, practically disappearing off the radar ever since Jay’s memorial. She had been inconsolable, and Kai didn’t know what her state would be like a year later. 

Would she even be interested in stopping the Vengestone buyer? Nya used to love missions like that, but without Jay there  … 

Kai stops that thought as a pang of grief went through him at the lack of smart comments and jokes that would occur on the mission. Jay had been there since the beginning of Kai’s journey to be a ninja. He had been the one to lighten the team with jokes shared on dreary nights, and had a spark to him that made any situation seem possible with his inventive ideas. 

Without Jay  … 

Kai shakes himself out of it as Zane starts talking. “Does anyone know the whereabouts of Nya?” He asks monotonously. 

“Yeah, what’s she doing?” Cole asks. 

Kai turns to stare out the window, the gloomy sky a bleak grey. There is no thunder, only the promise of rain. Kai wonders what that meant for the floating lanterns that would be sent into the sky in Jay’s honor. 

“What else?” He says. “She’s out chasing storms.” 

The Lightning Ruins, then.

☁️💙⚡️💙☁️⚡️💙☁️⚡️💙☁️

Ninjago Pokémon 

I have no idea where this came from but let’s just go with it, okay?

TOTAL DRAMA REUNION 

Ok I know I’ve hopped on this train too late, but I wanted to list all the profiles of the TD characters in Reunion cause I couldn’t find good ones

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Alejandro Burromuerto

10 years after Total Drama, Al has become a successful movie star. However, following an unpleasant break up with his former flame Heather Kasuga, he has not been quite the same. Good thing he’s an actor. Alejandro is just as cunning and charming as he was during his time on Total Drama and he is ready to win it all. On Total Drama Reunion, will Alejandro play the game to his favor … or will he realize that some things may just matter more?

Beth Sweetwater

10 years after Total Drama, Beth is still a sweet and trustworthy woman who is independent and can stand up for herself. She is married and has a son who she raises on her farm. She’s still best friends with Lindsay Hirding and often travels around with her. Now on Total Drama Reunion, will Beth have what it takes to hold her ground? Or will she fall back into old habits like before?

Bridgette Summers

10 years after Total Drama, Bridgette is quite a busy woman as a professional surfer and a part-time animal rescuer. One of the few couples to actually survive the show’s drama, Bridgette and Geoff are happily married with 2 spritely children, Henry and Shelly. Now Total Drama has been renewed for one final season, and Bridgette is swept up in the season with a promise to return to her children.

Courtney Prescott

10 years after Total Drama, Courtney has changed a lot since she was a teenager. She has gained humility after the “unpleasant incident” with her lawyers and accepts her losses and shortcomings maturely instead of throwing fits like a 5 year old. Total Drama brought out the worst in her and she realized that her relationships were more important than the game. Now, she has reconciled with Gwen and has a successful career as a lawyer who represents the cheated and abused by game shows and reality TV networks. Before his release from prison, Courtney served on the prosecution team during Chris McLean’s trial. Now a new season of Total Drama has begun, and the resurfacing of a former flame threatens to stir up trouble and Courtney’s post-drama life. On Total Drama Reunion, Courtney will forge unlikely friendships and meet those who hold grudges. How will Courtney navigate these dangerous waters of her past? And will she return to the way she was before?

Cody Anderson

10 years after Total Drama, Cody now has a stable lifestyle. He is an accountant, has a now-stable Sierra as a girlfriend, and could have everything he ever wants. But … he’s bored. He wants a thrill, an adventure. Will Total Drama Reunion help him prove he has what it takes?

DJ Benson

10 years after Total Drama, DJ is still the sweetheart with 200 pounds of muscle. A father of 3 now, Kerry, Christopher, and Laura, DJ is the best dad he could be. He owns a restaurant called “Mama’s Gravy” and helps animals at the local shelter. Now on Total Drama Reunion, DJ will reunite with old friends. Will he be able to survive this season’s drama, or will his kind heart be his downfall?

Duncan Jones

10 years after Total Drama, and after finally being released from prison after All Stars, Duncan has largely moved on from his delinquent lifestyle. He now lives a simple life in Ontario as the owner of a vehicle repair shop. However, Duncan finds his new life upended when Chris McLean is released and Total Drama is renewed for a final season. Duncan agrees to join the original cast to pay off a few debts, unaware of the last-minute inclusion of his old rival-turned-lover, Courtney Prescott. Although she is less than thrilled to be reunited with her ex, Duncan sees this as an opportunity to make up for his past mistakes and re-stoke the fire of their romance.

Eva Garren

10 years after Total Drama, Eva has come along way since enrolling in anger management classes. After the show was canceled, Eva began to reinvent herself as a world-class heavyweight lifter and a personal trainer. Although she still has an occasional angry outburst, Eva has grown into a more levelheaded person. Now she is drafted back onto Total Drama Reunion. Will Eva return to the rage-filled teenager she once was, or will she finally get the chance to shine?

Ezekiel Miller

10 years after Total Drama, Ezekiel has gone completely feral. Isolated from humanity and left to rot on Boney Island has mutated and damaged Zeke more than could be imagine. With the original cast back on the Island for Total Drama Reunion, will they run into Zeke? Will they recognize him? Will they realize the impact Chris has left upon him? And will they help him reclaim his humanity, or will he be left as a monster?

Geoff Algolen

10 years after Total Drama, Geoff has fully devoted himself to his wife, Bridgette, and their 2 kids, Henry and Shelly. Geoff still has his chill attitude from when he was a teenager, but fatherhood has molded him into a man of many responsibilities. Now Total Drama is on for one final season, and Geoff and Bridgette find themselves embarking on a new adventure and reuniting with old friends.

Gwen Ingrid

10 years after Total Drama, Gwen has followed her dreams and is hosting art galleries all over the country, donating the obtained money to charities around the world. Living a comfortable life in an apartment in New York City, Gwen is living her best life with her friends Courtney, Leshawna, and Bridgette, drama-free. Unfortunately, Gwen is tricked into consenting participation for Total Drama Reunion. Surrounded by old friends and enemies, will Gwen have what it takes to make it out of the season unscathed?

Harold McGrady

10 years after Total Drama, Harold is still the same as ever. Although split up, Harold is still keeps in touch with the members of Drama Brothers even though they lead different careers. Now, Harold along with Leshawna have started their own show called “Dance Zone”. With a new season of Total Drama greenlit, will Harold finally be able to show off his many skills and growth, or will he be brushed off like years ago?

Heather Kasuga

10 years after Total Drama, Heather has come a long way. She has become a well-known figure in the celebrity world as both the girlfriend to rising movie star Alejandro Burromuerto, and as “The Heather” that debuted on Total Drama. Using her reputation, Heather became a TV host to her own show, called “The World According to Heather” — popular because of her ruthlessness for answers and her skills as a master strategist. However, some things just weren’t meant to last as the it couple “Aleheather” broke it off on bad terms and unknown reasons. Heather hasn’t been the same since, and even a broach on the subject can make the “Old Heather” come out. Now, the former villainess returns to the show that started it all, Total Drama. In this new season, Heather will forge unlikely friendships, and meet bitter enemies. She will have to come face-to-face with not only her past self and actions, but also those she has hurt as well. Has Heather truly moved on? Or is the old Heather still lurking under the surface?

Izzy Connelly

10 years after Total Drama, Izzy is still as wild as ever. Always liking to be free, Izzy has traveled across the world and went on crazy adventures before she found her passion in producing. She produces the commercials for Owen’s “Choco-Treats” to help him out of his debts. Although she and Owen have an on-and-off fling, right now they are only friends. Izzy is a single mother of 2 crazy, curly red-haired twin boys, Hunter and Patrick. Now on Total Drama Reunion, will Izzy be able to play the game, or will she usurp it all?

Justin Alika

10 years after Total Drama, Justin is still as gorgeous as ever. He has worked his way up in the modeling industry and yes, while still absorbed with himself, he’s still caring to those in his life. He keeps in touch with his Total Drama Brothers and the fellow contestants he was close with. In Total Drama Reunion, will Justin show he’s more than his looks?

Katie & Sadie

10 Years after Total Drama, Katie and Sadie are still BFFFL’s. It is like no time has passed between the girls as they have started their post-drama lives together. Now the whole new season of Total Drama together, will the BFFFL’s friendship survive the turmoil?

Leshawna Edwards

10 years after Total Drama, Leshawna is better than ever. After making a good amount of money from her show called “Dance Zone”, Leshawna was able to move to New York City and start her own dance studio. Now, Total Drama is coming back with one final season, and Leshawna is once again thrown in the ring with both old friends and enemies to square down with. Will she be able to come out on top and earn her crown?

Lindsay Hirding

10 years after Total Drama, Lindsay is living her best life. Now the wife of her boyfriend, Tyler, she is now the mother of three kids, Kayden, Monica, and Sophie. Finally living her life of luxury, Lindsay is a fashion blogger and social media influencer as she travels the world with her best friend, Beth. Now with Total Drama Reunion, will Lindsay be able to show the world she is more than the blonde stereotype?

Noah Mathai

10 years after Total Drama, Noah is living a life he never would have dreamed would be his. After competing in a number of reality TV shows with his best friend, Owen, Noah has settled down, married his lawyer of a girlfriend Emma Park, and is having his son, Kieran. Now Total Drama Reunion has swept into Noah’s comfortable post-drama life. Will Total Drama take it all away, or will he finally get the chance to prove himself worthy competitor?

Owen Whitman

10 years after Total Drama, Owen is still as happy-go-lucky as ever. After competing in a number of reality TV shows as a professional duo with Noah, Owen has earned enough cash to retire. However, after losing his fortune and being in debt due to his excessive eating habits, Owen agrees to become the face of “Choco-Treats Candy Bars”. Thanks for the help of Izzy, Owen’s starred in a multitude of commercials that slowly helped him get on his feet — until Total Drama Reunion, offering a chance to pull him out of his troubles. Owen agrees and returns to show, where he is to be reunited with a few old friends. How bad could this season possibly be?

Sierra Weber

10 years after Total Drama, Sierra has thankfully said goodbye to her fangirl ways. Now a devoted girlfriend to Cody and a dedicated journalist, Sierra just might be the only person to realize how Chris McLean got unwilling contestants to join the show. Now on the outside, Sierra works her way in to uncovering the truth and taking down her past idol. Can Sierra save the old contestants, or will they fall to the dark secrets Sierra will uncover?

Trent Davis

10 years after Total Drama, Trent has been touring the country as a solo act musician. Although he initially kept in touch with Gwen, the two have drifted apart over time. While on the road, Trent has caught the eye of many women before he decided to get married. Him and his partner split up, and Trent realize that no matter how many women he’d meet, none would compare to the steely elegance of his first love. But first, he is left to deal with his young son, Everest. Trent moved on with his life, shoving Gwen in the back of his mind as he channeled all his focus into his music and son. But now, he’s pulled back into a final season of Total Drama Reunion, and the situation quickly becomes uncomfortable as he is reunited with his first love: Gwen.

Tyler Kennard

10 years after Total Drama, Tyler is now the husband of Lindsey and father of their 3 children. He loves to spoil his wife on their anniversaries with lipgloss, flowers, and accessories, and enjoys showing off his athletic skills to his kids. Now, he is swept up in a season of Total Drama Reunion, and Tyler finally sees his chance to shine and show he has what it takes to win it all.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Chris McLean

Imprisoned once again for his cheating crimes against humanity and the environment, legendary TV host Chris McLean is bailed out by the networking and an army of angry fans in a desperate attempt to revive Total Drama and pass on a new season. Chris agrees, and uproots all the original cast from their post-drama lives. As Chris’s mental state deteriorates, is there any chance of redemption for our favorite TV host?

Hey can u write an ikarishipping headcanon.. Because I really liked the way you write!

Most of my pokemon headcannons are on my last post, but here is one short little rambling

breathless

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Sometimes Shinji gets knocked breathless, at the most random moments. It doesn’t matter if he’s training his Pokémon, visiting his brother, or whatever — suddenly he’s knocked breathless, like he’s been punched in the gut.

He knows what it means too — Hikari. He’s been too long without Hikari.

Shinji often loses track of time when he’s busy or caught up training his Pokémon, so he sometimes forgets about the emotional attachments in his life.

This feeling he has — this winded, longing emotion? It reminds him. It’s this need, breathtaking and jarring that surprises him with the force it comes with. He has to see her, no matter if she’s screaming or smiling at him.

When he was younger he used to ignore the feeling, just carry out his day like nothing happened. Like his chest wasn’t feeling empty for no reason. Shinji wasn’t going to usurp his schedule for a girl.

It was strange though.

He gets knocked breathless with longing, and his chest feels hollow and icy; whenever he meets up with Hikari and walks away again, it feels like his heart is walking away with her.

It’s always worse when he walks away from her than when he meets up with her. Ice feels like it’s permanently settled in his lungs and seems like there is a huge gaping hole in his chest.

He gets knocked breathless seeing her, too, at first with shock, then at this feeling in his chest. It punches him in the gut, soft yet forceful; his lungs suddenly breathless and his feet pulling him to her until he’s walking right beside her.

Was she always this pretty when he saw her? Were her eyes and hair really that blue?

Shinji gets knocked breathless, at the most random of moments, and he has no choice but to follow the feeling back to Hikari.

***

It follows him as an adult, too. As the Champion of Sinnoh, Shinji gets called away a lot to attend important meetings and to manage the region.

Sometimes Shinji gets knocked breathless, at the most random moments. It doesn’t matter if he’s in the middle of conference or participating in a battle — he’s suddenly knocked breathless, like he’s been punched in the gut.

Need and longing and heartache mix together into this breathless combination — and he doesn’t ignore it.

Shinji cancels whatever appointment he has going on and flys back home.

He’s been away from Hikari for too long.

Sound the Alarm

Emma just wants to get some sleep, keep her little sister in check, and earn her law degree. Relationships are the last thing on her mind.

Her four mental goals are suddenly cut down to one once she meets her crazy next door neighbors.

And it starts by setting off the fire alarm.

(AKA: The Nemma Neighbor AU that no one asked for

This ship doesn’t get enough appreciation ToT)

Based off fic 2 am by shmulia

It was two am, and Emma is going to murder the person who set off the fire alarm. 

She rips the sheets off her body and opens the door viciously. If this was Kitty trying to cook anything but ramen, then Emma is going to kick her out of the apartment and throw away her key.

Emma slit her eyes, looking at the spotless kitchen that was free of her sister, and turns to see Kitty stumble out of her room, more tired than pissed off. 

It had been a long day for Emma; being a law student was a full-time job, with that on top of her other job— keeping her little sister in check. She had an essay that she spent hours writing on, and when it was finally over she had to finish the chores Kitty had clearly neglected before she had wanted to pass out. 

And now some idiot had set off the fire alarm. 

Emma is going to kill them.

Involuntary actions are free of ill will, Emma reminds herself as she stomps towards the door. Kitty crashes on the couch, trusting her sister to give the guilty resident a piece of her mind. 

Emma grabs the doorknob and yanks it open, the door flying open and slamming against the wall with a nasty bang. Emma is too furious to care — the damage would be morning-Emma’s problem. 

Then she stops. Stares. And stares some more, because she is tired and is pretty sure this was a hallucination. 

He is gorgeous. A couple inches taller than her, lean with brown skin and chocolate eyes that seemed extremely wide the moment she opened the door. His fist is raised, like he was going to knock on the door before she whipped it open.

Maybe she hadn't been that bad in a past life, Emma thinks as she takes in the guy in front of her, because God was clearly apologising for the fire alarm. Really, how often did good-looking guys turn up on her doorstep?

Not since her ex-boyfriend Jake, and Emma refuses to give him an ounce of thought this early in the morning and in the face of a guy easily more attractive than him. 

The two stare at each other and Emma waits for the guy to speak.

"Oh. Um. Hey— hi! I’m Noah. I live next door.” He awkwardly scratches the back of his head. “I don't know if you heard the fire alarm go off just now— " he starts, before Emma cuts him off.

"Oh, I heard alright," she narrows her eyes. If Noah reveals that he was the one who set the alarm off, hotness be damned Emma would make sure his death was swift and painful.

Noah gulps nervously.

"Ah, okay. My roommate is kind of responsible for that, and he sent me over to apologise. So. Yeah. Sorry about that."

Emma folds her arms across her chest. "And he didn't come over to apologise because … ?"

Noah raises his hands defensively. "He's just clearing the air in our apartment. He said he'll come out in a minute, but wanted someone to apologise right away — and then he shoved me out of the door before I was even awake!”

Emma’s eyebrows shot up. “No way. You slept through that alarm?” 

Noah shrugs, a small smirk working its way up on his lips. “I could sleep through the apocalypse if I wanted to.”

Emma laughs, and finds herself surprised how genuine it was. She leans against the doorway and notices Noah’s eyes flicking down her body before looking away, his cheeks reddening. 

She realizes she is in her pajamas, consisting of her extremely short shorts and her orange oversized sweatshirt that says The Best Lawyer Sister that Kitty gave her. Emma is unable to stop the small grin growing on her face, and he coughs.

Noah cleared his throat in a desperate attempt to distract them both. "Anyway ... Sorry about the fire alarm," he says.

Emma nods and represses a yawn. "It's fine," she says. She rubs her eyes as a wave of exhaustion passes over her, washing away her anger and replacing it with the desire to sleep. "Just try not to do it again, okay?"

Noah nods. "Sure, no prob— " his reply is cut short by the opening of an apartment door. A big blonde boy emerges from the slightly smoky doorway and his eyes light up when he spots Noah. He bounded across the hallway, coming to a stop next to Noah. He must be the roommate, Emma assumes. 

She is a bit surprised, to be honest — the two were quite the contrasting pair to look at, and it wasn’t just physically-wise. The blonde was literally bouncing on his feet and looking incredibly awake while Noah stood still, looking bored and tired. 

Emma stifles another laugh — it is exactly the same expression she wears when Kitty was being too exuberant. 

"Hi! You must be Emma! We're your neighbours!" the blonde says happily, gesturing between Noah and himself. “I’m Owen, and this is my little buddy, Noah!” 

Another contrast. If Noah was like outer space: deep, dark, and endless; then Owen was like the sun — bright, light (metaphorically speaking), and a big ball of energy. Emma wasn't really sure how to deal with someone this energetic at two in the morning. 

"Er, hi," she says. She frowns slightly as a thought occurs to her. "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"We know Kitty," Owen says. “She’s your little sister, right?”

Emma blinks in surprise. “Yeah, but— how do you know her?" Emma racks her brain to remember if Kitty had ever mentioned the two guys standing opposite her.

"We're in the same photography class," Owen smiles, and a glimmer of remembrance filters through Emma’s memory of Kitty mentioning a boy in her class who was ridiculously nice. Emma could see where she was coming from.

She turns to Noah and he answers her unspoken question. “She’s just a friend of a friend to me. I can only deal with one extrovert at a time.” He rolls his eyes and Emma can’t help but giggle. Oh, she can definitely relate. 

Noah’s eyes glint with satisfaction when he hears her laugh and his gaze flicks to something behind her. "Speak of the devil," he says dryly, and Emma turns around to see her little sister walking towards them, rubbing her eyes.

"Did I hear that right? You guys set off the fire alarm?"

Owen beams, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I was just cooking a late night snack because I missed dinner, and as I was cooking, I realised I hadn't called my Izzy all day! So I thought, hey, the food will take a while, so I'll just call her now! And Izzy’s phone calls usually last hours, and I guess I forgot that I was cooking until the whole kitchen was on fire!”

Noah nudges Owen, somehow still looking deadpan while Kitty and Emma are enraptured by the story. “Go ahead and tell them the worst part, Big Guy.”

Owen's face twists, his mouth turning downward as his eyes turn watery. "And … I … burned the food! It’s gone! Ruined! Never to be eaten again …” Owen sinks to the floor and covers his face, sobbing quietly. 

The sisters stare at the cheerful blonde on his knees, not sure how to comfort him. Emma stares at Noah. This guy has just sent the most enthusiastic person Emma has ever met to tears in a few words, and he still looks unfazed as Kitty begins patting Owen’s shoulder sympathetically.

Clearly, he has a vicious streak when his sleep is interrupted. 

The lack of sleep must be messing with her mind, because Emma finds that extremely attractive.          

"Anyway, we’re sorry the alarm took so long to turn off," Noah tears his eyes away from the scene. "There was a lot of smoke, and we had to fan the air out of the window to try and clear it."

Emma shrugs, holding Noah’s dark gaze. "Like I said — don’t do it again, and we’re all good.”

For some reason, Noah seems to cringe. “Yeah … Well, I think I should warn you ahead of time, but Owen’s girlfriend, Izzy, is kind of …” he taps his finger against his lip thoughtfully, and Emma can’t even tell if the action is sarcastic or if he’s genuinely looking for the right word. “ … eccentric. Like, psycho-hose beast eccentric. We got kicked out of our last apartment we shared with her because of noise complaints, arson, and fire alarms at ungodly hours of the night.”

Emma stares at him, hoping that she conveys the sheer amount of disbelief in her gaze. “Tell me you’re being sarcastic.” She says — no, more like demands. 

Noah looks back, deadpan, but Emma can tell that he is genuinely sorry. She groans, banging her head on the doorway. God, if every other night was going to be like this, Emma might actually murder someone. 

Noah watches her with something not quite bemusement, but something else entirely. “Don’t worry, I keep her in line.”

Emma looks up from her head-banging, and he continues, flushing a little. “I make sure to watch out for Izzy and keep her from going too crazy. Need to make sure the best lawyer gets her beauty sleep.”

Emma ignores the way her heart jumps; that last part was definitely sarcasm, even though it didn’t feel like it. For some reason, Kitty and Owen have stopped whatever they were doing and are staring at Noah like they can’t believe their eyes. 

Kitty’s gaze in particular flick towards Emma, and she scrupulously avoids her eyes. Her sister knew her like the back of her hand, and Emma didn’t want Kitty to think … certain things. 

Emma is about to respond to Noah, but tiredness suddenly overwhelms her. She attempts to suppress a yawn, but couldn't quite prevent a sigh coming out. She presses her head against the doorframe, blinking rapidly to try and stay awake. 

She doesn’t realise that Noah is still watching her until his voice pulls her away from the slight daze she finds herself in.

"C’mon, Big Guy, it's time for bed. " The smaller boy nudges him with his elbow and nods towards Emma,whose dependency on the doorframe is becoming more obvious by the second.

"Oh, right. Sorry for keeping you two up!" Owen said earnestly. "Is there any way we can make it up to you?"

Emma is about to request "let me go to bed" as her response, but Kitty gets there first.

"Why don’t we hang out?"

Emma straightens up immediately, glancing at Kitty in surprise and warning. She knew she was busy, but Kitty’s eyes flick pointedly to Noah, then back at Emma. She winks slyly. 

The little brat was setting her up!

A blush formed on Noah and Emma’s cheeks, and Owen’s face split into a grin. "That would be awesome! We can go out to eat and hang out — all four of us!" 

Kitty crosses her arms, smiling. "You owe us dinner for waking us up at two in the morning for your dinner. I love a free meal, and Emma needs to get out more."

"Hey!"

"Am I wrong, Miss I’m-married-to-my-law-degree-book?"

" … No."

"Exactly. So, you guys game?" Kitty asks.

Noah’s eyes met Emma’s, and his cheeks reddened further. "Dinner... would be nice," he says, breaking eye contact with her. Owen nodded enthusiastically, grin unwavering.

"Awesome. We'll figure out the details tomorrow. I think Emma’s gonna pass out if she doesn't get in bed asap." Kitty says, pulling her sister out of the doorway and into the room. "See you guys round!"

She shuts the door as the boys say goodbye, and immediately turns around to give Emma the widest smile she’s ever seen.

"So ... you and Noah, huh?" she asks, smirking at the usually unflustered girl.

"Goodnight, Kitty," Emma says, waving as she turns her back on her sister and walks towards her room. 

"You're welcome!” Kitty calls to her retreating back. “And you owe me one!”

"For what?" Emma asks, confused.

Kitty winks. "Trust me when I say that you and Noah are going to get on reeeeally well," the younger girl says, before shutting her door. 

Emma shakes her head and goes into her room to curl up in her bed. As she tucks the duvet around herself, Emma realizes that the smile she wore around Noah hadn’t faded in the slightest as she fell into blissful unconsciousness.

Headcannons: Pokéguys with affection

I was in a Valentine's Day mood, alright? 💗

Ships: Poke, Contest, Ikari, Wish, Geekchic, Oldrival, Handyman, Fourthwheel hints

… and Brock

WARNING: LONG POST

Ash

— Ash is legitimately good at flirting — but the thing is, he doesn’t even know he’s flirting.

— He and Misty are walking through the Kanto snow all bundled up, and Ash notices Misty rubbing her hands together and shivering.

— “You cold, Mist?” Ash asks, and before she can respond he just. Takes her hand, locks their fingers together, and puts her hand in his pocket.

— Misty damn near has a heart attack, sputtering and turning bright red. Before she could say anything though, Ash continues on, holding her hand as they walk.

—He’ll also be complimenting her, saying “Wow, Misty, you look beautiful with your hair down!” or “Misty, you were incredible battling that Pokemon today!” 

— Misty feels like a little girl talking with her childhood crush (okay, maybe that comparison was a little too accurate …) so the only thing she can respond with are stuttering half-insults before fleeing in shame.

— Ash is a very physical person. Always has been, always will be. He’ll be slinging an arm around her shoulder, walking close so that their bodies bump, pull her into a side hug, even arm wrestling her. The touch is so casual, but it’s so often that Misty can’t help but psychoanalyze every interaction.

— Poor Pikachu has spent many nights with Misty’s face cuddled in his fur to hide her blush. He’s had his ear talked off with Misty’s ramblings of “—does he even know he’s flirting with me?! Is he even flirting?! He’s gotta know! Or am I just making it up all in my head again? Is this psychological warfare or something?!”

— Misty doesn’t know if Ash is flirting with her, if he even knows if he is, if he’s even aware of what he’s doing. Misty gets so flustered she becomes angry that she’s so flustered. She wants to beat him with her mallet for making her so embarrassed; another part doesn’t because she likes the Butterfree he puts in her stomach.

— Ash Ketchum is so impeccably smooth at flirting and pulling moves he isn’t even aware; he just thinks he’s being nice and friendly. He has a trail of hearts behind him after all his travels and he doesn’t even realize.

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure shock.

Drew

— Roses. It’s always roses with those two.

— When Drew would give roses to May ( *ahem* sorry, Beautifly) it was a mocking. The flowers were filled with taunts about how her Pokémon were carrying May to victory.

— Then as Drew starts noticing May, his roses become fleeting — everyone knows what red roses meant. How could Drew give out roses when he didn’t even know who he was really giving them to?

— Drew fell in love with May, and May fell in love with Drew, and there was a trail of roses between them like a timeline.

— When they date, they are the most lovey-dovey couple in the room. At first, all of their friends were happy that they got together, but soon they grow sick of the constant PDA

— Honestly, whenever Max walks into the room and see May and Drew in there, he just straight up walks right out. May gets so offended, but she quickly forgets her brother’s disgusted face when Drew pulls her in for a kiss

— May and Drew have started dating, and May finally drops the bomb about meeting her family. Drew instantly gets flashbacks of Max’s judgey looks, know-it-all expression, and suspicious eyes from Hoenn and almost regrets dating May.

— Apparently, May has been holding off the meeting for quite a while, but has finally conceded. Caroline is sweet and welcoming, swooning about May getting a boyfriend and gushing how handsome he is. Max is still as skeptical as ever, but has softened to the idea of Drew thanks to his traveling partner, Bonnie.

— And Norman … May left Drew and her dad in the same room for less than a minute, and when she came back Drew spent the rest of the time subtly hiding behind May

— When Drew asked May to marry him, he made it this big extravagant proposal. He led May on a scavenger hunt, each rose with a romantic letter on where to find him. When she finally found him, she had a dozen red roses and a ring on her finger on the beach of Slateport City.

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure jealousy

Paul

— Reggie is the first one to notice the way his brother is always touching Dawn. It’s so subtle, Dawn doesn’t realize it; Reggie doubts that even Paul realizes he’s doing it. But for someone who has been raising his younger brother all his life, it’s so obvious.

— Paul is usually adverse to physical touch, so seeing Dawn and Paul interact is like a slap to the face. His hand is barely touching her hip as he guides her to where they’re going. When they sit together their shoulders brush. He leans down to Dawn’s level to lowly talk in her ear. Not to mention the way Paul looks at her —

— Reggie honestly can’t believe his eyes when he sees them together for the first time. He can’t help but tell Maylene, and of course he confronts Paul with some teasing.

— Whenever someone asks about Dawn and Paul’s relationship, Reggie cheekily replies, “They’re an affectionate couple.” Paul always scowls darkly.

— Dawn had no idea until Maylene lets it slip. At first, she just stares and laughs, because the words Paul and affectionate don’t even belong in the same sentence.

— But then Dawn suddenly realizes: she is always the first one to initiate contact — through a held hand, a hug, or a kiss on the lips ...

— But Paul was always the one to let it linger. He never pulled his hand away, he would let her hug him (sometimes he would even lean into it), and he would even kiss her in private.

— Dawn was always the one who pulled away first: becoming embarrassed if someone would walk in on them or pulling away to look at a cute store.

— She immediately sets out to do an experiment of her own: to see how long Paul could deal with physical affection.

— One day Paul is laying on his couch doing whatever, and Dawn sees the perfect opportunity. She strolls over, stands over him, and just … clambers on top of him, resting her head on his chest and fitting her body snugly between his legs.

— He was effectively pinned down. Paul went stiff with surprise, and Dawn honestly expects him to push her away and mutter complaints under his breath as he stalks away.

— After a moment, Paul sighs and drapes his arm around her waist, going back to whatever he was doing. Dawn’s heart leaps, and her belly does a dozen backflips. She honestly can’t believe she’s getting away with this.

— But this was only half of the challenge. Now, Dawn had to wait and see how long he would tolerate her. So she settles down, closes her eyes, and falls asleep to the feeling of Paul’s warmth and even breathing.

— When she wakes up, hours have passed. Paul’s hand is still on her waist, she has drooled a little bit in his shirt, and he was undoubtedly uncomfortable from sitting for so long.

— Still, it is a testament on how much he truly likes her when he says nothing about his discomfort when she wakes.

— For some reason, he distinctly feels like he’s passed a test when Dawn sees that he’s still there and kisses him

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure disbelief

Cilan

— Chilli and Cress absolutely adore Iris. She’s sassy and blunt and determined, and a perfect fit for Cilan. Chilli loves going back and forth with Iris trading sarcastic quips and Cress appreciates her blunt honesty

— She’s practically a part of the family, inviting herself over to the gym and spending weekends there. Half the stuff at their place is practically her’s, and she shows absolutely no shame in that fact.

— When all of their friends know they’re dating, they are simultaneously surprised and not in the process. It’s just that Cilan and Iris are so different, one a sophisticated civilian and another a animalistic wild child. But they just fit together, so well that none of their friends can ever imagine seeing them with another person.

— When Ash hears that they’re dating, he is beaming. Because while he’s happy that all his friends found their significant other, none of them have gotten together with their traveling partner (except for Serena and Clemont, but that comes later)

— Ash feels like a proud matchmaker because he says Iris and Cilan would not have gotten together if it weren’t for him. Iris calls him a little kid.

— Cilan shows his love through words of appreciation, which never fails to embarrass Iris.

— Whenever his Dragon Master wins a battle, he showers her with praise for her and her Pokémon. It’s like his evaluation times, filled with so much fervor and passion.

— Iris always gets so embarrassed, especially if her friends and rivals are there teasing her, but she secretly likes the attention and the praise she gets from Cilan (he is her boyfriend, and a World-Class Pokémon Connoisseur)

— Sometimes when she gets particularly embarrassed, she just marches over to Cilan in the middle of the battle, yanks him down to her height, and kisses him hard to shut him up.

— It always works (Cilan turns bright red and dazed, and to Iris’s satisfaction, he always, always shuts his mouth afterwards) but they don’t know that Iris’s kisses inadvertently fuel Cilan to go on his rants.

— So in actuality, does it really work?

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure awe

Clemont

— Clemont has always admired Serena ever since their traveling days, but he would always push aside his feelings when he saw the way Serena looked at Ash.

— Back then, he had low confidence and even lower social skills. There was no way he can compare to Ash. So he pushed aside his feelings and focused on being her friend instead, supporting her and working to improve himself.

— It took a long time for Clemont to work up the courage to ask Serena out. She was trying to get over her crush on Ash, and they were both too busy focusing on their dreams

— One day, Serena went with Bonnie to cheer Clemont on in a super important Pokémon match. Clemont won, of course, and right before his final move Serena is struck.

— Clemont’s face was bright with electricity and his eyes were clear with confidence. Serena is struck, because she just realized Clemont wasn’t that geeky kid with low self-esteem and inventions that blew up anymore. Clemont was grown, and Serena feels like she is seeing him for the first time.

— It wasn’t just how he looked (Serena was mature enough to admit that Clemont looked … well, amazing during the battle), it was his confidence.

— It wasn’t the Ash type of confidence — bold, brash, and brave. It was the Clemont type of confidence — intellectual and sharp, confident in knowing he would win because Clemont was a lot of things, and no one could ever say he wasn’t smart.

— When Clemont wins, he immediately turns to Serena and Bonnie with a bright smile. Bonnie is beaming and bouncing on her feet, and Serena finds herself blushing with her heart pounding faster than the time she kissed Ash.

— Ever since then, Serena can’t get the stupid feelings out of her head. Her crush on Ash feels childish and far away compared to Clemont.

— Clemont is shy and awkward, but he is sweet and charming. Serena has always known this, but now it’s in a whole new light. She can’t help but notice all these little details about him, like the way his hands move when he talks, or the way he pushes up his glasses and the way his eyes light up.

— Whenever Clemont is working on an invention, Serena finds herself genuinely trying to listen and help. Whenever she stays over, she offers to help Clemont with the cooking.

— They go out to see the lights on top of Prism Tower, Serena teaches Clemont to properly dance, and they spend late nights in the gym just enjoying their companionship.

— At first, Clemont is frustratingly oblivious, blinking innocently and awkwardly laughing whenever they seem to have a romantic atmosphere lingering around them. Serena wouldn’t label it as Ash-Level-Oblivious, (because, frankly, nobody can ever be denser than Ash) because back when she had a crush on him, she was actively trying to hide it.

— Clemont, however, for all his bright intelligence and love knowledge (mostly stemming from Bonnie) can’t figure out for the life of him that Serena was flirting with him. She didn’t know how much more obvious she could get!

— (Just last week, Clemont’s father, Meyer, wouldn’t stop smirking knowingly and last month, Misty had thrown her a half sympathetic-pitying-understanding look when she and Ash came over to visit.)

— Clemont hasn’t noticed Serena’s flirting, but he has noticed that she’s been acting strange. With him, specifically. It’s almost as if she’s flirting with him, but obviously she isn’t because they are just friends.

— Clemont’s heart already skips beats whenever Serena dresses up, and he sometimes gets tongue-tied when she smiles at him, and his face feels very warm whenever she hold his hand but — they are just. friends.

— Clemont doesn’t want to give himself false hope and he already feels like he’s betraying Serena’s friendship with his stupid infatuation he’s had since they were kids.  

— (But still … still …)

— Clemont can’t help but compare what Serena is like now to when she had a crush on Ash. He can’t help but notice the longer hours she spends at the Lumiose Gym, even when Bonnie’s not here. He can’t help but notice the way she smiles at him, holding him close as she teaches him how to dance. He can’t help but notice how her eyes sparkle when she looks at him, shining brighter than they ever did when she looked at Ash.

— Bonnie is totally oblivious to the growing tension whenever Serena is over at the Lumiose Gym, or to the stolen moments the two seem to have that she unassumingly walks in on. Serena’s always been close to the family, and she and Clemont are friends.

— It’s Max, Señor Skeptical, Mr. “I hate romance, why focus on love when you can focus on Pokemon” Maple, that has to tell her what’s going on (seriously, he thought she was the love expert) and she flips out.

— She then immediately plots to get them together (mentally planning their wedding in the process) and drags Max along in the mix despite his protests

— She does everything she can to create romantic atmospheres for Clemont and Serena (Max told her that proposing to Serena for Clemont would only scare her off).

— Clemont and Bonnie argue over her schemes and Max is standing behind her, mentally trying to communicate with Clemont his utter sympathies.

— Finally, after a long uphill battle, Bonnie triumphs by embarrassing Clemont enough to make him ask her out.

— Clemont is red and stuttering through his whole proposal, and Serena, having figured out what he was planning on asking her a while ago, just decided to put him out of his misery and kiss him, blushing pink.

— Clemont is breathless and dazed afterwards. It was so cute, Serena finds her gut clenching hotly and her biting her lip to hide the enormous smile growing on her face. It was definitely worth it, waiting this long.

***

— Max and Bonnie are little ways behind them, and Bonnie throws her arms around Max in celebration

Gary

— Gary Oak has known Leaf Green since childhood. She had grown up with him and Ash. They were the trio of Pallet town. Gary spent days at his Grandpa’s lab with her and Ash and nights at Delia’s house for dinner.

— Ash and Gary were rivals, but him and Leaf were something else. Ever since they were kids they were always arguing, going back and forth with each other. 

— They go separate ways as their journeys take them on separate paths. Gary becomes a successful Pokemon researcher and Leaf has traveled all over the regions. 

— Years have passed when he runs into Leaf again by complete chance.

— At first he can’t believe his eyes. How on earth was this gorgeous woman the bratty girl he grew up with? It’s the same for Leaf. Gary has always been a know-it-all as a kid, but when did he grow into this handsome researcher? She had always brushed him off as that guy who cared more about his hair and girls.

— They catch up and it’s like no time has passed. They still bicker and argue about every little thing under the sun, but now Gary is finally able to label the tension between them.

— They get kicked out of the place they’re in, and when he gets home, he has the biggest, goofiest smile on his face that — quote Misty — “makes him look like an idiot” and Leaf’s number in his pocket.

— Professor Oak knows right away that his grandson has met Leaf, and tells him to invite her over to Pallet Town. Oak has always had a soft spot for Leaf; ever since they were kids he could see that she’s the only one for Gary.

— Before Leaf is suppose to come over, everyone can tell that Gary is nervous. He does his best to not show it, obviously, but he was surrounded by the people who knew him best. Gary keeps running his hands through his hair and the Pokémon are particularly skittish (Pokemon reflect their trainers, after all). Ash, Tracey, and Misty tease him relentlessly while Delia and Oak look on in amusement

— When Misty meets Leaf she instantly likes her: Leaf is strong and stubborn and determined. She is striking and vivacious, and the perfect match for Gary. She’s honestly the only one who could put up with him.

— Misty and Leaf get along great, and when they meet up they constantly make fun of their boyfriends. They are both fierce battlers, and often challenge each other to battles whenever they see each other just like Gary and Ash in their younger days.

— Gary and Leaf spend time together, exchanging snarky flirty comments with each other. They both like to drive each other wild with their teasing and their friends are crazy with the thought “oh god, will those two ever get together?” They’re both hot, and they know it. 

— Sometimes Gary gets pulled away with work, so Leaf joins him whenever he’s on a research dig. She brings warm coffee and offers insight to what he’s missing and fights back a smile whenever Gary geeks out about his findings (she finds it cute how his eyes light up when he rambles — even though she has no idea what he’s saying).

— Leaf absolutely wears the pants in the relationship, because there’s no way she’s letting Gary dominate their relationship. Gary is not willing to admit he’s whipped for Leaf but he is. And everyone can see it. Gary would ruthlessly make fun of everyone for their girlfriends wearing the pants in the relationship, but it’s the exact same with Leaf. He’ll be stubborn, pout, whine, and complain, but will ultimately do her bidding. Everyone is amused.

— Leaf likes the fact that Gary is smart, and is able to hold an intelligent conversation. Back when they were kids, he would go on these spiels of Pokemon facts and would rub the knowledge in her face. It made him very punchable. Now, Leaf can’t help but be immensely attracted to Gary whenever he goes on rants of his research findings. 

— With Gary, he likes how Leaf can keep up with him. Gary can never really get bored with her like he does with other girls because Leaf keeps him on his toes. Their banter keep him up for days on end, and her flirting makes him wild. Her strength and perseverance makes his heart jump in admiration. She makes him want to be better.

***

— Brock is a little ways behind them, watching with pure annoyance

Tracey

— Tracey met Daisy through Misty when she invited him to the Cerulean Gym, and the first time he saw the eldest Waterflower sister his heart skipped a beat

— He had only heard of Misty’s sisters through her long rants over the phone, so he had a (less than appealing) idea of who they were — even though he had tried his best to remain neutral

— But the first time he saw her, his fingers itched with the urge to sketch as he shook her hand. They didn’t say anything beyond greetings before Misty came in and dragged him away, he found he couldn’t stop thinking about her the whole visit

— He had to go back to Pallet Town eventually, and he finds himself drawing distracted sketches of Daisy when he’s supposed to take notes.

— He can’t help it. Usually when he’s struck with inspiration, he sketches it down instantly. With Daisy he didn’t get the time to do that, so it made sense why he couldn’t get her out of his head

— That’s what he told Gary anyway, when he caught him drawing a sketch of Daisy’s face. Gary merely shakes his head, calls him and idiot, and sends him packing for Cerulean City before he can even blink

— Tracey’s heart is beating unusually fast when he asks Daisy if he can sketch her, and a flattered, surprised, beautiful grin crosses her face (he immediately starts drawing it down)

— They spend a lot of time together, and Tracey finds out he can’t get enough of Daisy. They end up talking about everything under the sun, sharing secrets and sketches with each other.

— Tracey is fascinating and unlike anyone Daisy has ever dated. Daisy is much more that she appears, and Tracey wants to peel back every layer to see her true beauty

— (picture Jack and Rose from the Titanic. They definitely do the draw-me-like-one-of-your-French-girls when they start dating. )

— Tracey feels denser than Ash when he realizes that the feelings he associated with sketching Daisy were actually for Daisy herself.

— Tracey stays around Cerulean City for a while, using the excuse of checking out the water Pokemon and helping with the plumbing so Misty doesn’t get suspicious

— Misty is definitely suspicious of the way Tracey turns red whenever Daisy makes a flirtatious comment, or the way her sister seemed to brighten whenever she heard he was around or coming over

— It took her a while to corner Tracey and demanded answers, but he finally admitted to it. Misty instantly accepts him, but she makes a show of threatening him if he hurts his sister

— (all of her sisters boyfriend’s have to pass the “Misty Test”. Misty refuses to be around douchebags (minus Gary) and to have to deal with her sisters crying after a failed date or broken heart. The Misty Test has scared off multiple suitors, but her older sisters are ultimately grateful despite their complaining of not as much boys around the house because of Misty’s Gyrados)

— Daisy ends up asking him out because Tracey was too much of a coward. She laces their hands together, kisses his cheek, and tells him to pick her up at 5.

— Tracey ends up staying the night

***

— Gary is infinitely smug, and Professor Oak merely shakes his head with amusement

Brock

— Brock has been a sad, sad boy watching all his friends grow up and fall in love — and yet Brock can’t seem to find his special lady! He is a successful Pokemon doctor, a great breeder, a good cook, and shoots the best one-liners, if he does say so himself.

— Brock becomes so desperate he actually goes to the guys for help … and it goes exactly as expected. Ash is clueless, Paul says nothing, Drew is unhelpful, Clemont was shy, Tracy was nervous, Gary was Gary, and Cilan was just overall confusing.

— Then he goes to the girls for advice, and while their insight was helpful to an extent … that was it. He went to Misty, May, and Dawn, listening to their offhanded remarks on who liked Brock back (it was a pathetically short list) while wearing face masks and nail polish.

— Brock was about to resign himself to a lonely, loveless life of a bachelor before he came across an offer.

— Bonnie, satisfied that her brother has found a suitable wife in Serena, offers her help in the matchmaking business — and drags Max along with her.

— Arceus, it pains Brock to take orders from Max’s smug little mouth, but he finds equal petty retaliation by pointing out how easily Bonnie bends Max to her bidding

— It takes a while for them to get in sync with each other — Brock was chasing after every other girl and Bonnie was eager to help by doing the exact same thing. Max was the one with the only brain cell when it came to girls

— The trio bond through terrible rom-com movies for “research” — Brock chose the movies, Bonnie got the snacks, and Max would rather die than admit that he actually liked the dramas

— Between Bonnie’s sweet blue eyes, Brock’s cheesy (but romantic) lines, and Max’s intellect, the trio soon have this matchmaking thing down in the bag

— They find him a perfect match and send Brock in (“— just be yourself, cheesy one-liners come later —”) and it’s a huge success. Brock has swept her off her feet and he can hear Bonnie cheering from outside the Pokemon Center’s window

— Brock is right where he’s meant to be, glowing with happiness.

***

— He isn’t done yet, though. He still has to get Max back for all the ear-pulling he did back in Hoenn.

Skylor Chen Headcannons 

LONG POST

🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥

🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥 🧡🍜🔥

— Skylor has kept in touch with all of the Elemental Masters since Chen’s Island — and she actually gets along with them pretty well. They frequently come over to the restaurant to hang out, hold competitions, and scare customers. Skylor thinks that those days are the best days at the restaurant. She has all their numbers on speed dial.

— Ronin and Dareth come over to the restaurant all the time. Sometimes they help her with business, sometimes for the food. For Dareth, it’s the latter, but Ronin comes because she’s his second-favorite person after Nya. (He would never admit it)

— In a half-angsty half- comedic moment, Skylor and Lloyd created a BAD FAM group chat and added Vania and Benthomarr in the mix. They sincerely hope nobody else joins the chat

— Skylor is 100% able to mop the floor with Kai should she choose. Kai and Zane were on like a recon mission and Sky was training with the rest of the Ninja, kicking butt and taking names.

— It becomes this great secret they’re hiding from Kai (Zane knows through Pixal) and finally the day comes when Kai and Skylor are facing off.

— They’re trash talking flirting and Kai’s all cocky because he knows Sky’s a good fighter, but she’s mostly relied on her powers and it’s been a while since she’s actually fought.

— Kai is on his back in five seconds flat, half turned-on and stunned. The rest of the Ninja are laughing and Cole recorded the whole thing. (Wu’s lips twitch in a smile)

— When Skylor first stepped off the island, the first thing Kai did was take her on a road trip all over Ninjago. Nya got them a rented old car and they spent the whole time traveling the continent and busting crime rings.

— Skylor goes to get her tattoo covered/removed and ends up taking the whole team with her to get tattoos.

— She tells Kai she’s going to get a new tattoo to cover up the Anacondrai Mark (I’m tired of getting pulled over by the cops whenever I wear a tank top, Kai) and of course he goes for support and to get one of his own.

— Lloyd begs to go and get one of his own, and Nya overhears and wants to go to, then Jay and Cole want to join in too.

— So they all go to this tattoo parlor — Zane and Pixal go for support even though they can’t get a tattoo (they’re made of metal) — and get small ones that they can hide from Wu.

— Lloyd gets a green dragon, Cole gets a mountain, Jay and Nya get matching tattoos of lightning hitting waves, and Kai gets a flame.

— Skylor has different types of orange flowers trailing down her back in place of the Anacondrai Mark. Kai and Skylor have their tattoo’s match a little bit, because they’re saps.

— Besides Kai, Cole is the Ninja that most frequently visits Chen’s Noodlehouse. Skylor always gives him free meals, because she’s nice like that.

— Whenever she heads over to the Ninja’s for dinner, she and Zane work together and make the most mouth-watering food. Cole literally hovers in the kitchen watching the food until Zane kicks him out

— Skylor has never seen snow before, and Kai likes watching her when it’s snowing just to see the awe playing in her eyes.

— He frequently bargains with Zane to make it happen, because while the cold isn't his favorite weather, the shine in Skylor's eyes is. 

— They have snow fights and wrestle each other to the ground, and Kai adores winter Skylor because she acts all playful and childish. 

— They have their first kiss in the first snowfall of the season. Kai was so into the moment, surprised and flustered and weak-in-the-knees he slipped into an ice patch and fell over.

— When Nya and Skylor first meet it’s interesting.

— While the guys were on the island, they were spamming her with texts of FSM Kai likes a girl!!

— and, Nvm turns out they r related lol

— and, wait they’re not!!!

— and, FSM SHE’S CHEN’S DAUGHTER AND SHE KNOWS WHERE ZANE IS AND NOW WE’RE CAPTURED HELP NYA

— And the final text: Kai’s girlfriend is a snake.

— So Nya didn’t know exactly what to think of Skylor when she first met her, but she knew exactly what she was going to do.

— When she and Jay first got together Kai made the biggest death threats on what would happen if he broke her heart. Jay was so terrified that he refused to be in the same room as Nya for a week after they started dating.

— Nya waited the second Kai was out of the room before she gave Skylor the deadliest death glare she could manage and the most horrifying “you-break-his-heart-and-I’ll- break-your-neck” speech.

— Nya was surprised when Skylor looked extremely guilty after the speech, which made Nya feel extremely guilty once she got the background on what had happened besides Jay’s extremely vague texts.

— The two girls sat down and talked it out and actually became good friends after their therapy session

— Nya of course told Kai that she had given Skylor “The Talk” — to his extreme horror — but she left out all the sensitive details.

— Now, Nya works with the team to “subtly” drop hints about having Skylor as a sister-in-law

— Skylor and Jay teamed up once and got the group to go rollerblading — just to see Kai wobble on skates.

— The two are the best at skates (Pixal and Zane don’t count, they’re good at everything) and were racing each other on the track and pulling the fanciest tricks.

— Skylor and Jay regularly plan to have rollerblading days with the team. Jay has met his match on the rink, and Skylor is always happy to show him how it’s done.

— (She also likes having Kai cling to her when they skate, and she wants to see if he topples over when they kiss)

— You know when Kai gives Lloyd advice about romance? “You have to act cool, like you don’t even care.” Kai cannot take his own advice.

— Whenever he’s with Skylor he absolutely melts. His face gets all red, and his voice gets all soft and warm, and he has to touch her in some way, shape or form — whether its an arm slung around her shoulder, a hand holding hers, a kiss on the lips. He’s a total goner.

— And the advice for Jay asking Nya to be his Yang? “You have to have confidence.” When Kai finally asks Skylor to be his Yang, he is a nervous wreck.

— She still says yes, though

Onto the angst part of Skylor:

— Chen would often pit Clouse and Skylor against each other, taking glee in watching his second command and his daughter go at each other. It was like Garmadon and Clouse all over again, and Clouse makes sure to take out all his bitterness on her

— Skylor doesn’t really know who she is yet. Children are a combination of their parents, right? Well, Skylor’s dad was a psychopath who turn himself and his employees into mythical snakes at the cost of his daughter’s life.

— Skylor has no idea who her mother was. She has no memory of her. Did she bail early on when she found out who her father was? Or did she actually like her father? Was it some kind of forced marriage? Skylor doesn’t know, but the thought that both of her parents were evil keeps her up at night. 

— Skylor has a phobia of snakes after the fiasco with Chen. It doesn’t matter how big or small, Skylor becomes legitimately afraid of them after she turned into one herself. It frustrates her, because she grew up around the darn things, and also, they are what mainly attack Ninjago.

— (Sometimes, Skylor finds herself panicking for no reason because she feels like she’s slithering. Sometimes, she scratches her skin until it’s raw to get rid of the feeling of scales. Sometimes she dreams of her father and herself as purple snakes, laughing at the fools who tried to save Ninjago.)

— Skylor doesn’t ever want to be in the place where she lets her fear lead her into doing what she doesn’t want. Skylor never liked doing what her dad wanted, but her fear crippled her and she did whatever he wanted despite her own morals.

— Her father didn’t start out insane. He was always obsessed with power, but the insanity grew over time. Skylor watched the Staff of Elements twist every good thing about him, she is terrified that someday that will happen to her.

— The closest that will ever happen to her was when she took Garmadon’s power in season 9.

— She felt the poisoned power in her veins, felt her eyes glow purple, and while wrestling Garmadon for control she felt herself craving the destruction. There was a dark pleasure in the sheer power she possessed with the Colossi at her control.

— Skylor was only poisoned with Garmadon’s power because she wan’t an Oni — but she knew if she was, she would have been corrupted.

— When she had the power, something in her head said make the city hurt like you hurt. you lost so much and what has this city ever done for you?

— She was barely able to curb the destruction and aim it at Garmadon and his goons, but it was enough to make her skin crawl looking back.

— And that scares Skylor, because she doesn’t want to think that she’s capable of that amount of evil. Deep down, though, she knows she is.

— And with all of this, her first thought, her greatest fear, is hurting Kai and the Ninja.

— Before, when the Ninja were just getting to know Skylor, she was just … hard to read.

— She's spent her entire life putting up a front, playing a role, hiding her feelings. If she doesn't want to share something, she’ll put up this shield with such practiced ease it’s like breathing for her. It’s scary. The only person who’s really seen through it is … Kai.

— It goes the same for Kai as well. Whenever he get frustrated, reaches his boiling point, feels like he could light something on fire with just a careless lack of control … he heads for Skylor.

— She immediately senses something is wrong. Drops what she’s doing, and just … gives his this look. It isn’t prying like his family would do, it’s you can tell me what’s wrong, I’m here, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.

— It’s like magic because it makes his jaw unhinge and suddenly he’s talking to her. And after they dish out the big feelings, then Kai helps out around the restaurant to take his mind off things.

— Skylor never likes to talk about her life on the island before the Ninja came, because she doesn’t want them to look at her differently, to realize how many bad things she’s done.

— She was there when Zane and Pixal were dragged to the island. She watched them tear into Pixal like she wasn’t even alive, she stole Zane’s power when he was chained in a cramped little dungeon. She watched the sand stain red with blood and she watched Chen and Clouse punish followers with a snake beneath the island. She watched men get eaten whole for their disobedience, all without leaving her father’s side.

— Skylor has been hurt by people, and has hurt them in return. Over and over again. Somewhere along the way she gained a conscious. She’s betrayed even herself, when she allowed her dad to steal the Ninja’s powers. And she’s reminded of that every day because the guilt still lingers beneath her skin

Traitor Lloyrumi AU

Here is something to shed some light on the situation: Ninjago City was taken over. It was overrun by someone called the Quiet One, also known as Harumi. But she didn’t single-handedly take over Ninjago City. No, she had the help of someone else. Someone named Lloyd Garmadon. 

Tags: Toxic Relationships (it’s Harumi), Self Harm, Harm

Chapter inspired by Act Natural, by the-modern-typewriter on Patreon

Lloyd’s new purpose in life was to be entertaining. 

He was locked away in Harumi’s penthouse while she went to work . He was just supposed to be there — warming her bed, waiting for her to get home, cooking her meals, ect. 

It was like a sick version of playing house, with Lloyd as the lovesick husband waiting for his dear wife to get home. 

Lloyd would have preferred torture to this. He supposes this is why Harumi chose this to begin with. 

Here is something to shed some light on the situation: Ninjago City was taken over. It was overrun by someone called the Quiet One, also known as Harumi. But she didn’t single-handedly take over Ninjago City. No, she had the help of someone else. Someone named Lloyd Garmadon. 

Lloyd was a civilian in Ninjago City, but he was friends with the Ninja, the protectors of this city. They had raised him when they found him on the street, and had loved him as one of their own. He wasn’t an Elemental Master like them, so as soon as he was old enough he went on to lead a civilian life — go to school, get a job, ect. 

That was until Harumi came into his life. Looking back, Lloyd should have known that having such obvious connections to the Ninja would lead to trouble. Draw in the wrong types of people. 

The Quiet One was a dangerous figurehead in Ninjago City. They had a name, but Lloyd was finally able to put a face to it one dark night when Harumi slid into his life with dangerous eyes and silky threats. 

She used his fear. She made him her pawn, and used him to betray his family. With inside information from Lloyd, Harumi was able to hit them, hit the city, where it hurts. 

Because of Lloyd, Ninjago City was sent crumbling to its knees and the Ninja were left reeling. Nobody knew if they were dead or alive or if they had found refuge in another city. 

And Lloyd?

Harumi picked him up in the middle of the night, praised him, and then stole him away.

Harumi was away now, dealing with running her new city. Lloyd got out of the shower, steam curling the air as he dried himself on his towel and put on his clothes when — 

Hands seized him from behind, clamping over his mouth before he could yelp and slammed him to a wall.

“Easy, Lloyd. We’re here to rescue you. Easy.”

Lloyd froze. Blinking, stunned, Lloyd whipped around and faced one of the brothers’ he betrayed. 

Kai . 

He looked older than he did when he last saw him. Wearier, more tired, and he had a new scar under his eye that wasn't there before. Lloyd swallowed the lump in his throat. 

He did that. 

It was his fault that Kai was so worn, so battle-torn and rough. Lloyd had betrayed Kai and his family because he was too afraid, too cowardly. 

“What are you doing here?” Lloyd asked. It suddenly occurred to him that Harumi would be back soon, and if she saw Kai standing in their bedroom she would kill him. A sharp spike of fear shot through him. 

“Rescuing you,” Kai said. “You’re our friend, remember? We’re family.”

Another spike shot through him, but it wasn’t fear. It was pain, lancing through his entire being and stealing his breath away. 

“But I betrayed you,” Lloyd hissed. A sudden bout of anger hit him. Why was Kai risking his stupid life for a traitor like him? Lloyd had single-handedly destroyed the city that he and his friends so dearly loved just because he was afraid of dying at the hands of Harumi. Why didn’t Kai get it that he should hate him, that he didn’t deserve to be saved?

Something in Kai’s face shifted, pulling back a little bit to stare at Lloyd’s face. His eyes were soft as he reached forward and put his hand on Lloyd’s face, daringly. The only times Harumi did that was to see his reactions, to bask in every flavor of emotion flickering across his face. 

“We don’t blame you, Lloyd,” he said. 

His heart stopped. “What?” 

Kai put both hands to his face, staring Lloyd straight in the eyes so he could understand. “We don’t blame you. None of us do. You aren’t made to fight monsters like us, Lloyd, you aren’t trained like we are. You weren’t prepared when Harumi came after you, and that’s on us ; we’re your family, and we should have known that relations to us would have consequences. We — you shouldn't have gone through that alone.”

Lloyd blinked rapidly, tears stinging his angry eyes and falling unhindered. 

That had to be the kindest thing anyone had said to him in the months of Harumi’s care. All of Harumi’s kindness and honeyed words had an edge, but Lloyd could deal with that. This kind of kindness — Kai’s kindness — only made him feel unworthy of the sweetness after everything he’s done.

He flung himself at Kai, burying himself in the comforting embrace he had missed. “ I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do — she said she'd kill me all if I didn’t tell her — she said you died — ”

Kai soothed him, rubbing his back like he did when Lloyd was a kid and pulled away. “I know, it’s okay,” he said. “C’mon, we have to go before Harumi gets back. The others are waiting for you.” 

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Lloyd nodded, locking his emotions behind a steel wall. 

Then he followed Kai. 

***

When Kai and Lloyd made their way to the warehouse where everyone was camping out, the first thing he saw was his family. 

Nya, Zane, Jay, Cole, and PIXAL were standing in the dreary surroundings like beams of strength, all dressed in their Ninja gear. 

The minute Lloyd stepped into view, Nya put away her weapon and flung herself into his arms, burying her head into the crook of his neck. She didn’t say anything, but Lloyd could feel her trembling as she squeezed him so tight he hurt. 

Lloyd didn’t do anything but close his eyes and squeeze her back, but he still felt the sharp pain lace his heart as Nya pulled away and wiped her wet eyes. After pulling away Jay took her place, then Zane, then PIXAL, then Cole. 

After his family drew away did Lloyd wipe his tears, feeling more emotion than he had the past few months. 

“I’m sorry,” Lloyd mumbled out. It seemed like he would never be able to say those words enough and not stop the wave of guilt. 

Cole shook his head. “It’s not your fault Lloyd. Not entirely. We should have noticed. You were forced into this. You didn’t have a choice.” 

Lloyd swallowed the bile in his throat. He did have a choice though. He could have chosen to be more brave. He could have chosen to say no to Harumi’s lethal eyes. He could have — he could have — 

He must have seen the millions of thoughts dashing across his expression, because Cole shook his head, eased his grip off his shoulder.

“There’s no time to explain everything,” Cole said. “We don’t have long before The Quiet One gets back.”

Lloyd’s stomach twisted with unease; palms clammy with sweat at the thought. He couldn’t be sure, but he couldn’t help but think that things were going all too smoothly. Harumi was a cold leader, and a calculating strategist. She controlled the city, had eyes everywhere. 

“We had to make sure you were safe,” Jay said, hollow. “You were in the city, and we heard that she took you. We had to find a way into the city. So we studied her. Her strengths. Her weaknesses. And … that was you. Harumi — the Quiet One — she’s … obsessed with you.”

Lloyd swallowed, shifting his feet. He … didn’t know what to think with that. Sure, she was … she was … Harumi, but Lloyd didn’t really think she cared about him that much. There was some level of strong feeling, but Lloyd always thought that was just her being cruel. It didn’t mean anything, not really.

She had always coveted him, desired him for sure, but never as an equal, as an actual person. Harumi doted on him in the way one might treat a beloved pet or a favourite tool. 

Harumi pressed feathery kisses on him, ran lingering fingers over his body, and had always breathed that they were kindred spirits in his ear, but that wasn’t love . 

Right? 

PIXAL spoke up, snapping him from his thoughts. “You are the only thing, beyond her own power, that she seems to care about. That makes you the perfect bait. It might be our only chance to —”

The words cut out with a gasp. PIXAL’s green eyes flashed in the darkness and it took Lloyd a second too late to see what she saw. 

A knife was thrown, deadly and precise as it plunged in Jay’s shoulder. Jay screamed and went down, the sound chilling Lloyd to the bones as blood poured out the wound, turning the cement slippery and red. His blue gi stained dark as it seeped through the fabric. The knife thrown had pinned Jay’s shoulder straight to the ground.

“JAY!” Nya screamed and went to his side, breathing unsteadily as the blood pooled around her. 

“To what? Kill me?” Harumi’s echoey voice rang through the silence. 

She slithered from the shadows, one of her knives spinning in her hand with the utmost grace. Her white hair was the brightest thing in the warehouse, and the warpaint smeared under her eyes was the same shade of Jay’s blood. 

But she was different. Her face was twisted with rage, eyes blazing, looking nothing like the cool and calculating calm that Lloyd had grown used to seeing. Harumi was something wild and savage coiled up in a human shape.

She stalked forward like a wrathful shadow, bent on the destruction and blood of his friends. Her hands were trembling, shaking with fury, and she looked almost feral with the need to kill.

“Hardly. Not when you think it is possible to get away with taking what’s mine.”

Cold plunged through Lloyd. He was on their feet in an instant, heart lurching as he moved between his captor and his friends, arms wide.

Her eyes flicked to him. “And now,” Harumi said, “once again all of your friends will die. Slowly. Painfully. Because of you .”

Lloyd cringed. His breathing turned shallow. He became acutely aware of his friends behind him, desperate. Of Jay bleeding out, shaking. Of all the open spaces where Harumi’s men could take them out.

She lunged forward with bloody intent, knives swinging, but Lloyd moved quicker.

He snatched the blade hanging from Kai’s belt and pressed the sharp edge into his own throat. 

“STOP!”

Harumi froze.

Lloyd took the moment to survey his surroundings: half of his friends had drawn their weapons and the other half were crouching by Jay. He was bleeding, but the knife lodged in seemed to stop it from spilling all out. It was nowhere fatal, thank God — Harumi wanted them to suffer, to have their hearts carved out and leave their corpses soaked in blood. 

Lloyd has never felt so terrified in his life. Not when Harumi first rolled up to him in a limo with her sharp smile. Not when the reality of what he’s done for her came crashing down with the screams of his friends. Not in the moments where there was the quiet before the chaos; when Harumi would wind her arm around his neck, whisper that he was hers, and kiss him senseless. 

But amidst the terror, there was resolve. Lloyd had done a lot of bad things, but maybe this could make up for it. His fear was what led Harumi to manipulate him, his own cowardice leading to the demise of the city and his family. 

Lloyd wouldn’t stand aside and let the same thing happen this time. 

“Let them go,” Lloyd said. Harumi had never told him that she loved him, and he had always thought that her wayward affectionate behavior was just to be cruel, but… “Let them go right now , or I’ll slit my throat.”

But he had to try something.

Harumi’s fingers flexed, ready to pounce, but didn’t move. Her eyes were laser-focused on the dagger by his throat. Her men burst from the darkness, but she held up a hand, stopping them. 

“You wouldn’t,” Harumi hissed. She was furious, but if Lloyd didn’t know any better, he would say she looked almost desperate. Lloyd shifted the blade, and he swore he saw fear in her eyes. 

She lowered her voice, making it silky and velvety. Trying to conceal her obvious desperation. “You wouldn’t do it,” she continued softly. “After everything you’ve done? All that you did to save your own skin? You value your life too much to — ”

The knife sunk into Lloyd’s skin, and blood dripped down the stinging wound.

The silence following that seemed like the loudest thing in the warehouse. Harumi shut up, hands lowering. Her and Lloyd never took their eyes off each other, not trusting each other to not do anything. 

“Go,” Lloyd said. He didn’t allow his voice to shake. “Get out of here. Now.”

For a moment, nobody moved. Cole and Nya were crouched next to Jay, frozen. Zane, PIXAL, and Kai were stuck too, staring at Lloyd and Harumi. The Quiet One radiated more fury than Lloyd had ever seen. His fingers ached with how tightly he was gripping the dagger, but he didn’t dare loosen his grip. 

The silence smothered the building, the anticipation suffocating. They were all waiting for Harumi to let loose, to snap and order the guards to kill them all. 

 But she didn’t move. 

Harumi stood still, breathing deeply as her eyes fixed on Lloyd and his dagger. Nothing else really existed at all between them. Harumi wanted Lloyd alive. Lloyd wanted his friends to survive. Harumi wanted them dead and Lloyd would kill himself if she was the cause of their last breath being drawn. 

That left the two of them at a stalemate, at an equilibrium. A new battlefield stretched across the space between them. 

Finally, Lloyd heard the sounds of Nya and Cole hoisting Jay up and dragging him away. PIXAL went after them to scout and protect, but not before looking back with a regretful gaze. 

It hurt Lloyd more than he thought that he wasn’t able to get a final look at his family. This could be the last time ever he was going to see them, but Lloyd didn’t dare look away from Harumi, ready to slice his neck open if she so much as twitched. 

“Lloyd,” Kai sounded pained. Lloyd wanted to close his eyes. Of course, Kai wasn’t one to leave his family. He was willing to die for them. It was probably killing him that he would have to leave him. 

“It’s okay, Kai,” Lloyd said. “Go.” 

The lie burned his tongue and made his stomach roll. There was silence, then the shuffling of feet as Zane dragged Kai out the building to escape. 

Lloyd didn’t move the knife away from his neck. Harumi didn’t move any closer.  The two didn’t take their eyes off each other. 

Time dragged on, the minutes dripping by and the hours dangling between them.

Eventually, confirmation came that the Ninja had left the city limits. Proof came in the form of pictures.

Lloyd closed his eyes. 

Harumi was on him in an instant. Lloyd let her knock the blade aside, and felt the familiar indent of her fingers on his throat. She drove him back into the wall, eyes wild. 

Too many emotions were flickering by too fast: rage and fear and hate and something else. Something powerless. And it made Lloyd feel powerful. Smug, even, because never in his life had he seen Harumi lose so much control. Never seen her show so much as she wanted to show. 

And now Lloyd knew what his greatest weapon was: himself. 

“What are you going to do now?” Lloyd shoved her back, grinning a crazed thing. “Kill me?”

Harumi’s fists clenched, but she didn’t lunge at him again. She looked like she wanted to tear him limb from limb; she looked ready to shred the world and torch its ashes. Harumi lurked close — not as close as she usually was, but closer than an average person would. “Death is not nearly enough punishment for thinking you can walk away from me. You care for them? You’ll spend the rest of your life listening to them scream.”

“You know, it’s funny,” Lloyd began. “You always threaten everyone else. Never me. It’s almost like you don’t really want to hurt me.”

“You are absurd,” Harumi spat. “You really think I’d let you do away with yourself? That pleasure is reserved for me alone. I will kill you for what you’ve done today.”

“No you won’t,” he smiled. It was a cruel thing, but Lloyd didn’t care. After so long of feeling powerless, having power over someone like Harumi was addictive. “No you won’t. You know why?” 

Lloyd takes a step closer, and cups her face. Harumi’s eyes are blown wide as he gently tucks a lock of white hair behind her ear and leans down to whisper in it. 

“ Because you love me.” 

Harumi jerks, slamming her hands against his chest and reeling back. Too many emotions are flying across her face. Too many words were clogging her mouth, choking her. 

It suddenly occurred to Lloyd that their roles were switched; that Harumi was acting like Lloyd and Lloyd was acting like Harumi. Something in Lloyd twisted, but he didn’t care. 

Harumi was right when she called them kindred spirits. They were. And after so long, Lloyd wanted to make Harumi squirm, he wanted her to feel uncomfortable, exposed. Revealed. 

It was wrong, and sick, and some may even call it — him — evil, but Lloyd didn’t care. He was doing this for his family, his friends. Before he was too scared, but he wasn’t anymore. He was doing what Harumi had done to him — using the knifed tongue, and using it where it hurt. 

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Lloyd said. His voice had changed, growing lower. He didn’t know if the tone was mocking or genuinely soft. “I’m not yours , Harumi. Pawn I may be to you, but I was always theirs . I was the Ninja's first.”

Harumi’s voice shook, but was no less deadly. “Just because I won’t kill you doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you. It doesn’t mean I can’t make you wish you were dead.”

Lloyd laughed. “You think I don’t wish that? I do, with every second I spend with you, my monster.”

Harumi stopped breathing. Words seemed to leave her in an instant. She stared up at him with wide eyes, a hand to her chest. 

She didn’t look hurt, exactly.

For a long minute, they just stared at each other.

“We really do deserve each other, don’t we?” Harumi finally whispered. Her voice was tentative. She looked — sounded — so young. For the first time, Lloyd realized that they must be the same age. 

“You have no idea how cruel you are when you want to be. One of these days we might just kill each other.”

Lloyd’s heart seemed to break. 

“You first, Harumi.”

She closed her eyes at that, and Lloyd felt himself sagging. 

What had the two of them become? 

Lloyd opened his eyes and saw Harumi take his hand, locking their fingers together. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s head back.” 

Lloyd let her walk him back, into the car, until they reached Harumi’s penthouse, his prison. 

Was he seriously going to just walk back in there?

Lloyd came to a stop outside, still linked to Harumi’s hand. He stared up at the tower, then looked down at the girl, who was watching him. 

Then he kissed her. 

It was a sweet kiss, one that mimicked a lover kissing their beloved, and Harumi’s breath seized. She put her arms around his neck, drawing him close as he put one arm around her waist, tangling another in her hair. 

Lloyd wonders when he got so cruel.

As he kissed Harumi, Lloyd knew three things: 

The Ninja had escaped. They were free to try again, and everyone would know they had successfully infiltrated Ninjago City and survived. The people of the city would doubt.

Harumi was in love with him. Or at the very least, she cared about him. What she felt for him was mad, obsessive, toxic, crazy … love. It was wrong, but so were they. Lloyd and Harumi were kindred spirits, two sides of the same coin. They deserved each other. Harumi was in love with Lloyd, and she wasn’t about to let him go. 

Lloyd had and was more than he ever could have imagined. 

Madrigal Granchildren Timeline

Okay, so I recently grew obsessed with my timeline from my headcannons with my last Encanto post, and I wanted to pan it all out, name my oc’s and maybe flesh out the itty bitty backstories? Link for the headcannons down here.

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Headcannons for the Madrigal grandchildren couples

Author's Note: Everyone here is 15 or older LONG POST Isabela & female character Dolores & Mariano Luisa & male character Camilo & fema

Kidnapped Princess Coliel AU

Seliel is a princess of kingdom, and amongst the glamour and champagne of a party hosted at her palace, she meets a man named Cole that explodes with chemistry and mystery. Everyone said curiosity killed the cat, and by God, is she paying for that mistake. Being hungover is like a dream right now.

Tags: Kidnapping, Swearing, Mentions of Alcoholism, Tension (Hatred and/or Sexual)

Chapter inspired by, Blades That Sing (And Love That Burns), by Chimiiko

When Seliel wakes up, its like her head was full of stars and her mouth was filled with soft, fluffy cottonballs. Her brain was still blanketed by the confines of sleep, and she forces herself to swallow. Water would be nice, but for some reason her body hurt and she can’t really move her arms quite yet — they must still be asleep. 

Seliel wanted to fall back asleep into the comforting darkness behind her eyelids, but for some reason she stayed conscious. 

 Why was she so sore? And why were her arms not moving? Waking up has never felt so exhausting, even on her most strenuous days when she pushed her body to the limit when she trained. 

With a soft groan, Seliel opened her blue eyes, sight going hazy from being shut for so long. Then she stopped. Stiffened. 

Holy fuck. 

She’s been kidnapped. 

Seliel wasn’t in her comfortable room and in her bed. She wasn’t even passed out on a roof with bottles of alcohol and a hangover. 

No, she was in a cell. She was in a goddamn cell, stone-walled with no window in sight. She was strapped to a chair, and her arms were bound to the back of it while her ankles were tied to each leg. 

Her wrists ached from how tight the ropes were laced, and they screamed for help when Seliel tried to give an experimental tug. Whoever locked her up like this had clearly never tied up a human being before. 

Or they just simply didn’t care who she was. 

Memories resurfaced: there was a party, one of the big fancy ones with flutes of champagne and shaking hands with people who you pretended to know. Seliel was bored out of her mind and was looking for a way to escape when she saw him — Cole. 

He had intrigued her, and when they spoke he acted coy, charming, mysterious. Seliel hadn’t minded, she had always liked a good mystery, but there had been a delicious chemistry brewing between them, and Seliel had almost been hoping that her night would end better than she even anticipated. 

But then she had been whisked away, called to shake hands with people she could care less about. Cole was gone when she managed to escape, leaving nothing but a single note of where to find him the next day. 

Seliel violently strained her wrists against the scratchy material tying them behind her back. The pain does nothing to overshadow memories of what happened that next day: breaking out of the palace to find him, spending hours searching for him the next morning, and then — 

Fuck. 

Cole — that fucking asshole, Cole — and hers’ little escapade . She had found him, and then they were kissing, wildly and desperately, as Seliel’s hands traveled up his shirt and Cole pressed her in the wall. Thoughts of Cole’s body, Cole’s lips, leaving a mark against her throat and his quiet whisper of I’m sorry before his arms came crushing down her throat rushed in so fast Seliel felt like she’s gotten whiplash. 

Fuck. Fuck! 

All because she wanted to get laid, she was in this fucked up situation.

Without even realizing it, Seliel’s breathing had gotten ragged. She closed her eyes to try and calm down, but the darkness only made it easier to picture the way Cole had kissed down her neck one second then squeezed the life out of it the next. 

Her blood boiled. No doubt wherever she’s tied up is that jerk’s fault too. Seliel sucks a deep breath, trying to control her breathing into a more regular pace. 

She wouldn’t escape anything if she was panicking. She needed to get a grip or else she would fucking die here — wherever here was, anyway. Control and negotiations weren’t really her strong suit — she preferred to have her fists flying and her temper loose — but she need to play smart seeing as she was at a serious disadvantage here. 

Maybe — 

Her thoughts cut off when the metal door began screaming as it opened. Seliel’s heart stopped; she hated to admit it, but she was scared of what was about to come out of the door.  

She wasn’t ready. 

Shit. 

She should pretend to still be asleep, to see if the person said anything useful, but it’s already too late. Footsteps echoed, then —

“Oh, good. You’re awake.” 

That voice. 

Seliel’s lip curls. Adrenaline swiftly returns to her body as memories and emotions burst under her skin tenfold. 

“Cole.” She spat out the name like it was something vile. As soon as she speaks, the person in question steps into view. Unfortunately, he is still as annoyingly attractive as she recalled — but now that image is splattered with burning rage and hate; even the worried frown on Cole’s face as Seliel nearly tugs her arm out of its socket can’t change that. 

“Seliel, stop, you’re going to hurt yourself.” He steps forward worriedly, but pauses to peer at the ropes threatening to cut into her skin. His eyes grow dark. 

When he speaks again it was almost to himself. “Those idiot guards, I told them to treat you respectfully — ” 

“Why do you care?” Seliel sneered, and the suddenness of the question startles him. Seliel’s struggling made her breathing irregular again, and gulping down so much dry air only succeeded in fanning the fire in her throat. 

“You have —” Seliel coughed. “ — absolutely no right to say anything about me being disrespected.” Every angry emotion she’s ever felt is nothing compared to this; if she wasn’t strapped to a chair right now, Seliel would already have her fists flying. 

Over the past twenty-four hours she’s been betrayed, taken from her home, tied up like a dog, and has felt more powerless and weak than she has in her entire life. How dare Cole just stand there and talk about disrespect when he was the one who struck the first blow and where to hurt?

“You might have forgotten, so I’ll fucking remind you: you were the one who disrespected me first, Cole. You were the one who betrayed me, kidnapped me, tied me down like an animal in the middle of God-knows-where, and you think you have the right to tell people how I should be treated? If you’re the one giving orders here, I should be lucky I haven’t gotten my throat slit!” 

Seliel’s voice had risen into a shriek by the end of her rant, her screaming ringing through the air like a crack of lightning. Cole actually flinches back, stumbling around for a response, an excuse. 

Seliel sees his face and wants to scream and punch. Everything hurts, and her heart aches for reasons she doesn’t want to know, and the pain she feels fuels her anger beyond reason. Seliel’s eyes sting, but she grits her teeth. She’d never forgive herself if she started crying right now. 

“What? Can’t think of anything to say? How about, ‘I’m a lying, spineless coward who likes to takes advantage of people for fun’?” Seliel sneers cruelly.

“Watch your mouth,” Cole snapped. The demand carries the strength of somebody with years of experience in handling power. His own anger visibly flared at the words, and he shoots Seliel a sharpened look. “I have my reasons, and if you’d give me a chance to explain —” 

An incredulous scoff bursts from her mouth, and if Seliel was a smarter person, she would have just shut up and listened to the warning in Cole’s tone. But she wasn’t smart, and she never was good at listening. 

She was hurt and pissed off beyond belief, and she wanted Cole to feel that rage, that infuriating self-loathing that boiled under the skin and made nails dig into palms until they bled. To scream and scream until the throat was raw and realize that no one heard the whole time.

She wanted Cole to feel what she felt, and she would ruin all of her chances of escape just to see that.

“If you seriously think that I’m gonna believe a word you say to me then you’re not half as smart as you think you are.” Seliel spat. Her ferocity manifested itself in the form of words since action isn’t an option. She had a wicked tongue and an even more wicked temper, and if Seliel was going down she was damn sure she was going to drag Cole along with her. 

Cole bristles, and Seliel can feel the tension rising in the stone room. Nothing can escape here, not her or the emotions or Cole’s actions. There is enough intensity to send electricity flying in all directions. 

“I didn’t want to do any of this to you, Seliel, but I had to. I had no choice.” He looks a little desperate when he says that, but with all the emotion clouding the air Seliel can’t tell if it’s actual desperation or just an excuse. 

If it is an excuse, it’s a pretty shitty one. 

“And maybe you should be a little more cautious about meeting strange men in alleyways.” Cole adds defensively, and oh , what a shitty excuse. 

“Oh, fuck you , Cole.” 

“Yeah, well, yesterday it was ‘fuck me, Cole,’ so you better make up your damn mind.” 

Seliel’s jaw hung open. She can see that Cole regrets his words the moment they leave his mouth, but right now, Seliel could give less of a shit about Cole’s feelings. 

“How dare you,” Seliel hissed, and the venom in her tone is enough to make Cole flinch as she lunges forward. “Say that shit to me when I’m not tied up, and you’ll regret the day you were born.” 

“Seliel, please —” 

Cole cut himself off, looking like he wanted to reach out to her and withdraw in himself. His hands are clenched into tight fists at his sides. He looks exhausted, Seliel suddenly realized — he had dark circles under his eyes, and the way he was standing is different than the night of the gala; he’s curled in on himself, almost as if he’s afraid. 

Seliel shouldn’t notice these things, because they were making her anger swell down and leaving her with bone-deep exhaustion, and an ocean of hurt she isn’t ready to dive into. She just wants Cole to leave, to let her stew alone in regret, to wish that he really was just this man that drew her in like a moth to the flame, no ulterior motives. 

But she does, and when Seliel speaks next, it lacks the venom and hatred she was going for and leaves her voice empty and hollow. 

“Just screw off, Cole. Go stab some other naive girl in the back — I think I’ve had my fair share for today, thanks.” 

Cole’s expression splits in several different directions, and for a moment he looks absolutely crushed .  

But then he straightens, looks away from the defeated Seliel, and walks back towards the door. 

The door screams and creaks as it opens and closes, and the heavy clink as the lock sets echoes in her chest. Seliel is pretty sure that’s where her heart is. 

Seliel keeps quiet, making sure Cole is really gone as her own ragged breathing fills the space he was in. 

Then she cries. 

Lifeguard Kailor AU

All Skylor Chen wanted was to relax at the pool so that she could catch a break from babysitting eleven children and to work on her tan. Unfortunately, the hot lifeguard and the meddling sister can’t give her that, can they?

Tags: Oblivious Skylor, Embarrassed/Flustered/Horny Kai, Sassy & Sadistic Little Sister Nya, Elemental Master kiddies, Sexual Tension, Minor Swearing.

Chapter inspired by Here I Go Again, by HeckinaHandbasket

So maybe this wasn’t exactly where Skylor Chen saw her life at the age of twenty.

Driving a minivan full of children all day, wrangling snacks and sunscreen and a first aid kit whenever the little kids managed to scrape their knees on the playground.

Skylor was supposed to be rich right now. The owner of the most successful restaurant in Ninjago by now. After she turned in her jerk of a father to the police at the age eighteen, she was supposed to take over his business as an heiress to a noodle empire. Which, as it were, a cover up for his criminal empire. 

So that, of course, meant that there was a total amount of zero customers willing to walk into Chen’s Noodlehouse, despite having the most delicious noodles in all of Ninjago. And being sold by his daughter of all things. 

It sucked , because Skylor had found herself broke, almost homeless, and with no one to turn to. It was a shame too, because Skylor thought she was a pretty good cook herself. 

But back then, Skylor was fresh out of options on what to do and was beginning to see the appeal of becoming a criminal just like her pitiful excuse of a father. 

But, before she could do something stupid, she posted a flyer. Skylor Chen’s nanny service was supposed to have been a temporary gig. Something quick and easy to do for cash while she tried to figure out what to do after her dad and the fall of her noodle empire.

She hadn’t expected it to have taken off like this. To turn into a career .

Now, Skylor spent sunup to sundown chasing around eleven eight year olds.

And the worst part was, she actually kind of liked it.

“Alright, brats, time to load up,” Skylor announced as she pulled up to the public pool. She parked the car and immediately the children poured out, Ash, Shade, Chamile, and Tox all shoving each other. They were more rowdy ones amongst the kids, always arguing and wrestling with each other. Gravis, Bolobo and Neuro exited more calmly, thankfully not banging the other cars with the doors. 

Skylor popped open the trunk, and the children each grabbed their respective bags and high-tailed it to the pool, Griffin Turner in the lead. “Look both ways!” She cried helplessly as Griffin did no such thing and raced inside. 

Skylor sighed and grabbed her own pack filled with snacks and sunscreen. She turned to the remaining three kids, Pale, Karloff and Jacob Pevsner. “You guys aren’t going inside?” She asked sweetly. 

“We wanted to wait for you,” Jacob turned his blind eyes upon her, and Skylor’s stupid, soft heart melted. 

“Really?” She asked. “That’s so sweet, thank you.” She slung her bag on her shoulders and took Jacob and Karloff’s hands, walking towards the pool as Pale trotted behind them. 

They joined the rest of the children inside, where they were impatiently waiting as Skylor signed them in.  

She paid for their pool membership out of her nannying fees. She didn’t make a spectacular amount — just enough to scrape by, and a little more for fun — but it was worth it, because...

The gates leading to the sparkling blue pool opened, and with a fierce cry of triumph, Skylor’s kids charged out onto the pool deck like a small army.

Now, they had something to do that wasn’t nagging Skylor, were guaranteed to be tired afterward, and Skylor got to work on her tan. So …

It was worth the money.

So, so worth it. 

Nya, the girl working at the desk today, seemed unusually alert, perking up and dropping her phone the moment Skylor walked in. Now, she leaned on the counter right in front of her, chin propped on her hand, lowering her sunglasses to look her up and down.

Skylor froze, thrown off by the attention. Usually, Nya or Jay would work the counter and made it a point to ignore her when she signed in. They had a good thing going, of pretending the other didn’t exist. It was nice. She liked it.

But lately, the two seemed to actually be looking at her, with the same smug grin whenever she walking in with her usual bikini and sarong. Like they knew something she didn’t. Like a cat dangling a mouse by the tail, slow, savoring, and with entirely evil intentions. 

This was unprecedented and unnerving.

She shifted under her gaze, giving her a cautious glance.

“Yes?”

Nya took this as her cue to jump into conversation like it was something they did every day. She pulled off her sunglasses and began to twirl a lock of black hair thoughtfully, still examining Skylor like a bug under a glass.

“I mean, I get it. With the kids and the face, and all the, you know,” she gestured at Skylor’s entire person dismissively, “You’re pretty. Sweet, funny, motherly. You got the perfect combo going on. It’s not my thing, but I can see why some guys might go gaga over it.”

Skylor stared at her blankly, completely lost. Was Nya trying to compliment, or criticize her? Out loud, for once, since she got the impression that she was always kind of criticizing her and everyone else around her?

She looked back up at her, eyebrows lifted in question. “What?”

It was almost like she wasn’t there, because Nya kept on talking. She would have assumed that she was talking to herself if she hadn’t been studying Skylor like a particularly fascinating slide under a microscope.

“But, I mean, the level of obsession is baffling . I’ve never seen anyone become a goner so quickly. It’s like you cast a freaking spell on him or something. What did you do? Is it just, like, magic or is there a trick to it? Because, let me tell you, if you could bottle and sell what you did to him, you’d be rich as hell.”

Skylor shook her head, trying to edge her way to the gate where the kids were waiting. She had absolutely no idea what Nya was talking about. Skylor would know for a fact if she had enchanted some guy, seeing as she had been seriously lacking in that department ever since it had been revealed that she was the daughter of a criminal.

Skylor wondered if the sun had somehow fried Nya’s brains even though she was indoors. Sure, some smoking hot guy was following her around with his eyes as she was run ragged by a group of little kids and drove them around in her mom van.  

Skylor snorted at the thought and Nya speared her with a direct gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The younger girl slanted a significant look at her.

“Oh, don’t you, though?”

“No? I don’t?”

Nya stared at her for a solid five second, before something like realization dawned on her. She gasped, hand to her chest as a delighted — slightly worrying — smile crept across her lips.

“Oh. Oh, my god. You really don’t know? Oh, that’s hysterical. Oh my god, thank you! Just wait till the guys hear about this! You’ve just made my day. My whole week. This is amazing, thank you. I’m going to use this against him forever.”

Skylor cocked her head at her, shifting uneasily as Nya began cackling.

“Are you okay?”

Nya rounded the counter to guide Skylor into the pool, following her through. She had a freakishly giddy grin on her face, and as Skylor tried to make her way to the kids faster, she shot a shark grin at the person sitting in the lifeguard chair, watching them with no small amount of horror.

“I’m great! Listen, Skylor, right?”

“Yeah … ”

Nya was practically bouncing alongside her, effervescent with delight. “Well, Skylor, I’m leading a calisthenics class here at the pool, just two mornings a week. I really think you should join.”

Oh. Well, that explained it. 

It was a sales pitch.

Skylor sighed, giving a gentle refusal with a shrug. 

“Oh, I can’t, my kids.” She nodded to the children, who had set up camp in the shade right next to the lifeguard chair. Neuro, bless his little soul, was trying to be responsible and spray sunscreen on Ash. Ash said something that was too far for Skylor to hear, but whatever it was made Neuro spray the little boy in the face indignantly. 

Nya gave a dismissive wave of her hand, like Skylor having to do her job was a minor inconvenience.

“That’s okay. Here, come with me.”

Taking her hand like they were best friends, Nya practically skipped to the concession stand and took out a handful of popsicles. She made her way back to the kids, rousing cheers from them. 

She held them aloft like she was trying to keep a litter of puppies from jumping for a treat, which was … not inaccurate .

“Alright, listen up, kids. Sit here and behave for ten minutes, and I’ll get you another round of popsicles, okay? I need to borrow your nanny for a bit. Very important.”

All eleven kids, who Skylor could barely control on a good day, sat down in unison, wide eyes fixed on the popsicles as they agreed. 

It was eerie, actually. Like a hive mind. 

Nya distributed the popsicles, but before she could say anything to Skylor, a shrill whistle pierced the air. The two girls turned to look as a tall, tan male began climbing down the lifeguard chair and made his way to them.

Skylor’s gut clenched hotly. 

Oh. Oh crap. It was Kai Smith. 

He was the one thing at this pool that she both despised and loved, and for some stupid reason, she kept coming back. 

He wasn’t a new lifeguard to the pool, he was the lifeguard supervisor . Because of course he was, that prick. And for some reason, he seemed to have it out for Skylor and her kids. 

She couldn’t deny, her kids were total hellions and ate brattiness and attitude for breakfast, but that was no reason to be singling them out when there was an entire pool filled with brats. Skylor had once watched one kid sprint into the pool to do a dive while Kai had blown his whistle at Pale for some invisible offense. All while never taking his eyes off Skylor’s. 

It was infuriating. 

It was bullying. 

Skylor had bought the pool membership so that she could relax and the kids could have fun . 

But Kai?

Kai murdered fun. 

With. His. Whistle. 

God, what she wouldn’t give to see him choke on it. 

“Oh, hey, bro,” Nya called cheerfully. 

Right. And he was also Nya’s older brother. 

Kai came to a stop in front of them, arms crossed over his tanned chest, muscles bunching. Skylor swallowed. Nya smirked. 

“ What are you doing?” He growled out. “Get back to your station.” 

“Sorry, dude, I’m on break,” Nya responded easily. “I was just catching up with my friend Skylor, here.” Nya patted her on the back with a challenging look at Kai while Skylor jerked. 

Friend? 

“I saw you take the popsicles and give it to the demon squad,” Kai glanced at said demons before fixing his eyes on Skylor. “Are you paying for them?”

Skylor felt her skin heat and flush as Kai ran his shaded eyes down every inch of her body. Oh god. She couldn’t even see his eyes and they were already doing things to her. 

“No, I’m paying for them.” Nya’s voice broke her out of her thoughts, and Kai and Skylor both snapped their eyes away from each other. Nya watched the two, amusement dancing in her eyes. 

Skylor shook her head, recalling what Nya said. “What? You can’t pay for them,” she frowned. “It’s one dollar per popcicle, and I have eleven kids. And you promised you’d give them another round when they’re done. That’s twenty-two dollars.” 

Normally, Skylor would be happy to freeload off another human being, but being in front of Kai made her feel funny. Like she wanted to try and be an actively good person, not brush it off or act indifferent whenever someone brought up how much she was like her father. 

Plus, this was Kai’s sister here. 

Nya waved her off. “It’s okay, I’d be happy to,” she said. Then she stared at Kai and that shark grin made a reappearance. “In fact, I’d be happy to get you one too. How do you feel about red?” 

Kai made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. 

“I like red,” Skylor said. 

“Great,” Nya grinned. “It’s Kai’s favorite color.” 

Skylor felt heat rise to her cheeks. She had noticed. Kai looked good in red. Red bottoms to be exact. Red bottoms without a shirt and water droplets trailing down his abs if she wanted to be really specific. 

Kai’s face was turning red, Skylor absently noted. His face was all flushed, and she might have written it off as the heat if it hadn’t been for the absolutely murderous look he was throwing his sister. 

Nya kept beaming, tossing Kai a wink and a smile. “I would get back to your lifeguard duties, bro. Don’t want any brats drowning on your watch, do you?” 

Kai grumbled something under is breath as he turned and stomped his way back to the chair. Nya shook her head fondly. “God, he’s like a toddler,” she sighed. “I love poking fun at him; especially when it’s with things he cares about.” 

Before Skylor could wrap her head around that particular statement, Nya turned and beamed. “Now, don’t think I forgot about you! We still have our lesson!” 

“Lesson?” Skylor repeated dumbly. When had she ever agreed to a lesson?

“First, sunscreen. Don’t want you getting burned.” Nya grabbed the spray bottle and spun her around, spritzing her with the stuff so she was practically glistening against the sun. 

“Good,” Nya smiled and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the other side of the pool so they were directly across from Kai’s chair. Skylor stole a glance over her shoulder to see Kai’s attention focused on another family. 

Nya tossed a look at her brother as well, a pleased smile on her lips that glinted ominously in the sun. “Yeah, here is perfect.”

She grabbed Skylor unceremoniously by the hips, putting her back to the pool. “Okay, so you stand here.”

Skylor pried her hands off her hips, already regretting going along with whatever this was. 

“Uh, Nya, I don’t think — ”

Nya’s hands moved to snag the hem of her sarong, untying it and tossing it to the side. 

“And you need to lose the skirt for sure.”

Skylor sputtered and Nya grinned, assessing her stance. “Perfect! Now, we need to see how flexible you are.”

Skylor shrugged. She’d never tried calisthenics before, but she used to do yoga back when she had more free time. Those were the days, weren’t they? Before she started hauling around little hellions and did their every bidding.  

“I’m pretty flexible, I guess. I like to do yoga, sometimes.”

Nya beamed, clapping excitedly and bouncing on her feet. “Great idea! That’s perfect. We can use that.”

Use that? 

“What?”

With a snap of her fingers, Nya pointed imperiously to the ground.

“Okay, first, touch your toes.”

Even though she was confused Skylor bent over, folding in half with effortless grace. Nya’s eyes widened with surprise before she grinned. It wasn’t at Skylor, exactly, but only indirectly at her — like she was grinning at someone right over her shoulder.

“Oh, cool, you’re actually flexible. That’s great! Okay, now spread your legs apart and grab your ankles. Really push into the stretch.”

Kai started to blow his whistle as completely and obnoxiously as Kai could, before it abruptly stopped. The shrill, extended whistling died a sudden and complete death as Skylor pushed into the stretch. Just, cut off completely the second her fingers wrapped around her ankles.

Skylor peered out between her legs to see Kai half-standing from his seat, whistle falling from his lips and gazing across the pool at them rather than the running kid.

He looked like someone had just hit him over the head, opened-mouthed and dazed as he gawked over at them.

Weird.

Nya let out an amused snort and began leading Skylor through more exercises, making her stretch her body to the fullest. The sun beating down on her was making her skin gleam with sweat, and Skylor was happy that Nya remembered the sunscreen. For some reason, Nya kept on giggling uncontrollably, letting out snorts and full-on cackles which seemed to coincide with her glancing over Skylor’s shoulder every couple minutes.

Skylor followed Nya’s instructions to the letter, actually enjoying the stretch. She didn’t get a lot of time for yoga anymore. Maybe she should sign up for the class. 

They had barely finished in time before the popsicles ran out, the kids starting to protest loudly. Skylor stopped her stretches, grabbed her sarong and hurried over to them, hoping to shush them before Kai used his cursed whistle. Nya walked away and returned with more popcicles, this time with one for Skylor. 

“So, what do you think? Want to to join the class?”

Skylor eyed Nya while handing out the popcicles to the kids. “You’re really insistent on this, huh?”

Nya smiled sunnily. “Yeah! I think it’s good for you, and you can use it as some down time from the kids. Your’re pretty flexible already, so it would be nice to see what else you can do.” 

“I’ll see if I can fit it into my schedule,” Skylor promised. It wasn’t an exact yes, but it wasn’t a firm no either, so Nya took it as it was and nodded. 

“Awesome, I hope to see you there. Popcicle?” Nya held out the frozen treat, and who was Skylor to deny a free offering? Skylor unwrapped the popcicle to see it was, indeed, cherry red. She ran her tongue along the bottom, placing it in her mouth and sucking delicately, before she heard a choking sound. 

She turned, concerned to see if it was one of her kids, but found they were all looking up at the lifeguard chair. She followed their gazes, watching Nya’s smile turn full-on maniacal, to see Kai. 

His face was flaming , more red than his swim trunks, and he was practically hacking up a lung as he hit his chest. He was holding something in his fist, and looking closer, Skylor could see it was his —

“Oh my God,” Nya sounded impressed and entirely too gleeful. “Did you just choke on your whistle?”  

Kai wheezed, coughing and looking furious at himself as he tried to catch his breath. Nya burst into laughter, and Skylor couldn’t help but feel a little bit amused. She had been fantasizing about Kai choking on his whistle since the day they met.

And other things, too, to be honest — but that was irrelevant. 

Kai cleared his throat, managing to regain his breath while somehow managing to look like a sexy tomato. Skylor was low-key jealous on how he — and the Smith siblings in general — managed to keep this air of unaffected coolness even when they were in this ninety-degree weather and Skylor was sweating bullets. 

The whistle fell between Kai’s perfect pecs, and Kai ran a hand through his stupidly sexy — or was it sexily stupid? — hair. He had taken off his sunglasses, so Skylor got to see his gorgeous eyes meet her own without the interruption of tinted plastic. 

So maybe Skylor had a tiny crush on him. Sue her. Despite him being smoking hot, Kai had literally seen her being run ragged by the kids and her mom van whenever she pulled up to the lot. 

No way Kai would notice her like that when there plenty of other women who came by the pool to ogle at the hot lifeguard. 

Plus, Kai could be a real ass when he wanted to be. And with Skylor and the kids? The annoyance was enough to overwhelm her unfortunate attraction to him. Most days, anyway. 

“Are you okay?” Skylor asked, because unfortunately, around Kai she actually became a concerned human to people who weren’t her kids. 

“Yeah, I’m — I’m fine,” Kai’s voice was a little breathy, a little raspy from inhaling his whistle. He was still blushing red from all the coughing. He shook his head, smouldering eyes wandering over every inch of Skylor until she tingled . 

His eyes focused on the dripping popcicle in her hand and he swallowed. 

“Uh, Nya, I’m gonna have to go — to the bathroom. Right now. Cover for me?”

Nya’s eyes looked innocent, but her smile was anything but. “How long will you be? Break’s almost up, I gotta get back to my station, remember?” 

Kai growled, looking murderous as he met his sister’s cool, amused gaze with his blazing one. They seemed to have an almost telepathic conversation, before Nya nodded with sly smirk. Kai practically jumped off the chair, still holding his red life raft as he stormed to the bathrooms. 

Skylor shifted awkwardly, not knowing what to do with that . The kids seemed to have enough common sense to keep their mouths shut, watching the whole exchange with wide eyes. 

“ … Thanks for the lessons?” Skylor offered hesitantly. 

Nya smirked.  “No, thank you . Just keep doing what you’re doing, Sky, and I promise you that the rewards with be great for all three of us.” She winked, pointed finger guns at her, and paired that with a smirk.

What.

“That was amazing. Good luck with him — you’re gonna need it.”

Then she just climbed up the chair and blew her whistle at a kid on the other side of the pool.

Skylor turned in a full circle and faced the kids, sheer confusion on her face.

What the hell just happened?

What Went Wrong

Gwen and Duncan get together, and leave Courtney to deal with the aftermath. She wonders were it went wrong, what was wrong with her ex-friend and boyfriend.  … she wonders if she was in the wrong.

“No matter how much you love something, an inability to accept their differences and faults can lead to bitterness and cruelty, and prideful attempts to change them can lead to their own destruction.” 

It was easy to blame someone else for your own shortcomings. Your own refusal to grow past whatever was holding you back. Your loss.

□ ● □ ● □ ● □ ● □ ● □ ● □ ● □

Season 2

"Ew. Duncan, stop it."  

"Why so uptight, hot stuff? What happened to that crazy chick who helped me raid the camp kitchen?" 

"Ugh, I'm over this stupid show. I lost the competition, my pathetic lawyer lost my lawsuit, and now I just want to go home, study for my LSAT's, and work my class president campaign." 

"Wow, hello downer. Come on, relax, it's almost over. I thought you'd be happy " 

"I AM HAPPY!" 

*static*

"You know you mean the world to me, but I-I can't let you hold me back. Sorry!" 

"Wait! You're leaving me here?! But I-I just wrestled an alligator for us!" 

"I know! But opportunities like this don't just fall out of trees!" 

   *static*

"Courtney wrote me a thirty-two page letter outlining all my faults and how to correct them if we're ever going to have a serious relationship. All of which she expects me to memorize. I think I would have preferred a night of alien probing." 

   *static*

"Don't worry, I forgive you… just like I forgave the other three hundred and sixteen minor transgressions I outlined in my letter. But, I expect you to memorize that letter so it doesn't happen again." 

   *static*

"After all, what’s more important — winning some stupid challenge … or making me happy?" 

   *static*

"Hey, I like Courtney, I really do, but I also like a million big ones. Best case scenario, I win the money and the girl. But if it comes down to it, I need the money more than I need some high-matinence chick with a superiority complex. Ha!  

… don't tell her I said that, okay?" 

   *static*

"What?! Duncan voted for me?!" 

   *static*

"Court's popularity is in the toilet. I can't have her dragging me down. But the real reason… a thirty-two page letter?! And people call me psycho!" 

   *static*

Season 3

"Well, if you just listened to me — !"  

"Oh, I'll start listening the minute you say something worthwhile." 

"You're insane, you know that?" 

"And you … are a monster!" 

   *static*

"You know what? NO! No, no, no, no, no, no! Three hours of these two squawking on this stupid pyramid in this stupid heat — and you want me to sing?! FORGET IT!" 

"Dude, you have a contract —" 

"Eat it, McLean! If you need me, I'll be in the plane waiting for a ride home — cause I'm out! Done! I QUIT!"  

   *static*

" — And how could you think it was okay to just … leave like that! Because it was not! Ugh! Abandon me again, and it will not be pretty. Now, get over here you big lug! I'm not really mad, I just missed you."  

"Every time I ran from the cops, I thought of you." 

   *static*

"WHAT?! How could you?! I thought we were friend-ish!? I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!!!” 

   *static*

"Well, at least I broke up with Duncan on my terms. It was totally empowering. At least I still have my … pride …"  

   *static*

"Okay, let's hear it." 

"Hear?" 

"Your apology." 

"For?" 

"For what?! For Gwen!" 

"For who?" 

"FOR! GWEN! 

Ugh!" 

   *static*

"I need immunity — especially around Alejandro — but sticking it to Courtney feels so right! And that can't be wrong."  

   *static*

"I declare my husband to be an insensitive jerk, who thinks his piercings make him cool when really, they divert attention away from his lack of personality."  

"And I declare wifey here to be a stuck-up windbag. I also declare, she could use some mouthwash!"  

   *static*

"I want a divorce!" 

"Oh really? Cause I want to stay married to your sunshine-y self forever!" 

   *static*

“Smiling? Whistling? This is the happiest I’ve ever seen you!” 

“What can I say? It’s like all of my problems were shoved out of a plane.” 

   *static*

I dug my nails into the palm of my hand as I thumbed through the channels of the TV. 

Every stupid news host was talking about Total Drama, commenting on the seasons, talking about the new ship: Gwuncan. 

As if they had nothing better to talk about but the utter disgrace of myself on international television.  

Every channel was about me, about Gwen, about Duncan . Every interaction, every confessional, aired and analyzed by fans and reporters to look back and wonder where it all started for the new couple. Where it had ended for the old couple.  

What had happened? What had happened?  

What made Duncan cheat on me? What was wrong with him to not see that I only wanted the best for him? 

Was it the list? 

I only made the list for Duncan for him to fix out his flaws! No person would ever hire a guy with a green mohawk for a respectable career. And with his callus and brutish attitude no one would ever want him. 

Couldn’t he see that I … 

What did Gwen have that I didn’t?

“Why don’t we just … let things happen. No pressure, no planning, no pookums. ’Kay?”  

“See? That there is why I like you.”  

I slapped myself, reeling back at the memories. Duncan never looked at me like that, even in our best moments. Gwen’s hands laid on his chest like I once did, telling him things that I would never do and he agreed — 

I slapped my other cheek harder, until it stung. I wouldn’t break down, I wouldn’t. Hate and anger was better than hurt and grief, and I had already shown enough of those things on Total Drama. 

I had to be perfect, I had to be better, I had to be the best , because if I couldn’t, what would I amount to?

Just a spoiled uptight princess whose boyfriend cheated on her? A washed-up reality tv star who didn’t even win any contest? 

I didn’t even win anything and yet I lost everything. The competition, the money, my pride, my dignity, my image, my friend, my boyfriend … 

I flipped the channel again, and the tv played Duncan and Gwen sharing a kiss after my ex had thrown a shoe at me. 

Gwen.  

How can Gwen sit there and kiss my boyfriend without ever feeling an ounce of guilt? Didn’t she have any shame? Any dignity? Any self-respect to see what she was doing was wrong? 

I thought she was my friend. I thought I was her friend, but at the most opportune moment she went behind my back and kissed him in the confessional. 

I thought … 

I thought I meant more to her than that. 

I thought I meant more to both of them than that, I thought darkly as I flipped another channel to see the forsaken kiss playing on the screen. I glowered at the tv as Duncan grabbed her burnt hand and pulled her into a kiss. 

Duncan was a bad boy and I was the good girl — the princess, as he was so fond of calling me. I knew it wouldn’t last, but in some small, illogical corner of my brain I thought it would. I thought our feelings for each other would be strong enough, I thought that I could make us last. 

“Love does funny things to us,” I sighed happily and walked away, oblivious to the turmoil Gwen was feeling.  

“Yeah … love is hysterical,” I heard her mutter before slapping herself.  

I loved him. I really did. Everything I did on Total Drama Action was for his best interest.  

I wrote that letter so that he could correct his flaws and become better, for me and himself. I wrote all those corrections to make him better. 

How could I not see that everything I did would lead up to this? 

Every glare, every argument, every dirty look, every confessional, led up to this. 

He wasn’t even sorry, in the end. 

I thought … 

Back then, when I demanded his apology through the freezing cold, I thought we could get over this. I thought through enough begging and apologies to take him back, Duncan and I could get over this. Brush it off like any other argument and get back to the way things were. 

But he didn’t even care. He didn’t even want me back. He was happy that I was tossed off the plane like a piece of garbage! 

I really thought he loved me back. 

I shook my head, rubbing my eyes from the bright screen and standing up. I walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, not even recognizing the young woman staring back. 

My hair was a mess, not perfectly combed like usual. I was in my pajamas, and my face was flushed and blotchy instead of smooth tan. The worst was my eyes, puffy and smeared with mascara and red with unshed tears. 

The young woman in the mirror looked like a messy collage of restrained hurt and anger and sadness. She didn’t look like Courtney, prim and perfect and driven to be nothing but the best. 

What had happened? Was the question I asked before. Looking straight into the mirror, Duncan and Gwen were the farthest from my mind as the answer stared right back. 

It was me.

I jerked back, and began slapping myself, again and again to rid myself of that twisted thought.  It was me.     Slap! It wasn’t me! How could it be me?! I was a C.I.T.! I did nothing wrong, nothing was wrong until Duncan cheated on me! Nothing was wrong until Gwen kissed my boyfriend!

      Nothing.

   Slap.

   Was.

   Slap.

   Wrong.  

   Slap.

I stopped, palms tingling and face hot as wet tears smeared across my stinging cheeks. My blood was boiling, burning, just as it had when Gwen stayed on the plane the night in Greece. 

Something twisted, dark and bitter and ugly, as I gripped the porcelain sink and stared at my reflection. Every fiber of my being trembled with the urge to ruin, and the seeds of sour hate had already grown and constricted around my heart the moment I found out Duncan and Gwen kissed.   

I would show them. I would redeem myself. I would be there to win, and nothing, no one would stop me. 

No feelings, no trust, no friendships. …

Courtney wonders where she went wrong. 

Probably when she signed her life over to that stupid show in the first place.

All the ways Zoey says "I Love You."

"Multiples just means there's more Mike to love!"

Zoey loves Mike, even though ... he isn't always Mike. But that's okay, because she loves the different people who live in his mind just as much.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mike — Touch

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when, because it had crept up on me — Mike had crept up on me — and the love I had for him left me breathless. 

It hit me one day when Mike and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie that I didn’t really know when I fell in love with Mike.

I never forgot that moment on Total Drama, when Mike had held my hand, my heart beating faster than a hummingbird as he looked at me with his beseeching eyes as he told me the truth about him and his alters, about how he really liked me and how he didn’t want to lose me. 

I held his hand, my eyes soft and understanding as he told me somethings he’s never really told anyone before. I think what really shocked him was how I understood. I didn’t look confused or freaked out, I didn’t tell him to back off or slap him. 

I had merely laughed at how silly the situation was, because I really, really liked him and he really, really liked me and I had leaned into him telling him how much I loved oddballs. 

Maybe that’s why I fell for him, because he was so different. 

Mike was one of a kind. 

I love him. 

I’d do anything for Mike; as long as he’s here with me, as long as I can hold his hand and smile back at him, I’d go to the ends of the earth for Mike, and he’d do the same for me. 

I turned to look at Mike, who’s shoulder I’ve been using as a pillow during our movie and he turned to look at me with that cute grin of his. I smiled back, my thoughts slowing as our faces moved closer and closer, until our foreheads were touching. 

It was quick, only a short moment where I leaned over and pressed my lips against his, but it felt like all the love just rushed through my body in a single flash. I sighed against his lips, trying to emulate everything I felt through touch alone.

“I love you.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Chester — Acts of Service

I won’t lie — Chester was hard to talk to. 

Chester only came out when Mike was frustrated, so usually meant the old man would complain about whatever circumstances and groan about today’s youth whenever I would talk to him. 

However, I was determined to get through to the old man and actually get him to enjoy himself.  

“Are you having fun, Chester?” I asked as I struggled to secure a wriggling worm to my fishing pole. 

“Eh, fun is for the youth.” Chester swatted his hand irritably. “Back in my day, it was either work and survive or shrivel up and die. We didn’t have any time for this “fun” nonsense ‘cause we were always working so hard. You lazy youngsters are havin’ fun all the time ‘cause you ain’t workin’ as hard!”

I cringed, not sure how to respond to that, before I decided on optimism. “Well, you never know, you might have fun fishing! This was my grandfather’s favorite hobby when I was a kid.”

“And where’s your grandfather now? You dump him in an old folk’s home?” 

I went quiet, staring at the hook and worm in my hands. “No. He— he died. When I was a kid.”

Chester, fortunately, seemed to somber at that, making no more complaints as he dropped his line into the water and let it sink. 

“Sorry.” I shook myself out of the memories of my lonely childhood. “I didn’t mean to bring down the mood. I just … miss him.” Looking at Chester, I smiled. “You know, I think if he was still alive, you and him would be good friends.” 

“Friends?” A spark seemed to light in old Chester’s eye, before he quickly extinguished it with a grumpy scowl. “Meh, I don’t have any friends. Those silly things are for young whippersnappers just like yourself.” 

“I don’t know, anybody can be friends with anybody. I, for one, would like to be friends with you.” 

Chester stared at me with his one eye, not quite glaring and not quite scowling, before he turned away with a huff. I bit my tongue trying to keep away the hurt. It’s just one day, I reminded myself. It’s only been one day. You’ll get through to him. 

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I saw a tug on the fishing pole. “Chester! You have a bite!” I gasped. 

Chester began reeling in his line, and for a minute I thought I saw something like excitement in his eye.

It went on like this for months. 

I would take Chester out and would try to help him enjoy himself and have fun, even if all he did was complain. I would always help him out, even if he was suspicious of my niceness. 

It took a lot of perseverance and patience on my part to get him to open up to me. Every act of service I would do for him was regarded with suspicion, and every smile was met with a glare. 

But slowly, Chester stopped grumbling and seemed to appreciate what I would do. Granted, he would still grumble and complain, but whenever I would offer him help or a way to have fun, he seemed to make less of an ordeal than before. 

One day Chester came up to me when I was laying on my couch reading a book, hand gripping the wooden cane I bought him and scowled at me.

“Yes, Chester?” I asked primly, closing the book. “Do you need anything?” 

Chester had glared at me, and in his usually wheezy voice, told me that there was a ventriloquist performance in town and he wanted to go, where I would then tell him about myself and my grandfather — but if there were any youngsters and their “rock and roll nonsense” there I could forget about it. He told me that he would absolutely not have fun and that we were definitely not friends. 

I was smiling the whole time, even though the puppet was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen and that it told the most corniest jokes in the most horrible voice I’d ever heard. I was smiling the whole time because Chester was laughing the whole time, having fun. 

It was like a turning point in Chester’s and I’s relationship. The empty gap I felt since my grandfather died was always a bit fuller whenever I was with Chester. 

The old man seemed to appreciate the effort I would put into every act of service I did for him, saying that it was good that “a young whippersnapper such as myself was respecting my elders”.

I leaned down to hug the old man with a smile, feeling myself glow with happiness. “I love you, Chester.”

Chester seemed to stiffen, at the contact or what I said, I didn’t know. “Eh, you ain’t too bad — for a youngster.” Chester grumbled, but couldn’t help the smile from growing on his grumpy face.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Svetlana — Receiving Gifts

Svetlana was — by far — one of the easiest alters to get along with. 

She was so bright and cheery, enthusiastic and fun it was impossible to not like her. The first time Svetlana and I hung out I was surprised how easily we clicked. Apparently, she had always wanted to meet me, seeing how happy I made Mike. 

I grew up as a lonely child, so Svetlana was like a breath of fresh air, the girl friend I always wanted. 

We hung out all the time, watching those sappy romantic movies that make the guys gag, we went shopping — but the thing we did together most was gymnastics. 

I’ll admit that the first time Svetlana saw me climbing the trees in my backyard, I purposefully showed off; doing more flips than nessacary as Svetlana stared in awe. 

“Vhere did you learn something like that?” She’d gasped as I climbed down the tree. I shrugged, trying to keep the blush off my face. 

“Just something I picked up,” I waved nonchalantly. “I was always a bit of a wild child growing up.”

“Oh, you must try gymnastics!” Svetlana gushed, and of course I said yes because I was an absolute people’s pleaser; and if I knew Svetlana, she wouldn’t stop asking until I said yes. 

Besides, how hard could gymnastics be?

“Ah, hah … Svetlana … can we please take a break?”  I panted days later, drenched with sweat. “My legs are about to fall off.” 

“Rest after success!” Svetlana declared cheerfully, looking as perfect and polished as she did before practice started. “Now, complete zhe triple point axle!” 

I groaned, nearly folding into myself as my knees weakened at the thought. Svetlana was a brutal coach, having me perform all kinds of complicated flips even though she insisted they were “beginner”. 

Yeah, right. 

Sighing, I got into position and took a running leap — only to fail miserably as I twisted wrong and promptly faceplanted in front of my coach. 

“Hmmm … perhaps you can use a little break.”

I merely groaned, wallowing in my misery as I heard Svetlana leave, then return a moment later. 

Something cold touched my shoulder, and I turned to see Svetlana holding out a water bottle with a kind smile. “You are not so bad, for an amateur.” She said. “Svetlana is sorry if she has been … overzealous. None of the others has shown an interest in gymnastics.”

I smiled and unscrewed the bottle. “It’s okay. It must be hard to be the only girl in a brain full of five guys.”

Svetlana scoffed. “Oh, you ‘ave no idea.” With that, she launched into a full on rant with me listening patiently, our lesson forgotten. 

Months later, Mike told me Svetlana had a big competition coming up — only the best of the best would be there. And she wanted me to come. 

Svetlana won the whole thing and got a perfect score. As the cheers rang out, Svetlana flounced over to me, practically glowing from her victory as I flung my arms around my friend, clutching the flowers I was going to gift her. 

I laughed, beaming. “I love you, Svetlana!”

The words slipped out before I even realized it, but Svetlana didn’t seem to mind as she seemed to press me tighter into the hug.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vito — Words of Affirmation

Out of all the personalities in Mike’s head — besides Mal — I got along with Vito the least.

It was just … he was just so …

Vito didn’t get a lot of time out of Mike’s head, so he was sure to make it count.

When Vito came outside, he wanted to do what he wanted. He wanted to live, to meet people, to experience as much as he could before the shirt was pulled on once more and he had to be crammed into one head with multiple personalities.

I’ve tried to talk to Vito, I really have, but most of the time he would treat me like a pest he couldn’t get rid of. Every time I try to talk to him he just ends up hurting my feelings somehow. He’ll tell me I’m not that pretty or that I’m annoying him, and sometimes I would have to storm off to stop myself from punching him in the face. Honestly, the only reason why he didn't have a missing tooth by now was because he had Mike's face.

And for a while I thought that was all we were going to be. A jerk to me, and a nuisance to him. 

Until …

Vito stormed into the room I was in, looking ticked off with a dark look in his eyes. I looked up from the book I was reading on the couch.

“Vito, what’s wrong?” I asked, trying to keep the right amount of concern in my voice. Too much and he would tell me to back off and shove my pity somewhere else. Too little and he would think I didn’t care. 

“Nothin,’' he shrugged. “What could possibly be wrong when you’re this sexy?” As if to prove his point, he started to flex his muscles in a way that was … admittedly distracting, yes, but I refused to be swayed. 

“Vito …” 

“I don’t need ya pity, Red,” He told me casually — and yes, there it is. How can it be that he’s so good at reading me like I’m with him, but we still don’t get along?

“It’s not pity, I’m just worried about you.” I said, closing the book I was reading to give him my full attention. “Can’t I be worried about you?”

Vito glowered at me, looking at me with a mixture of annoyance and mistrust, before turning away. 

Thinking quickly, I said, “You know, we’re not too far from the beach. Do you want to go swimming and work on your tan?” 

That seemed to catch his interest a little. “I could go for some rays. But don’t ya think this makes us all buddy buddy or anything!”

“Of course not,” I stood up and patted his shoulder. “I’m going to go grab the surfboards. Can you start the car?” 

I walked away to hear Vito’s surprised exclamation of knowing I could surf and smirked.

From that day forward, Vito and I became friends … sort of. 

He would still get on my nerves like no other but … I think we reached an understanding, one can say. He made me competitive, wanting to prove myself and him wrong. We went back and forth when we conversed, but not in a bad way, but in a fun way. 

But for some reason, there was still this underlying tension between us, one that would make my stomach knot for no good reason. It confused me, and I could tell Vito could feel it too. 

The way he would flirt and flaunt in front of women when I was right there, the way he was always obsessing over his self-proclaimed “hotness”. For some reason it bugged me to no end, just like it did back on Total Drama when Vito was with Anne Maria. 

But I didn’t want to dig into it. Vito and I were finally getting along, and I didn’t want to complicate things and make us go back to the way things were. 

“So, how come you’re with a dorkus like Mike when ya can be with someone much more attractive, like me?” Vito asked one day as he drove us to the beach. Vito kept insisting that I needed to work on my tan even after I repeatedly told him that “I don’t tan, I burn.”

Vito smirked and did an eyebrow wiggle that made me snort into my hand. “You share the same body, genius.” I roll my eyes and giggle. “Besides, I’m more of a substance-over-style type of girl.”

“A dying breed.” 

“Maybe, but one that does not fail.”

“The Vito can’t be held down by any broad,” he boasted.

“That’s because you haven’t met the right one yet.” I countered.

Vito seemed to pause at that, and I fell quiet. Right. How could Vito ever meet a girl when Vito wasn’t even out? It would be hard to find a girl and settle down if you weren’t even in control of your own body half of the time. Would Vito ever find his girl? Did he even want a girl?

I remembered that first day Vito and I hung out, he had quietly told me how he had gone to see Anne Maria, and that they had gotten into a huge fight because she thought he was choosing me over her. She wouldn’t listen — or couldn’t understand — that he was Vito, not Mike.

I turned to look at him and felt my stomach clench. Vito … 

He would need someone to understand him, to know when he was sad or angry. Someone who could keep up with him, someone who wasn’t afraid to call him out, someone who knew —

I stopped cold. Someone like me.

When I told Vito “I love you,” it was quick and quiet, slipping out between my breath as we slammed the car doors shut. It’s noise should have drowned the words out, but I knew he still heard from the way he stopped.

Vito went quiet and still, and that freaked me out like no other because Vito was never those two things. He was cocky and obnoxious, always instigating conflicts and preening over his looks in his loud Italian accent. 

He was always moving, whether it was to flex for the ladies or to slick his hair back or to mess with his golden necklace and to tap out the beats of music that would thrum through the car.

I instantly slapped a hand over my mouth the moment those words escaped, berating myself for possibly saying the stupidest thing of my life in front of Vito …

… when he did something unexpected.

Slowly, Vito reached over, cupped my face, and kissed me. 

It was thrilling, warm and soft with a hint of spice. Vito was a master at kissing, from his warm lip-only kisses to his more heated tongue-centric kisses. He was good, leading me with such skill that I found myself giving back as much as I received.

Vito pulled back, gauging my reaction with his dark eyes as I stared back, vulnerable and lightheaded from the kiss. An unavoidable blush rose to my cheeks.  

My mouth worked, opening and closing as I tried to find my voice. “... you just kissed me.”

“You just said you loved me.” Vito challenged back. 

Touché, I thought. 

I contemplated what just happened in my still-fuzzy head, weighing my decisions before finally settling on one.

Face still flushed, I asked, “If I said I loved you again, would you kiss me again?”

In response, Vito pulled me closer and my heart flew out of my chest.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manitoba — Quality Time

One of the things that enraptured me first about Manitoba Smith was his thirst for adventure. He spoke of stories that … normally wouldn’t make sense, given that he was an alter in Mike’s brain, but still spoke of dangerous adventures and freedom and wilderness that I wanted to experience. 

Manitoba offered to take me one. 

“Remind me why I agreed to this again?” I gasped as Manitoba and I hiked up the steep side of the mountain. My legs felt like they were about to collapse with every step I took and my breath had left me miles back. 

“Come on now, Sheila, we’re almost there. You were the one who wanted to go on an adventure with me, remember? Not that I blame you, of course. Manitoba Smith is the best adventurer of this century.”

I looked up to see the said Australian holding out his hand, smiling. Gratefully, I took his hand and he hoisted me up. “There we go.”

“I don’t know how you do this every day,” I huffed. “This is exhausting.”

“Now, now. I have years of experience with exploring, and you’re just a beginner. Only time has bearing on a man’s skill, should he be one or one hundred.”

“Or woman.” I added. 

Manitoba only smirked crookedly and we continued climbing in peace, while I looked back on the memories. 

This wasn’t the first time Manitoba and I had gone on one of his adventures. It had happened a while ago, when I had offhandedly blurted out how I wanted to go on one of his adventures. I was more than suprised when he agreed to take me. 

That was months ago, and since then, Manitoba and I had gone on multiple travels together. He had been kind enough to show me the ropes, even though it was through multiple flirting attempts. 

It was nice though, I mused as we reached the destination point, to spend time with Manitoba. There was a lot more to him than met the eye, and on every trip we made I was uncovering more treasured pieces of him that made up the whole. 

We finished setting up camp and both sat on the edge of mountain, precariously dangling our feet over open air. We were both quiet, just enjoying the moment and the quality time together when suddenly—

“Why do you make it so hard for me to flirt with you?” Manitoba asked. 

“Well, if I made it easy then you wouldn’t flirt with me at all,” I replied without thinking. There was a beat of silence, and it quickly dawned on me what I said. With a flash of horror and embarrassment, I whipped my head towards Manitoba to see his surprised gaze reflecting my own. 

For once, Manitoba Smith was at a loss of words. 

I smacked a hand over my mouth, turning away. “I shouldn’t have said that aloud.” I mumbled, almost to myself. “Sorry, forget I said anything.” 

Before I could fully close off from him, Manitoba grabbed my chin and gently guided it back so I could meet his eyes. 

“Where do you think you’re going, sweetheart?” He chided. “Don’t pull away.” 

I puffed my cheek out, annoyed and embarrassed. Manitoba merely grinned, cocky and bright-eyed as he took in my reaction. 

“So, does this mean you like it when I flirt with you?” 

I refused to answer, knowing he was only asking this because now he knew the answer. As if I would inflate his ego anymore than I had now. 

 Manitoba’s eyes glinted and he leaned closer, until he was right in my face. No doubt it was the color of my hair. “It’s okay to admit it, sweetheart. I rather like flirting with you too.”

I pushed his face away. “Well, you’re certainly a better flirt than Vito. All he does is flex his muscles.”

Manitoba smirked crookedly. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

I rolled my eyes.

A couple hours passed, with Manitoba staring a fire and cooking us dinner before we were both back on the ledge, watching for the sunset. 

Manitoba dangled his feet over the ledge, eyes trained on the dying sun as it cast shades of red and gold. 

I found my eyes slowly being drawn away from the view, turning to look at Manitoba Smith. He was quiet, taking in every moment of the sunset’s beauty. I felt my heart in my throat. 

Oh. 

He looked— he looked — 

I didn’t just like Manitoba, I realized. I loved him. 

It was the accent that caught my attention at first— an Australian one, that held a certain cockiness in the voice

Then it was his bravery, facing whatever challenge came to him head-on. 

Then it was his kindness, his selfless nature, his confidence. It was all of that, all of him, that made me realized how much I loved spending time with him, how much I loved his company, how much I loved him

I wasn’t one to hold back from telling the truth, and he wasn’t one to shy away from what he was feeling. So with that in mind, I plucked up my last strand of bravery, swallowed back my nerves, and said, “I love you.” 

There was a split second of silence, then—

“I was wondering when you would get around to saying that.”

I whipped my head around. “Excuse me?” Was he seriously taking my confession as a joke? Something to boost his own ego? Well, then—

I froze, biting back the verbal lashing I was about to give him when I saw his face. 

There wasn’t the usual confident glint in his eyes or the cocky grin on him. Instead, Manitoba Smith was looking at me tenderly with a gentle smile on his face that looked so different, but at the same time, so right.

I swallowed the heart in my throat. 

Oh. 

“That’s seriously all you have to say to me? ‘What took you so long?’” I rolled my eyes in fake exasperation, trying to hide the amusement in my voice and failing. 

“Well, of course! I happen to be an Australian heartthrob for the ladies. I’m impressed you managed to hold off for so long.” Manitoba winked. 

“You’re a lot of work. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, but I’m worth it.”

I snorted, even though I couldn’t exactly deny his claims. I leaned my head on his shoulder and we sat in silence, both of us just enjoying each other’s presence as the sun sank behind the horizon. 

“So, uh, think you’ll be going on any more adventures with me, Sheila?” Manitoba asked sheepishly. 

I leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “I just might.” I said, smiling.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mal — ?

Sometimes on cold nights Mal would come out.

He had toned down since Total Drama All Stars, but his reputation had preceded him so at first I was always cautious and kept my distance whenever he would appear.

But Mal was different. Quieter. He didn’t burst into fits of rage or go on a streak of vengence like all of us expected; instead he was more mellow.

Granted, he was still Mal — he would still threaten bodily harm whenever I annoyed him (which was a lot), he still had a cruel sense of humor, and perhaps he did still have a sadistic edge to him – but it wasn't like he was trying to drown me or anything like he did during the finale, so I figured it was okay to try and talk to him.

And ... strangely enough, it was.

Mal was tight-lipped and short whenever I would pry for conversation, and oftentimes would respond with scathing remarks that would hurt my feelings or pride.

But he never physically hurt me. Ever.

Months passed, and slowly ... oh so slowly ... he opened up.

Mal talked to me.

He told he about his past, how he would fill in Mike's memory gaps from his childhood. He told me about juvie, about how he had to stay in control because someone of Mike's caliber would have been chewed up and spit out in a place like that. He told me how the others came to be, why they came to be, through awful, awful stories that made me sick to my stomach because that happened to Mike, and the people I loved didn't know, and Mal had to remember.

I think the thing that shocked Mal most was that I listened. I stayed. I cared, even though at the beginning he thought it was fake. I tried to understand him, I listened to his problems, and tried to help him through them.

The funny thing was, I wasn’t even in love with him at the time I was doing those things.

Sometimes Mal would say he wanted a break, so whenever he was out and at my place I took him to my rooftop to let him breathe.

It worked better than I thought, because on some days when I wasn’t even home he would just break into my house and sneak onto my roof.

On cold nights like tonight, Mal would come out onto my rooftop and draw. I sat down a couple feet from him, since I knew he liked his personal space. The cold tiles bit through my jean bottoms as I wrapped my arms around myself. My misty breath floated in front of my face and into the night sky.

I peered over at what Mal was sketching and had to stop myself from giggling. A menacing tower was etched on the page. Overlooking a volcano. Bats and skulls flew from the paper.

I watched him with a smile on my face. Mal was absorbed with his art, occasionally blowing his hair out of his eye as his pencil worked across the page.

"You're staring," Mal startled me out of my daze with his low tone.

"Sorry." I laughed a bit nervously. "I'm just a bit distracted today. I’m happy."

Mal didn't say anything for a bit, before he said without looking up, "You're always happy."

I chuckled. "Yeah, but today I realized something that made me really happy."

There was a brief silence, and I could feel him prompting.

I took a deep breath. This is it, I thought. Like ripping off a band-aid.

"I just realized that I loved you."

The sounds of sketching stopped, and I determinedly stared up at the star-speckled sky before I looked down and began fiddling with the worn red sleeves of my hoodie.

My stomach started twisting itself in anxious knots as the silence dragged on, and I can feel Mal's eyes set me on fire as I avoid his gaze.

For once, I can't read his silences, and that alone was making me nervous. Before I could get up and excuse myself, something warm and lean pressed up against my side.

"Huh?" I said, because I have genuinely never been so confused in that moment.

Mal ignored me and continued to lean against me as he drew. I was completely baffled as he began whistling his signature tune with a small smile/smirk – the one he always used whenever he was in –

I gasped. My heart skipped a beat and it suddenly felt like a million tons was lifted from my shoulders.

"You –" I stopped, because natually he wasn't going to answer.

I released the breath I didn’t know I was holding as an exhilarated smile split my face. I bit my lip to control my giddy grin as I gently twined my fingers with his, squeezing once as he stiffened, then relaxed.

Mal squeezed back.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Powerpuff Girls Drawings

All of these drawings were traced from images that i found, so the credit is not mine

(You) made my storms turn sunny

@ellimagayon Sorry for responding so late, but I had some stuff I was busy with in personal life. So here is modern age Pepa and Felix fic, where Pepa is trying her hand at online dating until ...

Sunny Storms: Tormentas Soleadas

☀️⛈☀️⛈

Pepa anxiously chewed her hair.

She would have been running her hands through it, but they were busy thumbing through her phone, picture after picture sliding across the screen.

“Are you still looking at that thing?” Julieta sighed.

“Still?” Her hermanito Bruno, scoffed. He was playing with his pet rat on the floor of his room, where Pepa was currently lounging upside-down on his bed. “At this rate, she’ll be scrolling through that thing when she’s 50.”

“Cállate,” Julieta smacked him over the head, which Pepa would have gladly done if she wasnt so consumed by what she was doing.

Her older sister snatched the phone from Pepa, who immediately snapped to attention. “Hey! Give me that!” She reached for the phone, a crazed addictive mess as her sister ducked under her arm.

“No! You’ve been on your phone for hours, Pepa! What is going on?” She waved the phone in front of Pepa, tauntingly holding it from her grasp.

Pepa dove for it, no doubt looking like a madwoman and there was a short scuffle where at the end Julieta emerged victorious.

Pepa buried her face in her brother’s pillows, kicking her feet in a way that might resemble a temper tantrum.

“Ay,” Bruno mock-sighed. “Washed up at 25, and all because of online dating. So tragic.”

“Pepa, why are you stressing out about this? You usually love going on dates.” Her much kinder sibling asked.

“Sí, in person!” Pepa burst out. “But if I’ve never seen this person? If I don’t even know what they’re like? What if something goes wrong? What if they’re a psycho? What if — ?” Sitting up, she quickly began running her hands through her braid, muttering her mantra of “clear skies”.

Julieta rubbed her back motherly. “What even possessed you to sign up for online dating?” She asked. “You always take pride in being able to get un hombre on your own. What changed?”

Pepa stopped running her hands through her braid, back stiffening. Julieta seemed to sense the answer from Pepa’s body language alone.

“It was Mamá, wasn’t it?”

Julieta dropped her hand, and even Bruno seemed to pay attention to the conversation.

Pepa bit her lip. “She wants me to get married.” She confessed.

Bruno dropped his rat.

“I’ve never been able to hold down a relationship, no matter how much I wanted to,” Pepa confessed. “I've always wanted to get married, to have kids, but I always wanted to take my time."

"Pepa, all of us are taking our time. Bruno and I aren't getting married anytime soon."

"Yes, but you're able to be with someone who isn't fed up with you!" Pepa snapped.

Julieta flinched, and Pepa instantly regretted it. She had long accepted that she couldn't be Señorita Perfecta, embraced it really, but it still stung to know that she couldn't measure up to her hermana.

Pepa fingered her braid. "Agustín loves you," she said quietly, and Julieta turned red. "I know you've been together for a couple of months, but everyone can tell you're gonna get married."

"But no one wants to be with me because I'm ..."

Moody.

Emotional.

Volatile.

Too ... Pepa.

“And I heard Mamá talking with Señora Guzmán, and I realized … I want to get married. I want to meet someone who isn't fed up with me. Who can handle my emotions. And all the hombres I meet in person are only attracted to my appearence first, and then get scared off by commitment or my moods. So …”

“Oh, Pepa,” Julieta sighed and wrapped her arm around her sister. “You should have told us. We could have helped you.”

Bruno joined them on the bed and stole the phone from Julieta. “Besides, you have nothing to worry about. You already have a ton of requests on your profile.” He began scrolling through her phone before he suddenly froze. “Uhh …”

“¿Qué?” Julieta notices her brother’s expression.

“Um, I was just scrolling through her requests before I accidentally …” he trailed off and showed his sisters the phone.

There, on the bright screen, was read “Date Accepted!”

Pepa’s screech echoed throughout Casita.

☀️⛈☀️⛈

Pepa coached herself through the breathing exercises her sister taught her as she sat at the fancy dinner table, waiting for her … date.

After the … unfortunate incident in Casita, Julieta had right away set to making sure Pepa was perfect for her date — fixing her hair, putting on earrings, and pulling out her best dress. All the while, Pepa had been glaring at her younger brother, thunder in her eyes.

**************

“Huh, this guy seems pretty nice,” Bruno commented as he texted back and forth with Pepa’s date.

“Maybe you should go out with him then,” Pepa muttered. She had come so close to mauling Bruno, having dove at her hermano to claw his eyes out with her nails. She was, unfortunately, held back by Julieta.

“Nuh-uh,” Bruno shook his head, an odd smile on his face and look in his eyes. “I think this is the one for you, Pepa. I can feel it.”

**************

“Hola … Señorita Madrigal?” A smooth voice broke through her thoughts. Pepa instantly straightened, anxiety and anticipation curling in her stomach.

“Sí,” She responded, standing up and looking at the man who was her date for the evening.

“Ay Dios Mio.” Was her first thought. This man was handsome. A couple inches shorter than her, but very broad and muscular, with dark skin and darker eyes that seemed to swallow her. He had a dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the collar and slacks. But what really caught her attention was his smile. It was so bright and genuine, that Pepa instantly felt her initial anxieties float away as she found herself grinning back.

The man seemed just as taken with her as she was, and she smugly thanked Julieta as she held out her hand. “Pepa Madrigal.”

He seemed to snap out of it, taking her hand and kissing it. “Felix Castillo.”

Pepa blinked, then quickly grew flustered as her hand tingled where Felix had placed his lips. “Nice to meet you,” she said.

“Ready to eat?” Felix smiled. “I don't know about you, but I'm starving!”

Pepa laughed.

☀️⛈☀️⛈

The date went better than Pepa expected.

Or maybe it wasn’t the date itself, but … Felix.

She and Felix bounced off each other so well, it was like they had known each other their whole life. He was charismatic, funny, cheerful, and Pepa would be lying if she said she didn’t want more. He made her laugh with jokes and she had made him have tears in his eyes when she told him the story of how this date came to be.

**************

“So that was really you’re brother I was texting?” he laughed. “And I thought we were getting along so well! Maybe I went on a date with the wrong triplet!”

“Sorry he catfished you with this face!” Pepa pointed to herself with a smirk and took a long sip of wine. “But it looks like you're stuck with me for the evening.”

Felix beamed, his smile softening for a moment. “I don’t mind that in the slightest.”

**************

“Hey, are you not hungry?” Felix asked as he took a break from eating his food.

“Huh?” Pepa looked down and saw that she had eaten only half of her plate, while Felix had already polished off his second. “Oh, lo siento. I have a bit of a nervous stomach.”

Felix’s eyes widened. “Oh! Lo siento, I didn’t know. Otherwise I would have suggested a different date.”

Pepa waved him off. “It’s fine, I’m pretty much full.”

Felix’s eyes sparked, and he quickly stood up, holding out his hand. “I have an idea. Want to get out of here?”

Pepa blinked, eyeing his hand with curious amusement. “What do you have in mind?”

Felix smiled, gentle and bright, happy and kind — and asked, “Quieres bailar conmigo?”

That was the moment when Pepa knew she was done for.

☀️⛈☀️⛈

Warrior Cats Human AU

I am aware that some of these images are racially incorrect for genetics - for example, I pictured Crowfeather and Leafpool as caucasian, but they have Hollyleaf, who is African American and Jayfeather is tan, and Lionblaze has golden hair and eyes. Just for safety, I mean no offense, this was just how I pictured the characters. 

All art isn't mine.

The Prophecy Begins

The New Prophecy

The Power of the Three

Omen of the Stars

Warrior Cats Human Headcannons - Through The Generations

- Bluestar thinks of Fireheart as the son she never got to raise - she would constantly give him advice on warrior and personal life

- When she found out Oakheart died, she locked herself in her room for days and cried. The entire clan was worried and thought she was grieving over Redtail - which she was. It broke her heart when she found out how 2 people she loved died in the same day

- Whenever she would meet with Crookedstar during a Gathring he would quietly whisper how her children were doing. Bluestar could never convey how grateful she was for that. 

- She and Yellowfang would often hang out together - first out of courtesy, then as genuine friends. Bluestar appreciated her scathing honesty

- She and Whitestorm use to pass time by looking over the clan and telling each other who would end up with who. Bluestar could already tell when Graystripe was meeting up with Silverstream - after all, she fell in love with a Riverclan person as well. Whitestorm and her automatically agreed that Sandstorm would fall for Fireheart first, and facepalmed at how oblivious he was. 

- Firestar sometimes has PTSD nightmares about Tigerstar and the only thing that can calm him down is Graystripe

- Fireheart and Graystripe patiently listened to Ravenpaw as he would ramble on and on about Barley when they visited him. They were the ones to help him come out and encouraged him to confess 

- Him and Sandstorm have the Hiccstrid vibe. She is the only one who has the brain cell between him and Graystripe

- When Firestar and Sandstorm got together, Graystripe pulled her aside and tried to give her the “you break his heart and I’ll break your neck” speech. She couldn't hold in her laugh and he was humiliated. Still, she promised to take care of him 

- Firestar cried when Cloudtail and Brightheart got married - so did Couldtail as his future wife walked down the aisle like a beautiful warrior princess. He couldn’t stop himself from telling her how beautiful she was over and over again. When they were pronounced husband and wife the whole Thunderclan was crying. 

- Leafpool and Squirrelflight are twins. Squirrelflight is a daddy’s girl and Leafpool is a mommy’s girl. Sandstorm and Firestar were so proud when Leafpool said she wanted to be a medicine person. Squirrelflight had rolled her eyes while having a gazillion twigs and leaves in her hair

- Squirrelflight was that hyperactive little kid you could never take your eyes off of or else she'd kill herself. Loved giving Firestar heart attacks and gave Sandstorm her first grey hairs. Leafpool was an angel sent from Starclan 

- Squirrelflight was 17 when she ran away to go on the journey. Brambleclaw had just become 19, Tawneypelt was 19, Crowfeather was 17, and Feathertail and Stormfur were 18. 

- All of them have the friendship of the Breakfast Club - you wouldn’t expect it, but they have that bond for life.

- Brambleclaw was Squirrelflight’s first kiss. It was in the heat of the moment where Brambleclaw had nearly died, and it was like fireworks had gone off

- Everyone was heartbroken when Feathertail was killed. Stormfur lost his sister. Crowfeather lost his first love. Tawneypelt, Brambleclaw, and Squirrelflight lost a friend

- Leafpool and Crowfeather began growing close on the journey to the lake. She wanted to get closer to him out of sympathy, he resisted (naturally), but soon he was opening up to her. He would tell her his deepest feelings and she would confess things she hadn't even told her own sister. By the time they reached the lake, Leafpool realized she had feelings for him and Crowfeather was already in denial.

- Squirrelflight had no idea what Leafpool saw in Crowfeather, but they brought out something beautiful in each of them. Feathertail had softened Crowfeather’s heart, but Leafpool opened it. And Leafpool … Squirrelflight didn’t know what Crowfeather did, but she saw something new in her sister that made her heart swell and ache.

- Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw decided they didn’t want to get married. Leafpool had just rejoined the clan after running away, and was considered a disgrace to the clan. Having her sister get married right after was … Squirrelflight didn’t want to go there. Instead, she and Brambleclaw got matching tattoos.

- When Leafpool found out she was pregnant, her whole world came crashing down. The clan was finally starting to trust her again, Firestar and Sandstorm had stopped looking at her with pitying looks, and the clan had stopped looking suspicious when she said she was going to collect herbs.

- Squirrelflight immediately sensed something wrong and got the truth out of Leafpool. She offered to help and told Firestar that they would be gone on a journey because Leafpool had a vision. They both hesitated at the idea of telling Crowfeather, but ultimately went to the Windclan border to see him. Leafpool was heartbroken and Squirrelflight was outraged when they found out that he was with Nightcloud.

- "HOW IN THE NAME OF STARCLAN DID CROWFEATHER GET 3 GIRLS?!" – Squirrelflight

- Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf are triplets and grow up under the assumption of Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw as their parents.

- (You know how the rest goes)

- For a long time Jayfeather refused to have a cane to help him walk because he thought it would make others think he is weak because he is blind. It was only when he found “The Stick!” when he decided that that would be his cane. No exceptions.

- When Jayfeather officially became a medicine person his grandpa Firestar constantly came by to ask him if there were any herbs to cure his wrinkles. He even got Graystripe and the elders in on it to ask him if there are any herbs to cure their oldness. Jayfeather hates them a little more each time.

- Jayfeather learned to swear from Squirrelflight. She would curse, he would repeat it, and Brambleclaw would just be like, “Why?” Jayfeather gets immense joy whenever he makes Hollyleaf swear, she thinks she’s so much better than that.

- When Jayfeather was an apprentice he would be sent to the elder’s den to “think about what he’s done.” Jayfeather would seethe, but he eventually he actually liked being with the elders. He would sit and complain, and the elders would back him up 110%. Firestar regrets everything.

- Before, Jayfeather hated how he was defined by his blindness. Growing up, it made him bitter and desperate to prove himself. Now, he just wants the clan to remember he’s blind. He’s contantly asked if he can check something out, if he can read this writing, ect. The whole clan forgot he’s blind and he’s irritated at their stupidity.

- After Jayfeather got his full name Hollyleaf took the opportunity to gift him the feathers of a blue jay and spent time braiding them into his hair. Hollyleaf also has a holly tied into her ponytail. Lionblaze was feeling left out so they made him a bracelet.

- Lionblaze and Hollyleaf fought like cats and dogs when they were apprentices, and made it the whole clan’s problem. Sandstorm had to break up the fights because she was the only one they listened too.

- As much as they hate to admit it, the three of them feel a connection to Windclan. It happens with all half-clan, where they feel the longing towards one Clan while the other is drawn into the one they’re born in. Hollyleaf always felt this need to run, as fast and hard as she can. Jayfeather likes the open space, the vastness of the land and moor. Lionblaze likes the feeling of wind, how it can be gentle or harsh against his skin.

- Dovewing and Ivypool are twins and the younger cousins of Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jayfeather (idk, maybe 2nd cousins or something). Lionblaze and Dovewing are best friends, Ivypool is Hollyleaf’s favorite cousin, and Jayfeather, well … it’s been 0 days since they last sassed Jayfeather

- They are heartbroken when they find out Hollyleaf is “dead” because they were just about to become apprentices and Hollyleaf promised to be there.

- Dovewing has always had enhanced hearing, so she always assumed that everyone can hear what she did but never talked about it. When she was younger, she would talk about faraway things she’d heard but everyone thought she was just imagining.

- Dovewing doesn’t get overwhelmed by the noises she can hear because she’s had her powers since she was born. She’s learned how to tune it out/in. However, she hates loud noises. They take her by surprise and makes her feel like her eardrums split open.

- When that happens she sometimes goes to Jayfeather to help her out. He has a calming presence and the quiet and gentle brushes of herbs soothe her. He doesn’t say anything and neither does she. There’s no need.

- Part of the reason that Ivypool became so jealous of Dovewing was that all of the sudden her cousins would have secret discussions with Dovewing and exclude her. Hollyleaf would never have done that if she was still alive.

- Ivypool used to have hair past her shoulders, but had it cut in a pixie style after a Dark Forest warrior pulled on it to expose her throat. After the Clans defeated the Dark Forest, she grew it out to her chin as a sign of healing and moving on.

- After they became warriors, Dovewing, Ivypool, Briarlight, and Blossomfall became roommates. After Briarlight’s accident she moved in with Jayfeather, but sometimes she comes in to have a girls night.

- Briarlight and Jayfeather are opposites but compliment each other in the best way. She is bright and happy and he’s calm and collected. Jayfeather is a pessimist and she’s an optimist.

- All of the medicine people from the Clans always ask about Briarlight, she has them wrapped around her finger. They always sneak extra sweets for her whenever they visit Jayfeather

- Briarlight considered it a personal win when she finally got Jayfeather admit that they were friends. Jayfeather was overwhelmed by the swell of happiness that radiated from her the rest of the day.

- They have a saying that they use when no one is around. Whenever one of them is having a bad day, they go and cheer each other up by saying, “I’ll be your legs.” “And I’ll be your eyes.” They help each other and its beautiful.

- Briarlight used to love singing and dancing when she had her legs, so when she lost them she was depressed. After Jayfeather helped her out of it, she began humming and singing again

- The first time Jayfeather heard her sing his head whipped around because it was the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. And for the first time in forever, Briarlight was happy as she restocked herbs while singing.

- Jayfeather grumbles about the noise but still encourages her to sing because it’ll help clear her lungs. Secretly, he likes hearing her voice. Briarlight knows he likes it.

- Jayfeather has too much pride to actually confess his feelings and Briarlight is afraid to ruin their relationship. Both are so awkward with their feeling but they don’t even realize they act like a couple until Lionblaze or Dovewing points it out. Sometimes when Leafpool watches them she’s reminded of her and Crowfeather

Ninjago Villian Aesthetics

Ninjago Allies Aesthetics

☆ Powerpunk Girls Aesthetic & Headcannons ☆

♡ Headcannons ♡

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- So forget everything you know about how the ppnk are the most terrible sisters ever, how they're so toxic and evil towards each other

- The Opressor constantly puts the girls down and says how they were accidents, threatens them, and if they fail him he doses them with Antidote X at harmful rates

- These sisters love each other, and they grew up in an abusive enviorment and learned from it

- They get into fights, just like all siblings do, and they speak in a way that others would assume are degrading, but that is their way of talking to each other

- Berserk is often the center of Plutonium's abuse, and will try to take the blame for Brute and Brat. After he’s seen what her good counterpart can do, he often berates her, saying that she is a pathetic leader compared to Blossom, how she is half the the leader she is, etc.

- He mentally and verbally abuses her, and that causes her anxiety and makes her temper run short, which burns her out quickly and makes her make the wrong calls for her team, which causes the Opressor to yell at her again. It’s is a vicious cycle Berserk doesn’t know how to escape from until her sisters help her out.

- It took her a few years for her to let them in, solely because of the fact that she was their big sister and she didn’t want them to worry and seem weak, but they became major supporting figures for her and helped her out of her panick attacks. She has an extreme fear of failure due to her father

- She is extremely intellegent, and has a brilliant mind. She is calculating and a control freak with her plans. She is sarcastic and a bit sadistic, taking amusement in knocking down the heroes that try to stop her. She manipulates to get what she wants and is very street smart

- She has the nastiest temper out of all of her sisters, but honestly has a pretty good handle on it. There is a reason she is called Berserk. If you get her mad, truely livid, she will fly into a rage that will take hours to calm down from. It's terrifying. Viletown suffers the most damage when it happens

- Berserk is the most tall and slender of her sisters (around 5'9 ) and has hot pink eyes and long, curly red hair down to her hips. Most of her outfits have to have plaid on it. Loves roses (hence the middle name) and can control fire. Has a lobe and cartilage piercing. If she were to start a career then she would certainly be the most fearsome buisnesswoman the world has ever seen. She could lead the mafia if she wanted to

- While Blossom's hair is straight and manicured, Berserk's hair is wild and untameable. Has the WORST bedhead. She still keeps the ragged ribbon in her hair, even though Brat insists she looks better without it. She shuts up pretty quick when Berserk points out that she still has her evil Octi

- Her element is Everything Nasty, and that applies to her food prefrences. Likes bitter foods and has to have the most bitter coffee to be considered human. Is utterly repulsed by Blossom's sweet tooth

- She is 100% the big sister and the leader of the group. She will murder anyone who says anything about her sisters. They may be a pain in the ass but they’re her pain in the ass

- Brat is ... a brat. She is sassy, flirtatious, pessimistic, and whiny when things don't go her way. She is a master at reinventing herself, using her charisma to switch personalities for different people to get what she wants. She uses her looks and charm to suit the needs of others it’s almost scary.

- Loves to party and have fun, easily gets jealous and sad, though hides both by acting like a bitch. Absolutely loves drama and will cause some when bored. Piss her off and she is out to ruin your life through the most passive-aggressive means - is the literal definition of cute but psycho. (picture Mean Girls)

- Brat loves attention. It’s more than loves it, really, she needs it. Brat is a very insecure person thanks to the Opressor, and she needs to feel validated, to have the pleasure of knowing that she is the one that people want. Has severe body issues and bulimia. Berserk and Brute have helped her through it, but sometimes she relapses

- Wants to be a fashion designer, a model, and to own a makeup empire (Kylie Jenner 2.0-). The only one she confides her dreams to are her sisters, and they support her fully. For her birthday, they robbed a fashion store and gave Brat all the essentials to learn how to design. Brute smirked when she saw her get emotional and Brat told her to shut the fuck up

- Is an absolute brat to her sisters, but that’s just how she shows love. Will whine and annoy the hell out of her older sisters when Berserk is planning or when Brute is doing her own thing until they acknowledge her. When they do she usually acts all innocent, pretending she didn’t do anything as she breaks out “The Bubbles’ Eyes” - essentially puppy dog eyes, but named after Bubbles.

- As the fashionista of the group, Brat leaves new clothes she made in her sisters’ closets’. When confronted she claims that “she refuses to be associated with people who dress like *explict insults*”. Berserk and Brute don’t really care for her excuses because hey! Free clothes! Brat is pleased when they wear clothes she made

- Brat wasn’t born to be good. She knows that, and doesn’t want to be. But at some point in her life she grews sick of the senseless destruction and wants to do her own thing, pursue her own dreams. But there’s this - block. This thing, this instinct to do bad things. She was literally made to be evil, and Brat is scared she won’t be able to do what she wants for what the Opressor made her to do

-Brat has wavy golden hair a couple inches past her shoulders, which she sometimes puts in braids. Hoop earrings and bangles are a must, and she has a belly piercing which she shows off in her cropped shirts. Steals her sisters’ fishnets and thigh-highs. Leather miniskirts are her go-to and she wears heels to make her 5’7 frame taller.

- Brute is the most straightforward, no-bullshit Punk in the family. Most observant of the Punks, being the first to notice Berserk’s anxiety and Brat’s bulima. She is their rock, their pillar of strength when they have none. Lives by the definition “actions speak louder then words” and uses fighting as a way to relieve stress.

- She gives off the more aloof vibe but inside she cares very deeply for the people in her life. It takes a lot of time and effort to let others in, but once you gain her trust she will be there for you, always. Lose that trust and you will never get it back. Brute does not give second chances and she hates betrayal

- Has the most anger issues out of all the Punks - Brat is passive-aggressive and Berserk has a leash on her dangerous temper. Normally she’s quiet and indifferent, but press her buttons - and she has a lot of buttons - and you will see her fist flying at you.

- Brute used to blame herself for her sisters’ issues. Most of them stemmed from the Opressor, and he usually left her alone because she was the strongest and wouldn’t put up with his toxic BS. So he went after her sisters’. Brute blamed herself for this and threw herself in every fight she could, to the point where it became self-destructive so she couldn’t feel anything. It only took her sisters to snap her out of it, and instead of hurting herself Brute began to heal herself to help her sisters.

- Brute doesn’t really care about what Brat does with her multitude of flings, as long as she doesn’t have to see or hear about it. What she doesn’t know is that Brat sometimes brings them home to have “fun time”. Brute once walked in on her and one of her boyfriends’ and was scarred for life. We don’t talk about that day. Brute was left with lifelong trauma. Brat stopped bringing her boys to the house. Thank God.

- Brute loves her baby sister, she does, but she takes way to much joy in being able to get away with anything and Brat is an inch away from being blasted into next week

- Is the most artistic of the Punks. She likes charcoal drawing and black-and-white photography, going around the gritty parts of Viletown and finding beauty in it. She chooses black-and-white because she likes the simplicity of it. If she were to start a career then she would be a tattoo artist. She already has a tattoo representing her and her sisters (guess where and what it is -)

- Brute is the shortest and curviest out of the Punks, standing at 5’5. She wears steel-toed heeled combat boots that put her at the same height as Brat and make her kicks more devastating. She either wears ripped jeans or cargo pants, and pairs that with heavyweight and leather jackets and crop tops. She still keeps her mohawk, although it is a bit longer than when she was a kid. She has tongue and cartilage piercings and exaggerates her green eyes with bold mascara and eyeliner.

Pokemon for the Pokegirls

This is pokemon that I think the girls should have/kept. Also, this is set a couple years in the future, hence the different clothes

Pokemon for the Pokeguys

This is pokemon that I think the guys should have/kept. Also, this is set a couple years in the future, hence the different outfits

Ninjago Aesthetics

Headcannons for the Madrigal Grandchildren Couples

Author's Note: Everyone here is 15 or older

LONG POST

Isabela & female character

Dolores & Mariano

Luisa & male character

Camilo & female character

Mirabel & male character

Antonio & female character

Isabela

Isa was never really interested in a relationship ever since Mariano

She was finally allowed to grow what she wanted for the first time since she was 5 and she spent the first couple of years reconnecting with her family after Casita fell

She was 22 when she was supposed to be with Mariano

She was 25 when she met you

You were a traveler who had stumbled upon Encanto, a botanist (studier of plants) searching for new plants to catolouge

It was a match made in heaven

The first time Isa saw you flowers burst from her hair and made a trail right to your feet

You look up from the flowers and your jaw drops as you see the most gorgeous woman in front of you, blushing bright red as you meet her gaze

You walks up, introduce yourself, and it's a done deal

Both of you are so captivated by each other, with their knowledge of plants, beauty, magic, and each other in general that it doesn't take much for you and Isa to fall in love

The first time you kissed Isa on the cheek was in public, and a rose bush exploded

Camilo and Mirabel would not stop teasing her about it

Isa is the one who works up the courage to ask you out after the urging of her family. The first time you kissed her flowers bloom along the length of Encanto, and everyone knows you said yes

Eventually you decide to stay in Encanto and become a member of the Madrigal family

Dolores

The Guzmans and Madrigals have always been close family friends

Dolores had been in love with Mariano since she was a child, he was the whole point she asked for a vision from Tío Bruno. She was heartbroken when she saw he would end up with Isabela

After the vision, she becan to pull away from Mariano - which was difficult. He was always over, and would always hang out with her and Isa

Dolores crushed from afar, often using her chores as an excuse whenever Mariano would approach

She craved his presence after she pulled away from his friendship, so she settled for listening to him (Callatè Camilo, she was not a creep -)

Mariano was confused and a little bit hurt when Dolores pulled away - was it something he did? His mamá always said he talked too loud. He liked Dolores, and he missed her quiet presence whenever he would talk about his poetry to her - Isa always got bored when he did.

Dolores would always go soft when Mariano would lower his voice when speaking to her, tell her about the newest novel that came out, show her his poetry he was composing that she already heard him whisper about it late at night

After Casita fell, Dolores and Mariano began spending lots of time together, relearning everything they knew about each other

Also, Mariano is the one that says "I hear you" and she says "And I see you" because for the first time, Mariano is hearing everything she has to say about him and Dolores has had enough of just listening to him and is right in front of him, telling him how she feels

Isabela is the best wingwoman ever

One of the reasons Isa didn't want to be with Mariano was that she grew up idolizing her parents quiet love; Mariano was the total opposite, with loud PDA, grand gestures, ect. This is why Dolores is more suited for Mariano - she grew up with her parents not being able to take their hands off each other and can't picture love any other way

Dolores put a kibosh on the whole "5 babies" thing. 3 kids was the highest she was going for, and Mariano eagerly agrees because who is he to deny his amor?

Dolores wants to take it slow when she's dating Mariano. She gets married midway through 23, and has a daughter at 24. She is 27 when she has another girl, and is 31 when she has a baby boy.

Félix, Camilo, and Antonio are thrilled to be an abuelo and tíos. Pepa is the only one to start clouding over when being called abuela because she doesn't want to be old

Luisa

After Casita fell, Luisa spent the time finding herself - her likes, hobbies, ect. She began growing her hair out, wear more jewlery, and wear more feminine dresses without fear of ripping them due to excessive work

Luisa knew that some people in the Encanto had talked about her body - how tall she was, how big she was, ect. It wasn't insulting, but there were some comments that did stick with Luisa throughout her teens and into adulthood

When she was younger "Luisa gets bigger everyday" was a common phrase in the household. One time Abuela said "We'll have to find the tallest person in Encanto for Luisa, or else she'll never get married!" and that always stayed with her

At the end of the day it doesn't matter to Luisa though. She has good days and bad days just like any other girl, and "she glows cause she knows what her worth is."

She met him when she was 20 years old

She was out lifting things for the final chores of the day when she feels a light tap on her shoulder

Luisa turns around and is met at the sight of a handsome young man, head brushing the top of her chest as he whips out the most beautiful bouquet of flowers she's ever seen

At first, Luisa thinks they're for Isabela (because they're flowers, and no one's ever given Luisa any flowers, and like hell was a man her age giving flowers to Mira)

The man and Luisa are both bright pink when he explains they're for her, and in a rare bout of confidence, Luisa flirts with him

This goes on for a while, the man showering her with gifts and compliments, Luisa flirting and sending him swooning

He starts joining Luisa when she's relaxing, and Luisa grows to love his company. Their dynamic is chattermouth and appreciative listener who loves how much they talk. He insists on helping her with her chores so she can get more time to relax, and Luisa always insists on him joining her with a blush

You can definitely imagine Luisa demonstrating her strength to him and he just whips out a wedding ring and asks her to become his wife because he is utterly weak for this woman

Luisa is sitting at the dinner table, smiling as she brushes her lips along the latest batch of roses he sent when she sees her Tía Pepa and her Tío Félix flirt, and suddenly she sees him

Luisa instantly sets out to find him, and when she does, she bends down and presses the most loving, tender kiss on his lips. Luisa carries him bridal style when his knees give out

Camilo

Camilo was 18 years old when he first began to notice her

He was in the town square with his Tía Julieta, helping cheer up some of the injured children while shoveling his face with food. A red skirt flashes by his vision, and thinking it was Dolores, he turns around and freezes

She was just finishing up her chores, strands of hair escaping her messy bun as sunlight bounced off her tan skin. She's honestly the most beautiful person Camilo's ever seen, and the arepa drops out of his mouth

Right as he begins to follow her, a shout of his name suprises him, and he turns to see a fuming Pepa thundering about the missing arepas. While he's getting chewed out, he turns around to catch one more glimpse of her, but she's gone

Later that night, Camilo can't stop thinking about the girl and sets out to find her the next day. It's easier than he thought it was - after he saw her yesterday, it's like he sees her everywhere: in the market getting groceries, in the square finishing her chores, ect.

He goes up, introduces himself, and is blown away: she's captivating. She's fiery and strongwilled, sassy and sarcastic. She matches Camilo’s quick wit with her own so easily it surprises him, and is unafraid to call him out on his pranks and is unimpressed by his shapeshifting

He was desperate to be her friend, so he wasted no time finishing his chores so he could spend time with her. He would tell jokes and shoot cheesy pickup lines after her, and while at first she considered Camilo overrated and a nuisance … he did manage to amuse his way into her heart

After they become friends, her and Camilo had this thing where they flirt and give each other bedroom eyes almost constantly, and they know that they like each other ... they’re just too afraid/awkward to actually do anything about it.

Everyone in the Madrigal family knows about them, and it drives them crazy. It gets to the point where Camilo acts lovesick when she’s not around - subconsciously thinking about her and bringing her up in conversations

Camilo will just be sitting down for family dinner, piling arepa after arepa on his plate, and is unaware of his family’s stares until he sits across from Isa. Isa clears her throat with a smirk matching Dolores’ and shows her primo a mirror (why she brought a mirror to dinner he’ll never know) and Camilo’s eyes widen in horror. In his reflection is her face. Camilo had unconsciously shapeshifted to look like her during family dinner (and Ay Dios Mío, does the family tear into him that day).

Honestly, Camilo was such a ladies man in Encanto, the family was starting to wonder if he was ever going to settle down. Seeing Camilo panic-shift and grow flustered at even the sight of this girl is the best thing to have happened to Isabela. She’s going to get back at Camilo twice as hard for teasing her with the whole Mariano situation

Not only do this girl and Camilo flirt and have fun with each other, they can be serious and confide with each other when needed. Camilo finds himself pouring about his deepest insecurities to her, and she listens, never judging how he feels, giving him the most caring and attentive face he’s ever seen, proving that she is listening to him, totally and completely

Camilo can listen for hours as she talks, feeling light as a feather listening to her voice, and watching her hands move as she gestures. This girl is the only person to make him blush. He's flirted with tons of people, done tons of things with people, and none of them make him feel the way she does

They weren’t each other’s firsts, but they were each other’s bests, her challenging Camilo in the best way and him showing her the brighter, looser side to life other than work

Mirabel

Mirabel is 20 when she met him

After Casita fell, she spent all her time dedicating herself to her family and making sure the town was independent. She helped her Abuela through her trauma, helped integrate Bruno into society after 10 years, and helped her entire family learn that they were more than just their gifts after decades of being taught otherwise. So you can see there was a lot on her shoulders for a 15 year old

Years passed since that fateful day Encanto broke and things were going well for that small town. Outsiders were more welcome and the community was more self-sufficient than ever. The Madrigal family was allowed to become a normal family, growing larger and larger now that the grandchildren were growing up. 

Mirabel was walking around town, enjoying the candlelit night of Encanto when she heard the most magical voice sing 

A musician is playing in the square, and people were crowding around him despite the late night. After Mira realized she wouldn't make it through the crowd, she quickly begins scaling a palma de cera Isa planted in town, desperate for a look at the voice.

She shoves some fronds out of her way and sees the most handsome man playing on his guitar, singing in his magical voice. He tips his head back and his eyes meet Mira's. She almost falls out of the tree, and once she steadies herself he seems to be smiling at her as he plays, eyes sparkling 

After he finishes the song, he meets her as she ungracefully slides down the tree. Mirabel's face is hot as she offers if he wants to take a walk and get a snack. He agrees

Mirabel stumbles home in a daze, and she finds herself rambling to her mamá about him with a flushed face. Dolores overhears, which mean Camilo knows, which means that the entire family knows about her crush by dinner time 

 The family is definitely overprotective of Mirabel - she’s the baby of the family and their miracle. They got to make sure the guy she’s seeing is worthy of her and can handle the chaos of the Madrigal family 

Whenever they’re alone in a room you can always count on Antonio watching them with death eyes, Dolores eavesdropping, and Isa, Camilo, and Luisa ready to break down the door whenever they sense something inappropriate going on 

Their favorite moments are the quiet ones, where Mirabel is sewing or doing embroidery, while he is gently strumming along to his guitar and writing down lyrics 

He is pleasantly surprised when he finds out Mira can play the accordion. When Mira sings his face turns bright red as he stares at her in awe. She starts dancing and he wants nothing more than to kiss this girl

He always makes sure to murmur soft endearments and compliments in Spanish. Although Mira knows her worth now, she still likes to hear how much she is needed and loved 

Abuela always smiles when she sees them together because after Mira told her how they met, all she can see is her and Pedro

Antonio

Antonio is 15 when he met her

It’s been 10 years since Casita fell, and ever since then the Madrigal family has been growing and growing, with Dolores’ marriage to Mariano and the birth of their children and the rest of the grandchildren falling in love

Antonio met her when when his jaguar fell sick. He had tried to give him Tía Julieta’s cooking, but that only worked on humans, not animals. Antonio was starting to panic when Mirabel reminded him of the new family that moved in that happened to be veterinarians

The vets came to Casita to have a look at Parce, and Antonio is struck when he sees how pretty she is when she walks through the door 

The girl and her papá heal up Parce, and it was like he was never sick at all, zooming around and nuzzling the humans in thanks

When they are about to leave, Antonio grabs her hand without even realizing it, and they both freeze. Shyly, Antonio offers to show her around his jungle room and his heart jumps when she agrees 

Since then her and Antonio have become good friends; they both adored animals - she was fascinated by how the animals were drawn to him while he was fascinated by how she cared for them

Seriously, Camilo once walked in Antonio’s room to see an anaconda draped over their shoulders - he almost had a heart attack. (But why can’t we hold her, she’s friendly -) 

Her and Antonio complimented each other in the best ways; she was bright and bold, and was able to draw Antonio out of his shy shell and he was able to gently calm her down when she would get too excitable 

Pepa would always start whenever drizzling she saw both of them together - her little Toñito was growing up and falling in love, and him and her reminded Pepa so much of her and Félix she would always start crying

Antonio loved being her friend, so when he found himself falling in love with her, he panicked and began drawing in himself. Parce and the rest of his animals wouldn’t allow it. Antonio was embarrassed and mortified to see his animals not-so-subtly set him up with her - the coatis and toucans would steal their belongings so they would have no choice but to see each other, Parce would pointedly act extra affectionate with her, and there was that one time his anaconda literally wrapped herself around their waists to make sure they stayed together

The rest of the family thought it was adorable and would absolutely not help 

She is the one to confess to him, in one of those quiet moments where Antonio was not surrounded by animals and her not feeling the need to fill the silence and enjoy the peace. She isn’t one to dance around a subject unless she’s oblivious, so out of nowhere she just says that she likes Antonio

Antonio has to wait for the meaning to sink in, but when it does, he sees her staring straight ahead, her face slowly turning red. Shyly, he says he likes her too. It’s an innocent and sweet confession, and when she leaned over and kissed him, it was the same as well