#and i like to do that thing junior does where he puts his head back/down

[triforce-of-mischief]

when you've seen a movie so many times you imitate the characters' movements as a stim

#SO I GUESS WE'RE WATCHING STORKS NOW? #MY DAD TURNED IT ON TO TROLL MY STEPMOM AND NOW IT'S JUST PLAYING #anyway i keep wiggling like tulip whenever she talks #and i like to do that thing junior does where he puts his head back/down

[scremogirl]

✧✩🜚𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐂 🜸𖤐✰

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮

Yandere! Nerd x Academic Rival! Reader

Mentions of depressive behavior/thoughts of suicide. AFAB! Reader: is called “Ms”.

Annoying.

A know-it-all smarty pants that was simultaneously the worst pain in your ass. Not that he meant to be of course; you couldn’t really blame him. Sure, some people are just naturally smart; but not him. Following you around like a lost puppy no matter where you went. He was toying with you on purpose and you knew it! You just couldn’t understand why he decided to make your life worse.

Now, the relationship you have is more one sided. You’d make subtle jabs and throw cheap shots his way but all he ever did was laugh it off. He never fought back. From what you’ve gathered, he just prefers to stare. And when I say stare I mean straight into your soul type stare. Every time he gets annoyed or is thinking really hard about something that’s what he does. Stares. It’s really creepy and unsettling, all the times you caught him or tried to, he would just look away blushing, trying his best to hide behind his shaggy hair. Eyes burn holes through the back of your head five out of the seven days of the week. However, even the two days you aren’t in school, the feeling of eyes on you never seems cease. You feel chills crawl up your spine and always look over your shoulder wherever you go only to find nobody there.

You’ve always strived to be the best. Your home life was like the equivalent of being tossed in solitary co finemente and being left to rot. It seemed as if your parents only cared about your academic life. Therefore, they were always super strict about your grades. You knew it came from a place deep within their hearts, they just wanted you to do good in life; but it still hurt. You wanted to make them proud. Wanted to feel loved by the people who were supposed to be closest to you. So you pushed yourself to limits nobody could ever reach. From winning spelling bees to holding the spot of Vice President on your school's student council team. Schools were already offering you all expense scholarships in freshman year!

You were an all rounder. One of the most involved students in your grade. You were in various sports and academic clubs, always helped in school fundraisers, and even have 500(+) SS hrs.

“ Apologies, Ms. (L/N), but there’s nothing we can do about this. You’ll have to get a tutor in order to pass,”

Technical engineering.

Your worst subject. You excelled in physics and math; some would say the best. You got the formulas down to a T and knew everything there was to know. It was more so the building aspect of things. There were just so many damn parts! Who even needs an electriconic digital caliper anyways?!

“I’m sorry, (Y/n), but that’s just the way things turned out. You need this credit to graduate, but you needn’t worry. Miylo is the best at this. He’s perfect for the job,”

Miylo Reneritzer. A 6 foot, dead eyed, pale skinned dork. He’s never stood out to you. He wasn’t popular or a scholar. He didn’t play sports and wasn’t in any clubs. He didn’t participate in the annual dances and didn’t attended school games. He was just there. A regular student with a knack for technicalogical architecture. You were in 11th grade at the time. You needed to get all your credits out the way so you didn’t have to worry about them senior year. Not that it was a problem for you seeing as all of them were already completed. Well… except this one. You’ve been putting off for so long. You had to face it sooner or later. Too soon for your liking.

You would meet with Miylo twice a week; you were place in the same tech class so the first meeting didn’t really count. He was a great teacher! A little quiet and very monotone, but very thourough none the less. By the end of junior year you ended up with a A-. You parents hammered you for not making it a plus but you’ve come to terms with it. He saved you. And you were grateful. You ended up losing contact the transitioning year and just never interacted again; almost completely forgetting about him.

He didn’t forget about you though. How could he?! You were the most beautiful girl in the entire school! Nobody could compare to you. What you didn’t know about him was he was s everely bullied and even contiplated ending everything. That was until you came along. Someone finally wanted to talk to him. Even if it was just for help getting a good grade. Taking to a pretty popular girl and getting money and an increases on his report card? Sign him up. That one day changed the entirety of his life, he owes his life to you.

All he remembers is being called down to the counselors office; parents ready waiting and giving him the most bone crushing hug. Everything seemed like a blur from then on. But what he can remember is how he got there in the first place.

“A friend of yours, (Y/n) (L/n) had some concerns about your health. She said she’s been paying attention to you for awhile and noticed your self destructive behaviors,” says the counselor.

What? Before he started tutoring you he thought you were a teachers pet and hog all the chances for others to answer questions but if saves him the embarrassment of public speaking he doesn’t mind. You’ve noticed him? In more than just at tutor-tutee way? Nobody ever notices him. Not even his own parents. It’s evident with the amount of shock on their faces and all their “why didn’t you tell me’s” and confessions of love. He’s mad at you at first. He spends at least 3mths in that looney bin because of you. He hated it at first. All the questions and discard for privacy. But… slowly he changes. He becomes healthy and happy again. His mind drifts back to you. The way you would answer questions when you noticed the teachers eyes land on him, the way you would always do the presenting part in group presentations, the way gum and smiley faced erasers would apprear on his desk on a particularly hard day. You cared. You did this for everyone you saw struggling. Not that he took that into account, in his mind, he was the only one. You thought he was special. And he wouldn’t let anyone take his spot in your heart.

When he got out, he decided he was a changed person. Senior year would be his redemption arc and you would finally be together. You already were in his mind; you were just to scared. He saw straight through your act. That’s why you would do all that stuff for him instead of just coming out and saying it. He needed to pull himself together and become a better person first. He wanted you to be proud of him. He wanted you to see him for all he’s worth. He joined all the clubs you were in and surpassed all expectations. He became popular, inserting himself into all your social circles and even became a student council member beside you. Or should I say infront of you? The President. And the validictorinan.

Ugh! Since when did he become so…so great!? You don’t have any clue where this change in him came from and you want him to go back to the way he was. You were the best! You didn’t work this hard for your parents approval for nothing. They would always compare you time him. Miylos the student council president they’d say. He would never get an A-, he would never miss a volleyball game because he was overwhelmed with school work, he would never feel how school was the only true escape from an emotionally disabled household. He would never understand. Oh, but he did.

He’s been in your house plenty of times to know what’s going on. Not that you’ve know of course. That explains all the missing panties. Hmm, maybe that explains where all of your pens have gone too. And your half eaten food, and the Polaroids you’ve take of yourself, and your rose to-… Regardless! You’ve had enough of this! You needed him to know just exactly how you felt. What other way than asking him to meet you under the tree on Fri before school ends?

“I already know,” Hm?

“Good. I couldn’t hold this in any longer. You do know just exactly what I feel,”

“Oh my love but I do,” ….my love? What is he taking about.

“What am I talking about? Oh sweetheart, don’t play coy with me. It’s okay; I’ve always know the real reason behind your aggression towards me. Your just shy is all. I just want to let you know that I love you too. More than you could ever know,” he steps forward and arms outstretched and expecting a hug. He push on his chest and stare up at him in confusion. Love him? You don’t love him, you despise him! He chuckles.

“Like I said, it’s okay to be open about how you feel. That’s why you brought me here isn’t it?” What! This wasn’t some sort of confession. Well…technically… but not one of love! He was here to understand how much you loathed him. He had to not like you either, that’s why he did everything you did right…Right!? He hated you. He had to!

“Hate you? (Y/n), I could never hate you. After all you saved me,” at this point you thiught he was joking with you. Furthering your suspicions of his true feelings. You tried marching pasted him only for him to grab you arm. You tried to shuck him off but his grip was strong. All those clubs really built up his physice. He wasn’t the same scrawny little geek you remembered. He was larger, seeming as if he grew a few more inches. He filled out his uniform more, and his eyes became brighter and more emotional. If your affliction for him didn’t exist you’d think he was cute. The only thing that seemed hadn’t changed about him was his unwavering love and loyalty to you. He huffs out an exasperated sign, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“I get that your shy my love, but that’s there’s no need to be so rude. We’ll work on a more conventional way to express your emotions,”

“Do I have to spell it out for you! I don’t like you, you creep! You’ve been following me around every since the beginning of this year. You’ve taken everything from me. Clubs, student records, student president! Do you know how hard I’ve worked to get here! You act so laid back and relaxed about everything and it drives me nuts! I hate you!” You push past him again, angry tears forming from all the supressed emotional turmoil. He doesn’t grab you right away which makes you think he’s finally got the picture. Didn’t anyone ever tell you no to turn your back on the enemy? You’re suddenly grabbed and thrusted into the base of the tree. He tsks at your behavior before sighing again. Hands have now moved to your shoulders and apply slight pressure keeping you in place. If that didn’t do it, the way he's looking at you would’ve have; fierce and warning, and yet, filled with so much adoration.

“We need to fix this little attitude of yours, don’t we?” It’s rhetorical. You know that but you feel the urge to snap back at him. Before you could get a word out, you can her the distance ringing of the school bell signaling the end of the day. His phone rings on the last ring. He gives you a hard glare telepathically telling you not to move. He stands straighter and picks it up. With what you heard, the student council meeting is starting soon and the others are wondering where you two are. Saved by the bell. He sighs before grabbing his bag that he placed down as long as your hand before sighing.

“Unfortunately, we can’t continue this conversation my love. Lucky for us, it’s Friday. We’ll have the rest of the weekend to work it out of you,” he throws a coy smirk your way and grabs at his belt, readjusting it a bit. God, what will you do?

Hey loves! Hope you enjoyed. I’m thinking about making apart to of this. I wasn’t really confident in it and decided that I should give more explanation to Miylos behavior. This could just be his introduction and I’ll expand on it. Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading!

-Love, Sos❤️

#yandere x you #yandere x y/n #yandere x reader #yandere! nerd x reader #✧✩🜚𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐈𝐂 🜸𖤐✰

[rangerbarbz]

First Time

Author’s Note: Y’all i am so sorry it’s been so long since i posted a fic. I am a junior in college and i have two jobs so i have been so busy. However expect some more stories now that it’s winter break! Hope everyone is having some happy holidays 🫶🏼

Summary: Reader and Ford go all the way for the first time together

It was a chilly night in Gravity Falls, Oregon when Stanford Pines and you decided to make some cookies. It was the perfect atmosphere for baking: comfy clothes, the temperature had dropped down, and the sun dipped behind the woods surrounding the Mystery Shack. The rest of the Pines family had went on an excursion to break into the theatre for a free movie, so you can’t imagine they would be back anytime soon.

Ford and you were in the kitchen trying to figure out what to make with the few ingredients you had available.

“Hmmm… So I’m seeing cinnamon here,” you said, looking into a cabinet next to the fridge. “I’m not seeing much else. What do you think about Snickerdoodles?” You grinned excitedly and faced Ford who was already smiling.

“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” he replied, his voice resonating in you. God, his voice was so attractive. You remember hearing him talk for the first time in the library where you worked and your heart just melting.

He was in the fantasty section talking to himself when you walked by the aisle to reshelf a book. He was in the same area where the book needed to be relocated. Turns out you were holding the novella he was wanting to read, and you two struck up a conversation. He was kind and smelled delightful. You were too shy to ask him for his number, but a young girl who came into the library once a week for a crocheting club set you up on a date. You were unaware at the time this young girl was his great niece. The rest is history.

“Do you think everyone else will like them? I want to make sure these won’t go to waste,” you asked, scrunching your eyebrows together.

Ford scoffed as he was scraping flour from a measuring cup back into the bag. “Please, those things will be devoured. You have nothing to worry about.”

You laughed softly, standing up on your tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek. “Glad to hear that.” A small smile spread across his face.

While you two prepared the ingredients and mixed everything together, you filled Ford in on the workplace drama. He would never admit it, but he loved to gossip with you.

“I can’t believe Denise would do that,” he said in disbelief, shaking his head. “I mean who does she think she is?” You rolled the last ball of cookie dough in cinnamon and sugar before pressing it into the pan.

“Right?! Like come on, now. I thought we were civilized.” Ford chuckled at your comment and put the cookies in the oven.

“Some people just never learn.” He snaked his arm around your waist and put a hand on your hip, bringing you closer to him. You placed your hand on his broad back and leaned your head on his chest.

“We got about 25 minutes until these are done. Wanna see what’s on TV?” you suggested, looking up at him. He cocked his head to the side.

“Sure. I think that’s enough time to get through half an episode of ‘Ghost Harassers.’”

“Ah, man. Dipper’s got you hooked doesn’t he?” You giggled and began to walk into the living room, him following suit.

Ford sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. I know it’s fake, but their reactions to these so-called ghosts are so funny.” He sat down on the recliner while you fiddled with the TV antenna to get it to the right channel.

It finally flickered to a group of men with flashlights running through an abandoned house screaming. “Ah! Got it!” you exclaimed. You ran over to Ford and sat on his lap. Your legs draped over his, feet hanging over the armrest. This time he kissed your cheek, his stubble tickling your face.

“Good job, dear,” he murmured in your ear. Butterflies formed in your stomach from hearing his low voice.

“Thanks, baby.” You leaned your head on his shoulder as one of his arms cradled you. He was so strong; you always felt protected by him. One hand was splayed across your stomach while the other was on your knee.

You were so engrossed in the show you didn’t notice Ford wasn’t paying a lick of attention. You were wearing loose shorts which exposed much of your legs, and he was entranced.

You lifted your head up to look at him, eyes drifting over your thighs. His hand remained still on your knee, however.

“Stanford?” You had a mischievous smile on your face.

He quickly looked over at you like he had just been caught doing something wrong. Since the lights were still on, you could see the blush spread across his face.

“Something catch your eye?” you teased, inching your face closer to his.

“I-uh. My apologies. I was distracted.” He cleared his throat and returned his eyes to the TV. Oh, so he was going to play dumb? You were going to drag it out of him.

“M-hmm. What was distracting you?” You egged on. He glanced over at you and back to the TV.

“Your, um, legs. They just looked very nice.” Ford answered quietly, avoiding eye contact with you. It was so cute to see Ford get flustered.

You had kissed and hugged, but never went much further than that. It was hard to find alone time, and Ford could be hesitant about showing affection. This didn’t bother you, though. You were willing to wait how ever long you needed to for him. He had been through a lot, so it’s reasonable for him to want to take things slow and gain trust.

“Ford, you can touch my legs if you want,” you reassured him, placing a hand on his. “Do whatever you want. I don’t mind.” You gave him soft kiss on his lips and cupped his face in your hands. Your fingers slid through his silver hair and down the nape of his neck.

He sighed into your mouth and you felt his hand slowly creep up your leg. His other was on the small of your back. His hand began to slowly travel up and down your leg, stopping to squeeze every now and then as you continued the kiss.

God, he was being so gentle with you and all you can think about is ripping his clothes off.

You shifted your body so you were straddling him without breaking contact with his lips. His hands started to squeeze your thighs a little harder, his thumbs rubbing your inner thighs.

You whined a little against his lips. You could feel his lips turn into a smile. You decided to deepen the kiss by opening your mouth and sliding your tongue along his lips. You felt him shiver as he welcomed you. What started as an innocent kiss began to turn into a make-out sesh. His hands had moved to your hips and were gripping them. Not tightly enough to hurt you, but enough to feel oh so good.

You broke away from the kiss when you heard the oven timer go off. “Dammit, cookies,” you joked, getting up from Ford’s lap. “Don’t move. I’ll be back for you, handsome.” You quickly pecked his nose and made your way into the kitchen. The Snickerdoodles smelled delicious as you pulled them out of the oven. You placed the pan on the stove top not wanting to damage the kitchen table from the heat. You removed your oven mitts from your hand and placed them back in the drawer where they came from.

“Cookies are done! Just-“ You were cut off by Ford scooping you into his arms and carrying you to his room. You were giggling uncontrollably all the way there feeling like a bride on her honeymoon.

He pushed open his bedroom door and gently placed you on his bed. He sat beside you, his eyes staring earnestly into yours. He took your hands into his, fingers intertwining perfectly together.

“Y/N, I’ve been thinking,” he started. “I am tired of dancing around these feelings I have for you. I want to be completely vulnerable.”

You were a little worried as to what he was about to tell you.

“I’m in love with you. I love everything about you, and I know in my heart this is deeper than surface level admiration. And…if you’ll let me. I want to show you just how much I love you.”

Tears started to well up in your eyes. You lifted your hand into his and began to plant kisses on each of his knuckles. “Oh, Stanford. I would be honoured, but are you sure you want to move forward like that? I know you like to take things slow.”

He shook his head and smiled at you while using his thumb to wipe away the tear falling down your cheek. “I’m totally sure. I was holding back my affections for you because I was scared. I’ve never felt this strongly for someone before, and I didn’t want to make careless mistakes. Now all I want is you. If you’ll have me, that is.”

You grinned and nodded your head eagerly. “Yes, please.” His face was pink perhaps from the whirlwind of emotions you both were experiencing.

He leaned forward his hands holding your face now. His movements were more sure than they had ever been before. You laid on your back, letting him take charge.

Your innocent kiss quickly turned rampant, exploring each other’s mouths. Your hands gripping his broad shoulders and moving through his hair once again. His elbows were on either side of your head, his breath becoming more ragged. His lips moved from yours to kiss down your neck. You moaned into his ear as sucked on a spot in the dip of your collarbones. There was sure to be a hickey there in the morning, but you didn’t mind. There was something erotic about having a mark from him.

Ford kissed down the other side of your neck, leaving yet another sign he was there on your collarbone. His mouth went to your ear to whisper, “May I take off your shirt?”

“Yes,” you hissed. That was all he needed. His fingers tugged the hem of your oversized shirt and pulled it over your head. You weren’t wearing a bra which had Ford somewhat short-circuiting. His eyes drank you in, eyes trying to capture your beauty permanently in his mind. He stared for so long you had become a tad insecure, so you crossed your arms over your breasts.

“No, no,” he moved your arms away quickly. “I’m sorry, dear. You’re just so…beautiful.” You felt your face heat up. His eyes were just so full of adoration, and it made you nervous.

“Thank you,” you replied softly. He smiled gently and started to kiss down your chest. They were as soft as feathers. He then kneaded at your breasts, letting out a sharp exhale. His calloused hands felt wonderful against you. His thumb caressed your nipple before he put it in his mouth. You yelped at the contact. His tongue swirled around your aerola as his other hand pinched your hard nipple between his fingers.

“F-Ford,” you breathed, your hands gripping his hair. He had began to suck at your nipple and repeated the same actions to your other breast.

He continued to move down your body, leaving a trail of kisses down your stomach. He got to your loose shorts and looked at you as to ask for permission. You nodded, your face becoming hotter.

Ford’s eyes glinted with lust as he looked into your eyes. “You know, I loved the way you said my name. Can’t wait to hear you say it more.” You could barely register how smooth that line was before he was removing your pajama bottoms. You didn’t wear underwear to bed so you were now completely exposed.

Ford sat up to look you up and down. His lips were parted slightly, and his hands gently rubbed your thighs. He looked at you in disbelief.

“Y/N, you are the most heavenly sight I’ve ever laid my eyes on,” Ford murmured. “You look like art.” His eyes had gazed down back to your now dripping core, but you couldn’t wipe the grin off your face. He sure knew how to worship his woman.

“But frankly, my dear, I’m about to be very disrespectful to you,” he mumbled, his lips kissing your inner thighs.

“Oh God,” you moaned. He was making his way to your center but taking his sweet time. Ford was a loving man. However, you could tell a primal part of him had been awakened.

His placed sweet kisses along your folds before flicking his tongue along your clit to tease you. You cried out in pleasure as he dove into you. He licked a stripe inside you and moved his tongue back and forth. You heard him moan deeply as he tasted you. Your brain was becoming foggy from how good everything felt and how he enjoyed pleasing you. Your thighs pressed against the side of his head; his hands were massaging your hips.

“Stanford, please. I want to feel you.” You needed him so bad. He lifted his head up from your thighs, slick covering his chin and lips. His hair was a ruffled mess. God, he looked good.

“Of course, sweetheart.” His finger rubbed along your entrance. He breathed heavy as he slid a finger into you. You let out a sharp inhale as you adjusted to him.

“Ford…”

“You feel so, so good.” Ford pumped his finger back and forth in you. Your eyes were closed and your legs had started to shake. “Fuck,” he said under his breath. Seeing you come apart underneath him was almost too much for Ford.

You had decided that he had done enough for you. It was time to return the favor. “Baby, baby. I wanna ride you.” Ford stopped and slowly removed himself from you.

“Are you sure?” he asked. I don’t mind-“ You pushed him down onto the bed and climbed on top of him. You grabbed his face and kissed him passionately.

You separated from the kiss to see his eyes wide and a tinge of pink on his cheeks. “Take off your shirt,” you demanded. He quickly removed his loose red shirt to reveal a toned, yet scarred body. You had actually seen him shirtless before accidentally when he came out of the shower in just a towel so this wasn’t a shock. You found it incredibly attractive. Although, it took lots of convincing for him to believe you.

You ran your hands over his chest and kissed him once more. “You’re so sexy, Stanford,” you whispered to him before biting his earlobe. You spastically kissed him all over his body, letting your hands now roam over his muscular arms. You couldn’t tell it by looking at him, but he was packing some heat under those sweaters. You were also grinding down on his painfully erect dick which caused him to whimper.

Ford sat up and held you close to him as you fumbled with pulling down his sweatpants. He sprang free and you lowered yourself onto him. He let out a guttural moan as he felt your walls tighten around him. His forehead was against your shoulder while you bounced up and down on him. His strong hands had grabbed onto your ass, his fingers pressing into the tended flesh.

“Y/N…Oh my…” You held his face in your hands, making him look you in the eyes while you fucked him. He had a loving look; you had an animalistic one.

“I’m… Not going to last much longer, darling,” he said between breaths.

“Me neither baby.” It was the truth. He already almost had you with his finger, but now that his length was inside you, you didn’t stand a chance. Your legs had started twitching and you threw your head back, allowing Ford to assault your neck further. His arms were now wrapped around you as you came insanely hard. You thought you were gonna see stars. It only took a couple more seconds for him to fill you up. His chest heaved up and down as he collapsed on his bed with you on top of him.

“That was…wonderful,” he sighed, placing a kiss against your temple.

“Agreed, but I think we need a shower after that,” you suggested.

Ford raised one of his eyebrows at you. “Round two?”

You laughed and smacked his shoulder. “Oh you bet.”

P.S. I didn’t look over this so if you see a typo or bad grammar no you didn’t

#ford pines #gravity falls #ford pines x reader #stanford pines #grunkle stan #grunkle ford #imagine #stanley pines #pines family #fluff #smut

[formosusiniquis]

Lineage

Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington WC: 2173 | G | Day 4: Middle Names | AO3

“What are middle names for?” The question bubbles out of Steve as he takes in the picture of Michael J. Fox in Tiger Beat.

It’s the kind of question he thinks of a lot. The kind he’d normally bury in the back of his brain to ponder over on his own when sleep is a far off concept. But Robin is different. They’re so much a part of one another that Steve has stopped holding those questions in his own brain, realizing she likes to puzzle them out and tear them apart like he does.

Only Robin’s base of smarts is a little different, sometimes these questions he has actually get real answers. 

He can feel Robin go still beneath him, his head on her shoulder just like hers is on his. With anyone else the position they’d found themselves in this afternoon would probably be uncomfortable. Sprawled out on his bed, technically back to back, Steve is using the bony knob of Robin’s shoulder to raise his head just enough that he doesn’t have to hold the magazine he’s reading up in the air. Robin has taken the top of the bed, her legs make an L where she has them stretched out against his bedroom wall, toes pointed toward the ceiling. Whatever book she’s been reading is propped up against her thighs, too far to actually read without using the binoculars Dustin left behind last week.

He flips another page in the magazine, content the way he always is with Robin, knowing that when she has finished puzzling out the order that she wants to respond to him in that she’ll speak. Steve thinks it’s probably to tell the difference between people. There are so many in the world, eventually you’re going to have two Tommy H.’s in a room and have to use that middle name.

Tommy Allen, the thought of spending two years of junior high and two and a half in high school calling Tommy that in public drags a little giggle from Steve. That would have made them losers of the highest order. Robin makes a noise that reminds Steve of Mrs. Johnson’s cat whenever he’d feed it for her when she was out of town, inquiring but also a little annoyed that you disturbed whatever it was doing before.

He shimmies his arm just enough that she knows he’ll explain it later. Once he figures out a good way to explain how much of being popular is being good at being perceived the right way. Tommy H’s can be popular, Tommy Allen’s get their slightly bucked teeth and bad laughs noticed. She isn’t going to like that, but Steve learned pretty quickly Robin doesn’t like a lot of things about how popularity actually works.

“I think,” Robin says slowly, she’s talking a little funny and Steve wonders now if she’s let the binoculars rest against her chin instead of just putting them down like a normal person. He could turn and look but figures all he’d actually see is the blurry, too close suggestion of Robin’s face. It’s better in his imagination. 

“I think,” she repeats, in his head the binoculars wiggle down her chest a little further every time her mouth moves, “it's to continue the family line. That used to be a big thing you know, it’s why men didn’t want daughters because then the family name would die out. So you’d give your kid a middle name to help continue one of the old names from the family that was just going to die if you didn’t keep making your wife have more and more babies that she probably didn’t even want.”

“Oh like JR.”

“JR?”

“Yeah, you know JR. He’s that football player that graduated two years ago. His ears stuck out weird and he always seemed to have, like, a Rudolph zit on his nose.”

“You mean Mark Williams?” She shouts, incredulous.

“Sure, I think it was Mark. His dad was definitely Mr. Williams, but they had the same name so whenever they went anywhere he always called him JR. ‘Hey JR wouldja get that for me.’ ‘If you ever wanna go pro, JR, you’re going to have to learn how to take a tackle.’”

Robin is in fits beside him, the impression is terrible but it’s also exactly what the guy used to sound like gruff but also whistley somehow.

“Wait, wait,” the bed shakes as she adjusts herself, he can feel the weird shape of her ear and the uncomfortable poke of her earrings in the cradle of his arm. “What’s your middle name?”

“You mean you didn’t see it when you rifled through my employee file to find my birthday and social security number?”

“I was looking for important information.”

“So you could steal my identity.”

“So I could make fun of you less on your birthday if it was in the summer or maybe just take the whole day off so I didn’t have to deal with the cavalcade of pretty blondes coming in to fawn over Steve Harrington, real adult man.”

“Ew, the worst way anyone has ever described me. You make it sound like I’m some kind of pervert.”

“They would want you to be,” Robin agrees, “I think it would be part of the appeal.”

“Richard.”

“Theodore.”

“No, dingus,” he relishes the moment that he gets to turn her favorite pet name against her, “my middle name is Richard.”

Robin takes that new information and digests it for at least thirty seconds, but that’s just a guess since she’s laying on the arm that has his watch on it. “Stephan Richard Harrington,” she tries out.

“The one and only.”

“It feels like there should be a number at the end. Stephan Richard Harrington the Sixth, best of his line.”

Maybe if he were a Sixth he’d like it a little better, he thinks. “No, it’s like what you said, continuing family names? Mom named me after her brother that died in the war, and Dad hated that or him or probably both knowing him so I got stuck with Richard so he could be included.”

“Robin Marie Buckley,” Robin offers in exchange.

“Ew.”

“I didn’t ew yours even though it makes you sound like a fancy little rich boy.”

“I am a fancy little rich boy,” Steve says, flipping the front of his hair with a half assed toss of his head, “you’re lying here in my ivory tower.”

“I think ivory towers have less blue plaid.”

“I like the blue plaid, it makes hanging things up easy. I’m sorry we can’t all have this season’s Laura Ashley-”

Robin is, unfortunately, at the perfect angle to punch him directly in the chest. “My parents did that to surprise me when I came back from bandcamp two years ago so I could have a more mature room as a high schooler.”

For all that it’s worth he tries not to sound mean when he snorts, the Buckleys are nice and mostly well meaning or at least they have been every time he’s visited. “And they somehow missed the dresser covered in spiky bracelets and the closet full of grandpa suspenders while they were in there.”

“They mean well,” Robin unintentionally echoes Steve’s own earlier thoughts. “They just don’t… really get me.” Her voice trails off, a little lost, and he hates himself for being the person who made Robin feel like that.

“We should change our names.”

“What and go on the lam?” Robin asks.

“We can, but I don’t think any lambs, sheep, or goats need to be involved.”

Steve sits up in bed, forcing Robin to do the same as he pulls his arm out from under her head. It only takes a quick spin before he’s facing her, grabs her arms so she can’t pull away from how totally and completely serious he’s being. “It’s like you said, it’s about family right?” He says, “You’re more family to me than my douchebag dad has ever been so why do I have to be stuck with his name when I could be Stephan Robert.”

“Not Robin?”

“Don’t wanna make it too obvious, and Robin Stephan probably wouldn’t fly at the name changing place.”

“Robin Stephanie,” she tries slowly.

“I mean obviously if I were a girl I’d go by Stevie,” he jokes.

“We can’t just change our names!” Robin says, she doesn’t sound like she believes it though so Steve is pretty sure he’s winning.

“Why can’t we, people do it all the time, I bet it’s super easy.”

“When they get married! Or like adopted. People don’t just change their names on a Tuesday because they feel like it!”

He tries to give that the thought that it deserves, but he mostly just feels like Robin is making excuses because she’s scared. Maybe it’s the leftover fear from Starcourt bubbling out in a place where she can control, or maybe she just likes her parents enough to be scared of hurting their feelings. One of those things he can relate to more than the other.

“Well Thursday would work better for my schedule.”

“Steve!”

“What! So we get married then, is that the problem? I mean I know I’m not your first choice romantically, but didn’t you say people do that so that they’re safe from people knowing they’re gay.”

Her arms are already out, ready to make a point that would probably be big and dramatic and a little long winded the way Robin likes to be when she’s all worked up like this. But he’s stopped her in her tracks. Face to face he can watch as the outrage melts into something sticky and wet like melted ice cream.

“You’d do that for me?”

“I would pretty much do everything including die for you, getting to be Stephan Robert Buckley would really be more like you doing me a favor.”

He’s getting pulled into a crushing hug before he can blink. He doesn’t mention how he can feel the wet fall of her crying against his neck, if it didn’t embarrass her, it might stop Robin from doing her best to climb inside him like she’s Luke and he’s that weird ice kangaroo. Mascara stains on the neck of his shirt are a small price to pay for a Robin Buckley embrace.

They hold each other for as long as it takes for Robin to feel regular again, and it’s nice. Steve thinks they’ll have to have a different conversation about how rarely he gets hugged just for the sake of it later. Right now this is about family and names and because Robin is family in every way that matters he doesn’t say anything when she wipes away those tears and a little snot with the back of her hand.

“You’ll have to wait until March,” she says, “I’m not getting married until I’m at least 18. I don’t want people thinking it’s some shotgun thing after working with you this summer.”

“As long as it’s before you get your dorm assignment for whatever fancy school you get into. If we’re married I’m pretty sure they have to let us live together.”

“Yeah? Even if I go somewhere like Bryn Mawr?”

He pretends like he’s giving that careful consideration, like he doesn’t already know she really wants to go to some big city where the schools might have a language program and she has a better chance of finding other people more like her.

“Well I guess we could live off campus then, if you really want to go to the lesbian school for lesbians.”

She punches him again. “It is not.”

“I wouldn't want the other lesbians to bully you for being married to a really hot guy.”

“One, I never said yes, dingus. Two, I have a whiteboard that questions how hot you are hotshot.’

“Pretty sure that got burned in the fire so you can’t use that as proof anymore you’re going to need more dates.”

“Data, you need to try to land dates.”

“Same difference.”

She pushes him until he’s laying down, grabs her book from his pillow and he takes that as his cue to go back to his magazine. It takes her a minute to decide how she wants to lay down again, he’s already back on his page about this month’s Hollywood Heartthrobs before she’s decided that his chest makes the best pillow and his arm can prop her book up for her. He isn’t sure what it is today, he wonders if she’s close enough to the beginning that he can get her to read it out loud to him, this month’s Tiger Beat really is lacking.

“Why does anyone think these guys are hot? The guys in Rolling Stone are usually better looking than Alex P. Keaton or the guy from Growing Pains. Johnny Depp is kinda okay, I guess.”

“Stephan Robert!” Robin sits upright again, and Steve thinks he might have accidentally started another capital C Conversation.

#stobin month 2024 #platonic stobin #steve and robin #steve harrington #robin buckley #stobin month #middle names #found family dynamics

[justabigassnerd]

Driving Lessons

Pairing - Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x daughter!reader, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw

Word count - 2,650

Warnings - probably the worst descriptions of driving lessons ever (I don't know how to drive), Jake's a wee bit mean, angst, fluff

Summary - Jake finally allows you to learn how to drive, however, he's a pretty bad teacher so perhaps Bradley could help

A/N - whoop whoop new Hangman Junior fic time! it's only taken me so long to get a new fic out (which I'm so sorry about it's like every time I go to write in the evening I'm just exhausted and struggle to write anything). I won't ramble anymore but as per y'all, please send in requests, feedback and enjoy!!!

“Dad, when can I start learning how to drive?” The question that leaves your mouth is one that Jake had been on the receiving end of since you turned sixteen and were now considered old enough to learn how to drive in the state of California. Jake put it off for a while, wanting to make sure you were properly ready for such a big thing as well as wanting to ensure all the paperwork that was needed was completed before he got you on the road.

When the day came that Jake finally dubbed you ready enough to actually get behind the wheel of his truck, you were bouncing off the walls. Jake had told you that you were to listen to his every word, and you had nodded your head wildly to prove to him that you were going to listen.

“Okay, lesson one, starting the car up. This truck is a manual, so you have to deal with all the clutch control stuff.” Jake says as you settle yourself behind the wheel and adjust the mirrors. You nod at Jake’s words, remembering what you read in the book Jake had given to you to study intently before he let you practice driving.

“Walk me through it slowly because the book can only help me so much here.” You say, looking from the steering wheel down to the pedals and trying to figure out what pedal does what.

“Okay, so the pedal on the left, that’s the clutch. The one in the middle is the brakes and the one on the right is the acceleration.” Jake says, pointing out each pedal and explaining what they do before telling you about clutch control and finding the biting point before you release the handbrake. You were nervous as Jake’s explanations were causing your brain to work a million miles an hour as your foot hovered over the pedals. You hesitantly pushed down on the clutch before applying a slight amount of pressure to the acceleration as Jake encouraged you to ease the handbrake off. Instead of smoothly making your way off the driveway, the truck lurched forward and then stopped suddenly, giving away that your clutch control was not great and you had caused the truck to stall.

“Just try it again. Easy on the clutch, okay?” Jake says, looking over at you as you nod, a sense of nervousness creeping over you at your recent mistake. Your nervousness began to take hold, making you stall the truck a few more times, and each time you could sense your dad getting a bit more frustrated with you.

“Maybe you’re not ready yet. You need to study the book a bit more before we do this.” Jake says, sighing and rubbing at his face as you look over at him with mild shock as you switch the engine off.

“What? No dad, I’ve studied that book front to back I can do it.” You argue watching as Jake shakes his head lightly.

“If you keep stalling like this it’s going to mess with the truck. I think we should call it a day.” Jake then says, making you feel like you just got stabbed in the heart.

“I know I can do it though.” You say as Jake begins to unplug his seatbelt.

“You clearly can’t right now. You’re taking a few days to really study and then I’ll decide when I next let you attempt to drive the truck.” Jake says firmly, putting his foot down as you bite your lip, unplugging your own seatbelt and jumping out of the car, immediately making your way back inside the house.

Bradley looked up from where he was looking at his phone, a witty quip about the two of you being gone for barely any time perched on the tip of his tongue but it quickly left when he saw you storm upstairs. Moose, hearing you disappear upstairs launched off the sofa and ran upstairs to be with you. Since the beloved dog had joined the family, he took a shine to you and quickly became your protector, so Bradley was unsurprised when Moose made his way upstairs to check on you. Not long after you and Moose had disappeared upstairs, Jake came back in, muttering under his breath as he closed the door behind him.

“Is everything okay?” Bradley asks cautiously as he gets up from the sofa, meeting Jake in the doorway to the living room.

“She’s not ready. She couldn’t get the truck off the driveway. She’s not driving again until I’m confident she can get the truck to move more than an inch.” Jake says, moving past Bradley to sit himself on the sofa, leaning back into the plush pillows with a sigh.

“Jake, she’s not going to learn if she doesn’t practice.” Bradley says softly, easing himself to sit down next to Jake. Tentatively, Bradley takes Jake’s hand in his own, the coolness of Jake’s wedding ring hitting his hand as he squeezes Jake’s hand softly.

“She’s not driving until I say she’s ready. She’s trying to grow up too quickly.” Jake says, making Bradley realise what the root of the problem is.

“Jake, she’s sixteen and everyone she knows at school will be driving soon. She’s capable of it and I know I’m not the only one who knows that. We’ve both seen her studying that book you got her. I get you don’t want her to grow up but it’s happening whether you’d like it to or not. Her driving will help her gain more independence. She’ll be able to go places with her friends and not worry about whether one of us would be free to take her there.” Bradley argues gently, watching as Jake’s face remains set before he shakes his head softly.

“At least let me try and teach her. She deserves a chance.” Bradley then says, making Jake turn to look at him.

“If you want to try, I won’t stop you.” Jake says with a light shrug, not protesting when Bradley releases his hand and moves to head upstairs to check on you. When he knocks on your door, he’s met with nothing more than a mumble and he opens the door to see you laid on your bed, arm thrown over Moose whose head had shot up to see who dared to enter your room while you buried your face in his fur.

“Moose, it’s just Bradley.” Your muffled voice says as the dog finally lays his head down, tail lightly thumping against the bed as Bradley scratches him behind the ear.

“Comfy there?” Bradley muses lightly as he sits himself at the end of the bed and watches as you lift your head.

“You okay?” He then asks, seeing the forlorn expression on your face as you stroke Moose gently.

“Dad probably told you what happened already.” You say quietly, running your fingers through Moose’s fur and twirling the ends carefully in your fingers.

“We all start somewhere. I wasn’t a good driver when I started learning and I bet your dad was the same. Don’t let his words get to you.” Bradley says softly, watching as your focus remains on Moose who rolls over so you can scratch his belly.

“I don’t understand why he was so mean about it. I was really trying, and he kept making me feel so pressured.” You admit, your softly spoken words make Bradley bite back a frown.

“I’m sorry.” Bradley says quietly, watching as you shake your head lightly.

“You don’t need to apologise. You didn’t do anything. I’ll be okay.” You say, lifting your gaze to send a small smile Bradley’s way.

“Look, I was thinking that I could have a go at teaching you, maybe tomorrow if you’re up for it. I know a place we can go just to get you comfortable with the basics of driving before we get you on any roads. It’s up to you though. I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to.” Bradley says, gauging your reaction as you fall silent, glancing down at Moose who licks your hand softly and wags his tail.

“I’ll give it a go.” You mumble, bringing a smile to Bradley’s face as he nods.

“That’s good to hear. Just relax for today. We’ll practice tomorrow.” Bradley says with a smile as he stands up, petting Moose whose tail thumps against the covers.

When tomorrow arrived your nerves were in full drive as you got in the passenger seat of the Bronco as Bradley got behind the wheel. The drive wasn’t too long, and Bradley would tell you what he was doing as he drove to help you understand what goes on when the car is in motion. Having Bradley explain everything helped you to feel a bit more confident as he explained everything in as much detail as he could.

“Is this Mav’s hangar?” You question as Bradley pulls up on a large runway, glancing around.

“Yeah, it is. Mav’s helping Penny with her boat today so I asked if we could use the runway of the hangar to practice. It’s got plenty of space and you don’t need to worry about pulling out onto any roads.” Bradley says with a simple shrug, glancing over at you as you blink back the grateful tears that threaten to emerge.

“Thank you, Bradley.” You say quietly, smiling over at him as he nods lightly.

“Alright, ready to get behind the wheel?” Bradley asks, looking over at you as you look from Bradley to the steering wheel. You hesitate for a moment and just as Bradley preps himself to speak, you nod, looking back at him.

“I’m ready.” You say. You and Bradley swap seats and you adjust your seat and mirrors the second you settle in the seat.

“You know what you’ve got to do. Don’t rush yourself. If you stall, don’t worry, just restart the car, and start again.” Bradley says, his voice soft and gentle as he watches you with a smile. You had never expected Bradley to go out of his way to help you learn how to drive, much less allow you behind the wheel of his beloved Bronco that he barely lets your dad drive. But seeing the way he smiled confidently at you, you felt ready. With a newfound confidence, you nod and go through every step slowly, easing the car into a smooth start as Bradley’s grin grows. He then quickly tells you how to stop the car, although you remembered what he had said on the drive over and were able to stop the car with little issues.

“y/n, that was incredible!” Bradley gushes, making you smile as you process that you actually did it.

“I did it!” You say happily, looking over at Bradley who nods enthusiastically. He encourages you to have another go and you manage to drive around on the runway for a while, starting and ending smoothly as Bradley watches your confidence grow. When Bradley deems that you’ve driven enough you swap seats once more and Bradley begins the drive back home.

“Bradley, why did dad act the way he did teaching me yesterday?” You ask, looking over at Bradley who spares a quick glance your way before focusing back on the road.

“I think he’s too used to teaching the cadets at work. Most of them don’t listen well and your dad really lays the pressure on them because they need to be able to think quickly while they’re up in the air. And also, between you and me, I think he’s a bit scared because you’re growing up on him. I think if you speak to him, he’ll be able to explain things a lot better than I have.” Bradley says softly, turning down the volume on the radio before he speaks so you can hear him. You furrow your eyebrows in thought as you think about Bradley’s reasonings. The rest of the drive back was silent, and when Bradley parks the Bronco in the driveway, you’re already planning on speaking to your dad. You open the front door and are immediately greeted by Moose who begs for you to pet him as his tail wags madly.

“Has Moose been out for a walk yet?” You call through to your dad as Bradley squeezes in behind you and closes the door to prevent Moose from bolting out the door.

“Not yet, I was just about to take him.” Jake says as he emerges from the kitchen, lead in hand and the bag of essentials clipped around his waist.

“Can I come?” You ask, not missing how your dad’s eyes lit up momentarily before he nods.

“Of course. Bradley, are you coming?” Jake says, glancing from you to Bradley who shakes his head with a fond smile.

“Not this time. I said I’d help Phoenix with her relationship drama so I’m going to swing by hers in a few.” Bradley says, excusing himself to freshen up to head to Phoenix’s while you and your dad exchange a look before your dad shrugs and hooks the lead onto Moose’s collar.

“Alright, let’s make a move.” He says and the three of you make your way out of the house. Most of the walk was silent. Only a couple of words were exchanged between the two of you and it was about your driving lesson with Bradley. When you reached a bench in the shade where the two of you could sit for a while as Moose sat in between your legs, you glanced over at your dad and realised it was just time to get the conversation over and done with.

“Did you hate the idea of me driving because it means I’m growing up?” You ask confidently, noticing how your dad tensed up before glancing over at you.

“Bradley?” He asks, wanting to confirm who told you that.

“Bradley.” You confirm with a slight nod and Jake finds himself holding back a sigh.

“I’ll be honest with you, sweetheart. Yes. You’re growing up on me and I hate that I’m still far behind. You’re wanting to do all these things and to me you’re still my baby girl.” Jake says, watching as you nod at his words, hands running through Moose’s fur as he pants happily.

“I’m not going to stay little forever, dad.” You mutter, looking over at Jake who nods lightly, sadness in his eyes.

“I know. I’m trying to catch up. I’ll try to be better.” Jake says softly, making you shuffle closer to him so you could hug him which meant Moose took that as an invitation to prop his front paws on your lap so he could lick your faces, making the two of you laugh and push him away gently. You then continue on the walk and when you get home, you’re greeted by Bradley who upon questioning says that the moment he arrived at Phoenix’s house, her date also pulled up leaving Bradley to assume that there was never any drama in the first place. You then excuse yourself to head into the back garden with Moose just to go over some training with him while Bradley and Jake watch from the back door. Bradley wraps his arms around Jake’s waist from behind and rests his chin on Jake’s shoulder.

“She’s a really good driver you know? Nailed everything.” Bradley mumbles before pressing a kiss to Jake’s neck.

“I bet. She can show me what she worked on later if she’s up to it.” Jake agrees, smiling as Bradley’s kisses make their way up to his jaw.

“I am also calling it now; she’s passing on her first try.” Bradley then says, watching as Jake nods in agreement, unable to find any way to disagree.

And as it turned out, Bradley was right.

taglist (comment or ask to be added):

@zbeez-outlet @kaceywithak @tsnelf7 @starkleila @cassadilasworld @shanimallina87 @madstxo @chaoticassidy @padsdarlg @lauraseresin @alohastitch0626

#justabigassnerd #justabigassnerd writes #hangman junior #hangman junior universe #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun fic #top gun maverick fic #hangman top gun #hangman x reader #hangman x you #hangman x daughter!reader #jake seresin #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin x y/n #jake seresin x you #jake seresin x daughter!reader #jake 'hangman' seresin #jake 'hangman' seresin x reader #jake 'hangman' seresin x daughter!reader #jake hangman seresin #hangman x rooster #jake seresin x bradley bradshaw

[haunted-radishes]

Hey, you seem to be a Wen Ning enjoyer, can you tell me what you like best about him? I feel like he has a lot of potential that isn’t really explored enough for him to be a fave so I’d like to hear your POV on him!

Honestly, right from the beginning he has always just made me happy :D

But to delve into it, the first thing that struck me about him was how kind he is. He's a sweet guy! I started with The Untamed, only reading the novel later, so my primary impression of him is the version that sneaks down to the dungeons to take out the evil dog and give Wei Wuxian some medicine, so he's going behind his sect's back to do what's right as soon as he has the opportunity to do so. I love how he's timid and gentle, but has the backbone of steel to risk it all to do the right thing.

But he's also kind of. Odd. Sometimes it ties into his hidden nerves of steel, like when he drugs the entire cohort at Lotus Pier to help Wei Wuxian and co. Like, it was an incredible act, but he just. Fucking. Drugged them. No hesitation. Absolutely wild behavior. Especially in the novel where he had only met Wei Wuxian once before this! I do prefer the drama version where his actions make more sense, but his devotion is at least a little unhinged no matter the version. But also, even besides the obsessive devotion, his energy is just. Endearingly strange and off-putting. Like when he decides that the best way to quietly contact Wei Wuxian is to dangle upside down outside his window. Or feels absolutely no need to make himself less terrifying when he power walks towards the tied-up juniors with a sword.

And then! The unexplored depths and unexamined tragedy! You're left to wonder so much about him! How DOES he feel about the whole fierce corpse thing? About his compromised autonomy? Would he have turned against his sect even if Wei Wuxian hadn't charmed him? Does he regret any of his actions before killing Jin Zixuan? How deep do his grudges run? Is there anyone from the Wen sect outside his established circle of family and cultivators who he misses or secretly mourns? What does he think about the other great sect members, especially the leaders? Plus so many more questions we'll never truly know the answers to, because he tucks his problems away and never speaks of them! The closest glimpse we get of his inner turmoil is his verbal evisceration of Jiang Cheng with the core reveal, and that does show us some interesting things about his character! For the first time, we see him choosing to be as hurtful as possible, showing how much he clearly resents Jiang Cheng, but how much of that is personal dislike, how much is anger on Wei Wuxian's behalf, how much is blame for the deaths of his family, and how much is gall at him benefiting from dear late Wen Qing's genius and service without even knowing it? Also, what is he going to do after canon? What is left for him?

Also he's relatable, lol. That awkward uncertainty he always carries with him is very endearing in an "oh, me too buddy" kind of way. He has so much going on inside his head, but all that comes out is, "oh! Excuse me >.<" People are having massive emotional moments right in front of him, and he's just..... There.

Anyway, Wen Ning! Love that guy! Makes my brain go "brrrr"

#wen ning #asks #theres more vibesey stuff that's just. not coming out rn #don't know if i could put it into words at all #but he's My Guy

[mystargirl-interlude]

𝙻𝙰𝙲𝚈

Billy Hargrove. heart throb of Hawkins Indiana, he could have any girl he ever wanted. Im not going to sit here and lie and say I don't have feelings for him, he's treated me nicely but that doesn't mean he wants me? I don't look like the other girls in Hawkins, I know beauty is not my lack but the way I'm treated it feels like that.

im not popular so the day billy came up to me during the last semester of junior year was a big shock to me 

sitting in French class listening to mrs Roberts give us our last graded assignment before the school year ends I can hear billy and Sarah talk about their plans for the weekend.

Sarah she is by far one of the most stunning girls in Hawkins, basically a Bridget Bardot reincarnate, gorgeous pale skin, honey blonde hair. what wouldn't you love about her? 

getting out of my thoughts by the bell ringing I grab my stuff and go start walking to my locker to get my books for my next class. 

billy Hargrove

I needed to get my grades up in French class because there's most likely nothing more embarrassing than having to repeat a class

so what's better than having the pretty smart girl tutor me?

her

feeling the presence of somebody next to me I look over and see billy next to me 

"hi?" I ask

"y/n right?" he asks with a smirk

"yeah! did you need something?" 

"so I was wondering if you could help me with this grade for French class because the last thing I need is to repeat junior year" he asks

"oh yeah of course, what do you have in mind?" I ask 

"your house, say 7 a'clock?"

"yeah, sounds great! here's my address." I say giving him a piece a paper 

days pass and study session after study session pass. but also meet ups where we didn't necessarily study 

"bi-billy if we don't finish these flash card you're gonna fail" I say against his lips while I'm in his lap 

"just five more minutes 

...

a few days had passed and I would say we had something going on, we had made a few appearances at parties and I wanna say things were going well.

until he passed his test 

he stopped showing up to my house  he stopped talking to me and every time I tried to make conversation with him we would give me short answers and walk to carol and Tommy but then I see him with Sarah at school basically all hours of the day

I would say me and her were aqaintenced. we would stay hi to each other in the halls she would smile to everyone she passed, she was the sweetest thing on this side of hell  but I soon stopped talking to her  once she started being around billy and she didn't seem to mind 

did I ever tell you I'm not doing well?

the more he was with her the more I became obsessed with her I loathed her.

on the outside it would seem like I was in love with her. its like a girl crush in a different font.

every time she would compliment me it was like bullets on skin, that's how much it impacted me, being complimented by the most gorgeous girl in school. 

I kept going to parties until I didn't. the one time I didn't go to a party  I didn't expect much to happen because nothing ever does. it was the week before school ended and the Monday after the party.

the moment I walked into school all eyes were on me. walking the halls confused I feel my best friend robin pull me to the side and pull me into a hug 

"what's going on why is everyone staring at me?" I laugh confused 

"billy and Sarah were seen together all night at the party and they left together" she says really fast 

eyes watering I put a smile on 

"why would I care we were never together anyway" I laugh walking away 

making my way to French class I go to the back of the class putting my head down the class starts to fill up 

picking my head up I see Sarah is in front of me. staring at the back of her head she has a ribbon in her hair. I try to hate her I really try but I can't. it's like she's made out of angel dust.

she turns around to face me and gives me a soft smile like she feels sorry for me

its like she's out to get me.

I hate her I hate her I hate her 

but I don't. I hate my rotten mind for how much I worship her. 

billy comes in 5 minutes late and sits down next to Sarah 

I write in my journal deciding not to give him any more of my attention 

I feel his eyes on me but I can't bring my self to look up at him 

I begin writing what I feel to be a poem but I have the melody that I can't get out of my head 

lacy, oh lacy, skin like puff pastry 

tears fall on my paper and  thank god the bell rings because I couldn't stand to be around him anymore 

bolting out of the class room I hear my name being called by an all to familiar voice but my feet can't stop moving and I exit the school 

hearing footsteps behind me I turn around to see billy behind me with a saddened look on his face 

"y/n." he says in a hushed voice 

uncontrollable tears make their way out of my eyes 

"I'm sorry I can't" i say

"but I understand why you chose her, how could you not?" I whisper with a saddened smile 

I walk away before he could say anything else and I leave for the day 

night time rolls around and I get a call

picking up the phone its a call from the principle saying I don't have to return to school and I can start my summer break because I finished all my last tests early 

me and robin end up spending summer break in California with her friends Nancy and Steve along with Nancys brother and his friends the first week we are there we spend almost all the time at Venice beach 

"this is by far the best ice cream I ever had" mikes friend dustin randomly blurts out

"hey!" Steve says offended as he used to work at an ice cream shop

"what! its true" dustin gets cut off by a very familiar woman coming up to us 

"hello I know this seems very strange but would it be okay if I talked to you for a minute?" she says looking at me 

"oh! um sure " I reply standing up from the beach towel following her to the sidewalk 

"im sarah doukas with the storm modeling agency and me and my assistant saw you and couldn't take our eyes off you, you have a one of a kind look that we haven't seen for years, we can't even remember how long we have been trying to find someone with your beauty. would you like to make a contract with us for our new Chanel campaign?"

(I know that's not how it works shhh😭)

that's the first time I have heard the name Sarah and didn't want to break down

"oh my god! I absolutely love your work I knew I recognized you from somewhere, holy shit um yes I would love to!" I reply 

"great, here's our card and fittings are next week, just call the number and we will give you all the info" she smiles walking away 

shocked I quickly walk back to the group immediately pulling robin into a hug telling her what just happened 

"wait you got scouted by THE Sarah doukas??????" her and Nancy yell 

"who's that?" Steve asks oblivious to what's going on

weeks pass and so does the best day of my life. this is the first time I don't feel like I'm being drowned by Sarah and her looks I finally feel like I'm my own person 

after the photoshoot I somehow make friends with THE Naomi Campbell we exchange numbers and Chanel gives me basically a full wardrobe of clothes from them for free and they tell me my pay for the photoshoot which let me tell you was way more than I would have ever made working at the diner for a year 

but all good things come to an end and we have to go back to Hawkins to begin  the school year but the magazine comes out 2 weeks after school starts and I'm hoping people will finally look at me different but also I'm hoping they see me different now that I changed, I cut my hair just above my shoulders and I no longer have old out dated clothes.

I feel like I have grown as a person these past 3 months. Sarah no longer consumes my thoughts and neither does billy. I don't feel like throwing up every time I hear about them. I have come to peace about it 

I no longer feel like she's out to get me

for once I am actually excited to start the school year 

#billy hargrove x reader #stranger things x reader #billy hargove imagine #billy hargrove x female reader #billy hargrove x reader smut #billy hargove x reader #billy hargrove blurb #billy hargrove angst

[imfinereallyy]

Am I a Taylor swift girlie? No. Cannot I not resist the swiftification of steddie because of this post? Also yes. This is for all the swifties and @harringtonisms who inspired this post.

“You know, there was a brief moment where I thought about proposing to Nancy.”

Eddie almost chokes on his beer, and Steve has to lean over to pat his back. Steve can’t help but feel a little bad for startling him.

“Excuse me, what?” Eddie turns his head to Steve, finally calmed down. Steve thinks the pool lights reflecting off his pale skin makes him look even prettier than usual. It feels unfair.

“Sorry, we’re talking about life and stuff, and it felt natural to bring it up!” Steve shrugs his shoulders, regretting saying anything in the first place.

“I was talking about how we should all move to Indy, and you thought to bring up how you almost proposed to your high school girlfriend at, what? 16?”

“17.”

“Jesus Christ.” Eddie wiped a hand down his face. “The longer we are friends, the more deeply unsettling things I learn about you. Just when I think there can’t be more, boom! You hit me with another thing, Stevie.”

Steve feels himself get prickly, “Hey man, no need to be a dick.”

Eddie’s face softens, “Sorry. Sorry. Took me by surprise. I am a little curious, though. If you’re…still willing to share.”

Steve takes in Eddie for a moment, debating whether to explain. He knows he can trust Eddie. He trusts him with his life, and, more importantly, the kids' lives, and he knows most of Steve’s secrets. And Steve looks at Eddie, like really looks at him, and knows that even though he will make fun of him, he won’t judge him.

Steve is starting to learn the difference.

“The summer between my junior and senior year, things with me and Nance started to turn sour. Right after the first round of the Upside Down, we broke up for like two weeks. I hadn’t known at the time, but I think it was because she was waiting for Jonathan to make a move.”

“Shit dude, that sucks.”

“It’s fine. Stupid high school love triangle. Felt like the end of the world at the time. The irony is not lost on me.” Steve pats around his pockets for his cigarettes. The one secret Eddie is privy to that Robin is not. He only does it when he is stressed or drinking, and now he is exposed to both.

Steve puts one in his mouth and lights up; he motions the pack to Eddie in offering. “Thanks, man.” Eddie takes the cigarette and leans into Steve, the motion familiar, almost routine. Like Eddie knows he shouldn’t bother to ask for the light, that Steve will do it for him.

Steve flicks the lighter open while Eddie cups his hands. Steve doesn’t move away when Eddie blows smoke in his face. Steve will take it. He wants desperately to take it directly from his lips, exhale the taste of menthol and Eddie’s tongue, but he can’t. So he’ll take this.

“So summer it turned sour?”

Steve clears his throat, leans back a little but doesn’t move away completely. He rests his elbows on his knees. “We got back together after those two weeks, and suddenly it was like Nancy was clinging to me. Well, in the most Nancy way possible, which isn’t much, but for her, it was a lot. It was like she needed to prove to herself she was making the right decisions. When summer came around, though, I think everything settled in for her. The Upside Down, Barb being dead, me being unfit for her.”

Steve takes a drag, “She started criticizing me a lot. Saying I wasn’t committed, telling me I’m unfocused. That I didn’t understand. That I was pushing things aside. It was a bit unfair of her, considering she didn’t really want to talk about things; she didn’t want to explain, she just wanted to do what she wanted. I mean, I can’t really blame her—her best friend died, and it was my fault—“

“Sweetheart,” Eddie tries to cut him off,

“Never mind, off-topic.” Steve waves his cigarette hand in the air. “Anyway, in the summer, I took that as she saw me not committed to her. That I wasn’t focused enough on her, and her wants. Which, in retrospect, probably was naive of me, but I was 17 and madly in love with her. So I thought about proposing. The thought maybe lasted a week, right before school started. I thought, ‘This will show her I care. That I am in this.’ It didn’t seem that crazy to me at the time. I mean my parents got married at 18, had me at 22. It wasn’t exactly out of the normal. I even bought a ring—“

Steve laughs manically for a moment, while Eddie stays silent.

“—which was insane of me. It wasn’t a nice ring, either. I had to use the money I saved from lifeguarding. Which wasn’t much, so it was a dainty little Diamond on a small band that I found in a pawnshop in Bloomington. But like I said, the idea only lasted about a week. Once school started, Nancy got really distant. And my parents came home, and I was reminded about why you shouldn’t get married at 18. So I just let the thought go, kind of. But I held on to the ring, because I think part of me still held on to the idea. And then the ‘bullshit’ incident happened, and well, you know the rest.”

“Jesus, Steve. I’m sorry.” Eddie’s cigarette is almost down to the filter, the ash building up at the end. He barely hit it the entire story.

“Not your fault, Eds. I think she was kind of, right anyway. We weren’t right for each other, and I was more worried about being normal, and moving on that I didn’t let her move on the way she needed. I wasn’t the best, even now. I get it. I…”

“What?” Eddie moves closer, their knees brushing against each other. Steve can’t look him in the eye. “What, Stevie?”

“I wouldn’t marry me either.”

Eddie takes in a sharp breath. The sound cuts through Steve so suddenly he wipes he head up to face Eddie.

When Steve’s eyes meet Eddie’s, he isn’t expecting the tears. He isn’t expecting the softness. He certainly isn’t expecting Eddie to cup Steve’s face with a tenderness he hasn’t known since he was a child. “You don’t really think that do you?”

Steve’s frustrated voice turns into a soft whisper. “Of course I do. Eddie, I wouldn’t want to stick around someone like me. I’m broken beyond repair, and the only thing I would have going for me is money, and it isn’t even mine. Like I said, the ring I bought isn’t even nice.”

“Show me it, trust me, if it’s anything like you, I bet it’s beautiful.”

Steve chokes back a sob, “I pawned it back, actually. Months ago, for Robin’s birthday. I bought her that chunky turquoise ring she wears on her pointer instead.”

Eddie laughs, a small wet one. Steve knows he’s thinking about how often Robin accidentally smacks people in the face with it, but adamantly refuses to take it off. “Good, Buckley deserves pretty things.”

“That’s why I keep telling her to take a shot at Nancy.”

Eddie gives a big laugh this time, his hands still clinging to Steve’s face. The laugh sends vibrations through Steve, making him feel warm and safe.

“That’ll happen, I guarantee it, but it will take ten years. Going to be some rom-com kind of story for them to get it together.” Eddie brushes the hair from Steve’s face. A thumb caresses his cheek. “Steve, I don’t think I’m the best person to unpack all of that. Truly I am a disaster of a human being when it comes to love. But I do know that anyone, and I mean anyone, would be lucky to have you. Nance didn’t see it—or maybe she did and knew she wasn’t right for you. I don’t know. But someday, someone will not just want to marry you, but need to. They are going to want to keep you forever and do their best to accomplish that.”

“I don’t have much, Eddie. I’m just an empty shell, with an empty wallet, going nowhere. Who would choose me?”

Eddie leans back, taking his hands away from Steve’s face. He doesn’t move very far, but he looks up at the sky and whispers, “Oh, Steve. You just don’t see how amazing you are. You don’t need anything for someone to want you.”

Steve doesn’t want to break whatever moment Eddie is having, so all he can manage is a simple, “Yea?”

Eddie looks back at Steve, really looks at him, and says,

“I’d marry you with paper rings.”

Steve breaks a little. In a good way, in a needed way. Like he is breaking himself open to see what’s inside. And inside is this unwavering love for a man who he calls one of his best friends. Steve isn’t sure what to say, really. Eddie’s unwavering stare says he understands. That he doesn’t have to say anything at all.

Steve grabs his empty beer bottle and peels off the label, and starts to roll it and twist it into a tiny circle. He grabs Eddie’s hand and puts the makeshift ring on his finger.

Steve brings their conjoined hands to his mouth and kisses the back of Eddie’s. “Me too.”

***

Sue me, the 10 minute version of All to Well is a masterpiece and it would be silly to not admit it.

also this is unedited…like I wrote this and ran. Thinking about doing another version with the quotes reverse because I have an idea.

#steddie #stranger things #taylor swift #i honestly don't know if I did this justice #but I hope you enjoy anyway #can't resist making these boys soft #Steve harrington #Eddie munson #hurt/comfort #happy ending

[bordysbae]

Can I get “don’t feel special that i’m here, my mom made me come.” “mhm, sure.” And “are they fighting again?” “worse, they’re kissing” for Adam Fantilli please and thank you <3

“favor”

adam fantilli x f!reader

not proof read oops

“absolutely not mom! i’m not going to his stupid hockey game!” you roll your eyes. your mom then lets out a huff, “please y/n? just do me one favor. i know you guys haven’t spoken since last year, but please? you don’t even have to talk to him,” your mom begs.

“fine. i’m only doing you a favor because i expect one in return,” you groan, obeying her wish and slipping on your shoes. you guys head towards the hockey rink, where part of the fantilli family would be waiting for you two. “oh y/n hi! it’s been so long!” julia fantilli—your mothers lifelong best friend—pulls you into a hug.

“julia, hi! it’s been too long!” you put on a fake smile. the reason you haven’t seen the fantilli family in so long is because you and adam got in a huge fight last year. everyone knows about it since you and adam were best friends, and it came as a shock to everyone. ever since then you’ve tried your best to avoid any events with the fantilli family. but the only ones you couldn’t get out of were the annual events, such as friendsgiving, christmas, and easter. the fight happened last christmas, when you had left the christmas eve dinner to go hang out with your (now ex) boyfriend. both sets of parents said it was okay, but adam flipped out at you the next day.

you two have barely spoken since.

you still to this day never got a full explanation on why adam freaked out, but you’re still angry. it’s been over a year, yet you two have hardly spoken any words to each other besides things like: “happy thanksgiving” “merry christmas” or even “can i borrow a pencil?”

—

as you walk into the hockey rink, the cool air sends a little chill against your arms. it’s been so long since you went to one of adam’s games that you forgot how cold it can get. you take your spot in the bleachers next to your mom, with giulano on your left.

“so, watcha been up to kid?” he asks, making a little smile appear on your lips. giuliano has always been a second father to you, and julia has been a second mom to you too.

“not much, just thinking about colleges i wanna tour next year. i can’t believe i’m gonna be a junior, i can remember me and adam in kindergarten like it was yesterday,” you chuckle, a somber smile forming at your lips. you dwell on the old memories of you and adam, and you can tell giuliano does the same.

“he misses you, y’know” he says, looking out at the ice waiting for the game to start. suddenly your mouth runs dry, “what?”

“don’t play dumb, i know you heard me. i think you should talk to him,” giuliano shrugs. before you can retort, the team skates out onto the ice, and the starting lineup stands on the ice for the national anthem. as you’re sitting back down, you spot the ‘C’ on luca’s jersey.

“luca’s captain now?!” you exclaim.

“yep! first season as captain, we’re so proud of him!” julia chimes in.

“wow, i really have missed a lot,” you mumble. giuliano turns to you and whispers in your ear, “i told you! you should talk to him, like seriously.”

—

adam scores the winning goal, and you find yourself jumping to your feet and clapping. you catch yourself and stop immediately, but your mom is already sending you a smirk. as the two freshly showered boys exit the locker room, adam’s eyes widen when he sees you.

“y/n, hi,” he awkwardly states

“congrats adam,” you say before immediately going to congratulate luca on becoming captain. julia takes your moms hand and goes to greet some of the other parents, meanwhile luca leaves to fill up his water bottle. leaving you and adam.

“um, is there a restroom anywhere?” you ask shyly.

“yeah, follow me.”

you walk next to adam as he leads you around the corner, to a little area with two unisex restroom. you thank him, but stop in your tracks before opening the door. you turn around and see adam beginning to make a 180, but you stop him.

“adam, i’m sorry,” you say, catching his attention. he turns around with a confused look. “for what?” he asks.

“i don’t know, but i’m sorry. i did something that upset you last year, and i’m sorry. although i don’t know what it is, i apologize. i never wanted to upset you nor did i want us to stop being friends. i miss you adam,” you state.

“no, i’m sorry. i never gave you an explanation on why i got so mad, and i regret that. i miss you too. i got mad because i was jealous. you and jackson had only been dating a month, and it didn’t bother me until you ditched our annual dinner for him. i thought that you were gonna slowly drift from me towards him, so i got mad. it’s so stupid, but i guess it also helped me realize my feelings for you,” he shrugs. your breath hitches, and before you can even think, you lips crash against his.

at first he doesn’t kiss back, but he soon realizes and kisses back. he deepens it by putting a hand behind your head, and your hands find their way around his neck.

luca walks around the corner looking for you, and gasps. he scurries over to his mom, “mom! you won’t believe adam and y/n!”

she lets out an audible sigh, “are they fighting again?”

“worse! theyre kissing!” the older fantilli chuckles, looking at the reaction on both his parents and your mothers faces. at that moment, you and adam walk around the corner towards the bleachers, and see everyone looking at you two.

“well, we’re friends again,” you awkwardly chuckle, looking up at adam. everyone decides it’s best not to mention the kiss, and head towards the cars for the ritual post game ice cream. you and adam walk slowly behind everyone else, catching up on things.

“i’m surprised you came, i was wondering when you’d next show up to a game,”

“don’t feel special, my mom made me come,” you roll your eyes jokingly.

“mhm sure”

#adam fantilli blurb #adam fantilli imagine #adam fantilli #adam fantilli x reader #hockey blurb #hockey imagine #umich hockey #michigan hockey

[tvgals]

omgg i need an expansion on college junior eren getting reader pregnant

i must give the people what they want 😽

“i’ll b ovr in bout 10”

eren sat there with his hand cupping the bottom of his face and his elbow resting on his knee, looking at his phone. currently, he’s trying to look like the most nonchalant mf ever, but he just can’t manage it.

“hurry tf up”

“i’m otw rn.”

he stands up and walks over to jean’s apartment door, trying to navigate through all the smoke in the room.

“yo eren! where ya’ goin’?” connie stumbles over, putting a hand on eren’s shoulder. “to the store. now goodbye.” eren says, pushing connie’s hand off his shoulder and walking out the door. “the fuck is his deal?”

eren practically dashed down the stairs and jumped into his car. he put his keys into the engine and he pulled off. he goes to his messages app and facetimes you from there. he silently waits until you answer.

“what?” you whisper, only the top of your bonnet and your forehead being visible, along with the background noise of dance moms. you sound visibly upset.

“bro i’m on the way. i’m just saying, if you actually want this baby, bro, i’ll support. but i’m not taking care of it.” he grunts. all he hears is some moving around and the tone of you hanging up. he sighs and rubs his face.

“dammit.” eren didn’t know what to do. was he supposed to take care of it with you? or just leave you by yourself? maybe he’d drop by and act like a friend…but what if the baby looks just like him with little hints of you…but he doesn’t love you..does he? no! of course not! right…?

the thoughts swarming his head made the drive seem 10 times shorter. he pulls into your driveway and parks his car. before he walks in, he takes a deep breath and opens his door. he lugs up the rest of your driveway, the guilt weighing on his back, and knocks on your door. shifting from heel to heel. from all the times he’s been in this position ( not getting girls pregnant and refusing to take care of them ) but from all the times he’s been in front of your door, he’s found that if he’s really quiet and if he tunes out every thing else, he can hear the pitter-patter of your footsteps.

you get to the door and open it up, looking eren dead in the eye. “get the fuck in here.”

you lead him upstairs and sit on your bed. eren sits next to you, looking around the familiar environment. your purple colored led lights illuminating your room. “so…what are we gonna do?” you ask, looking down at your hands and fiddling with your thumbs. “ion know. i don’t wanna sit here and waste your time talkin’ bout nothing tho.” he says, flopping down on your bed.

“i was thinking of abortion…i dunno…i’ve always wanted a family! i don’t know if it’s too soon, if i’m just not fit for this…or if…my family vision just isn’t working with…you..in it. y’know?” you say tears welling in your eyes. you’re not starting to cry because you love him. no, you’re crying because your child, if you end up having it, it will more than likely grow up without knowing their father.

and you’d rather die then have that happen.

written w black reader in mind

#blkshoyo #black reader #im black #i love being black #ilovemyfollowers #ilysm <3 #anime #being black #writing is my therapy #black writers #eren aot #aot fluff #aot eren #aot fandom #aot fanfiction #aot x black reader #aot x you #black reader smut #x black reader #black readers

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High Junior Year Ep 4 Shrimp and Strudel 

Welcome back to the Report Card where we’re gonna waste no time with just getting into it as the last ep ended on a big cliffhanger. 

We pick up where we left off–Kristen talking to Cass who is petting Kalina–currently in her cat form and claiming that she’s not bad anymore (with a verbal “meow” which is so unsettling/funny). Kristen isn’t buying it but it’s not a crazy claim. If Cass is bad, she should be bad and if Cass is good, likewise. 

Good or bad, she is still very eyes on the prize and immediately starts grilling Kristen on what her plans are as Cass’s sole cleric–a fair question considering she’s all that stands between Cass (and Kalina by extension) and oblivion. Cass tries to keep the peace between her familiar and her cleric and even gives Kristen an out: she’s gotten invitations to quit being a god and be an archfey of the Autumn Court instead. But Kristen doesn’t seem to want to take it. She says she does believe in Cass but she’s kind of hard to evangelize for because her whole deal is a hard pill to swallow even if it’s more true and deeper than the certainty other religions provide. Kalina’s eyes narrow and she says that Kristen’s a shitty saleswoman. 

Kalina instead wants to go with a pitch of, “Hey? Do you wanna wield sick ass night magic and crush your enemies?” Which Kristen thinks is kind of a betrayal of Cass’ whole ethos. Kalina thinks they can quibble over details once Cass has more than TWO followers (shoutout Craig) and Cass on one level gets where Kristen is coming from but on a deeper level REALLY doesn’t wanna die. She says that their plans aren’t actually conflicting and they can work on both of them! She asks Kristen when she has the bandwidth to talk about this and Kristen is like, right now! All she cares about is Cass…and her campaign. Kalina is clearly so over this and reminds Cass that though they can’t actually go to the material plane, there are places they can talk to mortals outside of the material plane like the Synod of Spyre (wizard hub where they incidentally just put in a new mall!). Wizards like magic and mystery and stars, right? Cass is all about all of those things! It’s an untapped market! 

A plan is set for them to head to the mall over the weekend and Kristen sincerely apologizes for dropping the ball and hurting Cass’s feelings. Cass tells her that she doesn’t need to be sorry, that she’s there for her when things are uncertain, and that she believes in her. She kisses Kristen on the forehead and sends her back to school. 

At lunch, Adaine tries to call Aelwyn but gets her answering machine. Aelwyn texts to ask what’s up (she’s in class “looking after bozos”) and Adaine says she’ll call her later. She texts an “I love you” and then deletes it, causing a torrent of divination spells to come in as Aelwyn tries to figure out what the deleted message was. 

Before Fabian heads to lunch, he has a banking interlude with his banker at KVX (Alston) who tells him his trust is worth 20 million gold and he gets an allowance of 5k gold a month. Rich as he is, Fabian is staggered by the amount of money and asks if there’s a way to cash it all out now. Alston says that due to a clause left by his dad (meant to encourage him to forge his own path), he can cash out 2 million but then the rest would go to his various nemeses (with a small cut to the bank). They apparently have a whole department just for tracking the nemeses of their clients. Chungledown Bim is listed as one of Fabian’s nemeses so he immediately shuts down talk of cashing out. Chungledown Bim with 18 million gold? Terrifying. Alston offers Fabian a free trial of Nemesis Alert which lets you know if anyone on your planet has sworn vengeance on you but Fabian declines, having the foresight to know that he’ll forget to cancel. 

Once everyone is at lunch, Riz uses the Message cantrip to tell everyone that Kipperlily Copperkettle (KP) was spying on them and overheard them talking about Kristen’s god dying. They look around to check if she’s spying on them right down and don’t see her but, on a Nat 20, Fabian senses…something. He immediately signs up for that free trial of nemesis alert and is told that no one has sworn vengeance on him in the last 30 days (but what about before that Alston???? What about before 30 days ago?????). Adaine turns on her wizard feature that lets her see invisibility and walks around the cafeteria, but doesn’t clock anyone. 

Gorthalax shows up to hype up the boys for Bloodrush tryouts later in the day and Fabian asks about the Rat Grinders. Gorthalax says that their Barbarian (Mary Ann) is trying out later and offers to tell them where the name comes from. It’s just what we speculated last week. These posers are literally level grinding! They’re farming XP by going to the woods just outside of school (Where the week 2 freshman go to practice) and killing rats, spiders, and twig gremlins. They made it to Junior Year by just killing rattatas on route 1! Apparently, they do this for 3 hours at the end of every day and 9 hours every weekend. Riz is HISSING with rage at how against the spirit of the rules this is. But here’s the thing. Grinding low level monsters to get this far is very uncool. But the focus it takes? Kind of impressive. And that thought strikes Riz through the rage. 

After lunch, Gorgug goes to talk to Henry Hopclap (gnomish Artificer teacher with the same last name as the Rat Grinder bard btw). He sees an equation on the board and tries to have a Good Will Hunting moment but ends up just trying to solve for Henry’s email address and phone number. Minor mathematical blunder aside, Henry tells Gorgug that he actually approved his MCAT, but Porter had the last word. He tells Gorgug that he doesn’t actually have to be an Artificer in a school sanctioned capacity just because he’s passionate about it. He can just do it on his own time. But Gorgug is determined so Henry tells him that there’s technically another way: he can take three years of Artificing at the same time and withdraw from Barbarian classes. 

I took psychic damage from hearing that and I took even more when Gorgug decided to do that AND take Barb classes (which Henry says that he can do but he has to run that by Porter). 

Though Henry is way more supportive than Porter, he still tells Gorgug that this is gonna be an uphill battle. Junior Year artificing is already very hard and there’s never been a Barb/Art multiclass at Aguefort before. Like Porter, he says that he doesn’t really see how the passion you need to be a good Barbarian and the dispassionate focus you need to be a good Artificer mesh together, but he’s rooting for him. The other students filter in and, based on how well equipped they are, it seems like our boy has a lot of catching up to do. 

Meanwhile, Fabian gets the other half of his MCAT paperwork signed off by his Fighting teacher (Corsisca Jones who looks a LOT like Aabria who played her younger sister Antiope Jones in The Seven) with barely any conversation or pushback about it. Must be nice! 

During a break period, the Bad Kids are hanging out on the quad. Riz and Kristen work together on Kristen’s paperwork and his applications for as many clubs as possible while they both down coffee. Fig is trying to see if she can figure out where in time the fossils Ayda sent her are from so she can send a message but she’s beaten to punch when a weary knight from “Order of the Sacred Scroll” shows up with a message his order has protected for 1500 years. One that he killed his brother for peeking at. One that he’s devoted his life to. Fig opens it up and it’s literally just a “Love you, Miss you,”  postcard from Ayda. 

Porter (who we learn loves Fig despite the fact and honestly largely because of the fact that she hates him and he appreciates a good rage) shows up and Gorgug goes to tell him that he’s going to triple down on his classes. His friends say that he’s really smart and he can handle it. Porter says that he’ll let Gorgug do it if one of his friends audits the class with him to help him and Fig happily agrees.

After school, Aelwyn calls Adaine and we learn exactly what kind of teacher Aelwyn is as she says that she got sent to the principal’s office for making some of her students cry. Thank you for letting her stay in Elmville, Brennan. Anyway, Adaine rattles off the list of insanely expensive things she needs for class and Aelwyn suggests some solutions: (1) They can find and kill their mom in order to inherit, (2) they can sell drugs, (3) they can sell weapons, (4) Adaine can maybe…get a job? Adaine doesn’t know how to get a job and asks Aelwyn how she got hers. Apparently, she blackmailed the principal. With what, asks Adaine. Photographs Aelwyn says with a coy smile and Adaine requests that Aelwyn not enlighten her any further. Adaine laments the fact that she had to give up all her dragon madness gold and then signs off with a verbal “I love you” that she tries to take back. Aelwyn pounces on it like one of her five cats. “I heard you say it!” she says with a villainous laugh. “I win. You've exposed yourself to me.” She hangs up and, once again, Brennan, thank you. 

We cut to Bloodrush tryouts where Fabian gives an honestly really good speech to the team and prospective recruits (tres Jammer). Riz is also at tryouts because, remember, he’s trying out for literally everything. We see a drow student (Hexblade Warlock Max Durden) give a really good showing and Riz give a not so great performance. Then, Mary Ann Skuttle shows up–the Barbarian of the Rat Grinders who’s this tiny kobold girl with aesthetic, kawaii plushies on her backpack. None of that energy is on her face though and she seems very unenthused to be there, answering all questions with short, monotone answers. On the field though? She’s a monster. She absolutely bodies Gorgug, sending him flying across in the field in a way that no one has before (Brennan says that he needed to beat a 33). And she didn’t even get a running start! Gorthalax is thrilled to get her on the team so that they can finally beat their rivals (the Hellions). Riz uses one of his gadgets to cast detect magic and sees that she was buffed with magic (but that’s not illegal in Bloodrush). Gorthalax breaks the news to him that he didn’t make the team and he just runs to the next club on his list. Gotta pad that resume! 

After school, Kristen meets up with Bucky who has a lot of the same energy she had on her first day. He’s a Helioic Paladin as we suspected and he’s been telling people they’re going to hell. Kristen doesn’t *love* that but she does tell Bucky to campaign for KP while he’s proselytizing to try to poison the waters a bit. Bucky says that he really misses her and that he hasn’t told their parents about all the gold she sent. Kristen tries to convince him that maybe the concept of hell they grew up with isn’t real, but that’s hard to argue when two separate devils (Fig and Gorthalax) are literally in the room with them. Bucky recognizes the Rat Grinders symbol on the pin Kristen gives him and says the new Helioic cleric from Highcourt (who their parents love) has one of those. We don’t get any more info from him though because Kristen drops an F bomb in front of him and he runs away like a scared puppy. 

Fabian drops some hints that he’s lonely in his big empty house so the gang heads to Seacaster Manor for a study party. They Doordash some pad thai and Adaine gets a text from Aelwyn which has a link to job listings at the Synod mall. On a pretty low Investigation check (6) she finds an ad for a place called Oodles of Strudel that pays 2 silver a day and doesn’t require a resume, just an interview.  

A lot happens during this study party so I’m gonna go through it rapid fire:

Kristen tells everyone that Kalina is back. 

Riz learns (as a residual part of his 30 Investigation roll from last ep) that party comp is announced at the end of their first day and if it changes (ie: someone leaves the party or dies) everyone else goes pass/fail which excludes them from extra credit which would exclude them from scholarships and such. So everyone has to stick together and not die!

Adaine goes to the Synod mall and interviews with a dude named Biff at Oodles of Strudel (where they pump strudel in from a strudel dimension because sure). She gets the job! Though idk if that’s worth celebrating because it’s 8 hour shifts and she has to work the night shift because of school. 

Fabian texts Mazey and determines that if he’s going to be a maximum legend like he wants, he has to host a party on the first weekend back and he’s committed. 

Fig, shockingly, goes to class AGAIN. It must have been cut from last episode but she learned that warlock classes meet at night and decided to check them out. The teacher is a hot vampire lady with a celestial paramour patron so Fig is like, all in right away. Not only that, she rolls a Nat 20 to catch up and it turns out that, as we already know, when she’s dialed in, she’s really good at this stuff! Plus, warlock is a charisma class and she has charisma for days. With warlocks it seems like it’s all about paperwork but really it’s about relationships, bargains, and exchange. As Zara tells Fig after class is over, these are things that everyone deals with every day, the power is just more potent when the bargains are struck consciously. Zara says she’ll approve her MCAT if she wants and Fig, eager to avoid work on her Sophomore album and genuinely taken by the class, agrees. 

Ragh shows up at the manor and Adaine asks how Tracker is doing. He says she’s doing great and the four months of night were honestly great for her whole situation as cleric of the moon goddess. Kristen GRILLS his ass about the “bitch on her lap” on her socials and Ragh (who was supposed to let Tracker break this news but cracks under Kristen’s manic energy) says it’s her new girlfriend, elven princess Naradriel–Nara for short (another girl with a dog name Kristen laments as though her first girlfriend isn’t named TRACKER). Ragh says Nara has been trying to have Tracker and her go Facebook official for a while and that photo she saw was her compromise. Kristen gives Rgh the go-ahead to tell Tracker she can reach out. Ragh says she’s cooler than Nara and he’s rooting for her. 

And that’s about it! The next week is hella busy for the whole crew. School crashes down on them like a tidal wave. There’s their actual classes, extracurriculars, and the campaign which everyone is super invested in. They recruit Torek Railgrinder (skater dwarf in the LGBT club and Drama club) to build a ramp off Fabain’s roof so Kristen can ride it off his roof into the pool which he will have filled with tartar sauce because it’s going to be the Ultimate Shrimp Party obviously. The party planning is also in full swing and EVERYONE is invited. That includes freshmen, Hudol kids, even cool middle schoolers. Ragh is buying them beer. The idea is that they can two birds this and make Fabian a Maximum Legend and Kristen super cool at the same time so people will vote for her. 

(Also, this doesn’t matter to the plot but Kristen gives a campaign speech at a steel mill for some reason–like a steel mill with adult workers–where Kristen is injured by a buzzsaw and Fig is once again questioned by Agent Clark (who she throws off the scent by saying Wanda left for the Red Waste). Not plot relevant but I HAD to mention it for the sake of posterity.)

But we quickly see the seams start to show. Fabian is forced to skip Bloodrush practice so he can set up the party. Adaine gets the new work schedule and sees that she has to work during the party. She texts Fabian that she has to work but she’ll show up later and doesn’t get a response back. Then she texts everyone else to ask if Fabian is mad at her. 

We follow Adaine to work where she’s met by none other than Kalina (in tabaxi form) who is there handing out pamphlets with Cassandra. She asks if Kristen is on her way and Adaine doesn’t know what she’s talking about. As far as she knows, Kristen can’t even get to the Synod without her help. Kalina asks if she can go grab her but Adaine says she’s at work and she can’t just leave. 

Back at the Manor, Kristen gets a brain ping from Cass who asks Kristen if she’ll be there soon. Kristen is full deer in headlights–she didn’t realize that she was supposed to be helping with that. She thought she was Team Material Plane and they were Team Synod. (And, in fairness to her, in this instance I understand how she could have thought that if the only conversation they had about this was the one that we saw but wild that they wouldn’t check in day before when Cass can talk in her mind) She quickly tries to finesse the situation and claims that with such a big crowd gathered, she’ll be able to spread the word to tons of people. Cass is briefly excited until she sees through Kristen’s eyes that her supposed recruitment drive is actually an Ultimate Shrimp Party. 

Back at the mall, Adaine watches red light burst through Cass’s chest as she cries out in pain and collapses to the ground. At Kalina’s behest, Adaine texts Kristen to get her ass to the mall right away. The non-Adaine Bad Kids try to make a plan to save the party–maybe Fig can do the shrimp jump disguised as Kristen–but the situation at the mall gets more dire. Cassandra, still in agony, yells, "This isn't fair!" She bleeds indigo and the light from her chest sails out and hits a nearby wizard. That wizard grows crazed and buff and kills his friend by smashing his skull open with his quarterstaff. Kalina is horrified. Adaine is horrified. The other mall patrons are horrified–the ones who aren’t getting possessed at least. Cass is on all fours, growing larger, and there are three more of those red light things coming out of her.

Adaine, who now has a special Synod key as an employee, opens a portal so her friends can join her. Everyone (including a kind of reluctant Fabian) joins right as the portal Adaine closes and that’s it for the ep! Next week, showdown at the Synod! 

Honor Roll

Kalina for Having Cassandra’s Back 

I never thought I’d give this to her but who else is looking out for Cass like Kalina right now? Nobody. I felt so bad for her handing out pamphlets at the mall. I’ve had to do that and it’s NOT fun. I’m glad she has someone sticking up for her and diligently looking out for her interests, even though it’s someone who I referred to as “the bitch” last week, lol. 

(Honorable mention to Fig for honestly being a great student. Way to go girl, you might just graduate yet.)

Detention 

Aelwyn for Blackmailing the Middle School Principal with Photographs To Get A Job

This is entirely affectionate. Also, unlike Adaine, I’m curious about what the level of blackmail is that allows you to strongarm your way into a job but still subjects you to being reprimanded by the person you’re blackmailing. 

((Dis)honorable to Fabian for his rich boy shenanigans which I touch on below.)

Random Thoughts

“Meat mama”

Insane that KVX Bank still exists and they literally just changed their logo from red to blue.

Was anyone else getting Berries and Cream vibes from the new lunch lad? (if you know, you know)

Fig got hurt yet again in this episode and stuck her hand in construction putty. Last episode I called out that both mishaps so far had involved construction equipment but now we’re officially out of two nickels territory and into rule of threes. Brennan, what are you playing at?

She also got food on herself twice (creamed corn and pad thai) and mimed eating it both times. Emilyyyyyyy grossssssss. 

Fabian got the confirmation that no one has declared him as a nemesis for the past 30 days but I would have asked for a full list. We know they have one because CDB is from like a year ago at least. 

I thought it was odd that Henry said that what was needed for artificing was “dispassionate focus” when I feel like a lot of people I know who tinker irl are actually intensely passionate about what they do. 

As a side note, Henry said that Porter couldn’t stop Gorgug from tripling down while taking Barb classes–just that he wanted Gorgug to tell him as a professional courtesy. So I’m not sure why Porter was able to attach a condition to Gorgug’s being there. 

Porter’s, “God this sucks” when Gorgug started talking about his feelings was extremely unprofesh but objectively funny. 

Actually, roundup of all the funniest parts of this episode:

1)The entire Adaine and Aelwyn conversation but especially (1) The bit about Fig being attached to Ayda’s feathers, (2) Photographs :), and (3) Jawbone no-selling her sinister flirting followed by her immediately moving out. 

2)Bloodbath and Beyond

3)Adaine not wanting to use a ladle at her job because of the Trauma (™) from Freshman Year (RIP Doreen). 

4)Fabian nodding knowingly when Adaine talks about killing her dad like it’s a normal, relatable experience. 

5)“What's the drinking age in Solace, if you're a pirate?”/“You guys have murdered so many people.”

6)“You find Siobhan Thompson.”

Don’t know if this matters but both the Artificing teacher and the Warlock teacher are new hires. Henry is said to be fresh out of college and Zara took over because the last guy (Evan Freem) failed his warlock pact and was devoured. I suspect out of game it’s just so Brennan can bring in interesting new NPCs that fit the plot for this season and he had to retcon whatever names he gave them for the faculty in Freshman Year. Not sure if there’s an in-game angle though. 

Brennan asks Fig where she thinks she gets her warlock powers from and she says, “I think it's from my dad or my bloodline or my legacy” That answer isn’t weird but I dunno the fact that he asked about a thing that I thought was already established struck me as off so it’s going on the list of notes. 

I loved Fig being rewarded for sneaking her name onto the class list by Zara who rightfully says that when it comes to warlocks, it’s all about what’s on the page. Brennan really invented a teacher to force Fig/Emily to get invested in class. 

Kristen trying to talk Bucky out of being scared of hell is another instance of the metaphor of Kristen’s arc brushing up against the reality of their world because some of y’all have *literally* been to hell. This isn’t real life where religion is all nebulous and personal. Hell is a place you can just go and, again, several of you HAVE BEEN. It’s not a silly thing for him to be scared of. 

Lol at Adaine who drank half a beer one time getting Bucky starry eyed by her Bad Kid exploits (said exploits being drinking that half a beer). 

So the new Helioic Cleric. What’s his deal? Have we been to Highcourt before? I don’t think so but it’s been mentioned as the place that the Applebees want to send their kids for school so they don’t turn out heathens so maybe it’s a bit theocratic or traditional? Also, did the Rat Grinders lose their OG cleric or did they just never have one seeing as they’re just fighting weenie monsters? Why did they suddenly decide to pick up a cleric? To round out their party comp or because they know they’ll be needing one soon? How did they convince this guy to join up with them first day? I wish Kristen had gotten more info but I’m excited to see where this is going. 

I wanna get your votes in now. Are the Rat Grinders evil or do their vibes just suck? Because it really could go either way. I really can’t wait to see what the rest of them are like and how they contrast their corresponding BK members. 

Sidenote: So far, every time we’ve met a Rat Grinder they’ve been alone. As opposed to the Bad Kids who hang out as much as possible. I wonder if we’re just never catching them together or if they literally don’t hang out when they don’t have to. 

The Hangman is so adorable when he’s like, “I don’t wanna do a shrimp jump but if you ask I will because I love you :(“ Big sad puppy energy. Be nicer to your bike Fabian!

Also, I said this in an ask earlier but despite the fact that Adaien’s financial situation isn’t Fabian’s problem–even if he’s 18 he’s still a child–he can’t be mad at her for not going to his party from his pirate ship mansion with his 5000 gold a month allowance. Come on now. The girl is filtering gold flakes from discounted liquor. 

I didn’t mention it in the recap proper because school is also kicking my ass right now but we learn in this episode that the Kristen/Tracker breakup was amicable, followed by 3 months of radio silence, followed by WHO IS THAT BITCH ON HER LAP RAGH??? Curious to know what Nara’s vibe is. I want her to be chill but the little disagreement over whether to be public gives me pause. Not that that’s a relationship ender of course, but I’m wondering if it’s meant to hint at further discord or if Tracker just didn't want Kristen to find out like that or something else innocuous. 

Nothing was outright stated but for like a second I felt like I caught a vibe that Ragh maybe felt bad about just being used to buy beer? But I could have imagined it. 

I really love Kalina being in this episode to just really cut to the heart of the matter re: things involving Cass. Like it’s hard to use humor to deflect when there’s a steely eyed cat there who will just very evenly say exactly what the situation is. I also really love that Kalina can just be casually encountered at the mall. I cannot imagine being Adaine and getting jump scared by that. 

(Sidenote: I wonder what Adaine’s other job options were if she didn’t go for the first one she found or if she’d rolled better.)

I know these are high schoolers, full children, but the idea that you would even be thinking about the shrimp party when your friend’s goddess is going supernova and your other friend is already on sight and in danger is WILD to me. People are dying Kim.

I also already said this in another post but my best guess about what’s happening to Cass is that she’s being affected by Kristen’s whole deal–Kristen has been obsessed with getting jacked, hence the buff wizards. It could be something totally different of course but that’s the best connection I can make with the info we currently have. 

I understand why this can’t happen mechanically but it seems pretty low commitment to be a follower of Cass and I don’t think she’d be opposed to giving the Bad Kids a level of cleric for their trouble. Like, literally Adaine calling for a medic for Cass is as much if not more than we’ve seen Kristen for her so far this season. Why not help Cass not die and pick up some free healing spells in the process? Like they don’t even need to become clerics, just give them one low level healing spell like magic initiate for the cleric class. It’s not like any of the Bad Kids seem overly religious/like there’s another god they’re loyal to that would prevent them from doing this. Idk man, if I was in this position Cass would just have one more follower is what I’m saying.

#Dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #d20 #d20 spoilers #fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fhjy #fhjy spoilers #spoilers #the report card #hit the character limit AGAIN lol #this is the last thing I wanted to say: Cass is so nice guys. I hope she’s OK :(

[thatruerealmwalker]

The Madness We Realized Working for Playtime Is

The Pipeworks 1: Karl’s First Assignment- Oh god why this?

Read on AO3:

HERE.

Karl Kingsworth is a simple man. Someone who doesn't have much ranking in Playtime's "Pipeworks" sector of the company, but still somewhat good at his job. He gets in, fixes the "leak", gets out.

But when he's assigned to a Leak that the BOSS would cover... well he's not doing okay.

Especially for what the damn "leak" actually is.

HOW DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN?!!?!?!?!

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

Soundtrack: Ryūnosuke Naruhodō ~ Overture of the Adventure - The Great Ace Attorney

Karl, a junior staff member at Playtime Co's Public Relations office, often referred to by the staff as "Pipeworks" due to it's unenviable reputation as "We fix the leaks when Playtime fucks up... every damn week", is standing in front of the door leading into a room where a very important “talk” will take place.

His first big assignment- and it has to be about this of all things. There is a almost zero chance that if he messes up here he won't end up as a test himself. 

Yeah that's right, he knows what Playtime really does. Everyone in the Pipeworks does. Playtime thought they couldn't let that happen for a while- Then escape attempts started happening and how else were they going to know what to say? That didn't stop Playtime from trying to wipe out the Pipeworks staff and bring in fresh faces- but the Boss put a stop to that quickly. Who knew that telling someone about the shit under your carpet would backfire, especially when it's their job to have contacts and manage the people managing Playtime's image.

That doesn't mean anyone in Pipeworks is off the hook if they mess up. They have a lot of leeway other workers simply don't, but completely failing is still lethal. And this right here? This is something Karl has been dreading once he was assigned to it. Him, low rank new face bitchboy got assigned something the Boss would have taken if he could- How is that fair? 

Of course the Boss and the top 3 were hard at work patching an even bigger leak involving a certain news company getting their hands of files that should have never left Playtime's doors. The dedicated teams weren't around either- Wrench was hunting down and trying to silence a potential whistle blower- the second this month- Hammer was dealing with the fact that the sane toy companies were suing playtime co for their next toy line push- because of course Playtime would try to make off brand Hotwheels and not ask Pipeworks if it was a good idea- and Driver... fuck Driver team was just GONE. No one knew where the hell they were sent. At least the Boss reassured the staff that they didn't get "terminated", just doing something hush hush.

And that left only the newbies and clerks to choose from for this assignment. 

Of course it had to be Karl. Wrong place wrong time- he swears to god Pierre was drunk when he selected him for the task- and by himself no less!

This is it... all Karl can think is that he's gonna get killed-

The door to the room opens up and he comes face to face with a young girl, probably an intern with how young she looks, looking at him with surprise.

"Oh you're finally here! Mister James was worried we would have to reschedule."

"Y-yeah... Just traffic got in the way. Are we getting started soon?"

"Mister James actually sent me to go get stuff for lunch since it's about that time- you haven't eaten already have you?"

Oh thank the lord above!

"Oh no! And I'd love to join you all! What are we having?"

She waves her hand back and forth in the air, "Nothing too fancy, just some deli sandwiches that got catered to the office today. Any kind you like?"

"I can go for Ham and Cheese if you have some?"

"Ham and Cheese... think so! Just head on in, I'll be back in a bit!" With that the young intern makes her way towards where Karl can only assume to be the cafeteria for the building.

At least he has some extra time... maybe he does still have a chance! Just gotta see if he can figure out how to make that chance in the first place.

Entering inside, the room is rather furnaced- well it's probably normal to expect a place to want someone to feel welcomed when talking... Playtimes own interview/guest/meeting rooms, despite the Boss and the Big 3 pushing it, still lack any real comfort. "You all don't need that, just make em shut up and go away!" is apparently what Pierre said to Boss's face last time he tried.

Karl can only wish that bastard hell for that. There is a reason why Pipeworks always sends staff out instead of inviting people in. Technically two- but everyone knows letting outsiders into the main building or even on the campus itself risks someone seeing something they shouldn't. The impressions a low quality room with a folding fucking table does not make good first impressions!

And by god does Karl need that here. 

“Ah, hello there. You must be Mr. Kingsworth. Such a fancy last name you have there my good sir.”

Sitting on a nice leather couch on one side of the room is a rather well dressed man. Brown hair curled up into a stylish cut, the suit he’s wearing being rather expensive looking as he gestures for Karl to take a seat. 

“Please, make yourself at home. It isn’t everyday I have a toy company, especially one as prodigious as Playtime wanting to work with my humble craft.”

Humble is a fucking UNDERSTAMENT. This person Karl is talking to is Alexander James- who happens to own a somewhat high class clothes line. You know, with a clientele that could most likely pay for an average American home in a single payment. 

Alexander James, who’s clothes make regular appearances on runways and fashion magazines. Alexander James, who should have NO investment in Playtime at all. Alexander James, who Playtime cannot make disappear or actually pay off.

As Karl takes a seat on the couches on the other side of the room, with a beautiful table he maybe would have actually paid attention too if he wasn’t dying from anxiety born from this entire situation, he only hopes he can actually cover this neatly.

“No need to address me as such Mr. James, I’m merely a representative for Playtime. Thank you for allowing this conversation under such short notice.”

“If we are to drop the honorifics, please, just address me as Alexander, Karl. Now, while I’m sure you’re as eager to start this conversation as I am- I believe we should first have some lunch no? May I suggest some tea while we wait? I recently had it imported from Japan. Supposed to help cleanse anxiety from the body, but it’s quite delicious as well.” 

Alexander gestures toward the tea set in the center of the finely crafted table that separates the two men. As much as Karl thinks he really shouldn’t impose so soon- especially when he hopes he can cancel this entire “deal” before it gets off the ground, the smell of the tea, which is that of a very sweet scent of cherry blossoms, one that Karl almost mistakes for vanilla, entices him to partake.

Time flies by after just a cup of some rather well made tea. Soon enough the intern returns with the promised lunch, the smell of the sandwiches adding to the comforting feeling Karl’s hosts provide. He only wishes he could feel that comfort when it would stick.

Lunch is eaten rather quickly, Alexander keeping tidy as he swiftly eats the well made sandwiches. The ham in Karl’s sandwich gives a wondrous crunch as the melted cheese mixes with the taste. It’s only the bread, softly sweet but not extremely so, that makes it a fine meal.

Once again, Karl wishes he didn’t have such a heavy burden on him to properly enjoy this.

The food is soon gone and messes cleaned up. Tea refilled as Alexander is handed over a folder from his intern assistant.

“I’m glad you have been enjoying yourself Karl, but I believe we should begin our talks sooner than later, don’t you agree?”

And now the bliss is gone, and Karl realizes he still lacks any plan… he really shouldn’t have indulged. With the poker face trained into him by his higher ups, he keeps a front of joy over his growing dread, a smile shining with false bravado, “Of course Alexander. Thank you for the meal and tea, it was quite a treat… so about the partnership.”

“Yes yes, so, I will be honest with you Karl, when your company reached out with this idea, it was quite a shock. But… It has sparked my mind to begin working on some designs already.”

Alexander opens the folder and begins to lay out several papers, all Karl briefly ignores in favor for the final items to part for the insides of the folder- the damn thing that started all of this.

A set of enlarged photographs… of the BBI Roxie and Catnap… posing in several company branded cosmetics… Not in the factory. Outside of the fucking factory. Seen by someone not connected to the company.

The humor at the situation is not lost on Karl. Honestly, if it was someone else from the Pipeworks, he would be laughing his ass off at it. But it’s happening to him. He cannot find humor in this. His very life could end if he messes up here.

Somehow, an employee was able to sneak in fashion magazines for the Critter sector of the BBI. Said employee was approached by Roxie who requested them to send these damn photographs to Alexander James’ designer office so they could “Become a model with my brother!” after seeing the ad for runway models for Alexander’s work.

Someone, they got the photos out, got it set up to where it was not some random person but the COMPANY sending the damn things- and kept it undercover for another 2 MONTHS.

How?

HOW?!!

HOW DOES THIS EVEN HAPPEN?!?!?!

Karl simply swears if he even encounters the racoon he’ll deck them in the face for this fucking shit show! If he can’t cover this up- It’ll be the last damn thing he does!

He would lash out at the apparent mastermind behind this instead, but they are currently locked in a cell as the company finalizes the “Farewell” procedures. God Karl can only hope no one else needs to be said “farewell” too. That’ll be even more work for Pipeworks if so- 

But all he has to do is make sure Alexander doesn’t… what?

Wait what hold on no that’s not how this was supposed to go-

Karl’s mind rebooted as he finally processed the last line from Alexander James… NO.

Eyes upon the paper placed down first- OH FOR FUCKS SAKE.

Karl was very close to breaking his false smile at this point… because Alexander made designs. MADE CLOTHES DESIGNS FOR THE FUCKING CRITTERS.

WHAT THE-

“Oh that’s wonderful Alexander. I’m glad you found the proposal that engaging… your thoughts on our models?”

“Well Karl, you and Playtime have outdone yourself. Those mannequins look almost life-like! How could I say no to such an opportunity to have some fun.”

OH THANK GOD- he thinks they're fake! Good good Karl can work with this and-

“I do hope when I get my hands on them I’ll be able to find which designs work best. Photos never do capture what I need to make my work shine.”

OH GO NO- Fuck Fuck Fuck- SAY SOMETHING- YOU CANNOT-

“O-of course sir!- we would just have to figure out how to get them ready on our part!”

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- IDIOT. You can’t just-!

“Splendid! I look forward to cooperating with you all… I am worried about the bad press that using your… Catnap would bring. Can Playtime ensure that it wouldn't risk any bad press for the Magazine?”

Okay… There is still a chance! End the deal right here!

“I’m sorry sir but… they unfortunately come in a pair. We’re attempting to fix the bad PR done by the incident with the Catnap plushies but… I cannot ensure it. Maybe we can postpone this until it’s far safer to do the photoshoot?”

Alexander gives some time to ponder while Karl internally sighs. He almost messed things up real bad but he’s almost there. Just gotta make sure Alexander says no and he’s free-

“Well… Let’s give it a try. It won’t be my first controversial piece after all. It would be a waste for your kind folks to throw away the work you did with the large toys anyways.”

Oh no, “Are you sure Mr. Ja- Alexander? We at Playtime care deeply about our partner’s wellbeing. We can push this back if it would-”

With a wave of his hand, Alexander gives a chuckled laugh, “Thank you for your worry Karl, but I promise, there will be no hard in at least giving it a try. I’m excited to start soon all the same! It’s not everyday you get to make clothes for mascots after all!”

With a silent breath, Karl weighed his options. He knows for a fact that if those photos got to someone who knew just a bit more, this could end up being a leak the Pipeworks couldn’t patch up. The problem comes with Alexander himself. If Karl pushed for the deal to stop here and now… he might realize something is wrong here. The man already pointed out how life like they are, so he’s noted that. Karl can only hope he truly is that ignorant or disbelieving of the idea that those “mannequins” are really alive.

A half lie. Just say to the man that the toys are damaged and can’t be used.

“I’m sorry Alexander but… Playtime was hoping to drop the deal entirely.”

Karl suppressed a flinch when Alexander’s eyes snapped to his face like a spotlight, “Oh? For what reason Karl? Both we here and Playtime have put quite the bit of work into this already, no?”

“And you would be correct, however a… accident occurred recently and our, hehe, ‘models’ ended up getting damaged. The employe who caused such a thing has been reprimanded and demoted but-”

“Mr. Kingsworth.”

At the tone forming from Alexander’s lips, Karl’s protests died in his throat. Alexander was leaning forward now, hands interlocked with his chin over them- oh no.

“I would not survive in my line of work without being noticed when a clear lie is being told bluntly to my face. I’m no idiot Kingsworth. I had only hoped you’d be willing to keep things on track… but it seems I’ll have to force your hand.”

Sweat began to drip from Karl’s forehead as the worst case scenario seemed to come about, “Now Alexan-”

“Mr. James, Kingsworth.”

“Mr. James, please, why would I have any reason to lie about this?”

A laugh bellowed from Alexander James, once that put fear into Karl’s very core.

Alexander gestured towards the photos that laid in the center of the table “To the common person, Mr. Kingsworth, these individuals in these pictures could be assumed to be only manufactured… The eyes have a watery shine to them and I wouldn’t miss the tongue shown on this one here.” He pointed towards a photo of Roxie with one hand wrapped around their “brother” and another doing a peace sign over their head. Both are wearing Playtime branded water coats- and that fucker is with their tongue out as they practically winks at Karl through the photograph.

He can at least agree with Catnap’s face- Karl’s was fucking tired of this yesterday.

“Now… All of this could be described as you attempting your utmost best to prove to me quality hand made models… and I would have bought that if that was your sell. I really would…”

Alexander leans back, fishing out a piece of paper from his suit that he treats with utmost care. Slowly unfolding it as if to make a point of Karl’s helplessness.

“If I didn’t get a letter from this… Roxie as well.”

NO.

NO.

THAT RACOON BITCH.

HE’LL FUCKING KILL THEM YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO HIM- WHY THIS?!!

Alexander, uncaring for Karl’s internal damnation of a certain purple racoon, begins to read out the somewhat messy handwriting of one Roxie Reedcycle: 

“Hello there Mr. James! My name's Roxie! Marie said she would send this to you so I wanted to add a letter! Me and my brother would be perfect models! All of your clothes are so cool and I really want to give it a try! Catnap says he doesn’t want to but he got vetoed- I’m not sure how Clothes would work with our tails- I mean it was really uncomfy trying on all the clothes Marie found for us. It just wasn’t good, I hate my tail being cooped up like that ya know! Maybe you could also figure out how to make it not itch so much? The clothes kinda made my stitches feel tingly and it wasn’t really good. I was scratching at it and everything and Naps had to stop me- I don’t think my fur likes cotton. : ( So maybe something soft? OOOOOO maybe silk! I’ve never worn silk before! I think DD would look wonderful in silk! Would you be okay with the others joined in too?! I can ask Marie if she can send more photos of them like the ones we did before! Hmm- Maybe I should see about stitching up some old clothes into some stuff for everyone- I think Bobby would love a dress! Maybe-”

At the sight of Karl’s now visible horror, his body deflating into the couch he sits on as he stares at the guillotine axe being read aloud in Alexander’s hands, Alexander stops reading out the letter and smiles so damn smugly at Karl, even if Karl would never dare point that out, “Should I keep going Mr. Kingsworth? I must say, I did enjoy reading this letter from such a dear fan of mine. So much details as well- stuff a company such as Playtime would never put into a formal letter. Little Roxie even talked about how much they wanted to try cake again after they was… oh yes “I got super yelled at when I stole that piece of cake. It wasn’t even stealing! Someone just left it out! Even if I got no food for dinner it was worth it though!”

This is a set up , it has to be. THIS WAS FUCKING PLANED- It had to be! No way that bastard Marie didn’t think this through. The fact they even set it up to be sent under Playtimes own names only adds to that! There has to be still a chance, Karl can't just accept this lying down. His life is on the line!

“Haha- Mr. James that must be just a mistake, we at Playtime Co would never condone-”

A slam of Alexander’s free hand on the table, rocking the tea set, quickly told Karl he lost the moment he came through these doors, “Mr. Kingsworth, here is what's going to happen. You’re going to set up a photo shoot for this child and their brother and friends, I’m going to make the best damn clothes I can for them, and Maybe I’ll remain quiet about the rampant child abuse your company takes part in. This is for the good of all of us, isn’t it?”

Karl could only nod at that- what could he do but follow along with the demands of someone who could absolutely spread around these images and letter to god knows who.

“Splendid. I hope you have a good day now! I’ll be looking forward to when we begin.”

That smile of a predator sinking teeth into prey… it’ll haunt Karl for a long time after this.

Karl’s mind doesn’t process leaving, or getting into his car, or driving home, or when he found himself on his bed at his dingy apartment, small tears running down his face as he stares at the fan slowly cycling above him.

Karl no longer can think about any of this. 

He can longer process anything anymore.

Because his very mind is consumed with absolute dread at what Playtime is going to do with him when they learn he FAILED.

He can only hope he’s just made into a toy. God he hopes that’s all they do with him. 

He can still remember the screams for the most recent tests on the properties of the poppy gas.

He can only beg that he won't end up like that.

Well… Maybe there’s a way he can avoid that fate.

Sitting up from his bed, a plan comes together. A desperate, half formed plan that could just make everything worse… but the best he has.

If he can follow along with Alexander’s idea while keeping the risk of an unfixable leak in check… and use this connection to Alexander to create a social barrier from being said “farewell” too…

All he needs to do is force the company's hand to allow this to happen. And by god does Pipework have what he needs to do that.

Well- Guess it’s time for an honest to god fashion show.

Karl is so fucked.

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

And that's it for Chapter 1! I hope you all enjoyed! This was a crack thing I cooked up when talking to @visinox about the @realizinau. (look, someone has to be in charge of keeping Playtime's brand okay when Playtime is... PLAYTIME.)

Of course, since this is part of the Realizing Extra's AU, I couldn't not include the other parts from it. So thank you @iidgm for letting me use Roxie!

I may continue this if it's wanted enough, or hey, better yet even collaborate with even more creators on this project! Feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat about it! I love talking to new people about being creative gremlins!

#poppy playtime #smiling critters #oc #not my oc #Catnap #Roxie Reedcycle #realizin' au #realizin' au extras #poppy playtime 3 #poppy playtime chapter 3 #poppy playtime smiling critters #poppy playtime au #So many tags! #Wow! #Hope you enjoyed this as much as I liked writing it! #Oh and please do check out the AO3 version. #I'll be cross posting chapters when I make em like this. #But there may be some extra things over there that you might enjoy : ) #But still #I had fun cooking this up!

[sapphireblondie]

Forbidden Territory

It had been 3 years since he came around your house. He was your brother’s best friend since middle school. Their junior year of college, he started dating some girl named Himiko. You and your brother lived at your parents house even after they passed away your freshman year of high school, it was home to all of you. Your brother and his best friend were only 3 years older than you and he practically lived with you after your parents car accident. He helped you and your brother grieve, but after he met Himiko, he became a complete stranger to you. It hurt to lose someone so close but no matter how mad you got about it, there was nothing you could do. There was one point when your brother even said they were engaged and discussing marriage. You didn’t know whether to be happy for him or sad you’ll never see him again.. 

As you were scrolling through your text message history you heard a familiar voice outside your room walking towards the back of the house. You sat up on your bed to listen to your brother and the unknown male voice. “Dude, I don’t know, she said she’s in love with her best friend and has been for months now, I haven’t been giving her the attention she’s been needing.” “You’ve been working your ass off to save up for this fucking wedding, maybe if she got off her ass and got a fucking job.” You could hear the anger in your brother’s voice. You walked towards your door trying to hear the response, but the voices turned to whisper as you tried to quietly open your door. You pulled your door open in time to see your brother’s door closing “Ugh really?”. You walked down the hall to your brothers door to try to figure out who he’s talking too. You heard your brothers voice “So is she still living with you?” Then the other man responded “No, she packed up some of her stuff and left about a week ago, then I packed up the rest of her shit and put it on the table to grab while I was at work. She came grabbed everything except the pictures of us, she left all those on the table. I don’t know Eijiro, I told her my doors always open.” You were almost sure who it was and if it was Katsuki, you were gonna be pissed cause he deserved better than that psycho girl he had. You reached for the doorknob as you heard “I’m gonna go say hi to y/n” “Fine but put on something not covered in car grease I don’t need her pissed you’re stinking up the house.” Before your brain processed what that meant, the door opened and you were face to face with a shirtless Katsuki. Your face became heated as he smiled and his sharpened K-9s glistened. “Hi, short shit. How ya been?” Your eyes wouldn’t leave his smile.. it was the one thing that always got him out of trouble. You finally shook your head breaking the stare. “No!” Katsuki let out a loud laugh “No? That’s how you been.” You growled in frustration “No! No. as in no you’re not getting out of trouble this time with that stupid cute smile!! She fucking cheated on you for months and your response is “My doors always open.” Like are you fucking serious right now?? She ripped apart my entire family for fucking years and your fucking response is-” “Y/n!!” Your brother’s voice echoed over yours breaking the rampage coming from your lips as tears accumulated in your eyes. Katsuki sighed “Who knew the short shit cared so much.” “Whatever, I’m going for a drive.” You stormed off grabbing your keys and jacket as you walked out. Katsuki turned around looking at Eijori confused “You know for someone who’s so short and quiet, she sure has alot of bite in her bark doesn’t she.” Eijori smiled “Yeah, I mean the entire thing kinda threw this entire house for loop and you guys were really close and haven’t spoken since then, and if she heard as much as she said, then she heard the part where you told the girl that ripped her house apart she’s welcome back anytime.... so I get where she’s coming from but she fails to understand, this isn’t her life to choose to change.” Katsuki smiled “Does she still go to the coast when she’s mad?” Eijori smiled “Yeah, same place you always found her every time school pissed her off and she came up missing. I don’t know if it’s good idea to go after her though, I haven’t seen her that mad since you walked out...” Katsuki turned his head in confusion... “Yeah thinking about it.. she’s been really sensitive about this over the years..” Katsuki tossed Eijori his shirt and walked out grabbing his keys and heading for his car.

Katsuki unlocked his car, snagged a clean shirt from the duffel bag in the back seat and threw it on. He climbed into the drivers seat and headed towards the coast. After a 45 minute drive to the coast Katsuki seen your car parked next to a pier. “It was always this spot.. this spot has so many memories for all of us..” Katsuki shut off his headlights as he pulled up next to your car. He could barely see you sitting at the end of the pier staring at the sunset as the colors danced with the crashing waves. Katsuki reached back grabbing a beach towel he had packed the other day then got out and began walking down the pier. You turned around to the sound of approaching footsteps. You rolled your eyes as you stood up to walk away “wait, I’m not-” Katsuki stood in front of you. “I don’t care Katsuki, you walked out, you left like we didn’t mean anything?” Katsuki looked at you as the tears began to roll down your face. He cupped your face “I don’t get it, I never stopped talking to you guys, I talked to your brother on the daily.” You pulled away “never mind, you don’t get it, you’ll never get it.” Katsuki sighed as you walked past him. Katsuki sat down on the pier unsure of how to fix the damage he had caused.

Once you made it home your brother met you at the door “So, did he find you. You know it’s not fair to hold this grudge against him, he didn’t know you were in love with him.” You turned around with a disapproving glare “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You walked into your room and laid down. A few hours went by and you woke up craving something sweet. You climb out of bed and walked to the fridge, as you walked past the bathroom you noticed the light on. You opened the door and reached in and shut off the light. “Yo!” you jumped opening the door to find Katsuki standing there fresh out of the shower. Your face reddened with embarrassment as he stood there hung with all his glory exposed. “Fuck I’m so sorry!!!” You swung the door closed running to your room. After a couple minutes of laying in you bed ashamed you heard your door open. “I’m so sorry katsuki, I’m not used to-” Katsuki chuckled “No worries, I talked with your brother earlier and I need to talk with you.” You sat up looking at Katsuki in the darkened. “Oh?” Katsuki leaned forward pressing his lips against yours. A sigh of relief and happiness escaped “I didn’t know you liked me, little miss teddy bear.” You couldn’t fight the the blush that covered your face. “It wasn’t my place to step into your life like that.. you had your eyes on someone else.. which wasn’t me..” Katsuki smirked “That’s cause you’re forbidden territory.” You looked at him confused as you stood up. “What’s that even mean?” Katsuki stood up regaining dominance of the room “Your older brother is my best friend, everyone knows best friends sister are against code!” You growled glaring at him “So this entire time that I suffered in silence, it was over some DUMB BRO CODE!!!” Katsuki’s face reddened “UH... yes...” You pushed Katsuki out of your way as you stormed towards the door mumbling “Stupid, so fuckin-”. “Wait!” Katsuki grabbed your arm pulling you back against his body “He didn’t give me permission, just simply explained to me why you were mad.. I don’t know if he’d be ok with me making out with his little sister.” You looked at Katsuki “Then why did you kiss me Katsuki?” Katsuki’s face froze “I’m not sure.. just give me sometime until I can figure out how to tell him..” You tilted your head “Tell him what?” Katsuki chuckled nervously scratching his head “Uh, that I. well um I want to date you.” You rolled your eyes.. “Well let me know when you do that....then well revisit this topic. Until then I’m going for my nightly swim.” You grabbed your bag and walked out of the room and to your car. Katsuki ran after you befuddled by your actions. “Wh...” As you drove off your brother walked out of the house “If you pissed her off again then she’s headed to the pier, plus she goes for a swim about this time every night. Since you went after her earlier, I can go get her-” “No. I got it. It’s my doing.. but why did you tell me she was in love with me?” Eijori laughed “Because you’ve been trying to let go of her for the last 3 years, and were willing to go to the length of getting married to someone else you weren’t even happy with.” Katsuki’s face turned crimson as a knot in his stomach twisted. “How?” Eijori echoed in laughter as he pulled out his phone to a video of a bonfire 3 years ago. “Cause you told EVERYONE at her birthday party right in front of your new girlfriend. My sister was in the bathroom in the house trying not to throw up because she decided to get into mom and dad’s alcohol stache and drink too much. I managed to contain Himiko’s anger for the name slip but I knew you didn’t mess up, you finally confirmed what I had suspicions of for years! You could never focus around her and you’d get pissed anytime she started talking to someone and treat them like shit to the point they’d take a break cause they couldn’t handle being around her family. She never said anything cause she was too afraid to upset you, and I knew how much she liked you, she was always glued to your side, always willing to help with everything, make lunch, make dinner, buy you things, didn’t matter she was there. You both completely blindingly fell in love and had no clue the other was in love too.” Katsuki sighed “You always knew.. So you wouldn’t be mad if we dated.” Eijiori smiled “I mean I don’t ever wanna hear about anything you guys do and keep the PDA to a minimum in front of me cause she is still my little sister, but no I wouldn’t be mad, if anything I’d rather her with you over someone else because I know you’ll take care you her. Katsuki chuckled “Well with this newly learned information, I think I have a heart to fix.” Eijori laughed “I’ll tag along just in case”

Standing at the end of the pier, you stared at the stars torn between letting go or opening up again. “Hey short shit!” You heard Katsuki’s voice echo in the night as he dashed at you and jumped tackling you into the water. As the both of you crashed to the water you kicked up trying to reach air “What the hell katsuki, my phone could of been in my pocket!” Katsuki laughed “I would of replaced it, calm down.”Katsuki grabbed your waist pulling you towards him as he pressed his wet body against yours. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I joined your night swim.” Katsuki pressed his lips against yours as you wrapped your legs around his waist. A smile broke across Katsuki’s face “I have waited so long to feel your body against mine.” You smiled letting a laugh escape. “Get a room!!” You heard from the pier above you. You looked up to see Eijori falling towards you. “Oh fuck!” You and Katsuki let go of each other and swam away getting out of the crash zone of Eijori’s cannonball. Eijori hit the water and popped back up echoing in laughter. “Are you insane!! You could of killed one of us!”  Katsuki laughed swimming towards you, “You were always so cute when you were angry.” Katsuki grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him. “So apparently your brother knew, he’s always known..” You looked at Eijori “What do you mean you’ve always known.” Eijori smiled “He confessed it like 3 years ago on your birthday but he was already dating his new girlfriend. I had to do damage control because I honestly thought he was trying to let you go. I was wrong, dumbass couldn’t get over your weirdness, must of contaminated his brain cells.” You growled pulling away from Katsuki “I’m gonna drown your dumbass!!!” Eijori laughed as he swam towards shore. Katsuki not far behind managed to catch your foot and pulled you back towards him. Wrapping you in his grasp as you wrapped your legs around his waist “So what do you say teddy bear.. wanna give dating a shot?” You smiled pressing your lips against his. He smiled “Is the a yes?” You giggled “Mhm.”

#katsuki bakugo x reader #bakugou fluff #bakugou x reader #bakugo katuski #Katsuki Bakugō #bakugou katsuki

[feelbokkie]

Ephemeral Love | Chapter 13

pairing: Seungmin x fem reader

genre: smau, crack, angst, fluff, non!idol au, university au, right person wrong time, minor character death

pov: 1st/2nd person (depending on how you view it)

warnings: swearing(?), mention of food, uncomfy family dinner

summary: Does love last forever, or is it fleeting? For university juniors Kim Seungmin and Seo Y/n, it's love at first sight but sometimes you meet your soulmate at the wrong time.

word count: 2,313

screenshot count: 7

previous | masterlist | next

©feelbokkie (2023) — all rights reserved. reposting/modification of any kind is not tolerated.

You sit in the back of your sister's car, double-checking that your septum piercing isn't visible from most angles in your phone camera. You, Isuel, and Changbin sat in the parking lot of the restaurant, waiting a few minutes before heading in to join your parents.

The three of you had gotten to the area of the restaurant before your parents but Isuel insisted that you go and mind places to take photos beforehand. Changbin found it annoying but you figured out halfway through that this was her way of trying to calm the two of you down. In the end, you found 3 unique locations to take your respective photos.

“Okay, children, let’s go. I’m hungry and if we stay in here any longer, someone is going to think something very taboo is going on in here with the way Changbin is moving this car.” Isuel says, putting a hand on Changbin’s knee. He’s been nervously bouncing his leg since the three of you got back into the car.

“Sorry,” He mumbles, eyes transfixed on the restaurant. You’ve never seen your brother so nervous, not even when he sat for the university entrance exams. You feel a little bad getting him to agree to come out for your birthday dinner with your parents.

"Just a couple of hours," you mumble to yourself before getting out of the car, followed by Iseul and Changbin.

The three of you quietly walk into the restaurant. Iseul gives the maître d' your father's name and you're led to a table where your mother and father are waiting for you. Your mother gets up quickly with a huge grin on her face.

"Look at my babies. All three of you in the same place." She coos once you get closer.

"Hi Mom," Changbin goes to greet her first while Isuel goes to greet your father.

They go to switch places, Isuel greeting your mother and Changbin your father, only for things to immediately get awkward. Being the bigger person, Changbin sticks his hand out towards your father, your father gingerly taking it. You go to greet your mom and then your father.

"Happy birthday, Y/n." He says, pulling you into a hug.

"Thank you, Dad." You smile as you squeeze him back. The five of you take your seats around the round table. You're sandwiched between Isuel and Changbin, your father is sitting next to Isuel, and your mother is next to Changbin.

The waiter comes and hands out menus to all of you. You barely glance over the menu, you were so anxious about tonight that you looked up the menu earlier and decided what you wanted to eat.

"So, how are all of you? I feel like it's been ages." Your mother asks, breaking the silence. You all know that the question is directed at Changbin and that your mother is trying to not cause drama. You saw her last month when you went to spend the weekend at home and Isuel saw her last week.

"We're good, mom. Right?" Isuel turns to ask you and Changbin.

"Yeah, I'm great." You answer.

"Doing really well,"

"Oh, Dad, look, they have salmon. You like fish," You suggest to your father, who was not looking at the menu like everyone else.

"I'm fine, Y/n. I'm going to order a steak." He says simply.

You press your lips together. Despite his heart attacks, he hasn't done more to make any lifestyle changes other than reducing how much he smokes. You feel Iseul's hand on your knee. She's having a small conversation with your mother about the museum she works at.

You close your menu and place it on the table before taking a sip of your water. Both your father and Changbin are quiet. You're used to your brother being obnoxiously loud and it's unsettling that he's not. You pull down the sleeves of your dress as you think about how you can get them to talk.

"You know, Changbin is--"

"'Changbin?' You go around addressing your brother informally?" Your father interrupts you. You silently curse yourself at the slip-up. You're so used to speaking to and about your brother casually, it completely slipped your mind to go back to addressing him formally.

"She can address me casually if she wants. I don't mind." Changbin says quickly as he takes a sip of water.

"It doesn't matter if you mind. It's about respect. You're letting her put all those holes in her ears and getting D's on papers--"

"You got a D on a paper? How many times do I tell you to focus on your studies?"

"You tell her to focus on her studies?" Your father looks taken aback. Even when Changbin was back home, he wouldn't put any effort into his grades. You can remember hearing all of the arguments between the two of them where your father would tell Changbin to focus on his studies.

"You left her in my care, I'm going to make sure she's okay."

"Both of you stop talking about grades and whatnot. It's Y/n's birthday. You're bringing the mood down."

"It's okay, mom. I don't mind." You truly didn't. It's the first thing you've seen the two of them agree on anything ever. You didn't mind if it was at your expense. Maybe tonight would be fine after all.

***

The five of you laugh at a joke Isuel made while you ate. Besides a few snide comments made by both Changbin and your father made, dinner is going relatively smoothly. You've even seen Changbin smile, like actually smile, a few times.

"Y/n, what are you and your friends doing for your actual birthday tomorrow?" Your mother asks during a lull in the conversation.

"One of my roommates is taking me to the mall to pick up my present and then Binnie oppa and the rest of our roommates are cooking dinner and throwing a party. A few of my other friends are coming." You happily explain.

"Other friends? It's about time you've made some friends in your department. You know what I always say about networking." Your father slightly slurs.

"Actually," you finish swallowing your food, "they're not in my department. One is a senior in the veterinary studies department. Another is a second-year early childhood development major. And the other two are third years like me, an interior design student and pre-law."

"That's an odd group of friends you have there. But that pre-law student is going to be beneficial. Could help you out one day." He takes another sip of his red wine. It's his third cup.

"You say that like you think I'm going to get a malpractice lawsuit one day."

"It'll be impossible not to with an education from JYP University. Your only saving grace would be going to one of those medical schools I emailed you about."

"Honey, why don't we put that glass down and give Y/n her presents." Your mother interjects before you could say anything.

Changbin throws a protective arm around the back of your chair. Iseul gently pats your cheek as your father hands you a small white box with a red wax seal. Your mother pulls out a large gift bag.

You open your father's gift first. You carefully peel off the wax seal and gently open the white paper to a white box. You open the box to find a gold, 10-diamond Cartier Love bracelet.

"Thank you, Dad." You say with a small smile.

"You're welcome." Your father beams.

You close the box and move on to your mother's presents. The bag contains two large boxes. The first box is a muted orange box that reads 'Louis Vuitton' tied shut with a dark blue ribbon. You slowly pull open the ribbon and open the box to find a small black wallet-sized purse. You smile at your mom before moving on to the next box. the second box, roughly the size of the first one, is a craft box with 'Christian Louboutin' written in white on the front. You sigh deeply as you open the box to find a pair of black heels with their notable red bottoms.

"Thank you, mom." You plaster on a fake smile as you hold your gifts.

"You're welcome, my love. Every young lady needs a good pair of heels and a nice handbag. Go ahead and put everything on." Your mother says proudly.

You quietly take the shoes out of the box and swap them. Once you're done shoving your feet into the uncomfortable pair of torture stilts, you have Iseul help you put on the bracelet.

You knew your parents were going to give you expensive gifts. You even had a feeling they were going to give you those exact gifts. It was a thing they often did. Being close in age with your siblings, gifts were often similar for certain milestones. 4 years ago your father had also given Isuel a Cartier bracelet and your mother got her a similar pair of heels and a handbag. Your mother even made the same comment about what every young lady needed. 2 years ago, your mother send you home with Changbin's birthday present with a card that said something similar. She got him a nice pair of shoes and a Gucci wallet. Your father even bought him a gold Rolex but, because of their fight, keeps it hidden in his closet.

It's not that you aren't grateful that your parents could afford such nice gifts, you are. It's the fact that they frivolously would buy you things you know aren't your style. You like simple things or things that hold sentimental value. $17,100 bracelets, $1,900 purses, and $1,000 shoes aren't sentiment. Even the white, long-sleeved dress is a bit much for you. You were much more comfortable in casual clothes. Or, as you've learned in recent weeks, Seungmin's clothes. You prefer the small living room parties that the boys would throw for you over the fancy dinners your parents often took you to.

"Thank you so much. I love them a lot." You lie.

***

Your head hangs out of Iseul's car window as you watch your father and Changbin talk in the distance. You didn't notice that at some point during your walk to the car Changbin stayed back until you swapped your shoes and saw the passenger seat empty.

Despite the small arguments and lectures from your father, tonight was successful in mending your brother and father's relationship front. Their current conversation proves your point. At this rate, the 5 of you might be able to spend Christmas together this year.

"Can they hurry the fuck up? I'm tired." Iseul moans from the driver's seat.

"Eonni, shut up. They're talking. They're making amends. Everything is going back to normal."

"Y/nnie, I love you and it's your birthday weekend, so I'm saying this nicely: don't get your hopes up. Also, what are you doing getting D's on papers? Isn't that supposed to be impossible for you?"

"I already did the makeup and got an A. I was just distracted with Jisung's temper tantrum and--"

"Your boyfriend?" She smirks while checking her lipstick in the rearview mirror.

"Shut up," You roll your eyes. You watch as Changbin quickly comes to the car, leaving your dad alone by the restaurant.

He quickly gets into the car and slams the door shut, shocking both you and Iseul. You sit in silence as Changbin silently strings together colorful swear words you didn't even think he knew.

"So…" Iseul starts.

"Just drive," He mutters.

"What happened with Dad?" You ask stupidly.

"Don't worry about it," He replies.

"Okay," You are absolutely going to worry about it. Your father clearly said something to piss Changbin off, ruining your fantasy of a perfect family Christmas.

You lean back into your seat as Iseul pulls out of the parking lot. 10 minutes later, you hear hushed whispers from Iseul and Changbin talking about how your father tried to give Changbin money to treat you and your friends to a nice restaurant tomorrow. You know that it must have insulted Changbin's pride to have your father offer him money. You keep silent as you lean your head against the window and watch the familiar signs on your way to Seungmin's apartment.

"Where are you going?" Changbin asks, not recognizing the area.

"I'm dropping off agi oli," Iseul says as she pulls into the parking lot of the apartment.

"What? Where?"

"Seungmin's apartment. I told you, he wanted to do something for me tomorrow morning so I'm spending the night." You reply as you gather your things from under the seat.

"No, you didn't." He turns around in his seat to face you.

"Yes, I did. At the tattoo parlor while you were sketching that tiger tattoo. You really need to learn to multitask." You joke.

"But your birthday breakfast. I always make you a birthday breakfast, except for your 16th and 17th birthdays."

"You said it was okay." You pause.

"You just said that I can't multitask. I obviously wasn't listening."

"I--okay. I can--"

"It's fine. Sorry, that's on me for not listening. Have fun with your boyfriend, I'll see you tomorrow." He turns back around.

"Sorry, Binnie. I'll make it up to you, I promise. We can have a Binnie and Y/nnie day next weekend like we used to. I promise."

"Okay, okay." He waves you off.

"Have fun birthday girl, but not too much fun. You may have beaten teen pregnancy, but you don't want to start the first nine months of your legal drinking years unable to drink." Iseul shouts as you open the door. Changbin groans in disgust.

"Hey Issie Eonni, shut up disrespectfully. I'll see both of you tomorrow, bye!" You say as you shut the door to her car and head up to Seungmin's apartment.

—

Buy me a coffee?

#feelbokkie writes #ephemeral love smau #stray kids #skz #stray kids smau #skz smau #chan #bangchan #bang chan #lee know #minho #lee minho #changbin #seo changbin #seungmin smau #hyunjin #hwang hyunjin #han #jisung #han jisung #felix #yongbok #lee felix #lee yongbok #lee felix yongbok #seungmin #kim seungmin #i.n #jeongin

[scenetocause]

hiii i was just wondering if it was you that wrote the max/ lando/ luisa fic where they changed genders? and max like stays a girl? i’ve been back reading nortrell and absolutely loved reading this one the first time. i can’t find the fic anymore and if it was you that wrote it, did you delete it?

it was me! it is here. also your other ask led to me looking at it and being like on what planet did i rate this mature it's got like, several dp scenes haha what.

for something that was pure whimsy cus someone on a discord server was like lol there should be mandinha sex swap fic it's one of my favourites. in retrospect it probably should have been clearer to me that i am not at all cis earlier on lol.

here's a little drabble to make up for making my own fic completely fucking unsearchable with my bizarro rating assessments. ("nsfw i guess" there)

It's not exactly news that Lando likes tits. Especially Max's. So she could've thought through wearing a bikini a bit more thoroughly but Lando's been away for weeks and Luisa's been on Strictly or whatever and there frankly hasn't been nearly enough attention on her from either of them.

And it's the first sunny day in London for ages. She'd definitely have her top off if she was a boy right now, so she can lie on the sofa in a sunbeam soaking up the warmth if she wants.

Until Lando's blocking the light, anyway, eyes crinkled with glee. "Maxy, oh my god."

"What? Get out of the sunbeam, mate, you're in the way."

Lando ignores her but does at least crouch down so he can trail his hand up Max's waist, cup his stupidly massive palm over her tit. "You're so hot."

"I'm fucking freezing actually, it was nice in the sun but some bloke's fucked that up."

Lando just rolls his eyes, picks Max up off the sofa with an ease she's still not sure if she's jealous of or can't help enjoying. It takes her breath away a little bit, sometimes, that the guy so tiny he had to be velcro-ed into a fucking kart could throw her around, now.

Even if the way her body changed was different (sudden, all at once, no years of carving muscle in the gym) it's crazy to think how much they've grown, still with each other. Makes her a bit soppy about it, maybe, so she has to hide her face in Lando's hoodie while he's putting her down on the bed and then tucking her in.

"Warm now?" He's a fucking weapon, this guy. Lying on top of the duvet, on Max, so she's basically pinned down.

"Be warmer if you got in, Bob." She's missed him. Got to into her own head while he was off driving laps of Bahrain and making heart-eyes at a more successful ex-Renault junior.

Lando relents easily because she's going to let him fuck her. Might even be up for anal, if he wants that. Sometimes they like it, as a throwback to how they used to fuck and Lando's dick feels pretty good anywhere.

Under the duvet his hands get everywhere, undoing the ties on Max's (well, Luisa's) bikini and slipping it off her, down into the foot of the bed somewhere.

"God. Your tits are so great." Lando's doing something with his mouth, between them, that's really not very far off motorboating and Max would object but it's the weird attention she's been craving. All Lando shit, unfocussed and a bit mental.

"D'you think you could do F1 Academy?" Obviously that's the kind of mad thing Lando asks when they're about to fuck.

"Bob, no. I don't know? Maybe." Callum could probably ask. She might, just to race again. Maybe. Maybe she could actually take a fight to Doriane. Or, mortifyingly, find herself massively off the pace. It's a big gamble.

"Could be the Silverstone wildcard. Be all sexy, we can both win." Alright, Mr confidence.

"Don't think they're racing there." Max kisses him, tries to get Lando's brain back on the job at hand by stroking his dick through his joggers. "C'mon, make me come and then I'll show you what Connor's done to his hair."

#emptyhalf fic

[estherdedlock]

Of course, now I can’t stop thinking about where the remains of our Greek class would be today.

The trouble with this exercise is that we’re not sure how old they’d be, because we don’t really know when the events of The Secret History take place. Donna Tartt does a good job of giving us almost no chronological milestones to ground the book in a particular year. Richard is narrating from nine years after Bunny’s death: since TSH was published in 1992, that would put the story’s setting in 1983. But references to certain things in the book would suggest a later time. Richard goes to see a Vietnam War movie starring Charlie Sheen with the fictitious name of Fields of Shame: its real-life counterpart, Platoon, was released in December 1986. Later in the novel, we find mentions of compact discs and laptop computers, which would place the story in the late 1980s or even the early 1990s (part of me thinks that these were editor’s suggestions to make the book feel more up-to-date).

Since Donna Tartt attended Bennington from 1982 to 1986, she would have started her junior year in 1984. Richard transfers to Hampden at the start of his junior year, so I’m going to use that as my benchmark and say that the action of TSH takes place between the fall of 1984 and the spring of 1985. Francis is 21, so he would now be 58. Richard and the Macaulays would be 57.

Francis is the easy one, because Donna Tartt herself told us what became of him. In The Goldfinch, he makes a brief appearance as one of Hobie’s wealthy New York friends/clients. There’s no mention of “Mr. Abernathy” having a wife or children, so we can assume that Priscilla has been out of the picture for quite some time. Francis appears to have a reasonably good life, even if, as Theo Decker says, he seems to have “some ill-articulated scandal or disgrace in his past.” (Such a tease, that Donna Tartt!) This is what Francis was up to in 2013, at least---unless he got very sick or started a relationship with someone, there isn’t any reason to believe that he’d be doing anything different by now. 

Richard, I think, predicted his own future when he was speculating about Henry’s: “I had always pictured Henry teaching Greek, in some forlorn but excellent college out in the Midwest.”

(I’ll briefly pause so we can all recover from the terrifying prospect of having Henry Winter as a college professor.)

Whew, okay. Moving on...

I can’t imagine that Richard would have stayed in California, not when he hated it so much. And yet, I can’t see him returning to New England, or anywhere in the Northeast: too many memories. The Midwest would be a perfect place for Richard to have landed...and for some inexplicable reason, I’m specifically thinking Wisconsin. Of course he’s a professor: his education hasn’t really trained him for anything except academia. But not Greek---English literature. He’s rumpled and tweedy and still rather boyishly good-looking. At least a quarter of his class has a crush on him. He may have been married at some point, but no longer. He doesn’t have any children.

I’m probably getting too Sebastian Flyte-ish with Charles, but I’m sorry to say that I think he’d be dead by now. I think he may have committed suicide, or just let himself decline so far into alcoholism and eventual drug addiction that it was basically a slow suicide. Or it may have been the sort of accident that plagues troubled people: a car wreck, a house fire, a bad fall down the stairs. But then again, you never know. If Charles somehow managed to pull himself back from the brink, I think he’d only have been able to do it with the help of some kind of religion---not because of his substance abuse issues, but because of his guilty conscience. I don’t see him getting deep into Christianity, though, maybe something like Buddhism. Perhaps he’s up in the Himalayas, with a shaved head and orange robes. And there we’ll leave him.

Camilla is a novelist. She would have needed to make money somehow, but I don’t see her doing blue-collar work or embarking on a corporate career (for which she would have had to go back to school, anyway). When we last saw her in TSH, she seemed to have committed herself to taking care of her grandmother and eking out a living on whatever was left of the family money (so Southern Gothic!). That would have given her ample time to write.

Funny thing is, I see her being financially successful but not the sort of writer who’s a  darling of the critics or a household name (she doesn’t write under her own name at all). Maybe she’s had a career like Andrew Neiderman, who’s been writing as “V.C. Andrews” since the real Andrews died more than 30 years ago. Or maybe she reliably churns out cozy mysteries and romances, the kind that you buy at the drugstore, read at the beach, and then leave for someone else at the laundromat. This is by choice: Camilla doesn’t want to be famous. She wants to be comfortable, and left alone. She still owns the family home in Virginia, which she’s beautifully restored, although she doesn’t spend much time there. Mostly, she lives at the beach, where her well-appointed bungalow is peak Coastal Grandmother aesthetic.

She’s not a grandmother, though, or a mother, and has never been anyone’s wife. She is as solitary in her habits as she ever was...no, more so. She takes long walks on the beach, alone. She goes to mass every Sunday and holy day, but never receives Communion. She reads Greek in the evenings, listening to the waves roll in.

She has never stopped loving Henry. 

#the secret history #donna tartt #dark academia #francis abernathy #richard papen #charles macaulay #camilla macaulay #henry winter