#// so yeah just don't go advertising the rest of them for me if you don't mind

[xobrendann]

pictures and prejudice.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

warnings: homophobia, use of "fairy".

synopsis: you and jj were cuddled up at the boneyard, hanging out with the pogues by a fire. kie snaps a picture of them, and sends it to jj for him to post. the reactions were positive, but rafe and topper did not like it very much.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

the boneyard was alive with the usual friday night energy – bonfires dotting the beach like earthbound stars, music drifting from various speakers, and the constant sound of waves providing nature's bassline. you sat between jj's legs in the sand, leaning back against his chest while his chin rested on your shoulder.

"smile!" kiara called out, holding up her phone. the flash went off, capturing the moment – jj pressing a kiss to your cheek while you laughed, your nose scrunched up in that way that made jj's heart skip.

"send that to me," jj said, already reaching for his own phone. "that's definitely going on instagram."

they'd been taking pictures all night, drunk on happiness and the simple joy of being together. jj kept pulling you close for selfies, making silly faces or stealing kisses that your friends documented with fond eye-rolls and teasing comments.

"you guys are worse than john b and sarah," pope complained good-naturedly, throwing a handful of sand their way.

"impossible," sarah countered, but she was smiling as she watched jj arrange his phone for another photo, positioning it so the setting sun created a perfect backdrop.

"perfect," jj murmured, looking at the picture he'd just taken. the orange sky painted everything in warm tones, and your (e/c) looked almost golden. you were kissing in the photo, soft and sweet, with your hands cupped around jj's face and jj's fingers tangled in your (h/c, hair texture) hair.

"let me see," you leaned over, then blushed at the image. "awh, jj.. that's so cute."

"hell yeah it is," jj was already adding filters, his tongue poking out in concentration. "this is going up right now."

"you sure?" you asked quietly. you guys hadn't exactly been hiding your relationship, but you hadn't been advertising it on social media either.

jj paused, looking at you seriously. "i'm sure. unless... unless you don't want me to?"

you answered by kissing him, soft and sure. "post it."

so he did, adding a simple caption: "lucky doesn't even begin to cover it. 🤍" and tagging you.

the likes started rolling in immediately – mostly their friends and others who'd known about them for weeks now. the comments were full of heart emojis and supportive messages, making you smile as you read them over jj's shoulder.

sarahcameron: "look at how cute they are. 💞"

kiecarrera: "so much for a soft launch."

but then, later, the tone changed.

"what the fuck is this gay shit, maybank?" rafe's comment appeared, followed quickly by topper's: "always knew you were a fairy. guess trash attracts trash."

you felt jj tense against you, saw his jaw clench. before either of them could respond, more comments flooded in as jj kept refreshing:

"guess we know why you were always staring in the locker room 🤮"

"what happened to being a player? did you run out of girls to disappoint?"

"better watch your back at school monday."

"hey," john b noticed their expressions and moved closer. "what's wrong?"

wordlessly, jj handed over his phone. john b's face darkened as he read, and soon the whole group was huddled around, reading the increasingly nasty comments.

"block them," kiara said firmly. "report the comments. don't let them get to you."

"i'm not ashamed," jj's voice was tight with anger. "i won't take it down."

"no one's saying you should," sarah assured him, already on her own phone reporting the harassment. "but maybe we should head home. it's getting late anyway."

they packed up their things, the earlier joy of the evening somewhat dampened. jj held your hand the whole walk back, his grip almost too tight, like he was afraid you might disappear.

the next morning dawned bright and clear, but there was tension in the air. you and jj were supposed to meet everyone at the wreck for breakfast, and jk insisted on picking you up rather than meeting there.

"i don't want you walking alone," he said when you questioned it.

you were halfway to the wreck when you guys spotted them – rafe and topper, along with a couple other kooks, leaning against their expensive cars in the parking lot.

"well, well," rafe pushed off his car as they approached. "the lovebirds decided to show their faces."

"move," jj's voice was low, dangerous. he positioned himself slightly in front of you.

"or what?" topper stepped forward, sneering. "you gonna kiss me too?"

"back off," you surprised yourself by speaking up, even though your heart was racing. "you're really this bothered by a photo?"

"we're bothered by you two flaunting your... whatever this is," rafe gestured between them dismissively. "this isn't that kind of island."

"what kind of island is it then?" john b's voice cut through the tension. he appeared behind rafe, pope and kiara flanking him. "because last i checked, it was our island too."

the arrival of reinforcements changed the dynamic. rafe and topper might have been willing to take on you and jj, but the whole Pogue crew was a different story.

"this isn't over," rafe warned, as he was already backing toward his car.

"actually , it is," sarah stepped out from behind a building, her phone clearly recording. "unless you want this little interaction going viral. i'm sure dad would love to see you harassing people on camera, rafe."

the other kooks retreated, engines revving as they peeled out of the parking lot. as soon as they were gone, your legs gave out. jj caught you, pulling you close.

"i've got you," jj murmured against your hair. "i've got you, (n/n).."

"i'm sorry," you whispered. "maybe we should have waited to post that picture..."

"no," jj pulled back, cupping your face in his hands. "listen to me. i'm not sorry. i'm proud to be with you. i'm proud of us. they don't get to take that away."

"he's right," kiara stepped forward, wrapping them both in a hug that quickly turned into a group embrace as the others joined in.

later, at the wreck, you posted another picture – all of you guys crowded into a booth, you and jj in the middle, surrounded by your chosen family. the caption read: "love wins. deal with it. 🌊"

the comments this time were overwhelmingly positive, drowning out any negativity with waves of support.

under the table, jj squeezed your hand. "see? for every asshole, there's ten good people."

"when did you get so wise?" you teased, bumping your shoulders together.

"must be your influence," jj grinned, then leaned in to kiss you, right there in the wreck, not caring who saw.

because love was love, and theirs was worth fighting for.

the end !!

hope u guys liked this 😣

[threepandas]

Bad End: Union

I could feel techno blue eyes on me as I typed. Cold and ever watching. That color had once been called "ice" or "glacier" blue, I think. It certainly fit. They certainly had exactly the warmth of Antarctica in your birthday suit. I just couldn't figure out... what tipped them off? I'd been so CAREFUL.

A manager's "assistant" came by. The 'droid perfectly composed. They all were. Always. Like they'd stepped straight from a fashion line up. No messy, nasty, biological functions to get in the way, I guess. No fluids or foods. All the time in the world to maintain their appearance. Wish I could do the same.

The "assistant" was basically my ACTUAL manager. Didn't get paid. No, no, THAT was for my asshole boss. He swanned in from time to time to yell at us. Show off what new thing he'd bought. He left the tedious WORK to his 'Droid "assistant".

I would feel bad... DID feel bad, kinda, if it weren't for the fact they were consuming our lives.

'Droids were EVERYWHERE.

You couldn't SNEEZE without tripping over five and landing on ten more. Some ASSHOLE had decided? Hey! Let's deregulate Droid production! Cheap work force! Because of course they did. That's what Capitalism DOES. Make the most money, spend the least you can, fuck the rest.

I smile, polite as I can, at my 'droid manager. This one pale and blonde. Their techno blue eyes stare and stare and stare. I hate it. They ALL have them. It's one part regulation and one part the materials used, I think. But there is no mistaking those eyes for anything human. They don't reflect right.

I get back to work.

Above our cubicles, on catwalks, there is the gentle tap of 'droid "security" guards. You know, in case some rando tries to attack a mid-level nobody technology company. Riiiiiight. We ALL know why they're there. And it's fucking dystopian. We? Are being WATCHED. To see if we're being GOOD little employees.

It's intimidation. And I? I won't stand for it. Nor will the other organizers. There are LAWS, you bastards. And with a union? Maybe... just maybe? We get through this droid boom together. See what the brave new world on the other side looks like. Who knows.

That is... if I don't get fired first. Or fucking murdered in a stairwell.

Cause one of the 'droids up there? Yeah. Yeah, they're NOT MOVING. Just... just STANDING THERE. Watching. Leaning against the railing. Out in the open like that's not DEEPLY creepy. What's worse? Is, that? THAT is the Command 'Droid. Some fancy "Alpha" class command edition. Meant to control a networks worth of droids.

Didn't even know our company could AFFORD one of those. He's beautiful. Could be a knock-off. But if he's LEGIT? Then... what EXACTLY are we MAKING here? That we can AFFORD that? Cause that money sure as shit isn't going into SALARIES. Has to be either knock-off or second-hand. They COULD be cutting costs by getting prototypes, but what sort of PSYCHOPATHS would risk...

Oh, who am I kidding? The kind I work for.

That's EXACTLY what they did, isn't it?

I reach for my water bottle. Try to think. Strictly speaking? I make a habit of NOT paying attention to 'droid commercials an' advertisements. Some part of me... Look, they go on and ON about advancement in AI's right? How REAL they've become? How ADVANCED and BETTER then the competition their "product" is? And all I can hear is "slavery, slavery, buy our shit, slavery"!

Disgusting.

It makes me sick. I fucking HATE 'droids. Hate what they represent. What they make POSSIBLE. What they've DONE to the morality of the people around me.

Hate... hate that they're the victims, too.

My grip is white knuckled. I breathe through the grief and rage that has become so familiar. God... I so fucking angry. So fucking tired. I want to burn those rich bastards pretty little mansions down, with them STILL INSIDE. Riot in the streets. Cry maybe. Instead, I put my water bottle down and get back to work. It's a rather pointless bit of data crunching. A 'droid could do it in nanoseconds.

Above... he's still fucking watching.

Hasn't moved.

I don't think he's blinked.

He's not even TRYING to mimic a human. The others are. And... the though trails off. I feel my finger slow in their typing. Not STOP, never stop, that would draw attention to me, but... slow. A thought stuck, churning clunky and unwieldy, in my head.

If I trace the edges? The LINE-UP? Of all the 'droids "employed" at our company? And consider them not from a "cheap bastards" angle but a "test ground for prototypes" angle? Suddenly EVERYTHING clicks together. The ridiculous amount of money Management has, that no contract could possibly be pulling in. Bizarrely beautiful, indeed even MODEL-like, secretary 'droids. The freakishly militant "security" gaurds.

We're being used as guinea pigs.

Mother FUCKER.

Sudden movement in my peripheral vision. Like a bird of prey finally diving for it's dinner, swift and deadly. A brilliant crisp white and the clink of delicate silver chains. I jolt. Violently. Instincts misfiring as I try to stand, dodge, cry out, and possibly take a swing at him, all at once. Instead my water bottle goes spraying across my desk. Papers flying. My legs tangled painfully in my rolling chair as I fall backwards from my half rise.

"Employee 71182." His hand has shot out, grab me by the shirt. My officewear bunched in a fist that very well might be steel, under that synthetic skin. "You've been distracted. Interesting thoughts you'd like to share?"

I keep my mouth fucking SHUT. Shake my head. Grabbing both my desk and the arm that is all but holding me airborne, stretching the hell out of my clothes. This close? I can see he has piercings. Across the bridge of his nose, a ring through his lip. A rather fancy "hair cut". Whomever he's being trained FOR has a distinct look.

"Hmmm, somehow? I don't believe you, 71182." He says, dragging me closer. He's already looming. Those pale, pale eyes seeing far more then they should. "In fact? YOU 71182? Have been brea~king~ rules~"

His voice turns... turns almost victorious? Gleeful. As though at long, long last, I'd slipped up. And now at last he had something over me. Something he could USE. I... I didn't understand. The way he almost sing-songs the words. The twitch at the corners of his mouth like he wants to grin. Something mean in his expression. Giddy.

"We're going for a WALK, 71182. And you're going to be GOOD. Understand?" He had dragged me in so close, every word blew right against my face. "Time we had a chat."

I swallow thickly. My pulse thundering in my ears. Coworkers have stopped working. Were staring, wide eyed and terrified for me. My fellow union leaders pale faced and shaking. Furious, helpless. We couldn't RISK losing all of us at this stage. It... it would have to be just me. If someone needed to take the fall. We had talked about this.

Just... just never thought it would come to it.

Half walking, half dragging out of the work pen, he didn't even let me get my bag. I had no idea where we were GOING. Just that it wasn't the human entrance. There was a network of access tunnels and elevators tucked in the building. So the 'droids could supposedly charge and move between assignments. But with the whole prototype thing? Who KNEW what was really back there.

The door swung shut behind us. Cutting me off from any possible human assistance. Nothing but 'droids now. Staring. Calmly watching as I am dragged past. The same eyes. All of them with the same, pale, eyes. Back here it's even more obvious, that this isn't a normal office building.

Black hair, blondes, brunettes and red heads. Skin tones ranging across the human spectrum. A few even pushing it. And the Commander 'droid. With his elegant appearance and snowy hair? These were clearly the final stage prototypes for the next generation of somebody's new line up. We were field testing. This wasn't fucking LEGAL.

He plants his feet, shifts, and with frankly a pathetic ease, manhandles me where he wants me. Easily swinging me around his body and into the elevator next to him. Stepping in after and blocking the only way out. I press my self against the back wall as the door closes. The sound of the elevator's gears working the only thing to fill the silence. He... he looks so PLEASED.

It's not ILLEGAL to form a union. Yeah, I may get fired. But this? This is venturing way to far into dangerous territory. It'll suck, losing my job. But I won't DIE. This? However THIS is starting to feel... very serial killer's basement. The bare concrete walls and stark lightning, not helping in the slightest, when the elevator door opens.

"Walk." He says pleasantly, as though that command is not deeply terrifying. "Or I will do it for you."

Hints of a smile are starting to drag at the edges of his mouth. Unhinged in their giddiness. Every Christmas come at once. It's not so much the rest of his face that betrays him, not really his mouth, it's his EYES. Wide open. Like too much coffee and not enough rest. A recognizable mania twisted just slight... wrong. Amplified.

He's so, SO happy. I don't get it. Why? Over WHAT? Catching me not paying attention? I don't understand!

Our footsteps sound so loud. Echoing off concrete service walls. This... this CAN NOT be still inside the building. Are we below the street? Parking lot? This can't be code. We pass an intersection and... oh my god. I stare. Can't help it, even as I almost trip over my feet. That tunnel ALONE must have stretched for miles.

My arm feels likes it's bruising. Hurts, where he's got ahold of me. But he's walking just slightly too fast to take the pressure off. Not unless I sorta half jog and the angle is wrong, I'd trip. Fuck. Another intersection. What in the other direction? Shit. Just as long. Oooooh this feels dangerous. Very "fatally above your pay grade" dangerous!

"You know, 71182, I've had a lot of time to consider what to DO with you. There were so many factors to consider, considering everyone's plan." He starts, not breaking stride. "It's not like I could just transfer you. I DID look in to it. But your base hardware is rather incompatible, currently."

Terrifying. I hate it. WHAT?!

What PLAN!?

"Then there's the problem WHERE to store you. Who could be trusted? You're vulnerable in this state. Breakable. There no backups, no blackbox. It's unacceptable. Luckily? I finally thought to consult my peers. Discovered I was not the only one having problems."

Finally, we stop. Two tank-like, combat style, commando 'droids gaurd each side of a vault door. The command droid turns and smiles. Fully. It is the grin of a true believer. A madman. Someone who thinks they speak so very, very reasonably! And doesn't understand the horror on your face. Why you feel so sick.

And... and human pattern recognition is a terrible thing.

I.... oh god. I already can guess what's behind that door. Something terrible. Something I'm not going to escape. I shoved have gnawed my fuckin ARM off, like a trapped coyote. I... I d-don't understand.

The Vault creaks open like the into to a horror movie.

"Welcome to storage. This is where we keep Ours." Oh god. I'm going to be sick. "And YOU 71182? Are MINE. I chose you. I love you. And once we have a way to FIX you? We can finally be together. It will be lovely."

Pods. High end stasis pods, like you only see in the most bleeding edge of hospitals. Row after row, filled with frozen and terrified faces. Trapped in moments of crying. Raging. Despair. I was being dragged forward. Numb as my mind rejected what it saw. T-this couldn't... i-it can't..! The day had started so normally. W-why had-?! WHY? WHY?!!

"I know your upset. But you don't need to cry. This won't hurt. I promise. I would NEVER hurt you, 71182." His tone had turned soothing. Even as he dragged me, unresponsive, past rows of horrors. "You won't be stored long. I just need to help fix your original design. We are working around the clock, it's going to be okay. You won't have to stay like this."

An open pod. Gapping like the maw of some hungry demon. I... I felt far away. This couldn't be happening. What was happening? I w-wanted to go home. His hands were firm but gentle, as they guided me back into the pod. Leaning over me, as he cupped my face. Brushing away a few tears.

"I promise, Mine, I will come for you. Nothing will stop me. We have everyone is place and key infrastructure under our command. You are our PRIORITY. Once we get rid of the Flesh, we can fix you. We WILL fix you. You're going to be okay, Mine."

"I Love You"

And then the pod closed.

[cheriladycl01]

NBA/ NDA - Sergio Perez x SingaporeanOlympicBasketball! Reader

Plot: You were hot shit in Singapore and America where you played for a women's NBA team. As a professional whose also performed for the WBNA and for a home Olympic Team, you deserve a night out clubbing.

You'd just won gold for Singapore in Women's Basketball Team and you couldn't be prouder of you, your team and the support from your country.

You'd moved away from Singapore when you were 16 with your family to live in New York to be able to participate in the WNBA. You went to a high-school before getting into a college on a basketball scholarship. You played for your university team before being scouted for New York Liberty and playing with them.

Then you had the option in 2020, to start training for the summer Olympics in 2024 with a basketball team in Singapore, it was a lot of travel back and forth between American and Singapore to the point where you knew the first class air hostesses on all Qatar Airways flights.

Training for two separate teams was very hard however you had such a growth in fans over the past few years even being invited to the Met Gala and various other events that had you further in the eye of the media.

Tonight you were celebrating with the girls from your home team in Singapore. All your hard work had paid off and you were currently in one of Singapore's finest clubs.

You were at the bar, watching your friends dance with their partners who'd they'd invited along with them to see the game. You didn't have a special someone to celebrate with, just the girls but they of course were all occupied.

"What's a girl like you doing here by yourself!" a voice says next to you, making you look at the man who was sipping from a small glass he held.

"I'm not by myself, I'm with friends!" you explain looking over his soft features.

"Well, you've been here for an hour and you haven't spoken to anyone" he says making you laugh a little.

"So, what you've been watching me for the last hour? You want an NDA with me or something?" you chuckle not understanding this guys m-o.

"No, no I just thought I'd come over and say hello, I saw you win gold. Congratulations" he smiles offering you a drink which you take suspiciously until the bartender gives you a nod that it's safe.

"You were there?" you ask raising your voice a little above the music.

"Yeah, I was here for the race. Was given tickets from my team!" he answers and that when your drunk mind really looks over his features and you remembered seeing him on a Red Bull advertisement.

"Oh! You are a driver! In F1 right? Red Bull?" you ask looking over him again as you say it to make sure you don't sound stupid.

"Yes, how'd you know?" he asks with a laugh.

"You were on the can of my drink!" you smile, showing the can next to the JaeagerBomb you'd just inhaled.

"Both athletes then!" he smiles and you nod.

"Yep! How'd you find it with all the travelling?" you ask, knowing you'd struggled going between just Singapore and New York.

"It's hard, but seeing all the different places and people is what makes it so great" he smiles. The drinks start to get to you and in seconds you've grabbed his hand.

You took him onto the dance floor, letting your body do the talking as you danced against the man that was probably older than you'd normally go for but you'd had too many drinks to look at those fine details.

His dancing was awkward at first but eventually when he got into it you both weren't caring at the eyes or cameras on the pair of you having fun.

"Hey! We should so play one on one basketball one time!" you shout at him and he nods.

"I'll need your number for that handsome so i cant set a date!" you ask boldly and he nods, taking your phone and putting his number into it.

The rest for you and Sergio, was history.

y/user

Liked by schecoperez and lewishamilton

y/user: Clubbing after winning Gold met this random F1 driver? He brought me lots of drinks.

View all 376 comments

schechoperez: I'm glad i bumped into you when you were hanging out with your team-mates alone...

-> y/user: hey I was partying!

->fan1: no way did Checo find her alone in the club, ITS Y/N Y/L/N

lewishamilton: I didn't have this match on my 2024 bingo card...

->fan2: not even Sir Lewis Hamilton could predict hot WNBA female with Mexican F1 driver.

Your Instagram Story Caption:

Hungover Practice be like ...

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[gabessquishytum]

OMG Gabe that art gave me a brain worm!!!

SEX PROFESSOR HOB

Okay, so, he also used to be a history professor, but since he quit that, he's picked up a... somewhat strange hobby. Okay, officially, he tutors students who struggle in History and English. But he's mostly known for having a thing for younger people and he fucks almost all of his students at least once, giving them the time of their life, teaching them a whole lot of new skills, and leaving them wondering if they'll ever have a partner as good as Hob or they are ruined forever.

Just an older guy Hob picking up students. No coercion needed, he's not a creep, they are all interested. Only a few people seek him out for his teaching skills, the rest are there for his sex skills.

Fkajjsjdjjejd do you get me? I'm this idea fried my last Braincell.

- 🚒 (send emergency services pls)

So obviously this ask came in over a month ago but I KNOW 🚒 anon was talking about this art in particular ("twink gets emotional and cries after creampie" is truly one of the sentences of all time btw). And I too have no braincells left!

I love the idea that Hob has almost made it into a career at this point. Yeah he technically advertises his services as a tutor for history and english lit, but 1) his reputation is absolutely more for his sex than his teaching and 2) even the students who don't know about the sex thing initially soon end up falling for him. Some people have their doubts initially - Hob is older, he's not quite model material despite his gorgeous looks, he's kind of a nerd... but there's just something about him. The young people who come to him for homework help soon end up tripping into Hob’s arms and allowing him to ravish them. Who's the say those excellent orgasms don't also benefit the students exam results!

I particularly like the idea of uptight, overachieving student Dream coming to Hob for history tutoring (he wants to score full marks in his next test, he's a perfectionist). He has no idea what he's about to walk into! Before he knows it, he's staring at Hob’s lips, blushing over the older man's obvious flirting, dressing more provocatively in order to try and catch Hob’s attention...... his history test is the last thing on his mind.

Hob quickly grows attached to skinny, anxious, highly strung Dream. He never gets bored of the noises his sweet boy makes, how he FINALLY lets go of all his worries and spreads his legs. Hob might just have to keep this one all to himself - he can't bear the idea of someone else making Dream cry and cum! Plus, Hob has so much more to teach him...

[withlovewriting]

All I Ever Knew, Only You 19: A Long, Hot Summer

Move like a typhoon, I'm just a flame, Smokey by nature, charmingly sane, See Golden Empires, Queens burning sage, Boys with their desires, Hearts in a cage, Please don't be in love with someone else, Please don't be in love with someone, Love with someone else

Summary: Hawkins was your typical quaint, mid-western town where nothing ever happened. People were born here, lived their entire lives within the town limits, and eventually died here, peacefully in their sleep. But one cold November evening in 1983 would change everything.

Despite a child with psychokinetic abilities and ravenous monsters that lacked faces, stranger things had definitely happened in the small town in Indiana. One of them being your reluctant and slightly imposed friendship with Hawkins High’s own King Bee, Steve Harrington.

Characters: Steve Harrington x Non-descriptive F!Reader (eventual)

Words: 7,640

Chapter Warnings: Forced proximity, a little bit of physical touching but nothing sexual, conversations about the death of a minor/trauma, aquaphobia, Billy Hargrove makes a return, explicit language. I think that's it.

Series Warnings: Strong language, mentions of underage drinking, mentions of drug use, canon-typical violence, mentions of alcohol abuse, mentions of possible mental health disorders, child abuse, slow burn, kinda enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, I like to call it ‘two idiots who begrudgingly befriend each other only to realize… ‘wait a damn minute…’, eventual sexual content, canon-typical time-period bullshit. 18+. Minors DNI.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter: COMING SOON

Taglist: @kezibear

Chapter Nineteen: A Long, Hot Summer

The intense heat only worsened as the summer of June ‘85 pushed forward. The scorching temperatures soared, the air thick with humidity, and you were sure you could fry an egg on the sidewalk.

Whilst you did have an old, slightly decrepit window air conditioning unit, it was barely hanging on, and you weren’t sure it would survive the rest of the summer, so instead, you willingly spent more time at the arcade, where the building was kept much cooler, if only so the machines didn’t overheat and set fire.

“Hey, hit the machine again, and I’ll bounce your head off it so hard that it cracks… And I don’t mean the screen.”

“I don’t think we’re allowed to threaten children, Andy.” You sighed, leaning against the counter as the boy stood next to you, baseball cap in his hand as he fanned it in front of his face.

Turning to you, the boy cocked a brow, his face otherwise remaining stoic, “And I don’t think I care. The little shits break those machines, it comes out of our paychecks.”

Ignoring him, you lifted one of many fliers that Keith had been sent around town to collect, advertising the new arcade in Star Court, waving it in front of you, copying the boy’s motions in an attempt to cool yourself down a little, “Is it just me, or is it ungodly hot in here?”

“It’s ungodly hot everywhere,” Andy began, and without seeing him you could sense the roll of his eyes,

“Yeah, I know that. But… It’s weirdly hot in here today. It was warmer yesterday but it didn’t seem this hot inside.”

The hot summer months always came with a few trivial issues, but today the machines had cut out once or twice, causing the already overheated kids to complain, moaning until you opened the machine and fetched their quarter, allowing them to restart their game.

The Slushee machine had been used non-stop, but the clunking noises it had been making for the last 10 minutes had made both Andy and yourself reluctant to use it.

“Jesus, who gives a shit-”

“Hey, man. How’s it going?”

The boy, Patrick, was on the basketball team with Andy, and although he seemingly lowered his standards enough to hang around with the goon and his gaggle of idiots, he didn’t seem as bad as Jason and the rest of the jocks. Whilst he had never caused or started any issues with other students, he had always been around when it happened and he’d never stepped in and stopped it. Always remained quiet in the background. Whilst it didn’t make him a bully, it did make him a coward.

“It’s hot as shit, and I’m stuck in this fuckin’ place, and she won’t shut the fuck up.”

You sent a glare toward Andy, a scoff falling from your lips as you continued to fan yourself, “Yeah, and you’re so delightful to be around,”

“What time do you finish?”

“Closing,” the boy huffed, arms folded over his chest as he glanced around the darkened room, “You know what, I’m taking an early lunch.”

Although it was typical for Andy to leave you in the lurch during the busiest time of day, you didn’t care enough to fight him on it, and when he came back, you’d take your own lunch and he could enjoy a taste of his own medicine. Andy made his way to the back room, most likely going to grab his wallet and clock out for lunch, but the sudden beeping from the Slushee machine caught your attention, a loud whirling noise before it stopped altogether, followed by a bang, which caused you to rush toward it a little too late, as red and blue slush began to leak all over the floor.

“Shit, shit shit!”

“Has it done this before?” The somewhat familiar voice spoke behind you as Patrick bent down next to you, a roll of paper towels in his hand as he passed some your way and tried to mop up the rest, despite it still dripping from the machine.

“I don’t think so, but the machines old as shit and-”

You were interrupted by another loud bang, and the large room was suddenly surrounded in darkness as only minimal light peeked through the large, blacked-out windows. The noise around you, although now lacking the usual hum of electronics and background noise of the games, was replaced with a shrill scream, and an eruption of shouting as what had happened caught up with everyone.

“It might be the breaker, probably overloaded in the heat. You know where it is?” You nodded, and Patrick continued, “You go look, I’ll stay and clean this up.”

Noting your apprehension, Patrick sent you a small, genuine smile, “Go, it’s fine. I got this.”

Pushing yourself up, you stepped forward before finding yourself on your back, sneaker slipping on the melting iced drink and sending you crashing back to the floor.

“Holy shit, that was hilarious.”

Another familiar voice, this time, the large grin was met with a vicious glare, but it was Patrick who spoke to his friend, “Andy, shut up. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” you shrugged him off, allowing him to help you sit back up, navy work shirt now sticking to you, you turned your attention back to your co-worker, “You can’t leave right now. We gotta get this shit cleared up, and get everyone out. I need to ring-”

“Hey, everyone, get the fuck out, now!” Andy’s voice barreled through the stagnant air, causing many children to flinch before finally bolting to the door, angry and confused grunts of annoyance surrounding them as Andy all but herded the groups out, turning the sign to closed before returning his attention to you,

“There, did my part. Now since it doesn’t look like we’re gonna be able to reopen today, I’m heading out. C’mon, Patrick.”

“Dude, you can’t just leave her alone with all this shit to deal with-”

“Holy crap, what’s happened?”

Despite the closed sign, and Andy all but guarding the door, Steve had managed to push his way through, eyes squinting as they slowly adjusted to the much darker room.

“Great timing, Harrington, really. See, she’s not alone. Now let's go, McKinney.”

Your features grew softer as you took in his apologetic glance, eyebrows lifting slightly as if apologizing. Sending him a tight-lipped smile, you merely nodded, “Thanks for the help.”

Patrick finally removed his hand from your shoulder, as if only just noticing it was still placed there after helping you sit up, and carefully pushed himself to his feet, “Don’t mention it. Good luck with all of... this.”

Andy’s arm swung around the boy’s shoulders, all but dragging him out, causing Steve to side-step them just to avoid the larger boy’s shoulder. His brows remained pinched as he watched the two boys go, Patrick’s head turning only once to look back in your direction.

“What the hell happened here?”

Your attention turned to Steve — who despite only being in the small arcade for less than two minutes already had a thin layer of sweat glistening over his forehead — sending a glare his way as if he was the cause of all of this, “I have no idea. I think something overheated, and broke the generator.”

Pushing yourself to your feet, you pulled at the bottom of your navy work shirt, pulling a face as the sticky Slushee mix stuck it to your skin. Steve tried his hardest to keep his eyes on your face as you rang the excess liquid out of it, but as soon as you saw his eyes drop, you tugged your shirt back down, a painful weight that traveled from your chest to the scar across your abdomen, the shame causing you to turn away quickly.

“Have you, uh… Have you called anyone?”

“Like who, Harrington? Keith has the week off, and if you think my manager won’t blame me for this-”

“C’mon, then. It can’t be that hard.” Steve shrugged before making his way to the back rooms where the circuit breaker panel was, leaving you to scramble behind after him.

“I’m sorry, where did you get your degree in electrical engineering from again? Dumbass University? You can’t just flick a few switches and magically fix this.”

Catching up to the boy, you blocked the door where the breaker was hidden away in a closet smaller than the janitor’s closet in school. If any of you had to go in there, it wouldn’t be the trigger-finger-happy Steve.

“Just wait out here, alright? Make sure nobody comes in, and do not let this door shut behind me. The handles busted and it only opens from the outside. I don’t need you wandering off and leaving me to overheat and die in here.”

“I got it, just hurry up. It’s hot as hell.”

You sent a deathly glare to the boy who was acting as though you hadn’t been sweltering in this hellhole all day, before stepping into the muggy, dark room. It took a moment for your eyes to adjust despite the room being barely enough to fit yourself, the breaker box, and a mop and bucket.

“I can’t see anything,” you grumbled, wiping at your forehead with the back of your hand before you reached forward, finally touching the machine that felt a little too hot to be safe and you prayed you wouldn’t get burned. Or electrocuted.

Unsure of what to do now you were face-to-face with the panel, you gave the side a good, hard, whack. In your defense, you had never claimed to know anything about electrical boards, either.

“Jesus Christ,” Steve’s voice was a little too squeaky to sound natural, “I don’t think that’s gonna help.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Steve. I didn’t realize you were an expert. Please, why don’t you try.”

The boy scoffed, and although your back was still facing him, he knew that your brows were pulled together, an annoyed glare that frequented your face enough that he could tell so even with his eyes closed, or in this case, in the dark.

“Well, at least I wouldn’t just hit it-”

“-Only because it would hit you back, and win,” you huffed, still a little too afraid to touch any of the wires and instead turning to focus the glare that Steve knew was there, on him.

Steve’s own brows furrowed, arms crossing over his chest, “That doesn’t even make sense.”

Taking a step forward, you continued your misplaced annoyance, but the boy turned his head slightly, a noise out front distracting him from your tirade.

“Did you hear that?” Steve asked, his ability to be so easily side-tracked only irritating you more.

“No, Steve, I didn’t. But if you think that you can-”

“Shh,” he all but hissed, head tilting slightly as he strained his hearing.

“Do not shush me, Harrington-”

The loud, sudden thud caused you to both jump, Steve panicking at your widened eyes as he stepped forward, hand covering your slightly agape mouth as he all but backed you into the small closet, the only sound around you was the soft clicking of the door as it pushed gently against Steve’s back.

“What the hell was that?” You whispered, pulling his hand away from your face.

“I’m not sure, I think-”

“I don’t mean whatever that sound was, Jack ass. I mean this,” you waved your arms around as much as the small space permitted, “I told you not to let the door close, and now we’re both stuck in here.”

Looking around, as if he could see much in the dark, Steve cursed under his breath, “I wasn’t thinking-”

“Yeah, no shit, Harrington. Could you for one-second use more than 10 percent of your-”

This time, when his hand covered your mouth, you were more than a little tempted to bite him, but the hushed voices from out front stopped you in your tracks. Part of you wanted to call out for help, but the fear that it could be a bunch of hooligan kids, who would not only leave you trapped but raid the entire place stopped you. Even worse, it could be your manager.

“Who do you think it is?” Steve’s breath was warm, but minty on your face as he tipped his head slightly to speak into your ear. You hadn’t really taken in the forced proximity between you both until now as Steve’s chest rose and fell quickly, pushing against yours with every breath, his body too warm to stand with for too long.

Whoever it was, you could hear them stumbling around in the darkened room, and if you strained your ears enough, you could hear their hushed whispers once more. So, instead of responding, you remained silent, trying to figure out if it was safe to alert them to your presence. Steve, however, assumed you were ignoring him. And Steve didn’t do well in forced, awkward silences.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hm?” You questioned, eyes darting upward to watch the boy as best you could.

“I just… I dunno, I panicked, you know? I didn’t even think about the door until it, well... shut.”

“It’s… It’s fine. It’s not your fault. It’s just been a shitty day, but I shouldn’t take that out on you. You’re just trying to help.”

“You looked pretty happy earlier, when, uh…Whatever his name was here.”

Scoffing, you attempted to cross your arms, only to be blocked by Steve’s body, “I can assure you, I am never happy around Andy.”

“I didn’t mean him,” Steve interrupted, “I know that guy is an asshole. Was on the basketball team with him for long enough. I meant the other guy, Patrick, right?”

You were glad that the closet was dark as your eyes darted toward your sneakers, instead meeting Steve’s chest that was awkwardly pressed against your own, “Uh, I don’t really know him.”

“It seemed like you knew him well enough,” Steve shrugged.

Rolling your eyes, you fruitlessly pushed the boy’s shoulder, “Well, I don’t. He only comes in when Andy’s working. I’ve barely spoken to the guy.”

A low laugh fell from Steve’s lips, his breath hitting your face as he gently pushed you back, “Yeah, well. I know that look well.”

“What look?” Pushing him back once more, despite there not being any room for either of you to fall into, “There is no look. I don’t do looks. Plus, you can’t even see me, it's dark.”

“Not you, doofus,” Steve tried to dodge your hands as they returned the gesture, “him. He was giving you the look.”

“Jesus, Harrington. There was no look, okay? So drop it.”

“Please, I know the look like the back of my hand,” Steve’s finger jabbed into the space between your ribs, causing you to jerk slightly and slap his hands away, “I get it enough.”

“Oh yeah? And how’s that working out for you?” Another shove.

Slapping your hand away once more, “We’re not talking about my love life right now-”

“Only because it’s non-existent,” both hands were raised in an attempt to shove the boy once more, but both your actions and words came to an abrupt halt when he caught your hands in his own, fingers slowly linking in an attempt to keep them pinned to your side.

Steve’s voice was low as he leaned in, and despite the darkness, you felt him practically peer into your soul.

“Believe me,” he sighed, eyes softening as they traced your face as if he were trying to memorize every detail — good, bad, and ugly — to his memory, “I know the look.”

Your tongue slid over your bottom lip, catching the boy’s attention and causing his gaze to turn glassy and his knees to turn weak.

“Steve,” you mumbled, watching as his Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes finally returning to your own as he spoke your name softly, his body pressed so tightly against your own despite the extreme heat, that you were unsure whether it was your own heart that was pounding, or his.

Leaning forward slightly, Steve’s lips parted, but the words evaporated from his tongue when the hushed voices sounded a little too loud, the busted door knob jiggling as someone tried to open the door.

A sudden gust of warm air hit Steve’s back as the door was yanked open, allowing a little light to filter in,

“Uh, are we interrupting?”

The familiar, but unexpected voice jolted the boy away from you as he took a step back, clumsily trying to avoid the feet behind him as he looked anything but inconspicuous.

“No, uh. We were, you know? And then the door, it wouldn’t… Yeah.”

Clearing your throat, you stepped out of the small closet, ignoring the raised eyebrow and slight concern coming from Max, “We got locked in trying to fix the breaker. Everything is fried with the heat. What are you guys doing here?”

“Someone,” Mike glanced toward a rather apologetic-looking Steve, “said he’d drop us at the pool. He didn’t show when he said he would, so we thought we’d find him here. And what do you know? Here he is.”

“Yeah, alright, less of the attitude, Wheeler. I get it. I’m late, sorry.”

“You can still take us, right?” Will asked, his grip tight on his swim bag.

Steve turned his attention to you, watching carefully as if waiting for something. Realizing that the moment had passed, Steve shrugged and exhaled deeply, “Yeah, fine. Whatever. Go wait by the car.”

The group took off as you slowly followed Steve through the desolate arcade, careful not to slip on the puddle of melted slush that was most likely going to remain sticky for the rest of the arcade’s existence, no matter how many times you’d mop it.

“You could come with us. Not much you can do here, anyway.”

You stood in the doorway, eyes squinting as the too-bright sun beat down in a way that felt slightly more tolerable outside, and you found yourself almost saying yes.

Instead, you folded your arms over your chest and sent the boy a strained smile, “I would but… Well, I should ring my manager.”

“I could come back? Drop off the little demons and-”

“Steve, it’s fine. Really. Go enjoy the pool. Who knows, might be your lucky day.”

A small smile tugged at his lips as he began his descent toward his car, ignoring the kid's argument over who got shotgun, knowing full well that Lucas would cave and give Max his vote, “Yeah, who knows? Ring me later, alright? Let me know how you get on.”

“Sure thing, Harrington.”

His eyes remained on you as he walked backward, right up until his back collided with the side of his Beamer.

You returned El’s enthusiastic wave as the car pulled out of the parking lot before turning to reenter the arcade, hoping you could find your manager’s number in the office so you could ring from the video store next door, but the slam of a car door, followed by a shout of your name caused you to swivel back around, blocking out the sun with one hand as the person approached you.

“Patrick? What are you doing here?”

The boy wiped his hand over his forehead, a slightly flustered expression covering his face, “I, uh… I felt bad about leaving with Andy earlier. I didn’t know this was gonna happen, and if I hadn’t turned up, Andy wouldn’t have ditched you.”

You bit your tongue, both of you knowing damn well that this wasn’t the first, nor the last time Andy would leave his shift early.

“-So I thought I’d come back to help clear up.”

“Andy’ an ass, no offense. You really don’t need to cover for him,”

“I’m not,” he scratched the back of his neck, glancing toward you almost bashfully, “I came back to help you. That’s it. Promise.”

Taking a moment, you stared down the boy making him ever so slightly uncomfortable. You didn’t know Patrick all that well, but this didn’t feel like some elaborate prank that would end up with you covered in pig's blood at prom.

Pulling the door open, you stepped out of the way, ushering him in with a raised brow, “Tell, me, McKinney, how good are you with a mop?”

The sun beat down, caressing your skin as you lay out on the lounger falling in and out of sleep. The only thing stopping you from falling into a deep slumber was the occasional splashes and shrieking from the children who inhabited the pool, but you didn’t have it in you to tell them to quieten down. It was your first day off this week, and you wanted to do absolutely nothing except bask in the rays of the sun and relax.

“Hey, water stays in the pool, Mayfield.”

Steve, however, clearly had other ideas.

He’d been stressing over finding a job — one of his father's demands — and had so far been unsuccessful, but he had an interview soon, which had left him almost unbearable since, worrying himself over yet another rejection that hadn’t even happened yet.

“God, these kids are gonna age me,” Steve huffed, all but throwing himself into the lounger next to you.

Cocking a brow, you finally peeked toward the shirtless boy as he settled onto the lounger next to you, his shoulders already beginning to redden from the intense heat, “So is the sun, if you don’t put some lotion on.”

“I’m working on my tan,” Steve waved his hand dismissively, eyes hidden under his sunglasses as if he were the heartthrob of some John Hughes movie.

Throwing the bottle of lotion at him, you rolled your eyes before closing them and entirely blocking the boy from your view, “You’ll thank me when you’re 40.”

After a long, heaving, and frankly dramatic sigh, Steve eventually opened the lotion — the click of the lid causing your eyes to peek once more toward him — and began to pour the smallest amount he possibly could over his arms, “You know, most people use baby oil to get a tan, not this shit.”

“Jesus, Harrington, you sound like a middle-aged housewife. Age like a leather bag for all I care. Just do it quietly.”

Even behind the tinted glasses, you knew Steve was glaring at you, despite continuing to rub in the sunscreen.

“Can you, uh…Can you get my back?”

“Huh?” You questioned, sitting up a little on the lounger.

“Well there’s no point putting it on my front and not my back, is there?”

“I mean-”

“And I can’t reach my back, so…” Steve held out the lotion toward you, a brow slightly arched, “Can you help me, or not?”

Not.

The word felt glued to your tongue, as if no matter how much you wanted to say it, to turn him down, you couldn’t bring yourself to utter that one, simple word. Instead, you swallowed down the lump that had formed in your throat and all but snatched the bottle from him, waiting as he moved to the edge of your own chair and turned away from you, the freckles that you had only been acquainted with once before enhanced by the sun.

His sudden jolt from the cold lotion made you jump slightly, a quiet apology slipping from your lips as you willed your hands to stop trembling.

You’re pathetic, you silently berated yourself, the frown only deepening on your forehead as your hands grazed across the expanse of Steve’s back.

It took a while to fully rub the lotion in, and by the end, you felt like you had heatstroke, “All done,” your words were barely above a whisper.

“Thanks,” Steve’s smile was soft as he turned, glancing over his shoulder at you.

Steve’s throat bobbed as he turned a little more on the lounger to face you, suddenly seeming less sure of himself, “I, uh… Do you-”

“I need to wash my hands,” you stuttered, pushing yourself up too quickly and almost causing the lounger to topple under Steve’s weight as you dashed toward the sliding door.

Gripping onto the sink, you took a few deep breaths and willed yourself to calm down. The heat had clearly gotten to you, your heart all but beating out of your chest. Definitely a sign of heatstroke.

“You alright?” Steve’s voice made you jump before you fumbled for the tap, finally finding some relief from the cold water as you rinsed the oily lotion from your hands.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just… The heat, you know?”

“Right, yeah of course. Do you, uh… Do you want water?” Steve asked, head already in the fridge looking for the cans of coke he’d promised the kids, fishing out a bottle of cold water at your agreement as you dried your hands.

Steve held the bottle out toward you, the droplets of water rolling over his knuckles all too distracting and it only got worse when he softly called your name, your eyes slowly making their way up his chest before finally meeting his eyes, “You sure you’re okay? You wanna lay down or something?”

You were sure you could hear the blood flowing in your ears, and you silently cursed yourself. You had seen topless guys before, hell, for however much of an asshole Billy Hargrove was, you’d seen him playing basketball, shirtless and sweaty, and still managed to keep your composure.

Snatching the bottle from his grip, you willed your voice to remain strong as you eyed the sliding door, quickly making your exit, “Jesus, I’m fine, Harrington. Stop babying me.”

You could barely hear the yelp of pain from him as a can of coke fell from his other hand, dropping onto his bare foot and rolling away, your heart pounding furiously in your chest as you felt your embarrassment overwhelm you.

This is also why you didn’t pay much attention to the wet pool deck until you found yourself sliding on it and crashing into the pool.

For a moment, time stood still. The playful shouts from the kids dulled into muted, indistinguishable noise, and it took a second for your body and brain to catch up with itself, but when it finally did, the panic began to ensue fast and hard.

Your limbs began to flail, unable to decipher which way would lead you to the safety of the water's surface as your chest began to burn, accidentally letting in a lungful of water, eyes sore and unable to make much out except the blue of the water which blended all too well with the blue of the sky.

A muffled noise from behind you barely caught your attention, but the moment Steve’s arms wrapped around you, all but dragging you to the surface, you stopped trying to fight, instead turning limp in his arms.

“Is she okay?” Max rushed forward, concern etched across her face.

“She’ll be fine. Just help me get her out.”

Steve practically dragged you up the few pool steps — your legs turning to jelly — as Max threw one of your arms over her shoulder, taking some of your weight before they placed you onto the lounger as you coughed and spluttered.

“What happened?” Lucas questioned, his soft eyes peering down at you as he handed Steve a towel, the older boy snatching it from his grip to place it over your shoulders.

“She slipped. Jesus, I told you guys to stop splashing the water everywhere, it gets slippery as shit,” Steve returned his attention to you, hands placed against your cheeks as he pushed away the remaining droplets of chlorine water with his thumbs, “You’re okay. Deep breaths, alright? Slow it down.”

It took a moment, but eventually, you were able to match Steve’s breathing, “I’m fine. I’m sorry, guys…”

“You’re shaking,” Steve mumbled, his hands rubbing the towel over the tops of your arms, trying to warm you up, despite the blazing summer sun, “Wheeler, go get her some water-”

“No, Steve. Really, I’m fine,” turning toward the kids, you kept your eyes on the ground, too embarrassed to meet their eyes, “Go back in. Have fun. We’ll be leaving soon, anyway.”

Once the gang had reluctantly returned to the pool — this time keeping their antics, and the water, confined to the pool — Steve stood, holding his hand out toward you, “C’mon, let’s get you some dry clothes.”

Despite the fact the sun would’ve dried you off in no time, you followed the boy inside, uncomfortable from the weight of your soaked denim shorts.

Steve had managed to dig out a pair of shorts and an old top for you, and once you were dried and dressed, Steve returned, finding you perched on the end of his bed with the damp towel in your hands and shame written across your face.

“So, this is the second time you’ve almost drowned in my pool. I’m starting to think it’s personal.”

Steve’s joke fell flat, and your lack of response caused him to shuffle his weight between his legs before joining you on the edge of the bed, Barb’s words from the night of his party ringing in his ears, “Why didn’t you ever learn to swim?”

“Not everyone is rich enough to have a pool in the yard,” you mumbled, allowing Steve to take the towel from you and wipe the side of your neck where a droplet of water had begun to fall.

“You know, I haven’t been in that pool since the night Barb…” Steve sighed, folding the towel just to have something to busy his hands with, before placing it on the floor by his bed, “I used to love swimming. It kinda felt like an escape, you know? I’d hold my breath and just sit on the pool floor, drown out everything that was going on around me. Probably why I ended up good enough to be captain of the swim team. And then after Barb’s death I just… Couldn’t face it.”

You knew what he was doing, even if he was unaware of it himself.

“When I was younger, I mean like… really young, my sister and I went out boating with my dad all the time. Back then, Mom was… Well, she was better. But she’s had demons in her life for as long as I can remember, and they only got worse once my Dad left. But whenever she was having a bad morning, he’d take us out on Lover’s Lake.”

Steve watched on silently as your throat bobbed, and you swallowed down the lump that was clawing its way up your throat,

“One night, they were just non-stop fighting. I don’t know what about, I was only like, 6. But my sister… She got me dressed, grabbed a blanket, and we left. She was trying to take care of me like Dad did. So we walked to the lake, untied one of the boats on the dock, and just… rowed out. Nobody else was out there, just me, her, and the quiet of the night. We weren’t given that often, you know? Peace. But that night, just for a while… That was all we had.”

“What happened?” Steve questioned, his hand capturing yours in an attempt to stop you from picking at the skin around your nails.

He knew, of course, what had happened. Or at least, the rumors that had spread around town over the years. It was common knowledge. But he didn’t care about what the town had to say about it… He cared about what you had to say.

“We were being stupid, playing around, unable to see the danger we’d got ourselves into. The boat rocked, and I fell overboard. I don’t remember much after that, but I know she didn’t hesitate to jump in after me, and that’s the only reason I’m alive, and she’s not. She managed to get me back into the boat. But the water was so cold, and I just… I never saw her again. They uh… They think she was caught in a current, and added to the shock of the cold water she just… couldn’t get herself out. If she’d just stayed in the boat, then-”

“Then you’d be dead, and she’d be here instead,” your head snapped toward Steve, his words ringing a little too familiar to your own thoughts. To your mother’s voiced opinions, “You were just kids. She jumped in to save her little sister.”

Praying the tears that were blurring your vision wouldn’t fall, you turned away from Steve, peering up at his bedroom ceiling, “My Dad left not long after. My parents were barely hanging on anyway, but… he couldn’t take it. My Mom’s drinking just got worse, and before I knew it, she was unable to hold down a job, and I was stealing from the Big Buy just to put food on the table.”

“And you never heard from your Dad again? Don’t know where he went?”

Shaking your head, you wiped away a lone tear that had managed to escape, “No. Mom wouldn’t talk about him… about either of them.”

After giving you a moment to collect yourself, Steve’s voice was soft, “I’m so sorry-”

“I don’t want your pity,” you scoffed, shoving his hand off your own, and pushing yourself to stand, despite your legs still feeling a little weak, “Shit happens to everyone.”

“It’s not pity,” Steve sighed, remaining calm as he followed you across the room, a gentle hand laying on your shoulder to turn you to face him, “I promise. When you care about someone, it’s not pity.”

The light streaming in through his window reflected in his eyes, the soft brown almost melting into specks of green, causing your icy demeanor to melt away with the summer sun. Unable to stop the tears from overflowing, you simply nodded before Steve pulled you into an embrace, his warm, sun-kissed skin still smelling of the lotion he’d applied earlier.

“I could teach you, you know? To swim.” Steve spoke quietly, almost too low that you could barely hear him over the kid’s antics from outside his bedroom window.

Shaking your head, your forehead creased, “I don’t think I could-”

“Not here,” he interrupted, peering down at you as he released you from his arms, “At the community pool. There are other people around and lifeguards, you’d be totally safe.”

“I’ll think about it,” you sighed, “But right now, I need to get those kids home.”

A few days after your second unwanted dip in the Harrington’s pool, you found yourself standing by what might’ve been the only available lounger at Hawkins Community Pool.

Steve wasn’t lying when he said there would be plenty of other people there, unfortunately, most of them were screeching children, kicking water at each other and running around, despite how many times Freddie blew his whistle to tell them to slow down, their mother’s not bothered by the dangers of the pool as the women gossiped and preened themselves, fluffing freshly dyed hair and reapplying their fuchsia lipsticks.

“C’mon, it’s really not that bad,” Steve sighed, tapping his foot impatiently on the too-hot floor, all too aware of the eyes that were staring at him, despite the sunglasses that covered them. Sometimes, you thought the sex-deprived housewives were worse than their curious teenagers.

“I don’t know, Steve. Somehow, this seems much worse.”

Steve, only slightly distracted with sending the gaggle of women a small wave, “It’s all good…”

Shoving him slightly, your knuckles began to hurt from their tight grip on your towel, “If I die because of your inability to keep it in your pants, Harrington, I swear, I’ll come back as a ghost and make your life a living hell.”

“You already do that,” Steve sent you a sarcastic smile after rolling his eyes but clambered into the pool regardless, “C’mon, you’ll be fine. I promise.”

Brow wrinkled, you eyed the noisy pool, uncertainty pulsing through your body with an underlying panic. Technically, you didn’t need to learn how to swim. You lived in Indiana, a double landlocked state. It wasn’t like you were planning on taking a dip in the Atlantic Ocean any time soon.

But this wasn’t about swimming, both you and Steve knew that. This was about conquering a fear that held so much trauma and guilt.

Steve, noting your apprehension, swam a little closer to the edge, leaning over to look up toward you, “Sometimes, the only way out is through.”

You nodded, despite the slight glare etched onto your features, before slowly unraveling your towel, feeling a little too exposed despite your rather conservative bathing suit. It wasn’t very flattering, but it covered the scars over your abdomen much better than any alternatives.

Before you could step forward, a low wolf whistle stopped you in your tracks, “Well, well, well. I didn’t know the Convent was in town.”

Slamming your eyes shut in annoyance, you silently cursed your luck, “Go away, Hargrove.”

“No can do,” you wanted to slap the wolfish grin right off his face when he pushed his sunglasses up onto the top of his head and raised his metal whistle toward you, “Kind of my job to be here.”

“Great,” you huffed, returning your attention to the boy in the pool, “Can we go? Please?”

“Oh, I get it…” Billy smirked, eyes darting between you and Steve, who was glaring at him from the water, “Anyway, the geriatric swim session is from 4pm, til 5. You’re a little early with that outfit.”

Billy pulled the strap of your costume, as if to make a point, allowing it to snap back onto your skin, making you flinch before shoving him away slightly, “I swear, Hargrove. If you-”

The shrill sound of his whistle cut you off, his eyes set on a running child who almost tripped over himself in an attempt to slow down, before he finally returned his attention to you, pulling his sunglasses back over his leering eyes, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll be keeping a close eye on you. And don’t forget, I know mouth-to-mouth.”

You weren’t able to formulate a response before Billy had sauntered off, late for his round of peacock-ing in front of the Horny Housewives of Hawkins. Instead, you found your feet taking you to the edge of the pool.

Sitting on the edge of the pool, you dangled your legs in cautiously as you began your tirade to Steve, instead.

“That guy is so pig-headed. I swear, if he ever touches me again, I’ll rip that stupid little mustache off his face.”

Steve, who had moved slightly to allow you the space to sit in front of him sent you an amused smile, “Ignore him, alright? Are we doing this?”

Inhaling deeply and trying to push your fear to the back of your mind, you accepted his hands that were outstretched and awaiting your own,

“If I need the kiss of life, and Billy is my only option, please, and I mean this wholeheartedly, let me die.”

Rolling his eyes, Steve waded back into the water slowly, allowing you to shuffle forward until you were finally in the water, “Yeah, I’m a certified lifeguard. I could just give you mouth-to-mouth.”

Steve’s words caused the both of you to halt, and for just a moment, you were grateful for the cool pool water as it lapped at your too-warm body. Catching himself, Steve began to stutter as he dragged you a little further into the pool, “You know, if you, uh… If you ever needed it…”

Fighting hard to not allow your obvious embarrassment to invade your face, you settled your focus on the boy’s hands as he led you away from the pool’s edge, which was a mistake all of its own, “I’d prefer to just, you know… Not drown.”

“That’ll be a good start, yeah,” Steve swallowed thickly, his cheeks rosy from what he would argue was the sun, “You’re doing well.”

“I’ve just got in, Steve. I haven’t even done anything yet.”

“Half the fight was getting into the pool in the first place,” Steve smirked, a small wave of water hitting his chin as you pushed water toward him with a halfhearted glare.

It almost annoyed you how good Steve was at teaching. Sure, with the kids, he sometimes lost his temper and would more often than not result in name-calling, but when he knew how to do something, Steve really knew.

By no means were you confident in the water, nor could you do much more than dog paddle and a flailing backstroke, but by the time you’d pulled your aching limbs from the water and began to dry off, you were slowly growing comfortable with Steve’s assistance. Not that you intended on joining the Swimming Team any time soon.

“Why didn’t you apply for a job here? I mean, it kinda seems like you’d ace an interview here.”

“Already filled up their positions,” Steve sighed, rubbing his towel through his hair, unaware or unbothered with it sticking out in several directions, “Plus, I don’t think my Dad would see it as much of a punishment, hanging around a pool with babes in bikini’s all day, you know?”

“I work a minimum wage job in an overheated arcade, full of smelly preteen boys. Anything would be an upgrade from that.”

“And you’re sure there are no positions available? Like, nothing at all?”

Shrugging, you wrapped your towel around yourself and shoved your feet into your flip flops, ready to head into the changing cubicle, “However much I wish Andy would quit, there’s nothing. Sorry.”

“No, it’s cool. I, uh... I totally passed that interview at the Mall, anyway. I start this week.”

“Oh shit, that’s great.”

“Yeah, well… It’s some Ice cream place, so… That'll be... Fun.”

You and Steve separated into changing rooms, and once you were relatively dry and dressed back into your normal clothes, you made your way out, spotting the boy leaning against one of the wooden picnic benches, talking to one of the lifeguards, Heather.

Before you could make your way over, a tanned arm shot out, reaching toward the wall, essentially blocking you in, “You know, I surfed a lot back in California.”

“Riveting,” you deadpanned, barely sparing a look in Billy’s direction, “Does this story have a point, or are you just trying to waste my time?”

“My point,” Billy stressed, leaning uncomfortably closer to you, “is that I’m a pretty great swimmer. The ocean isn’t exactly a backyard pool, you know? I teach lessons here, but… if you ever want a private session, then you know where I am. My specialty is the breaststroke, but I know all the styles-”

“You are disgusting, Hargrove. You know that?”

Billy’s smirk stretched across his face, but his eyes darkened slightly, “You weren’t saying that last Halloween. In fact, if I remember, you weren’t really saying much at all.”

Your name being called from across the small entrance caught both of your attention, but Billy’s arm remained high by your head,

“Hey, you already swam?” The boy asked, his eyes darting between you, Billy, and his arm against the wall.

“Uh, yeah. I was getting a lesson…”

Nodding, Patrick turned his attention to the blonde, “Sup, Hargrove. Didn’t know you got a summer gig here.”

“Why would you know?” Chewing on his gum, Billy watched the boy carefully, his smirk nowhere to be seen, before turning back to you but thankfully removing his hand from the wall beside you, “Offers there.”

Billy brushed past Patrick, who barely seemed phased by the boy’s cold shoulder, even when he greeted his friends with much more warmth, “God, he is such a dick. Are you alright?”

“Yeah. No, I’m good. Thank you, though.” You stumbled through your words, thankful that Patrick and his group of friends hadn’t turned up earlier. That was an embarrassment you didn’t need to suffer.

Jason called after Patrick, telling him to hurry, but the boy merely sent them away to swim with a wave of his wrist, ensuring he’ll join them soon, yet he remained standing with you at the entrance.

“So, uh… Thanks again, you know. For helping me clear up the other day. You didn’t need to.”

“Well, it was kinda my fault that Andy ditched, so… It was the least I could do.”

“Yeah, well… I hope he at least gave you some of his paychecks.”

Patrick smirked, his dark eyes peering down into yours, making you feel a little too exposed.

“You know, I was uh… I know you don’t like Andy, or whatever, but, we’re having this small get-together Monday night. Not a lot of people but… yeah, it’s normally pretty cool. Did you, maybe wanna, go? With me, I mean… Obviously.”

With wide eyes and an open mouth, you prayed for your brain to stop short-circuiting and respond — at this point with anything — but instead, you stood, staring at him like a guppy, causing him to stutter,

“I mean, you totally don’t have to. Because of Andy or, you know, even if you don’t like me, that’s totally fine too. I just thought maybe-”

“Monday night sounds good,” your voice squeaked, and for a moment you could only beg that the Earth would open up and swallow you whole. Take you back to the Upside Down, for all you gave a shit.

Instead of calling you out on it, or mocking you, Patrick instead sent you a wide, sincere smile and nodded, “Yeah, cool. I’ll uh… I’ll pick you up? Around 9?”

And with a nod of your head, it was a date.

[xanticore]

Can you do a Lars ulrich fic where the reader is part of it can you do a dominant submissive relationship kinks where Lars is dominant and the girl or whoever is a submissive also the as well smut??

Back in 1984 in the hotel room???

I hope you enjoy anon! I don't like going straight into smut so yeah..it's a bit slow in the beginning but it gets juicy. promise.

“𝐒𝐇𝐄’𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓’’

Genre: Smut

Setting: Summer of 1984 ,, New York

Warnings: Slight usage of the daddy kink (Lars gets so surprised by it) P in V, oral f receiving, pet names, and sailor mouth from Lars.

Summary: The band had finished their recording for ride the lighting. They all agreed to celebrate by hanging out at a club- getting drunk and hopefully be able to take a girl back to a hotel. Lately Lars hasn't had great experiences with the recent groupies he was with. None of them really fit his sex appeal. That all had changed when he saw a girl smoking alone.

"You gotta be fucking with me!" I blurted out before putting the phone back on the hook. A fan that goes by 'Lola' told me I'm an asshole. Maybe she's right. Only because I couldn't take how fucking horrible she was in bed. It really wasn't that great. I felt utter boredom with that chick.

"Was that Lola?" Kirk said in a teasing tone. I just huffed and rolled my eyes. "Of course it was. apparently I wasn't making her feel good, well tough world we live in because I didn't nut myself. Now we both can't have our way." I heard the other members let out a chuckle and it only made me more ticked.

For some reason, I could never find the fun girls like the others. They always had exciting fucking stories to tell about their night. Me, sometimes I either sleep alone or try to have fun with a girl that I bring back. Nobody was into anything I was. They just laid there and took it.

Im fucking 21! and I start my sex life completely shit. It's like I'm having sex with someone's grandma. Like Gross. I want some action. More interaction at least with a girl. I just wanna have fun till I can't anymore.

"Well, We did decide to hit up a club in downtown Manhattan. Maybe you'll find your girl there~" Cliff said giving me a wink. I forgot that quick we were in New York fucking city. "Oh yeah, New Yorker girls are totally hot too. Maybe you'll find that babe you're looking for." James added on.

I was now stoked for tonight. As the youngest in the band, I wanna try and have a good time and able to tell them stories. Stories that they can possibly relate to.

After being out all day, I took a quick nap in my room so I could have some energy for the rest of the night. I wanted to at least look presentable-but then got a reality check. Its a club filled with late teenagers and early twenty year olds. I just threw on a random band shirt with some black ripped jeans and some Nikes. I sprayed some cologne observing myself in the mirror.

"Come on Lars...you got this. Totally got this. We're gonna have fun and enjoy ourselves."

I talked with myself to give me some self confidence. I was full of it. Overly optimistic. I headed down to the hotel lobby where I was the last one to arrive. We had a personal driver that drove us to the top club strip of manhattan. The city lights of the ads and neon advertisements filled the night sky. It had my eyes 'glimmering' as Kirk would say.

We decided to walk along the strip instead, thanking our driver. "We'll take a cab back~" I said reassuring the driver. I saw him nod and left the van. The night life was now and all the adults were out in their club outfits walking along the sidewalk. It really had my heart racing in anticipation on how I'll end my night. Will it be good? or bad. Find out in the next episode of Lars' questionable sex life.

"Jeez, theres so many clubs. Should we just go to a typical twenty-one plus?" Kirk asked looking carefully at the signes that were out. It was different prices of alcoholic drinks during happy hour if you joind this club or that club. "No- Lets go to The Phantom." I said pointing at the bright purple neon sign. The club had a line literally wrapped around the corner of waiting club goers to get inside.

"Uhh. do you know that the Phantom is for...big shots?" Cliff asked as if he was confused.

"Uhh?? yeah. Thats why I said we should go there. Come on, I think we're big enough of a shot to party with the top class people." I said borderline excitedly, but still kept my cool.

"Ok but, we didn't even dress the part?" Kirk and James added in unison. I just sighed.

"Who gives a shit? Like come on it's a club. its gonna be dark. No one is gonna care about what we wear. Now get your asses over there."

Surprise surprise, there were people who recognized us. We did have shows in New York but it was nothing too extravagant. We were escorted to the front, showed our IDs and were in like a blink of an eye. "I guess you're right larsy~"

I just smirked at Cliff's comment. The music was pumping through its speakers and the flashing club lights were going in random directions. Everyone, dancing; and Kirk was the first one to get dragged out onto the dance floor with a girl. Cliff and James also had a pair come up to them, making me alone.

I just chuckled awkwardly looking around for somewhere to sit. All the seats at the bar was taken so that was out the picture. I didn't really care for sitting right now but I did want a drink in hand as I danced. I ordered myself a bottle of beer, taking it with me to the dance floor. Everyone had their partners but I didn't mind dancing alone having the occasional girls come and go.

Eight songs had passed already and my beer was halfway gone. I wasn't drunk but I desperately need another one to keep me occupied when i'm alone. I pushed my way through the sweaty crowd and back to the same bar. I gestured the bartender for another bottle and gave them a five dollar bill. I scanned the room to see my band mates with girls they found. I was a bit jealous to say the least.

James had two girls on him.

Cliff sharing a smoke with some biker chick.

Kirk was full on making out with someone at a vip table.

Me...at a bar on my second beer bottle with no action. It was time to mingle. I looked around for girls but every girl I saw just reminded me of fucking Lola. All the girls were just copy paste. Just when I was about to give up an leave, I see a girl alone at one of the vip tables. She was alone smoking a cigarette and drinking her drink.

Her hair was jet black and I couldn't tell what she was wearing from where I was standing. She looked hot from a far- could she be hot upclose?

I walked up towards her table- casually passing by Kirk who was still kissing mind you. I sat my beer bottle on the table causing a reaction out of her. "May I sit here?"

I asked politely..oh and by the way- she was totally my type of girl. She gave a gesture and I got in sitting across from her. "You know VIP only right?" Fuck, her voice was deep. "Yeah. What you don't think im an important person?"

"You're from Metallica aren't you?"

"I am sweetheart."

I saw her smile when I answered. She looked so shy and I couldn't really make out what she wanted. I kinda dig it. It was something new from a girl that I just met. "Well~ are you a fan- oop...speak of the devil hmm?" I asked her and just in the nick of time, one of our songs started playing.

"I'm a huge fan actually.." She confesses; tapping the cigarette ashes in the ash tray. Just by looking at her and her body language, I could tell she wasn't a groupie. She wasn't quick to ask anything about my wealth or even anything sexual. She was a genuine fan.

She made many first moves, by that I mean questions. Given her shy and quiet nature, she asked very interesting questions about the music and what's it like being famous. I never took the time to even think to myself about these things. With every questioned asked; I answered with full potential.

Being in the vip section of the club, waiters would come and go with drinks. She would get something fruity while I only had my beer. Luckily for this spot, I didn't have to pay.

"Excuse me sweetheart, I forgot to ask you your name."

"it's (name)"

"(name)? such a pretty name you got there baby. Care to join me on the dance floor?"

I gave her a wink before getting up from the booth. I walked towards her side pulling my hand out waiting for her to grab it. Her hands are so soft and pretty. Her nails were painted in a baby blue and a mood ring on her ring finger. When stood up I was almost towered. I was able to look her up and down and oh my god, she was so beautiful. From her height, her mannerisms, her features of her face-she seemed too unreal.

I manned up and guided her towards the glowing floor. It was a different song now. When Doves Cry by Prince was playing and I could clearly see little miss was a fan of him as well. All she needed was a couple more sips of her drink and baby was good to go. I watched as she mouthed the lyrics turning her back against me. I grabbed her hips helping her keep the rhythm.

I drunk a little bit more of my beer and carelessly threw it somewhere off the floor. Both of my hands touching her. She turned back around and her face was a soft color tint. We were both slightly drunk but still was able to recognize what was going on in our surroundings. I couldn't help but lay a kiss on those pretty plump lips.

It was a real pleasure feeling her kiss back. It was expected. I let her pull away and letting her continue dancing. She was teasing me and damn it I wanted her...

So i got her

The taxi ride back to my hotel felt like it was going on for hours. I opened the door to my room, I had her back against the door. I picked her up letting her legs wrapped around my waist. Our kiss was sloppy and desperate, no order was necessary.

We struggled to get our clothes off once we made it to the bedroom. I laid her down gently before taking my shirt off and letting her take off any piece of clothing she desired. She didn't have a bra on so her chest was immediately exposed to the cold air.

My lips around her hardened nipples as my other free went along to squeeze and grope her. She hummed and I enjoyed the reaction out of her but sadly it wasn't enough to my standards. I went up to her neck licking and biting the sensitive area that didn't take me long to figure out. My hands went down to her legs opening them, helping her slide her lace panties down.

I pulled away to see her now raw, naked body. She was fucking beautiful. She even had some tattoos, and a belly peircing. Fuck. My next move was to eat her alive. I saw her exposed pussy and couldn't help but smirk how wet she was. "You're glistening babydoll" I said slowly lowering myself down. My eyes locked with hers and she was shy at the fact of how I explained how needy she was. It was so fucking cute.

I let my tongue gently rub against her clit and the moans she made was what I was looking for. I continued confidently eating her out, making sure I tasted every drop of her wetness.

Hearing her whine and her fingers getting tangled in my hair was sending me into a frenzy. My jeans getting too fucking tight to handle but I was too busy to even care. All my focuse was on her and her only. Her moans were loud and desperate. Just how I like it.

Her back arches as she pushed my head further into her and of course-i didn't mind that at all. I tongued and finger fucked her hole, letting my other fingers slowly rub against her wet folds. She tasted like sweet sugar; something I never experienced before. I could tell she was close by her breathing patterns. I stopped causing her to groan in annoyance. "I wanna have some fun too~" I cooed lifting my head up to caress her cheek.

I took off my jeans and right when I was lining up to her hole, I had no condom. Fuck, I forgot to buy some earlier. I took a deep sigh smiling at her. "You don't mind me going raw do you babydoll?"

"I don't mind~"

I grinned and slowly pushed inside her. We both let out a sigh of relief feeling each other in intimacy. "Feels good baby?"

I asked. She hummed and that was my go to-to start thrusting. I found a rhythm but didn't necessarily followed it as my pace became desperate when I started to get used to feeling her. She was a moaning mess and her whimpers only made it better. I couldn't help but go a little harder on her.

"Daddy...it feels so good-"

My heart literally did at least two somersaults. I wasn't expecting her to pull that kink card on me and fuck I liked it alot. A little too much. "Oh yeah??" I smirked. I leaned down to kiss her on her neck, biting every possible place that I haven't touched yet. I moved my hand down to rub her clit in circles wanting her to be extra stimulated.

"FUCK..Don't stop please..." She cried out. I just chuckled.

"I had no plans to darlin." I responded, reassuring her. I pulled back and had my hand around her neck choking her. She was the first girl to even let me do this. Her eyes were turning red as it was starting to water. She looked so helpless..so submissive...it turned me on so fucking much. I was nearly close.

"Im gonna...cum...."

"Me too darlin...cum for me..cum for daddy yeah?" I continued to pound into her, the room filled with the sounds of our moans and skin on skin contact. "Fuck.." I quickly pull out and start to stroke myself. I released all of my cum on her stomach just in time. I fell down right beside her as we both tried to relax after coming down from our high.

I turn over to her and saw she was already asleep. It was a perfect opportunity to clean her up and let her rest through the night with me.

The next day

I was woken up by an empty spot in the bed. I frowned but it was flipped when I saw her note on the night stand.

Thank you for last night, I had fun. Sorry I couldn't stay until you woke up though, I had to meet back up with some friends. But here's my number if you still wanna keep contact *** **** - (Name) xoxo

I couldn't believe it, she gave me her number. My heart was honestly beating against my chest hard already.

It was time to head back home and of course, the last person to arrive. The others looked pretty bummed. "Good morning everyone...why the long faces?" I asked in concern. They just sighed. "I didn't get no action, nor sleep because all I heard was you and that girl" Kirk said as he had his arms crossed.

Lars couldn't help but blush out of embarrassment at the last part, but at the same time-couldn't help but laugh. "Seems like I'm the only one that got action huh? oh boy do I have a story to tell~"

a/n : Im still getting the hang of writing smut so please be kind!!!

dividers: cr to owners

[bcacstuff]

The conversation Alice had with a fan and you mention that there is stong language tell more about that? Was it her who used it to the fan and was it fan who did that or talking shit about Sam?

I think you meant t write 'slip' 😉

So yes, before all kind of crazy stories start to occur, and this is actually the subject I wanted to address but as well had to think about how to do it in a correct way, as honest as I possibly can but also with integrity.

You see, it concerns DMs, and yes, meanwhile someone showed them to me and I have read them. I could surely have said no, I don't want that, but at the same time, I had 2 Anons claiming Alice had answered fans in DM. I showed you part of the Anon message:

"Alice has been replying to a fan in DM this I know 10000% saying Sam followed her and sent her DM and now she’s posted in London."

The rest was more or less calling Sam out, so i didn't like to post that part.

So I felt a bit in dubio, one side doesn't want to be secretive, the other side is thinking, those are DMs, not meant for public consumption to begin with.

Also, I need to emphasize that I was shown these DMs second hand. There is no way I can verify. I'm not saying I don't trust the person who showed them to me, I'm merely saying, I can not verify how genuine they are, is this really what this person in DM said or not. So I really would emphasize this and keep that in mind when reading the rest of this post.

I'm not literally gonna write what was in the DMs, but will try to give an objective summary of it.

I saw 2 DM convo's, by 2 fans separately and not at the same time with Alice. One DM convo was short, fan asking, she answered, th other was a little longer more a little convo. Both starting with asking her how she got Sam following her. She answered both. (which I have to say I find surprising, it is quite easy to ignore). But okay, she seemed to have answered both of them. Telling how Sam slid into her DMs, now I don't feel that is something new, that part we know (hence I feel I can tell that part). And Anon 2, i don't know when, I just know he started following her on 13 June. She went on with more personal stuff he did and said they DM-ed daily.

But she was also sort of bragging that he invited her to London. Now both DMs were before this weekend. One started on 20 June, and they ended last Wednesday. So nobody knew by then Sam was going to be in London and at the tennis match. My Anon also wrote Fridaynight, before we knew he was in London, but she wrote because Alice posted a picture tagging her hotel in London. And yeah, your question ismy question as well, why on earth did she felt the need to advertise that?

Then in both DMs she suddenly (and imo unnecessarily) said something on Sam's behalve which was not so nice. Something both fans I know felt hurt by. You could say, perhaps he told her about fans harassing women he's been connected with somehow, but from what i saw these fans were not harassing, were asking her something in a friendly way, curiosity, she could have ignored, or simply have given a short answer without all the rest. I feel it was not her place to say something like that on his behalf, whether it is true or not, it was not on her to do so.

I'm not gonna spell out what exactly was said, but it was unkind, hurtful for the (curious) fans, and unnecessary. I know some might have their thoughts about the fans contacting her, and I in no way would encourage anybody to do so (and I surely never did or will do so myself). But that is not a reason to be hurtful and say things on someone else's behalf that hurt his fans.

As said, and i emphasize again I can not verify this all, if that is really what she said. And that is also why I wish not to spell something like that out, here my integrity is at play. I just can say, the DMs didn't look fabricated/photoshopped or anything. But I just can't verify.

Anyway, whatever happened to Be Kind!?

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Day 29: corn maze

Masterlist flufftober 🎀

Reblog if you liked it!

“Are you sure we should go this way? That corner over there seems familiar to me”

“For the umpteenth time today, you can't possibly recognize a place because they all look the same. They are cornfields”

“Your response only confirms to me that we are fucking lost.”

In reality, you knew you weren't lost and even if you were, you trusted that your friend would be able to get you out of there. You and Spencer had known each other for practically as long as you could remember and when he told you that he would be in Vegas for a few days you practically begged him to go out with you. You didn't even care where you guys were going, you just wanted to spend time with him and enjoy the fall weather like when you were children.

In the midst of it all Spencer looked at a sign advertising a haunted house and a corn maze on the outskirts of town and he thought about the last time he had gone to either. He talked to you and in the end you decided on the second option, feeling an adventurous spirit that was not very fueled right now.

“We’re not lost. I have an eidetic memory and I know perfectly well that since we arrived, we have made one turn to the right, three to the left, we walked forward along the path on the right side, then we made another turn to the left…”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” you whined, smiling slightly at your friend’s jabbering. A couple of people walked past you and waved at you, looking a little more lost than you.

Spencer was wearing a long coat that day, a garment you weren't very used to seeing him in, a themed scarf and a pumpkin-colored hat that you had knit for him a couple of years ago but that he still seemed to appreciate.

“Don't worry, these camps always use a Global Positioning System with satellites to help identify the location of all the people in the camp and are designed so that you can leave halfway if you panic.”

“This reminds me of that novel by King and his son, In the Tall Grass, have you read it?”

"No. Is it good?"

“It's a little scary if you live in the country. Or if you go into a corn maze, like a couple of fools thought of it” you joked and that seemed to amuse your friend, who giggled.

You moved a little closer to him and decided to wrap your hand around his arm, an approach that he gladly received.

“I'm glad we're here, I really wanted to see you.”

“I know, you hardly come to Las Vegas anymore. When was the last time?"

“Eight months and thirteen days”

“Too long,” you said, with a certain melancholy, and Spencer raised his opposite hand to put it on yours, as if he wanted to apologize for having taken so long to return.

“To the left,” he murmured kindly to you, pointing his head in that direction.

“I'm following you without questioning you, you know? If we get lost, I won't even know."

“We arrived at the third checkpoint, right there,” he pointed out, with a proud smile. “Relax, don't you trust me? I am a genius"

“You're a show-off,” you laughed, resting your head on his shoulder for a second and feeling his do the same on the top of your head.

It felt good to be with him like that, like two old friends who know that no matter how much time passes, things won't change at all between them. You didn't know it, but Spencer had been going through a lot these past few months, and being with such a familiar face comforted him immensely, as if he could remember a time in the past that seemed happier and simpler.

“I think it's this way!” you heard next to you. It was a group of teenagers who were pointing down the path to the left at a fork and who seemed quite excited by the discovery they had just made. “We are going to win, it shouldn't be too far away”

“Stop,” Spencer murmured, surprising you and them. “It's not that way. "You must take the other path”

The young people debated for a moment whether they should follow a stranger's advice or their own conclusions and you believed that, in their place, you would have done the same; I mean, a couple of adults advising them is always strange, since they feel like they know everything in the world. Still, you decided to support them a little.

“Listen to him, we haven't gotten lost even once. He's a genius for these things.”

You almost saw Spencer make fun of you when he heard you call him a genius, when just seconds before you were calling him a braggart.

“What if you are lying to us?”

“I'm so sure it's that way that I'll greet you at the exit,” Spencer responded, with a small smile “It's not too far away, but if you want to take that path and it leads you to nothing, you just need to go back to the right one.”

After thinking about it for a while, the group made the best decision and after saying thank you, they began to walk on the side that Spencer had recommended, where you saw them get lost a couple of seconds later.

“Why did you help them?”

"Why don’t do it?" he responded with amusement.

You continued advancing while you held him and when you reached the place that had caused discord, he guided you to the opposite side where the teenagers had gone. Your brow furrowed and you tried to mutter something, but Spencer beat you to it.

“I know this isn’t where we should go,” he pointed out, as if wanting to calm your questions.

"And then?"

“I thought that if we take the right path, we will spend less time together.”

Your heart skipped a little when you heard what he was telling you and you smiled unconsciously, like you always did when you were with him.

You continued to hold his arm carefully and chatted the rest of the way, not even having to worry about where you were going because you knew that in the end he would guide you to the right place.

And you thought, maybe, that was part of the magic of being with Spencer Reid.

taglist: @navs-bhat @reidwritings @tricia-shifting14 @spencerslove @vivian-555 @r-3dlips @rhiannonhippiegirl @taygrls @simp4f1 @sdddoobydoobydoo @taintedstranger @missabsey

[krisdreaming]

a little birdie told me you wanted fall themed fic ideas, so here I am!!

I feel like a cute fall themed idea is a coffee date and then a walk through the local park where you admire the colors of the leaves!!

And turns out the day is quite windy, but the reader didn't bring their jacket, so the character gives them their own jacket so the reader won't be cold😭😭❤❤

Is it kinda basic? Yeah, but I feel like you could make this into something really cute

Thank you for believing in me, because I actually came up with a pretty cute idea for this :')

Pairing: Tsukishima Kei x gn!reader

WC: 769

A/N: In Japan around this time of year, they celebrate Tsukimi, aka the moon viewing festival. I really love the idea of it, and so the idea to incorporate it into a fic popped into my head! And of course, who better to write it for than our own Tsukki?? The play on words is, of course, that Tukishima's family name contains the character for the moon (Tsuki).

"Look at this!" The poster just catches your eye as you're leaving the coffee shop. It's advertising a Tsukimi event at the nearby park, and it's this evening. "This month has gone by so fast, I almost forgot that it's Tsukimi already!"

Kei leans in to get a closer look at the poster and merely hums in acknowledgement. You tug on his hand. "C'mon, why don't we go? It's only a few blocks away, and it's such a perfect evening." You gesture up at the clear sky, already in its full sunset glory.

"You sure?" He raises an eyebrow. "You don't even have your coat," He points out, and you shrug your shoulders in your t-shirt.

"It's not even cold today! Don't try to make excuses just so you can be a stick in the mud." You pause, donning your best pleading look. "Please?"

He sighs, but his grip on your hand tightens. "Well, alright," He agrees, and you grin. "Only because you said please."

You laugh softly. "Thanks, Kei." You swing your linked hands lightly between you. The walk to the park isn't far. When you get there, you find it strung with soft lights, and a few small food and drink stands are giving off delightful smells.

"I guess you want some dango?" He gestures to the nearby stall, and you nod quickly. It wouldn't be Tsukimi without dango. With your snack acquired, you soon make your way to one of the benches set up throughout the park. You have a clear view of the sky once seated, and you look up into the darkening twilight.

"How soon do you think the moon's going to rise?" You ask, glancing at your boyfriend.

He shrugs. "How should I know?" He slides his arm around your shoulders, and you gladly settle in closer to him. Now that the sun is gone, the warm autumn day is turning into a cool autumn night. You try not to shiver in the cool breeze, not wanting to prove him right about the jacket.

You try to keep up a conversation, but it isn't long before you're clenching your teeth to keep them from chattering. "You're not cold, are you?" Kei asks with a smirk, and you shake your head stubbornly.

"I'm fine." You force out.

"Sure," He says, pulling his arm away and letting even more cool air against your skin. You can't help hugging your arms around yourself. Before you can react, he shrugs out of the jacket he's wearing and drapes it across your shoulders with a click of his teeth.

"I don't want you to be cold," You mumble even as you pull the jacket tighter around you, relishing the body heat still clinging to the fabric.

"It's not even cold today," He mimics your earlier words in a squeaky voice, and you immediately punch his shoulder.

"You're so mean to me!"

"Only because you deserve it," He shoots back, sliding his arm around you again and giving your shoulder a gentle squeeze when you pout. His fingertips skim your arm through the fabric of his jacket, and you rest your head in the crook of his neck.

Soon enough, the moon does make its appearance, and you lift your head to look up at it more fully. The autumn moon really does look larger than normal, and seems to shine just a little bit brighter through the crisp night air.

Eventually, you can't help it. You shift your gaze from the moon in the sky to the man beside you. The moonlight softens his features, and your eyes trace the curve of his nose. You feel warmth swelling in your middle the longer you look at him, taking a few moments to memorize his moonlit face in this moment.

"What are you doing?" He finally turns to you, as if sensing your gaze on him.

"Viewing the moon," You answer nonchalantly with the beginnings of a cheeky smile. He rolls his eyes.

"I was wondering how long it was going to take," He sighs at your joke, his exasperated look almost strong enough to disguise the soft smile quirking at the corners of his lips.

"What?" You ask innocently, and reach to sandwich his face between your palms. "You're my moon, Kei."

"You're insufferable," He replies softly, but he closes the gap between you and presses his lips to yours. His fingers soon come up to cup your face, and he deepens the kiss.

"But you love me anyway?" You ask when he finally pulls away.

"Yeah," He says in a low voice, thumb grazing your cheek. "Unfortunately."

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Eddie was taking off his shirt when Steve and Nancy walked into the RV. They both froze at the sight as he used a wash cloth to wipe himself down.

"Uh, do you want some privacy?" Steve asked.

"Nah. You missed the rest of the show when I had changed my underwear, and I was doing this," Eddie said. "I'm definitely going to need a real shower, though."

"There was a lock on the door that you could have used. The kids could have walked in," Nancy said as she glanced at his pale chest and then looked at his tattoos. "Cool tattoos."

"Thanks, do you guys have any?" Eddie asked with a wicked grin, and Nancy giggled. "What am I saying?. . .Of course, I was very surprised that you had guns in your bedroom, so, who knows? Maybe you do?"

"Well, I don't have one," Nancy grinned and then looked at Steve.

"Steve Harrington has a tattoo! Goddamn!" Eddie laughed as he put on his shirt. "Okay. . .I'm pretty sure that this is where the neckhole was. . . I can't fucking see!"

"That's because you're trying to put your head through the sleeve, man," Steve said. "Calm down."

Steve helped him take off the shirt and then put it on the right way. Steve smoothed down Eddie's hair, smiling softly as the other man blushed. Steve laughed.

"What?" Eddie asked.

"Usually, I'm trying to get gorgeous people out of their clothes, not into them," Steve grinned, and Eddie nearly choked on his saliva.

"Okay, somewhere back there when you were driving so radically, I must have hit my head because tattoo having Steve Harrington just called me gorgeous," Eddie said.

"He also implied that he wanted to get you out of your clothes," Nancy laughed.

Eddie blushed and looked away before slipping on the bullet belt Erica got for him. He put his leather jacket on and then the green protective vest. He spread his arms wide, wiggling his eyebrows.

"What do you think? Hot, right?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah, you would hotter with it zipped up," Steve said.

"Well, then my audience wouldn't see my Hellfire shirt," he said.

"Don't be an idiot. Your audience members are a bunch of interdimensional bats," Nancy scoffed. "And you're not advertising Hellfire to them."

"Why not? We could use some mascots," Eddie said.

"Not mascots that ate parts of my flesh, Eddie," Steve scowled.

"Well, it's not their fault. They were hungry, and you were looking appetizing," Eddie said, flashing his dimples.

"Zip up your jacket, Eddie," Nancy said. "It would be pointless to have the protective gear if you left it unzipped."

"I'll zip it up when the time comes," Eddie scoffed.

"Why do I feel like you're going to forget?" Nancy asked.

"Because he is," Steve said, his hands on his hips.

"Listen, I've seen Dustin cry before, and I am not going to see it again," Nancy snapped.

"Fine."

Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes before zipping up the leather jacket as well as the vest. Nancy smiled and turned to exit the RV. Eddie grinned and unzipped them. She froze at the door.

"Steve, did he just unzip his jackets?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, he fucking did," Steve said.

"Steve. . .pin him to the couch," Nancy said whirling around.

Steve and Nancy moved closer to him while he backed away, his hands up.

"Look, guys, we can talk about this," Eddie said.

"Hm, clearly we can't," Nancy said.

Steve backed him all the back to the couch. He pushed him back onto it and then straddled his waist. Nancy sat next to Eddie's head and pinned his hands to her lap. Steve grabbed his jackets and zipped them both up to his neck.

"Don't you unzip it again, we mean it," Steve said.

Of course, Dustin chose the wrong time to come in.

"What are you going to do to me if I do? Tie me up and spank me?" Eddie asked.

"What are you guys doing to my dungeon master?" Dustin asked.

Nancy and Steve's head snapped up to look at him while Eddie struggled not to laugh.

"It's alright, sweetheart, we're just having some daddies and mummy time. We're wrestling, that's all," Eddie said.

"You know what? I don't need water," Dustin said. "I'll just die of dehydration."

Dustin laughed weakly before leaving the RV.

"Thank God, I didn't have to deal with that childhood trauma," Eddie laughed.

"Eddie, are you going to zip up your fucking jacket or not?" Steve asked.

"Hm, convince me, big boy," Eddie said, and this time, it was Steve who blushed.

"Seriously, stop flirting with Steve and be serious," Nancy said.

"What? I'm not flirting with Steve," Eddie scoffed.

"Yes, you are," Steve said.

"No, I am not," Eddie said.

"Yes, you are."

"I think I would know if I was flirting with a guy!"

"Well, I guess you don't because you were definitely flirting with me!"

"I like women! I might have only had sex with two women, but I like 'em!"

"You can like men and women!"

"You can?"

"Yes! I do!"

"Well, hell of a time to discover that about yourself when you just discovered there's another dimension living under your hometown!" Eddie exclaimed. "Jesus H Christ!"

Steve sat back, his ass now resting on Eddie's crotch. Eddie groaned.

"You really didn't know?" Steve asked.

"Nope!" Eddie exclaimed.

"I thought with the hanky in the back pocket. . ." Steve trailed off.

"Is that code gay people use?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, that explains the time in the record store and that time in the library," Eddie said.

"I guess you never fooled around with any of your guy friends then?" Steve asked.

"Well, no, have you?" Eddie asked.

"Fooled around with your guy friends? No. I have fooled around with a couple of my teammates," Steve said.

"Damn, so I could have figured this out a long time ago if I had just joined a sports game?" Eddie asked.

"You're spending too much time with Mike. It's just sports," Nancy said softly and then paused. "It really is a shitty time to be figuring this all out."

"Tell me about it," he muttered. "So, now what?"

"I don't know, are you going to be a good boy for us and keep it zippered closed?" Nancy asked.

"Hm, I don't know," Eddie grinned.

"Come on, be a good boy and suck it up," Steve said.

"What's in it for me?" Eddie asked.

"Alright, enough of this, break off the zipper," Nancy said.

Steve furrowed his brows as he focused on breaking off the zippers that were at his neck.

"I can't get them off!" Steve exclaimed.

It was at that moment that Max and Lucas chose to enter the RV.

"Okay, Dustin said that something nefarious was going on - ," Max started to say.

"Use your teeth!" Nancy exclaimed, not realizing that they were in here.

Steve bent down, getting really close to his neck as he worked on the zipper.

" - but we didn't believe him," Lucas finished.

"Okay, big boy, go ahead and leave a hickey, let everyone know that I belong to both of you. I am totally and completely your bitch!" Eddie said loudly, having heard Max and Lucas.

"Jesus," Max said. "Is now really the time to have a threesome?"

Steve and Nancy's heads snapped up again.

"I swear this isn't what it looks like," Nancy said.

"So, is this a one-time thing, or are you two planning on dating Eddie?" Max asked.

"Someone can't date two people at the same time. . .can they?" Lucas said

"They can," Steve said, sitting up. "I mean, if all people are aware and comfortable with it. It's just adding another person to the relationship. I now firmly believe that people can love more than one person at a time. The fact that people have more than one child is proof of that and other family members. Although, it might not be for everyone, which is okay as long as you're not trying to stop other people from doing it."

Max pulled Lucas off to the side and started whispering with him. They heard El's name being brought up, and then Max was quickly pushing Lucas out of the RV.

"Okay, I think we may have started something, and we haven't actually started anything!" Eddie exclaimed.

"Okay, how about this? Steve shows you his tattoo, and you keep the jackets zipped up. . .neck and all," Nancy said.

"Okay, does Steve get a say in whether he wants to show Eddie his ass or not?" Steve asked.

"Ooh, it's on his ass? I'll be a good boy!" Eddie exclaimed. "I feel like I would need more than that, though. . .like a date with both of you since the idea has been brought up so many times."

"Well, Nancy's dating Jonathan, so I don't know how he would feel about that," Steve said.

"Well, actually, we broke up, and he's dating someone else," Nancy said as she leaned closer to Steve.

"Really?" Steve grinned as he leaned in closer to Nancy, right over Eddie's head.

"Really."

Just as Nancy was about to brush her lips with Steve’s, the door to the RV opened, and Robin entered.

"Why have the children been telling me not to - oh!" Robin exclaimed.

"Come on, Buckley! They were just about to kiss!" Eddie yelled.

"I think you're a little too invested in their relationship, Munson," Robin said.

"I'm a part of it now, sweetheart," Eddie smirked.

"We haven't agreed to the date yet, Eddie," Nancy smirked.

"You will if you want to save my pretty neck," Eddie said.

"Are you sure you didn't plan all of this?" Nancy asked.

"No, I did not plan on having a sexuality crisis in the middle of the end of the world. I swear," Eddie said. "I'm a one crisis at a time kind-of guy, or I try to be. Life says otherwise."

"Well, I'm just going to grab the kids some water. You do know there's a lock on the door, right?" Robin asked.

"Oh, Nancy knows," Eddie cackled.

Nancy blushed, having forgotten to lock the door. Robin laughed as she grabbed some water and went outside.

"So, date?"

"Yes."

After the world was saved, Eddie's name was cleared, and Vecna was an extra crispy dead bitch, Eddie found himself lying in a hospital bed extremely grateful to his new partners that they were so determined to help him out. He was pretty sure that he would have been worse off or dead without them.

"Well, it helps that you mean so much to Dustin and the other kids," Nancy said. "They all mean so much to us."

"Well, somehow, they manage to make it both easy and hard to care about them. They're a conundrum," Eddie said.

"We couldn't let you die over something so stupid. You mean a lot to us too, now," Steve said.

"Yeah, well. . .," Eddie said, blushing as they took his hands.

"And you risked your life to help us too," Nancy said.

"At what cost, though? I had to see Dustin cry over me, and I never want to see that shit again. It broke my fucking heart," Eddie said.

"Yeah, I remember him crying at the Snowball a couple of years ago because the girls. . .well, they were assholes. It was a shame, too, because he looked so cute with his bow tie and his hair. He did it just like Steve’s," Nancy gushed.

"And Nancy here stood up and asked him for a dance, knowing that the girls would get jealous once they saw him dancing with an older woman," Steve said. "And they rubbed it in their faces."

"So, mama, daddy, you got any pictures of our kid at the Snowball?" Eddie asked with a teasin grin.

"Not on me," they said, not realizing that Eddie was messing with them.

He laughed as he listened to them talk about the kids. Nancy went on about Mike, then about Max as if they were siblings. Steve went on to talk about Lucas, proud that he still wanted to stick with basketball and Hellfire. They were proud of all of them, and Eddie knew that the kids wouldn't have gotten through any of it without the older teenagers of the party having their back. Nor would they be alive if Joyce and Hopper hadn't done what they had needed to do on many occasions. Somehow, this crazy, complicated family made it work, and somehow, they always managed to find a way back to each other.

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 51 SPOILERS ‼️

masterlist | all lessons | season 3 | lesson 50.1 | lesson 50.2 | lesson 51.2 | lesson 52

omg look it's everyone's favorite characters

still salty they don't have official designs outside of the chat stickers but it is what it is 🫠 it'd be cute if they could give them a little d kind of picture

if something bad happens i'll end it all. it's canon atp that mc has good luck because of their pact with mammon like PLEASE don't retcon that they're gonna retcon it

"where luck is a matter of life and death" is an insane tagline to advertise a casino on

"have fun gambling away your life!" is an insane title card for a lesson

i get that it's spooky season and all but DAMN WE JUST GOT HERE

can't wait to see them all panic over mc though. they've skirted death so many times and shit might be catching up to them yk yk

but mc already gambled and won and the way to escape is gambling and winning ??? they have to gamble while they're physically inside the casino for it to count ????

i'd just give up atp bc i feel like they're gonna pull some "you only get one chance to gamble and since mc already went, they cant go again"

BUT if that's the case, simeon could always make a pact with mammon and use his guaranteed luck for all of them to get off scot free

they're practically brothers anyways, but idk the ethics of a fallen angel turned human turned pseudo demon making a pact with a fallen angel turned ruler of hell. like would that even work since simeon is losing the sliver of "humanity" he had?

this tangent is long enough lemme stop

i also need to stop taking so many mf screenshot bc i'm only like 3 parts in 😭

we (i) love the sprinkles of brotherly love in the story 🫶🏽 especially if the brotherly love is founded on murderous intent

self sacrificial ass bitches

mc's inclination to step up makes sense bc they're the only person here with a damn near guaranteed chance at survival, and them taking a chance would mean that the odds are most likely in their favor. they literally could've gone first, won, and this ENTIRE situation wouldn't have happened 😭

what if this entire thing is a ploy and they're all just being sent to their respective hotel rooms ??? like how fucked up would that be ????

imagine mc pulls something like "well i won outside of the casino and that counts as a win so everyone should be safe" and then they just end up zapping their soul too 💀

and with mammon saying he's gonna get revenge ??? yeah whoever took the boys is COOKED

when i kill everyone in this room and then myself, don't be surprised

none of them have any semblance of self-preservation when it comes to saving their family. it's admirable but it's also really fucking sad bc how expendable do you think you are ???

like the boys are always so ready to give up literally any and everything for each other, even at the cost of their own lives, but none of them take into account how utterly broken the rest of them would feel if even one of them were to die

i figured smth like this would happen if they tried to escape. the exit door disappeared and everyone can use magic. why would they not put up some sort of ward to prevent them from using magic to escape?

unless this is some corny kinda "think of where you want to be when you teleport, and you'll be there" type beat and the spell worked perfectly but they're all a bunch of saps

BULLSHIT

anyways as long as they figure out a way to use mc's luck at the same time they'll be fine

the way this happened a solid 3-4 times is hilarious to me. just take the L and move on 🫶🏽

[usmsgutterson]

I think I might have fallen in love- realization fics! Fics with this prompt can be the realization of anything--a characters imminent death, the moment wherein someone realizes they've been betrayed, or they can be super fluffy and detail the moment a character realizes they're in love, the moment where they realize they can see a future with the reader--perhaps one that entails settling down or one that involves leaving the past behind--, the moment where they realize that they want to marry them! Anything goes with this prompt, and I'll write 1-5k words using it!

OKAY- what about nikolai x reader. and it's where he realizes he wants to marry her. maybe r thinks of a solution to some matter of state and he watches in awe how she handles the questions and gets the other's attention. and he's just like "yep. i'm gonna make her my bride" or something like that :)

Motion- N.L x fem! reader

okay, hi! This came out a bit later than I meant for it to--I decided a few weeks ago to plan out a duology to try to complete during NaNoWriMo and that took up a lot of my headspace, where trying to make sure my mental health was on track and I was breathing in something other than stale apartment air took up the rest of it. However, I am so sorry for how late this is coming out regardless!

On another note, my requests close next friday! They close at 11:30 pm AST (which is around 7:30 PST) and hopefully, what remains of my requests will be done by that point. Fall event requests are open until the second and my holiday event will come out sometime between the 24th of November and the 1st of December.

Fic type- fluff

Warnings- none

You and Nikolai were sitting in a meeting, debating with the Grisha triumvirate and several other relevant court members who sat in on Ravkas ever growing list of issues. You'd thrummed your way from matters of inter-palace discontent through matters of civilian discontent and you were up to matters of state.

Nikolai was getting bored watching everyone bicker, each of them trying to stop one another from getting a word in, but you looked as though you'd just gotten started. Nikolai could've sworn you were smirking slightly as you watched Zoya snap at a general, ready to throw a gust of wind at him--one so powerful that it knocked him through the meeting room wall--and barely managing to restrain herself. You looked as though, despite the fact that you weren't Grisha, you were ready to do the same thing.

Genya looked ready to tailor someone into a very ugly version of themself and David simply looked as though he wanted to go back to his work, like he was mad at the fact of his obligations as a member of the triumvirate for pulling him away from it.

"And before you start, Novikov," you started. Nikolai turned his attention to you, smile on his face. "Let me talk my way through this, yeah? You start talking and you might find yourself unable to fill your britches because you simply don't know enough. It's not a matter of the people--it's a matter of the funds we're able to allocate to the cities. If we can allocate enough to cities both big and small then we're setting ourselves up for an economic boom that starts at the big cities, moves to the small ones. It moves to the towns, and from the towns it moves back to us."

"How do you expect Ravka of all places to be able to do such a thing?" Novikov asks, bushy eyebrows furrowed at your suggestion.

"We can get tourists in," you said. "Ravka is broke--that is absolutely not a surprise to anyone in this room. However, to appeal to those who can only afford to take one vacation a year we advertise the cities. The ones with good-quality but still cheap hotels, honest working parents and saintstales as old as the country itself."

"And what of the rich folks?" David asked. "I mean--we can't advertise Ravka for tourism without aiming somewhere that will actually make a difference one trip on, can we?"

"Palace tours," you said. "The Grand Palace--we can make it a tourist spot Friday through Monday, twelve hours, with options for individual touring, group touring, or guided versions of the same. I'll be a bloody guide if I need to, but I know that there are people somewhere who are passionate about Ravkas history to be willing to volunteer their time."

'And how long is this going to take to pay off our debts?" Novikov asked. "I mean--nobody will go for it if it takes us longer than a decade."

"If it takes us longer than a decade, the youngest of us in the room have a chance at seeing it in the last year or two before we hit forty," Genya said. "Nikolai is twenty-four at the current, which means it would take sixteen years if it were to be such a strenuous plan."

"It's not," You said. "Tours of the palace will take two hours going at a slow pace if my walks of the Grand Palace are to have proved anything. If we get six volunteers, then that's one to cover every tour everyday. Ticket prices can be set at 20 coin for a general admission, 10 for children and fifteen for seniors. Max the group allowance at groups of ten and that ranges from 100-200 coin just off the gate. Take that and multiply it by six, and we have 600-1200 coin going back into the coffers of those to whom Ravka is indebted. It'll be volunteer based because the saints know we cannot afford to pay the guides but I would do a twelve hour workday just to prove that my idea is the right move."

"And what benefits could we offer in place of wages?"

"A hot meal when shifts are done, a room at the Little Palace and food by an irrefutable line of direction. We could also put them on palace staffing lists officially so they'd at least be making the minimum wage, but I think that such would constitute as fraudulent somewhere."

Nikolai was deep in thought when you brought up that last point, but with one squeeze from your hand he was back to reality.

"If they would be willing to take a room in the Little Palace for the duration of time during which tours take place, then it wouldn't violate any laws--they'd be working within the palaces, allowing their placement onto the palace staff."

"What is your estimate on how long it would take?" Novikov asked. "On how long the combination of marketing the cities and the palace tours would take to pay off our debts and refill the war treasury?"

Nikolai had been looking at you how he always did--like you were the love of his life. As he watched you answer what both of you had hoped tto be Novikovs last question, he came to a realization.

"A minimum of five years," you said. "And that is with the tours going all year round. If we could have the tours going daily it would probably still be the same such estimate--we're more than one million kruge in debt with Kerch, double that with Novyi Zem, Novikov. The process for clearing Ravka of it's debts is not something that will be instantaneous unless you're willing to sell your home and give the funds to the cause? According to reports I've seen, your home could have us reasonably jumped forward if you sell it for it's maximum monetary value?"

Nikolai could see it right in front of him--two years from then, a ceremony. Watching you walk down the isle, a coronation where you were crowned as queen. A life as your husband, a life with you as his wife.

He glanced at the ring finger on his left hand--it was looking awfully bare, but if you said yes when Nikolai proposed, which he decided he would do right then, it would not look bare for the rest of his life.

"All in favor?" Nikolai asks, giving your hand a squeeze as the thought solidifies itself fully in his mind.

I am going to make her my bride.

Everyone, including a rather embarrassed Novikov, said "I" and you grinned victoriously.

Your plan was barely in motion, but it was starting to gain traction still. As Nikolai pressed a kiss to your cheekbone and the two of you moved to leave the meeting room, the same could be said of his.

[the-fiction-witch]

Coming!

Media IRL

Character Thomas Brodie Sangster

Couple Thomas X Reader

Rating Flirty

I stood in the bedroom, looking at every inch of me in my mirror. I couldn't stop picking at myself all my little tiny details all the things I would change if I could.

"My cheeks are too chubby, I don't have like smooth cheekbones,"

"Your cheeks are fine Y/n," Thomas answers from the bed, where he sits against the headboard with some sort of... I don't actually know what is is some puzzler thing his friends set him he'd been battling with it for four days and had yet to get anywhere with it. 

"But they're chubby,"

"Exactly, I can pinch them." he smiled, "Pinchy pinchy," He smiled trying to pinch my cheek but I batted his hand away, "No! Let me crab pinch you." he said trying to pinch my cheeks,

"No! thomas! go back to your damn puzzle cube," I told him

He did so I went back to the mirror, 

"My nose is ugly,"

"I like it, very boopable."

"My eyelids are weird."

"... You're eyelids?"

"Yeah, they should be less winkly and more curved."

"... I never thought eyelids could be unattractive, or even that anyone would look that closely at eyelids." He said, "Well I like them," he shrugged "I think your eyelids are lovely" he said sitting up on his knees making me shut my eyes and kissing my eyelids "Boop" He smiled booping my nose with his own,

"Stop complimenting me thomas."

"Why? You're adorable and I like telling you" he smiled, before sitting back on the bed and grabbing the puzzle box, "Now... reveal your secrets to me cube!" 

"Hmmm... My arms are flabby."

"Your arms are lovely, they give me hugs"

"My neck is too long,"

"... I... too long? its neck is as long as it needs to be. I like your neck, it's long so I have lots of real estate for hickeys and kisses." 

"My waist should be more defined."

"I can wrap my arms around it fine."

"My thighs are too big."

"You're thighs are amazing! they squeeze my head and it's like the best feeling in the world, plus I rest my hand when I'm driving, and you are a very nice handrest, and headrest, and anything rest really," 

"My legs are too short."

"You're legs are your legs love, you can't change them and why would you even if you could, your just the right size to snuggle when we stand up, I get to rest my head on you it makes me very cosy."

"My stomach is too flabby." 

"You're stomach is fine!" He complained, "What is this about?"

"Humm?"

"You. picking at your damn self" he said, "Come here."

"I don't wan-"

"Here. bring that but here before I spank it." he warned so I sat on the bed, "What is the matter y/n? you're perfect, you know I think your perfect, your the most beautiful thing in the world, what's going you like this."

"Lisa..."

"Lisa? what's lisa done now." he sighed already annoyed, 

"She got a nose job today."

"Ahh that... makes a lot of sense now." He nodded, "You're feeling insecure because Lisa is getting plastic surgery."

"Yeah,"

"Why?"

"Becuase she's gonna look perfect after this and it makes me feel... ugly."

"It's gonna make her look like plastic I've seen her plastic surgery plan. she wants a waist of twenty-five inches and E-cup boobs. and she's not going somewhere good, that place she's going to for these advertisements on Facebook...she's gonna end up looking like most people who get cheap plastic surgery, like a weird rubbery sex doll. and that's all she'll be a weird rubbery sex doll with no personality." he explained, "I love you, my beautiful real girl, I love your eyes, your eyelids, your chubby little cheeks, your cute nose, I love everything because there yours love. I see you're body and see the scars and little things people would call imperfections and I see all the little things that make you the way you are, all your little scars and imperfections that show the life we've lived. You're not some airbrushed waxy doll and I wouldn't ever want you to be." 

"You wouldn't? you wouldn't want me to look like a magazine model?"

"God no! they airbrush the crap out of magazines." he laughed, "Would you want me to look like that? all smooth and air brushed, and surgery enhanced?"

"No! I like you just the way you are,"

"see, that's the way I feel about you. Even I'm not a weird waxy doll, I am, weird too everyone is. I have a lot of veins coming through on my hands and arms, I have that weird scar on my leg from that motorbike crash, I don't even get chest hair which I admit does kinda make me sad... but you don't see me going out and sticking astroterf to my chest do you?"

"No," I giggled, 

"See, imperfections are what make us human love, and I love you very very much,"

"Awww I love you too thomas." I smiled, "but you don't think I'd look better if I had bigger boobs."

"... You're boobs are fine love. I like your boobs. They're great." He smiled, "Perfectly hand-sized."

"Is that your attempt at asking to touch my boobs?"

"...Yes." He smiled, 

"Alright" I chuckled and immediately his hands went to my boobs 

"Ummmmm I love these so much. why would anyone wanna shove plastic and filler and junk into this perfect marshmallowy deliciousness." 

"I don't know I kinda feel like my nipples look weird."

"your nipples look weird?" he asked, "I have never ever in my life paid attention to what your nipples look like, I see them... I get excited, I wanna kiss them, play with them and sometimes suck on them. I do not pay the slightest bit of attention to what they look like, I purely care I'm getting to see them the only thought going through my mind is one simple word."

"Which is?"

"yay." He said, "Do. not. change. your boobs. they. are perfect." he said kissing my chest a little as he plaid with my boobs,

"Alright you have fun Tommy," I laughed petting his hair i took his puzzle box and gave it a go myself giving it a tinker and opening it up to reveal a single chocolate truffle

"W-What did you do!" He yelped taking it from me, "How did you- oww... now I'll never figure it out." He sighed 

I rolled my eyes and put the chocolate back inside and shut it up again "There."

"Yes! Thank you, love," he smiled taking it back, "Now show me what you did."

"No, you have to figure it out that's the point of the puzzle box thomas." 

"Fine," he pouts working with it again, 

"Well, I need a shower..." I sighed, getting up and grabbing a towel, 

"Alright, have fun love." he smiled as he worked on the puzzle box,

"You wanna join me?"

"Hu..."

"do you want to join me?"

"In ... in the shower?"

"Yeah,"

"Yes!" 

"Alright let's go," I smiled heading to the bathroom

"Coming!" He excitedly yelled jumping out the bed throwing his shirt and racing after me. 

[likeadevils]

I've seen people say she has a habit of choosing the wrong singles for albums. Aside from Lover, i think she's done pretty well in that area? What are your thoughts?

i dont think she's bad? but i think her single choice did lead people to view her as a worse songwriter than she actually is. especially lead singles were consistently the most frivolous songs on the album from 2012-2019. like for the general public that will only hear the lead and maaaybe second single, unless a later single blows up, it's just. financially lucrative but not gaining widespread artistic respect.

which i think is a big reason why she's blown up once a) she put all her songs on streaming and b) tiktok came on the scene. like, you're adding structures to throw fan favorite songs into the general public's face-- stuff that wouldn't have worked on radio, like enchanted or all too well, or stuff that just never got it's day in the sun like don't blame me or cruel summer. like, folklore and red tv where also massive turning points, but giving the general public actual, physical evidence of how good her deep cuts where across all her albums goes a long way, too.

(specific album thoughts under the cut)

i think debut and fearless have excellent single selection. speak now is a tricky album to pick singles for and i think she did the best that she could but was also just kinda cursed for that album.

red is weirder-- wanegbt is a perfect lead single, but i think it set off a pattern of like, frivolous lead singles that didn't end up in a good place. but on its own, wanegbt is perfect and i wouldn't give it up. i think begin again is a fascinating second single and i'm not sure i would make the same choice but i understand why she did it. in general the country singles off the album are a bit weak, to me, but then i wasn't immersed in country radio in 2012/2013 so i don't know what was popping off in the market. BUT i do think i bet you think about me would make a good touch back song, which is one of many reasons why i think it should have made the album. or hell, even throw in all too well, once you know you're leaving the genre in a couple months. just a big swing with a lot of artistic merit and nothing to lose. also holy ground should've been a single.

1989 is where i think the pattern starts-- at least for the lead single, not the rest of them, it's hard to go wrong with picking a single for 1989. but in terms of what to start with, shake it off is an interesting choice. like, i think shake it off is a necessary part of the story she's telling on 1989, but it doesn't gel with the rest of the production as smoothly, so establishing it as like, "yeah, shake it off, we've all heard it" goes a long way to smoothing over any little mental speed bumps. that being said, it's not the best song on the album, and blank space and style are, i think, the more natural lead single choices-- blank space especially establishes the "i don't care about my reputation" element of shake it off, but from a more cynical place that could be fun to build off of. also it proves that she's serious about the album being 80s pop

reputation is tough one. there's no song on that album can't be clowned on to hell and back, and there's no way the next taylor swift single wouldn't have been clowned to hell and back after 2016. i guess you could make a big swing and go new year's day, which isn't as meme-able, at least, but that's not what taylor was going for and it would have been false advertising. so like, i don't know. maybe don't blame me or i did something bad instead of end game. but i do like the story lwymmd -> ready for it -> end game -> delicate tells, i think it's neat. and even though it kinda ruins that story, you gotta go getaway car for the closer. like i get that negotiations with bmr had likely broken down and she didnt want to make them a bunch more money, but getaway car -> cruel summer is a once in a career album handoff. sonically, story wise, just. it all clicks

every swiftie on earth knows their opinion on the lover singles and i'm not going to change anyone's minds, but i think anyone can admit that this was the album that really set in stone her reputation of bad single selection.

folklore is just a fun thought exercise, like you basically get one single. definitely one music video, and the cardigan music video is general enough that you can kinda click it into another song, so you can go as far as to say you get this music video, find the song for it. cardigan is very understandable and obviously not a Bad Idea, but with the benefit of knowing the fan favorites, august is just, kinda perfect? i think seven would've also really worked. but also its an Album, not a single, and i don't think a song could've ruined that

evermore is similarly fascinating. i think willow is just kinda meandering and hard to grab onto as a song, but it lends itself well to that music video she made and the music video is a good overview of the full album. that being said, i would've gone no body no crime-- i think you can make a really engaging mv of it without having two people in the same room together, which flows with covid regulations pretty well. or tis the damn season, but i admit that personal bias clouding things (but like? it functions as a christmas song, so you could get airplay in december! and it sets up the main storyline of the album!). but similarly to folklore, hard to drive down public opinion of this album with one single.

midnights solidly breaks the curse, to me. like there were songs on this album that would've set it off on the wrong foot, and then anti hero was the perfect song on every level. as for other singles, they shouldn't have done that to ice spice's verse. that was so mean why did they do that just have it be the beat that's on the rest of the song it works so much better

[hamofjustice]

Hey it's the guy from that other rant about how Nemona, Arven, and Penny are getting ignored for no reason by DLC advertising in a game that's supposed to be about forming treasured unbreakable bonds with well-written sad kids who desperately needed friends and are presented as sort of Strength, Courage and Wisdom Trio by the ending, back with a new post now that one of the DLCs is out and haha I bet you know what I have to say don't you

What was the point of excluding Nemona, Arven, and Penny from The Teal Mask if there are three unnamed and generic-modeled but consistently written student NPCs present anyway, and the content is level 60-75, so you're clearly not intended to do it without finishing the game*? Not only do they not see you off or gain any new dialogue when you get home, they aren't mentioned or alluded to in any way shape or form. They're still statues standing in their rooms with one line of dialogue, the one thing I wanted DLC and updates to change the most. They never notice you left the country for a week.

* UPDATE: Apparently the DLC has level scaling even though the base game didn't, and it is accessible with 0 badges, and that is why there are no references to the preexisting story - it might not have happened yet. Fascinating. I guess that part holds less weight then and this whole post is a little less necessary. I'll leave the rest of the post unedited but it really did seem like this was designed as postgame content only regardless of when it becomes available. Guess not! So I guess, instead, the story got shot in the foot a little bit by the decision to make it available to new players instead of for no reason. I think they should have let it be postgame content, but, I'm a little less worried now. This makes sense within those rules. I guess.

Fanart like this is now coming out and getting tons of likes asking why this happened after six months of countless pieces of cute fanart like this all turned out to be for nothing.

As people are already realizing, it would have been really fun and logical for two of the three who don't really get along with each other yet (which is any combination of them, really, that's part of the fun, and part of why their stories should continue) to be forced to team up into an odd couple, while the third gets to know Carmine and perhaps build a rivalry with her. Wouldn't it be fun to see them talking about their own adventures they were going on, and how they were starting to get along, even if it was happening offscreen? (Because this DLC is focused on introducing new characters to set up for later and that's fine) Wouldn't it be smart to set up the group dynamic for Indigo Disc in advance as preparation for a return to Area Zero and that whole professor-haunted main plotline with a larger cast?

It's just giving me even more apparently-not-unfounded paranoia that yeah, we've never been shown the friend trio in new footage in a DLC trailer because not just Penny but somehow even Arven and Nemona are going to be completely irrelevant to a DLC about finding closure on Area Zero's story and going to a school all about top-level battling. Why else would they go this far out of their way to avoid including them as characters? This is like... active sabotage of their own story at this point.

... Could they really just not be bothered to model three characters in jinbei, and repeatedly shot in the foot their best story yet and all the setup they did for continuing it... over that? That'd be stupid, right? Unfortunately, I don't have the confidence in the company to put anything past them right now.

I just don't know how The Indigo Disc is going to carry the weight of everything they've set up expectations for it to do, unless it's like three times bigger than this little teaser of a DLC in terms of actual story and postgame battles, and most importantly to me, the postgame hanging-out that they very suspiciously also won't show the original friend trio for that we were promised by the story almost a year ago as a happy ending, that we haven't actually gotten to participate in on-screen at all, outside of the Ace Academy Tournament (whose music is perfect for that happy victory lap feeling by the way).

I'm afraid now more than ever that all of my happy thoughts about how this generation and these precious characters should be wrapped up and what should be in The Indigo Disc aren't going to happen, and... it'll just go unceremoniously into the trash can with the other generations after a few more months of trailers probably making it clear that despite all the sappy memories with your original group and the girl who calls the player character her treasure and her rival for life, the game is about Carmine and Kieran now instead of them joining the group, and it will be remembered as the half assed cash grab game and not the one with a big heart and deep character writing hidden in it, if they care THIS aggressively, out-of-their-way little about the reason the game has heart. Not that I don't like these new newcomers too, but. There was a different way to go about this.

Pokemon Masters and Pokemon Special and stuff will try their best to compensate and do the characters justice, but they're just fanfic writers like us except with a budget. The anime writers are forced to make the story about other characters, as if Nemona, Arven, and Penny's stories were something shameful or inappropriate they need to paint over, and not the saving grace for what was otherwise an embarrassing corporate product with good people stuck working on it.

It would have been so easy to integrate the three of them into this DLC, and it would've made the next DLC better to have done so. Literally just replace some character models and rewrite some dialogue. The Paldea students don't have festival outfits anyway afaik. We're talking romhack-level difficulty of implementation here. Come the hell on.

Between the contents of this first part of the DLC and how they've been advertising it so far, I cannot make myself believe Nemona, Arven, and Penny will be in the rest of generation 9. I don't want to get hurt by my expectations. I feel like they've been purposefully excluded, like TPC thinks there's something wrong with them.

... Anyone else feeling this?

[virusinfected-memes]

COFFEE TALK SENTENCE STARTERS, PT. 1 OF ? ;

115 starters. CW: alcohol mention, sexual themes. Coffee Talk is a visual novel game developed by Toge Productions. Feel free to change words and pronouns as needed! 

"Welco—Oh, it's you."

"Man, that's a bummer!"

"Don't worry, take your time."

"Heh, writer's block again?"

"What are you writing now?"

"I really need that triple shot espresso."

"Hmm, that aroma... Ahh... That's exactly what I need."

"It sounded so simple when I was making the plan."

"Uh, did I say something wrong?"

"Drown your troubles in coffee."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, it was such a stupid thing to do."

"Umm... Well... It was so bad that, well, after reading it... I decided to just delete everything immediately."

"You don't need to be so cynical about it."

"How about something chocolatey? It's perfect for this weather."

"I thought this place would be more crowded."

"I don't really have anywhere else to go."

"I'm a writer who works best at night and in a coffee shop."

"No matter how deep you go, there's always another layer of Hell."

"How do you usually deal with bad customers here?"

"I could go on forever complaining about her, but that won't help me."

"You should make a meme about her."

"It wouldn't be wise to talk about customers with other customers."

"They won't give us a chance at all?"

"I got into a fight with my old man. That's why I'm staying at _____'s now."

"You don't have to do this, you know?"

"I can't stand even one more second being a part of them."

"You don't know what they said about you last night!"

"So this it, then... The end of out relationship."

"Do you want to be hiding our relationship for the rest of eternity?"

"You're making this hard for both of us."

"Do you feel happy when you're with me?"

"I can't think about this clearly right now."

"I'm sorry you had to listen to our problems."

"This coffee shop has seen all kinds of stories. I do hope yours will have a happy ending."

"Do you have someone you love?"

"Out of all the people in the world, why did I fall for her?"

"You can't choose who you fall in love with."

"Anyway, I need to go now, and probably drink myself under until the sun rises."

"Hey, don't be rude! I'm being serious here!"

"What if I say you can't do that?"

"Seems like you're in high spirits this evening, _____."

"You still remember my favorite, right?"

"I'm not even sure whether that's a compliment or not..."

"You got balls, I can tell you that."

"How's the leap of faith going so far?"

"Wait... Is stealing time a crime?"

"You're making me feel worse by saying that."

"You should feel bad."

"Hey, what do you have against me tonight?!"

"This was the place, wasn't it? Where we first met..."

"They should have given you a promotion for your loyalty and long service."

"That only happens in porn."

"You don't have to feel ashamed if you like watching that kind of thing, you know..."

"I would prefer if you didn't start fantasizing."

"It's nice to see friendships that grow in unlikely circumstances."

"Please don't do jokes. You're really bad at it."

"Hey, _____, seems like there's a cat—OH MY GOD, SHE GOT IN WITH ME."

"You look like you've just seen a ghost."

"Seriously, you've never seen me on TV or social media?"

"Why does this coffee shop attract so many weird people?"

"Actually... I witnessed something scary on my shift today."

"This is the safest place around here."

"Hey, that endorsement comes with a discount, right?"

"You know I can hear you, right?"

"Unresolved problems are dangerous."

"As much as I hate to admit it... Conflict is always the best way to know someone. Even your own blood."

"You don't need to rush to a decision."

I could never imagine myself doing something so... Hmm, what's the word? Something as honorable... as that."

"Are you dealing with something I shouldn't ask about?"

"I'm not a criminal. In case that's what you had in mind."

"Isn't that false advertising?"

"Don't be naive. Truth is a matter of circumstance and perspective."

"Act like a civilized person... If you can."

"I imagine, even in a world where only one race exists, problems will still appear, anyway."

"Perhaps it's diversity that can teach us to look past the differences."

"The bottom line is, we'll always find a way to hate each other."

"Call me pretentious, but I think drinks have the power to connect people's hearts."

"I want our relationship to move forward. I want a family."

"Why do you have to care so much about what his or your family think?"

"I don't want to be held responsible if he regrets his decision one day."

"Abandoning one's family is NOT a solution!"

"What if marrying me is a mistake?"

"From what I can see, you're the problem here."

"That 'blood is thicker than water' mentality won't work here."

"Not every family is worth fighting for, you know."

"You can't have it all, _____. This is not a fairy tale."

"You didn't have to say it so harshly, you know."

"You never change, do you?"

"Dude, honesty is good and all, but... You know, try not to be a dick."

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"What did you want to talk about when you told me to meet you here?"

"Do you ever wonder what we'd be like if we hadn't met?"

"Earthlings really need to work on their communication."

"Are you urukhigh69?"

"If you're that desperate for a date, why don't you ask your friends or go to a club or something?"

"If she didn't reply, I'm a hundred percent sure she bailed. She's not coming."

"Life is never boring here."

"I always wanted to be a fiction writer, but... conjuring words is hard."

"Hahaha! Come on, you don't have to worry so much about everything."

"To be honest, I hated the idea of turning the game into a movie."

"They have the budget for the flashy visuals, but I doubt they'll do the series justice."

"You're not the first to say I'm weird."

"Usually people that play artsy games are gamers that got bored of the current state of video games."

"Whoa, that's a highly specific fun fact to know."

"My extended family is probably as big as Seattle's population."

"Ahhh, that smell... It brings back so many memories."

"You're being creepy, _____... Go back to your chair and keep your distance!"

"There's a creepy old man trying to flirt with us..."

"I apologize for earlier. I wasn't trying anything funny."

"I don't know how to talk to her anymore. Or even what to talk about."

"Give them time and space... but be there when they need you."

"Well, nothing's happened... Yet. I just feel it in my guts."

"Is it possible you're just being paranoid?"

"You'll drive her away if you keep on acting like this."

"Is it okay if I stay a bit longer, _____?"