#But also? It is soooo complete bullshit to be like Oh he actually never wanted to kill literally anyone and is a pure baby

[adhdo5]

As for the Wen Ning song I think that framing him as incorruptible and childlike verges on ableist and also flattens him sooo bad. He is canonically in fact nonzero bloodthirsty! Sure he isn't fully autonomous as a fierce corpse but it is directly relevant and repeatedly made explicit that he's the degree of fierce that he is bc he has a lot of built up resentment from the restrictions he lived in his whole life! He didn't want to kill those specific people necessarily but by god Wei Wuxian asked him Aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you just want to go apeshit? and Wen Ning said Yes.

[welcometocaritas-creations]

so i wrote the draft for a Diego/Lila s4 au fic last year

It's about 150-200k in length and it's going to be a while before I can get it post worthy (soooo much editing to do) and I still have my wolfwren fic to finish first. BUT in light of the horror show that was s4, I thought I'd give you guys a sneak peek to cleanse the palette

When I do post, it will be on my AO3 account here . So if you want you can subscribe to me and then when I post it, you'll know :) It's sort of a Lila-centric fic that deals with her trauma and how impending motherhood impacts that and is impacted by it - but obviously Diego/Lila is a huge part of the fic.

So without further ado. . .

. . .

“Gracie. If it’s a girl.”

Diego’s brow furrows. “Wait, really?”

Lila shrugs. “Sure. Why not?”

In truth, she’s a little intimidated by Grace Hargreeves, though they’ve never met. Or at least, she’s never met the version of her that Diego holds up on a pedestal. Half robot or not, Lila knows she was a better mum than she can ever hope to be. That she was soft where Lila is hard, quiet where she’s loud, sensitive where she’s callous. Lila will never be even half as good as her at this mothering bullshit.

But she wants to be.

The name can be a reminder. And, though logically she knows there can be no better reminder than her own flesh and blood child standing in front of her, the deck is stacked against her. So she’s willing to pull out all the stops. Rational or not.

Besides. . . she was Diego’s mum. Gave him a soft place to land growing up. Gave him love when there was none to find.

When they were in the asylum, Diego never had a nice word to say about anyone.

Except for her.

Lila thinks that’s something that deserves to be honored. Celebrated, even. The fact that one of them had a mum growing up that wasn’t complete shit. Even if she was prevented by her own programming from actually protecting her children.

(this, at least, is one thing Lila thinks she can do better. Protecting her child. She’s not a robot designed by her kids’ abuser, after all. She’s also more skilled in a fight than her birth parents. A winning combination, really.

She may not turn out to be a good mum in any sense of the definition but she’ll be damned if she can’t keep them safe.

And who will keep them safe from you?)

Lila’s skin feels hot. And sweaty. Like she’s skipped breakfast. And lunch. And three nights' worth of dinners. “Diego. . . what if we screw this up?”

“Then we’ll do our best to unscrew it.”

She snorts. Laughs.

Appreciates the words more than if he offered an infuriatingly optimistic denial. The reassurance that: of course they won’t screw up their kid, how silly of her to even entertain the thought.

“Unscrew our kid?”

Diego smiles - probably at her laugh - and shifts until he’s seated beside her on the bed, rather than behind her. So she has no choice but to see the earnestness in his eyes. And there is so much bleeding earnestness. She’s not sure how this man ever convinced himself he was a lone wolf. This is a pack animal through and through. “Yeah, listen, Lila. . . we’re sort of stumbling around in the dark here. You’re not the only one who feels that. Who’s scared shitless.” This too is a comfort. “But that’s how I felt with Stan and things didn’t turn out too bad.”

“He was Kugelblitzed.”

“Well, that’s hardly going to happen again.“

She smacks him on the shoulder. “Oh God, now you’ve jinxed it and it’s definitely going to happen again. Are you crazy?”

She could kill him.

Diego grins through a wince, refusing to grasp the grievous error he’s just made. “The point is we’re going to make mistakes. Big mistakes. Small mistakes. Lots of mistakes.”

“Is this supposed to be comforting?”

(Lila knows he’s only slightly less emotionally congested than her but, still, she expected better)

He leans closer, into her space - a dirty move that makes her breath catch. “Your mother and my father made mistakes too. The difference is they never saw them that way. Never tried to fix them. Never learned from them. . . They never tried to do better. To fix what they’d broken. They didn’t want to. . . That’s not us. That will never be us. Because, yeah, Lila we’re going to make a mess of things. A big huge stinking mess. But we’ll clean it up afterwards. And the next mess will be a little less messy.”

“I hate cleaning.”

His eye twitches. “Can you just- I’m trying to do a whole speech here.”

“I know and it’s a surprisingly good one.” Diego’s brow knits together like he’s not sure whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. “Maybe instead of trying to save a president by cutting off some bloke’s trigger finger you should just run for office. I think you’d be brilliant.”

“I would suck as president. I’d stab someone within the first hour.”

“Like I said,” Lila wraps her arms around his neck with a grin, “Brilliant.”

(she’d vote to see that)

Diego rolls his eyes at this but rewards her masterful plan with a kiss. “You would make a pretty badass First Lady.”

. . .

[this is just a short excerpt from like the seventh chapter but I figured it would be a nice read after, well. . . everything]

Also here have some Lila and Diego fanart:

[littleweowmeow]

I see you repost a lot of pro zuko post in the last weeks and I wanted to ask, have you notice how much more anti zuko post have been posted in the last months ? I don’t usually mind zuko metas but the last ones I’ve seen are sooooo full of bullshit, they’ll claim things that didn’t happen in the series or misinterpreting things, to make him appear more villainous or more unredeemable ? kind of weird.

i do understand that the sudden rise of zuko’s hate comes from fanon zuko who’s basically a whole ass new character and certainly not canon zuko, but it’s seriously annoying. like I feel that this happens also with Aang. he also gets shit on by soooo many people for the wrong reasons, always citing things that didn’t really happen (or at least not like it’s usually cited) and… is the atla fandom seriously regressing ? how is it possible to misinterpret things like that in a children show. ofc atla is pretty mature for a children show, but it’s also not some Faustian bible with hours long needed interpretation to understand something.

Oh, of course I noticed. Actually, I used to be a fan of reading canon/fanon Zuko comparison posts, but then I realized something. The people writing such posts (mainly Azula Stans) just took advantage of the hype around canon/fanon Zuko, and the one they call the "canon" Zuko is actually not Zuko from the series at all. Seriously, Zuko is much cooler than all this. In fact, this is just a covered-up hatred in order to expose their favorite (Azula) better than she really is, because of incorrect characteristics and other bullshit addressed to Zuko. In general, the tag "anti Zuko" is blocked because I will not tolerate this diarrhea in my feed, but it continues to appear. This is not a criticism or discussion at all, so it's not worth paying attention to.

It seems to me that Atla fandom has sunk to the point that when I see a person saying the right and ironically obvious things, I almost idolize that person because damn it, is there really a person with brains here. What is happening in the fandom is either a special incitement to hatred for God knows what reasons, or people are really degrading at the speed of light. I know that a lot of hatred for Zuko stems from the ship wars (it's just ridiculous), but there is another point. Due to Zuko, it is easier to put your favorite in a more favorable light (it does not matter what specific example we are talking about) For example, this idea that Zuko is a bad firebender is a lie hammered into his head by his abusive father and the show actively refutes this idea. Some people just benefit from picking it up, it's something like "woooo Zuko is a prince and he's had the best teachers all his life and he's still worse than the "character name". Although this is a complete discrediting of the facts and not a desire to take into account the fact that Zuko's mental problems had a strong effect on his bending. And of course this nonsense about him being bad because he's not a child prodigy. There are many such examples, some of them have become considered canon. For example, that he is bad at firebending and stupider than the rest. Now there is really a lot of mischaracterization and humiliation of Zuko, but this is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to make their favorite seem better. It's just not worth a drop of time.

About Aang, I don't often see content with him, but my God, the reason for almost all of Aang hate is the ship wars. I may be wrong, because I have never participated in ship wars, so this is just a look from the outside. I'm sure that Aang hate reasons are almost the same as what I said about Zuko.

[dollivication]

oh oh oh i have the PERFECT scenario for rockstar!dante akshually 🫡

no matter how much money he gets he will NEVER stop going to smaller clubs and bars Reminds him where he came from or whatever bullshit he tells to himself so he doesnt feel like a fucking slut:33 one night he sees the user performing, js a small little act bc,,,, theyre barely starting their career,,, duhh,,, he goes absolutely batshit insane over them and is like I need to meet them. Now. ( ◜ᴗ◝ )

since hes a big artist n all hes willing to use his connections to get user and whos better for the job than manager!trish!! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ shes quick and effective and somehow books user for his opening act in the tour concerts:3 hes a lucky bastard ngl

on rehearsals hes all over user like,,,, hes DESPERATE. he somehow.. somehow.. convinces user to kiss him as part of the act— for the show of course!! the audience would love that.. right? they also need to keep,,, rehearsing the kiss,,, for better outcome he swears!! not bc hes a pervy fucking bitch n js wants to kiss user,,, not at all:3

at the concerts he kind of does whatever he wants and forgets the “rehearsal” tbh Like hes js all over user, squeezing their tits and shi on stage,,, omfg where is the shame… the kisses get rlly rlly intense with each concert and he gets even handsier like wtf r ur hands under their skirt r u crazy 🫨🫨 the public loves that though so he finds himself doing more ahem collaborations,,, with user!! they also do more music together on the side LMFAO

— 🍓

DANTE… WHEN I CATCH U DANTE…

OF COURSEWE this sleaze completely disregards the rehearsal… POOR USER IS QUITE LITERALLY IN IT DEEP NAO.. like there’s no escaping dante when bros gawt manager trish AND manager vergil IT IS GAME OVER LMFAOAOA

his fans go BATSHIT when he goes above n beyond during performances.. now they’re constantly asking where user is on the off chance they don’t appear! soooo many rumors and speculations online now abt user and dante… and the worst part is that DANTE DOESNT DO ANYTHING TO BEAT THE ALLEGATIONS (◞‸◟)

literally on interviews if this mf is asked “are yu 2 romantically involved? maybe more?” DANTE IS SHAMELESS IN ADMITTING SOME INTERESTING THINGS… LIKE GETOWWWWRT !!!!’

at least the music they produce together isn’t half bad and actually helps boost user’s popularity!! :3 (that’s what he says to keep user collaborating w him so he can be all up on them HELPM i haye him….)

[reservedlisting]

I normally dont make posts on tumblr but considering I dont want to continue harassing people on discord with my thoughts about hotd I'm gonna rant here :') this is literally just for me and i dont expect anyone to read this or make any sense of my insane ramblings.

this show is SO SO SO SO SOOOO SO0O0O0O0O00o0oo0o0o0o0o baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad! I could and have written an entire thesis about it so I won't do that here but my god it's offensively bad.

The way that women are written and in turn men are written in juxtaposition to women. As a woman I am genuinely offended and Im dutch and me so I dont get easily offended. Yes, I have some issues with how George writes women and girls but fundamentally women are allowed to be humans and be flawed but also have those flaws pointed out in the story. In that way men and women arent any differently written in asoiaf.

Hotd women are allowed to be flawed (Only Alicent's flaws are lingered on though) but also lets gloss over it when its convenient so that we can pretend women are all just peaceful little lambs and its the evil men that want bloodshed (Nvm rhaenyra having the servant killed so she can marry Daemon and have her husband leave under threat, alicent having larys burn Mysaria's house down, Rhaenys literally having the highest body count by committing acts of terrorism during the coronation). Until we are actually given a Very Good Reason :tm: the reason being this prophecy bullshit that has infused the show with the worst writing imaginable. They didn't learn from season 1 when everyone already hated the prophecy inclusion, nope they just doubled down on it. Just having to hear rhaenyra yap yap yap about this shit made me wish I was aborted like the alicole baby.

Its also so funny how they're like ah yes we'll have this person call rhaenyra a whore or a cunt so that we are in fact reminded that these are bad people that we shouldnt support. Like wow thanks for that signal show, I didnt pick up your more "subtle" clues. Then i have to see tweets with 20k+ likes about how criston deserves to die.. not daemon though for actually choking rhaenyra or calling alicent a whore (because the audience actually agrees with that lbr)

Then there is the BLATANT biased. It's about as subtle as a brick to the face. Condal (who is a clown for many reasons) pretending theres some kind of equality between the sides doesn't actually make it so. it's so obvious that they want everyone to support Rhaenyra and despite her completely irrational behaviour. Oh no those sexist lords in the council, meanwhile she's been off for days on end and then comes back with nothing to offer and then leaves AGAIN. As if these men arent risking their own hides by supporting her. Ofc Rhaenyra wants to go to war but is "smartly" talked out of it because "ohno cant risk you" and meanwhile everything that Aegon does is painted as stupid even though they almost work out.

Why am I supposed to think Aegon is an idiot for thinking that a king needs to be on the front line? as they have been many times throughout history? Of course he's gonna be pissed when they make plans without him. And then you have useless Alicent, never have I been turned off a favourite character so quickly and I genuinely loved her in s1, they really had to try very hard here but they've managed to make me dislike her. You're not logan roy girl, youre just boring as fuck and contribute absolutely nothing. Maybe you shouldve actually tried to prepare Aegon for rule in the decades since he was born instead of whining about how your evil sons dont listen to you.

its funny how tb people on twitter were made about comparison posts about aegon and alicent vs paul atreides and Lady Jessica. Because somehow Paul killing 61 billion people is less bad than whatever Alicent and Aegon do... meanwhile I'm actually mad that Alicent isn't in fact remotely like lady jessica. I genuinely wish she was because at least that would make her compelling. Instead of this useless figure we see now. Her relationship with her children especially aegon was always fraught. But she clearly loved them. Despite my hate hate relationship with ep8 that moment between Aegon and Alicent in the carriage and in the dragonpit was one of the best moments. Now even that is ruined.

The blatant bias really shone through in episode 4 to the point that I just had to laugh. And then reading what condal has to say or what TGC said they wanted him to do. I might as well be reading tb fanfic on ao3 and I might get to read a fairer treatment of the characters.

The fact that we also have seen extensive scenes of tb with their dragons but sunfyre, the most beautiful dragon and Aegon, the two that have the strongest bond get about 1 sec cause god forbid people actually like Aegon and see a human side to him. Ofc Condal said that was propaganda and that Syrax the golden was actually his fave dragon (truly a clown of a man).

On top of that they just pile all the shit on Aegon but ofc we must remember that he is a rapist and we cannot support him. Funnily enough it's made him the most compelling character by a country mile. Actually might be the only compelling character atp.

Aemond is a clown, alicent ditto. Tb are all boring as shit. Cant even include a lil bit of bastard drama for rhaenys and corlys cause obviously she's soooo understanding. YAWN. She's also super courageous ofc. And then there's ofc the stans who will defend anything their fave does cause stan brainrot. Instead of calling out the shitty writing they'll just double down that their fave did nothing wrong (aka aemond and alicent stans mostly, cause i dont even see tb's idiotic takes most of the time)

And its such a waste cause they have this giant budget, it looks pretty and there's tiny glimpses of interesting things and themes here and there but these writers are simply not competent, they're in fact incompetent. Half the show reads as fanfic and i say that with all due respect to fanfic as an avid reader.

then there's also the fact that they manage to create zero emotional connection with anyone so even scenes that are supposed to be good just arent. Like why the fuck would i give a shit about the cargyll twins killing eachother? cause you put some good music under it?

dont even get me started on b&c... i wasnt even planning on watching this season and i heard the complaints about b&c and i thought no way is it that bad. I saw gifsets they looked fine. And then I (stupidly) decided to tune in and I literally burst out in laughter cause the way it was filmed was just comical in places?!?! it was even worse than i had anticipated after the complaints somehow?!

Funnily enough sunfyre's cries were the only time I actually felt a strong emotion watching this show (other than the anger I feel at how bad this show is)

It's funny how people say that f&b bad and a dry historical account and sure but even then George manages to make me feel more about characters with one line that this show manages to do with all the power that a visual medium has.

and let me not forget about this show's sudden need to have its tongue firmly lodged up viserys' ass, what a great king indeed.

AANND then there's the PANDERING to the worst of the d*ny stans (who funnily enough dont even appreciate being pandered to so congrats condal). Rhaenyra is and never will be dany. This show is really written for the sansa will braid dany's hair crowd. Iykyk. Forcing in that friendship beyond the point of reason making the characters just acts stupid, and not in a people act stupid way but in its actually bad writing way. And then having to force in the prophecy even more for that and to give rhaenyra a righteous reason. And lets not forget the white stag in season 1 but sure Condal doesnt take sides Then the addition of the dragon eggs which he finally had to walk back probably cause he sensed the rancid vibes i was sending his way. Its so clear that HBO wants to sell their Boss Queen merch but then actually she's written in a way that's so bland and wants to take absolutely no action that there isnt really anything remotely boss bitch about her, completely coasting on young rhaenyra's personality cause older rhaenyra is again boring as shit. I guess now that she has Viserys' "permission" to rule she'll actually do something but i really dgaf at this point. But sell that merch I guess

Every time its some reviewer saying NOWWW the rREALLY great episode is coming on and every time im disappointed and episode 4 actually infuriated me to the point I had to stop watching and rant on discord several times.

this also never shouldve been the story told directly after game of thrones cause its so obvious how much theyve been influenced by it and writing in response to it, to its detriment. And now I'll never actually get to watch a good version of the dance. And if the viewership keeps dropping i might not see any good awoiaf adaptation again

I thought that after season 1 and the time jumps out of the way they might produce something half way decent but NOPE its somehow MUCH WORSE

Anyway hope Condal gets haunted like Daemon has been. Fuck him and this garbage show.

I havent even touched on everything here and this is completely incoherent but writing something coherent and semi intelligent is just more effort than this show is worth. Anyway call me when a knight of the seven kingdoms comes out, I can't imagine they could fuck that up. But who knows what new depths of shitness we might reach.

at least d&d had the decency to give us a few good seasons

[kateofthecanals]

Thoughts on PP23 (aka "Peter Pan and Wendy")...

Beyond the level of faithfulness to the source material, the biggest crime a Peter Pan movie can ever commit is being dull... and this was SO DULL!!! And I don't just mean the cinematography... They were so concerned with being "different" and "a new take" that they stripped the story of any shred of its nuance and complexity! At least Hook was entertaining, and y'all know how I feel about Hook, lol...

No Tink being jealous of Wendy, trying to get her killed, getting banished by Peter, Hook exploiting her banishment to get her to reveal Peter's hideout, then drinking the poison meant for Peter, which makes Peter realize how much Tink means to him, and then resurrecting her with the help of children who believe in fairies? NONE OF THAT?? What are we even doing here then??? These are FUNDAMENTAL PLOT POINTS!!!

And the whole "Hook used to be a Lost Boy" thing? OH GODS PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!! And the thing is, I've always been a Hook apologist, but this movie revealing that Peter *legitimately* screwed him over just made me actively root for him! And the fact that Wendy knew all this and yet still was Team Peter?? I call bullshit...

And btw yes, it does kind of matter that the Lost Boys are all boys because Peter is a chauvinist douche which is uhhhh kind of a big contributing factor in Wendy wanting to leave him. (Side note, for those that don't know, it is canon that Peter KILLS OFF Lost Boys if they start getting older. Because contrary to popular belief, you CAN age in Neverland, you can just choose not to.)

The Hook/Wendy crumbs were nice but anticlimactic (like everything else in this movie). The girl playing Wendy was one of the few bright spots (she would make a good Sansa) but they gave her nothing to work with. She had NO chemistry with Peter (it was giving bickering siblings energy... yawn!) or with Hook... or with anyone honestly. I appreciate that the makers realized that "Peter Pan" is really WENDY'S story, but they stripped her of any sensuality. She is on the cusp of womanhood, and her dynamic with Peter and also with Hook is a major aspect of her character arc, but it's like they were too scared to acknowledge that (like Roger Ebert said in his review of PP03). They don't even have her try to kiss Peter!!! People are so fucking terrified of female sexuality, and that fact was painfully obvious in this movie.

They even had Wendy in bloomers instead of a nightdress because nightdresses are tOo gIrLy I guess...

I like that Peter was British for a change, but he was soooo forgettable! And that's a damn shame.

One thing I did like, though, was when Wendy first learns to fly, her happy thoughts are memories of her childhood, and then at the end of the movie, when she needs to summon happy thoughts again, they are visions of her future as a grown-up. I'm glad they didn't shy away from that, but we never actually saw any character progression from "I don't wanna grow up" to "hey maybe I do wanna grow up!" She hates Neverland pretty much from the moment she gets there and wants to leave, lol. We never see the progressive disillusionment with being someone who wants grown up things being trapped in childish dynamics.

I was confused as to why Jude Law wasn't also playing Mr. Darling, but after watching the movie, I can see why -- because they completely glossed over Wendy's relationship with him (or either or her parents, tbh). Apparently she was only gone for a couple hours?? And her parents never even knew she left?? uhhh okay...

Nana was just a pet, apparently, because, much like glowing fairies, hOw Can a dOg bE a NuRsEmAid???

And my gawd how anticlimactic was Peter's resurrection?? Putting aside the fact that it's HIM who dies instead of Tink, instead of having some grand, epic moment where the belief of children all over the world needs to be summoned to save him, Tiger Lily just shows up and... puts some leaves on him and he wakes up?? Huh? Just... every second of this movie felt like the writers asked themselves "what's the most BANAL way to present this?" and then just went with that.

It's just... really sad that this same studio understood the story better 70 years ago than they do now.

P.J. Hogan, your legacy is SAFE.

[siv239]

Met up with old FWB which was really nice. I was worried that it would be weird since I have a boyfriend now but honestly we had stopped having sex for months before we stopped hanging out so idk what I was so worried about. I just don’t completely trust myself with the monogamy thing yet I guess? But it felt very natural and the only time I was at all uncomfortable was when we were saying bye because I couldn’t kiss him but we’d never really hugged lol

Anyways we eventually got around to the subject of his current love life and he’s been trying to date but not having much luck. And I mentioned that the reason I wanted to be FWBs way back then was I thought he wasn’t that into me because he just disappeared/didn’t talk to me for days at a time. Which, this was me trying to make sure he knew that that’s not a normal amount of communication for a relationship and that if that’s just his baseline level of energy put into a potential partner that could be part of the problem.

Well this then got around to him saying that he was actually very into me but that he was a mess at the time (and he did have so much family bullshit to deal with then, he’s trying to get out of a cult but is still financially dependent on his parents who are still in it). He said he was really pissed back then that he couldn’t actually give me the attention I needed. I got a little nervous so I pointed out a few other reasons I thought we were incompatible and his response was basically “oh I could change that if you asked" and i literally said "it's too late for that now bro"

soooo I guess he's still into me? i probably shouldn't be surprised since I took his virginity but like. We’ve barely interacted in almost a full year. It just made me kinda sad more than anything.

I did catch myself having an incredibly toxic thought afterwards though that was like “well maybe if he’s still single when {boyfriend} eventually breaks up with me…” and I was like woah what? I know there’s still part of me that thinks my boyfriend is totally out of my league but like I thought I was over that by now? I’m not even worried about his parents disliking me anymore I’ve decided they’re just awkward lol

So it’s definitely just the abandonment issues talking. And also he’s on a trip with his friends so I haven’t gotten to talk to him much the last few days but once he’s back I will be actually around him to remind myself that this is real and he loves me and this is a real thing that’s happening and not just me like ~tricking~ him into thinking I’m still a good person or any of that other toxic bullshit I catch myself thinking.

[frogtanii]

iwaizumi was... overwhelmed, to say the least.

the past few days had been such a whirlwind of change that hajime could barely properly process, much less appropriately react to it all, so he behaved much like a zombie, saying yes when prompted, signing papers when told, and packing up what was his entire life for the past 11 months.

wow. iwaizumi collapsed on his bed as he scanned his now barren bedroom. he’d been here for almost a year and yet, all his belongings were in boxes within a couple of days.

hajime couldn’t keep the disbelieving chuckle from escaping his chest as he leaned back on his bed, dark brown eyes trained on the ceiling.

it felt like he’d spent such a large chunk of his life trapped in this house, under the foot of the woman who he thought he’d marry but in reality, he’d been in little leagues longer than he’d been in love.

iwaizumi scoffed and rolled his eyes. yeah, “in love”. it’d been about a week since his whole life started to unravel and he had hardly seen, let alone spoken to meiko throughout that entire time.

over text, she’d sworn up and down that she loved and cared about him but as she passed by him packing his things a few days ago, she’d barely spared him a second glance.

hajime wasn’t going to lie. it hurt. he’d opened his heart up to her, something he didn’t do easily, and she’d taken his trust and used it to twist him into her weapon.

he always believed he was stronger than this — he’d never forget his mother telling him so when he was younger. he had fallen and scraped his knee yet he refused to cry to keep from upsetting his mom. iwaizumi existed to live up to what his mother thought of him but here he was, completely enveloped in meiko’s shit, doing her dirty work and following her bidding like some mutt.

god, toorū was right. he really was her bitch.

“i could hear you thinking from down the hall, iwa-chan.” speak of the devil...

oikawa stood at his doorway, leaning against the frame with a posture that seemed relaxed at first glance but if you looked a little closer, you’d notice the tenseness in his shoulders and the tightness of his smile.

hajime quickly sat up on his bed before motioning for his old friend to enter. “uh, yeah,” he began, his voice cracking a little from disuse, “i have a lot to think about.”

the light haired brunette let out an understanding hum before wandering into the room, sharp observant eyes darting to look at all the empty walls. “looks like you’re all packed.”

“pretty much,” iwaizumi nodded before the room fell into an awkward silence, the two childhood friends completely avoiding one another’s eyes.

“look, i-“

“iwa-chan, i’m-“

they both paused for a moment before bursting into laughter, the sound carrying into the hall and throughout the house.

hajime wiped a few stray tears from his eyes, shaking his head at their awkwardness. “you first, shittykawa.”

toorū gasped in halfhearted mock offense before quickly sobering up, training iwaizumi with a completely serious look. “i’m sorry and before you go on some bullshit, self sacrificing rant, you’re not the only one to blame for what happened to our friendship.”

he sighed while making his way to iwaizumi’s bed, sitting down gently beside him. “i should’ve known better, okay? i shouldn’t have let my jealousy and insecurities get in between us but i guess i got swept up in the attention, yknow? meiko is actually charming when she wants to be.”

iwaizumi nodded in agreement, knowing all too well how compelling meiko could be. the room fell into a more comfortable silence as both boys escaped into their thoughts, questions about the future of their friendship flitting throughout their minds.

“oh!” oikawa was pulled out of his own head at hajime’s exclamation, his eyes moving to observe his friend dig through his pockets to procure a thick white envelope. “here. i’d like you to give this yn.”

all toorū could do was nod, his brain short circuiting at the sight of iwaizumi’s apparent kindness to the woman he tormented for so long. “uh, what’s in it?” he ventured to ask, his soft hands toying with the sealed envelope flap.

a soft chuckle came from across the bed. “don’t be so nosy toorū, just give it to her, yeah?” oikawa rolled his eyes but obliged, the bed creaking as he stood to his feet.

“so... this is it, huh?” it was like the reality of the situation was just now sinking in — they hadn’t been close in a while but iwaizumi was still his best friend and he wasn’t quite ready to let him go.

they’d been through so much together, practically growing up together and now, they’d only see each other on holidays, if even then, and then he’d never be invited to hajime’s wedding as his best man as they’d planned and he also wouldn’t be the coolest uncle/godfather of iwa’s children and—

“fuck no,” hajime scoffed with a bright grin on his face. “thought you were gonna annoy me til the end of time shittykawa. don’t tell me you’re quitting your job now.”

the hidden meaning behind iwaizumi’s words brought tears to oikawa’s eyes and before he could stop himself, he launched his body into iwa’s arms. hajime hesitated, his hands stuttering at toorū’s sides as though he’d forgotten how to hug but the feeling passed, his arms winding around his friend’s lithe waist.

“‘m gonna miss you hajime,” oikawa’s voice came out as a broken whimper, his arms tightening around his shoulders.

iwaizumi hummed instead of responding, too afraid of his voice cracking under the weight of his emotions. they stood there for a moment but the honk of the moving truck outside signaled the both of them of their limited time.

hurriedly, oikawa wiped the tears off his cheeks before waving awkwardly at iwaizumi as he left the room with a friendly, “don’t be a stranger.”

and then he was gone.

toorū finally allowed himself to collapse into sobs on his best friends empty bed, his palms pressing into his eyes as he sat there and just let himself feel.

apparently, he wasn’t crying very quietly because it took only a few moments for you to find him, your soft footsteps alerting him to your presence. oikawa scrambled to wipe away what he knew was an unattractive mixture of tears and snot as you got closer.

you were one of the last people he wanted to see him like this.

“hey,” you whispered, standing a few feet away from him. “um, i know this is probably a bad time but i just wanted to thank you for apologizing? back at the awards show?”

toorū sniffed as he looked up at you with confusion written on his face. “what? you shouldn’t thank me for apologizing. ‘s common courtesy.”

you laughed softly, nodding in agreement. “well, not always. so, thank you.” finished with your piece and not too keen on lingering where you weren’t wanted, you moved towards the door but were swiftly stopped before you got there.

“um, here. it’s from iwa-chan.” you gaped at the thick envelope oikawa was handing you before taking it and opening it, a low curse falling from your lips.

inside the package was a dense wad of cash, more money than you’d seen in months. accompanied with it was a letter, written in beautifully loopy handwriting.

you shut it quickly before oikawa could see, stuffing the envelope deep within your pocket where you could access it alone in the depths of your room.

“do you wanna come eat? last i heard, bokuto and tsumu were doing a cooking competition and i’m sure it’ll be fun to watch.” you were severely thrown off by the money and letter but you were determined to show toorū that you’d accepted his apology and were on your way to making amends.

he gave you a shy nod and trailed behind you to the kitchen, the loud sounds of fire and screaming coming from down the hall. you wanted to focus on the fun and merriment but the envelope was practically burning a hole in your pocket.

later that night, you finally got the chance to open the letter and read it, your former manager’s words bringing tears to your eyes.

dear yn,

i’m probably the last person you expected to hear from. you probably didn’t want to hear from me at all if i’m being honest and i don’t blame you. i know there is nothing i can say that could make up for what i’ve done to you but i’d like to try.

i’m sorry. those words don’t nearly express in and of themselves how truly remorseful i am but they needed to be said. there’s no excuse for how i treated you — not meiko, not my stress, absolutely nothing.

you deserved my common decency and respect and i didn’t give that to you. instead, i abused my position and made your life hell. i’ll never forgive myself for that.

uh, i bet you’re wondering what the money is? i promise i’m not trying to pay you off, it’s just all the money i’ve denied you since you moved here. i have a lot of wrongs to right and this is one of them.

sorry, i’m not very good with words but i just wanted you to know that i’m very sorry for everything that i’ve done. and i’m in no place to make demands or anything but i just wanted to ask if you’d keep an eye on oikawa for me.

he’s strong but he’s also vulnerable. he might be a pain in my ass but he’s my best friend and since i can’t keep him from drowning, i was wondering if you’d do that - not for me but for him.

anyways, this letter is shit but i suppose you get the gist. use the money for whatever you want and if you’re as unselfish as i’ve heard, you don’t owe me anything. you don’t owe me money, kindness, or forgiveness.

take care of yourself,

iwaizumi hajime

℗ poker face

so... this is it

series masterlist

(●’◡’●)ﾉ

an - soooo m back :D hopefully this is the last of my mini hiatuses!! this chapter sucked to write but i’m not mad at how it turned out?? pls let me know how i did skjdkd don’t forget to feed me <3333

taglist - if your name is in bold, i cannot tag you

@boosyboo9206 • @geektastic84 • @elianetsantana • @trashy-simp • @infinitebells • @6mattsun9 • @suhkusa • @katsulovee • @kotarosbabygirl • @fucktheworlddude • @insomniacwreck • @calumsfringe • @saltylettuce • @chai-blu • @al3x1ss • @hawksyoongi • @syndellwins • @jooleuuh • @loubells • @kissungjae • @liberhoe • @tetsurocore • @animeoverdosee • @duhsies • @saikishairclip • @afire24 • @premiyagi • @kit-kat428 • @doctorspencereid • @daphnxy • @kyomihann • @maer-333 • @sinoflust19 • @peteunderoos • @peachiikichu • @iidanotlida • @yongboxerrr • @kac-chowsballs • @tanakaslastbraincell • @memorableminds • @risjime • @starry-magicshop • @sugavwara • @smuttyanimeslut • @kiwibirbs-library • @haijkk • @airybnb • @crybabygumi • @iwaisa • @decaffinatedtealover • @notameera • @kawaii-angelanne • @rintarovibes • @urlocalsimp

the rest of the tags will be in the replies!!

[regrettablewritings]

I’ve been in an Arthur Curry kind of mood lately so let’s see your take on Arthur for the General section of the headcanons

I think Big Boy’s been in our heads ever since Jason snapped the other day over WB’s bullshit 👀👀👀

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?: It didn’t exactly get initiated so much as you guys sort of . . . fell into it. Neither one really noticed when the talking turned into actual conversing with one another, or when the conversing began to include you two inching closer, or when that started to include the both of you meeting up at a bar or taking walks or going to the beach to relax and so on. Arthur’s kind of thick-headed in that regard, the realization hitting him one day that what the both of you were doing could technically be qualified as dating. Hell, it wasn’t even so much as a hit as it was a nudge in his brain that made him take a pause as he drank his beer, glance at you as your eyes skimmed the grill menu, and think to himself, Oh, shit. Guess we’re datin’ now. And then take another swig. You never corrected him when he referred to you as his significant other around other people, either, so it’s safe to assume it works for you two knuckleheads.

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?: As stated before, you two kind of stumbled into dating the same way someone who keeps walking in New York will eventually stumble into a bodega. If you wanna play it loose, then the first time you guys went on what could be considered a date was when Arthur dragged you to a taco truck he and Barry had tried out the other day. To his credit, it was a pretty kickass taco, and you were more than happy to admit that as the two of you sat down and people-watched, with him occasionally working the water in the nearby fountain to take the form of random shapes or funny scenarios. When it finally clicked that the two of you were an item, there was more or less a feeling that you should probably do an official outing just to make sure you were “doing this right”, whatever that meant. It took a bit of “conversing”, but eventually Arthur pulled a few strings (read: Convinced Bruce to land him a reservation at one of the best restaurants in town) and, well . . . It definitely could’ve been worse. Arthur has definite home-training, but fancy establishments just aren’t his cup of tea. He honestly had more fun making the wine in everyone’s glasses make little whirlpools, or having the still-alive lobsters climb out of the tank and “mysteriously disappear.” Suffice to say, maybe the first “date” really was the date done right. It also suffices to say that Bruce never pulls a favor like that for Arthur again: the next time y’all want a date somewhere exclusive, you have to be the one to do the talking.

What was their first kiss like?: Hot. Passionate. Hard. Wet. (God this sounds pervy.) When I say “hot”, I mean temperature-wise: Arthur runs hot, so his lips can feel almost searing when he’s really feeling a mood. The passionate and hard are given traits, considering that that’s just how Arthur does this: Never half-assed, always a full and complete 110%. And as for wet . . . Don’t worry, it’s not because he’s a sloppy kisser. It was because the first kiss the both of you ever shared happened to be after he returned from a mission. It wasn’t an especially life-or-death type of experience, mind you, but that didn’t make it any less nerve-wrecking for you since it considered him pulling an entire cruise ship to port. But the thrill of seeing your boyfriend succeed and be a hero quickly filled you, to the point where it was quite evident in your features when the soggy boy came home. Maybe he felt the need to bathe in that praise before even bathing himself. Or maybe he thought you looked so puppy-like that he just had to plant one on you. But whatever the case was, you got your first kiss of the relationship in the living room of Aquaman’s place. With him smelling like the water and everything that was in it. . . . Well, at least he was hot dripping wet, no?

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?: Well, if you really want to stretch it, you’re the first human he’s dated since being revealed to the world as Aquaman. Things with Mera . . . didn’t work out, but she does unfortunately hold the title as first to date him period. But as an Atlantean, there are just some things the human world’s got her beat on: Like the fact that it has you.

What’s their height difference? Age difference?: Soooo . . . Arthur Curry is 6′4″. Make of that what you will. Do the same with the age he’s approximated to be if you’d like.

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?: If you still keep in contact wit your family, they’re both amazed and thrown off by the fact that you’re dating the Aquaman: He’s a superhero, he’s an underwater king, he’s a member of the Justice League, he knows Batman, and, oh yeah, he’s hella fine. If you ever bring Arthur around your family, they’re definitely going to want to take photos or have him show them feats of his strength. He’s more than happy to drink any drunkles or cousins under the table, and gleefully lets younger kids dangle from his arms like he’s a living jungle gym. (Frankly, he prefers interactions with younger members of your family since they’re innocent and generally more upfront yet less nosy.) Thomas and Atlanna adore you, being ever so proud of their son for finally being with someone who looks like they’ll stick around for the long haul. Thomas is more than happy to share with you silly stories of what Arthur used to do growing up, and Atlanna just pretty much wants to hear everything about you. Given that she’s missed out on most of her son’s love lives, she wants to be very aware of you and familiarize herself with you. They welcome you back to Amnesty Bay any time. If they think Arthur is shirking on his boyfriendly duties, they are not afraid to get on him about it.

Who takes the lead in social situations?: Arthur, most definitely. He’s not even the most confrontational person, he doesn’t necessarily seek out situations to take the lead on. But when you’re a 6′4″ wall of muscle and a fairly recognizable metahuman superhero, people sort of wind up looking to you for answers. He’s more than happy to let you take the lead, however.

Who gets jealous easier?: A little bit you, but honestly neither of you are particularly the jealous type. The only reason I could venture to say you is because you have yourself quite a catch, no pun intended: Tall, handsome, heroic, a literal king, smart, kind . . . Everyone wants a piece of the Aquaman, and you can’t fight them all off. The good news is that you don’t have to: In spite of his party boy image, Arthur knows about dedication and loyalty in a relationship. As messed up as their relationship was in some regards, Arthur very much respects his parents’ union and, deep down, hopes for something even half as good as what they had. And he already knows he’s not about to get it from just any old random person trying to cop a feel of his biceps. So it’s perfectly safe to say that Arthur’s ghostly eyes are only ever for you. Though . . . it couldn’t hurt just to hang on his arm. Just to let people know, y’know?

Thanks for sendin’ in this request, I forgot it can be fun to write for this rascal!

[haroldtea]

i wrote something!!

soooo I’m a pathological “i have a fic idea and i’m never going to write it or I write a few pages and then fall off” writer buuuut I had this very cute idea and wrote 4k words of it! I wanted to post it here before ao3 because 1) not sure if I’m a fan of starting a multichapter WIP because I still may abandon it like my other stuff 2) i want feedback before i continue!!

here’s the gist: it’s princess prom except it’s a high school au and princess prom is actually homecoming. Adora is very happy and supportive of Glimmer and Bow running for king/queen. Glimmer is very, very passionate about winning. The problem is they’ve naturally got competition, in the form of Perfuma (who is equally as passionate about winning, for her own reasons) and her new girlfriend Scorpia. In a sitcom-style mishap, Adora sort of accidentally signs up to run as well...with Catra, Scorpia’s best friend who Adora doesn’t not have a crush on. The two decide to go through with it with the intention of getting eliminated from the race as soon as possible. Then, their friends come up with a different plan for them.

so, take a read below at 4k of stupidity and let me know what you think, and if you would be interested to read more :) (fyi there is a lot of swearing lol)

“I’M GONNA BE THE QUEEN!”

Adora shrieks, flailing her arms and almost knocking her lamp over in the process. She whirls around in her desk chair to face the intruder, arms raised in karate chop form (she does not know any martial arts), and finds Glimmer, who has flung her bedroom door open and has that crazed Glimmer look in her eyes that only means trouble.

“Fuck! Glimmer, you can’t just sneak up--wait, how did you get in my house?!”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?! Also, the door was unlocked,” Glimmer replies, kicking off her shoes and launching herself onto Adora’s bed, which she had just painstakingly made.

Adora presses her hand into her face, sighing. “I was kind of busy trying not to piss myself. Haven’t you heard of knocking? What if I was, you know...” she says, gesturing vaguely.

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Please, Adora. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Anyway--the student council decided to bring back the homecoming pep rally!” she squeals, gleefully kicking her feet in the air.

Adora leans back in her chair, brows furrowed. “Bring back? Didn’t we have one last year?”

“Yes, but after the water balloon thing they weren’t gonna let us have it anymore, but it turns out that one senior who wasn’t gonna graduate did graduate so I guess they figured it would probably be fine, ‘cause like, who’s ever gonna try and top that?”

“Right,” Adora hums, thinking back to last year’s pep rally. Just before homecoming court was announced, a group of rogue seniors had risen from the bleachers, unleashing dozens of water balloons they had stashed in their backpacks. What ensued was a pandemonium Adora could only remember in flashes, resulting in almost the entire student body and the school’s hallways being completely soaked.

The catch was that the seniors had filled the balloons with blue paint. It had taken the janitorial staff weeks to get the gym bleachers, the lockers in the science wing, and the cafeteria ceiling (don’t ask) to look normal again. Classes were cancelled for almost an entire week because the paint had messed up something with the internal plumbing. It was single-handedly the coolest thing Adora had experienced in her living years.

It was all led by the legendary Mara Hart, notorious for sticking it to the man during her K-12 years. The prank had all but gotten her and her friends expelled, but given that she was otherwise an A+ student and no one could technically prove who was behind it (her friends were loyal to each other to the bitter end), she walked at Bright Moon High’s graduation to uproarious applause from her classmates.

Adora knew some of the more grisly details because Mara had been captain of the girls’ lacrosse team last year--effortlessly cool Mara, endlessly caring Mara, definitely part of Adora’s gay awakening Mara--but it had become something of an urban legend at BMHS over the past year.

“Wait, how do you know any of this?” Adora asks, because while she was personally connected to Mara in a small way, she hadn’t been aware that they were going to cancel the pep rally indefinitely.

Glimmer arches an eyebrow. “Um, hello? My mom’s the principal?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“And Mermista totally let it slip when I asked her about it after the student council meeting,” Glimmer adds, then pauses. “Okay, it was more like I didn’t even wanna be there and I wish no one had ever voted for me and I’ll tell you whatever, but still. I’m...” she props her face in her hands and bats her eyelashes, “in the know.”

Adora smirks and rolls her eyes fondly, turning back to her desk to shut her textbook and put her notes away. She can never get anything done when Glimmer’s around. “Okay, so, pep rally’s back--that’s cool,” she says.

“It’s not just cool, Adora,” Glimmer scoffs. “Being homecoming queen is literally all I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I thought my dream had died with Mara’s academic career, but now there’s hope again--it’s meant to be, Adora. It’s destiny.”

Adora had literally never heard Glimmer talk about this, but, “Um, okay.”

Glimmer huffs and dramatically rolls onto her back, flinging her arms out and further messing up Adora’s sheets. Lesson learned, it isn’t worth the effort for Adora to make the bed anymore. “My mom was the homecoming queen like a hundred years ago, and my aunt was the homecoming queen before that. It’s, like, my birthright!”

Adora lifts a shoulder, twisting around in her chair to look at Glimmer. “Okay, then we’ll just get you to be the homecoming queen too. Can’t your mom just...make it happen?”

“Ugh, no,” Glimmer sighs. “I already asked. It’s a student vote.”

“Oh!” Adora brightens. “That’s easy, then. Everyone loves you.”

Glimmer pouts. “I know, but it’s not just a popularity contest--it’s, like, a whole thing. Me and Bow are gonna have to do a talent show, and there’s a relay race, and other stuff that if we don’t do well in we won’t even get to be in the final vote.”

“Wait, what?” Adora doesn’t remember any of that from last year. “What do you mean, Bow? Is...he's running for homecoming queen too?”

“Ha! No,” Glimmer laughs, then her expression darkens, eyes narrowing. “I would crush him.”

“Right...” Adora says. Actually, Bow would make a pretty good homecoming queen. But Adora values her life, so she decidedly does tell Glimmer this.

“No, every queen nominee has to also have someone to run with them as their ‘king,’” Glimmer explains, making air quotes with her fingers. “There’s no boy/girl bullshit, but you do have to be in a pair.”

“I don’t remember any...talent shows, or whatever,” Adora points out. “I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of one of those happening in real life.”

“Well, obviously you never went. It would’ve all been during your lacrosse thingies and you would've been too busy making googly eyes at Mara Hart,” Glimmer replies, wiggling her fingers at Adora.

Adora crosses her arms and blushes a deep red. “I would not. I would’ve been playing lacrosse. And stuff.” Okay, maybe she did make googly eyes at Mara, but only sometimes, as a treat, and Glimmer doesn’t need to know that.

Glimmer flips back over on her stomach and levels Adora with a pout. “Adora, this means a lot to me. We’re gonna need your help to win this.”

Adora has no idea how she could possibly be of any help with this, but hey-- “Of course, Glimmer. Whatever you need. I’m there.”

Glimmer grins, eyes sparkling. “Yaaaaay. Also, my mom’s making meatloaf tonight, you in?”

Adora pumps her fist in the air. “Sweet. Hell, yes.”

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

“This is a joke, right? Like, you’re joking?” Catra says into the receiver as she shoves another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“I am usually a pretty funny gal, it’s true--but, ah, no. This time I’m serious,” Scorpia replies on the other end.

Catra hoists her phone higher up on her shoulder while she adjusts her grip on her Xbox controller. “Okay, please explain,” she says between chews.

Scorpa sighs, and Catra visualizes her sitting cross-legged on her bedspread, hugging one of her many stuffed animals to her chest. “I know it’s kind of silly, but Perfuma sounded really excited about it, ‘cause I guess if you win, you get to pick what charity the proceeds from the dance ticket sales go to, and...I just couldn’t say no?”

Catra smirks, mashing a series of buttons on her controller as her TV screen lights up in front of her. She’s been trying to get past this level for weeks, but she’ll probably die right before the end again whether she’d answered Scorpia’s call or not. “You are so whipped,” she says.

Scorpia sighs again, but this time Catra can hear a smile in it. “I guess so, kitty cat. Still, it sounds kinda...fun? I mean, it’s more time spent with her, if anything else. She’s talking about writing an original song together for the talent show and incorporating her Tibetan singing bowls into it.”

Catra takes that in and barely suppresses a laugh. Her New Year’s resolution was to make fun of her friends less. Some days are harder than others. “Um, wow,” she says instead. “That’s, uh...that’ll be interesting. Do I have to call you Queen Scorpia if you win?”

“Oh, Perfuma doesn’t believe in gendered royalty,” Scorpia replies. “She wants us to be known as Homecoming Monarchs.”

“Of course she does,” Catra mutters. Perfuma is endlessly kind and patient and makes Scorpia smile, so by default Catra likes her, but otherwise they...don’t exactly share identical values, let’s say. Catra brings her own point home by pressing a button on her controller and chainsawing an alien in half on screen.

“Do you...think it’s a stupid idea? The whole...running for homecoming thing, I mean.”

Catra hears the telltale signs of Scorpia-doubting-herself in her reply, so she pauses the game. “Nah. If it’s something you guys wanna do, you should go for it. Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

“Okay, thanks,” Scorpia says, sounding lighter. “I think it means a lot to Perfuma. It would be cool to win it for her.”

“Well, hey,” Catra continues, un-pausing her game. “If you need any help, let me kn--oh, fuck!”

“Catra?” Panic sets in Scorpia’s tone. “Kitty cat, speak to me--do I need to call 911?!”

“No, no, Scorpia, please don’t do that,” Catra groans, tossing her controller aside. “I just got blown up in my stupid game again, that’s all. I’m never gonna beat this final boss.”

Scorpia sighed in relief. “Aw, don’t give up, kitty cat. One of these days, you’re gonna really give it to--what’s the dude’s name again?”

“Prime something-or-whatever,” Catra grumbled, reaching for her popcorn.

“Yeah, that guy. He’ll never know what hit him.”

Catra snickers into the receiver. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Scorpia.”

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

The lunch period at BMHS is, naturally, chaotic. Being a regional high school, every inch of the place is usually crawling with students, and the cafeteria is no different. The student population is small enough and the cafeteria big enough to condense into one lunch period, although Adora has oftentimes heard Perfuma lament about the ethics and health concerns of overcrowding.

Adora likes chaos. She likes that the overlapping sounds of chairs scraping and garbled chattering combine to form a comforting din that allows her to drown out whatever weird TikTok plans Bow’s making (ok, to be real, she will be asking about them later) and quietly observe the antics happening at tables around them.

She takes another bite of her pudding and her eyes land on the table to their right where Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio from her math class always sit together. Lonnie is mechanically chewing her gum as she stares into a compact mirror, examining her eyebrows with fierce concentration. Across from her, Kyle is holding up something on his phone to Rogelio with one hand and gesticulating wildly with the other as he holds a corn dog. Rogelio is nodding along but is staring down fondly at Kyle rather than at the screen Kyle’s pointing to, one arm hanging loose around Kyle’s shoulders. Lonnie slaps her compact shut and shouts something at them, pointing emphatically to her eyebrows. They all pause for a moment before bursting into laughter. Then Kyle drops his corn dog.

Adora pointedly does not observe the table across from theirs. She’ll gladly watch the Star siblings silently and intensely do their homework for the next period, or listen to Mermista fight off Seahawk’s PDA attempts, but nothing could compel her to look at the table straight ahead.

That table was where Catra Weaver and her friends sat.

Including: Perfuma’s new girlfriend, Scorpia Garnet; Entrapta Dryl, who was dating one of the Hordak twins (Adora was ever completely sure which one); the Hordak twins in question, one of which who usually broods silently and one of which who usually stares around smiling at nothing and everything; the stylish and blonde ruler of the theatre kids who has been nicknamed Double Trouble for as long as Adora can remember; and finally: Catra Weaver. Effortlessly cool, effortlessly gorgeous, effortlessly effortless Catra Weaver, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, coolly regarding the rest of the cafeteria as she holds court at her table of wonderful misfit toys.

Today’s effortless ensemble: cool jean jacket, a cool crop top, cool black jeans, cool combat boots, she got a haircut recently so--

“Um, Earth to Adora?”

“Huh?” Adora says, jerking her head up.

This is why she avoids looking at Catra Weaver’s table. Or Catra Weaver in general.

“We were talking about homecoming,” Glimmer says from her seat across from Adora, raising an eyebrow. “You were totally spaced out.”

Adora clears her throat, willing herself not to blush. “Sorry,” she replies, digging back into her pudding.

“Glimmer’s trying to convince me not to run for court,” Perfuma continues, crossing her arms.

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s totally lame and stupid and a waste of time,” Mermista answers from beside Perfuma, inspecting her nail polish. She glances up when she senses everyone at the table staring at her. “What?”

“Mermista, you’re on the homecoming committee,” Bow says.

Mermista shrugs. “So? I said what I said.”

“Look, Perfuma,” Glimmer starts, sliding her hand across the table toward Perfuma. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed if you lose. Homecoming’s a really big deal to me, and I really want to win.” She smiles saccharinely, tilting her head at Perfuma, eyes gone wide. Bow and Adora exchange a look.

Perfuma smiles back. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Glimmer! I’m sure our classmates will select the most deserving and talented couple to win,” she says, then goes back to stabbing a fork into her salad.

Glimmer’s eye starts twitching. Bow slowly and gently takes Glimmer’s hand and slides it back to her side of the table. “Glimmer, we’ll do great. The most important thing is to have fun,” he says, patting her hand.

“The most important thing is the charity,” Perfuma mutters.

“That too.”

“Is anybody else we know running?” Adora asks. Glimmer and Perfuma both shake their heads in response, until Mermista sighs dejectedly.

“Unfortunately,” she groans, raising her hand.

“Wait, what?! You just said it was stupid and lame!” Bow squawks.

“It is,” Mermista rolls her eyes. “But the rest of the student council said it would look really bad if I was on the planning committee and didn’t run. I was forced against my will.”

“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?” Glimmer asks, gripping her lunch tray so tight Adora wondered if she was going to launch it at Mermista’s head.

“I don’t know? I guess not? I’m planning on getting cut as soon as humanly possible though, so whatever,” Mermista replies, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

“We won’t win with that attitude, my love!” Seahawk roars, throwing his arm around Mermista’s shoulder and raising a fist triumphantly. “You and I are going to be the greatest King and Queen this school has ever seen!”

“Oh my god, please stop,” Mermista groans, hiding her face in her hands.

“Picture it: you, me, newly crowned, gliding down the science wing--the students stop and stare! Could it really be our King and Queen in the flesh? The teachers stare too! I am going to give them both straight A’s!”

“Please just sit and eat your sandwich,” Mermista begs.

“Never,” Seahawk says, then kisses her on the cheek and acquiesces, taking a big bite of his sandwich. Adora tries to hide her smirk when she sees Mermista blush a deep red. She elbows Glimmer and nods in their direction so she can see.

“Aw, how cute. I’m going to destroy them,” Glimmer whispers in Adora’s ear.

“I know,” Adora whispers back. “But try to at least be nice about it.”

“No promises.”

“Ok, I have to pee,” Adora announces to the table, grabbing her lunch tray as she stands, grinning at Bow’s groan of TMI, Adora!

She makes her way over to the trash cans by the cafeteria exit, waving to her friends on the lacrosse team as she dumps her leftovers in the trash and sets the tray in the dish bin beside it. She should probably go over and check in with them about practice tonight, but she really has to pee, which reminds her that she forgot her water bottle all the way back to the table and needs to refill it before her next class.

“Damn it,” she mutters to herself, still smiling at her lacrosse friends as she whips around to head back--

And crashes right into someone, their heads knocking smack together.

“Ow!” Adora yelps, losing her footing for a moment. She rubs at her stinging forehead, glancing up as she apologizes, “Shit, sorry, sorry, that was totally my fault, I--”

And stares right up at Catra Weaver.

“I...I...I...”

She blinks a few times, but yes, that is Catra Weaver, rubbing at her own forehead and fixing a few strands of hair that had come loose from behind her ears. Catra Weaver, up close and personal, who she hasn’t talked to since...

“Your forehead is fucking hard. And big,” Catra says, holding her tray in one hand as she narrows her eyes up at Adora.

“Oh, um, you too...I mean! Thanks? I grew it myself,” Adora replies spectacularly, and then promptly wants to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Catra raises one eyebrow at her. “How hard did I hit you?”

Adora scrambles to answer. “Oh, not at all! I mean, not hard. It was my fault. Are you, um, are you okay?” This is going amazingly.

“I’m fine, Greyskull,” Catra replies, sending a tingle up Adora’s spine. She goes to deposit her tray. “Just watch where you’re going.”

Adora grins dopily. “Yes. I mean--I will. Sorry. Again.”

Catra glances Adora up and down, eyebrow still raised, and goes to say something else, when they’re interrupted by a foreboding, familiar voice.

“Ah, Adora! I’m so pleased to see you taking an interest in student affairs.”

Adora turns to see Glimmer’s mom looming over them, hands neatly clasped together. Maybe looming isn’t the right word as she’s smiling brightly down on her and Catra, but she’s tall, ok? “Oh, hi Ang--,” Adora starts before remembering they’re at school, “um, Mrs. Moon. What’s up?”

Angella gestures between her and Catra. “I was just observing how wonderful it will be that Glimmer will have a friend to share the homecoming experience with.”

Adora tenses again, remembering that Catra is still standing very close to her. “Oh, haha, yeah, super great. Wait, what?” Sharing?

Then she notices that her and Catra are standing in front of the wall where the Homecoming Court Signup Sheet is hanging. A sparkly pen tied to the clipboard is dangling within Adora’s reach.

“Oh, um, actually, Perfuma’s already--”

“I think this activity will make a fine addition to your college applications, Adora. And you know how Glimmer gets,” Angella leans in conspiratorially, not bothering to lower her voice. “I think it will calm her nerves to have a friend by her side. A bit of friendly competition, even!” she claps her hands together, delighted. “I remember having so much fun with my friends back in my day.”

“But, I’m already on the lacrosse team...” Adora mumbles, scratching the back of her neck. She glances down at the pen.

“Oh, but you know schools these days, always looking for that something that makes a student stand out,” Angella says, waving her hand dismissively. “And don’t worry, I’ll speak to Coach Huntara about any scheduling conflicts. You’ll get to have the best of both worlds!”

Wait, but lacrosse was Adora’s whole thing--does she not stand out enough? Will she seem boring to UEternia? “I...”

“Oh, Ms. Weaver!” Angella says, as if she’s just now noticing Catra. “I didn’t take you for the...school spirit type.”

“I’m not,” Catra replies, crossing her arms. She smiles saccharinely and adds, “ma’am,” for good measure. God, she’s cool.

“Ah,” Angella says, creating an awkward pause before brightening again. “Well, still, here you are. Are you Adora’s running mate?”

So, sometimes Adora panics.

Look, she’s in a high-stress situation. The girl she doesn’t not have an embarrassing crush on bumped into her, talked to her, and then her best friend’s mom swooped in basically saying that lacrosse is boring and dumb and running for homecoming court will get her into UEternia. At least, that’s what Adora got from all that. And then she insinuates that she’ll be doing that with Catra Weaver.

So, she panics. She panics, and she grabs the glittery pen, and she continues to panic.

“Yep! We’re running together!” she says, grinning.

“Say what?” Catra hisses.

“Oh, wonderful!” Angella squeals, clapping her hands together again. “I must say, I think this will turn out to be a very interesting competition. You’ll have to come dress shopping with us, Adora.”

“Haha, yeah...” Adora says, quickly scribbling Adora Greyskull & Catra Weaver on the signup sheet. Oh fuck, oh god.

“Hang on a fu--” Catra starts, then clamps her mouth shut, because the goddamn principal is still talking to them.

“Oh, I wonder what you’ll do for the talent show! I can’t wait...well, I’m off. It was great catching up, girls!” Angella says, and winks, and does weird-mom-finger-guns, and then she’s gliding away as quickly as she came.

Adora continues to grin and wave awkwardly until Angella is out of sight, then she deflates. That was so weird.

Then she turns and sees Catra reach for the pen that’s still in her hand. Adora has half a mind to snatch it away. Or half a brain cell, at least. “Hey!”

“Cross our names out. Right. Now,” Catra growls through gritted teeth, still trying to grab the pen. Adora tries to hold it up out of reach, but it’s still attached to the clipboard, so the best she can do is weave her hand in and out of Catra’s way.

“Um, no? I just told her we were running!”

“Well, we’re not. Give it to me!”

“No!” Adora grunts, yanking the pen away. “You heard her--she’s gonna talk to Coach Huntara. I can’t back out now.”

“Well, I can!” Catra says, grabbing at Adora’s arm, where she has the pen tucked under her armpit. “Find someone else to run with you!”

“I can’t! They’ll want to win!” Adora says, twisting her body away from Catra. She’s having a slight meltdown over Catra touching her so much, but she’s focusing on the pen for now. “No one’s gonna want to run with me anyway.”

Catra mutters something under her breath that Adora doesn’t catch, then she snakes her hand under Adora’s and takes hold of her wrist. Adora stifles a gasp. “Wait, you don’t want to win?” Catra asks, eyebrow quirked.

“Noooo,” Adora furiously shakes her head. “No, no, no. Glimmer would kill me. She wants to win. I just, um, panicked. I guess?” The heat from Catra’s hand is searing into her wrist.

Catra glances down at their hands and back up at Adora. “So, your friend will kill you if you run for homecoming. And you just signed up in front of her mom?”

“Um...” Adora thinks for a second. “Yes?”

Catra huffs out a laugh. “Wow, you’re even more of an idiot than I remember.”

Adora feels her face redden, shocked at Catra’s casual mention of the past, and glances away. “Look, let’s just get eliminated as quickly as possible and then we can forget it ever happened. Deal?”

“Ugh,” Catra lets out a groan, leaning her head back. She tugs at Adora’s wrist a few times, finding that she isn’t budging. “Fine! As quickly as possible.”

“As quickly as possible,” Adora nods, finding herself grinning as Catra loosens her grip and pulls away. “I’m gonna take this pen home, by the way,” she calls out as Catra begins to head back to her table.

“Fuck!”

After Adora finally pees and refills her water bottle, she gingerly sits back down beside Glimmer. Poor, sweet, deadly Glimmer, who’s chattering away excitedly with Seahawk about some new music video or something.

She says, in a very tiny voice, “So, um...I think I’m running for homecoming queen?”

Glimmer whips her head around, nose flaring. She stands up, slamming both hands down on the table with a smack.

“You WHAT?!”

And then the bell rings.

[writingsorrantings]

Friends Don’t Look at Friends That Way Pt 3 (jj x reader)

(Final chapter)

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Alcohol mentions, light mention of abuse, angst 

Music Rec: Mean It - Gracie Abrams (OOF not a perfect fit but damn)

Part One  Part Two

Recap: “She reached into the backseat and handed you the bottle you had snagged earlier and after spinning the top off you took your first of many shots that night. “You deserve to have a good night. Without JJ. Let’s fucking do this.”

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After a week of feeling nothing but stress and hurt, you were more than happy to take a break from feeling anything at all, including all of your limbs. You had never been as drunk as you were tonight, but you wouldn’t consider yourself trashed yet. You and Kie had only been at the beach for about a half hour, staying regulated to the mob of dancing people, yet you still hadn’t run into any of the guys. Although you missed John B and Pope you were in no rush to see JJ tonight. That being said, you couldn’t wait for him to see you. At this point most of the anger you had felt had dissipated and you were focused solely on having a good time no longer needing the help of the boy you thought was your best friend. 

Another song had started and it was one of your favorites. The lights hung up around the beach were blurred as you spun, hands in the air and hips moving. You had ditched your shoes a while back and you sunk your toes into the still warm sand smiling because you felt great. The thoughts that had been plaguing you were replaced with nothing but the lyrics of the song booming from the speakers and the hope of food soon. Vodka and beer had done their job tonight. You were brought back to reality seconds later when a tall body pushed against your back and an arm was secured around your shoulders. You tensed up, but kept dancing. Hell, you were drunk and maybe the guy was cute.

 “Hey (y/n)! Where’ve you been? We missed you!”

 The drunken words of John B. floating into your ear made you soften into his embrace gently hitting his chest for getting your hopes up. You both remained arms around each other as you made your way to get another drink. Leaning on each other for balance, the only way you could describe it was blind leading the blind, but it felt nice to stumble around with your friend clinging to you.  

“Livin’ and breathing babe, just livin’ and breathing.”

“And drinking apparently.” John B. chuckled at his own joke stopping only to continue his questioning. “What’s really going on? I mean you went AWOL, JJ’s been tripping shit, and even Pope is weirder than usual. Is it something I did?” John B. knew what it was about, but even with a mind clouded with cheap beer, he knew that you would confess to him before you ever let him blame himself. 

“No, no! B. it has nothing to do with you, I’ve missed you soooo much.” You cringed at the prominent slurring of the words. “I love you John B. you are the greatest…I just...JJ has an issue with me and I don’t know what to do. I mean he won’t talk to me and I… I wish I was mad, but honestly I just miss him.” 

“JJ is a dumbass, (y/n), you know sometimes he just gets like that.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just never with me.”

John B. started to get frustrated. He loved you because you were a part of his found family. It was complete bullshit that JJ’s stubborn ass had not only separated you from the group, but also had deeply hurt your feelings and John wouldn’t stand for that. 

“C’mon let’s go dance. We can have fun.” he said as he pushed your hair back smiling. You both downed your freshly filled drinks and  made your way back to your previous spot.

JJ was the polar opposite of you, his mood worsening by the minute but he wouldn’t let that stop him. He decided to stay towards the edges of the crowd, finding a girl every so often that he would begin to flirt with. He had already talked to about four girls, but each time proved less fruitful than the last. The latest tourist he had sat down with was talking to him about something, but JJ could not be less bothered with it. It wasn’t that he was trying to ignore her, but when he saw you and John B. dancing in the crowd all he could hear was a ringing in his ears. After a week of doing everything in his power to compartmentalize his emotions for you, pandora’s or in this case JJ’s box went flying open and all of the feelings and memories came back. The tourist noticed he wasn’t listening and huffed carrying herself over to another attractive boy and JJ didn’t even flinch. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He wanted nothing more to replace John B. and dance with you. Shit he’d even settle for just sitting on the beach, no words, just enjoying each other’s presence. He couldn’t deny it, you looked great. Oh god, his eyes made their way to your almost bare back, only a small string tied holding the top around you. Continuing his gaze downward, he focused on your ankle to find that you were still wearing the anklet that he stole for you about two years back. His eyes flitted back up when you flipped your hair, the loose beachy waves bouncing back into place below your shoulders and his fingers itched to go over and push the one stray behind your ear so he could see your smile better. Braces had corrected your horrendously crooked teeth when you were younger, but one tooth on the bottom shifted ever so slightly. No one could see it unless you were truly smiling, not just faking it. JJ was the first to notice the tooth and quickly figured out this secret. He decided to keep his little discovery to himself. Next he admired your subtle freckles that dusted your cheeks and nose. You were practically glowing. And that hurt like a bitch. It just proved his point that you were better off without him. Yet, before he knew it his feet were carrying his alcohol riddled body towards your dancing figure unsure of what he was planning on doing once he reached you. 

Out of nowhere you feel someone’s eyes on you and you quickly glance to see JJ is staring at you from where he is seated and you knew that your plan was working. His face was soft, jaw slack and he had a hand tugging at his hair.  You quickly put your focus back on Kie and John B., but not even a minute had passed before JJ was in front of you an unreadable expression on his face. You felt like you were going to shit yourself(not really but frankly you were looking for any way out of this situation.) 

“hey”

Your brain was going a hundred miles a minute but you wouldn’t let him see that.

“hey”

JJ couldn’t will his voice to be steady so he settled for a head gesture to a quieter place outside the crowd and put out his hand for you to take. You glanced at his hand dumbfounded, but your composure remained steady as you pushed past his hand to head outside the dancing mob. He hurt your feelings. You’re talking to get closure. Answers. Nothing else. You sat down on a log and JJ carefully sat down next to you, neither of you looking at the other, instead focusing intently on the waves in front of you. Gave you a feeling of dejavu, but the pit in your stomach reminded you it wasn’t.

 “How are you?” JJ said, taking the lead in the conversation.

“What do you think?”

“I...I’m sorry (y/n)--”

“--Don’t be sorry, I’m fucking fantastic actually. Life gets a lot better when people stop pretending to give a shit.”

“(y/n), come on that’s not fair. You know I care.”

A memory of JJ consoling you in the middle of the night hit you like a ton of bricks. You had gotten into a fight with your parents over the immense pressure they put on you to perform. They were so intent on you being successful, the need to be perfect was always present in your mind and JJ was very understanding. He was one of the few to check up on you, the girl who was always there for everyone else. That night he held you while you were sobbing and crumpled on the floor. He never told you but that night his dad had hit him a few times, yet he still took care of you physically and mentally. Despite the aching in the bruised shoulder you were leaning against, he stayed still only moving to slightly rock you and kiss your head. After you had calmed down and helped onto the bed, he grabbed your pj’s for you to change into while he snuck downstairs to get you a glass of water, an Advil, and ice cream. When he came back up, your head was propped up on his shoulder while you ate and watched Netflix.

Ouch... how could two people go from that to this? No! No. Don’t let him do this. Care?! No he cared! Cause if he still did he would at least talk to you!

“How would I know? You haven’t talked to me.” 

JJ didn’t know how to respond. You were right. No questions asked. God he loves you so much but he can’t risk hurting you anymore than he already has.

With no pause, his response came out in a whisper, “I’ll always care about you (y/n). No matter what.”

“So then what happened? Why…I just don’t know... Did I do something?” you said, the alcohol pushing you to form incoherent but honest sentences. At this point you had shifted your body to face him and all bets were off. Tears had filled your eyes as you prepared for the worst. 

JJ mimicked your body language and grabbed your hand as if to make sure he got his point across while saying “no” forcefully. He wasn’t aggressive, rather he was just intense and his eyes bore into your own matching that energy. At this point you were frozen. It just doesn’t make sense. How could he ignore you for a week with no reason, but look at you like that. 

“JJ. Just tell me. Whatever it is, I’m here and you know that.”

He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. It would mess up everythi-- “I love you.”

Your lips parted and your eyes grew wide. You and JJ were always close, but even as friends you guys had found your way to maneuver your way around those words, so you knew what he meant. You couldn’t take your eyes off of him, but his eyes were darting around focusing on anything other than your own. 

“Fucking hell JJ…Wait is this why...You ignored me because of this?” you chuckled. Before he had time to misinterpret it you continued, “JJ I love you too. I was going crazy without you. I was so scared you had found out and were never gonna talk to me again.” 

“God (y/n) you just.. I mean I just didn’t--don’t want to hurt you.”

“And you thought this was a good idea?” At this point you were both laughing and leaning against each other. 

JJ sat back up facing you and then glanced down at your lips and then back up at your eyes. For once he was afraid of making the first move. He would only do this if you wanted to. You wouldn’t wait a second more slowly bringing your lips to meet his own and dove your fingers into his hair as he held your hip under your shirt gently squeezing. As you pulled away all you could do was smile and JJ was the same.

“Can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to do that. I mean tonight you looked so good I couldn’t---” JJ was interrupted by John B. as your three friends approached.

“---Can’t be much longer than we waited. Shit, you finally made a good choice.” 

JJ tossed an arm around you pulling you to his chest as you all laughed.Your friends joined you on and around the log passing a cup around laughing and singing happy to finally be together again. JJ leaned closer and put his lips right next to your ear and whispered.

“Yeah, I think I did.”

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And that’s a wrap!! Thank you so much everyone who left notes and comments it really inspired me to write more so I really do appreciate it. The quarantine has been difficult, but getting kind messages from you all has been so helpful. Hope you are all doing well. Let me know if you have any requests. Thank you guys!!!

@ ashhh27, @sarahsmaybank​, @tempestades-de-verao​

[foundfamilie]

Sleepovers at the Diaz House

Prompt: Buck sleeps with Eddie (he falls asleep after getting him into his bed after a night of drinking) Christopher says buck had a sleepover with his dad leading everyone to think they had sex but the weirdest part is everyone is acting like that's completely logical and normal which buck and Eddie find weird until they realize everyone else knows about their not so secret feelings lol

@justsmilestuffhappens this one’s for you :)

Buck woke up feeling like he would throw up. He looked around. He was not at home, not in his bed, he was in … fuck, he was in Eddie’s bed. Oh shit.

It wasn't that he had never slept over at the Diaz’ house before, it was just that he normally slept on the couch. Why was he in Eddie’s bed? Had he …? Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. 

A noise at the door made him realise why he woke up. “Dad, we overslept!” Chris’ voice echoed through the room. 

Next to him, Eddie sat up in shock. “What time is it?” 

Buck looked at the alarm clock on the bed side table. “07:30.”

Pausing when he spotted Buck in his dad’s bed, Chris stared at them in confusion. “Hey Buck,” he said slowly, “What are you doing here?”

“I um…” In return Buck stared at Eddie, helplessly.

“We um,” Eddie tried, looking down at Buck, glad to see that they were both wearing shirts and boxers. So, nothing had happened, right? He hadn’t been that drunk. 

“Oh!” Chris said excitedly, “Did you have a sleepover?”

Eddie finally got up. “Yeah, something like that,” he said and scooped Christopher up into his arms, “Now let’s hurry and get you in the shower or we’ll be late for school!”

Buck got up as well. He didn’t know whether he felt nauseous because of the alcohol he’s had the night before or because of his nerves getting the better of him after spending the night in Eddie’s bed. He was obvious enough with how much time he spent with Eddie and Chris, how often he’s been with them in the evenings, he really needed to be more careful or Eddie would catch onto how Buck felt for him. That Buck felt more for him than platonic friendship. That Buck wanted to be more for him than just his best friend. And mostly, he needed to be careful to not make Eddie oversleep on a school day. What was he thinking? Nothing in Eddie’s life was more important than Christopher and Buck couldn’t just make Eddie fail his responsibilities for his son.

Responsibilities. Right. Buck needed to think straight. What could he do to make up for this? How could he help? This was an emergency, and he was a firefighter, he should be able to think straight in emergency situations. He looked around the room and his eyes fell on the alarm. 07.40. School started at 08.00. There wasn’t enough time for breakfast, not for Eddie and Chris’ usual share of cereal. Maybe he could help with that.

He looked around the kitchen to see what he could work with. Only a few minutes later he put a second piece of bread on top of an excellent ham, cheese and fried egg sandwich. Then, because he wasn’t sure what Chris would be in the mood for, and because Eddie and Chris were still not ready to leave, he also made a PB&J sandwich, just in case.

Chris was beside himself with joy when he saw them. Leave it to Chris to be so happy over sandwiches. He thanked Buck about a million times and Buck was so happy himself that he didn’t notice the look Eddie was given him.

“Thanks for helping out,” Eddie said appreciatively, “Yet again.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Buck said and hugged Chris goodbye, wishing him a nice day at school.

“How about you make us some breakfast as well and we eat when I get back?” Eddie asked cautiously. 

Buck’s mouth went dry. “Sure,” he said and nodded, internally beating himself up over getting excited. It wasn’t the first time he and Eddie would have breakfast together. They were best friends.  Of course, they liked having each other around and spending time together. Nothing special about that.

-

When Carla and Chris came by the station in the late afternoon, the whole team greeted them with big smiles on their faces. Everyone loved to have Chris around. He didn’t distract them from work, Eddie would never allow that to happen, but he sure did make work a whole lot more fun.

“How were the sandwiches, Chris?” Buck asked when Chris threw himself at him for a hug.

“Soooo good! The best!” Chris answered, “I ate both of them!”

Buck glowed with pride. “Both of them, really?”

“Buck made me breakfast this morning,” Chris explained to Hen, Chim and Bobby. 

“Oh, did he now?” Hen asked and sent a teasing look to where Buck and Eddie were standing. 

“Yeah, they were having a sleepover last night!” Chris went on and on about something that happened at school, not noticing that his comment made both Buck and Eddie want the floor to open up and swallow them wholly.

The team shot each other knowing looks, visibly pleased with themselves and neither Buck nor Eddie knew what to do with that. 

-

“Chris is inside with your abuela,” Carla greeted Eddie outside on the porch when he arrived at his house. “I’m sorry, I have to leave on time today.” It was Saturday now and Carla had stayed the night with Chris while Eddie had been on his 24 hours shift. 

“Of course, Carla,” he said, “Have a good weekend!”

She smiled and waved and went over to her car before turning again. “Oh, before I forget, congratulations for finally getting some Buckaroo!” She cheered.

Eddie frowned a bit at the wording of that but he felt far too worn-out to care. He really wasn’t good at hiding what he felt for Buck when even Carla noticed, even though she barely even saw them together. “How did you know?”

“I have eyes, Eddie dear,” she said with the kindest smile on her face.

Eddie heaved a sigh. “Yeah,” he said, his expression turning from worn-out to downright miserable. “I know I’m not good at hiding my feelings.”

Carla stopped short, turned to face Eddie directly and put a hand on his arm. “Why would you hide them?”

Eddie looked at her disbelievingly. “Because he’s not feeling the same for me?”

“Excuse me?” Carla yelled with a laugh on her lips. “I have two working eyes but you sure don’t. Have you not seen how this boy looks at you? How he looks at your son? He is so in love.”

The expression on Eddie’s face changed from disbelief to doubtfulness. “Do you really think so?”

Carla slapped his arm. “Of course! Or why would you sleep together every other night?”

“We…” Eddie started but then stopped, horrified when Carla’s implication settled in. “It’s not like that, Carla! We don’t sleep with each other. We sleep in the same bed, yes, but not… we’re not having sex.”

This time it was Carla to stare disbelievingly. “Now that’s too bad! What a waste of time.”

“Carla!” Eddie exclaimed, torn between laughter and shock.

Carla reached up to cup Eddie’s face. “Get it together, Eddie. Buckaroo loves you. I know him, I know him well. I know what he’s like when he’s ready to commit to someone.” By the way she said it, Eddie somehow knew, she really meant it. He just really couldn’t wrap his head around it.

-

“Don’t you have something to tell us? Chim told me what happened at the station today.”

Buck looked up at Maddie who was pouring him a second glass of wine. He didn’t even like wine, he was more of a beer kind of guy. Eddie liked beer too, and they’ve had a lot of it the night before. Two nights before actually. 24 hour shifts didn’t really count as nights. 

“What are you talking about?” Buck asked confusedly trying to get out of his head. 

“You and… Eddie,” Chim said celebratorily and clearly confused as to why Buck was confused.

“Me and Eddie what?”

Maddie looked at Chim in exasperation before turning back to Buck. “Well, are you official now?”

“Official?” Buck just parroted, having no idea what was going on. 

“Jesus, Evan,” Maddie exclaimed, “Officially a couple.”

Buck looked at her in shock. “Eddie and me?”

“Of course Eddie and you, who else?”

The stab Buck felt at this heart showed on his face. “Thanks,” he said drily,  “You can stop now.”

“Stop what?”

He looked at them accusingly. “Mocking me.”

Now it was Chim and Maddie’s turn to be confused. “Buck!” Maddie exclaimed once again, “We’re not mocking you, what are you talking about?”

Buck felt like coming out of his own skin. The last two days had been too much for him. Waking up at Eddie’s, spending time with Eddie, Chris’ comment at the station, having to go through a whole shift on Eddie’s side… this was getting more and more unbearable. He needed vacation to take his mind off Eddie Diaz and his adorable son. “I know I’m not good at hiding my feelings for him. I tried, okay, but I’m not.”

Maddie and Chim looked at each other once again. “Why should you? You’ve been sleeping with him for months now. I’m sure he’s feeling the same for you. You should just seal the deal.”

Buck’s eyes grew wide in shock. “I’m not sleeping with him! What are you talking about?”

Maddie and Chim looked at him, laughing humourlessly, not sure whether now he was mocking them. 

Chim was the first to break the silence. “But… you’re over at his the entire time!”

Buck nearly downed his wine. When he put down his glass, he felt dizzy and it was too soon to be because of the alcohol. He hid his face in his hands. “Yeah, to be there for him and Chris. We have dinner, we play games, we watch movies, we go to the park… stuff like that.” He rubbed his face and looked at the others. “Wait, did you guys really think we were having sex? Eddie isn’t even into men!”

Now Maddie was laughing for real. “Sorry, Buck, but this is bullshit, do you know that? How can you not see how into you he is? Everyone else sees it. Hell, we were convinced you were together for what, at least two months now?” She looked over at Chim who just nodded, evidently lost about what was going on right now.

For a while, Buck was speechless. “Really?” He then asked weakly and he looked so shattered that Maddie got up and hugged him tightly. 

“Yes, Evan, really,” she said sympathetically. “You guys should talk to each other.”

“I don’t want to ruin what we have.”

“I really don’t think you will.”

-

After that conversation Buck wanted to drink at least another three glasses of wine but he decided not to. What he really needed was a clear head. He drove home pretty much right after dinner and went to walk around a bit.

His whole body was buzzing with nerves when he finally found the courage to text Eddie.

Buck: can I come over? I would like to talk to you after Chris is asleep

Eddie answered almost immediately.

Eddie: yeah I would like that too. come over at 9?

Buck: will do

[unproduciblesmackdown]

Why don’t you like Only Us?

lmao Only Us exasperates me on like several levels at once......

i mean there’s plenty of stuff in deh that i’m just like. “i don’t particularly feel the need to experience this again” like, naturally i care most about the jared and alana content, so already a song with neither of them in it is at a disadvantage with me, which is yeah most of the songs but that’s deh canon for you. my favorite parts are the non-hansen non-murphy characters!! epic for me

meanwhile from like a Story standpoint the writing for zoe and evan’s relationship is like, baffling lmao, and i think both Love Songs (if i could tell her & only us) exemplify how it is a mess.......like, why does “if i could tell her” Not tell us why evan likes zoe???? it’d be great if we could find out, since we already have found out he’s never talked to her. is it just that she Seems Nice. b/c like, sure, except that here we have a whole song to explain to us in greater detail why evan is so set on being in love with zoe and pinning all his hopes on her, but he just kind of lists off random surface-level stuff which doesn’t actually tell us anything either about her or, you know, Why Evan Likes Her? we’re just skipping to like, “oh see he Pays Attention, that proves he likes her” like okay whatever but WHY lmfao please......and yknow not to mention that this is all stuff that we can understand as both “something evan noticed about zoe b/c of crushing on her” and “something zoe might think was an observation coming from her brother” like.......bit underwhelming here, and really the most interesting Interaction zoe and evan have is where zoe says the wild shit about how evan is a Fool to want to be financially secure and evan is “rude” in response and she’s like yeah you don’t have to be polite all the time, and then this potential avenue of connection of them both feeling Obligated to Act Nice is pretty much just dropped and their relationship just becomes based on “you’re nice” again and like, is Nothing lmao.........why

and slam dunking on “if i could tell her” also there b/c Only Us is similar in that like, oh here’s the other Love Song but now it’s zoe’s turn to tell us why she likes evan!!!!! except she pointedly Does Not like *why* are either of you At All invested in this relationship lmaooo i s2g........like, just writing in “wow i like you so much” is not really compelling and like. i would be fine with this just being some nice, enjoyable high school dating experience where they Don’t really have any big reason to be together beyond “well, you’re pretty nice,” except there’s the problems that a) between So Much Time and focus being put into this Relationship, and zoe’s character pretty much becoming “evan’s nice gf” for all of act 2 and not much else about any other aspect of her experience, and the fact that the whole finale to resolve the show and its themes (?? what are those) and evan’s arc (?? what is that) is zoe Forgiving him and saying “Everyone Needed [what he did] For Something” like....did they??? did You???? did jared, did alana.........and also then telling us that she wishes she could’ve dated evan still if things had been normal like???? whyyyyyyyyyyyyy. and why would zoe feel the need to tell him this. seems 2 be justifying evan’s crush and pinning-of-hopes re: her, and by extension justifying this whole Relationship being given soooo much focus b/c even if there’s meant to be some Ambiguity in what we, the audience, might be intended to take away from it, like, clearly this relationship is justified as being Vital and the show treating it as such. which wouldn’t quite fit if it Was just like “oh shrug yeah i mean dating you was alright but nbd” like, it Must be meant to be some whole ~signficant connection~ between them. buuut there’s no actual sign of that lol. and the other problem is b) it also can’t just be a Fun, Casual High School Romance b/c at no point do they really seem to enjoy being together lmao or comfortable in each other’s presence. even their Joking Around for 2 seconds at the start of the “only us” scene feels to me more like nervous joking to cut the tension lmao...

like it does not count to have evan be like “i like zoe” and never actually give us reason why and have zoe take the other love song like “i like you also” but not tell us Why and expect us to like, just take a wild guess at the Supposed Depth of this relationship and what constitutes it or be at all invested. and i mean, evan’s holding zoe at arm’s length b/c there’s this inherent amount of lying he has to do constantly, and why would zoe be like “wow this relationship is great, i’m getting so much out of it” like, have they had conversations?? have they Enjoyed being in each other’s presence and like had genuine fun Being Themselves??? “only us” really does just feel like this cop out both in terms of Why zoe likes him and Why zoe feels like this relationship *isn’t* completely entangled with evan’s supposed relationship with connor. in that it explains neither, just has the character Say that is how she feels. like, we have ALL of evan’s interactions with zoe being dependent on connor, and the whole Initial love song is zoe paying attention b/c Supposedly evan is telling her stuff about what connor thought about her, and then zoe deciding she Does want to kiss evan actually is via disappear and ywbf and everyone’s reaction to evan’s speech supposedly about connor and her dad acquiescing to the fact he has emotions about his dead son thanks to everyone’s reaction to evan’s speech / tcp........like, this relationship is clearly contingent on stuff re: connor, and zoe apparently changing her mind and wanting to be with him is Because of everything re: connor, but then like, just b/c she says in Only Us that she Doesn’t want it all to be about connor doesn’t change all of that......like, yeah, it can be true that she wants this relationship to be separate from anything re: connor, but just having her Say That does nothing to convince me that oh yeah they have this whole Romance that really *is* separate from connor, like?? where??? we haven’t seen it. and when zoe says at the end that she wishes she could’ve dated evan minus [everything that actually happened], again: why!!!!! what *was* your Relationship-Minus-Connor. here it Supposedly is in “only us,” except that the tl;dr of it is just them insisting they totally have a relationship which involves Them and Nothing Else and i do not buy it just b/c they’re saying it??? i mean, for a start, they’re just Hypothesizing it. “what if it’s us & only us” etc etc “we could Try that” like, fuck around and find out, pretty literally i guess??? lmfaoo god.........

like, there’s some space between “hey maybe the Entire Solution to your being Anxious about this relationship isn’t a handy list of things i like about you” and “i shouldn’t tell you anything i like about you” like, sure there’s something that maybe works in like, why don’t you just Assume i like you instead of assuming i Don’t until Proven Otherwise, but again she can get that across And tell him (and like, more importantly, us the audience) why she likes him......and she can give some of those reasons why she likes him Without it being just a list of traits or things she’s noticed a la “if i could tell her” lmao like, describe him broadly!!! talk about One Nice Experience you shared!!!! we have noooo info about why evan likes zoe or why zoe likes evan. we just know that they’re Nice Teens (or teens who feel obligated to act nice all the time) and they are saying “I Like You” to each other. why does this relationship feel so necessary and Good to zoe even after she found out he was lying, and was she having such a great time beforehand??? you can find lots of nice boys you can kiss if that’s what you’re after, like, neither love song tells us Anything about why this particular relationship is so important and good or like, has any substance at all

and additionally you Know i’m your one-stop shop for Hot Takes About Any Number Of Concepts Re: Romance(tm) Which I Think Are Bullshit Slash Hate lmfao and one of those is tying whatever notion of the Ideal Romantic Relationship to that like, isolating the partners, like oh they’re your whole world now and the relationship’s defined by the fact that you don’t need about anybody or anything else and/or don’t care about anything/anyone else even nearly as much and wouldn’t it be Great if nothing else existed but you and your partner and this relationship........like sure it’s one thing for evan and zoe to be like “hey epic some Alone Time where larry isn’t trying to share metaphors about sports equipment” or whatever. but like, okay sure @ the start of things where the focus is more on like “hmm weird that everything about our relationship is so tied to connor, what if we just sort of say it’s starting for real Now unrelated to all that, even though we even have to talk about it to do so” but then you get towards the end and oh we also want the whole world to be irrelevant to us. and absolutely everything except each other / It Is Only Us(tm) like.........again sure if you look at this Immediate Moment where they wanna make out and fade to black, whatever. but this moment is also supposed to be this second start to the relationship, at least sorta reestablishing it, so natch it’s sort of like....about More than this particular moment. the zoevan brand ethos is This??? where your relationship is defined by like, needing or Wanting to be [just the two of you] like, well it can’t always be, so what are you gonna do about that?? and if your Best Times Together in that ideal state of isolation is like, hey now let’s make out, okay, again there are many decently nice people out there to kiss

and there sure seems to be Some awareness that this isn’t ideal thanks to how the immediate next scene is alana going like “um what the fuck, evan” and evan taking out the stress of Having Problems on jared...........aaaand yet i’m not so sure this is like, “oh, the Only Us brand of approach of just wanting and trying to ignore The Rest Of The World wasn’t so ideal after all” but rather just like. Wow How Tragic that they couldn’t truly keep the rest of the world at bay and now reality is intruding on their perfect relationship :( which would suuuure seem to fit with the mystifying sentiment zoe expresses in the finale of like, oh i wish i could’ve dated you Normally w/o [how the entire course of their relationship played out] like. oh Only Us really WAS ideal, that’s the epitome of / the Core of all the great parts of their relationship which was obviously great, and if only everything re: tcp and connor wasn’t the way that it was, they would’ve just been able to forget obligations w/o someone being like “the hell” and hold hands and kiss without people talking about it or anyone feeling bitterly rejected........like, idk, would they Really have dated if the entire plot hadn’t happened as it did??? evan was never talking to zoe, and we don’t know why he liked her so much in the first place, and apparently zoe’s perception of evan was “sort of a loser” like, okay. and when they Are together thanks to tcp-related stuff, we get no more information about why they might like each other. that one potentially engaging thread of “we both feel obligated to put on these fronts of Constant Niceness” existed for like 3 seconds and then they just start being constantly nice around each other, great lol. like again, this doesn’t seem so much of like “oh, these teens just having a chill time dating maybe have this simplistic / offbase ideas about relationships” as much as like the show justifies Only Us and all the sentiments therein.........like yeah wow if Only it could’ve been only them and the rest of the world could’ve stayed out of it!!! everything would’ve been perfect!! b/c we tell you so

not to mention all the like Official covers of Only Us which areout of the specific context in which it’s placed in the show, which sure only emphasizes like “hey these sentiments can be and should be taken straightforwardly” and i’m like, get tf away from me with this lmfao i am So uninterested. a romantic relationship should do the Opposite of shrink / restrict your world or suddenly make all other relationships less important, much less like, require those things, and also the nuclear family model is a scam pushed by capitalism to cut off people’s support networks / isolate them lmao But Really It Is, social isolation is Not romantic or anything else that is ever positive. and it’d be Whatever if it truly was applied to that very specific moment of “boy it sure is Only Us in this room, :eyes emoji:” buuut it’s not, and it’d be Whatever if evan and zoe’s relationship was Meant to be sort of a misguided mess all around lmao Or just more superficial and casually enjoyable than meant as anything ~deep and Real(tm)~ buuuut it is not........i think canon does sure allow for the fact that things are messy for sure but i think it also definitely wants you to think that like. oh this Relationship was truly great and things were all good in its Core (jk, what core), it’s just that tragically all those complications with connor / tcp got too in the way........yet it was so Essential and ultimately positive that this relationship happen for both of us...........like, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy lmaoooooo @ deh WHAT are your themes, What are either of these character’s arcs meant to be!!!!!!! idk zoe and evan's relationship more felt bizarrely like these two teens were Settling for white picket fence ideals of “well you’re nice and i’m nice and we could kind of tensely continue to be nice indefinitely” like, do you guys even like each other that much, do you Know each other at all, do either of you truly Enjoy being in this relationship??? and then meanwhile you get all the bizarreness re: larry and cynthia’s relationship and how it doesn’t actually improve but uhhh they’re going on dates and they’re not divorced so hey, i’m sure that’s good, you definitely helped them through Mystery Reasons...........and idk it seems like the idea of the Journey that zoe takes is that like, oh it’s Bad that this nice girl has to be mad, somehow dating evan will fix that and she won’t be mad, since being mad can never be a good thing, and Not being mad is always an improvement. like, why is she this cool with evan in the finale. why does she want to tell him she (and everyone) Needed what happened and that she wishes she could date him. deh is of the Mystery genre actually, and so much of it remains unsolved

also Only Us just gets fairly boring like 3 listens in i think. like can we literally pick up the pace a little. up the tempo. get it over with faster. i don’t even know at this point b/c i just choose not to listen to it ever lmfao every time the deh twitter tries to tell me about a cover it’s transphobic b/c i hate it. but i’d put up with it if i didn’t hate the ideas in it meant as ~romance~ and if any of this was tempered by evan and zoe’s relationship being written better and/or Not trying to be wrangled as like, “This Is Good Actually even if some parts aren’t perfect, the point is that evan was right to pin all his hopes on zoe, who’s needed in this show to validate his existence in the finale” like. what is this. and again, capitalism is bad and the nuclear family is Not the base unit of society, and what’s the deal with deh being like “well, as long as larry and cynthia don’t get divorced, right???? we don’t need to know that their relationship actually improved and that cynthia’s at all happier / feels like she has more of an identity or that larry has more fundamental respect for cynthia or thinks he’s not Automatically / Always Right just b/c his life has been fine.....they’re going on dates and aren’t divorced so that’s their Improved Ending!!” like, what’s up with that, right. the relationships that matter are Familial ones and dating the nice girl who has a juxtaposable family, and the other relationships, i.e. with jared and with alana, can evaporate into the ether and maybe get damnatio memoriae’d for as much as their existence plays into the finale. disappear.mp3. i have absolutely zero motivation to experience Only Us again ever lmao and in fact i guess i have negative motivation b/c i Want to avoid it and will take active steps in the sense of like “oh i’m watching deh? let me just skip past all these parts i don’t need to see again, including only us” like. i’m good

tl;dr  it annoys me & i do not think it works from Any structural standpoint

[fluid-quartz]

its almost 2 am, i make poor life choices, and i just wrote a small ficlet based on @welsfight ‘s post about how ex eats and the weird theories that stemmed from it. i thought about putting the biggest part of it under the cut cause its like ~1800 words but i dont feel like it whoops

so without further ado, i present to you:

THE HERMITS AND THE MYSTERY OF HOW EVIL X EATS

It was a nice evening out, as they all sat around the campfire. Tango was sitting almost inside of it, roasting marshmallows for everyone that wanted them, and the others were just chatting with each other, about some of their projects and plans or simply about things that had happened.

Cub was looking pensively the whole time, as though he was trying to figure something out.

“Hey guys? Strange question, maybe, but… Do you ever wonder how Evil X eats, what with that helmet that never goes off?” The conversation around him dulled, multiple Hermits just staring at him for a moment.

“That… is a very good question,” said Zedaph as he jumped to his feet. He sensed there was a great game show in this, probably. “Ladiiiieeeeees and gentlemeeeeeen! Welcome to the first episode of How Do They Eat?! This time, we’re discussing Evil Xisuma!” A few of them chuckled, shifting in their places a little to be able to properly see Zedaph, who had just completely taken on his game show host persona, including putting a little desk of brightly coloured concrete in front of him.

There was only murmur for a moment, and then Bdubs stood up, dramatically clearing his throat.

“Well, I think he eats nutrient pills that he pops through a coin slot. So he can still have a balanced diet, you know?” As he spoke, Keralis’ eyes grew even larger than they already were.

“Slot machine? Did you say… Slot machine, Bubbles???” he said, not-so-sneakily looking around to see if Evil X was around somewhere. Iskall just laughed, and Bdubs looked at Keralis with judgment in his eyes.

“No, no, you can’t play slot machines on Evil X, he puts a cork in the coin slot when he isn’t using it.”

Keralis wanted to go against it, but Zedaph was quicker and louder.

“That’s an interesting theory you got there! But… Are there others? Surely you must have wondered before how he eats. Come, don’t be afraid to speak up!”

Doc immediately raised his hand, then stood up to speak.

“Guys. It’s obviously a teleportation ray. He just points at food, and it reappears in his mouth or stomach, depending on how lazy he’s feeling. It’s the simplest scientific explanation.”

“That’s a load of bullshit, Doc. It implies that he needs to eat, and we all know he’s secretly a robot. He just hasn’t shown it yet, right, guys?” Biffa interjected before anyone else could speak. There was some muttering about it, until Zedaph once more took over.

“Biffa, I appreciate the input, I really do �� yes, yours too, Doc, don’t worry – but for the sake of the game, let’s assume he eats.”

“But what if he doesn’t? What if… What if he’s immortal! Immortals don’t eat, right?” Keralis butted in enthusiastically.

“Well, then we wouldn’t be playing this game, right? So! Theories! I personally think he can just remove a panel of his helmet, and then sucks it in like a vacuum cleaner. Or like Kirby, that might be closer to reality. They are both red, after all.”

“Kirby’s pink, Zed.”

“I don’t care, Tango, I haven’t heard you name a better theory.”

All eyes in the circle were suddenly aimed at Tango, who almost dropped a batch of marshmallows into the fire.

“Uh…. I uh… Maybe his helmet is just fused to his face? So like, it opens up when his mouth opens?” He sounded a tad unsure of himself, having to think up a theory on the spot. Still better than kirbying, though. Stress immediately started bouncing up and down on the ground, her hand raised high into the sky.

“Oh, oh! What if the glass part of his helmet just opens, so he can drop the food in?”

“Or the top. It could also be the top of his helmet that opens, like a fishbowl,” interjected TFC’s gruff voice. He sounded amused, though. Very much so.

“Wouldn’t that just create a very big mess? For all we know the bottom half can just open up separately from the rest, so he can just eat more or less normally,” Wels shrugged, looking over at Zedaph once more.

“Those are all very valid theories. A bit boring, though, and plain! There’s more points to be got with creative theories!” He was smiling widely, looking around at the others. Then he pointed at Iskall. “You! Iskall! What is your super mega awesome theory of doom?”

The swede looked bewildered, and thought for a moment. Then they could almost literally see a redstone lamp going on above his head.

“An airlock! Like in spacecrafts! That’s why the bit in front of his mouth sticks out a little, it’s so that food can first get surrounded by the Right Kind of air before it gets to him!” He was beaming, thinking his theory was the most clever one out there. Until Mumbo spoke up.

“Uhm… Iskall? How would he get the food from that airlock into his mouth?”

“I don’t know, maybe he just like… tilts his head backwards and hopes for the best?” Around him, various Hermits were laughing. The mental image of spooky, scary Evil X desperately trying to make a cookie fall into his mouth and failing horribly just did that to someone.

“Oh! If we continue in that vein a little… You know how items sometimes just kind of clip through walls? What if that’s how he gets food inside of his helmet? By having it just clip through? Sometimes it would just get stuck, though, out of his reach,” Impulse mused, smiling widely.

“Gosh, that would be soooo difficult to clean, though!” Stress sighed.

“Then he can just clip through some cleaning supplies as well, don’t worry about it.” Impulse chuckled, then stuck out his tongue at the face Stress made.

From the other side of the campfire, Jevin’s voice suddenly popped up.

“You know, I bet he eats enderpearls like eggs.”

The murmuring that had been present completely died down as he looked around, completely serious. Zedaph opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“That.. That wasn’t even the question, Jevin! Do you have any theories about how he eats instead?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I do. I think he just… He either boils them, and eats them with the crunchy scale, or maybe he just sticks a straw in to slurp up the insides. Evil X seems like someone that would do that.”

“ABOUT HOW HE EATS IN GENERAL, JEVIN, NOT ABOUT HOW HE EATS ENDERPEARLS!” Zedaph sighed, then shook his head and facepalmed. “Anyone else. Literally anyone. Please.”

Python mumbled something in response, too quiet for even the people around him to hear properly.

“Could you repeat that a bit louder, please?” Zedaph asked, and Python looked him straight in the eyes.

“… maybe he vores?”

“No. Nope. Cursed theory right there, ladies and gents. Python, please go sit with Jevin to think about your sins, and maybe you won’t go in the dunk tank.” He pointed over to were the grinning slime man was sitting, and Python stood up with a shrug, faking disappointment and fear for the dunk tank. Then Mumbo raised his hand.

“Okay, so, what if his helmet functions the same as Darth Vader’s mask? What if there’s just some kind of mechanical cheese grater that he can just put food through, so it can go through his helmet and into his mouth without too much trouble?” A bit of muttering sounded here and there, once again with sounds from Stress about how horrible that would be to get clean.

“What if… What if he just like… Photosynthesizes, man… like a flower, getting nutrients from the sunlight and from putting his feet in the dirt… how nice would that be, man...” Ren said, his drawl slow and relaxed.

“Ren, I think you had too many of those mushrooms, your Renbob is showing. Though, I think it’s quite obvious. He just uses a feeding tube to get his food in, or perhaps a straw and blendered food. It could simply go through a small hole in the helmet.” Scar then popped a few unroasted marshmallows into his mouth before continuing. “That way, there’s no mess at all.”

The theory earned him some nods, and then Cleo stood up. Slowly, to get the attention of everyone around.

“While all of you have great ideas, I think it’s obvious how it works. Evil X just eats like Sandy the Squirrel, from Spongebob.”

“And how would that be, Cleo?” Impulse asked.

“Well, he just… puts food into his mouth through the bottom of his helmet, where it connects to his armor. Of course, that means he has to open up his armor a little bit, but that’s done easily enough. I bet he has a zipper too.” She smiled widely, with a look in her eyes that said that she knew full well that there was no way that her theory was correct. It made Joe sigh dramatically.

“What is wrong with all of y’all?! He would just take off his helmet and eat like a normal person!” False raised her hand.

“I gotta stop you there, Joe. We both know that he can’t breathe Overworld air unaided, like X can’t either. So, let me propose the following: He takes a whiff of his inhaler so he got air for a little bit, then he takes off the helmet and he just starts shoveling in as much food as he can before putting his helmet back on. And then he repeats that until he’s done eating.”

“I can live with that,” Joe said, and then he looked over at Zedaph. “That seems like a good and valid theory, right?”

“It certainly does, Joe! But… Since we’re nearing the end of the episode, why don’t we ask X for some clarity? If anyone knows, it would be him. Let’s see how close we got, everyone!” He then proceeded to pull Xisuma to his feed, and pushed him to be behind the host desk. It made the admin chuckle, but he took on the role that was apparently expected of him.

“It’s quite simple, actually,” Xisuma started, “Just like me, he can use a breathing tube so he can just take off-”

He then got interrupted by Grian yelling “STOMACH MOUTH! STOMACH MOUTH!” repeatedly at the top of his lungs, because he couldn’t quite believe how easy and boring the solution was. Xisuma looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, and then he just shook his head as the Hermits around started laughing. He loved those idiots.

[randomoranges]

drag meeting au part 5

--

 Étienne whistled as he placed the plated bagels onto his tray and then walked to his kitchen table where Emma, his long time best friend, was sitting waiting for him for their regular, bi-monthly brunch. He unloaded the tray of the two glasses of smoothie, the plate of fruit, the parfaits, the bagels and the accompanying spreads and only noticed that his friend was giving him the most peculiar of looks after he was seated.

 “You’re whistling – what gives, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you whistle before.” She squinted her eyes at him as if trying to discern what was out of place with this picture, but Étienne laughed it off and handed her a plate instead.

 “What’re you on about, Ems, I always whistle.”

 Emma looked at him, completely calling him out on his obvious bullshit, “As if. I’ve known you since I was born. You’ve never whistled. Something’s up. Spill – tell me all the gossip.”

 Étienne rolled his eyes, but settled in as if to tell her. After all, Emma was his oldest and dearest friend. His ride or die and his greatest confident, (perhaps second to none to his sister, but that was a different matter.) He had actually known her since her birth. His parents and her parents had been university friends and when they had children, they had made both Étienne and Emma play together. However, with time, an actual real friendship had blossomed and now they were close to inseparable.

 “Who say’s there’s gossip?” Étienne asked her as he started adding a generous amount of cream cheese to his bagel.

 Emma cackled and leaned closer, “Oh, there definitely is gossip now, Maisonneuve. You never hold out, so spill.” She grinned like a loon and tapped her hands chanting for the news and finally, Étienne relented, before his upstairs neighbour complained about the noise.

 “Imetsomeone,” He said quickly and quietly.

 Emma dropped her spoon with a clatter once the words untangled themselves and registered in her head.

 “Hang on – met someone as in met someone, or made a new friend met someone?”

 “Don’t be stupid, Emma. Met someone as in met someone. Happy now?”

 Emma’s grin only grew wider as Étienne’s cheeks turned the absolute loveliest shade of red. She was very happy indeed. For as long as she had known Étienne (and that was all her life), she could count exactly on one hand the number of times he had gotten this flustered over meeting someone. This was a monumental occasion. An event worth of the history books, really, and she was here to get the full scoop.

 “Do tell, Maisonneuve. I am all ears.”

 Étienne sighed once more and decided that the best course of action was to tell her everything. She would be insufferable until he did otherwise.

 “We met at a café a while back – and then we ran into each other yesterday again – and I asked her out. Happy now?”

 “No.” She stated, point blank. “You met her at a café? Also her? This is serious then. This isn’t your usual fuck buddy pickup at a bar or a club. Should I be worried? Do we need to make reservations at the church? Have you proposed yet? Can I be your best maid?” She teased and Étienne balled up his napkin and threw it at her.

 “Be serious!” He reprimanded.

 “Okay, okay, I am – jeez. All right, you met at a café and you have a date next week. When were you even last on a date? When were you even going to tell me?”

 Étienne fell quiet as he thought about it. It – had been a while. There’d been sex and his fuck buddies he liked to pick up at bars and clubs, as Emma called them, even though some of them had been cute waiters and waitresses from the other cafés and restaurants he frequented, but an honest to God date? Probably a few years back, really.

 Dating required time and patience. Dating required – effort and some type of commitment. Dating wasn’t really his scene – not when he was more often after sex than an actual relationship. He let those happen naturally, whereas he actively looked for sex. He was very well aware that he could have both together, but – sometimes, he really just wanted to get off with someone else. Plus, he liked the idea of variety – of figuring out how other people worked. What excited them and such. He wasn’t a believer of sex being this thing that was reserved for one person and one person only or whatever some people liked to believe. There was a whole wide world out there, why limit himself to one person only?

 But that was a whole other story.

 “You said she’s a she? What’s she like?”

 Étienne let out a happy little sigh at that and a completely and utterly besotted look came across his face, much to Emma’s amusement, who only wished she had her phone nearby.

 “Ems, she’s soooo pretty, I can’t!” He said, another dreamy sigh escaping from his lips as he plucked at a piece of cantaloupe off his plate. “Like – she looks amazing and she has such an air of confidence about her. It’s like a perfect balance of hot meets beautiful. But it’s not just her looks – I really feel like we clicked. She’s smart and funny! God, I don’t remember laughing so much with someone I just met. We spent hours talking about literally anything. We were just going from one subject to another without any awkward pauses or whatever. It was so nice. I don’t know – it’s hard to describe, but – I don’t remember feeling that way with anyone in a long time; you’d like her too, she has sass and kick.” He smiled softly as he leaned on his propped up arm, lost in his own thoughts about Kate.

 This time, it was Emma who whistled (low), “Damn, you really like this girl; should I be worried?” She joked

 Étienne rolled his eyes, but took her hand in his, “Never. No matter what happens between me and her, nothing’ll ever come between us.” He meant it with every fibre of his soul and she knew it oh so well.

 “Love you too, you idiot.” She said, smiling back at him. She squeezed his hand and didn’t let go for a while longer.  

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[chickychiquita]

Top 5 relatable fictions characters please

1. Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender- I have always felt a connection to her. People tell me I'm just like her now and I love her as a character. Watching her as a kid she showed me that I could be a strong, bad ass women who is also motherly and kind.

2. Lissa from Fire Emblem Awakening- she is from the first FE game I have ever played and oddly enough I don't like her at all as a character and it is because we were alike when I was a kid. Her character is basically summed up with her quote "I'm not delicate!" I was a shy, extremely quiet kid with no self esteem and my Sister being older and badass from birth had to care for me and stick up for me all through my childhood. Because of this everybody thought I was weak and wouldn't trust me with any "worthy tasks". I would try to hold a knife to cut an apple and someone would take it from me because they didnt think I would do it right or I would cut myself. But I could take care of myself. My Sister was the only person who knew the real me, it was frustrating.

3.Mikasa from Attack on Titan- She is my favorite character from the series because she is kind of like how I am in my relation to people. I dont have her badass, cool demeanor but I'm quiet, observative and loyal. I will absolutely do anything to protect the 2 people I love in this world. I will help everyone in anyway I can but if anything was to happen to these 2 people I will go crazy and risk everything for them and break completely if they were to die. Everything I do is for them. I work as hard as I can everyday because I want to be able to help them and be with them just like Mikasa trained to be the best so she could keep Eren alive. I dont open up to people often but when I do I love them forever. I am actually a very vulnerable person who just wants to be loved but I dont show that to people unless I trust them just like Mikasa only shows her heart to Eren and Armin.

4. Luigi- Very weird comparison I know but Luigi will always be my favorite brother in the series. He is the youngest like me and lives in his brothers shadow. Everyone loves and remembers Mario but the people in the series are like "oh Mario's here to save everyone and Luigi will just be his backup". And that is basically what everyone thinks of when it comes to my Sister and I. I have had soooo many scenarios where people will forget my name or call me by my sisters name, even my own parents still call me by my sisters name almost every day. It used to bother me sooo much but I never took it out on my sister. I was never jealous of her or hated her for it because she is just simply better, she never saw me like others saw me, and she is more important than I am so it made sense but it still hurt my heart. But just like Mario and Luigi, Mario loves his brother and never thought of him as under him but as his equal partner and they love each other very much. Luigi's Mansion on Gamecube was the game that made me like him a lot and see myself in him because I HATE scary anything. I get spooked easily and I do NOT like being scared. But if my Sister was kidnapped you best believe I would be in there all alone fighting to save her so I respect Luigi a lot.

5. Mercedes from Fire Emblem 3 houses: I started with Blue Lion house so she was my favorite character from the game for a while. She is a kind, patient, loving person who is always helping others and I really admire that about her. She went through a lot of bullshit but she managed to not let that harden her and she chose to be a loving person who is still able to love and trust. My fiance tells me that if he went through the same things I went through that he would be callous and cruel but he tells me I'm a very kind and loving person who is a good listener and very compassionate so I feel like we are the same in that regard. Not to be mean either but she is a very bland character. She wears modest clothes and her character coloring is just natural,neutral colors. She doesnt stand out. She has a soft, warm voice like me and is a background character and I feel like I fit that description perfectly. She doesnt change the world in a big, crazy way like most fictional characters, and she is not a main character but really a background character. So in this way I feel like I am Mercedes.