#How do I convince people to watch a show where teen girls who just want to do teen girl stuff and go to nationals

[mazojo]

Getting fucked over by the narrative gotta be my favorite form of pain and suffering

[the-overreactress]

Lorelai and Rory egging Jess’ car is not talked about enough. I’d love to hear your thoughts about it. IMO it’s such a shitty thing to do??? But some people think it’s a girlboss moment.

I re-watched this episode before I answered this. Honestly, I think the most telling thing about this scene is how quick to judgement and/or mocking everyone (including Lane and Luke) is. Season 3 is a weird one for me because on one hand, we get what we want (canon literati), but at the expense of everyone treating Jess worse than they did in Season 2. They are utterly convinced of his troublesome nature and give no room for redemption. To Luke, it's even thought of as a joke ("Someone really hates you!")

Rory using Lorelai's rejection over Chris and Sherry as a rationale to devil egg Jess' car is the most impulsive, teenage girl thing ever. They point out this dynamic between them over and over again. In a way, they are both teenage girls and friends before parent and child. It's a distinction they play up every chance they get (as opposed to Emily). Sometimes, I think they wrote in all these insane acts and behaviors from every townsperson and character just to get Milo to wig out as Jess (which, from an acting point of view is genuinely hilarious). I think we forget this show is more of a comedic teen drama than an outright family drama (even if it certainly leans into the latter in later seasons). Like, so much of this scene still works because Jess and Luke have that conversation where Jess yells "Someone prepared deviled eggs to THROW at my car!" That line delivery is peak Gilmore Girls.

To actually answer your question, I agree it was a shitty thing for them to do, especially given the circumstances (Jess working hard for the car and not really having done anything seriously wrong since Season 2). Doubly so for Lorelai because she was angry about an unrelated thing and felt egged on (lol) by Rory to target someone who didn't deserve it.

Thanks for the ask!

[hassedah]

Beliath meets MC's family:

Hi! How are you? I hope you are well! ^^

Here's Beliath's part for the headcanon: the boys meet MC's family.

I hope you enjoy it, the next one should normally be on Ivan. ^^

Have a good day and take care of yourself! ^^

-----

He couldn't be less stressed. Seriously, nothing could be worse than your encounter with his mother, who tried to kill you both, as well as his sister and everyone in the manor. That meet with your parents? That's nothing, after all, they're certainly not going to try and kill you both in a demonic ritual to gain power. So, Beliath simply observes the landscape through the car window while you're driving, he's in a great mood and chats to you about anything he can think of. Ethan has ordered you not to give him the wheel under any circumstances, and from the look on the doctor's face, it didn't occur to you to disobey him. But the closer you get, the more questions Beliath asks.

"Where were you going for fun? It looks like a small town. -There's a park in the centre of town where we used to meet up for a chat after classes. -I see. There wasn't much to do… -There's a shopping centre nearby and a café. -Sounds boring… Isn't there a nightclub? -I didn't go to nightclubs when I was underage and no, there aren't any… the only nightclub is the Moondance. -Pff, I think I'd die of boredom… Well, it's nothing against you or your town, it's just that there's not enough activity for me… -We used to get together a lot at the clothes shop too and at the beach in the summer. -That's not going to convince me that it wasn't supposed to be boring," replies your vampire with a pout. What are we going to eat? -I don't know. -Do your parents know how to cook? -Yes, they can. They can cook. -Good, or can they just cook pasta? -They can cook better than Vladimir and Ethan, if that's what you're worried about. -It's no great feat, even with one hand tied behind my back and a blindfold on, I could cook better than them. -I know, I know, Beliath," you smile, patting his thigh, "you're an excellent cook, no one can do as well as you. Are you happy or do you want more compliments? -Keep saying what an exceptional person I am, your compliments warm my heart."

You laugh softly before starting to list all the compliments you can think of, which seems to be enough for Beliath, who grabs your hand to kiss it.

"You mustn't get home too late, my skin looks terrible if I don't get my ten hours' sleep. -Your skin is always beautiful, my darling. And in the worst case, we'll be sleeping at my parents' house. -Could I see your room at your parents'? -I'll see… if you're nice during dinner. -Hey! I'm always nice! You've never met a nicer vampire than me! I'm the best! -Okay, if you want," you answer, laughing. You're the best, but I won't show you my teenage bedroom unless you're nice. -I'm sure there are star posters all over the walls, just like in the films, and maybe some stuffed animals too, and a chair that used to be your wardrobe. -You're well-informed, aren't you…" you say, giving him a quick glance. -It's because of all the teen series I've watched. -I'm sorry to tell you that teenagers in TV series generally have a much more eventful life than ours… -Rah, boring! You're not sneaking out? Parties till the sun comes up? Chaotic proms with whirlwind romances? Urbex? I've heard it's all the rage at the moment, with lots of young people doing it at Moondance! -Well, you can do those things, but they rarely end up with vampires, dead people or werewolves hiding in the dark corners… "

There was a short silence before you felt Beliath lean towards you, a brief glance towards him and his mischievous smile made you sigh.

"It wasn't because of Urbex outing that you fell into the mansion? -What do you want, Beliath, my life is worthy of a teen series," you joke. -It's a bit like that series," continues your partner, "you know with the girl at highschool who falls in love with a vampire who has a brother… what's that series called again? -That's far too vague a description for me to give you an answer, Beliath. -Yes, they go to school and fight other vampires. -That's what I'm saying, it's just too vague for me. -Maybe… I'll ask Ivan when we get home. I'm sure he knows. -Try to find out more information about it, even Ivan won't be able to answer you otherwise. -She's got one friend who's a witch, and the other's a blonde. Rah, I can't remember. The mayor, his son was a werewolf and there were deaths all the time."

You smiled as Beliath continued to give you information about his series, each one as vague as the next. This kept him busy for the rest of the journey, because even when he'd parked outside your parents' house he still couldn't remember the name of the series, but he'd told you about at least the first two seasons.

"It's all right, Beliath, we'll ask Ivan when we get back. We've only just arrived."

Your vampire leaned back in his seat to observe the house before exclaiming.

"MC! There are garden gnomes! It's a real series house! -Well, not everyone considers garden gnomes a threat to their flowers."

The jab at Vladimir, who wasn't there to defend himself, made your partner laugh. You parked just outside the house before getting out of the car. Once he was beside you, he slipped his hand around your waist before kissing your temple, then your cheek, then the corner of your lips. You laughed before gently pushing him away.

"Beliath, concentrate a little, my darling. -I won't be able to kiss you as much once we're at the table, let me refuel first, I'll be very nice afterwards I promise!"

You rolled your eyes in amusement at his pleas before taking his face in your hands to kiss him back. Even if Beliath didn't tell you, you could see that he was much more clingy and tactile with you since his mother attacked you.

"Happy?" you asked after you'd moved away. -Mh… can I have one more to be sure?" asked Beliath with a smile. I haven't had time to think about it too much… "

You gave in to kiss him again and felt his arms close around your waist to pull you closer.

"MC, bunny, you're not going off to war, there's no need to kiss each other like that."

You sighed as you waited for the voice of one of your parents before letting your head fall back against your partner's neck, just above you you could hear Beliath laughing softly.

Your parents were waiting for you on the doorstep, and on seeing them Beliath immediately began his charm routine, which couldn't have worked any better. He was charming, the ideal son-in-law, polite, funny, helpful, and above all, his loving gaze and gestures of affection never ceased towards you.

"You make a lovely little couple," exclaimed one of your parents. It reminds me of my youth and our first family meal. Do you remember that too? -Oh yes, a nightmare," your parent winced at the memory, "I ran over your grandmother's rosebushes when I parked. She sulked for the rest of the evening and chased me away before dessert. -That's not going to happen to me, I'm not allowed to touch the car," joked Beliath. -Aren't you driving? -Ethan lent us his car to come here," you explained, "and I've been instructed not to let that dear boy touch it. -I drove his car into the ditch once, and he's never forgiven me. -Oh! You weren't hurt?! -No, the car, on the other hand," joked your vampire before laughing."

You continued chatting in the entrance hall. Then your parents invited you into the living room, where you settled down for an aperitif. Beliath was next to you on the sofa, while your parents sat in the armchairs. Throughout the aperitif, your vampire led the discussion with ease, seeming totally in his element and occasionally stopping briefly to kiss your hand or cheek before answering a new question from your parents, who were totally under your boyfriend's spell.

"What about your parents? What do they do for a living? -My father died before I was born and my mother, well…"

Beliath smiled mischievously and, sensing the nonsense coming, you cut your partner off before he could start talking nonsense.

"She's dead too. -Oh," exclaimed your parent, "that can't be easy, you've been alone for a long time? -Only a few months, Beliath laughed and you frowned, hoping to persuade him to keep quiet."

At least her laughter could always pass for stress or embarrassment, which it really could be, you know that your partner often sweeps problems under the carpet by joking about them.

"And you have no other family," worries one of your parents. -I have an older sister. We get on very well. -It can't be easy every day. You're young. -Oh, it doesn't matter. I've got MC so it's all good."

You were saved from further questioning by the ringing of the oven bell as your parents got up to prepare the main course in the kitchen and put the aperitif away. You took advantage of this moment to turn back to Beliath.

"Don't tell me you were going to talk about the fight between us and your mother? -It was a joke to see how he would react. -A human probably wouldn't find it very funny. I think my parents would freak out if you told them your own mother tried to kill you in a demonic ritual."

Beliath shrugged with an amused look before leaning in to kiss your cheek.

"Don't tell them that, all right. -Right… sorry, darling, I didn't mean to upset you," replied Beliath with a smile that he wanted to be contrite but was far too amused. -I'm not upset. I was just afraid of what you were going to say. -I won't say it… even if it's the truth. -A truth my parents aren't ready to hear. -And yet, you don't think they'd be proud to have a child who dared to fight a powerful succubus to save partner. -I'll fight all the succubi you want, my love, but you must never tell my parents. I don't think they'd be thrilled to hear the news. -Not thrilled? When their child has the courage to slay a demon to save frail partner? smiles Beliath before kissing you. -My frail partner, who also happens to be half-demon and half-vampire. -And who raves every day about the power and courage of the person he loves. -You don't have to charm me, my darling, I've been charmed for a long time. -I have to tell you how exceptional you are! I could compliment you for hours and never get tired of it."

You smiled in amusement at your vampire, before kissing him, Beliath responded to your kiss with passion before being interrupted by a call from one of your parents in the dining room. You got up to join them and the discussion continued in a pleasant manner as the dishes were served. Beliath was tasting every dish and singing the praises of your parents' cooking. You could tell by the look on their faces that they were flattered, and also that your parents had outdone themselves in the kitchen in terms of the quantity and quality of the food.

"Do you cook?" one of your parents finally asked. -Yes, I do. I do most of the cooking with Raphaël. -Béliath is very talented in the kitchen and it's always a pleasure to eat what he's prepared for us," you added. -Don't the others cook?"

You exchanged a glance with Beliath before sighing at the same time.

"He could probably cook, but that would be risking setting fire to the manor," you reply. -Aaron and Ivan still manage well. -Yes, they can make pasta, that's something… but Vladimir and Ethan. -Well, I don't mind cooking with Vladimir, but I don't want Ethan in my kitchen. I like him a lot, but I sincerely think he confuses cooking with scientific experimentation… sighed Beliath. -It can't be as bad as all that, try one of your parents. -Vladimir nearly blew up the microwave… three times."

Your parents were silent for a moment before looking at each other and back at you, obviously expecting a joke, but you said nothing more and after a moment one of your parents exclaimed.

"And I thought I wasn't very good in the kitchen��� -They're making an effort, though," you tried to temper. Vladimir managed to make sandwiches last time."

The discussion turned to the cooking skills of each of your housemates, you didn't hesitate to criticise Vladimir and Ethan's cooking and your parents seemed quite curious. This went on for a long time before the discussion turned to other subjects.

"MC didn't tell us what you do for a living? -What do you mean? -What's your job?" rephrased one of your parents. -I'm a barman," smiled Beliath after giving you a smile, he was proud to have remembered the lie you had planned for this situation. -Barman! -Yes, it's a rather amusing job, I talk to people all night long, they tell me their gossip, I know everything that's going on in the city without even needing to watch the news or open a newspaper, the music's pretty good and on top of that I know how to make excellent cocktails! -Oh, we'll leave that to you next time. I'd love to try a cocktail made by a professional."

The discussion continued for a long time as your parents began to tell you about the parties and outings they used to go to when they were young, you winced at some of the information you would have preferred never to know, but it didn't faze Beliath at all as he also recounted some of the evenings he had spent at the manor, sometimes stopping for a brief moment to stroke your hand or your back, as if not being in contact with you seemed unimaginable to him. Talk of your parties at the manor slowly led to talk of your flat-sharing.

"I understand you live in a shared house," one of your parents asks. Who owns the house? -Vladimir owns it. -That's not a very safe way to live," worried one of your parents. Aren't you afraid you'll have to move from one day to the next? -Not a chance with Vladimir," you immediately reassured your parents. No matter how much he complains about us being there, he can't stand to be alone and he needs us for a lot of things. -I confirm. We only let him go shopping once with Aaron, and he didn't come home all day. We had to go and look for him. He'd got lost in an IKEA and couldn't find the way out."

Your parents remained silent for several seconds looking at you before you sighed.

"The worst thing is, I'm not even surprised. -The worst thing is that he doesn't assume it. He told us he wanted to redecorate and that he hadn't seen the time, while we found him sitting on a sofa like a kitten abandoned in a cardboard box. -Your flat-share looks… rather hectic," said one of your parents after glancing at your other parent. You must not be bored. -Everything's fine most of the time," reassured Beliath with a smile, "it's just that we're rather… -Original? you offered. -Exactly."

Your parents looked a little worried but Beliath resumed the discussion as if nothing had happened and after a few minutes they seemed to have completely forgotten their worries. They finally got up to fetch the desserts from the kitchen, and your vampire took advantage of the moment to turn towards you, dropping his head on your shoulder and mumbling.

"Oh MC, I'm exhausted. It's been years since I seriously socialized with humans without using my vampire powers. Tell me it's almost over? -There's still dessert and coffee, darling. -I can't… well… maybe if you kiss me… -Béliath -A little one? I feel faint."

You sighed, as amused by his behaviour as by his complaints, and then kissed him. You felt your partner smile under the kiss and you parted just before your parents returned to serve dessert. The discussion then resumed about the flat-sharing.

"But now that I think about it, it must be tiring being a barman, isn't there too much noise for you during the day? It can't be easy to rest after a night's work. -Vladimir and Raphaël are very sensitive to noise so we're careful, you explain, and Béliath is a very heavy sleeper. He wouldn't wake up even if the roof fell in on his head. -It's because I'm helping Aaron to look after everyone. Once I've decided to sleep, there's nothing to wake me up for. -It must be nice to be able to sleep like this," says one of your parents. Me, the slightest noise wakes me up. -Pleasant, it depends for whom," you reply. It's rather difficult to wake him up. I have to shake him. -All you have to do is try to make like Sleeping Beauty, maybe I'll wake up with a loving kiss. -I can imagine, Sleeping Beauty is fine with me as long as I'm not forced to fight a dragon with my bare hands. -And a werewolf?"

Your parents looked at you strangely as you burst out laughing, then you shook your head.

"Leave poor Aaron out of it, darling. The others give him enough of a hard time as it is."

The discussion returned to poor Aaron and his workload, about which your parents were a little worried. At one point, without you knowing when, Beliath moved his chair closer to yours so that you were shoulder to shoulder. Sometimes he would lean over and kiss your cheek or whisper something in your ear. Finally, you accompanied one of your parents to the kitchen while Béliath was monopolised by the discussion with the other. Kidnapping would be a more accurate word, given that he couldn't leave the discussion to come and help you.

"He looks charming," smiled your parent as you were left alone. I've rarely seen such a smiling young man. -Beliath is a very sunny person," you replied. He's almost never in a bad mood and he knows how to put a smile on other people's faces. -I'm glad to hear that. I was a bit scared at first when you told us you'd found love. We imagined the worst, and what an idea it was to go out doing urbex, you could have hurt yourself or even worse.

You heard Beliath stifle a laugh in the dining room and sighed.

"I'm fine. I've already told you. I met Beliath in this manor and we both fell under each other's spell. Nothing more serious happened. -All the same. I don't mind. You look healthy, but we didn't hear from you for several months, we were worried sick. -I know, I'm sorry, but you see everything's fine now. -You can't imagine how worried we were. I never thought I'd see you again."

You continued to reassure your relative before returning to the dining room. As soon as seated, Beliath kissed your hand again before smiling mischievously, you didn't need to be inside his head to know that he had heard the whole discussion, your gaze didn't convince him to keep quiet and before he could say anything you kissed him, silencing your partner immediately. Meanwhile, the coffees were served and Beliath took his and resumed the conversation.

After the coffee, the discussion went on for a long time, Beliath and you were both getting tired and all you wanted to do was go back to the manor and get some rest. Unfortunately, your parents didn't think so and continued talking without giving you a chance to make them understand that it was time for you to go home.

Finally, after yet another pointless discussion about the weather and the seasons, you managed to tell them that it was time for you to go home and get some rest. Your parents followed you into the hallway, continuing to chat, and finally, after promising them several times that you'd see them again soon, you got in the car to leave.

Once on the road, Beliath let his head rest against the window before sighing.

"I'm not going to Moondance tomorrow. We're taking Ethan's portable DVD player and having a movie and spa night."

You nodded without taking your eyes off the road. You arrived well after midnight and decided to go up to your room after briefly telling Vladimir and Raphaël about your evening. After changing into more comfortable clothes, Beliath dropped onto the bed, and you came over to lean against his shoulder.

"We won't have had time to visit my teenage bedroom," you whispered before kissing him. You're not too disappointed? -We're going back there anyway. -There's no doubt about it, my parents adore you. -Everyone adores me, I'm an exceptional person and I have a partner who's just as exceptional as I am. Am I not the luckiest vampire on the planet? -You're very lucky indeed," you laugh. I must be too, to have you in my life."

[lanaunreleasedluvr]

Dan and Blair: A think piece (lmao)

It's 2am, I'm bored as hell and procrastinating going to bed and all I can think about is Gossip Girl bc I have been binge-watching it again for the first time in like 5 years. So naturally, I have some thoughts. First being: now that I am watching with an adult brain, I have realized how absolutely insane this show is and how diabolical those writers were. Why the HELL did they try to convince us Chuck was a viable love interest for Blair. R4pey shit aside(not excusing it, but pilots rarely ever reflect characters so I'll sort of let it slide), he seriously never had a character arch that was worth rooting for. Yes, he did change a lot in some ways, but was stagnant in many others. the only time I felt sympathy for him was when he was shot in Prague and had a reinvention of his identity. But, I see that the only way that I would be able to connect with Chuck was if he stripped himself of who he actually was. So, personally, I just cannot find it in me to actually gaf abt his character development UNLESS it involves him not being 'chuck bass'(corny as fuck excuse for his behaviour btw). I can't understand how people love his character and will go to the ends of the earth to defend that he turns out being a 'good person' when that mf literally traded the supposed love of his life for a god damn HOTEL. HELLOO!!! Blair forgiving him so quickly after that had me in disbelief. Were the writers so desperate to have Chuck and Blair together that they were willing to sacrifice the dignity of Blair's character for a romance trope. Like good god people, at lease show us you guys have some sort of BACKBONE, and not entirely basing your writing on fan service you cowards. That should have been the absolute end of Chuck and Blair. How TF did Blair, such a strong-willed, self-respecting woman go back to someone who treated her like literal property and valued a hotel over her. This is straight out of a damn Aphra Behn play. The writers absolutely listened to the 12 year olds watching that show (and honestly, why not, that show was clearly a teen soap opera) because that relationship was literally an abuser manipulating his victim into believing their toxic relationship was 'passion' and 'all-consuming'. like no babes, he saw you as an object. Every time she went back to him I let the LARGEST sigh out and had to skip their scenes because all I wanted to do was punch his 5'7 self in the face. How the hell did I root for this couple when I was 13. Actually I know how, I WAS A CHILD!!! How are grown adults not seeing this relationship and SIDE EYEING.

Now, let's talk about Dan and Blair. Yes, they had their flaws, but this is only because the writers made it so. In all actuality, they made perfect sense. At first glance, it does seem a random coupling but honestly upon rewatch, this has been building up since literally the first season. Enemies to lovers is literally the most common trope, and Dan and Blair fit it to a tee, and was done so very well. The tension was there, and Dan was the perfect opportunity for Blair to break from her elitist mindset and grow as a person. Dan coming to like Blair also made perfect sense, she was honestly the woman version of himself in many ways. The writers showed this inverse of each other soooo well, and built up to their relationship SOOOO amazingly. Dan was honestly perfect (In GG) for Blair, he loved her for her, not because of her dark side, or whatever the hell Chuck saw in her. Chuck literally only started paying attention to her when she showed him her sexual side (RED FLAG PEOPLE). But ANYWAYS, Dan quite literally 'peered into her soul' (quote from Blair herself) and loved her so much more than he ever loved Serena (i can't even get into how dumb that ending was good lord). I will honestly never understand why the writers tossed allllll that build up and great writing for CHUCK! Like PLEASEEEE, I BEGGG of a reboot where Blair leaves Chucks sorry ass and either ends up single or with Dan (honestly too far fetched at this point because the writers fumbled so badly).

I realize this is one of the more unpopular opinions and that people will literally die on the Chuck and Blair hill, but I just don't understand why. Maybe nostalgia?? I don't know. I used to be the exact way and thought Dan and Blair were a revolting pair, but now it makes perfect sense why they got together. It really doesn't make any sense that she went back to that bum ass abuser. But whatever, at the end of the day this is a piece of fiction that has no real life impact so I'll end this tangent here.

[cordelia13]

Yesterday was Taylor Swift's birthday, and I want to use it as an excuse to take a moment and write about why I believe Taylor’s music helped me see myself through different eyes.

We’re all familiar with the stereotypes that surround her—she’s "superficial," she "only writes songs about her exes," or the classic "does she have any songs that aren’t about love?" At the same time, Swifties are often labeled as "hysterical," "dramatic," or "intense."

But whether these claims are "true" or not, they represent a very shallow take on something much deeper.

Taylor Swift has been able to give voice to moments of crisis, feelings of hope, and unique instants that have stayed etched in our hearts. She has a very special relationship with words, and her metaphors transport you to those exact moments: when your heart was broken, when you were loved, when you felt alone, when you healed, when you were someone else's villain, when you hurt someone, when someone made you feel crazy, when you weren't appreciated, when you felt frozen in time, when someone truly saw you, when you arrived at the place you wanted to be, when you finally felt at peace.

The editor of Rolling Stone put it this way: “Taylor uses music to create stories, but also to build a narrative world where her songs are just one part of an entire interactive universe between her and us—a universe in which Taylor is the architect, protagonist, and narrator.

Through her songs, Taylor gives countless people, mostly women and especially young ones, permission to believe that the things happening to them matter. Women, teens, and girls who, for years, were conditioned to think their emotions were trivial, cheesy, silly—essentially "girl stuff"—suddenly have stories that validate their experiences and tell them, “No, you’re not crazy". All those wounds are valid, and here’s a song to keep you company.”

In this era where we’re healing wounds, learning to validate emotions, and taking emotional responsibility, we face a choice: to either play the victim all our lives and cling to suffering, or to allow ourselves to feel whatever we’re feeling without judgment, knowing that pain is temporary. Even if that emotion, from the outside and in shallow terms, could be dismissed as a "playing victim."

I think people who don’t allow themselves this level of vulnerability won’t understand this, no matter how many times we try to explain it (and it’s fine if they don’t like it—perfectly valid). But that’s okay because part of what defines Taylor Swift is vulnerability, though not in the fragile sense of the word. She is both strong and vulnerable—a woman carving her path to greatness while constantly reminding us that she feels, lives, experiences, loves life, cries, and is just like all of us. Most importantly, she helps us understand that we are not "too much" and that we are not "overreacting" for expressing how we feel, and we should never stay where anyone tries to convince us otherwise

Taylor looks at her own pain, looks at ours, and says, “Here, we’re the same.” Through her music, she makes room for us and, in doing so, teaches us to make room for ourselves. She watches us break, open our souls, shed our defenses, and tell us we are beautiful. She listens to us screaming heartbreaking songs at her concerts, and in that moment, we are not alone. She’s there, showing us that no matter how many times you find yourself in situations that can break you, you have the choice to let it destroy you—or transcend it, process it, keep creating art, and continue defining yourself by the things you love.

“I think the worst kind of person is someone who makes you feel bad, dumb, or stupid for being excited about something.” – Taylor Swift

"I want to be defined by the things I love—not the things I hate, not the things I’m afraid of, not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night. I think you are what you love.” – Taylor Swift

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Summary: Everyone at Belift Publishing knows Shin YN & Jo Hye Won are platonic soulmates. When Hye Won reveals she has a crush, YN decides she will do everything to give Hye Won her happily Ever After. Park Jay on the other hand likes someone and will do everything he can to make her his girlfriend.

Pairing: Park Jay x F Reader.

Taglist: @uhsakusa @iveleeseo @purenjuniverse @lilactangerine @lonewolfjinji @judeduartewannabe

Permanent Taglist: @honeyhuii @chirokookie @nyxtwixx @clar-iii @centheodd @prdxinvade @hiqhkey @junnniiieee07 @love-4-keum @acciomylove @sproutswonies @youkwim @kpoplover718 @anotherimaginesaccount @ashxxgyu @bubblytaetae @strwberrydinosaur @xiaoderrrr @shinkenprincess-oh

So talking to @shinkenprincess-oh made the point that Second Choice YN is quite mysterious. So here's her backstory. The actual Where Are They Now will be posted on the 1 year anniversary of Second Choice next Sunday. Also this is long one so buckle up y'all.

The Second Choice Masterlist

Let's start with the relationship with YN and Yoongi.

Yoongi knew his dad had remarried, he'd met the woman who was his step mother.

She was nice, apparently she had a daughter. So Yoongi was getting a mother and a younger sister.

Yoongi comes home from school, knowing he's gonna meet his step mother and step sister.

Before Yoongi even has a chance to change into his slippers, this young girl comes running up to him and hugs him.

Babbling 100 miles an hour. Yoongi is very confused until his step mum gets this child off him, telling her to introduce herself...

YN is like "hi Yoongi oppa, Eomma told me I got to have an oppa now isn't this great?! I'll be the best little sister you've ever had too!!"

And that's Yoongi down for the count 😂.

Their parents just watch as in one encounter YN got this teen who was ready to hate her, in love with her.

Timeline wise, YN and Hye Won have met and are thick as thieves. So one day Yoongi goes to pick YN up from school.

YN comes running up to Yoongi excited to introduce one of her favourite people to another one of her favourite people.

Yoongi takes one look at Hye Won, whose a child as well and knows she is not good news. But he also sees how attached YN is.

Hye Wons parents admit her to a fancy private elementary school.

Hye Won not wanting to go alone, convinces YNs parents to apply as well. Knowing they can't pay, Hye Won is convincing her parents to pay for YN to go to the school with her.

In a turn of events, YN get a scholarship to this school and obvs happily takes it.

Now Hye Won is not happy, she wanted to be YNs saviour who YN is indebted to cause she's the one paying for her at school.

Hye Won works triple time to get everyone in their class to not befriend YN.

Which backfires on HW cause everyone in the clas is done with her and would much rather talk to YN 😂.

What HW does succeed in doing is keeping YN as her bff. Hyeyn are known throughout their elementary school as a duo. Can't miss them cause they're always together.

One day YN gets called to the office. Girls worried that the school might be taking her scholarship away. Why she doesn't know but she's an anxious bean.

Turns out they just wanted her to show the new scholarship student Nakamura Kazuha around.

YN happily shows Kazuha around, introduces her to Hye Won. They instantly hate each other.

Yoongi after meeting Kazuha thinks she's insane but will be a good friend to his sister.

Unlike when HW comes over and Yoongi glares at her until HW leaves.

YN can't believe that her grumpy oppa managed to get literal sunshine as his girlfriend 😂.

Now let's get into what YN, HW and Kazuha studied at uni, how YN met Minho and how they all ended up at Belift.

So YN from a young age loved editing videos, she started the trend of sending video messages at her highschool.

She was known in the school as the girl to go to for all video and photo editing needs.

Finding out that SNU offered a editing degree, YN knew it was the degree for her.

HW didn't really care and just wanted the Uni experience chose business.

Kazuha chose a communications degree with a minor in contemporary dance.

Off they go to university. With all three in different courses it's hard to find time to meet up.

HW lives at home while YN & Kazuha are in the uni dorms. When given the chance they both choose to become roommates.

Now YN gets lost abt a month into uni, Kazuha is useless and HW doesn't answer her texts so YN is confusedly trying to find where her lecture is.

In that she bumps into someone.

You've all guessed it, she bumped into Minho. Who isn't in a good mood cause he's just been ditched by his bestie Bang Chan.

So when this little first year bumps into him, Minho is ready to rip into her. That is until he sees that this girl is on the verge of tears.

Knowing he's already late, Minho asks her what's wrong and YN tells him that she's late for this lecture but doesn't know where it is.

Minho leads her there and is surprised how quick this girl went from almost crying to the happiest person ever.

YN insists on taking Minho's number, saying she'll text him abt treating him to food as a thanks for helping her out.

Minho doesn't think she's ever going to contact him again so forgets and goes abt his day.

That is until he's at his senior year internship at Belift Publishing and he sees texts from the girl he helped.

YN had texted him during the lecture because it was boring and after just to see when he'll reply.

When Minho does finally reply, YN tells him that she'll get him food tonight.

Minho skeptical but he's a broke student so isn't going to say no to free food tells her that he's gonna bring his bestie and they can meet in the canteen.

Once there with an annoyed Bang Chan who thinks he's gonna be third wheeling a date. Both of them see YN waiting with Kazuha and HW.

Introductions are made, they all get along and Bang Chan happily gives his number to the girls wanting to be a helpful sunbae to them.

So everyone graduated and are searching for jobs. Ynzuha are struggling to find a job in their respective fields.

So Yoongi offers to help them get a graduate internship at Belift.

Hearing that HW used her connections to get in there too.

Originally Yoongi wanted both girls working in his department but higher ups thought they'd be better in the depart Minho & Chan had just started in.

Both girls got lucky in that they were working under people they already knew. This is how Yoongi's dislike for Minho started 😂.

This specific department has quite a few other interns.

Ynzuha meet Sunoo, Seungmin, Jeongin, Sakura and Soeun.

Sunoo sees YN and knows she's a ball of sunshine who is stuck with a bitch like HW. Yep Sunoo clocked from the first meeting that Hyewon is bad news.

As the internship goes on they all get closer, well all of them but HW who keeps them all at a distance but YN.

Not that any of the other interns are really interested in being HWs friend they only talk to her cause of YN.

Even tho this was just supposed to be a temp job until YN got a job editing videos. YN fell in love with webtoon/novel editing.

So YN knowing that they're not gonna keep all the interns works super hard to be hired for a permanent role.

Kazuha enjoys being able to be a grammar stickler and point out plot holes 😂.

HW knowing she's got the job secured does the bare minimum and most of the time doesn't even do that.

D day comes and it's announced that they've hired YN, Hyewon and Sunoo. But they let the others know they've found other jobs for them and theyll be working in a different department.

Now along with YN another certain someone was hired... Lee Heeseung after finishing another round of interviews gets the job too.

Heeseung and YN start on the same day and YN immediately talks to Heeseung and thats where his crush on YN starts.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Big (1988)

No conversation about the "body switch" genre would be complete without mentioning the king of the hill: Big. Even without Tom Hanks’ excellent performance and endless charms, this would be a great film. It has the big laughs and the right amount of sweetness to make it an everlasting classic.

At a carnival, Twelve-year-old Josh Baskin (David Moscow) inserts a coin into a fortune-teller machine and wishes to be “big”. The next morning, he’s grown into an adult (played by Tom Hanks). Unable to convince his mother of who he is, Josh moves to New York City to search for the machine, getting a job at the MacMillan Toy Company to make ends meet.

As a pre-teen in a grown-up’s body, Tom Hanks is perfect. He captures the giddy excitement and awkwardness of a child so well he makes it look like the easiest role an actor could play. The film makes it clear, however, that childlike innocence and wide-eyed wonder easily disappear - even among the people who work at a toy company. The story naturally lends itself to many funny moments. Josh and his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) piecing together a resume for a job application, the two of them “living it up” now that they have access to the things only adults can normally get their hands on, several misunderstandings that happen as Josh navigates the grown-up world, etc. Just thinking about any of those moments is sure to bring a smile to your face even years after you’ve finished the movie. What you might not remember and don't expect to see are the more sensitive moments, the ones that prove this movie is more than a big piece of cotton candy.

For every scene of pure joy and wonder - the best of which features Josh meeting with his boss (Mr. MacMillan, played by Robert Loggia) in a toy store - there is another that… I don’t want to say cuts deep, but reminds the adults watching of everything they’ve lost between now and the time they were twelve. It’s uncanny how so many of Josh’s co-workers can be so childish and so unlike children at the same time. Anyone who remembers what it’s like to play with toys should be able to tell Paul (John Heard) that the plaything he’s proposing is lame but it took a literal child to put the company on the right track. Once his idea has been shot down (for all the right reasons), what does Paul do? he acts like a child and a bully. The fact that everyone sees right through him shows how juvenile he is. He's not the only character who passes through the thin barrier separating children and adults, reminding us quite elegantly that while the years can bring a lot of changes… some things always stay the same.

A lesser film would’ve latched onto Paul and made him a villain but Big doesn’t need a villain. The obstacles are everyday things, like emotions. We often look back fondly at their childhood, but would anyone REALLY want to go back to that time? Kids dream of growing up. Do grown-ups dream of becoming kids again? That question gets a lot more complicated once Josh experiences the emotional growth that comes with his exposure to the "real world". As a twelve-year-old, Josh was interested in girls but it’s not like anything was actually going to happen. As a man, his friendship with Susan (Elizabeth Perkins) could turn into a relationship, and then what? a marriage? a family? He’s still a boy; too young for that kind of thing… or is he? This movie isn’t playing by real-world rules. That makes you unsure of where it’s ultimately headed.

Big checks all the boxes. The performances are terrific. If I had to single out a top three, I’d have to hand it out to Hanks first, then a tie between David Moscow and Jared Rushton. Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard and Robert Loggia are all excellent as well. The screenplay is fantastic, with so many wonderful little details that make these characters feel real. The emotions are powerful and cover the complete spectrum - from heartbreaks to big, memorable laughs. Penny Marshall (who teamed up with Hanks again in 1992 for A League of Their Own, another great film”) has made an instant favorite that will stand the test of time. It’s hard to imagine anyone watching Big and not falling in love with it. (Theatrical version, February 18, 2022)

[inthequietlight]

1. Are you team Rational or Supernatural?

I lean towards the rational, for sure, but I can’t eliminate the supernatural. 80% rational. 20 supernatural.

2. Who is your favorite teen timeline character? Favorite adult timeline character?

Teen timeline: Jackie. I feel like Ella did so much with a character that could be seen as whiny and annoying. There’s so much to her.

Adult timeline: probably Shauna but it depends on who she’s interacting with. I love her with the YJs and Callie.

Honorary mention to Misty because Christina is just so funny and puts on a great performance.

3. What is your favorite needledrop?

Omg I really don’t remember anything but didn’t Dreams by the Cranberries play when they first swim in the lake? I think it’s that one.

4. What is your favorite ship?

Love Jackie and Shauna. Love Tai and Van (I need to see them immediately post-rescue. I remember them mentioning they went to Shauna’s wedding).

Lovingly delusional and self-aware about Jackie and Nat essentially being 99.5% made up, but I love their separate characters and love to explore their characters together.

5. What is your favorite episode?

Season 1, episode 2.

6. Who do you want the Antler Queen to be?

Funnily enough, Shauna wanting it so bad makes me wanna see her in that position. I don’t think she’ll be the most productive of a leader, but I think she wants the satisfaction and validation and then she’ll just fully hate it. Lol.

7. What is your favorite scene in the entire series?

Misty snorting that cocaine. Like, she DID NOT have to do all that.

8. A theory or prediction you have about Season 3?

I don’t really theorize at all. Idk tbh.

9. Which character do you relate to the most, and why?

Jackie. I also grew up in a way where you always had to be hyper aware of how you present yourself and such.

And I also feel like Jackie is someone who emotionally suppressed a lot. Same.

10. What is the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of Yellowjackets?

Probably successfully convince many people to watch it and not realizing that most people are actually disgusted by cannibalism in media lmao. I got mostly good reviews though.

The network should pay me for advertising.

11. What’s your most controversial Yellowjackets take?

Where do I fucking start lmao.

I struggled so bad with s2. I felt like s1 was incredible and literally magic but then s2 looked visually weird and I had a hard time connecting with it. I definitely loved it a whole lot less. I really hate that shift in me, though.

Travis pointing that gun to Nat is objectively a horrible thing to do and he rightfully gets dogged on by the fandom for it. But it’s unsettling that his sexual assault by the half the team is hardly mentioned and glossed over by the fans and narrative. Idk maybe I missed if s2 kinda addresses it but it felt so odd.

Having ALL the main YJ (minus Jackie and it’s debatable whether LL is main or not) survive removed any tension in the teen timeline for me. I know that every character I care about will survive the wilderness. If any particular issue happened between them in the wilderness, I know that they survive and I know that they’re pretty chill with each other for the most part. Mostly estranged but in s1, I didn’t feel a particularly damning hostility. Shauna and Nat will probably go head to head in s3, but I know that in the adult timeline they’ll just say “you look like shit” and Nat mocks her for Jeff. Am I supposed to feel threatened by them in s3 teen tl? It doesn’t feel like it. The worst thing could happen in the teen tl but it’s okay since I know they’ll all leave minus a couple of side characters I don’t particularly care about.

The bizzare shift in Lottie’s character between s1 finale and s2 is jarring. Why is she suddenly so passive in s2 when s1 ended with her praying to the dirt god holding a bloody bear heart? Where’s my girl who goaded Jackie to leave the cabin? What happened?

This show NEEDS a score. Enough with the needledrops lmao.

Okay I’ll stop here lmao. I used this as an outlet to vent my frustrations. I hope I wasn’t too annoying.

Thanks for the tag, @passionpita-writes and @justratqueenthings

@hangesbelovedexperiment @aspenroman @fairytwles + anyone else

Starting a Yellowjackets tag!

I want to get my mind off of things so: If you want, answer any or all of the questions below and tag 10 people (or however many you want) who also might want to share! I would love to see what you guys have to say!

1. Are you team Rational or Supernatural?

2. Who is your favorite teen timeline character? Favorite adult timeline character?

3. What is your favorite needledrop?

4. What is your favorite ship?

5. What is your favorite episode?

6. Who do you want the Antler Queen to be?

7. What is your favorite scene in the entire series?

8. A theory or prediction you have about Season 3?

9. Which character do you relate to the most, and why?

10. What is the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of Yellowjackets?

Bonus:

11. What’s your most controversial Yellowjackets take?

—

Here’s mine!

1. I am mostly Team Rational because I love the way this show depicts trauma but I also love seeing the supernatural side of things through the survivors’ eyes if that makes sense.

2. Natalie in the teen timeline because I love her compassion and softness underneath the front she puts on. Lottie in the adult timeline because I love her internal battle with herself and how afraid she is of her own mind. Misty is a close second in the adult timeline!

3. “Cornflake Girl” playing while Nat sees the mossy tree for the first time, Callie seeing the Adam Martin driver’s license in the barbecue, and Shauna eating Jackie’s ear. It just goes so perfectly with everything that’s going on (especially the elevated piano while Nat and Travis are scaling the mountain and the lyrics while Shauna takes the bite!)

4. LottieNat is my favorite ship I can’t help it Nat and Lottie are my favorite characters so having them together is a dream (TaiVan, JackieShauna, and TravNat are up there, too).

5. 1x09 “Doomcoming” is just amazing and captures everything I love about Yellowjackets. I love when they let the girls go batshit crazy, hoping we get more Doomcoming vibes in S3.

6. I want the Antler Queen to be Natalie because that would show a true descent for her in the Wilderness from being the most morally grounded one to the leader of the group at their most unhinged and primal. But honestly I think that Shauna might be the AQ after all…

7. I think the Jackie-eating scene is the best in the entire show. The “Climbing Up the Walls” song choice, the bacchanal feast flashes as a way of coping with the horror of what they’re doing, seeing them go fully feral for the first time, it’s such a well crafted scene.

8. I know this probably won’t happen but I’m just going to throw it out there that Cabin Daughter is alive and she will be revealed to have been Javi’s “friend”!

9. I relate to Shauna the most because I also admittedly have a bit of an obsessive/intense personality and I, too, internalize my emotions to a very unhealthy degree sometimes. I also grew up being in love with my childhood best friend who is very, very much like Jackie (and now we have been dating for 7 years!)

10. Mine is a mix of going to a Yellowjackets panel and sitting like 5 feet from the showrunners, doing everything in my power to score early screening tickets to Heretic and Companion, and pretending I was sick so I could go home early from work the day that the S3 trailer came out.

11. The male characters on this show get too much hate🫢 I like Travis, Jeff, Kevyn, and Walter (even though his introduction and storyline are rushed and forced). I don’t like them more than the female characters, but I like them nevertheless and appreciate their contributions to the plot.

No pressure tags! (I’m tagging 15 bc I feel like it) @before-it-felt-like-a-sin @baked-potatoes-rule @jackiesnats @deerest-deer @whodoesnataliehave @stilllsage @fairytwles @glitterfairy-21225 @lesbianforlottie @tr4vnat @lauraleetaylor @cassioo @natsboygirlfriend @soapyjackets @pinkkkkat @natgf123 +literally anyone else who wants to!

[therealvinelle]

any heretical opinions on buffy???

Yeah, Bangel is terrible.

Angel was turned in his 20's and is several hundred years old by the time we get to the 90's. As Angelus, he is also a serial rapist, something I'm unable to wholly separate from Angel for a variety of reasons.

He first sees a fifteen-year-old Buffy when she is called to becoming a Slayer, and feels a desire to protect her. This leads to him following her to Sunnydale, hoping that he may be able to help this innocent young girl battle the forces of darkness. So far so good, a fatherly dynamic where he wanted to protect this one girl so as to do one good thing in this world is great stuff.

Buffy gets a crush on him, and it is very much a girl's crush. She's doodling his name in her notebooks, excited that she got to wear his jacket, in every way but for the slayer and vampire bit a girl who's got her first big crush on a cool older guy. It was pretty inevitable, Angel is attractive, dark, and mysterious.

Problem is, Angel returned her feelings.

I... can only recommend (or not recommend, because this will skeeve you out) people go rewatch this show, particularly season 1, and try to watch it as adults, think of how you would feel about the developing Bangel dynamic if Buffy was less the protagonist you're supposed to see yourself in, and more your daughter or little sister. Which is my way of saying that Bangel is painful to watch.

Angel returns Buffy's feelings, lets her escalate the relationship, and by season 2 he's in a relationship with a high schooler. Age gaps like that are bad for many reasons, and a specific one that applies strongly to Bangel is that Buffy has unrealistic expectations of their relationship and is, frankly, too young to be in a serious relationship. She wants a boyfriend, and Angel is the only candidate for this when she's the Slayer.

It must be said, too, that they are in love because they're in love. They fancy each other because Buffy is cute and innocent and Angel is dark and mysterious, and because they are both lonely people. It's a love born of circumstance, as they meet at a junction in their lives where the other looks like all they ever wanted. To put it another way, season 5 Buffy would not have given Angel a second look.

Not to mention, their relationship barely had the chance to happen. They get to date, ish, but Angel soon becomes Angelus and when he returns he's a mess in need of her care. Their relationship consists more of pining for the other and dramatic declarations of love than it does actually being together. Very much a teen girl's idea of romance, not so much mine.

Angel then consummates this relationship, which turns into a traumatizing event for Buffy. Did Angel know he would lose his soul, no. Am I glad the universe clapped back at him immediately for having sex with a child, even if I'm sorry for Buffy and all the other people this wound up hurting- frankly, yes, yes I am.

Just, it's framed positively by the show, but Angel committed statutory rape.

Throughout the series after that, even after Angel returns to himself, we see this relationship leave its mark on Buffy. She remains convinced that this relationship is the greatest she ever had, that she will have no truer love so there's no use even trying. She settles for "okay" in her relationship with Riley, she's not in love but he's decent enough, since she can't be with Angel it's all the same anyway. Spike she actually does come to love, but even then loving Angel is so important to her that she continues to refer to him as the love of her life. Something schmomething cookie dough.

Just, Angel messed her up good.

Alas, fandom and even Sarah Michelle Gellar swears by this ship. And I cry.

[purrincess-chat]

So I have three criticisms about the fandom:

1. Why tf do people call Marinette a creepy stalker? They do realize she’s 14 right? She’s a young girl with a crush, not some s*x offender.

2. I don’t get why there are fights over the Lovesquare when it’s literally the same two people. At the end of the day, it’s the same fucking dynamic.

3. The way this fandom treats the creator like he owes them something is absolutely disgusting. They act like a bunch of self-important, entitled karens.

1. People forget what it's like to be a teenager with a crush. That and there is a trend in fandoms as of late that exercises this black and white thinking pattern. Either something is so morally pure and devoid of any wrongdoing or it's completely problematic and anyone that enjoys or consumes it is just enabling harmful narratives. There's no room for nuance. ML is written by someone who grew up watching old, old superhero cartoons and watching old, old superhero comics. That's evident in a lot of jokes and references and tropes that they use. The creator himself worked on several shows in the early 2000s, and you can see evidence of that time period in ML. While that objectively wasn't that long ago, the early 2000s were a much different time on TV. The teen girl practically basing her whole identity around being in love with her crush was a common trope around that time (see: Helga from Hey Arnold. Seriously yall Marinette ain't got nothing on Helga and her motherfucking chewed gum shrine shaped like Arnold's head). A lot of her behavior is meant to be exaggerated for the joke (as was Helga's). That's just how things were. 🤷‍♀️ But some people, especially if they didn't grow up in that era watching those types of shows or if they're not as socially competent and can't understand hyperbole, then that's likely where the Marinette is a stalker thing comes from. Also can have a lot to do with mob mentality. Someone people deem cool or smart says it once, so a bunch of underlings follow without actually thinking about whether it's objectively true or bothering to question it. It's a problem in society at large (I mean look at the American political system, or any political system rn honestly)

2. You and me both, nonny. Yet every time I go into the ladrien tag to find content to queue for ladrien Wednesday, I scroll past at least 3 "ranking the love square sides" posts and ladrien is always at the bottom because of some arbitrary, made up, noncanon reason that they've convinced themselves is true. I've said for years people just need to watch the show with their eyes open and employ at least a single brain cell, maybe go outside and touch some grass, talk to real people. Just as a start. 🤷‍♀️

3. That's not exclusive to ML sadly. People have been harassing creators and musicians for years. Not to be a Swiftie on main, but Taylor has put out 5 albums since 2020. And that's still not enough for some of her fans. People are still demanding she announce her next rerecord rather than just sitting and enjoying all of the shit she's already given us. Entitlement has become a societal problem that bleeds into fandom. Everyone wants things bigger, better, faster. Capitalism really did a number on humanity.

Anyway, that's just my take on things. I've been here a long time, and just because I don't always point things out or say anything as of late doesn't mean I don't still notice it. I've just gotten jaded I think. It is what it is, so I stay in my corner with my friends and just have as good of a time as we can. 🤷‍♀️

[quillbriar]

Steph x Grace hcs

formatting was not my friend on this one, I'm so sorry. I don't know how to fix it, but I just bolded where new hcs start

also someone please talk to me about these two because why do I have so many thoughts

Steph shows Grace all the childhood traditions and hallmarks that Grace never partook in because she was being such a prude she couldn’t let herself (or anyone) have fun

Steph takes Grace trick or treating on Halloween (heretofore, Grace has spent all her Halloweens preaching about the lord and how the devil lurks in all moments of darkness and sin)

Grace has a lot of fun (all the old women in their 80’s Halloween sweaters passing out candy just give Grace some extra instead of calling her a no-good teen when they see she’s with the Mayor’s daughter)

But at the end of the night, Grace convinces Steph to go pass out their filled up buckets because “I can’t eat all that sugar, Steph! We should give it to others who don’t have as much.” So they give out candy to homeless people, to any little children whose pillowcase looks sad and empty, even at 8pm. It becomes a reverse trick or treat. They go back to Grace’s place when the buckets are completely empty and they watch a Halloween classic together, Grace resting her head on Steph’s shoulder when she gets tired. When she wakes up, there’s a goodie bag of candy from Steph left on her bed, with a note that says “you’re always helping others, don’t forget to let yourself enjoy things, too”

Grace just breaks down crying at random times when she’s with Steph. Just something small will set her off: a children’s movie she wouldn’t let herself see when it came out even though it looked like fun, a tradition she wouldn’t let herself experience because she claimed it was the work of the devil, all the nights she spent trying to repress her feelings for girls and wondering why she never felt like that for boys; having feelings for boys is natural and wasn’t she natural? Isn’t she just a normal young woman, no different from the next (except, maybe better and holier)

And usually Steph would have no patience for someone crying or having a breakdown (especially when they’re crying over fruit loops) but it’s Grace, and she knows how much Grace has molded herself and twisted herself and repressed herself to try to be what she thought was good, was right

So Steph just brings her close and hugs her and says it’s okay (and then buys Grace fruit loops so she can try them now. She’d buy out the whole sugar cereal aisle if Grace would let her, the mayor can afford it)

Steph and Grace decide to attend a GSA meeting at hatchetfield high, normally Steph would roll her eyes and call them all nerds, but she thinks it could be good for Grace to go

All the GSA members are wary of Grace when they first come, but then they soften up when they see how scared and nervous she looks, how small she is when she isn’t preaching about God and the correct choices in life. Grace keeps looking to Steph, and completely stiffens when Steph holds her hand. All the GSA members assure her that it’s okay, it’s a safe space.

Steph using her privileges as the mayor’s daughter to do fun things with/for Grace

She takes her to Watcher World and Grace is actually pretty strong so even though Steph wanted to be the one to do things for Grace, Grace actually ends up winning Steph stuffed animals at the game booths

Steph then feeling Grace up while they make out in the fun house with the mirrors (you saw how she reacted to Pete in AC, you’re telling me she wouldn’t be turned on when Grace wins her the biggest prize? I don’t think so)

Also Steph taking Grace ice skating at night when the rink is closed to everyone else

Everyone in hatchetfield is wary and nervous when the rumors start spreading about just how much time Stephanie Lauter and Grace Chasity are spending together, they worry that Stephanie is going to corrupt Grace and while no one liked Grace Charity (except Bill), they definitely don’t want to see an unhinged, uninhibited Grace Chasity

Steph wants to flirt with Grace and be like “do you feel corrupted?” but she knows that would set Grace off so she bites her tongue and texts her best friend Pete about what a “bad influence” she is

But everyone in hatchetfield softens when they see Grace and Steph walk into Beanies hand in hand and Grace is giggling and beaming at Steph and she looks physically lighter than she ever did before

and then Steph buys Grace a hot chocolate (baby steps, she's not ready for coffee yet) and Grace gives her a kiss on the cheek and all the people in Beanies go, "yeah, we'll allow it, Steph's okay"

[gyusfavlibra]

THIS IS MY WORK! PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REPOST ON OTHER SITES/APPS!!!!

Warnings: +18, smut, fingering, hand job, sex in bathroom, language, jealousy, fighting, arguing.

Y/n and Sarah sat quietly on Kie's bed as they waited for Kiara to stop degrading the lavender dress she wore while standing in her large mirror. Mrs. Carrera coming through the door to make sure the girls were all dressed. "This is disgusting."

"I know it's just horrible."

"I'm asking you guys to just relax and go to a fun party."

"I look like a bourgeoisie pig."

"I think you look beautiful," y/n said while shrugging at Kie. She just gave a smile back to her, still hating the look no matter what compliments were given.

"Will you please not worry about socioeconomic injustice for one night?"

"Mom, people not three miles from her have no power, no running water, and we're going to Midsummers."

"That's so tone deaf."

"Y/n," the mother scolded at her niece. "Do you know how hard we had to work to get into the Island club?"

"Yeah, mom. How could I forget? You had to grovel for, like, ten years--"

"Twelve years, and we also had to cough up a huge chunk of dough-"

"To keep up with the Joneses-"

"No, so you had the same experiences that I had as a child."

"But weren't parents as teens out, like partying, getting drunk, making out in the backseats of their cars at drive in movies," the cousin listed while putting her things in its bag. "Getting pregnant."

"That doesn't sound fun," Sarah added.

"Do you girls even know what the Island club is?"

"A factory farm."

"For debutantes," Y/n raised her eyebrows.

"It's a nice place, with nice people where you can do fun stuff."

"With out-of-touch rich people, while the island sinks slowly into the ocean."

"Water filling the poor's destructive lungs while the wealthy ones get away on million dollar boats."

Sarah sat quietly laughing on the comfy blanketed mattress. Mr. Cerrera sighed, saying one last thing before walking out. "Okay, I want you to put on your party face, girls, if you want to live."

"Did your mom just threaten to kill us?"

"Maybe. I think so," she nods as she turned around to the duo, fixing the flower crown that sat on her cousin's head. "You nervous to see Rafe."

"Why did you have to bring that up?"

"I was curious. I know it's only been two days, but-"

"Hey, he broke up with me. So if he wants to talk, that's in his duty. Not mine. I did nothing wrong."

Sarah got off the bed, swinging on it's pole. "Except flirt with JJ, or so he says."

"I was not...flirting with JJ. He has a crush on Kiara. I'd never."

"But Rafe doesn't know that."

°°°°

*flashback*

"What if she doesn't like it?"

"She'll love it. She's hippie."

Y/n and JJ sat on John B's porch, smoking a blunt. The girl was trying to help him do something nice for Kiara so JJ could ask her out without feeling weird. He's liked her for the longest and he was finally ready to tell her how she feels.

"Alright, now practice what you're gonna say."

Just as Y/n finished saying the statement, her own boyfriend, Rafe Cameron showed up. Standing behind them listening in.

"Okay, uh, hey I have to tell you something...uh important," the blonde began speaking, using hand gestures because of his nerves. "I really really like you. Like not like friends like, but I have feelings, uhm, strong feelings for you. Because you're like super hot, andnyou're like a really cool chick. So I was wondering if maybe you'd wanna...go out with me."

"Yes, t-"

"What the hell!"

The manly unknown voice shocked them both, their figures jumping at the sound because they thought they were alone.

"Rafe, what're you doing here?"

Y/n asked confusedly as she stood from the steps. The Kook just scoffed and walked back out. Ignoring her question. She shared a glance with JJ before going to follow after him.

"Hey! Where you going? What's wrong?"

"A pogue!? Y/n, seriously?!"

"What're you talking about?"

"You're cheating on me with a pogue?" He shouted. Y/n scrunched her eyebrows, looking at the unnecessary upset individual.

"What do you mean cheating? I'm not cheating on you. We were just talking."

"Bullshit. That's bullshit! I heard it all."

"Rafe, it's not like that. Jj was just-"

"I should've known better. I should've known," he fumed. His right foot swung to kick the dirt near his truck that he was so very close to getting into.

"Known what?"

"I should've never trusted a pogue. I knew something like this was gonna happen. You were just gonna throw me away like Sarah did, Topper. Right? Huh?"

"You sound ridiculous. I was never throwing you away. I was helping him out."

"Yeah, while you're at it. Might as well help sleep with him too."

Y/n scoffed, taking a step back from the angered boy who's brain had just functioned what he said. Part of him regretted it very much. But the other part thought you deserved it because of his cheating accusation.

He opened his vehicle door. Stepping one foot inside. "We're done."

The girl just laughed with held tears reaching for the openess. She turned around to head back inside as Rafe just drove off.

°°°°

"Hey, no tearing up today. Go to this stupid thing and show him that his little cheating accusation act didn't hurt you at all. You're stronger than that."

"Thanks, Kie."

The girls finished up their last minute touches. That includes sweeping their dresses with roller for no hair, any makeup redos, or hair finishes. The ride to the country club was quiet. Well, y/n was quiet.

This would be her first time seeing Rafe since their break up a three days ago. They've been doing everything in their mighty to avoid each other. And it definitely worked. But like her friend told her, she wasn't gonna get worked up. Letting Rafe see her weak was like telling him he was right about everything. But he wasn't.

"Jesus, Kook land."

"I forgot how packed this thing is every year."

"Well, let's go. I gotta walk out with my family."

The Cameron family walked out with their heads high and the Kook crowd cheered for each one. Y/n kept her eyes gazed to Kiara since they were in the middle of a conversation. Not caring if that family came in or not. That excludes Sarah.

Rafe watched from his spot by his dad, as they exited to outside. Breath hitched when he saw Y/n and her dress. It was a dark toned red, had tulle, and a revealing  chest opening.

A red flower crown on her head, complimenting her beautiful down hair. She looked amazing and hot to Rafe. He had to clear his throat before excusing himself.

"Hey," the red dresses girl heard from beside her as a hand landed on her lower back. She removed it before her eyes retracted to theirs. Kie just pursed her lips before leaving to hangout with Sarah. Y/n internally screaming that she left her there.

"What do you want?"

"Uh, you look nice."

"Okay. Thanks. You don't too. What do you want?"

"Nothing. Just saying hi."

"Bye."

"Wait, wait, wait. Why are you mad at me? Shouldn't I be the mad one here?"

"Why?"

"Because of what you did," he said with furrowed eyebrows. Y/n shrugged.

"I didn't do anything."

"Do- do you not remember what happened on the cut three days ago? The fight."

"You slut shaming me and accusing me of cheating with JJ. That? Yeah, I remember that."

"Accused? I heard you."

"Heard what exactly?"

"JJ, was telling you he liked you and thought you were a cool hippie chick, which you are not. You're not hippie. And then he asked you out and you said yes. As soon as I walked in."

Y/n stared at him blankly. Before bursting out laughing. A few guests behind them staring with a look that showed they weren't used to loud talkers or laugher. "Oh my god. You thought? Jesus that's absolutely hilarious."

"What is?"

"That you think- you think that JJ was confessing feelings to me. Whew that's rich."

"I heard it, Y/n."

"He wasn't confessing anything to me you shit head. He was practicing for when he asked out Kiara."

Rafe was confused. Majorly. Inside and out. "But she-"

"He likes Kiara. And she's my cousin. You think I'd really hurt anyone like that? How low of me do you think? Have fun at this party."

Y/n walked off to go look for her disappeared friends. Not wanting to spend another second in a spot with someone who was so rude over something he knew nothing about. Just assumed. Never asked.

As she walked down the corridors of the porch that many people stood on drinking, a hand grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. Her eyes fixated on the blonde in a black tux and a bow tie.

"Holy shit, JJ. You scared me. What're you doing here?" She asked as she hugged him.

"Well, Sarah somehow convinced her dad to let me in tonight to hangout with Kie."

"Have you seen her?"

"I was just looking for her myself. C'mon. She's probably inside."

She grabbed his hand. Pulling him inside. They found Kie just minutes later with Pope. He was working the grill with his dad. Sarah was getting raided by Topper about their own stupid shit. Y/n decided to go get herself a drink and maybe find someone to dance with.

The straw rested on her lips as she stood against the porch railing. Gazing over all the people who say around laughing, probably bragging about their money, summer vacations, their older kids getting into a good college. Typical kook things.

Her eyes focused on a specific couple talking off to the side. Her eyes burning a whole in the back of Rafe's head as he tried to flirt up a storm with some Kook she didn't know whatsoever.

Her body was fuming. Was Rafe really gonna sit in front of her and flirt with a whole other girl that isn't her. Just a few days after their breakup. It's like he's trying to play victim. And she's had it.

"Hey, Sancho. Lassie."

The brunette Rafe was talking up a storm to laughed. "I'm sorry who are you?"

"Oh, you gonna introduce me to your side piece here?"

"Would you stop? We're just talking."

"Talking? Yeah, okay," Y/n laughed. The girl just looked at her dazed. "Hi, I'm his girlfriend. Y/n. And you, yeah you're excused."

Rafe was truly enjoying this scene. Internally rooting for Y/n. He wasn't gonna object to that fact that she called herself his girlfriend. Because now that he knew the truth, it changed his perspective.

"Who do you think you are?"

"I already told you. Wh- can you not hear correctly?"

"He said he was single so, why-"

"He lied. So, you can go away now- Rafe. Let's go. We need to talk."

"What're you his mother now?" The rando questioned. Y/n turned to her and gripped her face.

"If you wanna keep these teeth, then I suggest you stop talking. Go find somebody else's boyfriend to mack on."

She dragged Rafe by his hand into the upstairs private bathroom. Locking the door behind her. "What're you doing?"

"Just having a friendly conversation. There a problem?"

"You were flirting, Rafe. That was flirting," she paced. Hand against her for head.

"Like you're any better. You lied to me."

"I've never lied about anything."

"You said JJ liked Kiara."

"Yeah. He does."

"Then why is he holding your hand, hugging you, and leaving inside with you instead of the girl he supposedly likes," Rafe argued. Gripping onto the large counter.

"Rafe, I grabbed his hand and brought him inside to find Kiara. And I hugged him because I was happy for my friend. God, Rafe how many times do I have to tell you that I am not cheating on you."

"It's kind of hard to believe that shit when I keep seeing things with my own eyes."

"Then stop assuming and come ask me. Jesus, do you not trust me or something. Because I trust you. Anytime I hear that you're at a party doing lines with hot blonde's next to you, I brush it off because I know you'd never. Why can't you just do that for me."

Rafe stood from his seat. Pinching the bridge of nose. The guilty conscience grazed through his mind as he listened to her words. He had issues with trust and with others, but he knew it wasn't a reason to take it out on the only person who's loved him for him.

"I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. You're right. I should trust you. Just like you trust me. I'll work on it. I promise."

"Don't promise me that. Just show me that you love me just as much."

The words clicked. He did love her. And he cared about her. More than anyone in this world. And he wanted to show her. In the most physical way possible.

"C'mere."

"Why?"

"Just c'mere," he repeated as he grabbed her by her waist, pulling her closer to him. She stumbled, but Rafe's grip kept her in place. He moved his face closer to hers, lips almost touching as they grazed against each other.

He used the hand placed on her waist to grip the fabric of her dress. Pulling it upwards. Her breath hitched as he hand snaked under the red tulle and right onto her now soaking core. His pointy finger swept across the waistband of her panties.

Y/n wasn't expecting this as the outcome from their miniature argument but she wasn't complaining. And neither was Rafe.

He pushed her underwear down as much as he could from their position, before going back to her walls and making circular motions. Rafe finally closer the space, kissing her lips practically roughly as he continued rubbing her.

He kept a firm hand on her waist to make sure she had a gripping support if he legs gave out, which they indeed will. The motions stopped as Y/n pulled her lips away from his. Rafe stared at her daring eyes, questioning if she wanted his to continue.

"Put them inside me," she whispered. The Cameron smirked before obliging to her demand. He stuck to fingers into her wet cunt. A soft moan escaped her lips as he did so. Pumping them in and out of her. Y/n rubbed her hand against the erection in his dress pants.

"You like that, yeah?"

She nodded as the locked her lips. Not being able to speak because knowing if she did, she let out a loud moan and even at this club would hear.

She unbuckled his pants, putting her handninside to grip his penis and pump it as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. The hand he held to her waist was now gripped on her neck, gently. Y/n clenched around his fingers. Feeling her high come close. "Dont stop."

Rafe began pumping faster just as Y/n did so. The teens were so horny that they were both already reaching their extent. Rafe's shaft twitched in her hand. "I'm cumming."

"Do it for me."

That's all it took for Y/n to finish. And Rafe too. His liquids filling her hands as they both let out moans due to their intense actions. In one swift motion, Rafe snaked a hand around Y/n's waist turning then so she was against the counter. Her pulled the straps of her dress of her shoulders, leaving kisses as he did so before connecting his lips to hers.

Her pulled his tuxedo jacket off him. Snapping the bowtie off as well. Y/n moaned at the tluchnof his hands on her breast. Massaging them in his hands over the fabric of her strapless bra.

Y/n unbuttoned the spots on his shirt before pulling it off his shoulders and onto the floor. Rafe stop his gripping motions and pulled down his pants and boxers. He sat her up on the counter. Her bare ass connecting to the coldness of the marble designed setting.

Rafe rubbed his tip against her fold once or twice before pushing himself into her. Not giving a warning, but Y/n loved the suddeness. Y/n let a moan into his next as he began thrusting his hips. The girl gripping her black painted nails into his back.

Rafe's eyes rolled to the back of his head. Enjoying the feelings of Y/n's cunt wrapped around him.

"You like that?"

"Yes, god yes."

Y/n sat up, wrapping her arms around his neck. Each moan and huff she exposed in his earn make his whole body shiver. Rafe let out a grunt before answering. She clenched her walls around his dick. The dirty blonde groaned slamming into her body. "Do it again."

She did so. Clenching around around the boy as he slammed into her again. This time, hitting the spot that made her whole body go insane. "Tell me I'm yours."

"You're mine."

A moan escaped her lips after he said what she had wanted. Her hand smacked down onto the edge of the sinks counter. Grilling onto it for dear life. "Tell me it again."

The feeling of her finishing was fastly approaching. As well as for Rafe. The moans she let out made his go over the edge as he fucked her hard. "Tell me, Rafe."

"You're fucking mine, ah-"

Each of them let out a loud moan as they finished. Covering each others mouths. There shouldn't be anyone upstairs but for precautions they covered either way.

Rafe's head fell forward onto her chest. Taking large breaths as y/n did too. "Shit, y/n."

The Cameron pulled out of her. Helping her get redressed and cleaned just after he did himself.

"You're still on the pill right?" He asked as he zipped his pants.

"Yeah. It's fine," she smiled up at his 6'4 figure. Rafe reached down to kiss her passionately.

"I love you, Y/n."

"I love you, too."

[rendevousz]

mum?

mother figure!nat x fem!teen!reader

avengers x reader

req by @teenwonder ; i absolutely love the entire teams adoration for reader skfksngnsf its so cute! could i please request one a little more nat based? maybe r treats and loves nat like a mom but nat hadn’t noticed that before, and the whole team is like listing examples of how and why 🥺🥺🥺

summary: the four times you needed nat and the one time she admits that she needed you too.

warnings: blood, a random attack out of nowhere because i'm not creative, inaccurate writing of medical situations because i have no idea how those things work, also let's just pretend bruce was around during iron man 2 when tony still had palladium in his arc reactor, also inaccurate descriptions of palladium effects bcs i just...don't know much about palladium pls forgive me thanks, and idk any hospitals in new york/manhattan or even the states LMAO so uh bear with this, and last but not least, my inability to write good endings

word count: 5426

notes: that's a long ass warning nevertheless pls do enjoy this fic <3

"i'm going now, bye!" you bid the team who were having breakfast together, walking out of the common area.

"bye, cupcake! don't get into trouble, don't do what i'd do and definitely don't do what i wouldn't do." tony advised and you rolled your eyes because tony says that to you every morning before you leave for school.

"wait, don't forget your lunch!" nat stands up from her seat and grabs your lunch that she had packed, from the kitchen island, bringing it over to you. "thanks, nat!" you grabbed it, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before leaving.

nat smiles at the action, turning around to walk back to her spot on the table, only to find the team staring back at her with knowing looks.

"what?"

"you know, you only need to sign a couple papers and the kid's all yours." tony states matter-of-factly. nat snaps her head towards the man, an incredulous look on her face. "what are you talking about?"

"we all see the longing looks on both your faces. she's dying for you to call her your daughter and you, her mother." clint explains and the others nodded in agreement.

"that's nonsense. she has wanda too," nat reasons, sitting back down. "i'm pretty sure she sees wanda as a sister considering how much she drags wanda with her whenever she's causing trouble around the tower." steve raises his brows at the redhead who was in denial.

"she sees you as her mother, nat. just accept it," wanda tells her, taking a sip from her glass. "really? name me one time she showed it." nat challenges them, not knowing that they've been watching your interactions with her for the longest time.

"you have no idea what you just got yourself into, romanoff," clint chuckles, cracking his neck and knuckles as if preparing for a fight.

"remember new mexico?" he smirks and nat only frowns, trying to remember.

i.

"no!" you screamed, dropping down to the ground. you didn't care that you scraped your knees doing that, the only thing that mattered was the overwhelming feeling of grief engulfing your whole being. tears streamed down your face as you looked at the debris on the ground, the remainder of what used to be standing in front of you; a building. blown up, now in ruins.

clint, bucky and steve watched you break down in front of them, their hearts breaking at the sight in front of them as well as the fact that their teammate had been caught up in the middle of the explosion.

"y/n/n? come on, tony's team called for back up. we gotta go," steve tried to get you to stand up, failing when you kept your ground. you screamed when he tried again and their hearts clenched at the heartbreaking sound.

"we can't just leave her! please, we have to find her," you cried, clinging onto steve's body as he ran his hand up and down your suit-cladded back to soothe you. "y/n/n, we can't. the whole place is in ruins now," he didn't want to say it but he had to. he had to in order to get you to leave. "she's gone."

"she can't be gone! she can't just leave us! we need her! i need her, stevie.." you cried into his chest and he had to control himself so he didn't cry right then and there too.

he looked up to see bucky looking at the two of you guiltily, tapping his wrist to indicate that they were running out of time. steve had no choice but to carry you in his arms, getting you to leave the site against your will. but you were too weak to fight back now. "what am i gonna do without her now, stevie?" you asked quietly.

"we're gonna be okay, y/n/n," he tells you, sitting you down on a chair and settling down next to you as clint flew the jet to your next location. the atmosphere was tense and you could tell everyone, too, was sad about this.

"what if we're not? what if we're not gonna be okay, stevie? i know i won't be." you wiped the tears streaming down your face despite the fact that your face still wasn't drying up any time soon.

"because nat wouldn't want to see us like this. she'll be angry if she sees that we're risking people's lives just because of her." he says truthfully.

"we're landing, guys." clint announces and the team prepared for another round of fighting. steve turns to you, wiping the tears on your face as he made you look up at him. "now let's save some people and make nat proud, yeah?"

you nod at him sadly, preparing your weapons. all of you got out the jet and the second battle of the day begun. boy, were these people unlucky because they were on the receiving end of your fury.

you were busy taking down a group of guards alone when you heard a familiar voice. "y/n, behind you!" and you turned just in time to take down a guard who was aiming at you.

you didn't even have time to register your shock of seeing the redhead because more guards came at you two. you guys fought alongside each other until all the men were taken down.

"nat?" you breathed out. "yes, bub?" she answers as you both carefully walked over the knocked out men. she was taken aback when you slammed into her, hugging her the tightest you ever did since you met her.

"please don't ever do that again." you mumbled into her chest. she was about to ask you what you meant when she heard you sniffling. figuring out it wasn't the appropriate moment to ask, she continued to just hug and comfort you in silence.

"wait, that was why she cried that day? because she thought i was in that building when it blew up?" nat asks after steve finished the story. "i never found out why because she never told me."

"yeah, you should've seen her when the building exploded. completely shattered my heart, dude." clint states, remembering the broken down state you were in that day.

"wait, did you guys not grief over my supposed death then?" nat glares at clint, bucky and steve. "in our defense, they were about to blow up about a hundred people, we didn't have much time to process the whole situation." clint tries to convince his best friend, only to receive a glare again from her.

"alright but just because she cried when she thought i was dead, doesn't mean she sees me as her mum. i'd cry too if any one of you guys died," she states, still in denial.

she did love you like how a mother would love her child. but she didn't want you to feel that she was forcing the title onto you. after all, you had so many other adults around you, who's to say that you saw someone else as a parent figure instead of her? she didn't want to make you uncomfortable.

"woman, are you serious?" sam exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically. "need i remind you that the girl sacrificed her life for you?"

ii.

"nat, watch out!" you stood right behind her where the man was about to attack her. you gave him a harsh kick to the head and that was all it took for the man to go unconscious.

the redhead turned around, not having enough time to comprehend what had happened before you dropped into her arms. you two were lucky the last of the men had already been taken out.

"bub? what's wrong?"

at this point, you were fully leaning against her. she was holding up your whole weight, hands wrapped around your middle to support you. that was when she felt it. the familiar thick substance on her fingers, leaking from the back of your suit.

her eyes widened, pulling one hand away from you to look at it. red. her breathing picked up as one of her hands felt around your back, finally feeling the handle of a knife sticking out from your back.

your eyes were already drooping by now and she lightly shook you awake, careful to not hurt you. she lowered you down and you were both sat on the floor now.

she presses a finger to her ear and you could hear her voice echo in your ear from your own comms. "can someone come please," she paused, exhaling shakily. "y/n's down."

if it had been any other person, she probably would be bringing them to the jet by now but it was you. she didn't know what came over her but when she saw that you were injured, it was like her whole body shut down. her knees felt weak and she couldn't bring herself to move.

"hey, hey, keep your eyes open. can you do that?" she asked gently and you nodded weakly. "bub, why did you do that?" she cried softly, moving your hair away from your face as you leaned sideways against her. the action caused your face to be smudged by your own blood from her hands but she didn't care as she caressed your cheek.

"he–he was gonna hurt you. i–i couldn't..." you paused a while, the pain getting too much for you to bear. "y/n, don't strain yourself. you need to stay awake," she tells you as tears streamed down her face.

"rather me than you," you whispered. nat's eyes widened at this. "don't say that, bub." she scolds gently.

you smiled weakly at her. "i've grown too dependent on you, nat. it's to the point that i," you coughed and nat worried that you were straining yourself but you continued. "that i'd rather die than live without you. you probably can go on with life without me but i can't without you. i need you, nat." your eyes closed and nat panics, shaking your body.

"y/n?! bub?! stay awake, please, they're coming!" nat cries out loud, holding onto your limp body.

"did we not agree to not mention that to me anymore?" nat glares at sam for bringing that up.

the night of that incident had been one of the worst nights for nat. she sat by your bed all night after you had been treated. she had been the first one you saw after you woke up. she had been the one you broke down in front of after you admitted the full reasoning behind your actions. she had been the one who opened her arms for you to make yourself at home in.

"i'm sorry but you must be blind if you can't see how really she sees you for the past years," bucky states. nat turns to him with a glare. "you don't know what you're talking about."

"oh really? who does she call whenever she has a really bad nightmare?" bucky questions rhetorically with his eyebrows raised.

iii.

"no, please, don't!" you begged, asleep and thrashing around in your bed. quiet whimpers turned into heavy breathing as you plead for your life in your nightmare. "please," you whispered, inhaling and exhaling harshly.

FRIDAY, noticing the amount of distress you were in, alerted the closest person to your room, that being bucky who was returning from a late night trip to the kitchen for some water.

he quickly went into your room, only to see you shivering and thrashing around in your bed. "doll?" he approaches slowly, finding you still asleep, though sweating a lot. nightmare, he realised.

"doll? wake up," he gently shakes you and you immediately jolt awake, breathing heavily as you register what was going on. "it's okay, it was just a nightmare," he soothes you, holding you close as one hand rubbed up and down your back while the other held your head to his chest.

none of that helped as you were still in the same state as you were when you woke up. "are you okay?" he asks, worried. "nat... i need nat.. please i need her," you whimpered, shaking in his hold. you were having trouble breathing.

"FRIDAY, get romanoff."

within minutes, nat arrived, looking panicked and disheveled like she had just woken up, which she just did. "what's wrong?" she asks bucky, approaching you two.

"she was having a nightmare and woke up and i think she's having a panic attack. she asked for you," he informs her and immediately moves away when she approaches, so that she could take his place.

"bub? it's me," you look up to meet natasha's pretty green eyes. "you're okay, bub. can you tell me five thing you can see?"

you looked away from her eyes, looking around your room. "i–i see my book on my nightstand, my lamp, my jacket on the chair, my laptop and the painting on the wall." you told her after some difficulties.

"good, that's good. four things you can feel?"

"i feel the socks on my feet, my fluffy blanket, the pillow i'm leaning on and your hands around me."

she smiles softly at you. "three things you can hear?"

"i hear your voice. a–and the faint noise from the ac and i can also hear bucky's breathing." you look up at the man and he smiles sheepishly at you, standing around awkwardly. you gave him a small smile back.

"two things you can smell?"

"i can smell my own shampoo..and my room's air freshener." you told her more calmly now, feeling the panic attack already going away.

"one thing you want to taste?"

"i wanna taste wanda's blueberry pancakes." you pout and the two adults couldn't help but chuckle. "you can have them in the morning. right now you need to sleep so you can have the energy to devour them tomorrow, okay?" you nod at the woman as she tucks you in.

not long after, you fell asleep. she then presses a kiss to your forehead before leaving with a less worried bucky now. and sure enough, the next morning, wanda made you blueberry pancakes.

"okay, so what? we all need someone to help us through panic attacks?" nat rolls her eyes. "did you miss the part where i came in and tried to help but she specifically asked for you? she needed you, nat."

"guys, i... i love her with my whole heart but she has all of us. i don't wanna make her feel like she's restricted to only one of us. you all love her too," nat reasons.

"yes but she doesn't have anyone to call her mum and frankly, i think you'd be perfect for it." wanda encourages the older woman.

"i—" before she could continue, her phone rang loudly and she thanked whoever it was that called her because now she didn't have to make up excuses about her doubt of becoming your official mother.

iv.

she looks down at the caller id, sighing when it was you, meaning the team had more against her now. of course she didn't mind you calling her, you could call her when she'd be asleep after a mission and she'd still pick up with a smile on her face. but it was the fact that the whole team could see how she softened when she realised it was you who called that bothered her. she really didn't want them to let her have hopes that you'd accept her as your mother.

"bub?" she said into the phone and half the team smirked at her while the other half gave her knowing smiles. "aren't you supposed to be on your way to school?"

"yeah but uh are you busy right now? i um, i need you."

nat immediately stands up, worry etched onto her face and the team frowned at this. "what happened? are you okay?"

"you know how i told happy i wanted to walk to school today? yeah, i just remembered why i don't walk to school anymore."

"what do you mean? what happened? are you hurt? did someone hurt you?" she bombards you with questions out of worry. at this point, the team had also stopped their chatter and teasing looks, equally worried for your well-being.

"yeah, i am. wait, maybe not. i mean, i was just being dramatic but uh, i tripped on who-knows-what and now i have a sprained ankle. i can't walk now so i'm standing in an alley right now so i'm not in the way of people. can you come get me?"

nat sighs in relief, thankful that it wasn't anything that she was thinking of. "you are unbelievable, y/n." she chuckles in disbelief at your clumsiness. "can you tell me where you are? i'll come get you now. i'll have the school know you're not coming today." you told her your location and she immediately leaves after telling the team what happened to you.

you were expecting nat to call again, to tell you she was around the corner but instead you heard a whoosh of air beside your head, followed by a crack sound. your head followed the sound, eyes widening when you saw that a dart had struck the wall beside your head. you looked ahead, trying to see where that came from.

if it hadn't been for your fast reflexes being an avenger for the past few years, you probably wouldn't have ducked in time when another dart came flying right for your head. "what the hell?" you grunted, staying low but still looking around for the source. you squinted when you looked up, the sun blazing but you managed to catch a glimpse of a man on a rooftop nearby. he had blonde hair and was dressed in all black, donning a same coloured mask that covered the bottom half of his face.

"you had one job! how could you miss her twice?!" the blonde hears his colleague hiss in his ear through the earpiece. "i'm sorry! i'm no hawkeye, how was i supposed to get her in one try?!" he scolds back.

"you didn't even get her in two!"

"shut up and just let me work! you're distracting me!"

"hurry because i see the redheaded one nearing the alley. boss'll kill us if he finds out we didn't get her in her vulnerable state."

"i'm trying, i'm trying!" the blonde closes one eye, his sight now locked on your crouched state. he saw you move once you saw him and he cursed under his breath, his weapon following your movements. "she's moving!"

"just take the shot and be done with it! you have to go now!"

and shoot he did. after he shot the dart gun, he immediately fled but it wasn't like you were going to be able to chase him down or anything. a scream left your lips as a dart pierced through your skin, right under your shoulder.

you dropped down to the ground, right in the middle of the alleyway. you cried when you felt the burn in your flesh. you had been stabbed multiple times before with much bigger objects so why did this feel different?

"y/n?! is that you?!" you heard nat's voice yell from a small distance away. "i'm here," you croaked out, feeling your body grow weaker at an alarming rate.

"oh my god, bub, why are you on the ground? it's dirty, c'mon let's get you up. which foot did you sprain?" she places both her hands under your arms, pulling you up on your feet before accidentally dropping you back when you let out a shriek, crying out in pain.

"oh my god, did i hit your ankle? are you okay?" nat assumed that your tear-stained face was because of your sprained ankle but then you wheezed, your eyes drooping the longer she stood there.

your right hand slowly reached across your left shoulder, the butt of the dart sticking out of your skin now in between your shaking fingers. nat's eyes followed your hand movement's, a gasp leaving her lips.

"y/n, what happened?!" she panicked but before she could even get an answer from you, you had already blacked out. her eyes widened, knowing it was the dart because why else would you pass out that quick from a simple penetration in the shoulder. you had dealt with much worse than that and she knew your tolerance level.

she took off your bag, careful to not move the dart. she then placed her hands under your knees and behind your back, easily picking your unconscious body up and rushing back to the tower.

when she arrived, she was met with many confused yet concerned looks from the tower staff, seeing the black widow, rushing in with the youngest avenger unconscious in her arms. they had seen you leave the tower for school about half an hour ago so they knew something must've happened on the way.

"get bruce in the hospital wing. tell him it's urgent." she tells the woman working the front desk, hurrying into the elevator and telling FRIDAY to get her to the floor she so desperately wanted to arrive at quicker. black lines appeared on the left side of your neck, slowly spreading to the right side and she assumed it was from that damned dart in your left shoulder.

"natasha! what's wrong? they said it was an emergency," the doctor spoke in a panicked voice when nat entered, immediately going quiet when he saw you in her arms, neck lined with seemingly black veins.

nat laid you down on the surgery table, frown growing when black lines steadily spread to your arms now. though she was too worried to think, she managed to at least tell bruce what was outwardly wrong with you.

"dart. left shoulder." she blurted, incapable of forming proper sentences now that she had seen more of you. the black lining your skin got her speechless and anxious. bruce got ready with medical gloves, removing the dart from your flesh before analysing the pattern of your skin. it looked familiar.

"FRIDAY, get tony down here. it's urgent."

"bruce, please, what's wrong with her?" she cried, tears now freely streaming down her face. she didn't cry much in front of anyone but when it came to you, you always managed to get her to do just that.

"hey, what's going on? FRIDAY said there was an emergency here, who's hurt?" nat heard tony's panicked voice but she didn't make an effort to reply. her gaze was fixed on only you.

tony's jaw dropped, frowning when he saw you on the bed, upper body covered in black lines. "what the hell happened?!"

tony stepped beside bruce, taking a closer look at your skin. his frown deepened. "wait, it looks like.."

"yeah, looks exactly like when you had palladium instead of vibranium in your arc reactor."

"does that mean—"

"palladium's been running through her veins for about twenty minutes now. FRIDAY, how high is her blood toxicity level?" bruce asks, sampling a drop of your blood from when he took out the dart.

"53% and it is still steadily increasing."

"tony, at the rate it's going, if she's not treated in the next fifteen minutes or so, she'll.." bruce pauses, not wanting to say it out loud.

"no, she just needs lithium dioxide. that's how fury and i cured your palladium poisoning, tony." nat finally speaks.

"SHIELD probably has them but they're all the way in dc. they're not gonna reach here in time," tony states solemnly, reaching over to move your hair out of your face, looking down at you sadly.

but he was immediately pulled aside, nat grabbing his collar and looking him straight in the eyes. "you have your stupid iron suits that can probably travel faster than the speed of sound if you try. you can go down there yourself and get the damn thing. i swear to god, tony, i'm literally going to destroy those stupid suits myself if you don't put them to good use." nat threatens, glaring at the billionaire.

tony's eyes widened, the genius having not thought about nat's idea yet. "yeah, yeah, you're right, i'll go now."

he left immediately and nat approached your bed hesitantly, not wanting to see the black lines making home on the skin on your upper body. "do you think tony'll make it back in time?" she sniffles and bruce's worried frown on his face softened. "of course he will. he won't let anything happen to y/n. we won't let anything happen to y/n." he assured her.

there was nothing they could do now but wait for tony to come back with the lithium dioxide. nat sat beside your bed, hands gingerly grasping one of your own. despite the black staining it, nat held it to her face and her tears rolled past the back of your hand.

bruce decided to give her some privacy, opting to inform the whole team of the situation instead of standing around idly.

nat pulled your hand away from her face, rubbing her thumb over the back of it, crying even more at the sight in front of her. "y/n, please. i've never told you this but i need you." she pauses, breathing in shakily. "i've always needed you and i'll always need you. you can't leave me, please. you said i could go on with life without you but you're so wrong, y/n. you're the reason i'm still here and you're the reason i still want to be here. if you're not here then it's as if i have no reason, no purpose. i need you, y/n. so much more than i'd like to admit. heck, probably much more than you need me. so please, don't leave me. i can't do this without you." nat sobs out, watching the patterns on your skin spreading and growing bolder.

at this point, the whole team had now gathered outside of the room, watching nat cry over you. they wanted so bad to get a closer look at their beloved baby avenger but they respected nat and instead, waited for her to finish talking to you. once she stood up and looked around, bruce knew she was done so he entered, followed by the team.

"status, FRIDAY?" bruce asks, sampling a bit of your blood again. "blood toxicity at 96% now."

the team looked your unconscious body in apprehension, some crying and some worried out of their minds.

"goddamnit! where the hell is stark?!" nat growled. her eyes were now puffy after having spent the last half an hour crying. the team had never seen her lose her cool like this but they figured why.

as if on cue, tony's iron man suit crashed through the windows of the room but he couldn't care less. his main priority was to get to you quickly. in his hand was a silver briefcase that he passed to bruce.

bruce opened the case before wasting no time in plunging the syringe containing lithium dioxide, your supposed cure, into you. immediately, the black patterns on your skin started disappearing. it was slow but noticeable. it started from the tips of your fingers, going up towards your neck.

everyone sighed in relief, and to tony's surprise, nat hugged him tightly. "thank you. you have no idea how much this means to me." she whispers. tony pats her back gently. "hey, i care about her too, okay? of course i'd do this for her. any one of us would."

nat smiles at him when she let him go, turning back to you and almost crying out in joy when your skin had finally turned back to normal. she let the medical assistants set your bed up and handle your sprained ankle before going back to sit by you. the team left her alone with you once again.

it was only about an hour later did you wake up, squinting when bright lights shone down on you. you moved around but you felt hands around your left and you heard a familiar voice.

"and remember when you dragged wanda to pull that prank on me with you and after you did, i grounded you like i was your mum or something?" you hear her chuckle, still not noticing that you've woken up.

"i didn't mind, though. frankly, i don't think i would ever mind if you continued acting like my mother or something," you spoke and she immediately tore her gaze from your hands, looking at you, now wide awake.

"bub!" she hugs you so tightly you didn't think you could breathe. you still returned the hug though, laughing. "i was worried you might still have some palladium in your bloodstream."

"wait, palladium?" you asked her in shock. "yeah, the dart that got you in that alley, it contained palladium. it's highly toxic so we used lithium dioxide to counter it. speaking of the dart, i'm going to find out who did this to you and they're never going to see the light of day for putting us through all of this." nat says, disturbingly calm.

"yeah...you do that," you tell her, slightly scared. "but palladium? in my blood? how cool is that? i had literal metal in my blood! i could've become like tony but like...palladium woman or something." you said excitedly.

"you do know we already have metal in our blood, right bub?" nat questions in amusement. "oh." you say dumbly. "and palladium don't belong in our body and you literally almost died because of it." your mouth opened but no words came out.

"speaking of, can you please not do that again? i really thought i was gonna lose you." she whispers, stroking your hair. "oh yeah, of course. i'll just announce to the whole world to not target the youngest avenger," you joke, smile dropping when nat gave you a stern look.

"nat, being part of the avengers at my age undoubtedly means i'll be a target for the bad people out there, but i don't care because while i get to kick ass, i know all of you have my back when it's my ass that's kicked. and i think that's the best part of being an avenger; the sense of security i get having you amazing people as my teammates." you tell her honestly and she smiles softly.

"oh come here you," she pulls you in for another hug but this time it's better because you could still breathe. you make yourself comfortable, snuggling into her.

"did you mean it?" she asked and you look up at her in confusion. "mean what?"

"when you said you wouldn't mind me acting like your mother."

"of course i do, you're like the mother i never had. i wouldn't even mind you being my actual mother." you say without a second thought, eyes widening when you realised what you had said. you swore under your breath, knowing you've just made it awkward between you two.

"i– really?" despite the teams efforts to make her see the truth, it was much more meaningful when she heard you say it yourself. "y–yeah.." you admit sheepishly.

"then you wouldn't mind if i actually adopted you?" she asks carefully, gauging your reaction. your jaw dropped, eyes going wide once again. "are you serious?!"

"yeah." she smiles at you fondly. "no! of course i won't mind!" you hug her tightly, tears forming in your eyes. you had gone all your life without parents so this was a huge thing for you. not only were you going to finally have a mother, but the most amazing woman you knew was going to be your mother.

"mum?" you tested the title, smiling when she acknowledged it. you were now crying in joy.

"hey, don't cry." she soothes you, running a hand up and down your back. "no, no, i'm just so happy. this is the best day of my life." you tell her. "me too, bub."

you stayed in her arms until you fell back asleep, nat tucking you in before going back to sit down on the chair. she looked down at you fondly.

sure, she was scared of the big step she was about to take with you but she had you with her and she knew that was enough. "i love you, y/n." she whispers, planting a kiss on the side of your head.

taglist <3

@amourtentiaa @rqmanoff @abitofeverythinggg @andreasworlsboring101 @cay-writes-fan-fiction514 @teenwonder @sevenmorningstars @fleurlovesbucky

[bengiyo]

My Only 12% Ep 5 Stray Thoughts

Y'all, I am shaking with emotion and we haven't even started.

Last week I was screaming that it was vital that Eiw finish Love of Siam, and here we are with him sneaking down to watch it. This was also my gay experience in my teens. I watched so many shows and movies at almost muted with captions turned on.

What do we need to do to get this film remastered? Someone call the folks at Criterion Collection. If we can do this for Ghost Dog (one of my favorite films) we can do this for Love of Siam. I need to organize a viewing.

Okay, but I am super nervous about the focus of Eiw's viewing being Tong's mother convincing Mew to end their romance.

Seriously, what do these parts even mean to BL fans who haven't seen the film? It matters so much to me that New is referencing this film.

Oh fuck I keep forgetting that Prem is in this and it surprises me every time. Where's that gif from the office?

I keep seeing a lot of electrical retrofit in Thai dramas that involves using insulated pipes outside of the walls. It's definitely cost efficient, but there's your rehabber commentary for the week.

Hey that was a nice transition from one room to the other.

We have so much footage of Santa sleeping.

Damn, Santa is pretty. I get why Wabi Sabi signed him when he was 17.

I am enjoying Prem as an older brother.

I've been in genre too long. I can't remember Peak's character's name. It is fun to see him play with Earth. Neither really look like teens to me anymore though.

Oreo!!!! I know there's going to be something off about your character, but I'm glad to see you.

Very glad Cake learned keyboarding skills at his school. He does pick up skills, despite never doing his own homework.

I feel bad for these street vendors on busy streets. How much car exhaust have they inhaled? How much has ended up on food people have consumed?

Oh, Sand, you gonna order ice cream when you know you don't have no money?? I was prepared to frown at you, but I am still disappointed. And cab fare??

It's kinda fascinating that no one seems bothered that Eiw and Cake are as close as they are, but are all concerned that Eiw is clearly creating distance.

I know Earth is a good crier, but goddamn I just want his characters to triumph just ONCE.

I'm a big brother and one of the oldest cousins. I wish I'd had a big sister when I was struggling with figuring out who I was. The amount of internalized homophobia coming out of Eiw is making me feel heavy.

"Sis, if it's not wrong, then why [is] everyone in that movie...[un]happy?" Baby boy, that was what we've been asking for 15 years. The answer is that we needed straight girls to feel sad to move the needle. That we also had to be sad is the burden we carry for the young people behind us. You hurt, and it matters. Know that it was not for naught.

I am sobbing. This is a lot.

I hope there are more sisters out there like Hom.

I cannot properly articulate the depths of loneliness I felt in the aftermath of H. Katrina as I came of age as a queer person, nor would I want to on a reaction post like this. However, I hope many of you who are watching along and reading this are only curious and a bit confused. I hope you don't fully grasp how Eiw feels. I hope things were good enough for you that this wound doesn't linger.

Cake saw that something was wrong with Eiw. What will he do next? Of course he waits on Eiw's room to cuddle.

Aww, Cake, I love him asking direct questions.

Growing up is hard. These boys are going to break me.

It's so adorable that Eiw is protective of his big sister.

Oh lord this boy done put a bunch of Hom's pictures on the wall. I am NOT finding this cute.

Sand better not harm Eiw and prove Cake's worries correct.

Cake is on the phone with Rin in Eiw's bed. Frustrating.

Oh don't cliffhanger on a Now Kiss Moment that Cake doesn't even recognize.

Oh good it looks like we might resolve Sand next week.

[silencedrage]

no real coherency or structure, just quick thoughts i noted during my initial watch and my rewatch

it's interesting that it's tai and van together who come up with the hunt rules; tai is the one who Says it but van is the one with the cards; tai does it because van and shauna both say they don't want to be in the wilderness without lottie; van and shauna are the two most important people to tai in the wilderness and she can't lose anyone else to this. van says "i can't imagine being here without her." there's a cut to tai who's rubbing her face in frustration, and then shauna chimes in "me either" and that's when tai is like "okay we need to survive and it can't be lottie" bc she knows losing lottie would devastate van and shauna. she's already worried about van bc of everything going on, and last episode van's the one saying they should "wake up" and being morose

i've seen a lot of people complaining about how the team gets to the hunt and how abrupt that shift seemed, but it didn't really need any more explanation imo because the entire episode had people with auditory and visual hallucinations; they were eating belts - that's the level of desperation they were at. the last episode ended with ritual violence being used as the way to cope and survive, so for me it wasn't REALLY a hard leap to get to "we have to hurt each other to survive"; they've already been introduced to it via jackie, which they all indirectly caused via the fight, but not like this. it's a gradual step; one can argue that even this death is "accidental" in the way that no one pushed javi into the lake or held him under, just like no one made jackie sleep outside. it was a death of indifference and passivity, and i honestly think it's fucking brilliant for them to show that. yes they're primal and feral, but they're not just jumping straight to murder. akilah says they can still save them, natalie initial does try to save him, but ultimately, they just watch. there's so much more for them to traverse before what we see in the pilot, where they're creating traps and bleeding out girls hanging from a tree

teen misty taking care of lottie, showing that she understands how important lottie is; she staying close to lottie for that power but she's also buying in because it's the first time she's a part of the group. she's spent her entire life on the outskirts, that now that she has an in, she's going to do what it takes to stay there

adult van trying to get to the bottom of adam martin, asking questions, and when she accuses tai of lying to her, she's straightforward and looking her in the eyes while tai HAS to look away

tai lies to van in the 96 timeline as well, about the other tai and you can see van realizes and accepts it even if she doesn't press it, and tai is the one to look away first

adult van is upset because they're lying to her but also because they've clearly spent time together in those 25 years, something that she wasn't included in, and even while she deliberately removed herself out of that situation, it still fucking stings to feel like she's not a part of that group anymore

van being the one to push for the killing is why she can't repress the things that have happened; she tries to lay some blame at lottie's feet but she ultimately knows that's not right either; she can't forget and she never fully convinces herself that what they did was okay because she was the one to set things in motion

van insisted on knowing what was happening, but when they go to the sharing shack, she hesitates. it's that same feeling as in the 96 timeline where she knows instinctively where this is leading, and she can't do anything to stop it

'lottie took it from her to protect us. don't let it be for nothing.' (i have nothing eloquent to say about this, i just really love the complexity of van not even being able to say shauna's name and i want more of their interactions)

'maybe lottie dying wouldn't be the worst thing' - it was kind of fascinating to me that nat's fine with lottie dying if it means the woo woo shit goes away, not because she's like in immense pain or anything; she calls it 'the dark side' even. and then the irony of her being the first 'victim' of the wilderness, idk there's a parallel there that i need to tease out a bit more

tai and van being the one to look after the jv team - this is just important to me, okay?

'we all need things we can't have, shauna' YEAH TAI LIKE YOUR EX WHO'S LITERALLY SITTING NEXT TO YOU THAT YOU TRIED TO DEVOUR LIKE AN HOUR AGO

'if i die, don't waste my body' - lottie's final and ultimate sacrifice and still it's just about her and what she is willing to give. she didn't ask anyone else to do it too but misty already starts to put the blame on her next week which honestly breaks my heart a little

walter just randomly pulls out a purple coat; did he just have that handy or was he always planning to infiltrate the cult?

'i can't imagine being here without [lottie].' 'me either' - no thoughts just ship brain go brrr

van and tai were the ones to come up with the rules but still the tension of knowing that it could be on of them and that doesn't mean they're exempt. that look will fuel me through the entire hiatus

natalie being the first to get chosen in the 96 timeline and escapes, full circle in the finale?

in van's mind the rebar is a good weapon, but it's also a good tool to help bring something back (as shared by liv in their interview); the rebar's also the foundation of what is needed to cook anything over the fire

also upset they cut the lottieshauna scene in the beginning but also probably safer so i don't combust

apparently this episode was divisive for the fandom so i'm gonna post my thoughts in my safe little corner here once i have some coffee and do my rewatch...

[bunni-bino]

Platonic! Straw Hats x Teen! Reader » Continued. PT 2

Request : Can we have more teen reader with the straw hats and they protect them and teach them things

Hi, do you mind if we get more platonic teen reader with the straw hats?

Is there going to be a part 2 of the teen reader and straw hat Pirates?

-

I FINALLY FINISHED. I didn’t realize how popular this would be, holy crap. This is the first time I had someone request for a part 2 for something, let alone 3 people. It feels kinda nice 😂

I’m trying to keep reader GN, but if I end up writing female pronouns or hints of a female reader, then I’m sorry :(

this might be in parts, ( should I turn this into a multi-fic? lol )

PART ONE | PART THREE

includes interaction w/ : Nami, Sanji, Chopper & Usopp!

Summary : continuation of life with the straw hats, as a teen. This time, they will get you to open up! >:)

-

“So, treat them nicely, okay?”

Nami’s sing-song voice fills the room as boys stare in surprise at the sudden appearance of the two girls and their younger crewmate.

You felt a little uneasy in the presence of the crew, their eyes lingering on you as you shifted you weight.

“Er.. im sorry for.. staying in my room a lot.. and.. for.. making you worry..”

Even though Nami already explained the reasoning for your actions, you still felt the need to apologize. However, when it continues to be silent, you feel yourself fidgeting with the hem of your shirt.

Then your Captain spoke. Well, laughed.

“Shishishishi!~”

Everyone turns to Luffy, who is grinning widely. “Apology accepted! Who knew you were just shy the whole time? We assumed you didn’t like us! Shishishi!”

Your eyes widen at him and you felt an embarrassed blush creeping up onto your cheeks as you look down to hide it. “I-I’m sorry.”

Robin places a gentle hand on your shoulder and smiles softly to the crew. “Well, now that we know the truth, why don’t you spend the rest of the day with us? One by one.”

“I like that idea.” Nami grins before glancing down at you. “Well? Who do you want to spend time with first, [Name]?”

You blink at her before looking around to see them staring expectantly at you, offering rather kind smiles to you, patiently waiting for an answer.

“..I don’t know..”

...

The others deadpan and sweatdropped at your response before Nami sighs softly. “That makes sense, you wouldn’t know where to start.”

Nami then grins. “Then, I’ll volunteer and go first! Sound good? No complaints? Great!”

“Hey! How come you get to go first and show [Name] stuff?!” Usopp points a finger at the navigator, narrowing his eyes as he frowns.

Nami simply sticks out her tongue and gave a childish expression. “Because I volunteered! Now let’s go, [Name]!”

Dragging you away with the pull of your hand, Nami pulls you off towards the aqua lounge despite the many protests, complaints and calls after her.

“W-wait, is this a good idea?.. I don’t—“

“Of course it is. You want to spend time with us don’t you?” The navigator smiles once you two enter and shut the door.

Now it was just the two of you, in the lounge.

“Well..” you trail off, still feeling awkward and perhaps a little bit nervous about all of this.

It was pretty sudden after all, just minutes ago you were in bed reading a book and now, you’re playing play date with your crew members.

Nami softens her smile and went over to the couch and took a seat, patting the spot beside her.

“I know this is a lot. We don’t have to do much but talk, and maybe get you to open up a little more. Tell me about yourself!”

Hesitantly, you nod and walk closer towards her, before sitting down beside her, turning your body to face her.

“...what do you wanna know?..” you mumble, Nami barely catching it but still heard it anyways.

“Anything about yourself. Your family, your life before you became a pirate, your favorite foods, hobbies, any crushes you might’ve picked up along our journey~” the navigator winks at you making you blush faintly at her, turning away with a sigh.

“I don’t have any of the sort.” You scoff lightly, closing your eyes but Nami wasn’t convinced. “Oh?”

“What about that pink haired marine? Koby, wasn’t it?”

You snap your head to her quickly, brows furrowed.

“Koby? Marine Captain Koby? I’ve hardly met him. Besides, he’s a marine. Even if I did like him, it wouldn’t work out anyways.”

You turn away once more, Nami grinning at how quick you responded and how much you talked just now.

“If Koby wasn’t a marine, would you date him?” Nami hums and you kept silent, though the red hue forming on the tips of your ears were enough for her.

“..he’s attractive.” You mutter and Nami giggles.

“Okay, okay, so then, how about any of the older men we met? Traffy isn’t that much older.” She thinks for a minute, her thumb and forefinger under her chin.

You raise a brow at her question. “You mean the Captain / doctor?.. Law?.. he seems.. really annoyed easily. He’s so frowny and never sleeps.”

“Not much different from someone else..” Nami sings under her breath making you playfully roll your eyes.

“I wouldn’t go for him either. He’s attractive, I guess, but... no. I think the fact that I’m in Luffy’s crew too, he might be pretty annoyed already.”

“I think it’s just Luffy in general.” Nami sighs and you smile a bit at that.

“Okay, how about that red haired one? Eustass “Captain” Kid?”

“Too violent.”

“Ace or Sabo?”

“Luffy’s brothers.”

“Perona? The Ghost Princess?”

“I don’t like her ghosts.”

“Vivi?”

“She’s gorgeous and rich, but no.”

“Tashigi?”

“She’s into Zoro.”

“Anyone from our crew?”

“We’re family.”

“Buggy?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Any of Sanji’s brothers?”

“They have no emotions.”

“Silvers Rayleigh?”

“A silver fox, but no.”

“Anyone in Whitebeard’s crew?”

“Izo is absolutely stunning .. and Marco seems really nice, I guess.. but no.”

“That empress, Boa Hancock?”

“She’s too into Luffy..”

Nami heaves a sigh as she leans back and crosses her legs, one over the other.

“So the closest one to your attraction.. is Koby.”

You shrug and smile slightly at her defeated look. “I’m not really into anyone...”

“Perhaps you’re just young. You’ll definitely be growing in some..” The orange haired female eyes your body for a good minute, making you shift. “..areas real soon.”

“Right.. what about you?”

“Huh?”

You shift in your seat and made yourself comfortable on the cushion. “Is there someone you like?..”

Nami blinks before looking up and thinking for a moment. “..I guess there isn’t.” She answers and you raise a brow. “I thought you like Luffy..”

The navigator seems offended at the statement, recoiling at the thought. “Luffy’s a huge pain in the ass. And besides, like you said, we’re a family.”

The corner of your lips tug upwards slightly. “And Vivi?”

This shut the female quick, and you can see the pink tint of her cheeks. “Vivi’s a friend.”

“Well, that friend, most likely shares the same feelings.” You hum, looking straight at her calmly. “I mean.. you’re very beautiful. Everyone would love you.”

Nami’s eyes widens at the unexpected compliment from you, her heart feeling warm at that, but you didn’t notice.

You didn’t realize how much you ended up talking, your voice felt dry and sore in a way. Though for some reason, you didn’t mind.

You kind of enjoyed this time with Nami, despite only talking about possible crushes of yours.

Instinctively, you rub your throat and Nami notices, standing up and offering her hand. “Come on, we can talk more later. You’ve talked enough, I’ll take you to Sanji.”

“Are you sure? I figured you’d want to spend more time together..” you clear your throat and Nami just smiles gently.

“We have everyday to do so. Besides, I’m sure it’s been a while since you talked so much so I’m happy enough with what you gave me.” Nami says, helping you up and began leading you out.

“Time for you to spend time with someone else, and don’t worry, I’ll make sure the others don’t force you to talk and Sanji makes you something to help your throat.” She assures, making her way back to the kitchen, which didn’t take long.

“O-okay..” you nod, eventually making it to the door and Nami just opens it up, seeing only a few of the members, so some must’ve left.

The four in the room look up at the door and find you, instantly smiling at the sight of your form.

“Already done?” Chopper questions in confusion and Nami smiles. “I would’ve spent more time with them but there’s so many of us, so we should make it short and easy for them for today.”

Robin, Brook, Chopper and Sanji nod in agreement at their navigator and Robin smiles gently.

“So, who would you like to spend time with next?”

Nami nudges you to speak in front of them and you turn to Sanji.

“Uh..Er.. Is it okay if I spend some time with you?..”

Sanji widens his eyes, clearly a bit surprised but nonetheless, smiles in joy. “Of course, [Name]-chan!”

Nami then ushers the others out, the only one to sulk being Brook but Nami was quick to slap his skull.

The door shut closed and you awkwardly stood there, shifting your weight. You never spent much time with them, despite fighting battles alongside the crew, so you weren’t sure what to do or say.

Sanji, noticing your discomfort, smiles lightly and gestures for you to sit at the counter as he stood behind it, in the kitchen.

“So, [Name]-chan. Is there anything you want to drink?”

You look around the dining room, taking a good look since this was one of the first times actually being in here.

“..Tea?.. my throat kind of hurts...” you mumble, reaching up to rub your throat again and Sanji nods. “I know the perfect thing! Ice or hot?”

“[ Either one ].” You answer, shifting in your seat and making yourself comfortable a bit in the stool and watched as Sanji quickly went to work.

Watching him silently from the counter, you lean on your palm and thought for a minute.

What were you supposed to talk about?

You hardly knew much about them and isolating yourself from them let you absolutely awkward and unsure of what to say or do, so you hoped Sanji would do something.

But the poor blonde cook kept silent, figuring that’s what you’d prefer as he made your drink.

So you had to do it.

“Sanji?..”

The blonde hums gently, letting you know he was listening.

“Uh...so.. what’s for dinner?..”

Sanji stays silent for a moment, taking in the hesitation in your voice before turning around to face you. “.. Anything you want, [Name]-chan. What do you want to eat?”

You ponder a bit at his question before feeling your stomach growling at the thought of a particular food. “..Can you make [ Food ]? It’s from my homeland and.. it’s really good.”

Sanji’s eyes lights up and he grins widely. “I’d be honored to make a dish native to your homeland, [Name]-chan!” He deflates a little bit and leans back. “However.. I’m a little worried I won’t be able to make it as good. I know I have the proper ingredients though, I’m sure.”

Sanji’s been studying on his own time, with the small assistance of Robin, knowing she was also studying up by gathering information from your island.

You offer a small smile as Sanji turns to take the drink he made and set it in front of you. “It’s okay.. I trust that you can make it even better.”

Sanji widens his eyes at the sudden compliment and encouragement, feeling his heart warming towards his younger crew member.

You take the cup in hand and brought it up to your lips, taking a light sip of the beverage.

“I see.. in that case, we shall have [ Food ] for dinner tonight.”

Your smile widens just a little bit at his announcement and you continue drinking before seeing Sanji still staring at you. “What is it?..”

“Would you like to help me?”

You pause in your movement, eyes wide at his question. “You want me to help you? I can’t cook.” You furrow your brows at the suggestion.

I mean, sure you had some BASIC skills, but nothing as extravagant compared to Sanji.

“I’d love to show you! Besides, I’m sure you can also offer me some tips and suggestions on your home dish.” Sanji grins assuringly, bringing a small, comforted smile to your lips.

“Okay.”

And so, after handing you a spare apron and letting you prepare yourself as he got the ingredients set, the two of you got to work.

Sanji moving towards the cutting board, you point to the vegetables set out by him.

“You should start cutting these up.. they should be bite-sized.” You inform, Sanji nodding and quickly cutting up the given ingredients with ease.

While Sanji finished with that, you began to look for the pots and pans and after finding what you needed, you did what you needed, ( whether it’s boiling water, filling a skillet with oil, etc. ) and set it onto the stove to heat.

“[Name]-chan, I can handle the stove. I don’t want you to accidentally burn yourself with the fire or the oil, so I’ll leave the cutting and mixing up to you.”

Nodding your head, you move aside and let him take your place before moving towards the cutting board.

‘.. how can you cut vegetables so beautifully?..’ you sweatdrop and began preparing what you needed to do before looking around.

Your eyes widen a little in remembrance and realization and you set the items down before heading to the rice cooker. You open the lid and find the pot empty and pulled it out, looking for the rice grains.

It didn’t take long to find it, fortunately, so you began to put in a few cups, and with the amount of food you were bound to make for Luffy, more than four was needed, obviously.

You did what you needed to, plopping the pot back into the cooker to cook the rice before going to the cutting board.

“Sanji, should we.. cook the meat first or cut it first?..” You trail off, unsure yourself as you went over to the fridge to find the meat.

The blonde cook ponders for a second before speaking. “It’ll be best if we cut first, so we can cook it all a lot quicker.” You merely nod in response as you pull out the required meats and brought it over to a new cutting board set up.

“Do you know how to cut them?” Sanji inquires, turning to you, which you nod in response. “I mean.. it’s just cutting it into smaller pieces. Right?..”

Sanji chuckles. “Yeah, in a way..” He lowers the flame on the stove so the oil/water can sit before moving to your side. “Here, let me show you.”

And so, with another cutting board and knife, he teaches you the correct and efficient technique, explaining which parts to throw and which parts to save.

“And then you cut them up into this size and set it aside to use. Did that make sense?” You nod at him, making him smile as he returns back to the stove.

Prepping yourself, you began to cut the meats into bite sized pieces, getting rid of the unnecessary parts and discarding them into the trash, exactly like Sanji had explained to you.

‘This feels nice.. cooking with Sanji.. even if we aren’t talking, it’s kind of, comfortable..’

The tiny curve of your lips move upwards as you thought silently, but distracted thoughts flooded your head as you no longer became focused on cutting.

‘Maybe, I should ask to cook with him more often.. it’ll be great to learn and spend more bonding time with him.’

You were so lost in thoughts, you forgot what you were doing and suddenly hissed in pain.

The sound was loud enough to catch Sanji’s ears as he widens his eyes and turns in a panic. “[Name]-chan! Are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a cut..” you poke at the blood, watching it drip down a bit quickly. ‘Guess I cut more of my skin than I think, by the looks of it..’ you frown.

“Let’s get you to Chopper.”

“H-Huh?.. but I’m fi-“

Sanji wastes no time to pick you up, as if you broken an ankle, and began carrying you over to the medical office.

An inaudible sigh escapes you, you relaxing in defeat as you thought about the medical office.

Sure, you’ve hurt yourself plenty of times before, nothing too fatal but enough to need patching up from Chopper. You were always up and out of the office pretty quickly, so you were curious to what the room even looked like.

“Chopper.”

Sanji knocks twice before opening the door with ease and walks in, seeing the little reindeer at his desk. “Sanji, [Name]! Something wrong?” The chirpy reindeer asks, a smile wide on his face.

“[Name]-chan’s hurt.” Sanji explains briefly, setting you down gently onto the bed and you turn to the little doctor.

“It’s just a cut.” You bluntly state, showing your finger and Chopper smiles lightly. “Nothing serious, at least! We should go wash and get it bandaged before an infection comes though.”

You nod and stand back up to head to the sink in the office, Sanji offering a weak smile. “I’m sorry, [Name]-chan. You got hurt because—“

“Huh?” As you stop in your tracks and turn back to face the blonde, you peer up a bit and shake your head. “It’s not your fault... I just got lost in my thoughts.” You murmured out, turning away.

You turn back to the sink and began washing your hands. “You should keep cooking, Sanji.. I look forward to you making [ food ].” You sneak a glance back at Sanji and held a ghost of a smile to him. “Cheer up, okay?”

Sanji widens his eyes at your expression, before he lets out a relaxed smile and light chuckle. “Yeah.. I’ll get to it then.”

With that, the chef left you alone with Chopper, who returns with his supplies.

“All cleaned up? Head on over to the bed and sit again!” Chopper smiles and waddles over to the bed before hopping up onto the edge.

You follow after the tiny man and sat across from him, holding out your finger.

Chopper, who kept silent to focus, began to clean up the cut with alcohol and wrapped your finger into a bandage.

‘Guess now is a good time to spend time with him..’

“So.. you came from Drum Island.. right?..” You internally sigh for being so awkward around them. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to mind.

“Yeah! It’s where I learned to study medicines from Doctorine!” Chopper excitedly claims, looking up from his task, which he finished.

“Doctorine? Oh.. you mean like your guardian?” You prodded at your finger a few times, seeing the wrapped bandage.

“Something like that. She taught me everything I know.” You nod at him and look to him. “Guess she must be a genius, since you know a lot. Right?”

Chopper widens his eyes at the compliment before waving you off with a scoff.

“Flattery doesn’t make me happy at all, don’t think you can fool me so easily~” Chopper sings, blushing as he danced on the bed.

Your eyes held a hint of amusement at Chopper as he calms down. “But you’re right. Doctorine is the best doctor I know.”

“I bet she is.” You stand up and dust your clothes, gesturing to your finger at the doctor.

“Thanks for patching me up, Chopper..” You watch the reindeer put on a wide smile and nods eagerly. “No problem! It’s my job!”

You pat his head lightly and nod, heading to the door. “I’ll get going then, see you later..”

With that, you exited the medical bay and shut the door behind you, wondering what you should do next.

‘Now what?.. Should i go back to Sanji to help?.. or should I find someone else?’

You wandered the upper deck aimlessly before making your way down to the main deck, where you found Usopp fumbling with something.

‘Hm. Usopp..’

You make you way over to the sniper, watching him suddenly jump up and cheer. “Eureka!” He hollers excitedly, startling you.

“Um.. did something.. happen?” You mumble, somewhat cautious as you step towards him.

Usopp jumps in fear when he hears you, before visibly relaxing and grinning determinedly. “Yeah, I finished my creation!”

He holds up his latest work, which seems to be an advanced archery bow.

The bow itself has an attachment that can carry arrows so you don’t require a separate bag, and it’s string seemed much more flexible to allow better accuracy and distance.

“Oh wow, that actually looks really cool..” you quietly awed, eyes widening in interest as Usopp chuckles eagerly.

“Right?! I’ve been working on it to better advance my stealth, since guns can be pretty loud, and slingshots can be tricky sometimes!”

He then smirks down at his bow and arrow in his hands and holds it up, readying an arrow upon the bow and aimed at the can that sat on the railing.

“But these bad boys are tipped with several of my ammo so I don’t need to grab the mini seeds anymore, since these arrows already have the affect!”

Usopp lets go of the arrow and it pierces the can with ease, knocking it into the ocean.

“Woohoo! Alright!” Usopp cheers, laughing hysterically. “Haha! I did it!!” He jumps around in joy, you watching with a slight smile. “Yeah.. you’re a brilliant inventor and sniper after all.”

Usopp pauses, eyes widening as he flushed a bit at the unexpected compliment, before snapping his head to you.

“You want to try, [Name]?” He smiles widely and held out the bow. “I can help you aim if you’d like!”

You thought for a bit before nodding, actually a little bit excited. “Yeah, sure. It looks really cool.”

Usopp felt his pride building up at your words and grins. “It is cool! Here, hold this and I’ll go set up the cans.”

Taking the bow, you inspect it closer with interested eyes. ‘I don’t remember the last time I touched a bow.. did I ever?’

Usopp returns quickly to your side and smiles, pointing to the cans. “Alright, [Name]. Now just hold up the bow, ready the arrow and take aim!”

You nod in understanding, steadying your arms and aimed directly at the center of the cans. Pulling back the arrow, you lined it up into position, going on Usopp’s count.

“Alright, and..... fire!”

You release your hold and watch the arrow shoot straight into the center and knocked itself into the ocean, like Usopp’s.

“I did it!” Your eyes widen and you smile to yourself. “That was awesome!” You turn to Usopp with bright eyes, but Usopp just laughs. “Nice shot!”

Usopp holds up his hands excitedly and you smile softer, hanging the bow onto your arm and high-fived him. “Yeah.”

“You sound like you’re having some SUUUPPERRR~ fun!”

The two of you turn to the source of voice and find Franky grinning at the two of you from below deck.

“Yeah, I just showed [Name] my latest creation and she just made a nice shot with my bow!” Usopp grins and Franky whistles. “Not bad, kid!”

The corner of your lips move upwards, a sheepish expression taking over your face. “Thanks..” you turn back to Franky and spoke. “What are you up to?”

“Ah, fixing something with The Sunny from down here. Almost done but it’s a little difficult, especially since I’m adding a new feature. Wanna check it out?”

You glance to Usopp, who nods that it was okay, and you return the bow, heading to Franky calmly.

“Yeah, sure.”

-

A/N : YAY, that took so long. I’m really happy with how this turned out, and I’m extremely excited to get to Zoro, Luffy and Brook’s interaction but unfortunately, I reached the limit so this is what happens, I’ll have to make a part 3. ;-;

Anyways, I’m so sorry for the long wait, I seriously hope this was worth the wait and that you look forward to the other’s interactions and then the final family interaction!! :DD have a lovely day/night, everyone ! <3