#Now look we're parents /lh

[thewindandthestars]

AWWW WAIT HUMMING TO RAZOR WHILE I BRUSH HIS HAIR 😭😭😭

Humming a tune often sung in the city, a calm melody that eases the listener while my fingers gently card through his hair right after the brush. Taking the gentlest care to not pull his hair and hurt him. The sound of nature around us, much like how he prefers.

Adding a few flowers to his hair and then smiling at him while telling him how pretty he looks 😔😔

Idhdidndkfj wait him starting to hum the songs I softly sing whenever we're together and it's quiet (who needs to be in constant conversation when presence is enough?). Us, humming softly together 🥺🥺

Please, I love my son so much. Giving him the softest, motherly kisses on his cheeks and forehead because he deserves them

[mrabubu]

MORE QUESTIONS (since i got you, i won't let you go/hj/lh).

- If Ana went to the prom night (the episode where it's leo & raph duo) What was Ana wearing? And if she went there and Leo saw her what was his reaction to her outfit/dress?

- If Ana & Leo go on adventures (or Leo dragging her in) what could their duo name be? Now that we're on this topic what could be kraang ana & f!Leo's duo name be?

- Was there anything Casey Jr taught Ana from the future? Like self-defense moves? Or something Ana taught casey jr like new food or some type of fashion?

- Was there a strong moment between Ana & Leo happened when they were teen and Leo thought "Wow! She's so cool!" Or ".. Am i... In love?"

- Did kraangfied Ana once got rid of traitors in the resistance? Like i can imagine her going surveillance mode and if anybody tried to hurt the hamatos or just betray the resistance she would go and hurt them or just... Take care of them quickly.

- What was Ana's reaction from Splinter? Like was she afraid from rats in general? Or was she okay with it? And did she envy the turtles's bond with splinter? You know comparing it with her parents?

- Is Ana the type to get bullied? If so, what would the turtles do to her bullies since she look like she won't tell anybody (from the previous answers i think she would keep it a secret).

- had Ana ever explod on Leo because of his stupidity? Like he said something that touched something sensitive in Ana and she just screamed at him with hurtful words?

- I laughed at the thought of Ana just begin invisible to Draxum as he would turn around and sees her before getting a heart attack xD

Oh boy. here we go~

For the prom night, I had an idea she would wear something white. She usually wears more dark outfits and a kepi she usually uses to hide her eyes. For the prom she would wear either a long white blouse or a short dress with shorts, and, of course, without a kepi. This would be the most "open" she ever was in front of Leo, and he would be stunned, maybe even saying that being like this suits her more.

MAN, I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE THEM LIKE A DUO NAME, BUT MY HEAD IS EMPTY((( I'll think about it, but also maybe you people have some ideas? I was given an idea of Magnetic duo, but then was told it's the name of Raph and Leo duo. Idk, maybe call Ana and Leo duo after some dish... Maybe like sugar and spice??? But tho it sounds a bit cringe.

Casey was a kid when Cassandra died, so it's more likely that Ana taught him something. I think those were more basic things, and if Imagine their relationships, I think Casey would even trying to take care of Ana in some ways, like making sure she eats and all, because Casey rarely saw Ana eating actual food because she needs blood. I just had this idea that Kraang zombies called zombies, so how can you not add the most zombie thing? Only I decided that instead of flesh she just drinks blood. Leo's blood, to be more precise.

I think this goes to this comic I made not long ago. Basically, he slowly grew to liking her because not only she was actually interesting to listen to and spend time with, she was also someone he was comfortable with. She didn't mock him or didn't have faith in him. He slowly felt more and more comfortable with her until a moment like in the comic when she would drag him into a Butterfly garden and he would be fascinated by something so simple and insignificant, and then realized that butterflies aren't the only thing that he found fascinating.

I never had an idea like this, but I can totally imagine it with how much more brutal she became after being kraangified. Basically, her more animal like instincts would be taking over her in moments like this.

She would be needing to have some time to process Splinter's existence. I don't see her as a person who would freak out from seeing a rat, more like "they're okay as long as they don't touch me", but Splinter is different, he's not entirely a rat so she would mostly be fine. I totally had thoughts that Ana would envy turtles, thinking how they don't even have a full family, no mother, no other family members, and they're happy while she has a full family, but it's like if she didn't have them not much would've changed for her. But at some point I can imagine that maybe Splinter would replace a father figure to her in the late episodes of the second season or even after it.

I think Ana would hide the fact that someone's bullying her until it gets physical, like, someone would punch her or push her and it would leave a bruise. April would be the first to notice this and then she would tell the turtles. Leo would be the first who would want to deal with those who bully Ana. Right now I had an idea that him and April (and perhaps all the other turtles) would try to make up a plan to make those bullies actually afraid of Ana, to make it look like she's as not as soft as people think she is. Maybe something like, whenever those bullies try to bully Ana again, things would go the way so in the end they would end up beaten up (not literally). And the important thing is to keep Ana oblivious. So one day she would go into school, and those who bullied her would actually apologize and look scared and Ana would just go "???".

No, not really. I don't see her as a person who would scream at anyone, at least before kraangification. Crying, avoiding, yes, but not yelling. So even if Leo would say something hurtful without even noticing, she would just close in herself. After kraangification, yeah, she could actually snap out and yell and maybe even threaten him, like pinning Leo down on the floor, baring her teeth and all.

Draxum and Ana literally be like:

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not buying something for a friend on card when they only have cash? (profanity warning up ahead lol) 🦈🦈🦈

A few months ago myself and some of my friends (fake names: Lucy F, Mark M, Kai NB, Jenny F, Charlie NB) decided to go see a movie at the local cinema (we chose it because it's the cheapest in the area). For a very long time, this place only accepted cash unless you booked tickets in advance but after COVID now operates exclusively on contactless payments — no exceptions. Whenever we got there everybody had already booked tickets so we went right into the theatre to get good seats (tickets don't have specific seats at this cinema; it's first come, first served). Once we got our seats of choice, we decided to go to the cinema shop for food in pairs so that nobody would take out spot and after Mark and Kai went, Lucy and I went.

I went first and paid for a medium popcorn and a small box of Maltesers but when it was Lucy's turn she only had cash, therefore could not pay, which made her get snappy at the worker there who obviously couldn't do anything about it. Lucy then asked me if I could pay on card and she could repay me with cash (which is a reasonable request but shit goes sideways after this) so I checked my balance to see if I could. Turns out I only had twenty cents left on my card.

Side note: we're all teenagers and Lucy, Mark, Charlie and I don't have jobs because at the time we were still considered to young to be hired in my area unless we wanted to get paid severely below the minimum wage (McDonald's, I see you). My money consists solely of birthday money that I can spend on buying gifts for myself and others, and going out with my friends. I budget myself strictly because I don't have a steady source of income and keep my unspent money in my savings dedicated towards university. My parents won't start a uni fund for me until I get my first job (which I personally think is fairly reasonable so that I can work for my education) Also I've been saving money in my budget to see this movie for a while since I was excited about it's release (FNAF lol).

Anyway, I tell Lucy I only have 20c and I'm sorry, but she snatches my phone without asking to look at my bank details to see $400 in savings (I know it's not enough for uni but please bare with me /lh). I naturally freaked out in my head and take it back from her, worried that she was going to try buy food anyway, read my bank account details or take money out of my literal uni fund. When I quickly explained it was my only fund for university and I didn't feel comfortable whittling it down (we're in public and there's a line of three people behind Lucy) she gets mad and properly yells that I'm being a "selfish bitch" and only thinking about myself, and that I should just pay for her anyway so she can give me the cash (I would have nowhere safe to keep it in my house as my sister takes any physical money and lies about it, which she has done to me before). I offer to go back to the group and take someone else down like Jenny or Kai who can make the trade or that she can share my food (she likes popcorn and Maltesers) but she again called me a "bitch" at the top of her lungs in a public space with people behind her and families with young children nearby, and stormed back to the theatre, leaving me to apologise to the workers and members of the public.

We go back to the theatre and I again offer for her to share my food and ask if any of my friends could do the trade but she once more announced I was a "selfish, stupid bitch" quote unquote and that it didn't matter anymore anyways. She proceeded to sulk the rest of the movie and later when we walked around the area just for fun.

Later when we all went home, it turned out Lucy, immediately after I got on my bus, made a group chat with everybody but me to talk shit about me. I found out about this because I was on the bus home with Mark (we're practically neighbours) and he showed me the messages right away. She had completely changed the story to make her a hapless victim that I, the unfeeling antagonist, publicly shamed even though after the movie I apologised to her again (I genuinely felt like shit after all of it) and explained the situation to my curious friends (Lucy agreed with what I said then — except I kept out the "bitch" stuff — but rewrote the whole story in their group chat).

At school she started avoiding myself, Mark, Charlie, and other friends who didn't go see the FNAF movie with us because apparently they were all on "my side" (I didn't realise that this whole thing was a big deal or that there were definitive sides people had to choose). Kai and Jenny (who were sticking with Lucy but still talking to the rest of us) came up to me separately and told me that Lucy was "hurt by my actions" and just because I didn't like her, didn't give me the right to "take that experience away". I asked why they thought I didn't like her and that's how I found out she had been talking shit about me for months behind my back (and others like Mark and people who didn't go see the movie), which did upset me because I still considered Lucy a friend despite all this.

Kai and Jenny told me to apologise. Mark and Charlie told me not to. I haven't yet and it's been over a month now. Lucy, Kai and Jenny still hang out with us but Lucy still shit-talks myself and others and will consistently bring up that I didn't pay for her despite the fact that it was ages ago now and I really didn't think it was that deep.

Do you guys think I'm the asshole for not draining my uni funds to get my friend a popcorn and Maltesers, and then not apologising when she tried to turn our friends against me over it?

What are these acronyms?

[dysfunctionaldogdude]

You have cursed yourself with rambling. This may also lowkey be a vent but I'm unsure. Also hihi!

Autism support needs are hard for me to understand. To be fair a lot is. I had to rant to another mutual about it.

I can't live on my own or get a job or drive. I rely on our mother a lot for things and like.. With taking care of myself I only know how to like. Cook small things, some hygiene (but I still struggle LOTS) and like.. Idk

I also dropped out of high school. 🥲

I'm thankful for everyone else though!! My headmates I mean. Tbf we all struggle but like. Better all of us help each other than me being alone??

(Also I was just crying about Peridot but she's fine so whoops)

- Yellow (giving you nickname perms /at all of you)

[I hope you don't mind us answering this publicly - we can private it if needed]

I'm not an expert in autism - I think we might have it [so AuDHD] but we are a psychology student and plan to go get a degree for it [for criminal profiling and such]

I get that, I have pretty bad anxiety so I haven't learned to drive and I can't ride a bike for the life of me [I want to learn but like urgh been through bad accidents / family has been hospitalized before]

I REALLY wish we could help you with cooking!! We love cooking and baking and know how to make a lot of stuff due to needing to help my parents to make meals as I got older

I could maybe give you instructions on how to cook quick easy meals, like FULL meals that can be healthy and balanced [and portioned nicely!]. For a treat I can also send my mom's banana bread recipe if you like that kinda stuff it's really yummy and easy to make [Mostly mixing then waiting]

For hygiene we actually use to struggle with it badly! Now we don't really [other than the occasional day or two] We use an app called "Finch" it's like a small motivation task app where you can go adventures with a little bird [a finch] :) mine is called Pancake - She's currently visiting Cairo!

This is what the homepage looks like and you can see some of my tasks! [And Pancake!] This app has been a BIG help and keeps it fun by the dress up options, collecting micropets and customizing her tree house!

You can set any task you need and set which days you want them to pop up! Also if you enable notifications you can get a notification for the task if you set a time to receive a notification! :) helps me remember to check in on her

Also it sucks you dropped out :( ngl the only reason we haven't is me being a stubborn mule and family pressure [hence why I'm going to college for something I'll be able to focus on and not suck - I love learning about psychology - and specifically aiming for criminal psych cause I kinda want to reduce the number of jerk offs in the business and fight fire with invisible fire 👹😼]

I'm glad you have your headmates!! I'm honestly so grateful for mine since they helped me get through my ex and Phyce [who's CONKED] helps me kinda not break down when we're in public. At the seams bro, unmedicated, no diagnosis for certain things, and no therapy so it's good to have people to help no matter how little - little can go a long way!!! [Also I really hope you have therapy if not I'm pretty sure there's a lot of free therapy programs around that you could possibly apply for! I'm on a few waiting list - well for gender affirmative therapy since I would feel physically sick otherwise 😅 /lh]

Also yippee nickname privilege:3c

[bokujou-monogatari]

If we're to believe Magical Melody is from the timeline of the Mineral Town universe, and the characters from Magical Melody were the grandparents of the Mineral Town characters in that timeline, AND Mineral Town (a la Back to Nature) added Doctor as a character in that timeline, then Doctor's event lines makes a lot more sense and add a connection...

FOMT (Original, GBA): Hi there. I look kind of down? I was just remembering my parents, you see. My family have always been doctors. My father was a doctor and my mother a nurse. They were so busy that they didn't have much time for me when I was a child. I was lonely, and I blamed them for not paying enough attention to me. But, now that I'm a doctor myself, I understand them much better. It's a sacred duty, being responsible for someone's life! Now I wish I hadn't rebelled against them so much! What I fool I was!... Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to talk that much...I think I'll stay here for a while...

FOMT (Remake, Switch): Oh, it's you. I seem down, do I? You're wondering if even physicians can get sick? No, no. It's nothing like that. I was just thinking about my parents. My family has a long history of being healers. My father was a physician, and my mother a nurse. Our clinic was always busy. As a child, my parents never seemed to have time for me, and I was very lonely. There were even times that I hated the profession. I fought with them on occasion about it. But once I became one myself, I came to understand where they were coming from. It's hard to be responsible for the life of another. If I had known then what I know now, I never would have pushed as I did. Oh, forgive me. I shouldn't be burdening you with my regrets. Please forget about all of this. ...I should be going.

Gina, Azuma, your (grand?)son has depression /lh

[linagram]

[ 𝚔𝚎𝚒'𝚜 𝚝𝟷 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 ] 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢

his vd is here, everyone. the most problematic male prisoner so far's vd.

just so you know, i feel like the universe itself didn't want me to write his voice drama. the power went out like two times while i was trying to write it, uni is killing me and i also had to rewrite his voice drama multiple times.

i'll be so surprised if anyone votes him innocent tbh 😭😭 the original version of his voice drama was supposed to make him look more sympathetic, but that scene was deleted because 1) his vd would end up being way too long and 2) i had to stop myself from revealing too much kei lore, like this is only the first trial! the original version was also supposed to reveal more information about kei and eiji's parents and i also had to delete that, again, it would just be too long and it would look like i was trying to give you reasons to vote him innocent. (and i'm not doing that! do what you want with him <3)

also this voice drama mentions those other crimes kei committed before milgram and. um. yeah, they're bad. i don't want to spoil anything, so just know that there will be mentions of torture, they're not detailed though. there's also a mention of kei getting injured thanks to eiji. again, it's not detailed and the injury isn't that serious. (also warning for kei refusing to accept that eiji and miki are not a couple and just being his usual self. you know what i mean /lh)

(divider link)

(sounds of footsteps)

Miki: Hey, Eiji-san..

Miki: That next prisoner.. he's your brother, isn't he?

Miki: I mean, you both have the same last name and you look alike, so..

Eiji: Yes, he is my brother.

Miki: Ah, I see-

Miki: Wait, REALLY??

Eiji: But even though we're related, it doesn't mean that I will forgive him that easily.

Miki: But.. He's your family..

Eiji: Well, I don't consider him my family. I don't see my own parents as my family either.

Miki: Were they.. um, bad people?

Eiji: .. Yeah. The worst.

Miki: .. I'm sorry.

Eiji: It's fine. I'm just happy that Milgram gave me an opportunity to punish this guy for ruining my life.

Miki: But Eiji-san.. We are supposed to judge them for their crimes.

Miki: We can't judge them for something that's not the reason why they're here.

Miki: Like, for example, maybe that prisoner really was a bad person, but what if his crime is actually forgivable? We can't just vote everyone guilty based on their personality-

Eiji: I know this guy better than you do.

Eiji: And let me tell you, he does deserve the worst and most painful death.

Miki: Was he the one who did.. this to you?

Eiji: ...

Eiji: Even if I tell you the truth, you will still try to defend him.

Miki: I will defend all the prisoners until I actually see why they're guilty and why they deserve to be punished. Until that, I will try my best to understand their motives and reasons!

Eiji: .. It's only the fifth interrogation, but you've already changed so much.

Miki: T-thank you, I guess?

Eiji: It's time. I hope you're ready to meet him.

(door opens)

Kei: Oh! Here you are!

Kei: You really kept me waiting, you know.

Eiji: Get your feet off the table.

Kei: Yep, it really is my dear brother.

Eiji: And is that a milkshake?..

Kei: Yeah, a strawberry one. Want some?

Eiji: Where did you get that-

Eiji: Oh.

Kei: I made a request and this adorable little guard gladly agreed to get it for me!

Eiji: .. Gladly?

Miki: Uh-

Miki: W-well, y-you see..

Eiji: (to Kei) What did you do?

(sounds of Miki still trying to explain herself)

Kei: Nothing, really. I just smiled at her and told her she's the only one who can help me and that's it.

Kei: And why are you so nervous? Really, I should be more nervous than you.

Eiji: Yeah, I'm literally about to vote you guilty and punish you for every single thing you've done.

Kei: No, no, I'm not talking about that!

Eiji: And what are you talking about then?

Kei: Well, now my plan is ruined.

Eiji: .. What plan?

Kei: Oh, I just thought that maybe I can try to seduce the guards so that they vote me innocent, but then I found out that the guards are actually my own brother and some high school student who turned 18 recently, so..

Kei: Yeah, that's not gonna work.

Kei: But judging by your partner's reaction-

Eiji: If you do anything to her, I'll forget about the whole "three trials" system and I'll just kill you right after the first trial.

Kei: Hey, I literally just told you that I'm not gonna do anything to your girlfriend, so calm down!

Eiji: SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!

Kei: ...

Miki: ...

Kei: .. Then who is she to you?

Kei: It's impossible for her to be anyone else to you. You know, she's a cute girl and she's always with you, of course, you'd start falling in love with her sooner or later!

Eiji: You don't even know what it's like to love someone.

Kei: Of course I do-

Eiji: Not in that way.

Kei: .. Fine, you win.

Eiji: Let's just get started before I smash that glass over your head.

Kei: Woah, scary~

Eiji: So, Prisoner 005.. Sanada Kei, 25 years old.

Kei: That's me!

Kei: (to Miki) Wait, no, actually, did you know that I'm the younger brother and Eiji is the older one?

Miki: Really??

Eiji: Don't believe a word he says. He loves to lie just to mess with people.

Kei: You are no fun at all.

Miki: Actually, Eiji-san..

Miki: Do you mind if I'll be the one asking questions this time?

Eiji: Huh? Why?

Miki: I just.. don't want you to get too emotional. I think it wouldn't be fair if you were the one judging your brother.

Eiji: But I-

Eiji: What are you talking about? You know that I will judge him fairly!

Kei: Oh, I would love to talk to your partner more, Eiji! You get kinda boring sometimes.

Miki: Hehe..

Miki: U-um, first of all, Sanada-san-

Kei: Just call me by my first name. Me and Eiji are brothers, so like, it can get confusing.

Miki: O-okay then. So, do you like this place? Is it comfortable?

Kei: Are you worried about me? That's so kind of you!

Kei: Well, I'm not really happy about the fact that I'm in prison, but wow, I don't know who's responsible for all this, but they really brought some of the hottest people I've ever seen to this place.

Kei: Like, have you seen Eiko? Or Shun?

Kei: Yurika is beautiful too, but.. we don't get along well, haha.

Eiji: Do you even have any friends here?

Kei: Of course I do! I've already mentioned Shun and Eiko and I'm very close with them! I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that they're actually in love with me.

Kei: Oh, I'm close with the younger prisoners too! I'm basically their older brother figure or something.

Eiji: .. Really?

Kei: Akio can say whatever he wants, but he really does trust me. I'm the only prisoner who knows some of his darkest secrets, hehe~

Kei: And me and Riku are so similar! Haha, he really reminds me of my younger self.

Miki: I see.. I'm glad to hear that you like it here.

Miki: Okay, second question. I don't remember Eiji-san mentioning it, but.. what do you do for a living?

Eiji: ...

Kei: Oh, well, I'm just a photographer-

Miki: Really? That's so cool, I can definitely imagine you being one!

Kei: I'll take that as a compliment. But to be honest, I'm.. not exactly proud of working for fashion magazines and most of my "normal" photos.

Kei: I'm more proud of working for my father's friend!

Eiji: Wait, you still work for-

Miki: Oh, is it because they're someone famous?

Kei: .. I wouldn't say that. It's actually better for his identity to stay unknown.

Miki: Why though?

Eiji: Because that friend of our father is a criminal who kidnaps people and tortures them.

Eiji: A-and then Kei takes photos of them while he does so and that man either keeps the photos for himself or sells them to other.. monsters like him.

Miki: .. What?

Kei: Man, when you say it like that, it sounds like something illegal. Just so you know, all of my.. uh, "models" are still alive!

Eiji: Yeah, they're alive, but I'm sure most of them are now missing at least one body part!

Kei: Hey, it's not my fault that people like those photos so much. I just do it for the money, it's not like I have a choice-

Eiji: Don't even try lying to us, you just do it because you enjoy it! You're not any better than him!

Kei: Well, what's so wrong with me liking my job? You enjoy being a prison guard and torturing people and I enjoy taking pictures of people while they're being tortured! We both suck, let's admit it.

Eiji: .. But I-

Kei: What, are you trying to say that you don't like making people suffer? Come on, everyone can hear other prisoners' screams when you interrogate them. I definitely heard Shun begging you to let him go earlier. Why would you be so cruel to him if you didn't like hurting people?

Kei: Ah.. You're just trying to act more like me, aren't you? You're just scared, aren't you? You don't know what to do, you're lost, you're confused, and now you have to judge your own brother! Of course, you have no other choice but to act like your older brother who is so much stronger and braver than you!

(sound of glass breaking)

Kei: .. Well, this is a new one. Usually I'm the one who makes people cry and I never end up being the one in pain, but I'm open to new experiences.

Eiji: I just thought it would be nice to change things up.

Miki: EIJI-SAN, WHY DID YOU DO THIS?

Miki: Kei-san's hand is bleeding and I don't have anything to-

Kei: Please, don't worry about me, I'm fine. I have a very high pain tolerance.

Kei: Unlike my little brother~

Eiji: YOU-

Kei: Haha, what are you gonna do next? Come on, show me what you've got! You want to be as strong as me, right? Then act like it!

(sounds of Eiji standing up and walking closer to Kei)

Kei: What, are you going to slap me or-

Kei: ...

Kei: W-why is everything so colorless now?..

Kei: I don't want to live in a world like this..

Kei: Hey, give my sunglasses back.

Eiji: Make me.

Kei: Come on, you're just acting like a child right now. I said, give them back.

Eiji: Nope.

Kei: WEREN'T YOU TAUGHT TO LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR OLDER BROTHER SAYS?

Kei: Ah-

Kei: So I can't even touch you, huh?

Kei: So boring..

Miki: Wait, so this means.. We're allowed to do whatever we want while the prisoners aren't able to do anything to fight back?

Eiji: Sounds fun.

Kei: Heh, you really did turn into a younger version of me.

Eiji: S-shut up!..

Kei: How interesting.. So, you can either vote me innocent to protect me like you always did in the past or you can vote me guilty just to see me cry and make me apologize to you.

Kei: I wonder what you will choose.

Eiji: I've already told you that I will vote you guilty no matter what.

Kei: Sure, say whatever you want. But remember one thing..

Kei: If you vote me guilty just because you want to see me suffer, that means you really are just like me.

Eiji: !..

Kei: *laughs* Finally! This is the face I wanted to see so much!

Miki: Eiji-san, are you okay?

Eiji: Just a reminder that I still have your sunglasses and I can break them right now.

Kei: .. See? We really are alike.

(bell rings, machinery sounds)

Miki: Wait! Kei-san, I don't know what's going on and I don't know anything about your relationship with Eiji-san..

Miki: But please, tell us at least something about your crime! Just why are you here?

Eiji: That doesn't matter-

Miki: IT MATTERS TO ME!

Eiji: ...

Kei: .. So like, is she the one who's more dominant or-

Miki: Tell us about your crime. Now.

Miki: If you do, maybe I'll be able to change your brother's mind. And you want to be voted innocent, right?..

Kei: .. *laughs* Wow, Eiji, your girlfriend is insane.

Kei: Fine, I'll give you a hint. Just give me my sunglasses back. I don't feel like myself when I'm not wearing them.

Kei: Oh, and make my dear brother vote me innocent, of course.

Miki: Eiji-san, sunglasses.

Eiji: You're really gonna let him-

Miki: Do you want to learn more about his crime or not?

Eiji: ...

(sounds of Eiji's footsteps)

Kei: Thank you~

Kei: Ah, I feel so much better with them.

Kei: So, about my crime. Haha, I wonder what my video will show.

Kei: But anyway, here's your hint! Look at my uniform. Look at it very carefully.

Miki: What do you mean by that?

Eiji: You're just trying to fool us, aren't you?

Kei: Okay, then, Eiji, do you remember what you said earlier?

Kei: My name, my age.. what else?

Eiji: "Sanada Kei, 25 years old"..

Eiji: Listen, I don't have time for this.

Eiji: Let's just finish this already.

Kei: Well, I tried my best to help you.

Kei: So, Eiji.. Vote me innocent, just like a good older brother that you've always wanted to be, would.

Kei: Or vote me guilty and accept your defeat-

Eiji: PRISONER 005, KEI, SING YOUR SINS!

Miki: "Prisoner 005".. IT WAS "PRISONER 005"!

═════════•°• ⚠ •°•═════════

[petit-papillion]

Personally I think a true Charlos fan would have been completely over the moon this weekend with the 1-2, and not have had any time to spout negativity with the massive amount of C² content fed to us!/

I feel like most charlos fans are not really charles fans as well.

They are fans of carlos and they are fans of the ship. I think it's because charles is very "shippable" in the sense that he have chemistry with multiple drivers he interact and he's also very good looking which certainly helps.

But when it comes to charles as a driver, they barely acknowledge him. And they will always side with carlos no matter what.

I think after carlos leave ferrari we're gonna see a big change in some "charlos" and "ferrari" fans who claim to "love both drivers" and honestly is going to be a big relief to have less of them in charles tag

To be honest, I think it's really hard to be a fan of 2 drivers who are in direct competition. You're like one of those parents with a child on competing football teams - you root for one to win means you root for the other to lose..

I admire true Lestappen or Charlos fans who can somehow find that balance between joy for one and disappointment (or sadness/anger) for the other every race weekend. Also very impressed by their level of delulu, but that's another story.

It will be interesting to see how things go after Carlos is replaced by Lewis. Both how C² fans are likely to change, as well as how LH and CL fans get along. Of course, we are all entitled to change our minds - I've seen C² fans shift to Charles or Carlos alone and that's fine. I used to like Carlos more than I do now. And I like Lewis a lot, but who knows, that may change once he becomes Charles's teammate.

I do agree with you: Charles has great chemistry with just about anyone he meets, and (if I wa sso inclined) I could write some serious fan fiction about the way he has looked at anyone from Jean Alesi to a random guy he met at indoor karting. If people want to ship him with their fave, that's up to them, but yeah, it doesn't necessarily make them an equal fan of both drivers.

[the-blorb-system]

I mean I was assessed for ADHD about 3 separate times, with a period of 3 years between each assessment and testing, and how surprising- I don't have it.

Apparently not catching eye contact for prolonged periods of time and preferring to look at the window when the teacher spoke, is a sign of ADHD. How ignorant of me.

I could recite all what the teacher said, and even mimic her pauses for breath, but apparently I wasn't paying attention because the birds interested me more than the whiteboard.

True Autism doesn't just kick in when you're at a certain age, you can just mask it really really good since you pick up on the small cues that you aren't like them all (as technically is my case).

Or you can be very low needs or as some refer to it- "high functioning", which is inherently wrong wording since they struggle with just as much but get even less help and recognition because "they can pretend to be normal most of the time so it's easier to pretend they are normal" (also technically my case).

Same on the "being proved of it since that day", although for me I feel it's me just masking it less and less since it isn't as life threatening to not be as fitting in as I were before (which now yes I can admit was incredibly over the top. I was practically a living ghost you could see through/nav). Which yay that means I use my role as a Masker less and less. Denial and self loath kicking in. That also means I leave the job for the about 5+ extra maskers to deal with.

One of my parents has OCD which I do know can develop later in life, and they developed it at about 22 I think? And I do show multiple symptoms of it too but not in the same field of "obsession" as them. Which basically means adult me having to spend some (a lot of) time just going to psychologists and assessments to get diagnosed. Not even cause we can make use of the medication (for some reason unable to swallow pills- the bane of my existence), it's just the reassurance that yeah I'm not fucked up for no reason at all.

.. and maybe so I can guilt trip people who take my seat on the bus and act rude to me when I just asked to pass across /lh/nsrs

- Digi

Ooooof

The "high functioning" thing, god. I get that so hard. I spent so much of my life masking that sometimes I don't know how to unmask. Frankly, it's all bullshit. It's such a misleading term, and it's only known for its connotative definition and not the literal definition, which sucks. The literal definition doesn't apply either, but the connotative definition is just like you were describing- generally an excuse to treat us "normal" because we're better at making our "nonfunction" look neurotypical in order not to stand out.

I actually have a whole video about this on Tik Tok that boils down to "I don't want to be treated like I'm normal, I want to be treated like what I am is normal".

Anyway, not much really to be done for it right now as it stands. That's a much bigger issue all around than I could adequately speak to.

At least it's interesting to think about, especially in the context of other things like ADHD and Depression- just objectively speaking. Those things have a lot of overlap and affect each other in odd ways- makes life very difficult, but it's a party and a half if you like Venn Diagrams.

-Lizzy

[anxiouspregnantlady]

oct 25th - hello

i needed a space to write in and this fit the bill - abandoned, moody, anonymous. obnoxiously public, intensely private.

we're going again. trying to go again. it's been a bit of a crazy shitshow thus far.

july - random trying, weird cycles, lots of dental stuff.

august - appointment with fertility clinic. traveling. ovulated on the plane, of course.

september - monitored cycle. disc in neck popped out from sneezing, full body immobilization & 7/10 pain for 72 hrs; the worst vertigo attack i've had; body had wimpy ovulation or didn't ovulate. had planned an IUI but found out insurance denied the authorization. purchased ovidrel but never got to use it.

and then k got fired and we found out were gonna lose our nice health insurance.

october. period took ages to come, body figuring itself out. but it came. we have health insurance until end of month, so manifesting that i will ovulate by end of month for one last chance at a cycle with the clinic, even though they can't do an IUI (STUPID INSURANCE. I'M OBVIOUSLY INFERTILE). WE ARE ALL SICK WITH A COLD. AND MISERABLE. i'm thinking there's no way i'll ovulate. had monitoring appointment scheduled for CD13 which was this friday 10/27 (cutting it close!). tuesday (yesterday), i had a feeling i was going to ovulate earlier than friday... this morning (wednesday) i had a positive LH test so I asked the clinic to let me come today. follicle was 20mm, estrogen /lh were high so they told me to trigger and so that's what I did just now at 11:40am in between clients.

the crazy thing is today is only day 11. i typically don't ovulate for another several days. so, thank you, body.

this has overall been a crazy month.

i gave myself a haircut (first time in nearly a year)

i naturalized & became american

k finally, FINALLY got his canadian pr approved

adjusting to k being unemployed

the thing is... thing morning at breakfast p was being ballistic for no apparent reason & so so so sad and dysregulated (not tantruming, but genuinely distraught) until we got her some nai huang bao and calmed her lil nervous system and i think to myself, really????? really???? really i want to do another one???? she ATE MY WAFFLE. but she is also pure wonder and miracle & So Ready to be a big sister. when she was one i didn't know how she'd be at two...wasn't sure how her language/ability to understand things would be. but at two she blows me away with her emotional/relational perceptiveness, her deep nurture for smaller babies (that sometimes needs slight redirecting but is otherwise very lovely), her MEMORY! and attention to detail, her overall personhood, which is very, er, ROBUST.

anyway, i'll be disappointed if we aren't able to become pregnant by end of year, but also won't be too surprised. it's different this time... and i'm also different. i'm more able to understand & trust that this WILL happen, and that the part of me that feels frantic and impatient is because i'm looking around at other people. and if parenting has taught me anything it's that info about what other ppl are doing is largely useless.

[coldflash-corner]

@softboydepot #ohhhh the part about Len feeling Barry's heart constantly stop and restart? that's HEARTBREAKING (sorry. no pun intended)#like. this huge disaster even happens and now Len's having to experience his soulmate “die” over and over? fucking awful#i can't even imagine what kind of havoc that wreaked on his emotional state#but i love that you mention he didn't force his way into Barry's family's life (as painful as it must have been not to look)#“for their own good” LEN!!!!!!! WHAT ABOUT YOUR OWN GOOD!!!!!! FFFHHHHH#yelling. screaming crying throwing up

We meet again XD /lh

But no no please, feel free to intend as many puns as you'd like! We're Coldflash fans, it comes with the territory XD

Yeah, Snart's emotions kind of were all over the place. Because he kept thinking that this next pause was going to be the last one. This was it, his soulmate was dead.

And then they weren't.

And then their heartbeat still wasn't close to normal. And it stopped again.

And then it started again, but maybe the next time it stopped, this would be the last.

In addition, I fully believe that when Barry goes certain speeds, he's going so fast his heartbeat can't be fully felt, just like when he "flatlined". So even when he recovered and was being the Flash, he was constantly sending Snart feelings like he was dying. Heck, sometimes it was worse.

There were many times Snart envied Mick for not having a soulmate at all.

As for Snart looking after his own good... He's never once done that in his life and will not until Barry bullies him into it X'D

Snart thinks that as long as he's kept himself alive, he's "taking care of himself"

While taking all his emotions and shoving them in a locked box under the bed

And you're right that not looking was painful. It was so painful he knew that if he got a scrap of info about his soulmate, he probably wouldn't be able to resist checking them out and learning more about them. So to prevent himself from doing so, he shut out all info about the casualties and wouldn't let himself near hospital records or anything that could give him any info on his mystery, heart-problem-riddled soulmate. He even took Mick's lighter and burned a list of casualties once.

Everyone he was close to was... Con c e r n e d.

(But also he started saving a little bit of money every heist. So that once his soulmate did finally die, he could track them down, and if they had any family -siblings, elderly parents, kids- they could be fully taken care of. And if they didn't have anyone who cared, he'd get them a funeral they deserved with the saved money. And maybe help clear away any medical debt, if they had it and they had people left behind who might have to worry about it)

I am a big worldbuilding bitch. When I make soulmate AUs I have fully stopped thinking abt the main pairing, and have started working out the entire world and society and all of the soulmates every canon character I find compelling would have, or would not have, depending on the context of the AU and the character

So what I'm trying to say is that I started making a Coldflash AU where soulmates can hear each other's heartbeat and now I'm in a worldbuilding pit that I can't crawl out of

[fbfh]

rocks at your window pt. 4 - ricky bowen x reader

disclaimer: this series contains smut and chapter by chapter warnings, so as with all nsfw works, ricky is aged up to 18+!! ricky and reader are 18 and in their senior year

additionally, we're working towards a ricky x therapy plot so he's going to start expressing some symptoms of mental illness and bpd starting in this chapter but I promise he does get therapy eventually and has a good support system (he gets worse before he gets better yk) and obviously i'm not a professional and this is for entertainment so while I have done my research pls take this with a grain of salt!! or several!! /lh

!! contains some spoilers for season 1 of hsmtmts, and previous chapters of this fic !!

wc: 11k I know

genre: smut, slice of life/coming of age, one sided pining, fluff

pairing: ricky bowen x (afab she/her) reader

warnings: NOT PROOF READ AT ALL, more facebook messanger texts we'll politely pretend aren't facebook messanger, protecting carlos and seb during hoco (+ one use of the word homophobia), you're the dolly levi of the friend group, a LOT of hello dolly references??, TOOTH ROTTING FLUFF, ricky's falling HARD, antagonist!nina, one sided rina angst (like BIG gina angst), big red is ricky's temporary therapist, ricky has bpd, ricky kind of splits on gina??, ricky has anxiety too, dr phil and big red and natalie's emotional support hamster are the only consistant things in anyone's life, drama/general messiness, oral (m + f recieving), sneaky quiet late night don't wake up the parents sex, making out, ricky thinks you smell so good he has to bang you right now, "stay quiet or I stop", switch!ricky, switch!reader, calling ricky a good boy, praise kink, giggly sex, waking up the morning after to an empty bed but not at all on bad terms (and no ghosting)

summary: ricky works up the guts to ask you to homecoming. if you can navigate all the drama, maybe he'll get to rearrange yours after dancing together all night.

song recs: old friend - mitski, 10 minutes ago - cinderella (1997), dancing - hello dolly (1969), in love on valentine's day - paul sandrone, daniel farrant, james knight (spotify link bc it's literally not on youtube??? tracking down this song was a nightmare /lh), you turned the tables on me - billie holiday, born to be brave - nico iaciancio cover (bc that's what I think the original sounds like in canon), soulmate who wasn't meant to be - jess benko, perfume - new hope club

a/n: could I have split this up?? yes but I'm not going to. also congrats 2 me bc I'm officially in the 10k one shot girlie club!! this is the longest thing i've ever written and my eyes are burning. ricky has bpd, I knew from the moment I saw this motherfucker I was like "yup bpd and mommy issues" and I was RIGHT why is no one talking about this also go watch crazy ex girlfriend

EDIT: I FORGOT TO ADD THE LINK TO THE VAMPIRE DIARIES VIDEO YOU REFERENCE IN THE BEGINNING (obvious spoilers for vampire diaries lol)

tags: @yesv01 @afidiofobia @aliyahsutherland @hopefullhearts @afidiofobia @aliyahsutherland @matiere-detoiles @ifilwtmfc @uselesssapphickitten @nxstalgicnxbxdy @ggclarissa

There’s no reason to be nervous. Ricky has literally no reason to be nervous. You’ve been together practically 24/7 since… all this began. He ducks his head down and his eyes land on the smooth counter top of the booth you’re sitting in. Heat rushes to his cheeks as it so often does around you, as he remembers all the time you’ve spent together. He tries to pay as much attention as he can to your summary of the video essay on vampire diaries you’d watched while doing homework last night, even though his thoughts are racing, and all centered on you. On asking you something really important - but also like, totally not a big deal or whatever.

“So apparently they just regularly bring characters back from the dead,” you inform him with a laugh, and take a sip of your coffee. He didn’t think people could look particularly cute while sipping something until he met you… until he got close with you. 

“Yeah, that’s pretty crazy,” he agrees, hoping he sounds normal. You glance up at him to make sure he’s okay. You can tell he seems a little distracted, and he knows he has to ask you. It’s now or never. 

“So…” he begins.

“Yeah?” you lean forward, already invested in what he has to say. God, he loves that. He loves the way you care, really care about what he has to say. He lets out a small, breathy laugh, that you mirror when you hear his.

“So, homecoming is soon,” he smiles, and is pretty sure you know where he’s going with this. Your eyes widen in moderate surprise.

“It is? Already?” you ask, pulling out your phone to check your very messy calendar. “Jesus, I thought we still had a few more weeks…” you muse, and Ricky smiles. God, how can you make everything - even being a little scatterbrained sometimes - so fucking cute? 

You look back up from your phone, snapping him back to attention. His breath is shallow.

“So…” he says again, and rubs the palms of his hands up and down his jeans. Why is he so nervous? He has no reason to be nervous. You’re silent, waiting for him to continue in a way that feels patient, encouraging even, instead of critical like it would be from someone else. 

“...Do you want to go? To homecoming?” 

His heart is in his throat.

“Like, together?” You take another sip. He’s so choked up, so worried you’ll say no. He nods. You smile. 

“Hell yeah,” you lean back and pull out your phone to text your mom, who is currently at a PTA meeting, about dress shopping this weekend, biting your lip as you type. Relief turns to elation as you discuss plans, coordinate rides with your friends, and get a plan together. He bounces his leg, getting really excited for all this. He’s never been one for school dances, but with you… it’s a whole different story. He can’t stop looking at you. 

“So, what color is your dress going to be? You know, so I can get a tie to match.” A light, happy chuckle dances across the table and you hum in consideration, glancing down at the scone in your hand, your favorite flavor that’s become somewhat of a signature with you and Ricky.

“Peach.” 

You both giggle.

“Perfect.” he smiles. You’re going to look so pretty in a peach dress. At homecoming. With him. A burst of kinetic energy waves through him at the thought. The atmosphere is nice, comfortable. It always is with you. You finish the bite of pastry in your mouth.

“You know,” you start, “maybe you should go suit shopping with your dad. It might be nice to have a guy’s day together.” 

His mom has been gone for a few weeks now, and he told you how badly his dad is struggling. He means well, it’s just… been hard on him. It might be nice, he thinks, really nice to go out and spend some time with his dad, have some fun. He doesn’t remember the last time they had a day like that together. He’d really like that, if his dad wanted to.

“Yeah,” he agrees, wondering when a good time to bring it up will be, “that would be nice.” 

Around the time you’re ready to head home, your phone lights up with a text from your mom, informing you everything at the PTA meeting went great, and she’ll fill you in on the details at home, and you thank her, informing her there’s a hazelnut coffee coming her way. 

It’s Friday night, and you have less than 24 hours to homecoming. You’re not sure how you were able to find a dress you actually like in the right color on such short notice, but somehow you managed. You and Ricky have been texting all day, filling each other in on how last minute shopping had been going for each of you. He was shocked at how well today went with his dad. He was bracing himself for the worst for a lot of the afternoon, but the day progressed and nothing bad happened. They even got dinner afterwards. 

Now, you’re sitting at your desk, finishing some homework while you facetime each other and fill him in on the whole cast’s plan to be there for Carlos and Seb tomorrow night. 

“And, like,” you continue rambling as you wrap up your science worksheet, “it’s so ridiculous that that’s even necessary, you know? Out of all the living things in the world, humans are the only ones who thought to make up homophobia.” 

“Right? Worst idea ever,” he muses. 

“Exactly!” you exclaim in agreement, looking up at your phone. You mutter something about how stupid people can be, eyes moving down and skimming your paper, double checking your answers one last time. Ricky watches you do this. Your desk light casts a warm glow over you, and he can see some of your posters on the opposite wall from  where you have your phone propped up. He knows exactly which ones they are, too. He has every detail of your room - and of you - memorized by now.

He’s supposed to be finishing his english homework, that’s the whole point of facetiming each other this late, to keep each other company while you work. Instead his papers lay discarded on his desk as he watches you, a look of fondness dusting his face. You tap your pencil against each question on your worksheet, eyebrows scrunched, mouthing the answers to yourself as you go. Occasionally you’ll stop, turning to your book to check a chart or vocabulary word, then erase your answer and select a different one. 

“And that’s why we proofread,” you mutter to yourself, and Ricky giggles. You look back up at him, smiling, then back at your paper for one last once over. 

“Okay, I’m just about done,” you say, putting your homework in your bag to turn in later, with a satisfactory sigh. Ricky glances at the time. It’s getting late already. He’s torn between wanting to make sure you get enough sleep, and wanting to talk to you all night. He watches you rub your eyes, suppressing a yawn. 

“We should probably go to bed now,” it’s more of a question, but you agree anyway. You pick up your phone and walk into your bathroom, grabbing your toothbrush as you say your drawn out good nights. 

Ricky thought he was nervous asking you to homecoming? Turns out that’s nothing compared where he is now, waiting for you in your foyer. Somehow your house had become the unofficial get ready spot for the girls and Carlos, and meet up place for everyone else. So that’s where Ricky finds himself, barely unable to socialize or talk with his friends, all his thoughts preoccupied with you. He hasn’t seen you all day; you and the girls have been getting ready together, and he’s been trying to teach Big Red to dance all day. 

Ashlyn comes down first. Her bubbly presence immediately eases some of the tension in the atmosphere from Ricky and EJ having to wait together in such close quarters. She waits with them for the others while they finish getting ready. It doesn’t slip past Ricky how nervous Big Red suddenly gets when she comes down the staircase. 

Natalie is next - almost. Half way down the stairs, a snap resonates off the walls, and she freezes. She looks down at her left shoe, the heel of which has completely snapped off.

“Oh my god,” she mutters, and walks carefully back up to your room. A minute later, presumably after she informs you about her wardrobe malfunction, Ricky hears your voice, faint and bouncing off the stairwell. 

“It’s okay, that’s the risk you take with stilettos,” you say, trying to calm her justified panic. He hears you say something about how Margot Robbie broke a heel at an award show a few years ago as your bedroom door closes again. 

The door opens, and Carlos appears at the landing. His face falls slightly as he realizes Seb isn’t here yet.

“It’s okay, he’s probably going to meet up with us at school.” Ricky comforts. 

“Yeah,” he agrees with a laugh at his own nervousness, “yeah, you’re probably right.”  Carlos takes a deep breath, and Ricky notices the swirly, metallic red pattern on his suit. 

“You look great, man,” He says, hoping to take Carlos’s mind off the unexpected radio silence from Seb. The comment is appreciated, but seems to catch him off guard. 

“Thanks,” he replies, “dude,” he punctuates with a friendly - very awkward - punch to Ricky’s arm. It’s more of a nudge, but he appreciates the sense of comradery nonetheless. 

Footsteps echo down the stairs, and Ricky looks up, stomach twisting in anticipation. Natalie emmerges, much more carefully this time. She greets everyone, then starts talking to Ashlyn about the shoe incident. Ricky is trying really, really hard not to look like he’s waiting for you, but it feels almost impossible to focus on anything else. 

Finally, several painfully long minutes later, he hears the click of high heels approaching the steps. He walks to the bottom of the stairs, heart thumping as you round the corner, and all the breath is pulled from his lungs at the sight of you. You descend the stairs, hair and dress flowing and bouncing with every step, glowing under the chandelier light. Your dress, mid length and flouncy, a peachy champagne that compliments your hair and skin tone perfectly, shimmers subtly when you move, glistening like starlight. 

Your makeup is understated and glowy, bringing out every beautiful feature you have - which is all of them. Your hair is perfect, glossy and voluminous. Your earrings look like little pink silk flowers, and there are matching, larger silk flowers on the side of your heels. Your nails are manicured a soft peachy pink, with little sparkling accents. You even smell like peaches, he realizes, subconsciously taking a step closer to the bottom of the stairs as you get closer. You seem to descend in slow motion as Ricky takes in every detail.

Your expression mirrors his the moment you see him. You did not expect him to look that good in a suit. It couldn’t fit better, the cut and seams of the dark fabric perfectly accentuating his physique. His tie matches your dress, the same shade of peach, and you bite back a smile. The expression on his face can only be described as a breathless wow, and it’s something you'll never forget. Your cheeks are warm and suddenly it all feels real. You find yourself very excited to have fun at homecoming with him tonight. 

You finally float down to the bottom of the stairs, stopping in front of him. It’s quiet for a moment, as you take each other in, face to face. You’re both struggling to find the words, thrown off guard by the energy in the air, by each other. Behind you, Ashlyn claps awkwardly.

“Alright, everyone ready to go?” 

You and Ricky both giggle at the same time, and his chest warms at how in sync you are. 

“Yeah,” You confirm, smiling over at Ashlyn and grabbing Ricky’s arm in a way that makes his heart palpitate, “let’s go.”

Standing with you on the dance floor, his hand on your waist as you attempt to teach him how to waltz, Ricky is so thankful for homecoming, for an opportunity to be close to you like this. 

“I told you,” he laughs, enamored with your optimistic determination, “I can’t dance.” 

“Yes,” you smile, “you can. You just haven’t had the right teacher.” His cheeks flush at your words, the feeling of your hands on his, and he’s hit with the sudden memory of the last time your lips were on his neck. 

“I think you’re probably right about that…” he mutters under his breath. You bite back a smile, adjusting the position of his hand on your waist. You step closer, and his heart beats faster. He watches your face closely as you explain the basics of a waltz, a box step. 

“Like in ‘Dancing’ from Hello Dolly.” you smile, eyes widening at the blank look on his face. “Oh my god, it’s a musical classic! Carol Channing played Dolly in the original broadway cast in ‘64, then Barbra Streisand in the film adaptation in ‘69.” 

“Wow,” he smiles. He loves when you talk about theatre and Broadway, loves the way your eyes light up. “They’re like, really famous, right?” You let out a light hearted scoff.

“Broadway legends.” You smile, “The movie was directed by Gene Kelly, too, it’s amazing. We should watch it this weekend, if you want to,” you look up at him, eyes glittering under the soft twinkling lights. 

“Yeah,” Ricky laughs, “definitely.” 

After a moment, you remember why you brought Hello Dolly up in the first place. 

“Right,” you say, memory jogged, “there’s a song called ‘Dancing’ where Dolly is teaching Cornelius and Barnaby how to dance so they can impress these girls who work at a ladies hat shop-” 

“Cornelius and Barnaby?” he asks with a laugh. 

“It takes place in 1890!” you say, jokingly defensive. 

“Right,” he agrees, “so a… ladies hat shop…?” 

“Totally era appropriate.” 

You’re both giggling, trying not to be too loud. You lean your head forward, resting it on his shoulder. The sound of your laughter, the feeling of your head resting against him brings back that warm feeling he always gets around you. It takes you a moment to regain your composure. It’s been like this all night, the conversation flowing like a river, always making each other laugh over something or other. 

“So,” you begin, once again ready to dance with him, “put your hand on her waist and stand.” You recite, moving his hand from your back to your waist and adjusting your posture. 

“With her right-” you hesitate, making sure you have the correct hand, then continue, “in your left hand. And…” You step back with your left foot, motioning for him to follow, then back and out with your right, then together. 

“One… two… three…” 

You repeat the steps.

“One… two… three…”

And again.

“One… two… three…” 

You look up at him, your smile blinding.

“Look, you’re dancing!” 

He looks up at you, excited, disbelieving that he got it so quickly.

“Wait, that’s it?” he asks quietly.

“Yeah,” you nod, “see? I told you you can dance.” You start to move again, and he follows, hesitant but slowly getting the hang of it. After a second, he says your name, voice quiet and still watching the ground. 

“Can you keep singing? It’s making it a lot easier…” he chuckles, hoping you can’t tell how much he loves hearing your voice. 

So you do. You sing quietly, just enough for him to hear, about dancing and how it’s the perfect excuse to hold someone you like close to you, as you waltz carefully around the room. An electric, intimate feeling ties you together as you weave through the room. It's like something clicked, he thinks, because it makes sense. This, dancing, makes sense. He’s pulled from his epiphany by your melodic voice. 

"We should do Hello Dolly, it would be so fun!" You giggle.

"Yeah?" He asks, smile mirroring yours, "Who would you play?" You let out a light hearted huff, considering. 

"I would love to play Dolly," you admit. You had always hoped to portray the classic role, dreaming of being able to follow in the footsteps of other iconic actresses like Carol Channing and Barbra Streisand. You barely get the sentence out when Ricky nods, agreeing. 

"You would make an amazing Dolly." You laugh, cheeks warm, flattered by his response. 

"Who do you think I should be?" He asks, that playful energy flowing comfortably between you as he raises his arm, spinning you around. 

"Well," you begin with a laugh, "if you played Cornelius we’d get to waltz together. But if you played Horace and I played Dolly we'd get married at the end." 

His heart squeezes at your words, imagination already taking off like a wild horse. Again, your melodic voice pulls him back down to earth. 

"But playing Irene would be fun too…" you sigh, twirling in his arms again, your dress glittering under the soft lights. Your hands return to their previous position resting on his shoulder and your waist, free hands clasped together, and you begin to move in tandem. You twirl and float around the room, feeling the music wrap around you like a warm blanket in autumn. 

In that beautiful moment between the two of you, he doesn’t just understand dancing, he realizes, he loves it. Like, a lot. He loves this, being close to you. He loves the connection between you, and he wants to keep dancing with you all night. 

He giggles, twirling you around in his arms again. On your way around, you see Carlos behind you at your table holding up his phone, a smile on his face. You’re glad he seems okay; Seb still hasn’t shown up and everyone’s been worried about both of them. A split second later, you’re back in Ricky’s arms, and your heart soars at the smile on his face. You’d been hoping dancing together at homecoming might help him in rehearsals. Based on how well he’s doing - and how much fun he seems to be having - you can tell your hunch was correct. 

After a few more songs, you begin to make your way back to your table. Ricky’s hand settles on your back, guiding you through the crowd. Two more people are seated there than when you left, and your eyes widen. 

“Oh my god.” you say quietly, “Gina and EJ came together?” 

Ricky glances up, gaze almost immediately turning back to you as you get closer.

“Oh, they did? I didn’t notice.” 

Fighting to maintain her poker face, Gina’s stomach drops at his words. Her eyes dart between you and Ricky, the way he’s looking at you. She grips her clutch tighter. This is really, really bad for her. Gina barely had a plan for making Ricky jealous and freaked out so he’d quit the show to begin with. She definitely did not plan on you waltzing into the picture - literally - and stealing away all of his attention. He can’t get jealous if all of his focus is on you. A sinking feeling begins to invade the pit of her stomach. 

Ricky’s phone buzzes with a text from his dad. 

“Hey,” he says, showing you the screen, “which shirt do you like better?” 

He’s been filling you in on his dad’s hot date he has tonight, and you’re both very relieved to see that he’s doing okay, putting himself out there. You look at the pictures, and consider.

“Hmm… the second one.” you conclude. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too,” he agrees easily. He loves how you always seem to be on the same page. 

“Wow,” comes EJ’s voice from across the table. He sounds really stiff. “I had no idea you were each other’s dates to homecoming.” He states, sharing a quick look with Gina he hopes no one notices. 

“Yeah, we are,” Ricky smiles, “we’re each other’s dates.” He doesn’t think it would be too far fetched to say you’re… dating. 

“Yep, partners in crime.” You smile, showing off your plastic ring. Ricky holds up his, kept on a chain, sitting right over his heart. 

“Aw,” Carlos says, an almost bittersweet undercurrent to his voice, “you guys are so cute.” He gestures for you to lean closer to each other. “Let me get a pic for my story!” 

Ricky does not need to be told twice. He throws his arms around you, pressing a kiss to your cheek as you hold his arm and giggle. It’s the perfect shot, the sincerity of the fun you’re having evident in the photo. 

Gina runs her tongue over her teeth. She really does not like that. 

Across town, sitting at a table in a shitty karaoke spot, Nina scrolls through instagram while Kourtney rants about the bitch who criticized her costume suggestions. Something about a lime green sweater? She’s not really paying attention, she’s too distracted by the hideous dress that Gina’s wearing. And the fact that she went to hoco with Nina’s ex boyfriend. 

“Look at this,” she says, showing Kourtney her phone. “She looks like she’s wearing a bedazzled tablecloth.” Kourtney looks at her phone, disapproval written all over her face. 

“And,” Nina says, gearing up to point out the obvious jab at her, “she’s with EJ.”

Kourtney knows where this is going. Before Nini can go off about how obviously Gina has it out for her, she takes a sip of her drink. 

“Is there anything on their stories?”

She taps EJ’s story and it’s just a boomerang of the food. 

“No, just-” Carlos’s story plays next and Nina almost pukes. Right there on her screen is Ricky, kissing your cheek, leaning into you like a cat. You’re in an unfortunately gorgeous dress, grinning so sincerely, your nose effortlessly scrunched. Next is a video of you two dancing. Like, really, properly dancing. She can’t believe you got him to dance - he doesn’t even dance in rehearsal when he’s supposed to! She watches the two of you ballroom dancing around the gym, breath speeding up slightly at the realization that he’s actually good. The sick pit forming in her stomach grows as she rewatches the video again. She wants to know why, after all the practice, all the failed attempts and his reluctance, why it works when you do it? Why isn’t she good enough? She dwells in the feeling for a few minutes. She scrolls through a few more hoco posts before finding one that has your account tagged. It’s private. 

“Kourt,” she says, showing her her phone, “you need to follow her.” 

“Why?” Kourtney asks.

“So I can see what’s on her instagram.” Nina says. She can’t let you know she’s lurking, so the obvious solution is to lurk through Kourtney’s account. Kourtney sighs. She requests to follow you. 

A few feet away from your table, Ashlyn gives you a look, gesturing subtly to Carlos, then to the hallway. Seb still isn’t here. 

“Hey,” you say quietly to Ricky, “I’ll be right back.” you smile, eyes flicking over to Ashlyn and Carlos. 

“Yeah, sure,” he says, watching you leave with them to give Carlos a pep talk. A soft smile kisses the corners of Ricky’s mouth, watching you in utter adoration. He lets out a small sigh, gaze lingering on where you stood even after you’re out of sight. 

Gina watches him watch you, his dark auburn hair glowing in the warm twinkle lights strung up throughout the gym. His eyes seem to sparkle with joy when he finally tears his gaze away, staring absentmindedly at the table. 

“EJ,” she says, “could you get me some punch, babe?” 

“Uh,” he says, clearly unused to the term of endearment, “sure… babe.” He heads over to the drinks, the tension between them thinly veiled. This seems to snap Ricky out of whatever his train of thought was, and he scoots closer to Gina. She watches him lean closer to her and begin speaking in a low, almost strangely intimate tone of voice. 

"Hey, you know EJ went through Nini’s phone before they broke up, right?” 

She raises her eyebrows. 

“Just… you know, be a little careful around him.” 

“I can take care of myself, Ricky.” She states incredulously.

“Yeah, of course you can.” he says, head tilted to the side with a little smile, like it should be obvious, “You’re so talented and ambitious, and - honestly, way too good for him.” He mutters the last part, but she definitely hears it. 

“You’re way too cool to get your heart broken by a guy who plays water polo.” He says, drawing a reflexive laugh out of her. 

“Just… take care of yourself.” he concludes, locking eyes with her before moving back to his seat. It’s only for a moment, but long enough for her to commit the color to memory.

“Right.” she says, working harder than she usually has to to keep her expression neutral. 

Later, between dances, you and Ricky catch your breath at the snack table. You take a sip of your drink, eyes landing on Gina and EJ, who are very obviously arguing. You nudge Ricky, motioning over to them.

“What are they saying? Wrong answers only.” 

He considers, then begins to narrate in his best EJ impression. 

“Ugh, Gina! Stop moving! I haven’t posted on instagram in 35 seconds and blurry so doesn’t fit my theme.”

You try to stifle the loud, beautiful laugh that brings warmth to his cheeks and a smile to his lips as your eyes lock, sharing a look so close he never wants to look away. 

“I said wrong answers only…” you say through muffled giggles. He stares at you, fixated. He’s blinded by your warmth, your beauty, and he can’t look away from you. His attention is snapped back to where it had been when you gasp dramatically, shock written all over your face. He follows your gaze to EJ, who’s dripping with punch, and Gina, who’s storming away from him.

“...Oh my god.” you say, already dissolving into laughter again, Ricky following suit. 

Soon you’re dancing again, pressed up against each other, swaying gently to the oldies playing softly over the speakers. Ricky can feel your body heat, smell your shampoo, and the way it mixes with your sweet peachy perfume. You smell so good, he thinks he could probably get high off you alone. His hand rests firmly on your back, holding you close to him, and his fingertips brush over the exposed skin peeking out over the straps of your dress. He traces your shoulder blades, your spine, feeling how close together your hearts are beating. One of your arms is wrapped around him, your head resting on his shoulder. Both your free hands are intertwined, and he loves the feeling of your fingers intertwining with his. He’s steeped in a hazy sort of ecstasy, spurred further on by your warm little breaths tickling his neck. 

He lets out a soft sigh, more content than he’s probably ever been. He feels you smile against his blazer when he traces the outline of the back of your dress. You hum softly to the music, singing along to a few of the words. He’s not surprised that you know this song, of course you would know a song this pretty and romantic. He hopes he’ll remember to ask you the name of it later. Dancing, he realizes, isn’t just fun - it’s amazing. He loves dancing. He loves dancing with you. After a few moments, he realizes there’s not many people on the dance floor. He doesn’t get why so many guys don’t like slow dancing; when you really love someone, isn’t any reason to hold them close to you a good one? He thinks it is. His heart flutters when you let out a breathy sigh against his skin.

You adjust your head on Ricky’s shoulder, watching Carlos across the room. He looks so… melancholic. You should go check on him. And Gina. And probably EJ. Christ, tonight has been a lot. You adjust your head again, facing towards him. 

“We should check on Gina,” you say reluctantly, murmuring into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. He loves when you do that, loves how you know when people are hurting and what to do about it. But right now, he really, really does not want to let go of you for anyone or anything. Maybe it’s selfish, he thinks, maybe it’s selfish for wanting you all to himself like this, but he just can’t bring himself to let go of you yet. Maybe he deserves to be a little selfish sometimes. Maybe he should just give himself permission to do whatever makes him feel better. He holds you tighter, face burying into your neck. 

“After this song,” he breathes, eyes fluttering closed in your embrace. You nod gently.

“Okay,” you agree, voice so low he can barely hear it. 

Eventually the final piano chords sound, and he holds you tight as the last few, painfully bittersweet notes reverberate through the room. The song ends, and he lets go of you slower and more reluctantly than he’s done anything. 

You sigh, tracing your hands on his shoulders, slowly coming out of that cozy trance like state you’ve been in together.

“Okay,” you start, “let’s split up. I’ll check on Carlos, you can check on Gina, and I’ll have Ashlyn check on EJ cause they’re cousins.” 

He agrees, hit with a sudden wave of nerves about the confrontation. You can sense his hesitation.

“What should I say?” he asks, with a chuckle. He’d told you about how he warned Gina about EJ earlier in the evening, which you had agreed was totally the right move. He told you how she seemed irritable after the interaction, and wondered if he’d done anything wrong, if he could have handled it better. “I don’t think so”, you had said with a sad shrug, “some people just refuse to acknowledge the person they’re dating is kind of shitty.” 

You’re right, he realized, now ready to approach this with more compassion and less confrontation. You think for a second, then reply.

“You can apologize if what you said before came off wrong, that you didn’t mean anything bad by it.” 

“Okay,” he nods.

“And try to relate to her - you’re new to theatre, she’s new to east high, you gotta stick together, you know?”

“Right.” 

You send him a thumbs up as you part ways, looking for Carlos. After chatting with Carlos, he left to get some water. You see Ricky approaching you through the crowd, and stand up from your table, meeting him halfway.

“How’d it go?” you ask. He seems hesitant.

“She asked for a ride home.” Your eyes go wide with understanding. He knew you’d get what’s going on, you always know just what to do. 

“Oh, dude, the last thing she probably wants right now is to get in a car with EJ.” Ricky thinks that’s the last thing anyone would want. “If you want you can give her a ride, then come back and we can keep dancing.” He smiles, and agrees. Any plan that ends with dancing with you more sounds like a good plan to him. You quickly fill him in on how things are going with the Carlos/Seb situation in spite of its anticlimactic nature - no one can get a hold of Seb, and Carlos is really, really regretting this whole thing. You and Ashlyn are going to try and hype him up and turn the night around for him so it’s not a totally horrible memory to look back on, and Ricky agrees that’s a good plan. 

“I’ll be back really soon so I can help you guys out,” he says, hoping to extend the conversation a little, to stand close to you and talk confidentially with you just a little more. You smile, looking relieved at his support, and it makes his heart flutter. You touch his arm, sending him a knowing look.

“We need all the help we can get, so thank you.” you state with a chuckle. He tries not to be obvious, but he knows he can’t hide his flushed cheeks and dilated pupils. He hopes you don’t notice. 

You really didn’t expect to be the glue holding everyone together tonight, but you love your friends, so you’re not complaining. After a lengthy conversation with Carlos about how amazing he is regardless of who he is or isn’t seeing, and that there will be so many guys throwing themselves at him after high school, you finally get him out of his funk a little. You were about to go dance together and have a good time, because he shouldn’t let anything ruin his homecoming, when Natalie scurried over to you holding the side of her dress. 

“It snagged on the back of a chair and my whole leg is out, Angelina Jolie style.” She says in a rush, clearly getting more freaked out. You and Carlos share a look.

“It’s okay,” you say gently, “I have a sewing kit in my bag and I can have you fixed up in two minutes flat.” You look over at Carlos again, making sure he’ll be okay. He confirms silently, nudging you two towards the doors. 

“You go fix this wardrobe malfunction,” he says, already trying to pull out of the funk he’d been stuck in all night, “I’m going to warm up the dance floor. When you get back, get ready to dance your heart out.” 

He’s not all the way there, but he’s trying. You both agree, and you send him one last encouraging look before moving carefully to the hallway, trying not to let Natalie’s dress rip any more than it already is. You look back one last time as you pass through the doors, and finally, Carlos is out on the dance floor. You smile, excited to dance with him once you get back.

“God, I wish I had my hamster right now…” Natalie mutters, and you know if she needs her emotional support hamster, it’s pretty bad. 

A few minutes later, you have your sewing kit and Natalie’s dress is back to its former glory. She has on a fresh coat of lip gloss, just finished showing you pictures of her hamster, and is ready to head back out. You stay behind to touch up your makeup a little, telling her you’ll be right behind her.  As you’re walking back out, someone turns the corner at the other end of the hallway. You freeze in place, eyes growing wide as they land on none other than Seb. He smiles nervously, raising a hand to wave at you. Before he can, you let out a shocked squeak, scurrying back into the gym. His heart sinks. He hopes you don’t hate him, and he’s really worried Carlos is going to. 

When you enter, you see Carlos dancing his heart out. You don’t have time to be relieved, weaving your way through the crowd to Mr. Mazzara. You slam your hands on the table, avoiding the sound and light equipment he’s managing. 

“Mr. Mazzara!” He looks up at you, startled, as you begin to explain in a rush. He looks at you, a pleading puppy dog look written on your face, and sighs. 

“I suppose that’s fine…” he says, making a few adjustments to the switch board in front of him. 

“Thank you!” you say quietly, before running onto the dance floor. Carlos is finally in his element. He dances beautifully to the music, free and expressive. Right when the beat drops, a circle of spotlights go up. One lands on him, the other lands across the room on Seb, and they lock eyes in a moment that can only be described as magical. Ashlyn looks at the scene, straight out of a movie, then over to you. You high five her. 

“Nice!” she whispers. You can see it between them, the energy, the chemistry, the electricity. You look at Ashlyn, nodding toward your table. You both sit down, giving them some time to talk and catch up. You try to be subtle as you watch them talk, not close enough to eavesdrop, but watching their expressions, gaging how it's going. They're smiling, then they're laughing, and soon they're dancing together. It's going well, you think. You can't wait for Carlos to fill you in later. 

Sitting in Gina's driveway, a surprisingly more comfortable energy in the air than either of them had expected, Ricky tries to think of how to say what he wants to say. 

"Not quite the evil mansion with wrought-iron and gargoyles you were picturing?" She asks, a hopeful playfulness to her voice. She almost sounds nervous. 

"What? No…" he says. The comment takes him by surprise, snapping him back to attention. "...Well maybe some gargoyles." His joking tone and comforting energy has her giggling. She doesn't remember the last time she giggled. She feels his eyes on her, and tries not to look over at him. She does anyway. 

"You're not that bad, you know." He muses. She tries to control her breathing. She doesn't say anything. 

"Also," he continues, looking back over at the windshield, "I should thank you for that night at the skatepark, keeping me in the show. It means a lot, it's… a really big deal to me." He looks up and left at the top of the car window, mind already wandering about how if he had quit, he never would have gotten close to you like this, never would have fallen in… your arms the way he had that night. He can't imagine you not being in his life, and he has Gina to thank in part for that. He feels a sense of gratitude blooming for her. They talk a little more, and the feeling grows; Gina really is not that bad. He can feel a friendly bond growing between them, a sense of comradery. 

"So… now is probably a good time to ask about the whole drink thing," he starts with a chuckle. She ducks her head, equal parts embarrassed at her actions, and that he saw her at such a low moment. She lets out a sigh. The gesture reminds him of something you might do. He thinks you two would be good friends. He’s already imagining what you’ll say when he fills you in on all this, he’s excited to get your opinion. 

“...My mom moves around a lot for work. Like, a lot…” 

Once she starts, she can’t stop, and it’s not long before she’s unintentionally spilled her guts and her life story to him. She wishes she could stop talking, but it’s like she totally lost her filter with him. She’s always been so reserved, so calculated, and now she doesn’t even have time to think before the words are already spilling out. It’s a new feeling, being so candid with someone, and an unsettling one. 

She risks a glance over at Ricky, who’s just… listening to her. Taking in what she says. That somehow makes her more nervous than if he’d just ignored her or told her to shut up already. She wishes someone would tell her to shut up, she wishes she could. She finally gets to the end of her never ending stream of consciousness, and she’s stunned as they sit in the silence, Ricky really absorbing her words, her feelings. He reaches over and grabs her hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze before letting go - a mannerism he picked up from you. Heat floods her chest, prickly and almost painful, hyper aware of where his skin just touched hers.

“You know, you-” She’ll never know what he was going to say, his words are cut short by the porch lights flashing through the windshield. Gina’s stomach sinks. She doesn’t want to go inside yet. She doesn’t want this moment to be over, but she has to listen to her mom. She reaches for the door, then hesitates. She turns back to Ricky, desperate to try one more time, to put herself out there, to plant some roots. 

“I meant what I said at the skate park… about you having your own style.” 

He smiles, looking down with a breathy chuckle. His leg is bouncing slightly, he can’t wait to get back to school and dance with you more, spend the rest of this magical night with you. 

“Thank you, that’s-” He’s cut off again, this time by the kiss Gina presses to his cheek. She’s out of the car and inside before he can look at her face. She holds her coat tight around her against the chilly rain beginning to drizzle down, and a second later, the front door closes and she’s inside.He lets out another chuckle, different this time. ‘That was weird.’ He thinks. He barely has the thought before his stomach drops, a sick, cold fear clutching him. What if you find out Gina kissed him? What if you find out and you hate him, what if he breaks your heart into a million pieces without trying? Or worse, what if you lose interest in him because you think he likes Gina? He can feel himself panicking at the idea, unable to stop the onslaught of all too real feeling anxieties wracking his mind, creating a pit in his stomach as he peels out of the driveway and makes his way back to school. 

No, no, that’s not going to happen. He’s not going to lose you because he’s not able to express how much he cares about you. He’s not going to let that happen. Trying to hold this panic at bay, he pulls out his phone as he walks through the parking lot towards the school again. How to show someone you love them. He types the words into google, skimming article titles, reddit threads, quora responses, until he finds himself at the gym doors. He sees you across the room, dancing in a group with Carlos, Ashlyn, Natalie, and Seb. ‘Oh, Seb’s here. That’s good,’ he thinks, a momentary relief that at least one or two fires had been put out tonight. He spots Big Red on the opposite side of the room, and makes his way over to him carefully, trying not to be seen by you. He can’t be around you until he figures this out, he can’t hurt you like this. 

Ricky approaches Big Red with an intense energy he has trouble reading, before Ricky starts to speak. 

“Dude,” he says, voice intense and hushed, “Gina kissed me on the cheek.” 

“That’s great!” 

“No, it’s not!” Ricky says, clearly very frazzled. Okay, that’s where this is going. 

“That’s awful!” Red course corrects as Ricky fills him in on the car ride with Gina. As he tells Red everything that happened, Ricky finds himself kind of hating Gina right now. Why would she do this to him, why would she put him in this position? Does she hate him or something? He thinks she must, there’s no other reason for her to sabotage his relationship with you like this. She must hate him if she’s trying to ruin the most important thing in his life. 

“Listen, I really, really like her…” his eyes keep flicking over to you, gaze magnetized by your presence, “like, a lot. How can I make sure I don’t fuck this up? Because I can not fuck up with her.”

“Woah, man,” Red starts, trying to help Ricky ground himself a little, “chill out. In all fairness, cheek kisses can be platonic.” 

“Right,” Ricky nods, starting to feel assured, and Red continues. 

“So, if Gina wants to date you when you’re… kind of seeing someone, she has to make that more clear to you.”

“Right.” Ricky states, agreeing. He really hopes she doesn’t. 

“I think you’re okay,” Red says, sensing his energy changing already, “just make sure she knows how much you like her. Make it really, objectively obvious.” 

Yeah. He just has to make it obvious. 

“Yeah, you’re right,” he says to Red, his eyes locked on you as you laugh at something Carlos says, making his stomach twist and tingle, “I just have to make sure she knows how much… I like her.” 

Red watches him make his way over to you, a spring in his step and a plan in his mind. Thank god for Dr. Phil, Red thinks, or else there’s no way he’d be able to help his friends navigate all their drama. He chuckles at the thought, watching Ashlyn fix the strap of your dress. 

Ricky checks his phone one more time on the way over, looking over a chart of love languages one more time. He’s not sure what your love language is, so he’ll just have to try all of them and see what you seem to like best. Gift giving and acts of service aren’t really options right now, so tonight he’ll focus on words of affirmation, physical touch, and quality time. If he has to drown you in all five love languages at once to make sure you know how he feels about you, he will. 

“Hey,” he starts, watching your reaction nervously, scared you somehow already hate him. You turn around at the sound of his voice, eyes lighting up. 

“Hey!” you smile, “You’re back!” you grab his arm, pulling him in closer to the group. 

“Seb’s here,” you say, and he smiles, relieved at your reaction. 

“Hey, man,” he smiles. 

“Fill me in later,” you say quietly, referring to giving Gina a ride, and he nods, a little bit ready to forget the whole thing. 

Now that all the drama, wardrobe malfunctions, and late entrances are out of the way, you and what remains of your friends spend the rest of the night like you intended; dancing, laughing, and taking great pictures together. Later on into the night, everyone’s just about had their fill of fun and the party starts winding down. You split up, most of your friends piling into the Salt Lake slices delivery van so Red can drop them off. After some more hugs and laughs, you finally part ways, climbing into the passenger seat of his orange Volkswagen Beetle. 

His heart is thumping as you grab his hand and squeeze it a little once you’re on your way back to his house, causing a fresh wave of heat to rise to his face, and god he's nervous right now. His mind is still screaming at him that you're going to hate him, that he has to prove his feelings to you. He lets out a small little laugh at the gesture. 

“Well,” you start, tired from the night, but thriving off the energy between you, “that could have gone way worse…” 

“Yeah,” he laughs, nodding in agreement. You talk for the whole drive back to his place. You’d planned on staying over tonight since Ricky was driving and you figured it would be late, plus your mom’s car is at the mechanic so she’s using yours until some time tomorrow. You exchange sleepy chuckles as he parks. He checks his phone one more time as you leave the car, opening an article of women submitting stories about how they knew a guy loved them in a new tab. He sees a text from his dad - the date went well, he hopes Ricky and you had a good time at homecoming, and he’s going to bed so try to keep the noise down when you get back. 

“My dad’s asleep,” he says softly, unlocking the door. He guides you inside, hand resting low on your back, and closes the door quietly behind him. Walking quietly from his foyer to his room shouldn’t have been a problem, but standing in the darkness with Ricky, you both suddenly find it hard not to start giggling. Hushing each other, you quickly sneak up the stairs past Mr. Bowen’s room, down the hall to Ricky’s room. He barely closes the door and flicks the lock closed before dissolving into giggles. You kick off your heels, glad to finally take them off, and grab a makeup wipe from your bag. He digs through his clothes for a second before handing you a big t-shirt to sleep in. 

“Thanks,” you say, throwing away the makeup wipes. He gazes at you, watching you transition from formal and made up to casual and comfortable, your beauty unwavering. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone as pretty as you before. You watch him take off his jacket and tie, and undo the first button or two of his shirt. The action sends butterflies to your stomach and heat to your core. You glance away. You stand up, seeing if you can reach the zipper of your dress. Before you can ask, you feel Ricky behind you. 

“Need some help with that?” He asks, closer to your ear than you’d expected and resting his hands on your waist. You both chuckle.

“Yeah,” you state, voice low and soft. He moves slowly, unzipping the back of your dress, careful not to snag the delicate fabric. You feel the bodice loosen around you, the end of the zipper stopping at the small of your back. He doesn’t move away. You can feel his breath fan over your shoulder, hand still resting on your waist. 

His face is so close to yours, and he mutters your name softly before pressing a kiss to your jawline, then another and another. He moves down, burying his face in your neck as he continues to press hot, open mouthed kisses against your skin. He breathes in your perfume, peachy and sweet and intoxicating. He nips at your neck causing you to gasp, his hands moving below the draping fabric and directly onto your warm skin. You sigh at the contact. He pulls you closer to him, holding you tight as he sucks on your neck. Your dress is slipping off your shoulders, barely on at all anymore, as he begins to feel you up, touching you and caressing you so tenderly. 

“Ricky,” you sigh. Your voice sounds so pretty when you’re like this. 

“God, I-” he breathes, barely catching the words before they’re out. He lets out a nervous laugh, causing you to giggle in his grasp. He shushes you through his own laughter, his hands never ceasing the way they rome over your body. 

"We have to be quiet," he says, turning you around in his arms, pressing himself up against you, trying so, so hard not to kiss you yet. 

"I can be quiet…" you state, a jokingly incredulous tone in your voice. You stare each other down, and he tries not to break first, tries not to smile or laugh, but god, it’s impossible not to smile when he looks at you. Before he can crack, before he loses all composure and bares his soul for you, places his heart eternally in your hands to do as you please with, he pivots. 

"Yeah?" He asks, and you feel the energy change, growing electric between you. "Is that a challenge?"

His tone is dangerous and he watches your eyes get wide. A second later he has you pinned against his mattress, pressing playful nips and kisses against your skin as muffled giggles and sighs escape your pretty mouth. His hands move down, grabbing your exposed skin as he kisses you harder and harder, riling the both of you up. You tear off the little remaining clothes either of you has on and he begins to roll his hips against you, grinding his hot, throbbing member against your heat. You let out a breathy moan, louder than before, as he continues to rock his hips against yours. 

“That wasn’t very quiet,” he murmurs into your ear between kisses to your cheek and jawline. Your chest vibrates against his, and a wave of relief washes through him. You don’t hate him. He loves that feeling he gets when he makes you laugh, he wants to make you do it again. 

“I can stay quiet,” you insist, already swept away by his touch, distracted by the warm kisses and bites he’s planting on your neck and chest. You’re even more distracted by the feeling of his fingers making their way down, brushing against your clit as they come into contact with the arousal dripping down your folds. He smiles, realizing if he can get you this turned on, this touchy, you must like him. He pushes his fingers in, finally met again with the cathartic feeling of your cushy, bumpy walls squeezing and folding around him. Arousal gushes, dripping down his fingers as he begins to stimulate the tight, sensitive muscles stretching around his fingers. He dwells on the feeling for a moment, maybe two, before you’re moaning again. It makes him laugh. 

“I sure hope you can,” he says, another dangerously playful look on his face, “cause if you get too loud…” He watches you for a split second, hanging on his words, anticipation written across your face, “I’m gonna stop.” 

Your stomach flip flops, exploding with butterflies at his words. Before you can look at his face, before you can gauge how serious he is about following through on his threat, his lips are on yours again. He kisses you, mouth open, tongue already prodding into your mouth. You’re lucky, you think, that he’s unintentionally muffling your noises with his mouth. You’re really lucky, because he quickly finds your g-spot, and there are a couple moans you couldn’t hold back if your life depended on it.

Every sigh, every gasp, every beautiful heart pounding moan Ricky elicits from you sends a fresh wave of relief and reassurance through him. You don’t hate him, and you’re not going to. You could never when he’s this good, this devoted to you. It’s impossible for him not to be when you’re so good to him. You’re so responsive to his touch, you’re totally on the same wavelength. 

You must know what he’s telling you through his actions, through the way he looks at you, the words he’s had to bite back from spilling out more than once. You wouldn’t be dripping down his fingers and moaning into his mouth and grabbing at him like this, you wouldn’t be in his bed if you didn’t feel the way he does about you - or even something close to it. He’ll happily take whatever you want to give him. Of course he wants it all, he wants to completely take over your heart, but just a little bit will keep him happy until he can.

“Right there,” you whine against his lips, “fuck, just like that… feels so good…” you mutter. 

‘See?’ he thinks, ‘You don’t say stuff like that if you don’t like someone a lot, much less moan it…’ 

It’s working. His plan to not lose you is working, he just has to make you cum so hard you can’t think straight, as many times as possible. And he’s going to, because there’s no way he can risk losing you. So he brings up his thumb, rubbing it over your clit as he curls his fingers against your gummy walls. It’s euphoric and overwhelming, and you barely have time to tug his hair before you’re cumming and pulsing around his fingers. 

You squeeze and clamp tight around him, and he can’t resist anymore. He needs his tongue inside you, he needs to taste you, feel you squeeze his tongue and cream into his mouth. So he pulls away, already missing the feeling of your mouths against each other, and gazes at you, breath fanning across your cheeks, eyes locked. He takes you in, thumb caressing your cheek while the other continues to fondle your clit. After a moment he’s able to break his gaze away, and he moves down, pushing your legs open. You heart thumps in your chest in anticipation as he begins to lick and suck on your heat, tongue flicking into your drippy hole. 

As soon as he gets a taste, he wants more. He stretches out his tongue, going to town on your cunt. Every sigh and tug of his hair, every attempt to muffle your moans makes him more eager to have you gush your sweet sticky cum all over him. This time he has some experience, and he’s making the most of it. He finds those spots inside you that make your eyes roll back, switching between them, bumping his nose against your clit, drawing stifled moan after stifled moan from you. One slips out, for real this time, and he pauses. It takes all his willpower; your scent is intoxicating and your taste is addictive, but the look on your face when you realize he’s standing by what he said is totally worth it. 

“I told you,” he murmurs against your core, the vibrations and tone of his voice sending electricity through you, “we have to be quiet…” Your hand is clamped over your mouth, and you nod. Your timing couldn’t be better, because you don’t have time to finish the gesture before he dives back in. After that, it doesn’t take much to send you over the edge. 

You give him everything he’s wanted all night, squeezing and gushing all over him while he laps up everything, holding down your hips while he shoves his tongue deeper inside you. It’s always surprising how far inside you he’s able to get it. You whine and moan, choking out praise as he already begins building up another high. He’s throbbing, desperate for anything you’ll give him, and he wants to make you say more shit like that. He wants to be good for you. 

“Oh god- fuck, Ricky!” you choke out in a whisper, one hand tangled in his hair, the other clamped over your mouth. You’re already close again, he can feel it. He knew this would work. He knew he could prove to you how much you mean to him. He doubles his efforts, squeezing your thighs and grinding his face against your pussy, still dripping from the last times he made you cum. His eyes are half lidded and locked on you, watching your face, the way you squirm below his touch, the way your tits bounce with every movement. You’re not sure how long it is until he has you absolutely gushing and convulsing around his tongue again, but every moment is filled with ecstasy. 

“Fuck you’re good at that…” you murmur, hand now playing with his hair instead of pulling it. “You’re one of the good ones, huh?” 

You probably could have knocked him out with a feather. Your words reverberate in his mind, and his cheeks flush. One of the good ones. Yeah. 

He’s throbbing harder than before, almost painfully turned on. He climbs back up over you, but before he can reach into his nightstand for a condom, you flip him over, straddling him. You look down at him with those beautiful eyes that hold every star in the night sky, biting your lip in that endearing way of yours. Your hands are warm on his shoulders, and he’s stunned at the suddenness of your action, and really eager to see where you’re going with this. He could watch you like this for hours, freezing this moment in time forever, eternally content with you, the way you touch him and look at him. You lean down closer to him, breath tickling his cheeks. 

“My turn.” 

You smile, the words coming out in a hushed giggle. Before he can blink, you’re grabbing his rock hard cock, squeezing it in your hands and teasing the tip as you spread around the precum already dripping down the side. He watches you, eyes wide and excited as you open your mouth, wrapping your lips around him. Your mouth is velvety soft, warm and wet, and he has to try not to cum on the spot. You pump the base of his cock, taking more of him in your mouth, and he tries not to buck his hips. He tries so hard not to move at all, tries to be good for you while you work your magic on him. He lets out a long, low moan. Suddenly you freeze, popping your lips off with a small wet noise as you look up at him. 

“Stay quiet or I stop…” you tease, throwing his own conditions back at him. He nods, panting at your words. “Good boy.” You murmur under your breath, but he definitely hears. Good boy. He can feel the oxytocin flooding his brain, and you barely get your lips around him and start bobbing your head before he feels it.

“I’m close,” he chokes out, and you look up at him. He watches a smirk appear at the corners of your eyes before you drag your tongue along the bottom of his cock. It’s more than enough, and he watches in utter awe as he shoots his load into your mouth, and you swallow all of it. The sight is enough to have him throbbing again. He bites back more moans, desperate for you to keep going, for you to call him a good boy again. You bob your head along his length, tongue dragging along the vein on the underside of his cock. 

One hand comes down to fondle his balls, and a choked moan slips out. He never knew he could feel this good. He never knew one person could make him like this. You continue to lick and suck, squeeze and pump and rub, and soon he’s fighting another orgasm, hoping to bask in the feeling of your mouth around him for just a little longer. His prayers are in vain, he realizes, as he shoots another load of sticky, salty cum into your mouth. You have no trouble taking this one either. You continue to suck and lick, riding out the last of his high, before finally releasing him with a soft pop. 

Thoroughly fucked out, he watches you climb up next to him, awestruck. You grab a blanket, pulling it over the both of you, and moving his face to press a few more kisses to his lips. Your tastes mingle as your tongues connect, and Ricky doesn’t think he’s ever tasted something that delicious. He wants more of it. It’s only when you eventually pull away that your eyes land on the clock behind him. 

“Christ, it’s late,” you murmur. You blink heavily, Ricky mirroring the action, and you trace your thumb over his cheek, just looking at him a little longer. You tug the blanket up a little higher, snuggling up next to him. He holds you close on instinct, still trying to process everything that happened tonight in spite of how exhausted he is. It hits him suddenly, and he struggles to stay awake so he can appreciate the kiss you press to his jaw, the warm feeling of your hand on his chest.

He tries so hard to stay awake, to look at you for a little while, because no amount of time with you feels like enough. He refuses to acknowledge the heavy way he blinks and squeezes his eyes, trying to force them to focus on you, but he can feel himself losing the fight against the deep sleep he’s about to slip into. This night was a success, he thinks. He did a good job.

Late morning sunlight streams through his window, finally dragging Ricky back into the waking world. He looks over, missing your presence, and finds his bed empty. As he rolls over, he’s struck by the sweet, intoxicating scent of your peachy perfume. It’s all over his pillow, his sheets, his blankets. His whole room smells faintly of your scent. He buries his nose in the pillow where you’d slept, breathing it in, taking him right back to last night. 

Eventually, he checks his phone. It’s later than he’d expected, but he’s greeted with a text from you, bringing an immediate, even bigger smile to his face. 

He sighs, lovestruck. He doesn’t want to get out of bed, doesn’t want the scent of your perfume to fade. He just wants to bask in it. 

[boidmc]

Random headcanons about the Rise!Turtle Bros that just make sense (at least to me)

Raph and Donnie are dog people (with different tastes in dogs), Mikey is a cat person, and Leo is 50/50 and doesn't care as long as they're cute and don't try to bite/claw at him.

April taught the boys how to play hand-clapping games she learned from her parents. The most common one they played was Slide and they still play when they get bored. Usually, it's Leo and Mikey but sometimes they get too intense and have way too long of a game.

When Raph hit his growth spurt and they started going above in disguises without Splinter, he got called the other boys' dad so many times in the beginning. His brothers had a field day and couldn't stop laughing when they found out. It stopped happening as much as everyone grew taller but still happens a bit when he's just with Mikey.

Raph has a habit of always fidgeting with his hands and doing repetitive hand movements. Most common ones are him softly tapping the tips of his knuckles together to a beat and rubbing one of his fingers between the ones on the other hand, usually in thought.

Raph crunches on ice a lot, which isn't as bad for his teeth since he's not a human. He initially started eating ice because he was testing out his jaw strength when he was younger with Donnie but now it's his go-to if his anxiety gets too much since the cold grounds him.

Leo and Donnie are actually a couple days apart but, after learning they were still technically the same age, Leo dubbed them as twins. They started celebrating their "joint" birthdays on the day in between.

Speaking of which, you can pry Leo being the older twin out of my cold dead hands. /lh But yeah speaking from 2nd oldest/middle child experience he radiates older middle child energy way more than younger middle child energy. In this essay-

Leo tends to pace a lot. He does it when he's thinking hard, when he has too much energy, when he's part of a conversation, etc. His body just likes to move and you can see him constantly shuffle on his feet when he tries to keep still.

Donnie used to use the most random things to help shape his eyebrows. Common one was a ruler cuz it also helped make sure they were exactly even. He can freehand it now and it looks more natural but he has given Splinter a heart attack when one time he caught him using a knife for help. It was dull and plastic but still.

Donnie has a customized rubber duck in his lab that looks like a mini him that he talks to and uses as a stress ball when he hits a roadblock to inventing or coding something. Mikey helped paint it and proceeded to make ones for everyone else.

Mikey is said to be a ballet dancer in Lair Games so I wanna say that he learned a lot of ballet via watching Youtube videos. It leads him to watch more dance videos of different types of dance and the most physically flexible in the family. It's also noticeable in the way he fights as well.

Mikey has some form of color-related associative synesthesia. He actually "sees"/associates his brothers as different colors than what we're used to. He usually thinks of Raph as dark sea green, Leo as canary yellow, and Donnie as mahogany red. Orange is pretty close to what he sees himself as but leaning more on the peach side. Has drawn a what-if photo of all of them if they were color-coordinated via Mikey standards.

[void-selfships-archive]

Ok I just FINALLY finished bojack horseman after taking a very long break from it cuz it was not good for my depression BUT!!! I was strong enough to finish it and I’ve followed this blog for years and I know you self ship with bojack but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a post explaining how you fit into that world?? Like, what’s your role, how did you and bojack meet, how does your story grow along with the others? AND!! Woooo, “the view from halfway down” episode was. Wow. How would you/your s/i (idk which one you use) react to all that? Are YOU maybe the one bojack calls instead of Diane? Do you/your s/i have their own “view from halfway down” episode? Sorry if this is a lot but I’m back into this show now and I’d love to know your role in the whole thing. :)

SOBBING CRYING SHAKING RN HOLY SHIT YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HOW EXCITED I GOT SEEING THIS FJEJCJEJXJS

Also i get having to take breaks with this show bc if you aren't doing well it will NOT be good for you fjekwjcje I'm on my 4th (5th?) Rewatch rn after like a year (it's a comfort show) [ALSO VIEW FROM HALFWAY DOWN POG??? <- (my top favorite episode)]

BUT ALSO IM. SO GLAD YOU ASKED BC I HAVE SO MUCH LORE FOR THIS MFCKER AND IM TOO NERVOUS TO TALK ABT IT WITHOUT BEING PROMTED !!!

I'm gonna put everything under the cut for SPOILER REASONS but also PLEASE read the tags just in case!!! We're talking abt the mfckin CANON timeline I have for my self insert shits depressing as hell (also I hope I generally explained everything fjejcjdh bad at doing that smtimes)

I'm almost glad I'm not talking abt the Childhood friends au bc its SO softcore like wheres the angst bestie? But also damn. Why all the angst in the canon tl? Chill OUT /lh

Generally the canon tl follows the show pretty accurately, aside from the fact that IM there and a few things r obviously different

I met him in a bar during the 90s! It was one of those "Oh we're both actors! Pog." And we basically drank together and trauma-bonded. They quickly become good friends (It was funny, considering the first thing we said to eachother was "oh you look familiar" and "YOU'RE THAT GUY FROM THAT SHOW I WATCH!" Truly the start of a wonderful friendship.)

And, I basically stayed around him. The Whole Time- through Herb getting fired and both of our shows ending and various depressive episodes (on both ends), parent funerals and hallowern parties and benders and awful horrible shows that definitely should never be mentioned nor have been put on air.

And weird one night stands with eachother that never get brought up the next day (or at all for that matter) just to keep things from being weird.

So I've known him for awhile, and I've stuck around for awhile, basically a ride or die friend (with a tiny little crush that I'm not acknowledging) that's my role, the Yearning Best Friend- so cringe but it works out in the end.

I think, major event wise, everything still happened the same. It's right until S4 when things are, a little different? (Not by much though)

When he heads to his old family summer home he invites me to come with (I also didn't think itd be smart to leave him alone) and through that entire trip he told me about Horsin Around and his family and at a point a drunken rant abt New Mexico that neither of us remembered in the morning. (It was a bonding trip, definitely the start of Feelings too) we start dating in the middle of that season (specifically when we all got trapped underground, you confess a lot when you think you're going to die)

So naturally, S5 is different too, he's not dating Gina in that season, but everything still happens the same otherwise. (Of course I knew something was off the whole time, you don't stay friends with someone for several years and NOT notice when something's off, motherfucker wouldnt *talk* to me though, and when he did it was to tell me someone was trying to sabotage the show and of course you cant have two paranoid mfers under the same roof, they just end up fueling eachother until it's too late and something horrible happens)

And something horrible happened, and Diane told me about what she thought happened in New Mexico, and I'm thinking "I feel like I've heard this story before." And then Bojack tells me what happened in New Mexico and then he choked his co-star and hes going to rehab and everything is obviously too much and I tell him I can't visit of course, because theres a lot of information i need to process, but I'll still write and I'll still text and watch over the house while he's gone since I practically live there at this point but I cant see him rn.

And I didn't! Until he got out of rehab, of course and it was back to "Bojack and Jackson against the world!" And "Let's move! Go somewhere different get a change of scenery!" And we did. He got that job at the university and I! Stayed with him, ever the loyal boyfriend. (Until in getting calls from a reporter and suddenly we're trying to figure out what shitty thing he did before the reporter calls and Oh. It's about Sarah Lynn and Oh!! Thus is certainly new information I wasn't told about! Fuck.)

After the interview- the second one- it was...complicated. I didn't want to leave but i also recognized that i needed to. For now, to let him deal with the aftermath of his mistakes because if he came to me- and he did- he'd be looking for reassurances I couldn't give him. We got into a really bad argument, it was moreso implied that we weren't dating anymore, neither of us said it but we both walked away and that was the last time we spoke.

It's so funny that you asked abt The View From Halfway Down because I was literally just thinking about that episode the other day and if he would've called me and not Diane and honestly! Yea. He did! Tho he called me. Twice that day, once before, after he left Angela's house, and again before he got back in the pool- I picked up the first time but he was pretty much incomprehensible and I couldn't pick up the second time so when I called back and he didn't answer I was. Quick to panic. (I was right for being worried too, all things considered)

And then he went to jail. And we didn't see eachother again until PC's wedding (bonded a lot with her, during that break up period. It was hard y'know? But she got it. Also I was Helping Babysit with Todd, she was rlly making me rethink my opinion on adopting a kid)

We didn't start dating right away tho, but we did start hanging out again? So that was a bonus!

[revenant-coining]

woo hii again howve you been ?? just gotta check up since i havent talked to you in a while :] /nfta /lh OHH okay so powerful being set up spawn points for others right ?? /genq ooo okay got it why are hell creatures considered non magic though ?? ooo thats actually really interesting !! what was it like being raised by original satan ?? ooo that sounds much more better then what ive heard of the school system here do you know what they usually teach ?? ive heard here the system isnt that good jfklsdjf ohh okay so universes are bigger then dimensions right ?? so what are the differences between alternate universes and dimensions ?? YEESSS ugh kidcore is just so yes and comforting like the playgrounds are so much fun and the vibe is just so positive yeah ikr !! im thinking of asking body parents to get us something similar to that :D ramble anon [ also thamks !! its been going up and down but i managed to gain the spoons to reply /lh :]] ]

hi hi hi i'm excited to see you !!! I'm glad you're doing ok :]

yea! powerful beings set up spawn points for others

even though hell monsters aren't from the mortal plane, they don't have magic. they are natural to the dimension of hell, and aren't made by magic, so they're considered non-magical, aka natural

i don't remember growing up that clearly, but he was more like a cool uncle? he was busy a lot so he couldn't be with me all the time but he raised me well :]

history was a big thing in schooling, and then magical stuff came next. we learned about hell's fauna and flora, as well as basic math (so simpler stuff, no calculus and things like that). stuff like science and english was optional. and yeah the school system in this world is. not good for me lol

[ID: a image with a black background. there is a large red red circle in the bottom right and top left corner. there a two small blue circles in the top left red circle, and two blue circles, one small and one medium, in the bottom right red circle. there is a medium sized green circle left of the bottom right red circle. End ID]

bringing this graphic back so i hopefully make more sense (red = "parent" dimensions aka universes, blue = sub dimensions, and green = pocket dimension.)

so say the picture above was showing the universe we're in now, and the one I'm from. the red circle would be the universe, everything from that universe is inside of the red circle. this universe would have the mortal plane, and the entire solar system, and the entirety of space, everything. and my universe would have all of that, and then dimensions, such as hell or heaven. so a universe or alternate universe is a really big dimension, and a dimension is a small universe within a universe (i hope that made more sense?)

kidcore is sooo comforting, makes instinct brain go brrrrr

that room setup looks very nice :] I just got a new bed and now my nest is elevated lol

[obvslybatgrl]

Bestie that’s homophobic/lh

okay but listen.

The girls have been missing for 5 months. The Boonchuys believed Anne was dead so it's very safe to assume Marcy's family assumed the same about Marcy. They just broke the news about moving the day Marcy found the box so it's also likely they had privately discussed the move prior to that and maybe they would move in a month or something. Then Marcy when missing. If action movies have taught me anything, the first 72 hours are the most crucial to a missing persons case and after that the likelihood of the person being recovered alive drop drastically.

Mr Wu calls the people offering the job and we'll say they're generous and give him 2 months before they have to offer the job to someone else. So they're efficient. They don't sleep those first 72 hours trying to help the police or whoever with the investigation. They lose a lot of hope when Marcy isn't found in those three days but they still look for her. But they're also realists. After the first month they start looking for a house. They go through Marcy's things, putting the most sentimental things safely in boxes and donate her clothes and games. It's the hardest part. Accepting that their child is dead. That they lost her after such a big fight. There's a lot of regret. Mr Wu calls and accepts the job.

We jump ahead, Andrias is gone, Marcy is safe, the girls are together again. Where does Marcy go now? She felt so... trapped before Amphibia. Grades we're prioritized and she was expected to be the smartest in the room. There might have even been physical violence at home. (At least that's my interpretation.) I don't think she felt safe without Anne and Sasha. And now their friendship is broken. It might be beyond repair.

So where does she go? Does she try to contact her parents? Does she go back to a place she didn't feel safe? And this time without somewhere to go to escape? Without people to escape to? Maybe not. Maybe Amphibia is a better place for her. She still needs time to heal from everything and Amphibia (in her experience before Andrias' betrayal) was welcoming and kind. And you know how we like to think of Yunan and Olivia as her moms.

So maybe she stays in Amphibia.

but that's just me thinking lol

[vanityloves]

Jude, your Build-A-Bear date with the Soldier is soooo cute!! 🥺 Could you imagine him talking to the bear and acting like he's having an actual conversation with it? Maybe even giving it a place to sit on his shoulder or helmet? Like dad-mode has been fully activated for your and his Build-A-Bear son

tysm ;×; men that go dad mode makes me feel so ill /pos

idec if its a real kid or just some stupid sack of flour baby tv teens had to take care of im just like *claps and cheers the loudest*

like sorry that the paternal instincts kicked in i meant it! Soldier as a Real Dad would be...worrisome maybe even questionable BUT it doesn't stop me from imagining him being doting and silly with makeshift things. the idea of caring for all those silly raccoons in that sanctuary when all the mercs split as helps with the idea that he actually Likes looking after and taking care of things, at least animals (even tho he has a very weird way of taking care of things ahdhdh) n probably finds good company with them.

i digress- i just think hes neat :'] hed wanna pick out different clothes for them n probably does one of those dad things - dangling kids by the legs but yknow, to an inanimate stuffed bear n he cradles them when he talking ab who knows what its kinda funny seeing a grown ass man so serious ab some doll. like hes a little cringe for it but hes into it so idm 😔💞

the guy tucks it in or makes sure its sitting up right before leaving his room no matter the rush hes in and suddenly ends up with a high chair for it n has it chillin ajdjd talking to them like its a real child is rly *microwave noise* something ab being big and strong, calling himself dad, and something ab eating their veggies and kicking hippie ass - yknow how it is with Guys 😩 instead of babies babbling tho its obviously silence but he still hums and scratches his chin like hes thinking of an answer, hes fun like that. i just awkwardly smile and Try humoring him but its too much embarrassment + secondhand embarrassment bc 'we're adults' but hes like 'and we're parents now so shove your pride up your ass and put on your big boy panties on good god'.

he takes being a parent sooo seriously but ofc he doesn't have to deal with early morning crying and changing or bathing, but when its 'wash time' he hovers over chef gently scrubbing at its fur and redressing them like sir youre 45 years old 🧍‍♂️/lh but also, flipping shit if it ever got stained/torn like bro chill please for the love of god please.

hed try trading them off too bc 'he needs to see bith parents' but definitely uses them as leverage after a while like what do you mean you dont want to sleep in the same room, we cant have a family torn apart 😩

YOU EVER THINK,,,,, HED GET OR MAKE A LIL HELMET FOR THEM TO MATCH...EVERYONE LOG OFF AND HAND ME YOUR PHONES... hed get a little bandana for them too so i could match...very swag of me to *starts crying*