#Tammy got really attached

[dapperbasil]

Can't stop thinking about how in game tonight Tammy went to Roche Security to help Zayne get things in order to rebuild from the ground up and she learned that Sigrun had the picture reel they took on their date in a frame on her desk.

They were doomed from the start but that doesn't make it hurt any less, Tammy went for closure and ended up worse off than she went in.

Also learning that Zayne saw Roche as a father figure hurts considering Roche staked him and left him for dead in a burning building.

[mazyb0i]

Someone on Reddit tried to say that Rick only truly loves Beth, and to prove them wrong, so here I am!

tldr:

Character analysis of Rick Sanchez from an autistic fans point of view, understanding his attachment styles.

He'll do anything for BP, if season 6 proves anything, it's that he'll die for BP. He literally admitted to loving him, which I have not heard him tell or say about anyone before in the show. When

he does say stuff like that it is significant. Bird person is the only character on the show he has been openly genuine with.

If season 7 proves anything, Pers is the only one that can sneak up behind him and grab him out of nowhere without getting some snarky comment, mean look, or a left hook. They both care about each other deeply, that is clear. Rick was extremely

upset by the wedding with Tammy. Rick told the bird person how much he respected him more than anyone, even when he contradicted himself by saying nothing matters, he wanted to be with Percy. He wanted to travel with him and spent every moment with him.

--

"Then why did you help me?"

"I respect you, and I wanted you to know that you could respect me too."

" But if nothing matters...?"

"You matter! You matter to me."

"Uhhh- Rick... the relationship we have-"

"I never used that word!" - Rick (denialism)

--

It's funny how after this he calls him a judgmental dork, and not something much harsher.

--

"Why the fuck are you risking your life for that asshole!?" - Memory rick

"Because, you love him."

"You do maybe, but I don't."

"Yeah, yeah, you're real cool. Now, come help me save his life or fuck off, because I don't need you.

(Very much so loves BP.)

--

--

"I'm sorry Rick, but we cannot choose the ones we love" - Pers

"You got that right! Why do you think I'm still fucking down here!?"

--

Birdperson mentions that he would be dead if it wasn't for Rick, this also accounts for multiple times now since he brought BP back to life recently. Rick has stuck his neck out for the man so many times contradicting his "nothing matters" front, because that's what it is, it is a horrible coping mechanism to ignore your problems and pretend they don't exist because 'nothing matters'.

Its a problem that I have and I'm working through in therapy myself, it's called Denialism. Because 'if you shut yourself out from the world and your problems, then nothing can hurt you, and they don't exist'. You convince yourself you're in control when you're not, you have the least control, and it fucks you up. Rick isn't truly and fully nihilistic, or else literally nothing would matter to him. He makes sure to keep his Morty alive, he constantly brags on about how he can just get a new family, but he has the same Morty that he's had since the beginning and sticks his neck out for him as well.

--

"No, Morty. Because you were too afraid to tell me. What we had was abusive, don't you see? I'm a bad partner, because I never made you a true partner."

--

--

"I was afraid if I jumped in a hole you would just stand there and watch me, you wouldn't even jump in after me!" -Morty

But then Rick in season 1 literally jumped in after Morty when he fell through the garage floor into the Schrodinger's cat void.

"Be good, Morty, be better than me."

--

--

And when Rick starts crying at his memories of Morty in season One, but he refrains from expressing it so that Morty does not become, as he puts it, "cocky" (denialism)

I would also like to point out I feel like in the later seasons he starts calling Morty 'buddy' more?? he's a lot nicer to him than he used to be, and just recently allowed Morty to hug him without pushing him away, actually hugging back. He's also stated that he respects summer very deeply, which if he says that about someone, it really means that he does. He sees his Diane in Summer, and he also implies that summer is like a cat, her affection and respect needs to be earned; unlike Morty's dog like affection that is just given away. But we also hear Rick say that Morty reminds him a lot of himself when he was younger, this implies a lot of parallels.

Memory Rick brought out a lot of Rick that we didn't see previously, a person who wasn't fully tainted by the lack of treating mental Health issues, coping issues, unhealthy attachments, and all the other things that led up to Rick being the way he is. he said his heart broken so many times, he's been backstabbed, he is very hurt person. This doesn't excuse all of his actions but is a very good explanation and reason for why he is the way he is and the way the human psyche copes with it's environment to protect itself. it's like walking up to a caged animal with a taser, these are his defense mechanisms, it makes him look like a dick on the outside but currently it is the only thing that he knows how to do on instinct for protection, and that's why he's in therapy. This is why I believe he's genuinely trying to get better, he can get along with his therapist more than ever, even if he has sly remarks he genuinely listens to Mrs. Wong.

--

"I don't like being told where to go or what to do. I consider it a violation."

--

"There's a lesson here, and I won't be the one to figure it out"

--

"I don't discuss problems, I incinerate them"

--

"It was charmingly analog. For a sec, you kind of made me like myself." - Mem Rick

"You'll grow out of it." - Rick

He resents his younger self for helping him and makes sure to mention that he "grew out" of his ability to like himself, Rick has some extreme self-hatred. it's hard to fully love someone or Express a healthy relationship when you can't even have a healthy relationship with yourself.

--

"You act like you're the one that got stabbed in the back!" -Morty

"Because I AM THE ONE, Morty. You wanna know why I replaced myself in the beginning of that stupid knights of the morning sun thing!? I SAID don't take the fucking sword! And you were like "Whatever", like I'm our neighbor Jean or David Arquette or something!! You called me boring! I've become dog shit to you! That's what happens when you let people in and they stop respecting you! They touch your shit, they screw things up, they KILL your fuckin family! Go ahead and trust them, you're gonna learn the same fuckin thing." -Rick

--

[thebearer]

gallagher babies…hear me out. i’m pretty attached to freddie for the reason lip chose it. like youens was his father figure for all intents and purposes even if he wasn’t perfect so that’s what he named his first son. in any universe. can’t change my mind about that. and then that solidifies for me that he names his babies after people who are important to him.

for his second son…ronan bc that’s his middle name and i just love it. maybe clayton for his middle name because that’s ian’s middle name and he loves ian!!! they’re best friends!!!

and i feel like lip would name a daughter after debbie bc their relationship is very special to me like…he’s the first gallagher to hold franny. they have a special bond. s11 not withstanding. all siblings fight. so maybe maggie after her middle name, margaret?

idk maybe i am way off base here

freddie yes yes yes. i'm just erasing tammie bc sorry... i'm a tammie hater (not really she just irks me i don't think they're good for each other) but lip picked it out and it's cute.

i love the clayton and ronan names too! that would be so cute! and maggie like maggie gallagher is adorable to me!

i'll add too some names i kinda thought of too:

i was thinking jude for some reason and i'm really not sure why i just kinda was toying with that one.

for a girl, i'm not even sure why but amelia was just sticking out to me so much. she goes by mia but her brothers call her meels lol. amelia margaret would be really cute together too. idk i just got emo and mushy thinking about lip with baby mia.

send in any suggestions you have! or if you agree! i might do a poll later so we can all vote lol.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 04/05/2024 (Taylor Swift, Tommy Richman, Kendrick Lamar's "euphoria")

Just a week after her album’s impact, Taylor’s been dethroned by… Sabrina Carpenter! She grabs her first #1 on the UK Singles Chart with the smash hit “Espresso” and welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, Yeat praise

Rundown

As always, let’s start with the notable dropouts, which are songs exiting the UK Top 75 - that’s what I cover - after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. Now this week, we bid adieu to: “The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift (it got three-song-ruled and dropped out from #3, more on that later), “act II: date @ 8” by 4batz featuring a remix by Drake (not his best week, more on that later), “Von dutch” by Charli XCX, “Kitchen Stove” by Pozer, “Whatever” by Kygo and Ava Max, “Murder on the Dancefloor” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and FINALLY, “Lovin’ on Me” by Jack Harlow.

As for our gains, we see healthy boosts for “Pedro” by Jaxomy, Agatino Romero and the late Raffaella Carrá at #60, “Outside of Love” by Becky Hill at #54, “Evergreen” by Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners at #46, “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed at #42 (yeesh), “These Words” by Badger and Natasha Bedingfield at #22, “I Don’t Wanna Wait” by David Guetta and OneRepublic at #20 - I guess obvious covers and remixes have a good week - then finally, a song hitting the top 10 I’m personally very happy with: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey at #6. #1 incoming? Please?

We also continue to see the rise or, rather, resurgence of Amy Winehouse’s catalogue due to the biopic, with “Valerie” with Mark Ronson at #38, “Back to Black” at #39, and a re-entry for “Tears Dry on Their Own” at #49, which peaked at #16 when Ye’s “Stronger” was #1 in 2007. On that same album, he says he hates Nazis, look how far we’ve come. Anyways, “Tears Dry” contains a sample of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, made famous by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, which didn’t chart in its original form for the longest time here. It peaked at #6 in 1970 but only in the form of a cover by Diana Ross, whose version charted whilst Freda Payne’s “Band of Gold” was #1 - just shows that we don’t really remember the bigger hits of the time. The Boys Town Gang reached #46 with their cover in 1981, Whitehouse and Jocelyn Brown both charted with covers coincidentally in August of 1998 - they peaked at #60 and #35 respectively - and finally, the original first charted at #80 in 2013, amazingly still its peak, and briefly re-entered earlier this year. “Tears Dry” itself was sampled the last time Amy made the top 40 in 2023, with Skepta’s #28-peaking tribute “Can’t Play Myself”.

As for our top five this week, we start in the dregs with “i like the way you kiss me” by Artemas at #5, “Beautiful Things” by Benedict Cumberbatch at #4, “Too Sweet” by Hozier at #3, then of course Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone at #2 and “Espresso” at #1. It’s an interesting one today, folks, with a lot of unique and frankly, fantastic stuff to cover, so let’s start with… Kygo?

New Entries

#75 - “For Life” - Kygo and Zak Abel featuring Nile Rodgers

Produced by Kygo, Nile Rodgers, Ollie Green and Franklin

I’m honestly a bit surprised Kygo is still notching chart hits, especially without a big name attached this time. Sure, Nile Rodgers is a legend, but he’s doing so much dance-pop garbage in his later years that I don’t think many people check specifically for his collaborations, so there’s got to be something in this that’s unique, right? Aaaaaaand it’s a sample. It’s a nostalgia bait sample of a 2000s EDM track because of course it is. French house act Modjo debuted with “Lady - Hear Me Tonight”, which spent two weeks at #1 in 2000 and is an absolute classic I still return to today, even if Modjo were basically a one-hit wonder. “Lady” of course is built on a sample of “Soup for One” by Rodgers’ own band CHIC, which comes from a 1982 soundtrack album, never charted and kind of been eclipsed by “Lady”, largely because the original is honestly pretty bad, uninteresting and surprisingly stiff for an 80s funk track, with some of the weakest and most slap-dash implementation of synths. “Lady” really took the best parts of that song - its undeniable guitar melody, that isn’t even put to great use in the original - and constructed an entirely new, incredible song out of it. So I can’t tell if it’s pathetic and desperate for Rodgers to try and reclaim it, or something that speaks to the power of musical transformation. Oh, what am I kidding? It’s Kygo, it’s just kind of boring. It’s a rote piano house track that goes for the same tropical atmosphere Kygo has been doing for years - a lot of the same festival synths are there, it’s all full of bubbly swooshing that actively sound like pastel colours. The only real hook of the song is taken from Modjo and re-sang by Zak Abel, with slight lyric modifications taken from the “I’m Good (Blue)” department of refusing to allow for fun in your dance songs, and even that just feels desperate. What did Nile Rodgers even do here, man? Sign a legal document saying you can use the hook? It’s not even his Goddamn hook.

#69 - “Solo” - Myles Smith

Produced by Peter Fenn

Myles Smith is a singer-songwriter I hadn’t heard of until today but has been active since at least last year and is making at least some consistent buzz so I was interested to see what his first slow-burning chart hit here has to offer and… are we just, IN, 2012, 2013 now? We had festival house with the last song, the next song is heavily Yeezus-inspired, and this is a full-on Aloe Blacc stomp-rock song. It isn’t bad either - I actually had to get used to hearing his richer voice on this kind of scattered clap-stomp-holler folk track, and whilst this is nothing unique given the solemn pianos, spattering of strings and of course, that jingling indie folk rolick, that doesn’t feel particularly organic on this one, it still is far from bad. The lyrics are somewhat generic but not in an awful way, and the “so low”/”solo” double meaning is somewhat clever or at least, would be if in the context of the song, they actually meant separate things. It’s a bit annoying that it’s the main conceit because both have negative connotations for Mr. Smith here, so it just feels like he’s repeating himself rather than elaborating on his feelings or presenting a dichotomy. I imagine it’ll be a lost on a few people due to botched execution, which bothers me because it was an active attempt at clever songwriting that gets kind of lost in sonic translation. This sounds like I’m picking apart the song’s flaws but it is really just a fine little woodlands jams with a great singer, infectious hook and by the end, a damn fine melodramatic string section. I can see it growing on me, especially due to its gorgeous outro, but for right now, I’m somewhat lukewarm, not going to raise a fuss if it ends up smashing though and in a Noah Kahan world, I suppose it’s quite likely.

#64 - “If We Being Real” - Yeat

Produced by Synthetic, Radiate, Fendii, LRBG, Perdu and Dreamr

So terrible news: I like Yeat now. I’m still not granting him his silly little umaluts, and I won’t go too in-depth here, mostly because there’s another song worthy of in-depth analysis, and every piece Yeat’s put out fits into the jigsaw of the album’s narrative as a whole… it would require a lot more time and space, and frankly words, that I’m willing to give #64. No track feels unnecessary on 2093, the atmosphere is consistent across all 24 tracks, and lyrically, it’s a concept album, which I would have never expected from Yeat and he pulls it off brilliantly both sonically and thematically without straining himself to areas he probably couldn’t reach like trying to be super lyrical or stepping away from rage pads. Given the album’s experimentation and length, I wasn’t surprised by the lukewarm commercial reception, but I did at least expect maybe the songs with Future, Wayne or Drake on the deluxe, to have charted by now, when this hasn’t even happened in the US. So when the penultimate track on an album that’s over an hour in its standard issue becomes his first solo hit in the top 75, I have to assume TikTok virality is involved.

Regardless, I’m glad it’s here because it’s brilliant. Sonically as a separate track, it’s one extended verse over a corrupted industrial beat that cracks in right after a mystical intro full of textured but meandering strings, that get swooshed out of existence by a cinematic, malfunctioning clunker incorporating Yeat’s inhuman ad-libs, manipulated behind vocal recognition, into infectious loops within the beat. This is one of few songs - another’s coming later - where I can understand the sheer amount of producers. Lyrically, the title refers to Yeat or more accurately, his psychopathic billionaire character, attempting to shed some of his CEO veneer and ultimately failing, adopting a lot of the violent, power-hungry rhetoric the rest of the album relies on, making it a pretty ironic and depressing title, especially when considering its place in the rest of the album, coming right before the… actually honest and heartbreaking closer, “1093”. In the backhalf of this album, Yeat’s bragging sounds increasingly monotone and routine, and him rapping in and out of distorted filters or going up and down from his traditional murmur to a choking yell, exemplifies how sick and tired he is of the lyfestyle he curated for himself. This song in particular ends with him barely on beat for a beat that doesn’t even really have a beat, becoming a factorial ambiance more so than anything coherently rhythmic. I have no idea why this song in particular is going viral - it doesn’t have a chorus or even really some of the catchier, more potent lyrics on the album, and its beat barely functions as such for the vast majority of the song - Hell, it’s not even one of the album’s integral moments like the opener, “Bought the Earth”, “ILUV”, “Shade”, “Riot & Set it off”, or really countless others, but I’m not complaining because the sound design, the care placed into thematic and narrative consistency, it’s all still here. This is a 10/10 album, and if this song gets more people to check it out, I really can’t be upset with that.

#58 - “Love Me JeJe” - Tems

Produced by Guilty Beatz and Spax

So what’s “Love Me JeJe” actually mean? Well, in Nigerian Pidgin, it means “gentle” or “tender”, and the use of a more regional term rather than the English actually contributes greatly to why I think this song works: Tems’ buttery voice has always been able to display both coldness and a sensual warmth, often at the same time, but on some of the bubbliest guitars I’ve heard over an Afrobeats rhythm since the genre started charting consistently, she’s fully in that second category. Hell, most of the lyrics are pretty basic here, especially the practically meaningless chorus, but that’s to its benefit because thinking too much about this song defeats its purpose: to be gentle. It’s a frankly adorable expression of love and care at its most optimistic extent possible. Despite the clean, tropical percussion, it still feels cute and homegrown. Hell, the second verse, after a nice back-and-forth choir vocal, even references the Nigerian electricity provider that’s apparently nationally infamous for its power outages, with the lyric comparing the love she feels with her partner to the feeling when electricity comes back on in the village and all her neighbours inform the locals. Combine that with how breezy this is, the easy-flowing bridge into an outro full of murmuring, chatter and reverb-drenched laughing, it just makes for a really cute, likeable song. Not necessarily what I expected out of a lead single from Tems, but a delightful surprise. Now to balance that with pure hatred.

#50 - “euphoria” - Kendrick Lamar

Produced by Cardo, Kyuro, Sounwave, Johnny Juliano, Yung Exclusive and Matthew “MTech” Bernard

There’s part of me that finds it quite funny that Drake gets into serious beef with an incredibly analytical and perfectionist rapper like Kendrick right after putting out his own exposé of himself. For All the Dogs is as much of a dissection of Aubrey Drake Graham, albeit perhaps unintentionally, as Kendrick or really anyone could perform, as long as you’re paying attention. It’s been like that (no pun intended) for a while, but his latest is the most obvious and desperate attempt at clinging to status and image that it places his insecurities fully on display. You could recite lyrics from that album on a jazz beat and call it a diss track, so the fact that Kendrick went back to back with damn near dissections of Drake’s paranoia - especially on the Instagram follow-up track he made that is chilling - as well as a myriad of different issues he has with Drake, simply because… well, he doesn’t fuck with Drake. One could argue that this feud is complex and storied, with so many different  beligerents… but the motives behind it are genuinely a lot simpler than most rap feuds, and the diss tracks that are made from it are way more straightforward. They just outline the reasons they dislike each other, almost systematically, it’s genuinely refreshing, or at least a lot more than what’s going on with Quavo and Chris Brown, yeesh.

This track in particular is as calculated as can be, acting as a dissertation on why K-Dot doesn’t really like Drake too much. It’s condescending, damn near academic, with its smooth jazz intro and categorical shoot down of each possible avenue you could hit Drake from. We have sextuple entendres on this thing, a total of three beats, two of which are cheap-sounding but absolutely murderous drill bangers, and Genius annotations that rival War and Peace when combined. I’m not a lyrical expert, and there’s so much in here that I didn’t get until I was pointed towards that direction by Genius annotations, Reddit, X, or, embarrassingly, YouTube Shorts. You don’t need to research or analyse for this to hit hard though, there are plenty of lines that aren’t going over anyone’s heads… until you look into the exact way the bars are constructed and suddenly they have 20 double meanings and hidden easter eggs. This is really sheer venom, filled with so many layers that I wouldn’t be surprised if he genuinely wins a GRAMMY for it - and it would be in character considering Drake doesn’t even nominate his songs anymore. It’s already having an effect too, that 4batz album came out today, and he’s not signed to OVO as rumoured. Ye’s on the record… but not the already existing and heavily-streamed Drake remix. Already, he may be losing some of that prestige.

As far as it is sonically, it’s six minutes of murder, and Kendrick’s delivery is energised, violent, damn near deranged at times, to perfectly balance how, somewhat subtly through his meta commentary about his own bars and albums, the lyrics are basically an essay. It has an introduction, a conclusion, a hypothesis, written examples, he even presents counter-arguments and weaves them into his own analysis. By the time he was going extremely in-depth about his experiences as a father, and just repeating that Drake knows nothing about that, it almost felt like overkill. My personal favourite lines and ideas presented here are the concise slow dagger of the intro verse, the “Demun”/”throwaway” scheme, the voice and character he puts on between “Cutthroat business” and “I’ll explain that phrase” - he’s like a disappointed teaching assistant, obviously the YNW Melly line and its set-up, the incredible Daft Punk line that got a cackle out of me on first listen, then followed up by a mocking interpolation of one of Drake’s most revered songs, the straightforward rant about everything he hates that references an iconic moment of DMX’s trademark honesty (rest in peace), the “record” scheme in verse three, and when he started the fake Canadian accent, I just lost it. Drake’s biggest weakness here is that when he’s funny, I’m laughing at him, but when Kendrick’s funny, I’m laughing with him, and much louder. If he does respond, unless the man tells us that Kendrick’s whole life and career has been a farce, or he brings, like, the actual former President Obama on the track or something, I can’t see how it tops this. This is one of the best diss tracks ever in terms of sheer detail, and might honestly be one of the greatest throwaway rap singles period. It’ll be tough to beat.

#31 - “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” - Tommy Richman

Produced by Max Vossberg, Jonah Roy, Mannyvelli, Sparkheem and Kavi

This is the sudden breakout hit for Virginia rapper-turned-singer Tommy Richman, which actually comes in two versions on Spotify, the original and a more distorted “VHS” version. Also, this is brilliant. Sure, Richman just sounds like Brent Faiyaz, but a trend I haven’t been able to talk about on here necessarily but has been very exciting for me is the return of grittier, groovier synth funk and hyphy beats into underground hip hop and R&B, with this representing the more melodic end of that sound, which is typically restricted to Midwest and Dirty South rappers. The sound design on this one is actually even unique to that sound, starting with a bizarrely British-sounding Memphis rap vocal loop which I think isn’t a sample and is just him doing a bad impression, filtered below an infectious beat that actually took me by surprise. It even has cowbells and the type of punchy jabbing drums that I love from classic southern rap, but instead of the smooth-talking rappers you usually expect over this, we get a Brent Faiyaz impression that didn’t click with me until hearing this song. I never really got his appeal until I hear it over this and I start to realise the very distinct new jack swing element to his vocals, as he pretty seamlessly transitions from soulful double-tracked harmonies to much more rhythmic, half-rap flows. Now this ISN’T Brent Faiyaz… and I still don’t really like Brent Faiyaz, but hearing his wannabes I think helped me gather what was distinct about him, and the literal Richman North of Richmond here pitting his filtered splatter of vocal ideas and riffs over the beat in a very Devil-may-care fashion exemplifies the elements I do like about him, just with an instrumental that I personally like a lot more. Also, the VHS version is labelled as such but is really just like a bass-boosted version of the song that sounds like it was done in 10 seconds in Audacity, though the vocal mixing sounds a bit different too. I would love for someone to explain why that was the version I ended up adding to my playlist, because I couldn’t tell you.

#8 - “I Can Do It with a Broken Heart” - Taylor Swift

Produced by Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift

I know I wrote my whole Taylor spiel last week, but I’m not bothered about this one at all, and I really did expect it to be a fan favourite, mostly because, as the one track I actually enjoy on the standard version, she’s having fun! The lyrics are actively vapid, which doesn’t feel like the intention when she’s singing over soppy adult contemporary but very much feeds into the almost childish character she plays here over synthpop with an actual pulse. The synths here sound like a theme park she’s taking the boy to, especially with the backing vocals and chatter samples implemented into the ambiance and classic Antonoff wonky synths - though some of this doesn’t even sound like it’s in his ballpark. Like were Marian Hill or Sofi Tukker ghost-producing this? Some of these loop choices and flashy sound effects are frankly ridiculous, in the best way of course because the song is camp and fun. Sure, some of Taylor’s lyrics still come off a bit awkward, mostly because of her choice of slower melodies sometimes clashing with the fast-paced patter of the synthscape, but that’s a nitpick. I do love this song, I think it’s fun, Hell, I think it’s funny which is something Taylor has always kind of failed to translate to me in the past, so that is something. I just don’t think we have the same sense of humour. Does she like Norm Macdonald? I don’t feel like she does. Correct me if I’m wrong, Swifties.

Conclusion

It should be incredibly obvious who gets Best of the Week, it’s Kenny, easily, with “euphoria”, and I’m sorry, Swifties, but Yeat better. “If We Being Real” takes away with the Honourable Mention pretty easily as well, though really, strong competition and strong week all around - Tems was close too. There can’t be a Dishonourable Mention in this climate so, Worst of the Week goes to Kygo and Zak Abel for “For Life” that “features” Nile Rodgers, it genuinely just is a lazy template of a song. As for what’s on the horizon, I’m not sure. Dua’ll have some impact, but outside of that, time may have to tell. For now, thank you for reading, long live Cola Boyy, and I’ll see you next week!

[armpirate]

UNDER HIS SKIN || JJK || Ch. 30

Pairings: tattoist!jk x fem!reader

Genre: smut, angst, friends to lovers, tattoo au, virgin reader.

Summary: They say there are two versions for every story, and it's important to hear both of them. Everybody is hearing your side of the story, but it's just fair to get to know his.

After breaking up with his girlfriend, the only thing he wanted was to have fun with no attachment. You wanted to get rid of your virginity, and he wanted to tick you off his list. What he didn't expect was getting so emotionally attached to you that he would regret the deal.

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Meeting up with Jimin and Tae is probably the best thing I could do after everything that happened. They always know how to make me disconnect completely and forget about everything that's going on around me.

Except for tonight.

It seems like tonight they both plotted against me, and fooled me into thinking we'd be meeting up in one place to end up in a whole different bar. When I first got there, I couldn't help but feel familiar with the street I parked in, but then when those two moved from one of the bars to head to Y/n's pub, I knew they tricked me badly.

That's why you shouldn't trust your friends.

—She doesn't want to see me —I try to convince them.

—You don't know that —Tae whispers, waving at Tammy's with his head as soon as she's aware of our presence.

Giving up completely, I sit with them in one of the tables that are closer to the left walls -near the pantry door. I have no idea how she will react when she sees me, but I seem to not care about it as soon as I see her walking past us. She goes from one place to the other, moving skillfully with the tray filled with drinks and glasses, smiling at the customers, always coming and going from the counter to the tables -and vice versa. Although she stops longer than she should on one of the tables. I can see her smiling more genuinely, and I can even hear the way she teases and jokes with that guy without having to hear the conversation actually.

At some point, she even sits with him after giving him a drink, and I'm not able to see much more until he hands her a piece of paper that she seems focused on reading. Although, out of nowhere, the guy points at me without turning, redirecting her eyes that were lost over the pub until she spots me thanks to him. Her eyes move away fast enough, as if she didn't really care about me being here.

I know they talk for a few more minutes, until he gets up, along with her, and hands her some bucks. He even helps her with his own glass, taking it to the counter, before he leaves the pub, waving at her again. It's when he walks over the window that I realize it's the same dude that tried to hit on her a while ago.

What the fuck was he doing here?

Jimin knocks me back to this place, muttering some words I'm unable to understand until I see something moving through the corner of my eye. She's aware of my presence, she saw me before, and also she's walking with her chin more raised than usual. And maybe I should add the fact that she's avoiding looking at me as much as possible. It's quite obvious.

—Hey, Y/n —Jimin greets her—. How's everything going?

—Fine —she sighs.

—Y/n? This is Y/n? —Tae asks, looking at me with wide eyes.

Yeah, he definitely isn't the best at playing it cool.

—I finally meet you. You have no idea how much Jungkook has talked about you.

Before he's able to say anything else, I move my feet fast in his direction, hitting him. The table moves over us, and he whines at the sudden shock. But it's not like I care either.

—Tae, why don't you just say what you want to drink? —Jimin calls him out.

—Hey, beauty. Come here —another man says, from one of the tables in the corner of the bar.

—I'll be with you in just one second —she glares back at us.

—By the way, I received your email. Wednesday 25th is okay for you? —Jimin asks.

—Um. About that, I think it won't be necessary. I'll try to work with someone else.

I frown instantly when I hear her say that. I know that we had a fall out, but is she seriously going to drop Jimin in the middle of her therapy just because of it?

—Why?

—I met someone who's specialized in that —she mentions.

And I can tell she's lying. Y/n shifted his eyes somewhere in the room, and she made a thinking noise before she spoke up -it probably went unnoticed by Jimin and Tae, but I've known her for long enough to be able to pick it up every time she tries to lie.

—Well, that's great —he nods, giving her a genuine smile—. But I'll save the appointment for the 25th at four. Just in case you change your mind.

She opens her mouth, almost going to speak up, but the same male voice interrupts her before she's able to say a word.

—She said she'd be with you in a fucking minute —I speak for the first time, throwing a glance at the disrespectful asshole sitting a few tables ahead—. Calm your ass down, unless you want me to do it for you.

—What are you doing? —she scolds me.

—Are you serious? He...

—I'm serious —she stops me—. He's drunk and just being an asshole. Last thing I want tonight is someone getting in a fight —after that, she looks at Jimin and Tae again—. Guys, what do you want?

—Three beers —Jimin rushes to answer.

Tilting my head, I lay my back against the backrest of the chair, under Jimin's and Tae's attentive eyes, while I try to calm myself down. I know what she means, but I was just trying to help. That dude is being an asshole and making her job harder than it should be.

—She can't stand your ass —Tae comments.

—Shut the fuck up —Jimin simply huffs—. She's right. There's no point in picking up a fight with that kind of person.

Except I know that kind of person, and I know one of them will cross the line at any point right now.

—They make a cute couple, don't they? —Tae lets out out of nowhere.

—Yeah —Jimin agrees with a smile, giggling at Tae's comment.

—Too bad this asshole told her to date other dudes.

—You did what? —Jimin turns to me, surprised at our other friend's comment.

—It's...

—Areum all over again —Tae rolls his eyes.

—Jungkook... —as he pronounces my name with such sadness, he strokes my forearm, trying to cheer me up— I thought you moved on from that.

—I did —I nod—, but I really thought this could be a great chance for her to know herself better —same excuse all over again—. And I don't really want to talk about this —I finally say, when I'm aware he's getting ready to let me know how wrong I am for this—, so let's just talk about something else.

—How about that dude that's plotting nothing good? —Tae interrupts us.

When I look at him, he's pointing towards the counter. Both Tammy and Y/n are talking casually, while Tam hands her a water bottle that gets snatched away before she's able to pick it up. The dude looks at her, smiles, and takes a drink from it before he speaks to them.

I can tell the intentions he has, and it's taking me a hard time to control myself right now. Tae holds my arm when he sees I'm making an attempt to stand up. It's a natural reaction when I see him moving his arm close to her waist, and she's clearly disgusted with his attitude. He tries a second time, finally getting pushed away from her, and Tammy interrupts them.

—Relax —he tells me.

But again, I see his attitude. He throws his credit card over the counter, and as soon as Tammy is focused on something else, the dude is back on Y/n. The third time he tries to cross the line with y/n, I get rid of Tae's grip and walk towards them.

—What the fuck is wrong with you?

That's the only thing I manage to hear her say, before I grab him by the collar and make him fall to the ground with just one punch.

Such a big man that can take advantage of her, but that isn't even able to take a hit.

And like every coward, he has his two other friends having his back and holding me so their friend can fight properly. It only gives him time to punch me on my stomach, before my two friends are joining the fight and helping me out. Everything happens so fast, we're so into the fight that we are unaware of anything else that happens around us.

Actually, the fight doesn't stop until we are forced to by the police, with the three men being taken away while one of the cops talks with Tammy and Y/n. And, once they're gone, they both talk to each other while us three just stay there. A sudden gasp gets all of our attention, and when I look at them, I see blood dripping from Y/n's hand to the floor. We all react fast under Jimin's commands, and right after Tam has rolled a clean rag around her hand, I hold her by her sane wrist, dragging her outside.

—Are you taking her on the motorbike? —Tae asks, following behind us until we all reach the motorbike.

—If we have to wait for a cab, it'll take forever —I don't even turn to him.

She tries her best at keeping her hold on my t-shirt while I'm driving -as fast I can- to the nearest hospital-, although every time it ends up with a whine before she moves her hand away and tries it a second time. But she finally gives in, letting me feel the weight of her small hand on my lap. Even if it takes me to drive with only my right hand, I let go of the left side of the handlebar to hold her by the wrist to keep her arm correctly around me, tight against my stomach.

We don't exchange a word while we wait in the hospital, nor while we're heading out. We could've talked, but words just didn't come out. I didn't think it was the best moment to talk about what we had to talk about. She just lets me take her home when I insist, too exhausted to argue with me right now. And when I stop in front of her building, we don't talk either.

She hops off the motorbike, not even turning to me.

—Won't you talk to me now? You won't even say goodbye?

I say it as a joke, trying to break the ice and thinking it'd work between us, but she turns to me, immediately making me go serious.

She's angry.

—I told you those assholes only wanted to fight. I told you to let it go and ignore them —she confronts me.

She can't be fucking serious right now.

—That dickhead was crossing the line.

—He was about to leave —she cuts me off, avoiding me from explaining what I was thinking—. Something that would have lasted two minutes, turned into twenty because of you. Because you always have to do whatever the fuck you want.

Oh, of course this isn't about the fight only...

—Are you still talking about the fight or about something else? —I squint my eyes.

—About everything —I look away for a few seconds, until she speaks again—. Does my opinion mean nothing to you or what?

—It does. Fuck, Y/n, that asshole was making you uncomfortable —I hop off the motorbike—. Not only once, or twice. He tried it three fucking times, and you were just expecting me to sit back and look? —I scoff, shaking my eyes, unable to even think about the possibility— I'm sorry, but I can't just sit back and look when it comes to you. And I'd have broken each one of his teeth if I had had the chance.

Her frown eyebrows turn into a line, before they frown again. The difference is that she isn't furious, at least not the short moment she takes to look at my face, going from angry to concerned as her eyes inspect my face carefully.

—Let's go to my place so I can clean you up.

She doesn't say anything else. She came up with the idea and I just followed her, taking every excuse to be with her longer than I originally thought I would. We don't speak while we are in her place though, she only motions me to the bathroom and points where I should sit, before she starts preparing everything she needs to clean me up.

—I know you're mad about yesterday —I look down at her when she kneels in front of me—. But you'll thank me in the long run.

—Sure, I will. Because it's so normal to encourage someone you like to fuck others. And it's completely okay to expect her to be okay with it.

—I don't want you to rush into things —I sigh—. You barely lived your life because of what happened. I don't think I'd be able to be the second reason why you haven't lived. Now it's your time to do everything you couldn't, and choose whenever you feel sure to choose.

—Even if you tell me to do it, you're aware I won't —she glances at me fast—. So what's the point?

I complain when the gauze gets in contact with my wounds, and my whole body shakes when she just huffs and bends over to blow softly on those same spots.

—You're choosing because you're scared I'll sleep with other girls, and dump you —I try to smile—. Cocktease —I grab her wrist gently, stopping her moves for a second—, just trust me —I try to smile again—. New rule: I won't see anyone else, just you.

—That's not fair —she picks another gauze—. You're getting nothing out of that rule.

—You.

It's literally all I want right now. Her and her happiness. That's it.

—It was always about you, remember? —I scoff— Besides, after fucking you, it'll be so difficult to fuck with someone else. You were out of this worl... Ouch!

She pressed on one of the worst wounds harder on purpose, interrupting what I was saying before she finally stands and lets me know she's done. I can see she tries to move away, but I stop her when I hold her, until I have her sitting on my lap, both of her legs hanging on the right side of my body.

—I can't stand it when you're mad at me —I confess.

—Really? Because you don't stop giving me reasons to be mad at you.

I try to make her smile. And it takes me one weird way to curve my lips to finally get it. She rolls her eyes right after, annoyed with how I need to get away with everything when it comes to her.

She better not ask me about it ever, because I don't have a proper answer for that.

—What's going on with that dude, by the way? I saw you talking with him again.

She suddenly frowns, confused at the sudden change of topic.

—Jin?

—I guess —I shrug.

—He wanted me to apply for a vacancy in his gallery. I have a job interview tomorrow.

—With him? —I fake disgust on my face.

—Yes.

She pushes my arm, while just smiling. She deserves this chance more than anyone else in the world.

—I'm so happy for you. You deserve it.

—Yeah, sure you are happy —she rolls her eyes.

—I am. Nobody deserves this more than you —I place a hand on her leg

Honestly, I could dislike the idea of that guy around her -especially after he tried to hit on her-, but she's waited for this chance for so long. Of course I'm glad for her.

—Why don't we celebrate it? —I lower the tone of my voice.

I try to kiss her a few times, but she keeps moving back every time I make the attempt. I just end up groaning out of frustration, throwing my head back, before she holds my neck. Just the touch of her lips rubbing on mine have me jumping excited, her fingers also caress each one of the tattoos in my arm, especially that snake tattoo she's said a few times she loves. At the same time her hand goes up my arm, her lips go lower over my jaw. I try to touch her further than just her thigh, but her hand keeps blocking every move.

—Y/n —I whine.

Smiling against my skin, she keeps teasing me the best way she can. She even plays with my long locks, putting one of them behind my ear before she leans forward. Her hand burns against my skin when it peeks through the collar of my t-shirt, while her tongue licks from my jaw to my earlobe.

She's so unfair. She knows how bad I like that.

—You want me to date and fuck other guys, then I will choose when you can fuck me just the same way —she whispers in my ear, making me open my eyes suddenly.

—Babe...

—Nope —she gets up—. You want this. Perfect. But if you want to fuck me, work for it.

—Fine. We'll see how much it takes you to give in —I stand up, taking her deal.

—I've gone twenty six years without sex, I'm sure I'll be able to wait a bit for the next time.

After saying that, she just leaves the bathroom and heads to her room.

She said she wouldn't fuck me or kiss me, but she didn't say anything about sleeping together, so I just follow her. I start getting ready to bed, pulling up from the collar of my t-shirt to take it off, before Y/n's voice stops me again.

—I don't think so —I look at her—. It's either my couch or your house.

—You really gonna make me sleep somewhere else?

But she doesn't answer, she just shrugs and presses her lips together.

Chuckling, I take the challenge.

I take my t-shirt off before I walk to her. Placing my hand on her nape, I pull her to me so I can kiss her forehead as gently as possible.

—Sleep well, cocktease.

—You, too.

I walk out of the room, pulling my best act until she closes the door. Then I just throw my body over the couch and whine silently. She's so cruel... She knows I got used to sleeping with her, she knows I have a hard time whenever we sleep apart, and now she does this.

She's playing dirty. 

[wannabecatwriter]

“Yeah, I guess I got lucky. One book got published and it really flew of the shelves, so now all the publishers actually all want to work with me,” Kareem chuckled. “I’m sticking with my OG publisher, though. He’s the one who actually stuck by me since the start.”

“It’s pretty hard to make it in that industry, isn’t it?” Anna understood.

“Yeah, like I said, I pretty much got lucky with someone who took a chance on me,” Kareem admitted. “I’m sure there are many who could write even bigger hits if someone gave them a chance.”

“Maybe you can!” Anna offered. “With your name attached, you could probably help some young authors. Maybe even start your own publishing house?”

“Who knows? Maybe I will eventually,” he nodded. “Do you write?”

“Oh, no. I draw, but creating a story isn’t really my strong point. I leave that to the professionals,” Anna laughed. “Honestly, I have mad respect for anyone creating stories - how do you keep all those details in your head?”

“Hah, I actually feel like that’s easy. Now, art sounds way more complicated to me, so I guess we’re even,” Kareem smiled. “Now, how did all of us artistic-minded folks end up here?”

“Life, man. Life,” Demarcus shook his head. “Bills need to be paid and folks need their drinks.“

“If only we could do it in less unsavory company,” Tammie shot a tired look to where her aunt was chatting with the birthday boy and the others.

“You could say that again,” mumbled Nick, who was about done with his drink and ready to head out. This “high society” was not for him.

[sleepybeanmal]

Okay hear me out tho: TWST Boys as Songs in my YouTube Music Shuffle

Note: This is just what I associate them with, partially based on headcanons, but there’s not much rhyme or reason to it so no need to get upset if you don’t think the choice makes sense

HEARTSLABYUL

- Riddle- GRRRLS, AViVA

- Trey- Dear Hearts and Gentle People, Bob Crosby and the Bobcats

- Cater- Thumbs Up, MOMOLAND

- Ace- God Save the Queen, The Sex Pistols

- Deuce- Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow, Nat King Cole

- BONUS: ADeuce- Dancing With Myself, Generation X

SAVANACLAW

- Leona- Tear You Apart, She Wants Revenge

- Ruggie- Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked, Cage the Elephant

- Jack- Mister Sandman, The Chordettes

OCTAVINELLE

- Azul- Beyond the Sea, Bobby Darin

- Jade- Brass Devil, Parov Stelar

- Floyd- Crab Rave, Noisestorm

SCARABIA

- Kalim- Jump in the Line, Harry Belafonte

- Jamil- Snake Charmer, Parov Stelar and Kovacs

POMEFIORE

- Vil- POP/STARS, K/DA

- Rook- Vampire, The Orion Experience

- Epel- Kingslayer(feat. BABYMETAL), Bring Me the Horizon

IGNIHYDE

- Idia- Me!Me!Me!, Teddyloid (feat. Daoko)

- Ortho- Doom Crossing: Eternal Horizons, The Chalkeaters

DIASOMNIA

- Malleus- Carnival of the Animals/ XIII, The Swan, Camille Saint-Saëns OR Clair de Lune, Claude Debussy

- Lilia- Hooked on a Feeling, Björn Skiffs OR Take On Me, A-ha OR Never Gonna Give You Up, Rick Astley(Honestly just pick a song and that’s got some memes attached to it and bingo)

- Sebek- Stand By Your Man, Tammy Wynette(Sidenote:This song gets really funny in the context of Sebek as Malleus’s guard/personal retainer and watching Malleus just behave like an absolute crackhead with MC but is otherwise kind of fucked up in the irl context😅)

- Silver- Home(from UNDERTALE, feat. FamilyJules), Adriana Figueroa OR Mountain Hymn, Rhiannon Giddens

[gay-little-axolotl]

ok but like… has anyone made an RTC twin AU with Penny and Jane. like they both come back to life as two separate people, and they’re twins. Karnak’s magic makes everyone in Uranium think that Jane has always existed as Penny’s twin, except for Penny herself. so Penny just wakes up in the hospital after the accident like “tf just happened” and sees this random ass blonde girl and now everyone is saying they’re twins even though she has no idea who the fuck that is. Jane remembers everything that happened in the warehouse but Penny doesn’t even remember riding the Cyclone.

the rest of the of the choir comes back to life too, (probably because of some unspoken rule Karnak made up on the last second) but they only remember the accident and everything that happened prior. except for Ocean. Ocean remembers everything. because she got the final vote. she somehow remembers exactly what happened, word for word, and can probably recreate the whole thing. Ocean is the only one who recognizes Jane. Ricky is the only one who recognizes Penny, because he was the only one who interacted with her prior to the accident.

Penny is the exact same person as she was in Legoland, Ezra’s still her brother, and she’s still friends with Tammy. the only difference is that now she’s also friends with Ricky and she’s Jane’s twin (or so that’s what everyone thinks) Jane however, still does not know who she is, and no one can give her an answer. the rest of the town thinks she’s just Penny’s freaky twin that carries around a headless doll for whatever reason. the only thing that changed is that now she has a family, a head that’s actually attached to her head, and a last name. so with the choir’s help, she has to reinvent herself into the person she really is.

[tamyrawilliams]

Emre comes to massage Tamyra and they end up talking about a lot of things. Revelations are being had, decisions are being made. ft @akbartheolder​

Emre slowly his way towards Tamyra's home.  It had been a while; granted Emre got those hazy green blips still, some flickering memories featuring Tamyra's lovely face...only that hadn't been Tam, just like that fake hadn't been him.  It would be easy to avoid Tamyra these days - they both seemed occupied these days, and after their last attempt to find Kaz went so south, things just...fizzled.  Went stale.  No need to talk about it; neither of them were like that.  Tamyra left angry, Emre left despondent, and they simply didn't reconnect since.

But Emre wasn't the type to let things lay fallow for long, not when he found himself thinking about Tamyra.  Maybe even missing her company, honestly.  She'd been the first person to find him on Meridium, when Flight 441 crashed; he wasn't ashamed to say he'd grown rather attached to Tamyra Williams, in a strange, detached, fond way.

"Oi, Tammy-darling,"  Emre called out, once he got closer.  "You about?  It's been a little while innit."  Emre lifted the bottle of scented coconut oil, gave it a waggle.  "I come bearing an offer."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra didn't really expect Emre to show up at her place that afternoon - or any afternoons these days, really. They didn't really talk anymore, not as casually and often as before, and that was generally normal for Tamyra for the most part. And with Emre, that was mostly the pattern, even if this was a longer period than it ever has been before.

Not that she minded, not for one bit. Emre was fun and they worked well together, definitely one of the good ones from that plane crashing.

"Hey, I'm here, what's up?" she leaned against her entrance door's frame after Emre's initial call out to her, watching him get closer, wiggle that scented coconut oil in his hands. "Oh, and you brought a gift with that offer as well, now I must hear that out. Especially if it ends with that oil in my home. I am starting to get low on my own bottle. Whatever you are doing, keep doing it, by the way, they are too good, my skin is much happier using these than anything else, really."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"I don't intend to stop making oil, if that's what you mean...but that bloody fake of mine used up all the oil during that month, and never bothered to make any more.  I'm getting on that, but - this is from my personal reserve innit.  Been cleaning out my old home and I found it.  Better to use it than save it so...I thought to myself: who would like a massage? And, well -"  Emre motioned to Tamyra.  "Person on the island who deserves it the most, obvi."

Emre let himself smile.  "And before you think I'm just being English and sarcastic, I am thinking about public morale innit.  My theory is - if Tamyra Williams is happy and well-oiled and relaxed mood, she'll strut about giving everyone something gorgeous to look at.  And she'll be dazzling and happy.  Then - everyone will be happy."

A shrug.  "Pretty good theory if you ask me.  So.  You up for it, darling?  Or I could just leave it here."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra couldn't help a small smile on her lips that grew bigger and bigger as Emre kept on explaining her theory. Keeping her happy - with oil and personal massage, no less! - and through that keeping the entire island happy too. She could easily see where this was going, but she wasn't going to send Emre away, no. She could have some fun herself.

"Definitely a good theory, yes. I can get behind it. Anyone keeping me happy is something I am down for, and I will never turn away good oil and free massage. Come on in, though, you cannot just keep standing there if you wanna massage me," she said and let Emre in.

“I've got some water that I can offer-- well, I have more, really, but I think the water is the best thing I can offer to a waterbaby, right?" She handed over a bottle of fresh water. "So how are your massaging skills exactly? What can I expect?"

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Water's fine,"  Emre accepted readily.  "More thirsty than usual after them bloody trees innit."  He took the water bottle and drained a third of it right there, then scoffed as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.  "These hands is proper talented, sweetheart.  Ask any married woman from my ends. Happy endings for the lot of them."  A brag as he cracked his knuckles, rolled his shoulders as if getting warmed up to win a marathon.

He motioned to Tamyra's fancy bed.  "Want to do it there, or you got a place outside to stretch out in the sun?  Tell me where it aches and let me do the rest, yeah?"

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Same with me. I feel like no water is enough these days." Though she mostly just spent time in the water - but Tamyra didn't work on the farm, she could have hours just to chill in water while Emre during all of that probably spent working his ass off on the farm.

She grinned. "Am I getting a happy ending too? Or is that not part of the offer here?" she couldn't help but ask before moving over to her bed. "Here's alright." She untied her bikini top and after a moment's of hesitation, she laid down onto her bed on her stomach - her burn scars on her back showing, but it's not like she could have hidden them anyway. "My shoulders and that top part of my back is where it aches most, if you could start there, please."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"All I taste is green.  Honestly I don't mind eating my veg - especially if curried right - but when I'm eating a bloody egg or fish and it still taste like bloody plant?"  Emre kissed his teeth.  "And that's not the half of it, innit.  All types of problems since them bloody trees."

Tamyra teased, and Emre smiled.  "I'm full-service, always.  Whatever the lady wants," he said, the least aggressive proposition that Emre had ever used with Tamyra.   As he knelt next to her bed, Emre removed his grandfather's ring from his finger, and the little shell bracelet from his wrist.  He dangled it proudly in front of Tamyra's face, where she was reclined.  "Like that?  Wren made it for me, didn't she.  Talented little thing, she is.  Check - it says 'akhi'.  Means 'brother'. She actually carved that in!"

He put it on Tam's little table, then squeezed some oil in his palms, rubbing it to warm it up before placing his hands on Tamyra's smooth shoulders.  Scars or not - "Bloody hell, you've got the most gorgeous skin, luv."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Yeah, let's not even get into all the other problems." The need for water or the taste almost felt small, compared to the other consequences, and Tamyra didn't want to think about it right now. Just about the massage and that happy ending. "The lady definitely wouldn't mind a happy ending, mister," she smiled and gotten ready to just sink into her bed, enjoy his fingers and whatever else he wanted to do with her.

And then Emre had to take off a bracelet made of shells, dangle it in front of her face until she really looked at it and rub it in that Wren made it for him. She made one for Tamyra too, except she had no idea where it was now and she was pretty sure she would never get one more. That ship has sailed.

But no, focus, Tamyra. Massage, oil, Emre's hands, happy ending. "I knooooow. And your oils help them immensely," she sighed and tried to focus on his hands but then. "So you're one of those who deserves a Wren jewlery, hmm? Gets it even made especially for you..." She was not bitter or hurt, no. Not at all. Nor did her shoulders and most of her body tense up. Not. At. All. "How lucky you are."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

In response to her invite, Emre leaned in, dragging a slow kiss between Tamyra's shoulder blades, to the sweet jut of her spinal bone.

But then he focused.  Because Emre actually did enjoy giving massages.  It wasn't just all about the ulterior purpose - granted he'd never massage a man...well maybe he could imagine his hands on one man.  Oh, and Iyaz of course - so much as just the feeling of success.  Having a woman moan in the pleasure of worked muscles, the pleasure of touching her skin, giving attention, making someone happy through touch alone.  He kneaded the heel of his palm against Tamyra's back, searching out the little knots and tense spots.

"I made her promise me to make one,"  Emre smiled, glancing at the pretty little bracelet.  But he must've hit a pressure point, at the way Tamyra tensed.  Emre pushed through.  "Don't be jealous, c'mon.  I'm sure she'll make one for you too innit.  I don't need to be unique, just the first."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"I'm not jealous," Tamyra snapped, not at all convincing that she wasn't, in fact, jealous. Even though she wasn't. She was hurt and annoyed and hated how effected she was, but she wasn't jealous. Nope.

"And anyway, I doubt she would make anything for me. She made it very clear that she wants nothing to do with me, so no bracelets or anything for me," she grumbled. Even though she did get one for herself. Probably the first one, despite what Emre thought his was. But admitting that would require explaining the fact that she didn't know where hers was or why Wren wouldn't make her another one and that was too embarrassing, so she just kept it for herself. Instead, she tried to get away from the topic, as one naturally does. "Can you-- a little bit further up-- there, yeeeah, right there, please."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Emre didn't pause in his attentions to Tamyra's muscles, but he was somewhat thrown off, surprised when Tamyra snapped at him.  'I'm not jealous' in a tone Emre knew quite well - from women, from his own mouth on occasion.  'I'm not jealous' to rhyme with 'I am extremely jealous'.

But why?  Tamyra had a sister of her own apparently; surely she didn't want Wren as her sister too.  The only other option was...nah.  Emre mulled over Wren and her crush, but it couldn't possibly be Tamyra.  That would be like saying Beyoncé was your crush; everyone did it, no one actually got it.

So he just moved to where Tamyra wanted him, fingers pushing down on a particularly hard knot.  "Like that?"  Emre asked quietly, accommodating where Tamyra shifted to get it just right.  He worked at the muscle for a bit and then said,  "I...think I made up with Kaz.  I think...I think we sorted things out, a bit.  He don't hate me no more, erm, I don't think. Took work, but.  It was my doing, wasn't it."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Thankfully Emre didn't push the topic even though Tamyra wasn't quite subtle, and she rewarded him with moan as he knotted out a hard spot. "Yeah, just like that, don't stop please." Just a good massage and now no more talk of Wren and those stupid jewlery. Stupid, pretty, meaningful jewlery, but whatever.

Kaz was a much better topic anyway. "Yeah? I'm glad. I still don't fully understand what happened, but he is a good one, so getting him to not hate you anymore is good. And just-- whatever you're doing, keep it up. I am sure it'll work." She was curious, though. "What did it? What did you do that convinced him to forgive you?"

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

The last time Emre and Tamyra had talked about Kaz - or tried to - Emre had snapped at her.  Told her he never wanted to talk about and of that with her again.  He remembered feeling hurt, misunderstood and frustrated by (what he'd thought at the time) relentless pushiness.  At the time, he'd hoped that Tamyra would be understanding and soft with him.

Well.  The least he could do now, was give her that patience and softness he'd desired back then.

He smiled at her soft moan, her body relaxing more, muscles warming up nicely.  "Right, well.  The reason he cut me out, was because I was a dick to him innit.  I was getting worked up over - over another matter that he was trying to help me with.  It got too much, and I took it out on him, yeah.  Said - I accused him of some horrid things, man.  Told him he didn't give a fuck about me and that."

Emre kissed his teeth.  "Pushed him away, didn't I.  Like a prat, all because I was too scared and hurting innit."  And to answer Tamyra's cautiously curious question.  "Dunno if he's forgiven me yet, but I asked him for another chance, right.  Because I missed him. And because I know I fucked up.  And...fucking hell, I missed him so badly, Tam. It hurt how much I missed him."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Emre was trying to be patient and soft with Tamyra, and if Tamyra knew what he was doing, she would have appreciated it, but she didn't have a clue. She just figured they changed the topic - Emre wasn't always open about Kaz, that was part of their falling out initially too, so now it was interesting to hear Emre's side of it.

"You pushed him away and this isn't just anyone, it's Kaz, and he takes those things deeper than just anyone, so his trust is harder to earn back," she summarized what happened the way she saw him. "But he's given you another chance, right? You didn't just ask for one, he said he's open to it? I think as long as Kaz is open, you guys will patch things up."

Those last few words of his stuck deeper than she thought they would, though. And...fucking hell, I missed him so badly, Tam. It hurt how much I missed him. It hit her in that moment just how much she related to that sentiment, when it came to Wren. Even if she should not have felt like that - when Emre and her weren't talking much, she was just fine, she wasn't aching or thinking about what Emre threw into her face in the middle of an argument, and Wren and her weren't even fighting, she still just kept hearing those words, they way Wren dismissed her.

Ugh, she hated this. She didn't want this kind of revelations, it only made her feel worse. So instead she shifted and turned around and pushed her upper body up onto her forearm and leaned in, pressed her lips against Emre's. That was what they both wanted, right? They could just skip the foreplay-talk and get right to it.

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Who knew our Kaz would take things so deep.  About me..." Emre murmured ruefully, his smile crooked and wry.  But he hummed, agreeing that Kaz's trust was understandably tough to earn back.  "Never thought someone would go that hard, not for the likes of me.  Know what I mean?  Sounds pathetic, but whatevs.  Honestly still hard to believe, but I'm trying innit.  Just got to knock some other fucked-up thoughts from my head."

And it seemed Tamyra had an idea how to do that.  Emre leaned into the kiss without any protest, tasting her sweet perfect mouth.  Even the little dip that the scar left on her upper lip - perfect against the swipe of his exploring tongue.   A good, intense kiss, dotted by a shorter one, then a smaller one over that.  And then, Emre pressed his forehead against Tamyra's, breathing heavily, mint and coconut.

"You sure I'm who you want, Tam?  C'mon.  I know I threw a pissy little wobbly about all this, before, but.  I'm trying to be better about it. I missed our chats too."  Emre continued his kisses along her nose, in the soft wet flutter of her eye.    "Who would you rather be kissing right now, darling."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

The bottoming jokes were right there on the tip of Tamyra's tongue, but then the last second she decided to hold it back. They were actually talking about something good without arguing, she didn't want to mess it up with a badly times joke. Instead, she said, "And you got the attention of a good one. Kaz is a catch - but I am sure you're aware of that."

Then the kissing - thank god they were both into each other and knew that they could just provide easy fun to each other. Emre was always safe in that regard, and it was probably one of the best things that he showed up at her door.

And yet, something was missing. Something was glaringly missing and she could feel it in that moment - even though in the past it was mostly passion and physical between Emre and her, even that kind of desire and need was missing from Tamyra. She just wanted to forget and wanted anything else other than thinking about Wren but apparently Emre could not provide that. But still, she wanted to keep going, wanted to try and find a way to get lost in Emre.

Except he had different ideas, and Tamyra groaned when he pulled away, when he stopped them in the gentlest way possible. She didn't need gentle, she needed Emre to blank her mind. Instead he stepped right in the middle of what she didn't want to talk or think about.

"I'm not wishing to be kissing anyone else." She moved her head, pressing her lips against his again but even that attempt failed, nothing, she was just getting more frustrated, so instead she entangled herself from Emre completely suddenly - if he was closer, it was all soft and kind and she didn't want any of that right now. Instead she moved to the furthest part of the bed, pulled her knees up to her chest and ran her fingers through her hair. "Wren!"she snapped."I wish you would be Wren right now, are you fucking happy? Is that what you wanted to hear? I wish you were Wren and that is the last thing Wren would ever want so there. No jewlery, no nothing from her for me."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra was getting all tense again, undoing Emre's work on her with every unsatisfied shift and frustrated moan.  She wanted this, but she didn't want this.  Emre could feel it on her, or maybe within her.  Maybe it was because they were waterbabies, but Emre could feel her pulse and currents like restless waves before a storm.

Tamyra could've told him to shut up and just fuck her like she wanted.  Emre would've complied, even if he really had just come by to do something nice for her, a massage and maybe a bit of a reconnect.  Fucking Tamyra senseless hadn't lost its thrill but maybe, just maybe Emre actually sought something more with her.

She told him no one and Emre would've accepted that, let Tamyra get over any discomfort with some heated physical attention.  But she couldn't.  Her urgent kisses became aggravated, and suddenly she was pushing herself away from him, to the edge of the bed, curled tight in a defensive little ball.

Emre stayed kneeling on the side of the bed, knowing what he wanted to hear - but still amazed that Tamyra said anything at all.  About Wren. Wren. "She told me about her crush...that was you.  She never said your name,  I never had a clue, honest."  Not that it really mattered; Emre knew Tam liked girls the way he liked boys. Well, one boy.  "Darling..."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Crush. Wren told Emre about her crush on Tamyra. Tamyra couldn't help the bitter laughter that burst out of her as she rubbed her scar, in that moment somehow it was both a comfort and a hindrance, something she was ridiculously aware of in that moment.

"Do not fucking darling me right now Emre, I am not in the mood." She wasn't really sure what mood she was in, but not this. Not soft, not gentle, not sympathetic, even if Emre was trying all of that. In any other situation she would have most likely appreciated it, even later she would appreciate it, but in that moment, it felt too much.

"Crush," she repeated the word though, almost as if she was trying it out for the first time. Wren never said it so specifically, and Tamyra never asked, never really thought about it deeply, and yet it made all the sense. "She had a crush on me. Great. Fucking awesome. And I fucked it all up to the point where she wants nothing to do with me anymore. She wants people who aren't so judgemental around herself, were her exact words, actually. Great. Just fucking brilliant..."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra groused at Emre, but for once he wasn't reactive.  He didn't need to be; he wasn't the one hurting right now.  The way Tamyra laughed - angry and bitter, so angry but at what exactly?  Emre stayed where he was, like if he moved then Tamyra might take flight or tell him to fuck off.

He settled on his heels, propping his head on the bed by his elbow.  "What're you on about?  What's even happened between you two?  Wren's at some point where she's blaming herself for all sorts, and now you're blaming yourself too?"  Emre reached out and poked Tamyra's thigh.  "Bruv, c'mon bruv.  I spilled all sorts to you about Kaz, didn't I.   Bruv."  Emre couldn't help the tease, since she didn't want to be called darling.

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra absolutely did not want to talk about this, not in the slightest, she wanted to curl up and forget about all of it, but somehow she couldn't stop spilling anymore - kind of funny how she was the one who originally asked Wren to keep things quiet about the two of them and yet she was thr one who kept bubbling out over and over again.

"What happened, bruv, was that we slept together a couple of times, had some nice chats, and then she realized that I slept with her father before he died and when I still was just annoyed with her and then naturally, she stopped talking to me. We had a couple of fights, but eventually things seemed to clear up, at least to a point where we were talking and then this stupid fucking fake me shit happened and all I know is that Wren made me a necklace but it's nowhere to be seen and by the time I woke up as me, she realized that I'm not the kind of person she wants to be around. Like I said, she said I'm too judgemental and she doesn't want people like that around herself at all." She dragged her palms across her face, groaning, wanting to feel anything other than what she was feeling right now. "And apparently she had a crush on me which-- I guess I should have known but I didn't until now so it was a bigger fuck up than I even realized."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

It really did come spilling out of Tamyra, undammed and unfettered by anything except her ability to see clearly.  And really - how could Tamyra see clearly?  The story she told was all twists and turns, ups and downs intertwined in what sounded to Emre, like a tangle that got harder to pull apart.  She probably left out certain parts, because it had all gotten so complicated.  Wren left defeated and discouraged, Tamyra left wondering how it all went wrong, and was it even right in the first place.  At least, this was how it seemed to Emre, in the way Tamyra spoke.  In a way that Emre had never heard Tam speak before.

Slowly, Emre moved closer to Tamyra.  He didn't reach out of try to touch her, he just sat up on the bed with her.  His feet still on the ground, his hands curled over the edge of her lovely mattress.   Emre stayed quiet for a few beats before speaking again.

"And you miss her, innit.  Kissing me, kissing others, but you're thinking about Wren."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra felt like a skittish animal who just wanted to run away from all of it. All of this. What was even the point of having this conversation? Why was Emre so gentle and soft when she didn't want him to be? (To be fair, she wouldn't have liked any approach, whatever Emre tried, she was simply in her feelings and had to get annoyed at something and this was somehow the one thing she picked, without what seemed like not much logic behind it.)

"Yeah, yeah I fucking miss her," she breathed, much more quiet suddenly, that tension in her body never leaving and yet Tamyra deflating all the same. She rubbed her face and groaned. "Fuck, it's so stupid. She was just supposed to be this annoying kid. That was who she was until-- well, until right before your plane crashed, I guess. But her parents died and she disappeared and that was that. And then she was back and I don't know, now I'm sitting here missing her so much. Like-- like it hurts," she echoed his words back to him. "Fuck." And then, just for the emphasis and because she didn't know what else to say, how else to deal with all of these feelings bubbling up inside of her that she's never known before, she said again, "Fuuuuck."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Emre reached over to his bottle of water which he'd also put on the table.  Fortunately he didn't do anything sappy like offer Tamyra water, as if she was having a panic attack.  He drank some himself, and then closed the bottle and lobbed it onto the space between them on the bed.  Not an offer exactly, but.  The longer Emre lived on Meridium the more he found water - drinking it, soaking in it, staring at it - to be as comforting as an embrace, or a kiss.  Without another person having to be involved.

"It is fucking stupid,"  Emre agreed, but then looked at Tamyra over his shoulder, to meet her likely glare.  "Feelings, I mean.  Feelings like this.  Feeling them is fucking stupid.  Admitting them is even worse..." Emre tugged the shell bracelet over, something to toy with.

"Apparently Wren's felt this way for a long time, poor little thing.  Puppy love, crush, whatever you want to call it - but she's not a little girl anymore.  So this girl's held onto something this long...bloody brave of her, if you ask me.  You'd think she'd grow out of it by now, innit.  She didn't, though.  Reckon that means something?"

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra just stared at the bottle between them - was it an offer for water or did Emre just put it down there or...? But then he said it was all stupid, what she just explained, and Tamyra's head snapped up, staring daggers at Emre.

"Are you fucking--" she started but then Emre continued, and alright, maybe, just maybe, he was on thin ice, but she wasn't going to murder him on the spot today. But she didn't know what to say anymore. No, she just didn't want to say anything anymore. Because yeah, all of this was stupid and she hated it, hated all of this - feeling this small and hurt and unsure of what she could even do now.

So instead Emre kept talking, about how brave Wren was for having feelings for Tamyra for so long, even though it all started when she was just a kid, and part of her wanted to pinch him and the other part of her just wanted him to keep going so she'd never have to say anything again. But of course he had to stop at some point. Tamyra just kept staring at him, and then after what felt like a small forever, she grabbed that stupid bottle, but instead of drinking from it, she just rested her chin on top of it as she held it just to keep herself tethered. "What so you think it means? What are you trying to say, Emre? I'm really not in the mood to try to read between the lines, so this would be the perfect time to spell things out."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Emre turned to Tamyra again, but this time it was an incredulous look.  "Are you joking?  Are you having a laugh, here.  Honestly, Tam.  You're so bloody resistant to thinking about this, that now you're asking me what I think any of it means?  I don't bloody know! I'm not you, and I'm not Wren!  You are - "  Emre pulled his a breath, pressed his lips together and exhaled in a frustrated 'hnnnnnmmmgh' noise between his teeth.

"What the fuck is so wrong with Wren?  Why're you resisting her so much?  What the fuck is so bloody frightening about feeling something for someone as sweet as our little Wren. She's adorable and when she cares about you, it's honestly one of the best bloody feelings in the world.  And I know you're capable of kindness for your mates, I know you've got a big heart for the people you care about, innit."

Emre splayed a hand. "And I'm not using the 'l' word here, if that's what you're so afraid of, alright?  We're just chatting about being bloody affectionate to a good girl! What on earth do you want from her?"

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra's eyes flashed at Emre. "Do I look like I am having a laugh, Emre? Do I?!" but he just kept on going, taking her apart and acting like it was all so easy peasy, so ridiculously stupid that she didn't even just consider the solution and did it and in a way, this was actually helping because at least Tamyra could deal with anger. Or, well, deal with it better than with everything else she's been feeling.

"I don't know what I want from her. Is that so hard to fucking believe?!" she snapped at him once he was finally finished. "I don't know what any of this is because I've never actually felt like this. It doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with her, it doesn't mean that she isn't adorable or that she isn't sweet or whatever else you wanna throw into my face because I fucking know that, alright? I am very well aware of it. But whatever this is, it's fucking new for me and believe it or not, I am fucking terrified of it. Because in my experience, anyone taking even a single step in this direction, it lead to nothing else other than pain and mystery, eventually everyone got hurt, no matter how far they walked down this road and so yeah, excuse me for not being jolly happy to jump into anything with anyone.

"And before you say anything, just to remind you of the last fucking ten minutes, I am already hurting and nothing even happened. We slept together a few times and that's it. So yeah, I resist any and all of this because I do not want to feel like this, I do not want to be like this. I am not the person who keeps playing another person's words in my head over and over again. If somebody doesn't want to be around me? Who cares, I am the person who shrugs at it, not feel hurt about it and turn into-- into this. So fuck of with your 'why can't you just be affectionate' bullshit, it's not that simple."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra let loose, and honestly it was oddly gratifying to hear.  Not because he wanted Tamyra to suffer - yes, Emre loved people suffering with him; but this?  This was not one of those moments.  He actually wanted Tamyra to be happy.  He wanted Wren happy too.

So he smiled slowly, and then stretched out onto Tamyra's bed, making himself perfectly comfortable as he kept his gaze on her.  Her stormy glare, her cutting words, all of it.  "Flipping hell, you're so hot when you're angry.  More than usual, like."

Emre reached out to her, kissing his teeth.  "C'mon, luv.  Hold my hand, give it a good squeeze.  Just hold my hand, I swear I'll be good.  Haven't I been good to you so far?"  He scratched his head, curious that no whispering sabotaged his feelings or thoughts right now.

"I reckon a lot of things happened to get you this twisted up, dar - soz.  I mean bruv.  I'm sorry it hurts.  Honestly, I am, I'm being serious now.  It is frightening and, I mean, what.  All the couples who should be tremendous - where the fuck are they even.  Tomas and Libby?  Yaz and Peter - granted that was more my fault than Iyaz's.  Madi and...well that's a whole other story.  Bloody hell, even Nick and Mik aren't as perfect as I want them to be.  My parents..."  Emre's brow furrowed.  "Sometimes I wonder if they'd...if I'd grown up with them, what their marriage would look like now.  No one seems to work out, does it.  If anything's a joke, it's that innit.  Not you. All ends in pain and misery..."  Emre huffed, bitter agreement.

"Right.  At least it's out, yeah.  And if you ever want to chat about it more, you can chat with me.  I won't take sides, I promise.  If it's not worth the risk, then don't do anything.  Let Wren go and she'll fly away.  Suppose everyone does eventually innit."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra expected some kind of fight back. Or maybe she wanted one would be a better way of putting it. Arguing with Emre was safe, it was something she knew and welcomed instead of everything else. So when he just went and stretched out on her bed as if it was all over, complimenting her even, Tamyra stopped and just stared, shocked that and so confused about what Emre was even dong. She automatically gave him her hand, though if anyone was squeezing, it was him and not her, no.

"Wait, that's-- that's it?!" she sputtered, baffled and confused, reeling from the whiplash of these emotional rollercoasters. "I just yell at you all of that and you are just... suddenly alright with it all. You have been pushing me and pushing me on this and now it's just all agreements? Telling me to let Wren go and everything is solved? I can come back to you for more of all of this if I ever need-- what? What the hell, Emre?!"

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Emre batted his foot lightly against her ankle, as his smirk grew wider, more catlike.  He waggled her hand too, thumb brushing light circles over her beautiful dark-skinned knuckles.  Scars on those knuckles.  "What can I say?  I've renounced my fitnah.  I'm a lover not a fighter,"  Emre said, and then kissed his teeth again.

"Oh now come on.  What d'you want, a row?  I'm tired of arguing and resisting all this, everythng, all the time.  Aren't you?  Haven't we bloody been through enough, Tamz.  You live in hell, you've lived through hell. One bloody misery after another.  You likely got whispers in the back of your head, telling you that you're a dickhead and fuck everyone else.  You really want to be yelled at again? By me?"  Emre snorted. "The fuck do I got any right to yell at you."

Emre shrugged, and leaned to the side, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his backpack.  "Yell at me all you want, if you want.  I'm tapped out, bruv.  I think you're wonderful, and I adore Wren.  I don't want to see either of you unhappy.  If you're so positive you can't be happy together, what'm I supposed to do about it."  Emre shook the pack, a cigarette popping out of the top.  He offered Tamrya to take it.  "We got enough bollocks making us miserable innit."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra just stared at Emre - when did he become like this? What has happened to have him react like this? What the hell was she supposed to do with this now? Yes she wanted him to yell at her but no, she didn't want him to yell at her either, but she felt like she made a fool of herself already, she couldn't just say all of that and make it worse. So instead - still kind of huffing and puffing but her body slowly letting go of the tension already - she uncurled herself and drank what was in the bottle she was clutching to and then laid down onto the bed, sprawled out.

She took a cigarette and just kept staring at the ceiling as they smoked in silence for a bit. All of it, everything they've been yelling and then not yelling at each other was boiling inside of her, and she needed to figure out what didn't sit with her well from all of it.

It wasn't so hard in the end, though, even if for Tamyra it was actually really hard and complicated - or maybe just scary more than anything, really. "I don't want to just-- let it all go," she said quietly in between two smokes. "I don't want to just not talk to her anymore or see her hang out with that stupid, boring bitch, Beatriz," the woman wasn't stupid or boring or a bitch, Tamyra spoke to her exactly once, but that didn't really matter, she just saw Wren choosing her over even just simply hanging out with Tamyra and that bothered her so stupidly much, it was ridiculous. "I wanna be the one that's there, whatever that means. I don't just-- I don't just wanna leave it at this."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra finally relaxed (kind of) and gave in, and after Emre lit her cigarette for her, he stretched his arm out under her like a makeshift pillow, as he lay back too.  The two of them, just staring up at the rafters of her well-made home.  Except - "You should hire someone to clean on the regular for you.  Not me, so don't even try.  Some shy mouse with no purpose would likely jump at a chance to clean innit.  Daily sweeps for insects and that, straighten up your plates and clothes, that sort of thing."

Emre snorted at the mention of Beatriz, such terrible castigation of the poor girl.  "You still afraid of people knowing?  That you like girls and that.  I'm still afraid, if I'm honest.  But I've been...experimenting innit.  Seeing if people will mock me or accuse me of hating gays and that.  So far it hasn't been..."  Emre frowned, and took another drag of his smoke.  "No one cares, is what.  Sometimes I think I could scream 'I've sucked cock' from the mountain top and all people here would reply is: so what, so have we."

Emre stubbed his cigarette out, then shifted to turn and look at Tamyra.  Nuzzle against her face.  "All I'm saying is maybe you've got to really figure yourself out first, before you can figure out what you want with Wren.  Seems you've both hurt each other innit.  Refusing to think about it will only make it worse."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Hey now," Tamyra exclaimed. "Are you trying to tell me that my place is messy and dirty? Because I will kick you out, hmm?" She was mostly joking, though  -and really, the idea wasn't the worst. If she could find somebody to do the cleaning for her, it would make things so much easier. It would have to be somebody whom she could trust in, which she could look into. Hold some trials or something.

Tamyra gave a small, tentative nod. "It's getting better, I think, but yeah, it's scary to just-- to do those first steps, you know? When you tell somebody. But yeah, I noticed that most people are generally good about this like-- it's strange, how different of a world I came from and what this world here is, in regards to sexuality." She paused for a bit and then added, "I slept with Lina."

Emre was probably right, she needed to figure herself out before she could do anything else, before she'd talk to Wren and figure things out with her too, but she's been trying to sort this out for two years and it didn't feel like it would be two more days and then it would he done, and if she waited-- Wren would just move on and that would be that. And that thought, as it struck him, actually had her worried it would be irreversible, if she took as long as she needed to figure herself out. But instead of voicing that, she asked, "Have you figured yourself out? Before you went to Kaz?" There was not poking, no malice in her voice, she was just curious, wanted to see how Emre looked at all of it from his side.

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Right- fine, I'll give it one clean-over, yeah?  As an apology for...everything else I've done to piss you off.  I know that list is long, innit,"  Emre teased Tamyra back. And really, Emre did like to clean, he couldn't help it.  Tidy meant approval.  From parents, then social workers, then sergeants, then bosses.  Make it clean, keep it clean.  Words to live by.  "But after my reset, you'll be on your own.  Find someone to keep to my standards."

First steps.  Him and Tam had spoken about this before, those first steps.  It seemed a really long time ago, as Emre thought about it.  "It's just...not as important as It was in my head, innit.  Half of who I was, was tied up in being a man.  Everything I thought being a man meant."  It was different for Tamyra though, Emre recalled.  "There's no scandal here, Tam.  No disgrace.  If anything, people would love you more.  They call celebrities 'iconic' now for doing brave gay things, these days.  I know you'd love to be iconic."

He chuckled, and reached for another of Tamyra's water bottles, drinking some and passing it to Tam.  "I fucked Lina too, she's always good for it.  How many womens' that for you now?  Bloody hell, girl, I've got to catch up innit."

A pause, then another drink.  "Erm... it was more cut-and-dry for me, I reckon. I was the one who fucked up.  He done nothing wrong.  I realized how much I missed him.  He cut me out of his life.  You remember how pissed he was in the jungle, luv?  That was all on me, not you.  And I hated myself, knowing I'd driven him to that point.   He was only ever patient and...and kind to me, and I treated him so badly just because I couldn't figure myself out."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her. "Heey, if you want to clean my entire place top to bottom, go right ahead, I'm not going to stop you. And if you ever feel like you need to make sure it all lives up to your standards, you can always just drop by and clean a bit, I'm not going to get offended by it, either." Based on this conversation alone, she wouldn't have been surprised if he suddenly showed up one day out of the blue.

Emre didn't tie his sexuality to his manhood anymore, which was good, but that didn't really related to her in any way and she was about to open her mouth and say just that and then Emre added things more to her own situation and she let out a sigh as she sunk into the bed more. "First of all, I am already very much iconic, thank you very much. It's me we're talking about after all. And seconds-- I know there isn't any scandal. The people here-- most of them are good. Even the idiots somehow. And it's not like you're the only one I've told, I've told others and nobody reacted badly or anything. But still, when I think about telling somebody new, it just-- even with that knowledge, it's terrifying. And I gotta work through that I know, but it doesn't make it any easier." She tilted her head. "Have you told others? Aside from me and Kaz, does anyone else know?"

Wasn't even surprising that he fucked Lina too, Lina was like the two of them, eager to fall into some mindless fun. "It's been four now, so really, get on it, bruv, I'm leaving you behind," she teased as she took another swing of her smoke, tapping oh his tigh playfully. "Honestly? I get why you hit on every girl you meet, they're great fun."

It was much cut and dry with Kaz, Emre said, and Tamyra agreed except the reason for that was partly because she didn't even know what Wren was so mad about. "I mean, after that he was pissed at me too, but-- yeah, whatever you said to him to push you away, it worked. But at least you know. You know what you did, while me-- I think Wren expected me to remember or something, or at least ask, but when she just dismissed me, I was so shocked and hurt, I just snapped back and then walked away. And then she went back to that Beatriz because apparently she is nice enough to hang out with..." she grumbled. "Seriously, she's not even that pretty and probably has rocks for brains, but whatever I guess..."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Maybe I will...but don't get used to it.  I just...sometimes I just need something to do."  Fill up the spaces of time that he'd used to spend with Iyaz.  Not even really doing anything just...hanging out in Iyaz's presence.  Soaking his little brother in: alive, safe, well, funny, cute.  Emre looked at Tamyra.  "Iyaz left me, you know that he left through the Heart Tree?  Before the fakes showed up, he...he's convinced his fiancé is alive so he went to look for Peter and he disappeared in the Heart Tree, I think.  He's gone and it's just.  It's hard without him.  I know he's still alive, but...I miss him.  Living without him, it always changes me."

It was the first time Emre fully articulated that, and why with Tamyra - well why not.  She used to complain about people just telling her things, whether she wanted to hear it or not.  At least this didn't require her comfort.

"You're not yet an, erm, gay icon though,"  Emre pointed out lightly.  "Got to hit all them iconic points innit."  But Emre nodded.  "It's terrifying, yeah.  Erm...I'm not...I'm not sure.   It's more like people are just okay if I am."  Madi kind of knew.  It felt sometimes like Tomas kind of knew.  Wren kind of knew, and even Nick kind of knew.  He cuddled more against Tamyra.  "Still figuring that part out innit."

He smiled, at Tamyra's rightful boastfulness.  "No other bloke's got much appeal to me, if I'm honest,"  Emre said, perhaps one of the most innocent things he'd said in a long time.  Emre didn't notice though.  "Nesh is alright but he's too much like Yaz. Plus I shagged his sister back in London."

Tamyra detailed the latest misunderstanding between her and Wren.  "You reckon it's worth it to ask her what she wanted you to remember?  Or to tell her that you miss her?"

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra gave a small nod. "I heard, yeah. Kaz told me when it came up, but I just recently found out." She liked Iyaz, he was cool and a good doctor, but it's been a while since she talked to him or went to see him for anything, so it wasn't really a surprise that she didn't realize what was happening until Kaz told her.

"You know, when you showed up with him by your side, I was really jealous. You had your family, your person right there with you. What could possibly be better? And now I think-- as good as it can be, it can flip right on its head and hurt just as bad." She paused for a second, watched his face. "I am sorry you lost him like this, that really sucks. But when he comes back," when and not if, Tamyra paid very close attention not to be an asshole in this moment, "you'll be here, waiting for him."

Not a gay icon yet. Never something she thought she'd want, but it actually didn't sound that bad. She could be okay with that. "People are just okay if you are? What do you mean by that?" They both agreed on one thing, though, they were both trying to figure it all out. Sometimes together, sometimes apart, but it was something similar they were both going through and that gave Tamyra some comfort.

"Do you think it means something? Like, we are not the same kind of bis since I am more into women and you are mostly just focused on one guy?" she couldn't help but ask. Were there different categories on this? Or was it just simply how their tastes differed? She did let out a small scoff, though, "of course you slept with Nesh's sister. Any chance you slept with a woman named Nakeisha? Would have been around my age, but I am sure the age difference wouldn't have been a problem for you."

She didn't say much at Emre's last question, thought about the last time Wren and her talked over and over again. Just how much she missed Wren. What would happen if she didn't ask, if she just left the woman and all of this alone. But even just the thought of it left this strange, unknown, hollow feeling inside of her chest that she didn't like.

"You know, I-- I've been feeling for a while like maybe I'd want more than just this. Just mindless fucks. But it never felt like it could ever really happen. Or I never did anything that could allow it. And I am not sure if this is that with Wren or not, but even if we are just going to be friends and nothing ever happens between us again, I don't want to not have her in my life at all. So yeah, I think I need to talk to her."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Kaz had told Tamyra. The surge of emotion Emre felt could've been anger or surprised relief, so Emre just listened.  These mini-eulogies people gave about Iyaz, Emre sopped up like dry bread to water.  "You just said it yourself, darling,"  Emre spoke softly.  "Love is a risk of having your heart shattered.  Yaz broke my heart so many times, but that don't matter, does it.  He can break it a million times more and I'd never stop loving him. He's...everything."

It took Iyaz leaving, for Emre to realize there were no reservations to love.  He wasn't sure where to go next, but without Iyaz to protect, the sense of instability was...exciting for Emre. "It's like...no one will think I'm weak for it.  Right - it's called male ego, sweetheart.  You got a different sort of ego," he teased.  But he hadn't considered different types of bisexuality.

"Dunno...some straight people is sluts and others is just okay with one person innit.  But I love women, all sorts.  Anyone who's interested, I'm there.  Shagged a granny one innit.  Bloody hell the things her mouth could do...and when she took out her dentures....!"  He husked a laugh at himself.  "Her name weren't Nakeisha, no.  Your timeline is safe from me, darling." Tam did have a point, though.  An embarrassing one, if Emre thought about it too deeply. Annoying.

"Kaz innt special or nothing, right," he tried to say, and it sounded thin.

Better to distract himself by Tamyra's revelations.  She wanted more than mindless fucks.  He rolled to face Tam, and kiss her like he was congratulating her.  His hand skated along Tam's body, teasing her breasts, trailing down her stomach. "Be the kind Tamyra, I know she's there. I've had the privilege to see her.  Wren deserves kindness, innit.  She's confused.  You're a brilliant shining icon."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

No reservations on love. No matter what, Emre would still love Iyaz. Tamyra felt like she understood that, just with her parents. No matter what shit she'd find out about them, it would hurt like hell, but she'd get through it. "Iyaz is lucky to have you," she said, and then after a few moments, a bit of shift in the topic,

"Did I ever tell you that I have a sister here too? On the island? Jupiter, if you know her. Our dad is the same and we've been getting to know each other since she got out of the tunnels." She had a soft smile on her face as she talked about Jupiter. Her sister! That last interactions of theirs didn't go as well as Tamyra would have wished it, but she could fix it, hopefully and they it would be back to smooth sailing.

He wouldn't be considered weak if people knew he liked guys. Yeah, their brains really did work completely differently sometimes, even in such similar situations like this one. But really, even with different viewpoints, these chats have helped Tamyra immensely and she was grateful for them, even if she wasn't willing to say it out loud and add yet another layer of vulnerability to the table. She spilled her guts enough for today as it is. So instead she just teased, "some call it ego, I call it confidence that is actually backed up," and gave a wink.

Tamyra couldn't help it, the laugh bubbled out of her hard. "Of course you'd have a story like that, I am not even surprised. Kind of glad it wasn't Nakeisha, though, I'd have to kick your ass or something if it was. Then again, you are a good lay so it would have been good for her too, I am sure."

She tilted her head, raised her eyebrows at him and just gave him a look that said she wasn't buying what he was trying to sell her about Kaz. "How much of that do you actually believe and how much of it is just trying to convince me so I'd drop the topic?"

Emre kissed her then and it wasn't the kind of kiss the two of them usually shared - it was usually nothing more than a lead up to everything else, fast and hard and demanding, while this was casual, more like friends giving each other a hug or something, which was strange for a number of reasons Tamyra didn't even want to get into, but most of all, as nice as the kiss was, Tamyra had absolutely no desire for it to go any farther than that. "You know, sometimes you really do have the ability to find the absolute right words and being right - I am a shining icon." It was a light joke and the truth all at once. "But thanks," she said as she did untangle herself a bit from him and sat up, reached for that bottle of half drank water on the bed and took a couple of sips from it. "For talking through this with me, I really appreciate it."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Is he really so lucky,the whisper in Emre's head flared up in sarcasm, so strong that Emre almost drawled it aloud. But he bit his tongue hard instead, refusing to ruin the moment Tamyra tentatively offered, about Iyaz. Fortunately Tamyra's continuation took Emre by surprise and he propped up to look at her.  "Are you joking?  A sister - like a long-lost sister?  Bloody hell, this bloody island..."  Emre marveled at the wild magic, then cheekily asked,  "Do you like her?"

Emre snorted, reveling in Tamyra's shameless bragging as he flicked his fingers in the air, making snaps.  "Brap!  Girl's got receipts of greatness."

But then Tamyra was giving him a hard look, and Emre looked back at her, all indignant frowning.  "Oh shut it.  I don't got a clue what you're on about.  Just allow it, alright? Today we're giving you the third degree.  You can grill me in a few weeks time."

Emre had gotten all turned on though, pleasing Tamyra, making her laugh, possibly helping Wren...and chatting about Kaz of course.  It all turned out well, but Tamyra shimmied away to innocently drink her water, and Emre lay back and groaned in frustration.  "You sure you don't want me to keep massaging you?  Happy ending and that, remember?" Emre wiggled his fingers.  "You can close your eyes, I can shut the fuck up, and you can pretend I'm Wren doing you in, yeah?  I don't mind a little roleplay."  Smirking, he rubbed his face.  "Hands-only, reckon Wren can't grow a beard."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Tamyra's smile just grew wider. "Yeah, I really do like her. She is nothing like me and I am not sure if just based on personality, anyone would assume we are sisters, but I really like that. She is full of positivity, always has a kind word to everyone and just so open. She can also see ghosts - like, actual ghosts. We encountered one we both knew out in the world once, it was-- it's no joke or anything."

Tamyra just rolled her eyes. "Come on now, I wasn't asking for you to write poetry and spill all your heart, a simple confirmation could have been good. But sure, keep it to yourself, I think I know what the answer would have been anyway."

Emre asked if she was sure she was done, and Tamyra let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I'm sure, sorry. As tempting as your fingers sound, they don't come any close to what hers feel and I am into roleplaying, but pretending you are somebody else-- not up to that today." She gently nudged him. "But hey, I am sure a bunch of other people would jump on the opportunity, it won't be too hard to find somebody else."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

Competition, The whispering was gleeful, spiteful.  Tamyra can't be the best if she's got competition.   Of course this 'sister' is nothing like her.  Kind? Positive?  Don't sound like our Tamzy at all.  Usually Emre could tolerate the waswasah; he'd been hearing it in his head, castigating him and others, for years now.  But this time, it irritated him.  He wanted to be happy for Tam, finding family when she'd lost so much  "We can all supposedly see ghosts on Meridium.  I still think they're jinn.  And if you want to get on Wren's good side, you should agree is jinn too."

Emre only stayed grouchy for a moment, giving into whinging as Tamyra denied him the pleasure of her pleasure.  "Other people is too much trouble, and you're right here.  But whatevs, I'm not bothered."  He was horny-frustrated , but Tamyra's nudge made him relinquish a small smile.  "Just pull myself off in the ocean then, I suppose.  Sad, Tamzy,"  Emre said, slowly standing up and shouldering his backpack.  "You've left me a sad man, I hope you can live with yourself."

He reattached the shell bracelet on his wrist, letting Tamyra get a good look at it.  "Can't wait to see you dripping in Wren-bling one day, my luv."

— ⋆ ✯ ⋆ —

"Jinn, alright, I'll keep them in mind for the next time Wren and I are talking about stuff like that." Because there would be a time for it. She couldn't go into a conversation she was planning to have with Wren tihnking Wren would just turn her away anyway because then she wouldn't even get started and that was not an option.

She gave Emre a soft, but amused smile. "I will take that as nothing more than a compliment. But think about it this way - your talk with me worked so good, I am now focused on the success of the next step." A laugh. "Or yeah, get yourself off in the ocean, that is also an option, go wild - with that, I can live with."

That damn bracelet still stung, not to mention Emre's brag, but Emre turned it into something more hopefully. "You better be right." She reached for a full bottle of water and handed it over to Emre. "Here, take this as a thank you or something, you can never have enough water, hmm? And really, thank you for all of it."

FINISHED.

[sapphoslavender]

day 7 of sappho!

oops i forgot to post these last few days! and ive already lost count of what day it is! i think its day 7? happy 1 week anniversary

umm so. what has happened.

i figured out how to replant tortimer's island palm trees, so i should be able to catch beetles soon

i began laying out my flowers, so i'll soon have pretty flower walkways!

garden store is open!!!!

which means i got an axe, and was able to cut down some poorly placed trees!

i grinded for a bunch of flowers today @ tortimer island :]

im getting the qr code machine soon!

i joined club tortimer but im probably never gonna use it because i hate multiplayer with ppl i dont know

got a bunch of house exterior upgrades

new villagers! marcel and tammy!

i opened the campsite!

ive been trying to get new pwp suggestions, but none yet :,) i'll try again tomorrow

god whenever i say pwp i think im talking about smut.

oo also, i ordered some cute stickers from amazon to decorate my 3ds with. i cant believe ive never done that ??

ok, now for some future plans:

i really need to get some new bridges because i absolutely hate where mine is placed currently. but i dont want to build a new one yet bc i want it to be a pretty one, since if it isnt, im just gonna end up wasting money by destroying it later, if that makes sense....im stingy with money both irl AND in-game!!

i was planning on making the area outside the train stop full of pink flowers, but ive instead filled it with pansies. i might go back to pink, but idk.....

also: how long does it take for fruit to regrow??? also trees take forever ???? ik im just being impatient but damn.

oo also villagers. now that i have the campsite, im excited! honestly, the only villagers of mine that im attached to rn are opal and rosie. so if anyone wants to be notified in case my other villagers move out, lmk!

and now for a nostalgia rant. in one of my previous towns, i think 2018? i had some amazing villagers that i really miss — pancetti and merengue. i love them so much! if anyone has them, please let me know because i love them!!! i miss them!! come back home, im so sorry for leaving you!!!!!!!!!

(btw, i have some old qr codes i made from 2018. the photos are kinda shitty since i took them with my phone, but maybe i'll post them here!)

[blackbat05]

Hero

Frank Castle x Reader

A/N: First Frank Castle fic! Frank and reader are neighbors, reader is an elementary school teacher and requests help from Frank that leads to just more than an ordinary Friday. Feedback is appreciated as always!🙇🏽‍♀️

Genre: PG-13

Warnings/Notes: Fight sequences, blood, profanities. Usage of O/C characters.

***

He had no idea what he was doing here.

Sometimes, the world had the most funniest ideas that involved screwing him inside out.

Here, stood Frank Castle. In front of a class of third graders, sitting in their tiny plastic chairs, eyes wide open in anticipation.

Would he rather go to war?

‘Hi!’

Frank turns around to see you, the next door neighbor hurrying towards him with your own basket of clean laundry.

‘Looks like it’s laundry day for you too huh?’ You tried to make conversation. He nods numbly, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his neighbor that was the absolute polar opposite of him.

‘Yeah, got a few stains. Here and there.’ Frank mumbles, not wanting to scare you about the exact nature of the “stains”.

‘Damn, they can be a real pain in the ass,’ you laughed, unaware of the strange effect you had on him. ‘Well, I wouldn’t want to hold you up any longer but could I ask you for a favor?’ You see an unreadable expression on his face.

‘You can say no if you’re not comfortable.’ You quickly added for good measure, not wanting to pressure your neighbor.

But he was never going to say no when it came to you.

‘Alright class, you can ask questions but one at a time.’ You emphasized, giving a quick thumbs up to him while the little ones weren’t looking.

To Frank’s surprise, the kids had posed rather insightful questions that made him think about his time in the military. But it was a little girl with purple framed glasses that would make this day at an elementary school memorable.

‘My grandpa was a soldier like you Mister. He went to Vietnam,’ she tells Frank. ‘Grandma tells me that he still gets a lot of nightmares. How can I help him to get better?’

Your breath gets caught in your throat, prepared to step in as you see Frank tense up.

‘Well…’ The man ponders, wondering how he should proceed. ‘Nightmares are always scary when you have to face them alone… but if you’re together… you won’t feel as scared.’

She takes it in, nodding thoughtfully. ‘Grandma always spends time with Grandpa.’

As you see Frank starting to slip into another world, you take that as you queue to step in. Quickly getting things into order, you reminded your students to thank today’s special guest for their time before dismissing them.

You could tell that the kids were growing attached to Frank despite his intimidating appearance to most grown adults. Filing out of class, some kids had stopped to give him hugs. It was adorable really, seeing Frank bend down to return the warm hugs.

If you dared say so yourself, he needed these hugs from the young ones.

Returning to your table, you see Frank glancing in the direction where the same girl was sitting, waiting for you expectantly.

‘Uh, seems like we have a lone straggler.’

‘Oh no, Madam Wu and her husband are helping out at a veteran support group every Friday. I offered to look after Tammy, spend the evenings with her.’ You filled him in on the specifics. ‘Would you like to join us for dinner? We’re having pizza today.’

Despite the tempting offer to spend more time with you, he felt wrong intruding on your shared time with little Tammy. Before he could give a polite rejection, Tammy speaks up, eyes sparkling.

‘Oooh! Can Mister Castle join us? Please? Pleaseeeee.’

His heart skips a beat, hearing you chuckle. It was almost like the girl was your own flesh and blood.

‘It’s the least I could do after asking you for this huge favor.’ You reasoned with him. ‘Besides, Tammy has a tendency to order a bit too much food. And I won’t take no for an answer.’

A cute kid. A pretty neighbor. How could he say no to that?

***

‘How was dinner Tammy?’ The three of you exited the diner, the girl striding to keep up with Frank’s big steps.

‘It was yummy!’ She gave a thumbs up. ‘Can Mister Frank come with us again next week?’ Tammy instinctively reaches for his hand.

‘Of course kiddo,’ his large hands hold her tiny ones. He could get used to this bit of normalcy in his life.

Thank you, you mouth to him. He gives you a quick wink before turning his attention back to Tammy who was animatedly telling him about the strawberry soda she had earlier.

Although he only knew the kid for less than a day, Tammy had found a way into his heart. Just like you did. The young girl reminded him too much of his daughter. Perhaps Frank didn’t know it, but they were more alike in more ways than one.

‘Tammy lost her parents when she was just a toddler. Car accident.’ You tell Frank sadly while Tammy was out of sight.

‘Thank god her grandparents gave her so much love. Especially Mr Wu. He’s going through things of his own, but he wouldn’t stop talking about his granddaughter.’

Walking past a pharmacy, Frank realizes that he should probably stock up on his bandages that were slowly depleting at home.

‘Hey, I gotta get some supplies. Mind if you give me a minute?’

‘Of course. We’ll be waiting here, do what you need.’ Frank enters the store, feet directing him to the section filled with first aid necessities. Not like it wasn’t his first rodeo. No more, no less. He makes his way to the counter, not wanting to leave the two of you outside on a street like Hell’s Kitchen.

Why did his gut feeling always had to be right?

***

While you waited for Frank, the two of you kept yourselves entertained with a piece of paper and pen, playing tic-tac-toe.

Honestly, you weren’t sure what was up with this neighborhood and people not being able to take a hint.

A heavyset male stumbles across, movement erratic. He’s clearly drunk and you’re more worried about Tammy seeing this rather than anything else. Still, you tried to keep calm. It wouldn’t be long till Frank was out.

‘Hey gorgeous! Where you goin?’ He slurs the last few words out, eyes nearly rolling backwards. You bring Tammy closer towards you, attempting to ignore him.

Tammy tenses up, shifting closer to you. ‘Miss L/N…’

‘Don’t be scared girlie!’ The drunkard waves his arms aggressively. ‘I’m not a scary man!’ He then leers at you. ‘How about I show you a good time?’

That’s it. You had enough. Standing up, you were about to tell him to fuck off in the nicest way possible while Tammy was still there when the door opens, the cold air rushing onto the streets.

Frank stands behind you, looking murderous. It took him his entire willpower not to bash the man’s skull into the concrete with a young kid there. He didn’t know how he did it at that time, but he had never been so calm in his life.

‘Y/N. Could you get me an extra box of these bandages?’ He passes you the bag, referring to the boxes inside. ‘Take your time. Oh and I forgot the sweets for Tammy.’

Confused, you could only nod, taking your student along with you inside the pharmacy. As the door shuts behind you, Frank descends on the unsuspecting man, dragging him to the alley behind the shop.

‘Try that shit one more time and I promise you won’t be walking after tonight.’ He growls, hands firmly on his collar.

‘Whatcha- do about it huhh? None of your business if I want to give that lady a good f- ARGHHH!’

Frank has dislocated both knee caps in under ten seconds. Squatting down to face the whimpering man, he repeats the threat again.

‘I told you.’

Getting out of the alley, he sees you and Tammy waiting for him outside the shop.

‘Is the scary man gone?’ Tammy stands behind you, eyes darting around. ‘Did you tell him to go away?’

‘Yeah, I did.’ Frank ruffles her hair. ‘No need to be scared now kiddo.’

***

‘Ah, this is Tammy’s.’ The three of you finally arrived at a three-story apartment. ‘Looks like Mr and Mrs Wu are back home too.’

‘I’ll wait here, you can drop her off.’

‘What? No don’t be silly, they’ll like to meet you too!’ You held his hand, leading him towards the apartment.

The old couple had embraced Frank warmly. Perhaps it was the common bond of being military men, Frank had immediately started conversation with Mr Wu while you chatted with Mrs Wu.

‘Marine eh?’

‘Yes sir.’

The older man smiles, ‘Harold will do son. Seems like Tammy enjoyed her time today.’

Catching wind of the conversation, Tammy runs towards the sofa in record time, plopping her tiny frame beside Frank.

‘Yeah! Mister Castle beat the bad guys! Told them to go away!’

‘Did he now?’ Mrs Wu walks slowly to the sofa, with you at her side. ‘Thank you for spending time with Tammy today.’

Frank had beat you to it, ‘Pleasure’s all ours. Tammy’s a sweet girl. Thank you sir for serving the country.’

The older man freezes in his tracks and that’s when he knew that this had meant a lot to him.

‘We shouldn’t hold you up any longer,’ you stood up along with Frank. ‘Enjoy your weekend and see you at school on Monday Tammy!’

Less than fifty meters from the entrance of the apartment building, you hear a voice calling for you. You see Tammy running as fast as she can, carrying a shopping bag.

‘Miss L/N!’

She skids to a stop, getting back her breath. ‘Grandma says to give this to you and Mister Castle Chinese New Year cookies that she made herself.’

You look into the bag, seeing one red box. Cheeks heating up, you were determined not to look at Frank’s reaction.

‘Oh! And I bought some more plasters for you!’ She walks over to Frank, tossing a box into his hands. You had to bite your lips to prevent yourself from grinning. Taking a closer look, Frank sees that the colorful box was a plaster that had cute cartoons as its design. It looked like… an egg?

‘Be careful and don’t get injured okay?’

Frank hugs the little girl, a rush of emotions flooding in. He can’t say much or maybe he’s just afraid of shedding a tear or two.

Continuing the journey back home, Frank decides to ask the question that was on his mind since he agreed to help out today.

‘Y/N…’

‘Yeah? You can take the cookies if you like,’ you responded absentmindedly. ‘I think the guys would like them.’

‘Nah, you take them. I’ll drop by sometime to try them out.’

A moment of silence passes through.

‘Y/N. If it’s ok with you, I would like to join you and Tammy from now on.’ You take a double take at him.

‘It doesn’t mean anything. I mean… Tammy stays in the back lanes… can get dangerous for you and her at night. If you want to that is… you don’t-’

‘I think Tammy would love that. And so do I.’

Frank does his best to not show his excitement, keeping his best poker face. ‘Really? That’s great.’

You nod shyly, processing the past few minutes. Finally, the two of you reached the corridors before going in separate ways.

‘Thank you for today Frank. Remember to take care of that bruise ok?’ You pointed, referring to the injury on his knuckle that he used on the man earlier. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ You waved him goodbye, shutting the door.

You felt like a giddy school girl that had the best time of her life. What made it better was that Frank had reciprocate your feelings back.

When he had first moved in as your next door neighbor, a lot of people had misunderstood him due to his appearance. You were glad that you had made that conversation for the first time.

He was so much more than neighbor’s gossips made him out to be. He was a good man.

A hero.

Yes, you will aware that a certain someone was following you when you had late nights at work. And no, he did not try to be discreet about it.

Today was no different. He had readily put himself in front of you and Tammy, no questions asked.

Slipping into bed, you see the screen of your phone light up.

Frank had sent you a picture of the egg patterned plaster looking quite out of place on his large and bruised hand. A message is attached along with the photo:

‘Treated.’

You snorted. This man was truly something else.

Responding back with your own message, you pulled your blankets close to you, thinking about today’s events.

Who knew that the grumpy man next door had many layers to discover? And you were the one to slowly uncover his different side?

Best of all? This was only the beginning.

***

A/N: As usual my endings can be sh*t but I thought of this in the shower and I just had to get it out? Hope you enjoyed it?😆 Points to you if you realized Tammy gave Frank gudetama plasters!🥰

[bernadettefoxs]

friends don’t kiss me like you do

summary: lou and debbie have to fight their feelings for each other while working/living together + one very jealous lou miller.

length: long (and gay) enough

warnings: extreme fluff!! and a little angst

—

“Just leave it there, TamTam, Jesus.” Debbie spoke with an angry tone while Tammy was sitting at the other end of Lou’s couch, trying to fix Debbie’s heel that broke when she and Tammy ran home together after getting out of the cab on a rainy New York city night.

Debbie almost twisted her ankle stepping on a cobblestone and Tammy laughed, tugging her arm and helping Debbie steady herself, but one of her heels was now wrecked and the brunette was cursing under her breath, meeting an impatient Lou waiting for them by the door, whispering “what the fuck” when both women showed up looking like train wrecks, both a little drunk too. It was supposed to be a business dinner with one of Debbie’s old friends who worked at the bank, and it ended up with margaritas and endless vodka shots.

Lou was a bit hurt, not ever admitting that to anyone, that Debbie didn’t ask her to come with her, calling Tammy instead. Sure, Tammy was her best friend too, but she wasn’t Lou, and Lou wondered why not just ask her when Tammy had to leave four snotty kids at home and Lou was always just… there. She welcomed their drunk mess with tea and dry towels, and now she was watching the silly shatter from the kitchen as Debbie snatched the heel from Tammy’s hand with a giggle.

“Leave it to me, honey, I can do it.” Lou knew it was all part of the banter, but hearing someone else call Debbie those stupid pet names was one of the worst things she’d ever witnessed. It only made her wanna throw up, thinking she’d been somehow replaced by Tammy as the best friend, and maybe as something else too. And it hurt her even more that Tammy was her friend, and that now she was starting to act and think like an immature teenager. Put it together, Miller.

.

Lou was in love. She couldn’t deny it. As much as she really, really, truly wanted to. She and Debbie had decided on staying “just friends” until they could really work things out between them and also get the heist successfully done. But every time Lou let time pass carelessly she’d find herself attached to the brunette, physically, almost too many times.

It would either happen after Debbie had a rough day assembling new members for the team or after Lou didn’t have a good day at the club. They would always find comfort in each other after midnight when Lou was about to go to bed but Debbie always stopped her before the australian could even step into her bedroom.

It was 1am, Debbie was sure because she’d had dinner with Lou three hours ago when she came back from the club, and afterwards she texted Tammy good night, assuring her that she was okay and thanking her for the help with the banker guy the other day, “also, fuck you, I ruined one good pair of heels because you thought you were Usain Bolt in the rain.”

She heard Lou turn off the kitchen lights and knew the australian was headed to bed, and she suddenly lost interest in the cooking book she was reading. It was Lou’s and she wasn’t even so sure Lou herself actually ever read that thing ever, but it was something to kill her time.

“Lou? Can I sleep with you?” the whisper filled the silent living room. All the lights were out except for the yellow ray from the creepy skull lamp Lou had gotten as a gift from her brother Rusty, she put it on her coffee table at first not really knowing what to do with it and she would always find Debbie sitting by the corner of her couch, using the light to read in the dark. She liked to sit there because she could always see when Lou walked around the place.

Debbie’s eyes followed her like a flashlight and even after almost fifteen years of knowing that woman the effect the australian had on her was still the same. Lou didn’t change at all. Being in prison for five years, she missed seeing that on the daily, and to her surprise, the first night she spent with Lou felt like home again. She never got used to being without Lou. And Lou didn’t either.

It would all fade to black again when Debbie decided to distance herself from those feelings, from Lou. She couldn’t escape the fear of fucking things up with the most important person in her life, so she would pretend to look away when Lou looked at her with that look, wouldn’t go out with her even just to run some stupid errands when Lou asked her to, every moment did something to her and she couldn’t bear it anymore. She couldn’t bare being Lou’s sidekick, even if she knew she wasn’t just that to her.

“Can I?” she whispered again.

“You- uh-“ Lou looked her up and down, her body covered by the robe she hadn’t known the brunette borrowed from her. She smirked, thinking about how she too would often just grab some of Debbie’s clothes and not even give them back later.

“I know we’ve talked about it. It’s not that. I mean- I just can’t sleep. I’m probably reading this stupid book for the 20th time only because I can never fucking sleep. It’s hard, without…” Debbie’s eyes would start to get watery if she hadn’t known any better, feeling so vulnerable in front of her partner. But she felt grateful for Lou’s silly smile growing wider, and the pang of pity as well. Usually that would piss her off, make her feel like she was nothing, like people were always just trying to be nice to her out of politeness and not because they cared for her, but this was Lou. And she knew the truth whenever it came to Lou.

“Yes, c’mon. Leave the bloody book there.” Lou walked to where the brunette was sitting on the couch and helped her stand up, grabbing the book with her right hand and Debbie’s waist with the other. Debbie looked at her with guilt in her eyes.

“Lou, I…”

“Yeah?” she watched the blonde rub her eyes in a sleepy way before yawning and sticking out a hand to her in the most loving, Lou way possible.

“Nothing. Thank you.” she closed her brown cardigan tighter around her shivering body, taking Lou’s hand and walking upstairs to Lou’s room.

Lou let Debbie make herself at home as the brunette tucked herself in and waited for her on her side of the bed. Lou usually slept in the middle of the bed, but she didn’t mind this, at all. The room was a bit dark and had one big window that shone the night lights from the shore outside. Lou loved hearing the waves break inside her head and how the shadows coming from outside the window made living shadows on her walls, it always helped her fall asleep faster, but tonight she didn’t mind that either. This was one of those nights where Debbie was all she would think of. Touching her and having her scent all over her and the room, felt like she could stay like that forever, falling asleep in the brunette’s arms as she scared Debbie’s nightmares away.

She cuddled closer to her, feeling the Ocean sniff her neck as they held each other tight, and Lou covered both their bodies with the heavy white blankets.

“I think we forgot to turn off the lamp, Lou.” Debbie whispered as she felt the blonde run her fingers across her arms.

“What?” Lou glanced at her, confused, making Debbie flush at how cute her stupid little frown was.

“In the living room.”

“Oh. That’s okay, Debs. Just sleep, alright?” she kissed the crown of Debbie’s head and held her like that, letting Debbie get closer and closer. “And you never know, maybe Tam will wanna barge in in the middle of the night to try and fix your heel for you. She might need the light to see.”

“Lou.” Debbie warned, holding back a chuckle.

“Sorry. It’s true.” Lou laughed, turning her back to Debbie.

“Lou?” Debbie called again, almost too scared to speak up.

“Yeah, Debs?” she answered like a mother angry at her child, making them both laugh.

“I miss this.” Lou’s heart stopped, and she looked at those dark eyes facing her in the dark. She could barely see Debbie, but she knew every inch of that face and that woman even more than herself.

“You miss sleeping with me, Ocean? Well that’s fucking impossible because you’re always in my bed.” they shared a laugh and Debbie rolled her eyes.

“You know what I mean, Lou.”

“I do.” Lou could feel her heart break inside her chest like never before. They both knew what they felt for each other, and how they’d left things between them before Debbie went to jail, and they hadn’t walked so far from that point after she got out. Five years later. They just knew it was still there, all of it. The painful silence, the electric touches, the desperate exchange of looks in a crowded room. The longing.

But they had agreed on staying like this for a while and that was the plan the had to stick with no matter what. No matter how much they wanted to go home together after a party with the team and just jump at each other with kisses and teeth, no matter how bad they were in love with each other in a way that nothing else could ever live rent free in their minds like each other.

“I miss… sleeping with you.” Lou smirked, covering her face with her arm.

“We really had it all didn’t we?” the australian whispered.

“We still can.” Debbie said, almost like a plead.

Lou shook her head, lying with her back facing the ceiling and her elbows supporting her weight.

“We couldn’t figure it out back then, Debs. What makes you think we could now?” Debbie cupped her face, bringing it impossibly close to hers.

“We were young, Lou. And stupid.”

“Yeah, well-“ the blonde scoffed, thinking about a 19 year old Debbie Ocean kissing her for the first time. “We still are. Stupid, at least.”

“I wanna be stupid together.” her voice came out broken, her hands finding Lou’s above her brown locks. Lou smiled.

“You do?”

“Yeah. I really fucking do. I can’t be just friends. I wanna kiss you all the time and every fucking day and I wanna be able to tell people that I’m yours and you’re min-“

Lou’s lips met hers with a calm pace, both in a way of saying “please shut the fuck up” and “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

“I wanna be stupid together, too.” Lou whispered, kissing her again, and again, and again, and again, until they were both finally deep asleep.

[cassowariess]

It’s pretty interesting how many people who have suffered from mental health issues/trauma have latched onto Rick and Morty this season. (I’ve noticed it mentioned in a lot of people’s posts, and no I’m not going to name names because even if their posts are public it’s still their personal stuff lol). And a lot of them I’ve seen are new fans. (I think a lot of people who were former fans drifted AWAY from the show post season 3, not because it was bad but because it got a reputation as “that show toxic men like.”)

Personally for me the first time I felt something relatable in this show as a person with mental health issues was the end of the Unity episode in Season 2 where Rick attempts to kill himself. I was like “whoa...this show actually has heart and understands this stuff isn’t easy.” I didn’t know the context of why he had tried to do it until seasons later, but it was still painful and relatable in a strange way.

And I wasn’t really into the fandom then. I became a big fan in Season 3 after the April Fool’s premiere. Rest and Ricklaxation is actually one of my favourite episodes as a person who suffered for years with undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder and I even wrote a little thing about it at the time here.

But things really came to a head in Season 5 (and partly Season 4, but again we didn’t have the context) when we now know why Rick is the way he is. And instead of the show going “look at this innocent bab” it still makes us aware that “actually this man is in deep pain, but he’s still a piece of shit and HAS to get better or he’s going to continue to destroy himself and everyone around him” while still painting him as a sympathetic character.

And all the things the Toxic Szechuan Sauce fans assumed Rick was (straight, white, neurotypical, in control, unfeeling) are being deconstructed as each season goes on and reveals the layers of trauma Rick has endured. His bitchiness at a wedding? Not behaviour born of toxic, unfeeling dudebro shit but because the man he has loved for 35 years is marrying someone else and reminds him that he’s lost everyone he ever becomes attached to. Which he felt totally vindicated about when Tammy killed BP in front of him. His weird aloofness around his daughter? It’s because she’s not his daughter and he still doesn’t know how to handle that.

I read this quote where Dan Harmon refers to Rick as “crazy” or “insane” several times and despite it being really obvious there are a lot of people who seem to gloss over that. But how could anyone who has seen the horrors of the multiverse not be insane? Imagine you have infinite daughters, but none of them is YOUR daughter. Could you possibly love every single one of them just because theoretically the Rick in that universe is their father? Or would that send you into an existential fucking crisis? Now imagine having to think that way about everything in the multiverse on top of the trauma of watching your original family be killed in front of you and the reason Rick starts going heavy on the substance abuse starts to make sense. Even the family Rick is living with now seem to cope better with the knowledge that the multiverse exists. Maybe it’s because they haven’t been aware of it as long, but it’s crushed him to the point where he can barely function. To the point where he’s so terrified of getting attached to people that he treats them like shit or pushes them away.

And I think the reason it resonates with a lot of people who have suffered from mental illness is the thought: “I am this way for a reason. But a reason is not an excuse. And if I reach out my hand and accept help, things could change.”

[radishearts]

Some funky little c!tommyinnit headcannons because why not :]

(I’m in a funky mood and obviously these are headcannons please don’t attack me this is a first time doing this but it seems fun).

- Tommy has asthma- but not a severe level, he just gets a little wheezy when he runs too fast,

- he usually keeps an inhaler on him it’s attached to his old shovel and sort of jingles around in his inventory

- He used to use a spacer but it blew up during the final control room, Eret Apologised later on but he had to brave the Pogtopia underground without knowing how to use an actual inhaler properly,

- Dream actually taught him how to use an inhaler without a spacer during pogtopia, because he too has asthma they almost had a bonding moment but then he switched out their inhales as a joke and nearly hurt him.

- Phil burnt his asthma attack plan because it was an earthly attachment

- dust is also an asthma trigger and that’s why he wore the bandana after the revolution because of all the dust and debris in the explosions sending him into coughing fits so he uses it as a muffler

- In both the pogtopia and exile arc Tommy used to spend time in Technoblades makeshift Libraries because it smelt like old books, which reminded him of Phil and how old he was.

- it was really dusty sometimes so He made sure to use it regularly reordering the books by colours names and authors, dusting off every book with care

- he knows how to read quite well but he knows tubbo has trouble so he spent time memorising the stories so he could retell them to him when they would overthrow schlatt, and then again later on in exile

- Tommy’s favourite one was a Greek myth about Theseus, and Techno would tease him about it.

- every so while he would get techno to read him before bed, it was the only thing since wilburs singing that could get him to sleep

- once techno read a book, passeron he had cried to sleep fidgeting with his compass because tabbo never got to meet Tammy, he went to sleep dreaming of the days before the war and wishing he could see tubbo again

- Tommy likes Phil because he’s old and knows “stuff”

- he also likes Phil because he’s always there, someone he can count on to be consistent and around, unlike a lot of people in his life who change constantly and move away from him

- Tommy also loves romance novels, not the bad ones but like sweet little stories of people falling in love, he pretends not to enjoy them and will squeak if techno even gives a nod of attention to the growing pile of Jane Austen books being reshelved

- Techno never says a word because he too, is also an avid Jane Austen reader and is glad someone else is enjoying them (he wants to start a reading club but has to feed tommy the idea because otherwise it might be tyrannical for him to make a reading club).

- Tommy likes critters so much because of Mumza, he grew up around nether and end creatures as a kid, his life was like a petting zoo and so he grew to love all creatures

- Except enderman, one bit him once when Mumza was tending to the dragon, he’s never forgiven them even once since them

- (unless you count that one time with ranboo)

- the Last time Tommy talked to Mumza he made her promise she’d look over Wilbur in the after life

- She said always,

- Tommy loves the world Always, it makes him feel like there are people who will care for him no matter what. Unconditionally

- His most important people are Phil, Mumza, Wilbur, Tubbo and Shroud (and possibly ranboo)

- He dislikes Revived Wilbur but did go to Willburger out of pity, he hated his meal (and then promptly set the kitchen on fire and gave ranboo a small talk about unions)

- He doesn’t like the principle of Las Nevada’s but he does like Quackity

- Infact Sapnap and Quackity have been growing on him and he does trust them since they hate Dream too

- he flinches around tea kettles and prefers to boil his water on a stove or over a fire

- When he really can’t sleep he has an old sweater he made from friends wool that he wears and he’ll sing an old L’manburg ballad

- he sings, not in a pop singers way but in the way one might sing a lullaby to a child, it’s soft and sweet

Anyways it’s like half an hour past midnight lolol

[kj-1130]

Chapter 8

Wonder Why

Main Masterlist

As Debbie was walking down the hall, a hand gripped her forearm and yanked her into the room.

When the door was closed behind her, the Ocean woman whipped around to see who her ‘kidnapper’ was.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Tammy let out a sigh and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I told you, we needed to talk.”

The brunette raised an eyebrow at her.

“A-and you couldn’t do that like a normal person? No ‘Hey Debs can we talk?’”

The blonde held her blank expression as she watched her companion, waiting for her to get serious.

“Fine,” Debbie exhaled. “What would you like to talk about?”

“Why the hell is the girl here?”

The brunette let out a small chuckle, “Well damn. Went straight for the punch.”

“Debbie,” Tammy gritted out. “I’m serious.”

“So am I,” she exasperated. “She asked if she could stay here and Lou and I let her. End of story.”

“The kid stole your damn watch. I know good and well you wouldn’t let her just stay here.”

“What do you want from me, Tammy? She,” Debbie paused. “She was outside, wet from the rain; cold and crying. I may be a criminal but I’m not a damn sociopath.”

The blonde sighed once again and loosened her posture.

“I hope you know what you’ve gotten into.”

“We’ll cross whatever bridge we need to.”

-

Calypso scratched her head and dropped her head onto the desk she was sitting at. She let out a groan and tried to relax. All this thinking had her overheating.

She stood from the chair and made her way back to the floor. The girl pulled out her cards and began shuffling them.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to do this; it had become a habit or a nervous tic. The cards were more than just cards to her. They kept her grounded and it was a way to keep her thoughts from wandering. They held familiarity; something she didn’t get a lot of.

There was a knock that sounded through her temporary room. The teen looked up and watched as Nineball walked in.

“Wassup?”

Calypso shook her head in response as the woman took a seat across from her. It was silent for a moment before the coily-head girl broke it.

“Wanna play a game?”

“Sure.”

The younger of the two began to deal out cards, every other one going to the newcomer.

“Me and Harls called this ‘Slap Jack’. You slap the deck if there’s a jack or doubles and the first person to slap it gets all the cards. If you slap it and there’s no jack or doubles you have to get rid of five cards and put them in the deck. Whoever runs out of cards first loses.”

The teen looked up at the woman expectantly, “Got it?”

Nineball nodded in response, “Simple enough. Get ready to eat my dust.”

Calypso chuckled in faux offense.

“I’ll have you know, it is very rare that I do the dust eating.”

“I guess we’ll just have to see.”

The game went on for a good forty-five minutes with at least seven rounds (they lost count after round two).

“I say we call it a draw.”

The woman across from the teen agreed and stuck her hand out. As the two shook hands, Nineball noticed that Calypso was wiping her forehead again, trying to get all of the hair out of her face.

“You wanna put that up?”

The coily-haired girl looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Your hair. It looks like it's bothering you.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled in response.

“I’ll be right back.”

When the woman returned, she held a spray bottle, gel, and a brush in hand. Calypso furrowed her eyes in confusion at how quickly she got those items.

Nineball just shrugged when she saw the teen’s expression.

“I have a sister. Gotta be prepared.”

The two made their way to the attached restroom but not before the teen grabbed the desk chair.

When she sat down in it, she saw her acquaintance’s expression turn to surprise.

“Never realized how tall you were,” Nineball muttered.

“Yeah,” the girl chuckled. “I get that a lot.”

Calypso watched through the mirror as the hacker sprayed her hair with the water. She then took some gel and applied it all around her edges.

When the woman started brushing it, memories flooded through the teen’s head. Her eyes began to water but she quickly wiped them before any could fall.

“You said somethin’ ‘bout a ‘Harls’. That who you thinkin’ ‘bout now?”

She only gently nodded in response, continuing to observe her hair through the reflective piece of glass.

“We would do each other’s hair,” Calypso said, as the woman wrapped the thick elastic around her puff. “One time it was twin day at school and she asked me to teach her how to do my hair so we could match,” the teen breathily said.

She stood and headed out of the bathroom towards her satchel where she took out a small journal. Making her way back to her ‘hair-stylist’, she opened it up to the proper page and showed it to the woman.

It was a picture of Calypso and ‘Harls’ albeit a little younger. The two girls were cheesing up at the camera with two ponytails (puffs in Calypso’s case) on the sides of their heads, each one a little lopsided.

The photo underneath that one was from the same day where the latter was pressing her lips against the other’s cheek. ‘Harls’ was obviously flustered but the smile remained intact.

“Musta been really close.”

The teen nodded once again, “We were.”

Either Nineball didn’t notice the use of past tense or she did and just decided to ignore it but either way, she was grateful for receiving no questioning about it.

After a moment, the woman lightly clapped a hand on the girl’s shoulder after taking a small breath.

“Well, if you ever need help with your hair again, you know who to come to.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t go to anybody else in this household no way.” The coily-haired girl’s eyes widened a bit when she realized what she said. “No offense, but…”

Luckily, the hacker only laughed, “Ion blame ya.”

The day ended with a light heart on Calypso’s end.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Permanent Taglist

@stillmanicc​, @annestine​, @ymzki-haruki​

[inknopewetrust]

Oh baby part one thoughts:

I completely forgot that Steve and Eddie could potentially have been in classes together but I love how you wrote that little interplay - also of course that’s where Billy got all his weed lol

YES STEVE AND TAMMY WOULD BE THE FUNNIEST PAIRING TO RAISE A FAKE BABY

Oh jeez the promise ring - I never really liked Steve and Nancy together and the idea that they had promise rings in that short relationship - insane

Love the little interaction with Nancy and the paper ball - always a fan of small things that show how deep a friendship runs

Fuck I love Eddie and the thought of him calling me Mama makes me want to have an entire Hellfire Club of children

Also the idea of Eddie talking about the baby like he’s alive while holding him in a way that would definitely be bad if he were *chef’s kiss*

Big fan of double denim and I just know Eddie and I would crush it on the high school fashion game

I hate smoking but when someone talks while holding a cigarette in their mouth *I’m moist*

I’m actually melting - I’m embarrassingly in love with this man

I’m also loving this academic representation - my self worth was so attached to my grades in high school because that was mostly what I was praised for - now I just have a praise kink

THEY’RE FALLING ALREADY AND NANCY WAS WATCHING THE WHOLE TIME HAHAHAH

“sure they all made fun of Eddie and ostracized him from normal high school life but hell, if he didn’t bring a bit of joy to them when he pissed off the old lady” - that I think is the saddest part of being a ‘freak’ in high school - people treat you like shit unless you can do something for them, even if that something is just making them laugh

Hey, Bilbo is a great name for a fake baby I love it

Also yes my love fuck gender roles Bilbo isn’t even real

ALL THE PARENTS ARE FIGHTING THAT’S SO FUCKING FUNNY

Oh goddamnit we should have called it Lucifer - Luci for short

Love the co-parenting dynamic already

Oh now that would have been funny - my parents think he’s a devil worshipper and the baby’s name is Satan

I’m pretty sure Eddie’s smile and laugh would power my serotonin like the screams in Monsters Inc

Love that he’s holding the baby properly in front of dad - not fully changing himself but being a little more respectful - cutie

Oh sweet so my parents have already adopted him - perfect - Eddie and I are gonna go upstairs and make you a real grandkid give us like an hour

TWO IDIOTS IN NOT-SO-UNREQUITED LOVE LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Megan, I am LIVING FOR THESE OMG

Seriously these are the absolute best kind of comments an author could receive so first, thank you so much, and second, I freaking adore you!

I like to think we would all crush double denim. I try but then I ended up matching with one of my students once and I’ve never gone back.

And YES FUCK the gender roles with Bilbo! I did that on purpose and glad someone picked up on it.