#You can totally see where everyone is asking themselves hey why don’t I have an adorable little nugget who will gun down Mr. Burns for me

[antimonyandthyme]

WHAT IF CARCAR REALLY HAD MAGNETS BETWEEN THEM

/or a stuck together au

“It’s like Eat Pray Love,” Carlos says.

“I’ll be honest,” Guanyu says. “Neither of you remind me of Julia Roberts much.”

“Please just,” Oscar massages the bridge of his nose, “point to a place on the map. Any place.”

“Why China,” Guanyu presses. Of course he’s curious. “Why not Spain or Australia?”

“Neutral ground,” Oscar says quickly.

“Ah I see,” Guanyu says. “You can’t agree on a spot, right?”

“I keep telling him,” Carlos says, always with the over-the-top gesticulating. He tries it with both hands first, then realizes Oscar’s being all sorts of petty and weighing his left arm down on purpose where they’re joined, so he continues gesturing eagerly with his right. “Come to Madrid!” He nearly smacks Oscar in the nose with his hand. Oscar scowls. “We have so much good food. I can show you all the things, but no! Piastri will only agree to get sunburned on Australian sand. We have beaches in Spain, too!”

“Guanyu,” Oscar urges, “a place, now.”

“Here,” Guanyu says, index finger plopping down. Like some cartoon scene, both Oscar and Carlos automatically lean in to squint at the map, and bump their heads against each other.

“I hate you.”

“Hard same.”

“Lijiang is actually a famous honeymoon destination,” Guanyu says.

“I hate you,” Carlos says.

“Hard same,” Oscar says.

“Hey.” Guanyu grins like this entire situation is wildly hilarious. Maybe it is, for everyone else. Oscar kinda wants to jump into the sea, but Carlos will only drag him down, their uncoordinated conjoined limbs tangled and thrashing. “You guys asked me to choose. Look, don’t you want to see pandas?”

Carlos makes some sort of shocked noise. Oh, for the love of—Oscar groans. He knows when someone’s just bought something.

“Carlos wants to see pandas,” Guanyu says, sounding far too delighted. “Chengdu’s like a fourteen-hour drive from Lijiang, that’s totally doable.”

They stare at him blankly.

“Oh my god. Chengdu, you know? Research base for giant panda breeding? Panda capital of China?”

Twiddle-Dum and Twiddle-Dee: “Ohhhhh.”

“Yeah, now you got it. In between, you can hit a dozen other places and never grow bored.” Guanyu taps his finger along the map, tick, tick, tick. “So why not? Complete the journey. Transform into Julia Roberts.”

“And break the curse,” Carlos says solemnly.

“Break the curse,” Oscar repeats miserably, but with his left hand, goes to look up flight tickets on his phone.

--

They discover that the only way they can pull on extra layers is if they yank themselves apart with all their might, creating just a sliver of space between their elbows. It’s painful. Oscar never wants to have to do this again.

“Now,” Carlos yells, and in a flurry of movement Oscar gets his coat on before their elbows snap back together.

Ow, ow. Oscar’s eyes are watering. He suspects Carlos’s is doing just the same.

“Okay, okay,” Oscar says. “Now your turn.”

Carlos waves him off. “I’m not cold.”

Oscar opens his mouth to argue, but Carlos is already dragging them off toward a sign with a car on it. The rental cars are left-hand steering, and it dawns on both of them at the exact time that Oscar will be doing all the driving, with the way they’re stuck to each other.

“No fair,” Carlos moans, as Oscar fist pumps the air. It would be too childish to stick his tongue out at Carlos. So he doesn’t.

A part of Oscar’s a spectator to all of this. Watching with his mouth hanging wide open, some disembodied shade looking from outside in, as his own body purchased tickets, packed a luggage (with Carlos in the same room), and boarded a plane. None of this makes sense. Getting into a car with Carlos, firstly. Then with the added condition that both of them have to clamber in from one side, before Carlos can climb over the middle console into the passenger seat. Fourteen hours of this, huh? He’s going to give Guanyu hell when they get back.

If, they make it back. Oscar guesses it’ll be two hours before they attempt to murder each other. You don’t go road tripping with people you can’t stand. It’s the one and only sacred rule of road tripping.

“I think I saw this in Final Destination.”

Oscar, zoned out staring at the road, manages a stupid, “What?”

“You know that pileup where everyone dies?”

“Everyone always dies in Final Destination.”

Carlos rolls his eyes, shakes their joined elbows for emphasis. “The scene where the logs fall off? A lot of screaming? A lot of swerving? All because they were stuck behind a logging truck?”

“Carlos.” Oscar takes one deep, deep calming breath. “Are you asking me to overtake?”

“If you can, yes,” Carlos says, like Oscar’s the one being thick. “Go on. I’ll help you hold the wheel steady.”

Oscar cranes his neck and glances around the side of the truck. The opposing lane seems clear, not a headlight in sight. What the heck. You can take the driver off a track, but he’ll still want to race.

“Woo!” Carlos yells, as Oscar zooms around the steadily plodding truck. A little clumsy, with Carlos almost overcompensating the steer as they merge back into the right lane, but successful, nonetheless. No one dies.

Mismatched hands on the wheel. Adrenaline spiking for just a few seconds of speed. Oscar finds himself wearing a grin to match Carlos’s. Maybe they’ll cut it down to thirteen and a half hours like this.

--

“Guanyu was right,” Carlos says thoughtfully.

Oscar’s got his nose buried in a helpful English guide. A sense of ambitious adventure appears to have overtaken them. He wants to hit at least three lookout points today. “About?”

“Look,” Carlos points in some vague direction. “All the couples.”

“Huh,” Oscar says. “That is a lot of couples.”

No one pays them any mind. They haven’t been recognized since they stepped foot here. For all intents and purposes, they could just be another one of those peaceful couples, milling about.

Well. Peaceful, would be a bit of a pipe dream.

“YOU CAN PLAY GOLF AT JADE DRAGON SNOW MOUNTAIN.”

“Carlos,” Oscar hisses. “Quiet.”

“You can play golf,” Carlos repeats, softer but no less excited, eyes larger than two sparkling coins, “at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain!”

Oscar snatches the guide back from Carlos’s hand. “I’m pretty sure I just read that the mountain’s considered holy.”

“They let people play golf on a holy mountain,” Carlos says for the third damn time. “I love it here.”

“We’re not playing golf,” Oscar says.

“Oscar,” Carlos says, dismayed.

“You have one hand, remember?” Oscar wriggles their stuck arms, a reminder he didn’t even know Carlos would have needed.

“Riiight,” Carlos says, shoulders drooping.

“We can still see the mountain though,” Oscar says, is alarmed at the tiny skip-hop going on in his chest when Carlos brightens again. Doesn’t take a lot to keep this guy happy. That’s, good for him. That’s good.

They decide the cable cars up are too much hassle, with the queues already stretching out for hours. The mountain’s basically viewable from anywhere, so Oscar steers Carlos toward Old Town. Where he discovers that Carlos is terrible at haggling. Absolute nightmare. He hands over money to anyone who so much as gestures him over. The singular tote bag Oscar brings starts to get filled with random trinkets, from fans to calligraphy pens.

“What’s this,” Oscar says, when Carlos shakes his head as Oscar prepares to pack away two wooden charms in the shape of a very rotund cat.

“Not for keeping,” Carlos explains. “They’re for wishes. We hang them up in the temple.”

“Oh,” Oscar says. Carlos had gotten one for him too. “I didn’t think you believed in these things.”

“I don’t,” Carlos says quickly, before looking away, like he’s afraid Oscar will laugh at him.

Oscar chews at his lip. He didn’t mean to suggest it was silly. It’s a little unfair for Carlos to think so lowly of him. If they could, this is where they’d walk their separate ways and browse different shops, long enough for the awkward tension to diffuse. Come back refreshed and recharged for more time spent in each other’s company. No such grace, here.

The stream whispers as it flows by the stone-paved path. The wooden house clusters look as if they’re linked, hand to hand, a never-ending line all the way to the top. Everything here’s older than Oscar, older by years and years and years.

“I keep an amulet in my helmet,” Carlos says. His eyes wander around like he’s sightseeing. “I don’t know why I lied.”

“A little belief can’t hurt,” Oscar blurts out, just so Carlos would stop looking so wounded. “That’s what I always say.”

Carlos nudges him. “You never say that.”

Above them, a thousand colorful prayer flags blow gently in the wind. Wooden charms as numerous as the birds adorn the roof of the temple. Wishes for health, prosperity, family. Oscar tries to peek at what Carlos is writing, only for Carlos to shove him away so violently that they both fall over.

Oscar laughs as Carlos strains to keep his charm out of prying reach. No easy task, both of them being joined and all.

May the new year bring surprises and joy. For my family and friends, good health always. For myself—

Oscar wrenches his gaze away. Some things aren’t for anyone else to know.

He watches Carlos hang his charm up carefully. And then Carlos waits, back turned as much as he can, for Oscar to write his own wish. It’s simple. Fast car, many wins. Happiness. Oscar ties his somewhere near Carlos’s. Closes his eyes and listens to them jangle together.

--

For myself, patience.

--

Oscar’s pretty sure he’s dying. He’s pretty sure this is what dying feels like.

“I thought,” he gasps, in between gulps of warm tea that only makes things infinitely worse, “I told her not spicy?”

Carlos is cackling like the unhelpful asshole he is. “This is not spicy.”

When you explore some place new, local recommendations for food are a must. Oscar’s seriously reconsidering Travel Tip 101 when he gets fed hotpot that turns his tongue worryingly numb.

“Well, it is a little spicy,” Carlos concedes. “But nothing I can’t take.”

“Isn’t Spanish food not spicy?”

“It’s not,” Carlos says. “Actually, I wasn’t good at taking spice until after I started driving.” He fans exaggeratedly at Oscar’s overheated mouth, like that could even help an iota. It’s so Carlos it’s endearing. Shit. “I only started putting hot sauce on all my trainer’s meals because everything tasted so bland.”

Oscar coughs, wiping at his leaking nose. “It burns,” he moans.

“There, there,” Carlos says, mock sympathetic. “Don’t cry.”

“Seriously.” Oscar blinks rapidly, is it affecting his eyeballs too? His pulse thuds like the hoofbeat of a runaway horse. “How are you not even sweating?”

Carlos winks at him. “They don’t call me chili for nothing.”

“You’re the worst.”

“Aw,” Carlos says, and finally puts himself to some use by waving down a server, and sweettalking her into bringing a pitcher of iced water over.

Oscar calls first dibs on the shower, claiming the need to wash the spice out of his pores. Carlos rolls his eyes but acquiesces, gallant about it for once. They force themselves not to make it awkward. Pull apart for just long enough to slip their clothes off, eyes everywhere but on each other. Carlos stands outside the curtain as Oscar tries to shampoo and soap himself down in the narrow tub with one hand.

When it's Carlos's turn: “Oh my god,” Oscar says. “Carlos, are you using soap for your hair?”

“I’m trying to be quick,” Carlos says, voice disembodied even though he’s right next to Oscar. Separated by the thinnest sheet of translucent nylon. The shadow of Carlos is unmistakable in the light. The broadness of his shoulders, the tapering of his waist. “So you do not stand outside for forty-five minutes like I did.”

“I didn’t take forty-five minutes!”

Carlos laughs, the cackle now almost familiar. “And how are you knowing I’m using soap? Are you peeking?”

“I hate you,” Oscar says, waits for Carlos to return with a Hard same like they’re in on the same joke. Waits and waits until Carlos emerges from behind the curtain, not fifteen minutes later, lips still sealed together like withholding some secret.

--

As designated shotgunner, with no say in the matter, Carlos is in charge of the GPS and the AUX cord. After the second album of Enrique Iglesias, Oscar relegates him to Captain of Pointing Out Exit Signs Only. Carlos pretends to pout about it, but he reclines his seat, as far back as their joined elbows will allow. Closes his eyes, limbs loose, all relaxed. He looks so good like that, when he’s as easy as easy can be.

Oscar swallows the click in his throat back down.

“I feel bad,” Carlos murmurs, sounding like he’s close to drifting off. “You’re doing all the work.”

“I don’t mind,” Oscar says. He’s getting real good at one-handed maneuvers now. Hah, maybe this will be beneficial on the track. “I hate getting driven. I rather do it myself.”

“Control freak,” Carlos says.

“Yeah,” Oscar admits. “A little bit.”

When Oscar dares to look over at Carlos, there’s a smile curving his lips gently up. They didn’t magically learn how to talk to each other. But it’s a start, trading little morsels of information like passing notes in school.

One of Guanyu’s other suggestions had been Emei Mountain, boasting an altitude of over three-thousand meters and some ridiculous number of stairs.

(Sixty thousand, to be precise. Oscar had opened his mouth to complain, but Guanyu had responded with a report of the monkeys that lived in the mountain. There came that dazed, excited noise from Carlos again, and Oscar knew it was a lost cause.)

Jet-lag’s working in their favour, and they’ve arrived before the tour buses can deposit too many people for them to stomach. Ambitions are dampened when they realize climbing’s harder when surgically joined by some unknown force at the elbow. When Oscar lifts his left leg, his right arm wants to go, which means Carlos’s left arm needs to go, which means Carlos’s right leg needs to lift. They clunk around clumsily for the first chunk of steps, griping and critiquing each other’s technique. The fog rolls in and laps at their ears, and for a while, there’s nothing much to see.

An elderly lady pressures them into an early lunch, and Carlos gives in effortlessly, like always. It ends up being the best thing Oscar’s eaten since coming here. They fight over the last slice of barbecue pork, and Oscar wins, by virtue of being slightly better at using chopsticks.

By the time they’re halfway up, they’ve got climbing down to an art, limbs moving like clockwork around the constriction. Carlos takes advantage of their newfound skill to increase their pace to a march.

“Carlos,” Oscar’s not ashamed to beg. “Please, won’t you stop and look at the monkeys.”

Carlos laughs at him and calls him slow. Because Carlos is crazy, he’s taken off his light sweater even in this weather, and the threadbare white shirt he’s wearing leaves little to imagination. Chest hair, nipples. Oscar looks away before he can be caught staring. The fog’s given way to some amazing views. Rich vegetation, more trees than Oscar’s brain knows what to do with. Beautiful things all around.

Carlos’s face swims into view. “Come on.” The tugging at the elbow doesn’t hurt as much as it did before. “To the top! There are giant golden statues!”

The statues are indeed golden. And they are indeed giant. The largest one weighs six hundred and sixty metric tons, according to the pamphlet. Larger, surely, than the feeling expanding in his lungs.

“Look, Oscar!” Carlos points with their joined arms, all delight.

“Yeah,” Oscar says. Quickened pulse from the strenuous activity, and he wills it to settle. Control freak. “I’m looking.”

--

Designated phone time on the bed is an hour long. Oscar uses it to text his mum, sift through photos from the day. With how close they’re forced to be, it’s hard to get a picture without a body part of Carlos making its way in. Oscar finds he doesn’t quite mind. He’s got one of the cloudless, blue sky, the backdrop for the Leidongping cable car station. Carlos is pointing at something again, his finger situated artistically right in the middle of the lidless eye of the sun.

Guanyu’s the one who got them into this mess, so he probably deserves a photo update. Oscar sends it over WhatsApp and receives an O-M-G!!! in return, along with nine panda emojis.

No pandas, we’re not at Chengdu yet, Oscar types.

Honestly, I’m surprised you even made it this far, Guanyu says.

Wow, thanks

Oscar squints, rereads Guanyu’s message.

Wait, you were the one who gave us this itinerary!

Hahaha, is all Guanyu says, followed by multiple peace sign emojis.

加油!

Oscar has to google translate that, learn that it means to add oil. To go for it. Go for what?

“Teto says he wishes he was here too,” Carlos says sleepily, looking up from his phone.

“Teto’s out of luck,” Oscar says, ignoring the flash of something hot and possessive down his spine.

He plucks Carlos’s phone out of his willing fingers. Reaches over Carlos for the pull chain of the lamp. Beneath him for just a second, Carlos shifts, comfortable, cozy. Oscar gets the ludicrous notion that if he were to collapse down, right now, Carlos’s body would welcome him.

Shit. How long until they come apart?

Click, off go the lights. Meekly, Oscar makes his way back to his designated side of the bed. Carlos mumbles a soft Good night. More intimate than he could ever mean. Oscar mumbles something back, and satisfied, Carlos closes his eyes. He likes sleeping on his side. Coincidences of coincidences, so does Oscar. Carlos falls asleep faster though, and it gives Oscar a lot of time to stare without accusation. Trace the planes and slopes of Carlos’s face before he drifts off himself.

--

At long last. Chengdu panda base.

After jostling with the crowds to watch the pandas tumble around for their food, then tumble around to play, then tumble around to sleep, Oscar turns to Carlos.

“Well?”

“Eh,” Carlos makes a see-saw motion with his hands. “It’s a little anti-climatic.”

Oscar barks out a laugh. A joined body part, three shared showers, thirteen and a half hours in a car together later, and Carlos still surprises him. He really doesn’t do Oscar well on a neurochemical level.

“Isn’t this what you came here for?”

“I thought it was,” Carlos says. It’s no longer only their elbows touching. Now it’s bicep to little pinky, pressed up against each other like puzzle pieces which fit slightly crooked. One long, unbroken line of heat. “I thought—”

Carlos tapers off. Oscar waits.

“Well, it’s the journey that counts, right?”

“Uh huh.”

“They’re very cute, too.”

“Uh huh,” Oscar says. “Pictures or Guanyu’s never going to believe we made it here.”

Oscar takes one of Carlos with a sleeping mama panda in the background. He’s halfway through checking if it’s any good when Carlos grabs the phone.

“Come here,” he says.

It’s not easy arranging themselves together and catching a panda as well, but heck, didn’t they climb sixty-thousand stairs with some careful coordination? Carlos holds out the phone with his right hand, smooshes their cheeks together. The scrap of Carlos’s stubble against his skin—that’s, there’s a new sensation, in every way possible.

“Say panda,” Carlos says.

“Panda,” Oscar says, the same way he would say, Alert, or Danger, or Abort. His cheeks are going to show up pink in the photo. And Carlos will notice and say something completely asinine—

“Hee hee,” Carlos says. “Your eyes are closed, Oscar.”

--

Once they get enough panda souvenirs to shower the grid, the rest of the day passes in the laziest of fashions. They’ve hit their goal now, so there’s no need to rush. Oscar actually bothers to look through Yelp for restaurant options, and after all his hard work, gets yanked by Carlos into some random alleyway with plastic stools to eat hand-pulled noodles.

Meandering like leaves on an easy stream down the folk and culture street, the promise of a hot shower eventually calls to them. Oscar, gentleman that he is, lets Carlos go first.

Oscar stares unblinkingly at a water spot on a tile as Carlos hums and soap himself, as easy and as relaxed as if he weren’t stuck with Oscar listening to the way the water hits his skin. The first time in the shower, when Oscar had unwittingly brushed his hands over his dick, he’d jumped, then stood still for a whole minute, waiting for Carlos to call him out on it. It’d felt forbidden, with Carlos standing not two inches away.

To Carlos’s credit, he doesn’t punch Oscar when the curtain is pulled back, with a force that can only be described as resolution. He only yelps like a little pup, clapping his free hand over his chest, before the hand trails self-consciously down.

“I’ll help you shampoo,” Oscar says. “It’s faster this way.”

“Well,” Carlos says, “if it’s faster.”

They’re staying at the Shang this time, and there’s fancy shampoo smelling like bergamot and orange. Oscar douses Carlos with half a bottle, squeezing too much out by accident. He keeps bumping his hand into Carlos’s while they attempt to scrub. The lather gets into Carlos’s eyes, and Oscar has to try and hide his smile while Carlos whines piteously. It’s not actually faster in any way.

“There, there,” Oscar says, in a similar tone as to when Carlos had observed Oscar leaking copious fluids over hotpot. “Baby.”

Carlos makes a face and pretends to start crying again, and something terribly fond constricts the entirety of Oscar’s ribcage.

Towelling each other dry is a whole new learning curve, just like putting clothes on, and driving one-handed, and climbing stairs. They’re looking at each other this time, too. That’s also new. Huh. Carlos is very, very gentle as he dries the back of Oscar’s ears. The kind of gentle that speaks of someone having done this for him before, resulting in an insistence in getting this right. Oscar gets all warm, even with the water cooling rapidly on his skin.

“Phone time?”

“No need,” Carlos yawns.

It’s Carlos that leans over this time for the light switch, even though Shang’s posh enough to have light switches at both sides for easy access. Carlos hovers over Oscar for a suspended moment, and Oscar sucks in a breath, straining with anticipation. The head pat is unexpected, but enough for now.

Satisfied, Oscar closes his eyes.

--

“Hey!” Carlos exclaims. “Oscar, we’re free!”

“Whuh,” Oscar says blearily. He’ll never acquire Carlos’s habit of waking up at eight.

“Look, look,” Carlos says, all childish delight. He waves his arms in front of Oscar’s face. Both his arms.

“Hey!” Oscar says, shooting up, suddenly awake.

“Yeah!”

“So all we needed was a shower?”

“Oscar,” Carlos says disapprovingly. “It wasn’t just a shower. We wrote this on prayer cards.” Oscar doesn’t point out neither of them wrote this on a prayer card. “We climbed a mountain. We saw pandas!”

“And took a shower,” Oscar says.

Carlos sniffs. “Have it your way.”

“Fine, fine,” Oscar says. It’s too early to be feeling all warm and crumbly, like the center of a freshly baked pie. “It was the journey that counts, yes?”

“Yes,” Carlos nods. “Maybe. Maybe it was something I—we had to learn. In preparation for. For—”

May the new year bring surprises and joy. For myself, patience.

Their hands are no longer joined, but Oscar takes Carlos’s, and presses a quick, dry kiss to the backs of his knuckles. Carlos is so surprised he lets him.

“Ah,” Carlos says, voice trembly and a little hopeful. “What happens now?”

Oscar looks down at their hands. Going through all of this to separate, only to choose to stay touching. There’s something about a journey being full circle, but Oscar doesn’t want to finish that thought for fear of actually transforming into Julia Roberts. And anyway—

“Now we drive back.”

They’re not near done, yet.

[allieinarden]

Immigrant Simpsons character introduced in 1990: I have many flaws but I’m working on them, my “weird” religion is widely-practiced and I ask that you respect it, I have an advanced degree and own a convenience store by choice because I like the freedom of running my own business, the struggle to embrace what I love about my new country without abandoning my roots is ever-present and real to me.

Immigrant Simpsons character introduced in 2014: Waifu sushi Studio Ghibli anime manga seppuku.

[physalian]

On Hyper Independent Characters (and how not to make them the bad guy)

So many characters with “trust issues” are painted out to be cynical little gremlins who just need to ~open their hearts~ and ~let the love in~ like doing so, repeatedly, has only proven them right every single time, but this one love interest will swoop in and save the day.

The people who write these characters tend to do so in bad faith, as if their fears and trust issues are unfounded nonsense, like they’re wrong and Negative Nellys for being wary.

So!

From experience (thus this is hella biased), here’s some thoughts on writing an independent character with trust issues that isn’t belittling.

1. It’s likely not that kind of trust they have issues with

I said this before a while ago, but “trust issues” paired with an extreme sense of self-reliance isn’t “I think everyone is a liar,” but rather “I think everyone is unreliable”. It might stem from a place of constantly being let down, of constantly having the people in their life drop the ball on major events, but also little things, even something as simple as “hey yeah I’ll totally do the dishes” and then they continue to sit there, forcing the person to be a nag about it, or just do it themselves.

These kinds of personalities tend to grow up surrounded by unkept and empty promises, where, while it might not be every single occasion, it happens one too many times for them to keep giving the benefit of the doubt. Even when people have the best of intentions and mean it when they say they’ll do XYZ in the moment, and they really just forgot, the person they made the promise to is impatiently waiting for them to remember 12-day-old dishes.

2. Why don’t they just remind people to keep their promises?

If you’re in my boat, many people with commitment issues are also narcissists or just mean, who, if you even gently remind them, make you out to be a nagging, impatient brat. And to avoid hearing that again, you just don’t speak up. Too many times where ‘forgetting’ has been from a source of a weird power fantasy, intentionally screwing you over, leaves people sitting in a state of unknowing whether it’s benign neglect or very much on purpose, and afraid to voice their concerns to be proven right.

If you’re not in my boat, chronic “forgetters” aren’t going to change without intervention. So if I ask you to do the dishes once, and you forget, that’s one thing. If I ask you twice, three times, four times, nagging over and over again, then the benefit of the doubt is shredded, and I can’t help but assume that the “forgetting” is on purpose. Either weaponized incompetence or something more benign, doesn’t matter. Even if you have some executive dysfunction, that's an explanation, not an excuse, and the people you live with aren't your maids.

Either way, these personalities might grow up with a whole slew of self-worth issues, and be reluctant to make plans with people, invite friends to important events, or get excited about big milestones, because they’re so used to people they care about “forgetting” or canceling last minute that the only one they can trust to reliably show up is themselves.

3. Why don’t they just communicate these fears?

See the “narcissists” in point 2

4. Isn’t it lonely never letting people in?

Fuck yeah, it is. The thing is, though, that if you spend your whole life learning how to do everything alone—pay your bills, do ‘couple’ or ‘friend’ activities, run errands, take yourself out to places—the idea of having to squeeze in the wants and needs of someone else might start to sound incredibly inconvenient.

If you’re so used to being on your own schedule and reaping the benefits of being a party of 1 in crowded spaces (I just took myself to dinner at a place with an hour long wait, able to be seated immediately at the last remaining barstool), of not having to wait for someone else to confirm plans, negotiate who’s driving, negotiate a time to meet up, food to order, a movie to see, a roller coaster to ride, a game or streaming service to buy—everything is entirely under your control, sacrificing convenience for the chance that the person you invite actually shows up on time and is invested as you are isn’t really worth the risk.

That's not to say I don't enjoy when I get to do things with friends, but I can equally enjoy doing things alone as opposed to whining about it.

Personally, while I can daydream about having a romantic partner, that thought is always immediately followed up by the understanding that they’ll be an inconvenience to my independence. But I’m someone who’s always had to do the emotional labor in a relationship, who’s always the most organized, the most mature, the most level-headed in tough situations. Always been the person in groupwork who does all the work. The idea of being “a team” is a fantasy meant for other people. “Team” to me is “me and this deadweight that I have to drag around”.

5. How I’d like to see this represented in characters

Dropping “the one” into their lives and having this person swept up, broken out of their little pessimistic shell, in some epic romance, as if they only needed to find the right person and nothing at all goes wrong… is bad faith.

It’s bad faith because it minimizes this kind of independence as just a little mood problem that can be fixed right quick, that it’s inherently wrong—what was all the fuss about?

What I’d like to see is examples that prove they’re not crazy. Big and little things. Dishes, and big events. Then, they can meet “the one,” but not without some trial and error. A lifetime of “people suck and are unreliable” isn’t going to be snapped away bibbidi bobbidi boo after one good date. This magical person will have to show up, and keep showing up, and keep showing up, and the one time they don’t, because they won’t, then A and B can hash it out like adults.

6. How this person might act

I’ve never actually met somebody like me and we’d either be best friends or loathe each other. But this person might be the most reliable friend you’ve ever had, because they’re so afraid of becoming like everyone in their life who let them down before. If you ask a favor of them, it gets done with supernatural haste.

This person might also have their own commitment issues, where instead of failing to keep their promises, they punish themselves by keeping promises they hate, showing up out of spite and resentment because they said they would, lest they be called a hypocrite.

They might under-share or not speak up about accomplishments in their life until the time for hype and anticipation has passed, lest they share expecting the same level of excitement only to be met with apathy. They might not show visible excitement about objectively exciting things, because they’re so used to plans falling through that they won’t believe something is happening until they are physically in the location and it’s staring them in the face.

Thus, they might look frequently bored or unhappy and unmoved by something important to you, or something you thought they’d like (especially if you’ve let them down before, trust is a privilege, not a right).

7. What I’d like people to understand most of all

First, that some of us tend to live by the “if you want something done right do it yourself” mantra, so actually asking somebody for help with something is admitting that X cannot be done alone, which makes failure to keep a promise even worse. As in, if A goes out of their way to admit they can’t do F alone and risk being let down to ask B to do this one little thing for them, and B still drops the ball, A is going to sit there and think “this is why I have trust issues”.

Can’t speak for everyone, but yes I do acknowledge that the suffering in silence isn’t helping anyone and am working on it. Counterpoint: Weaponized incompetence is very real and an adult should not have to remind another adult to keep their living space clean, at the bare minimum. Agreeing to do a thing is at least equal responsibility on the inviter and invitee and "you didn't remind me" isn't a valid excuse.

But most importantly, if you have a friend or relative who is fiercely independent, I’d implore you to learn one thing: Do not make promises that you can’t keep. And if shit happens and you have to cancel even when you had the best of intentions, have the decency to tell them and make the best effort you can to reschedule ASAP, instead of putting the impetus on them to do the rescheduling. Make it absolutely clear that you do, in fact, care, and weren’t going out of some apathetic sense of obligation.

I cannot count the amount of times I have asked a friend to do something for me, they eagerly agreed, and then my very real deadlines come and go and they say absolutely nothing, so I have to nag them, and nag them, and then they turn it back on me with a “obviously you can see that I’m busy and you’re not paying me for this” when all they had to do was say “no I can’t help you” (two whole humans; we are not friends anymore).

The ability to be approached with a request for a favor, step back and think about it, and go “No, I don’t think I can do that in that time frame/at this moment I’m going through a lot/with the skill the task requires” is apparently ridiculously rare. I’d infinitely prefer a no upfront than a yes, bank on that yes, and then wait around hoping someone follows through.

Not saying anything is really rude. If you agree to X, the person who asked you is fully expecting you to do X. They shouldn’t have to be lining up backup plans and last minute helpers scrambling to do the job you promised would get done.

—

Not exaggerating when I say it happens in so many areas. I’ve needed very important things like recommendation letters, or actual paid beta readers on a very hard deadline and still scrambled at the last minute to find replacements that sometimes cost real money for rush fees. I’ve been left waiting at an event for an hour minimum only to finally receive a ‘hey I can’t come’ text and then go home. I’ve told people multiple times, “hey, if you’re going to do X, please do it like this and have some consideration for my things that you’re borrowing” and just… be ignored.

As somebody who gets whatever’s asked of me done immediately, no matter how busy I am, man is it hard to keep accepting “sorry I forgot” as an excuse, from multiple people, multiple times.

The nice thing, though, the big benefit of hyper-independence is that I have learned so many skills out of a compulsion to just do it myself instead of gambling with the accountability of another flighty human. Handyman things for my home and my car, but artistic things, too. So there’s that.

[in1-nutshell]

Hi I was wondering if I could request g1 optimus adopting sparkling buddy and the autobots reaction to sparkling buddy And the decepticons reaction to sparkling buddy

I just realized how many different tabs for Transformers I haven't given more care for... hopefully this will make up for some of that empty space! I did originally get the ask with just the Autobots reaction first before getting this one with the Decepticon's added into the mix which is totally fine!

I will be posting the Con's part right after this.

Since you did not specify which Bots or Cons you wanted i chosen them at random.

Hope you enjoy!

Optimus Prime adopting a sparkling with reactions from the Autobots

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Cybertronian reader

G1

Part 2: Optimus Prime adopting a sparkling reaction from Decepticons

It was a peaceful evening at the Ark. There had been low Decepticon activity, and the patrols had become uneventful. Optimus was the last one to return from patrol.

The Prime was carrying something close to his chassis. Ratchet and Ironhide were the first to approach the Prime.

“You okay there Prime? You usually don’t come back this late?”--Ironhide

“What are you carrying?”--Ratchet

“Old friends I am fine. I simply got a little… sidetracked.”--Optimus

“What could have possibly—by the Allspark…”--Ironhide

“What! What is—Is that what I think it is?!”--Ratchet

“Meet Buddy!”--Optimus

Sparkling noises intensify.

Ratchet ordered the two of them to get to the med bay immediately. Ironhide tried getting the sparkling, but Buddy was making too much of a fuss for him to get a good hold on them. So, it ended up with Prime sitting on the med slab with Buddy peacefully sitting on his lap.

Of course, the news of a sparkling on the Ark spread like wildfire. Everyone wanted to see the little one as soon as they heard about them. Bots soon started trickling into the med bay, much to Ratchet’s disappointment. Lucky for them, Ratchet had just finished checking Buddy, they were in near perfect health with all things considered.

“Where did you find Tiny, here?”--Bumblebee

“They were sitting on a boulder a couple miles away from here.”—Optimus

“Just sitting there all by themselves?”—Jazz

“Yes.”--Optimus

“Was there a pod or any sign of their carrier’s?--Prowl

“Nothing. It was almost like they were waiting for me on that boulder.”—Optimus

��You’re a brave little bot for being alone for so long huh?”—Jazz

Giggling Sparkling noises.

The sparkling quickly became a favorite amongst the ranks. There was never a shortage of babysitters when Prime had to go out. Even their human friends, Spike, Sparkplug, Carly, and Chip, helped babysitting. It was a challenge considering the size differences and species differences, but they were glad to help out.

Buddy loves hanging out with Auntie Carly, Uncle Chip, and Grampa Sparkplug, but can’t stand being near Spike. No one knows why, it’s been like that since the day they met.

Optimus and the Autobots can’t count the number of times they have caught Buddy gently petting Chip’s hair in the control room; finding Buddy having Carly in their lap gently hugging her; Sparkplug playing peek-a-boo with Buddy; and Buddy crawling furiously away from a confused Spike.

“Buddy? Buddy? Chip have you seen Buddy?”--Optimus

“I think I have Optimus.”—Chip

“Really? Where—Oh.”--Optimus

Buddy gently petting Chip’s hair, who was reading some data pads.

“Oh dear, sorry about that Chip. I’ll just take Buddy now.”--Optimus

“There’s no need for that Prime. They haven’t done anything bad. I’m just reading them some semantics.”--Chip

“Well then I’ll leave you two alone them. Bye Chip! Bye Buddy!”--Optimus

“See ya Prime!”--Chip

Cooing Sparkling noises as they wave bye.

A little while later…

“Hey! Can anyone come help for a second?”--Carly

“Carly? Carly what’s—”--Wheeljack

Carly sitting in Buddy’s lap while their servos are wrapped around her gently while burying their faceplate in her hair.

“I guess someone really likes the new shampoo I got the other day.”--Carly

“I guess they do! Which reminds me, look what I found!”--Wheeljack

“Wheeljack…Wheeljack put down the camera—”--Carly

Click!

“Wheeljack!”--Carly

“What? It’s for the scrapbook!”--Wheeljack

“We have a scrapbook?”--Carly

Another while later…

“How’s babysitting duty Sparkplug?”--Ratchet

“A bit nostalgic really, but we’re having fun aren’t we Buddy?”--Sparkplug

Sparkling giggling noises intensifies.

“Nostalgic how?”--Ratchet

“It takes me back when Spike was a baby. But back then he used to cry when I did this.”--Sparkplug

“Did he now?”--Ratchet

“Yep. Man, these sure grow up fast don’t they Ratchet?”--Sparkplug

Ratchet looking at Sideswipe and Sunstreaker trying to wake up Grimlock with a feather.

“Sometimes not fast enough…”--Ratchet

Another, other while later…

“Hey Spike, how’s Buddy doing?”--Sunstreaker

“Oh, they’re sitting right there.”—Spike

Buddy sitting in the corner.

“Oh wow, they actually stayed this time.”--Sideswipe

“What?”--Spike

“We honestly thought that they’d escape by now.”--Sunstreaker

“Well, they haven’t, and they aren’t going to. I’ve got my eyes peeled.”--Spike

“That sounds painful.”--Sunstreaker

“No, it’s a metaphor.”--Spike

“Spike—”--Sideswipe

“You see a metaphor—”--Spike

“Spike—”--Sunstreaker

“Hang on I’m trying to explain to you guys—”--Spike

“Buddy’s escaped.”—Sideswipe

Buddy is no longer in the corner.

“…”—Spike, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe

“How did they even get out of the room? We’re right in front of the door?”—Sideswipe

Sparkling giggling from the vents.

“How—Never mind.”--Sunstreaker

“If you help me find them, I’ll buy the expensive wax you guys like.”--Spike

“Deal.”—Sideswipe and Sunstreaker

Meanwhile…

“I swear Inferno, I heard Buddy’s giggling from above!”—Red Alert

“Red maybe you should get some more sleep.”--Inferno

Fun fact about Buddy’s size. They are smaller than the average sparkling. Buddy loves playing Hide and Seek with whoever is babysitting them.

Good news for Buddy: playing is good for their health as a growing sparkling.

Bad news for the babysitter: Buddy is an excellent hider. As in scarily good at it. The longest they have gone so far hiding was 5 hours while Spike was babysitting them.

Somewhere on the Ark…

Optimus suddenly stood up from his chair.

“Prime, you okay?”--Ironhide

“…I’m not sure…”--Optimus

“Well then—”--Ironhide

“It’s Buddy!”--Optimus

“Buddy? Aren’t you being a little bit paranoid Prime? That’s Red Alert’s job, no offense Red.”--Bumblebee

“None taken.”—Red Alert

“No, something happened… I can’t explain it, but I can feel it. I think Chip said it was my ‘Buddy sense tingling’.”—Optimus

“A what?”—Ratchet

“I’ll explain later.”--Bumblebee

“Relax Prime, Isn’t Cliff watching them.”--Ironhide

“Cliff went on patrol with Mirage.”--Prowl

“Then who did he give Buddy to?”—Optimus

“I thought I saw Buddy with Perceptor.”--Jazz

“Perceptor was called in to help Chip and Carly with something at the lab.”--Sunstreaker

“Then who—”--Ironhide

“I think Spike and Sparkplug were the last one’s with Buddy.”--Wheeljack

“Who’s calling for Spike?”--Sparkplug

“Sparkplug! Where’s Buddy?”--Optimus

“Oh, Spike insisted on looking after Buddy while I went to the hardware store for some new parts.”--Sparkplug

“…”--Autobots

“Buddy was left alone with Spike!?”--Prowl

“Yeah? Was that a bad idea?”--Sparkplug

“Guys! I can’t find Buddy!”--Spike

“…Maybe it was…”—Sparkplug

“Quick! Everyone check the vents!”--Sideswipe

“Hey Prime, you okay?”--Ironhide

Concern Truck noises intensify.

‘Concern Dad mode’ engaged.

There was a base wide search for Buddy, all servos were on deck. Bots split into search parties in order to cover more ground. Some searched inside the Ark; others searched outside the Ark’s grounds; and others searched in the city. Thankfully, before Optimus could have another spark attack, they found Buddy.

Turns out they had been hiding with the Dinobots, who were in the mountain section of the base, a place that no one decided to go check out.

Grimlock was training the newest member of the Dinobot’s.

“Buddy!”--Ironhide

“Oh, thank the Allspark! They’re okay!”--Optimus

“Of course, Tiny Buddy okay. Tiny Buddy with Dinobots.”--Grimlock

“Grimlock, we have been looking for Buddy for 5 hours. How come you didn’t tell us?”--Optimus

“Me Grimlock didn’t want to.”--Grimlock

“Why?!”—Wheeljack

“Tiny Buddy no need to go yet. Tiny Buddy training to be next Dinobot!”--Grimlock

“Grimlock, Buddy is still a sparkling. They can’t—”--Optimus

“Tiny Buddy is Dinobot champion!”—Swoop

“Yes, Tiny champion!”—Slag

“Tiny Buddy doing lots of training!”—Sludge

“Tiny Buddy get better.”—Snarl

“Soon Tiny Buddy be one of us!”—Swoop

“And Dinobot’s better babysitter!”—Grimlock

“Spike don’t do job very good.”—Swoop

“He’s got a point.”—Tracks

“Shh!”--Bumblebee

“…Well Buddy was safe with them. Grimlock, you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to Buddy right?”--Wheeljack

“Never! Grimlock protect Tiny Buddy!”—Grimlock

“Prime, I think we may have solved your babysitting problem!”--Wheeljack

[tgmsunmontue]

Second time lucky...

College AU featuring Bradshaw!Twins Bradford and Bradley, a Jake Seresin with a crush, and a long-suffering Javy Machado.

                “He’s so fucking hot,” Jake whines and Javy rolls his eyes, clearly sick of hearing about it but Jake just can’t help himself.

                They’re watching a group play ultimate frisbee, a sport they’ve both learnt to come to appreciate watching when the teams differentiate themselves by shirts and no-shirts, the women stripping to tanks and everyone wearing the shortest-shorts they apparently seem to own. Jake approves, even if he doesn’t really understand how the game itself works. But the guy is playing, and Jake has dedicated a lot of time to watching him.

               He’s been seeing the guy everywhere on campus, can’t seem to walk anywhere without seeing him and it’s really fucking distracting. He goes to the pool, and the guy is there. He goes to the gym, the guy is there. He goes to the library, the guy is fucking there. He’s not in any of Jake’s classes thankfully, he does get some reprieve, however if the guy was in a class he’d have an actual chance of learning his name.

                “Where’s your infamous charm now? Why don’t you just go and ask him out?” Javy asks. While there are a lot of names being thrown around, it’s impossible to tell which one belongs to the guy in question.

                “I… I can’t.”

                “Seriously? You can’t? You’re actually… oh my god. You actually care about getting rejected by this guy.”

                Part of Jake wants to snap that he doesn’t care. And that he doesn’t get rejected. However he has to admit that he usually doesn’t get rejected because he generally only asks people who are a sure thing. People who have made their interest known. With this guy, he just doesn’t know. Sometimes he thinks that maybe yeah, he’d totally be down to going out with Jake. Maybe. And other times there’s definitely zero interest. So it’s not like the guy is blowing hot and cold. More like… barely lukewarm and cold. Maybe once or twice he thinks there was something, but it had been gone so fast he’s pretty sure he imagined it.

…            …            …

                “I think I’ve found you an in. The guy is a member of the Delta Frat. And he’s a senior. That’s why he’s not in any of our classes.”

                “He’s in a frat?” Jake asks, pulling a face.

                “Yeah, and I am totally judging your taste. Because not only is he in a frat, but his name is Bradford Bradshaw.”

                “Oh god…” Jake groans, because that is one hell of a name. But he has a name now, and he recognizes it as being one yelled out while watching ultimate frisbee, so it sounds like it is probably the same person.

                “And, because they’re a frat, they’re having a party on Friday night to celebrate… the end of the week probably. I don’t remember. Anyway, I got the details. You owe me.”

                Jake feels like he might throw up.

                Javy has gone to all this effort for him, he can’t just not use it.

…            …            …

                They stand in front of the house and it doesn’t seem like there’s a party and they look at each other hesitantly before Javy shoves him into motion with a push to his shoulder.

                “Just walk up and knock. Come on.”

                He huffs out a breath and squares his shoulders. He can do this. He raises his hand to knock and then the door is opening away from him and there’s a guy standing there looking at them, wide smile on his face, and at least he looks welcoming rather than asking them who the fuck they are.

                “Oh, hey man, just go straight in. Mickey’s out the back heating the grill, think Bradshaw’s in the kitchen. You’re a bit early, game doesn’t start for another hour.”

                He exchanges a look with Javy, because that would have been useful information to have, and he also feels empty handed, like maybe some chips and dip wouldn’t have gone astray, because it seems far too settled, too quiet, considering they’re having a party, and Bradshaw is in the kitchen. Chips and dip would give his hands something to do, something to hold onto. Reaching out to grasp hold of Javy just doesn’t elicit the image he’s at least trying to portray here.

                There’s posters and scarves for different teams. A pair of silicon boobs is sitting on a shelf beside what Jake is pretty sure is a bong. Beside which is a dildo. Okay then. They walk further into the house, and there he is. Bradford Bradshaw, in the kitchen as promised, poking at an assortment of Jello shots in the fridge. They’re arranged like a rainbow, and it gives Jake a little flare of hope, because so far, the house had been very… frat bro aesthetic.

                “Uh. Hi. I’m Jake.”

                “Hey man. Bradford. I think I’ve seen you around. Swim team right?”

                “Uh, yeah,” Jake manages to croak, because that also bodes well for him, that the guy has at least noticed him enough to know that. “I’m actually here to see if you’d be interested in going out sometime,” Jake says, surprised his voice sounds fairly level given how badly he feels like his insides are shaking.

                The guy has looked up sharply at that, his eyes have gone wide and he’s suddenly looking supremely fucking awkward and Jake shrinks inside. God. He’s about to get rejected. At least he can just leave. And maybe transfer to another college. Or country.

                “Oh… dude. I’m flattered. Seriously. Uh. Look. You want the good news or the bad news first?”

                Jake isn’t quite sure how there is any good news to come out of being rejected and he just shakes his head, is already stepping back, heading toward the door. But the guy is quick, slaps his hand against it and looks at Jake likes he’s an idiot. Sue him, maybe he is.

                “So, bad news, I’m mostly pretty straight. And I know that without any shadow of a doubt,” Bradford says, like he’s trying to somehow let Jake down gently, but he seems happy or eager about something, like crushing Jake is somehow making his night. “So, while I don’t really bat for your team I did say I have some good news. I have an identical twin brother who is very not straight, so… lets go find him!”

                “Uh, what?”

                “An identical twin. Well, identical enough. So if it’s all this you want to get up in on, then I have another model that I think would be very, uh, interested,” Bradford says, gesturing at himself and Jake despairs of himself, because unfortunately he is very much interested in getting all up in that. He looks to Javy, who has followed them, and he’s glad, because they’re walking down the street past other houses. He’s pretty sure he’s not getting pranked or anything, most people don’t invent something like an identical twin out of thin air as a joke…

                “How do you know? That he’d be interested?” Javy asks, and Jake blinks, looks between them, because he hadn’t caught that, his mind too busy processing the idea that there are two guys that look like this and that he wasn’t going mad thinking he was seeing them everywhere.

                “What?”

                “Would you believe twin telepathy?”

                Jake raises an eyebrow disbelievingly and scoffs.

                “No.”

                “That’s a good thing, he doesn’t buy into any of that bullshit either. What he has been doing though is whine about this guy…” he says, turns to give Jake a quick up and down glance which makes him flush a little, because this is still the guy Jake has been sort of drooling over the last few weeks. “You happen to have a toothpick on you?” Bradford suddenly asks, apropos of nothing and Jake glares at Javy when he snorts.

                “Yeah, I have a couple. Why?”

                “Oh yeah, you’ll do. He’s been mooning over this guy with an oral fixation that won’t stop flicking a toothpick with his tongue. And buddy, I don’t know how many guys are walking around with a supply of toothpicks to fellate, but I’m pretty sure I’m about to fucking play cupid.”

                Javy is outright laughing now and Jake punches him in the arm, wrestles away from the noogie Javy tries to give him in retaliation.

                “What’s his name?” Jake asks, trying to straighten his hair, no idea how close they might be getting, but they’ve been walking pretty fast for about five minutes now.

                “Bradley.”

                “Your parents named you Bradley and Bradford?”

                “Our parents think they’re hilarious. Last name Bradshaw remember.”

                “Yikes.”

                “It’s fine, means we’ve got thick skin and a decent sense of humor. Although, while I can commend you on your taste, he is definitely the more boring twin. See if you can make him come to the party, I made the Jello shots especially for him.”

                Oh. That’s kind of sweet Jake realizes, showing support through no-doubt alcoholic Jello shots arranged in rainbow colors.

                “I’ll ask him.”

                “Good thing you’ve got balls and are doing the asking, because he’d never get around to it. Anyway, this is him,” Bradford says, and he’s just pushing the door open and kicking his shoes off and Jake exchanges a look with Javy and just follows after him, scrambling a little to keep up as Bradford just calls out a general welcome to the house, telling anyone who can hear him that it’s only him, and not someone here to steal their shit. From somewhere there’s an answering yell about them having nothing worth stealing and Jake blinks, because he’s in the dorms, and this isn’t a frat house, but it’s still a shared house of some sort, smaller for sure. Then Bradford is banging on a door, and Jake sucks in a deep breath, because this must be Bradley’s door. His bedroom. Oh shit, suddenly this feels far too personal and he feels like he’s shaking.

                “Bradley!” Bang bang bang. “Bradley stop jerking off and answer your door man.” Bang bang bang. “Dude, come on, I will open this door on you…”

                Then the door swings open and there is another man standing there, the spitting image of Bradford, but he looks furious, eyes flashing, knuckles white where they’re gripping the door and Jake swallows nervously, but also a little turned on. That anger isn’t directed at him after all.

                “For fucks sake Bradford, I’m trying to study!”

                “Yeah, not anymore you’re not. Here. I come bearing gifts. You can thank me later.”

                Then Jake is being grabbed and hauled in front of Bradford like a human shield and the change in expression from anger to surprise on Bradley’s face is immediate.

                “Uh, hi.”

                “You’re the guy from the library,” Bradley says and Jake nods.

                “Yeah. I didn’t realize you had a twin brother.”

                “Yeah, my whole life.”

                “Um. Did you want to… um. Get a drink sometime?” Jake asks, and the way Bradley is looking at him is still surprised, like he can’t believe Jake is there. And Jake hadn’t ever planned to do this in front of Javy and somehow, the identical twin of the guy he’s got a crush on. Well, he was told going to college would give him new life experiences.

                “What?”

                “A date. Or something. Or just studying together if you don’t have much time. Just, uh, I wanted to ask you out.”

                “And my work here is done,” Bradford says, taking a step back and making a bow. “I’ll see you round. You want to come back with me?” Bradford says, turning to Javy with the last question, and Javy’s giving Jake a little salute, slap to the arm and he’s leaving with Bradford; leaving Jake there alone.

                They stand there awkwardly looking at each other and Jake’s wondering if he should maybe just leave, because Bradley hasn’t said anything else, not even yes to Jake’s jumbled date asking.

                “I think I’m just going to go. Leave you to it.”

                “No! Sorry… I’m just. You want to go out with me?”

                “Yeah. I’d like to… get to know you.”

                “Yeah, okay. That would be nice. What’s your name?”

                “Oh shit. Jake. My name’s Jake Seresin. It’s nice to meet you.”

                The smile Bradley gives him is breathtaking and Jake can’t help but smile back, his stomach feeling like a kaleidoscope of butterflies has made itself at home, but he feels a lot less nervous now.

                “It’s nice to meet you too.”

                They kind of stand there and just grin at each other for a few moments, and Jake feels so relieved that Bradley seems to be into him.

                “Oh. Did you want a drink, or to… go out somewhere? Now?” Bradley asks.

                “Well, we could go to the party. Just walk there, say hi, then walk back…”

                “You don’t want to actually spend time at the party?”

                “No, not really. I was only going to meet you, so… Think your brother might like to see you there though.”

                “I think the last thing Bradford wants is me there killing his vibe, but sure, a walk sounds nice.”

…            …            …

                As they walk their arms brush and bump occasionally and Jake finds himself unable to stop smiling. He’s also pretty sure he’s blushing, but Bradley is definitely blushing, so Jake doesn’t care. They’re walking slowly, ambling really, neither in a rush. They’ve talked about what they’re studying, their families, friends and now…

                “I need to teach you how to tell Bradford and I apart. For a start, he’s left handed. He’s also taller and heavier. I’m the oldest though, but you can’t tell that from looking.”

                “Hopefully I get to know you well enough I’ll just be able to look and easily tell you apart. Your parents can tell you apart, right?”

                “Yeah. Mostly. As long as they’re actually paying attention. Our voices changed when we went through puberty. We sound pretty much the same now, except for the part where he sounds like a typical frat-boy jock.”

                “You do seem to have very different personalities,” Jake concedes, and part of him is glad that Bradley seems more chilled out than Bradford.

                They’re back in front of the Delta Frat and Bradley is pulling a face and rolling his eyes, and Jake laughs, reaches for his hand to tug him inside.

                “Five minutes. Ten max and then we can leave. Okay?”

                “Okay. I’m holding you to that.”

                Jake grins and then pushes the door open. There are a lot more people here now, there’s music and a football game being projected onto a white wall in the living room. There’s a keg and the smell of cooking meat. It’s still early, no-one appears drunk, although he’s sure that’s a certainty considering someone is setting up beer pong. Bradley is rolling his eyes and Jake pokes him for good measure, it’s not his scene either, but he’s not going to judge his peers if they want to take part.

                “Bro! You made it! Oh my god, you’re a miracle worker already!” Bradford says to Jake, slapping him on the back and reaching out to give Bradley a fist bump. “I made you Jello shots! Rainbow Jello shots!”

                “Of course you did…” Bradley sighs.

                “It’s sweet of him,” Jake murmurs in Bradley’s ear, because he doesn’t know either of them well, not yet, but he imagines one of his siblings trying to be supportive by making him rainbow colored drinks at a party and it is sweet.

                “They’re Redbull and vodka, caffeine and alcohol, avoid at all costs.”

                “One won’t hurt…”

                He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a paper-wrapped toothpick, strips the paper off and runs it around the inside of the shot glass, loosening the Jello so he can better suck the entire thing into his mouth. His tongue is running over the bottom of the shot when he realizes exactly what it might look like, because Bradley is watching him with hooded eyes and he swallows, nervous again.

                “You and your fucking toothpicks.”

                Jello now gone Jake sticks the toothpick in his mouth and rotates it 360, raises an eyebrow.

                “I think you have a thing for my toothpick…”

                “I have a thing for a guy who might have an oral fixation. It’s been five minutes; can we go now?”

                “Lead the way.”

                “You guys leaving already?” Bradford asks.

                “I have better things to do,” Bradley states and Jake snorts.

                “Yeah you do! Go. Have fun.”

                “Oh my god…”

                “I’ve only known him like an hour, you walked right into that one,” Jake says, grinning, letting Bradley pull him out of the house.

                “He’s the worst.”

                Jake isn’t going to agree or disagree, because he’s pretty sure Bradford would die for Bradley, but also if anyone pointed out to him how much his siblings loved him, he’d also deny it until his dying breath. He does laugh along with Bradley though, as they walk back to his place, and he doesn’t miss Bradley’s eyes flicking to his lips, where the toothpick is still being worried at between his teeth. They’re almost back to Bradley’s when he slows to a stop and turns toward him, and the street is quiet and empty.

                “Can I kiss you?”

                Jake quickly takes the toothpick from his mouth and throws it into the nearest bush.

                “Yes, yes you definitely can.”

(FYI - all photos (and children) are my own. I haven't gone and posted pictures of someone else's kids without their consent etc.)

This fic fills the "Frat Party" square on my Top Gun AU Bingo card, as well as the "Free Space" which can be either a College AU, or Bradshaw Twins AU.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Make Me Write ask answered

162 📖 for @inell!

---

When they arrive at the fire station, Eddie is indeed in rough shape. Scratched, damp, and wearing a heating blanket. 

“Buck, why is my dad dressed like a baked potato?” Chris asks nervously when he sees him. 

Eddie is sitting in the back of an ambulance, looking a little sleepy. The other paramedic - the one that isn’t Chimney - is talking to him. 

“It’s keeping him warm,” Buck explains. “Why don’t you go see him? That’ll make him even warmer.”

“DAD!” Chris calls out, heeding Buck’s advice. He picks up his pace a little in Eddie’s direction. 

“CHRISTOPHER!” Eddie calls back once he sees him. He hops out of the ambulance, dropping the warming blanket, and runs across the engine bay floor towards his son. When he reaches him, he scoops him up into the biggest, tightest, most loving hug Buck has ever seen. Buck honestly feels a little choked up, watching it. 

He doesn’t want to intrude on their moment, so he hangs back, holding onto Christopher’s backpack. After a minute of this hug, of Eddie speaking quietly to his son, he finally looks in Buck’s direction. He sets Christopher down, strides over to where Buck is, and hugs him too. Just quick, with a clap on the back, but it’s still a hug. It catches Buck off-guard a little.

“Thank you,” Eddie says emphatically. “Thank you so much for taking care of him.”

“No problem, really,” Buck says when Eddie pulls away. “Chris kept me in line. Made sure I knew the right answers to American history. Really he did me a favor.”

Eddie’s smile in response is practically glowing. “I owe you one, man.”

“Hey, don’t mention it. Just glad you’re okay.” Buck says. “Is Carla good? I couldn’t reach her either.”

Eddie nods. “Her dad isn’t well. She was visiting him today.”

“Oh,” Buck replies. “That’s… That’s too bad.”

Eddie takes a deep breath. “Listen, man, can I buy you a beer sometime? As a thank you?”

Buck… Well, for some reason, even though it’s totally not necessary, Buck really likes the sound of that.

“Yeah,” Buck nods. “Yeah, that’d be great. My number should be in your phone from when I tried to call you.”

“Perfect,” Eddie smiles. 

x.

It’s way too much fun. 

Buck meets Eddie at a sports bar. They grab beers. Watch a game. It’s probably the most fun Buck’s had in a while. Without work or a kid in between them, they connect as just people. And it turns out, they connect pretty well. They have a similar sense or humor and like a lot of the same things. Eddie listens when Buck goes on accidental tangents about subjects he finds interesting. Buck is genuinely delighted with stories about Christopher. They just sort of… Mesh?

By the end of the night, they’re making plans to hang out again, and Buck’s stomach can’t quite shake a fluttery, swooping feeling. Something that he’s only really felt before… Well, on dates. 

Which is strange for Buck because, well… Eddie is a man? And Buck didn’t know that another man could make him feel that way. 

Which probably means… Something. 

xi.

Buck and Eddie manage to hang out two more times by themselves, and once with Christopher, even, before the world shuts down. And Buck goes from the exciting thrill of a new friend/maybe crush to working alone in an empty library, filling online orders, and putting them in sterile pickup areas, with nothing at all to look forward to. 

It’s awful. It’s depressing. Buck genuinely struggles to get out of bed in the morning for the entire month of April. 

His sister is pregnant, and she can’t even stay with Chimney because of the risk. She’s alone. Buck’s alone. Everyone is boxed off from each other. 

They keep in contact. Eddie and Buck. Text. Social media. Buck does a few virtual homework help sessions with Chris out of working hours. But it’s weird. It’s like they almost had a friendship or something, and it just kind of gets stalled. 

All the nothingness means Buck has time. On and off work. He has nothing but time. It reminds him of the early years of his undergrad, where the coursework wasn’t challenging or interesting enough to keep his mind busy. He’d had to find ways to fill the time. Partying. Drinking. Sex. Working out. Those had been his options, then. Apart from working out, he doesn’t want to replicate the rest in a global pandemic. Which means Buck is left with way more hours to fill than even in undergrad. 

And he’s a librarian. So… One of the things he does to avoid going crazy? He reads. He researches. He learns. And one of the things he starts going all in on learning about? Human sexuality and attraction. Because the distance from Eddie doesn’t make Buck stop thinking about him. Doesn’t quell the curiosity, the thinking. The excitement each time a notification from Eddie lights up his phone. So Buck researches, and he tries to figure himself out. 

So, in the middle of a pandemic, where everyone is quarantined, and Buck is completely alone, he discovers he’s bisexual. Stellar timing. Really great work. Had he uncovered this little tidbit of identity earlier in his life? Maybe he’d be quarantining with a boyfriend or a husband or something cool like that. Since he’s historically fumbled all the women in his life. Who is he kidding? He’ll probably be the same with dudes. But until proven otherwise, he imagines he’ll be very smooth.

So. Bisexual. Alone in his studio apartment. Living through an unprecedented global emergency. Kind of thirsting over a man he won’t be able to see for months, and who he doesn’t even know is queer, so probably has no chance with. 

Buck is frustrated. 

He learns to cook. He buys a variety of plants. Tries and fails to learn to draw. Impulse adopts a cat; a Burmese he renames Begonia. Her previous name was Princess and to be honest she is way too relaxed for that designation. 

Nothing makes the sense of restlessness building in his chest go away. 

xii.

It’s late summer by the time he and Eddie can hang out again. At a distance. Outside, on a hike. Masks on if they get any closer. Eddie has a higher chance of infection on his job, and Buck wants to be safe. 

They fall back into their easy pattern of conversation and humor. It’s like whatever paused between them at the beginning of the year picks right back up without any issue. And Buck is relieved. Relieved and excited. Like they’re pointed towards a direction he hasn’t seen before, but is desperate to discover.

Buck tells Eddie all about the ever-changing library policies regarding the virus. Eddie tells Buck about childcare struggles. 

“With Carla caring for her dad full time, and my Abuela back in Texas, it’s been insane,” he admits. 

“And no aftercare programs at the library,” Buck says. 

“Or anywhere,” Eddie says. 

“Man, that’s rough. I’m sorry.”

“It’s… Well, single parenting is never easy. But global catastrophe certainly adds to it.”

“Hey, if-if I can help…” Buck offers, a little aimlessly. 

Eddie raises an eyebrow. “Is the library open to visitors yet?”

“Well, no,” Buck admits. “Soon, hopefully? But I mean, I can ask the head librarian - Janine - if he can, uh, sneak in. Masked up, of course.” “I mean, if he could. That’d be really helpful. He could do class from there, right?” Eddie asks. ”Only if it wouldn’t put you out!”

[princess-of-the-corner]

Ace Attorney Ramble

(So, based on my past few submissions & asks, can you tell what my current hyperfixation is??)

So, had this thought, which will not leave me alone now. I think I remember you saying Manfred von Karma being the “gay rights, but only for me” type, and I can definitely see that. But I had the thought (which is now going on repeat in my brain), that von Karma is more of “What is this ‘Gay’ you speak of??”, mixed with “Gay is ABSOLUTELY a choice”. Like, sort of same but opposite of how you write Enji. Manfred is attracted to men, is fully aware he’s attracted to men, and is making the conscious choice to ignore it. As far as he’s aware, EVERYONE is attracted to the same gender as themselves, but we all ignore it, because continuing the species and family lines are more important. Someone would try to make an argument about how it isn’t a choice, just how human beings are built, and von Karma would fire back about how humans have changed faster than evolution, how we have loads of things that are imperfect about the human body that we “fix”, like eyesight, or the appendix.

Like. He would absolutely appear homophobic, would spout a lot of bullshit that sounds the same, but his actual issue isn’t people being ATTRACTED to the same gender. It’s ACKNOWLEDGING it, because as far as von Karma is aware, attraction to the same gender is on the same level as other things he considers “weak” - addiction, illness, compassion, hurt feelings. Everyone has them, but only WEAKLINGS indulge in such things. A von Karma doesn’t INDULGE, they overcome and surmount! They are never ANYTHING less than perfect, and perfect means a spouse that can give you an heir to the family. He probably had a whole portfolio of men Franziska could pick from to marry and have kids with, based on a bunch of bullshit social stuff. She might argue about IVF, and von Karma would be SCANDALIZED she’d suggest such a thing! He would hound, harass, and maybe even blackmail his daughter into getting hitched and having a kid. And once Franziska had the kid, he would cheerfully support her through a divorce. Social standing observed, boxes ticked, business concluded.

Sort of conversely, I think he’d be simultaneously totally cool with trans people, and also very transphobic. Like, if someone he worked with went up to him and said, “Hey, just so you know, I’m actually a man, my name is Victor now,” he’d be all, “Not sure why you think I care, Mr. Tree, I have cases to deal with,” and never misgender the guy. But if he found out Mr. Victor Tree was taking time off to have transitional surgery, he’d be scornful over the guy “taking time off for something as trivial as THAT”, like, putting your mental and physical health? Over your JOB?? He’d start bringing it up all the time, “oh, are you sure you have time to take that case?? What if you need to go to the hospital? Maybe this case should be trusted to someone with a stronger … constitution”. And the whole office thinks it’s cause Victor is trans, but no, it’s cause he willingly and deliberately sought out medical care.

My big takeaway thing is, I read a lot of fics where Miles has hang ups about his sexuality due to being raised by von Karma, and while I don’t disagree with them, I think it’s more likely that Miles had bigger issues acknowledging needing breaks, or medical care. Like, Franziska got shot, had surgery to remove the bullet, and then immediately left the hospital to find a guy and deliver critical evidence to a courtroom. Miles should be the guy who says, “it’s only a flesh wound,”, meanwhile, he’s been stabbed in the gut, and everyone is pleading with him to go to the hospital. He takes A hit to the head, insists he’s fine, and proceeds to solve a murder with a concussion. His pain tolerance is through the roof, and this is a bad thing.

(Thoughts, feedback?)

-

Honestly you’re right I think he’d see attraction of any kind to be ‘weakness’ so clearly whatever mess his marriage was is a very un-attracted one for other purposes like children or something. Having sex with a woman doesn’t count because he’s not giving in to attraction he’s just doing a business transaction.

Then yeah rip Miles and Franziska they’re gonna be like ‘Hm. My bloods on the outside of me. Pretty sure that’s fine.”

[wifegideonnav]

I'm new to Tumblr. How do Tumblr users usually engage with each other?

well first of all welcome haha. the main ways to engage with people are:

liking and reblogging. platforms like instagram and tiktok run on likes and an algorithm, but on tumblr, people almost exclusively use their dashboard and turn off suggested content, so they’re only seeing what people actually reblog onto their dash. that’s why people on this site are so adamant about reblogs, because likes basically do nothing. i saw someone say once that anything you would like on a different social media, you should reblog on here, and i totally agree. and don’t worry about how old a post is, or about reblogging something you’ve previously reblogged. there are posts from 2014 that i regularly see on my dash a decade later, so literally don’t feel awkward, it’s 100% normal to engage with old posts.

tags. there are three main ways tags are used: labeling original content so people find it in searches, internal organization systems when reblogging or posting (for instance, many people have a tag for their original posts, and will tag reblogs by fandom or character or whatever - important note that reblogs do not show up in search results), and to make sotto voce comments on a post. it’s normal for people to make jokes, add their own commentary, ramble about something semi relevant, or say something to op in the tags on posts they reblog.

reblog additions. every time you reblog, you have the chance to add something to the post, which unlike tags will be retained when someone reblogs from you. a good rule of thumb is to comment instead of tagging when it’s something you actually want other people to engage with, as opposed to tags where you’re just kind of expressing yourself lol. don’t be surprised however if you see people’s tags getting screenshotted and added to a reblog. if this happens because the screenshotter likes what the tag writer said, it’s jokingly referred to as “passing peer review.” (and of course people screenshot tags to criticize or mock them as well.) essentially, tags are like being at a big group dinner and saying something to the person next to you as an aside, and then sometimes that person goes “hey everyone listen to this”

post comments. there’s also an option on every post (unless op has turned it off) for people to comment on the post itself, not on a specific reblog. mostly this is useful for talking to people on personal posts or posts with reblogs turned off. on a bigger post, just reblog it and put your thoughts in an addition or tag.

asks. seems like you figured this one out! lmao. asks are used for a wide variety of things, but essentially it can either be a prompt for someone to make a post or a way of having an interaction/conversation with someone without dming them.

dms. these work like dms everywhere else, except the functionality is limited and it kinda sucks.

games. there are also many varieties of games that people play with each other, ranging from ask games (things like “rec me some music” or a post with prompts and people send you some from that list), tag games (typically there are questions you answer then you tag other people to fill them out for themselves) handwriting tags, follow chains, giveaways, name/url playlists, and more. with the addition of polls, brackets have gotten popular too (eg the tumblr sexyman bracket). there also used to be a lot of in-character ask blogs, where a user would set up a blog and roleplay as a specific character that people could send questions to (there still are some but way fewer and way less popular than there used to be)

to be honest i feel like i have to put “discourse” and “drama” on this list too. people on this site loveeee having the most insane arguments of all time and then everyone else memes the hell out of it. google “sonic for real justice” for an example lmao. (of course there’s also very unfunny political and fandom discourse that goes on as well. i would advise you to avoid discourse blogs as a general rule regardless of whether you agree with their position or not)

tagging people. you can also @ people in posts you think they’d like or if you feel like they have relevant input. typically this is something you would do either to people you’ve spoken to before, or a big blog with an established persona and rapport with their followers (eg if you follow a blog about snakes and you see a random post with snake info that seems wrong but you’re not sure, so you tag them to ask for their expertise).

and this isn’t a specific “mode” of communication but it’s also a thing to “interpret” (for lack of a better word) other people’s posts. for instance, people drawing a photo from the original post (i cant find it but there was a post going around recently where op posted an aesthetic photo of an egg cooking and then several people painted it), or people trying/recreating something a post was about (example). it was also a thing for a minute there where people would rewrite funny exchanges as shakespearean dialogue

those are all the ways i can think of, although im sure i’ve missed some (if other people think of any pls add on!). good luck, and i hope you’re able to meet some cool people!

[krash-and-co]

hey krash, i wanted to reach out and say that i'm so sorry that you got such a hurtful reaction from one of the l&co servers for speaking up about something that genuinely needed to be addressed. i won't badmouth anyone in particular but this is not the first time this fandom has dogpiled someone over a misunderstanding, and when it happened to me i had severe anxiety over it for about a week even after it was resolved, and eventually left because of it. it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth for the fandom in general, so i mostly just stick to my small group of mutuals now lol. i wish this fandom truly was different from other fandoms, but this kind of thing is unfortunately inevitable once something reaches a certain level of popularity. but that certainly doesn't make it okay, and you didn't do anything to deserve the reaction you got. i hope you can feel peace about it soon, and i'm sorry again that it happened at all. 🫂

(please don't feel pressured to answer this if you'd rather the matter be left alone, i totally understand. i just wanted to send you an ask because i didn't know if you're comfortable with dms.)

hi im so sorry i forgot to answer!!! thank you so much this means so much to me. 💙💙💙 i read this for the first time when i was feeling pretty attacked and it really cheered me up <3

hmm other people have been telling me about how they got attacked in this fandom too. and maybe this shouldn't have surprised me as much as it did. but it's something fans never talk about and claim doesn’t exist, so i thought it didn’t. i was horribly fooled lol. as, uh, i am about to rant about; do you mind? u don’t have to read it, i won’t be offended, but halfway thru answering this ask it turned into a rant i wanted to release into the world lol, so sorry about that 😭😭😭

very important disclaimer!!! this is NOT about everyone. ABSOLUTELY NOT. most of you are absolutely amazing people, and i assure you if ur worried this is about you, it’s prob not lol

ANYWAYS!!!

im kind of feeling i was betrayed?? ig? i rlly believed everyone was so kind, and look what i know now. it genuinely seems like people are gaslighting themselves. how else do they only see our ‘harm?’ yeah, our fandom is known for being passionate, but saying we’re known for kindness is starting to make me sick. maybe we were, i know a lot of us still are, but throwing that out there in the middle of your hypocritical hate post seems like justification for the shit things people have been saying. you can say no wrong so long as you’re here. only people who don’t agree with you. so yeah, fuck krash and ljc and anyone else who doesn't agree!!! that totally shows how kind you are and how much you loved the fandom before we messed it up. nobodys visibly mad, cuz we're too scared to say shit!!!

i’ve seen too many examples of the contrary from the “victims,” wailing about how cruel we are the second they disagree with someone. (in a highly hypocritical manner, at that.) “everyone was so happy before this!” no, they weren’t, that’s why i brought it up. “stop bringing hate to this fandom! now let me fucking berate you!” do you even hear yourself? “nobody even cared before, we were all content!” we weren’t all content, we were just silent. it sometimes looks the same.

someone even declared they were leaving the fandom because ‘one person wanted to stop show saving efforts entirely because it traumatized them, and this is no longer a safe place.’ like, what? where did you even get that? for one, there were at least two of us posting together, and that’s just barely knowing anything about what’s happening. thats not even touching on how one of us (idk who the op of that post was talking about, it’s a 50/50 lol) made the fandom an unsafe place for our personal gain. what?

hella kind. hella safe on their part.

another said they saw only old fans agreeing about this so it’s just us being pissed about change. it’s us hating the show. me and ljc being upset about not being the only “big blogs” any more. our fandom is only for the elite, etc. fuck us. yet ljc is getting blackmailed. we’re getting hate replies. friends that try and help get attacked. misinformation spread. how did that even happen? we never once tried to hurt anyone; thank you to those who understand.

but to some, WE’RE the ones in the wrong.

do they SEE themselves? how hypocritical all of this is? or are their heads that far up in the ass of their petition and beloved fake idea of this fandom that they care about more than all of us?

now, this is where i add another “not everyone” message. not everyone is like this, this is not me saying i hate the petition or people who support it. hell, i signed the petition. twice. and once more from my mothers email.

i don’t regret the i love you posts i made, because i still do love this fandom, i am still absolutely here for the rest of yall. but DAMN if we weren’t hiding something under happy Save The Show, I Love Locknation! messages. perfectly smiling faces until they bite. i was surprised to see how many people did.

as if our previous problems weren’t enough, now it turned into this lol. no, that’s a lie, it didn’t. it already was, and i HATE THAT.

ig im kinda spoiled, i never really experienced hate like this from this fandom before. but now i know it happened BEFORE too, and that just pisses me off. it hurts coming from a group who says they love us. genuinely wacko (not the fun kind) behavior :[

i know this isn’t everyone’s experience, but it is mine, and enough others to make me wanna say this. and this is ofc me and @lucy-j-carlyle 's brand of hate, not yours. but it does happen and the constant chant that IT DOESN'T IT DOESNT IT DOESN'T isn't helping anyone. and now I know.

idk what im even saying anymore lol, sorry for ranting. what i mean to say is, thank you, and i wish things were better. and i love you kind people. im happy it’s most of you.

[dearestaussiechannie]

Hey, I just read through your masterlist and loved it, could I request a fluff where like you come home to visit your parents but you bring your Korean boyfriend to meet them and stay with them for a few days? I'm thinking like a BangChan or Minho one? I feel like this could totally be a cute series too if you're up for it!

OOO!! Thank you for reading through it! I would love to write this sweet idea for you! I meant to get this out sooner but I really wanted to take my time with this!

♡ They meet your parents and family for the first time ♡

Chan- I think he’d be super nervous at first since it would be his first time meeting your parents. Since he grew up in Australia, he wouldn't have a hard time talking to them or understanding their habits. While staying with them, he’d try his best to help them with absolutely anything.

“Chris, you don't need to be nervous. They’re excited to meet you.” You say to him in a soft voice as you squeeze his hand, looking around and waiting for your parents to come get the two of you from the airport. 

The small breath he lets out is super shaky, squeezing your hand tighter. As he goes to speak, he hears a man yelling your name before you're suddenly pulling him in that direction. He can’t help but smile when he sees the excitement across your face, watching the way your hair bounces as you run to your mother and basically tackle her into a hug.

He hears the voice from before that called out your name now directed at him. “And you must be Christopher?” the man says to him, looking him up and down. Chan suddenly realises how he looks just standing there instead of speaking, making him panic a bit. “Ah yes. You can just call me Chris if you’d like. I assume you're Y/n's father.”

You hear him talking, making you look over to your father, hugging him tightly before gently patting the man's shoulder. “Be nice dad. Don’t try to scare him, we just got here and you know the flight was super long. Let’s go home!”

Fast forward to you all being at your family home and Chan can’t stop looking around at all of the photos of you and your siblings hanging up on the walls. He meets your younger siblings that are at first super iffy about him being there as they keep asking you who he is. Your older siblings introduce themselves to him before moving on. To say they're all thrown off by his accent is a complete understatement. 

He seems to get close to your mom quite quickly as he helps her with anything she needs and even goes grocery shopping with her since she doesn’t know what he likes to eat. They both come back full of smiles.

Easy to say that your family enjoys his presence and can’t wait for him to come back next time!

Minho- Just like Chan, I think he’d be pretty nervous. He’d try his best to talk to them but if he gets overwhelmed or needs your help, he’ll look at you since you know him best. I think he’d be super excited to meet your siblings since he's an only child. Meeting your pets would be his favourite part though and if you have CATS… good luck getting him away from them.

“Minho. Leave the cats alone, it’s time for dinner!” You’d have to say to him multiple times, just getting a mean glare every time. This would catch your parents off guard at first. Having them ask you why he looks at you like that. You’d have to explain that he means nothing by it, it’s just how he acts with his friends where he's from.

Watching him in the kitchen with your mother is the best part of the whole trip. Him learning how to cook your favourite meals but also teaching her how to make some of your favourite dishes that you eat in Korea. While eating, he’d watch the way you talked to everyone about how the two of you met. Seeing the way your eyes sparkle while simply talking about him makes his heart flutter.

When he's with your younger siblings, he’ll participate in their games but when he beats them, he’ll brag about it to you which just makes you laugh. But if he loses, he’s gonna be all grumpy and he may bully them a little bit, “No no I let you guys beat me since it's the first time we’ve met.”

If you have older siblings, he’ll be super respectful to them by trying to stay out of their way. It’ll take them telling him that they like him for him to interact with them. He’ll get excited if they invite him to go out with them to the store since it’ll give him a chance to get to them well.

When it’s time for you guys to leave, he’ll leave recipes for your mother and tell her to call him if she has any questions. He’s a bit shocked when she hugs him but he'll quickly hug her back.

I think he’d have lots of fun.

Changbin- He’s nothing but excited! The idea of spending an entire week with the people who raised the wonderful human he’s dating… he’s head over heels!

“Binnie! Slow down, if you charge at them you might scare my mom!” You say to him through laughs as he pulls you quickly behind him. When he finally sees them, he’ll stop running before walking over to them and bowing before saying very loudly, “Hello. My name is Changbin but you can just call me Bin! I love your child very much!”

Your parents stare at you with very puzzled looks before he stands up straight again. “Oh, bowing is a respectful way to greet people in Korea.” This makes your face turn red before placing your hand onto his back, looking between your parents. “Let’s go home.” You say before signalling towards the doors.

He’d be super happy to see that your parents prepared slippers for him to wear at their house after you told them that you don’t wear shoes inside of your shared apartment in Korea. It literally takes everything in you to get him to take them off when the two of you are going to bed.

“Changbin? Can I have your help with taking the trash out?” Your mother would ask but before the sentence was completely finished, he'd already taken the trash from her and took it outside to the bin.

Watching him interact with your father was honestly a bit alarming. Since he knows the history you and your father have, you didn’t expect him to be so talkative with him. When you ask him about it though all he can say is, “I only have to be this nice until I’ve secured your hand in marriage THEN I can say what I really wanna say to him. Your mom however, let's take her back home with us. I'm pretty sure she could fit in one of your suitcases.” All he gets back from you is a blush and a pillow chunked at him.

When it's time for the two of you to go back, he would immediately ingulf your mother into a tight hug, shake your fathers hand, say bye to everyone else before hurrying away to catch your flight. Once you’re both back home, he’s trying his best to plan another trip back to your parents. Specifically your mother.

He honestly had the best time he’s had in quite some time.

Hyunjin- I think he might be slightly overwhelmed at first but he would very much pull through. He’s excited overall though, getting super excited when your family asks him about growing up in a different country.

“Hello, I’m Hyunjin.” Is all he can say at first, too overwhelmed from the flight and having to change his sleep schedule to be able to do anything all week. 

The two of you would probably spend lots of time walking around and taking photos of him in the local popular spots. But once you and your family go out, suddenly he’s the one behind the camera. Capturing the way you look at your family, the big beautiful smile across your face making your eyes squint shut. 

In different places, he’d pose you and take multiple different photos of you. Taking some of you with the rest of your family and even trying his best to set up the camera so that you can all take a photo together since this is the first time you’ve been home since you moved away and it’s his first time meeting your family. 

He’d definitely go get them printed out before you guys have to leave. But not until the day before since he knows he’s gonna be taking more of literally everything. Watching the way he runs around with your siblings, doing silly little dances with them, even getting your mother involved by taking her hand and pulling her to slow dance with him. Seeing the way that it makes her smile and laugh makes him so happy. This makes your father take over Hyuns spot, making him walk over and take your hand. “May I have this dance, wonderful?”

Once it’s time to go home, the two of you go get the pictures printed out that he wants to give to your family, buying frames and putting little notes with each of them addressed to everyone. As you both say your goodbyes, he pulls everyone into a tight hug. He laughs while walking away backwards, waving like a mad man and yelling. “I’ll miss you all! I can’t wait to come back next time and take more pictures! Please enjoy them!”

After you guys are home safely, you look at your phone and see that your mother has hung up all the picture frames which makes him smile before taking your phone and taking her like crazy. 

I think once he gets to know them, he’d miss them so much more than you do.

Han- oh my sweet boy.. he’d have to keep his headphones on the first couple of days just so he can get used to all the loud noises of your family but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy their company. Give him some time and he’s an open book with them.

“This is Jisung everyone, but please be patient with him.” You say as you look between him and your family, offering him a smile as he holds onto your thumb as tight as he can. His whole body shakes as he bows to them before getting too self conscious and starts to wave but keeps his head down. 

When the two of you are alone in your room at your parents house, he’s curled up to you too afraid to go interact with any of your family if you’re not right there with him. It’s not that he’s afraid of them, he just doesn’t know how to talk to them. He really really wants to but he’s nervous.

Around the third day, he started talking to your family but very softly. When he has something important to say, he’ll hold your hand as tight as you’ll let him or you’d rub his back in soft circles. It really seemed to make him happy when your family would go quiet when he spoke so that they could all hear him. The support they gave him also made you really happy since you know Jisung struggles. 

When he couldn’t find you, he oddly went to your father. He said he somehow reminded him of Chan since he could be loud when he wanted to but also quiet and gentle when Jisung needed him to be. Watching Ji talk to your father full of excitement, that big toothy heart smile so bright making your father also smile. This meant the world to you since the main person he was so nervous about seeing was your father and watching the two of them bond and the way he spoke so softly to Ji.. very heartwarming. 

Watching him running around with your family after a few more days of him getting used to them, being super loud with them like he would at home with his friends, even your father was proud of him. He’s running and goofing off with them while you just sit there and watch. Some things you’ll record him to show to everyone back in Korea. 

Once it's time for the two of you to leave, he’s quite sad to go. He’ll give everyone goodbye hugs, some longer than others. Specifically his hug with your father, hugging him tighter than the others. He’ll thank him quietly for helping him open up and getting comfortable. You’ll have to basically pull him away from everyone when it's time for your plane to board.

Once back to your shared home, he’ll ask when the two of you can go back.

I feel like he’d really like to spend time with your family, making sure that he gets to know them well for next time.

Felix- He’d be nervous BUT also really excited. He’s probably been talking about meeting them for quite some time before this comes up. Spending a week with them is the PERFECT opportunity to get to know them individually. When the two of you are completely settled, he’ll be with them constantly.

“Y/n, you did tell them when we landed right?” He asks, holding your hand tightly while waiting for your bags to come around the carousel. You laugh as you look at your phone, texting your mother about waiting for your bags while she tells you where everyone is waiting.

“Lixie, have you seen-” You go to ask him only to see he's completely invested into whatever story your mother is telling him. He’s nodding his head while looking at her or whatever pictures she's showing him in the book on the table. You slowly walk over and lean against the back of his chair.

“Oh! Hi babe, whats up?” he’ll ask you like you weren’t just talking to him to help you with something. You shake your head slowly while looking at what pictures she’s showing him. “Oh I remember that day, we went to the zoo and I was more interested in squirrels than tigers!” You say while pointing at the picture, laughing softly as you look up at him.

His smile only grows bigger when he sees yours and hears your side of the story. Felix listens to your mother finish telling the story but he's really only paying attention to you now. How you look while listening to her and how you’ll chime in and your laugh. Gosh how he loves that laugh.

Since he has siblings, he’s pretty good with yours, playing games with them even when he makes him the seeker every single time. If you have older siblings, he’ll go with them to do things like go to the store when your parents send them, insisting that you stay there while he goes so that they can get to know him when you're not also around.

When it’s time to leave, like Hyunjin, he has gifts for everyone. Buying your siblings whatever they’re into, he gets your mother a new photobook since he could tell that the other one is pretty full and almost full. He gets your father the new wallet that he looked at on your family trip to the mall. You both wave goodbyes, walking away holding hands as he yells, “We’ll come back soon, I promise!”

Once you’ve made it back home, you both text your family to let them know you’ve made it back safely. Little do you know, they respond to Felix before they respond to you.

I feel like he would probably have the most fun with your family.

Seungmin- He’d be nervous and wouldn’t really know what to say since he doesn’t really know what to say. He’d depend on you like Minho, maybe a bit more though. When he needs you, I think he’d text you instead of speaking so that your family doesn’t think much of it.

“Everyone, this is my boyfriend Seungmin!” You say, jestering towards him causing him to wave very slowly as he looks at everyone. “Hi, it’s nice to meet all of you.. I’ll be in your care.” He says, glancing over at you before squeezing your hand tighter. After everyone says hello, they hurry to the car.

Your first night back home, you all go out to eat. This causes group conversations that try to include Min but he doesn’t know when to join in. Since the two of you are sitting beside each other, he looks over to you for help but sees that you're having a conversation with your mother. This suddenly makes him feel nervous, causing him to quickly grab your hand under the table and give it a few tight squeezes to get your attention. 

You look over at him, seeing that he's just staring at his lap so you now turn to face him. “Baby? What’s wrong?” You whisper before squeezing his hand back. “Just… overwhelmed.. And don’t know what to say to everyone.” He responds, voice barely making a whisper. You lean down a little further, looking into his eyes and you notice they’re red. This makes you really worried, listening into the conversation your siblings are having. 

They were talking about sports, making you light up a bit as you now see why he wanted to join them. “Oh! Seungie here used to really wanna be a professional baseball player!” you say making him look up at you before over to them. After this, they start talking to each other, letting you go back to your conversation with your mom where she tells you that you did good helping him.

As the days go by, Seungmin gets used to everyone and he starts acting like himself again. This makes you happy when you see it happening, since you know he wants to be close with them so that they’ll like him for when you guys end up coming back at later dates.

While leaving, he’ll thank them for their hospitality and for including him in the things that they did. Once you’re back home, he’ll tell you all about the conversations he had with them even if you were present for them.

SWEET! BABY! SEUNGMIN! HE’S! PRECIOUS! 

Jeongin- If you look up the definition of the word nervous, it’ll show you a picture of I.n. Sweet little guy can’t help but be nervous after you tell him he’s the first boyfriend you’ve brought home that you’ve been serious about. 

“Innie, you have nothing to worry about I swear. They already know some things about you and are really excited to meet you!” You tell him as the two of you walk out of the airport. “I get that but I’ll still be nervous. I’ve never met them before. What do I even say to them?” But before you can respond, you can hear people yelling your names.

“Y/n! Jeongin! We’re over here!” A male voice yells, making you both look around, I.n can only tell who he’s looking at by the excitement that spreads across your face. “Mom! Dad!” You yell while hurrying to them, pulling him behind you. “This is Jeongin! He’s excited to meet you guys!” you say while he waves. 

He likes to stay close to you so that he can easily chime into the conversations you’re having with them instead of starting them. You see, this is a good idea until you leave to go to the store, insisting that he stays there while you’re gone so that he can get to know them. But, he just kinda sits in silence for a while until your mother asks him what he’d like for dinner.

By the time you get back, He’s helping her cook while having a conversation with your father about what it was like when the two of you met, what your first date was like, when the two of you started dating, when you the two of you decided that you wanted to become serious so the two of you moved in together. You sneak up, kissing his cheek before walking over to the table by your father to sit and wait for the food.

After he’s spent time with your family, he’s quite sad to leave but he knows that the two of you will be back quite soon since holidays are right around the corner and he really wants to come back… maybe more than you do.

I really think he’d enjoy being with your family more than any of the other members.

[13ghostlytitties]

The Heart of a Hero is returning once more!

Today marks the 5-year anniversary of the premiere of HoaH, and is fairly close to the 3.5 year anniversary of its last official upload. Well, the wait is over. It’s time for me to resurrect this series and eventually bring it to its end (not that it left off anywhere close to ending 😉).

Since it’s been a while, I’ve put together a recap of the story so far that I’ll post at some point here. It’s not complete, I had to cut out some of the newer chapters since it just became a play-by-play synopsis that doubled the total word count, but hey, having to reread 5-10 chapters is better than rereading 150.

The tentative return date will be this time next month as I work on creating a backlog of chapters. If I need to push it back, I’ll let you know. As for other questions I’m sure some of you have, check below the cut. For those who don’t care, see you in a month, hopefully.

So, some questions I’m sure some of you are asking:

1: where have you been? And why did you stop?

I’m not gonna go into details since I’m not that kinda person, but overall, just been living life, dude. I originally began my unexpected hiatus when college was kicking my ass and expected to get right back to things, but some stuff happened, and by the time I had dealt with it, it was Spring of 2020. You can guess what stopped me up then lol. But yeah, things just got away from me and eventually, I didn’t have the time or energy to dedicate to diving headfirst back into this outside of unconnected one-off stuff like those Bang fics. There’s other facets too, of course, the biggest one being a general disinterest in the source material. I stopped reading MHA around the villains arc (though I’ve kept up a bit in terms of big stuff like the traitor reveal), so I lacked that interest to pull me back into this world. Where I left off in the story, in the middle of a complicated arc full of OCs and big fights and stuff, was also a hurdle to getting back into things. But I’m here now, I’m working on my backlog, and I’m gonna commit. If you guys are excited about my return, spread the word and lemme hear it so I can keep this motivation 🤟

2: Is A New Era coming back too?

And now for the other shoe to drop. It is not. Im very sorry, especially to those whose OCs I included, but it’s just not feasible. Every time I considered it or tried it, the whole return to the main story was stopped up with it. Anyone who’s interested in continuing it themselves in some way shape or form, you have my permission in terms of the general idea, the OC kids I came up with, the places that canon characters are in it, etc. As for other people’s OCs, I’d check with their creators. One again, very sorry, but it’s just not doable.

3: What will this return look like? How often are chapters gonna drop?

Still working out the specifics, but my idea for now is to drop 2 chapters a week. If I need to go on hiatus, I’ll announce as much and plan the placement of it much better so that I don’t stop in the middle of an arc. That way, the hiatus will only be a month instead of years lol. The schedule may change over time, but I’ll keep everyone informed as I move ahead with it

4: a lot has happened in the manga and anime and movies since you stopped. Will these things be worked into the series?

Nope. I stopped reading and probably won’t start again until it’s over and done with. More than that, I’ve been sitting on these plans for a couple years now and don’t feel like changing them much. Besides, this story has had a long, rich history of shitting in the soup of the canon story, so I’ll just continue doing my own thing

5: are you still as epic and cool and funny as in the past?

Don’t ask questions you already know the answers to. I never was 😎

[angeygirl]

Dave Miller X reader: In which Dave and the author both embarrass themselves (Bad Ending [for you, at least. Dave's having a great time])

I promised I would write the Bad Ending to This One-shot Here if anyone asked me about it. Well, I got the request from @pudimbot to finish it like 3 weeks ago and I'm sorry it took so long I kept forgetting about it :(

Anyway, here you go, have fun walking right into danger :P

(Context is in the original fic since this is just a change to the ending)

 As you pack up your things to leave, Dave slides a note over to you and shuffles off. He hangs by the doorway a moment, watching to see if you’ll read it and then scurries away.

You unfold the piece of paper.

‘meet me outside freddy’s at 7’

Wait... what? Was that why he’d been so awkward the last few days? There’s no way this guy had feelings for you, right? Ok, maybe that was a bit presumptuous. Asking to meet up could really mean anything.

You feel a gaze on the back of your neck and realize Dave is still behind you. You shove the note in your pocket and head home. Once there you do some chores, make yourself dinner and settle down to watch TV. It’s almost seven when you remember the note in your pocket. You take it out and reread it.

“Maybe I’m overthinking...” Dave did seem pretty harmless. It was kinda hard to be intimidated by a guy who has days where he’s scared of his own shadow. Against your better judgment, you head back to the pizzeria.

It’s getting dark out by the time you arrive. As you pull into the parking space you spot a tall, skinny someone sneaking around the side.

“Hey Dave.” You call.

The figure perks up and scuttles over to you. “You came.” He says, stepping into the light of a street lamp. He peeks at the inside of your car. “And alone. Good.” He chuckles nervously and his voice rises in pitch. “I was, well, I was gonna tell you to come alone but uh... glad to see you already were doing that.”

“Yeah.” That wasn’t weird or anything. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Hmm? Oh, I don’t know. I haven't been on a date in...” He counts on his fingers and quickly hides them behind his back. “A while... heh, a bit of a long while.”

“A...a date?”

“Well, yes? I mean clearly you have feelings for me, saying I rescued you, sharing your lunch, you know.”

“That was just being nice.”

Dave’s eyes go wide with disappointment. “What?” He shakes himself. “Never mind that. Where do you work? Or, um, what do you do for a living? That’s less creepy, right?”

“I work at Freddy’s, Dave. Same as you.”

“Woah, uh... really?” He tugs at his collar. “Th-that’s crazy me too.”

“We only know each other because we’re co-workers.”

Dave gives another nervous chuckle. “Yeah... yeah I know. Uh I used to be a mechanic, actually and before that I slept under a bridge.”

“You what?”

“Yeah everyone assumes I’m either crazy or on drugs, well, I don’t have money for drugs or a psychologist so, you know!” He throws his hands up in an anxious shrug.

You nod unsteadily. “Right...”

He scuffs the ground with his shoe and stares at the sidewalk. His eyes dart around, as if he's intensely studying the cracks in the pavement. “You, uhh, want to come inside?”

You shrug. “Ok.”

Dave leads you in via the side door and closes it behind you. It’s too dark to see anything back here. You can hear Dave tripping on himself. “Sorry, sorry. Just looking for the light switch.”

He hums nervously to himself while you stand in total darkness. Your eyes slowly adjust, but it’s so cluttered backstage that you still can’t make much out. Your nose wrinkles as a nasty smell comes up behind you. You don’t need to feel the breath on your neck to figure out who it is. But before you can scoot out of Dave’s way, a pair of bony hands clap over your face.

It’s hard to tell what happened the next few minutes, but by the time your head clears, you’ve been tied to a chair with duct tape on your wrists. Dave leans on a nearby table, grinning at you. It’s not an evil grin, more of a shy, dorky pride. What?

“Sorry about that.” He says sheepishly. “I just got nervous, you know? Not really used to this. Anyway, where were we?”

“Wh-wha?”

“Hmm? Oh I just need to feel like I’m in total control of a situation in order to feel safe.” He giggles shyly before he hops up on the table and gently kicks his legs over the edge. “So, tell me a little about yourself.”

“Is... is this an interrogation?”

He tilts his head. “What? No! It’s a date! I mean, here we are, alone together, talking, spending time together. There’s probably leftover food here if that would be better for you.”

“Wait... did you kidnap me?!”

He waves his hands defensively. “Oh no, no, no! Trust me, I know a thing or two about kidnapping and I can tell you this is not that. Well, ok, this is kinda like that I can see why you’d think that, but I’ll let you go once the date is over!”

You're in disbelief.

"Trust me, trust me. You're not in any danger, not as long as we're both having a good time. You, uhh... want some pizza? There's leftovers in he kitchen." He hops down from the table and scurries off like an anxious host trying to make you happy and not like you're tied to a chair, stuck with him whether you want to be or not.

A few minuets later, Dave comes back with a leftover pizza and some lemonade. He cuts one of your hands free and tapes the other to the leg of the chair. "See? This is a proper date. I mean, that's what teenagers do, right? Oh! That's it. We're just a pair of silly teenage hoodlums trespassing and stealing and not treading on work time. Isn't that more fun?"

"You think teenagers trespass and steal as a fun date idea?"

"I mean... yeah? I did it as a kid... ok I was actually thirteen when I committed my first arson, but no one ever caught me!"

You blink slowly. "You committed arson while on a date?"

"Huh?" He tilts his head at you. "Oh, no I never went on any dates as a teenager. All the girls at my school thought I was too ugly. Which, well," He glances at his dishevelled uniform that he's probably been sleeping in for a week. "I don't blame them. Cleaned up a bit in uni but then I had a... well, a workplace accident and lost my job and then I started sleeping under a bridge for a few months and then became a mechanic and then got hired here." He grins like just told an embarrassing secret.

He roughly clears his throat and sits on the table again. "So, uh, eat your pizza and why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

So, you’ve just gotta survive ‘date night’ and you’ll be fine. Hopefully.

[torchturtle]

Okay, so I’ve been reading Danny Phantom and DC crossovers a lot recently and it gave me the idea of: what if the Justice League met Phantom in the Ghost Zone? Like they actually meet him because they got trapped in the GZ and Phantom’s like “Hey, y'all ain’t dead” and helps them home.

They weren’t exactly sure how they ended up there. One moment all the founders were fighting crime together, like they do sometimes, and the next moment acid green portals opened up underneath them and swallowed them whole. Now, here they are. A sky of green surrounded them as they stood on floating purple rocks. With no way home.

To be completely honest, I just started getting into DC stuff. My knowledge right now is what I’ve read in comics (which isn’t a lot, and all Batman), read on my dashboard, and ThePandaRedd’s videos. Along with what I’ve been able to piece together from reading these crossovers. I don’t know crud.

But I want a fic where the JL thinks Phantom is a small criminal at first. Not as in they look at reports of him kidnapping the mayor or robbing that bank, no. I want them to find out that he’s wanted by Walker.

Like okay, the JL somehow ends up in the Ghost Zone with no way out, their communicators aren’t working, stuff just ain’t working in general cause ectoplasm, and ghost noise. IDK. And they can easily travel because gravity doesn’t really exist there, the problem is that they have no idea where they are or how to get home. They definitely run into some ghosts at a point and it becomes clear to them that a lot of them aren’t friendly or want to hang out with unknown living people. Since like the ghosts that’d probably recognize the JL don’t travel through dangerous parts of the GZ.

You can tell I didn’t put a ton of thought into this, I only have one scene in my head that I really want. You can even replace the JL with like anyone, I just chose them because idk. But anyway this is where Danny comes in, he sees them and is like “That’s the JL!” and goes over to see what’s up.

“So you’ll be able to help us get back to Earth?”

“Oh yeah, it’s no problem! I go there all the time!”

And then he realizes that leading the JL out of his parents’ portal might be a problem, especially since he doesn’t know if his parents are home. But he remembers that his friend Wulf can make portals and be totally willing to help. If only Danny knew when to hold his tongue.

“My friend can make portals. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen him, but it’s been pretty easy to do a prison break if he’s back there.”

“Um… what.”

During the trip to the prison to see if his friend is actually there, the JL are discussing with themselves if helping with a prison break is worth going home. Phantom totally forgot since he’s in the GZ that the JL doesn't know that breaking out of Walker’s prison is totally fine and reasonable, and that Walker’s rules are totally unfair. Some members are hoping that the friend is in prison for a mostly harmless crime, while all of them are also thinking that’s not the case, why are prison breaks mentioned so loosely.

Everyone’s asking questions like:

“Is there someone else that can make portals?” - “well, yeah, but they probably won’t help”

“Why’s your friend in prison..?” - “I don’t know. I never really asked. Walker’s rules are so dumb.” (They all think about their rogue galleries, while Danny’s thinking about his first offense)

“And Walker is…” - “Ah, the warden, a total jerk. That’s against the rules. Ugh.”

“So… you’ve done prison breaks before?” - “Yeah, it’s become laughably easy to escape.”

“That means you’ve been to prison?” - “Hm? Oh yeah, and if you ask me 1000 years is way too long.” omg what did he do

“You’re over 1000?” - “What? No? I’m 14? Where’d you get that idea?” oh jeez, he broke out of prison

So Danny isn’t really paying attention to his answers, and the JL are just following him going this seemingly sweet child is supposed to be in prison. He’s been too nice for prison, what the heck did he do???

Eventually enough was enough and Batman is the one to ask, “What did you do to get that sentence?”

“Oh, um.. What word did he use… oh yeah, contraband.” And everyone else sighs internally because okay, so this child has done something wrong, but not terribly awful. But this also brings the question of why did he get 1000 years for contraband?

“That’s just Walker for you.” And now everyone is more calm and okay with breaking this kid’s friend out of prison, because now it sounds like this warden is corrupt.

Then the rest of the journey is them getting to know Phantom more and feeling more confident that this child is a well meaning lad. Along with getting knowledge about the world they’ve found themselves in. They finally meet Walker and they just feel like a weight is lifted off their shoulders cause this guy does in fact have dumb rules and is a jerk like Phantom said.

Wulf’s portal shoots them all out in like Metropolis, and then Phantom waves goodbye and heads to his parents’ portal. Batman immediately looks into anything mentioning ghosts, the Ghost Zone, or Phantom since he’s mentioned going to Earth a lot. They are surprised to discover he’s a small hero that fights other ghosts.

They are also suspicious about how many ghosts can easily make their way into Amity Park and wonder if Phantom actually just used them to get his friend out of prison.

[sad-brunnettee]

Heyy I was thinking with my big adhd brain if you write a story with Eddie and Latina reader ; who has her own band and Eddie goes to see her sing and fall in love.

I love the way you think

Eddie Munson x latina! singer! reader

—

Eddie had just finished getting dressed and was about to grab the keys to his van when the phone rang. He was debating on letting it ring but reluctantly walked over to it. Just as he did, the ringing stopped. He was glad because it meant he won’t be late for the practice before the show starts.

The hideout is the place where they perform on Tuesdays and aside from them having roughly five drunks hearing them play. It is something they enjoy doing. It makes them feel free and for once not total outcasts. Even if it sounds absurd, they really hope that one day a music producer will hear about them and give them the opportunity to perform to an actual audience.

Just as he was heading for the door, the phone ringed again. This time he didn’t bother hiding his frustration even if he was alone. Stomping over to the phone he picked it up.

“Hello?” He answered while rolling his eyes.

“Hey Eddie, it’s me Gareth… I-I uh, have bad news.” Gareth spoke from the other side of the phone.

“What’s goin on?” He lifted up his left arm and placed it on the wall next to the phone.

Gareth was debating over telling the ugly truth over the phone or waiting for him to arrive.

“It’s about our gig, just head down when you can.” Was all he said as he hung up, but before he did he heard the voices of Jeff and the other band member. They almost sounded, mad, but Eddie couldn’t think of a reason for their bickering.

Rushing over to the door he walked out and ran to the van. His door wasn’t fully closed when he turned on the engine and began to drive. He attempted to stay on the speed limit but there were times where he would glance down and notice that he was going a little bit over the 40 mark.

Once he arrived he saw how Gareth, Jeff and their other band member were putting their instruments back in the truck. Still, Eddie got out with his guitar and headed over to them with an agitated look on his face.

“Whoa whoa, what’s going on?” He asked as he extended his arms while still clutching onto his guitar.

At hearing his voice, the three standing in front of him turned to face him. They all shared an exchange of look before ultimately Jeff took a step forward.

“Our gig got canceled, the owner decided to let another band play.” As he said that everyone prepared themselves for some screaming from Eddie. He has always voiced his thoughts and wasn’t afraid to raise his voice either.

After a few seconds of silence he began to yell questions “what band?” “Why were we not informed about this?” “What are we supposed to do now?”.

Once he let out all of his anger he sat on the curb and got out a cigarette that may or may not had fallen a couple of times.

“Well gentleman…” he started as he flicked his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it, “I don’t know about you three but I’m checking them out.” With that he walked in, guitar now placed on his back.

He held a look of determination as he walked over to a booth and placed his guitar on the table and then sat down. As he drummed his fingers on the table in anxious he looked around to try and decipher who the band was. The instruments were already placed on the stage, all that was missing were the members.

No sooner later did the owner appear on stage and walked over to the microphone. “Today we have a new band playing for us, they still don’t have a stage name…” Eddie scoffed. “Please welcome y/n and her band.” He finished off with a small smile and stepped away in order to give them room to walk on the small stage.

“Hi everyone, we hope you enjoy this cover of ‘a quién le importa’.” As you said that, you positioned yourself and heard your guitarist count softly enough for the four of you to hear before starting to play.

As much as Eddie hated to admit it, the music was starting to get to him aside from not hearing the lyrics yet.

While you waited for your cue, you let your body move to the rhythm. Aside from there not being many people in the audience, you were too afraid to look up.

As you started to sing Eddie felt his mouth agape, he never thought you would sound that good. His eyes were wide and filled with adoration, he couldn’t help but look at your every step. Just taking everything in, whatever thoughts he had before hearing you sing went out the window.

He didn’t think his own members would show up, with a clear of his throat. He attempted to keep his face neutral, yet his eyes never left you. The way your body moved based on what you sang it all fit perfectly.

It wasn’t until the instrumental bridge that you got the courage to face your audience. It made you feel better to know that aside from having a live audience, they were all too drunk to even know what was going on. Or do you thought, as you looked to your left you saw four guys around your age aware of your performance. Three of them seemed almost annoyed and it made you wonder if they were the band that was supposed to play.

As your eyes met those of a long curly headed who blushed as he realized he got caught staring. You offered him a smile that showed your dimples and you saw him give you a shy smile.

Once the song came to an end you received scattered applauses but you could hear the long curly headed guy clap the loudest. He turned to his friends and gave them all a pointed look and move of his head signaling towards you, to which they responded with short claps.

“Thank you.” Your soft voice sounded from the microphone. You were the first to walk away from the stage and head over to a table nearby and grab your water bottle. As you did that, you couldn’t but feel some sadness. You thought that maybe the group of guys won’t talk to you aside from sharing a moment with one of them. Yet you were wrong, you heard someone clear their throat in order to get your attention.

“Uh hi.” Said the guy from earlier and offered you a toothy grin while waving his arm.

“Hi” you said as you set down your bottle and turned to face him.

“I just, wanted to come over and say you were awesome…you have a lovely voice.” He said the last part quiet but you were able to hear it.

Trying to hide your blush you avoided his gaze “thanks.” You tried to not sound awkward but you couldn’t help it. “Correct me if I’m wrong but…are you, part of the band that was supposed to play?” You asked timidly, afraid of what his response would be.

“Yeah, my band and I…” he pointed over his shoulder to the other three guys that were still sitting on the booth. “We always play here.” No matter how mad he tried to be, he felt himself getting lost in your eyes.

“I’m so sorry, I-we, didn’t kno-.” You began to apologize.

“No, no it’s fine really. Today the audience seemed more alive than when we play.” He half-joked.

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “What kind of music do you guys play?”

“Anything metal or rock, something to make Hawkins hate us.” He said.

“Oh, like Café Tacvda?” You asked.

He only offered you a confused look on his face as he furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to think of who you were talking about.

“Los Prisioneros…hombres g…?” You tried once more naming popular bands but upon seeing his confused look you couldn’t help but feel your face go red. “Sorry it’s just…you said you play metal and rock and, well. They play that music too and, gosh sorry. You have no idea who I’m talking about.”

He chuckled softly “I don’t but if they’re anything like Iron Maiden, or AC/DC… then yeah, we play that music.”

There was a brief silence between the two of you. Not knowing what to say and not sound too straightforward. The words kept on getting stuck in your throat and you could do was fidget with your fingers.

“You know, we should hang out sometime…if you want of course.” He attempted to make it sound as something casual when in reality he felt butterflies in his stomach.

“Yeah, that sounds great.” You responded.

With a snap of his fingers he patted down the pockets of his jeans, in search of a pen. Once he found one he grabbed a napkin and wrote his phone number as well as his name.

Handing it to you he said, “my name is Eddie by the way.”

You grabbed it and felt a smile growing on your face. “Okay, Eddie, I’ll call you later.” You folded it neatly and placed it in your pocket. As much as you wanted to keep talking with him, you had to help your band members.

With a small wave of your hand you walked away but you could still feel Eddie’s eyes on you. Causing a small blush to form on your face again, you couldn’t wait to get home and call him.

🏷: @hellomyweirdos @lubsana @satsuri3su @n39ro-chann @kenzi-woycehoski

[timbertumbr]

Zoo Date (LMK X Reader)

Redson-

You had finally convinced Redson to go to the zoo with you. He was somewhat amused when looking at the various animals, that was until you got to the reptile house where they were holding a special event.

They brought out lots of safe reptiles of all kinds, from turtles to lizards to snakes, all being carefully monitored by the loving staff since some people tend to handle the reptiles not so kindly. They even had a place to wash your hands with soap and water so if you wanted to pet a snake after a bit, you could without hurting the bab!

"Awww, Redson! Look at all the boop noodles!" You coo as you extend a hand towards a snake. It flicks its tongue a few times before headbutting your hand which makes you so happy. 

Redson smiled, happy to see you were having fun while he looked at the various other reptiles within their enclosures that weren't so safe to people, like snapping turtles, poisonous snakes and a komodo dragon. (He low key wanted to pet the komodo dragon.)

While you were distracted by the reptiles along with everyone else, a few reptiles saw Redson and saw that he produced the most heat in the entire room. They not so sneakily moved to him, a snake and lizard climbing his legs while a turtle slowly made their way over to him.

He looked down at the animals in confusion, why were they climbing on him? A staff member soon noticed the sneaky reptiles and informed everyone to watch their step as they made their way towards Redson while holding a tiny snake.

"I'm so sorry about them, I have no idea why-" The tiny snake extends itself from the staff's hand and flicks its tongue at him before moving toward him. He extends a hand and lets the snake curl around his hand. 

"Its fine. Besides, I think I know why they like me so much," Redson responds, turning his hand as the snake slithered along it. The staff blinks and realizes how warm the room is when standing by Redson. Oooooooh-

"Say, do you think you can help with the reptiles today? We'll make sure they don't hurt you and you'll be compensated for your help," Redson thinks it over while the snake made eye contact with him and flicked its tounge. 

"Fine, but I don't need compensation," They blink surprised.

"A-Are you sure? I mean-" 

"I'm positive, besides, I have something else in mind," The staff slowly blinks before leading him back to the table, Redson scooping up the turtle that made it halfway towards him along the way. 

_________________

You had gotten distracted that you could buy food and feed the reptiles so you bought a bunch of food so the majorty of the reptiles could be fed. 

On your way back to the reptiles, you saw a small crowd gather and heard a familiar laugh. When you got closer, you saw Redson covered in snakes with a few lizards, he was still holding the turtle in his arms while several staff stood nearby just in case, it's not everyday they find someone willing to hold this many reptiles at once. 

"FEAR ME, REDSON, THE SON OF THE DEMON BULL KING AND NOW KING OF THE REPTILES! HAHAHAHA!" You blink before laughing your butt off. You approach Redson still giggling. 

"Hey, walking heater, or should I call you king of the reptiles?" You ask with a little bow, placing the food on the table next to you. Redson chuckles. 

"Both apply I suppose, considering they like me so much," He grabs a cup of turtle food after making sure it was food for that reptile and starts feeding the reptile. 

Kids of various ages approached you two, asking if they could feed the reptiles. You happily agreed, asking what reptile they wanted to feed and giving them the appropriate container to the kids while Redson gently moved his body so the reptiles could eat from the containers and so the kids could see the reptiles more clearly. 

A staff nearby grabbed a clipboard and started writing which reptile got fed and which one's didn't. You and Redson glanced at one another and smiled lovingly. This was a day to remember.

Macaque-

He was actually the one to bring you to the zoo after you mentioned how much you loved animals. So he asked for you to wear a blindfold while he brought you to your surprise, you agreed. 

"Are we there yet?" You ask teasingly, Macaque chuckles. 

"Almost," He brings you to the gate of the zoo and stands in front of you, gently taking the blindfold off. 

"Tada~" He makes jazz hands while your eyes adjusted to the sudden light. You gasped lightly when you saw the entrance to the zoo. Macaque smirked slyly, leaning over to you.

"So…? Do you like your surprise?" 

"Like it? I adore it!" You squeal, giving Macaque a hug as a thank you. He smiles and gently pats your head. 

"I knew you would, now come on! The animals aren't going to look at themselves. Well, maybe they are, depends on if they have a mirror or not," You laugh and follow the silly monkey into the zoo. 

You looked at various enclosures, especially your favorite animals while Macaque followed with a soft smile, glad to see you were having fun. 

You eventually make it to the giftshop where you both goofed around. Macaque approached you with a T-rex grabby hand and talked with a silly voice while moving the T-rex mouth.

"Well, well! If it isn't Y/N! I can't believe I'm meeting such a huge celebrity!" You laugh and shake your head amused. 

"Mac, I'm not a celebrity," He smirks and uses his real voice, putting the grabby hand back.

"I know, but in my eyes, you're the star to my world," You flush and giggle.

"You mean the sun?" Macaque shrugs.

"Eh, potato, potahto," He says before looking around the giftshop once again. You smile and do the same, gasping lightly when you saw a monkey plushie that looked just like Macaque. You gently pick it up and examine it, its really soft. 

With a goofy grin on your face, you approach the cash register to pay for it. Macaque noticed this and quickly grabbed some candy before approaching you and giving the cashier the right amount of cash before it even popped up on the screen. You look to Macaque and pout.

"What? This day is for you, starlight, so I'm paying," You huff.

"Fine, but next time I'm paying!" Macaque chuckles.

"Of course," The cashier hands you your bag of stuff, thanking them you leave the gift shop and out of the zoo. Macaque gently takes the bag with his tail.

"Yoink," You laugh as he moves the bag to his side so he can find the candy he got for you (and some for him but shh) when he feels the fuzzy plushie, how didn't he notice this? He gently pulls out the plush and looks at it in confusion.

"Uh, starlight, you do realize you have the real deal right?" You smile gently.

"I know, but I wanted something that reminded me of you just in case you get busy," Macaque blushes lightly before chuckling.

"You realize I can just give you a shadow clone right?" You flush from embarrassment.

"I uh… totally forgot you could do that," Macaque laughs. 

"How could you forget? Shadows are literally my whole thing!" He says amused, you pout, gently taking the plushie and hugging it. You weren't mad, you just wanted to hug the plushie. His laughter dies down and he gives you a gentle smile before patting your head.

"But hey, I appreciate the thought," You smile at him.

"Can we cuddle when we get home?" 

"Of course! Anything for you, starlight."

Want to Request? Please read this before doing so!

[tarosin]

the great adventures of y/n tommy tubbo jack and ranboo - how y/n made friends with everyone

this is an extra to the great adventures series

requested: yes/no

warnings: cursing

tommy

you were actually friends with tommy when he was streaming to a few viewers, and you even watched as his channel grew. eventually he asked you to mod for him, as he knew he could trust you and because had experience being a twitch mod. he was also the reason you began streaming. as for how you met, you were in the same classes as him in highschool, and since you were the ‘quiet’ person in the class, they sat tommy next to you. honestly, you hated him when you first met him and the feeling was mutual. you didn’t want to sit next to the rather loud teenager and he had no one to talk to anymore as his friends were on the other side of the room.

“do you ever talk?”

“heh?”

“i said do you ever talk...do you always do that”

“do what”

“that fucking HeH.”

“are you mocking me simons?”

“noooo why would i do that...”

“it’s y/n.”

“right, yeah, yeah, i totally knew that.”

“great now please leave me alone i’m trying to work.”

“loser.”

“the fuck did you just say?”

“nothing.”

it was that moment tommy decided he was going to make you just like him, and a few years later that’s exactly what he did. by year 11 you and tommy had grown extremely close. the last day of school arrived a lot earlier than expected, everyone was extremely stressed, no one knew what to expect or what was going to happen. you found yourself hanging around with tommy a lot more as you had no idea if you would both be going to the same college, in september you received a text message that made your night:

tommy: college sent out emails telling you if you were accepted go check

*2 minutes later*

tommy: well?

y/n: i got accepted

tommy: me too

y/n: call me right now

tommy: i’m about to stream..have you ever considered streaming?

y/n: absolutely not

tommy: make an account and stream after me i’ll raid you..make me mod you know how people can be

once college started up, you were slightly nervous the two of you would drift away from each other. however this was far from the case, although you both did different subjects and he was only in on wednesdays, the pair of you would hang out together a lot more. he would be in your streams and vice versa, you would either be in his tiktoks, or you would be the one filming them.

“y/n make a tiktok we can be mutuals.”

“please god no.”

you spent so much time at his house either talking about random things, playing whatever game you could find, or streaming. he dragged you to every meet up he went on, allowing you to meet people such as niki, phil, and, wilbur. you didn’t know this, but he would constantly bring you up in conversations with dream, which eventually lead to you joining the smp in october where you would later be able to meet the likes of jack, technoblade and jschlatt. the only person you didn’t seem to see on the server was his other friend tubbo.

ranboo

you had become friends with scott after being his first twitch mod and when he noticed you started streaming, he was extremely supportive, always raiding your stream once he ended his. today you found yourself bickering with scott because he wouldn’t let you in mcc despite the fact you were ‘the best minecraft player.’

“y/n, i watched you die in minecraft 7 times last night within 5 minutes.”

“oh i’m sorry mr perfect, let me in mcc.”

“no.”

“fine i’ll make my own.”

and that’s exactly what you did..well you tried your best.

you started your stream as soon as scott ended and had him call you on discord after explaining to your chat what you were about to do.

“scott final chance let me in mcc, i’ll settle for access to the practice server.”

“fine.”

“REALLY?!”

“absolutely not!”

“fuck you, ill be in it one day!”

you left the call telling chat you didn’t need that negative energy in your life.

you really have scott to thank for you making friends with ranboo, scott made a tweet explaining what you were doing on stream which caught ranboos eye.

Smajor1995: after not making it into mcc again my good friend @y/n has decided to take it upon themselves to make their own on stream!! ill also be in the stream (if they answer my calls) *twitch link*

ranboo joined your stream and was instantly met with you yelling at scott (again) to let you in mcc.

“IM YOUR TWITCH MOD!”

“i will ban you from mcc!”

“you don’t have the nerve... so he left the call this is bullshit watch me land this water bucket clutch down this ravine so we can find axolotls and build an army.”

*you died*

you pulled your hood over your face before sinking down your chair taking a deep breath.

“FUCK!”

you calmly got back up and looked into your camera.

“i was so close, so very close.. HEY CHAT SCOTT SENT ME A LINK TO THE SERVER!”

a few minutes later you were able to get onto the server, only to be kicked less than a minute later. the reason you were banned being ‘i watched you fail the water bucket clutch down a ravine.’

you continued your build on your server and just spent the rest of the stream talking about anything that crossed your mind, that was until you decided to copy ace race. once finished, you looked into your camera and pulled your microphone closer to you.

“so this is race ace, so scott doesn’t sue me, and basically it’s going to be this course, but i’m going to change a random section practice it every day, not tell anyone it changed. of course i’m going to tell my team we have to win, oh fuck i forgot scott was watching my stream..it’s okay he didn’t hear me he’s too busy planning how he can rig the next mcc.”

ranboo found himself enjoying your content and even noticed you in his chat multiple times.

“just a minute chat i’m just sending an important dm to my mods.”

that’s when you noticed chat paused for a minute after you sent a message, it confused you for a minute before realising ranboo made you a vip on his channel and you decided to do the same for him on your channel, from there you added each other on discord. the pair of you made friends extremely quickly, you were constantly part of his streams as you would call him on discord not realising that he was streaming.

“hi y/n, by the way i’m streaming”

“i just wanted to ask if you knew how to break into a house?”

“....why”

“i locked myself out by accident and my parents are asleep come help me.”

“you are in the uk.”

“okay? catch a flight.”

chat honestly loved you and your friendship with ranboo. the pair of you only met a few weeks ago and you were already acting as though you had known each other for years.

jack

you and jack met for the first time on the smp, which would have been fine, however you met during lore and your characters weren’t exactly the best of friends. once lore had ended, everyone said their goodbyes and left the call. a few moments later you received a discord message from jack asking if you were available to call any time soon. since you were back in lockdown, you had plenty of free time. you arranged a time and date a few days later you called jack, where you had your first proper interaction out of character.

“hello jack!!”

“oh hi y/n i just thought it may be a good idea to get to know each other, well you know considering we’re both on the dream smp.”

“yeah, yeah, i understand what you mean.”

the pair of you ended up getting along with each other, it was slightly awkward for the first 5 minutes of the call, but that was expected since you hadn’t really met jack before and were anxious to call him. however, after that the conversation started to flow and you found out the pair of you had a lot in common making it easy to come up with things to talk about. it ended up feeling as though you were catching up with a friend you hadn’t spoken to for a while.

“has anyone told you your accent is really strong.”

“so is yours, y/n, what the fuck is that supposed to mean.”

“it means your accent is strong, duh.”

jack asked if you’d like to stay in call and join him on the smp whilst he streamed, and you gladly accepted the offer as you really didn’t want to do your college work, and you were enjoying your time with him. a few minutes into the stream jack had killed you several times.

“JACK STOP KILLING ME!”

rather than answering you he just sat laughing. he then went on to attempt to mute him microphone, he failed. however he didn’t realise this, so you sat listening to his plan on how he was going to kill you again. this time you were prepared, you sent a message to tommy telling him to log on along with your location. few minutes later tommy was by your side and helped you kill jack several times for revenge.

“Y/N...TOMMY!!”

“you didn’t mute your mic, so i told tommy you were bullying me.”

“im gonna go...BYE JACK, BYE Y/N, ILL SEE YOU SOON!”

“i can’t believe you.”

“hey you’re the one who didn’t turn your mic off.”

“how did you know?”

“i had your stream on my other monitor.”

“ayeee you watch my streams?”

“...i’ve been a sub for 4 months.”

the two of you stayed chatting and playing for another hour. the pair of you were already so close and you had only met each other the other day. this was just the start of your friendship, soon enough you were in a laugh and the stream ends challenge on his stream, however due to lockdown rules this was done over discord leading to you accidentally leaving the call several times.

“and they’re gone again!”

*4 minutes later*

“SORRY JACK IM BACK!”

“stop leaving y/n!”

“oh i’m sorry, let me just go yell at my wifi to stop cutting out!”

a few seconds later you could be heard faintly in the background screaming at your wifi as it would continue to buffer. as soon as restrictions were over one of the first things you decided to do was go to jacks and stream a laugh you lose where there was a punishment if you were responsible for losing the last heart. however everything was apparently hilarious in person as you would constantly laugh, meaning you were responsible for losing the last heart.

“y/n give me your phone.”

“no.”

“you lost let me tweet from your account”

“fine..”

soon enough your fans and friends with your notifications on received this twitter notification

“y/n: jack is so cool and funny he is also really tall i am not”

tubbo

tubbo was actually the last person you met and made friends with, your community were convinced for some reason that you both didn’t like each other and that’s why the pair of you didn’t talk to each other. this was far from the case you were both waiting for the right time, tubbo was an extremely busy teenager and you didn’t want to interrupt him, and tubbo knew you were currently in a stressful position since you had recently joined the dream smp, also you were still meeting people so he didn’t want to stress you out. this doesn’t mean he didn’t want to be your friend, he actually asked tommy since he had been your friend for at least 4 years what would be the best way of getting to know you.

“mate they hated me when we first met, just talk to them or something. you could have met them the last time i went up to visit you, but they ended up not feeling too good and went back to the hotel room.”

“when are you next coming up?”

“how about next week, and i’ll bring y/n, i really don’t understand why you’re nervous tubbo, it’s y/n they wouldn’t hurt a fly..well hmm.”

“see you next week then!”

a week later tommy dragged you to the train station.

“uh tommy where are we going?”

“...on a train.”

“no way, really? oh my god!”

a few hours later you finally got off the train.

“ill go with my dad to check into the hotel room, do you want to come with us or?”

“i think i’ll go for a walk and stretch my legs.”

“right okay, meet you at the beach later”

you spent a few minutes walking around the beach picking up any rocks and shells that caught your eye, little did you know it would result in you meeting tubbo. once you finished putting your new collection in your pockets you noticed a small crowd of people walk up to someone asking for pictures assuming it was tommy you walked over to the boy, it wasn’t tommy it was in fact tubbo. at first you stayed silent not wanting to really cause attention to yourself. you only spoke up when some people started to make inappropriate comments towards him.

“oh sorry to be a pain guys me and tubbo have plans with tommy in a few minutes, we should go so we’re not late. bye guys.”

you smiled and waved as they walked away. you looked over to tubbo, you could tell he was still pretty anxious about what just happened and honestly if you was in his position, you would react the same way.

“we should probably move from here incase they come back and see you’re still here, are you okay?”

“im feeling better now it’s over..thank you”

“oh it’s no problem i’m, y/n btw.”

“wait you and tommy were still meant to be on the train.”

“the train was actually on time, tommy went to check into the hotel i wanted to stretch my legs, i also wanted to collect some rocks.”

“did you collect enough or did you want more?”

“im not going to say no if you wanna go collect some with me.”

the pair of you walked around keeping each other close incase the people from before returned. half an hour later, the pair of you sat on a bench close to the beach so you could show tubbo everything you decided to pick up, he ended up keeping a rock he liked to have as a memory. tubbo wrapped an arm around you as it was getting cold whilst you watched the sunset.

“tubbo i think tommy forgot about me.”

“you can spend the night at mine, i’ll send him a message to let him know.”

“are you sure?”

“of course!”

“this has to be the most unsafe thing either of us will ever do, we hardly know each other and now i’m staying at yours.”

tommy sent you a message explaining that he didn’t forget, there was a problem at the other hotel and they had to go find another one, but you’ll be fine to stay at tubbos for the night. the pair of you spent the entire night learning as much as you can about the other person. it had only been an evening but you already knew the pair of you would be great friends.

taglist:

@dumb-chaotic-bi-energy @uselesssapphickitten @l0ver0fj0y @etheriaaly @xx-smiley-xx @hawarun @kylobensgirl @cawcaw-pretty-thing @reverse-iak @renleicrashed @c1loudee