#also the baby is either maxs mom or dad you decide

[te4k3ttle]

Just a glimpse into my dark reality

Saw these two on my desktop next to eachother and it was funny to me how similar these look to max

[byunpum]

I can be a better father | Part 2 | Songcord

Pair: Tsu'tey x Child y/n x Child spider

Warning: none, cute moments.

Note: Here is this second part, this request I wanted to make as part of this mini-series. I do not expect that you will like tsu'tey as the reader's father so much. And I have also received a lot of requests about many ideas, for more parts. So wait for them<3

Request: (anonymous) Tsu'tey being a dad to Spider and reader, how would he be when he realized that human children never have a songcord? And how would their songcourd be when Tsu'tey is making them?

+Language: yawntutsyip (darling) sempu(dad) sempul(father)

Avatar masterlist | Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3

Tsu'tey's life as a single father was on the verge of chaos, and a life of pleasure. It had been a year since he adopted his babies. He loved his new life, he had two beautiful children who loved him with all their heartsr. But integrating his children was a struggle. They were human children, in a completely na'vi clan. And even though Max had offered to raise his children in the lab, Tsu'tey refused. Tsu'tey refused, he wanted them to be real omaticaya children. From head to toe. So he decided that his children would enter the children's group of his clan. In this group, the children took lesions, and learned about survival. The children were guided by a guide, a guide who was his friend, so he felt safe to let them.

"They'll be fine, don't worry," says neytiri, touching his friend's shoulder. Neytiri had also left her children, who were Y/N's siblings. the children run to where their sister was, hugging her and laughing. Jake reached the group of adults. "Tsu'tey you have to let them be free" spoke Jake, getting a dirty look from Tsu'tey. He was nervous as hell, he thought some animal was going to eat them. It wasn't the first time the children were in the jungle, but they were going out of the safe zone. "Neteyam come here!!!" yells jake, getting the boy to hear him. Jake kneels down. "I want you to keep an eye out at all times for your sister and spider….So tsu'tey will be more calm, right?" speaks jake, neteyam nods his head. Running to her sister, taking Y/N's hand. The girl accepts without arguing at any time. "Better?" asks neytiri, both adults look at tsu'tey. Which had its ears back and tail curled around its legs. "No…I feel like I'm not breathing" speaks tsu'tey. Jake and neytiri laughed out loud, as they gave encouragement to their friend. Watching as the group of children walk away. They'll be fine…they know how to survive out there.

The children would be one night away from the clan. Tsu'tey had prepared them. They had their little bags, with oxygen refills (oxygen that Max gave them) and their siblings would be watching over them. Kiri was next to spider, and next to Y/N was neteyam who had not let go of his sister's hand at any moment. He had a mission and he was going to accomplish it. On the other hand, Y/N wanted to follow and be with lo'ak, who was ahead of her. Running and prancing. After a long hike, they took fishing and survival injuries. They decided to make camp, all the children settled in. Some were playing around, and others were in groups. As was Y/N with his siblings. Spider was lying next to his sister, while Y/N was sitting. Neteyam was next to her. In front of them were kiri and lo'ak. On the other sides were other children.

"You know…my mom added a new bead to my songcord…she said it was for an important moment" says the girl, kiri claps a little. Telling how neytiri had also added another memory. This caught Y/N's attention, giving her brother a quick glance. Spider looks at her curiously, he didn't know what they were talking about either. Both children continued to listen to what the others were saying. They were fascinated with the idea, listening as their little friends told stories and important moments of their lives. They wanted that too…but how could they have it? After a long talk, the mentor ordered everyone to sleep. Y/N lay with her brothers, resting. Morning came quickly, as soon as everyone was up. They set off on their way home.

All the children arrived safely at their homes. Tsu'tey was waiting impatiently for his little ones. Nervously at the entrance of his hut, in the distance he could see how the guide was leading his little ones. Both children, upon seeing the figure of their father, run as fast as they could. Hugging him, and talking about how their first trip went. "Hey… don't talk together, let's go inside the house and tell me everything" says tsu'tey laughing a little, seeing how both children run inside the house. Throwing everything on the floor, looking for their toys. Tsu'tey took care of verifying that his children didn't have a scratch on them. He fed him, and now he was going to dedicate himself to combing his babies' hair. Tsu'tey knew that hid children had played a lot the day before, because the spider's hair was uncombed, and y/n's long hair was tangled.

Spider was in front of them, playing as he watched his sister being combed. Y/N was on tsu'tey's lap, while his father carefully untangled her hair. He had to braid her hair, he thought this would be an easier and more comfortable hairstyle for him. There was a comfortable silence between them, not until Y/N broke the silence. "sempu" asks the little girl. "What happened my yawntutsyìp?" tsu'tey speaks as he continues to work on his daughter's hair. "What is a songcord?" asks the little girl. Spider looks up, also to watch her father's reaction. "A songcord… it is a string that every Na'vi has from the day of their birth. On it beads are placed at the most important moments of his life" tsu'tey does not take his gaze from the work. Both children listen attentively. "A song is sing, to remember the most sacred moments" tsu'tey speaks.

"Do you have yours?" asks spider, moving closer to his father. "Sure…when one comes of age. Your songcord is given to you, and it is a memory of your life" tsu'tey pauses a bit, as he watches Y/N turn away. "sempu…we have a songcord?" speaks Y/N. Tsu'tey froze, not knowing what to tell them. As far as he knew, no. "Mmmm should…why not?" tsu'tey didn't know what to say to them, both had their eyes darting around their faces, waiting for any kind of answer. "We don't have one, do we?" spider asks, tsu'tey's heart broke. The child's little eyes were dilated, and sadness could be seen. He was impressed by the connection both children had with eywa, understanding and feeling so quickly.

"I'll…I'll figure this out..ok, don't worry" tsu'tey tries to distract his children. He finishes fixing Y/N's hair, to now go with spider's turn. This was going to be a very interesting afternoon. Tsu'tey took the children to the bed, which was in a kind of capsule. In this capsule he could put the children, and they could rest without the discomfort of the oxygen mask. Norm had installed it, at Jake's request. After telling them a story, and kissing him goodbye. He decided to go in search of the materials he would use to create the songcord for his children. He didn't care that it was late, he had to have everything ready for tomorrow. By the look on his children's faces, he could tell that they were very upset that they did not have a songcord like the other children. Checking that everything in the hut was safe, he grabbed a bag. Tying it around his waist and setting off into the jungle.

Y/N te Rongloa Ateyo'itan, Born in 2154. That was the first line tsu'tey braided. Naming his new daughter, with hid surname. Placing a precious crystal green gemstone. The first time he saw his little girl, was in Jake's arms. He was holding her, and introducing the little baby to Mo'at. Neytiri was next to him with a large belly, where her other son neteyam is. For a moment I felt some disgust, it was a human baby, an alien. But all the negative thoughts she had about the baby were erased when Jake handed her the baby in his arms. She was so small, he could hold her in the palm of his hand. In that moment he knew her and he knew he would protect her all his life. He continued braiding, decorating the cord with some precious objects. Like a piece of wood from the first bow he made for y/n, as a surprise when she was three years old. Then he regretted it, because the little girl almost put her eye out. He had to laugh to himself, as the memories came flooding back.

Spider te Rongloa Ateyo'itan, Born in 2153, his eldest son, the son of the man who was part of the destruction of his clan. He placed a ratchet, which had a break in the side, as a sign of the first time he saw it. Walking in the jungle, he heard some crying. As he approached, he looked down and found a small boy, about one year old. His knee was cut, and he was crying inconsolably. He was a broken child, he had escaped from Norm. So he took care of him and from then on the little one always followed him. He continued braiding the cord, and placed a cord more colorful than the others, this represented the bracelet of bravery that he had given to spider, the first time the child followed him to the floating mountains. He was a very brave boy. Tsu'tey's chest fills with pride as he finishes the last line of both cords. He stopped working on the pieces, deciding that the last part had to be special.

The next morning after getting the two children up. He gave them their breakfast, and cleaned them up. Both children sat next to him, watching as their father put various materials in the center. And also pulling out the two ropes. The children's little faces lit up, seeing what their father was holding in his hands. "sempu….that's a songcord" speaks spider, excitedly touching the string a bit. "Yes… one for each of you. See…" tsu'tey picks up two stones. Both pieces had a red color, with white details. Tsu'tey had polished it, to make it perfect. "These two stones…they are going to represent the moment when you became my children…because you must know that you make me the happiest man in the whole clan, right?" tsu'tey pokes y/n's nose, causing the girl to giggle. "Yes…our sempul!!!" spider is so excited, now he had gotten up, to hug tsu'tey from behind while swinging around his neck. Tsu'tey carefully braided the last piece, noticing how his children watched intently. Then he carefully showed him, and explained each of the parts.

Tsu'tey began to sing a lullaby, for his children. Taking them in his arms, as both little ones snuggled into his chest. He felt so grateful for eywa…these children seemed sent by the sylwanin herself. They were the light in his eyes, the only thing that mattered to him right now. Cradling his little ones more in his arms, he sang the last phrase of the lullaby:

"Ngaru irayo seiyi ayoe, Tonìri tìreyä, Ngaru irayo seiyi ayoe. Srrìri tìreyä, Ma Eywa, ma Eywa" tsu'tey bends a little to give a kiss on the crown of his children's heads. After so long, he felt so loved.

[lonelym00n]

Max Fox x Reader - Headcannons

this is for all the max fox girlies out there. if you're a mikey madison fan and haven't watched better things just for her, shame on u.

this is likely going to contain max snippets from every season, so don't read if you care about spoilers.

GO WATCH BETTER THINGS!! seriously it's a really good show about a single mother raising three daughters.

also, LOOK AT BABY MIKEY. LOOK AT HER.

Pre-relationship

when max isn't with paisley or her boyfriend of the week, she's with you

you're the most chill of all her friends so she hangs out with you mostly when she doesn't feel like causing her mom an aneurism

sam loves you more than max's other friends

you always thank her for her hospitality and do the dishes for her if she cooks when you're around

max's favorite thing about you is that she doesn't feel the need to worry about if you think she seems cool or not

you love watching old movies with max because she always has such thoughtful comments on the cinematography

you always arrive early to her band's gigs just so you can cheer her on from the front row

you are max's personal Lyft driver when you get your license (sam is thankful that the bill has gone down significantly)

How you catch feelings

you fall for max first

your feelings for her start when she begins opening up to you about her dad and how much her parent's divorce has affected her

she tells you about the jealousy she holds for how much she has to share her mom with her mom's job and her two sisters

she also opens up about how she has no clue what to do once she graduates

you tell her that sam loves her just as much as she did before her sisters were born and that there's no rush to decide what path she wants to choose post-graduation

you realize your feelings for max when she surprises you by playing your favorite song on the guitar

the smile she gave you after she finished playing made your heart leap into your throat

you knew you had it bad for her after that

Unrequited feelings

you're too much of a chicken to admit your feelings to max because you don't want to ruin your friendship

you are horrified when she starts dating the 34 year old man, you tell yourself that it's not because you're jealous, but because max is only 16 (it's definitely because you're jealous)

max cried on your shoulder when she learned her dad had stood her up on her graduation day

you threaten to train chewy to bite him for the next time he shows up to interrupt her life

she laughs and your heart skips a beat at the sound

when max tells you about her decision to go to college in Chicago, you try not to cry (let's pretend you chose to go to college somewhere in LA)

you do cry when you drop her and sam off at the airport on their way to Chicago (cry is putting it lightly, you full on sobbed into max's shirt)

Other people notice your feelings

with max off at college, you have a hard time figuring out what to do with yourself when you aren't attending classes

you take to moping around the fox's house

frankie is the first to catch onto your feelings for max, after seeing you sniffle pitifully into a carton of ice cream for the third weekend in a row, they figured you must've loved max more than you let on

frankie doesn't say anything to you about their realization, concluding that you probably hadn't yet registered that you harbored more than friendly thoughts for max

sam doesn't question why she keeps finding you fast asleep on her living room couch, so she remains none the wiser about your love for her daughter

when max calls you crying one night and tells you about how she doesn't think college is right for her, it takes everything in your willpower not to encourage her to hop on the next flight back to LA

you tell her she has to make the decision on her own but that you will wholeheartedly support her either way

when she does return, you don't even hide how ecstatic you are

the pain of hiding your feelings for her does return, but it's nothing compared to how heartbroken you felt while she was away

when she starts dating olivier, you feel more depressed than you do jealous

max notices your more frequent sad moods and her heart pangs dejectedly whenever she asks if you're okay and you brush her off

you feel lost and decide to confide in rich about your love for max, you always thought he was such a good second dad to her

he isn't fully surprised at your feelings for the other girl, having sensed that something more was likely going on between you two

he's so happy that you decided to tell him and offers you words of advice that he had picked up from being in similar situations to yours

from that moment on, he's silently rooting for you and max to get together

Max realizes her feelings for you

with her new love for photography, she innocently invited both you and paisley to model for an idea that she wanted to shoot

paisley agrees excitedly while you agree with more reluctance

the pictures with paisley turn out great

when it's your turn, max is in utter awe at how gently your beauty comes across in the photos

you fit the image she had wanted to capture so perfectly and as she continues to photograph you, her heart thumps wildly in her chest

the slow groundbreaking realization of the love she so deeply holds for you creeps up her spine

she pushes you away the next week and the week after that, filled with panic

now that she has figured out how she feels about you, she knows she'll never be able to hide it from you

you feel hurt that max is avoiding you, but you figure it's because she's spending more time with her boyfriend (max didn't tell you that she had broken up with him directly after the photoshoot)

max tells rich about her feelings for you and he only just barely manages to hide his joy at the news

he reassures her there's nothing wrong with the way she feels about you and that her family would accept and support her regardless

after a week of gathering up her nerve (and a third week of avoiding you), she reveals her feelings for you to sam

sam is shocked but reassures max that she is so happy and proud

when max falls asleep for the night, sam rushes to frankie's room for advice on ways that she could be there for max

Confession

one morning, frankie urges max to confess to you

needless to say, max is pissed at sam for telling frankie

a big fight starts between the three of them (max upset with sam for telling frankie, sam mad at frankie for telling max that she had told them about it, and frankie yelling at max to just tell you how she felt)

you, completely fed up with being avoided by max, stomp into the fox household to give the girl a piece of your mind

the fighting comes to a halt when you walk in the door, frankie and sam quickly scurry away

just as you're about to speak, max gently grabs your arm and tugs you outside with her

she shushes all your attempts to talk and apologies for avoiding you

she looks nervous and so uncharacteristically max as she takes your hand in hers

when she tells you she was avoiding you because she realized she was in love with you, you nearly forget how to breathe

she looks at you so worriedly while she waits for your response

when you tell her you feel the same, her eyes crinkle in happiness

max leans closer and the two of you share a soft kiss

max lovers you better cause some commotion in the comments!! she needs more love and I won't be silent about it anymore!

[makoodles]

Okay ok. First off love your work. Second of all I just got an imagine idea add on of the birth for the human MC x tsutey Drabble that I saw.

Also I’ve been trying watching a lot of Good Luck Charlie and THOSE old buzz feed videos about what it’s like giving birth so I decided that it would fit perfectly with the MC and Tsu’tey

Imagine that when she’s in labor she’s at that stage where she doesn’t want anyone else to bother her unless it is Moat (who knows what she’s doing and I’m saying only her because no one mentioned Norm Max or any scientist being there. I can imagine that they are not there cause MC wanted the birth natural to try to embrace her mate’s culture even more. And also she’s a strong woman).

Not to mention, she’s giving birth to a half Navi baby. So that 6 pounder is a 12 pounder! (Or more to be honest 😂 😭). Either way, pain and hormones are flying every where!

Anyways, since she is at that stage where everything hurts from contractions, being in labor for hours, not being able to eat so she doesn't want anybody to bother her.

Unfortunately, Tsu’tey did not get the memo.

He sees his beloved breathing and obviously in pain so he goes up behind her and strokes her hair. Which is something she usually loves.

And well-

“DON’T TOUCH MY FUCKING HAIR I JUST HAD MY FUCKING HAIR WASH!”

Tsu’tey was stunned and immediately took his hand back as if his yawne’a hair burned him.

Before he can register what happened, Neytiri grabbed him and dragged him.

“Out! You skawng! She’s dosen’t want anyone bothering her! Come back when she says you can!”

Before Tsu’tey can say anything Neytiri closes the tent flaps in his face.

Tsu’tey just stood there trying to process what happened until he felt an arm around him.

“Did she yell at you for pissing her off? Even though you didn’t mean too?”

Tsu’tey blinked, “Yes.” Is all he can get out.

Jake laughed as he pat his back in a friendly manner. “I did that when Neteyam was born. Only difference is that you had someone there to save you.”

Tsu’tey eyes widened, “What happened?”

Jake Sully smiled at the memory, “At first I offered Neytiri water. Then I kept going by trying to compliment her on how beautiful and how great she was doing. At the end, she almost stabbed me before pushing out Neteyam.”

Tsu’tey was beyond shocked and Jake smiled. “It’s best to give them a little space and we are there when they need us.”

Tsu’tey was about to respond until Spider came running.

“Dad! Mom says to come get you!”

With the speed of light, Tsu’tey picked up Spider and ran towards the birthing tent.

BONUS

“My yawne, are you alright?”

MC smiled as she looked at him. “I feel fine, Tey. Thank you.”

Even though she smiled, Tsu’tey saw the tears forming.

This causes him panic. “Are you in pain? Should I call for Mo’at?”

MC wipes her tears, “No the pain now is somewhat bearable. However your pain from the way I shouted at you must be more hurtful. I am sorry that I said that.”

MC sobbed and Tsu’tey immediately wraps his arms around her.

“Syulang. Do not apologize for nothing. You are in pain and I know you do not truly mean those words.”

MC sniffed as Tsu’tey cleaned up her face with a cloth. Wiping away sweat and tears.

“Now, let us deliver this baby. I can go out if you wish.”

MC smiled and looked into his eyes. “Actually please stay, I am a bit scared and when your here, it calms me a bit.”

Tsu’tey smiled as he squeezed her hand back.

this is so cute omgggg 😭

the idea of birth is genuinely so scary, i support reader acting crazy! definitely cursing out tsu'tey within an inch of his life and threatening to cut his cock off if he ever comes near her again.

tsu'tey fighting for his life trying to be supportive and positive while his little mate threatens him with bodily harm as she brings their child into the world 🙃

[nburkhardt]

It might seem like Steve isn’t close to his family. But he is, or at least he is to his mom and her side of the family. Ever since he was little, it’s also why his family even lives in Hawkins.

His mother refuses to not have a home in her hometown, her siblings (two; an older brother and younger one) live here still. Her parents still live here, she also has an aunt that lives down the street who is Steve’s favorite person (before knowing Robin or Dustin or Eddie) and Steve has cousins in town either the a few years older or younger than him.

Anyway, point is Steve has family and is close with them. Even if his friends don’t know.

It’s not a secret, his family are busy and they keep in contact as much as possible. His Uncles call weekly, his grandparents host a family breakfast every Sunday. His dad is a workaholic and isn’t in town ever, but his mom? She’s there and a social butterfly, that’s why his house seems empty every time his friends crash over. His baby cousins are why he always acts annoyed about babysitting The Party. He’s the go-to babysitter in the family, his baby cousins absolutely love him.

The only reason none of his friends realize this, is last names. Harrington is his father’s name, they’re the only ones in Hawkins with it.

Nancy obviously met his parents when they were dating, she didn’t get along with his dad at all. She and his mom liked each other. (Because of all the Upside Down problems, she never got to see Family Breakfasts. Then Halloween and well, we all know what happened)

Robin ends up meeting his grandparents after Starcount, they saw the fire on the news and immediately went to his house, hoping he wasn’t at the mall. Obviously that hope is gone the minute they pull into the driveway and find Steve’s car gone. A few hours later, Steve stumbled in with Robin tucked under his arm. They worry and fuss over him all while Robin stands back in near shock. (She’s later included to all family breakfasts, she gets the shock of a lifetime to see which classmates are related to him at the first one)

Dustin, Lucas and Mike unfortunately meet his cousin Andy because of Jason Carver. Andy isn’t close with Steve, not anymore at least. The only reason he found out is when the boys are complaining about it. He doesn’t necessarily tell them immediately about knowing who Andy is. He does confront Andy the next time he’s over at his uncle’s. (The boys only find this out because Andy’s little sister runs straight to Steve while they’re at the arcade)

Max finds out through the boys about Andy. But she also meets his uncle, he’s her primary doctor after what happens with Vecna. Steve was passed out in her room when his uncle came in. (Max found out months later, when she wakes up)

Eddie ends up meet his whole family only three months into dating each other. He’s not shocked to see Andy, having been told by Dustin (kid can’t keep a secret). Eddie is loved by nearly everyone, Andy’s sister won’t leave him alone. Saying “if Stevie likes you, you MUST be cool!” And he’s all kinds of smug about it. Steve’s mom loves him, having already met him when Steve admitted the relationship to her. His grandparents don’t quite understand but they still at least like Eddie and don’t treat him like shit. (They weren’t in town during the whole witch-hunt, steve’s uncles are iffy about him but are polite.)

Much later, Steve’s friends confront him on why they didn’t know. Steve just shrugs and used the different last names line on them. Also tells them his mom can be a lot, ya know?

~~~~~~

A world building experience into if Steve has more family. There’s plot-holes and things don’t quite make sense but this literally started all around “what if Steve was close with his mom?”

For a moment I was gonna make Jason his cousin but decided it’s too on the nose, ya know? Also typed Gareth into being the cousin but that didn’t feel right.

This was supposed to be just a small headcanon 😅

[imzsuzsis-blog]

—————————

Dream ( Lando)

“Loki? Hello?"

I was in some white place, a blanket on me, I couldn't move.

“Someone? Hello? Where am I?"

I stroked my belly.

"Where are my twins?"

I cried because there was a fresh scar there.

"Hey, new mom, or should I say it quietly to dad, if you could take a break. I just gave birth, just like you, even though you're a star, even you just gave birth. So stop whining please. Us average people know from the news that they broke up with this certain Loki back in July. After that, she tried unsuccessfully with even more boys of him age because they all said that a boy can't be pregnant."

I craned my neck back, my cell phone nowhere, to look at this nonsense on the internet. Because we definitely didn't break up, I love him.

"Lando Norris, I brought some people."

"Leah, Penelope."

I took them trembling, then I realized that it was really over with Loki, I was left alone with two babies. I looked at them, they are really a mixture of Ollie and myself, they are so beautiful.

"My beauties, my God. It's a pity that the abbots aren't here either, we're breaking up with the foster abbots. Because of a grudge.”

With tears in my eyes, I started to kiss them, and I didn't want to let them go.

"But you have to, dear."

Mother sat down next to me and stroked my hair and I shook my head.

"If I've done it all the way up to now, I can do it all the way now. I am already an adult, a twenty-five year old adult. I won't give them away forever. They are my daughters and I can raise them, their room is waiting for them."

"I know, but you gave up Formula 1 because of them. You even moved from Monaco to avoid the news about you and them. Now what?"

She stroked them too, not just me.

"I will finish my medical degree and fulfill my dream."

"Lando, it's not your dream, it's your father's, it's only you who lived it, that's why you're going to the doctor's office now by mail. You don't belong there, you could become a very good actor, maybe a singer, you are talented in these. Remember the casting of the Avengers, when your friend Tom called you... How would you not like to try what you would really be like in his place, as Spider-Man. How clever you were, you wove webs, climbed walls and jumped everywhere and enjoyed it.”

Mother smiled at me, I just shook my head, I knew where my path was leading.

"My mother was with me for half a year, it was a big party, but I wouldn't try it again. I'm sorry, but it's not my way."

I looked at her and Leah as I woke up next to her sister, a minute here or there will not count, only that they grow up in love and that I find them another daddy. Who is not dismissive like everyone else towards me.

———————-

Real

"Mom, I'm going to be a doctor!!!! Leave me!!!!!"

I woke up sweaty and screaming again like the day before the race, Loki and Max comforted me. Then I dreamed that everything went wrong at home during the birth, then mother and father had a fight, then the Olivers, then Max and Pietra and all of them because the good boy suddenly became ugly.

"My treasure"

He knelt down in front of me and started stroking my face in circles.

"Dream and depression are a bit much for you, my dear. You dream up a lot of madness."

"I know, and the reason for all this is the fucking adoption papers. What Ollie throws out, saying that he is responsible for making mistakes, I want to take responsibility too... But it's not my management that won't let me, they gave me this fucking paper and I don't have much time to do it."

I opened my laptop and the first thing that came up was an email to review the ideal foster parents. In my anger, I wrote back that no, I can decide whether to raise two girls or not to leave them alone!!!!! Also, I'm twenty-four, a fully responsible adult, don't let them decide what I wear and where, who I date, where I live, who my friends are or whether I'm pregnant and whether I want to raise my child or not. I looked to my side, read the paper and took deep breaths.

"You know what, Loki gets caught."

I tore the sled apart, threw it up and started giggling.

"I'm a father!!!!"

I squealed with joy and kissed Loki on the lips, who, after taking off his top, began to tease us with his fingertips. He ran sexily into my hair and we started moaning more and more softly.

“Sex?"

"I don't know, but there's blood in your underwear."

"You're stupid, aren't you?"

I looked at him in horror and I was in pain again.

“Which? Strong?"

"How the hell do I know???? Ugh!!!!”

I stood up and crossed my palms in front of me and took deep breaths.

,.Amanda now!!!!”

"I'd rather not put my feet up somewhere."

"What's up my dear, we'll go and that's it, home practices won't help right now."

———————

Dream (Loki)

I've been a star on the internet since July, when he broke up with me. In almost every video or picture, either he or I is crying about the breakup.

"Billy, this sucks, I know it was short, but it's true love."

I told my brother that we may only be half-siblings, but we still tell each other everything.

"Loki, don't whine. You were the bastard for getting him engaged so soon. To you, because he was pregnant from her previous relationship, the guy."

"This is not about the fucking engagement!!!! And not because the guy was pregnant, but because the fucking media won't leave me alone!!!!"

"Do you still love him? Where did your relationship go wrong?”

"It must have been when he finally admitted that he was in love with Oscar. It could still be something he is holding on to from before his kidnapping, or I don't know."

Crying, I looked at Insta, where I saw that was all.

"Finally, the little ones were born, they're fit and healthy."

Burying my face in my palms, I got into my car and went to my usual place at the gas station, because it's in a nice place, I can park in the vicinity, and I can walk up the hill and I always sit on one of the benches when I want solitude.

"Be..."

"I'm not going, our relationship with Lando ended badly, we had a rough time on the open street. Millions of videos attest that it was.”

"Really..."

"Oliver, I say no. Lando doesn't want to see me, he even hates me."

I went through…

“Loki!!!! Not!!!! Ambulance!!!”

—————————

Real

"I was hit by a fucking car, fuck me!!!!!"

I just felt that Lando was prodding me and stroking my face to wake me up.

"My dear, if you could, you could even perform this screaming show on stage."

He told me both erotically and sarcastically, so that all the women in the clinic would giggle at this.

"The way you put it, it wasn't fucking funny, bitch!!!!"

"But, but Loki... You screamed, in public. Not me!!!! Where the hell are you going? My love."

"From now on, the pregnancy is your fucking business, cheater!"

"But fuck it!!!! I've said it a hundred times, I'm trying to get my lost memories back!!!!!! I am not a cheater and I would never be cheated!!!!!!”

“This is bullshit!!!!! The way you look at Oscar... You're in love with him!!!!!"

"It's not true, it's just business!!!!"

"Lando, Loki, please don't get lost here!"

"No, if you tell the truth... Oscar or me."

He took off him hat and threw it on the floor like a fucking diva.

"You, but Oscar saw them being kidnapped!!!! Are you happy now!!!!"

"Stupid whore!!!"

I slapped him, got up and left.

Or knocking on my door for thousands of years.

"Who the hell is that???"

"I'm at Lando, let me in!!!!"

I let him in. His face was teary, his lips were parted and he was shaking from everything.

“What happened? old warrior."

I let him in and he stopped at the wall and barely took a breath. He put his fingers to his mouth, on which the sleeve of his pullover was half pulled up, and it was chewed, as were the cords of his coat.

"I confessed everything to him, but we had a rough fight."

"Fuck me, Lando. But what the hell?”

"I don't know, he figured it out!!!! He said that I was looking at Oscar."

"Who, what, here we go?"

“Patoooooo!!!!! Max, help me!!!!!!"

He fell on our necks and sobbed soundlessly.

"What are you saying?"

"That I'm cheating on you."

"But, but that's not true of you, when we were together you wouldn't have done that for any money."

"I know, Pato. It's a fucking concoction he made up."

"What will happen?"

"Breakup."

He hissed between his teeth, he couldn't take it anymore and we saw him calling his mother.

"What are you saying?"

"That this is a real relationship and that we talk about it."

"Are you telling her the truth?"

"She knows in broad daylight that she was kidnapped from the open street, no, I don't give mom the truth."

"Oliver?"

"It's good that you joke about it, really not."

"Anyone married in the field?"

"Sergio? Good… Pick it up… Please!!!!”

We all saw that he cried more, he probably took Lando's side in the matter. We also knew what a jealous type Loki is, their relationship can no longer survive this.

"On the one hand, he's still here, so he comes here, on the other hand, he thinks he's a jealous dick, and he thinks I should throw him away as soon as possible. There will be another.”

He almost tore the ring from the new one with our help and threw it far away, with an angry face, but not only that, but also the bracelet he received not long ago, he threw it far away and screamed.

[mayrose713]

I'm Used To It

Steve Harrington x fem reader

Summary: When Y/n’s alcoholic mother comes home things don’t go well after she finds out where she had been. With nowhere else to go Y/n remembers she’s not the only one dealing with this kind of thing and calls Steve to pick them both up for the weekend. Friends to lovers.

Warnings: alcohol abuse, alcoholic parent, divorce, mention of abandonment, swearing, trauma

Word count: 3548

A/N: Most things that I write are based closely on my own experiences and traumas, this way I can write a better and happier ending though. If you go through anything similar please know you are not alone and you are always welcome to message me if you need to talk. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sweetheart, ’m home.” Y/n heard her mother call out from the front door of their trailer but something didn’t seem right. 

“Mom?” Y/n came out of her room to find her mom trying to keep herself up. “Where have you been?”

“Ran inta an old friend.” She smiled at her daughter. “We talked for awhile.”

“You went drinking.” Y/n started to get both mad and upset.

“Nooooo.” Her mom shook her head before almost falling over. 

“You’re obviously drunk!” Y/n yelled.

“Pssh, you’re being redicu-lish. ‘m not drunk. Haven’t been in yearsh.” She badly lied as she walked over trying to hug Y/n. “Watcha have fur dinner?”

“I didn’t.” Y/n pushed her mom off her. “We had planned to have dinner together, remember? We were going to cook since we were both going to actually be home tonight.”

“Sorry. Wanted to catchup with a friend.” She pouted since her daughter pushed her away and tried acting like she was sober.

“No, you wanted to go drink. How long has it been going on this time?” Y/n started to yell. “Going to rehab three times already wasn’t enough for you to keep sober? Or how about dad leaving us for a girl ten years younger than you when I was fourteen because he didn’t want to deal with you drinking anymore.”

“Really?” Her mom started to yell back. “Really had to go there?”

“Yes, I did.” Y/n walked over to the fridge to find herself dinner since it’s already nine o’clock. 

“Whatcha ya doing?”

“Finding myself dinner, duh.” Y/n rolled her eyes. 

“Do ya really think ya need more to eat?” That hit a nerve in Y/n.

“Fine.” Y/n slammed the fridge door and stomped to the front door. 

“And where do ya think you’re going?” Her mom yelled, stopping her for a second. 

“Being like dad and getting the hell away from you.” Y/n yelled with tears brimming her eyes before leaving. 

She took a second to breathe trying to figure out what to do. Then she remembered how Max moved to the trailer park after her step dad left and she has a similar situation with her mom. Y/n was the only person Max trusted to tell about what was going on at home. She then decided that’s where she's going to go since it was a Friday night and is sure Max isn’t doing well either. 

It only took Y/n a few minutes before she was knocking on the younger girl's front door.

“Y/n?” Max looked at her confused then noticed the tears still threatening to escape. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just, you know my mom.” Y/n explained then noticed the older redhead passed out on the couch with a bunch of beers scattered around. “It looks like we’re in the same boat actually.”

“Yeah, though I’ve never seen you so upset like this.” Max grabbed her hand pulling her into the trailer and towards her room making sure the doors closed. “What happened tonight?”

“Max, I love you, you’re like my baby sister especially with how similar our lives are.” Y/n had grabbed her hands. “But this is something you don’t need to be burdened with, it’s mine.” 

“It’s also not something you need to keep bottled up and deal with alone.” Max squeezed her hands. “Please Y/n/n talk to me.” 

Y/n thought about it for a second then felt exactly how hungry she was and decided on something else.

“Have you eaten dinner?” Y/n asked, having noticed there wasn’t much food in the trailer. 

Max stayed quiet for a moment before shaking her head. “No, even with two jobs we don’t have much money and most of what we have mom spends on booze.”

“I’m going to call Steve, okay. Tell him what's going on and to pick us up.” Y/n explained grabbing the phone from the bedside table but Max stopped her.

“You can’t.” Max looked at the older girl with pleading eyes. “Please, I told you about all of this in confidence because you understand and I see you as an older sister too. I don’t want anyone else knowing, especially not Lucas, and Steve is too close with him and the others.”

“Max, he’s my best friend and already knows about my situation and he’s never told anyone else.” Y/n explained. “He’s very protective of not just me but also you, he would want to know. Give you a place away from this.”

“He’s protective of you because he’s in love with you.” Max told her which gave Y/n butterflies in her stomach.

“Steve’s not in love with me, we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember.” Y/n said. 

“But you’re in love with him.” Max reminded her. “And don’t try to lie, you already admitted it when we played truth or dare with El over the summer.”

“And I told you guys that I don’t plan to ever tell him since I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” Y/n reminded her. “And there’s no way he’s in love with me.”

“Keep telling yourself that Y/n/n.” 

“Anyways, I’m calling Steve.” She started dialing his number. 

“Hello.” Steve quickly answered. 

“Hey, it’s me.” 

“Y/n? Everything okay?” Steve perked up. “I thought you were doing a night in with your mom tonight?”

“Yeah, that didn’t exactly happen like it was supposed to.” Y/n let out a long sigh. “She decided instead of dinner with me to get drunk with a friend.”

“Got it, I’m on my way to get you and we’ll pick up pizza on our way home.” Steve said and she could hear him moving around. 

“Actually, I’m at Max’s.” Y/n looked at the younger girl. “We’re kind of dealing with the same thing right now.”

“What? Max too?” Steve wasn’t expecting to hear that from his best friend, after meeting Max he couldn’t help but feel protective of her especially with everything from Billy. “Okay, tell her to pack a bag for the weekend, you’re both staying over. You still have some clothes here, and besides you like to sleep in my shirts anyways.”

“Thanks Steve.” Y/n smiled. “And just like my situation, don't tell anyone about Max, especially the boys.” 

“Completely understand, I’ll be there in a few minutes to pick you both up, see you soon.” Steve said before hanging up.

Y/n placed the phone back on the nightstand and turned to Max. “Pack a bag for the weekend, you’re staying with us.”

“It’s okay Y/n, I’m fine staying here.” Max shook her head.

“Max, you and I both know I won’t let you stay here with your mom passed out and not enough food to feed you.” Y/n said while standing up and grabbing a bag from the girls closet. “And We both know that Steve will carry you over his shoulder to force you into his car and keep you all weekend to make sure you’re safe and fed. He did that to me when I was fifteen and learned about what was going on with my mom. Though he was more pissed that it was happening since I was eleven and I never told him, that he found out when he snuck over trying to get me to go to a party.”

“You know that’s kidnapping right?” Max laughed a little, taking the bag from Y/n and started packing some things. 

“Yeah, I told him that.” Y/n also laughed. “He didn’t give a shit. I’m sure he’s going to feel the same now even if it’s three years later, especially when it's you Max.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s only doing this because he loves you and I’m basically your little sister.” Max scoffed. 

“Max, he cares about you very much, I promise he does.” Y/n reassured her. “He still would have done this even if it was just you who called him.” 

Just then there was a honk outside and Max looked out the window to see the familiar red BMW. 

“That’s Steve.” Max turned back around. “I’ll meet you guys outside in a minute, just gotta put a few things away and leave a note for my mom in case she sobers up at some point this weekend.” 

“Okay, don’t be too long.” Y/n kissed the top of her head before making her way through the trailer and out the front door to find Steve leaning against the driver side.

“Hey Y/n/n.” He pushed himself off the car and over to his best friend where he quickly engulfed her in a hug. “How are you doing?”

“The same as I always am when this happens.” She explains. “Her getting upset with me as though she didn’t do anything wrong, me getting mad at her for blowing me off and drinking then her having to say something about me trying to eat dinner.”

“I’m so sorry.” He squeezed her tighter.

“It’s okay Steve, I’m used to it at this point.” 

“No it’s not okay Y/n, but we’ll figure it out later, for now let's just get you and Max out of here.” He said before letting her go and realizing the red head wasn’t around. “Speaking of, where is Max?”

“She was finishing packing her bag and writing a note for her mom, just in case.” She explained.

“Is she doing okay?” Steve was very worried. “How long has she been dealing with this?”

“Why don’t you go inside and ask her?” He looked at Y/n confused which made her sigh. “She doesn’t think you care about her, that you’re just doing this for me.”

“What?” Steve was surprised by this. “Of course I care for her, I have ever since I met her, especially after I learned she was Billy’s step sister. Was scared for her and what she had to deal with living with him.”

“Go talk to her.” 

Steve nodded his head before walking to the trailer as Y/n got into the passenger seat of his car. Max was finishing up the note to her mom when she heard the door open again. 

“Sorry Y/n, almost done.” She looked up only to find Steve and not her sister figure standing in the entryway looking at the horror of where she lived. “Steve?”

“Hey Maxy, you okay?” Steve asked moving over to her using the nickname she okayed the older male and Y/n to use occasionally, but not all the time. 

“Yeah, I’m great.” She gave a fake smile to him while folding a piece of paper and writing “mom” on it. “You know how Y/n/n is, overreacts sometimes when it comes to me?”

“Are you sure?” He asked while eyeing the place before moving over to the kitchen and searched the cabinets and fridge to find little to no food. “How long has this been going on?”

“Not long.” She shook her head while refusing eye contact. 

“Max.” He moved to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and leaning down to be eye level with her. “How long has this been going on?”

Max took in a deep breath and looked up at him with tears threatening to escape her eyes. “Since my step dad left after Billy’s funeral. Mom took on two jobs and started drinking a lot more.”

“That long?” He rubbed his forehead before moving his hand through his hair. “How often is she drinking?”

“Every night, until she’s passed out.” Max looked over at her mom asleep on the couch. 

“And where’s all the food?” He asked. 

“She hasn’t gone to the store in over two week, keeps saying that she doesn’t have a lot of money right now to go but then comes home with more beer.” She finally started to cry and Steve quickly wrapped his arms around her to let her cry into his chest. 

“I’m so sorry Max.” He whispered so that only she could hear, even though she was the only one there besides her passed out mother. 

“It’s okay Steve, I’m used to it.” Saying the same thing Y/n tells him. 

“No Maxy, it’s not okay. Y/n tells me the same thing in this situation but it’s not okay.” He then pulls away and crouches down with his hands on her shoulders again. “Please know that I care about you, very much, and if you ever need to talk or need a place to stay to get away from your mom or even just need a meal please, please call me.”

“I will.” She nodded as she wiped the tears off her cheeks. “Thank you Steve.”

“Anytime kid.” He smiled and stood up grabbing her bag off the counter. “Now let's go have an awesome weekend.”

“This never gets spoken about.” Max said as they walked through the trailer. “Especially not too…”

“Yeah, yeah. Especially not to the guys.” Steve interrupted her. “I would never tell anyone about this without your permission.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three of them drove to one of the few pizza places still open ordering a large before going back to Steves where they sat and ate and just talked while trying to keep the mood light.

“Wait seriously, Erica told you that about Lucas?” Y/n laughed at what Max had just told them.

“How do we know it’s not just Erica trying to embarrass her brother?” Steve asked but was still smiling.

“Have you met Erica?” Y/n raised a brow at him. “She would never tell a lie like this, but embarrassing her brother just makes it better.”

“You can’t tell Lucas about this though. He doesn’t even know that I know.” Max explained.

“Our lips are sealed.” Y/n and Steve say at the same time making all of them laugh.

“Well, I think I’m going to turn in for the night.” Y/n stood up, grabbing all of the plates off the table and the pizza box. 

“It is getting late.” Steve said while looking at his watch then followed his best friend into the kitchen where he took over doing the dishes from her. 

“Max, I’ll show you to the guest bedroom.” Y/n said, grabbing the girl's bag.

“Thank you again for letting me stay here.” Max said to Steve.

“Anytime kiddo.” He smiled. “I’ll follow you guys up in a few minutes.”

As Max followed Y/n she noticed one room to the right of the stairs that must be Steve’s parents room then followed her passed one which must be Steve’s, then passed the bathroom and into the one next to it.

“Do you normally sleep in here?” Max asked moving to the bed where Y/n placed her bag.

“No, I usually sleep in Steve's bed.” She explained until she noticed the look Max was giving her. “Don’t look at me like, we’ve been doing this since we were kids okay.”

“Whatever you say.” Max smiled.

“I’m going to go change real quick, then I’ll be back.” Y/n told her before leaving. 

Y/n grabbed one of Steve's old Hawkins High swim team shirts and a pair of black pajama shorts she’s left one of the last times she spent the night. She came back into the guest room to see Max in a long sleeved nightgown sitting cross legged on the bed with some comic books.

“Wonder Women, nice.” Y/n picked one of the comic books up before sitting across from her. 

“I didn’t know you were on the swim team?” Max looked at her shirt.

“I’m not.” Y/n looked down, flipping through the pages. 

“Is that Steve’s shirt?” Max gawked before giggling a bit. “Are you sure you two aren’t already dating?”

“Shut up.” Y/n laughed a little before putting the book down and looking at the younger girl. “How are you doing Maxy?”

“I’m fine.” Max refused to look at her.

“Really?” Y/n eyed her. “Please talk to me. Lucas told us about how you guys broke up.”

“I have nightmares sometimes about that night at the mall.” Max started to explain. “And you know, my mom doesn’t really help, but it’s fine.”

“You know I told you that you could come over whenever you needed.” Y/n placed a hand on the red head's shoulder. “You should have told me that you didn’t have food for dinners and stuff.”

Max shrugged her shoulders before sighing. “It’s just, you have your own shit to deal with, you have your own alcoholic obviously.”

“Yes I do, but I also don’t deal with it every night.” She paused for a second. “Well at least not in a while. It just depends on if it's a one time slip up or a long ‘slip up’. But anyways, you know I’m always here and so is Steve.”

“I’m getting used to it Y/n/n, it’s okay.” 

“Yeah, you don’t get to use my line against me.” Y/n laughed a little. “But seriously, please call us.”

“I will. Thank you.” Max smiled at her before they hugged each other.

“How are you two girls doing?” Steve knocked on the doorframe wearing flannel pajama pants and an old tshirt and watched as they let go of their hug. 

Max looked at Y/n for a second before turning to Steve with a smile. “We’re good.”

“That’s good.” Steve smiled back. “I’m really sorry you guys have to go through this.”

The two girls looked at each other with a smirk before saying at the same time “We’re used to it.”

“Very funny.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Why don’t we go to bed Y/n/n.”

The older girl nodded her head and stood up moving over to Max and kissed her on the head. “Night Maxy.”

“Night Y/n/n.”

“Good night kiddo.” Steve moved and ruffled her hair after Y/n left the room.

“You know she loves you right?” Max said before he could leave. 

“What?”

“Y/n. She loves you.” Max said again. “I know you love her too with how you look at her, we all know it.”

“Of course I love her, she’s my best friend.” Steve tried to play it off. 

“Steve, you’re in love with her.” Max corrected, making him sigh. 

“What am I supposed to do? I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” He brushed his hand through his hair. 

“Just tell her. I promise you won’t ruin your friendship.” She reassured him. 

“Fine.” He closed her eyes before looking at her again. “I’ll do it if you promise to call whenever you need something.”

Max thought it over for a second before nodding her head. “Deal. Good night Steve.”

“Good night.” 

Steve turned off the lights in the room before going back to his to find Y/n already laying in bed. 

“Everything okay?” She asked while sitting up when she noticed him. 

“Yeah.” Steve nodded his head as he took his shirt off since he likes to sleep without one. “She just wanted to tell me something.”

“What’d she say?”

“It’s nothing.” He lied as he started to get in bed.

“Steve.”

“Do you remember when I punched that guy at the last party of the school year last year?” He asked, confusing her. 

“Yeah, the blonde baseball player who was flirting with me.” She nodded her head. “Why are you bringing that up right now?”

“Do you know why I punched him?”

“You had said that you had heard him talk shit to some of the guys making a bet that he could get in my pants in less than five minutes.” She explained. “You were being your protective self as usual.”

“Well I lied.” He sighed.

“What?”

“I never heard him make a bet.” Steve confeased.

“Then why did you punch him?” She was really confused now. 

Steve looked over and pushed some hair behind her ear. “I was jealous.”

“What would you be jealous about?” She giggled a little. 

“I was jealous because I hated seeing some guy flirt with you.” He said while placing a hand on her cheek. “Because I’m in love with you.”

“Really?” Y/n couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her best friend, Steve “the hair” Harrington, is in love with her.

“Really. You don’t have to say it back or an…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence though as Y/n leaned up and kissed him. He was shocked at first but quickly composed himself and kissed her back. It was a soft kiss but he could feel all of her emotions in it and she could feel his. 

They soon pulled apart needing to breathe but looked deep into each other's eyes. 

“I love you too.” Y/n finally said, making him smile before he pulled her back into another kiss.

“Well finally.” A voice from the door caused them to stop everything and turn towards the culprit to find Max with the biggest smile. “I’m radioing everyone.”

Max left, leaving the two alone again as they smiled at each other before going back to what they were doing before being interrupted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Sorry if this was badly written, had to take a few breaks while writing it so as to not cry because I’ve gone through the same things both Y/n and Max go through from when I was 11 until I was 20. Though I wasn’t lucky enough to have a Steve in my life until I was 17 who had an alcoholic father and understood what I was going through and gave me an out whenever I needed it.

[lovely-cherubs]

𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕆ℂ: 𝔽𝕝𝕪𝕜𝕣𝕒 𝕐𝕦𝕜𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕍𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖-𝕆𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Hello: The name's Flykra Yukime, but you can call me Flykra. If you need anything regarding music art, food, writing, etc., you can always reach out to me and I'll do my best to help.

Chat (Love): .... Love huh? I can't remember the last time I ever felt loved ever since my adopted mom and dad we're murdered by the Abyss Mage. On top of that, my biological mom and dad weren't great themselves... but I'm not gonna go into detail about that.

Chat (The Archons): While I don't really like the archons, I don't hate them either. In fact, I'm neutral when it comes to them. However, I can't completely forgive them for the destruction of Khaenri'ah.

Chat (humans/mankind): [scoffs] Honestly, humans in general are just little akumas who don't know what they want. Now, I get that not all humans are terrible, but the majority of them are so narcissistic, egotistical, pessimistic, obsessed with ideologies, morals, and religion, cognitive biases, conspiracy theories, and all of this unnecessary bullshit. Yes, I am aware that I am half human (while also being cursed with immortality), but guess what, calling out the problems of mankind does not make you a terrible person nor does it make you a misanthrope.

When it rains: It's raining! Here take my umbrella, you need it more than I do. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.

When thunder strikes: Oh goodness please no! I'll take rain, but lightning... forget it, we're going back inside!

When it snows: I love the snow. For some reason, it makes me gain back some kind of memories. The latest memory that I had was me talking and laughing with this woman who was wearing green and gold and also had green hair. I, myself, was blue and kinda white. She was probably around 500+ years like me but I'm not sure.

When the Sun is out: Why don't we take a walk? It's daytime so we can go into the city without feeling threatened.

Good Morning: Good morning! Since its bright outside, why don't we take a stroll around this city.

Good Afternoon: The atmosphere and view tends to be really beautiful in the afternoon. I know, why don't we go get something to eat? Or, we can just go back to my place and I can make you something instead.

Good Evening: It's bound to get dark. We should head home as it's dangerous around this time.

Good Night: Good Night. May you rest well and have sweet dreams.

About Flykra: As you have guessed, yes, I am from the now destroyed and ancient civilization known as Khaenri'ah. I was the only daughter of the Eclipse Dynasty, making my mom and dad emperor and empress. But, after my parents got divorced, my mom was the only ruler.

About Flykra (Weakness): I can't stand being treated like a child let alone get told what to do. All my life I've been treated like a baby that was born yesterday and it grinds my gear to the max. I'm a grown ass adult and therefore, I should be the one who decides what's good for me. Hear me out: this doesn’t mean that I don't/won’t take advice from people from time to time. But, don’t think that just because I take advice from you once that I’m going to take everything you tell me into account.

About Us (Privacy): If there's one thing that I extremely value, it's privacy. I know this may sound weird or unbelievable from somebody like me, but just because I'm famous doesn't mean that I like being watched, followed, or surrounded by people all the time. In fact, I find it rather irritating and invasive.

About Us (Trust): Aside from privacy, trust is also very important to me. Break that and you're a stranger in my eyes. It's like my Margaret would always tell me: “If we don't have trust, we don't have anything.”

About the vision: Well.. actually the story behind it is quite boring, but I'm willing to tell you about it since I was living in Khaenri'ah when I got mine. I had snuck out of the palace thanks to Halfdan, who was completely going against my mother's order to keep me inside since he saw that my mental health wasn't good at all. While I was outside of that awful underground confinement, a group of Treasure Hoarders tried to get me as they thought I had valuables on me. Next thing I knew, a beautiful bright light appeared and my vision was born. And if you're wondering, yes, I kept the vision hidden when I went back.

Something to share (Music): Music has officially become one of the many things I use to escape reality. Music gives me a feeling like no other and it's the reason why I became a singer-songwriter myself.

Interesting Things (Bloodrage): Bloodrage is an ability I was born with that allows me to increase my abilities to max strength when strong acrimonious emotions are present. Unfortunately, this ability has been very difficult for me to control, therefore, I refrain from using it at all times. On top of that, this ability is EXTREMELY dangerous to use when you're not able to control it.

About Albedo: Albedo is a fine gentleman. He's also very intelligent, kind, caring, considerate, and very attractive. I don't know why, but it's almost like he's perfect… (Nervous Chuckle) Please tell me I didn’t just say all of that out loud?

About Jean: That woman works way too hard. She really needs to take a break. At some point, she might end up committing Karoshi like the people in Inazuma.

About Lisa: The librarian is rather good at doing her job & seems to have more patience when dealing with overdue books. If I were her, I wouldn't even bother going to collect those books and instead charge them because let's be honest, if you don't remember borrowing a book, then you shouldn't have one to begin with.

About Kaeya: That smooth-talking knight is a REAL nuisance for me. There are times where I just wanna freeze him or just rip his head off just to show how this man frustrates me. I don't get how Albedo let alone the people in the Knights of Favonius deal with this prick. Besides, it's like what Diluc said “You can only trust half of what he says.” He's really nothing more than a guy who's all bark and no bite, unlike me, who barks and bites.

About Diluc: The only time that I ever see him is either when I'm performing at either the tavern or Dawn Winery. Other than that, I don't really see him often. Though I did hear that he left the Knight of Favonius due to something terrible. I wonde what happened?

About Mona: I've heard of the astrologist. She seems really dedicated to her work. Though I'm not really a HUGE believer in astrology, sometimes I come to her for guidance.

About Chongyun: Ah yes, I remember him. If I remember correctly, he comes from a family of exorcists. I remember first meeting him when I went to Liyue Harbor as someone over there had asked me to compose some music for a celebration. I met him while I was on break and we became friends after talking. He's pretty fun to be around; however, he really needs to lay off the popsicles. I keep warning him that he might get type 2 diabetes and that's I don't have time to arrange another funeral.

About Xingqiu: That bookworm.... to be honest, I don't really hang out with him a lot as he's always glued to those stupid books. Even I wasn't glued to my books THIS much despite having to study my ass of in Khaenri'ah since my mother wasn't very educated. But yet somehow, she managed to run the nation.

About Xinyan: She's an excellent rock n roll player. Everytime I hear her music, I feel like raging and letting out my rebellious side, which is what rock is supposed to make you feel like, but unfortunately, with Liyue being so traditional and orthodox as hell, the people don't realize that. I hope that one day I'll be able to design an outfit for her or something.

About Childe: I have no words for him. I really don't care about that Ed Sheeran looking child trapped in a teenage body. However, if it has anything to do with his siblings or their safety, then I'll get involved and help him. But if it's anything to do with the Fatui, he can figure it out himself. He’s a good brother and all, but that doesn’t excuse his actions and the same goes for the rest of the Fatui members.

About Scaramouche: Exactly why are you asking about my ex? If you want to date him, go on ahead. I could care less. All I'm gonna tell you is that I broke up with him as soon as I found who he really was. Couldn't believe that he kept such a big secret from me.

About Kazuha: The young samurai is rather creative with his poetry. If anything, I think his poetry is a bit better than my poems and novels. I've actually made many songs, composed music, and wrote a lot of novels based on his poems, but I haven't released them to the public. I want to ask him for permission first as I don't want to make money off of them and then get into legal issues.

About Xiao: I feel really bad for the Yaksha. He's been through a lot and deserves better. Sometimes whenever I go to Liyue, I'll see him at Wangshu Inn and he's as reserved as always, but will be willing to talk with me with constant persuasion.

About Yelan: She is quite the secret one indeed. I've actually ran into her a few times while working at my photography company [Yukina]. One time she came to me and asked for a landscape sized frame, claiming that she needed to replace a painting in the Yanshang Teahouse. I agreed and she thanked me, going off to who knows where. I thought that she was your typical lady. However when I saw her somewhere else by accident, trying to give her the frames she asked for, she had a completely different personality. All I would say is don't mess with her unless you have a death wish or something.

About the Nymphs: The nymphs…? That title sounds very familiar to me, but for some reason, I haven't the slightest memory about them. However, I have been gaining my memory recently and in one of them, there were 6 other girls in the area and they were all chatting with one another. However, I can't recall what they were talking about let alone who they were.

More about Flykra I (Art): I love art and everything to do with or related to it. In fact, EVERYTHING in this world is art. I find it ridiculous when people say that you'll never make money with art as without art, so many things wouldn't exist. Heck, the most famous artists made tons of money by just adding sketches and/or paint to paper and making it into something new. By the way, if you want, I can make one for you.

More about Flykra II (Working with People): I absolutely despise people who waste my time. Therefore, people like Kaeya are on my “unreliable” list. When I need something to be done, it needs to be done right then and there otherwise it's becomes of no importance to me.

More about Flykra III (Ethnic Background(s)): I'm multiracial, or in other words, I have mixed heritage. I have Khaenri'ahn ancestry from my mom and Liyuean and Inazuman descent from my father. And although I wasn't born in Mondstadt, I still consider myself a Mondstadter.

More about Flykra IV (Alchemy): I'm actually really good with Alchemy and have a pretty good understanding of it. I'm also really good with technology. After all, I took those classes in Khaenri'ah along with 4 other ones.

More about Flykra V (Food): I LOVE food and I especially love cooking and baking. Everytime Margaret and Felix were in the kitchen, I'd also be there helping them out with whatever they're making. They would always talk about their dream of opening up a [family] restaurant. But… I guess now that dream will never come true.

Flykra's Hobbies: My hobbies? Well, when I'm not assisting Albedo, I work as a singer, songwriter, dancer/performer, photographer, music composer, and even as an author and novelist. All professionally and sometimes as a hobby. You'll often see me perform at the Dawn Winery and the tavern, or moving from place to place taking commissions for composing music and photography. Basically, I'm a very busy person with a busy schedule.

Favorite Food: I like many foods. But I especially love food that's fried and/or has a little bit of spiciness in it. Nothing tastes better than a fried or spicy dish served on a platter. I find it funny when people complain about fried food being too greasy when they can just get a napkin and press it onto the food to take the grease off. A wise person one said and didn't invent the phrase "work smarter not harder" for no reason you know.

Least Favorite Food: Least Favorite Food: I absolutely hate spiders so you can't imagine how freaked out I was when I found out that Albedo eats them. I legit ended up calling Barbara to get him some mental aid. I also don't like onions. Cutting them is a pain in the applebottom for my eyes.

Receiving a Gift I: Oh my! This tastes exquisite! I can tell that you put your heart and soul in this dish. If anything, you might even surpass my level of cooking.

Receiving a Gift II: Hmm… this isn’t too bad. However, it's definitely missing a few things and is especially lacking in flavor. It almost tastes as if you only used salt and pepper as the seasoning.

Receiving a Gift III: Ugh… Blech! Sorry, I-I think I'll pass one this one. How about I make something for us instead?

Birthday: Happy Birthday!!! May you have the best years of your life ahead of you!!! Here, I made this especially for this occasion.

Feelings about ascension (Intro): A fight a day keeps the enemies away. Keep it up!

Feelings about ascension (Building up): Another upgrade? Well then… let's put it to good use shall we?

Feelings about ascension (Climax): We're almost there. Just a bit more practice and will be professionals in no time.

Feelings about ascension (Conclusion): Wow, we really did it. I'm glad you and I could make it this far.

༻𓊈𒆜Combat Dialogue𒆜𓊉༺

Elemental Skill 1: Chill Out!

Elemental Skill 2: You need to cool down!

Elemental Skill 3: Froze your track!

Plunging Attack I: Chilled your spine?

Plunging Attack II: Ice to meet you

Elemental Burst I: Ice on the prize!

Elemental Burst II: Burn in Hail!

Elemental Burst III: I shall not fail Khaenri'ah!

Elemental Burst IV: Know your place!

Elemental Burst V: Out of my way, nuisance!

Opening Treasure Chest I: A well-rewarded compensation!

Opening Treasure Chest II: Hmm… Not bad.

Opening Treasure Chest III: Oh, what do we have here?

Low HP I: Damn you! You'll regret that!

Low HP II: It takes more than that to take me down!

Low HP III: *Growls* If you wanna die then so be it!

Ally at Low HP I: You can’t keep pushing yourself like this!

Ally at Low HP II: Relax! I'll take over from here.

Fallen I: It's just like what happened… back home.

Fallen II: I'm sorry... everyone.

Fallen III: Is this the end of... Khaenri'ah?

[sg-marshall]

sims 4 trait legacy challenge

Overview:

This is a ten generation legacy challenge based on some characteristics people can possess. Each generation will be based upon a new trait. The style and gender of the generation is completely up to you (I usually play as women but gender does not matter in this challenge)! Complete all goals before focusing on the next generation. Some may play onto each other, so be sure to look ahead before moving forward! I created an adapted version for people who do not have the packs I used listed below the challenge. I wanted to make sure everyone could play and not feel left out!

Rules:

No cheats or mods!

Start off with $20,000 and a build a house wherever you want one.

Complete all six goals for every generation before moving onto the next one.

Complete the full aspiration and reach level 10 in the set career.

There is no rules when it comes to aging up but I suggest waiting until it is their set birthday.

Play on normal life span.

Packs Used: Base Game, Discovery University, Seasons, City Living, Get to Work, Cats and Dogs, Parenthood, Spa Day, and Knifty Knitting

Generation One: Responsibility

You are a very old fashioned person who believes things have a certain way of being done. Every object in your house has a set place, the person you marry you are supposed to stay with forever, and the world should be a clean place to live in. Never once have you strayed away from your beliefs and you’ve always lived your life by the book. Even once your partner dies and you are left with a child who cannot handle their passing, you stay true to your morals. (EDIT: I have been playing this challenge myself and found that the final level of the aspiration said “have a child master a career”. I do not know if you have to be in the household for that, but if you do, just add this generation to the household of the next one before they master it. It is also okay if you want to ignore/cheat this part.)

Traits: Neat, Good, Green Fiend

Aspiration: Successful Lineage

Career: Education (Administrator Branch)

Goals:

Max charisma skill.

Max research and debate skill.

Be married as a young adult, but have your partner die (do not tell your child how) once they reach adult hood. Never remarry.

Have only one child with your partner.

Complete the snowglobes collection and have them set up in a specific room in your house.

Make your neighborhood green and keep it that way.

Generation Two: Determined

You’ve always struggled to cope with the death of your father/mother ever. Maybe that's because you never really knew why they died in the first place. Left with too many questions to handle, you destroy your relationship with your friends and family and run away to find some answers. This entails a trip to Sixam, where you can finally wrap ahead around the passing of you mom/dad. You decide to come home just in time to see your mom/dad just before they too pass away. After a heart-breaking conversation, you realize that all the secrecy was for the best.

Traits: Gloomy, Ambitious, Loner

Aspiration: Nerd Brain

Career: Astronaut (Interstellar Smuggler Branch)

Goals:

Max rocket science skill.

Max mischief skill.

Build a rocket ship and fly to Sixam.

Run away and live on your own as a teenager. 

Have a horrible relationship with your mom/dad as a young adult, but become best friends with them before they pass away.

Complete the microscope prints collection.

Generation Three: Loving

Your mother/father was extremely distant growing up, which caused you to rely on friends as your family. Your childhood best friend has been with you every step of the way, and you ended up fell in love with them. All you wanted to do was be a mother/father, but found out you could never have children. You adopt a child as a baby and raise them as your own, teaching them everything you wish your parents did for you.

Traits: Romantic, Family - Oriented, Foodie

Aspiration: Soulmate

Career: Babysitter (Teenager), None (Young Adult and older)

Goals:

Max parenting skill.

Max wellness skill.

Marry your childhood best friend.

Adopt a baby after you get married.

Teach your toddler to max all skills.

Have a side passion of knitting.

Generation Four: Intelligence

You grew up incredibly smart with no knowledge of who your real parents were. However, that never mattered to you. Your adoptive parents have made it their life goal to advance your gifts in every way they know how. Late nights of helping you with homework, early mornings of finishing projects, and spending their fortunes to enroll you into the college of your dreams. All you wanted to do was repay them by becoming a world renowned journalist. You dedicate your best-sellers to them because, after all, they’ll always be your biggest fan.

Traits: Genius, Bookworm, Unflirty

Aspiration: Academic

Career: Writer (Journalist Branch)

Goals:

Max logic skill.

Max writing skill. 

Reach level eight in five other skills of your choice.

Go to the University of  Britechester and study Language and Literature (distinguished).

Join the Debate Guild and reach the highest rank.

Write five novels.

Generation Five: Hard - Working

Fashion has been your passion since you were a little girl/boy. You even asked your parents to stop dressing you as a toddler because the clothes they picked were “not stylish enough.” As a self-proclaimed style icon, you knew you had to make your biggest dream come true: to create your own fashion line. So, as soon as you graduated high school, you packed your bags and moved to the big city - San-Myshuno. There you created your social media platform and blew up! A normal life was never your style, and you made sure to put in as many hours as it would take to achieve all you ever wanted.

Traits: Perfectionist, Self - Assured, Materialistic

Aspiration: City Native

Career: Style Influencer (Stylist Branch)

Goals:

Max photography skill.

Max painting skill.

Must live in San-Myshuno.

Complete the crystals collection.

Hire a nanny for your child and do not spend much time with them.

Gain 10,000 followers on Simstagram.

Generation Six: Resilience

After being known as “the child of the most famous fashion designer” all your life, the city became a toxic place for you. You hated the loud noises, constant stream of people, and just wanted to live a quiet life. You loved visiting your grandmother/father’s house and hearing one of her/his famous stories. You decided to pull inspiration from one of their novels and live off by the coast in the adorable Brindleton Bay. Your passion for crafting and living off the land inspired you to start a small business selling your candles and juice - all locally grown of course. 

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Maker, Creative

Aspiration: Master Maker

Career: Freelancer (Simply Crafted)

Goals:

Max fabrication skill.

Reach level eight in both candle making and juice fizzing.

Move to Brindleton Bay as a young adult.

Have four or more kids.

Complete the frog collection.

Never go to an event in the city or visit the city once you are a young adult.

Generation Seven: Carefree

Being in a big family is can be hectic at times. So, you decided to be the happy jokester in the middle just trying to get people to crack a smile. And you got really good at it. As a major people person, you made sure to get to know everyone you meet. You even started a tradition of taking a picture with them so you could never forget that moment. Your friends will always invite you to go out because you are known for being the life of the party. However, the parties you host, are even better. You decide to live life as if it was one big stage, and you’re the star performer.

Traits: Goofball, Clumsy, Outgoing

Aspiration: Party Animal

Career: Entertainer (Comedian Branch)

Goals:

Max comedy skill.

Max singing skill.

Host a party every week.

Take a photo of every person who visits you.

Marry someone you met just two days before.

Attend every festival or event you are asked to attend.

Generation Eight: Kind

Expected to be just like your mother/father, no one ever assumed you would be the quiet kid who preferred reading over partied. However, that is exactly who you were. When it was that time of the week for a new social event, you either left for the library or locked yourself in your room, praying it ended soon. Your parents noticed you struggled talking to people, so they allowed you to adopt a puppy once you became a teenager. You and your dog instantly became best friends and you took them everywhere. Even though you may not be great with people, being compassionate was a skill you ranked high in. You always looked out for the less fortunate and wanted to provide in anyway you could.

Traits: Vegetarian, Loner, Good

Aspiration: Friend of the Animals

Career: Gardner (Floral Designer Branch)

Goals:

Max gardening skill.

Max flower arranging skill.

Keep up a garden of just flowers.

Adopt strays: one dog, and two cats.

Marry an ambitious sim.

Donate $100 to charity weekly.

Generation Nine: Impulsive

You grew up hearing stories of your grandmother/father’s so called “wild days” and fell in love with the energy it brought. However, your mom/dad raised you better than to go out spending life as if there was no consequences. Finding a balance started off to be very challenging for you. You could never hold down relationships and even got pregnant/got someone pregnant twice. It wasn't until you became a secret agent and learned how to live two lifestyles: one full of fun and adventure; the other more stable and structured.

Traits: Active, Non-Committal, Bro

Aspiration: Bodybuilder

Career: Secret Agent (Diamond Agent Branch)

Goals:

Max fitness skill.

Max handiness skill.

Go to either college for Psychology and play soccer.

Have four failed relationships and never get married.

Have two children from two different relationships.

Move three times once you become a young adult.

Generation 10: Passionate

Because your mother/father’s job required you to move around so much, making real life friends was a lot harder than it seemed. So, you built your relationships within the online community. Every day, you and your closest friends would hop online and compete in tournaments or even play for fun. As the years went on, you became really good at coding and even started working on your own apps. You looked up to the players from ESports Gaming - only the best gamers in the world - and longed to be sitting in one of their spots. And sure enough, after years of perfecting your strategies and game plays, your dreams came true!

Traits: Geek, Hot-Headed, Outgoing

Aspiration: Computer Whiz

Career: Tech Guru (ESport Gamer Branch)

Goals:

Max programming skill.

Max video gaming skill.

Complete the MySims Trophies collection.

Attend and compete in every Geek Con convention.

Make five video games or apps.

Mentor your child/ren for five hours each.

Adaptations:

Gen 1:

If you do not have Discover University, go into the Business career (Management Branch).

Max cooking skill if you do not have Discover University.

If you do not have City Living, complete the postcards collection.

Gen 2:

Unlock the secret world in Oasis Springs if you do not have Get to Work.

Gen 3:

If you do not have Parenthood but do have Get to Work, max the baking skill.

If you do not have both Parenthood and Get to Work, max the gourmet cooking skill.

If you do not have Spa Day but do have Knifty Knitting, max the knitting skill.

If you do not have both Spa Day or Knifty Knitting, max the photography skill.

If you do not have Knifty Knitting, have a side passion of photography.

Gen 4:

If you do not have Discover University, read a new skill book every week instead of attending university.

Gen 5:

If you do not have City Living, have the  Fabulously Wealthy aspiration.

If you do not have City Living, live in Oasis Springs.

Gen 6:

Do not have a career if you do not have Eco-Lifestyle. Instead, craft item on the woodworking for money.

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, max the fishing skill instead of reaching level eight in candle making and juice fizzing.

If you do not have Cats and Dogs, move to Evergreen Harbor.

If you do not have both Cats and Dogs or Eco-Lifestyle, live in Willow Creek

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, have the self-assured trait instead.

If you do not have Eco-Lifestyle, have the Angling Ace aspiration.

Gen 7:

If you do not have City Living but do have Get Together, max the dancing skill.

If you do not have both City Living or Get Together, max the mixology skill.

Gen 8:

If you do not have Dogs and Cats, have the Freelance Botanist aspiration.

Do not have a career if you do not have Seasons. Instead, sell your plants for money.

If you do not have Seasons but have Get to Work, max the baking skill.

If you do not have both Seasons or Get to Work, max the violin skill.

If you do not have Dogs and Cats, but have Seasons, own three bees nests and two insect nests instead of owning pets.

If you do not have both Dogs and Cats or Seasons, have three children instead of having three pets.

If you do not have City Living, have the cheerful trait.

Gen 9:

If you do have Strangerville, go into the Military Career (I do not have it, so I played as a Secret Agent)

If you do have Snowy Escape, have the adventurous trait instead of the active trait (I do not have it but believe they would be adventurous).

If you do not have Discover University, read five skill books over different topics, instead of going to college.

Gen 10:

If you do not have City Living, compete in an online tournament weekly instead of going to Geek Con.

[neonponders]

I’ve never written Murder Boyfriends before, but @cuepickle ‘s art is just so lovely and powerful.

Based on this and this 💗 💜 🖤 (impending smut ahoy)

• • • • • • •

I just want to help, he’d said.

I just want to make things right, he’d said.

Steve said a lot of things. But he moaned incoherent words and exclaimed sounds he didn’t want anyone else to hear when Billy Hargrove steamrolled into his life, his feelings, and his goddamn morals.

Billy Hargrove wasn’t...right. He was twelve different shades of wrong, punctuated by Caribbean blue eyes and decorated with bronzed waves and curls. Steve knew he had a superiority complex, but he hadn’t known it was this bad.

Thing is, if he’d known, Steve couldn’t guarantee whether he’d change anything. Because knowing Billy Hargrove is a murderer would also mean Steve knew what his lips tasted like, and their softness against his neck.

All Steve had known was that Sheriff Hopper was missing, and his parents, being the upstanding white people that they are, deferred nearly every inconvenience to the police. And the police answered, because fat wallets keep their lights on, like everyone else.

But the Sheriff’s phones kept ringing. And maybe Steve had his own complex after so much time with Nancy, because he parked out front and strolled right into the Sheriff’s office.

The secretary wasn’t there.

Neither were the two deputies.

Steve tucked himself between the desks to pry apart the window blinds. Their cars were still here -

Steve’s head rotated at a sound he knew. He knew it in the way a memory piqued but he couldn’t place where or why. He followed it into the chief’s office...where Billy Hargrove sat at the desk - Hopper’s own chair - and ate a crisp apple from the strange pile in the waste paper basket.

“Billy?”

“Hi, Steve,” he smiled. Ankles crossed on the desk. A perfect, violet crescent framed the side of his eye. An indigo shadow rested in the inner corner of the other one. Either way, Steve’s first red flag was that he ached with concern more than itched for the nailed bat in his trunk.

“What happened to you?”

Steve thought the guy might choke, the way he tipped his head back to laugh while chunks of apple sat in his mouth. Naturally, it took him some time to chew and swallow before he said, “I finally stopped being afraid. And I started being responsible. Not the way he planned, though.”

“Hopper?” Steve frowned.

Billy did not answer immediately. He licked the apple like it might drip juice and beckoned, “Why don’t you sit down? I want to see you.”

The only lights on were in the main room where Steve stood. Ghoulish, fluorescent bulbs while Billy sat in shadow and vague, evening light hatching through the Chief’s window blinds. There was some kind of irony there: Steve in the fake, green-tinged light, and Billy in the natural...honest darkness.

Steve peeked behind him, surveying the room but finding no warnings apart from the negative space where people should be.

He stepped into the office -

“I’ve always liked looking at you.”

Steve paused on the carpet. Billy had said it loud enough to hear, but with enough air in it that Steve couldn’t tell if he was drunk or hadn’t meant to say it aloud. Then he tried to sit in one of the chairs -

“Over here. Sit on the desk.”

“What?” Steve blinked at him, suddenly very aware that the light gave Billy full view of his face but Steve only got the glow in that dark blond hair.

A strong leg pushed Billy away from the desk. The apple tumbled onto its pile of brothers, discarded as he pat the desk. “Sit right here.”

Steve shook his head all at once, beginning to backpedal out of the room. “This is weird.”

“No shit. This whole town’s weird. I’ve been reading some personal files in this room. I guess the Chief thought he was being smart, but...I’ve been hiding my whole life. I know where people hide things. A lot of things make sense in this place, now. The rat pack Max hangs out with. And you. A lot of things makes sense about you, Steve.”

Steve shrugged and his hands clapped against his thighs. “Okay? You’re not special for seeing my report cards.”

Billy’s features froze, but only for a moment, and then laughter burst out of him. “Steve, please sit down. God, I wanna touch you.”

Steve Harrington is a simple person. He’d officially been single for far too long, struck out every time he faced a woman - and a couple guys who were too scared or oblivious to do anything - and he just...

He wanted.

He wanted to be touched and if Billy was offering - Hot Stuff Hargrove, Baby Doll Eyes Billy - then Steve couldn’t help but take. He’d been so patient with everyone. He waited for Nancy to be ready. He accepted defeat when everyone walked away from him with rolling eyes or obligatory smiles.

Billy...talked. He talked and talked. He’d always been a talker; on the basketball court, barking orders as a lifeguard. Always talking, or letting his radio talk for him.

But Steve sat on Hopper’s desk and felt the warmth of Billy’s palms seep through his jeans. He held onto Steve’s calves as he talked. Talked about terrible things. Broken plates and abandoned things. Being the abandoned thing. Being the broken thing. He talked for hours before finally fucking Steve on that desk.

He’d started slow. Just unbuttoning the jeans and then leaving them alone. It would be another half hour before he took off Steve’s shoes. Every time Steve looked behind him - as if asking for someone to come in, to interrupt, to break this dark dream Billy wove around him - Billy said, “Look at me.”

“I’ve been looking at you, Billy.”

A small smile twitched on his lips. “Good.”

It would be another hour before he said, “I think my dad killed my mom.”

Less than a minute before he added, “He had it coming. Feel bad for my step-mom, though. But she was a screamer. So was the tall deputy. Things can finally be quiet now.”

Steve sat very still as arms circled around his pelvis and Billy just...hugged him. Pressed his face against Steve’s soft belly and inhaled his scent. Warm laundry and Steve Steve Steve.

He couldn’t be sure how things evolved into sex. Steve was already trapped in Billy’s web, so all he had to do was decide, to give the web a pluck and Steve felt the vibrations.

He planted his hands on the desk, lifting his ass for Billy to wrench the jeans and underwear off in one go. They got stuck on Steve’s feet, bunched up so Steve had to figure it out himself as Billy pressed himself over top of him.

The green desk lamp fell with an ominous clank.

Steve finally got a leg free and wrapped it around Billy’s ass the same time teeth found his neck. The warning bells that had been ringing since he got here felt far away; church bells too high over the town to actually make a difference in the goings-on.

Billy marked him up like he had paperwork to sign. Steve’s deed was his, and Billy moaned and grunted with every sigh he wrung out of Steve. Every squeeze to his waist made him moan, and he outright whimpered when Billy licked up his neck. For how much Billy gripped, bit, and sucked, he moved surprisingly gently below the belt.

“Gonna get lube later,” he said in that way again, traveling down Steve’s body as his thoughts escaped into the air. “I’m going to have your ass every which way, Harrington.”

Steve could only gasp as his tongue shoved inside him with no preamble. “I-I-I didn’t shower - ”

A guttural, breathy hum ricocheted from Billy’s throat and into Steve’s chest, knocking Steve’s head back like a rock on the way there. Billy’s stubble and gross wetness made Steve feel filthy in the best way. His cock lay heavily on his abdomen, spurting precum every time Billy’s hands squeezed the backs of his thighs.

Steve came like he’d never been touched in his life. His breathing picked up and he rutted against Billy’s face twice before making a mess of his shirt.

Billy took his slowly fading erection into his mouth, jerking himself off almost violently in a matter of seconds.

When Steve stepped outside, the air smelled like the sunrise even though only the faintest bit of blue had begun to dilute the darkness. And as the sun rose, Steve had never felt worse. It was like seeing a demogorgon for the first time, but instead of minutes, it stretched into hours.

People were dead.

Presumably Chief Hopper too.

Billy, he...he...

He showed up to Steve’s house with a smile and freshly laundered clothes. Steve had showered but looked like he hadn’t slept in a month. Billy only tipped his head back toward his car. “I’ve got two bank accounts freshly inherited. Let me buy you lunch.”

Steve wondered if Dustin’s comic book villains drove Camaros.

Billy bought him lunch. Bought him a chocolate milkshake too. Steve didn’t want to think about his ability to swallow those down so easily. Or how he interacted with the waitress like he wasn’t covered in red and brown love bites delivered directly atop Chief Hopper’s desk. He didn’t want to think what having all of Billy Hargrove’s attention on him did to his squirming...pleased...insides.

He didn’t want to think as Billy fingered him in the backseat.

They didn’t even fit back there but Billy moved with what felt like the strength of three men. It was arousing, being manhandled like that; any fear Steve ought to have held in his gut tapped its disapproving toe outside of the vehicle. The way Billy sucked behind his ear, gripped his hips so he could slot himself right in between Steve’s legs and rut his dark pink erection against Steve’s...

The way he bought Steve more milkshakes.

And a fresh tire rotation because his car veered to the left.

And filled him up in the darkness of Steve’s bedroom, making Steve bounce on his cock as he licked the taste of him off his lubed up fingers - 

“You haven’t even kissed me yet.”

It just...came out.

The husky lust cleared from Billy’s eyes when Steve said that. Terror must have filled Steve’s eyes because Billy gently cradled the side of his head.

This is it. This is how I die. Wanting a freaking kiss from a psycho -

“I thought you’d be the one to do that.”

Steve blinked vacantly at him. He could feel Billy’s heartbeat inside his ass and the guy just smiled -

“King Steve. Never thought you were shy - mmph.”

Billy’s bravado melted against Steve’s mouth. He hummed as he felt Steve’s precum on his belly, soaking them both with what he did to him, did to Steve and all of his flawed moral systems.

Steve pushed Billy onto his back with his kiss, tongue desperately tasting and exploring his mouth as his fingers laced behind Billy’s neck.

Until Billy reached up and pulled Steve’s hands apart, just enough for the bases of his palms to sit on both pulse points.

Billy did it himself: made his cheeks go pink and his chest flush red. But Steve made his ass slap against Billy’s thighs. Made Billy’s jaw go slack and his orgasm slow. Made his eyes water and his chest heave when he could breathe again.

Maybe that was his chance. His chance to make things right.

But with an empty Sheriff’s office down the road, and still no one the wiser, Hawkins wasn’t living by any sort of right anymore. The only right that Steve knew, was Billy’s hands making him feel powerful and precious.

[beclynn-herondale]

“I'm Jace,” said Jace. “I'm Kit's big brother.”

“And I'm Kit. I'm the smart one,” Kit grinned.

Jace glowered. “I'm smart.”

“Sure,” Kit said.

“He's four and is so mean,” Jace pointed out. “But I love him.”

“Aww, what a softie,” Kit joked.

Jace sighed.

“If only someone loved you,” Kit grinned.

“That's taking it too far.”

“Is it, Mr. I'm afraid of ducks?”

Jace and Kit started wrestling.

“Boys, why don't you go play in your bedroom,” Céline suggested. “Just be careful and don't hurt each other.”

They both shrugged and ran off to one of the bedrooms.

“Being the mother to two Herondale boys is hard," Céline said. "And when your wife is a Herondale who only encourages them. . .it can be even harder.”

"I don't encourage them," Rosemary said defensively.

Céline gave her a look. “So it wasn't you who cheered Jace on in the argument against that kid on the playground?”

She shrugged. “We can't help that our son has a sharp wit. He beat that kid into the ground.”

“It's an exhausting job. I love my kids and my wife,” Céline smiled.

“Of course she loves us,” Rosemary crossed her arms and smiled.

“Raziel give me strength,” Céline said.

“Jace and Kit are great,” Rosemary said. “Always pranking each other. What more could you want in your kids?”

“What about how bird poop always ends up somewhere in the house,” Céline pointed out.

“We sanitize everything.”

Céline sighed.

“Where most people say ‘I can't.’ Our boys say ‘I can.’” Rosemary chuckled. “I love them. One time someone told Kit he couldn't climb up a set of stairs and he ran up them so fast. Jace was told he couldn't master piano in a half a year, and he mastered it in two months. They're unstoppable.”

“The boys often play with Michael Wayland's son and Robert Lightwood's kids,” Céline said. “We think Michael and Robert are dating, but we aren't sure.”

“Robert got a divorce a few years ago, couldn't keep a queen.”

“Rosemary,” Céline gasped and hit her arm lightly.

”Anyway, Michael has liked Robert since forever,” Rosemary was gesturing with her hands. “I said we should get them together. But Céline said we shouldn't get involved.”

“Because it isn't our business.”

“Baby, if I hadn't messed around with things that weren't my business, I would have never gotten you,” Rosemary winked.

Céline blushed.

Rosemary smirked. “Is that all? 'Cause I got some other business to attend to.”

They were done, Rosemary pulled Céline toward her and kissed her hard.

______

“I'm Michael,” Michael waved.

“And I'm Robert,” Robert mumbled, never being one for this kind of thing.

“So the big question everyone has is ‘Are we dating?’ We're both single dads. I tragically lost my wife and Robert tragically got a divorce," Michael said. And the answer is; I don't know.”

“What do you mean you don't know?” Robert asked.

“I don't know. Are we dating, Robert?”

Robert turned away.

“I don't know, either,” Michael admitted.

Robert stared out the window.

“But we do watch our kids together a lot, and I like to pretend we're a family,” Michael smiled. “It's nice when we have all the kids here. Alec is the eldest and he's just the best boy, so precious, so well behaved. Isabelle is the next Lightwood, she's a rebel, and is competitive. Then there's Max, he spends most of his time looking at books, which is odd since he's like almost three. And finally, we have my son. Jonathan is a well behaved boy, so sweet. But so naive. He would get in the van with a stranger. Luckily Alec's here. So when me and Robert are taking care of two kids at once, Alec keeps an eye on the other one.”

“I don't what we'd do without Alec,” Robert finally spoke.

“Well, I mean. . . there's me too,” Michael pointed out.

“Oh, yeah? You.”

“Are you messing with me?” Michael demanded.

“Maybe,” Robert smiled a little.

Michael started to wrestle with him, and ended up on top of Robert, they then gazed into each other's eyes.

(the interviewer left.)

______

“Hello, I'm Maryse,” she said. “I'm in a relationship with an amazing man. His name is Kadir. And I have come to the realization that I love him. Which kind of pissed me off a little, but also he's just amazing. And the kids love him. Don't you, Alec?”

“He doesn't talk much. I don't talk much, We have a mutual understanding,” Alec said.

”He's a little blank and quiet for my taste,” said Izzy. “But he loves mom. So, he's all right.”

“He cool,” Max said.

“But yes, I filed for divorce from my husband when I was pregnant with Max. I'd had enough, and I didn't want a new baby in the environment we were creating for our children.”

“Thank God,” Alec mumbled.

“Yeah,” Isabelle coughed.

Maryse stared.

“Maryse?” called Kadir.

“I'll be back.” She got up and left.

_

(One on one with the Lightwood siblings.)

“We're glad our parents got a divorce,” Alec said.

“They always fought. It got really bad at the end,” Izzy added.

“I wasn't born.” Mac continued to stare at his picture book.

“We aren't sad about it. Which might seem cold, but they're both much happier since the divorce.”

“Yeah, and we have two houses. And besides, Michael is awesome,” Izzy smiled. “I think him and dad are secretly dating.”

Alec looked into the camera. “It's uncertain.”

______

"Luke and I grew up together," Jocelyn said. "But I was married to an asshole before him. My two kids are from my first marriage. Luke loves them as his own, though."

"They're my kids," Luke smiled.

“Luke is our dad,” Clary said. “He does my hair. And he always hangs my drawings on the fridge.”

Jonathan nodded. “He also lfits us up really high and helps us pick apples.”

Clary rolled her eyes. “That's not the point, Jona.”

“It's a point to me,” he argued.

“Kids,” Jocelyn said, “behave.”

“I'm just saying,” Clary shrugged, “it's not the point.”

“And I'm saying that I like to be held up high,” Jonathan said.

“Yeah, it's your pride that needs to come down,” Clary stuck her tongue out.

“Says the one with a bad temper,” Jonathan shot back.

“Kids, enough. Behave we're on camera,” Jocelyn scolded.

“I'll get you a book, Clary. And I'll get you a new music CD, Jonathan. If you both behave,” Luke said.

They both stopped bickering.

Jocelyn hit him on the arm. “You can't bribe them every time.”

“It works, doesn't it?” Luke shrugged.

Jocelyn sighed.

______

“Yeah,” said Céline, flushed. “We have neighbors that live a little ways out. There's the Lightwoods, the Waylands, the Fairchilds and Luke. Maryse and Kadir live in the city.”

“Sometimes we have dinner with Maryse and Kadir,” Rosemary chimed in. “They're a cute couple. And Maryse is so chill, now.”

“That's true,” Céline nodded. ”To be honest, we were all happy when Maryse and Robert decided to get a divorce ”

Rosemary cringed. “They were really bad at the end.”

“Yeah,” Céline cleared her throat. “They're better now.”

“Now, we're hoping Michael and Robert get together,” Rosemary said. “Then we'd have a same-sex couple to go out with.”

“Well, and for them both to be happy,” Céline pointed out.

“Yeah. That too.” Rosemary looked into the camera.

Jace and Kit came running in then, they both jumped on Céline and Rosemary.

Rosemary started laughing.

[yikesharringrove]

Show Pony

Chapter 5

Kids

Read on ao3

-

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck. She’s going to Morocco.”

There was something in Steve’s throat, making his voice waver and sound reverent at the same time. 

“She’s going to Morocco.” Billy pressed his hand down Steve’s back, dragging his fingertips along his skin, surprisingly smooth and soft. 

Steve had his head on Billy’s chest, their bodies stuck together uncomfortably with sweat, but neither of them could be assed to move. 

They were wrapping up their little movie night, Almost Famous playing to a close on Steve’s laptop, perched on the kitchenette counter, just where they could see it from the bed. 

“Okay, that was really good.”

“I fucking told you. My mom showed me that movie when I was, like, eight. Shit changed me fundamentally.”

Steve shifted his leg a little bit but stayed silent. Billy could feel his muscles tensing uncomfortably.

“What?”

“What what?”

“I can tell you’re tense.”

“I just,” Steve sighed. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention your mom before.”

“Yeah. Don’t really like talking ‘bout her.”

“Did she, you know ?”

Yeah. Billy did know. 

“Nah, she didn’t die. She left. Not long after that movie night.”

Steve’s head popped up from where it was rested on Billy, giving him those big fuckin’ eyes looking sappy and sad as all hell. 

“I’m sorry.”

Billy didn’t know what to say to that. 

He doesn’t tell people about his mom. About her lovely life that she’s built without him in it. 

It breaks his heart just to think about. 

“She’s got kids now. A husband.”

“I don’t know what to say. I’m just. Sorry.”

“I don’t know what I want to hear. But yeah. T’sucks.”

“You wanna know something that makes me sad? So we’re even?”

Billy huffed a laugh through his nose, bringing his hand up to tuck some of Steve’s messy hair behind his ear.

“Only if you wanna tell me.”

“Remember how I said I was supposedta get my high school diploma soon? Well, by soon I mean, like, maybe within the next few years.” Steve wasn’t meeting Billy’s eyes, and he put his head back down on his solid chest, his shoulders tensing up around his ears. “I never went to school. Not even when I was little. I’ve had the same tutor on the road since I was a kid, and he’s good. Tries his best. I just. I’m- not good . I’m not smart. You need to pass this test to get your high school GED if you’ve taken an ‘ alternative route ’. Like I have. But I can’t take it until I know the shit that’s on it, and my tutor, Scott, he’s too nice. Says I’m okay. That I’m on track. But I saw the program he teaches from. Says it’s for ninth and tenth graders. I’m nearly nineteen, and I’m in fucking ninth grade .”

Oh fuck. 

Oh fuck . 

Billy’s 98.6% sure Steve is fighting back serious tears right now. 

It was crushing Billy’s soul and making him feel like he was gonna join right on in.

But for how much Billy is a goddamn little crybaby, he sure is useless when other people start crying.

“It’s, Steve- that’s not your fault. You’ve literally never gone to school. Plus, like, I’m sure you don’t do your tutoring like I did school. Five days a week for like seven hours since I was five or something. You’ve been. Busy. You travel around and do all these amazing things, and, and, you're not dumb. Your parents just chose to not put you in school and then got mad when that didn’t work out as planned. It’s got nothin’ to do with your brain.”

This is gonna sound shitty. 

And Billy really doesn’t mean it like that. 

It’s just, well. Billy didn’t realize Steve was so. Fucked up. 

Traumatized. Might be a less harsh word for it. 

Billy just never woulda thought, when he first watched Steve ride like a fucking expert, or when he first noticed him strutting around the grounds of the rodeo, that there was actually something really sad behind that denim and flannel. 

It made something in Billy’s gut twist and turn. 

Because he’s the exact same way. 

Because underneath the layer of carefully maintained hot muscle-head douchebag jock, there’s a really sensitive boy who was abandoned by his mother and gets regular hits from his father. 

He can’t really decide if being able to see through Steve is a good thing or a bad thing, though. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to act like a fucking baby over it. I never really talk about it, so I guess the bad shit just kinda all decided to explode out all over you.”

“Nah, Pretty Boy. S’okay. I’m used to bad shit.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“I meant it more in a bummer way, I guess.”

“I am sorry about your mom. It seems like you really loved her.”

Little bastard had brought it back around to Billy’s shitty baggage now. 

The gorgeous little dickhead.

“I do.”

And that’s probably the worst thing about it. 

All these years of feeling abandoned and forgotten. Of trying to make himself hate her, he still loves her so much. 

He is her. 

So much of himself modelled around the aspects of her he found most beautiful. 

The things, try as he might, he can’t help but love.

Billy felt Steve take a large deep breath on top of him. 

“Do you, like, talk to her much?”

“Nah. Should be getting a FaceBook message for my birthday next week. And then nothing ‘til Christmas. That’s how it goes with her.” She was literally the only reason Billy still kept his FaceBook account around. 

Mostly because when he was feeling sorry for himself he’d go over to her profile and peruse the album labelled “Family ❤️” until he felt worse. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Quit apologizin’. Not your fault she couldn’t handle it all.”

“Was she really young, or something?”

“Yeah. It was a case of too young and her own shitty father giving her enough issues to make her wanna marry the first asshole that told her she was pretty.” He’s never said all of this out loud. 

But he couldn’t. Stop. Talking. 

“Then when he turned out to be a bigger dick than she imagined, she split. Basically fell off the Earth for a few years. Served my dad divorce papers out of the blue one day. Now, she’s got a family that doesn’t suck, and barely spares any thought for the kid she left down south. Not that I blame her.”

He does, and he doesn’t. 

It’s an odd situation. 

He blames Neil for everything, when he’s thinking clearly. 

He pushed his mother away with the same violence, the same painful rage he shows Billy. 

But he also blames her. 

She could’ve taken him before she scrammed. Could’ve fought for custody over him while she and his father met for Skype calls with their lawyers to settle the divorce.

Their split was easy, because she didn’t want anything. 

Not their house, not their belongings.

Not their son. 

“Wow. I thought my family was fucked up. Not to be rude, or anything.” Steve flushed, but he had the ghost of a smirk on his face.

“Every family is fucked up. Just in different ways.” 

“I guess you’re right. I should probably get my head outta my ass and quit bein’ so selfish, then.”

Billy smiled fondly at Steve.

“You’re not selfish. Just don’t got a lot of outlets, I assume.”

Steve nodded, and Billy understood. 

He doesn’t either. 

The only person he even considers close enough to vent to, is Max. And even then, he doesn’t tell her all of it. Not nearly any of it. 

She knows he’s gay only because she knows Neil’s a fucking homophobe. She knows he gets beat only because Neil does it in front of her. She knows his mom left only because sometimes Neil gets drunk and spits in Billy’s face that it’s all his fault she’s gone. 

But she doesn’t know that Billy agrees with Neil on that last bit. 

That maybe if he fought for her better-

Got in between her and Neil when he was goin’ in rough and hard on her down in the kitchen, instead of hiding under his bed with his hands pressed over his ears. 

He’s got no one to work through all this shit with, and by the sounds of things, Steve hasn’t got anyone either. 

And maybe that’s what they could be. 

For each other. 

Billy shook himself.

“You wanna start your movie?” He asked Steve, trying to redirect the evening back to their Favorite Movie Double Feature, and out of Billy’s Hopeless and Has Feelings territory. 

Because time was ticking down. 

And no matter how much Billy felt like Steve was the perfect compliment to his frayed and ragged soul.

Steve was leaving. 

Steve was always leaving. 

[hargrove-mayfields]

Billy has to stick up for max a lot because of her autism, at school he walks to her class and their afraid of him because just,,, look at him

warnings for mentions of bullying and ableism.

It isn’t easy to make Maxine Mayfield cry.

At least, Billy had almost never seen her shed a tear in the six years he’d known her but maybe two times: once when she was still little, and just learned her step-family was going to move into her house and replace her real dad forever, and once when she was told they would be leaving California. Both times she’d run off to her room and slammed the door before anyone could see, but Billy had noticed. He always did when it came to Max. Had to when he knew damn well how much trouble he’d be in if things went wrong while he was watching her.

Beyond that there were a few teary eyed looks that got wiped away, maybe a sniffle she’d try to cover up by complaining about her allergies, but it was very rare, even during meltdowns, that she’d be full on crying, tears streaming down her face so quickly she couldn’t wipe them away while sobs wrack through her and make her shake.

So Billy knows first thing that something is very, very wrong when she’s already at his car after school, her face buried in her balled up jacket and doing exactly that. He can hear her from outside the car, so he sighs and knocks on the window before he yanks the door open, but Max doesn’t even flinch, just curls up tighter in the passenger seat and ignores him.

That’s a bad sign too, the fact she isn’t even trying to hide it from him, “What’s a’matter Maxi?”

“None of your business.” She snaps at him, voice thick and wet with tears. It’s unfamiliar seeing her like that and it makes Billy feel tense ang guilt even though he didn’t do it this time, so he tries, “Come on. It totally is my business. You get tears on my leather seats n’the salt’ll stain ‘em up, and you’ll be the one to clean it up.”

All it gets from Max is another heavy sob, instantly hitting him with a pang of regret for trying to be light about this, “Shit. M’sorry, Maxi. Didn’t mean it like that. Just tryin’ ta make you smile.”

“Well it didn’t work!” Max sniffles, throwing her jacket on the dash and finally turning to look at Billy, face flushed red and tracked with tears, her bottom lip still wobbling, “I’ll never ever smile again..”

“Why not? I know it’s not just because of your dumbass brother.” Billy sees a twitch at the corner of her lip, the slightest hint of a smile at him insulting himself, and he counts that as a small win, a sign he’s getting at least a little bit through to Max, so he prompts her again, “What happened at school today, Max?”

Her gaze drops to her lap, and she shrugs her shoulders slightly, stiffly, as she mumbles an explanation, “Remember how I told you about that boy, who's mean to me and my friends?”

“‘Course I do. I never forget anythin’ you tell me.”

Max wipes her nose on her sleeve, and corrects him, “Except for when you forgot I told you I had AV club and you came in the school looking for me and then you got stuck talking to a teacher for like, three hours after I was done.”

“Yeah, well that was one time. N’I was already havin’ a bad day when you told me, thank you very much.” He encourages her, his face serious though their tone is light-hearted, “Keep goin’, what’d this kid do now?”

Again Max’s features close off, and she tries to lie, “He was just.. Well it was my fault.. I-I don’t know.”

“Max. I need the truth.”

Talking fast, like she’s fighting against her thoughts, she makes him promise, “Promise me you won’t do anything dumb, first.”

Billy lifts a hand from the steering wheel, “I won’t. Cross my heart, Maxi.”

At this point, in the silence that builds while Max wills herself to speak, Billy starts to drive, since it’s clear he won’t be going back into that school. It isn’t lost on him the way Max takes a deep breath, out of relief that he meant it when he said he wasn’t going to be dumb and march back in there.

Quickly, once she’s ready, she explains, “Okay. Well he kinda sort of told me that I was annoying ‘cause I laugh too much, and I told him it was just a stim n’that I couldn’t help it but he said that made me a baby and I told him I wasn’t and he called me a retard instead and I was already stressed so I started crying like a dumb baby and he laughed at me and none of my friends said anything or helped me and I just.. yeah.”

All Billy can do is raise his eyebrows, has about a hundred and one pissy and angry things he could say, but he doesn’t utter a word, because he doesn’t want to make Max more upset than she already is.

Clearly just the change in his expression spooks her though, because she insists, sounding like she could cry again at any second, “You promised me!”

He puts his hands up sort of defensively, though he has to grab the wheel again when the car veers, swallowing his anger to tell her calmly, “I didn’t even say anything. I promised I’d be nice and I’m gonna keep that promise.”

She nods hesitantly, more to show trust than agreement, so Billy continues, “But Maxi that’s.. bad. Why don’t you tell a teacher or some shit?”

“Yeah, like they would even do anything. They already hate me for being in their coed classes.” Max mumbles the last part, looking away, “They’d probably rather Troy beat me up so I wouldn’t be bothering them anymore.”

“Tell me you’re being dramatic.”

But Max just shrugs again.

“Fuck, I hate this fucking place.” Billy tears his eyes from the road to look Max in the eyes as she says it, even knowing she can’t return the gesture, “You know you don’t deserve to go through this shit, Maxi?”

“It.. is kinda my fault though.”

He lashes out, just a little, hearing her talk like that about herself. Because it’s not fair that a thirteen year old girl looks at herself that way, yeah, but also because he knows it’s in some ways his fault too, and their parents for the way she’d been brought up, and the shit she'd been around that she even thinks to say shit like that.

He hits the palm of his hand against the rim of his steering wheel, rather he goes to before he catches himself, slowing it before it really hits, tapping it more than anything, “No the fuck it isn’t. It’s nobody’s fault but the assholes that make it into a problem. And fucking Neil’s for dragging us to this close-minded little spot on the map. I hate this fucking town”

“Oh.” Is all Max says.

Billy waits, but he can see she doesn’t know what else to say, so he sighs, “Look, I made my promise to you. Can you make one for me now?”

Max looks confused, “Okay?”

“Promise me that the next time somebody says some shit to you, you stand up for yourself.” Max scrunches up her face, like she immediately disagrees with that, but Billy insists, “Look, I don’t care if you’re crying like a damn baby or you can’t even talk while you do it, just don’t let ‘em walk all over you like that again.”

“I’m not fighting anyone, Billy. I’m not.. like you.”

“That’s not what I said. I said to stand up for yourself. It’s different.”

“Yeah right. How am I supposed to do that?” Billy knows that some asshole had to have said that to Max, that for whatever bullshit reason she couldn’t stick up for herself. Damn kid can’t catch a break in life, so he tells her, at this point not sure if this is even advice or just him ranting at Max, “This kid calls you a slur again, tell ‘im at least you got the diagnosis. Make him feel like he’s the stupid one. And if a teacher ever pulls some shit about the way you learn, tell ‘em you’ll go to the board of education and personally get their asses fired. Your mom would fight for you.”

“No she wouldn’t.”

“Then dammit I would. Your friends would if they understood. I know Sinclair would kick ass for you.”

Max’s toughness finally cracks- she learned that from him, to put on that hard exterior and fake it- Billy's determination stronger than her stubbornness. She looks up at him with a look in her eye that says he’s said all the right things, “You really think so?”

“No shit. Big brothers know all about this kind of bull.”

“I guess.” Max smiles just a little, and tells him matter-of-factly, “But you’re not that kind of big brother. You’re too cool.”

“Hell yeah I am.” Billy hums proudly, adding with humor in his tone, “But it’s even more cool to be nice to your little sister than it is to be an asshole. Remember that one.”

Max nods, listing it off on her fingers, “Stand up for myself, but don’t be an asshole, and Billy's secretly a big softie. I think I got it.”

“Good. Now out of my car, shitbird.”

Giggling in that way that says she knows she got him, Max swings open her door and runs into the house, leaving Billy to watch after her. He turns off the car but doesn’t get out, trying to bury his worry for her under his expression, not because he didn’t care, or even because he didn’t want her to know, he was long past that, but because he was worried what would happen if Susan saw his concern.

She’d weasel the truth out of Max if she knew something was up, and somehow, despite her promises, Neil would find out once he dragged his ass back home from the bar later tonight, and then it would somehow be Billy’s fault. He just hopes, if Max lets slip about the bullying, she at least doesn’t get too mouthy and mention the part where she was crying.

That was a Friday when that all went down, so Billy has the weekend, which thankfully does not include any snitching, to decide what he’s going to do about it. It’s not like he was ever going to go beat up on any tweens anyways, but he promised Max he wouldn’t be dumb, and he knew that meant no passive aggressive bullshit either. At least not while she could see him.

Because that ruled out like, half of his options, he’s still kind of clueless on what he’s going to do that next Monday morning when schools back in. He’s sitting in the middle school parking lot, fingers twitching against the steering wheel without a cigarette to busy them with, waiting for 7:30 on the dot when Max always goes in.

At this point, he’s considering just ditching with her to go get ice cream or something so she doesn’t have to face any bullies today, but his epiphany comes in the form of watching Jonathan Byers walk the littler one all the way to the front doors, his hand protectively hooked through the handle on the kid’s backpack. When the clock ticks the right time and Max opens her door, he knows what he’s going to do, and he turns the car off.

She freezes, can tell he’s up to something. “What are you doing?”

“Nothin’. M’just walking you in.” She glares at him in response to the smug smile he wears, so he swears, “Honest. I got basketball today. No way I’m missing that shit ‘cause I fought some little kid.”

“You’re lying.”

“Can’t I just be nice to my little sister?”

From the look on her face, she’s still skeptical, but it's enough to get Max to agree to it, grabbing her bag from the backseat and mumbling, “Whatever. Just don’t embarrass me.”

Billy chuckles, giving Max a head start towards the building before he follows, “Hey now, I thought just yesterday I was your cool older brother.”

“Cool older brothers don’t walk their sisters to the door.” She calls it over her shoulder, and Billy can’t help but tease her more, correcting her in a sing-songy voice, “Who said I was stoppin’ at the door? I’m walking you all the way to your class.”

“Oh god.” Max stops walking, but Billy keeps up, this time pulling ahead enough to call back to her, “Come on shitbird. Don’t wanna be late.”

“I hate you so much.”

“Yeah, right. You love that I would take the time outta my morning to do this for you.” He props open the door for Max with his boot, pretending not to notice the way all the little middle school kids at their lockers turn to gawk at them, letting her shove past him with her face flushed deeper than the color of her hair in embarrassment.

Pulling on her backpack straps, like she’s trying to physically make herself smaller, she mumbles, “No, I actually hate you.”

He almost feels bad for embarrassing her, but that’s the other part of his job, and he reminds her of that, “Good. There’s some more advice for ya, little sisters should always hate their big brothers, or he’s doing something wrong.”

They get a little ways down the hall, Max’s confidence going up just some as the shock wears off and people start to turn away, but Billy hardly notices. He doesn’t even come close to being bothered by eighth grade politics anymore, and if he’s intimidating the poor kids, well that’s exactly what he’s there for.

When he’s met with a particularly harsh glare from some snob nosed brat, who happens to remind him a lot of one Tommy Hagan, he bumps into Max on purpose, and announces louder than he needs to in hopes the kid’ll know he was looking for him, “That the little asshole s’been givin’ you trouble?”

Glancing nervously between him and Billy, she nods, “Yeah..”

Billy just nods, a cross between acknowledgment and judgement, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You said-“ Again Max panics, but Billy cuts her off this time with a simple assurance of, “And I didn’t do anything.”

Her eyebrows knit together, realizing that that wasn’t a lie, “I.. guess you didn’t.”

“What’s your first class anyways?”

“We report to the cafeteria before first period.” She informs him, leading him that way, but he hooks two fingers through the strap on her bag to stop her, “Not gonna happen, Maxi. Being shoved in a tiny room with three hundred other kids makes you feel all ‘meltdowny’ I think was your exact word. So you’re not doin’ that anymore. I just decided.”

“But that’s against the rules.”

“Yeah, so’s me bein’ in this building during school hours, but nobody’s saying shit to me, are they?”

Max narrows her eyes at him then, and he knows he said too much, that he’s been found out, “That’s your plan isn’t it.”

There’s a crooked smile on his face he can’t hide as he plays innocent-like, “What is?”

Max pushes him a little and he pretends to misstep while she accuses him, “Coming into school and being all intimidating so nobody will bug me anymore.”

“Pfft, yeah right.” Billy denies again, getting nothing but an eye roll in response at first, but when it’s clear it’s he’s not going to give up and admit it, Max does, glancing shortly over at him, “Well thanks anyways, Billy.”

She adds, realizing he’s wandering with no idea where they’re going, having never been in the middle school himself, “My first class is in B-18.”

“Which one is’at?” He asks, just curious, but Max deflects the question, giving a short, “It’s taught by Mr. Clarke.”

Just from how quiet she is, Billy can tell that she's hiding something, “Max. You seriously don’t even know what class you’re in?”

“No I don’t, okay?” Max stops in the middle of the hallway, ranting at her brother, “It’s already not the same as my old school, and then they moved my schedule all around again after they decided I didn’t qualify for special ed, so now I just go where I’m s’posed to, and I know my teachers better than my classes.”

“And you didn’t tell anyone, did you?”

“No. There’s nothing anyone can do so it doesn’t matter.” Her tone implies she thought a lot about it, maybe even wanted to, but decided not to.

Billy insists right back, these past two days feeling like he’s constantly petitioning for Max to trust and rely on him, “Oh I could do somethin’. You know I could.”

“I do. But I don’t want you to. Sticking up for me is enough.”

That’s what makes Billy understand. The firmness in her voice says everything she needs him to hear: Max doesn’t want Billy to do for her what she can handle. This is bigger than just being the older brother. This is her setting boundaries, asking for help without wanting to be controlled. That’s something he never really got how to do, being raised by a dictator and all, but it’s something she needs. Sometimes he forgets that.

He doesn’t say anything else, just lets it sit while Max takes him down some stairs to the right room. She stops outside, scuffing up the dusty marble floors with the toe of her Chuck Taylor’s, “Could you.. stick around for a little bit in case he says something?”

Billy clicks his tongue, remarking, “I dunno. I got a class in a few..”

But his sarcasm falls short with Max, which, that’s his bad for not realizing that it would, and her face falls, “Oh, well I guess I can just-”

“Was just funnin’ you shitbird. I don’t give a fuck about my classes.” Max grimaces in that all too familiar way of uncertainty, so he promises, “I’ll be right out here. Go talk to your teacher, ‘n if he says some shit to you, remember I only promised not be stupid about the bully.”

He at least gets a smile for that one, before Max rolls her eyes, “You’re not fighting my science teacher, dummy.”

“Whatever. Just get in there, brat.”

He can see Max holding back a smile as she listens, bounding into her classroom with another quick glance back at Billy to check that he wasn’t lying and going to walk away.

Billy waits until the door fall closed to lean against the row of lockers opposite it, watching her through the little meshed over windows. By now, he’s pretty well versed on what arguments with angry authority figures look like, and the conversation between Max and her teacher is not one. He still stays though, just because Max asked him to, but maybe, just maybe a little for himself, a reassurance that the second he leaves shit isn’t going to get worse, and Max’ll have at least someone other than her equally as nerdy little friends behind her.

Then they both turn and give him a little wave, Max and her teacher, an acknowledgment to Billy that this new routine was indeed going to work out. The way the school district had handled everything else, he wonders if the guy even knew Max wasn’t like his other students until now.

Still, seeing that, Billy gives a half nod in response, and decides his job is done here, at least until tomorrow when he does the same. Max’ll get used to it, and his hope is that the little bully brats won’t. He’ll just have to keep them on their toes.

Which is exactly why, while on his way out, Billy has to break his promise to Max, just slightly, and do something dumb. He finds the Troy kid again, and waits until the little punk is at his peak to knock him down a few pegs.

He’s complaining about some teacher, which is pretty typical for a thirteen-fourteen year old kid, but the other things he’s said to Max make it not as relatable, not as innocent. So he does what any logical, mature adult would do, and scares the piss out of him.

Billy waits until the kid gets a laugh from his troop of assholes, and slams the locker door beside him shut, uncaring of who’s it was. All eyes are quickly on him, all too wide against too pale faces. It’s too easy.

“What are you little shits whining about over here?”

The one in charge steps forward, trying to be tough despite the way he has to practically bend backwards to look up at Billy’s face, “None of your business. Did the freak send you after us to scare us? It ain’t gonna work.”

“Oh I’m not here to scare you. I’m just here to give you your final warning. We’re past the point of intimidation. Matter of fact, next time I have to come here.. it won’t be looking so good for you.”

“You’re lying.” The kid accuses, despite the obvious doubt written behind his features.

Billy can work with that.

“I might be. But I’m still an authority figure over your sorry little asses, and if you don’t start respecting that..” He bends down a little further, still nowhere near the kid but making his whole troupe flinche back, and drops his pitch, “well, I can’t promise what’ll happen to ya, but unlike your teachers, I don’t play by the rules. You got that?”

Straightening himself back out, Billy pretends to start walking away before he adds, “Oh, and if you pick on my kid sister ever again, I will know. Just remember that, uh, Troy was it?”

The kid nods dumbly, literally vibrating with something like fear, and Billy can say he’s pretty satisfied with that. He pats the kid on the shoulder, a touch so gentle it wouldn’t’ve hurt a fly, and notably couldn’t get him in any trouble, but the little shit scampers off, three other puffy head bullies trailing after him.

Everyone sees it happen, Billy with his nasty smirk and his distinguishably high-schooler way of carrying himself, Troy running for the hills in the other direction. He leaves feeling like his point has been thoroughly proven.

It isn’t easy to make Maxine Mayfield cry, but it’s even harder to get away with it, and Billy knows it won’t be a problem from now on.

[tngrace]

Finding My Happy

My dearest Max, happy birthday dude! I hope you have the best day ever and I hope you enjoy this! Thanks for letting me add the missing Judd/TK and missing Tarlos moments from the last episode. I truly hope you enjoy this.

Read on A03.

As always thanks @moviegeek03 for helping me iron out the finer details and the support. It means the world 💙

After their little talk that morning about the news TK received the night before, Judd knows something major is up when TK leaves his father's office with a simultaneously pissed off and kicked puppy look on his face. "TK," he calls out, but TK just brushes past all of them.

Judd sees the questioning looks from the others and just shakes his head at them. "I'll take him," he says heading in the direction TK went.

He finds TK outside pacing the front of the firehouse. "Hey. Take a breath," Judd says, laying a hand on TK's shoulder. TK tries to shrug him off, but Judd just gives his shoulder a squeeze and holds him still. "You wanna go out again? Talk?" He questions when TK won't say anything.

TK looks at him with those sad eyes and a nod, and Judd squeezes his shoulder in response knowing he'd do anything with TK giving him that look. "Gimme five and we'll go," Judd tells him as TK nods again wringing his hands. Just as they're loading up in the truck, questioning looks from the others still firmly in place, the alarm sounds and TK groans.

Judd gives him an apologetic look as TK jumps out to gear up and climb in the back. Once everyone is in, Judd takes off leading them to their call. Owen is giving out the information from dispatch, but TK is a little zoned out. The call is easy, routine, and TK was rather impressed that Pearce was able to save someone. He knows Owen can feel the attitude he's giving off, but he can't help it. His dad's comment hurt more than he wants to admit.

Once back at the station, he grabs a bite to eat before he and Judd try once more to have their conversation. "You gonna tell me what's up? Or am I gonna have to pull it out of ya?" Judd eventually asks as they sit in the firetruck and TK doesn't even attempt to start it. 

"It's just something dad said earlier. It just…." TK trails off, biting at his lip as he hangs his head. 

"TK you can tell me anything," Judd reminds him squeezing his shoulder. Judd hates the kicked puppy look TK seems to have perfected. It makes him hurt for his brother. 

"Dad had me sign papers earlier. Signed his power of attorney over to me. Said he's gonna have that cancer surgery in two weeks, the one I've been bugging him to do." 

"That's great bud. I know you've been on him about it," Judd says knowing that would be a relief for TK. 

"Yea…. Well," TK sighs running his hands through his hair tugging at it. "I asked him why he was finally going to do it. And you know what he said?" 

TK's eyes drop to his lap, his hands twitching and wringing with nervous energy. Before they can go any further, their radios crackle to life with a call. Luckily they're right near the firehouse, and after a quick switch of drivers they're back at the station. Judd so wants to know what Owen said to devastate TK like this, but it's gonna have to wait. TK grabs his gear from Paul, and jumps in the back with the others. He can see TK in the mirror zoning out again as Owen talks. He is determined to get to the bottom of this after this call. 

Upon arrival, the two captains converse with the Travis Co Sheriff's Officer on site as the team hangs back waiting for a game plan. TK can already feel the adrenaline starting to course through his body as Owen details out what they need. "You good?" Judd asks him and TK nods reassuringly even though he can tell Judd doesn't buy it. 

He can't help but overhear the conversation with the new guy as everyone else gathers what Owen requested and Judd keeps tabs on the bomb squad. TK hates that his dad is always putting himself in the most dangerous situations, but he knows he can't do anything about it either because Owen wouldn't listen to him. When he hears the new guy declining to go, he knows he needs to speak up and save two captains from being in danger. 

"I'll go," he says getting looks not only from his team, but also both captains. He can almost see the objections on his dad's tongue, so he continues before Owen can object. "I was a dual-function FD medic in New York. All my certifications are up to date. I can do this," he says almost daring his dad to contradict him. 

Owen just nods and tells him to suit up. Captain Vega prepares the bag he will need while Judd pulls TK to the side to help him suit up. "What the hell are you thinking?" He practically growls at TK. 

"That kid needs saving and it was better than both captains risking their lives," he says, stripping down to his undershirt. Judd straps his chest harness around him as TK puts on his helmet. "I'm fine. You're not gonna lose anyone else," TK says quietly to which Judd just grunts. TK knows he's worried, but TK honestly feels steady. 

Jumping through a minefield had his blood pumping and his adrenaline flowing. He almost forgot what Owen had said earlier as he zoned in on work. The call goes faster than TK expects even though his dad almost got blown up. TK felt steady, felt sure of what he was doing and keeping Wes alive. It felt good to get back to the medic side of calls. Once the bomb squad cleared a path for them, TK helped load the boys into the ambulance. 

Before TK could volunteer to ride along with them, Judd pushed him towards the firetruck. TK knew their conversation was far from over, but having a good call helped refocus him. Once back at the station, Judd pulls TK out to the side yard. "That was fool-headed and stupid," Judd starts, but he pulls TK into a tight hug. "And also badass as hell. You did good," he says, making TK shake him off with a nervous laugh. He's still not good at taking praise for just doing his job. 

"Thanks. It felt… it felt good," he says with a shoulder shrug and bashful smile. 

"We'll get back to this," Judd says as they sink into some chairs. "Wanna tell me what your dad said now?" 

TK sighs as he bites his lip, his eyes dropping. He knew Judd wouldn't forget, and he knew he needed to talk about it. He just wanted to ride the adrenaline high a little longer. "I asked him why he was finally doing the surgery. He said…." TK sighs and Judd can see he's fighting tears. "He said because he's going to be a father," TK gets out quietly not looking at Judd. 

Judd is stunned. He didn't think Owen could be so callous to TK. He has to bite back a growl of anger on TK's behalf. "I mean…. I know he's happy about a new baby, and it's their…. Their second chance to get it right and not screw this one up.... but I just… " 

"TK stop!" Judd says forcefully interrupting TK's self-degradation, reaching for TK's shoulder giving it a squeeze. "You are not a screw up, you hear me?" Judd searches his eyes trying to make sure TK hears him and believes him. "You're not. And I don't give a damn how happy he is about another kid. That doesn't give him the right to ignore and hurt the one he's already got. Just because you're an adult, doesn't make you any less his kid." 

"Thanks Judd," TK says quietly. "Dad's… dad's always just been dad," he shrugs. "He wasn't around much as a kid, and then mom worked, and I just... I figured things out on my own, made some bad decisions, some not so bad…. And I became a firefighter so I could be a part of his family finally." TK hates painting his dad in this bad light, but he's just trying to be honest with someone who's always honest with him. "He's always had a hero complex and when I need saving he's there. And then he finds someone or something else that needs saving, and that's that. I'm used to it, but I dunno. It just…. It hurt this morning ya know?" TK finishes, his eyes dropping back to his folded hands. 

"Of course it did. And you have every right to feel that way, and express how you feel TK." 

TK scoffs as he finally looks at Judd. "He wouldn't listen if I said something. He'd tell me I misheard him or something. Hell he didn't even notice anything after he said it, and I know I don't have that good of a poker face," TK says with a shrug. "But that last call, it felt good. It felt right. It made me forget what he’d said for minute.  I haven't done medical since New York for obvious reasons, but it just…. I don't know it felt really good." 

"TK you were a total badass out there today. If this is something you want you should go for it. I doubt Pearce is gonna last with Tommy. I'd say he's already out the door," Judd says looking back at the firehouse. 

"Yea but…" he trails off with a deep sigh. 

"But what? You've got the qualifications and the experience. You proved yourself today for sure. Tommy would be lucky to have you." 

"But what about us? The team? Dad?" He trails off quietly.

"TK we're still a team, a family. That's not gonna change just because you move over to medical. We're gonna support whatever you want to do because that's what family does. If this is something you want you should go for it." Judd’s quiet for a moment contemplating his next words. He reaches over, squeezing TK's shoulder, making him look at him. "You don't have to do everything exactly like your dad did. You have a family that loves you and supports you, and if he's too stupid to see that, that's on him. You have to do what makes you happy, bud. And if medical is what's gonna do it, then I say go for it." 

TK nods, taking in Judd's words. "Think you could sneak me an application just in case?" TK asks him with a sly grin. 

"Yea… yea of course. Think it over, but you've always got our support," Judd says squeezing TK's shoulder one more time before heading inside. And if he decides to detour by Owen's office to give him a piece of his mind, then TK doesn't have to know. TK sits there for another minute before going to find the rest of the team to see what their thoughts are on this development.

He finds the rest of them in the kitchen. He jumps up on the counter, grabbing some chips to snack on as they hear footsteps coming down the stairs. Pearce has his bag over his shoulder, and says his goodbyes. "And another one bites the dust. Man Vega's got them dropping like flies over there," Paul chuckles. 

"Must be tough," Mateo chimes in. 

Before TK thinks it through he opens his mouth, "She's tough. So is the job. It was… um.. it was pretty exciting though," he says with a grin and a shrug jumping off the counter. 

"You should get his paycheck for this week and yours," Marjan says as Mateo chimes in, "Yea you were a badass out there." 

TK chuckles as he shakes his head at Mateo's enthusiasm. "Thanks guy," he says bashfully. "I uh… I wanted to ask you all something." He notices three sets of eyes fall on him immediately, and he can't help but nervously chew on his bottom lip. "I uh… Judd and I were talking just a bit ago…. And I just… I wanted to see…" 

"Yes," Paul says before TK can even finish, making the other two look at him strange. He gives them a shrug and a smirk having already figured out where TK was going with this. "That's not fair," comes from Marjan, and "Let him finish," from Mateo making Paul and TK both chuckle. 

Paul's unwavering support gave TK the boost he needed to spit it out. "I wanted to see how you all would feel or what you all would think if I applied for Vega's open position. Judd seemed to think it was a good idea, but I don't want to… I don't want to mess this up," he says gesturing between the four of them. 

"Yes," Paul says again as the other two appear to be in shock. TK turns to them biting at his lip as Paul clears his throat and shoots them a look. 

"TK I think you would be amazing at it," Marjan says squeezing his arm. Mateo is the only one not to say anything until Marjan nudges him. "Yea.. You'd be great at it TK. I wasn't kidding when I said you were badass today." 

"Are you sure?" TK asks, getting three nods in return. "Aren't you worried about this changing things?" He asks them gesturing between them once more. 

"No," Paul and Marjan say at the same time. "We're all still a part of the same house. We're all still gonna hang out at Carlos's. We're still family TK. That will never change," Paul finishes getting agreement from the other two. 

"Thanks guys," he says with that bashful grin again. "I wanna talk to Carlos first, but I think I really want this." 

"Vega will be lucky to have you," Marjan says. They all three converge on him for a hug before Paul gets called away and shift ends. When TK grabs his bag, he sees the application Judd must have slipped in there and smiles. He tells his team bye, barely gets goodbye out to his dad, before he's heading towards home, to Carlos's. 

Carlos was just finishing up dinner when he hears the key in the door and his boyfriend walks in. "Hey babe," TK calls, dropping his duffle at the door and kicking his shoes off.

"Don't think you're out of the doghouse," Carlos says trying to be gruff, but he opens his arms to TK for a hug and a kiss. 

"You heard?" TK says cocking his head to the side and scrunching his nose adorably. 

"Did I hear that my boyfriend went jumping through a minefield?" Carlos asks with a contemplative look. "Yes… yes of course I did because the bomb squad couldn't quit talking about it." 

TK pouts and Carlos just finds it too adorable. He gives TK a soft kiss as he squeezes him gently. "Did I also hear that said boyfriend saved two kids' lives and was a total badass about it? Yea I heard that too," he smiles kissing TK's scrunched nose. 

"Who told you that part?" TK asks, adorably confused. 

"Judd sent me a text while they were watching y'all jump through the field. Then he let me know you were fine and had done a stellar job." 

TK gives him a bashful smile finally letting Carlos get back to plating their dinner. "Yea it was pretty cool," TK says, getting two glasses of tea as Carlos brings their food to the table. "I uh… I haven't felt that good on a call in a long time," TK says barely meeting Carlos's eyes. He has the support of his team, but he's still nervous about telling Carlos what he wants. 

"Yea? That had to make for a good day then right?" Carlos asks, picking up on TK's nerves but not pushing him. 

"Mmmm yea," TK says with a nod as he digs into the delicious as always food. "That part of the day was good. The rest…." He trails off with a shrug. 

"Wanna talk about it?" 

"Eh… dad just made some comment that hurt," TK says shrugging it off. 

"TK your feelings are valid no matter what he says, you know that right?" Carlos asks, laying his hand over TK's. He knows TK and Owen have their spells where Owen won't listen and makes TK feel unheard and insignificant. But he wants TK to know it's ok to feel what he feels and to voice those feelings. 

"Judd said the same thing," TK says, finally meeting his eyes. 

"Then maybe you should start believing it," Carlos smiles. 

"Yea… and then the call today. It just…. It got me thinking," TK says pushing his plate away and climbing into Carlos's lap straddling him. He wants the comfort of being close to his boyfriend. 

"Yea? Thinking about what?" Carlos asks, wrapping his arms around TK’s waist. 

"What I really wanna do. Today was so invigorating and I felt really good about it. I felt confident and sure of myself. Something I haven't felt on the job since New York. And I talked it over with Judd and the rest of the crew, and I think…" he trails off biting his lip. Carlos rubs his back and softly kisses his lips to get him to stop biting it. "I think I want to apply to Captain Vega's open paramedic position." 

Carlos gives him a soft smile and softly kisses his forehead. "I think with that big caring amazing heart of yours that you will make an amazing paramedic," Carlos murmurs.

"Yea?" 

"Yes baby. I think you would rock at it." 

TK lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding as he lights up. "Would you maybe wanna help me type up this resume then?" TK grins toying with the buttons on Carlos's polo. "I mean I can do it, but I'd…" 

Carlos kisses him to interrupt him. "Yes. I will," he grins. 

They finish dinner, and Carlos clears the plates as TK gets his laptop. They type out TK's resume for the paramedic application, and Carlos is honestly impressed. He already knew TK had been on the job straight from high school, but he didn't realize what great scores TK had on his tests or how many commendations of Valor he had already racked up. "Baby this is impressive," Carlos says in awe. 

TK blushes and shrugs him off.  "Captain Vega is going to be lucky to have you," Carlos says kissing TK's forehead. "You said you talked to the team, so what did your dad say?" Carlos asks. He knows TK said Owen had made a hurtful comment and he's trying not to push TK, but he is curious. 

"I haven't told him," TK says with a shrug. Carlos wrinkles his forehead at that, setting the laptop on the coffee table and pulling TK into his lap. 

"I see. Do you wanna tell me what happened?" Carlos asks him softly. TK bites his lip before recounting the conversation with Owen earlier and what Judd told him. TK can feel Carlos's anger, and he runs his hands through Carlos's curls to try and calm him. Carlos takes a couple deep breaths knowing this is about TK, not him. 

"TK, I'm going to agree with Judd on this one. I know sometimes your dad speaks before he thinks, and I don't like how he makes you feel insignificant and unimportant. Because you are the most important person and you deserve to feel how you feel. I get why you don't want to tell him, but he's going to find out and you're gonna have to talk at some point." 

Carlos runs his hand up and down TK's back, "But no matter what, I'm going to support you, and I'm going to love you, and I'm always going to be here no matter what. This is your home too, and you’re my life. I never want you questioning where you belong ever again." 

He reaches up and wipes TK's tears. "I think you're going to make an amazing paramedic, and if you need help coming up with what to say to your dad, then I'm here. Whatever you need," Carlos says as TK dives in for a hard passion filled kiss. 

"I love you too Carlos, so much," TK murmurs as he snuggles his face into Carlos's neck. They eventually make it to bed with TK feeling confident in his choice to apply. He hopes Vega will accept it because now that he's set his mind to it, he really wants it. He knows he's going to have to talk to his dad at some point, but for now he falls asleep in his boyfriend's arms, happy and secure in his choice. 

[pindaleng]

Merry Pitchmas @anotherbechloeshipper !!

Had so much fun writing this one, hope you enjoy it :)

Title: In From the Snow

Pairing: Bechloe

Chapters: 1/1

Wordcount: 2943

Summary: Beca didn’t anticipate making many friends her freshman year, much less become best friends with one Chloe Beale. When a snow storm ruins both their plans to travel home, they get to spend some quality time together. Beca thinks this might be her best chance to tell the other girl how she feels.

Read on AO3 or below.

Beca stared gloomily at the large flakes falling outside her dorm window.

There was no way her old Camry would be able drive more than ten miles an hour in these conditions. The forecast said “heavy snow”, but she didn’t realize it’d be this bad.

She totally would have left a few days earlier if she didn’t have a final scheduled for the absolute last day of the semester. It’s not like she was super excited about heading back home either, but she knew her dad and step mom would give her shit for it.

She sighed. Might as well text them now to rip off that band-aid.

Shortly after she sent the message, she heard a knock on her opened door.

“Hey, you’re still here!”

In the doorway stood Chloe Beale, undoubtedly the coolest person on their dorm floor. Beca (to her surprise) got along with most of the people on her floor, but something about Chloe specifically drew her in.

Admittedly, she found the other girl annoying at first, as she seemed like the high school girls that were fake nice just to talk about you behind your back. She soon learned, though, that Chloe was the real deal.

But not of course before giving her a hard time for a couple of months. Frustratingly, but thankfully, Chloe was incredibly persistent. Beca hadn’t really expected to make so many friends, intending to keep her head down and make her way through, but everyone grew on her. Especially Chloe.

“Yeah, unfortunately still here.” Beca replied. “Wanted to drive out today but doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.”

Chloe invited herself in and hopped onto Beca’s bed. She hummed in understanding. “I just got back from the store and driving was for sure a struggle. Definitely would not recommend.”

“Great. You’re staying here too, then?”

“Yep! Which means you get to spend time with little ol’ me.” She propped her head on her hands. “Any plans for the day?”

There wasn’t really a Plan B since she didn’t expect her driving-back-home Plan A to not work out. “Not really, probably just gonna work on some mixes.”

“Can I join?”

“Yes, please make it a little less sad that I’m stuck here on Christmas Eve.”

“Sweet, I’ll be back.” Chloe slid off the bed and make her way out the room. “Don’t have too much fun without me!”

Beca just rolled her eyes and started setting up her laptop.

Chloe came back moments later with her sketchbook and colored pencils, and settled on Beca’s roommate’s bed. Both of them were friends with Stacie, so they knew she wouldn’t mind her bed being used.

They passed time peacefully like this for a couple of hours, each doing their separate thing.

Beca was so engrossed in her music that she doesn’t notice Chloe call out her name until the other girl waved at her to get her attention.

She slipped off her headphones. “What’s up?”

“I was thinking about getting some food soon. You in?”

The hunger hit her stomach now that food was mentioned. “Yeah, I could eat. Where at?” Though the dorms stayed open, dining halls were closed. There were plenty of places nearby though, and many of whom delivered. They went back and forth suggesting restaurants until Chloe looked like she had an epiphany. “We should go to that new ramen place!”

Beca’s immediate reaction was to pout, as they didn’t deliver. Chloe laughed.

“Oh come on, it’s a five minute walk, max. You big baby.” Chloe playfully poked her cheek. “Plus it’s super pretty outside.”

“And it’s super warm inside.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I’m going with or without you.”

The ultimatum was effective. Beca grumbled but put her coat on anyways. The reluctance was really just all show, as she would probably walk naked into a freezing lake for the other girl.

Snow was steadily falling outside, blanketing all the surfaces in a thick layer of white. Campus was quiet, as most of the students had already left for the holidays. It was both eerie and calming. The absence of drunk frat guys yelling, though, was definitely a plus.

“Okay I admit, it is pretty outside.” But you’re prettier. The automatic thought was so cheesy she almost threw up a bit in her mouth. Since when did she think such gross things? She could practically see Stacie smirking annoyingly at her.

Chloe grinned in victory, and Beca’s heart swooped.

Her brain definitely wasn’t lying though: Chloe was undoubtedly beautiful. The snowflakes in Chloe’s hair contrasted perfectly with the red color, making her look like some sort of magazine model. It felt kind of unfair that she could exist like that and not know what she was doing to poor Beca’s soul.

—

When the waitress asked if they needed one or two checks, Chloe replied “just one” before Beca could get a word in.

As the waitress walked away, Beca sent a questioning look to the redhead.

Chloe shrugged, “It’s easier for them to just run a single card.” Beca offered to pay her back, but she insisted it to be a holiday present. If Beca didn’t know better, she would have swore it was a date.

They were on their way back to the dorms when Beca felt something hit the back of her head.

She whipped around. “Hey!”

Chloe was already packing another snowball, clearly out for blood. She quickly launched that one too, which Beca barely managed to sidestep. She bent down to create her own snow projectile.

Chloe began to run away to get out of range, so Beca went to chase her. Unfortunately, Beca slipped on the snow and fell. Chloe was immediately at her side. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

The snow cushioned her fall pretty well, but Beca didn’t want to give that away just yet. She faked a grimace. “I think I broke my leg.”

“Oh shit.” Chloe furrowed her eyebrows in worry. “I’m so sorry I-“

Beca felt too bad that she immediately stopped her. “I’m joking, I’m actually fine.”

It took a moment to register, and then Chloe slapped her on the arm. “You scared me!”

Beca rubbed the spot where she was hit. “Ok now I actually have to go to the hospital.”

Chloe just slapped her arm again, before offering a hand to pull her up. Beca took it but didn’t get up. Chloe looked confused as Beca smirked, and then pulled the other girl down into the snow with her. She fell on her face in the fresh snow with a satisfying poof.

“Oh my god, you asshole.” Chloe laughed after pulling her face up, and shoved at the other girl, who was still laying in the snow.

“Chlo you have a beard.” Beca was practically wheezing at the sight of Chloe having snow stuck all over her face. “Still hot though.”

Chloe modeled it, striking poses and getting up to walk down an imaginary runway, while Beca yelled after her, hyping her up.

They messed around in the snow for a while longer, then took the long way back. Beca considered complaining about the cold and wet seeping in, but Chloe just looked so happy. Plus, it really was nice outside. Walking with Chloe in the peace of campus was a moment Beca wanted to keep tucked in her pocket forever.

—

After getting back, they went to take showers (separately) to warm themselves up, deciding to reconvene later in Chloe’s room. Beca sat on her bed with her hair in a towel, scrolling through her phone. She opened a message from Stacie, who was definitely one of her best friends in college so far. She flew out a couple of days ago and told Beca not to “get too freaky” while she was gone. Beca practically shoved her out the door.

Stacie [6:31 pm]: You make it home?

Beca [7:13 pm]: No, stuck here. Stupid snow.

A reply immediately came in.

Stacie [7:13 pm]: Ugh that sucks, are you by yourself then?

Beca hesitated on what exactly to say, knowing Stacie would immediately make fun of her for the truth.

Beca [7:15 pm]: Not exactly…..Chloe is also still here

Stacie [7:16 pm]: !!!!!!!!!!

Stacie [7:16 pm]: BECA

Stacie [7:16 pm]: THIS IS YOUR CHANCE

Beca [7:17 pm]: Dude she doesn’t like me

Stacie [7:18 pm]: Do NOT bother coming back to campus if you don’t shoot your shot right now

Stacie [7:19 pm]: Joking but also not

Stacie [7:19 pm]: She hangs out w you all the time. She actually listens to your music recs. Plz do something.

Stacie [7:20 pm]: Ok talk later family is calling for dinner, good luck!!!!!

Beca [7:21 pm]: ??? I’m going to ignore that you basically implied not listening to any of the music I’ve suggested

She fell back onto her bed. She wanted to make a move, and she did feel like there could be something between them. However, each time Chloe was nice to someone else, she got psyched out believing that Chloe was always just being platonically nice to her. No flirting involved.

With each passing day, though, it became harder to deny she wanted her. And how badly she did. She caught herself staring a bit too long, and hung endlessly on the small touches Chloe would always do. A brush of the finger here, and a hair tucked behind an ear there. Beca thought some days she might explode.

She texted Chloe to ask if she was ready yet.

Chloe [7:25 pm]: Sorry got distracted!! Hopping in the shower now.

With the extra time, Beca decided to finish the mix she was working on earlier that day. There was something off about it that she couldn’t quite figure out, but coming back to it now, she figured out what it was missing. She listened to it a few times to make sure she was really happy with it before mastering it.

A text came in from Chloe, letting her know she could come over whenever.

Beca quickly added the song to a USB which already contained many music files, then placed the drive into a small pink, cardboard box she got from Stacie. The box originally held a necklace, which made it the perfect size for her gift.

She stashed it in her sweater pocket then made her way to Chloe’s room in the other wing of the floor.

It was still relatively early in the night, so Chloe suggested a movie. Beca wasn’t one for movies usually, but it wasn’t like she had any better ideas.

They cuddled together on the small dorm bed in Chloe’s den of pillows, with the laptop in front of them. The movie was actually pretty good, despite all the bad decisions the main character kept making, and the fact that Beca missed half the plot due to glancing at Chloe instead, and being nervous about how close they were.

“Thoughts?” Chloe turned down the volume as the credits began to roll.

“I think she should have gone with the second guy.”

“Really? I thought he was kind of iffy.”

They proceeded have a lively discussion about the movie, with Beca continuing to argue mostly to mess with Chloe, who seemed quite adamant about the main character’s end choice of romantic partner. It ended with Chloe tickling her until Beca finally admitted her defeat.

“Okay, close your eyes.”

Beca looked at Chloe warily, still catching her breath from the tickling attack. “Um, why?”

“Just do it.”

She sighed but did as she was told.

“No peeking!”

Her index finger drew a cross above her heart, signaling her promise to not look.

“Okay, you can open them now.”

In front of her was a piece of paper carefully rolled into a tube and bound with a red bow. Beca picked it up, gingerly untying the ribbon, unraveling her gift. Her jaw dropped.

“Chloe…”

In her hands was a pencil sketch of her with headphones on, smiling and almost on the verge of laughing. Honestly, she never thought about what she looked like while she was happy. The image of herself in her mind was always some version of broody. Is this how Chloe saw her? Beca wasn’t one to usually cry, but she might have teared up a bit.

“This is…incredible.”

Chloe looked kind of nervous. The same way that Beca was protective of showing others her music, Chloe was hesitant to show much of her art. “You like it?”

“Dude I love it. Seriously.” That reassurance seemed to put Chloe at ease. “Okay, your turn to close your eyes.”

Chloe did it without hesitation, and also held out her hands. Beca shook her head a bit in amusement and placed the small box into her palm.

“Okay, open.”

She opened her eyes and lifted the lid of the box to find a black USB drive, with a piece of tape on the side simply labeled “For Chloe”.

Her smile widened as she realized what her present was. “Do I get to finally listen to your music?”

“Maybe.”

“It means a lot, Beca. Thank you.”

“Um yeah, no problem. Don’t tell me if you end up thinking it’s bad.” She joked.

“Oh please, you’re going to have to block me with how many good things I’ll say.”

“Don’t tempt me, I might delete your contact right now.”

Chloe laughed. “Oh please, like you could last a day without me. Also, I actually have another present for you.” She scotched a bit closer to Beca.

“Oh,” Beca furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, I don’t have anything el-“

She was swiftly cut off as Chloe kissed her, soft and sweet. So polite and unassuming it almost felt platonic.

But god did it give Beca butterflies.

Chloe pulled away so quickly that Beca wasn’t sure it even happened. Like maybe she just daydreamed too hard and manifested a hallucination.

She must have had a deer in the headlights look because Chloe suddenly got super shy. “Was that okay?” She whispered, face still close.

Beca finally came to her senses. “Yeah, totally. More than okay. Amazing really.” She must look like a blushing mess.

The corner of Chloe’s mouth quirked up in amusement and relief. “Yeah?”

“Still could be better, though.” Good work Beca, make a joke to regain some semblance of having her shit together.

“Oh?” She watched Chloe lick her lips, a mesmerizing motion. The shyness was all but gone, replaced by something much more confident, and destined to ruin Beca’s life. And she knew she’d welcome it with open arms.

—

Beca woke up in the morning to the light touch of fingers trailing along her jaw. She smiled, remembering where she was, and more importantly, who was besides her. She probably had the best night of sleep in her life. “Can’t keep your hands off of me, Beale?” She asked, keeping her eyes closed.

“Are you going to try and stop me?” Chloe whispered. Her raspy morning voice was really so damn attractive.

She opened one eye, smiling. “I wouldn’t dare.”

“Good.” Chloe leaned in for a long kiss, the hand on her face pulling Beca closer. Her breath hitched. She didn’t think she could ever get used to this. Kissing Chloe Beale. Touching her.

She pulled away all too soon, just as Beca began to want her even more. Beca was quickly learning how much of a tease Chloe was.

“i’m going to get ready, and then maybe we can go get breakfast somewhere?”

“Or…we can stay in bed all day.”

Chloe giggled, and Beca almost professed her love. “Becs, both of us gotta head home.”

“Do we though?”

Chloe just smiled as she slipped out of bed and grabbed her toothbrush and face towel. Before she was completely out the door, she gave her butt a little shake, as if she could tell Beca was staring at her clad in a large t-shirt and sleep shorts. Beca was sure Chloe was smirking as she did it.

As soon as she was out of sight, Beca grabbed her phone from the desk. A text from her dad and a couple from Stacie. She opened the messages from the latter.

Stacie [11:13 pm]: How’d it go?

Stacie [11:30 pm]: I’m assuming the silence is a good thing and ur just too busy making out with Chloe to reply ;)

Beca typed out a quick message.

Beca [9:30 am]: So…..

Stacie [9:30 am]: THIS BETTER BE GOOD NEWS

Beca [9:31 am]: How do you keep replying so quickly??

Stacie [9:31 am]: How about you stop avoiding

Beca thought of the million different things she could say, but opted for simplicity.

Beca [9:32 am]: :)

Stacie [9:33 am]: Is that good

Stacie [9:33 am]: Beca is that good

Stacie [9:34 am]: ?????

She set her phone down, feeling giddy. It might have been a bit cruel to leave Stacie hanging, but she’d get over it. She’d get the full story eventually, but right now, Beca wanted to keep as much of this thing with Chloe to herself as possible. Definitely not like a shameful secret, though.

Something about telling someone about it, however vaguely, made last night and this morning seem actually real.  She had this feeling deep in her chest that this was the start of something incredible, which made her both excited and a bit scared. Ok a lot scared. Terrified even.

It sucked that they’d have be apart right as they were starting something. Winter break couldn’t be over soon enough.

[smilingperformer]

Discussing the good and bad of Pokémon Journeys: Part “Chloe”

Time to discuss about the character that is still keeping me on board with watching Pokémon (2019)/Journeys despite having, cough, some issues with it. Let's talk about Chloe, also known as Koharu.

TLDR; I like how Koharu is handled so far, even if I somewhat wish there was more of her, and I believe I know what the intention with her is, and that is to show that the journey to finding your dream goal can be an exciting one and with possible obstacles on the way towards it. More under the cut, Journeys abverted as JN.

So. Let's start with how I became to like her character the moment JN002 aired, but also how her debut in JN001 has become interesting part of how Koharu used to love Pokémon, but then grew out of it. Which to me, reminds of people who grew with playing Pokémon games, cards, etc, but then as they got older, they grew out of it.

Anyway, as we all probably remember, both Gou and Koharu attended the Okido Camp as kids, where BOTH of the eventually meet Mew. From the very beginning, we're let known that Koharu is a daughter of a promising Professor Sakuragi, who's acquainted with Okido.

And we're also let known that the two are friends from before the camp, and I assume their games at Sakuragi's Lab involved playing as Pokémon or other stuff. She most definitely loved Pokémon and her dad's work back then.

But then when we fastforward to the present day as Satoshi, Gou and Koharu are all 10 years old, we see that this attitude has changed in Koharu. She's no longer interested in Pokémon that much, and the only Pokémon she accepts near her is their family 'mon Wanpachi. For me, this was very interesting approach, even if the "not interested in Pokémon" was done before with May/Haruka back in Advanced Generation series.

Even with this interesting approach, she was a side/supporting cast instead of main cast, which honestly felt weird to me as she definitely had a story to tell. But as I've been watching other shows lately, I kinda came to realise her approach reminds me of mid-season additions to cast, even thou her appearances nowdays are just a BIT more frequent, when before her joining the Research Fellows, she appear very seldomly.

Anyway. In JN011 we finally learn that, she pretty much has issues with people's expectations and how everyone assumes her to be very much involved with Pokémon just because of her dad's work. Truly, this would end up affecting her affection towards Pokémon, thou it's possibly not the whole reason for losing interest. She even admits here she's not sure of what she truly wants to do yet.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of goal finding journeys, as they are very relatable to me as someone who took 20+ years to find out what I truly want to do for living, so Koharu wanting to find something instead of other people deciding it for her is very good lesson.

So what exactly is the approach with Koharu from this ep forward? Showing her see Pokémon in different, totally new lights, figuratively speaking. She's shown to take care of a Pidove who broke its wing in a runaway flight, helped her lil brother Sota's friend, Nami, attend to a small children's Contest, and went to a Fossil Exhibition with Satoshi and Gou to learn about fossils. And I feel like that, this fossil exhibition event is what truly rekindled Koharu's interest in Pokémon again. As we all remember, she truly enjoyed that trip, and she, for the first time, got to see Gou bond with a Pokémon, that was rampaging just moments ago. And this episode, accompanied with JN050, are why I am currently thinking Koharu's end goal will end up being related to fossils. It certainy would be an interesting approach for a female cast character, and I wouldn't mind her having a chat with some other character who's also involved in researching fossils... (cough Gary/Shigeru cough)

Anyway. All of this seemingly lead up to Koharu finally meeting her very apparent soul mate: Eevee. I know, that most people were somewhat (or even totally) annoyed by the fact that yet another pokegirl receives Eevee as their Pokémon, and that this is just boring. While I understand the sentiment, considering Koharu's character: Eevee is the only Pokémon that actually fits her. Koharu is out there still figuring out what she wants to be. What she wants to do. And Eevee is the most relatable Pokémon for that kind of character: Eevee can become eight, and I repeat, eight, different evolutions. That's pretty much the same as having different paths to choose from when deciding your goal. And this specific Eevee has also not yet decided what it wants to do. It refuses to evolve. While in-game one could say this is because of the g-max factor, I highly believe this is purely done for the purpose of making Koharu and Eevee relate on a very, very personal level. So instead of Eevee having the g-max factor disabling the evolution (because let's face it, it's only done so people won't accidentally evolve their Gigantamax Eevee), Eevee is kind of, constantly pressing the B button to prevent it.

Now: what has Eevee exactly given to Koharu's character? A lot actually. When before Koharu would try to deny interest in something or try to say she has something else to do instead of a trip, Eevee is there to push her forward to try things out.

Like in JN050, Koharu is trying to priotize her School instead of a Fossil trip to Galar, but thanks to Eevee, who wants to go, Koharu gets the needed push to go and try out new stuff. I very much adored this scene in this episode, due to encouraging the "try out new things" approach in life. From this point forward, we then see Koharu join in on other trips like the Diglett Farm (where she definitely shined in team leading and got to experience the farming and team leader approach) and the Glimwood Tangle trip, that Koharu herself prompted to her dad and the boys, instead of being asked to join. Which reminds me of something else btw.

While Gou is shown to be very knowledged with Pokémon, Koharu is shown to know more about other fields like how plants grows, and what kind of soil is good. This is from either school lessons or from her experience with taking care of the school flowers. She could possibly be considered a good student, and btw, I very much like the approach of not making her a school dropout once she started joining in on research trips, and instead takes homework to accomodate the fact that she's missing out on lessons. This isn't unusual in real life, so I'm glad JN is actually showcasing this approach with both Koharu and Gou. Thou with Gou, he's pretty much always absent, haha.

Now, her latest episode with Kikuna was an interesting one. While Koharu's main point in the episode was kind of to be the angel of love for Kikuna (which failed horribly, love you Kikuna <333 ), I'd say there was another reason for her being in that episode with Kikuna: it was to let her learn of the possibility of meeting possible pitfalls in one's dream goals. That lesson was in Kikuna's story about how she almost gave up in becoming a researcher due to a mess up with an important presentation for a conference, but found the strenght to try again. It's part of reaching your dream goal a lot of the time. Even Koharu's mom, Yoshino/Talia, gave her the story of how she originally wanted to be a mangaka, but gave up on the dream and instead approached something similar. These are all very important life lessons in how working toward one's goal can either fail, or come accoss obstacles. It depends on the person whether they'll end up switching the goal to something else, or strive to go forward to get past the obstacle. As someone who had exactly Koharu's mom's experience longside having to take a long while to find one, I appreciate that Koharu's journey has been about learning the good and bad experiences of working towards a dream goal.

Now: has this storyline been executed well? Imo, it has, but it ain't perfect, as there are some parts where I'd like to see some improvement on.

One of them is with how it's sometimes unclear as what kind of character she is counted as. Is the a main character alongside Gou and Satoshi now? Is the still supporting cast? Is she a lower tier main character that won't appear every episode still? The latest option would appear to be the case, but it's not often that simple to see.

There's also the case of Wanpachi seeming like it was teased to be eventually becoming Koharu's first partner, but instead it ended up being Eevee. I think for most, before JN049 aired, people assumed Wanpachi didn't belong to anyone exactly and thus was free reign. But, as JN049 confirmed, Wanpachi belonged to Sakuragi himself. Which is sorta funny, as Wanpachi clearly loves him the least, haha. So, what exactly do they intend with Wanpachi? I think, that in time it'll eventually switch owners to Koharu, as it clearly loves her the most, but the journey there is still on-going.

Now, here's something interest to think about: I think Koharu not being in every episode has actually been benefitial for her, as she never gives me the feeling that she's taking anyone's time for herself, and her involvements in stories fit quite well. My current favourites for her are definitely her team leading in Diglett episode, which is JN052, and the Galarian Ponyta episode (JN055) where she clearly showcased that she's able to handle herself in sticky situations. Which is quite a beautiful detail, at least to me.

Now to quiiickly note her dynamics quickly, let's talk a bit about how she is a big sister. Like, for real. She's got a baby brother in Sota/Parker, and the two do seem to have good relationship going on. However, I really want to see more of this! There's way too little of it going on right now, and it's mostly been typical siblinghood. I'm so glad there's still full on family aspects in JN, which is what I loved in Sun & Moon so so so much, but I want to see more. MORE! MORE-

I already talked about how I enjoy her dynamics with Gou and how their childhood friendship is showcased so well, and yet I still grave to see more. The two know each other well, and Gou always, ALWAYS respects Koharu, while Koharu ain't afraid to tell what's on her mind to Gou. Thou, she also knows that Gou would judge her if she were to ask about Pokémon bonding tips. Dyamn.

Now: I want more of Koharu and Satoshi. The two def seemed to have a bit of a "uugh who are you don't talk to me" approach, but it naturally faded as they went on their first trip to Nibi City's Fossil Exhibition. And they've been in good relations since I'd say.

Also to quickly note, I love how Koharu has been mentioned in couple scenes as being the character who's taught them first-aid or told about jealousy and how one should take Pokémon's feeling into consideration (even if this latter one should be obvious to Satoshi but, I digress, Satoshi was way too focused on Riolu and just assumed Pikachu would be fine since they've been buds since forever).

There's also so much more I still want to learn about: how exactly did she meet Gou and why she decided to be friends with him, does she have other friends besides him (because I would assume so but she's never shown with anyone else), give us an episode that's focused on Koharu & Sota, let her see Satoshi battle as well (afaik, she has NOT), let her meet Alola Squad + other past companions, and oooh there's so much I want her to do and I see so, so much potential in her character and I really really REALLY hope the writers don't screw her up.

Now is that all I wanted to talk about regarding Koharu... I guess so. As you might have figured out by now: I almost have no issues with how Koharu is written. She's enjoyable to watch and, suprisingly, I find the pace of her story-telling pleasant and not too fast nor way too slow. Could it do well with a bit faster pace? Possibly, but due to me seeing her as sort of a mid-season addition akin to how Precure or Digimon do them, I'm fine with this approach. Considering the current pace, I think she'll end up finding what she wants to end up working towards to by the end of this year, or early next year. And, despite how many might fear, I highly doubt it will be Contests. As it's pretty clear JN isn't out there to promote mainline games feature-to-feature, but instead cherry picks stuff it wants to do. I'm still quite certain, that she'll end up becoming a professor of her own fields, possibly of fossils (which, considering DP's Underground feature, could fit very well in promoting this feature of the remakes). Maybe even become a team leader of a fossil researching team, as she definitely showcases the skills for it, for knowing soil, fossil digging and again, team leading. And I totally didn't figure this out while writing this post. :'D (I totally did.)

So. I believe I'll end this post here, as this is already quite long by now and, honestly, there's not much left to talk about. It really feels good for me to talk so positively about a character in JN, as it's no secret that I ain't the biggest fan of the show. However, Koharu's approach speaks to me personally, very well, and I so, so look forward to seeing how her journey ends up going, and where it will lead her.

So who's up next on the list of discussions? I think you guys can guess it.

And it's gonna be a doozy one. Oh man oh man.

Thank you so much for reading if you came this far, have a fantastic evening/morning/whatever, and take good care of yourselves!

This was Smiling Performer aka Aleira, signing out! PEACE!