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thelarriefics · 4 years

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HOLIDAY FIC REC, PART IV: Below you’ll find more fics that have to do with the holiday season.

📖 (I'm Dreaming of a) One Night Inn by @lululawrence (54k)

When everything Louis had planned for his life falls through, and on his birthday no less, he's left with no other option but to regroup and start over again. The road of life isn't always straight and it certainly isn't always easy, but sometimes it's those twists and turns that find you your closest friends and—if you're really lucky—the love of your life.

Louis just happens to be very lucky.

A Holiday Inn AU.

📖 Baby, Won't You Look My Way? by @peachbootylouis (50k)

Louis tiptoed to the door and opened it, looking over his shoulder for a moment. Harry looked absolutely gorgeous, almost enough to make him strip back down and give it another go. But that wasn’t who Louis was. So he sighed and stepped outside, leaving back to his flat. And for the first time in years, he felt alive.

Or the where Louis’ routine centered life runs like clockwork until a chance hook up throws a wrench named Harry into it all. But as it may turn out a change in plans could be what Louis has needed all along.

📖 Ideal: An Advent Fic by @iamasphodelknox (40k)

All Louis wanted was some god-damned time to write his novel. He didn’t expect to move his and Liam’s entire production of a Christmas variety show to a small inn in Vermont just before the holidays. He didn’t expect to save Niall’s inn. He didn’t expect Liam to fall in love. He definitely didn’t expect to fall in love himself. And he certainly didn’t expect it all to feel so much like a Christmas movie.

Oh hell. There’s a lot of things Louis didn’t expect.

A White Christmas au, complete with drama, fluff, choreographed dance numbers, and idiotic boys falling in love. Just your typical Christmas fun.

📖 The Happiest Season by @sadaveniren (37k)

“You’re going to spend Christmas - and your birthday - with his homophobic WASP parents? That’s gonna be hell.”

Louis closed his eyes in frustration. “It was either that or be apart and I don’t think that’s gonna be good for either of us this year, you know?”

A fic loosely based on Happiest Season but make it ... different

📖 maybe this christmas by @nobodymoves (34k)

Harry lives next door to Louis and babysits his daughter. He might be hopelessly in love with Louis and desperate to be part of his little family, but he’s ignoring that in favour of trying to make Louis’s busy life as easy as possible. When he finds out Louis and his daughter don’t believe in Santa - someone who is universally considered a real person - he makes it his mission to convince them. Along the way he takes in a man who may or may not actually be Santa, and everyone’s Christmas wishes might come true.

A Miracle on 34th Street AU.

📖 Retiens la nuit by @teamlouis2020 (26k)

Everything is too much for Harry. His exboyfriend, his job, his whole life actually. Flying across the globe to find a quiet place for Christmas holidays is exactly what he needs. Among a warm cottage and snow-covered fields, he doesn't expect to come across Louis, the beautiful stranger that stumbled into his house one night. Love isn't supposed to find a way to his heart, but Christmas has its magic tricks, hasn't it?

📖 Neither Wine Nor Dine by @brightgolden (25k)

With Louis’ fringe taking up half of his forehead and eyes crinkling at the side with how wide he grins just by looking at their Christmas tree, he looked so much like the 19 year old boy Harry met in the living room of his shared two-bedroom apartment years ago.

It's too bad that Harry doesn't get to see it often.

Where Harry is too busy travelling the world and Louis is home during Christmas.

📖 Baby, You're On My List by @chloehl10 (17k)

Harry takes his niece to see Father Christmas, but he doesn't count on meeting the cutest Christmas elf. Taken by the handsome stranger, Harry decides to recruit as many children as he can so he can see him again, and again, and again...

📖 The fic where Harry calls Louis an idiot for ten days straight because he is one. by @mercurial-madhouse (16k)

They’ve found the perfect get away from their busy lives as nationally-famous footie player and well-respected restaurant critic, escaping to the isolation of a cabin in the woods where they can simply be Louis and Harry.

If only both were actually here.

A gift forgotten in London, the untameable force of the weather, and the scent of burnt snickerdoodle biscuits find Harry and Clifford pitifully alone and Louis... Where is Louis?

📖 Unwrap My Heart by @larryficwriter (15k)

Harry is flabbergasted, that much is clear. He also looks emotional, understandably. A little excited shiver runs through Louis’ body because this is just the beginning.

“Harry,” Louis begins as soon as the song is over. “This begins 12 Days of presents that I have planned for you. Each day you’ll get another present from me that will hopefully show you that you mean the world to me.”

or, the 12 Days of Christmas: Larry Edition

📖 The Ideal Flatmate by @larryyouknow (12k)

Louis shares his flat with the ideal flatmate (or I-F as he often nicknames him). Harry is a bit younger and a bit taller than him. He’s polite and there is nothing to complain about. Harry rarely brings someone over, he isn’t loud, he eats at the table and when he uses the shared area for his crafting projects he always tidies after himself. Harry doesn’t bother Louis and he pays his share in time.

The ideal flatmate.

The only problem is: Harry hates Louis. This will be very lovely Christmas.

📖 Fine Lines by @harrystinysantashorts (11k)

The short story is there are two little, white sticks sitting on the bathroom counter with two little, pink lines on both of them. The long story is that that’s never happened before.

or, Harry gets the surprise of a lifetime and decides it’ll be the perfect Christmas present.

📖 Run to Me Through The White Night by @mizzhydes (8k)

A horrid last-minute shopping trip amidst a mass of teenage girls and their parents was not what Louis was hoping to get roped into two days before Christmas.

The day started out dreadfully, but fate had something different in store for Louis that day. A chance encounter between a famous pop star and an everyday lad, gave way to an evening that neither of them would ever forget.

📖 In Search of the Perfect Tree by @beanno28 (5k)

Harry and Louis work together at Home Depot and are also in a long term relationship. Harry is getting ready to get the store ready for the holiday season. When Louis decides he wants in on the action and their coworkers plan a tree off. Who wins and who loses? What happens when Harry has a secret up his sleeve?

📖 may your every wish come true by @cocoalou (4k)

“Harry, right? Harry Styles?”

Harry’s insides are screaming.

“Uh. Yes. Louis Tomlinson, yeah?” he replies, trying desperately to keep the manic smile off his face that he knows is already making an appearance because Louis remembers him (!!!!!), little ole Harry Styles; two years below, nerdy as all hell, and his friend’s dorky, younger brother.

Harry and Louis reconnect during the Holidays, it's kind of fate.

#holiday fics #holiday fic rec #hlsource

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nightcoremoon · 5 years

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So I finally watched Deadpool 2. long post. very... very... very long.

back in 2009 my then 7 year old sister really got into avatar the last airbender and I hadn't really watched it but I had to share the tv with my four sisters and honestly between the kids television and disney sitcoms it was a breath of fresh air, and for a year and a half we would wait for reruns of episodes we hadn't seen yet. avatar was the show that got me into fandoms. alas, time passed and by the time korra was playing we'd moved to a different house and lost cable tv because the stepfather refused to pay child support and we were on a one parent income. we didn't really do anything together anymore either because I was in high school now. but then she got super into comic books. and I mean SUPER into them. especially harley quinn and deadpool. so when they announced the first movie and suicide squad we had both collectively lost our shit in excitement. alas, mom said she wasn't allowed to watch it since it was rated R and she was only 14. so one late february afternoon I was gonna take her out to see a movie. I told mom we were going to go see zoolander 2. in the car, I looked at her and said

we're not watching zoolander

and she screamed

and we watched deadpool

AND IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME

anyway more time passed and I heard that a second one was coming out and I wanted to do the same thing but that didn't happen and I lost my chance to see it in the theater. and then as I got enraptured in transitioning and working and a whole bunch of other stuff I just never got around to it. I did watch all of the supporting videos and trailers and stuff though. anyways, my sister (yes the same one) just rented it on dvd from a video store and watched it with her boyfriend today (actually yesterday but shut up), so I just sat down to watch it after work and

Was

...

a little disappointing at first, don't get me wrong. there were a lot of plot contrivances and I LOATHE fridge stuffing. I literally made a joke, "if she dies I'm gonna be mad" and then BOOM she fucking died and I was so pissed off I almost just turned it off. but I decided fuck it might as well watch the whole thing. it was a huge step forward from a technical perspective and all of the cinematography was on point and I could tell david pulled his a-game and did so much better than tim did (sorry tim, I love mass effect 2 and scott pilgrim if it's any consolation) and felt so much more fluid of an action movie considering the man did john fucking wick. of course ryan was fantastic too, as he always is. everyone was great: rena, tj, karan, leslie, BRI AND KUTSUNA-SAN, zazie, and stef's voice plus the cgi crew. also I always love terry crews, bill skarsgard, matt damon, alan tudyk, and the two seconds that brad pitt was on screen, even if their appearances were for comedic effect. I wasn't really sold on julian though but he's a newcomer on the scene and he did pretty well for all intents and purposes. I could tell which scenes were filmed first thought but this isn't a scathing attack on a child's acting abilities. I'm just angry that the actual plot for getting to the end was so weak, that they're aware and had ryan lampshade the fuck out of it, and the last half hour was such a trip.

okay so first of all how in the FUCK did sergei figure out who deadpool's secret identity was, track down wade wilson's apartment, get a hit crew together, and make his way downtown in the amount of time it took dopinder to drive wade home, wade and vanessa to bang, and them to start watching a movie? oh yeah sure there's nothing saying that their talk about his daddy issues was the same day let alone the same hour as the previous scene except for the simple fact that there was no fucking indication that any time had passed. either way, someone fucked up, and it was for the sole purpose of fridging ness to cause wade manpain. although frankly the only thing I hate worse than killing off the previous waifu for the next is breaking them up for zero reason whatsoever from out of nowhere (or doing both: if you do both then you're no better than paul blart mall cop 2 and that movie is a steaming blight on humanity that's only saved by perfectly syncing to pink floyd's dark side of the moon album). and to be fair THEY ACTUALLY USED THAT AS A PLOT ELEMENT AND MADE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND HAUNTING SCENES I HAVE EVER SEEN IN A MOVIE. and also a hilarious one. so that sucked at first but then redeemed itself later. I'm still a little salty that he killed francis for nothing. MORE ON KILLING LATER.

(actually upon reflection maybe wade didn't hide his secret identity at all so it's perfectly reasonable that sergei just went after him but that would awaken a whole swathe of problems like why the fuck are wade and ness livin in the middle of the city full of crime and shit??? and more on that later)

dopinder killing his rival in love. come on now, that's just unrealistic. dopinder is too fucking incompetent to successfully murder anyone who isn't a pedophile. MORE ON THAT LATER.

the suicide. I can understand going out with a bang but are we supposed to believe that wade bought all those barrels, wheeled them in, and arranged them all and never once thought "well gee maybe I'm overreacting a little bit"? okay, he was depressed and not thinking clearly, but he was constantly getting drunk, doing coke, and god knows what else. he somehow didn't have the clarity to not kill himself but had just enough to arrange such an extravagant death? yeah yeah I get it, rule of funny and cool, and I can forgive it because it's deadpool, but god damn it that's really lazy (AND GODDAMN IT THEY EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE IT TOO. ITS LIKE THE ROYAL RAT AUTHORITY BONFIRE HERE). it's also indicative that weasel and colossus and dopinder are just bad or at least distant friends. and at least althea has an excuse being that she can't see. but as for the other two? bruh he is suicidal and unstable as hell. the last thing he needs is SPACE. but well maybe he hid it well, like kurt cobain, robin williams, chris cornell, chester bennington, okay writing this sentence maybe that actually does make sense. fuck.

negasonic thought that wade "flamboyant pansexual" wilson was lesbophobic? what? I understand it was for a joke but like come on now. surely she'd know that wade legitimately wanted to fuck colossus but wouldn't because he loved vanessa. lesbian gaydar works well, okay? then again the writers are not lesbians so I mean they can't be faulted for not grasping the raw power lesbians exude. (and if there's canonical evidence negasonic is actually bi, the same rule applies because wlw solidarity and stuff). and that's more than made up with the interactions between wade and yukio. whom I love and would die for. she's delightful and I hope she gets plenty of screentime in DP3. (also lmao 'pinkie pie from my little pony'. the real pink pony would be proud)

now, I get that this is purely because of license issues and budget constraints but THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF THE X MEN COEXISTING WITH THE PEDOPHILE HOME AND THE ICE BOX IN THE SAME UNIVERSE IS SO FUCKING ASININE. even if I made concessions for everyone being dead despite the timeline being fucked up the ass without lube, and admitting to never having watched literally any x men movie past X3 and yes that means I've not seen origins, japan arc [wait shit yukio's in that WTF SONY], first class, days of future past, apocalypse, or logan so I'm not an expert on the field but like. FUCK. I know there's jurisdiction, things change, erik is away and charles is dead (I think) and logan is dead (I know), and there's six whole movies I'm lost on, but jesus christ, none of that segment had any work done to make sure it was logical. so here we're supposed to believe that colossus and negasonic took wade as a trainee in the X Jet to Allegorical Racist/Homophobic And Literal Pedophile Central to... do what, exactly? What was the fucking plan? Because it sure as fuck looks like the plan was to distract him enough to force the Devil May Cry (sorry but I see DMC I either think of the rap duo or the game series) to haul him off to fucking prison to the fucking nth power. Colossus who seems to be the head honcho and sole decision maker of the X Men just stood by and watched until bullets started flying. Was he recruiting? Was he the damage control? Was he the cheap plot moving device whose sole reason for showing up at Essex was to punch Wade out before he killed headmaster touchykids allowing for the hamfisted climax? Clearly if we were to derive any conclusion from this circlejerk we have to assume that not only Colossus but the entirety of the XMansion just don't give a fuck anymore, or that it isn't important to make sense because hey this is a Deadpool movie so fuck you for using logic. Excuse the shit out of me for being confused as to what the fuck actually happened, because if Colossus is willing to let Wade get thrown into prison for killing a pedophile but he's not gonna TAKE ACTUAL LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ESSEX HOUSE FOR TORTURING MUTANT CHILDREN FOR DECADES (Domino admitted to it being the same when she was a kid), either it's just a Public Relations nightmare to not let the Run-DMC haul him off, Essex is a legal powerhouse on the same level as the Westboro Baptist Cult with lawyers up the ass, or they changed a lot of shit from the trailers and cobbled together what they could from what remained (which is the most likely suspect because Bedlam and Shatterstar had scenes in the trailer where they were not dead and were actually fighting with Wade and Domino). Regardless, the scene however dumb and nonsensical was necessary I guess, and established Russell/Firefist as a character. I'm still gonna be pissed about that in particular but HOLY SHIT is that stupid. But that's not all that's stupid. More on that later.

Cable's motivations are grief. His hypocrisy is understandable. Killing kids is wrong so I'm gonna kill a kid so he doesn't kill other kids. Why doesn't Russel deserve life? Because he's a mutant? Wow, Thanos is racist AND mutant-phobic! In all seriousness though, all Cable had to do was nothing to prevent his family's death. If he had stayed in the future, nobody would have broken Russel out so there would be no way in hell he'd have killed the headmaster let alone everyone else he did. Although according to the laws of time travel, the timeline Cable came from was the timeline that he went back in time and did everything exactly the way it happened up until Wade took that bullet for Russel. Because that's the moment the teddy bear lost its bloodstain. Because literally not a goddamn thing changed the course of history up until that exact moment, THAT IS THE EXACT FUCKING MOMENT IT BUTTERFLY EFFECTED ITS WAY TO HELL AND BACK. Cable's dead family is a direct result of him going back in time to kill Russel to save them and failing miserably. And god I love time travel paradoxes UGH I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH. We have to assume Cable failed and that's why he succeeded. THATS SO FUCKING STUPID.

And you know what else is stupid? Wade made it back to New York after breaking out of DMC. How is that stupid? Well, first of all, the facility wasn't looking for THEIR MOST DANGEROUS INMATE. Black Tom said it himself, Wade is the toughest cunt in there. Although Juggernaut is way more powerful but whatever. More on that later. Anyway, the facility got the riot back on lockdown despite Cable decimating most of the staff, and got everyone in line enough to get them to start convoying to the more secure location. Did they see that Wade was missing and decide "hey, fuck it, what can the literally most unkillable man in the world with the most enormous boner for revenge in the universe POSSIBLY do to us who forced him to slowly die of cancer all over again in a hell prison???" Fucking stupid. Even dumber is the actual X Men themselves not giving a shit that there was an attack on the ice box which is apparently Mike Pence's wet dream, not lifting a finger to so much as offer assistance TO ENSURE THE SAFETY AND REHABILITATION OF ALL OF THE MUTANT INMATES, or even so much as being like "hey guys is Wade doing okay dying from cancer in your Guantanamo Bay?". And dumber still than that is Colossus deciding that Wade deserves to slowly die of cancer since he killed a pedophile who abused a kid so bad he used his powers for destruction and murder and evil and eventually became one of the most deadly sociopathic murderers in the fucked up future world, rationalizing it because Wade broke the rules of being an X-man by killing, even though Wade didn't wanna be an X-man in the first place. Colossus dragged Wade from his suicide directly to the X manor to get his body healed, forced him along to a mission he didn't wanna be a part of, and then punished him for killing a pedophile by forcing him to die slowly from the cancer while getting the shit kicked out of him by convicts. AND THEN WADE APOLOGIZED TO COLOSSUS? ARE YOU FUCKING FOR REAL HERE? WADE WAS SUICIDAL AND COLOSSUS FORCED HIM INTO PRISON. Bad friend, 0/10.

Seriously, a queer military vet with ptsd and a fucked up past replete with daddy issues who developed cancer and was then tortured by a shadow organization went on a revenge spree followed by a murder spree as a mercenary, and expressed that he's a violent psychopath who won't hesitate to murder sex traffickers or pedophiles or people who threaten his girl, and watched said girl (the only good thing in his fucked up life) die right in his arms immediately after his life was about to go in a good direction and start a family and probably give up all of the murder business and just be the best dad in the world and give a good life to someone to make up for the one he never got himself, did a cocaine bender, and literally committed suicide. But his godforsaken mutation wouldn't let him die, so he couldn't even see his Vanessa again. He clearly has severe clinical depression and needed a FUCKING MENTAL HOSPITAL STAY, not being shoved into a planless feeble attempt to get him to join the Xmen (using him for an extra hand for missions), and he was allowed to BRING THE GUNS, and he was confronted with a physically and sexually abused CHILD with mutant powers he probably didn't ask for that ruined his life and got him sent to Essex, a BIG KNOWN HOTSPOT FOR PEDOPHILES, and he has a big problem with sex criminals (oh yeah and the girl he loved so much he killed himself when she died? sex worker with a life full of being sexually assaulted herself. let alone the fact that wade has been sexually assaulted as well). You take a queer, mentally ill, suffering man and push him past his breaking point, and let him bring guns to a pedophile nest, HE IS GOING TO KILL THE PEDOPHILES. Colossus is a fucking cunt in this situation in every single conceivable fashion. He dragged Wade out of the frying pan, and out of the fire, and into the fucking woodchipper, before stepping on him. The situation is so far behind fucked up that I don't even think the crew fully grasp the full gravity of the situation described. But I digress.

Things weren't all bad from this point on.

The recruitment was funny and full of people. Dopinder's reaction at Peter was amazing and I love him. Domino was fucking phenomenal and I loved her. I knew that everyone else was dead from the moment I saw them, though, but I still loved them anyway. Brad. fucking. Pitt. Great action scene all around. Josh Brolin is just the baddest of asses. Murphy's law is supreme.

Juggernaut's reveal was well done. Still dumb but not quite "AHM THE JUGGANAUT BITCH" dumb. Cool dumb. And then he Megatron'd Wade which was even cooler. I thought Russell joining him was a little dumb but it was quite a callback. Although it begs the question: Wade knew it was foreshadowing something and he knew that Juggernaut existed but he just isn't omniscient and the inconsistency is driving me fucking bonkers. This isnt the Deadpool of the comics. This is the movie Deadpool. And while I do like it I can't say it's without flaws. That's ok but still annoying as fuck. And then more flaws.

It's stupid that Colossus would react the way he did when he learned Wade was back. Well if Colossus was moping about because an entire convoy of mutants literally fucking died except for Juggernaut (PROFESSOR X'S BROTHER IN THIS CHRONOLOGY) and Russell, that's even dumber. If he learned Wade was back at that moment then he's not even paying attention to anything considering Deadpool was out and about. Negasonic and Yukio didn't look too surprised to see him. Lazy writing, lampshades, whatever, blah blah who even fucking cares.

The heroes show up just in time. Shocking. But of course if they didn't it'd be a boring movie.

The action scene was FANTASTIC. It balanced four different fight scenes all at once. Why Jug didn't rip Cable in half like he did Wade I won't ask, maybe because he's half robot I guess idk. Still, Wade/Cable, Domino, and Colossus kicked ass, and Russell's advance to the headmaster was beastly. Julian's acting wasn't the best and neither was Eddie's but I got what they went for and HOLY SHIT THE SCENE IS SO CHILLING, especially for queer youth. Bryan Singer could only dream of that level of subtle analogues.

I thought it was dumb that Cable was all like "if Russell kills then he'll be an evil monster since killing is wrong" even though literally every one of the people there have killed several people that fucking day. Cable killed many, Wade killed many, Domino killed many. Granted they killed mostly pedophiles but they also killed a lot of DMC people & innocent civilians (accidentally). But again he was grieving so whatever.

Negasonic and Yukio had their moment too, I just wish there was more. But that's what the threequel is for. WE WANT MORE LESBIANS!

Wade has balls, I'll give him that. Where he kept that power nullifier I'll never know. [also... fuck that noise. they just have a collar that turns off mutant powers? ORORO WILL HAVE A FUCKIN ANEURYSM. and marie will have an orgasm. for once in her life. hahaha references]. But it was still a great scene. Russell is actually a really good character, if he is a bit Woobie, Destroyer Of Worlds. But I like that trope. Simon from Cry of Fear is one of my favorite characters in that respect; sympathetic even to the very end if he kills Purnell and Sophie (god that monologue is so haunting... "have fun cleaning my brains off the wall. FUCK YOU."). He's basically just a mini Wade but a mutant first. And it allowed Wade to have a defining character moment.

And what a moment. There's a quote that was said about The Princess Bride that I feel works here. It was about the Inigo fight with Rugen. "A comedy is only as strong as the moment when it stops being funny." And the moment when Inigo stabs Rugen, and says "I want my father back, you son of a bitch." is just permanently etched in my mind because the entire movie you watch with a smile up until right at that moment. And when Wade finally bites it, you think "oh, he'll just wake up again and make another joke" but he doesn't. He doesn't move again. He shows up on death's door. And you hear the acoustic version of Take On Me. And he walks through the fog door, and he's got his skin back. He did it, he's finally reunited with Vanessa. And Cable looks away, and you start to piece together where they're going with it, and he goes back, and you wonder wtf is this, and it returns to the present day and Wade digs in the wound AND PULLS OUT THE SKEE BALL TOKEN HOLY FUCKING SHITBALLS OH MY GOD THATS THE COOLEST SHIT IVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE JESUS CHRIST ON A STICK.

THE ENTIRE ENDING SCENE IS SO ICONIC.

And the whipped cream on top of the sundae is the headmaster getting creamed in the middle of his tirade. And then Dopinder's reaction is the cherry.

After that it kinda does the sappy ending which is fine for what it is. And then it brings in all the fourth wall breaking time travel shenanigans, drenching it in sap and Ryan Reynolds' brains.

The music is just OH MY GOD amazing. Yeah there's the pina colada song and skrillex and celine dion and ac/dc and enya and pat benatar and peter gabriel and cher and steve miller and for some reason diplo/french montana/lil pump but THOSE ARE ALL ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD OKAY???

The movie is chock full of amazing lines.

The fights are all really fluid and visceral.

The cinematography is always on point.

The plot formula is shaken up a little bit.

Several pedophiles die incredibly violently.

ITS A REALLY GREAT MOVIE, FOR REAL.

I'd literally say it's better than the first one.

All of the plot contrivances in the first half are negligible and are barely even problems unless you overanalyze them too much. Like I do.

And I also watched all of the extras... Celine Dion is such a good sport, really, and honestly kind of a dork and super endearing and I love her honestly and think she caught too much flak for being a) a woman b) popular c) in the worst 'romance' movie ever made tifuckintanic god I hate that movie so much despite loving kate winslett, leonardo dicaprio, and james cameron as much as I really loathe to admit it. And Ashes is a really good song.

And I never thought I'd say this but... Lil Pump has really nice flow. I really kinda hope he isn't the dead one. I despise French Montana but I love Sia and by extension Diplo (because LSD), and the song they did for the movie was... bad. But I'll probably be checking out Lil Pump soon.

And anyway the winter solstice mtv unplugged acoustic version of take on me? Beautiful.

I enjoyed this movie a lot, despite the nitpicks.

Thank you Canada. 🇨🇦

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notarelationship · 7 years

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Clinging to This Hating Game 5/7

For the @prompt-a-klainefic blog’s 2017 Reverse Bang

Link to the art by @datshitrandom

the prompt:

Kurt and Blaine couldn’t stand each other in high school, maybe one was a jock/cheerleader and the other a nerd/glee clubber. Or they were bitter rivals for competition solos if they were both in glee club. Now they both live in NY and their friends set them up on a blind date, not knowing they went to the same high school.

High School AU, Cheerio!Kurt, Jock!Blaine Rating: Explicit Warnings: some bullying and homophobic language, teenage sex Word Count: ~3900 (this chapter)

Everything wonky is my fault.

AO3 link Chapter 5

On tumblr: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4

Well.

After a slap fight with my beta that turned into full on mud-wrestling, this one very long chapter has been turned into two. The good news is that the second half will post no later than Sunday, and possibly earlier.

Forever thanks to @mshoneysucklepink for the beta. And the slap-fight.

Chapter 5

Kurt had always expected that by the time he reached his final semester of high school the pressure that he’d felt for four years would have fizzled out. The pressure he’d put on himself to be better, to rise above everyone’s expectations, the pressure to get everything right all the time, to take away any ammunition that could be used against him.

After all, his college applications were in, he’d sent out his audition videos (except NYADA, of course, they would require an in-person audition) and he was still in the lead for valedictorian. That should mean he should be able to coast through one semester.

It didn’t.

The glee club had a real chance of winning nationals this year, but they had to get through regionals first, and spring cheer competitions were going to start up in March and Coach Sue wouldn’t accept anything less than a first place finish. On top of that, there was no way he was going to let Blaine the Usurper take his valedictorian crown. He might be smart, and a little hot, but he was also the enemy, And he was a transfer student for pete’s sake.

So when school started back up after the holidays Kurt was outside the guidance counselor’s office checking the rankings. Kurt was still at the top of the class with a 4.21 GPA.

Blaine, however, had overtaken Harriet Gomez, and was now in second place behind Kurt. With a 4.13 GPA Blaine was poised to take the lead any time Kurt stumbled. He couldn’t let it happen. Kurt examined the rest of the standings, to make sure there weren’t any likely dark horse threats (there weren’t).

“Kurt, I’m so happy I found you.” It was Rachel.

Kurt sighed and turned to look at her. “It’s a Monday Rachel, where else would I be?”

She kept going without acknowledging his obviously rhetorical question.

“Blaine and I both received our invitations to audition for NYADA on Saturday and I thought we should all discuss carpooling together since they are holding them for all invitees on the Ohio State campus in Columbus and it just makes sense for all of us to go together.” Kurt barely heard what she said after “invitations.”

He turned away. “I didn’t get one.”

It was distressing. It was unheard of that they would audition three students from the same program and his chances had materially diminished when Blaine arrived. He had to face the fact that an audition appointment might not come at all. “I guess you’re on your own.”

“What? That’s ridiculous Kurt, you have very unique talents, and I’m sure that when the dean of admissions hears you they’ll -”

“Stop Rachel. Please.” Kurt tried not to glare, but her whole demeanor was provoking him. “I’ll let you know if an invite comes. If not you two crooners are on your own.” Kurt spun and walked away from her and toward his next class.

“I am not a crooner, Kurt!” He didn’t have to turn around to know she was stomping her foot.

Kurt managed to slip into his chair in home room with plenty of time to spare. Quinn was already there, Cheerios uniform on.

“Did you have a nice trip to Chicago with your parents?” Kurt asked her.

Quinn huffed a frown. “Delightful. My father found out I’ve been seeing Puckerman again and took away the keys to my car.”

Kurt’s eyes went wide, and he was about to disparage Mr. Fabray with the full muscle of his well-honed snark, but Blaine came rushing into the classroom just as the bell rang. Kurt’s eyes stayed wide.

In the months since football season ended Kurt had noticed a subtle change in Blaine’s personal style. (He hadn’t been looking, it had just been so obvious.) His jeans had become more well fitted (okay, tighter), the McKinley football t-shirts had been replaced with crisp polo shirts (that may have pulled teasingly across his shoulders. No - wait). The trendy sneakers had been replaced by top siders and loafers. The tidy curls were being tamed by some actual hair product.

But today, the first day of the last semester of high school, Blaine Anderson was wearing snug raspberry colored chinos, a vertically striped polo with a bow tie and two-tone oxford shoes that matched colors of the stripes on his shirt. Kurt had to bite his tongue to keep his jaw from dropping as he watched Blaine take the open seat at the front of the class.

“See something you like?” Quinn whispered.

Kurt hoped his feigned recoil was convincing; he did not need this from Quinn. “Good lord no. I was just wondering what kind of monster would pair that shirt with those pants.” Kurt shook his head. Obviously one with a ridiculously tiny waist. How had he never noticed that before?

On top of that, the glee club still had regionals to prepare for, and unlike their sectionals competition there was nothing like the musical to distract half of the group from wanting a lead. When Kurt arrived to class at the end of the day Mr. Schuester was already trying to reign them in.

“Okay guys, we need to decide on a theme for our performance before we start song selection. Who has something they’d like to suggest?”

Blaine raised his hand. “It’s near Valentine’s Day, we could do love songs.”

A few of the girls responded with positive noises, but overall no one really liked that idea. Kurt didn’t think it was so bad.

“That’s lame,” Puck said, voicing the more popular reaction. “Unless you had some dude you wanted to serenade. Then we’d totally have your back, man.”

Blaine turned to look at Puck, eyes wide in horror. “No. No, that’s not something I think I would want your help with.”

Puck shrugged. “Your loss bro.”

It turned out that this year regionals was taking place at Dalton Academy, Blaine’s former high school. Kurt thought it was funny that they had never competed against Dalton before, but here they were going up against them for the first time, after Blaine had transferred to McKinley. It was probably a coincidence.

When they pulled up in their bus the first thing they saw was a giant banner stating “Welcome 2013 Midwest Regionals Finalists: McKinley High School New Directions and the Western Illinois Prep Spinal Chords!” They were led to a tidy room full of soft furniture and dark wood. It had a minimum of refreshments; bottled water and some snacks were laid out along a sideboard. It was pretty nice.

“You went to school here, Hobbit?” Santana asked, flopping down on one of the oversized couches.

Blaine grimaced, but Kurt couldn’t tell if it was because of Santana’s question, or because she put her feet up on the arm of the couch.

“I did,” Blaine answered. “Right up until the beginning of this year.”

Kurt thought about what Blaine had told him months before, about Dalton’s glee club - that they weren’t good enough to get Blaine a scholarship, and he wondered how much competition they would actually be. Blaine had been confident during rehearsals, practically assuring everyone that while the Warblers were good, they weren’t quite up to what Blaine had seen from the New Directions this year. But Kurt knew that competitions were never as simple as just talent.

Mr. Schuester came and gathered the boys, leading them to the lounge that was serving as their changing area, while the girls changed in their waiting room. Kurt and Blaine were the last two dressed, and on the way back they passed a group of boys in navy school uniforms, looking like entitled rich kids. Kurt assumed these boys were Warblers.

“Hey killer, why don’t you return my calls?” Kurt stopped to look at the speaker, and to see who he was talking to. Blaine’s face had turned red and he turned to face the boy, who was skinny and had too much hair. “At least public school hasn’t ruined that fine ass.”

“Oh my god, Sebastian.” Blaine’s eyes went wide, and Kurt stopped, arms crossing over his chest. He wasn’t sure if he should stay with Blaine or leave. They weren’t friends but he was willing to stand up for him. For McKinley pride if nothing else.

Sebastian was eyeing Kurt. “I don’t know why you left if this is the best public school has to offer, I mean he’s not even - ”

Kurt took a step forward, he might not look like much, but he had the upper body strength of someone who threw humans into the air on a regular basis. Blaine stepped in front of him, putting a hand on Kurt’s arm as if to stop him from whatever he was going to do.

“Hey, guys, come on.” Finn came walking toward them. “We need to get ready.”

Sebastian laughed, glancing at all of them. “Maybe I’ll see you later, Blaine.”

“I - no. You won’t.” Blaine turned, pulling Kurt by the elbow toward Finn. Kurt was shocked enough by Blaine grabbing him that it took him a minute to form a retort.

“Not on good terms with your ex?”

Blaine looked at him, mouth open. “He’s not, it wasn’t like that. He’s not an ex.”

Kurt turned to watch Sebastian walk the opposite way down the hall. “Well if you’re still dating him you might want to take a good look at your relationship, because that guy - ”

“I’m not dating him, Kurt. He wasn’t my boyfriend.”

“Then what was he - ” They got to the door before he could finish his questions, and Blaine shot him a look that clearly said stop talking. Kurt stopped. He wasn’t even sure why he was pushing it. It was none of his business if this boy was Blaine’s ex boyfriend. None at all. He followed Blaine into their waiting area and joined the rest of the group getting ready for the performance.

They easily beat the competition with an inspired selection of Michael Jackson songs. Blaine’s lead on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” had the entire auditorium on their feet, cheering and dancing, and they even flawlessly managed a costume change for the big finale. When the judge announced them as the winner they all jumped and hugged and cheered, just as they always did. Kurt was high-fiving and hugging randomly; Santana, Quinn, Brittany, and even Rachel threw themselves into his arms.

Kurt turned around in the crowd as they celebrated, and found himself wrapped in Blaine’s arms. Kurt returned the gesture before he even realized it was happening and he could feel Blaine sag into his body, as if he forgot where he was and who he was with, before quickly giving Kurt a squeeze and releasing him to move on to the next person.

Kurt stared at the back of Blaine’s head for a moment, but was snapped back into the moment by FInn’s arm around his shoulder. Kurt shook it off, it didn’t mean anything.

Once they had all made it back to the bus for the ride back to Lima, Kurt let himself think about what had happened. He convinced himself it was nothing, they were teammates and they had won a competition, and even if they were favorites to win it was still nice to be recognized. So they hugged. He hugged all of his teammates after a win.

WHen Kurt climbed on the bus he found Quinn and Puck had managed to claim the last row, with Brit and Santana in the row in front of them. The other glee couples had also paired off and overhead lights were snapping off even as he walked down the aisle. Kurt wasn't entirely sure that he'd enjoy making out with someone while listening to other couples make out too.

“That's all vaguely repulsive,” Kurt said, taking the empty seat next to Mercedes.

“Do not tell me that if you had someone to make out with on this miserable ride that you'd be sitting here next to me.”

Kurt laughed. “Maybe, but that's never going to happen in this crowd.” Kurt hadn't noticed Blaine sitting across the aisle, one row in front of him and Mercedes. Blaine turned around as Kurt spoke, staring at him just a second too long.

Kurt wasn’t really in the mood for a confrontation, so he just looked away without trying to start anything. He could find plenty to talk to Mercedes about on the trip home.

To Kurt’s relief, his invitation to audition for NYADA had arrived not long after Rachel had accosted him in the hall on the first day of the semester, and just a week after regionals he wound up driving a very chatty Rachel and a much less chatty Blaine to Columbus so they could sing for their prospective futures.

Kurt insisted they stop for coffee before they got on the road, to which Blaine had eagerly agreed. Rachel ordered tea with honey, causing Kurt to pause a little when he looked at his morning mocha as he picked it up from the counter. Blaine caught him hesitating.

“Change your mind?” Blaine took a long sip from his own coffee, waiting for Kurt to respond. He really didn’t need Blaine judging him for his coffee order. Or for drinking coffee at all. But Blaine was also drinking coffee.

Kurt frowned. “No. I want my coffee.” He looked at Rachel arguing with the barista about wanting to look at what type of honey she was going to be putting into her tea. Blaine turned to see what Kurt was looking at.

“Ah. Has coffee ever affected your vocal performance in the past?” Kurt shook his head. “What are you drinking?”

“Non-fat mocha,” Kurt answered.

Blaine scrunched up his face. “Well the dairy’s not the best idea, but it’s probably not enough to really do any damage,” Blaine assured him.

Rachel finally finished directing her tea to her specifications and joined them, beaming. “Are we ready?”

Once they were on the road they were all relatively quiet. Rachel wanted to save her voice for the auditions, and Kurt didn’t have all that much to say to either of them, if he was being honest. Blaine dozed in the back seat most of the way.

“I cannot believe I choked!” Rachel wailed in the passenger seat.

“You didn’t really choke, Rachel. You got through it all eventually,” Blaine tried to reassure her, his voice calmly irritating.

Kurt had been stunned when Rachel had forgotten the words to “Don’t Rain On My Parade” just a few bars in, but it had taken him a few minutes to realize what was happening.

The NYADA representative had called them all into the auditorium together, and Blaine had gone first, doing “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story. At first Kurt thought it had been a safe choice, a musical theater staple that they must hear 50 times a year at auditions, and he was underwhelmed. He thought Blaine could do better.

But Blaine was just so charismatic, despite all of his other very irritating qualities (like how could he be so patient with Rachel? She was one of the most annoying people Kurt had to deal with on a regular basis. And that was saying a lot considering how annoying Kurt found most people), that he was swept up in his performance.

Kurt had had to convince himself that he really couldn’t be blamed for finding Blaine attractive, as a performer of course. And Blaine was gay, so he technically wouldn’t mind another guy finding him attractive, right? He had seen Blaine nearly naked, after all, and Blaine hadn’t minded at all at the time. He didn’t really have to like him to find him attractive.

So yeah, Blaine had really killed his NYADA audition, and been entirely dreamy doing it.

That’s why Kurt could be entirely forgiven for not noticing Rachel getting herself into trouble right away. But he did notice when she forgot her lyrics a second time, after she was allowed to restart. Rachel had been singing the song since she was two years old, if her own claims were to be believed. The NYADA rep let her take a 60 second break and a sip of water, and she finally did get all the way through it, but she was clearly shaken at the beginning.

“What if I don’t get in? Where will I go to school? How will I get to New York and conquer Broadway?” Blaine was spending a lot of time trying to console her from the back seat. “I had planned to win a Tony by the time I was twenty-four Blaine!” She was practically shrieking.

“Where else did you apply Rachel? You're very talented and I'm sure there is a program that will work out.”

Rachel twisted in her seat so she could talk to Blaine directly, thank god. Kurt didn’t need to be involved in this.

“Nowhere else, Blaine. NYADA is the best place for me and it's the only place I'll accept.”

“Oh, wow, well in that case I hope it all works out.” Blaine mumbled a few more reassurances, but Kurt tried not to listen.

In fact, Kurt tried to ignore all of Rachel’s dramatic fussing. He had his own performance and acceptance to worry about.

Wanting to go with something unexpected and leave an impression, Kurt had performed “Not the Boy Next Door,” complete with gold lame pants and ass wiggling for his audition. It had seemed to go over well, but it was a risky choice and there was really no telling how it would fare against the more traditional auditions as they went through all of the applicants once the audition portion was over.

“That was an impressive audition, Kurt,” Blaine said, when Rachel was taking a break from predicting the tragic loss of her future career. Kurt glanced in the rearview mirror - Blaine's eyes were wide and he was focused on Kurt's reflection.

Kurt shrugged. “I was pretty confident going in, but now I'm having second thoughts. It's not an obvious choice. You were good.”

“No, that's why it was so great. Inspired, even.” Blaine was nodding, not taking his eyes off Kurt. Kurt smiled a thanks. “And thank you. I felt good.” Kurt could see him smile in the rear view mirror. It wasn’t the big, light up his face smile he usually offered people, though. This one was smaller. More personal. Kurt had to look away. It’s a good thing he was driving.

Eventually Rachel dozed off, but he and Blaine never really managed to strike up much of a conversation after that. Even so, every time Kurt looked in the rear view mirror he saw Blaine watching him. He always averted his eyes when Kurt caught him.

After Kurt dropped Blaine and Rachel off at their houses, he turned the music off to think. He didn’t need to complicate anything about his life right now, and thoughts about Blaine Anderson were not helping. He was less than four months from getting out of Ohio in one more or less sane piece and he did not need some cute guy to charm his way into his life. Where had he been three years ago?

He was supposed to have been a one night stand, for god’s sake.

By the time Kurt got home, dinner was over, so he took an apple up to his room, promising to come back down after a shower and eat more if he was hungry. Right now it wasn’t his stomach that was talking to him.

Kurt stripped, eating his apple in four bites. Leaving the core on his bedside table to deal with later, he stepped into his bathroom (he had insisted when his dad married Carole that he had to have his own bathroom. It was the only demand he made), turning on the shower until it ran warm and steamy, but not scalding.

In the privacy of his own shower, he closed his eyes and could easily see the expression on Blaine's face that night as he undid the buttons on Kurt’s shirt, feel the phantom memory of Blaine's barely there stubble against his cheek and chest. He could see the look on Blaine’s face, hear the tiny, thrilling gasp as he came.

Kurt sucked in a breath, bracing one hand against the tile wall of his shower, and wrapping the other around his cock.

The next week was tense for Kurt. His feelings about Blaine were confusing him, and he didn’t really want to unpack any of them. Avoidance was so much easier. He had decided over the weekend that there wasn’t time to know someone, and that was what Kurt wanted. He wanted more than the physical contact (although he definitely wanted that too). Blaine Anderson had fogged up enough of his thoughts.

By Thursday he was ready to break. Some of his classmates had started receiving college acceptance letters, and he had seen on the NYADA boards that they expected letters would go out this week. He didn’t know how accurate it was, but every day waiting he felt more brittle.

Kurt was sitting in the choir room, counting down the minutes until class started (and then he planned to count down the minutes until class ended) when Rachel came bursting into the classroom.

“Blaine! Kurt! Blaine!” She was waving a piece of paper in front of her and his heart sank. “They’re here!! I got in! Did you get your letters yet?” Her eyes were going in four directions at once. She looked like a maniac. “My dad got the mail and drove it right over during last period. Has anyone called you? Did your mail come yet?”

“Chill out Rachel,” Finn stopped her, patting her on the shoulder as he moved past her to sit down. Kurt knew Finn wasn’t that happy about Rachel moving to New York, because he wasn’t going to go with her. “I’m sure they’ll find out when they get home.”

Kurt barely knew what they did in class that day, running out without talking to anyone and driving straight home. He’d have time to get back for Cheerio practice.

He knew there wouldn’t be anyone home to get the mail, so when he pulled into the driveway he jumped out of the car, leaving it running in the driveway as jumped over the four steps and landed on the porch.

“Bill, bill, LL Bean catalog - you don’t need any more flannel for god’s sake dad,” Kurt ran down the mail out loud, looking for the envelope that would change his life. “New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. This is a small envelope.” Shit. He ripped it open.

Dear Mr. Hummel,

Thank you for your interest in the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. Unfortunately, while your audition showed promise of the kind we might normally be interested in, we had quite a number of talented applicants this year, and you simply did not make the final cut.

While we do not anticipate having a wait list for the upcoming semester, if you would like to reapply and audition again for the spring semester we would welcome the interest. NYADA often accepts students in the spring semester, as it is a competitive program.

Best wishes and good luck in your academic and career pursuits.

Sincerely,

Carmen Tibideaux

NYADA Admissions

Kurt tried not to cry, he really did.

When he was done feeling awful he texted Quinn.

Tell Coach I’m sick. Vomit everywhere. I’ll make it up next week.

Are you sick?

Yeah. Of everything.

#clinging to this hating game #prompt-a-klaine-fic #prompt-a-klaine-fic reverse bang #artist: datshitrandom #klaine fic

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offbrand-valk · 7 years

Text

Maria Rokossoff knows

So, i know it’s been like, 12 yonks since i last posted any of my writing. I promise I have bigger more exciting projects in the work, but until then, here’s a continuation of a blackhill kidfic i wrote like a year ago called the Rokossoffs, this time it’s told from the perspective of Maria and Nat’s oldest daughter’s first girlfriend (also poster on AO3):

Jessica Kwan was sort of the queen Golden Ridge High.

Or at the very least the class of 2020.

She was captain of the cheerleading team, had good grades, and was dating the quarterback.

Jess was also fascinated by another girl in her class.

Not in the lesbian sense or anything, Jess wasn't a homophobe, and she was sure she could still be friends with Yelena if she happened to like girls, Jess just knew that she herself wasn't a lesbian.

She just really admired Yelena, for her grace, and her attitude, and those muscular thighs Jess had once dreamt about being choked by.

Besides, when someone had hair that smooth, it was only natural to want to run your fingers through it right?

Jess and Yelena had basically never talked in the 2 years they'd had classes together.

To be fair, Yelena didn't really talk to anyone, except when teachers asked her a question. And her answers were always sort of weird, like she was answering to a general, and afraid they wouldn't like what she said.

Junior year had just begun, and the cheerleading squad was starving for some real talent.

Real talent that Jess knew, from 2 years of admiring during gym classes, that Yelena had.

Fuck, Yelena did ballet, Jess wished she was good enough to do ballet.

Basically, the team needed Yelena on it, no the school needed Yelena on the team!

It was Jess's duty to the school to befriend Yelena and make sure she got on the team.

They would have to spend a lot of long evenings and night practicing, which would be super fun, and Jess couldn't wait.

First of all she needed to sit down during lunch next to Yelena, which was pretty scary...

Because Yelena was so cool of course, and maybe she didn't want to talk to Jess, or thought she was disgusting and annoying.

Turned out her very reasonable fears didn't matter, she hit it off instantly with Yelena.

She almost forgot to ask her to the trials.

That Friday they went to the mall, just the 2 of them, Yelena and Jess.

They held hands the whole time, Jess was the one to reach out, but Yelena never let go, so it was both their fault.

Really it was Yelena's stupid hand's fault, they were so soft and warm, and they just fit so perfectly together with Jess's own.

When they had to split, Jessica's heart was beating, and she spent the evening feeling everything and nothing all at once.

Half way through next week, and Yelena was sitting at the cheerleader table after having wowed everyone at the tryouts.

She still didn't talk much, Jess was starting to learn that didn't mean she was uncomfortable.

Yelena listened, and observed, and then once in a while she said something super clever.

Getting to know Yelena was difficult beyond belief.

When Jess asked where she had been before GRH, she answered: "Different places, nowhere for long, most of them Russia".

That was the least vague answer she could get out of her about her life.

Yelena was like a baked Alaska warm on the outside, but ice cold in the middle.

She would scream and cheer about shows and clothes her friends liked, then when you asked her what she thought, she would freeze up, and avoid the question.

It took some getting used to.

Jess parents didn't like Yelena, they thought she was too loud, and probably the reason Jess math grades were slipping.

Jess knew that was BS, 1) math was soooo boring, 2) Yelena had never gotten less than an A in anything, and 3) Mr. Peterson fucking hated her for being born Asian without a calculator in her brain.

Jess's house had been the place to meet for cheerleaders as long as Jess had been on the team, and Taylor was way noisier!

How could anyone even dislike Yelena? She was perfect from her clear blue eyes, to her adorable accent.

Anyways, one day Yelena invited Jess to come see her house, and Jess spent the rest of the day screaming through a thick cloud of excitement and absolute, gut wrenching terror.

On the outside, the Rokossoff house looked like any other, minus the huge Rottweiler lying in wait on the lawn.

As soon as Jess touched the gate, it got up and stormed towards the gate, ready to tear her arm out of its socket.

"Brat! Vnis!" Yelena yelled authoritatively, before turning to Jess.

"I am sorry, Brat, he is very protective of me, of the family."

Brat ("No, Brat say it like you are the villain of a spy movie") followed them into the house, never more than 5 steps away from Yelena, but made no further attempts on Jess's life.

The house was... sort of everything Jess had expected.

It was big, and homely, and safe, and somehow utterly normal.

If you disregarded the little black cat, that glared daggers at her, and which Brat was absolutely terrified of.

Her mom used to be a marine, and it showed, she had short brown hair, tan skin, and the arms of an action hero.

Jess did not know moms were allowed to wear tank tops, or disassemble a rifle in 15 seconds. No mom should ever be that hot, it was just too much.

Ava, her sister was the most adorable 12-year-old Jess had ever seen, especially since she was trying to act cool.

Speaking of adorable, Yelena's other mom was a head and a half shorter than her wife, making them look amazingly cute standing next to each other.

Wait... Yelena's other mom?

Yelena had 2 mom, and they were together, as wives, in love and marriage.

They were gay ("actually we're both bi, but a rose by any other name right")! Could people be gay and still be happy and in love and live together?

Of course she knew all of those things were possible, she had just never thought about it.

Seeing it in real life touched something within Jess.

Because she was just so happy to see how far lgbtq rights had gotten you know.

Seeing Yelena's home inspired Jess to a really nice daydream.

She imagined her and Yelena sharing a small apartment.

Just the 2 of them living together as spinsters, because they couldn't find any boys worthy of their time, except Brat who looked out for them.

The apartment wasn't big enough to fit 2 separate beds in, so they had to share a single big bed.

Which was actually a good thing, cause that way they could cuddle whenever they wanted to.

That wasn't weird! Girlfriends did that all the time!

Girl friends, not girlfriends of course! Because Jess was straight, and Yelena wasn't sure what she was.

Chad had been whining about her not paying attention to him.

It was so annoying, like: "Yeah Chad I'm not paying attention to you all the time, because this is 2022, and I have a life outside of men, also didn't your name use to be Brad?"

Because he apparently really wanted Jess to break up with him, he decided to call Yelena a bunch of shit then take a swing at her.

Since Yelena was a perfect badass (with a perfect ass), she threw him into the lockers, and knocked 2 of his teeth out.

He was lucky she didn't also break his arm, had Jess been that cool, she would have!

Yelena's moms were called, and Natasha showed up to put the fear of god into the principal for calling it anything but self-defense.

Then she took Yelena and Jess out for ice cream.

They talked at length about how Yelena felt about having to protect herself, Jess was there for emotional support.

She had never seen Yelena like that before, so much besides herself.

She held unto Jess's hand like a life saver through a storm.

It was on the first night of the nationals that Jess started to question just how straight she really was.

Yelena had failed one of her jumps miserably and broken a leg, Jess had screamed and cried.

She spent the rest of the day feeling miserable, and worrying about Yelena. The moment they were done for the day, she rushed to the hospital, beating the rest of the squad there by 15 minutes.

Yelena was already fighting with the doctor about getting to go back to the squad the very next day, her tendency to completely ignore injuries always sort of scared Jess.

"I've wanted to ask for a long time, why do you call yourself Jess? Jessica is such a beautiful name, I wouldn't want to waste a letter." Was the first thing she said after Jess had said hello.

And just like that Jessica's entire life changed on a dime.

She didn't tell Yelena, just kept it on the inside.

Actually Jessica didn't tell anyone for several weeks, just kept trucking, hoping she could stay friends with Yelena forever.

She tried looking at lesbian porn and was immediately traumatized.

The smart thing would be to talk to either Maria or Natasha about it.

Ever since they had told her to call them if she accidentally (or "accidentally") got drunk or took drugs at a party, so they could help her without telling her parents, they had become her "spare aunts".

Besides they were experienced queers, they could tell her what she was supposed to do next.

Instead she tried to watch lesbian porn again, and sort of managed to have a good time.

Honestly she got way more out of watching Samira Wiley movies.

On the first day of summer vacation, Yelena went on a camping trip with Natasha. She wouldn't say where, or when she would be back, only that there was a slight chance she might die.

Jessica wasn't sure whether she was being serious, or just secretive because she knew it annoyed her, either way the summer felt way longer without her.

In that time she came by Yelena's house a lot, Maria was more or less always working, and Jessica was more than happy to "babysit" Ava. Not that she really needed babysitting, the 12-year-old was honestly better at being an adult than Jessica.

Eventually she pulled herself together enough to have the talk with Maria.

It came as much as a shock to Maria as the sun rising in the morning.

Maria was so smart about that sort of stuff, she knew exactly how Jessica felt, all the shame, and fear of disappointing the family.

And she also knew just what to say, she kept telling Jessica to take her time, and never feel like she had to tell anyone, and that even though she had never kissed a girl her sexuality was still valid.

Maria also told Jess that if the worst came to pass, and her parents disowned her, then she of course had a place to sleep in the Rokossoff house for as long as she needed.

Jessica was pretty sure it was a mistake to tell Maria about her crush on Yelena, but she did it anyways, just to get it off her chest.

Maria wouldn't tell her if Yelena felt the same, just that she needed to take it slow, because Yelena still had a lot of stuff to work through before she would be ready for a relationship.

As a final recommendation, Maria told her about the wonders of erotica and the "for women" section of porn sites.

That knowledge resulted in Jessica spending way too much of her summer vacation cooped up in her room while her family and friends were outside living their lives.

Yelena came back 2 weeks into senior years, her lip was busted, she had a butterfly closure on her eyebrow, and 7 stitches in her leg.

She was also perpetually overjoyed, and even though she kept telling Jessica she was waiting for the right time to tell her how she had spent her vacation, the pure enthusiasm was contagious.

They picked up right where they left off before the summer. Yelena, Jessica and Brat against Golden Ridge High.

Jessica's parents started to accept that Yelena wasn't going anywhere, Yelena's parents taught Jessica how to use and maintain a handgun.

And Jessica only had 2 or 3 (definitely no more than 5) wet dreams starring Yelena.

One time they even all had a big dinner together, and Jessica's dad only said something accidentally homophobic to Natasha and Maria once!

Jessica couldn't tell if they had become more touchy over the summer, or if she was just more aware of it now.

One thing was for certain, neither of them wanted to stop.

It was on one of their, by that point weekly sleepovers that Yelena turned to Jessica.

"I have a big secret, but I'm not sure if I should tell you." She said and suddenly Jessica could barely hear from all the blood rushing through her ears.

"Please tell me 'Lena, you know I can keep a secret." Jessica was pretty sure that was the truth, she had kept her sexuality a secret to everyone (including herself) for almost 17 years after all.

"Yes, I just... fear you will hate me for this, or hate me for not saying sooner." Jessica suddenly needed to hug Yelena, and not just because she hoped it would calm her heartbeat down.

She really hoped she knew where Yelena was going.

She didn't, boy had she not known where Yelena was going.

Natasha was the Black Widow, and Yelena was training to be her replacement.

It was a shock, like a huge shock, just also one of those shocks where, once you'd had a moment to digest it, it actually explained a lot.

Yelena also tried to tell her about her time in the red room, but all they managed was a lot of crying and hugging from both of them.

Jessica didn't see Natasha come in, suddenly she was just there rubbing Yelena's back, and making cooing sounds, whilst a tray of hot chocolate had appeared on the night stand.

It took a lot of ugly tears, hugs, and choking, before Jessica got something that resembled the full story.

She kept telling Yelena it really wasn't necessary, and Yelena kept insisting it was.

Afterwards they cheered up by watching disney channel movies in bed, and trying to cook popcorn on widowbites. Something Yelena insisted she didn't approve of, and yet did anyways.

They even let Brat into the bed, though he didn't get to stay for long before Liho chased him out to demand cuddles of her own.

Jessica sensed that the night was winding down, and she still had a secret burning in the back of her throat.

If she didn't tell Yelena now, she would keep it inside forever, Jessica just knew!

"Yelena I... You told me a big secret, and it doesn't feel right that I keep this to myself after that."

Yelena shuffled over, and rested her chin on Jessica's shoulder. "Anything you want, I'm not going anywhere."

Jessica took a deep breath, their faces were so close, her heart was going a million miles an hour and her skin was burning. "I'm in love with you Yelena... Romantically... uhm, sexually... I want to kiss you!"

In the days that followed Yelena would tease her relentlessly about what she thought could be misunderstood by "I'm in love with you", but in that moment she just leaned forward ever so slightly, and placed a kiss on the Vietnamese girl's lips.

"I thought it was just me."

They kissed again.

And again, and again, growing bolder each time.

Until Jessica's hand snuck its way under Yelena's night shirt.

"Is this okay?" She remembered to ask, her hand just shy of Yelena's breast.

"With you, always!"

When Jessica woke up naked, and tangled together with an equally naked Yelena Belova Romanoff-Hill, her first thought was "I'm thirsty."

Not exactly a romantic first thought on the morning after losing her virginity, but it could be worse. Her thirst she could ignore to stay where she was.

At least in favor of a very different thirst, when she realized Yelena, her girlfriend, was playing with her hair and looking at her with adoring eyes.

"I could stay like this forever." Jessica said in what she hoped was a sultry voice.

"I have to pee." Yelena stated matter-of-fact-like, kissed Jessica's forehead, got out of bed, stopped, turned around and kissed Jessica deeply on the mouth, and rushed to the bathroom grabbing a hoodie and sweatpants on the way.

Jessica got slowly dressed, making sure to keep the door closed all the way.

When Yelena came back to put on underwear and a t-shirt, Jessica wasted no time in snatching her girlfriend's hoodie off the floor to wear as her own.

It smelled just like her.

As they left Yelena's bedroom properly this time, they found 2 full water bottles waiting for them outside the door, they looked like they had been all night, but neither Yelena or Jessica remembered putting them there.

Maria was waiting for them in the kitchen with freshly made blueberry pancakes.

She gave them just enough time to settle down and start eating, before she dropped the bomb.

"So girls... I'm super happy that you found each other and everything, but the walls of this house: not as thick as you might think."

Jessica choked and Yelena let out an equal parts shocked and mortified "MOM!"

"Anyways, for entirely unrelated reasons, me and Nat have decided to take Ava on a trip to that engineering museum she's been wanting to see. I just have to briefly scar you for life with a briefing on safe sex between women, and then we'll be on our way, so you can get back to watching movies in your room." Maria even did the finger quotes thing.

#blackhill #martasha #marianat #Maria Hill x Natasha Romanoff #Yelena Belova x OC #fanfic #my writing

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ecotone99 · 5 years

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[SF] The Gulf | Ep. 1: Masquerade

Paradisia sucks. But the whole island sails there on Monday.

Well, the island doesn’t really sail. It’s called Gulf Sails, but there are no sails. Some of the windmills sort of look like sails. So does a lot of the architecture on the central platform. The architects did that for aesthetics, obviously.

I’m putting on my costume for Halloween tonight. I’ll be meeting up with friends in two hours at Cask of Amontillado.

I know, it sounds like a boring place where old guys sip whiskey. But that’s just the basement. The main floor is a club with a gothic vibe, mainly because the building is an old cathedral. They fully exploit that for Halloween.

That’s why it’s anarchy on Halloween night. The place to be, or at least the best place to start.

I’m dressing as a masquerader, and so are a couple of my friends.

It’s always bittersweet. Of the four months each year Gulf Sails is anchored here, it’s the craziest party night in Barracuda. But it also marks the end of the best four months of the year.

Barracuda is absolutely epic. And on Monday we sail to Paradisia. And as I’ve mentioned, Paradisia sucks.

For starters, the drinking age in Paradisia is 21. Gulf Sails leaves Paradisia next year on March first. I turn 21 on March second. So I can say goodbye to my nightlife for the next four months.

Because another reason why Paradisia is so shitey, is that it is strict. It’s basically the polar opposite of Barracuda. It’s a cruel joke.

My parents say Paradisia is meant to be a detox for the residents of Gulf Sails after going crazy for four months. Paradisia leadership is all about yoga and cleanses.

There’s more juiced alfalfa sprouts than vodka in Paradisia. And I’m more of a vodka guy.

I’ve been telling my parents for years that they should just detach from Gulf Sails and dock their platform permanently at Barracuda. But they say they would never get enough work done living in Barracuda full time. It’s for summer slacking, they say. Then it’s crunch time. And Paradisia is the perfect environment to get the mind and body in order.

I disagree. Paradisia makes me feel like I am trapped. It’s half spa, half cult. I want to smack the smug looks off every one of those shysters’ self righteous faces.

The permanent residents of Paradisia walk around in white flowy clothes, always smiling and bowing to each other with hands clasped or pressed together. They’re creepy as all hell.

It’s the type of place that is so sanitized on the surface I feel like there must be some kind of underground sex trafficking dungeon. Nobody’s that perfect.

I could move onto mainland Barracuda myself. But I don’t make nearly enough money to pay for decent accommodations. And to be honest, it would be a tough downgrade slumming it after living my whole life on my parents’ platform.

It’s nice. They do well for themselves.

I put my final touch on the costume: a mask that goes over my eyes and nose. It’s gold and black, with red and black feathers protruding back over my ears from the sharp edges of the mask. I put some eyeliner on so that my eyes are rimmed especially dark behind the oval slits in the mask. People will hardly notice the eyeliner though. My eyes are pretty dark anyway.

I stick a gold dollar sign on one of my cheeks. On the other, a black interlocking Mars and Venus sign. You know, the circles; one has a cross coming from the bottom for female, and the other an arrow from the top right for male.

I find that when I give obvious signals like this, it cuts down on the number of guys that flirt with me. It’s not that it bothers me, but why waste either of our time?

And for some reason, I’m like a gay magnet. They love me, I can’t figure it out.

I’m wearing a matching button down vest, like from an old three piece suit. The back is all gold, and the front is a black base pinstriped with gold. The pocket has red and black feathers poking out. The pants match the front of the vest. And my shoes are gold.

I look good. The ladies are going to love it.

Downstairs, my parents and younger brother are eating in front of the big screen and my mom gushes over how “adorable” I look before telling me to get myself some dinner from the kitchen. It’s all laid out on the counter buffet style. But she still describes it all, and suggests:

“First, you’ll want to lay down the rice, then put the stew on top. There’s some shredded carrots that go on top of that. And then sprinkle on the parmesan and seasoning mixture. Oh and I laid out parsley sprigs for a garnish. There’s fresh bread too, so you can mop up all the extra juice when you’re done!”

I look at my dad’s plate. It has three distinct sections. The rice, stew, and cabbage do not touch each other. He ate his bread first.

When I sit down, he talks to me without moving his eyes from the screen.

“Are you going to stay out all night again?”

“Probably,” I say, a little indignantly. “It’s the last chance to have fun for the next four months.”

“Maybe you should give Paradisia a chance and do the cleanse with your mother and me this year,” he says, and turns to me with a raised eyebrow.

I take a deep breath and widen my eyes, “Maybe,” I say sarcastically.

He rolls his eyes.

My little brother Raji chimes in, “I’m sure the guys are gonna love your costume, Dege.”

“They probably will. Luckily I’m not a homophobic little twat like you.”

“True, you’ll take any attention you can get,” he says, and my dad chuckles, then tries to play it off like he was just clearing his throat.

My mom glares at them.

I finish my dinner, put my plate away, order a drone, and yell “Bye!” from the hallway, but my mom runs out of the living room because she has to get a picture of me in my costume before I go.

The drone is waiting on the landing pad.

I swipe my bracelet and get in.

Lift. Altitude. Acceleration.

I catch a good sunset on my way into town.

Purple and orange lights mark all the public landing pads for Halloween.

Barracuda gets into any holiday you could think of, and some you definitely have never thought of. I’m pretty sure they’ve made a few up along the way so that basically every weekend during the four months that Gulf Sails is docked is some kind of festival.

On Monday the city’s population will halve as Gulf Sails floats to Paradisia.

I meet up with Dean and Craig at Cask of Amontillado. It’s just getting started. The stone archways and cast iron chandeliers are perfect. We couldn’t have chosen better costumes. Somehow the DJ infuses chilling organ scales into his beat.

I know that might sound weird, but holy shit: it works.

She walks in to a beat. She flicks her hair to the side at the perfect time to match, not just the music, but the lasers too.

It all happens in slow motion. (Not really, but you get it.)

She looks at her friend and they both start laughing, realizing she accidentally mimicked the music with her mannerisms.

She has a black mask tied around her face.

Her costume is a short, form-fitting dress: black with long sleeves. There are red ties around the waist and arms.

And the part I like the most is the slit that runs all the way up her left thigh.

She isn’t just a ninja. She is a sexy ninja.

Her jet black hair is tied back with another striking red complement to the rest of the outfit.

She is surrounded by friends but I walk straight up anyway. I’ve learned that I have the best success when I walk up to a girl straight away.

Don’t even think, just do it. That way you don’t have time to get nervous, and girls think you’re super confident. Also, you get the drop on other guys.

“Hi I’m Rodigio,” I say over the music, stepping in between two of her friends and extending my hand.

The two friends I stepped between throw shade my way.

“Hi!” She says with pep, “I’m in the middle of a conversation!”

“Ouch. Just karate chop my heart why don’t you?” I say.

“How about I judo kick you out of my vicinity?” She says, and her friends agree.

“I…” I have nothing. I turn around and walk away.

“Have fun haunting the opera!” she calls after me.

“Masquerade,” I mutter.

“Seems like it went well,” Dean says.

“I decided she wasn’t hot enough for me. Hey, have you guys stocked up on contraband for Paradisia?”

Craig and Dean look at each other.

“What?” I say.

“Dege,” Dean says, “We aren’t going to Paradisia. We got an apartment here in Barracuda.”

Wow. I feel sucker-punched. This is the only thing that could make spending four months in Paradisia worse.

“And you didn’t include me!?”

“Come on, you know we wanted to. But the place we are getting is $2,000 a month for each of us, and, well…” Dean trails off.

Dean sold an app he created this year. He got a big payout and will be raking in royalties for years. Craig has been programming robots for two years and makes plenty.

I just fix bugs for a website hosting company–the glitches the automatic crawlers can’t repair. It’s easy and I can do it on my own time. I log in when I feel like it, and get paid per repair.

“But-” I’m looking back and forth at them in disbelief.

I just see stony masks staring back. I feel betrayed. I know Dean isn’t trying to be a dick. But what he is really saying is that he doesn’t want me mooching off him.

“Guy, don’t be dramatic,” Craig says trying to downplay how bad I should feel, “You’ll be back for New Year’s! TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY!” He booms it like an announcer and slaps my back.

“Yeah man come back for a whole month if you want,” Dean says. “You can stay with us the whole time. It will make the trip even cheaper than it was going to be.”

“Can you guys believe it!” Craig (a little too enthusiastically) throws in, “We have been talking about New Years 2100 for YEARS! And now it’s only TWO. MONTHS. AWAY.”

“I plan on non-stop anarchy from Christmas Eve, to maybe January 4th or 5th,” Dean says. “Depends on how much momentum I can build up.”

I’m glad I have this mask on. I wouldn’t be able to hide my emotions otherwise. I feel suddenly like the third wheel. Like they both have something in common that I don’t. I’ll be a visitor in their world. I can have a taste of the high life, but not the real thing.

The music gets louder and the beat turns up. We take shots. We head to the dance floor.

A blond with black streaks and vampire teeth growls at me in a red strobe light. A werewolf busts a break-dance. Three witches hop in unison.

More shots. Dance. Shots. Dance.

I’m forcing it. My game is off.

I stumble off the dance floor, and bust open the double doors to the outside deck, overlooking the water. It’s a cool night for the Caribbean, and steam comes off my skin.

Mist wafts ghostly over the water. Distant seagulls sound like crows. The salty air smells of extra decay. The tide must be out.

There aren’t many people out on the deck.

A few old guys from downstairs in the corner smoking cigars and having a spirited old-guy discussion.

A few couples or threesomes of friends interspersed around the high tables. And four guys around 30 leaning against the wooden pillars that hold up the thick black chain railing by the bay.

I walk over to look out on the choppy water. The open ocean is out to the right, and closer–but still distant–sits Gulf Sails, in the entrance to the bay. There’s plenty of berth on either side for passing boats, freighters, and cruise ships.

Way off to the left the bay gets narrower until it becomes a tidal river. Looking straight across I wouldn’t know there was land in the distance except for the sparse lights of remote homes.

I have to think for a minute to decide if the deck is decorated for Halloween, or if it always has these 19th century London street lamps. The real flames are the only source of light, casting shadows across the weathered–but solid–wooden planks.

The moon isn’t quite full. It was full a couple nights ago. But it is a vibrant presence. Clouds block about a quarter of the moon at any given time, but quickly pass by. The moon’s usual fractal glint off the water flickers from the clouds, matching the gas street lamps.

I glance at the three men to my left.

Holy shit that’s Elijah Braze!

He’s one of the youngest Gulf of Mexico real estate moguls. He owns a tenth of Gulf Sails. And most of his platforms are downtown, hosting businesses and high-end apartments.

He’s popular because he is well-spoken, good looking, trendy, muscular, personable… he’s really a gift to us mortals sent from the heavens.

He uses all this in his marketing. He speaks for conferences, classes, and camps. He appears on advertisements, in entertainment, and at events. He teaches courses, writes books, and runs businesses.

And he just caught me staring at him. And now he’s walking over with his three-man entourage trailing.

Elijah and his friends are dressed as Alex and his droogs. He uses the cane as if it is a natural part of his everyday ensemble. In truth it makes me think of Jack the Ripper.

But the rest of his outfit is straight up the height of fashion.

He’s got the oversized vibrant eyelash on one eye, combat boots, and a bowler hat. He’s wearing black tights.

And I, unfortunately, cannot help but notice that the bulge around his crotch is in the shape of a spider–true to the book.

Their “waisty jackets” have no lapels, but quite the shoulder pads. This makes Elijah’s shoulders even broader than usual. His ruffled white cravat forces him to hold his chin especially high… or does he always look like that?

As he walks up with a sly smile I try to play it cool, and keep character, so I say, “I hope you’re not on the prowl for any ultra-violence, brothers.”

“Ah no, perhaps just a bit of the old in and out,” Elijah says, winks at me, and his friends laugh.

Oh shit. Here we go.

“I’m flattered, but–er–wrong demographic,” I say, pointing to the interlocking male and female signs on my cheek.

“Oh I noticed that,” Elijah says confidently. “But I also noticed the dollar sign on the other cheek.”

A friend chortles. I blush.

Still, I try to just smile and brush it off.

Elijah takes a step closer, and extends his right hand, leaning on his cane with the left.

“What’s your name?” he asks, and I shake his hand to be polite.

“I’m Rodigio,” I say, but when I try to end the shake, he raises my hand to his lips and kisses the back.

I know he feels me resist, but he is much stronger. I pull my hand away and try to ignore his heavy gaze. I take a deep breath and look back out over the ocean.

“Well aren’t you going to ask my name?” he says, with fake incredulity.

I chuckle and turn back to face him. “I know who you are.”

“Well the polite thing is to acknowledge that.”

“Didn’t really seem like we were doing the polite thing here…” I volly.

Elijah’s only chubby friend breaks in sounding bored and annoyed, “Can we go back in? It smells like low tide out here and this kid is boring me.” He puts his hand on Elijah’s arm.

Elijah’s eyes flash deep aggravation, compared to the intense challenge they had been imparting to me. He slowly turns his face not to look at his friend, but to stare at the friend’s hand on his bicep.

His friend pulls his hand away and takes a deep breath like he is brushing it off. He acts like he is over this tedious situation, and yet he stays right there. Though now his eyes look up towards the club’s tall stone walls.

When Elijah turns back to me, he is back to friendly and jovial. It’s too much. He is letting his costume infect his demeanor. Or maybe he’s really like this?

“So do you live on the island or the mainland?” He asks.

“Island.”

“Me too! Oh, maybe you already knew that too…”

I almost roll my eyes but manage a polite smirk. “I knew you had a platform there… wasn’t sure how much time you spend on it though.”

“I travel a lot, but that’s where I stay when we are docked at Paradisia,” he says.

“Why?” I blurt out, “Paradisia sucks. If I were you I’d go to Europe or Asia or at least stay in Barracuda.”

He gives me a tsk-tsk look, and wags his cane like he is scolding me. “You don’t like my friend Francesco’s little society?”

Wow. He would be friends with Francesco, the cult leader of Paradisia.

My opinion on Elijah Braze has done a complete 180 in the last three minutes. In videos and writing he gives off fastidious success. Now I am just getting creepy overconfidence.

“I just find it a little restrictive,” I say.

“Just come to a party on my platform. We can loosen whatever restrictions you have…”

The chubby friend gives a sort of amused mm-hmm snort and chuckle. This time Elijah actually closes his eyes and I can see his jaw grinding for a moment. He takes a deep breath and resumes his smile.

I turn back to face the water, but he steps up behind me and puts his hands on the chain railing on either side of me. He is now pressed against my backside.

“Maybe it’s that mask that’s getting me going so bad,” he says into my left ear.

I can’t move one way or the other without pushing past an arm. I choose the way furthest from his face. So I jerk right and actually have to put some muscle into breaking his arm free from the chain to let me out of his reach.

Unphased he watches me and his smile twists, “Feisty. I think I want to leave the mask for last when I’m undressing you.”

“Look, since you’re clearly not taking the hint,” I say, raising my voice, “Let me make it clear: I don’t care how famous or rich you are! I wouldn’t get with you if we were the last two people on earth!”

Like a shark toying with his prey, Elija’s smile doesn’t change.

He leans in close, and I recoil my head but don’t back away, not wanting to appear weak.

He whispers loud enough for his friends to hear, “If we were the last two people on earth, sweetie… who the fuck would stop me?”

A chill goes down my spine as he walks away, his droogs trailing, laughing and swinging their canes.

“See you in Paradisia,” a lanky effeminate friend says to me sarcastically over his shoulder.

I am actually shaking. I hear the rise of the bass as the chubby friend holds the door. The bass fades as the doors swing closed. I sigh and lean most of my weight on the chain railing. This is not how I pictured my last party night in Barracuda.

“Prospero!”

“Shit!” I am startled. “Where did you come from?

“Well I am a ninja,” she says, melting me with her mascara lined eyes. I manage a burst of air that substitutes for a laugh.

“Prospero?” I ask.

“It looked like your night was going about as well as his.”

I am still confused, wracking my brain. She notices and lets out a disappointed chuckle and looks to the side.

“Anyway…” she says, sort of condescendingly, “I just wanted to apologize. I felt like I might have been a little harsh earlier.” She gives a forced smile. “I hope I didn’t kill your mood.” She starts walking away.

Prospero… I’m dressed for a masquerade… Poe!

“Lenore!” I blurt out just before she reaches the door.

She stops. Turns slowly. She has a smirk on her face now.

She walks back to me and I can’t tell if she moves like that to stay in character, or if it is natural graceful stealth. She leans on the railing next to me, looking out over the water. She turns to face me.

“Majorie.”

“Rodigio.”

“Right, you told me. I’m usually the one with the stupidest name.”

I laugh, “My friends usually call me Dege. I like that: Majorie. Sounds mystical almost like…”

“A mermaid?”

“Yeah!”

“I’m pretty sure my parents just looked up mermaid names. They were obsessed with Gulf Sails but couldn’t afford a platform until I was 18. I didn’t want to get left behind-”

“In Asia?” I ask reflexively. Godammit.

After a did-he-really-just-say-that chuckle she responds, “I’m gonna let that one go on account of the fact that I can smell enough alcohol on you to make me concerned about your proximity to these gas lamps. I’m from Florida. Well at least that was the last stop before Gulf Sails. What’s your story?”

“Grew up on the platforms. I think my parents made up my name… never met another one at least.”

“Sounds Spanish. Are you…” she stops abruptly and looks away. Is she blushing?

“Am I what,” I laugh, finally feeling like I got the upper hand, “Latino? Mexican?”

She just looks at me recovering her confident smirk as if to acknowledge my first score in a match.

“I don’t know what I am. A true mutt. A perfect balance if you ask me…”

“I didn’t,” she winks.

“Okay so you read Poe, and you don’t like your name. I’m getting nihilist vibes… What else?”

“It’s not so much that I don’t like my name,” She says, taking mock offense at my nihilist jab, “It’s just… well for one thing, everyone who reads it first calls me MARJ-orie! So every new interaction has to start off with me correcting someone and making them feel like a dumbass.”

“Ah, that’s why you’re so good at that,” I say.

She laughs.

Silence except for the light splash of waves on the dock, and the distant toll of a buoy bell.

“So you still live with your parents on the island?” I immediately regret asking. This will clearly just bring attention to the fact that I still live with my parents on their platform.

“Yep.” She sighs, “Next stop Paradisia.”

My heart does a weird little flutter.

“Right, I guess I’m not the only one who thinks Paradisia sucks.”

Another silence. But now I get the feeling that she’s thinking what I’m thinking… Maybe it’s not going to suck so much after all, given the new company.

The club doors bust open and a burst of loud bumping floods out with Dean and Craig. The lasers slash through the escaping mist.

“Deegie-cakes!” Craig calls, arms in the air as an aftershock to his thrusting of the doors, “Oh hello,” he says eyeing Majorie lecherously.

She gives a bored eyebrow raise as acknowledgment.

“Oh God, Dege, are you tricking this poor girl,” Craig says, “You haven’t seen under the mask yet, have you?”

“Actually…” Majorie laughs, realizing she hasn’t.

“Hey, I haven’t seen behind your mask either!” I protest.

“Let’s dance!” Dean shouts, letting out a thick cloud of vape smoke.

“Is that THC?” Majorie asks.

Dean holds out the vape. She takes it, breathes deep, and lets out an even bigger cloud. She grabs my arm, and leads me back to the dance floor.

Dance. Grind. Shots. Dance.

Breather.

Food. Public drunken shenanigans. New club. Turn up. Shots. Dance.

She turns around and drops low with the beat. My hand is on her hand on her thigh–the one not covered by her God-damn-so-sexy dress. She turns back around. Her hands are on my chest. My heart’s beating out of my chest. Did she just notice?

She lifts my mask. I lift hers.

Kiss.

“See you in Paradisia,” she winks, hopping into her drone with the remainder of her friends as the sun rises over the Atlantic.

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thatawkwardnerdytomboy · 7 years

Text

Happy Broke Millennial New Year!

So I keep seeing my Facebook friends posting subjective statuses as if they’re objective about 2017 as if the things they’re posting about apply to everyone and I know that they don’t but still...I don’t think they understand that not everyone had the same year they did. 2017 might have been fantastic for some people but for others, it wasn’t. So, my 2017 was pretty terrible. How? Why?

1. Donald Trump’s Inauguration! Yet another reminder of how shitty this country can be. Congrats, America! You voted for a rapist who believes that Climate Change is a Chinese hoax, who wants to go to war with North Korea, is racist, hates Muslims, wants to make the poor poorer, the rich richer and wants to outsource more jobs to other countries than any other president and wants to build a wall that Mexicans can just fly over on a plane. Congratu-fucking-lations...

2. I lost 2 jobs! Funding for the arts has been getting cut so much because Republicans hold the majority of the house and senate that arts programs like the ones I work for don’t have enough funds to pay their employees. So, one of my jobs on 4 occasions since 2017 started couldn’t pay us on time. And I drained my savings account and nearly maxed out my credit cards trying to get to work and feed myself while I was working for this organization and I decided that it wasn’t worth it to go into so much debt anymore and I had to quit. The other arts organization I was working for laid me off without even telling me. So luckily, and I use that word lightly, I got a job at the community service program I was in while in high school which leads to my next one...

3. Got a new job and I hate it! Working over the summer at this place was a fucking nightmare. It was my first summer camp job. There was so much shit to do and know. I was managing a group of 6th graders and the guy I was working with was an insubordinate asshole who gave me an attitude whenever I asked him to do anything. He kept breaking rules, he would leave me to do all the planning for each day when we were supposed to be planning things together, he did inappropriate things with the kids and whenever I pulled him aside to talk to him about these things in private, he started raising his voice at me like he doesn’t know how to have a private conversation. I talked to my boss about him multiple times and she didn’t do much. He didn’t change. Oh, and he ever yelled at her once too. I was so stressed at this job that I had a panic attack after work and had to be taken to the hospital. And when I texted this guy to tell him that I wasn’t going to be in that day and told him where to find everything we needed for a field trip, he yet again gave me an attitude. What fucking human being hears from their co-worker that they had to go to the hospital for a panic attack and responds with “oh, that’s your job?” I was so fucking livid. And eventually, when one of the kids’ parents called to complain about him touching her daughter inappropriately, he quit. Wow, child molester in the making...fucking creep. So I still work at this place but with less hours because it’s just an after-school program now. The kids that I work with are the worst group of kids I have ever had to work with in my 7 years of working with kids. They make racist and homophobic comments all the time (try hearing these things when you’re black and gay), they start physical altercations with each other, they’re blatantly disrespectful to staff, one girl even called my co-worker/friend a racial slur. There’s not enough time in the day to get our work done and me and one of the other staff are always having to stay late to get things done and we don’t get paid for the extra hours that we stay. I really want to quit this job and I don’t wanna work with kids anymore. It’s grating on my mental health. If I can’t get a job in my field (animation, comics or other commercial arts) then I rather just work in an office somewhere as a data clerk because I spent 3 years in college doing that as a work-study job. But apparently, I’m not qualified to do that either. No one wants me to do anything other than working with kids.

4. I’ve gone into more debt this year! Yay! $600 from going to the hospital for a panic attack, about $450 from credit card debt from my jobs not paying me on time and whatever interest I have accrued from my deferred student loans plus the $50K in loans that I owe. I’m trying to save up to move out because my living situation has become more crowded. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with my girlfriend, mom, her boyfriend and my brother. My brother sleeps in the living room which is attached to the kitchen which means that when he goes to sleep, we can’t go out into the kitchen to get food or throw trash out and it’s really fucking annoying. Also, I have to share a bathroom with 4 other people and I have a disease (hypothyroidism) that causes gastro-intestinal issues and I’m also a girl so that means that often I can’t get into the bathroom when I really need to. My girlfriend and I applied for a low-income housing lottery and I really hope that we get called. I’m scraping by with what I make at my job and I have to help my mom with rent and bills and it’s just really difficult trying to pay any debt off and save money. Like wow, I live in a country where poor/low-income college grads may have to go on welfare to survive and can’t get a break with student loans and the fucking president wants to help out the rich people and screw the poor over more. Oh, and fuck Betsy Devos for wanting to make life harder for people like me.

5. I lost one of my closest friends. I had a friend in college who I was very close to. She was always there for me when I needed her, she helped me with my assignments, we hung out with each other outside of school and we always confided in each other. I got to meet her family and even after graduation and she had to move back to Florida, we still kept in contact. She was supposed to come back to NYC with her mom but she was having some family issues and had to stay. I haven’t heard from her since 2016 in November. I’ve been trying to contact her ever since. I called, texted, e-mailed, I’ve messaged her brothers on Facebook with no response, I contacted her friend and asked if she’s heard from her and she hasn’t...I’m pretty worried. For all I know she could be dead or her family could have been deported since Trump has ramped up ICE’s tyranny. I miss the hell out of her. I just really want to hear her voice. If I had the money, I’d go to Florida and try to look her up. I was thinking of sending a letter to her address to see if anyone replies to it.

Despite how terrible this year has been for me, here are are a couple of positive things that have come out of it.

1. I made 3 years with my girlfriend and we’ve been talking about getting married in the future. Which means that when we have the money and our own place, we’ll most likely get engaged which I’m really excited for. We’ve been through a lot together, good and bad and we’ve always remained by each other. I feel like she’s the girl of my dreams; she’s everything that I want in a girl. She’s sweet, nerdy, affectionate, sensitive, open-minded, we have so much in common and we want the same things out of our relationship. We both want to move to California someday, travel, adopt kids, have pets and have the lives that we’ve always wanted for ourselves growing up. I hope that our relationship remains as great as it is now.

2. I may, someday soon, actually get to live out my dream of being a filmmaker! When I was in high school, I was taking a comic book illustration class with Ivan Velez Jr. a former writer for Marvel and DC comics and ever since, we’ve remained in contact. A few months ago, he contacted me and some of his other former students and said that he wants to work on a film project with us and that he has connections with Netflix! I’m not going to get my hopes up because this is a really big chance and a lot of things can change or possibly go wrong but so far, it seems like things are going well. I can’t talk about what we’ve been planning but he has to speak to his Netflix connect and see if we can get funding for this project before anything else happens. But yeah, I’m super excited! He says that we might be able to start filming as soon as later this year if we get the funding. I already worked on a script for the short film I want to make and I have other things planned for this story as well. It’s funny, I was just ranting about how disappointed I am with some films I’ve been seeing and not too much later, he contacts me. So I’m hoping it works out!

So I hope that all my fellow struggling millennials and non-millennials have had a better 2017 than me and that your 2018 comes with more hopes and positive life changes. Hope everyone can take better care of themselves and keep fighting though things are really difficult and seem hopeless.

Happy New Year!

Please reblog if you’ve had a tough year and let me know about it so we and all the other struggling millennials out there know that we’re not alone!

#Millennials #millennial generation #stuggling millennials #broke millennials #broke #struggling #new year #2017 #2018 #new year 2018 #rant #money problems #the struggle

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