#also this could be platonic. or it could be polycule. you decide :)

[transvampireboyfriend]

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7 - part 8

"I'm just saying, if the heat bothers you so much, you could cut your hair" Nancy points out, after declining Eddie's pleas for her spare scrunchie.

Robin sits on Nancy's lap, clutching the back of Steve's seat and she looks at Steve through the side mirror like she's afraid that he's about to go on a mission to defend Eddie's honor or something but Steve rolls his eyes at her. He's not that gone.

Or at least he knows how to hide it well.

Eddie's lost several of Nancy's favorite hair accessories and two weeks ago she bowed to never lend him any ever again.

Which, does not stop Eddie from asking her anyway at least once a day.

But the point is, even if Steve wanted to, Eddie's honor cannot be defended in this situation.

Nancy's leaning behind Argyle's back now to glare at the metalhead. Steve can see them in the rearview mirror.

Eddie gasps "I would never" he says, clutching his chest dramatically.

Steve secretly breathes a sigh of relief.

Johnathan chuckles at the wheel. "But you could" he comments, eyes on the road.

Steve can see Argyle subtly laughing and shaking his head out of the corner of his eye.

Today is a rare occasion, Jonathan is driving them in Steve's car.

The goal of Steve's rant earlier about having to drive them everywhere was to get Eddie to drive them, so Steve could sit shotgun and watch Eddie drive.

Instead, Jonathan had offered first and then Steve couldn't go in the backseat because he's in charge of their map.

But whatever, this is fine too. He trusts Jonathan and it is nice to get a break and to be able to fully turn around when he's talking to someone in the backseat.

"Jon, I would lose all my sex appeal, you don't get it" Eddie answers, getting a box of Twinkies from one of the many bags they packed and placed on the floor of Steve's car.

"I get it" Argyle chimes in, watching Eddie pull out a Twinkie and shaking his head no when Eddie offers him one.

"You'd still be sexy with short hair" Robin comments from her seat on Nancy's lap.

Everyone turns to look at her.

"What?" she shrugs "I can say that"

Nancy chuckles into her shoulder.

Steve opens their map again to stop thinking about Eddie's 'sex appeal', even as the guy is excitedly munching on a Twinkie in the backseat of Steve's car.

He's got cream in the corner of his mouth and he clearly put more in his mouth than he can comfortably chew. He's leaning one elbow on Argyle's shoulder, his hand holding half a Twinkie, his other hand holds his mop of hair up in a high bun, causing his cut off tank to sit barely covering his nipples, his tattoos on display and his armpit hair fully visible.

Steve's fairly certain nobody else in this car would get it, but to him the sight is mouth watering. The guy is practically irresistible.

"I don't think i would've gone on even half the dates I've gone on if i didn't have my hair" Steve muses, for something to say and to add to Eddie's point, even though he agrees with Robin.

Almost everyone answers with agreeable noises, except Eddie and Robin.

Robin snorts and says "You are relentless"

While Eddie says "You don't get dates for your hair" at the same time. In a tone that suggests he thinks this is an obvious thing.

"I mean- it doesn't hurt" provides Nancy, she sends Steve an apologetic look but Steve waves her off. It's a compliment as far as he's concerned, he loves his hair.

Eddie finishes his treat and opens a new one while everyone else gives their opinions.

"For a lot of people, hair is a big part of attraction" Jonathan is saying, trying to seem like he's not speaking from experience.

"Especially hair as luscious as Steve's" Argyle agrees, leaning forward to lightly comb the side of Steve's hair, making him laugh.

"Thanks, man" Steve says overlapping Eddie's response.

"And I agree!" he exclaims "I'm saying he doesn't get dates because of his hair." Eddie goes on, waving his new Twinkie around for emphasis. "People throw themselves at Steve, and always will, but it's not because of his hair" he repeats.

Steve feels his cheeks heat up but still asks "Then why?"

"Well, because you're very pretty!" Eddie answers easily, like everyone should already know this.

Steve keeps his eyes carefully trained on the map, like he needs to study it meticulously, right this moment, while they're in the middle of a highway.

His cheeks are burning up and he can feel it spreading to his ears.

"And that's if they don't know you!" Eddie continues "If they do know you they know you're kind and brave and strong ...and generous and funny. Who wouldn't want all that in a date?" Eddie finshes.

Oh I don't know, you? Maybe? Do you? Steve thinks.

"Even bald, people would still go crazy for you" Eddie adds, his words slightly muffled towards the end as he shoves almost all of the new Twinkie in his mouth but apparently thinks better of it, biting all but a small piece.

"Here. You want the rest of this?" Eddie offers Steve, talking through his mouthful, and presenting the small piece with his ringed fingers, right in front of Steve's face.

Without thinking, Steve leans forward and takes it with his mouth, his lips burning where they touched Eddie's fingers.

As Eddie retrieves his hand Steve realizes what he just did and how quiet the car got.

He sends Robin a panicked look through the side mirror as Jonathan awkwardly clears his throat.

"Argyle's got nice hair" Robin tries.

The car immediately fills up with enthusiastic agreement and Steve slowly breathes out.

He can't bring himself to look at Eddie as he chews on his bite. He practically licked Eddie's fingers. Unprompted! The guy probably meant for Steve to grab the treat and then eat it. If he even accepted it at all!

Steve feels like an idiot and he frowns at the map again, willing himself to ignore the goosebumps in his arms and the tickling on his lips.

He doesn't see Eddie worriedly staring at him for the remaining of their conversation, until Nancy takes pity on him and offers up her spare scrunchie to distract him.

part 2

[crossbackpoke-check]

18 + swaymark!!

oooo thank you!!

#18 - pleaser, wallows + swaymark

okay i know they are canonically obsessed with each other but. the song is in some ways about feeling like you’re failing in your relationship and being not quite as obsessed with them as they maybe are with you, and in this video of them talking about being a tandem, there is the slightest pause before swayman answers “do you miss him?” that makes me want to probe a wound. we’re not talking irl reasons of how that’s an absurd question (how do you miss him. you’re coworkers you’re seeing each other all the time) we’re talking that maybe this whole goalies-in-love thing got blown out of proportion and now swayman’s having to buy into the bit too hard. linus loves it & everyone’s asking about their bromance & how they love each other so much and the thing is—linus is safe. he’s got a wife and plausible deniability and jeremy? jeremy is gay. sure, he can crack jokes and people-please but the more people ask the more they're going to find out until maybe they find out something jeremy doesn't want them to know. and the longer this goes on, the more jeremy has to sit at linus' dinner table with linus and his beautiful wife and pretend like he isn't a little bit in love with him. and you know what? the longer it goes on and linus doesn't dial it down jeremy does stop being in love with him, because it just feels cruel, until he finally is done enough that he stops biting his tongue and ruins the moment.

[dystopyx-blog]

as a Floyd enjoyer

I do read a LOT of octotrio posts.

Like a lot

so, as a yandere writer

time for yandere octotrio headcanons!

a lot of this will probably tie in for my ideas for my self insert and yandere posts I’ve written in the past!

it’s hard to say who was interested in you first. Either Azul was interested and sent the tweels on you, or the tweels were interested in you and then got azul interested and then azul sent the tweels on you, all I can say for certain is that at some point, someone is interested, and you get the tweels sent on you.

So you got the tweels following you around now. The two have different ways of studying. Floyd, of course, is more hands on. Jade typically stays back, taking EXTENSIVE mental notes. He mostly only gets involved when he can tell Floyd is getting a bit too… much for any one person to handle.

of course, then you have to deal with TWO tweels, and idc who you are, dealing with BOTH of them is way more to handle than just one of them. Like, one tweel is like 100%, but when those fuckers are working together it’s like at least 110%.

but… you seem to handle them really well somehow??

so whether it was Azul who was interested first, or they were interested from the very start, safe to say they are VERY interested in you now.

The tweels, despite being chaotic neutral at best (chaotic evil at worst) are still pretty goddamn loyal to Azul. So they eagerly report back to him (either to convince him or further convince him, again, doesn’t matter)

then this is where it gets really fun (for me)

I love the octotrio, and what I especially love is the mix of platonic and romantic. Like, ofc Floyd and Jade are purely familial. But when it comes to their relationship with Azul, it’s the kind of platonic that so fucking seamlessly shifts into romantic that no one is sure when it turned, and also no one cares. The octotrio blend so fucking seamlessly with each other, that they could even be purely platonic with each other, it could be less romance and more family, but an outsider would never fucking know or understand that. THE OCTOTRIO RELATIONSHIP/S ARE SO FUCKIN NOM NOM NOM I’M DEVOURING IT —

Ahem

anyway

point is, whether octotrio is a romantic poly or just three really fucking close friends, they all look at you and go “that one, we want that one.” And they don’t even have to vocally announce they want to share you, it is understood. There is no “all in favor say aye,” after a few times of the tweels reporting back to Azul they’re just all agreed “yes, this one is ours now, we are taking them for the seafood polycule.”

calamari, unagi, and shrimp, yum yum

ANYWAY

Expect the tweels on yo ass even more than before. Not only that, but they are FULLY embracing their statuses as fucking terrifying menaces to keep all your icky clingy friends away

Suddenly they’re paying extra close attention to your flaws. All of which they find endlessly endearing, what they’re really looking for is a chance to snap.

an insecurity, a life ending mistake, anything to get a chance to whisper in your ear that you need special help. Or maybe they’ll even use the fact they’re living up to their name and stick to you like leeches to convince you you need to talk to Azul

maybe you’re strong, maybe you can’t be fully convinced. Maybe once they do bring you to Azul (trust me, they will) you decide “nope, I’m out.” Thing is though, once they get you there, it’s already decided. Azul will know exactly how to trap you, exactly what to do to get you to come back, or even better, stay.

if you’re in Yuu’s shoes, I imagine he’d be willing to let you AND Grim live in the lounge. To make it less suspicious, he’ll probably say you have to work, or that he gets to use Ramshackle. Something to make sure you’re not suspicious why he’s suddenly so hospitable. But really, ramshackle or service are not what he’s after. Obviously. No, he needs you there, with them.

I don’t even really have to get into what these guys do as yanderes, since most students are already pretty frightened by the tweels. And now that they have someone to ‘protect’? HO BOI, do they REALLY give the student body to fear.

and if they get past Jade and Floyd, then there’s Azul, who will bribe or blackmail until they leave their darling alone.

yeah, sorry to say, once they have you in their sights, it’s pm over for you.

Doesn’t matter who saw you first, cuz you were doomed from the start either way.

GENERAL OCTOTRIO + READER HEADCANONS ❤️

Pleeeasassse I cannot get the image of octotrio dog pile outta my headdd. Azul, Jade, and Floyd are CUDDLY MOTHERFUCKERS, you cannot convince me otherwise. And once they have you, you’re joining. Typically Jade and Floyd both spoon Azul (you can’t convince me otherwise (or maybe you can, let’s talk)), and you’ll likely be sandwiched between Azul and whichever tweel called dibs that night. Or, it’s the true dog pile, where limbs are kind just all over the place. There’s typically a tweel at the bottom (cuz big bois), and that tweel is typically Jade because Floyd insists on being on top, despite his height and weight. And adding you just makes the dog pile feel so much fuller ❤️ (and if you’re one of those people like me who falls asleep better with like weight on top of you… yeah, you are not gonna be awake long enough to protest)

it may take a while for Azul to get comfortable enough to go full octomer on you, especially if you’re a darling who runs away, but once he does trust you enough, he will. And like… come on, I think we as a fandom agree that octo Azul is beautiful/adorable, so of course you do not react negatively to it, even if you’re a stubborn darling.

maybe you’re speechless, and Azul gets flustered and wants to ZOOM back to the surface, but the tweels hold him back, and thank god they do, because even if you aren’t screaming “omg you’re so cute/pretty!!” like I would, you probably mutter it under your breath, just loud enough that he definitely hears (did you know sound moves faster in water?) and he is a blushing cephaloboy. (Bet you didn’t think I’d bring SCIENCE into this, HA)

Suddenly now they’re also snuggling you in the water in med form, because yes these boys cuddle in med form, and you’re one of them now. Can’t breathe in water? Silly, they got magic for that. You are not getting out of this seafood pancake 🫵🫵

you are going to have so many limbs all over you omg. The tweels are trying their damndest to wrap their eel tails around the both of you, and Azul is keeping all of y’all together with his arms

(here’s another science fact, octopus do not have tentacles, those are arms)

AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE BREE—

[torimidori2-blog]

I'm poly, and I keep getting people who don't understand what the difference between polyamory, open relationships, and cheating, so let this be an educational moment for all the mono people out there.

Polyamorous is when someone is attracted to or in a relationship with more than one person at the same time. This is all with consent from everyone involved. A group of poly people who are dating are called a polycule. Just like regular monogamous relationships, poly relationships can consist of romantic, platonic, sensual, and sexual attraction, and can even be done with people who are aspec (on the ace spectrum).

An open relationship is when someone is attracted to more than one person, but the person who you're dating isn't attracted to the people you date. For example: if the relationship started of monogamous, and you decide you want to open the relationship in order to cater to a specific need that your current partner can't provide, that means you and your partner can see other people outside of your relationship with consent from your partner. Just like poly people, this can also be done between people who are aspec and you could have different reasons for wanting another separate relationship, whether you need a sensual, sexual, romantic, or platonic/queer platonic relationship. In my opinion, I think open relationships should be a last resort after communicating with your partner enough to where you both realize that your relationship needs aren't being met, but you still care enough about each other to still want to be together.

Cheating is when someone in a committed relationship sees other people without consent from their significant other(s). The reason why cheating is bad, is not because they're dating someone else, it's because you trusted them to not break the boundaries of the relationship by seeing other people, and they did anyway.

Even if you're in a poly relationship, you can cheat because if you didn't trust your partners enough to tell them that you're interested in seeing someone else and it breaks their boundaries and makes them feel violated and uncomfortable, that's cheating. It's also a danger to the polycule because they don't know the person you brought in and they weren't aware of you bringing them in. Why would you not tell your cule who you're dating when they're usually comfortable with letting more people in? For all we know, they could hurt the cule, or hurt you, or they could be hiding something themselves.

Someone who tells you that their actually poly after they got caught cheating is a blazing red flag. Cances are, they're just trying to find a valid excuse to cheat and get away with it. Someone who tells you that they want to open a relationship before sorting out the issues in their current relationship is a blazing red flag. Especially if you have a solution to the problems that you're facing, and it could've been solved through negotiating with your partner.

To be honest, as a poly person, I don't understand why cheating is a thing. For one, it could be because being monogamous is the societal norm, and seeing other people is a means of trying to secretly bypass that norm, but I don't think thats the case seeing that there is a whole cheating culture that proudly says that they like to cheat and gloat about how many people they play on a constant basis. It could be the fact that people just think that emotions are a game to be played with, or it could be some sort of insecurity that they have with the relationship they started before they decided to cheat. But fr, can someone tell me the reason why people cheat? I don't understand, and I need a real valid answer. Not some "They were boring and I don't like them anymore." because you can either do one of two things there, break up with them, or talk to them about how you feel and tell them what you want from them moving forward.

[ladykailitha]

Royal Pain: Epilogue

I know I said I would hold off posting until the Christmas story was completed, but this one literally had one chapter left and it felt rude to make you wait for it.

Happy boys!

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6 Pt 7 Pt 8 Pt 9 Pt 10 Pt 11 Pt 12 Pt 13 Pt 14 Pt 15 Pt 16 Pt 17 Pt 18 Pt 19 Pt 20 Pt 21 Meta Pt 22 Pt 23 Pt 24|Pt 25|Pt 26|Pt 27|Pt 28

****

Six months later:

They were having a holiday plus everyone celebrating something awesome party.

It was held at Steve and Eddie’s new house. Steve had decided to move out the apartment and buy a house now that the business was so successful. And on their six month anniversary, Steve asked Eddie to move in with him.

It had two studios. A music one for Eddie, where he could write songs and the boys could practice so that they no longer had to rent out that garage.

The second one was for Steve to get his art degree. He was still running Royal Pain, but wanted to learn new styles and techniques that would help him become a better tattoo artist.

Chrissy, Robin, and Vickie had also moved into together, but into a bigger apartment that had three rooms so that they could all have their own space, but still remain a committed polycule.

Argyle and Chrissy were both full time tattoo artists, leaving time for Steve to go back to school.

Robin was going back to school, too. To become a translator.

Eden and Argyle were still a couple and expecting their first child in the summer.

Nancy and Jonathan remained broken up, with Nancy in therapy and Jonathan dating a friend of Miranda’s.

Jeff and Miranda were getting married in February, the reception to be held at the Nightmare Holes.

Mike and Will were official now, too and were in talks to move in together. They were trying to decide to move to Will’s apartment, Mike’s, or a find another apartment all together. One that was both their space.

Erica had moved to New York to be with Max and Lucas. But all of them were in town for the party. Having planned it around when the Knicks would be in town.

Hopper was loving Eden as his apprentice, hers almost being up. He was eyeing the first of the year to promote her.

Brian came out as ace and that Cecil was his platonic life partner and had been for the last couple of years.

Gareth and Gethin were still sharing the apartment, but they were still single. Gethin was always looking for the next Mrs Hughes, but Gareth was content to find out more about himself before diving into a relationship.

Dustin and Suzie were also expecting, but they had just found earlier that week.

The Binghams were so excited that two of their daughters were pregnant and were planning to come up in the summer to help with Eden’s baby and help Suzie get ready for hers.

They were all gathered around in the kitchen with a package that Murray had sent over that morning.

“Come on, Ed,” Wayne said softly. “Open ‘er up.”

Eddie nodded and tore the brown paper off the gift. He let out a choked out sob.

Steve put his arm around Eddie’s shoulder.

“Oh sunshine,” Steve breathed. “Show everyone.”

Eddie nodded and lifted it over his head so everyone could see.

There in a black frame and nestled in a white background was a gold record for their song, Pretty Boy Under Bright Lights. The first love song Eddie ever wrote for Steve. And it had just sold its five hundred thousand copy.

They all started cheering.

Steve kissed Eddie’s cheek fiercely. “See? I knew you could do it on your terms, Eds. You are a rockstar now.”

Tears ran down his cheeks nodding his head. Then he was surrounded by his band. They were hugging him and cheering.

Sometimes it really does work out for everyone. Even if didn’t happen the way they thought it would.

Eddie thought back to that day so long ago when Max had called him to let him know that she was leaving. He never thought that losing a tattoo artist would change his life forever.

Later that night, he pulled her aside.

“I owe you big time, Red,” he said, wrapping his arm around her.

Max grinned. “Hell yeah you do.”

“Anything you want, you’ve got,” Eddie promised. “My left kidney. My first child.”

She laughed. “When you two get married, I want to do matching tattoos on both of you.”

Eddie blinked. “Deal!”

Steve wandered over just then. “What’s a deal?”

Max grinned up at him. “Eddie just promised me that I get to do wedding tats when you two get married.”

Steve looked at Eddie and then back to Max. “Yeah, that’s fair.”

Max nodded once. “Damn straight it is.”

“Oh, honey,” Eddie teased. “There ain’t nothing straight about this relationship.”

She smacked his arm.

But Eddie just giggled.

“Come on,” Max said. “I want to see it.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “You saw it on my Insta.”

“It’s not the same and you know it,” she growled. “I want to see Steve’s masterpiece.”

Steve blushed. “Come on, Max...”

Eddie looked at his blush and then turned to Max. “Fine. But here and not out there where everyone can gawk.”

“Well, duh,” she said. “That’s why I asked now.”

Eddie took off his shirt and turned around.

“Oh shit,’ she hissed. “It’s even better than the pictures give it credit. Steve, this is incredible. There’s no way I could have done something like that.”

Steve ducked his head. “I really really like how it turned out.”

Eddie put his shirt back on. “Yeah. Me too. I just don’t like showing it off, because it’s so personal. Between me and Steve.”

Max nodded. “Yeah. Absolutely. Thanks for showing me.”

Eddie nodded back and wrapped his arms around, Steve. “Thanks for everything, Red.”

She waved them off. All she had done was leave. But they didn’t see it that way. So yeah, they owed everything to Max, for choosing to live her life on her own terms.

“Before we go back to the party,” Steve said. “I wanted to give you another present before we got to the main one later.”

Eddie’s shoulder sagged. “Babe you didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” Steve said scratching his cheek. “In fact it was something I’ve been meaning to give to you for a long time.”

He pulled out a brightly wrapped package the size of baseball.

“This isn’t a baseball, is it?” Eddie asked playfully.

Steve laughed. “No. It’s not that.”

Eddie removed the wrapping paper to find a small black velvet box. He opened it slowly.

“Babe, you can’t give this to me,” he begged. “This is the only thing you have left of your grandpa.”

Steve took it out and slid it on Eddie’s middle finger on his right hand. It fit perfectly. “I’ve been wanting you to have it since you gave me your lucky guitar pick. I wanted to give you something that was on the same level of importance to me that this was for you.” He tapped the pick gently that was under his shirt.

“It’s not–you’re not–”

Steve shook his head. “I will propose. Just not yet and not with that. You’ll get a ring on your left hand, sunshine. Make no mistake.”

Eddie nodded. “I love you, babe.”

“Steven Courtney Alexander Harrington you better not be making out in there!”

Eddie and Steve laughed and kissed deeply, then they walked back to the party, arms wrapped around each other.

“Right names, wrong order,” Eddie teased as they rejoined the group.

Robin blinked. “Wait, really?”

Steve nodded.

“I can’t believe you told him before you told me!” Robin hissed. “I was here first!”

“But I liked watching you guess,” he said laughing. Then he turned to the rest of the crowd. “Who told?”

Robin wiggled her shoulders smugly. “No one told me. I looked up your grandparents. They’re both pretty famous, after all.”

Steve sighed. “Again which of you told her to look it up?”

Robin’s jaw dropped and Vickie’s hand slowly went up.

“Traitor!” Robin said in mock outrage.

Eddie leaned down to see that Steve was pouting about her learning his middle name.

“Don’t worry about it, babe,” he said kissing Steve’s cheek. “We can make her guess my middle name.”

Steve immediately brightened up. “Oohhh. Yeah, okay. It’ll take her years to guess yours!”

“It’s Wayne,” Robin said confidently.

Wayne snorted from the corner. “You really think my deadbeat brother would name his son after me, the responsible one?”

She frowned.

Steve turned to Eddie gleefully. “You’re right, sunshine. Best game ever.”

Robin started shouting out names and it wasn’t even Eddie correcting her. It was Jeff, and Miranda, and Gareth, and Brian and everyone else who knew Eddie’s middle name.

And of course Steve knew it too, but he liked watching their friends and family laugh and try to guess. Because the truth was, Eddie didn’t have a middle name. Robin could guess forever and never get it right.

Steve curled up against Eddie’s side and sighed happily. It was his best year yet. And as long as he had Eddie by his side, they would all be great years to come.

END

****

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​@bookworm0690 @chaosgremlinmunson @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @emly03 @aizawa-emma @yikes-a-bee @redfreckledwolf @thesuninyaface @bookbinderbitch @archermightbegay @littlewildflowerkitten @scheodingers-muppet @hallucinatedjosten @ellietheasexylibrarian @anne-bennett-cosplayer @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @bestwifehaver @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @oldwitcheshat @nightmareglitter @tinyplanet95 @novelnovella @jonesn4coffee @slowandsteddie @awkwardgravity1 @steaddie-on

[do-you-ship-this-taz-ship]

this only kinda fits the blog theme i apologize, but i have thoughts on which set of the players PCs would function the best as a polycule and you asked for asks. (I am including all the main campaigns and very inconsistently some liveshow/smaller arc PCs if I feel like it.)

I think Justin's characters wouldn't have a lot in common, so that's a major hurdle. Duck and Taako might hook up, or Taako and Sebastian, and maybe Amber and Godwin, but besides them, it's hard to really pair anyone up. Maybe Pepsi Liberty and Opera Man, but it would have to be exclusively while Opera Man is in Opera Man form. And no one would want to fuck Augustus. (He would be into Godwin but it's unreciprocated). Bad polycule. There's no poly here.

Travis's characters would be better! I think Aubrey and Devo would clash a lot initially, but eventually they'd get along pretty well, I could see them dating. Aubrey is into Magnus this is fact, he is canonically her favorite podcast character and I know firsthand that means she would fuck him if given the opportunity. It's debatable if he would reciprocate, I can't decide -- the age gap might make him uncomfortable, but he definitely likes her, at least platonically, they're friends. Magnus Beef and Mutt would def get along. Maybe Shoots also. So at the very least we have one triad+ and one couple, maybe with a connection between them. Decent polycule!

Clint's characters would get along super well I think. Zoox and Argo would be significantly younger than the others, and I don't think either of them would really be into the old guys, but they'd be friends, and maybe they could get together. And by maybe I mean definitely for the purposes of this thought experiment. And then all the old dudes (Merle, Ned, debatably Thacker, Emerich, Phileaux, possibly Benny Gene) are together in whatever combination (Merle/Ned and Thacker/Emerich for sure, and I think Merle might find Phileaux annoying but he'd still hatefuck him) Old man yaoi polycule with two younger guys sitting it out. Pretty good!

Griffin has less characters, which is both an advantage and not. Fitzroy isn't fucking anyone (might be romancing someone, not that theres anyone for him to romance), but Errol Indrid and Montrose could for sure have something. Dell Kraven might be able to get in on that triad, it's debatable. And 48… dunno their pronouns theyre just a cube. Yeah I don't think they're into romance or sex or any sort of human relationship including friendship. 48 and Fitzroy hang out and Fitzroy tries to start up a conversation but 48 always brings it back to Tim McGraw who does not exist in Fitzroy's universe and it's a bad scene. Okay overall, but not great.

So in conclusion Clint's PCs win, Travis's get second place, then Griffin's, with Justin's coming dead last.

This was such a fun read even if I don't know a lot of the characters!! Thank you for sending it :) i'm glad to hear it confirmed, as i suspected, that clint makes the most fuckable PCs 🤍

What do you guys think?

[the-resident-gay]

top 5 fable ships go

I don't know ship names very well so please forgive me

I've also decided to do 5 platonic and 5 romantic because yes

ROMANTIC

5. Wetbird- I am a proud Icarus POV main and I enjoy a healthy bit of Vens POV as well. There is something about this ship that just feels very right to me and also they both have experience with Fable so I feel like they'd have this ability when something might set the other off with trauma and stuff

4. Ghaae- The OG polycule on the server and they can do no wrong in my eyes. They support each other so nicely and its just wonderful.

3. Isla/Enderian- The momssss. I love them sm for so many reasons. Enderian being protective of Isla and only soft for her is mmmmm/pos

2. Ocie/Centross- you guys I love them. I love them so much. They are so similar and I love them so much and they're just mmmmmmm/vpos. How to I explain the love I have for these two.

Wolftross- I hold them in my little hands. As a Centross POV main(until the cathedral, ofc), watching this relationship form was one of my favorite things ever. From the castle back to spawn to s3, I love this ship with my whole heart.

PLATONIC

5. Rae/Wolf(Nightingstar?)- Okay so I love these two as a duo, and the cast can do what the cast wants to do with their characters. Now, with that being said- something about them becoming romantic didn't and still doesn't sit right with me. I can totally see the two in a QPR, they have a great dynamic as partners, but I just prefer them as a platonic ship.

4. Ari/Momboo- I have seen like three posts about them as partners and I hold them in my hands. The sun/moon imagery. The potential for nicknames. They would be wonderful QPPs.

3. End duo- They're such close friends. They are always there for each other. I hold them in my hands.

2. Ghosty/Momboo- LOTW and the guy she revived. The everlasting friendship. Their beauty as a duo. They are so good you guys I don't know how to sell this please just trust me on it.

Prison duo- I could go on for so long about why these two are the perfect platonic relationship in my eyes. They have similar trauma, saw each other at their worsts, when through so much shit and came out as best friends. Icarus taking off their jacket, which they don't do often, in front of Centross. Icarus letting Centross give them a tattoo. Icarus barely fighting Centross when he took off their gloves. Centross showing up on Icarus' doorstep with a skulk injury. Centross fighting Fable for Icarus. Them, everyone.

[piastrinorris]

come along, one and all, to the hawkins fair! a special event held in honor of two thousand of you fine people being here. why not have a look around? we’ve got two wonderful parks for you to peruse, writer’s world and gifset grounds, so take your time, pick an attraction or two and be sure to check out the fireworks show at the end!

●・○・●・○・●

-ˏˋ Writer’s World ˊˎ-

🪞 hall of mirrors: you’re here, you’re there, you’re everywhere! which is the real you? who are these doppelgangers? – send me a description of yourself and i’ll write you a short blurb about what i think your role would be within the stranger things timeline! (+ add a 💕 if you also want to be shipped with someone)

💜 tunnel of love: they can’t stay still. your breath is shallow. awkward laughter as you catch each other’s eye, crammed in a boat with a strangely ominously glowing void ahead of you. – send a character or ship (please specify if the ship is standalone or an x reader polycule! i’ll assume all ships are standalone unless stated otherwise) and i’ll write a romantic blurb. (+ add a 🔥if you want smut)

🎠 carousel: the music fills your ears, the cool metal pole pressing against your warm, flushed cheek as you see your best friend next to you, having the time of their life. – send a character or platonic ship (please specify if standalone or x reader) and i'll write a friendship blurb. *this is the only option where i will also accept members of the party as options, but not directly interactive with the reader UNLESS as a side character/sibling of reader. (e.g. i won't accept dustin x reader but i would include dustin (+ other kids) in a henderson!reader x older teen scenario, or dustin with other canon characters)

🎪 big top: sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! this one’s all about celebrating you, dear audience, so we’ll need volunteers! volunteer yourselves, your friends, your idols. everyone deserves a spotlight! – send a fic you’re proud of! send a fic you love! this totally isn’t a thinly-veiled attempt at me trying to farm fic recs since i’ve slipped so much! it could be a reader insert or a ship. i don't mind any ship (as long as it doesn't include b*lly or j*son), especially rarepairs!

🌀 a portal?!: uh-oh, looks like HNL’s been at it, again. this time, it seems as though they’ve opened a portal through the entire multiverse! people are appearing that look strangely like existing hawkins residents. – send another character that a stranger things actor plays and i’ll write a romantic or platonic blurb for them, too! (+ add a 🔥if you want smut)

●・○・●・○・●

-ˏˋ Gifset Grounds ˊˎ-

🤹 the juggler: that’s right, i’m the juggler, baby! i can juggle almost anything you want, anything at all! i might even toss one your way, get ready for it! – make me choose between any number of things! people, ships, scenes, locations, seasons, etc.

🎈 balloon stall: get your balloons here! we got all the colours here, you want one? two? all?! you got it, kid. – send a character/ship and as many colours as you want to be featured.

🐤 hook a duck: feeling lucky, duck? why not take a chance on one of these rubbery fellas? anything could be under it, anything at all. you won't know unless you try! – send this and i'll have a randomiser decide who i make a gifset for.

🎡 ferris wheel: far above the shrieks of an excitable crowd, the blaring lights, the aromatic mix of sickly sweets, sweat and smoke; a moment of peace. just you, the world beneath you, and a simple song to guide you. – name a character and either choose a song/artist yourself or leave that up to me, and i'll make a lyric gifset for them!

👻 ghost train: what is dead may never die. what lurks within the dark depths of the unknown? truly anything can happen, if you dare to take the leap and open yourself to possibility. – give me an au (literally anything non-canon-compliant) and i'll try and make a gifset about it!

●・○・●・○・●

🎆 fireworks! 🎆

i just wanted to take a moment to thank every one of you. it's been insane how i can once again fall in love with writing, be this close to finishing a majorly hefty writing project, and learn a new skillset that i actually enjoy right from the get-go. being a part of fandom again has me getting out of the house again, going to conventions again, making new friends wherever i go, making plans to go to places i've never been before with those people. i thought that part of my life was behind me. i've never been more proud to be wrong.

all of you have encouraged me in ways i couldn't begin to explain, but the mutuals i'm tagging inspire me with their support and creativity every dang day. i'm so lucky to have these people in my life in any capacity, whether we talk every day or we've never spoken (though if the latter's the case, i'd love to fix that!) 💜

@denim-mixtapes @fanatictypist @keerysquinn @userquinn @hellfirehoe @reysorigins @eddieandbird @heroeddiemunson @roykentt @iero @hellfireclubs @corroded-hellfire @munson-blurbs @lunatictardis @loveshotzz @quinnsbower @newlips @wroteclassicaly @usedtobecooler @corrodedbisexual @dindjarins @stargyles @mulderfcx @enidsnclr @elizabethgillies @sebuckyverse @wordscomehither @eddiemunsons-missingnipple @hearsegrrl @mcbeanzontoast @pitifulbaby

[yallemagne]

I think maybe my biggest problem with the polycule jokes is that...

Well, first of all, it really makes a mockery out of actual polyamorous relationships and degrades them as being nothing more than a sex thing-- but I'm not getting into that--

Lucy is not in love with Jack. She does not have romantic feelings for Jack. Certainly not at this point in the story, though their relationship develops later on (I could still see them remaining platonic, however, even though I do support the ship). And she doesn't even have much faith in the future of their friendship. She sees through his "You can count me one of your best friends" and knows it's not so easy as that, certainly not for Jack, at least. Sometimes, when you have such intense romantic feelings for someone and they don't reciprocate, you can't accept a different form of relationship instead. Especially so early into knowing someone-- the sunk-cost fallacy doesn't really apply.

This is not to rag on Jack, of course. It's just I feel that the "let Lucy have her three husbands!!" jokes come primarily from a lack of understanding of Lucy's words and actually devalue Lucy's romantic feelings for Arthur and even Quincey because she only considers marrying Jack as a way to save him from heartache, not a decision made out of romantic love for him. Jack is not on an equal playing field with the other two, and the way people try to make it equivalent is by taking Quincey and Arthur down a peg. Or two. Or three.

It also has undertones of people seeing Lucy as a queen bee and the men as just her worthless drones. Aaaand that, again, is inaccurate and contributes to awful depictions of her.

Lucy is polyamorous!! My long post states it! I am in agreement with that reading!! But Lucy does not want to marry Jack or Quincey. Lucy probably still would have rejected Jack even if not for Arthur. Meanwhile, with Quincey, I do see a possibility that if Arthur were not in her life, she would have accepted his proposal or at least given herself time to think about it before coming to a decision. But nevertheless, Arthur is in her life, and even without truly knowing that he plans to propose, she has her heart set on him.

It's just so much more complex than Lucy and her satellite boyfriends. They have their own lives and relationships that don't entirely revolve around her, and she is not so indifferent to them as to view them all in the same detached way. Lucy does not see her Suitors as Dracula sees the Weird Sisters: as just three mere possessions kept to serve one's vanity. She respects Jack and values his friendship, mourning the possibility she may no longer have it after rejecting him romantically. She has burgeoning feelings for Quincey that she has decided not to act on because she is devoted to Arthur, but she still cherishes him as a friend. And she's loved Arthur since before any of this and longs to be with him and is always reminded of him wherever she goes and whomever she talks to. It's a disservice to all characters involved to simplify that into a dumb joke.

[shock-micro]

if i ever make a game with a relationship system it needs to be both poly (or at least allow you to be) and platonic (until/unless you decide to take it further)

like it feels slightly wrong to take away the agency of characters who have shown interest in other characters by making them just Not when you become good enough friends. like, i get if you've already chosen to start a relationship, but even just being at high hearts...

and like! some characters could just be more poly than others. like you decide to give a bouquet to one of them and they still like to visit the other character and you can also get enough hearts with them and become a polycule and be awesome and have a three-way wedding

[hylianengineer]

im sososo normal about your OC i am not scratching at the walls of my enclosure because i ran out of Owen&Cate fics to read. haha.

perhaps.... you would consider... posting more??? 👀

haha just kidding... unless?

(only if you want to!!! not trying to pressure you at all!!! i just. i know you already have more written so if you're waiting for someone to tell you how much they love them and encourage you to post more. this is that. huge cate and owen fan over here!!)

This is the best possible ask any writer could ever recieve and I am SO HAPPY that my bizarre little characters have resonated with you! The fact that someone besides me cares about a person I made up is so so weird and awesome!

I promise I will post more fic for you as soon as Real Life calms down and I have time for such things, hopefully tomorrow. Although I should probably warn you, a lot of what I have written about these two is not as fluffy as what's been posted so far - I do write dark stuff sometimes, but it will all be tagged accordingly of course.

To tide your over, a hint of what's to come: I have an entire AU whose premise is these characters meeting much sooner in their lives, as university students, and proceeding to become found family about it. Torchwood comes into the picture eventually, and so does Katie Russel - who also joins the found family and doesn't die like in canon (or at all. I hate killing characters and I'm too fond of her now). It's a weird polycule thing in which Owen and Katie are romantically in love and then everyone else is platonically/queerplatonically in a relationship with each other. It's kinda messy timeline wise but frankly I'm about to say fuck timelines and post chunks of it anyways.

Yes I did in fact get myself into a situation where there are two main characters named Cate and Katie, yes I regret this, but no there is nothing I can do about it now. It was very unintentional, as I never intended to write about Katie Russel - she just waltzed into my story and decided to stay. And the OC's name could not be changed at that point - it had stuck. Hopefully this does not come across as too weird/implausible/annoying, because it's out of my control.

Yes I know I'm the author and allegedly like god to my characters but look, sometimes they just do stuff and I have to write it down and yell things like "hey! You broke my plot!" while frantically restructuring the entire story around their shenanigans.

[mangokabuto]

💛💚💙💜

💛: What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

Ohhh man... I'm going to be murdered if I say "all of them" but. Well. I promise I'm not "different from the other girls" or something LMFAO I just typically can't get behind monogamous ships because they do not interest or intrigue me, usually? It takes some really compelling characters to pull it off in a way that will get me invested. And honestly, I REALLY hate in shipping fanfiction/etc where the shipped-characters-in-question are portrayed as feeling "more" for their partner (singular or plural) than the rest of the crew. I feel this way for One Piece and the strawhats specifically. Like, as soon as I see the "A missed their captain and their crew, but they realized that they missed B more" or "loved B more" I've clocked out. It's just fully not believable to me. Why does romantic always have to be more, instead of just different? This is separate from my bias as a polyamorous person, btw. I'm not fond of the idea that you HAVE to love your romantic partner MOST; Like if you're closer to your best friend than your partner then you've failed somehow?? Or like you're supposed to be less close to your friends once you have a partner?? That's insane to me. And SPECIFICALLY I think it doesn't fit these characters. If there's anyone on the crew that any of them feel "more" for than the others it's Luffy, and they ALL feel that way, and it doesn't interfere with their romantic relationships because that is silly. ...I realize this probably isn't the type of answer you were looking for, haha. For a simpler one: I don't really get the romantic chemistry behind zosan as a ship, unless they're in a polycule with other people. Which is weird, because enemies-to-lovers usually gets me! Also I don't get the romantic chemistry behind lawlu either.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

I have several favorite characters honestly, and I haven't been in the fandom long enough to know the most common opinions like that outside of some large-sweeping and very common ones. (So, it's hard for me to answer this question with Franky or Bon Clay.) So, I'll pick an example that involves two of my favorite characters (Usopp and Zoro) I feel very strongly about the platonic divorce arc (Water Seven), and I think a lot of people either don't really understand what Usopp did/was thinking, or don't really understand what Zoro did/was thinking, or both. Which sucks. "Get wrong" is a loaded term, since everyone's entitled to their own opinion/interpretation, ofc, but... I stand FIRM in my belief that if Zoro had not held the line like that, Usopp would not have been able to come back to the crew, and the crew wouldn't have survived it if he came back anyway. Zoro enforced that boundary BECAUSE he loved everyone involved, not because he "hated usopp's cowardice" or whatever the fuck. Usopp decided to leave, and Zoro held him to his word, and there is a lot of respect in that. And Usopp DID fuck up! Bad! He needed to apologize, and the Usopp fans out there who think "Usopp did nothing wrong/shouldn't have needed to apologize" need to unpack why they think so. This isn't to say Zoro and the others did everything right, either. EVERYONE fucked up there, but Usopp fucked up the most! Usopp stans I know there are few of us and we're used to him getting shit on by the fandom, but we need to accept that he really was at fault. And it's good to have a character in fiction who stumbles for understandable reasons, then pushes too far, and then is able to fix what they'd done and mend their relationships. That is a beautiful and important thing to have. (If anything, I think Usopp's apology should have been a little better, but that's just me.)

💙: Which character is not as hot as everyone else seems to think?

I could be here all day. :') I know anything is possible and different strokes for different folks, but I cannot believe THAT MANY people find Sanji and Law THAT attractive. Sanji's popularity baffled me more than law, but still. I know tattoos are hot but come on. Lets be serious. It's just us here I won't be mad tell me the truth

💜: Which character is way hotter than everyone else seems to think?

FOXY. SILVER FOX FOXY. IM IN LOVE WITH HIM DO YOU PEOPLE HEAR ME. SAYING IT LOUDER FOR THE PPL IN THE BACK, HE IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!

For my other controversial picks I also think Franky, Jinbe, Mont Blanc, Brook, Big Mom, Blackbeard, Magelllan, World from that one movie, and Borsalino are attractive but those aren't as controversial -- I've seen a couple other people be as open about them -- but no one appreciates my husband. Cowards!!

[slightlyhopefulromantic]

i penciled out a polycule chart for mnmoms au last night instead of sleeping (because you know. priorities) so i decided to digitize and edit it while listening to today's episode. got a bit um. distracted from posting it XD but here it is now! a strange lil mix of hierarchical (samantha, ron, darryl, glenn) polyamory, non-hierarchical (mercedes, henry, carol) polyamory, and some guys who just happen to be there (morgan and jodie). because i do not believe in simple polycules, they do not exist.

this all happens like... a few years after the end of s1, i would say? except for the preexisting marriages, obviously, and also morgan and jodie's whole deal. that's been confusing since the trial and morgan refuses to clarify it for anyone including herself.

gonna transcribe all of the connections below the cut because i think that'll be too confusing in alt text and also, my handwriting isn't great so people might wanna read it in plain text anyways. this is gonna be. long. sorry LOL

okay so first: the key indicates romantic or platonic, though obviously, some of these connections are a mix of both (cough morgan cough). the heart symbol means that a relationship is prioritized, and if a character has several prioritized relationships, that means that they practice non-hierarchical polyamory :) yes, it could have been simpler to give them no hearts, but that's not as cute.

Samantha to Ron: Husband, romantic, prioritized relationship. Samantha to Mercedes: Girlfriend, romantic. Samantha to Carol: Girlfriend, romantic.

Ron to Samantha: Wife, romantic, prioritized relationship.

Mercedes to Henry: Husband, romantic, prioritized relationship. Mercedes to Samantha: Girlfriend, romantic, prioritized relationship. Mercedes to Carol: Girlfriend, romantic, prioritized relationship.

Henry to Mercedes: Wife, romantic, prioritized relationship.

Carol to Darryl: "??? coparents? queerplatonic?", platonic, prioritized relationship. Carol to Samantha: Girlfriend, romantic, prioritized relationship. Carol to Mercedes: Girlfriend, romantic, prioritized relationship.

Darryl to Carol: "Wife /p", platonic, prioritized relationship. Darryl to Glenn: "Boyfriend?", romantic.

Morgan to Jodie: "Whatever these two got going on", platonic/romantic. Morgan to Glenn: "Words cannot describe what is going on here.", romantic/platonic.

Glenn to Darryl: Lover, romantic, prioritized relationship. Glenn to Morgan: "Darryl's hot friend", platonic/romantic.

Jodie to Morgan: Wife, romantic, prioritized relationship.

[fanby-fckry]

🍭🎀 for the ask game!♡

Let's Get ((REAL)) fic writer asks

Thank you! <3

🍭 why did you start writing?

When it comes to writing in general, I’ve had a passion for story telling for about as long as I could write.

I remember there was an assignment in like 1st lr 2nd grade where my teacher had the class add “spider legs” to their stories, which were basically strips of paper that you could use to add more details to things without erasing. She used to call my spider legs “elephant legs” because I’d add line after line on every “leg.”

As for fanfiction specifically, I did it out of spite.

I saw someone say that RadioApple could never work because Lucifer likes to tempt people with sex (not canon but ok) and Alastor’s asexual. Plus the power difference would make it unhealth and wrong. :/

And in response, I wrote Tempting Entertainment: the precursor fic to UH3.

So uh, thanks random RadioApple anti from 2019. You changed my life forever, and now I have an ongoing series of RadioAppleSiren kinky queer platonic polycule fanfics that get an insane amount of interaction and comments from people telling me how much they liked my work/how wholesome the unholy 3 are/how my portrayal of Alastor’s aroace-ness.

Also, get fucked because UH3!Alastor sure isn’t.

🎀 give yourself a compliment about your own writing

I need to stop reblogging ask games that have this as a prompt, because beloved mutuals are insistent on sending it every time, and I’m going to run out of nice things to say about my work eventually.

Also, I sent one back to you as revenge but the nice kind. If I have to appreciate my work then so you!

Hmmmmmm what do I actually say about this? And what haven’t I said already?

Oh! I think I’m pretty good at noticing the trends that happen when my characters start “writing themselves” and acting accordingly.

I accidentally wrote UH3!Alastor with a bunch of my own Cluster B traits in addition to the implied canon traits. And while I tried to minimize them for a while for fear of The Discourse™️, eventually I decided it was better to double down and write with my own perspective as a person with a personality disorder in mind.

Recently I came to the realization that UH3!Alastor may have a gender preference for women when it comes to platonic and sensual attraction, which I had kind of assumed wouldn’t happen in this AU, but he did it anyway. I’m gonna be keeping an eye on that, and might be updating his microlabels.

He doesn’t know his own microlabels, but it helps me keep my writing consistent. Previously I’d had him down as panaesthetic, pansensual, and panplatonic but I think he’s actually bisensual and biplatonic. His aesthetic attraction isn’t at all based on gender; meanwhile while he can experience sensual, platonic, and queer platonic attraction to any gender, he seems to have a noticeable difference between women and everybody else.

I blame his father for this. I also blame him for a good portion of the Cluster B symptoms. Wow, I really wanna write some backstory about Alastor’s relationship with his father, because it’s hinted at in UH3 in several places, but it doesn’t come up a lot and I have so many things to say.

Uhh, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, my writing! Complimenting it!

Sometimes my characters write themselves, and I think I do a pretty good job chasing after them and taking notes. :3

[powerpolyculeshowdown]

Canon Polycule Showdown

(vote for your favorite! check the description if you don't know them)

[ID: 1. Picture of Quanxi and her four girlfriends, Tsugihagi, Long, Pingtsi and Cosmo, from the Chainsaw Man Manga. 2. Picture of Daniel, Sam, Jack and Teal’c from Stargate SG-1. /end ID]

Meet the contestants!

Quanxi/Pingsti/Cosmo/Long/Tsugihagi

Status: Canon

Description: Quanxi is a devil hunter who previously worked for the bureau (institution that fights devils), before going off on her own and getting her girlfriends, all of whom are fiends (devils who have taken over a human's body). Her girlfriends are all very adoring of her, and she cares deeply for them, wanting them to be treated like humans and be able to get an education. In their own unique ways, the other girls also care deeply for Quanxi, and seem very affectionate, and are always happy to use their powers to help her. Quanxi is confirmed to be a lesbian in canon!

Daniel/Sam/Jack/Teal’c

Status: Implied

Description: They are one of those teams that always presents as a unit and go through Absolute Hell to stay together. It's 90s/2000s American Military Sci-fi, so gay ppl don't even exist, let alone polyamory, but they have way too many plotlines where they risk the world to bring one of them back, or they collectively decide to die together rather than leave one of them behind. And I'm pretty sure Dr Sam Carter has to pretend to be married to/belong to each of the boys at least once, in fantastically sexist plotlines because again. The era. Jack O'Neill/Sam Carter is the only explicitly canon ship, and it can be argued the Teal’c is somewhat ace-coded, but the bonds between individual team members as well as the four together go way beyond platonic. (Teal’c could fit in queerplatonically.)

[zerolostwalks]

"I'm an excellent hugger. You can ask everyone." sounds like something Reggie would say. Any pairing, platonic or romantic.

This is also for your other prompt: "Do you need a hug?" for the Greater Polyphantoms Polycule because I love how you write their dynamic And for @daintyduck99 who asked: "I'm an excellent hugger. You can ask everyone." for the greater polyphantoms polycule?

The studio is not empty. Unsurprising really. These days it was rare for the studio to ever be empty. 

Loud laughter rings out through the partially open door. Flynn exhales a long slow steadying breath. Willing the weird pangs to go away before she joins the others. 

With a plastered on smile and forced exuberance she walks in, greeted by the sight of Reggie and Julie sharing a microphone. The two of them lean in close together, as they give a ridiculously over the top performance of ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman’ directed straight at Luke who’s clearly fighting to not smile. Alex looks on in fond amusement from behind his drum kit. 

The four of them far too lost in each other that Flynn wonders if any of them noticed she even walked in. Would they notice if she turned around and left? 

Really it hardly makes any sense for her heart to ache like this or for her stomach to get all knotted the way it does lately every time she’s them like this. It’s among a number of things that haven’t barely made any sense lately.

Before she can decide how she wants to announce herself, she finds herself suddenly in the middle of everything. Luke hides behind her, his large hands gripping her shoulders tight, as he begs her to help protect him. Reggie and Julie, have stopped their over the top performance. 

“I’m sure Flynn’s with us on this one.” Reggie laughs, draping himself across Alex’s shoulders as Julie hugs Flynn’s arm tight, almost as if Flynn’s the rope in a game of tug of war between her and Luke.

Nerves alight in Flynn’s chest and nearly erupt as uncontrollable giggles, as the familiar burn of a blush rises up her neck. She swallows, trying to get herself under control again. It makes no sense, she’s never had this issue around them or anyone before and now. But for some reason during the past few weeks of hanging out with them it has been harder and harder to act normal. 

“Flynn?” 

Flynn blinks and Reggie is suddenly right in her face, green eyes furrowed in confusion. She swallows down a squeak by his sudden close proximity. How much had she spaced?

“Sorry, sorry.” Flynn shakes her head and extracts herself from Luke and Julie’s grips and backs up far enough that hopefully none of them can hear the way her heart’s gone haywire. “I have this paper due in history that I just can’t stop thinking about.”

“Oh? Ok.” Julie says, looking as perplexed as Luke and Reggie who are still standing beside her. 

Flynn does her best to not cringe from replaying her own lie in her head. An effort not aided by Alex’s suspicious smirk he’s doing a poor job of hiding. 

“Yep, so, I’m just gonna do that.” she says pointing back to the couch and adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “You guys get to rehearsing.”

Thankfully, Flynn always struggled maintaining focus while the band rehearsed so it didn’t raise any eyebrows when her eyes keep drifting up to watch them play. She gives up the charade when Willie shows up at the tail end of rehearsal. Smiling as he joins her on the couch to enjoy the last few songs. 

Alex definitely sits up straighter and smiles broader with his boyfriends appearance. Flynn tries to not to overthink the way Reggie and Luke’s eyes also drift towards Willie when his attention is on Alex. The same sort of looks she could have sworn she’s seen directed at Julie, sometimes even Alex. 

Then Reggie turns his attention to her again and winks, and she makes the mistake of looking at Julie when averting her eyes. She swallows down those annoying nerves again. It has to be just that they were performing. They always love to play to an audience, that’s all it is. 

Nothing proves that more than how quickly they all disperse and fall into their own things again once rehearsal is done. 

Willie drags Alex for some date he won’t disclose, the two of them shouting good byes as they dash off. Alex shoots her a suspiciously over the top ‘good luck with the homework.’ Luke and Julie quickly decide on a movie night, that is unclear if Flynn and Reggie are invited to. Before she can ask for clarification they run to the kitchen to get snacks. 

Flynn sighs, looking back down to her books and notes as she resigns herself to sticking around. If nothing else she can probably get some more homework done before Julie potentially kicks her out to get some alone time with Luke. 

“Do you need a hug?” 

Flynn looks up from her homework, towards where Reggie is perched on his usual stool. The intensity of his concerned look shoots straight through her heart sending cascades of butterflies through her veins. She blinks at him before subtly clearing her throat, and forcing a small laugh. “What? Why do you think I need a hug?”

He shrugs as he rocks in his seat. “You just seem kind of, off, today.”

She doesn’t need to force the wry chuckle that escapes her. Ecstatic that he noticed her. Conflicted that it is probably only as a friend, feeling a weird pang of guilt wondering if any of the others noticed as well. 

“So, do you?” Reggie asks again, leaning forward. A proud smile starts to split his face. “I’m an excellent hugger. You can ask everyone.”

Before Flynn can answer Luke shows back up in the studio doorway. “Why are you two still out here?”

“Wasn’t aware we were supposed to be following.” Flynn says, trying not to sound bitter while Reggie laughs his own agreement. 

“Oh.” Luke looks slightly stunned and rubs the back of his neck. “Well, we thought you two were right behind us.”

Flynn exchanges a look with Reggie she can only describe as fond bemusement. She starts to pack her bag up again as Reggie reassures Luke that they are definitely following behind now. Only when she gets up to leave, she’s stopped by Reggie, who’s giving her that concerned look again. 

She doesn’t say anything, can’t risk saying anything and accidentally saying way too much. Instead she answers him by wrapping her arms around his torso. His quickly envelop her, and he wasn’t lying. He doesn’t squeeze her too tight, nor are his arms awkwardly slack around her. Plus he smells nice, hints of his leather jacket mixed with a woodsy smell that makes her think of camping. 

Hesitantly she pulls herself out of his grip, she gets the feeling he wouldn’t have let go a moment sooner. “Thanks,” She smiles at him.

“Anytime.” He says keeping an arm around her shoulders as they join Luke and Julie in her living room. Flynn’s eyes suddenly feel far too warm when she spots her favorite soda and the bag of sour patch kids on the table. The warmth quickly spreads to her cheeks as Julie pulls her to sit on the couch squished between her and Reggie.

“Finally.” She says as she hands Flynn the remote with a smile. “You get first pick.”

Flynn bites back her laugh. How long did Julie expect this movie night to last? Turns out long enough for them to all fall asleep piled on top of each other.