#and it would be more funny if they suddenly gained a lot of followers and didn't know why

[technologyvoid]

I have 80 followers now. People stop following me challenge/hj

I mean, since you're already here, might as well check out my talented artist/fic mutuals:

@'chilei-the-hotsauce

@'lovelymoonmagic

@'buc-eebarnes

@'seraph-draws-stuff

@'mulderhiggins

@'cheezylueezy

@'here4dragons

@'bllaaaaarrgh

@'dont-talk-back-to-heapass

@'haapanjuuri

@'silvercaptain24

@'ohhhelios

[goldsbitch]

That second flight

part 4 to That one Christmas flight

summary: What happens when people stop lying to themselves? Sometimes, you get a good night out of it.

warnings: cheesy af, swear words and alcohoI guess, cliche probably, typos most definitely

Do not fuck it up, do not fuck it up, do not fuck this up.

Hey you? What kind of a message even is that? Ugh. She ruined it. Now she will have to move away and start her life again.

The weather forecast predicted high levels of overreacting for today.

He must have liked the cool girl vibe she somehow gave of on the plane. Y/N prayed for the gods of cool vibes to bless her again.

Lando was just about to start an interview for Sky Sports when he received her message. He imagined this was how it felt to win a podium. On the top of the world. He gave an absolutely charismatic, energetic and funny interview. One that would surely create lots of gifs on the socials. PR manager even high-fived him when they finished. To be honest, he could not wait for a moment of solitude so that he could reply.

"hey" he started. "so I broke the rule, ups" Her reply came instantly.

"I've noticed. But then again, you radiate speeding tickets vibe from miles away. So no surprise."

He smiled, well aware of how efficient the Italian ticketing was running.

"paid one last week, so you got me there" "so, how's your cool student life going?"

"Trying gain some wisdom, as people just feel free to call me dumb on social media these days."

"compliments come in a variety of forms, don't discriminate"

From now on, there was no way back.

//

The next few days consisted of constant texting. Joking around, sending pictures capturing their daily life - both of them keeping in secret that lots of the information shared was nothing new. They were careful, somewhat distancing themselves from any real deep topics. But, days felt like blur, waiting for the next text to come and somehow managing to live the real life in between that. Y/N stayed in most evenings, almost making her friends concerned.

It did not take long enough for famously patient Lando to getting sick of it. They had a week between the next three week round of races. It was now or never. He missed one chance by being mr. mysterious, so mr. direct it was now.

"so, lady. what are you doing this weekend?" he asked out of the blue.

"I dunno. Probably studying, I guess."

"well, you're smart enough, you can skip that. let's meet up."

Y/N pretended to herself that she was second guessing. She headed out, to the bar where her friends were hanging out before they planned on heading to some faculty party. She felt joining them suddenly. Sat quietly, listening to their usual chit chat. Her charade lasted about seven minutes.

"Yes. Let's." she texted and threw her phone deep down to her bag. She was nervous, heart racing and mind quite not catching up yet.

"I need to tell you guys something," she interrupted them and almost demanded immediate attention. Questioning looks followed. "Uh, so I met this guy on a plane. And I'm gonna see him again this weekend."

Saying it like that, she realized that it was all kind of real and that she probably could not explain it in words how bizzare it all felt.

"Aw, that's cute! Tell us more!" Teresa clapped excitedly, the whole weird vibe surrounding her friend making more sense now.

Y/N expected her friends to be more shocked. "Um, yeah. It's just this guy. I don't really know how it's gonna happen, but yeah."

"Is he coming here? Can we meet him?"

Y/N kept the information that they already did to herself. Just in case she is left stranded alone and disappointed.

"I don't...I don't know actually. Yeah."

"We will do as we always do - sharing location and staying by if needed, honey."

Y/N missed a text notification. "great. i'll fly you out to somewhere where we can be alone, not to sound too creepy."

//

She landed an hour after him. Lando sent a picture of him waiting at the airport cafe.

He booked the best hotel room he could find. Well, technically he booked two rooms. Just in case she wanted to keep her distance or if by any chance he fucked up so royally, that she would refuse to share space with him. At least, he could walk away from this like a gentleman.

Since she last him, she forgot just how hot this guy was in person. Seeing him, sitting casually sipping coffee and glued to him phone, she took a moment to study him. It was as if he was tailored specifically to her taste. His clothes covering his godlike body, not too muscular but enough for the sight of his arms sending her to different dimension. The origin of her audacity she had to be the first one to talk to him on the plane was unknown to her. There was no more panic left in her body, as she had done nothing but panicking the whole flight.

She walked and sat opposite to him.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hey yourself," she replied. There was a moment of awkward silence. Turns out there was a bit of panic left in Y/N after all. Last week she though she'd never see this guy. And now she was staring in his eyes.

"Do you want some coffee?," he asked innocently. He looked her up and down, excited to see her. All of his worries he refused to acknowledge were gone. After all, she got up and flew here just to hang out with him. The reality of this filled him with confidence.

"Yes. A small tiny espresso with no milk."

"Great. Let's grab that and hit the road."

Lando's car might have as well run on butterflies alone present in his vehicle. There was absolutely no way for him to drive some random rental car, so he called up McLaren people to provide him one for the night. It came up in the same conversation when he requested personal time off. Both things came to a certain level of surprise, as he had never done this before. Y/N knew she had to work on a group project for one of her minor classes. Just like him, she had done something she would not have dared - and completely ghosted her group for this weekend.

"You look nice, btw," he commented casually.

"Well yeah, when you're not on an overnight flight across half of the world wearing airport attire, it makes thing easier."

"Hm, I would say sweatpants have some magic to them."

It was hard for Y/N to get the image of him out of her head.

"So, where is my lovely kidnapper taking me?"

They discussed prior to this that the vibe they would like out of this was a casual dinner and then finding the shittiest club possible and have some fun, trying to remain as private as possible yet within the vicinity of the small Italian city.

"My assistant found this lovely little place in the centre. Don't get mad, but I had him completely book it out. You know, the privacy thing," he said with more insecurity than one would expect.

Y/N picked up on that and tried to lighten up the mood. It seemed a bit excessive to do that, but he probably knew what he was doing.

"Your assistant," she gagged over dramatically. "Jesus, am I not worth enough for you to google on your own? Mr. Busy man. Was he also the one who found me online them?" she joked?

"I'm sure I'd have to hire a special person to that if I planned on outsourcing it."

"Creep."

"You love it."

And she did.

He parked in front of the restaurant, without a care for the world.

"So you're telling me we're making a big deal about keeping a secret that you're here, yet you decide to park like a proper asshole?" she remarked while he opened the door for her. Jokes were making her focus on something else than the fact she was falling for him too hard.

"Oh, you're going absolutely hate my plan," he laughed as they were entering the full on empty restaurant.

"Wow, look at that. I invited all my friends!" he whispered to her ear before addressing the owner.

"Hello, you must be Dario?"

This Dario person smiled brightly at him. "Ah, mister Papaya!" Lando nodded and Y/N rolled her eyes. Dario then started speaking Italian without a care of the world. Language wise deaf Lando did not count for the fact people just did not speak English in this part of Italy. A tiny crack in his plan. What was he suppose to do, call Carlos? But, Y/N having spend a good year or two studying there was there to ease the situation. She whipped out her B1 Italian and greeted the man. Dario's happiness filled up the room.

He seated them and immediately brought local red wine and giving a long talk about where this wine was from and how his grandma used to pick up the grapes herself and how the notes did this and that. Y/N tried to translate at the beginning, but Dario looked like was ready to give a TED talk. She started to loose the grasp of the story, which Lando observed. And like good gentleman he helped her out. No, of course not, when he saw her getting lost, he put on a super interested face and asked about seven follow up questions. Y/N was super annoyed. The kind of annoyed that creates a smile on your face.

When this showdown finally ended, Y/N nearly gulped the wine down. "So rude, Dario just said, you're suppose to sit it and let it roll," said Lando and with too much affect sipped his wine. "Aah," he took a deep breath and the bit his tongue. Y/N stuck her tongue out completely like a five year old child. "Yes, I can your red tongue, that's also one of the reasons why you sip it."

They sat, talked and laughed. He seemed genuinely interested when she blabbed a little bit too long about her latest projects. And then he asked her for a feedback on his latest merch, which by sheer coincidence included lots of photos of him. It was hard to admit how much he enjoyed the idea of her looking at him.

"So, um. I'm not sure I understood Dario correctly. But it looks like he insists on getting us the local speciality," she said hesistantly.

"Well, only if his grandma would approve. But why is this strange look on your face?"

"I must have gotten it wrong. Because burnt pasta just sounds wrong. If I wanted that, I could have stayed and have my roommate cook for us."

"Hm, that is an interesting idea." Lando pretended he did not know her roommate's name.

Once Darion brought out the burnt pasta, the couple had a hard time not to laugh.

"When in Rome...well not in Rome, but you get the idea."

"Why is this good?" Y/N proclaimed with her mouth full to the limit.

Lando laughed. "Ah, we have a lady at the table, I see. I mean yeah, I am not supposed to be having pasta now, but this is so weirdly good."

They finished their strange pasta and the bottle of wine. Said goodbye to Dario, Y/N tried not to think on how much it cost to close a restaurant down.

"Wait, what are we going to do about the car? We can't drive now."

"Not to sound like a complete asshole, but I'd like we remove the WE from any sentence including driving now at the beginning, if that is ok. And like I said at the beginning, you're gonna hate this."

"Go on, Lando boy. Tell me."

"Yeah, the car was provided by my employer. And they really need me, so I'm just going to leave the car here to get towed and inform them later."

"Jesus, why!"

"Well, I figured we'll get a taxi in the morning. I want to enjoy all the time I have with you. Dealing with the car is not on the menu today."

There was nothing for Y/N to reply. She was having too much fun to be thinking.

They found what seemed to be the shittiest bar playing 80's and 90's songs, weirdly colored lights swinging out of the rhythm and with people there consisting of old papas and few probably underaged kids. They brought their own wine bottle from Dario, Lando paid 100 euro for two glasses and for the bartender leaving them alone. It did not take long for Y/N to break out to the dance floor. Lando watched her clumsy yet somehow elegant moves for a moment, before he joined her. They danced, as if they were the only people there, laughing and completely ignoring the looks they were getting. And to the tones of remix of Brother Louis, they kissed again. And this time, they kept kissing until late hours, hand roaming around each other, as if they were two teenagers making out for the first time.

part 5

__________________________________________________

Tagged all those who like to suffer: @prudyhoo @anuksunamon @sagestack @esquerkaren @ushygushybaby @ilove-tswizzle @thehufflepuffavenger1  @superlegend216 @mehrmonga @lovely-blackinnon @mylifeihate1029 @lausdigitaldiary @tswizzleismother

[enzstr]

Only You || K. Bakugo

Pairing: Bakugo x Reader

synopsis: starz26708 and Dino.tnt609, two students who first met in an online chatroom. A friendship had flourished between them. With the strong need to meet each other, 6aku.tnt609 slowly gains curiosity regarding the other's identity, which sparked the desire to meet her within him. What could possibly go wrong?

💭: btw, this is inspired from the Chad Michael Murray and Hilary Duff movie A Cinderella's Story!!

words: 1.8k

Chapter 1: Morning and Night.

Dino.tnt609: “I need to know who you are?”

Dino.tnt609: “I can’t take my mind off you.”

Dino.tnt609: “Please tell me who you are?”

starz26708: “Soon, I promise.”

Reader’s POV:

It all started with a chatroom, where two people have the same interest, same mindset, basically the same person but opposite genders. That’s when our friendship started. I learnt to know everything about him but his name and how he looks, and honestly that never bothered me. I was really ecstatic to text with a person who I don’t really know, yet at the same time I knew everything about him. 

Both of us would text each other for hours without stopping, and everytime we did, I always had a smile plastered to my face. Those words he used were what caught my attention. The way he uses words was exceptionally poetic to me and I never want him to stop. Many times I have doubted that he’s real and could be just some dumb person fooling around, however my gut didn’t think so. 

starz26708: “We’ve been texting for hours and it’s getting so late!”

Dino.tnt609: “And we can still keep going, no?”

I laughed at his reply to my message and typed out my last reply before heading to bed.

starz26708: “Very funny. I need to head to sleep now.”

starz26708: “Goodnight, Dino.”

After I sent that text, my body went limp into my bed and slept soundly with the desire to meet this “Dino” guy.

On the following day, the morning sun bathed the world in a brilliant golden hue, its gentle touch bringing a sense of peace and clarity, accompanied by the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves, the only sounds in the peaceful summer morning.

As the engine’s soft whir filled the air, the sun’s rays streamed through the glass window. The radio played a familiar tune in the car, and me and my best friend, Cece, chatted excitedly about the new hit song that was gaining traction in newspaper articles, laughter breaking the silence as the car drove towards the school.

As I was about to park your car into the perfect spot in the near-empty parking lot, another vehicle suddenly cut into the space just before me, causing me to slam on the brakes in surprise. Frustration washed over me and I let out a frustrated sigh, realising I would have to find another spot now.

“Damn, why didn’t they see we were about to park there? I’m about to throw hands man, I swear to god!”

“They’re not bad! ‘M pretty sure they never saw us and it’s fine, I’ll find a new parking spot!” I tried to reassure my best friend who was sitting in the passenger seat with a scowl on her face. 

At that moment, my eyes narrowed in annoyance as the man I strongly disliked emerged from his vehicle, Bakugo Katsuki. I couldn't help but scoff at his audacity as he slammed the car door shut. His presence instantly annoyed me, and my gaze lingered on him with a mixture of annoyance and disdain as he casually strolled towards the building with his friends. Why do I dislike him? My dislike for him began to build from the moment I met him. His cocky attitude and arrogant demeanour immediately rubbed me the wrong way, and his tendency to constantly boast about himself only got me even more frustrated. He often looked down on others and had a habit of interrupting conversations, which only added to my growing dislike of him.

Our gazes met, but instead of the usual welcoming eye contact, a wave of tension filled the air. The way our eyes locked in a stern and serious manner reflected the dislike and annoyance we felt towards each other. His friend group that included Denki, Mina, Kirishima and Sero looked towards my face then at his, as if we’re having a staring competition. 

His friends pulled him away and bowed in an apologetic manner as Cece did the same. Soon after they were gone, I regained my consciousness and drove to an empty parking lot without anyone disturbing me, until Cece had a confused look all over her face. We both hurriedly ran into the school to prevent being late, and gladly we weren’t. The school hallways were filled with shouts and loud chattering of students, and students rushing in all places to reach their classes on time. The hallways were packed with people, the cramped space making it harder to find your classes. The air was filled with the sound of voices and footsteps, as students chattered excitedly or hurried along to their classrooms. Unfortunately that was where we both had to separate and head to our own classes. Of course you find Bakugo in the same class as you are in this year, again. Every year bad luck would always be with you when it comes to matters like this, but you tried not to show any reaction and handled it professionally.

Bakugo’s POV:

My attention wavered between the teacher's lecture and the thoughts swirling in my mind. I couldn't help but think about the girl I’ve always been texting, someone I had only known through a computer screen, and I don’t even know who her identity is. Our conversations replayed in my head, and I longed to know more about her in person. My gaze occasionally darted to my phone, checking for any new messages, but the lack of communication only seemed to strengthen my growing feelings for her.

Hell, it is strange that I feel like this towards someone whom I’ve never met face to face, but with her, it’s like I can be myself. Not that grumpy and serious demeanour, but my authentic self. Despite our connection being online, I found a sense of comfort with her. I found myself opening up to her, sharing my true thoughts and feelings without the fear of judgement or rejection. Something about connecting with her through the computer screen allowed me to be my authentic self, and I valued the genuine connection we had built despite the distance between us.

The sudden loud ring of the school bell startled me, causing my head to jolt up as the realization that school had ended hit me. The classroom erupted with the sounds of shuffling desks and bags being packed, signalling freedom that came with the end of the school day.

With a subtle sense of anticipation, I instinctively grabbed my phone from my pocket and checked for any new messages or notifications. My fingers swiped across the screen as I opened my messaging app, eager to see if she had reached out to me in the time I had been in class.

Dino.tnt609: “Where have you been? We haven’t talked in ages.”

Barely five minutes had passed when my phone vibrated, signalling a new message notification. I quickly checked the screen and saw that she had responded, a wave of anticipation and excitement washing over me as I read her reply.

starz26708: Gee you missed me that much?

starz26708: I just finished school. 

Dino.tnt609: I  can’t stop thinking about you.

Dino.tnt609: What’s on your mind right now?

starz26708: You first.

Dino.tnt609: Well I’m thinking that Mr. Aizawa would 100% be a caterpillar.

I couldn't help but turn my head and look around, noticing the sea of students in the hallway, all engrossed in their own little worlds as they tapped away at their phones, engaging in conversations or scrolling through social media. The sound of keyboards clicking and the occasional laugh or gasp filled the air, she could be anywhere.

starz26708: LOL

starz26708: I can actually see that!

Dino.tnt609: Oh, I want to hear your laugh.

Dino.tnt609: When can we finally meet?

starz26708: Soon!

I was walking down the hallway, reading through the last text she sent to me on my phone and completely engrossed in my screen, when I suddenly felt a hard bump. Looking up, I found myself face to face with her, the girl I had a strained relationship with, y/n. Our eyes met, and almost instinctively, my expression twisted into a scowl, mirroring the mutual dislike we held for each other. I couldn't help but feel frustrated that we kept running into each other in this annoying and seemingly endless way.

“Watch where you’re going.” I could hear the groan in her tone after she replied, seemingly rolling her eyes at me too.

“Your fault for not looking.”

After our brief and tense exchange, I felt a sense of irritation and frustration wash over me, and I know she did too. We both groaned in annoyance and hurried past each other, eager to put some distance between us and forget about the unpleasant interaction we just had.

Third person’s POV:

Y/n was in a busy computer room, surrounded by a sea of students working on their respective screens. Despite the crowded space, she began typing messages to her online friend, Kat.tnt609,  trying to maintain a casual air while sitting amongst the other students. 

starz26708: Ever feel like you don’t belong?

Dino.tnt609: Absolutely.

Dino.tnt609: I can be surrounded by a sea of people and still feel all alone.

Dino.tnt609: Then I think of you.

Her face immediately lit up as she read the text, a slow and genuine smile spreading across her features, transforming her expression from one of neutrality to one of pleasant surprise and happiness.

starz26708: Hey Dino, do you think we’ve ever met?

Dino.tnt609: I don’t know.

Dino.tnt609: Our school has over 660 students.

She was busy typing a message to him on the school computer, completely unaware that the person on the other side of the screen was someone sitting in the very same room with her. Little did she know, the person she was communicating with was actually the opposite of what she had envisioned, right there under her nose, engaging in a secret yet intriguing exchange of words.

What started as an innocent text conversation between the two rapidly turned into a marathon chat session, with each message leading to another, until the clock hit 2 and they finally realized just how much time had passed in their conversation.

starz26708: It’s 2:00 a.m.

starz26708: We’ve been at this for 4 hours

Dino.tnt609: Hm, then I think we just broke our record.

starz26708: We should head to sleep. 

starz26708: Sweet dreams.

Dino.tnt609: Wait.

Dino.tnt609: My heart swells with admiration I can hardly keep. 

Dino.tnt609: For in your peaceful, soft expression,

Dino.tnt609: I see the best of what life has to offer, and no contradiction.

Dino.tnt609: For when you sleep, you are at your most beautiful,

Dino.tnt609: Like a precious gem, shining in the soft light of the night.

starz26708: New verse? Impressive.

starz26708: I like it.

Dino.tnt609: Please meet me at the school’s party.

Dino.tnt609: I’ll be waiting for you at 11:00 in the middle of the dance floor.

Dino.tnt609: Sweet dreams.

masterlist next >

enzstr © 2024. please don't steal, modify or copy my writing on any other platforms!

[bluestarjay]

After being on Tumblr for I think nearly a year, and making a fuck ton of posts and gaining mild popularity on certain posts and gaining a whopping 21 followers, I've never made a Hinata Harem post. So yall are finally lucky enough to hear my takes on it ❤️❤️❤️

So first of all, I kinda love the hinata harem thing bc it's actually so funny, but strangely, in a way, it's realistic. Not very well written most of the time, but realistic as a concept.

Bc like he gets along with basically the entire cast, and he sometimes compliments characters who are not used to being complimented, and that character may blush of embarrassment, and then the fandom takes that as shipping material, like with Goshihina. And it makes sense! Imagine you're rarely complimented, and you strive for validation from your peers, especially upperclassmen, and then suddenly, the cutest boy you've ever seen compliments you like you're the only person on the planet. And so then you purposely try as hard as you possibly can to make said boy continue to compliment you. Take this, then multiply it by 100, because I think that's how the harem trope, in Hinata's case, works.

This isn't meant to be in the way that he can be shipped with every single character because truly, he can't. Shipping Hinata with 3rd years, in a typical high school setting, is, at least imo (and not bc of the age gap itself), weird bc of the maturity difference. You shouldn't date a senior as a freshman bc you're on two separate maturity levels. And regarding all of the many 3rd years (tendou, daichi, suga, bokuto, etc), it's really the same exact thing just platonically. Bokuto is literally Hinata's older brother!! He adopted him as a student *and* sibling, bc he felt the same things everybody does, just in a *different* way.

The hinata harem, to me, is the display of hinata's character in reference to every other character, yk? To me, these select few people are actually in love with him, and these people have a "crush," which is more so a platonic feeling, and these people find a true, deep *friendship* with him, one that they've probably never experienced before, and therefore may look like a crush or love to an outside viewer. And, in these different relationships between hinata and other characters, they all love him. They all feel a loving connection with him, like how people would think in a harem, but it's not quite so because all of the people who love hinata love him in different ways.

Now, with how this harem is portrayed in fanfiction actually scares me bc half the people there are much older and mature than him (gen question why do ppl ship him with 3rd years /in high school/, like, I love Brazil Oihina sooooo much but hs Oihina is 😧😧😧) , and tbh it just gets out of control.

And alot of times I see Hinata reciprocate?? With multiple people?? Which is fine to an extent, imo like I love poly ships, I've seen a lot of really cute ones and some more interesting ones, and it's totally normal to have a crush on a few people at once but istg some people make him a goddamn player,,,

I recently read a harem-ish fic, which was much more similar to how I personally find it to be like, it was essentially people having a crush on hinata, or realizing it, and it was cute, but at the same time, Hinata asked one of them on a date, cuddled with like two other guys (which, normalize cuddling platonically but in the context of the fic it wasn't suuuuper platonic but wasn't suuuuuper romantic either iykwim), and the part of that that kinda icked me was just that he was getting on with so many people at once (the fic took place in the span of like a week, and there were like 5 people i think??). And a lot of other fics that are post time skip are just Hinata hooking up with the entire cast at some point???

Idk tbh but I do really like fics where everybody LOVES hinata, but only a few people are IN love with him. Just the balance of like ~5 people having a crush on him, half of the rest of them have adopted him in one way or another, and the other half have just found their new bff.

Btw I think that second to last paragraph is worded a bit poorly I just don't really know else to describe the fic so sorry if it offends anyone I'm free to edit it n if anyone wants more ship related stuff I got you (ALSO GIVE ME GOOD "HAREM" FIC RECS AS LONG AS THEYRE SFW AND COMPLETED!!) 💪💪💪

[keepthedelta]

Maybe I'm being overly cynical (I Do Not know these people and this is just my outsider view), but the whole 'Piastri family social media' stuff has made me uncomfortable from the start because (to me) it gives off huge 'chasing clout and followers by using my famous family member'

None of them were particularly active social media posters before, none of them had an interest in influencing or building a career from it. But, suddenly now Oscar is more popular they are posting A Lot. (For comparison, someone like Max's sister has definitely used her brother to her advantage in gaining a following and popularity, but, she also seemingly always had an interest in fashion and makeup and having a career in it + her posts are not about Max/F1 directly)

It's only going to cause headache and pain and sorry, if my brother was famous, I would not want to even remotely see people thirst trapping him or shipping him romantically with people. Why would you invite that into your space. Also, if I was on Oscar's PR team I'd be fucking worried because what happens if your mother or sister says/posts something that is controversial or actually bad. That now will have a huge audience and actually affect how people see Oscar, and he will be obligated to comment on it. And, if he doesn't, it will be to his detriment (See Max and the Piquet family)

Obviously, fans should just act fucking normally, but we all know that isn't how things work on the internet. You sometimes have to take steps yourself to avoid getting into those situations.

see i personally don't view it as them using him for clout because i think that it is at minimum a symbiotic relationship from which they both benefit. i am a long time hater of the piastri family socials, but i have disliked it because in my personal opinion oscar's family are being used as fodder for his pr.

you say they weren't really active before oscar's career in f1 but even if they are seeking to become influencers etc. which i cannot confirm or deny because i don't know them and frankly have no interest in them, the main reason imo that they did become more active was for oscar. it seems as though his pr is very much trying to portray him as a normal, down to earth relatable kind of guy. a gen z kimi raikkonen who is very calm and level headed (even if he's nothing like kimi, nor honestly is kimi like that). and it benefits oscar (and by extension his pr team) for him to have a cool mum who says funny things on twitter and cool young sisters interested in kpop etc. who aren't impressed by him. his image benefits from the "normal family guy" aesthetic.

there's a reason dts wanted to film him having breakfast with his family. his family has become a part of his media strategy. his mother goes on podcasts or whatever as part of his pr strategy. she is there to talk about him and to promote him without it seeming like promotion. you think if oscar or his team didn't want that she would still have gone on? i don't. that's not to say she's being disingenuous or inauthentic, but i'm sure someone went through roughly what media narrative they wanted to tell and how she should tell it. they are part of oscar's media strategy. they're there to make people think that he's normal and just some guy who happens to be an exceptionally talented driver.

i don't know if his family are benefitting from his fame or to what extent they may be but it's not oscar who should be worried about fan response to his family, it's them. they are being used as a proxy personality for him (and i know that sounds mean but it's not intended as criticism of oscar himself) and at some point things are going to get nasty. what happens if oscar and lando get into an actual wdc title fight at some point? what happens if the chirlies or cultLH turn on him and his fans? oscar has the protection of being a famous f1 driver. his family don't. people will send death threats to his sisters or turn up at his mum's house. they'll search through everything they've ever posted looking for a miniscule detail to cancel them over and justify their hatred and abuse.

everyone involved in this, oscar, his family, his pr team, mclaren, their pr team, needs to recognise that enabling these parasocial relationships, letting people think of oscar's mum as their friend or mum figure, letting people think it's okay to send his sister rpf as though she's their friend is not acceptable. there do need to be boundaries (frankly i think that all f1 drivers need much stricter boundaries than they currently have because some fan behaviour is worrying. people have already shown up at charles's house this is not a worst case scenario it's already happening) for the safety of everyone involved.

i do also think there's something to be said about fan culture and the increasing entitlement to a public figure's life. as fans i think we all need to be a lot more respectful of these people, whether they're famous or simply connected to someone famous. at the end of the day they are people and should be granted basic respect and privacy because they are people. we do not know them, we are not friends with them. how we feel about them should have no bearing on their lives.

but public figures personal lives are increasingly being used for promotional purposes and i think they need to recognise that they are feeding the entitlement and aggression of fans when they do that. the reason why fans get more and more demanding is because people keep offering up more of themselves and their families for promotion. and i think that needs to stop before someone gets hurt.

[josyards]

AFTG Instagram HCS

Andrew

Andrew has social media, but it's a faceless 'user929485829394' kind of account (or aminyard maybe... but nobody thinks it's him) that has no followers because he just goes on there to keep up to date w stuff.

All the foxes find it eventually because someone (Nicky...) saw it open on his phone & the fans are so confused why the foxes all follow this random anon account

(Andrew deletes his account the second people start to realise who the account belongs to and makes a new one that only Neil knows about)

(Nobody questions why Neil follows a random anon account that is private because it's so... Neil of him. So nobody realises that it's Andrew this time around.)

With his only audience as Neil, Andrew posts a little. Not a lot. But it's nice, Neil thinks, when he opens Instagram to see that default icon with the ring around it.

Neil

Neil doesn't really post much but when he does it's of other ppl (primarily Allison and Matt but sometimes there is a 'soft launch' of Andrew which the goalie says he hates but never tells him to delete), his account is mainly centred around exy -- all his stories are exy related etc.

Sometimes he tags Kevin in random shit that makes no sense to anyone but them. One time he reposted this random french tumblr post about mafia relations and tagged Kevin and Kevin was hysterical because what the fuck are you doing neil are you trying to get us killed.

Funnily, his pfp is a photo of Kevin smashed drunk because he found it really funny and Kevin ends up blocking Neil on social media when he refused to change it (and because of the shit he gets tagged in).

Kevin

Kevin keeps his Instagram very professional. He posts his magazine photoshoots & has stupid shit like clips of him on Kathy's show saying. "Thank you for having me @kathy, it was a pleasure." and the fans EAT IT UP.

The foxes don't let him live it down and every time he posts anything the foxes all repost it w stupid music or something like that, or just with "HAHAHAHAHAHAH".

But that's not just it, sometimes Kevin posts photos from practice; sneak shots that nobody realises he's taken. It seems sweet; it would be sweet if he wasn't such a raging asshole when they practice. He also posts their match scores on his story.

What shocks the foxes the most out of everything is how open he is about his obsession with USC Trojans. Sometimes they wonder whether they accidentally followed a Trojan fan account but no, it's just Kevin Day shitposting about Jeremy Knox.

Nicky

Nicky predominantly posts loads of selfies and shit, lots of candid photos of the others!!!! He does 'camera dumps' and 'monthly dumps' of photos. He posts everything that he can and his story is like a vlog.

He's also very outspoken with his opinion of social media and goes live all the damn time. It drives the monsters insane when they hear "hey guys!" from their living room.

He actually gains quite a bit of attention as the only fox who isn't completely shutdown secrative about his life and so his reason for posting is fed constantly.

He likes to do those "ask me question" stories and it's really entertaining to see him suddenly rush up to one of the foxes and ask questions that the fans want to know. If you're a new fan, your go to Instagram is 100% Nickys. His highlights are full of info on everything and everyone.

It surprises the foxes immensely when they find out his Twitter time is more than Instagram.

Allison

Allison is similar to Nicky in some sense but more professional, it has more of a 'model/fashion student' vibe to it; she likes to post random stories of her having dressed Neil up (bonding she calls it) and has a little highlight for him (the foxes appreciate her efforts).

She likes to do reels, like "dress up neil w/ me!". She also does advertisements w/ skincare & makeup groups.

She has a very aesthetic-looking account; she likes to do GRWM's (and sometimes they star a fellow fox which makes the fan so excited for each new release). She's extremely charismatic and draws a lot of followers from industries other than sport/exy.

Dan

Dan posts about Exy A LOT which surprises the foxes because even though they know that she loves the sport they didn't realise she followed it with such ferocity.

She has a lot of Foxes content on her page, like group photos or post-match selfies etc. She always posts something like that with the score of the game in the caption.

Her pfp is either one of her and Matt's eyes or a photo of them kissing at the end of a game (maybe the Raven one?).

Matt

Matt's Instagram is a shrine of Dan...andNeil. His focus is largely selfies w them or candids of them. He has highlights for them, named "<3" & "Neil!" (they used to both be <3 but then someone asked if they were poly and the foxes lost their shit).

Matt doesn't really post about exy that much, his Instagram seems to capture the domestic side of the Foxes that don't get shown too much through the other's accounts.

Matt's favourite passtime is posting photos of Neil where he blatantly crops Andrew out of the photo. So you get: Neil looking in adoration at... someone? something? The fans go crazy every time.

Renee

Renee's Instagram is the epitome of domestic. It's crazy. She's private and only accepts people she knows (aka the foxes). She posts the most beautiful candids of the foxes you will ever see; them in their Halloween outfits in Eden's Twilight, (an extra slide of Andrew and Neil looking at each other (it was a collective agreement to ignore Kevin who was slumped on the table)), them post Raven match which was taken by Stephanie Walker, a games night which Neil somehow coaxed everyone into (including Andrew) etc.

It's an account almost solely for documenting the PSU Foxes adventures together. Sometimes she posts a quote about her beliefs or music that she likes.

Her account is the foxes favourite, though they'd never admit it.

Even at gunpoint.

Aaron

Last (and very much least), Aarons Instagram (post book three) is almost entirely soft-launching Katelyn.

Library study photos where you can see a girl's hand and someone else's book?

Check.

Two coffees one which has a lipstick stain on it?

Check.

He's done it all.

(Pre-book three as well) He also sometimes posts random photos of like locations (#courthouse /j) but nothing more than that, all of it is Katelyn and it makes the foxes ill.

I may do more. or edit this

[ya-zz]

Heyhey! So I just got a haircut (super short! Think of a fluffy boycut) and my cat HAAATES it!! When I walked in she puffed up at me, but she is getting used to it. Just didnt expect my head to change haha. But I was thinking, itd be kind of funny if Ramattra acted that way with his s/o? so if you're able I'd love to see you write about it😳😳❤️

Omg that is hilariously adorable!

Apologies this took awhile to get to, but I hope I have done it some justice ♥ I am running on two hours sleep so I do apologise if there are any mistakes!

Ramattra x Reader (gen)

Word count: 1029

Omnics used to all look the same. Same make, same model, neither one had their uniqueness until they gained their own thoughts and feelings. Months after they gained their sentience, omnics around the world began wearing clothes, dressing how they saw humans dress, whether that was to be casual or smart, punk or floral, they followed those around them. 

Soon after, workshops popped up around the villages and cities with new parts were being made, upgrades and cosmetics suitable for any and all omnic. They began appearing with hairstyles, new attachments while some altered their look completely. There was a rise within omnic fashion; a sudden competition between human and omnic, one that broke several news reports yearly.

One omnic, however, kept his appearance as close to his factory model as possible. Save from a colour change here and there, his appearance rarely changed. Then again, his kind was feared. A ravager seeking customisation would’ve been talk of the town. 

He kept to himself, only changing when he deemed it absolutely necessary. The only major change he went through was to make his appearance more friendly, despite his previous nature. Cabled hair attached, signature red wire down one was all he wanted, nothing too flashy. It was simple and he appreciated the work done. 

He had always thought humans changing their style was frivolous, never any true meaning behind the changes, so he refrained from going over the top. He wasn’t seeking affirmations from anyone, he didn’t seek compliments, but when the words of “you look great” and “I like this on you” came from your mouth, he felt somewhat more comfortable within his chassis. 

You were the first one to see him like that, and it brought a new and warm feeling coursing through your body. He definitely looked more approachable and even on occasion he would let you style it, keeping his thoughts locked away as he enjoyed the gentleness of your touch.

Ramattra had known you for several years, before, during and after his time at the Monastery. After saving his life, you stuck by his side for the years coming. You two became close friends, never anything more until he brought himself out of his robotic shell and confessed that he had liked you. 

It was a day that you would remember for years to come. You had never seen an omnic such as him be so shy, so when he spoke to you that day, servos twitching and avoiding your eyes, you knew he had put a lot more thought into it than he would like to admit. 

He planned it. He plans everything. The omnic loves to follow a schedule, never deviating from it unless absolutely necessary. Change, while he admits is a good thing, sometimes doesn't need to happen. He’s used to his surroundings, used to those he is around, so when you suddenly changed your appearance, all hell broke lose within his systems. 

At first, his systems detected an enemy human, something of which he had yet to calibrate and turn off. System warnings flared up, blocking his vision as his body froze on the spot. His vocaliser became threatening, tone low and dark as he spoke out, demanding how you got this close to him without him realising it. 

The familiarity of your voice sent his systems into overload, errors upon errors clouding more of his vision as he stepped back. He was angry and confused. 

Part of him thought it was a joke, that someone had taken your voice and put it into another human, but he realised quickly that it was impossible for humans to undergo such a process… Unless it was a synth. His hands curled into fists at the thought. A sick joke indeed. 

Once your hand made a connection with his, it felt like his entire body just overheated and froze on the spot. His systems shut down momentarily, lights flickering before his systems rebooted. A familiar voice and touch broke him out of the spell he was under. 

Change was something Ramattra was getting used to. Sudden, unexpected changes were never going to go down well with him, and it was a lesson learnt for you. He apologised profusely, gentle servos holding your hand in an attempt to comfort you from his anger. You didn’t blame him, of course, you figured there was going to be a reaction, but this was not the one you had been expecting. 

Ramattra stayed with you that day, complimenting your look, glancing at you when you weren’t looking in his direction. He’d steal looks as he’d burn the images into his memory files; video files followed after, the gentle curve of your smile with your new look, eyes glistening in the warm sunlight. You were an angel within his optics. 

He would sit behind you, hands getting tangled within your hair, strands getting caught between his joints and being gently tugged. Ramattra mimicked the motions you showed him whenever you would sit behind him and play with his cables. Fingers brushed through your locks, sometimes a gentle squeeze of your scalp as he massaged your head. He enjoyed the time shared between you as he would style your hair the best he could. Of course, he’d miss a few strands, but the look and effort was too cute to change.

While Ramattra was still getting use to the sudden change of your appearance, he couldn’t help but feel conflicted as he stared at the back of your body, hands still playing. Why did you change? You were perfect before. I mean- you still are, of course. You will always be perfect to me. I just wondered what brought this upon you? 

His hands continued to play, moving down the side of your neck, rubbing the tight knots in your shoulders. A sigh filled his receptors, a sweet noise he enjoyed hearing from you. It made him chuckle as he continued his motions, basking in warmth of daylight as the two of you sat together.

“You are perfect, [y/n].” He finally spoke out, leaning down and resting his forehead against the back of your head. “Always will be.”

[ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa]

First shared in The Saiouma Pit discord server, parts said by other members are in quotations, unassigned bullet points are my messages

Hina: "It could go either way but... if it's Shuichi demonic royalty instead of parent, it's his uncle or Shuichi's parents and uncle being there and he's managing to perfectly play shit off to his parents while his uncle is just not buying it?"

his parents being the rulers of hell but his uncle being the one that cares to visit

Dra: "Shuichi tells Kokichi about what's going to happen, Kokichi agrees to help him find someone to marry (they are stupid) but before they can think of anyone time Runs out Shuichi's uncle appears from his silly little red demonic circle, looks at Shuichi, notices Kokichi and just "your human is rather small" And Shuichi loses it because oh fuck he didn't want to get Kokichi involved in this"

Hina: "The fact they really thought an hour was enough time to find a fiancé is just sad"

Fuwa: "we can extend it to 6 hours." And then I said: "no, an hour is perfect"

also Shuichi knew beforehand and just waited helplessly until it was last bell to do anything so he asked Kokichi for ideas

Fuwa: "they do fucking tinder, try to get a demonic looking match. They use a goddamn fake face app, to like, see who's demonic enough, and they point it towards Kokichi on accident at the very end, and it's like "perfect match". "Wow it's truly satan!!""

Hina: "WHY THE FUCK WON'T ANYONE MATCH WITH ME??? I TRIED A THIRST TRAP. I POSTED A PHOTO WITH A DOG. DO YOU NEED A FUCKING FISH??? IS THAT WHAT WE NEED??? SHOULD BE GO FISHING???"

Dra: "Does Kokichi get pros/cons of suddenly being married to demon royalty?" me: "like, what could the cons even possibly be? but yes he does"

after that dinner he stays up at night, pulls out his trusty white board

Dra: ""What if they don't have wifi in hell"", Fuwa: "Shuichi's family" (also listing cons)

Hina: "Pros: Demon Royalty, Would Protect You, Live in Castle, Rich, Cool Uncle, Husband Kinda Cute Ig Cons: The Signal Sucks, Parents are Meh, A lot of fire, Hot. Everyone Here lowkey wants to kill you"

idk about the killing part, I think Kokichi could gain respect in hell, they'd think he has what Shuichi lacks, he was always deemed too timid and soft for a heir to the throne, now this human he brought on the other hand…

Dra: "Ok but it'd actually be so funny if the other demons started going with Kokichi's lies and introduced him as the most powerful demon ruler that just happens to look like a lil dude (it's totally so he can fool sinners into thinking he's harmless) and Shuichi is just watching this go down like "huh""

I love fake dating AUs so I'll try to add a little more to this.

Neither of them has realized their feelings yet when that fated night happens, but something's been brewing through months of their living together. They're just friends that help each other in situations like needing an emergency fiancé. It's cool.

Until it's serious and they're told to pack, so they can begin preparations for the wedding and coronation in Hell as soon as possible. So things get a little tense, but they can go with the flow. It's just another adventure in the life of a supreme leader. And then the shenanigans begin.

The chambers prepared for them obviously have only one bed. They have to show off their affection to sell it to everyone. Learning new details about each other when they're made to pick out stuff for the wedding together. Some frosting on one's face while trying potential cakes. Waking up face to face after swearing to stay on far off sides of the bed the night before.

Kokichi learning things about Shuichi's childhood, Uncle shows him pictures. Shuichi watching Kokichi as he impresses demons with his act, looking at the faces he makes and being not only impressed too, but falling a little bit in love with the joy it brings Kokichi to have a receptive audience.

The realization of feelings being followed by the assumption it's unrequited and wallowing in it. The mixed feelings when trying on suits, dreading the approaching wedding day while thinking the other doesn't feel the same. Something pushing the tension past the limit and causing the confrontation. I've been thinking of maybe introducing a little magic to Hell's wedding traditions; they would each have to throw an ingredient into a huge jug of a special alcoholic drink that is prepared for weddings some days in advance and those specific ingredients have to be thrown in by the couple because the mixture will turn a pretty color when someone in love does this step.

Those idiots. These two morons. When it turns out alright they jump to the conclusion that the other is in love but with somebody else. [This could also be done with Kokichi hearing Shuichi mumble something about love in his sleep, or overhear him venting to somebody who knows their situation, probably Uncle or a friend, say "I think I'm in love" all tragically and the same misunderstanding happens]

So accusations fly, "If you're in love with someone, then why didn't you go to them with this?"

"I didn't know then. Why did you agree to this if there's someone you-?"

"I didn't know. And I expected this to be over by now. I thought that they wouldn't approve of me, or find out it's a farce and then kick me out."

"You should be with the one you love. I can open a portal for you. I can come clean to everyone, I got you into this mess-"

"No. It's not that simple" Shuichi looks at him questioningly, so he sighs and continues "... I am pretty sure it's unrequited. Doesn't matter anymore. What about you? I promised to help. Whatever that means now."

Whether they resolve it at that point or continue without talking things out [Shuichi claiming that his feelings are unrequited too, so their only option is to stay on track.] is up to you.

[wonderwomanfantasy]

Mina's doll

hehehe gay girls

Mina x Fem!Reader

warnings: smut, strap, oral, cursing

words: 2,000 (about)

summary: Mina doesn't take kindly to other people trying to play with her toys. if you need help she's glad to remind you who you belong too over and over again.

It didn’t usually bother Mina when people hit on her. It was annoying when mend wouldn’t leave her alone but usually, she just had fun getting them to buy her drinks or just enjoying their compliments. It did bother her when people hit on you. Mina knew she had no right to get jealous and possessive over you, but she did anyways. 

The two of you weren’t dating, just a little fun on the side for each other. Most heroes didn’t date, the risk was just too great and there just wasn’t enough time to make a relationship work. But you and Mina were as close to a relationship as people could get without really dating. 

You were gorgeous, Mina knew that, and you were a lot nicer than she was. You wouldn’t turn someone down unkindly or lead them on for your own gain. So generally people felt safe confessing their feelings to you, you always shot them down of course but that didn’t ease Mina’s anxieties. What if someone else did catch your eye? What if you even when home with someone else?  You’d be completely within your right to do so, she’d made it clear that the two of you weren’t anything exclusive. It gnawed at her sometimes.

You were madly in love with Mina Ashido, she made your days better she lightened your burdens. She was funny and kind and you felt like the luckiest girl in the world to be with her, even unofficially. Your relationship was a secret but that didn’t make it any less real in your mind. Still sometimes when people hit on you in front of Mina, you’d entertain their flirtations just to get under her skin. She was just so cute when she was jealous, you couldn’t help yourself. 

You didn’t see Mina as often as you would have liked, but you knew you would be seeing her tonight. There was a large Gala being held for heroes and her name was on the guest list. You and Mina had arrived at the same time, but not together. You could feel her eyes on you, watching you as you moved deeper into the ballroom. You couldn’t take your eyes off of her either. She looked perfect, and you couldn’t help but wonder what she was wearing underneath her sparkly pink dress. 

Mina followed you casually and beamed when you turned and stopped at a seating table so the two of you could talk. 

“Hello Ahsido, it’s good to see you, you look lovely tonight,” you greeted politely, keeping your tone pleasant and nothing more just in case someone else was listening. 

“It’s been a while, too long since the two of us spent time together,” she said, you bit your lip as you caught her meaning. 

“I’ve missed you too,” you whispered, your cheeks growing warm at the admission. 

“Are you doing anything tonight after this? We could go get something to eat,” she offered mischievously. 

“I-”

“Who’s your friend Ashido?” both of you jumped to see who’d snuck up on you. Red Riot, stood large over Mina’s Shoulder, smiling kindly. 

“Kirishima!” Mina gasped, “I didn’t know you’d be here tonight!” She giggled jumping up into his arms and hugging him furiously. 

“It was a last-minute thing,” Kirishima explained with a shrug. 

“I’m glad to see you,” Mina assured him

“I’m glad to see you too, who’s your friend?” He asked again. Mina’s heart sank suddenly. He was interested in you. Almost bitterly she introduced the two of you. 

“It’s an honor to meet you,” you said gracefully. 

“Likewise, Mina never tells me when she has pretty friends,” he teased. Mina gritted her teeth, she wished you’d just tell him to fuck off already and the two of you could go back to flirting. Instead, you giggled and Let Kirishima flirt with you. If she asked you would have said that you hadn’t realized he was trying to get with you, you thought he was just being nice. But she knew what you were doing. You thought it would be funny to get under her skin. Well, two could play that game. 

-

“Mina, Mina, Mina,” you pouted.  “Baby, come on don’t tell me you’re mad.” of course Mina was mad, instead of spending a fun night with her girl, she’d spent hours watching Kirishima embarrass himself with the worst pickup lines she’d ever heard before you finally told him you weren’t interested and let Mina take you home. 

“Why would I be mad?” she asked coldly. Mina looped her arms around your waist and pulled you close. Your breath hitched as she cupped your face and kissed you fiercely. It always made your knees weak when she kissed you like that. 

“Ashido,” you moaned, running your hands through her fluffy pink hair. 

“It really has been too long,” she murmured moving her mouth to your neck. The two of you fumbled with your clothes both of you trying to get naked as quickly as possible. 

“Easy baby,” Mina purred then tugged you away to her bedroom. She laid you down on her bed both of you fully naked. 

“You’re so pretty, Honey,” she breathed, kissing down your body. “Pick a number between 5-13 for me.” 

“What?” you asked dazed. Her mouth was distracting, especially when her tongue lashed out to tease one of your nipples. Her saliva made your skin buzz with slight acidity. 

“5-13” she repeated momentarily taking her mouth off of your body. 

“9,” you chose blindly too distracted to piece together what she was asking for, then Mina was kissing your thighs and you didn’t care. 

Mina teased your hip bone with her teeth before dragging her tongue down the apex of your legs in teasing patterns the tip of her tongue touching everywhere but where you wanted her most. 

“Mina please don’t tease,” you gasped. 

“I’m just taking my time with you baby girl, I’ll get you off don’t worry,” she huffed spitting. Mina pulled back and spread your folds looking at your wet cunt. It didn’t matter how many times she fucked you or how many pictures of you naked she had on her phone. Mina was still surprised at how hot you were every time she saw you like this. Mina leaned back down and let herself enjoy your cunt. 

Mina hooked her hands behind your ass and held your crotch flush against her face so there was no space between her mouth and your sex. She loved the way you screamed for her when she wrapped your lips around your clit.

“Does that feel good pretty girl?” she asked. You could only moan in response. Mina smiled to herself and went back to pleasuring you with her mouth. No one could make you feel as good as she could, no one else could make you cum like she could. Why would you even need to go to anyone else when she brought you such pleasure?

“Are you going to cum for me, baby?” Mina asked teasingly. You grabbed her hair and held her against your crotch as you bucked against her mouth. Mina smirked and pulled away completely right before you were able to cum. 

“Ashido!” you yelped looking hurt almost betrayed by your ruined orgasm. 

“Don’t give me that,” she hushed, sliding off the bed and hunched under the bed, pulling out her harness, and started digging through her box of toys until she found a pretty blue nine-inch dildo. She put on her harness and tightened it before sliding the toy into place. 

“You’ve been a brat all night long, you didn't think it wouldn’t be that easy did you?” she asked teasingly. Your mouth fell open as you saw the toy. You were suddenly grateful you hadn’t gone any higher than nine. You were sure she going to try to make you take the whole thing and you weren’t sure that you could fit all that.  

Mina climbed back on the bed and flipped you onto your hands and knees. She pushed your ass up into the air and shoved your head down into the mattress. 

“I’m going to make you scream,” she whispered against your ear teasing your neck with her teeth. 

“Mina,” you whimpered bucking your hips back trying to get her strap. 

“Don’t whine, it’s not even a punishment you’ll like it so much,” she scoffed mina held her strap at the base and swirled the toy against your cunt coating it in your wetness before pushing you slowly, savoring the low moan that erupted from your throat. You bucked your hips back fucking yourself down on her toy. 

“Such a dirty little slut,” Mina spat smacking your ass with her palm as she shoved the toy deep into you.  

“Mina!” you cried out arching your back. She set a brutal pace thrusting into you so hard the bed frame banged violently against the wall. 

“That’s right baby, scream my name, nobody makes you feel as good as I do,” she growled. “Say it. Say no one fucks you like I do,” 

“N-no one fucks me like you do Mina, no one makes me feel this good, please keep fucking me,” you moaned, 

“Are you going to cum for me?” she asked 

“Are you going to let me cum?” you retorted. 

“Not with that attitude,”

“I’m sorry Mina!” you shouted instantly, “please baby I want to cum please please please,” you cried.

“It’s okay pretty girl, cum for me,” she laughed. Mina didn’t let up her brutal thrusts, she knew it was silly to think that she could really feel you grip down on her strap but she could feel your wall contract around her as you came. 

“You always make the prettiest noises when you cum,” Mina praised. She kissed your neck, biting at your skin lightly. There was an unspoken rule between the two of you not to leave marks, but Mina didn’t care. She wanted people to know you were hers. 

“Kiss me,” you whimpered. Mina complied meeting your mouth with hers. 

Mina wound her fingers through your hair and pulled away, pulling the toy out of you as she went. Mina yanked your hair and positioned you on the floor between her legs. You braised your hands on her thighs and looked up at her for her to tell you what to do. 

“Suck my cock,” she ordered. Mina didn’t even have to push your head down on the toy to get you to deep-throat her strap, you were just obediently like that. You licked long stripes up and down the toy cleaning up your own cum, all the while you kept your eyes on Mina. even though she couldn’t really feel what you were doing. Her face contorted with pleasure as if she could. 

Mina ground against the harness which had the added benefit of thrusting the dildo to the back of your throat, you gagged but didn’t try to pull away, you were trying to be good for her. Mina reached down and held your face while she thrust into your mouth grinding her clit against the harness until she came. Mina let you go and you could breathe with no dick in your throat. 

“Were you jealous?” you asked kissing up her thighs, you pulled her harness off her legs. You wanted to see her cum again. 

“You know I was you brat,” she huffed. You hummed as you hooked her thigh over your shoulder. 

“You’re the only one I want, you have nothing to worry about,” you assured her, then dived in. 

[kuzann]

The Wayward Heart Outlines & Notes

I thought it would be neat to give everyone a look into my writing process! Behind every bit of writing I post is a TON of notes as I basically talk to myself about how the fic is gonna go. Hope y'all find it interesting! ^__^

As you can see there were a lot of changes between outline 1 and what I posted in the end. As well as stuff that didn't make it in due to wordcount limitations. That's my bad for not judging the amount of words this would need accurately tho heh... ^^;

The fic can be found here on Tumblr or on Ao3!

Outline 1

Basic premise is that Vlad is trying to avoid being forcibly paired off with a powerful ghost so he has to pretend that he’s engaged to and dating Jack Fenton. Hilarity ensues. Includes an instance of the One Bed scenario with the added caveat of it being 100% mandatory that they share the bed.

Maddie thinks it’s hilarious when she finds out.

Vlad has fun afoul of a ghost called the Matchmaker who is tired of his fooling around and wants him to settle down already and stop being such a menace to the Ghost Zone. She is going to pair him off with a ghost he’s never met and has heard bad things about, and Vlad is extremely unhappy about this especially when she springs it on him out of nowhere while he’s recovering from a big Ghost Zone scheme that went badly.

Since Vlad is still too weak to fight Matchmaker off and won’t be strong enough to do so for a while yet, he has to think fast and while going over romantic options in his head(he’s wondering if Jack will go along with Vlad fake-dating Maddie for a few days) the Matchmaker suddenly says “Jack Fenton?” and convinces him that he mumbled the name aloud and Vlad has to think fast when she presses him on it. Vlad is forced to tell Matchmaker that he is in fact in love with Jack Fenton but human world culture stuff is getting in the way.

Matchmaker listens with polite interest, then tells Vlad to bring this Jack Fenton over so she can measure their compatibility as partners, adding that human cultural politics aren’t much of a concern to her so it would be fine as long as they make a good match. She waits at his mansion and Vlad hightails it over to FentonWorks to try to get things sorted out; he’s hoping to get Maddie to come along too because he’s convinced that he’ll match better with her than with Jack and that Matchmaker will reveal this.

Vlad gets to FentonWorks and begs Jack and Maddie for help. Jack is onboard with saving his buddy and Maddie is surprisingly open to the ruse, saying that this is a good opportunity to help the two see eye to eye, and that it could be a nice humbling experience for Vlad. Maddie’s views on the matter don’t make Vlad happy but he’s glad for the help regardless. Another reason to keep the other match from being made is the fact that this ghost will gain a great deal of power through Vlad and the last thing anyone wants is a maniacal ghost to get access to Vlad’s resources.

Danny thinks the whole situation is pretty funny but does warn Vlad that if he ruins his parents’ marriage he might have to actually kill him. For once Vlad is not fixating on that and promises Danny that he has no intention of ruining things between Jack and Maddie. Right now he is completely focused on saving his own skin.

They go back over to Vlad’s mansion where Matchmaker is still waiting. They don’t simply blast her because she’s used her powers to take Vlad’s actual heart from him to make sure he follows through and they don’t know if he’ll survive if they beat her to the point that her powers stop working.

Matchmaker performs the assessment and finds that Jack and Vlad are indeed compatible. Maddie asks that she and Jack be assessed as well out of curiosity, and it is found that she and Jack are even more compatible; a further curiosity test between Vlad and Maddie shows little compatibility between the two which makes Vlad pretty sad. (The test takes the souls of the two parties into account, and it is notable that because souls are changeable, so is the compatibility. It also uses some arcane technique to determine how much the match would benefit both parties.)

With the compatibility confirmed Vlad thinks he’s in the clear and can just tell Matchmaker that he’ll date Jack to make her go away(and then not follow through at all), only for Matchmaker to ask that he prove it because she’s wary of him trying to trick her. So she assigns them trials in the form of things that lovey-dovey couples do together, like cooking, sharing a bed, and going on picnics.

After the first trial(cooking, where Jack sets the non-flammable parts of the stove on fire somehow and is banned from using it again) Vlad is starting to have a crisis of goals because he’s starting to realize that he doesn’t hate Jack as much as he thought he did and oh yeah that’s one of the reasons he was keeping contact with Jack as minimal as possible. Especially after the night of sharing the same bed results in the best sleep Vlad has had in a long time.

Actually Vlad’s hatred still remains throughout, he just gets ever more conflicted about it, especially once the two get a chance to actually talk about what happened after the accident twenty years ago. Jack apologizes and admits he was too much of a coward to properly face how he’d hurt Vlad back then, which is why he backed off when Vlad told him to kick rocks directly after the accident happened(in Vlad’s defense he just got like kinda irradiated so he had every right to be really angry) and when the hospital staff rebuffed him a few times, but he wants to help and support Vlad now and promises he won’t let him down again. Admittedly this is the type of apology Vlad has wanted to hear for years—that acknowledgement of the harm that was done is actually pretty important—but Vlad is far from being ready to actually put faith in Jack as a friend at the moment.

With a lot of effort and acting from Vlad(and a surprising amount of actual fondness that causes a lot of inner turmoil for him) they make it through the trials and convince Matchmaker that they are, indeed, a good couple. But before Vlad gets the chance to breathe a sigh of relief, Matchmaker declares that since they’re such a good couple it’s only natural that she have them ghost-marry right now, and only afterward can Vlad have his heart back.

(Note that Vlad’s heart being taken is a contractual affair, so Matchmaker can’t go back on the terms of him getting it back. Actually he gets it back after the trials are over, but since he doesn’t want to draw her ire or be married off to aforementioned tyrant ghost he goes along with the ghost-marriage to Jack.)

Vlad is justifying the marriage to himself by it being a Ghost Zone marriage that the human world will not acknowledge as valid and Maddie will not acknowledge as valid either, and that it’ll keep any further ghostly suitors off his back in the future(and that part of him kinda likes the idea now that he and Jack have actually talked to each other about what happened back in college and some old romantic feelings toward Jack have been revived but he’ll never admit that to himself). Jack is sincerely trying to be there for his friend and keep him safe(and does have romantic feelings too but feels he has to keep them under wraps for his marriage’s sake), though he doesn’t really see a ghost marriage as valid and won’t be actively adhering to it. Maddie has complete faith in her husband’s love for her, doesn’t view the marriage as valid at all, and also she thinks it’s really funny to see Vlad squirm and hopes this will be a humbling experience for him.

They’re about to make their vows when someone says “I object”, and it’s not who you’d expect. The one who objects is Matchmaker who directly calls Vlad out for only going through with this for his own protection, adding that she was sure he wouldn’t be able to take this anymore during the trials because she already knew about his hatred for Jack.

There’s also the matter of certain secrets he’s been keeping from his to-be partner and only gives Vlad enough time to look at her in horror before forcing him into ghost form, revealing his secret identity to Jack and Maddie. Vlad fearfully backs away from Jack, saying “I can explain”, only for Jack to clasp him by the shoulders and say “No need to explain, V-man. We know this is just a trick!”

Jack and Maddie pull their weapons on Matchmaker because why wouldn’t they think she was trying to trick them under these circumstances, so the ghost resorts to incapacitating and kidnapping Vlad instead so she can force him to marry the tyrannical ghost mentioned earlier who had in fact already paid her to hand Vlad over to him as a partner. Vlad is locked in a room made of both Ghost Zone and human world material, which prevents him from phasing out of it in either form. He asks Matchmaker how long she’s been planning this and she tells him that it’s been in the works for a while since she and her associates are sick of his antics in the Ghost Zone and that his recently-failed endeavor was part of the plan so he would be weak enough to control. Having that tyrannical ghost turn his attention on the human world instead of the Ghost Zone will also be a bonus.

Vlad tells Matchmaker that he’ll escape because he’s gotten out of worse situations. Matchmaker says “not this time” and leaves him to mope in his room while she makes preparations. Vlad examines every inch of his prison and finds no immediate means of escape, and has to sit down and try to come up with a way to get out of this.

Before long an explosion rocks the room and there are sounds of a commotion outside and then Jack bursts through the door. Vlad is flabbergasted because he honestly didn’t expect that Jack would come to save him, and so quickly too. Jack tells Vlad that he’ll never abandon him again and leads Vlad down to the main room of the building they’re in. It’s kind of like a dream for Vlad and he’s letting himself get swept up in it until reality comes crashing back in via Matchmaker starting to reveal his crimes to Jack, and under a truth compulsion no less so Vlad can’t lie when Jack asks him to confirm what she’s saying.

Matchmaker accuses Vlad of wanting to murder Jack and take his wife and when Jack asks Vlad if this is true Vlad admits that yes, that used to be true... In a sense. Jack asks why Vlad didn’t just hire a human hitman in the last twenty years and Vlad is forced to admit to himself and Jack that maybe deep down he didn’t actually want Jack dead. It would’ve been quite easy to utilize his human world resources to dispose of Jack, and yet he never did...

Any further admissions are cut off by the other suitor stepping in, having just defeated Phantom and stating that if Jack wants to marry Vlad then they can have a duel over it to prove who is stronger and more worthy. 

This actually gets Vlad pretty scared—to his own surprise—since he’s heard of how powerful this ghost is and there’s a not insignificant chance that this will be a fight Jack does not walk away from. Vlad tells Jack to back down since he doesn’t want him to die, but Jack brushes him off and says he’ll be fine, adding that he promised Vlad that he wouldn’t let him down again, to which Vlad says he’ll forgive it in this case since he doesn’t want Jack to die.

All the while the enemy ghost has been boasting about how powerful he is and how neither of them stand a chance against him, so Vlad uses that against him and successfully baits him into fighting both of them at once, the reasoning for fighting Vlad being meant to prove that the ghost is actually stronger and capable of controlling him. The ghost accepts with all the bravado of someone who fully expects to win, and Vlad shifts to ghost form...

Jack and Vlad share a look, and Vlad says “later?” to which Jack says “later” with a nod and the fight begins.

Vlad is still pretty weak powers-wise at the moment and the fight is pretty hard on him but they’re able to win and even find out that this ghost actually isn’t as all-powerful as he’s been making himself out to be, since his power is based more on resources stolen from others rather than his own remarkability. He even called a bunch of his minions in to help him when he started losing.

This gets Vlad fantastically mad since he was scared of this guy for nothing and proceeds to brutalize him and his loyal minions while Jack cheers him on. Once Vlad has calmed down he flops down on the floor in exhaustion and Jack lays down next to him. Jack says something goofy that gets a laugh out of Vlad and the two have a lighthearted chat.

The rest of Jack’s family walk in on the two just chilling and then they all go home. The ghostly officiator and Matchmaker are there, and in the end Vlad decides to ghost-marry Jack just to no one can spring this crap on him again, not realizing that this will actually have consequences later because he thinks it won’t apply to him or Jack due to their human qualities.

After this are the closing conversations between Vlad and Jack, Vlad and Maddie, and Vlad and Danny. Vlad has to come clean to Jack about his half-ghost status and at least some of the schemes he’s done, he has a decent conversation with Maddie where he promises not to come between her and Jack and adds that he has some stuff to figure out and Maddie mentions that he’s still on thin ice but she feels a little better about Vlad now that he’s on better terms with Jack, and he has a conversation with Danny where he apologizes for what he’s done to Danny and promises he’s not trying to destroy his parents’ marriage anymore.

Outline 1 Notes

Overall

Alright let’s rethink a few things...

I don’t think Matchmaker’s betrayal quite works. Some of the motivations aren’t properly there and it’s sort of unnecessarily malevolent, and forcibly outing Vlad does feel a bit too cruel. Vlad should give Jack that secret himself as a sign of trust and the start of a new phase in their relationship. The big bad would-be suitor can still show up to interrupt the wedding because he heard about the match and felt entitled to Vlad’s hand in marriage.

In fact Matchmaker’s plan all along was to get Vlad to actually talk to his former friend, clear the air, and maybe calm the hell down with the troublemaking as a result. Getting them to actually marry would be a bonus that would make it so ghosts having an issue with one can complain to the other and potentially get some respite, or at least get the troublemaker sidetracked long enough to fix things. And again hopefully get Vlad to calm down. Matchmaker also pushed for the marriage because she thought it would be funny.

Since Matchmaker doesn’t out Vlad in this rendition, him revealing his secret to Jack is more meaningful. When they’re about to duel the suitor Vlad looks at Jack and says “please don’t hurt me”, then he shifts to ghost form. Jack is shocked but he doesn’t hurt Vlad and simply asks “talk later?” to which Vlad agrees “talk later”.

Important that Jack has gotten Vlad to trust him enough to let him know about his secret(for the sake of keeping Jack from being killed). It’s a very meaningful bit of progress for Vlad.

Talking to the Fentons(Beginning)

Danny makes a “what if Vlad just never had a heart” joke when Vlad reveals the fact that Matchmaker took his actual heart and Jack tells him to knock it off and even Maddie doesn’t laugh since she knows that Vlad used to be a better person.

Jack and Maddie of course find this a bit difficult to believe, especially when they check his pulse at his wrist and find it normal. But then he tells them to listen for his heart and they can’t hear it. They’re admittedly very curious about how the ghost was able to do this without killing Vlad outright but there are more important things to attend to right now.

Timeline

This whole thing starts when one of Vlad’s schemes directly impacts Matchmaker and she decides to take a crack at fixing things permanently. She does her research, discovering the one-sided bad blood between Vlad and Jack, sneakily runs a compatibility test and finds that they’re compatible, then concocts her plan to shove them together until they talk about their issues and also take Plasmius down a peg.

Matchmaker kicks things off with a boobytrapped artifact, then spreads rumors about it that she knows will get Vlad’s attention. In fact maybe it’s this artifact that takes Vlad’s heart to begin with when he touches it and since he was caught red handed trying to steal it he has to appease her to get it back. She tells him that if he wants it back then he’ll have to play her game and put some serious thought and effort into finding a partner who will fulfill him enough that he stops these foolish pursuits of his.

The main goal is to get Vlad and Jack on better terms with each other and the ghost-marriage isn’t even necessarily part of that, but Matchmaker pushes for it anyway because she thinks it would be funny and she wants to see if Vlad would actually go that far.

If the artifact did the heart-steal then the “contract” for it was left in plain view, Vlad just didn’t read it because he assumed that he knew everything he needed to know and didn’t need to read any stupid warning. His arrogance bites him in the butt. Again. It’s nothing new with him.

The fulfillment condition of this contract is that Matchmaker succeeds in getting Vlad a worthwhile partner—which will have to be either Jack or that tyrant ghost. Only then will his heart be returned to him. She can also null the contract early and give it back if he’s placated her enough.

Danny’s Pranks

Should Danny try to sabotage the trials? He wouldn’t want his dad to actually be paired up with Vlad but on the other hand he doesn’t want a potentially worse threat getting its hands on Vlad’s resources.

Even if Danny isn’t trying to sabotage things he could still swing by just to annoy Vlad since Vlad can’t do anything to stop him with Jack constantly being around him. Heck Danny might use this as an opportunity to just do an absolute prank spree on Vlad—and unintentionally push Vlad and his dad closer together as a result. The pranking kinda bites Danny in the butt with that being the case.

Picnic Trial & Apology Notes

Near the end of the picnic trial Danny turns invisible and hip-checks Vlad into the duck pond. The resident swan pair hiss at Vlad and give him a few slaps with their wings, and they have to head home after that since Vlad is covered in pond muck and needs to shower and change his clothes. Jack is as helpful as he can be throughout, driving Vlad home in out of his coat before he’s shooed away so Vlad can clean himself up.

Perhaps Vlad falling in the duck pond gets Jack to bring up Vlad’s apparent bad luck, including the college accident in that tally… And that sets Vlad off a bit, as he calls Jack out for using such passive language about something he directly caused and asks if Jack is ever going to take responsibility for the years of pain he caused Vlad. It doesn’t last long as Vlad catches sight of Matchmaker lurking in the background and remembers why this is all happening, and he forces himself to calm down and drop the matter.

Luckily it was enough to get through to Jack that he can’t keep dodging responsibility like this if he really wants Vlad to at least be his friend. The ride back to Vlad’s mansion is very quiet since Jack has a lot of thinking to do and Vlad doesn’t feel like talking.

This helps lead into Jack’s apology and promise that night when they share a bed. Actually multiple conversations throughout the day’s trials should lead to Jack’s apology, but the picnic one is the tipping point for him. Jack becomes more and more aware of how Vlad is trying to keep himself at arm’s length despite the show they have to put on for Matchmaker and can’t hide behind his delusions about everything being fine between them anymore.

Key points to Jack’s apology Vlad are that he takes full responsibility for the accident(because yeah, it’s 100% his fault three times over for: not making sure the area was clear before turning the proto-portal on, not checking his math while tuning it, and not putting the correct filtration substance into it cause he was too busy looking at Maddie), take responsibility for and explain why he ditched Vlad afterward(Jack was too cowardly to properly face what he’d done and was afraid of the consequences, and he’d even been trying to make excuses and deflect blame right after the accident happened which got Vlad even more angry than he already was and caused him to lash out verbally at Jack), properly and completely apologize, and promise to do better in the future. Vlad still doesn’t trust him of course, but it does reduce the hatred he feels for Jack and does help him feel a bit better just in general and about their relationship. This also helps the two understand where the other is coming from better.

Perhaps each trial(that the audience witnesses anyway) addresses a pain point between Jack and Vlad, and then that comes to a head in the bed scene where Jack apologizes. Matchmaker could’ve mapped out the main issues between the two and then planned out the trials accordingly.

Then when the ghost wedding rolls around and Vlad is taken away, Jack makes a step toward proving that he’s reliable by immediately going to save Vlad. He also exercises forgiveness for how Vlad attacked him in ghost form before when Vlad reveals his secret identity to him. The fact that Jack doesn’t attack Vlad after learning his secret also proves that Vlad can start to put trust in him again.

Another important point to prove to Vlad is that Jack doesn’t care about his money and status, he sincerely wants Vlad to be part of his life again like he was back in college. Vlad has thought that Jack was being fake in his friendship attempts when actually he was just being really inept.

All throughout the trials Vlad is feeling his grudge start to waver simply from having to spend time around Jack with no ulterior motive and he hates himself for being weak every time he notices. Part of the grudge is Vlad feeling that Jack should suffer at least some consequences for the harm he did to him and thus it takes energy to maintain when he has nothing to focus on but Jack. Vlad is at once trying to save his skin by making the couple thing look convincing while also being constantly reminded that Jack is very likely to hurt him out of carelessness again and then not even own up to or try to fix it.

Future

Once Vlad and Jack are on better terms it’s time for Vlad to fret over having to tell Jack about how he’s been a menace to his family and worry over how Jack will react to that. The bulk will have to be left to a sequel fic though cause there’s already a lot going on in this one and I have only a month to write it and only 20k words to accomplish that in.

Vs Reginald & Jack Proving Himself

Does the situation Jack saves Vlad from at the end fit the hang ups that were between them and sufficiently prove that Jack is serious about his promise? Cause we’ve seen that jack is ready to help Vlad out of a bind at the drop of a hat—just not the ones he’s immediately responsible for. In the case of having to finally cure Vlad’s ecto-acne Jack had already put sufficient excuses and distance between himself and the event so that he didn’t feel guilty about it.

Jack could even bring up curing Vlad’s ecto-acne as a reason that Vlad shouldn’t be mad anymore, only for Vlad to point out that Jack could’ve reached out at any point in those twenty years to check if it was gone and try to cure it but no, it took Danny’s friends getting involved for Jack to finally try to do that. And in the end Jack didn’t even cure it, Danny did by figuring out the substance that mucked up the filtrator; Danny is willing to go the distance for his friends, Vlad can only wish he could say the same of Jack.

Also in any case, finally stepping up to fix something he broke doesn’t magic away the twenty years of pain and loneliness that Vlad had to endure. Especially since Jack couldn’t even bring himself to say as simple a phrase as “I’m sorry” for the longest time.

But back to the question of the scenario that Jack has to save Vlad from. It would be more relevant to Vlad and Jack’s conflict if it did come about as a result of Jack’s carelessness, and whereas before Jack ghosted Vlad this time he immediately comes running to fix things and apologize. This would show that while Jack is still his usual bumbling self, he’s now ready and committed to fixing the things he breaks and being more accountable for the harm he causes, which will be a good thing for everyone in his life, not just Vlad.

But how would Jack’s carelessness result in the fake suitor crashing the wedding and kidnapping Vlad? As it is now, that situation is squarely Matchmaker’s fault. Could it be that Mitze(the Matchmaker) decided to test Jack specifically by having him hold onto the artifact that currently contains Vlad’s heart for a bit? And then Jack was careless and left it in a place where the fake suitor found and stole it, thus granting him the leverage he needed to force Vlad to do what he wants(because the false suitor can just crush the artifact to destroy Vlad’s heart and instantly kill him).

When Vlad sees that the artifact—and his heart—has been stolen he is absolutely devastated and he looks at Jack and says “I can’t believe I trusted you” before going over to the suitor as ordered under threat of instant death. Vlad had earlier agreed to letting Jack take care of the artifact because he at least trusted Jack with it more than Mitzi, only to have that trust betrayed when Jack screwed up the assignment. He is also expecting for a repeat of twenty years ago where Jack is nowhere to be found and Vlad has to rescue himself.

Mitzi the Matchmaker

Mitzi the Matchmaker looks like your busybody aunt from the 20’s: big-brimmed hat, long but fairly simple dress, fancy shoes, a fur wrap(that is itself an ermine ghost that is basically her familiar), and a cigarette in one of those long holder things. Her clothes are dusty rose, her skin gray, and her eyes teal or green.

Though she isn’t outright malevolent she is rather self-important, which is why she thought herself capable of pulling off such an ambitious scheme as this. And she almost does pull it off without a hitch so she’s mostly on the money with that self-assessment. Mostly she just wants things in the Ghost Zone to be as harmonious as possible, which can’t exactly happen with Vlad running amok as often as he does.

Final Showdown Notes & Does Maddie Find Out

Rather than run away like last time Jack is ready and raring to go after Vlad as soon as the suitor ghost has left. His family has to restrain him and get him to calm down and make an actual plan before he dives in.

Mitzi had attempted to get close and conclude the contract spell while the suitor ghost was crashing the wedding, but he caught on to what she was doing and threatened to kill Vlad then and there unless she backed off. The rescue plan involves getting her close enough to the artifact that she can return Vlad’s heart to him, which requires a substantial distraction that Jack will provide by challenging the false suitor to a duel for Vlad’s hand in marriage(which the false suitor will accept cause they appeal to his arrogance and he wants to rub his win in Jack’s face and put him in his place).

Jack’s team is able to successfully get Mitzi close enough to conclude the contract so sneakily that the false suitor doesn’t realize the heart has been returned when he takes up and crushes the artifact just to spite Jack and Vlad when he loses. Both Vlad and the false suitor are shocked that this did nothing, and then Jack’s crew of helpers emerges from their hiding places and reveal how they pulled off their little scheme.

With this being the case it’s possible that Maddie also witnessed Vlad transforming into his ghost form so he’ll have some explaining to do with her over that later as well. Or maybe she wasn’t in the immediate area when the duel happened—she could’ve been obliterating the false suitor’s minions in a different room—so the reveal could be limited to just Jack. In the second case Jack and Vlad would have to make plans for telling Maddie about Vlad’s secret identity lest she find out on her own and things go to hell in a handbasket as a result.

I think it’ll depend on total word count by that point since I can’t exceed 20k words. If it’s getting too long then Maddie has to be told later, if not then she finds out too and then the three have a closing conversation about it once everything has calmed down.

When asked why he never told the two about his ghost powers Vlad asks why he would tell them after they ditched him for twenty years and given the fact that they hate ghosts and love to experiment on them. They don’t really have a defense for that since admittedly the way they act toward ghosts would give any hybrid reason to mistrust them.

Reginald, “Future King of the Ghost Zone”

What does this false suitor look like and what’s his name?

He’s a sort of “old money” brat full of entitlement and overestimation of his own abilities because his stockpile of resources and external power mean that he rarely faces any adversity and typically gets what he wants with very little—if any—effort. His dire reputation thrives on the fog of rumor and the correct details being lost over the course of word of mouth transition, which means that most ghosts are too intimidated to do anything against him, resulting in more easy wins that further boost his overestimation of himself and his fearsome reputation.

It’s a very rude awakening when he gets thrashed by a human ghost hunter and a ghost hybrid who is basically working with only a fraction of his usual power. His reputation and good fortune take a massive hit and Vlad and Jack gain a reputation of their own.

Maybe his name is something like Reginald, harkening back to times of royalty and playing to his own views of self-importance. And what should his title be? The Terrible? The Regal? Actually it should fit with the typical Ghost Zone titles like Master of All Electrical Technology, Master of Time, the Ghost Zone’s Greatest Hunter… It needs to be something that suits his arrogance and thus isn’t necessarily true… Maybe he claims to be Pariah Dark’s successor? That’s definitely an arrogant enough assumption on his part, and maybe he decides that he needs to conquer both human and ghost worlds to prove it, thus why he’s determined to acquire Vlad when he learns more about him.

Reginald, Future King of All Ghosts? Or Prince of the Ghost Zone? Might need more work but it’s good enough for now.

He lives in a distant enough area of the Ghost Zone that he wasn’t affected by Pariah’s awakening in Reign Storm and had been making plans to present himself to PD only to discover that PD had already been shoved back into the Coffin of Forever Sleep. Heck he could’ve been making plans to assassinate PD too since PD would stand in the way of his own ascension to the throne and his time ended long ago anyway. He did take notes from PD’s brief return though, namely the whole wanting to conquer both human and ghost worlds thing. Vlad’s human world resources would make half of that goal easier. Also cause he heard that he was considered as a match for Vlad and how dare no one tell him about it until it was almost too late to do anything about it.

The main source of Reginald’s power is a special necklace with gems that contain captive ghosts. Break these and Reginald’s power weakens, leaving him at average strength for a ghost once all are destroyed. Vlad notices the necklace glowing whenever Reginald is using a unique ability and tells Jack to target it with him. Actually the gems only need to bind a piece of a ghost, and upon breaking that piece is returned to its true owner.

Any wannabe tyrant is not without his sycophants of course. And since he’s imitating PD he’d require that they make themselves look like skeleton warriors. They’re not very strong individually but what they lack in power they make up for in sheer numbers.

Similar to Skulker, Reginald hides his true face behind a more frightening mask. This mask takes some design elements from PD, though minus the eyepatch. His entire regal suit of armor is enhanced with technology to give himself as much of an edge as possible.

To be clear Reginald is not any weaker than your typical ghost, nor any more special. He still thinks himself superior to them regardless and thinks he should be the one to rule them(even if he was superior that still wouldn’t give him license to rule over anyone, tbh). If he is below average in anything it is not due to lacking natural ability but to gross excess making him lazy through lack of genuine effort. Big difference between having enough and having things in gross excess.

Needless to say, their run-in with Reginald does cause a bit of self-reflection in Vlad cause no way does he want to be as pathetic as that guy.

Jack’s Perspective

I need to think more in-depth about where Jack is coming from. He does care about Vlad and wants good things for him, but he’s ultimately selfish in that he has until now refused to acknowledge how he hurt Vlad and has not not tried to fix that, yet feels entitled to being around Vlad anyway. He’s also selfish in that he hasn’t really thought about what Vlad wants(an apology) and what would actually be good for him(the apology).

Jack is all for saving his friend whenever it’s from something he didn’t just cause, but when it’s something he did his fear of catching consequences gets in the way. Or maybe he thinks that he shouldn’t suffer consequences. He’s dumped consequences on his family in canon before(landing Danny in detention when he used the Fenton Peeler on Mr. Lancer and then immediately dipped) so what, does he think he’s above that? No, probably just that he doesn’t like consequences and tries to avoid being stuck with them. Maybe he was disproportionately punished for screw-ups as a child and that caused him to be so avoidant about these things.

Jack is still as careless as he used to be, maybe it’s a flaw that he either refuses to acknowledge or has given up on trying to fix. He also runs away from taking responsibility for his actions most of the time, relying on the people in his life forgiving him time and again rather than leaving. In the present situation it’ll be a bit harder for Jack to run away from what he did to Vlad, he’ll have to face how severely he hurt him.

Acknowledging how he hurts the people around him is painful for Jack, and it’s not just Vlad he’s hurt(though Vlad was definitely the person who was hurt the most by Jack). Change is hard, and though Jack can talk a big game about wanting to change he fears that he won’t be able to. If he can’t be more careful he can at least stick around and clean up the messes he makes, which he does after this.

Despair for the Future

All the while Vlad is kind of starting to despair over the fact that he will be forced to just bury what happened and wait for Jack to hurt him again, dreading the eventuality all the while. Jack starts to see this and is really distressed by it—since Vlad is letting big cracks in his armor show, Jack can’t continue to ignore how his presence hurts him. It all helps lead into their proper chat later on in bed.

Once Jack has at last taken responsibility and apologized, Vlad’s despair starts to ease a little and he’s a bit more relaxed around Jack, and is even a little hopeful about their future. This hope is, of course, temporarily dashed when Jack allows Vlad’s heart to fall into Reginald’s hands.

Cooking Trial

The cooking trial requires that Jack and Vlad prepare a nice meal for the family as a team. No having one person cook the whole thing while the other does nothing. Vlad is super stressed and tries to figure out something for Jack to make that isn’t too difficult.

This results in Jack goofing up and setting the stove on fire, putting them both back to square one when it comes to the meal. Vlad is not taking this well(he really wants to impress Maddie and it’s embarrassing to not get a meal out to hungry guests on time) and Jack does his best to calm him down and keep their guests satisfied until the actual meal is rolled out. He comes up with the idea of making a cheese board and Vlad starts putting it together only for Jack to stop him and say that he should be the one to do it.

Vlad hesitates for a moment, then tells Jack that he better not set the cheese board on fire too and returns his attention to the main meal. Jack successfully assembles the cheese board and shows it to Vlad, who’s impressed to find that Jack picked a really good combination of flavors and asks how he knew these would pair so well and Jack looks at him blankly for a few moments before replying with “the smell”. This reminds Vlad of how intuitive Jack has always been and he tells him good job and Jack takes the cheese board out to the guests along with crackers and bread and drinks.

When Jack returns he asks Vlad what he can do to help and Vlad asks him to work on preparing ingredients for him to use, which works out alright. They find out that Jack does best when helping someone cook, rather than making a dish on his own as he’d been trying to do originally.

Throughout the kitchen chaos Maddie has been a bit worried about how things will go since Jack is not allowed to cook for good reason. She’s not even remotely surprised when she catches the smell of Jack setting the stove on fire. She asks Jack if he’s done helping when he brings the cheese board out but to her surprise he says he’s still going to help and goes straight back into the kitchen.

Together Jack and Vlad are able to put a good meal on the table. Jack is in high spirits while Vlad is pretty exhausted from all the stress.

But what part of Jack and Vlad’s relationship does this highlight or question? It displays pretty prominently that Vlad’s strength is planning while Jack’s strength is improvisation. If they were a couple and iron things out their strengths would compliment each other. Vlad didn’t think of this when delegating tasks and also didn’t take into account the fact that Jack isn’t the best at following directions and would try to take a shortcut or “improve” a particular step(this resulted in the stove catching fire).

This trial also seems to highlight that Vlad needs to learn flexibility and to stop being so uncompromising(that Jack would be able to help teach him this on top of showing up weak points), as well as being better at meeting people where they’re at and taking their unique skill set into account rather than expecting them to magically conform to his expectations. This has been a roadblock for him when it comes to his relationships, especially with Danny and Dani, and Vlad refuses to even meet someone halfway(though to be frank, it’s still on Jack to apologize for their friendship to get off the ground again). So it would benefit Vlad and everyone else in his life if he learned to compromise and see where someone else is coming from better.

So it looks like this trial highlights how Jack could help Vlad improve as a person if he let him back into his life, and this helps Jack realize that he actually can help out in the kitchen, just not as the sole person cooking the meal. They’d both help each other improve if it happened on the right terms.

Unmasked Misery

A large part of Jack being unable to continue lying to himself about being friends with Vlad is that Vlad is plainly becoming more and more miserable around Jack, even though he’s doing his best to act otherwise. The times when Vlad’s mask slips and he shows how unhappy Jack makes him are impossible for Jack to ignore, and that helps to get him thinking about how he can fix things with Vlad or at least make it less painful for Vlad to be around him.

Changing Stance on Eccentricities

Important to note that Vlad found a lot of Jack’s quirks to be more endearing back before the accident. It’s amazing what fondness will allow us to excuse. He can recover a bit of that fondness—and thus find Jack easier to be around—after Jack makes his apology and after Jack proves that he won’t be running away from responsibility anymore.

Trials Notes(Plus Movie, Nature Hike, Museum)

What other couple things should the trials include?

We have the picnic scenario, the meal prep scenario, and the sharing the same bed scenario, what other couples things should they have to do? The picnic draws Jack’s unwillingness to take responsibility for what he did to Vlad into focus. Meal prep shows how Vlad and Jack can make each other stronger by shoring up each other’s weaknesses. The bed is where things come to a head and Jack makes his apology.

Watching a movie together? No development around that immediately jumps to mind... But if they try to connect over a movie like Back to the Future that came out while they were separated it could highlight how much time they lost because neither was willing to restart communication(this is kind of more Jack’s fault than Vlad’s, since Jack was the one who hurt Vlad and needs to apologize to start fixing things). It would be a bittersweet activity for the two.

Nature hike could be a fun one. But how would it relate to their relationship and how it could improve? Or some regret that the two unknowingly share? Neither of them are opposed to doing outdoorsy things since Jack likes fishing and Vlad is implied to have done hunting(plus one of his mansions being in the wilderness), it could be something for them to connect over. Though it’s also pretty likely that Vlad will try to rush through the hike either to get it over with as soon as possible, to keep Jack out of breath enough that he doesn’t have any left to talk to him, or both. If Vlad rushes the hike he’s absolutely going to regret it later since it’ll make his pre-existing tiredness worse. The hike can be an early off-screen trial that Mitzi almost failed them on because they weren’t acting like a couple. After the warning from Mitzi Vlad is careful not to pull something like that again and is really worn out afterward so he regrets having done that.

A museum visit would be up Vlad’s alley but Jack probably wouldn’t like it so much. If Vlad is smart and trying to do better at the trial he’ll take Jack to the exhibits he might have more interest in, like the dinosaur halls since most people think dinosaurs are neat. Jack will probably have a great time and then wonder aloud if dinosaur ghosts are a thing, to which Vlad replies that none have been seen but it’s a possibility that they’re in some distant part of the Ghost Zone and simply haven’t been found yet. And that would get Jack pretty excited and he’d ask if they could go looking for them together sometime. Maybe this one happens after the sharing a bed scenario, once the two are on better terms.

Trial Order

So the trials could be, in rough order:

Nature Hike

Meal Prep

Picnic

One Bed

Museum

Movie

Six trials in all isn’t bad, and they don’t all have to be covered in their entirety to get the necessary character moments in place. Mitzi actually had a lot of trials planned and was prepared to keep throwing them at Vlad until things were resolved.

The trials can be split among several days since they do need several hours each and Vlad and Jack need time apart to process things. Maybe day one could be nature hike and meal prep, day two is picnic(they do have to put the picnic together themselves) and then at the end of day two is the sharing a bed trial, and day three is the museum trip and movie which prove they’ve made a big step toward fixing things so that’s when Mitzi calls an end to the trials... And then tells them that it’s time to get married for a laugh and to see if they’d actually do it, which they do because Vlad never wants this crap happening to him again and he doesn’t view it as valid anyway.

Wedding Size

The wedding is put together a bit hastily since Vlad just wants to get things over with, so it’s small and has only the most important guests invited. Mitzi takes the opportunity to show her gal pals a good time by inviting them, but unfortunately they tend to gossip a lot and that’s how word got around to Reginald.

Stealing the Heart

As for how Reginald gets ahold of Vlad’s heart… Jack got swept up in wedding prep and was worried he might drop the artifact or something to that effect if he kept carrying it around with him, so he hid it in the lab for safekeeping. Which while he had good intentions that was a terrible place to hide it because Reginald just stepped through the perpetually-open ghost portal and found it pretty quickly.

Chat Between Danny & Vlad

Danny pulls Vlad aside for a little chat once Mitzi has let them go for the day and asks what’s going on because he knows Vlad isn’t telling the whole story to his parents. Vlad does tell him the truth, if only to get Danny out of his hair sooner. Danny asks if he should try to take Mitzi down and why Vlad is so scared since getting his heart crushed wouldn’t completely kill a creature like him right?

Vlad tells him to leave it cause best case scenario is that he becomes full ghost and worst case scenario is that his entire being gets obliterated because the artifact took a significant portion of his powers along with his heart. Danny asks why Vlad was willing to tick off such a powerful ghost and what he was planning to do with the artifact if he got his hands on it.

This part Vlad isn’t willing to tell him and Danny threatens to beat the answer out of him, only to relent when Vlad comments that a tactic like that is straight out of his own playbook. Instead Danny warns Vlad that if he tries to use this whole fiasco to ruin his parents’ marriage he’ll find a way to make Vlad regret it. Vlad assures Danny that this isn’t what he’s after and he just wants to put this whole mess behind him as soon as possible and forget it ever happened.

Danny prods Vlad a bit over him hating his dad but Vlad gives no answers other than a line about Jack betraying him, and Danny decides he’s had enough of interacting with Vlad for the day and leaves. Because Vlad was rude about Danny’s dad, Danny decides that he’s gonna prank Vlad while he can’t do anything about it, especially since an opportunity like this doesn’t come along every day.

Jazz’s Deductions

Jazz figures out what Mitzi is actually about before anyone else and talks to her about it. While she appreciates what Mitzi is trying to do she’s worried that things might spin out of control if they take a wrong turn.

An Open Heart

A side-effect of the artifact is that it makes the person it’s used on more emotionally open and honest. It can also make them more closed off depending on how the outer rings are spun.

In Vlad’s case Mitzi has tuned the artifact to keep Vlad more open so that his pride won’t get in the way of letting Jack know how much he hurt him(and because Vlad believes that would be showing weakness and he’s very afraid of appearing weak due to trauma reasons and because he doesn’t trust or respect Jack). Vlad notices this after a day or so and confronts Mitzi over it, and Mitzi pretends that she can’t control it but tells him that a little emotional honesty can go a long way in improving a relationship. It’s a hint that Mitzi is in fact aware that the relationship between Vlad and Jack isn’t great but it flies over Vlad’s head because he’s too focused on other things.

Important to note that the artifact will not force Vlad to love Jack, just make the emotional communication on Vlad’s end more open. Jack still has to do the work of apologizing and moving the relationship in the right direction, and he has to get over his own emotional roadblocks himself.

Vlad is much more likely to tell Jack when he’s hurting him in this state. Annoyance and anger are easier for Jack to chalk up to some other reason than a direct statement of “you hurt me” from the person he’s presently dealing with. That’s something Jack can’t run away from as easily and Vlad is going to be telling him that more and more directly as time goes on.

Dance Trial

The dance trial, where Jack and Vlad have to do a waltz, would show how miserably out of sync the two are. It would be a good follow-up to the hike cause they were so out of sync in that one. They must waltz together for an entire musical piece.

Vlad is the only one of the pair who knows how to waltz, so he’s the one who should lead. Jack is a bit freaked out by the fact that they failed the first trial and once he goes a few rounds of following he gets a bit too into it and ends up stepping on Vlad’s feet. A lot.

After a few more rounds but before the song ends Vlad hits his limit and starts telling Jack to stop, but the end of the song is drawing near and Jack isn’t listening because he’s trying to get them to the finish line. At last Vlad yells “You’re hurting me!” and that finally gets Jack to pay attention to him—and notice that he’s currently standing on both of Vlad’s feet.

Jack steps back and releases Vlad, who limps off to the nearest chair and sits down. Vlad is upset that he showed weakness by telling Jack that he hurt him but he knows that he has to keep trying or else they’ll fail the trial. Jack comes over and apologizes for stepping on Vlad’s feet and hurting him like that, then asks if they can try again and promises to be more careful this time.

They try again and this time Jack is actually paying attention to Vlad and avoids stepping on his feet. The waltz is a clumsy one because they’re both tired, but they make it to the end and Jack is even paying enough attention to notice Vlad’s knees about to buckle and he sweeps him into a dip to make it look natural just as the song ends. Jack has the sudden(but not unexpected) desire to kiss Vlad during the dip but he resists and gets them upright again, holding onto Vlad to make sure he doesn’t fall.

Mitzi gives them a round of applause and says they pass. Vlad is super relieved and tells Jack that he can let go now—and he falls to the floor when Jack does that.

An important part of this trial is that Jack starts to realize that he needs to get better at listening to Vlad(and the other people in his life) and not just assume what’s best or what he wants.

Actually scratch the apology part too, that’s still something Jack has to work through. Maybe he thinks it’s unnecessary in this case cause he knows how to fix things, which for this situation would be to pay attention to Vlad and not step on his feet again.

Should this be from Jack’s PoV or Vlad’s? There are merits to both, but I feel like we need a bit more behind Vlad’s dislike for Jack? And Jack can always get time to digest things later...

But a big piece of this story is Jack realizing he has to apologize and try to be a better friend to Vlad. So Jack could start realizing things during the trial and then Vlad could do some reflection afterward.

Yeah, let’s do Jack’s PoV for this trial, to demonstrate directly that he hasn’t been paying as much attention to Vlad as he should’ve been. Show Jack actively not listening to Vlad and stomping over him until Vlad very directly tells Jack that he’s hurting him, which finally gets Jack to pay more attention.

Wedding Rearrangement

Now that I’ve mostly written the fic and gotten past the 14k point I think some bits would be better if I rearranged them.

The Fentons devise a plan to get Vlad’s heart away from Mitzi by proposing a trial where Jack takes care of the artifact for a while. It would be a very large bit of proof that Vlad trusts Jack now, at least to a degree. They figure that it’s worth a shot so they can carefully run some tests to see if they can reverse the artifact’s effects themselves.

Actually no, have Mitzi propose it as a trial and put Vlad on the spot. Vlad has a lot of indecision as he weighs the danger of letting Jack watch the artifact vs letting Mitzi keep it. Since Jack is set on being more careful Vlad decides to give him the chance to prove himself despite his anxieties over it.

Things actually go alright for a little while. Jack is actually very anxious over the heart and keeping it safe, constantly worrying over accidentally harming it as long as it’s on his person. With that being the case, Jack decides to hide it somewhere instead, not realizing that Reginald’s spies have already moved in and one was able to see him hide it.

(The Fentons don’t meddle with the artifact despite having full access to it because if they mess it up that would likely kill Vlad. Jack even immediately sides with Vlad on the matter when Maddie brings it up.)

Vlad was really taking a chance by putting his life in Jack’s hands. No, more like he decided to give Jack a chance by allowing him to do this. It’s an enormous show of faith—not the smartest move, but still. Vlad is showing that he’s willing to believe that Jack can change. Which makes it all the more devastating when Reginald is able to steal the artifact.

This time the two are just hanging out when Reginald barges in and orders Vlad to marry him. When Vlad tells him to get lost Reginald repeats the order with an “or else” attached and shows that he has the artifact.

Vlad is stunned for a moment(Jack is too), and then he gives Jack a look of utter betrayal and says “I can’t believe I trusted you”. With no other option Vlad walks over to Reginald and is taken away to the ghost’s lair.

Jack is devastated over having failed Vlad but his moping doesn’t last long. He’s ready to go charging after Vlad and has to be stopped by the rest of his family since he could get himself and Vlad killed that way.

Mitzi shows up and they accuse her of being in cahoots with Reginald, which she denies; in reality he was never supposed to get directly involved and was only used as a threat to get Vlad to play along, since her real goal was to get Vlad reconnected enough with Jack that he wouldn’t have the time or desire to be such a menace to the Ghost Zone anymore. In fact she dreads what Reginald might be able to accomplish by marrying Vlad and offers to help with the rescue plan.

Meanwhile Reginald is rushing through wedding prep as he intends to marry and dispose of Vlad as quickly as possible so he can take all of Vlad’s assets for himself. Vlad is desperately trying to figure a way out of this but Reginald is able to keep him contained long enough to start the wedding ceremony.

Vlad is despairing as he stands on the dias and is forced to start giving his vows, only for chaos to erupt as the Fentons leap out of their hiding places and crash the wedding. During the mayhem Jack is able to get his hands on the artifact but Reginald refuses to let go. After some back and forth Reginald asks if Jack knows who he’s trying to save and messes with a dial on top of the artifact.

This forces Vlad into ghost form with a sudden painful surge of power and Jack stares at him, dumbfounded. At last he asks Vlad why he attacked him before and Vlad replies that he did it because he was angry and stupid and selfish and he thought that getting back at Jack would make him feel better, but it never did. He’s about to make his own apology when Maddie interrupts by shooting at him. Vlad yelps and starts running while Reginald panics and orders his minions to protect Vlad cause he can’t let him die before he gets all his stuff in the marriage.

Maddie drives Vlad into a frantic chase around the room, picking off every single one of Reginald’s allies as she does so and leaving Vlad surprisingly unscathed. At last Vlad has nowhere left to flee to and Maddie asks if he has any last words, to which Vlad says “I wish I’d just talked to Jack to begin with” and braces himself for the end. Reginald jumps in to stop her and Maddie shoots him down.

Now that all hostile ghosts have been defeated Maddie straightens and thanks Vlad for being exactly the kind of distraction she needed to decimate the enemy forces.

(Also Jack was chasing Maddie around the room begging her not to kill Vlad throughout her pursuit, meanwhile the kids were basically eating popcorn while they watched cause they knew that if Maddie wanted to shoot Vlad, she wouldn’t be missing.)

Vlad sits up and returns to human form just in time to get tackle-hugged by Jack and both of them are pretty freaked out about Maddie’s attack. Jack is almost crying and saying he’s so glad Maddie didn’t kill Vlad and Vlad is touched and amazed that Jack still cares about him that much even after finding out his secret. Vlad looks up at Maddie and asks if she was planning to attack him all along and Maddie replies that it was spur of the moment since their original planned distraction got derailed(Jack was gonna challenge Reginald to a duel as cover for Mitzi) but the anger was 100% real and the are going to have a talk later.

Reginald snatches the artifact up and declares that if he can’t have Vlad no one can and he crushes the artifact. To the surprise of half of those still conscious this does nothing to Vlad. It turns out that Mitzi used Maddie’s distraction to get close enough to the artifact to return Vlad’s heart. With Reginald’s bargaining chip removed the adults give him one last beatdown to teach him a lesson then take the kids and go on their way.

Don’t forget that Vlad accidentally said Jack’s name at the end of his vows, which means his end of the marriage contract is primed for Jack to wander into the other end and seal it for both of them. Jack will probably get confused when the officiator asks him if he accepts Vlad’s promise/vows and say yes.

They’re both shocked when the officiator declares them married and congratulates them before wandering off to get on with his day. They immediately wonder if divorce is an option but doing so would require tons of hoops to jump through since there are humans involved. Maddie thinks the whole situation is hilarious and doesn’t see a ghost-marriage as something that threatens her own marriage anyway, so they decide to leave things as they are for now.

Giving Heart

It’ll be important to show everyone’s reactions to Vlad giving Jack his heart to protect. Danny even tells Vlad that this isn’t a good idea as Vlad takes the artifact in his hands and prepares to pass it to Jack. Maddie questions if this is a good idea too, as much as she loves Jack she’s still going to be realistic about what he’s like.

Vlad ignores them, his voice breaking somewhat as he puts the artifact in Jack’s hands and says “Jack, I’m going to let you take care of this for a while. Please don’t let me down.”

Outline 2

We start with Vlad in front of FentonWorks. Jack lets him in and he tells them about his heart being stolen and that he and Jack will have to pretend to be a couple.

They visit with Mitzi who does the assessment and finds that Jack and Vlad have decent compatibility, Jack and Maddie have great compatibility, and Vlad and Maddie have NO compatibility. Mitzi breaks the news that Vlad will have to prove that he and Jack are a couple in order to get his heart back.

Danny pulls Vlad aside for a little chat once Mitzi has let them go for the day and asks what’s going on because he knows Vlad isn’t telling the whole story to his parents. Vlad does tell him the truth, if only to get Danny out of his hair sooner. Danny asks if he should try to take Mitzi down.

Vlad tells him to leave it cause best case scenario is that he becomes full ghost and worst case scenario is that his entire being gets obliterated because the artifact took a significant portion of his powers along with his heart. Danny asks why Vlad was willing to tick off such a powerful ghost and what he was planning to do with the artifact if he got his hands on it.

This part Vlad isn’t willing to tell him and Danny guesses it had something to do with his mom. Danny warns Vlad that if he tries to use this whole fiasco to ruin his parents’ marriage he’ll find a way to make Vlad regret it. Vlad assures Danny that this isn’t what he’s after and he just wants to put this whole mess behind him as soon as possible and forget it ever happened.

Danny prods Vlad a bit over him hating his dad but Vlad gives no answers other than a line about Jack betraying him, and Danny decides he’s had enough of interacting with Vlad for the day and leaves. Because Vlad was rude about Danny’s dad, Danny decides that he’s gonna prank Vlad while he can’t do anything about it, especially since an opportunity like this doesn’t come along every day.

Jack and Maddie have a chat about Vlad and what’s going on. Maddie says a bit more on her low opinion of Vlad but doesn’t get into it too much, while Jack still has faith in him. Jack also double-checks that Maddie is okay with this, which she is because she knows Vlad can’t replace her and she thinks this’ll take him down a peg and maybe get him to appreciate Jack more.

The next day arrives, and the nature hike trial begins. Vlad sets a relentless pace that keeps Jack behind him and unable to talk to him. This results in Mitzi nearly failing the two of them then and there because they weren’t acting like a couple. Vlad walks away from the trial exhausted, demoralized, and a bit scared.

The dance trial is Mitzi’s attempt to get Vlad and Jack to be more in sync with each other. They have to waltz for an entire musical piece, and since Vlad’s the only one who knows how to waltz he’ll be leading and trying to teach Jack how to do it. Jack is a bit freaked out by the fact that they failed the first trial and once he goes a few rounds of following he gets a bit too into it and ends up stepping on Vlad’s feet. A lot.

After a few more rounds but before the song ends Vlad hits his limit and starts telling Jack to stop, but the end of the song is drawing near and Jack isn’t listening because he’s trying to get them to the finish line. At last Vlad yells “You’re hurting me!” and that finally gets Jack to pay attention to him—and notice that he’s currently standing on both of Vlad’s feet.

Jack steps back and releases Vlad, who limps off to the nearest chair and sits down. Vlad is upset that he showed weakness by telling Jack that he hurt him but he knows that he has to keep trying or else they’ll fail the trial. Jack comes over and asks if they can try again and promises to be more careful this time.

They try again and this time Jack is actually paying attention to Vlad and avoids stepping on his feet. The waltz is a clumsy one because they’re both tired, but they make it to the end and Jack is even paying enough attention to notice Vlad’s knees about to buckle and he sweeps him into a dip to make it look natural just as the song ends. Jack has the sudden(but not unexpected) desire to kiss Vlad during the dip but he resists and gets them upright again, holding onto Vlad to make sure he doesn’t fall.

Mitzi gives them a round of applause and says they pass. Vlad is super relieved and tells Jack that he can let go now—and he falls to the floor when Jack does that.

Reflection time. Jack and Vlad are thinking over the day in their respective homes, and Maddie may chime in for Jack.

The cooking trial requires that Jack and Vlad prepare a nice meal for the family as a team. No having one person cook the whole thing while the other does nothing. Vlad is super stressed and tries to figure out something for Jack to make that isn’t too difficult.

The scene opens with the stove being on fire. Vlad calmly puts a fire blanket over the mess and facepalms when Jack says “whoops”. Given that this puts them back at square one for the meal, Vlad’s stress levels are hitting their peak and he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to hold it together long enough to get through this. Jack does his best to calm him down and keep their guests satisfied until the actual meal is rolled out. He comes up with the idea of making a cheese board and Vlad starts putting it together only for Jack to stop him and say that he should be the one to do it.

Vlad hesitates for a moment, then tells Jack that he better not set the cheese board on fire too and returns his attention to the main meal. Jack successfully assembles the cheese board and shows it to Vlad, who’s impressed to find that Jack picked a really good combination of flavors and asks how he knew these would pair so well and Jack looks at him blankly for a few moments before replying with “the smell”. This reminds Vlad of how intuitive Jack has always been and he tells him good job and Jack takes the cheese board out to the guests along with crackers and bread and drinks.

When Jack returns he asks Vlad what he can do to help and Vlad asks him to work on preparing ingredients for him to use, which works out alright. They find out that Jack does best when helping someone cook, rather than making a dish on his own as he’d been trying to do originally.

Throughout the kitchen chaos Maddie has been a bit worried about how things will go since Jack is not allowed to cook for good reason. She’s not even remotely surprised when she catches the smell of Jack setting the stove on fire. She asks Jack if he’s done helping when he brings the cheese board out but to her surprise he says he’s still going to help and goes straight back into the kitchen.

Together Jack and Vlad are able to put a good meal on the table. Jack is in high spirits while Vlad is pretty exhausted from all the stress.

The picnic starts out alright, they even make light conversation, though Vlad is still distant. They keep chatting as they go look out over the pond together, and then something causes Vlad to fall in. Jack helps Vlad back out, commenting that for such a fortunate guy he still has the worst luck and includes the proto-portal accident in that tally.

Doing that sets Vlad off. He tears into Jack for using such passive language about an event he directly caused and asks if he will ever take responsibility for how much he hurt Vlad for years and how ridiculous it is that Jack thought he could just run away from what he’d done. Vlad is ready to say more but then he spots Mitzi lurking in the background and cuts himself off, not wanting to throw off their ruse. He drops the matter and tells Jack to forget it, then asks that they go home since he’s covered in muck.

It’s a very awkward and silent ride back in the GAV since neither of them want to talk much.

Jack gets time for self-reflection, and he realizes that Vlad is just miserable around him and that his inability to take responsibility for the problems he causes and apologizing is putting a wall between them.

Vlad confronts Mitzi about the weird stuff going on with his emotions. Mitzi pretends that she can’t control it but tells him that a little emotional honesty can go a long way in improving a relationship. It’s a hint that Mitzi is in fact aware that the relationship between Vlad and Jack isn’t great but it flies over Vlad’s head because he’s too focused on other things.

Mitzi’s pet returns and tells her about the developments with Jack, so she decides it’s the perfect time to have the sharing a bed trial happen.

Jack apologizes during the bed trial and promises he’ll do better by Vlad in the future.

Museum time. Jack and Vlad just go there and enjoy it. Vlad is more willing to accommodate Jack, and Jack has slowed himself down to match Vlad’s pace more. The resentment Vlad has felt for years is background noise now.

Mitzi proposes the trial of letting Jack watch over the artifact for 48 hours, after which she will give Vlad’s heart back to him. Vlad has a lot of indecision as he weighs the danger of letting Jack watch the artifact vs letting Mitzi keep it. Since Jack is set on being more careful Vlad decides to give him the chance to prove himself despite his anxieties over it.

Things actually go alright for a little while. Jack is actually very anxious over the heart and keeping it safe, constantly worrying over accidentally harming it as long as it’s on his person. With that being the case, Jack decides to hide it somewhere instead, not realizing that Reginald’s spies have already moved in and one was able to see him hide it.

(The Fentons don’t meddle with the artifact despite having full access to it because if they mess it up that would likely kill Vlad. Jack even immediately sides with Vlad on the matter when Maddie brings it up.)

Vlad was really taking a chance by putting his life in Jack’s hands. No, more like he decided to give Jack a chance by allowing him to do this. It’s an enormous show of faith—not the smartest move, but still. Vlad is showing that he’s willing to believe that Jack can change. Which makes it all the more devastating when Reginald is able to steal the artifact.

This time the two are just hanging out when Reginald barges in and orders Vlad to marry him. When Vlad tells him to get lost Reginald repeats the order with an “or else” attached and shows that he has the artifact.

Vlad is stunned for a moment(Jack is too), and then he gives Jack a look of utter betrayal and says “I can’t believe I trusted you”. With no other option Vlad walks over to Reginald and is taken away to the ghost’s lair.

Jack is devastated over having failed Vlad but his moping doesn’t last long. He’s ready to go charging after Vlad and has to be stopped by the rest of his family since he could get himself and Vlad killed that way.

Mitzi shows up and they accuse her of being in cahoots with Reginald, which she denies; in reality he was never supposed to get directly involved and was only used as a threat to get Vlad to play along, since her real goal was to get Vlad reconnected enough with Jack that he wouldn’t have the time or desire to be such a menace to the Ghost Zone anymore. In fact she dreads what Reginald might be able to accomplish by marrying Vlad and offers to help with the rescue plan.

Meanwhile Reginald is rushing through wedding prep as he intends to marry and dispose of Vlad as quickly as possible so he can take all of Vlad’s assets for himself. Vlad is desperately trying to figure a way out of this but Reginald is able to keep him contained long enough to start the wedding ceremony.

Vlad is despairing as he stands on the dias and is forced to start giving his vows, only for chaos to erupt as the Fentons leap out of their hiding places and crash the wedding. During the mayhem Jack is able to get his hands on the artifact but Reginald refuses to let go. After some back and forth Reginald asks if Jack knows who he’s trying to save and messes with a dial on top of the artifact.

This forces Vlad into ghost form with a sudden painful surge of power and Jack stares at him, dumbfounded. At last he asks Vlad why he attacked him before and Vlad replies that he did it because he was angry and stupid and selfish and he thought that getting back at Jack would make him feel better, but it never did. He’s about to make his own apology when Maddie interrupts by shooting at him. Vlad yelps and starts running while Reginald panics and orders his minions to protect Vlad cause he can’t let him die before he gets all his stuff in the marriage.

Maddie drives Vlad into a frantic chase around the room, picking off every single one of Reginald’s allies as she does so and leaving Vlad surprisingly unscathed. At last Vlad has nowhere left to flee to and Maddie asks if he has any last words, to which Vlad says “I wish I’d just talked to Jack to begin with” and braces himself for the end. Reginald jumps in to stop her and Maddie shoots him down.

Now that all hostile ghosts have been defeated Maddie straightens and thanks Vlad for being exactly the kind of distraction she needed to decimate the enemy forces.

(Also Jack was chasing Maddie around the room begging her not to kill Vlad throughout her pursuit, meanwhile the kids were basically eating popcorn while they watched cause they knew that if Maddie wanted to shoot Vlad, she wouldn’t be missing.)

Vlad sits up and returns to human form just in time to get tackle-hugged by Jack and both of them are pretty freaked out about Maddie’s attack. Jack is almost crying and saying he’s so glad Maddie didn’t kill Vlad and Vlad is touched and amazed that Jack still cares about him that much even after finding out his secret. Vlad looks up at Maddie and asks if she was planning to attack him all along and Maddie replies that it was spur of the moment since their original planned distraction got derailed(Jack was gonna challenge Reginald to a duel as cover for Mitzi) but the anger was 100% real and the are going to have a talk later.

Reginald snatches the artifact up and declares that if he can’t have Vlad no one can and he crushes the artifact. To the surprise of half of those still conscious this does nothing to Vlad. It turns out that Mitzi used Maddie’s distraction to get close enough to the artifact to return Vlad’s heart.

Don’t forget that Vlad accidentally said Jack’s name at the end of his vows, which means his end of the marriage contract is primed for Jack to wander into the other end and seal it for both of them. Jack will probably get confused when the officiator asks him if he accepts Vlad’s promise/vows and say yes.

They’re both shocked when the officiator declares them married and congratulates them before wandering off to get on with his day. They immediately wonder if divorce is an option but doing so would require tons of hoops to jump through since there are humans involved. Maddie thinks the whole situation is hilarious and doesn’t see a ghost-marriage as something that threatens her own marriage anyway, so they decide to leave things as they are for now.

[stevie-petey]

Hello! I just wanted to start off by saying I LOVE your Come Home series and your writing with it. It has inspired me in so many ways, and in all honesty, I’ve enjoyed it more than I have actually watching Stranger Things! I cannot wait to see where you take the book, and how you navigate whatever comes with season 5!!!!

I was also wondering, how have you found so much success with this series on Tumblr, and do you have any tips for growing fics in general? It has gained so much popularity and I am so happy to see it because you totally deserve it, your hard work is paying off so good!

Have a great day or night,

Anon 🦋

hi dear !! first of all, thank you so much <333 i appreciate the kind words so much and i adore you for being so supportive :’)

long post ahead !!

as for how come home managed to become what it is now: i truthfully cant really say. it still amazes me that its so popular now, but even then i dont necessarily consider it “popular” in my head lmao shes just my lil story !!

i want to start off by saying i never intended for come home to become such a well loved fic. i uploaded the first chapter simply because i wanted to, i liked what i wrote and hoped someone would like it as well. never did i think “cool ok this fic will def become an overnight sensation”.

honestly, one day i was averaging maybe 60 notes per chapter and then the next day i was suddenly averaging 300-400. the fic quickly took off before i could even really process it, and i want to emphasize that this is rare !! so so so incredibly rare. i got lucky, thats all there really is to it :/ sometimes amazing stories dont get the recognition they deserve and sometimes they do. i have personally written fanfiction for 10 years now and i never once had a fic “blow up” how come home did.

i also want to say how fucking grateful that my story managed to find its own community and become this amazing thing. every day i cannot believe any of it is real and i genuinely love and adore each and every person who reblogs and recommends the fic.

what i CAN say is that tags help !! ive noticed some new authors dont know how to tag their fics, which can really diminish their reach. for tumblr, the first five tags are the most important. these are the ones that show up on dashboards !!! i think what also helped me was having a very clear and concise story structure with pretty frequent updates. im fortunate to be able to write and upload a lot faster than i probably should (it concerns many but i find it funny).

and lastly i also just think its super important to interact with everyone !! answer all the asks, reblog all the responses, reply to every comment. i firmly believe its the least i can do if someone has taken the time to read my story and found time to say a quick praise or simply tell me they laughed :)

at the end of the day, its a game of luck and perseverance if anything else, but the general creator rule of thumb is that you should never create something just for the notes/reblogs/praise. create for yourself, create because you WANT to !!! its a slippery slope keeping track of clicks and hit and whatever. i stopped keeping track of come homes own traction because i simply dont care enough to follow it. im happy where i am and i love how the story has grown :)

hope this helped a bit and that ya enjoyed my rambles <3

[pizza-hats-of-the-world-1882]

character bingo! OBVIOUSLY raoul but also. humour me. aramis <3

ough! my lil guy!!!!<3

since my mom is reading vdb ive been occasionally reviewing parts of it and wow, i forgot how often people are like "look at that hot guy (o゜▽゜)o☆" ab raoul. pretty boy extraordinaire

if you dont like him youre wrong

i do like his tragic arc but i want more. MORE I SAY! INFINITE RAOUL!

my art tag speaks for itself

ditto

what can i say theres something so wrong with him. i get it tho. hes so galahad coded

if he suddenly goes to the top of my blorbo rotation it means im really going through it.

as much as i love return of the musketeers his characterization did lack a certain je ne sais crois. also WHAT is going on in the bbl movies?????

if you title the book "le vicomte de bragelonne",,, i will be expecting to spend more time with,, yknow, THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE!!!!!!!

free space! i think his highest stat would be constitution. not emotionally tho

hes like a chew toy to me<3

ive gained a higher understanding of him. we've mindmelded

like i said: galahad coded. but i think he should kill more people

aramis time!

ive come to the conclusion that dumas has a strong sense for character design. naughty catboy

he is not trustworthy lol

maybe its because i wasnt raised catholic like most of you apparently but i dont read that much into him. he likes his friends and he likes power and he'll follow those pursuits ruthlessly

they either dont make him slutty enough or dont make him catholic enough. or in bbc's unfortunate case neither.

specifically he doesnt get a lot of interactions w raoul which sucks bc thats one of his uncles and i love seeing r with d'art and porthos let him hang out w aramis!! thats literaly his mom's ex lol

he is like a small animal to me

free space: we're just never gonna elaborate on him having a kid w mme de longueville huh

i just think he's a funny lil scheming boy

he certainly seems less evil when around his friends lol. also this the power of friendship books series they are all best in the les inseperables dynamic. do NOT separables them

not really but i do think its funny to rag on him. five foot lil slut

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Does Ingo magic Ever get UNblocked? Mayeb its an emergency and He overwhems the block trying to use it so hard bc Someone is in danger(maybe dying and he can heal them) or maybe its undone (Which I say Irida should have done the moment they gained his trust which makes me think that maybe its not very simple easy or possible)

The broken bond is gut-wrenching I cant stand it, maybe instead being in Hisui means hes too far to SUMMON Chandelure but Its still there,just faint and faded. A soul bond is a soul bond its not 'till death do them part' its 'Where you go I will follow' , a thing that goes beyond death which does lend it toward being more an ace only type of deal. The ONLY reason that Emmet knows Ingo is alive is that Chandelure is still there. Its empathetic tho so maybe pain or distress can filter through the bond as strained as it is which Does Not Reasure Emmet.

WELL, i mean i can't very well say he has this crazy powerful magic and then not ever let him use it, can i lol. the question is just... how.

though re: irida, i think it's also not so much a lack of trust as just like. i mean like i said before, it feels like playing catch with high explosives. like, ingo doesn't even remember where he learned light magic, what if he tries to use it one time and screws up and something goes horribly wrong?? what's the guarantee he can control it perfectly every time? that his instinctive memory of how to use it is guaranteed to be right? it just feels safer for everyone to not even try. plus it's not like he's ever complained about it so he must not mind, right? ...right?

i do love the idea that he can undo it himself tho and just... hasn't yet out of courtesy. i mean, thinking about it, someone must have been around to soulbond them with their aces the first time, and if light is another primal force on the level of space/time/sky, maybe they can just make that tap themselves. and i don't remember if i've really discussed this before but reshiram/zekrom are deeply humanistic gods, so it's entirely possible that unlike others, an accomplished light mage doesn't even need a divine object to act as a conduit. light magic is already so responsive to human desire. so ingo's left it as it is because irida's clearly concerned about it, but then he has very good reason to use magic and he just. rewrites his own personal truth to not include it, like it's nbd. and irida's like (suddenly even more terrified of him) YOU COULD DO THAT THIS WHOLE TIME??

though funny as that mental image is if he's just forcibly overpowering it like you described, i also feel like that would be very taxing. especially if he's also interfering with or working around his soulbond with sneasler (or whatever her name is in this world). like he succeeds in whatever healing magic he needed to do, and then passes out immediately afterwards. and now whoever was dying isn't anymore but he might be, they can't immediately tell, and everyone's got a lot of questions that apparently only irida can answer

...another option, if the original soulbond with chandelure isn't broken (maybe just like, repressed or very faint) is that in his moment of panic, it's actually chandelure it self (or emmet, through chandelure?) that reaches out through the soul link and undoes the block. and it's like, the first approximation of proper contact they've had with him since he disappeared, and their only new information from it is that someone not only fucked with chandelure's soul link but completely locked his magic, what the fuck are they doing to him?? whoever's doing it is pissed the hell off but the link isn't very stable so they really only have time to unlock it and for ingo to get a vibe that someone somewhere is Very Angry, and then it's gone and the link is dead again and he's got bigger problems.

[ Anonymous: I think I need to clarify when I said "Where u Go I will follow" bc its. Late and I wasn't quite thinking all my thoughts onto the page. Bonded dont die the moment thir other does. Its just like a broken heart that bleeds for them. Chandelure however Is a ggost and probably immediately follow just by nature of being ghostly. most creatures DO die of a broken heart bc Bonded are very close Partners. Not all. Some pick up the pieces and forge on but their is a grief to them for the rest of days. ]

i do think that if the bond is there, it should be so faint as to be almost imperceptible bc otherwise it gives too much away/leaves too much of an open lead re: ingo and his past, and especially considering the mechanics of adding more than one soulbond might interfere with his being a warden. unless it's so dim and repressed that irida didn't even notice it at the time. though thinking of it, that could be a potential answer to "why is ingo joining this party:" he's trying to pursue this vague lead as to his past, and figures traveling with them is as good a way to do it as any.

[tsugarubecker]

Preview of a fic I’m working on! This is gonna be a long one. Just spat this out in a bit of a writing sprint, it will undoubtedly be edited later on. But for now, check it out if you’d like. TLDR it will eventually be the story of how Mike and Will wind up talking about The Painting. Chapter one is from El’s POV. Enjoy

------

None of them have been doing much of anything useful since they got back to Hawkins.

There isn’t much to do at the moment, frankly. The Upside Down is spilling into Hawkins through massive, sickly, gas-retching gashes in the earth. Red and pulsating like lava. The spores get thicker every day. They stay in the house. All of them. The Wheelers’ house is big enough to house the whole party and all their family members, partners, and tag-alongs, thankfully.  

It’s been three weeks. Max hasn’t woken up.

Vecna also hasn’t made a move. El is grateful for that, at least. She’s recovering – physically, mentally, emotionally. She’s gained Hopper back. She’s lost her first big fight, causing her to wonder if Papa was right about her abilities.

She’s lost Max. Maybe for forever.

When she’s not putting on a mask and braving the spores outside to go out and see Max at the hospital, she’s at home. Mostly sleeping. Her body and mind are tired. She’s recovering, and she thinks – she hopes – Vecna must be doing the same. She’s grateful, at least, for the reprieve. She knows it can’t last long. Before long something is bound to shift – she just hopes she’s ready for it when it does.

When she’s not with Max or sleeping, she’s with Hopper or her brothers or Joyce. Sipping coffee, eating toast or eggos, talking quietly. Sometimes she’s with Dustin. Or Lucas, at the hospital. And every so often with Mike, although things have been awkward between them.

They haven’t exactly… Talked About It, yet.

And she knows they have to. She just can’t even begin to decipher what words to use to say what she needs to say. She can barely even tell, most days, what it is she needs to say. Let alone what she actually wants to say.

It’s easier to pretend she can’t see his eyes trying to catch hers across the hallway as she moves past, headed to the bedroom she’s sharing with Holly and Nancy for another long nap.  

But today is different. She couldn’t scoot by. He caught her off guard while she sipped coffee at noon with Hopper. She was peering over Hopper’s shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of the funnies when something moved in front of her eyes, blocking her view. Her eyes refocused. Comic books.

“Want to come read with me instead of trying to read over yer Dad’s shoulder?”

She looks up at Hopper. Catches his eye. She swears six different conversations fly between them as he raises his eyebrow at her. “...Yeah, go on, kid. I’m not gonna be done with this paper for a while.”

Trapped. She makes a subtle face at Hopper that Mike can’t see and resists the urge to roll her eyes. “Okay.” She gets up. Mike is standing there bouncing a little on his toes, looking nervous. “...Where are we going,” she asks.

“Oh! Uhh. To my bedroom, I guess. Lucas is at the hospital and Dustin is watching TV in the living room with his mom.”

Was the house cramped? Yeah. Did the people who didn’t live there sometimes venture back to their own homes? Yes. But none of them knew what would happen next. It was safer to stay together in case something happened very suddenly. It was safest to be close to El. She had a lot of complicated feelings about that, but she knew it was true. She had heard the adults discuss it, too. She knew they were right.

Her thoughts had wandered – she found herself following Mike to the bedroom he now shared with the other boys. Other than Will. Will had asked for the basement, with Jonathan.

Once upon a time she would have thought that was odd. Nowadays, she thought that Will not wanting to share Mike’s bedroom was one more mental check mark on a list she was silently keeping in her mind. What she knew of romantic feelings, she had learned from TV. When it clicked for her that she might have missed something big, a whole lot of things started to make a whole lot more sense. She had not shared these thoughts with anyone yet. But they were a big part of her avoidance of Mike and her avoidance, specifically, of any one-on-one time with him – let alone any real, honest conversations.

She came back to the present again. (She found this was happening a lot lately. But she figured she could give herself a break – a lot had happened recently. So no wonder her thoughts were all over the place.) Mike had climbed up onto his bed and propped himself up on an elbow to read. He held out a comic to her. “Come read with me?”

In spite of herself, El smiled. The idea of lying comfortably on a bed with someone, reading comic books, gave her a warm feeling of nostalgia that she couldn’t immediately place. Then she glanced down at the comic Mike was thrusting toward her.

Wonder Woman.

Oh, she realized. Oh, okay. That’s why.

Ignoring multiple signals from her body, including desires to cry, run out of the room, or smash something through a window, she forced herself to reach out and take the comic book. She climbed up onto the bed, lied down on her stomach, and started to read.

[lgcmedia]

i’ve been following max since before he was in legacy- I saw this guy grow up and he was always a bubbly, funny, a bit clumsy guy with a hell lot of stage presence but sex-appeal would not have been a word I’d associate with him. at least until the concert of spring boys at everland! not only did he completely floor me with his performance at the guitar, making me think he was a whole ass rock star but during outsider- i don’t think I ever screamed that loud. some of his shirt buttons went flying during the performance and instead of giggling it off like I expected him to, he just continued on like he wasn’t suddenly half naked on stage!  confidence looks so very sexy on him can he just please debut already?!

[ + / - ]  lmao the chicken chest got you excited? you like them scrawny, huh? let the poor kid gain some more muscle before legacy exposes him like that

[ + / - ]  oh. my. god. I know exactly what you mean! the way half the arena freaked out I think we weren’t the only ones either!

[ + / - ] he’s finally showing some potential and professionalism. lgc did good to hold out to debut him in my opinion. but he’s starting to look like a real artist more and more. he’s not getting any younger though, I’m not sure how much more time they’re willing to invest into him.

▷ load next 15 comments?

[aeterna-auroral-avenger]

tb i wanna ask you a personal question.

you know all about the changes im making in my life since we're pretty good friends and all, but i want your take on cutting off toxic family members/parents? like have you ever had to do that for yourself? and how did it make you feel? i just recently cut off my mother and it has me feeling some time of way. like its weird suddenly not having her in my life? not hearing her voice every week? idk how shes doing or handling it or even realize thats what i did. i just blocked her. i couldnt do it anymore.

and its funny how since i cut off my immediate family(mom dad sister) i have been talking to my aunts a lot more. like theyre the ones were in my corner the whole time and have been supporting me since i moved(even getting my own studio too in the spring before coming to illinois). like theyre not like the fake support like i was getting from my mom you know? if that makes any sense? like she says shes in my corner and doesnt care that im gay, blah blah blah, but like deep down i knew she wasnt, and she was doing more harm than good.

so like. its just weird. this is the longest i ever gone without talking to my mom(been about a week now). she would like text and calm every few days and it was just exhausting and overwhelming. i had to take a break. i guess i cant help but to feel a bit guilty with how i went about it? but the last few calls we had all she did was hurt my feelings and make me feel bad about myself. like when i told her i was nonbinary. she basically laughed in my face and showed no respect for it. that was the final straw for me.

its just hard bc shes always said she supports me but when her actions say the opposite? its hard to trust her you know? i thought maybe one of your followers might have a take on this or something idk.

Hey friend,

So I’ve never had to cut off a family member like you have, so I can’t speak from personal experience on this matter.

But maybe I can still help you gain some perspective. Even though this is a good thing you’ve done for yourself, there’s a part of you that needs to grieve this loss. These people have been a part of your life for years, and then suddenly they’re not? It’s a big change, and it’s a gap in life that you’re grieving over. But that’s okay because grieving is part of the coping process to help you move forward. You grieve and then you can let go.

I’m glad you’ve been strengthening your relationships with your aunts at least. I’m sure that’s been helping you a lot during this time of your life :)

If anyone reading this has any constructive thoughts or suggestions on the matter, feel free to share!