#and pro tip no 2 never let said friend say they love you and believe them because theyre really just lying because
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#pro tip never make friend on the other side of the world and spend every night staying up progressivelu#later all so you can talk to them meanwhike youre fueling your insomnia and your mental illness#and pro tip no 2 never let said friend say they love you and believe them because theyre really just lying because#youre 'easy' aka someone they can force into ******* them when theyre bored and they can pretend youre their#endgame when they date 1500 other people but if you even try to date one then they get pissy about it because youre#'leaving them'#also pro tip no 3 dont actually fall in love with them because they dont love you nor do they care about you because#it all just comes back to you being an easy target because of the vulnerability you showed them after you first met#which leads into pro tip no 4 dont start off a friendship by them 'saving your life' by talking you out of *******#because again it doesnt really matter and YOU saved yourself not them#finally pro tip 5 if you admit to someone that you kinda sorta want to die and then they blame it all on you and#get pissed off that youre 'doing this again' and that you 'dont even seem to be trying anymore' and act like you#being mentally tormented and drained and done with life is the biggest inconvenience of THEIR life and then they#proceed to imply that they dont care if youre alive or not then literally leave. im not even kidding get the fuck out#preferably dont even let it get that far but if it does. they mean it. dont let them talk you out of it. and its not your fault either#em speaks#tw vent#tw suicide#tw abuse
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Suncoast Broadway CATS update 2/17
There was a great comment by @lie-in-a-bureau-drawer , so I hope it's okay that I post it here since I've got some info and comments! (I still don't get tumblr and I keep forgetting how it works/etiquette but I'm trying!)
I never would want anyone to ever strain to put themselves in a financial situation ever for any project I do, or anything in general, but especially me. This is something very personal as in 2016, I was about to live in my car until two amazing friends took me into their home. What was meant to be two weeks turned into six months, which I can never financially repay but I promised to repay it forward however I can. Since we don't have money to pay it forward, that's where on other social media platforms I signal boost, and also where I'm absolutely happy to share info and help when I can. I totally can understand the disappointment of wanting to go somewhere, and it's incredibly touching and means a ton to me (you have no idea) for that sort of support. So thank you, from the bottom of my (supposed to be) frigid heart.
For anyone thinking of or planning to attend, David and I will be there for the shows on Feb 1st and both shows on the 2nd--our flight home is the 3rd (missing that show and the rest of the run). This is pretty standard for costume designers, sometimes we don't get to go at all (aka Wichita with their full department already!). I'd feel bad if someone only came to try to meet us and we weren't there so I wanted to give those dates but the show will run until, I believe, April 7th. There is accessible seating and accommodation.
I'd call the theatre to double-check (as a courtesy) but already in many production meetings I brought up superfans in costume and said there's a good chance that'll happen. They seemed really excited by the idea. So if you like going to shows in costume, this one should be very friendly to it and there will be more interaction than usual due to dinner theatre. I can't say much more than that but there was a very specific reason why we were hired (well, several... but something really stood out).
Let's be honest, this is the one y'all care about: YES, there WILL be pictures and (hopefully) video! And I'm pretty sure people who come to the show will be able to take pics/vid on their phones and probably with performers but I'm not 100% positive there--I will get confirmation. Once opening happens, I will share at least one special costume design I made. There will be one special performer who will greet every table in a very special costume as the host/ess. Who will it be? Who... will it be..? (Spoiler: It's not Macavity. WHEN WILL PEOPLE LEARN HE JUST WANTS TO DO SOMETHING AND IS SUFFERING THE WORST MIDDLE CHILD SYNDROME EVER?)
Additional fun info: On Tuesday (maybe Wed) we'll be teaching the make up classes. We had to improvise with some different products, still Mehron base but also some snazzaroo for detailing and some powder and eyeshadow. I don't believe I'll be allowed to share video of these classes (there will be video) because make up classes usually are emotional the first two days, then by day three everything's fine. It's a very emotional process and I'd love to share how I teach but I also need to respect the privacy of the cast in case there are tears.
Kind Suggestion: If you do go to the show, please tip kindly. As this is nonequity, the actors are responsible for providing their own shoes (they will need to be replaced during the run), undergarments, make up (first initial batch on the theatre), other things. We did everything we could to help them, but I know with undergarments and shoes, especially shoes, some actors are really struggling, and if they dance but also tap, and it seems like one actor will cover three tracks... it's very hard. Just a very kind thing to do/consider. We had to talk with a few about whether they could do just one dancebelt and basically the, "well, yes, you CAN... but for twodoshays, you probably don't want to. If not an option, these are things you can do to help keep yourself dry, prevent bacterial infection and odor, and prevent chafing." Also added like a 4-page skincare routine that I stressed was optional but what I personally do/like in case anyone wants to take care of their skin--if anyone wants the routine, I can share it here but it's seriously excessive.
I'm irrationally terrified of flying, so here's hoping that Monday is very smooth with no sudden squalls or anything. I'm really going to miss my floofs but my mom and her BF will take excellent care of them! Currently I'm resting although I should be packing because my immune system gave out and I'm taking as much stuff as I can to knock whatever this is out of my system.
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all for her [2]
pairing: dad!bartender!tom x female!reader
warnings: excessive drinking, cursing, mentions of blood, violence, etc.
summary: a single-dad bartender, a supportive best friend and their continuous, unrequited love noticed by his optimistic daughter. is it possible to break a heart they never knew they had?
word count: 10.8k!
the soundtrack: dancing with your ghost - sasha sloan, chinese satellite - phoebe bridgers, never the 1 - rosie, waiting room - phoebe bridgers, guilty conscience - 070 shake
a/n: im so happy with the response from part 1 & excited that part 2 is now here!!! i think i’ll try to end with the next part but..... who knows. again, thank y’all for the feedback & hope you enjoy!
— masterlist ☆彡
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜
The night Summer was left on Tom’s doorstep was one he would never forget.
He moved into his apartment a month before and it was becoming more than the four, blank walls. It was in a quiet neighborhood, facing out to a street view of family-owned businesses and a bus stop. People passed the street often during the day, a good opportunity for people-watching from his small terrace. But when he closed the windows and locked the door, the feeling of being alone quickly settled in for the first time in his life.
The thought of being independent was reliving now that he had a part-time job. He'd be able to live off his earnings with no guilt and bring whoever he wanted without disturbing his roommates. Even though he had his own place of solitude and privacy, Tom still managed to visit you at campus now that he was closer compared to the hours of driving before. He considered it as a pro to moving, but he really just needed any reason to just have you close.
Most times you’d come over, saying you had homework and studying to do, but with Tom, you never got anything done in one sitting. You made dinners together or ordered something in the middle of the night, watch movies interrupted by your playful comments or you would take a nap between your classes while he did his work.
The two of you were inseparable now throughout college, not stuck with the limited possibilities of what your small hometown gave to you. Everything was going smoothly and Tom was looking forward to what his future looked like, maybe even see you ending up together, but things took a turn when he opened the door and saw Summer, small and swaddled, in the baby carrier at his feet.
It was a Sunday, having your ideal night-in watching your favorite movie, and ordering food for dinner. Your head rested on Tom’s lap, your eyes trying to focus on the TV but they fluttered. Tom had his arm around the back of the couch with his right foot on the coffee table. Sometimes he’d glance down at you, making sure you didn’t fall asleep because you had more studying to do, but he gently shook you every few minutes when he thought he heard your light snores.
“Hmm, I’m awake.” You grumbled.
“Judging from your snoring, I don’t think you are.” He smiled, moving your hair out of your face.
Your face scrunched together, “I don’t snore.”
“You don’t? Not like this?” He jeered, making an obnoxious noise as he leaned his head back.
You pressed your face against his cheek, tilting his head to the side and lightly gripping at his hair. Laughs and giggles echoed the apartment as you fought like kids, Tom’s hand holding your wrist to push it away from his face until the doorbell rang.
“Finally! I’m starving.” You said, thinking the Chinese food was here.
You jumped up from the couch, walking into the kitchen to get plates. Tom chuckled as he headed toward the door, “Are you excited? I couldn’t tell.” He said sarcastically, grabbing the tip money off the kitchen counter.
The baby was asleep, her chubby cheeks were a rosy pink as well as her lips. She looked peaceful bundled in a soft, yellow blanket, but fear instilled within Tom. He wasn’t sure what to do, his mind starting to race and his heart beating faster. He took a few steps into the hall and looked both ways. It was ominous how no one was around, yet there was someone at the door a few seconds ago.
“Hello?” He shouted, his hands against each side of the doorframe.
You furrowed your eyebrows, “What’s going on?” You nervously chuckled.
The moment your eyes met the baby at Tom’s feet, your mouth slightly gapped with a trailed gasp.
“This has to be a joke…” Tom trailed.
You kneeled, reaching for the note tucked in by her leg. It was on a torn piece of notebook paper with Tom’s name scribbled on the front in pencil.
“I can’t take care of her. Please understand. Maggie.” You read off, biting your bottom lip.
He continued to stare at Summer, her hair barely grown and her skin so pink. He assumed she had been born a few weeks ago, maybe months. All he could process was that there was a baby on his doorstep and he had no idea what to do.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜
It took a few minutes to get Maggie calm, but they went in the hall to talk so Summer didn’t wake up. It was none of your business, but you still stood close to the door with your back against the wall as their muffled conversation faded in and out.
“How did you even find me?” Tom asked.
“None of your business.” She snapped, “I don’t know why this is such a big deal.” Maggie chimed, crossing her arms.
Tom scoffed, “Because you’ve never made any effort to see her and suddenly, you want to come and pick her up and take her like she’s a puppy in an ad you found this morning.”
She smiled in spite, “Don’t talk to me like that-”
“How else am I supposed to act? You just told me she’s not mine!”
“Because she’s not! I had to dump her on someone!”
Every word that came out of Maggie’s mouth felt like a repeating stab in the heart. He couldn’t believe anything she said, convinced he hated her at that moment, but he somehow held his head high because he knew he’d fight for Summer no matter what Maggie could tell him.
“You’re not taking her. End of discussion.” Tom uttered, tears welling up in his eyes.
Maggie reached into the back pocket of her denim jeans, pulling out a folded piece of paper, and forcefully handed it to Tom. He stared at it for a few seconds, his hand lightly shaking as he slowly opened it by the ends.
“You still think I’m lying?” She scoffed as they both glared at the paper.
It was Summer’s birth certificate, dated on this day six years ago which made time seem so fast. His dry, tired eyes searched the paper until they locked to the father’s name box, a name he didn’t know and certainly wasn’t his.
“Either I call the police now or you give her… right here, right now,” Maggie growled with no hesitation.
Tom clenched his jaw, “You can’t-”
“I sure as hell can… and we both know you’re not dumb so, just give her to me.” She demanded as if Tom could process all of this while his world was crashing around him.
Tom licked his lips, sealing them to hide the pain that ached in his heart and spread throughout every nerve of his body. A single tear fell down his cheek, but he quickly wiped it with the back of his hand. Tom wanted to composed himself to stay strong, but he didn’t know he could crumble so easily from a small number of words.
“Can we do this tomorrow? I just wanna spend one more day with her.” He asked politely, the whites of his eyes now a light pink.
She stood there, not saying anything and her arms were still crossed.
“Please… Maggie.” Tom pleaded, feeling a bit pathetic.
Tom thought back to that conversation, replaying it in his head so much that he didn’t sleep all night. His constant shifting throughout the night didn’t let either of you get much sleep, but it’s not like you were either, laying there and wondering how much you could do.
You were surprised he didn’t cry, shout or lash out in some random outburst of pure anger. It’s what you would’ve done, but you knew that Tom was trying to convince himself it wasn’t real. The denial would eat him alive, only because he believed Maggie was telling the truth and would take Summer no matter how hard he thought of a way to not let her.
“Tom?... Tom!” Your voice seemed miles away.
Tom glanced up to meet your eyes, letting out an embarrassed chuckle as his ears tinted pink. The sounds within the diner became audible to him, not remembering how he got lost in a daze.
“In your own little world again?” You grinned, knowing that he was always one for thinking too much.
“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine.” Tom rubbed his hands down his face and straightened his back against the booth.
You sealed your lips, “You can talk to me about-”
“I’m fine, Y/N.” He retorted, nodding his head at you.
“Okay…” You trailed.
When his whole world was turned around the night before, you choose to not take his short attitude personally. All you could do was be there for him and you wanted to try your best. Seeing his hand rested on the table, you placed yours on top and reassured him, “It’s gonna be okay.”
He didn’t look at you, but you laid your head on against his shoulder. You caressed your thumb over his skin before grasping his hand and giving it a light squeeze. You brushed your cheek against his black hoodie, smelling the fresh lavender and nuzzling against his arm to remind him that you weren’t planning on leaving or letting him go.
Summer ran down the empty aisle, jumping into the booth and she laughed to herself, “I got this!”
You leaned up from Tom so he could see what she had in her small hand. Her casted arm rested on the table, signatures written all over it from her birthday party.
“It’s for you.” Summer smiled, putting the object in Tom’s hand.
He glanced at it, seeing a small plastic container with a yellow top sealing it. Inside was a cheap ring with the metallic paint partially chipped off and there was a blunt blue jewel in the middle.
“You sure you want to give it to me? It’s so pretty.” Tom managed to smile back at her, observing the ring.
“Yeah, Daddy. I promise.” She grinned, her tongue between her teeth as she flashed another smile that he thought resembled his.
Tom didn't want to believe that someone so full of spite and bitterness could be her mother, but he didn't have the heart to tell her. No matter how much he could hate Maggie for what she’s doing, Tom couldn’t ruin their possible relationship because she was her mother.
After the three of you finished your late breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon, you got up to use the restroom, but also gave time for Tom to say his last goodbyes to Summer alone. You rubbed Tom’s shoulder before you slipped out of the booth, keeping your eyes on him until you turned the corner.
Tom grinned at her, but he still wasn’t sure how to tell Summer about Maggie other than she was spending the night with her for a while, thinking she would take to it but instead a confused look painted on her round face.
“I thought Y/N was my mommy.” She admitted even though he had denied her multiple times that you were.
He couldn’t hide his smile, “I’ve told you she’s not. She’s my friend. My best friend.”
“Daddy, I don’t want to go. I wanna stay with you and Y/N.” Summer persisted, placing her blue crayon down. She always got a wrinkle between her eyebrows when they furrowed.
“It’ll be a few days,” Tom assured, but he didn’t know.
“But, I don’t wanna.” She whined, bouncing a bit in her seat.
As much as he wanted to, Tom couldn’t say no. He knew this was going to happen before he could know anything else was going behind his back with Maggie. Summer pouted her lips as her mood changed, leaning back with her hair pushed up against the booth.
Tom shifted over, “Come here.” He asked her, patting where you were sitting earlier.
Summer wiggled out of her side of the booth, touching her feet to the ground before quickly lifting herself into the seat and curling up next to Tom. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her hair, feeling an instant warmth even though she was so tiny. It was as if he blinked and was surprised to see her growing so fast. His sweet daughter went from a toddler with bright blue paint on her hands and knees and blossoming into a young girl with ideas that could reach the moon and back.
“It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna have so much fun. I promise.” He sniffled, his voice cracking a bit.
“Pinky promise?” She asked, lifting her casted arm to him.
His lip quivered, but Tom quickly smiled, “Promise… and we always keep our promises, right?”
She nodded, wrapping her tiny pinky around his then squeezing it tight, ���Always, daddy.”
Tom remembered when she was only able to wrap her whole hand around that same finger, wondering where the time went. He wanted to go back to when she barely had hair on her head or when he had to follow her around the room when she started to crawl, as she grabbed at stray cords or tried to get under the couch.
“You have all your stuff?” Tom asked her.
“Mhmm, got my colors and favorite books.” Summer nodded, grabbing a piece of bacon off Tom’s place, “Do you think she’ll read them in the voices? Like you and Y/N do?”
Tom sealed his lips, “Maybe if you ask her nicely.” He cracked a smile, moving Summer’s hair out of her face.
As you walked up to the booth, Tom lifted his head and mouthed to you that he was okay. In the bathroom, you had to compose yourself before Maggie showed up. No excuse could make this situation better and all you could do was be patient and be there for Tom. While that was easier to think of, you knew as soon as you made contact with her bright green eyes, all you wanted to do was yell and protest that she doesn’t deserve to feel good about this.
“What did I miss? Anything interesting?” You joked, trying to keep the mood light.
“Daddy said I’m gonna have a lot of fun this weekend.” Summer mentioned, smiling at you with her crooked smile.
You gulped, your throat feeling dry, “Yeah, lots of fun.” You forced a grin.
The low music over the speakers filled the silence, not knowing what to say about this, especially in front of Summer. Tom kept his arm wrapped around his shoulder, but he stared out of the window with his hand on his chin, slightly covering his mouth. He didn’t want to cry, he was trying, but the more Tom thought about how there was a chance he couldn’t get Summer back, the more he dug deep to find a way to stop it.
“Hi, Tom.”
He quickly turned his head, seeing Maggie standing in front of the booth. She wore a sleek leather jacket with a maroon shirt underneath and it intimidated Summer. She furrowed her faint eyebrows, but Tom pulled back his arm around her.
“Hey, Maggie.” He didn’t look in her eyes.
She didn’t pay you any mind, choosing to ignore that you were sitting right there, but it’s not like you wanted her to give you any attention.
Summer scooted out of the booth along with Tom, both of them standing across from Maggie. There’s no doubting it was an awkward situation, but nevertheless, Tom continued to stay mature about it. He grabbed Summer’s backpack off the ground, helping her put both her arms through the straps.
“Okay, kid. I’ll see you in a few days.” Tom chuckled with his hands on Summer’s shoulders.
“Promise?” She asked, her big eyes so glossy.
He immediately clenched his jaw, knowing lying to her would hurt like a stab to his heart, but maybe it was for the better right now. There were many ways he could reply that didn’t sound like the lie it was yet he couldn’t come up with anything except, “Promise.” because he knew he would try to keep it as much as he could from where he stood.
Summer wrapped her arms around his legs as tight as she could, “I love you, daddy.” She mumbled.
“I love you too. Always.” He said before kissing the top of her head.
She looked over her shoulder at you sitting in the booth, not forgetting to say goodbye to you too. Summer walked up and got on her knees in the booth, feeling them sink into the cushion. Her small arms wrapped around you and you giggled, giving her a tight squeeze back.
“Bye, Y/N.”
“Bye, Summer.” You grinned, giving her a last glance.
She shimmed once more and stood in front of Maggie, still standing there with her arms crossed and one of her eyebrows arched.
“Let’s get going,” Maggie said, her happy tone sounding forced.
Without caring to hold Summer’s hand, Maggie began to walk away, but Summer stood still. Her little heart was racing, not sure what to do even though she was told to go with this strange woman who was supposedly her mom.
Tom glanced at Summer, his lips going to the side as he watched tears well up in her eyes. She sniffled, looking down at her feet and her body felt frozen. It was a new feeling to her, not knowing why she was suddenly so scared. It reminded Tom of her first day of kindergarten. She hid behind his leg while they stood in the hallway and all the kids slowly filled the room. He tried to nudge her to meet a new friend, maybe talk about her hobbies, but she was gripping on his jeans from how scared she was.
Just like he did on her first day of school, Tom kneeled on one knee in front of her. He angled his head to look into her eyes, trying to see her full face. He tilted her chin up and wiped her tears with his thumb, catching them as they ran down more.
“Hey, you remember when we saw the penguins at the zoo?” He grinned.
She nodded, her lip pouted.
“And you remember what the zookeeper said? That penguins always find each other, no matter where they are or how far they are... they’ll always find their way back to the colony… and just like penguins, we always find our way home too.” Tom explained, fixing the end of her jacket.
“Really, daddy?”
“Of course. You’re gonna have to keep your head up for a few days though.” He gulped, a small smirk on his lips.
Summer leaned in, wrapping her arms around Tom’s neck again and he coiled her arm around her, squeezing her arm tight. He left a quick kiss on her temple and Tom slowly stood up, trying to pull himself away so it didn’t become harder to leave her.
Maggie stood a few feet away, a bit of disappointment in her eyes. She thought this was going to be the easy part of this process, but it proved harder now that she could visibly see the bond Summer and Tom had created. You watched her lips pin together, not knowing what to do but stand there until they were done talking.
“I love you.” Summer said to Tom again.
“Love you more, kid.” He chuckled, his voice breaking from holding back his tears, “Remember to keep your cast dry. Okay?”
She slipped away from his arms and Tom’s heartfelt heavier the more he said his goodbyes. Summer held her head high and walked up to Maggie, lifting her hand up for her to hold. Maggie hesitantly reached for it, but she glanced at Tom for some kind of permission to. Tom sealed his lips and you slid out of the booth, standing behind him as you watched the two of them walk outside the diner.
“She’ll be back soon.” You whispered, rubbing his tense shoulder.
“Yeah…” He trailed, forcing a grin for you. Tom knew he didn’t have to fake his emotions for you, but right now, he didn’t want to admit he was torn apart inside.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜
The days didn’t pass by as quickly as Tom hoped. He didn’t realize how fast work was when he had Summer to come home to. It was hard for him to get out of bed, make meals for himself or concentrate on anything he was doing. Luckily, you were there for him or, at least, tried to be. You weren’t sure what would happen to your friendship after your sudden kiss, but you felt like it was inappropriate to bring up with what happened after it. Even though the status of your possible relationship was unknown and your feelings were still strong, you were there for Tom no matter what.
In the morning, you stirred in the sheets and felt the soft fabric of the pillow against your cheek. As you reached your arm over on Tom’s side of the bed, your hand brushed over the cotton linens which made you slowly open your eyes. The duvet was folded over and his pillow was propped up, showing you he had been up for a while before he got up. You let out a long yawn, stretching your arms and legs and feeling the cold air against your skin.
You walked around the bed, grabbing the blanket at the end of it and wrapping it over your shoulders before leaving the bedroom. When you got to the end of the hallway, you saw Tom sitting on the couch with a box in his lap and a few pictures scattered on the cushion. Your lips went to the side as you approached him, trying to be quiet but the sound of the floor creaking made Tom look over his shoulder.
“Morning.” You grinned, standing behind the couch.
You ran your hands over his hair, playing with it before you looked at the pictures. They were of Summer since she was a baby, most of them were birthday pictures or other special events, like when she lost her first tooth or the first time she stood up. Tom cherished the memories, hoping they would make him happy, but all they did was remind him how he felt like a failure.
“Good morning. How’d you sleep?” Tom asked, his voice groggy and deep.
“Fine, and you?” You replied as you trailed your hand from his hair, walking over to the kitchen.
“Good.” He lied, running his thumb against his left eye before grabbing another picture.
It was Summer’s first Halloween and he dressed her up in the homemade lion costume you worked so hard on. He half-smiled thinking about when you drew in a nose with black paint and she scrunched her face, the bristles of the brush tickling before Summer sneezed. Before you could warn her, she wiped her nose with her hand and you and Tom couldn’t help but laugh. With Halloween just around the corner, his smile fell wondering if they would have another one together.
“Here you go. Dark and two sugars.” You softly said, handing him a cup of coffee, just the way he liked it.
“Thank you.” He weakly smiled, taking a short sip.
“How are you feeling?” You asked.
Tom placed his cup of coffee on the table and collected the pictures so you could sit beside him.
“Better. I got a little more sleep.” He muttered and set the box of pictures on the floor.
You pulled off the fuzzy blanket on the arm of the couch before you sat down, laying it over your and Tom’s lap. Your crisscrossed your legs, holding your mug in your lap while Tom put his free arm around your shoulders. When you turned your head to Tom, he didn’t have the same natural glow to him.
He was struggling to find some kind of closure, but the lack of communication with Maggie made it hard for him to not overthink. There were no calls and rarely a text. Tom was going crazy, replaying the last moments with Summer in his head.
“Maybe you can skip work today.” You suggested, rubbing the top of his leg.
Tom nodded, “I can’t. I need the tips. Hopefully, I can get Halloween night. I’ll be able to cover child support for the month.” He rubbed the back of his neck, closing his eyes as he tilted his head toward the ceiling.
Your lips went to the side, “Did Maggie say when you’d see Summer?”
He sighed, “No. I haven’t heard anything either.”
“That can’t be legal.”
“Summer’s not mine, Y/N. I don’t get to see her when I want.” Tom retorted as if he was defending her.
“You know that’s not true. It doesn’t matter if she’s your blood, you gave her the best life. Who knows? Maggie probably just forged it. People do it all the time. Why would she just come back when you slept together one time?” You acknowledged, not trusting her for a second.
“I don’t want to get into it.” He replied, taking another sip of coffee.
“Then when are you? Because I know you love that kid more than anything else in the world.” You protested, still facing him.
Tom finally looked your way, meeting your eyes, but he didn’t want to say anything. You didn’t expect a response because you knew that he did love her and he was going to find a way to get her back, no matter how long it took. You tilted your head at him, cracking a smile and tilting his chin up. The warmth that came from your comfort helped him see the brighter side in this, motivating him to see that this wouldn’t last forever.
“You know you’re the best, right?” Tom grinned.
You reached your hand up, intertwining yours with his that was hanging off your shoulder, “I try.” You joked, both of you sharing a light laugh.
You ran your fingers through Tom’s hair, trying to fix it, but he was growing it long as he did in high school. Tom let out a low chuckle, feeling your hand trail to cup his cheek and you rubbed your thumb over his cheek and the faint freckles painted across his soft skin.
While the past few days had been confusing, Tom knew that he wanted to be with you, but he didn’t want to stir you in his drama. As much as you had been there for the past six years, he realized that Summer was his responsibility, and to bring you into a triangle with him and Maggie didn’t seem fair. It’s not because he wanted to push you away for his selfish reasons, but because he wanted to protect you from whatever was going to happen from this point. You were still best friends and would always be, but it didn’t feel like enough after finally kissing each other and not wanting to let go.
As you pulled your hand back, you glanced down and see some of the pictures in the box. You quickly lean down, placing it on your lap and you picked through the various photos before there was one that brought back memories.
“I can’t believe you have this.” You chuckled, holding the photo close to your face.
Tom turned his head toward it, not knowing he had his eyes glued to you, and he instantly smiled.
“Ah, when I was your knight in shining armor.” He beamed at the picture of you with your broken arm and he stood next to you wearing his favorite baseball jersey.
“You mean when you carried my books for me and helped me put on my backpack, oh yeah, I remember.” You grinned, reminiscing to when the world wasn’t so complicated.
Tom smiled, “Don’t act like you didn’t love it.” He rubbed your shoulder, both of you chuckling at the memory. You handed him the picture, but he slowly was reminded of Summer and her recent accident.
“Shit..” He trailed, “I hope she’s kept her cast dry. I should call.” Tom said, unwrapping his arm from your shoulders and you watched him frantically looking for his phone around the apartment.
“Tom!”
“Huh?” He asked, lifting some papers on his counter.
You lifted his phone, his screen cracked, in your hand and grinned, “Looking for something?”
A relieved smile painted on his face as he walked over, taking the phone and he kissed a light kiss against the top of your head, “What would I do without you?”
It was nice to see him turning back to his old self, but you knew that his happiness was at the risk of being at Maggie’s beck and call. Even though you weren’t Summer’s mom, you wanted to have a say where she ends up too.
You half-smiled, watching him walk down the hall to his bedroom. You turned toward the box of pictures, rummaging through enough to get an idea of how to organize them.
Tom slowly paced across his room as the phone rang, sweat on his palms that he brushed on the back of his jeans. He leaned his head toward the ceiling and tried not to overthink what he could say if he went straight to voicemail.
“Hello?” Maggie retorted, running her fingers through the crown of her hair.
“Hey. I just wanted to make sure things were okay.” Tom trailed as he sat on the edge of his bed.
“Fine, it’s fine.” She lied, searching through her laundry basket.
Tom furrowed his eyebrows, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, things are fine! I’m just trying to find this stupid sweater.” She grunted, pushing through all the folded clothes.
“What sweater?”
“Some yellow sweater with a heart on that she won’t stop complaining about.”
Summer was sitting on the couch, insisting she wanted to watch her favorite cartoons after breakfast. Maggie didn’t want to deal with the complaining and poking so it was relieving to keep her distracted instead of having to keep Summer entertained while she tried to work from home.
“Oh, I forgot to put it in there. Shit.” Tom cursed, quickly getting up.
He walked to Summer’s room, knowing the exact drawer he remembered placing it in and not surprised that it was there. Tom lifted the sweater, the sleeves unfolding, and seeing how worn it was from the ripped tag. He brought it up to his face, inhaling the lingering smell of watermelon and kiwi from her shampoo.
“Yeah, I got it. It’s here.” He told her, the phone between his ear and shoulder.
“Okay, I’ll come over and get it.” Maggie huffed.
“No, no! I can go over there. I have to go to work later so I can come by.” Tom offered, glaring at the small sweater in his hand.
“Depends, are you going to bring… Y/N?” She crossed her arms as she leaned against the washing machine, “Because I don’t think she’s been a good influence.”
Tom’s eyebrows arched, “Excuse me?”
“Summer says “Y/N lets me do this or Y/N and I do this” and I don’t think it’s good considering she’s not her mom. She shouldn’t have such big control over her.” Maggie said loud enough for Summer to hear from the couch.
“You weren’t there for her and she was so, I’m sorry if she acts like her mom more than you.” Tom chimed.
Maggie clenched her jaw, “Just drop it off. Okay?”
“Sure. I’ll be over around three.”
She hung up abruptly and Tom was left upset from not being able to talk to Summer. He hated how he didn’t have any sense of control, to think that this could be the way things are until she goes off to college. Out of anger, Tom threw his phone across the room that made a loud thud against the wall. His blood boiled and tears filled his eyes, bringing the sweater back to his face and trying to let the lingering scent keep him calm.
You stood in the hall across from the door and it was close enough to hear the whole conversation. Every word made your heart drop, not knowing what you could do for him. You hated eavesdropping, but it was getting harder to get the truth from Tom as the days went by. He was falling apart and it was getting too painful to slowly watch.
“Tom?” You softly asked, knocking on the door.
He left the sweater on the bed, wiping his eyes with the end of his t-shirt before grabbing his phone off the floor. To his relief, the already cracked screen didn’t have any new damage. Tom wiped the screen against his pants before opening the door to meet your gaze.
“Sorry about that. I just got frustrated.” He avoided looking in your eyes.
“It’s okay.” You tell him, not needing any assurance. All you did was wrap your arms around him and tell him that it would all be okay, even if you didn’t really know if it would be.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜
The half-hour drive to Maggie’s apartment felt like hours to Tom, his head filled with what he was going to say to her or how he was going to handle whatever she told him. He bit on his nails on his left hand while the other gripped the top of the steering wheel tight. Right when he thought of the things he could say, his anxiety made him forget all of the rational thoughts.
As he parked in a parallel spot, Tom got out of the car with the sweater in one hand with a duffle in the other. He carefully crossed the street and entered the complex, walking up the stairs to the fourth level. When he entered through the exit door, he saw the floors were polished and the lighting was bright since there were no windows. It all came off as luxurious and bare, nothing but one or two paintings on the wall.
He knocked a few times under the plastic golden numbers, his eyes searching around until he heard the locks click. The door flew open and Maggie popped her head out, her makeup a few shades darker than last time.
“Hey,” Tom mumbled.
“Hey… you brought it?” She asked quickly, opening the door more.
Tom couldn’t help looking past her, seeing if Summer was in there.
“Yeah. Here.” Tom huffed, handing her the sweater, “And I brought some other stuff she might want.” He gave her the duffle too, weighing down in her hand when he passed it.
“Jesus, what’s in this? She’s not going off to college.”
“A few books, shirts, socks, a few Mad Libs.” He said what was off the top of his head, shoving his hands in his front pockets.
“Well thanks, it should keep her busy.” Maggie quickly grinned, but before she could shut the door, Tom took a step forward.
“Can I see her? Just for a few minutes before I go to work.” Tom asked, even though he didn’t feel the need to.
She sighed, “I really have to go, Tom.”
Before Tom could say another word, Summer shouted from behind Maggie, “Daddy!”
Summer pushed past Maggie, holding out her arms and Tom immediately wrapped his around her. He spun her around with her feet off the ground. He could cry as he held her tighter, kissing the top of her hair and she giggled, “I missed you!”
He put her back on her feet, “I missed you too, kid. How’s the cast?” Tom smiled.
She lifted it up, “Good, I got more names on it.”
“Oh, yeah? Aren’t you miss popular.” Tom chuckled, watching her rotate the cast.
“Are we going home?” Summer quickly asked.
Tom sealed his lips, “Ah, not… yet.”
Summer’s face shifted, “But, I wanna go home.”
“Not yet, baby.” Tom knew it wasn’t in his control right now.
“But, I wanna go home now…” She protested, a dimple between her furrowed eyebrows.
It was the first time he heard true sorrow in her light voice. A kid always had their emotional fits, but Tom taught her that it was okay to talk to her and didn’t have to hold anything back. There was never a moment of questioning her temper tantrums or how she behaved, but he couldn’t wrap his head around this whole incident. He didn’t know how to answer her questions and help her and it was killing him to feel like he was doing nothing yet also trying to do everything he could.
“Summer, I promise you’ll be home soon, okay?” He promised, running his hand over her soft hair.
“Okay.” She pouted.
Quickly turning away, Summer fled back into the apartment and didn’t give Tom another look. He chewed the inside of his cheek and Maggie put her hand on your hip, not knowing what else to say.
“Well, thanks.” She huffed.
“When can I see her again?” Tom asked, embarrassed from how desperate he came off.
She nodded, “I don’t know...”
Tom clenched his jaw, “I raised her, I don’t understand how you can come back and just take her away like you suddenly want to be a great mother. Do you want something else from me other than child support? Huh? What is it, Maggie?” He asked, frustrated and tired of biting his tongue.
Maggie looked over her shoulder at Summer, meeting her blatant glare, so Maggie stepped into the hall to have some privacy. Tom took a few steps away from her, putting his back against the wall while she stood on her side.
“I don’t want to argue with you, Tom. I really don’t-”
“Then why are you doing this?” He cut her off.
She nodded, “I’m uncomfortable with it all.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re not Summer’s dad!” Maggie stated, “Okay? Do you know how confusing that is gonna be to her? That the guy who has raised her for six years isn’t even her dad!”
Tom was in disbelief, his throat dry and thinking as if he got the wind out of him.
“I want to take a DNA test.”
Maggie couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re not her dad.”
“I don’t care, I’m taking a test. If I’m the father, she gets to stay with me.”
“Well, she’s not so, good luck with that plan.” She boldly told Tom, watching him walk away from the conversation.
Adrenaline fueled him, leaving the building with the last dignity he felt like he had. The doubt rapidly sunk in from Maggie’s words and for the first time, Tom started to believe that she was right. He may have wasted six years of his life, not knowing how he could have fallen for it all.
After slamming the car door, Tom huffed and wiped his hands down his face. He was annoyed at the stress he held back, thinking he had his emotions under control when everything was falling apart. A million voices spoke throughout his conscience all at once and tried to guide him, too overwhelming to maintain his cool he had kept for so long. Tom clenched his fist and quickly jabbed the steering wheel, pain coursing from his blistered knuckles.
The night shift was a wreck and Tom couldn’t gain his confidence back. He messed up drink orders that infuriated his tipsy customers, dropped a glass from how shaky his hands were, and overall couldn’t clear his mind from his argument earlier with Maggie. Nevertheless, Tom pushed through the sloppy job he did but had to flee to the back to get some air from the inebriated crowd.
With a bottle of beer in one hand, he slipped away when one of his co-workers came in. Tom exited to the back alley, the cold breeze hitting his face and the wind slapping his back when the door closed behind him. As he brought the bottle to his lips, Tom took breaths through his nose as he downed the bitter ale. His eyes burned from the icy carbonation, pulling it away after drinking most of it. He tossed the glass bottle into the dumpster across from him, running his hands through his hair as he paced around the dead end.
“Shit!” He growled, his voice echoing.
A few tears trailed down his cheek and he quickly wiped them with the back of his hand. Tom got himself together, but before he went back inside to end his shift, his phone vibrated in his front pocket. He was relieved to see your name headlining a picture of the two of you.
“Hey, babe.” Tom sniffled.
You were taken back by the pet name, “Babe?”
He smiled, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. I’m tired.” He pinched his nose bridge.
“No, no, I wasn’t sure if we were using “babe” or any other grossly cute nicknames.” You jeered, your sweet giggle comforting him.
“It’s just been a weird day.” He pressed his back against the brick wall.
“Things didn’t go well with Maggie?” You sighed, laying down on the couch.
Tom nodded, “Not exactly. But, I’m trying to figure it out.”
Your lips went to the side, not surprised Tom said it because he always liked to tackle everything by himself. There was no need to meddle, but you knew he would come around when he wanted to.
“Hey, I know it’s hard now, but… You’re gonna get her back.” You started, hoping it sounded comforting.
Tom remembered when you said he’d never lose her. He already doubted himself, but he didn’t want to have a lack of uncertainty with you, a person he trusted more than anyone.
“Tom?” You asked, only hearing the noises of passing cars in the background.
“Yeah, babe, I’m here.” Tom shook his head, running his hand down his face.
His voice cracked from the brokenness, causing your heart to flutter. You wanted to fix this all, and you would if you could, but it was equally as frustrating for you to keep your calm. You knew that if you exploded with rage and anger, Tom would follow the same path of destruction and it’s the last thing you both needed to do.
“Okay… are you coming back soon?”
“Yeah, I’m almost off my shift. I’ll text you when I’m on my way.”
“Drive safe, please.” You tilted your head, pulling your legs to your chest.
“Always.” He smiled before hanging up.
Tom went back inside to finish his shift, hoping to get a few tips from his charm. He snuck a few shots of Crown and gin in between his orders, looking around to make sure none of his co-workers saw. It was out of his character to drink on the job knowing it could get him fired on the spot, but Tom didn’t care. He wanted the pain inside to numb away with warm liquor until he was sick.
Making the poor decision of driving home, Tom took his time to get back. He rubbed his eyes a few times from the haze fogging his vision, but he slowly pulled into his usual parking spot. At first, he forgot to put on the parking gear, the car rolling forward before he stepped on the brake. A drunk chuckle left his lips as he parked, pulling the keys out and he leaned on the car to maintain his balance.
You fell asleep on the couch waiting for him only to flinch from the door slamming. As you put your weight on your arms, Tom walked in with a sway to his walk.
“Hey, I was starting to worry.” You groaned, stretching as you stood up from the couch.
“Sorry, I was… trying to get home and there was… it was fine.” He slurred, a faint smile on his face.
You furrowed your eyebrows, walking up to him and instantly smelling the alcohol on his breath.
“You drove home drunk?”
“I’m here in one piece, aren’t I?” He breezed past you, kicking his shoes off by the kitchen island then heading to the bedroom.
“You could have gotten killed.” You hissed.
You crossed your arms as you followed him, standing in the door frame. Tom struggled to unbutton his shirt, not able to grip them with his hazy vision.
“I’m here, okay? I’m fine and I just need to sleep.” Tom groaned, the alcohol fueling his irritation.
You didn’t want to pick a fight, not this late and not with everything else going on, so you digressed and decided to leave it till the morning.
As he lazily pulled apart his button-up, he threw it to the side and left him in his basic white tee. You walked around to the shared bathroom and cupped some lukewarm water in your hands to splash on your face. You could hear Tom unbuckle his pants and he threw them to the floor, missing the hamper by a long shot.
You walked to your side of the bed, glancing at him laying down with his bloodshot eyes still open.
“Tom, you can’t do this.”
“I know. I know, but this… I fucking can’t think about anything else.” He admitted.
You sat up on the bed with your head against your pillow, pulling the duvet over your legs. You ran your hand over his messy, brown curls, weaving your fingers through it and pushing it back. His eyes met yours as you continued to play with his hair.
“From how long we’ve been friends, I know you have always put the weight of the world on your shoulders.” You spoke calmly, your tone soft and sweet like honey, “But, you can’t keep doing this to yourself...”
He gulped, not knowing how to let go of this anger he internalized.
“Then what am I supposed to do?” His voice was broken.
“You need to take your time, baby.” You whispered, running your hand through his hair again.
Tom gently held your hand that was resting on your stomach, brought it to his face, and kissed the top of it a few times. You grinned, watching him bring your intertwined hands to his chest. He kept his eye contact with you, his free hand tucking your hair behind your ear.
“I don’t know how I’d stay sane without you.” He revealed, his eyes glossy.
You half-smiled, “You’d function, just not as properly.” You jeered, trying to make him laugh.
“Oh, always with the jokes.” Tom chuckled, tickling up your side and you began to kick around, letting out infectious belly laughs.
“I can’t help it! You’re fun to mess with.” You beamed.
You shifted down to be face to face with him, lying next to him and forgetting about the world for a few minutes. Tom was never big on affection with who we dated, struggling to open himself up with people he felt were temporary. Little did you know that he was wrapped around your finger since the day you fell off the jungle gym.
“I just want you to be happy.” You sighed.
He nodded, “I am happy. I promise.”
You brushed your nose against his, your head angled from the side. Tom’s light buzz lingered, wrapping his arms around your shoulders to pull you closer to him under the warm, cotton sheets. Your head rested on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and running your hand down his abdomen. As you brought his hand toward you, but you furrowed your eyebrows at the light red and purple bruising across his knuckles.
“What’s this from?” You asked, grazing your finger over his skin.
Tom raised his eyebrows, “Uh, I don’t know.” He lied.
You pouted, “You should ice it tomorrow. It looks kind of bad.”
“Yeah…” Tom trailed, biting the inside of his cheek.
You pressed light kisses against the bruises, “Gotta be more careful, babe.”
His brown eyes brightened, a small smile on his lips before he scattered some kisses against your temple, your cheek pressing against his shoulder.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜
When you two went to the clinic to get the DNA test, Tom couldn’t sit still the whole time. From the waiting room until he sat on top of the doctor’s table, he pulled at his fingers or tapped his leg which made you place your hands on him to get him to stop. You gave him words of encouragement, trying to support him through the lengthy process, especially when he saw the needle thread into his dark blue veins.
“I thought it was just gonna be a cheek swab.” He chuckled, discomfort in his chuckle.
“Some places do that, but a blood test is more accurate.” The nurse tried to calm him, her tone soft.
“How accurate?” He hissed at the sudden pinch.
Her lips went to the side, “Above ninety percent.”
His head was turned to the cabinets, fixating on the bold font of one of the flyers. You sat in the black, plastic chair next to the counter, your legs crossed and peering up at Tom. His face scrunched together for a split second, visibly seeing that he still hated needles after all these years.
“What?” He asked.
You nodded, “Nothing. You’re just making a cute face.” You jeered, placing your hand on your cheek with your elbow on the arm of the chair.
“Just reminds me of high school blood drives… Nurse Jenna always poking my vein a thousand times.” He huffed.
“It’s because you squirmed so much, like you are now.” You teased.
He rolled his eyes with a faint smile, looking down at his feet before the nurse pulled the needle away and covered it with a ball of cotton. Tom held it there for a few seconds until she slowly wrapped the light blue bandage the perfect tightness around his arm.
“You should get the results back in four to five days. We’ll let you know right away, Mr. Holland.”
“Thank you so much.” Tom grinned at her.
After the nurse walked out with the blood sample and her file, you stood up, slinging your purse strap on your shoulder. Tom stepped down from the table, pulling down his flannel sleeve to cover the bandage.
“You were so brave. Are you upset she didn’t give you a lollipop?” You joked.
“Don’t worry too much, but I think I’ll live.” He jeered back, leaning in to kiss your forehead.
You wrapped your arm around his back, giving him a light hug before you two left to check out then headed back to his apartment. On the ride home, Tom was fairly quiet with the low music from the speakers filling the car. There wasn’t anything you needed to say, but being there for each other was enough comfort. With the windows rolled down halfway, the fresh air weaved through your hair and your fingers were loosely wrapped around the top of the steering wheel.
Tom looked out the window, watching the scenes you passed by, but his head was in a different place. His elbow rested against the armrest of the door, unconsciously biting his nail and shaking his leg. You cautiously put your hand on top of his, the one settled on his leg, intertwining your fingers together without looking at him.
It was still hard getting used to the quietness, not only from you but within Tom’s life.
Tom missed Summer being at the apartment, looking forward to putting up the crayon drawings she worked on at breakfast or insisting they go to the park on weekends. But, since she hadn’t been around, it gave more time for you and Tom to be alone, at least back to how you were six years ago. For the most part, it was nice to dance in the middle of the living room, spinning each other around and sharing takeout at the coffee table while watching a tooth-rotting, romance movie. Just making it more obvious that Summer changed his life, even in the smallest things she did.
The growth of your relationship was important, but most of it was centered around Summer. It didn’t mean you couldn’t both carry a conversation without her, just that most of the things you did together were for her. Endless trips to the park, going to the zoo, taking her to girl scouts, or even running around the house playing hide and seek if it was a rainy day. Her giggles filled the apartment, endless amounts of laughter from the three of you and the memories you created. It was the one thing that motivated Tom to fight for her, just to make more and more memories and have her back in his arms for good.
As the grueling days passed, it was closer to Halloween night and Tom was trying to get as many shifts as he could. Not only was it one of their busiest times, but he also got generous tips. Because the holiday was during a school day, Tom’s apartment held an event for some kids to come by and trick-or-treat early.
It would be Tom’s first holiday without Summer there, but the results would come any time now. It’s all that consumed his mind, on top of him working on her Halloween costume without her. She insisted she wanted to be Wonder Woman and you and Tom never used store-bought costumes, not even when she was a baby and you made a pumpkin costume out of orange felts and stitching.
“Hey! You’re gonna be late for work.” You said, running your hands through Tom’s curls when you passed by him sitting at the table.
Tom snapped out of his trance, shaking his head and rubbing his tired eyes with the palms of his hands. Today marked the day Tom should have gotten his DNA test back, checking his phone and email since he woke up before dawn.
“Are you staying late? I know Halloween week is probably like the jackpot for you guys.” You grinned, grabbing a mixed bag of candy from on top of the fridge and a bowl from the cabinet.
“Yeah, if you thought the tips from single moms paid up, wait until you get an open tab from a fratboy.” Tom chuckled as he got up, stretching his back and he brushed down his wrinkled, navy button-down.
“Well, I’m sure they’re just flirting with you too. You’re so damn charming with those brown eyes and smile.” You winked at him, shifting the big bowl of sweets with both your hands.
He walked behind you, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, “Hmm, well there’s enough of me to go around.” Tom jeered.
Tom checked his phone once again, scrolling through his email and call history, seeing him looking down at it from the corner of your eye.
“Hey, babe, you need to get going.” You reminded him, placing the bowl of candy on the small table next to the door. You walked over to him, wrapping your arms around him from behind and planting a soft kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you, dear.” Tom faintly smiled, nudging his head against yours before you untangled from him.
He shoved his phone in his back pocket, grabbing his denim jacket off the back of the kitchen chair. Tom told you he’d call you on his way home and to have fun, but felt some relief from not being around the kids. He’d barely spoken to Maggie since their argument last week, only getting updates on Summer and her behavior. Tom never knew someone could find the one nerve that could be pinched in any instance, making him incredibly annoyed with whatever he was doing.
The bar was getting packed as Tom walked past the crowd in the front, everyone mingling at the high-rise tables in their various costumes. There was a discount if you wore a costume, usually helping business with more drinks for lower prices, but that meant the night would feel longer with an endless amount of orders piling on top of each other with little patience from a drunken mob.
Rolling his sleeves up to his elbows, Tom made sure their inventory was stocked as he breezed by his co-workers. He wasn’t close enough to them to tell anyone want he was dealing with, but he figured it was better not to talk about it so it never came up during a shift.
Multicolored lights flashed and beamed through the moving mass of people, but enough of the warm light above the bar helped guide Tom when he was scrambling to attend to whoever he could. It took his mind off his stress, too worried about not getting drinks right when it was easy to with how hectic it was. Drink after drink, he collected a bill and shoved it in the shared tip jar behind them, hoping they made enough so everyone could walk with sore feet, but be satisfied with their hard work.
As the night grew longer, it became rowdier and it meant that it was harder to get people out so new ones could come in. While Tom talked to one of his regulars down at one side, an argument between two strangers began to ensue toward the middle. Tom looked over his shoulder while leaning on the bar, glaring at the two boys whose voices howled over the music.
“I think you should get the fuck out of my face!” One yelled, he had dirty blonde hair and a scratch by his lip.
“Chill out, what the fuck!” The other retorted and his piercing blue eyes were bright enough for Tom to see from where he stood.
“Hey, give me one second.” Tom told the man he was talking to, quickly pacing over toward the angry exchange, “Hey, knock it off.” He said with an assertive, deep tone.
They ignored Tom, continuing to argue before one threw a punch deep into the other’s face. It knocked the man on the floor, making Tom jump over the bar to try to break up the fight. While he defended himself from the guy who punched first, the other drunken man pulled Tom down by the shoulders. In his inebriated fury, he jabbed Tom in the stomach, hurting his rib which made Tom hold on his hands there.
“Hey man, get off me!” Tom gritted his teeth, grabbing the guy’s wrist to push him back down to the floor.
Even though Tom was strong enough to do so, the other nameless man tried to help Tom, but Tom was soon met with a punch to the eye, near the nose bridge. The guy was twice as large as him, able to put his weight on Tom as he threw constant punches to his face and jaw. Tom’s eyes teared up, mixing with the blood from his nose before the guy was pulled off him.
Tom quickly got on his feet, holding on to the bar, but he was met with more arguing between the two strangers he never should have intervened between, to begin with. He rubbed the back of his head, hoping he didn’t have a concussion with the throbbing under his skin. Before Tom could recover from what happened, the guy approached him again, stumbling until Tom threw a punch back.
He didn’t know what came over him, but the stress of everything instantly came out with his rush of adrenaline. More people from the crowd tried to step in, even one of Tom’s co-workers, but it ended with two police officers settling both of them. Tom tasted the blood on his lips, spitting it on the dirty floor as his heads were pulled behind his back.
“Calm down!” The officer pleaded with Tom, taking him outside of the bar.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜
The sounds of office phones ringing and the news playing lowly were all you could concentrate on. The police station was the last place you thought of being at a time like this, your heart racing since you picked up the phone and told what had happened with Tom. You bounced your leg, the other crossed on top of it and moving your ankle to find anything to make time go faster.
“Y/N L/N.”
You whipped your head, pushing off the chair to get up and speed walk to the front.
“Y-Yes, that’s me.” You said, putting your hands on top of the desk.
“He’s being released now.” The officer spoke with a monotone voice.
You nodded, stepping away from the desk before a short buzz echoed the hall. Tom slowly walked up, his hands behind his back before the officer escorting him released the handcuffs.
“Keep your head up, kid.” The tall officer told him before walking back to the cells.
Tom rubbed his reddened wrists, his face and body in pain from the beating he went through. When you saw his face, you almost couldn’t believe it was him. Red and purple bruises faded on his light skin near his right eye and trailing his sharp jaw. His nose bridge looked displaced and dry blood under his nose, the rest on the collar of his dark shirt. You almost couldn’t stare because of the bright redness surrounding his right eye from popping a vessel.
“Babe…” You choked, gently holding his face.
“I’m okay. I promise.” Tom gulped, his hands settling on your hips, “Let’s just go home.” He croaked.
“Not before we go to the emergency room. Your eye looks awful.” You say, gently moving his head to take a better look at it.
He nodded, “I just wanna go home, please.”
“No, we can’t, you’re hurt--”
“Y/N, I wanna go home.” He snapped.
You clenched your jaw at his stubbornness, “Fine.”
Once you were back to the apartment, the first thing Tom wanted to do was take a shower. He sat on top of the toilet seat, unbuttoning his button-down, but winced at the soreness in his arms when trying to take his not-so-white, t-shirt off. As he continued to try to get his arms higher, Tom couldn’t push himself to do it. He leaned over in frustration, a grunt passing his lips before you walked into the door frame.
“Let me help you.” You softly said, taking a few steps toward him.
Tom didn’t have the energy to fight back so, he leaned back to sitting up straight and lifted his arms as high as he couldn’t which wasn’t much. You grabbed the ends of his t-shirt, peeling it off him and tossing it in the hamper behind you.
You kneeled in front of him, “You got it?”
“Yeah, thanks, baby.” He grunted, holding in his pain.
You nodded, placing your hands on his face and caressing your thumb over his cut cheek. A tear trailed from your waterline, hurt to see him in the state he was. He leaned down and pressed his lips against yours, giving a light kiss. You ran your hand through the nape of his curls before getting back up and putting your hand on the doorknob.
“Just yell if you need me.”
He just nodded in response, wincing as he stood up and you closed the door.
You let out a deep sigh as you walked back to the kitchen, cleaning up the pots and pans you had forgotten to wash from yesterday. It was something to do while Tom was showering, not wanting to think that this wouldn’t have happened if Maggie didn’t come back into his life.
Tom’s phone buzzed on the counter, making you glance at it. The cracked screen lit up but there were a few bloody fingerprints covered on the glass. You picked it up and wet a rag, wiping off any of the dirt and blood from it but you saw an email that was sent to him a few hours ago. You didn’t want to put your nose into his business, but it could have been from the clinic.
Your thumb hesitantly pressed his code in, opening his email account, but you saw it was just a letter from a subscription. Your lips went to the side, feeling bad for snooping until your read an email that he had opened earlier. The timestamp was during his shift, not knowing if he saw it before or after, but your heart fell when you read the document.
“Based on the DNA analysis, the alleged father is excluded as the biological father. This result is consistent with the statement that the alleged father (Thomas Holland) is not the biological father of the child.”
tags/taglist: @felicityparkers @dhtomholland @duskholland @strawberrytom @itstaskeen @tomhollandsgirlfriend @bi-writes @infinite-imagination @honeyspidey @hollandcrush @sunsetholland @pparkersbitch @namoreno @calltothewild @spideyspeaches @veryholland @osterfieldshollandgirl @slutforsebstan @bi-lmg @sunshinepeterparkr @annathesillyfriend @madmadmilk @antigoneidk @hollandcreep @wierdflowerpower
#tom holland imagine#tom holland fluff#tom holland fic#tom holland x reader#tom holland x female reader#dad!tom#bartender!tom
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Ch. 3
18+ MINORS DNI
Pairing: Shigaraki x Dabi (just this part), Tomura Shigaraki x fem!reader (very brief and vague reference to Dabi x Hawks)
Word Count: 3.4k
Warnings: smut and feels, it's literally just smut, blow jobs, friends(?) with benefits, blow jobs, anal fingering, light degradation (both for shigs and reader), could maybe be interpreted as slight dubcon, dirty talk, slutty dabi, dabi is an asshole, so is tomura, reader has gender neutral pronouns, I'm keeping it fem cause Shigs hates women and calls them that
Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6
Summary: In which the boys share in some good ole roommate bonding activities and Tomura has a blow job induced epiphany.
AO3 Mirror
Taglist: @dillybuggg (shoot me an ask if you want to be tagged and make sure to check my rules!)
Dabi’s mouth was wet and so fucking warm as he swallowed around Tomura’s dick.
“Oh fuck…” he groaned as Dabi hummed around his length and did that thing where he flicked the ball of his tongue ring over Tomura’s slit.
Bright blue eyes stared up through deceptively long lashes, smirking at the way Tomura drooled as he got his soul sucked out the tip of dick. The mattress underneath him creaked despite the negligible weight of both their bodies. Dabi settled on his stomach between Tomura’s pale thighs leaving fingerprint bruises in soft flesh.
They did this sometimes, though he wasn’t quite sure when exactly it started. Dabi had been his randomly assigned roommate freshman year and he grew so used to living with him that the two of them had just silently, yet mutually agreed not to fuck something up that wasn’t broken. They both berated each other for their strange and somewhat disgusting habits—Dabi would say that Tomura was a gross shut-in creep who needed a fucking shower and Tomura called Dabi out on his slutty pastimes and obsession with piercing the hell out of every available inch of skin.
And sometimes they sucked each other off.
It was overall not a terrible arrangement—Dabi got his fill of dick and Tomura could no longer be made fun of for being completely inexperienced. Plus, as much as he was loathe to admit, Dabi was really fucking good at oral. Like, demonically good. He’d been going down on Tomura for so long now too that he’d learned all the things that had him spilling onto that pierced tongue in minutes.
Tomura jerked from his thoughts when two, lube slicked fingers prodding at his ass.
“Dabi, what the fuck are you—” he protested, wiggling his scrawny hips up the bed and inadvertently letting his cock slip out of the inviting heat between his roommate’s lips.
He couldn’t see much other than the shaking mop of black hair and pale hands with chipped black nail polish digging into his legs, yanking him back.
“Shut up freak,” Dabi slurred, words slick with spit and Tomura’s precum. Dabi said it tasted like battery acid, but it never stopped him from guzzling it like he did with cheap whiskey and cigarettes on the weekends. “I know you like it.”
He did like it, but Tomura wasn’t about to contribute to the fucking evil grin Dabi was giving him as he circled the tight ring of muscle, slipping in a finger to the first knuckle.
Tomura’s head flopped back on the pillows as he bit back a low moan, “Fuck off.”
“If you say so,” Dabi shoved his finger in roughly, squeezing a second in behind it and letting Tomura bask in the burn of being stretched too quickly before ripping his hands away.
“No!” Tomura wailed pretty fucking shamelessly and grabbed the retreating wrist, placing Dabi’s tatted hand back on his dick that throbbed and leaked painfully.
“Dude, what’s gotten the fuck into you?” his roommate asked, smirking still, but pumping Tomura's cock loosely nonetheless. “Our walls are thin as hell, you know I can hear you jerkin' it in here every night, and now you’re practically begging for me to suck you off. Usually I gotta come to you.”
He was infuriatingly right again.
Tomura had indeed asked for him to do this, which was definitely out of character for him. Most of the time when they ended up in this position, it was because Dabi spent hours hounding him about it or just fucking dropped to his knees and whipped Tomura’s cock out in the middle of a movie night or snuck into his room while Tomura was gaming and swallowed him whole just to laugh at the way his online friends reacted to the noises.
He’s just been so pent up lately, and you insisting on fucking touching his arm or sitting on the floor between his feet at League meetings was really not helping it.
“I don’t know,” Tomura lied, both to Dabi and himself in the hopes that the head of black hair would just go back to bobbing on his dick like he so desperately needed it to.
“Bro, I have fucked with enough people to know when they’re wishing I was someone else,” Dabi scoffed and ran a blessedly hot tongue from base to tip and suckled softly at the blush pink head before pulling back with a wet pop. “So who is it?”
“I’m not fucking thinking about anyone,” Tomura hissed, fisting Dabi’s spiky, black locks and thrusting into his mouth till he felt the contractions of Dabi gagging around his length. “Usually you're jumping at the chance to get dick in your mouth, so why does it matter?”
Dabi pulled back, wiping the silvery string of spit leaking past his lips away and scowling as his fingers ghosted over Tomura’s balls and sank back into his pliant ass.
“Seriously creep, I’m five seconds away from ghosting and you can fuck your hand like the sad little bitch you are. So tell me their name or I’m walking right now.”
Tomura huffed as he felt Dabi’s long, rough fingers pulled from him again and the heat of his mouth growing farther away.
“Ugh fine, it’s that bitch I’ve been working on the English thing with.”
Dabi made a face like his brain was buffering.
“Seriously?” he asked, mouth gaping in a way that had Tomura even more furious his dick wasn’t buried in it.
“Yes!” he shouted and grabbed Dabi’s cheeks in both hands, sinking past his waiting lips and practically purring when he felt them close around the base as his long tongue massaged the shaft. “Oh god yes…”
Dabi rolled his eyes, managing to look smug even with a cock stretching his lips taught against the piercings. He used to try and tease Tomura about how small his dick was, but it was hard to believe him. Especially with how he choked sometimes when Tomura got rough with him despite his boasts of lacking a gag reflex. Not to mention how he looked now, jaw probably aching with the stretch and loving every second of it.
Tomura lazily bucked his hips up and whined high when the fingers in his ass curled and thrust against that fucking spot he hadn’t known was there until Dabi found it for him.
The pleased sound he made tapered off into a growl though, when his roommate with questionable benefits pulled off again to run his slutty fucking mouth.
“Tell me about it,” he mumbled, kitten licking at Tomura’s cock and running the ball of his piercing through the slit again. Tomura gulped when he pulled it back into his mouth to swallow the bead of precum he’d collected. “I’ve seen your fucking paramour around before, pretty serious about school though. And kinda out of your league too, not gonna lie. So, what would you do if your cute little partner was here instead?”
Tomura bristled at the insult but couldn’t keep his pissed off look when Dabi went back to sucking his cock like a pro and curling those fucking fingers against his prostate. When he did speak, he blushed hard at the way his voice cracked and sounded like he was crying.
“I don’t fucking—holy shit—know,” he gasped and Dabi hummed both to egg him on and to get a whole new wave of precum gushing out of Tomura’s dick.
“C’mon man,” Dabi groaned, and Tomura distinctly heard the sound of a pants zipper and felt Dabi’s hips canting against the sheets.
That fucking masochistic whore. He would get off to Tomura dirty talking about someone else while he sucked his dick.
He considered stopping the whole thing right there, but then Dabi was sinking a third finger into his ass and thrusting hard while he hallowed his cheeks around Tomura’s cock and sucked—
“Tits!” Tomura cried and covered his burning, red cheeks with his hands. “I want to put my fucking face in them and taste them in my mouth. Sometimes I can see the outline of their nipples when we’re working and the air conditioning comes on and I want to suck on them so fucking bad I can’t think about anything else the whole night.”
Once he got started, Tomura found the words just spilled from him like a dam had burst. Dabi, the depraved bastard, groaned loud and ground his pierced dick harder against the mattress as he continued to deepthroat Tomura’s cock and fuck his ass at that perfect angle.
“Sometimes when they drag me to their stupid club I lose the rounds cause I—oh god, oh fuck—just imagine them in my lap, sitting on my cock and fucking writhing and squeezing me while we face off. Such a fucking—Dabi more!—stereotypical try-hard, bitch but I want to be inside them so fucking bad,” he felt actual tears stinging the raw corners of his eyes when Dabi sped up on his dick.
Tomura scrapped his nails against Dabi’s scalp, holding on for dear life as his breathing became even more ragged than usual. His friend’s cruelty streak reared its ugly head as Dabi sensed the tensing of Tomura’s balls and the clench of his tight ass and slowed down a fraction, keeping him teetering on the edge of an explosively pleasurable release.
“Fucking asshole,” he growled, but didn’t dare try to fuck Dabi’s face lest he make good on his threat to leave Tomura high and dry. “I just—shit, ah, don’t stop—they talk to me sometimes and I just wanna suck their tongue into my mouth so they shut up and I need to hear them fucking falling apart or using that stupid, stuck up teacher voice on me and fucking my ass—Dabi Fuck—is that what you wanted to hear?”
Dabi, because he got off on being a little shit, gave him one last delicious swallow before pulling back and fisting Tomura’s sopping wet cock. The fingers had stopped thrusting and were now pressed hard against his prostate, sending shocks through his body and making him twitch violently as his blood rushed with endorphins. He never stopped grinding his own dick against Tomura’s cotton sheets the whole time.
“You got it bad huh, don’t ya creep,” he mused, letting a fat glob of spit fall from his lips and keep his palm slick. “That’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk about fucking anything, much less another actual person.”
“No I fucking don’t, “ Tomura writhed against the pillows, giving in to the undeniable urge to simultaneously fuck up into Dabi’s hand and ride his fingers.
“Who knew you were such a desperate whore, falling for the first person to show you a modicum of attention,” Dabi jeered and squeezed the tip of his dick hard, listening to Tomura let out a choked sob. “I’m actually kinda proud of you, bro. My little incel baby’s growing up.”
Dabi cooed at Tomura, sinking sharp teeth deep into the meat of his thigh and sucking a bruise into the flesh.
“You’re the one—nghh—getting off on it,” Tomura clapped back but didn’t bother denying it again.
There was a sense of dread growing in his gut alongside the mounting pleasure of his orgasm that Dabi was currently holding hostage. Dabi may have had a dickish personality just as massive as the actual dick that was currently painting his comforter in stains, but he knew Tomura.
And he did, admittedly have much more experience with these types of things.
“Fuck yeah I am,” Dabi grunted. “Last time I let you return the favor you bit my fucking cock. I gotta get off somehow.”
“Don’t say rude shit to me and I won’t bite you.”
“Watch it, Tomura,” Dabi huffed and nipped at his thigh again. “You should be thanking me for my services.”
“Not if you’re gonna keep running your mouth instead of sucking me off,” he tried to sound intimidating but he was well and truly wrecked and couldn’t find the energy to give his words an edge.
“You should ask them out,” Dabi continued, ignoring the failed attempts at banter. “Bring ‘em over or some shit. Maybe then if I lock down that blonde piece of ass I’ve been talking to, we’ll both have much more interesting things to go down on.”
“Your whore ass is the one always jumping me, don’t act like it’s a fucking chore,” Tomura groaned as Dabi started licking at his cock again, pressing sloppy, half kisses on the tip as he jerked it in his fist.
“Not my fault I get bored sometimes,” he replied and closed his eyes as Tomura clenched particularly hard around Dabi’s relentless fingers. “But seriously, you should go for it. I’d kill to find out if you’re just as bad at eating pussy as you are sucking dick.”
“Fuck y—” Tomura started to say when Dabi reared up till they were chest to chest and their foreheads knocked together.
“I fucking will if you don’t shut up, creep, and I think it’d be so much better if you handed your fucking virginity to that pretty little partner bitch instead,” he said and stunned Tomura into silence when he licked into his mouth.
Dabi had kissed him before, but Tomura could count the number of occasions on one hand and almost all had been when his punk ass roommate was drunk as hell and in his feels about some tortured past. But Dabi’s eyes were bright and lucid now, blinking down at Tomura as he dragged their tongues together, flooding his mouth with the faint taste of cigarettes and jizz.
Their cocks brushed together too, the stimulation making Tomura whine into Dabi’s lips, who dropped a merciful hand down, taking them both in his fist and began pumping.
He didn’t stop as he pulled back, grinning down at Tomura like a fucking maniac—all shitty tattoos and silver piercings. The little barbels that stuck through Dabi’s nipples brushed against his own and made him moan at the cool metal and hot skin on his sensitive chest. Tomura was fucking sensitive everywhere, as Dabi had helped him discover, probably from a lifetime of being touched more by cheap sweatshirts than human hands.
“Now,” Dabi grunted as he thrust loosely against Tomura’s cock and his own fist before pulling away to settle back between his legs. “Shut up and cum down my throat—gotta give your virgin ass a refresher on mind shattering orgasms, so you know if that bitch is any good or not.”
Tomura’s tongue was halfway around a witty comeback when Dabi swallowed him to the hilt once again and started working his ass even harder. He really fucked hoped the neighbors were not home to hear him get his shit rocked at 2pm on a fucking Tuesday, cause Dabi might have been flunking out of his classes but he’d get a goddamn A plus for sucking dick.
The hand on his thigh, spreading him open, migrated to his hip so that Tomura could snap his legs shut hard around Dabi’s ring littered ears as he guided Tomura to grind down on his hand. The pressure in his gut built up exponentially higher now that Dabi wasn’t trying to hold him on the edge of climax. It took an embarrassingly short amount of time for him to acquiesce to Dabi’s request, as he tightened up in a full body clench before gripping Dabi’s hair and spilling rope after rope of hot, sticky release straight onto his roommate’s tongue.
Dabi, the fucking slut, made a show of swallowing every drop that spilled from Tomura’s abused cock, milking his prostate the whole time and only letting Tomura slip from his mouth when he was soft and finally spent.
The fingers in his ass remained though, still for the most part and slowly dipping in and out every so often. Tomura whimpered and clenched but was somewhat thankful for the remaining feeling of fullness.
“So, did you really mean all that?” Dabi asked with his signature smirk. “You really want your group project partner to cockwarm you and fuck your tight little ass?”
“Fuck off,” Tomura scowled and smacked Dabi hard across the face with an errant pillow.
Dabi yanked it from his grasp and tossed his ammunition onto the floor. “Hey, it’s not actually too bad in here,” he wiggled his fingers for emphasis which elicited an embarrassingly high gasp from Tomura, “give ‘em my number if you need a reference for asshole tightness.”
“Get the fuck out of my ass and my room,” Tomura kicked at Dabi’s back as it shook with laughter that lacked it’s usual jeering bite.
“What? Saving the cuddles for your new S/O?” he shot back, nuzzling his cum and spit covered face into Tomura’s neck.
With their chests pressed together, Tomura could feel the cooling, sticky remnants of Dabi’s own release coating his stomach. He squirmed against the sensation and pushed at the offending chest until his friend flopped down onto the scant space left between the mattress and the wall.
“Ew,” Tomura ran a finger through the mess Dabi had left smeared on him. “I’m taking a fucking shower.”
“God, finally!” Dabi exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and producing a cigarette from god knows where. He let the paper rest between his lips unlit. “I should have thought about getting you fucked out on the reg earlier, creep, if it’ll stop you smelling like ass.”
Tomura launched the discarded pillow which hit it’s mark with a dull thump.
“You better be fucking gone when I get back,” he hissed and stumbled naked, on shaking legs into the hall and to their shared bathroom.
Dabi’s cackling followed him until the door shut and the lock clicked behind him.
Tomura turned the water on quickly, letting steam cloud the mirror before he jumped under the spray. The only products on the shelves were Dabi’s for the most part with the exception of a store brand bar of soap and some 3 in one shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
Tomura knew he should clean himself more often, but his skin was so fucking raw all the time it hurt to do, so he mostly avoided it unless the smell got really unbearable—or Dabi was painting him in jizz whenever the opportunity presented itself.
He tried to get in and out as quickly as possible so he didn’t have the opportunity to think too hard about the admission his fuck buddy roommate had pulled from him mid blow job. Because if he did—in his post nut, clingy state—he’d most certainly imagine you were with him, tits pressed against his back and your soft, insistent tongue dipping past his lips, tasting like fruit gum and expensive cafe drinks instead of nicotine and cum.
And he really couldn’t handle that. Cause Dabi was right, he had something fucking bad for you and the thought of another rejection loomed large.
When he did towel himself off and shuffle, still naked back into his bedroom Dabi was nowhere to be seen. Tomura’s phone however, was left sitting right next to the jizz stain on his sheets. He frowned at the open balcony door where Dabi was no doubt smoking and snatched the device before tumbling onto the pillows.
He powered it on and scrolled through his notifs before one caught his eyes. You and Dabi were really the only people that ever texted him, but the contact name above this one had changed.
bitch (endearing)
— hey, starting an impromptu round of Smash soon if you’re interested <3
The stupid text heart made his chest throb and he stared at Dabi’s new nickname for you, not even noticing the fucking grin that tugged at his cheeks.
He bit his lip to stop the twitching when it pulled too hard at the chapped skin and scrambled for his clothes before shooting a quick confirmation text back. Tomura opted for his only pair of black jeans this time instead of sweats and the least stained sweatshirt he owned.
Dabi peaked around the corner when he heard the clink of Tomura’s keys. The bastard was smoking in just a pair of underwear that left half his ass on display for all the whole fucking street. He smirked, quirking his eyebrows and bringing his hands up to slip his index finger through the circle he made on the other hand in a silent, vulgar gesture.
“Screw off,” Tomura shouted over his shoulder and made for the door.
“Wrap it before you tap it, bro!” Dabi called after him, cut off by the subsequent slamming.
Tomura took the stairs two at a time, pulling out his phone and tucking the hood over his damp hair, this time to hide the growing smile playing at his lips.
#tomura shigaraki x reader#shigaraki tomura x reader#tomura shigaraki x you#tomura x reader#shigaraki x reader#tomura shigaraki x dabi#shigaraki x dabi#shigadabi#bee.writes
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a;lskfjdk
Author: thexanwillshine (twitter, ao3) Pairings: Levi x Hange Cross-Postings: AO3 Notes: made for Day 2: Confessions of Levihan Week 2021
“But Levi,” Hange whines as she slumps her head on the back of her sofa and closes her eyes. “Kissing scenes are so tricky to write.”
Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s almost 5:30 in the morning. It could also be because he's tired from lack of sleep. Whatever the case, Levi Ackerman’s filter completely disappears when he asks, “Do you need a demonstration?”
Levi Ackerman can argue that every writer he’s met is always a little bit more eccentric than the average person, but no one proves his theory more than Hange Zoë.
Hange wakes him up in the middle of the night, voice screeching on the phone in her excitement. He responds groggily—as one does when their sleep is disturbed at an ungodly hour by an overly-excited author who acts as if they’ve just found out the answers to the universe—and tries to keep himself sober enough to understand what in the goddamn fuck Hange was talking about this time.
“Levaaiiii,” she says, drawling out his name in a manner that was both annoying and endearing, “I’ve figured it out!”
He can almost imagine the look on her face: starry-eyed in her joy, mouth stretched wide into a grin, fingers shaking as she bounces in glee, shifting her weight from the heels of her feet to the tips of her toes . . .
And Levi exhales in both relief and the tiniest hint of delight, because this is exactly how he wants Hange to be: happy .
Nevertheless, he replies “Figured what out?” snarkily.
Hange’s response comes out quickly, as if she needed to say everything that had to be said in the span of five seconds or less. “So you know how I’ve been trying to write a fiction novel because I wanted to get out of my comfort zone?”
Levi hums in acknowledgement as he fixes the covers over his legs before turning on his bedside lamp. He leans back on the bed frame and closes his eyes to listen to her ramble.
“So I was thinking, I wanted to write a romance novel, because you know how people fall in love and stuff?”
“No Hange, I’ve never heard of that concept in my entire life,” Levi says in a deadpan voice.
Hange laughs, because of course she would know that’s his pathetic attempt at lighthearted conversation. Levi is glad that she knows him better than most people, and it is this sense of familiarity that made him feel particularly comfortable when graced with her presence.
“Just because you’ve never fallen in love before doesn’t mean it’s not real, Levi!” Hange tells him in jest.
Wrong, Levi thinks.
“After all, you’ve probably never wanted to kiss someone your entire life!”
Wrong, Levi thinks.
“Sure, Hange.”
He rolls his eyes at her teasing, because yes, Levi has fallen in love—and maybe, just maybe, he’s still on the road to understanding what it meant to treasure someone far more than just a regular friend.
He shakes off such thoughts before maneuvering Hange back to the initial reason why she had called. “So, what did you want to tell me?”
“I finished,” she proclaims on the phone, her voice proud, “I finished writing the first ten chapters.”
Levi blinks in confusion before sitting straight up, the information processing in his mind that was still a bit drunk with sleep. “You what?” “I couldn’t stop writing,” Hange told him sheepishly, detecting the slightest hint of concern in her editor’s voice, “I’ve been writing for the past 24 or so hours. Maybe more.”
Levi grunts in annoyance, pulling the covers away from his body and jumping out of his unmade bed. He runs a hand through his dark locks, sighing. “Four-eyes, you need to get some sleep.”
“But Levi,” Hange says in protest, “I need you to read my draft. There are some parts I just don’t think are super natural.”
“And I was sleeping like a regular human being,” Levi retorted as he shrugged off his shorts. After that, he put on jeans that he had recently washed before patting down the shirt he was wearing in a pathetic attempt to get rid of the wrinkles that had accumulated while he tossed and turned in bed.
“Oh my gosh, Levi, I didn’t realize the time!” Hange replies, and he can almost feel her guilt starting to set in. “You should go back to sleep,” she immediately adds. “Take care of yourself!”
Levi slips on his rubber shoes and grabs his umbrella before answering. “Coming from you? Not that credible.”
Hange laughs light-heartedly, and his heart flutters just a tiny bit. Levi pushes the feeling away almost as quickly as it had come.
“Have you eaten?” he asks, almost dreading the reply.
There was none.
“Hange,” he calls, but there’s still no response. “Hange. Answer me,” he says firmly, prodding her on. “Have you eaten?”
The laughter that comes out from the other end is nervous. “Woops.”
Levi sighs. He opens his car door and slips inside smoothly, grabbing his keys from his pocket and starting the engine. “Hange, you’re supposed to eat.”
“Sorry,” she tells him honestly. “I really didn’t want to ruin my momentum. I can’t believe I forgot.” She mumbles her second sentence, sounding almost deep in thought. “I’ll go find food now! Want me to email you the working draft? You can look at it in the morning when you wake up.”
“No need,” Levi tells her, placing his phone on his dashboard and accelerating his car. “I’m on the way.”
“Levi!” Hange exclaimed excitedly as she heard her doorbell ring at around four in the morning.
She rushes to the door in delight, opening it to reveal Levi standing in front of her, a paper bag in his hand and a jacket half-heartedly slung over his shoulder.
“Hi,” he greets calmly, before walking inside and letting himself in.
Inwardly, Hange thanks whatever god is out there for her foresight. Her unit was relatively clean since she hadn’t really done anything since Levi’s last visit. The place seemed to pass Levi’s health protocols, since he sat on her couch and placed the paper bag on the table right across from him.
“Eat,” he tells her, crossing his arms over his chest.
Hange grins, before plopping down beside him and opening the paper bag. “What did you get me?”
“You’ll see.”
She raises an eyebrow at his ambiguity, before taking a glimpse inside the paper bag.
The smell of quesadillas immediately fills the room, and Hange lets out a soft squeal, taking out the food from the bag quickly.
“Oh my gosh,” Hange says as she nudges him on the shoulder. “You also got me onion rings! You know me too well, Levi.”
“Unfortunately,” Levi responds sarcastically, and Hange laughs almost automatically.
As Hange hums in glee, picking apart the paper wrapped around the food items, Levi maintains his silence. They stay like that as Hange eats. Every so often, she would comment about how the amount of cheese was perfect and how the onion rings just about melted in her mouth. Levi alternates between watching her eat and scrolls through his phone placidly.
Soon, he chooses to break the silence. “So where’s your draft?”
Hange is munching on her last piece of quesadilla when she glances in his direction. “Oh, it’s on my laptop! I can’t believe I forgot to tell you, this food was just so good.”
Levi stands up and heads on over to Hange’s room, gently pushing the door open and scanning the area for her laptop. On top of her unmade bed was a half open Macbook Pro, which he gently took before returning to his seat beside Hange.
Without hesitation, Levi opens the laptop and inputs the password. For some reason, Hange made it his birthday—1225—because she claimed that no one would guess such a random date. He is greeted with a blaring Google Docs document entitled “a;lskfjdk.”
“Nice title you got there,” he comments, and Hange chuckles.
“I didn’t want to think of a title yet, okay!” Hange pouts, and Levi nudges her foot gently in an attempt to comfort her from his own teasing.
He scans the document first before reading it. Hange is a good writer, but fiction is an entirely new genre for her. Immediately, he notices common habits from writing research papers leak into her new work: overexplaining, using words that are too formal for her target audience, sentences a little bit void from emotion.
He takes note of these comments on her notes app before going over her draft again, this time more meticulously than he had done previously. During this time, Hange finishes eating, wraps her trash and tosses them all inside the paper bag before standing up and dumping the entire thing inside her garbage bin.
“Levi,” she calls as she washes her hands through the sink faucet. Levi gives her the smallest hint that he’s listening by raising his eyebrow, but he doesn’t take his gaze away from her laptop. “I’m going to take a shower,” she announces, and he waves his hand dismissively.
Hange smiles to herself. Levi is always nagging her whenever she would accidentally hyperfixate on her writing, but he acts the same way when reading her works.
When Hange stepped inside the shower, Levi was already conducting a deep dive in her third chapter. The gears in his head slowly begin to turn as he begins to analyze her work.
The story revolved around the tales of the people who went to the clinic. The first chapter was a brief introduction on who the main characters were: There’s Janelle, a bright-eyed psychologist whose passion influenced the people around her. Together with El and Bea, her trusted assistants studying under her guidance, they would aid the people who went to the Hopiatria Clinic seeking care.
Meanwhile, the second chapter featured a child who felt as if she was being blamed for the death of her mother by her father. Her mother had died in a plane crash shortly after the young girl wished that her mom could go home on her sixth birthday. Janelle talks to the child gently while El and Bea provide emotional support, offering the child toys and biscuits whenever the need arises.
The third chapter was trickier, and it was there that Levi noticed a twist in Hange’s writing. The story revolved around a boy busy getting her doctorate, and a young girl who had been in love with him ever since they were in college. It’s the young girl who comes to Janelle’s office, and she relays the tale of her unrequited childhood romance to the psychologist.
The young girl is passionate, and wanted to take a step forward in order to guide her towards falling out of love with her best friend. Janelle presents two suggestions: (1) confession, while being fully-open to the possibility of rejection, and (2) accepting rejection without confession. The young girl decides to go with the first option, but to her surprise, the boy returns her feelings.
Everything seemed well-written up until the end of the chapter, where Hange had written,
And then they kissed.
Levi scrolled down the page, tilting his head to the side in slight confusion. That’s it? He thought, trying to find the rest.
Everything had been so well-described; from the girl’s internal turmoil—caused by her fear of destroying their friendship and the pain that came with unrequited love—to the boy confessing his own emotions for her.
The ending was anticlimactic, to say the least.
As he blinked at the google document in confusion, already typing out his comment on her notes app, Hange emerged from the bathroom. Her hair was loose on her shoulders, wet from her shower. Wrapped around her waist is his bathrobe, which she had borrowed from him long ago and never bothered to return it.
Levi scoffs as he glances in her direction. Here she was, parading with the cloth on and rubbing that specific fact in his face.
“Hey,” Hange greeted, smiling as she ran a hand through her brown locks, “How’s the reading going?”
“It was okay until the third chapter,” Levi says honestly, pointing the laptop screen in her direction. “The ending’s anticlimactic.”
Hange hummed, pursing her lips together. “Yeah. I didn’t really know how to end it,” she tells him as she opens her cabinet and grabs a few pieces of clothing. “Give me a bit, I’m going to change.”
She disappears into her room and Levi focuses on her story, trying to think of a way to spur Hange on and perhaps actively improve the ending’s writing.
Hange emerges in a loose t-shirt (which was, once again, his) and shorts. She sits down right beside him, leaning over his shoulder to glance at her laptop and read the specific line that particularly irked Levi.
“It’s that one, right?” Hange asks, pointing at the last sentence. “And then they kissed.”
“Yeah,” Levi responds, shaking his head. “Everything was so well-written up ‘till that point. You were able to describe the emotions perfectly, and the narration’s not that bad . . save for a few paragraphs that maybe should’ve stayed in your research papers.”
Hange chuckles. “Old habits die hard,” she responds, before taking her Macbook from his lap and transferring it to hers. “So what should I write?”
Levi shrugs. “I’m just your editor. You’re the writer.”
Hange pouts. “Yeah, but I don’t know how to make this better.”
“Maybe describe the scene more,” Levi suggests. “Everything ended so abruptly. Every emotion you’ve created and built disappeared in that one line.”
She nods in agreement. “But Levi,” Hange whines as she slumps her head on the back of her sofa and closes her eyes. “Kissing scenes are so tricky to write.”
Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s almost 5:30 in the morning. It could also be because he's tired from lack of sleep. Whatever the case, Levi Ackerman’s filter completely disappears when he asks, “Do you need a demonstration?”
Hange’s eyes shoot open immediately, and Levi’s face turns red just as quickly.
“F-Forget it,” he says, interrupting her just when he saw Hange open her mouth to speak. Any semblance of calm in his body disappears immediately, and his heart starts pounding against his chest in a rhythm that reminds him too much of a beating drum.
Hange, however, looks elated.
“You want to kiss me?” she tells him in excitement, blinking at him. “I’d like that. It could help me write this scene, you know.”
Levi looks away. “It was just a spur of the moment question.”
“So, you’re not going to kiss me?”
He actively avoids her gaze because he can already see from his peripheral vision that she looks sad, disappointed even. He grunts in response, closing his eyes and focusing his attention on a random spot on the wall.
“Oh,” Hange replies, “Well, I thought it was a good idea.”
Contrary to popular belief, Levi does want to kiss Hange. More than anything.
There were many reasons why: Because she looks so handsome and beautiful at the same time, and her very smile could light up any room she’d walk into. Because she says his name in the most endearing way. Because she understands his flaws. Because she has one of the kindest hearts he’s ever seen. Because she welcomes him with open arms, not a single thread of hesitation in her mind.
Most of all, it was simply because she was Hange.
He steals a glance in her direction, and she’s slightly fiddling with the hem of his shirt, her head downcast. Her sad expression tugs at hi
Levi thinks he’s already in this too deep, so he decides to speak.
“Did you want me to kiss you?”
From his periphery, he sees her look up at him so quickly he thought her neck would break. “What would you do if I said yes?”
He doesn’t dare turn his head in her direction when he replies quietly, “What do you think?”
“Would you kiss me?” Hange asks inquisitively, tilting her head to the side.
Levi’s heart skips a beat.
“Maybe,” he says in a voice barely above a whisper. “If you’d let me.”
Hange is silent for a moment, and Levi thinks this is it, I’m going to be rejected, but he feels a gentle finger touch his chin and turn his head in Hange’s direction.
He is met with her brown orbs, shining just a bit in what seemed like hidden glee. He cocks an eyebrow at her then, confused.
“I’m letting you,” Hange says, laughing. “Kiss me, I mean.” Her face is already slowly nearing his, and he can almost see the way her thick lashes brushed against her skin.
Slowly, Levi raises his head just a tiny bit and responds against her lips, “Okay.”
Hange smiles and closes the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his neck as he does the same around her waist. She tastes like the peppermint of her toothpaste, smells like his shampoo (which he had kept in her apartment since he always found himself staying over), and felt warm as her skin made contact with his. Hange's lips are gentle, slow, and a little shy—so different from how she usually is. Levi knows it’s because she doesn’t want to scare him off, so he makes the first move and nips at her lower lip, taking it between his teeth and sucking it gently.
She lets out a moan, and Levi takes this as a sign to continue. He slides his hand over her back, and she shudders and deepens the kiss at the same time. Her tongue meets his, and they battle for dominance. Hange’s hand sweeps over his undercut and pushes him towards him, and it is then that he lets out a sound that vaguely resembles pleasure.
After a few minutes, Hange whispers “Levi,” as her lips make contact with his. He hums in response, pulling his lips away from her and connecting his forehead with hers.
“Hange,” he says, breathless.
“Is this you telling me you like me?” Hange asks, closing her eyes.
He doesn’t form a reply through words, but he nods and closes his eyes as well.
“Great,” Hange tells him, pecking his lips with her own. “Because I like you too. Ever since I met you, I’ve liked you. Even though you were so rude to me on the first day of college.”
He chuckles silently in relief, pulling her closer to him before placing his chin on her shoulder. “Think you’ll be able to write the ending now that you know what a kiss feels like?”
Hange laughs, and it vibrates against his shoulder as she hugs him tighter. “It’s exhilarating. I probably wouldn’t be able to put into words how good I feel that you like me back.”
“Try,” Levi teases.
“Well . . . you know that alternative title I wrote for the fictional novel?”
Levi’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “The keyboard smash?”
Hange nods. “Yeah. That’s exactly what I feel like right now.”
a;lskfjdk.
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You know what just to SPICE it up a bit imma say zadr too bitch
This bitch tryna give me arthritis smdh. Making me out myself for my dual-ship on main, can't even believe a bitch.
PRE-RELATIONSHIP
1. How did they first meet?
School. We must never forget the infamous handcuffs scene.
2. What was their first impression of each other?
Pure, unrivaled loathing.
3. Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?
Gaz said "kiss already" and throws things at them when they're getting too far away from "I want you dead" territory and well into "you want to fuck me so bad and it makes you look stupid" territory. Professor Membrane thinks they're adorable.
4. Who felt romantic feelings first?
Dib. Hormones get the best of us all. You can only be obsessed with someone so long before motivations get blurry.
5. Did either of them try to resist their feelings?
Zim would nearly break his PAK and commit accidental die trying to delete the emotions or install an emotional inhibitor. Dib would have a full mental breakdown trying to sort through it, which would manifest poorly in his behavior and negatively impact his ability to engage in their usual altercations. Pro tip: if you are painfully attracted to someone, being in a position where they pin you to the asphalt or lean over your desk to hiss insults at you is a bad idea.
6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?
I stand by what I said on my ZAGR post in that Zim doesn't know what a soulmate is, or the concept of a soul, but given this is in regards to his arch-nemesis instead of a creature he's mostly indifferent too, he'd be pissed at the insinuation he was in any way bound to Dib. Dib's fragile psyche would not survive the revelation.
7. What would their lives be like if they had never met?
Really empty. Their rivalry and parallel situations regarding neglectful authority figures is what keeps them going for so many years.
GENERAL
1. Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?
As someone who thinks Zim doesn't understand even the concept of not being a possessive jackass, I think Zim just sort of concludes after awhile that, regardless of Dib's feelings, or even Zim's own feelings, whatever they have makes them wholly and entirely each other's. Just completely and hilariously misunderstanding the concept of a relationship, but still being incredibly presumptive in assuming they already have one. He also doesn't let Dib know of this revelation either, so eventually Dib explodes about his crush, and Zim's like "we are already together???? moron???" Dib could argue, and he kind of wants to, but he also never expected Zim to reciprocate, so he just sort of nods and is like "you know what, sure" and that's the end of it. They do not have an anniversary, but Dib's not really like that, and Zim doesn't know anniversaries are a thing anyways.
2. Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?
Again, stealing from my own ZAGR post, but I don't think Zim's really a 'date' person who would plan out that sort of thing. Dib is an awkward moron with arguably worse social skills than even Zim, and mentally comes to the conclusion that dragging Zim on investigations is basically like a date, and Zim doesn't bitch about it anymore than expected, therefore he is a master of romance, so it's fine.
3. What was their first kiss like?
Awkward, and quick. Dib is not a great communicator, nor is he great at explaining things like human demonstrations of affection, especially not when Zim's scowling impatiently at him through is fumbling and stuttering. He just goes for it, and it's quick and he misses his mouth almost. Zim is extremely surprised, especially when Dib makes terrible excuses about needing to be elsewhere and flees. Zim does his own research, and their second kiss is predated by a lecture about being better than Dib at everything/Dib being bad at everything. It is much more successful, even if afterwards Dib instigates a fight about Zim's tongue being weird.
4. Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?
First everything, except kiss. Gretchen kissed Dib in high school as a dare. Zim will never forgive her for it.
5. What’s their height difference? Age difference?
I'd die to make them the same height, but I think the image of Zim being average height while Dib is a gangly big boi is just too funny. Zim would be pissed, and Dib would be so smug but so uncoordinated.
6. What’s their relationship with each other’s families?
Gaz interacts with them as minimally as possible, because they are loud and gross and annoying, but she's okay with Zim overall. They have a mutual understanding that Dib is stupid, completely reckless, and requires constant supervision to keep him from getting eaten by a ghoul or something. Gaz does genuinely trust him to skewer anything that tries to kill her brother, but she also knows that Dib isn't the only one with 0 sense of self-preservation. Dib was initially wary of Professor Membrane's reaction, because his dad is sort of unpredictable when it comes to his only son, but the Professor's only commentary is that he is glad his son finally made it official with his 'little green friend.' Dib then realizes that the implication in that perpetual comment about Zim had air quotes around that "friend" part all along.
Dib thinks Gir's gross and loud and doesn't get him, but he likes to team up with him and/or use him as a means to annoy Zim. The Base hates him, because now there's two morons with no sense of self-preservation that it needs to keep track of. Minimoose and Dib are bros.
7. Who takes the lead in social situations?
Zim, if only because he is arguably more 'charming' than Dib's fumbling attempts at communication with non-paranormal parties.
8. Who gets jealous easier?
Zim. Dib I think would have his 'HTTYD Hiccup moment' as he gets older, but still has that ingrained low self-esteem from years of ridicule and abuse. He is completely oblivious to the new attention he gets. Zim, however, is not. Dib never really notices the cause of his weird snarling and clinginess, but he shrugs it off as Zim just being weird and continues with whatever he was doing.
9. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?
Zim is a slut, I will die on this hill.
LOVE
1. Who said “I love you” first?
Dib. He says it casually, in the dark, when they're on a stake-out to find some wood goblin or something. He says it like he's talking about something plane and unremarkable.
I think a ZADR relationship would need Zim to be a lot more independent in terms of researching how romantic relationships 'work,' since Dib's not a great communicator, and there's an ingrained rivalry that will never dissolve between them, no matter how many times they kiss, so Zim would be a lot more motivated to figure things out on his own. He would, in this circumstance, know the weight of Dib's way-too-casual admittance, and it would be a huge shock to him. He'd be pretty shaken about it for awhile, and Dib's not bothered when he doesn't reply. Dib would be pretty sure Zim would never admit it, but he does, eventually, because he refuses to be a coward about it.
2. What are their primary love languages?
Verbal affirmations. With their self-esteems firmly in the toilet in Zim's kitchen, being able to have someone validate them who they respect would mean a lot to them.
3. Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?
Dib. He uses it to start fights with Zim about linguistics and metaphors. Also, he's 99.9% positive Zim secretly is flattered by it, but hates that he is.
4. How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?
Zim is very clingy, but Dib's too on the move to really pin down for a good cuddle frequently. He's twitchy and his minds always racing, but every once in a while when Zim's completely fed up, or Dib's running on fumes but still forcing himself on, Zim will all but pin him to a cushioned surface and force him to sleep. Neither of them are PDA people.
5. Who initiates kisses?
Zim. Dib's really shy about it, and also normally too distracted to pay Zim the attention he so obviously deserves, and often misses Zim's 'signals.'
6. Who’s the big and little spoon?
PAK not comfy against sternum. It's also easier to force Dib to sleep if he's the big spoon, because he can pin his limbs.
7. What are their favorite things to do together?
Paranormal investigations, and morally ambiguous and/or largely dangerous experiments.
8. Who’s better at comforting the other?
Dib, which is hilarious, because he's about as smooth as a cheese grater, but he is very attuned to the person he's been obsessed with for years, and he can also relate to a lot of his issues. While Zim usually shrugs off the sentimentality and the empathy, dismissing it as 'pity,' the affirmation means a lot to him.
9. Who’s more protective?
Zim. He has to anticipate his lover's stupidity to make sure he stays alive to hunt ghosts another day.
10. Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?
Verbal. Hormones are real, but there's something that eases the sting of years of abusive in a crooning praise or a sincere compliment.
11. What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?
https://open.spotify.com/track/3IvUhEVbbA81QnEVhsFHiH?si=b3c5787c9ff14105
12. What kind of nicknames do they call each other?
It is primarily age-old insults that lack the bite and sincerity they once had.
13. Who remembers the little things?
Dib. Zim isn't inattentive by any means, cataloguing all of Dib's weird habits and nuances and what not, but for all the compensating Zim does to keep Dib safe and healthy, Dib reciprocates in meaningful gestures. He remembers to pack Zim-friendly snacks on their road trips and ways to keep Gir entertained, if they have to bring him. He always checks the weather and has an extra coat, just in case. Never makes Zim feel bad about needing to check, just one more time, to see if he got any incoming messages from home.
DOMESTIC LIFE
1. If they get married, who proposes?
Dib.
2. What’s the wedding like? Who attends?
It's just Gaz, Minimoose, and Gir. Membrane is too far away to attend, but that was deliberate. Dib didn't want his tendency to make things about 'the Membrane line' effect the intimacy and importance of the ceremony. Also, Zim insists on incorporating some Irken rituals into it, so it'd be hard to make excuses and explanations to why Zim wants Dib to fuck with his weird pink backpack during their wedding.
3. How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?
No kiddos. Neither of them would be interested, even if it was biologically possible.
4. Do they have any pets?
Seriously, Gir counts, right?
5. Who’s the stricter parent?
Dib. Zim refuses to parent Gir when Dib is more inclined to do it, since he's more irritated by it.
6. Who worries the most?
Dib has perpetual anxiety. So does Zim, but he masks it better.
7. Who kills the bugs in the house?
Dib, to prevent the gooey grossness that is Gir's bug-breath.
8. How do they celebrate holidays?
Just with Gaz.
9. Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?
Zim will strap Dib to a bed himself to get him to go the fuck to sleep, because it's been over 48 hours you insufferable human, and--!
10. Who’s the better cook?
Dib's idea of cooking is a microwave, salt, and pepper. Zim is forced to learn the wonders of human food to keep his idiot from dying of malnutrition.
11. Who likes to dance?
Gir.
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[Don't Starve/DST tips for beginner players]
1. CHARACTER CHOOSING
The character you play plays a big role in the game, as they're not just for aesthetic, each character has ups and downs and as a beginner you should choose the most neutral characters before you get a handle of the game. In singleplayer Don't Starve you can only unlock new characters with XP, but in DST you have all of them available to you, so choose wisely. Here's a small guide on each character:
Wilson: he's the starting character, so naturally he's the most neutral one. He doesn't really have pros or cons, he just grows a pretty cool beard.
Willow: the firestarter. She's my main so I have a lot to say. Willow is a good character, although her sanity is low she's very useful. In regular Don't Starve she spawns with a lighter, but in Don't Starve together she spawns with a lighter and Bernie, her bear. Willow's sanity goes up if she picks flowers, like normal players, but she also gets more sanity when she's around fire or when she burns things, so when her sanity is low you might want to leave base or not walk around forests because she can start a fire. The sanity gain with fire improves during the day. She's also really useful because in DST when she's insane she can put Bernie on the floor and he'll become a huge bear and fight monsters for her. This is all amazing but as I said she loves fire, so she hates cold, and winter is especially hard for her. She can freeze quicker and it's really annoying and it's hard to do anything that involves not being around warm fire, so if you're a new player I don't really recommend playing Willow at first because winter is already hard as it is. This being said, during summer she's also more resistant to heat strokes than other characters, and she also doesn't take fire damage unlike other characters.
Wolfgang: Wolfgang has great stats and he's really strong, but you have to be constantly feeding him or else he'll get weak. Also he's 'afraid of monsters', which means his sanity drains quicker than other characters when he's around hostile mobs.
Wendy: Wendy is someone I recommend to new players, because although her stats aren't the best, and although she doesn't hit very hard, she comes with Abigail. Abigail is her dead sister that you can spawn from the flower Wendy carries, and Abigail is useful because she can fight for you. Most mobs in Don't Starve use close range and with Abigail you can use long range which is very useful. Just make sure you don't get hit because Wendy's HP isn't the best.
WX78: it's a bit of a shit character if you ask me. Definitely don't play this one. When he gets hit by lighting he gets charged up and can be a light source + walk faster, but he only eats gears (which are hard to get on their own) and he gets rusty if it rains, I honestly don't like him.
Wickerbottom: I don't have much experience on her, she's really smart and she comes with an extra crafting tab that allows her to craft books which she can use to spawn stuff. It's useful but I don't have much insight on her.
Woodie: I play him a lot in DST, and he's really great overall. He comes with an axe (Lucy) that is infinite (it doesn't wear out like other axes) and he can chop trees down really quickly. However during full moon he can turn into a Goose (runs fast), into a Moose (attacks with force) or into a Beaver (can chop trees faster and without an axe), but when he comes back to being Woodie he will be hungry (hunger will be at 0) so you have to make sure you have food around.
Wes: garbage.
Maxwell: He can create shadows to fight for him, chop for him, etc... But for every shadow he permanently looses HP (which means that, for example, if his HP sits at 150 max, when he makes a shadow the max will be 120HP). It's useful but you have to be careful not to take any damage, and as a new player that might be hard.
Wigfrid: She's a great fighter, and she's able to craft a helmet (best protection in the game I believe, at least from the regular ones) and a spear which are exclusive to her. However she only eats meat and it can be a little hard for new players as carrots and berries are the easiest food to get.
Webber: he's recently had a rework so he has a couple new things. Webber is a spider, and he can now make them passive, wake them up, and put them to sleep, which is great to farm/harvest stuff. Webber isn't attacked by spiders like other players, but since pigmen are afraid of spiders they will hit Webber as well. Not a terrible character to start with either!
Warly: Warly comes with his own special crockpot and he is a great cook, which means that your hunger heals better when you eat something he made. The downside is that he can't eat anything he didn't make in his crockpot, which can make it a little hard.
Wormwood: I recently bought Hamlet (which is how you get this playable character or DST) and man, my thoughts are divided. He's a good character as he can plant seeds without needing to make crops, however he's extremely flammable (he can't stand too close to a fire), he looses sanity every time he chops a tree or picks a flower ('cause he's a plant and he doesn't like hurting his friends). Something really annoying about him is that he doesn't heal by eating food like other characters, he only heals with the spider glands or with manure (shit). So he's not an ideal character to start with. He does grow a cool flower on his head during spring though.
Winona: She's a really badass character and I really like her. She's a builder, so she can build things other characters can't (like catapults) so she's really effective when it comes to defending the base and helping out against mobs like hounds. However she does lose sanity any time she crafts anything, so it can be a little hard to deal with her.
Wortox: I don't know much about him, but he can teleport and he can also heal players with his magic. If you ask me he's a little overpowered for the game.
Wurt: I don't know much about him and I've never had anyone play him, all I know is that he doesn't get attacked by merman since he's one of them.
Walter: he's a little scout boy that comes with a slingshot and a dog. The dog can grow big and Walter can ride him which is good for fleeing, but after riding for a while the dog will throw him off.
Sorry for not having much on the last 3 but they're fairly recent compared to others and I haven't seen much of them or played them.
Most times during DST people choose characters that help others, so you can help each other and get the most out of the game.
2. SANITY
Sanity plays a big part in this game. You lose sanity by being in the dark, or by fighting mobs. Some characters have special ways of losing sanity, for example, Wormwood loses sanity by picking flowers or chopping trees. How do you fix your sanity? For all characters (except Wormwood) you can get sanity by picking flowers. With 12 flowers you can make a garland in the hat tab and it will slowly restore your sanity. You can also pick green mushrooms and cook them for more sanity. Just like some characters lose sanity in a 'special' way, some characters gain sanity in a special way as well, such as Woodie when he chops trees and Willow when she's near fire or when she sets anything on fire.
If you let your sanity go down you will start seeing shadows, those shadows become real if it goes down enough, and said shadows will start attacking you, which isn't great because they're a lot, so watch out for that.
3. SURVIVING WINTER
Winter is hands down my least favourite season because Im a Willow main :)
What happens during winter? It starts to snow, so players can freeze, deerclops might appear, crops stop growing. The biggest issue with the winter is that food is hard to find. Crops and berries don't grow anymore so what do you do? First of all you will need to find a clockwork before winter. What are clockworks? They're metal mobs that drop gears when you kill them. You need gears to make a fridge, so you can store a lot of food for winter. If you store food in a normal chest it will rot quickly, but in a fridge they last a long time. You should also build a crockpot which is fairly easy, and in a crockpot you can make better food, you can also take nearly rotten food and make it good by cooking it, and you can use 1 stick or 1 monster meat to make good food, as you can't normally eat monster meat 'cause it drains sanity and HP.
What can you do for the cold? You need to find beefalo, and with the shears (which you can craft in the tools) you shave the beefalo, so you can make a winter hat. That hat will help with the cold. You can also make earmuffs, by catching 2 live bunnies and sticks, but the hat isn't hard to make and it's better. MAKE SURE YOU CARRY ENOUGH TO MAKE A FIRE AT ALL TIMES. In case of emergency if you get cold and start dying you need to have something to warm you up. You should also make a thermal stone. It doesn't take a lot and it keeps you warm. (You use the thermal stone by setting it down near the fire and letting it geete warm)
You should also make bird and rabbit traps to get meat during the winter.
Beware of the deerclops, if it appears try to lure it away from your base because it can destroy everything you built. If you want to fight it, make sure you fight it away from your base, but if you don't you can also lure him somewhere else and then run away. The Deerclops will de-spawn after winter is over.
Try not to make your base near the sea 'cause penguins will spawn and they're very fucking annoying + they can destroy your shit.
4. SURVIVING SUMMER
Summer is also very fucking annoying but much less than winter.
What do you need?
Some crops survive, but some of them die, so getting food isn't as annoying to get, but it's still scarce, so you should also try to get as much food as you can during spring time.
You should get ice during winter from the glaciers, and also more gears. Some crops/trees/grass might start to burn during summer, and with gears and ice you can make an ice-fligomatic. The ice flingomatic will throw ice to things when they start burning and will extinguish the fire, so when you come back to your base it's not all in flames.
During the summer you can't stand near fire or you'll die of heatsroke. Remember Nitre? That yellow shit you leave behind after mining rocks because you need inventory space? Yeah you'll need those to build an endothermic fire. It lights up your nights and keeps you cold, however you can't cook in it.
The thermal stone from winter also works during the summer.
Keeping a bunch of ice from winter in your fridge also works. If you eat the ice it will make you colder.
RANDOM TIPS
1. Don't hit pigmen/beefalo when there's many around you. They will gather up and kill you.
2. DO NOT try to kill penguins. They might be easy to kill but not so much when they all gather around and kill you.
3. Always keep armor+spear on you in case hounds start to come and you're not at base.
4. Don't steal tall birds' eggs (blue with white dots). The tall bird is very strong and aggressive and it will follow you for the egg and try to kill you.
5. Don't eat the mushrooms unless 100% necessary. Mushrooms always have a side effect, like they might give you sanity but take HP.
6. You can use mushrooms and monster meat (which you shouldn't eat by themselves) and cook something in a crockpot, thus turning something inedible into something edible.
7. When it rains, more during the Spring than anything else, it might start raining frogs, it's not a bug, that happens. Try to get away from base so they don't swarm there, as they're very annoying.
8. ALWAYS build a lightning rod, during a storm the lightning can hit something and set it on fire, and you don't want your stuff being burned. The lightning rod collects the lightning and protects your base.
----
This is all I can remember, I am more than happy to answer any questions anyone might have! @atinystray here it is!!
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READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ROLLING STONE HERE:
(full, designed article. But if you don’t want to follow a magazine layout, read the transcript. Art by @bloodydamnit)
TRANSCRIPT BELOW THE CUT
Red Rabbits: The Rolling Stone Interview
Featuring Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten, and the Red Rabbits Team
By Angie Rodner
On a chilly Monday, Neil Josten and Andrew Minyard are standing side by side, looking at something on Andrew’s phone in our New York, Rolling Stone headquarters. The rest of the Red Rabbits team, consisting of Dan Wilds, Seth Gordon, Renee Walker, Robin Cross, Allison Reynolds, and pro Exy legend/honorable mention Matt Boyd, orbit around them. It's an interesting scene to take in, to say the least. No matter what they seem to be talking about, they all defer to the two hosts without any of them seeming to acknowledge it.
I was lucky enough to sit down with all eight of them, and I’m not ashamed to say I’m a fan of the podcast and I’ve followed since Season 1. The story of Andrew and Neil (formerly known as Nathaniel Wesnisnki, the son of the Nathan Wesninski or the Butcher of Baltimore), and the revelation of their connection they’d shared as kids, was better than any true crime podcast I’d ever listened to.
Now, the team takes on what they’ve dubbed ‘The Case of the Newark 9’ for their second season. It’s a case based around the hunt for a man known only as ‘Steven’, who they believe is responsible for a series of kidnappings and murders of young girls in and around the Newark area. They’re joined by Robin Cross, a victim and survivor of Steven’s, who is helping them investigate the case.
I sat down with Robin and the other women of Red Rabbits first.
What’s it been like to work on this podcast together? Was it strange to go from looking for Neil, to having him in the studio, to watching him and Andrew form the relationship they have?
Dan: It was strange, because in all honesty, it wasn’t strange. Does that make sense? None of us knew about the meeting they had as kids, but when Andrew finally told us, everything made a lot more sense. Really, they belong together. It was much weirder when they first got back and hadn’t acknowledged what was between them yet. We were all just kinda like... are y’all not seeing what we’re seeing?
Renee: They got there eventually.
How have things changed from Season 1 to Season 2? The cases are obviously different, but they still involve missing children. What’s the atmosphere like around the studio?
Dan: Tense.
Allison: I’m not even there that often and I can still feel it.
Robin: It is tense, but there’s also a sense of urgency. We know ‘Steven’ has another girl now, so it’s like every day that goes by is another day he has her... Another day we either find him, or we don’t.
Mm... I can’t imagine how difficult that is. However, with that being said, the NYPD have made it pretty clear that they aren’t buying what you guys are selling. How does that make you feel?
Robin: I don’t feel anything about the NYPD. My anger is better placed elsewhere. I am angry. But the police didn’t listen to me when I was a kid and trying to tell them important information. Why would they listen to me now?
Renee: I think we all try and take our cues from Robin. Andrew and Neil are very careful to include her and get her opinion on certain things before moving forward. We’re not letting this thing with the NYPD deter us.
Speaking of Robin then, what’s it like for you to have her on the team? As one of Steven’s victims that is, there with you in the studio?
Robin: Oh no. Say nice things about me.
Dan: Girl. [ laughs ] Honestly, she’s amazing. She’s my little sister and I’m not just saying that. I think we all kind of feel that way. I’ve never known a person as strong and determined as she is and I know - see she’s blushing! [ laughs again ]- I know she hates it when we talk about her like this, but it’s so true. She’s family now.
Renee: She is, and I think she brings a really unique perspective to the case. We have someone here who’s directly involved, who lived through it and can give us some idea of what the other girls went through. I think most people would really love to have that kind of resource during an investigation.
Allison: For sure. She’s even my muse for my fall line. Everything is going to be deep colors and fun modesty.
Seems like you’ve been properly inducted into the team, Robin.
Robin: [ smiling ] It feels amazing...
Now, last question. Are you confident you’ll find what you’re looking for?
All as one: Yes.
Speaking with the ladies was fun. They were easy and connected and you can tell that there was a real sisterhood in the studio that day. It was refreshing to see women supporting and helping each other thrive in such a competitive industry. There was a lot of laughter between them, and it was such a joy to be able to share it with them.
-
My next interviewees were Seth Gordon, ‘resident TFN sound engineer/IT guy/anything to do with technology’, as he tells it, and New York Lynxes starting backliner, Matt Boyd. When I tell you I laughed throughout this entire interview, I’m being completely sincere. There was something about the way the two bounced off each other that had me smiling and understanding why they are both so well-liked.
You guys are best friends aren’t you? I feel a bromance in this Chilli’s tonight.
Seth: Bet. Matt Boyd is my homie and BFFL. Do people still say that? Anyway, we have matching necklaces and everything.
Do you really?
Matt: No, not really, but I’d totally wear one if he gave it to me.
[ laughing ] Matt, how did you even end up here? I know you were friends with Neil, but I feel like the details on that are kind of murky.
Matt: I hit him with my truck. [ My jaw dropped ] No, really! I hit him with my truck in Midtown Manhattan when I was driving home. He refused to go to the hospital so I brought him back to my place to make sure he was okay. He didn’t leave after that.
Seth: Because you held him hostage? That’s the way I hear it.
Matt: Oh yeah, for sure. He takes up so little space, why not? [ laughs again ] No really, I did convince him to stay, but I just felt like he needed a friend. He was obviously running from something and he was scared. I just didn’t know from what or why at the time.
And when you found out?
Matt: Honestly? I just about shit myself, but it made so much sense. All the little questions I asked myself early on, finally had answers.
I saw the interview you and Dan did with Essence. You guys look amazing together.
Seth: They are amazing together. It’s gross.
Matt: Yeah, and you and Dion aren’t constantly fawning all over each other.
Is that Dion hovering nearby?
Seth: Yep, that’s my man. He’s amazing and fuckin’ fine as hell. Can I say fuck in this interview?
Sure.
Seth: He’s fuckin’ fine.
Seth, what’s it been like for you, putting together the shows? There’s been a lot of audio that’s hard for us as listeners to hear, and I’m sure there’s more we haven’t even heard.
Seth: There is.
What’s that like for you to have to go through it all?
Seth: Really hard sometimes. There was some stuff in Season 1 we didn’t air that seriously gave me nightmares. It’s worth it, though. We found Neil and I think we’ll find Steven.
Are both of you confident in that fact?
Seth: Positive.
Matt: I think if anyone can find him, it’s Andrew and Neil. They’re determined and they’ll keep looking no matter what.
I believe them.
Andrew and Neil were my last interview of the day, and a more determined pair I think I’ve ever met.
Here’s the thing readers: They’re connected. It might make me a poor journalist, but I don’t know how else to explain it. At one point during the interview, Neil reached over to squeeze Andrew’s arm. At another point, Andrew reached over to squeeze the back of Neil’s neck. They were obviously a comfort to and for each other, and it almost seemed like they borrowed strength. It was intense and being able to witness it has been one of my favorite moments in my career.
So, let’s talk about this season before we get into everything else. You’re looking for a man you believe to be responsible for the disappearances of multiple girls in the Newark area. Do you feel like you’re any closer to solving the mystery than you were at the beginning?
Neil: Absolutely. We’ve gotten some really great tips and we think we’ve narrowed some things down. We don’t want to get too deep into what we’ve got at the moment, because we’re still investigating. But we’re confident in what we have.
What’s it been like working with Robin? I was able to interview her earlier, and she’s really something.
Andrew: She’s been the best resource we have. She’s incredibly strong and unbelievably quick. She’s taken this terrible thing that happened to her and turned it into fire, and it’s been amazing to watch. Most of the information we have comes from her.
The interview you guys did with her was absolutely chilling. I cried three times listening to it. How do you handle hearing these things? I feel like it’d be really hard not to take it home with you.
Neil: Yeah. It’s hard sometimes.
Andrew, I want to touch on the interview Riko Moriyama just did with Kathy Ferdinand and your response. What was that like for you, hearing Riko wrongfully expose something like that on live television?
Andrew: It was… I was stunned, I guess. That information was supposed to be sealed. My name was redacted. So I have no idea how he even got details of the case.
You’ve talked before about being in the foster care system. It sounds like you had a pretty rocky childhood.
Andrew: Yes.
Neil, I know yours was no picnic either. Do you think that this kind of... shared trauma, I guess, is part of why you two work so well together?
Neil: Yeah, partly. When we met as kids, I think a bond was cemented. We both knew how horrible adults could be to children. But now that we’re older, I think more than a shared trauma, it’s a mutual respect for that trauma. We both have shit, you know? I told Matt this one time and I didn’t really understand how true it was until recently, but we both have baggage that we share. We take each other’s on to lighten the load for the other. But, there are times when it gets really fucking heavy, and I think recently we’ve figured out that it’s better to lean on each other when that happens, instead of trying to carry it all ourselves.
Why do you think Riko felt the need to call you two out like he did? I know he mentioned Neil possibly being manipulated into the relationship.
Neil: [laughs]
Andrew: I wish I could manipulate him into having better taste in music.
Neil: My taste in music is fine.
Andrew: It is absolutely not. And I don’t know why Riko feels the need to comment. I’d be interested to hear the reason. The things he said regarding Neil were ridiculous, and in his response, Neil has made sure to make that known. But the thing that really bothered me was his comments on mental health. He tried to basically call me unstable for seeking therapy and admitting that there came a point when I needed outside help. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in this country who seek out therapy every year. There’s no shame in it and I’m unsure as to why Riko believes there is. Honestly, I’m shocked the Moriyamas haven’t released a statement. He’s their mouthpiece, after all.
Do you think they should apologize?
Neil: Yes.
Andrew: I think they should at least clarify. I’ve already heard people are planning to protest their new documentary and I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to give my money to people who think I’m less of a person because I struggle sometimes.
Speaking of struggle, let’s move back to the case. I know the NYPD has been giving you grief over your claims that the person you’re looking for is the same person that’s taken Haylie Clark. Robin, especially, seems completely certain. How does it feel to know law enforcement doesn’t have your back on this?
Andrew: Familiar. They’ve never had my back before, so why would they start now?
Neil: I’ve dealt with too many crooked cops to really take it seriously. I have no idea what their motivations are and to be clear, I’m not saying I think they’re crooked - I’m just saying that in my experience, the help doesn’t always come like it’s supposed to.
The rest of the team seems pretty confident in you two. They all said they absolutely believe you’ll be able to find him. Is it hard sometimes, not to lose faith?
Andrew: It’s hard all the time. But it doesn’t matter. We have to keep moving forward. We aren’t going to stop until he and Haylie are found.
I think that’s really commendable and I look forward to seeing that happen. Now, tell me a bit about the team. Neil, since you came in at the end of Season 1, how did you find the dynamic as an outsider?
Neil: I didn’t really understand it in the beginning. Not really. It helped having Matt at my back for months prior, but I’ve never had the opportunity to make solid connections with people. So when I came into the studio, to this group of people who had known each other since college, it was overwhelming.
Andrew: That’s funny, seeing as how they like you better than me.
Neil: It’s all the charm and charisma.
[ laughing ] And now? You all seem really tight knit.
Neil: Now, yeah. We are. These people are my family.
Andrew?
Andrew: Yes?
Neil: She wants you to say something nice about the team.
Andrew: Every single one of them knows my coffee order, and it’s truly amazing that they can do what the interns cannot. [ he looks over at Neil, who’s tilting his head and raising his brows ] Oh, don’t look at me like that. Fine. We have a really strong team. I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m doing without them. Seth works harder than anyone I know, Dan keeps us all in line with just a look, Renee is the only reason I agreed to do this in the first place, Reynolds has a lot of money and she’s not afraid to use it for a cause she believes in, and Robin is the most inspiring person I’ve ever met.
And Matt?
Andrew: Who?
Neil: The guy that kept me alive for months while you were hunting me.
Andrew: [ rolls his eyes and shrugs ] He’s fine.
-
My take away from the interviews was this: these people will do whatever they need, in order to find their perpetrator. They believe in their cause, they hurt for these girls, and they’ll find justice for them in the end. They’re family, that much is clear, and I can’t wait to see how this ends. I can’t wait to say that I was there when it’s over.
Red Rabbits can be heard on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and GooglePlay. You can follow the website at redrabbitspod.tumblr.com and twitter @redrabbitspod.
And as the Red Rabbits team always says, “Keep Searching”. I know I will.
#red rabbits pod#aftg#andreil#andrew minyard#neil josten#seth gordon#dan wilds#matt boyd#renee walker#allison reynolds#robin cross#article#media#rolling stone#interview
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Shigaraki x Todoroki!Reader; The Mask
Enjoy the series!<3 one two three four five six seven
Warnings: Extreme abuse, blood, murder, mental issues, cursing
You’ll never forget when your entire life changed for the better. The day you found your purpose, your meaning, your new family.
It all started Friday night, your least favorite night. Your father Endeavor came home early to rest every Friday to check up on your training. Over the week you were required to train 10 hours a day, eat exactly 1700 calories, and to have straight 100′s as grades. Of course, it was almost impossible to maintain such a lifestyle as a 17-year-old, but again, your father was not only the cruelest man alive, but also the 1# hero Endeavor. We’re you almost old enough to leave him? Yes, but at the same time, he would never let you do so. He owned you.
That’s when he first burned your hip.
Your siblings were Natsuo who was 25, Fuyumi who was 27, Shoto who was 20, and lastly your missing brother Touya. Sweet… sweet Touya. Over the years of having children, your father had tried to build the perfect child but had always failed. Fuyumi had been weak, Natsuo had been too kind to hurt a soul, and Shoto was too rebellious against your father. You would be too, but Endeavor had done everything to keep you “right”.
You were allowed no socializing on the any day except Sunday, you were kept on a tight schedule of modeling, tutoring, interviews, studying, and training, and your father watched you like a hawk.
With you being the last child, he could not mess up with you. You would be the next All Might if it was the last thing he did. He hit you more than any of his children, tortured you more than the rest, and yelled at you more than any of them. And all of your siblings knew that, crying themselves to the sleep at the thought of your bruised and burnt up torso.
Your father could never touch your face, you did modeling after all. Nobody could know the awful mental issues you had, or the trauma that had scarred you for life. To the public, he wanted you to be the perfect child. Beautiful… brilliant… and powerful.
God were you ever so powerful.
You took after your brother Shoto, possessing the power to control fire and ice. You could catch things on fire or ice them when you touched things, and once you did, you could control it with your mind. If you tapped the floor with your bare feet, you could start a fire and decide where it went and what it did. You could make it chase someone, make it form a heart, and eventually… kill someone.
With the power to control it’s movement, you could control the temperature of it as well. You could catch someone on fire and then make it reach over 500 degrees in an instant.
Endeavor loved it, seeing you impress even his fellow pro heroes. Your control over it was amazing, and you were beyond the best they had ever seen. You were a model too, and goodness were you pretty. You had short white hair that went to your shoulders, piercing blue eyes, and beautiful skin. You had been born with red streaks in your hair, but had bleached them out of anger when your father had hit you for not wanting to train.
You only wanted to have the hair of your mother.
He had knocked the wind out of you with a hard punch to the gut and then burnt your side hip to a crisp when kicked you. “Stand up Shiro. Prove yourself.” He yelled as you used the staircase to pull yourself to your feet, almost falling over in pain. It hurt so much to stand. “Good, now feel the consequences.” As he said that, he pushed you down on your hip, watching as you screamed in pain.
That was the day you ran out of the house, and into the nearby alley, ducking behind a dumpster to breathe. Immediately, you began to switch to a different mindset. You didn’t have DID, but you weren’t normal. One moment, you were crying, and the next you were angry. The next moment, your thoughts would jumble together and you would crave revenge in the form of violence. You had terrible anger issues and a taste of violence, taking after your old man.
Sure, you were the sweetest thing, but sometimes… you could be cruel, evil, and a demon to be around. But only when you were alone in your thoughts would you allow yourself such cravings as shooting a gun at a bulls-eye in self-defense training, or “accidentally” tripping one of your friends down the stairs.
At those moments, you felt no pity, no love, and definitely no shame in your actions. And outside of those episodes as you called it, you tried your best to ignore it. You weren’t going to stop yourself, because the more you held back, the more destruction you would cause.
And you didn’t want that, because outside of those episodes, you were sweet, innocent, even fragile. You hated seeing wounded animals, hated seeing your friend get a paper cut, and you never understood your friend’s dirty jokes. You knew what sex was, but why would you want it?
You had never even felt romantic feelings for someone.
So there you were… sitting behind a dumpster, crying. Pathetic. “Heyyy. Pretty lady. What are you doing out here? Need some help?” A college-aged man started walking towards you, two of his friends following behind. The smell of smoke and alcohol radiating off of them.
“No, leave me alone.” You insisted, hugging your knees and barely even paying attention as you tried to contain your thoughts about your father, and the searing pain in your hip. It burned like crazy. “But why, you’re pretty and crying. We’re bored and here to help.”
They kept walking as you looked up at them, shocked and a little scared as they were very close now. “Don’t come any closer! I’m warning you!” You stood up, even though they had you backed up against the dumpster and wall. “Aww, don’t be scared. Now let’s see what’s under that pretty dress of yo-”
In that moment, you sent a spear of ice through the man’s heart, blood splattering all over you in the moment. “W-what?! Hiromi?! Man, this bitch is bat-shit crazy!” As the guys were about to run, you did what your instincts told you. You sent ice spearing through their torsos too, sending them both to the ground. Slowly you walked over to them, rain starting to fall on your head. “I warned you, didn’t I?” You asked, stepping on one of them as they pleaded for you not to kill them.
“I’m not killing you. I’m just… letting you out of your misery.” Before the rain could start, you set them all on fire. Hearing their blood-curdling screams, you smiled. How nice. They’d be dead before the rain could pick up. Walking down the alleyway, you listened to their screaming of pure music to your ears. You loved every bit of it.
In that moment, your entire life changed. You began your journey on your way to your true passion. You were able to get yourself a custom mask from a shady store in the down-country, and started your new life. Whenever you got bored or your father pissed you off, you would slip on the mask, pull up your hair into your hoodie, and kill.
Your mask was amazing too. It was a bright red gas mask, which hid your entire face except for one of your blazing blue eyes. It was amazing, watching your victims stare at your one eye as you killed them. They were looking into the same eye as the pro hero Endeavor, your father, and that made you smile. The man who made your life hell had made the latest and greatest new villain in town.
“Again? God, when I get my hands on you I’m going to make you pay!” Endeavor yelled at the tv in his office, sitting at his desk with his feet held high. You were sitting in the chair against the wall near him, sketching in your book. Your father had brought you to work to meet your future teachers, since there was a villain on the loose and he didn’t want you at UA, one of the main targets. Little did he know she was right next to him.
“What are you talking about Dad?” You asked, looking up from your book. Unlike your siblings, your father made you call him that, since none of his children had ever called him anything near it. He had said it showed that you saw him as a father figure, respected him, loved him, saw him as a caregiver, and gave you an innocent appeal that contradicted your powerful and aggressive quirk. The word had lost any meaning to it.
“Shiro, this villain will be your competitor when you become a pro hero. Look at them. Sources say they’re known for burning their victims bodies so we cannot find fingerprints, or anything. We don’t have a face to go with it, or even a picture of them in general. The only thing is that they believe it may be a female based on the laugh heard, and that they wear a bright red gas mask to hide their identity. It’s brilliant!”
“This bitch has killed over 75 people, and has burnt over 2 million in property damage. This is next level stuff for one person. If we can’t take them down, you will have to.” Endeavor sat back in his chair, returning to his computer. That was about the amount of conversation you would have with him on the weekly.
That was, until you heard an explosion outside, and yelling. Running to the window and standing on your tip toes, you looked out to see the League of Villains on the streets, all running around. Blue flames circled the streets, and you wanted to go join. You had your hoodie and mask in your back pack, and you wanted to get in on the fun, get some promo on the news. The very thought of people seeing your one blue eye was exciting, and sent shivers down your spine.
“Dad, let’s go o-” You were dragged from the window and thrown to the ground. “Get under the desk Shiro! Don’t be an idiot!” He yelled, not caring that you had hurt your ankle in that moment. With hesitation, you walked behind the desk, bringing your bag with you. “Good, now don’t move. Remember, you don’t get to fight professional villains until you’re a pro yourself.” Endeavor explained, picking up a few things to bring with him downstairs.
“I don’t want to be a hero.” You mumbled, rocking back and fourth as you held your legs. “What did you say to me?” He screamed angrily as you looked up, not knowing that he heard you. “N-no! Dad! I didn’t- I didn’t mean to say that. I just- eck!” You screamed as his hand came to hit your face, leaving a large bruise.
“Don’t you dare bitch! You don’t get to say what you want and don’t want! I wanted a son, but look at what I got! Now you’re going to fucking listen!” His hand came to punch the other side of your face, knocking your head into the desk.
“Fuck, if I had a belt I would whip you senseless.” He murmured as you started crying. “I-I’m sorry… just stop…” You cried, trying to hide your face between your knees. “Oh I’m not letting you get off this easy! Your brother said the same thing, and I’m not making the same mistake again!”
As you tried to hide, he grabbed a box-cutter off his desk and sent it into your hip. “Now don’t you try to leave this room.” He mumbled, walking out without hesitation, leaving you to bleed on his floor.
The cut was deep, and you were loosing blood fast.
Only being able to listen to the outside, you could hear the commotion calm down within minutes before your old man walked in. “Get up. Your future UA teachers will be here in five minutes. Put your jacket around your waist.” He threw it at you as you picked yourself up. “Don’t speak unless you’re told to. Got it?” He asked as you slowly nodded, trying to pull yourself together and wipe the tear marks away before two men stepped through the door.
One had black hair and a man bun, and the other had long blonde hair that he kept down. You recognized them immediately. Radio sensation, UA teacher and pro hero Present Mic with his husband Eraserhead, who was a UA teacher and a low key pro hero as well.
“Ahh, Shiro! We’ve heard so much about you! Hello!” Present Mic came to shake my head as you shook his, still shaking as Aizawa looked at my bruise. “Ahh, I… fell.” You hesitated, laughing as the two smiled nervously. These two worked with kids… so could they sense your fear. Could they help you?
“Um, let’s sit. Of course you were recommended, but I’d love to see your quirk in more action.” Aizawa motioned to your father’s couch as you all began to walk over there. But in the moment, your jacket fell off your waist, showing your crisped and bloody t-shirt from your father earlier. You could see the burn mark of a hand print even. “Oh my god! Shiro dear!” Present Mic got up to help you before you pushed him away gently. “I fell earlier! If you’ll excuse me I’ll just be a minute!” You rushed out of the room, leaving the jacket on the floor as you grabbed your backpack and sprinted out. You had to get out of the there, to take a break from your father.
You didn’t care if it ruined your shots at UA or gave you a bad reputation with your teachers early on. You refused to sit there and bleed while they talked about your future.
As you were waiting for the bathroom, you looked outside to see the League of Villains within the forest. Without thinking, you ran outside and into the forest after them. You didn’t know why, but it felt like destiny was calling you. That was, until you saw Best Jeanist sneaking up on one of the members.
He had black pointy hair and wore a cloak-like jacket that was also black. Very emo. Slipping on your mask and hoodie before anyone could spot you, you snuck up behind him. Just as Best Jeanist was about to attack and spit cloth strings around Dabi, you tapped your foot, sending ice to Best Jeanist to freeze him like an ice cube.
“Look out!” You screamed as he turned around to see the frozen pro. “Huh.” He whispered to himself, before turning to face you. With a clear view of you, he could see the red gas mask and knew that you were the one who the news networks had been talking about non-stop. The lonesome villain with a fantastic kill list. But… then he looked closer. He saw how on your hip was burnt to a crisp from someone’s hand, the bruise on your one eye, your bright white hair, and… the bright blue eye. After adding everything together, he realized something.
“Shiro.” He whispered in shock, before you feel to your knees due to dizziness.
#oc#bnha#mha#boku no hero academia#x reader#x oc#shigaraki tomura#shigaraki headcanons#mha shigaraki#shigaraki x reader#shigaraki fanart#shigaraki fluff#yandere shigaraki#boku no hero academia shigaraki#shigaraki#yandere dabi#dabi x reader#dabi imagine#dabi#toga#toga fanart#bnha toga#Todoroki x reader#todoroki!reader#brother dabi#endeavor#shoto todoroki#bnha todoroki#eraserhead#erasermic
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hello loves! my name is bri and i’m so excited to get the chance to write with all of your beautiful muses ♡ i just turned 24 (ew), my pronouns are she/her, and my timezone is est (luckily i live about an hour outside of nyc, and plan to move there permanently in 2021 yay !!!)
tbh it’s been at least a year since my last rp group and i’m a little rusty, so pls feel free to share your tips and lmk how i’m doing :) my writing style is pretty flexible and i match length, pov, etc. and now !! a little bit of info about my beautiful chaotic bby stella:
ABOUT.
estelle “stella��� celestine evans was spotted in the fashion district adorning gucci ankle boots , with some airpod pros on . they’re most likely listening to heat waves by glass animals . you may know them as @stella or as that sydney sweeney lookalike . their twenty-second birthday just passed . while living in the upper east side , they’ve gained a bit of a reputation . they’re known to be reckless but on the other hand warmhearted . wonder if they’ll be the next person to hit the headlines .
BASIC INFO.
Full Name: Estelle Celestine Evans
Nickname(s): Stella
Age: 22
Date of Birth: August 4, 1998
Sun Sign: Leo
Moon Sign: Cancer
Rising Sign: Scorpio
Hometown: Beverly Hills, CA
Current Location: Upper East Side, NY
Gender: Cis female
Pronouns: She/her
Orientation: Pansexual
Political Affiliation: Liberal
Occupation: Supermodel, socialite, influencer
Career Highlights: Victoria’s Secret Angel, high fashion runways, print & editorial work, music video appearances, photography, art direction
Goals/Passions: Photography, art direction, fashion design, makeup, social media
Career Claim: Gigi Hadid
BIOGRAPHY.
When your mom’s a legendary supermodel and your dad is a smooth talking Hollywood talent agent, it’s safe to say that you were probably born with a silver spoon in your mouth. But don’t you dare say that shit to Stella Evans. Although she definitely enjoyed the finer things in life growing up and was practically gifted a spot in wealthy elite by her parents, Stella likes to believe that she did it all herself. And underneath it all - the glitz and the glam and the money and the flashing lights - maybe she actually did.
While this blonde haired, blue eyed beauty might be the spitting image of her mother with a few (okay, a lot) more extra curves, Stella tries to distance herself from her family heritage as much as possible. It started in kindergarten when she renamed herself. After all, being named after the notorious Estelle Evans doesn’t make you a lot of friends when you’re five. It makes you the subject of ridicule from your peers, and makes your teachers treat you as if you were the one posing topless in Italian Vogue. And when your mother made you model for a big Baby Guess modeling campaign at the age of 2, kids tended to talk. So she became Stella. Just Stella.
From then on, she did everything she could to separate herself from her parents. If her parents said to stay in, she went out. If they told her to get good grades, she failed her classes in retaliation. Their attention was all consuming, especially her mother’s. After the once popular cover girl had retired, she turned all of her attention to her daughter. Stella’s modeling work had been paused at the suggestion of her talent agent father, Arthur Evans. He wanted her to focus on school and get an education so she could take over the talent agency one day. But when Estelle and Arthur divorced when Stella was 10 years old, all bets were off.
Her mother hopped from loveless marriage to loveless marriage, dragging Stella along for the ride. Her father moved to the Upper East Side, vowing to see her at Christmas each year, while Stella jetted around the world against her will. 6th and 7th grade in Sweden, 8th grade in London, 9th and 10th grade in Paris. It was a long and lonely adolescence, but Stella filled it with booze, bars, and boys and girls to keep her company. Partying was her only escape. And she was damn good at escaping.
She had her first real relationship when she was 16. He was an older French financier who was content to spoil her rotten and show her a good time. Perhaps too good a time. Stella was introduced to the things that would become her vices - namely, drugs and alcohol. Her mother proved to be overbearing but oblivious. She would do things like criticize her daughter’s makeup, clothing, and body, but be completely unaware that Stella was doing things like snorting coke to get thinner. She’d call her trashy for going out to clubs, then look the other way when Stella would wear a short mini skirt when leaving for “study sessions” at the library. With Stella’s clever wit and electric charisma, it really was too easy. The drugs combined with the alcohol made her feel better because she didn’t really feel anything at all. Plus, if her parents hated partying, then Stella would learn to love it.
Shit hit the fan when Stella was arrested in France. Something about being an accomplice to international drug smuggling and being under the influence of a controlled substance - whatever. 16 year old Stella got off with a slap on the wrist due to her connections, promising to move back to New York with her dad until she was 18 and legal. The Upper East Side was her new home, and weirdly enough, she actually kind of liked it. It was easier to start over in New York, where no one cared about her washed up mother. But they did care about money, wealth, and excess, which Stella was more than an expert in, whether she liked it or not. This made her presence in the New York social scene almost magnetic. People would flock to her, drawn in by her ethereal beauty, effortless charm, and “fuck it all” party girl attitude.
Attention was a dangerous drug for a girl like Stella, who had spent her whole life freeing herself from her mother’s tarnished legacy. And when she had finally done it, had finally succeeded in making people call her “Stella Evans” instead of “Baby Estelle”, it made her wild with reckless abandon. All her new friends and lovers wanted to buy her shots and make her feel good any way she wanted, and it was only polite for Stella to let them do it.
The next few years were filled with exclusive clubs, raucous spring breaks, glamorous yacht parties, champagne kisses with boys and girls, social media notoriety, and juicy headlines that cemented her status as an it-girl. Her modeling career resumed with a promise to her father that she would go to college at the same time. Armed with a golden reputation, endless connections, and natural charisma and talent, Stella began to walk all the major runways and was in talks to appear in Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret. Unlike her mother, she proved that she had both high fashion attitude and sex appeal. Stella was unstoppable.
Until she wasn’t. After a night of drinking and an ill-timed bet that she could parallel park her date’s Range Rover (despite the fact that Stella didn’t have a license to speak of), the police charged her with a DUI. This time, she didn’t get off so easy. Her father pulled as many strings as possible to keep her image clean in the press, but word got out anyway. Fucking instagram.
Faced with the threat of losing her big modeling campaigns, Stella agreed to clean up her image. Think rehab, charity work, inspirational interviews. The whole shebang. And it worked - kind of. It’s hard to navigate a world filled with temptation, but Stella doesn’t know how to survive without the glitz and glamour of the wealthy world. She dropped out of college against her dad’s wishes, officially surrendering herself to the New York social scene. Rich girls have more fun, anyway. But sometimes she hates it and wants to be “normal”. Even so, she knows that she never will be and embraces the beautiful chaos that her life of excess brings to her.
As far as rich kids go, Stella is almost down-to-earth. Kind of. She likes to think that she is, but she’s also the kind of girl who would never be caught dead on the subway. Or a taxi. Black cars and private jets only, please. Underneath it all, Stella wants (and frankly, needs) real connections in her life. People who genuinely care about her and have her best interests at heart are extremely rare, so when Stella lets someone get close to her, they’re with her for life. Her reckless, carefree attitude can definitely get her into trouble, so she can be a handful.
But one of her shining traits is that she doesn’t judge, at least not as openly and viciously as her peers. Stella’s life of wealth and status is definitely ingrained in her, but she is also openminded and accepting. Her friends don’t need to be old money. They just need to be real. You can catch her being the talk of the town in her native Upper East Side, but also vibing with the up and comers in Tribeca. Below the layers of superficiality and obsession with the finer things in life, this supermodel has a heart of gold. But don’t fuck with her. Stella is dangerous and defiant when she wants to be, and nothing can get in the way of her getting what she wants. Even if what she wants could destroy her one day.
*** her bio is still a wip and i’m working on some inspo for wanted connections, but definitely lmk if you have any questions or think stella would be a good fit for connections with your muses !
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Queer Mental Health: A June Discussion
It is Day 2 of PRIDE month. Major corporations have already changed their logos to the rainbow flag, the circuit gays are out on the beaches in their speedos, posting thirst traps on Instagram, the Ru Girls are teasing their wigs and stoning their body suits for the plethora of gigs they have coming up, PRIDE celebration planning is underway if the event has not already happened. It is the gayest time of the year.
I feel that, while we are drinking our vodka sprites with a splash of cran (and PBR ((yes, I am a gay who drinks cheap beer. Who gonna check me boo?))), we need to talk about queer mental health.
I feel that this is a topic we shyly talk about. After years of being viewed as outcasts and weirdos, I feel that we sometimes get scared to talk about the thoughts in our head. We’ve been told being ourselves was such a problem that the stigmatism behind mental health bogs us down. We don’t really talk about going to see therapists, or crying for reasons we don’t understand, or the on-going battle of what our bodies look like.
Every morning I wake up at 2am to go to work. I work until 12:30 p.m. Then, I come home and sit on my couch and just aimlessly watch Netflix until I have to repeat the process. I do that Friday-Tuesday. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I just sit around my house and watch more tv.
I love my job. I’ve had amazing opportunities in my career and I’m thankful for the great people I’ve met, who’ve helped me. I’ve truly grown from those experiences.
I hate leaving work. It’s the most socialization that I get outside of my house. I sit and battle my anxiety and depression at home by myself. Because of my weird schedule, I don’t get to see people much. My friends try to come out but they work normal hours so they can’t really do anything on my days off. On Wednesdays, I go to the local gay bar and play bingo by myself. It’s quite sad but I made friends with the bartender, who has had to save me from a couple rough days.
---- PRO TIP: Never have your bartender drive you home. You then will live with a bunch of regret of making a pseudo-stranger see you in your worst----
Everyday, I wake up before dawn and get in the shower. My first thought when I wake up is “what will I fuck up today?” Then, I think about what I have to do for the day. Through that, I debate going to the gym after work and I usually let my inner saboteur win the argument. I always convince myself: what is the point? I never have the motivation to stick with it. It would just be a waste of time and all I want to do is lay on the couch. At some point in the day, my anxiety kicks in. It is usually around the time I check my bank account. This is where my anxiety convinces me that I am a fuck up. Then, I look up the number to my therapist because I feel like that might help. Well, my anxiety, who I’ve named Chad, tells me that it won’t help because it never does. I just feel like I want to escape my anxiety and that it will go away. Unfortunately, it never does. You can’t escape your brain and your feelings. Then, I realize I’m spiraling. I think about texting my friends about my issues but I haven’t known them that long since I’ve known them for under a year. I can’t really talk to them about my issues because it’s also robbing them of their time. It’s not fair to constantly seek help when you are probably just dealing with the same repetitive shit. I get afraid that I’ll just scare them away because of the issues I’ve dealt with since I was 16. My anxiety drives me to feel like I’m just a thorn in everyone’s side. It’s bad to the point that I repetitively apologize to everyone for basically existing. There are days where I just lay in bed and scroll through social media, wishing I was someone else because I let myself believe I can’t change to be the person I want to be. I look in the mirror and really hate the social decisions I’ve been making in the last year. I’ve been getting super anxious about the things I’ve said to people when I’m drunk. I get anxious about DMing people I’ve met because I think they’ll think I have feelings for them when in reality I just want to be sociable. My depression comes in waves on top of this. I constantly think about how I’ve made awful financial decisions in my early 20s and now I’m paying for it in my late 20s. I’m living with family at the age of 27 and I didn’t plan on that for myself. I see what people are doing on social media. I know people never post their worst but it makes me feel like I’m doing my absolute worst. It’s not fair of me to do that to myself but also I’d like to formally introduce everyone to Chad, my anxiety and Darryl, my depression.
I then think that my friends, the very few I have in Florida, think that I’m just too much and only deal with me because we end up in the same social situations. Want to know why? Because I’m everything that would annoy me as a person. I wish I wasn’t but I am. I know it is that whole conversation of working on yourself but this is happening to me right now. Not the end goal of working on yourself. Stop fucking telling people they need to work on themselves. Someone going through something probably knows that but this is happening in the now. Dismissing their shit and saying it’ll be better down the road is the fucking worst thing ever.
Then, I’m gay on top of all of this. Being gay is great but unconventionally hard. People want to tokenize you. They want to put you in a box and say you should be this and not that. I have gotten, specifically from my fraternity brothers in college, “you are cool but just like tone it down dude.” The first time I heard that was in reference to me posting a picture kissing a boy’s cheek on Instagram. Some of my fraternity brothers didn’t think it would look good for the chapter’s image. But, they publicly cheat on their girlfriends and do whatever they want. Oh, lets talk about how they’d ask me to wing man them with my girlfriends so they could get laid. Or, my favorite, is when women say I should act a certain way. My close girlfriends are not like this. One of them says “yes queen” but that’s about it. She has never tokenized me and she’s let me be whatever version of myself I am that day. But straight women love to say we should love shopping. If we’re femme presenting or there is an ounce of feminity in our presence, then we get asked if we like mani-pedis or assume we have style. Not all of us do. I don’t even identify with a feminine or masculine identity. I didn’t know I needed a label to be myself.
Then there are the boxes gay guys put other gays in. First thing is first, if you are slightly overweight, not fit and not stylish... You can go fuck yourself. Gay dating is like having a Ruth Chris budget but you can only afford the McDonald’s $3 McDouble Meal. Every gay man, thanks to porn and the American media’s take on what gay men look like, thinks they need to date the hottest guy in the room. The minute that they realize that guy will never go for them, well that is cataclysmic. You may call that once in a blue moon but I call that a Saturday night at a gay bar.
Then, there is the judgment in how you dress, who you hang out with, what you do and what you drink (I am the only person at my local gay bar that drinks PBR and the amount of comments about calories and bloating I’ve received is way too much). It’s rough.
I know this was a long journey and most of you probably didn’t read all of this but I wrote this to get things off my mind. This is what I deal with every day of the year. I never know what my mood of the day will be when I wake up. Will I win my battle against my anxiety and depression or will I lose it and let it run everything? I feel no matter what we look like, what do we do or who we hang out with, this is something every queer person deals with. I think we need to have more of an open conversation about it amongst ourselves. I think there is some comfort there. We all present and hold face in different ways. If you ever saw me in person, you could tell how I am doing by how I present myself. I never really hide anything. It’s dumb. Just be yourself.
I know I wrote this for me but I hope it starts a conversation amongst the queer community. I hope it helps someone reach out to seek help or I hope you just related. Anyways, thats it.
#pride#pride flag#mental breakdown#mental health#gay#queer#lgbtqia#queer mental health#please discuss#pride month#stonewall
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BnHA Chapter 258: Have You Thanked Your Twice Today
Previously on BnHA: All Might gave Deku a book with all of the previous OFA successors’ names, quirks, and career stats. Kacchan barely glanced at the book and was all “nah, boring” and JUST LIKE THAT he decided we’re not gonna get any new info, which I don’t think is very fair or considerate Kacchan but whatever!! Anyway though, All Might did reveal that Nana could fly and so Deku is going to learn to fly, so that’s fucking awesome, and then Kacchan and Deku had a moment of being bratty siblings together which I framed and put on my wall, so that was also very enjoyable. Back at the 1-A dorms we learned that Todoroki can’t cook, and the kids had a New Year’s party and talked about how they’re gonna be second years soon and how everything is just SO GREAT AND GOOD AND LIFE IS GOOD, and elsewhere All Might sat outside the teacher’s dorms and had a gorgeous fucking conversation with Aizawa that gave me all the feels. The chapter then ended with a THREE MONTH TIMESKIP to late March when apparently everything is about to go to shit. So yeah. Quite a lot to process there.
Today on BnHA: Hawks spends basically the entire chapter very slowly explaining to us that he became best friends with Twice, and it paid off dividends on account of Twice deciding that Hawks is definitely trustworthy and he should definitely tell him exactly where Tomura is off hiding in the mountains of Kyoto, because that’s the kind of extremely sensitive strategic intel that real best friends don’t keep from one another! Can you guys believe Hawks spent all that time trying to cozy up to fucking Dabi of all people when this whole time Twice was right fucking there. I bet you Twice would never have asked him to kill Best Jeanist and tote around his remains in a knapsack. Anyway so the chapter ends with the heroes launching what I assume is a surprise attack in where I assume is Kyoto, which probably explains that whole “on that day the heroes vanished” bit from the previous chapter. So let’s all wish them good luck, especially because THEY BROUGHT THE FUCKING KIDS WITH THEM GODDAMMIT. Oh my babies. Please be safe.
so I think I’m gonna go back to the Friday schedule since it just works better for me. just gotta remember to take the translations with a grain of salt, but all in all the quality last week wasn’t too bad, and overall the pros outweigh the cons
(ETA: the quality actually went down a lot this time honestly, but Friday still > Sunday in terms of me having the time to read this, so it is what it is.)
well this is interesting!
“in the absence of Endeavor” ? ??? the what now??? “oh yeah did we forget to mention, he’s gone now. we did some focus groups and made a few tweaks based on what the fans said they wanted.” well shit. let this be a warning to you all. it can happen JUST LIKE THAT
um. but I mean, that’s all well and good but uhhhh. [nervous glance toward Ujiko, Tomura, the 100k army, and the 11 noumus] ...
but maybe he’s just absent for the cover though. (ETA: yeah this makes a lot more sense after reading the last page of this chapter lol.) anyway so here we have everyone flying, as all good heroes do, including Deku who doesn’t really need that floating quirk after all I suppose, since he can jump real good. BUT IT’S STILL NICE FOR HIM TO HAVE IT SO SHHH
also the flower!Kacchan eyes are becoming more and more frequent lately. Horikoshi is really having a lot of fun with that
and now we’re going back roughly two months ago! which is still the future as far as I’m concerned! so this is really weird to have a “flashback” that basically still takes place after where we last left off. but whatever
“a week after the ‘hospital’ tip” well thank you, that certainly does help. so Twice is jogging in and beckoning to his best bud Hawks so Hawks is like “?” and walking over
(ETA: this has absolutely nothing to do with anything, but I just wanted to say that it’s very possible this flashback is actually taking place on Shouto’s birthday -- January 11th -- given the timing, so happy birthday Shouto! you are getting so big!)
lol see this is one of those times where the whole ‘translation of a translation’ thing doesn’t really work sob. even with context I’m not quite sure wtf Twice is actually asking, but at any rate this at least does give us an idea of how the rest of the League is spending their time now that they’ve completed their whole villain corporate merger
so Spinner and Compress, who actually have a few brain cells to rub together between the two of them, are already deeply involved in running things, and meanwhile Giran, Dabi, and Toga don’t really give a shit and so are content to sit back and wait until their services are actually needed. incidentally I like to think Giran spends a good chunk of his free time just tormenting ReDestro in a bunch of really small and petty ways. like making him get his coffee, and having him call and cancel his cable subscription and stuff. it’s just nice
guys I have no idea wtf is going on in these four panels honestly
well you heard him. that’s the situation. nobody trusts Twice (or was he talking about Hawks?), and meanwhile he has to go poo. not exactly where I thought this chapter would be picking up after that fun little cliffhanger last week, but just goes to show this series truly is a magical Kinder Egg and you never know what you’re gonna get!
so Hawks is explaining for my benefit that Twice was apparently doing an impression of some guy named “Sanctum” who is the oldest member of the MLA
holy shit it took Hawks a whole month to figure out all of the Pliff members? I’m just gonna pass then. thankfully I’m not a spy and I don’t have the fate of the free world depending on me memorizing the organizational chart of a bunch of really boring people whom I really do not give the slightest fuck about. anyway godspeed Hawks
oh no
son of a bitch. we’re in for another long fucking arc aren’t we lmao. well all right then let’s go ahead and do the rundown
Black 1: Fuhrer King Bradley
Black 2: Flying Ace
Black 3: Mother Ginger
Violet 1: Super Mario and Just A Bald Man
Violet 2: Predator and Best Sweaterist
Violet 3: Vizard and Gang Badger
in conclusion, Horikoshi will never stop making Alien/Predator references, and I’m also seeing some strong FMA and Bleach influence here as well. hell, the Mario guy even reminds me of some of the fishman characters from One Piece. so basically we’re all over the place here
other observations: “the new world movement”, huh? are they moving on from PLF at long last? I’ll take Newm over Pliff any day tbh
and so they have a tactical force and a raid force. now that’s interesting as fuck, because who exactly are they planning to raid? now that’s a nice disturbing question to ponder
lastly, the black and violet color schemes are very interesting and I wonder if there’s any significance there that’s going over my head lol. for now I just think it sounds cool regardless
-- MOTHERFUCKER THERE’S A WHOLE NOTHER PAGE OF THIS SHIT FUCK ME I FUCKING QUIT
goddammit. fine
Carmine 1: Lefty Hair and Gerudo Princess
Carmine 2: Slidin’ Go Away and R2-D2
and I can’t see Carmine 3, oh well. meanwhile on the other side we’ve got:
Cleveland 1: Praying Mantis and Righty Hair
Cleveland 2: Jawa and Just Happy To Be Here
and last but not least, Cleveland 3: Badger’s Revenge
what I have learned from this is that I don’t really know what a badger looks like and so any remotely rodent-looking animal person with stripes on their face is going to be slapped with that label because I don’t have time to research what would be a more appropriate animal nickname unless we want to be here until next week. anyway
haha Hawks what the fuck
well that sure is encouraging. so how exactly are the heroes supposed to get the drop on them then? basically we’re fucked, is what you’re saying. well we all been knew so whatever
so Hawks is monologuing to himself about how he was able to nice his way into learning all of the army’s members without getting caught, and in the process he observed how all of the members are all “FUCK THE SYSTEM”, which they definitely have a point about but are also definitely going about the wrong way holy shit
so now he’s feeding some good rabble-rousing lines to Twice who is eating them up
yeah, because Twice famously loves ReDestro lol, oh wait
so Twice is all “I don’t wanna say something that’s not from the heart” because he is PURE and not a Sneaky Sam like SOME PEOPLE! but he understands Hawks’s point that he basically just has to butter them up and tell them what they want to hear, and now he’s running off with a hearty thanks
fffffson of a --
like, you all can see the breakdown in logic that occurred here, right? “some heroes are corrupt” -- absolutely! “kill all heroes” -- wait, what
like obviously there are some real world parallels here. but I very much get the feeling that the PLF/NWM’s movement is fueled less by sentiments of “our law enforcement system is trigger-happy, racist, void of empathy, and think they’re above the law” and more by the notion of “our self-proclaimed superiority gives us the right to do whatever we want and trumps other people’s right to be safe and free, particularly if those people are unfortunate enough to not have quirks.” like, there are a lot of other nuances we could get into here, but that’s basically the gist of it, so yeah. these guys are not to be sympathized with here
and now there’s a big double page spread basically confirming that what these guys really want is blood and anarchy
and the really interesting thing here to me is that we can see Tomura standing at the front of the pack in that bottom right panel. but on the very next panel, with the close-up of Hawks looking as serious as we’ve ever seen him, he basically says that the endgame of all this, the ultimate outcome that this is all meant to bring into place, is one thing and one thing only
yep. well fuck
anyway I have no idea why he’s thanking Twice, but I’m gonna go ahead and guess he unknowingly did something which might give the heroes the potential glimmer of hope which they desperately need. so I will go ahead and thank you too, Twice. you’re a good guy buddy
oh wow there’s a whole page of more meta about Twice! -- and OH SHITTTTTTT
LKDsjflkjsdlfklskgjlskjlfkjsdlfk oh my fkfdjflk how did this never occur to me, just. FSDKLFLSIFKjk
hahaha. :’) holy fucking shit. they have to take him out. they can’t win otherwise. the heroes are already screwed enough as it is with just one Tomura and eleven high ends to contend with; if Twice is able to use his quirk to multiply that exponentially, we can basically kiss the world goodbye. fuck
but Hawks came to realize that Twice is actually a good guy though as echoed above! which, yeah, and can you imagine if he wasn’t, though? shiiit
oh my god they are so cute
listen, I won’t lie, I’m reading this for my 1-A children first and foremost, so there’s a part of me that’s like “HOW MANY MORE PAGES ARE WE GOING TO GET OF THIS JESUS CHRIST.” but there’s no denying that Jin is a good turnip and his unexpected friendship with Hawks -- which I am happy to report is now confirmed to be genuine! because Hawks really does like him! -- is a delight to witness
OH MY GOD TWICE LMAO
“HERE, LET ME JUST DRAW YOU A MAP! (⌒∇⌒。)ANYTHING FOR YOU, BEST FRIEND”
holy fucking shit Twice. did you just save all our asses you beautiful bastard
so between this, and the “hospital” clue, that could be enough to track him down, couldn’t it? no wonder Hawks was so pumped after getting that call. what are the odds this chapter ends with the start of a hero-led raid on a hospital in Kyoto. oh shit oh shit oh shit
lolol oh fuck me
I swear to god Horikoshi if you end this bromance by having Hawks kill Twice for the sake of the greater good, I’ll. ... well I sure as hell won’t like that. please do not
AND JUST LIKE THAT WE’RE BACK TO SPRINGTIME OH MY GOD
what a time to enter the first fucking grade Dai-kun. godspeed little man. I love the little detail that he’s holding an Endeavor plush while looking at the All Might statue. drawing strength from both heroes. aww
and then of course we have this fucking march of heroes which I can only hope is them heading to that hospital! no wonder they all vanished. they all ran off to Kyoto to try and put a stop to the villains’ plans before it’s too late
but I don’t see any of the kiddos there, though? don’t tell me the villains are gonna try something while the adults are away and leave the kids to deal with it all on their own
oh shit no!!! hold up!!
DON’T TELL ME THEY REALLY DID BRING THE KIDS WITH THEM ON THE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS “TIME TO GET OUR ASSES HANDED TO US BY NOUMURAKI TOMURA” MISSION NOOO MY BABIESSS
oh thank god
at least they don’t have the child soldiers on the front fucking lines, fucking christ
AHHHHHHHHH
SAY A PRAYER FOR KATSUKI’S WINTER COSTUME, EVERYONE. BE AT PEACE, SLEEVES OF GONDOR. FAREWELL BEST JEANIST TRIBUTE COLLAR
is this T chest thing on Shouto’s costume new? I can’t imagine that serves any sort of practical function whatsoever; he was probably just tired of looking boring
BUT!!!! those gloves, though!!?! now those are definitely new and I fucking love them. again I can’t really see them having much of a practical application given his quirk, but there is nothing wrong with upgrading oneself just to look sharp! boy wanted a facelift so he went out and got one
that’s some nice Anime Protagonist Wind they’ve got going on there in the mountains of Kyoto. real epic shit
1-B is there too!! and also Hadou, I think, unless that’s Pony? so that’s fucking awesome. we will certainly need all hands on deck
so that’s it for the chapter! not much happened, but we got a lot of Twice appreciation and learned that the heroes still have a few tricks up their sleeves! can’t wait to see how this will all go disastrously wrong. if you ask me, it’s probably when they decided that the best way to launch a surprise attack was to have fifty Endeavor-led guys gather all together and march up Main Street. but far be it from me to tell the heroes how to do their job I guess. best of luck not dying everyone
#bnha 258#hawks#twice (bnha)#league of villains#bnha#boku no hero academia#bnha spoilers#mha spoilers#makeste reads bnha#twice gave them more intel in two sentences than hawks managed to gather in months lmao#clearly did not learn a single goshdurn thing from the whole overhaul incident#but who can fault him though#he's just too pure#oh twice#I just want you to be happy#please don't die#and please don't be sad when you find out that your friend is a double agent#:(
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2 10 n 11 :)
this is basically an essay im so sorry. watch how hard i can infodump (ill put this under a cut hopefully it works bc sometimes tumblr decimates the keep reading things if theyre in asks)
2. Who’s your favorite of the Bound? What do you think of the different ideologies they have? Which of the factions are you most aligned with?
WE ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER I AM A PETER LOVER THROUGH AND THROUGH!!!!!! oh baby i love that morally questionable architect. pretty early on in getting into pathologic (it’s coming up on a year now...) i thought about peter stamatin too hard and now i’m here. but really i find him to be such a fascinating character!
the thing about pathologic that i love is how almost every character can be as complex as you want. pathologic does an excellent job of implying a lot of character traits while only exploring some in further detail, which in some games is frustrating but patho does it so well! it consistently hints at traits and lets you fill in the details yourself. peter’s character is extremely interesting to me... and maybe a little more relatable at times than i want to admit lol.
i think i’ll talk about both stamatins though! their dynamic hurts me a lot. i’ll start with andrey bc i’ve been thinking about him lately. although i’ll bounce back and forth between both stamatins.
i’ve said this before but i’ll say it again.... andrey’s role as a protector who inadvertently hurts the people he cares about really gets to me. he is not a shield but, in his own words, a battering ram. and the problem is that battering ram has a recoil.
i have to wonder how that mentality of his came about, anyways. the implication is that it’s always just been him and peter, so did he take on that role because there wasn’t anyone else to do it?
in his efforts to protect peter from... military, i believe, he kills four people. which leads to daniil getting mistaken for andrey, which leads to daniil getting shot. and almost dying. he protects peter but to a smothering extent, peter even says he’s been suffering for ten years bc of andrey which is a LOADED line. he protects on a physical level but he kinda fucks up on the emotional.
there’s a horrible irony in peter and eva being the people he cares about the most and both attempting suicide. with eva once she’s missing he immediately goes running off trying to look for her, and . ahh i can’t remember right off hand what exactly he thought happened. but ik he was probably expecting a fight. with peter he says that after that he’ll never let peter leave his side, at least “as far as his knife can fly”... it sounds cheesy but the one thing he can’t save anyone from is themself.
and god the way andrey bases his ENTIRE sense of self worth on peter fucking hurts. they’re not peter and andrey, the architects. they’re Peter And Andrey, The Architect. (thinking about “one architect, two brothers” here.) andrey thinks he’s larger than life and all but he’s constantly living in peter’s shadow. their theatre of death positions come to mind here, with peter standing up, looking down at andrey. but andrey is on his knees in front of peter, arms limp to his sides.... separated by a wooden beam...
peter’s side of this dynamic is fascinating too. his dependency on andrey is. ow. leaving all practical matters and decision making to him... there’s this resentment (That’s Fine I’ve Been Suffering For Ten Years Because Of Him) and lack of communication that especially shows through for him.
while in p2 andrey completely crumbles if peter dies, peter doesn’t seem to care...... at all....?? which hopefully is elaborated upon in p2. he’s willing to talk to aspity about worrying if andrey is angry with him but he can’t bring it up with andrey himself. when he asks how andrey is doing he stops and says andrey is a “tough man” and can handle anything. in general, while it’s definitely there for andrey, themes of dependency are really glaringly obvious for peter.
one of my favorite peter things i’ve talked about before is still his ego!!! peter has a gigantic ego!!! he really does think that even though he’s hit the ceiling and can’t go any further he is still “a true architect” and “the rock upon which is built the stairway to tomorrow”. he has a blunt edge to him and he doesn’t ever tell you more than he thinks he needs to which i love. if he doesn’t want to tell you something he isn’t gonna do it. this is a character trait i think ppl miss which is sad because it’s so good and adds another layer of depth to him!
it really does hurt me how he’s valued for his mind alone (AHEM AHEM AHEM. GEORGIY) but it’s the thing nobody understands about him. i’m nowhere near as smart as peter lol but i do know that pain of feeling like none of your ideas can be understood because you just can’t express them the way you’d like, and then feeling like you’ll never be able to make it happen.
also, here’s a little thing i’ve picked up on. this connection probably doesn’t exist but i’m making it because the stamatins make me lose my mind and start becoming one of those people who looks for connections in everything i guess. peter standing in the theatre of death, andrey below him. peter’s loft being at a high point in the town, the broken heart being underground. peter’s loft is also higher north on the map but the broken heart is lower south. just smth interesting
i have more thoughts on them of course! but this is all getting awfully long. i feel like i’ve only just gotten to the tip of the iceberg even though i’ve written so much skfjskfjs this just feels quite surface level or. at least what is surface level for me who thinks about the stamatins so hard.
anyways i’ll keep my answers to the other two parts of this question quick! peter and andrey’s more creative vs practical mindsets are rly neat. especially because i would actually argue peter is a little more grounded in reality in certain aspects. not all, but certain ones...... their take on the utopian ideology is interesting. hot take: peter’s version of utopianism leans a tad towards humility. and andrey /does/ feel “straightforward utopian” but i think in certain regards? this man has a bit of a termite streak..... (hi al if you’re reading this). but i won’t get into that right now i’ve already gone on so long. saving that for later.
i think all of the factions kinda suck in their own way sometimes, honestly? although all of them are well written and have their pros and cons. were i in pathologic and i had to choose one i’d probably be a termite but everyone around me seems to think i’m a utopian. is it bc i love peter so much
10. What would you be like as a Pathologic character?
this question is a hard one! i did make a self insert once, mile-a-minute, but they’ve become their own oc by now. i think i’d be very...... very afraid...... probably isolating myself why does every pathologic character break quarantine???? also you could trade beetles with me :) thats about all i’ve got sorry this is real short
11. What is something you would change, writing-wise, about either game?
UGH i’ve been gushing about pathologic because. obviously i love this game so much. but the way it handles racism & such (in both games!) leaves much to be desired :/
i see a lot of the points it’s trying to make but i think the way they’re handled can be very messy. there are moments that work very well but. a lot that don’t. (i am aware that dybowski writes partially from his own experiences)
all too often the game “validates” the kin’s oppression and... at times paints them as oddly antagonistic? i don’t like how often as artemy you’re able to be like “i’m not one of those beasts” and i think there are better ways to touch on his internalized racism. in general the constant comparisons to animals is weird. you get big vlad who is obviously explicitly racist comparing them to animals, but then sometimes it’s like “ACTUALLY calling them animals is fine :)”
i think the herb brides are kind of. Hm. in their portrayal. also using parts of the buryat alphabet to denote an accent is weird. making odongh and herb brides inhuman is weird. connecting the kin to Magic is weird.
and, listen, i’d really like to not be playing Artemy Burakh Experiences a Microaggression Simulator every time i’m playing the haruspex route. hate that you either can’t call ppl out on their shit or if you can it ends the conversation/bars you from getting necessary information. glad you at least get to drag the vlads, i guess?
i also was talking about this but wrt peter specifically, and this issue is present throughout the game but it’s especially visible with peter, i don’t like how often you can mock him for his addiction.
he’s obviously in an extremely rough patch! being able to be just so plain cruel to him about the dependency on alcohol (and iirc in p1 hallucinogens, bc aglaya mentions it) he’s formed to cope with his mental illness & trauma just feels bad. especially because yes it is not a healthy coping mechanism at all but... it still is a coping mechanism, if that makes sense?
the way you’re able to constantly rub it in his face feels awful. peter is fully aware that it isn’t good for him and shows a desire to quit. even if he didn’t it would still be awful to say because. it’s just insensitive. like you don’t just go up to someone and keep being like HEY YOU DRINK A LOT YOU SHOULD STOP DOING THAT DO YOU KNOW WHAT WATER IS? feels really bad to keep harping on something that causes him pain and that he struggles with every single day.
however peter does have moments where he tells you Not to say that, or if you pry into why he drinks he’ll outright say he doesn’t remember you being his friend, which is better than nothing.
in p1 moreso than p2 i hate how you can be like oh he’s craaaazy he’s off his rocker he’s delusional!!!! that “why, i never... an architect of schizophrenia!” comment sticks in my mind because it’s just... so genuinely mean. especially because if i remember correctly that line is from when he’s planning on LITERALLY FUCKING BURNING HIMSELF ALIVE
i think if they were going to have all of this they should have gone more in depth on how it’s really. not good that he’s treated so poorly. and i do believe that’s what they were going for, a la the art book w/ the whole “not to be made into a drunken clown, this is a tragic character”, etc. but it just doesn’t land. i’m holding out for the bachelor and changeling routes in p2 to see if they expand upon any of it but i highly doubt i’ll be satisfied in this regard.
i stand by the One time it was really fucking funny to clown on peter being the time you can tell him little girls eat raspberries and earthworms and he just believes you
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Perfect Times Eleven Ep. 1 TRANSCRIPT
ACT ONE
SCENE ONE
REMINGTON
Goddamn it! You really think tying a tie wouldn’t be this hard.
VOICE FROM PHONE
And that, my friends, is how you tie a tie!
REMINGTON
(overlapping)
No! No it’s not! Fuck you!
VOICE FROM PHONE
Hope you found this video helpful. Hit up that “like” button below and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more pro bro tips from Menswear Mike! Hang tie-ght. Haha, get it? Just a little joke for ya on this fine Menswear Mike Monday morning.
(REMINGTON grabs her phone and turns the video off.)
REMINGTON
Shit. Ah.. maybe if... nope. That’s worse. Is that a zit? God hates me.
(exhales)
My name is Remington Long and I am here because I hear eleven voices in my head and a teacup chihuahua tried to claw my eye out — no. That’s too on the nose.
(pauses)
My name is Remington Long! How are you? I’m perfectly sane! Fuck. Uh...yeah, no. I’m already talking to a mirror. Who’s gonna believe that? Okay. My name is Remington Long, and oh, heavenly therapist, please bestow the blesséd knowledge upon me so I can maybe, maaaaybe have a shot at normal life. Except, y’know, my life’s already fine, except sometimes animals attack me, I guess, like the chihuahua from yesterday. So I actually don’t know why the hell my parents are paying you. But yes! My name is Remington Long and I’m here for a heaping helping of therapy! Fuck yeah! Ugh.
(1. Therapy Upstate.)
REMINGTON
THERAPY. THERAPY UPSTATE.
IT’S UNFAIR TO ME. Here, I’ll give it to ya straight —
WELL, KIDS, YOU KNOW YOUR PARENTS THINK YOU’RE REALLY PSYCHO
WHEN YOU’RE FORCED TO HIKE OVER TO DELAWARE COUNTY FOR
THERAPY UPSTATE.
I’VE LIVED FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS LIKE THIS! I THINK I’VE GOT THE HANG OF IT BY NOW.
DON’T NEED SOME PRETENTIOUS PRICK’S USELESS SHIT ABOUT MEDITATION OR HOW
TALKING ABOUT MY FEELINGS WILL MAKE EVERYTHING SO, SO MUCH BETTER!
PLUS, HE’LL PROBABLY BE OLD AND WEAR ROUND GLASSES AND A TARTAN SWEATER.
Ugh, I can see it already, HE’LL SAY
”TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS” AND I’LL BE LIKE ”ERR, I GOT NONE!”
AND THEN WE’LL JUST SIT, STARE AT EACH OTHER FOR A BIT
IN SILENCE TILL THE SESSION IS DONE.
Plot twist! WE’LL. FALL IN LOVE
HE’LL TREAT ME WELL BUT I’LL GET HIM FIRED
FOR HAVING RELATIONS WITH A MINOR —
Wait. No. I’m eighteen. I’m an adult. Shit.
A WHOLE ASS ADULT BEING MADE TO GO TO
THERAPY. THERAPY UPSTATE.
WHERE THERE’S TONS OF TREES AND ALL THE STORES CLOSE AFTER EIGHT.
I’M JUST CONSIDERING EVERY POSSIBLE SCENARIO IN AN ATTEMPT TO PREPARE ME,
SO I WON’T HAVE TO GO TO MORE THERAPY UPSTATE.
SO I’VE GOT VOICES IN MY HEAD! WELL, I CAN STILL HAPPILY EXIST!
I CAN’T EVEN HEAR THEM IF I KEEP THIS TACKY BRACELET ON MY WRIST.
AND EVEN WHEN I DO, THEY JUST...REPEAT ELEVEN RANDOM WORDS.
(REMINGTON unclasps her bracelet and it drops to the ground.)
REMINGTON’S VOICES
(jumbled and overlapping)
HARVEST, OCEAN, CREATE, CHANGE, FIGHT, ART, FAMILY, FREEDOM, JOYCE, TRADITION, BIRDS
REMINGTON
See? THEY AREN’T THAT ANNOYING AND THEY’RE QUITE EASY TO IGNORE
JUST LIKE REAL-LIFE PEOPLE THAT TO ME, KINDA BORE.
WHAT WOULD THIS THERAPIST KNOW THAT I DON’T ALREADY
ABOUT WHAT I’VE DEALT WITH MY ENTIRE LIFE? OH, YES, I’M FEELING PETTY ABOUT
THERAPY! THERAPY UPSTATE.
THEY SAY THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE
BUT I’M AN INDEPENDENT MAN WHO DON’T NEED NO MAN
TO SHARE ALL MY CARES WITH AT THERAPY UPSTATE.
I KNOW I’M A BURDEN! I DON’T WANNA BECOME MORE OF ONE!
STOP THROWING MONEY AT THIS! IT WILL NOT GO AWAY.
SAVE THOSE FUNDS FOR MY COLLEGE, OR, BETTER YET, ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT I WON’T GO TO COLLEGE, AND THAT IS OKAY!
I CAN BE NORMAL! I’LL DO FINE! I PROMISE! I PROMISE! I PROMISE.
THERAPY. THERAPY UPSTATE.
YOUR PARENTS SEE YOU CAN’T HANDLE YOURSELF...HOW GREAT.
IT’S A MARK ON THE CALENDAR TO CONFIRM THEY’VE RAISED
A DISAPPOINTMENT, A HOPELESS, CRAZED
FREAK WHO THEY HAVE TO CODDLE, WHO AIN’T GOING ANYWHERE AT THIS RATE!
OH, PLEASE HAVE SOME HOPE IN ME!
I DON’T NEED HELP TO COPE, YOU SEE!
DON’T WRITE SOMETHING FRIGHTFUL
ON MY PERMANENT RECORD OR I’LL NEVER GET A JOB I DON’T HATE!
OH, PLEASE, DON’T SEND ME TO THERAPY UPSTATE!
ACT ONE
SCENE TWO
DR. MORELLO
Yes, uh, hello, Remington.
DAISY
Remington? That’s fucking wack! Remy, like the rat!
DR. MORELLO
Daisy. Language!
REMINGTON
Uh, hi.
DAISY
I’m Daisy, Ratatouille!
DR. MORELLO
My name is Dr. Morello.
REMINGTON
Yeah, uh, my parents told me about you.
DR. MORELLO
Good. This wasn’t what you expected, was it, dear?
REMINGTON
Oh. Uh, no. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very nice house, but yeah. Like I was expecting some really clinical looking...space? You are also not what I expected, but, uh, in a good way! This...is also...such a warm color scheme I’d never have imagined...
(catches herself going off topic)
It is very nice to meet you, Dr. Morello! How can you help with the, uh, voices in my head thing?
(pauses)
Shit. Sorry. I mean, shit, oh sh-...sorry. Shouldn’t have cursed. I didn’t mean like you’re seeking me out to help me, I’m the one seeking your help —
DAISY
You’re making it worse, nerd.
REMINGTON
Yeah, also there’s, uh, Daisy? Um, there’s children here. Didn’t expect that. Who? Why? Uh, who’s the other one?
DR. MORELLO
Ohh! Yes —
REMINGTON
Yes, there’s children here.
DR. MORELLO
Yes, yes. Remington, I would like you to meet my other patients. Come over here! Be polite!
JAY
Ugh.
DAISY
I said hi to her already!
JAY
Hi, I guess.
REMINGTON
Okay, I can respect a girl with a well-defined aesthetic —
JAY
Then why are you dressed like a sad lawyer?
DR. MORELLO
Kids, this is Remington’s first appointment, and you both know what that means.
DAISY
(bored)
I’ll get the fear-puke bucket.
REMINGTON
The what?
DAISY
Wait. Hold the phone. Hold on. Remington Long...Are you the kid who got attacked by the...
JAY
Oh, wait, yeah! Shiiiiiit!
(DAISY and JAY try to contain their laughter.)
DAISY
...teacup chihuahua?
(JAY doubles down in laughter.)
REMINGTON
(unamused)
Yeah. Nice to meet you.
DR. MORELLO
Kids, be nice. Okay, now this is Jay.
(DAISY and JAY calm down.)
REMINGTON
Who’s already mocked me twice. Good start. Hello.
JAY
(clears throat a little)
Hey —
DR. MORELLO
(interrupting)
Now that that’s out of the way —
DAISY
(exiting)
Fear-puke bucket time!
REMINGTON
Okay, what does that mean?
DR. MORELLO
(ignoring her)
— let’s get down to business. Now — That bracelet on your wrist. It’s the accessory you use to block the voices out, yes?
REMINGTON
Yeah.
DR. MORELLO
And when you take it off, can you describe what these voices are like?
REMINGTON
There’s like, a lot of them, and they just say words, I guess. It’s overlapping and each voice says a word, and then that just repeats, like, I don’t know, over and over, like —
JAY
Like a broken record in your brain.
REMINGTON
...Yeah. What she said.
(turning back to DR. MORELLO)
Wait, so all your patients have the same problem?
DR. MORELLO
Essentially, yes.
(pauses)
Of course, I do too.
REMINGTON
What?
(DAISY enters with a big yellow bucket, which she plunks in front of REMINGTON.)
DAISY
Fear-puke bucket time.
JAY
It’s always more like panic attack puke, if anything —
DAISY
Yeah, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it.
REMINGTON
What’s this for?
DAISY/JAY
Just in case.
REMINGTON
Of what?
DR. MORELLO
Remington, this isn’t some disease or disorder. You see, ah, living things have a soul, right?
REMINGTON
Okay, yeah, I guess?
DR. MORELLO
Well, souls don’t die with the living thing. They go on to inhabit another body.
REMINGTON
Reincarnation?
DR. MORELLO
Yes, some call it that. A transference of energy. A shift of...ah, physical matter around an entity, a...crowding of energies for space, a—
REMINGTON
Wack.
DR. MORELLO
Wack indeed, Remington.
REMINGTON
So my voices are some byproduct of, like, reincarnation?
DAISY
Sorta.
DR. MORELLO
If the soul lives a good, fulfilling, pure life — at least, as the books say — such a thing -- a “pure life” -- is hard to define, it gets reincarnated as human.
REMINGTON
And if it doesn’t?
JAY.
It turns into an animal.
REMINGTON
Damn, that’s rough.
DAISY
(to JAY)
She’s taking this surprisingly well.
DR. MORELLO
People who hear these voices are people whose souls have been reincarnated as human for several lifetimes in a row. The voices are remnants of previous human lives.
REMINGTON
So what you’re saying is voices mean there’s, like, dead people in your head?
DR. MORELLO
That’s putting it a little crassly, but...yes.
REMINGTON
So...there’s dead people in your head?
DR. MORELLO
Yes.
REMINGTON
All of you?
DAISY/JAY
Yeah.
REMINGTON
Me?
JAY
(a little irritated)
Yes!
REMINGTON
So this is some kind of therapy for dead-people-in-your-head...people? Fine. But why do these dead people say random words? Does it all mean anything? Am I just really stupid and not connecting some obvious dots?
JAY
Yes.
(DR. MORELLO stands up. 2. Dead-People-In-Your-Head People.)
DR. MORELLO
NOW, A SOUL MOVES FROM BODY TO BODY,
BUT EACH LIFE LEAVES ITS TRACE.
A SINGLE WORD FOR EACH HUMAN
TOO OFTEN THOUGHT ABOUT TO ERASE
NOW WHEN SOULS HAVE BEEN REINCARNATED
AS HUMAN SEVERAL TIMES IN A ROW
IT GETS TO THE EXTENT WHERE THE SOUL IS SO HUMAN,
ITS HOST HEARS ECHOES OF LONG AGO.
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
EVERYONE’S GOT DEAD PEOPLE IN THEIR HEADS, PEOPLE!
JAY
ONLY WE’RE THE LUCKY BASTARDS WHO CAN HEAR ‘EM.
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
THERE’S NO WAY TO MAKE ‘EM GO AWAY!
DAISY
NO MAGIC PILL, POTION, OR SERUM!
JAY
SO USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE IF YOU’RE NOT A LITTLE BITCH —
DR. MORELLO
Jay!
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
WE’RE ALL DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE
DAISY
AND THOUGH IT SOUNDS A BIT DARK,
WE’VE JUST INHERITED SOULS FROM PURE AND WHOLESOME
FOLKS WHO’D CLEAN UP LITTER IN THE PARK!
REMINGTON
OH, SO USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE SINCE THEY’RE ALL LITTLE BITCHES —
DR. MORELLO
No! WHAT JAY MEANT IS WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM.
YOU’LL FIND THEY’RE NO MYSTERY!
IF YOU
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
CONCENTRATE ON ONE WORD,
DR. MORELLO
YOU CAN UNLOCK A HISTORY.
WE’RE TIES BETWEEN GENERATIONS
WHO OBSERVE AND PRESERVE
THIS SOUL’S UNTAINTED PURITY
SO WE GET THE NEXT LIFE WE DESERVE!
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
WHEN YOU’RE DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,
No pressure, but your past lives all were really good...
WE’RE SORTA RARE, SO WE’D SORTA CARE
TO NOT GO EXTINCT...UNDERSTOOD?
DR. MORELLO
SO WE ALL CONSIDER BEING MORE SELFLESS...
JAY
NOTE THE KEY WORD THERE IS “CONSIDER”!
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
WHEN YOU’RE DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,
YOU’RE WORKING FOR A HIGHER PURPOSE!
THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO EXPLORE;
WE’VE BARELY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE!
BUT, BEFORE WE START, HERE’S THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION...
DR. MORELLO
How many voices are in your head?
REMINGTON
Eleven.
DAISY
Holy shit.
JAY
Are you sure you’ve counted right?
REMINGTON
Yeah, I’m fucking sure I’ve counted right after 18 years of counting! What’s so weird about eleven?
JAY
Nothing. You just beat my record of ten.
REMINGTON
SO I GUESS I’M A
DEAD-PERSONS-IN-MY-HEAD PERSON!
I’M GLAD TO BE JOINING THE TEAM.
I’LL TRY TO CALMLY ACCEPT I’M AN ANOMALY
AND NOT FEAR-PUKE OR SCREAM!
I’M READY TO GET STARTED WITH THIS THERAPY!
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
Yeah!
SHE’S A DEAD-PERSONS-IN-HER-HEAD PERSON
JAY
Having eleven isn’t problematic at all!
DAISY
SHUT UP, YOU CUCK!
PETER
IT’S JUST OUR LUCK
THAT YOUR PARENTS GAVE ME THAT CALL
DR. MORELLO/DAISY/JAY
‘CAUSE NOW, YOU’RE HERE WITH US!
ALL
AND WE’RE ALL
DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE!
EACH HOUSING A VERY NICE SOUL.
THOUGH WE’VE GOT DIFFERENT NUMBERS,
WE’RE ALL PARTS OF A WHOLE!
DR. MORELLO
DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,
DR. MORELLO/JAY
DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE,
DR. MORELLO/JAY/DAISY
DEAD-PEOPLE-IN-YOUR-HEAD PEOPLE...
REMINGTON
THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN MY HEAD!
DR. MORELLO/JAY/DAISY
OH YES, THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN HER HEAD!
WHY STRESS? THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN HER HEAD!
GOD BLESS! THERE’S DEAD PEOPLE IN HER HEAD!
#transcript#px11#perfect times eleven#Remington long#Rupert morello#jay mazziotta#daisy noxx#episode 1
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FFT: patchwork heart; roman reigns
Notes:
Another ask that came in on my main and subsequently got buried below layers and layers of my bullshit. I was kinda feeling the idea of Alpha!Roman, but.. So many people have ‘already gone there’ til I’m not sure if I can say whether I would or not. It’s certainly something to consider.
Summary:
Eve and Seth were a couple but they broke up. As per usual, Seth was quick to move on, Eve is just kind of.. Finding her footing again. When Seth starts a confrontation in the airport -with the help of Mandy Rose, and Roman steps up, it gets Eve and Roman to talking.
Pairing:
Roman Reigns x OFC, Eve
Warnings:
uhh, none?
2 weeks downtime and not one single call. Not a text, nothing. It really blew her mind how Seth would just willingly throw away what they had. And then, on top of it, not only blame her for it ending, but do all he could to paint himself the ‘victim’ in their relationship. The thought sneaked it’s way into her head and frustrated, Eve sighed and wrinkled her nose, continuing down the path that thought had her going down..
… then again, he had one foot out the door for the last year of it and I know it…
With that thought to finish things for the moment, Eve picked up her bags and started to make her way towards the check in area, avoiding as many of her co workers as she could in the process. God knows, they probably all took his side. Everyone here does. Seth never does a damn thing, it’s literally any and everyone else’s fault… that thought had her scowling to herself. She swore to herself she was going to just let this roll off her, hide out until it all blew over. And what was she doing? Standing in the middle of a crowded airport, letting Seth Rollins win all over again.
The tap to her shoulder had her turning and the glare came easily as she stared up at Mandy Rose.
“Didn’t you cause enough damage before we left for downtime? Next time you want someone all to yourself, life pro tip, you blithering idiot.. At least try to find something true to run back and tell your target. I mean… Me and Roman, seriously? The guy thinks I’m an annoyance, at best…”
… does what she said really matter?…
… he obviously believed it…
… the funny thing is, what upsets me most is that I truly do believe that Roman thinks I’m an annoyance… Two weeks ago, it was Seth and me fighting… maybe the time away was good for me…
Mandy shrugged and sighed, giving her one of those condescending looks. “Are you still accusing me of that? Gosh, so pathetic, get a life.”
“I’m not accusing you of anything, I’m stating facts. Now move, Mandy or I’ll - “ her statement was cut off by someone clearing their throat from behind. Roman stood there, Seth not too far away. Seth barely even looked at her, and Eve made herself stare at anything but her former boyfriend.
… Nope, not gonna happen… not gonna let those puppy eyes sway me, and obviously, it’s better that we don’t speak, so yeah… just gonna look for a hasty exit… Eve thought to herself as her eyes darted around them. She’d been just about to make a break for it, but Roman inched closer to her side, making her tense as the scent of him filled her nose all over again, rugged and spicy. Eve glanced up at him and Roman smirked down at her, mouthing something. She couldn’t move.
Seth was staring a hole through her, and he acted as if he suddenly had something to input. Which he did, seconds later. “Here we go again, man.” was muttered in more annoyance than anything as Seth rolled his eyes and shifted his gaze to Eve, almost as if he were blaming her for popping off, making a scene that he now had to bear witness to. Eve rolled her eyes right back and went back to letting them wander around, doing anything but meeting those dark eyes of Roman Reigns yet again.
… because the way he stared at her lately, it was… enough to melt the clothing right off her body… She cringed as the thought came, because considering the huge mess and the accusations before downtime started and she told Seth she wasn’t going back to Davenport with him, - and Roman’s sort of standoffish attitude towards her, prior to the little ‘break’ between her and Seth, it was the last thing that needed to be happening right now. She needed to have a little more respect for herself than drooling over her ex’s best friend.
Even though God knows, that man is a walking sex ad…
“She told you to move, Mandy. Why not do something useful for once and move. Nobody wants to hear whatever this is.” Roman turned, narrowing his eyes at Seth as he told him calmly, “And you.. Just shut the fuck up already. Don’t even think about startin it, Seth, or so help me God, you will not like the outcome. Aight? We good?”
“Super.” Seth said it with as much venom and sarcasm as he could muster. Ever since Roman started lurking around Eve, who was supposed to be his girl, Seth was getting more and more tired of the way Roman just kinda… Took over things.
… Or made Eve smile a time or two, made her laugh, you know deep down, there’s something there, even if they both swear there isn’t… and it drives you goddamn insane…
Eve turned finally, with all intentions of yeeting herself as far away as possible from the whole thing in it’s entirety and she found herself body to body with Roman Reigns. Like usual,her mouth opened and closed and Roman continued to give that calm thousand yard stare at Mandy - and Seth, she noticed, both of whom finally relented, though Mandy grumbled and pouted and visibly sulked about it the whole time. Seth just gave Eve a look as if somehow, he blamed her for this too. And Eve rolled her eyes when they met his, just as he went to walk away.
Eve’s feet shuffled awkwardly and she raised a hand, dragging it through her hair. Her mouth did the awkward as hell open and close bit for at least another few seconds. Roman chuckled and nodded to the check in counter.
“We kinda need to check into the flight.”
“I.. uhh.. Yeah. Look, thanks for… that… just now.”
Roman laughed and shrugged. “Not a problem, baby girl. Kinda got sick of her shit when she was tryin to run interference with Naomi and Jimmy a while back.” and while he didn’t say it, he thought to himself, … and then there’s the fact that nobody messes with my girl…
Eve picked up her bag and started to turn away but Roman grabbed at her wrist just as a crowd came by that would’ve knocked her over. She felt his other hand rest across her lower back and that chuckle…. Dear god.
Roman started to lead the petite brunette across the lobby, navigating them easily through crowds and the like until they reached the line for check in. The entire time, it was on the tip of his tongue to just come out and speak his piece on the actions of his former close friend Seth as of late, but he thought better of it.
Even though, he thought to himself calmly, as soon as Roman figured out what Eve was to him, he was filled with this deep seated rage that made it damn near impossible to be around Rollins without wanting to kick the other man’s head in.
… she belongs to us… everything will be okay now… baby steps, man… you gotta take baby steps… everything that happened earlier this month really hurt her… Seth’s good at constantly hurtin her. Gotta earn her trust, get to know her better, let her know it’s okay to depend on me and that I ain’t Rollins…
She must have said something and he missed it, because she was giving a quiet laugh, shaking her head and preparing herself to turn away from him and towards the line in front of them both.
“What’s wrong?” he leaned down to mumble next to her ear. Eve swallowed hard and made herself meet his gaze and answer quietly, “Nothing I just… I kinda annoy you. You act really tense and edgy around me.. I figured you were getting annoyed, so like… I was gonna turn around and give you space?” the statement came out sounding like a weak attempt at a question instead.
Roman laughed, almost snorting at one point before stopping himself to meet her gaze and shake his head. “It’s nothin like that, baby girl. I can promise you that.”
“Oh..o-okay?”
The fluttering in her stomach that tended to happen around him -or in awkward situations like the one she’d just been helped out of by him, it was back and in full force.
Eve fanned her face and shook her head.
It felt hotter in the airport and Roman’s cologne was almost overpowering, but not in a bad way.
In a comforting way.
It was the best explanation Eve could come up with.
Roman eyed her up. Her scent was almost sweet enough to make his mouth water. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, suddenly super conscious of the fact. She wasn’t really saying much and just a quick scenting gave way that she felt comfortable… Well, beyond the jumble of thoughts and emotions his mate was currently trying to work through.
“You okay?” he asked the question, his hand rubbing at her lower back lazily as they moved up in the line.
“Seth and Mandy can pretty much ruin anything.” was the only explanation Eve gave and she shrugged, shaking her head with a cross look in her eyes. Roman glared in Seth’s direction and then turned his gaze back to her, stating calmly, “You’d probably be a lot better off if you quit lettin that asshole get to you. He’s gonna pull the little wounded bitch act. If you act like it doesn’t bug ya, he’ll knock it the fuck off. That’s how he operates, trust me baby girl, I know him like the back of my hand.”
Eve stared up at Roman intently for a second or two. “I’ll umm.. I’ll definitely have to remember that.. Hey, weird and totally random, but… Do you wanna sit together on the plane?”
“I’d love that, baby girl. You hungry? After we check into the flight, we can go find somewhere to get food, we’ll have about two and a half hours to wait.”
“I’d love that, Roman.” Eve smiled up at him and Roman smiled back, chuckling. “That’s good.”
#roman reigns fanfiction#roman reigns fanfic#roman reigns fic#roman reigns oneshot#roman reigns imagine#// this was cute#// i feel like it's half assed and I'd love to write more for this whole lil universe at some point bc... roman as an alpha ticks a LOT#// of my personal boxes#// but we'll see#// bc a thousand other people have literally written similar#// and mine might not be that great if i did it
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HOLLYWOOD MOBSTERS Starring Bill Skarsgard and his family ch 1
ch 2 ch 3 ch 4 ch 5 ch 6 ch 7
Wedding music
Entrance Music for Wedding Reception
Warnings: fluff, smut, violence, cussing, angst
Tag a few I thought would be interested.
@cheeseandthankyou @crazyjam-pot @madamaholmes @super-pink-a-palouza @dreambigbeawesome @shenevertricks1831
Photoes from esquire Singapore Septemper 2019, Calvin Klein, IMDB and Ejalo’s Instagram
Twinkle lights hang sporadically in the white tent fit for five hundred people. Guests start streaming in to sit at soft pink linen covered tables. Pale pink and white roses with baby’s breath that match the bride’s bouquet are the center pieces on each table. Light music plays. A half an hour after the guests are seated the wedding party arrives in their white limousine.
To make some time for the guests to arrive at the reception before them the wedding party had the driver drive around town as they drank in the back. Laughing and enjoying each other’s company. It was the Skarsgard’s only sister, Eija’s wedding day. The ceremony was beautiful outside at the Cypress Sea Grove in Malibu.
Views of the ocean behind the happy couple and wedding party made the photographer’s job easy to capture moments of love. Now the same wedding party that was perfectly put together at the ceremony falls out of the limousine. Eija, her husband Zeke, Valter and his college girlfriend Angel, Bill and his companion Genna, Sam and his wife Pat, Gustaf and bride’s maid Rose, and Alex with Maid of honor and his partner in crime so to speak and very literally, Princess are laughing for no apparent reason getting themselves together before entering the reception behind the family mansion.
Genna and Valter attempt to try to fix Angel’s dress. When she fell out of the limousine first, obviously intoxicated more than the others, the strap on her champagne pink top fitted flare bottom dress broke. Stellan just shook his head as he watched the young people try to get it together. Him and his wife Megan had driven in a second car with ring bearer eight-year-old brother Ossian and flower girl, a Cousin, Sara. He didn’t think the limousine would be any place for the children. And by the looks of things he was right.
Stellan got the little ones to dance with each other. This melted the hearts of the crowd. They were clapping as Stellan and his wife danced next followed by Bill who spun Genna out on to the floor. They smiled as they looked into each other’s eyes lovingly. Camera flashes going off repeatedly. Angel was still giggling as Valter lead her on the floor with her pinned up strap falling off her shoulder. His right hand in hers as his left rested on the small of her back. She rested her head on his chest and her free hand on his shoulder. She believed herself to be the luckiest girl at the University to be dating him. Sam and Pat took to the floor elegantly. Gustaf followed suit with Rose gliding on to the floor like some kind of dance pro. But Alex made a grand entrance with Princess. They swayed to the music like Johnny and Baby in dirty dancing captivating the crowd. He didn’t mean to over-shadow the others, especially his sister on her wedding day but he just had this natural way of pulling attention to himself and anyone else he was with and Princess loved being in the spotlight with him.
By the time Eija and Zeke made their way into the tent everyone that could stand were standing. Many hooting and whistling their approval for all the couples. She felt blessed and loved with all her family and friends around her on this perfect day. Other couples joined in the dancing. Megan took the children to a table to give them some black and white cookies before the caterers had even put them out. This would appease the little ones until dinner was served, Stellan motioned for Alex to join him at the bar. Princess went to mingle eventually joining Bill, Genna, Valter, Angel and the rest of the wedding party at their table in front of the crowd.
Stellan and Alex get some scotch before discussing business in a way that doesn’t seem completely illegal. They never know who is listening or if a bug is planted to pick up every word they say.
“We have a truck coming with coke cola tomorrow, “Alex informed his Father. Coke cola really being cocaine. “The Malforals would like us to share the shipment. They were unable to get their own for some reason. I thought I would charge them the regular costumer price plus thirty percent.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Stellan tipped back his drink. “You talk to your little brother about what he wants to do for the family after he graduated college next month? He has been making us plenty at his University. Referring his friends to Bunny’s. Maybe he can replace the current bar tender. I don’t fucking trust that guy.”
“I’ll talk to him before he goes back to college,” Alex downed his drink and snapped his fingers for another. “I think he has his hands full tonight. That girl of his can’t handle her liquor.”
“How about Bill,” Stellan asked, “Is he going to play for the family baseball team? We could still use him as clean-up batter.”
“I’m not sure he has a good time playing ball with the family,” Alex said. “But you are right he is the obvious choose for still being the clean up batter. I’m sure there is something I can do to convince him to join the team on a more permanent basis.”
“Good,” Stellan waved and smiled to some friends as they passed. “Let’s go celebrate your sister. This has been enough shop talk for tonight. Update me when necessary. Get Gustaf’s help with the Malforals.”
“Sure thing,” Alex downs another drink.
Stellan starts to walk away, “I think you can do better organizing the whole team together.”
Valter is feeding Angel some canape’s as she giggles. Water in her wine class. She keeps tapping it with her spoon to signal the new married couple to kiss but she also kisses Valter each time insisting the whole wedding party is supposed to follow what the bride and groom do. He just chuckles having no problem kissing his girl in front of everyone. But when his sister gives him a look the tenth time, Angel makes her glass chime, he takes her hands.
“You don’t need to do that for me to kiss you,” He kisses her passionately, “my Angel.” He whispers in her ear as he moves her hand to his lap. “You can keep your hand busy under the table instead.”
Angel blushes and giggle. His lips brush over her earlobe before he moves his head up to look at her. He grins mischievously. He puts her hand with his over his bulging dress pants. Not the roomiest pants he has ever worn. He thinks the tailor could have let the crotch out a little more for him to be comfortable.
“No,” She giggles blushing whispers in his ear, “Ththere isss no ways you could keepp straight fasse if I give you a hand job under the table. Ssso no begging.” She was slurring some of her words.
Valter gives her a pouty puppy face, “we can just go to my room inside the house?”
She puts his hands in her lap. “Traditions sssay we can only leavvve after the bride and groom, ssso you wait. You knows good things come to those who wait.” She giggles more.
Alex makes his way outside. He lights a cigar as he walks towards the family’s private beach. Noticing he is being followed he dodges behind a large fat palm tree. He grabs the person pushing them against the tree wrists pinned up with one of his hands. He puts the cigar out on the tree and puts it in his inside pocket.
“You are getting better, Princess,” he grinned. “I didn’t notice you following me until I was almost on the beach. I bet you were following me from the tent.”
“I was,” She stared him down. “What did you hear first, my breath or my heel hitting the rock at ten paces?”
“The way you suck your breath in to quickly before holding it,” he breaths in Princess’ scent nuzzling his nose into her neck. She takes in that breath he was just telling her about. “I don’t know about others, but I can feel that breath you take in my groin.” He groans. “Do it again and see what happens.”
Princess grins his hands still holding both of her wrist above her head. “Do your fucking worst to destroy my will Alex, I dare you.” She took a deep breath and let it out right in his face. The smell of champagne and the strawberries she had snacked on before stalking him hit him like cupid’s arrow. He smashed his lips to hers as he undid his belt. Princess knows him by now and didn’t even bother wearing panties under the long dress Eija chose for all her ladies. As soon as his pants hit the ground, he has her dress pulled up fucking her relentlessly against the tree.
When they met, she was a cop. She didn’t get paid shit. And didn’t see any way she was going to workup to captain. Because of the way she looked, her commanding officer often hand her playing a hooker on Hollywood Blvd. to catch pimps trying to put underage girls on the street. She knew most of the ladies were just trying to feed their kids. She thought it was her job to beat the shit out pimps that got to rough with girls or turned out underage girls like twelve-year-olds. Alex had picked her up one evening while she was working. He knew she was an undercover cop. Her partner was on the payroll. Alex also knew she would protect the girls at Bunny’s gentlemen’s club. He made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. They had been friends with benefits ever since. He like she didn’t give a shit who else he fucked. She liked the money of course, but also that she was the woman he chose to have on his arm at any event.
When they were done, they casually walked back up to the tent. They were just in time to watch the couple cut the cake. After that there was one more dance before the bride and groom left to go on an exotic vacation to an island the family owned. Valter and Angel slipped out soon after to his room in the main house. They were both to drunk for anything but sloppy awkward laughing at each other sex, but it was enough to put them out cold within a half hour. It wasn’t always like this. They practically lived together in his frat house even though it really wasn’t allowed. No one was going to tell such a prestigious alum not to do something they were going to do anyway. Sometimes he would stay at her sorority. Pretend to be one of the girls using a high voice to get out the door if the house mother saw him. He even put on his girlfriend’s cloths to get past her out the door once. They both thought it was hysterical.
Most of the family and some guests stayed the night at the house. But Bill, being the BAL (Bank America Loan) owner and head manager had to go to work the next morning so he and Genna went home. He tucked her into bed, her eyes heavy with sleep, before stepping into the bathroom a few feet away to brush his teeth. He had been with Genna seven years but didn’t believe they needed marriage to show their love for each other. She was everything he ever wanted. Other than laundering money for the family a handful of times he didn’t go near the family business. He wanted nothing to do with it. He didn’t want to know more than he already did which wasn’t much in his opinion. As soon as he heard the window break, he grabbed the closest gun which was taped under the sink. He went back in the room shooting at the figure in all black and the person fell over the balcony right after he grazed Bill with a bullet.
Bill didn’t bother to look over the balcony. He pulls the bloody white comforter off his companion. Her eyes fluttered as she gasps for breath. Blood is ran down Bill’s arm where the bullet grazed him. He did not feel the pain of that. He only feels the pain of loosing the love of his life.
“Its alright baby girl, I got you,” tears run down his face, “I’ll call my brother. Sam will save you.”
Bill calls Sam to his apartment. But its to late. When Sam gets there, Bill is holding his dead girl’s body in the blood soaked comforter against him sobbing uncontrollably. Sam’s not only worried about the abrasion still seeping blood on his brother’s shoulder but also his mental state.
Alex hobbles in and sat on a chair in the corner. He seems stunned by the site. “Fuck, I think they tried to take us all out. I chased a shooter off the grounds at the main house. They grazed my shoulder and hit me in the thigh. I tied it off like you said Sam. Bill what happened here?”
“They fucking killed her Alex,” he was still rocking her bloody body. “I don’t even have anything to do with the rest of you and they fucking killed her. I will fucking find out who did this and kill them. Who the fuck have you been doing business with?” He glares at Alex.
“We do business with a lot of people that see are family as a threat.” Alex said flatly. “I will help you, we will all help you find who did this to you best girl. I am sorry brother but you have to put her down so Sam can see if you need stitches. I have a bullet hole in my leg but you first brother. I insist.”
Bill slowly puts Genna’s body down in the bed. He closes her eyes and kisses her cheek before pulling the comforter over her completely. Tears still flowing even though anger is rising. He feels no pain. He just feels emotions, grief and hate.
“Bill look at me,” Sam pleads. “He checks bills reaction to light. His pupils are dilated. He washes Bill’s arm off, and he does not even flinch when Sam wipes the wound with stinging alcohol.
Alex and Sam are both concerned. Sam stiches up his arm. Bandages up the stiches and puts a water-proof wrap over the bandage.
“I need to work on Alex.” Sam throws the bloody suture kit in the nearby trash. “You should shower. You will go back to the house tonight. A cleaning crew will deal with the apartment and make sure your love is taken to our family funeral home. We can deal with the rest tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Bill mumbles, “they are all fucking dead by tomorrow night. Whoever planned this and whoever did this and there whole fucking family are dead.” He gets up slowly. Then goes to shower stripping off the bloody remnants of the night before turning the shower on and stepping inside.
Sam checks out Alex, “Keep an eye on him closely. He is in terrible shock.”
“We will all take care of him.” Alex assures.
#hollywood mobsters#valter skarsgard#bill skarsgard#alexander skarsgard#alex skarsgard#gustaf skarsgard#stellan skarsgard#fiction#fantasy#creative writing#writing#mobsters#crime family#crime#love#lust#angst
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