#anyway this was fun thanks for making the great chart for me to look at

[lavmana]

So because I love tables I made some tables! I'll link the full thing at the end but here's the (semi-readable) table of ships! (I did have to guess some of the names)

(I apologise for how small it is this is the best I can do in this case)

However probably more interesting is looking at the numbers between various relationship types! So going in order we have the Exes:

With an average of 2.111 repeating, Twilight and Trixie are doing some HEAVY lifting here. Without them the average would be 1.75 so congratulations to them for being the most... something. Regardless it's also quite funny to me that the main difference between a '3' ex and a '1' ex is basically if it is het or not. (This is not a judgement, I'd do the exact same). The main exception being Trixie and Rarity who are the only 2 here which I think puts them firmly in the "not my thing but I support it" category.

Otherwise this mostly makes sense! You'd either put exes down as "canon relationships that I do NOT want" or "They'd totally be a fling but regret it" which only really lends itself to the lower side of numbers!

Also lol fluttercord L + ratio + Tree Hugger wins + the 0 stands for 0 bitches. I swear I'm a nice person in real life please don't take this seriously.

Okay next Queer Platonic relationships or QPs as I'm calling them cause it sounds like "cuties":

Welcome to the realm of averages. To address the exceptions I need to admit I have no idea what the... tissue(?) cutie mark is that's attached to cheese sandwich, so I'll just hope it's an OC that I don't know and support it! Otherwise Trixie and Sunburst get a 1 I assume because they had to be connected to complete the platonic square going on between Trixie, Starlight, Sunburst, and Thorax(?). On that note the main QPs occur between the mane 6 (especially Pinkie Pie my platonic queen), and that square. This is also Bubbles main spot so take a moment to appreciate her then keep reading.

With an average of 2.231 this does make sense given most of what makes up these links are filling in polycules which are supported but not a main ship.

Next the era of Romance:

"Gee Twilight how come you get 6 girlfriends, 3 exes, 2 QPs, and a wife?" Respect to my girl for pursuing ONLY romantic relationships with her besties. However the real star is secretly Rainbow Dash who has no links going below 3 (within the mane 6) awarding her the prize of most shippable pony! Congrats Rainbow! Twilight does still win the most links with 12.

This is by far the most popular category for a link to fall into. The Mane 6 really do shine here with Twilight Rarity and RD all having plenty of spots here. We also enter the higher numbers with hilariously the only 5s being Mordecai and Rigby (good for her) and AJ and rarity which is a real range.

There's probably too much here to comment on anything properly but definitely the most fun to look through, especially with all the 4s.

And now... mawiage!

omg did I actually write person instead of pony? I cannot believe myself right now, this is my greatest shame.

Anyway with an average of 4 (4.375 without Mudbriar) we have achieved our highest rated category! Of course this makes sense, if you think two ponies have high enough chemistry to be married, you probably also think they have good shipping potential you enjoy. This gives us most of the 5s and RD getting TWO wives.

Maud Pie really brings things down here with her husband, apologies to my ace king but you have been voted off the island. In the mean time we can basically spot the top tier ships in here with Twipie, appledash, flutterdash, and trixie x starlight! So if you wanna get on Zigo's (I'm assuming this is your legal name) good side depict these ships!

Weird Al is also in here. He got a 3 so good for him.

As for my own thoughts I actually am a big fan of this chart! Beyond like a few numbers slightly up or down 1 rank I basically agree with it! It's cool to see where the differences lie but I've talked way too much to keep yapping so bye!

And that mostly summarizes some thoughts from this graph! I very much enjoyed making these tables so if anyone ever makes something like this again I will keep putting them into LibreOffice and comparing the data I find! You can see the full tables here:

It's a .ods file because that's what libreoffice uses.

headcanon relationship chart for the mane 6. for some undefined amount of time after the show

i am not trying to lend undue legitimacy to the institution of marriage. or devalue queer platonic relationships. these are just different types of relationships. obviously.

[mcflymemes]

TREASURE PLANET (2002) PROMPTS *  assorted dialogue from the disney film, adjust as necessary

you're gonna rattle the stars.

now you listen to me, [name]. you got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course.

look at you, glowing like a solar fire.

you're something special, [name].

let me make this as... monosyllabic as possible.

how did i describe them?

i said something rather good this morning before coffee.

there you go. poetry.

i'm an astronomer, not a doctor!

i am a doctor, but i'm not that kind of doctor. i have a doctorate. it's not the same thing. you can't help people with a doctorate.

you just sit there and you're useless.

i won't bore you with my scars.

oh shut up. you know i don't mean a word of it.

i'm starting to see my life pass in front of my eyes.

you have wonderful eyes.

yes, you. i have a question.

is it that your body is too massive for your teeny-tiny head, or is it that your head is too teeny-tiny for your big fat body?

i have one more question.

is this yours?

well, this has been a fun day.

without the map, we're dead.

if we try to leave, we're dead.

what a joke.

at least you taught me something.

that's just what i'm gonna do.

you still don't know how to pick your fights.

are you saying this because it's the right thing, or because you really want to go?

playing games, are we?

thanks for the lift, guys.

don't mention it.

this is the answer to all our problems!

don't you remember? all those stories?

would you please explain how ridiculous this is?

it's totally preposterous! traversing the galaxy alone!

now at last we hear some sense.

you flatter me, [name].

i feel like such a useless weakling.

stay out of trouble!

that was more fun than i ever want to have again.

so... uh. how'd that happen anyway?

i've got two new friends i'd like you to meet.

are your parents around?

i've got some plans to make people see me a little different.

sometimes plans go astray.

you take care now.

this should be a wonderful opportunity for the two of us to get to know one another.

with the greatest possible respect, zip your howling screamer.

we're about to get under way!

i'll follow you.

you know the rules.

maybe your ears don't work so well.

i just don't want to see you throw away your entire future.

i don't know how you manage it.

did you actually aim for that?

what is all this stuff?

wait wait wait! what about the treasure?

i don't want to lose you.

i'll make you proud.

i'm sorry, my memory isn't what it used to be.

i say we kill them all now.

all my life, i've been waiting for an opportunity like this.

[ofeliaxoxo]

A prompt for you: Charlos, jealousy

Yesss jealousy trope of all TIME unironically my favourite scenario

Hope you enjoy this! Wrote it a bit on the fly because I’m sick in bed ignoring responsibilities

He’s not even gracious in victory. The usual post-win glow is absent, no movie star smile pulled back to reveal his perfect teeth. The nice way his eyes crinkle up, so you can believe in it, the whole idea, how lovely he is.

Charles, Carlos could say, give me a smile. You’re so beautiful, you’re so talented. You beat us all today. Why do you look so angry?

“Congratulations,” he actually says, keeps the jealousy out of his voice although only the stupidest idiot could imagine it not to exist. “That was a great drive, mate.”

“Thank you. You too, you have done well.”

Oh?

“You were very happy, no? I saw you celebrate it with Alex.”

God. Like being told, no come on, you did a good job too, upset with himself as a child about second place. And he was, no, he is happy. They managed P4 and P5, a ridiculous result, practically a win, leagues ahead of where he thought he’d be this year. James nearly cried, hugged Carlos close and said I can’t believe it and then shook his head, taking it back, insisting that he knew they would succeed.

So he is happy, even though here Charles is, sodden with champagne, the actual winner of everything.

Maybe he’d seen when they’d gotten out of their cars and Carlos, without thinking about it, had pulled Alex in, squeezed him, thumping him on the back, trying to impart some of what he was feeling into his teammate. Alex swayed pleasingly when Carlos thwacked him, giggling, whole face scrunched up in delighted amusement the way it does.

Carlos likes him, the way he laughs so easily, gets stuck on his words and then enjoys it when Carlos leads them back into the path charted out for them by the cue cards.

And then a photo with the team, their names in big letters, Carlos and Alex, P4 and P5, all the mechanics with their fists raised in the air, cheering in victory although really there was no victory. But Carlos is happy, isn’t going to lose the feeling.

And now Charles, red and obvious against all the Williams blue.

Alex hasn’t left, has just stepped into his own garage instead of outside where everyone is milling around, where Carlos had been gathering himself.

“Yes, a good result for me and Alex, for the team. We are happy.”

Interview mode. Charles won’t notice, anyway.

“You and Alex work together well.”

“Do you want me to go and get him? I think he is not busy.”

Charles has got his podium cap in his hand. He always makes these things into a huge show, much bigger than anyone else, every time, curtsying and waving and simpering at the crowd like an actress being given a present.

“No, I - no. I am going. I wanted to invite you, to come tonight.”

Sitting at Charles’s table, partying for Charles’s win. He doesn’t have to, anymore, no one could ever expect him to. The galling thing, the disgusting little twist, is that he wants to. Would be happy there, in the circle. Carlos can see himself, sitting next to him, close close close, the nearness of Charles’s face, the thickness of his eyelashes, the smell of his cologne, how fun he is when he’s in a good mood. How Carlos could drape an arm across his shoulders, let it fall heavy on the hard muscle there.

“Sorry, we are flying this evening. And I think there will be dinner with the team, first.”

James’s obvious delight to look forward to. Carlos and Alex are turning the team around.

“You are flying together?”

He must’ve had too much champagne on the podium. Or the rocky battle with Max in lap fifty has scrambled his brain. He’s seriously not acting right for someone who should be floating, shouldn’t even be listening to what Carlos is saying.

“Yes. Are you ok, Charles?”

“Charlie! Come to show us what a real winner looks like, I assume,” Alex is here again, with a reassuringly cheerful grin. He comes up to stand by Carlos, unworrying in his personal space.

Finally, the pretty laugh, for Alex, the glance down and then back up. Does he know he does it?

“I will see you later, mate,” he announces, claps hands with Alex, turns to leave, makes sure to remind Charles he is the best, to see if that will lift his inexplicable mood, “enjoy your party, eh, Charles, don’t go too crazy!”

[the-himawari]

A3! Usui Masumi - Translation [SSR] MANKAI Treasure (1/3)

*Please read disclaimer on blog; default name set as Izumi

---

???: Here are flyers for a new play! Please come watch.  

Masumi: (That voice…)  

Izumi: This is the stage unit, Runaway Rocket Launcher! Go ahead and grab a flyer.  

Masumi: I’ll take 100 of them.  

Izumi: Great, one hu… 100!? Oh, it’s Masumi-kun… that gave me a shock… Sure thing. Here’s 1 flyer.  

Masumi: Thanks. …Is this for work?  

Izumi: No, no. An actor acquaintance of mine accidentally ordered double the number of flyers. It looked like they were in a bind, so I’m helping them hand them out.  

Masumi: In that case, let me also—.  

*walks over*

Banri: Director-chan, I’m all done over here. You still got more?  

Izumi: Thanks! There’s just one box left.  

Banri: On it~. Oh, if it ain’t Masumi. Sup?  

Masumi: …Give that to me.

*grabs*  

Banri: Woah. What the? Don’t just snatch the box.  

Masumi: I’ll hand them out too.  

Banri: …Knock yourself out. Geez. He’s puttin’ up a fight even over this kinda stuff?  

-pause-  

Izumi: Phew~. We managed to hand everything out. It’s all thanks to you two we finished so quickly. I appreciate it.  

Banri: You did a great job too, Director-chan. Anyways, this play actually sounds interestin’, doesn’t it?  

Izumi: I agree.  

Masumi: …“In this universe, the usual is what’s unusual”…  

Banri: Oh. Did it pique your interest too?  

Masumi: Not really. It’s just that in today’s seminar, we were told to be aware of the catchphrases that are around us all the time.  

Izumi: Right, that reminds me you went to a seminar on promotions today.  

Masumi: It was for beginners, so they only went over the fundamentals. But it was a good review and the instructor's perspective was pretty interesting. Also, we were told we should try coming up with our own catchphrases as practice…  

Izumi: Ooh, that sounds fun!  

Masumi: I tried to come up with one on the train home, but nothing good came to mind. I could come up with one for you no problem though.  

Izumi: Huh? Really?  

Masumi: The world’s absolute cutest and—.  

Izumi: Let me stop you right there! That first part was already plenty for me. Thanks.  

Masumi: …Okay. Now you come up with one for me.  

Izumi: Huh? A catchphrase for Masumi-kun… Let me think… …Sorry, this is hard. Can I have a bit more time?  

Masumi: —. Sure. I’ll be in your thoughts the whole time you’re thinking about my catchphrase… this is heaven.  

Banri: Dude. You’ve been treatin’ me like I’m completely invisible since the middle of the conversation. He sure only has eyes for Director-chan like usual.

-pause-  

Izumi: I’m home.  

Masumi: We’re back…  

Tsuzuru: W-Welcome home…  

Taichi: Does anyone else see hella hearts flying around Masumi-kun!? His happy aura is off the charts!  

Citron: Oh, did something happen?  

Taichi: Is it ‘cause he got to come home with Director-sensei!?  

Banri: I’m back.  

Taichi: Oh, Ban-chan was with them? …So that’s probably not it…  

Banri: So y’see, Masumi was told to try comin’ up with his own catchphrase at the seminar he went to today. Now he’s all excited since he also asked Director-chan to try comin’ up with one for him.  

Tsuzuru: That makes sense…  

Citron: I decree!  

Taichi: I agree!  

Tsuzuru: But that’s a problem for Masumi, isn’t it? It’s fine to ask Director, but make sure you come up with one yourself as well.  

Masumi: …“A playwright slash busybody. Today, he’ll continue to meddle like this”.  

Tsuzuru: Is that my catchphrase!?  

Banri: Hah, nice one. It’s spot on.  

Citron: Our Masumi is a genius after all~! As his mother, I am shroud!  

Masumi: Proud.  

Banri: I bet we could use these catchphrases on our theatre merch too. Wouldn’tcha say?  

Izumi: Yeah. Like on our birthday… Ah, right! Masumi-kun’s catchphrase is important and all, but it’s about time that for that.  

Masumi: That?  

Taichi: The birthday treasure hunt!  

Citron: You get hints on your birthday, and then you go searching for the person who prepared that present for you. It’s a very eggciting project~.  

Masumi: …Oh yeah. We were doing that.  

Banri: So you really did forget, huh? Y’know, if you’re gonna come up with your own catchphrase, then it wouldn't hurt to have more interest in yourself.  

Masumi: …You might be right.  

Izumi: But hey, you might get some good hints about that during your treasure hunt.  

Masumi: True.  

Taichi: Hehe. I wonder how Masumi-kun’s treasure hunt is gonna turn out. I can’t wait!  

-pause-  

Izumi: Alright. Here’s the note with your first clue for your treasure hunt.

*starts recording*  

Masumi: Thanks. “This is the day my life changes forever.”  

Izumi: Is that… some sort of line? Or maybe a quiz?  

Masumi: …It’s a catchphrase. It’s probably from that guy.

---

| next

[puckpocketed]

Insane scouting podcast segment

Hello do you guys wanna hear/read something crazy. I listen to a lot of scouting material and most of the listening I do serves as light background noise while I do chores/commute/make art etc and the information retention is VERY suspect. But occasionally I hear something SO fun and silly. Please behold my transcript of thee strangest exchange I’ve come across so far between several public amateur scouts on their Scouching podcast/livesteam about their special boy Ivan Fomin.

Here is the video, I encourage you to watch if you have time just to really absorb the absolute comedy of it. timestamp is 1:04:46 - 1:08:40. Small content warning for injury talk, they get a bit flippant about a pretty serious sounding hit.

START Transcript:

Tony Ferrari: And shout out to Ivan Fomin, because I know you were watching him. What a guy! What a guy!! I — he is SO fun to watch. Zero percent chance he makes it, and if he does oh boy I’m gonna be so happy.

Will Scouch: I’m pretending you didn’t just say that. I don’t care. I do not, I do not care. I — I wanna meet him, I wanna hang out with him. I wanna ask him about where the hell he came from, and, like, where — what happened there, and wh — (laughing) does his doctor have bone growth charts on him or something that indicates he’s gonna be more than 5’6, 120lbs, because holy smokes. Oh my god. Wanna talk rockstar level, y’know, swagger? and, and… Y’know, I’m trying to… Like, Nick Robertson on drugs, like, y’know. Insane.

F: You know the movie Cocaine Bear? This is Cocaine Nick Robertson.

S: Right, like Cocaine Gazelle.

F: Yeah

S: Like, smaller animal, not as ferocious, clearly, y’know. I mean what’s a very weak animal? Like a goat?? That’s fast?

F: Cocaine Rabbit?

S: Cocaine Rabbit, there we go. We’re talking Cocaine Rabbit there, right. Still gonna get eaten by a coyote, but bunnies are cute and one on cocaine would be really fun. Anyway.

F: Yeah.

AJ: That was a crazy aside.

S: That was pretty crazy, but hey open table for Tony to be Tony Ferrari, man, and that’s what we love, y’know, that’s what we’re here for!

F: I think you, Dylan, and I were talking about Ivan Fomin a little bit today and I posted the Rocky meme “If he dies, he dies” and that’s just kinda how you have to take him, because BOY is he fun to watch.

S: The last game I watched of him, he was playing the — St. Petersburg’s best team, uh… And again, his team is from Vladivostok, and they have nobody. So he’s the guy there. At the end of the game he died.

AJ: [It was] a brutal trip.

S: Yeah. That’s a brutal trip, yeah. It was in Vladivostok, too, so the team from St. Petersburg had to get on a plane and go all the way to Vladivostok and play a game.

[they talk about the flight and attempt to look it up]

S: But anyway, it’s a long trip is what I’m saying. And [Fomin] played great most of the game, and then on his last shift, which makes sense because he got hurt, he just got taken into the boards, fell head-first, and he was done. I don’t think he’s played since.

So, he might die, but I’m gonna hold on to the roller coaster until the wooden — I’m gonna hold on to the wooden roller coaster until the frame snaps. That’s what I’m gonna do, ‘cause he’s so much fun. There’s, there’s so — there’s way less joy watching players this year than usual for me that when there is joy I’ll latch on to it and whatever happens, happens. Because god when that kid is goin’, and when he is huntin’ guys down.. like, AJ I swear to god, I don’t think there’s a better embodiment of an ‘AJ player’ out there than Ivan Fomin, because holy smokes that kid rocks.

AJ: I appreciate you using the correct term, an AJ player, so thank you.

S: Yes, yes. I’m sure he’s a great example of such a thing.

END Transcript.

If you want a reference point for how this kid plays, I’ve managed to dig up this shift video. He does seem to go as crazy as they’re saying LMAO!! And I do hope he’s okay. Keeping an interested eye on where he lands… everyone’s gotta have their obscure faves right? <3

[dunmeshistash]

G'day, I hope you're doing well on this fine Saturday!

A while ago, I began writing and sketching a Dungeon Meshi OC by basing him/her (haven't decided, though I might take the liberty of making it a guy) on my own characteristics, continent of residence and my play style in games like D&D to see what race, country and occupation would best fit that description in the world of good ol' Dungeons & Diners. In all honesty, the parallels I drew are somewhat superficial, so I could technically bullshit my way into being one of many things, but it's been a very fun way to kind of craft an OC that I think fits me the most regardless.

BUT, I have run into an epiphany! I need a hero, a guiding light, an archiver of Dungeon Meshi trivia! I need someone to save me! Super Meshi, will you answer my call for help?!

You see, I settled on making my OC an elf as I drew the most parallels with them on all fields and so far my characteristics are translating over quite well, but the problem lies in the fact that I'm above average in terms of tallness, but I don't really know how much I'd need to shorten this feller to make him pass as a right proper elf, y'know? I have dark hair too, I suppose, but you already answered a question regarding that a while ago. However, I can't find anything here on tallness other than a chart for every story character's height and that Mithrun's teammates are all taller than average, which... well, almost answers my question! Almost.

I guess I could just wing it, but with how much thought I already put into this character, I felt it was a good idea to ask you this; how tall can the average elf reasonably be based on all the information we have? Is it at all possible for them to reach or exceed tall-man heights or would that be far too unusual? Lycion is roughly 170cm, but I can't remember if any elf is taller than that, and while I've perused a great many ancient scriptures in search of precious knowledge, I believe you might be the hero I need to solve this relatively minor conundrum that may not even have a clear answer! I think the question might be a bit silly, but I hope you'll indulge me regardless. You'd have my infinite gratitude! I uh, I prolly coulda and shoulda condensed this ask into a single sentence. Pleasedon'tkillmethanks-

TL;DR: How tall can elves reasonably be based on what we know?

Oh, while I'm at it—and I say this every time I'm here and will continue to do so 'til the cows come home—your blog is a blessing. A wonderful, nice-looking, tidy blessing. The fact you're maintaining all of this is a boon to all of us. Thank you so much for keeping this up! I hope you have a delightful weekend!

Hello! That's really cool! I thought about making a Dungeon Meshi oc based on myself too before (a dunmeshisona?) but then I didn't lmao. Making characters is hard

Anyway I think "how tall can an elf be" is pretty subjective cause even irl humans vary a lot. I think one way to guess would be to do what people tend to do with their ages and compare the average proportions??

Average Male elf is 155 and Average Female Elf is 150 Average Male Tallman is 180 and average Female Tallman is 170

I did some doubtful math and came up with *0,86 for male and *0,88 for female (that's for tallmen height to elf height, if you want to calculate from elf to tallman it would be *1,16 for male and *1,13 for female, both of them you can round up the result)

I don't think that's very correct tho cause using that math on the tallest elves, Lycion who is 170cm and Cithis who is 165cm, it puts him at 197cm and Cithis at 186cm as tallmen that doesn't sound right but maybe it is. (Edit: I got flamela's height wrong she's 140cm I was still asleep I guess, changing it to cithis who IS 165cm I double checked)

It probably doesn't really work cause tallmen average in dungeon meshi is WAY taller than irl human average (google tells me the global average is 171 for men, and the average where I live is even shorter than that) and also cause the height difference between male and female elves is really small, which fits with how androgynous they are in general, there's not much difference between male and females so as a tallmen might be way taller than you'd expect for a woman but for elves Cithis and Lycion being so tall is probably about the same amount of striking.

I ended up rambling but this might help somehow? or just make you even more confused. Anyway I wouldn't worry too much about how tall to make your elf, if I were to make one I'd just make it like a bit taller than average cause that's what I am irl. I'm really bad at explaining math but if you need me to I can try (I tried and ended up making the post double the size and I don't think it made any sense LMAO)

And thanks! I love reading your comments it's very encouraging!

[sushiwt]

website update log #24 (April 13th, 2025)

I FINISHED RECREATING THE WEBSITE !!!

the look is more or less the same, with subtle differences and the removal of the image carousel (for now) BUT EVERYTHING IN THE HTML AND CSS FILE HAS BEEN CHANGED!!

i made a system for me to edit and add panels really easily, where i used classes for the panel design and reusable elements (ie “long-box” for really long elements like the github chart, and “three-boxes” for three panels in one row), and IDS for specific non-reusable elements like the navbar and the comment section.

now that editing the website became more flexible (compared to the previous version atleast), i FINALLY CREATED A GOOD LOOKING MOBILE VERSION OF MY WEBSITE WITH BOTTOM NAVBARS AND STUFF

i had a hard time making the previous version compatible to mobile, so it just doesnt look that great…

and besides the one before this, which looks really decent and actually mobile optimized,

it just gets worse and worse…

when i created these websites i never had “making it look great for mobile” in my mind at ALL..but when i found out how important it is for people to have a good-ish mobile experience, i gave it a try lol

ANYWAY!! NOW THAT THATS OUT OF THE WAY, LET ME SHOW YOU THE CHANGES IVE MADE TO THIS SITE YAYY!!!

- replaced the twitter feed panel to an “88x31 buttons ive made” panel

i made a whytee.xyz 88x31 button A YEAR AND A HALF AFTER I REDESIGNED MY WEBSITE

moved the under construction disclaimer from an overlay to its own panel

modified the "made by sushiwt" box by adding "built with firefox/chrome and vscode" and a "- 2025" beside the year

and i FINALLY made the artwork section for my website..

now all that's left is the section about myself, and this website is BASICALLY FINISHED!!!!

developing this website was so fun, and until i get the urge to remake it again, it will look like this for a while…

thank you for reading these logs btw :> i really really really appreciate you coming along for the ride (and by “the ride” i mean the creation of this)

- sushiwt <3

[potionnotes]

15 September | Monday (midnight)

Right. So, I’ve finally worked out that if I ever want to get any sort of decent sleep during the week, I’ve got to finish Shah’s homework the same night it’s assigned. Otherwise, I'm doomed to be up the night before next class, staring at these cursed charts until my eyes fall right out, and I’m left with a grand total of three hours of sleep. It’s a nightmare, but definitely better than being in the Tuesday, Thursday, AND SATURDAY section! Can you imagine? May Merlin have mercy on those poor souls.

So, here I am, freezing my fingers off in the Astronomy tower, working on these bloody star charts. This time, it’s constellations—not quite as dreadful as tracking planets or mapping some obscure patch of the sky (it all looks the same, Shah!!), but still maddening enough to make me question my life choices (and Shah’s entire teaching philosophy, to be honest). If it’s not the mind-numbing precision, it’s the fact that I’m slowly turning into an icicle up here. My hands are going numb and I don’t know how much longer I can even hold this quill!!! Merlin’s beard, how does Amit do it?! The bloke’s actually up here with me, probably doing next week’s extra credit just for fun. Knowing him, he's finished this week’s homework yesterday. I’ll go ask if I can just borrow his work for a moment (so I can copy it, obviously)

He said no. 

Well, he didn’t exactly say no, but I knew that look. Thanks, Amit. Cheers.

Bet if I had some Felix Felicis, I’d never get that look again. Read it’s a nightmare to brew, though… Still, it might be worth getting a head start. Imagine the awe when I pull it off in class... They’ll all finally see my brilliance.

Anyway, for my own record:

Orion (The Hunter) (utter misery)

Cassiopeia (The Queen)

Ursa Major (The Great Bear)

Aquarius (The Water Bearer) (absolute bane of my existence)

Cygnus (The Swan)

Taurus (The Bull) (yet another bane of my existence)

Hydrus (The Water Snake)

Crux (The Southern Cross)

Pegasus (The Winged Horse) (more insufferable than the other two combined)

Canis Minor (The Lesser Dog) (BEST constellation ever)

Done! Now off to get my precious five hours of sleep. Spectacular. I really should come up with a potion that actually wakes me up. Tea and coffee just don’t quite cut it.

[twst-beam]

TWST MOOTSTERLIST

get it. because- okay nevermind i'm so sorry for the pun

@0klwkan: aavvie!! my first twst mutual and the person who brought me into it in the first place!! they are SO cool go check them out :DD vian my beloved <333 jamil smoocher 🫵🏽.

@shutupkida: kida!! i got to know her through stalking her blog because of her awesome fics the bllk-twst crossover! :DD i'll work on it i promise i just need to get my brain juice working :'D

@nem0-nee: KABABAYAN (1) honestly her art is just ??????? *chef's kiss* i am smooching your art i am eating it i am putting it on a pedestal and staring at it mwah. nemo reigns in chaos supremacy 😌

@officialdaydreamer00: ireneeee 🥺 my Soulmate 🥺🥺🥺 they're just like me fr fr. i saw them on auburn's blog and went 🫵🏽. 🫵🏽🫵🏽🫵🏽. wedding planner, fellow muse, tweel kisser, super mega amazing 😌.

@shyhaya: i saw haya on irene's blog and went ??? friend! very shy, but the art is *chef's kiss*, and her responses to tag games are very entertaining <333

@mangocat21: they've got AWESOME art :DD new to art??? seriously?? with that style?? i am deceased dead gone ascended to heaven that is SO cool OoO got into twst for leona got trapped by the floyd >:3

@azulashengrottospiano: auburn!! literally married to azul and writes absolutely BANGER fics. i'm still kicking my feet and giggling over some of them ///>v<///

@the-v-lociraptor: fellow muse!! her boy yuliy is a GIANT and VERY fun to draw :DD also her art and lore??? 🛐🛐🛐

@valerie-leech: valerieee!! she's so pretty omg and her art is AMAZING :DD fellow muse (and tweel kisser..? or is it just jade.. :00)

@i-like-forgs: ryoko!! fellow muse and a cool person 😎 i always see them on my activity feed thank you 🥺

@taruruchi: KABABAYAN (2) her art is so good like ???? VERY entertaining and a great mutual too :DD

@starry-night-rose: ellis!! her stuff??? so many things planned out and her ocs are SUPER intriguing :DD looking at u rn in curiosity and interest

@shkrmpp: shrimpy!! i saw one of their posts that said new moots were welcome so i proposed ^v^ <333 and their WRITING.. emotions go brrrr

@hydrangea-breeze: hydra!! her writing????? reading it all up and going 👀👀👀 and her posts and tags too i love reading them they're so entertaining ^v^

@totallymem3: KABABAYAN (3) her art???? going yes yes yes every time 😌 her yuu sounds SO fun to see and know about :DD

@synchronize03: YOU. you were responsible for the blowing up of my airport-leash-but-twst meme. a GOLDMINE of reblogs 😌

@ceruleancattail: ceruuuu!!!! cater kisser coughcough they are AMAZING as in VERY. VERY AMAZING. eloquence and elegance and flustering-capabilities are off the CHARTS they constantly make me go ADFGHJKHGFDSDFGHJKJHGH with their fics

@cookiesandbiscuits: KABABAYAN (4) cookie!! i saw her follow me one day and went :0000 called me cool once and i love her for it 🥺 PLAYLIST MAKER!! i was looking through some stuff again and found you!! went so THAT'S who cookie was how could i forget 😭😭😭 music taste is *chefs kiss* i'm gonna be jamming along to songs with you mwah mwah

@names-are-dumb: COLE I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T SEE YOU IN MY TWST ACCOUNT FOLLOWS I AM ASHAMED FOR THIS GRIEVOUS OVERSIGHT 😭😭😭 anyway! this guy's brain is HUGE. like. the midas lore?? hello?? looking looking looking but also not going in with a ten-foot pole if i can help it ya boy's kinda scary but fascinating. very fascinating indeed 😌

@the-dumber-scaramouche: KABABAYAN (5), likes bicol express according to one of the posts i first saw on her blog :DD mainly simps for ???? definitely kaveh but there's a lot of conflicting posts for twst, and did i mention how ENTERTAINING her tags are I'm grinning ear to ear just reading them

@vioisgoinginsane: vio!! fellow jade faver (?) 🥺🥺🥺 her scenario posts are GENIUS and i love love LOVE her reblogs and tags. super supportive too like ????? <333333

@luvkamishiro: new moot!! BANGER art and ideas like seriously :000 seems super nice too :DD

@perfectlyunadulteratedjellyfish: KABABAYAN (6) dan!!! so nice 🥺 looking forward to getting to know them more :DD

@allioaro: new moot!! i saw her ruggie as housewarden post on my dash and got intrigued :DD her art is so cute it looks so soft and pretty 🥺🥺🥺 IMMACULATE and fun vibes detected as i looked through her blog 😌 idia smoocher >:D

@shinysparklesapphires: sapph!!! i CANNOT believe you haven't put here yet i SWEAR i already wrote one for you :((( absolutely INTERESTING OCs right here, and she's so cool??? first one to draw my babygirl everiu other than me thank you SO much 🥹🥹🥹 xeir oc lore?? once again going 👀👀👀👀👀 INTRIGUED by it 😌

@katriniac: ooooh she cooool. not much info about her, we just started following each ohter one day and i have no recollection of past interactions but SUPER honored to be moots with you!!

@dove-da-birb: DOVE!!!! they're so cool and supportive and nice and ASDFGHJKFJLDRNGNRJVNFHDQWHSLFJF 🥺🥺🥺🥺 AWESOME writer and friend and also their OCs????? writing blog is @da-birb-writes-sometimes go check it out for super good stories it'll be so worth it mwah mwah

@honkai-freak: new moot!! met them during the I-tweel-I wedding and they asked to be an usher! :DD

@somany-fandoms-solittle-time: aims!! fellow theater kid 🥺🥺🥺💖💖💖💖 has BANGER ideas and great music taste like seriously also so fun to interact with????

@murderisokay: new moot!! new to tumblr, apparently, but that's okay :DD vil smoocher?? 👀👀👀 also their artstyle is super cute and neat it's so nommable XD

@twistwonderlanddevotee: sofia!!!!! new moot and already a RIOT to be around :DDD like seriously she's so fun and she makes awesome wallpapers???? ALSO LIKES ARTEMIS FOWL AND MLB YES YES YES

tags i can copy-paste for convenience 😎 (apologies if you receive a double notification :'D): @0klwkan, @shutupkida, @nem0-nee, @officialdaydreamer00, @shyhaya, @mangocat21, @azulashengrottospiano, @the-v-lociraptor, @valerie-leech, @i-like-forgs, @taruruchi, @starry-night-rose, @shkrmpp, @hydrangea-breeze, @totallymem3, @synchronize03, @ceruleancattail, @cookiesandbiscuits, @names-are-dumb, @the-dumber-scaramouche, @vioisgoinginsane, @luvkamishiro, @perfectlyunadulteratedjellyfish, @allioaro, @shinysparklesapphires

more moots..? :00 yeet me an ask or comment or reblog if you wanna :DD let's be mutuals! ^v^

[stargazer-sims]

Drabble

Victor. Word: Vampire

Thanks @cawthorntales ! I'm working my way through all the excellent prompt suggestions I got, and it's been a great creative exercise.

This one was a lot of fun, so here you go!

__________

This week's rotation has Victor on the mid-shift, from three in the afternoon until eleven at night. He's back at work following a much-needed four-day break after having worked the eleven to seven overnight shift for three rotations in a row, and he's glad to be able to experience sunlight again.

He’d begun to feel like a character in an urban fantasy novel, roaming the eerily quiet corridors of the paediatric floor to look in on sleeping children and slipping out of the hospital to have his break in the dead of night. It's been especially weird on their unit after dark since they put the Halloween decorations up.

Yes, it's totally an improvement to come to work while there's still daylight and the majority of his patients are awake.

Victor can't actually say he's delighted to discover that his two newest patients are Camellia and Forest Abbottsford, but he is delighted at their reaction when he enters their room. As if on cue, the pair of five-year-olds exclaim in unison, "It's Victor!"

During shift change today, he was a little surprised when his counterpart on the day shift first showed him Camellia's chart and then Forest's. Both twins had been admitted because their paediatrician, Dr. Park, suspected Type 1 Diabetes and wanted to run a series of tests to confirm or rule out that diagnosis. The idea itself isn't particularly shocking to Victor, considering their dad Fox is diabetic and was diagnosed at a very young age, but he does find it unusual that the twins are showing signs of the illness at the same time.

Forest and Camellia seem to be in good spirits. Fox is there with them, and they're all drawing pictures together. It’s obvious which one of them has inherited Fox’s artistic talent. Forest’s drawing looks way more advanced than anything Victor has seen a typical kindergartener do. He thinks Camellia’s drawing might be of a fire truck, or possibly a red bus.

Fox smiles at his kids. "I said you'd likely see Victor today, didn't I?"

"Victor, are you a doctor?" Camellia asks. "I didn't know you were a doctor!"

"I'm not a doctor," Victor says. "I'm a nurse. You know, the one with the best jokes and the cool Band-Aids."

Forest eyes him warily. "And the needles?"

"Yeah," he confesses.

“The other nurse had a needle too,” says Forest. “And she didn’t have any cool Band-Aids.”

“You didn’t need a Band-Aid for that one, Forest,” Fox says.

“Well, you will this time,” Victor tells him, “But I have the coolest Band-Aids of all time, so I’ve got you covered.”

“Covered. With Band-Aids. That’s a funny joke.” Camellia giggles. She’s apparently unfazed. "I don't mind needles. They don't even hurt that much, and anyway, I'm a superhero!"

"I'm glad you're a superhero," Victor tells her. "We're going to do a special test today, and you're going to need to use all your superpowers, like your super-courage and super-strength."

"What kind of test?" Camellia wants to know.

"It's a blood test. I'm going to take a little bit of your blood out of you, and then the doctors and technicians are going to do all kinds of science-y stuff with it, and try to find out what's making you sick."

"Really?" Camellia looks intrigued. "How are you going to get my blood out of me? Are you like… a vampire?”

Victor laughs. He can't help it. He's gratified to see Fox laughing too, because it erases the stress and worry that'd previously been evident in his expression and body language.

"Oh, I'm definitely a vampire," Victor says. "A science vampire. That means, instead of biting you, I'm going to use my special vampire needle to take your blood. I can’t bite you, because you know, everything has to be clean and germ-free for science.”

"Are you going to take my blood too?" Forest asks. He doesn't seem nearly as fascinated by the process as his twin.

"Yes, but don't worry. I heard your sister is a superhero. I think, if you ask her nicely, she'll hold your hand so you won't be too scared. Unless," he adds, "you're also a superhero. In which case, I think you should hold Daddy's hand so he won't be scared."

Forest chews his lower lip. "Daddy, do you think I'm a superhero?"

"You are absolutely a superhero, Forest," Fox says. "The most super of heroes."

"So, if I hold your hand, that means you won't be scared?"

"I think I'll feel a million times better if you hold my hand."

Victor sets down his little tray of equipment on one of the bedside tables. He tears open a packet containing sterile gloves and puts them on. For some reason, he never ceases to be amused by the fact that all the gloves are colour-coded by size, and that the extra-large gloves are light purple.

He holds up his hands. "What do you think, Camellia? Vampire gloves?"

"Yeah, 'cause everything has to be clean and germ-free for science, right?" Camellia says.

"Exactly," says Victor. "Okay, then. Who wants to be first?"

Camellia bounces up and down on her bed. "Me! I want to see my blood!" She pitches her voice low and elongates the word 'blood' as if she's a character in an animated Halloween special.

Victor raises an eyebrow in the most exaggerated way he can manage. "Oh, do you? How do you know you're even going to see it?"

"You mean, I'm not?" The sudden look of disappointment on her face is so profound that it's comical, and Victor has to bite the inside of his mouth to keep himself from laughing again.

"No, you can if you want to," he says. "My special needle has a little tube on it, so we'll both be able to see."

Camellia rubs her hands together and does the most perfect cartoon villain laugh. "Matsu is gonna be so mad when I tell him about this, 'cause I get to see my blood and he doesn't."

Victor grins at Fox. "Are you sure this one's yours?"

Fox has moved over to Forest's bed and is holding his son in his lap. "Are you suggesting she takes after Takahiro more than she takes after me?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of her secretly being your sister's kid. Clancy seems like the type to get satisfaction out of this kind of stuff."

"Now that you mention it," Fox says. "She always wanted to help with my shots when we were kids. Maybe she just enjoyed sticking needles into me."

"Does that mean I can stick a needle into Forest?" Camellia asks.

"No," Fox says.

Camellia pretends to pout for a few seconds, but then she's all business again. She shifts her attention back to Victor, and in what he presumes is her superhero voice, proclaims, "Okay, vampire, do your worst! I'm not afraid of you!"

And by all appearances, she isn't the least bit afraid of him or his needle. She doesn't make so much as a peep when he inserts it into her arm, and then stares, captivated, as a tiny amount of her blood makes its way up the tubing and into the little collection container.

when he's done, he lets her pick a Band-Aid. To no one's astonishment, she chooses an Avengers one, and then tells him that she's going to keep her sleeve rolled up for the rest of the day so everyone can see it.

Victor is glad that at least one of the twins is taking the experience of being in the hospital reasonably well. He can't imagine what Fox and Taka must be going through. Fox in particular must be struggling because he doubtless remembers what being diagnosed with diabetes as a child was like for him.

He finishes labelling Camellia's blood sample, changes his gloves, and then turns to Forest. "All right, superhero number two. Are you ready?"

Forest nods, but he looks unsure. "Is it going to hurt?"

"Camellia, did it hurt?" Victor asks.

"A little bit," Camellia says, "But you're a superhero, Forest. A little hurt can't stop you!"

"Hold Daddy's hand," Victor reminds him. "Your awesome superpowers are gonna protect him from hurting too."

Forest grips his father's fingers so tightly that Victor can see the tautness of the muscles on the back of his hand, but to his credit, he sits still through the whole procedure and only sheds a few tears. He doesn't watch what's happening, but Victor didn't really expect him to.

When it's all over, Victor praises him as if he's just accomplished the most amazing feat in the world.

"Did it hurt, Daddy?" Forest asks tentatively. "Did my superpowers work?"

Fox hugs him close. "Your superpowers worked so well, I didn't feel a thing. You're such a brave boy, and I'm really proud of you," he tells him. He looks over at his daughter. "And you too, Camellia. You did great."

"Know who I'm proud of?" Camellia says.

"Who?" Fox inquires.

"Victor, 'cause he's the best vampire ever," she declares. "When I grow up, I want to be a science vampire, just like him!"

*****

A few days later, after the twins have been discharged from the hospital, Victor arrives at work to find a big yellow envelope waiting for him at the nurses' station. It's addressed to 'Vampire Okamoto-Nelson'.

His co-worker who hands it to him can't keep the grin off her face. She points to the writing on the outside of the envelope and says, "Happy Halloween."

Inside the envelope, Victor finds a handmade card. On the front is a drawing that was clearly done by Fox, of a nurse with silver hair and purple gloves. The cartoon nurse is holding a needle in one hand, and there are a pair of bats — a girl and a boy bat, judging by the bow and baseball cap on their respective heads — hovering over his shoulder. The banner at the top says 'To the Best Vampire Ever'.

On the inside of the card, Forest and Camellia have each written thank you messages to him. Their handwriting is wobbly and most of the words in the short note are misspelled, but it’s all still legible.

Victor puts the card on the staff bulletin board. He'll take it home after his shift, but it's too good not to share with everyone passing by in the meantime. He knows he's going to treasure it for a long time to come.

Happy Halloween, indeed.

[ruler-of-garbage]

Wait, You're My Colleague?!?! Part 2-

Word Count- 1072 (Part 2)

Part 1 HERE

MASTERLIST

Wait, You're My Colleague?!?!- Part 3

1 Warning(s): Y/n is appearing to be feminine (No pronouns though)(Scaramouche will be the name, but its a mix of all of his personas)

This is MODERN AU

Wow!! Part 2 is here! I had a lot of fun writing this part. I can't wait till I finish part 3, that one is going to be hilarious.

Also! Let me know in the replies that you want more (It will give me motivation). If you also want more of this stuff, let me know by following and making a suggestion in the Questions and Suggestions on my profile!

Thank you all, and here is Wait, You’re My Colleague?!?!

Scaramouche stands frozen as his new boss talks, not taking in anything the Boss Lady was saying. How could he?!?! There is something way more nerve wracking right beside him. You. 

He was just hired as an editor for a publishing company he’s had an eye on since he was in college. But he didn’t know that you did too. You are standing right next to him, in all your glory. Your hair is a bit longer than when you both were in college, but that didn’t change how beautiful you were, no, it made you even hotter. 

“Now that's said and done, everyone should introduce themselves to each other. I will come back in a bit with assignments and seating charts.” The Boss Lady says as she leaves the room, everyone waits until they couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore, before chattering away on how hot she is, and if her pink hair was professionally done. But Scaramouche couldn’t have cared less about the Boss. All he can think about is why you are staring at him so intensely. Your eyes were wide, as if you were trying to figure out who Scaramouche was. Could you possibly remember him?

“Hi, I’m y/n. It is a pleasure to meet you” You say out of nowhere. Scaramouche, still freaking out inside, turns to you. He knew it, you wouldn’t remember him over something so small. Before he could let a word come out of his mouth, You were called over to a big group of people. As you swiftly walk over, still regretting that he couldn’t talk to you, Scaramouche recognizes one of the girls. She was one of the friends that he gave a tip to. Seems that Scaramouche and you weren’t the only ones that decided to apply here. Tch. How annoying.

With his hands in a fist, Scaramouche can feel his hands start to sweat. He knows that it is going to be hard to talk to you. But, now you have a friend here. Knowing that you are probably just staying in your friend group, he has to force himself to take this chance to get to be your friend. Scaramouche didn’t want it to end like it did before. 

Scaramouche slowly tip-toes his way over to the group of people. He can smell the trail of perfume that you are wearing, something sweet, like a flower. But as he was about to reach the group, a hand was placed on his shoulder. Scaramouche whips around looking at whoever touched him straight in the face. At least he planned to, but all he got was a face full of chest, and a weird smell of Russian Collon. Scaramouche’s eyes slowly wandered up towards the person's face. 

“Ajax?” Oh fuc- Why is he here? Ajax's face slowly scrunched up, confused on who this small kid is. 

“Do I know you?” Oh great, another person that doesn’t remember me. Ajax used to be one of his acquaintances in a club back in highschool. The club was all about working out secret alliances between different clubs in their school and other schools. Ajax, or his code name, Childe, would be the one that would go around talking to other clubs trying to reel them into a pact with the club. The only reason Scaramouche joined that club was because they promised him a quiet place to rest during the school day. 

“No… What do you want anyways?” Ajax, still kinda surprised by the informality, and hands over some papers. 

He points to the Boss Lady in the back of the room stating, “Once you’re done skimming through these, pick up an envelope next to Mrs Yae Miko and move to your new desk in the room next to this one. Your name should be right on the desk.”.

As Ajax leaves, Scaramouche takes one last look at you, and then goes on his way. Scaramouche slowly made his way over to Yae, making sure to not draw attention, but like everything else in his life, it fails. “Hello, Scaramouche. How are you.” He slowly rolled his eyes, then he gave a fake smile to Yae. He did not want to deal with more people after not being able to talk to you. 

“I’m good, Mrs. Yae Miko. And you?” She smiles and hands him the envelope. 

She looks around and leans forward, whispering in his ear, “Your Mom says hello.” She leans back and hands out more envelopes to workers that were piling up behind Scaramouche. Don’t tell me about that woman, I don’t need to hear about someone that gave me up. Rolling the papers that he had gotten into a makeshift bat, he walks over to his cubicle. Slowly looking inside to see if it is the right size for him. He approves of it at first… but something is off. Even though the cubicle is the right size for him, there is one thing that doesn’t make sense. There is another desk! Scaramouche looks around before looking back at his cubicle. No one else had another desk… why is he the only one that has to have another person sitting with him?!?! In a fit of rage he turns around ready to stomp his way back over to Yae and tell her to tell his mommy to change his seat even if it meant speaking to the person he hates. But before he could fully turn around, he bumps into someone. But this time, they don't feel like Ajax. 

Looking over his shoulder he can feel a brush of hair against his chin. And there was your face. You looked a little surprised as he slowly backed up and hid his face. Scaramouche knew he had the most ugly face on, so he tried to hide it by putting his hands to his face and backing into his corner of the cubicle. But as you entered after him he knew he was doomed. How could he possibly work while he knew you were right there?!?! Clearly the all knowing gods of this world are against him- while also pushing for something to happen between him and you. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t able to get your name earlier.” You say looking at him as he slowly lowers his hands. Now he's trying to put on a facade. He slowly pushes his hair back and smirks. 

“It’s Scaramouche. Pleasure to meet you.” 

Wait, You're My Colleague?!?!- Part 3

[emblemxeno]

Torna - The Golden Country: Thoughts

;-;

-All unique monsters besides the gold ones defeated, full community, all affinity charts completed, full pouch item completion.

-Game looks and sounds great, though there's definitely signs of age nowadays due to pop-in and texture loading

-Gameplay is top notch, despite my complaining about certain things. Driver, Blade and Fusion combos combined with XC2's version of the Chain Attack is candy for the brain. A streamlined XC2 experience that's perfect for Torna's shorter campaign. However, I wouldn't want the same systems in the main game tbh, even the easier elemental orb stacking. I feel both systems fit their respective games just fine.

-Exploration is fun! Collection points as a whole are better than XC1's item orbs IMO, though I imagine I'll have less of a grand time with base XC2's version since there's nothing marking them there as minerals, vegetables, etc. Same thing with Field Skills, as since there's only six Blades required for the adventure, there's less to manage, but XC2 is bigger and more varied, with many more field skills to lock chests and locations behind.

-I know that the Community aspect of the game is divisive, as it locks main story progress behind it, but... honestly I don't mind. The game without its quests is extremely short, and the Community honestly adds another emotional kick to the gut by the time you get to the end. Besides, there's so few quests anyway that it's not that much of a time sink/waste.

-Story and characters made me cryyyyyy. Knowing the futures of all the Blades in the party makes a turbulence of emotions in my stomach, and Lora, Addam, and Hugo were all splendid protagonists to follow. Seeing just how great and grand Torna was (again, thanks to story, characters, and quests) really sets up the main game of XC2 well, as you'd definitely feel its presence lost.

-MILTOOOOOON 😭😭😭

-Gonna take a break before starting main game XC2, I need a nap to stop the tears

[just-a-carrot]

HELLO CARROT!

Given how apparently I’m immune to playing OW games without recording them now, you’ll audibly hear my thoughts within the next few weeks (I’m posting tomorrow because I’m an absolute maniac), BUT I WANNA SAY THINGS HERE BECAUSE APPRECIATION CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG!

Also Merry Christmas! It’s midnight when I’m writing this, so ‘tis the day of caroling and festivities and woah. Or happy holidays if you don’t celebrate!

Back to the Our Cinderella topic, I have only played Genzou’s route as of now (I’m sure that’s hardly surprising, he is my fav), but the others are next. Their time is coming. They cannot escape. SO SPOILERS FOR GENZOU’S ROUTE!

First off, I saw you included the little dancing in front of TV Iggy pose and the joy I felt seeing it was off the charts. I kept bringing it up, I was very happy. And seeing Iggy moving about was really cool in general, even without the novelty of seeing a suggestion I made exist in the game.

NEXT UP! Genzou drunk singing is an image I didn’t know I needed, thank you for the visual and the brain food. BUT ALSO I HAVE BEEN CONNECTING JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR SONGS TO OW FOR SO LONG AND HEARING THE MUSICAL BE MENTIONED BY GENZOU THREW ME FOR A LOOP. Great musical, very nice. Last Supper reminds me of Genzou and Orlam. Judas’s voice in general reminds me of Orlam. Musicals and OW can further connect in my brain hobby drawer.

The text interactions in general were really funny, actually. I liked the absolute chaos that was Iggy and Genzou’s text conversations, I was laughing while trying to read a lot of the time. I remember the aforementioned drunk singing conversation and the puddle one both got me pretty good while I was reading, and it was overall fun to see more lighthearted conversations from the characters, even if it’s in a different universe from the main canon.

To end things off, ‘cause again 1) I haven’t finished all the game’s routes yet, and 2) you’ll be able to hear my thoughts in the moment if you choose in future anyways, I wanna mention the version of Cinderella Bucks tells at the end? I can’t get it out of my head. When I was thinking about the game after having just played it, my mind kept flashing back to CinderJesus. It absolutely decimated my brain function, but in a very fun way. More slice-of-life Bucks, please, she’s peak comedy.

Very fun game, 10/10, very sad I couldn’t buy the Kirby in the first playthrough but it’s on my to-do list, aaaand yeah! Thank you for making this! I loved every minute of it, and I’m really excited to play the remaining routes once my irl festivities are over.

sob this is so sweet! 😭💕 i'm excited to watch your playthrough too -- things are a bit overwhelming in general for me right now as i'm still with my family and doing a bunch of things, but even if i'm unable to find time this week i will for sure watch once i'm back home next week. i'm really happy that you're enjoying it so much already tho ahhhh and that you're finding it so entertaining 🥺

i'm glad you liked the poses i had so much fun with them and also using some of the suggestions to add more! and LMAO JCS is a musical i grew up watching (my parents used to play the original album in the house lol) so i get the songs stuck in my head a lot, hence why it randomly worked its way into this (among many other random silly little references or inspirations from my own life hahaha). that is extremely funny to me 🤣

i'm glad you liked the convos they were the epitome of silly. and also bucks's part hahaha. i was half-worried it would end up being too ridiculous and random for people because it just got so weird in places hahaha

thank you so much for this lovely message and all of your thoughts and for playing the game! 🥺💕 i look forward to watching the playthrough so i can see all of your reactions in real-time lakjdfs

[sp0o0kylights]

Adopt a Jock Part 1 

Part 2 

Part 4

Shoutout to @bloomingconflagration for the title!!! And a HUGE thank you to everyone who left comments or gave suggestions!! I love you all you amazing, silly humans <3 <3 

There comes a time during a long work shift were your average overworked and underpaid employee starts to think they’re hallucinating. 

In Gareth’s case, it was when Steve Harrington walked through the doors of Palace Arcade, making a beeline right for him. 

“Gareth?” Steve asked, like he was the one out of place. “What are you doing here?” 

As if people just randomly stood behind the counter of retail and entertainment spaces with a nametag on. 

You know, for fun.

With a great deal of restraint, Gareth managed to hold the sass back, instead opting for a far more polite; ‘I work here, Harrington. What are you doing here?” 

Because no matter how much Hellfire had adopted Steve into its fold, Gareth could just not see the guy choosing to spend his free time at the local arcade. 

Not of his own free will, anyway. 

“Pick up duty.” Steve said, proving him right not even a second later. 

“Of what?” Gareth asked, puzzled, right before Steve’s name was shouted in stereo.

A miniature stampede took place as several children proceeded to swarm him like oversized puppies, most of them trying to talk at once. 

“One at a time, we talked about this!” Steve barked, loud enough to be heard over the commotion. “You’re giving me and Gareth here a headache!” 

He waved his hands in a “calm down” gesture, shaking his head and looking at Gareth in exasperation. “Probably giving the people in the video store next door one too, lord.”  

“Wait.” A curly-haired kid said, looking between the two older teens like he was watching the laws of the universe rewrite themselves in front of him. “You know Gary? How?”

“We are not close enough for you to call me Gary.” Gareth said dryly, for what felt like the fifteenth time that day. 

This was a regular battle between him and the kids who haunted the arcade.

(One had overheard Grant call him Gary the last time he was in, and ever since, every single child that graced this fine establishment with Cheeto-dusted fingers and candy-induced sugar rushes had decided to replace his actual name with his nickname.

The fact it clearly frustrated him only egged them on. )

“We go to school together Dustin,” Steve said, as if he were talking to someone particularly dense. 

“Yeah? You go to school with lots of people. You bitch about most of them.” Dustin fired back.”Plus Gary’s a total nerd. I bet you call him names.” 

"Hey, language!" 

Gareth’s eyes narrowed as he glared down at the little fucker. He was definitely going to remember Dustin (and equally going to watch and see what arcade games the younger teen played-- and top the score chart of every single fucking one.

He might be a nerd but he wasn’t gonna take that shit from a middle schooler.) 

“Hate to break it to you brats, but your babysitter here just joined our D&D club.” Gareth replied, if only to finally one-up the little bastards. “Our DM is building him a character as we speak.” 

(Which wasn't even a lie. Eddie was building a character for Steve. The guy just refused to give any input on grounds that he "wasn't going to play anyways." )

Abrupt and sudden silence, as several stunned faces stared at him. 

“Oh goddammit.” Harrington cursed, as the entire herd of children turned on him in unison like some kind of hivemind horror monster. 

“You joined the D&D club,” Dustin said slowly, outraged. “And you let them make you a character sheet, but you won’t play with us!?” 

“What the hell Steve!” The sporty-looking one whined, clearly hurt. “You won’t sit in on our games! You said they were lame!” 

“They are lame.” Steve defended immediately, pushing at sporty-kids head. It was fond though, the kind of gentle shove an elder brother gave to a younger one. It caused the kid's camo banana to fall into his eyes, which he adjusted quickly with a grumble. “Turns out the high school version’s cooler.” 

“He’s lying.” That from the bitchy one, whose arms were crossed over his chest, a glare on his face. “Steve probably paid Gary to say that” 

Gareth had seen that exact same stance on Steve at lunch that day, and wondered if the little asshole knew who he was copying when he did it. 

“Who cares about D&D?” This from the redhead, standing with another girl giggling in her ear. “I’m just amazed Steve has friends.” 

“Really Mayfield?” Steve said, looking almost betrayed. As if he thought she was going to be the one to defend him in this weird little showdown.

The girl leaning on her giggled harder, making Mayfield grin (even if she tried to hide it.)  She whispered something, which the redhead outright laughed at before repeating; “Adult friends even!” 

“Okay.” Steve said, clearly cutting the kids off before they could embarrass him further. “Thank you, unwanted peanut gallery, for all of that lovely commentary. Now go back to playing the games you little shits robbed me of all my quarters for, or we’re leaving.” 

Henderson’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you were here to pick us up?” 

“Oh I’m sorry, did Jonathan magically appear behind me in the last five seconds?” Steve turned around pretending to search the parking lot through the windows. “No? Then I guess we’re still waiting. Unless you, Lucas and Max want to leave first.” 

“You’re such an ass.” Dustin huffed, rolling his eyes. “Why aren’t you waiting in the car anyway?” 

“It’s raining, it’s cold, and I thought I’d come in to say hi to my friend.” Steve replied, so quickly it took Gareth a moment to realize what Steve referred to him as. 

He'd gotten the friend title before Eddie. 

His best friend was going to fucking freak. 

“Are you done drilling me or are you going to let Max kick your ass at DigDug again?” 

“Shit!” Henderson cursed, spinning to intercept the redhead as she bent to put a coin in said arcade machine. “Max, you said you’d let me keep my leaderboard score today! Max!” 

“I know you said you watched kids, but this wasn’t exactly what I was imagining.” Gareth said, slumping against the counter.  

(He'd been thinking of Steve watching much younger kids for one, and two, he was starting to get the idea the babysitter thing was used as an insult. 

Gareth knew a big brother vibe when he saw it.) 

Steve gave him a tired look. “Me neither man. Me neither.”

 Then; “You fucking owe me for that D&D comment, they’re never going to shut up about it now.”

Gareth winced. “Sorry. I was trying to help.” 

Steve blew out a breath. “I know. I appreciate the attempt.” 

Which was better than Steve bitching at him for it, not that he’d really ever done that to Gareth. 

The two of them hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to be playful like that with each other, though they had occasionally jumped in on opposing sides to arguments Eddie caused. Gareth figured they’d get there in time, but even with all the progress Steve made, he still had more off days than on. 

It was a fragile line to walk with him. Especially when there wasn’t a single member of Hellfire who wanted to ruin the progress they made. 

(Even if half of them would never admit to it.) 

“Steve?” A voice interrupted, quiet in a way that contrasted directly with how loud the rest of the brat pack was. 

Steve closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose with his hand as if to starve off a headache. 

“Yes, Baby Byers?” He asked after a long, painful pause, turning to look at the saddest looking kid in the bunch. 

“Is there actually a D&D club at the high school?” 

The kid looked at Steve like he wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to hear the answer, but was hopeful for the outcome he wanted anyway. 

It was the kind of thing that pulled even on Gareth’s heartstrings, and he was almost immune to anything involving giant, sad eyes after a solid year of working at the arcade. 

(Never mind Eddie’s own puppy dog looks.)

Steve’s voice gentled, in a way Gareth had never quite heard him use before. “There is. You’d love it, it’s called Hellfire. I’m sure it’ll still be there next year when you come in as a freshman.” 

He nudged him with his shoulder playfully, smiling when the younger boy perked up. “If you’re nice, Garebear here might even put in a good word for you.” 

“Garebear?” Max repeated with a burst of laughter, appearing behind Steve like a fucking ghost. “Oh my god.” 

“No.” Gareth said, bolting upright from his slouch as he stared at her in horror. “Do not call me that.” 

“Sure thing, Garebear.” She outright cackled, as Steve sent him a wide-eyed, apologetic face. 

“What did you just call Gary?” The sporty one--Lucas, asked, a wide grin overtaking his face. 

“I swear to God.” Gareth threatened, as Steve took another dramatic look over his shoulder. 

“Hey look Jonathan’s here!” He yelled, jerking a thumb over his shoulder as he started quickly walking backwards. “Come on, dipshits, we're leaving!” 

“Bye Garebear!” Lucas and Max sang together, following after him. 

“Harrington!” Gareth howled, as Steve mouthed ‘Sorry’ over his shoulder, all but bolting out the door. 

“I like Garebear a lot better than Gary.” Another, random child informed him with a grin as he sauntered past, arcade tickets in hand. 

Steve Harrington, Gareth decided, was a dead man. 

Not even Eddie’s fucking crush on the guy could save him now. 

xXx

“Did you know Harrington has a literal pack of kids he watches?” Gareth asked a few hours later, messing with his drum kit as he set up for band practice. "He even drives them around." 

More than that though--he’d seemed almost normal around them. That was the most Gareth had seen the guy banter or act relaxed since Eddie had dragged him over. 

“He’s mentioned it multiple times.” Grant replied, tuning his bass. “You have ears Gareth, use them.” 

“Gareth? Listen?” Jeff teased as he dragged an amp into the garage. “I don’t think I’ll live to see the day.” 

"Oh screw you guys.” Gareth growled, winging a drumstick toward his friends for the insult.

Grant, long used to Gareth's tantrums (and Eddie's dramatics)  didn't look up from his bass.

Not even when the drumstick hit the wall with a bang!-- allll the way near the opposite end of the couch, entirely opposite of either him or Jeff. 

"As usual, your aim is dead on." Jeff appraised sarcastically. 

"Like I'd ever actually hit you." Gareth grumbled with a pout. "I was gonna say the kids are older than I expected."

He reached down, blindly fishing for another drumstick from the bucket of them next to his kit. 

He came up empty. 

"Hey Grantman." Gareth asked, tone changing to something mildly embarrassed. "Could I uh, could I get the drumstick back?" 

He got a flat stare back. "No." 

"What did I do to get stuck with such dramatic friends?" Jeff joked as he began moving all the amps he’d pulled in back into their usual places. 

They hadn't had time to unload anything other than the drums after their last show and the regret was real. 

"Eddie’s been standing on tables since seventh grade, you knew what you were getting into." Gareth fired back, making grabby hands for his drumstick. 

"And you never grew out of being that dorky middle schooler who snuck into Hellfire games and screamed we were all going to die every time anyone made a bad play." Jeff shot back. "Yet here I am, once again wondering if I should just permanently confiscate Eddie's snacks, your drumsticks, and now Harrington's fricken spatula." 

"One year. I am one year younger than you and you act like it's an entire century!" Gareth muttered, as Grant relented and leaned over to fetch said drumstick. 

"We all know Eddie chucks food at people, but what'd Steve do with a spatula?"  Grant asked as he tossed it back to Gareth.

He missed and nearly took out a cymbal in the process. 

"He had a snit while we were making chocolate roulade cause it wouldn’t roll right. Flung the spatula around so much it splattered whip cream on his ceiling." Jeff shook his head as he finished hooking an amp up to his guitar. "I had to rescue it from him." 

"His ceiling?" Gareth said in disbelief. "Wait, you were in Harrington’s kitchen?" 

"Yeah?" Jeff looked up to find his friends staring at him. 

Grant blinked. "The fuck?" 

“Can we just play?” Jeff complained, just as embarrassed as Gareth had been.

“No.” Gareth said, retrieved drumstick nearly falling from his hands in shock. “You don’t get to casually drop that you went to Harrington’s house to help him bake and then try to get us to play right after!” 

Jeff, who had done exactly that, blushed, skin darkening as he fiddled with his guitar.

“It wasn’t a big deal.” He said finally with a shrug, as if this was something he did all the time and not the groundbreaking revelation that it was.

“Did you meet his parents?” Grant said, sitting up from the couch. “What did his house look like?”

Jeff finally gave up the pretense of playing his instrument.

“I didn't, and it was kinda sad, actually.” He said, as if he didn’t live for this kind of shit. 

Gareth knew better than anyone how much of a fricken gossip Jeff could be. 

“His house was enormous. I only saw the first floor, and his kitchen is huge.” He set his hands apart at a good distance, showcasing just how large “huge” was, before continuing. 

“But it was weird. It was like a model home. No pictures on the walls, no art, no personality to the place at all.” 

“What are we talking about?” Eddie asked, finally returning to Gareth’s garage from where he’d been gathering up all the wires they’d thrown haphazardly into his van. 

“Jeff went to Harrington’s house.” Grant and Gareth tattled as one. 

“To help bake stuff for this Friday!” Jeff defended, the blush creeping back onto his face. “I was curious about his chocolate roulade recipe and he invited me over!” 

“When was this?” Eddie asked, staring at Jeff like he’d grown a second head. 

Or more likely, Gareth knew, in jealousy. But he wasn’t going to call Eddie out on that just yet. 

“Yesterday. We got to talking about it in the parking lot after school.” Jeff said with an embarrassed shrug. “He said he wasn’t the best at explaining how to do things and that he’d rather show me instead.” 

“Kinky.” Grant deadpanned, making Jeff sputter. 

“You sure you didn’t see his bedroom, Jeff? It’s okay if you fell for the ‘wanna see my music collection’ line. We won’t judge you.” Gareth waggled his eyebrows, ducking with a laugh when Jeff went to whack him. 

“Shut up, we just made the chocolate roulade!” Jeff’s ears were red now, and huh, maybe Eddie wasn’t the only person with a crush.  

“Guys.” Eddie reprimanded, tone warning. 

“Sorry Eds, you know we don’t mean it.” Gareth soothed. Of course, his best friend's anger was less about the gay comments or Steve’s reputation as Hawkin’s man whore than it was about Steve fucking Jeff (and not Eddie) but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be appreciated if he pointed that out either. 

Eddie didn’t respond, eyes already back on Jeff. "Details, Jeffery, give us the details!"  

He dropped onto the couch, flapping his hands at Jeff in his version of a "sit down" gesture. 

Jeff sighed, but repeated what he'd just said for Eddie as he took a seat on the edge of an amp, placing his guitar down gently. 

 "I think Wayne was right. I don't think anyone else lives there but Steve. Not full-time anyway." He finished. 

Which sounded like the best fucking thing ever until Gareth thought about it for more than two seconds. 

Tried to imagine what his life would be like if his parents and siblings were gone. Not for a day, or even a weekend, but always. 

How silent his normally loud house would be. 

Thought instantly that he'd be inviting Eddie, his friends, and hell, l even Wayne, over as often as they could handle. 

"The way he looked when I showed up, and how quiet he got when I left I just…" Jeff fiddled with his guitar’s strap. "I think he's lonely." 

The four of them sat in silence for a long moment as they digested that. 

“Hargrove kicked his ass right? And Byers?” Grant said finally, breaking the silence ad he stared up at the ceiling. 

“Old news.” Eddie replied absently, jiggling his leg.

“You think his parents were around for that?” Grant continued, slowly.

No one answered outside of Eddie's leg loudly jiggling faster. 

 "Did you see the kids hug him or anything?"

"They're like thirteen. I seriously doubt they're pestering Steve for hugs." Gareth answered flatly.  

 "So he got his ass kicked, his parents are gone, he was supposed involved in that whole has leak thing…" Grant trailed off with an air of someone who expected the end of his sentence to be obvious. 

“You’re doing that thing again where you think what you’re saying is obvious and its fucking not.” Eddie grumped. "Just spit it out." 

His friend's head finally tipped back down from the ceiling, to face the rest of them. “Maybe the flinching is because no one ever touches him anymore unless it’s to kick his ass.” 

“Oh.” Eddie blinked, body going rigid. “Oh shit.” 

“That…would make sense. A lot of sense.” Jeff said slowly. 

Grant put on a face that read “Duh” loud and clear. 

“So what do we do about it?" Gareth asked after a moment. 

"Touch him, obviously." Grant replied, like he couldn't believe the drummer was even asking.

Gareth and Eddie shared a look while Eddie rolled his eyes.  

"The guy almost fell down the stairs last time I tried that." Gareth pointed out. 

Never mind any other time Steve got weird over the lightest of touches. Eddie couldn't even clap the guy on the shoulder without getting major side-eye. 

"No."  Eddie cut in, sitting up suddenly. His eyes had gone bright, "We're going to trick him into it." 

"We're going to trick Harrington into being okay with, what? Shoulder pats?"  Gareth echoed, like Eddie might hear himself if his words were repeated back to him. “You realize how stupid that sounds right?" 

"Shut up, listen. It's like getting a stray to trust you. You just gotta be calm and so obvious about it that they get confused and let it happen." Eddie had begun practically vibrating, causing his friends to trade uneasy glances. 

They knew that look. Eddie only got it when he thought up a plan that was going to cause problems. 

"Eddie, that makes zero sense." Jeff told him.

Gareth just shook his head, because only Eddie Munson could compare Hawkins golden boy with a fucking stray animal. 

Even if the guy kinda acted like one sometimes. 

"I just need an opening." Eddie continued, the little hamster wheel spinning in his head so fast the rest of the band could almost hear it. 

If Gareth had been told two months ago he was going to be sitting in his garage, discussing the best way to acclimate Steve Harrington to casual touch, he’d have actually smacked whatever idiot dared spew such nonsense with his drumsticks. 

"I did tell tell the kids today you were making him a D&D character." He said, before his best friend could truly go off on some half cocked plot. 

Eddie lit up like a kid on Christmas. "Gary, I could kiss you."

Gareth made a face. "Please don't."

He clapped hard before springing to his feet. "Huddle up boys, I've got a plan." 

"God help us all." Jeff muttered. 

(He huddled up anyway, any thoughts of playing guitar that night fully forgotten.) 

Bonus: 

"Why don't you just get high and watch a movie with Steve? You're a fucking cling-on when you're high." Gareth complained the next morning, when Eddie swung by to pick him up for school. 

Mostly because the plan Eddie had come up with was ridiculous.

 Eddie took both hands off the wheel, pressing them against his chest in mock offense while he stared at Gareth and not at the street. “That would be taking advantage of him and I, as a gentleman, would never." He gasped, dramatically. 

In his normal voice, he added: "Plus it doesn't count." 

“Eyes on the road!” Gareth yelped, swatting an arm. “And you know I didn’t mean it like that. People relax more when they're high and maybe Steve needs something like that as an excuse to allow it. Hell he doesn’t even need to be high, just you.”

Which Gareth personally thought was a very insightful thing to say, so of course he had to ruin it with; “or whatever.” 

"Do you recall how you kissed Jeff on the cheek when you were high and then spent the entire next month swearing up and down that you weren't attracted to men last summer?" 

"That was different. I was discovering myself." 

Eddie outright cackled. "Discovering yourself? What self help book did you pick that gem out of?"

"I was quoting you, you moron!" Gareth sputtered. 

"If I said anything like that then I was definitely high and it just proves my point. Steve would just be uncomfortable."Eddie stuck his tongue out. "So there." 

"Fine." Gareth sighed. "If we ever get high with Harrington, I'll sit in his lap."

Eddie's eye twitched. "No you will not."

Thrilled to have something to tease the elder metalhead about, a smile graced Gareth's face. "In fact, I'm calling dibs." 

"You can't call dibs on a lap! And besides, you don't even like him like that!" 

"So?" Gareth retorted. "It's a nice lap, looks comfortable. You don't want it, so I'll take it."

Eddie grit his teeth, grasping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white. 

"I know what you're doing Gary. This is some bullshit reverse psychology shit and I will not be falling for it." 

"Oh contraire, this is sibling bullshit, Munson. You want it, so I want it." Gareth crossed his arms and looked at Eddie smugly. "And unless you do something about it, I'm getting it." 

"I hate you." 

Gareth grinned, delighted. "I know." 

[21secondsofchristoph]

This is probably the longest interview I've ever read.

"Why do you have to be happy all the time?"

Photo: Peter Rigaud/laif

Oscar winner Christoph Waltz in a long interview - about gold and dirt in Hollywood, careful filming, his role as a management consultant in "The Consultant", and the question of what Lufthansa did with his new Rimowa suitcase.

Interview by Alexander Gorkov

February 24, 2023

A long afternoon with coffee, cognac and cake. Christoph Waltz, visiting Berlin from Los Angeles, is always excited and attentive – he pauses between sentences and then always continues to formulate it ready for publication.

SZ : Management consultant Regus Patoff ostentatiously smells the young people who will report to him in the series “The Consultant” upon his arrival. He cuts his fingernails and nose hair in the office, he calls his people at three in the morning, monitors them...

Christoph Waltz: The fact that the young employees line up and I memorize their respective smells is a scene that immediately made sense to me when reading the pilot episode.

SZ: Which made reading fun?

CW: That's the thing about joy. Some things are fun, which then turn out to be rubbish. No, obvious, in the sense of light rising. Incidentally, at first I only knew the script for the pilot episode.

SZ: The books for the eight episodes weren't ready when it started?

CW: No, just the pilot. Then, after the whole production was okay, Tony Basgallop sat down and continued writing. Always in increments of two episodes. So when we were filming episode three, we didn't know what episode six was going to be like.

SZ: What about the Writers' Room, 20 authors, you imagine that would be more complex for a US production with an Oscar winner?

CW: That's already there. But that was not the case with the “Consultant”.

SZ: How much of it was created while shooting, i.e. spontaneously, also with regard to the character Regus Pattof?

CW: I can't say any more. Afterwards it might not matter anyway.

SZ: Jennifer Coolidge recently said she worked with the crew to develop this somnambulist of her character in "White Lotus" while we were shooting. Could these be signals that a certain desire for spontaneity and creativity is returning after rather bleak years in films and series?

CW: It would be nice anyway. Maybe word would slowly get around again that the fixation on algorithms and pie charts, i.e. on this alleged readability of the swarm behavior of viewers, does not tell any stories that could be worth experiencing for the viewer. So if there were no swarm at all. That filmed stories should be produced by film companies, not tech companies. With the unavoidable risks and side effects that always have an effect anyway.

SZ: The character of Regus Patoff, as diabolical as it is, is sometimes reminiscent of the characters of great comedians of yesteryear, whom one could, so to speak, watch while thinking...

CW: Thanks... Is the comparison possibly a bit bold?

SZ: There is a scene in "Sons of the Desert" in which Stan Laurel bites into an apple which he steals from what appears to be a fruit bowl - but it is not a real apple, but a decorative apple made of wax. And he thinks, and you can see it: Oops. So without making a grimace.

CW: Well...he doesn't think, "Oops!" He draws the viewer into his complication of recognition. He doesn't demonstrate clumsily how B follows A because that's what the script says. Rather, he involves himself and the viewer in an extremely complex process.

SZ: Namely?

CW: He bites into what he must think is a real apple because it looks like a real apple. Any normal prankster would now make a number out of the sudden recognition - spit out, suffocate, disgust, whatever the repertoire has to offer. But Stan Laurel sticks to the process: put to use as a real apple, the assumed reality now intensifies. He keeps chewing!

He calmly bites off more pieces, chews, swallows.

Under explainable difficulties. Which he still wonders about.Especially since he always secretly takes the apple from the fruit plate and puts it down again after biting into it. He doesn't want to get caught. And so he gets more and more involved and can't find out anymore. He has to eat the wax apple whether he wants to or not, even though the truth seems to be dawning on him.

SZ: You go nuts while watching...

CW: It's awesome. And to play that, this knowledge behind the lack of understanding - that requires very deep understanding, very deep knowledge. An insane intelligence too. But we're not just talking about a comedian here.

SZ: Rather?

CW: Genius...? Can one know?

SZ: Are we talking about the funniest two minutes in movie history?

CW: What would then be the second funniest and the least fun? I definitely want to avoid ranking, especially with a phenomenon like Stan Laurel. This perpetual ranking...blunt quantification. We thereby lose the ability to discuss the qualities.

SZ: Basically?

CW: Basically, of course. It takes constant attention, practice, and refinement, and it's tedious and tedious at times... I don't give a damn what rhetorical platitude any self-proclaimed expert can squeeze onto the internet about whatever.

SZ: But back to the faint hope of spontaneity and creativity...

CW: All I can say is that filming The Consultant was, of course, also an industrial process as a whole, which, however, miraculously relied largely on the non-industrial contribution of the individual. In this respect, this shooting differed significantly from what the series is about. Talented adults of different ages make their constructive contribution to the whole to the best of their knowledge and ability. It doesn't get much better than that... It's very different than, for example, checking in a suitcase at Lufthansa with childlike trust!

SZ: With the result?

CW: That I'll never see him again. And at Lufthansa, trying to get your suitcase back is a completely depersonalized and utterly industrial process.

SZ: Happens?

Happens.

SZ: Los Angeles – Frankfurt?

CW: Not at all! Munich – Berlin. I checked in the suitcase on December 16, 2022 – in the meantime, in the literal sense, in the box. I never saw the suitcase again. Not until today. A brand new Rimowa with nice things you've come to love inside.

SZ: How is the complaint made?

CW: Industrial. According to quantifiable measures. There has been a Property Irregularity Report, reference number BER-LH-33385, for more than two months. The Rimowa was originally supposed to be delivered to Berlin from Munich on December 30, 2022 with flight LH1934. I know all the numbers by heart. Some of the advisers at Lufthansa's complaints center also look familiar to me.

SZ: At least there's that.

CW: Yes, they are all very friendly, I have to say. They chat very understandingly, are diligent, give advice, and so one slips unnoticed into a labyrinth. You mutate into a process.

SZ: After all, one is a process. Isn't that a form of recognition?

CW: But on the contrary! You are fed into a digital metabolism and digested by the algorithm. The metabolic consequences do not deserve credit.

SZ: It is reminiscent of Kafka's trial. This is also possibly because the suitcase hasn't turned up again for two months.

CW: One is isolated, waiting, wandering around, lost in a digital labyrinth. For weeks, for months you think: where is my suitcase? I checked it in at a modern German airport with a leading airline on December 16th, 2022 to be returned to me at another modern German airport about an hour and a half later the same day.

SZ: With the result?

CW: Why result? It wasn't any of the two. Neither modern nor handed over.

SZ: Part of the fascination here is certainly that you ask yourself: What could be the reason for the apparently complete disappearance of the suitcase?

CW: For example, someone from Lufthansa recently told me that the weather was bad on December 16th. In the winter? In Munich? Snow and ice? For real?! That's why the train that my wife and I had originally booked was already cancelled... So did the suitcase fall out of the plane? It's a kind of conjecture industry, depending on which of the always friendly people at Lufthansa I'm talking to. Everyone suspects something different.

SZ: It may have been stolen.

CW: Even very likely - after all, a very personal and analogous twist of the story. Or it just got lost. Also analogue. If it were a medical emergency, I would have been dead weeks ago.

SZ: How about appearing as a sadist to Lufthansa and becoming unpleasant?

CW: I've thought about it. But nobody cares anyway. Because the friendly Lufthansa people are the biological extensions of the algorithm. It's definitely in the contract of employment.

SZ: Is Regus Patoff a sadist in The Consultant?

CW: I see it more as an attempt at correction. Or an excommunicated Archangel. A Knight of the Grail. He also does a job.

SZ: Which?

CW: He appears in the gaming company "CompWare" and confronts the young programmers with the ruthlessness of his methods with, how to put it...

SZ: ... oneself?

CW: Yourself and each other, yes. You then ask yourself a few essential questions: Am I still capable of making qualitative distinctions or only quantitative ones? So am I doing things for their quality or for their usability? By fixating on the short-term, quantitative usability of my work, am I anticipating obedience, an obedience that no political dictatorship forces me to? Do I still use my brain, which was made for the most complex tasks, or will I become a kind of task-specific artificial intelligence and will therefore soon be replaced by one? So in the end do I subordinate everything to this one and supposedly essential condition – usability, short-term economization?

SZ: A series about conformity?

CW: A hopefully entertaining series about conformity. Our business is entertainment. And yes: about conformity and what it takes to question it.

SZ: What does it take, courage?

CW: Courage is a jargon word. Everyone has courage - or thinks they have it, no? Even the heavily subsidized think they have guts. I can't really hear the talk of courage anymore.

SZ: So what does it require?

CW: Rather, does it require... effort, effort? It requires a brain, an on-going one. Our brain can distinguish between quality and quantity, it doesn't take any courage to do that. The brain can do it just like that - if it is reasonably well fed.

SZ: On the other hand, when since 1968 were some young people noticeably less conform than they are today? They demonstrate for climate protection, are language-sensitive, gender-sensitive, against racism, against ...

CW: So so ...

SZ: Yes, yes.

CW: Yes, yes, yes.

SZ: No?

CW: But. Naturally. And rightly so.However, I cannot understand that these sensibilities would be new apart from their preparation and the jargon. People haven't always thrown mush at paintings and blamed Vincent van Gogh to feed the networks spectacle, that's true. Since the Club of Rome report in the early 1970s, however, people have been demonstrating against environmental destruction, in Wackersdorf they did it in the mid 1980s, since the 1970s at the latest it has been about the rights of gays and lesbians, in the 1980s against discrimination against people infected with HIV , in the early 1980s half a million people ran through Bonn against the retrofitting – in the lead the Greens party, which is particularly active in this context today. Apropos - few figures in Germany fascinate me more than the Panzergrenadier from the Greens ...

SZ: Anton Hofreiter?

CW: Excellent material for a comedy. A transport expert does not become Minister of Agriculture after the election. So he stiffens, turns tomato red with anger – and is an expert on armament issues. boom.

SZ: At the same time, speaking of conformity, young people today are more likely to ask themselves the question of work-life balance, i.e. quality of life rather than pure income quantity .

CW: Can you balance yourself prophylactically? Even before it really starts to wobble? I don't know... In France, 17-year-olds are demonstrating against pension reform, right?

SZ: Well, a man from a leading management consultancy in Munich recently told me that highly qualified people have recently been telling him more often during job interviews: They are more interested in a four-day week than in more money, the competition is offering them that.

CW: This is initially understandable from the point of view of the consumer. The producer certainly has a different perspective because he might sooner or later lose the consumers, right? Which then makes the four-day week absolutely necessary. But then it is no longer a profit. So who is balancing what then? Or who? And could these job interviews be more of a European phenomenon?

SZ: Aren't the mindfulness consultants in the greater California area eager to proclaim this inner pendulum?

CW: Yes, maybe... And why? Voluntarily? The American person has to constantly make money, so does the mindfulness consultant with her web shop. The American man defines himself economically. In my area, with actors for example, especially those who have big plans, is it about work-life balance? They need follow-up contracts, they want to be part of a possible second season, the health insurance has to be paid for, school, kindergarten have to be paid for, life has to be paid for – not to forget the entertainment, i.e. the distraction from all of that also has to be paid for become. Not glamorous. Both parents work, not for reasons of social progress, but like crazy, and because there is no other way. Withoutwork no life , so work is better then – that would be the balance .

SZ: What's wrong with not getting gutted?

CW: Nothing! On the contrary. It is important not to be left out. Among other things, "The Consultant" is about. Of being literally gutted behind that mindful facade of colorful booths and walking around barefoot to feel yourself, and all that horrific, humiliating gibberish. About how the so-called creative people in particular completely subordinate themselves to economic success. And also from letting yourself be gutted. With what I am saying, I am only describing reality as I perceive it: economic success is the quality that constitutes the collective subconscious of the United States par excellence. Ranking makes this measurable. And tangible. I'm not saying that in a haughty manner, but up to a certain point as an equal among equals. In my first 35 years as an actor, I usually said, when someone came up with an offer: “Work? I'll do it! shit work? I do too!“

SZ: So shit movies.

CW: Why shit movies?

SZ: So the movies that...

CW: No! That was my life, with all due respect. Should everything that was good just be dropped now? There was some very good stuff there, thank you very much.

SZ: Forgive me.

CW: Clearly this was also training. Everything is always training. This is where the brain comes into play again. If it's allowed: mine. I always kind of knew why something was "shit". This is an immeasurable treasure, a treasure called experience.

SZ: Tempi passati.

CW: I am deeply grateful that my circumstances have largely changed over the past 15 years. But it doesn't change the fact.

SZ: Especially since one is usually wiser afterwards...

CW: Of course: You don't look forward to it while you're still in it. But you don't spend your life with gold alone. Nobody does that. I've actually worked on stupid films with the greatest colleagues from time to time. Here as there. But it is also about participating in life by doing. And with what? With good reason! For example, because you have a family and earn money, a very, very honorable process.

SZ: But this work does not really make you happy at the time of its creation.

CW: Why do you have to be happy all the time? Who invented the compulsion to be lucky? Everyone must always be happy... No wonder no one is happy. Except for the happiness industry.

SZ: The right to happiness - "the pursuit of happiness" - is one of the "inalienable human rights" in the USA! Since 1776!

CW: But not the right to be happy . The Right to Pursue Happiness ! pursuit ! Logically, this means, especially when it comes to forming a society, that I also allow others to strive for happiness to the same extent, not that I only try to enforce mine by force of arms.

SZ: Like I said, an American...

CW: The right to be happy only exists according to the mindfulness coaches just quoted, and those from 2023, not 1776. Those who make money by looking happy on Instagram. happiness industry. It's gotten tough in America. Hard and unforgiving. Europe is still a bit shy in this regard, but it will catch up.

SZ: Also in Hollywood, does that also affect the film industry there?

CW: yes sure, maybe not? But like I said, one can hope. I at least hope that something is changing for the better right now. If I'm not an optimist, at least I'm naive! But in terms of the years I've been living there now: the fixation on quantity, the fixation on the measurable, on pie charts, tools for reading users - it's not obvious that the parts of the brain where creative people used to be their Quality awareness suspected, meanwhile dry up?

SZ: That means you make everything ready for the user, so to speak?

CW: Do you have users or readers at the Süddeutsche ? If you still have readers: never consider them users... my non-authoritative advice. The technical means of spreading nonsense have never been available on this scale, and a repulsive figure like Donald Trump could only become President of the United States of America because there was fire from all channels, both digital and analog: He won't, will he? Will he?

SZ: Well, he ran for the post. Should you ignore that?

CW: Why should one ignore him - but hysterize for months? Because it sells? Trump as a repulsive figure was very old hat long before his presidency became more likely. He has been an obnoxious, vile phenomenon for decades. That was impossible to miss. But Trump, Brexit, all these dystopias from 2016 and after, they exist because they were spread , no longer communicated, and it's being disseminated for commercial reasons, while not conveying that each and every individual could care to expose Trump as a lie or to expose Brexit as a lie. We can all take a good look at our own noses here, with what we write, send, spread or help spread ... No feuilleton, for example, has to deal with Prince Harry.

SZ: Oh...

CW: Because it clicks? But does it make sense beyond that ? The sensitivities of a prince, apparently not the brightest candle on the candlestick, who publishes a tearful, post-pubertal commissioned work? Because daddy is always so mean? And why is he publishing it? Because you can make a lot of money with it and with a supposed "documentary". And the feuilleton sacrifices its integrity?

SZ: It also depends on how you reflect it.

CW: Reflecting does something quickly. Especially the so-called reflection is always extremely useful commercially and socially. Never looks bad either. The supply creates the demand.

SZ: Often there is also a demand that first ...

CW: Forgiveness! In the meantime, it often has features of self-incapacitation! And from the side of those who should know better! The lesson, by no means only in Hollywood, from the last few years: the so-called people are possibly much smarter than those in the know would like to give them credit for, and people have a flair for jargon and stupidity. They want to be entertained, of course, but not fooled. They often even want to be challenged, but not fooled. You smell the intention and you may not be upset right away, but you're always upset. The intention is always perceptible. For anyone who wants to take a look.

SZ: From this point of view, a fascinating, coherent but long scene like the beginning of “Inglourious Basterds”, in which an Austrian named Christoph Waltz, who was relatively unknown in the USA at the time, drinks milk as SS man Hans Landa and fills a meerschaum pipe, would hardly be seen today more possible, right?

CW: It might not even be attempted by most. Although, of course, there are still a select few who make great attempts. I now embrace every sincere eccentric I meet.

SZ: The scene lasts 20 minutes, an eternity by today's standards.

CW: 18 minutes ... It's all a matter of consciousness, the '68ers were right about that. And if my consciousness as a so-called creative person is solely geared towards the mercantile advantage, then this is communicated unmistakably. Basically, "The Consultant" tells from the guts here. anticipatory obedience,Timothy Snyder taught the right lesson: If you value our values, in a democracy, under no circumstances be hasty obedience. It's by no means all dirt that can be streamed or, rarely enough, seen in the cinema - but the sheer mass of what is produced may have reached a tipping point. The unconditional subordination to economic expectations is perceptible as such. Since the mouse bites from no thread. But is that really reason enough to watch the whole thing?

SZ: The thousand tiles of the streaming services, predictable plots and trigger points everywhere?

CW: And jargon instead of content! Everyone has been busy throwing themselves on the audience's laps over the years. Whatever you want: we do it, it will be delivered - in the desired jargon. Like the drug dealers and pornographers. But it's an unfounded claim. The intention is clear and therefore also clearly recognizable.

SZ: Ten years ago, after “Breaking Bad” and other fantastic, complexly told series, we were still talking about the golden age of television.

CW: And then streaming completely turned the entire film industry inside out. Everyone wants to do the business or at least not leave the business to the competitor alone.

SZ: Why didn't you continue to make series with complex narratives?

CW: Because industry has always embraced the avant-garde and then turned the tide. You then no longer trust the idea, certainly not the eccentric idea or even an intention that goes beyond the economic. But the stitch that you knit from it. This is how the mainstream has evolved for centuries. Today the algorithm works. The core business of the streaming service is the share price. Ergo: The decisive factor is the number of subscribers. But the subscription is not a single film. They are all films that can be squeezed into the offer. Ergo: the algorithm. The algorithm feeds only on the density of the mass. This mass of information only arises if the audience simply gets everythingcan be thrown to the table, the gold like the shit. The carpet bomb principle. Most bombs don't hit, the duds don't matter anyway, and some hit is bound to be there. It has to do enough damage to justify the whole rug though.

SZ: To the chagrin of those involved. So not just the viewer.

CW: Writers, directors, actors, many great people, not just young people with great ideas. And with fantastically functioning brains. Used to make the background look populated - quality swallowed up by quantity.

SZ: A black hole. How do you escape this?

CW: I'm not at the higher decision-making level, I'm just an actor, so I'm offered what's out there and what I'm eligible for...

SZ: ... at least in Hollywood.

CW: After all, why in Hollywood? It's the same everywhere. And certainly not only in film and television. All right, Hollywood, if that sounds better. I always want to go beyond this binary yes or no decision with an inquiry; So is the idea and possible design of a film or a series the rub or the dog buried? Is the idea worthwhile in qualitative, narrative terms, for example to spend a year or two of my life on? Who are the people to spend these two years with?

SZ: What is the reaction then?

CW: I often hear: "We are very interested in your input!" ... a shameless lie.

SZ: Fun.

CW: It's going ok. Little is discussed, little discussed or, God forbid, criticized. For speculating and calculating.

SZ: Movies have always cost money, have they not?

CW: Of course, it's nothing new that film costs money. The director John Boorman wrote a wonderful book about it a number of years ago, which is perhaps more relevant than ever: "Money into Light". No money, no film.

SZ: Which isn't bad per se.

CW: Yes,why? You don't even have to wish for anything else. But should the discussion in advance, when it doesn't cost anything and can be endless fun, only revolve around quantities and not at all about whether it's worth it from a qualitative point of view, i.e. literary, cinematic, artistic? Is there only one single intention? Money without Light ? One does not exclude the other! I don't want to understand how you can miss the really exciting, rewarding part of it all. Well, unfortunately I already understand. Everything is delegated somewhere intangible, where no one needs to answer questions.

SZ: As in the complaint case "Rimowa" and Lufthansa.

CW: In the film industry, when you have an idea, you say: “We could get that done .” Or: “I can’t get that done. That's actually mostly true, especially in the negative case. The result is films or series full of inauthentic stories, inauthentic speech, inauthentic images, underlaid with soapy, inauthentic music. They are films that are made because they are made.

SZ: Plus test screenings?

CW: Depends. I've seen a very, very ugly producer come close to flawless beauty after a successful test screening, simply because he was so happy. Why? Because 98 percent of test-watchers had ticked that they had just seen the best movie of their lives... this test-screening hit turned out to be a flop of historic proportions.

SZ: Now that's funny.

CW: Yes, yes.

SZ: Of course, our curious readers are curious to know which film it is. Will they find out?

CW: No.

SZ: And should we see an apple tree towards the end...

CW: Not necessary at all! Like I said, maybe something is changing. Perhaps the business model is reaching its limits in these excesses. Something has to change in order for it to continue. Streaming was a revolution, for sure, but the revolution can't eat its grandchildren.

SZ: Is Los Angeles still the right place then?

CW: I really, really like living in Los Angeles. Just in case it didn't sound Californian enough by now.

SZ: It wasn't always like this, was it?

CW: Not to that extent, no. But I love living there now more than ever. It's a unique collection of people, ideas, opportunities. Plus this beauty of nature. I don't want to miss that anymore. Incidentally, neither do the manners. I'm from Vienna, I like it when people follow the rules to some extent, even if it's just for reasons of a clearly distanced politeness that makes our everyday life a little easier. I'd rather be politely lied to.

SZ: Certainly interesting to come to Berlin in between.

CW: It's not interesting. It's horrible. Especially in winter.

SZ: Oddly enough, this fixation on making money goes hand in hand with great sensibilities, doesn't it? Fear of assault, wrong choice of words, all of that. Is it true that you have to take part in mandatory seminars before you start shooting?

CW: Yes. I don't do that.

SZ: Can you evade that?

CW: I don't know.I withdraw.

SZ: How?

CW: I don't need coaching to behave properly. I lead by example as I follow good example. I was brought up in such a way that I behave much better towards minorities and, by the way, also majorities, than the consciousness of the seminar leader is even able to assess. I could teach the seminar leader good manners .

SZ: Well, a privileged attitude, because of course, keyword economy, you won't do without Christoph Waltz in the end, does he attend the damn training course or not...

CW: In this sense: heartfelt thanks.

[p0und-cake]

Hi! I really loved your Steve Harrington oneshot "Yesterday" and I was wondering if you would do something with them working at Scoops Ahoy with Robin? I don't know, I really want to see Robin tease them and stuff- completely fine if not! I've really enjoyed what you've written so far and am excited for the third part of "The Dead Kids Brother" to come out!

Absolutely! This sounded so fun to write so I kinda had to! And thank you so so much! I’m so glad you like my writing, it means a lot! I hope this is what you wanted! (Also the third part of TDKBATF is totally out if you don’t already know so yk 👀)

You Rule!

steve harrington x gn!henderson!reader

summary: read the ask !

warnings: cursing

———————————————————————————

“How many attempts is that today?” You grumbled to Robin from the back room of Scoops Ahoy as you listened to a certain co-worker of yours try to get a girl. Key word: try.

“Let’s look, shall we?” Robin hummed, grabbing the white board. It was structured like a T-chart, the left side reading “YOU RULE” and the other “YOU SUCK”. “This is attempt number five! Let’s see how ol’ Stevie does!” She feigned excitement after showing you the tally marks at four before pressing her ear up to the sliding glass window while you rolled your eyes and flat-out turned away from Robin and pouted like a toddler being denied a cookie. You faintly heard Steve’s conversation, but when you heard Robin speak it was clear to what the result was.

She opened the window and held out the board. “Ah, poor Steve. Another one bites the dust. Better luck next time.” You could hear the faint squeaking of the marker adding a brand new tally mark. You could practically sense Steve’s eye roll before suddenly you were being spoken to.

“Hey, Henderson! How come you aren’t out here helping?” He called in annoyance.

“What, helping you pick up chicks?” You turned around and hopped off the counter with a grin. “I won’t be able to help you with that, I don’t swing that way.”

“Helping me scoop ice cream, dumbass. That’s our job, y’know. I’m gonna tell that brother of yours when he gets back and have him bother you.” Steve retorted, crossing his arms sassily.

“Oh, buzz off.” Robin groaned. “Aren’t you a big, strong man? Can’t you handle it?” She teased. “I need to talk to Henderson anyway.”

“Oh yeah, you two can have your little chit-chat but when I-”

“Uh huh! Sure, Steve! I’m sure Henderson would loooove to scoop ice cream together with you later! Just be patient and don’t get your panties in a twist!” Robin waved her hand and shut the window in his face, and she whipped around to face you.

“Dude. Tell him.”

“No!” You hissed out. “Are you insane?”

“Why not?!” She threw her hands up in the air and sat on the counter by the window.

“Why do you think he spends half his time at work flirting with random girls?” You crossed your arms, gasping in offense when Robin threw her hat at your face, knocking your own hat off in the process.

“Because, he probably thinks you’ll say no if he asks..!” Robin hissed, catching her hat that you threw back at her. “Do you not see the way that idiot looks at you? He looks like a little schoolboy with a crush! And you look at him like he’s some hot celebrity!”

“You’re just saying that.” You huffed out as Robin threw her hat back at you.

“Why would I ‘just say that’, Henderson?” Robin crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t embarrass you that badly. I’m so annoyed of you both giving each other lovey-dovey eyes. If you’re gonna make me third-wheel, at least make it official.”

“You say that like it would be easy telling him.” You chucked the hat back at Robin. “‘Hey Steve! Guess what? I have a big, fat crush on you! Isn’t that just great?!’”

“Yeah, exactly like that.”

“You’re no help.” You folded your arms, which gave you no chance to catch the hat Robin threw back at you. “Whatever, I’m gonna go do my job.”

“With Steve?” She crooned, a smug smirk on her face.

You whipped around and picked up Robin’s lost hat along with your own that had fallen, and hurled both hats at Robin. At that moment, Robin ducked and the window opened.

“Hey, what the hell?!” Steve groaned as two hats smacked him in the face, which led to Robin falling on the floor cackling.

You couldn’t help a faint giggle escaping your lips. “Sorry Steve!” You said, catching your own hat he threw back at you. “I was just about to come and keep you company.” You carefully adjusted the stupid hat on your head. Company policy.

“Yeah yeah.” Steve huffed a little. “Just come on.” He said, watching as you came out of the back room and stood by his side.

“At least it doesn’t seem TOO busy today.” You hummed, taking out your ice cream scooper from your belt and flipping it up in the air. “Why did you need my help?”

“I was bored.” Steve shrugged, leaning against the wall and folding his arms. “What were you and Robin talking about?”

“Uh…none of your business?” You cocked an eyebrow.

Steve clicked his tongue, nodding. “Hmm…so you aren’t gonna tell me about the ‘big, fat crush you have on me’, huh?”

A loud clatter came from the ice cream scooper you didn’t catch as it fell to the floor.

“Pftt, yeah you think I didn’t hear that little conversation?”

“Uh…hey! Look at the time, my shift is over!” You blurted out, looking at your watch and you were about to just leave the store but Steve had gently grabbed your wrist.

“You still have ten minutes, Henderson.” His voice was softer than you expected. “Why are you freaking out?”

“What do you mean why am I freaking out? I’m not freaking out, are you freaking out? No one’s freaking out.” You breathed out.

“…you do realize I like you too, right?”

“…what?”

Steve breathed out a little shakily and let go of your wrist, trying to keep his voice down. “I…” he mumbled something, but you couldn’t hear since he was being so quiet.

“Steve?”

“I heard kinda everything. And it’s mostly all right. I didn’t think you liked me.” He tossed his hat off and ran a hand through his hair. “So like…why would I bother? And even if I did anything, would it happen like it happened with Nancy?”

“Oh…I didn’t know you felt that way.” You said, honestly very surprised. “I didn’t think…you’d like me.”

His eyebrows furrowed and the corners of his lips turned down into a frown. “What? Of course I like you. You’re…incredible. Everything I’ve ever wanted. Hell, Henderson, I think I liked you before I liked Nancy Wheeler. You just were always so quiet and so smart and I was used to all the people liking me not bothering to hide it. I never figured you would like a cocky asshat like me. Especially since I didn’t stop any of my ‘friends’ from making fun of you.”

You blushed. “I’ve had a crush on you for a long time.” You admitted. “Since around the middle of junior high. I stared at you in every class we had together. All my friends made fun of me. Told me I had no chance with a guy like Steve Harrington. I never lost hope. Maybe you remember, but we had a project together once. Yeah I did all of it, but I didn’t care. I got to be with you, even if it was for a little.” You chuckled airily, feeling a little relieved to let all of this out so somebody that wasn’t your diary. “I wrote your name in the corners of my notebook, all that corny stuff. It was a little pathetic.”

Steve’s eyes were wide when you looked at him again. “Are you serious?” He said softly, a dumb grin finding a way onto his face. “You really do like…like me?”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Like…like like me?”

“Yes, Steve..!” You smiled a little as his grin only grew wider.

“Yes! I like you!”

“Yeah!”

“And you like me!”

“Exactly!”

“That’s crazy!!”

Then, the window opened and Robin’s smug face appeared as the two of you looked over, confusion replacing the smiles. She slowly pulled up the whiteboard with the tally marks and uncapped the marker, hovering it over the surface…

and slowly drew a line on the previously bare left side.

Y͟O͟U͟ ͟R͟U͟L͟E͟

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