#apparently having more than one bad thing going on at the same time annoys people around you

[runninriot]

if this is a rom-com, kill the director

written for @steddieholidaydrabbles School's Out For Summer PopUp Event/ prompt: lake and as fill for the @steddiebingo prompt: forced proximity

wc: 1.000 | rated: T | tags: Best Friends Steve&Robin, Background Robin/Vickie, (Unintentional) Meddling, Not Actually Unrequited Love, kind of Open Ending but with Implied Friends To Lovers | also on ao3

    ‘It's gonna be so much fun,’ she’d said. ‘We’re gonna have the best time!’

What Robin didn't say, however, was that her aunt's lake house only has two bedrooms. Which would’ve been fine had they stuck to the original plan.

But what his best friend also forgot to tell him, was that he'd be sharing a room with Eddie.

Eddie, who'd not been mentioned once when planning their little trip out of town.

It was only ever about them, until Vickie decided to tag along. Which is- great. Wonderful even. Because what could be better than spending some time crammed into a small house by a lake in the middle of nowhere, to hopefully give the girls a chance to finally stop dancing around each other and acknowledge their very obvious, mutual crush?

He wouldn’t have minded being the third wheel but apparently, Robin had other ideas. Invited Eddie to join them without including Steve in the decision.

    ‘Oops, haha. Thought I’d told you.’

He knows she meant well, but amongst all the glorious ideas she’s had in the past, this one is absolutely the worst.

Steve would've preferred not going over having to spend 72 hours in forced proximity with that guy. Would’ve chosen to stay home alone and mope about it rather than being stuck here with him of all people.

Eddie is... he's nice, okay?

He's kind, and funny, and it never gets boring when he's around. He's chaos personified but never annoying, can make Steve laugh even on his worst days.

Steve likes him.

A lot.

More than he dares to admit even to himself.

And that is the problem.

Because it’s one thing to pretend and fake nonchalance when they’re back home. But here, amidst nothing beautiful nature, away from the suffocating restrictions of their small-town life, it’s suddenly so much harder to keep his feelings in check.

Hard to keep his eyes from wandering. Not to let them linger on the guy lying flat on his stomach in nothing but swim shorts right next to Steve. Hair tied up in a bun, still wet from his dip in the lake, now basking in the afternoon heat.

Here, unsupervised and undistracted, abandoned by his best friend who’s currently wooing her future wife by making her a flower crown, it’s hard for Steve not to let his mind drift. Not to wonder what it would feel like to let his fingers graze over Eddie’s sun-warmed skin. To press his lips against the nape of his neck, his shoulders. To kiss away the drippy trail of lake water and sweat trickling down his spine.

And it’s impossible not to fall a little more in love when they’re sitting by the campfire, later, after the first day’s sun has set. Listening to Eddie softly strum the guitar in his lap, singing folk songs his uncle taught him while the girls talk amongst themselves, huddled together under a shared blanket. Pretending to watch the dancing flames when really, all he can focus on is the man across from him.

Eventually, Robin and Vickie say their goodnights and head inside, holding hands and giggling like stupid teenagers in love.

Steve smiles, is happy for them despite the pang of jealousy he feels when he watches them leave. Robin deserves all the love in the world but is it bad to want a bit of the same for himself?

   “May I?” Eddie asks, pointing to the empty space next to him.

Steve hadn’t noticed he’d gotten up, was too lost in his thoughts.

   “Yeah, sure.”

Eddie sits and for a while, they don’t talk. Steve keeps his eyes on the night sky – prettiest he’s ever seen – counting stars and clouds until Eddie finally breaks the deafening silence.

   “It’s really beautiful out here,” he says quietly and Steve answers with a hum.

His eyes dart down to find Eddie already looking back at him, a soft smile on his lips that Steve wants to taste.

   “Had a great day today,” he says instead of what else is on his mind, “Love spending time with you.”

   “Yeah, me too,” Eddie agrees and Steve isn’t sure to which part, hopes it’s both.

The fire is slowly dying, greedy flames eating away at the few remaining pieces of wood, and although the air is still warm, Steve shivers.

   “Are you cold?”

Without waiting for an answer, Eddie grabs the girls’ forgotten blanket and wraps it around both their shoulders, scoots closer and loops one arm around Steve’s middle.

   “Better?” he asks and Steve can only nod, can’t speak, not with his heart beating so hard he can feel it in his throat.

If this were a rom-com, right now would be the moment they'd share their first kiss, one of many more to come.

But that’s not what happens because this isn’t a movie. It’s his life. Miserable and loveless and-

   “Is, uh, this okay?” Eddie breaks through his spiralling thoughts, a slight tremble in his voice like he’s nervous, unsure, and- oh.

Of course he would be, touching Steve like that. Eddie doesn’t know how much he longs for this. How much Steve enjoys his closeness.

   “Yes,” he whispers and rests his head on Eddie’s shoulder just to feel a little more of him. “I like to be held.”

    By you, he keeps to himself because that would be too revealing, too much of a confession. He’s already said more than he ever allowed to let slip before – a little too honest, a little too needy.

But Eddie doesn’t seem to mind. Because he pulls Steve even closer, fingers slipping under the hem of his shirt, drawing small, circular patterns into his side. Along his ribs and down his back, exploring more of his skin with every gentle stroke, driving Steve wild with tenderness.

   "Eddie?" The remaining question dies on a sigh when suddenly, finally, their lips meet in the middle.

Maybe sharing a room won't be so bad after all.

[love-too]

I hate how the only acceptable response in front of personal tragedies is fear and commiseration. I'm angry I'm angry I'm angry and I despise how it gets me condescending looks instead of the pity support that fear would get me instead

[demilypyro]

"Another damn Super."

Shotgun Sally had had her fill of fighting superheroes. Henching used to be easy. Crack some safes, intimidate some people, stand guard at some deals. It's the only skillset she's ever had, and she was happy doing it. She had no interest in moving up - too much paperwork and headache - and going straight was impossible with her record. No, henching was where it's at. Or it used to be. Until those meteor storms a few years ago. People getting superpowers from the radiation. Started wearing costumes. Ridiculous. Comic book stuff. Job hadn't been the same since.

Intel came in. Sally answered the phone, writing down all the info in her notebook as usual. New hero. Contact said she goes by "Miss Fire." Left a calling card, apparently? Stupid name. Basic. Probably young, unsponsored. Hasn't been caught on camera yet, but apparently some deals went bad. Bodies at the scene had third degree burns on their hands and faces. Not one of those no-killers, this one. The name made her easy to figure out. Typical energy projection hero, probably has flamethrower breath or shoots fireballs. You hear it all the time, kid gets some flashy powers, gets full of herself, decides to be a crime fighter. Nobody ever trains the Supers to care about human life. Sally'd never had a reason to kill anybody in her work. Some rounds at the feet usually scares people into compliance. At most she'd take a few teeth or break some bones, but she'd never killed. What was their excuse?

Sally was tense. The contact was late. Deal was supposed to be done by now. That meant something was up. But it wasn't her decision whether they pulled out or not, that was up to the boss. She was watching a rat eat a pizza. Then she heard it. Gunfire, sounds of burning and screaming. "We got a Super!" A nod from the boss, and Sally was off.

Sally darted around a corner. There she was. The kid wasn't exactly what she was expecting. Usually these flashy types are dressed in spandex, or wearing heels (ridiculous), but this one was wearing simple boots and a parka. What confused Sally most of all was the lack of any glowing. Usually with these energy projection heroes you could tell what bodypart their powers came from by a residual glow, especially if they'd used their powers recently. Nothing around the throat or the hands.... In fact, her hands weren't even out. They were in her pockets. She looked totally relaxed. Was this not the hero?

Sally leveled her shotgun. She was about twenty paces away. Standard procedure with heroes was to keep your distance, in case they have melee powers. But she was more than close enough to turn the girl into a cheese grater if need be. She had to find out if this was the hero or not. Sally always preferred the direct approach. "Miss Fire, I presume?"

"That's me," the girl replied. Her face was blank. "You don't wanna be pointing that thing at me."

The girl's candor was annoying. "I believe I do. See I've been hearing about you hurting my people. I can't have that."

"They shot first. It wasn't on me."

"I'm gonna give you one chance to get out of here. It's past your bedtime."

"Make me."

Alright, that was enough talking. Sally couldn't tell if this kid had powers or what, but there was only one way to find out. Sally switched her shotgun to a low-spread mode and aimed between the girl's feet. If this wasn't the Super, this would scare her off. If she IS the Super... well, whatever happens happens.

Sally almost missed it. In a swift motion, the girl took her hands out of her pockets and opened both at Sally as if to reach out to her. Sally's reflexes kicked in, throwing herself to the ground to dodge the oncoming fireball or laser beam or whatever it was. But nothing came. The girl was just standing there, with her arms out. She looked like an idiot. Sally got up. "Of all the... what the hell do you think you're doing? I could've shot you."

The girl seemed surprised that she hadn't. She looked scared. "Usually they do by now..." she whimpered. She suddenly turned around and started running in the other direction. Sally was stunned. She was about to chase after her, but then she heard a noise she didn't like. Her gun. It was hissing at her. In fact, it was glowing. Alarmed, Sally threw the shotgun away from her as fast as she could. As it collided with the ground, it exploded into a ball of purple and blue flames.

Sally sat on the ground, watching the smoking remains of her favorite gun. She took her notebook out, and flipped to the info about the new hero. She crossed out "Miss Fire" and wrote "Misfire" under it.

"I hate Supers."

[readerihardlyknowher]

hello!! I was wondering if you could do a spencer agnew x reader fic (fem!reader if that’s okay) where spencer and reader are coworkers at Smosh. Both are cast and have never really gotten along the best but one day things kinda click for them in a video during a shoot (kinda acquaintance to friends to lovers). During this shoot and once the video airs, other Smosh workers and even fans start to notice the change, like how they always want to be touching or near each other in some way in other videos or even when not filming. It’s just that neither of them realize then the smosh peps try to start and force them into spaces and situations together to hopefully get them to realize their feelings and admit them. Thanks! And hopefully this made sense lol

Okay, so this was originally going to just be a oneshot, but I've been working on it since last week and it's not even close to being done yet, so I'm releasing it in parts.

A Loving Feeling | Pt. 1

Spencer Agnew x Reader Warnings: None WC: 2,195 Pt.1

It wasn’t that Spencer was bad per say, nor was it that you were particularly stuck up, but rather, you both just hadn’t interacted all that much. It made no sense as to why, really. You knew everyone else loved him, even the more bubbly ones like you, but you just never sat down and chatted with him. Frankly, it had gotten a little annoying how often people brought him up in conversation. Whenever you talked about a videogame you liked, Shayne would bring up how Spencer had already done a playthrough last year. If you brought up a show you were watching, Angela would mention how Spencer tried getting her to watch it. It was kind of pissing you off, and you didn’t really know the guy. It’s not like you watched many Smosh videos anyways, but you especially didn’t watch the videos with him. If you started to like him just from his on-screen persona, then that wouldn’t feel right at all. And if you hated him for his on-screen persona, that also wouldn’t feel fair. 

Which is why you were a little nervous to see that you both were supposed to be on camera together as two sisters in a Spud Hut video. You figured that it shouldn’t be too difficult, it’s just a few minutes on camera and a few minutes talking it out beforehand. It’s mostly improv, but you still wanted to get some things straight, like names.

When you walk up to the man (who is currently dressed as a middle-aged woman) you had yet to have spoken to, you suck in a breath, mentally preparing yourself for him to roll his eyes and walk away from you. You don’t even know why you think this, because he’s never been rude or standoffish to you in the past, but since you two had never really spoken anything’s on the table.

“Okay, so I don’t know about you, but I think my character’s screaming ‘Carrie’,” you begin, because nothing better than just jumping in without saying anything like “Hey! Nice to finally talk to you! Sorry we haven’t talked in the whole ass year that I’ve been here!” But to your surprise, he looks down at your outfit with a nonchalant glance and nods.

“You’re absolutely right, that’s a Carrie for sure.” The smile on his face felt like ice cold water in the heat. You felt relieved, safer, that there didn’t need to be anything to worry about. “For alliteration purposes I’ll be Mary.”

You smile back at him, still a little nervous, but now mostly alright. You don’t know how it’ll be improvising with him, you don’t know if you have a similar sense of humor, you don’t know anything about this man you’ve worked in the same building as for the past year except you apparently have the similar interests.

It’s time to get on set, and you both wait until you’re given the go ahead to enter the kitchen where you’re filming. When you’re finally told to head on, you feel Spencer’s arm lock with yours as he walks merrily into the room, where Chanse, Angela, and Damien are standing. You remind yourself to get in character as you walk up to “order.”

“Well I’ll be, this place is… unique, Mary,” you begin, giving your character a southern accent. Spencer glances over at you with a nod. When he speaks, his voice sounds hilariously high-pitched.

“I do agree, Carrie. I don’t know what on earth anyone sees in a place like this.”

At this, Chanse steps forward, introducing himself in character.

“Hi, my name is Jerry Spruce, I’m the owner of the Spud Hut. Our special today is the Oyster Spud,” he says, painfully in-character. You internally cringe at the concept of an “oyster spud” but you nod and put on an impressed face.

“An Oyster Spud? That sounds very well refined, doesn’t it, sister?”

“Very much so, sister. I do say, I heard there was the famed fettuccine alfredo spud here?” Spencer asks, which gets a nod from Chanse.

“Yes, our fettuccino alfredi spud is world renowned. I can get both of those ready for you now.”

You look over at Spencer, feeling less and less awkward by the minute. He turns back to you and catches you staring, so you speak to cover it up.

“Sister, I’m disappointed. You know, a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips,” you say, mimicking an older, judgy aunt as best you can. Spencer’s face breaks out in a small smile as he tries not to break.

“Sister, I know you are not talking to me about what to eat. I’ve seen the things you put in your mouth and it’s filthy,” he ends with a snap, acting all sassy. You mirror him, yet this whole time you still keep your arms locked.

“I can’t believe you’d call your husband filthy then, Mary,” you finish with another snap, which makes him gasp and clutch the pearls around his neck with his white-gloved hand.

“Well, I’ll tell you Carrie, that the reason your husband left you is because I showed him how much better he could have had it with me.”

By this point, Chanse has now brought over the potatoes, but you two are both so into the fake argument that you take the potatoes from his hands and begin to walk out.

“I am telling mother all the cruel and sinful things you’ve been doing, Mary,” you say, not taking your eyes from Spencer’s. He huffs out a laugh and turns up his nose.

“Have fun talking to a grave then, Carrie.” And with that, you are off the set. Still though, you have to be silent for an extra minute while the crew makes sure you’re not needed again before taking off the costumes. So for that time, you both just look at each other and try not to laugh. Once you’re both given the green light to take off your mics and undress, you let out a snicker and unloop your arm from his. For the first time since walking into the kitchen, you both aren’t pinned to each other’s side. As you undo your mic, you speak.

“God, that was really fun,” you say to no one in particular, looking down partly to see what you’re doing, but mostly to avoid eye contact with him.

“Yeah, it’s no wonder Shayne and Amanda keep saying we should be in videos together. We nailed that shit,” he says, now undoing his own mic. Your snaps up to look up at him at this. You didn’t know he was also getting those same words as you were.

“Yeah, we definitely did.” There’s a pause for a moment before you let out a nervous sigh before looking up at him. “Hey, I feel bad that we’ve never really talked before. I don’t even know why I never just came up to you to break the ice, but I guess at some point I just thought it was too late and so it’d be awkward and all, so I–”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I get it, I meant to introduce myself when you joined, but then I didn’t,” Spencer says, before finally looking up at you and extending his hand to you. “Let me start over. Hey, I’m Spencer, director of games. It’s nice to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you.”

You stare at his hand for a moment, a little shocked by his actions, before meeting his hand in a handshake.

“Nice to meet you too. I hear we have a lot in common,” you say, a small smile on your face. He chuckles in response, shaking his head before looking you back in the eye.

“So have I. My break’s in a couple minutes. How ‘bout we go grab lunch and talk about it?” Spencer asks. Once more, you’re surprised. Upon first glance at the man, you’d never guess he’s the type of person to be so bold and nice. You just thought he was an introverted shy guy, which you guess he can be at times, but right now he’s asking to hang out to get to know each other more. The thought of finally mending the gap you had unknowingly placed between the two of you makes you smile.

“Sure, that’d be awesome. Let me go get out of this old woman apparel.”

“Aw man, I thought it suited you pretty well.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Have you been on TikTok lately?” Courtney’s voice draws your eyes from your computer. Confused, you shake you head.

“No… why?” You ask, thoroughly suspicious of the mischievous grin on her face. You watch as she pulls out her phone, tapping and scrolling for a couple seconds before shoving it into your face. As you adjust to the closeness, you watch as someone clipped a part of the recent Spud Hut video you were on, specifically the parts with you and Spencer. You don’t see why she was so insistent that you saw the video until you notice someone found you two in the background, still in costume and arms still locked, laughing and looking each other in the eye. Your face twists in confusion, since clearly that must have been a mishap with the camera angles to accidentally keep you two in, just barely in the corner. Glancing down at the caption, your eyes widen.

Literally the cutest non-canon couple at Smosh. There’s a reason they haven’t appeared in videos together up until now 🧐

Your heart practically stops at the sight of those words. You don’t know why, you’ve been shipped with other people in the cast before, but this just felt weird. Maybe it’s because you two had been getting closer and closer in the weeks since filming. You have gone to his apartment a couple of times, mostly to play videogames and hang out with his cats, but there had never been any tension with him. You’ve just become good buddies, which is why this feeling of nervousness and blush makes you confused.

“What? Why would people think that’s anything? It’s clearly just us talking. These fans are crazy,” you say, a little too frenzied to set things straight, which Courtney clearly notices.

“Interesting. Anyways, so how have you two been getting along lately? I’ve seen the both of you chatting it up after shoots, ready to say I was right?” They tease, leaning forward and confronting you on your stubbornness. 

“Yeah… fine, you were right. He’s actually… he’s actually really cool,” you admit, somewhat grumbling to avoid the embarrassment you know is coming.

“You guys talking about me?” You hear an all too familiar voice ask from behind you. Just as you turn your head to see him, you feel two pairs of hands resting against the back of your seat.

“Actually, we were,” Courtney says, making your cheeks feel even warmer. “But anyways you guys. In one month. My birthday party. You both better come.”

Your smile widens at that, always excited to hang out with your friends outside of work. 

“Yeah, of course. Where will it be at?” You ask, still feeling Spencer’s hands lingering behind you.

“Just our place, it’s nothing too crazy. Just gonna have some drinks and play some games and stuff. So be there or be square!” They say jokingly before walking off, leaving just you and Spencer. You look up, seeing his face from upside down when he looks down at you with a smile.

“Will you need a ride, my lady?” He asks, his voice teasing, but gentle. He normally doesn’t drink much at these events anyways, while you normally get a little tipsy. Not good for driving. You smile back at him.

“Indeed I will, my lord,” you respond, making him smile even wider before letting go of the back of your seat. This grants you the opportunity to turn around to see him as he backs off some more. “Alright, it’s time for me to head back to games. See ya.”

You reply back before watching him turn around and head back the way he came. For a moment, you can’t seem to take your eyes off him, just watching as he walks, before shaking your head and returning to your work on your computer.

You think back to the TikTok Court showed you, how suddenly your fans have turned to shipping you and Spencer. Shaking your head of the thought, you remember how you need to get Courney a gift, so you pull out your phone to text your new friend.

To: Spencer From: You Wanna go to the mall or something later to get Court gifts?

You barely have time to set your phone down before you get a response that makes your smile widen.

To: You From: Spencer Sounds cool. I’ll drive you after work?

You shoot off an affirmative text, ignoring how much happier you feel having received such a quick response. Yet again, you have to shake the thought of him off your head, bringing yourself back to reality as your computer screen waits for your return.

[kindaasrikal]

I need people to remember that Nya was also in love with Jay since day 1, its just that it wasn’t her biggest priority seeing as she was going through a whole thing called insecurities and finding who she is outside of her brother and outside of her parents and outside of her village and outside of Jay.

Nya loves Jay the same amount, she has loved Jay just as long as Jay had, but her love for Jay wasn’t something she was willing to pursue when absolutely everyone would dumb her down to just that. The same way everyone was already dumbing her down to Kai’s sister the second they all met, and the same way they were already dumbing her down to just the love interest between Jay and Cole even after finding her identity and place as Samurai X. Imagine how much it hit her when Samurai X, and image she crafted so carefully with so much love and attention and pride, was suddenly belittled and mocked because apparently he was actually a she.

And you can’t forget the fact that she was suddenly forced to grapple with another new identity as the water ninja, and then had to deal with all the hate and mockery and belittling everyone was doing as she wasn’t just the water ninja, but the girl ninja. Its not easy to hear the comments people from a whole city make of you because of your gender. Even people from your own gender, and it must’ve been even worse because no one else understood, they knew it was a problem but they still believed her reactions were too over the top. The stress of all of that and then also having someone she loved but wasn’t ready to love with try force another path onto her was bound to stress her out.

Jay wasn’t necessarily an ass during that season, from what i can remember. He was a whole mess yeah, his insecurities making him take actions he wouldn’t have before and try forcing his wants and desires onto someone else who wasn’t ready for it. But he grew and learnt and stopped all that as the season progressed. He had to understand that the people around him won’t just leave or downgrade him, and that he must ease his own anxiety and understand that whatever happens will happen for the good of them all. That doesn’t change the fact that his actions in the beginning was a shi show though, so no wonder Nya pushed him away during that time. Reminder that you can still be angry and annoyed at someone you love, especially when they deserve it.

Not to mention she has never been all that vocal with her affection. Not like Jay. You know she cares and loves you simply through the way she trusts people but shes also been a lot more locked up over her emotions, and thats okay. Because Jay knows (haha, knew.) that Nya loves him just as much because if she didn’t she would very obviously state that. She may not be vocal over her emotions or her love for someone, but she is over her opinions. She won’t just let someone use her or mess with her because she feels bad or that she has too.

Right now, for Nya and Jay’s character, I’d rather focus on the identity crisis that JAY is going through now instead of Nya, and of how NYA is the one chasing and wanting to bring Jay into her life despite him not wanting (not being ready?) to do so. I’d rather focus on her development as a character and now as a teacher. And how Nya is going to change and grow like how Jay changed and grew in Skybound for her. Honestly I would love a lot more focus of developing Nya’s character as an adult who is horrible at being vulnerable and how she will grow, with the whole ‘Nya and Jay!’ Thing just a tad bit more in the background and used as more of a kick up for it. And for us to watch what may happen to Jay as he changes in a new environment with new memories and experiences.

For once, i want to watch them grow separately rather than watch them grow for each other. I know Nya can do that, but it’s only with Jay having lost his memories that he’s now capable of doing that for himself and only himself.

Sorry this was huge throw up of a rant so honestly just believe that this is five random points shoved into one post and rambled in a horrible way

Edit: reminder that Nya didn’t just disregard her feelings for Jay just so she wouldn’t be placed as simply his girlfriend, but also because she had many other worries. Completing missions and making sure everyone lived, being the biggest brain and planner in the team for ages, as well understanding her self outside of her town that she lived in for ages. Kai was able to fond himself easily amongst the other ninja, but Nya didn’t have that. So obviously she, as a 13-16 year old young teenage girl, would rather focus on finding new hobbies and having new experiences than pursuing a love life she wouldn’t even be confident in pursuing in. Jay and Nya are not each other only priority or worry, their love for each other is important to them and who they are, but isn’t the most defining factor or shouldn’t be the most focused.

[penny-anna]

travelling home after christmas today

checking my tickets this morning to make sure everything is in order. realise i somehow booked a 2-stage journey with a change at Doncaster rather than a direct ticket.

aw fuck. :(

report this to my sister who suggests trains might not be running as usual. assure her that it's definitely my fault

arrive at station. my train is at 13:03. there is also a direct Edinburgh train at 13:00. longingly watch the direct train depart. :(

my train is somehow running 5 minutes late in spite of starting at King's Cross?? wym you're running late. you haven't been anywhere.

anyway this is a problem bcos i only have 11 minutes to change at Doncaster.

train also doesn't start boarding until maybe 2 minutes before scheduled departure. there are around 200 people trying to board. we are not leaving at 13:08.

finally leave at around quarter past. yeah i am not making this connection. i didn't have a seat reserved so no great loss.

notice that the app now says my connecting train is delayed due to 'overcrowding'. ehh i don't think i want to get that train anyway.

the connecting train isn't delayed enough for my to catch it. phew, i think, bullet dodged!!

the next train to Edinburgh arrives. it was also delayed leaving Kings Cross for the same unclear reasons as my original train. it's booked solid but the screen says there are seats available in coach C so off i go.

attempt to board the train. the vestibule is so full of people that im honestly not sure i can fit.

manage to fit. oh fuck. oh this is not a good train to be on.

various people are scouting out coach C in seach of seats and come back without. decide to make a trip myself as they were a couple and i'm a lone traveller so might have more success.

i have my big rucksack on + an extra bag so im just barging my way through there. there's people standing in the aisle. way unpassable.

return to the vestibule.

someone has left a very large buggy in the vestibule, unfolded, seemingly abandoned, unbelievably in the way.

someone suggests that we could fold the buggy. everyone agrees this is a good idea but no-one is the buggy's owner.

i ask if anyone knows who the buggy belongs to and someone points to a woman halfway down the carriage, beyond a bunch more standing people.

people are needing to get through to the bathroom. attempt to put myself on the other side of the buggy to clear a path. almost get stuck bcos w all my bags i am just so so large.

manage to get to the other side of the buggy and take off my backpack so i'm not taking up so much space. add my backpack to the luggage piled in front of the luggage rack.

someone returns from the adjoining vestibule with news of more space for luggage, suggests we move the buggy

collectively manage to get the buggy's owner over. she tells us she is travelling alone with 5 children. now feel kind of bad about being annoyed by the buggy.

buggy is too wide to go to the next vestibule without being folded. she say she can't fold it because it's got bags in it and there's nowhere to put the bags.

it's pointed out that she can put the bags in the other luggage rack where there is (apparently) more space. the buggy is removed and we all have space to actually move around.

my rucksack is at constant risk of fallling off the luggage pile and it's on the other side of the carriage door so not much i can do. another passenger is kindly keeping it in place for me.

also a problem w standing on long haul trains is that they are just not designed for it so there's nowhere to hold on and i almost fall into people several times.

okay we are coming up on York. maybe, i think optimistically, a bunch of people will get off at York (it's a big station) and things will improve

ohh god things do not improve

more people pile into the vestibule including a couple with a very large suitcase and a baby

suitcase has nowhere to go except the middle of the corridor. couple debate whether they should just get off the train and find alternative transport. woman says (reasonably) that she doesn't want to stand holding the baby for 3 hours to Edinburgh.

before they can come to a conclusion the train leaves

predictably the vestibule is now home to a crying baby

a man comes out of the coach w a bag from the buffet service. asks politely if he can get through so he can go back to his seat.

oh we are SO sorry but you are going to be here a while :(

manage to get my rucksack properly onto the luggage rack :)

after a while the man w the buffet car bag says that at the next station he's going to get off the train and back on at the next entrance in hope of getting back to his seat

we wish him godspeed. he gets off the train. never see him again. i hope he made it.

we are now not far from Durham. very large man w a very large bag comes through, smacks everyone with his bag, and then almost dislodges my backpack taking his suitcase out from underneath it

announces confidently which side the train doors will open on.

ok we have a shot here. on my previous recce i noticed a whole group of seats marked reserved to Durham. tell myself that i must act swiftly and decisively when we get to Durham.

by this point im having significant foot pains from too much train standing.

we arrive at Durham. the big group mentioned leaves and then a reshuffle commences

family of 5 kids mentioned previously (remember them??) are moving to take over the vacated table. observing events it looks like there's going to be 1 free seat left.

there's 2 people closer to the seat and i can't just barge past them BUT they are together. ask if one of them wants the seat.

they do not want the seat!!

move swiftly & decisively to take the seat.

it is covered and i mean covered in popcorn but i will take what i can get at this stage.

from beneath the seats me and some other helpul passengers retrieve a dropped pair of gloves, a hat and a toy Sonic the Hedgehog which we return to their owners.

finally sit.

take off coat put in eye drops begin drinking delicious 7up i've been carrying since kings cross etc.

at the next stop the person in the other seat leaves and am joined by another of the group from the vestibule. we sit and quietly read our books :3

[cr33pz-mck3nna]

hello hello! it is i, the newly named 🤡anon! since christmas is coming up, i was wondering if you could maybe do carnival trio x reader spending christmas together? :) lmk if you're getting annoyed of the same three guys lol

Christmas with the Carnival Trio

Ft: My versions of Jason the Toymaker, Laughing Jack and Candy Pop with some references to their human disguises/human forms

Warnings: None! It's Christmas so pure fluff!

Jason the Toymaker

• Ah December...the one month of the year that his shop is always sold out and all the humans just seem to decide to pretend world peace exists. It both comforted and disgusted him.

• If you don't celebrate or like/enjoy Christmas then absolutely nothing is different between you two, he won't even mention the wretched holiday and gladly so as he hates the moments of self loathing after acting all sweet and nice and jolly and all that other disgusting stuff you humans do during this time.

• If you do celebrate then oh boy you have one uncomfortable boyfriend, nobody really knows what Jason is but he's close to a human atleast in the sense he has SOME emotions but they're very much repressed and uncomfortable for him. That warm fuzzy feeling he gets when you're covered in frosting and sobbing as the gingerbread house keeps falling apart. How he can't help but find you absolutely adorable in your santa hat and ugly sweater. That childish feeling he gets when you drag him outside to build a snowman together. The wonder when you two turn on the lights for the first time. He hates it...

• He has to admit, his favorite part of this human holiday is the food, especially the gingerbread, so make sure to make it a tradition to bake gingerbread men and make gingerbread houses! As previously mentioned, if you have OCD or sum and need to make sure the house is perfect then he will have a genuinely good time just watching you act like a fool trying to put it together, his little fool.

• You forced him. Into this horrifying sweater. It's itchy. More proof something is wrong with you humans. Why is it so itchy? And warm... It is kinda warm. Still itchy tho. He hates it. Too tight. Too itchy. Get it off. GET IT OFF!-

• The music isn't half bad but why does everyone find the need to go to church? It makes no sense to him! Y'all couldn't give a shit 11 months out of the year but when it comes to this holiday you apparently all decide to act like you aren't horrible people. No sense he swears.

• You want him to build a WHAT? Like hell is he stepping foot in that cold shit, he will gladly stay inside! You dragged him outside. Best thing you've ever done because he loves it, your snowman is named Earl, he will cry when Earl melts.

• When it was time to open the presents you gave him a small little box containing a handmade doll made to look like him and said his name was "Little Jason". He cried. Big time. You spent the rest of the day cuddling from that point on, no he will not let you open the rest of your presents, no he will not let you eat-

"I can never understand this tradition but I have to admit..today was perfect."

Laughing Jack

• His understanding of the holiday season was even worse than Jason's, he's low-key terrified of how sickly nice you humans get.

• If you don't celebrate or like Christmas then Jack is genuinely happy, he absolutely hates it because of how uncomfortable it is for him so if you don't like it then he'll pretend he was looking forward to it or something to make you feel a little bad. Wait you're changing your mind because of what he said? ABORT MISSION, WRONG OUTCOME-

• If you do celebrate then he's reluctant to say the least, and oh LORD is he uncomfortable, he shows it less than Jason tho surprisingly. The lights are definitely his favorite part. Sitting cross legged on the floor with a cup of hot cocoa (EXTRA MARSHMALLOWS OFC) watching you wrap the tree in strands of lights and garland, putting on some ornaments before plugging it all in, you let him place the star on top and he's curious why you humans even do this stuff until you finally plug it in and boy do his eyes light up in wonder. The lights remind him of the carnival, they make him somehow feel more at home.

• He's absolutely terrified of the snow. Without a doubt. Will cling to you like a sloth and considering he's mainly all fabric(skinny minnie) he can do this with ease. No he will not step down! Do you know what is in that stuff!? Lowkey germaphobe action going on. When you eventually detach him from your body he will initially scream like a banshee until he realizes the fact HE'S MAINLY ALL FABRIC and cannot feel the cold and then he's ROLLING around. And then you have to drag him inside as he's so filled with water he can't stand because would you look at that HE'S MAINLY ALL FABRIC. Will deny his childish behavior at a later point in time. Every year he swears he will never step foot in the snow, goes in the snow, loves the snow, remembers why he can't go in the snow as you have him hanging from a clothes hanger in front of the fireplace, swears he will remember why he doesn't go in the snow this time, forgets, rinse and repeat-

• He pretends as if he couldn't care less about gift giving but is secretly stressing over what to get you and obsessing over what you might've gotten him. It is nothing but panic attack after panic attack so PLEASE GIVE THIS BBY A HUG.

• Yes he has a human disguise and you will very rarely see it if ever as he has a personal hatred for It, yes he may be ugly but to him his human form is horrendous. You might only see him like this if you're both shopping in the same place for gifts and he will immediately hide.

• It's time to open the presents, he gave you something so thought over and preplanned and oh you can't imagine what he spent on it but...you gave him a little hand made plushie of him....it's all tears from that point on. He will not stop crying. I mean that. He will never talk about it after the fact but in the moments he doesn't act like a little asshole he's sobbing and holding on to you as if you were the last good thing in his life. Which you are.

"Why...me...you're too perfect...thank you. Ugh fuck you and your shitty holiday for being so sweet and making me cry! Asshole....mine.."

Candy Pop

• They have been around for quite a long time, he is technically the eldest of the three as nobody really knows when Candy and Caney(Candy Cane/his sister/twin/other half thingy-) were created nor who created them, so they are well aware of the holidays and boy does he enjoy it!

• If you don't celebrate then nothing will be affected, he's happy when you're happy, he still will try and make it an amazing winter for the both of you, planning activities for every day so you're never bored and making sure that you NEVER feel bad about your decision to not celebrate Christmas and that you know he's very happy either way.

• If you do celebrate then it's time for DECK THE HALLS WITH EVERYTHING-YOU-CAN-FUCKING-FIND FALALALALA LALALALA! Your house/apartment/cardboard box will look like Santa fucking exploded and the elves threw up at the sight. This man has had YEARS of experience with this holiday so you betcha they're bringing it out all at once. He will be the one dragging you around hun, face it.

• If Candy was obsessive over your safety before then let's just say it's worse now, bundles upon bundles of clothing so you don't get sick but it's kinda hard to move- And you are not leaving his side. At all. Possibly ever-

• Oh boy is this man a GOD at the Christmas festivities, you have no idea how the gingerbread house is so easy for him, and they somehow can make igloos, LIKE HOW!?

• Ugly sweaters. Ugly sweaters. Ugly sweaters. Ugly sweaters. Ugly sweaters. U G L Y S W E A T E R S.

• He loves walking around in their human form, it's almost as flashy as his regular self, and they loveeeeee doing winter activities like skiing and riding in a sleigh. He is a daredevil and thrill seeker at heart and is SHOWS during Christmas time.

• Present time! Boy did they get you a literal TON of presents, so much it was overwhelming, and honestly he was having more fun while you opened them then you were! He opened his present and found the small plush doll made in their image, by you..yeah he's never leaving it anywhere, it goes with them anywhere and everywhere and if it ever gets destroyed or lost you will have to deal with depresso espresso.

"Awww you're too sweet sugar bell! I'll cherish this just like I cherish you, forever."

POLY Special

Christmas eve.

Most stores are closed, especially since it's later in the day, you're driving home from one having had to get last minute presents. You left the guys home to bake and decorate, you don't even want to think of the chaos that's going on back at home right now. You drive through the empty streets, no more traffic as everyone has reached their holiday destinations already. You sigh, taking in a deep breath and enjoying the smell of the snow as you drive through the Christmas eve serenity. Not even the children are out getting into trouble as none of them want to miss their presents in the morning.

You pull into your driveway and you can immediately see your boys in their human forms fighting in the kitchen window, flour and colored sugar flying everywhere, Candy annoying Jack and getting food thrown at him, Jack just about ready to throw the island at him if he doesn't shut up and Jason on his god-only-knows-what-number cup of coffee. You can't help but break out laughing, yes Christmas may be that peace you had on the drive home but Christmas is also this mess you call a family and sorry not sorry you'll take your idiots any day over stupid peace.

You head inside and can hear the blasting Christmas music, your house looks like Christmas exploded and you don't mind one bit. You hang up your coat and glance into the living room, the tree glistening as four stockings hang by the fireplace, each one very much a display of their owner, Jason's is classy and elegant, yours is old fashioned and classic, Jack's is simple and basic and Candy's looks like an ugly sweater- You smile, turning to walk into the kitchen, the second you step in the room you're off your feet, Candy behind you with his arms around your waist.

"GUMDROP YOU'RE HOME!! How was your day out? Did you get everything you needed? Were you safe? Was anyone mean to you!?" he rambles on as Jason clears his throat "One thing at a time Candy. You're rambling again." Candy FINALLY puts you down "Oopsie! Sorry!" he chuckles as he suddenly sees Jack doing something incorrectly and starts yelling directions "I'M NOT FUCKING DEAF YOU NEON BASTARD!!" as they start fighting again and Jason sighs and leans back on the counter you laugh again and lean against Jason.

This. This is Christmas right here.

OMG THIS LEGIT TOOK ME LIKE A WEEK- I've had this request since earlier into December but on top of not seeing it at first I am going through MAJOR writers block so tagging the current time I'm writing this it's actually 8:30am on Christmas eve but for you guys this should release at midnight or around it. Please let me know if you enjoy this by supporting and feel free to let me know if you would like to be on the Carnival trio taglist. THANK YOU SO MUCH 🤡ANON FOR RETURNING WITH ANOTHER BANGER REQUEST!! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS, KEEP IT CREEPY MY GREMLINS, HOHOHO! -Creepz

@sketchist-art

@organs-web

[softspiderling]

elle’s archive

-ˏˋ. stiles stilinski ˊˎ-

we always find a way (to make it out alive) ➵ beacon hills holds a lot of bad memories for you. you’re still not sure how you let yourself be persuaded to go back.

-ˏˋ. derek hale ˊˎ-

but I need your lips on mine ➵ derek hale is a mystery you have yet to solve

How You Get The Girl ➵ it’s been six months since Derek stopped replying to your texts, so why was he suddenly standing in front of your door?

-ˏˋ. jake "hangman" seresin ˊˎ-

જ⁀➴ drabbles

how you first met (and how you became more)

you’re dating (but no one knows)

you’re married (but in secret)

you pick him up from the airport

જ⁀➴fics

songs about girls (like you) ➵ Jake has finally returned from his mission.

how do you love somebody else? ➵ the one where you and Jake are exes.

get like me ➵ the one where you defend Jake’s honor.

five kisses ➵ five kisses with Jake

never knew (that I could fall so hard) ➵ You and Jake are friends. Just friends

── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ── wingman's best friend universe ── ࣪˖ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ ──

all the fics below are part of the same universe, but can be read as stand-alone fics!

hooked from hour one ➵ the one where you share a mutual friend, but are unaware of it

baby, you down? ➵ your best friend is a naval aviator, but apparently so is the guy you’ve been dating? Yeah, funny how life works.

cruel existence ➵ you get hurt at work and Jake spirals

-ˏˋ. bradley "rooster" bradshaw ˊˎ-

જ⁀➴ drabbles

you're married (but in secret)

જ⁀➴fics

summer days (drifting away) ➵ Bradley bumped into you at the beach and then just keeps doing it

speak now (or forever hold your peace) ➵ it’s supposed to be the happiest day of your life.

cross my heart (hope to die) ➵ it’s easy to fall in love with Rooster. It’s a bit harder to be in love with him.

-ˏˋ. natasha "phoenix" trace ˊˎ-

you're married but in secret

-ˏˋ. pete "maverick" mitchell ˊˎ-

he likes you (but in an annoying way)

do you believe in love at first sight (or should I walk by again) ➵ the one where you keep running into Maverick.

-ˏˋ. tom holland ˊˎ-

you mocha me crazy ➵ an encounter at a coffee shop leaves you with more than a cup full of coffee

summer days ➵ it’s just one of those rare summer mornings. They were Tom’s favorite

five signs you’re too close to your boss ➵ you liked being the personal assistant of the CEO of Holland Enterprises. But sometimes you wondered if you were too close to your boss.

dance your worries away ➵ when you signed up for a beginners ballroom dancing class with your boyfriend, you hadn’t expected to be standing without a dancing partner. But then again, life has a funny way of working out

things you left unsaid ➵ having casual sex with Tom despite having feelings for him? What could go wrong?

put in love and don’t give up ➵ honestly, you never pegged Tom for the kind of guy that ghosts people, but here you are. Ghosted.

will you find me (afterlife) ➵ the five stages of grief start with denial and it didn’t seem like Tom was going leave that stage anytime soon.

honest feelings and bad timing | Teaser | One | Two ➵ It’s always been you, Tom and Harrison. A package deal. But sometimes things change.

swanky fortune ➵ when you clicked the ‘donate’ button on the GoFundMe page, you never would have expected to actually win. But are you going to take advantage of the opportunity or will you embarrass yourself in front of your celebrity crush?

of broken promises and heartbreak ➵ It’s been six years since you and Tom broke up, six years since you’ve last seen each other. A lot has happened, Tom got insanely famous, making countless billion dollar movies, attending one red-carpet event after the other. But now he was attending one event, he wasn’t sure he was ready for. Your wedding. And he wasn’t attending as your groom.

-ˏˋ. peter parker ˊˎ-

need a ride? ➵ just because you were at a country club, doesn’t mean you had to behave well

Talk To A Stranger! ➵ you liked talking to strangers. Well, when it’s not in real life, that is.

no air ➵ Short breath, panic flooding through the veins, sweat trickling down the sides. Peter knew the symptoms of a panic attack just all too well after a fight with a certain villain from space. Didn’t mean he knew how to prevent them, though. Luckily, you were by his side to help.

heavy burden ➵ you liked to live your life like you want it, but there was always someone who stood in the way of that. Always.

[engie-ivy]

(Can be read as a stand-alone, but also as my attempt to give this slightly Angsty fic a happy ending!)

1845 words

Remus and Fabian are together, so Remus doesn't understand why Fabian would be so upset his best friend Benjy is dating someone. Until he learns who Benjy is dating.

Your Person

Remus feels a hint of annoyance as he sees Benjy’s cloak on the hanger. He came over to visit Fabian again. Yet, Remus knows he isn't one to question Fabian’s relationship with his best friend, as that makes him feel somewhat like a hypocrite, and that's a can of worms Remus prefers not to open.

At first, Remus is surprised when he hears raised voices, until he realizes Fabian and Benjy are having an argument about the same thing that has been bothering Fabian all week.

“…just doesn't sit right with me! Oh, hi darling,” Fabian says mid-argument as he sees Remus.

“Hello love,” Remus says, as he walks up to Fabian and gives him a quick kiss. “And hi again, Benjy.”

“Hi Remus,” Benjy says absentmindedly, before continuing the argument. “Fabian, I can't adapt my dating life to you having a ‘gut feeling’.”

“It's more than that! It's just a wrong match, Benj.”

“Then I'll find out in due time,” Benjy shrugs.

“But if I can save you the trouble…”

“Fabian, why do you care so much about who I date?”

Remus, who has just walked into the kitchen to pour himself a beer, thinks that is an excellent question, and he lets Fabian know by leaning against the kitchen counter slowly sipping his beer, while staring pointedly at Fabian.

“I just… That is… Only because… Because he's Remus’ ex!” Fabian exclaims. “You can't date Remus’ ex! That's just bad form.”

Remus isn't entirely surprised about the news that Benjy is dating a guy he has apparently dated before. There are only so many gay guys in their social circle, after all. But he isn't going to let Fabian make this about him. Fabian is the one who has a problem with Benjy dating, so Fabian is going to take responsibility for it. “I don't mind Benjy dating an ex of mine,” Remus says casually. “We all hang out with the same people, we all date guys, it's bound to happen.” He turns to open one of the kitchen cabinets to see if Fabian has any snacks left. “Who are you dating anyway, Benjy?”

“Sirius.”

Remus freezes with his hand halfway to a bag of crisps. “No.”

“Excuse me?” Benjy asks.

Remus turns around. “No. Just… no.”

Benjy frowns. “I thought you didn't mind me dating one of your exes?”

“Not Sirius,” Remus says instantly before he can think about it. “Sirius is… He's different.”

“What’s different about him?” Benjy asks.

“Yes, Remus,” Fabian echoes, looking more smug than upset though. “What's different about him?”

“Sirius and I are still…”

“Still what?”

Well, that is another excellent question. How to describe all the things Sirius still is to him? “We're still close friends,” Remus ends up on, running a hand through his hair. “That makes it different.”

“Of course it does,” Fabian says. “Now that it's about handsome, charming Sirius Black whom you're still oh-so-close with it's suddenly a whole other matter.”

Benjy looks from Fabian to Remus and back. “Something tells me this is more between you two than it has to do with me, so I'm going to let you sort it out.” He gets up from the couch and walks to the front door. “Bye Fabi, bye Remus. See you later.”

As Benjy leaves, Remus glares at Fabian. “Weren't you just saying yourself that you have a problem with Benjy dating my ex? I'm only agreeing with you.”

“I have a problem with the whole principle of it, not with it being Sirius Black!”

“No, but I bet it has to do with it being Benjy!”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Please, Fabian,” Remus says. “You've been acting annoyed and upset ever since you found out Benjy is dating someone. That, with all the time you spend with him, how am I supposed to feel?”

“Well, let me think,” Fabian replies sarcastically. “Probably about the same as it makes me feel when you talk about your ‘special relationship’ with Sirius Black.”

“I haven't been doing that though! I didn't even know it was him whom Benjy is dating until just now!”

“And only then you suddenly had an issue with it.”

“That's different!”

“Different indeed,” Fabian agrees. “I never dated Benjy, you did date Sirius.”

“Hardly,” Remus replies. “We dated for a short period when we were only fifteen years old, that's it.”

“And yet,” Fabian says. “He's not just an ex, he's somehow the ex.”

“At least I already had that experience with Sirius and decided we're better off as friends. With you and Benjy there might still be the question of ‘what if?’”

“I don't…” Fabian sputters.

Sensing an opportunity, Remus presses on. “You never wonder ‘what if?’ when it comes to you and Benjy?”

Fabian recovers himself, though. “You really consider you and Sirius a closed chapter?”

“You're not answering the question!”

“Neither are you!”

They angrily stare at each other in silence for a moment. Remus feels justified in his anger about Fabian having been so put out over the last week by the idea that Benjy is dating someone, but deep down he knows that lashing out at Fabian might also be a defense mechanism, as he doesn't want to deal with his own feelings about Sirius moving on. Their conversation at Lily and James’ wedding, where Sirius told him he still felt so much when it came to Remus, has been playing in Remus’ mind more often than he would like to admit.

As if sensing what Remus is feeling, Fabian tilts his head. “Why did you and Sirius never date again? I mean, I know you had this big fight back in fifth year, but you sorted yourselves out, so why did you never date him again?”

Now it's Remus’ turn to be taken off guard. “I… He… We… We barely managed to salvage our friendship. I almost lost him as a part of my life, I didn't want to take that risk again and potentially lose our friendship forever by turning it into something more. There was just too much to lose, he meant too much to me…”

“He what now?” Fabian asks.

“I meant…”

“I know what you meant! You're too scared to risk your ‘special relationship’, while apparently, I'm a whole lot less special than our perfect Sirius Black.”

“That's not what I said! Don't put words into my mouth!”

“I was right to warn Benjy. He should think twice before getting dragged into whatever is going on between you and Sirius.”

“Oh, like you even care who Benjy is dating,” Remus scoffs. “You don't want him dating anyone! Don't you think it's weird how no one is ever good enough for Benjy according to you?”

“He's my best friend! Of course I want what's best for him.”

“Is him being single not more what's best for you?”

“Maybe not,” Fabian snaps. “Maybe I should be with Benjy instead, rather than with someone who doesn't think I'm all that special anyway!”

“And maybe I should be with Sirius then,” Remus snaps right back. “As you're so obsessed anyway with how special our relationship apparently is!”

They are both standing across from each other, their hands clenched in fists, breathing heavily, as each other's words, but also their own words, sink in.

After a moment of silence, Fabian blinks. “I think I might have feelings for Benjy.”

“I think I might have feelings for Sirius,” Remus replies.

They stare at each other, before Fabian groans and lets himself fall on the couch, Remus dropping down next to him.

“Rem, what are we doing?” Fabian asks, hiding his face in his hands.

“Potentially dating the wrong people,” Remus offers.

Fabian lets his head fall on Remus’ shoulder. “We're a mess, aren't we?”

“Fabi,” Remus sighs. “What do we do now? They're dating each other, for Godric’s sake!”

Well, there are a lot of things Remus would rather be doing than going on a double date with his ex, the person he's in love with, and the guy his love interest is currently dating. Like going to the dentist for instance, or swimming with sharks, or jumping out of an airplane perhaps.

“Oh my, you're so funny, Siri,” Benjy giggles, squeezing Sirius’ arm.

Remus gives Fabian, who's knuckles are turning white around his fork, a pointed look. He was the one to agree to this double date after all. Something about observing how Benjy and Sirius are as a couple before potentially intervening.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Remus says, as Benjy makes a show of tickling Sirius’ side, before he heads off to the toilet, desperate to get out of there.

“Remus, I'm so sorry!”

Remus turns away from the sink towards Sirius, who's rushing up to him.

“Did you really think this was a good idea?” Remus hisses, his frustration with the whole evening getting the better of him. “After you basically told me you still have feelings for me at Lily and James’ wedding, for us to go on a double date?”

“I know, I know,” Sirius says, running a hand through his hair and looking unfairly handsome. “But on the bright side, at least I'm finally trying to move on?” He tries.

Remus just stares at him, as Sirius has no idea how little of a bright side that is.

“But for real,” Sirius continues. “Benjy just said a double date with friends, I didn't know it would be you and your boyfriend!”

“Me and my ex,” Remus corrects.

Sirius blinks, then shakes his head. “Merlin, this really is the most awkward double date ever!” Then he gives Remus a sympathetic look. “I'm sorry, Moony. I didn't know. What happened?”

Remus bites his lip, not sure whether saying ‘I realized I'm in love with you’ while Sirius’ date is right in the other room can be considered bad form. “We just realized we weren't each other's person.”

“How?”

“I…” With Sirius’ bright grey eyes looking at him like that, Remus can't keep it in. “I think I realized that you're my person, Sirius. I tried so hard to suppress it out of fear of mucking it up and losing you for good, but it's the truth and it has always been the truth.”

Sirius stares at him for a moment, before the most beautiful smile lights up his face. He takes a step forward and takes Remus’ hand. “Really? You mean it? You would like to finally try again? With me?”

“Pads…” Remus says, staring at their joined hands. “Benjy is…”

“Just trying to make Fabian jealous,” Sirius replies. “I mean, it's been fun with him, but nothing more than just fun, when we both needed a distraction as we were desperately pining after the one we really wanted to be with. As I was desperately pining after my person.”

“Your person,” Remus repeats softly, before returning Sirius’ smile.

As they walk back to their table, hand in hand, neither of them can help the smiles still on their faces.

“Benjy, Fabian, I think we need to switch places.”

[changbinsboobs]

pls do chan tea session how he views his teammates? thanks very much!

Omg y'all THIS has been the reading we've all been waiting for😭🙌🏻🙌🏻😂 i swear i couldn't stop gasping and tacking a moment after each card to gather myself cuz WTF IS ALL THIS😂😳🫣 yk i did a tea/vent reading with changbin a few weeks ago and i thought its gonna be a banger but we couldn't get one "bad word" out of his mouth - he wasn't serving AT ALL😤 and i got a bit discouraged to continue the series but im so happy i did and did it with CHAN cuz my guys's spilling so much😂 tbh idk what i think of it all and if i agree, in fact i was quite shocked at a few cuz i really did bot expect such answers and i pulled several cards as confirmation and it all pointed painfully obvious to what the first card was already showing. So im just gonna start and ya'll are gonna see foe yourselfs😂

Oh also my tea series was initially not really meant to be focused on the group but more in general but at least with the last reading with changbin i found it difficult to take such a vast field of topics and distill it so if you have suggestions on what else they could have things to vent about or tea to spill send ask. Please be specific tho about something specific that interests you / preferably with a specific member:) ok moving on

Ok not really i forgot to mention that i asked about his opinion on the members WITHOUT FILTER and leaning more on the tea side. So, very important - this is not Chan's absolute opinion on the members, but a small, "scandalous" fraction if the opinion he has build on them over the years. It doesn't mean that this is all he thinks of them - remember humans are complex beings and can have conflicting thoughts and feelings:)

Tea Series: Chan's opinion on the members

Lee Know

I was SHOCKED but he kinda thinks of him as a bit of a dumbo. Not in the sense that he really is stupid but to Chan it looks like he's just a bit out of it and there's a vibe of a whole geoup laughing about a joke that lee know doesn't get, and not necessarily cuz he's stupid, its just he doesn't care to get it😂😭 this baffles him and im actually seeing a similar energy with him regarding lee know as i did with changbin in the previous reading where Chan just feels a bit weirded out by lee know at times and just sometimes gets annoyed cuz he just doesn't understand him. Yk how people are disgusted/scared by spider no reason? This is something similar, it just icks him how he cant understand lee know. He accepts it tho, more than changbin for sure. And im feeling that its actually even charming to him sometimes. Im hearing "a genius dumbo". So yeah, they're very different apparently, and to chan lee know just seems way waaayyy out of the circle, way above it all, way to out of it and he doesn't even want to get in and that BAFFLES him so much!

Changbin

This one's not hot at all, im seeing this pile along with felix's being the most melow ones. So I see that chan really sees changbin as his equal, possibly the only guy in the group he sees as one. Not in the way that others are below him but rather he's to the same level of matureness, toughness, headspace etc according to him (not that i agree😂). He views him as a bro and really enjoys spending time with him and "talking like men" or whatever its called😂 im actually seeing them going out for drinks or having late night talks with some strong alcohol (although im not really seeing chan drinking very hard i think the alcohol's more for changbin to loosen his tongue and for both of them to feel like adult men😂🙌🏻) Also another thing thats coming up which made me laugh is that chan thinks changbins bad at love and always has bad luck in it (and is kinda a simp) and he(cb) should learn a thing or two from him(chan). This gives me such huge sleepover vibes i live it so much - all of chans readings have that feeling to it and im always giggling when reading his energy😂💗 So yeah im also seeing them having lots of chats about women too🌝 and...sex👀👀👀 but for that i think it needs to be a bit deeper in the night and the bottle should be close to empty for that conversation to open. But it does, pretty often (not often like every other day but often only within their "meetings" so if they have a hangout every other months, and have had 6 this year, in 4 out of 6 this conversation happens - thats what i mean by often).

Hyunjin

Fo hyunjin he thinks he's very impulsive and very pushy but on the inside(?). He also thinks he's very appreciation hungry and attention greedy. Not attention whore-y tho (contrary to han), but rather ifjgkkf like someone who lives for the applause. Someone who's a performer. Not only on stage but also in private. I think he thinks that hyunjin's actually a bit insecure (not the kind of looks-insecurity, but the primal one like having security in your own being and the person who you are, having trust that you got ur own back) and that he's compensating that insecurity with others validation and admiration. And if he doesn't get that or feels like he doesn't he gets spiky/prickly. And thats where his impulsivity comes up and where this pushy energy happens. He may behave normal on the outside but on the inside he's going crazy and thinking of all the ways he can fix that and if you spend time with him long enough you begin to see that eagerness and spikiness - according to chan.

Han

According to chan he's pretty isolated and a tad bit odd. Probably thats why he gets along with lee know the best. He's also a bit infantile in chans eyes, like an annoying 12 year old fortnite little cousing that spits when he speaks and knows now personal space. Not saying hans like that - just creating a vibe to describe how he feels to chan sometimes😂 idk if nuisance is the right word but im getting the feeling that when 3racha's doing their thing, hans kind of the odd one out and he can see that han wants to belong and tries to but chan feels like he's that little cousin that wants to hang out with the cool old bros and, yeah sometimes feels liek a bit of a nuisance i would say. Cuz chan does include him, when he maybe would not. I could see that being a theme during their time in the 4/4 dorms. And here's the part i mentioned above - i think chan might view han sometimes like an attention-wh*re, making a clown of himself, and embarrassing himself quite offten to appeal to them or maybe others he fancies and wants to impress. Another thing is, that as i said he might be a bit odd and at times overexcert his boundaries? Or have weird boundaries? Like he hates when people touch his blanket or he only has to wear orange socks and if someone put the laundry and forgot one of his sock and now only one's clean he gets really pissed over nothing - stuff of that sort.

Felix

I would say thats the only pile where he had nothing "bad" to say about him and i pulled 4 cards for him cuz there had to be something - but there wasn't so i guess chan really really likes Felix and holds him in very high regards☺️ he thinks that he is muchs tronger than he looks and can defend himself and his loved ones very well. In fact i believe when chan saw this side of him he was really shocked because felix seems really sweet but when it comes to protecting what he loves he gets very fierce and that was very shocking to witness. Theres just admiration, admiration and more admiration in this reading he thinks felix has that royalty vibe to himself and really just has it all. Im getting a slight whiff of jealousy, but a friendly type of jealousy. Like he just thinks he's so amazing and sometime she wishes he were like that. He wishes he were as cool as him, as lighthearted as him, as bright and positive as him, he were as liked by him and i also feel like chan feels that stuff may often be just very effortless for felix and even if he's bad at something its still with grace. Theres this aura to felix that he can never do anything wrong and he just sometimes feels that felix has it too easy and must be really lucky or like gods favourite and thinks he must have really good karma for that.

Seungmin

He thinks seungmins too sharp and that his words hurt. Im also seeing lots of bickering...no actually fights. So either chan often gets the urge to just throw it all and start a fight with him or drop the manners and just tell him off - or they actually do that often. I do get the feeling that this is exaggerated in his head and that maybe to seungmin their fights aren't nearly as bad but once again i feel like chan might be holding back a lot and seungmin might'be much sharper and meaner for others than he thinks he is.

I.N

Finally the last one😮‍💨 he thinks he's a mamas boy and sees him still as a kid. That one's pretty obvious but to be honest i expected something else cuz im getting a much maturer energy from him, the other guys have said that too but still, here im getting that he's just a kid and doesnt know "of the real world", relies too much on mom and dad etc. Tbh i don't think thats the case😂 but rather that chans having a bit of a parent syndrom where he actaully feels like i.ns big bro or some sort of a parent figure or whatever and he literary watched him grow from a child to a man so i think that image of him from a few years back has stayed with chan and maybe its difficult for him to let go of that impression if i.n being still just a little kid being full of wonder, innocent and still dependant.

[p5-apotelesma]

anyone else kind of put off by how they write makoto scaring her friends? idk maybe its just me

like, okay, in tactica especially there are multiple "comedic bits" where they mention how strong makoto is and that she does martial arts. like, they're praising and admiring her skill, or just commenting on it in general. but at one point someone (morgana, i think. and later futaba) specifically say she is "scary" and "terrifying" and it shows them being scared of her. when she reacts to most of their comments like this:

and you know how theres that bit where joker can imagine what it would be like to marry a phantom thief of their choosing? and the makoto in his head gets angry at him for a conclusion she jumped to about joker having someone else? and when joker comes out of the daydream he backs away from makoto and she says he looks pale.

theres a lot of these bits in tactica, but strikers and even the base game isnt saved from this altogether. theres that god damn 'peeping at girls in the hot spring trope' that comes up in every modern mainline persona game. its meant to be funny? apparently? but after the 5th time we see it we're not like. haha dumb teen boys get beat up by angry teen girl over a misunderstanding. we're like. oh. this again.

(i feel like this same 'girl beats up dumb boy' trope spawns from the same place the 'girls beat up ryuji after he almost dies for them' scene comes from. and maybe thats part of why it makes me do the frowny emote.)

ANYWAY

p5r dodged the obligatory hot spring scene, but Strikers did it instead. and makoto beats up the guys even though it was a honest fuck up and they tell the girls they weren't peeping and we the audience know they weren't but makoto beats them up anyways?? and exclaims "fist of justice!!!" ("HAHA MAKOTO SCARY LOL" ???????)

meanwhile she gets annoyed in any other instance when her friends try and reference her fists of justice?? (ryuji tells toshiro to watch what he says if he doesnt want to get pummeled, when he tried to compare makotos punching power to fist of the north star and she gets pissed) sigh. what is this writing. why would she having issue with it? this is a girl who gets so excited watching Yakuza movies that she sits on the edge of her seat with her fists clenched. shes started reading action manga more and actually enjoys it.

even if makoto wants to come off as being serious and put together, and even if she naturally is (moreso than her other friends) she is not immune to the sillies of teenagerhood. she would compare herself to it gladly and wouldnt hit or scold her friends if they did either. because its fuckin awesome. because shes awesome.

like. i'm not the biggest fan of makoto. she's got the lowest blorbo status in my brain out of the whole squad but i don't hate her. there is a good character there, its just. the writers. make. decisions.

makoto spent so long being alone and feeling isolated and like. she says during her confidant that a lot of people just thought she was some kind of cold. robot. so i certainly don't think she would want her friends to think she was in any way unapproachable. or unable to handle the bits.

and i dont think she would want her bit to be 'lol violence funny' (at the very least not to this extent.) i don't think she would want to give her friends any reason to think that she would hurt them. making a "strong woman" character does not mean this character. has to crack her knuckles at her friends and imply shes going to hit them if they say something a little too silly. and play it off as a bit??

like. idk. maybe im thinking about this too much or not explaining this with the right words. but its just one of the many things about the writing choices that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. to me this is completely different from them making her serious about studying and having her get on her friends asses if they dont do well. and her friends not wanting to get a makoto lecture. like oh we better study because if we fail we'll have to face Militant Academic Makoto Niijima because she will organize a tutoring/study session like it's the fuckin navy.

when ann and ryuji first say 'oh man shes scary i dont want to get on her bad side' right after makotos awakening, makoto seems more embarrassed than anything else. and i feel like this is. more true to her character. she lets her anger out in the metaverse and she can do amazing things with it as her drive but shes embarrassed about expressing it. but she comes to embrace this about herself. that shes powerful. and shes proud of it. but that doesnt meant she leans into being someone her friends think is. genuinely scary.

makoto is a terrifying fighter and brilliant tactician in the metaverse but in real life she is not all serious business! she is capable of fun!! makoto is a nice girl!! makoto is a girl who had to grow up too fast and mask her way into the good graces of the adults in her life! so she's awkward around kids her age!! and in situations that arent serious business (that she cant script as well) she isnt always sure how to best interact with her peers! but shes growing! shes going out of her way to experience new things! she wants to better embrace her anger because it means freedom for her!! after a childhood full of holding her tongue!! but she doesnt have a temper that makes her friends the victim of her misplaced aggression! and shes not a buzzkill!

[jjscrybaby]

teenage fantasy masterlist.

CHAPTER TWO - the lucky compass

warnings: mentions of guns, language, grief,

authors note: jj doesn’t feature in this chapter, this is sort of a slow burner but also i have to get TR into the storyline! for the rafe girlies, this chapter is for you. this chapter is also quite a bit shorter than the previous one, but the next one should be longer!

———

“John B has officially lost it,” Sarah announced as she came wandering into your room, your eyes flickering up from the old magazine you were reading; you hadn’t read this much since you were a kid, but there’s hardly anything to do with the power outage.

“Hm?” You hummed, folding the corner of the page so you didn’t lose the story of Justin and Selena — this thing must be old.

“I’m, like, ninety nine percent sure that he stole from my dad. I slept on the boat last night, my room is way too hot, and I woke up at, like, six this morning to him returning some scuba gear,” she explained, using air quotes on ‘returning’.

You weren’t sure why she was telling you this. You hadn’t heard a word about John B your entire life, but ever since the Kegger from hell the other night it seemed Sarah couldn’t get him off her mind. One minute she’s complaining about how annoying he is, the next it’s about his crazy friends, and then she’ll be asking if you think she should go round and make sure he’s okay.

“You gonna tell Ward?” You asked, sitting up from the position you’d be comfortably laying in.

Sarah shrugged, hesitating before she shook her head. “He’d probably get fired, I don’t want that. I just… he I dunno. Anyways, are you ready?”

“For?” You asked, tilting your head at her in confusion. Your plan for the day was to just chill, after the other night you’d decided you wouldn’t be going out for at least a week.

“Top and Kelce are coming over,” she explained, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Apparently Kelce hasn’t stopped going on about you. He thinks he’s getting lucky. Hopefully he hasn’t mentioned that to Rafe.”

You snorted, shaking your head at the idea. “He can think whatever he wants, it’s not happening.”

“Really? I thought maybe you were feeling it?” Sarah asked.

You were yet to tell her about your make out session with the gun wielding Pogue. You were going to, but then he held said gun to her boyfriend’s head and it felt a little awkward to admit to. The other part you didn’t want to admit to was how you couldn’t stop thinking about him.

The slight manic episode he’d had was a turn-off, but that wasn’t the JJ you’d met a few hours prior. You’d met a charming, hot, funny guy who was now stuck on your mind like glue.

“We’ll see,” you murmured. “Guess I better get ready then?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, Rafe’s gonna be around and I highly doubt Kelce will try anything in front of him. It’s a known fact you’re his future wife,” Sarah teased, already up to look through your half-unpacked bag.

“Never say that again,” you cringed.

Maybe there was a time you’d seen Rafe in a different light, last summer when the two of you were hanging out more you had thought about it. You knew he’d take care of you, not just due to the fact his family had more money than you’d ever know but he looked after the people he cared about; the very few people. He could be sweet, when he wanted to, and he wasn’t bad to look at. But then you’d get in your own head, you’d remember this was Rafe. The same Rafe who used to cry at Bambi and threw up the first time he smoked a cigarette.

Sarah chose your outfit, some denim shorts and a bikini top, one of the best parts about being in the OBX was that you could just walk around in a bikini and no one would bat an eye. In heat like this, especially with no air-con, the thought of being fully clothed made your skin itch.

“Girls,” Rose greeted with a nod as you walked outside, as robotic as always.

“Afternoon,” you replied in the same tone.

You’d never been a huge fan of Ward’s wife. It didn’t make much sense, because you’d known her for almost ten years, but she was just so different from Sarah’s mom. You were young when she died, but you would always remember her warm smile and her famous ice cream sandwiches she’d make for you kids when the sun started to set.

Sarah scared the hell out of all of you as she pretended to be electrocuted whilst saving a little girls toy, but what scared you more was the feeling of an arm wrapping around your waist. You turned your head, half expecting Kelce to be stood there, but instead it was Rafe.

“Hey,” you greeted, giving him, Topper and Kelce a smile.

“Where’ve you been?” Rafe asked.

“Here,” you shrugged. “The other night tired me out. I’m not as used to partying as the rest of you.”

“Well, I can promise they’re not all like that. The ones that don’t involve Pogues don’t normally end like that,” Kelce reassured. “A friend of ours is throwing one tomorrow night if you’re up for it.”

“Down on the beach again?” You asked. Sarah had briefly mentioned this to you, but then she got more into telling you about a beach clean up.

“No. At his house. No Pogues, no guns,” Kelce responded.

“No threats to my life,” Topper joked, you had to fight the urge to roll your eyes.

Of course having a gun held to your head would be utterly terrifying, but after you’ve tried to drown someone else it feels more deserved. You weren’t sure how it would come across if you said that, so you stayed quiet as Sarah started to walk over.

“Here’s the drama queen herself,” Rafe stated, nodding to his sister.

Sarah dramatically bowed, making you giggle. The group of you wandered over to the table and sat down, you in between Rafe and Kelce. Rafe’s arm rested around your shoulders; he was proving a point. You assumed Kelce had said something to him and now he was standing his ground, trying to prove you were his.

“So, uh, John B? His dad’s the one that went missing?” You asked. They all looked at you. “Well, I heard the comment that Topper made.”

“C’mon, that was deserved,” Topper huffed. It was clear he didn’t get called out often.

“What did you say?” Rafe questioned.

“I don’t—”

“Asked if he should ‘drown him like his old man’,” you explained. Rafe and Sarah turned to you, sympathetic looks on their faces.

“That ain’t right, man,” Rafe sighed.

“Now you’re defending him?” Topper scoffed, as if he couldn’t believe that Rafe would do such a thing. He was right, he wouldn’t.

Rafe isn’t defending John B, he’s defending you.

There was no way Topper could’ve known what happened in your family, unless one of them two had mentioned it to him but you doubted that. Maybe that just proved that you should think before you speak, but these boys didn’t seem like they did that often.

“Shut it, man,” Rafe replied, shooting him a glare.

“Yeah, it’s John B’s dad that went missing,” Sarah chimed in, answering your previous question.

You just nodded in response, an awkward silence took over the table but Rafe was quick to interrupt it. “C’mon, you can help me grab some beers.” He tapped your arm.

“Okay,” you agreed, getting up from your seat to follow him inside.

You leant against the kitchen counter as he grabbed the cooler filled to the brim with cans, but he didn’t make any move to head back outside. “Topper’s a dick.”

“I can tell,” you laughed, earning a small smirk from him.

“I mean it. He doesn’t think about what he says, y’know? I mean, I’m sure he wasn’t really going to drown John B, he wouldn’t have the guts. But, he shouldn’t have said that,” Rafe rambled.

“It’s not your fault that your friends an idiot, Rafe,” you reassured. You could feel the guilt radiating off of him.

He nodded his head, looking down at his shoes. “How’s, uh, how’s your dad? How’s Josh?” He asked, coughing awkwardly.

“Josh is fine. College is good.” You purposely ignored the part about your dad. He’d see him in a couple days anyway, he could make his own decision on how he was.

Rafe nodded again, giving you one of those sympathetic smiles you were getting sick of. It’s all you’d see at home, even going to your local grocery store it felt like everyone in there knew who you were; the girl with the dead mom. You didn’t think you’d have to deal with that here, but turns out you couldn’t escape who you were.

“C’mon. We shouldn’t leave them out there alone for too long, they’re all idiots,” Rafe smirked, picking up the cooler.

“Sarah can keep ‘em in check, I’m sure,” you laughed, he shrugged his shoulders.

You only drank two beers before you got bored. Topper and Kelce were the last people you wanted to spend this summer with, but with him being Sarah’s boyfriend and all you figured you didn’t have much of a choice. You went to your room for a few hours, fell asleep, and woke up to a quiet house.

It had been a couple days since you’d left the house, and with the sun starting to set outside you thought a walk would be nice. You grabbed your sliders and made your way outside, not bumping into anyone as you left. The first half of your venture was calming, but once you spotted John B sprinting down the road you couldn’t help but call after him.

“Hey! You probably shouldn’t be doing that much exercise after nearly drowning!” You yelled. He stopped in his tracks, turning to face you. His eye was black and bruised, a distant look in them. “Jesus, not lookin’ too hot.”

“Appreciate it,” he muttered. “Uh, you’re the one that dragged me out of the water?”

“That would be me,” you nodded, coming up to stand in front of him.

“Thanks, for that. Guess my friends were a little preoccupied,” he said.

“With the gun situation? Yeah, I’d say so.”

He let out a laugh, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Sorry about that. JJ can get a little intense, but he means no harm… most of the time. He wasn’t really going to shoot Topper.”

“I’m sure,” you murmured. Even the mention of his name had your cheeks heating up. “Uh, so, where are you going? Seems like you need to get there quickly.”

“I just— I had a pretty awful day,” he admitted, sitting down on a wall beside you.

You hesitantly sat down next to him, crossing your legs. “Yeah? Even worse than yesterday?” You nodded to his black eye, making him chuckle.

“I got arrested a few hours ago, and then fired, and then chased by some men that want something I have… had,” he briefly explained, making your eyes widen.

“Yeah. Shitty day,” you agreed. “You got fired? By Ward?”

“You know him?” John B asked. You just nodded, deciding not to divulge the information that he’s pretty much your second father. “I did something stupid and his daughter snitched on me.”

“Sarah?” He nodded. “I— really? Are you sure?” From what Sarah had been telling you earlier, it sounded like she was set on keeping the information to herself.

“She’s the only one that knew,” he shrugged.

“What did these men want, then?” You asked, deciding to change the subject before you had to fight these stranger in your best friend’s honour.

John B sighed, looking as if he was debating if he should open up to you or not. “Somethin’ of my dad’s. He, uh, he went missing nine months ago and I guess I’m trying to look for signs that he’s still out there.”

In a way you understood where he was coming from. You knew your mom was dead, you knew she wasn’t coming back, but what you didn’t understand was why.

“It’s okay to wonder,” you said softly. “Can’t let yourself go crazy about it, though.”

“You sound like my friends,” he laughed.

“Sounds like you have smart friends,” you shrugged, leg jumping beneath you. “I’m sorry about your dad.”

“Thanks, Juliet,” he mumbled.

You looked at him in confusion. “My name isn’t Juliet.”

“What?” He questioned. “Uh, sorry, that’s what JJ’s been calling you since the other night. Continuously.”

The thought of JJ talking about you made your heart stutter. He hadn’t forgotten about you? You let out a soft giggle, shaking your head. “I didn’t tell him my name. It’s Y/N.”

“Y/N,” John B repeated. “Well, it’s nice to officially meet the girl that saved my life.”

“I just saved you from your swim, JJ did the rest,” you replied, waving him off.

He shrugged. “I should get going. Got some stuff to do. I, uh, thanks for listenin’ to me go on. I was close to a breakdown.”

“No worries,” you smiled, standing up from your seat on the wall. “See you around.” You expected you’d see him maybe two more times the whole summer.

“See you,” he grinned, before turning around to walk towards the Cut.

For your walk back to Tannyhill you thought about JJ. You sort of hoped John B wouldn’t tell him your name, the mystery of it all was exciting. Kie could have already told him, but she didn’t seem like she’d want to spend even a second talking about you.

Sarah was in your room when you got back. “I’ve been looking for you. John B is such an ass—”

“I kissed JJ!” You blurted out. It had been eating you up inside, not telling her. If you’d been able to stop thinking about him maybe you wouldn’t have cared so much.

“You… what?” She looked at you in confusion.

“At the kegger, before the whole…” you demonstrated holding a gun.

Sarah burst into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth with her hands. “Sorry— sorry, I just… I can’t believe I didn’t think of him. Of course you’d like him, he’s your type to a T.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked, brows furrowing.

“Well… he’s got that whole ‘bad boy’ vibe, but from what I’ve seen he’s pretty funny and not a huge dick,” Sarah explained, smiling up at you.

“That is so not my type,” you argued, scowling as she carried on giggling. “It was just a kiss. I doubt I’ll see him again.”

“Whatever you say,” Sarah sang.

Before you knew it she was rambling on about John B, and then Topper, and you let your mind drift away to the blonde Pogue who had been talking about you to his friends.

[madman479r]

The struggle of having "hot" parents

Zephyr

An 18-year-old Zephyr was hanging out with her friends by the statue of her grandfather, Stoick the Vast. Each of the girls were talking about Berk's recent history, or rather the years of the dragon riders.

Many people would think having parents that had such feats as Hiccup and Astrid Haddock did would bring a lot of pressure and an inferiority complex, but not Zephyr. If anything, she was proud to have such awesome parents as hers.

Seriously! Her mother was the best warrior Berk had ever seen, going up against giant burly vikings with ease, being second only to her Grandfather Stoick, and that was only because her mom didn't fight him out of respect.

And her father was the brightest Viking of the barbaric archipelago, using his mind to defeat powerful foes and overcome overwhelming odds, making a sword of fire and being able to fly without a dragon!

One of her friends, Bodil, suddenly shivered when a cold gust of wind brushed past them. "Hey, mind if we go inside. It's getting cold."

"Sure. Let's go to my house." Zephyr offered and the group of teens made for her house.

So yeah, Zephyr truly loved her parents and was proud to be their child. But there was just one issue...

"Soooo... will your dad be home?" Alma, another one of Zephyr's friends, tried to casually ask, but her sly and hopeful tone betrayed her.

Zephyr stopped in her tracks and deadpanned at the girl. "Seriously?"

"I'm just asking because... I... don't want to disturb him?" Alma weakly defended.

"Oh yeah, you'll totally be disappointed to see him." Every time. Every. Single. TIME! Many women apparently had the hots for her dad, both his generation and her generation, and her friends were no exception. They'd either freeze up, become overly awkward, try to get his attention or act flirtatious, sometimes it was all of the above.

And the funny thing, something Zephyr didn't know whether was a good or bad thing, was that her dad was completely oblivious to it.

Once some girl baked something for her dad, brought to the house and everything. From her stance, how she offered to bake some more if he wished, it was clear she was shooting her shot. And dad's reaction once the door was close? "...What a nice young lady."

And her mother, who could see through the compliments and gifts, would only smile or laugh it off. Apparently her father wasn't one for subtly or ques, seeing as she had kissed him multiple times before they got together and he never imagined her mother was in love with him.

But seriously! It was only gross! That was her dad! You can use 'cool', 'awesome', 'brave' or 'smart' to describe him, but hot? That was not a word she wanted associated with her father.

=================

Nuffink

Ever since he understood his warrior lineage, Nuffink wanted nothing more than to be the greatest warrior of Berk, along with his mom and Grandpa Stoick. Even wanting to achieve the same feat as Grandpa Stoick did in breaking a rock in two with only his head.

(Nuffink didn't see why mom was annoyed with grunkle Gobber when he told him that story, it sounded so cool!)

So he would constantly train, with whatever weapon felt the best (twin short swords sounded cool, maybe even a wrist sword) and with his mom. Maybe he was a momma's boy, but who wouldn't wish to have such a cool, badass warrior for a mother?

And when his mom became the teacher for the next generation of fighters, he was the first in line to sign up, and aimed to be the best student.

Unfortunately, there were some other eager young men who wanted to learn under his mom. But not for the right reasons.

"Man, I can't wait to do some hand-to-hand with miss Astrid."

"I know how to make her sweat, and not just in a fight."

"Think I'll be able to get some private lessons?"

Nuffink normally would have broken some Jaws and knocked some teeth loose after hearing the other boys talk in such a way about his mother, not only was it disrespectful to him, but to his mother, who didn't deserve to be talked in such a way, and to his father, who these morons acted like wasn't worthy of her.

But Nuffink knew that what was to come would be so much more satisfying and hilarious.

See, these horny idiots didn't know how strict Astrid Haddock got when it came time to training. Outside of it? She was kind, nurturing and loving to Nuffink, but during training? It wasn't 'mom', instead it was 'Ma'am', even to him.

"Alright, listen up!" Mom finally made it into the training arena, gaining the attention of all participants. "I want you to get one thing. I bet you all think you're already the best fighter here, that you'll breeze past this, but I plan on crushing that delusion, crushing that arrogance and crushing that enthusiasm. Because if that enthusiasm can be so easily destroyed, then it was too weak for me to mould into a true warrior. If you don't leave here sore, then I consider that a session wasted. Is that understood?"

Nuffink was the only one to answer with the expected "Yes, ma'am!" With his chest puffed out and back straight, while the others gave half hearted affirmations.

Astrid Haddock narrowed her eyes dangerously and took out her axe before throwing it at the group, missing one boy by just a hair, which made them all straighten up in sudden fear.

Nuffink snorted. Didn't these idiots get it? She had intentionally missed. If she wanted that throw to kill someone, there would be one less person on New Berk.

"Alright. We'll be focusing on hand-to-hand combat. Because if you can't even throw a decent punch, then I doubt you'll be able to a sword correctly. Any volunteers?"

One arrogant asshole, by the name of Ivar, confidently strode up to mom with a leer on his face, flexing his muscles 'subtly'. "Don't worry, miss Hofferson, I'm sure a session with me will leave you sore, in a good way." He said in an oily tone.

Mom simply raised an unimpressed brow at him and silently got into a fighting stance, which Ivar pathetically copied, pathetic in the sense that it was completely open and a poor replication of his mother's stance.

Ivar suddenly threw a jab, (too slow, too wide and leaving his vital points open to attack, Nuffink analysed) to which Astrid simply parried and quickly threw a powerful punch into his exposed sternum, making the teen lose both his air and confidence. As he bent forward, struggling to breathe, Astrid was quick to follow up with a elbow uppercut to his chin, forcing his chin to point up towards the sky, as Astrid spun around and used her hand to chop the side of his neck, effortlessly taking him down in only three strikes and in seemingly just a blink of an eye.

As Ivar rolled on the ground, gasping for air, the other students suddenly grew a new found level of fear for their instructor.

"Anyone notice where he went wrong?" Astrid questioned, unconcerned for Ivar.

Nuffink answered, not raising his hand as his mom preferred, "He left himself exposed with a poor stance, especially after throwing a punch that was too wide."

Astrid nodded with a small smile. "Correct, Haddock."

Nuffink allowed a smile to grow on his face. Even if his peers acted to shamelessly towards his mother, he wouldn't have her any other way. And being able to have front row seats to his mother decimating those same idiots wasn't a bad trade.

[mister-mickey]

chinese shepard headcanons please

Sorry for the wait, I wanted to research a bit, please forgive me if anything is off, or if this isn’t super specific, I’m afraid I still don’t know a whole lot

Anyone is free to reblog this with more headcanons, I know there’s a few Chinese outsiders fans on here that most definitely know more than I do

First off, I feel like there’s a good chance that they’re one of the only Asian families in Tulsa. Most of the Asian Americans there were apparently Japanese, so I can’t imagine the Chinese population was thriving (even today, Tulsa has a low Chinese population)

I think their dad’s family was Northern Chinese, and had been in the US for a few generations. Their mom was Southern Chinese and moved there sometime between 1943 and 1945 (giving her some leeway for Tim’s birth) she met their dad, fell in love, had some kids and all that. I think either they met in Tulsa, or met somewhere else and then moved to Tulsa (for some godforsaken reason) at some point, Mr. Shepard dies

Now, for the kids, I think they’re would all speak decent Mandarin. Their mom speaks English, (along with a bit of Cantonese) but she doesn’t really like to so they were all raised using it. I don’t think they would write it very well because I can’t imagine she would teach them or give them the resources needed to learn it. Anyway, I’d say at home they speak about 70% mandarin and 30% English

Their stepdad is a white guy who doesn’t speak any mandarin, so the Shepard kids speak ONLY mandarin around him so that he feels excluded. Their mom gets really annoyed but she does the same exact thing

They do eat a decent amount of Chinese food, but due to their budget, their skills, and the fact that the ingredients available are different from the ones their mom is used to, their recipes are far from traditional. I think their food would be more inspired rather than replicas of the food their mom had back in China. Also, I doubt she really cooks for them, so they make the food themselves.

Now for the kids individually,

I think Tim’s dream of going to California in the show could take on a different context. The Chinese population in California is much higher, so maybe he would enjoy the thought of going somewhere where he’s just another face in the crowd, or enjoy a fresh start with other Chinese Americans

Tim doesn’t like cooking, but he likes the food. Angela probably cooks the most, but curly is the best cook.

Curly likes Ponyboy because Ponyboy is like genuinely interested when he talks about the few parts of China and Chinese culture that he knows. Pony also researches sometimes and talks to curly about it. A lot of times, pony talks to him about Chinese history and folklore, which curly knows next to nothing about.

Angela I think would be the most proud of her culture, she likes to wear her mother’s jewelry and when Ms. Shepard is in a nostalgic mood, Angela is the one that listens to her. She doesn’t get along with her mother at all, but this is one of the few times they can just sit together and talk.

Sometimes Angela mutters insults under her breath in Mandarin. It always makes the other people at her school super mad, and she loves it. She never tells them what she said, but they always know it was an insult. It’s especially bad if curly is right there becuase he will almost always laugh along with whatever she said

Tim does the same thing, but only to Dallas. The thing is though, while Dallas is annoyed, he also thinks it’s kind of funny (he knows when he’s been bested, even of he doesn’t know what Tim said) When Tim does this, whatever fight they’re having tends to end pretty soon after.

Because dallas is like constantly at their house, he’s picked up a bit of vocab. Nothing helpful, only curses and insults. He refuses to learn anything else. Tim always teaches him nice things and says they’re insults because it’s funny to him, but curly and Angela will actually teach him the rottenest things

I think overall, they’re proud of their culture because it’s theirs and they’re proud people.

Anyway, again, any Chinese outsiders fans are encouraged to reblog this and add headcanons of their own

[fuck-customers]

🚐🚐🚐🚐🚐🚐

24/10

I worked a seasonal position as a receptionist, and my boss offered me a temporary position helping out in another department for a month once my contract was up. I accepted on the basis that it was 30 hours a week max and all I'd be doing was admin tasks, no speaking with clients. Which after a season full of holidaymakers I was desperate for.

The week I'm supposed to start I receive no communication from who I was told was my new boss until the day before I'm supposed to go in for a little bit of training, and she's put out when I reiterate that that week there's two days I can't do due to previous commitments I made while I thought I'd be unemployed. And when I get to work on the training day, the person who actually will be my boss doesn't ever work that day, so my poor previous boss had to scramble to find something for me to do, since no one could train me nor could I get on the company system properly as my new boss hadn't sorted my contract.

I'm annoyed but hey, things happen. It's the first week, so there's bound to be hiccups, right?

I get to work the next week and my new boss starts to train me with the system I'll be using, only to be pulled away because we have an auditor in and of course that's more important. I don't mind that at all, but don't have me come in to work if you know you don't have time to train me. The same thing happens the following day and there's another new hire from a different department in the same position as me, so we end up doing hardly anything all day and feeling like spare parts. By this point I'm fairly pissed off that the three shifts I've done have been pointless, but I'll persist.

I do two more shifts this week, both of which are actually me being trained and working, and it's becoming very apparent that I will actually have to speak with clients for this role; it's not just helping the department catch up with paperwork. I'm very much feeling lied to, messed about, and like I'm not the right fit for the job, so I take the weekend to think about it, and message my new boss on Sunday morning to tell her that I'm grateful for the chance but I won't be coming back in. I was very polite in my message, I didn't mention my frustration with the disorganisation in the department, the fact that everyone looks down on you for actually taking your lunch break rather than just working at your desk while you eat, or that, morally, I cannot be involved in helping sell holiday homes to people on a site that's severely rat infested and crumbling, but the general manager refuses to spend any money to revamp the place.

I was very final with my message, which I think was obvious by the fact that I wished my new boss the best of luck and a good holiday season, so I figured that would be that. I'll admit my anxiety has me refusing to check whatsapp so I can't see what she's said, because a) I'm not ready for that and b) to me, it's done and dusted.

She's tried to call me five times in the last 20 minutes. I don't know what the hell she wants, but I'm not answering. My best guess would be she wants me to work my notice, but there's absolutely no point. I'm still not trained properly to do this new job, so at least some of my one weeks notice would be me being trained for a job I'm leaving. Normally I'd never quit without giving and working my notice, but in this instance it's pointless.

I'm not going to answer her calls or call her back. I don't care. Honestly, working on reception was bad enough; it's very clear that the company as a whole values profit over guests' happiness and safety. It's one thing to sell someone a holiday on our shit hole of a site, but it's another thing entirely to be a part of them becoming an owner of a run-down holiday home. At least with guests, I can give them vouchers or money off a future holiday or at a push a refund. With this new job, I can't do anything but apologise for the shitty situation I've helped put the new owners in. I wish I was brave enough to say that to my now ex-boss.

Posted by admin Rodney

[otakween]

Digimon World: Dusk (AKA Digimon Story Moonlight) - Final Thoughts

Another Digimon game done and dusted, woohoo! I finally played the game that JaidenAnimations made a video about (kinda). I definitely enjoyed it more than her, but I get her frustrations at the same time. Navigation was pretty ridiculous and most of the game was dumb side quests. Even though it expanded on the first Digimon Story game a bit, I definitely preferred Digimon World DS for its simplicity. I did really dig the aesthetics of this one though (pink and purple ftw!)

While a lot of the gameplay was tedious, all of the stuff I appreciated from the first game are still here. Great pixel art, fun digivolving mechanics, cool bosses, and a colorful world to explore. Overall, I thought it was a good time. Maybe it helped that I went in fully knowing what to expect and already understanding how to play?

Notes:

For a series called Digimon "Story" the story is always the weakest part. Like...what even was this story? It seemed like all of the usual nonsense to me. Every single digimon villain wants to rewrite the world and awaken the ultimate digimon yadda yadda yadda. The annoying thing in this one were all the weird inscrutable words they used. Of course I didn't write these down, but I remember at some point they wanted me to find the "D WORD" and I had no idea wtf a d word was nor did they ever explain it. Also, they suddenly called me a "real being" at the end which felt weird cuz it was the first time they used that phrase. The villain also mentioned "digi entelecheia" once or twice and I had completely forgotten what that was (okay maybe that one's my bad lol). Also, the city is always called "CITY" (in all caps) for no apparent reason. Just weird quirky stuff that had me confused for the majority of the game.

I didn't connect to a single character and completely forgot about Phascomon's existence until he popped up at the end. (I literally thought, "Who is that, this game's mascot or something?") The dialogue was kind of funny because the characters were constantly saying "we could try to solve this problem ourselves, but [player character] is so much better than us at everything, let's just let her do it" lol. Thanks guys...

Due to translation error, one dude kept misgendering me lol (called me "he" every time he spoke).

The animation of the main character going "aww shucks" whenever people gassed her up was really cute and I looked forward to it every time.

This game is actually HUGE. Kind of annoyingly so. There were all those random dark areas that I never really explored because I wasn't sure what the point of them was. I think there was also some kind of coliseum (maybe?) but I skipped that as well. There are also wifi connection features which are required for completionists which is kinda shitty nowadays.

Plenty of new digimon designs for me to enjoy. Really enjoyed Lunamon's digivolution line (hell yeah, Dianamon!). It was fun having a "dark" party for once. All of the giant bosses looked amazing too.

Although navigating this game was harder than it was in Digimon World DS, the game felt easier battle-wise. It's probably just due to all the built in grinding, but I beat the final bosses very easily. Of course, it helps that it's easy to become very rich and buy 99 of every item you need. I don't think I lost a single battle once.

This game introduced jogress digivolution but I simply never used it. I don't like just randomly combining digimon when I don't need to. If I was to 100% the game I may have experimented though.

One thing I missed from the first game was that you couldn't regress to the lowest digivolution for the best results anymore, you could only go back one digivolution at a time. I found this less satisfying, but I could see others seeing it as a plus.

The end credits that have you and your digimon parading by were very cute. That's always a nice touch. It was funny seeing my wimpy farm digimon that I never used included in the bunch.

Maybe I missed something but I wish the game had more equipment? Once you get to level 40 the options seemed pretty limited for some digimon types.

The interruptions of the farm report and digimon always getting new attacks got kind of annoying after awhile. I guess you wouldn't want to miss out on better attacks, but I wish the option to manage them was tucked away in a menu that you can pull up later instead of popping up after a battle. (Oh and getting a pop up to rename your digimon every time you digivolve...)

I missed being rewarded with tamer levels just for progressing through the story. I actually ended this game as a "normal tamer." I believe getting higher than that involves more fetch quests....I'm good for now.

I was pretty proud that I had a decent amount of mega-level digis at the end there. You can form some really badass parties in this game.

Wish I could teleport to 2007 and play this game with a friend who had Dawn so we could trade 🥺

Despite my gripes, I think this game has a lot going for it for the more hardcore Digimon fans that are willing to put up with some tedium. The eye candy alone made it worth it. I give it a 6 out of 10.