#athan time

[vampiiriic]

Cute date idea: let me drink your blood.

[bluecatwriter]

For everyone wondering how Jack knows the temperature of Jonathan's hands...

(I was too lazy to draw Jack's glasses, maybe he put them away or something.)

(Image description in Alt.)

[twofoursixohjuan]

how this 'grace' thing works

bloodhunter Athan, aka hand practice

[8cfc00]

the grotto prediction. matt's "other side" doesn't have an emily. emily uses the caves to visit his other side, because she wants to fix what she did. he does not recognise her? they then grow closer to each other, leading up to emily revealing what happened to matt and what matt did... culminating in accepting each other's deaths. in a way? matt and emily swap places?

[abyssalpriest]

OH THE FUCKING. THE -ATHAN ENDING ON JOHNATHAN LMFAOOO

[luvzshy]

-ˏˋ⋆MASTER LIST⋆ˊˎ-

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

Billie Eillish

⤷ canvas of emotions.

⤷ in focus

⤷ lost in the spotlight

⤷ meeting parents

⤷ the perfect surprise

⤷ after all this time

⤷ more than a song

⤷ beneath the hurt

⤷ stepping into the spotlight

⤷ the kiss that changed everything

⤷ the weight of worry

⤷ All i need is you

⤷ by your side

⤷ b-day wishes and christmas kisses

⤷ drive-thru moments

⤷ a different kind of love

⤷ heartbeats in the dark

⤷ a promise in the quiet

⤷ lullaby

⤷ a christmas to remember

⤷  A Quiet Togetherness

⤷ gf Billie Eillish

⤷ A Love in the Limelight

⤷ A Parisian Promise

⤷ No More Hiding

⤷ scars

⤷ soft eyes

⤷ endlessly yours

⤷ Protecting what matters

⤷ Holding the Fragments

⤷ Cuddle buddies

⤷ Double the Love

⤷ Argument

⤷ Journey of Love

⤷ Dance of Desire

⤷ i love you

⤷ first words

⤷ Unspoken Comfort

⤷ cuddles

⤷ Shattered Notes

⤷ just us

⤷ Beautifully Broken

⤷ Harmonies of Heat

⤷ The Girl Behind the Curtain

⤷ home

⤷ New faces

⤷ Whispers in the Dark

⤷ mimircy

⤷ Wrapped in Love

⤷ In the Shadows

⤷ Bruises in the Dark

⤷ sleepy

⤷ Too Hot To Handdle

⤷ Baby Girl

⤷ Mi amor

⤷ coffee shop

⤷ Silent Signals

⤷ vlog

⤷ Under the surface

⤷ Im Not Going Anywhere

⤷ chaos

⤷ Greatest Achievement

⤷ More athan Enough

⤷ On The Edge

Young Miko

⤷ siempre contigo

⤷ Caught on Camera

⤷ Late Night Grooves

⤷ Glimmer

⤷ Uncharted Waters

Sabrina Carpenter

⤷ Wrapped in You

⤷ Runway to Heart

⤷ When Words Break Us

⤷ gf! Sabrina Carpenter

⤷ surrender

⤷ coffee hearts

Heilee Stainfield

⤷ Bedtime

⤷ Just a Little Sunshine

⤷ Clumsy Crush

⤷ her girl

Florence Pugh

⤷ Sugar and Spice

Renne Rapp

⤷ Flirting and kisses

Love Quinn

⤷ gf Love Quinn

Vi

⤷ Bruised Knuckles, Broken Hearts

[thefringespod]

I've been following The Grotto since it was first announced (it has Fringes cast member @taytayheyhey!) And gods its absolutely incredible

Athan is doing a remarkable job balancing a realistic depiction of grief against the paranormal horror of it all. He's also turning these episodes around *so fast* like. Edited the last episode in an afternoon before releasing fast. I don't know how he does it but he's doing it

There are also ARG elements that have been released in between episodes (because Athan clearly wasn't doing enough before /j) which are super fun

Highly highly recommend The Grotto!!!

Anyone here picked up The Grotto yet? Three episodes in, fantastically executed. It's got caving to deal with grief, diverging outcomes, deeply flawed protagonists, the sinister inexplicable, original musical features, and excellent sound design.

[ppssession]

ของฝากจากการเดินทาง

Lathan just checked in to a hotel. This is a long holiday trip.

He chose to travel to the countryside of an Asian country. Luckily, there was a hotel nearby and it was close to the places he was going to visit. After checking in, Lathan set off.

He walked around the countryside to explore the beautiful nature. As time passed, he started to feel hungry. He looked for a restaurant and found an old shop.

When he entered the shop, he met an old man who looked harmless. The old man asked in a husky voice, “What would you like to eat, customer?”

Lathan was slightly startled, he politely replied, “Any local food.” After receiving the answer, the old man disappeared into the back of the shop. Lathan sat at the table for a while, the old man came out from the back of the shop with soup in his hand.

When the soup plate was in front of him, Athan took the first bite and put it in his mouth. He found the delicious taste and started to eat the soup with great relish. The whole scene was in the old man's sight, and the old man didn't blink even once.

เมื่ออาธานกินซุปเสร็จ เขากำลังจะจ่ายเงินค่าอาหาร แต่ชายชราเจ้าของร้านก็หยุดเขา

Old Man: No need to pay, I'll pay for you. Lathan thanked him for his kindness and walked away, with the old man smiling at him from behind.

When Lathan returned to the hotel, he immediately fell asleep on the soft bed.

In the middle of the night, Lathan felt a heat all over his body, as if something was burning him.

Lathan's body twitched and his eyes rolled back and forth, but everything slowly calmed down and Lathan fell asleep again.

In the morning, Lethan woke up and picked up his phone to check his face. Oh, it was better than I thought.

This body is mine now. I'm tired of being a boring old man in the countryside. Now the old man has possessed Lathan's body.

With a magical herb that has the power to make those who eat the first tree become possessed by those who eat the second tree.

Ahh, this young man's body is so good. I feel more life energy than an old person.

The old man wanted to leave this crazy place. The old man in Lathan's body packed his things and headed back to Australia. He looked at Lathan's ID card. Mr. Lathan's name is not bad. Here's my name.

Months later, the new Lathan is enjoying life.

“Who should I have fun with today? Thank you for coming to me to give me your body, Lathan,” he said, running his hand over his erect penis in his pants.

Okay, this is the first non-Asian guy I've written lol. Hope you like it. This was a small request from my followers and friends, but I'm sorry, this was supposed to be posted an hour ago but I got caught up in other things. Hope you like it.

[kalpeavaris]

Finally! The designs for the main trio for the furry/creature!AU is ready... OTL only took me like a month to complete and I still have to design clothes for N & V, but... that'll be done another day when I dont have a raging headache LMAO

more below the cut!

UZI - Theme; "Dangerous Stranger"

Dwarf bat, is slightly smaller than most of her peers - got her heigh from her dad (and not from her mother, obviously LOL)

VERY fluffy neck area, which puffs out when she's angry or embarassed. It happens alot especially during her earlier arc, since she's not really used to be around people.

Has a dormant/inactive strain of the rabies-like virus the Solver belongs to, however, despite its dormant status it does affect her personality and behaviour slightly! She's way more unhinged than OG Uzi, especially in her post-arc.

LOVES raves/rave music. Differently from OG Uzi she's less of an emo/goth personality and more of a 2000s raver girlie (which is evident in her theme lol)

Loud mouthed and WILL voice her opinion, lol

Her mom is a touchy subject and she WILL get angry when you push her about it too much

In the beginning of her story Uzi's fairly similar to OG Uzi - snarky, pushes people away and hates it when they care for her well-being, assuming that people just fake being nice in order to get something from her. She's not particularily insecure, but rather "too" self-preserving and just doesn't really want to get hurt in the long run. Losing her mother has taken a toll on her mental health and being infected with the solver-strain doesn't really help

Later on, she opens up and allows her true personality to finally shine through... which is slightly unhinged. Actually, very unhinged, but in an... kind of adorable way :']] She gets way more self-confident and allows people to approach her, which also helps when Cyn moves in with them

N(ATHAN)

Harpy Eagle, fairly tall (7'2" / 2,20m) and muscular for his species. Strong! Has a very prominent keel (sternum) visible on his chest

His hair behind the cap are more like feathers and correspond to his emotions! Can floof up or lay flat

Fourth toe on his feet is very moveable and can be turned so it's infront with his other three primary toes - he can grab stuff fairly easily thanks to his anatomy & carry it with ease!

Similar to Vera, he was "born" in the lab and cloned from another harpy eagles DNA (he doesn't know who though)

A bit naive and sometimes too good-hearted, trusts easily but if his trust is broken through actual malice he won't hold back if need be

Very good fighter, especially in the air

Carrier, can travel fairly fast by flight!

Ends up with Thad later on in the story, teehee >:]]c

V(ERA)

Egyptian Mau x Oriental Longhair, shaves alot of her longer fur for work purpose - only her tail remains with long fur, but it's fairly unkempt due to lack of time to properly care for it during the main story.

Blind in right eye due to a former work contract going wrong, uses glasses to take some load off of her left eye during work

Plantigrade, prefers to be barefoot though even if there are boots available for her to wear

Works together with Nathan for the Elliott Labratories (running errands, delivering dangerous substances/test containers/diseases etc.)

Dislikes working with Janette, the Labs secretary

Heavily into oldschool rock and punk music (fights with Uzi alot about music lol)

Knows how to drive cars! :]

Was "born" in the labs (artifical creation from the cells of two cats)

Infected with the same inactive/dormant Rabies-Strand that Nori, Yeva and Uzi carry - which she is aware off. She also knows that Nathan has it, but hasn't told him yet due to being afraid of it affecting him too harshly.

[twofoursixohjuan]

YES YES I LOVE IT augh she is so perfect I simply cannot handle her

the thing? with the affection? it's so good? I can't? she makes so much sense to me now?

fuck I love them to bits

iiiiiiit's VEL TIME!

3, 4, 19 and 23 please!

You know it's her!!!! Velocity Decibel!!

3. What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

Definitely honesty. Trust. Borderline naivety. She has good intentions and likes to believe that everyone does too - not to a stupid degree, but she likes to believe the best.

Whether she's aware of it is a bit tricky, because Vel isn't a particularly interospective person, but she is actually a little aware. But despite that little awareness, she does it anyway (perhaps that's her true flaw? that she has to believe?)

4. When scared, does your OC fight, flee, freeze or fawn?

Fawn. For sure. She's talked her way out of worse she'll talk her way out of this.

19. How does your OC behave when enraged?

I've never really thought about this - Vel isn't an angry sort of person. Frankly, I think they don't actually know. They've probably not been that angry ever. (I also don't know I'd have to feel it out, but my tendency is a disconcerting, total stillness)

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

Oh this is a good one. Most general emotions - joy, sadness, grief, worry, anger, love, Veli can process through music, which is typically how they deal with their feelings. I think something they would really struggle with would be shame - that flat, no-ways-around I fucked up. Something bad happened and it was unequivocally my fault. I tried my best and it couldn't help. It would be so bad purely because she's such an optimist - she has to believe the best, but it means that often she's not prepared for it to fall through.

Expression-wise, I think Veli would probably actually struggle with expressing deep affection. Not that she finds it difficult to express herself, but that she finds it difficult to express in a way that helps the other person understand how deeply she actually likes them. She can often seem so flighty and carefree, and can very easily come off as a bit of a fair-weather friend.

[sunflowerwizard]

We Don't Talk About Abdel: the ""Canon"" Gorion's Ward and Why I Hate Him

If you've only played Baldur's Gate 3 you may have heard of Abdel Adrian. The Hero of Baldur's Gate, late Grand Duke, and Bhaalspawn who died, badly.

There is, unfortunately a lot you might not know. Spoilers ahead for the original Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, and Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal. And their shitty novelizations you should not read.

Your choices matter. Allegedly.

There are many ways to handle continuity in a series of choice-heavy RPGs with custom main characters. There's the approach the original Fallout games did, by setting the second installment long enough after the first, that your player character can be vaguely alluded to without much friction. There's the Bioware approach, of uploading your save data from previous games to slightly effect the world in the next one. And then there's the Baldur's Gate series, which splits the difference and makes the worst of both worlds: a century has past and there's no cheeky vagueness to transplant your own player character as the Hero of Baldur's Gate. It is Abdel Adrian's world and we are merely living in it.

I'd argue there's one thing that very clearly separates a Commander Shepherd from an Abdel Adrian, and that's serving a role in a game that lines up with the story being told.

What's the deal with Bhaalspawn?

I'd like to get one thing out of the way first. Bhaalspawn =/= The Dark Urge. I only mention this because I've seen some people assume all Bhaalspawn operate on the "sleeper cell turbo murderer" framework that the DU does. The majority of the first Baldur's Gate game, the player character themself doesn't know they're in any way unusual. You get ominous dream sequences as the story progresses, up until the Big Reveal.

At which point, one of the themes reveals itself: nature versus nurture. Your PC is a 20-something year old young adult who lived inside a walled town, and had their entire support system torn away the second they left. Unless you've chosen to roleplay that way, they may not have ever felt a particular inclination towards violence. This is in stark contrast with Big Bad, your half-brother Sarevok whose upbringing was filled with struggle and violence.

It's even more apparent in Throne of Bhaal, when you're confronted with it outright: what if your places had been switched? Maybe you would've committed even more atrocities than your half-brother.

We now have to talk about the books. Unfortunately. Canonically the novelization of Baldur's Gate is the origin of Abdel Adrian. He is Philip Athans' brainchild and there's fuck all we can do about it. Unless I get a word of god response from Wizards of the Coast or story beats are directly contradicted in other BG-related media that has come out since, I am treating the events of the books as canon.

A narrative treadmill of a character arc

The game starts out in relatively bog-standard hero's journey fashion. It's morning in Candlekeep, you're leaving home for the very first time with your adoptive dad, and he's been very cagey about the details other than "we need to leave, I'll explain later."

Abdel Adrian, has already left Candlekeep at the start of the novel. He's already in his mid-twenties, and has been traveling the Sword Coast as a sword-for-hire for nearly a decade (presumably cornering the child soldier market). He also really likes killing people, hence his line of work. The big inciting incident with Gorion happens because he sent Abdel a letter about needing to talk, at which point Sarevok shows up, kills Gorion, who tells Abdel to seek out Jahiera and Khalid with his dying breath.

I'll break down my issues with this point by point. -Abdel is very clearly not a level 1 character. Perhaps this is a petty point, but isn't half the fun of this style of fantasy story watching the protagonist grow in skill, until they can eventually face off against the seemingly indomitable Big Bad? Spoiler: Abdel is already at the peak of his Swordsmanship Power™ and we will not see any growth on that front.

-What are the stakes, actually? We went from "everything I know and love has been torn away from me. I'm a level 1 adventurer in a big, dangerous world and cannot go home." to "I'm a big tough fighterman with a penchant for murder who's going to avenge the father figure the book tell-not-shows you I cared about" Like my previous point, we have no baseline, no sense of what the main character has truly lost. I'm much less interested in watching someone start from the middle and fight their way to the top, than seeing someone from rock bottom getting there.

-His Bhaalspawn heritage manifests itself as murdergremlin tendencies. If you've not encountered a player with murdergremlin tendencies while playing a ttrpg, you've almost certainly heard horror stories about them. The guy who loves to escalate encounters into combat, who threatens and maims because "it's what my character would do" and often times view themselves as the main character.

If that sounds exhausting, this is the character whose head we're trapped inside. A guy whose two big motivators are murder and sex, whose external moral compass is his love interest (Jahiera deserved better). AND EVEN THEN by the end of the second book, the only growth he has experienced as a character is "maybe sometimes I won't murder everyone who makes me angry" when he just point-blank refuses to kill the antagonist of BG2. Oh, but not before he had sex with and violently murdered the other main antagonist who was also a woman.

"Okay the books are awful, but why be angry at Abdel?"

Because by virtue of WOTC continuing to use "Abdel Adrian" as THE Hero of Baldur's Gate and a canon character, those books are still canon. SOME elements had to be retconned for being incongruent with the games (did I mention in the first novel Abdel leaves Khalid to die during a fight in the first novel?) but otherwise? I've seen no revisions to his base character. And now every piece of Baldur's Gate media is built on this shitty, rotten foundation.

Are these points somewhat petty? Yes! Either Wizards should've come up with an entirely new stand-in Bhaalspawn to wash the shit taste of those novelizations out of everyone's mouths, or they should've written future material to only vaguely allude to BG 1&2's protagonist. The Bhaalspawn saga was wrapped up perfectly fine in Throne of Bhaal. Either he should've stayed dead with Cyric taking on his domain, or find another way to bring him back. Abdel Adrian having .0001% Bhaal Juice still in his blood and thus turning into The Slayer is a "Somehow, Palpatine returned" way of doing it.

On the off chance anyone is morbidly curious about the terrible novels, me and some pals did a live-reading not too long ago. If this post gets 100 notes I will make a Greatest Hits compilation of terrible moments. Spoiler: one of them includes the "spider in her cleavage" scene.

[probsnothawkeye]

Its apparently #InternationalPodcastDay which typically i would use any excuse to talk about my friends shows but today I'd like to talk about my own shows and the work I've been doing there/in other shows I've been a part of! I don't usually talk about myself but I'm gonna try!

Starting off with @thefringespod which is my first show and love of my creative life. This show started as a way to get used to writing and voice acting and has grown into something I'm incredibly proud of. Season 3 is currently airing which is the final season of the show. I've known where this show ends since the very start and to get to share this ending with y'all as brought to life by the incredible people I've gotten to work with has been nothing short of magical for me. I've loved working on this show so much and am going to miss it 💜

@forgedbondspod is what i lovingly call a misuse of my degree in Classics. It's a love letter to the gods, to mythology, and to the tradition of storytelling which will be kicking off this December and is chock full of wonderful and amazing people that I'm so lucky to work with! When I first thought about re-writing Hephaestus and Aphrodite's story with a trans lead, I thought I would write a book but getting to turn this concept into a podcast and hear these characters brought to life has been absolutely amazing and I can't wait for yall to hear it

I will take a brief pause to talk about @totcoc0a and @taytayheyhey who i met in the process of making the Fringes and have dragged along to Forged Bonds. These are two wildly talented people and getting to be their friend is as close to a blessing as exists in this world

In terms of other shows I'm in, the first show i was in that I didn't make was the fantastic @grottopod ! Athan asked if anyone was interested in playing David's mom so I sent in some audition takes and he let me play the character. I love Nicole with my whole heart and getting to play her (twice!) was a gift. I have a Grotto tattoo, that's how much I love this show, and knowing that I got to be a little part of it never fails to make me giddy

I also got to be in @woebegonepod this year which has been a delight and an honor and I'll never get over getting to play Magnolia i love them so much and there are ImplicationsTM about them which make me excited about future woe.begone shenanigans. Having Dyaln reach out and be like "hey would you want to be in an episode" fully had me wiggling like an excitable worm and both episodes i got to be in were phenomenal its truly so wonderful to be part of this podcast

I got to narrate an absolutely incredible story over on Cast of Wonders which was about grief and guilt and it makes me emotional every time. Getting to do prose narration like this for a podcast has been wonderful and stretches a different skill set which I've loved doing

Now that I've talked about myself more than usual it's time to talk about the lovely friends that I've made by working in this space because gods podcasts have brought the most amazing people into my life and I'm incredibly grateful to know and work with them. Long list incoming! @delaylays @louis-dc @kit-n-kboodl @allatseapod @doomedbythenarrativ @audistorium @madd-vo @athansmusic @/NataliesDreami @/macabremezzo @/codyvmwastaken @/MrTusk6 @tellnotalespod @ethicstownpod @chainofbeing @justjenah the aforementioned Tay & Tot & all of my wonderful casts It is an honor and joy to work with and know all of these wonderful people and to support all of the amazing things they're creating

I will never get over how lucky I am to be in this space with such amazing people making amazing shows that improve my life exponentially

Happy International Podcast Day to all of my fellow podcasters, podcast lovers, and to everyone who wants to start making podcasts! This world is better with our stories in it and I can't wait to keep listening to all of the wonderful things being created in this space

[storiesfromgaza]

Do you see this young man? His name is Nabil, Nabil Halabiya, and he is 20 years old.

Now do you see all these soldiers? These are the occupation forces' soldiers during their siege of a house in the town of Abu Dis, east of Al-Quds (not in Gaza), where Nabil was located. They besieged him for six hours, trying to apprehend him, but he resisted and fought them alone. Six hours, a young man of only twenty years, battling them from his house.

When they couldn't capture him, they callously decided to bomb the house where he had taken refuge with "ENERGA: anti-tank rifle grenade" shells to kill him under the debris.

They then brought in a bulldozer to demolish what remained and retrieve his body from beneath the rubble with sheer brutality.

For seven continuous hours, they besieged him in his home, armed with only one weapon.

Even when it was time for prayer, he fearlessly called the Athan ( a call given to announce that it is time for a particular obligatory prayer) and reciting the Quran from his house, while the soldiers surrounded his home from the outside, intent on killing him.

[llithiaskyla]

guys do u like my x men oc say yes (lore + closeup under the cut)

Athanasius Constantine, 19 and freshly immigrated to the US 😘

He was born around the same time as Erik, before WW2, and, (unfortunately) lived through it as a child. (take from this what you will, greece was an awful place to be at the time)

He lived in Greece at the time, and moved with his infant sister to the US when he turned 18 after killing his father 😜

There's so much more but during first class he's one of the mutants that they scout, or at least try to, because Athan doesn't take them up on the offer until a few years before days of future past

guess what the scar is from and you'll get a fat juicy kiss (..sorry)

[pileofboneswrites]

QUEEN OF THE FREAKS_series.strangerthings

vol 1. — jonathan

SUMMARY — you reminisce on how you and jonathan became friends.

PAIRINGS — fem!henderson!reader x platonic!jonathan byers | fem!henderson!reader x platonic!eddie munson | fem!henderson!reader x platonic!robin buckley

WORD COUNT — 2.7k

WARNINGS — bullying, violence, blood, swearing.

SERIES | NEXT

NOW.

"you're sure it's not a bother?" you ask jonathan, bouncing on your toes as you walk beside him.

"you're never a bother," jonathan sighs, adjusting the strap of the bag on his shoulder.

you roll your eyes, "yeah, but that means coming back to the school to pick me up,"

you'd learned from one of your team mates, that your cheer practice had been moved from tomorrow, to today last minute. normally, you and jonathan take turns driving each other to and from school, and on days you have practice or he works you just take your own cars. however, as it was last minute, you weren't informed until you walked into your homeroom class this morning. finally, he stops walking, turning to look at you head on.

"it's okay, seriously, we've made bigger detours for will's and dustin's club. it's not a big deal to come back to pick you up," there's a hint of irritation to his voice, but that normally pops up when you pester your best friend about his decisions. he sighs, dropping his gaze to your feet.

you nod, "i just don't—"

"wanna be a burden," he finishes, "you're not a burden. i'll be in the parking lot at 4:30,"

"5:30," you correct, and he smiles, nodding as he follows a group of students out into the parking lot.

you can't help but smile a little as you watch him dodge a freshman who nearly knocks into him. you and jonathan have been best friends since you moved to hawkins in the eighth grade. it was luck that his younger brother, will, also ended up becoming friends with your younger brother, dustin. you very distinctly remember meeting jonathan for the first time.

1980

it was your first day at hawkins middle school, and one of your new classmates was shoving a boy to the dirt. his books and papers flew all over and the bully just cackled, watching jonathan struggle to gather his things.

you went against every rule you'd made for yourself over the summer. you wanted it to be different here than it was where you used to live. you wanted to be liked, and respected. unfortunately your morals won out as soon as you parked your bike.

you immediately ran over to where jonathan was hurriedly trying to piece his things back together, and begin grabbing some of the stray loose pages. You looked like a maniac, especially when the wind began to pick up and launched the pages into the air. that didn't stop you.

"wh-why are you helping me?" jonathan mumbled, watching you organize the pages flat and hand them over to him.

"i've been where you are," you replied simply, handing him his things. "what's your name?"

"jonathan byers," he said, barely making eye contact with you.

you offered him a small smile, "i'm y/n henderson, nice to meet you."

"oh, whose this? freak-athan has a girlfriend?" the bully commented, watching the pair of you head towards the school.

"no shithead," you snapped. "one, his name is jonathan, and two, he's got a friend, and i suggest you take a step back before you get hurt,"

"oh i'm shaking," the kid muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes and walking away.

"if he messes with you again, let me know." you tell jonathan, but he doesn't reply.

the rest of your day continued uneventfully, you'd had to introduce yourself to the class, but most of your new classmates were very welcoming. you'd made friends with two other girls, nancy wheeler and barbra holland. they were nice, but you kept finding yourself drifting towards jonathan.

at lunch, you purposely sought jonathan out, and found him sitting outside in the grass under a lone tree. far enough away from all the other kids, and all alone. he had half a sandwich in his hand, and a book in the other, obviously preoccupied. you almost felt bad for disturbing him. almost.

"can I sit with you?" you asked, peering down at jonathan through your bangs, your bagged lunch in your hands.

"why would you want to?" he replied, despite what sounded like a protest, he scooted over to give you some room.

he set his book down on his knee face down as not to lose his spot, and quickly finished his sandwich half.

"why wouldn't i want to?" you countered, and he finally looked up at you, really taking in your appearance.

you wore an old queen tshirt, jeans, and your favourite dark green converse. you had a flannel shirt tied around your hips, and your backpack hung from your left shoulder. you drop your bag, and sit next to him on the ground.

"cause i'm not exactly "cool"," he said, making air quotes with his hands.

"who cares about cool? you seem like you could use a friend, and i want to be that friend." you huffed, slightly annoyed at his persistence to dodge you.

"i like being alone," he shrugged, watching you empty your lunch bag.

"shit," you muttered mindlessly, going over the contents of your bag and then rummaging through your backpack in search of your sandwich.

"what?" jonathan asked, eyeing you.

your shoulders slumped, irritated that dustin had distracted you to the point of forgetting your sandwich. you'd been in a rush, dustin decided to turn back over and fall alseep after you woke him, and that made you late. after you'd gotten out of the shower, you realized he was radio silent, which knowing dustin either meant he was asleep or up to no good. considering it was 7:15, the former made more sense than the latter.

"forgot my sandwich," you grumbled, staring down at your small pile of pretzels, two juice boxes, an apple and a homemade brownie you'd baked the previous night.

"you can have the other half of mine," he sighed, holding the ziploc bag containing the sandwich out towards you.

"really?" you questioned, skeptical at his sudden change.

"take it before i change my mind,"

you turned your head to fully look at him, and there was a small smile crawling its way up his face. you didn't push it. you took the sandwich from him, and took a bite before you leaned down to break your brownie in half. jonathan's gaze was far off, watching something in the distance. you smiled to yourself as you sat up straight, and poked him in the arm to regain his attention.

"oh," he mumbled, looking down at the obviously bigger piece in your outstretched hand, his eyes flickered back up to you. "are you—"

"take it before i change my mind," you smiled, and you could tell he visibly relaxed, a real smile making it's way up to his eyes as he took it from you.

and suddenly, jonathan wasn't so opposed to you sticking around. the pair of you credit that moment as the beginning of your friendship, but what truly solidified your friendship and reaffirmed to jonathan that you were there for him happened two months later.

it was a friday, and the plan was for you and jonathan to drop your brothers off at home with your mom's and then meet up at the arcade and grab pizza after. that had been the plan. straight forward, and fun. but after you dropped dustin off at home, you biked to the arcade and waited. after twenty minutes of waiting, you began to worry. jonathan was having a hard time with his bullies especially after you stepped in on your first day. which was something you didn't know. you decided to bike the route jonathan always took home after a night at the arcade, having done it with him numerous times you had it memorized.

you barely got two blocks away when you heard the laughter. you perked up immediately, recognizing it as one of the boys in your class. you slowed your speed, seeing a trail of bikes leading into and alley. your eyes trailed them, and your heart dropped into your stomach when you saw jonathan's. you dropped your bike, and ran towards the laughter. you found five boys from your class standing in a half circle, obscuring your view. it didn't take much for you to realize that the ring leader daniel was hurting jonathan.

"what the hell are you assholes doing?!" you shouted, startling them to the point they jumped out of the way, giving you a clear view of your best friend on his knees, blood pouring from his nose.

"oh look at that, freak-athan's girlfriend's coming to his rescue again." daniel said, tauntingly.

you shoved him out of your way, hard. he stumbled, and tripped landing square on his ass. you knelt down next to jonathan to inspect his wounds. the kid growled, quickly climbing to his feet as you stood again. he stepped so close to you that your noses almost touched.

"you're going to regret that," he spat, saliva fanning across your cheeks.

it took every fiber in your being not to recoil in disgust at the smell of his breath. you rolled your eyes, and firmly stood your ground as his gaggle of on lookers held their breath in anticipation of the coming fight.

"trust me, you're the only one going to regret anything if you go down this road daniel." you replied, smiling sweetly up at him.

"i'm not scared of you henderson, you're just a girl." he chuckled, taking a step back. "it's not worth it,"

you're not quite sure why, but that made you see red. like a bull in a china shop, you trudged forward, fists clenched as you tackled the taller boy to the ground. you wailed on him, fists flying so fast he barely had a chance to block you, let alone fight back.

"how's this for a girl!?" you shouted, landing a punch to his left eye.

ganiel wiggled underneath you, screaming as you finally stopped swinging. you panted, staring down at the crying boy beneath you. anger coursed through you, hot and heavy.

"you ever lay a hand on jonathan again, this will all seem like a sweet dream. got it?" you snarled, glancing up at at his goons, then back down at daniel.

snot and tears streamed down daniel's face, you gripped the sides of his jacket, hauling him up slightly.

"do. you. understand?" you whispered through gritted teeth, and he slowly nodded. "good," you smiled widely, and climbed back off of him, to walk back over to jonathan.

jonathan stared up at you wide-eyed, unblinking as you pulled a packet of tissues from your pocket and began gently wiping away the blood on his face.

"do you think it's broken?" you whispered, and he shook his head. "i'm really sorry about that,"

now that the adrenaline began wearing off, embarrassment about the situation was beginning to set in. daniel was right about one thing. you are just a girl. once word of what you did goes around, you're sure you're going to hear about it from every adult. you tried to push those worries aside, and focus on getting jonathan as cleaned up as you could.

"it was badass," jonathan replied, and without hesitation wrapped you in a hug. "thank you,"

you smiled slightly, wrapping your arms around him in return. "always,"

NOW.

"done daydreaming?" chrissy cunningham asks you, bumping your shoulder with hers as she passes you.

twirling as she continues walking. you giggle, and follow her towards the gym. she walks instep with you, bouncing slightly on her feet.

"so, you and jonathan?" she asks, side-eying you as you open the door to the gym for her to pass through.

"oh," you mumble, and then shake your head. "no, no, jonathan's just my best friend. he's been in love with nancy wheeler longer than i've lived in hawkins."

her blonde eye brows raise, and you cringe. some best friend. you think.

"which you did not hear from me," and she giggles.

"that one's pretty obvious, i've caught him staring at her more times than i can count. kinda why i asked, didn't want you getting your hopes up."

"ha, no. i have no romantic feelings for him. he's just my best friend. was the first one i made when i moved here," you tell her, and she smiles.

"that's nice that you guys are still friends, i don't think i'm still friends with any of the kids I knew when I first started here..."

"well, you do spend all your time with the other cheerleaders. not that that's a bad thing, purely an observation."

she shrugs, "yeah i guess that would make sense,"

"alright!" your captain yells, gathering everyone's attention. "let's get into formation!"

practice went off without much of an issue, until the end. e.veryone was stretching; sitting, standing, laying down in various positions and areas across the gym floor. like most nights at the end of practice, you were by yourself. sure, you loved cheerleading, but the other girls? no so much. chrissy is the exception on that. mind you, chrissy's sweet to everyone. you didn't think the girl had it in her to be mean to anyone.

the problem came with her being a bystander too worried about the others to make them stop. and they always had it out for you due to who you'd prefer to spend time off the pyramid with.

"henderson's such a freak. she's a fantastic cheerleader, but she follows jonathan around like a damn puppy." one girl says loudly, the other three girls she's sitting with giggling as they all stare at you.

"maybe she's in love with him," another replies, "poor girl doesn't even realize he wants nancy wheeler,"

you try your best to ignore them, their taunting never seems to change, recycling all the same things over and over. your annoyance with them is less their issue with jonathan, and more their negativity. for the leaders on pep they do a pretty shit job on being peppy.

"or maybe you lot are just fucking idiots, and jonathan is someone worth talking to." you shoot back, glaring the three of them down. "y'know, maybe if any of you could try being nice to literally anyone you'd realize how shitty your personalities are. outer beauty is only around for so long before you have a chicken neck, and saggy fucking tits. at that point, all that's left is how much of a goddamn waste of oxygen you are."

they stare at you, mouths hanging open at your comment. you flip them off as you get up, and walk out of the gym. you find jonathan's car idling out front, and slide into the passenger seat. he looks at you, and you just stare straight ahead out the windshield.

"how was pr–" he starts, and you shake your head.

"i think I'm going to quit." you reply, turning to buckle yourself in.

"but you love being a cheerleader," he says, and you just shrug. "what happened?"

"i don't really wanna talk about it," the fierce look in your eyes tells him to not push, so he doesn't.

"uh, okay."

the ten minute drive to your house is quiet between the pair of you. jonathan can feel the anger radiating off you in waves, but knows that it's usually best to leave you alone when you get quiet like this. he slows to a stop in front of your house, putting the car in park. you stare at your house for a moment, deep in thought. jonathan clears his throat, and you turn your head to look at him.

"your turn tomorrow," he tells you, "will and dustin have av club after school though so we have about two hours to go to the arcade or something, if you want?"

"sounds like fun," you reply, unable to help the smile that spreads across your lips. "we haven't been to the arcade in years,"

"that's why i suggested it, i think you could use the distraction."

"thanks..." you lean over and hug jonathan tightly, before slipping out of the car and bouncing up to your house.