#black label skateboards

[warhead]

[spencerlj]

Black Label Mike Vallely Black and Blue

Width: 7.75" Length: 31.5" Wheelbase: 14.25"

Bought this to restore the image. Heavily used and worn but will see how this turns out.

[andavs]

Beers of 9-1-1

Updating my post on the beers of 911 to include the rest of s6 and all of s7! A few more got added because either the show added more, some got used a couple more times, or I just finally managed to figure out the names that have been haunting me.

All of these beers are fictional prop brands, and many have been used in other movies and shows. They come from prop vendors, not the 911 prop department itself.

The show uses a lot of brands of beer! Different brands will peak and get used a lot in one or two seasons, and then they tend to get relegated to background extras, or occasionally a non-main character will drink one. It adds variety and a little realism, so not everyone is always drinking the same beer.

There's been many more beyond these, but they've either been used once, they're only in the background, or I can't read the labels—yet.

Alexander’s Famous Ale This beer was mostly used in season two. Chimney was drinking it in Chimney Begins and then Athena and Hen each had one while discussing the bank heist in Oceans 911—the only time they’ve had beer during their chats. Since then, it’s become a background beer that extras drink, but Ramon was drinking one during Eddie’s homecoming party, and Red was drinking one when he and Buck first met. There was a can of it on a table at the bachelor party in There Goes the Groom.

American Colonial A new beer with season seven that so far has only appeared in There Goes the Groom.

Blind Fox Ale This was the most used beer before Genuine took its place in season six, but as of 7.10 they're tied. It was used the most through seasons two and three. Buck has had it the most (six times), but Chimney, Hen, Eddie, Tommy, and Michael all drank it too. It hung out in the background a bit, and then came back when Eddie and Buck drank it at the bachelor party in There Goes the Groom.

Brenner’s Black Cat Brew This is a mostly background/set dressing beer. Buck, Chimney, and Maddie each had one while talking about the call center takeover in The Taking of Dispatch 911, but otherwise it mostly shows up in the background or in fridges (usually Buck’s).

Cerveza Extra This is a Corona Extra dupe that was mostly used in the third season. Chimney was drinking one in the party for Buck in Kids Today, and he drank several at the bar during Seize the Day. Buck was drinking one when Eddie dropped off Chris in The Searchers, he had one at Eddie’s party in Seize the Day, and then he served one to Connor in Peru in Buck Begins. There were also a couple around Eddie’s house in Seize the Day.

Curson Light This is a Coors Lite dupe that’s only popped up a few times. Buck and Eddie each have one in Fallout, when Buck’s apologizing for not being there during the lawsuit. Eddie has another one in Fools while he’s talking to Buck about Chris, while Buck has a Grand Ale. It was also used for extras in the bar scene in Seize the Day.

Genuine Genuine first popped up in Hen Begins; Hen drinks one while she’s out with Athena for the first time. After that, it didn’t show up again until Hen and Chimney’s reunion in Fear-a-Phobia, but in season 6, it became the most used beer of the whole show.

Eddie and Buck drink it the most (Let the Games Begin, Recovery, Mixed Feelings) but so do a lot of other characters and extras. The guy who blew up his neighbor in Crash & Learn was drinking one, Buck gave one to Connor in Recovery, and Chimney and Maddie had a bunch in their fridge in Lost & Found. A number of the extras around the poker game were drinking it, and they were sprinkled around the hotel room in There Goes the Groom.

Grand Ale Grand Ale was pretty much only used in the third season. Chimney drank it while he and Maddie discussed having kids in Kids Today and during the poker game with Josh in Fools. Buck also had one in Fools while he and Eddie were talking about Chris and the skateboard. Michael had one with dinner in Athena Begins. It got used in the background a couple times, and Rita/Jeanine was carrying one at the beginning of What’s Your Grievance? in season four, but as far as I can tell, it hasn’t come back.

Heisler Gold Ale Heisler didn’t appear in the show until There Goes the Groom at the bachelor party, and so far it hasn’t been used since.

This is such a well known prop beer that it has a cult following. You can get it on shirts. It’s been used in How I Met Your Mother and New Girl and probably hundreds of other shows and movies.

Isla Tropical This is mostly a background beer for set dressing, but Lucy was drinking one in Love is in the Air when Buck and Natalia ran into her at the bar. It showed up a few times in What’s Your Fantasy?, scattered around the college house where Darius lives.

Meichtry Lite & Draft We have yet to see anyone actually drinking these beers, but they are used for set dressing, specifically in Buck and Chimney’s fridges (Recovery, Starting Over), and at the frat house call in Animal Instincts. It’s also a pretty common prop beer that’s been in a lot of shows. (Note the Brenner’s Black Cat in Buck’s fridge on the left behind the ginger beer!)

Mendoza Lager This beer showed up mid-season five in Outside Looking In. Buck was drinking one at the bar, and he had another in Starting Over on his balcony with Maddie. Hen drank a couple on her first date with Karen in Tomorrow. It was also on the counter behind Ramon in Hero Complex.

Penn Pavel’s This beer has only been used twice. In Kid’s Today, Buck had a couple open on the counter when Eddie came to get him out of bed, and then Eddie was drinking one at Buck’s loft during Treasure Hunt.

Rio Negro So far, Eddie’s the only main character who drinks Rio Negro. He and Lena each had one at the junkyard fight in Rage, he had a couple at the bar in Seize the Day, and he had a couple at his parents’ house in Hero Complex. As far as I can tell, this is the only beer that’s this character-specific.

This beer comes up regularly with background extras, usually in bar scenes, and extras were drinking it during the party at Eddie’s house in Seize the Day. In Step Nine, Herman was holding one in the photo on his dashboard.

Samuel Jacksons This is a fairly new one and a Samuel Adams dupe. It first popped up in Boston, while Chimney and Eli were talking in Eli’s basement and there were a couple scattered around in the bagpipe rescue scene, and then it came back in season 7. Buck opened one before Tommy kissed him in Buck, Bothered, and Bewildered, and then he and Eddie were both drinking one when Buck came out to him in You Don't Know Me.

Tux’s Red Ribbon This beer is a Pabst Blue Ribbon dupe and has only been in two episodes. Chimney had one at the party he was hosting at the end of A Whole New You, and then it was the only beer anyone drank in In Another Life. Buck and Chimney each had one, and Buck, Daniel, and Phillip all had one together on Buck’s couch—which is notable as something being off because Phillip is usually drinking scotch. I don’t believe it’s ever been used as a background beer.

[swiss-mrs]

#WEIRD☆GIRL

(Word Count: 4.6k)

Rating: PG-13, Adult Language and Themes, All Characters are 18+

Reader/OC Description: Reader/OC is Afro-Latina. She has long, dyed black hair that is worn straight with baby bangs and shaved brows. She is an alt baddie and would've definitely ruled MySpace. Body shape/type is not detailed. No Use of Y/N.

Playlist

Synopsis: One day, while Dave and Todd are out, they pass by a park void of screaming kids. Instead, the park is taken up by a group of what looks to be a mix of teenagers and young adults. Passing by the loud group, the boys can't help but stare, mixing Dave up with a girl more socially unacceptable than him.

Warnings(?): Adult Language, Sexual Themes (No Smut, Just Horny Boy Thoughts), Catcalling (Potentially Triggering Language)

This is written in third person but mainly narrated from Dave's view.

》》》

"I can't believe they had it!" Todd exclaims, gripping the plastic bag in his hand tight. Dave nods, gripping his backpack straps.

"Yeah, we need to start coming here more often. They have everything. We gotta bring Marty with us when he gets back."

Today marked the first day of the boys' last Spring Break. Marty was out of town on a trip to Florida with his family, so this cut down the trio to a duo, Dave and Todd. The two were currently walking along a street on the other side of town than their usual hangout. Todd found a new comic and video game store, and he and Dave figured they'd check it out.

"I can't wait to read it."

"Remember, no spoilers until I pick up my edition too." Dave replied. As they round a corner to get to their bus stop, they are greeted with the sight of a large clearing between buildings.

On the closest side to the boys was a skate park. It had a decent amount of skaters occupying it, echoes of skateboards landing against concrete traveling throughout the park. As the boys walked passed, they could hear the sound of music. The further they walk, the closer the music gets.

The current song that was playing was what Dave imagined rugged bikers with dark sunglasses and handlebar mustaches listened to. Scary and intimidating. It was muddy and grungy and punk and metal? He wasn't well versed enough to really know how to label its genre. Just as one song came to an end, another just like it followed.

He and Todd were both staring at the group surrounding the picnic table that held the speaker. Each one was different from the next, but they all had a similar dark and grungy style.

Something that immediately caught his eye was a black haired girl who took two big steps to get atop the picnic table. As the new song began to pick up, she got into a matching character. As she winded her hips and lip sang to the lyrics, Dave was completely entranced by her. "Woah..."

"Yeah…" Todd absently replies.

Her unnaturally dark hair cascaded down her shoulders and around the curve of her breasts. Her bangs reminded Dave of a toddler who decided to experiment with scissors. They were far too short to be considered "normal", but, Jesus, did she pull them off well.

She had two bows on the sides of her head, one purple and the other an off-white cream color. She wore a black, short sleeve crop top with red writing on it, something Dave couldn't really read clearly from this distance. She had knitted, fingerless gloves on each hand that nearly blended in with her skin tone. Dave's eyes continued to work their way down her legs, finding her thighs covered with light pink, sheer lace shorts that stopped mid thigh. The only thing keeping her "appropriate" were homemade, cut-off jean short shorts.

Dave couldn't help himself; he was captivated. He's never seen anyone dressed like she was, at least not in real life. It was like she stepped right out of an anime. She was incredibly unique. How was she able to pull that off so well?

Dave's eyes wandered down further to get a full view of her exposed, dancing legs. He couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to touch them.

She swiveled her hips in circles as she began to spin and whip her hair to the beat. Dave had this opportunity to move his eyes up, getting a perfect view of her butt, his body lighting up as his heart raced.

She had made a full turn, stopping in the direction of the two boys, catching their stares. Todd immediately turns his head to try and seem captivated by the clouds above, but Dave is not as quick to notice.

"Dave." Todd mumbles, eyes dodging the girl's gaze, darting back and forth from his friend, the ground, and a very (not-so) interesting brick building behind the park. "Dave." Todd repeats, elbowing Dave in the side, finally snapping him out of his hypnosis.

"Ouch!" Dave yelps in surprise, turning to Todd who is looking at him wide eyed, trying to send him a message. Dave looks away from his friend and back to the table dancer. She was staring right at him with squinted eyes. They seem to make eye contact for a solid second before she abruptly lifts a hand to her forehead. She held up her pointer and pinky fingers. The 'rock and roll' symbol she held against her head imitated horns as scrunched her nose, sticking her tongue out like a child. The action shocked Dave, but he couldn't help but find her oddly adorable.

Todd is quick to snatch the handle at the top of Dave's backpack and drag him away to their bus stop at the end of the street. The ride home was a pretty quiet one after that.

》》》

Two weeks have passed since he'd first seen the strange girl. Every spare chance he got during spring break was spent taking advantage of his vigilante skills for the wrong reasons. He had secretly visited that park numerous times, watching his girl and her friend group from afar. He knew that stalking was not how he should've gone about this, but he also didn't see walking straight up to her and introducing himself as an option either.

Something was definitely wrong with him. There is no good reason for him to know where she lives, but he convinced himself it was just to ensure she got home safe. Tonight only enforced that thought.

Usually she would walk home with at least one friend for good measure, but for some unknown reason to Dave, she walked alone.

Today, she had on an extra baggy hoodie. One that he came to know as one of her favorites. It reached the tops of her bare thighs, the hem of her mini skirt just visible below. She wore leg warmers that matched the color of her hoodie and worn combat boots. She had a small backpack that looked like wings on her back, decked out in pins of all kinds. The oversized hood was perched on top of her head.

She was always good about checking her surroundings and looking over her shoulder when walking alone, but this wasn't a matter of a sneak attack.

Dave watched as an older man stepped out in front of his strange girl. Dave couldn't hear the exact dialog due to their distance and the passing people and cars, but he for sure knew that whatever was being said was not welcomed.

"No. Thank you. I'd rather be left alone." Dave heard that loud and clear, so why did this creepy guy not take the hint and leave?

The man abruptly reached for her arm, and gripped it tight. Dave took off in a sprint.

"Get your hands off me, asshole!"

"Don't be a fucking tease-"

"Hey!" Dave cut the guy off, running up behind her. "Didn't you hear what she said, creep? Let her go!" He said firmly. Both the creepy guy and the girl's eyes look over to Dave, both of them giving him a once over. Her eyes were full of confusion, one thinly drawn brow raised. The man scoffed at the kid.

"What the fuck is this?" he shoots back. Dave squares his shoulders and raises his masked chin. "How about you mind your fucking business, princess, before you get hurt." the man follows up, making fun of Dave's costume.

"Let. Her. Go." Dave repeats sternly. The guy laughs in his face.

"Or what, leotard?" Dave follows up by removing the batons from behind his back. He points one at the man.

"Or else I'll have to beat you until you let go?" He says confidently. The girl cringes, that was not nearly as intimidating as he thought it was. The guy laughs again, flicking out a pocket knife. The two men stood there in a stare down. Their pause gave the girl a chance to yank her arm from the man's grasp, simultaneously using her other hand to whip out a pink taser decorated like a mini Gameboy. She shoves the sparked end into the side of the creep's neck, causing him to twitch and spasm. She holds it there until the man falls to the ground twitching, presumably unconscious. She takes her booted foot and jumps into a hard kick to the man's side.

"Fuck you, dipass!" Dave stands there shocked. The girl's gaze switches to face him. He lifts his hands in surrender and slowly puts his batons back. The girl takes one big step closer to Dave. He jumps back, but she is quick to grab one of his hands and begin dragging him down the route of towards her apartment.

They walk a couple blocks and round a corner in silence before she stops abruptly and turns to Dave. He stands there staring, absolutely shell shocked. "Who are you and what do you think you're doing!?" She asks, putting two hands on her hips and resting her weight on one side.

"Uh-" Dave stutters. The girl raises her brows expectantly. "I, uh- I was trying to help you." The girl's brows draw together as she squints.

"Thank you, but, to be honest, you didn't really do much, and that only answered one of my questions."

"Uh, I'm, uh- The name's KickAss." The girl stares at him in disbelief for a good five seconds, searching his eyes for any sense of a joke.

When she doesn't find anything, she lets out a "pfft" and giggles. "You're joking, right?" She raises her brows with a grin.

"Uh, no. I'm not…" Dave's eyes look everywhere but at her.

"I-," giggle, "I'm sorry." Another giggle, " I don't mean to be rude, but KickAss?" Dave smiles nervously, instinctual reaching for the back of his head. "You really need a rebranding, my guy." She says, an amused smile still playing on her lips. Her eyes didn't hold any malice or judgement, just intrigue.

"Yeah, well, I'm obviously not that creative." He laughs nervously. Dave looks back to her, finally getting a proper look at her up close. She's smiling… at him. God, he was going to faint.

"Jesus, your eyes." She says suddenly, catching Dave off guard. "They're gorgeous, my god." She huffs a short laugh, staring into his eyes. Dave can't keep eye contact for long, completely flustered. He thanked the powers that be that he had a mask on at this very moment. He was sure he was as red as ever.

"Thank you." He looks down. "You, uh, your eyes are beautiful, too." He says sheepishly. She laughs, shaking her head.

"Oh, please. They're just a normal, old brown. Nothing compared to your stunners. Wow." She throws back at him. "Well, I appreciate you stepping in, KickAss." She thanks, putting emphasis on his 'name'.

"No problem. You seem to have it handled without me." His illusion of 'stalking for protection' ruined.

"Nonsense! Thankfully, I didn't need you to start a fight this time. The fact that you even stepped in at all when you saw something means a lot, so thank you." She clasps her hands in front of her, swaying side to side.

"Can I walk you the rest of the way?" He asks. She shakes her head.

"As sweet as that is, no, thank you. I don't quite know how I feel about masked men knowing where I live." She teases. "Plus, it's not much further. I'll be okay." She smiles at him, again. Dave can't decide if he wishes she'd stop looking at him or if he wishes she'd keep her gaze on him forever. She begins walking away, "Thanks, again! See you around!" She shouts behind her, turning another corner.

》》》

Two months have passed. Shortly after their first, up close, encounter, Dave made it a point to walk her home every chance he got, always when she was alone. Well, not every time. She started to get suspicious as to how he always knew when she was walking alone. "Are you following me?" She'd ask, Dave giving an unconvincing 'pfft' and a 'no', causing her to roll her eyes. After that, he made sure to space out their walks but still following her from a distance. It's now nearing the end of June, and his graduation date is only a couple weeks out.

This night was a first. She invited Dave in. His eyes widened in shock, "Yeah, sure!" He said a little too enthusiastically, internally cringing at himself, but his awkwardness only caused her to giggle.

She nods, "Okay. My brother is home, so you'll have to sneak in. I'll go in first. Just turn the corner," she points, "and use the fire escape ladder to get to the fourth window up. My window has a collection of ninja turtle action figures on the sill." Dave opens his mouth to say something, but she continues, "Wait there until I come in. I just have to let my brother know I'm home first, then I can disappear into my room." Dave sits his mouth and nods. "Okay, I'll see you up there!" She smiles, jogging into the building.

Dave watches her jog up the stairs until he can't see her anymore. He then makes his way around the building and, as instructed, climbs up the fire escape. He gets to her window with ease. Through the parted curtains, he could see into her dark room. The light in the hallway provided little to illuminate the room from the bottom of the closed door, but thanks to the setting sun, Dave could clearly see the four little trinkets on her windowsill. It made him smile. She was a little nerdy, too.

"Ok, I'll order the pizza!" Before Dave could analyze her room any further, she bursts through the door, tossing her bag on the floor. She turns, closing and locking the door before running up to the window. She throws the curtains open and slides up the window, smiling brightly at him. "Hola."

"Buenas Noches, señorita." Dave says, again cringing at his choice of words, getting a laugh out of her.

"Vamos." She says, stepping aside. He climbs through the window, trying his best to avoid disrupting the figures. "You up for pizza?" She asks once he's fully inside.

Dave nods, looking around at her room. "Yeah, sure."

She smiles up at him, gesturing to her room, "Bienvenido a mi casa." She says dramatically. "Make yourself at home, señor KickAss."

Dave chuckles at her, shaking his head. "Gracias." His accent is still strongly American, but four years of Spanish didn't make it the worst. He goes to sit on the plush bench at the end of her bed. He figured that was a safe bet. He wasn't on her bed, but he also wasn't awkwardly sitting at her desk in the corner of the room. It was a kind of middle ground. His eyes follow her as she goes over to her old school boombox, graffitied with stickers, and turns on some music, low enough for them to hear each other, but just loud enough to disguise their voices from any eavesdropping. "Do I need to worry about your brother?" He asks playfully, deep down a little nervous.

"No, he's playing video games with our cousins online. He can't hear a thing with his-"

"AHHH! NO MAMES WEY!" a scream can be heard, as if on queue, scaring the fuck out of Dave.

She rolls her eyes, continuing, "headphones on." She sits on her bed, crawling over to rest her bare legs on the empty cushion next to Dave. She grabs her laptop that was laying on the bed and opens it up. "What kind of pizza do you like?" She asks, typing away.

"Uh, whatever." He says, unsure.

"Well, guess we can't go wrong with half pepperoni and half cheese." She says, placing the order. "My brother is pretty boring when it comes to pizza." Another scream could be heard in the background, promoting another eyeroll. Dave chuckles a little, nodding.

He twiddles his thumbs before asking, "So, why did you invite me in?" The girl shrugs her shoulders, still typing and clicking away.

"I dunno. You've walked me home nearly everyday for the passed 2 months, and I've grown to trust you. Every time we part ways, I feel the urge to keep you around. I figured it was about time we hung out for more than just a few blocks." She closes her laptop hallway and sets it to the side. His heart flutters.

Dave looks at her stunned. "You want to hang out with me?" The girl squints at him.

"Um, yeeaaah. What kind of question is that?"

"I, uh- I mean- it's just- you know-..." He stutters. She giggles at him.

"What?"

"I mean, you're just so cool, and I'm, you know-"

She looks at him amused. "You're what? A cool vigilante guy who is sweet and funny and someone who should totally should give himself more credit." She bends her legs, nudging him softly with her knee. She scoots down the bed a little to sit closer to Dave, holding her knees to her chest. She uses her oversized sweatshirt to encompass her entire body. Dave looks at her with admiration, his heart racing again, before looking away from her and down at the bench below him. "I don't hear a 'Gracias' or a 'Tienes razón, mi hermosa. Eres muy inteligente y eres la mujer más bella del mundo. Gracias por todo, mi amor.'" She goes on.

Dave laughs, "Thank you. I don't know if you're right, but you are the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Dave says boldly but still avoiding eye contact, looking down at his hands.

The girl's eyes widen, "You speak Spanish?" She looks horrified, embarrassed by the words of praise she tried to get him to say.

"A little." He twiddles his thumbs more, "I've been taking Spanish all throughout high school. I am no expert, but I can get around." He shrugs.

"Welp, that's embarrassing." the girl reaches up to tug hard on the strings of her hoodie, hiding her face in the fabric. Dave looks up and reaches for her hands.

"Que? No 'gracias'?" He teases, trying to get a look at her face. He has no clue what is coming over him, but he is becoming a bit more comfortable. His heart is still pounding, but seeing her get flustered brought his confidence up. She peers out from inside her hoodie. Her wide eyed look nearly floored him. He was forever grateful that he was already seated or else his knees would have buckled.

"Gracias,... señor KickAss." She says playfully, trying to make up for her embarrassment by joking off. He offers her a soft smile, melting her. It was now her turn to avoid his eyes. Her eyes make their way over to the stereo. "So… you're still in high school?" She asks, looking back to him, wearily.

He nods, "Y-Yeah, but not for long." He says quickly, the realization coming quick that they don't actually know each other's ages. "I graduate in like 2 weeks." Her nonexistent brows raise as she nods. "Are you?"

She shakes her head, "No, I tested out, got my diploma early. I couldn't be bothered with high school anymore." She shrugged. Dave's brows shot up. She really was smart. "It's just me and my brother. The earlier I got out of high school, the more time I had. It allowed me to help out with bills and whatever, get us a nicer place." She gestures to the room around her. "I mean, it may not seem like much, but trust me when I say it's a million times better than where we were." She then takes the time to look around and appreciate her surroundings.

Dave's look of admiration returns. "You're amazing." He blurts out. The girl's eyes find him, holding his eye contact, again with this wide eyed stare. She was gonna kill him. Her heart stopped when she looked in his eyes and found nothing but honesty and softness. She gives him a little smile. My god, Dave was literally going to pass out.

》》》

Dave didn't seem to notice, but hours went by with them talking, eating pizza, and talking some more. It was now pitch black outside, and the only light in the room was coming from her bedside lamps and a flickering candle.

By now, both of them had made their way into the bed. Dave was laying on his back, watching the ceiling while she was laying on her stomach perched up on her elbow, watching him. They were currently both comfortably silent, the soft music still playing in the background. She guessed that her brother must have fallen asleep at his console by now, considering there weren't any more frustrating cries or exciting cheers heard from across the apartment. Dave is the first to interrupt the silence between them. "Would it be a terrible idea to take my mask off right now?"

The girl gasps dramatically, placing a hand on her chest, "and reveal your secret identity, Zorro?" She lets out a short laugh, this causes Dave to let out a tired smile.

"I'm being serious." There's a pause.

"Well…" the girl starts, "you know, once you do so, there's no going back. I'm not so much of a bitch that I'd ever expose you, but you know… it's a big step."

"Is it in the right direction?" he asks, turning his head to look over at her. They stare deeply into each other's eyes.

She sighs, "I'm sorry, babe, but that's a decision you'll have to make on your own." The pet name catches Dave off guard. He nods and sits up, causing the girl next to him to follow suit, twisting her body so she's cross crossed and facing him. Dave takes a deep breath and reaches for the back of his mask. Just as his gloved hands meet the fabric, he felt a smaller hand touch his. "Are you sure?... Absolutely positive?"

He doesn't move, "Positive." He replies. She lefts go of his hand and he pulls the mask forward and off his head. He kept his head down for a second, taking in a deep breath. He could feel her eyes staring at the side of his head.

He looks up and turns to her. They make eye contact for a good 3 second before her sleeve covered hands come flying up to her face, covering her eyes. "Oh my god!"

"Oh my god, what?!" Dave panics.

"You're hot!" She exclaims. Wow, did she really know how to throw Dave off. He watches her, shocked. "This feels wrong, oh my god!" She says, muffled by her sleeves. "I should not be seeing this right now." Dave smiles a little. How does she do this? She's just too cute.

He reaches up for her hands, "Well, like you said, there's no going back, babe." He says, pulling her hands down. Her eyes were squeezed shut, scrunching up her face in what Dave thought was the most adorable way. "Oh, don't be a baby. Open your eyes." He says. She squeezes them even harder just before opening them up, like ripping off a bandaid.

She lets out a sigh as her eyes roam over every feature. She takes a moment to just admire his face before giggling when her eyes make their way to his hair. "What?" Dave asked, this time not panicked, but amused.

She giggles some more, smiling wide. "Your hair is a mess." She says finally, biting her smile.

He rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I don't really do face reveals, so I didn't bother thinking of a way to properly tie my hair up under the mask."

She smiles at him softly, her eyes relaxed. She reaches up to touch his cheek. It's warm and a little sweaty from being stuck under a mask for the last several hours. They get lost in each other's eyes. Dave's jaw was slack, lips parted slightly. Her features still held her soft smile.

"I think I love you." Dave says abruptly, taking her aback.

"What?-"

"I just always feel so safe and comfortable around you, and I love how you're so unapologetically yourself, and you are always so kind and beautiful, and I can't help but find myself always thinking about you, and I'm always wondering if you're thinking about me to, which I hope you do, because I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I wasn't on your mind the way you're on mine, and ever since I saw you dancing on that picnic table when Todd and I were walking to the bus stop and you made that weird adorable little devil horn face thing, I knew I just had to know you, like I was drawn to you, and-"

"Wait, that was you?"

Dave ignores get question and continues rambling, "and I know we're just kids, but I can't think of a better way to live life than with you, and I want us to be together. I want to go to see your favorite scary movies with you, even though it confuses me as to why you still go to them when you say they always scar you, and I want to hold your hand and be there for you when you're scared. I want to go see those bands you always talk about in concert with you. I want to learn every lyric to every one of your favorite songs just to impress you when they come on. I want to hold you at night when you've had a bad day and don't know what to do with yourself. I want to keep you safe and always make sure you're happy. I want to be the reason you smile. I want to walk with you forever, stay by your side. I want to fall asleep beside you every night and wake up to you every morning, and I want nothing more than to hear you say you love me and tell me you love me the same way I love you, and I-"

"Dave, shut up!" She says with a smile, her eyes glistening. "Breathe." They both take a deep breath together. "If you keep going, you'll turn blue." They share a small laugh. "Can I kiss you?" She asks.

Without responding, Dave dives forward and kisses her full force. They deepen the kiss, her other hand reaching up to caress his other cheek, his hands resting on the bed, one on each side of her knees.

Without breaking the kiss, Dave moves to readjust. He pulls her closer, moving her to sit in his lap. She follows his lead, getting up to straddle him. Dave wraps his arms around her waist, hugging her closer to him. She arches her back, "accidentally" grinding against him. Dave is first to break the kiss with a gasp, his hands immediately making their way to her hips. She opens her eyes to find Dave's squeezed shut with his eyebrows narrowed together. His blue eyes open to meet hers after a second, both of them breathing heavily, Dave's eyes wide and innocent, looking up at her.

"Sorry." He says, embarrassed that she was able to affect him so easily. She grins, shaking her head.

"Don't be sorry. It's good to know I have such an effect on you." She leans down to rest her forehead on his. She squishes his check together, pushing him down to the bed, his hands finding themselves caressing her now exposed butt from under the mini skirt she still wore. He felt all the blood drain from his head downward. "Should we keep going?" She asks. Dave nods furiously, no longer able to form words.

She leans in slowly to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you, too."

》》》

Moodboard (exposing "y/n") on my page under #weird girl swiss fic

[lover-of-mine]

Have you done a color/structure(?) analysis of Buck's coming out to Eddie scene? If you haven't, could you? I just love your other ones, and that one has been niggling at me, but I don't know if there's anything there.

Okay, this took me longer than I expected because I had a weird weekend but let's do it now oaksoaksasas

The first major thing about the scene is that it is a blue and yellow scene (I have a theory about the blue and yellow you can read here) because they are playing with the sun around Buck and Eddie a lot this season, the locker room, the basketball scene, the coming out scene, that new locker room still Tim shared, even the buckley diaz family scene in 707 so that's important no matter what they are actually trying to accomplish there, if it's a reference to the way Oliver keeps saying Buck is looking for light or if queer romance has its own color combo, it's a thing and I think that the way they keep adding blue and gold/yellow to buddie scenes this season means they are absolutely doing something with it, even more considering the will reveal is very explicitly blue and yellow and we all know that scene is a key scene for the 2 of them in terms of romance.

But like, even the labels of the beers they are drinking are blue with yellow detailing, so pretty much every aspect of the scene is in that color scheme. The beer is also interesting because of the beer they usually drink being yellow and that they focused a lot on last season, going as far as making a point of showing a scene where Eddie is turning the bottle so we can see the label in 613.

Two things that feel inconsequential but are almost definitely absolutely completely on purpose in the scene are the way the shade of blue Buck is wearing is the same shade as his eyes and the way Eddie's phone has a black phone case the phone itself is green.

So not only are we dealing with the blue and yellow they are establishing, but we also have blue and green aspects going on here, tho arguably very muted. (blue and green masterpost) but this is just a detail I wanted to point out aopskloaksa

Going back to the beers, I will be honest, I keep trying to find a pattern in the scenes where they open the bottle for each other. It seems like they don't open the bottle for each other when they are discussing a problem outside of their relationship with each other? Like, Buck opens the bottle for Eddie in the kitchen scene in 309, Eddie opens the bottle in 612, and those two scenes lead to them talking about their relationship in a sense. But they just hand the bottle closed to each other in 312 when discussing the skateboard incident, in 504 when discussing Chim leaving, and Buck does hand Eddie the bottle closed during the coming out scene which is ultimately not about their relationship, although, Buck does hand the bottle while it's open to Eddie in 613, but they don't show Buck opening said bottle so I kinda think there's something to be said about the action of opening the bottle for the other in scenes they are opening up to each other about each other.

Something major about the scene is also the framing and positioning of them in the scene. I made a framing meta with most of their major scene at some point during the hiatus, you can read it here, but something about the 2 of them is that they tend to be on the same level while talking about Eddie's problems, they are both sitting down (that's even exemplified in 705 with the gym scene) and they seem to have Buck sitting down and Eddie standing up when talking about Buck's, so Buck is physically looking up at Eddie. I have an admittedly confusing post about Buck and the looking up thing you can read here because I touch on emotional scenes for Buck that don't involve Eddie if you want more thoughts.

The whole looking up thing is interesting for many many reasons, but mainly because, one, Buck is a big guy and Oliver is the tallest person in the main cast, so he's usually the biggest person in the room, so having him sitting down is a way to make him have less power in the scene in a sense. There's also the way that Buck as a character likes being in high places, he sits at the counter, the chills on top of the firetruck, he sleeps in a loft, he likes being physically high.

But there's also the way the show tends to give Buck the high ground during emotional scenes. Both figuratively, like having him stand up before yelling at his parents in 404 or having him be the only one standing up when he tells the team about Daniel in 405, and literally, like in 316 when he's talking to Maddie about being the one who's always left behind and breaking up with Taylor in 518.

It's also interesting because Buck mostly looks up his love interests, there are exceptions to this, he has scenes looking up at Bobby even though most of their heart to hearts they tend to be on the same level, both standing up or both sitting down, but he looks up at Taylor and Abby and Ali and Eddie and I think that plays into the way Buck wants love to fix him, so he doesn't want balance, he wants answers. But this is a problem when you think about it. Because that creates an emotional imbalance between Buck and Eddie. It physically exemplifies the way Buck's admiration of Eddie clouds his judgment when it comes to Eddie. He expects Eddie to have the answers. He blindly trusts Eddie and in a romantic setting, that's bad. Buck can't really expect Eddie to be right all the time or just accept anything Eddie decides, because then their relationship is unbalanced, then Eddie is controlling it and a romantic relationship can't work in these circumstances.

But this scene actually breaks that pattern twice: Eddie is looking up at Buck while they are talking about Marisol and Buck actually sits down before telling Eddie it was a date.

This is huge. Monumental. Incredible. I have been waiting for this for SO LONG. Because Buck needs reassurance from Eddie here, but he is not looking at Eddie for guidance, he's looking at Eddie for acceptance. And that's what he's getting. Proof of Eddie's unconditional love. And Eddie needs Buck to just tell him how to fix it while being very irrational about the whole situation and Buck is being the voice of reason.

Also about the positioning in the frame, something media does to let people know the characters are not standing on the same side, to give that impression that they are in different places in the scene during a close-up is to place the characters on different sides of the frame, even in the beginning of the scene, they are on different sides. (Guide down the middle to help visualizing)

But when they are actually talking about it, they are both in the middle of the frame. Another scene they do this is the will reveal, during the will reveal they tend to both be in the middle of the frame. And that kinda gives this idea that they are seeing eye to eye, that they are on the same side. I have a whole meta explaining how they used this effect to show Eddie letting Buck in during his breakdown era, you can read that one here.

BUT, interestingly enough, Eddie actually leans away from the middle when they are talking about Buck dating Tommy besides the general concept that that means Buck is also into men, while Buck stays in the middle. That can absolutely represent a way for Eddie to distance himself from it in a sense, that while he is fine with Buck being bi, he's not all that fine with the concept of Buck actually dating Tommy even though he is encouraging Buck to go after him, but that's just a theory to back me and my Eddie fell first and has accepted he can't have Buck tendencies. I think that's also backed by the way Eddie is maintaining eye contact from the moment he realizes this is something important for Buck, but he does break that eye contact when Buck tells him he can't stop thinking about Tommy, almost like he needs a second to believe what he's about to say.

Another interesting thing is the way they had Eddie ready to leave and Buck doing his little ducked head Eddie smile while Eddie leaves, so Buck seems fine with the way the conversation went, before having Eddie turn back around to hug Buck.

He reaches the door, realizes he's forgetting something, and strides right back to demand a hug, which considering 703 when we have Buck stopping to thank Tommy then running after Eddie, and Eddie being about to run back to Marisol and a relationship he doesn't really want to be in, the way he stops in his tracks to go back to Buck, kinda poetic when you think about this way, I think.

I think there's a lot to dissect when it comes to the actual wording of the scene too. Eddie saying "this doesn't change a thing between us" is very on purpose, if Eddie had said anything instead of a thing, it would have had a different effect. Not changing a thing when, one, we all know it will change it because buddie is coming, and two, even if we didn't know buddie is coming, this has the potential to fundamentally change the nature of their relationship eventually and the show loves to prove Eddie specifically wrong, but even then, would adding romance actually be changing anything between them when they are already life partners? This fundamentally changes them but also doesn't change them at all. Also the way Buck says "that's a relief" sounds almost as if he was expecting Eddie to say something else.

Also, love the way we got another roundabout way for Eddie to say he loves Buck but this time he actually said the word love "he'll love you like we all do" thank you, Eddie, for finally using the word.

Also love the way Buck is just taking deep breaths through the conversation because this was something that was stressing him out and it going well makes him breathe easier because he needs Eddie's acceptance in this.

I think these are all my thoughts on this scene, at least is all I can think about right now, so, as always, if you read this I love you 💜

[elderscrollsconceptart]

Text below is transcribed from Ray Lederer's 2012 blogpost about Adam Adamowicz after Adam had passed away.

Both were artists on Skyrim and shared an office together. They were very very close.

---

[Ray Lederer (L) and Adam Adamowicz (R)]

-Tuesday, February 14, 2012

I first met Adam when I started working at a tiny game development studio in Boulder, Colorado back in 1998 called Devil’s Thumb Entertainment. I walked into the studio on my first day of work and I’m pretty sure The Cramps were playing full blast from his general direction. There he was, sun baked and surrounded with what at the time I assumed were rare Jaimie Hewlett sketches pasted up around him, loads of cds and flyers for rockabilly rollerderby raver chicks with squids on their heads. ‘Welcome to the monster factory!’ he said and I thought instantly ‘Oh hell yeah! I came to the right place!’ It didn’t take long to figure out that what I thought were Jaimie Hewlett drawings were actually his and to be quite honest were 10 times more appealing and hilarious. (No offense Jaimie!)

When I finally got the chance to see his apartment in Denver I realized I was stepping into the mind of a creative genius. His entire apartment from floor to ceiling, front to back was covered with his paintings, massive cardboard sculptural cat like gargoyles, christmas lights, intricate costumes (designed with little more than a leather jacket, cheap sombrero, toys from a thrift shop, black and silver spray paint and hot glue) flyers for previous rent parties from his old warehouse, Tank Girl comics, Low Rider and American Artist magazines, Thomas Pynchon novels and a constant stream of music. Every square inch was interesting and VITAL and ALIVE. This was an intellect far beyond anyone else I’d ever met and there was not a single hint of pretentiousness to him. His entire life was a beautifully structured and disciplined chaos. Even then I began to see that not only was I in the presence of greatness, I was in the presence of one of the more important illustrators of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He just didn’t know it yet and neither did anyone else. Quite frankly he wouldn’t give a shit if someone gave him that label. He simply wanted to come up with more ideas and get better at drawing. Period.

Since then we got into many beer soaked adventures that sometimes included late night bike rides through the city streets of Denver with a boom-box strapped to the back blasting Big Audio Dynamite with sparklers hanging off the handlebars(and some stiches on the scalp of yours truly). Dangerously drunken skateboarding with cap guns, ditching psychedelic parties to go laugh our asses off and throw giant rocks in a frozen river, concerts, weekend long patio surfing tours in the Colorado summers, trips to the reservoir to float around wearing finely crafted and thrilling 12pack headgear, lunchtime bike rides up to our favorite outdoor patio Rhumba in Boulder for $2 Red Stripes and then back to work again, and many hours working close to him and learning as much as I could about being an artist and a better human being. He once said to me “I may not be Mozart, but at least I can try to be the Pixies.” He just wanted to entertain people in any way he could.

In his last few days we spent together in the hospital we sat on his hospital bed listening to music for hours, talking, and drawing in our sketchbooks. Our conversations were tinted with what was happening for him in the moment certainly, but mostly we talked about friends, art, music, and life. We spoke without much nostalgia or finality, just very real and present and forward looking despite the circumstances. He kept drawing until he couldn't possibly draw anymore, squeezing every last ounce he could out of life, just as he always had.

Watch papa go to work.

I love you Adam. You continue to be my friend, mentor, and greatest inspiration

---

Original post can be found here:

[shortnspidey]

CHAPTER TWO: UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTERS

Eddie Munson x OC!Reader || WC: 1.6K

A/N: lyra and Billy have arrived at hawkins!! Anyone else think Jonathan is criminally underrated? I know this chapter was kinda boring and a filler chapter for what's to come. I'm so excited to write the famous Halloween episode! Eddie and Lyra scenes coming soon!

➩ previous chapter || next chapter

➩ main masterlist

➩ series masterlist

Lyra knew that Billy was a sucker for attention. However, this was certainly not the way she expected to arrive at her new High School. As if from a scene in a movie, heads turned to his sleek, dark blue Camaro pulling into the parking lot. The music blaring from the car speakers adding to the anticipation. As Billy parks the car, out steps Max, Lyra following close behind. "Have a good day at school, Cherry." Lyra smiled handing Max her skateboard and watching her skate away.

"She better not be late." Billy chastised throwing his cigarette bud on the ground. "You just love to make an entrance don't you." Lyra scoffed playfully reading Billy like an open book. As Lyra leaned over to get her backpack from the backseat, Billy immediately noticed the amount of male attention she was attracting. Not liking it one bit.

Completely oblivious, Lyra swung her backpack over her shoulders ready to get the awkward introductions out of the way. "Where do you think you're going?" Billy questioned glaring at his sister. "To the main office, we have to pick up our class schedules." Lyra looked at him as if he had grown two heads. "Wearing that," He gestured to the Def Leppard cropped top.

"I don't think so." He tsked pulling a black leather jacket from the trunk of his car. "It's your shirt. I stole it from your closet." She deadpanned giving him the meanest glare she could muster. "Just put the damn thing on." He insisted, throwing his leather jacket in her direction. For the sake of not wanting to argue knowing how stubborn and hot-headed he was she did as he asked. "Happy?" She grumbled sarcastically. "Ecstatic." He retorted with an eye roll. 

It was getting harder and harder for Lyra to ignore the whispers and blatant stares that they were both receiving upon walking toward the main office. She knew that both males and females found Billy attractive.  With his tall, muscular frame, perfectly styled blonde hair, and confident swagger, he exuded an air of mystery and rebellion. Billy's presence has certainly made an impression, and the tension in the air is almost tangible.

On the other hand, Billy was scowling at anyone who dared to look at Lyra for more than five seconds. There was a reason why he had handed her his precious leather jacket. He had no problem knocking out any dirtbag who so much as looked at his sister with lustful intentions or even dared to wolf whistle in her direction. Both siblings made their way to the administration office, where a sign reading "Class Schedules Here" hung crookedly on the door.

Inside, the room was filled with the soft hum of fluorescent lights and the faint smell of copier ink. The walls were adorned with bulletin boards showcasing upcoming events and motivational posters that seemed to promise endless possibilities. A table near the entrance was stacked with neatly arranged packets of paper, each labeled with a different grade level. Lyra and Billy exchanged a glance before reaching for the pile designated for seniors.

Their fingers brushed against the smooth, cool surface of the schedules as they slid one out from the stack. With schedules in hand, they stepped aside, allowing other eager students to grab their own. They unfolded the papers, revealing a grid of classes, room numbers, and teacher names. "Intro to Psychology." Lyra muttered assessing her first class of the day. "What about you?" Billy shrugged handing his sister his class schedule. "Who cares, I'm ditching."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Just don't get caught." Billy scoffed, nonchalantly checking out the cheerleaders who walked by. "I'll see you later." Walking off to find her locker, she was surprised to see Billy hot on her trail. "You let me know if anyone bothers you." Billy declared leaning against the locker next to his sisters. "Easy, Hellraiser," She taunted spinning the dial on her locker and managing to open it on the first try. "I can handle myself. Have fun ditching." With a mischievous grin, Billy sauntered off, leaving Lyra to face her first class of the day.

Thankfully, Lyra's psychology teacher did not bother to introduce her as the new student in front of the whole class. She exhaled a silent sigh of relief and slipped into the back of the classroom, her teacher's eyes only briefly acknowledging her presence before returning to the lesson at hand. Gratitude washed over her; there would be no standing in front of the class, no spotlight to amplify her discomfort, and no need to articulate the reasons behind her and her brother's abrupt transfer during the final stretch of high school.

She settled into an empty desk, the cool surface a welcome barrier between herself and the sea of unfamiliar faces. The hum of the fluorescent lights overhead mingled with the murmur of her classmates, creating a cocoon of anonymity. Lyra's heart rate steadied as she realized she could blend into the background, at least for now. As the teacher dove into the intricacies of the human mind, Lyra allowed herself a moment to observe her peers from the safety of her peripheral vision.

No one spared her more than a cursory glance, and that was just fine with her. Here, in this small corner of the world, Lyra could be just another student, her story tucked quietly away beneath the layers of adolescent complexity that filled the room. Luckily the lecture went by smoothly, after a few notes and intricate doodles scrawled in her notebook the school bell rang, signaling the end of class. She quickly grabbed her book bag, making a mental note to stop by her locker to exchange her books.

"Hey," The voice of one of her classmates, Tina, she recalled interrupts her thoughts. "You're new, right?" Instead of saying something snarky and borderline sarcastic, Lyra chooses to instead nod awkwardly. "I'm throwing a Halloween bash tomorrow, hope you can make it." Lyra flashed her a faux smile taking the orange flyer from her hand. "Oh, and feel free to bring that sexy boyfriend of yours." Lyra couldn't hold back the look of disgust that made its way onto her face.

"Billy's not my boyfriend, he's my brother." Tina's smile only grew. "Good to know." Lyra took that as her cue to leave shoving the flyer into her bag and giving the curly-haired brunette another fake smile. The school halls are buzzing with the energy of students rushing to their next class. Amidst the chatter and locker slams, Lyra navigates her way through the crowd. That's when she spots them—a huddle of muscular athletes, their letterman jackets a stark contrast to the sea of regular high school attire.

They're looming over a brunette boy whose back is pressed against the cold metal of the lockers. His eyes are wide, darting around for an escape that doesn't exist, his hands fumbling with the straps of his backpack. Lyra's steps falter for a second, taking in the scene. The boy is practically shrinking under the weight of the athletes' sneering superiority. One of the jocks, a tall guy with a smirk that's all teeth, is leaning in too close, his hand raised reaching for his camera.

"Hey, Byers, who are you spying on today?" One of them jeers, snatching the camera strap. Lyra watches as he tries to grab his camera back, but the jocks are playing keep away, laughing at his attempts. Without missing a beat, Lyra strides over with a palpable determination. Her presence shifts the air, and the jocks' attention snaps to her, their mockery momentarily forgotten. The boy seems to hold his breath, his eyes meeting Lyra's for a fleeting second. Lyra stands her ground, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife.

"Beat it assholes." She challenges them, her tone laced with a confidence that belies her status as the new kid. The athletes, caught off guard by her boldness, falter, their facade of invincibility cracking. The standoff is brief but intense, and as quickly as it begins, it ends. The jocks, with a roll of their eyes and a huff of annoyance, back off. They throw a final, warning glance at the brunette boy before they disperse.

Their egos bruised but not quite ready to admit defeat. Lyra offers a hand to the boy, helping him regain his composure. He's visibly relieved, his gratitude evident as he adjusts his camera strap and mumbles a shy "Thanks." She nods, a silent pact forming between them. "Don't mention it," Sticking her hand out she takes the moment to introduce herself.

"Lyra Hargrove." Shuffling the strap of his camera over his shoulder, he meets her halfway shaking her hand. "Jonathan Byres." With the final shrill of the warning bell Lyra gives him one last smile before walking toward the opposite end of the hallway. "Nice to meet you, stay outta trouble, Jonathan Byers." And with that, both teens disappeared into the sea of high schoolers.

[kicksaddictny]

Nike x Wu-Tang Clan Reunite for an Iconic Sneaker Grail Release

Twenty-five years ago, a sneaker legend was born. Now, Nike and the Wu-Tang Clan are teaming up again to officially re-release one of the most sought-after sneaker collaborations of all time: the Nike x Wu-Tang Clan Dunk.

This release brings back the iconic Black and Pollen colorway of the Dunk Hi, channeling Wu-Tang’s signature “Killa Beez” vibe with bold color-blocking, premium leather, and the unmistakable W logo embroidered on the tongue label and outer heel. It’s a nod to the original that’s sure to excite collectors and hip-hop fans worldwide.

“These Dunks are important to me and the Wu-Tang legacy because of the cultural impact they’ve had since their original release,” says Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA. “For many years, the sneaker world was reserved for athletes and some entertainers, and Nike recognizing us in this way is a testament to hip-hop and our contribution to culture.”

Emerging from Staten Island, New York, in the early 1990s, Wu-Tang Clan brought their gritty lyricism, kung-fu references, and innovative production to the world, reshaping hip-hop and influencing fashion, film, and art along the way. Their impact transcends music, inspiring communities and generations globally.

Similarly, the Nike Dunk started as a basketball staple before gaining streetwear and skateboarding cred, ultimately becoming a street-style icon. This collaboration between Nike and Wu-Tang Clan celebrates the history and legacy of both, creating a new chapter in streetwear culture that resonates across genres.

As RZA puts it, “The shoe has already carved out a legacy as a silhouette people were striving to possess, and now thousands of people will have a chance to own a pair. These sneakers are a trophy.”

Mark your calendars—the Nike x Wu-Tang Clan Dunk will be available globally on November 9 via SNKRS and select retailers. Don’t miss out on this rare opportunity to own a piece of hip-hop and sneaker history.

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

Being Nekoma’s Emo Manager

Nekoma x Fem! Manager (she/her pronouns)

Warnings: probably swearing 🤷🏻‍♀️ idk if that’s even a warning

AN: this is an anon request! I realized I had it labeled from Spooky Anon but it wasn’t signed from Spooky anon 😅 so idk who it’s from.

*aggressively hits G note on piano and stares into your soul*

If you unaware of the song that made an entire generation, please google it

Also I will not argue this point because I have both age and vintage Emo on my side 😌

Now for a mini history lesson, the Emo I’m going to be referring to today was popular from the late 90s to late 2000s and into the 2010s

This means heavy black eyeliner, hair that defied gravity, neckties being used as anything but neckties

Black with hints of accent colors such as, but not limited too, pinks, orange, white, etc.

The days when TRL and MTV were the way to “stream” new music and hot topic was the source of all band t-shirts

Now that I’ve covered a small history lesson, let’s strap in shall we!

So get your check board belts and fingerless gloves ready kids!

Because it’s time to get EMOtional 😂

N E Ways- let’s just say, you classified yourself as an “Emo kid”

It wasn’t super unheard of to be different fashionably in school but you, well you were definitely a sight

Your hair was teased to the rafters, bows of every color along with skulls littered your hair

Your eye liner was the blackest black, and you skin looked like you hadn’t seen sun in decades 😅

You wore fishnet tights with vans or perhaps another skateboarding shoe

You looked pretty intimidating to most people who didn’t know you

I mean, your style doesn’t exactly scream approachable

However, the people who did know you, knew that your style of “dark and brooding” didn’t measure up AT ALL to your personality

You were a complete sunshine ☀️

A literal sweetheart and absolute Angel!

Unfortunately a lot of kids didn’t get to know you ☹️

But luckily, there was one guy who didn’t care about looks

He really didn’t care about much actually 👀

And that happened to be our favorite setter Kenma!

Because Kenma honestly does not care about looks or superficial things like that

Actually, when you first got teamed up with Kenma to work on a project, a lot of kids thought it was a strange combo

But somehow, you two managed to make it work and in fact, you got the best grade in the class

After that, you and Kenma became partners for every project

There was just something he enjoyed about you

Probably your weird similarity to Hinata honestly 😏

Soon you and Kenma started hanging out after school

You both loved video games as well as had similar styles in music

Look at me and tell me Kenma wouldn’t be into Emo rock 👁️👄👁️

Fall out boy, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, THE USED!!!!

Anyways, soon Kuroo joins and he’s confused about your friendship with Kenma

Like you and Kenma are complete opposites but you get along super well

Eventually Kuroo starts taking a liking to you as well

Kuroo has natural Emo hair so it’s fate 💅

Kuroo soon figures out why Kenma enjoys your company as you are a literal dark ball of sunshine

Eventually you start accompanying out kitty cats to practice in order to hang out with Kuroo and Kenma

Upon entering the gym, everyone stares at you

You low key kinda scare the first years, Inuoka and Shibayama

Yaku and Kai are super interested as in why you are there

Yamamoto is just dead because there’s a girl in the gym 🙄

And Lev, well Lev can’t keep his mouth shut

“Hey you’re that weird chick that wears black and has crazy hair. I’ve heard a lot about you!” Lev screams

Yaku please 😌

“LEV SHUT UP!” Kuroo yells as Yaku kicks him

You just giggle, a sound nobody was expecting, as you say, “I’m Yn! I guess I kind of do get a little bit of a reputation but I promise, I’m not evil or something!”

“She’s actually kind of cute in a different way,” Kai says as Fukunaga and Yaku nodd in agreement.

Soon, you are coming to every practice and helping where you can

Setting up chairs, filling water balls, handing out towels

The boys quickly adore you and soon you just naturally become apart of the team

Kuroo officially asks you the teams manager which you gladly accept

It’s hard finding a club with your specific tastes and since you could still express your style and personality, volleyball club seemed perfect!

You enjoyed playing music, listening to music and writing which were all supported by Nekoma

Our progressive Kings 👑

Honestly they were so supportive of their Emo scene queen!

They loved when you added little touches of red to your outfits and even made a hair bow that specifically said “Nekoma” on it 🥹

Of course, they were still boys so they all found you super cute and adorable

Yamamoto was your personal body guard for everything

It didn’t matter what, he always walked you to every class and if anyone made any comments about you, he would challenge them to a “rumble”

Language you later learned, was picked up from Karasuno 🙄

You had heard about Karasuno and you were honestly so excited to meet them!

Kenma had told you about Karasuno’s tiny middle blocker

On the way to training camp, our sweet boys let you play the music

Honestly Coach Nekomata was way into it 😂

He was such a hip coach and he knew you kids were into some weird stuff

Please he was too 🤚🏻

Anyways, he’s just happy you bring so much joy to the team

And honestly you match Nekoma’s cat-like mysterious vibes

So when you showed up, the other teams just kind of stared at you

Obviously you kinda stood out like a sore thumb Yn, sorry to say

But don’t worry, Yamamoto is on the case 🫡

“WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT? HAVENT UOU EVEN SEEN A GORGEOUS GIRL BEFORE?!?” He screams

You rn 👉🏻😐

Yaku 👉🏻 YAMAMOTO STOP BEING AN IDIOT

You just roll your eyes and smile, bowing to the teams and greeting them

Almost instantly, they melted 🥰

Because like how are you both adorable and scary???

Literally Emo culture mkay

“Come on Yn, let’s go,” Kenma says as you wave and walk away

Eventually you get introduced to all the teams, including Karasuno

You end up making eye contact with Hinata several times as he observes you

Finally, he makes his move

“Hi there! I really like your style! I see your friends with Kenma and the pretty girl manager for Nekoma! I’m Shoyo Hinata and I’m a middle blocker!” He shouts

You smile back and greet him, “Kenma had told me so much about you! It’s so great time finally meet you!”

Kuroo and Daichi watch you both and shake their heads

“Boy short stuff really can make friends with anyone can’t he?”

“You new manager looks super sweet and outgoing, albeit a little interesting,” Daichi says as Kuroo nods

Soon you and Hinata, and by consequence Bokuto, become besties

Honestly you really enjoy hanging out with Akaashi but we won’t tell Bokuto that 😶

You share your knowledge as well as your unique style of cheering with the boys

You wrote cute little cheers and even inspirational poetry to share with the boys

Bokuto and Hinata loved your fancy words : D

And even when Bokuto went into his own Emo modes, the teams knew exactly who to call!

“YN HALPPPP!” Akaashi would silently communicate to you with his eyes

You 👉🏻 NEVER FEAR OUR SCENE QUEEN IS HERE 🦸🏻‍♀️

“Bokuto would you like to listen to some music or maybe we can talk about your feelings?” You say as you rub his back

“I could use a hug,” Bokuto 🥺

You 👉🏻😌🥰 of course-

Akaashi doesn’t get it, Nekoma doesn’t get it but they appreciate it!!

[spheroz]

What I have done so far of my BatFam movie script >:)

Super cool logos with super cool music in  the background

It opens with a few low level mobsters in what looks like an abandoned subway station talking around joking with a sickly beaten up person using a wall as a headrest. An upbeat pop-electro funk song playing. Then one of the mobsters swing around the baseball bat that they are holding until they accidentally drop it. When the bat hits the floor the clang echos and the music stops. You can hear a train in the distance and then you hear echoing footsteps and see black boots followed by a cape. Then it goes back to the mobsters with frightened looks on their faces before the person who dropped the bat picks it up again and then the other people pick up their different weapons and put their ‘game faces’ on and get in the different positions they have to be in to use their weapons (like the person with the bat is in the batting position in baseball, and another person has like a chain and they like pull their chain or swing it around like a mace or something) and then the person with the cape like pulls out his grappling hook and like it hangs on the rafters and he hits someone straight in the face and when he lands it shows batman and like either the batman animated series music plays or like nirvana instrumental cover. And then a whole fight scene goes on and then like two of the mobsters like run away saying something.

Mobster with chain:

N-no one could be as they huff as they run bad as Batman.

The other one nods their head as they run off into the night. Then it cuts out to the landscape of Gotham with the bat signal shining brightly. 

Then it cuts to some kid on a skateboard with either an Oasis song or The cure (maybe sweater weather by the neighborhood). Headphones on his ears and phone sticking out of his pocket dangerously close to falling out. Then he tucks it back in and does a  swift turn on his skateboard. And you see the whole kid. It’s Tim Drake(!!!!). 17 year old badass. He zooms past people on his skateboard. A batman sweatshirt on and an obnoxious color of orange for his shoes. He has a backpack on with a monster (or a different energy drink) in his pocket. It looks like the backpack is dangerously close to just breaking and spilling all over the street, but it doesn’t. And then it zooms out to show gotham in the day time as it moves over showing gotham, and then ending on wayne manor. The camera goes through the window and shows Alfred(!!!!) the music switches to something like the righteous brothers or carole king. And it just shows Alfred working in the kitchen probably like either cooking lunch or dinner. Then the camera moves to the living room and shows Damian(!!!!)  he's simultaneously sketching and petting Ace the bat-hound but mostly petting Ace.

Then the camera move over to the TV which is playing a news broadcast which shows The Signal. You can hear like mumbles of the news broadcaster but you mostly just hear a catchy pop song or like rap idk just something way more modern. And the signal is out there kicking ass. And then it goes from a tv screen to the actual place where the fight is. You once again see Tim riding on his skateboard past the scene and it follows him until he goes by a building labeled something like “Gotham’s school of ballet” (or something) and a Mitski song comes on and you see Cass(!!!!). Cass waves to Tim and as you see him ride by you see him wave too. Cass walks along the street for a little until you get to a shop that has rock music playing at it’s doors than you see the door open and it’s Jason (!!!) and “Hate to say I told you so” comes on and Cass smiles as Jason walks over to his motorcycle which is parked on the side walk. He puts a bag full of what seems to be groceries in the basket and gets on his bike followed by Cass. And when he turns it on the song plays even louder as they drive off in the distance. Than the camera goes through the streets all the way back to Wayne manor where you see jason’s bike, and Tim’s skateboard parked outside. You hear the sounds of a car stopping and you hear an upbeat pop song in the distance almost like it’s on a radio. 

Then you see a a pair of black boots with dark blue laces and hear the pop song getting louder as you hear the door open. Then you see Dick (!!!!) with a smile on his face the camera shows that it’s darker out and almost night as he walks in. Alfred greets Dick at the door as he takes his coat the pop song continues to play as Dick and everyone are like yay!! and all that. Dick ruffles damian’s hair as he sits down next to him. Alfred brings in the food for everyone and people start eating as the music fades out. You see the camera pan over everyone and no one is talking. Each person shows a different emotion. Bruce is just staring at his food taking abite every now and then. Damian is eating more consistently but just kind of staring at his food as well. Dick looks like he’s just fake smiling while he’s eating. Cass is looking at tim every now and then and is eating consistently as well. Duke looks a bit awkward as he eats. Jason looks like he doesn’t want to be there at all. Tim looks like he’s about to say something but then continuously decides he’s not gonna say it as he gets nudged by cass. 

Tim opens his mouth to say what he was going to say and then Bruce gets up and leaves the table and his less then halfway eaten plate of food. 

Alfred: Master bruce.

Alfred follows Bruce to go bring him back to the table. Then Jason stands up and it moves the table slightly as he mutters something about the dinner being a waste of time. Cass gets up to follow him to bring him back. Damian also leaves in this commotion. 

Tim frowns and looks to turn to Dick who’s the only one left at the table only for Dick to go running after Damian. Tim is left there alone every other plate had most or all of it’s food gone but Tim’s is still full and not eaten out of. Then it fades to Tim in his Red Robin suit in the batcave. It’s after patrol. Tim is looking at the Bat computer and then the camera moves to Damian who is next to Bruce trying to look at the file Bruce is working on everyone in their vigilante outfits. 

Tim: Hood went to his safehouse, said he wasn’t coming to the cave.

Bruce gave a grunt and got up leaving and turning off his screen leaving Damian behind with a forced neutral look on his face but you can see that he wants acknowledgement. The Camera then follows Bruce and as he passes by you see Dick looking back at Damian with a sad look on his face as he looks at bruce as he walks by. 

[spencerlj]

Emergency Black Label Duane Peters Radio Flyer

Width: 8.75" Length: 32" Wheelbase: 15"

[enhashoutout]

Meet Me At The APT (Marcus Lopez Arguello x reader)

Inspired by APT by Rosé and Bruno Mars because the song has been stuck in my head and on repeat since it was released :)

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Cussing, mentions of suggestive content, smoking, drugs, domestic violence between Maria and Chico, derogatory terms, fighting, weapons, mentions of death, typical Deadly Class violence (let me know if I missed anything to update this section)

___ used in place of Y/n

I always write my mc/reader with female pronouns and physical features because that is what is easiest for me but if you do not identify with anything that I write please feel free to change that up to fit you!

If you haven't seen Deadly Class before, the show is based off of a graphic novel set in the 80's. King's Dominion is a secret/private school that trains teenagers in Deadly Arts. These kids are basically trained to become a new generation of assassins. Some of these kids come from big crime backgrounds like Yakuza, Cartel, Dixie Mob, etc. Some of these kids just had bad pasts and find themselves at King's Dominion such as Billy who is forced to attend King's by a gang that his dad owes money, or Marcus who tried to expose the owner of the boy's home he used to live in but the plan backfired so now he's labeled as a psychotic child-mud3r3r but he isn't.

Legacy refers to the students at King's Dominion who are a part of a power and established group already such as being a kid who is from the Yakuza or Cartel. (Maria, Chico, Saya, Brandy)

Rat refers to students at King's Dominion who don't have powerful affiliates. (Petra, Billie, Marcus, Lex)

𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕖, 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕒𝕓𝕪? 𝔻𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕀 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕟𝕠𝕨?

The one where reader has a crush on Marcus, the new student at King's Dominion and is being very open but also very secret about it.

It was another day at King's Dominion. Petra and ___ were putting their books into their lockers before class started. Billy rode his skateboard through the halls, a soda in his hand, stopping next to the two girls.

"I am so tired." (Billy)

"Why?" (Petra)

"I spent all night chasing a new student. It was an assignment from Lin." (Billy)

"Did you bring them in?"

"Nope. Saya did." (Billy)

"Go figures. Says is the top student at King's."

"You're not far behind her ___." (Petra)

"In grades not at all, you're best out of Rats and just second right behind Saya. Status on the other hand..." said Billy in a teasing way. ___ and Petra both smacked his arms.

"Owww." (Billy)

"Very nice Billy." (Petra)

"It was a compliment! You are the second in student ranking in terms of grades ___. That's why you're the only Rat that's part of AP Black Arts." (Billy)

"That's good enough for me. I don't think Rats make valedictorian anyways. So who is this new student you were chasing down?"

"Marcus Lopez Arguello. Psycho. Apparently he killed all the other boys he lived with in his old boy's home and then burned the place down. He'll be joining Rats. Hey you'll finally have a friend in AP Black Arts now! Marcus is enrolled into it also."

"Ohh okay," said Petra and ___ as they listened to Billy.

"He's that one right over there," said Billy as he pointed to a boy with curly hair standing by his locker and trying to open it. The trio watched Marcus open his locker and pull out a little plush with a knife stuck into it with a note reading "child murderer" taped to it, he angrily threw it back into the locker with his books. They watched Maria walk up to him, flirting with him.

"How much you guys want to bet that if Maria is here, Chico isn't far behind her?"

"Not betting you anything because I know you're right," said Petra.

Before ___ or Billy could respond, they heard the sound of someone being shoved up against the lockers. The 3 turned around and sure enough, Chico had Maria pinned up against the lockers, his hand around her throat and threatening her and Marcus. Marcus tried to intervene causing a scene with one of the school monks stepping in see what was happening.

"That's our cue to get to class," said Petra. The other two agreeing as they all began walking to their respective classes, unfortunately having to walk past Marcus, and the other Soto Vatos to get to class. As they walked by, Chico grabbed Billy's drink and poured it over Marcus.

"I was still drinking that!" exclaimed Billy.

"Don't care," said Chico as he grabbed Maria and left for class, the other Soto Vatos following behind them.

"I'll buy you another soda Billy," said ___ as she put her arm around him to get going. "Hey, hurry and clean up and change your shirt. There are usually spare white shirts in the closet right by the restrooms. Master Lin doesn't like it when kids are late to his class," ___ said to Marcus before her, Petra, and Billy went to class.

"Thanks," said Marcus.

ᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚ

Petra and Billy split off to go to their class while ___ entered AP Dark Arts, sitting in her seat. The seat next to her was often left empty because the Legacy kids preferred to sit together.

Marcus entered the classroom, noticing that only two chairs remained empty. He chose what he thought would be the better option, walking up to ___ and tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, can I sit here?"

"Hey, you made it to class on time. Yeah, go ahead."

"Thank you," said Marcus as he slid into the seat next to her.

"Don't mention it."

"Awww the little rats are sitting together," said one of the Dixie Mob girls sitting next to Brandy.

"Leave us alone Dixie Mob," said ___.

"Or what rat?"

___ reached into her blazer jacket, pulling out her butterfly knife and throwing it at the Dixie Mob girl, the knife landing in the wall and a chunk of her hair falling to the floor. The Dixie Mob girl let out a loud gasp, looking at ___ in disbelief.

"This time it was your extension. Next time it'll be all of your real hair Dixie Mob."

Master Lin walked into the room before the conversation could continue, pulling ___'s butterfly knife out of the wall and walking up to her desk. "Miss ___, it is too early to be throwing your knife around. I don't want to see it again you hear me?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. Let's start our lesson," said Master Lin as he walked back up to the front of the classroom. "World war I was started by a teenager with a pistol, a Serbian peasant who chose to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Set in motion the chain reaction culminating in two world wars and today's Cold war. Character is revealed through choice. Consider for a moment-"

Brandy slid a note onto Marcus's desk, Master Lin's cane coming down on the note.

"Sorry, I was just-" began Marcus. Master Lin's cane flew into Brandy's face, making her nose bleed. "Jesus!" said Marcus.

Everyone in the room let out laughs at Marcus's reaction.

"Who would be the recipient of your rage; A thief, a child molester, a world leader? This one decision betrays all secrets and unveils true motive. Ask yourself. On that dark ledge, poised to strike with clean opportunity. Who would you kill?" The school bell rang, dismissing the students to their next class. "Your homework tonight, half your semester grade, will tell me who you really are. Use your training. Search the city for a worthy target. Someone you think deserves to die, and kill them. Discard the body, hide all evidence. Bring me proof," said Master Lin as students began filing out of the room.

"No problem for a killer like you," said one of the boys sitting behind the two.

"Shut up and get your next class," said ___ with a sneer.

"Um, is everyone like that?" (Marcus)

"Yeah. People here tend to not be friendly, don't think too much of it. Everyone who is a Legacy has a stick up their ass because of family relations and a good amount of the Rats drown in self-pity and depression, it's nothing personal."

"You're nice though."

"That's because I think the hierarchy shit is dumb. We're all getting trained to be the next generation of shitty people who disrupt regular civilians' lives. Some of us are gonna be rivals but a good amount of us are gonna be allies once we graduate, might as well start good relationships early right? And technically I don't care what anyone actually does unless we're friends and I stay out of everyone's business unless I have to step in. What class do you have next?"

"Martial Arts with Miss De Luca."

"Same, let's go together. Hurry she doesn't like tardy students either and we have to change," said ___ as they walked to the Martial Arts gym room.

"You said that you only step into things when you have to right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"So why didn't you step in to help Maria this morning?"

"I don't step in for Maria anymore. I did when we were younger, got a gnarly scar on my arm, my torso, and a few on my back from Chico for challenging him though. Maria knows that Chico is a possessive asshole and continues to flirt and sleep with other guys in school. She knows he'll actually harm people because Chico could not care less who lives or dies and she does it anyways so that's on her. I'm not stepping in for someone who continuously makes the same dumb mistakes and gets caught making the same one over and over again. We also aren't friends so... Go get changed and get to the gym. Don't challenge Miss De Luca, she likes to make a student's humiliation to teach the others."

Before Marcus could answer, ___ was off to change.

The class sat kneeling on their knees as they listened to Miss De Luca. "The world respects those who can protect themselves. Every opponent has a weakness. Pick a partner. Find theirs."

Marcus got up, ready to head over to ___ but was stopped by Maria so he paired up with her. ___ paired up with Petra. The two fought and ___ was able to pin Petra down to the mat.

"What's my weakness ___?"

"The fact that you don't actually put up a fight in this class so I could put in no effort and still pin you down. What's mine?"

"The fact that you are scared to put hands on people who are your friends. I know you're stronger than that but you didn't use all your strength because your opponent is me. You should try fighting Viktor next time, I think your results will be better."

"Oh shut up Petra." The two girls laughed when Petra tapped ___'s leg and nodded behind her. ___ helped Petra up and looked behind her to see Marcus and Maria looking at her. Maria said something to Marcus before they went back to fighting.

ᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚ

Lunch time came around eventually. Petra and ___ sat on the rooftop together waiting for Lex or Billy to eventually show up, the two were laughing at Viktor's misfortune in Poison class.

"Yeah. Billy snuck some into his drink and then his insides were gone to shit." (Petra)

"I wish I had Poisons with you guys to see that happen what the heck."

"What you ladies up to?" said Lex as he entered through the door.

"Nothing," both girls answered him. Lex and Petra engaged in a conversation about explosives while ___ looked out at the San Francisco skyline. Billy and Marcus came through the door, Billy explaining your hang out spot to Marcus.

"Petra, Lex, ___, meet Marcus, the new Rat. Well, I think ___ already knows Marcus but still." (Billy)

"Yeah we had AP Black Arts together and we all had Martial Arts together remember?"

The four of you continued to talk when Marcus made it known that the person he wanted to kill most was the President. The other 3 laughed, deeming the task to be undo-able. Marcus stood next to you by the railing.

"I don't think it's dumb or un-doable."

"What?" (Marcus)

"The person you want to kill. I don't think it's un-doable. I think if you strategize correctly, you could assassinate anyone. I don't know your full story but I'm sure whatever you did at the boy's home was carefully thought out and executed, that's why Lin was looking to recruit you in the first place."

"Thanks... We didn't get to finish our conversation earlier." (Marcus)

"I told you to change for Miss De Luca's class, I don't think that conversation warrants a continuation."

"No. You said that you don't step in for Maria anymore." (Marcus)

"Yeah... what about it?"

"Why not?" (Marcus)

"I remember telling you that Chico fucked me up for trying to step in earlier. Did you want to see the scars to believe me?" ___ asked as she began untucking her white button up shirt.

"NO! No. I'm good. I believe you. I just don't get why people don't help other people in need you know?"

"Because you're at King's Dominion Marcus. These kids are all trained killers and manipulators. No one here is wired to help other people, only themselves."

"But you are. You've been helping me all day." (Marcus)

"I've been helping you today because it's your first day and I remember my first day at King's being shitty as a Rat. It's gonna take me about 48 more hours to determine whether or not I want to keep helping you or completely ditch you and throw you to the wolves."

"Oh...okay. I'm gonna go talk to Billy," said Marcus as he walked away. Petra walked back to ___, getting back up on the rooftop railing to sit with her for the rest of the duration of lunch. ___ continued to take glances at Marcus, the glances not going unnoticed by Petra.

"I know that look. You're plotting. What are you plotting? And who are you plotting against?" (Petra)

"I'm plotting... for myself. I'm gonna get Marcus to come to the apt."

"The apt?! Your apartment?! Why?!" Petra whisper-yelled.

"Because I want him, and the mob that is forcing me to come to King's Dominion in the first place bought me an apartment nearby for a reason, I might as well make more use of it."

"Doesn't it usually take you like 72 hours to decide if you like someone enough to even be friends with them? So how did you determine that you want to get laid by him within one school day?" (Petra)

"One, because he seems to be different from other people here. Two, I have a feeling Maria is after him too... and I want to get to him first."

"You're gonna challenge Maria?!" Petra whisper-yelled at ___.

"Yeah. Why not? It's about time someone challenge the Legacies don't you think?" ___ asked with a mischievous grin and glint in her eyes.

Petra thought about the idea for a few moments in silence before she sighed and looked at ___, "Okay. I'm in."

"Really?!"

"Yeah. I still stand by the point that we as Rats should stay out of the Legacy students' ways for safety, but I want to see someone finally challenge Maria when it comes to boys so I'm down. What should I do to help?"

"Help me put little notes into Marcus's locker, bag, and then eventually get him to come to the apartment?"

"I got you."

The two girls high-fived and giggled to themselves at the plan that was about to unfold.

ᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚ

Throughout the next two weeks, Marcus began receiving little pink notes in his book bag, his locker, and the notes would even get slipped under his dorm room door once in a while. He was determined to find out who was leaving him little love letters, but was always a step too late to catch whoever was leaving them.

The Rats were sitting on the rooftop during lunch again. Petra and ___ sitting on the rooftop's railing and Marcus, Billie, and Lex sitting in their own spot, huddling over Marcus's love notes trying to figure out who sent them. The kicker here is that Billy knows exactly who these are from. No one else likes pink as much as ___ does within the other Rats, and he recognized her handwriting because he has borrowed notes from her multiple times. Billy had confronted the girls after the first time Marcus showed him one of the notes.

A week ago

Billy was sitting in his dorm doing homework when Marcus burst into his room. "Okay jeez Marcus, don't even knock or anything. I could've been in my underwear!"

"Billy I need help." (Marcus)

"With what?" (Billy)

"These!" said Marcus as he pulled a handful of pink papers out of his book bag to show the other boy. "Someone keeps leaving me love letters and it's driving me insane trying to figure out who is leaving them in my bag and my locker." (Marcus)

Billy took one out of Marcus's hand and looked at it, reading the words neatly written in cursive. "'I'm tryna kiss your lips for real', with little red hearts around it. Awww that's sweet. Someone has a little crush on you Marcus."

"BUT WHO?!" (Marcus)

Billy looked at the boy in disbelief, not knowing how it wasn't obvious who wrote the note. "Are you serious?"

"Do you think I would be here asking you for help if I knew who it was?! Do you know who it is?!" (Marcus)

"No." Billy was lying. He could tell from the handwriting that it was definitely ___ but figured she had a reason behind the notes rather than telling Marcus to his face, so Billy kept quiet. "Do you have any idea who it is?"

"I have an idea of who it isn't from if that counts for anything." (Marcus)

"Let's hear it." (Billy)

"It's not Brandy or anyone from Dixie Mob. It's definitely not Saya. I feel like the pink could mean it's from one of the other Kuroki girls. Those girls like cute pink things right?" (Marcus)

Billy stared at Marcus in disbelief. Marcus was already half way there with the "cute pink things" and was still dumb enough to get the answer wrong. "Absolutely not Marcus. Kuroki doesn't fuck around with Rats."

"Saya talks to me." (Marcus)

"Because you're her pledge Marcus. If she could avoid you all together I'm sure she would. Try again." (Billy)

"Okay so it's not Dixie Mob or any of the Kuroki girls. Is it Maria?" (Marcus)

"I did not think there would ever be a day where someone at King's Dominion out-stupids me and yet here we are." (Billy)

"WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME STUPID?!" (Marcus)

"Because it's obviously not Maria! For one, Maria's color is RED okay? Not pink. And she's been all over you since you got here with no problem even with Chico trying to kill you both so why would she be leaving anonymous notes?! Even if she was the one leaving the notes, she wouldn't have gone this long without exposing herself to you so that you guys could have sex in her dorm room. Think harder."

"You're no help, I'll go ask Willie," said Marcus as he left Billy's dorm room for Willie's.

Billy waiting for Marcus to be far enough to not hear him, and left his dorm room to visit Petra and ___'s dorm. He knocked on the door, being met by ___. "Hi Billy! Whatcha doing here?"

"I got questions for you," he said as he invited himself in and sat on ___'s bed because if he sat on Petra's bed he would get smacked. ___ closed the door and sat next to him while Petra sat on her bed and looked at her other 2 friends.

"So... why are you leaving Marcus little love notes?" (Billy)

Petra and ___'s eyes widened, both attacking Billy to cover his mouth and shushing him. "You can't just say that shit out loud!" Petra whisper-yelled.

"How do you know it's me?!" ___ whisper-yelled at Billy.

Billy lightly smacked their hands on top of his mouth for them to let go. Once the two girls got up off of him and everyone settle back onto ___'s bed he looked at the two in disbelief. "Hello? The pink paper? The little red hearts? The handwriting? No one writes like that except you."

"How would you know that?"

"No one likes pink the way you do and because I borrow notes from you all the time. I think at this rate, I would know your handwriting." (Billy)

"Okay so how come Marcus doesn't know then? He borrows notes from ___." (Petra)

"Because he's dumb," Billy and ___ said at the same time before laughing.

"He is! He thought it was a Kuroki girl or Maria and I realized that he did in fact out-stupid me for not knowing it was you." (Billy)

"You can't tell him yet Billy. Don't tell him at all actually."

"Why?" (Billy)

"Because our plan isn't finished yet. We're gonna get him to ___'s APT." (Petra)

Billy stared at the two girls, jaw dropped to the floor. "The APT?! Your apartment?!" Billy whisper-yelled back at the two.

"Mm-hmm."

"Why?" (Billy)

"Cause I want him."

"Are we forgetting that Maria also wants him? And that we are Rats who probably shouldn't test a Legacy?" asked Billy.

"That's what I said when ___ first told me. But she's determined so I said I would help." (Petra)

"I just think that if I want something then I should have it. Screw Maria, she can have all the other guys who are begging to get into her bed, I want Marcus," said ___ with a nonchalant shrug.

"I'm in. What do I do to help?" said Billy after some contemplating.

"Steer him away from the correct answer until I'm ready to reveal that it's me?"

"Will do. But why exactly are we dragging out the process?" (Billy)

"That way Marcus gets antsy about who is behind the letters and agrees to meet at the APT no questions asked." (Petra)

"It's a full proof plan don't you think?"

"Yes because he's actually going insane trying to figure it out." (Billy)

"That's good."

Back to the present

Petra looked at the group of boys standing over Marcus's pile of pink love letters, trying not to laugh because Lex has no clue, Marcus is clearly stressed trying to figure it out, and Billy is being of no help to the boys in favor of helping the girls.

"How long do you think it'll take if I just kept this going until Marcus figures it out?" whispered ___ to Petra.

"Too damn long that's for sure. If you want him first we gotta stick to the original plan." (Petra)

"I guess you're right... tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?!" (Petra)

"Ssssssshhhhh!" said ___ as she looked over at the boys to see that they weren't paying attention to the two girls and the noise they were making. "Yes, tomorrow. It's a Friday night tomorrow so we won't have classes the next day and Lin won't look for us because it's the weekend. Plus, Marcus has been hanging out with Maria more often and I want him first."

"What makes you think they haven't already-" said Petra as she made an explicit gesture with her hands.

"Because Chico has been on Maria's ass more often. The only times he's not watching her like a guard dog I when she has classes without him in it."

"Oh okay. When should I deliver the last note?" (Petra)

"Slip it into his backpack during Poisons tomorrow. I'll tell Billy the plan later on the way back to the dorms."

"Okay, I will do that." (Petra)

ᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚ

Tomorrow during Poisons, Petra slipped the last little pink note into Marcus's book bag on her way to her seat. Class went on as usual, dealing with everyone else who was insufferable.

Class thankfully did come to an end. Marcus opened his bag to see another pink note, grabbing it and putting it into his pocket and then putting his books back to head to lunch.

Marcus stood on the rooftop waiting for the others, pulling out the note to read. He noticed the note was larger in size compared to the others. It read, "Sleep tomorrow but tonight go crazy, all you gotta do is meet me at the APT" with an address and directions how to get there underneath.

"OH SHIT!" yelled Marcus after reading the note.

"BLOODY HELL WHY ARE YOU YELLING?!" Yelled Lex as he walked through the door, the others following behind him. Billy and Lex joining Marcus to see what was going on, and Petra and ___ going to their usual spot on the railing.

"She wants to meet me tonight." (Marcus)

"Who?" (Lex)

"Mystery love letter girl." (Marcus)

"I thought they were love notes, not really love letters, you know what I mean?" said Billy just to irritate Marcus and Lex a little since he already knew what was happening.

"Who cares what they are?! Just go meet her tonight! Tell us who it is after and if she's hot." (Lex)

The three boys celebrated Marcus somewhat figuring out who this girl is and getting to meet her.

"What did you put on that note?" said Petra as she laughed at the boys' reactions.

"'Sleep tomorrow but tonight go crazy', plus my address and directions."

"Are you guys gonna actually..." (Petra)

"Yes. Only if he wants to though, I'm not that mean."

Petra looked at ___, jokingly judging her.

"Hey, hey, hey. You don't get to judge me, you fucked Viktor at the last party."

"Because I was curious!" (Petra)

"So am I!"

"Tell me how it goes afterwards." (Petra)

"If you want my opinion I think it'll go better than you and Viktor."

"Oh shut up."

The two girls laughed at their conversation, pivoting it to a different topic as to not get caught by the boys.

ᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚᰔᩚ

Marcus did in fact arrive at the APT to find ___ behind the door. And ___ did in fact get to Marcus before Maria did... if you know what I mean.

You made it to the end! This is just a small story I worked on during my lunch break today, nothing too serious or well thought out but I hope you liked it anyways. This piece isn't proof-read so there might be typos and grammar errors etc.

I don't own any of the characters from Deadly Class and take no credit for them. All credits go out to the correct people.

© This work is copyrighted by enhashoutout. I only post my work on this Tumblr account. I do not allow people to repost or translate my work without my permission. If you do see anyone doing so, please let me know. Writers work hard on their stories, please don't be a crappy human and take our work. ♡

[greenand-blue]

Chris smells like the forest, woody, earthy, with all the force of an early spring monsoon. Green tea with milk and honey, dirt and sweat and the faint iron of blood from bruised knuckles and scraped knees and busted lips. The clean scent of the hand lotion he uses to desperately soothe the screaming calluses on his palms from climbing everything in sight that he swears is unscented. The quiet understanding and security of a library. Middle shelf liquor and willingly bloodying your knuckles for the ones you love. Spitting blood in the sink at 2am and praying no one sees it. The restless whispers on the wind of “let’s go”. The sharp scent of the middle of the night, right before it snows.

Chris Kratt smells like adventure.

Martin smells like the ocean; salty and sweet and inviting and dangerous all at the same time. Chocolate ice cream and vanilla lattes and a foraged meal in the middle of nowhere. He smells like the grace and patience and protectiveness that can only come with being an eldest sibling, the glue that holds everyone together. Dirt and sweat from the trail, the spray deodorant he only bought because it had a kraken on the label. Clean linen and little bits of everyone else, parts of his family rubbed off onto him from the constant hugs he offers. He smells like it’s his god given right to seize every day he’s given. He smells warm, like hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. Watching the sun set over a calm ocean, feeling safe.

Martin Kratt smells like home.

Aviva smells like lavender, fresh and wild. She smells like oil and metal and that fruity body spray she shares with Koki that the two insist on stocking up on whenever they’re in Germany. Black coffee and espresso shots and energy drinks, she smells like too much to do and not enough sleep. Gears turning and a fire burning in her belly, a desperate fight to make sure her hard work will one day pay off and her legacy will be remembered. Constantly striving to be better; a better inventor, a better friend, a better human. The same hand lotion Chris uses, but she is humble enough to admit that it smells like fresh cut grass. Pride and confidence and the skills to back them up.

Aviva Corcovado smells like innovation.

Koki smells like a wood stove, fiery and passionate. The fruity body spray she shares with Aviva, mixed with mocha lattes and the sweat of weightlifting. Hair oil and silken bonnets. The exhaust her computers spew out. Brown liquor and fried food. Hot maple syrup served at a diner with waffles and strawberry lip gloss. The scent of being unafraid to throw a punch when her family is in danger; never starting fights, but always ending them. She smells like getting the last laugh and blackmail and always having something on someone.

Koki smells like family.

Jimmy smells like freshly baked bread, warm and inviting. Hearty meals wafting from the kitchen, welcoming his loved ones inside to rest after a long day. The warmth of a wood stove. Old Spice deodorant and sickly sweet clouds of the best weed, which no one knows who he gets it from and he refuses to tell, but at least he’s willing to share. Stone washed denim and green apple shampoo and new converse sneakers and fearful curiosity. Skateboard decks and scraped knees and Neosporin and band-aids from one too many falls. He smells like talking your way out of a fight, immediately getting help when someone’s hurt. Chocolate covered kettle corn and movie nights and vanilla bean frappchinos.

Jimmy smells like togetherness.

[headmate-ideas]

Can i get a male headmate based on like crust punk/skater aesthetics of the 90s? Like w33d, high tops, messy rooms, anger, etc? Thxx

🎸 HEADMATE TEMPLATE 🧷

✦ Name(s): Don, Max, Riot ✦ Pronouns: he/him, it/its, xe/xym/xyr/xyrs/xymself, x/xs/xself ✦ Species: human ✦ Age: age slider (17-27) ✦ Role(s): anger holder, social headmate, artist/crafter ✦ Labels: male, mspec ✦ Xenos: anger, music, the color red ✦ Interests/likes: DIY, thrift stores, skate parks ✦ Dislikes: following rules ✦ Music taste: punk rock, lo-fi, grunge, pop punk ✦ Aesthetic(s): crust punk, grunge, bastardcore ✦ Objectum attraction(s): musical instruments, battle jackets, skateboards ✦ Kins: rats, black cats, music ✦ Emoji proxy: 🎸🧷 ✦ Details:

Don is the embodiment of 90s alternative culture, particularly crust punk and skater culture. He dresses in a grungy/punk style that involves torn jeans (ripped either naturally over time or by hand), flannel shirts with patches sewn all over them, and high tops that he keeps until they're completely worn out. He likes making DIY projects/zines and sharing them online and with friends. Despite the disarray in which he tends to keep his room, he can always find his craft supplies and albums. It also likes going to punk shows, finding these as good opportunities to socialize as well as to get its feelings of anger out. It holds more anger than most members of his system, which sometimes comes out of nowhere. This includes feeling frustration to a stronger degree than others, as well as having general anger towards deserved targets (e.g. those who have mistreated the system, or at injustices). However, Don is good at distracting xself from xs anger, using music and DIY projects to cope. Xe makes zines and music about how xe feels, and he doesn't mind sharing these coping skills with other headmates who have issues with emotional self-regulation.

[These can be edited and changed as needed, and headmates will almost definitely not turn out EXACTLY as described.]

[cherrygorilla]

Ethan's Basic Info

Name: Ethan Dombrowski

Ok, I both did and didn't struggle with coming up with potential faceclaims for Ethan. I had no idea where to even start with looking for faceclaims for him for specific decades - I just don't think that I have that broad of a knowledge of actors lol. So, instead, I've split it into actors who I think capture more of how I imagine his physical appearance to be (Heath Ledger & Johnny Depp - both mostly for the hair, let's be real haha), and actors who I think could really capture the lovably chaotic vibe he brings to the table (Matthew Lillard & Milo Manheim). Unconventional - but then again, so is he, so I think it works lmao.

Nicknames: As much as he loves to dish nicknames out to other people, he's never really been given one himself. I mean, his parents didn't even think to give him a middle name - expecting them to be creative enough to come up with a nickname was a bit of a stretch. He would get called his surname in school quite a bit (mostly if he was getting in trouble), but other than that he usually just gets 'Ethan'. If anything, I think his abundance of nicknames for others is just making up for the lack of his own. I like to think he's just waiting for the right person to come along and drop one on him though hehe.

Age: 20

Date of Birth: 4th of April (which is very helpful for him, because 4.4.44 is a ridiculously easy birthday for his pea-sized brain to remember)

Zodiac: Aries

Birthstone: Diamond

Nationality: American and Polish

Sexuality: He doesn't care about labels - he'll sleep with anyone that breathes in his direction...within reason lmao

Birthplace: A rusty trailer home in Tallahassee, Florida

Current Residence: A slightly less rusty trailer home in St Petersburg, Florida

Occupation: Production Assistant and Sound Engineer in the TV & film industry, and the entertainment coordinator for a local bar. He's also (according to Mick) a professional idiot.

Talents/Skills: Playing the guitar, flipping beer mats, putting together flat-pack furniture (because he's the monkey they apparently wrote the instructions for - Miles' words, not mine), doing god-awful impressions, giving inanimate objects personalities, and, despite his deep-rooted clumsiness, he's pretty good on a skateboard.

Birth Order: Youngest of two

Siblings: His older sister, Billie (27)

Parents: Dominik Alfred Dombrowski (deceased) & Nadia Ruth Dombrowski

New Family: Hendrix, his rescue dog, and the closest thing he thinks he'll ever get to a stable family unit. He says he's a black lab for ease, but he only looks like a black lab if you squint and tilt your head; in reality, he's a mutt that the rescue shelter couldn't even pin down to any particular breed - that's part of what made Ethan so drawn to him though: they're both as misunderstood in the world as each other. In terms of human family though, his aunt (Janis) and uncle (Ford) took him in after everything went to shit with his parents - and although he doesn't see much of them anymore, it's comforting to know that he does have some sort of a real support system to count on if he were to need it.

Signature:

Height: 5' 7'' (so many of the actors I picked as his faceclaims are tall, so I tried to make it work for a while, but I just couldn't - he's just got such chaotic little-shit/confident short-king energy in my mind lmao)

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Brown

Glasses or contact lenses: He probably needs glasses, but he doesn't care enough to go get an eye test

Distinguishing features: Dimples, a burn scar on his right thumb from messing around with a lighter, a scar on his left wrist he usually hides with a bunch of bracelets/wrist bands, and a lot of really dumb tattoos.

Mannerisms: He's always fidgeting - like always. It doesn't matter if it's with a paper straw wrapper, the end of one of his many wristbands, or the piece of skin next to his nail - he'll even bounce his leg if it comes down to it; he just always needs to be moving in some capacity. He's pretty intense with holding eye contact in conversations too (despite them being half-closed 90% of the time) - and the concept of personal space is totally lost on him.

Health: Mild insomnia and depression. His drug habits also aren't the healthiest, but it's not like he's gonna go to get himself checked out; what he doesn't know can't hurt him.

Hobbies: Playing the guitar (what he spends the majority of his free time doing), walking Hendrix, making terrible decisions, dragging Miles into those terrible decisions (either to join in, or get him out of trouble), napping anywhere and everywhere, collecting cool lighters, smoking weed, getting spontaneous tattoos, thrifting bizarre items of clothing, eating Mexican food, and losing himself in an album for 45 minutes. and annoying the shit out of Mick

Greatest flaw (in their opinion): Probably his lack of drive. Whilst how laidback and carefree he is about life can be a great thing most of the time, it does make him feel kind of empty sometimes not having a goal to reach, or some kind of direction he wants to take his life in. Yeah, it makes life a lot less stressful just living it day to day - not having any responsibilities, or commitments to obsess over - but without any sense of ambition it can start to feel a little…pointless, I guess. 

Best quality (in their opinion): His ability to find the fun in any situation. He was dealt a pretty shitty hand in life, but he's never let it get him down. Sure, he may not always cope with it in the healthiest way, but he is coping - thriving, in fact. He floats through life without a care in the world, and will happily toss a pool noodle to anyone that needs one so they can join him. He's optimistic, and authentic, and downright stupid sometimes, but it's those qualities that help people see the bright side in hopeless situations; he draws the fun to the surface, and helps you focus on the simple joys life has to offer, without letting the weight of your troubles drag you down.

Biggest fear: Clowns are his big one - and always the answer if anyone asks. But if he's being totally honest (which is almost never when it comes to serious stuff like this), then it's ending up like his parents. He has a handful of fond memories of his family growing up - his older sister probably has more since she was around for more of the good years - but his unplanned arrival stretched the family's already tight budget razor thin, and it didn't take long for things to go to shit as a result. His dad never had a particularly strong resolve (something he's paranoid about having inherited), and so when things got hard, his already established relationship with drugs became less casual, and more heavily reliant. When the tamer stuff didn't cut it anymore, he turned to the harder stuff, and when the harder stuff stopped helping him feel better - he stopped feeling anything at all. Ethan's mom took her husband's accidental overdose hard, but she found being a single mother even harder. And whilst Ethan knew she was struggling, he's still struggling to forgive her for shutting down on her kids in the way she did. Yeah, fine, lose your job and sleep on the couch all day, ignore your children for days on end - whatever you needed to do to get by - but go out to get your latest fix and go down for 15 years for manslaughter? …That's asking a lot. Like it was mentioned earlier, with his parents out of the picture, his aunt and uncle took him and his sister in, and whilst they might not be the greatest role models themselves in terms of addictive vices, they at least showed him how to open his mind in a safe, supervised environment. Yes, numbing his brain to keep out the bad thoughts is an unhealthy coping mechanism, but it's also beautifully freeing - and there's a lot of fun to be had if you know what's safe and what kind of high you're looking for (which, thanks to his aunt's guidance, he always does). He has a great set of friends keeping him on the straight and narrow now, and his lawyer sister clearly turned her equally shitty hand in life around, but that nagging paranoia about screwing his life up like his old folks did still haunts his thoughts in the wee hours of the morning when he can't get his brain to fall asleep… But that's way too deep and depressing, so he'll stick with clowns - or Miles telling him he's found a new best friend 😢

Hogwarts House: Gryffindor (it was between that or Hufflepuff, but I think he's too recklesss and overbearing to be a Hufflepuff haha)

Favourite Ice Cream Flavour: Cookies 'n Cream

Favourite Colour: Green - but he can be very easily swayed; he thinks they're all fun

Favourite Number: 420 babyyyyy 😎🍃🔥💨🤪💯

Favourite Movie: Wayne's World or the live action Scooby Doo - but his Wet Side Story universe pick would be A Bucket of Blood

Favourite Songs: Ok, this is a really tough category for him, because he has a very deep appreciation for a very broad spectrum of music genres. But, a (slightly) narrowed down list would probably look something like: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Creep by Radiohead, Enter Sandman by Metallica, Hotel California by the Eagles, Vienna by Billy Joel, Does Your Mother Know by ABBA, Happy Together by The Turtles, Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts, Fight For Your Right by the Beastie Boys, The Muppet Show theme song & Hurricane by Bridgit Mendler

A place they want to visit: Niagara Falls - purely because he wants a souvenir t-shirt

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada

Source: Audiobook ARC from NetGalley

Release date: 6 February

Genre: young adult contemporary romance

If you like: queer coming of age, explorations of toxic masculinity, pop-punk, flawed protagonists trying to be better, Sk8ter Boy by Avril Lavigne but gay

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Synopsis

Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all . . . until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself.

Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that—despite every authority figure telling him otherwise—maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time.

As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand—and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place.

Content warnings

Explicit language

Bullying

Alcoholism

Underage drinking

Racism (as experienced by a Black love interest)

Past domestic abuse

Childhood trauma

Smoking (cigarettes + weed)

Homophobia

Physical violence

Review

Why'd Wes have to go and make things so complicated 😔🤘

I hadn't expected to, but I found myself relating to Wes quite a bit. His experience of being labelled as a bad kid, and then only being seen as such without being given the chance to break that expectation, as well as his feelings of anger and fear and powerlessness, that no one wants to listen to him, that he can't open up to people, that he's inferior and will never amount to anything, took me right back to primary and secondary school lmao. (I'm so glad I'm not a teenager anymore.)

I also empathise with how awkward Wes feels around Tristan, or when he's trying to talk to people who aren't his friends; not knowing the right thing to say, or when he says something that comes off as angrier or meaner than he intends—that's literally me, baby!

A part I don't relate to is the bullying. Wes is like, a legit bully, like pushing kids into the lockers like in american high school movies kind of bully. While he's not the main aggressor among his friends, it still kind of hurt to read about how he hurt people in the past. I liked how his character arc developed, with him facing up to his actions and apologising to his victims, although I do think he was forgiven pretty easily; I personally would have held a grudge until I died, but good for them!

At the start of the book I was worried that this would be a whole "find a bf and magically all your problems are fixed!" kind of story, but while Tristan is definitely a motivating factor for Wes to improve himself, I really appreciate that Wes was the one who decided to take initiative and begin the first steps to becoming better.

There's layers of complexity to Wes and Tristan's relationship, because (a) Tristan is Black, and so deals with racism that Wes could never understand, (b) Tristan is out and Wes is not, (c) Tristan is a perfectionist and has a goal and life plans, while Wes is flunking high school with no plans to apply for college, (d) Wes had an abusive childhood, and Tristan has loving supportive parents, and (e) Wes is poor and Tristan is wealthy.

These are a lot of issues to handle in one book, and while I feel like the author does a good job discussing and resolving most of these elements, there's one point that I feel didn't get fully resolved, and that's the wealth disparity between them. Wes is super aware of this, he constantly notices the differences between the way they live, which makes him feel self-conscious around Tristan.

Spoiler warning, but at one point Tristan dresses Wes up in like a pricey cardigan and a polo shirt to meet his parents, and later Wes is furious and leaves early because he feels out of place and insecure, and that Tristan is trying to change who he is. Later, they talk and Wes comes to the conclusion that he was over-reacting, which, yeah, he was. But Tristan never apologises and is like "you know I would never have made you change your clothes if I knew it would make you feel bad!" He also makes fun of one of Wes's friends, and Wes wonders if part of the reason why he doesn't want to introduce Tristan to his friends was because he felt embarrassed.

I feel like this is a pretty big deal, and an obvious source of tension, that doesn't seem to get fully resolved. Most of Wes and Tristan's discussions about their relationship revolve around Wes apologising, but Tristan, even though he never does so intentionally, never apologises for making Wes feel inferior in this aspect.

I also feel that Tristan was kind of one-dimensional. From Wes's perspective, Tristan is perfect and flawless, and he puts him on a pedestal, while Wes is the one messing up. Tristan's only flaw, as far is I can tell, is that he struggles with anxiety, but he never seems to show it to Wes, for all that he encourages Wes to be emotionally vulnerable with him. I would have liked it if Tristan messed-up, or needed Wes to support him or comfort him in some way (Wes does support him, at near the ending, but that doesn't really count), to balance out their relationship a bit, instead of always having Tristan encouraging him, and having Wes mess up and make up for it.

The climax of this book gets really chaotic, huge shit goes down, like life-ruining shit. He manages to work it all out in the end, but I feel that it came way too easily, especially the problems he had with his friends. I feel like it got dismissed as some sort of misunderstanding, like Wes was the one making a big deal out of nothing. Afterwards, he and his friends talk it out very maturely, but where was all that maturity when shit was going down!!

I realise that a lot of my review sounds like I'm complaining, but this is really worth a read! The way this book discusses toxic masculinity, emotional vulnerability, dealing with trauma (because Wes is very clearly traumatised) is so well-done, and you can tell from the author's note that he put a lot of love and thought into this book. I would discuss this more but this review would get very spoilery.

To finish off this review, here are some nitpicks! These are minor details and do not affect the overall story! Some of these are purely personal issues I have that may not apply to other people!

Wes is stated to be a punk, and a lot of this book (the title, the chapter titles, the marketing) is about pop-punk, or scene music in general. But Wes doesn't seem to listen to pop-punk? The only band he mentions listening to is Metallica, which, last I checked, is a metal band. He wears a Linkin Park t-shirt once (huge slay) and mentions the My Chemical Romance reunion (double slay), but that's about it. He seems to be more of a metalhead tbh, which there's nothing wrong with, but I was hoping for more pop-punk references. (This sounds greedy, since almost every chapter title is a pop-punk reference, and I did appreciate that, but I wanted more!!)

I didn't vibe with the audiobook narrator. I'm kind of (very) picky about audiobooks, so the fact that I didn't dnf shows that he did a decent job at least, but I feel like he missed the mark on narrating the dialogue. Sometimes I couldn't tell the difference between Wes's internal narration and when he was actually speaking which was confusing, and the narrator also read everything in this sad, hesitant sort of voice, which works for the overall vibe of the story, but makes the happy, lighthearted moments in the book feel sad as well.

Minor spoiler, Wes's mom got him and his friends tickets to see Metallica, but later they start growing apart and the concert is never mentioned again (unless I somehow missed it?), so its unclear if they did go to the Metallica concert. I need to know if they went, because if they skipped out on it due to their beef, I will be very sad on their behalf.