#but it was still a little nervewracking keeping track of that many

[wondereads]

Personal Recommendation (2/14/20)

The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley

I’m doing something new this week! I’ll be reviewing every book in The Sisters Grimm series. Each will get a small paragraph and get a rating out of ten, and then I’ll rate the series overall. Hope you guys enjoy it! Please keep in mind this will contain spoilers for the later books, so don’t read ahead if you don’t want some major spoilers!

#1: The Fairy-Tale Detectives     9/10

The very beginning! Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, after a year in foster care with some dubious caretakers, are being sent to live with their grandmother, who, until a few days ago, they didn’t know existed. Granny Relda lives in Ferryport Landing, a typical small town in almost all aspects except for the significant population of fairytale characters or Everafters. The first book serves as a good introduction to Buckley’s world. The sisters have been shielded from fairytales their entire lives, so it’s easy to insert explanations for the inexperienced reader. It also very quickly sets up Sabrina and Daphne’s characters by using their reaction to Granny Relda and her fairytale reveal. Daphne, being a younger, more sheltered child, accepts it wholeheartedly and is excited to get involved in solving magical mysteries. Sabrina, after protecting her sister from nutcases for a year, has a much more cynical outlook, and it takes an actual giant scooping Relda up for her to believe. There’s also some memorable introductions for other important characters such as Mr. Canis, Puck, Mirror, and Mayor Charming. In terms of the plot, Buckley consistently creates mysteries that have twists but aren’t too difficult to follow for late elementary students.

#2: The Unusual Suspects     7/10

Things are starting to get a little more intense. Sabrina and Daphne are required to go to school after being preoccupied with chasing giants around the countryside. Unfortunately, especially for Sabrina, who wants to regain some semblance of normalcy, something is killing the teachers at school. I forgot how gruesome the murders were. I also forgot that Sabrina is in sixth grade. This particular book always got on my nerves. Sabrina is clearly having some issues; her parents are missing, she’s trapped in a town with fairytale characters, she can’t see to escape humiliation either at the hands of Puck or her classmates, and now people are being killed left and right. And yet, her family refuses to see that she needs help and decides to reprimand her constantly instead. The villain for this book is particularly disturbing. I must warn readers-child manipulation and abuse is a common theme in these books. If you couldn’t already catch on in the first book, it becomes obvious here that Sabrina has some grudges against the magical community.

#3: The Problem Child     7/10

This book has a sort of in-between feeling to me. Sabrina comes upon a maniacal little girl dressed in red who is holding her currently enchanted parents captive. The little girl, obsessed with recreating her family, is convinced they are her own parents and controls a jabberwocky, her ‘kitty’. All she needs is a granny and a doggy-Granny Relda and Mr. Canis. Everything in this book pours into the next ones, while, unlike the other books, there isn’t much of a self-contained plot. Red comes more into play in Tales from the Hood and The Everafter War, the election sets up Magic and Other Misdemeanors, and the vorpal blade and Puck’s injury lead into Once Upon a Crime. This book, however, introduces Uncle Jake, one of the most interesting characters in terms of development, and it also begins the problem of Sabrina’s magic addiction. The events of this book contribute to Sabrina’s distrust of magic after she has some run-ins with her addiction. It is also when you maybe start to develop some affection for Charming, despite his over-inflated ego.

#4: Once Upon a Crime     10/10

This one is my personal favorite. After Puck’s run-in with the jabberwocky, the Grimms take an emergency trip to New York, Sabrina and Daphne’s old home. There they plead the king of Faerie, Oberon, to heal Puck. Unfortunately, Oberon is poisoned within hours of their arrival, and Relda, of course, takes the case. This book is so much fun because in Ferryport Landing they just sprinkle the whole town in forgetful dust. In New York, Everafters need real jobs and a way to cover their tracks as beings who don’t age. The Wizard of Oz works at Macy’s, Ebenezer Scrooge makes a living as a medium, and pirates such as Long John Silver feed off of Wall Street. It also addresses the downsides of that. Everafters don’t age; some of them don’t even look human. It comes as a shock to Sabrina, but her mother, Veronica Grimm, was secretly working with the New York Everafters to fix their problems. I feel that Sabrina finding a connection to her mother through the Everafter community is the first step she takes toward accepting her role as a Grimm.

#5: Magic and Other Misdemeanors     8/10

The conflict between humans and Everafters starts to take center stage. Someone in Ferryport Landing is stealing powerful magical artifacts, causing rips in time, but the Grimms have to split their attention with Mayor Heart’s new tyrannical rule. This is where the series begins to take a darker turn. The new mayor, the Queen of Hearts, and Sheriff Nottingham are set on running every human in Ferryport Landing out of town, and the divides between human and Everafter are becoming more pronounced by the day. The rips in time are particularly interesting, especially Sabrina and Daphne’s trip to the future, which really raises the stakes going forward. Also, the idea of a past Grimm arriving in town, giving Heart and Nottingham a chance to end the entire family, is very nervewracking. Also, the concept of Everafter-human relationships and how that would work presents some interesting conflicts.

#6: Tales from the Hood     10/10

There’s nothing I love more than a fractured fairytale. Intent on getting rid of the Grimms’ staunch protector, Heart and Nottingham put Mr. Canis, or the Big Bad Wolf, on trial. Some investigation in order to clear his name reveals that the story of Little Red Riding Hood might not be all true. Technically, the entire series is based on fairytales, but this is the first book where those stories are actually challenged. The actual story of Little Red Riding Hood is amazing, and it also ties into all the other stories the Wolf is present in. Also, I love Red, the sane Red, and I always get so happy when she’s cured. Once again, Sabrina clashes strongly with her family in this one, for understandable reasons. I’m less inclined to side with her on this one, but she definitely learns her lesson.

#7: The Everafter War     8/10

The Grimms are finally united! Henry and Veronica Grimm are woken up from their magical sleep, but Henry, having too many bad memories, wants to leave town immediately. Unfortunately, the Scarlet Hand has taken over all of Ferryport Landing and only a small resistance stands in their way. There’s a lot of family drama in this one. The dynamics of Sabrina, Daphne, and their parents are all out of whack after spending over a year apart. On one hand, they now have parental support again. On the other, Henry can’t seem to conceptualize that Daphne is, in fact, not five anymore. If that isn’t enough drama for you, Puck finds out he and Sabrina are married in the future, and Snow and Charming are caught up in a soap opera of their own. Also, not to mention the plethora of betrayals in this book. The plot is really picking up here.

#8: The Inside Story     8/10

This one took quite some imagination. After the reveal of the Master’s identity as their own beloved Mirror, Sabrina, Daphne, and Puck pursue him and Pinocchio through the Book of Everafter, a living book filled with fairytales that could actually change history. I find it absolutely hilarious that the kids absolutely refuse to follow the story no matter what. Also, this is where Sabrina starts coming into her own. She’s going through a rough patch in this book. As would anyone whose best friend turned out to be the leader of a magical terrorist organization. By the way, if you are connected to these characters in any way, Mirror’s betrayal will hit you like a punch to the gut. She’s having trouble trusting her judgement, which will have her come back stronger than ever. Also, it’s nice to see her and Puck get through a couple sentences without a barrage of insults. Finally, Relda was such a badass in this book. If you didn’t love her before, you definitely love her now.

#9: The Council of Mirrors     9/10

It’s time for a happily ever after. With Mirror running loose in Ferryport Landing and the rebellion in tatters, things are looking bleak. Especially when the twenty-four remaining magic mirrors issue a prophecy putting everyone’s fate in the hands of Sabrina and Daphne Grimm. Sabrina starts out pretty broken in this book. She’s been betrayed, her grandmother is possessed by an evil mirror, and now everyone is expecting her to lead an army. I absolutely love that when she gets the push she needs from the mirrors it plays to her strengths. She’s a master of planning and subterfuge, and it’s so nice to see it come out. On a less chipper note, I hate Atticus with everything in me, and I was so happy he ended the way he did. In terms of Mirror, I found it poetic, but also so typical of a kid’s book, that he was defeated by the one thing he never had: love. Finally, the reason this book doesn’t get a 10/10 is because I felt the epilogues were kind of rushed and unrealistic. However, they don’t have much impact on the book overall, and I still loved most of it!

Overall 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

The Sisters Grimm is one of my favorite series from childhood. The characters are realistic, relatable, and get great development. Kids books are great because there’s no worries about the idea being too juvenile. This book could never be an adult book, the ideas in it are too silly. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t amazing, and I find the crazy ideas and cheesy lessons absolutely charming. It gives some unexpected sides to some well-known characters, and the amount of thought that went into incorporating classic and even more obscure characters into the modern world was crazy and very amusing at times. I also suspect that this series is the root of my fondness for fractured fairytales. I would recommend this book to people who like modern fantasy, sibling relationships, and fairytale characters in a decidedly un-mystical setting.

The Author

Michael Buckley: American, 51 years old, also wrote N.E.R.D.S. and Undertow

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every two weeks, and I take recommendations. Check out my about me post for more!

[thisstableground]

So if UVR deviates from maps at around chapter 2, he's met Cleo and kind of gotten to know her right? What would happen if he went back to Jamaica to visit the ppls who were nice to him

yeah, he still met her - so 90verse ruben still spends almost 2 months in jamaica after ian ditches him there, basically the big difference between the two universes is that ian/jason never show up there like they do in maps, so he doesn’t come home until the police track him down. but the setting and the people around are the same.

at the moment, about three years on from everything, he can’t really think too hard about anything or anyone he met out there because there’s no way for it to not be triggering - it’s all just a fuzzy mess crammed into a box labelled Really Bad Time, Do Not Open. but as his therapy goes on, he can sort of poke at the memories a bit and start to pick out details and remember people; he definitely, very vividly, remembers the people who helped him out when he was there, and cleo and her baby in particular, because to be honest their small kindnesses and concern were probably the only things that kept him alive long enough for the police to find him.

cleo told him to stay in touch when he was leaving, and gave him her email, but between how intense and stressful everything was for so long after, him not really believing anyone would want to stay in touch with him, and needing to create some distance from that part of his life until he was ready to deal with it, he never took her up on it. but after some time and a lot of agonizing about it and asking everyone he knows if its a good idea or not, he emails her and fully expects her to not even remember him. like, it was a completely lifechanging and formative part of his life, but he feels like from their perspective he was just a very broken, secretive stranger who showed up and did an incredibly bad job as a cleaner for two months and then suddenly the hotel was full of police and he left. so at best he figures he’s probably a “remember that guy? that was a weird time”. but she replies: she remembers him, and she’s thrilled to hear from him, and she sends him pictures of not-so-baby tariq who is at school now (he doesnt remember ruben, of course). they don’t stay in frequent touch after their intial conversation, but they do stay in touch.

i don’t know about being able to go back visit everyone - i can’t imagine him ever being able to go back to that hotel, or that town, no matter how strong his recovery is going. i do think that (many years down the line) he does want to go to jamaica in general, with usnavi and vanessa. a different place, somewhere more vacationy - he can’t exactly picture walking around that town like hey guys  i’ll show you the beach that i slept on for a week because i was homeless here, and later we can take a romantic stroll past the clinic where they stitched me up” and having it be any kind of cathartic, but going to jamaica in general is something he thinks might help bring some closure. so maybe if they’re not somewhere too far away and their vacation coincides with cleo’s day off work, she might come out to see him for a few hours and chat over coffee. 

i think he probably meets up with her alone, because he doesn’t want his new life to crash that hard into the old one, it’s nervewracking enough without having to deal with that because usnavi and vanessa have seen him in some states but nobody has seen him as completely, appallingly fucked up as the people who saw him the first two months after his life was ruined.  it’s hard to know how to interact with someone after that. but he wants to do it, to thank her in person and to feel a little more resolved about that part of things.

for cleo’s part, ruben is almost entirely unrecognizable as the ruben she’d met briefly during that time, when he’d just sit quietly in her kitchenette and stare into the tea she made him with a look on his face like he was staring into hell itself, or she’d wake up in the middle of the night to feed the baby and hear ruben sobbing from his room across the hallway, or he’d just be standing in the corridor like a lost little ghost and she’d have to gently guide him back to his room. he genuinely doesn’t remember a lot of the things that she did do for him. 

she doesn’t mind: he still thanks her a thousand time for everything, pays for her lunch and insists on paying for her bus ticket to come here, just as polite as he was before but in a way that feels more real, more open. he’s still not exactly the most talkative person and he’s definitely socially awkward but he’s friendly, keeps the conversation going in ways he never used to be able to. he asks her about her life, tells her about his, fidgets with the wedding band on his finger in quiet moments. he has a lovely smile, something she never knew about him before.

she did play a much bigger role in his life than he did in hers, but she was fond of him and worried about him when he was around, because she’s the kind of person who has a lot of caring to spare, even for people she doesn’t know very well. and it feels good for both of them to leave the conversation knowing that her lasting impression of ruben wasn’t just based on the pieces of him that were here the first time, and that she could see a little of what he’s actually like as a person.

[turtle-steverogers]

MIKEY I NEED HELP

pls

I had a super weird dream and it finished in the worst place, can you help me figure out an ending???

...

It was about Bucky being imprisoned and Steve going in to break him out. They stay under the radar and, after a few days of being on the run, managed to escape to this motel/diner hole-in-the-wall place to lay low and get some rest. Bucky went to take their belongings to the room and get a little cleaned up while Steve kept a table in the diner and ordered for the both of them. While he waited for Bucky to return, a lady in the table next to his struck up a conversation with Steve. Not wanting to be rude, Steve chats with her for a while, being intentionally vague about who they are/what they're in town for/where they're going kind of thing. It was nervewracking, because this lady only became more and more interested/suspicious the longer they converse and Steve gets more and more quietly uncomfortable. Then at the front of the diner, a couple of policemen walk in and start talking to the person up front handling the check-in books. They announced a neighborhood lookout for two escaped criminals they'd tracked to the area and were trying to get a record of who was staying in the motel, and the guy at the books was like "sir this is a cash motel people can pay in green and say they're Elvis and Cher" and was generally being dismissively unhelpful. After ge/ting super annoyed, the officers just give the information and a general description of who they're looking for, and then take off for the next business on the street. So of course it becomes a topic of conversation once they're out of earshot.

Now, I got the sense this is the kind of town where they are barely even aware of who the president is, much less recognize an Avenger, so Steve at least has been coasting by without anyone recognizing him. But this lady next to him starts drilling him a little more seriously and eventually seems to come to the conclusion that he's behaving oddly even though she thinks she's being perfectly cordial.

The guy at the front stands up and calls out to everyone with something like "hey I know y'all wanna mind your business but new regs for the time being mean your belongings need to be in your room or in the coat closet. Keep your wallets and IDs on you, of course." There's a collective groan and a lot of people who did have stuff with them get up to get rid of it. Steve stands up to join the line to the coat closet to drop off a coat while pocketing his wallet, and realizes that during this upheaval Bucky had returned from their room but opted to sit at an empty table to avoid scrutiny. They give each other this look and Steve instantly relaxes, goes about his task, and returns to his original table, like okay. We're still together. It's gonna be fine.

The noise in the diner settles back down to it's original level, but Steve realizes that, upon taking his seat, the lady who had been conversing with him had completely changed tables.

😶

okay WOW hi hello WOW um this is,,,,, really fucking interesting hold on HOLD ON you-- JUST like dreamed this ????? im---

ok ok so THOOUGHTS even tho i have SO MANY questions bc this sUCH an interesting set up akdjflakdjflkaj like,,,, but ok my mind went to like... a set-up. maybe mind control. idk if its targeted or not, but...

maybe these townspeople are under some sort of... control. so like its a mystery spot type things,,,, and there are little things that seem normal, but the longer theyre there, steve and bucky start to notice

a man in the corner keeps getting up in the exact same fashion to grab a mint by the front desk, and every five minutes on the dot the check in guy drops his pen and sighs, 'damnit'. that kind of thing

maybe the lady lures people in-- gets into their heads and eventually gets them under her control. but it's not working on steve for whatever reason, so she moves onto another table. but the catch it--- bucky and steve can't leave. every time they try to, some other patron does something to prevent them from going. and it all seems like,, ultra polite. halfway out the door, one man is like "oh! can you two gentlemen help me lift these boxes, please? just before you go" or a little girl is like "i can't find my mama, can you help me find her?"

idk this is,,,, hm idk if this makes sense at all. but like,,, idk. mind control and steve and bucky figuring out that everyone is in some sort of trance, and then it links to the Bad Guy and-- yeah. yeah that's where my head went

[madzilla84]

VidCon London 2020

I wrote up some rambly thoughts on Vidcon, my trip, and Phil day!

I arrived in London the night before the others, last Thursday (a week ago?? WOT), so went straight to my friend’s place in London – we went to a pub near his for pizza, and while I was there I saw Dan’s cute tweet. After a few wines, it made me super emotional as you can imagine. I love him. <3

We had some more drinks once we got back, which made the next morning … well.

Friday – Day 1

YUP, HANGOVER. But luckily not a ‘can’t function’ hangover, so once I’d packed up I made my way over to the Airbnb (it was fuckin WIMDY) to leave the luggage (too early to check in). The previous occupants were a group of Lads who’d left the place in a state, so it was still being cleaned. HONESTLY BOYS SMH)

Then I headed to the complex’s on-site café (ooh errr) and spent some time trying to figure out what to write in the card I wanted to give to Phil. My roomies @yikesola, @ahappydnp and @calvinahobbes arrived a little later and we checked into the flat, and basically hung out and chatted until it was time to head to registration. Which was a good decision as the line was super small on Friday night. Gotta say, the feeling of seeing Phil so big and so central on all the banners and posters for the con made me feel so proud of him. As other people have mentioned, there was some – curiosity, I guess? Worry? – about whether it would be weird seeing him there doing his first event like this on his own in a *very* long time, but somehow it wasn’t, at any point.  

We spotted Martyn checking in further down the hall, which was probably the first moment it all started to Feel Real. We (slightly awkwardly at first in my case lol) met a bunch of online folks in the registration area, and tagged along for a cable car ride over the river (did I mention it was WIMDY) to the O2 arena for dinner. When we all sat down to eat I realised I was sitting opposite two friends from IDB! \o/ We headed back after the meal to hang out and PREPARE for what was about to come.

Saturday - Day 2 - PHIL DAY

We started off by going for breakfast – naturally pancakes – and then headed across to the con. The first event of the day was the comedy panel that Phil was on, so we went across to the panel room early and ended up sitting through the panel before that one, ‘Out and Online’, which was probably – Phil notwithstanding – the better of the two I saw.

During that first panel – and really all morning up to that point – I’d started to feel increasingly nervous. I’d never met Dan or Phil before, and the fact it was happening imminently was suddenly hitting me. Not to mention it was very hot in the panel room that day, and – yeah. By the time the LGBT+ panel finished, I was just like the *screaming internally* meme.

The only other time I’d seen D&P in person with my own eyes was at Interactive Introverts – non-VIP, and I was quite far from the stage, so I couldn’t see them well, y’know? So when the panellists walked in for the comedy panel, I turned around and saw Phil properly in person for the first time. And… wow. I’m sure I hardly need to tell anyone on this forum how attractive he is, but I was just blown away by how beautiful he is in person. He just seems to, like, glow. 

And I was absolutely in love with his jacket, which I thought was new at first (it took me a while to place it was the one from the II promo photos). He just looked wonderful, and I went full Heart Eyes Motherfucker as he took his seat with the others. And once I’d actually seen him, somehow I felt less anxious and stressed. 

The panel was okay – I wasn’t familiar with the other attendees and I’m not sure theirs is the sort of content I’d necessarily watch – lots of prank vids and the like, but they def had some fans in the room. But it was obvious the majority of the attendees were there for Phil, and I noticed him looking around the room at all the people there for him throughout, making eye contact with lots of people. I’m sure he made brief eye contact a couple of times, which made me go !!!!! It was obvious the panelists were at quite different stages of their careers, which was a little dissonant sometimes, but also quite sweet – Phil was very encouraging to the younger, more inexperienced members of the panel, which was very lovely. Lucky them to have such a kind senpai.

After that we only had a quick break (mainly to down water after being boiled to death in the panel room) before it was time to get in line for Phil’s meet and greet. The wait for him to arrive was weirdly fast but also interminably long, and I spent most of it panicking about what I was going to say to Actual Phil Lester in a matter of minutes. 

But soon enough he arrived, shook hands with the photographer, did a lil hop to wave to everyone in the crowd who was waving at him, and then off we went.

I wasn’t sure what to expect – I’ve had pics before with celebs at conventions, and every con is different in how they handle photos. Some really rush you through, but this one was pretty good, I thought – you had plenty of time to say whatever you wanted to say, or give gifts – I thought we were supposed to leave them in a box somewhere, but no, we were to give them directly to Phil, who had a little table to put them on. Obviously I wanted to give him a hug, too, but would I be too awkward to ask for one once I actually got up there, I wondered?

But as it turned out I needn’t have worried; I could watch people meeting him from where we were in the line, and from the very first person, he opened his arms for a big hug from everyone who went up to meet him. Watching people running into his arms was making me really emotional – he just has such a great connection with his people. You could tell he was happy to be there and liked meeting us all. He took so many cute photos with people. We noticed he had a Sharpie and was signing things, which we hadn’t been told about beforehand, so I hadn’t brought anything special - ended up getting him to sign my con badge as a souvenir.

There were 3 of us, and @yikesola took one for the team and volunteered to go first. I watched how much fun they were having, how easily they chatted and hugged and posed for their cute photo and thought to myself, please don’t be a total buffoon when you go up there…

Soon enough it was my turn. Walking up for these things is always nervewracking and awkward – except this time, once it was time, Phil turned around, looked at me, smiled and opened his arms and I knew it would be okay.

I walked over and hugged him, and he probably had to bend down quite a lot, lol. I reached up over his shoulder to hug him, which meant being on tiptoes, of course; as many people have said in the past, he didn’t let go until you did. He was so gentle. <3 I maybe hugged him for a little longer than I might usually with someone I didn’t know because of it; he just has such comforting and welcoming vibes. And no, before anyone asks, I didn’t notice what he smelled like – we were talking about it after and I don’t think any of us did. I don’t in general unless someone’s wearing reasonably strong perfume/cologne, I don’t think, unless I’m hugging them for a really long time. ANYWAY.

The now-famous jacket (which looked so good!!) was soft AF. I handed over my lil gift – he spotted the chocolate and was pretty happy about that.

I then had a little time to talk to him but, like, how do you condense into a few seconds what someone means to you, how much they’ve helped you or how much you appreciate them? So I ended up going with one of the main reasons I came to love Phil so much as a creator – someone around my age still making such fun content. I don’t mean it like, ‘wow, at your age!!’ lol, which I’m not sure he would have appreciated, more like – when you get to a certain age, people often expect you to leave certain interests and behaviours aside (we see it all the time with these ‘ew people over 30 in fandom?? Gross’ posts), and Phil is still being himself and doing what he wants and not letting that affect him, and I just think that’s really great and it’s meant a lot to me. So we talked about that a bit. He said you should be able to be creative at any age. <3 Talking to him wasn’t like I expected – I don’t know what I expected, really, but I thought he might have more of a – nervous energy, maybe? Or just a bit more – y’know, ‘AmazingPhil’? But no, he was chill and confident and had this ease about him that was so comforting in person. I know he’s an introvert and probably holed up on the couch for a week after meeting all those people (hard same), but he really is so good at talking to people and making them feel at ease; everyone looked so happy walking away from him.

About halfway through the convo I had to work really hard to keep my brain on track and not just descend into babbling nonsense because he was looking me in the eye and listening attentively and bruh!!! That is … a hell of a thing! Not only is he so beautiful, but he really listens, and cares about what you’re saying, and is actually interested and not just going ‘uh huh, uh huh …’ like other celebs can do. His expression and demeanour was so friendly and open and welcoming, and honestly I just felt like I could talk to him for hours.

We then posed for the official photo they took, and hugged for it – when I’ve had other photo ops in the past where I’m standing close to the person I’ve been prone to nervous giggling, but this time I felt really relaxed and happy.

And that was it! I reluctantly said goodbye and headed off and was so flustered I a) forgot my little card to collect my photo, the guy had to chase after me, though it looked like everyone was doing that because they were on cloud 9, and b) picked up someone else’s sequin Dan bag from the bag pile. (Which I immediately noticed because I had a keychain and pin on mine, but I mean they *are* identical.) We went to get food and download our photos and watch all the videos we took. Even though I now had pics, I still almost couldn’t believe it was actually real.

And, wow. We were just floating for the rest of the day. It was such a wonderful, positive experience and I’m so glad it worked out that I was able to meet Phil. I didn’t think I could love him more but after that day I definitely did. Obviously, because it’s me, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I said to him and how I said it and was it the right thing and did I say it right and lejslkdjkjfkdhks, but at the end of the day he was lovely, I said more or less what I wanted to say (of course there’s more I’d have wanted to say, but there’s never enough time), and it went wonderfully well. So I really shouldn’t worry too much.

We paid a quick visit to the AP shop booth in the Expo Hall – they didn’t have a ton of stuff but they had all the t-shirts (I think it was just all the t-shirts, corgi jumper, corgi keychains, glitch hoodie), so I bought the yellow Try New Things shirt from Sarah. (And got a free pixel Phil sticker; they really want to get rid of those huh)

The only other Phil-event for the day was his appearance at the Night of Awesome that evening, so we went along for that. Apparently the theme of the evening was ���collaboration’, so most of the performers didn’t appear by themselves aside from a couple of music acts. But it quickly descended into madness – most of the performances were some sort of challenge which involved the loser getting a pie to the face or gunged – i.e. perfect Saturday night entertainment if you’re ten. So maybe it was more aimed at kids, I thought, until one of the music acts started swearing up a STORM and a load of horrified parents started dragging their kids out while I almost died trying not to laugh. There was a lot of TikTok stuff, but the animators challenge was pretty good and a couple of the music acts were great.

You probably read about the guy who crashed the performance to make an offensive anti-trans joke and then got chased out by security … when I figured out who it was later I wasn’t surprised, he’s done stupider shit in the past, but Vidcon didn’t react very well to it right away. Throughout the event I generally thought security and staff were very good, but they really dropped the ball on this. The music act gamely carried on though, as did a number of other acts after them, and *just* as everyone had pretty much lost the will to live, Phil randomly appeared on stage with Kian and JC (…no, me neither) along with a science Youtuber. Yay! I thought his bit was really cute; kind of random but that made sense when he explained the original plan had gone awry shortly before the show started. He was *so* into it and I thought it was so sweet how, again, he kept looking for his people in the crowd. He was so confident on stage and even when the stuff he was being asked to do was so random and weird he just owned it, went for it and made it funny. Thomas Sanders came on after science!Phil to do a very wholesome set which kind of saved the evening, lol.

And that was the end of Phil day! Naturally we had to order Domino’s in the evening after our emotional and intense day (and to recover from whatever tf most of that concert was). I feel like I’ve become some sort of addict, and now the rest of my existence will be sad and grey until I can hug Phil again (which might well be never). I have peaked. I also remembered what I like so much about (good) conventions; being with your people and feeling so free to express yourself and what you love - between the phannies and the fanders there were so many pride flags, and so many people walking around wearing merch. (Also it was the first con I’d ever been to where there were no cosplayers! Which is unsurprising given it’s youtube fandom, but still – new experience.)

Sunday - Day 3

Sunday we slept in after staying up until like 3am chatting (whoops), so I missed jacksepticeye’s panel but I did get to the Buzzfeed Unsolved/Watcher one, which was really funny. I wish I’d gotten to meet the boys but what can you do. I also went to the Expo Hall and met PJ (who was very nice, and friendly!! But had exactly that nervous energy I was talking about earlier, which I’m more accustomed to when I meet celebs at cons; Phil really is something special), and bought a few enamel pins, because ENAMEL PINS.

And then … the worst bit of any con, people started to leave. :( My 3 roomies left first, which was the worst bit of the weekend. I ended up tagging along with some twitter friends to get coffee, and we ended up sitting around for like 3 hours outside the cloakroom because no one wanted to leave.

We found out about Dan’s half marathon during this time, and I know people have this view of phannies like we’re all obsessive, invasive weirdos who just want to find out things for – I dunno, clout? But honestly everyone there was so proud of him and just like the whole weekend, it was great to be with people who understood. Like, I can hardly tell a co-worker that a youtuber I follow ran a marathon, they’d be like - okay, and…? So it was nice to sit there and sort of – celebrate it, in our own lil way.

We all parted ways on the train - I went back to my friend’s and watched Phil’s liveshow there, which was really a perfect way to end the weekend. I’m glad it sounded like he had such a nice time at Vidcon. Someone tweeted about him seeing all the people who had come to see just him and how excited they were to see him, and that warmed my heart. And hopefully his too.

The next day I returned to the Excel to have pizza lunch with the last two friends who were still in town, which really helped with the post-con blues, and then it really was it. Since then I’ve been hanging out at my friend’s flat and taking a couple of trips out to various shops or whatever, but I’ve mostly been tired and lazy and catching up on sleep a bit.

As I mentioned, I’m now a filthy addict. I will be … keeping an eye on future vidcons/events, for sure. >_> And I might be back in London in April, maybe. >_> many thoughts head full

[frappucinhoe]

hey!! u said u take requests and i was wondering if u could do one focusing on souda stimming?? or just little asd quirks haha idk i just really like that you write him with asd as i never see that so anything like that id be happy to see if youd like to write it!! thank u!!

Absolutely! This is such a cute prompt, thank you! I hope this is okay, I had this plot kicking around in my head a little bit anyway. I feel like this one’s like… half baked and I feel a little bad that it’s not great, but for some reason I’ve been struggling to put pen to paper recently. This is also available on AO3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17968895

[

]

Exams always wiped both Souda and Gundham out- and they often spent more time apart than together during them. Hope’s Peak High School’s exams were long, public displays of your talent, and it was quite nervewracking. It was much simpler for Souda, as his skill was provable within a few moments by taking apart and repiecing an engine. Gundham had to show off his most perfect animals and convey to the panel why his animals were so good. They weren’t exactly experts, so “I’ve never once had a case of Wet Tail among my hamsters” really meant nothing to them. He really hat

Gundham needed space and time to be with his animals at a time like this, so Souda thoroughly appreciated the time he did get to spend with his boyfriend. Like now, they were sat in the dormitory’s study lounge, pouring over papers and schematics. They were sitting in comfortable silence, but he was strangely anxious and uncomfortable. When he’d asked Gundham if they could hang out, he kind of just wanted to lay down with the other and destress. He was a little bit touch starved, worried about the exams for both himself and Gundham, and worried about a thousand other things all at once (as per usual.)

Because he hadn’t thought they would be studying, he hadn’t really brought any of his things. Usually he had things on him to stop restless hands- dice, a worry stone, small model planes to disassemble and reassemble. He had at one point had one of those spinners that were so popular, but the others poked fun at him for it quite a bit, so he kept that one put away, not trying to make his self-percieved deficiencies any more obvious. He didn’t have anything on him this time, though, and his mind was racing at a million miles an hour. Everything was just too much. The papers, the constant scratch of Gundham’s pencil on paper, the tag of his t-shirt felt like a razorblade on the back of his neck, and Gundham’s barely-there presence that made him feel like he needed to stay silent and unobtrusive. His thoughts started getting the better of him, pelting him with insults as he fought to keep still.

A study date? He doesn’t like me anymore, I knew it. God this exam is driving me nuts. I don’t need to study I know how to build a fucking rocket from car parts. I’ve done it before. He wouldn’t even hold my hand in the hallway today. He’s just waiting until after exams to leave me. Oh god oh god oh god oh god

Unconciously, he brought his hand up to his mouth and began chewing at his nails, which were already basically stumps. Gundham glanced up at him from across the small table and frowned.

“Stop.” He said, simply.

“Stop what?” Souda asked, cocking his head.

“Chewing your nails. Stop it, it’s not good for you. It’s gross. ”

Great. Now he’s mad at me.

Truth be told, it was one of Gundham’s pet peeves to watch (and hear) somebody chew on their nails. It was gross and obnoxious- it didn’t occur to him why Souda may be doing it, though. While he had been given a vague idea of his boyfriends’ diagnoses, he was unsure of their effects. He didn’t want to read up on anything and view anything the other did as a symptom and not just a part of Souda’s behavior- in fact he found many of the other’s quirks endearing.

Just not chewing on his nails.

“Oh.” Souda replied, wiping his hand off on his jumpsuit and then putting his hands on the table, twiddling his thumbs for a moment before picking up a pencil. He began tapping it on the table, feeling minutely satisfied with the way the eraser bounced off the table. After a few moments of that, Gundham looked up once again.

“Beloved One, if you must insist on making noise, can you go somewhere else, I’m trying to focus.”

Souda put the pencil down, slouching, trying to hide his frown. He started scrunching his fist rapidly instead, occupying his other hand with his head as he started looking over the papers in front of him again. He picked up a pen to make a note, and immediately began clicking the pen tip incessantly, searching for something to calm his mind.

Gundham snatched the pen from his boyfriend’s fingers, clenching his teeth with irritation. Souda straightened up, looking at the other with wide, almost terrified eyes. He started crying very quickly after.

Gundham, not noticing that the other had started crying, snapped on him.

“I have requested, politely, that you stop. Can you please, for my sake, quiet down or leave. I am here because you requested my presence and you-”

“I’m sorry!” Souda cried out, cutting the other off as he sniffled and tried to stifle his tears. He was equal parts angry and absolutely terrified that he’d upset Gundham. “I’m sorry, I- I- I- I’m not trying to bother you I just feel so burnt out and I don’t want to look at pa- papers and schematics any more! I just want-wanted to-” he stopped, taking in a shaky breath. “- hang out and n-not think about these fucking exams! I’m sorry- I gotta go, I don’t- I didn’t wanna upset you!” he got up and left in a hurry, leaving his papers.

Gundham watched, immediately feeling bad that he had snapped like that- he was just irritated, beyond stressed about exams. He didn’t want to immediately follow the other, he was clearly upset. He took his time packing his and Souda’s belongings before traipsing out into the hallway, moving quickly toward’s Souda’s room. He was stopped dead in his tracks by one of Souda’s best friends, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. The two were unlikely friends, but often went out drinking together or cracked jokes together during class, and it made Gundham happy that he wasn’t the only one sticking his neck out for Souda. The only issue was that Fuyuhiko tended to be a tad bit overprotective of his friends.

“What the fuck did you do?” The gangster asked, crossing his arms.

“It appears I have upset my Dark Prince, and I wish to go apologize to him. Do you take issue with this, Short One?”

“I take issue with you makin’ my friend cry, yeah.” Fuyuhiko said, glaring daggers up at Gundham.  He had just caught Souda hastily leaving the study lounge, covering his eyes with his hat and going into his room, slamming the door.

“It was not intentional. ” Gundham said, growing upset that Fuyuhiko would accuse him of hurting Souda on purpose. “I simply grew irritated with his incessant fidgeting. I did not know he would react so poorly.”

Fuyuhiko’s face grew angry rather quickly.

“Incessant fidgeting? it’s self stimulation, you fuckin’ moron.” Fuyuhiko faltered for a moment, failing to find the right words to lay into the other with, angry beyond belief. “So you ignore him for pretty much a whole week, and then when he finally gets your attention, you yell at him for something he can’t control? Why, you fuckin’ idiot, I oughtta fuckin-”

“You oughtta do nothing. My relationship is not any of your business.”

“Like fuck it isn’t! Do you not realize you’re practically his whole world? I am constantly getting my phone blown up with him absolutely racking his brain, overanalyzing every single little thing you do making sure he’s still good enough for you, that he isn’t overbearing, that he isn’t being a nuisance to you. I get that that’s how he is, he’s more skittish than a fuckin’ housecat, but it doesn’t help when you attack him for the few things that make him feel better.”

Gundham took in a stabilizing breath, getting dressed down in public was not something he enjoyed, and if it weren’t for the prefects and auditors absolutely crawling campus, he’d sic his Zodiac Generals on Fuyuhiko immediately. He also thought that maybe attacking Souda’s friends wasn’t a great way to get into their good graces. He and Fuyuhiko didn’t hate eachother, sure, but they certainly didn’t see eye to eye.

“I must be going.” Gundham said, making a sharp about face and beginning to move towards the dorm rooms once more. He felt his arm grabbed, and ripped away from the grip, turning around to face the culrpit.

“If you hurt Kazuichi, if you so much as make him feel bad for one second over something as simple as trying to keep calm, I swear to god, Tanaka, you won’t hear the end of it. Just because you pretend you aren’t human doesn’t mean you can act like human emotion is something below you.”

Gundham nodded, taking his leave. Fuyuhiko was a little bit (okay, maybe a bit over-the-top) protective of his friends. Gundham couldn’t blame him, but he was left fuming by even the suggestion that he was a bad boyfriend over one small altercation. He cared about Souda, he really did. He was just stressed, and upset, and maybe not as educated as he could be on the minutia of his boyfriend’s mental health. He also grew sad, knowing that Souda was so anxious about his presence around Gundham- he absolutely adored the mechanic, and very rarely did he truly bother him. If he wanted to be alone, he made that clear, but otherwise he was very much open to and excited seeing his boyfriend. If he didn’t want to be with Souda, he wouldn’t be, and he couldn’t think of many things that the other could do to change that how much he adored him.

He grabbed his keys and went to just enter the room, but decided instead to knock. It was met with no reply, so he knocked again, this time to announce that he was coming in anyway. He had a good idea of what he was gonna see when he entered, and he was right.  Souda was on the ground, bare feet, headphones in, working on a rubik’s cube like his life depended on it. A few different things were set out in front of him, all things Gundham had seen the other playing with on occasion but hadn’t thought much of.  Gundham had seen this before too, though, when the other was inordnately stressed out. The absolute unbreakable focus, the loud music, doing absolutely anything but the actual work he had to do. Souda was remarkable in his ability to focus, to just absolutely dial in on things and tune the whole world out when he was interested in them. Gundham was actually jealous, he often found his mind drifting as he carried out the tasks his animals required each day.

Gundham approached, and still wasn’t noticed by the other, who was clearly intently focused. He pursed his lips and squatted down so he was at eye level with the other, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Souda jumped, yelping quite loudly and throwing the cube on accident, watching with wide eyes and a pounding heart as it shattered into 26 individual pieces. He blinked a few times, taking his headphones out carefully.

“I’m… so sorry. I did not mean to startle you.”

Souda just stared for a moment, brows knitted together. He was clearly struggling to shift his focus. Gundham gave about a minute of silence before speaking again, trying to allow the other a moment to calm down. He truly hadn’t meant to startle the other, it was clear that the mechanic didn’t expect that he’d be followed back to his room.

“I apologize, my Dark Consort. You did not deserve my wrath. You were simply-”

“Don’t. Save it. I know, it’s irritating, okay? It bothers me too. I’ve been hearing it all my life. Stop clicking the pen, stop bouncing your leg, stop chewing your nails, stop making weird noises, Hey, Souda, aren’t you a little old to be playin’ with toys? Oh, hey, Kazuichi, your stimming makes other people uncomfortable! I get it, sorry, I was doing it because I was uncomfortable, but I’ll stop. I’m sorry.”

Gundham frowned. He adjusted himself so he was no longer squatting, but sitting on the ground as well. He vowed never to be the person who made Kazuichi feel so bad ever again, and here he was. Bitter memories of quarrels with the other flooded back up with the guilt and he bit down mard on the inside of his lip, searching for the right words to say. There was a long pause. He could hear the music coming from Souda’s headphones which now sat on the ground, a quiet bassy buzzing.

“I understand it is something that you cannot help, and-”

“No. That’s where you’re wrong. I can help it. I can just shut down! It’s that easy. Can’t let your thoughts burn a hole in your mind if your mind is on vacation.”

Gundham sighed, he had clearly really hurt Souda’s feelings when he hadn’t intended to. He just wasn’t the best with feelings, and to be honest, with Souda it was a minefield. He insisted more than once that ‘hey, if I’m ever bugging you, just let me know’, but then as soon as Gundham said something he exploded? It seemed unfair, but in hindsight, bouncing a pencil on the table was harmless, and

“Forgive me, my Dark Prince, for I love you so much and it was not my intention to make you self concious or feel…” he paused, unsure of how to procede. “…less than.”

Souda crossed his arms, half-pouting.

“You did though, but it’s fine. Stop apologizing. I know I’m crazy, okay? I know I’m annoying and quite frankly you shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

There was a long silence, again, where they both just sat there.

As he watched the pout fade from Souda’s face, Gundham scooted closer to the other and wrapped his arms around Souda. Tense muscles became loose immediately, and he knew he had the other within reach again.

“I’m sorry.” He said again, reiterating. “I don’t think you’re different, or stupid, or crazy. I hesitate to think you are anything but absolutely incredible. Your mind is amazing, and l adore you.”

“I-

"And I want you to know that you need not keep secrets. You very seldom are an unwelcome presence. If you are not occupying the room I am in, you are certainly occupying my mind.” Gundham finished. Souda let out a long sigh. He brought his hands up, playing gently with the bandages that covered Gundham’s arm.

“English, please?” He asked, his mind still racing, struggling a little bit to parse the other’s ridiculous, drawn out language.

Gundham hesitated for a moment, watching the hands idly play along his bandages. It occured to him that Souda often did that- running his fingers through Gundham’s hair, playing with the pins on his coatsleeve- it had never occured to him that it may be more than just a simple show of affection.

“You are very much wanted, and you are most certainly more than good enough.” Gundham said, hoping he got his point across well enough. Souda smiled and hid his face in the other’s coat, his face red.

“I’m s-” he started, the words muffled.

“Do not apologize. You did nothing wrong, My Love. Why don’t we take a brief hiatus from our studies?”

Souda pulled his face free from the smothering wool of Gundham’s thick coat and smiled, “I’d like that. A lot.” he replied.

[deliciousandfunthing]

#30dayswritingchallenge

Day 18. Post 30 facts about yourself

Let's say I'm basically an open book. Many people can be sure of who I am, but the truth is many of them also don't really know me. I always show my interest and do the things I like openly without a doubt, but I hide my deeper feelings and opinions. Sometimes I rather just listen in silence with no opinion or questions cause I don't want to bother having a drama over something not trivial enough to make a difference in either me or the other person's life. Therefore, fact is most people know me but I still am hiding from them too. I guess everyone does the same, don't you think?

So, let's see the list of things people may or may not know about me..

1. I love food a little too much!

I actually have a strange taste some people may add because there's nothing bad in my food dictionary. Everything is either good, very good, or beyond yhis world HAHA.

2. I hate deep water.

Can't swim, scared of the unknown underwater world

3. But, I love fishes (?)

I hate water yet I love fishes. Aquarium is my comfort place. Always feel at peace and hyped in there.

4. Succulent/cactuses are my soul plant

I can't live without having them around. I feel overly attached to them and actually emotionally invested thinking that I'm kinda similar in character with the plant. Why? I believe cactus looks strong at the outside and can definitely managed living on its own but they long for care and love too.

5. I love cooking but not necessarily good at it.

I love to cook, but I have no confidence cooking for others cause what I thought are good sometimes mediocre or even bad for others. So yeah.. I just enjoy cooking for me.

6. I am passionate for arts and crafts.

Well, again not good at it, just happened to be easily drawn to it

7. A hopeless romantic.

I daydream a lot. Literally every day without any miss and I tend to wish for some kind or fairy tale happy ending. Life's not like that tho so yeah whatever

8. Obsessed with handwritten notes/letter

Always love writing to express my feelings whatever that is. It's a cheesy thing to do, many people would disagree of how this means a lot more than just usual exchange of words, but that's me for real.

9. More insecure than confident extrovert

Most people around me will see a very confident person who won't be afraid to take the lead, ask whatever questions, be noticeable in public, etc. But deep down that's me trying to prove myself to no one cause I have never been content with myself.

10. Oblivious to the core

I am insensitive af lol. I have no idea how I managed to get people open up to me and share their thoughts when most of the time I couldn't figure out what's going on with them.

11. Friendship is my top priority

Nothing comes before friends. I would put them first over anything and this is both a good and bad thing about me.

12. Hate hate hate ants

Somehow they always follow me everywhere

13. Should start taking more care of myself

Both emotionally and physically. I have been neglecting me too much

14. Always have a thing for astronomy

Mostly the stars and planets but love all about the space and its beings

15. Can't ride a bike..

Let's just say walking is already tough

16. Always fall or trip with no reason

This happen all the time. Like seriously all the time

17. In huge obsession for watermelon

In love with everything with it and about it. Just the best fruit in the whole wide world

18. Believe that relationship with God isn't about religion.

This is kinda deep and hard to understand by most people. I don't think I can understand it myself yet. But honestly, I love God and I am trying in my own way to keep building my relationship with Him. Yet, my ways may not be that common so, I always avoid conversation about religion.

19. Trying so hard to reach my life goals

Sometimes I thought to myself that maybe I tried too hard and forgot how it is to live my life

20. Wishing for what seems like a too perfect love life

As I said, I am a hopeless romantic. Honestly tho, my love life hasn't been straightforward and that's just exactly what I am wishing to get. A straightforward love, easy relationship with someone I and people around me can love. I'm so done with the complicated ones, but always ended up with one. I have no idea whether a straightforward love is an impossible wish or I just haven't had the right to find one.

21. Feel a little too childish for my age

I think I should be more mature at this age, yet I have no idea what it is to be mature

22. So in love with dancing

I always find my joy in dancing, whether it's just to let loose or actually doing it seriously. It's actually part of a dream future I have

23. Flowers attract me

A deep interest in flowers has always been in me. Somehow I feel like it's what connect me with my grandmother, but I also want to have my own garden to take care and share with my family in the future

24. Traveling to nature is the best quality time

I can say I had a quality time with people or even myself if we've shared a moment in nature and appreciating it together. Always worked up for a roadtrip to secluded beautiful places

25. I'll be 25 this year and it's nervewracking

I have no idea why but I kinda don't want to have a birthday this year. I want to stay 24 cause I don't want to be old

26. I'm scared of marriage, pregnancy, parenting, and all that follows

This is the truth I've been denying myself and hiding inside my head. I want to get married, have children, build a family, buy a house and all those adult stuff. But honestly I'm sh*t scared of it. Seeing many of my friends are already in that stages of life, I kinda don't want it. I don't feel ready or probably just simply terrified. I'm scared that I won't be able to handle all those things. I don't know ...

27. I may have live my life based on the current

Don't get me wrong I always tried my best in everything I do, I just haven't been able to see the point. I have goals and I want to achieve them. I dreamt and I live on track to realise them. Yet somehow I feel empty not knowing why I am pushing myself so much for these things.

28. I want to be recognised

Words of affirmation is my love language. I always long for an appreciation and recognition. I don't let it bother me or obviously showing it so people were tricked to saying nice things about me, but deep down I just know that I'd do everything to hear that I've done well and is helpful to people around me.

29. I'm selfish and obnoxious

There's no denying I tend to put my ego first and boast about how I have worked so hard to be the person I am. There are traits I like about me and I make sure people heard it

30. I still am trying to know me, the world, and whatever this life is

I may have said 29 things I thought I know about me, but it's keep on changing from time to time. Well, some do stay the same. Whether it's me from the past, me in the future or the current me, I just know that they all trying their best for each other. I may be a damsel in distress, a denial b*tch, a princess wannabe, a loving little woman, a nerdy chubby girl, some kind of overtime worker, weird obsessive foodie, or anything I am from any point of view, but I try and try and try to be true to myself to be a good person for most and to waste no time living in this indescribable world.

I am just me for who I am and who God says I am

[littlemissheartfilia]

Light Up My Night

Hello all!! I’m alive and still writing wow shocker right? This is a Stingue fic that has been sitting in my WIP doc for longer than I care to remember. And since I’m not updating What’s In A Prince anytime soon I figured this will do. Don’t worry the whole thing is written and finished so updates won’t take forever. It’s only a two-chapter though. Either way I have put a lot of revision into this so I hope you’ll love it!

Parts:   [1]    [2]

Summary: Sting Eucliffe is a senior now and finally has to face his one and maybe only chance to ask his high school crush out. With the help of Minerva and Yukino things get a little more than nervewracking.

Parings: Stingue, Yukinerva, Mentioned Fraxus

Setting: Modern day high school au.

Text Messages

Sting sat in a quiet room, staring blankly at the last page of homework he had for the night. He sighed. Homework was the bane of his existence. It was bad enough that chemistry wasn’t his strongest subject but it was eleven at night and he could hardly keep his attention for more than ten seconds.

He glanced at his phone for the twentieth time that night. It was tempting him like there was no tomorrow. ‘What’s the harm of a little mental break’ The distracted half of his brain told him, but the better half of his brain reminded him that he had just had a mental break that consisted of two hours on social media and not an inch of the page completed. He picked up the phone anyway.

After checking social media, that had literally not changed at all since he last looked at it, he decided to see if Rogue was still awake.

Hey you awake? He waited a few seconds, staring at the screen and hoping for a reply. His fingers typed out a second message, If yes, can you come and smash my head into a wall. Chemistry homework is killing me…

It was a few seconds of staring at the ceiling before a ~DING~ sounded, signaling Rogue’s reply. He looked at the text. If you had paid attention in class today maybe your homework would be done already.

Why pay attention when I have you? What’s the answer to question 20?

Question 20 is a short essay if I gave you my answer it’d be copying and we’d both get in trouble.

C’mon, can’t you just change it up a little? That way it’s not REALLY copying!

Sting could practically see the roll of eyes and deadpanned look Rogue was giving his phone right now.

One of these days you’re gonna have to be more responsible. Sting was thinking of a reply when Rogue sent another message. Why are you up this late doing homework anyway? We had two weeks to get that paper done.

Sting grimaced when he recalled everything he had done for the past two weeks, all of it consisting of nothing but procrastinating in any way he could. He had even finally cleaned out his car the day before as an excuse not to do the paper.

Well, ya see...The thing about that is, I was pretty busy all week! He wasn’t fooling anyone.

Which translates into ‘I’m lazy and don’t wanna do my homework’

Wow you read my mind. You know me so well. Rogue replied with his usual bored faced emoji. Well I’m not getting anywhere with this homework so...wanna go for a walk with me?

Sting, it’s nearly midnight. We have school tomorrow.

Yeah but you’re a night owl anyway and we won’t be out for long!

He could almost hear the exasperated sigh that came from Rogue’s lips. He already knew what his answer was going to be before he replied, he knew Rogue would come.

Fine. But this better be worth it.

“Yes!” He said aloud, quietly enjoying his victory. After sending a quick reply Sting got off the bed, completely abandoning his still unfinished homework. He got dressed and opened the window to his room. Thank god he had convinced his dad to let him have the ground floor bedroom. It made it so much easier to leave undetected. Not that his dad knew that, or ever would.

Sting met Rogue in their usual spot, the meeting point halfway between both of their houses, on a normally quiet suburban street under the light of the lampposts. Seeing Rogue in person somehow made Sting’s breath quicken. He was wearing black skinny jeans with his dad’s overcoat protecting him from the winter air. But what really drew Sting’s attention was that cursed ponytail of his. The way his chin length black hair just fell over the back of his neck had him entranced and the way his bangs hung freely, a little bit messy but tame too, like a mild bedhead. Sting could only think about how hot it made him look. And those reading glasses that framed his face perfectly were taking his breath away. Sting was a sucker for guys in glasses and he guessed Rogue hadn’t bothered to put his contacts in like normal, so he could be blessed with his favorite sight.

God, I’m hopeless aren’t I, he thought. He knew he had a crush on Rogue. He had known since freshman year of high school and yet here he was, both of them seniors and he had yet to ask out the love of his life. Looking at Rogue now he didn’t think he would. Love is a complicated thing and the last thing he wanted was to ruin their good friendship.

Rogue’s face was unsurprisingly emotionless. As he approached Sting though, he noticed those red orbs of his growing a little softer in his expression.

“Glad you came.” Sting started the greeting.

“Like I had a choice. I’ve learned you can be extremely persistent when you want something.”

“But you don’t mind it anyway,” Sting said, a grin spreading across his face as he walked, his company falling into step beside him.

Rogue didn’t bother giving him an answer. For a while they walked in silence. Sting had no words to say that Rogue didn’t already know and he didn’t feel a need to say anything either. They were comfortable that way. Another thing Sting didn’t want to ruin. When they finally reached the park a question popped into his mind.

“So, are you gonna sign up to be prom king?”

“What’s the point.” Rogue replied, not breaking his attention from the path in front of him. “I don’t have a date, I hate dances, and I’m pretty sure you’d be the only one to vote for me.”

“Aw c’mon, Rogue,” Sting pleaded. “You only get one prom. Besides what if you actually are chosen for prom king?”

Rogue scoffed. “Then they’ll be s-o-l ‘cause I’m not going.”

“There’s no changing your mind, huh?” Rogue shook his head, confirming Sting’s question. “Not even if I go with ya?”

Rogue hesitated for a moment then looked at Sting, curiously. “You seem unusually interested in this. Why?”

Rogue raised his eyebrow and the little pout he did was so damn cute that Sting had to stop himself from blushing by covering it up with laughter. “I just think it’d be fun, is all!”

Rogue made a pfft sound with his lips. “Sure. I’ll sign up for prom king when you agree to be prom queen.” He was being sarcastic, that was clear enough in his tone. Still Sting took it to the next level, wondering how far he could push the boy.

“What if I already did?” he said as he looked over and gave him a mischievous smirk. Rogue stopped in his tracks.

“You didn’t?”

Sting just shrugged, reveling in his friends confused but mostly surprised face for a few seconds before saying. “Nah! I’m just messing with ya!” Rogue rolled his eyes and kept walking.

By the end of the night it seemed they had talked for hours. Rogue checked his phone, it had only been two hours but he followed that up by saying he had to get home and sleep.

So Sting and Rogue parted once more by the lamppost. As Rogue walked away, his mind went back to their conversation of the prom. This was their senior year and it was almost over! He’d waited so damn long for any sign that Rogue liked him back but the guy was too damn unreadable. Sting could never tell if he actually liked him. Even if he didn’t Sting couldn’t let their last year in high school go by without saying something. He wondered how hard it would actually be to sign up for Prom Queen...Maybe if he talked to the principal and got enough of his friends to back him up it’d be possible. Maybe then he would finally have the courage to fess up. And the idiocy to expose himself to relentless ridicule and embarrassment from just about everyone else he knew.

But maybe him and Rogue...He shook his head. He was just thinking romantically again, Rogue probably didn’t like him like that. Besides Sting had never seen Rogue with anyone, he wasn’t even sure that his friend was gay, or on the spectrum at all. Sting turned around and quietly walked back to his place.

When he plopped down onto his bed, after shoving all other items off it including his phone and laptop, he just lay there in thought. It looked like it was gonna be another sleepless night for him.

“Yukino, you gotta help me!” Sting shouted while running up to his silver headed friend. She was sitting with her girlfriend, Minerva, eating lunch by a tree outside the lunch hall. For all his years of high school, and probably even before, Minerva and Yukino had been his biggest supporters of his crush on Rogue. Many times they had tried to set up a scene but Sting would chicken out at the last minute or mess up his line, scared of making Rogue uncomfortable.

Both girls turned as he ran up to them, out of breath and bent over panting. Sting was never the athletic type and a run from the main buildings to the opposite side of the campus was a long one.

“Sting? What’s wrong?” Yukino began. While her head was turned Minerva stole a strawberry from her lunch box, Sting ignored it.

He straightened up, finally taking a deep breath and saying; “I wanna ask Rogue to go to prom with me!”

Yukino’s expression changed to one of sympathy, and it looked like Minerva was just barely refusing the urge to roll her eyes.

“Well if you really want to ask him you should just say it. You know Rogue would want you to be honest with him,” said Yukino. Sting nodded his head and took a seat with his legs crossed right in front of them. He placed his arms on his knees and closed his eyes as if in a serious meditation process.

“Yeah, and we all know how well that went down last year at winter carnival.” The last time Sting tried to ask Rogue to a dance it ended up with his face in some poor students lunch tray and all ten pages of Rogue’s award winning essay flying in the breeze through an open window. It was a long story. But he never did hear the end of Rogue’s riot act for losing that essay.

Yukino faked a laugh for pity’s sake. “Well, that is true.”

It was Minerva’s turn to speak up. When she did she grabbed Sting’s shoulders and forced him to look at her. “Listen, Yukino’s right, if you really want Rogue to go to the dance with you just ask him! A simple question isn’t gonna ruin anything. And don’t be a coward!” She wagged her finger in his face, speaking the last words with conviction.

Sting crossed his arms. “Easy for you to say, no one cares about a lesbian relationship! Just last week Freed tried to come out and got a slushie thrown in his face!”

“But those kids weren’t even from our school.” Yukino reminded him. “And remember what Laxus did to them after they pulled that stunt.” Sting remembered well. It was all the school could talk about, and still talked about. Laxus hadn’t left any one of those guys without a bruise, and it seemed a relationship between the two was still up in the air.

“Yeah but Rogue isn’t Laxus and neither am I. Besides, I don’t even know if Rogue likes guys! He’s never showed an interest in anyone!”

“Anyone but you,” Yukino said, matter of factly. It was spoken quietly but Sting had picked up on it and stared at her in confusion.

Minerva chimed in; “Tell me you’ve noticed the way he looks at you when you’re both in class?”

Sting shrugged, the girls groaned. “I tried asking him to prom last night, or rather asking if he was going. He said he wasn’t even interested. I figured if I could at least ask him to a dance maybe I wouldn’t chicken out again…” Minerva’s brow was furrowed for a while, deep in thought. “What?” Sting asked, confused at her lack of words.

“I think I have a plan, and one that you can’t back out of!” Sting’s eyes widened with rapt attention as Minerva leaned in closer to explain. “Ok, all you have to do is get Rogue to go to prom with you, not as a date, not yet anyway. Just convince him it’ll be fun to go. Yukino and I will take care of the rest.”

Sting raised an eyebrow. “Oookaay…” Then he perked up, eager to listen, “What’s your plan, then?”

Minerva gave an evil grin, “It’s not gonna work right if you know too. Just get Rogue to come to prom. I promise it’ll be worth it!” She winked and gave him a thumbs up. Just then the late bell for his classes rang.

“Shit! I’ll be late for class again!” He cried and stood up with a running start toward the building. “See ya later, guys!” He called back to Yukino and Minerva, yelling out a, “I haven’t even done the homework!” in his existential crisis to get to chemistry.

When he finally recovered his bag from his locker and made it to the chemistry door he had to witness every eye in class staring at him as he awkwardly knocked on the locked door. The chemistry professor, a tall elderly women who held a deadly eagle eye glare, opened the door with a scowl. She didn’t move from the doorway as she spoke with him.

“Why are you late, Mr. Eucliffe?”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Porlyusica. I forgot my textbook in one of my classes and had to go back to get it.” It was a poor excuse but one she seemed to take with only an intensified frown. She didn’t say anything else, just stepped aside to let Sting in. Then she took her spot back in front of the class.

Sting dropped his bag by his usual seat next to Rogue and sat down with a sigh, putting his head on his arms in defeat.

“That’s a lie ‘cause I have your textbook right here.” Rogue leaned in and whispered into his ear.

Sting perked up when he was handed his book. “What! I thought I lost that, where was it?”

“Under your desk as always, idiot.”

Sting took his textbook and hugged it to his chest. “You’re a lifesaver!”

“You can thank me later. Class is starting.”

So Rogue said, but Sting could hardly pay attention. Not with his red glasses that matched his eyes and every five minutes when he subconsciously tucked another piece of his bangs behind his ear as he took notes. Once again that ponytail Rogue had started to favor was Sting’s arch nemesis.

In the middle of her lecture, Ms. Porlyusica stopped to announce his distraction to the whole class. “Mr. Eucliffe!” She began, her voice filling up the otherwise quiet room. “If you paid half as much attention to this class as you pay to your friend over there maybe you wouldn’t be failing!”

A few kids in class snickered, some others looked at him with remarks of ‘ouch’ and sympathetic faces. Rogue was distracted from his papers where he was writing down notes and looked at Sting in confusion. He felt his face grow hot and imagined he must look so red, the thought only made it worse. Sting slunk down in his chair, picked up his pencil, and started to write notes from the board in his notebook. He mumbled out a, “Sorry, Ms. Porlyusica.” Then kept writing, making sure to avoid eye contact with Rogue, and everyone else.

So he had survived chemistry class, and thankfully Rogue didn’t bring up the subject of Ms. Porlyusica’s outburst. Sting kept quiet for the rest of the day, saving himself from further embarrassment.

It took it’s sweet time but finally school ended. Sting waved a goodbye back to his classmates, Natsu and Gajeel, then took off down the hallway. Hoping to meet Rogue and ask him about prom before he left.

Per the norm Rogue was waiting outside the main doors for Sting. Minerva and Yukino were chatting with him while Ogra, Rufus, Dobengal and Dhoot, one the newest members to the school and one with a very strange nickname, were chatting a few feet away.

“Took you long enough.” Rogue teased with a sly smile as Sting walked up to them.

“Shuddup! Not my fault your class lets out ten minutes early.”

Rogue chuckled. Sting wanted desperately to say something about prom but he couldn’t find the words to change the subject and choked up instead. It seemed that’s what friends were for as Yukino put his thoughts into words.

“So, are you guys going to prom?”

Rogue didn’t answer immediately and Minerva interjected with a playful, “You better be! Everyone else is going and it wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t end the school year with each other.”

“When you put it that way, it makes it hard for me to refuse,” said Rogue with a slight frown. “But you know I’m not the dress up type, and dances were never my thing.”

“Then we’ll just stand in the corner all night, who cares!” Sting found the courage to speak up. “We only have one prom! We should spend it together.”

“Fine, but I’m not going to dance.” Even as Rogue said it Sting could see a small smile lighting up his face, which in turn made his own smile wider.

The group talked for a while longer, as they always did at the end of the school day, then said their goodbyes. As Sting was driving home there was only one thing on his mind. Where he was gonna find a tux for prom night.