#but my partner wasn't having any of it lmaoooo

[nobodybetterlookatme]

Once again, my favorite part of my job is pissing off my medic and ruining their day lmao

[l-epingle]

oh hungarian gp you are keeping my drama-loving ass FED

first off: oscar maiden win!! lewis 200th podium!! disregarding the whole race that's such a fun result

this is really backing up my belief that it's way more difficult to be a fan of a TEAM rather than individual drivers bc this is technically a mclaren win in the best possible way and yet they look like such fucking idiots like why would i want to root for them

what the hell was up with their strategy?? like they have no bullshit excuses for what they did with the pit stops and the team orders i genuinely don't understand what mclaren was trying to achieve here besides looking like total clowns

coming from an oscar fan i don't think lando deserved the win! oscar had an amazing start and led the race for a good portion and i think that if mclaren had done their pitstops RIGHT and hadnt tried to undercut??? for no reason?? then oscar would've continued to win the race anyway

coming from a FORMULA 1 fan who loves the competitevness of the sport i totally understand why lando would feel like this win was robbed from him. literally not his fault that mclaren are being bozos and i think if i was in his position i wouldn't have given up my place

HOWEVER as i said before i don't think lando DESERVED to win here. no driver is winning races because they DESERVE to there's ton of factors and oftentimes ppl win for no particular reason. take george's recent win bc of the verstappen-norris crash, all the wins thanks to safety car luck, you could even say charles win in monaco is simply thanks to good qualifying and the way the track is designed. so many things happen during a race that are outside of a driver's control and saying someone deserves to win a race is stupid and ruins the point of the race. like if thats what you want then who even needs to race might as well hand out trophies after qualifying or award points just on fastest lap

BRING BACK TEAM RIVALRIES!! so much love to naomi but i do not agree w pretty much anything she was saying formula 1 isnt really a team sport. the driver's championship is won by ONE driver. yes the wcc is based on team pts but i guarantee that every single driver would be totally fine if their team was in last fucking place if it meant that they won the wdc. saying that you can win a championship wo being selfish is CRAZY (especially in front of nico lmaoooo) bc you HAVE to be putting yourself first every single race if you want to win. yes your teammate is your partner but they are also your RIVAL and you are both coworkers and competitors. like so many selfish moments will be looked back on with fondness as long as you win. everyone can joke about multi-21 now bc sebastian vettel is literally a 4-time world champion and he ended up winning that year. no one cares that he was a 'selfish driver' bc he delivered results and getting hung up on being a team player in a sport like this is stupid to me

one thing lando did that DID annoy me tho was his response to lewis's compliment during cooldown like what was that??? he literally just said you were fast and you had to clapback? like lewis wasn't trying to insult lando in any way why'd he have to respond like that...

also nico he just couldn't get through the day without constantly being bombared w flashbacks huh him giving advice to andrea stella regarding TEAM ORDERS is sooooo funny to me

anyway to wrap up this post (rant) here's my fav pic of the day

brocedes reunion, messy ass team radios, return of mad max... this has been my favorite race so far and i hope the rest of the season continues in a similar manner

[undercoverdonderwolk]

to add onto the weird behavior around WAGs i’d say that fans have the weirdest behavior with kelly piquet. i do think their reasons for hating her are valid, even without the age gap with max of it all, she just doesn’t seem to be a good person lmfao. but also a lot of the hate for her seems kind of… exaggerated to me? like they hate her in general and nitpick everything she does when that really isn’t the issue here. and when asked why they act like that they hide behind the excuses of the terrible stuff she’s done + her age gap with max.

to me it’s like yeah go ahead and hate her for being terrible but also… have you not considered the fact that this is a person max chooses to associate with? like i’m not saying having a terrible partner = you being a terrible person as well but. you get me.

and it IS weird that she said she had a magical night/connection with max from the first meeting when he was 18/19 that time (even weirder if the rumors she used to babysit him are true — where do people get that???). but if you’re going to hate on her can we please stick to these points that prove she is weird instead of fixating on literally everything she does??? lmfao some of it is veering too close into misogynistic territory to me

like just yesterday people were hating on her for saying that max is “aging” and trying to get him into a skincare routine (or moisturizer, at least). they were calling out the age gap, saying she’s the one that’s old and aging when 1.) it’s normal for women to want their partners to take care of themselves 2.) nowhere did she imply that max is aging BADLY and it NEEDS to be fixed with a 10 step korean skincare routine ASAP!!! 3.) them switching up and saying “erm actually YOU are the old one here” is giving classic ageism women face

just lots of weird behavior around imo. another one that struck me as weird in particular was that edited image going around a few weeks ago where someone removed her from a picture of her max and penelope like THAT IS HER DAUGHTER??? SHE IS THE MOTHER????? and it had thousands of likes too like. guys it’s getting weird what is happening here

this is so long sorry lol with all the WAG discussions here i just figured it’s time to spew my kelly piquet thinkpiece

i agree with you to a certain extent. but i think hating is kind of a useless term to use to be honest. if some rando chick makes you feel enough of a feeling to call it hate like, that's when people need to look inwards lmaooo. there's a difference between being critical of the institution that is a wag/athlete relationships and kinda being weirdly personal about it so as soon as someone's talking about 'hate' i'm like okay that's an opinion that's irrelevant to me because idc about her to the extent that it's that personal to her and me. but yeah you're totally right that like, most of the hate and the love for her seems to exist out of the same need to pookify max. either she's the evil evil woman who corrupted max and max needs to be saved from her or it's hashtag true love and it makes max a perfect boyfriend etc. both are p weird to me because it's like you all realize this is isn't about her right....you're using her to prop up max so it's still not hashtag feminism even if you claim it is lol though i will say the aging comment was weird to me lmaoooo. though it probably wasn't meant for public consumption so even weirder for someone to share that she said it. but if you turn the tables and it was a ten year older man talking about how his younger gf should be using skincare so she would keep looking young people would be freaking ouuttttttt. like if there was some dude in his mid thirties telling his mid twenties gf she wasn't allowed to gain weight and writing her insta comments etc there'd be outrage and for good reason idk why it should be any different the other way around tbh. i guess you could argue that's their thing and we shouldn't have an opinion but max can't stop making documentaries about his personal life and kelly v actively uses her relaysh with max for the clout and the money, which is fair but if you're gonna put it all out there, down to like sharing when your kid's first day of school is lol, people are going to have opinions. the editing her out thing was weird af. though i will say i think the 'GIRL DAD THAT'S A DADDDD THAT'S HIS KIDDDD' is just as weird tbh. he's gone out of his way to be like yo i'm not trying to be a step parent so for people to use her kid so they can uwufy hastag girldad (evil term) max falls in the same category as going to lengths to photoshop her out. it all comes down to the same thing: trying to make max look better and using a bunch of women/girls to do so

[lloydfrontera]

I think it's funny that despite looking a fair amount like Javier, rakiel still thinks the asrahans are way hotter than him... Picturing Lloyd below in hell kicking back w Javier and lamenting the fact that literally all of his descendants expressed Javier's super hottie genes, and Javier firing back that Lloyd's descendants must've had their looks diluted by Lloyd's ugly genes... 😂

no yeah for real babe you look like this why are you acting like you aren't almost a carbon copy of him jkashdjkadkj

there's also the fact that he shares almost the exact same number of javier genes as the asrahans. like they may carry the name too but there's still only one javier in their genealogical tree he had the exact same chances as them to be fucking gorgeous,,, except for the fact that he also carries on suho's genes lmaoooo

my theory is that because the asrahans are so fucking hot and as close to royalty without being part of the royal family as you can get they had the best offers of marriages that they could get in the entire empire and because they weren't as bound to choose for the sake of making connections and advantageous matches the way the royal family was they could afford to choose based on attraction and compatibility more than the magentanos did.

meaning the asrahans had more freedom to choose hotter partners than the magentanos who were probably forced to lean more towards political matches that may,,, not have been as gorgeous as other options lol

i mean this is a vaguely european based setting. have you seen how,,,, bad the gene pool got in some royal families at some points in history??? it was bad. those chins shouldn't have been like that. stop it.

so while we can probably (hopefully) assume there wasn't any intermarriage in the magentano family we can't really discard the possibility that maybe,,, some of the marriages,,,, were done more to establish political power,,, rather than based in appearances lol

and that's why rakiel isn't as hot as the asrahan family despite also having javer's genes akjdljaklfjkls

[sugoi-and-spice]

Wait call me cirnge but UGH i love play nice sm...

I want your opinion on these questions! you don't have to but i just wanted to hear it cause while i was reading i was thinking of SOOO many what ifs

1. Do you think the story would've still happened if reader was muscular/chubby (not beauty standard)?

2.what if reader wasn't in a pre-existing relationship?

3.what if ready was just as mentally ill as Tomura?

4. has kurogiri ever had the displeasure of hearing reader and tomura?

5.what if instead of employee, reader's parent was a business partner to AFO?

OMG i have so many more but like..I don't want to bug you!! I just need to hear your opinion, from the great spice themselves 💕

Not cringey at all! Very fun questions in fact! Thanks for asking them, I love to answer stuff like this about my fics.

1. Do you think the story would've still happened if reader was muscular/chubby (not beauty standard)?

I typically write MC as more muscular in general, since she's a pretty top-tier athlete. That being said, I also try not to go too in depth with MC's physical descriptions, outside of Shigaraki describing her hotness, which can really be any body type.

Ultimately, her body-type really doesn't have much relevance to the story, so yeah, I think it can happen no matter what she looks like.

2. what if reader wasn't in a pre-existing relationship?

Hmmm, I don't know - it's a pretty big aspect of the story so I haven't really considered how it would go down without Mirio. I definitely don't think it'd be any easier for them. Shigaraki and AFO would make damn sure of that.

MC would probably be a lot quicker to admit her feelings for Shigaraki and put her heart on her sleeve, which in turn would scare the crap out of Shigaraki sooner and cause him to self-sabotage.

The story would also probably be more focused around AFO trying to separate the two, as it is steadily started to focus now.

3. what if ready was just as mentally ill as Tomura?

Hmm, again I haven't written MC as explicitly not mentally ill. She probably has some pretty hardcore anxiety, ngl lol. But also, I for sure haven't written her as unstable and traumatized as Shigaraki is.

For MC to be that way, idk, that would be a very different story. They'd be relating to each other in completely different ways than they do in this story. As it is, MC represents a potential safe space and source of stability for Shigaraki. So for MC to not offer that stability to him? Again, would be a very different story with all different types of healing needed.

4. has kurogiri ever had the displeasure of hearing reader and tomura?

Lmaoooo, oh most definitely.

5. what if instead of employee, reader's parent was a business partner to AFO?

Pretty similar. Honestly, even AFO's business partners or "equals"... well they're not really equals. He has dirt and manipulation techniques on basically everyone in his life, and he's ready and willing to do anything he can to ruin them if he needs (or wants). So he'd have no problem threatening a business partner's job or reputation.

These were fun to answer! Sorry if my answer to some of them were kind of vague, there are some things that are so dependent on character choices or situations I chose for the characters that changing them would fundamentally change the story. And on the contrary, there are aspects I try to leave vague enough that the answer would be no difference.

So I hope you still found these fun. I know I did! So feel free to send in more. ^_^

[kitausuret]

harryflash

Hehe.. hehehe.... If you guys thought I shipped parksborn, you ain't seen nothin' yet. This is a ship involving Flash Thompson. So yeah, I ship it. You know I ship it. You KNOOOOOOW.

(Webspinners #3... "Flashster".)

What made you ship it?

Honestly, it was an old fic by @amaronith that had literally like, one mention of HarryFlash, but that's all I needed. Ama is one of my most trusted Spidey writers, and while it wasn't for years more than I would start shipping them in earnest, she kind of planted the seed.

Hilariously, similar to my thoughts on Parksborn, it was an early issue of ASM that made me really love the idea of them - Flash throwing himself (stupidly) at Kraven to try and protect Harry is just so funny and endearing. I love him. He's DUMB.

(Amazing Spider-Man #47, Lee & Romita... you guys have no idea how much I want to own this issue.)

I think also though I'm really intrigued by the idea of HarryFlash because Harry is soooooo different from literally everyone else I ship Flash with. BUT. The more and more I read, the more I'm just like "well I guess Harry is just the exception because he's just that special and amazing and lovable".

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I'm not gonna lie - there's a lot of hints throughout the text about Harry having had a crush on Flash in early college and maybe even high school. And I think it's adorable.

(Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #13.. thanks, @hellomystraightlacedfriend ! Hilariously, this is both a Parksborn and a HarryFlash moment. I really couldn't lose with this stupid joke.)

There's also THIS silly moment from Untold Tales #4 which is like... Harry. Mr. Osborn. How would YOU be able recognize at a glance a football star from another school. Boy you are not that into sports. Are you on Flash's MySpace. Are you?

Anyways I know that's a stretch but I just think it would be funny.

Flash being weirdly jealous of Peter is also like. A LOT. (Panels below from Spider-Man Blue.)

And of course there's the GOOD stuff like the roommates era!!! I love Harry and Flash roommates.

They're so funny and Flash was trying so hard to be supportive... right before Liz snatched Harry up lmaoooo

(that's okay, I low-key ship Harry/Liz/Flash. Maybe not so low-key. You guys know me, I don't ship anything halfway. I mean... the "Flash is their third" vibes are STRONG here:

Okay I am getting carried away with these panels and too lazy to properly label all the issues they come from SO. Overall I just think they're really cute and they have so much history, and such a long, long, LONG friendship. And Flash clearly adores Harry. There's nothing Flash wouldn't do for him.

Even when he's at death's door, Flash is there to save his friend. If that's not love, what is? (ASM #800 below)

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't think this ship is popular enough for any of my opinions to be unpopular. I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't understand where this ship is even coming from, because it's not hardly hinted at in almost any adaptation. But like all my ships, I would never want to see HarryFlash exist in a vacuum. I still would want all their other canon relationships to have happened, particularly for Harry, because his family is really important to me. Similar to how I feel about Parksborn, the journey of their relationship is critical in my eyes.

I also have not one but two Flash/Venom Symbiote/Harry WIPs right now so.. like.. LOL. I'm pretty sure that's not popular at all. Fortunately, I don't care that much what people think about my ships.

"Why Harry?" There was no malice or exasperation in the symbiote's question; just genuine curiosity. It rarely, if ever, objected to Flash's choice of partners, and certainly had access to the full array of his memories about them. But sometimes it did seek clarification, and Flash was happy to provide.  "What do you mean?" he asked aloud as he carefully dusted a shelf. On it sat a small, nondescript box, a Spider-Man lapel pin, and a couple framed photos. "Why did I ask Harry out on a date?"  "He is… very different from your usual choice of partners." "So are you, pal."

Flash is very silly. 💖

[lleldey]

i see what u did there 'accelarating his methods' hehehehe

do the people have one partner? or are there more? omg like a jk harem lmaoooo

im obviously spiralling with all my thoughts. its just really interesting when it comes to cults and their traditions. like weddings? especially when you said it was about consent.

BUT, what does he feel knowing that there wasn't any future intentions with him from the oc? he was lowkey taking advantage of the sex to keep her there, so do certain unspoken rules are ok for him to lowkey dodge?

Hi!!

Uuuu, good questions! I think I said before that they don't really have such strict rules as the overall society does; they do have one partner, but! they don't have a problem stepping out of that zone, as long as both partners are on the same page, aaand partners can also be platonic!

Their ''weddings'' are also a bit different than the ones we see as 'normal'; love binds all the tribe together, they respect one another and live in peace, so that's not the reason for their ''weddings''. It's more so of reaching one's higher essence - kind of like Plutos story of how a man and a woman were split in half because together they were too powerful, so they spend the rest of their lives trying to find their missing part.

That's how I see their ''weddings'' - it's not even especially for romantic partners, it's more so binding together what was once lost and what is missing. At the end of the day, not everyone in the tribe would be ''straight'', as that's part of nature, so partnerships and weddings are more so for one to acquire the part of themselves that's missing; as we know, men and women bodies are physically different, even our brains are - how they work, how we think, etc. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Mmmm, I don't think JK's intention was to take advantage of MC with all the intimate ordeal; it started from curiosity, moved to respect, and I think somehow he saw himself in MC - the way she took care of her brother, prioritizing him over her, that sort of played with his own role and responsibilities in the tribe.

Both of them had drunk the psychedelic liquid, and even if JK's body is more resilient to it, both of them weren't in the clearest headspace. They weren't thinking, and sex itself was not one that 'bonded' them together - at least from JK's perspective, blood marking had a bit more of a serious meaning.

I'd say at first it was more so a cultural difference; one anon previously asked whether JK saw MC's actions (cup sharing) as a form of courting, and to that - yes, for him MC replicated his own actions and intentions. Even in real life cultural difference is a biiiiig thing, as someone who studies abroad I can guarantee, that it changes everything

So, it wasn't him taking advantage of MC, but rather cultural differences, clouded mindset, and hidden desires

Thank you for the ask! Hope this explained your questions 🤓

[kae-karo]

for the ask game: 27 for kaeya and the huge bread, and then 37, 41, 42 and 49 if you'd like :D

AWE hi hello tyty so much anon !!!! for context (x)

27. How long did it take to write Kaeya and the Huge Bread? Describe the process.

hooooooooooo boy okay so according to gdocs, i started writing it in mid february lmao. and i'm not entirely sure what day exactly i finished, but i did start posting it on childe's bday (july 20), and my usual process is to take a week or two prior to posting a chaptered fic to edit it, so...give or take 4.5-5mo or so to write?

tbh when i run headfirst into longfics like that, i rarely have much of a process lmao. i really don't outline anything, but i'll have usually a few key points i want to hit on throughout the story, or a few scenes/dialogue bits that i'm particularly excited to write, and then i really just work my way from one bit to the next lmao. i really have to write linearly, which sort of helps me make progress cause if i only wrote the stuff i was super excited for, i wouldn't bother to fill in the blanks or figure out any of the other cool stuff that i usually discover along the way

for example, the fact that the irodori festival was going to be a big part of the story/a big part of kaeya's reveal wasn't something i even really uncovered til halfway through writing the story lmao AND actually it didn't even occur to me til long after i conceived the idea for certain plot points that the reason kaeya struggled with not wanting childe to hold him to too-high romantic standards was not only bc he didn't feel like his writing reflected himself as a romantic partner but also cause he's aromantic!

this one was also fun cause i have all these commercial breaks, which started as an excuse to write zhongluc but quickly evolved into an excuse to write some other ships that i otherwise would have no reason or groundwork to write outside the context of this au, but those often got written actually After i worked on most of the main fic (my brain didn't demand linear writing since each one was sort of a Separate story) and also cause the main fic didn't get divided properly into chapters til basically i was done lmao

i also had a snag at one point during that writing period where i deadass wrote a whole scene, then immediately realized i was cramming too much into one single situation, and i actually ended up having to go back and rewrite the whole thing as two distinct scenes lmaoooo

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

i adore this question and i have to limit the number of times i plug my first chaeya fic lmao so instead i will mention a kaeluc fic that got a surprisingly small amount of traction for the fact that it's klk?

our names were meant to have arrows drawn through (x) is a fun lil spring break fic where klk meet as strangers and - in a wildly impulsive move on diluc's part - spend the night together

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

am i a simp for my wife? yes. but she's basically nonexistent on tumblr now so i can do that >:} seriously tho, there's just something poetic about the way she writes, and the first time i read smth of hers i was just. enamored with her writing style? i'm not entirely sure i had a 'this is what i want my writing to look like' vibe exactly (and i'm not sure i've had that really with any fic, per se - i like the way i write! and i know it's influenced by what i read as well, but it's rarely a conscious decision to point my writing in a particular direction)

anyway, that said, sometimes i feel inspired to write a little more poetically and i think it has to do with how lovely her writing sounds to me. she doesn't write for genshin, but if any of u bktdbks follow me, be sure to check out her fics - analog love (x) is a sweet one abt oranges

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

ohhhh this is both simultaneously a hard question to answer and a very easy one. the hard answer is: i have the memory of goldfish with amnesia and even the comments i've received that i know have been particularly meaningful to me or particularly poignant have slipped my mind

the easy answer is that, although i can't recall specific examples of exact comments, i do know the things in comments that i've received that genuinely mean the world to me. comments about my stories being immersive or that the reader couldn't put it down, comments about rereading, comments that pick out tropes or ideas or specific things that transcend some of my stories that the reader appreciates, comments that quote favorite lines (especially if, by coincidence, they quote some of my favorite lines from a story). comments that say i got someone into a ship !!!! comments that mention that my story got them through a rough time. comments from serial commenters whose names i recognize from my other fics

idk if this is conceited or smth but some day i would really just love to go print out like. all the comments i've gotten and paste them on big posterboards or smth to hang on my walls. i do not have the wall space for that but perhaps some day i will lmao cause like. idk sometimes my brain just forgets that like. this is from a whole entire real person !!!! who read my words !!! and LIKED THEM and wanted to let me know !!!!! like !!!! holy shit bro !!!!!

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

LMAO what am i currently not working on? i keep saying i'll get back to my prince kaeya x many fic some day soon, but ideas keep cropping up and bopping me in the head lmao. perhaps once things slow down a bit for me, i'll have time and energy to swing back to it

currently i'm working on something as a request which i'm not quite ready to share bits of yet (still early stages atm as i am irritatingly busy rn and haven't been able to really get a flow going just yet)

i am also probably going to try to bash out another lil fic of the chiluc variety cause i got a bit of brainrot lmao assuming i have any time!!

so, alas, nothing really to share from a wip perspective atm, but i do still have quite the backlog of completed oneshots (i believe we still have some zhongchi, klk, chaeya, chennett, xiaoven, a surprise that i can't talk about for Reasons, plus some bktdbk and shinbaku on the bnha side)

[send me writing asks from this list!]

[polyamorousmood]

I just. I wasn't going to comment any more than I did because I do get that polyamory isn't for everyone, right? But here's a good excuse to break down how stupid this is to me

No other qualifiers are on the date. You'll commit long-term to a person with knowing nothing about them but that they... can't handle jealousy? lmao?

Polyamory is not the default. Why would you go out of your way to make the date about that. just a weird play

the insecurity

like goddamn just say "let's be mutually co-dependent xoxo😘"

Wanting that above all else is how you get into, uh, really worrisome relationships

You putting "monogamy" was enough to scare away the poly people. Also you're swiping left on the poly people. So. This accomplishes very little aside from making random poly people you'll never meet feel :/ and possibly attracting the toxic people mentioned earlier

Anyway, as for your actual story:

LMAOOOO it really do be like that. One of my partners I was like "nah we could never date, like you're cute and fun and I like you but 🤷‍♀️its just not going to work long-term, you know?" and now WHOOPS 🤭we're in love and happy and thriving.

I'm so happy for y'all! ���💗💖So many more things are possible than you'd think. Yeah, you should tread carefully, but once you've got an idea on how to handle your shit? There's a whole world 🌏that can be revealed when no discussion is off the table with your loved one(s), that you'll never have access to otherwise. I love that world. I've made my home in that world🏡 😊

I'm literally so confused as to why you would... find that a bonding activity?

[annabtg]

Hello hello!

'It's a long way to the top (if you wanna rock n roll)' is a HILARIOUS AND WONDERFUL STORY

Okay so first of all, i prepared last night, just to get an idea... (Have a screenshot of my YouTube history that has half a dozen videos of rock n roll dancing). I l o v e it when fics teach me new things because i know jack shit about professional dancing when we talk about practicality.

Remus is such a Teacher! I love that he's being the right kind of teacher for James!

Sirius - oh my gods - i know we've established that Sirius is a little shit but it was a joy reading the parts with him. Him pretending to be annoyed but also helping his mate ahhhh - "...with Sirius, while the latter pretends that this is a huge inconvenience for him." OH YOU SOFTIE

And James, bless his heart, he doesn't want to dance with any other girl before he dances with Lily lmaoooo that is so sweet yet funny. The development of Jily was so cute! It is impossible to not love James. The things he does for Lily Evans... *wink wink*

And Lily was an absolute Queen. As always. This story did live up to the hyping and my expectations and then knocked it aside and ran a bit further forward. It was awesome.

Even more so because, it looks like Sirius will like my choice of music heheheheh

Your's deerly,

Me \o/

Abiiiiii~

OK full disclosure: I was SUPER nervous about this story because partner dancing is, well, a kind of particular interest that I wasn't sure would go well with readers - plus by nature it's more visual and I had no idea if I could do it justice! When you started showing interest in it I was like "oh God please make it not suck, there's going to be an actual reader!" I am so, so happy you ended up enjoying it!!

Remus is BORN to be a teacher and what happened to him in PoA was a travesty. Trufax.

And Sirius to me is the definition of tough guy who is SOFT for the people he loves (read: James) and James knows it, haha! This dynamic is their love language! Plus of COURSE he listens to hard rock, duuuuuuh!!!

I think rock 'n' roll dancing is right up James's alley: lively, fun and with the added benefit of being something Lily enjoys! I hope it was clear in the story that he also enjoyed it in itself and it wasn't just an attempt to impress Lily (though yeah... he wouldn't have done it if it weren't for her).

I'm glad the Jily content worked too; I know this story isn't chock full of it, but I hope it was fun nonetheless!

Thank you so much for your lovely ask!! Again, it's so nice to know you liked it!!

Hugs xxx

[none-ofthisnonsense]

Lmaoooo sorry. Jennyanydots then?

This one I can do!

It's interesting for me, as I feel like Jenny really changes from production to production.

So, here we go:

How I feel about this character

I like Jenny! She's the "cool mum" and the "eccentric aunt" vibe at the same time and that's lovely to see. She's not my favourite, and maybe I won't go intentionally searching for content, but I maybe will go read a few fics about her, or have headcanons. Overall, a nice character! - just not my favourite.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I actually headcanon Jenny (in some productions) to have been a single mum until she met someone - and that person varies.

Jennyshanks is very cute and I feel like it's the most canon one too? I also did enjoy a few Jellydots pieces - I headcanon that they were childhood friends and Jenny had a crush on Jelly and they started dating for a little bit, but they quickly realised they were better friends than romantic partners.

Which brings me to my next point: I think (it gets production-specific here though, so I'm not sure I would count this for any other production) in 1990 Vienna, Jenny's aro! Not ace, though, but I do love to think she doesn't mind - and even likes! - sex and just doesn't feel romantic attraction.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Jenny and Jelly! They're best friends - the kind of mums who always come across to each other's house and who would keep in contact if one was in the North Pole and the other in the Gobi Desert. I just think they're great!

But also: Bustopher and Jenny. (Again, this is inspired by 1990 Vienna - it's slightly different in, for example, the 1998 film.) They're best friends, who love to gossip together and plot little surprises and who are just really proud of each other.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Hmmm... Not quite sure I have one. Maybe the headcanon that she's aro and poly? The great thing about loving cats is that there's an incredibly diversity in character opinions simply because there are so many versions of the same character - which results in few actually unpopular opinions. (And I wouldn't change it for the world - Cats is great!)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I mean. "Canon" for Cats is a really broad term, but I do wish maybe that she kept on dancing even when it wasn't her song: nothing very big, of course, but just tapping her feet during Old Deuteronomy, or making little background moves for Pekes and Pollicles. Something like that. Just making her more dynamic - I feel like she's a very flat character most of the time, only majorly existing in her song and Bustopher Jones.

This got quite long but I'm happy to have done it! Thank you!

[thee-morrigan]

If you're still doing these: 3 and 19 from the writer asks? <3

[weird questions for writers]

i am (and thank you <3)! once again dropping these under a cut because brevity is the soul of wit, besties~

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

there are no words. it is a reasonable hour of the day, i am rested and have a free block of time and ample coffee, but i do not have words.

i am in the middle of a seminar and am driven to distraction by the volume of words that have flooded my brain. i try to sketch out the plot ideas i have in the margins of my notes. the seminar ends and i have managed to take two sets of notes -- one for research and one for fiction -- that immediately lose any tether to meaning. (i keep them anyway.)

it is 3am on a workday and i am awake after a decadent 4 hours of sleep. the cat has discovered the bottom of his food bowl is newly visible and has swept every item off my nightstand in protest. i lie in bed trying to bully myself back to sleep for an hour to no avail, then resign myself to feeding the cat. bleary-eyed at the kitchen table, i mainline espresso and bang out an impressively cogent few thousand words instead of sleeping. this is the most productive i will be all day.

(all of this is unfortunately how it tends to go for me - it's cursed because, well, all of it but also bc my partner and i are convinced the cat is actually a babadook)

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

this is going to sound annoying, but i honestly can't remember a time i wasn't writing. i think even when i couldn't really write i was still engaging in storytelling and narrative play. for whatever reason, my adhd let me hyperfocus on reading as a kid (and i started reading pretty early), so pretty much from the moment i could read stories i started trying to write my own. there were always more stories to read, so there were always more stories to write.

it also helped that i grew up in the 90s and was lucky enough to have had a computer and internet access (dial-up, my beloved) from a fairly early age, so once i discovered fandom and places like livejournal (and the numerous homebrew geocities fansites lmaoooo), i got super into writing for online spaces.

since i spent so much time reading and writing and talking about reading/writing, i naturally became pretty good at it for school purposes too, and (shocker) i love both praise and critical analysis, so spent a long time in academia writing and teaching writing. (we can call academia as a whole a bump in the road, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

where am i and where am i going? i like to think my writing has only improved in terms of quality and finesse. otherwise, I'm pretty much doing the same things I've always been doing because they're fun. after all, there's always another story to tell.

[willymywonkers]

Pure Imagination

Summary: We get introduced into the world of Maude Figgle, and how one of her students, Charlie Bucket, reunites her with an old friend.

A/N: This too longer than I'd like to admit lmaoooo. This is my first time writing a willy wonka fic, so constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!!

The chocolate factory at the edge of town was always a mystery to people. Its large tunnels stood tall casing a shadow over people. All of Willy Wonka's delectable goods were protected behind hundreds of walls of steel and black bricks that were absolutely impenetrable.

Maude had seen the factory about a dozen times, and each time, she wondered what would it be like to go inside. She had always admired the elusive chocolatier from a far, but she was so nervous to actually talk with him.

Maude had remembered a time when Willy Wonka wasn't famous, and was just a boy that lived two blocks down from her. Of all people, Will was the nicest boy she'd ever met. When they were younger, Maude would enjoy spending her time with Will, encouraging him to take risks, and be a little impulsive. Will knew she was a bit wild, but that's what he liked about her. Someone who wasn't afraid of any consequences and just went with the heart told them.

However, things began to get rough for Maude. She wasn't the little girl that pushed the boundaries anymore. She was Will's partner, and she was the main It happened when Maude met her ex husband, Ronald. Ron was extremely jealous of Will. It was apparent that Will liked Maude more than anyone else. Will didn't like touching other workers. That was the main reason he wore gloves.

However, he acted differently around Maude. He seemed to be more comfortable with touching her, and letting her touch him. Ron caught sight of this. He deemed that Maude belonged to him.

Eventually, Ron made Maude cut all contact from Will. This happened when Willy was going through a sharp decrease in candy sales. With people all over the world after his secrets, Will didn't really have anybody he could trust. Other than Maude.

Maude didn't want to quit working with Will, but Ron didn't give her much of a choice. Ron had gotten more and more controlling towards her, thus affecting her mental health greatly.

Then, she snapped at Ron, telling him that this was wrong. Ron slapped her across the face. The next day, Maude resigned.

The news crushed Willy, causing him to close the factory for good.

Years later, Maude divorced Ron, taking her own independence back. Maude often would walk by the factory, but it was a painful reminder to her, and how she treated her best friend.

Maude became a chemistry teacher, so that she could be close with children, and help their young minds grow. Of course, there were students that would barely pay attention, and would ignore what she said altogether. However, there was one student in her class that she was very fond of. A young boy named Charlie Bucket.

He was quite clever for his age, and he would always be interested whatever experiments she was conducting.

"Good morning, Ms. Figgle," Charlie said, walking into the classroom.

Maude smiled at the boy. Her glasses hung from the bridge of her nose. "Good morning, Charlie. Did you enjoy winter break?"

He nodded. "But, I didn't get anything this year."

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear." Maude knew about Charlie's financial situation. She always tried to make things a little more lenient on him, unlike his other teachers.

"It's alright. Christmas is about spending time with your family, anyways."

Maude nodded. "Well, I've got a present for you, Charlie."

She got out a medium sized box wrapped in newspaper, and handed it to him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You're just gonna have to open it to find out."

It was a brown sweater with a black stripe in the front.

Charlie smiled at the present, though he seemed taken aback by the gesture.

"I can't accept this." Charlie said, putting the sweater back in the box.

"But, it's frigid out there. You'll need it." Maude handed Charlie back the sweater.

He smiled up at Maude. "You're right. I really appreciate it, Ms. Figgle."

The kids all plied into the class at once. Excitement from being back from break made all the kids rambley and quite loud.

"Have you heard about the golden tickets?"

"I'm gonna get the first one."

All the kids seemed to be chattering all about these golden tickets. Maude hadn't a clue about what they were.

"Golden tickets?" Maude asked, looking slightly confused.

"There was an announcement about it last night. Mr. Wonka is going to be opening up his factory for 5 children all over the world." Charlie said, clearing up her confusion.

Maude's eyes lit up. "Really? That's incredible!"

Charlie agreed.

This fact made Maude's heart jump. She really wanted to see Will again, but she knew she barely had a chance. 5 golden tickets in the whole world, and there was only one of her. She tossed her excitement aside in hopes that a kid truly worthy of the ticket takes it.

A few weeks go by and the first ticket is found. Maude was sitting in front of her television when it was announced. She wasn't surprised that the first ticket was found by some kid who ate chocolate all the time, but it was how quickly he found it.

After that, each kid was worst than the last. It really pained her to see such rotten kids get all the spotlight, when kids like, Charlie, were barely making ends meet.

Maude found herself back at the factory, wondering what was going on inside.

"Hello, Ms. Figgle!" Charlie called from behind.

Maude turned around, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh, hello, Charlie. What are you doing here?"

"Why are you always staring at the factory?" Charlie countered.

Maude gulped. "Well, you see, a long time ago, I actually knew Mr. Wonka."

"You did? I think my grandpa told me about it."

"Right, but I didn't just work for him. I was his partner in it all. I did all the experiments. I created new kinds of candy every day."

Maude and Charlie began walking down the snowy street, as Maude told Charlie the many adventures her and Mr. Wonka shared.

"Were you ever in love with Mr. Wonka?" Charlie asked, jokingly.

Maude chuckled. "Of course not."

Of course, she was lying to herself. She couldn't see herself standing beside him. Maude felt that Willy deserved someone better, especially when all she did was burn him.

Maude's smile faltered. She felt an ache in her heart.

"Ms. Figgle, are you alright?"

Maude turned her head towards Charlie. "Huh?"

"I was asking if you were alright."

"Oh yeah. I'm fine."

The two continued walking down the street, passing by a candy shop.

"Do you think I could ever win a golden ticket?" Charlie seemed a bit down. "I only get one wonka bar a year for my birthday, and my grandpa spend his last shilling."

"Let me tell you this, Charlie, you're a bright young man." Maude kneeled down to his level, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I believe in you. You are worthy of a golden ticket. All those other kids don't have the kindness you share with others. And, as someone who's personally worked for Wonka, I'd save the best for last."

Charlie's spirits picked up. He smiled brightly, thanking Maude before heading home.

The next day, rumors speculated that some kid in Russia had found the last ticket, but it was later proven to be false. This rose to more anticipation to who would be the last ticket holder.

While reading through the newspaper, Maude found out that Charlie had found the very last golden ticket. Maude smiled widely. One of her students found the last golden ticket. She couldn't be more proud of him.

She stood amongst the crowd outside. She couldn't stay for long, but she wanted just a glimpse of Wonka, however, there was too many people in her way.

A few weeks later, it seemed that more and more people were curious about the factory. Charlie had told her some of the things that happened during his trip. Things that were completely outlandish, and weird. A girl turning into a blueberry? And, a boy nearly drowning into a chocolate river?

"You know, Mr. Wonka wasn't as nice as I thought he was." Charlie said.

"What do you mean?" Maude asked.

"Well, he was nice at first. He was going to offer me his entire factory. On the condition that I wouldn't ever see my family again."

Maude sighed. "Right."

This was quite like Will. Family wasn't at the forefront of his mind. Trusting people was also a big issue with him, considering in the past most of his workers turned against him.

"Have you ever thought about seeing Mr. Wonka again?" Charlie asked.

Maude looked at Charlie, with a wishful smile on her face. "All the time."

Another few weeks ago by, and Maude hadn't seen much of Charlie. She began to worry about him.

One day, she heard a knock on her door.

"Hello?" She answered.

Charlie was standing at the door, smiling up at her. "Good morning, Ms. Figgle."

"It's quite early, Charlie." She chuckled. "What is it?"

"I wanted you to meet someone."

Maude opened the door to see a man in a top hat, smiling nervously at her.

"Will?" Maude said, as tears were pricking from her eyes. Her heart was jumping out of her chest.

"Hey Maude." Willy smiled.

She pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Will was taken aback by the hug, but awkwardly caved in. He could hear soft sobbing coming from her, but he didn't mind.

Charlie smiled at the two.

In this one moment, Maude truly felt the pure happiness and joy as she felt when she was a child.

[piecesofmicorazon]

two big things

1. bee

i don't want to say i knew this was gonna happen but i fucking knew this was going to happen!!!! i mean i like to think i'm a very smart person and i can tell things from the beginning. at least for me, it was rare for me to connect w someone so quickly, and truly it has not much to do with the fact that she's a girl. but that's also a big thing i know i need to address.

here are the truths in my heart:

i like this girl a lot, and i know she really likes me. from the start i felt like she really saw me... i know this is a huge statement to make, yet here i am making it. even from the 3 weeks of talking, i am enamored by her. to the point that after our first date, i invited her to my house. and at first i was confused on having to label myself in liking girls or being gay or whatever, but now it's just like it's not that i like girls because i don't feel this way about any other girl. it's simply her, and i've never come across anyone that i connected so quickly with. maybe tanner, but she's so much more like mature and grown to me. she takes care of me and we're not even together.

i'm so fucking scared cause i genuinely don't know where this is going to go and if i'll have to tell my mom or my friends that i'm dating a girl. i'm terrified on what people will think or say, or if this will affect my dating life in the future. but i promised myself that i was going to start living in the moment and start choosing current joys.. right? okay so i want to do that for this too. i keep telling her i want to go slow because i'm trying to figure out so many things right now. but i think if it was a guy, i would've rushed into it already.

she makes me feel so safe. the fact that she saw my soft side FIRST??? i mean what the fuck?? lmaoooo i'm blown away too. but i guess that just shows and proves what i think i'm feeling for her. she respects me in every way, and makes me feel validated in everything, as i should.

i look forward to talking to her every day, having her compliment me, spending all weekend with her doing nothing, and all that comes in between too.

Lord--

What do you think? how do you feel about this? my whole life i've heard how horrible it is to be gay, how sinful it is, and here i am. I already feel like i'm going to have to end it because of the sole reason that she's a girl. but something about that doesn't sit right in my heart either. is it because i'm too liberal? or because i'm growing up in this generation? or is it because it's something between you and me? i want to surrender this to you too, and i'm not completely sure what that would mean or look like ... but i'm laying this down too. i'm navigating it to the best of my ability, and i feel like i'm trying to convince myself that i don't like her as much as i do.. because of the girl factor.

but is it okay if i say yes to her? to choose something without thinking about the next 5 steps yet? or is that selfish / sinful of me? like am i going to HELL?

oh god lol, here i go. but the facts are that i like bee a lot. and she happens to be a girl. and so i'm surrendering all of this to you. guide me, hold me, talk to me, and i will adhere to your command.

regardless of how this turns out, please help us to not get hurt or for me to hurt her. she is a lovely soul and i don't want her to feel like any of this wasn't genuine, because it's perhaps the most genuine thing i've ever experienced. she's really set the bar even higher than it was for me and my future partners. i am realizing that love comes easy, just like it should and just like i knew it did. just like the movies -- if you find the right person, we are both so busy, yet we somehow find the time to talk to each other all day. we spend all day together do absolutely nothing, and that's still not enough time. those things are real, and i will never settle for less again.

thank you for this season in my life, for bringing her in it, and for whatever comes next / in between / all of it.

and of course, thank you for your unfailing love. always.

[oraclemilf]

Unpopular opinion, aperantly, but I dislike Sam... I'm not quite sure what it is about her but I don't like her even when I tried after rewatching the show... nd it goes without saying but I don't think she goes well with Danny. Sure people can say "oh yeah Danny and Valerie!" But ... that didn't feel right to me either. I just feel like the right partner for Danny wasn't in the show and I feel like Sam was just a meh character with a few good moments...

Oh boy. This is the ask that’s gonna get em in trouble isn’t it? I knew there’d be at least one asjkls. Very unpopular opinion time. So, with the conviction only a man condemned to death can muster, I agree with you. THAT BEING SAID, before any stans come to chop my dick off, I don’t think her premise was bad at all. I just think she got loaded up with Butch’s shitty ideas about what makes a “strong female character.” She flip flops wildly between acting like a feminist to hating all the other women around her. Or from being the most competent character in the show to being damseled every other episode. In all honesty, I hate Butch’s poor creative decisions more than the character herself, but in universe she does come off as annoying to me, yes. 

Also I agree, her and Danny did lack on screen chemistry. I hate it when a plot feels the need to shoe horn the main girl and guy together with no acknowledgement whether or not they work well together. I think S/D’s biggest drawback was that every one-on-one on screen interaction between the two was solely shippy in nature. It’s like the authors assumed you’d already think they were getting together and just skipped to the flirting. Its annoying. I hate how the main female character became a side piece. It annoys me to no end. I also like the Ace!Danny headcannon so I approve when he doesn’t get a main love interest lol.

TO CLARIFY: This is a complaint solely to canon Sam. I love all the little changes and character arcs fan works have her grow through and she’s often one of my favorites *in fanon* I love when she’s the kickass, trash-talking, feminist goth icon she was meant to be and not whatever the fuck canon was doing with her. So... yeah, guess I’ll practice laying my head on the chopping block sexily Katherine Howard style for the public execution I’m about to get lmaoooo

[willymywonkers]

A Trip into the Factory

Summary: Maude gets invited into the factory for the first time in years. Chaos and fluff ensues.

A/N: This really is an excuse for me to try and write Wonka a little better. It's not too great I'll admit that, but I'm still getting used to writing him, lmaoooo.

It was a typical Tuesday afternoon for Maude, which mainly included grading assignments and checking over the kids work.

However, there was one thing different about this Tuesday. Charlie invited her over to the factory for dinner.

Usually she'd be happy to visit the Buckets, the only set back here was actually going into the factory.

Ever since Wonka and her reunited, things had been a little rocky. Maude was always busy with her students, and tried to creating some order in her schedule. Will was busy mentoring Charlie around the factory. There wasn't any time for them to really connect.

"Sure, I think she would thoroughly enjoy the factory, heh." Willy said, trying very hard to seem confident.

"And, when you're done, we can have dinner with my family." Charlie smiled with excitement.

"Yeah." Will gulped, slightly.

This was one of Willy Wonka's rare moments where he was uncertain. Usually, he knew exactly how people would react when entering the factory, but Maude was a different story. She helped sculpt every room when it was first built.

Willy had planned on asking Maude to move in with him before she got married. Being business partners was one thing, but being actually together was another. He knew from the start on why he didn't like her husband. Even during the wedding, Willy tried to be supportive of her. Hell, he even made especially for her a dozen chocolate roses. His feelings for her never really went away. He just wanted her to be happy.

After being isolated from the world for over 15 years, it really took a toll on how he interacted with others.

Meanwhile, Maude was dealing with her own worries. She looked at herself in the mirror, constantly overthinking.

She needed to leave in about 30 minutes, and that wasn't enough time either. Maude rummaged through her closet desperately searching for something to wear. Eventually, she found a brown dress that was casual enough to wear without looking completely overdressed.

She slipped on some heels and grabbed her coat before heading out the door. She was lucky the factory was walking distance from her house, but when the gates opened, she was extremely hesitant to go inside.

'Come on, Maude. Don't be pathetic.' She thought as her hand was just inches away from the door.

She bit her lip, tapping her gloved fist against the cold steel door.

Suddenly, there was a click and the door swung open. Maude stepped back, surprised a little at the sudden opening of the door.

Wonka stood just a little bit outside the door. He smiled, greeting Maude at the door.

"Heh, welcome, Maude." Will flashed a big smile at her.

She smiled back, taking off her coat. "It's quite warm in here, Will."

"Ah yes. It's because of my oompa loompas. They just can't stand the cold."

Maude tilted her head at Will. "Right, and what are oompa loompas again?"

Charlie had told her about these 'oompa loompas' but she wasn't entirely sure about what they are.

"Oh, well, they're my workers. They were directly imported from Loopmaland." Will explained as the two walked down the large hall.

"Loopmaland? I've never heard of that place before." Maude seemed to look even more confused.

"Well, I discovered it while I was searching the world of exotic candy." Will hummed.

Maude couldn't help, but be amazed at the amount of things Will had done throughout the years. Maude felt that she didn't really accomplish anything. After she left Ron, she mostly did boring adult stuff. When she worked in the factory, Maude felt unique and carefree. Will would listen to all her ideas for different kinds of mixtures. She remembered a time where she felt happy being in the factory, because it almost was a sanctuary to her.

The hallway began to get slimmer and slimmer. Soon enough Maude and Willy crouched down to get to the very small door at the end of the hallway.

"I don't remember the chocolate room being this small." Maude joked, trying not to hit her head on the suddenly short ceiling.

Willy shook his head. "It's not. Just watch."

Just as he turned the key, a whole world was opened up for Maude. Her eyes widened. Her lips parted at the view.

It was meadows of gorgeous green grass, and luscious chocolate river that flowed throughout the factory.

There was buttercups at her feet, and a jelly pumpkin on her right.

Maude felt overwhelmed with joy. "You did all this?" Her voice was below a whisper.

Willy smiled wide. "Yeah, I did."

Maude turned to Willy, smiling dreamily at him. "Wow.." Her body suddenly when limp, as she passed out in a sudden trance.

Willy panicked, catching her before she hit the ground. "Maude? Maude!!"

She snapped out of her trance. "Yes? Yes! I'm awake."

Will took a deep breath. "Heh, good. I was worried that I killed ya there."

Maude chuckled, blushing slightly by the way Wonka was holding her.

Wonka seemed to noticed it too. He cleared his throat. "Well, let's get a move on. There's lots of things I wanna show you."

He set Maude back down on her feet. She chuckled nervously, still amazed at the view.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of low drumming. A purple sea horse shaped boat pulled up right next to Willy and Maude.

"Hop on board!" Willy stepped onto the boat, with Maude following behind.

The Oompa Loompas seemed to be chattering amongst themselves and chuckling.

"What are they laughing about?" Maude chuckled.

He laughed nervously. "Surely, it's from all those doggone coca beans. They're a bit of a handful."

Maude smiled. "They seem quite lovely. I think I got a report from Charlie, talking about living with the Oompa Loompas. It was incredibly-"

"Weird?" Willy interrupted.

"Yeah, but, a good kind of weird." Maude chuckled. "You're a great mentor."

Willy's smile faltered slightly. "Well, I have to get him prepared to run this factory. There's not a lot of people I could trust to hold the secret recipes, and keep them secret."

"Right."

"I guess the only other person would be you."

Maude's expression shifted from happiness to a bit of sadness. She attempted to smile. "Thank you, Will."

She stared blankly for a few seconds. She began to remember Ron's horrid yelling.

"You'll always be in his shadow, Maude. Don't you want your own factory? He stole most of your ideas, Maude. A few of his would be nothing."

Maude would always refuse to steal from Will. Ron would call her a coward. Still, this torment would go on for hours, until she resigned.

The boat began to diverge into a dark tunnel. Maude's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the Oompa Loompas drumming as it began to get faster and faster.

"Can they see where they're going?" Maude said, as she turned to Willy.

"Hehe, no." Will chuckled. "There's no telling where they're going."

Maude's face turned pale as she held on to the side of the boat.

The boat suddenly took sharp dive right into the tunnel. The boat looped and turned as chocolate splashed its sides. Maude suddenly had her arms around Wonka's, holding onto dear life. Will looked over at her a little surprised. In most situations, Will despised human contact. Here, he was just amused. Even when he was a little boy, he hates when adults touched his hair, or even when they lightly tapped his shoulder. However, he was very loose when it came to Maude. She didn't appreciate close contact either, but in very few moments, Maude would casually touch his hand accidentally. She would always say sorry, but it was strange because Will didn't mind it. It was an odd connection between the two. They really just couldn't explain it.

Maude was still holding onto Will as the boat came to a stop. She sighed in relief, but quickly let go of Will.

"Sorry." Maude muttered.

Will gulped. "No matter. Let's continue."

The boat had stopped in front of the experimentation room, a place where Maude was quite familiar with.

"The experiments room. I'm pretty sure you know this one, heh." Will said, hoping off the boat.

Maude looked around, admiring the enormous amounts of lab equipment, as well as different kinds of experiments. "Oh, wow. It's gotten quite modernized."

"You're darn right. I've testing out a ton of new candy, but sometimes it's so hard to focus on one." Willy turned towards a big machine. He turned it on and out came a single stick of gum.

"This piece, right here, is a full 3 course dinner all in itself."

Maude picked up the stick of gum, and simply looked at it.

"I wouldn't eat it. There's still a few things wrong with the mixture."

"I see, and what seems to be wrong with it." Maude carefully set the stick back down.

"Well, it's ok, once it gets to the end. It's the blueberry pie that does it. I've tried it on like 20 Oompa Loompas, and each one ended up like a giant blueberry."

"Do you think it's because you made the mixture of the pie too strong?" Maude examined the sample closely, just before sticking it in her mouth.

"Yeah, well." Will's eyes widened as she stuck the gum in her mouth. "Just spit it out once it gets too sweet."

The flavors were very incredible, however it didn't mask the faint blueberry aftertaste that plagued each flavor. Once it got a but too sweet, she immediately spat it out.

Will looked at her with a bit of disgust. He kept a bit of a distance from her. After a few moments, nothing happened.

"I think I know the problem. The blueberry pie mixture is too strong. It masks all the other flavors with a sweet aftertaste." Maude put the gum in the nearest trash can. "If you eliminate that strong aftertaste, then I believe the gum should be just fine."

Willy's expression turned from disgust to ecstatic in a matter of seconds. He grabbed Maude by the hand, and shook it vigorously. "Maude, you're a genius. Absolutely incredible. I don't get why I didn't think of that sooner."

Maude smiled slightly. "This is just like old times. Remember when we were experimenting with those fizzy lifting bubbles? We flew so high. We almost lost our heads."

"Yeah, haha. I remember." Will nodded, still holding onto Maude's hand.

"I remember Ron being so worried." Maude laughed.

Willy's smile soon faded. "Yeah, him."

Hearing that name again really made Will's blood boil. He had an idea what was happening with Maude and Ron. Will had really hoped Maude would choose candy making over Ron, because that's what made her happy.

His gloved hand had a tight hold on Maude's. "It's really weird, heh."

"What is?" Maude asked.

"Being here with you. I just would've figured you'd always be with me, making candy in the factory."

"Well, I'm here right now."

"That's not what I mean."

Maude tilted her head up at him, a little confused. They looking into each other's eyes for a moment. His gorgeous purple eyes burrow deep into her dark chocolate ones.

He leaned in, giving Maude a tiny peck on the lips. It was quick and painless. Still, it made Maude go red as a cherry.

Willy giggled, wiping the tiny kiss off his lips.

"W-wow.." Maude muttered. "That was unexpected." She blinked for a few moments, promptly pinching herself, before even realizing what had happened.

"Heh, I've always wanted to try that." Will said, smiling wide. "Kissing is so weird."

"But it's a good kind of weird." Maude chuckled, as she pulled Will into another kiss.

This was so much better than she could've imagined.