#cause you gotta be your own character’s fan

[scribblesscribblings]

Since no Kingmaker session today I doodle myself a little treat

[creatingblackcharacters]

My 2 Cents

So, one of the follow up questions I asked was

"are you willing to recognize that you have a willing tolerance for antiblackness? That there is a certain amount that you are okay with allowing before thinking it's worth speaking up?"

My goal in asking this question is not to cause you shame (though shame is not inherently a bad thing).

No, the goal is for you to practice active honesty with yourself! Be willing to accept the decisions You made!

You cannot confront- and therefore address- your own racism if you aren't willing to admit to when you're doing and allowing it. Ibram X Kendi's How To Be An Antiracist touches on this topic, of how racism and anti racism are a series of choices, not identities! Here's an article discussing it:

"No one is born racist or antiracist; these result from the choices we make. Being antiracist results from a conscious decision to make frequent, consistent, equitable choices daily. These choices require ongoing self-awareness and self-reflection as we move through life. In the absence of making antiracist choices, we (un)consciously uphold aspects of white supremacy, white-dominant culture, and unequal institutions and society. Being racist or antiracist is not about who you are; it is about what you do."

My personal fan example (and you knew this was coming 🤣) is Hades. I recognized that Patroclus' design is a white man in all but his ashy dark brown skin. It was a racist design, meant to be "representation", and I thoroughly disdain it. It wasn't enough to stop me from buying the game and enjoying it. I made a choice, to settle for mediocre representation so that I could enjoy a character I like! I still spoke up about racist and colorist fan designs, hoping that at least fans may be more receptive to not replicating racism (but that's otros veinte pesos 😬).

I'd naively hoped that maybe they'd do better the second time; maybe their actions were from ignorance! Maybe they'd learn! A *snicker* sage old man once said:

"fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

Jokes on Dubya aside, I knew that I was already discontent with the designs in the first game, but I allowed it for my own enjoyment. I acknowledge that. But I had to be honest with myself the second time: if the lack of effort in the dark-skinned character design bothered me so much, and I spent all that time speaking out on it the first time... what do I look like then going to spend money on the sequel game doing it again? Do I really stand for what I said I stand for? Can I ask others to stand for what I stand for, if I don't really stand for it?

That time, I said "no". I decided I'd reached how much I was willing to put up with. I had to accept the consequences of speaking on that choice, including risking being rejected by a creative space I really wanted to be a part of. It is what it is. And it's one of many choices I'll actively make for the rest of my life. Comfort v The Right Thing.

Anyway, these are the sorts of conversations you'll have to have with yourself. Coming to terms with your choices along the journey will better help you identify just how much you're willing to sit on, and whether you want to make a difference about that. You might recognize when you're making a long streak of decisions that suggest you care less than you'd like to think; you might find out you've swallowed more than enough! But you gotta be honest about your own role in it!

[doodler16]

If you asked me during the hazbin hotel pilot era who my favorite character was, it be Alastor 100%. He unironically stole the show with his mystery (if the pilot didn’t have Vaggie lore dump unnecessary I would’ve enjoyed a bit more), personality, voice, charisma, and heck even his design especially his consistent smile intrigued me. Even the way he interacted with the entire cast made me excited.

So what do I think of Alastor now? Alastor to me is a loser, unironically an attention whore in terms of screen time and merch, an egotistical, petty person, and a man child edgelord. He lost most of his mystery and charisma throughout the show (though I will admit I am interested in his backstory but I won’t be surprised if he, himself has daddy issues. And, I did find some of his jokes funny).

The pilot portrayed Alastor as this powerful overlord who didn’t care about his status which made him so unique. He wasn’t gloating about how he’s the radio demon about to end your fucking life. Alastor in the pilot was subtle. At the snap of his fingers he destroys Sir Pentious with no hesitation and no exchange of words. Meanwhile, Alastor in the show has to blab and go this tangent of how sloppy, slow, and unprofessional Adam is only to get his ass handed to him.

Alastor in the show frequently mentions his status and gets pissy when most don’t care that he’s back or straight up not recognize him. Meanwhile, in the pilot you will notice that it’s the opposite, Charlie (the princess of Hell) and Vaggie are freaking out that Alastor is here at their door. It truly shows much power and control presents in the pilot without even trying.

The thing that disappointed me the most was his lack of interaction with the main hazbin squad. It was the driving point of why I was excited for Alastor and how his involvement was going to shake up the hotel for better or worse. Only to find out He barely interacts with them and I’m supposed to “care” when the most of cast members hug and get excited that he is alive in episode 8.

Speaking of the hotel, he barely contributes much regarding the hotel and fucks around. Like I was expecting him to at least help Charlie and Vaggie brainstorm activities for the sinners to do or even take control in his own of how he would handle Angel dust and Sir Pentious. Heck or even go outside with Charlie and Vaggie to promote the hotel to other sinners via singing and cause some drama/mischief along the way. Specifically talking about the hotel, the only things he did was do the commercial, fix the walls, and protects the hotel twice. But That’s it.

As I mentioned earlier, Alastor is an attention whore in terms of stealing the spotlight in the actual show and being in most episodes, which may be good for Alastor fans. They got the full course meal but Vivziepop needs to focus on other undeveloped main characters who desperately need the attention and development. Which why Alastor should be used sparingly, this would also make the audience more interested with him and creates more mystery.

For example: Episode 5, Dad Beat Dad: you would think the episode would focus on Charlie and Lucifer’s relationship which it does for a small portion but we also gotta have Alastor in there so he could drop the biggest F bomb to Lucifer to show that he means business and hatessss him. We also gotta dedicate a 2:30 minute song duet between the two men having a pissing contest, along with our home girl Mimzy being a plot device/prop for Alastor in order to HYPE HIM UP and tell his origins. Because Alastor soooo mysterious and such a hunkkkk. Oh yeah, Charlie is there I guess…

Also, Alastor’s smile in the show bothers me personally, more specifically the way it’s drawn. It’s to jaded and sharp, so it’s pretty obvious to tell how he feels and emotions Alastor goes through. Meanwhile, in the pilot his smile and energy is so goofy and I miss that. That really added to mystery because not only keeps you on your toes but you don’t know what’s on his mind for the most part or his long term goal.

This is by far my longest post and I wanted to get this off my chest regarding Alastor. 😭

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

It's time y'all.

Let's talk about HOBIE & RACE

- It is not problematic to say that Hobie would display black solidarity by finding black women in specific attractive.

- It is not problematic to say that Hobie would possibly like a partner who could understand his experiences with racism.

- It is not problematic to say he would possibly like a partner who understands how to take care of his hair, or shares the same hair texture.

- It is not problematic to say that Hobie would find beauty in features specific to the black race - when we have been told those features are undesirable in every way for centuries.

We gotta talk about how Colorblindness is forced on Black Characters - Hobie in Specific

Y'all - it's time we have a VERY VERY overdue conversation about Hobie Brown and Race.

Because it is a necessary one.

Hobie Brown, The Black!Reader, & Representation -

aka Black people are not Colorblind - and neither is Hobie Brown -

[let Diane hop on the mic right quick Chile]

Stop acting like Black Fictional Characters would be colorblind.

Black people can't be colorblind, because our color is weaponized against us from birth. We HAVE to see race - because we have to protect ourselves and know our own history

So when we decide to make spaces specifically for us - spaces where black people and black women in specific can be desired and uplifted, I don't see why people have a problem with it.

Hobie Brown loves, yes. But he also lives in 1978. Racial segregation was outlawed in his country in 1965.

Hobie Brown loves, but he's also a black guy who grew up under racial segregation and racism. He's a black guy who fights cops.

The Writers made Spiderpunk - The Spiderperson who fights oppressive cops - black for a REASON.

The Writers chose to have a black guy save Miles for a REASON. To uplift black people.

Writers here on Tumblr made Black!Readers black for same reason.

If Black Lives Matter doesn't mean White Lives Don't Matter -

Then 'Hobie Brown finds black chicks especially attractive' DOESN'T mean 'white women are unattractive'. This isn't about y'all.

And even for the people that say Hobie would like ONLY black people - okay??? They can say that - it's a literal headcanon.

It's not true if you don't want it to be. You don't have to believe it.

But seeing Black people be protective of a black character, and making black content for other black fans - and then saying 'what - stop that. that's wrong. break this up so I can join'

BEFORE you question why they do it - NOT COOL.

That's like asking for more Captain America in Black Panther. Like ?????

That's like hearing a Riot Grrrl say 'All the women to the front!!' and going 'Uhh, all genders are equal, why can't the men stand in the front too?'

Like yes, all genders are equal. But also - This isn't about them. It's about representation.

Stop preaching equality when we're asking for representation.

Cause there are dozens, hundreds, of white characters who only have white on-screen romances.

And their fandoms do not write black!readers. They do not care enough to say 'oh the show isn't representing this, let us do it.'

The media nor the fandom represent black women. They are an afterthought, always.

And you never see posts for them like -

'Dean Winchester loves black women. Dean Winchester loves latinas -'

When it's a white character only dating white women, with xReaders that always imply whiteness, y'all never call for diversity. At all.

You wouldn't make this post for Miguel.

But when it's a black character and someone suggests they only date black women, or people begin to write xReaders that imply blackness instead of your default-

Suddenly you care about diversity.

Because the first time, you're not represented.

Because let's be honest. Let's be real. No one is writing Hobie x White!Reader. Barely anyone is writing Hobie x Latina!Reader.

It's the Black!Reader you have a problem with. Let's just say it.

Allow black people to have their space, without unfairly calling for 'diversity'.

(aka the right to access to black safe spaces, comfort characters, and labor)

Hobie is an attractive, educated black guy who fights and protects people from the aggressors we ourselves genuinely fear everyday.

He is a character like we've never had before. He has so much emotional weight to us.

Let us enjoy him as we please. We aren't hurting anyone else.

We're just not catering to you. We don't have to.

If a black person wants to center Hobie's love on Black people, they have the right.

And I'm not saying you can't write him with a race neutral or even a White!Reader. Go ahead and write that if you want but just know-

1) If you want to write him with an explicitly white or non-black reader - you should approach the topic of race. You should approach and mention the cultural differences. Him going through racism. Don't erase that because you think it makes your writing ugly or sad.

And if you don't put it in, your erasing the reality and black experience because you find something wrong or uncomfortable about it.

2) If you want to write a race neutral reader - make sure they're really race neutral. Don't include details about hair texture, hairstyle, or skin color.

3) If you are asking black writers for requests - do not get mad if they make the request Black.

You cannot get mad at a black writer for interjecting their own experience when writing about a black character. You're basically asking them to strip their blackness from their writing so you can enjoy it more.

Why should they have to second guess and dial back their blackness when we're expected to do that everywhere? If they want to take a break, and write Black!Readers they can.

3) Understand that the black people are going to keep their safe spaces. And they're going to keep Hobie in their corner.

Because honestly, and I'm going to put this brazenly:

Hobie Brown as a character - and what he represents - means more to black fans than it does nonblack fans.

Does that mean he doesn't matter to y'all? No, not at all. Hobie absolutely holds real emotional weight and meaning to you on multiple levels.

But please understand, for black people - we connect to Hobie on an emotional, often trauma-fueled front.

One that you'll never understand.

There is a level that we connect with him on that nonblack people can't. As a dark skinned black guy, a black guy with natural hair, an alt black guy,

As a black guy who has canonically faced police brutality on-screen

To you, this screenshot is most likely Hobie flipping the camera off, edgy and punk. It's funny, tongue in check. ACAB and all that.

To us, this screenshot is of Hobie - a low income black guy - being physically restrained by police and refusing to stop even when they're taking his mugshot. It's a black guy openly flipping off the police and fighting them off and refusing to go down no matter how much they beat him and he's winning YES

After so many videos over SO many years of cops doing that to black men and them.. not winning.

And them just dying and us having to watch. And add another name to list.

When you see his laces, you most likely think ACAB.

When we see his laces, we see that he's a black man who took on a cop and lived to tell the tale. Which is a RARITY.

Because many of them lose the battle.

For us, the context and connection are completely different.

Fanfiction may just be a way for you to kiss up on random characters or comfort yourself, but for us - that's not the case.

For us, fanfiction is a way to show our experiences and features in a media and world that has collectively ignored them. Shunned them, called them ugly.

Maybe make a post or send an ask to a creator - and ask what Black!Readers mean for them, why they find it important.

Hobie Brown likes Black Girls.

He finds them beautiful. He likes wide lips and broad noses and kinky hair. He loves melanin, and brown skin in the sunlight, and seeing a them in a silk bonnet in the morning.

He loves not having to explain his culture, sharing coconut oil and shea butter. He likes seeing waist beads. He likes people who speak AAVE, with twang in their talk.

He likes ghetto black girls with the acrylic nails. He likes Stallions 6 foot tall. He likes masc girls. And fem ones. He loves black nonbinary people because we do not have to cosign to colonialist ideas of gender. And he loves him some black men too - a good fade will make him go crazy, he loves men with long locs and pretty smiles.

Hobie Brown finds the beauty in Black People that have been erased and demonized again and again by White Society.

Hobie Brown holds blackness dear. And he wants black people to do well.

Hobie Brown loves Black People. Hobie Brown loves Black Girls.

And that's on, what?

This has been a PSA from Diane Pastors. Y'all stay blessed out there 😌💗

Anyway what y'all wearing to carnival since we going to carnival and cropover and labor day with Hobie and bringing out all the flags. 🇧🇧🇧🇧 I'm bringing him to cropover in Barbados yeah I said it we're all going to carnival with him.

[solaris-amethyst]

💫You are my sunshine💫

✨Pairing: Seonghwa x gn!reader ✨Prompt: a while back an aquarium did this partnership with animal crossing to do a theme experience around it. I think it be a lot of fun to see the reader surprise Seonghwa with tickets to the event. also for them to be dress up as their favorite villager. ✨Requested by @beabatiny🫶🏻 ✨Word Count: 1.8k ✨Genre: fluff, non idol au, partners au ☀️Authors Note: I'm sorry it took me a while to get this one out! I'm working on your other request as well💓 Here's a link to his favorite characters! I hope you like this one💓

Your plan had been in motion for a really long time now. The tickets to the aquarium and their animal crossing theme experience had been booked a month in advance. The outfits inspired by your favorite villagers were already prepared and hidden away so Seonghwa wouldn't find them and ask you about it before you could surprise him.

Your boyfriend had been working hard at his newest job, it had been hard and sometimes very emotional and it had been very clear that he was stressed, more stressed than you would have liked him to be.

So as a way to get him to relax and have some fun you'd surprise him with this. He was a big fan of Animal Crossing, he could sit hours on end playing that game, creating his island, designing clothes and finding the villagers he wanted to have around.

You enjoyed it as well, perhaps not as much as him but seeing the indescribable joy on his cute little face whenever you surprised him with something related to said game had made you commit to knowing more about it.

You had first in secret bought the game and played it on your own switch, wanting to be able to share his joy on a deeper level.

The look on his face when you asked if he wanted to visit your island for the first time had been so cute, his eyes looking big and shiny and the wide smile was something you wish you could see every day.

And hopefully you will see it again today when you give him his surprise.

Looking down at the letter containing the two tickets you hurried into the kitchen and put it down next to Hwas cup which you filled with coffee as you heard the front door open.

"Hi sunshine! I'm back!" He called as he took off his jacket and shoes before walking in wondering where you might be.

"In the kitchen! I got a little surprise for you!" You let him know as he takes you into his embrace.

"A surprise? For me? Why??" He looks at you curiously with a smile on his face causing you to give his cheek a quick kiss unable to resist.

"Well you've worked so hard at your new job and I thought you deserved a little treat where we do something very fun together." You tell him as you lead him to his seat and to the envelope.

He looks puzzled before carefully picking up the letter.

"Open it." You encourage him as you take a sip from your drink.

He opens it carefully and starts reading:

"My dear sunshine, you have been working so hard at your new job. It's been perhaps a little bit more of rainclouds and storms than sunny days and happiness these few months. You've powered through so hard and I am so proud over you. Today will be a day of fun and joy as we dress up as Flurry and Sasha." He let out a little gasp at the name of his two favorite villagers as he glanced up at you quickly before continuing. "As we go to our local aquarium for an Animal Crossing themed date and experience their Animal Crossing experience! Where we will be able to meet characters, enjoy snacks and beautiful scenery together."

He looks close to tears as he looks up to you.

"Is this true?"

"Of course! I wouldn't be that cruel getting your hopes up just to crush them! Come on we gotta get changed." You say with a wink stretching out your hand for him to take it.

"Thank you!"

He muttered over and over as he pulled you in for a hug, feeling overwhelmed with happiness that you had organized something like this for him.

You patted his back gently, enjoying the hug and allowing it to happen for as long as he wanted to.

After a while Seonghwa broke the hug and took your face into his hand staring at a you adoringly before pressing a kiss against the temple of your head, mumbling a thank you again.

"You're welcome sunshine, now come on we gotta get changed! I got some outfits inspired by your favorite characters." You tell him as you take his hand gently leading him to your shared bedroom.

"But what about your favorite characters? Don't you wanna dress up as Antonio or Molly?" He wonders and you shake your head

"Nah it's okay, plus we could always book tickets again and go as my favorites next time, but today we're going with Flurry and Sasha."

You let his hand go and hurries to find the clothes laying them out on the bed for him to see, the red fluffy shirt with flowers on paired with some jeans and a cute little hat just to complete the outfit and a blue grey jacket, a pair of black jeans and a cute beanie to go with it.

It was the closest you could get to finding clothes like theirs so while it wasn't a full on cosplay it was at least clear which characters you two were dressing up as.

Seonghwa took some time choosing between the outfits until he settled on dressing as the first villager he had gotten in the game which was Flurry.

After you two had changed and already taken some cute pictures in the outfits you hurried out to the aquarium. Hwa was almost vibrating with excitement from it all.

Luckily you only lived 10 minutes away from the aquarium so getting there before the line became too long was no biggie.

"I'm so excited!! Who do you think we will see today?? Can we take loads of pictures? Oh! and did they have snacks or desserts??" He rambles on looking at you with his big round eyes and a wide smile.

"Someone's excited I see." you chuckle before continuing "I'm not gonna spoil who we get to see and all of that! I want it all to be a surprise for you love."

You almost laugh when he starts pouting and whining about how he'd wanna know now. He swings your hands back and forth as you scan the tickets at the ticket desk and you notice his eyes sparkle when the lady working at the ticket desks gave the two of you some special lanyards with the characters on it.

"Wait we get goodie bags as well?" He gasps after you two have picked up your goodie bags as you enter the aquarium, marveling at the way they have decorated the place.

"Yeah isn't it awesome?"

You sneak some pictures of your boyfriend. He looks adorable looking around in wonder at not only the real fishes in the aquarium but at the new decorations. Filming and taking pictures as he spots a cute little photography area rushing towards it and immediately starts posing for you.

"Look at you! You fit right in!!" You gush as he gives you some poses before urging you to switch places with him.

"Now give me some poses!" He guides you through the poses he'd think look cute and you fight the feeling of embarrassment as others walking past the two of you look on curiously.

Hwa seems to pay them no mind continuing to take photos and guiding you before he bounds up to you, wanting to take some selfies together.

It was a struggle at first, figuring out how to hold the phone so the two of you and some of the background would be noticed and working through poses as he just snapped a bunch of pictures.

There were poses with your hands at your cheeks creating hearts, pouting, making ears on the top of your head with your hands, laughter and smiles and some sneak kisses on each other's cheeks.

"Do you want me to take some photos of the two of you?" An older gentle man asked as he was passing by noticing the two of you trying to figure out how to get some pictures of all of you.

"Oh that would be really nice of you if you'd help us." You two told him and showed him quickly how to take the pictures on Hwas phone.

The older gentle man took some pictures of you two which ended up being your favorites from the day. His photos had been normal candid photos that in your opinion really showcased the love between you two beautifully.

After thanking the man the two of you had continued your way down the aquarium. Enjoying the view, snapping pictures here and there.

"Look! I've caught that fish in the game!!" He points at a random fish saying very proudly that he had caught it, doing the little pose you do in the game when you've caught something.

"My little fisherman!" You say poking his cheek and he's just about to respond when he glance over your shoulder and gasps causing you to raise your eyebrow before turning to look at what hes staring at.

"It's Tom Nook and Isabella!!" He gasps at the characters walking around taking pictures with people.

"Let's go! We should get some pictures with them! Before we go to the cafe to enjoy the desserts!" You drag him over as he looks starstruck.

"Hello! We would want some pictures if that's okay?" You ask the worker and he nods taking your phone to take the pictures.

Hwa is the first one on the little platform with the two characters, grinning and playing with the two characters. The two of you poses with Isabella and Tom Nook and at the end of the session you two get to hug them both and your boyfriend acts adorable around them.

"I love seeing happiness on you. You always look glowing you know." You tell him as he gushes on about how cute they were and how much this day has meant to him so far as the two of you ventured towards the café within the aquarium.

"Find a seat as I go get us some desserts sunshine!" You tell him and he finds a seat near some animal crossing decorations, waiting as you go and order some drinks and themed desserts.

As you two sit and enjoy the desert you can't help but ask: "Have you been enjoying today?"

"I have! This is honestly one of the best presents ever. Thank you. Genuinely thank you. I am so lucky to have you in my life who cares so much that you'd fix tickets and clothing and everything for this experience. Not everyone would have. I truly love you so much."

The smile on his face was worth all the time you had put down for this experience. Finding the clothes had been the hard part and seeing him enjoying the day the way you had hoped he would made you so unbelievably happy.

"You're very welcome sunshine. I'm glad I could bring you some extra joy." You say before the two of you continue to talk about the day and what's left to explore together.

[bloatedandalone04]

Slow Ride - Part 1

Series Masterlist

➪the one where you make a deal with hayden before you’re both set to race together.

PSA: strongly suggested to read the warnings before proceeding.

WC; 8.5k | Do not repost this anywhere, reblogs are fine ♡

The stands were supposed to be packed tonight. 

The thought made a chill run through you, an excitement washing over your body at the many eyes that would be on you when you entered the pits. 

You loved the attention and lived for the adrenaline that never failed to kick in whenever you got behind the wheel of your beloved Mustang. 

It had seen better days, the front and sides having a few dents here and there, but it gave it character. It’s been through a lot, seen some pretty wild races and has even helped you win more than a few during the three years you’ve been participating in racing at the Speedway.

There wasn’t much to the interior, a single seat next to various metal rods that helped with any impact you might come in contact with when on the track, as well as to keep the car as light as possible. 

The exterior shined. One half of the car was a bright red while the other was a simple white, each side displaying the number 34 in opposite colors. The white was tinted brown and grey, dust and scratches littering both sides as you have had your fair share of bumps and close-calls. Luckily, the worst that has happened to you was a hard hit to the passenger side that sent you spinning but not to the point of causing any serious damage. 

You were in the first heat for the Super Stocks and were usually always placed in the middle row. It was never long before you made your way to first place.

The gates weren’t open yet and wouldn’t be for another half hour, so you decide to get in a few extra minutes of practice. You stopped just as your friend, Mila, was pulling in from doing a bit of her own practicing. “Hey,” she greeted you with a smile. You returned it as she nodded towards your car. “How’s she feeling?”

“Good,” you answer loudly, hoping she could hear you over the loud engine. “All fixed up.” You were referring to the last race you did, when you nearly lost control and ended up bumping into the barriers. It cost you the race, but the fans loved it whenever things like that happened, so you didn’t mind much.

“Glad to hear it,” she says. “Hey, I heard about the switch between Chase and some guy from the second heat. Have you met him yet?”

Despite racing here for over three years, you never really cared to become friends with your fellow drivers. You saw them all as competition, with the only exception being Mila since she was in the Bone Stock lineup. 

“No, not yet,” you reply and hear the sound of another engine from behind you.

“I think you might meet him soon,” she teased as a neon orange and black Chevy drove past you and sped out onto the track. 

The driver looked over at you before picking up speed and leaving you behind, making you ask the question, “That’s him?”

“That’s him,” she confirmed before waving at one of the maintenance guys. “I gotta go get ready, but good luck! Here’s to hoping he doesn’t give you any trouble out there.”

You nod and give her a thumbs up, watching as she pulls into the pits before you follow in the direction of the new addition to the heat. Chase was a pretty aggressive driver, so you were happy to see him go, but you were also used to his erratic ways of the road and knew how he functioned behind the wheel.

The new guy was completely new territory for you, and you could only hope he wasn’t as much of a hard-ass as Chase was.

You had a feeling you were wrong to hope that as you passed the Chevy, your mind in the clouds as you tried to get a feel for the track. He passed you again within seconds but slowed down considerably when he was in front of you. You tried to pass him by moving to the outer edge of the track, but he blocked you from doing so. You tried closer to the middle and inner edge but he didn’t let you do that either. 

Sitting back with a huff, you settle on trailing behind him for a bit before he takes off, the increasing volume of the engine being the only thing you could hear as you watch him pull into the pits. 

You follow him in, letting the Mini Stocks practice a bit before they were set to race when the gates opened. 

You stop near the back of the restricted area and pry back the red netting on your window before lifting yourself out of the car. Tossing your helmet onto the seat, you turn to face the new guy and watch as he does the same, his light brown hair looking almost blond in the setting sunlight. 

He looked as cocky as he drove and you didn’t have enough time to make up any more assumptions about him before he was making his way towards you, the neon orange helmet tucked under his right arm as he extended his left one out to you. “Hey, it’s Y/n, right?” 

You narrow your eyes at his held out hand before crossing your arms. “That’s right,” you answer and he laughs as he drops his arm back down to his side when he realized you weren’t going to shake his hand. You’d be lying if you said the black jumpsuit that was identical to yours, with the neon orange 05 on the right shoulder, didn’t add to his overall attractive appearance. “You’re the new guy?”

He raised a brow, his lips turning upwards in a smirk. “If by ‘new guy’, you mean the same guy who has been racing here for the past two years,” his voice dripped in mockery and his eyes held a sense of mischief. “Then, yeah, I’m the new guy. The name is Hayden. I’m also the guy who was transferred to the first heat.”

You purse your lips and lean back against your car. “I can see that,” you nod towards the track. “That was quite the show you put on out there. You’re very efficient at blocking.”

“Yeah, you liked that?” He didn’t pay your annoyed tone any mind as he shrugged. “I just had to show the guys what they’ve been missing out on during the last two years. This transfer has been long overdue as I shouldn’t have been in the second phase for as long as I was. Just wait until you see me later tonight, when the track’s full.”

Cocky fucker.

You roll your eyes and cross your arms tighter. “Seeing as you’ll be behind me the whole time, I don’t think I will be able to see you, after all,”

He seemed impressed yet surprised by your words, his head dropping slightly as a deep laugh left his lips. “You might want to raise your expectations,” he says as he leaned down so his head was closer to yours. It was then when you were able to see just how blue his eyes are and how they looked so bright in this lighting. He was beautiful, but really fucking annoying. “Because I’m going to win tonight.”

And cocky. Fuck, you missed Chase already. 

You narrowed your eyes again. “In your dreams,”

“Ah, that’s where I’ve seen you before,” he replied instantly, his tongue tracing the undersides of his teeth as he placed his hand flat against the roof of your car, partially trapping you against it. “I knew you looked familiar.”

You refrain from screaming out at his ability to quickly give back everything you threw out and lifted your head just slightly to come off as imitating. “You’re going to lose tonight,” 

Hayden’s smirk just grew, the tip of his tongue running along his upper lip quickly. “Alright, let’s make a deal,” he said and stood back up to his natural height, his frame now blocking the sun from your view. You almost opened your mouth to thank him for unknowingly keeping the sun out of your eyes before you remembered that this guy was your competition. Instead, you raise one brow in silent question. “If I win, you do something for me. Anything I want.”

You squint at him, your eyes flickering to the curve of his mouth without meaning to. “And when I win?”

“Confident, aren’t you? Can’t say I didn’t expect that from a pretty girl like you,” he shrugs and the compliment would’ve made you swoon if it weren’t for the smugness that underlined it. “If you win, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Dropping your shoulders, you feign being intrigued. “Like?” 

“Like,” he pretended he was in thought. “Let you pass me in the next one, purposely lose, rear end our competition, go down on you, whatever you want.”

The last offer caught you off guard and you reel back in surprise, hating how you felt your face heat up at his words. There was no way you’d let this guy get to you and turn you on before a race. No matter how attractive he is. “Once again, in your dreams,” you say but add, “You’re on.”

Hayden held his free hand out and you untangled your arms to be able to grab it. Once your hand was clasped in his, he tugged you forward a bit and you stumbled into his chest. He leans down so his mouth is hovering near your ear. “Good luck, princess,” he murmured and the way his breath hit your skin had you repressing a visible chill. “You’re gonna need it.” 

He lets go and backs away, not bothering to give you a second glance while you were left staring at his retreating form. He quickly fell into a conversation with another driver from the Mini Stocks group and you took the time to look at his car. 

The Chevy was in great shape, the neon orange damn near spotless, with the exception of dents and scratches here and there. The front half was covered in the bright color while the back faded into a jet black, the perfect contrast to the orange 05 that was painted on each side. 

You held back a small grin when you caught sight of the gold Star Wars sticker close to the back of the car. He must have a strong fondness for the movies if he went as far as putting the large logo on a place that was in clear view to everyone who would be watching. 

Questioning how you had failed to notice Hayden or his car during the past two years, you spare him one last glance before turning back around and beginning to prepare for the race. 

As you let your eyes trail over to him, they widened slightly when they locked onto his. He had already been looking at you, his arm still draped over his helmet and a sly smirk on his lips as the other driver went on about whatever it was they were talking about.

You send him a sarcastic smile before breaking eye contact and trying to ignore the pool of heat settling in your bones. 

-

As much as you hated to admit it, Hayden was good.

Like, really good. 

He had successfully secured his place in the finale, as did you, and had proven his previous claims of winning were not just him being a cocky guy. He came first in every single race and had even overlapped the poor souls who started at the back of the heat. 

He intimidated you and you weren’t sure why you felt the smallest bit intrigued by him. 

He was very attractive, both his looks and personality adding to that fact. You weren’t usually into the guys who were so full of themselves, but maybe that was because they usually never lived up to their claims, unlike how Hayden did.

He was good, and he knew he was good, and he used that to his advantage. 

It was no wonder he was so overly confident. He had every right to be, but, with that being said…you, too, were confident with your own words. 

You’ve won countless races now, and you’d be damned if you didn’t at least give it a shot, even if Hayden was one of the best drivers you had ever seen. He was definitely one of the strongest ones in the heat now, but he was also the new guy.

And the new guy needed to know his place, no matter how undeniably fine he is. 

So, as you wait behind the pace truck with Hayden a few cars behind you, you try your best to ignore the nervousness that was quickly beginning to settle in your bones. 

Despite doing this well over a hundred times, you still get a bit nervous before each race. You couldn’t help it, it was basic human instincts to become anxious before doing something that could possibly end with you being seriously injured or worse. 

You tried to get him out of your head as the truck led you around the track a couple of times. 

He was just another competitor. That’s all he will ever be to you. He’s no different than the others. 

At least that’s what you kept telling yourself as the announcer waved the green flag. 

As soon as the pace truck left the track, the fourteen cars were off. You were lucky enough to be placed in the second row on the outside, so you were able to go from fourth to third relatively quickly. 

Seeing as Hayden was put close to the back, starting in twelfth place, you were expecting it to take him quite some time to catch up. Usually whenever a racer is doing super well, like he is, they get put close to the back to give the other racers a bit of a chance to prove themselves. 

To say you were surprised to hear what the announcers narrated through the speakers as you passed by them would be an understatement. “Number five, Hayden Christensen, easily makes his way from tenth to ninth and now ninth to eighth,” you refrained from taking your eyes off the track and peeking behind you to see it for yourself. “He’s now passed two cars, taking the risky route on the outside of the track to land himself in sixth.”

“No fucking way,” you mutter to yourself, gripping the wheel tighter as you take the same route Hayden did in order to pass the driver in second place. 

This guy was something else. 

Despite driving for quite some time now, you found yourself beyond nervous driving near the outside of the track, so the fact that Hayden could do it so effortlessly was mildly infuriating but also impressive. 

You could only imagine the smirk he wore as he passed yet another driver and then another, now only two cars behind you. It was unbelievable that he had managed to go from twelfth to fourth in only three laps out of twenty. 

You were seriously regretting being so confident when you were talking with him earlier as you were clearly in way over your head on this one. There was no doubt in your mind that the other drivers from the second heat were probably ecstatic that he switched. Now they actually have a decent chance at winning. 

But you were still ahead of him for now, and fuck if you weren’t determined to keep it that way. 

Keeping closely behind the driver in first place, who you knew was a guy named Curtis based off of his car, you pick up speed the second you’re clear of the turn. You successfully pass him and are in first, but the excitement is short lived as you hear the speakers announce that Hayden did the same thing to the guy in third and that he is now in the top three. 

You feel heat creeping up your body and were glad that both the front windows were required to be removed as it allowed somewhat of a cross breeze to pass through the thick material of your helmet. You were beginning to feel overwhelmed, something you hadn’t felt since the first few races you did before that feeling turned into adrenaline. You lived for that sensation of your nerves fading away and being replaced by energy.

It was what you were holding onto now as you began your thirteenth lap with Hayden now in second, a mere few meters behind you. 

He could pass you at any given moment, any time he seemed fit, really, and you hated that he held that power over you. Hated that he had proven he was a better driver than you and really fucking hated the way he made you feel inferior to him. 

Borderline feeling a bit embarrassed now, you desperately tried to ignore the very real fact that there was a very little chance of you actually winning this race. 

A very real chance that you would have to go through with the deal you had made with Hayden beforehand, back when you clearly had no idea what you were getting yourself into. 

You knew you needed to stop thinking about it, you knew that you were currently driving distracted but you couldn’t stop your wandering mind.  

It was on the nineteenth lap when Hayden, who had been teasing you for the last few laps, finally pulled ahead of you and was now in first. It was on the last lap when Curtis decided that coming in third was not acceptable and had gotten a bit too aggressive on the last leg of the track. 

It was then when he took over your position and successfully rammed you, causing you to spin out a few times. Luckily for you, and for everyone behind you, your skills and the fact that you were a really good driver didn’t let you down. 

You over correct multiple times before the side of your car slammed into the barrier. Thankfully when your head slammed against the frame of the window, your helmet took a good portion of the impact and you were only left slightly dizzy. 

Blinking away the blurriness, you look to your right and watch as the last few cars speed around you and cross the finish line, the last one being Hayden’s as he had long since won and had caught up with the cars in the back. 

As he makes his way to the designated area where he would indulge in a quick victory interview, you allow the tow truck driver to pull off the bright red netting on your window. You don’t bother taking off the suddenly too heavy helmet as you take his outstretched hand and let him pull you out of your car. 

The middle aged man leads you over to the awaiting ambulance, this being protocol after being involved in a crash of any kind. You sit in the back, your legs draped over the side as the paramedic gently takes your helmet off, the only background noise being Hayden’s cocky voice sounding through the various speakers around the track.

Due to your pounding head, you could only make out a few lines, “That was a close call at the end there, how does it feel to have come out on top?”

“Rewarding,” came his confident reply. You didn’t bother to try to continue listening after that.

With your helmet off, it allowed you to have a clearer vision of what was going on around you, and your heart deflated at the sight of your car. It was dented all over, one from the impact of Curtis’ car, one from when you hit the barrier and one from when another driver rear ended you afterwards. Oddly enough, you never felt that last hit, unless that was what caused your head to hit the door frame.

Caught up in answering the countless questions that the paramedic, who went by the name of Troy, you failed to notice that Hayden’s interview had wrapped up and he was currently leaning against the open door of the ambulance, his own helmet discarded a long time ago. “Hi, princess,” 

You glance up at him and scoff at the smirk he wears as Troy gently lifts your left arm, doing the standard check for any broken bones or strained muscles. 

“That was quite the show you put on at the end,” he continued when you didn’t greet him back. “I almost wished I had stayed behind you so I could’ve had a front row seat of it.”

You glare at him and allow Troy to tilt your head to the side as he inspected your neck, not so secretly listening in on your and Hayden’s conversation. “Me too,” you give him a tight smile. “Because then it would’ve been you who spun out and not me.”

Hayden shakes his head at that. “No,” he laughed. “I wouldn’t have been so distracted and allowed that idiot to get so close to me.” ‘That idiot’ being Curtis. You could tell he wanted to call the aggressive driver something else, a less PG name, but refrained from doing so as he was in the presence of the higher ups and refused to get written up over someone as pathetic as Curtis. 

You ignore his words and sit up once Troy reaches for something further back in the ambulance. Over the speakers you hear the announcer say something along the lines of, “Number thirty four, Y/n Y/l/n, is reportedly just suffering from a headache after that hard hit she endured on the last lap of the race,” you were still so surprised how fast information got spread around here, but you supposed that was how it was supposed to be, given the audience was more than likely curious as to how the racer was doing after crashing in the intense way like you just did. 

“So, have you figured out what you want me to do, yet?”

He had won fair and square, and you had lost. You weren’t one to talk shit then not stay true to your word once everything blew up in your face. 

Hayden looked you up and down, his eyes narrowing on the way your chest rose and fell under the black jumpsuit you wore. When you caught his gaze he looked away in thought. “I haven’t quite decided yet,” he answers and you roll your eyes.

You didn’t get the chance to respond as you heard someone else speak from their place against the other door of the ambulance. 

“Hey, Y/l/n,” you look over and see Josh, another racer who finished fourth and had a front row seat of your spin out. He tucked his helmet under his arm and sent you a sly grin. “That was quite the crash. I honestly can’t believe you walked away with only a headache.”

You shrug, glancing at Hayden and noting the way he glared at the other man, clearly pissed that he had interrupted your conversation. “What can I say?” You force out a smile, keeping your eyes on Josh. “I’m a professional.”

Josh looked you up and down before raising a brow and nodding. “I guess you are,” he sent Hayden a quick smile in a form of greeting before looking back at you. “Either way that was fucking epic. I hope we can see each other more often. It might be nice to have an ally on the track.”

You tighten your smile and nod once. “Sure, thanks,”

He pats Hayden on the back before walking away, missing the way he shot daggers into his retreating form. Once Josh was out of sight, Hayden turned back to face you, his stance against the car never faltering as he says, “I think I know what I want you to do for me,”

-

The way Hayden eye fucked you earlier should’ve been enough of an answer. 

The way he got so annoyed when Josh was openingly flirting with you in front of him should’ve been enough. 

The way he stood so close behind you as you both waited for the space to clear out should’ve been more than enough. 

It was still light out when you had first gone out on the track to begin racing, and it was well past being dark out when you finished, stuck in the back of the ambulance for a bit longer while the track cleared and the stands became empty. 

An hour after your crash and you had been cleared for any further injuries, instead of switching to your everyday car and heading home to spend the rest of the night in bed, you find yourself in the small confinements of Hayden’s black and orange Chevy.

It was tucked away in the far corner of the set up area, hidden behind various shelves of tools and car parts and out of sight to anyone who was still around. Though you had been nearly one hundred percent sure that everyone had gone home for the night, there was a small possibility that in your haste to keep up with Hayden’s long strides you may have missed someone hiding out or getting ready to leave.

Still, if you were worried about someone still being around, you didn’t show it as you rocked your body against Hayden’s, your kiss swollen lips begging for a break that he didn’t grant as he kept you close to him. His hands ran up the length of the simple white tank top you wore under the suit, the same one that had been discarded and thrown somewhere off to the right where the passenger seat would normally be in a standard car. 

You supposed what you were currently doing could be considered cock warming, with the way he was deep inside you, your tight walls wrapped around him in a way that left you breathless. 

You couldn’t even bring yourself to be embarrassed anymore at the fact that you had failed, quite epically, on the night when the stands were at their fullest. Hundreds of people had seen you spin out, and though you had your fair share of bumps and bruises, you had never been involved in something as severe as you were just over an hour ago.

Gone was your headache and you welcomed the feeling of lust and need as you gripped Hayden’s shoulders tightly. With his body firmly pressed to yours, you don’t even need to move your hips yet as you were fully content with the way his tongue battled with yours. His was overpowering yours easily and you’d be lying if you were to say his dominance didn’t turn you on.

You’d also be lying to say that you didn’t picture yourself in this exact situation way earlier in the day, back when the two of you were bickering back and forth before you were set to race. Sure, his cockiness was irritating, but add that to his overall appearance and he was just your type. 

It was undeniable how good looking this guy is, and the sexual tension was apparent right from the start. It was clear this whole interaction would end in one of two ways; one, you would go on to be envious of one another for the rest of your racing careers and ignore the tension as best as you could, or two, you end the feud by sleeping together. 

You couldn’t be more glad that the second option was the one that came out on top. 

And from the sound of his throaty grunts and groans, Hayden was equally as glad. 

The way he sounded had you clenching tightly around him in an attempt to stop yourself from slamming your hips down against his. He was so unbelievably hot.

Hot in the way he kept you pressed firmly against him.

Hot in the way he wasn’t shy or embarrassed to verbally express the way he was currently feeling. The way you were making him feel. 

Hot in the way he took control of the heated kiss, angling your head so he could have full and complete access to your mouth. 

Hot in the way he was in complete control on and off the track. 

And that’s without mentioning his appearance. 

Needing to pull away for air, he allowed you to do so before tucking his head away in the space of your neck. His lips peppered kisses along your damp skin, the air flow in the car surprisingly bad. 

Sure, the cross breeze was immaculate when he was driving, but that was because of his speed and atmosphere. Out there he was used to the way his eyes would become dry relatively quickly due to the air whipping past him, but when he was in his usual spot at the back of the set up location, the air was damn near non-existent.

His skin was heated before, when he had claimed his victory of finishing first place in all his races, and his skin was heated now, but for a completely different reason. 

He was hot and bothered and unbelievably turned on, because of you. 

Hayden couldn’t deny the attraction he felt the second he saw you. He was used to girls falling at his feet and throwing themselves at him, so when you didn’t do either of those things and instead returned his confident energy, he was pretty much done for right then and there. 

He also couldn’t deny that, despite how your race ended, you were a pretty good driver. You weren’t throwing his words back at him earlier when he had made the deal with you just to get under his skin. No, you threw them back because you knew you had the potential to be as good as you said you were. 

But he would never admit that he was nervous for a fraction of a second when trailing you as you did a decent job at blocking his attempts to pass. A decent job at preventing his inevitable win. 

He knew right then and there that, given the opportunity, he would train you to be even better, possibly better than him, if you wanted the practice. 

But that was for a later time.

Right now he was painfully hard and twitching with need from his place deep inside you. And the small whines and moans you were letting out didn’t help his case in the slightest. 

He pulled away from your neck, marveling at the fresh mark he had sucked onto your soft skin with a smirk. “You have no idea how hard it was for me to concentrate out there,” he says, surprising you.

You open your eyes and tilt your chin to look down at him, this position making your form the smallest bit taller than his. “What?” You ask and ignore the way your voice sounded so breathless and overused already. “Really?”

“Mhm,” he hummed against the thin skin of your throat before sucking another mark there. “You had me turned on the whole time, since our first meeting. I was hard from the second you accepted that deal with me.”

“Fuck,” you whine and thread your fingers through his sandy hair. “Don’t tell me that, please.”

He smirked against your neck before pulling away to guide your lips to his in a bruising kiss, murmuring, “Why not?” against your mouth.

“Because,” you sighed heavily, twisting the fabric of his white tee in the fingers of your free hand. His jumpsuit had only been partly discarded, the article pulled halfway down his body so he was able to free himself and so you could sink down onto him without anything in the way. “I won’t be able to think about anything else after this when I’m allowed to get back out there again.”

“Good,” was all he said and moved his hands down to tightly grip your waist. “I don’t want you to think about anything else after this other than the fact that I won and you lost, quite brutally at that.”

“Hayden,” you moan in surprise, giving him a look of warning that he quickly brushes off.

“Don’t bother trying to argue,” he dismissed you before giving a sharp thrust of his hips. “We both know who the real winner is. Now, stick to your promise and ride me.”

His words, so vulgar, send a shockwave of need through you. 

How could you not oblige?

Your hands move to hold onto his shoulders as you lift your body up, the feeling of him dragging against your walls after having been wrapped around him for so long had you rolling your eyes. 

A deep groan reverberated from his mouth as you sunk back onto him, repeating the action a few times slowly to create a steady motion. “Just like that, baby,” it came out more breathless than you expected him to sound, like he was getting the relief he had been needing all night. “You feel so good, been thinking about this since you got out of that car.”

His words surprised you and they had your movements faltering just a bit as they sunk in. “Really?” You ask and the look he gives you has you shocked that he was single. He is single, right? The next words that leave your mouth weren’t ones you were planning on asking, but you couldn’t help it after thinking this through, “Wait, are you single?”

Hayden laughed at that before he realized you were actually asking him that. What made you think about his relationship status in a situation like this, he had no idea, but he couldn’t lie and say that the way you were suddenly so worried about it wasn’t the smallest bit heart warming. 

“Are you seriously asking me that after being wrapped around me for ten minutes?” 

Your face flushed at his words and he quickly decided that the sight of you being so flustered was one of the best things he has ever seen. “I don’t know,” you trail off, slowing the grinding of your hips to a still. “I don’t want this to just be one sided….I don’t want to think about you going home to someone else after this.”

You didn’t mean to make things so serious, but you couldn’t help it. You were undeniably attracted to this guy and hated to think that he belonged to someone else and was fine with sleeping with other people while in a relationship. 

You were afraid that you had ruined the mood with that one, but Hayden didn’t let you think that for too long as he gently ran his hands up the sides of your body. “One sided?” He asked but not in a mocking or teasing way. “It’s going to be hard for me to think about anything other than this every time I’m on the track.”

Heat rushed to your face again and you tucked your head away in the space between his neck and shoulder. “Stop,”

“I mean it,” he pressed, reaching one hand up to press his fingers against the skin of your throat. “You don’t know how hot you looked out there. I don’t know how these other guys can concentrate when they know you’re out there with them. You don’t know how hard it was for me to finish that stupid race.”

“You’re not the only one who was distracted,” you trail off when you lifted your hips again and slowly guided him back into you, your eyes narrowing on the way he harshly swallowed in an attempt to hold back his groan so you could continue. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I don’t think guys realize how attractive girls find it when a man knows how to drive like that. It’s hot.”

“Yeah?” He laughed breathlessly, his eyes narrowing as he began to guide your hips into a more firm movement. “Do you think I’m hot?”

How could you not? The look you gave him when he asked that had him laughing and giving you a smug smirk. “Hot?” You reiterate and reach a hand down to grip his wrist while your other one tangled into his hair. “You’re damn near edible.”

He was slightly concerned when he had to hold himself back from coming when those words left your mouth as they weren’t what he was expecting to hear. Gone was his cocky attitude and smirks and what replaced them was a fucked out expression. All he could bring himself to say was, “We’ll keep that in mind for next time,”

And just like that, your worried thoughts from before were gone and you were left feeling reassured that this would not be the first and last time you found yourself wrapped around him. 

With a newfound confidence, you place your hands flat against his shoulders and begin to fuck yourself onto him faster than before. With each lift of your hips he inched deeper and deeper into you, exploring parts of you that you didn’t even know you had. 

He was stretching you out so good and was effectively ruining you for every other guy. He invaded your walls and was the first one to ever hit that sweet spot inside of you. The feeling of his tip pressing against that sensitive space deep within you had your eyes squeezing shut and your hands holding onto him tighter, your head falling into the crevice of his shoulder.

Moans were freely leaving your lips at this point, your care about someone who hadn’t left yet possibly hearing you non-existent. You had never felt this way before, despite being pretty well experienced in this kind of thing. Hayden was hitting all the spots inside you that had you seeing stars behind your eyelids, and his own sounds were ones you found yourself desperate to keep hearing. 

His hands held you in a tight grip by your waist, his own hips lifting to meet you halfway. He sets a brutal pace that has you whining loudly, your hands sliding up to grip the sides of his jaw as you lift your head from his neck. 

After being impaled on him for so long, the build up to your release was creeping up on you without warning. You already felt sensitive and stretched beyond belief, but you also couldn’t deny how well your body fit with his and how well you took him.

It was something you tried to ignore as you knew it would boost his already overfilled confidence, but it seemed as though he was thinking the same thing, “You’re taking me so well. So good. Like you were made for me,” he breathed out, his eyes closing tightly as he felt his own release steadily approaching. “Just for me.”

Yeah, it was safe to say that Hayden was successfully ruining any and all future endeavors with potential lovers. 

“I need to feel it,” he mumbled, referring to your inevitable high you’ve been feeling all night. Your legs began to shake and burn due to overexertion while your core begged for release. It seemed as though you weren’t the only one begging, as he opened his mouth to plead a quiet, hushed, “Please.”

 To hear him beg for you like that had your eyes rolling back and your mouth falling open in a desperate whine of his name, your body stilling its movements while his hips continued to thrust into you. 

He chases his own release while you try to recover from yours, the slick movement of him nudging against your walls making you shake from the sensitivity. A few more deep thrusts later and he was there, his deep, throaty groans being the only sounds you were met with. 

You both were struggling to catch your breath and you were briefly reminded of the very first time you ever got behind the wheel before a race. Your heart was racing and you were sweating, your chest rising and falling quickly in an attempt to regulate your breathing. 

Almost unwillingly, you lift yourself up and allow him to tuck himself away again before he reaches behind him to tug his shirt off. He hands it to you with a sheepish smile and pulls his jumpsuit back up while you use his shirt to clean yourself up. 

Once he was covered back up, with the exception of the zipper not being pulled up all the way, and you had tossed the shirt aside and tugged your underwear back on, he turned your body around and pulled you against him.

With your back now pressed against his chest he wraps his arms around you in a surprise embrace as you didn’t expect him to be so gentle or for him to feel the need to take care of you afterwards. 

You lean further back and rest your head on his shoulder, your hands resting over his. “So, did I live up to my end of the deal?” You asked after a few minutes. 

Hayden laughs from behind you, the sound breathless despite him being able to regain control over his breathing. “I forgot that that’s what started all this,” he muttered and you don’t bother hiding the small smile that formed on your lips as you knew he wouldn’t see it. “You were perfect.”

You roll your eyes. “Shut up,”

“I mean it,” he protests and leans down to press a kiss to the side of your head. He watched as you pressed the heels of your palms against your closed eyes and suddenly felt guilt beginning to chip away at him. “Is your head hurting again?”

He hated to think that your accident from earlier was still very much affecting you and you hid it from him during the whole thing. Despite his overall attitude, he found himself caring deeply for you and wanted to make sure you didn’t regret what happened now that it was over. 

You shake your head and press your body closer to his. “No,” you answer and brush your nose along the underside of his jaw. “I feel perfectly fine.” 

Hayden nods at that and tightens his hold on you after realizing that it had loosened while he was lost in his own head. “Are you sure?” He asks again, needing reassurance that you were okay now that you had come back down from your high. “That was quite the hit you took earlier.”

Your heart swelled at his concern and you lifted your head so you were able to look into his eyes. “I’m fine,” you say again and continue when he gave you a look that said he didn’t believe you, “Trust me, the only part of me that hurts right now are my legs, and I have you to thank for that.”

Your words successfully put him at ease and it was then when you saw the return of his smirk. “There’s no need to thank me, princess. It was bound to happen, anyway,” he shrugged and you just shook your head. “With that being said, I hope you don’t think that this was just a way to sleep with you then leave it at that. Believe it or not, I’m not a hookup kinda guy.”

His confession surprised you and you were beginning to believe that this guy was full of surprises. You debated on teasing him, but decided not to when you realized that his prior tough guy persona was just a facade. You felt reassured as you remembered the pang of sadness you felt earlier when you thought this was just going to be a one time thing. “I believe it,” you murmured and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to his lips. “Because I’m not a hookup kinda girl, either.”

Hayden smiled at that and you took pride in the fact that you were able to wipe off that smirk he wore so proudly. “Good,” was all he said and pressed another kiss to your mouth, this one a bit longer than the first one. 

You smile as you pull away and turn to face the front again, ignoring the cramp beginning to form in your legs due to the lack of space as you ask the dreaded question, “So, how screwed do you think my car is?”

-

Nearly two days had passed until you were able to see the aftermath of your accident.

Your car was fucked, for lack of better words. 

While you were normally out on the track three times a week, you would have to sit out the next two races for this week while your team worked on fixing up the exterior of your car. 

The state of your beloved Mustang had your heart breaking just a bit as you watched the guys smooth out the dents and fix up loose bars. You watched them work for a bit before deciding that you had seen enough. 

You exit the garage and bump into someone as you did so. They steady you and when you hear the deep laugh of Hayden your face heats up quickly. “Where are you going in such a rush?” He asks and keeps his hands on your arms. 

You sigh and look up at his annoyingly pretty eyes. It had been a day since you had seen him and you were embarrassed to say you missed him. You had never felt this way before and having him standing here in front of you in casual clothing instead of work clothing was not helping. “I’m running away from my responsibilities,” you muttered. 

He laughed again and peered into the garage behind you. “How bad is it?” 

Sighing, you tug him closer to you and press your head against his chest. “Really bad,” 

Hayden wraps his arms around you and you breathe in the scent of his woodsy cologne. He was wearing a simple white tee and black jeans, his usual jumpsuit nowhere to be found as he wasn’t set to race until a few hours from now. You were convinced that he could make even the most unflattering clothing look good. “I’m sorry,” he offered and you rolled your eyes, pulling away to look up at him. His height was one of the things that had initially caught your attention, so to see him up close like this was a bit intimidating.

“Are you?” You ask and place your hands flat against his back. “That crash was how I found myself having to pay up my end of our deal.”

He smirks at that and looks to the side and easily ignores the stares of the other drivers as they watch the two most competitive racers intimately embrace. No one ever expected you to get close to another driver, let alone be seen wrapped up in their arms. It was unheard of. “So, I’m assuming you won’t be on the tracks tonight?” He ignores your attempt at riling him up and looks back down at you.

You sigh again, “Nope,”

Hayden shakes his head and presses a kiss to your temple. “I got something that will make you feel better,” he murmurs.  “Do you want to see it?”

You pull away from him and raise a brow, your curiosity getting the better of you as you take his hand and allow him to lead you towards the pits. There you were met with the sight of his car, and your face immediately heats up when you remember the events that took place the last time you saw it. The last time you were in it, you should say. The thought had you holding back a smirk, “A quickie before you’re set to race?” You ask as he pulls you towards the Chevy. “That’s a bit risky with all these people around, even for you.”

Hayden just laughs and shakes his head again. “That wasn’t what I had in mind,” he says and guides you towards the left side of the car. He stands back and lets you look at the smooth metal and at first you were confused, but then you looked closer. 

Next to the large Star Wars sticker was a new one, though much smaller. Tucked away just above the tire was a bright red 34 and it took you no time at all to realize that was your racing number, as well as your color. 

You step away from the car but keep your back to Hayden, a dumb grin seeming to be stuck on your lips. The fact that he had put your number and trademark color on his car meant he was serious about whatever it was between you, despite only knowing you for a very short period of time. You were glad that he was also feeling the same way you were. 

At your lack of response, Hayden felt his heart begin to beat quicker and he quickly tried thinking of a way to talk himself out of this, but ultimately ended up with nothing. “Is it too much?” He asked instead. 

Shaking your head, you turn to face him. “No,” you answer and step towards him. “No, I like it.” 

He breathes out a sigh of relief when you tuck yourself under his arm. 

“Does this mean we’re dating now?” 

He raised a brow at that. “I thought we already were,” he said back and that was all the confirmation you needed. The hot guy whose arm you were safely under was yours and you were his. “Since you can’t race tonight, can I count on you to cheer me on?” 

“Of course,” you answer and add, “Can I count on you to put on a good show?”

“Always,” he grins. “But it might be tough for me to concentrate on driving since we fucked in the front seat only a day ago.”

“So, you’ll be thinking of me? Perfect,” you stand on the tips of your toes to kiss him quickly. A kiss that was far too short for his liking as he pouted when you pulled away. “You better go get ready. If you win tonight, I promise you’ll like your reward.” 

You wiggle your brows as you turn and walk back to the garage, leaving Hayden to stand by himself with a semi-hard on.

If he had any doubts before, they were all put to rest by your teasing promise. He was going to win tonight. He had to. 

You knew Hayden was a good driver when you were competing against him, but here in the stands it was undeniable. He was always quick to correct, over-correct and dodge when he needed to and was unbelievably good at passing people, even on the risky turns. 

Saying you weren’t hot and bothered would be a massive lie and you were praying to anyone listening that he would win. You didn’t have any doubts, though, as he was the best one on the track by far. 

That was proven as the night went on and his place in first never faltered. You weren’t surprised when he finished the night at the top of the leaderboard, and as he gave his winning speech while he looked towards the stands with a wild glint in his eyes, you had a feeling you knew exactly who he was searching for.

-

Part 2

+ @jesusfootsandles thank you for the awareness you spread in regards to the creeps who post about Jack <3 and your bio is one of the best things I've ever read x

[jade-parcels]

🌱🌱🌱Silly little Haitham bf hcs to celebrate his banner 🌱🌱🌱

🌱Haitham is a relatively good cook but he doesn’t venture into cook books for new recipes. If it was up to him, you’d eat the same 4 meals over and over. He enjoys rice, meat and veggies so every dish he makes will include those things. When you make something new for him, he’s always appreciative and willing to try it and even if he isn’t a big fan, he’ll eat it to make you happy. Food is food to him, it doesn’t have to be his favorite in order for him to eat it.

🌱Al Haitham’s the type of guy to take a ‘little sip’ of your drink when you tell him to try it except he’s a Big Man and he takes a HUGE mouthful… then hands back the almost empty glass with a “yeah, that’s pretty good. I might get some for myself”…. This bitch… get your own >:(

🌱Haitham would fold your laundry for you and put it away if he noticed that you were overwhelmed by it all. However, the downside is he reorganizes as he goes, putting things in places that ‘make logical sense’. Now your shirts are in color order and socks are separated by length

🌱He’s secretly a cuddle bug ;-; he wants you to be close to him whenever possible. He isn’t a fan of pda but behind closed doors he wants you to sit close against his side, lay in his lap, rest your head on his chest, run your hand through his hair, kiss his cheek… Poor guy is so smart- he’s so straight forward but that’s his own downfall cause when it comes to affection, he gets embarrassed to ask for it. He doesn’t know how to word it. “Hug me” is too demanding… “May I have a hug?” Sounds too childish… “I want a hug” sounds out of character to him. So he just hopes you catch onto what he wants. Sometimes actions speak louder than words

🌱When he’s out jogging or taking a walk after work (he’s gotta stretch his legs after sitting doing paperwork) he’ll slow down when passing by fruit stalls. He makes a point of buying your favorite fruits for you almost daily so you have a lil snack for after dinner or for breakfast the next morning. He’s a regular at these stalls now because of you :) <3

🌱Haitham’s favorite part of a party is leaving. He will happily take the blame when you get tired and want to leave. Like the true gentleman he is, he’ll use the excuse of ‘I have work in the morning. It’s time for us to get going’ so you two can go home. Are you going straight to bed? Maybe. Are you going home to cuddle and read together? Very likely

🌱While he prides himself in his self control, you’re Haitham’s weakness. He’s easy to rile up, easy to pull into an alleyway to kiss behind shops or between trees. He can’t really hide when he blushes cause he doesn’t just blush lightly, he turns beet red from his neck up to his ears so please don’t embarrass him at work but if you do he’ll return the favor later so… ;)

🌱Haitham prefers to be the big spoon when you guys sleep cause hugging something or someone is comforting for him. In his college years when he wasn’t getting laid, he went to sleep hugging his pillow… That’s what he did before he met you too. Now he has you in his arms, you’re secure and keep him feeling comfy n warm. Sweetie pie <3 if you ask why he likes to hold you that way you’ll get a long winded lecture about emotional security, couple co-sleeping and so on lmao

[lilacgaby]

02 | serenity

~2.8k

chapter select!

he woke up to nobody in his arms but a pillow.

he should've expected this. it was just a stupid dream, a hallucination caused by that idiot yesterday. he sighed disappointedly, turning over to shut off his clock when--

he saw her, eyebrows furrowed and frustrated, trying to complete the other side of the puzzle.

he let out a sigh of relief that he didn't even know he was holding. she was there, and he still couldn't believe it. still couldn't believe that the fake girl he'd crushed over since he was in middle school was alive and kicking, and that he'd be alive to see it.

"oh, hey katsuki! i finished the other side, i'd tell you to look but i had to take it apart.." she said, still trying to piece things together.

"yeah, uh. hi." he said, voice deep from sleep, until he coughed and spoke normally. "uh.. we gotta take you to my teacher today. he'll be able to tell us whatever the fuck is up with you."

"right, uh.. just quick question first."

"hm?"

"can i borrow your clothes?"

right. he smacked his forehead because of his own idiocy. he forgot to give her clothes to sleep in last night, she had to sleep in her school uniform. and he knew she hated it, she said in volume fourteen that it was uncomfortable for her, and in volume eighteen she slept in it and woke up aching! he was such a fake fan.

"yeah, yeah, of course." he got up and went to his closet. he looked for clothes that'd suit her, though he doubted he'd have anything good enough.

as he dug through his closet, she eyed the box covering a corner of his shelves. all over the shelves were merch of that one guy.. 'all-might' was his name? just who was this guy anyways, he must be pretty self obsessed. he had his own puzzle line, posters, was that a figure? hell, even the box was themed.

she got up to investigate, holding up the figure, still enclosed in a box. as she eyed it over, bakugo almost fainted at the sight of his favorite character holding his favorite hero. he kept digging into his dresser now, thinking about how his fashion designer parents would cringe at the clothes he was going to put on someone as gorgeous as her.

in [name]'s brain she thought about who was the 'all-might' equivalent in her world. imagining a police officer with posters, puzzles, and fans made her cringe externally, so she set the figure back and backed away.

accidentally hitting the box that was covering the corner of the shelves.

as she moved to fix it, she saw a bunch of manga labeled 'serenity' next to the things it was covering.

she took one and opened it to the first page. she saw... pictures of her. of her first day of school, where she ran with bread in her mouth because she was late. of her bowing profusely for being late. of her being sat between shinto and urameshi because the spot next to her friend was taken-

everything was there. she had seen it yesterday, but to see everything canonically arranged felt bizarre. she put down the book and backed away, feeling conflicted, a burning feeling in her chest.

perfectly timed though, because katsuki had managed to pull out his favorite skull t-shirt for her to wear, along with leggings that he had grown out of.

he held them out, "here, we can go shopping or something later, but this is the best i got for now."

"ah.. thank you katsuki." she walked over to the bathroom and changed. the clothes fit her surprisingly well, accentuating her body. it wasn't really her normal style.. but it'd do for now.

while she changed, bakugo called mr. aizawa to make sure he was awake and kicking. at his response, he asked if he could meet with him in an hour, because of an 'emergency.' and aizawa sleepily agreed.

as he waited for her to come out, he felt uncharacteristically antsy, with his leg bouncing up and down.

she came out, dressed in his clothes, and she looked infinitely better than the fan art he'd made of her wearing a similar outfit.

"uh.. you ready to go?"

"hm? yeah."

as they were about to set off, someone barged into his room. kirishima, who wanted to train on a school holiday.

"hey bakubr-- oh.. who is that?" he said, looking over at [name]. his eyebrows raising slightly as he saw she was in bakugo's signature skull t-shirt.

"get out weird hair!"

"okay, okay uh.. i'll leave you two to it."

as the door shut behind him, katsuki slapped his hand over his face in frustration. he eyed [name], who was still just standing about waiting for him, sighed, and got up.

"well, let's fucking go." he said, holding the door open for her as they walked out. on the trip to the elevator and down, his classmates eyed the two of them, with some of them even noting her striking resemblance to the protagonist of 'serenity'.

he dragged her out quickly, slamming the door to the entrance as they walked to the main campus.

"this school is huge! my school is-- well you probably already know." she said, scratching the back of her head.

"yeah uh.. i do. it was a rundown old funeral home?"

"yes, exactly! and then they remodeled it into my school. but they y'know, built over a lot of graves and stuff."

"right, which is why there's an underlying subplot of you investigating the weird ass supernatural horrors of the school."

"subplot?... oh, i guess yeah. but we do it though the occult club just for fun."

"right. and those two idiots of yours are in it too, huh?"

"yup! shinto and urameshi. it's only cause we needed four people for an official club though!"

"mhm." it was so odd having her talk about her life events with him being able to recite each one of them to her. it felt like he was obsessing over her-- which he definitely was not.

he stopped suddenly infront of class two-a, having her bump into him with an 'oof'. after holding the door open for her, he walked inside to see aizawa, grading papers at a desk.

he eyed [name] suspiciously. "bakugo, is this girl the emergency? if so, i'm tempted to expel you for wasting my time."

"pfft. she is the emergency, and you wanna know why? because she's-- she's not real in this world. she's a fucking anime character." bakugo said, shoving the blank manga book in aizawa's face. "this is what was left after she suddenly popped out the pages, some asshole hit the book with a quirk and she appeared right after."

aizawa took the book out his hands and examined it. "language bakugo. ahem, is this true miss..?"

"[name]. and i think it's true. i'm not from a world with um.. superpowers or anything. and i woke up in an alleyway with that strange guy and katsuki." she said, anxiously twiddling her thumbs as she addressed aizawa.

"so, i think that this man likely has a manifestation quirk then." aizawa reasoned. "he has the ability to materialize things that were on paper, giving them life but not being able to control them. it's so powerful, that i'm assuming a days passed, and [name] is still here."

after thinking for a moment, aizawa came up with a temporary plan. "i've never dealt with a quirk of this manner before. but, since [name] is now a victim of it and you're so keen to help, she can stay at the dorms temporarily until we detain the man who is responsible for manifesting her. bakugo, explain what the encounter was exactly."

"well, i went out and bought this manga, 'serenity'. then, after finishing up i took a shortcut through an alley to U-A, but this damn mugger jumped at me, threatens me and sh-- stuff. he rushed at me so i threw my book at him out of reflex, a puff of smoke appeared and there she was."

"do you have anything on the profile of this man? what did he look like?"

"well, uh.. i didn't actually see him. i was busy looking at her."

aizawa deadpanned, and looked over at [name].

"so, did you see what he looked like [name]?"

"hm? oh i did. he was pretty generic looking, besides the scar on his lip. black hair, black eyes, pale skin. "

aizawa nodded, and went back to grading his papers. "i'll bring this up to higher ups later on, we'll be on the lookout for this man. our only way to find out what brought [name] here and how to bring her back is from the quirk user himself. [name], you will act as a U-A student from today on. it's not a big issue if it gets out you're not from this world, just stay out of trouble."

"yes sir, thank you."

"and bakugo, i trust you'll keep her safe?"

"obviously, who do you think i am?"

aizawa sighed, "then hurry up and leave, you made me behind on grading already. go ask principal nezu for a spare girls uniform, and tell him to call me about any questions. dissmissed."

she bowed slightly and bakugo huffed as they walked out the room.

"well, that went nicely, huh?"

"yeah, you got into class two-a without a quirk. color me impressed."

"you need superpowers in this class?"

"duh, it's a hero school. only the best of the best make it here."

"cool, i'm one of the best already!"

"..right." a ghost of a smile overcame his face as he watched her, surprisingly carefree in this stressful situation.

it was fun watching her reactions to things he had grown desensitized to. her eyes almost bulging out her head when she saw principal nezu was almost enough to make him laugh.

almost.

as she grabbed the uniform, thanking nezu profusely for allowing her to stay, she then followed bakugo back to the dorms.

"so like.. are there any other hero schools? i mean id assume there'd be competition."

"yeah, there's other ones. but they're all weak in comparison to U-A's hero course, so i wouldn't even waste my time thinking about it."

"oh? so, is there multiple hero classes?"

"yeah, three years of two classes."

"that's it? man, it must be hard to get in."

"you're smart enough to get into general studies, so if you were from this world, i think you'd be here regardless."

"aw, thank you katsuki."

"yeah, whatever."

as they walked through the entrance of the dorms once again, they were met with the entire classes eyes on them. it was lunchtime, so they often got together to eat and cook altogether. [name] felt awkward under their gazes though.

a guy walked up, his hair blonde with a tiny black streak in his bang, and slung his arm around katsuki's neck.

"who knew kacchan would date a [name] cosplayer? do you have a secret crush on anime girls kaccha--"

"fuck off!"

"no but seriously, she really does look exactly like [name]. down to like-- her moles and stuff. you're a really good cosplayer random girl." a girl with strikingly long ears complimented.

as the class started to crowd the two, most of them seemingly astonished at one: bakugo bringing a girl in the dorm who had also been in his dorm, and two: her resemblance to the most popular anime protagonist out at the time.

bakugo finally had enough, and decided just to say it since he had permission from aizawa.

"okay everyone shut up! this is going to sound fucking insane-, but hear me out. this is the real [name], no bullshit, straight from the manga. they were transported here after i got attacked, she's staying here in the dorms, and she's attending U-A til the heroes get their shit together and arrest the guy who brought her here."

the class collectively eyed her again. her resemblance was insane, way too uncanny to just be coincidence. it'd also explain her random appearance at the dorms, and the fact that he had gotten permission to keep her here meant aizawa knew so.

"really? that's so cool!" a girl with cute rosy cheeks added.

"we should all introduce ourselves, it'd be the polite thing to do!" said a guy with glasses and.. were those engines on his legs?

the class went around introducing themselves one by one, along with their quirks.

this world was beyond odd, there was a guy with like six limbs, a guy with a bird head, and another who straight up had a tail.

she introduced herself as well, just to be polite. "i'm [name], nice to meet you all."

"we already know you! you're so popular yknow?" a girl now known as mina mentioned.

"yeah, you'd have to be living under a rock to not know you. you're everywhere." tsuyu exclaimed.

"ah.. really? that's- interesting." she said, awkwardly smiling.

"so, since you're [name] can you answer a question i had? it's just to solve a debate between me and that idiot over there." jirou said, pointing at denki.

"ah, sure."

"so, when you were talking to shinto in the occult room the day after your finals, was it you who laid the ouija board for him to find, or was it there in the first place?"

[name] looked genuinely confused. "um.. i didn't place any ouija board anywhere."

"told you!" "that was a guided question!"

she eyed the two as they argued over who would win.. a thousand yen she thought?.. she wasn't really even interested in the bet anyways. she felt off after that question. it wasn't like she and shinto would never see eachother again, but she was feeling so homesick. she perked up again, reminding herself to stay optimistic, and that she'd get home soon.

a really pretty girl named momo was the last to come up to her, "hello [name]. i'm a big fan, and i noticed that your clothes isn't very.. well.. suited for you. so,"

momo took her hand gently, laid a black card in it, closed her hands and put it to her chest.

"please use this card to your hearts content. i hope we have the time to go out and chat before you go back to your world."

"this is very generous of you! i don't know if i can accept this-"

"please do! think of it as a gift. a welcoming gift from me."

"i-- okay. thank you momo."

"of course."

everyone had now gone back to what they'd normally do, except bakugo.

"so, you coming or what?" katsuki finally asked her, after he'd gotten her set up in the dorm right next to his.

"going where?"

"shopping, duh."

"with you?"

"my parents are fashion designers and i know all the coolest spots, now are you coming or not?"

she smiled and clasped her hands together. "of course im going."

the walk to the mall was peaceful. katsuki would poke her in the side lightly whenever she'd stare at someone with a strange physical quirk for too long, apparently there was a sort of 'racism' against people with body-modifying quirks in this world, and staring wouldn't be taken well.

he brought her to store after store, her hands and his filling up quickly with bags as they shopped until they dropped, katsuki only encouraging her to spend more because momo 'wouldn't even notice.'

after they had picked out a closet's worth of clothes for [name] to wear, they sat down at a cafe to eat.

bakugo ordered [name]'s favorite food and dessert without her even telling him, as he ate his spicy noodles, she made an offhand comment. "y'know, it's like we're on a date right now."

he almost choked on his noodles as he realized that.

she had him so hopelessly wrapped around her finger without doing anything, it was driving him insane.

when the dessert arrived, [name] took the liberty to smudge frosting from a spare cupcake on katsuki's nose, making her laugh loudly at her own actions.

if it was anyone else he would've blew up but,

he laughed softly too.

he really didn't want this to end.

especially not with knowing the only other way he'd get a date with [name] after she left was through a bishojo (otomes with guy protagonists) game.

but as he saw her laugh as he went back to dot some frosting on her nose as well,

he figured he'd leave those thoughts for later.

prev | next!

[gotskamstuff]

Season 4 pt.1 debuting with over 15.5 million views in the first 3 days and pt. 2 debuting with close to HALF the views in the same amount of days is bringing me too much satisfaction, sorry not sorry.

I truly feel sorry for the rest of the cast and people who work on the show, but I’m glad to see the fandom response reflecting into the views ‘cause I feel like sometimes shows, especially with this amount of success and popularity, take for granted the viewers affection and think they can feed us any crap without consequences and we’re gonna eat it up with no problem, like we’re gonna stay here no matter what ‘cause we’re addicted to it…doesn’t work like that, you gotta keep your audience by giving them something good.

Each show loses viewers from pt.1 to pt.2 in the debut and it’s known, but basically half of it is a lot (also considering how pt. 1 stayed at n.1 in the top 10 for over 2 weeks, but only 1 week later pt. 2 has already dropped at n.3 with lowering compared to pt.1 who stayed consistent)

Considering that Outer Banks had always counted on a young and loyal fanbase GLOBALLY that’s ready to hit play the instant the season drops, 8.5 million views globally in 3 days is really a strong message to them.

Whether you’re personally ok or not with the way S4 ended, it’s a fact that they screwed up with a huge chunk of their own audience that kept the popularity of the show alive and if they managed to lose this amount of engagement and excitement towards the series in 3 days then good luck to them to keep the interest alive UNTIL 2026.

I think they downplayed and probably still downplay the role of JJ in terms of engagement, S4 already lost numbers compared to S3 (after they probably lost occasional viewers over the bore s3 was) and I can’t even imagine the drop that S5 will be.

They screwed up big time and no matter how much they try to do damage control now, no matter how much they wait for the audience to calm down, no matter how much they try to ignore it…they lost a good part of their own fanbase and probably occasional audience as well.

IF the waters are ever gonna calm down it surely won’t be ‘cause the problem is solved and people got over it, but simply because people won’t be there at all and will have lost their involvement with the show altogether.

Maybe the Pates will learn for their next project to treat the set like an actual workplace and not a college dorm. Play stupid games and win stupid prizes.

I mean it with my whole chest when I say that without JJ I’m never gonna watch S5, and I have been close to an addicted fan of this show for almost 5 years, but the story died with him. They took away the character that was the symbol of this show and who’s story we were rooting for the most, and although yes, there is also other things to the story…the interests in all the rest doesn’t quite measure up with the loss. I know that many people feel the same way (and if you reading this personally don’t, good for you but I think the general response speaks for itself).

They doomed the show by killing the fan favorite, killing the largest ship fandom of the show and by ruining the storyline that created the most engagement and curiosity that had us rooting for it.

They took for granted the fanbase that made the show what it is today and blindly spitted on us thinking we’d be passive about it. The fans make or break a show.

Bring back JJ and you have the opportunity to make the GAG of the century and get the biggest positive response from your own audience to end the show…don’t and see the show collapse and lose it’s reputation and legacy for good. Simple as that🤷🏻‍♀️

I will never shut up about it ‘cause this is the biggest fumble of a Netflix series I have ever witnessed and the biggest let down I have ever experienced with a show (yeah worse than Game of thrones final season).

[giotanner]

Soo, I read your previous posts about Tim and I want to hear your opinion on the matter regarding his morality. What I've seen so far in the fandom are two (stereotypical honestly)versions of Tim:

The Batman's-moral code-is-the-one-I-follow because-he's-my-boss-so gotta-respect company-policy thing and the Robin-doesn't-kill because-he's-the-light-of-Gotham-just-like Batman thing.

And weirdly enough both of them fit his character but I'm not sure if they can coexist somehow.

As a Tim Drake fan what do you think?

Even in the comics it is inconsistent as far as I know.

Hi, thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts on Tim (mainly the comics version) because there's so much about his morality and ideals that has been "erased/misunderstood."

For example, let's start with the fact that among all the Robins, Tim is the least likely to become a villain. However, there's this fanon idea that he could make a great criminal, the first to become a skilled manipulator who screws over the system, because there are stereotypes about him that have erased Tim's moral code.

This thought is completely wrong in the canon. Even when Captain Boomerang kills his father, Tim has every reason to kill him, to hurt him—he's trained and knows how to inflict pain��but Tim STOPS himself. During that period in the comics, Dick was Batman and had many responsibilities, and he feared for Tim's mental and moral breakdown, but that doesn't mean it was real, that Tim was ready to cross the line.

Tim stands firm in his convictions. He's a kid who obviously has feelings and is obviously angry at the enemy, but he doesn't become a criminal and leaves the cruel murderer of his parent in the hands of Dick and the police.

There are many instances where Tim questions himself, his limits, or his role as a sidekick, making him very similar to Batman in this regard.

He could take the step that leads him to become a villain, but he doesn't. He knows his worth as Robin and doesn't feel inferior or lacking.

This is because he's the only Robin who CHOSE to be Robin.

He chose that life, decided he would sacrifice himself for the cause, for the mission, because he believes in Batman. And he believes in what Batman believes in. Therefore, it would be out of character (OOC) for his moral code to be different.

He can be stubborn and obstinate towards Bruce, but he's truly Batman's partner (as fortunately seen in the recent Batman (2016) issues). And this bothers some readers who haven't read and appreciated Tim from the '90s and 2000s. The Tim who, although having his own team, is still the Robin who chose that life.

His mindset is not "Batman is my boss, so I follow his rules," but rather "I admire Batman and followed his footsteps, and that's how I discovered his identity; I'll do anything for the mission."

In many comics, you see Tim's spirit of sacrifice because he is the "peacemaker/the one who fixes the family," but also a daring and eager kid.

Sure, he's a computer whiz, a tactical genius, and a great detective

(Ra's calls him detective, but in the comics, Ra's also calls Dick detective, just to specify), but his greatest trait is that he was a kid with a great sense of justice and a big dose of recklessness to believe and succeed in being Robin

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

A rant about Jedi Stans from an ex-Jedi fangirl

After some time I've had to reflect on my own behavior as well as my time in the pro Jedi fandom, I decided it's time to call this shit out. Some people take it really personal if someone criticized your favorite characters or their beliefs. Ironically, you all act more like the Sith than the Jedi with how obsessive you can be and insisting any criticism is equal to wanting genocide.

I'm going to start by saying I was in the pro jedi fandom for a few months. Truth be told, I was using it as an outlet for some of my anger issues with my hate towards Anakin, seeing him as similar to a lot of people I've had to deal with. Some of it was wanting more followers and fear of being disliked by the majority. I would pick fights with Anakin fans and was a bit of an asshole and I apologize for that. I still don't like him but no longer HATE him. Seeing how fandoms treat abuse victims who aren't perfect angels like Shinji Ikari or Lapis Lazuli has caused me to loosen up a bit. Many Jedi stans would probably hate those characters for not being “perfect” victims. In retrospect, this wasn't a good community for me. It was very puritanical and I often felt like I was wrong for enjoying media that went against the beliefs Jedi Stans put on a pedestal. Three of my favorite ships (Madohomu, Reishin and Hodaka x Hina) involve "burning the world for one person" and I felt like I couldn't talk about them without being a hypocrite. That and me agreeing less and less with Luca's beliefs pushed me to leave.

It's fine to enjoy a fictional character and defend them if you feel that they're being unfairly criticized. I've done it myself and have written essays defending my faves. The problem is that Jedi stans don't know when to stop. So many are quick to compare the Jedi to minority religions or marginalized groups as a shield against criticism, not recognizing how insulting that can be. Jewish, asian and aroace people are the ones normally used due to the Jedi beliefs being based off Eastern religions as well as Judaism as well as some aroace people identifying with the Jedi.

One thing I noticed about Jedi stans is their similarities to Jumblr which is full of religious chauvinism reworded to sound progressive. Many of them talk about how the Jedi shouldn't have to change their traditions with the times or to accommodate a few individuals like Anakin or Ahsoka. This can be similar to how a lot of people are quick to defend minority religions from outside criticism based on how they were treated by Christian colonists or missionaries. The problem is that this can veer right into ableist or queerphobic territory. You know who else believe that their religion shouldn't have to change with the times to accommodate people? Conservative Christians who hate being told to be affirming of LGBTQ people. Also, schools and parents/guardians do have a responsibility to accommodate kids with disabilities, mental health issues or trauma, even if it may be inconvenient or force you to bend the rules. Claiming they need to just suck it up is honestly disgusting.

This was all a big reason for why I left this garbage pit of a fandom. While there are some who hate the Jedi because they stan the empire or think people need 50s nuclear families to live fulfilling lives, not everyone does that. Believe it or not, some people have faced abuse and bigotry under Judaism and Buddhism. People can also criticize how Lucas presented their beliefs as some Buddhists think he didn't do a good job. Libsoftiktok is a vile transphobe, an Orthodox Jew and her beliefs are said to be fairly common in her community. Many people of color identify with the clones and dislike how even the nicer Jedi treated them. When Obi Wan told Anakin, "It's okay to have romantic feelings, but you must let them pass," that hits different for queer people who have been told similar things from "polite" homophobes. Some queer people do choose celibacy like Side B christians which is fine as long as they don't treat it as a moral failure to want a relationship. There are many neurodivergent people who don't like the Jedi beliefs as they hit close to home. Lucas may have not intended to come off as ableist but the Jedi did with their beliefs about negative emotions. To some people, platitudes like "just let go" aren't helpful and treating it as bad for not living up to those principles is gross.

I deleted the post, but a while back I made a post asking a popular pro jedi blogger their views on adoption since they claimed Anakin not viewing the Jedi as his "found family" was a moral failure. I found their response to be tone deaf and insulting. I responded in a decent way of course, but felt a bit judged and unhappy for wanting to know my birth mother. Adoptees are another set of people this fandom is insensitive and gross to. The Kenobi series I find insulting for that reason too, having Leia be a foil for Anakin and Obi Wan romanticize his recruitment as a child.

Jedi fans are also shitty to those with religious trauma and who faced abuse. Accusing anyone who criticizes the Jedi of projecting their issues with Christianity while simultaneously talking like conservatives as shown above. Tumblr in general has a weird habit of treating religion as if it’s either conservative evangelicalism, liberal reform Judaism and some vague pagan or eastern spirituality with little nuance. Some Jedi stans really come from a place of privilege. Claiming "they can just leave" is insulting to real religious abuse survivors who were raised with harmful beliefs like creationism or homophobia. I'm no antitheist but treating non christian religion as inherently progressive dismisses a lot of people's experiences.

Let's be real, the writing in this franchise was always a bit sloppy. Lucas's issue was wanting to simultaneously create both a black-and-white morality tale for kids based on the fairy tales and serials he grew up and a deep socio-political commentary about the Vietnam and Iraq wars which required some morally grey themes. Thus, along with his terrible dialogue that made the characters seem unlikable, is why the fandom is so divided over whether he intended people to agree with the prequel Jedi.

To wrap this up, I found the pro jedi fandom to be a terrible experience. It was a mix of faux progressivism mixed with fear of judgement for disagreeing. I ended up editing a post I made, and eventually deleted, comparing Yoda with Garnet from SU because I included a tiny bit of criticism and didn't want to get backlash. As long as it’s not gross or bigoted criticism of your favorite characters isn't the end of the world. People don't have to like George Lucas or his beliefs and put them on a pedestal. I feel like the fandom's worship of George comes in response to OT purists who claimed he "raped their childhoods" but there's fair criticism to be made. Just like how not everyone who criticizes Disney SW or any Disney media in general is an "anti woke" grifter. To the pro jedi fans reading this, here's a suggestion. Just block and ignore people, write an essay if you feel it's important, but don't act like an entitled bully if a blog or even a SW writer disagrees with the Jedi, interprets the story differently or criticizes your favorite characters.

[generouskittentidalwave]

Watching the She-ra reboot after 5-6 years

Hey remember that show in 2018 that came out on Netflix during Tumblr's Twitter era and stirred up enough toxicity to turn you into Dave the Skeleton in the highschool science classroom?

Well BUCKLE IN for a RIDE cause I recently watched that show for the first time after avoiding it for YEARS, after seeing the fans and the haters be so devoted to either the fans praising it like a godsent deity or haters devoting their whole life to finding something wrong with every aspect of the show that it makes you wonder if they realized that they've become the Catra that they sought to destroy, I decided to avoid even touching the show and went about my life in other fandoms.

Well years have passed and like a Hallmark movie time abruptly went on and the drama soon faded, the tides have settled, the war has ended, and neither side remains the same. The fans have grown up, matured and enjoy the show as it is and the haters have lost all that sweet sustenance back in 2019 and have went the ways of the DoDo. With everything finally settled, I joined in on the rush of new fans recently that started rewatching the series and wanted to display my thoughts as well as a first time watcher ^^

I went in well aware of all the criticisms in mind, and having seen the original She-ra, and I just gotta say that my worrisome thoughts on watching it was completely washed away from the start of the show. I was worried of Adora being that one marysue character that is from the bad guys side but is actually a good a guy with the personality of white bread and with flaws of just being "a little bit QuiRkY" but she completely shooed away those fears. She is a well balanced character with a unique and well done backstory, her character breaking away from the steriotypical chosen ones and her having flaws that don't take away her being a good person but instead have their own charm and relatability that makes her very fun and down to earth. She is so golden retriever coded and I love it. What I like most though is that she wasn't "random main character comes in to lead everyone to victory out of nowhere" , instead of making her the unsaid leader, they made her the main character who is the muscle of the group and part of the heart and has to learn overtime and understand their ways instead of making her the leader. It makes way for her to pave and earn her way as being the main character instead of it being given by default by making her the leader and I love that break away. And that break away also helps to counter the fears I heard about the white savior trope by making Adora the way she was and making Glimmer and Glimmer's mom the queen the actual leaders of the rebellion that they helped start.

Love the best friends squad, I love Glimmer's growth and her bond with Adora, I like how she went downhill and built herself back up again as a person as it was very realistic with her being so young and having to replace her mom as queen. Bow is my spirit animal, period, but I really want to know more about his huge family. I imagine that because they are all historians they must go to the academy or similar academies that Bow was meant to go to and I can see why they wouldn't question him not being there as 12 siblings is A LOT to keep track of. Swiftwind is great but he shall always be known as Horsie and the queen's sacrifice hurts everytime I see it, I love how she owned up to her own flaws. Shadowweaver messed up being a mother figure 3 times, she needs parenting classes fr, 'nough said. I love all the princesses but Mermista is my personal favorite. Also why is aunt cast named Castaspella, I can't even say it without dying of laughter 💀🖐️

Now I know some of you are sitting at your computer with 5 monsters in hand and sweat anxiously dripping from your forehead as you dramatically hover over the keys just WAITING to write a five page essay response if I even dare to utter the name Catra and her relationship with Adora. So, I'ma give you my opinion.

Honestly, their romance was the end goal since the beginning and the story made that clear and honestly I like Catra's growth as a character from her knowing she has anger issues and actively working on it to better herself, helping to save others and helping to save Adora in the end. Her realizing that pushing others away to protect herself only harms her and everyone around her in the end and her realistically taking it slow and steady to better herself as a person for herself and for Adora is something a really like. Yes their relationship was hella toxic, especially in the middle (but I do like how Adora recognized that and punched Catra when they were in the portal). The build up was great, the middle ground of her doubling down was great, and I think her growth at the end was great and that the two are happy and not in a toxic relationship with eachother anymore at the end. I think what truly makes it odd is although the redemption was great the time constraints made it so they couldn't flesh it out to help answer and address the past actions that were caused by her, they did so great with her slowly becoming better and better, and so it wouldn't have come off as bad as it did if they had just a bit more time to address everything with that instead of being forced to dive right into it which definitely left a- well- less than good impression to it's audience. But they tried their best with what they could do and honestly for a show as surprisingly dark as this I'm just glad they aren't in a toxic relationship anymore and are happy in the end and that Catra got redeemed. It definitely wasn't trying to romanize abuse, however it came off as such due to constraints and them rushing the ending which gave plenty of ammo to people who already hated the show to have a reason to hate it more. In my opinion if you don't like it that's valid, if you do like it that's valid, me personally I'm not a romance person so I couldn't care enough either way.

Now to address some things I know some people are waiting for, but in speed run fashion. Mara's She-ra design was the fault of the designers not agreeing on what they wanted her to look like, I was expecting her to have brown flowing hair not blonde, I get the stripping of individuality message they tried to go with, it just needed better designers and better execution but that's as deep as it goes. It's not that they are racist, they are more along the lines of "you need a more organized team cause her design changes every five seconds like wtf" kind of situation. I'm glad they didn't automatically forgive Hordak or accept him but I'm glad he was changed enough to not be a killer that's mass murdering people anymore and as long no one is dying by his hands anymore and people don't automatically forgive him then that's fine by me, whatever keeps others from dying a horrible unnecessary death.

Overall, in conclusion, love the show, great depth, great characters, love the humor and amazing magical girl transformations, awesome rep, stronk princess punching things, would most definitely recommend, especially now with all the wave of chaos it's initial release sucked in now evaporated. (Seriously there are full tags and blogs deticated to hating a show about glowing princesses fighting aliens, it's okay to not like a show but come on people there is more to life than that 💀) Enjoy it, have fun, and I hope you have a great day/night! ^^

[crustaceousfaggot]

You know... As much as I love pjõl and believe it's an excellent piece of fiction, I am entirely unsurprised that it was a massive flop when it was first published. Imagine you're an Estonian guy in 2012 and you go "wow, a fantasy mystery book written by an Estonian author! I gotta give this a read!" And then you pick it up and it's This Mess.

And you go hey wait a sec. What's Vaasa. What's Graad. What's the Pale, why does the narration act like I should know what this is. Why are they speaking Finnish suddenly. What's an Innocence, that seems important why hasn't it been mentioned until now. Wait there are ghosts now? Is this a normal thing in this world? If only this were some kind of interactive experience where I could ask questions and learn about the world alongside the protagonist.

I love the world of Elysium, but it is so massive in its scale and the chain of cause and effect that has led the world to be in the place it's in (both in DE and in pjõl). Disco Elysium is a game chock full of worldbuilding through dialogue, and it still leaves a lot of players confused about aspects of the history and political situation. And that's in a game where you play as a character who knows literally nothing and goes around asking people "hey what the fuck is the Antecentennial Revolution". Imagine your first exposure to Elysium being through this spiralling surreal novel that is so caught up in its own story that it kinda forgets that it has an audience.

Idk, I just think it's easy to forget that the initial target audience for pjõl was not Disco Elysium fans, but just... Regular Estonian readers.

[vampirtulpe]

Randomly realized I haven't done any of these yet, so uh, why not make my own list and some elaborations in the read more ^^ This isn't based on how hot they are, but what I think about them as characters! I know some of you prolly won't agree with me, but that's the fun of it, so please just be civil, even if I didn't rank your pookie high ^^

Everyone in the "Sorry, who?" category: I haven't played the arcade game or the arm wrestling game, so I know like nothing about these characters...and also I'm so sorry, I haven't managed to beat Hoy Quarlow in Super Punch Out yet, so I haven't seen the Bruiser Brothers 😭 Go Away: I have no...concrete reasons for disliking Hoy Qualow and Mr. Dream specifically, they just make me uncomfortable, lmao- Mr. Dream looks like a Sleep paralysis demeon standing ominously at the foot of my bed and I just don't like the way Hoy Quarlow looks at me-

Is Okay: Basically all the guys that I do like, but not enough to have a strong opinion about. I don't dislike any of these guys, they just don't stand out enough for me to really latch on to.

I'm not as smitten with Disco Kid as a lot of other people, I know he's really popular and I think he's funny, he's just not my cup of tea. Same with Soda Popinski, I like him and he has some funny moments, but not as much as other Wii characters.

And a majority of the SPO boxers are on here, but it's mainly cause of the SNES limitations that doesn't make them stand out as much compared to the Wii fighters. Gotta say, I'm not a fan of Masked Muscle fucking spitting in your face, like, that's just rude-

Pretty good: Just characters I like. I think Bald Bull's hilarious, like let the poor man relax lmao. And I actually think he's really fun to fight (I haven't played Wii yet, only SPO and Original, but he's a fun challenge)

I don't know why, but I'm just kinda fond of Dragon Chan, don't know why, I'm just endeared, I have no explanation, love the shimmies and the kicks and love the stupid haircut, got a weakness for the fluffy hair. Doc is just funny, like how can you not like Doc, he's a great character, I'd wanna be besties with him

PSA, Mr. Sandman is a bitchass women beater (Source: I'm a woman and he is constantly beating me in the original Punch out, because I cannot fucking get past him-). He doesn't have the most character, but I think the little bit of personality we see during his fights does a lot for him, he's just kinda cool and stoic. Granted, that kinda flies out the window in title defense, but yknow- xD

Narcis isn't this high because he's hot, he's this high because he's stupid, the way he acts in the ring is just so funny to me, he's such a shithead and acts like a complete gremlin and that's just really funny. He prolly has the most personality in SPO and that does a lot for him.

I don't think there is a lot to Piston, at least not for me, he definitely has personality, I just find him a little basic personally. I don't even know what to say about him, there's a lot of stuff to like, he's unproblematic, he's just not that exciting to me.

Really like: Glass Joe's like the Poster Child of favorite characters lol. I never quite saw the appeal as some other's do, but he is pretty funny and he has grown on me.

Super Macho Man: Literally one of the funniest characters, like bruh, what is his problem, I love him, lmao

Great Tiger: never understood why he wasn't more popular, like his personality is more subtle, but once you take a closer look there is a lot to him. He is a bit of a jokester, considering he sometimes swaps places with Doc, his fighting is very unique and obviously his voice is amazing

SPO Aran is a more controversial take to have him this high, considering he barely has any personality in SPO, but I've gotten attached to him and drawn him so much that he has just grown on me, I'm sorry, but I don't care, I love him-

Favorites: Von Kaiser's my favorite character of them all, his voice is perfect, I'm german so I understand everything he's saying and he just has such a charming personality to latch onto, both in Contender and Title defense. There is a lot to like about Von Kaiser, but small PSA: His first name isn't Von, it's part of his surname and basically just means to be of something

Don Flamenco: I already liked him a lot when I saw him the first time, but he is one of the characters I really grew to love with time, he's charming and hilarious and the whole thing of him wearing a toupee really added a lot to his personality Aran: Original funny guy, I can't be in a bad mood when he's on screen being his usual chaotic self lmao

[elvenbeard]

OC INTERVIEW - VINCENT EZAKI

(I was tagged by @cybersteal and @arcandoria for this a long while ago, and got real carried away with this idea xD also inspired by everyone else who took the "interview" bit a bit more literally, so yes! :D thank y'all for the great ideas and being an inspiring af fandom!)

Juanita Tseng: V, thank you so much for taking the time today, so happy to have you here! Let me ask, is that your full name?

V: Hah. Well, obviously not, but it’s served me well for many years now.

J: Any special story behind it?

J: What’s not a secret is that most of our viewers only know you as “mystery man” so far, at least that’s how the scream sheets often choose to refer to you. How do you feel about that?

V: Well, nothing I could say against either. I like my privacy and I’m a man, so they got that right at least.

J: Hahaha, that’s fair! Even more so I’m glad we’re getting the opportunity to get to know you a bit better today. As I told you in advance, there’s some burning questions our viewers have, and everyone’s been eagerly submitting them already as we speak. So, without further ado, let’s get to the first one. When is your birthday?

V: It’s in June, but I’d like to leave it at that.

J: Interesting! Gemini or Cancer?

V: Whichever is the one that comes first.

J: That’s fair! Alright, how tall are you?

J: Who is taller?

V: Me of course.

J: Of course! Okay, next question… Ah! Let’s stay on the topic of Kerry for a moment longer. From my last interview with him we know you two met through a mutual friend.

V: That’s right.

J: How did it go? Was it love at first sight, or more of a slow burn?

V: Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to him when we first met. But it wasn’t love at first sight, no, more… curiosity. We crossed paths a few more times, also thanks to that friend, and got to know each other better like that. We just clicked. That’s all there is to it really.

J: Awwww, that's so sweet! Now, it’s no secret that Kerry has led a quite adventurous life and there is a bit of an age gap separating you. So, I gotta ask:

J: Only men?

V: Yup. And now the next question please, cause none of it matters.

J: Hahaha, sorry, I know I’m such a tease! But we gotta ask our viewer’s questions! Speaking of which, one of them is curious about your upbringing and cultural heritage!

V: Now that’s a 180° turn. Born and raised in and by Night City. Can’t say much about cultural heritage, as it’s a bit of a mix of many things.

V: Mh-hm.

J: Let me see… would you be up for some quick shotgun-style questions?

V: Ready when you are.

J: Favourite season?

V: Anything that doesn’t involve sandstorms.

J: Favourite flower?

V: Lotus.

J: Favourite Scent?

V: Clean bedsheets.

J: Average hours of sleep?

V: I aim to get at least 7.

J: Numer of Blankets you sleep with?

V: One or none.

J: Favourite Fictional Character?

V: Oh no, uuuhh… Hmm… No, I can’t just choose one.

J: Haha, that’s alright. Would you say you’re a bit of a nerd?

V: Oh yeah, unashamedly. Me getting started about my favorite fictional characters would be a whole interview on its own.

J: Anyway, that’s right on cue, we’re almost out of time for today! I think we could fit one… no, two more questions!

V: Alright, let’s hear ‘em.

J: What would be your dream trip?

V: Hmmm… Kerry asked me to come along for his tour next year. I imagine that could be fun.

J: Oh, definitely! By the way, dear fans, don’t miss out on buying your tickets!

V: Maybe.

J: It’s been really nice to have you here today, V!

V: Thanks again for the invite.

J: As you know, I like to end my show with a random fact, something fun I’ve heard about in the past week or something about myself! Would you like to share a random fact with the viewers today?

V: I try.

J: Haha, well, I'm glad you found your way to my little studio, too! As I said, would love to have you over again anytime!

########## a few minutes later ##########

##############################

Thank you again for the tags! This was so much fun and really turned into its own thing beyond an OC ask meme XD I did this meme before with some slightly different and/or more in-depth answers for anyone curious [here] cause like stated back then, how Vince replies to personal questions always strongly depends on who's asking. And he might be more or less truthful about the information given or keep it all very surface-level instead, too.

For this lil story here the idea was obviously that the whole interview is basically just a promo thing for Kerry's upcoming tour xD So of course Vince is gonna support his bf if it helps boost ticket sales XDD A year earlier he might not have done it even then, because he was veeery reluctant about having their relationship be known beyond telling their closest friends. But here at this point some time in mid-to-late 2078, he'd feel secure enough with his life, their ilfe really, that he wouldn't mind being seen in the public together like this and also "outing" himself like that in front of a larger audience, for lack of a better word. It's the character growth and support of each other and a love language and everything \o/

Also: not sure who to tag at this point cause I think most of you already did this, but if you're reading this and havent answered all of Juanita's questions for your OC yet, consider yourself tagged!

[jarondont]

[HERMES, spoken]

Now everybody knows that walls have ears

[TELEMACHUS]

Is it true?

[SOULS]

Is it true?

[HADES, spoken]

What's that noise?

[HERMES, spoken]

And the walls had heard what the boy was saying

[TELEMACHUS]

Is it true?

[SOULS]

Is it true?

[HADES, spoken]

It's the boy!

[HERMES, sang]

A million tons of stone and steel...

[TELEMACHUS]

Is it true?

[SOULS]

Is it true?

[HERMES]

Echoed his refrain

[SOULS]

Low, keep your head, keep your head low

Oh, you gotta keep your head low

If you wanna keep your head

Oh, you gotta keep your head low

Keep your head, keep your head low

Oh, you gotta keep your head low

If you wanna keep your head

Oh, you gotta-

[ANDROMACHE & HELENUS]

Why do we turn away when our brother is bleeding?

[SOULS]

Oh, keep your head-

[POLITES & EURYLOCHUS]

Why do we build the wall and then call it freedom?

[SOULS]

Oh, keep your head-

[ACHILLES + PERIMEDES]

If we're free!

[PATROCLUS + ELPENOR]

Tell me why!

[HECTOR & CASSANDRA & PARIS]

I can't look in my brother's eye?

[SOULS]

Keep your head-

[HADES]

Young man

Got to hand it to you

Guess you don't scare easy, do ya?

Are you brave or stupid, son?

Doesn't matter which one

'Cause it seems your song made quite a strong impression on my wife

But it takes more than singin' songs to keep a woman in your arms

Take it from a man no longer young

If you want to hold a woman, son

Hang a chain around her throat

Made of many carat gold

Shackle her from wrist to wrist

With sterling silver bracelets

Fill her pockets full of stones

Precious ones, diamonds

Bind her with a golden band

Take it from an old man

[SOULS]

Ooohhh

[TELEMACHUS]

If I raise my voice-

[WORKERS, one-by-one]

If I raise my voice

If I raise my voice

If I raise my-

[THE FATES and COMPANY]

Keep your head low

[NAUSICAA]

If I raise my head-

[WORKERS]

If I raise my head

If I raise my head

If I raise my-

[THE FATES and SOULS]

Keep your head low

[NAUSICAA]

Could I change my fate?

[THE FATES and COMPANY]

Could I change-

Could I change-

Could I change my fate? Oh, you gotta keep your head low

[TELEMACHUS]

If I raise my voice could I-

[SOULS]

Keep your head low!

[TELEMACHUS and NAUSICAA]

Could I change the way it is?

[SOULS]

Why do we turn away instead of standing with him?

Oh, keep your head-

Why are we digging our own graves for a living?

Oh, keep your head-

If we're free

Tell me why

We can't even stand upright?

If we're free

Tell me when

We can stand with our fellow man

Keep your head-

[HADES]

Young man, I was young once too

Sang a song of love like you

Son, I too, was left behind

Turned on one too many times

Now I sing a different song

One I can depend upon

A simple tune, a steady beat

The music of machinery

You hear that heavy metal sound?

The symphony of Hadestown

And in this symphony of mine

Of power cords and power lines

Young man, you can strum your lyre

I have strung the world in wire

Young man, you can sing your ditty

I CONDUCT THE ELECTRIC CITY!

I'll tell you what, young man

Since my wife is such a fan

And since I'm going to count to three

And put you out of your misery

One!-- give me one more song

One more song before I send you

Two!-- to the great beyond

Where nobody can hear you singing

Three!--sing a song for me

Make me laugh, make me weep

Make the king feel young again

Sing for an old man!

OHHH THIS IS SO GOOD! THE OTHER CHARACTERS COMING IN YESSSS