#do you secretly LOVE my fics because that's kind of a weird thing to say

[steddiealltheway]

It's Cass Day!!!! Happy happy happy happy birthday @henderdads. i love you so so much, and I'm so thankful that you let me plot all my fics and ficlets (including this one ha!) in your dms. (and of course, I'm thankful for you forever and always for everything). I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful birthday :))))

Wednesday afternoons are Steve’s favorite afternoon out of the whole week.

There’s something about pushing a squeaky cart around the local grocery store and making small talk with the Wednesday regulars - a gossipy book club of moms who do their shopping at the same time so they have more time to complain about their husbands - that really fills Steve heart. (Or maybe it’s just the slight bitchy side of him that loves to rag on Elizabeth’s husband Tom who really needs to get his head out of his ass and appreciate the beauty in front of him, and of course he can’t forget Charles, Lisa’s dick of a husband who apparently doesn’t know what a date night is, oh! And Margaret’s husband Al… and really, he could go on about these husbands for hours without getting tired of it)

Really, he loves the routine of it all. And the way the women dote on him for being so kind to his girlfriend back home - which he constantly reminds them is not his girlfriend. But he sometimes wishes the groceries in his cart and the scribbled list in his hand was for someone he could go back home to greet with a kiss. (After giving Robin a hug of course, because in any fantasy, some of those things on that list and in the cart are always going to be for Robin).

But really, it would be nice to have someone to brag about to the group. Maybe bring up their spirits that love is not lost and-

Steve stops in his tracks, all thoughts gone from his head as he does a double take at the magazine rack near the checkout. And yeah, he knows that Corroded Coffin is popular. Hell, he’s seen Eddie’s face on the same rack at least five times before. But never like this.

The picture on the front page is taken at a lower angle, with Eddie clad in leather pants and a tight mesh black shirt that might be a crop top, but Steve can’t tell with the way Eddie’s guitar is covering his midriff, hands flying over the frets, showing off silver rings glimmering under the stage lights including the one that Steve helped Dustin pick out for him as a celebratory gift. But as Steve’s eyes trace over Eddie’s bare arms and the stark black tattoos, he’s led to wild curls perfectly framing Eddie’s face which stares down at the cords, mouth parted in an ‘o’ shape and eyebrows knitted together in concentration in a way that makes Steve feel weak in the knees.

And Steve’s suddenly hit with the question: Why didn’t anyone tell him that Eddie was hot???

He snatches the magazine off the rack before he can even really think about it, and tries not to think of what the moms will say about him when he leaves.

Maybe they’ll stop assuming he has a girlfriend at home at least.

During his drive home, he can’t help but think about the magazine laying between the loaf of bread and carton of ice cream that were packed together by the newest bag boy - which the ladies have a lot to say about, but Steve can’t think of anything besides that damn picture.

Once he’s back at the apartment, he puts the groceries away at an alarmingly fast rate, before making his way to the couch and laying back with the magazine in his hands.

It’s nice to see Eddie on the front cover of a magazine without it being attached to some weird scandal that Eddie had nothing to do with. Usually it’s an ill timed photo because he always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But this time…

Steve let’s out a deep breath and flips through the magazine, hoping that there’s some type of interview with more pictures that he can secretly stare at and panic about later.

There’s a bunch of boring looking articles and ads until he spots a page with bright red lettering and a number of pictures. Steve can’t help but wet his lips when he opens the page to find a picture of Eddie smiling at something off camera, looking totally different from the front cover. He just looks like… Eddie.

Yet, Steve finds his heart racing even harder at this picture, missing those dimples and that glimmer of mischief in Eddie’s eyes that’s usually directed at him. And Steve suddenly wonders what or who Eddie's looking at, feeling a bloom of jealousy in his chest.

He glances away from the picture and scans the page for another one. He smiles when he sees Eddie with the rest of his band mates, leaning heavily on Jeff while pulling his signature expression, nearly elbowing Jeff in the ribs to do his devil horns.

Steve laughs at Jeff’s face scowling down at him while Gareth and Frank cackle beside them. He wonders when they’ll be back in town.

Wait.

Steve dog ears the page before running up to his calendar where Robin had written “Dustin’s favorite day ever” on the upcoming Friday.

“Oh no,” Steve mutters to himself. That’s way too damn soon for Eddie to come home after Steve’s realization. He needs to give him at least two weeks to panic and process.

Okay, if Eddie was there with him, the panicking and processing would probably happen in two hours- no, minutes- maybe even seconds. But giving Steve two days is not the right amount of time. That’s just enough time for Steve to really start and settle into the panic. But hey, maybe he can dedicate the next twenty-four hours to panicking and the twenty-four hours after that to processing. Right?

Absolutely. He can do this.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"Robin, I can't do this."

Robin rolls her eyes at him. "I can't believe one picture wrecked you."

"It's not my fault! It's the damn photographer and whoever put that picture on the front cover," Steve complains, running a hand through his hair. "They're the ones who made me think of him like that."

"Uh huh."

Steve glances over at Robin who looks completely engrossed in painting her nails a deep purple color that looks black from where Steve is standing. He glances at himself in the mirror, nervously styling his hair before picking up the magazine from where it has made a permanent home on the coffee table. He flops down on the couch next to Robin who yelps and groans, "You made me smudge my nail polish!"

"We have more important things to worry about than the state of your nail polish."

Robin carefully cleans around the edge of her nail, stained with the dark color before turning to Steve. "Yes, the sudden realization that Eddie is hot is very important to me."

"You know what I mean," Steve sighs, leaning back against the couch as he opens the magazine to his favorite picture of Eddie in this edition. He looks at it for a moment, immediately closing it when he realizes he's smiling.

Robin blows on her nails and frowns before glancing back at Steve. "Okay. He's going to be here in less than an hour. How can I help you? Although, I really don't think you'll need my help at all."

"What do you mean?" Steve asks, a pinch forming between his brows.

Robin gives him a look. "You're going to act weird around him. He's going to eventually pick up on it. And then you're going to confess all these feelings you're having and then..." Robin has a sudden look of realization and immediate disappointment. "Then, I'm going to have to find somewhere else to stay tonight since you told Eddie he could stay here on the couch, which is not going to happen after your little confession."

"He's going to leave?" Steve asks quickly in confusion and slight panic.

Robin huffs, "No, he's going to be staying in your bed. And I really do not want to hear that."

Steve frowns. "You don't even know if he thinks I'm hot."

A look passes over Robin's face, first humor, then a bit of confusion, disbelief, and, once again, disappointment. "Steve," she asks, grabbing his hand, eyes staring hard into his. "This whole time you've had the magazine, you never read the interview?" Robin asks as if it's the most important question she's ever asked him.

"Why would I read it?" Steve asks with a shake of his head. When Robin's jaw drops, he gets the sudden message that he is definitely missing something. He snatches up the magazine and flips it open, somehow not getting to the interview right away although he was sure that he opened it to that page so much that it permanently creased the spine.

Just as he gets to it. There's a loud, persistent knock on the door.

Steve's and Robin's eyes meet in a panic. "Hide the magazine," Robin all but hisses as she makes it to the door raising her voice to say, "We have neighbors! Keep it down, dingus!"

Steve looks around, wondering if he can shove the magazine under the couch, but he knows Eddie would somehow see it in his antics. When he spots the stack of magazines on their side table, he rushes to put the magazine right in the middle of them. Hiding in plain sight. Perfect.

He stands up as soon as the door swings open, trying not to look guilty and failing miserably, only to breathe a sigh of relief when he realizes it's only Dustin. "Henderson," he says with a goofy smile launching into their handshake and ending it with a quick laugh, knocking off Dustin's hat to ruffle his hair.

When Dustin starts complaining about his hat being on the floor, Steve bends down to pick it up, only for a pale, ring-clad hand to grab onto it at the same time Steve does.

Steve glances up and locks eyes with Eddie. His heart starts to pound at an alarming rate as he takes in the familiar deep brown irises, moving on to take in the slight blush on Eddie's cheeks alongside a wide smile. "Steeeve Harrington," Eddie drawls out, the way he does when he hasn't seen him in a while.

"Munson," Steve says with a nod, a wide smile tugging at his lips that he tries to push down, as he always does when it comes to Eddie as if pretending not to care. The same way he does when he's trying to get someone to like him...

Oh.

Shit, he doesn't just think he's hot. He likes him. Hell, he's liked him for a long time even. And now he has even less time to panic about that.

Steve glances up, finding that Eddie has stood up, hat still between their hands as he stares down confusedly at Steve. He offers a hand, and Steve takes it, easily being pulled up into his space. He lingers close to Eddie, eyes dipping down to his lips, realizing how much he wants- needs this.

He glances up at Eddie, finding his pupils blown wide and his brow furrowed. And Steve finally feels that electricity that he's been searching months- no, years for.

"Am I getting my hat back?" Dustin asks, clearly annoyed.

Steve and Eddie both shove the hat over at the same time, eyes reluctantly leaving each other, only for Steve to see Robin giving him an unimpressed look. He can practically see her trying to figure out who she's going to call to spend the night with.

Steve glances back at Eddie and rushes out, "It's- uh, good to see you again."

Eddie grabs a strand of hair and pulls it in front of his face, kicking nothing as he says, "You miss me, Steve?"

Steve shakes his head automatically, "No." He turns to Dustin and asks him when the others are getting there, but his question is answered when the door opens behind them again.

"Do you guys knock?" Robin asks, stealing the words out of Steve's mouth.

"Do you guys lock your door?" Mike snarks back.

Steve sighs and moves to Robin's side, watching as the kids all greet Eddie excitedly. "Why don't they greet us like that?" Steve quietly bitches.

"Because we're not famous and gone all the time," Robin answers with a frown. "By the way, tonight is going totally as I planned."

Steve rolls his eyes. "No, it is not. I have been acting completely normally around him."

"Yeah, because you two have the tendency to eye fuck each other for an uncomfortable amount of time." Robin pauses and considers what she said. "Actually, I take that back. You two are acting completely normal."

"Since when do we-"

"Hey," Eddie says, successfully cutting Steve off, "When the pizzas get here, I'm paying."

Robin nudges Steve in the side after a few seconds pass, and Steve can't help but stare at the man instead of processing anything he said. "Hmm?"

"I'm paying for the pizza you all ordered," Eddie says, brows still furrowed. "Are you okay?"

Steve nods and crosses his arms. "Yes, it's just that we didn't order any pizza."

"But Dustin said..." Eddie trails off and glances at the kids. "Those little shits."

"Someone needs to give them a stern talking to."

Eddie raises his brows. "Are you shirking your co-parenting duties while I'm away?"

Steve huffs out a laugh. "Don't worry, I'm keeping your sheep in line."

Eddie offers him a big smile and leans in to say, "Sorry, I can't be here often, sweetheart."

Steve shoves him away with a roll of his eyes, ignoring the way his heart flutters at the nickname. "Go do your part and entertain them."

"And pay for the food!" Eddie reminds him yet again, walking toward the group, eyes not leaving Steve.

"My hero," Steve says, taking a page from Eddie's book of dramatics by crossing his hands over his heart and fluttering his lashes.

Eddie stops in his tracks, looking over him before shaking his head and going to the table where everyone is setting up.

"That was painful to witness," Robin says, scaring the shit out of Steve. She crosses her arms. "Did you really forget I was here?" When Steve doesn't respond, she walks away, muttering, "Unbelievable."

Steve runs a hand through his hair, willing his heart to slow down before he has to sit through this long-ass campaign - that he secretly really enjoys, but no one except Robin will ever know.

-:-:-:-:-:-

A few hours later, Steve finds himself giving the kids hugs as they rush out his door, nearly missing their curfew. When they make their way to Eddie, he whispers to Robin, "See, the night didn't go as planned at all."

Robin raises her eyebrows at him and whispers back, "Yeah, you're not going to act weird at all when you two are alone."

Steve gives her a panicked look. "What do you mean- you're not leaving are you?"

Robin throws her hands up in a shrug as she backs up into her room, leaving the door open as she very obviously packs an overnight bag. Steve wonders if there is any way to stop her without alerting Eddie.

"What's Buckley doing?" Eddie asks, startling Steve. Eddie reaches out and lays a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? You've been on edge all night."

Steve nods automatically. "Yeah, I'm fine." And yeah, he is fine. And he has not been on edge at all because that would mean that Robin is right.

Speak of the devil... "I'm heading out tonight! You two have fun," Robin says with a salute. "I'll see you tomorrow." Before Steve or Eddie can stop her, she's already out the door, leaving them entirely alone. Steve doesn't even remember when the kids all left.

"I'm guessing you know what that's about," Eddie says, eyebrows disappearing under his bangs as he stares at the door.

"No idea," Steve replies, making his way back to the dining area to clean up the remaining mess the teens made, and really he was going to have to give them another lecture about cleaning up after themselves.

"Steve," Eddie says softly.

Steve hums in response but doesn't dare to look his way as he stacks up various empty plastic cups.

"Steve," Eddie tries again.

And Steve knows that tone. Knows that if he fully engages, Eddie will want to have a serious conversation which is not something they often do. So he just keeps cleaning until there's nothing left to do except brush imaginary crumbs off the table.

"Steve," Eddie says, voice impossibly close to him.

Steve takes a deep breath and turns to him, heart skipping a beat when he finds Eddie hovering in his space.

"What's going on?" Eddie asks gently.

Steve shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair. "Nothing." He quickly moves away from Eddie, grabbing a napkin off one of the kitchen counters and tossing it into the trash on his way to the living room.

"Why are you acting weird?"

"I'm not," Steve says, resting his hands on his hips in the same way he does when the kids start to annoy him.

Eddie raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms, staring but not saying anything.

Steve stares back, jutting his hip out in a show of how adamant he is about his answer.

After a few tense seconds pass by, Eddie slowly walks closer to him, and Steve fights for his eyes to not flicker down to his lips. When Eddie is within arms reach, he leans forward. "Steve, what is wrong?"

Steve shrugs nonchalantly, but his eyes betray him and flicker to the stack of magazines beside the couch. He tries to keep his features carefully blank, but he sees the moment Eddie realizes there is something significant about that glance.

Before Steve can stop him, Eddie is diving down to the magazines, snatching up the whole stack in his arms. Steve moves forward to grab them, only to realize his error when Eddie scoots back and smiles wildly. "This is it, isn't it? What, did you hide a filthy magazine inside here or something?"

"Eddie..." Steve warns, standing above him, hands still on his hips.

Eddie smiles before turning his eyes to the stack and leafing through them. Steve moves down quickly, knocking the magazines out of his hands as he practically straddles Eddie. He stares down at him, eyes wide, about to move back when he notices Eddie's eyes resting on his stomach.

Steve glances down between them only to see the image of Eddie on the front cover staring back at him.

"Shit, I didn't know they released that yet," Eddie says, laying fully back, hands dragging over his face. He lets them rest there before spreading his fingers to ask, "You read the interview, didn't you?"

"No," Steve says honestly.

Eddie frowns and props himself up on his elbows. "When did you get this?"

"Wednesday." And curse his damn mouth for rambling without his permission.

"You got this two days ago but haven't read the interview?" Eddie's expression shifts from fearful to cocky. "Steve Harrington, did you buy this just to stare at me?"

"No," Steve says, crossing his arms.

Eddie sits up fully, and Steve becomes very aware of the way he's still sitting on top of Eddie's thighs. "Did you get all flustered about this?" Eddie asks, holding up the magazine teasingly.

Steve's eyes flicker to the front cover again, and his lips suddenly feel very dry. His tongue darts out to wet his lips. He glances back at Eddie and shrugs. "You look fine."

"Has anyone ever told you you're a bad liar?"

"Has anyone ever told you you need to get your ego in check?"

Eddie smirks at him. "Why would I need to do that when I know Steeeeve Harrington bought the magazine with my face on it?"

"Stop saying my name like that," Steve says, leaning forward trying to be menacing, but only satisfying Eddie by getting closer to him.

"Why? Steeev-" Eddie's cut off when Steve suddenly moves forward and kisses him, hands flying up into his curls to pull him closer.

Steve stills before pulling back, searching Eddie's eyes.

"You...?" Eddie asks before raking a hand through his hair. "You actually bought it to stare at me?"

Steve rolls his eyes. "You already knew that since I'm 'such a bad liar,'" Steve says adding air quotes.

"I was hoping you were. Christ, Steve, this?" Eddie asks, holding up the magazine.

Steve runs a hand through his hair. "You look hot!"

"Christ," Eddie says again, this time dropping the magazine to pull Steve into another kiss. He breaks it to mumble, "I can't believe you haven't read the damn interview." His hands run through Steve's hair messing up the strands before he pulls back suddenly. "Wait."

"Yeah?" Steve asks as Eddie's eyes practically glaze over in panic.

Eddie's chest heaves for a second before he says, "Fuck, you bought it because you thought I'm hot not because... fuck." He looks away from Steve and stares down at the magazine as if it personally offended him.

"Huh?" Steve asks, knees starting to ache on the hardwood floor. He climbs off of Eddie with a groan, but Eddie must take it wrong because he almost immediately stands up.

"Sorry, it's stupid," Eddie says with a humorless laugh. "Hey, do you think Buckley will be upset if I take her bed for the night? It's been a long day, and I'm about ready to clonk out."

Steve can feel his face morph into an expression of bewilderment. "Eddie, what?"

Eddie shakes his head. "Yeah, you're right. Dumb idea. Robin would kill me. I'll take the couch like usual."

Steve carefully stands and steps into Eddie's space, but Eddie sidesteps him easily. He watches as he flops down on the couch, refusing to look at him.

Steve's eyes settle back on the magazine, reaching down to grab it to find whatever the hell is in that interview.

"Steve, please don't."

Steve ignores Eddie the same way he ignored him, opening the magazine to the same page his eyes have landed on several times before. His eyes settle on the image of Eddie before moving to the words, skimming before he finds his own name staring back at him. He backtracks, looking at the question and answer.

Do you guys have any sources of inspiration?

Jeff: Oh, Eddie sure does.

Frank: He has what you might call a muse back at home.

Eddie: Please shut up.

Gareth: A beautiful muse with the most beautiful hair you've ever seen.

Eddie: Please stop talking about Stevie.

Jeff: He's just shy when it comes to his little crush.

Eddie: Next question, please.

Steve glances up at Eddie who sits red-faced on the couch. He clears his throat. "They told me they would cut it out entirely, but then they reached out later saying it was too good not to publish, but they did me the favor of changing your name to something more feminine so they didn't out me. Still fucked though. I'm sorry you got pulled into this mess."

Steve looks back at the magazine and then at Eddie. "Is it true?"

Eddie groans and lays back on the couch dramatically. "Please don't make me answer that. I've gotten enough shit from the guys, and I know you don't feel that way about me. It's okay that you only find me hot, I'll take what I can."

It hits Steve all at once what Eddie's sudden dramatics are about. "Oh my god. Eddie, I like you, too!"

Eddie's head pops up. "What?"

Steve turns the magazine to him and points at the picture of Eddie laughing. "This is what I've been so flustered and weird about. Yes, the front cover made me realize that, hey, I find you really attractive. But I've been staring at this picture for way longer, and I didn't know why until you got here tonight. And it hit me that I like you. I think I have for a long time, but I just didn't connect the dots before."

"You like me?" Eddie echos, dumbfounded.

Steve laughs. "Yes, I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't have feelings for you."

"That's a fucking relief," Eddie says, scrambling off the couch and racing to pull Steve into another kiss.

Steve smiles into the kiss, pulling Eddie as close to him as possible as Eddie attempts to do the same.

"I'm going to give that photographer the biggest tip ever," Eddie says breaking the kiss for a moment only to kiss him again.

Steve smiles so wide that he can barely kiss Eddie back. When they break away, Steve says, "I'm going to have to buy another."

"Why?"

"I have to get the front picture and the interview framed," Steve says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course," Eddie says with a laugh before wrapping his arms around Steve and pulling him in close. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too," Steve replies.

They hold each other for a while, not willing to break the moment until a sudden thought has Steve groaning.

"What?" Eddie asks, pulling back to look at him.

"Robin was right."

Eddie smiles. "When is she not?"

"Never," Steve answers simply.

They stand in each other's arms just happy to be so close, taking each other in as if it's for the first time. Steve wonders what to tell the Wednesday regulars and how they'd respond if he introduced Eddie to them. He thinks back to Lisa's comments about how the group should just date each other and how Sarah had responded with a little too much enthusiasm, and Steve thinks things will be just fine.

"What are you thinking about?"

Steve shakes his head with a smile. "What are you doing this Wednesday?" he asks, making a mental note to add two frames, another magazine, and Robin's favorite ice cream to the list.

"Anything you want," Eddie replies easily.

And with that, Steve finds himself looking forward to his Wednesday afternoon even more than usual.

[ejlovesvi]

Hi

Can I please request a fic with Taylor swift x fem!reader where they are in a PR relationship and reader is a really big actress and in her late twenties and she’s an introvert and likes to build legos and play Mario cart and she’s a big softie and incredibly sweet but the catch is Taylor and her friends don’t really like the reader whenever she has to hangout with them they always ignore her and make her feel uncomfortable and unwanted between them and one day she goes live on instagram or TikTok and she’s building a Lego with her fans it’s something that she does a lot and the Lego just happens to be a lovers house one to support Taylor and the fans just go crazy meanwhile Taylor is with her friends and they are talking about how the reader is annoying and weird and always quiet and then one of them mentions how the reader is live now so they get on to spy on her and they realize how nice and cute the reader is and someone in the comments asks the reader about Taylor and she starts gushing about Taylor with a love struck smile on her face because she secretly likes Taylor and wants to pursue her for real and then later on they start treating the reader better and they go on real dates together and it’s just fluff. Sorry this is long you don’t have to write it if you don’t want to I just had this idea for a long time and wanted to share it but if you do end up writing it can you make it with as much details and events as possible. Thank you so much

note: this is such a cute idea!! it’s fairly different because i changed it up a bit to make it easier to write. thanks for the request! not proofread.

IT’S LIKE I’M WASTING YOUR HONOR

pairing: taylor swift x fem!reader

warnings: taylor coming to her senses, sad but amazing folklore song

masterlist

to say you were in love with your PR girlfriend was an understatement. you knew it the from the moment you had met her and heard her laugh at a corny joke that slipped from your nervous lips. taylor had been incredibly kind to you and had seemed to notice things others had never thought to mention to you. you were doomed.

you two began a PR relationship for many reasons, the number one being that it would help taylor’s prideful content reach further to others who were part of the lgbtq+ community.

now obviously you knew taylor wasn’t as in love with you as you were her; or if she even really loved you at all. but you didn’t let that stop you. after all, you two were supposed to act madly in love anyway.

so now you sit here on live building a lover house lego set that the company sent you two. taylor left four hours ago to go spend some time with her model friends and you had simply kissed her on the cheek and wished her a good time as she left.

your eyes scan the comments that speed past and you catch onto one of them in particular. “does taylor show you her song writing process?” you read aloud the comment.

you think about the question for a moment, trying to figure out what you can reveal on live without getting a call from tree. you weigh your options and decide fuck it. with a smile you answer, “sometimes she does. it’s mostly after we’ve had a few glasses of wine that she sings to me. half of the songs i hear on guitar or piano end up scrapped in her notebook.”

you look down at your lego set and continue placing pieces together, all while continuing to ramble on. you try to fight the smile spreading across your face but the intense emotions at the thought of the blonde invade your mind like a thick smoke.

“it’s sometimes sad to hear songs get scrapped because they end up being my favorites.” you admit. “she’s just so talented and i love being able to see her grow as a person.”

a week later

it’s been a week since you gushed about taylor on instagram live. the repercussions ended in the internet going insane over your guy’s relationship and calling you two perfect for each other.

taylor had been acting different lately and the thought of her being upset over the live made you feel worried. what if she completely disliked that?

but as you sit in front of the brick fireplace with two wine glasses in front of you and taylor’s cats curled into the side of your criss-crossed legs — you let all those worries slip away.

taylor sits beside you, her body shifted towards you slightly. her fingers pluck at each string as she adjusts them to perfect tuning. the only light in the room elicits from the crackling fire contained in the fire place.

taylor looks up from her guitar to smile shyly at you, “this is a song i wrote last night, so it’s not perfect but i hope you like it.”

you tilt your head as you pet the cats beside you. taylor looks back down at her guitar and clears her throat, plucking at the soft chords before softly singing. “our coming of age has come and gone. suddenly the summer, it’s clear. i never had the courage of my convictions. as long as danger is near.”

you listen intently with a soft smile, watching her fingers skillfully move across the wood guitar with perfected ease.

“i’m a fire and i’ll keep your brittle heart warm. if your cascade ocean wave blues come. all these people think love’s for show, but i would die for you in secret.” she sings out, looking you right in the eyes for those specific lyrics.

she suddenly stops playing and swallows, looking at you with anticipation. you breath in as you take in the moment, analyzing the lyrics she just sang to you.

“those last lyrics are… something.” you breath out with a small nervous laugh.

taylor lets out a small chuckle and softens her gaze on you, “it’s true though. i’ve thought about my feelings for the past week.” she starts. “about my feelings for you specifically. this whole thing started for the public but getting to know you and experiencing your kindness has made me fall in love.”

your eyebrows raise slightly but you stay silent, letting her continue. “i want to be able to love you behind the cameras and public. and a part of me thinks you want that too.” she finishes.

with a smile gracing your lips you giggle, “taylor i’ve been in love with you since we started this stupid PR relationship.”

taylor lets out a breath of relief and sets the guitar aside. “well, that’s great news. if you rejected me i probably would’ve shit my pants.”

you bark out a laugh and lean forward, your face just inches away from hers. you glance from her pale blue eyes to her soft plump lips that you’ve only had the pleasure of kissing twice in front of paparazzi. “well, are you gonna kiss me for real or should i call some paparazzi to come get content?” you joke.

taylor rolls her eyes, “shut up you dork.”

and with that she kisses you softly but passionately. you hum and you lean in further, resting your hands on her thighs. she grabs onto the back of your head to get better control.

before you can protest she lifts you to straddle her as she lays back against the soft rug. she pulls away from the kiss and looks up at you with complete and utter love in her eyes.

you bite your lip to contain obnoxious giggles and glance over at the curled up cats. you glance back to taylor who looks over feature on your face. “let’s get to bed, tay.”

she nods and lets you drag her to bed where you fall asleep in each others arms for the first time in your 1 year relationship.

[magiccath]

Weirdly specific headcanons Pt. 2 (Tenth Doctor x Reader)

a/n: finals fried my brain again, have some headcanons (new fics coming soon, I promise)

Says stuff like “2+2=5” with such confidence that you almost believe him

Secretly likes it when you and Donna call him “spaceman”

His favorite Earth snack is Goldfish (especially the colored ones)

Insufferable to watch movies with because he corrects everything

Traces words in circular Gallifreyan on your skin, usually on the back of your hand

Things like “I love you” and various nicknames he has for you

Often times when he fixes the TARDIS it doesn’t really need it, he just likes having something to do

Similarly, the TARDIS creates issues so he has to fix them

His love language is quality time, he just wants to be with you

Having you sit in the room while he fixes the TARDIS, showing you every single part of the universe, laying in bed on lazy days, etc

Needs constant reassurance and love

Cuddles too

Might not remember things like your birthday without reminders from the TARDIS

However, he knows exactly how you like your tea, your favorite color, and every single nervous tic you have

900+-year-old toddler 

Requires constant supervision or he will cause harm to himself and/or others

Is absolute rubbish at cooking. Something always ends up burnt 

Makes a mean cuppa though

He loves all kinds of cuddles but he really likes it when the two of you fall asleep spooning

Big fan of wrapping his entire body around you and tangling his limbs with yours

Also goes crazy for a good hug

Maybe his love language is also touch

He likes sitting on the floor for some reason, especially the TARDIS floor

Sits in chairs really weird too. Practically drapes himself across them with his long limbs sticking out and over the chair.

Has boundless amounts of energy. Is it a Time Lord thing or ADHD? We’ll never know (It’s both)

Knows enough random stuff to win Jepordy, but he would epically fail at it

Would correct every single answer and argue that he was right, not the answer sheet.

“Mount Rainier isn’t a volcano, fire aliens were just living under it.”

Loves ABBA and Queen. Can be often caught singing their songs to himself, especially when getting ready

Has a little troll doll collection in his room, among other strange 90s toys and random objects he likes

[ridreamir]

If you're still taking requests, could I ask for some general HCs for Kieran and maybe Drayton that take place at bb academy? If not feel free to ignore this :)

A/N: Hey! Yeah of course! I'm struggling to write the Kieran fic because I think I'm way in over my head (I'm freezin' up lol the pressure to figure it out is getting to me) so I guess I can take a break and write some headcanons instead!

I'll write for 'em both, but it's post-DLC, I hope you don't mind! Potential spoilers ahead!

These ones are a little silly in retrospect! I did em fast too, so I hope they're not too bad :p

Kieran's secretly your top fan. Not that you notice because there's no way he'd let you catch him, but he's literally dropped what he was doing to run to the entrance of the academy because your name was announced over the intercom. If you're having a match he'll actually full speed sprint to through the school just to be there, but any time you look over he instinctively hides, flush with embarrassment. You don't come and visit him in his dorm room often since you're on such different schedules, but he's had to flip over his pinboard and hide his piles of notes because they're all about you and trying to understand your strategies and, well, other things... His sister won't stop bugging him about it 'bein' weird', but she knows he's flat obsessed with trying to figure you out! The league club has a social media that posts all of your recent matches, and he's had to beg Carmine to show him how to use the phone app because he's new to having a smart phone and Arceus does he have to watch every single one. He didn't even want a phone until now, but he can't believe he's been missing out all this time. No wonder everyone has one of these things! She was reluctant, but it's Kiki after all... It should be fine, right? Well... that was before all the pinboards and sticky note nonsense that looks straight out of a detective movie or something. He's the type to not like posts because he's scared of what you might think, but accidentally hit the heart button on a match from like a month ago. He definitely drops his phone on his face and panics, trying to undo it as fast as he can. Little does he realize that it's actually Lacey who's in charge of the social media account and not you, and also that she can see who's the most active on the page.

She thinks it's cute, and since she loves cute things, she's letting it be for now. She's always giggling and hiding her smile when he pops into the clubroom to check and see if you're there. Most of the time though he ends up running off before he can say hi because he doesn't want to talk to Drayton.

Since he's gotten the phone he hasn't stopped checking it and he smiles like an idiot any time he thinks he's alone. (News flash, he's really bad at hiding what he's doing. Like he could be in the middle of the cafeteria where everyone sees him watching your battles back to back like they're a tv series.) The only reason nobody really thinks much of it is because you're practically a celebrity and not even just in the Academy but, like, big time. And Kieran is probably one of the only people to not know because he's been so chronically offline. You act so low-key, talking to someone like him like he's just, just another person that it's shocking news to find out that the whole world has probably heard your name by now! As in, his (best?) friend!! (Friend??) It gets kind of annoying now how people follow you around asking to take photos with you like you're some kind of, of tourist attraction and not a person! But there's only one thing that's worse, and it's-

"Hey bud, ready to battle?" Drayton! Kieran's... Kieran's... worst nightmare!! Drayton's gotten really buddy-buddy with you over the time that Kieran and Carmine were on break, and he's not happy about it. Unfortunately for him, Drayton's all too aware of Kieran's contempt and loves to push his buttons. As if calling him "Ex-Champ" all the time wasn't enough, you've been helping him with his homework and sparring together every day! What he wouldn't do for you to spend that much time with him...

And it grinds his gears how often Drayton nudges you or ruffles your hair like you're some sort of pet, though you never see the way their pupils shrink at the sight of each other. Kieran here, hiding behind whatever he can to stay out of sight and Drayton who knows that he's there and makes direct eye contact with him. It's infuriating the way his smile quirks just a little when he catches Kieran spying.

As if he's saying look all you want, look at what you can't have.

And Kieran takes that as a challenge.

[accio-victuuri]

(13) Fake Rumors - from the vault

I have been going through some old rumors from the fake house & decided to share some. whether these may be new to you or not, but i hope you still enjoy them as much as I did looking back. I feel like in the fandom, we’ve only ever been active when it comes to lrlg and the 49 fakes. the rest of the information that fall in between aren’t as talked about or depends on the topic. as with all other bjyx material, i want a place to store some parts of it. 🤍

these are sort of random, the ones that I had saved and found again. treat it all as fiction.

( someone please make an AU fic or edit for this xz and wyb. there is a story here. look at them. 😍😍😍 )

i have traveled a long way, you have dreamed a long time. many lonely nights drift like fallen leaves but it always finds a way….🍃🍂

(1) this one was posted for the new year 🎉

XZ: Get me a courier later

🧔‍♂️:Okay

====

🧔‍♂️:What is it? It’s so light

XZ: made-up parts, Legos.

*XZ talking to a staff so he can send out some lego parts. I think it’s light because what he is sending are “parts” that WYB is missing and he found them for him. I truly like the idea of XZ spoiling WYB when it comes to his hobbies and him being invested in it too even if he isn’t necessarily a fan too. true love! and well, reminded me of the rumored lego set gift during the early days of cql filming.

(2) have you eaten?

About the backstage live broadcast of a recent event on the same stage

WYB:Have you eaten yet?

XZ: *shakes head*

WYB: Come have dinner with me later

XZ: Who else? (Looking over it, I don’t know what I’m looking for)

WYB: Stop looking for it. I’ll send it to you next time.

Supplement: Teacher W watched Teacher X take off his makeup before leaving together.

*The usual WYB making sure that XZ eats and him waiting for his gege so they can eat with each other. Even after the CQL filming, as long as they are at the same event they will try and be together. Tho instances of that have been so rare to 0 nowadays because of the amount of eyes on them.

(3) the forbidden book lol

The crew's study period

WYB: Where is the erotic book? I want to read it.

XZ: Suddenly got up and left.

*This is one of my faves even if it’s so short! Library Pavilion behind the scenes & rumors is the gift that keeps on giving. I wouldn’t put it pass WYB to troll ZZ with this.

Here’s a GIF for you to bring you back to that time🤍

(4) call me maybe? 📱

There was a period last year where everyone had to learn rap, usually🐂 learned the fastest but he was absent-minded that time🐂 was looking at us eating delicious food while resting, it seems that he is thinking his rap, he seemed to be even more tired. At this time, staff handed over the phone and he left immediately to pick it up.

He called him, and when he came back he didn't have any special expression, but he felt refreshed. 

(5) praising

WYB: I really like to be praised by everyone and feel "wow" from everyone, so every time Da Zhen's family praises me crazily, I will secretly write it down and send it to him.

XZ: I am also a part-time praise captain. Every time I praise,None of them are the same.He can often keep up with the facts.

WYB: I don’t understand a lot of Internet slang.

XZ: I always hurt him by saying, "No, you don't even know this joke, so WYB doesn't go online?" Just. very good. Laughing, every time I feel hurt, I secretly say "He is better than me. I'm young, I know everything." What kind of tone is this? One time during a video, XZ sang "Darling, come and save me." Seeing WYB's ears slowly become red and coughed. Who can tell me what’s going on with these lyrics?

(6) baking shenanigans

The puff pastry made by XZ is very delicious, WYB will also work with XZ to help when he has time. He’s busy getting started, and they will also do some weird things. If there is a strange taste, try it with the people around you.

Once WYB squeezed minced garlic into the pastry and mixed chili powder, but forgot to mark it, XZ ate it, pinched the back of the neck and squeezed the flesh of the face "Teacher Trained WYB”

*IM CACKLING AT THIS OMG WYB 😂😂😂 what flavor of pastry is that????

(7) another one about eating

Aling period

WYB: Why are you back?

XZ: Come back for dinner, there will be a show in the afternoon

WYB: Aren’t you going to eat with your friends?

XZ: I didn’t agree when someone wanted to invite me, it was too stupid.

WYB: xls It’s so difficult to eat normally today

XZ: You haven’t eaten it, have you?

WYB: Nope. I just thought you were back.

(8) checking the weather

XZ: “The weather doesn’t look like it’s going to rain...(Look 📱)

👤: "It should be sunny..."

XZ: “I just saw📱the weather forecast showed it’s going to rain soon.

👤: How is that possible? It’s obviously sunny. "(春📱)

XZ: "Huh?" (👤♥Two people facing each other📱)

XZ: Overcast to light rain to moderate rain.

👤: What you are looking at is the weather

XZ: Oh my God, so embarrassing...

XZ forgot to switch cities. no one will know the city WYB was in that day if I don’t tell you.

*This one hits different cause for this rumor, they are in different cities but in the same country. Lately, there are times that they are in diff countries so do they look at the weather their too? 🥹🥹🥹

I can’t relate to their obsession with the weather, but if that gives them a sense of connection to each other then it’s fine.

(9) raining

💚Supplement: It’s when the temperature gradually rises. At that time, it rained in June.

💚Holding an umbrella💚❤️talking all the way

❤️Start standing on the right side of 💚

💚Hold the umbrella and tilt it in the direction of ❤️

❤️Thick clothes💚Left half of light-colored thin clothes

The edges are wet and very transparent.

❤️Just keep pushing the umbrella in the direction of 💚

I wanted to block 💚 a little more, but found it was fine.

After seeing the effect, I found an opportunity to move it to the left side of 💚

Then 💚 the right half also got wet

Both centered and symmetrical….…..

(10) them and their parents.

Regarding their parents, I currently know the older one’s mom and dad can also surf the internet, and talk about about their CP and their impression of WYB is good. But his mother actually really wants to have a grandchild. His father is very indifferent when the older one comes home. I'm sure his mother won't be able to bear it. She asked him bluntly, the older ones always focus on work to fool her in the past. In July this year not only did he tell the truth to his family but took the younger one back with him.

It’s time for dinner at home, and the younger one is very nervous. He is afraid that the family will think he is not good enough. He bought a lot of things and piled them up for backup. He sprayed perfume and dressed properly and pretended. The older one made him want to laugh when he looks at him, just fool around. The younger one calls him a big bastard.

The mother on the table was holding jianguo and said she could only count on her to give birth to a litter of grandsons.

* I know that talk about their parents is sensitive and would always lead to more discussion, but again, treat this as fiction. and tbh, who could resist WYB as a son in law??? It I had a son and he brings home WYB as a boyfriend I will be very happy. I also feel soft that XZ is trying to tease and make WYB laugh.

(11)

What happened last year

WYB: Is it delicious?

XZ: (nodding while eating) Yeah, it’s quite delicious.

WYB: What about others?

XZ: Wait a minute...Wow, I just ate that, this one has no taste.

WYB: Is it too spicy?

XZ: It’s okay, but my tongue is numb and I can’t taste other flavors.

WYB: Wait a minute, drink some water. Is it really that spicy?

XZ: Try it yourself. You didn't keep it for yourself? Wasn't it sent from you?

WYB: I didn't take it apart. Bring it to me.

Then XZ really ate so much that he left two packets and took them back to WYB.

(You send it to me and I will bring it back to you. What kind of trick is this?)

What happened this year

XZ: It’s been too cold these two days.

👤: Southern kids.

XZ: :Then northerners also feel cold. Cold is cold.

(Okay, I know you have northerners in your family, next one)

👤When teasing XZ and WYB, XZ’s response was, “Hahaha” and send out red envelopes. As expected of Boss XZ.

I saw other people's submissions and came to do some post-sale service. I heard that XZ sang to put WYB to sleep. I know that there is indeed mmxhn, and there is a six-character song related to snow. (There are probably others somewhere that I don’t know about)

(12) like a fairy

XXX was wearing Iwj's white clothes for the first time

XX: Fairy, descended to earth to overcome the tribulation

XXX: Isn’t fairy a dog? You have so much information but no good words.

XX: Compliment you for being good-looking and handsome.wls, wow, so handsome!

XXX: xls looks better than me, our xls is so beautiful, ancestor of Yiling

XX: Stop, stop, it’s so shameful

*My favorite kind of rumor is when WYB goes gremlin on XZ! 😂😂😂😂

(13) cravings

WYB has been craving for "cai cai rice" recently, XZ told him many times that spring is not so good to have wild vegetables, even if they are cooked. WYB said he doesn’t care about wild vegetables he just wants to eat the vegetable rice cooked by XZ, but I don’t have that. It smells good, I just want to eat it.

In the end, he still didn’t get the cabbage meal, but freshly baked dumplings. WYB got a bargain and acted nice, he was acting coquettishly while eating.

* Oh to be WYB and have someone like XZ cook for youuuu 😍😍😍😍

-END.

P.S : this ye mi and xiao zhan AU pairing is living in my mind rent free. 🥵🥵🥵

[ineedtorantaboutjiangcheng]

Fuck, I'm here again. Goddammit. I've been doing well. I've been keeping Jiang Cheng off my mind (and my computer screen). Things have been peaceful.

And then today happened.

Again, a fic. Again, not naming names, both because that's rude and also because this issue is hardly specific to one fic alone. I've seen it many times.

But I've been pacing for half an hour, too agitated to keep reading, so I'm just gonna get this off my chest, and then skim through the fic 'til it stops talking about it.

I need to talk about the golden core reveal.

Specifically, I need to talk about an attitude I've seen cropping up recently in a lot of fics. (By recently, I don't mean it's only recent fics that do it, just that I've only noticed it recently.)

So it'll be a fic, usually canon divergent, but prior to the golden core reveal. Wen Ning or Wen Qing will often be involved (though I can think of a few times it was Lan Wangji). And the character, who knows the truth about the golden core transfer, will urge Wei Wuxian to tell Jiang Cheng.

They'll say "you have to tell him". They'll say "he'll find out eventually". They'll say "he deserves to know".

And... the fic will support this.

Will frame Wei Wuxian as irrational, paranoid even, to keep it secret.

Will sometimes even punish him, narratively, for his "failure" to disclose such a thing.

And I am... completely baffled.

Where the fuck is this coming from?

I suppose, if I'm being generous, I can kind of see why an individual sympathising with Jiang Cheng might have a knee-jerk reaction to this. If you see them as being essentially family, the idea that a family member that you love deeply, keeping what amounts to both a huge sacrifice and a massive disability from you would be extremely painful. You might feel hurt, that they didn't tell you. Angry, at the implied lack of trust.

I get it, as an emotional response you might have in the moment. I don't find it particularly relatable, but I can follow the thought process.

But like... that's an emotional response. Surely, at some point, logic has to kick in, right?

Because the thing is. Okay, there's two aspects to the secret, right? One, is that a medical procedure was done to Jiang Cheng, sort of like an organ transplant, I suppose, but he wasn't told that the organ was donated by Wei Wuxian. And the other is that Wei Wuxian made this huge sacrifice for Jiang Cheng, and didn't tell him.

But thinking about this for even five minutes should tell you that... neither of those things are actually Wei Wuxian's responsibility to deal with?

The first one is the by far the more common argument I've seen. I've read fics where Wen Ning and Wen Qing are tortured with guilt over having performed the procedure without telling Jiang Cheng all the details. I've even seen people have them blame Wei Wuxian, for demanding they keep it secret, had them secretly resent him for it. He's portrayed as deeply selfish, for keeping the truth of Jiang Cheng's operation from him.

But the thing is... if you're going to apply modern medical ethics to the situation... Wei Wuxian was in the right? They all were?

Under modern medical ethics, you have no right to know the identity of your organ donor. That can feel a little weird (it's probably why people often have a knee-jerk reaction that demands the opposite); after all, it's my body, shouldn't I have a right to know where the organ that goes in it comes from? What if it has cooties?

But according to medical ethics, the donor's right to medical privacy is more protected that the recipient's right to that information. Right to medical privacy is pretty highly valued; it kind of ties into body autonomy, which is kind of the keystone of... most modern ethics. You have a right to control what happens to your body, and that includes controlling whether or not people know about any medical conditions/procedures. So you might have an emotional response, thinking Jiang Cheng is valid for being upset that his golden core came from Wei Wuxian without him knowing, but... ethically, Wei Wuxian has the right to withhold that information.

But! some scarecrow says, If a person has the right to control what procedures happen to their body, surely that means Jiang Cheng has a right to control what happens to his own body! Therefore, the procedure was still unethical, because he didn't know everything!

And I say, well... not really. The reality is, we don't actually know how much Jiang Cheng was told. He was told to walk up a mountain, lie to the person he encountered about his identity, and ask for a golden core. And he left that mountain with said golden core... but we don't know how much Wen Qing told him when he reached the top. We know he believed Wen Qing was the Baoshan Sanren. We know he received a fully developed core, not just the ability to form a new one. Was he told that the core was from someone else? Were there signs of the transfer? Did he know the chance of success/failure? Did he not find any of the situation dubious?

(Did he really spend two and a half years fighting a war alongside, and then running a sect for a year with, someone and not realise they didn't use orthodox cultivation even once?)

The truth is, a doctor is required to inform a patient of risks, and answer any questions they ask. Wen Qing may well have disclosed the risk (if there was any to Jiang Cheng, other than potentially the transfer failing) prior to the surgery, we just don't know. We don't have any evidence that Jiang Cheng asked any questions, and from what we see in the novel, it seems likely that he simply didn't want to know. He got a core, his life was somewhat back on track; we never see any evidence of curiosity or confusion in him as to the specifics of how that happened.

The only lie we are sure that he was told was the identity of the person who he met on the mountain, who "gave" him the core. I could be petty and point out that as he was also lying about his identity, it kind of cancels out, but that would be a bit ridiculous, and unnecessary besides. The truth is, ethically, Wen Qing could have knocked him out and performed the surgery from the comfort of her own office. Because one of, if not the main reason you can ethically violate someone's body autonomy... is to save a life. And Jiang Cheng, after losing first his family and sect, and then his golden core, displayed clear suicidal ideation. He indicated, repeatedly, that he wanted to die. He refused food. Wei Wuxian even doubled checked, before giving him hope of getting a new core, that he was serious! (Rereading that scene is horrible; Wei Wuxian's dread, and eventual resignation/resolve becomes very apparent once you know what's happening).

The characters around him, including a trained doctor, believed that if he didn't get a new core, he would give up and die. Under those circumstances, a doctor has authority to make medical decisions, without a patients consent, if they believe it is a medical emergency. Wen Qing was an unquestionably brilliant doctor; if she believed doing the surgery was the right/necessary decision, who the hell are we to dispute her?

So, to be clear, under modern medical ethics (which seems to be what is being applied in these claims), Wen Qing has the right to do whatever surgery she feels necessary to save the life of her patient, no consent needed, and Wei Wuxian has the right to keep his identity as the donor a secret, since that's his own private medical history. Modern medical ethics (a bit ridiculous, when talking about magic powers, but I've seen the argument) supports our protagonist.

Now, onto the other thing. This is a lot less... ethics discussion and a lot more feels-bad-so-wrong type thing. Wei Wuxian kept the loss of his golden core a secret.

Jiang Cheng being upset by this is understandable. Like I said, I can follow the emotion/logic. Someone keeping a big secret from you can be hurtful.

But just because it's hurtful to you, doesn't mean they're in the wrong to do it!

If someone I cared about kept a massive secret from me, and I found out, I'd be upset! But my first thought would be 'Why did they feel they couldn't tell me?' And the answer here is obvious; Wei Wuxian didn't think he could tell Jiang Cheng because he knew he'd be horrible about it! Wei Wuxian admits, after the reveal, that the process of losing his core was distressing, and that he wasn't as okay with it as he pretended to be. If something like that happens to you (not... that it can, but, you know, equivalent), and you're struggling to hold it together, the last thing you want is someone you care about yelling at you about it, insulting you, making you feel bad for what happened!

Wei Wuxian didn't tell Jiang Cheng because he knew Jiang Cheng would be awful to him because of it. Jiang Cheng's jealousy when they were young was something Wei Wuxian felt he had to manage*, and he knew Jiang Cheng would feel inadequate if he realised his accomplishments were made with Wei Wuxian's core. And he would then lash out at Wei Wuxian for it, at a time when Wei Wuxian was already feeling emotionally fragile. Hell, nearly twenty years later, Jiang Cheng getting up in his face was enough to cause a Qi deviation; I can't imagine it would have been better any sooner!

No one wants to think of the people they love keeping secrets from them. And sometimes, people who keep secrets are doing it for their own sake, because they're scared, or unsure, or guilty, or whatever. But sometimes, when a person keeps a secret, the reason is not internal. If someone acts horribly to you when you tell them things, you're going to stop telling them things. And the person responsible for that gap in communication is them; all you're doing is protecting yourself.

And before anyone thinks that I'm assigning reasoning to Wei Wuxian that he doesn't have; he essentially admits it. After the reveal, Wei Wuxian states that he knew Jiang Cheng would react badly (though he didn't expect it to be quite so bad). Wei Wuxian is shown to have been managing Jiang Cheng's moods since they were young**, it's probably not the first secret he's kept. But that's kind of just... how that works; if a king kills every person who brings him bad news, eventually, all his advisors will only ever bring him good news. And he has no one to blame when his kingdom falls but himself.

SO. tl;dr. Modern medical ethics supports Wen Qing performing the golden core transfer, and Wei Wuxian keeping his identity as the donor a secret. Jiang Cheng can be upset at Wei Wuxian for not telling him that he no longer has a core, but it's not unethical, or selfish, and the nature of their relationship, with Jiang Cheng lashing out with impunity and Wei Wuxian trying to manage his moods, meant that secrets like that were pretty much inevitable. Unhealthy relationships are unhealthy. Truly, newsworthy take.

And one final note, on Wei Wuxian keeping secrets from Jiang Cheng and being portrayed as selfish for doing so; I have yet to see a. single. fic. that says Wei Wuxian keeping his sacrifice secret is wrong, but then goes on hold Jiang Cheng equally accountable for keeping his sacrifice secret. Not. One. Jiang Cheng often tells Wei Wuxian afterwards, that he deliberately got the Wens attention, but he's never framed as selfish for keeping that secret. Not. Once.

* see post-Xuanwu argument, when Wei Wuxian drags himself out of his sick bed, having just woken up from a coma, to reassure Jiang Cheng that he's no threat to his birthright. Because Jiang Cheng was jealous that his father acknowledged Wei Wuxian's skill in surviving, under horrendous circumstances. -_-

** childhood flashback; after arriving in a new place, having a massive change in lifestyle and meeting many new people (and, it seems, trying to make a good impression), Wei Wuxian took the blame for his broken leg, despite it being because Jiang Cheng locked him out of his room and threatened to sic dogs on him. Entirely because he knew one of them would get blamed, and he wanted to keep Jiang Cheng happy. People who grow up with aggressive/abusive family/people around often end up learning to juggle mood changes.

[azure-firecracker]

do you have any favourite txf headcanons ? show or specific to any of your fics or both!!

Oooh what a fun ask!

-I headcanoned that Scully can’t sing, and have been informed that this is actually true! But I also headcanon that when she was a kid she followed Melissa to church chorus, and got kicked out at, like, age 6 because she was so terrible, marking the first person to be kicked out of her church chorus.

-However, I think her parents would have wanted her to learn some sort of instrument, so I think she played the oboe, albeit not very well, and hated it.

-Mulder can dance, but he loses it the second the dance gets complicated (might this pop up in a later Raise Your Voices chapter? Only time will tell!)

-Scully is a hot beverage connoisseur and has just about every kind of tea under the sun stocked in her apartment, but she usually only drinks it when she’s on a day off or it’s a special occasion. Mostly she drinks coffee.

-I have seen debate over whether or not Mulder can cook. I think that he is very good at making approximately three specific dishes and terrible at making anything else.

-Scully can cook most things, but none amazingly. She’s very practical about it.

-Mulder absolutely did theater in high school, you cannot convince me otherwise. He probably only did plays and took an improv class. He has a bunch of old musical tapes hidden in his apartment that he doesn’t think Scully knows about (she does). His family listened to the musicals a lot before Samantha was taken, and he uses them as a reminder of happier times.

-Scully has a membership at the local library and is besties with all of the retired old librarians. They get her life updates every week (wait, should I write a fic about that?)

-Neither Scully nor Mulder had a lot of friends in high school. Scully was always locked into her studies and highly ambitious and didn’t put up with anybody’s BS, and people didn’t like that. Mulder was Mulder and also traumatized. He did get along with the other improv class people, but people mostly thought he was weird.

-Scully got into physics (her major!) because she loved the logical nature of mechanics, and fell in love with it because she secretly adored the mysteries and strangeness of relativity (projection from a physics girlie? Maybe).

-Mulder is not at all a STEM person. The only science classes he really liked were chemistry (so he could make stupid jokes about it), and astronomy (obviously).

-This is semi-canon but Scully is 100% an animal person. Mulder likes cats but that’s pretty much it.

-Both Scully and Mulder have seen every Alfred Hitchcock movie, and have an ongoing debate about what the best one is (Mulder says it’s The Birds, Scully says it’s Strangers on a Train - and Scully is right, just fyi).

-Mulder occasionally makes Scully watch old musical movies, which she pretends she hates but secretly enjoys.

These are mostly just off the top of my head! Feel free to add more in the comments/reblogs!

[lady-ashfade]

Hey mate! It didn’t say anything about Cobra Kai male requests so not sure if you’ll do this.

Can I request Yandere Hawk & Miguel x male reader? Plot can be anything. Just want to read some no mercy era Hawk and Miguel. Thanks!

Little thing

Yandere!Hawk&miguel x reader. (HC’s)

Notes: Even though my requests for cobra Kai are closed- Honestly I was in a cobra Kai mood actually, which is kinda scary. I was going to write something and I have been reading cobra kai fics for the best two days- Anyway. This is short because I didn’t know what to put down, I hope you like it.

(Opening up my cobra Kai requests man)

Yandere type: Medium (idk)

Warning: Stalking, Yandere tendencies, violence, obsession, dark themes.

The boys would notice you when they get into a class with you, they have never really seen you around before.

You sat in front of the two boys, and they caught glimpse of you one day and couldn’t get enough.

You’d always smile at the people who walked by but you never seemed to talk much. They always notice you always tapping your foot to the music in your ear pud, that you secretly put in.

Hawk pointed you out in class. Saying along the lines of how you were kinda cute but how you always seemed shy, Miguel agreed.

So the two started to follow you around school without you noticing, they learned where you were at all times. What subjects you liked and didn’t, who you talked to and didn’t.

“They need protection, just look at them.” Miguel pointed out as you stood at your locker, hawk smirked and leaned on Miguel shoulder, “I’m in, little thing doesn’t seem to notice anything.”

No matter if you are taller, bigger, shorter, anything. They see you as a small, weak, fragile thing. And you know how people have this thing to protect the person they love, the two go over border.

Ever drop a pencil in class and don’t notice? It’s theirs now. They have a whole bag of things they have of you.

Now, when someone gave you a bad look even just once, or talk bad to you. The two of them teach that person a lesson. They did it at night where no one can see, beat the living shit out of them.

You started to find it weird how everyone around you stared to get hurt, it made you think you were cursed.

In the locker rooms they always come behind you while you change and pretend like they are focused on themselves but make sure no one looks at you, or gets near you. Or if you change in a stall they stand outside it just to make sure but have a conversation loudly to make sure you don’t really notice.

They have snuck a few glances.

Then one day their prayers were answered when you three got paired up in a class project. Oh, the boys couldn’t stop their heart beats when they heard your name.

The two almost didn’t know how to actually talk to you at first, but when they started they couldn’t stop. How they could be so close to you, to touch you, smell you- Hold you. It drives them crazy.

They asked things about you one right after the other and overwhelmed you. You answered as best as you could and thought it was just them being friendly. But you knew them both because of the whole karate-war going down.

You invited them over to your house to start working on projects and they couldn’t wait.

While they were in your room they stole things, small things but still. I see them stealing a shirt of yours, or objects they found.

The two “befriended” you that night and decided to calm themselves down to drawl you in. They acted really nice and kind, which they were. But hide there other side.

Here’s some things they do, romance or in the friendship area.

Following your around to make you untouchable. Glares at anyone who looks close to your way.

They call you “Little thing” constantly. Or tiny, or anything that’s belittling, but not that mean. Hawk tho will call you stupid but he just want to make you feel dumb so you ask him for help.

(Hawks the meaner one of the two)

They start to control you, like saying what you should wear but make you think you chose it yourself. Or by getting you things to eat. Where you go, when you go. They only make you hang out with them.

Miguel is the one who babies you the most in a sense. He treats you like a prince. Always being the joking guy who makes you smile and laugh. He’ll hold onto you by the waist. He’s “softer” with you. Because come on, he’s so fluffy when he doesn’t want to murder anyone.

Hawk treats you like you can’t do anything alone. Like walking, you could wonder off. Or maybe you’ll walk out into traffic, hold his hand. Hawk is so overbearing. Like you have to tell him to chill at moments.

But the thing they both have in common is being feral over you.

I’m talking about they don’t care where they fight, but it’s away from you, but school fights happens all the time.

Broken a guys wrist, treated some guy with deadly threats, have put so many people in the hospital.

They will stop at nothing, I mean never killing anyone…But if someone hurts you then it’s not there problem if their body gives up on their own.

Don’t allow you to join a dojo. The only way you are going near a dojo is watching them practicing.

Man, I just seen them ass overbearing.

[writing-for-life]

Hi bestie, hope you're doing well 💖💖.

I just wanted to say that I've been thinking about Morpheus being a grandpa. I also wonder how he would feel about it, I mean he's old already HAHHAH, but like, that would be a new kind of love in his life. I also think that maybe Corinthian would be the babysitter again and all that would be lovely

Can you just… not do that to me? 😩🫂

I mean, I’ve said this many times: All things considered, he should have been a girl dad, and I stand by that (*if* we assume he should have been a dad at all, which remains to be argued 🤣). I have the weird head-canon he would have been softer and more forgiving with a girl, but that’s totally not grounded in any deeper logic. Just the feelz 🤣

And he would have been a tricky one to convince that anyone is good enough for his girl, so whoever is the dad or other mum would have had to prove themselves so badly. Feeling sorry for them already. But Morpheus would have been secretly racked with nerves (would never admit to it of course) about her, and he would totally lose it emotionally when he sees his grandchild for the first time (would also never admit to that and probably lock himself away to secretly cry in a corner).

And then he’d be with the grandchild as he was with baby Orpheus (from what we know from Calliope), and I’m just like… no let’s not go there 😢

No chance for the Corinthian to be a babysitter I think. He’d want to do it all himself.

Now, if we’re assuming Orpheus had survived… they would have such arguments over how to bring up the kid. Not loud, shouty ones. Just stubborn growling and moping at each other. And that’s where Cori 2.0 would be awesome. He’d just whisk the kid away for ice cream and bring them back when they’re done with their petty squabbling. Better for the child, too.

And this is a total head-canon shitpost based on wishful thinking, because to think about the real implications honestly breaks me a little 😩

So yes, please everyone: Also always feel free to send me head-canon prompt material via my asks. I’m a fic writer, I love this stuff (I’m not the main instigator of the sparkle- and helm crack tags for nothing 🙈). I can’t do serious all the time 🤣

@morpheusbaby3 ask answered

[not-poignant]

Hi! Big fan of your work and writing blog :) I have a question re: fanfic reception. I like writing fanfics about villains on the receiving end of noncon, and I sometimes get feedback that makes me feel weird and I dunno how to respond to it? It’s along the lines of "thanks for giving [character] the pain they deserve" "it’s good that you aren’t nice to [character] like those other fanfic writers". (Part 1…)

(Part 2…)I kind of feel like they’re complimenting my morals instead of my writing, but I also could be overreacting, because I mean it’s fine to seek out fics where a character you hate gets tortured? No hurry answering this, and thanks in advance if you do. I hope you’re doing alright on your break from UtB. I am using the time to reread and am loving it!

~

Hi anon!

Oh this is an interesting quandary to be in, because I'm certain at least some of those people are very much being moralistic about it.

Tbh when it's 'thanks for giving (character) the pain they deserve' you can probably ignore that if you want, because yeah, they might have revenge fantasies and find that very satisfying.

But when you get people going 'thanks for being mean / not nice to this character like other writers' - if you're the kind of person who responds to comments and feels uncomfortable when someone is using your space to shame other authors (because that's exactly what's happening) you can choose - if you want - to take the time to say 'I have no problems when people enjoy this character being hurt, however, I do not tolerate when folks shame other authors and readers for what they enjoy in fiction. Please don't compliment my fic by putting down other people, that's not what a compliment is' or something similar.

As soon as a reader brings in other people and shames them, that's absolutely when you can take a stand and see a clear issue.

I see this a lot for two different things:

Writing realistic kink, and so many readers being like 'omg thanks for writing realistic kink there's so much unrealistic trash on here' and these days I always make a point of saying 'oh thanks! but I write and love unrealistic trash too. This is a fictional site and no one should be expected to write realistic kink here!' It shuts people down amazingly fast. But also makes them realise that perhaps they just shouldn't be throwing stones when we're all in a very glass castle on AO3 lmao

Writing realistic trauma recovery, so like 'thanks for showing how awful and evil rape can be unlike those people who write it for fun' - now how I end up with these readers with my actual writing history, I don't know, but I take the same approach of like 'thanks BUT I LOVE writing rape as titillation! I enjoy both!'

You don't have to be as blunt as me, and you don't have to address it at all, but any reader who shames other authors or readers in your comment section can be addressed directly because it's just a shitty thing to do. And people don't say shit like that in public if they don't secretly hope that one of those people will see the comment and feel bad about what they like.

So yeah, with your first example, they could be feeling moralistic, or they could just want a revenge fantasy and really enjoy noncon! The second example is a clear cut example of shaming, or stepping on other people to pass you a compliment, and you're never ever over-reacting when that makes you feel uncomfortable, or makes you feel like it's not really a compliment. Because all it really is, is a version of: 'you passed my moral standards, thanks' and that's not actually a compliment at all. (Or like you say, it's complimenting your morals, it's like having a weird fandom policeman come by and glare at you and be like '....okay you're committing no crimes, as you were' and moving on. It's just weird).

Anyway *shakes hands for weird comments that shame other readers/authors in the form of a compliment* - I do think you're right to feel uncomfortable at least sometimes when this happens. It's up to you how you choose to address or not address it, but I will say personally that if you aren't going to address it in comments, maaaaybe consider deleting the ones that shame other readers/authors, so that when those people read your fics they don't feel alienated. It's obviously your choice! But just something to consider if you want to be curating your space. And best of luck writing all the noncon-villain fics! They can be a lot of fun :D

[drewsbuzzcut]

Dangerous

mat barzal x model!fem!reader

a visceral in doses fic… read hook, line, and sinker before this part

warnings: mentions of an injury, small very minor angst, small mention of food

*At the pizza place*

“I know I already said that you’re a natural when it comes to modeling, but I just can’t get over how seamless you are when it comes to all the different poses. You must be really flexible,” mat comments.

“It’s funny you say that. I actually used to do ballet. I started at a really young age- maybe 3 and it was the love of my life at the time, of course. I actually got injured at 15 and I was never able to get back to normal,” you say solemnly.

“So you went into modeling? That explains why you weren’t a child model or something like that.”

You nod your head in agreement, “yeah. It’s crazy because everyone in my family, even friends, would always say that I belonged in the modeling industry. I guess that was true. I wouldn’t change things. I love modeling. It’s probably the best thing to happen to me,” you finish your small story.

“I’m sorry about your injury, but I’m glad you’re in your rightful place,” mats speaks.

“It’s ok. It’s weird, though. You’re the first person who noticed my flexibility. No one I have ever met or worked with has ever noticed.”

“I’m glad I noticed because if I hadn’t, I would never know that little story about yourself,” mat is so sincere with his words, it makes your heart melt. Also making you grow a new appreciation for this handsome man that just came out of nowhere.

“What about you? You’re probably flexible too,” you guess.

“Not really,” he chuckles.

“I don’t think I can do a split or an even a high kick,” he continues.

“I don’t think that’s true. The way hockey players move during the game means you definitely have to have some kind of flexibility even if it’s a little,” you add in.

“You watch hockey?”

And you were caught.

It’s not like you didn’t want it to be a secret that you watch hockey, you just didn’t want mat to think that you were lying about knowing who he was when you met him for the first time.

You truly didn’t know anything about him, but you knew that he looked familiar. When he told you that he played hockey, the puzzle pieces weren’t hard to put together- especially because you had just been at an islanders game the past week.

“Occasionally. I’m more of a baseball person, but i watch hockey every now and then, live or on tv,” you inform him.

“Another interesting fact about you. What team do you root for?”

“If this is your way of asking if I’m a rangers fan, you’re not slick,” you tease with a wicked smirk.

“Well, I’m not a rangers fan. I actually quite enjoy the islanders,” you finish.

“Hmm… I like that answer.”

“Ok, hotshot. Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Too late.”

You both laugh at the same time before trying to calm down and breathe in some air.

It was crazy how easily you could laugh with him.

There’s a pause in conversation as you both take drinks from your cups and bites from your pizzas.

It’s a comfortable stillness, you’re taking in the nice evening you’re having with mat and secretly hoping you can do it more in the future.

“I actually have to tell you something,” you say slowly, trying not to worry him, but also being worried yourself.

He nods his head for you to continue.

“When you had told me that you played hockey, I kind of figured out who you were. When I met you, you were so familiar to me and the hockey thing made everything click. I did know you. Well, of you. I recognized you from the game. I hope that doesn’t freak you out or anything,” you blurt.

“It doesn’t freak me out nor does it bother me. As long as you don’t look me up or anything crazy,” mat responds.

Huh. Why didn’t he want you to look him up?

“Yeah , of course!”

“I am so full. Did you want to get desert?” Mat asks.

“I will have to take a pass on desert. I’ll probably just eat some fruit at home,” you answer.

“Sounds good! Well as much as I enjoyed shadowing you for the day, and trying your recommendation for pizza, I have an early morning tomorrow so I should get home.”

“Oh yeah! I don’t want to keep you too long or ruin your schedule,” you tell him.

“Do you live far from here?”

“Not really just a couple of minutes from here actually.”

“Mind if I walk you home?”

You heart melts just a little bit. He is so sweet, you think to yourself.

“As long as you don’t leak my address,” you tease.

“No promises,” he teases back.

As you’re walking back home, it’s silent but it’s only because you’re thinking about how good this day has been and how you hope it was just as good for mat.

“I guess your job isn’t exactly private either,” you speak your one nagging thought out loud.

“Not really. Which is why I wasn’t necessarily surprised when you said you had recognized me. Although, I’m sure my life is a bit more private than yours,” you’re now wondering if he thinks you had lied about knowing him when you first met. You hope that isn’t the case.

“Kind of. Especially when I’m pictured out with other famous people. I did a shoot last year with Bella Hadid and that sort of skyrocketed my career in the right direction, so now I’m always having the paps follow me, but only when they think I’m doing something secretive or interesting,” you explain.

“That’s crazy. I’m only recognized on the streets every once in a while.”

“You’re still recognized, though.”

“True. It’s honestly weird to be known,” mat said.

You nod your head in silent solidarity.

The conversation fades after mat’s last sentence, but the silence is comforting. It allows you to soak in mat’s charming and intense presence. You almost don’t realize that you had just made it to your home.

“Looks like this is me,” you interrupt the silence.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to leave you just yet,” mat responds.

“Dito. Today was really nice.”

You both are facing each other, not daring to break the strong eye contact. He brings his finger to drag it along the length of your forearm before stopping at your wrist. Your heart is pounding. You’re afraid it might jump out of your body in attempt to land in his large, warm hands.

“I enjoyed today. Best day I’ve had in a while. This may be a bit forward, but will you go out on a date with me, y/n?” Mat pulls you a tad bit closer to him.

“Hmm… you’d be pretty lucky to get to spend another day with me.” You lightly poke at his chest.

He laughs and walks backwards down the steps of your building. He has the cockiest expression adorning his face and glint in his eyes.

“I’ll see you next tuesday at 6:30,” mat exclaims.

“You’re pretty confident, hotshot,” you fire back, a bit of shock and amusement displayed on your face.

“Got to match confidence with even more confidence,” he says referencing your undying confidence.

“HA! I’ll see you at 6:30. Don’t be late, barzy!”

“You’re a dangerous one, y/n,” mat finishes with one last smile as he watches you go inside, patting himself on the back for successfully getting a date with you.

a/n: it’s been a little bit since i posted the last piece but hope you enjoy this part!!

[thatsmutaccount]

THE PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR'S MONSTER HAREM

(a monsterfucking collection idea)

Soooo, after writing all the Halloween chapters for this year I realized that writing monster x human stuff is kinda fun, so I'm thinking about maybe starting a new series/collection that will focus on this theme, but with kinda my twist to it. It would be something that would come way later, probably around the beginning of the year, since I'm probably gonna be really busy the next month or so with writing some other stuff for my other stories ("Rex/Mike Kinktober" and "Logan the himbo" first and foremost) and maybe even a sort of Christmas fic, but I think it would be really fun.

Next you will find some ideas I come up with just to test the water and see if people like this concept, so let me know what you think of this idea :)

*****

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to "The paranormal investigator's monster harem"

The premise is simple: we follow the adventures of a paranormal investigator, a real one, who can see and communicate with monsters and spirits, but that unfortunately always ends up being trapped by them and then gets utterly fucked by the monster of the hour

The weird thing is that, for some mysterious reason, after fucking him the monsters either imprint on him or fall in love with him, so they decide to follow him around, and the private investigator ends up with a literal harem of different kind of monsters who compete with each other for his attention and love

So it will be both a smut story and a sort of funny one - more in the spirit of "Logan the himbo" - with the detective who tries to lead a normal life but the monsters keep getting in his way trying to act normal out of the love they have for him, and him that keeps getting fucked and then courted by them, and he is just so tired of it

The monsters will all love him very much, and will go into all sort of shenanigans to win him over. They would never try to take him away or do things without him knowing, wanting only his love

The protagonist will be a paranormal investigator who used to be a police detective, who was dismissed by the force because he was too independent and didn't really follow instruction and with the obligatory Tragic Backstory™

He is the classic retired detective who consumes way too much coffee, looks always disheveled with an unkempt stubble, giant bags under his eyes, didn't have a good night of sleep in months, hates everything and everyone but secretly cares deeply about the people he loves, is around 30 but looks ten years older because of how badly he takes care of himself. Basically: a dilf private detective, the one fangirls tend to fall for very hard (if you have any reference it will be really appreciated, thank you)

He will not be the only character, there will be returning characters like the members of his agency and maybe some other guests

I was thinking of also add the possibility for people to make Request, and I even have in mind how to make it so, but we'll see

If there are monsters and creatures that I see people like I will also try to make them permanent members of the cast, so keep an eye out for you favorites ^.^

There will be no bad endings, unless otherwise specified in the chapter, and the rules for what I do and don't write will remain pretty much the same

*****

So, what do you guys think?

I like the idea and I think it has the potential of being pretty funny to write about, also because it will allow me to experiment with some scenarios I usually don't write in my regular fics.

The title is more of a placeholder, I was thinking of naming it something like "The (insert detective last name) agency of paranormal investigation" or something like that. It is still a work in progress but you get the gist.

So, what do you guys say? Yay or Nay?

Let me know what you think and I'll see you in the next couple of days with the last Halloween Special for this year.

Take care ^.^

[yousaydisco]

Cooking/food headcanons for a few characters

(some of these I've put in various fics but there are some new ones)

Harry: Couldn't cook anything before the amnesia, but has taken up cooking as a new hobby. Took him a while to get good but he sincerely likes it. Has started to give homecooked meals/treats away as gifts, and is even okay at baking stuff. It took everyone else at the Precinct even longer to trust the food he makes though, but for a lot of them, it just took until seeing Kim eat his cooking without hesitation for them to want to try his stuff.

Kim: Like most cops, his diet is/was mainly takeout (a lot less takeout now that Harry cooks for him sometimes). He isn't good at cooking but can probably master a few basic recipes. He tries to pass himself off as a "food is just fuel for the body" type of guy and would eat anything when he's in public, but that is to hide that he's actually kind of a picky guy. There are very few foods that he hates enough to be able to force himself to eat, but he doesn't force himself when he's alone.

Judit: There are two ways to take it: if he husband is shitty, and if her husband is not. All depends on how you would interpret her line about "raising two kids and half a husband."

If her husband is shitty then she comes home and has to cook them all dinner, despite working a full shift as a patrol officer. She knows the best way to spice up the Hamburger Helper type meals, the kind that come in a box and are really easy to throw together. They might relay on takeout a little too often, but she's really tired and she also cares about her kids having enough to eat and not going hungry.

If "half a husband" refers to like, he's unemployed/a house husband and NOT shitty, then he would do the cooking. He's pretty good at it, and she loves coming home to hot food ready to be eaten immediately. When she has a day off she loves to take over in the kitchen for breakfast, wakes up the kids with cinnamon rolls as often as she can.

Jean: My headcanon for his background has changed a lot but generally I think he is a guy who is secretly REALLY GOOD at cooking. He grew up having to fend for himself (either just himself or possibly a whole mess of siblings with him as the oldest) and he's just a whiz in the kitchen. Has learned many family recipes from his grandparents who came to Revachol from Messina. If you tell him that he can't eat carbs there is a real risk he will kill you.

Cuno & Cunoesse: Cannot and should NEVER be trusted with a stove. Not only can they not cook but they will use the stove to melt plastic cups and burn paper. However: Cuno loves fried bologna sandwiches and Cunoesse loves lemon-flavored desserts.

Neither of them are picky kids, especially (and this happens in the story where Harry leaves Martinaise with the both of them and house them) for the first few months after being home with Harry. They didn't have access to good food all the time, and sometimes didn't consistently have access to food in general, so neither voiced any complaints about what they were given to eat. Slowly but surely Cuno felt comfortable enough to tell Harry that he doesn't like a few things, like mushrooms, but Cunoesse literally will eat and like anything. She will devour an entire pack of saltine crackers if you aren't watching her.

Overall Precinct: While a majority of them seem to live off of breakroom coffee, cigarettes, and the kebabs within walking distance, there is a secretary who liked to bring in donuts every Wednesday morning. It was pretty popular and they often didn't last an hour, but an Incident Happened and she transferred to a different wing. (No one wants to tell Harry and he's petrified that he did something really weird and made her uncomfortable enough to transfer, and in his worst moments he thinks about tracking the specific woman down to apologize but he's too scared of what she will say)

(he is actually the one who made her uncomfortable but it wasn't because he hit on her or made her feel unsafe in that way, it was actually him trying to be an Ultra-Feminist and went on a lecture that she didn't have to do all of this just because she was a woman and she is pigeonholing herself in an unnecessary caretaking position, and she got pissed off since she has been buying them donuts out of the kindness of her heart and he's turning it into a whole thing and making her feel dumb or something. So she transferred. No one wants to tell him because they're pissed off that he ruined their free donuts and they want him to feel bad.)

[kamiversee]

MY FACE IS BEET RED AT WORK HELPPPPPPPPP

Kami!!!! 🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝🤝 THANK YOU 🤝🤝 THANK YOU 🤝 🤝THANK YOU 🤝 🤝 omfg the Choso girlies are eating GOOOOOOOOOOOD with this chapter 😭 omfg and that Gojo wet dream blurb was too fucking good aaaaaAAAAAAA i miss that blue eyed beauty every day 🤍🤍🤍 ok yeah pls consider a filthy noncanon poly ending i need these two to ruin the reader expeditiously

my mind is so hazy from reading everything. oh my god. Choso was such a menace in this chapter 🥹 this is definitely what we needed after looking at all those deleted scenes you had for him. art majors are always hidden freaks so this was just *chef's kiss*

"The man had you ruined as someone else once had you before." KAMI I JUST ABOUT DIED!!!! YOU KNOW HOW OBSESSED I AM WITH THE SUKUNA CHAPTERS AJHKAJHDASD AS SOON AS I READ THAT HER HEAD WAS BEING PUSHED INTO THE BED MY MIND IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF THEM 😭😭😭😭 every Choso fic/headcanon i've seen so far always makes him so subby not that i'm complaining but seeing this dominant and demeaning side of him was sooooo fucking good omg. that coupled with the cute aftercare seriously makes me contemplate on making this my favorite chapter 🥹

that part where you mentioned the night the reader first slept with him and how he had thoughts of doing other things with the keys... depending on how the sequel's going to go, i can't even imagine how some people are not going to let this go 😅 ALSO WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ALREADY SPOILED THE ALT ENDING??? i'm about to spend the remaining 7 hours at work scrolling and scheming omfg Kami pls

"You were his now, and he was yours. Nothing and no one would change that." this warmed my heart soooo much because i've had this weird anxiety that he'll eventually find out the details of the list. i just hope this statement will stay true!! maybe it's my paranoia but this also felt a bit ominous? idk i prob just need to renew my anxiety meds lmao

KAMI YOU COOKED FR

-☃️

Haha I love these sm, gimme kiss rn.

I do have the extra scene tht you & some others requested in mind so Ig I’m just curious if I should write both men dom with the reader or both subby with her since they’re both down terrible😭 Or even one dom & the other subby, IDK. But I am excited to write tht smut, TRUST.

It’s not an ending tho, just extra what if stuff !!

AND YES ART MAJORS ARE SECRETLY FREAKS !! Especially Choso bc like… look at him and tell me he’s not having horny thoughts abt his lover 24/7…

OH OH AND I HADDDD to reference Sukuna again, him and Choso do have their slight relation soooo I need to make a parallel or two ><

& as for Choso being dom… I once saw someone say how Choso would be the kinda’ guy to rage on video games based on how mad he gets in the anime & his facial expression… So like, with tht in mind for some reason I’ve just pictured Choso as the kind to only be subby when he’s still learning something in regards to sex or when he’s with someone knew & he’s just shy…

BUT ONCE THT MAN GETS COMFORTABLE? Oh yeah, its ONNN 😩🙏

Also, I didn’t explicitly say what’s gonna happen in the alt ending! I just kinda said what it’s gonna be… Like, y’know how a lot of chapters are ominous cliffhangers? Haha, imagine that but x10 ^.^

[misailurist]

State of the Fanfiction

Wanted to talk a bit about fanfics I wrote back in the day and plans for the future. tldr: it's (almost) all weird-ass Simeon Saint rarepairs

Eight years ago, I wrote Simon Says, a way-too-long story about Simon Blackquill's time in prison... which quickly became focused on him dating/breaking up with Simon Keyes. There had been some interest in that pairing, and I liked it myself, but keeping them together felt antithetical to the story's overall message of "Blackquill is OK now and has learned to stop martyring himself for others," and also I not-so-secretly think messy breakups are more fun than successful romances. So that's what I did. Despite that, I'd had a lot of notes at the time about what a sequel might look like, where Keyes got out of prison and had his own redemption arc and became the kind of boyfriend who wouldn't destroy Blackquill's life. But when it came to actually write it, I decided that redemption arcs were boring, scrapped it all, and started working on my bonkers Keyes/Phantom fic where literally the only reason behind the pairing choice was, "Phantom is about as emotionally functional as an animal, so I bet Keyes could train him into being his dog." I wrote two chapters and then wandered away from fandom entirely to try being a functional adult for a while. Now, a whole ass time skip later, being a functional adult sucks ass and AAI2 finally got localized, so here I am again. I ended up reading all my own fanfic -- do you know that if enough years pass, you'll forget enough of what you wrote that reading your own fics feels like finding a new favorite author who made a bunch of shit just for you? Do recommend. And in those fics, I found three stories where I were mad that they hadn't been finished. Did you know that if you're your own new favorite author, you are now burdened with the knowledge that unfinished fics won't be updated unless YOU, YOURSELF update them? Awful. Terrible. Do not recommend. The three fics were: 1. Just Fake it. My post-bad-end Blackbright fic. I should go to jail for not finishing that. (On the bright side, it's what made me hyper-vigilant about backing up my writing, which is why I have the remnants of all the stories on this list at all.) I would like to finish it but I am in the middle of replaying the games and don't want to touch it until I've replayed Dual Destinies. (I am currently on...... Turnabout Big Top. Sigh.) 2. Impostor Syndrome. The aforementioned Keyes/Phantom fic, which I have updated with the new localized names so it is now a Saint/Phantom fic. Although it is currently just "the meandering post-prison adventures of Simeon Saint" fic because I am completely, utterly making this shit up as I go and haven't gotten to the shipping part yet. Does anyone want to read this but me? Trick question, I don't care. I'm basically in a fugue state right now and I don't think I could stop if I wanted. Also we are T-minus-two-chapters to where there will, in fact, be some actual for real Saint/Phantom shipping, so idk hang in there. 3. Simon, Horace, and Miles. The "what if there were no IS-7" AU. This one sucks actually. But I still love the idea of it. There's meat there. But the whole thing needs to be scrapped and restarted from the ground up. Something to consider once Impostor Syndrome is out of my system. Also I would rewrite it to be properly soutamitsu. That's a pairing the world needs more of, damn it. Also I lied, there's a secret fourth one that I never posted anywhere publicly: 4. Fabulous! A Simeon Saint/Max Galactica smut fic I started and then remembered I don't like writing smut. But the setup was pretty good so maybe I'll try again to finish it???

[salumial]

GIANT FIC INCOMING OF THE BAND GETTING BACK TOGETHER. Takes place three months after the episode “Bully-ieve It or Not”. This one’s called “Bittersweet.”

Time it’s been since I last saw Pesto:

Three months

And it’s felt very… weird. Unusual. I would see him almost every week, and be bombarded with dumb shit like him calling me an idiot or making fun of me in some way I’ve heard time after time. Or the other cases, the actually infuriating ones, like helping me and Linda out with some sort of advice, or… even saying something mostly kind. Because I could never really trust him with stuff, so who’s to say he wouldn’t be tricking me? The only time he’s ever done something I know he was doing both for himself AND technically for me was at that yacht thing. Every other time… I don’t know.

I mean, let’s say he was, I still don’t want to deal with someone constantly stealing my ideas, so it makes sense that the last time I spoke to him was telling him I don’t care anymore. It seals it off. Sets in stone, I’m done.

Right?

But I… not that it doesn’t feel great to not have someone doing all of that… it’s weird. It feels like something is missing, is it supposed to? We used to spy on eachother for hours, with the feelings of mutual hatred. But now… I’m catching myself looking over these last few weeks, and feeling… bittersweet. Mostly bitter. Which is so weird, because why? It doesn’t make sense to me. And I never told him he couldn’t just come over and say hi. I just feel like-

“You’re looking over there again.” Linda says, as I snap out of my dramatic tangent and back to the main menu.

“What, huh? I was?” I say, very much lying because I know damn well I was.

“Bob, yea, you were, very… depressing like.” She explains, as though this is something I’ve done before.

“Huh…weird.” I say with the squeak in my voice that shows I’m lying.

“…Bob,”

“What?” I turn to her dramatically anxious as I was about to slink into thought.

“…are you ok?” She asks, giving me her loving supportive look, as I give her one back.

“No, yea. I just…” …it’s been weeks, she’s noticed for a while now, I should tell her. “…I’ve been looking there for a while now, and I don’t know why!”

She looks at me and smiles, then looks to the other joint.

“…maybe you miss him.” As she says that my mind races,

Miss him? NO,

“NO, what? No.” I say fully offended by the idea. She scoffs at that,

“Oh really? Bob, you’ve been looking over there after a week of him not coming over.”

…what?

That long? I’ve been doing it that long?

“Really?” I ask, confused as she rolls her eyes lovingly.

“Yes, and I think, if you really do miss him…”

Oh, she’s gonna tell me to go talk to him, I know.

“…you should decide if you actually want to see him.”

…what?

“Wait, you’re not gonna encourage me to go over there?” I explain, bewildered and… secretly kind of annoyed, like if she did I could act like I begrudgingly don’t want to but… that isn’t an option. I have to decide- wait, hang on. I’m mad she isn’t tell me to? I WANT to?!

“No, that’s your business! I’d totally get if you don’t want to talk to him again.” She explains, as the thought of that… makes me extremely uncomfortable.

“…” I say nothing, as she just smiles.

I think she knows what I’m gonna do, although I’m not so sure myself.

“…I would think about it.” She says going into the kitchen, leaving me alone to stew in the decision…

…why would I want to be friends with him? Why do I miss him so much? Is it because it was comfortable? The same? And now us not talking is disrupting it? I remember though so clearly at the beginning of our rivalry not wanting to ever talk to him, wishing I didn’t have to. So… It can’t be that right? What is it?

…he was honestly… someone who did know me. Very well. I heard that he actually helped Linda and the kids with my 47th birthday… and gave them the idea to fix it up for me specifically.

And… he did tell me he was proud of me once. Genuine pride. Like, he actually teared up. I thought he was kidding. But maybe he wasn’t… maybe he does… care about me?

…

…man,

I miss the bastard, don’t I?

He was so annoying, but I remember it letting me get out steam, that had been in me for weeks on end.

Being able to yell and argue, get it all out, have pissing contests… maybe we can have that in a

healthy way.

…dammit. I miss him… I’ve got to go over there.

Jimmy POV:

“Jimmy?” Trev asked, trying to get my attention as I look over at Bob staring at my restaurant for the 100th time. I mean, why? What’s he being so nosy for, I thought he didn’t care about what I’m doing anymore.

…although I get it.

“Yea?” I ask kind of annoyed but trying to be nice.

“…do you mind if I ask… are you and Bob?…” he stops mid sentence for me to give the go ahead,

“…no speaking, yea.” I answer as he looks quizzically at Bob.

“…why is he?…” he asks, gesturing towards Bob eavesdropping.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. It’s perplexing me.” I say with a hint of drama, arms crossed as Trev chuckles.

“…maybe you should go ask?” NO.

“No? No no.” I say very defensively “There’s no way, he doesn’t care about anything I’m doing, so I’m returning the favor.”

“But… he does, he’s staring right at the restaurant.” He points out as I huff.

“Ok, yea, but he still decided he doesn’t want to talk to me.” I say, as Trev says,

“…no he didn’t. He said he wasn’t gonna let you get to him anymore.”

…

“…I’m gonna guess he meant both.” I assume as Trev rebuttals.

“How would you know? You haven’t asked him.”

I’m starting to get kind of mad, but am trying to be nice.

“I don’t think asking him if I should talk to him is the best idea, he already seems to want nothing to do with me.” I say with a hint of… bitterness.

Trev keeps on,

“Or maybe you haven’t tried.” He said that with such sassiness I couldn’t help but be a little mean.

“Ok, no, listen, if he doesn’t want to talk, he doesn’t have to, alright?” I say, as my annoyance starts to sound like anger.

“But how would you know?” Oh this is pissing me off.

“I do.” I lie.

“You can’t lie, c’mon man.” After he says that, I can’t hold back my anger as well I was because some sneaks out. I turn around to meet his face, but never make eye contact.

“I’m not lying, because I know he wants nothing to do with me! I wouldn’t blame him.” I express emotionally, not loud though because we’re in public but I say it with… bitterness. A lot of bitterness, man that’s gross.

…oh. Hey wait. That wasn’t supposed to come out. I wasn’t supposed to say that. The end of it.

Trev looks at me with a stunned look, which switches to one that… wait, hang on.

He looks like… that was his plan, which is why he was asking so many- GASP.

“You sneaky bastard!” I say, with a tint of joke so he knows I don’t necessarily mean to insult him. But I am super mad right now though…

“That’s how you feel about it, huh?” He says, with concern for me but also a smirk which pisses me off more.

“What are you, a therapist? Go away, will ya?” I say, as he smiles at me and accepts.

He walks into the kitchen as I’m stuck looking at Bob stare at the restaurant. It’s started to feel eerie, which is kinda funny to me because it’s Bob but something more frightening started to happen.

He started taking off his apron, and walking to his door. With his eyes still on the restaurant.

I start panicking immediately, speed walking to the kitchen making sure I keep an eye on him to see where he is.

“TREV!” I shout as Trev turns his head dramatically and starts walking to me.

“Yea what?!” He says, visibly taken aback.

“Bob is walking over, right now.” I panicked, as all the other workers I have started staring at me.

“…mind your business, everyone!” I shout with the same joke tint as they all start laughing to themselves. I love them, but they piss me off.

“Bob is coming over?” He asks, trying to match up with my nervousness. He fails, but I appreciate it.

“Yes, I need to hide, where should I go?” I ask extremely serious as he chuckles.

“You’re not gonna talk to him?”- he says, as he’s starting to look over at the wall window.

“NO, I’m not! I’m not, I’m hiding, where do I go?” As I ask the second time. I try to get his attention because its been taken by something in the window.

“Jimmy.” Trev says my name so numbly my nerves start to rattle, doesn’t help that he’s still… wait…

“What, what is?-“ I stop talking as I look through the window and see Bob. Sitting on the corner of the bar. Not even knowing I’m back here.

My anxiety SKYROCKETED UP.

“…oh NO NO NO- FUCK, where do I HIDE?” I ask whispering, hands at his shoulders as he looks at me annoyed.

“For the love of God, Jimmy this is your chance! Do you want to talk to him?” He asks me that so securely I forget I even was feeling anxiety. He’s never sounded so sure before, and he’s been plenty annoyed at me to points like this.

“…” I look at Bob, then him, then the ground, with the same worried expression as it turns to..

…relent. Because I know what I have to do, no need to be a wussy about it.

“…yes.” I say, eyes closed, completely giving up. My dignity doesn’t matter right now.

I have the chance. To fix this shit. I’m gonna.

“Then go go!” He says, patting me on the shoulder and pushing me out of the kitchen. Like PUSHING ME like a conveyer belt.

“AYE WHAT THE HELL!” I yell as I push back, “I can walk out myself.”

We are right next to the door.

“Alright go ahead.”

“I will.”

…

…

…

“…I just need a minu-“

He starts pushing me out of the door immediately, as I argue and push back. Damn he’s strong.

He pushes me out into Bob’s peripheral, as his hearing seems to notice my voice.

“Dammit, Trev!” I say, slamming my foot on the floor in anger, not realizing how stupid of an intro that was.

“Jimmy?”

Oh crap.

“Bob?- BOB!” I say, acting like I didn’t know he was already here. I put my game face on, but try not to say anything mean… as I start to think about how many times I’ve done that… no wonder he cut me off.

“Why’re you here?” I ask trying to sound neutral as he looks at me with…

Warmth? What the hell? He isn’t smiling or anything, he looks like he’s seeing… and old friend.

…it’s making me want to cry. I’m not gonna! But it’s feeling like that.

“I… well… uh…” he starts stutter, looking away with nervousness. What’s that about, what does he want to tell me?

…it’s taking a lot of me not to say something stupid. It’s kinda something I have to unlearn.

“…yea, what’s up?” I say, hoping that helps.

Instead of him saying anything, he just darts his eyes to me in surprise.

“Wait, you’re not gonna make fun of me? I just stuttered three times.” He points out as I start to feel like shit. How many times did I do that? He snapped out of his nervousness because he caught that?

“Yea, uh…” I start to feel my pride shrink, the embarrassment rise…

I stay steady. I’ve got to tell him.

“…I’m not doing that today…”

…c’mon, man, spit it out!

“…or anymore.”

Bob’s eyes widen, then start to squint at me with distrust, which makes me feel so much worse… what he adds doesn’t help…

“This isn’t a prank is it?” He asks so defensive I feel my heart wretch. How many times did I make this guy feel like that? I love this guy so much, I made him feel like that for this long?

…should I tell him that?

Trev has told me saying what’s on my mind in order to fix something is a good idea… usually when me and this guy fought… should I do it? I already have nothing to lose when it comes to my ego. I don’t care about it anymore, at least I’m trying not to. How could I have anything to hold onto though! I made a man I consider a friend feel like this… for years…

“…Jimmy?” He asks, as I haven’t spoken in like five seconds, his eyes squinting to ones of curiousness, but softening on the distrust, and moving to… concern. For me.

Even though I’ve been nothing but horrible to him… he’s still concerned for me…

…I feel something fall from my eye.

“…Oh, oh God, Jimmy, are you ok?” He questions turning his whole body to me as his face shifts to a worried look.

I know that look.

It’s the look everyone gets when this happens,

I’m about to cry.

“…can we go to the alley and talk for a minute?” I ask sounding very much anxious, as Bob agrees completely. I really don’t feel like I deserve to be the one crying, but here we are.

“Yes, yea, let’s go.” He says agreeing completely, getting up and following me to the alley.

This is wild. Bonkers.

Bob POV:

Jimmy started tearing up, and I don’t even know why. And now we’re outside in the alleyway of his restaurant. What is he gonna tell me? And also, what am I gonna tell him? That I miss him? That I want to hang out? That these past few months have felt off? That is a lot to lay on a guy who might just hate you, I can’t be sure he doesn’t.

He looks visibly distressed, as though he’s holding something in, and yea I bet, he was about to cry. Why though??

“So… I wanna guess this isn’t a prank, after…” I start to talk, but stop at the middle as I know I don’t really need to say anything else…

Jimmy doesn’t even look at me yet, he’s just looking at the ground, fist held to his mouth, covering it. He looks so… sad?

“…you alright?” I ask as he-

“No, I’m not, at all.” He says, as his hands meet his hips, staring at a very interesting pebble on the ground. His eyes are filled with tears.

Damn… and I thought I was going through the works.

I should tell him I’m not doing too well either.

“…me neither.” I say, followed by him meeting his eyes to mine, surprised.

“…why’re you not?” He asks, I ask.

“Can I ask you first? You look very… not happy, I want to know why if it’s alright.”

After I ask, I get the saddest look from him, looks like it’s filled with guilt. It makes me feel so bad, he looks so fucking sad dude.

After a minute, he answers.

“…I’m so sorry.” He- what?

“You what?” I can’t help but ask him what… what?

“I’m so sorry, for everything.” He says as he sounds like he’s trying to keep a professional voice and demeanor, but is too broken up to keep his voice from trembling a bit, “…you deserve an apology.”

I’m lost for words, he just apologized to me?

…

Wow.

“I was terrible to you, and… It should be said, that I was awful and I’m sorry…” He tried looking me in the eyes but glanced away a second after, eyes absolutely filled with tears.

…that’s… incredible. He’s actually apologizing to me? For everything?

…

“I shouldn’t be reacting like this to apologizing, I’m sorry, it doesn’t make sense.” He says, looking at the wall of his restaurant angrily like he’s mad at himself. “What were you gonna say?” He asks, I answer.

“…I… think… I think I miss you.” I say, trying to be as honest as possible. I think I can trust him now, after seeing how broken up he is… this feels surreal.

His demeanor changes as his eyebrows rise, his eyes grow, seeming to try to find the right words. This DEFINITELY through him for a loop.

“…you miss me?!” He asks, bewildered I even said that, as I start to chuckle a bit out of nervousness.

“Yea, I guess… these past few months of us not seeing eachother has felt… off… and don’t get me wrong, not being pranked or ridiculed has been nice but” I joked on the last bit, only to look up and stop in my tracks, as I see Jimmy’s face.

Absolutely stained in tears.

My eyes widen, I’m lost for words, keeping eye contact with Jimmy.

“…why?” He asks so earnestly a bewildered look flew over my face.

“Why? What do you mean?” I’m so confused as to what he meant by that.

“…why? Why do you miss me? How could you miss me? I was terrible to you!” He announced angrily, doing the Italian hand thing like he was mad at me for missing him.

…WHAT?

“What do you mean, “How could you miss me?” I don’t know!” I yell as his eyebrows dart down, I know he’s about to say something very out of no where.

“You want an answer to that? No common sense! I’m so angry that you’d even put your guard down around me!” He shouts, seeming to be trying to criticize my actions like… a true friend.

“…you’re mad…that I’m trying to be a friend to you? Do you know what you’re acting like?” How does he not realize-

“A friend, I know! Because I can’t believe you’d do something that could end up harming you again! You don’t even care?” Man he’s really mad at me, he’s pacing around.

“I do! I’m not an idiot, if you started again with your old b.s. I’d turn the other way.” I argue as he rebuttals.

“Then turn the other way!”

“You aren’t doing any of that right now! Why should I?” I can tell he’s getting angrier, but I’m not relenting.

This actually kinda feels like how we used to be, except we are arguing about my well being… it’s different… feels better.

“You don’t know whether or not I’ll fall right into old habits! How would you know?”

“If you did I’d cut you off, I’m not an idiot! And you don’t seem like you’d do that, don’t you know what you sound like right now?-“

“YES, I DO, LIKE I CARE ABOUT YOU.” After he shouts that, he looks stunned at himself. Like he wasn’t supposed to say that so boldly.

His anger filled expression and intense demeanor changed to a quieter one… as sadness is starting to peak through. He crosses his arms, and looks away.

“…you’re making a terrible decision. I…” his anger flows off his face from the incoming sadness.

“…your time is better suited for something else. Go back to your restaurant.” He starts to walk back to the entrance, but there’s no way I’m leaving this.

I run up, grab his arm gently, as he turns his whole body dramatically. He looks like an angry cat.

I look up at him, trying convey a look of care, although I’m not very good with expressions.

He looks at me, face softening. I think it worked. I should say something now.

“You… you care so much about me… that you are willing to cut ME off? Of talking to YOU?”

He looks at me, then away, then only looks through glances. His face conveys unbridled guilt.

“…I know it sounds stupid to you, but… it’s a terrible decision to want to be friends with me…” His face morphs, and grows more angered. But not at me.

“…I was an idiot,” he starts up again, eyes filling up again, “I don’t blame you at all when you cut me off-“

My eyes grow wide, as his close in untamable guilt. He really thought I…

“…I never cut you off.”

Jimmy POV:

…what? Trev was right?

I open my eyes and see Bob’s confused and concerned expression. It makes me feel worse… because how could he not cut me off?

“You never cut me off? That wasn’t cutting me off?” I ask without any anger, just confusion. He looks at me in his supportive friend way he does.

“No, I just said I wasn’t gonna let you get to me anymore, I wasn’t cutting you off. You took it as that? And respected it?” He asks, starting to smile.

“…of course I’d respect it, if I didn’t I’d be a bigger asshole.” I say as he smiles bigger. The fact that he’s still trying to become friends with me is so infuriating. Why won’t he get that it’s a terrible decision.

“…can I ask?… you’ve cared about me for a longer while, I just never noticed?” He asks as I-

“Well how could you notice? I was so shitty to you I don’t even blame you for tackling me into open water that one time!” The joke landed very well despite me being super serious, because Bob started chuckling.

“Oh…no, yea, I’m so sorry-“

“Don’t be!” I interrupt, doing the Italian hand thing, “It was an understandable thing to do, after having a man prank and ridicule you for years! On another note, you’re not convincing me this is a good idea for us to talk again!”

“Jimmy, again, are you not realizing you are turning a new leaf right now?-“

“Just because I am right now, doesn’t mean it’s a good decision to be friends with me.” After I say that, Bob’s eyebrows bend to an annoyed look.

“Why? Do you think you’re gonna revert back to your old ways? People can change, you’re doing it right now.”

“Just because people can change, doesn’t mean they deserve a second chance!” I didn’t yell that, but it almost feels like I did.

I look away from him, to the ground. I see another cool pebble. Not relevant.

“…you don’t think you deserve a second chance.” He doesn’t ask that, just states it. He knows it’s true. I know it’s true.

“…yes… now go back.” I don’t look up, I just brush his hand off my arm and go to grab the doorknob of the back door.

Until I feel a pressure on my shirt sleeve. He grabbed it.

“Nuh uh.”

Excuse me?

“The fuck you mean “Nuh uh.”?” I ask, almost completely sounding like I’m giving up, keeping my head down as I know what’s coming. He just won’t STOP.

“No, I’m not going to go back, you want to know why? Because I want to be friends with you! I miss you, I’ve missed you for months! We’ve been at this for what, feels like fifteen years, and have only grown closer each day! You know more about me than my oldest best friend, and we were high school friends!”

…wow.

This monologue is making me dizzy. Not in a bad way. Because I’m getting so much whiplash from this I’m gonna need a damn pepto bismal. And I feel like it isn’t even over. He’s missed me for months?

“I know you were terrible to me, but you were still a friend… I know you helped plan my one birthday, and that ended up being higher than most of the ones I’ve had, top five. And having you out of my life for three months has screwed with my head, and I’m not joking, you must’ve seen me looking over more than one occasion.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his joke.

“Yea, no, I saw you a couple times.” I say looking at him making sure I don’t make him feel bad by saying “yea no, you did it constantly”. He smiles at me after, and I feel my mood start to switch.

“The only reason I never reached out was because I didn’t think I could trust you, but I wanted to try anyway, because I missed you. And seeing you completely turn a new leaf and be this worried about me, not making fun of me at all, and being this open about everything… is giving me the trust, you are earning the trust right now, Jimmy.”

…that hurt.

“…” I don’t say anything, I’ve got nothing but the same arguments I know he won’t listen to. I don’t believe that I deserve his trust, but he’s gonna disagree. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to convince him, and I definitely am not gonna be mean to him again.

“…I’m not sure if you got it yet, but I’m not giving up, I’m gonna become your friend.” He jokes as I start laughing quietly.

After a moment, I start to realize… he’s not letting up. He’s not gonna let up. He’s gonna keep fighting for this, and as much as I think I don’t deserve this, he does. He deserves to have me as a friend, at the very least as an ally, if he wants to.

I sigh, completely giving up because I don’t have a choice, as I look down giving him a knowing look and see his face light up.

It makes me extremely happy.

“That’s a sigh of defeat! I won! WE ARE FRIENDS!” He yells as I start chuckling.

“Yay, now what do we do with this now?” I say very out of energy, as this has been very draining, but it seemed to do the opposite for Bob.

“…wanna go over to my restaurant? Linda will be so happy to find out we’re friends, she’s always liked hanging out with you.”

Now that makes me wanna cry again.

“…yea, yea we can.” I say, trying not to cry. I think Bob noticed, because his face was so filled with happiness and warmth.

“Alright, are we going through your restaurant?” He asked kind of like he knows we are infamous for our rivalry. It would be kinda fun to keep people thinking that. I give him a look of “…nah.” As he shared with me that same sentiment.

Bob POV:

“…wanna go around the back?” I ask. Jimmy looks at me with a silent agreement of not wanting to break the town lore.

“Yea” he agrees.

“Alright.”

I still can’t believe it. We’re friends. I’m friends with my old rival. Who was also kinda my friend back then. It happened. We did it. We made it. We’re here.

It feels… man, I lost the word, I was saying a version of it a while ago.

…

Man I’ve missed him.