#fanny pack stays on obviously

[inienil]

kenshi took the pic

(based on that one meme from the office)

[ssahotchnerr]

girl dad aaron AMUSEMENT PARK EDITION!!!!!!!

he would spend all his money at the ring toss just to get his girl the prize she wants. he would hold her hand on the swings. he would give into her begging to go on the big drop ride. he would ride in her bumper car, whispering, “c’mon. let’s bump into mommy. it’ll be funny.” he would make sure to smear her in sunscreen. he would let her wear his sunglasses. he would buy her dippin dots and funnel cakes and cotton candy. he would carry her on his shoulders. he would get wet on the water rides with her. he would guarantee they get to sit in the back or front carts (it’s only appropriate to sit in the front on some rides. other rides, it’s only appropriate to sit in the back. he would know which ride requires the back seat and which requires the front because he’s asked around because he wants his girl to have the best experience on the rollercoasters she can.) he would pack so much water to make sure everyone stays hydrated (he’s also got a fanny pack. i don’t make the rules.) he would pose for the cameras with her on the rides (silly faces, bunny ears, kissing her cheek, etc.) and he would obviously buy them and hang them on the fridge until the entire fridge is covered in them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

aw aw awwww are you trying to make me cry?????? 😭💞💞💞

baby girl's his ride buddy of the day 🥹🥹🥹 it works out perfectly too. i feel like aaron's not too keen on rides - he gets nauseous easily and can only take so much 😭 whereas you're still okay - so you'll go on the more extreme rides with jack. as the two of you are doing that, aaron's on the more tame rides with baby girl, or standing on the sidelines with her in his arms, pointing out you and jack on the ride 🥰 and for the kiddie rides that don't fit an adult, jack happily goes on those with her hehe <3333 best big brother

aaron's hand is always in hers, she's in his arms, or in a stroller, just always accounted for. he's terrified she'll somehow wander away (although she knows not to) or he knows how easily someone could come swoop her up and take her far away (mosley lane 😭😭😭😭) and STOP the visual of her on his shoulders, in his sunglasses that are far too big for her, gripping onto his hair or his head as she chatters away - pointing out what she sees, what rides she wants to go on, what snacks smell yummy, or simply talking about anything <3333 sobbing

when it comes to the prizes, aaron's definitely paying way more than what that item probably cost to make, and knows it's 'lowkey' a waste of money 😭 but there's no price when it comes to baby girl's happiness, he'll do whatever it takes 🥰 the smile that forms on her face when she finally gets the plushie she wanted??? priceless and it's a memory they'll both hold onto forever - aaron takes full advantage of those type of memories 🥺

the bumper cars!!!!!!!!!!! the true highlight of the day 😭 aaron's with baby girl, you're with jack. hehe you peer over as aaron's sneakily whispering to her and eyeing the two of you👀, you know what he's scheming and tell jack the very same thing 🤭 "we gotta get dad and your sister". the laughs that erupt from both of them as they bump into each other 😭😭😭😭 it's contagious, you and aaron are equally as giddy and are loving every second of it 🥰 they even both insist on riding multiple times just to crash into each other LOL

and omg aaron's prepared and stacked for every scenario possible. extra clothes, shoes, socks are in the car (for each family member) for after the water rides. he packs dramamine, ibruprofen, bug spray. he also strategically plans out when to eat snacks or food - to prevent upset stomachs after eating and going on rides 🥴 he brings a tonnn of sunscreen and applies frequently. omg the four of you are pulled off to the side, drinking water and taking a break - you unscrew the top of a water bottle for jack, simply turn your head, and are met with aaron's hands on your face - applying sunscreen generously for you too 😭😭😭🫶🏻 he also brought hats for extra coverage - jack has a baseball cap, baby girl has a cute lil bucket hat 🥰

and AWWW the pictures 🥹🥹🥹 aaron's sure to get multiples too - one for the fridge, for baby girl's room (a pic of them on her bedside table 😭😭😭😭 especially useful when she misses him when he's gone on a case and she just wants her daddy🥺) and his office 😭<3333

as the four of you leave the amusement park when night falls, baby girl is absolutely zonked 😭 her face is smushed into aaron's neck, arms around his neck, maybe even drooling a bit, completely out. hehe so aaron veryyyy carefully places her into her carseat as to not wake her up 🥹 ugh she had the best day <333

[iamatinydinosaur]

I really like your Branch x little sibling reader requests, and I don't know if you request are open, but if they are, I was wondering could you do one based on the first film, where lil sib is taken by chef along with the snack pack (maybe because they heard the commotion and were trying to help people) and obviously they're saved in the end and everything turns out ok, just the perfect mix of angst and fluff, if thats ok, please and thank you.

A/N: Guess what it's my birthday in a week!!! 23rd of January and I'm not ready!!

🐾Branch x Sister Reader🐾

You hear screams. You promised Branch you wouldn't go near the party, but you couldn't just sit here while there was danger. You jumped down the tree you were stargazing in and ran towards the commotion. You saw the cook Bergen put the last member of the Snack Pack in her fanny pack. You gasped, watching the cook go for Poppy. You ran full speed and shoved her out of the way.

Poppy skidded across the dirt, colliding with another Troll. Poppy propped herself up with her hands looking up at the cook and watched in horror as she saw you get grabbed by the cook. You looked terrified. "Branch!" You screamed, but it was muffled because she shut the zipper of her fanny pack. Poppy knew Branch was gonna brag he was right, but as soon as he finds out you got taken. She's dead.

"Branch! Branch! Branch!" Poppy yelled banging on the rock outside his bunker. "I told you I'm not coming to your party!" Branch glared at Poppy. "Branch it's your sister." Poppy mattered. "She got captured saving me." Poppy gasped as Branch pulled her into his Bunker. "She what!" Branch shouted. "I'm sorry, she wasn't even at the Party." Poppy said. "What did I tell you! I told you that the Bergens would find us. But you didn't listen! Now the only thing in my life that gives me meaning has been taken!" Branch screamed, punching a wall. Poppy watched as Branch broke down. You were all he had left and now you're gone. "I'm going to rescue them and Y/N. Please come with me." Poppy pleaded. "Fine. But only for her." Branch grumbled going to pack supplies.

The whole journey was hard. Not for the dangers. For Branch being so cold to Poppy. He knew that the Bergens would come one day. He just couldn't believe you got taken. Ever since your Brothers left you two and Grandma died, you two only had each other. It hurt him so much with everything that happened, but it hit you worse. You lost your colors too. But you were more depressed than Branch. You had only started opening up recently, becoming your old self. Now you're gone.

The two Trolls sat around a camp fire. Poppy looked at Branch, feeling really guilty. Branch has his head in his hands as he thought about you. "Branch we'll get her back." Poppy whispered. "How do you know that Poppy. She's all I have. You don't understand what we have gone through! What she has gone through! Now she's been taken by her biggest fear. All because you guys wanted to be so happy and Party all the time!" Branch burst into tears. He couldn't lose you. Poppy got up and hugged Branch. He would normally push her away but he just let her hold him while he broke.

Timeskip

"Branch!" You exclaimed as you saw him and Poppy in front of your cage. Branch ran over to you. He grabbed your face as he inspected it. He stared at your features. You started crying, you thought you'd never see him again. "Please let's get them out of this!" Branch said. Him and Poppy opened the gate to the cage. You sprinted out and ran into the arms of your big brother crying. The whole time you were in there you couldn't stop having flashbacks to the day Grandma died. You've been having constant panic attacks. The snack pack tried consoling you. However, they knew you just needed your Brother.

Branch held you tightly. "I'm never letting you go again." Branch whispered burying his head in your hair. He was so happy to finally have you back. "I know you told me to stay away. But I heard screams. I couldn't just let them be in dang-" You started but Branch shushed you. "Hey I'm not mad. I'm proud. Despite being terrified of Bergens you still risked your life to save Poppy from one. I'm so proud of you." He whispered.

From now on you're never allowed to leave his side or sight.

A/N: I hope you liked it. I love writing Branch as a protective big brother I have so much fun.

[agent-cakeshroom]

I need name recommendations for that au where Brozone doesn't split.

Also thinking about how Trolls 1 would go since I feel like Poppy and pals wouldn't be so dismissive of the Bergen threat knowing that some trolls got left behind. Maybe Poppy promises to take precautions, but things get out of hand. She tries to slow the party down, but it's too late as chef shows up. I could see Branch and his Bros at the party at the start, but as it gets out of hand Branch gets increasingly stressed. JD had Floyd escort Branch home while he and Bruce go talk to Poppy. They're about to help her try to de-escalate but ya know, Chef. JD and Bruce help dragging trolls into hiding, JD tackling a pair into some flowers and Bruce grabbing trolls with his hair and dropping them in foliage. Uncertain if I want either or both of them to get captured 🤔 we'll go with both for now. Poppy goes to break the news to Branch, already crying but determined to go after them. Branch blows up at her at first for letting it get so crazy, but he agrees to go with her. Something along the lines of "Yeah, of course I'm mad! But they're my brothers... and you're my best friend. Obviously I'm going with you."

Floyd wants to go as well, but Poppy asks if he can stay to watch after Peppy and the rest of the village. Yeah, her dad is a grown man, but he's not handling the incident well and Poppy leaving isn't helping. Pop Village still ends up in Branch's bunker, but Floyd keeps them occupied and sane.

Meanwhile (with inspiration from Eldest and Youngest ONE OF THE BEST AU'S) JD big-brothers the snack pack. I almost wanted to do a plot twist and make JD the one almost fed to King Gristle, but it'd make the story too wonky imo. So it's still Creek, and JD and the other Snack pack members get ahold of Creek's hair to try and keep him from getting taken. Chef chops his hair short, shocking Creek into silence so he barely fights when he gets fed to Gristle. JD is having Grandma flashbacks, feeling awful for failing someone else, and has to fight off the gray creeping up his limbs.

Creek makes the deal to offer up the rest of Pop Village just like in canon, but he does it out of desperation and immediately regrets it. So when we get to Creek betraying them, it's more Creek trying not to cry and pleading with Poppy to understand. She's still mad, but the fear in Creek's eyes keeps her from truly hating him. Creek begs them for ideas on what he could do, but none of them have any. So Chef grabs him by the hair, his frayed injured hair, and drops him back in her fanny pack.

(My brain is drifting, I will try to continue later. Share thoughts with me!!)

[cozyjae]

traveling with nct dream 🏝️

(a/n: obviously these r not 100% accurate and i haven’t been everywhere on this list lol and these r just a very romanticized ideas. i just thought it would be cute to write about how each of them would vacation differently.)

going to la with mark... sleeping on your shoulder during the flight, matching oversized hoodies and masks, your morning entails a lot of google maps and getting lost for around 30 minutes, wandering around the same streets laughing and counting how many times you pass the same mural, mark stops to buy overpriced ice cream from a street vender insisting he’s making up for typing the wrong address into the gps app, you walk almost all day site seeing and taking photos, laughing so much your stomach hurts, being exhausted by the time you get back to the hotel, taking a quiet shower together before eating too much room service in plush robes, movie marathon on his laptop in bed because you’re both jet lagged, you fall asleep eventually with your head tucked into the crook of his neck, listening to his steady breathing.

going to sydeny with renjun... he’s very organized and has done a lot of research and planning beforehand, has about 30 tabs open in his phone and a shared google doc with intense plans, will twirl around in happiness once you finally check into your room, flopping down onto your bed, arguing about who gets to eat the fancy chocolate on the bed, both like feeling like an adult, laughs with and at you, does rock paper scissors for who has to handle all of the public interactions, wants to go to hidden cool places and not all the popular tourist attractions, you take a ferry and he not so subtly sketches you while you watch the scenery.

going to montreal with jeno… always wearing his glasses, is always smiley, entertained by whatever you’re entertained by, loves seeing you excited, it’s relaxing just to be there with him, he’s always warm and cuddly, walking around town with the overwhelming urge to go back to your hotel room and chill, get take out because you’re both introverted af, a very responsible excited puppy, wants to see everything, taste test a lot of gummies, sweet kisses, ‘just a few more minutes in bed’ famous last words before you spend another hour rolling around in bed, his sister sends you both cat babysitting updates, drags you to the hotel gym, makeout in the hotel pool, likes taking pictures of you, gets really into the art museum there, over packs hand warmers and scarves because he doesn’t want you to be cold.

going to amsterdam with donghyuck...going to the van gogh museum, buying a lot of sunflower painting souvenirs because they remind you of him, a lot of coffee shops, staying up all night then drinking copious amounts of coffee in the morning, complains to you about walking everywhere but will also complain that you’re walking too slow, shares his drinks with you, walking in the morning with sunglasses on slightly hungover, mimosas at brunch, staying in bed until the afternoon, feeling like you probably need a supervisor, jisung facetimes you both attempting to be said supervisor, go clubbing and then end up back at the hotel a few hours later doing face masks together.

going to miami with jaemin... being tired and jet lagged together in the hotel before dragging yourselves out at night to find something to eat, laughing and mumbling things to each other while trying to navigate around the city, shoulders bumping each other, he takes so many pictures of you that it looks like your solo vacation, his finger thumbs over your cheek, a lot of pda, buys you matching cheesy couple tourist items, matching i love miami t shirts and keychains, beach days with sun kissed skin, insisting he lathers sunscreen on you, he definitely looks like a cliche tourist, could whip out a fanny pack at any second and will somehow make it look good.

going to shanghai with chenle... takes you to a theme park and begs you to ride all the extreme, slightly insane rollercoasters, buys those photos that are taken during the ride to make fun of you and to put in his wallet , making you his favorite ramen, introducing you proudly to his family, taking you to his all of his favorite places growing up, you end up playing around in a park like you’re kids, laughing loudly in public, tugging your hand along because you’re walking too slow for him, always ready to go somewhere, babysitting his nephew, now has decided he wants a child, agrees to wait a few years after he plays video games for five hours straight that afternoon.

going to jeju with jisung...tucking flowers shyly behind your ear, not wearing enough sun screen and then scolding him, bare feet running in the hot sand, playing and splashing around in the water like kids, the wind making your hair go wild as he laughs at you but then insists on fixing it, gets easily embarrassed in front of you, your first vacation together, your first time sharing the bed, he’s always shy, the dreamie groupchat texts you for updates, the dreamies also place bets on how long it will take for him to kiss you (only until the first night btw), hand holding at night, cuddles and fuzzy socks.

[imjustyappin]

Hey I’m new on tumblr and I’m having fun so far so I thought I would contribute! This is just something that I have been thinking about a lot lately and so I wrote a list down for my own sake and maybe it can help somebody else too. Basically I’ve got a list of things that help with my chronic pain and hyper mobile elhers danlos syndrome as a young adult/teenager who works and attends school full time while doing extracurriculars. Im also neurodivergent so some of these things are just general sensory and regulation things.

- Good insoles for high arches (helps foot and hip pain while at work)

- Boots with good ankle support and a little heal for additional arch support

- Compression wrist gloves (soooo good for typing pains)

- This is one that is alot harder to control but a comfortable car if you drive is a life saver. Even just getting seat attachments that have lower back support will help a lot

- A comfortable mattress pad helps so much with sleep and waking up less sore

- A massage gun for working out muscle knots helps a whole lot too

- This is less a gadget and more advice but telling people you need to sit down has actually changed my life. I sit down when I need to at my exclusively standing job because I talked to my boss and received an accommodation. Even if you’re undiagnosed but you have chronic pain I would still give this a try.

- CBD salve for aching muscles

- Overall wearing comfortable clothes is so helpful. It’s good for when I don’t have the energy to regulate myself through being In Pain and also uncomfortable clothes. I love long skirts and sweaters mostly because they are comfortable, movable, and keep me warm (or cool depending on the skirt and sweater)

- heating packs and Ice packs

- Electrolyte drink powder things. They help me stay hydrated and my muscles cramp a lot less when I’m well hydrated

- Epson salt bathes

- This is so subtle and weird but contacts rather than glasses because I don’t have to keep my face flexed and posed in order to keep my glasses up.

- Hip or thigh bag like a Fanny pack or a motorcycle riding bag!!! Helps so much with shoulder pain!

- I use an Xbox controller for all my gaming even on computer because it’s so much easier to grip and control than a keyboard.

- the last thing is blackout curtains. I don’t have any but I have friends who do and I sleep 10/10 with those baby’s pulled shut

Anyways that’s my guide to not dying with eds!! Obviously my mobility and pain level is unique and some people need different and more extensive mobility and pain management strategies than I do, but these things help a lot for a mostly mobile girl, who just has some pain!!

[give-grian-rights]

I joined an frc team

-GRABS YOU-

hello and welcome to the first day of the rest of your life . first robotics competition CHANGES YOUR BRAIN CHEMICALS

you want to survive? LETS DO THIS

1: NO MATTER WHAT try and stick it out. Get the grades, get the hours, get the permission to travel to at least ONE competition- especially one that stays in a hotel, since I know some teams will skip out on hotels for events close to them. I don't think ANYONE, in any scenario, should say "this isn't for me" until they go and experience one full event.

2: if you don't use deodorant YOU WILL BE EXECUTED . no matter what your job is, there is going to be at least ONE point throughout the day where you are shoulder-to-shoulder with someone . if theres a time to be self conscious its then . use Convention rules as reference

3:you will be tempted to fucking come out of the closet at least at one point . you do NOT KNOW how much it hurt to skip out on a cool write-your-own-pronouns pin because i refused to use she/her and wasn't comfortable writing any. proceed with caution as you see fit.

4: are you surprised by number four? YOU SHOULDNT BE the women. ohh the women are so pretty. my entire high school (aka: less than a year ago) was me being OUTRAGOUSLY STUPID whenever i saw a fem presenting person . oh my god. oh my god they are all so hot. and then those hot students become hot volunteers and alumni and the gay never leaves. there was a trans woman mentor at one competition she rocked we talked with her for like an hour

5: if your team. goes to far competitions. TAKE A BLANKET AND PILLOW. new kids sometimes do NOT get this memo. do it. get silly with it, to what your team permits. our team, being older than me myself, gave up . . most rules. involving the bus. for better or worse.

6: bring a hoodie. i dont care where you go. bring not just a blanket, but a hoodie. so worse comes to worse you can put it on the floor and sleep. that was a fun 8 hour bus ride.

7: if you have a remotely decent team. you will be killed on site if you cuss at a competition. one kid's "bad" or immature behavior can lead to your entire team being disqualified to any award not related to robot performance.

8: LEARN HOW TO EAT AT LEAST ONE BASIC FOOD. this one might be silly but it could've killed me (dramatic). eat pizza. even if you have to take off the cheese just. figure out a way its worth it. FIND SOMETHING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST. at least one breakfast food, for if you're at a hotel that serves you. experiment a little. find something that works for you.

9: exercise what free stuff you take with caution . i have probably ten-fifteen pounds of buttons and pins, and i do not. genuinely do not. think thats an exaggeration.

10: headphones . soft, subtle earbuds. battery packs. and a BACKPACK. my senior year, i composed myself of:

fanny pack, attached to it my wallet which had a buckle, so i could easily access my money. a change purse also attachable, so i have somewhere for coins obviously.

reusable, collapsing drinking cup

a folded up draw-string bag, for hoodies, or eccentric amount of free stuff

one to two battery packs with a charger. if you have friends (or want to make some), consider having other types of chargers too!

wall outlet plug, incase i need to charge at a venue

miniature hairbrush

hand sanitizer

gum. a great way to make friends

a folded up sandwich bag with various medicines, and a piece of paper that describe which each medicine is (ibuprofen, anxiety meds, etc).

i genuinely considered wearing two fannypacks at the same time. also, tying your hoodie around your waist for extra storage works too.

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE HACK:

tampon box . your venue bans outside food or drink? tampon box with pads and tampons on top. contraband inside. almost NEVER looks. better to put it with team stuff like scouting equipment and spirit gear but a worthy inclusion. Same goes for if you have a backpack with pockets!

put food/drinks at the bottom, menstrual products on top. doesn't matter what you present as. lie. say your girlfriend needed it since she doesn't carry a bag with her to competitions. putting SOFT STUFF that mumbles wrappers crinkling also helps, like an extra hoodie. though I personally wouldn't matter to much about that, since competitions are LOUD especially when you're entering the venue when the doors first open.

a lot of the time though, security aren't too bothered. especially if you dont make it obvious.

this is my first robotics season as a college student. i don't like my team enough to go back, but god. god do i fucking love this program.

[coyotedrawcoyote]

here are more darkest dungeon adventurers sexual and gender identities, based purely on vibes.

Abomination is trans and a pansexual bottom and the vibe there is so razor sharp its not even close. she stays away from most of the other people in the hamlet for obvious reasons, but a fair few of the other adventurers hang out with her. Highwayman obviously has gotten raked and slammed by her once or twice. i would like to imagine Crusader being wary of Abomination until they adventure together for a while and he realizes that she is really cool and powerful and he wishes that he could... do stun attacks as strong as she can...

Antiquarian is bisexual and has a strong desire to be bullied. she’s bratty, too. she will spend several days whining and sneering at the other adventurers saying shit like “don’t touch that it’s expensive” and “you’d know what I’m talking about if you weren’t a commoner” only to spend a night getting choked out by Hellion or making screaming gasps through a rag in her mouth while Plague Doctor goes to work on her. also, unrelated, she would be really into watches or trains or something if she were alive today.

Arbalest is a sleepy mommy domme. she’s definitely into girls, but probably guys too. she wants to pick her sub up or put them in a headlock, or sit on their face and make them beg for air, but by the time they make camp and eat, and she wraps up everyone’s bandages, and she restrings her crossbow, and packs tomorrow’s rations, and writes up the marching plans, and then crawls into her bedroll with her partner, she can barely keep her eyes open. she mutters, “nnn dun worry emm just restinn a bit...” then instantly starts snoring.

Bounty Hunter will tell you he’s straight, which is accurate because trans women are women, and its mostly true if the guys he dates are very femme guys, and really at that point, a cock or a fanny is all just window dressing because it’s the person that you’re dating right, like it’s not about what they have between their legs. all of that is true, but it’s just an odd thing for him to clarify every time it comes up. mechanically, Bounty Hunter and Abomination work really well together, and that has nothing to do with her being trans, you understand. yes obviously you understand, but again it’s weird that he feels the need to clarify these things.

[trashbag-baby666]

Bighorn Mountainside-Luztoye

Chapter Five

Chapter Summary: waking up with retched hangovers. Speirs forces Joe to stay for breakfast. Awkward conversations begin as Joe is just trying to leave.

WC: 1,891

C/W: none.

Series Masterlist!

“I can’t go home like this.” Joe mumbled sitting in the back of the car as they pulled up to George’s house.

“Just come in for the night, thanks Gene.” George climbed out followed by Joe. George fumbled his keys around finding his house keg and opening the door. George kicked off his converse not even noticing how Joe didn’t take his boots off. George walked into the kitchen to get some water and Joe sighed laying on the couch keeping his feet off the couch. He wasn’t raised in a barn; he wouldn't dare put his shoes on someone else’s furniture.

Joe looked over at the fireplace mantle. There was a picture of a taller man in an unmistakable military dress uniform and another one in a suit. Standing in front of a wedding cake. Did George mention he had gay dads? He couldn’t remember right now.

Another of a very little George, probably 3 or 4 being held on the hip of the same taller man in military fatigues. Both of them were wearing big smiles on their faces.

The last one catching Joe's eyes was an obviously more recent picture of George with a three legged pitbull. George smiled with neon green clout sunglasses on with a rainbow Fanny pack on. A shirt with a big rainbow heart on it. The pit had a rainbow bandana around her neck. George knelt down by the dog with the other shorter man wearing a ‘free mom hugs shirt.’ This was probably from a pride festival that Joe could chalk it up to.

“Sorry,” George handed a glass of water to Joe. Joe took a sip then set it on the coffee table. George didn’t skip a beat laying on Joe's chest. Joe was really tired and still couldn’t think right. He just wrapped his arms around George’s back as George nestled into Joe's neck.

“I think I have a crush on Joe.” George mumbled before going silent for five minutes. Then a series of soft snores left George’s mouth. Well Joe felt the same way. Joe shut his eyes letting sleep take over him.

Joe could feel the sun beating on him; he wasn't exactly sure where he was. Then the headache hit him, hungover. He was pulled from his sleep as he heard a dog growling and barking. Joe opened his eyes, sitting up instinctively. Then things started to click into place where he was.

George’s house.

The man with the military uniform pictures stood above him the same three legged pit stood next to him growling at Joe.

“Mmmhhh,” George groaned as he was forced awake by Joe's movements.

Military man was tall with dark brown hair cut to military standard, clean shaven, a work out short hugged his arm muscles tight. Joe noticed the tattoo sleeves up his arms.

“Shit,” was all George said, “Petunia it’s okay. Dad please don’t. It’s uh.”

“I’m gonna make breakfast and I want him to stay for it.” Military man, well George’s dad. Turned walking into the kitchen. The three legged pit barked again at Joe but George grabbed her collar.

“Petunia stop that!” George grabbed her head gently.

“What?” Was all Joe could say.

“We, uh, fell asleep out here last night. You didn’t wanna go home.” George rubbed his head, “Fuck my head hurts.”

“Me too,” Joe rubbed his forehead, grabbing the water cup that he set on the table last night and gulped it down.

“This is Petunia by the way, she’s my baby. She’s really protective over me. Petunia, we like Joe.” George set his hand on Joe's bicep.

“Let her sniff your hand.” Joe reached his hand out and let her sniff it before she pressed her big head into his hands for pets.

“Hello darling,” Joe smiled, petting the muscular dog.

“That was my dad, his bark is worse than his bite…sometimes.” George stood up, “I’m gonna go take a leak and get some ibuprofen.”

George walked down a hallway behind a staircase and Joe went to stand up.

Fuck.

His right leg ached with pain, of course he fell asleep with his prosthetic on.

Joe forced himself up and nervously walked into the kitchen to get some more water.

“What’s your name private?” George’s dad didn’t skip a beat from cracking some eggs into a bowl as Joe turned the tap on. Joe nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Joe, I’m really sorry about that. I was uh…too tired to drive home last night.” Joe turned the water off and looked away from George’s dad.

“First name Ron last name Speirs but you can just call me Mr. Speirs.” The tall man scrambled some eggs. George walked into the kitchen and Petunia followed him. George dropped some little white pills into his hand and Joe swallowed them.

“Want a cup of Jo, Joe?” George laughed to himself, turning the coffee pot on.

“Please.” Joe sat down at a seat at the dining table. He was scared to ask to leave, George would have to drive him home or back to Bills.

George hummed in acknowledgment and grabbed two cups from the cupboard.

“Good morning?” A shorter man in a shrek shirt walked in looking at the scene in front of him. George pouring an unholy amount of cremor into a mug, that was normal. But the other teen sitting in his kitchen was different.

“Morning Mom,” George hummed, “This is Joe, Babe introduced us.”

“Well nice to meet you Joe, I’m Carwood.” Joe shook George's moms hand.

George handed Joe his coffee and sat down on the chair next to Joe.

Joe sipped on his coffee and looked around the kitchen from where he sat.

On the fridge a few school pictures of George were hung up. The most notable one being a school picture of George with big glasses and braces on his teeth.

Joe smiled to himself at the picture of mid puberty George.

Speirs came over with a pan of scrambled eggs then a plate of bacon over to the table, “Does anyone want toast?” Speirs asked, pulling out a loaf of bread from a cupboard.

“Sure,” George got up putting two slices in the toaster. Joe just sat there awkwardly as Carwood handed him a plate.

George came back to the table with toast and grabbed the container of butter.

“How’d you kids sleep?” Carwood asked, breaking the silence as he scooped himself some eggs.

“I slept fine, how’d you sleep Joe?” George looked at him. Joe bit his lip as Speirs stared him down again. Petunia came running into the kitchen and sat on the ground by George.

“Fine,” Joe nodded, grabbing a piece of bacon.

“That Edward kid from next door introduced you too?” Speirs looked at George.

“Yeah, Joe brought some scones into Rosebuds yesterday that they sold.” George grabbed his mug and kicked Joe's leg under the table to not be so stiff. Joe couldn’t be anything but stiff right now, George's dad was shooting daggers at him. I guess he had a good enough reason to he found his only kid laying on a strange boy this morning?

“Ooooh scones, me and George used to make them a lot when he was younger. Then we would make iced tea and put on Brit accents.” Carwood smiled.

“Tea and crumpet time,” George laughed, “That's what we called it.”

“I miss those blueberry ones,” Speirs looked over at Carwood.

“I tasted one of the scones Joe’s mom made, they were really good.” George tried to bring Joe into the conversation.

As far as Joe could think right now with his clouded hangover brain. He just wanted to eat his Speirs cooked meal and go home and take his leg off. His whole body felt sluggish and his right leg hurt.

“My family owns a ranch. My mom has a huge garden. A couple times a week she makes some sort of baked goods and sells it at Rosebuds.” Joe bounced his leg under the table.

“Maybe sometime I’ll do a bake swap with her. These scones sound amazing.” Carwood smiled.

George drove down the dirt road in his Subaru. Joe sat in the passenger's seat rubbing his forehead.

“I’m really sorry about my dad. He’s ex military and now works FBI kinda jobs. He’s just really protective but I promise he will come around.” George glanced over at Joe.

“It’s okay, he made a good breakfast. I’m just really tired and my head hurts.” Joe smiled to himself. He liked being around George even if they had only known each other for maybe 24 hours?

“Joe?” George hummed.

“Yeah?” Joe suddenly got flashbacks from last night.

“Did we do anything? I honestly don't remember.” George laughed.

“Do you want me to be honest?” Joe looked over at George.

“Yeah,” George bit his lip. Joe didn’t know what kind of response George would want or would be expecting.

“I gave you a blowjob in Bill's kitchen last night.” Joe turned bright red and chuckled awkwardly.

“Really?” George laughed.

“Yeah on his island countertop.” Joe giggled.

“Was it good?” George blushed.

“You seemed to think so at the time. But maybe it was sloppy. I was also like half passed blacked out too. Gene drove us back to yours last night.” Joe hummed hoping George wouldn’t be retched and disgusted by this.

“Maybe we can do it again sober sometime,” George turned down Bill's gravel driveway.

“Maybe,” Joe blushed and glanced at George. A smile spread across his face, his dimples showing, his eyebrows scrunched a tiny bit. George parked his car next to Joe's rusty truck.

“Thanks for the ride,” Joe unbuckled, sitting there for a moment before getting out.

“Yeah, anytime.” George smiled as Joe began to climb out trying to make himself look like he wasn’t in pain.

“Also Joe,” George began.

“Hm?” Joe turned to look at him.

“If we wanna do that blowjob thing again sober just text me.” George smirked, Joe blushed and winked as he shut the door. George waved as he drove off, Joe climbed in his truck starting it.

Joe shut the door to his room and set the water bottle on his night stand and sat down on his bed. He let out a groan to himself; he undid his belt and slid his pants down. Slowly he removed his prosthetic and took the liner off, setting them aside.

Joe grabbed the three orange pill bottles and the white one off the bedside table.

He began shaking out his drugs, one lexapro, two buspirone, one lithobid, acetaminophen to top it off.

Throughout his childhood Joe had always had mood problems and impulsive anger problems. His parents always chalked it up to just being a boy, but after the accident Joe’s parents decided to send him to therapy. Then the diagnoses started and the prescriptions started. On bad days Joe took more of a cocktail of drugs for his mood, sometimes if just the right thing could trigger him it would be a depression downward spiral.

Joe took the pills in his hand and swallowed them and then grabbed the water to help them go down. Joe laid down in his bed and saw George had followed him on instagram.

Maybe he’d be thankful for this new boy?

[mysoulspiralbound]

winged infrastructure sounds amazing, but winged fashion in particular owns my heart and soul what do you mean you just drew thing wings on there how do the get in and out of that outfit???

is it warm or cold? how do you protect the space between what you need for wings to get in/out but before the feathers technically start? the colder the weather the more you need to account for the logistical nightmare of layering wings. halter tops can only get you so far. you probably want zippers/velcro near your feathers as much as you want it near your hair.

how are you sizing your clothes? obviously different bird species are going to have different wing spans, and if your going to add bug wings, bat wings, ect. it only gets worse from there.

how about carrying stuff? a bag that sits over one shoulder probably still works, but back packs and crossbody bags are a logistical nightmare. fanny packs, larger pockets, and sleeve pockets probably just became way more popular, but how much can you really carry till you start causing flying problems.

how do you account for aerodynamics? flowing clothing might be light weight but it also whips around in the wind. are flight goggles as common as sunglasses, what about tinted googles. it it considered safe to go out flying without a helmet? running doesn't require a helmet obviously, but you can't get up to nearly the same speeds sprinting as you can in a free fall. maybe you only need protective gear for stunt flying or first learners?

what about when it's raining? are there special lenses for vision, special coatings people can put on their wings to augment any natural water proofing (if they have it). i can't imagine a safe way to rain jacket a wing while flying, but if your grounded cloaks and poncho's are probably a lot more in fashion than coats since they give your wings more room to breath without being compressed. maybe sleeves for the wings themselves? but that doesn't sound super comfortable

what colors do wings come in? do people dye their wings? hair doesn't serve a purpose for humans other than maybe sunburn protection and warmth, so if you mess it up or just cut it all off that's okay. feathers though? important for flight and absolutely need to stay the same length and quality. i'm willing to bet bleaching them would be pretty dangerous. (actually feather loss conditions could be it's own thesis on non-flying accessibility). so would darker colors be more in fashion to dye, or would bright wing colors become a beauty standard just by virtue of how hard they would be to obtain safely

what about wing jewelry? it probably wouldn't be to hard to add a piercing or loop around the top edge. would people tie on other decorations to feathers? it would be pretty easy to add a kind of body shimmer to your wings, but the clean up would be a nightmare if you flew anywhere or leaned with your back up against anything.

i care so much about fictional morality and ethics but not in a lame ass "is this character/ship problematic" way. i'm cringe for other reasons.

[chayacat]

Road96: Shandara’s Land (4)

Fandom: Road96

Rated M for Language and Violence.  

***

Ah... What could be better than a hideout, isolated from everything, where you are sure that no one will be able to disturb you. And this is even more the case when the hideout in question, is an old outpost completely renovated as a normal house. Sonya had put the means to allow her brothers to live decently and avoid washing in the river. The two brothers were, despite their situation, in good health and hygiene. But with this renovation, it was even better. So, this is where our group of fugitives will hide. John parked the truck on the long road to the hideout and the group got out of the truck.  

“Thank you. Obviously, if we don’t know the roads by heart, we can never find you.” said John, going out of the truck, closing the door.  

“No worries. Even I don't remember how we found this place. But at least we're in peace.” said Mitch.

“Here, let me help you.” said fanny, helping Sonya going out.  

“Thanks...” responds the latter.

Jarod came down, holding his hat before observing the building in front of him. How was it possible that no one knew about this outpost? Tyrak was really hiding secrets that were more than confusing. Jarod didn't dare imagine what would have happened if this outpost had been over. Stan helped Anna down, grabbing her by the waist to prevent her from getting hurt. They stood for a few seconds looking each other straight in the eye before Stan let go of her to scratch the back of his head, embarrassed.  

“T-Thanks...” said Anna, laughing a little embarrassed.  

“T-That’s nothing.” responds Stan.  

“Your hideout is impressive! I find it hard to believe that there are only two of you living there.”

“And yet it is. We don't really do a partnership. We did it once years ago with an old girl, that's where we bought our bike. By theft, of course.”  

“I suspected it” replied Anna laughing.  

“It’s not much, but it’s the best we can do to be safe. For now.” said Stan

“That should do it. We have some food on the truck’s fridge. If you need more, just take it.” said Fanny.

“Thank you.” said Mitch.  

"There are 4 bedrooms on the first floor, with a bathroom. The second floor is my brothers' bedroom and bathroom. There is everything we need in the rooms. But we will have to divide up.” said Sonya.  

“There is already a room that is taken.” starts Stan looking at Jarod. “You stay alone in this room. There's no way we'll leave you with anyone.”

“I understand. Fine by me.” responds Jarod.  

“Yeah, you better be.”

“I'm going to take a room for myself as well. I wouldn't want to bother anyone if I'm doing research all night.” said Anna.  

“Alex and I will take the room next to Jarod’s. We might as well put women on their side and men on the other.” Said John.  

“Okay. That leaves, Mom and Sonya.” Said Alex.  

“If you don't mind, we'll be together.” said Fanny.

“Fine by me. I’ve some clothes that I leave here. Just in case. I planned everything unintentionally.” Said Sonya.  

The whole group entered the house. And the best we can say was that it was tastefully furnished. No excesses and not too minimalist either. The necessary without spending too much. The upstairs rooms each had a particular little style. The boys took the rooms on the left, while the girls took the rooms on the right. Stan had helped Anna pack her suitcase, like a good gentleman. Mitch and Sonya, had watched the scene with raised eyebrows, astonished to see their brother do this. Even if after a few seconds, Sonya sketched a small smile in the corner. Not in love, he said.  

“Thanks Stan. It’s nice.” said Anna, looking at him.  

“That’s nothing. They really took everything from you?” he asks.

“Absolutely everything. Fortunately, I always copy my notes into another notebook that I keep with me. I have an advantage, Yung may have my research, but she won't have what I would discover as I went along. We're kind of equal now. But on the other hand... I no longer have a map of the country...”

“We have one, if you want. We had stolen two just in case, but one is enough for us.” said Mitch, at the door entrance.  

“Really? Thank you! it will help me a lot to locate traces of the Shandarian civilization.”

“Fine. We will leave you alone, you need everything arranged properly. See you later!” replied Stan, pushing Mitch out of the room, closing the door.  

Anna couldn't help but smile, and then she took all her belongings out of her suitcase and put them away properly. Everyone was doing the same, from now on, they will have to live together until the hunt is over. On Yung's side, things were very different, but very accommodating.

She had invested in an abandoned building, which in the space of a few hours, had become a real research center. Tyrak, who had resumed his place as President, had come to the scene, observed the result.

“Well, you didn't waste any time. I have the impression that this place has always existed, and yet this building was abandoned.” he said, surprised.

“Science and technology, Mr Tyrak, is constantly evolving. And when you have money, it goes even faster. My men are not like Flores’ security service, they have skills in areas that until now were not accessible to them.” Responds Merlina.  

“You are both an evil and surprising woman. Your reputation is well-founded.”

“Hahaha! I don’t care. I don't care what reputation I am affable about; all I care about are ancient civilizations. And thanks to Weatherlaw's notebook, she and I are equal.”

“You mean you're ahead of the curve.”  

“Aw you’re sweet, and so stupid. Do you really think that she made just one notebook? She had another one. This little girl is cleverer than you’ll ever think. But I love challenges. It's not the first time we've competed, but it will definitely be the last. Once I get my hands on the lost city of Shandara, no one will be able to surpass me, and I will finally be recognized as the greatest explorer in the world! And as for you, you’ll never be confronted with anyone. Your diplomatic power will be such that even neighboring countries will not dare to lift a finger against you.”  

“Interesting....” replied Tyrak with a sneaky smile.  

“Madam!” Said suddenly one of the soldiers, standing at attention.  

“Report.” said simply Merlina.  

“All prisoners are in cells! We even manage to capture Sanchez’s bodyguard!”

“Good.”

“Good?? It’s Sonya Sanchez and the others that I want! Not her bodyguard!” said Tyrak angry.  

“Patience Tyrak, Patience. At any time, we can perfectly use him as bait. What about the research of the ancient city?”

“We're doing our best! We’re not sure, but our systems have detected something which is close to ancient remains.” Said the soldiers.  

“Perfect. Send a team there. And stay alert. Wheatherlaw and her...Companions will surely not be too long in heading to the scene as well. Remember that I will need Weatherlaw alive.”

“Yes Madam!”  

“Why do you need her alive?” said Tyrak.  

“I need something she have. So, I need to keep her alive. Until I get it.”

Merlina eventually leaves Tyrak, who is escorted by soldiers. The young woman entered her own office, sitting down before looking at Petria's map. With a big smile on her face, she took a sip of tea.  

“Let's see which of us will manage to unlock the secret of this city, Weatherlaw. I intend to surpass you this time. And oust you from the race once and for all.”

Back to Stan and Mitch's hideout, in the evening. The group reunited after Anna discovered a location to explore.

“An old mine?” she said, looking at John.

“Yeah, but for lack of "means", Tyrak closed it. Although I think there is something else behind it.” he responds.  

“Are you sure about what you found?” asks Alex.  

“Almost. But if I match the map of Petria with the old map of the city, there may be something to be found in this mine. I have to know for sure.” said Anna.  

“Mitch and I will accompany you. It's too dangerous.” Say Stan.  

“But how are we going to communicate?” asks Mitch.  

“With that!” asks Alex proudly, getting out some Talkie-walkie.

“Talkies?”

“Yeah, I tampered with them a little and now their weak range has been transformed into a powerful and gigantic range! Whether you are at the top of a mountain or in an underground cave, or even on the other side of the country, we can always communicate!”

“Where did you get that Alex?” asks Fanny

“Well, the owner of the computer science’s stand gave them to me to thank me for fixing one of his devices. He knew I would do something cool with it.”  

“It's great! you're a real little genius Alex!” said Anna happily.  

“Well, Big dog have an IQ of 180.For me, it’s baby stuff.”

“...You come with us too. I don’t want to let Sonya be alone with you.” say Stan looking at Jarod.  

“If you want.” he simply responds.  

“Meanwhile, we will think about giving a new look to Mr Grizzly. After all, if we must move and we get attacked, we will have to defend ourselves.” said John.  

“Okay! We will leave for the mines tomorrow morning. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get ahead of Merlina Yung and her minions.” Said Anna.  

“But for now, we all need some rest. It’s been a rough day.” replied Sonya.  

Everyone nodded and went to bed. It had been a tough day for everyone. What was supposed to be a day of peace, and celebration, quickly turned into a nightmare. They all hoped that it would soon calm down. But as long as Tyrak is in power, it's impossible.  

And the hardest part is yet to be expected. This is just the beginning.  

***  

(Road 96 Miles 0 is coming out soon! I can't wait to discover a little more about Zoé, even if it's not a character I particularly like. But we will obviously meet John, Sonya and Jarod, I wonder if we will also meet all the others! I hope you’ll like it like the other ones! Feel free to tell me what you think about it! Have a great weekend to you all!  See ya!)  

[queenimmadolla]

CRUEL SUMMER - ‘85 (PART ONE)

summary: . . . the year Eddie Munson doesn’t give a fuck about not having graduated when he’s gotta save the girl so he can get the girl. (in which Eddie is in ST3 and reader is basically Heather Holloway) ┊ Eddie Munson x Flayed!Reader┊ Main Masterlist - Series Masterlist - PII - PIII

chapter warning: pining, billy hargrove, ‘unrequited’ love, angst, fluff, violence towards reader, insecurity

word count: 2.3k

a/n: yeah, so i started re-watching ST3 for Heather again and immediately started shipping her with Eddie after i started wondering if he had known her. thought about writing a fic for them but for now, i’ll let you have the honors of being in her place ;) i feel like, from what i interpreted, Heather was very eager to please for validation, the girl who wants to fit in (a lot like jenna rink from 13 going on 30 when she’s a teen) so that’s how reader is. don’t know if i want to have reader meet the same fate yet or not, so let’s see how this goes!

“WHAT DID I JUST SAY, CURTIS?” Your voice boomed through the megaphone and the boy in question let the other boy he’d been holding under water back up for air, glaring at you.

“Menace.” You mumbled, adjusting the white oversized sunglasses on your face as your eyes scanned over the crowd to ensure no one else was doing anything obviously stupid.

Clear.

You relaxed back into the life guard chair, happy to be out of the sun. It was getting hotter and hotter every year and all you wanted to do is seek out some air conditioning, but when your mom mentioned to you that Sarah Donahue told her the Hawkins Community Pool was looking for life guards, you saw o p p o r t u n i t y.

See, you had a lot of time on your hands. Your friends were all busy. With each other. They, uh, didn’t really like you all that much. But they were all you had. Clearly, this had been fate because you needed something to do, and the pool needed life guards. Win-win!

You’d gotten the job pretty easily, and for a decent amount of time, too. You worked Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday mornings. It killed you to be at work by 8am, but it was worth it because it meant you were off at 12, which would give you plenty of time to still hang out with Eddie.

And you actually enjoyed the job. There was something relishing about finally being the one people had to look up to. You could tell someone not to do something and they had to listen to you. The babies were pretty cute, too. The only unpleasant thing was the person who relieved you.

The watch on your wrist beeped, alerting you to your clock out time. You made sure your fanny pack was secured around your red one piece as you climbed down from the post, paying no mind to the married woman primping themselves for the eye-candy.

You knew he’d be on time. He was an asshole, but a punctual asshole. Billy Hargrove. You smacked your gum as the two of you passed each other, always with the usual stare down. Or at least, as close as you could get to having a stare down while both of your eyes were hidden behind sunglasses. You could see every girl doing a double take but you just kept going, eager to take a quick shower so you could be on your way.

Once you’d been scrubbed free of chlorine and you smelled like lemons, you rushed to get dressed, too impatient to dry yourself off completely. There wasn’t anything waiting for you at home, but you weren’t going to stay home. No, you had asked Eddie if he wanted to hang out after you got off of work yesterday, and he agreed. He agreed. Which meant you were meeting Eddie at his trailer as soon as you put your swimsuit in the washer. Once your shoes were on, you threw your backpack on and peddled home as fast as you could, so fast that you beat your best time. You’d just started the washer and were like three steps from the front door when the phone rang. Groaning, you rushed over, answering with a twinge of animosity on your voice, “Hello?” “Wouldn’t be happy to hear from me, either.” He laughed over the line. Your heartbeat rivaled a hummingbird’s wings flapping when you recognized the voice. “Eddie!” “Hey, Sunshine.” He breathed out, you could practically see that soft smile you knew he had on through the phone. “I was just about to head out! Thought I was gonna have to take a message for my parents for a second there.” You joked, twirling the cord of the phone around your finger like some stupid, love sick teenage girl. Which, granted, you were.

“That’s—That’s actually what I called about. I-uh—can’t meet up today. A few last minute business calls. I’m sorry, but I promise I’ll make it up to you. You free after work tomorrow?” Your shoulders sagged in disappointment, but part of you had known it was coming. More often than not, Eddie ended up having to deal during your special hang out time, and it usually ran past your curfew. “Yeah,” The only people who wanted to hang out with you lately were the ones in the soap operas you watched during your free time. And they had to be there. “I’m clearing inventory tonight, and I’m keeping my whole schedule for tomorrow clear. Wait—no, I’m booked. From the moment I get up, to the moment your curfew starts. Meet me at the bench. I’ll be all yours.” God, if only. And he really did mean it. Eddie woke up around the time you got off of work. But even if he woke up at too-fucking early o’clock, he’d wait for you.

“What if something comes up again?” Because it had happened before, too. “Then I will track you down the moment I’m free—regardless of where you are, by the way—and carry you off.”

It was easy to picture Eddie strutting right in the Community Pool, plucking you from your post, and then strutting back out. You could already feel your hope building up, but you needed something a little more concrete. Some reassurance. And Eddie was the only one in your life who ever gave it to you.

“Promise?” Your voice was small, but the barely contained excitement could still be heard.

“I promise.” There wasn’t an ounce of doubt left in you after he said that, the sincerity in his voice piercing right through those troubling thoughts.

“Okay!”

“See you tomorrow, sunshine.” The rest of your day was spent catching up on your soap operas you didn’t know were your soap operas until you realized you were lame enough to be watching daytime television. Even the moms were out and about doing something. Friday had found you in even better spirits, despite the troll in the pool. “HEY! No dunking, Curtis. No. Dunking.” This kid was not about to ruin your record. First of all, you didn’t wanna ever have to give anyone at the pool CPR. You avoided the pool yourself because that was a bunch of piss water, and you weren’t about to put your lips on anything that had been submerged in said piss water.

Once Curtis wasn’t a threat, you went back to ignoring the way-past-middle aged women you kept feeling glaring at you. You knew what they said about you. 

How annoying they thought you were. But it didn’t phase you. 

See, they were just the grown up versions of your friends. Scratch that, they were who your friends were going to become. Eddie had pointed it out one day—and of course it was the one day he visited you at work that the Mothers Grimm chose to be a little bit louder than normal, you were so embarrassed—and you couldn’t stop seeing it. Knowing they were miserable with their lives like that took away any intimidation they may have had over you.

Your watched beep, and like clockwork, you climbed down the post and passed Billy. It was clear he was off his game, most likely hungover. Still, he was finally wearing a shirt so you tossed him a backhanded complimenting he didn’t acknowledge, and made your way to the showers. You were a little thirsty and you’d finished your water already so you were forced to wait in line at the snack bar. This meant your shower would have to be more rushed, just your luck.

As you were rushing towards the girls showers, you heard someone screaming in agony from the boys. It sounded like Billy. You dropped your water bottle and hurried in.

Sure enough, Billy was crumpled against the wall, still wearing his shirt, under the shower. He looked terrified. Sure, you didn’t like the guy and you thought he was a terrible human being, but you didn’t think you could live with yourself if you had the chance to save someone and you didn’t. Had he fallen and hit his head? “Billy?” He didn’t respond, just stared at you. You kneeled down to be eye level with him. “Billy, are you hurt?”

“What?” He gasped out. “I said, are you hurt?” He kept staring at you, like he didn’t understand a thing you were saying. “What’s going on? I heard screaming. Should I call an ambulance?”

Billy tensed up, his face contorting into something that scared you.

You didn’t even have time to wonder why you never seem to have any good luck as he threw himself at you, hand flying over your mouth to muffle your scream before he slammed your head once and hard into the ground.

- You woke up somewhere dark and scary, wrists and ankles bound by some rope that was rubbing aggressively into your skin. Your mouth had been duct taped shut, and you could taste the glue from it on your tongue. Despite the pain in your head, you moved it to the side and whimpered when you saw Billy staring down at you. 

Oh, god. Was he gonna kill you? 

Your brain switched into panic mode and you squirmed hard, trying in vain to break loose. Billy slammed you against the ground, and you winced as he leaned down, whispering into your ear, “Don’t be afraid. It’ll be over soon.” You were gonna piss yourself, you were so terrified. He was gonna kill you, that’s what killer said before they murdered someone.

“Just stay very still.” 

You swallowed hard, forcing yourself not to scream for help when he peeled the tape off of your lips. Billy stood up as you heard growling coming from the right of you. And then something worse than any monster you or even Eddie could have ever imagined emerged from the darkness. It shrieked and closed in. You screamed. And you kept screaming. 

—

Eddie sighed, fingers drumming over the dirty wood. A glance at his watch confirmed another half-hour had passed. It was 3pm. He knew your schedule better than his own. You set your alarm for 6am, but always got up at 7, then you’d manage to get your swimsuit on—and he was that swimsuit’s number one fan, — with those red dolphin shorts that left nothing to the imagination—again, big fan, he was lucky you were oblivious because he was terrible at being discreet—in under fifteen minutes, then you biked there (because you refused to let him give you rides), always arriving ten minutes or less before the Pool opened. Then you got off at 12, tried to be on your bike within 20 minutes, you’d get home around 12:45 because you seem to be awake enough to pedal home faster than you do in the earlier hours, and you’d be out of the house ten minutes later, always meeting him anywhere between 1:15 to 1:20. So yeah, you were a little late. 

He’d been trying to give you some leeway time, but his worry began to boil over. Were you mad at him about yesterday?

He felt like he’d made the wrong decision the second he agreed to it, but one of the basketball players was throwing a party and wanted some amusement. Eddie knew he’d be able to clean store in one go, which meant he’d have more time to spend with you. He had toyed with the idea of inviting you along, but he knew your poor excuses of ‘friends’ would be there, and it hurt him to watch them disregard you like that.

Eddie, like most of the town, knew how badly you wanted to fit in. Even back before the two of you had become friends, when you just knew of each other, it was obvious to him. You always chased the in crowd. They never chased you. However; they did keep you around to take advantage of you. 

But what frustrated Eddie was that you let them. After you two became friends, you had told him that you knew they took advantage of you, that they weren’t your friends, but you wanted to belong so bad that you didn’t care. He wished you could see yourself the way he did. In fact, he was gonna make sure you knew exactly how he saw you. Today, he was gonna tell you how he felt, finally confess that he’s in love with you.

That fondness at first sight during the talent show when you were younger had become something much more intense now.

He was ready for it, had a yearning for it. For you. 

He wasn’t stupid, he knew you returned his feelings. Had seen the way you stared at him when you thought he wasn’t looking, but it was your obvious mannerisms that gave you away. Like how you never waited until he had walked away from the door before you squealed on the other side when he dropped you off at home. 

You’d been waiting all this time for him to see you.

So, he could wait for you. What’s another half hour compared to the rest of your happy, lovesick lives?

-

You never showed up.

[missjoolee]

(This is very messy but I assure you, I cleaned it up from what it was. my brain does not think linear when it spirals so i had to move everything around haha.)

a time travel fic but it’s luke and the guys going back to the 90s and living (just barely) 

they all go back to when they were supposed to have died but this time live.(that includes Willie who died in like…in 94 originally. he buys a ticket for their orpheum show. hoping that they also go back to their og time and don’t die and they don’t but since they are still hospitalized, it takes a bit to get the willex reunion) but luke has memories of being dead and julie and he knows that magic/ghosts are real so he tries to find a way back to the future.

all the while he’s been looking to for ways to go back forward, alex and reggie are just making do. Sunset Curve is on hiatus which is ruining everything they worked towards before the orpheum but things cant be as they were with what they know. that Bobby is capable of being a poopy human, Alex’s parents weren’t cool. Reggie’s were also not great to be around. The band is family and julie is a part of that now. honestly, luke making up with his parents would be the main thing probably keeping them in the 90s, but maybe he’d like. make amends but then be like. I know what i need and it’s not here. “you’ve always raised me to fight for what i want and to get that, i have to leave” or something

They find a way back to the future but alive this time, and when they arrive, the the year is 2020 and they immediately go searching for julie. only it’s not the same time of year that they originally met her and it’s later in the year and she never had her revelation to stay and they’ve moved. though, instead of selling the house, Ray decides to rent it out so they have to sleuth (aka learn how to smartphone) to find her. Willie would have the knowledge of 2020 so he’d help them know to buy a pay as you go phone from Wal-mart or something. (they brought all of their savings with them) so they have to find julie, only she doesn’t remember them because they didn’t die and become ghosts. the first meeting is awful because they don’t realize she doesn’t remember them at first and Willie is the one to jump in all “they thought you were my cousin, sorry for the confusion” and drags them away before the scenario can brand it’s way into her brain they have figure out how to casually casually infiltrate her life so that she can start healing and they can be a band, a family, again. basically they have to help her find music again... again.

to luke’s chagrin, it’s reggie or alex that get them in the door At some volunteer thing, Reggie tries to bond via crafts and glitter and is hella awkward trying not to give it away and Julie is like “teenage boys do be awkward sometimes” but the glitter shaker lid is clogged so he takes the lid off and turns too quicikly and BOOM glitter all over the both of them. and Alex who had just left for a second comes over and starts apologizing for his friend and attempts to help julie clean up. (they leave reggie to sort himself out. but he’s happily a sparkly boy and clueless when julie makes a twilight joke) and that really just breaks the ice for friendship

and then Julie’s like “are you on insta?” 

but alex is like “uh. maybe?” and then he reaches into his fanny pack and pulls out their cheap smart phone and he’s obviously not used to it so while she waits, she asks reggie the same thing

and he’s like “Alex? do i have that?”

and that’s how it comes out that they are sharing a phone. then she realizes that these guys are probably runaways, living on the streets. Julie asks to meet their two friends not with them and that’s how she meets luke and willie officially. and luke is grumpy a la “it’s not the strip” because he had a taste of something more with Julie and he has to start it all over so he’s just… bouncy. can’t sit still Julie thinks they are strange boys that act kinda like they know her but don’t go to her school or anything and it’s weird but it’s starting to feel weird at how not weirded out she is by them. She doesn’t know why but there is something about these boys. and she wants to help them, so she sneaks them into her mom’s old studio. (it’s either still not in use, or it’s off limits to the renters)

queue the montage of hanging out and growing closer and suddenly having the courage to play the piano again. Luke being her number 1 cheerleader. writing with her, growing closer. and despite knowing that they felt the same for each other before, he’s HELLA nervous that things have changed this time around. the stuttering is twice as bad whenever he attempts to bring it up and Julie finds it adorable.

also “YOU HAVE FOUR BOYS HIDING OUT IN YOUR STUDIO?!?!” “Shhh flynn! not so loud, would ya?”

[springfieldblues]

So how did you come up with how the Springfield Kids would dress in your comic? What were your thought process and inspirations?

i could’ve answered this more simply but i got a little carried away. oops. sorry this is long. and please don’t laugh at my fashion sense

Bart's style is supposed to be similar to what he wears in episodes set in the future, but tweaked to evoke more of a chill skater vibe. I want him to look colorful while trying to stick to his original color scheme: blue+faded red+orange. I like to give him Hawaiian shirts and hoodies. I'd originally given him Converse, but decided to switch to Vans because they fit the look (and his original shoe design) a lot better. Tyler the Creator is a big influence vibes-wise, I can't really explain it but if you get it you get it. Not shown: vintage faded Krusty t-shirt.

Lisa's look is also inspired by what she's seen wearing in the show. Tried to go for "smart goody two-shoes bookworm but also a bit artsy," hopefully that comes across. Sweaters and turtlenecks seem to be her thing. Her color scheme is red+orange+black or brown. I considered using more pink because she wears it a lot in the show but it clashes too much with the red and orange, so I replaced it with occasional floral patterns that match the "artsy bookworm" aesthetic. also I recently learned that this type of style and aesthetic is called 'academia' which is very fitting for her, I think. (btw she does wear pants too, these are just the designs I use the most) (yes I am aware that she looks like Sabrina Spellman but it was not intentional and it's fitting so I can live with that)

Milhouse....look I gotta be honest. I got nothin interesting for him. Perhaps that's fitting. The show gave him a green polo shirt in Barthood, so I went with that. He also wears the occasional v-neck. I don't know why but striped polos always gave me sort of a nerd vibe? It's like he picked up a GQ magazine and tried to emulate the style of a successful entrepreneur, almost to appear as someone he's not, but he can't get rid of who he really is. The very same thing shows in his physique, like you can tell he worked out like crazy but even though he's ripped, he still looks tragically Milhouse. He's a pretty insecure kid. His color scheme is green+light purple+red. Terrible color scheme if you ask me LMAO maybe I should work on that...but for now, this works. I could give him a fanny pack too or something. would that be too much?

Finally Nelson..........this is where I took the most liberties because I couldn't figure out his fashion sense (or lack thereof) in the future episodes (his design is also super inconsistent in those). So I scrapped those references and worked off of his original child design only. He still wears the vest and the faded pink shirt in my teen designs (obviously not the same ones he wore as a kid come on), but now he has more of a grungy...metalhead-ish...biker-ish vibe, mainly because that's what the bullies reminded me of ever since I was a kid (and why I always loved their designs in the first place)....something about the ripped and torn edges got me like "wow that looks cool as fuck" and then drew a punk version of pikachu in a torn vest in their honor. ANYWAY. It's a shame I can't make his vest too detailed like a real battle vest, but perhaps he likes to keep it simple. I know I do because I'm the one who's gonna be drawing it over and over again. I originally gave him a red plaid shirt to wear under the vest as a reference to John Bender from The Breakfast Club, but changed it to green like his father's. Could even be the same shirt he wore. My reference to John Bender stayed as a red cloth tied around one of his dirty combat boots. His color scheme is muted blues+faded/dirty pink+black +the occasional green. I feel like adding black to any design just makes it better tbh.

that’s all i got!!! whew. they do have more outfits than just these but these are the ones i draw the most. hopefully this is thorough enough....not sure what else i can say. enjoy :^D ?

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Sentibubbler

Hey, a sequel to “The Bubbler”, the very first Miraculous Ladybug episode I ever saw. Maybe Cat Noir can get some character focus since it's his best friend he's fighting. This should be fun, right? Right?

Let's get into the tenth (chronologically the fourteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Sentibubbler.

We start off at Alya's house where Marinette is having dinner with her friend's family, but Alya's Kwami, Trixx, is at the table too. Apparently, everyone knows who Marinette really is, even Chloe.

Oh, OF COURSE they have Chloe say that. She's the ridiculous one for pointing out how hypocritical Marinette's been with the whole identity rule this season, right?

Alya then lets in another guest, Shadowmoth, who reveals that Alya betrayed Ladybug and helped him get the Miracle Ball. Marinette tries to transform, but Tikki lectures her instead. And then she sees Cat Blanc, an akumatized version of Cat Noir from an alternate timeline where Gabriel beat up his son after finding out his identity, though all Marinette knows is that this was the result of a reveal in the first place.

An actually creepy image that solidifies Marinette's fears and a very unexpected character. This then loses some scare value when everyone just puts out their arms and starts walking like a bunch of zombies.

How terrifying. 

So yeah, this was obviously a nightmare born from Marinette's anxiety over giving Alya the Fox Miraculous last episode. She decides to get the Miraculous back from Alya, leading to yet another “Marinette running out in her pajamas” gag because the animators really want to get their money's worth on that character of Marinette in her pajamas.

When Marinette gets to Alya's apartment, we see her family searching for something hinted to be Trixx, but it was actually a tarantula. Okay, that's a pretty funny twist that does a good job at highlighting Marinette's paranoia.

Marinette points out that since Shadowmoth knows she's Rena Rouge, he can easily take her Miraculous if he finds out she has one, but Alya reassures her that she's fine. I do like how Alya has some safety precautions set up like a little fanny pack to hide Trixx in, and really seems to take keeping her identity secret seriously. It's a far cry from last season, considering how much she invaded Ladybug's privacy with that picture.

The phone starts ringing while they talk, and when Alya answers, she finds out Shadowmoth was calling, right before seeing Nino's akumatized form, the Bubbler, in the room, who soon traps Marinette in a bubble with Alya's family (and Nino). Shadowmoth reveals that this was actually a Sentimonster copy of the Bubbler, and Nino appearing earlier in the episode (he stayed in the bathroom because he was afraid of the tarantula and seemingly got upset of being left out when Marinette and Alya went to talk) was a red herring. It's a clever twist, but it kind of loses the surprise because Shadowmoth decides to tell Alya right away. Wouldn't it have been more interesting to think that Nino had gotten akumatized again only for Marinette to later see Nino in a bubble with her while we see Shadowmoth was messing with Alya the whole time? As it stands, there's really not much of a reason to have the Bubbler become a Sentimonster other than to justify the importance of Shadowmoth using both the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous.

Meanwhile, Marinette worries about Alya while Tikki gives some “advice”.

I mean... she kind of... the thing is... uh...

As questionable as Alya's past has been in regards to her friendship with Marinette (which I talked about in my “Gang of Secrets” review), Tikki has a point here. This is the reason Marinette trusted her with the Fox in the first place, to make sure someone can still fight Akumas and bail out Ladybug if she needs to. It's clear that Marinette's paranoia is driving her actions this episode and she's still not used to working with Alya yet like she is with Cat Noir.

Shadowmoth issues an ultimatum to Alya: betray Ladybug. Shadowmoth says that since this is Alya's family, Ladybug will give her the Fox Miraculous so she can help save them, and plans to trap her in a bubble as soon as she gets there. He then wants Alya to transform into Rena Rouge and create an illusion of Ladybug to distract Cat Noir (shouldn't be too hard given what he fell for last season) before Sentibubbler captures him too. Only after Shadowmoth gets the Ladybug, Cat, and Fox Miraculous will he release Alya's loved ones.

This is honestly a very clever plan, and it makes sense. So many of the debuts of the temp heroes have been because their loved ones were either endangered or akumatized. Alya became Rena Rouge when her sisters were akumatized, Nino became Carapace when Alya was kidnapped by her akumatized sister, Chloe became Queen Bee again when her father was akumatized, Luka became Viperion when his mother and sister were victims of Desperada, Max became Pegasus when his mother was akumatized, and the same happened with Kagami becoming Ryuko. I really like how Shadowmoth picked up on the pattern and found a way to exploit it here, and it could have worked if Alya didn't already have the Fox. Of course, Ladybug could have easily used the Fox herself or gave it to someone else like she did the Bee, but this is still a somewhat solid plan. This is why I think Shadowmoth is at his best when he uses more strategic plans with his Akumas and Sentimonsters in episodes like this.

Like almost every episode this season, Adrien sees what's happening on the news, so he transforms into Cat Noir. Alya pretends to call Ladybug for help, only to intentionally trip, transform into Rena Rouge, and cast an illusion of herself to go to the bathroom while Sentibubbler is distracted and ducks out into another room to call Cat Noir on her flute.

Goddamn it... Why does this always happen? Almost every time I think an episode is turning out to be good, the writers pull a stunt like this? Yeah, this does not make Cat Noir look good. Why exactly should I feel sorry for him? I can get why he feels like he can't be trusted, but the way he phrases some of his lines makes him come off as extremely entitled to Ladybug's attention. This looks like something you'd read in a salt fic, not a canon scene where the audience is supposed to feel bad for him. The way he does this so callously makes him come across like a complete asshole. What if the debris from the chimney he broke fell on some civilians? He can't just rely on Ladybug's powers to fix his mistakes. He doesn't even look like he regrets what he did like when he almost Cataclysmed a Christmas Tree in “Santa Claws”.

I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point, but how exactly are Cat Noir's actions in this scene different from how Chloe acted in “Miracle Queen”? Putting aside the fact that Hawkmoth had used her parents as a bargaining chip, according to Astruc, Chloe betrayed Ladybug because she was  tired of being ignored by her as a superhero in favor of the other temp heroes. How is Cat Noir saying that only he and Ladybug can make plans together any different?

And then it gets worse. Rena Rouge creates an illusion of Ladybug as part of the plan, and even though he was explicitly ordered ordered to wait for further instructions, Cat Noir runs after the Ladybug illusion (thinking it's the real deal) and has to be told the plan by Marinette, unintentionally doing what he wanted Ladybug to do in the first place. How exactly am I supposed to sympathize with someone who treats his partnership with Ladybug as a competition for attention?

So Rena Rouge creates illusions of her civilian form and Ladybug to have a conversation where the Ladybug illusion does what she really should have done since the season premiere, tell the Alya illusion she can't have the Fox Miraculous anymore. The Ladybug illusion tempts Shadowmoth by saying she'll bring a new hero with a very powerful Miraculous instead.

Cat Noir chases after Sentibubbler, knowing he can't mess up the plan... and then gets bubbled by him. He uses his Cataclysm on the bubble to escape... and then immediately gets bubbled again. Such a valuable member of the team and worthy of getting all of Ladybug's attention.

Rena Rouge creates an identical illusion of Marinette in the bubble so the real Marinette can transform into Ladybug, once again opening with summoning her Lucky Charm, a pot. She deduces Shadowmoth is controlling the Sentimonster with an Amok in a coffee cup he has been holding the entire episode, and then takes out the Horse Miraculous and unifies with it, transforming into Pegabug.

And I think we have a new contender for worst unification design. I like the little wings on the head and feet, but the use of white is just... ugly. Why does the while slowly fade on the legs? Why are part of the arms gray? Why are the glasses so out of place on Ladybug's face? Can't the glasses change to better suit her face? Since this her first real encounter with him, I imagine Pegabug is thinking the same thing as Shadowmoth.

So even though she has a perfect opportunity to steal Shadowmoth's Miraculous, Pegabug only grabs the coffee cup because the plot won't let her use her other hand. Pegabug commands Sentibubbler to free the hostages, but Shadowmoth erases him, causing the others to fall from the sky, though Pegabug then uses her yo-yo to catch them all (even though I'm pretty sure at that velocity the string would do nothing), and uses the pot... to catch the tarantula. Is it me, or are the writers running out of ways for Ladybug to use the Lucky Charm?

Shadowmoth retreats, Cat Noir never tells Ladybug how he acted while she wasn't looking, and Miraculous Ladybug is used to fix the thing he broke. After reuniting with her family, Alya is told she can keep her Miraculous, but realizes she'll have to be more secretive as a result. And so the episode ends with Gabriel breaking his tablet in rage, so I guess that just runs in the family, while Nathalie reassures Gabriel that Ladybug will make a mistake someday.

I was going to say I liked this episode almost as much as I did “Optigami”, but things really fell apart during the third act, and not just with Cat Noir.

Yes, his behavior really kills this episode for the most part, as I have talked about before and will in a little bit, but right when Pegabug appears, a lot plot contrivances happen. Pegabug could have easily taken Shadowmoth's Miraculous instead of introducing herself like an idiot. All she had to do was tie him up with her yo-yo, and he would be helpless with no Mayura to bail him out. Then there's the whole yo-yo string managing to catch several people with no harm despite the thin wire not really forming a consistent net. It's a minor nitpick, but she could have easily used Miraculous Ladybug to save them like in “Reverser”. The Lucky Charm was also very pointless and even though the tarantula was built up with some importance, it wasn't used to scare Sentibubber or Shadowmoth at all, making you wonder what the point was.

But again, the biggest problem has to be Cat Noir. As usual, he's never called out on his behavior and conveniently forgets to talk to Ladybug about how he acted earlier. I've seen some posts saying it's okay and he's allowed to get angry, but I'm sorry, I just don't see it. Yes, anger can bring out the worst in someone and expose their vulnerability, but a moment like this should lead to acknowledging how flawed this is and then hopefully some character development. This is only an extension of how Cat Noir has acted in episodes like “Syren” and “Frozer”, where his feelings take priority over the situation at hand. I really want him to grow past this mentality, but it seems like the writers only want to encourage this.

There were still good parts of this episode, like Alya and Shadowmoth playing 8-D Chess with their plans, and Alya just makes everything up as she goes along. This is really what I like about her as Rena Rouge, her learning to be more deceptive and cunning around others when she needs to be. There's really not much I can say about that since I already gushed about Rena's strategy last time.

Overall, I think this was a decent, but very flawed episode. It's not bad, but I think it's only slightly better than “Gang of Secrets”. Hopefully the next episode where Nino actually gets akumatized again will be good too.

[yeahimwiththeband]

-> with the band chapter 5

tell the truth (part 1)

warning: minors DNI due to a little bit of smut in this chapter and a lot in others. in this one: people pleasing behavior, anxiety disorder, codependency.

A/N: this is a story about a girl with anxiety disorder learning to thrive. it’s the fifth part of my first story post on tumblr, first attempt writing a book of any kind.

thank you so much for reading. i love any feedback or input. this is a love on tour au, harry styles au, slow burn romance.

word count: 4.61k

New York City didn’t know it was September. It was so hot that the tarmac felt soft under Izzy’s shoes.

She left the plane with only what she came to the concert in: her fanny pack with her phone (no charger), a chapstick (now empty), and bandaid wrappers (used up). Airport workers milled around her, grabbing bags, as Harry and the band spilled out of the plane like colorful ribbon onto the asphalt. He had changed into a cream suit with pink slacks. Lydia ambled off the plane, as relaxed as if she were getting into a pool. 

Harry opened his guitar case on the ground, inspecting it for damage, running his hand along its body. Izzy didn’t know where to stand or what to do. She hadn’t been on a plane since she was a kid, and now she was in some weird, private part of the airport in a city she had never seen before. With people who had done this hundreds of times.

“Lydia,” Izzy said. Lydia finished typing on her phone, then looked up.

“Mmm??”

“I don’t have a toothbrush,” Izzy complained. “I’m in a city where I’ve never been and I don’t have a toothbrush.”

“You’re in a city where you’ve never been and you don’t have a toothbrush!” Lydia sang back.

“I have no clothes,” Izzy said.

“You get new clothes!” Lydia echoed in a brighter tone.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing here.”

“You can do anything here!”

Harry smirked; he thought Lydia was being pretty funny. “There’s a bunch of stores near the hotel. And there’ll be a toothbrush in your room, Izzy,” Harry said. His hair was just falling over his eyes and his stubble somehow made him look better, not worse. Izzy yanked her eyes away; she had been staring. Harry caught her eyes and grinned. Izzy felt like an idiot, still in her green dress. Everything about Harry made her angry: it wasn’t fair that he could look so good getting off a plane. 

She could call her mom and use her savings to fly back; she was already at the airport. But it was September, back to school time, and for the first time in five years Izzy felt excited about it. Since she had to go to school locally and live at home, September was always a time of dread for her: the long commute to class, scrolling through posts from house parties while sitting at home alone.

This September would be different. She’d make it different.

A van pulled up—it wasn’t labelled, but it was obviously theirs, painted on all sides in a riot of color.

Harry, most of the opening band, Eddie, and Lydia piled in, Eddie and Harry bickering about the opening song. Izzy checked around her for George—the other plane still hadn’t arrived. There weren’t any seats left in the van.

“Sorry, is she on crew?” the Starer asked from her seat.

“Yeah, she’s with me,” said Lydia, scooting over so Lydia could sit beside her.

“That moron hired two influencers?” Harry said from the back, briefly breaking from his bickering with Eddie.

“Where’d he get the money from?” Lisa asked. Izzy hovered outside the van awkwardly, wanting to crawl out of her skin. Harry’s eyes flicked from the Starer to Izzy; Eddie started in again on his set list in imploring tones, and Harry turned away.

“She can make anything go viral. She’s a magician,” Lydia said. “And she’s just here for the weekend, anyway.”

“Fine,” said the Starer. “You guys are supposed to post three times today, according to that plan you drafted. Let’s see it. If she’s really qualified, she can stay for the weekend.” Who the fuck died and made you queen of everything, Izzy thought.

Lydia slid over and Izzy climbed in, shooting daggers at her. Lydia shrugged and returned to her phone.

“Ryan doesn’t let anyone stay unless they earn at least their room rate,” Olivia said. “I’m sure you’ll do fine. You’re calm, you’re relaxed. ”

Izzy felt panic rumble her stomach. She didn’t know anything about going viral on social media. She frantically started Googling, with her phone at 10% battery. Izzy was normally a terrible backseat driver—being on the road made her anxiety spike. But she was too distracted now. Not just by the sight of Manhattan coming into view, a cluster of glittering skyscrapers bigger than any buildings Izzy had ever seen—if she didn’t figure out a way to turn all of this into social media success, she was done.

Harry’s phone rang at least ten times over the course of the drive, and he complained about everything, getting more and more agitated: the drive was too long, the van was too small, the hotel they picked was for assholes. Izzy agreed with all of it, but she would never say any of that out loud; like Harry, she also felt like she had been kidnapped, and had no control over her situation. Izzy’s clumsy search, “how to make social viral” turned up millions of results, most of them useless. She read up on hashtags, data-driven content strategies, trending topics, scheduling. It was all so fake, and staged, and carefully calibrated. This is what Lydia did for a living now? Izzy downloaded several analytics and AI apps to her phone. Lydia handed over her phone and Izzy checked the opening act’s social accounts: they were called Jess Harper, named after the lead singer. The Starer’s name was Jess. Izzy decided she would continue to refer to the Starer as such internally, as it was a much better fit.

Harry and Eddie’s bickering was just a warm up for the scene he pulled once they arrived at their hotel for that set of shows. They had pulled into an alleyway to go in through the back. 

“I’m not a fucking circus clown here to perform tricks for people! I control my set list,” he boomed from the backseat as Eddie tried to get him out of the car.

As Izzy was about to get out of the van, wanting to get away from Harry, Lydia pulled her back in. Apparently, they were going to meet George somewhere for a shoot.

A few people on the sidewalk recognized the vehicle, and a couple had started to follow it down the alley. “The band wants this too, it’s not just me,” Harry said. “It’s like he wants to kill the whole album.”

Eddie rubbed his forehead, exhausted. “Come on, let’s get out of the car. We can talk about this upstairs.”

“Do you work for Ryan now? What the fuck is going on?”

Someone started filming Eddie with their phone.

Eddie sighed. A photographer with a bigger camera, a serious camera, ran toward the scene.

“Let’s just get inside,” Eddie said.

The cameraman pushed past Eddie, nearly knocking the hungover man to the ground. He stuck his camera into the van, aiming it backwards at Harry. Izzy put her hands up in front of her, mortified. Harry leapt forward and swung the door shut, crunching the lens.

“Jesus, Harry!” Izzy yelped from her seat.

“Drive,” commanded Harry. The van peeled out, and the camera slid down the gap between the door and the frame, before it fell out and clattered onto the asphalt. Izzy pulled the door closed and looked out the back window to see the photographer yelling at them. Eddie was approaching him, taking his wallet out of his pocket.

“We’re going shopping,” Lydia said, totally calm. She was on her phone, as usual.

“Shopping? We have to take some good photos or I’m off the tour, remember?”

“Meg’s at the hotel, asleep. You can chill. And George is meeting us,” Lydia explained.

“Let me off here,” Harry said. The car stopped suddenly.

“You don’t want to dress up and take some photos with us?” Lydia offered.

Harry said nothing and stepped out, leaving his sequinned vest behind. He looked almost boring, in a sweater and pants. He grabbed his leather jacket and closed the door gently behind him, letting his palm linger on the side where the camera had scratched it. Izzy noticed what looked like a flicker of regret across his face.

The van lurched forward and Harry left the sidewalk through the gates to a park. Central Park? Izzy recognized it from TV shows. They were way uptown. It looked so cool and quiet.

Izzy gazed back through the rearview at the trees. Harry slung his jacket over one shoulder, disappearing into the green. She wanted to curl up on the grass in the shade and take a nap.

“Lydia, I want to stay for the weekend. I want to stay,” Izzy said.

Lydia clapped her hands.

“So when we get to wherever we’re going,” Izzy continued, “we’re posting something unique and never before seen, using the trending hashtags, sending the photo fifteen minutes after we get there—midday is an optimum time apparently—and…” Izzy looked down at her phone, reading from it: “…leveraging emotions to connect to people, like joy or fear. Okay, maybe not fear, but we’re not going to wing it.”

“Oh Izzy,” sighed Lydia. The van slowed to stop. Izzy’s jaw dropped when she saw where they were: they had pulled up in front of Gucci.

Izzy tried to close her mouth as she entered the store. But it wasn’t easy. The store was like a field of flowers—so colorful. She recognized many of the pieces as similar to the things Harry wore on stage; it was like his entire wardrobe came from here. The store sparkled. No dust or synthetic brown ruffles in sight.

George raised a champagne flute in their direction from a plush seating area. He wore a sheepskin coat over his bare chest, and new pants and shoes, tags still on.

“Is this really you, though, George?” Lydia asked him, taking another flute from the glass table his feet rested on. Izzy felt frozen again. A group of saleswomen by the register looked her up and down.

“Gucci? It’s what the people want, apparently,” George said bitterly, taking another drink. Lydia frowned. Izzy wondered if she could get away without picking up a glass; she couldn’t imagine drinking while this hungover.

“Could I… could I get a shot of you?” Izzy asked. She wasn’t sure what they were or how to talk to him, after last night. Not that I was sure beforehand, she thought.

She sank down beside him on the couch, just like he did the night before. He put his arm around her. His blonde hair tickled her shoulders; the lamp behind him made him almost look like he had a halo. He put another glass in her hand and she took a deep drink.

“Wait, hold on,” Izzy said. She gestured for Lydia’s phone and snapped a photo, framing George’s side profile in silhouette, a Gucci sign just faint behind him. Lydia was already logged into his and his band’s accounts on all her apps.

Izzy checked an analytics app on her phone and added a list of hashtags that were popular, captioning the photo “stay up #blessed #nature #instagood #photooftheday #follow #model”. She put the most trending song on the platform in their target demographic—which, Izzy assumed, was people their age—behind the photo, giving it a spacey techno feel. It seemed cool. The analytics told her it was cool, at least.

Lydia took her phone back and inspected Izzy’s work. She wrinkled her nose.

“It’s not like anything else on his feed,” Izzy said, excited.

“Exactly,” Lydia said. “It’s a lie.”

“Do you want to take another one? What do you think we should do? If I don’t seem like a real social media assistant today, I’m gone.”

“I need a nap,” Lydia replied. “It’ll all work out if it’s meant to work out.” She lay down on the couch, putting her head in Izzy’s lap.

“You need a nap?”

“And you need some tour clothes, am I right?” George asked.

“What?” Izzy asked.

“Jess mentioned that you were new. Didn’t pack a bag, did you?”

Izzy shifted uncomfortably in her dress; she had been wearing it for more than 12 hours.

“I was just going to pick some things up near the hotel, like a t-shirt,” Izzy said. When she was nervous, she sometimes talked really fast. “I’m not staying longer than this weekend. I have to get back to work at the store, my mom’s store. Just helping Lydia out until then,” Izzy explained, making up her plan as she said it out loud.

“That’s really rad. You’re part of a fashion dynasty? How many stores does your family own?” George asked, standing up. He went over to a rack of blouses and pants that likely cost more than her family’s car.

“Thousands,” said Lydia sleepily. George didn’t seem to catch her sarcasm.

Izzy didn’t know what to do. She checked her phone; it was dead. She took Lydia’s phone out of her hands, and hit post on the photo she took. She put it down, too nervous to watch the likes come in (or not come in).  

Just then, a shirt landed on her head. She peeled it off. The fabric felt like butter. Another landed in her lap, so slippery it slid off and pooled on the floor. George was throwing them at her from the racks, making both of them laugh.

“Try them on. Try them all on,” he said.  

Izzy gathered them up, at least ten pieces in total. Including underwear. It seemed ridiculous to her to buy underwear here, when it was just cotton. She gaped at the prices: $1,150 for a black bra and panties in a diamond mesh, $1,000 for a bustier made of literal rubber. Two salespeople appeared, dressed in much nicer clothing than what she was wearing. They picked up the clothes and took them to a changing room with onyx walls, cut so thin they were slightly transparent.

George grinned at her. “You like those?”

“I’m not buying these,” Izzy said.

“Try them on.”

In the dressing room, Izzy was careful not to inspect herself in the mirror, 24 hours since her last shower. She put on a minxy black slip dress with a red dragon on the front, and came out.

Lydia was fully asleep. George had playfully wolf-whistled at Izzy. “Yeah, that one.” She tried to protest, but George wasn’t having it.

The salespeople brought her to and from the changing room, and she modelled a variety of looks with mesh straps that cut into her shoulders, or rubber that felt like it suffocated her skin. She reflected George’s excitement back at him, lighting up when he liked something. It felt like she was being sprayed with champagne; the validation was intoxicating.

She found a cardigan she liked, fuzzy cashmere almost an inch deep, and cute sneakers that were sequined in rainbow on all sides, reminding her of her favourite childhood pair that lit up when she walked. 

And there was this one petal pink dress. It felt like water on her skin. When she finally looked at herself in the mirror, she was stunned. It brought out all the pink in her lips and cheeks. The dress almost made her look like an actual adult. It felt so easy and natural. In the dress, she looked like that girl. She felt like that girl. 

But it was all playtime. She couldn’t afford any of this stuff. She carefully put everything back on the hangers, right side out, afraid to snag something and get hit with a multi-thousand dollar bill.

Just then, the door of her change room slammed open. Izzy was in her bra.

“What are you doing in here?”

George covered his eyes with one hand, smiling.

“It’s time to go back to the hotel. Have to be back stage at five.” George reached out in front of him, letting his fingertips graze her waist. Izzy jumped at his touch. He kept his eyes closed.

“Don’t look,” she said. It was a reflex, something she had said to Roger, too. The lights in the store were so bright.

“I’m not looking,” George replied. He brushed his lips against her jawline, then opened them. Izzy closed her eyes, feeling his tongue on her neck.

From inside the change room, Izzy heard Lydia’s phone buzz.

“It’s actually working,” Lydia said, not trying to conceal the surprise in her voice at all. “For a start, anyway. It’s getting more traction than the other posts usually do at this point.”

George bit Izzy’s neck and stumbled out of the change room, bumping the door frame, eyes still closed. They laughed.

A middle aged customer at a display case in front of them looked up to see Izzy in her underwear, change room door open, and frowned disapprovingly. Izzy suppressed a giggle and swung the door closed.

The words she had said to Meg last year, standing outside the store, echoed in her mind: sometimes I think love is for other people. Maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong. 

Soon, she was back in her green dress and they were back in the van. Lydia had a bright new key chain or purse charm—Izzy didn’t know the word from it. It probably cost $400. Izzy pointed to it, about to say something, when Lydia cut in: “OnlyFans.”

Izzy’s mouth dropped open.

“Just kidding!” Lydia laughed.

No crowd formed when they pulled up in front of the hotel this time, though George looked around for one.

The lobby was all glass and matching furniture, with winged chandeliers soaring at least twenty feet above them. The curated calm of the room was cut through by a familiar voice ricocheting off the walls.

Eddie stood across from the suit, Ryan. The suit was wearing a new suit, and had two assistants behind him, also in suits, with headsets and clipboards. Eddie looked like he had never made it upstairs.

“I looked at the numbers on it, and it’s not a hitter. Sorry,” Ryan said. His assistants nodded.

“This isn’t moneyball, Ryan,” Eddie said, loosening his tie. “And even if it were, you’d need the star player for it to work. And he is currently missing.”

“He’s a performer. He wouldn’t miss a show.”

“He would,” said Eddie. “Trust me.”

Ryan seemed to be the one in charge. Izzy swallowed hard and turned to George and Lydia.

“How’s the post doing now?” she asked.

Lydia glanced at her phone, then put it away.

“Lydia?”

“It flatlined. Lower than usual. I told you,” she said gently. “I think it… came across as desperate.”

“But I am desperate,” Izzy said. This was the danger in going after what you want: it always seemed to doom Izzy to not get it. Maybe I was right all along and it is better not to try, she thought.

“I need a nap too,” yawned George. “We have to be backstage in two hours.”

“Can we… can we do one more now? Maybe…” Izzy searched around frantically for ideas, eyes settling on the van.

She posed George carefully to hide the new scratch down the side from Harry’s tantrum. Lydia watched, wincing. Izzy tried again, using fewer hashtags (but still trending ones). She copied the format and pose from something that was blowing up on TikTok. Surely, that would work? Drafting off what was already going viral. George smiled and the smile looked real, like it always did. Genuine joy, the colorful print of the van in the background.

Izzy refreshed the page constantly, following Lydia to the elevator.

“You’re Lydia’s assistant, right?”

Izzy turned to see Ryan, just inches from her.

“Yes,” Izzy said. His gaze was piercing.

“We only budgeted for one extra marketing person,” Ryan said. “You can share at this stop but we won’t have room at the next one.”

“Would you chill out?” Lydia said, tugging Izzy away. “Just look at Eddie. Be more like Eddie.” Eddie was sprawled out, talking into his phone, on one of the lobby sofas, looking totally spent.  The elevator doors closed in front of them.

Izzy kept checking the post as she and Lydia soared up to the top floor. She followed Lydia down a long corridor, not really paying attention to where she was going. George had disappeared again.

Lydia opened the door to the fanciest hotel room Izzy had ever seen, all shimmering glass and lucite. Izzy barely noticed: she was greeted by Meg, who threw her arms around her neck, with a loud, reassuring “Izzy!”

Meg had gotten on the other plane and passed out at the hotel when they arrived, knowing that Izzy was with Lydia. She was more sober than the two of them at the party, and Lydia had apparently told her she could join for the whole weekend too. She was in a bathrobe, fully refreshed.

“You’ve got to shower and then you can get into some of your new clothes. We have to be at the new place in an hour,” Meg said. “Were you with George?” Meg touched Izzy’s neck.

“Yeah,” Izzy said.

“You really like him,” Meg said.

“I guess,” Izzy replied casually, hedging her bets. She felt as afraid of saying it out loud as she used to, but maybe this time, admitting that she liked someone wasn’t a curse that meant she would lose him.

“This is so good,” Meg said, gripping Izzy’s hands. Izzy could never really hide from Meg and Meg knew how much she liked George. “I can’t wait to do this for the whole weekend! Unexpected vacay!”

Lydia flicked on Lana Del Rey, playing vintage tracks from one of her early albums.

“Well, I’m not sure if we can actually stay.” Izzy said, surveying the plush and undoubtedly expensive room. “Wait. What did you say about new clothes?”

Meg gestured to the bed, covered in shiny bags, some bigger than her entire body, all from Gucci.

“Can we look at them now?” Meg asked, jumping up on the bed beside the tallest one. “George bought these for you?” Lydia went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

Izzy and Meg tore the bags open, sending tissue paper flying above them and around the room. They drew out bright dresses and skirts and tops. Meg put on some of them, and Izzy changed into the funny rubber bustier and its matching skirt.

The smallest bag had two lingerie sets. When she saw them, she felt the Boulder land in the room, threatening to crush everything. Meg had Izzy throw them on over her clothes, and she did the same, laughing. They looked ridiculous. Meg turned the music up and colored paper floated around them.

“He really likes you!” Meg said. Just then, George appeared at the door, dressed in his outfit for his opening number. Olivia, Lisa, and Tara passed behind them, greeting Izzy as they walked by.

“George… what is this?” Izzy asked, gesturing around the room. She was embarrassed that she had torn open the packages. But her smile betrayed her; she loved it.

“It’s all the stuff you liked,” George said. “Now that you’re with the band, you’ll need a few things.”

“This is way too much,” Izzy said. “We should return it.”

“You. Look. Gorgeous,” he said. “Don’t disappoint me.” Izzy said thank you and that it was way too much, but he was already gone.

The rainbow shoes, soft cardigan, and pink dress weren’t there. Izzy pulled the other items out of the last bag—mesh, plastic, scary dragon dress—barely able to move her arms in the stiff rubber bustier. She got to a piece of paper at the bottom.

It was a receipt. Total: $35,214 dollars.

She said it out loud, not sure that it was real.

“How much?” Meg asked.

Izzy kicked the shoes off. She felt gross. It was way too much money.

“He must be loaded,” Meg said. Izzy thought about what her family, or any regular family, could do with that amount.

“I guess,” Izzy said. “The tickets to the tour are so expensive. They must be making bank.”

“There are three of you now?” The voice was unmistakable: the door to their room was still open, and the Starer had appeared.

“She’s my assistant’s… assistant,” Lydia said, coming out of the bathroom. She wore a towel on her head and nothing else. Compared to last night, this didn’t shock Izzy. The Starer didn’t even flinch.

“Those two posts were the worst performing on our band’s profile this year,” the Starer said, looking Izzy up and down. The Starer continued: “I doubt you can fix it now.”

“It’s no extra cost,” Meg said. “We’re just staying in Lydia’s room.”

“Food,” the Starer said. She surveyed at the three women, ankle deep in Gucci tissue paper. “Clothes, apparently. Ryan counts every penny.”

“George bought this stuff for me,” Izzy protested.

“Lydia would need a room anyway,” Meg continued.

“Really? She would?” The Starer asked.

“We still have two hours until the show,” Lydia said, rushing to close the door. Even she seemed stressed now. Izzy frowned, not understanding. Did Lydia get this job by sleeping with someone in the band? She seems so carefree, but is she okay? Was it Mitch? Elijah? Oh god, Harry?

Izzy pulled up two posts she made. They had flopped. The Starer had seen right through her. Izzy wasn’t a social media assistant. She wasn’t a creative person. She belonged at her mom’s store.

Meg started picking up the tissue paper. Izzy struggled out of the lingerie she had thrown on top of her clothes, and caught sight of herself in the hotel room’s mirror. She didn’t recognize herself. The rubber bustier cut into her shoulders, and the skirt was way too short.

“Lydia, we only have one post left. What do we do? Could you put some clothes on?”

Lydia picked up the black dragon dress and slipped it on. She looked totally at home in it.

“Izzy,” Lydia said, “all you need to do to connect to people is to tell the truth.”

She disappeared back into the bathroom.

Izzy made an excuse about needing a break, and meandered back down to the lobby and down the street, taking Lydia’s phone with her. She checked it constantly, but the numbers weren’t moving. The show was supposed to start soon and she had nothing. Oh god, she wanted to stay.

She thought about Lydia’s words. Izzy knew that she did lie, all the time. Not just today. She told the truth so rarely; she cared what everyone though too much. Talking to people always felt like an emergency, when lying to get people to like her was not just allowed but necessary. Rejection was just too painful. But maybe the life that all the lying was leaving her with was worse?

She rarely felt like herself. She barely new who that person was, outside people she could be honest with, like Meg, and the three secrets that had landed her here.

Izzy found herself in front of the gates of the park. She wandered in, feeling her shoulders relax as the shade from the trees wrapped itself around her. A wide asphalt path cut through a set of big, open fields, dotted with people having picnics and taking photos. Izzy thought she heard Summertime Sadness on the breeze, playing from someone’s phone turned upside down in a plastic red cup.

Izzy stepped onto a desire path, worn to dirt, that disappeared into a cluster of trees.

Izzy followed the path along a stream, and it was suddenly like she was out of the city entirely. The wind through the leaves hushed the noises from the street. She inhaled deeply. She missed this. She had spent seven days a week for the last few years in the store. The fake plant by the register was the only sign of wild, real life.

The heat in the air of the city was gathering into water. Everything in the park glistened in the humidity.

A touch of pink winked at her from behind an old tree with thick, winding roots. She walked over cautiously. Sitting at its base, leaning back against the roots, was Harry.

“Elisabetta,” Harry said.

“Harry.”

Izzy sat down beside him. “It’s nice here,” she said.

“What the fuck are you wearing?” Harry asked, sitting up.

“Nothing I like,” Izzy replied. Harry leaned back again and closed his eyes. She had never seen him look so peaceful. He seemed damp, maybe from the heat; water seeped through his sweater at the base of his chest.

“Some people are looking for you,” she said.

“I have to open with that stupid new song. I didn’t write it. They won’t let me do anything from the new album.”

“That’s awful,” Izzy said, genuinely.

“Eddie lost,” Harry said. He threw a stone into the stream.

Sunlight filtered down through the leaves and danced on the water. It was at least ten degrees cooler here than back out on the street.

“I think I might have to leave tonight. Can I hide here with you for a while?” Izzy asked. She couldn’t face the show, the Starer, Ryan, the bus back home, the store.

“Sure,” Harry said. “Why’re you leaving?”

“I’m not a real social media expert. I work at my mom’s store, a failing store.” She felt suddenly guilty for calling it that out loud. “My mom is an incredible tailor, but it’s a little… old fashioned. My pictures from today bombed and no one’s buying me as Lydia’s assistant. Ryan’s going to send me home.”

At the word Ryan, Harry scowled.

“Do you want to take my picture?” Harry asked, cracking an eyelid and looking up at her.

Izzy raised Lydia’s phone. Harry relaxed back into the tree. Izzy took a video, with the wind ruffling Harry’s hair and sunshine dancing across his shoulders. The music playing from the park just barely wafted in. I feel it in the air... She hit post.

Then she leaned back against the tree, feeling calm. She took off her ugly new shoes and dug her bare feet into the soft leaves. 

Lydia’s phone rang. Izzy picked up.

“That’s cheating.” It was the Starer, sharp voice unmistakeable. “It was supposed to be for our account.”

“It’s blowing up, Izzy,” Lydia said in the background.

“Fine, fine,” Izzy heard Ryan said. “The numbers don’t lie.” Some clambering, and then Lydia was the one on the phone.

“I can stay?” Izzy asked, shocked.

“You’re staying, Izzy,” Lydia said, unfussed. “See? Nothing to worry about. Bring my phone back, we’re about to start. And George wants to talk to you. Do you want to stay in his room?” The line cut out suddenly.

Harry stood up and stretched. “I’ll have to put up with more of your terrible playing for a bit longer?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re welcome,” Harry said, grinning. 

“You think that was all you?” Izzy joked back. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Izzy thought about what was in front of her: she wasn’t going home. What did staying mean? What did being with the band mean? Could it be for more than a few weeks? 

“It was obviously me.”

“Obviously.”

“Only a true content creator could turn this place into marketing,” Harry said, a bit of venom in his voice. God, he’s irritating, Izzy thought. Harry put on his jacket. A rain drop hit his shoulder.

“It was your idea!” Izzy protested. She followed him back up the path.

“I can’t stand all that bullshit,” he sighed. “Jess is lucky it’s just you two. I have a whole team.”

“Poor little rock star,” Izzy said.

Harry watched Izzy pause at the edge of the stream before the path merged back with the sidewalk. Harry was happy she would be around, but his brow was creased with worry. He had to keep her away from George. 

Izzy held her arms out, closing her eyes to feel the rain hitting her skin, the inside of her wrists. She had never felt so relieved. She could stay.

chapter6