#girl. WE LIKED EACH OTHER IN DIFFERENT TIMES IN THE PAST STOP THIS MADNESS

[bbqhooligan]

special kind of hell for "i can fix him" girls who only want the soft core of the "him" exposed to themselves and him to stay the jaded, cold, distrusting person they met to the rest of the world idek like she wanted me to push away all my other friends and tell her "i love you" and send her "good morning" texts girl youre actively against my emotional healing

[cowboyellies]

- You’re Not Good Enough | e.w.

you keep on coming back,

i keep letting you in

pairing: college player!ellie x fem college!reader

warnings/themes: angst, ellie is v emotionally unavailable (my type <3), she's a teensy bit manipulative, reader mentions past toxic relationship, slight smut, heavy making out (in public), fingering r! receiving, mentions of oral sex r! receiving

word count: 3.8k

synopsis: ellie ends things with you and quickly finds that the hold you have on her is much stronger than she thought. when she sees you a month later at a house party she tries to change things.

a/n: hello!!! i'm pretty proud of this so I hope you guys enjoy :) also this is based off of one of my favorite songs so I recommend listening to it while you read

PART TWO

“I think we should call it” she said as your eyes were glued to your phone, aimlessly scrolling while laying on her beat up couch. you switched off your phone directing your attention to her, confused by her question. you noticed then she was sitting with her head in her hands, gripping the roots of her short auburn hair.

“what?” you asked meekly, sitting up now. you already knew what she meant but you needed to make sure anyway.

“I just think we should probably stop whatever this is, it’s too much for right now,” she mumbled to the floor, still not making eye contact with you. you felt your heart drop suddenly and the familiar prickle hitting your eyes. you had felt so secure just moments ago, so comfortable, now you just felt an overwhelming sense of embarrassment. you were embarrassed over the fact that this was all a shock to you.

earlier in the night as you laid naked in her bed you realized you were probably falling in love with her. you thought in that moment as you breathed heavily next to each other that she was feeling the same way. now come to find out that she was probably already planning on ending it then. the sex that you thought was the start of something deeper was just her final goodbye to you, that’s why it felt so fucking good.

looking at her now with her body slumped over in tiredness you thought back to the way she phrased it. “we should call it” as if it was a group effort. as if she wasn’t the one dumping you. you had been dumped once before and they had used the same phrasing that she did. that first time you begged and pleaded with them to reconsider. you cried at their feet begging for one more chance, willing them to change their mind and stay. as you stared at ellie’s slouched over frame you remembered the painful embarrassment you felt begging for someone who didn’t want you back.

that bitter memory is what stopped the tears from falling out of your eyes. you let out a hardened sigh and stood up from the couch. “okay, if that’s what you want,”

ellie looked up suddenly, shocked by the casualty of your tone. she was bracing herself for the screaming, the last thing she ever expected from you was compliance. she had completed this cycle with girls before and the fallout was always a mix of yelling and lots of tears, a few had even thrown things. she could have sworn she heard your voice wavering just moments ago but now you seemed fine.

“what?” she questioned. genuinely not prepared for this level of calm.

“I said okay? if that’s what you want I can’t change that,” she was looking at you closely now. your face was hard but not necessarily mad. you looked like an entirely different person than the girl that was laughing on her bed just an hour before. the you standing in front of her now looked miles away.

once you realized she wasn’t saying anything else you began collecting your things you had left around her apartment. in your last breakup amongst the crying and dramatics you had left your favorite hoodie there and you didn’t want that to happen again. ellie followed you to the doorway of her bedroom where you were now grabbing your belongings, her eyes following you still in shock. you felt satisfaction from the way you were rattling her but most of you was just moving on autopilot, shutting your feelings off until you were away from her apartment and could finally burst.

once you had shoved everything of yours into a bag you made your way to the door. as your hand was on the knob you felt ellie’s on your shoulder, the feeling of her touch grounding you back into what was happening, causing your body to stiffen.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. you were feeling it all now, the weight of it was starting to crush you and you feared if you turned to face her you would start crying for real that time. so instead of replying you opened the door and left, letting out heavy sobs as you walked to your car.

ellie stood at the doorway for a while after you left, mulling over everything that had just happened. she knew this was her ideal scenario. she could never have dreamed of a smoother break. especially when she knew you were both starting to develop intense feelings for each other, which was the reason she ended things in the first place. she knew she should feel relief now but the look on your face was haunting her. she realized then that she had taken away your softness. instead of feeling the freedom she desired she now felt an insurmountable wave of guilt.

—

over a month after you and ellie’s breakup, if you could even call it that, you now find yourself sitting on a couch at a crowded house party flirting with a random girl. you had wallowed in the pain of ellie ending things for a solid two weeks and had recently decided you finally needed to get back to being a functioning member of society. after your last break up you didn’t go out for six months afterwards and you were determined to break that cycle.

so now here you were in your little black dress and denim jacket listening to this girl talk about a concert she had just gone too while you made prolonged and flirty eye contact with her. this was new territory since in all of your past relationships you tended to be the girl blabbering away about something instead of being the one pretending to listen. this time around you were going to make sure you wouldn’t be the one getting naively attached.

ellie stood sourly outside of the party dreading whatever would meet her behind those doors. dina had practically forced her to come out tonight and she had absolutely no desire to be there. she expected herself to resume her usual role in casual hookup culture but something had been stopping her.

she had decided to end things with you when one day she realized you were the first thing she thought of when she woke up in the morning. it was a random tuesday and when she checked the clock she remembered you said you had class at that time. that immediate correlation to you was such a foreign feeling that it terrified her. she wasn’t used to caring for anyone but herself and hadn’t been in a long time. she found herself missing the comfortableness of fucking someone and never calling them again. she assumed that's what she’d be doing after you left her apartment that night but found she couldn’t.

in the month that you’d been apart she had done the unthinkable for her. she found herself drafting texts to you and not sending them. she hovered over your number multiple times toying with the thought of calling you but never doing it. she even made it a habit of stalking your instagram. she saw one night you went to a club with your friends and she felt strangely nauseous. she hated it. she hated being the stalker when she was so used to being the one being stalked. it made her loathe you and miss you all the same.

she finally made her way into the house immediately heading towards the liquor table. she knew she needed to alter her brain chemistry quickly if she was ever gonna make it through the night. after downing a drink she turned her head to look for dina and suddenly heard a sound she was all too familiar with.

you were still sitting on the couch but now you were just centimeters away from the random girl. you let out a loud giggle over something she said but you weren’t sure if you actually thought it was funny or if you just wanted to get in her pants. the answer to that question didn’t really matter because you suddenly felt her hand resting on your leg and knew you had succeeded. she slowly leans towards the side of your face adjusting your hair to whisper in your ear “I’m gonna get us some more drinks”

you smile softly at her and nod your head as she rises towards the kitchen. your eyes trail her hungrily when suddenly she brushes past a figure that quickly catches your attention. ellie's standing there tightly gripping her red solo cup staring at you. her jaw is lightly clenched in the way it does when she's mad but trying not to show it. you feel your posture stiffen from it’s previously relaxed position and all the carefree charisma you had been trying to channel all night is instantly sucked out of you.

after a minute of intense eye contact she begins making her way to the couch. your fight or flight kicks in and suddenly you began pulling yourself off of it. you instantly don't care at all about the cute girl in the kitchen pouring you a drink, you want to get out of there now. ellie picks up on your movement and begins following you outside. after making your way through the house you realize you won't be able to get away from her without causing a scene so you eventually decide to just stop in a more reserved part of the backyard, landing the two of you under an oak tree.

“what do you want?” you immediately ask her as soon as she reaches you. the tone of your voice isn't mad, just tired, and it kills her. she would rather you be angry, she wants you to be angry. she just stands for a while trying to think of what to say

“I just… I just wanted to talk,” she finally settles on. she knows it sounds lame but it's the truth. you sigh in resignation, leaning your back against the trunk of the tree while she figures out what to say to you. she isn't used to chasing people and doesn't know how to do it without sounding like a desperate loser. before she ended things you seemed to always be at her beck and call, now you want nothing to do with her. she leans her hand on the wood next to your shoulder, staring down at you before she speaks again, your eyes shifting downward in response, trying to avoid any level of intimacy with her you can. “I guess I just miss you and I want to see how you’re doing,”

you let out a dry laugh which catches her off guard. you finally look up at her and see her eyebrows furrowed in confusion which starts to bring some of your anger to the surface. “I’m doing great ellie. actually I was doing amazing till you decided to interrupt my night with this stupid conversation,” your tone now annoyed as opposed to your indifference from earlier.

“yeah it sure looked like you were having fun in there,” she replies harshly as her jaw tightens like it did earlier when she was watching you.

“what the fuck are you you talking about?” you snap, now staring directly in her eyes. you see in your peripheral vision a couple from a few feet away begin to stare but you're getting too heated to care.

“I heard your fake little laugh from the kitchen. were you gonna fuck her and then fake an orgasm too?” she's inching closer to you now, her grip tightening on the tree.

“are you seriously jealous right now? you realize you’re the one who dumped me, right?” you feel like your head is gonna explode in frustration. you had spent weeks trying to get over her and now she has the audacity to be angry about it.

“which clearly didn’t matter to you at all. does that girl in there know how emotionally closed off you are?” she pushes, remembering how distant you looked standing in front of her in her living room that day.

“are you fucking kidding me? do you realize how insane it is to be upset at someone for not crying when you dump them? have you lost your fucking mind?” you're fully yelling now, not caring about the people around the yard sneaking glances at the two of you. “and if anyone is emotionally unavailable it’s you. I should never have started something with you in the first place,”

ellie knows she's in the wrong. she knows everything you're saying is valid and she has no right to be talking to you right now. she should be leaving you alone to get over her but instead she wants to get under your skin some more and eventually beneath your clothes. she’s quiet for a moment, giving you time to calm down. she’s still staring down at you now watching the way your chest rises and falls as with your breaths you try to calm yourself down.

“look I know I'm a piece of shit, alright?” you roll your eyes at her, adjusting yourself into a cross armed position.

“I’m glad we’re in agreement ellie. are we done here?” you begin to straighten yourself to walk away when she pushes her other hand on the tree, closing you in. you'd normally freak out and push past her but something about her movements are weirdly gentle and the tequila shots you had taken earlier are starting to lower your guard.

“I treated you like shit and I regret it. just let me make it up to you okay?” you're staring up at her through your eyelashes now in a slight pout. your face looks so gentle that she moves to brush a lock of hair out of your face. you hate yourself for it but you lean into her touch. you know her words mean nothing and could never mend everything that happened between you two. but it's late, you're lonely, and you highly doubt that girl would still be inside if you push ellie away.

before you can stop yourself you're grabbing ellie by the back of her neck and kissing her. it takes her no time to kiss back, quickly grabbing your waist and pushing the two of you up against the oak. as her hands explored your sides you feel all the self respect and awareness leave your body. you're no longer acknowledging how gravely stupid you're acting and instead are focusing on how good it feels when she kisses your neck.

as she inches her hands past your dress and up your thighs suddenly the reality sets it, you're very much still in public. you look over her shoulder and quickly realize the people who had seen you screaming at each other moments ago can most definitely still see you now. you quickly push her off of you, readjusting your clothes as she stares at you in confusion. when you're done fixing yourself you point to the rest of the back yard in explanation.

she groans a little and you almost want to laugh at how frustrated she looks, her expression the same as a petulant child when you take away their favorite toy. you gently pull at her shirt and whisper “let’s just go back to your place,”

–

ellie has never been more happy to be sober as she drives you two back to her apartment in your car, a possessive hand resting on your upper thigh as she steers. the reality of what you're doing was starting to set in during the 15 minute drive. you think about telling her just to drive you home multiple times but when you go to stare at her the sight of her makes the words hang vacant in your mouth. why does she have to be so attractive?

she finds herself also sneaking glances at you during the ride. she didn't realized till then how much she missed the simplicity of your presence in the passenger seat. when you two were together previously you didn’t exactly go out on dates or anything. a typical night for you two was driving to a fast food place, fighting over the aux, making out in her car, going back to her place, smoking a little, and then ending off the night fucking. as much as she hated to admit it in the month you were apart she found herself longing for that routine again.

when you reach her apartment building as she moves to exit the car you feel yourself lingering in your seat for longer, contemplating stopping this for the last time. you stare up at the gray brick of her complex and remember how alone you felt exiting her building that day, your tears dampening the clothes you had taken back from her. although this memory should be be a reminder of how she hurt you, instead it makes you get up from your seat. you don't want that to be the last memory you had of here.

you make your way through the empty common place and soon reach her elevator. as soon as the metal doors shut her lips are on yours. you feel the cool metal of the elevator’s handrails pressing into your back as she pushes her body towards you. her hands are in your hair lightly tugging at the back of your head as you grasp onto her neck, wrapping your legs around hers. you hear the ding of the doors and she quickly grabs your hand to lead you to her place.

as soon as you're in her apartment doors she's pushing you towards the couch, articles of clothing coming off of the both of you as you make your way to the plush cushions. you're staring up at her the top half of you naked as she’s removing her shirt when the irony sets in. she's about to fuck you on the couch she had just dumped you on

you move to inch the rest of your dress which is gathered at your hips down when you feel her tug it off of you in one fast movement. she watches as your chest rises and falls once again but this time in anticipation. she quickly grips the back of the couch above you as she begins spreading your legs apart with one hand. you gasp as she reaches your panties, rubbing slow circles into them as she plants heavy kisses onto your neck.

after a few seconds your gasps intensify and she begins pulling the fabric down your legs, leaving your bottom half completely bare for her. your eyes grip shut in pleasure and shyness as she brings her hand back up against you. you feel her stop suddenly as she uses the hand previously resting on the couch to bring your face towards her.

“look up at me,” she firmly whispers as she resumes rubbing into you, her calloused fingers brushing up against your clit as you writhe in pleasure, now staring into her green heavy eyes. you feel her fingers slide into you slowly, quickening pace as you moan beneath her. your eyes follow her as she lowers herself towards you, using her other hand to grip your hips which were now moving with her fingers. you feel your orgasm beginning to build as she starts using her thumb to rub circles against your clit.

as you reach your peak you finally allow yourself to close your eyes, riding the high against her long fingers you had been fantasizing about since you saw her gripping her cup earlier in the night. once you finish she slowly pulls out of you, admiring you as you pant against her couch cushions. once your euphoria wears off theres an awkward pause. I should probably go.

“I-” you start but you’re quickly cut off by one of her hands raking through your hair, which was now slightly damp with sweat.

“let’s go to my bed i wanna taste you,” she whispers and then pushes herself off the couch towards her bedroom. fuck it

you follow

–

you awake the next morning and the only word that comes to your mind is fuck. you're laying completely bare and under ellie’s sheets, her back turned against you in a peaceful slumber.

why the fuck did i do that? what is wrong with me?

as you contemplate just how little self respect you seem to have you feel her shift beside you, facing you with a light smile. you hate how good she always looks in the mornings.

“morning,” she mumbles against your shoulder sleepily. you need to get out of there now. after a few moments you begin to sit up, gripping the sheets around your chest as you try to recall where you had flung all your clothes the night before. she's more awake now and staring at you.

“what’s up? do you wanna get bagels from that place across the street?” she asks, still examining your facial expressions trying to read what they mean. you used to go the bagel place all the time when you would stay at her place.

“ellie no,” you reply, rising from her bed and making your way towards the living room in search of your clothes. she quickly follows, throwing on a large shirt she had laying on the floor of her bedroom as she watches you in amusement while you're picking up your garments one by one across her apartment.

“why not?” she muses, the casualty of her voice driving you insane.

“because. this isn’t a thing,” you say, quickly throwing on your clothes and gesturing between the two of you. “this won’t happen again,”

“why not? you seemed to enjoy it last night?”

“that’s besides the point okay,” you snap back in exasperation, now frustrated and trying to find one of your shoes. “you’re not good for me. no actually you’re not good enough for me,” “and why is that?” she asks, not offended in the slightest bit which makes you even more angry.

“you fucking know why. you never have been. this has never been more than sex to you and i'm tired of it,” you spit out as you finally grab the missing shoe. that last part makes ellie pause. deep down she knows it's not just sex for her, and in fucked up way she's glad that you haven't picked up on that yet.

“oh don’t act like you’re above that, were you ever gonna talk to that girl you were all over on the couch last night or does the line only draw at casual sex when it comes to me?” she snaps back at you, no longer amused by the back and forth between you.

she's right, you weren’t planning on ever seeing that girl again. but what she didn’t realize was the fact that you were acting that way because of her. how could you be expected to commit to something when your last fling disposed of you like you were nothing?

“I’m leaving now. please don’t text me,”

she rolls her eyes at you as you make your way towards her door. “yeah sure. I’ll see you soon,”

you slam the door in her face, knowing it's probably true.

PART TWO

[prettieinpink]

Being that girl once again- back to school!

It’s back to school season everyone, and my favourite times of the year. In this post im going to give you stuff to do for back to school + advice in specific areas of your school life! I hope everyone can take away something from this post <3 

THINGS TO DO BEFORE BACK TO SCHOOL <3

Revise your past term content in your core subjects, ensure there’s nothing you do not understand(it’s better to understand now than have to understand later)

Review what you are going to be learning for this current term in your core subject, you don’t have to study it, just familiarise yourself. 

Catch up with your friends- hang out, call or text before the new school term. My favourite thing is to create predictions of drama, couples etc in the upcoming term w my girlies!

Create SMART goals for you to achieve that term, in any aspect you want. I say; 1 goal for academics, 1 goal for social and 1 goal for extracurriculars/sports. 

Clean your room !! do a deep clean and declutter. E.g wipe down all surfaces, hover pillows, vacuum floor, clean mirrors, take out any clothes you dislike

Do an everything shower + face masks!!

ACADEMICALLY

Everyday afterschool, revise everything that you’ve learnt today + the things that you struggle on

Anytime you get homework, complete it as soon as possible. Most of the time, it’s easy and non time consuming. 

Create study guides for exams/tests while actually learning instead of when the assessments are actually coming up. It saves you a lot of time, which you can use for studying effectively.

If you don’t already, have a specific learning/studying style that works for you. E.g flashcards, blurting, mind map, spaced repetition, the feynman technique. (ofc you can have multiple). Just know the pros and cons of each studying technique. 

Or, what I do is that I assign specific studying techniques to different subjects e.g science - blurting, HASS - flashcards, maths - the feynman technique. This may be different to what you have the most success learning.

Have a place, time every day or at least most days, where you can study without distractions. I like to study at the library afterschool, it’s chill and literally void of any distractions.

The only advice in which i’ll say is not optional– do practise questions under the said test conditions. Stop using websites, listening to music, being on your phone etc. Get in the zone and transfer the environment. 

SOCIALLY

Make an effort to say hi or goodbye to some people, even if you do not know them that well. If you’re up for it, ask them how they are going or how their day has been.

Start remembering names and birthdays. This will literally make people like you so much more, it’s so simple but people swoon over this. Process names in your mind and write down birthdays in your calendar. 

Don’t be afraid to talk to others. Most people do not care if you talk to them, and some are glad that you talk to them. This is how people become well-known or well-liked. 

Watch videos on how to converse with people you do not know well effectively and become close with them. TED x has a lot of videos on this, and are usually helpful. 

Don’t try to fit in with the crowd. It’s so draining, and even if you think they do, they most likely dislike you(sorry!) . Instead, find/be with your people. 

Join a club/extracurricular. You meet so many like-minded people this way, while still developing your own skills. I say everyone should at least have one solid extracurricular. 

If you are in a talking stage, three weeks is enough time for him or you to decide if you’re willing to date them. It’s not the 1920s anymore, we have imessages, facetime, skype and others to communicate and get to know each other without contact

Call out your friends if you notice them doing something toxic or generally anything they shouldn’t do. E.g gossiping, getting mad at others, bullying someone. If they continue, it will influence you in the long run.

MENTALLY 

Reframe your mindset. I know most of us do not favour school, but do not dwell on negativity and find ways to be positive/neutral about your circumstances. You’ll feel so much better.

Detach. Detachment is literally essential in highschool, there’s so much drama and most likely you will somehow get tied up in it. Stop absorbing what happens and let it influence you, observe what happens and learn from it. I have a post on this here. 

Start saying affirmations everyday. I know affs are usually viewed as a manifestation thing, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be a simple one minute way to cultivate a neutral/positive perspective of yourself. 

Journal. Things will happen, so journaling is a great way to discuss your circumstances, feelings, trauma, relationships etc and develop a sense of identity at the same time. I have a post on this here. 

Meditate. It can be go-go-go constantly, but just take a break and gain some mental clarity and see how much better you feel decluttering your mind. 

Embrace a change and growth mindset, especially in an environment where we are constantly required to adapt. 

PHYSICALLY

Start stretching.. seriously. You sit at a desk for like 5 hours a day excluding lunch and recess, everyday, which is of course going to do a number on your body. It can relieve pain in many different areas.

Have at least 1 form of exercise you do everyday. I know being students, we have to sit at a desk constantly. But, do not give up on practising good exercise habits. Not only can it help with results, it’s good for you.

Get the recommended sleep of 6-8 hours per night, which is good quality sleep without disruptions. It helps with long term memory and you’ll feel better. 

Start packing healthy but tasty lunches to school instead of buying. You’ll save so much money in the long run, and it’s better for your body. 

BEAUTY 

Get your uniforms tailored just a bit. Not too noticeable, but enough that it fits better on your body. Especially for button formal shirts, as they make you look 10 times as bulky than what you actually are. 

Buy new jewellery, earrings, necklaces or whatever you’re allowed. Subtle but noticeable jewellery makes girls look so pretty.

Learn new hairstyles!! Don’t just wear the same hair everyday, mix it up, it’s fun and makes you look attractive. 

Get a good eyebrow gel + clear mascara. Legit life changer, I look so much better everyday because I look put together without make up.

apply  vaseline on areas you would apply highlight, but avoid your eye area. 

Have a good skincare regime!! Being a student is stressful, getting pimples is a sign of stress. 

Okay that's it. Happy back to school everyone! Here’s an affirmation for you <3

I am intelligent and capable. I am skilled and confident in my abilities. I am perceived well by others. I am healthy. I am wealthy. I am looking for this term to be full of good grades, vibes, friends, growth and fun. 

[s-ublimewrites]

xanax (melissa schemmenti x f!reader)

synopsis: melissa needs a push to make a much-needed change in her life

words: 2.9k

warnings: swearing, mild angst (mel & reader argue), gary bashing, republicanism mention

note: i wrote part of this, didn't touch it for eight months, picked it back up, and now here we are: another fic where nothing actually happens between mel & r, but also everything happens. enjoy!

“Don’t go in there yet,” Janine stops you before you can enter the teacher’s lounge. 

“Uh, why not?” You prepare to step around her and she blocks your path. 

“Y/n, it’s tense in there right now,” she insists. She’s stress sweating, you notice. 

Your brow furrows. “Janine, it’s the first day. It’s…” you check your watch, “7:04am. How is it already tense?”

Janine checks over her shoulder and lowers her voice slightly. “So, you know Gary? Melissa’s vending machine guy?”

You fight the urge to roll your eyes. Yeah, you know Gary. You are, in fact, acutely aware of Gary’s presence in Melissa’s life. Listen, you’re super happy for Melissa - she seems to like him, they just spent the summer in Jersey Shore together. You just think it’s kind of weird how he relates everything to vending machines. And you’re kinda wary of asking Melissa who he voted for in 2016. And 2020. And, okay, maybe seeing him kiss her goodbye in the break room makes you want to puke. Whatever. 

“I’m familiar,” you say to Janine.  

Her eyes flick to the cameras, then back to you. “Okay. Well. On the last day of their Jersey Shore trip, something happened. Melissa is pissed and Barbara totally knows why and I think they’re maybe mad at each other about it? Anyway it’s basically a war zone in there and you need to tread very carefully, Y/n.”

There’s genuine fear in Janine’s voice. Poor girl has definitely suffered the wrath of Melissa Schemmenti this morning. 

“Do you know what happened?” you ask. 

Janine shakes her head. “No, but Barb keeps shaking her head all disapprovingly and saying ‘Melissa Ann Schemmenti, just you wait until Y/n gets here,’ so…” 

Her Barb impression is… pretty bad. You don’t comment on it. 

“Ah,” you say, “so I’m the bomb-defusing robot you’re sending in so Melissa will stop being mean to everyone. I see.” 

Somewhere during your time at Abbott, grumpy Melissa has become your responsibility. Not that you mind very much. You like being the only one that can get through to her when she’s like this; you like that everyone knows it, too. 

“If rugs are Xanax for second graders,” Janine says, “you’re Xanax for Melissa. Good luck!” 

Janine scurries off and you take a deep breath. Here goes nothing, you suppose. 

It’s just Barb and Melissa in the lounge — you figure the palpable tension that hangs between them has scared everyone else off. They sit at different tables, decidedly not talking. Melissa’s face is buried in her phone, glasses on the end of her nose, and Barb stares at the yogurt that she’s stirring but not eating. 

“Good morning,” you offer softly as you step into the room, trying to give an air of ‘I’m perfectly normal and don’t know anything about your potentially-failing relationship.’

Melissa’s eyes flick up from her phone, landing briefly on you before she returns to whatever is on her screen. Barb, though, snatches up her bag and her yogurt and is on her feet moving toward you. 

“Maybe you can talk some sense into this one,” Barb says to you furiously. She keeps walking, heading right past you, and slams her yogurt into the trash before exiting the room. Somewhere in this time, the camera crew has the good sense to scram.

You look at Melissa. She looks back at you. 

“What?” she all but spits - angry, sure, but also upset. Hurt by something. Someone. Your hatred for the vending machine guy is set in stone. 

“C’mon, you don’t get to be mad at me - I literally just got here,” you remind Melissa and drop into the seat next to hers. 

Melissa doesn’t say anything, but she looks at you with less loathing. It’s a good first step. 

“You traumatized Janine,” you reattempt. 

“A strong gust of wind could traumatize Janine,” Melissa mutters. She puts down her phone and finally looks at you, moving her glasses to sit atop her head. “Why? What’d she say t’ya?” 

You remember Janine’s words — tread carefully. “Not much. Something about things being tense with you and Barb… Something about Gary.”

Melissa’s jaw sets and she looks at her lap and she doesn’t say anything. 

“Did you fight?” your voice is gentle.  

Melissa plays with her fingers and shakes her head. “No. Well, I don’t know. Kind of? I don’t know. Maybe.” 

You stay quiet while she thinks about this (you didn’t intend for it to be such a difficult question, but you don’t say that).

“Not yet, I guess,” Melissa finally decides. “We haven’t fought yet.” 

You nod, beginning to understand. “Does Gary know that you’re potentially going to be fighting?” 

She shrugs. “Dunno if I wanna make it a thing.” 

“So, there’s two things going on here? You’re mad at Gary for something, and Barb is mad at you?”

She nods. You nod. She suddenly becomes interested in her cuticles.

“Okay,” you retry, “which do you want to tackle first?”

“Neither.”

“Melissa.” 

“Why dontcha just drop it?” Melissa snaps. 

You don’t back down; rather, you give her a pointed look, and she sighs heavily — her international sign of realizing she was mean to you.

You try again. “So, Barb is mad at you.”

“Mhm.”

“Because of the Gary thing?”

“Mhm.”

“Did you fuck up, or did he?”

Melissa goes quiet again and you kick her under the table. 

“Hey, I don’t care either way. You know I support women’s wrongs,” you do your best to keep your tone light.

This draws a half-smile out of her. “Him. Mostly. Then, kinda me… Kinda.”

It’s your turn to stare at her, because what the hell are you supposed to do with that?

She huffs out a sigh, averts her eyes, and her words come out in a rush: “He fucked up and did some stuff and Barb is mad that I haven’t dumped him yet, okay?”

You nod, trying to piece the information together. “So, you wanna give him another chance, but Barb doesn’t? That’s… not usually how this goes.”

“I’m old, alright?” Melissa breathes out, any trace of venom having left her words. Now, she just sounds exhausted. 

“Hang on,” you hold up a hand to halt her train of thought, “what? First off, no you’re not. Second, what does your age have to do with anything?”

She looks at her lap. “I found someone who wants to settle down with me. I got divorced and wrote off love then found it again and I can’t afford to be throwin’ it away.”

Every once in a while, Melissa will let you see her frayed edges like this. They’re ragged and raw and tender and she trusts you to not probe more than necessary. It makes you feel… something. Something deep and warm that burns inside you like brandy and makes your hands tremble. 

“But?” you coax gently, and she runs a hand down her face in something akin to defeat.

Melissa’s eyes flick to the door, and you know she’s making sure there’s no camera crew and no Janine.

“But somehow we got this far in without talkin’ about politics. I mean, I talk about it. All the time. And he nods, so I thought we were on the same page, but…”

Christ alive, I was right about the elections, you think, and clamp your mouth shut (it is so not the time for an I Told You So).

For the umpteenth time this morning, you choose your words with care. “I’ve never known Melissa Schemmenti to compromise her beliefs for anybody.”

And, well, there it is. You’ve said the thing that both Melissa and Barb knew you’d say, and she wouldn’t be able to fight you on it, because it’s you. Her Xanax. 

She spends a moment chewing on her bottom lip, and her voice is low when she says, “I don’t wanna hav’ta start all over again.”

It occurs to you that this woman is deeply scared that she’s never going to be loved again. 

You don’t know how to reassure her that you’re not going to let that happen. 

Instead, you just say, “Yeah,” because what else is there to say?

After a beat, you add, “You also don’t wanna hav’ta date someone who thinks they’re putting litter boxes in classrooms for all the kids who identify as cats.” 

Melissa huffs out a somewhat incredulous laugh and blinks away the tears that you weren’t planning on pointing out. She shakes her head like she’s clearing out cobwebs. 

“I was hoping we could just ignore it. That it would be one of those things we don’t talk about,” Melissa tells you. 

You look at her pointedly. “Right. Until he tries to tell you that unions strip you of your individual voice and makes you watch NewsMax after dinner every night. Melissa, you’d murder the man.”

The glare you receive in return only confirms what you both know: once again, Melissa is incapable of arguing with you, and she’s kinda peeved about it. 

“Why d’ya gotta to be so…” she fishes for the appropriate word, “…right? It’s obnoxious.”

“It’s obnoxious that I know you?” You suppress a smirk. 

“Yeah.”

“So you want me to let you keep dating a republican?”

Melissa crosses her arms over her chest. “Shut up.” 

“You gotta dump him, babe. Before there’s a questionable campaign sign in your front lawn,” you stress, and she groans. 

“Then who’s gonna take me to Ocean City and haul me back to the hotel room when I’m eight Manhattans deep and three g’s in the red?” She pouts. 

Your eyebrow quirks up. “Is that your only qualifying factor? I can do that.”

The pout gives way to a small smirk. “So, I dump Gary and you take me to Ocean City? Is that the deal?” 

You pause. Or… maybe ‘freeze’ is a more accurate word. 

“I… guess?” you manage to get out.

Melissa considers this for a moment, head cocked to the side. “Not a bad incentive.”

How did we get here? you briefly wonder, and you push the thought aside. 

“So you’re gonna leave him, then?” you try to keep your tone light, hoping to urge her back toward your main objective. 

Melissa huffs, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You wanna be my knight in shining armor. You’re not gettin’ me to Ocean City that easy, kid.” She smirks, but it’s tight. Almost forced. 

“Hey, I’m just saying that if all it takes is some drinks on the boardwalk, I’m your gal,” you laugh softly, and she cracks a smile back. 

For a brief moment you feel like you’ve successfully dodged the bullet; Melissa’s more relaxed now, some of the tension having left her shoulders. You just have to coax her a little bit further. 

“I’m serious, Melissa. You deserve way better than a guy who…” is politically vomit-worthy “… doesn’t share your values, y’know? You don’t have to settle.”

That’s when something changes in the way she’s looking at you. The smirk disappears, her eyes narrow, and when she speaks her voice has cooled significantly. 

“Settle?” Melissa repeats. “Who’s settlin’?”

It’s like the air thickens around the two of you. You try to backpedal, to shove the words back in your mouth and swallow them, but it’s too late. Melissa is putting those walls right back up. 

“I don’t need you to swoop in and save me, Y/n,” her voice is sharp, intentionally chosen to carve out space between the two of you. “I’ve stuck it out through way worse than this, alright?”

You sit back in your chair a little and do your best to keep your voice even. “That doesn’t mean you have to-“

“I don’t have to do anything.” Melissa is already shaking her head, voice firm. “I didn’t ask for advice.”

Ouch. Okay, so, she’s kinda pissed. Usually your talks go a lot better than this, and you’re both laughing by now. Then again, usually the talks are about Ava’s inadequacies as a principal or some annoying parent. Not Melissa’s love life and sense of self-worth. 

“Melissa,” you try to control the damage, “I’m not trying to-“

“I’m not some delicate little flower who can’t handle a little trouble. You know me,” Melissa leans forward. “I’ve dealt with way harder stuff than Gary screwin’ up a little. You don’t know half of what I’ve gone through, so don’t sit there and try to pretend that you do.”

Her words hit you square in the chest. You didn’t know what to expect coming back to work after not seeing Melissa all summer, but you didn’t imagine it would be like this. 

Not that you imagined it often. Definitely not. 

You had hoped nothing would be different between you, but she’s evidently putting you at arm’s length now. 

“Melissa, I’m just saying,” you take a breath and try to regroup, “you deserve better than him.”

“Better than what?” Melissa shoots back, arms crossed securely in front of her chest. “Than a guy who wants to settle down with me? Yeah, he’s got some rough edges. So what? Who doesn’t?”

You make a mental note to unpack that sometime down the road. 

“Rough edges?” your eyebrow raises. “Melissa, I’m just trying to make sure you’re happy and not… settling.”

You’re hyper-aware of your use of that word again, and so is she. 

Melissa looks at the table and her jaw clenches. “Yeah, well, maybe you don’t get to decide what settlin’ looks like for me. We’re not on the same page with this, alright?”

In the tense beat of silence that passes between you both, you can feel her withdrawing further from you. The months you’ve spent apart have made it all too raw, too soon. She leans back, arms still crossed, face set in a stubborn scowl. 

“I’ve been fine without your opinion all summer and I’ll be fine without it now.”

You sit back in your chair and try to not let the sigh you let out sound too irritated (or too hurt). This isn’t your first rodeo with Melissa, but still… Ouch. 

“All I’m saying,” you start gingerly, “is that just because you can get through something, it doesn’t mean you should.”

Melissa’s eyes narrow again, but they’re softer this time. She’s listening — even if she doesn’t want to be. 

“I know better than to try to tell you what you can or can’t do,” you continue, keeping your tone casual like you’re discussing the weather. “But I know you, Melissa. You don’t accept less than what you deserve. So if you’re ’sticking it out’ with Gary, there’s a reason, but I don’t think it’s the reason you think it is.”

Melissa doesn’t speak right away, just… stares, with this thoughtful expression. You let the silence hang between you, allowing your words to sink in. 

“You dunno everything about me, Y/n,” she finally says, looking away from you, and her voice has lost some of its edge. 

You offer a small smile. “I never said I did.” 

Another beat of silence. You can see her chewing on your words, probably fighting the urge to make it an argument again. This is always the hardest part — getting her to let go of the fight without feeling like she’s losing. 

“I just… I think you’re worth more than whatever this is,” you say carefully, making sure to keep your voice low. “And maybe it’s time you stop sticking it out just because you’re scared of what comes next.”

That does it. You see Melissa flinch, just barely, but it’s enough to know you’re getting through to her. 

“I’m not scared,” she mutters, but it lacks any real conviction. 

You don’t argue with her, just nod. “Yeah. I know.”

Melissa shifts in her chair, arms still crossed, but she’s less tense. She’s still mad, sure, and maybe she’s even still mad at you, but the fire behind it is dying down. 

“You always gotta be so damn calm, dontcha?” she grumbles. 

“One of us has to be,” you chuckle softly. 

Melissa finally cracks the tiniest smile, her boot nudging you under the table. “Good. You’ll need that calm at the craps table.”

“You’re totally gonna hold me to Ocean City, aren’t you?”

She shrugs. “Gotta have somethin’ to look forward to since you’re makin’ me dump my usual company.”

“Hey, I’m not making you-“ you pause. “Oh. So… you’re gonna do it, then?”

“Yeah,” Melissa nods with a sigh. “I guess I am.”

You just nod, and it seems like Melissa is really absorbing the fact that she’s about to be single again. She looks at the clock like it’s a ticking bomb. 

“Guess I’ve got some time to figure out how I wanna do this,” she says, and you know she’s going to be an anxious mess until 3:30 rolls around. 

“One thing at a time,” you offer a small, supportive smile, and she nods. 

She chuckles softly, more tired than amused. “Right. Should probably focus on my thirty second- and third-graders first.”

Right. Teaching. The thing you’re here to do. You both stand up and start gathering your things. She doesn’t make for the door when you do, and you stop. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Melissa,” you reassure her. “And you know where to find me if you need me.”

Melissa nods and takes a steadying breath. “We’ll talk later?” She sounds almost… hopeful. 

“Of course,” you smile. “If I recall, we’ve got an Ocean City trip to plan.”

Melissa huffs out a small laugh and gives another nod. The tension seems to leave her frame slightly as she finally heads for the door. You follow behind her, knowing the hardest part of the day is yet to come. But maybe, you think, everything will turn out just fine.

[toon-tales]

Here it is! Part three! Omg, I'm so excited for this!

Let's begin!

Ok, so, I know a lot of people say that Poppy hasn't changed a lot in the third movie but let me stop you right there!

Here's our girl, our happy-go-lucky queen cutely dressed and if I may, waiting for her boyfriend to compliment her looks like he always does

But then she notices something is wrong

You can see in the third pic, she was thinking how to approach the matter, because this, after all, is her boyfriend's old home, where he used to live with his grandmother. And in the fourth pic, her brows are even more furrowed

And here, oh my gosh this scene:

Can we look at Poppy, PLEASE?!

She's paying her full attention to Branch. She wants him to talk, to open up to her. HER EYES ARE FILLED WITH HOPE SHE'S ENCOURAGING HIM TO TALK TO HER

Skip, skip, skip, skiiiiiip, annnndddd here:

"I'm not hearing no!"

Branch doesn't look sad, he doesn't look mad, he doesn't look scared, he doesn't look uncomfortable, and most importantly, he doesn't look forced

True, Poppy was all "We are so in!", but unlike in Twt, she actually listened to Branch when he wanted to talk to her, and Branch actually talked when something he didn't like was going on. Do you even see how much they've grown?

Now, Poppy knows how hard life is without a sibling, and she doesn't want her boyfriend to just take his family for granted. Her heart was in the right place, people

And Branch didn't say no! He didn't refuse! They talked, different opinions and different thoughts and different mindsets, yet they worked things out

And yeah, I know Branch was probably thinking 'what have I gotten myself into' in this scene

But the entire movie was just Branch having issues and dealing with them. And Poppy was trying to help him. Also, in case you haven't noticed, things do not work out the way Poppy has imagined, just like in Twt, but the difference? Later, she didn't leave Branch alone to go save Floyd, she went with him. Now, I hear you saying: she went because Branch didn't say anything to her, while they fought in Twt, that's why she left him

Wrong!

Let me remind you that Branch lied to her, kept things from her, kept his feelings from her, didn't open up, and literally was being sarcastic and you can see she was hurt in this scene

And they're in a new relationship which Branch is already beginning with hiding stuff, yet she put all that behind because -I'm not gonna say boyfriend - the man she loved, needed her. So, yeah. She's changed

Takes a deep breath

Now, let's move on, shall we?

I just wanted to point out how Poppy was looking at Branch when he was trying to yet again hide his feelings. She knows what's up

Moving on to this scene:

The way she's telling them to include Branch? The pure happiness and excitement on her face for him! PLEASE?! May I remind you that SHE WASN'T SINGING WITH THEM BUT WAS THIS HAPPY FOR BRANCH?!

Now, I've already talked about the scenes I'm going to talk about now in the analysis posts, but I'm gonna copy-paste them here because I don't want you people going to those posts, then return to this one and lose your focus and vibe

You have Branch, whose brothers' return has reopened scars he's been trying to close for so long, and has just found out his brother is being held captive, and is now in a rescue mission to save him and sing the perfect family harmony, the same thing that they failed miserably at the last time so they walked out and never talked to each other again, comforting his girlfriend. Poppy needed time, needed him, and he was ready to give her all the time she needed and stay with her. Proof? He didn't move until she has left first, ensuring she was ready to leave

Then we have Poppy, who has just found out her boyfriend has been hiding secrets from her, and watched as he reluctantly agreed to reunite with his brothers, and discovered she had a sister that she knew n o t h i n g about, and that this sister was so afraid to leave her safe place and go with her, deciding to go help Branch save his brother. She took one last glance at the walls separating her from Viva, then walked towards Rhonda, silently signaling she was ready to leave.

They were both dealing with stuff, needed time to open up/stay, yet each one thought of the other

Then this scene was SOMETHING ELSE-

"Where are you going?"

"To save Floyd, alone. I didn't need them growing up and I don't need them now." He didn't even look back when he said, "What are you doing?"

And the look of disbelief on her face. "What do you mean? I'm coming with you!"

He literally gave her a blind eye, didn't look at her. He didn't want to get weak. "Why bother? Aren't you gonna leave me eventually anyway?" He was certain. He didn't wait for any reassurances because he didn't want to hear any and live a lie again. "Everyone else does."

But despite that, Poppy did NOT give up on him

"I have been by your side from the moment we've met, and you've been by mine. Let's give each other some credit here."

'and you've been by mine' this wasn't about her, but about THEM. This line has so much depth and meaning for their relationship

"You're right, I'm sorry. Thank you."

He started with the apology because he knew what he just said was WRONG. He knew she wasn't leaving, they've always been there for each other. And I don't think he thanked her for coming, maybe for reminding him? I mean, that's Branch we're talking about, he would surely have thoughts and insecurities about people leaving him

But Poppy's always there to remind him that she's always there

His mission is her mission. She was willingly going for an insane rescue mission, and face people BRANCH HIMSELF didn't know anything about, all the while trying to deal with the separation between her and Viva. But she was going with him. Because that's just them

All they wanted was for the other to be happy

And in the end? It worked out just fine

So, to sum up this post, and the previous two: no, Branch isn't perfect like we claim, nor Poppy is, too. Hiding things? Sure, that happens. Lying? Happens as well. Disagreements? Oh, yeah, lots of those. But in the end of the day? They work things out

Branch is perfect for Poppy, and Poppy is perfect for Branch

That's just love, and it doesn't have to be perfect all the time

Sooooo, that's it? Omg that was fuuuun!

Anyway, as usual, feel free to add or comment on anything!

Part one

Part two

[oneofthetorturedpoets]

keep on pretending pretty girl.

part 2

It's been three months since you and Regina started dating. No one knew about it and Regina made sure of that. Every rumor she shut down and every whisper she shut up. At first you didn't mind, you actually wanted it too, but then there were rumors that Regina was hooking up with Aaron in the third floor janitorial closet and that worried you. You knew that she dumped Aaron that same day she got with you but you also know that she has a history of cheating. She excuses it as her not knowing she was gay yet, but you're not sure if that's entirely true.

When you got the text that Regina was on her way to her college prep class, you waited about 15 minutes before marching your way up the stairs. With each step, your anxiety grew. Would Regina cheat on you? The thought kept circling your mind.

You reach the door, pulling it open to reveal a dark empty closet. You feel relief fall off of your shoulders. She wasn't lying to you.

-

'come over, we need to talk.' You got the message from Regina, right when you were getting ready for bed. You sighed, texting her back that you'll be right there.

In 20 minutes you were knocking on her front door, waiting to be let in. Regina's mom answers the door, not at all shocked to see you with how often you come over. "Hey girl! How are you? I'm so happy you're here, there was-" Regina is already right there, pulling you away from her mom and up the stairs.

Regina practically throws you on her bed. "I heard you were checking the janitor closets to see if I was cheating on you?" Anger laces her tone.

"I was, I'm sorry, I should've trusted you." You say, the words coming out worse than you want.

She scoffs. "Why didn't you? I haven't done anything for you not to trust me!"

You stand back up. "It's not that I don't trust you! It's the fact that we are hiding our relationship for no good reason!"

She shakes her head, walking to the other side of the room. "You know my status, if everyone found out-" It was your turn to be mad.

"They would what? Make fun of you?" You yell back.

"Yes!" The room fell silent. "wait, I didn't mean it like that" You turn around, walking out of her room. "Y/n, wait." You storm down the stairs.

"Maybe we can work this out when you're not embarrassed of me, Regina." You slam her door, walking to your car.

-

The next day was luckily Saturday so you wouldn't have to see Regina. That didn't stop her from blowing up your phone.

That day you just thought back to every time you interacted with her in school. She would look past you every time you saw her in the hallway. She would make sure to pick you up the next block over so no one saw you two together. She refused to sit next to you in class or be partnered up with you. To everyone else, it looked like she hated you. You knew that you were two very different people but for her to be embarrassed to be seen with you?

-

You saw Regina walking in to school that next Monday. You could tell that she wanted to talk to you but she stopped herself. Clearly still embarrassed by you.

-

Around fifth period, Regina pulled you into one of the closets. "Y/n, please-"

you genuinely laugh at her. "You can't even attempt to talk to me in public still... after our huge fight, nothing has changed? God Regina, you're hopeless." you walk out of the room, Regina follows.

"Y/n, I'm sorry. I am not embarrassed of loving you, I want everyone to see how much I really do love you." Regina pulls you by your wrist, causing you to turn towards her. She tugs you closer, interlocking your lips. You melt into her, all of your anger and sadness washing off of you. Everyone is taking pictures and recording but you couldn't care less. "Please forgive me, y/n. I didn't mean to make you feel like I was embarrassed by you." You just shake your head, pulling her in to kiss you. Glad you're able to kiss her in public and not feel like you're doing something wrong.

-

taglist: @pyro-les @natashamaximoff-69 @allamanamedearl @ricejucie @marvels--slut

to be added to the taglist, send in an ask!

[lfghughes]

Won't Do It Again pt.2

Weeks had passed and you hadn’t seen Jack. Each day was different, some days you were mad and other days you were anxious about how this was somehow your fault. Other days you barely thought about him at all. But mostly you thought about how it was your fault and you always had a weird pit in your stomach. Maybe you should just text him and see where you two stood. Yeah, he didn’t want a relationship clearly but even just having him the way you did have him was enough. 

When you heard the buzzing on your phone, your heart skipped a beat. Somehow your brain was programmed to always think it was Jack. But a confused look grew on your face when you saw the notification and it was a dm on instagram from…Nico? You clicked open the message and for some reason your heart started beating just as fast as it was before. ‘Hey was just wondering if you wanted to get a drink sometime?’

He was just being nice clearly but Jacks words from the other night rang back in your mind. ‘Yeah, of course!! Just pick a time and place’ and well that’s how you ended up at a random bar in Hoboken with Nico. As you sat there with the captain of the hockey team, you had never felt more free in your life. As much as you liked Jack you always felt like you could say the wrong thing and he would end up thinking you’re weird. 

Meanwhile with Nico it was like you could be as weird as you liked and he seemed to match that same energy. “Tonight was so much fun. Hopefully we can do this again soon?” Nico said with that cute boyish smile. And those words were the exact reason that over the next couple of weeks you both had hung out multiple times. 

Of course you knew that eventually you and Jack would end up in the same room together. They were teammates and close friends so it was only a matter of time. One of the nights Nico asked you to hang out a lot of the boys and girls they were either dating or hanging out with went out too. It was not shocking to anyone that Jack was there. You spent a majority of the night talking to Nico and it was pretty clear you two were growing closer and closer. 

The night actually wasn’t too bad at all and by the end of it you were bummed it was time to go home. Nico dropped you off and you had almost considered inviting him in for a bit but you changed your mind, not wanting to rush anything yet. You liked the pace you were going at and you knew that you were still getting your head straight after the whole secret Jack thing. When you got inside your place your phone started vibrating and your heart stopped when you saw the name.

“Hey?” You said onto your side of the phone. “I wish you had invited me over.” And just like that you were melting. But the problem was it was Jack on the other side of the phone and you shouldn’t be reacting like this. “Jack…” You whispered into the phone. “Please? I miss you.”

Next thing you knew Jack was at your place and the past few weeks were quickly forgotten when his lips attached to yours right away. How could you think about all his wrongs and everything else that had happened when he was kissing you like this. “I missed you, baby.” And just like that you two were slipping into your room and back into your bad habits.

[rubyvhs]

you have more pieces of me than the desert has sand [cordell walker] masterlist

summary: cordi deserves the silent treatment if he’s gonna give you a heart attack every time he goes to work. tags: heavy making out. prompt: angst, @alphabetquest.

Cordell’s not usually careful so you’re worried more often than not, but right now it’s different. It’s way different with the way Micki’s been acting, how late he’s been coming to the bar asking you to take one or both of his kids home for him while he lets Geri pour him drinks the entire night.

Very freakin’ different. 

“Hey, babe, you okay?” Geri asks as she places a new clean glass in front of you. Oh, right, that’s why you came over here. New glasses. You can already sense the couple you’ve been serving staring daggers at you. 

“Fine.” You reply tightly, not ready to talk or think about it, but you check your phone for the last time before you go back with two glasses. Still no messages from the ranger. No updates from Micki either or James. Though you didn’t expect any from him seeing as you’ve only ever talked once or twice.

It’s a long shift, longer than usual, which means the second it’s over you groan in relief. You’ve been awake for every single second of this ten hour shift and you’re ready to go home at— yeah, it’s two in the morning. Geri already left so you pack up and lock the Side Step’s doors, letting your forehead rest on it for a second to calm down.

And then you check your phone again, but still nothing and it’s already two. It’s two in the morning. Two AM. Where is he?

There’s a weak sound laden with the thick accent, “Hey.” And because you’re an idiot in love, you recognize the voice quicker than you would have liked to. You look up and see Cordell standing with his hat in hand, walking closer. “I know— I know I’m late and I didn’t even text you but Micki—”

“Okay.” You’d be proud of how even your voice is if your heart wasn’t so heaven right now. He stops mid sentence— halfway to you and freezes. You’ve been with Cordell long enough to know him well; how he copes with tragedies, what he does every night, how he feels about his kids, and you’re sure he has a good read on you too. Which is exactly why he froze.

You’re very pro-argument. Explaining each other’s side, shouting, getting it all out in the open— you think it’s the best way for the both of you. And it’s worked so far, you’d have your little disagreements there (he shouldn’t do this, you should take care of that) and you wouldn’t resent the other for it. But this? This you can’t even be mad at him for. It’s his job, and you knew what you signed up for the second you got into a relationship with him. Doesn’t mean you can’t be upset.

“Come on, baby girl—” you shrug and start to walk past him to your car but he holds onto your arm, pulling you back to him, “are you serious?”

“About what?” You can try to be as challenging as you want but he’s much taller than you and you can’t exactly help having to look up at him.

“About this, you’re not talkin’ to me?” 

“We’re talking right now, aren’t we?”

“You know what I mean.” You shake your head and snatch your arm back, when you look back into his eyes, there’s more hurt in them than annoyance. “I came to apologize.”

Technically you didn’t have any plans, today wasn’t a special day, and you definitely weren’t expecting him at the bar, but you get worried, and you’d think with him being a Texas ranger with a shit ton of family who cares about him, he has to get that. He has to get how scared you get when he leaves every day for work. You’re not even living together so all you get most days is a text ‘good morning’ and maybe you see him on his lunch break. 

“Cordi, I’m tired and I just want to go home.” You say with a long sigh, talking a step back to exit the conversation but he doesn’t let you, shaking his head aggressively.

“No— no you— you know what? Fine, let’s get you home.” You frown as he walks to his car. “Come on.” He waves you over so you raise an eyebrow then look at your own car before looking back at Walker.

“I’ll come pick it up in the morning. Before your shift.” You shake your head with a sigh. 

“I can’t ask you to do that—”

He walks over to you again and you’re this close to breaking and laughing. Whenever you’re mad he’s always… moving. And talking. You know how to ramble like there’s no tomorrow but Cordell takes it to another level. “You’re not askin’. I’m gonna do it as a ‘sorry’ for today, and that way I get to spend time with you.” 

You can’t see fault in the plan so you join him in the passenger's seat. And while this is all swell and cute, you’re still concerned and you want answers. You want solutions. How are you supposed to live with this the rest of your life? Does this mean there’s no future for you with Cordell— cause that’s one way to break you.

“Cordi,” you start, facing him, “I don’t wanna keep going like this, okay? ‘Cause it’s not healthy for me, being so scared and worried all the time—”

“You knew what you were getting into.”

“Yeah but I didn’t think it was this bad! Besides, we don't even see each other in the mornings, and I only get to see you at lunch someday— it’s scary!” You’re not demanding solutions from him, you don’t want him to defend himself, you’re just tired. Tired of always feeling this way. “And I’m not accusing you of anything, I’m just—”

“Scared, yeah.” He sighs, turning into your driveway. “Wanna go inside?” It isn’t the first time he’s invited himself in and it wouldn’t be the last. He kills the engine and you both walk into your house. You’re supposed to be sharing it with a roommate but she left for a few months— something about art school and discovering herself. She probably felt bad that she left on short notice because she still pays her half of the rent (thank God).

When the lights turn on you run to your room quickly. You need to get changed if you’re having any kind of conversation with Walker about this. You need a minute for yourself, and since he isn’t a guest at this point, you can hear the fridge door opening then being shut closed.

You can only guess that he’s rummaging for the nearest beer. You find more comfortable clothes and change after washing up, then take off the long-day makeup. Cordell knocks on your door halfway through and you let him in. 

You were wrong, he wasn’t looking for beer, he was cutting up your fruits into one of your comfort snacks: chocolate and fruit salad. And two drinks. Probably stronger than beer. “Hey.” you couldn’t stop the grin on your face if you tried as he sat down on your bed. You turn around from your vanity to give him your full attention. “Are we gonna talk?”

“Yeah. You wanna go first?”

He nods quickly, like you’d change your mind, “I love you, and I’m not taking you for granted—”

“Cordell, I never said—”

“No, let me say it. I’m not trying to make you feel bad or that what your feeling doesn’t matter, ‘cause it does, you know it does. It just hurts me too, not being able to comfort you especially since it’s my fault you need it in the first place.” You sigh, rubbing under your eye one last time to walk over to him. He moves the tray to the nightstand so you can get on his lap, with his back against the headboard.

“Love you too.”

He smiles, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah? ‘S that all you got from this?”

“Yes, cause I love you too, no matter how terrifying your job is. And I trust you. Just— Cordi, please text from now on?” He’s never agreed to anything faster. And he seals the deal with a slow, open mouthed kiss, pulling you in. 

You smile against him, hands on his shoulders— the feature you’ve spent the most just staring at, and that says a lot considering every part of Cordell is worth analysing.

He mutters the same words against your lips as he threads his fingers in your hair, a little rough, the way he’s always liked it, “Forever.”

A little laugh escapes you and he pulls away just enough so that you can look at each other without going cross-eyed. “Off, please.” You mutter, squeezing the shirt underneath your hand, and you can feel his chest through it— God. 

“Fuck, baby girl,” he groans due to your involuntary grinding that you’re only now noticing. It’s subtle, so you don’t stop, ‘nd it’s enough for him to pull the shirt off and you’re dead right there and then. No matter how many times this happens, you can get enough of it, if him. 

“Cordi, need you.” it’s too early for you to turn your words off and he won’t give what you want without a little begging, or at least asking for it. “Please.” and your latching you lips onto his again, his hands on your waist are guiding you, adding pressure right where you both want it.

“God, you’re beautiful.” He compliments breathily, trying to control your movements further but you’re only going faster. He pulls away suddenly and it’s too fast, too cold, too little—

“Cordell? Are you okay? Cordell!” 

You’ll be the first to admit that Cordi’s forced a raspy voice out of you more than once but you know that this isn’t yours. Not that deep anyways. Cordell notices before you, jumping for his phone. “Fuck, Liam, yeah, I’m good. Are you guys all right?”

“We’re fine, cordi, are you with—”

“Yeah, yeah. Talk tomorrow.” And he shuts the phone off too quickly. You laugh, throwing your head onto his shoulder, feeling his own. “New rules, phones are in the living room from now on.”

“Pretty fair rule.” And when you lean in for another kiss, it’s more urgent. That’s how you know tomorrow will be just fine.

title: sand by dove cameron

long-day? Day-long? Anyways, first Cordell fic cause he’s the loml and the lack of fics is criminal!!!!!

@anu-piyakya97 !!

[dr-spectre]

honestly the only thing i wish now since team past won is that we don't get a great turf war game.

A more past based aesthetic sounds inherently cooler for a game no matter what people say.

I think i was being a little too harsh and mean towards Team Past and I was riding the high of the Grand Fest....

At the end of the day, what makes Splatoon's world so special is that it's world follows our time, a year passes in our world, a year passes over there. Stopping the timeline would be a bad idea and I think the developers know better. I have faith in them.

I dont think we're gonna get a great turf war game because Splatoon 4 was most likely already in pre-production before the Grand Fest, and they are just choosing what aesthetic to wrap the game in. They probably have a bunch of storylines planned out too and now they can get to work on the next game. That's just how game development works, especially Nintendo ones where gameplay is first and story is second.

The results of the final Splatfest of each game do make an impact but not THAT big of an impact. Callie vs. Marie decided who was gonna play the villain role in the next hero mode as they already placed down the set up for that story line in the songs Tide Goes Out and Bomb Rush Blush, as well as the Splatfest dialogue creating tension between the two.

Marie won so the developers gave Callie some angst, and she strolled down to Octo Canyon, said to good ol' Octavio "Hey I wanna be evil and stuff." And Octavio was like, "aight sick yo. But you gotta wear these hypnotic shades first tho." And Callie was like "COOL! :D"

Chaos vs. Order impacted what the next game was gonna look like aesthetic wise, and even then it's not as extreme as a lot of people envisioned. Splatsville is Inkopolis but basically... a little bit more chaotic and clearly not as wealthy of a city as Inkopolis. Deep Cut's aesthetics and personality were based on the theme of chaos, we would have probably gotten a three person Idol group regardless but what team won in Splatoon 2 impacted what they were gonna look like. The rest of Splatoon 3 is just regular ol' Splatoon. It's not a crazy Mad Max chaotic land like what some were expecting and that Inkopolis was gonna be up in smoke.

And, of course, the losing team was yet again the central theme of the villain, this time, the idea of Order itself and even then its different from how Callie vs. Marie played out. Marina becomes Marina Agitando at the start of the story to get it out of the way and to subvert expectations. And then the real villain, Overlorder takes centre stage.

I dont think we're gonna see the whole "losing team becomes evil" thing because its a tired old trope and it created so much just.... bullshit in the community, I'm gonna be so real. Like you know this already and my stances on Hypno Callie and what people say about her but... I digress!!

I wanna end off my rambles by saying that the best part of Team Past winning, is that Callie and Marie got to win TOGETHER! It feels like the perfect cap to their arcs and it feels... good.... you know? It just, makes me happy that these two girls are just finally happy and are on each other's wavelengths so well. They even show that in Blushing Tide but ive already gushed about that song.

I feel like thematically Team Past/Squid Sisters winning feels.... perfect? It feels... right? I guess? Starting off in darkness and hate, fighting each other, coming together after being reminded of the good times they've had, healing their broken bond, finally winning... as a team...

I think im taking the loss pretty well LMAO! I mean I was on the winning team of Chaos vs. Order so I'm perfectly fine with coming in second place.

[angelic-ambedo]

The Weirdest Fucking Movies I've Ever seen Pt. 1

Okay so I sort of champion myself as a lover of weird movies. And it's funny because regardless of how many I've seen, every time I watch a weird movie I genuinely feel as if it is the weirdest movie I've ever seen in my life.

So, I decided to make a list which compiles all of said weird movies and then a description of why I find each so uniquely weird. If you find any of these descriptions or titles intriguing, I recommend you seek these movies out, because a weird movie = a good life ya know so yeah

If you have more weird movies please please recommend them im hungry for new crazy cinema bebesssss

Eraserhead (1977) - genuinely makes no sense.

Coherence (2013) - trippy scientifically interesting thriller

Some Velvet Morning (2013) - abusive cat n mouse relationship

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - emotional violence

Greener Grass (2019) - let's shame suburbia!

Trash Humpers (2009) - people fucking the trash...?

Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) - mental illness be so sad and trippy

Gummo (1997) - literal photo album of a dysfunctional town

Slaughtered Vomit Dolls (2006) - bulimia PSA in disguise

Black Bear (2020) - art seeps into the "real" world

Begotten (1990) - god kills himself

Trouble Every Day (2001) - eating people presented as...a turn on?

Baise-Moi (2000) - punk feminist murderous women are sick and society sux

Palindromes (2004) - one character is played by a ton of different actors of different ages, races, and sexes

964 Pinocchio (1991) - so much vomit, even more cyberpunk lobotomy sex machine madness

Meet the Feebles (1989) - the muppets give each other STDs and commit mass murder

In the Realm of the Senses (1976) - a torrid, pornographic affair used to escape the horrors of a war-torn world

Enter the Void (2009) - going to the past, present, and future, POV shots that include blinking, going inside the body, taboo themes with a psychedelic style

Love (2015) - horny pseudo-porno about a misogynistic asshole who somehow pulls hot, sexually adventurous women

Climax (2018) - LSD fueled nightmare

Pink Flamingos (1972) - a competition to be the "filthiest person alive" (spoiler alert: the cool drag queen wins)

Vivarium (2019) - Suburbia is still creepy, guys

Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (2015) - can we please stop having erotomania like celebrities aren't into u babe :(

No No Nooky TV (1987) - Computers being cool and saying "boobs" and "clit"

The Piano Teacher (2001) - unsafe nonconsensual bdsm and sexual repression is...no. please no.

The Night Porter (1974) - stockholm syndrome and wild bdsm stuff with postwar themes

Belle de Jour (1967) - more bdsm themes

Titane (2021) - woman fucks a car and gets pregnant

Daisies (1966) - two girls cut up pickles and destroy the patriarchy

Creep 1 and 2 (2014, 2017) - murder has never been this funny

Garbanzo Gas (2007) - a human cow gets an all-expenses paid trip to a motel before it hits the slaughterhouse

Melancholie der Engel (2009) - ew.

In Our Garden (2002) - old men dicks + weirdest dialogue I've ever heard in my life

The Rehearsal (TV series) (2022) - this is the ultimate weirdest thing ever and I don't know how else to categorize it.

Trigger Warnings (all of these movies are weird/fucked up but some of them contain actual fucked up stuff that like. happened in real life. so below are the triggers for that kind of stuff. All of these films are genuine films, not the gore stuff the internet produces, but some of them because of the country/time period/transgressiveness include content that is inappropriate and/or ethically unacceptable, so I've included those movies below)

Baise-Moi - unsimulated sex scenes which includes SA scenes that actors consented to but characters did not. this proves a feminist point but is still incredibly upsetting and stayed with me for a while as there are close ups and its awful.

In the Realm of the Senses - Please look into this one more before you watch it, I'm not going to describe things in detail because it makes me so uncomfortable but there are some scenes that involve young actors that should not ethically have been in the situations they were put in. The movie is exceptionally well made and from what I know globally respected so I don't know why they had to ruin it for me but whatever.

Pink Flamingos - One infamous scene involves an actual chicken death. It was the early 70s (long time ago and no PETA) and they apparently ate the chicken afterward, so I felt less immoral about this one but still gross.

Melancholie der Engel - okay please genuinely never watch this movie unless you're super into traumatizing yourself and are very desensitized I guess. There's a ton of actual animal abuse in very very graphic/unnecessarily disturbing shock type situations. There's other bad unsimulated stuff but this is the worst of it from what I know.

Love and Meet the Feebles contain scenes that are transphobic and/or racist, which is gross. Slaughtered Vomit Dolls was made by a very bad person. A bunch of the movies also have unsimulated sex stuff, I don't know if that makes anyone uncomfortable but if it does I'm just putting it out there.

[wherebettertoescape]

Thoughts on The Outsiders Album

Okay, as I said yesterday, I have a LOT of thoughts on the album and I decided to revive this page so I stop bothering everyone IRL with my thoughts about it 😂 I figure there must be a good amount of people on tumblr who are down to listen to my rants about the album, so here goes.

I'll put it under a cut so there aren't any spoilers for anyone who hasn't listened yet, and I know there's one or two things which I've heard about the prouction via other posts and such. But I will stress that I haven't actually seen it, I've only listened to the album and obsessed over it 😂

It's also below the cut because it's fucking LOOOOONG

Please reply to this or send in your own thoughts - I have so much I want to talk about to do with this album and I'm like... shaking with the need to talk about it with people who actually want to listen 😂

(sad times living in the UK 🥲)

I'm gonna go through the album sequentially, like track by track, because that feels like the thing to do, even though I will say right off that I definitely have more thoughts about some tracks than others. And I will also give my favourite line from each song. But for a just, like, general overview to begin with - I love the album so much?

I will fully admit that I was kinda preparing myself for it to be bad - it's a book that I love and I wasn't the biggest fan of the movie adaptation for a few key reasons, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the musical soundtrack.

I'm in love with the style of music, I love the entire cast (all of them have such different singing voices and styles and I think that they merge together so beautifully), and it has most of the things that I love in a musical - for me, it's got the right balance of the talking sections included with the singing, as well, which I know some people aren't huge fans of, but I might be biased because Soda is and always has been my favourite character and most of the talking is by him 😂 (I love Jason Schmidt, but we'll talk about that later), and as well as that the style of music and singing like gives me a good picture of what the actual choreography might look like, which I'm obsessed with, since I probably won't get to see it unless it somehow gets to the West End (🤞🏻)

Tulsa '67

Okay so this song is just like ✨exposition ✨ but it's done in a fun way, and I've decided it's worth it just for the finale reprise

I was also like stupidly emotional the first time I heard it and it opened with the opening line of the book

I was wary because of the immediate characterisation of Sodapop as being the brother "with a broken heart" (side note - does this mean Sandy broke his heart before the show rather than after it? I've goes QUESTIONS) - I'll go into it again when we get into Grease Got a Hold for obvious reasons, but I was worried that Soda was gonna be reduced into just being a womaniser again, which is something that bothered me about the movie adaptation

Favourite line: "all the girls are pretty there, and all the guys are mean"

Grease Got a Hold

right so it has no right to be as much of a bop as it is, it's been stuck in my head for the past week since it came out and I can't even be mad about it 😂

It's essentially just a typical "gang" song to introduce and characterise all the different members

Dally always saying "Little brother" got me so emotional like immediately

And I know I just said that I was upset with Soda's characterisation as a womaniser, but considering later songs, I will say I do find it really funny that he basically just goes "yeah I'm a greaser bc I love women 😊"

I LOVE TWO-BIT MATTHEWS - I would die for Daryl Tofa, just something soooooo good about the line he gives after Soda's verse

I have to admit, I was a little worried that they were gonna be pushing some anti-Darry propaganda, but I had no cause to worry, as he's an actual angel. Also it's so funny how fucking Done he is the moment he starts speaking

Something really funny about Steve not getting a verse, but something really sad about Johnny not getting one, but I don't have fully fleshed out thoughts yet so I'm gonna leave that there

But also there's just something about all of them trying to act tough, but all of them just have the voices of angels

Favourite line: "I'm a latch-key kid but they keep changing the locks" and also "you wanna be a fighter? then know just what you're fighting for"

Runs in the Family

I'm upset because this song has been such an ear-worm for me, but it's actually just so sad? There are a couple of these, but this is one of the main ones for me

It immediately makes Darry just such a sympathetic character - it's well documented that Ponyboy doesn't feel like he's enough of a greaser, but I don't think we talk enough about Darry is a reluctant greaser

Side note: but I'm really glad that they included Darry having dropped out of school to look after Soda and Pony, because that was kinda glossed over in the movie, which I felt did Darry a disservice

I just want to hug Brent Comer and tell Darry that he's doing a good job and everything will be okay 🥲

Favourite line: "I don't know what them boys would ever do without me - and what would I do on my own?"

Great Expectations

honestly this song deserves a post all of it's own, and maybe one day I'll do a full analysis of it

but in the meantime, it's fucking GORGEOUS, like Brody Grant has NO RIGHT to sound like this I'm so mad

THE FUCKING HARMONIES I WANNA SCREAM THEY'RE SO GOOD

One of the things I've loved about the soundtrack in general is how Pony in particular draws parallels and comparrisons between Johnny and the other greasers - here it's between Darry and Johnny, and I love it because Pony references in the book that he feels like he and Johnny are the outsiders in the greasers, he feels like neither of them really belong there, and they convey that so well in the musical with these constant comparisons in the songs and music

The continual return back to this idea of a self-fulfilling prophechy - trying to prove that they're not all the same just because they're greasers (like with the different verses in Grease Got a Hold), and this striving for individuality despite the overarching label they've been given

Favourite line: "It's hard to write this story, when this story's writing me"

Friday at the Drive-in

they all just sound so young - that's my main take-away from this song

I love songs in musicals like this where you're forced to be reminded how young the characters are and you have to humanise them a bit more - a bit like with "Drink with Me" in Les Mis

Also anytime that a soundtrack includes the dance-break it makes me so happy 🥲

Favourite Line: "Got no more stress, nothing to worry me - no more teacher's pet or trigonometry"

I Could Talk to You All Night

I need to say that I love this song, but the opening from Cherry is so fucking savage - like fucking hell there's no need to do that to Pony 😂

Again obsessed with Pony not feeling like enough of a Greaser

I'm a sucker for two people who feel lost in their own worlds finding each other and bonding because they can be themselves in a way that they can never be around their other friends

It's just such a pretty duet, and I want more of Brody Grant and Emma Pittman singing - we could have a million songs of the two of them and it wouldn't be enough

Favourite line: "I'd rather read then fight a rumble, but Greasers have to go along"

Runs in the Family (Reprise)

Dude it's such a serious song, and I'm obsessed that despite that there's just Soda being a little shit in the background

"I'll fold your laundry - I'LL FOLD ALL OF IT"

I love that even in this song it's like you can tell he's just so worried about Pony but it's coming out so angry and frustrated

So full of grief for the life he almost had

He's just so angry at Pony for still being able to dream, and it's like he feels like he needs to prepare Pony for real life, because he feels like he can't dream or wish for things anymore

And then just the screeching violin at the end of the song followed by DEAD FUCKING SILENCE, and then it switches to the next song where Pony starts singing acapella it's just herugighadlsiughukdhjsak, y'know?

Favourite line: "Whats the use in dreaming, about a life I'll never know? That ship sailed long ago"

Far Away from Tulsa

okay so I've already said that I'm obsessed with it beginning with Brody Grant acapella, and I know that the songs probably don't flow straight from one to the other in the actual production, but for the sake of the cast recording the effect is incredible

But also, there was absolutely no need to make this song so gay 😂 - Ponyboy, the bisexual icon we all need

It's very reminiscent of Santa Fe, with just kids dreaming for a life that they could have outside of their big city. Especially with the line "this place is real, it's not just in my head", which is VERY similar to "just be real is all I'm asking, not some painting in my head", but I'm okay with it because Brody Grant is incredible

But that line, as well as the one "'Ponyboy you're just a dreamer', that's what both my brothers say" are also really great links back to the previous song with the references of him being a dreamer, and that being what sets him apart from the other Greasers

I also just wanna say that I think it's criminal that there weren't more Pony/Johnny duets. Sky Lakota-Lynch and Brody Grant own my soul

Also catch me being emotional over Johnny's dream being wanting a family - he doesn't realise that he's already got one in the gang 🥺 (I could write an essay about this and Dally's continued use of 'little brother')

OKAY ALSO OBSESSED WITH THE CIRCLE BACK TO GREAT EXPECTATIONS, AND WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT HOW THE LYRICS CHANGE FROM

"Torn between what is and what could be. It's hard to write this story when this story's writing me"

TO

"It's all becoming clear, there's no way we're gonna find that here"

GOTTA ESCAPE TULSA TO ESCAPE THEIR FATE, SOMETHING AGAIN ABOUT SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECIES, I JUST CAN'T

Favourite line: "I'm tired of blindly watching as we're inching towards the ground"

Run Run Brother

There's so much to say about this song, but I literally can't formulate the words, so it's probably gonna be one that I come back to and properly analyse later. so in the meantime, here are my key take-aways

right from the beginning, it gives just an "oh-shit" feeling, just so much urgency and desperation

All three of them have such different singing voices and styles and the combination of the three just makes me so happy and I don't even know how to like express what I'm feeling

Back to the thing about Dally always calling Johnny (and Pony, but we're emotional about Johnny here) "brother"

the music is just so fitting - I feel like I need to be up and moving every time I hear it, like if I ran ever this would be on the playlist 😂

And I'm going insane over the echoes of what has been previously been said - the "grease isn't given it's something you earn", and "let's leave this behind, let's just get up and go" like you're FORCED to face that they are being given what they want but in a really terrible way

Favourite line: "I hate to make you go, but there ain't no other way"

Justice for Tulsa

okay so I know that this is a really important song and everything, but I will admit this is the one I tend to skip most

I will say I think this song would hit harder if they kept with the themes of police brutality that there are in the novel and movie with regards to Dally's death (going off what I've heard about the script changes from people who have seen it, I can't verify myself)

The song feels very claustrophobic, with everyone just trying to blame everyone else, which I think is really well done. Especially with the multiple voices coming in with "you know just what you did"

And it does show the bias of the world trying to blame the Greasers just by reputation alone, which is thematically nice

and also just the kinda mob mentality of the whole thing, especially at the end, with a declaration of war

Favourite line: "or we could send them back a message, take an eye for an eye"

Death's at My Door

I think I've seen somewhere that this is the opening song for the second act and I just - fucking hell, what an opener 😂 they really just wanna destroy all of us, huh?

EDIT: I've been corrected, and it's Justice for Tulsa that starts act 2 - my bad guys, I don't know where I saw otherwise. JfT starting act 2 makes soo much more sense 😂

I wanted to like reach through my headphones somehow and hug Brody Grant, like holy shit

The first time I heard it all I could think about was how much he's going to blame himself when Johnny (and Dally) do die - especially with Johnny having comforted Pony about it

And I'm just emotional about the exploration of Pony thinking of himself as a burden on everyone he loves, especially going back to what Darry says to him in Runs in the Family reprise, just confirming everything that Pony already worries about himself

Favourite line: "I don't believe in the death that you're bringing - the reason I'm living is you"

Throwing in the Towel

I just love brothers okay? This song made me want to like message all my siblings and tell them I love them

I loved that we see Pony's inner thoughts and fears about being a burden on his brothers, immediately followed by seeing Darry's own thoughts and feelings - the two of them being so similar in how they blame themselves for everything

All three of the Curtis brothers being terrified of losing anyone else

AND THIS IS THE SODA CHARACTER REDEPTION I NEEDED - he becomes more than just the womaniser, you can see him having like actual thought and feelings, and the amount of emotion in Jason Schmidt's voice as he's trying to reassure Darry, like this song and Soda's letter gets across everything that makes Soda my favourite character

And there's something to be said about how they're finally like communicating their emotions 😂

Favourite line: "I know your head is full of doubt, but brother that's what love is all about"

Soda's Letter

Musical letters my beloved ❤️

I love songs like these - they're always just so vulnerable

It links to Tulsa '67 Reprise with the reference to how Soda kinda keeps the family all together. This song you can like see the strain that it has on him, trying to keep the brothers who he loves so much together, by trying to tell Pony that Darry does love him even though he shows it in a very different way

also anyone who has seen it and made it this far in the post can you tell me whether they keep in the bit about Pony reading this really heartfelt letter only to go "Soda's so dumb he can't fucking spell" because it's all I could think about when I listened to it for the first time

Favourite line: "Your brother needs you just as much as you need him, and brother we ain't doing to good alone"

Hoods Turned Heroes

The triumphant return of my beloved Two-Bit, and he's doing some king shit

I love him, okay?

This is another song where I know it's really important, but I actually don't have much to say about it, other than I do really enjoy it

Favourite line: "It's time to celebrate Greasers, take pride in the Greaser name"

Hopeless War

I love that it's just Cherry begging Pony not to change, and hoping that he's still an outsider of the Greasers like she is for the Socs, a hope that the two of them are still kindred spirits even after everything that happened

She knows that the rumble is gonna be where Pony loses that last bit of dreamer in him because he's holding just so much anger at the world - I dunno, there's something there I'm sure 😂

it's such a smooth transition into "Trouble" and I wanna SCREAM it's so good

Favourite line: "even if you win, it doesn't change a thing"

Trouble

It feels like a war chant or something

The music is just so agitated

It's like Run Run Brother where I feel the need to be up and moving

Favourite line: "Do it for Johnny, even the scores, time to rally the crew"

Little Brother

I get chills every time I listen to it

Something about Joshua Boone's voice guys, I don't even know like how someone goes about beginning to talk about it, but whoever takes over as Dally has got some big shoes to fill

It's a lament to Johnny, and I feel like I listen to it and I feel the same anger and indignation that Dally feels

It's a song where I listen to it and I know, even without having seen the production, how I'd stage it and that always makes me excited

The longer the song goes on, the more uneasy you feel listening to it

It links him and Darry together again, with how he blames himself for everything that happened to his little brother, he feels like he should have been able to protect Johnny, the way that Darry always tries to protect Ponyboy

The final tempo increase and the discordant violin at the end, and it feels like even just listening to it you're watching him fall into a grief-led madness, and his certainty that there's only one way that his story can end

Favourite line: "They can't take anymore from me - if I ain't got you, then I ain't got nothing else"

Stay Gold

It feels somehow criminal to put these songs next to each other, but I mean obviously they have to be - that's how they want you to feel, but it doesn't mean that I'm not mad about it

I've listened to it like a million times and it still brings me to tears every now and then

There's something about having the hopelessness of "Little Brother", with Dally bring so apologetic at having failed Johny, followed by Johnny asking Pony to tell him that there's still good in the world

Just how much everyone in this story needs each other and they don't realise that the others need them too, yknow?

Johnny being Dally's "gold" - a lot to say about that but yknow, this is already long as fuck

The simplicity of the music itself (same as with Soda's letter - makes them thematically the same blah blah blah with them both being letters and all that), but it makes the song much more vulnerable than some of the others - nothing for Sky Lakota-Lynch to hide behind

Also that line: "I have looked into a thankful father's eyes, telling me I've saved his daughters life", and how that links to what Johnny says in the book about the little girl's life being worth more than his - I dunno, it just got me emotional, okay?

Favourite line: "I hold on to the good 'cause I've made my peace with all the bad" and also "It's easy to forget when you're trying just to make it through"

Tulsa '67 Reprise

WE MADE IT BOYS (seriously though, for real, if you made it this far, thanks for reading through my descent into madness 😂 and please send your own thoughts and such, bc I'm desperate to hear other people's thoughts)

I said it at the beginning, but I think the reprise of this song makes the exposition at the beginning worth it

At the beginning we hear Ponyboy as a dreamer, and at the end he still has that, but rather than idolising and making everything spectacular, he sees beauty in the mundane - he sees it in his brothers, his friends, all of that

The call backs to the original song as well, which allow us to go back to the theme of looking at individuality - the Greasers wanting to be seen as more than just characatures, and by the end they are like fully-fleshed out people rather than just the basic stock figures we initially get them introduced as in Grease Got a Hold

The clearest examples are, of course, Darry and Soda

Darry goes from being "could have been a football star, people say he had a ticket out" to instead being "the toughest guy I've ever known"

Soda goes from "suffers from a broken heart" to "this family's life and soul"

and then it goes from "got no parents, we fend for ourselves" to "can you imagine how proud mum and dad would be"

just something so beautiful about that, I dunno

There's more I could say about the themes of brotherhood and individuality ("grease as their disguise", for example), but I'll spare it for now

Favourite line: "Just too damn good for growing old, and in his memory I stay gold"

(finally - if you've stuck around to the end, I've also recently set up an instagram account, just for me, so please also check that out if you wanna hear more about my thoughts about random musicals and stuff!)

Freddie 🐸 (Instagram)

[tainted-liquor]

'Ease on Down₊ ⊹

Earth42!Miles Morales x BlackFem!Reader Ingredients: sugar, kisses, n a lil bit of smiles! TWs: N word usage, cussing, n thats it! W/C: 1.1k A/N: A lovely lovely request I got! Tysmm♡

For the past week or so, you and the girls in your friend group have been planning a secret spa trip for you and the boys! You had especially agreed considering how tense and stressed your boyfriend, Miles, had seemed to be. Even during the wee hours of the morning or the weekend, he always seemed to be a little stressed out about something you didn't quite know about. So here you are, sprawled out on the couch on the phone with Dior. "Nah yeah, we'll be able to make it there don't worry." You whispered into the phone. "Just get yourself dolled up n focus on bringing the other guys, aight?"

"Already done! The girlies already fooled they asses so they'll be meetin' us down at Tierra's house!" she laughed. "Aight girl lemme call you back. I gotta get ready." She blew a faux kiss to the phone that I reciprocated almost instantly. "Bye boo!" I giggled before running back up to my room. I stopped at the door to calm my giggles, before entering and making direct eye contact with Miles. "C'mon, get ready we finna go walk to this new shoe store that just opened" you lied, but he didn't really need to know that. "We're gonna go with gang n them."

You got ready in your room as Miles patiently waited for you downstairs, seeming a little more giddy than his normal stoic personality. "Mami!" He shouted from the bottom of the stairs. "Yeah, Miles?" you answered as you slipped your shoes on, stumbling slightly down the hallway. "What kind of shoes they got there?" he asked as he held out his hand to help you down the stairs. "Uhh, sneakers? Y'know, Nike, Puma, Adidas. That kind of stuff?" You shrugged as you grabbed your bag and a plush headband from the coffee table. You kind of felt bad for lying, but he wouldn't be mad at a little bit of self-care, right?

When you all got to Tierra's house, you opened the door and joined the cluster of giggling girls as Miles made his way over to the boys who were discussing the types of shoes they'd get when they got to the store. You all confirmed the reservations before rounding each other up and setting off for the spa. It wasn't really a long walk, so when you arrived Miles immediately asked what was happening. "Princesa, ¿dónde estamos?" He asked as he shuffled behind you and snaked both arms around your waist. "Alright, don't get mad at me but...I kinda lied..." you sighed.

"Whatchu mean ma? We not getting sneakers?" he asked as you all walked into the spa, confused murmurs coming from the male half of the group. "Nah, we're not. I wanted to take you to a spa! I'm sorry my love, please don't be upset or nothin'" you pouted as you placed a series of kisses on his face. "Could never be mad at you, Mami. But if you wanted to go with me you could've asked" he chuckled briefly. "I know my love, 'm sorry. Just had to get you down here without you knowing." You shrugged as you made your way to the dressing rooms, exchanging your initial outfits for fluffy heated robes and swimsuits. You watched as the rest of the group emerged in the ivory robes, pure comfort donning their faces as the group decided what they wanted to do first.

Since nobody could actually agree, you all broke apart and went to different stations, but agreed to meet up at a certain time to be in the hot springs. "Alright, so we can get like massages, there's a mud bath, there's a sauna-" You began to list the various stations before Miles's expression caught you off guard. "Stop stop stop, what the fuck is a mud bath nigga?" he muttered with a look of disgust. You laugh loudly, immediately deciding that that would be the first place you drag him to. "I'll show you! C'mon, guapo." You giggled as you dragged him to a room with beige tiled floors and individual little "baths" filled with mud.

Miles gave the most unamused glare of all time, sighing loudly with a deep scowl. "This mud touches my braids and erbody dyin'" he spat as he slowly sank down into the mud, cringing and gagging with each slow movement. "What the hell is this supposed to do anyway?" He barked as he shifted uncomfortably in the mud. "It eases your muscles, exfoliates your skin, and kinda works like a vitamin for your body I guess" I shrug as I lower myself down into the small tub, slinging my plastic bonnet on my head because I'll be damned if I let that bullshit touch my hair either. We stayed there for about 5 minutes before Miles just couldn't take it anymore and hopped to. "Yeah nah, Ion fuck with this mud shit..." he huffed as he rinsed himself off in the nearby shower. You giggled as he eagerly scraped the rest of the mud off his hands and retched silently as he turned off the water. "Next station."

You moved on to the sauna, both of you shuffling into sauna C and setting the time for roughly 20 minutes before closing the door behind the two of you. "I think I've been in one of these once...it was a lil while back though," he recalled as he wrapped both ends of his towel around the back of his neck. And DAMN did he look attractive. Sometimes you forgot how lean and toned his torso was, with each individual scar decorating his neck and shoulders. Jesus Christ you fucking won. "You don't even know how fine you are," I pouted as I rolled my eyes, "Like that shit ain't even fair..."

Miles laughed loudly, throwing his head back and giving you a kiss on your cheek. "The G in Miles G. Morales stands for game," he shrugged, "I'm just him." You gave him a sharp glare before giggling quietly. "Yeah, yeah, shut yo ass up." You panted as the room began filling with steam. He chuckled lowly as he leaned back on the wall and closed his eyes in bliss. When the 20 minutes were over, you both emerged feeling drowsy and like you were just cooked alive. "It's almost time to go and meet the others at the hot springs, c'mon."

You both shuffled in your fluffy robes in the direction of the pool area, being greeted with a massive hot spring and pool. You watched as your friends attempted to drown each other in the water, giggling and shouting at each other like the teenagers that you were. You ran in and joined, tackling Tierra with a splash and a fit of giggles. Nobody was mad, and everyone had an amazing time! You even actually went to the shoe store afterward, so you'd consider today a win.

[bamboozledbird]

HOWLING: TST Rewrite // Prev. / Chapter 3 / Next.

Characters: Thomas, fem!reader, Newt, Aris, Teresa (bg), Minho (bg), Frypan (bg), Winston (bg) Pairing(s): Thomas x Reader (the slowest of burns as is my brand) Word Count: 4.2k Tags: Mix of book and movie canon, newt!sister!reader Warnings: Canon typical violence and gore, heavy gore and violence this chapter, sad times are ahead my friends

A/N: What is a writing schedule. I certainly don't have one anymore. Right now the inspo is only pulling me here bc she is a fickle, fickle mistress. Also, if you've only seen the movies, you might be a bit confused. Cranks are different in the books; they don't look like zombies exactly. The longer they remain a crank, the more injuries they get from fighting each other or hurting themselves bc they're, y'know, tragically insane. They can usually talk too, but they sound real messed up and, again, insane. From here on out, the lore will probably blend between movie and book based on what I remember the best lmao. Taglist: @m30wk1ttycat @mxltifxnd0m

You’ve heard about cranks. You know all the technical terms and definitions. WCKD told you about all of the stages, described the slow descent into madness during their lengthy justification of your two years in hell. They said the worst part is just before the end, when you know you’re about to turn, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. That’s when they leave, they said. That’s when they banish themselves to the hidden societies of the damned—the violent, savage world of the Gone. 

None of it prepared you for witnessing it first-hand.

Thomas turns towards you, and his smile immediately twists into panic—though, panic isn’t quite right. You’ve seen Thomas panicked before, often, in fact. It seems to be a constant with him; there’s always a little bit of unease crawling under his skin. 

This is something else. 

Thomas is in front of you, breathing heavily against your skin, before you can think of a better word. He grabs your arm and yanks you into his chest so quickly your shoulder clicks under the strain.

 A loud shriek answers all of the questions furrowing your brow. 

A girl—an almost girl, throws herself against the chain link fence you were just leaning on. She snarls around the wire, teeth gnashing together without any regard for her tongue. Foam gathers at the corners of her mouth and dribbles down her chin. She’s more animal than human. 

You know the terminology, Past the Gone; it doesn’t make this any easier. It doesn’t make this easier at all. 

The first thing you notice is how small she is. There are more pressing things that require your attention—like the deep gashes carved into her skin and the large scars spread across her cheeks to her browbones. And her eye sockets. Fuck, her eye sockets are hollow and obscured with pink knitted tissue—and that’s when you realize exactly what the scars are from. She clawed her own eyes out. 

Such horrific, grisly details, and all you think about is how small she is. You finally realize what she’s screaming. Help me. She’s screaming, ‘Help me.’

“Come on,” Thomas tugs on your arm again and pulls you further away from the screaming, “we gotta move. We gotta move now.”

A crank rushes from the shadows. A man this time, missing his nose, and you shudder through your shoulders when you notice the bite marks around the exposed nasal cavity. 

Thomas drags you forward by your hand, forcing you to keep up with his sprint. His feet are nimble as they are quick; he snakes away from the cranks emerging from the darkness without missing a step. Your rhythm is a little less fluid, but every time you trip over a sudden pivot or scattered plywood, Thomas’s grip on your wrist hauls you back onto your feet. It hurts a little. Thomas’s blunt nails dig into the thin skin on the inside of your wrist, and his fingers squeeze the delicate bones hard enough to bruise—and you’ve never been more grateful for anything in your life. 

You can hear the thrum of your blood rushing in your ears, your feet slamming against the concrete, and the muddy sound of someone shouting through the fog of adrenaline. Nothing else seems real. 

Thomas has to scream directly in your face to cut through the haze. “Hold ‘em shut.” 

The world refocuses with harrowing clarity. 

There’s chilling laughter on the other side of the door, and Thomas clutches at your shoulder with his free hand. He nods towards the thin sheets of metal and glass separating you from savage teeth and feral eyes. “Hold ‘em shut.” You don’t have the mental capacity to question him. 

It takes your full weight to keep the horde of cranks from breaking through the doors, and you know you can’t manage it for long. Your heels start to slip against the floor, and you can just barely hear Thomas over the sound of your boots squealing and cranks asking for, ‘just a little taste.’

Thomas yells, barks really, “Get out of the way,” from the corner, and you do. 

You trust him in this primal state. You can’t decide if that means more than how you feel about him when you’re in your right mind—and then a large filing cabinet crashes to the floor and wakes you from your temporary stupor.

Thomas takes your hand again and rushes forward. He can’t decide, it seems, whether he should keep you behind him or in front of him, but it doesn’t matter when a double escalator, broken-down and cluttered with debris from the ceiling, separates you. Your feet remember what to do now that you’re on your own. 

You turn a corner, and a sudden burst of air whooshes through your lungs when you see that the rest of the group is okay. Newt cups a hand over his eyes and squints. You can see the exact moment he finally hears what Thomas is shouting, and then again when he sees the creatures nipping at your heels. 

Newt’s eyes somehow grow wider, and you think, for a moment, that they might just engulf his entire face. “Oh shit.” 

Newt, fool-heartedly, doesn’t start running until you reach him. You grab his hand and wish you had the breath and time to shake the stupid right out of him. 

“What in the ever-loving hell are those things?” Newt shouts, close to your ear. 

You wrench him forward with a harsh tug when he tries to look over his shoulder again. “Oh you know,” you wheeze slightly as you snag a broken piece of rebar from the ground, “just Thomas and his groupies.”

“Well tell’em to take a bite outta him, then.”

You feel a little pinch of guilt in your gut as Newt’s struggles with his bad leg—but you don’t let up your pace. You jerk him forward every time his joints get stuck or he trips over his uneven footing. Better he have an aching leg than no leg at all. 

“What about the ones without ears?” You manage a flash of a smile, more of a spasm really, and Newt exhales a sharp breath of air that feels like a laugh. 

He yelps when you pull him away from a pair of cranks on your right, swallowing the snark poised on his sharp tongue. Two more cranks swarm from the left, and Newt tries to push you in front of him, but you beat him to it. You shove him up the next set of escalators and stay a step behind him, ready to push him—hell, ready to carry him up the flight of stairs if need be. You’d figure it out; adrenaline can make a person do crazy things, after all.

A crank manages to get ahold of your jacket, and Newt falters. “Go,” you shove Newt with one hand and rip your other through your jacket sleeve. You can’t even feel the ache in your broken thumb, not with the panic sparking through every single one of your synapses. “Get out of here.” 

The crank still has a hold of your empty sleeve, and it seems like she isn’t planning on letting go anytime soon. You swing the rebar into her arm and twist out of the other sleeve, sending your denim jacket and the crank spiraling down a long descent to the floor.

Newt is waiting at the top of the stairs, and you give him the fiercest glower you can manage while struggling for air. “I told you to go,” you snap. 

Newt takes your hand this time and rolls his eyes—impressively flippant given your current situation. “Yeah, well you aren’t the boss of me, are ya? I’ve already got one friend with a god complex; don’t need two.”

Your lungs are burning, and your head is throbbing, and you’re too tired to launch into a tirade about just exactly how stupid he is. “Should be,” you hiss through your gasps. “You make terrible decisions.”

“I’m older.” You’re sure if Newt could breathe without coughing, he would be sticking his tongue out at you. 

“Senile, you mean,” you reply, smugly and with emphasis. You can see the door ahead. It’s so close; you think you might just make it. 

Glass shatters behind you, and you’re filled with an all-encompassing sense of dread when Newt doesn’t snark back. 

Your head whips around just in time to see a crank crash into Newt. 

Newt falls. It happens instantly and endlessly—and you run straight towards the crank on top of him before you even realize you need to. It’s instinct. Something deeper inside your mind than a thought. Something written in your bone marrow, coded in your DNA. 

Something WCKD can’t erase. 

You smash the bar against his—it, you think with an edge of desperation—its skull. The sound of the cranks' bones shattering makes your stomach turn and your eyes water. You have just enough time to kick it off of Newt and pull him to his feet. 

You don’t let go of his hand this time. You keep your sweaty palms, grimy with dust and dirt, pressed together until you see moonlight. 

When you finally stop moving, your legs give out on you. You fall to the ground and lean back against a frigid wall. For a long time, all you can hear is soft panting; it’s almost comforting—a reminder that you aren’t alone. You’re surrounded by humanity, maybe even friends in another life. You allow yourself to burn your fingertips on the thought as your eyelids droop towards your cheekbones.

The shelter Thomas found isn’t very hospitable; the walls are precariously balanced slabs of broken concrete, and the only seats to be found are jagged pieces of rubble and rusted steel barrels. Perhaps, that’s why the cranks give up their search, or maybe it’s closer to dawn than you think. Frankly, you’re fine with either option. Your legs have jellified, and the others don’t look much better. 

After a long, arduous hour, Thomas shifts and deems it safe enough to talk. He keeps his voice low. You can’t hear what he’s saying to Teresa and his other friend—Min…something, you try to recall, definitely something with an ‘M’—but you’re pretty sure it’s about Winston. You do know Winston’s name. It’s the least you can do after he was nearly shredded in two while giving you enough time to escape. 

Winston’s quiet groaning masks the rest of their conversation. Selfishly, you’re more concerned about Newt anyway, and the feeling is far too familiar for comfort. 

You nudge at Newt’s ankle with an admittedly pathetic kick. “Prop your leg on that,” you nod towards a chunk of concrete in front of him. 

Newt’s head lulls towards you, heavily, like it's going to snap off of his slender neck and roll to the ground. “Already told ya’, you're not the boss’f me,” he mumbles, words slurring together with his melting eyelids.

You roll your eyes and huff, “It’ll help with the swelling.” You kick at his leg again, and you keep nudging him until he complies with a sigh so heavy it makes you roll your eyes once more. 

He lifts his leg with shaky arms and drops it on top of the rubble without ceremony. “Happy?”

You stick your tongue out at him, just because you can, and give him a vexing smirk. “Exceedingly.”

Newt mutters something under his breath that you don’t bother to acknowledge. He’s a blink away from sleep anyway. 

You close your eyes, but you can’t fall asleep. You can’t tell if it’s lingering adrenaline or simply because you’re a bad sleeper, even when you aren’t sleeping on concrete. It’s the dreams. They come for you most nights, and they’re never sweet. They’re caked with blood and laden with grief. 

You sit up and pull your knees to your chest. Your cracked lips curve into a fond smile when you see Newt clutch your backpack close to his chest, like a child with their favorite blanket. Or their teddy bear. You swallow and scrub at your eyes. That girl in the cage, what was left of her anyway—she couldn’t have been more than six.  

The back of your neck prickles with the warmth of someone’s, or something’s, attention. You slant your head towards the sensation and meet Thomas’s gaze. His eyes are dark in the starless sky, almost black, but they still shine with concern. Worry. He’s always worried, you’ve noticed. Always on edge, waiting for something to lurch out of the shadows, waiting for something else to be taken from him. 

Thomas tilts his head a little and then nods towards a pile of sand a little ways away from the concrete cave. 

Dawn is just beginning to settle over the desert, and the sand looks golden in the light of the rising sun. A little sigh of relief slips through your lips—Cranks don’t like the sun. Honestly, at the peak of day, you can’t blame ‘em. 

Thomas slips out of his corner and holds his hand out towards you. You look at it for a second, chew on your bottom lip, and then take it. He lets go after he pulls you to your feet, and your skin immediately misses the warmth. 

You’ve come to find that the Scorch is a cruel, cruel mistress. It varies between freezing and blistering, and you can’t help but find it incredibly unfair. Silly compared to everything else, maybe, but it irks you all the same. 

You watch the beginnings of daybreak with Thomas by your side. After you let out a soft exhale, Thomas tips his chin down to look at you. 

“You okay?” he says quietly. You aren’t sure if the quiet is for you, or the sleeping Gladers, or the stillness of early morning—but it’s nice all the same.

“Uh huh,” you yawn it more than you say it. 

“Your hand?” Thomas presses, crooking his head down to examine your bruised thumb in the faint light. 

“S’okay,” you shrug and shudder. You can’t really tell if it’s the residual chill of night or the ache in your thumb. In the end, Thomas decides for you. He shrugs off his jacket and wraps it around your shoulders. 

Thomas is left in a gray t-shirt that looks as thin as your tank top. You frown at his bare arms and tilt your head up at him, “Now you’ll be cold.”

He shrugs, a little sheepish. It makes you smile. “I run warm.”

You rest your fingertips against his forearm and shiver as his chilled skin leeches the warmth from your fingers. “Liar,” you hum, but a tiny smile wiggles across your lips. 

Thomas bites his lip, “I’ll be fine once I’m in my sleeping bag.” 

Your lips purse, and your eyes narrow, “You gonna go put on your sleep bag, then?”

He gives you a little grin, “Maybe. I think I could pull it off.”

You think that he could, indeed, pull it off. Truly, Thomas could pull anything off, and you think it’s also incredibly unfair that a person can be so infuriating and so pretty all at the same time. 

You dig the toe of your boot into the sand and wrap Thomas’s jacket tighter around your torso. “If I asked you a question, would you tell me the truth?” He frowns, and you suppose that’s fair. It’s a loaded question, especially compared to the weather. 

Thomas turns towards you and catches your illusive gaze, “Yes.” 

You trap your lip between your teeth and look up at him with big, blinking eyes. It’s not the answer you expected, and you think that he might be the only person in the world who’d give it. 

“Do you think we’re gonna make it?” you ask quietly. You glance out at the imposing horizon, a wasteland of nothing but sand and the sparse remnants of a world that’s almost extinct. You look back at Thomas, searching his face with bloodshot eyes. “Do you really think we’ll ever stop being afraid? That someday we’ll be…” your nose scrunches as you scour your mind for the right word. When you find it, you wonder if it was part of the girl WCKD wiped away, if that’s why it took you so long to unearth. “Free,” you finish quietly, “do you really believe that someday we’ll be free?”

Thomas doesn’t answer for a long time, and then he flickers his gaze to your face. His eyes are so big, lined with dark lashes that kiss his freckles. Like a fawn, you muse, he has the eyes of a fawn. Right now, they’re resolved. “I have to,” he finally answers, quiet again, another thing for you to keep.

The corner of your mouth tugs into a soft smile, sad too, “That’s not really an answer.”

Thomas shrugs slightly, and his mouth falls into a hard line. “It has to be.”

You chew on your cheek and his answer. He did what you asked, you suppose. You asked for honesty, not logic. Dropping to the sand, you trace little swirls in the grains with deft fingers and hum, “Can I ask you another question?”

He nods and sits down next to you. 

“How do you…” you shake your head a little and struggle for meaning, “do it.” 

Thomas’s brow pinches, “It?”

You run your tongue over your teeth, scraping away the grit of sand stuck between your molars, and shrug. It takes you a moment to come up with a question he can actually answer. “Care,” you look at him through your lashes and rest your cheek against your knee. Your jeans scratch your skin, but it’s a distant feeling against the warmth radiating from the sand below. “How do you care so much and still have something left?” You can’t think of the right word for ‘something’, but Thomas seems to understand this time. Good. You certainly don’t. 

“I don’t know. I just…have to.” Thomas winces a little at his repetition, but when he glances at you, he has a slight smile on his face. “Why are you asking me? You do it just fine.”

You aren’t sure why it offends you so, but it does. “I do not.” 

You kick a little pile of sand and watch it burst in the air. You imagine for a moment that the grains are stars, or fireworks, or something other than a product of a world destroyed. You realize eventually that Thomas went quiet again. 

He’s looking at you when you glance over your shoulder. His face is creased with whatever thought is sharpening his eyes. They’re more gold than brown in direct sunlight, and right now it feels like they’re molten, like he’s burning through your skin, your bones, your air. You can feel him seeing you, and you have to look into the face of the sun to make it stop. 

“I saw you,” Thomas says quietly.

Your eyes water from the glaring light. You divert your gaze towards your shoes and snort, “Not this again.”

Thomas grins a little, but it turns into something much softer when says, “I saw you in there, with the bear, and then with Newt…in-between all the screaming and running for our lives obviously,” his cheek twitches with a wry smile, “I still saw what you did for him. It was the only reason I felt like I could get us out of there, knowing you had his back.”

“Lead, you mean,” you tease with a wicked grin, “you led us out because you’re the leader. Grand Marshal Thomas—daintiest feet in all the land.” It’s a clear deflection, one Thomas doesn’t take. 

“And then after, with his leg,” Thomas makes you look at him with his unwavering focus, “you care. You care a lot.” 

You pause, suddenly feeling far less playful. You stand up and brush the sand off of your jeans, turning away from the sun and the light in Thomas’s earnest expression. “Yeah, well, I don’t care about saving the world. I just want to save him.”

Thomas is by your side again, and you can’t understand why. He stops you with a hand on your shoulder; his eyes are alarmingly piercing. “I don’t even know if the world can be saved—but I am going to save us. All of us. I promise.”

Your mouth parts, and all you can do is stare at him, eyes wide, heart thudding. The others start to stir, sparing you from coming up with a coherent response to...that. You walk away from Thomas and his disarming sincerity before you start to evaporate with the burning sun. 

You offer Newt a hand when you find him, and then immediately withdraw it when a smirk slides across his face. 

Newt props himself up on his elbows and blows his flop of feathery hair out of his eyes, “Are you going to make a habit of wandering off with Tommy? I already have a hard enough time keeping track of him.”

You rolls your eyes and nudge his shoulder with your knee, “Thought we already established that I’m the bos—”

A low, agonized groan cuts through the quiet chatter. 

The makeshift bandages wrapped around Winston’s torso are soaked through with blood. The worst of the pooling is almost black, and crimson seeps out from the center of his wound to the hem of his shirt. He struggles to sit up, and one of his friends is quick to lend a hand. 

You’ve seen enough people die from blood loss to know the odds. 

You swallow the thought and take Newt’s hand for balance as you climb down a steep pile of concrete and rebar. Everyone looks at Winston when they take a moment to breathe. It’s not discreet, but it can’t be helped. It seems like everyone knows what’s to come when they see how far away the mountains are. It’s going to take days to get there, maybe longer, and Winston doesn’t have days. He might not even have hours. It’s unspoken, and it looms overhead like the searing heat of the sun.  

When Winston tumbles down the sand dune, you can see it in their eyes. They know.

It’s a desperate, crawling feeling, knowing and not being able to do anything about it. You’ve felt it before, and when you look at the misery in their faces, you feel it again. You don’t know what to say. Don’t know what to do. Don’t know how to help when they’re about to lose another friend.

No one says much in the end. The boys load Winston onto a dodgy stretcher crafted from what little you could find in a desolate sea of sand and ruins. Frypan and Minho struggle through the sand with the added weight of their friend, but you wonder if it’s helping, being able to help in some small way. You wonder if anything can. 

Aris ends up by your side, and you let him take your hand. You still aren’t sure how old he is—neither is he, to be fair—but he’s always felt…small. Strange, considering he towers over most of the group B girls, but he does. He’s scrawny, and awkward, and shy—and yet another person you can’t do anything for. 

“You know them,” Aris says quietly, simply.

You glance over your shoulder at Newt. His face is grim as he mutters something to Teresa. “Not really.”

Aris tilts his head, ducking his eyes away from the glare reflecting off the dunes in the distance. “You did once.”

“Was that even me?” You’d let out an exasperated sigh, but opening your mouth for that long seems like a bad idea with the wind picking up behind you.

His bony shoulder lifts with a tiny shrug, “You can know them now.”

Biting down on your cheek, you shake your head and look over your shoulder briefly. The sun reflects off of the thick lines of slow, silent tears slipping down Frypan’s face, and Minho looks like he’s about to bite off his own tongue with the effort to hold back his own. 

“What’s the point?” you say it so quietly you think you might have imagined it, that maybe this is all a horrible dream, and you’ll wake up frozen to the Maze walls in the morning. 

Aris squeezes your hand, and you sigh. He’s real. This is real. Another nightmare that’s bled into daylight.

“I think he can do it.” Aris nods towards Thomas’s back. “I think he’s the right one.”

“Pretty risky,” you drawl, digging your nails into your palm when you hear Winston cry out in pain, “making a pigheaded kid with a death wish into Jesus bloody Christ. Good way to crush your faith.” 

Aris looks at you, in that startlingly perceptive way he does when he’s working out a puzzle, and then smiles a little. It’s a smidge, but it’s there. 

Your brow arches, “What?”

“He sounds a lot like you.”

Your scoff is lost to the gale cutting across the desert. It whips against your cheeks, and the gusts of sand billowing in its path blind you. 

Thomas shouts something in the distance. You can’t hear him over the wind wailing in your ears, but you can guess what he's saying. There’s no choice but to take shelter until the storm passes.

You hope that tonight’s nightmares will at least be a little sweeter than what awaits you when you wake.

[sadiestarrs]

Short Ellie Fic I Didn’t Finish

Ellie: Wanna get out of here?

You look up from your phone to the brunette across the room. A phone in hand and a red cup in the other. She was sitting in front of you on purpose, man-spreading in the most attractive way possible. It was a wonder how you got any work done when she was around.

You had taken a seat on a free chair, tired from all the energy surrounding the room. Luckily, Dina hadn’t noticed when you left the kitchen of her apartment to get fresh air away from the party. And here you were. Sitting less than four metres away from Ellie. She glances back up at you before resuming her typing.

Ellie: Is staring all that pretty face of yours can do?

You force the urge to roll your eyes away, turning your attention to the girl who sits next to her. She wore a tube top and jean shorts, brushing her hair away when Ellie barely glanced at her. Their conversation seemed one-sided, Ellie talking less and looking down at her phone more, waiting for your reply.

You had seen the way she interacted with other girls, nothing like how the two of you talked. She often disregarded their words, nodding and giving the bare minimum. It was different with you. Even your friend group noticed how all of her attention would be directed towards you when you muttered a single word.

But all good things had to come to an end. Her undivided attention would prove to not be enough. It was a commitment that she needed to work on. The only time you would meet up would be to fuck and smoke. It was never purely for romantic purposes. She just wasn’t interested.

This was why you had asked for a break, even though you hadn’t started. It felt like betrayal every time you talked or flirted with someone else and you had to get rid of that guilt one way or another. Ellie wasn’t happy with it, repeatedly asking you why and to give her a “valid” reason.

You: What happened to no contact?

Ellie: We’re still doing that? I thought you were just being stubborn.

The only thing Ellie was good at was making promises and not keeping them. And making you feel like the only person she cared about.

You: No. I was serious. And you’re better off with the girl next to you. She looks nice.

Ellie: Yeah but she won’t stop talking. I like how we don’t have to say anything to each other, just go straight to taking off our clothes.

You spot Dina from a mile away, making her way over and placing herself on the seat nearby. “Why are you sitting here by yourself? You’re supposed to be having fun! It’s my birthday!” Her energy heavily contrasted yours, quickly pulling your phone away to look at your messages.

“Really? You two are like a pair of high schoolers. Just talk for God’s sake,” she tells you, scrolling through all the past conversations. “How long has it been?”

“Nearly three weeks. I’m kinda mad that she messaged me. That’s the longest we’ve ever gone without talking,” you tell her.

——————————————————————————

idk if i should finish this😭

[quincy2729]

Descendants 4 rewrite: Part 5

A trip to Wonderland:

After the school day was over, Red and Chloe were still in the courtyard. Since they're in the past, they forgot where they were going to stay for the time being. They couldn't dorm at Merlin Academy since the school system won't recognize their names. Chloe and Red were conflicted until a light bulb flicked on top of Red's head. She tells Chloe that there's only one person she truly trusts to temporarily stay with.

Red uses one of her cards and tries to remember a teleportation spell her mom taught her. The card opens a portal to Wonderland. "To the Mad Hatter's lair we go!" Red smiles. Chloe looks at the portal in amazement. She's never been to Wonderland before and is nervous but excited.

Mad Hatter's lair:

Once Red and Chloe walked through the portal, Red couldn't believe how Wonderland looked. She still recognized certain landmarks but couldn't believe how different Wonderland used to look. Luckily, she still remembered her way to the Mad Hatter's home since it's one of the few places she was allowed to go to.

Once Chloe and Red were finally there, they stopped and looked at a giant building that was shaped like a hat. "Were here." Red says in affirmation. When they walk up to ring the bell, a loud noise of a coocoo clock rings, followed by whimsical music. Suddenly, the door opens and appears to be a tall man with a tall hat and a bright patterned suit.

"Hello, young ladies. What would you like at my shop." says Hatter. Red and Chloe walk into the building, preparing for an explanation of their situation. Before Red could respond, Chloe immediately opens her mouth and blurts everything out in a long explanation. After Chloe is out of breath, Red looks at her in slight annoyance. Chloe looks at Red, clears her throat, and then apologizes.

Hatter says that there's no need to apologize since this isn't the first time he's dealt with this sort of dilemma. Hatter continues to ask for the watch, and then Red hands it to him. Impressed, he asked where Red got the watch from. Before Red could answer, she hears small footsteps from behind her, followed by a child-like voice.

"Father, I got the potions you wanted." Red and Chloe turn around and see an 8-year-old Maddox Hatter. Red couldn't help but smile. Red never knew how Maddox looked as a child and found him adorable. "Thank you, son." Hatter takes the potions.

"I suppose since you girls have nowhere to stay, you can stay in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs." Hatter says. Red thanked Hatter and walked upstairs with Chloe. Red knew she could trust Hatter since she's the only person who wouldn't have questioned her sanity.

A late-Night talk:

After a few hours, it was already nighttime, and the girls changed into some spare clothes. Chloe and Red begin to discuss their plan to fix everything. After a couple of minutes, they decided that it would make the most sense to figure out the cause of the conflict between their parents to prevent the events that occur in their present timeline.

Chloe explains that it makes no sense that Cinderella and Bridget were once friends, and they suddenly started hating each other. Red tells Chloe that she knew Bridget was severely bullied at Merlin Academy, and Cinderella did something to amplify the situation.

Chloe becomes defensive, saying her mother would never bully someone. Red disproves her argument by saying that Chloe never knew her mom as a teenager. Therefore, she wouldn't know what she's capable of.

Deep down, Chloe knew Red had a point. As a child, she only viewed her parents as, well, her parents. She wouldn't know how they'd act as teenagers or young adults. Chloe continues to say that Bridget could've also probably contributed to their friendship ending.

Red was about to get defensive, but then thought that Chloe might not be wrong. There's a part of Red that does empathize with her mother. However, she also knows that her mom has a mean streak that wasn't formed overnight.

Chloe rubs her fingers through her hair in frustration. "How are we going to solve this? My mom could be dead, and we still don't know how to get back home." Chloe voice starts to tremble. Red notices Chloe's upset expression, looking like she's holding back tears.

Red walks up to Chloe and puts her hands on her shoulders. "Everything will be okay. I don't want to see you cry." Red moves her hands from Chloe's shoulders and grabs both of her hands. "Do you trust me?" Red asked. Chloe looks at Red and pauses for a second. "I trust you Red." Chloe says, sounding more reassured. Both girls looked down and quickly stopped holding hands.

After getting ready for bed, they both shared a bed and got under the covers. Chloe turns to Red and thanks her before both girls fell asleep.

[tua-five]

Okay, it has been just over 24 hours since I finished watching season 4, and while I still need to fully process things, and also rewatch it, I think I'm ready to discuss a major part. There's other I want to discuss too, but I need more time.

⚠️ Season 4 Spoilers!! ⚠️

The most striking part is Five and Lila. Everyone is pissed about it, upset, angry, confused, anything. I was, too. However, I've thought about it and read some articles and watched some interviews and I've come to understand it. Half of it, at least. That doesn't mean I like it, though.

Five was just 14. He went through puberty twice. He was alone with no romanticism except for with a mannequin. He's able to ignore that desire for love because he's with his family and the chaoticness of the many many apocalypses.

At the end of season 3, they go their separate ways, and Five is alone. He goes and works at the CIA. He focuses on work, not love, because that's all he's ever known.

Then he once again gets stuck. This time, in a subway station that leads to different timelines. Except he's not alone. There's another human being, and it's a girl. One he's gotten closer to. Called family. And he's stuck there for almost seven years. During that time, he can't ignore the desire for love. He was 19 at the beginning of the season, and after the 7 years, he's 26.

After all of that time being alone, not having and romantic love in his life, he finds it with Lila, who gets him. Because they are both stuck. He's coming of age, almost past that now, and his character needs love. Everyone does. And he's sick of being alone. So he has Lila.

And you do anything for love.

So yes, he did fall in love with Lila. Yes, he kept the notebook from her for 5 months. Because yes, he loves her.

Lila is going through it, too. She feels alone and desperate. She misses the love of her life. She misses being loved. She misses her husband. She misses her kids. To fill that hole, she has Five. But she never stops looking for a way back to her real family. She loves them dearly.

But when the time comes, she chooses Diego. Because he's the one she loves. Because of her children.

She cheated. Yes. That is unacceptable. Five got with his brothers wife. Yes. That is unacceptable. His raging hormones aren't enough to just forgive and forget. But we can understand.

For all of those saying that Five wouldn't do that, he would. Everyone feels like we know the characters better than the writers. Or that we really know the characters. But we really don't.

You know who does know the characters? The actors. The actors and the characters themselves.

I think he would do that because of everything in his life. All of the bad.

I think Lila would do that because of everything in her life. All of the bad.

I was mad at first, but I've come to understand. Not quite accept, but understand.

They are 11 years apart in age (physically). I do not like this. But at one moment, they only had each other.

Five had the audacity to say that Diego couldn't give Lila what she needed, but he was sad and angry, and he didn't want to be alone again. He's fucking done with the apocalypse. He's old and tired and wants love.

So he got it and he didn't want to let it go.

So yeah, he fought Diego. And yeah, he said he wanted to kill him. But he didn't mean it. We all say things we don't mean when we're angry. He's broken.

And yeah, he left the family to go back on the subway station and mope and cry. He's lost.

We don't have to forget. Or forgive. But at least understand.

Please don't come at me

(And I think my point has been proven now. Five did, in fact, not get his hug).