#honestly even more because the musical just made me more of a nerd

[heyyesimtrash-whatofit]

A portrait of a boy torn appart by time itself

Marty McFly: the World’s First Human Time Traveler

(Rambles and alt-colors under cut)

For as long as I’ve loved Back to the Future, I’ve never done any art for it. Is part of the reason for that Marty’s dang hair and the fact that I could never get it right? Maybe. But! In light of me getting tickets to go and see the BTTF Musical on tour with my (equally as big of a nerd) father, I was hit with a vision and just had to draw it. So here we are, the boy torn by time himself, Marty “The World’s Coolest Loser” McFly.

Honestly very proud of this piece. I learned how to fake holographics in a 2D piece, render lightning, and draw Marty’s stupid hair all in the span of creating it and I’m glad to say I now have those skills under my belt. Expect more BTTF alongside my recent Gatsby obsession and slowly returning LSOH adoration. See you in the future! 🎸⚡️⏰

Non B&W photo version and Plain Marty cause I’m proud:

[shimdta]

URL song spelling game! Thank you @bunlux for tagging me!

Setting Sail, Coming Home - Darren Korb

Heir of Grief - Seth Peelle, Toby Fox, Malcolm Brown, and Joren De Bruin

Into the Unkown - The Blasting Company

Metamorphosis - Penny Parker

Data & Picard - Pogo

Tot Musica - Ado

Answers - Nobou Uematsu

let me see if i can find anyone to tag @pinkglitteringdemondildos, @isayoldbean, @tangyaura, @banana-babies, @hollis-exe feel free to do it or not if i saw you on my activity recently i targeted you

[sanyu-thewitch05]

I got this Yandere imagine that's based on The Heathers from the Heathers musical:

Honestly never told anyone about this before but this fandom does need more appreciation

So we got Darling who's meek and shy,but she's smart and overall a good student, though she can't say she hates the jocks,she would rather not associate with them. Until the main Jocks trio in the school took notice of her,specifically their leader,Hunter

Let's say Hunter is a dominant man,he just suddenly show up more in front of her after she helped him with a school project

Sure he thinks nerds are boring but Darling is an exception,like she's a introverted,unsociable girl but she takes no shit from others

Hunter thinks Darling is very cute and she needed a makeover~

After the makeover, Darling did like her new look,it got some guys to catcall her which is annoying but it wasn't that bad. She still didn't like the jocks much,she only hanged out with Hunter afterwards bcuz of the favour

However,Hunter started to get more touchy, putting his arm on her shoulder or her waist,she even heard the rumors of her being his girlfriend. She decided to avoid Hunter so as not to take it any further

Hunter didn't like it at all, why is she walking to another guy and talk to him when she should've gotten to him like the good girl she is?!!! She shouldn't talk to some stupid unimportant guys!!!

Hunter is rich and famous,his family owns a big company and he's the future CEO. As his future wife,she should get close to him instead of other guys

He couldn't bare the obvious intentional ignorance towards him so one day he just dragged her into a classroom and snapped at her

He said how she belongs to him and she shouldn't even think of leaving him,she won't escape even when they graduate and go to college, because he will attend as the same college as hers. Things got sexually heated there, I'll leave that part to you

Let's just say afterwards,Darling has to be the obedient girlfriend to Hunter. He even force her to sit on his laps right in the school cafeteria to show up his good little honey and no guys should lay hands on her cuz she's his

Sorry, this took so long to answer. I’m out of school for Labor Day weekend.

All characters in my works are 18+

TW: Noncon, stalking, dubcon, catcalling, sexual harassment

Oh God, not again. Here they come.

It was only the third month of school, and everything was going great so far. You were getting A's and even joined the local majorette team. That's when everything went downhill. For some reason, Heath and Henry were at the town's Halloween festival. The best friends of Hunter McClaire. The best football player in school. They were also the best quarterbacks in school. You were on the angel side of the team, and your white uniform glittered in the moonlight. Not only that, but the white boots helped add to your dance routine. You were squatting down, preparing to do a death drop, and then you saw Heath and Henry. Their smiles made you sick. You continued the routine as usual and quickly walked away once finished. You tried to avoid them, but they stopped you as you walked home.

"Hey, Angel! Where are you going?" Heath catcalled, following close behind you.

"Home," You hissed, walking faster.

"Oh, don't be like that. We enjoyed the performance. I wish you showed more of that ass around the school. I honestly didn't think you had any good qualities besides your brain," Henry commented, making you growl.

"Listen, jackass! Leave me alone before I rip your nutsacks out!" You yelled, finally facing them.

"Ok! Ok! Ok! We'll leave you, nerd girl," Heath says, stopping at the sidewalk to watch you walk away.

They focused on your butt and smirked.

"God, I wish I could tap that ass," Henry murmured, hiding his boner. 

It only got worse when you went to school after that. Hunter was there asking for your help on a history project. 

"Look, if this is something Heath and Henry told you, please don't tell anyone. I just want to stay out of the spotlight and graduate," You said, trying to walk away from Hunter.

"Uh, they haven't told me anything like that. Anyway, I came to ask for help on my 20th-century history project. I got assigned the topic of fashion, and Henry and Heath said you might be able to help," Hunter said, sitting next to you.

"Fine, I'll help you," You begrudgingly agreed, tying your hair up.

For two nights, the two of you worked on Hunter's project. When he turned it in, he got an A+ and even brought his grade in history class a couple of points. As a thank you, Hunter gave you a makeover. You thought you looked fine, but you'll accept the spa treatment and new clothes any day. Wearing the jeans that hugged your ass and the lace corset top to school earned you unwanted remarks from other students. But it wasn't that bad. 

You went about your school day and made friends with Hunter. Surprisingly, Hunter and you got along pretty well. You didn't like Hunter's friends. But you didn't hate them either. After a week, Hunter started to get more touchy. His hands roamed your back, his arm always around your shoulder. It even got to the point where rumors were swirling around that you were dating. You couldn't deal with it anymore, so you decided to avoid Hunter for a while, which is how you got into this current predicament.

"Hey," Hunter greets, sitting next to you at lunch. 

You ignore him and continue eating your food. 

"Why are you ignoring me? What did I do?" Hunter says, his arm around your waist. "Is it because you didn't like the panties I set you? They seemed like your style."

You didn't say anything, but Henry puts a hand on your thigh to make you pay attention to Hunter. His thigh moves towards your crotch, and you pack up your stuff. You get up, throw your tray away, and leave for your next class. You did the same routine of avoiding Hunter and his friends for the next two weeks. 

"Charles, are you ready for the next book club?" You ask your tall, freckle-faced, white, black-haired friend. 

"You bet! I'm so glad you joined! Are you sure you can handle it while being on the majorette team?" Charles asks, closing his locker. 

"I'll be fine. Besides, my practice starts at 6 pm. Book club should be over by then," You respond, smiling at Charles.

"Cool! I'll see you later!" Charles exclaims, hugging you.

You reciprocate the hug and wave goodbye to Charles. Unbeknownst to you, a furious Hunter is watching you.

"Damn, dude! You're practically breaking the wall," Henry laughs, looking at his friend.

"Why is she even talking to him?! Sure, she's a nerd, but she's not fucking boring like the rest of them! Not only that, but it's Charles! The dude who can't even throw a dodgeball straight! Why talk to him of all people!" Hunter rants, punching the wall and glaring at you.

"You need to do something, Hunter. Soon enough, she'll be spending all her time with him and none with you," Heath comments, looking at your smile.

"You're right. I'll show her I'm the right choice. She'll have no choice but to see it," Hunter replies, secretly following after you.

You walk by an empty classroom and get pushed inside. You fall to the floor and hear the door lock.

"Don't even try to scream for help. Heath and Henry gave me the keys and are currently erasing the security footage," Hunter says, twirling the keys around his index fingers.

"Hunter, what the hell?" You yell, rubbing your butt and standing up.

Hunter picks you up and places you on top of a desk. He strokes your cheek and puts a strand of hair behind your ear. Hunter suddenly roughly kisses you and holds your body still. You try to get away, but Hunter is too strong. He grabs your hair and forces you to bend over onto the desk.

"Hunter, what are you doing?" You scream, squirming in his hold.

"You need to understand. You're mine!" Hunter growls, fiercely spanking your ass. "Always mine! You! Belong! To! Me"

"Oh! Ouch! Aw!" You groan between each spanking. 

Hunter suddenly flips you over and lets go of your hair. 

"Strip. Now," Hunter commands, pulling out his dick.

"I-"

"NOW!"

You whimper and slowly strip your clothes. 

"Now then, you'll strip a piece of clothing for every sentence I say. You're lucky I'm taking it easy on you and speaking slowly. Got that?"

You nod your head, but this only irritates Hunter more.

"I need verbal confirmation," Hunter barks, grabbing a ruler and slamming it on the teacher's desk.

"Yes, Hunter!" You squeal, trying not to collapse to the floor.

"Good."

Hunter pulls up a chair and sits in while stroking his cock.

"Now, let's begin. You are my girlfriend, and you belong to me.”

You take off your shirt.

"Don't even think of leaving me because we'll always be together! Even during college when we go to the best Ivy League school! And don't even try to apply to some small liberal arts school because we both know we can do better!"

You quickly take off your bra and shorts.

"I'm rich. I'll inherit my father's company and become CEO. I'll take care of you as my future wife," Hunter finishes, watching you strip your panties, socks, and shoes. "Come closer. I need to teach you how to serve me."

You walk to him, and he pushes you down to his crotch.

"You know what to do," Hunter says, rubbing your head softly.

You put his cock into your mouth, intimately licking the body part. Hunter shivers, and soon, you're both high on pleasure. 

"Oh, yes~ Suck it more! Earn hubby's cum!" Hunter moans, pushing your head up and down on his dick.

You kiss the base of his cock, and he spills his seed all over you. Some of it ends up on your face, and most of it ends up in your mouth. You stand up and try to leave, but Hunter grabs your hand.

"I thought you only wanted me to suck you off?" You question forcibly straddling Hunter.

"If I only wanted a blow job, I would only want your shirt off. I want more," Hunter says, pulling his pants down. "Don't worry, I'll be gentle."

Hunter kisses your cheek and puts a condom on. You hold onto him for support. He sticks his dick into you and moans, throwing his head back.

"Oh, baby!" Hunter moans, making a slow but steady thrust pattern.

Your breath hitches as pleasure flows through your body. Hunter kisses your lips, and you start to melt into each other.

"Faster!" You moan, barely holding onto Hunter.

Hunter immediately follows your plea and starts thrusting faster. You both moan like crazy and eventually, you yell that your climax is coming.

"I'm cumming too!" Hunter yells, rapidly thrusting into you a couple more times. "Hah!"

Hunter cums into you, and you shiver. You relax onto Hunter's chest and let him rub your back.

"So, can I still go to book club?" You ask, looking into Hunter's green eyes.

"Nope. You're staying with me for a while," Hunter replies, smacking your ass in response to your question.

~~~~~~~~

"Yo! Dude, how's the relationship with your darling?" Henry asks, high-fiving Hunter as he sits next to him during lunch. 

"Pretty good. I taught her a lesson, and now we're the perfect couple," Hunter replies, sitting you on his lap. "Charles won't even go near her."

"Hunter, please," You say, feeling his boner.

"Oh, sorry, darling. You're going have to deal with this dick for a long time," Hunter replies, kissing your cheeks. "Keep complaining, and I'll have to make sure you'll know to appreciate it."

You are stuck with him. Forever, and ever, until the day you die.  

[utilitycaster]

In honor of that poll, which has apparently been answered by a bunch of loser rogue-fuckers, and was also written by someone who doesn't even have the update that gives you twelve poll options, please have a good ranking of sexiest D&D 5e classes, from me.

This only has the 13 officially published 5e classes so do not ask me about classes that are not that. Also, the existence of a handful of sexy or unsexy characters of that class does not a sexy or unsexy class overall make. I'm sure these two statements will not shut down all annoying people but by god I hope they shut down some.

Paladin. Self-explanatory: if you don't agree, you better explain yourself, unless you think they are outranked by...

Wizard. As Liam O'Brien said, what's sexier than wizards? And I said "paladins, but no one else." I'm also going to fuck up an Octavia Butler quote and say that her journal did not explicitly state that single-minded devotion is sexy but it is, and that's why wizards and paladins are, undisputably, the top two.

Warlock. Would be higher than wizards on the basis of sheer raw charisma but some warlock classes (archfey, hexblade) are extremely sexy and some are...pots in need of very unique lids, shall we say.

Bard. This is for competency and knowledge of mythology and musical instruments. If you're into some kind of memeriffic 20 CHA 7 INT Roll To Seduce bro shit, get the fuck out of here.

Ranger. Their combat abilities are not as great as they could be but this is also without a doubt the class that will invite you over and make a delicious foraged mushroom risotto and have lit candles they made themself. They are good with animals and can identify constellations. Entire package.

Barbarian and Fighter are tied. Do you prefer a flow state and passion or do you prefer dedication and persistence? Axe or sword? Raw power or precision? Equally valid; it's a matter of personal taste.

Cleric. One of the gods thinks they're special; it's hard not to be drawn in by that. Also, healing is the sexiest magical ability. Points off for the possibility of sanctimonious behavior.

Druid. This is just personal taste but I would find it weird if my partner was sometimes a giant scorpion, and I feel rangers are just the far sexier nature-loving option. People for whom druids are #1, I see you, I respect you, I disagree with you, but I do think you're valid.

Monk. Here's the problem. Yes flexible; everything else is kind of a solid "eh" for me. Honestly I think it's because D&D separates out dexterity and strength even though monks technically need both, and so the low-strength monk archetype really doesn't do it for me. It's not unsexy but it never wows me, and honestly in real life martial arts is usually more an aesthetic joy than a sexy one for me.

Sorcerer. Often physically attractive but I do not love a nepo baby, and absolutely the class least able to make you breakfast. Class most likely to attempt to make you breakfast and manage to fuck up scrambled eggs.

Artificer. Love the class but unfortunately I can only think of Belle's father in Beauty and the Beast (1991) when I think of what an artificer looks like. Wizards claimed the hot nerd spot; artificers never had a chance.

Rogue. Anyone can wear black leather. Anyone can twirl a butterfly knife and the ranger is going to be better at using it. You know what rogues are best at? Leaving through the window without waking you up. That's it. Bards have the same skills and then some and they're hotter by design. There are other classes with superior physical skills. Burst damage is already not actually that useful in 5e combat and even less so in the bedroom.

[moonstruckme]

Steve x Wednesday!reader and the gang really didn’t expect Steve to end up w someone so different from all his exs but also low-key think she’s way out of his league??? Found your fics and your writing is sick 😋😋😋😋

Thanks for your request sweetheart! I haven't written wednesday!reader before so idk if this was too much? Or too little? Anyway, I hope you like it, mwah <3

Steve Harrington x Wednesday!reader ♡ 698 words

You hadn't been at all nervous to meet Steve's friends. Really, they probably should have been more nervous about meeting you.

You could be a bit off-putting at first, with your impassive stare and clipped, to-the-point manner of speaking. The few other girlfriends Steve had introduced to his friends had greeted them with smiles and nervous laughter, and Steve had caught Dustin and Mike whispering about just that when you'd gone to the bathroom.

Overall, though, Steve thinks this is going pretty well. Nancy had liked your giant combat boots, Eddie loved that you had the same taste in music, and when the kids found out how much you knew about mages and battle strategy, they'd grilled you for a solid twenty minutes before Steve had called them off, complaining that he was going to dream about their nerd jargon that night if they didn't shut up.

Now, Eddie and the boys are discussing the edition of their nerd game they'll be playing next week (how it even changes from week to week, Steve can never figure out), and you seem to be listening with mild interest when you turn towards him suddenly.

"I have to go home," you say, in your matter-of-fact way. "I left a potion on the stove, and its six hours are almost up."

Steve blinks at you. He should be used to this by now, but sometimes your hobbies still take him by surprise. "Alright," he says after a moment. "What's the potion for?"

Impossibly, your expression darkens. "Something ate my venus fly traps, and I intend to find out what."

Steve declines to ask what you plan to do when you do find them, or how whatever you're brewing will accomplish that. "Okay," he stands, looking for where he left his keys. "I'll drive."

"No, you can stay," you say, as if it makes no difference to you. "I want to cut through the woods to find some belladonna on my way."

He's not going to ask what you want with the poisonous berries, either. "You sure, honey?" You nod, and Steve sits back down. He knows better than to bother arguing with you once you've made up your mind. "Okay, be safe, alright? Text me when you're home."

He tilts his chin up, and you lean down to peck him on the lips, a brief, chaste thing compared to what you prefer behind closed doors.

"Bye, Y/N!" Eddie calls, and a chorus of goodbyes follow you out. As soon as the door closes behind you, every eye in the room turns on Steve.

"Steve, what the hell? She's so cool." Dustin says, sounding almost shocked.

"Yeah," Eddie chimes in. "Where the hell have you been hiding her, Harrington?"

Steve grins proudly. He known they liked you, but it doesn't hurt to hear it out loud. "Yeah?"

"Um, yeah," Max says. "She's hilarious."

Robin nods enthusiastically. "She is! She's so funny, and smart, too. Honestly, Steve, it's a good thing you're nice, because she's, like, way out of your league."

Steve blinks. Okay, ouch. This compliment session seems to be taking an unexpected turn. Up until today, no one was out of Steve Harrington's league. "You really think so?"

"Duh." Robin looks around for support, but only Dustin is nodding, everyone else having fallen unusually silent. "Oh, you guys are cowards. She's gorgeous."

"I know that," Steve says defensively.

"She does have better hair than you," Nancy says, somewhat apologetically, "and that's kind of your thing, so."

Steve blows out an exasperated breath, slouching back in his seat. He thinks you have better hair than him, but he didn't know everyone else would think that. And of course you're far too good for him, but aren't these supposed to be his friends? Any modicum of loyalty they'd had between them seems to have vanished.

"Whatever," Steve says. "You guys are just jealous."

Eddie sighs, his eyes sparkling with exaggerated infatuation. "I know I am. Don't let her get away from you, Harrington, or I might take her for myself."

Steve rolls his eyes. As if he'd be dumb enough to let that happen. He's happy to be your charity case forever.

[ghosttotheparty]

‘hey, how’d it go?’

‘uh. not great.’

‘shit. tell me.’

‘ well, it started kinda fine. she kept, like, looking at my neck, but she didn’t say anything. but we got along pretty well.’

‘ did you hook up?’

‘ well. we were going to. but it was… i don’t know. weird.’

‘weird awkward?’

‘yeah. like it just… jesus, i don’t know. it felt wrong? but not, like, wrong wrong, just. weird.’

‘sure.’

‘it was like we didn’t know what to do.’

‘how far’d you get?’

‘we made out. but when i went to take my shirt off, she said— i’m not exaggerating— oh my go-od.’

‘jesus, steve.’

‘yeah. honestly i don’t even know why i fucking bother.’

‘what do you mean?’

‘ i dunno. guess i knew i’m fucking ugly now, i guess i just kinda… i don’t know. hoped it wasn’t that bad. but i’m an idiot, so.’

‘jesus, steve, shut the fuck up.’

‘huh?’

‘you’re not— fuck, there was so much wrong with all of that, oh my god.’

‘eddie.’

‘no— okay, alright. steve. you’re not ugly.’

‘she recoiled, eddie.’

‘okay, well, cindy alden is a bitch. i remember her from school, she’s always been awful. don’t laugh, i’m serious, she’s terrible.’

‘okay, eddie.’

‘you’re not ugly.’

‘i’m…’

‘steve. you’re not ugly. your scars are cool.’

‘think you’re the only one that thinks that.’

‘well my opinion is the most important, so.’

‘okay, eddie.’

‘look. your scars are metal as fuck. even if you don’t think so.’

‘…’

‘when you see my scars, do you think they’re ugly?’

‘wha— no, of course not.’

‘so why do you think yours are ugly?’

‘…i dont know.’

‘have you actually looked at your scars? taken a really good look?’

‘i don’t really want to.’

‘look at them. now.’

‘eddie.’

‘come on, stevie, humour me.’

‘…okay. i’m looking.’

‘have you noticed how they, like, kinda swirl a little bit?’

‘…noticing that now.’

‘don’t they kinda look like storm clouds?’

‘…’

‘steve?’

‘yeah. a little bit. guess that’s… kinda cool.’

‘and the colours? aren’t they pretty?’

‘you’re trying to make me feel better about myself.’

‘yeah. i am. aren’t they pretty?’

‘…yeah. i guess.’

‘and our scars match. that’s pretty cool. they’re like friendship bracelets.’

‘some fucked up friendship bracelets. but yeah. it’s kinda nice that i’m not the only one.’

‘you’re not ugly, steve. even with your sick-ass scars, you’re ho— you’re so cool.’

‘yeah? you think i’m pretty, eddie?’

‘…anyway. don’t worry about what cindy alden has to say. you’re good. and you’re not an idiot.’

‘okay, eddie.’

‘don’t okay, eddie me, i’m serious. you’re pretty smart, steve.’

‘okay, maybe i’m not an idiot, but i wouldn’t go so far as to say i’m smart.’

‘well, it’s a good thing i’m not asking you, isn’t it? don’t sigh at me. you’re smart.”

‘eddie, i don’t mind being the dumb one of the group, it’s fine.’

‘no, it’s not, steve. you’re not the dumb one. just because you’re not a science nerd or something doesn’t mean you’re not smart.’

‘in what way am i smart?’

‘you’re observant as fuck, steve. i’m serious, you are. dustin and robin told me about how they only realised the russian code was coming from hawkins because you were the only one that recognized the music in it.’

‘…’

‘we only figured out we could communicate from the upside down because you heard dustin. no one else heard him.’

‘you guys thought i was crazy.’

‘yeah, until we heard him too, and then i thought holy shit, this guy’s got ears like a fuckin’ bat.’

‘…’

‘you knew how to drive that rv right away.’

‘didn’t have much of a choice.’

‘what i meant was that you’d never driven an rv before.’

‘…‘s true.’

‘you’re really smart, steve. you’re… resourceful. and intuitive, and observant, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t know science-y shit.’

‘…okay.’

‘and even if you weren’t smart, it wouldn’t matter. you’re more than your body and brains, stevie.’

‘what else am i, eddie?’

‘jesus, where should i start? …okay. you’re really sweet.’

‘sweet?’

‘so fucking sweet, steve, you’re one of the nicest people i know. even in high school, you were nicer than the other douche bags. and now you’re… you’re kind, steve. even if you’re being bitchy. you’re kind, and considerate, and patient when you need to be.’

‘…okay.’

‘and you’re… you’re funny. i know all the kids make fun of your jokes, but i laugh at all of them.’

‘thanks.’

‘you’re a good friend.’

‘am i?’

‘remember what i said about you being observant?’

‘yeah?’

‘i swear you can walk into a room and just… know. like, if anything is wrong, you pick up on it immediately, it’s insane. and you always know exactly what people need. you’re… safe.’

‘…safe?’

‘yeah. safe. everyone’s totally comfortable around you. the kids fucking adore you.’

‘really?’

‘yeah. the other day we were hanging out while you and robin were at work, and erica sighed very loudly and complained that she missed you.’

‘erica said that?’

‘erica fucking sinclair said, and i quote, i miss steve.’

‘…that’s really nice.’

‘you’re a good guy, steve, seriously. you’re selfless and brave and kind, and i love how you look after everyone, and how your eyes light up when talk about your sports, and how you get all mushy about the kids when they’re not around, and—’

‘…’

‘look. you’re, like, the best. and it— it breaks my fucking heart to hear you talk about yourself like you’re some piece of shit.’

‘…’

‘steve?’

‘…’

‘fuck, are you crying?’

‘…no?’

‘fuck, steve, i’m—’

‘eddie?’

‘yeah?’

‘i… i have to tell you something.’

‘what is it? are you okay?’

‘…i’m falling in love with you.’

‘…what?’

‘i’m sorry, eddie.’

‘no, don’t hang up, stevie— you’re— are you sure?’

‘yeah. i’m sure.’

‘but you… what about the girls?’

‘i was… i was trying not to— to fall for you, but you… fucking christ, eddie, you’re so…’

‘so?’

‘so good. you’re so perfect.’

‘fuck.’

‘im sorry, eddie.’

‘don’t apologise, stevie, i’m— i’m in love with you too.’

‘…say it again.’

‘i’m in love with you, too.’

‘holy shit.’

‘are you okay?’

‘i’m okay. i’m… can you come over?’

‘…to yours?’

‘or— or i can go to yours, i just— i wanna see you.’

‘you do?’

‘i wanna… i wanna kiss you.’

‘fuck. fuck, fuck, ow, okay, i’m—‘

‘what just happened?’

‘i fell off my bed, i’m fine, i can be there in a few minutes.’

‘are you sure?’

‘holy shit, steve, yes, i’ll be right over.’

‘okay.’

‘okay.’

‘wait, eddie—’

‘yeah?’

‘…i love you.’

‘fuck. i love you too. i’ll be right there, stevie.’

‘okay.’

[yuurei20]

Ace Info Compilation part 9: Ace, Malleus and Trey

Malleus says that he is glad he came to NRC because he was able to meet an interesting person who is not afraid of him. When Ace asks if he is means the Prefect, Malleus responds that he also means Ace himself.

This is possibly a reference to Spectral Soiree when Ace tells Malleus that the act of kidnapping 600 students and pretending to be possessed by a ghost as a form of entertainment was “not cool.”

Ace tells him outright that he needs to “PLEASE try to show some awareness of how overwhelmingly powerful you are. You’re THE Malleus Draconia.”

Lilia says he is surprised by Ace voicing a complaint to Malleus directly and Malleus observes, “Most students at school keep their distance. And rather a few of them flee at the sight of me. But not you. You spoke your mind openly and honestly, and without the aid of others.”

One of Ace’s earlier interactions with Trey involves Trey convincing him to add oyster sauce to a strawberry tart, and then mocking him for believing it. We learn in a voice line that—much like how Cater invited Deuce to join the Pop Music Club—Trey has invited Ace to the Science Club, but Ace turned him down because it sounded boring.

In a vignette Ace lies to Trey’s face in an attempt to learn answers to an upcoming exam saying that he he didn’t want to ask directly as all Trey would tell him to do is study. Trey offers to tutor him and Ace agrees, saying, “At least you’ll be a lot nicer of a tutor than Riddle.”

Ace causes trouble for Trey in another vignette where he asks Trey to bake a cherry pie for an upcoming Unbirthday Party instead of his usual cakes, inspiring other Heartslabyul students to start submitting requests as well.

Ace insists, “But you’re a pro, Trey. You could improvise!…I know I’d love to have a different type of cake every time.”

Trey decides to let the first-years make their own cake. Deuce calls Ace out for complaining about Ace’s cakes but Ace assures him, “Trey’s a chill guy. It’d take more than that to get him mad. If he got made over that, he’d never be able to manage our short-fused housewarden.”

The first-years’ cake is a disaster, they blame Ace for the mess they make and Riddle threatens everyone with collars.

Trey interrupts just in time with a proper cake for the party and says, “That’s why things are done in a certain, ‘samey’ way. Maintaining the peace is no easy task’ and Ace asks, “Uh, just to be clear, you ARE talking about baking, right? ‘Cause it sounds like you’re talking about the housewarden.”

Trey refuses to let any of the first-year students share his cake until they have eaten all of their own culinary disaster and Ace responds, “So much for Trey being ‘kindhearted and mature’.”

In a different vignette Ace tries to get away with brushing his teeth only once in the evening, contrary to a Queen’s of Heart’s rule, and Trey appears behind him to force him to follow through.

Trey lectures them on the importance of dental hygiene and Ace says, “My preschool teacher babied me less than you…you’re just some kind of weird dentistry nerd! I’m honestly freaked out by how into this you are.”

[as-kind-as-summer]

I finally have a minute to sit down so I'm going to yell about the Lord of the Rings musical for a bit! I'll put everything under a cut so people can avoid spoilers! Pic of me in my cute hobbit-ish outfit first 😊

So disclaimer first, hopefully I'm remembering everything correctly but I recently started a new job and can't take any days off in my first 90 days but desperately wanted to see this show. So I worked a night shift, drove 6 hours, and by the time everything was over I'd been awake for ~21 hours. And also everyone who knows anything about this show is long. Like we were sitting in act 2 and I couldn't remember if they'd sang The Road Goes On in act 1 because it had been two hours ago by that point 😂All this to say, if I misremember please forgive me and feel free to correct me!

My friend and I had the most amazing seats for this show! I'd been debating whether or not I wanted to go through the trouble of going to see it with work and all but then I got an email because apparently I'd signed up for the Shakespeare Theatre's 30 under 30 program and that made everything worth it. I'll post a picture below but we sat second row in the center section on the end of the stage right side. In the picture you can see the stairs literally came down about six inches in front of my feet. I'm not usually a fan of sitting so close but with how immersive the show was it was perfect.

(Obligatory photo with the playbill because I will always be a theatre nerd at heart)

Starting at ~15 til, the actors all started coming out and wandering the audience, just talking to people and having a good ol' time. Again I'm such a sucker for immersive performances and despite being terribly awkward this was still very exciting.

With everyone wandering around and then the show just sort of starting with no big to-do, it really felt like you're a part of the story. Like 'oh I really am here at Bilbo's birthday party.' Again just a really good time, I think it added another really great layer to the show.

I know I just keep saying how fun this show looked but honestly it looks like such a great time and like every single actor on stage is having the best time. The choreography isn't anything terribly complicated but it just looks fun. Also we saw this on a Wednesday at the evening performance which means there would've been a matinee earlier and you never would've been able to tell. I've seen shows where you can tell the actors are going through it during their second show of the day(and rightfully so) but I wouldn't have had a clue if I hadn't known the schedule. Really just such an amazing cast.

The puppetry was phenomenal! I'm not typically freaked out by puppetry but I had a visceral reaction to those Nazgul puppets. Don't know what it was about them but I was legitimately unnerved. One came up next to me and I did not care for it at all. Pretty sure the people behind me were chuckling every time I cringed but like honestly so fair 😂

So I only found out about the existence of this musical in June and it was absolutely my accident. After seeing the trilogy in theaters, I fell back in hard and was just like 'huh I wonder if there's a stage version of this if not there should be' and googled it on a whim. Pretty much been listening to the London soundtrack on repeat since then but there were a lot of songs that I felt very eh about on the soundtrack that are loads better within the context of the show. Like a lot of the Elvish acapella songs being actually just background to the action that happened onstage felt a lot more natural than listening to them on their own.

Speaking of songs I liked more, Lament for Moria was absolutely beautiful. I hate to compare casts because I think every actor brings their own unique take to the role but that was just a song that I wasn't terribly fond of on the London soundtrack. But the actor that played Gimli in this version had an absolutely gorgeous voice. I was telling someone I always assume actors in a show will be able to sing because obviously they've been cast but there are still times where someone opens their mouth and I'm stunned and this was one of them.

I really enjoyed the set design a lot. I love the current trend of having a simple versatile set with smaller pieces that are wheeled on from time to time. Also, such a sucker for turntables and platforms. I don't know what it is but I think it's A+. Also the climbing wall grips in the back so Gollum could climb up and down were fantastic! Such a simple solution but I think it worked so well. I could see them since we were so close but the way they were painted, I'm guessing they blended in really well further back and the effect would've been amazing.

Obviously even at nearly 3 hours long this is still a wildly condensed version of these stories but I was still disappointed that almost all of Two Towers was cut out other than Treebeard. This of course isn't unique to this production, just the way it's written. I don't think it necessarily detracted from the story since most of the action and important bits do take place in Fellowship and Return of the King but Two Towers is still my favorite so this is a personal gripe mostly haha.

The costumes were all great, a lot of it felt sort of generic fantasy-ish but I love generic fantasy-ish costumes so I was happy. However, I thought the orcs costumes were so cool! Especially with the new(? I'll be honest with y'all I have not read the books(yet) and I feel like I heard about this being the ending somewhere. Not sure if they changed it for the movies and the ending of the musical is the actual ending? anyway) ending they were very neat!

I'm also such a sucker for instruments being played onstage especially when it's the actors doing it and especially when a lot of them are playing multiple different instruments. I just will never get over the talent.

I think I've said most of what I wanted to say so I have to talk about Now and For Always. Since my first listen, Now and For Always was my absolute favorite song. Like hyperfixated listening for hours on end kind of favorite song. I just think it's so beautiful, the harmonies are gorgeous, and it really embodies what these stories were about. I saw the snippet Chicago Shakespeare posted before I went and I was iffy about if I'd like it. I could not have been more wrong. The way it was so slowed down, having the rest of the cast standing around Sam and Frodo, the delivery of the last verse from Frodo to a sleeping Sam? I'm tearing up just thinking about it again. Like that's what it's all about, you know? The tenderness and kindness in the midst of horrors. The true power that friendship has to carry you through the absolute worst of things. I don't even have more words, it was just such a beautiful and touching presentation and it's going to stay with me for a very long time.

Oh no wait I did have one more thing to say, they tried to make me like Denethor and no one will ever make me like Denethor! Denethor hater for life, all my homies hate Denethor. I'm sorry, I know they used the explanation of 'he's too close too Mordor it's poisoning his mind' nope don't care. The best thing Denethor did was set himself on fire, change my mind.

All this to say, I had the most amazing time and I am forever grateful I found this production when I did and had the chance to go see it. I don't think it's for everyone, as like 'duh obviously' as it sounds I think you really have to enjoy both LotR and theatre. The people behind us were snickering from time to time because there were some things that were kind of goofy. Most of it was at the weapons, they're definitely on the cheaper side but it's a regional theatre and I'm sure they only had so much budget. You have to be able to suspend your disbelief when seeing any show but especially this one. Forget what you know from the books and the movies and just go in with an open mind. It's a spectacle, it's goofy, it's serious, it will absolutely wrench your heartstrings if you just let yourself be open to it. Everyone is obviously so passionate about what they're doing and it made for such an amazing show, highly recommend to go see it if you get the chance 💜

[rollerskate2theface]

5+1 five times someone noticed Steve Harrington liking men and the one time everyone noticed he loved one

1 Steve

Steve never really put much thought into who he was attracted to. Girls were easy he didn’t even have to try for them to be all over him, really it’s just a matter of convenience.

Nancy was like that at first, all flustered and flirty. But he could tell it was all some sort of act even if she didn’t know it. He was proven correct after Nancy’s whole “bullshit” stunt on Halloween. Steve really couldn’t even blame her, he knew he was bullshit.

Going after girls only girls because it was convenient? That sure seems like bullshit to him. So, he began to actually acknowledge things. Like how no other guys on the swim team seemed to admire each other’s physiques or how Tommy never seemed to understand Carol’s constant ramblings about how hot Mel Gibson is.

Steve always knew he just began to actually act on it, ya know, occasionally.

2 Erica

The first to notice was surprisingly Erica Sinclair. Well, maybe not so surprisingly considering she seemed to make it her goal for the summer to have his complete and undivided attention. Seeing as he was the only thing between her and 4x her weight in ice cream.

“Hey Nerd what could possibly be more interesting to you, a costumer service employee, than me, a costumer?”

Without looking at her Steve spoke, “You’ve come in everyday for the past 3 weeks and have only bought 1 single scoop in total. He however,” Steve pointedly looked at a guy in his early 20’s licking a drop of melted ice cream up his hand and back to his cone, “seems to be very content with his purchase.”

Erica huffed “barf me out, if I wanted to see some narbo make goo goo eyes I would’ve just stayed home with Lukie and Max.” With that Erica made her way out of the shop in hopes of getting more free samples from Hot Sam’s pretzels.

2.5 Robin (sort of)

Robin didn’t really get Steve Harrington. First he showed up to work on Robin’s first day with that hideous sailor’s costume on before introducing himself to her as if they weren’t in the same class an entire year and romantic rivals. He acted kind enough despite his near constant complaining.

There was also those damn kids that Robin couldn’t comprehend belonged to Steve. They had the guy wrapped around their little fingers, it was honestly kinda pathetic -maybe she should make another board. He was always giving them his company provided scoops they were allowed during breaks.

“Need to stay in shape; no high school athletics anymore. Plus those kids are skinny as twigs,” he’d brush her off.

At first Robin thought it was just the kids he was giving his free ice cream to but then she’d notice how he missed the payment of a couple of guys around their age that had come in.

“Hey Dingus! You forgot to charge them, I’ve seen you do that twice now!” Robin was annoyed if Steve kept doing that they’d both get written up.

“Don’t worry, that was my ice cream mark out,” Steve said offhandedly.

That made Robin stop, those didn’t look like any of the guys in King Steve’s posse of friends. “Why’d you give them your mark out? Do you know them?” Robin’s curiosity beat out her annoyance at the older teen in front of her.

“Nope! Let’s just say I’m hoping for a good tip,” Steve tossed out as he winked and walked into the back room.

This idiot most people tipped at least a dollar even when they had to pay… whatever it’s his mark out.

3.5 Dustin

Say what you may about Dustin Henderson but he was a scientist at heart. So, when he began to notice things about one of his favorite people he decided he needed to test his theory.

“So, uh, Steve,” Dustin threw out while he and Steve were listening to music in the older man’s family room. Steve was jogging on his fathers treadmill as Dustin wrote his letter to send to Suzie in the mail.

Steve gave an uninterested ‘mmhm’ in response.

“Will’s been complaining about how all the party has girlfriends but him-”

“You go easy on him middle school’s hard enough without a bunch of dickwad friends and relationship drama-”

“High school, Steve, we start high school in the fall. No more middle school baby shit for us!”

“Yeah yeah whatever just lay off Will. Not everyone is interested in romance so young,” Steve finally finished once their bickering stoped.

Dustin scoffed, “No that’s just Mike, he’s the only one being weird about it. But anyway that’s exactly what I was about to ask! When did you start showing romantic interest?” Dustin preened himself on his subtlety.

Steve looked surprised at that, “Oh! Well I guess I really started liking people romantically in 6th grade. I mean I had my first girlfriend in 7th grade,” he snorted, “if you could even call it that, we just held hands at recess and gave messages through friends…”

Dustin tuned the other out. ‘People’ damn that was a bust alright new approach.

“Yeah yeah uh huh sooo, Steve? Which Star Wars character do you think is the hottest?” Dustin asked thinking back to the film he’d watched the night prior.

The treadmill stopped as Steve sighed and turned to face Dustin, “dude I keep telling you I’m not going to watch your geeky movie.”

“How dare you! Star Wars is a cinematic masterpiece! I-” stay on track Dustin don’t jeopardize the experiment, “whatever who do you think is the hottest actor from one of your lame rom-coms then?” Okay, so much for subtlety.

Steve raised an eyebrow at that -oh no he noticed- he walked over and plopped down on the floor next to Dustin, “Alright, what’s going on why are you acting weird?”

“What? I’m not acting weird? I just,” another unconvinced look, “Ugh fine. I’ve just started to notice how you aren’t only flirty with… with just girls anymore… Which is totally fine! Cool! Awesome even! I just, I wanted to find out if I was… right? I don’t know, now I sound like an asshole.”

Dustin isn’t sure if it’s a good sign or a bad sign when Steve began to laugh. His laughter died down after a couple seconds, “you’re a strange kid, you know that? But to prove- confirm your hypothesis or whatever. Yes I like men, and women, both I like both,” Steve stammered. “You’re actually the first one I’ve said that to.”

Dustin grinned twisting to hug Steve from where he was sat beside him. A thought just occurred to the almost high schooler, “ This means double the potential set ups.” This sentiment was met with a groan and a plead of not needing that.

4.5 Mike

Mike Wheeler has been told he’s at that ‘difficult’ age in puberty -gross- where he’s mad about everything. Well if you ask him it’s pretty freaking easy to be mad at everything including how his mom sold his bike at a yard sale because, “You’re too big for it now Michael you can barely ride it. This money is going towards a new one you’ll just have to save up.”

Hence why he’s waiting for his ride who’s currently working in a too cold, too bright shop, with an annoying smile on his face talking to some long haired weirdo with like 8 different chains hanging off his pants and a black bandana sticking out of his back right pocket. A weirdo that’s been here for over an hour making Steve stay late. “Steve! We were supposed to be out of here 12 minutes ago! Hurry up!” Mike yelled tapping his watch as though Steve could see it from across the store.

“Hold your shit Wheeler we’ll be out in a minute,” Steve yelled back earning a bark of laughter from the weirdo. Mike heard Steve start to finish up speaking with the- costumer? Actually, Mike doesn’t think he ever saw that guy even order anything.

Feeling curious Mike meandered towards them trying to catch the end of their conversation.

“-my house or yours tonight?”

“Wayne has tonight off so he’s gonna be hogging up the trailer soooo”

“Yeah yeah my place just remember no blasting music in my neighborhood the Inslee’s are already this close to calling the cops”

“Oh yeah, and heaven knows what we’ll be up to when they arrive-”

“Shut up! Alright I gotta go see you in a couple hours Ed!”

With that Steve and Mike exited the Scoops Ahoy walking through the food court and out the mall towards Steve’s Beamer where it sat in the mall parking lot. The two settled in, Steve making sure Mike had his seatbelt on before pulling out. From the passengers seat Mike eyed Steve trying to decipher what he had heard the two older men in the mall talking about.

Giving in Mike gave an annoyed huff admitting he was actually interested in something to do with Steve Harrington. “Who was that guy and how often do you have sleepovers?” he asked.

This was met with shifty eyes and a soft laugh from the older teen, “who? Eddie? The guy from the mall? He’s no one, just a friend,” there was a strange tinge of guilt in his voice.

“You shouldn’t do that.” Mike said firmly staring out at the road in front of them.

This made Steve confused turning to look at Mike before redirecting them back to the road, “do what?”

This made Mike even more pissed. “Lead people on. You and I both know you like girls, you’ve dated girls, you dated Nancy! Did you not care about her? Did you not love her? I know you broke up or whatever, but she definitely loved you once, I can’t believe you faked the whole thing!” Mike had tears welling in his eyes.

The car came to a slow as Steve pulled over to the side of the road, “woaah hey man I did- I did love your sister. Sometimes I think a little more than she loved me. I was never lying about what I felt for her.” Mike sniffled. “And yes, I do like girls always have, still do. But, I think you may have noticed,” Steve attempted to joke, “I’m also of the uh, male persuasion? Ugh that sounds gross. Men I like men too.”

Steve expected some backlash after the start of this conversation and was surprised when he was met with Mike’s odd look of clarity. “You- you can like both?” The younger boy asked. Steve hadn’t heard him sound so small since he saw him take care of an unconscious Will during their last run in with monsters.

“Yeah, you can like both.”

5 Robin (yes again)

Okay so Steve Harrington wasn’t that bad. In fact he was kind of cool. And not like popular, eggs cars and makes out with chicks under the bleachers cool. But genuinely a cool dude that basically saved her life, well, with the help of a couple children.

Maybe it was the drugs, maybe it was the probable head trauma, maybe it was even the thrill of actually escaping a secret Russian base but Robin felt like she could tell this guy anything. Which probably wasn’t great considering her… situation.

The two teenagers were sitting in the bathroom heads hanging over toilet bowl rims. They were joking around but the girl knew she didn’t want to be asked any heavy or revealing questions not when she didn’t have complete control of her mind so instead she asked Steve.

“Have you… ever been in love” she’d asked after some thought. This should be easy enough for him, he’s known for his prowess with the ladies.

She received a small cackle from the stall next to her. “Yeah a couple of times. Nancy Wheeler my first love I went insane for that girl, first semester senior year,” Steve made a gun motion shooting into his heart, “honestly I’m glad I had what I had with Nancy and also glad that it ended? If it hadn’t I would’ve never been with who I’m with today, the person I think I want to spend the rest of my life with,” Robin could tell there was a smile of his face when he’d said that.

Wow Robin really hadn’t expected that confession, she was honestly a bit worried he might admit to liking her. Who would’ve thought Steve Harrington tied down. “How’d you know?” Robin asked she’d never been able to think that strongly about anyone not even Tammy who she’s had a year long major crush on.

Steve sighed, “I don’t know… He just makes me feel happy and excited whenever I’m near him.”

Robin’s breath hitched when she noticed the pronouns he’d used, okay she definitely wasn’t supposed to be told this, he wasn’t in the right state of mind, neither was she. And yet, she couldn’t stop him; it felt so good to hear about someone like her actually being happy and finding love even if it was surprisingly Steve Harrington.

“He’s a lot different than everyone else I’ve dated, but he’s also different from everybody else in general so I guess that makes sense. He’s dramatic and weird, and impossible to look away from. I still can’t even believe he likes me back.”

Hearing Steve talk about his boyfriend gave Robin the confidence to tell him about Tammy much to his great judgment which they joked about until Dustin and Erica barged into their little sanctuary of a bathroom.

+1 Everyone

If you ask anyone, that day after Vecna was defeated the whole party piled into their meeting place at the hospital. They wouldn’t tell you the first thing they noticed was a limping Dustin crying silently as though he could no longer make sound from screaming so loudly. It wasn’t Robin walking through the door with a broken guitar in her arms. It wasn’t even the boy bleeding out, unconscious, clothes ripped to shreds.

No, they’d tell you they’d noticed Steve Harrington sobbing as he yelled for ‘someone anyone please help him please my Eddie please help him somebody Eddie please Eddie’. He held Eddie Munson in his arms as he ran through the hospital begging them to save his Eddie.

Eddie was taken into surgery immediately and nobody could think of what to say to Steve. He was hunched over in a small waiting chair right outside Eddie’s operating room.

It was Joyce Byers freshly off a death helicopter from Russia that kneeled down in front of the boy. She held his hands in hers as she said, “he’ll be okay. He knows your out here waiting for him. He won’t leave you.”

With that Steve slumped forward onto her as he began to sob.

Eddie came out of his first surgery a couple hours later but the doctors informed he was likely going to be in unconscious for at least a week. Steve stayed with Eddie and his uncle in the hospital everyday refusing to leave. The kids filtered in and out checking on Eddie and Max a few rooms down. Without fail Steve had his chair pulled up right next to Eddie’s bed just watching him.

Dustin talked to Eddie, a lot, so did Robin. Eddie probably liked that, both Wayne and Steve didn’t talk much. Preferred to sit in silence watching for any sign that the comatose boy was improving.

The day Eddie did wake up most of the party was there including Nancy, Jonathan, some guy from California, the youngest Sinclair -Lucas didn’t want to leave Max alone- a couple Russians, his uncle and his boyfriend. When Eddie slowly opened his eyes he looked towards Steve sitting directly to his left.

“Hey Stevie, I tried to be a hero. Sorry,” his vocals were strangled from lack of use.

“You should be sorry! You are such an idiot! God I love you, never do that again.” Steve then pulled Eddie into a searing kiss in front of everyone. Not that anyone was surprised.

[butch-with-a-deep-voice]

Hello! I recently found your blog and wanted to thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us. Your posts about your journey in learning to embrace queer masculinity and your butch identity have been an absolute Goddess sent. If you have the bandwidth and are open to sharing, I would love to hear more about your process of separating masculinity from manhood and embracing queer masculinity. As a fellow trans femme trying to figure out if Butch works for me, I keep hitting roadblocks in learning to appreciate and embrace those masculine/chivalrous traits without identifying them with my formative experiences. I'm Colombian, and chivalry (unfortunately wound up with a lot of machismo) was essential to my upbringing. I resonated a lot with what you shared about pursuing hyperfeminity to leave behind masculinity, and I have reached a point where I can't sustain the hope of waking up and looking like Barbie one day and working toward appreciating the mortal coil I have and stage of transition I'm in. I apologize this got so verbose but I hope it made sense lol

Hey! So this was sent in a few days ago and I wanted to give time to sit on it. This is such a complicated and honestly deeply personal process. One person's relationship to masculinity will look entirely different than another.

It's been a process that I've been working through honestly most of my adult life, even before transitioning. I think there are two major factors that proved the most important, and they're pretty linked with eachother.

Find examples of healthy masculinity that speak to you.

I will preface that due to the nature of media, these will primarily come from men still. It's gonna happen. That is okay actually, it will lead into point 2. Finding healthy examples of masculinity was so necessary for me because masculinity was so wrapped up in just constant negativity. The harm so many men cause to women/queer people. Toxic masculinity and how those who perpetuated it shaped nearly every waking moment of my childhood/adolescence. The entire "anti-men" issue that fully plagues feminist and queer spaces, and how in most of those spaces men are hated on so casually you're looked at funny if you call it out.

Finding examples of both manhood and masculinity that were healthy and safe was so important in being able to reclaim masculinity. As a trans-feminine person I was never going to be able to even start to look at the process of first separating masculinity from manhood, nevermind reclaiming masculinity, if I wasn't able to first view both as not inherently bad. So, I'll provide three of my top examples of healthy masculinity that played really integral roles for me during the early phases of healing my own.

Lord of the Rings Now this is pretty much everyone's go-to, especially if you're a nerd like me. But there's good reason for that. While Tolkien has his slew of problems, from lack of women in the books, to the racist undertones of Orcs/Goblins, his works provide plenty of examples of healthy masculinity. No one would ever say Aragorn isn't masculine, he's peak "manly man". And yet, he's gentle. He's a healer. He recites and writes poetry (to the point that Bilbo goes to him for advice on how to finish a verse). He loves flowers and art and history. He's masculine, but he's unafraid of being soft, and he uses his masculinity to protect. To lead. To love. Not for malice. Samwise Gamgee is frankly a rolemodel to me. I used to joke he and two other fictional characters were my type in men, when in reality, they were my butch-coded role models (Malcolm Reynolds and Milo Thatch). Samwise is still firmly masculine. But he's the softest sweetest man out there, and I hope I can live up to the healthy masculinity he performs daily.

William Prince William is an Indigenous Canadian folk/country artist, who comes from the same neck of the woods I do in terms of region. His music has gotten me through so many tough times I can't even begin to express how important it is to me. One of the biggest reasons he is on this list is so much of his music explores being a man in a healthy way. Whether it is being a father, to the importance of healing your trauma before it hurts those you love, to the importance of being vulnerable as a man in general. Top three songs for some great healthy masculinity imo are "The Gun", "That's All I'll Ever Become", and while it isn't necessarily masculinity focused, "Run". My only other note with him is just uh. Don't listen to the "Gospel First Nation" album. He went a little "born again" during Covid and it nearly killed his career.

Arcane The writers of Arcane wrote gender so well it's ridiculous. You will find plenty of people on tumblr discussing how well it did women, but I think there isn't nearly enough praise for how well they wrote the men in the series. I could go into it more, but honestly, this video essay by my favourite video essayist Schnee details it beautifully (I'd also watch the sister video to this one about women in Arcane, it's pretty great). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBNUgGhPZzY

First and foremost finding healthy examples of masculinity in your life and the media you consume is so important. Find ways to separate those masculine traits you know you want to embody from the toxic ones like "machismo" as you put it. That way you can get into the next part.

Address Internalized Shame Surrounding Masculinity

This one is a doozy. I'm still working on it if I'm being honest. (I would also like to note that a lot of internalized shame work should be done with a professional if you can access one). Shame rules our lives if we let it, not just with gender. It affects everything. Work, family, food, hell shame makes people feel shameful about getting an extra hour of sleep here or there. It makes us hate when we want to just. Relax. It makes us hate when we ask for our needs to be met. Shame work is something EVERYONE should do, ekosi.

But as a trans person, whether or not you decide to claim butch, you MUST eventually look at that big ugly stain that is your shame with masculinity. Even the most hyper feminine of us trans-femmes must do so. Hatred and shame of men and masculinity will continue to fester if left unchecked no matter what. Yes, many men have done terrible things. Yes, we live in a society that favours men to the umpteenth degree and perpetuates toxic masculinity and patriarchy. Yes, as trans-feminine people we were and sometimes still are, associated with a lot of those perceptions and beliefs. It's an awful feeling and it makes you hate yourself. Part of why I went hyper feminine is because of how much I hated my shame. I was so shameful of being born male. Shameful of the fact that I was a "threat" in feminist spaces purely for existing. Shameful of how intimidating I would become if I ever raised my voice because of how powerful my diaphragm is, on top of my already large demeanor. That shame will eat you alive if left to persist, regardless of transition.

That shame must be dealt with. Masculinity cannot be shameful. I'm a complete buzzkill in a lot of queer and feminist spaces because I shut down sarcastic anti-men jokes pretty damn regularly. I shut down the joking perpetuation of the bi "all women and one (1) man" stereotypes. I shut down "ugh men" jokes. Whether or not people who make those regularly realize it or not, those jokes continue to tell men, cis or trans, they are unwanted in queer and feminist spaces. That their very existence is worthy of shame. (and no, the "trans men are an exception" thing doesn't provide an out. They're men too.) It is biphobic, it is transphobic, and it perpetuates colonial patriarchal systems still in place. That cannot be the case. Part of feminism is making masculinity a healthy thing. Part of why it is okay if your personal examples of healthy masculinity end up all being men is because men performing healthy masculinity adds to the overall de-shaming of it. Gender stops mattering when you de-shame masculinity. What matters is healthy masculinity as a whole. Once gender no longer matters for healthy masculinity, the next step of separating it from manhood kind of already did itself.

While there are other small things I've done throughout my life that helped with the overall separation of masculinity and manhood, that in turn allowed me to claim butch for myself, those two steps were absolutely integral in the process. I hope you're able to find things that work for you, and that these examples of mine were helpful to you. Thank you for the wonderful ask 💕

[moon-alight]

can I request , maki helping out with studies ? just fluff

Sure thing <3 Here ya go!

Masterlist

Chemistry - &Team Maki

Synopsis: You have an important exam and your very sweet boyfriend helps you study for it

Warnings: fluff, a bit of teasing

Word Count: 701

Chemistry seemed to be a very important subject and somehow you weren't sure you would nail the exam that was coming up even though you worked hard to remember all the elements of the periodic table.

You were also pretty sure that there were many more important studies yet nobody taught you those. In life, chemistry would be the least of your worries, let's be honest.

"Good evening, sweetheart. What are you up to?" Maki asked as he walked inside the living room where you sat with your books open everywhere.

"Rollerskating." You replied sarcastically to which Maki rolled his eyes. "Studying for my upcoming chemistry test." You added honestly.

"Chemistry, yeah, I remember that." Maki mumbled and sat down next to you. He liked the subject just as much as you did. "Periodic table?"

"Yep." You showed him your book in which he seemed to read some of the notes you had written down on sticky notes. "I need to know like all of these stupid elements but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to do so."

"Why not?" Maki asked, looking up at you. "You are very smart, I'm sure you get this in your head in no-time."

"I have been studying this for weeks and still cannot recall a single one."

"Not even one?"

"Well, I know helium and maybe magnesium but that's all." You told him to which Maki hummed once more.

"I have an idea on how to get this information inside that pretty little head of yours." Maki said and stood up to get his phone. You frowned for a moment.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, music began to play through his phone speaker and you heard a low voice begin the intro to what you imagined would be a song.

"And now AsapScience presents the elements of the periodic table."

You looked at Maki who began to dance to the beat of the music before the voice started singing. You couldn't help but laugh at this.

"There's Hydrogen and Helium Then Lithium, Beryllium Boron, Carbon everywhere Nitrogen all through the air

With Oxygen so you can breathe And Fluorine for your pretty teeth Neon to light up the signs Sodium for salty times

Magnesium, Aluminum, Silicon, Phosphorus Then Sulfur, Chlorine, and Argon Potassium and Calcium, so you'll grow strong Scandium, Titanium, Vanadium And Chromium and Manganese"

The song went on and you were sure you would be dying of lack of oxygen soon because of how hard you were laughing. Maki continued to dance along in the weirdest way possible but honestly, it was a good idea. When the song ended, Maki joined you on the couch again.

"With this you will learn the periodic table in no-time. I'm sure you'll be just fine." Maki told you and handed you his phone to replay the song.

"You know I have my exam in two days, right?" You asked him to which he hummed.

"I learn our new songs in 24 hours, you can do too."

"You're gonna help me with this, right?"

"Of course." Maki told you and took your book. "Play the song!" You chuckled and began to play the song once more.

Before you knew it, you had replayed it a dozen of times and unconsciously began to sing along. Maki made you read your notes while you listened to the point where you managed to sing along to every word at the end of the two hour study session.

"Ununtrium, Flerovium Ununpentium, Livermorium Ununseptium, Ununoctium And then we're done"

You finished and smiled up at Maki who smirked down at you with a proud smile. He really did know his stuff and you were grateful to have him help you.

The two of you jumped up and celebrated the fact that you managed to learn the entire song in such a short amount of time. Maki hugged you and kissed your cheek, happily.

"I have never seen two nerds be so happy about nerdy stuff." Nicholas commented as he watched the two of you from the door.

"Well, these two nerds are about to pass their chemestry test!" You said back to which Nicholas rolled his eyes.

"Have fun you morons."

[hubristicassholefight]

Swordswoman Showdown Round 3

(Better here in a "preferred character" sense, not "who would win in a fight")

Propaganda below cut

Brienne

gets gifted a sword made with the rarest metal ever because she’s THAT good; she’s simply the best

Brienne is one of the top sword users alive in her day. She's descended from a man who's catchphrase was "I'm better with a sword." Better than what? You. Jaime Lannister. Loras Tyrell. Any five given guys at once. She has a fantastic sword that might be magic or cursed and is named Oathkeeper because that's what she does; I love her

Beat like 20 guys in a tournament when she was 19. Was given a magic sword. Won a sword fight against the premier swordsman in the realm. Very swordly; Very tall and strong. Holds her sword in high esteem. Accomplished with other weapons as well!

She's defeated multiple of the top knights in the series in duels. One such knight gifts her the fabergé egg of swords and she uses it to defend orphans and stuff. Got out of a bad betrothal by dueling him and beating his ass so bad she broke multiple bones. Honestly there's so much more she is the swordswoman of all time. to me; She's buff and ugly and 6' 5" and so honorable and kind that she inspires the guy who fucks his sister to yknow. stop doing that. literally gets mauled for the sake of protecting a bunch of orphans (with her sword). also she's 20 she should be at the club ‼️

One of the best sword wielders in Westeros, the author says he would pick her to defend him. Has a cool sword called Oathkeeper. Manages to go up against 7 fighters and take out most of them,. The only true knight; First off, talking about book brienne, they massacred show brienne, the show runners simply didn’t understand what she’s about.“ She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice” brienne had plenty of choice but she couldn’t leave people to die. The chivalric paradigm is rotten and corrupted, but here is Brienne, the one true knight, who isn’t even a actual knight! “knights are for killing”, but here is a knight who risks her life again and again to protect innocents! Bri IS hope, she is the light in the dark that shows that things can be better, things must be better. Fundamentally an idealist: “Winter will never come for the likes of us. Should we die in battle, they will surely sing of us, and it's always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, and the sun is always shining”

Adora

She has a big magical sword for her magical destiny that gives her a magical girl transformation, I love my girl and I love her awesome sword;

Okay TECHNICALLY she is a multi-weapon user since her sword transforms but its usually a sword. Also it is magic and gives her the power to turn into an 8ft magical girl <3; Lesbian magical girl who in addition to being a literal lesbian in canon is also a parable for being queer and breaking free of religious indoctrination <3 She just kicks all the ass okay I love her I'm only on S2 I'm sure someone else who's watched the whole thing will submit her with better propaganda

FOR THE HONOR OF GRAY SKULL *cool music plays, she's got a transformation* and now she's a legendary warrior that defeats the bad guys!!!

Giant technological sword gives adora magic powers and can turn into anything she needs while being She-ra

she is a HUGE sword nerd. her introduction basically has her info-dumping on rare swords and being adorable. also a little pathetic but she’s trying her best and she deserves the world (and also a win)

Has a magical sword that gives her magic powers; Has a magical sword that gives her magic powers

[chemicalarospec]

my dad invited me and my brother to watch Firefly with him and it's actually really good??? (idk why I expected it not to be-- probably because the last time I tried one of his old Spaceship Shows (the one with the puppets) it was too sexist and too slow to get through.) First of all it should have been ILLEGAL for them to not have a single Chinese character in this show, but as a Chinese person I do like the aesthetics of the show and how they mashed up traditional Western and Chinese styles. The pronunciation is hilariously bad (IF ONLY THEY HAD A CHINESE ACTOR, HUH), but I like it because it's funny. (Me and my brother do laugh out loud every time.)

But the characters are actually so good?? First of all we got THREE FOUR (I didn't count right lmao) female main characters, no smurfette principal here! One of them doesn't even have any implied romance so far okay technically River doesn't but I was thinking of Kaylee and she has a crush on Simon lol. Kaylee, my favorite -- I LOVE how her appreciation of girly feminine stuff is portrayed as something that should NOT be mocked and does not negate her more "masculine" role as the mechanic and that she can nerd out WHILE being feminine. There's also how Mal, the main character, and Zoe, his first mate, have a longstanding and deep connection that's entirely platonic! Men and women CAN just be friends! Do note, Zoe (who is awesome btw) is married to another man, the pilot who is honestly so far the most boring character, and Mal is interested in Inara. Who, speaking of, I also love how so far Inara's profession as a (unionized it seems!) sex worker is treated with respect. River is the most ~okay~ in terms of sexist writing as a weak and mysterious and mentally unwell but sexy woman, but since she's not the only woman it doesn't feel like a big deal. (I feel like she's going to become more grounded, at least I hope so because I want to see more of her personality!) Misogynistic comments are challenged when made! Of course the writing isn't perfect but it's a LOT better than what I expected (and if a modern show didn't do the things I'm praising here I would be offended btw).

Also River's brother Simon is a complete dandy (I think it would be stereotyping for me to call him gay lmao), I love that for him. Episode one he bleeds from his mouth like a dying c-drama boy-- I just had a Vision of the resemblance and now I can't get it out of my head, all he needs to do his open his eyes super wide and then he'd be a dying c-drama boy. He cares for his sister so much, it's super sweet even though he REALLY sucks at dealing with psychosis(? would that be the term to describe her episodes?). Book is an instant icon of course, he's just there forcibly being the moral compass lol. Christianity in space smh. Despite being mr sexism I also love Jayne's character - he's funny (love a guy who's always trying to kill) and the question of his loyalty is intriguing. Mal is a kind of a Generic Protagonist Man but his backstory is solid enough that means his brooding attitude actually makes sense. The "Badger" side character is funny/interesting too, and my bro says he looks like Captian Sparklez haha. (Wash (Zoe's husband) is there. Sometimes he's funny.)

Going back to the design, I am partial to Victorian or whatever aesthetics, so I love how they threw that in along with the cowboy thing, and there's a lot of individual pieces merging Chinese aesthetics with that that I think do a great job. It speaks to my mixed heart <3. The costuming is actually so fun (mostly speaking to crowd scenes), so many characters get to wear distinctive outfits . Also kind of Killjoys vibes because they say "shiny" haha. I respect how space shots have no environment noise, only cowboy music lollll. Visual effects are interesting; you can always Tell but it does seem to me the best they could do at the time.

Wow this post turned out longer than I expected. So a recommendation for Firefly I guess! Forewarning, the parts with the "Reavers" are pretty dark/grotesque -- actually, there's significant violence throughout the show, the Reavers are just the worst.

[kotos-and-smiles]

Ch.124 Analysis and Rambling

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 124 OF KOT!

As I often do, I’ll be referencing tessenpai’s rough tl which you can find here

Felt so good to have a new chapter after last month’s break! And we have the very interesting return of Uzuki with characters I was not expecting to see him interacting with.

Firstly, damn, Tetsuki really does try to ditch Isaki immediately after he’s able. Unfortunately for him, Isaki is the type to be forcefully ‘courteous’. Isaki was so amazing in this chapter, specifically with regards to Uzuki. Firstly her anger is very justified and relatable (I still wouldn’t completely mind punching him in the face, but I get we’re past that now). I enjoy the humor of the situation as well, and Isaki could indeed take down Uzuki if she wanted to. She’s both rightfully mad and also polite, as expected both Isaki and Tetsuki respecting Chika’s decision to invite him. I cannot handle at all the little panels of 103 flashbacks though of Chika in pain. And then Isaki just invites Uzuki out to lunch with a threatening smile on her face, and like how great is that? Also adore how afraid Tetsuki is of the women in Chika’s life. He knows what’s up.

I love that Momoya is able to honestly express that he’s tired when Takezou asks, instead of brushing it off with an ‘I’m fine.’ I don’t know, this chapter just really conveyed how much more comfortable Momoya seems with the club and allowing himself to just be himself. I also forgot about Yoshinaga’s “Chikaism” though and it is beautiful as always. Takinami’s appearances lately being purely to convey how annoyed he is are still wonderful. What Keishi said about how some competitors don’t listen to their competition’s performances because they don’t want it to affect their own was interesting because it made me just think about how Tokise is definitely the type of school that benefits a lot from hearing many different people’s sound. And there’s enough value in hearing those performances to them that it’s basically the only thing that’ll keep them from practicing, I think. That and they’re such dedicated koto nerds that want to hear everything they can.

Loved seeing Momoya talk about Chibana and be a bit savage towards them. And also accepting the club’s affectionate shenanigans even if he’s not used to them yet.

Ooof, Tomoe. How does she even perform if she’s like this every time? That’s some dedication to performing, I guess. Seeing Hiro and Satowa be so encouraging though is great to see.

I am never getting over that Satowa carries around the same strawberry candies as Chika once gave her because they help calm her down. Like, she carries a whole tin of them and is sharing them when she sees someone else obviously in distress because she wants to help even if Tomoe hasn’t been the nicest to Tokise. All of it’s so sweet, and yeah, I’m gonna be thinking about those strawberry candies for a long while now. And Hiro calling Satowa out on it, my god, I just love all of that.

We see a bit of a look into Tomoe’s mindset around Tokise, but I really like what her friend said about finding out what Tokise is really like when they hear them perform. Because that’s what it’ll really come down to, the music, the performance, and how it’ll carry the heart and voice of the people playing. But for now, Chibana will just have to focus on their own performance, and considering we know nothing about their sounds, and I don’t think we’ve heard much of their strengths and weaknesses either, though I could be forgetting, I’m really interested to see how their performance goes.

Honestly poor Tetsuki, now having to deal with both Isaki and Uzuki also getting roped into everything. Isaki went into full on Aunt Mode with Uzuki, like I may not like this kid but he’s gonna eat on my watch, and I really love that type of interaction. Isaki in general and how she understands Chika’s situation with some of the people around him but is also gonna protect Chika first and foremost is beautiful to see. She’s able to see through just her anger or resentment and relate how Chika has acted to how Uzuki’s acting, and again, she doesn’t want to let that happen on her watch. That little detail of Chika not eating when he first moved into with her even kind of surprising Tetsuki was really good and also so sad. In general, just hearing about how Uzuki feels about food does remind you of just how bad of a place Uzuki is in mentally. How she pushes the food issue with Uzuki by not making it an obligation for him to eat it all, but asking him simply to order something even if he only has a bite was a really great way of doing it and shows Isaki’s compassion, again even if she doesn’t like this boy, hasn’t forgiven him, much like Chika, she’s also not gonna let him just destroy himself either. 

“It takes a hell of a lot of strength to face what you’ve done and live with it. If you don’t have that kind of resolution, you don’t deserve to hear Chika and the rest’s performance.” These lines are really impactful. She’s telling Uzuki he has to face what he’s done, but it also takes a lot of strength to do that, so he better step up or he won’t be deserving of the chance Chika is giving him. While Chika still has some remaining self-worth issues when it comes to protecting himself, Isaki and those around him value him so much that they’re going to both respect his wishes and be angry and expect something of the people who have wronged him. They’re not gonna hesitate to make it clear how much protecting him is their first priority. Isaki just bridges the understanding and the knowledge Uzuki did something very wrong so well. She expects for him to step up and face it, and she knows that’s hard, but damn if he doesn’t deserve the hard process. But as Chika said in ch.111, hopefully Uzuki will come to learn with the performance what people can be to each other, what caring about someone really means, and while that may be hard in the face of his previous actions, facing it will allow him to better himself and move on, if he so chooses, if he’s strong enough to.

This also reminded me of what honestly might be one of my favorite quotes from this manga, though I have many, that Isaki said in ch.115. I don’t think I ever wrote anything about it, but this quote hit me so hard the first time I read it and still gets me with how true I feel it is

“But people change. Even when they don’t want to. They can’t stay as they were. And yet, when they do want to change, they’re unable to do so. We’re awkward creatures like that.”

Humans really are awkward like that. Much like in ch.115 with Isaki calling Chika’s dad, she has handled both him and Uzuki so, so beautifully. She is fully respecting Chika’s wishes while also letting these people in his life who have wronged him know where he’s at and that really they should be concerned with what they’ll do with the chance of listening to Chika, because Chika is living his own life. It’s up to Uzuki and Chika’s dad alike if they want to be any part of that or listen to what his music has to say, but they’re also sure as hell not gonna ruin that for Chika ever again. I don’t really know how much this specific quote even relates to ch.124, I just wanted to talk about it because I think it’s such a well-stated point. Sometimes we change when we don’t want that, and other times we can’t seem to change no matter how much we might want to, but it’s just a truth all of us sometimes have to face. The attitude both Chika and Isaki are taking on the subject, and that it seems Uzuki is trying to pick up as well, is that all that anyone can do now is move forward though the past will never change and never disappear, but there is still growth and peace to be found if people are open to working on it. Here’s hoping that Uzuki both does want to change and will be able to do so.

Anyway, going back to ch.124, it was hilariously predictable how everyone ended up staying to hear the rest of the performances despite their exhaustion. Takinami expecting it was amazing, and while he’s exasperated with it I love how happy Akira is about it. Also Yoshinaga just staring intently, sparkles included, at Momoya until he wordlessly gives in to staying was so damn cute.

Also, there were just so many cute little panels from this chapter

Anyway, I loved this chapter so much, pretty much as always, but I never get any less appreciative of how great every chapter that comes out is. I am very much in need of a reread of this entire manga, so hopefully what I was saying still made sense. As always, feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter as well!

[fxckin-polkadots]

Hii idk if you accept requests but first of all i just wanted to say i LOVE how you write about Alphonso, it touches my heart in a unique way. I really just wanted to ask for any idea you have about him if that's okay.

Take care!!

my requests are always open dear reader !!!! and this one made me so happy i had to tell my bf about 😭 be still my tiny autistic heart!

i guess by any ideas you mean head canons, which i have a lot of, i think of Alphonso often 🫶🫶

Random Headcanons // Alphonso hargreeves

Master List

Warnings: none, this is all pretty fluffy head canons / not proof read

A/N: the reader isn’t the main focal point but they are mentioned (they/them pronouns are used or none are used at all)

pairing: N/A

Synopsis: N/A

—————————————————————————

Okay, i am not sure if the Sparrows even own phones or anything that can play music besides like, a gramophone, but i 100% believe Alphonso would like musicals. Legally Blonde, Waitress, Six, Hamilton, Mamma Mia, you name it, he’d probably have it on record. He would probably keep them under his bed or something with a record player, i also get a strong sense he’d like ABBA or Dead or alive (or in general 70s/80s pop music). He’d be a music nerd, is what im saying, and i mean that with love. If you were ever at his house he’d definitely show you his collection of vinyls, talking your ear off about details about the bands or album itself, whether or not you’d actually understand anything is up for interpretation but its something that makes him happy so your more than happy to listen.

He doesn’t do it often, mostly because he doesn’t want to, but Alphonso can cook very well. The only reason he doesn’t do it often is because he doesn’t really enjoy cooking for other people (except for Jayme & someone close to him). He once got caught cooking by Marcus & was then forced to cook dinner by the family, despite his mild protesting.

Despite his outwardly, well, asshole-ish type personality, he’s actually a sucker for sappy things. He didn’t get a lot of love growing up (he’s Reggie’s kid, cmon) simple things actually hit him hard in the heart strings, even if he wont verbally admit it or physically indicate it. An “Im proud of you”, or a good hug after a long day really goes a long way for him, honestly. He really appreciates when people look out for him too, sure he can hold his own in a battle of wits, but its always nice to be reassured he has people in his corner who care enough about him to stick up for him. He won’t thank them or anything, but he’ll be thinking about that interaction for a long, long time.

This could be just a me thing, but i personally think Alphonso is italian (though theres probably more proof of him being spanish if you count him referring to himself as “numero cuatro” while talking to luther in episode two), so i also like to think when he’s not with the rest of his family, either with y/n or Jayme, he probably mutters to himself in italian. I honestly just choose to believe that the hargreeves all learnt their mother’s dialect, except for luther who never quite grasped it (but that’s an idea for another post 👀)

—————————————————————————

Oh my goodness i have not been alive for so long guys i apologize 😢first year of college is kicking my ass and i’m constantly either busy or just laying in bed 😭

will be answering all my asks + emptying drafts as i’m off for a while !!

bye bye :3

- syd

[blogquantumreality]

As I was traversing New York back to Frey's place, I noticed an interesting NPC interaction with Frey, and it made me want to come up with a short fic. This is the result!

Frey couldn't help but notice the brown-haired woman in the grey turtleneck and winter parka staring at her as she walked by.

Even though it was a freezing cold day and she wanted to get home, she decided to turn around and see if, just out of morbid curiosity, the woman would talk to her or if she was just staring because, well, black street girl.

Then again, maybe the allegedly ubiquitous "Christmas spirit" might make the interaction go more smoothly. It had gotten her a serious reprieve from Judge Bird.

"So, uh, hey." The words didn't exactly roll smoothly off Frey's tongue.

The other woman frowned. She didn't back away, though, which was something. "Hi," she said. Frey took a moment to eye her jawline, and noted with appreciation the complicated braided ponytail she could partly see at the back of her head. And she had hazel eyes, if Frey judged correctly.

Frey looked up and saw that she was standing in front of a record store. "Any good records in there?" As pick-up lines go, that sucked.

That forced a chuckle from the other woman. "Not really. My grandpa still has one of those old record players and I was hoping to get him a Frank Sinatra album. Cheapest one is, like, thirty bucks, though. Gotta pay the 'vintage premium' according to the guy at the counter. So much for having a sale on!"

"I usually just watch music videos on YouTube with my phone when I can get Wi-Fi," Frey replied. With an effort at a change of subject, she asked, "Waiting for someone?"

She winced internally and mentally set a new low bar for how bad her pick-up lines could get.

Luckily, the other woman didn't seem fazed and just shrugged. "Wanted to stand outside for a bit. The surge pricing's insane right now so I'll wait till things calm down a bit."

"You're braver than me. I wanna get home and warm up as soon as I can!"

"So... I'm the only reason you're delaying your return, hmm?"

Frey could feel the heat rising just a bit in her face, and if that wasn't enough, the other woman fucking winked at her.

"Busted," Frey muttered. "But I did see you staring at me, so I kinda, well..."

"You usually go around picking up strange women on the street, then?" She grinned. "I'm Amelia." She stuck out her hand and said, "You're...?"

Frey hurriedly extended her hand. "Frey." As she clasped Amelia's hand, she couldn't help but feel a slight shiver up her spine at the warmth of her smooth hand.

Amelia released her hand and let hers drop to her side. "Frey. I like that. Unusual name. So what do you like doing in your spare time?"

Be a street kid and steal shit for a living so I can save up enough and get the hell out of this damn city.

"Well, I've got a cat, so between her, games on my phone, and walking everywhere I go that's kinda what I do when I'm not, um... freelancing."

Amelia gasped. "A cat?! Please tell me you have a picture!"

Frey held her phone out to Amelia. "That's Homer on my lock screen."

"She's adorable. So fluffy!" Amelia smiled widely at Frey. "I like you more and more, Frey."

Flipping it back around, because she really didn't want to accidentally let slip she just got out of court, she said, "So, Amelia. What do you do in your spare time, besides browse record stores?"

Amelia chuckled. "I'm kind of a bit of a nerd, honestly. I play some tabletop games - D&D, that kind of stuff."

Vaguely remembering a club she'd been in back in high school, Frey nodded. "Uh, which rules are you using?"

"We were using fourth, but when the new ones came out we tried out the Lost Mine of Phandelver and it was pretty cool, so we switched."

Frey frowned. "We...?"

Amelia waved that off. "Oh, just me and a couple of friends from college; I'm majoring in business, so doing this stuff is a good way to blow off steam."

Frey smiled. "Must be nice, being in college."

"It's not for everyone," mused Amelia. "My brother's actually going into trades because everybody and their dog needs a plumber, but me, I wanna be owning the plumbing repair shop." She reached out and touched Frey's arm briefly. "So what kinda freelancing do you do?"

Think, think, think!

"Uh, just kinda... a bit of everything. I know a little bit about cars, so my last job was helping fix a guy's ignition," Frey babbled.

And if by 'fixing the ignition', I mean attempting to hot-wire the car, that's technically sorta true. I just didn't do it with the owner's permission.

Amelia lifted her eyebrows in surprise. "Interesting. More variety than my life, anyway."

The wind shifted and a sudden chill went through Frey. "Shit, it's getting colder. I really gotta--my cat." She gestured vaguely in the direction she'd been walking.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry about that." Amelia dug in her pockets and then coming up empty, said, "Uh, you mind giving me your phone for a second?"

Reluctantly, Frey handed it over. Without that phone, she was completely adrift; she bit her lip as Amelia tapped away in the Contacts section.

Relief flooded her as Amelia handed it back and winked again. "My number's in there. Give me a call sometime and I'll buy you a coffee."

Frey lifted her eyebrow. "Are you asking me out already?"

Amelia's face went red and she ducked her head for a moment before looking Frey in the eye. "What can I say? You're growing on me. And you are pretty cute."

It was now Frey's turn to blush, and she mumbled, "Guess you're pretty good-looking too."

"Seeya, Frey...?"

"Holland." She looked at her phone. "Amelia ... Evans, I take it?"

She nodded. "That's me. See you around."

Frey sketched a short 'goodbye' wave and said, "Guess maybe I will."

Amelia waved back. "Hopefully soon!"

Frey turned and began walking down the street, but a smile kept tugging at her face. Maybe this Christmas - and my birthday - won't suck for once.