#i (ironically) wanna write this

[ariaste]

Me: [sees everyone talking about how Assad Zaman was "literally" coming up with RPF about himself and Eric Bogosian in an interview]

Me: ah, fandom's doing its little "interpret an innocent comment in Some Kind Of Way" thing again, let's go find the video and do our own critical thinking about what was actually said here--

Assad: What would happen if I said-- [words that cannot be interpreted as anything but RPF fanfic]

Me:

Me: ok fandom gets a pass on this one actually

[wasyago]

kakashi and bull 🥺🤲

[choccy-milky]

congrats on baby #2!🥰👍 part 2 to this post bc seb is a smug ass bitch when it comes to getting clora pregnant. and ty @rednite-dork for sending me the original pic ages ago LMFAO... i knew as soon as i saw it that i had to redraw it eventually 👼

[very-uncorrect]

What if AO3 was a beautiful goddess who we all worshipped and sometimes she vanishes into the aether for months at a time and we all immediately congregate in the Tumblr Hall to lament and create art and humour to try and bring her back

[mylo-space]

something i think about a lot is Demon Bull King falling in love with Princess Iron Fan, like, head over heels, and he just can't help but sneak off to see her--he knows he shouldn't, his sworn allies would most certainly have his head, but he can't not be near her, so it it doesn't matter. He abandons the fight of a millennia for a celestial princess and every single member of the Brotherhood is so shocked and angry and betrayed, except one.

Because one of them could hear Demon Bull King sneaking off and never stopped him, could hear two starcrossed heartbeats dance every time they met on the field of battle and off of it. One of them never wanted to fight Heaven in the first place, and maybe he's just relieved that at least someone gets to escape it, even if it isn't him. One of them knows before the others, he knows even before Bull King decides it, that there will be a betrayal.

He knows it, swatting Wukong away from the piece of clothing he's trying to adjust, that there will be one less of them when the Celestial Armies descend. He knows, watching Wukong's eyes brighten at Azure’s praise, that Demon Bull King will abandon the war. He knows, following the Brotherhood into a battle doomed from the start, that Demon Bull King will always choose Princess Iron Fan; he knows, the same way he knows that he'll always choose to fight at Wukong's side.

Because there simply isn't a future where they don't.

[teapetal44]

All For One should have stayed on the sidelines as a character after Kamino. His evolvement in everything after that significantly weakens the story. Building up Tomura as his protégé, framing him as the next symbol of evil, and then pulling the rug under everyone’s feet, is the worst writing decision Hori has ever made. In concept, All For One failing at passing the torch to Tomura is good, because it directly  parallels All Might and his mentorship to Izuku. Unlike All For One, Toshinori was aware the younger generation needed to take up the mantle. All For One is a selfish and controlling person, it makes perfect sense for him to be unable to give up his power to someone else. But in execution it falls apart the moment All For One continues to force himself upon the narrative, continues to serve as the big bad. All For One’s inability to pass the torch and Tomura as a main antagonist can co-exist without weakening the themes of the story.  

Like, imagine how cool it would have been if All for One was destroyed by Tomura after he tried taking control over his body and mind. Tomura realizes his master is holding him back from achieving his full potential and his goal, the thing he literally lives and fights for. Triumph over his master would be Tomura’s final step to becoming the new symbol of evil and his self-liberation. Then, he would truly be free of everything holding him back. AFO, the puppeteer, the man always one step ahead of everyone else, would be conquered by the very same person he molded – he planted the seed, but at last, what grows is out of his control. In a sense, he would be punished by the story for failing at passing the torch and Tomura would be cemented as the final antagonist, and his journey would feel satisfying.

All though, I see why Horikoshi didn’t write it like that – cause that would require giving Tomura actual autonomy as a character. Something he actively avoids doing every chance he gets. It’s easier to have a character who is crafted to be evil by one powerful bad man before he was even born, than to portray an abused child failed by a fundamentally corrupt society that values consumerism over actually helping those in need, who ended up in the hands of the powerful bad man because the child slipped through the cracks of said society. MHA conveys to the viewer that there are no bad systems, only bad people within the established systems.

Tomura couldn’t own his conception, nor his heroic goals, not even his abuse. Nothing ever happened to him because of society as a whole or because life is cruel and merciless. It happened because Anime-Satan said so.

[kakarotcake]

Had a giant early morning realization on why I enjoy Gochi as much as I do. (I wrote a lot in this; there's a TLDR at the end but please read through my hopefully-coherent rambling to get full context.)

It's specifically because of how non-conventional they are. They didn't date / go through a courting phase before they got married. They barely knew each other at all in fact. Yet, Goku felt unbothered enough to honor a promise he made as a child, and agreed to go forward with the marriage anyway. Chi Chi stayed committed to Goku's promise, despite how she didn't know him, and literally got his consent as an adult first before they went on.

And they made it work.

I so wish we got to see the 5 years of Goku and Chi Chi living together + the early years of Gohan's youth, but specifically because I would like to see just how they each adapted to their new living situation. But regardless, the fact remains that they STAYED together. Chi Chi for sure would've left Goku if she was that unhappy with how Goku just isn't a conventional guy when it comes to relationships. Going home to her dad and resuming being Fire / Frypan Mountain's Princess was always right there as an option. Hell Chi Chi's been identified as an attractive lady in-universe, so she could probably meet someone new before long! But she didn't take it. IIRC, she never has.

I also feel like Goku would also get up and leave if he was unhappy. He's never had to force himself to sacrifice his own happiness for someone else as he lived on Paozu by himself for years, then spent the rest of his teenhood traveling around & training, so if presented with that kind of scenario he wouldn't think twice before being like "ok whatever, see ya" and just peacing out. He wouldn't see the point in staying, since why would he make himself stay somewhere he isn't welcomed or doesn't feel welcome? Grandpa Gohan's old home was always there for him.

My personal biggest gripes with their relationship have honestly never been because of how they had little chemistry before they got together. For me it's always been about how Chi Chi is just treated like a joke by the writer(s); she follows an angry housewife stereotype. Sure, it's supposed to be a joke and she's supposed to come off as comedic, but it only ends up doing damage because it encourages you as a viewer to not take Chi Chi or her relationship with Goku seriously. (I'm ignoring Goku here, but his writing in DBS *anime wise at least* is atrocious and further fed into this btw.)

Yet, from what I've seen over the years in the western fanbase, people's biggest issues with Gochi (aside from general Chi Chi hatred) is because it isn't a conventional relationship. It had hardly any chemistry going into it. I understand that logic, don't get me wrong, but I only understand it when I factor in society's amatonormative & allonormative lens. And I hate both of those things. Gochi not complying with them is what I find charming about the ship.

They didn't date or establish a super deep bond or whatever, yet they lived together in peace for 5 years. They continued to bounce off of one another throughout Z. Chi Chi NEVER remarried or even dated someone while Goku was dead for 7 years. She was crying happy tears when he finally returned at the end of the Buu saga. Goku was more than happy to go home with her and their kids (and tbh I'm 99.99% sure he wouldn't have minded if Chi Chi chose to get with someone else - he chose to stay dead after all). OBVIOUSLY they care for one another a lot, despite how they married each other as strangers. They themselves are narrative (if that's the right word) proof that conventional love & romance & whatever don't guarantee successful marriages. I adore that.

And it's funny because Vegebul is a pairing that also had little to no chemistry going into it, but unlike with Gochi, the no chemistry actually does hurt it for a couple of reasons (all of them revolving around how Vegeta was/is a terrible person) that I won't get into here because it'll derail this post and it's long enough already. I just wanted to point that out in text myself first, before other people came at me trying to argue it.

Anyway. TLDR Gochi as a ship defies amatonormative & allonormative concepts regarding intimate relationships. "You have to date / court someone first, fall in love with them, then marry them because marriage will make sense & be healthy then." They didn't do the first two parts, but after getting married, they're happy together. They spat in the face of societal norms & expectations.

[trashartgalleries]

Bro, remember that time Steve and Tony got a divorce and Tony took over custody of Peter?

Cold War was a tough time for Stony shippers lolz

[lycangr0pe]

Anyways friends I posted two fics in the last few days

what has magic touched - Fenris and Dorian meet in Inquisition, complicated feelings happen, followed by a scary mystery adventure (I have been working on it for months and I’m sick of it)

ashkaari - Modern au, Bull helping his Tama in the kitchen

[lollytea]

The Blight family are so interesting IN THEORY. In execution they are....😬

[set-phasers-to-whump]

seasick

prompt: motion sickness (alt no.7)

whumpee: river cartwright

fandom: slough house/slow horses

hii here's yet another sh fic for yall but this time with no spoilers for anything lmao. i saw the prompt and was like 'wouldn't it be so funny to do this to river considering his name' and so this was born. hope you enjoy!

This is one of the more bizarre assignments she’s been given in her tenure at Slough House. Go on a cruise down the Thames and look for “anything unusual” beneath the bridges. Totally normal thing to do. Definitely worth her time. 

Not that she’s complaining much. It gets her out of the office and there’s a bar on board. She’s sure there must be some way of getting a drink and snack paid for on the Park’s dime. 

She’s gone ahead and gotten them, in any case. She balances both items in one hand as she pushes out through a door onto the deck. The first bridge is coming up, and she supposes she’ll at least pay some attention to it. 

River is where she’d left him, having turned down the suggestion of both drink and snack. She’d assumed he’d been less assured of their ability to be reimbursed, and admittedly, the prices hadn’t been low. 

He’s leaning against the railing now, and he turns his head slowly towards her when she stops beside him. She offers up her bag of crisps and he turns away, swallows visibly. His skin has gone a funny shade, almost grey, and he’s sweaty although it’s rather cold and drizzly. 

“Are you ill?” Louisa asks, point-blank. He’d looked fine when she’d left him, and that had been all of ten minutes ago. 

River shakes his head, then stops very suddenly. He takes a deep breath which he aborts halfway through, and then leans over the railing and throws up. 

“Shit,” Louisa says, the pieces assembling themselves rapidly in her mind. She sets down her snack and drink, returns to River and puts a hand on his back. 

“Do you get motion sickness often?” She’s been in cars with him plenty of times, but, she supposes, cars and boats are quite different. “Or, seasickness, I guess?”

River shakes his head, vomits again. “I don’t—I don’t really go on boats.”

There’s something a little funny there, a jibe at his name she could make, but he looks all kinds of awful and she just feels sympathetic, more than anything else. 

He throws up again, coughs harshly, rubs a shaky hand across his face. “This fucking sucks.”

Louisa squeezes his shoulder. “I’ll get you some water. Why don’t you sit down?” There are empty benches behind them—in fact, the whole deck is empty, owing to the wet and the cold. Louisa’s suddenly incredibly glad for the weather. She knows how much worse River would feel if this was happening to him in front of a larger audience than just herself. 

River shakes his head. “I’m not—I might…”

Ah. Louisa’s not sure that she’d care all that much about the potential consequences of puking on the deck, their positions being reversed, but it feels very River, somehow, to not want to risk it. 

“Alright, just—hold on, then. I’ll be back soon.”

She heads once more into the covered portion of the boat and makes her way back to the bar, where she manages to procure a bottle of water, napkins, and some crackers. She’d been hoping for medicine or an offer to stop off at the next dock, but she’ll take what she can get. 

Louisa returns to the upper deck. River is still leaning over the railing and barely stirs at her arrival. He’s sort of crying, Louisa notices, which she supposes is down to the exertion of vomiting more than any truly severe distress. It makes her feel worse for him, all the same.

She wordlessly hands over the bottle of water, watches him struggle to open it with shaking hands for several seconds before doing it herself. 

He says, “thanks,” and his voice is noticeably rougher than it had been before. She decides she’ll hold off on handing over the crackers, not that she particularly expects him to want them, anyway. 

She watches with a critical eye as he rinses out his mouth and wipes his face with a proffered napkin. 

“How are you feeling?” Louisa chances to ask. 

“Shit,” River replies, not meeting her eyes. His sickly grey face has gone pink from what she guesses is a combination of embarrassment and strain. 

“You’re alright,” she offers. “You’ll feel so much better as soon as we get off this boat.”

“When’s—when’s that?”

She checks her watch. Fuck. “About an hour.”

“Fuck,” River echoes her thoughts exactly. He bends down, rests his head against the railing. He looks so fucking miserable and Louisa hates that there’s really nothing she can do. Unless—

“D’you think they’d stop the tour and let us off if I told them we were MI5?”

River shrugs. “Maybe.” He lifts his head briefly and gags harshly over the railing before promptly putting his head back down again. 

Yeah. She’ll go wave her ID in the face of whoever’s in charge here. 

Fifteen minutes later, the boat is pulling up to a dock somewhere beyond Tower Bridge. As they get off, both putting on their very best official-agent-on-official-business looks, River valiantly stopping himself from throwing up in front of the onlookers aboard, Louisa briefly remembers that they were supposed to be examining the bridges. Not that it matters much. She’ll just tell Lamb there was nothing of note—she’s sure there wouldn’t’ve been, anyway. 

The second they step onto the dock, River drops to his knees and throws up once more, unable to hold out any longer. Louisa stands behind him, doing her best to protect him from the suddenly very interested gazes of the people aboard the boat. 

When he’s done, she offers him a hand to his feet. He takes it, staggers upright, blinks hard, then breathes a sigh.  

“Alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I—I feel fine now, actually.”

Based on the scratchiness of his voice, she knows he’s not entirely fine, but evidently the nausea has left as quickly as it’d come. 

She wraps him in a quick side-hug and he leans into her in a way that reassures her, somehow, of his being relatively unhurt by the whole ordeal. 

“Thanks,” he says quietly. 

“Don’t mention it. Speaking of not mentioning it, actually, we’ve still got like 45 minutes to kill before our tour is supposed to end. I’m hardly going back to Slough House until I’ve got to. Fancy a walk?”

River nods, “yeah, yeah, that’d be nice,” and the pair of them set off together, just like that. 

thanks for reading! hope you liked <333

[dyketennant]

oh i can already tell i’m about to have some really unpopular opinions about the edge of sleep tv show

[soliloquent-stark]

📄 annex 11 by soliloquent

1,3k words // pairing: tony stark & steve rogers

—⎊—

“This annex document, filed by SHIELD operatives under the designation SR-NR-CB-AS/000008-11, contains a verbatim transcript of a conversation between Anthony E. Stark (callsign Iron Man) and Steven G. Rogers (callsign Captain America) as recorded by Iron Man’s advanced artificial intelligence, J.A.R.V.I.S.”

or: Trapped together during a snowstorm in the middle of a mission, Steve attempts to soothe Tony’s growing anxiety, only to discover that Tony had the solution all along.

written for the @cap-ironman 2023 holiday exchange

[steelycunt]

got THREE NEW PLANTS for my room today. all for the SWEET SWEET PRICE of £6.50. thats cheaper than TWO COFFEES. and i dont even DRINK COFFEE. so on EVERY LEVEL im WINNING.

[pink-lemonadefairy]

🌻 ₊˚⊹ ࿔ 🌳

[andiwriteordie]

OKAY OKAY I HAVE AN IDEA

Remember that framed picture of the party pre season 1 of them with their science fair (?) trophy? So they are working on that project but mike and lucas bicker over will and while he stands there embarrassed for his life dustin keeps giving mike and lucas the side-eye and whispering snide comments into will's ear because he just wants to get the project done correctly with no distractions😭

I feel like this captures their dynamic perfectly especially because i LIVE for Lucas and Mike both having a tiny crush on Will before season 1. that happened, it is not a made up headcanon. Obviously. Totally.

Anyways, congrats on the followers, i really enjoy your work :))

oh my god this was an adorable idea, and listen i love the og party. i love the party in general but the og party is just SO GOOD. also i WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE. BYLER AND BYCLAIR RIGHTS THANK YOU SO MUCH.

anyways! i hope you enjoy!

—

honey, life is just a classroom

It’s that time of the year again.

It’s time for the annual Hawkins Regional Science Fair, and oh boy, Will already feels like he’s going to lose his mind. 

Listen… Will loves his best friends. He really, really does. The Party is made up of the coolest people Will knows, and sure, none of them have any friends besides each other… but who cares? Will doesn’t really need any other friends besides Mike, Lucas, and Dustin. The Party is perfect the way that it is, and Will loves his best friends.

… 

Most of the time.

He loves his best friends, but the glaring exception to this statement happens every year when it comes time for the science fair. Because every year, Mike and Lucas bicker for God knows how long for the stupidest things, and somehow, Will always ends up stuck in the middle of the two of them. 

He doesn’t get it. They don’t seem to care what Dustin has to say or whose side of the argument Dustin is on. But for some reason, Will’s opinion on the argument is worth like… a hundred first place ribbons to Mike and Lucas. 

Will usually doesn’t even have an opinion on these arguments, so um, yeah… that’s fun. That’s a lot of fun, especially when Lucas and Mike end up derailing their entire first project planning session by arguing over what project they should even do.

“Everyone does a stupid volcano, Mike!” Lucas argues, for the umpteenth time this hour. He throws his hands up in the air and gives Mike an exasperated look. “Cody Morris and his group did one last year, and so did Olivia Baker’s group, and Dylan Tapscott’s group! Volcanos are overrated, and if we do that, we’re going to lose again!”

“Not if we make the best volcano and show everybody up, Lucas!” Mike argues back, and when he gets up into Lucas’s face, Will can’t help but wince. That’s never a good sign. It usually means the fight is escalating, which means Will’s gonna have to step in and stop them again. 

Ugh.

“Look, we’re the smartest people in our grade,” Mike reminds. “Dustin’s like a freaking genius. If anyone can make a shitty old volcano cool, it’s us. And then nobody will ever want to make a volcano for the science fair again. It’s genius.”

“It’s stupid,” Lucas deadpans. “How the hell are we going to make a volcano cool? There’s only so many ways to make a baking soda and vinegar explosion look cool. Woohoo. We put food coloring in it. Please, give us first place.”

Mike narrows his eyes even further at Lucas, and as he continues their argument, Will just sighs, falling back onto the floor of the Wheelers’ basement and closing his eyes. This is never going to end. It’s never going to end, and Will thinks he’d probably just be better off disappearing off into some faraway land, simply so he can escape the stupidity of his best friends.

“How did you put up with this for three years before I came along?” Dustin asks curiously, and Will opens his eyes, turning to look at his best friend. 

“I have no idea,” Will admits. “I don’t think they were this bad when we were little. Do you remember them being this bad?”

Dustin purses his lips, glancing towards the other two Party members; then, he nods. “Yeah, they were always pretty bad,” he remarks. “They’re being so stupid. It’s like… neither of them actually care about what we’re doing! They just want to be right! And they want you to agree with them! I just wanna make shit explode and tell people why it did that!”

“Me too,” Will says glumly, and he, too, looks over at their best friends. “I don’t know why they’re getting so upset about this. They didn’t seem to care that much yesterday when we were throwing ideas around at lunch.”

“Eh.” Dustin sits up, and he shrugs slightly. “You know how they get sometimes. Maybe that’s what we should do our project on. The human brain and all its intricacies. Why do our friends make stupid decisions and fight with each other? Do you have a hypothesis, Will the Wise?”

Will snickers, sitting up and looking at his arguing best friends in amusement. “I think… Nancy probably did something to piss Mike off this morning,” he remarks. “And Lucas’s little sister probably stole his action figures again. So both of them were already upset and wanted to be right about something.”

“Hmm,” Dustin hums, and he mimics stroking a fake beard. “Interesting hypothesis indeed, but I do have one thing to add here.”

Will raises an eyebrow. “Go on…”

A smirk forms on Dustin’s face. “I think they fight with each other because they both want to be your favorite Party member,” he declares, and Will just sputters, feeling his face go warm.

“What?” he exclaims. “I don’t… I don’t have favorites. That doesn’t even make sense!”

“Maybe not, but it’s the hypothesis I’m sticking with,” Dustin says smugly. “And the science backing it is indisputable.”

“And what science is that?”

“Well, you’re clearly Mike’s favorite Party member,” Dustin points out. “You two have been best friends since kindergarten. And you’re Lucas’s favorite Party member too, because you were the first one to befriend him too. So, if you’re both their favorites, and they already like bickering with each other… I think they want to be your favorite Party member.”

Will feels his face get even warmer, and he glares weakly at his best friend. “I’m not… their favorite,” he mumbles, embarrassed. “And just ‘cause I’ve been friends with them the longest doesn’t mean anything.”

“Okay, well even if you stop factoring in how long you’ve been friends with all of us, I think it’s safe to say you’re still everyone’s favorite,” Dustin says with a shrug. “I mean, you’re my favorite Party member, and I’m not afraid to tell the others that. Just look at them, Will. They’re bickering like idiots and wasting precious time we could be using to beat the shit out of everyone and win this science fair. Meanwhile, you are being entirely unproblematic, as usual. Plus, you’re just always nice and always willing to help all of us out, like a good friend. Ergo, you’re my favorite. And for similar reasons, I believe that you’d be Lucas and Mike’s favorite as well.”

For a moment, Will just stares at his best friend, and he blinks, trying to take in Dustin’s words. “That’s… really nice,” he admits, smiling shyly. “Thanks, Dustin. That means a lot to me.”

A bright smile forms on Dustin’s face. “No problem,” he says cheerfully. “Anyways, while that was fun, I really don’t want to go through the rest of the scientific method to figure out why Mike and Lucas are idiots. Do you want to go ahead and end their argument?”

Will raises an eyebrow. “You think I could end their argument?”

“Will.” Dustin gives him a look. “What did we just talk about? You’re everyone’s favorite. Just… pick a side, then the other one will go with it. Simple as that.”

“Okay, I’m beginning to think you are really overestimating how much sway I have in the Party.”

“Please,” Dustin scoffs, falling back onto the floor. “Will, I hope you know that all of us would go to hell and back for you. I mean… I think we’d do that for anyone in the Party, but I dunno, it’d take a little more convincing for the others.”

Will just laughs, and he nudges his best friend lightly. “You’re the worst,” he says, shaking his head. “Okay… fine. Let’s test your hypothesis, then.”

“Be my guest,” Dustin says, gesturing to Mike and Lucas. “Pick a side, and watch how fast they stop arguing.”

Will just rolls his eyes, but he stands up, willing to humor Dustin’s silly hypothesis. It probably won’t work, but if anything, maybe he can convince Lucas and Mike to compromise or something.

“Hey, guys,” Will says gently, walking up to the others. 

At first, Mike and Lucas don’t hear him, and Will glances over his shoulder, giving Dustin a look that says, I told you so. Dustin rolls his eyes, and he gestures for Will to keep going. 

“Guys,” Will says, a bit louder now, and he waves his hands in front of Lucas and Mike’s faces. “Hey!”

Both of them stop, and in perfect unison, they turn to Will, their expressions softening.

“Oh, hey, Will,” Lucas says with a smile. “What’s up?”

“Did you need something?” Mike asks, tilting his head and offering a smile as well. “Everything okay?”

Literally, they look like two entirely different people from the boys arguing just a moment ago, and Will blinks, momentarily stunned.

…

Maybe Dustin’s hypothesis isn’t that far off.

“Well… I was just thinking we should probably decide what to do for our project,” Will suggests, and he glances over his shoulder at Dustin again. He hopes Dustin understands the silent question: What project do we do?

Dustin raises a brow, and he considers this for a moment, before nodding to his left. Go with Mike, the gesture says, and his expression also seems to say, We’ll figure it out later.

Will nods back; then, he turns around and smiles at his best friends. “Dustin and I thought it could be cool to do the volcano too,” he says. “Then, maybe next year we could do something entirely different that nobody else has done before, like Lucas suggested. … What do you guys think?”

Time for the moment of truth. 

Will holds his breath, looking back and forth between Lucas and Mike. Mike looks a bit smug, but Lucas is a little harder to read, which makes sense. After all, Will is going against his opinion here.

But then finally, Lucas shrugs, and he offers Will a smile. “Yeah, that’s fine,” he says. “I don’t really care as long as we actually win this year. I swear, last year was so rigged.”

“There’s no way Tanner and his stupid friends should’ve won!” Mike agrees, and he throws an arm around Will’s shoulder, leading Will back to where Dustin is sitting. Lucas follows after them, and Mike adds, “I’m with Lucas. I just want to make sure we win this year, so we can take that trophy and tell everyone else to shove it.”

Lucas snickers, and he reaches over Will to high five Mike. “Hell yeah,” he says with a smirk. “Mr. Clarke’s rooting for us too, so I’m sure he’ll be willing to give us advice again this year. We’re gonna make the best damn volcano anyone has ever seen.”

As the two of them continue to go back and forth, sharing ideas with each other, Will just… sits there, his mouth open in complete shock.

That… actually worked.

That actually worked.

… 

Has he always been able to do that? 

No… there’s no way, right? Will would’ve noticed that. He’s been friends with both of them for years now. This has to be something new.

But then, Dustin catches his eye, and he grins at Will. “Told you so,” he mouths. “You’re our favorite.”

Will’s cheeks turn warm again, and he can’t help but roll his eyes, glancing at Mike and Lucas once more. The two of them seem much more relaxed now, which is nice. This is exactly how it should be.

Maybe this year’s science fair won’t be so bad after all.