#i didnt realize how many pairings ive shipped on this show

[james-fun-in-the-sunderland]

Mob Psycho 100 for fandom! And Amy from Sonic for character~

omg hello thank u niru c:

obligatory link back to the original ask game

Mob Psycho 100

sorry that alot of these repeat and probably arent like insane thoughts, i was only big into mp100 when i was like 16 and finished the anime like a year ago 😭

Favorite character: Serizawa c: hes a 6w5 so legally i must enjoy him but also i just like him ... he has curly hair and is cool OH AND TOME !!!! shes fun :) i dont fully remember my interesting thoughts on her but i enjoy her and how she works for reigen post canon. i think her weird girl charms get to me

Least Favorite character: uhhhh probably mogami or shous dad... theyre both just annoying like whateverrr stop being a dumb adult stop beefing with 15 year olds losers...

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): 1.... serirei?? is that the ship name. serizawa and reigen. basically canon ? 2. mobteru again basically canon 3. . um . theres not much ships i really have with this show so idk if i can do 5 but i can at least do three bc i think tome and mezato is cute :) i briefly became obsessed w them for a bit after season 2 .... i think the ship of the two claw guys . the like sword one and the other guy is pretty cool...

Character I find most attractive: serizawa. who would have guessed.

Character I would marry: nobody everyone here has many red flags also theyre 90% children

Character I would be best friends with: if i was a teenager there is a non zero chance i genuinely would be besties with tome but also maybe slightly find her annoying. but also maybe i would become besties with mob. in normal life none of them bc i would never talk to children or the adults in the show

A random thought: i think reigen is one of the last tumblr sexymen before that term really became used as meaning: character im sick of seeing so much of... but also i could be wrong. also can everyone stop drawing serizawa with straight hair ... i know they do in the manga/anime but if he had curly hair before they cut and washed him then it wouldnt go away. thats not how hair works and i should know as ive lived with it for like years.

An unpopular opinion: mogami arc wasnt that good, stop using it as an excuse to be weird abt child characters plsss

My canon OTP: nothing is canon :/ so

Non-canon OTP: serirei as i said above ☝

Most badass character: mob :] hes cool and awesom... but also i do think

Pairing I am not a fan of: idk if its bc i dont remember much but i cant see shou and ritsu as much more than besties but also obvs im not at all a fan of the . weirdly large amount of reigen and mob stuff like whats wrong with you all im killing you . i also just dont care too too much about ships between teenage characters so many of the ships in the fandom are like yea thats alright, also can see them as just besties, u kno?

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): i didnt realize how little there was of serizawa in the manga or the anime .. i feel like he had more when i first read it ???? anyway he should be there more .

Favourite friendship: i think mob and reigen are fun as friends :) especially as they grow older, i think the dynamic would be fun. also teru and ritsu are fun when theyre together. worlds most dramatic 12 year olds.

amy will b under the cut

amy rose :)

How I feel about this character: I like her !!! i feel like shes not talked about much outside of ships which is a shame because i feel like if people came together on her character (this includes people writing canon) then there could be a compelling character here that wouldnt deny her roots or just stay the same sort of trope she used to be. I cant deny i do enjoy that they occassionally dip into her little interest in tarot :) its nice to see that trait remembered.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: sonic of course, shadow, blaze a bit?, metal sonic anddd... yea thats it

My non-romantic OTP for this character: i think her with silver or knuckles is always fun :) idk why i think its because they bounce off of each other well. equal levels of no braincells happening here at least with silver. and with knuckles i feel like they could have a fun brother sister dynamic.

My unpopular opinion about this character: what is the popular opinion on her .... idk ill just use this as more of me talking about her character in general. i wish people would use her abandonment issues more, or at least like integrate that into her character since i think its a trait that shows up a bit in the little visual novel and in sonic frontiers and i think that makes sense as a trait for her

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: if she was ever playable again . I HAVENT played the sonic frontiers dlc but i think giving her a little spin off game ala the princess peach games would be fun. maybe then her team from sonic heros can be used again and i could like care about big and cream outside of them being sparingly used in canon .. and big not just being a joke ... also i just want more development for herrr im always begging for development or character in this series i know its for children but plsss also i wish they would like actually like .. fully deal with her whole thing with sonic... it feels like they wanna pretend her obsession just never happened and wasnt like the main thing with her character before they basically turned her into sally acorn.

My OTP: honestly ive really come around on amy x metal sonic :) i think mainly bc i cant see her with sonic at all (<- sonadow truther) and also i think it could be interesting if i thought about it more deeply

My OT3: amy x sonic x blaze i know i just said i cant see her with sonic but this is the exception, if i had to have an ot3 it would be this .. otherwise idk if i would have one.

[yiangchen]

every pairing i’ve ever shipped on the 100 in no particular order:

1. blarke: nothing will ever top them for me.

2. sea mechanic: soulmates in my heart.

3. minty: i was late to the party on this one, but wow, i love them. 

4. memori: my feelings about these two being together romantically are complicated as of s6, but i’ve always lowkey shipped them.

5. jactavia: two words -- wasted. potential. 

6. kindra: they really had so much potential, ngl. 

7. marper: i shipped them soooo much in s2. and i thought their first kiss scene in s3 was adorable. 

8. briller: honestly, they weren’t my favorite when i first watched s3, but on rewatch i really really enjoyed them, and i’m highkey missing them at the moment. 

9. wicken: took me so long to get over these two. 

10. niylarke: i didn’t ship them most of the time, but in 4x06 they were really cute.

11. remori: the ship that healed my broken sea mechanic heart.

12. bellaia: i just think the concept of these two is intriguing, especially given bellamy and indra’s history. and they also would just be really hot together.

13. e/cho x banishment: i had to.

14. jaya: :(

15. bellina: the way she would run her hands through his hair was the softest thing.

16. bellamybree: anyone else bitter we never got to see The Scene in 4x08? no? just me?

17. bemori: the soft space ship we all deserved who actually have chemistry.

18. anyaclarke: so much wasted potential.

19. zaven: the instant connection and chemistry these two had. ICONIC. 

20. kanejaha: okay, weird concept, but i think it could have worked?? also, this gif is just hilarious dkasjdlkfs.

21. millamy: best friends who could have been more!

22. delilahjordan: i loved them instantly.

23. atomoctavia: we only had them for like two seconds, but i actually really liked them together.

24. montavia: idk, they could have been cute.

25. josephinegabriel: i mean, how could i not love the relationship whose sole purpose was to parallel bellarke?

26. wellarke: i love the best friends to lovers trope, what can i say? and yeah, i know clarke wasn’t romantically interested in him, but i think that if he hadn’t died in 1x03, she might have developed romantic feelings for him in the future, especially since she found he wasn’t actually the one that got her dad killed.

27. clarkezeke: i kinda liked the idea of them early on (5x03). before zaven met.

28. fl/arke: i was young and stupid and that’s all i’m gonna say.

29. b/echo: i cannot believe i’m admitting this, but yes, i did ship them. in my defense, i stopped shipping them the second e/cho got bellamy’s girlfriend killed!

the rest of these are entirely crackships, but i love them!

30. gaiaclarke: i’ve always wished they had met in s3 and had a short but cute romance, just look at how adorable they could have been!

31. ice mechanic: sea mechanic stole my heart, but before them, i was all about this crackship coming to life in s4.

32. diyozaindra: they have seen each other i believe one (1) time in canon, but the power couple excellence they would serve!!!

33. gaiabriel: these two have never even met in canon, but...a concept for s7: gabriel, a former member of a cult, convinces gaia, a current follower of another cult, to leave hers, and they fall in love in the process.

34. lostia: i know they technically were canon, but we never got to see it since costia was killed by the ice queen, and i wish that instead of that it had been confirmed that costia was alive in s3. would have been a much less harmful way to write lexa off: having her run away with her past lover.

35. lincolnluna: so, arranged marriages were never confirmed to have been a thing in grounder culture, but a part of me always felt like luna and lincoln were betrothed as kids.

36. wellven: i read a “modern post-apocalyptic” blarke au fic once and these two were in it, and it made me fall in love with this concept.

37. roanaia: the idea of these two just came to me randomly one day and now i can’t stop thinking what if?  

all that said, you know what the most tragic thing is about all this?

currently, my only ships are blarke, remori, indradiyoza and gaiabriel, and considering that indradiyoza and gaiabriel are crackships and remori realistically will never be romantic despite the clear romantic subtext but whatever, blarke is the only one that even has a chance of getting endgame. blarke. the ship that the bellarke fandom has been gaslighted about consistently and that i have all but given up hope in endgame for.

TRAGIC.

[theygotlost]

FRANCIS. and donnie. and…… 🙈 ezzie… ezzie dax.

jesus christ this is long. im putting it under a readmore

franny:

Sexuality Headcanon: bisexual. I don't think he realized it until his teen/adult years and now it doesnt really affect his life much now since he married piama so young but I can also see him using the fact he likes men as a way to rebel against lois (sidnote i wouldnt really consider lois homophobic if any of her kids came out she would be like "well i believe in equality so I'm going to make all you boys' lives equally miserable regardless of your sexuality. idgaf if you're gay go clean the toilet". um anyway). i just think it would be funny if piama had a celebrity crush or something and she was like wow hes sooo hot and francis would b like yeah he is 🤨😳

Gender Headcanon: i think hes a whiny little cis boy sorry. francisgender

A ship I have with said character: i do think he and piama are cute together :) i just wish she was in the show more and had an actual personality and stuff >:(((((((

A BROTP I have with said character: I like when he's with the rest of his family and gets to hang out with his brothers :) DEWER ESPECIALLY there is something so special to me abt him taking care of dewey and being kinder to him than malcolm and reese are

A NOTP I have with said character: Any other time in the early seasons when he dated a random girl for 1 episode i was like. um ok? but i didnt really HATE any of those

A random headcanon: uhhhh i feel like i should have something prepared to say here but idk. I think he listens to. weezer. fuck this 

General Opinion over said character: FEMINIST WOMEN LOVE FRANCIS. also you already know every opinion ive ever had about francis already but hes so pathetic and stupid I need to squish him between my thumb and forefinger

don of tello lol:

Sexuality Headcanon: HES SO GAYBOY. LOOK AT HIS GAY ASS ANIME GIRL STANCE WHAT IS THISSSSSS

Gender Headcanon: i dont think he is cis or trans i think he is a turtle . i think he can swimming in the water for algaes.  hope this helps

A ship I have with said character: nobody... tbh the ninja turtles are kinda unshippable to me. theyre just Creatures they dont “date”. But im not that far into the show yet so maybe there is another character that he can have a yaoi moment with later. But im not counting on it

A BROTP I have with said character: obviously all 4 of da turtle brothers are awesome together but DONNIE AND MIKEY ARE BESTIE VIBES!! Theyre my 2 favorites and i love their dynamic esp since they get paired up kinda often. I feel like they are the closest to each other out of all of them cause they’re both kind of the “weird” ones. Theyre neurodivergent and a minor. Also i like that donnie calls mikey “michael” its funny

A NOTP I have with said character: theres not really any viable shipping options to like or dislike . other than like the really reprehensible stuff like incest which is just like Why. do you know how sad and upsetting it is that so many tmnt blogs have to stipulate “no incest” in their bio? Can we all be normal and regular please?

A random headcanon: definitely the most online guy. Its really funny to enivision him being like a discord mod and getting into fights with people on reddit. Basically this 👇

General Opinion over said character:  he’s kind so annoying but in a funny and endearing way (much like many of my favorite guys...) but he ourple so that makes up for it. My favorite tutle

ezzie:

Sexuality Headcanon: Dax and all their symbionts are like. Inherently and canonically bisexy

Gender Headcanon: everyone likes to take the “I’m having trouble with my pronouns!!” line out of context 😑 but for real she said “some mornings I don’t know if im a man or a woman until i pull back the sheet” which um... kinda transphobic... we CANCEL the ezri!!!! Jk she can be whatever you want baby. Any pronouns 

A ship I have with said character: MIRROR EZRI INTENDANT KIRA HOT SOAPY BOOBS YURI LESBIAN KISS

A BROTP I have with said character: she has no friends lol sorry. Theres not really any bestie vibes between her and sisko the way there was with jadzia

A NOTP I have with said character: ONE MILLION TIMES JEZRI. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!!!! umm also when she started making out with worf i was like fml. That episode got me feeling so worfzia warrior but only because i was thinking “damn i wish jadzia was still here and worf was making out with jadzia instead.” it just feels weird to me 

A random headcanon: idk what do you want me to say. shes so tumblrina.General Opinion over said character: i know ive tormented you enough with the senorita awesome video but that really is how i see her. Im so sorry sam please dont be mad at me but I just don’t like her that much. She’s so #QUIRKY and its really grating. And I know that she didn’t formally complete her training but she is NOT a good ship’s counselor. If i went to my therapist and told her i was depressed or whatever and she was like “yeah sometimes i wanna kill myself too 😋 the #intrusivethoughts are so AWKO TACO!!” i think i would blow my brains out. But in Field of Fire when she was trying to solve that murder case and was hunting down that vulcan guy with a cool gun that was the ONE epsiode where i liked her and thought she was cool. I would like her more if she was badass like that more of the time

[halcyonstorm]

Hey! I hope you're well. I started watching AOT and realized that levihan was a ship. And after reading the manga Ive come to the conclusion that they were more than friends if not just friends. Mostly because I saw Levi act with Isabella, a friend and a sister of sorts even Farlan. But with Hange he was just different. And thats what made me feel maybe it really was something more. He was a different Levi with her. All the teasing and the overprotectiveness, the unnecessary sass and hostility sometimes, but that makes me wonder WHY? Why was he like this towards her? And when was the moment he fell for her or decided to befriend her that way that yes I will tease this person from now on. At first I thought its because of how they met maybe but their first meeting was so sweet. Hange seemed impressed by him and he even thanked her for her compliments. I didnt think their interaction would lead to something like this. So what are your thoughts because I wonder alot on this. Also can someon pls tell me why Levi looks at her that way in aot 4 when hange meets the kids with him and says if they dont understand us we'll meet them and teach them. Like. What happened? Thank you !

Hi! I am well, thanks! And thank you for leaving me an ask! I always appreciate hearing what people have to say. I’m gonna try my best to answer your question without going on any tangents lol (but I can’t promise I won’t). This is going to be long.

Mostly because I saw Levi act with Isabella, a friend and a sister of sorts even Farlan. But with Hange he was just different. And thats what made me feel maybe it really was something more.

I 100% agree with this. When I read the manga and watched the anime, I thought maybe Isabel was a love interest (AT FIRST). When I realized she would call him “aniki” (brother) and the way he acted around her (patting her head), I knew there was a different relationship between Isabel and Levi. He saw her as a little sister and was always trying to avoid his two friends from getting into trouble. That’s why he decided for all of them to join the SC after all.

But with Hange he was just different. And thats what made me feel maybe it really was something more. He was a different Levi with her. All the teasing and the overprotectiveness, the unnecessary sass and hostility sometimes, but that makes me wonder WHY? Why was he like this towards her?

I think that the reason Levi had always acted different with her than anyone else was because of their first interaction. It was not in the anime but it WAS in the manga where Hange approaches the trio saying “I was watching you at that crucial moment!” (Not to mention the chapter Hange appears for the first time is called “Hearts” and in 139 we see “...hearts” over her head). At this point, Levi, Farlan, and Isabel were ready to kill Hange since they thought she found out about their plan to kill Erwin. What actually happened was she had seen how cool they all were and wanted to pay them a compliment. Ever since that trio left the underground, Hange was the first person to show them kindness. I don’t think this is something Levi would forget or take lightly. If it were me, I’d definitely remember that moment. I know there is a post somewhere comparing how Levi looked at Hange for the first time vs how he admired the nature outside the walls for the first time. After Farlan and Isabel died, who did he have? Practically no one. It’s my own HC but I’d like to think that Hange stuck by his side. Levi and Hange both have lost so many comrades that they found solace in each other. They bonded through grief I suppose. Also, I think Levi was intrigued by Hange’s personality. Their personalities complement each other: Hange is extroverted, loud, messy; Levi is introverted, quiet, reserved, clean.

When I first saw them, I definitely felt some romantic attraction of sorts. We eventually learn he is a clean freak, yet he has no issue grabbing her hair (which probably was greasy and unclean). Also, I believe that wasn’t in the manga and Isym requested it be added? I can be wrong with that, but I think that if there was nothing planned for their relationship, he wouldn’t have requested it. From the second I saw them, they reminded me of an old married couple. The way they bickered and how Hange never felt threatened by him.

One of my favorite scenes is when Hange enters the room that Levi’s squad is in at the castle.

E: Oh, I’m not sure if I have the authority to help you.

H: Levi, what is Eren doing tomorrow?

L: Cleaning the courtyard.

H: Okay! It’s settled!

See how she doesn’t ask permission? See how Levi doesn’t retaliate? If it were anyone else, I’m sure that 1) someone wouldn't ask that and 2) Levi wouldn’t have responded that way. We have seen all throughout the anime and manga that he usually goes along with whatever she wants to do. Remember in the OVA where Levi grabs her and yells at her? She doesn’t retaliate from his tone either. She SMILES at him. Why? Because he is expressing concern for her. He is showing he cares about her (also he’s grabbing her and bringing her close again). Eventually at the end of the OVA, we see how Levi tells Hange that Erwin agreed to capture titans for experimenting.

And when was the moment he fell for her or decided to befriend her that way that yes I will tease this person from now on… Also can someon pls tell me why Levi looks at her that way in aot 4 when hange meets the kids with him and says if they dont understand us we'll meet them and teach them. Like. What happened? Thank you !

I am not sure if there was a specific moment, but I do believe it definitely developed over time. One specific moment is the one you mentioned later on in your message, “If you don’t know something, go figure it out. Isn’t that what the Survey Corps is all about?” Levi looks at Hange almost in a surprised manner. In my biased LH eyes, it shows that Hange really is a brilliant and wonderful Commander, and Levi is appreciating her and her intelligence. In reality, it is most likely because it is something similar to what Erwin would have said as Commander. In all seriousness, her statement is entirely true. I think we can all learn from and use that statement in our everyday lives. But I think that in this moment, he possibly starts to realize how much he admires the Commander. We can also see Hange taking her own advice in chapter 126? 127? Where she forms the alliance with Pieck. She is not sure how to stop the Rumbling, so she goes to figure out how she can by talking with Pieck. As it turns out, she is successful in forming the alliance.

Overall, I think that Hange and Levi complement each other perfectly. Even if you aren’t looking too deep, I think their relationship is quite obvious. I mean… why would you ask someone to live with you if you didn’t care for them or even love them? I think that this is one of the points that other shippers bring up to break up LH (how L dislikes H or vice versa). Levi didn’t reject her. If Isym wanted him to reject her, he would’ve made him say something similar to Erwin’s “Give up on your dreams and die” statement when Erwin stated his selfish dream and was willing to sacrifice all of humanity for his selfish desire. Hange told him while he was unconscious and “not listening”, and he didn’t reject her. He says “if we run and hide, what will that get us?” and “I know you aren’t able to stay out of the action” when he sees her building the cart. We also see Levi “confess” or “respond” in 132 to Hange’s statement in 126. “Dedicate your heart”?? OMG Do not get me started on that lol.

Getting back on track, the pair is almost always together in the anime. They’re together in the manga panels when they don’t have to be. They don’t even need to speak actual words to communicate. They are the sun and moon, two wings of a bird. Levi is almost always looking at Hange in the official fanarts. We know from the smartpass AU’s that Hange says “he is a good guy” and “he doesn’t say what he means.” That’s why I think they use nicknames frequently. Four-eyes could be seen as an endearing comment coming from him. Also, Levi making Hange chocolates in the Junior High manga?!?!! Oh, yeah, its definitely to shut her up.

Im sorry for the huge tangent but I hope some of this answered your question. I enjoy reading the levihan analysis’ from other blogs. Thank you for reading if you did read this far. Have a good day/afternoon/night <3

[ao3-sucks]

my own ao3 experience was that i got into it when i was in a huge fandom that had a bunch of underage and incestuous pairings and fics. i really started getting into it when i was like fresh into middle school and not soon after that id start reading a bunch of explicit fics. basically pretty sure reading that stuff is what made me feel anxious around my 2 older siblings and like if i showed any kind of affection like even a hug or just laughing at a joke sometimes itd be seen as a sign of attraction. im in my 20s now and it still really affects me. i feel like less valid with my online trauma somehow bc i did it to myself lol.

  Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

I got manipulated by an adult into writing an extremely triggering fic about rape and abuse between two young siblings, and ended up having to draw on my own traumatic experiences for it. I pretended to be okay with it, and let them say it was my fault it was like that, and when I finally got tired of hiding it and publicly called them out on it, multiple people defended them, using that pretense against me. I still haven't fully recovered from that. Sometimes I wonder if it really was my fault. 

Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

thank you SO MUCH for this blog, I was groomed into thinking the wildest of things were acceptable by fandom people, and it wasnt until i was about 15 or 16 that i finally wised up and dropped the thinking once and for all. thank you again and have a really good week!

Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

I don’t really know how old the post that talked about the experience of one of the mods with ao3 is, but just in case, this is about that post that had mentions of r//pe and @“cest. And damn, I’ve never stopped to think that my aversion to sex maybe came from my early exposure to that kind of stuff, now I know that I’m asexual, but it’s comforting to see that I’m not alone in this, so thank you for sharing your story

Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

god this is probably stupid and you dont have to post this if you don't want to, but thank you so much for making this page. ive had similar experiences in online fandom and ive really struggled with classifying any of it as "real" since it was all online. that post talking about your experience with everything was really eye opening for me. thank you for reminding me im not alone.

Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

wrt your ao3 essay // thank you for sharing your story about ao3. ive had some similar experiences, but i never interacted with anyone on ao3, just read ff. in around a 1-2 years of consuming that content, i had developed some psychosis relating to sexual trauma, but i never had anything happen to me so i didnt really know what to think. i was just scared. its nice to know that.. it wasnt just random? that more people are talking about this? something like that. thank you. i hope you are well.

Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

i just read through your experiences and while i was never really involved with fanfiction during my childhood, i WAS exposed to plenty of other weird interactions on other sites starting probably as early as 11  and just realized that me starting to use the internet more probably coincides with me showing similar things such as starting to hate being touched and consider myself asexual/sex repulsed. it was nothing that i'd considered to be that impactful or big a deal before and there weren't really specific people to blame, but i definitely don't know how to feel about this knowledge now.

Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

just read that post abt your ao3 experience and holy fuck, so sorry you had to go through that. but also, thank you. its scary to think tht ive cldve been in the same situation since i was browsing the internet from a v young age. i was huge into roleplaying and thereve been a few times where it became, uuh... not completely sfw (unknowingly to me, i just wanted to rp). but the moment it became too weird, i ghosted n blocked (i had a very anti-internet-stranger policy). again, thanks. take care

Anonymous said to ao3-sucks:

I was 12 when I got my first ship. I got into it because of the cute art online and I never once thought about it being bad. It was pedophilic amongst other things. I just started writing fic, so I wrote for this ship. I was asked to write straight up human AU "porn where xyz is a pedo" by people far older than me. I didn't know any better, I wrote it and every other request like it. It go so bad that I though that pedophilia was OKAY. It took me so long to unlearn that and many other things because of that ship and I still feel bad for ever having shipped it. So when people say things like "fiction doesn't effect reality" it makes me mad. It teaches little kids that things like pedophilia and rape are okay.

I opted to answer these as a group because they are all so similar. It breaks my heart how often I get anons, post replies, and reblogs about my AO3 essay from people saying that my experiences closely mirrored theirs. I hope that everyone who has sent me these messages can forgive themselves for what happened to them, and know that it’s not your fault that other people decided to take advantage of you. I’m working on healing, and I hope you can all do the same.

- Mod Daft

[thesharondefenseleague]

Yesss thank you for bringing up the Sam Bucky queerbaiting like the moment they ended up on top of each other?

They knew absolutely what they were doing how it could be seen and that there was an audience out there that would love that indication that they were appealing to with that content. But of course its just to get their money and views and they never intend to follow through on that indication and loose their homophobic fans.

So ya absolute queer bait. Steve and Bucky never had moments like that. Ya they had dramatic maybe slightly cheesy heartfelt dialogue but thats not the same thing.

I so often see SteveBucky on the same list as Destiel or Johnlock for like examples of queerbaited couples and it seems like fans just see queerbaiting as any duo that could have had romantic potential that they liked and wasn't made canon. And like i get it you feel strongly for your otp.

But don't call it queerbaiting when its not. Especially next to those more insidious queerbaiting examples. That makes people think its a shipping thing rather than a minipulative marketing tactic that is often at the expense of minority group that craves representation.

There is that joke about straight girls being the ones who ship these gay ships and get salty about not seeing their favs make out. But there are alot of lgbt people who ( no suprise) gravitate towards these non straight ships too.

So many times ive seen teen girls get shit on for shipping gay ships calling it them fetishizing gay men just for having gay ships and later see that they were actually either not straight or not girls or both. They were just struggling with their sexuality not ready to come out and gravitated towards reprentations of things that were less heteronormative but wasn't associated exclusively with gay people.

And while im sure there were straight people out there who really wanted their gay otp to be canon its the young lgbt people who gonna get screwed over the most by this queerbaiting. They were young and hopeful and thought this mainstream thing they loved was validating them when it was really just leading them on for views. This isnt exclusive to lgbt people either.

Ive seen this happen with black characters too where the promise of them being important and relevant is used to draw in a black people get them watching to drive up viewership and then sideline them ( like say in Star Wars).

Its one thing if you want to put in representation and arent allowed to so you imply as much as possible. You see that often with childrens television for example. But this is almost the opposite of that. Its more insidious and often despite purposely baiting in show they will gaslight in interviews and say fans are reading too much into it. And sometimes there will later be evidence that baiting was discussed in the writers room.

Its all a huge dick move that people are complaining about and putting in say Stucky ,which didnt do that, on the same queerbaiting list of Johnlock or Destiel, which did, kinda makes that level of queerbaiting into just fan favorite gay ships that didn't become canon and people are salty.

Yeah, one of those ships is not like the others. There are a few video essays online about how queerbaiting was used to get fans while the creators simultaneously (for J/L, we all know what happened on 5 November) denied it would be canon. Steve and Bucky on the other hand haven’t been given the J/L treatment. Queerbaiting has to be on the J/L levels of insidious or the Betty and Veronica kissing in the trailer and going right into nowhere levels of baiting for views.

But Sam and Bucky. Is this why we don’t see Sam paired with anyone? Is Sam closeted?? Seriously, let’s run with this. What if Sam is closeted, because it’s hard enough to be a black man who is in the army, then a superhero who is an extremely public figure (because forget secret identities), who is then Captain America and probably the most famous person in the world, and here’s this guy who he wants to be friends with and also kind of prove his worth to, and he’s fun to mess around with, but fuck he’s kind of cute, with that face he makes when he’s messed with, and then you roll around in a field like that...

I would like to point out that in these past few years, we have collectively grown out of a time where m/m ships had a lot of fetishization in fandom. I don’t think we realize it, but I remember how much there used to be (and especially trans fetishization, I haven’t seen that in years when that used to be a huge thing). It’s nice that now we can see these characters as more human and less thing to get off to. And it does have a lot to do with LGBTQ+ fans given more of a voice in fandom. That being said, you can’t just say Steve and Bucky are queerbaited. The writers and directors have never once used that idea to sell you on their films. Their actors have never once played it up for the camera to mess with their fans. The only character that has that is Peggy. (Someone else remembers those being a thing with Agent Carter, right??) And in a time where Marvel is going to have canon queer relationships on-screen, we need to show support of them and stand for the characters who risk having their identities erased, especially when teams like the Young Avengers come around.

But also there is a lot of subtext to support that Sam could have a coming out narrative that I don’t think will ever happen, but would be a plot twist conclusion to the #givecapaboyfriend movement from way back. I mean, Sam has deliberately not been given a romantic story. This could be why. (But don’t hold out for it. Oh god, what if Sam and Bucky are the queerbaited ship??? Another plot twist.)

~Mod R

[rebeccasjack]

for the ask meme: 001 - once upon a time 002 - captain swan 003 - ruby lucas pls and thank u

Thank you!!!!

OUAT

Favorite character: Emma & Alice 

Least Favorite character: Gothel

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): CS, curious archer, rumbelle, snowing, outlaw and dragon queen (im cheating lol)

Character I find most attractive: Regina

Character I would marry: Emma or Belle

Character I would be best friends with: also belle lol but also charming

a random thought: alice and robin had like an actual ouat style royal wedding, everyone showed up and it was just so big and they looked super regal and gah i have a lot of opinions on that

An unpopular opinion: i think jefferson had a pretty complete story??? the last time we see him he reunited with his kid so i dont feel like his story needed more closure as compared to other characters

My Canon OTP: CS or curious archer (their both tied for me lol)

My Non-canon OTP: Dragon queen

Most Badass Character: Alice “the guardian” jones or Emma “product of true love” swan

Most Epic Villain: pan or zelena (i like her as a regular character but she was a lit villian)

Pairing I am not a fan of: lolllll sw@nfire but also $q but i really tried to like them for a long time but long story short both ships……not it lmao

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): august tbh, he existed in the first season as a friend of emmas and someone who was young and could not live up to his dads expectations and then they retconned the shit out of him and he helped send her to jail at 16/17 and he so rarely gets mentioned again, hes a boy and then a man but also the “one real friend” emma had??? even tho he was barely a friend to her lol, i really did like him and the actor who played him was amazing and ya…..wasted potential

Favourite Friendship: huh i ship like all my fav friendships lol but frozen swan or captain charming

Character I most identify with: ALICE!!! or killian (mainly the original version)

Character I wish I could be: idk charming??? he has a great wife and then i could protect emma with my life idk i think being him would be cool

CS

When I started shipping them: ive been watching the show live since like mid season 2 but i was hella dumb when i watched 2x06 and im the only cs shipper who didnt see how obvious the set up was lol but ngl i just……hated ne@l and it lead me into the anti tag where i read so many meta posts about how killian was the “anti” ne@l and how he would be good for her and i just remember i was like “well anything’s better than her ending up with him” but when 2x22 aired and hook turned his ship around for her i was like oh shit oh shit 

My thoughts: they’re everything???? true love lost souls who find home in each other (which is the BEST kind of trope) excellence. they were both so BROKEN when we met them and when they met??? and they helped HEAL each other and learn to love again??? their so powerful and i adored them with my whole heart; no show ever did with another ship what this show did with them 

What makes me happy about them: thinking about 2x06 and how closed off they were and then they found each other and got a FAMILY and someone who loved them unconditionally and they both DESERVE it

What makes me sad about them: huhhhh i just miss them. i do wish jen stayed for s6 but im not like angry or resentful 

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: ooffff uhm??? i dont wanna say anything too specific fanfic writers are AMAZING. but ive always been more on the swan believer deserves better side which is really just that idk ive read fics where sometimes emma came off as a bad mom so killian could be the “hero” dad and it always feels hella heteronormative (it exists with a LOT of m/f mom/dad fics *cough cough* bellarke) and it bugs me a lot it always comes across as icky 

Things I look for in fanfic: i absolutely adored cs neighbours fics idk why??? it fits them so well but also enchanted forest aus are so good especially bc given canon we have so many of those aus and them as kids is really great: it takes away a lot of their individual pain so its always a fun au

My wishlist: we were so spoiled so im not gonna like beg for more but let me just say; in 4x12 when she was putting his heart back the “ive never done this before” “held my heart; believe me you have for much longer” lines SHOULD NOT have been cut

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: uhm killian with milah and emma with elsa

My happily ever after for them: i have different ideas of their jobs but pretty much got everything i wanted for them and more??? they have a home and two kid(s) as well as amazing friends/family and theyre living their happy beginning as they SHOULD

Ruby Lucas

How I feel about this character: a BISEXUAL legend; thank you for ur service we all thank you. shes amazing and we deserved to see her again for the final season and her storyline in season 2 was so important to me??? her episode where she was all “i choose me” to her mom and she realized she wasnt the monster was all so good i loved her

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: SHES SO SHIPPABBLE lol; snow, belle, charming ( as like an ot3 with snow), mulan, dorothy

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: well her and snow were never romantic so ya snow??? their scenes were probs some of my fav in like the entire show ngl but also granny 

My unpopular opinion about this character: huh some people shipped her with victor and i never really saw it??? they were insanely popular in s2 and they had like a nice scene together but i just didnt feel much at all. also red snow >>>> red beauty (but l like them as well)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: she STUCK AROUND!!!! and met more disney princesses 

Favorite friendship for this character: maybe her and emma??? i could never get into them as a ship either just cause i remember this one fic where she told emma that snowing were gonna make her godmother and i realized how true that probably was but i like them as friends and i wish we got more 

My crossover ship: idkkk uhm (i wish she got to meet elsa and killian tho)  and they could lead emma defence squad but maybe rebbekah from tvd i feel like theyd be bisexual queenns together lol

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

Silver Bells

Summary: Richie is sick and tired of being badgered about relationships at his family Christmas parties. And his idiotic cousin always brags about his girlfriend. So when in need of a fake boyfriend to stop the annoyance, Eddie’s name comes out. 

Words: 9,774 

Ships: Reddie 

Stanley Uris lightly dragged his pencil down the side of the worn out pages of his bird book, passing the bushels of color from the photos. A thin feather-light gray line followed in it’s path alongside the faded dark brown framing of the particular page. He grinned, a kind man’s grin, and hoped to himself that once winter ended he would get to see a lot more birds again. The distant chatter of the dinner customer crowd was just as foggy as his table’s paired window. The snow falling down tapped almost silently against it and left a delicate layer of moisture perfect for finger drawn doodles. Surrounding the view was a strand of tiny bulbs of Christmas lights. It was all very warm and welcoming, enhanced by the smell of home cooking. Stan enjoyed his job there and was glad he got it. Working under Mr. and Mrs. Carson, a lovely old couple, was just his favorite. 

The only thing was the creepy little old timey paintings they had around the dining areas. A part of him loved them and another part hated them. Their eyes followed him everywhere. 

“Stan!” Richie abruptly came from behind the booth and set his cold hands on the very slim opening of Stan’s shirt on to his exposed collarbones with the intent to scare him. But Stan remained still as the dead. It was not in the least bit surprising but it still disappointed Richie to no end. “How did that not get you this time?” 

Stan made a small amused huff as Richie came round to slide into the bench across from him, eyes avoiding the painting behind his head. “Can’t be surprised by what you know is coming, Rich.” Was his simple explanation and it made Richie huff for himself, crossing his arms and leaning back on the cushioned seat. He sat still for as long as he could entertain himself, which wasn’t long at all, before he started to hastily remove his layers of warm clothing. Flakes of snow fell off like tiny beads onto the chair and table. 

“Here, eat your soup. Still warm.” Stan pushed the tiny meal he brought from the kitchen over to his friend who he knew needed it. Richie gladly took it and started to dunk the little bread rolls into it. “I only have like ten minutes for break so, what’s up?” 

Richie slurped his soup from the silver spoon and rolled his lips together in thought. Stan had mastered his mind-blocking of the unfavorable sounds of eating, loud chewing and other classic gross hits. It was a skill that had come with the job and was now just a nice bonus. He smiled to show his friend he was listening. 

“I have a problem.” Richie swallowed his mouthful and sat back again like just the sentence had exhausted him. He reached over to play with the end of the scarf he had carelessly thrown on the table. 

“I think that much is apparent, Rich.” Stan nodded with a playful little grin and Richie rolled his eyes which lead to his thing about following every one of Stan’s movements with his eyes. He did that from time to time & Stan as well. But where they differed was Stan only really ‘people watched’ those he did not know because he had all his friends movements committed to memory. Richie, however, only really did this with his friends. And he’d make key expressions that lead Stan to believe he was happy with himself for predicting these movements. It was like he needed some kind of reassurance that he knew them as well as he suspected. 

Stan partly dabbled in the art of observing and noting his friends habitual patterns. He grinned to himself and shook his head the tiniest bit, his own physical note of happiness. Like Stan noticed, Richie’s nose twitched like he had expected that reaction. 

The nose twitching reminded Stan of that show....Bewitched! He figured if any sort of power that character had existed in the real world that it would most surely not be allowed in a restaurant. Especially if the someone who had it was Richie. He could imagine the havoc he’d cause and it made him giggle. “They’ll kick you out for that, y’know.” He mumbled to himself. Richie’s eyebrow quirked but he just waved his hand to forget it. “Never mind that, tell me what’s wrong.” 

“A lot of my relatives are coming over for Christmas and everyone of them bugs me about school and relationships sooo...” Richie trailed off and scooted up to the edge of the table with a look of amused dread. “I told my parents I had a boyfriend.”

Stan put on a little smirk. “I know where this is going.” 

Richie raised his brow but he continued. 

“I’ll do it but only cause I have a swell outfit I’ve been waiting to wear...” Stan trailed off in his special Stan way and rolled his head back on his shoulders with a tiny smirk. 

“Oh no. I told them Eddie was my boyfriend. I mean, I thought it’d work cause my parents like him and I thought maybe everyone else would too. Then they’d get off my back a little.” Richie explained, waving with his hands like he was telling a great story. Stan began to laugh again which annoyed his friend but he didn’t seem to care. 

“I would have made a great boyfriend, y’know? Better than Eddie.” Stan put on a frown and leaned over to punch his friends arm but Richie remained conflicted. “Truthfully, I don’t know if that was the best idea, Rich.” 

From his more upright position, the eyes of one of the paintings locked on him. Stan would scowl or maybe just move if he was alone.

Richie frowned, looking offended. “Why?” He said with a very snippy tone. Stan gave him that look that he absolutely hated. It was the kind of look only Stan could do. It said all he had to say without a lick of speech. It drove Richie nuts because what it said was ‘I know something’. 

“Well, because you like him.” Stan said casually, picking up the salt & pepper shakers to perfectly center them in front of the menus. 

The only reaction Richie could muster was to scoff a few times and try to stumble his way through a reply. “That is ridiculous. Stan, where did you get that?” He narrowed his eyes because the confusion was loud in the back of his brain. “I don’t like Eddie.” He made sure to put the same tone on the word as his friend. 

“Bev and I talk about it all the time.” Stan said in a joking manner but it still pissed Richie off. 

“Well fucking stop cause I don’t.” Richie reached over and pinched him. Stan made a small ‘ow’ sound and rolled his eyes. 

Stan licked his lips and shrugged, leaning his forearms on the table. “Ok, so I was wrong.” He didn’t seem all that bothered and Richie knew it was because Stan still thought of himself as right. It irked the shit outta him. 

“I don’t, Stan.” 

“I didn’t say anything-” 

“You said it with your eyes.” 

“Ok. I said it with my eyes, sorry.” Stan laughed softly. “Anyway, why didn’t you go talk to Eddie about this situation? Considering he is your ‘boyfriend’." Stan stood from the booth with a kind smile and looked down at him. 

Richie pouted up at him like a child. “Eddie’s gonna be maaaad.” He frowned. “He'd have to come over and meet everybody and-” Richie put his face in his hands and chuckled himself before pulling his palms down so his skin would pull. 

“I think you should give em’ a heads up.” Stan patted his shoulder and laughed. But when Richie made the move to get up from the booth, Stan stopped him with a gentle push as he whipped a towel over his shoulder. “Finish your soup first then go find him. He’s probably at the bike shop with Bill.” 

Richie smiled and went for his food again. Stan went the backwards way back to the kitchen to avoid that particular painting. 

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Bill Denbrough had been many different things in his lifetime so far and a fool was not one of them. Although as he approached the middle of his senior year in high school with his butt planted firmly on a glossy floor and staticky balloons with bright yellow smiling faces as his only company, he realized that everyone was a fool. No exceptions.

He tilted his chin up and felt the thickness of the air from the cloud of dust forming around him. The sneeze he held back gave him the closest thing to a high that he’d had in months. It was kinda nice. The smiley balloons leered above him with a much more mocking energy than he had planned for. Had this been just a couple years ago, he would’ve sworn they were swarming around him. It was deeply upsetting when paired with the cheery winter tunes on the radio. ‘They're really rockin’ around the Christmas tree, huh?’ Bill smiled a cheesy grin back at one because he was alone and did not give a shit. The kind of smile that gave a soft click from the shift of spit and showed off his great teeth. One of the damn smiley things popped. He sneezed.

“Mmmm I didn’t like that.” Bill whispered to himself with a slight grin as he steadied his hand once more on the cherry red bike he was working on. “Not one bit.” He went on meekly but with a spark of amusement. He had to be amused because if he wasn’t he’d be really annoyed.

Bill had worked at Sherwin’s Bike shop for roughly a year working under Mr. Sherwin, a small and outgoing old man. Bill had painted big bubble letters on the windows and wrote fun little sayings on the signs like ‘Sherwin’s Schwinns are sure to win’ for a while. But when the kind old man went and died on him a month ago, he left the store all to some new guy that Bill didn’t very much like. Which was why he was stuck with an early shift that started with being the only one in the store. 

But now, he sat cross-legged on the bicycle shop floor some time later with his huge ‘Women want me, fish fear me’ shirt pooling into the lap of his jeans while he got stalked by smiling kids balloons. “All that worrying for nothing, huh? Turned out great, didn’t it?” Bill pursed his lips as he spoke to himself with such a heavy dose of sarcasm it would have annoyed anyone over thirty. And because he was becoming prematurely bitter, it sure did grind his gears too.

Grind his gears. That was a classic Mr. Sherwin expression. Bill hoped to God he wasn’t just going to straight up turn into the old man when he grew up, though he had loved him dearly. But his wardrobe spoke volumes on that idea. ‘Wearing a dead man’s shirt was like bad luck, wasn’t it?’ Bill paused from his work on the bike to think to himself. He sure hoped it wasn’t because he’d had enough of that in his life already.

It was the only damn piece of clothing in the store which made sense considering he had not thought to be prepared for spilling his coffee all over himself like an idiot at work. There had not been any time to go home for a change before he had to open but luckily, his favorite little old timer left this gem behind....’Almost as if he knew Bill would be an idiot.’ He was always one to tease him. The traces of his less prominent stutter that stayed with him was a popular subject to Mr. Sherwin’s comedy line-up. Bill missed him a lot but that did very little for him. People died on him, that was just the way it went.

One of his tools fell from the perch of his toolbox and shocked him enough to choke on his own spit. “F-f-fuck.” He cursed once he got most of his air back and stood, bringing the bike to full stance and laying it on it’s kickstand. And thus began the orchestra of disaster...

Once Bill had a small glass of water, he set it down to go back to his work but had misjudged his placement and it came to a crashing halt on the floor. The bike toppled over just a few feet away onto the tools which created harsh bangs of metal. Bill smacked himself on the forehead and bent to pick up the glass and cut his fingers. Blood trickled down his cupped hand as he rushed to get a towel that wasn’t covered in garbage.

“This is fine. Wonderful even.” Bill spoke in a voice so sickened with sarcasm and wrapped his hand slowly. He took a few moments to breathe in and out. It wasn’t as if he’d be alone much longer. His co-workers would be starting their shifts soon. That took a little weight off his shoulders and allowed him to relax.

Another balloon popped. 

And the glass doors abruptly opened. Bill almost jumped into the air but he was soothed as Richie came bopping in with a carefree smile. “Hey Bill have you seen-? Christ! What happened!?” 

Richie darted over and Bill was momentarily confused before remembering his cut-up hand. “Oh that...accident.” He tried to wave his hand to dismiss it but ended up flicking blood onto the counter. Richie rolled his eyes and tried to remember some of the medical shit Eddie had told him over the course of their friendship. 

Richie attempted to wrap Bill’s hand properly while the other man shifted around the counter looking tired.

“Hey, at least the good stuff in life only requires one hand, huh?” Richie made an obscene gesture and Bill only rolled his eyes with a look of distaste. He awkwardly chuckled and went back to his job. One of the floating yellow bastards began to deflate slowly and descended a ways towards the floor. Bill felt a flare of silly anger from his gut as he followed it with his eyes. The tension was so thick that Richie briefly looked up & over his glasses to check it out, turning to see what was so infuriating to his friend.  

“You do know that’s just a balloon, right?” Richie chuckled and Bill let out a small grin. 

“Damn t-t-things are annoying the crap outta me.” Bill shook his head and Richie pushed his glasses up. 

“Was Eddie around earlier? Kinda have to talk to him.” 

“No one comes just to visit me anymore.” Bill mock pouted and took his injured hand back from his friend. “Yeah, E-E-Eddie came in looking for you actually. He meant to catch you before he started work but said he was outta time now. So I’d go looking for him at the theater.” Bill said with a grin. Richie rolled his eyes because, of course. 

“I’ll come visit you later, Big Bill. Take care of your hand.” Richie snapped his fingers and made to exit.  

“Oh! Before I forget!” Richie piped back up, sliding closer to Bill again. “Where can a guy like me get one of those ‘Women want me, fish fear me’ shirts? Asking for a friend.” He waggled his eyebrows and made a mockingly curious face all his own.

Bill rolled his eyes but had to laugh at the way Richie spoke and moved. ‘That was his real kicker, he thought. Richie just fuckin’ moved and acted so ridiculous that it was truly his powerhouse. Especially considering it came off so natural.’ Bill shook his head a few times and moved to shrug and shove his hands into his pockets.

“S’not funny Bill. My friend really wants to know, ok?” Richie slapped Bill’s arm and broke himself. ‘His true weakness however was laughing before he could fully commit to a joke. Which could sometimes be even fucking funnier....so maybe it wasn’t a weakness’, Bill thought.  

They laughed endlessly for what seemed like hours. Every-time they thought the bug was gone, they’d just share a look and succumb to weird versions of their usual laughs. One’s that were more like hissing from being a victim of such restrain or their bodies would just rock in silence because nothing could even come out anymore.

“What’s the matter with you, that wasn’t even funny.” Richie spoke through restrained giggles. Bill shrugged and cradled his hand. 

“I dunno. I’ll s-s-see you later, man.” Bill patted him with his good hand and walked with him to the door as he spotted his co-workers beginning to walk in. 

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richie bopped inside the theater with hesitance. Eddie was a pistol and he was not too excited to hear the whole spiel he would surely have prepared in seconds flat for Richie name dropping him as his ‘boyfriend’. 

Upon entry he could easily spot his tiny friend working as the ticket boy though since it was a slow day, Eddie was texting hurriedly under the tiny little booth. He grinned. Eds was not a champion at being subtle. It was by some miracle that he’d yet to be noticed. Just as Richie was starting to walk over, his own phone buzzed. 

Eddie: Work is dead. Bring me a Redbull. 

Richie held in his giggle and happily skipped on over. “Hey! You shouldn't be texting on the job!” The deep and loud yell was contrary to his bouncy demeanor and wide grin. However, Eddie jumped about a foot in the air and by the look of it, had a mini heart attack. 

“Oh fuck you. I thought you were Robert.” Eddie rolled his eyes and smacked Richie hard in the arm. Robert was Eddie’s manager, a nice little old man, who Richie knew well enough just by visiting Eds all the time. That and he personally rejected Richie’s application on three different occasions. 

“That was the point.” Richie gave some passers-by the side-eye as they looked up to stare at them. The theater was pretty dead so this was the most excitement they probably had all day. “I’m really good at impressions, huh?” He playfully tapped him. 

“It isn’t hard to mock Robert, Rich. Where’s my Redbull?” 

Richie rolled his eyes and leaned on the little booth. “I got here ten seconds before you texted me. I’m not a psychic nor The Flash, y’know?” 

Eddie frowned but shrugged before they fell into an easy small-talk. “So why did you come visit then?” 

Richie grinned again though this time it was a little nervous. “Can’t I just come say hi?” He chuckled and Eddie smirked. 

“You come say hi like every time I’m on the clock. But I can always tell when you want something.” Eddie playfully narrowed his eyes and Richie felt his stomach drop a little. He glanced away and let his eyes drag over the red and gold decor of the theater. He felt the familiar bitterness for not being hired himself, he loved this place. 

“So here’s the thing-” 

“I knew it.” Eddie shook his head with a smile but quickly quieted to let his friend speak. He rolled his lips together, sniffled and rubbed his finger under his nose. 

“You know how my family bugs me about how I never date anyone?” Richie asked and Eddie nodded. “Well, everyone’s coming over for this Christmas party in a few days and it’s a whole thing... dinner, activities, and all that jazz.” Richie made jazz hands with a flat expression and Eddie fought back a tiny giggle. “So in order to dodge all those annoying questions...I told my parents that I have a boyfriend.” 

“You came out to your parents? That’s great! How did they take it?” 

“Great but that’s not the point-” Richie had never doubted his parents would be ok with it. He had a gut feeling that they already knew, probably even before Richie himself did. “I told them I had a boyfriend.” 

“But you don’t have a boyfriend.” 

“Thank you, captain obvious.” Richie rolled his eyes. “That’s the um...-Well I told them that you were my boyfriend..” 

Eddie’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth but Richie was already set on a long tangent. 

“I only said it because they like you so much, Eds. And I just don’t wanna hear that whole spiel again about relationships and I figured I could get them off my backs by being in one. Plus my mom already had suspicions about me being in a relationship. And when I said your name, she seemed pretty psyched....so yeah.” Richie grinned like a child after they’d done something wrong and rubbed behind his ear. 

He recalled the moment he’d told his mother. 

                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had been mindlessly bickering about the yearly Tozier Christmas party while she cleaned the kitchen. The oven cleaner had gone right to his head and made him slightly more irritated than normal. The idea of this tradition was more so a burden to him now than it ever was. Being that once he turned around fifteen, all the questions were about dating and school. And his idiotic cousin who already had a girlfriend. 

“Mom?.....Mom?....Mom!?” Richie whined like a child as Maggie Tozier pulled her head out of the oven with a comical grin that looked eerily familiar, Richie dropped his own grin. “Is everyone coming?” 

“Yes, Richie. Everyone but your cousin. He’s got plans with his girlfriend, y’know.” She poked his shoulder in a very ‘mom’ like way. 

“Oh that’s bull.”

“Richie!” She smacked the back of his head lightly. “Wouldn’t hurt you to just tell me you're dating someone.” She pursed her lips in the same way Stanley Uris did when he ‘knew’ something. He sat up straight with curiosity. 

“What do you mean?” 

“C’mon, I know you do. You go out all the time with the same excuse. ‘Going to hang-out with Eddie.’ or ‘Gonna go visit Eddie at work’. How many times can you be bothering that boy, realistically? I know that’s a cover-up son. I’m hip with the lingo.” Maggie circle her face with an extended finger and Richie held back a burst of laughter. 

Though that had been quite amusing, Richie was momentarily thrown that she’d noticed how much he, quote unquote, bothered Eddie. It wasn’t that much. Of course not. 

“You know your aunts and everyone wouldn’t bother you so much if you just admitted to it and brought her over.” She threw her dish towel over her shoulder, neglecting to remember it was covered in the oven cleaner that made Richie lightheaded and irritable. 

The more Richie thought about it, his mother was on to something. No more long awkward conversations about setting him up with the local teenagers they knew. He gritted his teeth just thinking about it. He held up his hands in mock surrender and spoke without thinking, which he did a lot. 

“You caught me, ma. You’re one...ugh...smart cookie, huh?” He put on some on some old timey voice and bumped her on the arm. She rolled her eyes but actually looked pretty pleased.  “I have a boyfriend.” 

Richie had spoke before he realized he’d basically just accidentally came out of the closet. He wasn’t too concerned but still....

Maggie just lit up though, her smile was wide and loving. “His name....?” 

Richie panicked. “It actually is Eddie! That’s why I hang out with him all the time!” He gestured, very happy with himself. 

‘That was smart, good job.’ He patted himself on the back. 

That is until he realized the consequences of his words. 

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why don’t you umm...think about it?” Richie suggested, fearing a long rant from the boy. “Keep in mind, it’d sure help me a lot.” He grinned and Eddie chuckled, he felt better. “I’ll come back in like ten minutes.” 

Eddie smiled like he was more so amused at the other boy than pleased, at least that’s what Richie thought. He gently patted Eddie’s arm and began to exit just as he saw Robert make his way over. 

As he headed to the door, he caught the beginning to their conversation. 

“You’ve got some weird friends, Eddie...” 

“Do I now?” Eddie’s voice suggested amusement. 

“Yeah. I don’t like that Richie kid, but you know that. You should hang more with that um....Bill kid or the Mike one. They’re nice respectable boys.” 

“Alright boss.” Eddie laughed. 

Richie couldn’t help but laugh. Though that old man didn’t like him and rejected his applications, Richie fuckin’ loved Robert. 

                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Richie buzzed off for a while, Eddie moved on to cleaning the popcorn machine. His least favorite thing to do in the whole entire world. His thoughts easily drifted to the proposition Richie had given him. And as he cleaned the slimy grease off the counters nearby, he felt his stomach flutter. 

He liked Richie. Liked him. He so badly wanted to take this chance while he could because heaven knows he’d never actually say a thing to Richie about his feelings. He’d sooner die. 

He had mentioned it to Bill however, ‘well more like Bill found out all on his own because he knows me too well & I’m way to transparent but I digress.’ Eddie frowned deeply. Bill would be pissed if he found out Eddie had agreed to a plan like this. He could hear the whole speech about how this would only hurt his feelings in the long run now. But Eddie was thinking about saying yes. Really how bad could the harm be? Yeah he’d get his feelings hurt but he’d get to spend the day as Richie’s ‘boyfriend’...

Screw Bill. He was going to say yes. 

Ten minutes went by astoundingly quick and Richie was easily spotted in the corner of Eddie’s vision just as soon as he started to wipe down the concessions counter. He turned, mouth open to speak but Richie interrupted by sliding a can of Redbull to him. He grinned widely. 

“Oh you spoil me, Richie Tozier.” His voice was light and soft and he could almost feel a blush beginning to bloom on his cheeks. 

Richie happily leaned over the counter to pinch his cheek. “Anything for my Eddie Spaghetti.” 

Eddie swatted his hand away but missed it just as soon as it was gone. For a few comfortable minutes they were silent and smiley.  

Eddie coughed and looked down towards the candy case as if examining the order. “So I’ve thought about it.” 

Richie tried not to get his hopes up. 

“I’ll do it.” Eddie looked up again, once more wiping his finger nervously under his nose. Richie followed the movement with his eyes and looked as if he knew he Eddie was going to do it. He then lit up with a wide smile, so wide in fact that his cheeks pushed his glasses up. 

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“And you said what!?” Bill narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms with all the grace of a middle-aged dad. Eddie gritted his teeth slightly as he responded with a ‘grin’ and twiddled his thumbs. 

“I said yes and it’s too late to change it.” He shrugged with a purse of his lips, looking rather smug. 

“No it’s not! Tell him I s-s-said no!” Bill spoke in all seriousness even though Eddie giggled like a child at that. “Be serious Eddie. This is only going to hurt you in the long run.” 

Eddie pondered that statement for a few seconds and pushed himself off the wall of the bike store. “One day being Richie’s boyfriend is better then nothing, Bill.” 

Bill rolled his eyes and tapped lightly at a bike handle. “I can’t believe you agreed to such a d-d-dumb idea.” He spoke as if he was wise beyond his years. Eddie loved and hated that trait, right now he mostly hated it. 

“Look. I’m not trying to be the bad guy, Eddie. But once the day is done, you and Richie will be too. W-Where will that leave you? S-s-sad and regretful.” Bill rolled his lips together and felt a pinch in his gut. Eddie’s eyes glazed over with thought again and he could tell he was biting his cheek. 

“I’ll be fine and I invite you to call my bluff afterwards if I’m wrong.” Eddie nodded. 

Bill sighed, momentarily giving up the subject in fear of causing too much strain. The two of them ended up watching one of those stupid and unsettling yellow balloons slowly deflate to the ground for twenty minutes. 

                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The day of the Tozier Christmas Party, Richie woke up supremely early to help his mother around the home. The cleaning, the tidying, the whole ordeal. His father sat at the kitchen counter reading the paper without a care in the world while his lovely & helpful son cleaned under the table. 

‘Under the God damn thing. Like seriously? Who was gonna see under the thing? Beside’s maybe Grandma Ruth’s frickin’ dog.’ Richie pouted to himself as he laid under the thing and heard Wentworth Tozier’s soft laughter. Richie decided to give him a little show. 

He moved to crawl under but purposefully misjudged his distance and smacked his head against the table. Wentworth burst into laughter, the kind Richie basked in with pride. Playing stupid wasn’t his preferred method to get laughter but it sure was effective in small doses. 

“Oh Richie....” His mother’s voice cooed from the other room as if she just knew what happened from the ‘thump’ sound.

“I’m ok, ma. Tip top shape even.” Richie stood up as he called out loudly to his mother, rag hanging out of his pocket as he moved to sit next to his father, still chuckling. “So’s the table. Am I done for the day now?” 

Wentworth ruffled his son’s hair. “Sure, sure. But before you go goof off somewhere, is my oh so wonderful son bringing someone to our little party this year?” 

Richie slouched and shrugged him off with a playful frown. “Just Eddie, you’ve met him.” He assumed his father did not no of the details yet. Maggie Tozier might be a gossip but right now she was a little preoccupied, he heard her opening and closing drawers to reorganize them now. Plus, she most likely would want Richie to explain it when he was ready. 

“Ahh Eddie, yes.” He nodded, not seeing anything weird in that idea. Richie pursed his lips. 

“I just wanted to um....” Richie stumbled a little, not quite expecting his nerves to rise as they were. It was a little shocking. He knew 100% that his father wouldn’t care about the gay thing and would love him either way. So was it the Eddie thing he was nervous about? He shouldn’t even care about that cause it wasn’t even a real thing. “Bring someone special, you know?” 

“He’s one of your childhood pals, Rich. Sure he’s special.” Wentworth casually spoke as he filled in another word in his crossword puzzle. “That’s why we invite your ‘Uncle’ Dan. He’s been my buddy since I was ten. Did I ever tell you how I met him-?”

“Yeah Dad. Just a little over two hundred times.” Richie wondered if all father’s had trouble recalling what boring stories they’d told at nausea. 

“Anyway” Richie paused to think. He really had to sell this to get him to believe Eddie was his boyfriend. 

So he took advantage of his nerves to give the best acting performance of his life...’and it wasn’t even that hard!’ His father turned to him, oblivious as ever. “Never-mind it’s stupid.” 

Wentworth smiled up at his child and chuckled, swallowing his first tedious sip of the coffee he’d been nursing. "I say a lot of stupid things, I won't mind."

Richie gave him a look a lot of children give their parents. One of begrudging amusement and familiarity. “Well, Eddie and I are dating, dad.” Richie blurted and bit his lip afterward, wondering if that had been too strong. 

“You don’t have to tell me that.” He rolled his eyes. “All kids your age are dating, son.” He shrugged and Richie blinked. How had he completely missed the point? 

“Each other, dad. We’re dating each other” Richie rolled his eyes. Wentworth grinned. 

“Oh. Alrighty then. Better warn him about your aunts, my boy. They’ll be swarming him with questions.” He stood, the chair squeaking, and patted Richie’s back softly. 

Richie smiled, no teeth, just a casual joyful grin. “Better warn him about you too, dad. You and mom can be quite the handful, I tell ya.” He laughed and felt instant warmth and relief as he leaned back and his father wrapped his arms around him briefly. “Thanks.” He mumbled into his arm. 

His father said nothing else. Just shook his son lightly and kissed the top of his head, a gesture Richie usually hated. 

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything had worked out perfectly. Eddie’s mother was going to be out for the day with a friend but not before she helped him bake some peppermint brownies. To avoid suspicion, Eddie insisted they were for his track team because they were meeting for practice today. She was none the wiser to the fact that Track was not even in season right now. 

To sell the point even further, Ben came over early in the morning to help them and to vouch for Eddie’s track story. 

“Eddie. You could have said cross country, at least that’s currently in season.” Ben rolled his eyes with a small laugh. Eddie bumped his elbow and shrugged. 

“Well, track’s what came out of my mouth so we’re going with it.” He sprinkled some peppermint dust on the brownies. Sonia Kaspbrak was getting her things together before she had to leave. “Besides, I’m not doing cross country again. Just track for me.” 

Ben recalled the one year Eddie had done both and all the times he’d complained about running through the ‘fucking disgusting woods, Ben.’ He laughed. “I could guess that.” 

“So what exactly am I helping you with now?” Ben asked, playing connect the dots with the candy cane pieces in his mind. 

“...The brownies.” Eddie said dumbly, arm hovering over the pan of food. Ben laughed again. 

“Yeah, no. I got that dummy. I met what am I helping you cover for?” Ben smacked his arm lightly as Eddie mumbled a small ‘oh’.

“Richie needed a fake boyfriend for a Christmas party to you know, get his family off his back.” Eddie shrugged, casually. 

Ben chuckled again. “Sounds like a nightmare.” He joked. Eddie laughed too after what he thought was a pause. 

“It’s a way to spend an afternoon alright. At least I’ll get some food and shit.” Eddie dusted his hands of crumbled candy and wiped them down his pant legs. “He’s coming over early, just as soon as my mom leaves to....”  He stopped moving his hands to think it over. “actually I don’t know.” 

Ben raised his eyebrows with amusement. 

The two of them finished up the dessert treat and once Sonia had left, with a bit of a struggle, Ben made his exit too. 

Eddie wrapped some tin foil over the pan and placed it on his counter just as a knock came at the door. Just as he swung the door open, a hug black garbage bag thrust into his arms. 

“Is your mom here?” Came Richie’s voice, slightly muffled as Eddie’s face was shoved into the bag. He threw the thing onto his carpet and rolled his eyes. Richie stood in his doorway with a wide mischievous smile and a Christmas sweater that was practically glowing from the twinkle. 

“No but if she was, your ass would be thrown out on the sidewalk by now. Do you have to make such a scene when you enter a room?” Eddie playfully smacked his cheek and Richie shoved him off, moving towards his bag of treasures. 

“The answer is yes, Eddie my boy.” Richie sat on the ground and started to untie his bag. “And look what I have brought for you, my dear boyfriend.” Richie chuckled and Eddie swallowed thickly. 

For a panicked moment, Eddie fully agreed with Bill. Just from the use of that word. It hit him in the gut and took with it his breath, he almost reached for his inhaler. However Richie did not miss a beat and was already pulling crap out of the bag to show him. 

“You gotta pick one so you can blend in with the Toziers, who dress soooooo very cool.” 

The garbage bag was full of Christmas sweaters, each one uglier than the next. Eddie let himself laugh again and took a seat on the carpet with his friend to dig through the pile of mess. 

And for a solid twenty minutes, Eddie didn’t have a care in the world. As long as Richie was making him laugh and displaying his lovely sweater collection, he was happy and carefree. 

After some fun, Richie and Eddie headed on their way together. The drive was surprisingly quiet, each boy inside their own head. Richie admired the falling snow and hoped that it would stick around to last through Christmas day. 

Eddie’s mind was happily pushing out the risks about the day and feeling the slight itch from his borrowed sweater. He was elated from the knowledge that under Richie’s own thin coat, his sweater matched with his. He grinned and twitched his nose. He was pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t feeling that nervous anymore....in fact the only bothersome feeling he was having was that kind of absent feeling? He shook his hands which somehow felt empty as if he forgot something....

“Shit! Oh my god, you’re so stupid.” Eddie smacked his forehead and yelled at himself. Richie just about jumped six feet in the air from the abrupt surprise. 

“Hey! What’d I do???” Richie blinked and Eddie turned to him with a look of amusement and annoyance, he gave that look to Richie a lot. 

“No, I was talking to myself....I made brownies for your family but I doubt they’ll enjoy them much if they’re still in my kitchen.” 

Richie chuckled for a few seconds before realizing they’d have to drive all the way back to Eddie’s house. “Oh crap.” He muttered, fidgeting in the drivers seat like he was going to turn. 

Brenda Lee was singing with a voice of jolly as Richie pulled into a gas station to turn them around. “Should actually get some gas here, Rich. You’re gas light’s gonna be on in like two minutes I bet.” Eddie laughed. 

Richie frowned. He was a really good driver but if he had one problem, it was forgetting to get gas or just pretending he didn’t need to do it. He did not like having to stop because it was an ‘inconvenience’. It made Eddie laugh because what an actual inconvenience it’d be if the guy ran out of gas in the middle of driving. 

As the boy got out of the car, Eddie turned up the radio and felt the vibration of Richie sticking the gas pump in. The radio started out in soft whispers and grew louder in a familiar nostalgic way. Eddie knew just what it was so he lowered his window for his companion. “Listen to what you’re missing, Rich!!” 

“...Another year over. And a new one just begun. And so this is Christmas...”

Richie instantly shouted out a loud cry of enjoyment. He finished filling the car up and hurried over to the window with the brightest grin Eddie had ever seen, he scooted back on his seat as if afraid of the sudden closeness. “This is why I hate getting gas. I miss everything good.” He leaned further into the car. 

“Then get in and lets’ go.” Eddie said, almost begging him to back up and stop leaning over him. 

                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Richie and Eddie made it back to his house and collected the brownies which were just too enticing for Richie not to try on the way back to his house. He ate three out of the huge pan full. Eddie smacked his hand the fourth time he tried to reach for one. 

Richie did a great rendition of Elton John’s ‘Step Into Christmas’ where he got louder and louder every line which ended just in time for him to pull into his icy driveway. He turned the car off and made no immediate move to get out, just leaned back and sighed. “We’re still really early so it’s still probably just my parents.” 

Eddie nodded. 

“You ready for the greatest time of your life, dear?” Richie asked a sweet voice and made Eddie grin and laugh. Richie took that as yes and hopped out of the car in a flash and before Eddie could even think to open his door, Richie opened it for him. 

Eddie whistled as he hopped out, careful not to slip though Richie looked ready to help if needed. “Oh how I love when you’re a gentleman.” He batted his eyes in some impression of a love-struck teen. He didn’t really know for sure what he was going for, after all Richie was the impressionist. 

Richie almost looked flattered for a second, blinking with a shy grin. But almost instantly after, he rushed to the door while Eddie followed after. 

Richie started speaking almost before he even opened the door,  “ 'Zat You, Santa Claus?” He questioned sarcastically as he slid inside with a smirk. “Oh no, just your loving son.” He smiled and then gestured for Eddie to follow him. 

“Dusting off the ol’ Louis Armstrong impression for the holidays, huh?” Wentworth spoke up from the kitchen counter. His newspaper spilled from his hands and spread over the table. His eyes still glanced over to read a few lines as his mother used the sports section as a placemat for cutting up ribbon. She glanced up and the look on her face was way more excited than Richie had expected and suddenly he was nervous again. 

The home was in the process of being decorated, evergreen garland wrapped their banister and bundles of lights nested deeply in the spaces between green and pine cone. Richie was willing to bit his mother had forgot about the annual Christmas sprucing again and borrowed some extra lights from their neighbors. The ol’ time-y 50′s radio that Richie had found at a garage sale was pulled from his room and sat neatly a-top their crappy fireplace. James Taylor was currently wishing them all a merry little Christmas. He smiled. 

“Eddie!” Maggie happily strolled over and stood before them.

“I’m here too mom.” Richie said sarcastically and she waved her hand with a matching smirk. 

“Hi, Mrs. Tozier, Mr. Tozier.” 

Richie could tell Eddie was a little nervous but who wouldn’t be if you had to pretend to be dating someone in front of their parents? 

“I made everyone some brownies...there’d be more if your son didn’t eat three on the way over here.” Eddie playfully smacked Richie’s arm and handed over the pan to Maggie, who looked grateful. 

“He is his fathers boy.” Maggie threw a look to her husband as she slid the treats carefully before him. He was not really paying attention to her and habitually reached out for a sweet brownie. Maggie slapped his hand and gave Eddie a look that said ‘See!’ and they shared a laugh. 

“Hey! What’d I do?” Wentworth questioned, darting his eyes between them.��

Richie felt a little odd at the moment. It was a new level of bonding that just occurred between his mother and Eddie. A simple shared joke about the Tozier boys...’Their Tozier boys’....it made his face burn a holly colored red that luckily no one saw. 

“I thought you kids might wanna decorate the tree before the family shows up.” Wentworth scooted out of his seat and followed them into the living room area, picking up a smaller ornament box while Richie took a larger to set on the couch. 

This was Richie’s favorite activity. God, he loved this time of the year. He started to carefully dig through the boxes for the best ones while Eddie sat down on the couch. “You gonna help me or what, Eddie dear?” 

Eddie scoffed, leaning his body over the box. “I dunno....you probably ate enough sugar to do it all yourself in thirty seconds, Rich.” He spoke softly but with his favorite tone...teasing. 

Richie rolled his eyes and leaned over the box as well, slightly taller so Eddie tilted his chin up. “You’re such a Grinch these days...” He sighed and lifted a clearly handmade ornament, admiring it in his hand. “I miss the boy in this ornament...he was much more fun back then.”

Eddie furrowed his brows and sat on his knees to get a peek of the ornament however Richie moved it from just under his nose. “Oh come on, what is that?” He scurried off the couch and fought him for it. 

Neither boy cared to notice Richie’s parents who were so obviously enjoying the show. Maggie smacked Wentworth’s arm to get him to look and when he did, he held back laughter. “These kids...” She rolled her eyes but let her hand rest over her heart. 

“Aha!” Eddie ripped the thing from his friend and got the look he wanted so badly. It was a handmade clay red and green frame with a photo of the two of them when they were no more than eight. Richie wanted to see the look on Eddie’s face so he instinctively rested his chin on Eddie’s shoulder. He’d been doing that lately a lot since Eddie was much shorter than him. “Awwww...” Eddie couldn’t help but smile. “We look so stupid.” He burst into laughter and thrusted the ornament back to his ‘boyfriend.’ 

“I gotta see this.” Wentworth jumped up and went over to them, Richie gladly handed it over. His dad smiled and shook his head and soon Maggie was over there just the same. 

“And who would’ve known those two idiots would grow up to be two idiots in love.” Richie mocked, hand on his chest before looking at Eddie. That’s when he realized the heaviness of his words. Eddie’s eyes were wide and for a half second, panicked. No one in the room seemed to know what to do but for different reasons. Richie allowed his parents to believe the air was tense because they’d simply not said the ‘L’ word just yet while he and Eddie didn’t make eye contact. 

“Ummm, ok. Who wants to hang the elf with one arm?” Richie held up the broken ornament with an awkward smile. Eddie chuckled, taking it from him, so everyone knew it was ok again. 

They spent twenty minutes hanging shit. There were tons of ornaments Richie didn’t even remember like a vintage looking yellow balloon with a black smiley face. He figured it was one of his dads, he was weird. 

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had only took two or three guests arriving for Richie and Eddie to fall into a comfortable routine. Mostly because nothing had really changed. Richie always put his arm around Eddie, Eddie always begged Richie for bites of his food when he was perfectly capable of getting his own, and Richie always played with the end of Eddie’s sleeves. 

By the time everyone was all counted for, Richie and Eddie were making their rounds with no problem. Richie could not believe how easy it was. They got told they were the cutest little couple like ten different times. ‘That was strange, huh? Nah, I’m a great actor so...’ Richie got distracted by Eddie looping their arms together. 

Eddie was in shock that he played the part so well. Even family members he’d met before found it completely normal for the two of them to be ‘dating now’. It pained him a lot. Even more than he suspected. 

The two of them and found a moment to themselves in the corner of the room on an old chair. Richie cradled a Pine candle that he raised to his nose every thirty seconds or so. “So, how weird is it for you?” Richie asked, head tilting to the side. 

Eddie frowned. “Very.” ‘painful’. He took the candle to smell it for himself. 

Richie deflated at that answer and he wasn’t quite sure why. That had been what he’d expected. He looked up to where his mother was showing everyone some childhood scrapbook and caught a comment. 

“I knew it. Mary, I’ll tell you that much. I knew those two were a couple.” 

Wentworth rolled his eyes, sipping the most classic dad drink he ever could, eggnog. “No you did not.” 

His mother turned with her lips pursed to start bickering about it and Richie did not want to hear anymore. “What about you, Rich?” Eddie handed the candle back over. 

Richie took in a nice long breath of it and rolled his lips together. “I mean yeah, but when everyone was trying to get us under the mistletoe I was excited. I’ve just been dying to kiss ya, Eds my love.” He grinned and leaned over to pinch his cheeks and Eddie rolled his eyes, slapping his arm to initiate a play fight. 

“Awww look how cute.”

Both boys stopped suddenly as Richie’s aunt Mary stopped in front of them. Their cheeks turned rosy shades of pink. 

“Hey Aunt Mary....” They both smiled awkwardly, dropping their hands into their own laps. 

“Now. I’ve heard from just about everyone on how cute you two are.” She put her hands on her hips and they nodded out of politeness. “But I would like to know how it started. I mean I’ve known you Eddie since you were about...yay big.” She paused to make sure her measurement was right, her hand hovered low to the ground. “So it must be a cute story. You guys were adorable then too.” She laughed. 

‘Crap.’ Of all their preparing, they lacked an actual answer for that. They never did come up with a full story. Richie turned to his friend, who looked equally lost and figured he should take the handle on this since it was all his idea. 

“Well, I think I always just knew, you know?” Richie started, hoping he could pull it off. So he tried to remember why everyone truly believed them. “But I’m pretty shit at being serious about things like that so I always just joked with Eddie about it, I’m sure you remember hearing some of that?” He asked her and she nodded, not even caring that he swore just then. 

“Anyway, I um....” He scratched behind his ear before awkwardly sliding it over to clasp Eddies for a more convincing look. Eddie didn’t even flinch, in fact, he looked rather interested himself. “It was after this really awesome day we had this past summer. We’d all hung out all day and at some point we were the only two left so I asked Eddie if he wanted to get ice cream. And what was it that we got...?” Richie laughed and looked to Eddie. This was such an unnecessary detail but he was basing this on an actual day they had and for the life of him, he could not remember their order from that day. 

“Rocket pops.” Eddie supplied him with what he remembered and shook their hands, for a few seconds they just looked at each other. 

“Oh yeah, Rocket pops. So I being an idiot, thought it’d be funny to scare Eddie on my way back from getting mine and so I did and you should’ve seen him.” He started to laugh. “He must’ve been going for a record jump. Eds Kaspbrak gets twenty feet off ground....” He laughed some more before gathering himself for his aunt’s sake. 

“And he drops his right? We didn’t have anymore money left either so I felt like the scum of the earth.” He pats their clasped hands with his free one. “So I gave him mine. He didn’t even care about my germs. And I dunno...something about that moment was too perfect. I was still out of breath from the greatest day ever, I think Bruce Springsteen was playing on the loud speaker at the ice cream place and he makes me overly confident like nothing else-” He laughed again “And it was so God damn sunny out....so like the perfect day, right?” He was going on one of his tangents. 

Eddie’s hand tightened it’s grip and Richie felt less nervous. “So I just kinda actually realized it for the first time and I knew that I had to say something right then and there or I’d regret it.” He waved his hand and when everyone was still looking, he let it fall. His chest tightened with embarrassment. 

“Awwww, you two are the cutest kids.” Aunt Mary said in that adult tone of voice that read like she didn’t believe they’d last very long and she walked away. However, Eddie smacked his arm hard enough to leave a hand-print. 

“Ow! What’d I do?” Richie rubbed at it and whined. Eddie shook his head and smiled. 

“How did you come up with that?” 

Richie felt himself grow even more embarrassed. “Oh well, you know-” 

“Richie! come here for a minute!” He heard his mother call and was instantly relieved to escape the moment. He gave Eddie a small smile and squeezed his shoulder in habit as he left the room. 

About five minutes later Eddie got bored and walked into the kitchen. He made a terrible mistake when he stopped at the door frame next to Richie where they were now...both under the mistletoe. ‘Crap’ 

This time, they’d done it themselves but no one seemed to notice a part from them. Richie looked up and back at Eddie, then Eddie did the same. 

Both boys remained still and focused on the other. There was something between them in this moment, Eddie was sure. And God he really hoped so. Richie had to be thinking the same thing. Who could say a story like that and not mean it?

Richie twiddled his thumbs as he looked at the smaller boy. That story had just come out of him really. But when he was saying it....boy he really wished that had been what happened. Looking at Eddie right now, he was oh so sure he felt the same way. 

‘This is it. He’s gonna say something’ Richie thought.  

‘This is it. He’s gonna say something’ Eddie thought.  

“Kids come here for a second!” 

They both jumped, maybe breaking Eddie’s record from the ice cream shop and felt their chances were blown. Even worse, both felt that maybe they were reading too much into it. 

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He's got to wear his goggles 'cause the snow really bites And he's cruisin' every path with a little surprise-” 

“Dad? Did you just say ‘the snow really bites?’ ” Richie asked his father with a laugh. Wentworth nodded. “That’s not right. It’s ‘the snow really flies’, dad.” 

Eddie chuckled as he plopped into the seat next to Richie. Richie’s dad pulled back with a shocked expression. 

“You’re kidding?” 

“No dad. I know that song in and out. No one knows the Beach Boys better than your awesome son.” Richie stuck his thumb to his chest and Wentworth scoffed, getting up and ruffling his sons hair. Richie watched him go and turned to his small friend. “How goes it, my love?” He pinched his arm. Eddie smacked his hand away. 

“Don’t do that, asshole.” He reached over and pinched him back. Eddie wanted so badly to start actually talking about how he was feeling like a normal person. But he really couldn’t get it out. Bill was right. This was a bad idea and any pain he was feeling was his own damn fault.

‘Little Saint Nick’ faded into ‘Silver Bells’ and Richie lit up like a Christmas tree. “Come on Eds, my dear. We should probably dance, you know?” He held out his hand and Eddie hesitated before allowing it. 

Teasing ‘whoops’ and whistles came from his family members and Eddie hoped he wasn’t blushing. Richie just played along, rolling his eyes and waving his hands at them. 

“-Children laughing people passing meeting smile after smile And on every street corner you hear

Silver bells (silver bells) Silver bells (silver bells)” 

Richie pulled Eddie closer. 

Eddie almost pinched himself. 

Both boys took to the dance as any boyfriends would. Laughing, spinning each other and pulling the other close. Eddie was in heaven. 

Richie leaned his head down as Eddie came close again, smiling into the shorter boys hair. 

“Hey Eds-?” Eddie looked up and their faces were now just inches apart. “I missed the moment last time....but this one’s just as good so...I wanna tell you, I have feelings for you. Like real ones.” 

Eddie almost passed out. “You do?”

Richie loosened up on the boy and nodded. “I know it might be weird and I dragged you into this but holy fuck, I didn’t plan on this. I have feelings and I think I always have.” 

Eddie jumped up and wrapped his arms around his neck and heard distant whistles again. So he just mumbled into Richie’s neck. “Me too. And I’m so happy you dragged me into this.”

                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The losers club was huddled into one small booth at the restaurant where Stan worked. They had just gotten the great news from Richie and Eddie. All that was left to hear was Stan. He came strolling out of the kitchen after his shift ended and slid into what space was left next to Mike. 

He caught sight of Richie, who’s arm was around Eddie and he smirked the widest he’d ever had in his life. 

“Wow. Seems like another case of I was right and you were wrong, huh Richie?” He crossed his arms. Richie shrugged. “I knew you liked Eddie. Before you even knew.” He stuffed some bread in his mouth as the rest of the losers laughed. 

They spent the next twenty minutes having dinner together. Richie pulling Eddie close and the eyes of the ol’ timey paintings followed them all. 

[yellowstarwater]

Rewatching Daria

You know there is a reason why rewatching things as many times as you can is important. It helps you realize all the things you missed. When Daria first came out I was seven I knew of the show but I wasn’t at the age where I would sit down and watch it. By the time I was in Middle School though reruns were airing on Teen Nick(Do I sound old yet?) And that’s when I started to actually watch it but I wasn’t taking in all the information that the show was saying. Now that I’m rewatching it again for like the fifth time I’m realizing how fandoms can affect how you see characters without realizing it.

One really good example the DariaxTrent relationship. We might have been seeing more out of it then what the writers were actually giving us. Reading early fanfics for this couple really helped me see that because the pairing dominate most places it became the reason why I shipped it so much it also made me see that a lot of people didn’t realize that Trent was aware of Daria’s crush on him. It was everywhere because a lot of people have their own ‘Trent’ when they were younger. Even I could relate to Daria liking Trent and there is so much work out there for them despite the fact that the show warned us a few times that this would never work.

Second thing the show has a lot of background characters that should have gotten more attention. I get that in terms of friendship the show wanted to stick to Daria and Jane but I always felt that Andrea could have been their friend too! I get wanting to do a duo type thing but there are some moments in the show where Jane and Daria really should have had another good friend to be there.

Third thing Tom isn’t that horrible. When I was younger(and still shipping Daria and Trent with a passion) I hated Tom and straight up refused to watch season 5 I just didn’t like him and once again fanfic was there to agree with me. Almost everyone hated him which made it that much easier to as well. Don’t get me wrong I still disliked him, I’m pretty sure he was one of those stereotypical rich kid that decided to go to ‘the wrong side of the tracks’ to mess with mom and dad I feel like the only reason he wanted to date Jane was for kicks and when the thrill of dating Jane was over he moved on to someone more acceptable. (Seriously think about he went to a grunge club by himself and was clearly out of place) But looking back Tom wouldn’t have been as horrible if they hadn’t made him dating Daria a thing.

Fourth thing why did Daria like guys with names that start with T? Ted, Trent and Tom? Why?

Fifth thing going back to background characters if they really wanted to give Daria a boyfriend they could have used a minor character or created a new one. Season four established that Daria was spending a lot more time alone they could have used that chance to introduce someone new.

Overall this fandom at its early stage didn’t take as much risks as it does now and I’m happy about that. Nowadays people are more creative with their pairing (I’ve read and have written some really good Daria and Kevin fanfics)and art and that’s why I will always love this show.

[sockpansy]

Lost At Sea

Hey! This is a fic based off of two drawings done by the amazing @thelazyblueshipper who gave me permission to write a fic!

Warnings: blood mention, ghosts, kidnapping (its too a mermaid) and let me know if I need to tag anything else!

_______

Roman had wanted to do it for years, ever since the pirates found out about them. Ever since they started to take, kill, sell their kind.

Roman wanted to stop them.

But Logan wouldnt let him.

"Its too dangerous Roman! As long as we stay farther down and away from nets, we can be safe."

"But then we have no freedom! We are confined to the deep waters only! We have to watch how fast we go, we can even float on the surface to sunbath!"

"But if they catch us, we die." Logan spat. "If we go after them, we Will get caught, then what do you suggest we do?"

Roman fell silent, not able to make a reasonable agrument.

"There are ships we could fix up easily and-"

"No Roman."

That had been the end of that argument.

_____

"Help! Help!" Patton sped through the water in search of someone, anyone who could help.

He found Roman and Logan, who had heard him and came as fast as they could.

"Patton! Calm down padre, what's wrong? Predator? Underwater volcano?"

"Virgil!" Pattin cried.

Logan looked around."where....is Virgil? Patton what happened?"

Patton's tears floated in thw water. "I just wanted to go above for a little bit, i didnt know they were so close! I didnt know there net was so close!"

The rest was lost in cries, but it was obvious what happened. Virgil had saved Patton but got caught by pirates instead.

"Roman." Logan starred at the water above them.

"We need a ship."

_____

Luckily, Roman knew were a ship was in...ok condition and not filled with water completely.

"How did you even find this?" Patton asked as they arrived at a small islabd with an old ship on it. It had a hole in the side and a broken mast,but was rather alright.

"Before we started to stay under, I found it."

"We better get to work if we want to get Virgil back before they reach a port then." Logan was still unsure, but...they couldnt just leave Virgil,to be sold or...killed, if he wasnt already.

_____

It took a few days to fix the ship, but they found swords, and old clothes they could wear when they transform in homaniod forms. Roman was the self proclaimed captain, with logan as the firdt mate who has some common since. Patton was the one incharge of leading the way to Virgil right now.

But logan still worried. They only had three people, a small, barely afloat ship, and they are all secretly mermaids. They were up agianst a full pirate crew, on a big ship, who catch mermaids.

They needed a plan.

"We need a plan." Logan said one night. "We can't just attack, we will be killed or captured."

Patton looked down."if I just stayed away..."

"Patton, we have been over this, it isnt your fault, and we sre gdtting virgil back." Roman said, tilting his captain's hat up.

Patton sniffled but nods, pushing his new glasses up. (He put on a random pair and found out that he can see a lot better with them, same with Logan)

Logan,nods as he thought."we could go under the cover of night, but even then they will have people awake and ready to fight..."

"What about during a storm?" Roman suggested.

"What?"

"Well they will be busy with the storm right? We can show hi in mermaid form, get in, pretend to be part of the crew, get virgil out and only have the fight if we get caught." Roman suggested.

Patton lit up."that could work! Its dark during storms, and...and if they see our patched up ship, they can think its a ghost ship!"

Logan nods along as he listened. "It...could work...that we need some way to have our clothes when we are in the water so we can change quickly..."

Roman hummed."we could...get dressed on there ship?"

Logan shook his head."too wierd and supious."

"We could pretend to be crew members who fell over?" Patton suggested.

Logan nods, "yes...but only one of us, it will be easier to get one then...and other two will stay on the ship and act as ghosts." He grinned ad the plan started to come together.

_____

Virgil didnt know how much time past. He remembered pushing Patton away from a net, just cor his tall to get caught, he remmebered being hauled up over the ocean. He remembered being out in a barrel filled with water, and a lid being put on with holes so he could breath. But he lpst count of the days and nights he spent in there.

He had given up after day two, accepting his fate.

He could feel a few rain drops through the holes in the lid, and couls hear yelljng do the ship didnt get blown off course.

Then he heard screams for help.

A scream from the water.

That sounds way to familiar.

Pattin was screaming for help. They caught him.

Virgil started to fight inside the barrel, knowing full well that it was tied up so he coulsnt move it or knock it over, but he ahd to try. Patton was in danger. Why wasn't Roman or Logan with him!

He could hear pattin on the ship.

"Thank you, i fell off in the storm."

Wait, what?

He couldnt hear much after that, because there was yelling about a...ghost...ship?

It wasnt long before his barrel was opened and Patton stared st hin in human form. He,smiled and held a finger to hus mouth to tell Virgil to stay quiet. Held helped Virgil out of the barrel and threw him over into the ocean, and Patton jumped in after him, transforming once he was in the water and gathering up his clothes.

"Hey Virgil, long story short, we need to get to the pirate ship."

"But we just got off it!" Virgil said, before coughing. He hasn't used his voice in a while. Patton just grabbed his hand and swam to a different, smaller boat.

Patton helped viegil onto the boat and Virgil saw Roman and Logan standing and facing the other boat in human forms, as if daring them to attack in thus storm.

Patton put on his clothes as he got out some for Virgil. "Ok, short story longer, im so sorry I got you captured! We fixed up an old boat Roman found and came up with a plan to save you. I pretend to have fallen overboard in a storm, they gwt me up, i fins you, Roman and Logan pretend to be pirates on a ghost ship, and we are all free!" By the time he finished talking, Virgil was dressed and then hugged tightly.

"Im sorry i wasnt more careful Virgil...you could have been..could have..could...could have..." Patton sniffles aa he held virgil tight.

Virgil hugged back."im right here pat, i promise, id do it agian to save you in a heartbeat."

_____

The ship turned away from the other and left the storm. Once a safe distance away, Virgil was covered in hugs.

Virgil smiled as he stood and loked st his pirate clothes, "ya know guys...why dont we do this all the time?"

"Uh Virgil, I dont think getting caught is something id like to makw a habit." Roman suggested.

"No, i mean...saving mermaids. You guys have a plan that worked. And with an extra person, you have a bigger crew. Why cant we save more of our kind before we are the only ones left?"

"I agree with Virgil." Patton smiled. "And i like being in the sun." He giggled.

Roman tipped his hat grinning. "And ive been wanting to do this forever!"

They all looked st Logan. The first mate. The logical one. The one who fixes plot holes and makes sure everyone is safe.

He gave a smile. "Well, we have to name the ship first, dont we?"

____

It took a while, but soon, a legend was born for the small crew.

Legends that say that if you are a pirate crew transporting mermaids, avoid storms.

For in a storm, you will come across a ship called 'the Siren' with ghosts on it.

No one knows how many are on the ship. They only know that there are always four who will always be seen at one point.

There is a boy with square glasses and a dark blue bandana around hus forehead. If you see him in the ship, watch him, for if he gets into the water, your ship will sink.

Then there is a boy with round glasses, and a light blue scarf around his waist. He seems sweet, but it will be too late when you realize it is him. He is a spy who boards your ships as crew. He is the reason you get caught.

There is a boy with purple hair and eyes. Much like dark blue, beg that he stays on the ghost ship. If you don't see him, then you must fear everything around you. You never know what he will take. Food, gold, your life, maybe all three.

Then there is the captain, who stands at the end of the bowsprit, sword held at his side. It is said that his eyes are red with the blood of those who he has fought, and if you get close enough to see the color, he will add your blood to his eyes as well.

The legends warns you to be wary of boys with light blue eyes on on your ship. To stay clean of storms. To release mermaids when you see the ship, so many you will live to tell about the encounter.

Legend says that it is safer to let mermaids be free.

____________________

Yes i was tempted to name the ship lamp.

And done! First off, i know i kinda skipped around, but in happy with how thiz this turned out!

Bowsprit: the poll thingy at the front of a ship

Also! Some things i wanted to to say! The crew does get bigger. Some mermaids they save decide to,join, others will stay until they heal if they are injured then leave. Others stay to repay a debt, so the amount of crew members change.

At the end, the legend talks about each side a bit, and i wsnt to explain why i chose to do that the way i did!

Logan is logic. He is smart and you can do a lot of damage (probably) to the bottom of a boat if you know what your doing. He breaks boats (with help from other crew members) to make them sink. But only some.

Patton is morality. He is cute and sweet and he volunteered to be the spy. He joins crews and finds out how many mermaids are on board and finds a way to get the ship into a storm. Sometimes he will disappear from a crew ship a few days ans reappear like he never left. He swims right under it and will go inform the sides about the boat by leaving at night.

Virgil as Aniexty. He causes fear. Patton will tell him were gold is, food rations, and on occasion, jerks who need to be taught a permanent lesson. He sneaks on and steals, throws overboard, does anything to inconvence the pirates.and because well...they are pirates,too, they need money!

Roman is creativity. And he is the captain. And what js scarier than the red eyss he has? He started the rumoe about his eyes himself, and does sword fight on occasion. I just feel it fits him to stand dramatically xD

Part 2:

https://sockpansy.tumblr.com/post/179462778629/gaining-a-crew

[maternalcube]

i did an art summary so now im doing a fic summary. i was tagged by @jamthedingus also!! ive never done one of these before!! lets go!!!

Rest (13106)

Keith & Lance's Island Adventure (20631)

Atlantis (10014 words)

The Way to a Man’s Heart (6858 words)

nobody's business (2096 words)

leave, and take (557 words)

dead girl walking (1661 words)

the course of fate (1039 words)

who ya gonna call (465 words)

come here often? (806 words)

til kingdom come (1950 words)

stars in the sky (pt 2) (5404 words)

a song of falling (630 words)

Eyes to the Sky (3683 words)

Feet on the Ground (4050 words)

Divergence (6669 words)

homecoming (1426 words)

Window of Opportunity (11144 words)

along that wilderness of glass (3801 words)

string theory (2327 words)

Katt Week (1062 words)

The Pining-Plant (3860 words)

at the end of many worlds (21684 words)

you're my home (19646 words)

Believe Me (3177 words)

Starchild (3568 words)

Summer Heat (2285 words)

third time's the charm (5349 words)

Blackbird (59546 words)

The Sixth Planet (9444 words)

all the infinite realities (1197 words)

Total Fics: 31! (plus one i posted anonymously lmao) Total Words: 229999! (except parts of string theory and the sixth planet were actually posted last year... but still, what a number)

more under the cut!

Ship/character breakdown: i didnt filter out my prompt collection or abandoned wips here so /shrug Ship breakdown:

klance - 6 sheith - 5 shance - 5 katt - 4 heith - 3 pallura - 2 and one each of plance, kallura, allurance, shatt, shkatt, kidge, kidgance, and shunk. and keiths parents lol. let it never be said i am not a multishipper.

and i know gen isnt a ship but it tied with klance at 6 (plus whatevers in the prompt collection) which was a surprise

Character breakdown: man if theres a way to get ao3 to show me ALL the stats, i dont know it. but.

keith - 25 (shocker) shiro - 23 lance - 21 pidge - 17 hunk - 16 allura - 12 matt - 12 and then coran and sam are at 4, and zarkon ats 3 and presumably many others are at 3 or less

Characters that had the main focus: well ~9 were from keiths pov, and ~5 each from shiro and lances povs. i think i also had ~5 from multiple points of view. its safe to say that keith has my heart tho lol

Specifics:

Best/worst title? Best title: i still like “at the end of many worlds.” i weirdly still like “Blackbird” too even if it has nothing to do with anything... Worst title: “Rest.” :/ also like all of the abandoned wips bc i didnt care. and “Keith & Lance's Island Adventure.″ some of my zine fic titles were also... bad. im bad at titles.

Best/worst first line?

Best: Keith & Lance's Island Adventure. ok the title is bad but this line? this really sets the tone for whole fic. you know what youre getting yourself into here.

When Pidge invited Keith to a fully-funded graduation party aboard the Holt family boat (“the smaller one, anyway,” she’d said), this is not exactly what he'd pictured: three of them standing on a wobbly dock, packed bags at their feet, sky cloudy and gray, while the Holt siblings stand on a little ledge off the back of the boat and deny entry.

Worst: ive got two for this lol

at the end of many worlds: even i have to read this a couple times to figure out what i was trying to say. at least you know youre in for pain...

Keith’s mother shows up to interrupt movie night often enough that, this time, Keith almost doesn’t realize anything’s wrong. Almost, because she’s silhouetted by the movie, but she’s clutching her arm and panting for breath, and in the thin edge of light around her he sees a wet and vibrant red.

Divergence: because all your friends being dead is EXACTLY like losing at dodgeball. yeah, theres a reason i abandoned this one.

Hunk always hated playing dodgeball. Not because he was bad at it--though he was--but because he always ended up the last one standing, and therefore the only target for the entire other team. It was due to a tendency to hang unnoticed in the back, he knew, but that didn't change the sickening, empty feeling of looking around and realizing there's no one left but him, and there's no way he can win. Only wait for the inevitable.

This, Hunk decides, is a lot like that, only, like, a billion times worse.

Best/worst last line?

Best: The Pining-Plant. there are a few others that were cute too but this one is also good out of context so

And then the pod swishes open and he's scrambling to catch Pidge as she stumbles out. She clings to his arms to steady herself and his heart swells.

"Falling for me again, huh?" he asks, and she groans loudly.

"Let me go, I'm getting back in the pod," she says, and he laughs. He doesn't let go, and neither does she.

Worst: if im bad at titles, im worse at endings. most are bad. i suspect the ending to “Rest” is terrible but i cant bring myself to even open that shit again so: Believe Me. if weather were a recurring theme in this fic, itd be fine, but as is its just... a weird note to end the fic on lmao

Hunk rocks back on his heels. "We aren't counting this as our official first date, right?"

"I dunno," Keith says, and now he smiles at the rain instead of frowning. It shows no sign of easing up, but whatever—they're soaked anyway. "This seems pretty good to me."

“...All right.” If nothing else, it’ll make a good story. And, Hunk had to admit—he’s pretty happy with how it’s turned out, rain and all.

But next time, he's double-checking the forecast, just in case.

General questions:

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

more than i expected! considering ive been in grad school all year!! i wrote about the same amount wordcount-wise in 2017 which i spent only half in school so. idk how i managed it.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

the anonymous fic was a surprise but im not gonna talk about that lol. otherwise... nah, its all been my usual stuff.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

blackbird, probably. i like working on that one. summer heat was also fun, id sort of forgotten about it bc it was a zine fic but coming back to it, i really liked it. likewise with third time’s the charm. and i like t6p a lot even if i kinda hate drawing for it :’)

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

depends on your metric. window of opportunity has the most kudos, keith and lance’s island adventure has the most hits, and t6p has the most comments and subscriptions. 

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

AT THE END OF MANY WORLDS. oh man i killed myself over that fic. it was important to me. but i think the mcd scared everyone off :’)

Story that could have been better?

i realize “all of them” is kind of a cop out answer but like

Sexiest story?

i have written nothing sexy, ever, in my whole life

Saddest story?

i mean, ateomw. considering all the death. blackbird def has its moments too.

Most fun?

i feel like i answered this in the favorite story q lmao. you’re my home also gets a shoutout, that thing was,, super self-indulgent lmao. and id be lying if i said i didnt have fun with parts of ateomw, even if its mostly sad.

Story with single sweetest moment?

man i write a lot of fluff but so much of you’re my home is just tooth-rotting. heres part of the proposal scene lmao

"Lance!" Keith yelps, barely rescuing the ring from falling into the sand with them. Lance pushes himself up on his arms, silhouetted by the sun and glowing with it.

"Really?" he asks breathlessly.

"Yeah," Keith says, and maybe he should've prepared something to say, that's a thing people do, right? Hell, he's winging it. "I know we can't stay here on Earth forever, 'cause we're paladins, and there's still stuff out there we gotta do. And I know you probably want to stay because this is your home—but you're my home, and if we gotta go, at least you'll have me, good or bad." He grins crookedly. "Or rocket science. Whatever happens, I'll be there."

Hardest story to write?

well t6p gets a shoutout, but its not the writing thats the hard part for that. uhhh ive struggled with parts of blackbird. i remember k&l’s island adventure giving me a LOT of trouble, i think i posted late lol

Easiest/most fun story to write?

anything short uhhh for all the infinite realities, i kind of just sat down the other day (actually i was in bed but) and was like “im gonna write this” and then in the morning i just sat down and wrote it in one go. i dunno if id call it fun, but it was easy. t6p is super fun to write but, as mentioned, drawing it sucks.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

no... my perceptions probably have shifted but not due to anything i wrote in particular. i did talk myself into liking allurance with a prompt fill, though, but im not sure that was 2018...

Most overdue story?

all the infinite realities lmao. at the end of many worlds needed that happy ending. and another shoutout to t6p, because thats been going on over a year and im still nowhere.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

does posting my abandoned wips count? ive still got some of those hanging around... blackbird was a bit of a risk bc my last longfic was written while i was unemployed and out of school, so like i had the time for it, and now i kinda dont. still chugging tho. ateomw b/c of all the death but it turns out i really like writing whump woops. and writing any sort of kissing always feels like a risk bc i suck at it but im getting better lol... i hope...

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

write more! finish things! do more sheith! i really want to work on this sheith longfic i came up with the other day... but i want to get blackbird over with first.

Tagging: eh! do it if you want to!

[scars-and-ozone]

Nu's journal entry #1

(This is a series of journal entries that recap the session, as well as gives an inside look to how Nu was feeling or thinking during the events.)

1.a.  escape

I have watched these same stars for years now. between the bars of my cell and the arena walls they glisten and dance. the lessons Gnarwynn taught me, how to write and read, go much better than my speech. they've beat the words out of me, clawed the breath and meaning from my very lips. I miss her, that old wrinkled beast. I miss her much. The others are talking about a "stock exchange" we my be up for bid soon. Gnarwynn would talk about these exchanges sometimes, she had been through a few- when the gladiator rings would need new bodies, challengers and champions to draw in new betting pools and rouse the publics interest. They whisper my name under the ones going.

Maybe... no I couldnt be serious, after this long, I though all the hope my body held was gone but... but maybe..

-------------------------------------------------------------------

1.b They are starving me. Normally the ring masters feed me well, at least as well as trough food and raw meat can be, for my size and for my title.

I am their star, their glistening performer, they did not want me to perish. But now with less crowds coming, it seems I am up for grabs in the exchange, and they seem to not be up for taking chances with me. They will starve me to keep me docile during the trek to my buyers.

Its been days already, and it is to be two weeks until I am loaded onto the cart and shipped off with my fellow cellmates. All i can do is look out my cell window and see those stars for one last time. Im sick to say its almost sad. It was easy being numb to my life. Now I have to learn a new whip, and new pain.

The hunger isnt the worst thing about this, its the temptation, the hope, the want. It hurts more than starvation ever could.

Ill have to save this parchment for the journey, Its almost run dry and it will be a long, dull cart ride without this to keep my time and attention.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

1.c

Forgive the shaking and crude writing. I did it I did it.

The marsh and wet ground stopped the carts for days, the gaurds were busy trying to dig the carts up, and they let us out to help. It was a skeleton crew. They didnt bother locking us up in the carts at night, most of my cell mates were too weak to even consider running, the food reserves and rations were enough to keep them.

But those loose bindings talked to me, the murkey wet soil, the thick heat, it was perfect for me.

In the dead of night I chewed my bindings, and ran, ran, ran.

Im sure they gave chase, but flat footed humans and 'oids alike are no match in the damp soil against me, even starving.

Im free..

Im free...

-------------------------------------------------------------------

1.d

Ive been living in a hole, scavenging what I could, For a few weeks now. I have heard search parties, dogs, and the forest creatures themselves all searching. But recently it had gone mostly quiet, save the wildlife. The roots were a good home, I bled them for water and ate the creatures who nested in them. it was meager, but it was freedom.

But then.. something happened.

I met...others. Not gaurds, or scouts, or anyone after me. Just, people. I spoke with them but my throat has been dry of conversation so long it hurts to say more than a few words. They were terrifying, odd, yet.. comforting. As I watched them they.. made me remember my village, what faded memories I had from then.

The little one, and the one with the bird seemed, entranced by me. I wasnt unused to gawking, sometimes people fed me through the bars, and the circus before the ring had people pet and hold me. At first I thought to run, especially when the orcish one obviously mistrusted and scorned me. But then they offered a ride, and food, and my starved belly took over. They could have delivered me straight to the masters but... Damn it, Gnarwynn would have told me to think with my stomach when it was so empty, so I listened.

Their cart is bumpy but, it feels good having more pairs of eyes to watch.

------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.e

The little hooded one showed me some scars, shackle scars, in the cart. at first I was confused but, seeing those kinds of scars my whole life, I realized we're they had come from.

After that... I definitely want to get to know him more, it certainly put my fears to rest somewhat.

At least it did until the orcish one shot a deer without so much as aiming or hunting. He seemed to be eyeing me as he cooked, and it made my skin crawl all the way to the tip of my tail.

I will stick by the hooded one for now.. He seems... quiet. understanding. -------------------------------------------------------------------

1.f

I knew magic had many forms, healing, combat, illusion. But when I saw the glinting and shining glitter, the lights dancing, the.... the.. music

.... I wish my family could see it.

..

The food was good here too.

Though I may have gone overboard. I should be fine for days, heh, even weeks if I pushed myself again after this. The sweet "desserts" they were another kind of magic.

I learned their names too, though I was forced to say mine. In the ring we all knew our names, but talking wasn't permitted, and we all knew what the names meant. marks of our ownership.

I'm laying in a room...

God...

A Bed.

I can see them next to me. Maybe we will part ways sometime. But after this day. After this life.. I will never forget or give up this feeling. I don't want to be numb again.

Well, maybe if it meant not feeling the stomach pains from the sweets... -------------------------------------------------------------------

[jungjayhoe-blog]

how i got to know bts !!

ok so i posted if anyone wanted to know how i got into bts and the shit that happened after that and some of yall dropped me an ask and said yes. so here this post is just gonna be all about how i got into them and stuffs feel free to read or skip bc this is basically just me telling a grandma story but i promise you good content (but dont get your hopes up lol) but i warn you this entire post is all around the place and a mess lmao

so i think i first got to know them like early last year bc i started to get into the anime fandom during that time and i made some fan accounts and shit. and then some accs had like korean guys as their dp and occationally had them on their posts and stuffs. i didnt know who they were. at all. no clue. just like, why do people like korean dudes what on earth. then like their captions on their post were sometimes like “hey if you guys like or listen to bts hmu” or something like that but i didnt really bother much about it

but then i think i really got to know about them around may or june last year bc one day my friend came to school and is all like “omg bts !!!” “omgomg bts is so good and cool i love them 1!11!!” “jungkook is my bias !!” and i heard their name around a few times before but once i noticed my friend likes bts i noticed that a lot of ppl in my school stanned them too (you could say that im a blur child whose unaware of her surrounding) then she got my other friend into bts somehow too. and idk why but i felt so annoyed?? like “who is this bts why does everyone know and like them” and i was so petty about it bc so many ppl were into them. so i said i didnt like kpop and bts???? idk why i even did that???? who was i??? i just didnt like them for no reason???? maybe it was bc theyre popular and everyone couldnt stop talking bout them?????? i think it was probably bc i didnt wanted to be mainstream and shit ha ha hA what was i doing.

ok so fast forward to a month ish later. i rmb i was just scrolling through youtube watching videos and then suddenly, a certain video titled ‘DOPE BTS’ was in my recommendations and i was like “h hEY isnt that the grp everyone’s so hyped about” so naturally i got curious and i clicked on it and wow ive been enlighten?? theyre so beautiful and they cant dance and the song is just ,,.,,.. dope. and then at the side of that mv was the ‘FIRE BTS’ mv so i also watched it and boiii was it lit af. literally those are the only two songs from bts that i listened bc i either refused or was lazy to watch and listen more and they were literally the only two kpop songs that i added in spotify and constantly listened to.

you can tell by the date i added that im not shitting you this is legit. ok moving on. so then i wanted to know who is who so i searched them up, took me awhile to know whos who bc im a stupid shit who literally got confused of taehyung and jungkook bc they ‘look the same’ . this is not the end tho, theres more to how i got into them, also not that quick. you know how once you start watching a vid youtube just start recommending you videos that are like related to the vid you first watch? so yea yt just started recommending me some bts vids but i wasnt interested in them bc i didnt wanted to get too into them as i didnt wanted to be ‘mainstream’ but then this particular vid caught my attention, it was the ‘bts getting kidnap’ vid from AHL. so i clicked on it and watched it then i got curious of the show and i wanted to watch more. so i watched a few episodes but then towards the middle of the show i got bored of it???? so i dropped it and i couldnt really get into bts at all so i stopped anything related to them. but i still listened to those two songs every now and then.

towards the end of the year, i was just scrolling through my explore page on my instagram when i saw like this korean dude pinning another guy against the wall? so i was like wow thats hot i need to find out what that is. so i scrolled through the comments and realized that it was a kdrama called ‘The Lover’ (if you watched it youre amazing ily) so i naturally wanted to watch that and i did. it was amazing. you could say the main reason i watched the drama was bc of the gay couple lol. so then i got to know that the japanese guy playing in the drama was in a kpop group called CROSS GENE (YALL BETTER CHECK THEM OUT AND STAN THEM THEYRE TALENTED AS FCUK AND DESERVE SO MUCH MORE STAN TALENT STAN CROSS GENE) so then i checked out a few of their songs and vids and interviews and i actually got so into them??? like wow i love them all so much my babies. and i was quick in learning their names too. so then i naturally drifted into the kpop fandom (im mostly on twitter for cross gene and then tumblr for bts dont ask me why) i was so into them and i loved them with all my hearteu.

ok moving on. again one day a certain bts mv titled ‘Blood Sweat and Tears’ was in my recommendation. i saw the thumbnail and was like wow they look hella cool so i clicked on it. lets just say ive been enlighten and blessed by that mv. like the mv and the costume and the acting and the song is just liT !! by that time i completely forgotten all their names lmao so i started to search about them too. i watched some vids of them (mostly cracks lmao) and i lowkey got into them. but then cross gene was my first priority then bts. i still didnt wanted ppl to know that i got into bts bc i was trynna keep it lowkey, but then a few of my friends knew i was into Cross Gene. i started to watch more and more bts vids and i actually fell in love with them.

but then the main main reason why i got into bts is pretty stupid i swear. ok so bc i was in the anime fandom before this (i still kinda am) i used ao3 to read fics. so i wanted to know if the bts tag had how many fics written and when i saw it i was like wow wtf bC THERE WERE LITERALLY SO MANY FICS??? so i clicked on it and i wanted to read some fics so i filtered it to ‘hits’ and clicked the fics which summary interested me. can yall guess which pairing i clicked on? if you guessed yoonmin yall are correct. so i read the fic and it was so well written?? and beautiful??? but bare in mind that i have never seen the pairing moments or anything bc i just got into them and didnt rlly search up yoonmin moments (same with taekook) or anything. but then most of the fics pairing i saw was those two and namjin so i was guessing theyre the main ships in the fandom. so from then on i started to read more fics?? but then didnt rlly search up for their moments?? so i basically read it bc it was well written and beautiful but not bc of truly liking the pairings????

then i told myself lol youre reading fics but you dont even know what they did to get ship. i went on tumblr to search more bc this is literally where i used to get my anime shit. so i searched up namjin and wow they actually looked like a married couple to me?? and then i immediately fell in love with them. next i searched up taekook and wow they look so cute tgt i rlly like them?? but then when i seached up yoonmin idk why but dont attack or hate me on this,,,..,, but i just,,, couldnt get into them?? ok but first i forgot to say that i had this friend, shes like the only one who knows i was lowkey into bts. one day she send me a pic of yoonmin and then a pic of viktuuri, it was basically a pic of them pressed close to each other like the anime. i was like aww thats so cute omg !!! it was actually really cute, but then idk i just,,, dont see it as a possible ship for me??? some reason i mostly saw them as brothers but then i still lowkey forced myself to ship them bc majority of the ppl in the fandom shipped them. but then i also read mostly yoonmin fic bc it was just so beautifully written fite me on this but its the truth, so you could say that i read them like a normal book, but not for the ship

but then i still search up for some yoonmin moments and this one video was during some photoshoot were sope was wearing their matching track suits and yoongi and hoseok was so hype with each other and i was like thats so adorable?? i wonder whats their ship???? do they even have a ship?????? but then bc it was a yoonmin video it showed how jimin was jealous and some shit like that but i found it cute?? like how a little brother is jealous that their older sibling is neglecting them?? dont attack me on this please i come in peace

then one, faithful day, idk how, but i think it was a post of someone saying that yoonmin was better that yoonseok (no h8 to that person tho) then i was like what is a yoonseok?? then i searched it up and bih you could say it was love at first sight??? i just love their dynamics and everything. so i searched up fics of them and i was greatly disappointed bc there wasnt many??? but then i stumbled upon the fic called On Patrol (this shit is gr8 yall hAvE to read this its so beautiful and amazing and funny and just wow) so i read it and boiiii do i love it so much. then i got introduced to jikook and love them a lot too. but then i also love taekook, then i got introduced to vmin too and i just love it?? basically i just love all the maknae line pairings i dont get how ppl could hate on one of them.

so i just started to search up a lot on yoonseok moments and fics and i just??? love seeing them together???? so then i just got so into them and they like,,,my ultimate pairing now lmao. then as i go on i got introduced to more rarepairings like taegi and jinmin and i just love them too??

ok so onto how hobi is my bias lol. so when i was lowkey into bts, my first bias was like jin. i just??? love him so much???? his dad jokes and personality and windshield wiper laugh was just like endearing to me???? thats when i decided that he was my bias. but then bc i was into yoonseok a lot i watched a lot of sope videos and thus more of hoseok and yoongi screentime. and i just fell in loveeeeeee with hoseok?? like he could be a ray of sunshine with rainbows one min and then be fcuking disrespectful while performing another minute later. so then you could say hobi just somehow worked his way up to be my bias (i still love jin tho dont get me wrong i love the entire bts) but then like, yoongis and jin are like always wrecking my bias list (also namjoon and the maknae line bC dAMN)

so yea this is basically it. i cant believe you manage to read through that entire mess wow heres a cookie for you !! sorry if you were expecting more and found this boring buttttt ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[aerisse-remade]

hi its time to talk shit again

im gonna be doing these with su (like i said in the tags lmao) bc i cant answer like half of these with vocaloid so,.,

all of this is gonna be under a cut so sorry @ app users ig

1. What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?

uhh gregpearl, jaspis, grasper, pewey, pretty much all gem/men ships except gregrose. also steven/gem ships

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

amedot maybe?? i like it tho, i think it's cute

3. Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

not yet, but i definitely will if i find out if ppl hold certain opinions lmao

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

my ultimate notp is jaspis. jasper deserves better than to be shipped with her literal abuser lmfao. not only is it the most popular jasper ship, its also popular overall unfortunately :////

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?

LAPIDOT. i still like it a bit, but the fandom (and canon) has made it worse lmao......i miss old school lapidot

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

i dont think so? i can't think of any

7. Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?

uhh i guess lapis? i wouldnt say that i cant stand her now, but i do hate her lmfao. she used to be so good pre-jailbreak.......i'll never forgive for what they did to her

8. Have you received anon hate? What about?

surprisingly no! im really surprised ive never really gotten shit for thinking (more like realizing lbr) that jasper was the victim in the malachite situation (or for shit talking jaspis lmao). bc lapis stans always wanna excuse the shitty things she did and blame jasper for everything :///

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

lapis. nd its super petty but it's literally just bc of how she treated jasper, got away with it without facing any consequences, AND bc of the fandom turning around and labeling her as the victim and shat all over jasper and calling HER the abuser instead

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

the sardonyx arc. the show made it seem like garnet and ruby were somehow in the wrong for being angry at pearl ?? when they had every right to?? id be pissed too if someone i trusted broke my own trust and used me/my relationship for their own benefit. ....also i dont really care for sardonyx herself tbh

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

ronaldo!!! everyone hates him but like.....he's my boy. he reminds me of a friend i had in hs

12. Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

uhh i dont really go into the tag much anymore, and when i do its for art, so i dont know how it was recieved overall. but i know that a lot of ppl really hated the human zoo arc (and with good reason too!). yeah the human zoo was incredibly fucked up and bad, and there were better ways it could've ended, but ig overall i was ok with it? i wouldn't say i loved it, but i certainly dont hate it either. i was glad to see blue diamonds design revealed (even tho its not how i imagined her ://), holly blue, the famethyst, and yd and the pearls singjng

13. Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

uhh i'll just do peridot. i honestly dont care for her much anymore after she lost her limb enhancers. and i see a lot of ppl complaining abt her and lapis not being in the recent episodes but im really glad theyre not tbh. im so tired of them

14. Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

the su crit crowd makes really good points sometimes. yea some of them reach sometimes but for the most part, they make really good observations nd have made me think about the show's writing more. everyone shits all over them without actually looking at the good stuff they post

15. Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

it's not as progressive as many claim it is. sure, it's got a lot of lesbians, poc, and women overall, but the show has a real bad habit of treating it's poc and butch characters like shit while overly focusing on the white(coded) and femme characters

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

GOD i would change a lot of things. the main thing i'd change is how the whole mala situation went down and how jasper and lapis were written/treated. i would also have peridot either get her limb enhancers back or make new ones for herself. i'd want steven to at least TRY to free the humans and the famethyst from the zoo. i also think itd have been really interesting for him to take one of the bubbled rose quartzs with him. ALSO BISMUTH. free her!!! she didnt deserved to be bubbled again nor did she deserve to be treated like some villain for wanting to shatter literal dictators :///

17. Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

instead of lapis tricking and imprisoning jasper, she'd either have said no and let the cgs handle jasper, or have just punched her off like she did to her in alone at sea. or she agreed, formed malachite, THEN in chille tid, told steven where they were so the cgs could come and poof them and bubble jasper. for bismuth, instead of her getting angry and fighting steven only to end up bubbled again, i wouldve had her actually talk to steven. say smth like "rose said the same thing" and actually listen to him and come to some sort of agreement and not be bubbled at all. or yknow.....have steven agree with her that the diamonds are bad and actually want to try to liberate all gems

18. Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased?

not really lmao? theres a lot of shitty popular ships. tho i will say that if you dont ship rupphire then like.......wyd

19. What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

their treatment of butch characters and non-stereotypically feminine gems lmfao. esp jasper and bismuth, and ppl always wanting to call non feminine gems "wow a male gem finally!!!" (jasper, ruby, bismuth, blue zircon). not to mention the (probable) majority who literally think jasper abused lapis :///

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

rupphire, no doubt about it

21. What are your thoughts on crack ships?

uhh as long as its not pedophilic or shipping the gems (besides rose) with men, then im probably ok with it

22. Popular character you hate?

lapis

23. Unpopular character you love?

ronaldo. and also jasper ofc. but i dont know if shes actually popular or not. it sure feels like she's unpopular tho.....

24. Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not?

yeah, but only so i'd have someone to talk with about it lmfaooooo

25. How would you end XXX/Would you change the ending of XXX?

uhh i guess for me i'd want jasper uncorrupted, happy, and not barned, first of all. i'd also want bismuth unbubbled, all the other corrupted gems healed n happy. the rubies, famethyst, zoo humans, topaz, zircons, and off colours all happy living on earth. i also want all the bubbled rose quartzs to be saved, and possibly any other gem on homeworld being free from the diamonds rule. or yknow....,just have the diamonds stop being dictators and dismantle the hierarchy/caste system. if the diamonds cant be redeemed somehow, then they should be shattered

26. Most shippable character?

fuck if i know

27. Least shippable character?

steven ig? you cant really ship him with the gems or most of the humans soooo

[anomalagous]

lc’s ongoing long-ass list of what the fuck, teen wolf, and other sundry E606:Ghosted edition.

scott getting a little tiny bit snarly at the sheriff for not believing~~ in stiles gives me life

this old-ass map not only puts beacon hills on top of a real life place called scotty place which still makes me laugh, but also substantially more north and eastward than i originally estimated.

why the fuck didnt naziwolf just get the fuck outta bh?

why did he choose to stay and teach high school of all things?

california requires an 18 month accreditation course and a certain GPA of teachers who do not have an education degree, i know this from direct experience. its been three months since naziwolf busted out of his bacta tank, so what the fuck

if he forged his credentials, how

when

when did he actually learn all of the post WW2 physics and electromagnetics things he clearly genuinely knows and has a genuine interest in?

did the dread doctors read him bedtime stories from their science journals?

if so, what the fuck

i guess if youre an alpha werewolf you can sleep in the backseat with no seatbelt and its not a big deal if you crash

good job on malia being the driver and not crashing them im proud of her

reading the date of the canaan abduction in the standard american way it was april 8th, 1987, which cant be a coincidence given that’s stiles birthday (albeit pre-stiles)

if canaan has been abandoned for 30 years, who has been cutting these obviously not overgrown lawns and trimming these obviously not overgrown accent shubberies

why isnt that flag beat up or torn in any way?

kudos on giving that convertible the old 80s style california plates but why arent any of the windows on any of the cars busted out? no flat tires? no rust or missing doors?

also that shot of the ‘town’ where there was more substantial damage looked fake as hell and the crosswalk was proceeding at the wrong angle and i cant unsee it.

why is there still power running to these street lamps?

for that matter who has their street lamps scheduled to turn on in the middle of the day?

was that block party banner over the street lettered on both sides? it reads properly no matter what side youre looking at, which seems weird.

why is there blood on the carousel? was that explained? we’ve never seen the ghost riders’ gun draw blood that i can recall

im not even sure we’ve really seen their whips draw blood per se and certainly it wouldn’t have caused that kind of blood stain

also why is the blood still wet and red 30 years later? why wasn’t that newspaper rotted out? either time impacted this town to make it shitty as hell or it didn’t, pick one, you cannot have both. it still rains enough in california to totally disintegrate a newspaper in thirty years.

how the fuck did that carousel function even that tiny bit after 30 years in the elements?

why did melissa have to sneak chris argent around, couldnt he have just declined the operation against medical advice?

also good to see scott got his utter inability to lie from his mom

even if malia isnt wearing 100% stiles’ void-hoodie how could the costume department have thought for a minute we wouldnt have thought that was the void hoodie?

malia having a hallucination of theo in the same episode he comes back in for real seemed both rushed and entirely unnecessary.

in fact these hallucinations seemed wholesale unnecessary and neither scott nor malia deserved that nonsense

were all of these dead leaves already on location or did some poor asshole have to ship them in and then ship them out again

come to think of it, at first i was really excited to see coral/eucalyptus trees as they are actually trees that are in california (as opposed to the type of oak the nemeton is, which is distinctly Not a type of tree in california) but then i realized those are Southern California Trees and if beacon hills (and canaan) are that far north and close to the oregon border, the trees should be way more pines and evergreens and not coral or eucalyptus or ... any deserty tree, really.

seriously were these hallucinations just to show malia can feel sad too?

malia was wearing really subtle gold eyeshadow earlier. now it’s dark shadowing up to her browbone. does being a werecoyote also mean being able to shift your makeup at will? cause thats cool

do little girls seriously still play with baby dolls while hitting their first strides of puberty? im beginning to think i was never actually a little girl.

how much younger than malia was kylie supposed to be? bc she looks like 12 here but malia was like... 10 when the desert wolf murdered her family, right? was SHE the younger sister??

teen wolf shamelessly reusing shots with new filters on them like never before. this ain’t even the fifth time i’ve caught them doing this, this season, and i’ve literally never seen them do it in any of the other seasons.

im not sure anybody told kylie’s actress she wasnt gonna get to make out with shelley

how do werecreatures get piercings? or were her ears pierced first before the change?

why does anyone let liam make any decisions, ever?

i do not get why everyone finds naziwolf so hot

seriously i have a little tree-bush exactly like this right outside my door/garage and that shit is wild and untamed in just a month of no trimming in 30 years it would not have that nice slender shape anymore

also trees being choked to death by kudzu or whatever all these vines are dont look that healthy

is there even kudzu in california??? ive never seen so many vines in all my 10 years of living here.

the first house scott goes in theres like no tv in the living room but there is one chair (with no dining table) all alone in the dining room area, which just looks sad.

oh sorry two chairs set up in what was clearly the worlds most melancholy staring contest.

my dentist used to have that exact sailboat wallpaper trim around the top of his exam rooms.

scotts bullying a door.

have melissa and chris argent actually told the pack about the head-biting yet bc i feel like they should know

i think more people have asked scott if he’s okay in this episode than in the last three seasons, which is sad bc it’s basically just lydia and malia that do it.

that one house has some brutal earthquake damage in its exterior wall.

poseys microexpressions are so woefully underrated, he really is brilliant.

i have more grey hair than jr bourne and that makes me really angry

i like that they’re doing alchemy with druidic compounds/hedgemagic/whatever you want to call it more than i could possibly express.

why is there a porch loveseat on the step up to this one house but that FLAG IS ENTIRELY INTACT?

how convenient that all three of them were looking at that window when lenore decided to fuck with the drapery.

that said scott’s resultant HOLY SHIT?!?? face is amazing

how has lenore been surviving in this town, does she not need water, electric, heat, groceries? where did the lemons for the lemonade come from?

all this wood paneling is the most 70s thing i have ever seen in my life

i appreciate the little cast iron redwood decoration with the ‘m’ on the bottom of it.

everything!! in!! this!! house!! is!! brown!!

that piano as a busted af bass key there.

i feel like i’ve seen that other metal flower/leaf decor before. the new version of the stilinski house, maybe?

lenore has an intimidatingly large smile and i feel like that as an intentional casting choice

how come malia and scott couldnt hear her heartbeat after scott explicitly called out that there were no heartbeats? or for that matter not hear that caleb also didn’t have one? (presumably.)

im not 100% sure but i think malia is holding scott’s hand when they enter the dining room area of lenore’s house, which is adorable so i accept no other reality now.

i honestly feel really bad for lenore.

i would say the fisheye lens is s6′s slo mo but the slo mo didnt go anywhere

i dont know if its supposed to be fancy or artisinal or whatever you called that in the 80s but dont put green shit in your lemonade, green shit does not belong in your lemonade. lemons. sugar. water. it isn’t hard.

malia like chugs a good half of her glass at once, but when she sets it back down it is more full than any of the other glasses. i prefer to think she just faked drinking it to try and gain lenore’s trust than it’s a continuity error from the props department.

when lenore starts using her banshee powers to shake the house, it also magically converts the lemonade into water.

lenore has a pair of decorative ducks on her wall but they appear to be two male mallard ducks, so. gay duck decor.

so when does lydia get to have telekinesis?

i dont think im a very big fan of how angela harvey handles scott.

malia did NOT make a fist like she was really committing to trying to punch out that window.

seriously scotts the alpha he doesnt need lydia to give him permission to do things scott thinks need to be done

that being said scott going into the basement with a creepy kid when youre obviously in some kind of horror movie trope was stupid

the cameras they used for the senior pack team were super blurry anytime anyone moved even the littlest bit, its so annoying.

scott barely being tall enough to reach this tiny-ass basement window is endearing to me

there is no way a vhs tape that wet would run. i remember vhs tapes. they were not sturdy.

i feel like we used to have the same VCR in my parents’ room tho

also what the hell camcorder did they record this on that put it straight on VCR, camcorders in the 80s had weird little small VCR tapes you had to put in a converter. that was just a standard VCR tape.

also why are there jumpcuts in the home video? did somebody cut the original footage and THEN put it on a standard VCR tape?  how much fucking work was THAT??

caleb goes from 0 to 100 on the creepy poltergeist scale real quick

well okay maybe from like 40 to 100

banshee duel yessssss

literally why would noshiko do this after she saw what happened with the nogitsune

not that i necessarily think theo is as dangerous as the nogitsune but he is well bad enough

look at this worthless white boy doing this shit against all the advice of the woc around him

why does the sword do this, i thought the power was in kira and not the sword

if the power is in the sword why couldnt noshiko fix her own damn blade

look at this other worthless white boy even more worthless than the first

that looks like melissa is putting like grout on chris’ injury that does not look comfortable

oh look hes screaming imma guess it was not in fact comfortable

gratuitous jr bourne fanservice

awwww theyre holding haaaaands again

how did this kid get on the stairs the last time we saw him he was by the tv, why did scott and malia let him herd him like this

i appreciate malia’s willingness to beat up a kid poltergeist immensely

of the pictures on caleb’s walls, many are pictures of insects. one is a blue crab. one says ‘guten’ on it, which somehow entertains me a lot.

this is the second time this episode has tried to make me scared of carousel horses

the vhs footage loops while no one is attending to it which is not how vhs tapes work

malia is such a treasure

that being said having nearly drowned twice in my childhood this whole drowning-on-dry-land conceit is not super great for me

screencapping this is so gross

i love lydia’s fierce banshee scream face

so the blood was on the carousel before the wild hunt attack, as we see in lydia’s vision. SO WHY IS IT THERE??

THERE ARE KIDS RIDING ON THIS CAROUSEL WHILE SOME OF THE HORSES ARE BLOODY

poor skateboard bro couldnt even take his skateboard like rude wild hunt

i feel like there’s a lot more ghost riders here than there are in beacon hills. maybe the ghost riders just come for particular towns and the ones in bh are actually like... cora isaac and danny.

its amazing how much younger a good foundation can maybe somebody look

did liam SERIOUSLY just tell theo he can kill whoever he wants? did i hear that right? bc that is a TERRIBLE thing to tell theo, who has ALREADY KILLED A LOT OF PEOPLE, even if what you meant was ‘dont kill us you need us’.

i cant believe we got this cheap knockoff as an excuse to not have kira and then they didnt even let him have the powers he needed to do the job

otoh watching his ass get blasted back into the tunnels was satisfying

literally nobody cares if youre okay theo you murderous fuck

i wonder how many times scott had someone steadying him telling HIM he has to breathe like hes doing for malia right here

i should really keep a tally of how many times scott does stiles’ lizard tongue thing while stiles is gone

this is gross of me to think while the character is basically drowning but hey now i know what scott looks like with his bottom lip all wet and covered in somewhat translucent stretchy goo--jizz. okay. it looks like jizz.

scott mccall nearly drowns on dry land after a lifetime of severe asthma and the first thing he does after is ask if malia is ok

luckily THIS time she asks if HES okay to but jeez

he looks so shocked and confused to be asked extra jeez

more scolia handholding, this time while fleeing danger

i was literally three in 1987 and i still have more grey hair than lenore who was demonstrably an adult in 1987 I AM VERY ANGRY

that being said i realized why caleb here’s clothing was bothering me so much. nobody had shorts that long in the 80s. everybody wore short as hell shorts in the 80s. it was thighs everywhere.

these stupid motherfuckers taking theo to scott’s HOME and putting him in scott’s SAFE SPACE without even WARNING HIM oh my GOD

those better not also be scott’s CLOTHES

ok but WHY are the wild hunt trapped? did they BRING the northern lights or is the northern lights related to what’s trapping them?

excuse me but WHEN did lydia see anything related to what happens to people after the wild hunt takes them and why didnt we get to see it too?

seriously its like if scott is thinking of stiles then lizard blep

im so mad at liam for bringing theo back and putting him in scotts house i cant even see straight

and i just know that this anger that scott is being allowed will be it

and in a week or two itll be working with theo like nothing ever happened

im honestly shocked he even got this much

he even got undercut there by malias (also justified) rage

cool that the morrigan got a namedrop but i dont trust them with that story eitherrrrr

man let me tell you if this was martin and not scott and somehow he had been murdered and resurrected and was then confronted with his murderer in his pack house that murderer would not fucking leave alive

im still kind of mad that this season brought claudia back to life just to make her so sketch and make me kind of hate her, i didnt want to hate her

oh okay its a different weird leaf decor piece than the other one

oh yeah noah OKAY NOW youre starting to believe BUDDY you have faith issues