#i executed it 🤯

[sitizelter]

🩵Sky Full of Stars🩵

Loscar ♡ Pt.1

Pt. 1 out of idk how many parts. Let's hope I have enough mental capacity to make this a (long) series.

╰──────── ♡⁀➷ ────────╮

The 2023 season had ended a few weeks ago, and winter break had started. It's a long gap from November to March - and it always bugs Oscar.

Oscar flew back to Melbourne, while Logan's back in Florida. 15 hours timezone difference and a 15,000 km distance between the two countries.

╰──────── ♡⁀➷ ────────╮

Logan was sitting by his balcony, watching the sunset as he scrolled through his phone. Suddenly, his phone began to ring.

'Oscar', It showed at the top of his screen. Logan huffed and clicked on the notification.

"Loges!!" He's greeted by a brown-haired aussie, looks like the other was in his room.

"Oscar! This better be good, man, I'm tryna relax here!" Logan says with a laugh as he answers the call. It's always great seeing his stupid face. Even though it's the off-season, the aussie's probably bored out of his mind already in Melbourne while the sun is still out shining in Florida.

"What's up, mate? Miss me that much already?" He teases, leaning back in his lounger by the balcony. The view of the ocean is beautiful as the sun dips low on the horizon.

"Pfft, can't let your best mate give you a 'good morning' call every once in a while?" Oscar spoke as he set his phone down on his table.

"Oh right, you're in Florida. More like a 'good evening' call then?" He added on as he looked at himself in the mirror, adjusting his hair. Typical Oscar, always worried about his hair even on a casual video call.

"Yeah yeah, 'morning' for you, 'evening' for me," Logan replies with a smile.

"So what's really going on then? I know you too well, mate, you never call just to say hi. Missing the track already?" Logan takes a sip of water as he watches the colors of the sunset glowing off the ocean waves. Being back home is nice, but he does miss having Oscar around to keep him entertained during the long off weeks.

Oscar merely hummed at Logan's question, finally finishing up on his hair. A moment passes before he answers. "Ok, yeah, maybe I do miss yo- it. Miss it." He mutters out, taking the phone in his hand again.

Logan raises an eyebrow at Oscar's slight slip up. It's not like him to be unsure of what he's saying.

"Miss me, or miss it? There's a difference, mate." The american grins, hoping to get a rise out of him. "C'mon, out with it. You know you love having me around really."

"Oh, shut up." Oscar chuckles as he looks away from the screen for a second.

Hoping to divert the topic from whatever's really on his mind, Logan asks more lightheartedly, "So when are you coming to visit then, if you miss me - er, us - so much? I'm sure we can find some way for you to entertain yourself down here in Florida for a week or two over the break."

"Not sure when I can visit, to be honest. My dad wants me to stay around to help him with his warehouse, and I might be going back to MTC for some admin stuff." Oscar sighs out as he leans back against his chair.

"Aww, that's too bad." Logan tries to hide his disappointment at the news Oscar won't be able to visit. Winter break goes by slowly enough as it is.

An idea occurs to him. "What if I came to Melbourne then instead? I'm sure your dad could spare you for a weekend. You could show me around." Logan flashes Oscar a smile, hoping the prospect of having him as a guest might help change his dad's mind. Or at least give Oscar something to look forward to during his seemingly boring warehouse duties.

"C'mon, it'll be fun." Logan adds on with a whiny tone

"Pretty sure my mom won't mind you coming over. I mean, you're technically a special guest to the Piastri household already." Oscar spoke, snickering a bit.

"Hey, what can I say, your mom loves me," The other replies with a wink. Her cooking is definitely another bonus of visiting Melbourne.

Oscar sees the backdrop of Logan's screen getting darker.

"Are the stars visible tonight?" The aussie asks, his voice suddenly dropping an octane lower. Logan leans back to take a look.

"Yeah, you can start to see some of the brighter ones coming out," He tells Oscar.

There's a soothing quality to their evenings calls, watching the same stars and sunsets even from so far apart. Logan finds himself relaxing further into his lounger.

"It's cooler here too, so the view is really clear. I'll have to send you some photos later." An idea comes to him. "Maybe we could stargaze together when I visit. Find some good spots outside the city where it's really dark."

Oscar huffs out a soft laugh. "We can sit around the parking lot we used to go to when we were younger. The scenery there is really pretty, especially when the sun's down." Oscar speaks, his voice as if he was reminiscing about something - memories when the both of them were younger, more carefree.

A warm feeling comes over Logan as he remembers those nights with Oscar from their younger days. Sneaking out after dark to the empty parking lot, marveling at the sea of stars above with not another soul in sight.

It was there they first learned what truly mattered - their dreams, their friendship, the vastness of what laid beyond their sleepy suburb. Logan glances up at the sky, wondering if the same patterns have shifted across the heavens since those times.

"That parking lot... what I wouldn't give to see it with you again, mate." The american says softly. More than the view of stars, it's the company he cherishes most from those memories. "Just you, me, and infinity above. It's a date then, when I come visit. We'll watch the night sky like we used to."

The aussie's eyes glimmered as he looked at Logan from behind the screen. He smiled.

"Yeah, okay." He muttered.

"It's a date."

Logan returns Oscar's smile softly, strangely touched by his reply. Anticipation stirs within him at the promise of their date beneath the night skies, as if no time has passed at all.

"It's a date," Logan repeats quietly to himself with satisfaction.

Then, Oscar's phone beeped.

"Ah, shit. My phone's low on batt, call me when you wake up?" Oscar asks, you could see him scrambling around for his charger.

Logan shakes his head in amusement. He can't help but smile at his familiar antics. "Better go charge up then. Talk to you tomorrow, mate."

"Have a good rest of your day. Miss you."

Logan ends the call with a lingering sensation of fondness and warmth. Leaning back again, his eyes find the first evening stars appearing as if guided by memory. No doubt this visit to Melbourne will be one to remember.

╰──────── ♡⁀➷ ────────╮

[dooodle-bug]

Newly ascended god of the sacrificed, the betrayed, escapism, survival, revenge, rebirth, and most recently, death.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

Was Nie Mingjue qi deviating when he insulted JGY's mom, pushed him down the stairs, and tried to cut off his head? Bc those do not seem like the actions of a reasonable and just man in his right mind, but I've seen some people defending that bit recently and I wanted to check (I don't own the book, otherwise I would have looked myself lol)

- yunmeng-jiang

i'm really glad i haven't seen the posts defending nmj's conduct on the staircase lol. man. okay:

nmj is not qi deviating during that scene in the novel, no. jgy doesn't begin playing turmoil for nie mingjue until after the confrontation on the staircase (and i am not interested in relitigating this discourse again, anyone else who may see this and feel inclined to argue with me). so while i definitely feel that nmj's continued cultivation with baxia has influenced and more deeply entrenched his hatred and distrust of jgy, he is not qi deviating in that moment. his qi deviation happens at the martial conference about two to three months later, if i recall the timeline as laid out in the empathy flashback + wangxian's conversation with lan xichen.

which makes it worse in some respects, doesn't it. 😕

[ricoka]

It's so silly because everyone's journey is different and everyone's style is, but I sometimes wonder if I will ever get to a point where I'd be someone I'd enjoy or admire as an artist and if I would even realise, or does your view stay contorted, because it's your own art?

[akutasoda]

hotdog 🤯

Imagine Dazai with a reader who was once his friend before he became an executive, and left once he met chuuya. Only leaving a note claiming they had better things to do. Then when Dazai is in the ADA he sees them again and readers changed a lot and refused to speak to him. The only reason he gets is the past is in the past so stay there.

-🫛Anon!

better off in the past

synopsis - you decide a childhood friend should remain in your childhood

includes - dazai

warnings - gn!reader, angst no comfort, dazai's kinda scummy, wc - 2.6k

a/n: 🤯 - this is the new rewritten version as of 20/03!

taglist - @vi-chan07

you had met dazai when he was a scrawny boy that was around your age. you had caught a glimpse of him from the corner of your eye while you were out and the sight of him practically hunched over in an alley made you pity him. to you, he simply seemed like a child who had no friends and you were determined to change that.

sure his appearance was a little bit worse than it seemed from a distance - unkempt brown hair, bandages galore, and not to be rude but a rather weird taste in clothes, i mean what sort of child wore a full on suit - but you weren't to be deterred. you managed to slip away from any company you had and made your way over to the sketchy boy. some people may say you had absolutely zero spacial awareness but you had a feeling. he was a lonely child and you could sense no form of danger.

your cheery voice called out to him and he spun heel. it was a voice that really contrasted the cold, mocking words he'd hear on the day and so to say he was shocked would be accurate. he merely wished for a little while to himself. some time away from the horrors that awaited him back in the dreaded, looming building that was the port mafia base. sure an alleyway wasn't exactly a contrast but it was better than any stuffy room with the same brick. he didn't really expect anyone to notice him, or if they did they'd have more public awareness and choose not to disturb him. so seeing someone that willingly actually came and over to talk to him, left him surprised - he could've guessed if anyone did it would be a child that seemed to be his age maybe younger.

you would come to learn his off-putting appearance really wasn't a problem it was his off-putting attitude. when you first tried to introduce yourself or even get some kind of conversation out of the boy, you were just met with a cold hard silence as he stared you down. his gaze sort of made you feel small despite him seemingly being around the same age as you, maybe attempting to talk to him was a mistake. however if chhildren were known for one thing it would be a rather oblivious and joyfull nature which paired with you're unrelenting attitude would mean you eventually would earn a disinterested sigh and for the boy to finally stop glaring at you and ask you in a flat tone what you wanted.

you didn't really want to come off as rude, so in the nicest way possible you told him how you thought he looked so lonely and you wanted to change that.

dazai didn't take it as a nice senitiment. he instead took it as pity and he didn't want pity from someone like you. why you were so insistent on talking with him? it was now clear as day to him that you clearly had no sense of danger if you were talking to someone like him in an alley. he wanted to walk away anf leave, he truly had no business being with you but for some reason his body was betraying him. his legs stayed firmly rooted to the spot as you continued to try and strike conversation with him - to which he would eventually cave to. it wasn't much but to you it was an absolute triumph.

he would answer you witha few huffs or sighs and the most that you got out of him verbally was a command to leave him alone and after he spat those words out he finally got himself to turn and leave. you were slightly offended by his attitude but decided to not let it get the best of you, afterall he was a very weird boy in an alleyway - maybe it would've been weirder if he was nice. you decided then and there that if you ever saw him again you'd give him a piece of your mind. and you kept that promise. as not even a week later you found the strange boy and did exactly that. dazai still couldn't understand why he didn't just leave and instead still let you complain at him.

your second encounter with him wasn't much different from it's predecessor. you carried out a very one sided conversation with him - after you complained at him. and eventually he turned cold again, as if he was finally registering that he couldn't indulge in such encounters, before leaving. by the time you saw him a third time, it no longer seemed like a coincidental meeting as each time he was rooted to the exact same spot always looking like he was expecting you - if you ever brought any of that up he'd leave immediately but still show up again another time.

he reminded you of a stubborn cat, perhaps it would be too cruel to refer to the boy as a scrawy stray cat that took the affection he could tolerate before leaving again - now that you thought about you still didn't know his name. you had met him each week in the exact same spot about four times now and you still didn't know his name. it would be the fifth time, after you realised, where you finally pressed him for his name. he seemed hesitant to tell you at first but he very quickly said his name a bit quieter than you would've liked but you still caught it.

it was around the seventh meeting where you started designating him nicknames. you felt weirdly close to dazai after seven weeks of talking to him. sure if you told anyone else they probably would think he was some sort of imaginaring friend or be concerned that you were going insane and judge you but you could feel something between you and him. you knew very well it was one sided but you had hopes he too would eventually see you as a friend and make it less awkward for you - the same way all your conversations were practically one sided.

whenever you met with dazai, you'd tell him all about your day and any new ideas or thoughts you had/created. it may seem weird or a little bit crrepy that he liked listening to you but it made him feel normal. despite being roughly the same age you were so different to him. you lived a life of an actual child and you had a more nurturing upbringing than he had. so him hearing about your life made him imagine himself alongside it, he could imagine having the life you had and that made him feel happy.

he would listen diligently to your stories and day to day happenings and even made mental notes of anything that interested him so he could have a follow up next week. gradually, week by week he became less standoffish and eventually wouldn't always leave with a harsh tone. instead he started visibly lighting up if you called him your friend - much like a curious cat in your opinion.

and after experiencing almost all his harsh words and nature you still couldn't believe how he cut you off. dazai never told you about his life and you never really minded but you guess you probably should of taken that as a warning. you had no clue what kind of life he had and if anything by the fact you met him in an alley, it probably wasn't good. he didn't tell you he became a mafia executive and he had no plans on doing so, instead he planned to cut you off.

originally he just planned to disappear and so he started skipping weeks of seeing you but he really should've just stopped showing up. each and every time you saw him after a longer time of not seeing him, he would see the way your eyes visibly lit up and you always managed to coax him to stay and talk. but then he really started disappearing and became colder again, you hated it as he always dismissed any questions and it made you rather annoyed. you thought he'd atleast give you a reason but no, maybe that was too kind of an assumption. you felt bad about no longer being excited to see him but you always dismissed those feelings when you were reminded of how he now treated you.

so it didn't exactly surprise you when he stopped showing up. it had been atleast a month and you finally accepted you wouldn't see him again. it saddened you but you tried to not let it get to you especially after finding the note. you originally glossed over the scrumpled ball of paper on the floor where he normally stood, mere trash was all you thought it was but when you accidentally kicked it you saw splotches of ink and felt compelled to open it up.

you weren't surprised by it's contents in any way shape or form, if anything it stung slightly and made a bitter anger bubble inside of you. he clearly hadn't put a single thought into it and probably only did it as some sort of final show of how little the time he spent with you ment to him. the scrumpled piece of papersome tears in some places and had lazy, half finsihed strokes of ink on it that barely made out the message -

'don't look for me, my time is precious and needed somewhere more important and necessary'

and at the bottom was a scribble with a million lines through it. the name clearly crossed out but you knew. you thought you atleast deserved the decency of a signed note. sure it hurt you but if you were being honest you tried preparing yourself for this ever since he started not showing up.

dazai had always been half torn between writing you that note or actually having the confidence to face you in person and tell you. unfortunately, his deciding factor was chuuya. to him chuuya was much more useful to him, someone he saw himself actually getting along with instead of you - the lowly civillian that somehow managed to keep him meeting up with you. and so eventually he felt barely any remorse for not saying goodbye properly and he even considered scrapping the note but he thought you deserved some kind of finalality - he reckoned you'd still wait for him otherwise. and while he spent a lot of his time on missions with chuuya, his mind would still sometimes drift to you but never for too long. he didn't care that much. right?

you hadn't seen dazai for the rest of your childhood. you eventually came to not care in the slightest, some childhood friends leave along the way and that was inevitable and so you didn't think about what you could've done for him to change on you so suddenly. instead you focused on everyone and everything else in your life that actually made you feel happy. however your word's would contradict yourself when you still held onto the note. you didn't know why and you never thought about it too much.

however what you hadn't known was that dazai had come a long way and actually grew as a person. he would openly admit to himself that he wasn't exactly a welcoming or polite child, he was a menace who hurt those around him - fitting for the 'demon prodigy'. he could blame the mafia all he wabted but he knew it all come down to him at the end of the day.

his time in hiding after leaving the mafia did give him time to reflect on the people he hurt as a child. from those he didn't even know the names of, to those that he was actually close to. he was fully aware of his actions and it pained him knowing it toom the death of a very, very dear friend for him to realise this. how many people would he have to lose to become a better person? he still held very brief memories of you but only negative ones. he could remember how harsh he was, how dismissive he was of you, all because he didn't want to admit he enjoyed your presence.

somewhere along the line he would start to wonder if you'd ever get the chance to meet him now. working at the agency had made him realise many things and he was confident he was only going to keep growing as a better person. sure he was still far from perfect but atleast the him now wouldn't be as scummy and cowardly to leave a rather harsh note to stop you talking to him because he found someone else - he realises now you weren't some means of disposable company. if you had seen how much he had grown would you wantbto talk to him again? was it too out there for him to wish that he could make it right, to apologise properly? and the answer would be yes.

you still lived in yokohama and part of you used to worry about meeting dazai randomly in the streets but now you realise how silly that was. you never actually ever saw him after you found that letter, it was really like he vanished into thin air. he thought it was the luckiest day of his life when he spotted you in the distance. you obviously had grown older and looked slightly different but he could tell it was you and he wasn't going to let this chance go.

you felt the opposite. you thought it was the worst day when you heard someone call out to you just to turn around and see it was dazai. rather ironic in your eyes. again, obviously older but how could you really forget those brown locks and he still adorned bandages - less but still. after all these years you finally came face to face with the man who, as a child, was rather ruthless in cutting you off. not having the deceny to make it a smooth let down and you really couldn't imagine that kind of denial from someone that young.

you could tell he had a lot to say and based on his opening sentence you knew it would be an apology. unfortunately for him you didn't want an apology. you were over him as a friend and you didn't want to go back to being friends after all these years. some may call you petty but you thought it was justified. but he couldn't tell and all he could think about was finally telling you how much he thought about you lately, how much he felt he wronged you and if you would ever consider befriending him- your voice broke his thoughts and words. you told him point blank you didn't care anymore and he shouldn't either. it was time for him to let go aswell and realise you should stay in his murky past.

you wouldn't let the dejected look ln his face trick you as you simply told him that the past was the past and that was where he would stay. you advised him to do the same. it would be rather unhealthy for the both of you to continue a friendship from all those years ago that went so wrong. it didn't matter to you how much he changed and now you just wanted to get along with your life.

for the first time in ages, dazai really couldn't understand. after all these years he finally had the chance to set things right but he now knew that was too much to ask for. now he had to watch you walk away from him like he did to you all those years ago. except you had the decency to actually tell him in person.

[dreamings-free]

what success are you talking about? if it’s the sold out gigs that’s thanks to fans not his team, same with his number 1 album. what success does his big and almighty team bring to the table?

okay I’m taking the bait here.. but sweetie, you cannot be this fucking dense

who do think planned the entire album campaign, was it fans? every interview, every tv appearance, radio, press? the release schedule, production and distrubution, the entire marketing plan with billboards, video content, social media, advertising? who planned louis’ and his band and crew’s travel, hotels, meals to every place the did promo..? did fans do that?

did fans book the tours? figure out the locations, the schedule, the venue sizes, the travel, visas, permits? who booked the hotels, the tour buses, the transport of an enourmous production, instruments and gear, crew, catering? and everything that happened in between album and tours, like the AOTV release and premieres, the live stream events, the promo trip to latam, the live album campaign, FEQW and AFHF? who booked all the festivals? fans did that??

wtf do you even think an artist's management does? that they're just there for the parties? for the love of f… go read this article, this article and every article on this site too until you understand in your tiny brain the unbelievable amount of work and people it takes to plan and execute the business that is louis tomlinson - and any other artist of that size. and stop coming at me with this nonsense lmao

but honestly I kinda hope you're some troll because otherwise.. 🤯

[blackbat05]

Unexpected Refuge

Detective! Joaquin x Bookstore Owner! Reader

Plot: Your book store is a place of refuge for those seeking knowledge, and shelter?

Genre: PG-13

A/N: K-drama giving me ideas once again. Also SDCC 2024 announcements?!!! Just blew my mind🤯 Excuse me for the poor execution, really wrote this on a whim. Also realized that Joaquin was a character I wrote before I went into a mental health crisis😂 How time flies~ (Tag update because I am a nuisance: @tom-whore-dleston)

The man pants heavily as he darts into the nearest alley. Shouts of anger and thinly veiled threats were getting closer. He’s proud of his stamina but he can’t keep running away from them. He needs to recover his energy.

But where?

A light shines up ahead and without a second thought, the man races towards what could be his potential temporary safehouse.

Bang!

There were no customers inside. Just plenty of books, and a wide-eyed woman blinking at the hurricane of a man that just stormed her store.

He hurriedly digs into the inside of his coat, showing his credentials.

“I’m so sorry, my name is Joaquin Torres. I’m a Detective and it may sound crazy to you but I’m being chased by a group of Gangsters and I could really use some shelter.” His plea comes out in rapid fire.

The poor woman takes a quick look at his badge and for a brief moment, Joaquin believed that she was going to toss him to the dogs.

“This way.” She leads him further into the store and opens a latch on the floor that leads to storage. “In here!” She commands with urgency.

As soon as Joaquin is safely tucked away, she locks the latch and places stacks of books on top of it. The door flies open and the same Gangsters rowdily burst into the store. Joaquin feels a tinge of guilt. He can’t imagine how her store must be tossed upside down thanks to him.

What he didn’t expect was the woman holding her ground and demanding the Gangsters to leave as they apparently ruined one of her newest books that was just bought in.

“And stay out!” She screeches before flipping the sign to inform customers that they were closed for the day.

“Um…” The woman reverts back into her bashful form that Joaquin was amazed at her acting skills. “They’re gone. You can come out now.” The door opens and she helps Joaquin out.

“Thank you.” Joaquin doesn’t know what else to add. His shoes are suddenly very interesting.

“I thought you were lying about being a cop.” Her voice is soft and gentle, causing the insides of his stomach to do a couple of flips. “I guess not. Those guys were scary.” The tension breaks and Joaquin grins at her becoming flustered at the attention he was giving her.

“You can stay here for a while more. To make sure.” She offers.

Joaquin really wanted to. But if he didn’t get back to the precinct. Sam will have his ass.

“I would love to but my partner’s waiting for me. I should probably go.”

She nods in understanding, “Of course. Be careful.” The two walk to the door and she pops her head out to make sure that the coast was clear. She smelled like berries and vanilla.

“Coast clear, officer.”

He liked the way it sounded on her lips. He didn’t want it to be the last time.

“Um… would you like to have dinner sometime?”

She raises her eyebrows in question and Joaquin hurriedly explains, “It’s not what you think! I just wanted to thank you for today. Really. You saved my life. Not many people do that. I usually do most of the saving- I guess I should shut up now.” He observed her amused expression as he continued to ramble.

“Sure. I know a great steak place.”

***

“Hey Barnes! Torres here has a date! Any tips?” Captain Sam Wilson, loud as ever whenever he felt like heckling his best friends follows Joaquin around like a wart on his foot.

“Leave the man alone, Sam.” James Barnes gives him the middle finger. Cool blues turning to Joaquin, “Just be yourself. Everything will be fine.”

Yeah, not exactly reassuring either.

The old fashioned way it is.

Joaquin finds himself standing in front of your bookstore with a bouquet of roses in his hand. He catches your eye and you give him a sign to give you a couple more minutes as you cleaned and locked up the place for the night.

“Thanks for waiting!” You rushed out in sunflower colored dress, looking radiant. He swears his heart thumped loudly against his chest. “I was surprised to get your call.”

“Well, I made a promise.” Joaquin leads the way to the Steak Restaurant where you had the absolute time of your life chatting with the boyish detective in front of you.

“Oh my god! That really happened?” You laughed, tears forming in your eyes. “It seems to be like a recurring thing going on in your team.”

The two of you headed down the street after that sumptuous meal. Your hair is tousled all over the place and you feel like you’ve just ate a whole cow, but Joaquin doesn’t take his attention of you for a second.

As he recounts another mishap during a undercover mission with Sam, a wolf whistle rings through the air and a figure, no- three of them appear from the dark alley, each looking more menacing then the other.

Joaquin’s mind kicks into overdrive instantly and feels you tense up against beside him. He instinctively moves forward to shield you from them. But they’re not blind.

“Look who we found… Detective Joaquin Torres and oh! I see you got company.” The middle one leers at you and Joaquin has the urge to punch it off his face. You give his hand a squeeze, as if to reassure him to do whatever he needs to do to get these suckers.

As quickly and quietly as possible, you take out your pepper spray and ball your fist to conceal it from them.

“How is it that you three assholes show up at the most inconvenient timing?” Joaquin distracts them.

They smirk at each other and Joaquin lunges forward to take the middle and left man onto the ground, leaving the last as easy prey for you to pepper spray him to your heart’s content.

What you didn’t expect was the man to wildly brandish a pocket knife, nicking you in the process as he swings it around.

“Ah!” You hissed loudly, clutching your left hand. Joaquin immediately turns his attention to you and swiftly takes the third man down with ease.

He dials in a number and police cars arrive in no time to take the men away. Joaquin jogs over to you while a uniformed policewoman helps to bandage your hand.

“Let me.” He smiles and thanks his colleague for the efforts and works on finishing the job in silence. You can’t read minds, but you could guess.

“Hey, it’s not your fault.” You reassure him.

Joaquin doesn’t say anything. He lets out a small exhale. So you try again.

“In fact, I feel pretty badass. Don’t you think?” You gently pry your hand away and show him your now bandaged hand proudly, grinning from ear to ear.

“Torres!”

The Captain jogs over, giving a pat on his back. “Came as quickly as I could. Everything alright?”

“Yeah. Thanks Sam.” Joaquin reassures. Sam nods, his gaze falling onto you.

“This is the girl you couldn’t stop talking about?”

“Ok, Sam. Stop.” Joaquin pleads, trying to push him as far away from you without much success.

“He was asking me how to impress you! Hey? I didn’t get your name though!” Sam yells over his shoulder, making you laugh at their antics.

“Y/N! I’ll see you around Sam!”

“Oooh I like her already, don’t fuck up Torres.”

“Leave!” Joaquin has to push Sam into the car and makes his way back to you, looking sheepish.

“Sorry, about that. Sam can’t seem to keep his mouth shut.”

A pocket of silence fills the air and you have to know.

“You were trying to impress me?”

Joaquin blinks. He momentarily opens his mouth and comically looks like a fish out of water. “Did it work?”

“Well…” You pretend to tap your chin carefully and Joaquin squirms in his shoes a little. “You impressed me the moment you came bursting into my store seeking for shelter.”

You laugh at Joaquin’s groan. “Not the answer that I was expecting.”

You give him a peck on the cheek and Joaquin momentarily freezes. “Is that a better answer?”

He holds his hand to the cheek that you just left a kiss on. For a moment, you’re scared that you’ve fried Joaquin’s internal circuits to respond coherently. But he breaks into a foolishly but adorably big smile.

Joaquin holds you by the waist and brings you closer to him and gives you a kiss of his own that leaves you spinning senseless.

“One hundred percent.”

[gremlingottoosilly]

Lol im waiting till that one time konig’s expensive gifts DOESNT work and hes stressing sm about it.

Hes minds just🤯😱😱😱😨😰😰🫣🫣😵‍💫😵‍💫.

Hes main language is gift giving and acts of service. Hes terrible at communication. He means well but it really doesnt mean THAT well when he executed it wrong and at the worst time possible.

Yes!! You get it!! I don't see him as toxic or abusive - besides obviously kidnapping and forcing you into marriage, he is trying to accommodate for you as much as he can. The problem is that he...really can't do much. He loves you, and wants you to see it the way he sees it - so, there are gifts, and cool trips when he is on leave, it's fixing your stuff and providing for your every need, except for emotional ones. If you're having an argument, he is the type of guy to just get out of the house, drive in the town for an hour, and return with a bunch of flowers, chocolate, wine, and everything of sorts, trying to win you back like this. Ironically, this is the closest he can get to actually giving you space during and after an argument. He is extremely stubborn and close-minded in a lot of circumstances. He might not understand, for example, that his comments about how helpless you are, how weak and dumb his wifey is, can make you feel horrible - he just wants to empathize how much he likes to provide for you!! He would eventually beg for forgiveness, but only if you're using silent treatment - every other way, your words are just splashing off his armor and he cradles you in his arms like a teddy bear again.

[lovewillthaw-j]

Something about Tai Lung's death bugs me.

Later, over breakfast:

Shifu: So Po, tell me all about it. How did you defeat Tai Lung? And is he safely back in prison?

Po: (beaming with pride) No master, I used the Wuxi finger hold and obliterated him. He's gone forever!

Shifu: (horrified) YOU DID WHAT???!!!!

You KILLED HIM? You said you defeated him! I never taught you to KILL anyone! The good guys can't kill their enemies in this kid-friendly film! We never actually use the forbidden Wuxi finger hold on anyone! And he was my adopted son! I'll never ever get to see him again or get to hope that he'll repent and turn good!!

Po didn't kill Tai Lung in self defense. He wilfully executed the Wuxi finger hold on a weakened TL 🤯

[girlactionfigure]

A very powerful message from Hillel Fuld:  I really don’t think you understand the absolute miracles that we witnessed last night here in Israel. In fact, I am sure you don’t. Let’s break this down. Israel has three air defense systems, each one of them a technological wonder and that’s not me saying it. That’s Dr. Gold who basically invented the Iron Dome who told me that. The level and sophistication of the Iron Dome is simply unparalleled. But the Iron Dome only knows how to detonate short range rockets or missiles within a 70 km range, give or take.  Then Israel has the David’s Sling system. That knows how to deal with mid range missiles up to approximately 300 km.  Then we have the Arrow system that literally detonates missiles that can fly outside of the earth’s atmosphere. That has a range of about 2,400 km!! 🤯 Last night, as Iran rained down ballistic missiles on Israel, all three defense systems were activated and implemented to perfection. The chances of all of these incredibly complex systems working in unison as flawlessly as they did last night, are basically non existent. If one thing went wrong, if one of those ballistic missiles hit an apartment building, a shopping center, or an army base, we would now be burying hundreds of Israelis.  And all of that is not even the biggest miracle.  A few hours ago, I got a WhatsApp message from a good friend who is a senior executive at Microsoft and who wasn’t exactly a God fearing Jew. Until yesterday.  Here is what he wrote me.  “If you’re looking for miracles man - last night I started believing. Missiles hit all around me but none of them hit my house or any house, for that matter.” He elaborated some more and shared info about the missiles that he watched land just meters away from very strategic places in Israel, to say the least.  Each one of those defense systems is, in and of itself, pretty miraculous, but what is even more insane is the low casualty numbers from the rockets and missiles that we’re NOT intercepted.  Where did those missiles go? I’ll tell you where. They landed in sand, in water, and in “Empty spaces”.  Have you been to Israel? It’s a microscopic country. What empty spaces? Where are these empty spaces? 🤷‍♂️ How have hundreds of Iranian ballistic missiles all either get detonated by miraculous systems or totally miss their mark and land in empty spaces causing zero casualties and minimal damage?!   How?? Listen, I get it. This thought process begs the question, where was God during the horrible terrorist attack yesterday? Where was He on October 7th? Where was He during the holocaust?  All valid questions that require a very serious nuanced conversation.  But if you know anything about what had to happen last night and throughout this war in general, for such a low number of casualties, you’ll know that what we witnessed last night was the equivalent of God splitting the sea right before our eyes.  Guess what. When God split the sea, there were those who didn’t believe it was a miracle and didn’t jump in. And there are also those who feel the need to explain it naturally. Ok, that’s fine.  You don’t want to call yesterday an act of God? That’s your choice, but like my Microsoft friend, if you look at these events objectively, you’d have a really hard time seeing those hundreds of deadly missiles land in empty spaces and not see the hand of God.  Last night was an incredible display of the collaboration between two of the powers that protect the Jewish people: The IDF and Hashem.  Last night will go down in history right alongside many of Israel’s accomplishments in this war including the beepers and the unprecedented low ratio between combatant and civilian, as a military operation the likes of which the world has never seen. Ever! Last night will be analyzed by military strategists and experts for generations.  Last night, we witnessed history.  Last night we witnessed open miracles.  Last night, we witnessed God in all His glory watching over His children.

[gggoldfinch]

Fuck it. Springtime is my TUA season. I’m gonna try to revisit it with some finality in mind

Now I wanna finish writing Something Good 🚶🏻‍♀️(<-walk of shame)

[meet-me-backstage]

🜸

𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 🎸 Virgin!Eddie Munson x Fem!reader

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 🎸 You play at the Hideout with your band, Stake For My Valentine, every night - you’re considered the metal queen of the bar and your band are the rulers of the roost, famously loved by the Hideout’s local drunks. However, when a band named Corroded Coffin land their first gig there the sparse crowd warm quickly to the unique and awkward charm of the leading metal head, Eddie Munson.

However, you don’t warm to him so easily - in fact, you don’t warm to him at all. Eddie, on the other hand, worships the ground you walk on and doesn’t hesitate to make it known and leads to a cold rejection from you.

Band rivalry occurs - you vs. Eddie, Stake For My Valentine vs Corroded Coffin.

You hate each other… but one night everything changes when a plan is created and executed by yours and Eddie’s bandmates with the intention of bring you two together and harmony between your bands.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊-𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕, 𝒔𝒎𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈!

𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 🎸 bad language, angst, mention and consumption of drugs, mention and consumption of alcohol, some perv!eddie, blood, mention of blood, sexual innuendos, Eddie wearing eyeliner bcuz damn😍, some typical bar fight drunkard violence and SMUT so you must be 18+ to read this mini series‼️

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 🎸 10.4K words 🫢

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 🎸 bad language, mention of and consumption of alcohol, mention of drugs, mention of smut, Eddie being a perv teehee and finally some smut between Eddie and reader guys (they kinda give exhibitionist vibes in this part) 👀🤭🤯

𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠!

𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! <𝟑

⇜ 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 • 𝟐𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 • 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓

Daggers, pins, needles - the painful sensation of their sharp, pointed edges is exactly what you feel right now.

Small stabbing and repeated pokes is what wakes you up from your deep and dreamless slumber.

Your nose twitches at an unfamiliar smell. The smell of your favorite rose scented perfume mixed with the polish that you use to clean your electric guitar is absent from your nostrils. What you could smell was an overwhelming odour of sweat and dirty laundry. Your eyes flicker open and for a few seconds your vision is blurry, blinded by the light shining through a window.

Rocket curtains?

This isn’t my room.

Where am I?

What happened last night?

Your eyes continue to wander the room. Drum sticks and manuscript papers are scattered around and there is a ridiculous amount of drum kit paraphernalia on the walls, on top of the closet, on a desk. Piles of clothes were spread across the black carpeted floor… that explains the smell.

‘Löded Diper’ is messily written in black paint on a mirror that is hung up on the wall opposite the bed you’re laying in. You also recognise the rocket patterned wallpaper and realise that there is only one person that this room could belong to.

You groan at the realisation that you’re in the armpit that is Rodrick’s bedroom… again.

A loud snore takes you aback and you abruptly turn to face the noise.

Rodrick. His mouth is hung open, bottom lip drooping down to the slide closest to his pillow and his head is leaning backwards slightly, emphasising his Adam’s apple.

You quickly lift up the duvet and let out a dramatic, relieved sigh because - whew, thank god I’m not naked. But you’re only wearing an oversized black shirt that you do not recognise and definitely does not belong to you, and your underwear. The shirt has ‘Löded Diper’ roughly written on it, Rodrick’s band name, with what looks like white chalk that Rodrick probably took from the dart scoreboard beside the bar downstairs.

“Whuh a-re - you doooing?” You hear Rodrick mumble into his pillow, he yawns immediately after and opens his eyes once before scrunching them shut again because he hasn’t quite adjusted to the light just yet.

“What am I wearing?” You ask bluntly, pushing the duvet off of your top half completely.

Rodrick’s eyes blink open, still strained, they wander down your face, to your neck and then to your chest, “The hottest shirt in Hawkins,” A smug smile tugs at his lips while he speaks in a morning grumble.

You shoot him a piercing glare.

“What?” He mumbles, closing his eyes and nuzzling his face back into his pillow.

“I think I’d remember if I was wearing this piece of crap last night,” you state with sarcasm, knowing that your criticism of his handmade band merchandise would wake him up in an instant.

He shoots you a playful glare now, though it is half as effective as yours because one of his eyes is hidden into his pillow, “Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this mornin-.”

“Afternoon,” you cross your arms, nodding at the alarm clock on his bedside table.

His slants his neck upwards, revealing his other eye and some small stains on his pillow from the smudged remnants of his eyeliner. He takes a sheepish glance at the same alarm clock, “Afternoon,” he sighs, rubbing his eyes.

You cross your arms, raising your brows while looking down on him, “How did I get here? How did this-,” you pinch some of the fabric of the shirt between your fingers, “get on me? And where are my clothes?”

Rodrick audaciously responds with a ballsy and tired grin. He takes another look at his shirt that you donned, “I can’t believe you’ve reached your age and don’t know how a shirt works, Vamp. ‘S pretty easy, you lift your arms and put them through the two holes on the side, then you put your head through the bigger hol-.”

“Say one more word, Rodrick - I double fuckin’ dare you,” you state sassily, leaning yourself downward and over his top half, your face is aligned with his.

His eyes gleam up at you, “So you don’t want to know what happened last night?” He bites his lips together.

You grunt, rolling your eyes at his question, “I do, but I want a clear explanation - cut the fuckin’ riddles and avoiding my questions with lousy comebacks. What - happened - after - my - gig?”

“You really wanna know?” He asks, amused, but with an undertone of wariness that makes you even more intrigued… and your brows to sweat because- what the hell did I do?

You gulp, “Y-yes.”

Rodrick brings a hand up to his forehead, pinching his skin between his fingers while in deep thought. He bites his lips together to hold in a laugh before taking a deep breath and revealing his tired face to you, “Let’s just say that it was - bad for you, good for the Battle of The Bands competition.” You glare at him. “Okay, okay. You kinda jumped off of the stage after your gig, I got you a couple‘a drinks and you spent the entire evening telling everyone how you ‘need’ Eddie Munson.”

You look at him questioningly, “What?”

Rodrick chuckles nervously. You tilt your head to the side in response to him. “You got on the bar and declared your title of ‘Queen Vamp of the Hideout’ to everyone. Everything was ‘bullshit’, ‘bullshit’, ‘bullshit’. Corroded Coffin - ‘bullshit’, Eddie Munson - ‘bullshit’. You called your fans assholes if they even think about going to Corroded Coffin’s gig tonight and then a minute later you just broke down - ‘I need Eddie Munson’ - ‘I need him��!” Rodrick mimics your voice.

You grind your teeth together while also furrowing you’re brows, desperately trying to recall any of what Rodrick had just told you, but all you could remember was swinging your Pink Special over your shoulder, hugging a few of your fans, stumbling towards the booth that Rodrick was sat in and then… blank.

“I don’t remember any of that.” He raises his brows at you while you ramble passionately. He has an amused expression on his face that makes you stop and question your entire existence. You bring your hands to your face and try to cover every one of your features while you writhe with embarrassment. There’s a few moments of silence before you bring your fingers down, uncovering your eyes, “What happened after that?”

Rodrick continues to stare at you with a questioning look in his dark under-circled eyes, “Er - well - they looked pretty shocked - and then they sorta-,” he scratches his forehead, “laughed.”

Your face falls with astonishment, “They - laughed - at me?” You can’t believe it. To hear that the dedicated followers of your music, people that had been so loyal to you since the very first step you took on the stage downstairs, had betrayed you - it hurt like stabs to the back.

“Pfft, not like that, Vamp - it’s just - I think they were shocked because you’re always so cool around them, y’know?” He reasons with you in an unusually high pitched voice, “If anything I think they appreciated seeing you let your guard down for once.”

You shake your head with a sigh, bringing a hand to your forehead and rubbing at your skin with force, “This is all your fault - now Corroded Coffin really are just gonna get the Halloween gig without any scheme or competition because I called all my fans assholes!”

“Er - I’m not the one that went batshit last night, Vamp - that was all you.”

Your glare at Rodrick gets harder and harsher, “Oh yeah? How much drink did you give me?”

“I can’t remember - quite a lot, but you seemed sorta pissed off about something so I thought that it might… help.”

“Help? Help me what? Make a damn fool of myself?” You scoff, chuckling sarcastically.

“No, no - I thought it might - I dunno - calm you down or - unleash - you looked so tense after the gig - so I let you drink? So what? We smoke weed at every soundcheck so what’s the big deal?”

“You think shoving a swimming pool’s worth of vodka down my throat until I black out is the answer to all my problems, huh?” You spit with attitude while he stares back at you with big eyes because he’d never seen you this angry. Yes, he’d pissed you off before, but you often brushed him off or sent him a playful glare because nothing he’d done previously had damaged your reputation or caused you to lose control like he had let happen last night.

“You wouldn’t even talk to me,” he mutters lowly with frustration clear in his voice.

“Boo-fuckin’-hoo, Rodrick - what has that got anything to do with you?”

Rodrick shrugs, seemingly unable to speak for himself or his lack of action last night to save you from public humiliation. “It worked, didn’t it?” he mutters under his breath, shrugging after and pursing his lips as if you meant nothing to him.

Your mouth falls open at his words, the selfishness of them, “So you actually think that - what? Just because you’re fucking me you have a free pass to all my thoughts and feelings? You have an automatic right to see everything going on in my head? I’m fine, Rodrick - see? You could’ve just asked.”

“You clearly weren’t fine last night, Vamp,” Rodrick states with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but his stare on you gets more intense with each word.

You stare back at him, matching his intensity, “Welllllll, if you were so worried about me, what exactly did you do to stop any of this from happening?”

A few seconds of silence pass while you both glare at each other harshly, “I figured that if anyone should be helping you, it should be your other boyfriend, Eddie - y’know, since you need him so much.”

You struggle to hold in the groan that was aching to leave your mouth. Instead, you bring your hands up to your face, your fingers pressing just slightly into your eyes to relieve the urge to punch him, “You’re not my boyfriend, Rodrick - and Eddie sure as hell isn’t my boyfriend either,” your hands drop down to your lap with a pillowy thud, “I hate him.”

“That’s not what you were saying last night,” Rodrick responds with doubt and sarcasm towards you.

You roll your eyes while letting out a frustrated exhale before opening your mouth to defend yourself, but the sound of a cymbal crashing downstairs interrupts you.

The sound is close to deafening and lasts for five seconds before you are met with silence, which you take as an opportunity to try getting your words, but again, you are silenced by a loud drum roll.

“What’s going on?!” You do your best to shout over the noise.

Rodrick shrugs before shouting lazily, “I dunno - practicing probably!”

You grunt loudly before abruptly jumping off of the bed. You spot your clothes from last night laid messily on a random chair opposite the bed and grab them, followed by leaving Rodrick’s room with heavy stomping sounds each time your bare feet collide with the floor.

“Where are you going, V? We need to talk!” Rodrick calls after you, desperation clear in his voice.

“Later!” You shout back nonchalantly before soldiering on through your mission to put a stop to Corroded Coffin’s band practice, completely disregarding the fact that the shirt you’re wearing barely covers your underwear.

You mutter angrily under your breath as you sprint down the stairs, missing a few steps on your way which makes you slam into the wall a few times, but the frustration completely overrides the pain that you feel, especially after learning about what had apparently happened last night.

Maybe I do need the competition… but I certainly never intended to tell anybody, let alone an entire bar of people who worship me and my music, people who I have to keep up a reputation for… I’m supposed to be their queen of metal and I let them all down last night, and it all started when Eddie Munson and his band of nobodies decided to wander into the Hideout on a random, cold Friday night.

I hate him.

I hate him.

I hate hi-

Eddie’s voice is clear once you reach the door leading to the bar at the bottom of the staircase so you hastily decide to hide behind it and listen.

“Let’s start from the chorus,” Gareth suggests.

“Sure thing!” Eddie chirps eagerly in response, his enthusiasm briefly reminding you of when you first formed Stake For My Valentine.

You peek between the door and doorframe, seeing Eddie excitedly fiddling with some wires and his guitar. His tongue is tensed and gently rested on his bottom lip and his eyes are extremely focused, zeroed in on his microphone - he looks kinda sweet, you think, but that thought is quickly shaken away with a small shake of your head.

“You ready, Eddie?” Jeff asks.

“Yup, ready - ready,” Eddie nods for a few seconds before throwing his head forward and strumming an angelic sounding E major chord, which you assume is a signal for Gareth because he starts to count by hitting his drum sticks together before hitting a rhythm on the snare and crashing both sticks onto the cymbals. Eddie throws his head back up, making his long hair flow elegantly in the air and his bangs to fall over his forehead and eyes messily, “I fuckin’ hate that bitch!”

Your face falls and your jaw drops as he sings into the microphone, holding it gently between both his hands.

“Cause she takes and she takes - she won’t give in - and they love and they love but - I - I-,” the lyrics are sung by Eddie in a sort of slurred and smooth way, rolling off of his tongue almost seductively… almost. He shakes his head as he plucks the wrong string, “This is so - stupid - I can’t do it. She’ll kill me if she hears this tonight, can we just scratch it from the setlist completely?”

What makes him so sure that I’ll be at his gig tonight?

Gareth let’s his hands fall with the drumsticks still grasping them in defeat, the tips of the sticks hit the snare and ride cymbal on their way down, “‘He’s just a loser with a guitar’… do you really think that that’s not about you?”

Eddie shakes his head, his face scrunching up in confusion, “I know, I know it is-,” he turns himself around to face away from you to be face to face with the rest of his band.

“And she didn’t give a shit that you heard her lyrics about you,” Gareth argues.

Eddie lifts the hand that had been wrapped around the neck of his guitar and raises his pointy finger by his face, “But it was Rodrick who read them out for everyone to hear, not Vamp.”

“So what?” Gareth asks with furrowed brows and a shrug of his shoulders.

Eddie mirrors Gareth’s actions by shrugging his shoulders too, “I dunno, man-.”

Gareth rolls his eyes at the conflict that Eddie was fighting in his head about whether or not to add the song he’d written about you to Corroded Coffin’s setlist to play in front of an entire audience to hear, “Oh c’mon, Eddie - you have to agree that she needs to be taken down a peg or twenty-five… she walks all over you like you’re a dirty rug or somethin’ and you’ve gotta do something about it.”

You squint your eyes at Gareth through the crack that you’ve been peeking through and quietly scoff at his harsh words.

Eddie stays silent, he’s clearly still fighting himself, judging by his fidgeting, but you still can’t see his face.

“I say we take a vote,” Gareth suggests, now looking between Jeff and Travis, who look just as bewildered as you imagine Eddie is looking right now. They eventually nod, apart from Eddie, who stays frozen on the spot, “Okay, hands up for Bitch in Boots and Fishnets to not be played at the show tonight,” Gareth speaks, keeping his hands firmly glued to his lap.

Eddie thrusts his arm up in the air enthusiastically, but the rest of his body is slouched in defeat.

Jeff and Travis exchange nervous looks at each other, like they are debating through eye contact, or urging the other to make the first move.

Jeff slowly raises his hand, only for Gareth to shoot him a glare, “Sorry, G. I’m all for knocking Vamp down a peg, but this just feels a little too harsh.”

Gareth avoids eye contact with Jeff, “Whatever, dude.”

“Sorry,” Jeff apologises again in a mumble, lowering his head for a moment of thought before lifting it again, “I just have a feeling that it’ll cause more harm than good when I only want for all members of Corroded Coffin and Stake For My Valentine to get along - surely there’s another way to get Vamp on board with us without adding fuel to the fire.”

Eddie slides his hand behind his neck, scratching it, which causes his head to turn so that you can momentarily see his face. He looks entirely skeptical and so does Gareth, who chooses to completely ignore Jeff’s advice.

“We’ve tried to be nice - Eddie has tried to be nice… I think it’s time to give her a taste of her own medicine - see how she likes being messed with… it’ll also give us an advantage in this Battle of The Bands thing,” Gareth states matter of factly with a hint of excitement in his voice before sighing, then nodding, “Those in favor of playing Bitch in Boots and Fishnets tonight, raise a hand,” Gareth has his arm raised while he speaks, and, like a puppy, Travis follows and lifts his arm too. Gareth then looks between Jeff and Eddie, hoping that they’d changed their minds, only for them to keep their hands at their sides.

Eddie looks entirely relieved, his body visibly relaxes. “I guess we’re even then, which is probably for the best because the song isn’t even finished yet and - I - I don’t think I can do it… especially if Vamp is here tonight,” he rambles, avoiding eye contact with all of his band-mates and staring down at his guitar instead.

A dumbfounded Gareth blinks at Eddie, “Bullshit. We all saw your lyric book this morning - we only saw the title but you always fold the pages of songs that are finished.”

Eddie brings a hand to his face, caressing his cheekbones with his thumb and index finger, “I know I know I know - Jesus H. Christ - I was writing all night and I must’ve just mistakenly left it out… and yeah - I was - angry - yesterday-.”

“You don’t say,” Gareth interjects.

“I was angry-,” Eddie repeats, looking at Gareth over his hand that stretched across his face above his nose, “after finding out that Vamp had written shitty things about me, and maybe I started writing it because I wanted to get back at her for that and for practically fucking Rodrick in my face, but then I - I started-bringing-other-sorta-resurfaced-feelings-into-it-that-I-don’t-want-her-knowing-about, m’kay?” Eddie stares intensely between the three boys stood with him, he spoke the words so fast that they practically had no gap between them and you could hardly pick up on what he had said.

Whatever Eddie had said, Jeff, Gareth and Travis’ mouths had fallen agape in response.

“You still- after the way that she’s treated you in the last week?” Gareth asks in disbelief with a hushed voice so that all you can hear are mumbles.

Eddie lifts his shoulders up, making his neck completely disappear, “I know I shouldn’t, but I guess crushes as big as the one I had on her don’t just go away - even after she calls you a loser,” he mutters loud enough for his friends to hear, but not you.

All of his friends are silent around Eddie, digesting more incoherent words from where you are hidden.

Jeff, Gareth and Travis exchange looks between each other, it’s hard to tell what they are thinking, but it visibly puts Eddie on edge, because he shakes his head and nervous laughter leaves his lips.

Your hand starts to ache from holding your body weight up against the door, your eyes are hurting from having to squint so hard to catch a glimpse of the band on the other side of the door and, quite frankly, you are getting bored of not being able to hear what they are talking about… you can only guess that they are talking about Rodrick because they don’t know that you’re only a few metres away, let alone that you’re in the building.

“We’re not, I repeat, we’re not playing my song tonight and nothing - nothing you do or say will change my mind about it,” Eddie, very seriously declares, his voice returning to the volume it had been before he started whispering, enabling you to hear.

You take a deep breath, straighten your back and grip onto the door handle before putting on your best smirk.

The latch of the door clicks as you press downward onto the handle and swiftly open the creaky door, immediately gaining the attention of all four of the Corroded Coffin boys. You fight the urge not to hysterically laugh because all of their faces are priceless at your very sudden, very unexpected reveal.

You walk in, still smugly smirking with your hand raised and your eyes honed in on Eddie, whose jaw has dropped so much that, if he wasn’t careful, could catch a bunch of flies. His chocolaty brown eyes are almost as wide as his mouth is open and, just like his entire body that is facing you now, they are completely focused on you.

You’re so focused on him that you notice the way his pupils dilate when he breaks eye contact and trail down to your red panties that peek a little from underneath Rodrick’s shirt while you walk towards him. Eddie’s gaze is so intense, almost predatory, that you can’t help but feel vulnerable under it, especially as his eyes trail further down to your bare thighs - you’d never been so scrutinised before, it causes goosebumps to form all over you and you feel your breath catch in your throat.

Not even Rodrick has looked at you the way Eddie is looking at you now - and Rodrick has seen you naked… but something tells you that you wouldn’t have been as affected anyway if it had been Rodrick stood in Eddie’s place right now.

It takes you a few moments to regain your composure, though your legs still feel like jelly because he continues to ravenously gaze at you like you’re his last meal.

It’s not until you clear your throat that he seems to snap out of the trance he’s under, his eyes travel back up your body and land on the ‘Löded Diper’ logo written across your chest - you notice him exhale through his nose at the sight of it.

The excitement in his eyes leaves in the moment that he realises exactly where you’d been the entire night… and doing god knows what with Rodrick. He pictures all of the positions that he could only dream of having you in and feels his hands start to get so clammy with sweat that he wipes his palms aggressively on the thighs of his black ripped jeans.

You keep your hand raised as you come to a stop about a metre away from the raised platform that all four of the Corroded Coffin boys are stood on. The smug smirk is still evident on your lips, “Doesn’t my vote count? Y’know, since the song is about me.”

Eddie freezes, his hands glued to his thighs. The only part of him that moves are his eyes, which look down at you through his long and dark lashes, “N-no?” He stutters questioningly, it’s as if he can’t believe that you’re here, like you’re a ghost or a figment of his imagination. He suddenly stands up straight, wipes his forehead with his wrist and undoes his blue denim jacket, which you can tell has seen better days, and chucks it to the side.

You drag your eyes away from his, looking him up and down before catching a glimpse of the ‘Black Sabbath’ t-shirt he had been hiding under the jacket.

Fine - maybe he really was the boy that approached me at the lockers back in 7th grade… just with way more hair and a lot taller. Maybe he was being nice that day and maybe he was really just looking for a friend and happened to see the magazine cut out of Black Sabbath in my locker… but so what? It doesn’t mean that I have an obligation to like him now.

We’ve changed.

If we couldn’t see eye to eye then, then we most definitely cannot see eye to eye now… right? Right. I mean, for the love of Ozzy Osbourne, we’ve written songs about how much we hate each other… we can’t undo that… but I might as well hear it and maybe… just maybe - really listen to his words… perhaps I could - I dunno - take on board a few of ‘em… if he makes any good points that is.

You pout, blinking up at him, trying to ignore the fact that he’s towering over you by a foot because of the platform he’s stood on and you are face to face with his crotch. You notice the slight tent in his jeans by the fly - lucky me, you think sarcastically, but you can’t help but look for a second longer than you should because - hey, it’s right there. “That’s such a shame, Munson - I was so hoping to hear it tonight,” the hand that you had raised drops with a thud to your side and you stare up into his eyes again.

Eddie squints his very round eyes at you, his head tilting slightly in confusion while the other boys also exchange perplexed looks behind him… they all can’t seem to tell if you are being nice, or whether you’re tricking them into thinking you are.

“R-really?” Eddie stutters doubtfully, though there is still hope evident in his voice.

A small, genuine giggle leaves your lips, “Really.”

“R-right.” Eddie’s brows furrow while he continues to look at you with a mix of horror and confusion, “How long were you listening in on us exactly?”

“Oh - just the entire time,” you lie, well - half lie, but you aren’t going to tell him that you missed a tiny snippet of their discussion because of their whispering.

A staring contest between you and Eddie commences after that, you take a small step closer to him so that you’re just a foot away from him and he exhales shakily at your close proximity. You win very quickly because he shakes his head, scrunching up his nose and squinting his eyes shut, “I know what you’re doing.”

“What?” You ask, confused. Eddie continues to scrutinise you with his eyes, you tilt your head and furrow your brows at him, “What exactly do you think I’m doing?”

“I dunno, Vamp - but I have no doubt that you’ve probably got a little trick up your sleeve to try and humiliate me tonight - and I’m not gonna fall for it only to be shot down by you again.” Eddie’s voice exudes sarcasm and frustration and he has a strained smile on his lips while he speaks, his arms flail about everywhere until he stops suddenly and grips tightly onto his guitar with both his hands.

You start to feel warm with bubbling anger from being so confused, you try to mask it with self-defence, “That’s not true, I really want to hear what you have to say-.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Eddie snorts, as do the boys behind him.

You place both your hands on your hips, your clothes still tucked between your left arm and your side, “Is it really that hard to believe?”

Eddie gulps, sheepishly looking you up and down before sternly and deeply staring into your eyes, “Yeah, it is actually.”

Your features harden just as his seem to soften when he realises how harsh he’d just sounded.

I can’t believe I even tried to give him a chance to impress me. “Oh yeah?” you retort with sarcasm.

Eddie hums while giving you one nod of his head.

You can feel adrenaline pumping through your veins now in response to his nonchalance towards you - he cares so little that I can’t even get one word out of him? “Well in that case…” you drop your skirt and t-shirt that you had been wearing last night, then you pick up your skirt and step into it one leg at a time before shimmying it all the way up your legs, letting out small grunts as you pull the garment over your hips, “Fuck your gig-,” you lift Rodrick’s shirt up and over your head, revealing your black lace bra underneath, chucking it onto the floor beside you, “fuck your song-,” your lips tug up into a side smirk at Eddie, who is not so discreetly staring at your bra-clad breasts with wide eyes. You pick up your shirt, very quickly realising that you had been wearing your favorite Ozzy Osbourne shirt last night, and close your eyes as you swiftly pull it over your face, “and fuck - you.” Eddie is still looking at you with blown out, lusting eyes even when your shirt is completely covering you - you ignore the warmth that you feel in the pit of your stomach, but you try to ignore it by chuckling it away… and insulting him on your way out of the Hideout… “Perv!”

“Get Rodrick down here - his vote counts!” You hear Gareth’s voice a few seconds after your exit before you proceed to walk home, “What? You can play it now if she’s not coming!”

⎈ 🎸⎈

You spend the rest of the day with conflicting thoughts about whether you should show your face at Corroded Coffin’s gig tonight.

One moment you’re laying on your back in your bed, muttering ‘fuck ‘em - fuck it - why should I go? I can’t go - I can’t face that asshole again’ to yourself, then a minute later you’ve rolled onto your stomach and are telling yourself that you ‘have to go - I have to be there just in case they do play his goddamn song - I can’t miss it - I’m not scared of Eddie Munson - I’m going.’

Then suddenly you find yourself stood outside of the Hideout in your trusty fishnets and boots at 11:55pm, staring at the building in anticipation. It’s the first time your heart is beating so fast because you have no idea what is to come, usually every time you walk into the bar it’s the same, like deja vu, your fans running to greet you, Rodrick shamelessly flirting with you, your band sat in your designated booth already with a drink in hand, the local man sitting at the bar drinking away after a long day at work and maybe even a bar fight between two men who’d had one drink too many.

You try to ignore the voice in your head telling you to ‘turn back and go home… it’s not too late to get outta this… what am I even doing here? They’re probably on their last song anyway’ You give in, turning around and doing exactly what your thoughts tell you to, you walk away.

“How about we end tonight’s gig with a new one?” You hear muffled cheers and ‘hell yeahs’ in response.

“How many times do I have to love you, baby? Touch the ground when you’re feeling down-,” you stop walking at the sound of Eddie’s muffled voice from inside the bar.

You recognise the tune of the first verse to be the first part of the supposed revenge song that Eddie had written for you… but didn’t he just sing - love - in what is supposed to be a hate song about me? You’re too curious to walk away any further. Instead, you resume your way towards the door leading into the Hideout.

“You walk around like you own this town” - huh, he’s not entirely wrong about that.

“Vamp, is that you?” You hear a familiar voice behind you, making you jump before looking over your shoulder, “What are you doing lurking out here in the rain?”

Alyssa…

You hadn’t even noticed the rain until she mentioned it, “Oh nothin’, just hangin’ around,” you say overly casually with a shrug of your shoulders, which Alyssa responds with an amused look and a giggle, “What?”

Alyssa looks at you with a playful, knowing look, “You’re here to see Rodrick, amiriiiggght?”

So she didn’t see your drunk commotion last night - she must’ve left early with Elektra.

You decide to play dumb because you don’t want her knowing that you’re actually here for Eddie. Your face contorts into one of over-the-top confusion, “What? Noooooo,” you giggle shyly.

“C’monnnn, Vamp - don’t think we didn’t see you cosying up with him in our booth last night,” she playfully nudges your shoulder and winks at you with her tongue cheekily sneaking past her teeth.

“Is that why you left early - because me and Rodrick were in the Vampire’s lair?” You ask, referring to the booth that you’d had many after-show discussions, weed and drinks in, and had given it a name because you, Alyssa, Elektra and Cherie used it so much.

Alyssa shakes her head, “We all just figured that you and Rodrick would want some - privacy - so we all-just-went-home - anyway-,” she tiptoes closer to you with excitement clear on her face, “Is it official now - you and Rodrick?” She whispers.

Fuck no! “Toootally,” you drag it out with a forced, swooning smile on your face. I can’t dig myself any deeper than this… you have to stop yourself from facepalming your forehead. “And what about you and Gareth?” You ask purely to change the subject, your tone overly normal as if you hadn’t been scowling at the pair whenever you caught them together.

Alyssa’s cheeks go red and she tries to hide it by looking down, her infamous cowboy hat helps hide her blushing, “We - er - we’re just frien- I mean - I totally hate him - fuck Corroded Coffin!” She states way too enthusiastically before her ears perk up like a dog towards the sound of Corroded Coffin playing inside, “Huh - I’ve not heard this one before! C’mon - let’s go let’s go!” She shakes your shoulders excitedly, guiding you with nudges towards the door and inside the bar.

You catch yourself grinning at Alyssa’s excitement because it is contagious, it always has been.

The first thing that catches your eye, to your surprise, is Eddie, whose face is scrunched up from singing so passionately. You don’t even notice the crowd of familiar faces dancing and singing in front of you, but you do notice Alyssa squeezing your shoulders - it’s the only thing that you do notice that isn’t Eddie related right now.

“Do you think of me as I’m thinking of you?”

A similar warmth that you felt before comes back at his words and you don’t expect it. Your mouth drops open as you focus on a stray strand of hair that has elegantly and messily fallen over his right eye and then a droplet of sweat that is running down his cheek.

“Have you lost your mind? ‘Cause I’ve lost mine.”

You can’t help but think that you have lost your mind when thoughts of how pretty Eddie Munson looks when he’s singing about you, wielding his guitar with sweat all over him linger in your head.

“This is the most romantic song I’ve ever heard in my entire life!” Alyssa shouts in your ear with a massive grin on her face.

Just you wait until you hear the part where he screams about how much he hates me-

“She says that I’m a loser - I fuckin’ hate that bitch!”

There it is… right on cue.

Your eyes are wide as you continue to watch Eddie, but they are not wide with hate… more - in wonder at the way he sings his lyrics. Though they are words of hate, he delivers them in such a vulnerable and heartbroken way that causes you to be filled with admiration for him… especially after you’d deemed him to be a weak novice at most during his first gig here.

A genuine smile slowly starts to spread from your lips, to your rosy cheeks, to your bright eyes and to the lines between your brows when you realise that this is the most romantic thing that anybody has ever done for you… and of all people, it’s Eddie Munson who has swooned you into a frozen, wordless statue.

“‘Cause she takes and she takes - she won’t give in -,” Eddie’s eyelashes flutter as he sings. He looks so angelic that you don’t notice the stares from your fans who had witnessed the ruckus you’d caused last night, “And they love and they love but I don’t fit in!”

Eddie is completely focused on his guitar and the solo that he shreds from the instrument, like he’s making love to it… it’s intimate, watching his fingers pluck the strings like it’s just him and his guitar in the foggy room, you’re almost jealous (highlight on almost), but you’re the one he’s singing about so you guess it’s a win-win for both you and the guitar…

That is until you feel a tap on your shoulder that breaks your gaze from Corroded Coffin’s frontman. “Why is everybody glaring at you?!” Alyssa whisper-shouts in your ear.

You avoid looking at all of your glaring fans because you can already feel them on you, “I don’t know!” You lie… they’ll come around when they see me back on stage on Monday - it’s just a temporary glitch, you convince yourself, “- But it’s nothing I can’t handle, Al - trust me!”

“She says that I’m a loser - I fuckin’ hate that bitch - ‘cause she takes and she takes - she won’t give in - and they love and they love but I don’t fit in!”

You feel Alyssa squeeze your shoulder in response, her way of saying ‘I trust you’ through physical touch.

The sound of Eddie’s guitar sounds again, drawing you in like it’s calling for you. Eddie then moves closer to the microphone again, his pink and plump lips brushing up against the metal of it, breathing into it before starts to vocalise with the melody he is playing on his guitar. His voice and guitar harmonise together beautifully, especially inside the Hideout where it creates an echoey effect - it sounds like a siren calling to put a spell on everyone in the room… and it’s working.

Then Gareth’s drums then take over Eddie’s guitar and vocals, causing Alyssa to blurt out an excited scream, but you’re still longingly staring at Eddie with a dreamy smile plastered on your lips.

“And they love and they love but I don’t fit in - I’ve lost my mind - but-,” Eddie’s eyes open, not completely as his lids still are half covering his blown-out pupils, and they happen to land dead on you, “m-my - queen will be kind,” he stutters, but quickly gains control over his vocals when he further examines your face, the small smile on it… like you’re actually enjoying yourself… and your eyes… you’re looking at him the way he’s been dreaming for you to look at him for years… it fills him with so much confidence that he doesn’t dare tear his dark eyes away from you.

You ignore Alyssa’s desperate taps on your shoulder and her looming over your shoulder to try and grab your attention, which is showing no sign of budging away from Corroded Coffin’s frontman.

“I’ve lost my mind - I know my queen will be kind,” he doesn’t even blink away from you at the back of the small crowd before him, not even once. “My queen will be kind,” he slurs out the last verse with a smug smile on his face, like the cat who got the cream, and sweat continuously dripping down his face from the exhaustion of his entire set… it only makes you feel more turned on - infatuated, confused, horny - can I be all three of those things at once? I don’t know - I’ve never felt all three so intensely before.

“Why’re you looking at Eddie like that?!” You feel another tap on the shoulder from Alyssa. “Was it about you - the song?!” Yet another tap.

“Maybe it was - who cares?!” You respond, trying to sound as detached as your words, but your eyes still don’t leave Eddie’s while he starts to play the song’s gradual end.

Alyssa looms over your shoulder, no longer staring at you or the stage. Her taps on your shoulder falter, “And if you and Rodrick are official, why is he shoving his tongue down another girl’s throat?!” Her words certainly do grab your attention now, they make your blood run cold after it had been so warm, and cause your head to whip in the direction that Alyssa is looking.

And sure enough, Alyssa hadn’t mistaken Rodrick for somebody else. He is stood at the bar, pulling on another girl’s locks like his life depended on it, his leg tucked between her thighs and the kissing is so messy that you can even see saliva shining around their mouths from where you are.

Your nose twitches, your lips tremble and your entire body temperature is frozen to the point that it feels like a horrible burning sensation when you move even an inch.

I can’t believe him.

It’s not like you are, or ever had been in love with Rodrick - but you assumed that he had enough respect for you not to be doing what he is doing right now… in front of you, your fans, your friends, people that you love - and in the place that you love so dearly.

You become hyper sensitive and aware of your surroundings, unlike before, where you had been focused on none other than Eddie. You are met with glares upon glares while there’s mumbling and whispering all around you now that Corroded Coffin have stopped playing - you no longer feel welcome in a place you call home more than your actual home that you eat and sleep in.

Your heart is pounding twice as fast as when you were stood outside, and your eyes are threatening to spill tears.

This is not how I planned for tonight to go… sneak into the Hideout undetected, listen to Eddie’s song and leave just as undetected as I came… not get caught by Alyssa, develop a crush on Eddie, be detected, see Rodrick making out with another girl, cry on the dance floor.

You can no longer stall the tears, they start to fall in gallons upon gallons and you can’t do anything to hide them, no matter how much you try to wipe them all away with your wrist that is now covered with eyeliner and mascara.

As you furiously keep wiping your tears away, you unintentionally catch a glimpse of Eddie, who is looking back at you with an extremely concerned expression on his face. He’s no longer smiling sweetly, his eyes are no longer bright or full of want, no, need for you, but there’s still yearning in them that is still tempting you.

No, you shake your head, looking down. Tonight was important for him and I want my smiling face, enjoying his song, to be how he remembers tonight… and how his face lit up when he saw me to be how I remember tonight. You stare straight at the exit of the Hideout - I need to get out of here fast - and make a beeline for it, wiggling yourself out of Alyssa’s embrace and pushing past people, hearing them booing you and saying things like: ‘I can’t believe I ever was a fan - Corroded Coffin are where it’s at!’

When you reach the door you take a deep breath, preparing yourself for the bliss of fresh, cold air and silence.

It’s still raining outside, maybe even more heavily than before you set foot in the Hideout, but you don’t care. You face the sky, scrunching you’re eyes shut and let the rain fall onto your skin and drench your clothes. The loud sounds of rain droplets continuously falling around you and the sensation of water on your skin nearly makes you forget about what just happened.

That’s the second commotion you’ve caused in two nights, Vamp - I don’t know whether to congratulate you or pity you. You force out a laugh that comes out in small chokes.

The door to the Hideout opens and shuts, the creak that it makes is quieter than you expect, but the rain is just that loud.

“Vamp?” Eddie. You refuse to look at him directly, but you can make out his frame in the corner of your eye, “Vamp - hey,” he jogs towards you and stops when he’s stood right in front of you, you stare at his sneaker-clad feet.

“Hey, Eddie,” you pause before saying his name in a small voice that makes him visibly deflate, you suppose he was expecting a sassy response like ‘what the hell are you looking at, Munson?’, but you don’t give him that - you don’t give him anything.

Eddie roughly pulls his bandana off of his head, “If it’s about the song, ‘m sorry… but I didn’t think you’d be here after the whole ‘fuck you, fuck this, fuck that’ ordeal earlier,” he rambles, which makes you giggle through a few more tears.

You suck in all of your pride and drag your eyes from his sneakers to meet his own eyes, that are full of concern for you, “I’m - not upset because of t-the song,” you mumble softly, but loud enough for him to hear. Your eyes flicker between both of his eyes and you notice small droplets of water gathering on his eyelashes, “I - I loved it, Eddie.”

He blinks, “Y-you - did?”

A weak giggle leaves your lips, “Mhm - I did. I know - I’m shocked too.” You wipe your eyes again, but with your other wrist now, “You should go - back inside, Eddie - you’ll catch a cold - I’m fine,” you state, surprising concern for him showing in your voice.

“I’m not leaving you out here alone,” Eddie shakes his head firmly, his hair now clinging to his shoulders from how soaked its getting due to the rain, he’d stay outside and happily drown in the rain if he got to hear you say his name once more - it sounds angelic coming from your lips.

“But-.”

“No, I’m not going anywhere-,” he boldly states before his eyes soften under your gaze, “M-kay?”

You look up at him with half-lidded eyes… it’s kinda funny how the person who cares the most is the person who I’ve spent so much time hating. “Okay,” you whisper with a little, shy smile on your face.

Eddie’s lips tug up into a smug smile that you would’ve punched off if he hadn’t have written such a beautiful song for you, or cared for you more than anyone else you know. He slowly brings his bandana towards your face, cautiously dabbing and wiping away your smudged and runny make-up from your eyes. His tongue is peeking past his lips and his eyes are furrowed in pure concentration, but his hands are shaking from nerves - he’s never seen you this close-up before and he doesn’t know what to say, or think, so he decides to just enjoy this moment.

You examine each other’s features so closely that you become dizzy. Eddie brings his spare hand up to your shoulder, steadying you gently when he realises that you’re leaning closer - you forget that Rodrick even exists until you find yourself gazing at Eddie’s lips.

Fuck it - if he can move on that quickly then so can I.

“Did you mean them?” You find yourself asking timidly while he’s still carefully wiping your make-up away.

He pauses his small movements around your eyes to focus on your question, “Mean them - as innn? My totally metal moves on that stage tonight?” He jokes nervously, making his dimples stand out.

You giggle with a roll of your eyes before punching his chest gently with your fist, “N-no, dummy,” you cringe at yourself for being so soft, but you can’t help it because he’s being so soft and gentle with you. He’s chuckling at being called a ‘dummy’ by you, resuming cleaning your face with his bandana, which you take the opportunity to calm your nerves by deeply exhaling and closing your eyes, “I meant your words - about me,” your words come out so softly that for a moment you wonder if he has heard you, but him halting his movements again and hearing him taking a deep breath confirms to you that he has - you open your eyes.

I must look like a complete mess right now, you realise, with your hair soaked and your eyes heavy and dark with patches of eyeshadow that Eddie hadn’t wiped away yet… but he is looking at you like you’re the most beautiful thing he has ever seen.

His Adam’s apple bobs up and down before he nods shyly, his eyes wavering from yours for a brief second, “Y-yeah, every word.”

There’s a hint of fear and guilt in his eyes, but you can’t bring yourself to be angry at him for essentially calling you an egotistical ‘bitch’ right now when you are feeling so many other intense feelings that are urging you to just bite the bullet and kiss him… before you think too hard about it, you reach for his shoulders and quickly close the distance between you, capturing his plump pink lips with your own.

He falls backward slightly at your momentum and the way that you practically throw your body at his. He’s completely frozen against you with his eyes wide open while you eagerly move your lips on his… shit - did I just make a massive mista- to your surprise, the moment that you start to think about pulling away to apologise, he kisses you back.

His lips taste like the beer he probably downed before his show, and with every second that you kiss them, you’re hungry for more of him so you satisfy your need for him by sliding your hands from his shoulders to behind his neck for more skin to skin contact. You press your fingers into the back of his neck, which makes him grunt against you and the kiss becomes even more desperate.

His technique is kinda sloppy, literally, but you’re already so wet from the rain that a little more isn’t going to hurt.

As you slip your tongue into his mouth his hands dive for your soaked hair and pull, making you moan into the kiss and he takes the opportunity to explore your mouth with his tongue now.

Your nose bumps against his larger one as you fight for dominance, which isn’t hard because when you slide your hands into his damp curly hair he is putty in your arms. He falls backward slightly as you press him against the exterior wall of the front of the Hideout, making him hold onto you even tighter, pulling your entire body against him so that there is not a single gap between your bodies… you can feel his erection through his jeans, pressing against your stomach, which causes him to whine, and you to smirk into the kiss… already? I know I’m good but I didn’t know I was that good.

“Vamp-,” he mumbles dreamily, breathlessly before taking a millisecond to gather some more breath. “I- my pants-,” his face is completely pink, except for his cheeks which are cherry red, “it - it hurts.”

You pull away from the kiss for a brief moment, leaning your upper half back to look down at where your hips meet, “You mean your-” You whisper with an amused look on your face.

He looks down too at where you both are connected, nodding after, “Y-yeah, in case you haven’t noticed - ‘m kinda - hard,” he mumbles quickly in a sarcastic tone.

You bite your bottom lip to stop yourself from giggling, “Jeez, Eddie - we’ve been making out for three minutes tops.”

Eddie keeps his head low, sliding one of his hands down from your hair to your cheek, using his fingertips to drag along your skin, “I know I know, it’s not like I’ve been dreaming about this for years or anything like some freak.” He finally decides to look up at you, and as if he is checking that you are real, he swipes his thumb over your cheekbone, “Besides, it’s not like I’m a Casanova or anything. This-,” he gestures between the two of you with his other hand, “happens to me… never,” he admits.

“Never?” You ask in a hushed, high pitched voice, gazing at him so intensely while you wait for an answer.

You know that he knows what you’re asking exactly because his face gets even redder, embarrassed. He shakes his head, “Never.” His eyes try to read your facial expression in response to him revealing that he is, in fact, a virgin - he wonders if he has scared you away for a second, but you stay firmly in his arms, which is good enough of an answer for him.

The thought of nobody else having touched him actually turns you on even more… if he had told you a few days ago you might’ve called him ‘lame’ just to get a rise out of him, but it wouldn’t have been the truth - you admire him for waiting.

“Can I - touch you?” You ask cautiously, resting your hand on his shoulder while your other one stays tangled in his wet hair, “It’s totally okay if you don’t want me to.”

Eddie’s eyes widen, “Fuck - yes, of course I want you to touch me, Vamp - it’s just-,” he examines your surroundings, suspiciously staring at some drunk people who stagger out of the Hideout without noticing either of you just metres away from the door. “Out here?” He asks in a small voice, locking eyes with you again. His pupils are blown out with excitement, adrenaline and nerves that you can tell he’s trying to fight off… because the thought of being jacked off by you with the risk of getting caught is intriguing him - and making him even more hard, which he didn’t think could be possible considering his cock is already straining his jeans.

“You - think I’m being crazy right?” Your lips tug up to the side before you let out a small giggle.

Eddie giggles with you, “Crazy hot.”

You shake your head, giggling even more, “Dork.”

I can’t believe I’m flirting with Eddie Munson right now.

You can tell that everything you’re doing is turning him on even more, even calling him a dork, “D-do it - touch me, Vamp,” he whispers with a scrunched up face.

You hum in response, staring at him for a few seconds before capturing his lips into a second kiss that is so full of anticipation and heavy breathing. You slide your hand down the outfit that he had been wearing all day, over his Black Sabbath t-shirt and jeans - once your fingertips touch the small area of his belly that is peeking between the hem of his shirt and jeans his breath hitches.

“F-fuck - I - can’t believe - we’re doing this,” he admits breathlessly with a little chuckle into the kiss while your hand dares to go even lower.

Your hand gently cups his erection over his jeans, “Y-you - mean - out here?” You say between more kisses.

“Well - yeah - that too, but I meant - you and me,” he mumbles against your mouth dreamily while you give him a light squeeze, which makes him moan into your mouth, “We - hated - each other this - morning- ah!” He whines when you give him a harder squeeze to stop him from rambling desperately against your mouth.

“Oh - I still - hate you, Munson,” You unconvincingly say between kisses.

Eddie chuckles lowly, “Then - I - hate - you - more… I - hate - you - so - much,” his words sound just as unconvincing as yours.

You smile against his lips, thinking about how cute it is that he can’t keep his mouth shut, but he has to keep quiet if he doesn’t want any of the drunk staggerers coming out of the Hideout to notice the both of you together. “Just shut - up and let me - help you,” you mumble into more kisses, to which he responds with a hum and a gyrate of his hips.

He keeps rolling his hips into yours while your hand keeps palming him, making himself whimper and hungry for you to actually stick your hand down his pants and touch him.

You fiddle with the hem of his jeans while you kiss messily, the rest of your arms all over each other, and just as you’re about to stick your hand down his pants you hear your name being called… but it’s not Eddie’s voice - it’s Rodrick’s.

Hearing his voice makes your blood bubble with anger again, and your heart to sink down to your feet upon realisation that another moment had been ruined for you tonight by Rodrick.

You push Eddie away, which makes him ricochet back off of the wall and towards you, but you’re already facing Rodrick with a scowl on your face, “Rodrick.”

His face looks heartbroken, disappointed, angry, but you don’t feel a thing or a morsel of regret for kissing Eddie, “One minute you guys hate the shit outta each other and now you’re gettin’ it on outside my home… the fuck have I just walked into, Vamp?”

You open your mouth to speak, but Alyssa appears behind Rodrick, looking between you and Eddie with confusion written all over her face, “I can explain, Al,” you tell her with a pleading look.

Rodrick let’s out a sarcastic chuckle, “So she gets an explanation but I don’t?” He points at Alyssa with a thumb over his shoulder and speaks in a tone of disbelief.

“You think you deserve one?” You ask, your voice laced with distrust. Rodrick raises a brow, trying his hardest to look confused. “I saw you in there, Rodrick - playing tonsil tennis with that girl.”

Rodrick shakes his head before bringing a hand up to his chin, squeezing it between his thumb and index finger, “What was it that you said earlier? Oh yeah - ‘you’re not my boyfriend, Rodrick’ - and what was the other bit?” He thinks again for a second before a lightbulb switches on inside his head, “‘Eddie sure as hell isn’t my boyfriend either.’”

You can feel Eddie’s piercing stare on you at the mention of his name, the rest of his face is sort of dumbfounded, blank, and he visibly deflates with a long exhale, letting himself fall back against the wall.

“Oh fuck you, Rodrick!” You burst, feeling your eyes tear up from the anger boiling so hot inside you.

Rodrick smirks, pouting his bottom lip, “You won’t be, but she will,” he nods in the direction of the Hideout before turning himself back to the entrance, “See you Monday,” he mumbles before letting himself back into the bar, where muffled music can be heard from the stereo on the bar inside.

Your breathing is rapid and hot as you watch him, but your eyes sadden when they avert to Alyssa, who looks so downtrodden and disappointed in you, and you can’t be angry at her after you’d mocked and teased her for wanting to date Gareth, practically forbidding her from going anywhere near him… and here you are, kissing his best friend after swearing to her and the rest of your band that you loathed him.

Alyssa looks down at her fiddling fingers, “I - need to go home and - think about - stuff,” she mumbles, starting to turn away from you.

“Alyssa,” you call softly, watching her stop at the sound of your voice.

“I won’t tell Elektra and Cherie if that’s what you’re worried about,” she tells you softly, looking over her shoulder to give you a sad, closed mouth smile before taking her cowboy hat off and walking in the direction of her home.

A few minutes of silence pass and Eddie is still stood against the wall, watching you, but you’re too angry at yourself to speak… what was I even thinking? Making out with Eddie Munson out here - no, scratch that, making out with Eddie Munson full stop. It felt good to be in his arms - too good.

“Vamp,” you hear him mumble, causing you to catch a glance of him, his eyes still express deep concern and care for you which confuses your anger even more.

“I’m gonna go,” you say under your breath, glimpsing at his lips and turning yourself away before you attempt to kiss him again and fall in love even more.

“Vamp-,” he repeats as he takes a step towards you, ignoring the pain in his pants when he moves his legs.

You abruptly turn yourself around to face Eddie again and though you swore to yourself that you wouldn’t kiss him again a second ago… you find yourself leaning into him, crashing your lips against his roughly for a few seconds before pushing him away from you - no no no, what am I doing? “Leave me alone, Eddie,” you turn yourself away from him and start walking again.

“No - wait,” He catches your hand in his and gently tugs at it, his touch sending shivers through you, making you spin to face him once more. He’s looking down at your hand that is barely visible in his larger, veinier one that has little doodles on it that he probably drew during class yesterday. His eyes flicker up at your face, watching you react to the exact same tingles that he felt where your skin is touching his, “You - you feel that too, right? The electricity?”

Yes, everywhere - and I’m scared because I’ve never felt it before other than when I’m with you… and maybe that’s why I hated you, because I’m just a stupid scaredy cat about anything more than just a quick fuck before and after a gig with Rodrick… is what you want to say, but are too scared to actually voice it… maybe I can show it, that I do feel it too. You look at his lips for what feels like the thousandth time today, yet you aren’t tired of the sight of them, then you pull him towards you with your connected hands, kissing him. He loses himself in your kiss for a few seconds before his eyes open and he nudges you away, cutting the kiss short.

Eddie shakes his head, flustered, “No - no, I want to hear you say it,” he pleads breathlessly, watching your face contort into one of bewilderment at his sudden rejection for your kiss, “Please.”

You bite your lips together, thinking about it, but your brain can hardly come to any kind of conclusion because too much has happened… my mind is a mess, I just can’t think - I need some time alone to try and fix the mess that I’ve made over the last few days… my band, Alyssa - poor Alyssa.

Eddie looks up at the sky as if he’s praying for help from above before looking down at you and squeezing your hand that’s still encased by his, “C’mon, Vamp - you’re killing me here-.”

You scoff, “Me? Killing you?”

“Uh huh-.”

“You say that as if you haven’t destroyed my reputation at the Hideout, as if you haven’t taken away what was supposed to be Stake’s Halloween gig, as if I didn’t just lose a friend and - potentially my band just for kissing you,” you ramble, not realising that you’re squeezing Eddie’s hand for reassurance, like it’s a stress ball.

Eddie, however, does notice your lethal grip and looks down at your hands, choking out a little chuckle, “And yet you’re still holding my hand like a vice - gee, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you have feelings for me.”

Your face drops as you reach boiling point at yourself for giving your feelings away so easily. You snatch your hand out of Eddie’s immediately, dropping it back to your side with brute force, “Now I hate you,” you grumble. You both try to give each other hard eyes to try and express hate, but you both land up giving each other a soft, smouldering look that you just can’t fall for again, so you groan and turn on your heel, “Don’t you dare follow me this time, Munson - because I won’t be kissing you again!” You yell as you cross the quiet road to get to the woods.

“Good!” He yells back, watching your frame longingly as you walk away.

“Fantastic!” You shout, now letting your tears of want for him fall down your cheeks and onto the mud and leaves that crunch under your feet. You half expect him to shout back another word like ‘brilliant’ or ‘great’ that you’re sure will send another jab to your heart, but there’s only silence after that and you don’t know what’s worse - him giving up, or hearing another word that expresses how happy he is to know that you won’t be kissing him again.

This is the first and last time that Eddie Munson makes me cry.

⇝ 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆!!!!! 𝐈𝐭'𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 <𝟑

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ’𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒’ 𝐨𝐫 ’𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧’ 𝐭𝐚𝐠-𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰!

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐒 ↯

𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒

@big-ope-vibes @majesticjellyfishzombie @b-ritney @joyfulcandyrunaway @sidthedollface2 @aysheashea @spookycreepycookie @bookobsessedfreak @lefdepard @rottinglexi @aol19 @loki-loves-cats @eddieslooneymoonie @sillypurplemurple @hllfrclb @weirdkidfromtheupsidedown

𝐄𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧

@introvertedmouse @munsonology @fastnights @kathieycarrerarosshley @marjoriea13 @goldengunspinkrosses-blog @lolalanaie @neteyamsluvts @sadbitchfangirl

🜸

[jennibeultimate]

hiii this is random but !! ive been watching the olympics gymnastics and im kind of Obsessed and wanna get into watching gymnastics not just once every 4 years ?? wondering if u have any advice on where to start !! coz i know Nothing lol :))

Hi, you're welcome!

There is plenty of gymnastics to watch all year round. The Olympics is the highlight though every 4 years!

Btw I also got into watching artistic gymnastics by seeing the Olympics (20 years ago 🤯, when watching was depending heavily on terrestrial broadcast).

I am not really sure if I am the best to explain artistic gymnastics and tbh I am not following gymnastics as closely as 10 years ago but I still try to give some advices. I hope it helps. Pls ask if anything is unlcear.

I think in short the best advice is to just watch as much gymnastics as you can 😁 With time you will see and understand more about the sport.

A short and incomplete introduction into artistic gymnastics:

Let's start with some basics:

There are different kind of gymnastics, but I assume anon talks about artistic gymnastics as this was the most prominent discipline that gets most attention.

The governing body of gymnastics is the FIG. You can find a YouTube channel, an Instagram account and a Twitter account.

There are two shortcuts for artistic gymnastics. Men Artistic Gymnastics = MAG and Women's Artistic Gymnastics = WAG.

Male gymnasts perform on 6 apparatus (Vault, Floor, High Bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel Horse and Still Rings), female gymnasts on 4 apparatus (Balance Beam, Uneven Bars, Vault and Floor). The All Around (AA) competition is the most prestigious as you have to be good on all apparatus.

I would not bother with understanding everything about the points for the start, but for the basics there is a Difficulty Score (D-Score) and an Execution Score (E-Score) for each routine. The execution score will be deducted starting by 10,0. The difficulty score is open end. How the deductions on the E-score work is far too complex to explain in a simple post but you can watch out for landing errors, going out of bounds on a landing on Floor and Vault, pointed feet and bend knees, just to name some common errors. A fall is easy to spot and is always 1,0 off. The D-Score works different. Each element has a value starting by A and going up to H. A has 0,1 difficulty and H has 0,8. The 8 most difficult elements count towards the D-Score. There are some different requirements on each apparatus what you have to fullfill, but it would lead to far here to explain.

Competitions:

Artistic gymnastics has a World Championship every year except in the Olympic year, so that's the event to watch out most besides the Olympics. It always happens some time in October each year. Next World Championship 2025 will be in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Before the World Championship there are multiple other competitions to watch. There are championships on continental level (European Championships for example), World Cups and national competitions. And more but these are the competitions I would put my focus on. The Nationals of the USA are probably the most hyped and easily accesible via YouTube. European Championships have various broadcasts on TV but also have their own streaming site here Most events have some form of livestreaming or videos accesible afterwards.

Watch just as much as you can from competitions. You can always rely on Youtube videos. Also old videos are fun to watch.

Gymnasts and countries I recommend to keep an eye on:

I will focus on those who compete at the Olympics this time, but tbf getting into gymnastics at the Olympics may be the worst time as a lot of gymnast you'll see at the Olympics retire afterwards. So next year you might not see many returning ones...

There are plenty of amazing gymnasts but the post is already far too long, so I'll point out a few of the best and a few of my faves. (There sadly is a picture limit per post on Tumblr)

WAG (Women's Artistic Gymnastics)

I guess this name is familiar but always worth mentioning: Simone Biles 🇺🇸(superstar of the sport, called "Greatest of All Time" GOAT and frontrunner for the last decade - most decorated gymnast of all time. Olympic AA champion 2016 and 2024, World AA Champion 2013,2014,2015,2018,2019,2023)

Rebeca Andrade 🇧🇷 (World AA Champion 2022, Olympic Silver Medalist 2021 and 2024, Olympic VT Champion)

Qiu Qiyuan 🇨🇳 (2023 Uneven Bars World Champion - great Beam and Bars worker - just won Olympic UB Silver 2024 few hours ago)

Some others worth mentioning (sadly not pictured):

Kaylia Nemour 🇩🇿 (2024 UB Olympic champion - first African gymnast to win a medal at the Olympics)

Sunisa Lee 🇺🇸 (2021 AA Olympic Champion, 2024 AA & UB Bronze Medalist)

Flavia Saraiva 🇧🇷 (the most fun floor routines and gorgeous beam)

Elsabeth Black 🇨🇦 (fan favorite, 2017 Worlds AA Silver Medalist, 2022 Worlds Beam silver medalist)

Team USA is without a doubt the strongest nation in WAG. Not only did they win most of the team competitions the last decade, but also with quite a margin. Team Italy and Team Brazil have fought their way up to the top with Italy having a balanced team of gymnasts who can score evenly on all events and Team Brazil having superstar Rebeca Andrade who contributes massively with huge scores. Team China imo has the prettiest gymnastics of everyone but their weakest event Vault prevented them from winning team medals since 2014. Their strongest events are Beam and Uneven Bars.

(From left to right: Team Italy, USA and Brazil)

MAG (Men's Artistic Gymnastics)

Zhang Boheng 🇨🇳(World AA Champion 2021, Olympic AA Silver Medalist 2024 - tbh the best AA gymnast atm but battling with injuries and lost the AA final by a few tenth despite having a fall)

Daiki Hashimoto 🇯🇵 (Olympic AA and HB Champion 2021, World AA Champion 2022 & 2023)

Shinnosuke Oka 🇯🇵 (Olympic AA Champion 2024, World Junior AA Champion 2019 - the surprise AA Olympic Champion. Just 20 years old with a bright future)

(Shinnosuke Oka (left) and Daiki Hashimoto (right))

Zou Jinyuan 🇨🇳 (Olympic PB champion 2021, World Champion - the cleanest execution on parallel bars and overall you'll ever see)

Some more MAG gymnasts worth mentioning:

Carlos Yulo 🇵🇭 (first Philippine gymnast to win a world title and Olympic title - great AAer and Floor and Vault specialist - 2019 FX World Champion, 2024 Vault and Floor Olympic Champion)

Ilia Kovtun 🇺🇦 (2021 Worlds AA Bronze medalist & 2023 Worlds AA Silver Medalist)

Team China and Team Japan are those to watch out for the titles. They have the best teams and are far off all other countries atm (with Russia's team banned who won in Tokyo 2021) Team China is very strong on Still Rings and Parallel Bars. Team Japan is very strong on Parallel Bars

(Podium from left to right: China, Japan and USA)

Team USA unlike in the women competition are not frontrunners, but have received the Bronze medal at this games with hitting 18/18 routines. Other teams to watch out are Team Great Britain and Team Ukraine. Team Ukraine are the current European Champions are strong on Parallel Bars and Vault. Their weakness is High Bar which costed them the team medal in Paris. Team Great Britain has strong gymnasts on most events, most prominently Vault, Pommel Horse and Floor.

(Team Ukraine at the European Championship 2024 - from left to right: Nazar Chepurny, Stelmakh, Oleg Verniaev, Igor Radivilov and Ilia Kovtun)

About artistic gymnastics fandom:

If you wanna talk about gymnastics you can join the fandom, called gymternet. (The experience to see your faves suffering together may sting a little less 😅)

Tbh I am maybe not the right person to ask about fandom side of gymnastics (I am mostly active in figure skating fandom). There are a couple of "fandom" sites I use to follow gymnastics news: The Gymternet (link here) and The Balance Beam Situation (link here) (this one is a bit more on the "drama" side with the reporting)

For more fandom stuff you should better ask someone else for advice.

______

And while I am at it I also recommend watching rhythmic gymnastics, it's different but very beautiful. And the competition at this Olympics is about to happen from 8th to 10th August 2024! (Tbh by now I follow RG much closer than AG)

[tillandbed-travelingvlog]

they should go to the western town from the movie "The Good The Bad and The Ugly" (would they even survive 🤯🤯🤯🤯)

bill and ted are in the town from that movie! dude, i am so glad that public executions aren't as normalized as they used to be!

[mytvjunk]

Donald Glover, you've done it again, you twisted SOB! Swarm was a wild ride that I enjoyed every moment of. The commentary on mental illness, loneliness, stan culture and how absurdly far folks are willing to go for thier idols was so well executed. Theres a lot of satire in the narrative of the series, but it's crazy to know that most of the stories are actually based on true events 🤯

Salute to Dominique Fishback for absolutely knocking it out with that performance. I hope award season is very good to her 👏🏾 👏🏾👏🏾

[annachum]

Older Maria Robotnik AU - what if she survived that Space Ark attack?

I have a what if of if Maria Robotnik turned out to be alive :

. Maria Robotnik actually managed to get to safety in Earth in her grandfather's hometown - Moscow.

. She began to stay at a girls boarding school house over there, becoming so interested in astrophysics and Sociology, all thr while grieving for the supposed death of her brother shadow

. She learned more about her family's past - how her grandfather and grandmother are amongst the many Russians who fought against the Romanov court

. Eventually she becomes a highly gifted astrophysicist who passionately fights for the breaking down of the ' Soviet Wall ' of the Cold War

. Fast forward to years later in the 00s, Maria Robotnik one time travels to MIT to guest speak in an astrophysics guest lecture.

. The Thorndykes all heard of the tale of Maria Robotnik and wondered if it could be her

. Maria personally changed her surname to Maria Yegorova ( after her mother's maiden name ) to avoid scrutiny from GUN after her granddad was taken custody and executed ( she was severely scarred at that news and won't speak for a week in that boarding school house when she heard the news )

. When Chris Thorndyke ( then 17 and already enrolled in MIT cuz he's an academic genius and jumped a few grades and was in 2nd year in MIT then ) tells an older Maria ( who was already happily married to a Russian biochemist, living in Moscow and have 3 children ) that Shadow is still alive somewhere, she is eager to meet him

. But Chris lost contact with Sonic and his friends at those points, so that didn't fall through ( Maria is understanding and empathetic about this )

. Fast forward to after the events of Sonic X, Chris finally can arrange a reunion with Shadow and Maria ( through Sonic's help )

. Cue Shadow rushing to Moscow to finally see her ( with Chris Thorndyke and his friends in tow )

. And an emotional reunion between long lost brother and sister ensues

. And then Shadow got to meet Maria's little family and becomes a ' snarky wine uncle ' to Maria's 3 children ( 2 daughters and a son )

Shadow ans Maria and her family stayed in contact through a space contact station Chris Thorndyke helped build after that

🤯🤯🥺🤯🥺🥺

Maria's husband be a tall, dark and handsome guy with black hair, tanned skin and buff figure

According to Maria, her husband kinda reminds her of Shadow and her granddad Gerard in some lights

Yeah I HC that Shadow can speak fluent Russian due to him being raised alongside Maria Robotnik

So yeah, Shadow is Russian coded

I guess Rouge is French - Japanese coded

Sonic is so Japanese American coded

And then Blaze is Arabian coded

I think Cosmo is Korean - Chinese coded

Ariem be Mongol coded

And Silver is Persian coded

Older Maria Robotnik in that What if kinda reminds me of Duchess from Aristocats, Sue Storm and Grace Kelly in some lights

🤩🤩🤯🤯🥺🤯🥺🥺

I imagine older Maria Robotnik in that What If to later on adapt her blonde hair to shoulder length curls

And still maintain often wearing blue and white, yet traded from her handmade floral dresses in her girlhood to elegant timeless styles with pearls as she grows older

I imagine older Maria Robotnik to often dress kinda like Grace Kelly, Diana Spencer and Sue Storm in spades

🤯🤯🤯🥺🤯🥺🥺