#i had someone important show up at my house and i was an absolute mess

[arcane-ally]

Have you ever been just so embarrassed that you wanna crawl up into your own ass to hide?

No? Cool Cool

[sundrop-writes]

you were nice to me and acknowledged my existence so i hope you know that means you’ve unknowingly asked for all my dumbass, hyper-specific 12AM bullshit thoughts.

you can turn this into a mini blurb or teen wolf pack headcanon - whatever works for you, but who do you think in the pack is would be into you wearing a necklace (or any form of jewelry really) with their name/initial on it? are they buying it for you or is it something you would have to initiate, do they want one too with your name/initial on it?

i know it’s not everyone’s thing but i think it can be really adorable 🥰

if this isn’t your vibe just let me know, no biggie 🩷

This is absolutely my vibe!!! I love this prompt so much omg. Also, I love it when people come to me with their random 12am bullshit - whether it's just to rant in my inbox about fictional characters or to suggest fic ideas. This is what Tumblr inboxes are for

My requests for Teen Wolf are open!! Just make sure to read my rules first!!

What would the pack think of you wearing a necklace that represents them?

A/N: I changed it from an initial to a representative symbol, partially because of a tiktok that Star sent me the other day of someone selling Teen Wolf necklaces in an Etsy shop that I can't stop thinking about and I want one so badly, and partially because I think Derek's tattoo would make a really amazing necklace.

Warnings: descriptions of canon level violence, I tried to make the reader as gender neutral as possible (please let me know if I messed up anywhere on that), Isaac's low self eesteem due to his father's abuse, mentions of Jackson x Lydia, references to sex (but nothing descriptively smutty), I think that's it.

Includes: Derek Hale, Isaac Lahey, Scott McCall, Stiles Stilinski, Erica Reyes (I got tired while writing this so that's all the characters we have lmao)

Derek would love it. It would be his idea - he would be the one to give you the necklace.

He met you shortly before becoming an Alpha, and you were the defining member of his pack. You were the first person he had bitten in order to turn them - you had been bleeding out outside of the Hale house after Peter had stuck his claws through your stomach, sensing Derek's attachment to you (even if it was something that Derek himself hesitated to admit), and he had called Derek weak for taking a liking to you. So the moment after Derek had slashed Peter's throat open, making him the Alpha, he had used his new found power to bite you, ultimately saving your life.

You were someone he had once viewed as his weakness, but he had come to realize that you were his ultimate strength. You showed him how to interact with Erica, Isaac, and Boyd with kindness and understanding, you showed him how to harness his Alpha power with more than just the anger he harboured inside. You showed him love - something his isolated heart hadn't felt in years.

To him, the triskele tattoo on his back represented the three forms of a wolf could take - the powerful, leading Alpha, the following Beta, and isolated, weak Omega. It represents how a wolf can rise to power, but he can also fall to weakness if he's not careful.

When he gave you a necklace with that same symbol as its pendant, he explained to you why it was so important to him that you wear it.

"You have helped me rise to my full potential." He told you, pinning the clasp behind your neck. "Every time I look at this around your neck, I want to be reminded of that. I want to be reminded not to fall to anything less." He kissed the base of your neck, causing you to break into a large smile as his thick, warm arms wrapped around you from behind. "I need to be reminded to serve you a good, loyal Alpha every single day. Not to fall back into my former weaknesses."

"I thought I was your weakness?"

"No. You're my strength."

Isaac would be unsure about it. And it most definitely was not his idea.

It started with you and Lydia hanging out before a lacrosse game - the two of you were getting ready in her room, and while she finished up her makeup, she said 'oh!' as if suddenly remembering something, and then went to her jewellery box. You looked on in curiosity as she pulled out a necklace, and when you squinted closer, you saw that it was a silver pendant with the number 37 on it.

"What's that?" You asked.

"It's Jackson's jersey number." She told you. "It's good luck for a player's girlfriend to wear his jersey number, and I didn't want some big ugly jacket with the numbers written on the back."

It made you wonder if you should wear Isaac's jersey number to the game, even though the two of you had been playing around with dating, not exactly official. Isaac was hesitant on PDA and labels. Lydia encouraged you, though, and she ended up using a red lipstick to write his number 14 on your cheek, making you look like a crazed fan - but everybody at the game already knew who you were there for.

Before the next game, Lydia gifted you with a necklace similarly to her own, with the promise that she wouldn't have to freeze her ass off in the stands alone - and to her, it was like the two of you had matching best friend necklaces, representing the lugheads that you cheered for on the field together. At first, you only wore it to games. But then you found comfort in wearing it all the time.

Isaac, of course, took notice of this - his eyes easily magnetized to the number 14 glimmering on the silver chain around your neck.

He felt like he didn't deserve to have a mark on you. He was undeserving of claiming you, undeserving of being called your 'boyfriend'. He was worthless, and you wearing something that represented some kind of serious relationship between the two of you - why did you want him? Why?

After a long, tiring night of talking, some tears, and eventually some kissing - he finally understood. And from then on, he was more than proud to have his 14 constantly shining around your neck.

Scott would love it. But it would be your idea.

The two of you had to date in secret - your family had a loyalty, an alignment with the Argents, so you couldn't be seen with Scott in public, creating a deep frustration between the two of you when you couldn't hold hands in the hallways or go on 'real' dates like other couples could. Scott expressed a deep frustration at loving you, being your boyfriend, but not getting to be yours twenty-four seven like he wanted to, and that's what caused you to come up with the idea.

You got a silver heart locket necklace, and inside, put a picture of the two of you. Well - it was a piece of the picture of the two of you. You grabbed a photo of the two of you kissing, and cut out the space that had formed between your necks when your lips came together in a kiss - to anybody else (most important, if your family saw it) it would have looked like a photo of blank sky. But you and Scott were the only two people in the world who knew what the photo truly was.

And you gave him the rest of the photo with the missing heart shape cut out between the two of you so that he could be reminded of your next words every single time he looked at it.

"The space between us isn't what matters." You told him firmly, pointing to the space you had cut out of the photo. "No matter how big that space gets, we always know how much we love each other. We'll always have each other."

From then on, every single time he looked at the silver heart dangling around your neck, it was something he remembered with a smile. No matter how far the two of you had to be apart, no matter for how long - your love kept you together.

Stiles would absolutely love it. It would be his idea.

Stiles would be incredibly shy and shitting his pants nervous about asking you to wear his numbers, but the week before, you had asked him to be your boyfriend after a roaring success of a first date that he had no clue how he landed with you. His first game as a first linger was coming up, and he felt like things could only go up from here.

He had you, he was first line, so - he steadied his courage as he tightly gripped the black velvet box that had the shiny gold necklace in it, praying that this wouldn't be too much, too soon. Praying that he wasn't going to scare you off.

"Um, hey." He greeted you at your locker, a ball of nervous energy that had you giving him a questioning eyebrow.

"Good morning." You smiled at him, wondering why he was acting so strange. You leaned in and kissed him on the lips - a light, chaste kiss in greeting, and he felt himself nearly knocked over by the joy of it.

This was really real. He had you.

"What's that?" You asked, motioning toward the box in his hands.

"Oh, uh - a gift." He said. "For you."

"Stiles, you didn't have to. It's not my birthday or anything."

"I know." He said. "I want to - to do something special. To celebrate you being mine."

An intense wave of butterflies overtook you at this, and you look on in awe as he opened the box, presenting the necklace to you.

"It's - um - it's my jersey number. Ya know - 24. Just - it's a thing that people usually do, wearing their boyfriend's number... and I - am I being too weird? I'm sorry." He went off rambling the longer that you didn't speak, and you quickly raised a hand to his wrist, trying to calm him with a soothing touch there.

"I love it." You assured him with a smile. "Thank you. I can't wait to wear it."

"I could... help you put it on now?"

You nodded enthusiastically, and he excitedly grabbed it out of the box.

From then on, you never took it off. You were more than proud to be his, and proud to show it off by wearing the necklace.

Erica would fucking love it, but it wouldn't really be intentional on either of your behalves.

One thing Erica never expected about becoming a werewolf - how possessive it would make her. But being able to smell when someone had touched you, being able to hear how hard your heart pounded when you were scared or anxious - it made her want to rip apart anybody who even looked at you the wrong way. The two of you weren't even officially dating. Your friendship always crossed weird lines - you were the only person who was kind to her when she was an outcast, and after she transformed, you were the only person she knew for certain didn't just want her for her body.

The sex between the two of you was amazing, but you never talked about feelings.

One night in the haste of undressing, she dropped a necklace on your floor - a nameplate necklace that her parents had gotten for her birthday a few years ago. You didn't want to forget to bring it back to her, and you thought it was funny, a kind of joke - so you put it on. You thought nothing of having the name 'Erica' dangling around your neck in bold silver letters.

When Erica saw it - it drove all of her wolfish instincts insane. Seeing her claim on you, her name literally written across you - it took everything she had in her not to throw you across a table in the middle of the library and fuck your brains out, then and there.

And she saw the way other people reacted to it too. The way guys would go to flirt with you, but then their eyes would dart down to the necklace and then look to her, as if finally noticing her presence glaring at them, telling them to back off - and then they would scatter in fear. It was the first time in weeks that the two of you actually had peace.

So she implored you to keep it. She loved having a silent little claim on you. After all, wolves love claiming their territory, right?

...

Teen Wolf Masterlist

[moviecritc]

✦ ˚ : · LONG HUGS ⋆ PATO O'WARD 🦢

pairing ☆ pato o'ward x fem! bff! reader

summary ☆ where pato and you've been bestfriends for a little too long

warnings ☆ cheating (not from pato)

masterlist | letterboxd

❛ stop checkin' your mailbox for confessions of love ❜

Y/N had lost count of how many dates she and Pato had been on. Although they weren't dates; neither had ever said to the other, "this is a date." They just met as friends to watch the sunset on the beach while eating pizza or to gaze at the stars in Pato's convertible or countless other get-togethers that always had a romantic tone, but never quite enough.

Y/N met Pato thanks to her sister; Y/N worked at a publishing house and was the one who edited and supported Elba's book project. Soon, they became friends, and Elba's starter pack included him.

Pato and she had been friends for two years, and they had been in love with each other for two years. It was almost love at first sight, although neither of them knew it yet.

In Pato's mind, Y/N only saw him as a friend, someone to have a good time with and laugh a lot, but nothing more. From Y/N's point of view, Pato was the most incredible person in the world, and she couldn't wait to confess her feelings.

At some point, Pato didn't see himself as enough for Y/N; she had a stable job, an amazing apartment, and a future that was not at all uncertain. While he was going from hotel room to hotel room and could be out of work at any moment. He saw himself as chaos for Y/N, almost like a problem.

That feeling worsened when, after returning from a race, they missed their flight, causing Y/N to almost get fired.

"Y/N, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'll talk to your publishing house, I'll tell them it was all my fault. Forgive me,"

Y/N couldn't believe how much Pato cared about her. She simply smiled at him and grabbed his hands, giving them both chills.

"It's okay, Pato. You don't have to talk to anyone, really. It's all fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely sure."

"You're not mad at me?" Pato was looking at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes imaginable.

"How could I be mad at you, silly."

Y/N let out a light laugh before hugging Pato as they waited for the next plane.

(...)

The race celebrations were the worst; hugs, kisses, touches… But everything was justified by euphoria. Y/N thought that his hugs were longer and more heartfelt than the ones he gave to others, but at the same time convinced herself that she was being delusional. Pato prolonged his hugs as much as possible to remember her when he went back home.

She had been the one by Pato's side during the Indianapolis 500.

“You go,” Elba had told her, leaving her speechless. “He needs you.”

Even now, she kept thinking about that phrase. Pato needed her. The idea of being so important to him caused all sorts of feelings. He was totally devastated, and when he saw Y/N, the sparkle in his eyes was instant. She hugged him and reassured him that there would be many more opportunities to win and that he had done an amazing race. They gathered enough courage and self-esteem to show up at the gala after the race.

It was no secret that the fans were crazy about them and that no one believed they were just friends. It was obvious for everyone except to them.

In the end, that day wasn’t so horrible for Pato, but only because Y/N was by his side.

(...)

The moment when Pato gathered enough courage to confess his feelings to Y/N was terrible. They had arranged to have dinner with their group of friends, and Pato was determined to confess to Y/N. He had spent the entire afternoon preparing his speech with his sister so he wouldn’t mess it up and was anxious for the moment to come.

But all his excitement dissipated when he saw Y/N enter with a man on her arm and introduce him to everyone as her boyfriend, Matt. She seemed to be incredibly happy with him, spending the entire dinner talking about how they had met and how amazing he was and how well he treated her. Pato gradually withdrew from the conversation, under the sympathetic gaze of his sister.

“I’m going outside to get some air,” Pato announced and waited a few moments for Y/N to make the slightest movement towards him, but she didn’t even look at him. She was distracted, laughing at one of Matt’s jokes.

“I’ll go with you,” said Elba, noticing Pato’s discomfort. Again, Y/N didn’t react.

They went outside, and Pato ran his hands over his face and hair, frustrated by it all. “I’m an idiot,” he said, with a saddened and angry expression. “I knew that sooner or later someone would beat me to it, but I didn’t think it would be right now.”

Elba pressed her lips together and put a hand on her brother’s shoulder. “I know. I had no idea she was seeing someone either. I always thought she would wait for you to make a move.”

Pato sighed. This was his fault, after all. He had taken too long to show romantic interest in her, so much so that Y/N hadn’t even noticed.

“Do you want me to talk to her?”

“No,” Pato’s response was immediate. “No, no, no. She seems happy,” he turned his head a little, seeing her through the glass with Matt’s arm around her shoulders. “If she’s happy, I’m happy.”

Elba knew he was lying; she could see it in the bittersweet expression on his face. And it was true, he was lying. If it were up to him, he would get rid of Matt right then and there and kiss her in front of all their friends.

(...)

His sister didn't listen to him and talked to Y/N anyway. They were at the former's house, preparing dinner for a movie night with Norbi when Elba brought up the topic.

“How are things with you and Matt?” she asked, while taking iced tea out of the fridge.

She noticed that as soon as she asked, Y/N broke into a wide smile. “Very well, he's on a business trip. But we're great.”

Elba also smiled, trying to conceal her true intentions a bit. “I'm glad to hear that.” She paused briefly, searching for the right words. “You know, I always thought there might be something between you and my brother.”

Y/N stopped what she was doing for a moment, as if recalling a past life. She couldn't find a way to respond to that without it sounding strange or suspicious, and by that point, Elba's comment had lingered in the air for too long.

“Oh really?” she simply said.

“Yes, I guess you two had that connection.”

“That connection.”

She repeated that phrase to herself many times over the next few days, pondering and questioning whether she and Matt had the same connection she had with Pato.

(...)

Elba's words lingered in Y/N's mind, but life went on as usual. That was until one fateful night when everything came crashing down.

Y/N sat on her couch, a half-empty bottle of wine next to her, and her eyes red from crying. Her phone, clutched tightly in her hand, showed the last message from Matt: “I’m sorry, but it’s over.”

She dialed a number she knew by heart. The phone rang, and Pato’s groggy voice answered. “Hello?”

“Pato,” Y/N slurred, her voice thick with tears and alcohol. “Can you come get me?”

Pato, instantly awake, sat up in bed. “Y/N? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Please,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I need you.”

Without another word, Pato was out of bed, pulling on his clothes. He glanced at his suitcases for tomorrows flight, but Y/N needed him now. Racing could wait.

He found her sitting on the front steps of her apartment building, shivering in the cool night air. Her eyes lit up with a mixture of relief and despair when she saw him.

“Y/N,” he said softly, crouching down beside her. “What happened?”

She fell into his arms, sobbing. “Matt… he cheated on me. I saw him kissing with some woman.”

Pato’s heart ached as he held her close. “I’m so sorry, Y/N. You don’t deserve that.” He could feel the shivers in Y/N's body and how fast her heart was beating.

She pulled back slightly, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. “I feel so stupid, Pato. I thought he loved me.”

“He’s an idiot,” Pato said firmly, lifting her chin. “Anyone who can’t see how amazing you are is a fool.”

She laughed bitterly. “You’ve always been too good to me, Pato.”

Pato helped her to her feet and guided her to his car. Once they were settled inside, she spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper. “You know, I always thought there was something between us.”

Pato’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “What do you mean?”

She turned to him, her eyes filled with a vulnerability he’d never seen before. “I’ve had feelings for you for so long, Pato. I just… I was too scared to say anything.”

Pato’s heart pounded in his chest. “Y/N…”

“I thought maybe you felt the same way,” she continued, her voice cracking. “But then I met Matt, and I tried to move on.”

Pato pulled the car over to the side of the road, unable to keep driving. He turned to her, his eyes searching hers. “Y/N, I’ve been in love with you since forever. I was just too afraid to mess things up between us.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You…you love me?”

He nodded, reaching out to take her hand. “I do. I always have.”

Y/N’s breath hitched, and she leaned in, her lips brushing against his. “I love you too, Pato.”

Their kiss was soft and tentative at first, but quickly deepened, years of unspoken feelings pouring out. When they finally pulled away, they rested their foreheads together, both breathing heavily.

“I know you have a race tomorrow,” Y/N said, her voice tinged with guilt.

Pato smiled, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “Nothing is more important than you, Y/N. Not even racing.”

She smiled, a real smile this time, and snuggled closer to him. “Thank you, Pato. For everything.”

He kissed her forehead, holding her close.

☆ request by: anon

can i pls request pato o’ward and reader liking each other a lot but for one reason or another they can’t be together? you can choose the reason why they’re not together, just a lot of pining and star-crossed lovers vibes <3

a/n: i hope this is what you wanted <3 maybe it's a bit messy but i wrote this at midnight so don't expect too much

[sseniita]

your mom

please read!!!

The villain’s first thought took him by surprise. 

Those are her eyes. 

The child must have been one or two years away from high school, and yet her round cheeks and the way she played with the hem of her sleeves could have said otherwise. The villain didn’t recognize where the young girl’s dark brown hair or freckles came from- surely the hero didn’t have freckles? Did she? A surge of panic ran through the villain as the features of the hero’s face became warped and foggy in his mind.

“Absolutely not.” He said. The child pouted in response, flashing him a weak and pathetic mockery of the hero’s puppy eyes. 

That’s her face, you faker. 

“This isn’t fair.” 

“Nothing is fair. Go home.” 

The villain had noticed someone was tailing him recently, he had assumed some amateur journalist or paparazzi (no difference, really) was the culprit before she made herself known by sneaking in with his cleaning crew into his office. Hero’s daughter was kept as a strict secret, as far as he knew only himself and the child’s late grandmother knew about her.  

“You have to help me.”

“And why’s that?” It was getting harder and harder to be civil with the trespassing child. 

“Mom said you’d help me!” 

The villain’s neck was beginning to strain looking down at her. 

“The hero was an optimist. She saw and felt things that were never there. Any sense of camaraderie you think we had didn’t ever exist.” He didn’t mean to sneer, it simply came out that way.  

The child laughed, a sarcastic, exhausted thing. She sounded like her too. 

“You would have never known about me if that were true.” 

“She could never keep a secret. Always jumpy. It took less than lazy observation to know.” 

The villain, in fact, knew from the moment she was born. He was there. The hero had been conveniently taken hostage by the villain for five months right when she started showing and three months after for recovery, he hadn’t seen the child since. The villain wouldn’t ever admit it, but they were eight months of pure bliss. The hero’s pregnancy was pleasant, she handled it very well up until her last month when she needed the villain for every menial task. After abandoning her abusive diet and workout schedule she finally gained some healthy weight (although lost most of it a month into heroism) and began to sleep a much needed eight hours a night. For the first time since they met, she went back to being a shiny and sparkling thing, all smiles and rosy cheeks, pure indulgence and excitement. 

The villain almost caught himself smiling at the memories before his gaze focussed back on the tiny monster in his office.

“Go home.”

“I can’t.” She said, copying his own demanding tone; slight pauses between words, emphasis on the important parts. “I have nowhere to go, the house was taken over by some people wanting to make it some messed up Hero museum. Grandma passed away, no one even knows I exist, and there is no way in hell I’m going back to the orphanage” She rummaged through the duffle at her side, the villain assumed it contained everything she owned. She pulled out a beige card with the hero’s writing in blue ink. 

As the villain read, the child blabbered. 

“You guys were friends, and I don’t believe you killed her like the news says. Mom talked about you all the time! She mentioned that she trusted you over and over again. You have to help me!” 

The villain couldn’t tell who the card was addressed to. It wasn’t signed to anyone and spoke ambiguously about love and trust and other disgusting things, the girl had assumed the card was supposed to be for him. The villain, albeit embarrassingly, wanted to believe that. 

“This isn’t for me.” 

“Of course it was!” 

“She’d never speak like this. Especially to me.” 

“Well I certainly have no use for it. My mom loved me. I don’t need a lousy card to know it. She knew that too. But I don’t think she was brave enough to ever tell you-”

“You shouldn’t speak about things you know nothing about.” This, he hoped, was laced with venom. 

“I dunno Mr. Doom and Gloom, you didn’t have to hear her go on and on about a secret crush she had rooftop fights with.” 

Dear lord, Hero. I don’t know whether to be angry at you for not saying something, or at myself for never noticing. 

He recognized how immature and childish his hope was. The only woman he’d ever loved was dead, and hearing now they had the illusion of a chance from her very own daughter was a worse heartbreak than if she just rejected him outright. 

They always had a weird relationship. A complex, fluttering thing that consisted of fistfights (regardless of powers; the villain considered it intimate, the hero considered it sexy), partnerships of planning and scheming, and being public representations of compliance and deviancy, the good and the dirty, love and hate. 

Somewhere along the line it had become late nights at diners, comfort in close proximity, a head on a shoulder, a hand on the back. The flirting, the teasing, the stares. The all-holy casual hookups.

The villain knew he was screwed when she came to his apartment late at night, drenched by the rain, mascara running down her cheeks. 

Villain, I need your help. I’m pregnant. 

The timing revealed Hero’s fling, it had been months after a fight that led them to ‘strict fighting terms’ it all broke down as fast as hero did in the villain’s arms. 

But she was gone now, buried in a government cemetery surrounded by hundreds of now wilting bouquets and dusty gifts. And yet, the innocent joy of reciprocation flushed through his body. He allowed himself one more denial. Just to be safe. 

“Perhaps it was for your father.” The child laughed at this, more genuine amusement than it was self deprecating, the villain didn’t blame her. He knew from the second he said it how stupid it sounded. 

“Good one. Anyways. Help me kill Supervillain.” 

Dejectedly, the villain plopped down at his desk chair, signalling the young girl to do the same on the chair across the desk. The girl happily obliged. “Here’s what I’m thinking, we disguise ourselves as post office men-”

“Wait wait wait. Be quiet for five seconds.” The villain found himself massaging his temples. ���Your mother wanted one thing for you. And that explicitly included staying out of the business. I’ll get you a room with someone I trust. Lie low for now, I’ll send you off to a boarding school or something until you turn eighteen.” 

“What? No! I want to help you bring down the supervillain.” 

“Trust me, I can do that myself. You need to go back to the orphanage.” 

“I hate it there! I have things to do! I need to avenge my mom and that means killing the supervillain myself.” 

The villain was beginning to wonder if the child was a clone rather than a daughter. Perhaps the brown hair was just box dye. She had an edge she’d only seen in his hero, a bright star deep in the colour of her eyes, an unmatched amount of life inside her. The hero had passed away a little over two months ago and her daughter was immediately on the run. She must have known how important it was to stay hidden. When was the last time she had a full sleep? 

“Look, Lily, I get it. But your mother will rise from her grave if she knew I got you hurt.” The villain ignored the shock on the girl’s face at the mention of her name. 

Your mom wouldn’t stop talking about me, well I guess we were on the same boat then. 

"Even better, I think." She joked. Of course only your daughter would joke at a time like this.

“You need time. You need to rest. I can offer you safety. I can promise you that when the time comes to kill Supervillain, it’ll be done as far away from you as possible. Your mother would never forgive you if you ever even touched the handle of a gun. Please, at least give her that.” 

Lily was her mother’s spitting image. Her curls didn’t hold without product, her big brown eyes hid underneath long lashes. Her cheeks would stay round well into adulthood, and they both picked nervously at their nails. But when she finally lifted her head and her eyes met the villain’s eyes, he swore he saw a glimpse of himself in them. 

“Make it slow.” 

The villain smiled. 

“Naturally.”

[corpsebasil]

Very short little wholesome fluff to combat the absolute filth I just posted

Her heart was breaking.

She knew she didn’t have power, knew she would never be as strong as someone as Alina. She wanted to fight. She wanted to be a soldier like everyone else, to defend Ravka, to protect her home. But she still sat in the chapel inside the catacombs, staring at the wall, barely able to breathe against her grief.

“My darling.” Nikolai Lantsov, her best friend and closest companion, said, his eyes finding hers in the darkness. He approached, moving towards her, his appearance a bit disheveled after the attack at his engagement party.

She swallowed.

“Don’t you have a Sun Summoner to court?”

It wasn’t fair, she knew that, but her heart cracked every time she saw he and Alina together. And she’d been sick, hurling her dinner into the toilet, when he’d proposed to the Saint. The engagement party had been a new level of agony.

“Y/N, please.” He sighed, sitting on the bench beside her. He searched for the right words, unsure of where to begin, when she murmured out a sentence they made him want to break down.

“I’m leaving.” She said, still looking at the wall. She swallowed, eyes boring into stone as if she could break the material with her own eyes. “Some of the maids and healers are going to a safe house. They want me with them since I’m…well, not Grisha.”

“You’ll be protected, then.” He offered, forcing a note of cheerfulness into his tone. “Better than hauling ass through a war camp.” He laughed, but she didn’t, and his smile faded when he watched her try and keep her emotions contained, still refusing to look at him.

“I wish you were coming with me.” She said, eyes sliding to his. He was watching her, and the sorrowful look on his face made her chest tighten.

“I’m King, now, Y/N. I have to show a strong face in front of this. If I don’t the people will—”

“Yes, yes, I know.” She interrupted in a huff. She forced a smile, knocking her shoulder against his. “Never thought I’d see the day, Nik. Just yesterday you were skinny dipping in the lake and getting yourself punched in the nuts by—”

“Okay that’s enough.” He scoffed, but grinned, leaning over and propping his head on her shoulder.

Nikolai sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, relishing in a moment of peace before the chaos would begin. He let out a contented hum when she reached up to run her fingers through his hair, nails scraping gently against his scalp. He loved her, he really did. His best friend, his…he looked up at her, peering up at that lovely face, and thought about what it might be like to just give in and kiss her.

No. Now was not the time for any sorts of wild confessions, or even the entertainment of those sorts of thoughts. Not when both of them would soon be in danger. He prayed that she’d make it to the safe house in one piece, because if she didn’t…

“What are you thinking, Moi Tsar?” She teased, still messing with his hair. He grinned and pulled away, taking her hand and examining it, studying the lines and curves of her palm as if they were very, very important. “Nik.” She laughed, tugging at his grip, but he held onto her tighter, looking back up.

“If anything happens to me,” he started, voice low, his eyes scanning her features. “I want you to know that it would’ve been you, for me, if this whole…” He took a breath and cursed himself for not holding his words back, but something in him pressed on. “I’m just saying, when this is over, I’m going to try. I’m going to try and make a place for myself, a permanent place, in your life. Because that is—that is where I want to be.” He tilted his head when he saw her eyes softening, a small frown on her face. “Well don’t jump for joy, or anything.”

She laughed weakly and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close to her. He breathed in her scent, her cheek pressed against his own, before tugging back. Then he was removing the compass around his neck, his prized possession, and she shook her head quickly.

“No, Nik, I can’t take—”

“Just..so you can find your way home.” And back to me, he wanted to add, but didn’t. “Try not to miss me too much.”

She snorted and allowed him to place the necklace over her head, his hands lingering on it for a moment before letting go.

“I’ll see you.” He promised, as one of the maids came to the door to tell Y/N they were leaving. “I’ll see you after.”

She nodded, suddenly unable to speak, and gave him one last quick hug, arms tight around his neck, before she let go. And Nikolai watched her the entire time, watched until she vanished from sight, and knew, in his heart, that they would see each other again.

[dreamofbecoming]

yeah alright this got away from me. posting in pieces, part one is just stobin, no shippy stuff. steddie and rockie to follow. i'll drop it on ao3 once all 3 parts are done

now on ao3!

platonic stobin

rating: t

wc: 3.5k

---

Robin stopped being surprised by Steve Harrington showing up at her bedroom window months ago. Jesus, there's a sentence her 16 year old self wouldn't fucking believe for a second. The Hair, climbing up the trellis her dad built for the roses her mom planted and then forgot about three months later? Yeah right, as if. But it turns out alternate dimensions and sci-fi movie monsters and Russian conspiracies in Bumfuck, Nowhere, USA are all real, so how surprising really is The King himself, collapsing through her window with all the grace of a baby giraffe, out of breath like he- holy shit, did he fucking run here?

"Dingus, did you run here? What the hell?"

"Had to- hang on, Jesus. Holy shit." He bends over, hands on his knees, panting like he just ran a marathon. Which, she guesses, he almost did.

"You have a car, you lunatic, what could possibly be so important?"

"Didn't think about it. Had to get here."

"Is someone dead?!" Oh fuck, Is the Upside Down back? Oh shit, oh no, it can't be back, right? Superhero girl closed the gates! Right?! Oh god, oh no, oh fuck, it's back, the Russians are back, they realized they couldn't let her live after what she's seen, her parents will never even know what happened to her, and they'll kill Dingus too, and dorky little Henderson, and that menace Erica, oh god, they're gonna die, and Hopper's gone and superhero girl is far away and she doesn't have superpowers anymore anyway, which is frankly bogus because what the hell, Robin never even got to hang out with a real live magic person before, which, ok, that's a selfish thought, but that's ok, we can think selfish thoughts and then set them aside and not act on them, thoughts are not actions, thoughts happen all the time without our consent, they don't determine our character-

"Bobs, you're spiraling. Nothing bad happened, I just realized something and I freaked out and I had to talk to you right away. Forgot to call. Sorry, I should have called. Ran straight out of the house. I don't even think my shoes match, what the fuck?"

She's gonna kill him, she really is.

She loves him so much.

"Jesus, you're insane. Sit, you absolute dweeb. I'm getting you some water, when I get back you can tell me what the hell is going on."

He's sitting on her bed when she gets back upstairs, staring at something in his hands. Christ, his hands are shaking. What the fuck, Dingus?

He takes the water and downs it in one go- ugh, sports guys- then flops onto his back and covers his eyes with a miserable groan.

"I know we've got the whole twin telepathy thing going on, bubba, but I'm gonna need at least a little bit to work with here. Give me something. Is it your parents? The kids? Uh, what was her name? From Thursday? Janice?"

"Janine, and no. Ugh. Here." The arm not covering his eyes flops out towards her, holding- ah. A zine. He had promised to drive up to Indy last weekend to the secret bookshop she told him about and get her some new ones, even though she couldn't go with him because her cousin Randy got caught cheating on his fiancée and her parents made her come with the rest of the family to help him move. Fucking Randy. Maybe he should make better choices, so the rest of them wouldn't have to clean up his messes. Jerk.

Anyway.

"Marked the page." Which, yep, there's a purple paper clip stuck to a page near the middle, because Steve knows how much she hates people who dogear books, even books that aren't really books at all, so he's been training himself out of it, because he's sort of the best. Again, 16 year old Robin would have her committed for thinking that, but here we are.

The pamphlet isn't one of the periodicals she sent him for, so he must have picked it up on his own. It looks handmade, just some folded sheets that look like they came out of a typewriter, bound with the kind of twine you can buy at the hardware store. It's called Awakenings. The page he's marked looks like a personal essay, no title, no real signature, just a pair of initials at the end of the page and a half of writing. She starts reading, trying to figure out what the hell spooked Steve so bad.

"I've always been normal. I've always had crushes on men, just like the other girls. There was never a feeling of "I'm different," or "Oh, this is wrong." There was never anything to think very hard about. I'd giggle and blush when the boys looked over at us on the playground, same as everyone else. Later on when I was older I looked at my poster of Harrison Ford, shirtless and hairy and sweating, and I touched myself, and it felt good, just like it was supposed to. I didn't mind thinking of my future husband, and our future kids, and the pretty house with the pretty garden we'd have, just like my parents have, just like they wanted for me. I was normal. Everything was fine.

I thought everything about me was normal. So I didn't understand why the other girls at sleepover parties would giggle and stop and say "Ew, gross!" when we practiced kissing. It felt nice! I wanted to keep going! But it seemed like no one else did. I didn't understand why none of them talked about getting butterflies in their stomach when Laura, who was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen, transferred in our senior year, why they seemed so angry at her. Those butterflies were what jealousy felt like, right? So why did the other girls seem to feel so different?

I made my first lesbian friend in college, on the very first day, right across the hall in my dorm. We sat next to each other at Orientation and I thought I'd never have another best friend that wonderful in my whole life, so I'd hold on to her with everything I had. She came out to me the night before Christmas break, hiding under the blankets in my dorm room with the twinkling lights glowing. She was so scared. I held her and told her I loved her no matter what, and she seemed so glad, to have someone to talk to.

When she talked about falling in love with girls, I was so confused. The way she described it sounded like what it felt like to have girlfriends, I was sure. I felt that all the time. I asked her if she was sure she was gay, and she looked so shocked and angry and hurt, and I didn't know how to fix it, so I tried to explain. That what she felt couldn't be liking girls, because I felt that too, and I was normal. I liked boys, so I couldn't be gay. I couldn't be.

I'm glad it was her I said all that to. If someone else had told me about being bisexual, I think I would have hated them. I would have cried, and screamed, and said horrible things. Because I wasn't gay, I was normal, and it was so scary to think that might be a lie. Thank God it was her, my best friend in the world, who I never want to lose. Thank God I listened.

Because I'm not normal. I'm queer. I like men, and I like women. I can love them both the same, but it doesn't matter anymore, because I love her. I love her, and she loves me, and I don't need to be normal anymore."

Robin's face feels wet, which probably means she's crying. She cries a lot, reading these sorts of stories, in the zines she has to keep hidden under her bed, or, these days, at Steve's house. It's never going to be her, she knows. Not here in Hawkins, but it still makes something ache deep inside her, like pressing on a bruise, but in a good way, seeing love happen to other people. People like her. Seeing that it can.

"So?"

Oh shit. Right, Dingus. They're about him right now. Something about this essay in particular freaked him out.

"Uh. It's. A nice essay? I'm glad things worked out for them?"

Stevie lets out a pathetic whine, sort of like back at Scoops when he earned a particularly bad tally on the You Suck board. "Robbiiiiiiieeeee!"

"I'm sorry! I think I'm missing something, what's wrong with this essay? I don't get it, bubba, I'm sorry. I need some context." She does feel bad. Usually she can pluck whatever's bothering him right out of his brain and into the light, where it almost never looks as bad, but she's at a loss right now.

He's got both hands over his face again, and his response is so muffled she can't make out a word.

"Try again in human sounds, please."

"Ugh! I thought everyone felt like that!"

Huh? "Felt like...what, exactly?"

"Like that!" He flails wildly at the pamphlet in her hands. He's sitting up now, hair all askew from tugging at it, and there's a vaguely worrying crazed look in his eye, like right before he tackled that guard. "Like kissing boys and girls both feel nice, and like seeing a handsome guy and feeling jealous of him makes my stomach flutter, and like having friends feels the same as having crushes! I thought that was just how everyone felt all the time!"

Oh.

Oh.

Oh no.

Poor Dingus! No wonder he panicked and ran here like a crazy person!

"Stevie, can I hug you? Please?" She's not much for physical touch most of the time, but Steve is, and also she's found in the last few months that she doesn't mind so much when it's him. She sort of understands why other people like hugs so much, if they always feel like hugging Steve feels for her. And she really thinks he needs to be hugged, right now.

He nods miserably. She drapes her arms around his shoulders and holds on as tight as she can, hauling him sideways until he's practically laying down on her. He clutches her back and buries his face in her shoulder. She can feel her neck getting wet with tears, a sensation that would normally make her want to claw off her own skin, but this isn't about her. Dingus needs her.

"It's ok, bubba. I'm so sorry. I know how scary this is. When I first figured out I had a crush on Linda Sanderson I cried so hard I threw up, you know? I get it. It's gonna be ok, I promise. We'll make it ok. We faced down evil Russians and giant meat monsters, what's a little sexuality crisis, huh? We got this! We're the goddamn Wonder Twins!"

He snorts at that, which she's pretty sure leaves snot on her neck, which. Ew. Still. Problems for Later Robin.

"We are not, Will and El are the Wonder Twins."

"Uh, nope, no chance, I barely even met them so therefore I am vetoing their application. Sorry kiddos, better luck next time! Find your own nickname, losers!"

Steve sits back, laughing, and she preens a little at being able to bring him back from the brink so easily. She loves him so much she feels like she's glowing with it, sometimes. It almost makes her wish she was straight, because what girl is she ever going to find who loves her this much? But only almost, because. Well. Girls, amiright? Phew.

"So what now, Stevie? You wanna say it out loud? That helps, sometimes. You wanna not say it out loud? You wanna go to a gay bar and find you a boy? You wanna never think about it again? It's totally your call."

"Say it out loud, huh?"

"Hm. It took me like a month, and then the first time I could only say it sitting in the back of my closet with the bedroom door locked and the closet door closed, and I could only whisper it. Just "I'm a lesbian," to myself, like the world's most ironic little goblin. And I had to throw up again after. But it did feel good, once I rinsed my mouth out, anyway. Cleansing, you know? And it gets easier every time." Steve's eyebrows are raised and he's chuckling again, so that's a win. She's not lying, but it is sort of funny, she supposes. In hindsight, anyway.

"Ok. Ok, I can do that. I think. Yeah, I can do that."

She's so proud of him. He's the bravest person she's ever met, she thinks. "You wanna get in the closet?"

"Isn't the whole point to come out of the closet, Robs?" He's smirking at her. Bastard. She whacks him in the shoulder on principle. He may be having a crisis, but he's still a jackass. Her favorite jackass in the whole world, but still.

"Har har, you're a regular Bob Hope. Alright then, bigshot, let's hear it."

A little of that fear creeps back onto his face, and she wishes she could wipe it off, but that's not how this works. They can't make the scary things less scary. He couldn't make the Russians less terrifying, but he could hold her hand and make her laugh and carry some of that fear with her. She can do that for him now, too.

She grabs his hand, and he clutches back tightly. He takes a deep breath.

"I'm...fuck. Ok. Ok, I can do this. I'm...bisexual." The air leaves him in a big whoosh, and he laughs a little. "Yeah, ok, fuck. I'm bisexual. Holy shit, Robbie, I'm bisexual!"

"Hell yeah you are!" She's grinning so hard her cheeks hurt. She's so fucking proud of him.

He's laughing again, a little hysterically, and he hugs her tight again, and she holds him back just as close and thinks oh, he's like me. I'm not alone. I have Steve, and he's like me, and he's mine forever and ever.

When they separate, she looks at him seriously.

"So do you, like, want this to be a thing? Because we can totally make it a thing, and like, get me a fake ID and go to a gay bar and do all kinds of wild shit if you want, but we don't have to, you know? If you need to just, like. Digest this, for a while. It's totally up to you, I just know it took me a while to feel ok with it, and I have no idea if it's different for you but I just want to be what you need, you know? You've been so good with me, and I've never had a queer friend before, so I don't know how, but I want to be just as good to you. You're my Dingus and I love you and I don't know how much of a gay guru I can be on account of, you know, I've never met any gay people besides me and the pretty lady at the bookstore but I couldn't even get real human words to come out of my mouth when I tried to talk to her so I don't think that counts, you know? But I still wanna help! Let me help!"

"Bobbie! Bobbie breathe, you're gonna pass out. I don't think I need a gay guru, I just need a gay best friend, and I have that, so I promise I'm good, ok? Promise. Also I love you too.”

She takes a deep breath, following his lead the way they worked out in the horrible days after Starcourt, when she couldn't sleep without him next to her, warm and alive and breathing, and even then she would wake up in the night with her breath coming short and her vision tunneling and Steve would hold her hand against his chest and breathe slowly, in and out, until she could follow him, and the world wasn't so terrible and scary and loud anymore.

She still thinks about that awful hour underground, thinking she was strapped to the corpse of a boy she never let become her friend, but Steve is always there now when she needs him, and he never complains when she grabs his wrist or puts her head on his chest to make absolutely sure that big, stupid heart is still beating.

When she's breathing normally again, he drops their joined hands down between them, toying idly with the chain linking her ring to her bracelet. "I think...I think I'm glad I said it, and I'm glad we talked about it, but can we maybe just...put it away, for a while? Like it's not...ugh. I guess this is kind of shitty to say, so like, hit me if you want, I guess, but I kind of don't think it matters right now?"

"No no, that makes perfect sense! Like, you still like girls, right?" He nods. "And you don't like. Have a crush on any boys right now. Or do you? Oh man if you do you have to tell me though, it's platonic soulmate law. It's in the bylaws, Steve, don't make me soulmate fine you!"

He laughs and shoves her face away. "Jesus, Rob, no! I don't have a crush on any guys, who would I even crush on in this town? We're not exactly swimming in eligible bachelors. I don't have a crush on anybody at all, I'd tell you, I swear. I know the rules!"

"Oh phew, good. You have to tell me when you do, though, I'm way excited to get you back for making fun of Tammy."

"It was the God's honest truth, Bobbie! She sings like a muppet!"

"Oh my god, shut up, Dingus! Ugh! As I was saying, you super duper have to tell me when you do, but for now, I think maybe you don't have to think about it really at all if you don't want. I mean, practically speaking, it's not really relevant to your everyday life, so we can totally revisit when that changes, but you don't have to like. Join a pride parade tomorrow, you know? You are you who are no matter what. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, especially not to me, not ever."

He leans his head on her shoulder, and she scritches her nails through his hair. It really has no right being as soft as it is, with the amount of hairspray he uses. It's frankly rude, is what it is.

"Thanks, Bobs. I think I'm just gonna put it away for now. It just...another thing to know about me, you know? Like, I'm bad at fighting people but good at fighting monsters, all my best friends are kids except you, I'm bi but it doesn't matter because there aren't any boys to date in Hawkins anyway. Plus my dad would kill me if he found out. Like actually kill me, not "oh geez I missed curfew, my dad's gonna kill me" type kill me, like I think he'd actually try and beat me to death. So there's really no reason to talk about it right now, you know?"

There's a pit of ice in her stomach, and she tightens her arm around him like she can keep him safe just by holding on tight enough. She hates how casually he said that, just like she hates how casually he always talks about how his parents treat him, like he honestly believes it's normal. "Jesus, Dingus. You know you can come here if you need, right? My parents love you, they already think we're getting married. They'd make you sleep in the guest room, but I could sneak you in here easy."

He snorts again. "We're totally gonna end up married for tax reasons anyway, we're never beating the rumors." That makes her snort, too. He's not wrong, though. She isn't going to be allowed to have a wife anytime soon, and if she has to choose someone to be her next of kin, it's always gonna be him. They're planning to move in together when she goes to school next year anyway. No one is ever gonna believe them that they aren't dating, but that's...fine. Honestly, there are worse things. Better to have Steve by her side than not, and if no one else understands them, well, they understand each other, don't they? That's more than enough.

"Yeah, I know I can come here if I need, Robs. It's fine mostly, I swear. They're not home until Christmas anyway."

He takes another deep breath, like he's settling himself. "I'm just glad we talked about it. I feel better now."

She cards her fingers through his hair again, basking in the feeling of her favorite person so close, and so content. "I'm glad, Dingus."

They're alive, and they're together, and they're queer, and neither of them is ever going to have to be alone again.

"Hang on, did you say you've kissed girls and boys?!"

part 2 part 3

[honeythekidsarealright]

ok smf rlly awkward frickin awkward happened last sem

So im in a sorority and straight as a lineeeee (lol lie)

And long story short this girl that absolutely hates me bc when we hooked up i didn’t want to come at all (tmi ik 😭) was at the same frat party i was at

For reference i was wearing a very short red dress and as i was walking past these couches with ppl filled with them i feel someone just grab a chunk of my ass 💀 and i turn around and see that it’s her. And i get rlly scared (but so frickin weirdly turned on??) and i run to a washroom and sob. And as im crying my dumbass self didn’t lock the door and she comes in comforting me and touching me. And then it gets steamy when she gets on her knees and stuff. And eventually i finish on her face and she gets up, gets clean and says she’ll see me around and leaves.

then this is the embarrassing part. I come out the washroom later and forget my dress is undone (it’s like a strapless tight one so if it’s not zipped well it comes off) and i walk a bit to find my friends and then BOOM. I KID YOU NOT IN FRONT OF SO MANY PEOPLE MY DRESS FALLS OFF TO MY HIPS AND MY TATAS ARE ON FULL SHOW 😭 but i had nipple pads on so we good 🤞

Then i run out that house and to my dorm bc i will not face embarrasment at the sorority house. Then later on that morning my phone is blowing up with THE girl sending me a pic of the mess i made yesterday in the washroom and making fun of me.

So this girl grabbed me, took advantage of me when i was drunk, took pictures of me and videos of me as i came and then purposely broke my zipper.

But i graduate next semester so its ??okay

let me make this very clear... nothing about that is anywhere near okay. consent is something that is very important in any situation. that being said, regardless of if she thought that you were comfortable with it, that does not give her the right to touch you in an inappropriate manner or make a move on you when you were clearly in a vulnerable state. she also has absolutely no right to take any pictures or videos of you without your consent either. i'll say this one more time. what she did is DEFINITELY NOT OKAY, and she should be reported.

[supernovafics]

✧∘ଂ ࿐ ཾ 𝑳𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑶𝑵𝑬. ✭・.・✫・゜・。.

pairing: ex-bestfriend!steve x fem!reader

word count: 683 words

warnings: explicit language, minor mentions of parental trauma 

series masterlist | last part — next part

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❝ 𝒊 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆, 𝒊 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖. ❞

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Dear Steve,

Do you remember how we met?

Weirdly enough, I remember the exact moment. Mainly because I was so fucking nervous. (side note: being the new kid in town sucks absolute ass)

But, anyway, I moved in next door to you and our parents hit it off immediately since it turned out that our dads were going to be working with each other. 

As they all nonstop talked for a solid fifteen minutes in the front yard and I stood by like the most lonely twelve-year-old fifth wheel ever, you pulled up on your bicycle coming from God knows where. 

Our parents were quick to introduce us, and then they made you hang out with me. It was nice finally seeing and interacting with a kid my age, but I also thought that you would hate me since our parents were essentially forcing this “play date” to happen. However, you were actually really nice and I was kind of glad that my parents forced me to meet you. 

We went to your backyard and sat by your pool, and I remember that it was insanely hot that day and I really wanted to go swimming but had no idea where my bathing suit was packed among the boxes scattered in our new garage. I could tell that you really wanted to swim too, and although I told you that it would’ve been completely fine if you did it without me, you shrugged like it was no big deal and said that you didn’t want me to feel left out. Which, now looking back on that moment, is probably when I knew that I really wanted us to be friends. 

It surprised me how much we had in common and how so much of that commonality came from how insane our parents were. In the moment it felt funny, but now I can’t help but see how sad it was because of how nonchalantly we were talking about our parents being so neglectful to us. 

You told me the story about when you were in first grade and your mom forgot to pick you up from school because she booked a spa appointment that went until 5pm, and that’s how you learned how to walk home. And I followed up by talking about the time both my parents missed my dance recital when I was eight because my dad worked late (even though he said he wouldn’t), and my mom somehow showed up so late that she missed the number I danced in. 

Now I’m realizing that those fucked up storytimes were probably what cemented our friendship. Because somehow we both found someone that actually fully understood what all of that parental shittiness was like. 

The next day I went over to your house again, since mine was still in complete disarray from unpacking, and I brought a bunch of my favorite movies and we watched them in your living room. 

It’s funny because I think you hated all of them, or at least most of them, and I remember thinking something along the lines of: “I can never talk to this guy again. How could he hate The Great Gatsby? He’s an idiot!”

Of course, none of that happened, because aside from your horrific judgment of movies (which I hope has changed by now), I already saw you as an important person in my life. 

I think we probably spent that entire summer before school started attached at the hip, and when school did finally start it felt okay walking in as the new kid because you were there. Helping me and protecting me from the idiots. 

Twelve-year-old me truly never thought that there would be a time when we weren't the greatest of friends with each other. And I know how naive that probably was for me to think.

But, actually, I don't believe it was entirely that naive to think because we were different. You and me, our friendship, was different than just any other one.

And I honestly think that if I didn't mess things up as badly as I did, we would still be in each other's lives right now.

Sincerely,

Y/N

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

next part

[iamdeceived]

Cheeky little girl

⚠️The events narrated in this story are completely invented.⚠️

💜The reader is a woman in this story!💜

⚠️English is not my first language, so forgive me for any mistakes in this story!⚠️

🐝Hey, come visit me on Instagram!!🐝

🌹Personal Instagram: @vic_m.d 🌹

🌹Arts Instagram: @vic_tia_mai 🌹

➡️Orders temporarily closed!⬅️

⚠️Warnings: Mentions of robberies, violence, obscenity, inappropriate language... And yondu being yondu!⚠️

🖤Good reading!!!🖤

Today was a very important day. Yondu, and his crew (you've been part of the crew for a short time) had a great place to rob. You were the only woman in the group, and as ridiculous as it may seem, everyone on the crew is absolutely respectful towards you. You changed into your crew uniform in front of the broken mirror in your room. Adrenaline was running like crazy through your veins, you couldn't wait to do this job.

Being new to the crew, you wanted to show your worth at any cost. This was his perfect opportunity to do so. “you’ll do great y/n!” You said to yourself, looking at yourself in the mirror as you fixed your hair.

You quickly left the comfort of your room, only to find the entire crew in front of the door. "My God woman! You take too long in there!" Kraglin said. There was no real anger in his voice, but they were all bothered by his delay.

“Oh shut up Krag! If you want to go ugly and messy for this mission, do it however you want... I want to make sure I look pretty enough for my perfect victory!”Everyone (including you) laughed at your speech. You weren't like that, not really. But you were really nervous. Oh my God, you're going to explode with anxiety.

Yondu came to you with the typical walk of someone who is tired of this bunch of grown men he has to take care of. He looked at you skeptically, "and the princess finally finished putting on her makeup, right? What a fucking mess!" Yondu led the way as the ship's entrances opened. You and kraglin looked at each other. "He's not having a good day Y/n, don't tease him today!” You didn't even need to ask to know the reason for your captain's irritation. Peter Quill of course. Peter is a good man but he gets on anyone's nerves easily.

You put this matter aside and joined the others. Descending on the alien planet unknown to you. Yondu said that this was an extremely rich planet, and full of evil aliens. It would be a pleasure for all of you to steal from them what they had to spare. Money.

You did well breaking into an empty house. Even seemingly far away, you could hear Yondu whistling, indicating that he was also having fun with the situation.Kraglin initially begged you not to walk away from him, but he knew you were stubborn and would end up doing it at one time or another. And there you were. Filling his backpack with all the money he could get his hands on. Enjoying the emptiness and silence of that house that you invaded so easily. Until a hand surprises her. You turn around sharply just in time to see the alien owner of the house with a gun pointed at his head. His breathing became rapid. Until a sharp whistle filled his ears, and the alien fell to the ground with a hole in the middle of his forehead. Yondu came in through the window, glaring at you angrily.

“I thought I made it clear enough for you to be careful! I don't have to take care of my men, and I won't do that to a woman who doesn't even pay attention to what she's doing!” His words were cold and cruel and they hurt you, especially because you are a very proud woman. Her blood boiled with rage. “You just wasted your fucking time coming here to save me because you wanted to! I might as well have dealt with this shit, I didn't ask you to come here and bother me.And on top of that wanting to rub things in my face." You weren't necessarily shouting, but your words were sharp enough to have the desired effect.You bitterly regretted them seconds later.

Yondu walked towards you with heavy steps, he grabbed your wrist and started to take you towards the ship. “You’re going to stay inside until you learn to respect me, you cheeky little girl!”Despite what you expected you didn't hear anger in his tone of voice. Yondu wasn't hurting your wrist either, he was firm enough to keep you in line but didn't hurt you. On the other hand, his words sounded... Fun?

You tried (in vain) to free yourself from his grip on your wrist, but he kept dragging you to the ship. You knew your captain was stubborn when he wanted to be, and you knew you had done him wrong, disrespected him, but this situation was starting to make you smile. It was always pleasurable for you to irritate the boys, but you had never tried to do that to your captain. And for sure, annoying Yondu Udonta was the best thing you had ever experienced in your life (Until that moment).

Yondu put you on the ship and went back to his work. You couldn't believe you were locked inside alone while everyone else was enjoying the fun. You thought about the shame and humiliation it would be to look at the boys' faces after being locked on the ship for disrespecting the captain. You started to regret bragging in front of them all. They would make fun of you later until they got tired, and they never got tired. "I'm screwed” You said out loud.

After a while (which seems like an eternity to you) Yondu returned with his crew. You waited for the mockery of the men of the crew, but instead they just looked at you in silence, with a certain gleam of admiration in their eyes.

You looked one by one with raised eyebrows, trying to understand what the hell was going on there. Kraglin walked up to you and whispered: "I know exactly what happened earlier, I saw you being dragged into the ship... Just like I also saw you talking loudly to the captain. But Yondu scolded us all, saying that you were the one who got the most money out of everyone on the crew. Why is he covering for you? I don't know either, but please thank him later!”

You couldn't believe it. Yondu defending you? It seemed impossible.

You decided to listen to Kraglin this time for a change. During the night, you took advantage of the fact that everyone was sleeping, and crawled into the captain's cabin to thank him for saving you. For the two times he saved you.

You knocked on the door in fear. You were about to leave and pretend nothing had happened, but then the door opened.Yondu was sitting in his armchair, looking at some papers. "What do you want at this hour, girl?” You almost held your breath. Almost. Yondu lifted his red eyes from the paper to look at you and for the first time you trembled under his gaze. Maybe you never noticed how deep the tone of his eyes was, or how menacing and beautiful they are. "Sit down girl." You obeyed immediately. "what do you want?”

You looked down completely embarrassed. "I would like to thank you…”

Yondu looked at you, disbelieve. “are you telling me that you, you are the most stubborn creature in this entire universe, came here to thank me?”

“Y-yes... And I would also really like to apologize for speaking to you like that earlier today..." Yondu's jaw dropped. He stood up quickly, and you did the same, he walked to you quickly and held your chin between his fingers. “Who brainwashed you y/n?” You looked at him in disbelief, you were already completely regretting having done this. "Seriously Yondu, can you take me seriously at least once in your life? Damn I'm really trying to do the right thing here…” Yondu looked you deeply straight in the eyes. For a moment you felt your legs weaken. "I can't believe you're telling me this..." You tried to smile sweetly at him. "Why did you tell the boys that I took the most money? I barely had time for that..." You noticed yondu following your lips with his eyes as you spoke, it made you slightly dizzy. “because I know how stupid they can be sometimes!”

Yondu turned his back on you, slowly walking away “So you thought it was a good idea to defend me?" You asked, still confused.Yondu turned to look at you. "Can you just be grateful for what I did?" You dropped your gaze to the floor. “y-yes... I'm sorry, captain.” Yondu almost fell backwards. "Seriously girl, what's going on with you today?”

“I'm just following your orders, captain." You were still looking at the ground. Yondu's fingers went to your chin again. He made you look up to face him. "Why does my title sound so sweet coming out of your mouth?" He was dangerously close, it made her heart skip a beat. "Maybe because I'm adorable. But I can offer you sweeter things than calling you captain.” God, what the fuck did you just say? You were in front of your captain, insinuating such things to him . Her face burned with embarrassment, you were ready to apologize again, when you realized that yondu was still staring at your lips. "Show me”.

You felt your face heat up, your breathing slowed down and heat rose up your legs. “I-I… Yondu…” He ran his finger across your lips slowly. "I can?" You nodded your head several times. Yondu took your lips, delighting in the softness of your skin. “Damn, you weren’t kidding…” You smiled weakly. Yondu picked you up and placed you on his desk. He joined your body to his, and you felt his erection brush against your inner thighs. A sweet moan escaped your lips when he tasted your neck.

He began to slowly take off your clothes. He stroked his clothed cock as he looked at you. "What a delicious woman!" He trailed kisses down your body, and fumbled when taking off your belt. He clothes were on the floor, along with his clothes. You stared at his member for a moment, it was blue like the rest of his body, and it was much bigger than you expected it to be. He pumped his dick before joining your lips to his again. “Please Y/n, let me fuck you!” You nodded. The words simply refused to leave his mouth.

He looked really desperate, because he attached his cock to her entrance as soon as he could. He slowly thrust himself inside you. Yondu hid his face from the curve of her neck when he was all the way inside her pussy.

It took you a while to get used to his length, but you were soon bucking your hips against him. Yondu started thrusting slowly, and gradually accelerating his movements. His hands searched for her breasts all the time, delighting in the softness of his skin. You grabbed his shoulders with your nails. The two of your bodies beat in a rhythmic frequency, making wet sounds echo throughout the room. These sounds however were no louder than the moans of the two of you.

You felt a new wave of heat invade you every time you felt him going deep inside you. You whined for him. “Damn, you’re so hot y/n!”

His movements became more intense, and you realized he was already on the edge. "Yondu... Out!”He reluctantly complied, and pulled his painfully hard cock out of you.

He pumped his cock a few times before collapsing onto her belly. You brought your fingers to his juice and brought them to your lips. Tasting your captain's taste. He quickly bent down, and put his mouth together with her needy pussy. You thought you were going crazy. His tongue traced all the right places on you, sometimes teasing your needy entry. You moaned wildly, pushing his head against your core. You fell onto his lips. Yondu drank every drop of her sweet nectar.

You don't remember much of what happened after that the only thing you know is that you woke up in your captain's bed. He wasn't there when you woke up, which left you frustrated.

You went to talk to your best friend, Kraglin, and immediately noticed that he had horrible dark circles under his beautiful eyes. “Krag... Are you okay?" Kraglin looked at you ironically. "Next time you have sex with the captain, remember to make less noise because there are people wanting to sleep... Me included!” You blushed violently, and Kraglin couldn't help but laugh at you.

[tiannasfanfic]

Secret Admirer: Part 3

Eddie Munson x Reader (Fluff)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Masterlist] [AO3 Link]

Summary: Telling someone you fell for them is always hard. However, it's even harder when the person you love is also your best friend. When you can't find the courage to tell Eddie Munson how you feel to his face, you decide to let him know in a more...round about sort of way.

Rating: General Auidences

Author Note: Gender neutral reader, they/them pronouns used, if any. Part 3 of 3. I always see Eddie calling people he finds attractive, or feels protective over, "Princess" regardless of gender. He would even call Steve "Princess." Enjoy! 🖤💜

CW: Cussing, smoking, self doubt, a little angst but a happy ending.

Word Count: 3,300

Tag List: @lilstickynote @tayhar811 @marianita195 @ravenclawkimmi @hellfirefiend @mizelophsun11 @thegirlthatsfalling @awkwardambition @lokiofasgard616 @potatos-library

Deciding to tell Eddie you are his secret admirer was the easy part. The part that actually involved telling him was much harder.

In the process of rereading that absolute disaster of a love letter, you realized something important about yourself.

You absolutely hated talking about your feelings.

That was the real reason you had gone with this whole plan instead of just talking to him upfront. You had really hoped he would just figure out that it’s you right away, feel the same way and then ask you out instead so you wouldn’t have to.

Not exactly the best way to go about things. Or the best way to get what you want.

To make matters worse, ever since the night he came over to show you the letter, Eddie had been acting oddly towards you. Not a bad odd, just odd.

You started catching him staring at you during the classes you had together. His hugs seemed to be a little more frequent, a little tighter and a little more lingering. While it was unexpected with everything else going on, you didn’t mind the extra attention from him. However, you did wonder what brought that on, even though you didn’t ask. You were almost afraid to.

Now came the dilemma. Should you write another letter actually explaining how you feel? Or tell him in person to his face? If you do it in person, should you do it at your house? His? At the old picnic table? One of the other places you two shared with each ither? Or someplace else altogether with no memories of the two of you attached?

Actually, having Eddie meet up with you on neutral ground sounded like the best idea out of them all. That way if things went badly, it wouldn’t completely ruin those other spots for either of you. Skull Rock seemed like the most logical choice. You knew Eddie knew where it was since it was a popular spot, but you also didn’t consider it a spot belonging to either of you. It was a place you’d come to be alone a few times to clear your head, which usually just involved smoking and reading. If it was somehow soured by the memory of Eddie confirming what you already knew, it wasn’t a big loss. You could easily find another.

You decided to leave him one more note to set up the meeting. That would give you the chance to be mysterious for a little while longer. This whole thing really had been fun when it came to thinking up ways to surprise Eddie. You had initially planned on doing a few more surprises before either revealing yourself or giving up altogether, but now you just wanted to be done with the whole thing.

Who knows? Maybe it would all work out after you talked, and you could keep on surprising him in other ways?

You doubted it, but it was nice to hope.

This next note was short and to the point, typewritten just like the other one.

Eddie,

I’m sorry my first letter was such a mess. Meet me face to face so I can explain it? 4pm Skull Rock tomorrow (Saturday) night?

xoxo

School had let out for Christmas break by the time you worked up the courage to finally talk to him. So, you had to figure out another way to get the note to him without him seeing you.

On the Friday evening after Christmas, Eddie was over at Dustin’s house since he was running a short campaign for Hellfire to play over break. The parents of the younger Hellfire members called him up begging him to one week into the holidays since they were all going stir crazy. Since Eddie’s uncle was off work on Friday’s, this worked out perfectly for you. You headed over to their trailer once you knew Eddie was at the Henderson’s.

Wayne was a little surprised when you said you were there to see him instead of Eddie. and was even more surprised when you asked him to give Eddie an envelope but not tell him it came from you.

“I’ll explain everything to him tomorrow,” you said. “The letter is just asking him to meet with me so I can.”

By that point, Wayne had put two and two together. You knew then that Eddie had shown him the ring and other letter when a look of realization come over his face, and his expression softened into a gentle smile.

“I’ll see that Eddie opens it tonight,” Wayne said, and you thought you could see excitement in his eyes. “Good luck tomorrow, Y/N. I don’t think you’ll need it, but good luck.”

That statement confused you a little bit, but he wasn’t discouraging the idea any, so that gave you a little more hope than you previously had. You headed home after that to start thinking about what you were going to say to Eddie and what you were going to wear tomorrow. Normally you didn’t put a whole lot of thought into how you looked, but this was different.

Several hours later, your closet was all over your floor, and you were no closer to figuring out either when the phone on your nightstand rang.

“Hel-,” you started to say after picking up the receiver.

“They want to meet tomorrow!” Eddie said, his frantic tone interrupting your greeting. “They want to see me face to face!”

The nervous energy Eddie was projecting over the phone on top of your already nervous energy about tomorrow caused your brain to veer wildly off track for a few moments.

“What?” you asked, genuinely confused now. “Who wants to meet you?”

Which really confused Eddie at first since he wasn’t at the top of his game either.

“Eh? What do you mean, who- oh,” Eddie started to say, and then you heard him realize he needed to fill in some blanks. “I just got home from Henderson’s a bit ago and my uncle handed me an envelope, saying someone dropped it off today.”

“An envelope?” you said, feeling dumb for your brain lapse considering you were behind all this, but doing your best to still sound confused.

There was a brief period of silence as you heard Eddie nodding before he remembered you couldn’t see him.

“Oh, yeah, an envelope,” he confirmed. “It’s the same person who sent the ring and letter. They want to meet up tomorrow.”

“Oh wow!” you said, trying to sound really excited without going over the top. “That’s awesome!”

“Eh,” Eddie said, with a more neutral tone than you expected, and you could hear the shrug in his voice. “I guess. You know me, I don’t like letting people down.”

Those words made your stomach start to sink.

“Oh?” you asked, licking your suddenly dry lips. “Why do you think you’ll let them down?”

“Because I’m not interested,” he said. “And I’m not going to pretend either. Whoever it is deserves better than that.”

With every word Eddie said, you felt your stomach sinking further.

“Now, don’t jump to conclusions,” you said, amazed your voice wasn’t shaking like your hands now were. “You still don’t know who it is, so you could end up intereste-“

��Highly doubtful,” he said, cutting you off. “I already know who it’s not and that’s the only person I’d want to go out with.”

It felt like someone suddenly poured a bucket of ice water on you. This was the first you were hearing that Eddie liked someone. You had no idea prior to this.

“Oh,” you asked, swallowing heavily. You didn’t want to know, but you also had to ask. “Who is it?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Eddie said, and you could hear him shrugging again. “It’ll never happen in a million years, no matter how much I want it to.”

Your heart skipped a beat, your mouth went dry. Since your stomach couldn’t sink any further, now you felt nauseated. Your vision started to swim as tears sprang up in your eyes.

This was information you really wished you would have known before.

Now what?

Do you still show up tomorrow, knowing he’s going to tell you no and make every interaction you have with him going forward be awkward? Or consider this his answer, not go, and let Eddie think whoever it was chickened out?

Most of your motivation to see this through had just died learning Eddie was interested in someone else. There didn’t seem to be much of a point in doing any of this anymore. But, at the same time, just dropping the whole thing right now and not showing up was way more of a chicken shit move than you’d ever done before.

You made your bed. Guess it was time to lie in it.

“Y/N? Did you fuck off on me over there, Princess?”

You realized that you had gotten lost in your thoughts and had gone quiet for a while.

“Hmm? Oh, no, I’m still here.”

Eddie chuckled softly.

“But yeah, that’s where I’m at,” he said, sighing.” “Tomorrow’s going to suck, both for me and the secret admirer.”

You chewed your lip for a moment.

“Just be honest with them,” you finally said with a sigh. “I’m sure they’ll understand. They wouldn’t want you to pretend to have feelings just for their sake. I know I wouldn’t.“

It was Eddie’s turn to be quiet after that.

“Yeah,” he finally said, sighing again. “I wouldn’t want that either.”

Sleep wasn’t your friend that night. You ended up with just a few hours and were up a little after sunrise, which was unusual for you, especially during school breaks. You went ahead and got ready, dressing as if it was just another normal day, then cleaned up the mess you’d left yourself.

After that, you had nothing to do but wait. Even though you had hours to go before you had to leave, the anxiety and nerves had carried over from the night before.

When waiting around at home became too much, you decided to head out for the meeting spot already. It was around 2pm when you got out to Skull Rock, but despite being a really warm afternoon for December, there wasn’t anyone else out there at the moment. People usually didn’t come out until the evening when there was less of a chance to be seen for the activities they had in mind. That suited you just fine.

As soon as you got to the normal place you’d been sitting, you spread a blanket out on the ground and parked yourself right where the rock curved under the massive, skull shaped boulder. Lighting up one of the joints you brought with you, you smoked half of it before putting it out and swapping it for a cigarette. The combo helped calm you some and you settled back against the rock to read while you waited.

The book you brought with you was an old favorite, one you had read so many times the spine was badly crinkled and about to fall apart. You would need to replace it soon since you read it anytime you needed to think and focus that easily distractible part of your brain. So, as your eyes and that part of your brain took in the words on the page, the rest of your brain paid absolutely no attention to the book and tried to work out what you could say to Eddie that would save the friendship.

The next two hours flew by, but it didn’t seem like that much time had passed before you heard footsteps crunching along through the trees as someone was headed towards you. A quick glance at your watch told you it was 3:55.

Your heart sped up; panic started to set in. You had gotten lost in your thoughts, but you were no closer to figuring out what you were going to say than you were two hours ago. That thought flew through your mind just as Eddie was stepping out of the trees into your line of sight, headed in your direction.

You froze in place where you were sitting. He didn’t see you yet, his eyes looking down at the uneven ground, so he didn’t trip on his approach. You briefly debated diving under Skull Rock itself and hiding, but right as you were having that thought, Eddie looked up. He instantly saw you and stopped in surprise.

“Oh, hey Y/N,” Eddie said, with a hesitant wave. “I didn’t know you ever came out here.”

You blinked a few times and collected your bearings quickly.

“Uh, yeah, sometimes,” you said, closing the book in your lap. “It’s quiet out here, a good spot to be alone.” Then you held up your book. “Or read.”

“Guess so,” he chuckled a little, and you could tell he was nervous. He came over to lean against the rock across from you. “I tried to call you before I left, but your mom said you weren’t home.”

“Yeah,” you said, unable to stop yourself from chuckling too. “I’ve been out here a couple hours.”

“Yeah?” Eddie said, then started rubbing his neck in that nervous way of his. “Have you seen anyone else out here, by chance?”

You shook your head and Eddie nodded.

Neither of you spoke after that. You both kept looking at each other, then looking away.

This was awkward as hell.

You sighed and stood up.

“Can we just pretend like this never happened?” you said as you started collecting your things. “Or did I mess everything up too badly? Either way, too late now, I guess.”

“Eh?” you heard Eddie say, confusion in his voice. “What do you mean?”

You folded up your blanket and tucked it under your arm before turning to him.

“I’m sorry,” you said, sighing. “I didn’t know you were interested in anyone when I gave you the ring and letter, or else I would have never put you in this position.”

Eddie’s expression stayed confused for a second before it changed to one of complete shock, his eyes going wide and his mouth dropping open.

“No fucking way,” he whispered.

It was so soft you barely heard him, but you did, and at that moment, it confirmed what you already knew.

“Don’t worry though,” you added hurriedly, looking down. “I know you’re not interested and I’m okay with that. There’s no need to go into it at all. Like I said, I don’t want you to pretend for my sake. I’d just rather forget this ever happened.”

You glanced up at him and saw he was still staring at you with the same expression of shock. It was probably the best reaction you could hope for.

Figuring this was a suitable time to leave, you started to turn away to head back to where you parked, but then paused.

“You said you called,” you said, turning back to Eddie. “What’s up? Might as well ask you while I’m still here.”

Eddie’s mouth closed with a snap, and he shook his head to snap himself out of the shock.

“Oh, uh,” he said, and started rubbing the back of his neck. “Do you want to go to The Hideout with me tonight? Get a drink or two?”

You chuckled tiredly, looking at him finally.

“That might be kind of awkward now, so maybe another night.”

“Why would taking you on a date be awkward? Especially now?”

You blinked and stared at Eddie.

“A…date?”

Eddie nodded.

Now it was your turn to be confused, though your heart was now doing a wild dance in your chest.

“But…I thought you were interested in somebody?”

“Yeah, I am,” Eddie nodded. “You.”

You blinked and stared at him.

“Me?”

Eddie nodded again.

Your brain shut down. All of the thoughts you had in your head suddenly fled. You opened your mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. You ended up just standing there, gawping at Eddie.

After staring at each other for a minute, Eddie grinned at you and slowly walked over to you as he started talking, taking a step with every second or third word.

“When I got the ring,” he explained. “At first, I thought it was you. I had forgotten about that ring as soon as we left the store, so you were the only one that knew about it. But you were so convincing that I started doubting that.”

Now Eddie was standing just a step or two away, and he stopped there. You just stood there, looking up at him, still too stunned to speak.

“The letter really caught me off guard,” he continued. “I was sure it wasn’t you by then. And I panicked. I thought, it’s only a matter of time before someone pursues you too. And friendship be damned, I like you too much to not try my luck first.”

You felt your cheeks flush a deep red and you couldn’t help but smile now.

“Must’ve been odd seeing me here then,” you said, finally getting your voice back.

“Not odd, just really surprising,” he said, as he reached out to take ahold of your jacket and then gently started pulling you toward him. “Do you actually come out here or was that all made up?”

“I do sometimes,” you said, nodding as you took the last couple steps to close the distance between you. “Not often though. It’s not a spot of mine yet.”

Eddie snaked one of his arms around your waist, pulling you against him. Your arms came up to drape around his shoulders, the blanket you were holding falling down to the ground.

“Then that settles it,” he said, his other hand coming up to cup you’re the side of face, his thumb tracing along your cheekbone. “It’s officially our spot now.”

You couldn’t help but grin, barely getting out a word of agreement before Eddie was pressing his lips to yours in a deep, intimate kiss. It wasn’t quite to the level of passionate, but the embers could be felt by both of you. It wouldn’t take much to stoke them into a burning flame.

With that in mind, you slowly pulled your lips away from his, opening your eyes to look at him.

Eddie licked his bottom lip and bit down on after yours were gone. His grip tightened on your waist briefly but then relaxed. When he finally opened his eyes, a wicked glint came to his eyes as he grinned at you.

His train of thought was on a similar track.

“So,” he said. “Inner flames burning, eh?”

You groaned, hiding your face against his shoulder as he laughed and wrapped both of his arms around you in a hug.

“Oh stop,” you protested, looking up at him with a glaring pout. “In my defense, I don’t even remember writing that particular part.”

“Yeah?” he laughed even harder at that, then kissed you on the forehead. “Exactly how tired were you, Princess?”

“Very,” you said, and now you were laughing along with Eddie. “I stayed up all night writing it. And I actually thought it sounded like my best work at the time.”

“Now it all makes sense,” he shook his head. “I should’ve recognized it as one of those half asleep, somewhat delirious, stream of whatever rambles of yours.”

Eddie walked you to your car then with his arm around your shoulder, and you with your arm around his waist. Not in any hurry, the pace was leisurely and the two of you kept laughing about the letter.

Regardless of your new status with each other, one thing would never change.

Eddie Munson was still your best friend and would continue to give you shit as such.

[satancopilotsmytardis]

Ooh new chapter!

Well, there goes his plan on waiting until he forgets that he's human. Good. Though the thought of Shifting-Sickness is kind of terrifying. It was bad enough when it just meant forgetting your human self, losing that part of yourself, but this is. Well, it makes sense, I guess? You'd lose so much, after all, it would make sense for someone's psyche not to survive that either.

Okay, that's harsh. It's not entirely a lie, but it's very much exagerated and harsh. Like I said, the "tantrum to get his attention again" is, I don't know. It's true that Dabi wants to get his attention again, but calling it a tantrum feels wrong. Especially since he really does want to kill him and is ready to see everything else burn, too.

I'm glad Dabi gets to talk to someone about his past. I'm also glad Stain can give him more information about shifters. It's interesting that Shouto is a shifter as well! I wonder if he knows? I wonder if Rei knows and told him to hide it, too? Not telling them about each other would be cruel, but since they never interact anyway, I could kind of see where the thought is coming from? Hmm.

Ouch. I mean yeah, the situation is messed up and at least Shigaraki should know Dabi is a shifter, but Dabi keeps getting thrown in the deep end, doesn't he? Again and again and again he feels terrible about what is going on. Again and again there are new reasons for him to feel like that.

Dabi is planning on sacrificing himself. Not only to kill his father, but to try and take away some of the pain the League will feel after he dies. He still worries about them so much. He's in love with Shigaraki and it shows. He says he hates that he's being selfish and he tries to make decisions to protect the others but it won't work because he needs to talk to them for that.

I love when Stain and Shigaraki get along. That duo is so funny. Also, I'm glad Shigaraki has someone he can talk to about this stuff.

Oh my god. You didn't. Holy shit, that is one hell of a way for that reveal to go. Of course, Dabi immediately focuses on the important things (like Shigaraki's eyes).

Nobody in this house is normal. Shigaraki doesn't even consider that Dabi might be a spy, he's just fucking terrified of losing Onigiri again. Of losing that first good thing that happened to him.

Well, that's a shift in dynamic. Though I guess I can see why. Dabi just confessed to him and he's definitely pretty and when you think about everything Dabi has been doing under the light that he's human, yeah, okay. Though I'm a bit worried that Shigaraki also did that to keep him. Because he's scared that if he doesn't give Dabi this, he'll leave. Their dynamic is very messy here. I hope they talk about it and work it out once they're no longer this on edge.

Dabi wants to show that he is useful. Oh, the boy wants to do whatever it takes to be able to stay. Also, he really needs to get over the fact that he's colour blind as a cat fast or things are going to be even more awkward. It's already bad enough that he knows way more than he should and that he needs to be careful with what he says (and also that he has had way too little human interaction).

Boyfriend reveal, lol. Dabi is going to have to put the work in to get along with the rest of the League, especially since he really can't interact with Onigiri for that. Stain is an absolute bastard (who wants to make sure at least Shigaraki knows).

Oof, this is a lot. The fact that Shigaraki is absolutely jealous that Stain knee before him hurts, but is understandable. Dabi will have to put in a lot of work before the others accept him. They don't think he's good for Tomura and I can see why, but also that's kinda fucked up.

Aw, they're working out a routine! Also, Shigaraki is absolutely right, Dabi would do absolutely anything if he said it would make him happy. He's such a simp.

Stain is such a menace oh my God. He's going to keep poking at Dabi until he sets someone on fire. Just made a joke about his quirk directly after having a very serious talk. I love this man.

Dabi is trying so, so hard. Especially since the others are already sad about the fact that Onigiri isn't around. Do they think that Dabi and Onigiri don't get along? That would explain at least some of the cold attitude. Or do they think Dabi too was send by AfO? Do they think he's trying too hard? God, Dabi just wants his family to like him :(.

They're bonding! "Their guilty consciences bullied them for me." Is a very funny line.

Mmm very good smut. Pet play and Master kink! It's been a while. Though I can't help but remember that they have thin walls... I guess the others will just have to deal with that.

It's cool that Dabi gets more cat-like urges as a human when he's so out of his head! I'm sure Shigaraki won't mind letting Dabi clean him up some time :).

This chapter sure was a ride! I'm glad Shigaraki knows now, and I'm looking forward to seeing Dabi interact with the rest of the League more! I do wonder, is Shigaraki going to make Dabi the leader for the summercamp job again? How will everyone feel about that? Guess we'll have to wait and see! (Just like Dabi has to wait and see if he ever gets to know Stain's animal form).

Thank you so much!

Stain is definitely harsh, but not everyone is going to look at a revenge plot and think it's something worth dying over no matter what the reason their doing it is. For someone who's entire goal is to change the world through his violence and not let himself be stopped until he's finished with his work and surrenders, Dabi just having the plan to scream his trauma to the world and then immediately go out in a blaze of glory after killing one guy would be pretty pathetic to him

Stain and Shigaraki have such sibling energy in this fic and I'm kind of living for it, supreme bitchiness and effectiveness all at once

NO ONE IN THAT HOUSE IS NORMAL

Dabi and Shig are both a mess throughout this chapter but they are doing their best to figure it out! The League and Stain just to happen to be REALLY not helping as they do.

They do have thin walls :) and I'm sure that won't come back to haunt them at all :)

Thanks for commenting!

[gaystan]

mcau characters as people from this video:

kyle: i sent him to therapy. he was crazy so i had to react a little bit crazier

clyde: blocked her then called her from a blocked number cause i knew she was gonna block me back

stan: i have ghosted but i now know communication is very important and i reached out and said listen. i’ve grown.

jimmy: i plead the motherfuckin fifth

tolkien: i’m a pisces. but what does that mean?

craig: i’m not toxic, right? (sitting with two of his own exes)

tweek: i might have tried to bleach some clothes in the tub (like expensive clothes?) absolutely

kenny: i called a bitch phone 200 times when she didn’t answer my phone call

butters: you know when you fucking with a best friend but you’re supposed to be fucking with the other one? but the best friend is cuter?

craig: have sex in front of his mom

jimmy: slided back into my ex’s dms

wendy: showed up at the house. yeah. knocking on the door. yeah, why not? we gotta talk.

tweek: i’ve jumped into somebody’s car. on the hood. i wasn’t letting this one get away!

kenny: acted like i wasn’t messing with someone when i was messing with them for the sex. i think it’s just fems you know? no i don’t think it’s just fems. cause look at stan.

craig: i got back together with an ex who didn’t do some very nice things to me and we had some really great sex and he fell back in love with me again. we got over it, now i’m engaged!

clyde: i crashed her car on purpose (you total it?) yes i did.

jimmy: dump a girl’s makeup in the toilet and she was talking shit so i gave it right back to her and she put it all on her face

craig: this is my third event. the first time we came we dumped into his ex ex’s boyfriend and we had a blast. (yeah, that was toxic) the second time we came we bumped into my boyfriend’s sworn enemy who just kicked him out of his apartment. (and the boy who likes me brought him) THIRD event, we bumped into my ex’s ex boyfriend. i can’t come to these anymore. i’m leaving the gay community. my podcast’s out now, “craig and those guys.”

[lovelylogans]

the parent trap

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: riding is magic and friendship is power and love is everything to everyone

Roman gets to meet his pony. He should, by all rights, be much more excited about it, but someone had to go and ruin it for him.

⁂

Roman could barely sleep he was so excited.

Papa had mentioned, in passing, if he’d like to go for a ride ‘round the vineyard on the incredibly famous Sprout the horse. And Roman had done his best to cloud it Remus casualness—he’d obviously been riding around the vineyard on the horse before.

But Papa had smiled at him, leaned over and whispered, conspiratorially, “I’m sure Sprout’s missed you tons,” so he isn’t sure how much he’d succeeded in acting less excited.

Roman lays out his outfit the night before: a pair of jeans, a cowboy boots that he’d dug deep in the closet to gather, a cowboy hat! that had been squished under an old shoebox diorama project, a white t-shirt, and a blue-and-red patterned flannel that he’ll put over the top.

And then Roman finds an honest-to-God leather belt with a big silver belt buckle, and that seals it. He’s going full cowboy, damn if Remus would wear this outfit or not, he is about to go horseriding.

He also spends some time, wincingly, tossing various clothing items around the room in an attempt to be Remus-esque levels of messy; he leaves a shirt dangling over a lamp, the dresser draws open, and the closet ajar to its absolute cacophony that Roman doesn’t even need to try to mess up.

He bounces down the stairs in the morning, already fully dressed, hat on in the house, which Dad would decry, but it just makes Virgil snort and flick at the hat.

“Howdy, pardner,” he teases, then, nodding, “Made—”

Roman catches sight of the platters laid out and gapes. “Oh, wow.”

“—A big ol’ breakfast, most important meal of the day,” Virgil says, circling the table and settling a massive plate in front of him. “Eggs, sunny-side up. Bacon, side of biscuits, and, in case that’s not enough for you, a humongous stack of chocolate-chip pancakes, which smell incredible and I’m stealing one except you can’t yell about stealing ‘cause I made it.”

“Wow, Virgil,” Roman says breathlessly. “Thanks!”

Virgil takes off his hat solely to ruffle Roman’s hair. “Bet they didn’t do things like this at camp.”

“No, they certainly didn’t,” Roman says, plopping himself down at the table.

“Was a little worried you’d oversleep,” Virgil says lightly.

“Oh?”

“I mean, I would if I were up half the night making mysterious phone calls from my bathroom.”

Roman nearly chokes on his orange juice.

“Oh—oh, that? I was just calling a friend from camp. Augustus.”

“The piercings friend.”

“Yeah, that one! He lives in New York,” then, calculating out the time difference, hastily adds, “but he’s on vacation right now. In… Edinburgh.”

“Oh. I see,” Virgil says, leaning against the counter, mug of coffee in hand, “so you wanted to pick a time that was convenient for him.”

Roman cuts himself a large segment of egg white, shoveling it in his mouth the way Remus might.

“Mmmm,” he mumbles around the food, making a show of how good it is—it is really good, in fairness—shooting Virgil a big thumbs-up to hopefully distract him.

“Huh,” Virgil says.

“What?” Roman says around a mouthful of food, making himself cringe.

“Nothing,” Virgil says, setting down his coffee mug. “Nothing, it’s just—usually, you stab the yolk first, to get everything all runny...”

“Just… soooo hungry, I guess,” Roman says shiftily, cursing himself—why didn’t camp ever prepare their eggs any way other than scrambled so he’d know that?! “Erm—saving the best part for last!”

“...sure,” Virgil says slowly, and Roman braces himself for suspicion when Papa breezes into the kitchen, whistling cheerfully and toweling out the last of the dampness from his hair.

“Morning, Virgil, morning, kiddo—wow, look at all this!”

“Figured you might be hungry,” Virgil says, stabbing at an egg himself. “You know, after Maddox hustled you out of here after he ate half a grapefruit and before you could get anything.”

Papa seems to miss any irritation in Virgil’s voice, instead reaching to snag one of the pancakes off the pile.

“Hey,” Roman puts in a cursory complaint, though really, he probably wouldn’t be able to eat that entire plate on his own.

“Good thing, too—gotta fuel up for a ride with my favorite guy, huh?” Papa says, leaning over to nudge Roman’s shoulder.

“How’s Sprout been?” Remus says. “You know, since I’ve been off at camp.”

“Excellent, she’s great—her and Cinnamon got some new shoes a couple weeks ago. I think she was missing you, bud, she kept making big eyes at anyone in the hopes they’d feed her apples.”

Roman turns to Virgil.

“I’ll pack a couple for you to give her,” Virgil says before Roman can ask.

Roman nods, satisfied, and turns his attention back to Papa.

“I asked José earlier and he said he’d have them both saddled up when we got down, so we can just hop right on and ride,” Papa continues.

Roman breathes a very small sigh of relief. He’d been worried about that—putting a saddle and reins on a horse had been the only thing he and Remus hadn’t been able to practice at camp.

“How’s the vineyard,” Roman prompts, looking between the adults. “Any fun guests?”

And that takes up the rest of the meal, the pair of them falling over each other to tell Roman the story of some poor woman’s thirtieth birthday, much to Roman’s satisfaction—there’s so much excellent food to eat, he’s mostly focused on, one, eating like Remus, but two, not absolutely choking to death in his quest to eat like Remus. 

It’s all so excellent. The eggs are perfectly salted and peppered—the bacon is just the right amount of crispy without being fried—Virgil passes Roman honey when he picks up his biscuit without him even asking, so he guesses that’s how Remus normally eats it, and it’s incredible, all thick salt and sweet honey and Roman drinks a whole glass of orange juice just to get through it.

And the pancakes.

Not an entirely American invention—there was a whole holiday centered around pancakes back home, after all—but the American pancakes are so. good.

They’re so thick and fluffy and sweet and warm, and with the addition of chocolate chips, melting and seeping their delicious chocolatey flavor even as Roman douses the whole thing in butter and syrup and takes huge, triangular bites—his eyelashes flutter shut in pure happiness.

He bets that pancakes, plain, smothered with Crofters jelly, would possibly be the best food of all time.

Oh, Remus is so lucky he has Virgil who can cook things like this. American food is so good.

“Well—thanks, Virgil, for an awesome breakfast,” Papa says, after he’s drained the last of his coffee and patted his mouth with his napkin.

“Yes—thanks, Virgil,” Roman says.

“You ready to rock and roll, punk?” Papa says, and Roman hops up from the table, eagerly grabbing his hat and jamming it on his head.

“Ready to rock and roll!”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Papa cries out, patting Roman’s back, and picking up his own cowboy hat. “See ya, Virgil!”

“Have fun, be safe,” Virgil says, handing over a tied-up bundle containing apples for them to bribe the horses.

“We will!” Roman calls.

That earns Roman a strange look from Virgil, but they’re out of the door before he can say anything.

Roman reaches over and grabs Papa’s hand, swinging it between them. Papa takes it, smiling.

“Good first full day back from camp?” He asks.

“The best,” Roman says earnestly. 

“But I bet there was a lot about camp that was pretty good, too.”

“Nothing like home,” Roman says, which makes Papa beam. “But yeah. I guess camp was pretty fun.”

“Did you learn to canoe and tie-dye?”

“Yeah!” Roman says, “except I wasn’t nearly as good at tie-dye as this guy Nick? His patterns always turned out perfect, he could tie-dye anything. He’s got tie-dyed sunglasses.”

“Sunglasses!” Papa says, looking impressed. 

“But I guess I did okay,” Roman says. “I got pretty good at kayaking, though. I only ever tipped over when I wanted to, even when some people were doing bumper-boats…”

Papa grins at him. “I’m sure you know nothing about how bumper-boats got started, huh?”

Roman remembers that he’s meant to be Remus, and Remus did, in fact, start bumper-boats a lot of the time.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says, in a lofty, snooty tone that Remus would sometimes use to make fun of him, back when they didn’t know each other very well, but it makes Papa laugh.

“Well, I didn’t get any letters home from your counselor,” Papa says. “So I guess you didn’t explode any cabins.”

Not for lack of trying, Roman thinks.

“Maybe next year,” Roman says, which makes Papa laugh all the way down to the stable, even as they’re opening the doors to behold the stalls.

“All right, Cinnamon,” Papa says, approaching a big, beautiful Palomino, deep, auburn rust fur and an almost shimmeringly beautiful mane of gold. “All right, there, I got an apple for ya…”

But Roman is captivated by the other horse, who surely must be Sprout. She nickers at the sight of him, tossing her black mane.

Roman stares at her, open-mouthed. She’s a beautiful brown horse, with triangle of white splashed between her eyes and big, sweet-looking eyes.

“Hi there, Sprout,” he says very softly. He holds the apple in a flat hand, presenting it to her. “All right, girl?”

Sprout surveys him for a moment, out of those round, marble-like eyes, and bends her mouth to crush happily on his offering.

“Oh,” Roman says, very softly, as Sprout’s mouth tickles his hand. He, cautiously, brings a hand up to her neck, petting her very slowly and soothingly. Her fur is surprisingly bristly under his hand, but clean, and he can feel the powerful muscle of her neck beneath it.

He’s petting a horse. She’s eating out of the palm of his hand.

Today is one of the best days ever. He hopes Remus is having a day that’s even half as good.

⁂

They’re having lunch at home, despite Remus’s subtle attempts to learn what exactly makes a cheeky Nando’s cheeky in the first place. 

But the sandwiches and crisps serve his purposes perfectly fine, even if it is all a bit salty; he drains his water quickly.

“Would you like another drink, Roman?” Uncle Logan asks, where he’s just sat down at the table.

“Don’t bother—I’ll get it,” Remus says, hopping up from the table and traversing to the kitchen. 

He opens the fridge and sees a nice, tall bottle of Ribena, which Roman might have mentioned once or twice in passing? He thinks it’s some kind of soda. He takes a closer look at the label.

Squash? Weird name for a soda (isn’t that what Ribena is?) but okay. He opens the fridge and pours himself a nice, tall glass, bringing it back to the table.

He takes a swig and then nearly spits it out, clapping his hand over his mouth.

“Roman!” The adults exclaim.

It’s so strong. It’s like someone jammed Pure Essence of Blackcurrent into a glass, multiplied it by a thousand times, and then served it to him in liquid form, absolutely overwhelming any lingering flavor of his sandwich and crisps.

“Did you mix it?”

Remus swallows, clears his throat, and croaks out, “Of course!”

He’s pretty sure anyone who looks at it can tell he absolutely has not mixed it.

“Roman, you’re meant to dilute—”

“No, no,” Remus says, clutching the glass. “I mixed it! Of course I remembered to dilute it, I didn’t forget.”

Dad and Uncle Logan exchange a wary look.

“I hope you don’t get a sugar high,” Dad says.

“Boy’s the proper age for a sugar high,” Grandfather says dismissively. “Go play a round of footie in the park if you feel very hyper, eh? I was planning on a bit of a nap later.”

“I won’t get a sugar high,” Remus lies, “because I diluted it.”

Logan lets out a tiny sigh. “He’s certainly your son.”

⁂

The sun on his back, the wind on his face, his son and horse trotting alongside—there are very few better ways Patton can think of spending a free morning. 

“I’m glad you came out with me today, bud,” Patton says. “There’s something really important I want to talk to you about.”

“Funny,” Remus says, “I was about to say the same thing!”

Patton blinks. “Really? What about?”

“My father,” Remus says, and Patton nearly loses his grip on the reins. “What do you want to talk about?”

“...Maddox,” he says.

“What about Maddox?” Remus says.

“Well—what about your father?”

It’s whiplash, almost. He thinks of Janus every day—every day of his life since the moment they met—but to have Remus ask about him, after all this time…

“Dad,” Remus says. “I’m almost twelve. “

“Oh, Remus,” Patton says, rubbing the back of his neck. “We’ve talked about your father.”

“No, we haven’t,” Remus argues, “not really. A boy needs more in his life than half a crumpled old photograph.”

Patton swallows. Harsh, but true: the exact sort of response he’d expect from his boy.

“You know what?” Patton says. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”

“I am?” Remus says, surprised, then, “I mean—yeah, I am!”

 “That actually brings me to what I wanted to talk about,” Patton says. “Remus… what do you think of Maddox?”

Remus considers this as Sprout shifts her footing. His face is shielded by the shade offered from his hat, so Patton can’t get a very good read on him.

“Think of him as… what, Pa? Your publicist, your friend…?”

“Just—as a person,” Patton says, resisting the urge to bring a hand up to his mouth and bite his nails at whatever harsh but true commentary Remus might have to offer.

“Oh,” Remus says. “Well… I mean, he pays a lot of attention to his hair. Good teeth….” 

…okay. Unexpected. Patton had expected insults from the outset.

“I dunno, Pa,” Remus continues, “he’s a complete stranger to me.”

That makes sense. Him and Maddox have barely known each other for any time at all—this whirlwind romance of theirs—and Patton chews at his lip, thinking hopefully of the time he’d left them to talk by the pool, that he’d come back to all smiles, and hopefully, hopefully, the news goes over at least fine…

“Well, honey,” Patton says slowly. “Believe it or not, I’ve asked Maddox to—”

“Raceyabacktotheranch, Pa!”

And Remus and Sprout are off, racing together and kicking up dust behind them like they’re entering the Kentucky Derby.

“I—Remus!” Patton calls. “Hyah, Cinnamon—Remus, wait! I’m trying to talk to you! Remus!”

previous chapter | masterpost | next chapter

[shipcestuous]

The Fall of the House of Usher

Anon #1: I first read Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' 15 years ago as a teen and I have been in love with it ever since. When I saw the promo stills and read the synopsis last month for the show that just came out, I was a bit weirded out by the modernized vibe in the stills, but seeing it called an 'anthology' and that it would explore multiple stories by Poe, I thought that we might just get the actually story of the House of Usher in one or two eps, just a bit quirky and... well, modernized. So I was still excited. It took me 5 min in the tag last week to realize they had completely screwed up the story. I didn't even doubt my assessment to go 'oh look, I was right after all' now that I've read on this blog that people who watched it were hugely disappointed.

I am still baffled that they could mess this up. It's literally one short story involving a mansion, the owner, his dead sister, the first-person POV guest, and the irrefutable incest in the owner and his not-so-dead-after-all sister's family tree. I'm sure someone served the owner and the guest dinner. I don't even remember their existence for them to be an important presence in the story. Seriously how can you screw this up?

Anon #2: When it comes to House of Usher, I’ve only seen the Vincent Price one. They don’t have the incest be canon (made in 60s and all), but it did seem to be implied. Also, wow, I didn’t realize how many adaptations there were of that story!

@leopard-skin-pillbox-hat-ok: I was watching House of Usher thinking about the future ship (Madeleine x Roderick) that I would be obsessive about it… imagine my surprise when there’s absolutely nothing there! 💀

@winterborn-muse: Netflix's "Fall of the House of Usher" may not be canon but in my opinion it's definitely shippable. Especially in their younger years/flashback scenes. One in particular... phew.

----

Previous discussion here.

I finished watching The Fall of the House Usher so I can finally answer these asks.

It's crazy how different it is from the original story. I almost wonder if Flanagan came up with the story and then added in the Poe elements later, maybe even after it was already written. I think it's only called "The Fall of the House of Usher" because that's such an awesome title and everyone knows it. And also because Hollywood is scared no one will watch something original. There was obviously no attempt made to adapt the story itself (or the other Poe stories), except superficially.

I didn't mean that to sound too negative, because although I am disappointed this wasn't what it might have been, I thought it was fairly entertaining and well written. It just wasn't what I was hoping for, and what I made the mistake of expecting. The premise of solid, I just wish it hadn't masqueraded as something else. Also, the "House of Usher" title just doesn't have the same power or vibe when Roderick and Madeline are really the first generation, and then there's Roderick's kids and 1 grandchild and that's all.

The Vincent Price version being coy about the incest is understandable. Why Mike Flanagan didn't take the opportunity to include incest here is baffling. I can only think that he didn't want anyone to accuse him of copying Game of Thrones. But even leaving the original story aside, in which incest was implied, look at the potential here: rich, decadent family with lots of siblings? Sibling matriarch and patriarch bonded by a traumatic childhood and murder?

Roderick and Madeline are definitely not canon at all in this version (if it can be called that?), but I completely agree that they were shippable. They were very close, life partners really, and seemed to love each other more than they loved anyone else.

I love the gift of the jewels that Roderick got for Madeline because it was so thoughtful and showed how well he knew her, on top of how expensive and difficult it was to get. He basically called her a goddess.

But the flashbacks were agreeably the best stuff. Obviously when Roderick and Madeline were sharing a bed:

Not that that's the craziest thing in the world after what they had just been through.

Then you've got Madeline not liking Roderick's wife, and Roderick's wife not liking Madeline.

I think they were also called "king and queen" once and Roderick is referred to as Gatsby and Madeline as Daisy.

Plus just the whole deal, the way Carla Gugino's character makes a deal with them together, and treats them as a single unit, and says they'll die together just like they came into the world together.

So at least there was some very shippy stuff.

But man oh man, the wasted opportunities here. smh

[aeoki]

Blackjack - Gifts Will Not Arrive: Chapter 7

Location: Underground Family Residence Characters: Mayoi & NEGI Season: Autumn

TL Note:

The term for “home” used here specifically refers to one’s parent’s “home” or the place they grew up in (be it either a house or their hometown), as opposed to the physical “building” sense of a home/house.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< Almost another hour later. >

Mayoi: Let’s end our lesson here today.

NEGI: “*Pant… pant…* Why? I can still keep going.”

Mayoi: Please don’t forget you’re still wounded and need to rest… You had a hole in your body – You wouldn’t be allowed to do anything but rest under normal circumstances.

NEGI: “I’m all better now. I’m pretty tough, you know. You also gave me some sort of secret medicine too, Mayoi-sensei.”

Mayoi: Even if your wound has healed up, it has used a lot of sustenance to heal your body. You shouldn’t force yourself to exercise.

Besides, it’s difficult to tell the time here but it’s already the dead of night. You should sleep otherwise your internal clock will get messed up.

NEGI: “Oh, it’s already that late?”

“I don’t want to ruin my brother’s life too much so I guess I’ll do as you say.”

“I’ll go to sleep. Goodnight, Sensei.”

Mayoi: Ahh, you should do so after doing some stretches and a bath…!

NEGI: “Alriiight. Hehe. How nostalgic.”

“Reminds me of the past. I was raised in a place that was like an orphanage and the staff, the teachers – sensei – there were like our parents.”

“So I can’t help but feel like I need to listen when I’m scolded by a ‘teacher’. Hehe.”

Mayoi: I–I don’t refer to myself with that term, you know!

NEGI: “I know. I just started calling you that myself. But, you know, I think I’m right, referring to you as my ‘teacher’.”

“You’re really good at teaching. I feel like I’ve levelled-up a lot today.”

“I learnt everything on my own – I know nothing about the basics and stuff… I was really grateful that you taught me.”

“I wonder if I’ll now be able to avoid showing Anzu a disgraceful side to me on Christmas.”

Mayoi: I–I’m glad to be of help.

But I really was just a failure up until summer and I’m not anyone amazing now, either. I’m not in any position to be teaching someone so arrogantly in the first place.

NEGI: “Yeah, I looked into what happened in summer, so I know about it.”

“It was an uproar created by ‘ALKALOID’ and ‘CRAZY:B’ – a group of failures and problem children – who were just about to miss out on the ‘big wave’.”

“It really just makes you question just where ES has their sights set on, huh. Sensei, you’re an excellent idol and yet they called you a failure.”

“Hehe. Honestly, I thought you were just all talk and no action in the beginning, but you demonstrated the moves for me over and over during our lesson.”

“That was amazing. It was super idol-like – it was absolutely amazing.”

“You were sparkling and amazing – yeah.”

“Sorry, I suck at describing stuff.”

Mayoi: No, it made me happy. Much more than strange, flowery words.

But if I looked like an excellent idol in your eyes, then it’s all thanks to everyone in “ALKALOID”.

I also learnt things on my own – just like you, NEGI-san. I did it here in this cave all by myself – by listening to the music I could faintly hear from the surface.

I think I’ve developed a fair amount of the right muscles, techniques and vocal skills by doing that. 

But all the important things I needed to know as an idol were all taught to me by my members.

Hehe. It makes me very happy to teach someone else what makes an idol an idol – and what makes “ALKALOID” “ALKALOID” right now.

I’m glad I’m alive. It was the right decision to keep going in life without giving up. I was truly at the darkest depths and hated everything at one point, though.

Right now, every day is a lot of fun. I’m happy.

…It’s strange. I wonder if it’s because I’m home[⁎] that I have a peace of mind. I have a feeling I can speak normally without being all flustered when I’m with you, NEGI-san.

No, on second thought, it’s because of all the things I’ve experienced that I’ve gained newfound courage…

Oh?

NEGI: “Zzz… Zzz…♪”

Mayoi: I–I thought it was odd that there was no response, but she fell asleep? Does this mean I was talking to myself the entire time? How embarrassing…!

Oh wait, she has gone to sleep without wiping the sweat off…!

(What should I do? Putting Hitsugi-kyun aside, NEGI-san is a girl mentally, right…? I cannot strip her and wipe her down.)

(...Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the other personality – Hitsugi-kyun – around.)

(NEGI-san is quite well-behaved but it looked like Hitsugi-kyun was brooding over something, so I’m worried about him.)

(Well, that’s all I can do, though.)

(Uuu, I’d like to know what’s happening outside. But if I carelessly contact the other “ALKALOID” members, then they’ll grow suspicious of me…)

(I’m scared of getting them involved.)

(They’ve finally overcome their troubles and have started taking steps forward…)

(It wouldn’t be right for them to trip over something unnecessary for my sake.)

…Hm?

(Oh, it seems there has been a delivery. How rare.)

(W–Who is it from…? Did everyone in “ALKALOID” send a letter out of worry?)

(No, we keep in contact through “Hallhands”, after all. No one should know of my home in the first place…)

NEGI: “Hmm… What’s up, Sensei? I felt a strange presence.”

Mayoi: Oh, no, it’s just a delivery. If there is something for me from the surface, a special delivery man will send it directly to me.

This place is essentially closed off to the outside world, so it’s rare for that to happen, though. There is a branch family who works outside, but I don’t know anyone there.

NEGI: “Hmm, that so…? I don’t really understand but you got some sort of package?”

“Be careful, just in case. Maybe our enemies sent a bomb or something.”

Mayoi: No, umm, I don’t think that would happen. There aren’t that many people who would send something to this location in the first place.

This is a very closed-off place…

Besides, seeing as it was sent over without it being inspected means that the sender is someone we should respect.

There’s no way such an excellent and superior individual would send something dangerous to us…

NEGI: “No. In fact, that’s all the more reason to be careful.”

“Our enemy, though imperfect, is someone revered like a god in one industry.”

“In the end, they’re just a fake – someone pretending to be God.”

Mayoi: ……….?

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[tauremornalome]

House MD for the top 5 things. Choose wisely

oooo thank you so much. finally i can bitch about this

top 5 things i would change in: house md

1. season 6 finale for the love of god. someone has to. im not a huddy hater but i absolutely despise the way they ended up getting together. and it's such a good episode up to that point! delicious whump! emotional torture! this is for sure one of the best premises for an episode this series has ever had. and then they had to tease sth for the next season in the last 5 minutes so they did the most out-of-character idiotic scene to ever exist. terrible. so ideally i would have made huddy get together sometime earlier in 6th season (not much, just maybe one, two episodes earlier) and house's breakdown in the finale to be a problem already for the two of them to overcome. or made huddy happen a few episodes into s7, and have either cuddy come to house in the s6 finale but not sleep with him, or have wilson come there and sleep with house somehow make house pull himself together

2. speaking of how huddy happens in canon, i would also love to change the episode in which cuddy breaks up with house. it's a terrible episode. it's boring. it's the same plot as the episode with cuddy's mum that was only like, what, 5 episodes earlier?? cuddy is behaving extremely out of character, and the breakup comes off very cheap. so. first of all, get rid of the cuddy cancer scare plot (i meannnn it's a nice parallel to wilson later, but it's really not worth it). second of all, have her break up with house in a more rational way, having decided he is too much of a mess, or that her career is too important to her to have to accomodate house at work all the time, or anything else. just have it be a product of rational thinking and not. this shit.

(overall i would have loved for huddy to happen sometime in the earlier seasons, like season 3 i think would be great! then they could have broken up bc of cuddy wanting a child and house not or sth, and they would have many many seasons post-breakup to somehow mend their working relationship and maybe even get to the point of house being a family friend)

3. there are so many -isms and -phobias in this fucking series. so. less of that, pretty please. i'm fine with house being a terrible person in this instance but i would love for the overall narrative to show him the middle finger for it more often. i would especially love to have a transgender or intersex character appear and not be ridiculed bc really. they were pushing it with the gender-related queerphobia.

4. cameronnnnn holy shit could we please get some decent and consistent writing for cameron. she doesn't have to be likeable, just. uaughhh. ok so i would lean more into her forming weird codependent relationships with patients, and her general emotional fuckedupness. i would have added a cameron-centric episode just before the wedding or just after it to show that she's not 100% invested in this relationship. also an episode concentrating around her work in the ER and her coping with how many patients go through her hands and how she doesn't remember most of them. also i would change her name to literally anything that doesn't end in -on like pleaseeee this is a nightmare i can't stand her being named allison cameron. let it be alice.

5. seasons 7 and 8 and the A-plot – B-plot balance. pisses me off when house is spending whole episodes not doing his job. go back to the ducklings. or ignore the case but at least do it on the hospital grounds - speaking of which, ROOF SCENES, WHERE ARE MY ROOF SCENES. there were some really nice roof scenes in the first seasons. i want the roof to feature more in the later seasons. if house must Not Do his job then at least i'd have him doing something silly on the rooftop. hot wheels track. painting the mona lisa naked. whatever.

also #6 bonnie girlie i'm obsessed with you. more bonnie. my favourite worst real estate agent in new jersey. i would have her appear once per each season. she is thirteen's one night stand. she is a clinic patient. she is selling kutner's flat. i would love for there to be more bonnie.