#i just wanted to write some shitty shitty kid!david

[stonathandreamer]

Regarding the Duffers' "hate" of Jonathan...

(Warnings: this post is an absolute maelstrom of emotions. It contains mild "anti Stancy," "anti Jancy," and "anti Nancy." Keep in mind that these are my personal opinions on the matter. Don't bother trying to make me change my mind, you'll just be losing your time. Haters will be blocked. Also, it's super long, like, Avengers: Edgame movie length long.)

I don’t think they hate him. How can you hate a character YOU created? Nah, it's ridiculous, even for their own ridiculous standards.

If they truly hated Jonathan, the Dumbers would have gotten rid of him in Season 3 or Season 2, giving some lame excuse like, "Oh, he graduated early and went to college," or they would have just killed him off. Jonathan's not a popular character, so the majority of people wouldn't care if he just disappeared.

No, they don't hate him. It's something else. Namely, fan service and bad writing.

I think fame went to their heads after Season 1 (remember, people didn't have faith that Stranger Things would be a hit back in 2016. David Harbour even said he thought the show would flop horribly), so I believe the Dumbers are trying really hard to appease the fans and keep their show popular. Now more than ever, considering they apparently want to create a Stranger Things Cinematic Universe with God knows how many spin-offs.

Looking back, some events from the series do seem like fan service, with the Dumbers wanting to appease the louder groups of the fandom. Billy's "redemption arc" seemed like an attempt to satisfy his fans—remember, the character of Billy was what Steve was supposed to be: a violent, abusive, and irredeemable jock who would be killed by the Monster. Irredeemable. And yet, they tried to redeem him. Steve's feelings for Nancy apparently returning in S4 also seem to be fan service to me, given that the fandom loves him over Jonathan, and Stancy shippers are more vocal than Jancy shippers.

Another contributing factor is bad writing. The Dumbers aren't great writers. They really aren't.

No one is perfect, I know, and we all have different opinions about everything, BUT they did Jonathan wrong ever since S1. That scene—yep, that one you're thinking about—permanently ruined his reputation in the fandom. It's the one thing his haters always bring up, and it's all the Dumbers' fault. How do you make the series protagonist, the supposed hero, do such a shitty thing?! It's bad writing, and it's something the Jonathan haters, the extremist Stancy defenders, and extremist Steve defenders always use against him. Funny, because they apparently forgave the "Nancy the Slut Wheeler" graffiti thing so quickly... 🤔 (or forgot? Or just act like it never happened?). Like, yeah, the girl's boyfriend and his friends called a teenage girl a slut, painted it on a wall for the whole town to see, but hey, everyone makes mistakes, right?

Two wrongs don't make a right, but Steve's actions fit his then-S1 persona, a.k.a. the season's teenage antagonist. Jonathan's actions don’t fit his role as the protagonist, the good guy, the supposed hero. The Dumbers just needed to move the plot, and the only thing they could come up with was to make Jonathan take those pictures. They made the protagonist (Jonathan) look bad and the antagonist (Steve) look good.

By doing so, Jonathan's popularity was doomed to decline, and when Steve became the good guy in Season 2, the fandom found their "Big Brother character," the kind, caring, and protective guy who always takes care of the kids—something the Dumbers seem to have taken a liking to, given how often they provide "Babysitter Steve" content to the fandom. While Jonathan, the actual kind, caring, and protective big brother, gets sidelined constantly. Painfully and criminally sidelined.

(Keep in mind that Jonathan has known those kids for years! He has known Mike, Lucas, and Dustin for years because they are his little brother's friends. Steve has known them for what? Two years?)

In this fandom, Steve's fans are more vocal, since they outnumber Jonathan's fans, and the Dumbers know that. They know how loved Steve is, which is why Steve's screen time increased in each season (S1: 23 minutes, S2: 33 minutes, S3: 45 minutes, S4: 78 minutes), while Jonathan's screen time DECREASED SEVERELY (S1: 57 minutes, S2: 32 minutes, S3: 27 minutes, S4: 59 minutes), and is doomed to continue that way in S5, apparently.

Fanon!Steve is Canon!Jonathan - or what Canon!Jonathan used to be.

Seeing Jonathan's popularity decrease, the Dumbers decided it wouldn't be worth focusing on him anymore since the majority of the fandom doesn't care about him. They decided to focus on other characters instead, which contributed even more to Jonathan's downfall.

Season 3 did him dirty. I don't like how he was treated there, how they made him seem to be in the wrong in his argument with his girlfriend, despite having valid points, how he was reduced into being Nancy's sidekick, having to put up with her shit while his own concerns (his need for money to help his family pay the bills) were invalidated. But Season 4 was his all-time low. Pretty much everything that defines Jonathan as a character vanished completely—his passion for photography, his love for music, his protectiveness of his family, his childhood dream of going to NYU, and even his car. Everything, gone. Yes, he and Will have a nice heart-to-heart talk that maybe made me sob, but keep in mind Jonathan still ignored Will for a while, something his past self would never do.

(Remember, every time something happened to Will, Jonathan always blamed himself for "not being there for him.")

Jonathan had everything to be a fan favorite: the kind heart and soul, the care for others, the love for his family, the selflessness, but he had the misfortune of having the Duffer Brothers as writers, who threw him under the bus and never bothered to call 911 after that.

They erased him almost entirely from the show, reducing him, a main character who's been around since Season 1, to a side character.

People say Jonathan's not interesting, that his plot line is boring, that he's not important, some even go as far as to offend his appearence, with offenses ranging from "he's ugly af" to "he looks like a crack addict". There's a human behind that character, and his name is Charles Ross Heaton. When you call Jonathan those things, you're not offending Jonathan Byers, the Stranger Things character, you're offending Charlie Heaton, the actor of Stranger Things behind the character of Jonathan Byers.

You have every right in the universe to find someone attractive or not—everyone has their preferences. I personally think Charlie is a handsome and good-looking fella (if only he quit the 🚬. Sorry, but I am concerned parent sometimes and I also have a natural aversion to that, because my respiratory system is super sensible to strong smells, especially of smoke, and even seeing one makes me uneasy). You don't find Jonathan (actually, Charlie) good-looking? It's your opinion and you're entitled to it 👍🏻. You don't find Jonathan (actually, Charlie) good-looking and called him a "crack looking addict," "a druggie," "someone who's clearly high on something all the time," or "an Elon Musk lookalike"? There's a line, buddy, and you just crossed it. You're being offensive, disrespectful, a jerk, and, above all, a motherfucking piece of shit and a waste of precious oxygen 🖕🏻.

Jonathan had so much potential.

He and Steve could have been friends (yes, I am making this about Stonathan; deal with it), since it was Jonathan who gave Steve the "wake-up call" (when Steve bad-mouthed his mom and brother, and Jonathan gave him a beating). It was Steve who bought him his new camera. And yet, these things are never properly acknowledged by the characters. Jonathan could have been such a good big brother to El when they were living in Cali, but the Dumbers thought "nah, weed is better for him." Their time in Cali could have strengthened the Byers siblings relationship, since now they're all going to the same school and are all teens. They could open up to each other, let out their frustrations, and ask for advice. Imagine a scene where Jonathan, Will, and El are all sitting in his room and are just talking about life, school, the future, goofing off like siblings. but nooooooooooo. Let's throw Jonathan into a dark corner and leave him there!

I fear for Jonathan's life in S5? Yes. Will he actually die? Hardly (IMO). A character's death is meant to impact both the other characters and the fandom, and while Jonathan's death would destroy the Byers completely, the fandom wouldn't care (some would even cheer and say "yay, now Steve can go back to his ex-girlfriend who was terrible to him and he was terrible to her and they can revive their terrible relationship and live terribly ever after!").

Jonathan is a character I relate to a lot; the loner freak with no friends who has to help his family stay afloat. I see Jonathan struggling with life and I think, "Fuck, this sounds familiar... Oh, wait." I see Jonathan being bashed and bullied by the fandom and I think how much these people would actually bully him IRL.

Stranger Things is a story where the freaks, the nerds, the geeks, and the losers win, and yet Jonathan doesn't seem to be having many wins for himself (and yes, I'm writing these final paragraphs while some tears threaten to spill). He's constantly sidelined and forgotten. Forgotten by the writers, by other characters, by Netflix, and even by the fandom.

Jonathan is my comfort character. I see a lot of myself in him and I wish the writers would have treated him better so that I could have looked at him and thought, "Fuck... We actually won." But alas, I fear this won't happen.

I fear Jonathan's story will continue to be the way it is and end with him being a sidelined guy people will quickly forget once the show ends. But I won't.

I will never forget Jonathan Byers.

I wish I could be alive for when Stranger Things fall into public domain, so that I could correct the mistakes they made to Jonathan and give the Dumber Brothers a big "FUCK YOU!"

Jonathan Byers deserves better. And so does Charlie Heaton, who also falls victim to constant sidelining.

JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN BYERS ✊🏻!

JUSTICE FOR CHARLIE HEATON ✊🏻!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go cry in the shower for a day or two.

[umnitsa]

Throughput & Prioritization - A Tale of Management

Summary: You need some help. David Wallace is there to lead you.

A/N: I'm a manager. I need a good c-level to lead and inspire me. I have a crush on David Wallace and as I resignify my work, I write the self-insertiest fic I've ever had the chance to write. I hope you enjoy <3 (there is a chance I will continue this)

Pairing: David Wallace x f!reader (just a hint!)

CW: A lot of cussing. Mostly talk.

Divider by @cafekitsune

“May I speak candidly?” You dropped on the chair in front of the CFO’s desk, huffing. He frowned, looking worried at your distress, then nodded. He leaned on one elbow, hand in the air. “Your CTO is an asshole, and I really can’t make you money if he keeps making those shitty, maddening decisions.”

David laughs, his big hand resting against the desk as he moved, sitting forward.

“Bad meeting, hm?” He leans forward, eyebrows raised, his lips crooked, on a smirk.

“Bad meeting? Shitty meeting.” You growled, crossing your arms and your legs, pouting. “I need you. He won’t listen to me because I have a vagina, probably.”

“I really don’t know how you feel comfortable talking to me like this.” David chuckled, amusedly.

“You know I’m good and I am one of the few managers that have a profitable team in IT.” You huff, shaking your foot. “And you are a good boss, you recognize talent when you see it. And results.”

“Touché.” David slapped the desk, chuckling. “You managed to sell yourself and praise me in the same sentence while avoiding the subject altogether. Congratulations, you became a manager!”

You broke, chuckling, shaking your head slowly. You uncrossed your leg, relaxing against the chair.

“Feeling better?” David asked, his eyes softening.

“Much better.” You sighed.

“Tell me what happened.”

“The CTO keeps throwing more work than my team has the capacity to deal with.” You take a deep breath and shrug. “My team keeps changing initiatives, leaving work in the middle of the way, we can’t get to the end of anything. I showed the numbers and explained little’s law, and he just fucked my backlog again. And I’m pretty sure the thing he prioritized doesn’t even fit the company’s strategy for IT. If I do it, I’ll tank my throughput and get fired, if I don’t he’ll be mad and I’ll get fired.”

David nodded as you talked, his complete focus on you.

“Yeah, Charlie is in a pickle, his decisions affected the productivity of the whole IT team. And his budget was cut, which means no new hires.” David rolled his eyes and tapped his fingertips on his lap.

“I just need someone to influence him. Maybe he’ll listen to you.” You said, moving closer to the end of your chair.

“You’re better than this, you know.”

You look at him, surprised. He smiled gently.

“What does he want? What does he need?” David asks, the tone of his voice soft, enticing.

“He needs a quick win.” You realized, blinking slowly. “He wants fast results.”

“Can you guarantee those?” David moved his big hands, his index and middle finger tapping against his lips. He looked like an eager kid in the classroom that had the right answer to the teacher’s question. But it was your turn to answer. His eyebrows raised, his blue eyes shining in expectation.

“I may have the right thing in my backlog. But why should I save him?”

“Because when it’s time to look at his headcount, he’ll remember you as the only one by his side.” David shrugged, smiling. “And if you can have a quick win…”

“My results will stand out!” You completed, clapping. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“You’re frustrated with his management. And you’re angry. That’s a terrible mindset to make decisions.” He said, very matter of fact. “Now go make your presentation. I’ve seen you in meetings, you can convince him… I’m sure your team will follow you to the ends of the earth.”

You stand up, fire in your veins, your brain quickly making assumptions and connections. You opened the door to his office and paused.

“I owe you a drink.” You blurted, turning to David. He raised his head and looked at you over his glasses.

“You can pick me up here, 6pm.” He said, with a smile.

“It’s a date!” You chirped happily, closing the door.

“Finally,” David muttered absentmindedly, grabbing a pen and focusing on the wad of papers over his desk. “Took you forever...”

[mvltisstuff]

What about a fic where reader is Evan’s sister and gets into a bad car accident? Lots of angst but also some fluff please. 🫶🫶

slipping through my fingers - e.b

summary: request :)

evan buckley x sister!reader (a lot of maddie too 🩶)

a/n: i have an eddie diaz oneshot in the drafts currently that i’ve been debating on posting. it contains a pretty sensitive subject, so i really wanted to get it right. it was inspired by another request, along with another show. i hope you enjoy this and i’ll keep on writing some more for you guys :))

y/n could say growing up with as the youngest buckley wasn’t the easiest task. the consistency of begging for attention was draining from the start. going above and beyond for just a grain of appreciation was the default in their house. she was repeatedly looked through, almost as if she wasn’t there due to her parents grief.

she had come after buck in a desperate attempt to be able to save david, but failed in the end. he was gone too soon, so therefore, y/n was almost like a chore. sure, her parents loved her, but she wasn’t the child they wanted. dealing with the discovery of why she wasn’t loved enough was just as bad as experiencing it. maddie was in boston with doug, and buck had gone onto his own adventures. meanwhile y/n was stuck at home with nowhere to go and no plans of leaving. she dreamed about it, though. she heard about buck moving to los angeles and immediately wanted to be with him. she was almost done with college, and after that, she packed up her diploma and degree and flew away.

life in california was amazing. she had friends, she was loved, and she had no reminders of the lonesomeness she felt at home. for once, she was able to make a home out of where she was. maddie was safe, and it felt like they were a fixed version of their family.

out of the pure intentions in her heart, y/n invited her distant parents back to LA. with maddie expecting a new baby, and the years of a few texts, there was a new hope that maybe things could be turned around. it wouldn’t change their childhood experiences, but maybe they could heal them. maddie was on board, but buck was still skeptical. their words were like knives and the scars couldn’t be helped. he showed up anyway, wanting to give maddie and her baby the opportunity to have a life with them.

they travelled six hours, and chimney and maddie were gracious enough to host a dinner for everyone. maddie received hugs and gifts as buck and y/n were kind of nudged away. when maddie got her baby box that her parents had from when they were kids, buck and y/n had just become dusty figures. they didn’t say anything, at least not about that.

an explosive speech from buck had ignited from the judgmental words from their parents, causing him to be begging for love and expressing his inner teenage self. he had removed himself from the dining room of the apartment, and y/n sat in her seat, slumped over with her head in her hands.

“god, can you guys please just do something other than reprimand us?” y/n breaks the awkward silence.

“we were just speaking, y/n!” says their father. “if evan wants to storm out, let him.”

“well, maybe he wouldn’t have stormed out if you didn’t nit-pick ever part of his life.”

“you invited us, y/n. i don’t know what you want us to say. you know what we went through-“

“and you think that’s an excuse? if so, it’s a shitty one and we all know it. no parent should have to say goodbye to a child, but no child needs to go unloved because they don’t care anymore. and you didn’t even bat an eye when he begged you to ‘love him anyway’. so if you want to sit here, and tear down everything we have build from your actions, be our guest.”

“you always defend your siblings, y/n. you guys have never once put yourself in our shoes!” their mother cries out.

“oh, trust me, we did. for over 20 years,” maddie breaks in.

“how do you think we feel, maddie? you all just packed up your stuff and ran away to leave us with nothing,” speaks their father, again.

“dad, i can’t… i can’t do this. everything i did, i did it myself. i made this life here for myself! so did maddie, so did buck. don’t go putting yourselves on a pedestal,” she begins to gather her things, and put hers and bucks dinner plates away for maddie and chimney.

“where are you going?” chimney says, trying to calm everything down and he’s definitely in the most awkward situation.

“chim, thank you for dinner and letting us come over. you’re welcome over to my place anytime. i’m sorry, but i’m going to see my brother,” y/n says, shutting the door behind her.

while maddie stays back, trying to pick up the broken pieces, y/n drives over to bucks apartment. she repeatedly calls him, making sure he’s okay and to say that she’s coming over. the roads were dark from the early sunsets of the fall, barely illuminated from the streetlights.

“buck,” she says into her phone. “i know you’re pissed off, and im sorry i arranged this. but i need to know you’re ok, so im on my way over. please call me back.”

she ends the voicemail and tries to put her phone back into the holder. it slips out of her shaky hands and onto the floor of the seat. she groans out, worried he would call her back and she wouldn’t be able to answer. she doesn’t reach down, but she looks at the phone on the floor.

a drunk, someone intoxicated with alcohol, must have been driving like a maniac. swerving through lanes with no warning and passing several signs. she tried so hard. she tried to move out of the way, but the spontaneous movements of the driver had confronted their cars head on.

the flash of white from y/n’s airbags flew out at her. the glass of her windshield was shattered, laying all over the dashboard and the seats. her head drooped onto her shoulder. the cuts on her face were stinging and the other pain in her body went unnoticeable due to shock. the soft ringtone of her phone was vibrating on the bottom of the car. the ringing in her ears caused the sound to be faded out, and she couldn’t even get it to call 9-1-1.

“maddie, hey,” buck says as maddie picks up the phone. “have you, uh, tried calling y/n? she left me so many calls and now she won’t answer.”

“no, i haven’t. she said she was coming to see you,” maddie replies, confused.

“where’s mom and dad?”

“the hotel, they left soon after her.”

buck pulls his phone away from his ear and the buzzing on his hand. y/n’s name appears across the screen. “oh, she’s calling me know,” he hangs up the phone and answers it to a bone-chilling sentence.

“is this evan buckley?” a deep, unknown voice asks in bucks ear.

y/n was awake in the ambulance, hearing all the chaos and jargon around her. she knew she’d never hear the end from buck, being a firefighter. she begged them to let him know, telling them repeatedly, “my brother works at the 118,” and how maddie is a dispatcher.

she was wheeled into the hospital on her stretcher, collar on and a big bandage around her waist for a massive piece of glass in her abdomen. “y/n buckley, 27, three-car pileup with an oblique fracture to the tibia and penetration wound to the abdomen, likely to not have hit any major organs.” and before she knew it, she was sped into the trauma rooms and given more morphine. she just wanted her brother and sister. not all these doctors or her parents.

buck picked up maddie on the way to the hospital, not thinking twice before smashing the gas pedal down. he ran through those doors like a strike of lighting, being seen in one place and somewhere else the next. he forced her name out to the nurse as maddie caught up to him. “relation to the patient?”

“brother, and sister,” he says, impatiently, both hands flat on the counter.

the nurse typed rapidly on her computer. “she’s in surgery, honey. but she’s stable.”

buck puffs out a sigh of relief as maddie grabs his arm, leading him to the waiting room. almost all of the 118 was in this hospital, like she was a firefighter herself. chimney had brought hen, and eddie had come as well as bobby. athena had told bobby, as she was the one who arrested the man who caused the crash.

buck tries to calm himself down remembers all the times he tried to one-up her and smiles at the memories. he and maddie exchange small and sweet memories of their little sister, as her life remains in the hands of someone else.

“hey,” maddie nudges him, trying to think of something to cheer him up. “remember when she stole 20’s out of our wallet to buy us christmas gifts?”

buck giggles a bit, “yeah, and then we tried playing tag, so we spun her around a ton of times and hid inside until she just sat there.”

“and then she fell down the stairs from being so dizzy,” maddie smiles.

“ruthless!” chim interrupts, sitting next to maddie.

“you know you two are what made it so hard to leave.”

“i know. imagine having to leave her all alone with mom and dad, though. she’s gotta be ok, maddie.”

“she will, buck. no one’s getting rid of her that easy.”

the doctor with a scrub cap on comes walking into the waiting room, followed by a few interns and others. “buckleys?”

maddie and buck shoot out of their seat first, and chimney and hen follow soon after like a train. “oh, my bad.” hen says, pulling her and chim back down to sit.

“what’s goin’ on, doc?”

“y/n will be fine. she had a fracture in her leg which we fixed up. she’ll need some help getting around, but she’ll be good as new,” the doctor informs.

they knew she would make it out, but hearing it being confirmed by the doctor made it so much more real. buck was speechless, not being able to mutter out any words. “can we see her?” maddie asks.

“you can, she’s still sedated from anesthesia and intubated, but cynthia, here, can lead you to the room.”

seeing y/n’s fragile and hurt body on the bed was an agonizing sight. maybe if buck hadn’t stormed out, she wouldn’t be in this bed and have come across that driver. maybe he could’ve driven her home. all the ‘if’s’ and ‘maybes’ in bucks head were floating through, thinking it’s his fault. he always takes the blame for these situations when it is completely the opposite.

buck sees tragedy every day, and maddie hears it. maddies only sister was in the small hospital room with a tube down her throat. she needed y/n there to help her, and her baby needed her aunt. buck needed his little sister, the one always there for him and forever will be. the thought of her not being there scared him to death. even though they see get rushed into the hospital or sent to the morgue every day, it will never prepare you from seeing your favorite people in that position.

buck stumbled over to the chair by the side of the bed, pulling it out for maddie to rest her aching feet. he walked to the other side of the bed, sitting down and grabbing lightly onto y/n’s hand like he was scared to break it. “i don’t know if we should say something. let her know we’re here, you know.”

“she knows, evan,” maddie says, meeting bucks eyes with her own. “i know that.”

buck smiles and looks down at y/n, her chest rising and falling with the hissing of the tubes and machines. he observes the iv’s and cuts and fresh new bruises. he wants to kill whoever did this, but at the moment, his only concern is the well-being of y/n.

so, for the rest of the night, maddie and buck didn’t move from their spots once until she was awoken and the tube was removed. they held her hand, and when y/n was awoken, she knew she was safe from the hands that were tangled with hers.

[aledethanlast]

Seriously, how are those FBI agents doing in that Baltimore hotel for the David Wesninski AU? They signed up for none of this, yet here they are, dealing with the craziest family drama any of them have ever witnessed. Honestly, their faces when it gets confirmed that Wymack is the identical twin of this serial killer must be priceless

The first thing you need to understand about fbi ops is, you don't just write those up on a whim. Theres investigations and plans and preparations. They were prepared for the Hatfords to push the agreed boundaries and kill against orders. That's why they were contacted in the first place. They were prepared for the cleanup, and the inquiries, and to throw the Hatfords under the bus as an excuse to begin what was sure to be a years-long investigation into Nathan Wesninski's network.

The second thing you need to understand about law enforcement operations is that you're either going shit shit shit shit shit when things are going according to plan and fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck when they aren't.

So, on the whole? It was a shitty night. The whole thing got pushed back by like two hours because of an alleged break in, and then by three more hours after a fight with op command on how much can they look over the police's shoulder without tipping their hand. And then it all goes down, and there's corpses everywhere, and it's all gone to shit...

And then Junior is on the front lawn.

Which, first of all, how are you not dead? Rhetorical question, clearly Nathan tried. Second, no seriously, how are you not dead. The fuck you mean it's a secret bitch I will [redacted]-

But it's fine. It's fine. Actually, hold on, this is great. They get to skip years of investigation all it costs is some witness protection. The kid seems like a real shithead but once they get him talking...

And then Towns says "We gotta talk about his team."

Oh right, them. "Once they calm down we'll give them a basic rundown of what's happening and send them home. Considering what they said so far it doesn't sound like they know much."

But Towns shakes his head. "You don't know who they are, do you?" Browning raises a brow. "Palmetto State Foxes?" Nope. "Edgar Allen. The ravens." Nope. "Kevin Day?"

That does sound familiar, but Browning knows he doesn't get the points for that. "Sure, one of the other players, no?" He never cared for exy, personally, and while he gets that people get excited about college sports he's always believed in some healthy iconoclasm. He shakes his head.

Towns grumbles. Then out of nowhere, he says, "Call Suzie."

"What?"

"Call her. Right now. Put her on speaker."

She should be at lunch, so Browning obliges, but he really doesn't see what his teenage daughter has to do with...

Click. Suzie's high, confident voice. "Daddy?"

"Hey Suzie, it's Freddie, your dad's pal from work," Towns says.

"Oh. Um. Hey?" Suzie sounds nervous suddenly. "Is my dad okay?"

They both suddenly realize what this call must look like, especially after Browning hadn't come home last night, and they both rush to reassure her that he's fine. "We've just had a long night," he reassures her. "No, I'm just calling because...hey Freddie, why am I calling?"

It's Towns' turn to raise an eyebrow, as if to say watch this. "Nah, I was just wanted a reminder, what's your husband's name again?"

Silence. A quick, sharp inhale, and in his mind's eye Browning can see his daughter's eyes focus like an eagles. "Well, first of all, it's future husband, because daddy says that the law says I have to be 18 to get married..."

Ohhhhh.

Fuck.

"But his name is Kevin Day. He's the world's best exy player, even after he had an accident last year. A lot of people abandoned him but I'm never gonna because when a mom and a dad love each other very much..."

A thousand dinner conversations run through Browning's head line an electric current as he opens his phone browser and searches the name. The results look nothing like the bruised shell of a man his colleagues have stuck in a hotel room, but they look like every poster on Suzie's wall. A terrible, terrible thought strikes him. "What about his friend. The, um, the short one."

The response is automatic. "Neil is cute too I guess. There aren't as many good posters of him, but Jessica from biology did her binder from shots she printed from youtube. Her dad yelled at her for wasting the ink."

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

[agentcaboose]

Day 3: ... and they were roommates

Me and Michael (MGMT) - washboose

welcome back to the midwest emo Blood Gulch Avenue AU

some tags: washboose, onesided cabnut (donut x caboose), side grimmons, endgame chucker, some angst, system epsilon

disclaimer: still super disjointed, I'm working on timel line and relationship stuff, it's a little messy, but they are all messy twenty-somethings, (eventually I'll release full tracks and who wrote what songs and about who, I promise)

(tw: canon typical character death and mental illness)

Michael and David meet at a funeral. David had just lost his best friend, Connie, and Michael is about to lose his to grief. Caboose isn't the best drummer in Blood Gulch, but he enjoys the sound and the repetitive movements. Wash is trying to reconnect with music after losing the one person he felt comfortable making music with passes. When Church leaves Violets Are Blue, and Tucker is forced to seek out a new guitarist, he remembers that other guy who played at Tex's funeral.

They suck together. Like really suck. They can't practice in Church's garage anymore, which lands them in the shitty community center basement. Caboose has a friend at the center that is teaching him acoustic guitar, and they write songs together. His friend, Donut (Wash swears that can't possibly be his name), also drives Caboose around after the big guy got his license suspended. Wash offers to take up some of the carpool duties since he doesn't live too far from where Caboose works.

At the center, Caboose's drumming is too loud, Tucker blows out his amp, and Wash has never touched an electric before in his life. Grif overhears the monstrosity that the Blues have become and begrudgingly invite them to his garage to practice. Donut has been filling in for Simmons after a big Grimmons fight, momentarily disbanding Red Riot. Donut and Caboose play a few of their songs for the group, the songs remind Grif of Simmons, Tucker thinks about Church, and Wash can't help but feel like Caboose is only playing to him. No one notices how Donut seems to only be singing to Caboose.

Wash writes a song for the first time since Connie passed. He sings this to the group, and Donut clocks him immediately. Later, Donut has a heart to heart with Wash about how different Caboose is. How he doesn't have a good memory, he doesn't understand a lot of basic concepts, how he seems to be in his own little world, and how Caboose wasn't always life this. Donut confesses that he has loved Michael for a very long time, since they were grade school kids. Then, Michael was in a bad accident that cut of oxygen to his brain. He deteriated quickly into someone Donut didn't recognize. Yes, he was still Caboose, but not his Michael. "He can be your Michael now."

Me and Michael, solid as they come.

Time passes, and they become The Reds And Blues. Grimmons is together, Church is back, but not the same, Wash reunites with Carolina who he hadn't seen since basic, and Caboose is, well, he's Caboose. He has a new dog he found on the street, he has his best friend back, and he gets to make music with more people. Caboose follows Wash around now that he's being super nice to him. They even play acoustic together! Caboose one day decides to share a song that reminds him of Wash. He doesn't remember where he heard it, but he asks Wash to help him finish it. They play this for The Reds And Blues. Donut leaves the band that night.

All I want is you, will you stay with me? Hold me in your arms and sway me like a sea.

Okay, I think I have to stop writing or I won't post this before midnight ^^" I love this AU so dearly,,, I wish I could actually, ya know, write it.

[despazito]

wish script doctor bc i feel like this movie could've been a lot stronger with some things altered. like i dont even think it needs a complete story overhaul, a handful of changes could make it much tighter imo

asha does not live so close to central rosas, but a village on the outskirts of the kingdom, and this will be her first time venturing to see the mythical king in person.

not all wishes are equal in this magic system. selfish and shallow wishes do not contain much power, but noble and selfless wishes are very strong. (also i don't see the point of forgetting your wish you made?)

the grandad was animated way too in shape for 100 years old, make him weaker and frail. hell, put him on his death bed to raise the stakes.

perhaps have asha's grandfather be an esteemed but very humble scholar or medicine healer whose dying wish is to establish a library or hospital for the local people (or something). asha believes that if she meets with king magnifico herself, she can convince him to grant her grandfathers' wish. she believes she can do this because an old childhood friend of hers now works in the castle as his aid.

asha travels to rosas and meets her friend dahlia. expecting her to be very close to the king, dahlia sheepishly admits to being a much lower ranked servant who hardly ever sees the king in person, but still sneaks asha in to show her around the castle because she's such a fan of magnifico + introduce asha to all her friends/coworkers.

have dahlia be the only primary friend, relegate the rest of the lot to the background. we don't need much time with them all, use it to strengthen other relationships.

asha attends a wish granting ceremony and magnifico does not grant grandad's wish. after the event asha uses a sneaky corridor that she just learnt to ambush magnifico and plead her case to him. away from the crowd he goes mask off and tells her to fuck off, asha narrowly escapes his guards.

defeated, she sings her I Wish song and we meet the star.

instead of the short guy, have valentino play the grouchy foil. valentino hates the star, and they have slapstick together. hell if disney wants to be meta, have him resent the star for turning him into a funny talking animal or something.

dahlia is the only one who believes asha when she tells her about meeting the wishing star. the other friends think she's some kind of lunatic from out of town until they see the star for themselves.

have queen amaya be equally self absorbed as king magnifico and together act as an evil couple like in the concept art. she enjoys the luxury of being a self-made monarch and throws lavish balls and pampers her shitty cats or something. make them evil and campy together like mink stole and david lochary in a john waters film (we've had a villain based on divine, now its their turn)

alternatively, amaya can still have a redemption, but later on in the third act. perhaps she's vain and perfectly content with a certain level of fraud until magnifico crosses a line. have magnifico explain to her long ago that he gets strength from the wishes, but he only culls the shitty wishes bad people make. amaya thinks its reasonable that he crushes the wishes of bad people and people who "deserve" it. but selfish wishes aren't as powerful, and as magnifico begins to crave more and more power, he begins taking more innocent wishes to power himself. maybe he finally crushes the wish of some sick kid or asha's grandfather and that finally snaps amaya into realizing what they're doing has become completely irredeemable. i know disney is allergic to writing romance now so have asha stay single and instead take some time to explore this romantic relationship.

asha & co. defeat magnifico with the power of friendship or whatever, maybe even have the final final part of the battle be between magnifico vs amaya as asha rushes to care for her grandfather after his wish was just crushed. or magnifico goes full magical sorcerer and explodes asha's family home or something

everyone in rosas realizes they don't need magnifico to live their dreams and together (with some pitching in from a now queen-regent amaya) asha is able to build the library/school/hospital/insert public service building her grandad always wanted. amaya hangs the magnifico mirror above her cats' litter boxes. the end

[comicalarchitect]

Samantha Reads Comics #1

I used to liveblog comics a lot on Twitter, and people enjoyed that sometimes, but once Twitter went to shit I mostly stopped doing that, so I'm gonna experiment with doing it in a longer format (though still keeping it pretty cazh) here on Tumblr. Lately I've been going through the comics bibliography of one of my favorite writers, Peter David, in chronological order, and rather than filling anyone in on the stuff I've already read, I'm just gonna pick up where I'm at now, dumping my thoughts in this post as I go through. (If people enjoy this, I might eventually go and do a catchup post with my thoughts on David's early Spider-Man stories, his first Phantom miniseries for DC, and his first year on Hulk.) This post is gonna cover the first few issues from David's second year writing Hulk, out of a pretty definitive and influential stint on the character. My thoughts, carrying over from my time writing Twitter threads, will be pithy and discontinuous.

I like that David brings out this aspect of Bruce--that he has the potential to lash out and be cruel to people even in this aspect. It makes the whole Hulk-as-repressed-id deal seem a lot more authentic. (Also love the absurd way Todd McFarlane draws Bruce's hair.)

"Bruce being petulant and jealous of Hulk" is another weird side of that dynamic that David teases out, and again, I'm very into. Hell, Hulk's hatred of "puny Banner" makes a lot more sense when you don't make Bruce a saint, but instead make him kind of a whiny hypocritical nerd. "Puny" as an insult works a lot better when it's not just an assertion of might-makes-right superiority, but is instead an observation of the way Bruce almost egoistically weaponizes his weakness, making himself an object of toxic pity who never really has to face consequences. (That's not really all contained in the page excerpt here, but it's definitely present in David's ongoing characterization of Bruce. If you want my analyses to be laid out more predictably, pay me to write a book.)

Rick, I think Mar-Vell's answer would involve some degree of "I would use the Power Cosmic on them," which means it would be pretty unhelpful to you right now.

Solid gag, and very much augmented by Rick Parker's work as letterer.

okay go to Writing Jail now, Peter David

I kid, though. This page right here, this is the deft, subtle, absolutely original level David was working on. This kind of psychodrama is why it's worth writing a Hulk comic in the first place.

I love how David always drops in these shitty little side characters whose petty, disingenuous lives get utterly trampled by the main plot--this kind of guy right here is why Hulk hate puny humans.

Oh FUCK this is a good development. Both a left-field move with possible dire consequences, and also completely in-character for Betty, which makes it the best kind of plot twist.

Betty is such a fucking good character.

McFarlane's style, especially with faces, is just getting goofier and more caricature-ish as he grows into his confidence (Image Comics wasn't even a twinkle in his eye yet), and it really is a good match for David's writing.

owned

it's about ethics in gamma journalism

what a bunch of clowns

okay but now I really want a "Teenage Idiot" epitaph (even though I'm 25)

[racetrackhigg]

FAME AU- newsies

im gonna talk a bit ab their jobs and stuff but also just hcs that i have of them in this universe. i would love to make this into an actual au with each chapter focusing on a different character but i dont have the time rn. the ships are javid, blush and ralbert, although i don't talk about them much. i rlly want to, maybe on another post i will

Jack “Cowboy” Kelly - Artist

Age when the au takes place: 26

Song: You’re On Your Own Kid - Taylor Swift

Jack would have grown up in the foster system. His parents died in a car crash when he was young, leaving him an orphan.

Since he was a kid he would’ve used art as a way to escape the shitty situation that he was in. He would’ve been in numerous bad foster homes, and he would’ve been failing school, but art would be the one constant that would allow him to escape. 

Then at 15, he got adopted by Medda, and she took him to art classes and bought him proper supplies

Crutchie would be his foster brother

Jack went to art school. He started entering (and winning) contests, as well as publishing his art online. He got an agent and the attention of some important people who helped him in his journey, giving him positive critiques and advice. 

Then someone really famous would’ve purchased one of his works and that made him blow up

Jack would live in an apartment in the centre of Manhattan. His apartment would always be a mess, and he’d usually do most of his paintings there, so a lot of things are permanently stained with acrylic. 

He DIY’s a lot of his clothes, painting on his jeans and jackets and things like that. This was a habit that he kept since the foster system to try to make the shitty clothes he had a bit more him, and he never stopped doing it.

This also means that he DIY’s so many things in his apartment, and it always turns out amazing. Doesn’t like the colour of that couch? He dyes it. Feels like the wall is too bare? He’ll paint something over it. Feels like the windows are too boring? He’ll buy a kit and make them into fake-stained windows that he can peel off when he wants to, in case he wants to sell the apartment or he gets bored of it.

He’s also amazing at gift-giving because he always makes sure to write a card or add something handmade to the actual gift. He used to give his boyfriend handmade flowers so they’d last forever before, yknow, they broke up (he would’ve chated on Jack)

Other than art, he would be a big sports fan. He would love F1 and would eventually get a VIP pass to the paddock. He’d be a Red Bull fan.

David “Mouth” Jacobs - Director

Age when the au takes place: 26

Song: the lakes - Taylor Swift

David’s mother would have been an actress. She hadn’t been very famous, but it already gave him an in the industry. 

He used to participate in the school musicals as the “director’s assistant”. 

He preferred movies over the theatre though, and he often wrote his own movies that he would’ve loved to direct someday.

He made a lot of short films with his friends and participated in different contests, building his portfolio for when he went to college.

In college, he continued to participate in many different movie contests and got a lot of recognition for his short films. He would have a very distinct movie style, very much giving “dark academia”.

He’d be given various awards for his work and eventually, he’d get to direct a full movie. It would do pretty well for being his debut. 

He’d continue creating short films and co-directing some movies. He’d start working on more important movies and gaining a large following.

His most popular movie would be one that would’ve been inspired by a painting. One of Jack’s paintings. It would be about the obsessed artist trope (think Black Swan or Whiplash).

David would live in Boston, and most of his short films would be filmed there. 

Outside of directing, David reads a lot, it’s his way of escaping from the world for a moment.

He’d love vintage books and would have them scattered all around his house. He’s a big fan of the classics.

Has a black cat named Dawn.

He’s a very private person. He doesn’t really date much, and he doesn’t post stuff online. This all changed when he met Jack, of course.

Antonio “Racetrack” Higgins - Formula 1 

Age when the au takes place: 23

Song: Labyrinth - Taylor Swift

Racing number: 16 

He drives for Ferrari 

He’d come from a well-off family, but they wouldn’t be rich. His dad would’ve been an F2 driver, but he never made it to F1. He would’ve been a huge Ferrari fan, something that he passed on to his son.

Started karting when he was 5 years old

His parents would’ve gotten divorced when he was 7. He would’ve blamed himself because they used to fight a lot over him doing karting. His mom didn’t want him anywhere near racing, but his dad supported him fully. 

He’d have a 5-year difference with his little brother 

After his mom remarried, she moved to France with his little brother (Romeo), while Race stayed in Italy with his dad.

At some point, Race almost had to quit racing because his dad wouldn’t have been able to afford it. However, his stepdad offered to help, and they had no choice but to accept. Race would have a really bad relationship with his stepdad and his mother, he would’ve been much closer to his dad.

He joined the Ferrari Driving Academy, wanting to drive for them once he joined F1

He joined F1 when he was 19, and joined Ferrari a year later, full filling his lifelong dream.

The same year he joined Ferrari his mother died.

His goal is to win a championship someday, and is currently second in the driver’s standings. But Red Bull is dominating and unbeatable, so the chances of winning this year are slim.

He would live in Rome. He has 2 cats, a Ragdoll called Sofia (but he calls her Sof) and an orange cat called Stella  

He would meet Jack in the paddock and they’d hit it off immediately, become really good friends. Despite the fact that Jack was there to support Red Bull. He’d know who Jack was because his ex-girlfriend would’ve been an artist and a huge fan. 

Outside of racing, he would love music. He’d play the piano and the guitar. He started composing his own songs after his mom died and continued after he broke up with his girlfriend (they would’ve dated for 2 years, and broken up a year before the au started). But he’d keep them to himself.

Think folklore and evermore (particularly seven, the lakes and tolerate it)

However, he would mostly listen to rock music, completely different from what he composed. 

His favourite band is “Untitled”, and he’d go see them when they came to Italy on their world tour.

Albert DaSilva, Kid Blink, Jojo de la Guerra and Finch Cortez - Band

Band Name: Untitled (I'm bad at names, if I think of smth better I might change it)

Genre: Rock

Albert and Finch met in high school and became best friends. Finch played the guitar and Albert played the drums, and they usually did covers of songs together. 

Flash forward to college and they meet Blink. They went to college together studying music composition and became close with Blink, who plays the bass guitar. Suddenly they have a new addition to their band. At this point, their still just making covers of songs.

Then they meet Jojo, who also joins their band. He sings. After this, they start making their own songs and playing at bars. They got noticed by a record label and signed a contract. 

They gathered a large following when their first album was released, but they blew up with the lead single of their second album. After that, they quickly rose to fame. 

In each album, there is one song dedicated/about each of the members, but they never say which song is about who

Fans love to speculate, though, and a lot of the time they get it right

They all live in Manhattan.

Albert

Age when the AU takes place: 24

Song: I Can See You - Taylor Swift

Lives with Finch, their roommates. 

They have a dog named Cheese. Why? No one knows.

His mom would’ve died soon after he was born, and he’d grow up with his dad and older brothers. They’d struggle a bit financially, his dad would be working all the time and when he’d be home he would usually be drunk.

He’d never be abusive, just incredibly distant and Albert would have to take care of him after his brothers moved out. 

Once he moved out he kind of cut contact with most of his family

He has a Twitch account and streams all the time. He’s a big fan of video games, particularly horror games. 

He often calls with friends and plays with them, for example, he calls Elmer a lot (his best friend other than Finch)

He also skates

He tried to take Finch to a skate park to teach him once and it did not end up well 

Probably the most disorganized person you’re ever going to meet. His room is a mess and it drives Finch insane. 

He would have a bit of a reputation when it comes to dating. He usually wouldn’t get involved in anything serious that lasted more than a couple of months.

Then he’d do a world tour where he would meet Race, a Formula 1 driver who apparently loved their music, and all that would change

Finch

Age when the AU takes place: 24

Song: Welcome To New York - Taylor Swift

Lives with Albert, their roommates.

He’s a big movie fan, particularly sci-fi movies.

He’s not much of an animal person. But in middle school, he used to have an obsession with birds, so Albert started calling him “Finch” and it just stuck

He’s really close to his family. His parents would be so supportive of him, they’d be there at almost every concert. They’d be really proud.

His fashion sense is atrocious but he’s trying his best and that’s what matters

He loves cooking. He’s really good at it too, and he’s always trying new recipes.

He has a TikTok account that has literally nothing to do with the band, it’s just him sharing the recipes he made. He also has a series where he does a meal for each college major and things like that. 

He has a secret Tumblr account where he interacts with fans and no one knows it’s him. 

People are aware of the existence of this account, but no one knows it’s him

Kid Blink

Age when the AU takes place: 25

Song: It's Nice To Have A Friend - Taylor Swift

Lives with his boyfriend, Mush, who owns a cat cafe.

They met in freshman year of high school and became best friends before they started dating in Junior year

He gives their PR manager a heart attack each time he opens his mouth because this man has absolutely no filter. 

Not allowed to post his own things on Twitter because he would get cancelled in a second

He used to watch BuzzFeed Unsolved religiously, but now he watches Watcher all the time.

Always knows the most random and disturbing facts. He’ll say the most unhinged things at the most unexpected times and provide no context.

He only posts things about the band, he’s a very private person and doesn’t like people getting in his business.

His private account however is basically a fan account for his boyfriend, since that’s almost all he posts about. And his cat cafe. 

Only his family and friends follow him there, though.

Also has a secret Tumblr account, but it’s just to see the Watcher posts. 

Middle kid energy

Jojo

Age when the AU takes place: 23

Song: Foolish One - Taylor Swift

He does pottery!! 

He’s a plant dad and all of his flower pots are made by him

He writes his own music separate from the band, but he doesn’t release any of them. It’s just something he does for fun sometimes

He was practically raised by his older brother since his parents weren’t great

His brother was the one who helped pay for his singing lessons when he was a kid. His parents didn't want him to have anything to do with music, they didn't think he'd make anything of himself

But his brother supported him fully and it got him to where he is now 

Wears his heart on his sleeve and tends to get hurt because of it

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Hey CJ, you mentioned that you disagree with a lot of your old TWDG opinions, any that stand out you wanna share? Also i agree with what you said about wanting to play the series for the first time again with no prior knowledge - i would love to meet louis character for the first time again.

Yeah, some opinions have changed with time and moving on from being a hardcore, active fan in the fandom. I'm pretty sure I've talked about some of them more recently, like how I used to not like Jane but now I've become something of a "Jane apologist," if you will.

I was also super vocal about hating the Clementine comics when the 12-page comic dropped, and I'm pretty sure I was shitty about Tillie Walden... which I look back on now and feel embarrassed. In fact, I specifically remember calling attention to the fact that Skybound turned off comments on the first book trailer and on their instagram, twitter, etc. and being like, "look at these COWARDS! they know we hate the comic and that Tillie's a bad artist, they're trying to shut us up!" ........but then I heard they turned them off because Tillie was getting threats, and it caused me to dig around and see the vile shit fans were saying.... It gave me pause to think things through and I feel very differently about it all now.

I've also changed my mind on Minerva. Like Jane, there was a loooong period of time where I didn't like her, but now? I think she's great. A real tragedy.

In fact, real talk, I think my perspective on most of the female characters in TWDG has shifted dramatically. I've done a lot of thinking on this just in general; I'm much harder on female characters than male characters. I can pretend like noooooo I was always soooo fair... but no, not always. I'm sure it's from some deep-rooted, internalized misogyny I have that I'm working on, but I also think the games sometimes neglect those characters, too. Which makes it easier to brush them off as just "poorly-written" and "bad characters" if I don't like them when that's not always the case.

Or let's be real, we all know how this goes; the games give us a flawed male character and fans are like "he's my blorbo, here's a 50k essay about why he deserved better and a list of my headcanons and the twenty AUs I've written for them-" but then a female character's just as flawed and fans are like "lol she's poorly written, here's an essay on why-"

Don't look at me like that. I know I'm guilty of this. I know y'all remember Mitch. Back in the day, Mitch was my boy and I used to write about him all the time but like... god forbid I put that much effort into writing about Violet or Minerva, right?

Or even look at Kate, for example. Past CJ would've talked about how much she doesn't like Kate and she hates the forced romance with Javi, she's just there as a way to make David and Javi fight, etc. But you ask me about Kate now and I'm like, "Girl, ANF did you so dirty, you didn't deserve this."

Or how about Bonnie in S2? We all love to hate on Bonnie, but like... she's such an interesting character?? She's a recovering drug addict so desperate for a place, and you can see Carver's manipulation at play in the way she talks about him to Clementine. It takes seeing him physically beat Kenny within an inch of his life before she's like "Yeah no, fuck this, we're leaving tonight." And we give her shit about Luke's death and being mean to Clementine but frankly? Yeah, she's mean to Clementine and that's fine.

What, it's okay for Kenny to lash out and call her a stupid kid when Sarita dies because he's your poor meow meow and it makes his character soooo morally gray and complex? But Bonnie lashes out about Luke's death and suddenly she's just a massive piece of shit? No complexities or anything? There's no grey morality? No underlying motive or emotions behind the choice to abandon the group with Mike and Arvo?? She's just a bitch??

And do I even need to talk about Sarah? Hmm? We all know how Sarah was received and how fans still talk about her. Again, Sarah has a complete meltdown over losing her father and people get hurt, and fans wish death upon her... but Kenny has a meltdown and brutally beats up Arvo or threatens to smack Clementine or a number of things.... "that's fine, he's just really upset, he lost his family, y'know? everyone keeps trying to GASLIGHT me that he's bad but if you really think about it, Arvo totally deserved to be abused and it's actually Clementine's fault Kenny hit her because she tried to stop him-"

I just... the lengths we go to justify and defend this violent, toxic character but then act like Jane is the worst, I can't-

It's so funny to me whenever I see someone in the fandom complain about wanting more morally grey, flawed female characters because like... y'all couldn't even handle Jane. Or Lilly. Or Sarah. Or Bonnie. Rebecca. Eleanor. Christa. Minerva and Violet, in a lot of cases. So like... what do you actually want?

Note that I'm guilty of this, too, and I've asked myself that question... haven't fully worked out the answer yet.

That's the major thing that comes to mind about opinions I had that I've changed my mind about. I think a big factor in that is letting twdg go and getting invested in other fandoms, doing a lot more reading, getting back into writing, etc. Obviously I've really gotten into the Dragon Age fandom and that's what triggered this "journey of self-reflection~" when it comes to how I perceive female characters. Like, you want flawed, morally-grey ladies? That's your series... assuming you can actually handle it.

But I also recently finished a playthrough of Fallout New Vegas and remembered my love for Veronica Santangelo, like... I don't care that the game doesn't technically have romance, that's my girlfriend, I love her. Then the other night I finished my first playthrough of Life is Strange True Colors [I know, where the fuck have I been, right?] and I spent 40% of the time looking at flowers, 10% being sad about Gabe, and the other 50% trying to figure out who I liked more, Steph or Ryan.

I've also been reading a lot of wlw novels which is just..... THAT'S a whole mess I won't get into because this is already long enough and you didn't ask. Just know that's also another factor in this reflection.

And to answer the other part of your ask: I miss Louis. I would love to play TFS again for the first time again, that was a fun time.

[deeptrashwitch]

This is wholesome and because my granny gave me the idea ^^

Julio was sit in front of the table, with a cup of coffee in fornt of him as he watched the news, staring at the date with a tired smile. On the other hand, Rosa left his breakfast in front of him, kissing his forehead while she put a hand over his shoulder. She whispered a quiet "happy birthday, gordito" (that's how my grandma calls my grandpa ^^ so it's their term of love) before look at the landscape as well.

"Thanks mija" he answered, taking her hand with carefulness

"What are you thinking about?"

"I...just wish that the kids could come and say hi today, but all of them said that they were busy. I guess I can't blame them"

"They'll come this month, I'm sure"

"I know, it's only that I just wanted to celebrate my birthday with my whole family" he answered with a sigh, then looking at Rosa "however, I'm happy that you are here, amor, I'll always be"

The old woman just smiled towards her husband, kissing him again, before going for her breakfast to eat together. It was a lovely moment, just like the ones they had when they were much younger, but both of them missed the laughs and screams from their children and grandchildren. Like that the breakfast passed, and soon Julio was getting prepared for his daily walk around their big land, just to be interrupted by the door bell.

"Were you expecting visits, mija?" he asked with a raised eyebrow

"No, I was about to ask you the same"

"No...I don't"

The old man frowned but went to the door, looking how near of him he had a machete, just in case. But when he opened the door, a surprising view welcomed him, leaving him frozen of the pure surprise. It certanly was a surprising visit, but a lovely one as well.

"Feliz cumpleaños, abuelito!" his grandkids exclaimed at unison

August was carrying the cake with Nicolás help, while Elías and Alicia were carrying some boxes, and at the same time Camila and Juan David brought some lemonade with them. They coordinated between the six of them to go to Colombia, just to celebrate with their grandparents together as a surprise, and they managed to have it right!

Julio couldn't say anything, just letting them enter to leave everything inside, watching how his wife screeched of happiness and hugged their grandchildren. At the same time, he laughed a bit, then locked into a big hug from Camila, who kissed his cheek. One by one, all the grandkids hugged him and wished him a happy birthday, making him laugh even more.

"Why did you come? Weren't you busy with your work?" he asked, touched by the gesture

"We wanted to came, and the world can burn on the mean time" Alicia said with a smile, pushing Elías away from her "that won't keep us away from our grandparents!"

"Agree! Also, we missed you both!" Elías continued, throwing himself over Alicia "hah!"

"Get off of me!"

"Those two..." August murmured, shaking his head before looking at his grandpa "we came here as a surprise, I hope we didn't caused you any trouble"

"If someone told me, I could've waited for you with a good meal" Rosa said with a little frown

"We'll manage it, abuelita, don't worry" Nicolás said, taking control of the kitchen and then looking at the youngest "and you two what?"

He was just answered by Camila and Juan David showing him the middle finger, which make everyone chuckle.

"Spoiled ones" the older said with a laugh

"Jealous?" Camila asked with a shitty smile, thightening the hug over their grandpa at the same time that Juan David did it with their grandma

"I bet they are" Juan David said with a mocking smile

Julio was happy, what a great way to pass his birthday!

Ahh, I wanted to write this and now even more because my granny was so happy hearing my rant about my characters ^^ she was the one who asked me to write this one.

[princessflorida]

he cant even escape the bi fetishism/tokenism after his death bc people need some type of vehicle to continually make excuses for being in some brainrotted chronically online fandom based around the poorly written children's fanfic of a racist transphobe going bonkers from the black mold in her house. i hate this website.

j.k. rowling throws a fit about how she thinks shes gonna get raped in the bathroom by a t girl every morning before coffee, david bowie dated t girls publicly. if david bowie's 100% serious "ladies, gentlemen, and others" address happened by the time rowling's terfy cheese fingers had access to twitter she'd be berating him about "teaching kids they can be 87 fake genders" in a tantrum that borderlines on sounding like a 7/11 parking lot crackhead.

never on my bingo card when her transphobia came to light (we already knew she was racist but apparently thats not actually bad enough) was there a square for "people STILL wont let go of their chokehold deathgrip vice clamp on jk rowling in 2025" like i bet the vast majority of yalls fandom is a bunch of queer kids too. why cant queer and trans ppl let go of harry potter? seriously? as if there's not far more interesting/worthwhile things to be doing. this woman doesn't love us and her art is all from the perspective of someone who wants us dead. it's cringe. stand up and be somebody. i thought quitting heroin was the most difficult thing but y'all have shown me that apparently j.k. rowling's yawnfest is harder to break off than junk.

j.k. rowling would sell most of yall for horse glue and think you need to be on an SO registry and now we have to go thru a repeat of the 2010's batshit insanity of everyone re-catching up to stale tea from 50 years ago that david bowie was openly bisexual. yawn.

bisexual people aren't "variants" of your fic ship. we're real people. yall are so goddamn weird. why do we always get the nuts? i hate fandom culture so bad. always making characters out of real people in one way or another.

why cant yall pick literally anything else to be interested in? it's pathetic. i'm so glad i'm not famous so people with worms in their brain couldn't use random old pics of me and my friends, exes, and flings as some kind of pinterest board aesthetic description for some weird psychosexual attachment issues based on the drivelings of a violent bigot. and can't even do it correctly bc they can't even get the facts straight. i expect as much of a rowling stan but that doesn't mean it ceases to make me cringe with repulsion and disappointment.

i'll be waiting for the angry 14yos that think there's literally anything reedeemable abt j.k. rowling or her shitty racist writing. ppl like her say drag queen library storybook readings are perverting and twisting generations of kids' brains bc she's projecting her own insecurity bc she's made thousands of brainrotted kids that turn into brainrotted adults still loyal to someone who would force them to wear a pink triangle if she had her way just bc she wrote a bunch of books about waving magic wands around.

bowie, while an imperfect person who did do bad things and wasn't a saint, continuously spent time in queer/trans spaces, stood up for the freedom of gender and sexuality experimentation and expression, and was bisexual himself. he dated queer/trans people, hung out with drag queens and in gay bars, and repeatedly put themes of gender expression and sexuality at the forefront of his art his entire 50 year long career. he never treated us differently, because he was one of us.

j.k. rowling not like us.

which side are you on, boys?

craziest wolfstar variant is david bowie and mick jagger. liiiiiiike

EDIT: ok i now know top left is NOT mick jagger. my apologies to any david johansen fans out there. in my defense, they look very similar!

[rainydawgradioblog]

A. Savage showed me I can write a decent song (I’m delusional)

My first major purchase after arriving in Copenhagen last summer was a ticket to see Andrew Savage’s European tour in February. The legendary Parquet Courts co-frontman played Ideal Bar in Vesterbro with his band Midnight Stew to a crowd of me and 99 tall mustachioed film bro-looking Danish lads in their 20s and 30s. I fit right in wearing my artsy new A. Savage “Riding Cobbles” t-shirt, as Andrew convinced me with his lovely little tunes to write a song of my own.

Andrew’s visual aesthetic had me straight to Ticketmaster before his latest album Several Songs About Fire even dropped. Everything he rolled out in promo shoots, cover art, and concert merch was drenched in David Hockney meets “The Adventures of Tintin” meets the doodles on the back of my middle school binder. 

Paired perfectly with the cartoony visuals, the music of Sevel Songs About Fire boils down melodies to a uniquely simple formula. Nothing is overcomplicated, leaving plenty of room to feel every chord change and focus on his glorious rusty voice, which is down-to-earth but also smooth enough to make me think he could burn the house down singing Frank Sinatra hits if he wanted. Andrew’s style makes great songwriting feel like something that anyone with a shitty guitar can do, and that’s not meant to sound shady. 

Another major draw to Andrew’s music is his lighthearted pessimistic humor that he throws all over his lyrics. It’s the same humor that my dad’s college buddies who never had kids embody. You can tell he’s got a weird whimsical take on the world in the way he phrases his feelings. “My weekly dinner of popcorn and Coke / Every Friday, like communion that I took as a joke” in the intro “Hurtin’ or Healed” is objectively a bit bleak but you can’t help but smirk and hope you're as witty as him at age almost 40.

I can thank Andrew and his band Parquet Courts for my appreciation of art punk and a lot of the politically charged folk rock I obsess over today like early Courtney Barnett and Fontaines DC. The band’s pop art aesthetic and funky yet punky take on indie rock recontextualized a lot of harsh punk aesthetics into something that made a lot more sense to me when I was first getting into music. Album’s like Wide Awake and Human Performance were palatable but gritty enough to slap some taste into my teenage brain.

Where Andrew’s solo work deviates from Parquet Courts is his more laid back take on songwriting, packed full of energy without doing the most. He’s got a handful of chords and progressions that are standard but still sound so uniquely his own. Hearing a song like “Le Ballon” or his latest single “Black Holes, the Stars and You” put Andrew’s skill at building tension and emotion with just a few particular chords and subtle melodies on full display.

Most of the emotion conveyed on Sevel Songs About Fire is rooted in finding comfort in simple pleasures and observations in a life far from a sense of home. Living all the way in Denmark, I listen to “Riding Cobbles” bumping down the cobbled Copenhagen streets, “My New Green Coat” while wrapped in my new thrifted Bob Dylan jacket, and “Mountain Time” watching the geese fly in Vs like they do in the Cascades back home. 

To me, the album is music to ramble to– it’s the music you listen to with your thumb out on the side of the road with a knapsack tied to a stick over your shoulder. I listened to the new album for the first time while waiting for trains between Berlin and Copenhagen, anticipating a long bus ride to Stockholm the next day. Being on exchange often felt chaotic, trying to experience as many new things as I could without a lot of regard to my ability to settle down, and Sevel Songs About Fire is exactly that. Andrew mentioned during his set that he loves touring because he has the unique ability of finding a sense of home in a lot of places, something I wish I was better at.

After Andrew’s show, I picked up my very own $35 guitar from the charity shop down the street and started thinking about tiny observations or inanimate objects that made me feel any kind of something. However insignificant these things seemed, they were unique to me which is exactly why Andrew’s music is so important. Several Songs About Fire was never about reinventing the wheel but more about a unique perspective and personality using the bread and butter of what makes a great song. 

I beg of you please listen to Several Songs About Fire and after you’ve realized it’s your favorite album ever I’d give his debut album Thawing Dawn a listen. For more political indie rock stuff I’d listen to Parquet Court’s Wide Awake and if you like it even punkier, try Light Up Gold. 

You’re welcome!

Mead Gill

[itsfunny-causeitstrue]

Season 2 Episode 2: Family

Episode Reviews: 1 | 3

All abroad the angst train!! It was really interesting to see the different types of family and their parenting styles - not just Nick and Charlie's! I adore the fact that my faves Taoelle are getting a good amount of time dedicated to developing them and their relationship. Also we get to meet some new friends, Sahar, Felix and Naomi!! David and Ben are also here, being pricks as always. 🙄

Lil funny sidenote: the GSCE scenes gave me such intense flashbacks to my own - can't believe it's been almost decade since I've had mine 😂

Now onto the Spoilers:

- I really appreciated seeing all the different parents and the transitional montage of Meet The Parents was a stroke of genius. It was a really cool and quick way to show how everyone was progressing in school and personally

- As I said in this post, while Jane was a little harsh and could have explained her reasoning better, she was right to do that. It's just the boys acting like the end of the world. Which as a teenager I remember what it feels like. But do not demonise Jane for doing what is best for her kid. It's not like they can't see each other at school or text. She might be the strictest parent on the show but yet this was still pretty mild compared to what I've gone through.

- I do think it's sweet that Charlie does The Most to try to meet up with Nick and it's very realistic in terms of teenage shenanigans. I do wish he had just talked to his mom. Now he's gotta deal with the consequences of his actions.

- Ben and David,,, where do I even start?? These two need to leave Nick the hell alone.

- They managed to give David an even more douchey hairstyle than in the comics. My head started throbbing the moment he came on screen. The climax of the episode with the Nelsons was done really well. David is really such a prick and everyone acted their asses off. Thank you to Sarah for calling out her shitty son, I bet she has never wanted to throw hands with him more than in that moment.

- As for Ben, he needs to stop starting shit with Nick in Study Hall and leave Imogen the hell alone (I wish she would listen to Nick). I know I shouldn't hate on a child but by god is Ben a demon.

- On to new friends: Sahar is the cutest person in the world!! I love her so much and can't wait to see more of her soon

- Felix and Naomi!! So glad Alice decided to write in new characters. They are both so cool and I'm glad Elle will have new friends in art school.

- Though this does bring in angst for Taoelle and I am not complaining cos it's done so well and isn't toxic. Hella realistic and it just made my heart burst they got a huge amount of time as the B plot this episode. The fact that it eventually pushed Tao to admit to the boys that he likes her!!

- I also LOVED seeing their parents. Tang Xu is just such a wholesome mom and very different from your typical Asian parent. I loved that Alice turned that trope on it's head. I really adored seeing more of Tao and his relationship with his mom. We also got hear more about his dad! I love love that Tang saw parallels between her relationship and Taoelle - what a cutie

I cannot wait to see all of this progress over the season. Overall, while not so much of a comfort ep, the angst was top tier!! I love all of them so much and can't wait for things to get better

[jubilantwriter]

Jaspvid Week 2020: Day 3 - Summer

fuck it at this rate i’m just gonna be posting late never get a night shift job y’all

(AO3)   @jaspvid-week​

You Can't be Traumatized if You Don't Go to Summer Camp

Summary:  They met by an ice cream truck as children.  And since then, it’s been a tradition for them to meet up and buy ice cream together.

Word Count: 5088

Jasper loves summer.  Summer means no school, no homework, and no teachers to be bummed out by!  Since he's eleven now, he thinks that maybe his mom will let him go to the community pool more often, since he can totally swim by himself without her worrying that he'll go to the deep end and drown.  

He's too rad for that anyways!  And since summer vacation started, he's been having fun watching the Saturday morning cartoons and hanging out with his friends whenever they want to come over and play.  With the heat bringing it's A game this year though, more and more of his time is spent just lounging inside his house, trying to beat the heat with his mom's rotating fan.

In fact, here he sits, mouth wide open as he makes a long "ahhhh" sound at it, giggling as the fan messes with his voice.  Although summer isn't always about having fun and playing with his mom's fan and going swimming at the pool.  He keeps his ears perked as he waits for a special kind of song to start making its rounds around the block.

And sure enough, the musical notes of a familiar tune rings throughout the neighborhood, and Jasper is already making a mad dash to his mom for some sweet, sweet cash.

"Mom!"  He waves his hands back and forth to get her attention.  "Mom, the ice cream truck!"

His mom smiles, having already heard the tune and pulling her wallet out of her purse.  "Alright, hold on."  A few dollars bills are handed over as Jasper grabs them eagerly.

"Rad!"

"But only buy one, okay?  Dinner's coming up soon."

"Okay!"  He dashes out the door just in time to see the ice cream turn the corner onto his street.  "Hey!"  He waves his hand in the air, flagging down the ice cream truck as it continues past his house.  It slows to a stop as he chases after it when he notices another kid peek his head out.

Red hair.

Green eyes.

And the scariest frown he's seen.

He smiles as he waves at his neighbor.

"Hi, Davey!"

"Don't call me that!"  David yells as he slams his front door shut, disappearing back into his house.

"Jeepers, man."  Normally, all the other kids would feel put out by having their neighbor slam a door shut at them, but Jasper was used to it.  It was pretty rude yeah, but as long as Jasper kept his distance, David wouldn't start throwing rocks at him!  It's a good thing Jasper is a quick learner, otherwise there would have been a lot more rocks in his future.

"Hey, kid."  A man with a scraggly looking face rolls down the window.  The ice cream man!  "You wanted somethin'?"

"Sure do, mister!"  Jasper looks over the ice cream choices on the side of the truck.  There were ice cream sandwiches, drumsticks, those push pop thingies, the faces with bubblegum eyes, that frozen lemonade stuff in a cup that tastes okay he supposes, and-  "One bomb pop!  Please!"

"Sure, which flavor?"

"The one that looks like a rocket!"

"Red, white, and blue, comin' up."  Jasper waits patiently as the ice cream man disappears for a minute before reappearing with the cold treat.  "Here ya go.  One American ice cream."

"Is it really called that?"

"Nah.  That's a dollar."  Jasper hands over the dollar and grabs the frosty treat from the man as he sits on the sidewalk.  As he unwraps the popsicle, the ice cream man grunts in surprise.

"You want somethin' too?"  Jasper looks up and sees David standing not too far from him.  He's biting his lip, fists buried deep in his pockets as he glares at the ice cream on the truck.  "Gotta pay up, kid."

"...Not if I take it first!"  Jasper watches as David runs and leaps at the truck's window, grabbing onto the ledge as the ice cream man looks unimpressed.

"Nice try, kid."  He flicks off every single one of his tiny fingers, making David land on the ground with a soft "oof!".  "Maybe come back with a dollar, and I'll give ya what your bratty heart so desires."

"Whatever!"  David stands up quickly and stomps his foot.  "Ice cream is for squares anyways!"  As the ginger stomps off, Jasper wonders how many times David's tried to pull that off.  He gets up and walks back to the truck.

"Hey, mister?"

"Whatcha want, kid?"  The ice cream man eyes him from the window.  "You better eat that quick 'fore the sun melts it."  

"Oh I will!  It's just, um," he digs around in his pocket and pulls out another dollar, "can I have another one?"

The ice cream man takes it slowly, looking between Jasper and a door that slams shut yet again.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."  Technically, Jasper wasn't breaking any rules.  He grins up at the man brightly.  "Umm, can I have..."

Actually, which one WOULD he like?  It's not like Jasper knows enough about David to make a good guess.  All he knows is that David is grumpy, hates people, sasses adults, and is an overall menace to everyone around him.

But he's also seen David out in the rain, with no umbrella or raincoat to speak of, just picking worms off the sidewalk and tossing them into the grass.  He's seen David yell at bullies, aim only for the legs in dodgeball, and even sit next to a crying kid silently just so he wouldn't be alone.  

Jasper points at the vanilla bar with the hard outside.

"Can I have that one?"

"Sure, kid."  The ice cream man disappears and comes back with the wrapped treat, but he looks hesitant to give it to him.  "Are ya sure...?"

"Totally man!  My mom says that if I treat people the way I wanna be treated, I can make friends way faster like that!"

"That's one way to do it, I guess."  The ice cream man shrugs as he hands over the treat.  "Better give it to him before it melts then."

"Will do!  Thanks, mister!"

The ice cream man waves as Jasper runs to David's house, sticking his melting popsicle in his mouth as he knocks on the door.  The door creaks open slowly, a single green eye peeking out suspiciously before he spies Jasper standing on his doorstep.  Jasper pops his popsicle out and grins.

"Heya, broski!"

"Oh, it's you."  Ouch.  "What do you want?"  Jasper waves the wrapped treat in front of David.

"I did something totally wack and got an extra by accident!  And I'm only supposed to have one ice cream before dinner or else my mom will totally wig out, so I thought maybe you'd like it?"  David stares at the ice cream with a suspicious squint.

"...Why are you giving it to me?"

"Because you're the only kid I know in this neighborhood!"

"Liar."

"Okay, maybe I know a few other kids, but you were closer!"

"What's the catch?"  David glares at Jasper, holding onto his door tight.  "I take the ice cream and then what?  I gotta give you my allowance?  Beat the snot outta someone?  Be your friend because you're a weird loner?"  

Well, Jasper's not exactly a loner, but he wouldn't mind being friends with David if he'd just stop being mean for a second.

"It's just ice cream, dude.  Take it or leave it."

David swipes the bar from his hand and slams the door in Jasper's face.

"Nice!"  The ice cream man calls, laughing as Jasper walks away with a huff.

Well.

At least he took the dang thing. 

////

The ice cream truck comes again, and this time, the man grins as Jasper points at an ice cream sandwich.

"Gonna get a second one too while you're at it?"  He points to a door cracking open, and a familiar tuft of red hair peeking out.

"...I dunno, maybe."  Last time didn't work out so hot.  Maybe David just doesn't want friends.  Maybe he's the loner.

And Jasper's fine with that.  It's not like he has to be friends with David anyways.

"Who knows, kid?  Maybe he's like a stray cat.  Gotta be nice to 'im and bait 'im 'til he comes out."

"You just want my mom's money."

"Absolutely, now are you gonna buy another one or not?"

"I said I dunno."  Jasper huffs as he waits for the ice cream man to give him his sandwich.  As he takes it, he hears the door shut and he turns to find David no longer hiding by his door.

"Looks like the runt went back into hiding."  The ice cream man hums to himself as Jasper unwraps his treat and starts to munch away.  A bright look comes across the man's face as he ducks into his truck as Jasper watches curiously.  When the ice cream man resurfaces from his searching, a yellowish cup is held in his hand as he shoves it at Jasper's face.  "Here, kid."

Jasper scrunches up his face.

"I don't want it."

"Nah, kid, it's free."

"I still don't want it."

"Look, I got a whole bunch of these laying around 'cause kids don't want 'em as much as the other stuff I got.  So why not throw it at that kid's face so you're not wasting your ma's money and I'm gettin' rida stock I don't need?"

"I don't want him to hate me more than he already does!"

"Can't get any lower than rock bottom, kid."

Oh, he'd beg to differ.

But the ice cream man tosses him what was essentially frozen lemonade, but not like, the good lemonade, but the lemonade that was just pure lemon juice with some water, maybe even too much water, mixed in, and then they put it in the freezer, and then put that ice block into a blender, turned it on high, and poured the goop into a cup to be sold to children who actually knew what good lemonade tasted like.

And this was not good lemonade.

Jasper barely manages to catch it as it smacks into his chest.

"Good luck, kid!"  The ice cream man salutes him before rushing off into the driver's seat to drive away.

"But I said I didn't want it!"  Fruitlessly, he yells at the disappearing ice cream truck, groaning loudly as he clutches this awful excuse for a lemony treat.  What was he supposed to do with it?  

...

Well, he could actually give it to David.

Maybe he was into this sort of stuff.

Frozen, bad lemonade.  That was kind of like shaved ice, but not really.  The outside of the cup sweats in his hand, reminding him of the hot temperature.

Maybe he wouldn't care?  Maybe he'll take it because it's so hot out and use it as a, like, ice pack or something.

His feet are already walking him to David's door, and after cramming the ice cream sandwich in his mouth, he once again knocks on the door, but with less enthusiasm this time.  David opens the door, but he looks only a little surprised.

"What do you want, Jasper?"

Oh, he knows his name?  

"Uh, here."  His words are muffled around the sandwich, but David takes the cup regardless.

And scrunches up his face when he sees it.

"Ugh!  I don't want this!"

"Me neither!"

"It sucks!"

"I know!"

David blinks, as if registering that Jasper was actually agreeing with him.

"So why are you giving this to me?"  Jasper swallows a bite of his sandwich and shrugs.

"I dunno, maybe you can like, use it as an ice pack?"

"Pfft."  David snorts, which makes Jasper perk up a bit.  "As if.  This thing'll only last for a few minutes."  

"What are you gonna do then?"  Jasper watches as David wipes the sweat from his brow, frowning as he stares down at the cup.

And sighs dramatically.

"Guess I'll eat the dang thing."

"...You sure?"

"Well it's not like I have a choice."  Jasper expects more bite to his words, but the ginger merely says it with a tired reluctance he doesn't expect.  "Thanks, though."

"Oh uh, sure, duderino."  He expects David to slam the door in his face but the boy just... keeps it open.  "Guess I'll see you around?"

"Whatever."  David shrugs as he pops the lid open.  "See ya."  

He walks away from David's house and doesn't hear the door close.  When he makes it to his own house, he looks over to where David's house is and sees the boy sitting there.  Quietly eating his treat in the open doorway.

And Jasper swears.

He's eating it with a smile.

////

When Jasper approaches the familiar ice cream truck, he can hear two voices yelling at each other near the truck's window.

"You tellin' me this is all two dollars?!"

"I said count 'em, you gigantic square!"

"Uhh...?"  Jasper walks up to find David gripping the edge of the window from where he hangs with a snarl.  The ice cream man glares back down at David as he holds a fist full of coins.  Oh.

"It's two dollars!"

"Quit jerkin' my chain!  As if I'd believe you!"

"Can I count?"  The two of them turn their heads to Jasper as he sheepishly rubs his arm.  "I mean, if I count them in front of you, it'd save you the trouble and prove Dave- David's telling the truth."  The ice cream man rolls his eyes but hands the change over to Jasper regardless.  And so the brunette carefully sorts out the assortment of change, and holy cow, he can see why the ice cream man was angry at first.  It's a big mess of nickels and pennies and dimes, with maybe one quarter in the mix, but he counts out the change dutifully, carefully, and out loud so that the ice cream man can see his work.

"...and two dollars."  He gathers up the change and holds it up to the ice cream man.  "David was telling the truth."

"I told you, you big doofus."

"Watch it, kid, or else I'm taking your money and drivin' away."

"That's stealing!"

"As if you haven't tried stealin' from me before."  But the ice cream man disappears and comes back with two drumsticks.  "Here, your ice cream."

"Yessss!"  David takes them both, before turning to Jasper and handing him a stick.

"...Huh?"

"Here."  He shoves it into Jasper's hand and looks away.  "For the other times you got me ice cream."

"Oh!  You didn't have to-"

"Later, nerd!"  David runs off and into his house, slamming the door shut as he leaves Jasper in the dust.

"...Are you two friends now?"

"Uhh."  Jasper looks down at the drumstick in his hand.  It's the usual kind - vanilla, coated with chocolate and nuts.  He unwraps it and gnaws on the outer shell.

Sweet.

"...Maybe."

"Huh."  The ice cream man sounds amused as he reclines against his window.  "That was quick."

////

It becomes a routine.

Everyday, the ice cream man comes.  Sometimes it'll be Jasper who meets him first.  And sometimes it's David.

But there's an unspoken rule between them.

They have to wait until the other shows up before leaving.

It's like a meeting place, but with a guy who brings the meeting place to them.

Normally, they just buy the ice cream and part ways back to their houses.  

But sometimes...

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"What?"

Jasper and David sit on the curb, the ice cream man already driving away as they eat.  It's too hot to stay indoors, so they find themselves having a rare moment outside in the sun.  Jasper wouldn't mind staying quiet, if only for the fact that David bites down on the bomb pop like it's candy and crunching away at it in his mouth.

Just watching him eat it makes Jasper's teeth ache.

"Biting down on it!"

"No it doesn't."  David chomps down on it again, making Jasper cringe. 

"My mom says that biting ice cream like that can hurt your teeth."

David snorts.

"You're just a chicken."

"Am not!"

"Then do it, chicken."

Jasper looks at his own popsicle.  He doesn't want to hurt his teeth, but he also doesn't want to be called a chicken.  David grins slyly as he nudges Jasper.

"Chiiiickeeeeen," he goads.

"I'm not a chicken!"  Without a second thought, Jasper bites down on his popsicle and crunches down on the block of flavored ice.  It feels as though the ice is freezing his teeth all the way down to his gums, and it sort of hurts, and sort of doesn't.

It's still not pleasant though, so he chews through it quickly.

"See?"  David nudges him again with a lighter grin as he goes back to polishing off the popsicle.  "It's not that bad."

"Ugh."  He determines not to do that again.  "I think I'll pass on eating popsicles like that ever again."

David snickers but doesn't push him.  Instead, they both kick at the asphalt beneath their feet and take in the rays.

////

Summer comes, and summer goes.  They go back to school, pretend they don't know each other asides from a neighborly nod, before continuing on with their lives.

But when summer returns, they find themselves meeting up back at the ice cream truck.

"Wanna try these ones?!"  Jasper excitedly points at the pastel-looking ice cream bars on the truck.

"Are you getting it only for the colors?"

"Why not!"  

"That's dumb.  You're dumb."  

"You just don't wanna admit you wanna try the cotton candy one."  Jasper teases the ginger as David rolls his eyes.

"Whatever.  I'll just take the watermelon one."  

"Well, I'm taking the cotton candy one, 'cause I'm not a chicken."

"You take that back."

"Are you kids gonna pay or what?"

"Here you go, mister!"  As the ice cream man hands them their treats, the two of them sit back on the curb, kicking at the asphalt as they get used to each other yet again.

"You think his menu ever changes?"

"Nah, he seems too lazy to do that."

"But what if something new comes out?  Like a tubular kind of ice cream."

"He already has a tube-y ice cream."

"No, like tubular!  Like wicked?  Gnarly?"

"...I hate you so much.  Just speak like a human!"

"But I am??"  David yells as Jasper laughs.  "Take a chill pill, man!  It's how everyone speaks nowadays!"

"That's a lie.  A big, dumb lie that only a square would make."

"Calling people a square is sooo outdated, Davey."  The nickname slips out before Jasper can stop himself, and he slaps his hand over his mouth in shock.  "Oh, no, I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine."

And he blinks.

"...Huh?"

"I said it's fine."  David kicks at the asphalt, keeping his eyes away from Jasper's as he bites into his ice cream.  "...I'm okay with you calling me 'Davey'."

"Are.  Are you sure?"

"Yeah."  David shrugs before turning to face Jasper.  He looks uncertain, nervous even as he twirls the melting treating between his fingers.  "I mean, we're friends, right?"

And he blinks again.

Mouth slightly agape. 

He must have taken too long to respond because suddenly David's ears are bright red as he stands up abruptly.  "Wh-whatever!  If we're not friends, just say it-!"

"We are!"  Jasper stands up just as quickly, a giddy grin making it onto his face as he makes to hug David, only to remember the sticky ice cream in their hands.  "We're friends!"

It's David's turn to blink as he registers the words Jasper says.  And then.

He smiles.

A real, genuine smile.

"...Cool!"

And when summer inevitably ends, he hopes he'll get more than a nod from David as they pass each other in the halls.

////

Summers come, and summers go.  As they pass each other in the halls, Jasper goes for a high-five that David avoids, only to punch Jasper (lightly) in the arm later.

They sit next to each other at lunch, Jasper sharing his snacks with David as the latter pours over Jasper's homework as Jasper explains each problem to him.

They become an odd pair, the two of them.  David's bristly exterior is immediately softened when Jasper is nearby, and Jasper's mood lightens considerably no matter the problem he has to face as long as David is there with him.

People often ask him if he hopes to make David a more cheery person by sticking with him.  After all, Jasper is all smiles and bright colors.  But Jasper just shrugs, saying he likes David the way he is.

If David changes, then he'll still like him.

Because David is David.

Just like how Jasper is Jasper.

Some things about them will change, Jasper knows that's inevitable.  Habits change, opinions change, outlooks change.

But some routines never change.

They're fourteen as they wait for the ice cream truck together, sitting on Jasper's front lawn as the cool grass stains their shorts.

"Aren't we too old for ice cream trucks?"  David is lying down besides Jasper, his eyes closed as Jasper drops torn up grass onto his face.  Jasper giggles as David swats halfheartedly at his hand.

"Nah."  

"We could be doing something else.  Like playing games.  Or eating ice."

"Only you would eat ice."

"Yeah well, maybe if you didn't think your teeth were so fragile-"

Jasper rolls David over, the other boy squeaking indignantly as his words are muffled by the dirt and grass. 

"UGH!  JASP-"  And then a familiar jingle rounds the corner.

"Oh it's Mr. Kevin!"  Jasper bounces to his feet and dashes away to meet the familiar driver.  "What's up-!"

David comes up from behind Jasper and grabs him in a headlock, already yelling at the amused man as he pulls out a few bills.

"HE WANTS THE LEMON ICE!"

"HEY-"

"Whatever my loyal customers want."

"HEY-"

////

A few more summers come and go.  Puberty is wack.  High school is wack.  Preparing for college is super bogus wack.  But David isn't wack.

If time could stop for just a moment, just so Jasper could have more seconds in the day to relish those moments of happiness that escape them more often than not, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't feel as though everything was falling through his fingers so quickly.

Things change too quickly.

Times change too quickly.

Even old routines, that one routine he'd grown to depend on every summer.

That began to change too.

As the two of them wait for the ice cream man, a man who has slowly begun to fade from their lives as the times change, Jasper finds himself clutching desperately to the past as his feet tap nervously against the grass.  He can feel David's eyes on him, watching as his best friend slowly unravels before him.  With a sigh, David leans against him, forcing Jasper to a halt as he forces the teen to lay down in the grass.

Up above them, the clouds roll by peacefully, completely unbothered and untethered to any sorts of worries.

"...You think he's gonna come by?"

"I don't think he's got enough customers to justify it, Jasp."

"...Bummer."

"Hm."

They continue to watch the clouds for a while, Jasper's disappointment settling on his face as he wonders if he took his childhood for granted yet again.  A finger prods his cheek, and he turns to see David's green eyes.  Calm.  Relaxed, even.  He's mellowed out throughout the years, but he still wears a frown most days.  He's grown up a lot since he was that mean, bratty kid next door.

"You want ice cream that bad?"

"It's not that."  Jasper bites his lip.  He's kind of embarrassed actually, wanting to stick to this routine for so long.  David's probably long since gotten tired of waiting for the ice cream truck, especially during these recent years as the man showed up less and less.  But he never complains or goes against Jasper's wants, and instead plays along patiently as Jasper continues to cling.  

"Then what is it?"

Is it hard to explain?  Or is it just embarrassing to say?  He looks over to David, and there's understanding in his eyes as he props himself up, waiting for Jasper to choose his words without any rush.

How lucky was he to keep a friend like David for so long?

"We stuck together because of the ice cream truck."  David's eyes widen as the words sink in.  Jasper laughs, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he looks away.  "I dunno it just- I'm probably just tripping over this for no reason, dude, sorry-"

"It's important to you."  Jasper feels David lean against him as he thinks out loud.  "I don't think it's wrong that you're upset about it."

"...But it's a dumb thing to cling to."

"Not really.  We became friends because we kept buying ice cream together.  I think that's pretty meaningful."  David rests his chin on Jasper's shoulder as they continue to sit, waiting for nothing to arrive. 

"Is it bad that I miss it?"

"Nah."  

The breeze ruffles their hair.

"...What do you think Kevin is up to?"

"Probably selling drugs."

"Davey!"

"What?"  The ginger laughs, puffs of warm brushing against Jasper's neck as he gradually calms down.  "I'm right."

"You don't know that."

"Maybe."  

Jasper closes his eyes.  It's hot out, but he doesn't mind David sticking so close by.  It's comforting, actually, feeling his warmth like this.  Like, no matter what, even if the ice cream truck doesn't come by anymore, David doesn't really need a reason to just come by and sit next to Jasper and do nothing together.

At least that won't change.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Let's do something next year."

"Like what?"

"Something new."  David turns his attention back to the sky and reaches out towards it.  He tries to grab a cloud, but it floats away from his hand.  "I've always wanted to go camping."

"But we don't know anything about camping."

"We can practice."  David pulls back just enough to look Jasper in the eye, bright eyed at the prospect.  "We got a whole year to prepare, and we'll be graduating soon anyways.  Why not do something special for that summer?"

No more ice cream trucks.  No more sitting around.  But something new to fill in the void.

It couldn't hurt, right?

"Yeah."  He smiles as David returns with his own grin.  "Let's try that out."

\\\\

Summers come as they are wont to do.  And they leave as they tend to do.  The ice cream truck never comes back.

But that's okay.

David brightens up significantly as they begin camping, and Jasper wonders if he'd been holding his friend back for so long, making him wait for trucks to come when it was clear they needed to move on.

And yet.

He stood by him the entire time, waiting until Jasper was ready to let go.

An unspoken trust.  With unwavering understanding.

Camping is alright, he supposes, but David loves how the trees surround them, how the birds sing above them, the way they come across streams and rivers as though they were new discoveries.

Camping is alright.  But David's happiness is worth so much more.

"Jasp!"  David pulls him along to the nearby clearing, their campfire crackling softly as he points up to the sky.  "You don't get to see stars like this often!"

"...Yeah."  He watches as David stares up at the night sky, so unlike the boy he grew up with.  It's a side of him he's rarely seen before.

And he thinks that it's a shame that they never got to explore this side of him sooner.

Wouldn't that have made David happier?

David turns to Jasper, head tilted to the side as he catches his friend staring.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, uh, nothing."  He looks away with a blush, scratching at his cheek as he looks for something to distract David with.  "Oh yeah, we should make sure the campfire doesn't burn down anything, right?"

"Oh- yeah!"  David rushes back, already worried as Jasper laughs.

This.

This is different.

But it's a good kind of different.

"Hey."

"Huh?"  David looks up from where he sits by the fire, watching as Jasper plops down besides him.

"Why do you like camping so much?"

"...I dunno it just."  He shrugs, smiling wistfully as he watches the fire.  "I mean, I used to camp a lot with my dad.  Before he left."  

Ah, right.

"Wouldn't you hate camping then?"

"I mean, I did.  For a long time, I did."  David laughs, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he talks.  "But then, you became my friend.  And we grew closer and.  I just wanted to do something with you.  Something that we could claim as our own.  Sure, there was that whole ice cream thing but.  That could only last for so long, and when it ran its course, I saw how you were struggling to just.  Wrap your mind around losing something that was so us.  And I wanted to do something.  Make a new something.  And.  Camping was the only thing I could think of."  He shrugs as he turns to face Jasper, the brunette wide eyed as the ginger grins.  "It just felt... right, you know?"

"...God."  Jasper shakes his head, laughing as he does so.  "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Only because you stuck by long enough for me to be amazing."  David nudges his shoulder playfully.  "...Hey."

"Hm?"

"Thanks.  For actually, um.  Being my friend."  David looks down as he speaks.  "It couldn't have been easy."

"...Nah, thanks for letting me stick to that ice cream schtick for so long."  Jasper bonks his head gently against David's.  "That couldn't have been easy."

"It's whatever."  David bonks back with a smile.  "I mean, as long as I got to spend time with you, it was worth it."

...Yeah.

It was, wasn't it?

He smiles as their fingers brush together.

Yeah, maybe camping was just alright.  If it'd been with anyone else, he'd be pretty indifferent and distant throughout the whole affair.

But.

With David?

Like when they were waiting for the ice cream truck together, the sun beaming down above them, feet kicking playfully at asphalt as they listened to the sounds of the birds chirping in the distance.

Sitting here, by an open fire, underneath the stars and listening to the songs of the crickets and the hoots of the owls.

Just like then.

Just.  Existing next to each other.

It just.

Feels.

Right.

[fangirl-writes]

Dancing in the Street

Willard Hewitt x Fem!Reader; Ren McCormack x Sister!Reader

Warning(s): Just general stuff in the movie. If you’ve seen it you should be fine. Also the reader doesn’t like Ariel so if you like her, sorry.

Request(s): 

I lost all these asks trying to answer them so idk what happened I’m sorry.

1) Hi hi hi, I was wondering if you could write a Willard x reader fic from the 2011 footloose? I'm having Miles Teller brain rot and cannot stop thinking about him!! 💕💕✨

2)  Can I get a Willard Hewitt x reader where your Rens sister and you guys meet at school then is really impressed you and your brother dance so good at the diner plssss?? I love Willard

3)  hi!! i was wondering if you could write something for willard hewitt (footloose 2011)? i can not find a single fanfic for this man so if you could write something with fluff and maybe like best friends to lovers that would be so awesome! thank you so much :)

Notes: Hope you guys are happy. I had to watch the Footloose remake to do this fic. The remake. It’s...not good.

Anyway, first footloose fic! Yay! I hope you like even if it’s ridiculously short.

When you agreed to move down to Bomont with your brother, you didn’t think it would be as shitty as it was.

You’d already lost your mom, you didn’t need the rest of the joy in your life sucked out, but apparently the town was looking to do just that.

No music? No dancing? Are you kidding? Isn’t that against the first amendment or something?

Apparently not, as it seemed this rinky-dink town hadn’t changed its views since the ‘80s.

You worked as a waitress at Starlite and Ren was stuck in a cotton gin. The school hated Ren’s guts and didn’t take too kindly to your “explicit and vulgar display” of band t-shirts. Plus that plus prissy little Ariel Moore made you wanna hurl, even if Ren was infatuated with her for some god-knows reason.

It wasn’t all bad. You helped Ren fix up the yellow bug and he drove you to school every day, not that you had another choice besides maybe walking.

And there was also Willard. The ray of sunshine through the cloud of darkness in all his southern glory. 

You guys met him the first day of school and the three of you meshed right away. You told him when Ren was bullshitting him and he explained what all of his crazy phrases meant.

You weren’t sure you were into him “like that” yet, but you’d heard Ren smack him upside the head for commenting on your looks once, which told you enough.

And, lucky for you, Woody’s uncle, Claude, was a pretty rebellious boss.

“Hey, Woody!” Claude said. “Check the door man. Cop still here?”

Ren and you exchanged a glance as Woody went over to the window to watch the cop pull away.

“Five-O getting his move on,” Woody reported. “Whatcha got for me, Uncle Claude?”

Claude reached down below the counter and pulled up a burner CD. “David Banner, bootleg. Don’t get too krunk out there. First sign of the police, I’m gonna pull the plug. I don’t want a fine and you don’t want another ticket.”

“Wait,” Ren said. “You got a ticket for dancing?”

“He got two tickets for dancing,” Woody’s girlfriend answered. “One more and he’s off the team.”

You followed Claude to the back where he had a record player that doubled as a CD player. Your mouth dropped open in awe.

“All right, let’s get this party started,” Claude said.

He flipped some switches that turned on the outside speakers and turned back to you.

“Now, I know you’re new here so I’ll let you go watch this one time,” he said. “But don’t expect me to let you off work just to dance.”

You grinned widely before practically tearing off your apron to follow Ren, Rusty, and Willard outside.

The speakers were like old drive-in speakers that blared in the parking lot and you watched in awe as the previously perceived boring small-town kids danced better than you could.

“Yeah, dude, they- they get into it,” Willard said.

"Hey, you,” a girl said to Ren. “Come on, let’s dance.”

She pulled him out onto the floor and you watched gleefully as he busted a move.

“You dance, Willard?” You asked.

He blushed a little, shaking his head. “Oh, no, no way.”

“Why not?”

He shrugged. “I don’t dance.”

You rolled your eyes.

“Me and my boys are going to push everybody back,” Woody said to Ren over the music, pulling his leather jacket right off his shoulders. “Let me see you and your sister do your city slicker thing.”

Ren jogged over to usher you in with him and you happily obliged.

“Number 24,” Ren said and you nodded.

You both fell into a dance you’d choreographed together back in Boston, moving easily to the beat and doing your “city slicker thing.”

You shared a quick glance, a silent communication, before you both ran up and backflipped off the edge of a blue pickup sitting on the edge of the dance area.

The crowd cheered.

You laughed, falling into freestyle mode with the others as Ren walked over to dance by Ariel (who looked eager to receive the basically lap dance he was offering).

You felt alive for the first time since your mom. You missed dancing.

That was until you spotted Ariel and Ren grinding on each other shamelessly.

“Oh, gross,” you said, turning away and spotting Willard, who was already looking at you.

You flicked your head, gesturing for him to come join you.

He just shook his head and saluted you with his coke cup.

You sighed and walked over to where he was gathered with Woody, his girlfriend, and Rusty.

“Mind if I have a sip of that?” You asked Willard.

“Oh, uh, sure,” he replied, handing you his cup. “That was some pretty good dancing out there.”

“How would you know, you don’t dance,” you joked.

“I got two eyes, don’t I?” He asked, grinning right back at you.

You two were leaned so close you felt his breath on your face. It made your stomach flutter.

“Y/N, I was wondering-”

“You can put on a show for that guy, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna.”

You both looked over to find Ren walking up to the group.

You and Willard leaned away from each other.

Ren’s jaw was so tight you thought he might crack his teeth. 

“That guy block your boner?” You joked, referencing a joke Willard made a few days ago.

“Shut up,” he replied, shoving your head away jokingly.

Suddenly, the music cut out and Claude came over the loud speaker. “Attention, Attention. Ariel Moore, will you please come up to the front of the diner, your daddy is here for you.”

The crowd sniggered and laughed as “daddy’s girl” stomped her way up to the diner.

“Show’s over,” she said as she passed your group.

Your face contorted.

“Daddy’s gonna take her out to the woodshed,” Willard said.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means she’s in deep shit.”

You bit your lip to keep from laughing. 

“Come on, loverboy,” you said, shoving your brother. “Let’s get home before we get picked up by the law at ten o’ one. Oh, and Willard,”

The boy in questioned looked up at you.

“We can finish our conversation tomorrow, okay?”

He smiled. “Yeah, alright,”

You grinned back and turned away from him.

Ren’s eyes narrowed at you. “What was that all about?”

You shrugged. “Nothing. Willard and I were having a conversation while you were feeling up the preacher’s daughter.”

“I was not feeling her up,”

“Oh, please, Ren, the whole parking lot could tell,” You replied, sipping the last of Willard’s drink you’d never given back. “You’re practically throwing yourself at her.”

“I was just dancing,” Ren retorted, pulling open the door to the bug.

“Funny, you never dance like that with me.”

“That’s because-” Ren huffed dramatically. “You know what, this conversation’s over.”

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” you replied, getting in the passenger side. “Can I pick the music?”

“Can you ever pick the music?”

“No?”

“There’s your answer.”

You rolled your eyes as Ren picked “dancing in the dark” by Bruce Springsteen for the ride home.

You turned to look out the window, noticing Willard in the rearview talking to Woody.

You smiled. This town might suck, but Willard makes it more bearable. 

[latenightsleeper]

Fellow Darlin’-Chrissy Truther here, you can’t NOT tell me what this storyline for them is! I have one of my own as well, but I’m always intrigued by other ways of viewing the same story!!! (Sorry to bother, but I’m so psyched that someone else agrees about this!)

A WILLING SACRIFICE—(*grabs you*) okay so, I’m so happy you asked!!!!! I have a lot to say about them so I’m very excited to tell you

Okay some basic info about my version of Tank is that their humanborn, hence why they have a harder time connecting with the pack. They don’t understand the magical world and by proxy, the Shaw pack as well someone who wasn’t a humanborn would. I mean, I think we all known how biased the empowered world is to humanborns (cough cough DAMN cough DUMP cough cough) their parents were a bit…late to understand their needs as a shifter and even later to fully grasp what was happening, let alone accept it. The scare on their cheek was a testament to that

So, here’s teen Tank, with a very messed up attitude about themselves and feeling isolated within minutes of being introduced to the pack. Once again, the pack kids already have an understanding of the world around them so they do things very much differently than Tank is used to. Things Tank has no idea how to do or even understand, it’s been said before Tank wasn’t close to David or Asher growing up but even then. I’d imagine someone would try and help tank get used to and understand their new life. It didn’t alway work and the questions they asked were hard to answer or know why they asked.

Enter Christian, born into an empowered family and taught everything Tank wanted/needed to know since he was a baby, just as much as a loner as Tank was since he wasn’t a legacy kid like David or Asher as well as having a decently bad attitude… he was a huge dick to Tank when they first came, like full on asshole the way teens are when a new kid who doesn’t understand what you think is basic knowledge shows up. Chris was relentless in his teasing and childish jokes, always laughing at their innocent questions and chiding their attempts.

Tank didn’t take it laying down tho.

They fought, a lot. Verbally, physically, pranks and tricks. They were at each other’s throats from the second they woke up, to the second they went to bed. Rinse, cycle, repeat. Like clock work, some of the older pack members had some bets they’d kill each other before they got along.

Surprisingly they do start to get along, but not in the way people thought they would. My personal HC is that Christians parents weren’t the…best, this feeling coming from Chris sisters specifically using “ if you didn’t help raise him “ when the Asher and Milo tease him about Amanda and call him Chrissy(which seems to be a family nickname?). Maybe I’m reading into it a bit much, maybe I’m not. I’ll keep on rolling with it till Erik proves me wrong (not likely tho with how much he writes parental problems with his characters)

Both Christian and Tank have that in common and big places gossip, people talk and the walls have eyes. They started to see each other as something like kindred spirits, bad attitudes and shitty parents with more than a few people willing to let them dig a big hole for them to throw themselves down. They still fought and shit but it was more like a game to them both, some way to keep active and to have fun. Bloody noises and complaints from local law enforcement aside.

Things changed tho, Tank and Chrissy were still close but it was harder and harder for Tank to take the isolation from the pack. They had Christian, they’d always have him but he started to find his place, hell he even started to see Amanda. Tank? Nothing, just..an outsider.

Enter Quinn, I don’t really think I need to explain what happened with him.

Being with Quinn just drives a bigger wedge between Tank and the pack, even Christian. They start making excuses and excuses, they still showed up when he needed or asked them but there was something wrong. Just something off, maybe it was this new guy Tank was seeing, maybe it was how Tank was hiding something from him. But Tank never showed so he never asked.

Then he gets a call that Tanks in the healers, something about a rough Vamp and them being hurt. He was the only one they could think of for Tank, their parents are gone and aren’t even on the list for emergency contacts.

He leaves hours later with a promise to catch up next time when their more healed and rested, not knowing right after he left. That be the last he’d see of Tank.

Tank lies as we know to David about heading to their parents to heal and they lie to Christian about catching up. Both for the same reason, to keep the pack and most importantly-to keep Christian safe. Tank just hopes the hurt from them leaving will keep him off their trail.

Christian doesn’t know their gone till they don’t show at the pack meeting and David tells everybody the news. Christian immediately knows something is wrong and is deeply hurt, but he knows tank better than anyone else. He didn’t look for them bc he knew they didn’t want to be found-not now at least and he wanted to trust Tank at least told the truth about them just leaving to heal.

And then a month passes, then another and then it becomes close to a year. (Ten months to be precise, I counted )

Contact with Tank is minimal before drying out on everyone but David and that’s just checking in to see if their alive.

Then David finds out a full year later (once again did the math, tank was actually hunting Quinn outside of Daliha for about 10 months and then showed up, it took David a full 3-4 months after that to realize something was up) and gives Tank a rightful talking too and tells them to show up to the next meeting. so who would show up to the next pack meeting?

Tanker and they look very different than anyone saw them, especially Christian. More scars than he remembers and a haunted, sad, angry look in those eyes.

This is just general lore, don’t have all the kinks worked out but man lemme tell you! There is a lot to Tanker and Chrissy’s relationship, lots of emotions and stuff